: , , , , - 28 . By Sneha Agrawal: Police have filed an FIR against a 21-year-old maid who had accused her employer's 11-year-old son of raping her, as the Juvenile Justice Board in Delhi found her allegations "highly unlikely" to be true. The woman had entered a contract to work as a domestic help at the child's house for about a year. She alleged that in the absence of his parents, the boy would misbehave with her, push her down on the bed, and rape her. She also claimed that the boy would lie down on top of her and even physically assault her. advertisement Witnessing anomalies in her statement and based on the investigation which revealed that she had filed the case with an "oblique motive", principal magistrate Murari Prasad Singh directed the police to file an FIR against her. POLICE BOOKS THE MAID The police booked her for giving false information to a public servant and also putting false charges against the boy. The woman alleged that the boy used to threaten her with his bat and even blackmailed her, saying that if she revealed any of this to his family members she would lose her job. She told the police that she faced assault at the hands of the boy for four continuous days and, fed up with this, she went back to the placement agency. The agency staff took her to the police on April 9 last year. "We should bear in mind that the child in this case is of tender age of 11 years. It also appears to be highly unlikely that an adult of 21-22 years would not put up any resistance whatsoever on being physically and sexually assaulted by a child of such a tender age. The fact in her medical report that she had been beaten by a bat by the child was not even stated in the FIR," the magistrate said. MAID HAD TAKEN RS 40,000 FOR FOUR DAYS OF WORK The court also observed that the maid stated that the sister of the child's mother was at home and it is unlikely that she would not have noticed any of the alleged occurrences for four consecutive days. During the investigation, cops also found that the maid had collected Rs 40,000 from the family but worked for only four days. When she was called and asked to work, she threatened to file a complaint. The court said the case was filed with an oblique motive. "The maid resorted to file a false case against the child who had not even turned 12 years," said the magistrate. "Such orders send a firm and a clear message in society that criminal law should not be exploited by anyone. In this case, an 11-year-old boy's life plunged into jeopardy because of a false accusation by an adult. advertisement "Probably, it will take a long time for the child to recover from this tragedy," said Anant Asthana, lawyer and child rights activist. The Juvenile Justice Board in India has sole authority to deal with matters concerning children in conflict with law. A JJB has to be constituted for each district or group of districts, and consists of two social workers and a judicial magistrate. Also read: Rohtak shocker: 10-year-old pregnant after being raped by step-father, doctors undecided on abortion Also read: Delhi Police: One city cop commits suicide every month --- ENDS --- Fifty years ago, America entered a military conflict halfway around the world. When their nation called on them to serve, the people of our state stepped up to the challenge. More than 40,000 Nebraskans served in our armed forces during the Vietnam era, and each of the heroes who deployed to Vietnam deserves recognition and our deep gratitude. Unfortunately, not all of Nebraskas Vietnam veterans have had a chance to visit the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was dedicated in their honor. Over the years, family obligations, financial constraints, or health concerns have prevented them from visiting our nations capital. Early in the morning on May 1st, I was humbled and honored to join the largest Honor Flight for Vietnam veterans in history. More than 650 Nebraska veterans boarded planes at Omaha Eppley Airfield to fly to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Each plane was decorated to show respect to the passengers, and the flight crew welcomed every person on board. These are some of the toughest men you will ever meet. Theyd seen the dangers of combat and shown their courage on the battlefield. Watching their eyes light up as they reconnected with war buddies they had not seen in decades was a moving and unforgettable experience. When we departed the plane in Washington, we met people lined up all along the airport waiting to greet our veterans with the fanfare they deserve. There were handshakes, hugs, and some tears. A mens chorus even sang. The celebration was a wonderful reminder that despite our many differences, Americans can come together to show respect to those who protected our way of life. From the airport, the Nebraska vets headed to their memorial. In 1979, Jan Scruggs began pursuing a dream and passion that eventually led to the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He understood the importance of never forgetting those who died fighting for our country. Although most of Washington, D.C. is loud and busy, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is usually quiet. The long, black wall, with the names of thousands of fallen heroes, is always striking. In a city filled with monuments, it remains one of the most powerful places in Washington. The names of more than 58,000 American service members are engraved in black granite on the wall and 395 of these names are Nebraskans. The Honor Flight served as a tribute to these heroes as well. They made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat communism and preserve our way of life. The generosity of Nebraskans all across the state made this trip possible. From grade school cookie sales in Central Nebraska to the support of individuals and Nebraska businesses, our state came together to bring these heroes to Washington, D.C. I always say our states greatest treasure is its people, and this trip is a reflection of Nebraskan goodness and generosity. We are a shining example of how to work together to honor veterans. Two people in particular helped make this event for our veterans possible, Bill and Evonne Williams. Through their organization, Patriotic Productions, Bill and Evonne chartered the commercial airplanes, organized the accommodations, and tapped numerous volunteers to assist in this enormous undertaking. Im so deeply honored our veterans invited me to join them for their flight to Washington. It is something I will never forget and always cherish. Thank you for taking part in our democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week. For many months, Nebraska has experienced declining tax revenues. Since last year, I have been working to constrain spending in my agencies in preparation for budget cuts. In the first part of this year, the Legislature and I worked together to make cuts for the current fiscal year. Since then, the Legislature has continued to work on the next two-year budget. As they worked on the budget, I urged spending restraint because state revenues have continued to deteriorate. Just a few weeks ago, the board responsible for predicting state revenues lowered projections, and last week the Revenue Department announced that tax receipts fell short $55 million in April. And thats just in one month. Nebraskas revenues have come in below what forecasts predicted 14 of the last 22 months. Because tax revenues continue to worsen, we must take new, responsible steps to tighten our belts. Last week, the Legislature sent over the next two-year, $8.9 billion general fund budget for my consideration. The budget I received from the Legislature did not constrain spending enough in light of declining revenues, and included a gas tax increase and a risky budget gimmick. Rather than constraining state spending, the Legislature attempted to raise the gas tax and take the money out of the Roads Department to spend on other parts of state government. Over the past two years, I have been clear that I oppose increasing the gas tax because it hurts working families who can least afford a tax hike. We are already one of the highest taxed states in the country. As of January, our gas tax was 27th highest in the nation with more increases coming in future years under current law. Increasing it more would only worsen our tax climate which has the fifth highest property taxes and 14th highest income taxes. Tax hikes make it more difficult to grow Nebraska. Additionally, the Legislature decided to lower the minimum reserve in the states checking account, rather than making needed cuts. The minimum reserve provides the cushion in our checking account critical to protecting the financial integrity of the state. Lowering the minimum reserve would be similar to a family spending the cushion in their checking account on non-emergency spending. It should be avoided at all cost. To prevent a tax increase and protect the budget, I have vetoed a total of $56.5 million over two years. These are thoughtful and measured reductions, which protect important priorities. Here are a few key facts you should know about my vetoes: They reduce various state agency appropriations by a half of a percent (0.5 percent). They include an $11 million line-item reduction to State Capitol renovation funding that is not immediately needed. Some programs and agencies are excluded, including those already reduced by 3 percent or more. The budget, after line item vetoes, protects the property tax credit relief fund, Corrections reform, public safety, and state aid to K-12 schools. While $56.5 million over two years may not seem significant in the scope of an $8.9 billion budget, senators will be lobbied hard in the coming days by special interests. State agencies and special interests with state contracts will spend significant effort and time to persuade your senator not to make these modest and responsible cuts to the budget. If you want to see senators sustain my vetoes, make these cuts, and put the budget on firmer financial footing, they need to hear from you. I have already been meeting with senators to urge them to sustain my vetoes, but the voices of working Nebraska taxpayers like you need to be heard in this discussion. You can make a difference. Visit www.NebraskaLegislature.gov to find your senators phone number and email address. Last week, Unicameral Speaker Jim Scheer announced that the Legislature plans to adjourn on May 23. The budget is the last major issue the Legislature has to consider for this legislative session. I will continue to work with senators in these final days to constrain spending and balance the budget without raising taxes. As always, I hope you will contact me if you would like to share your thoughts on this issue or any other. My office can be reached at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or 402-471-2244. Students of the Mitchell Community College associate degree nursing program graduated Wednesday night during the annual pinning ceremony. THE SCENE: Hundreds of white folding chairs lined the front lawn of the college. "Pomp and Circumstance" flowed through the speakers, cameras flashed and the audience cheered. As the day transitioned to night, students transitioned to alumni. THE SPEAKER: Veteran nurse Dr. Sheryl Cornelius, who received her first pin at Mitchell Community College 25 years ago, delivered the keynote address. She encouraged the future nurses to be resilient, flexible, kind and life-long learners. Becoming a nurse is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me and I hope you feel the same after 25 years, she told the students. It has never been boring and you are going into a wonderful career Nursing is an identity. To get the most out of the path that you have chosen, you have to fully embrace that identity. THE GRADUATES: Thirty-two graduates dressed in their white nurses uniform and cap were pinned a rite of passage for nursing students during the 33rd annual ceremony. Future plans varied for the graduates. While some have plans to further their education, and others have plans to enter the workforce immediately (many have already accepted job offers), they all have plans to make a difference. They are: Brittany Fulp Adams (Statesville) Rebecca Ann Ammons (Mooresville) Anne Auten Baker (Advance) Jessica Bost Bodie (Statesville) Paula Brooks (Mooresville) Kyle Brown (Statesville) Danae Michelle Buck (Mooresville) Lauren Elizabeth Corey (Troutman) Lauren Elizabeth Frogge (Olin) Erin Kathleen Green (Statesville) Cassandra Hamilton (Statesville) Julie Dawn Horoschuck (Statesville) Cassandra Rae Kelley (Hiddenite) Adam Lail (Stoney Point) Carlene Nicole Lambert (Granite Quarry) Samantha Lemings (Statesville) Shelby Mabry (Mooresville) Eve Laraine Nalley (Statesville) Taylor Nicole Owen (Statesville) Joyelle Pearson (Denver) Paige Amber Peeler (Davidson) Brenda Sangdao Pholsina (Mooresville) Cintia C. Puentes (Statesville) Destiny Reeves (Mooresville) Amanda Starr Rogers (Mocksville) Jodi Rachelle Sandlin (Mooresville) Jasmyne Springs (Charlotte) Felicia Leigh (Statesville) Stacy Norris Walker (Huntersville) Rachael Michelle Ware (Mooresville) Heather White (Hickory) Aaron Wilson (Statesville) AWARD WINNERS: Beth Maine Scholarship: Adam Lail Alpha Delta Nu Honor Society: Jessica Bodie, Paula Brooks, Danae Buck, Erin Green, Adam Lail, Destiny Reeves, Heather White Academic Achievement Award (highest GPA): Jessica Bodie Leadership Award: Paula Brooks Outstanding Clinician: Amanda Rogers Best All Around: Aaron Wilson Professionalism Award: Brenda Pholsina Humanitarianism Award: Erin Green Human Spirit Award: Class of 2017 Moran Township Board Considers Concept of Green Burials for Gros Cap Cemetery The Moran Township Board of Trustees took a look at a proposal to allow green burials at the Western Cemetery in Brevort sometime in the... New Preserve on Marquette Island Remembers Nature Lover Kathy Bricker A new nature preserve on Marquette Island not only protects the land, plants, and animals there, but also recognizes the memory and legacy of Kathy... On Thursday morning, the Chennai Police conducted a raid at MV Ramalingam & Co, a textile shop specialised in stitching uniforms for government officers at Kodambakkam. By Pramod Madhav: Police in Chennai seized bundles of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes amounting to Rs 45 crores from a textile shop in the state. On Thursday morning, the Chennai Police conducted a raid at MV Ramalingam & Co, a textile shop specialised in stitching uniforms for government officers at Kodambakkam. Cops were amazed to find such a huge stash even six months after demonetisation was implemented. Police sources said that the shop belonged to Dhandapani, who upon being interrogated explained that the money belonged to a jewellery shop owner who had asked him as a favour to hold on to the money until he could find a way to get it exchanged legally. Demonetised notes seized from textile shop in Chennai. Photo: Pramod Madhav advertisement On December 28, 2016 the cabinet cleared an ordinance to penalise those holding demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes effective after March 31. Police are expected to file charges against Dhandapani under the I-T Act meaning he could get 4 years of jail term. Currently Dhandapani is under investigation at Kodambakkam police station. Also Read: Hyderabad: Demonetised currency worth Rs 4.41 crore seized, 8 arrested Watch Video: Demonetisation will build a cashless economy: Arun Jaitley --- ENDS --- Head of Romania's Navy Staff Alexandru Mirsu on Wednesday discussed peace and security in the Black Sea zone with the newly appointed commander of the United States Sixth Fleet Christopher Grady. ''Discussions were conducted along the lines of maritime security projects and concepts going on in the Black Sea zone amidst the latest developments in Ukraine. Also analysed was the stage of cooperation between the two national navies as part of joint participation in defence exercises, as well as the importance of contributing troops toward the preservation of peace and security at NATO's eastern borders,'' the Romanian Navy said Thursday in a press statement. It adds that the activity so far has highlighted readiness to cooperated with the other NATO state navies to achieve shared objectives, develop trust and interoperability among the Black Sea riparian countries and the implementation of NATO's Immediate Assurance Measures. The US military delegation handed by Grady was accompanied by US ambassador in Bucharest Hans Klemm. agerpres. The Dutch king, King Willem-Alexander, has admitted that for the last 21 years, he has been secretly flying commercial flights as a "hobby". Dutch King Willem-Alexander (right) with pilot Maarten Putman inside the cockpit of a KLM Cityhopper. Source: Royal Dutch Airlines/ Twitter By India Today Web Desk: And you thought only the British Royal family has cool stories to tell. King Willem-Alexander, the current king of the Netherlands, has sent the internet into a tizzy by spilling the beans about his secret life. Turns out, his Highness likes to fly high. King Willem-Alexander recently revealed in an interview to a Dutch newspaper that he has been a "guest" pilot for a commercial airline for the past 21 years. advertisement And for 21 years, no one in the world knew about this. 'This is your Royal Highness speaking' pic.twitter.com/koDBlHWqa8- Royal Dutch Airlines (@KLM) May 17, 2017 The 50-year-old, who is a father of three and a king to some 17 million Dutch citizens, said that he regularly piloted flights for a subsidiary of the Dutch flag carrier, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. But of course, flying a plane stuffed with people, even as a "hobby", cannot be all about fun. "You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them," the king told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf . "You can't take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else." For Willem-Alexander, however, this was "the most relaxing part of flying,". BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PASSENGERS WHO SAW HIM? The king, who got his military pilot's license as a member of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, said that the "rarely recognized him". As for pilot announcements, he did that in incognito too. "I can always say that I wish everyone a heartfelt welcome in the name of the captain and the crew," he said. "I don't have to say my own name. But most of the people don't listen anyway." King Willem-Alexander, we hope you continue to get 'the best of both worlds'. --- ENDS --- The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into uproar after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. By Reuters: The US Justice Department, in the face of rising pressure from Capitol Hill, named former FBI chief Robert Mueller on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into uproar after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Democrats and some of the president's fellow Republicans had demanded an independent probe of whether Russia tried to sway the outcome of November's election in favor of Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton. advertisement Trump, whose anger over the allegations has grown in recent weeks, took the news calmly and used it to rally his team to unite, move on and refocus on his stalled agenda, a senior White House official said. "We are all in this together," Trump told his team, the official said. Trump said in a statement after the Justice Department announcement he looked forward to a quick resolution. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said. Mueller said in a statement tweeted by CBS News: "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability." Trump, who said in a speech earlier on Wednesday that no politician in history "has been treated worse or more unfairly," has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his election victory. The Russia issue has, however, clouded his early months in office. Moscow has denied the conclusion by US intelligence agencies that it meddled in the campaign. Pressure on the White House intensified after Trump fired Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter, and allegations that Trump had asked Comey to end the FBI investigation into ties between Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russia. That raised questions about whether the president improperly attempted to interfere with a federal investigation. The issue spilled over onto Wall Street on Wednesday, where the S&P 500 and the Dow had their biggest one-day declines since September as investor hopes for tax cuts and other pro-business policies faded amid the political tumult. The Justice Department announcement came after the market close. INNER CIRCLE "My decision (to appoint a special counsel) is not the finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement announcing the special counsel. "I determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome," he said. Trump heard about Mueller's appointment from his White House lawyer Don McGahn about 25 minutes before it was made public, the senior White House official said. advertisement Trump assembled his inner circle in the Oval Office - Vice President Mike Pence, chief of staff Reince Preibus, economic adviser Gary Cohn, senior strategist Steve Bannon, and others - and gave them a pep talk, dictating the statement that was soon released. Trump told them the appointment would allow them to refer questions to Mueller, giving them space to focus on policies such as tax reform. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill generally welcomed the Justice Department action and praised Mueller for his integrity, but House and Senate Republican leaders said they would go on with their own investigations of the Russia matter. "A special counsel is very much needed in this situation and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has done the right thing," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said he was confident Mueller "will conduct a thorough and fair investigation." DISCORDANT A discordant note was sounded by Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, who praised Mueller's credentials but said: "I don't think they should have appointed someone." advertisement "I have not seen any evidence of actual collusion. Where is the actual crime that they think they need a special prosecutor to prosecute," Chaffetz told Fox News. Mueller, 72, was decorated as a Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War. A former federal prosecutor, he is known for his tough, no-nonsense managerial style. Appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, he became FBI director one week before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was asked by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011 to stay on for two more years and was replaced by Comey in 2013. Mueller was credited with transforming the FBI, putting more resources into counterterrorism investigations and improving its cooperation with other US government agencies. Although Mueller will serve at the pleasure of Rosenstein, the job comes with independence and autonomy. Some past independent investigations have stretched for years. Kenneth Starr, who investigated former President Bill Clinton, probed allegations surrounding Clinton's past real estate deals but later expanded the inquiry into his relations with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky, leading to Clinton's impeachment by the House. The White House was conducting interviews on Wednesday of candidates to replace Comey as head of the FBI. advertisement A senior administration official said former Democratic vice presidential candidate and Senator Joe Lieberman, one of those interviewed by Trump, was among the leading candidates. Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, said others being interviewed were acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating and former senior FBI official Richard McFeely. ALSO READ: Handover all Comey documents on Trump, US Congress tells FBI Trump fired Comey as he refused to preview planned testimony to a Senate panel WATCH: --- ENDS --- Linnie Moyers was a coal miner. And not just any kind of coal miner. He was a one-legged coal miner. Shawna Williams relays the story of how her father lost his leg in a hunting accident. Its the sort of tale that has been told for decades, sometimes with embellishments, perhaps. She figures its more true than legend. One thing is clear. At age 11, Linnie Moyers lost his leg. He and a friend were walking home in Southern Illinois after a day of hunting. Moyers grew up in Valier, a tiny town of less than 700 people. Its coal-mining country, and, indeed, Moyers would end up spending his entire adult life in that trade. Moyers friend was carrying his shotgun by his side, but his finger was on the trigger. There was a loud noise that startled the boys. Moyers friend turned and accidentally shot. Moyers leg was shattered. The story is important to remember, Williams says, because despite living most of his life with a wooden leg, Moyers wasnt the sort of man who would complain much. It never really stopped him, Williams said. He was a pretty balanced guy. That balance took a tip for the worse late last year. The downhill trend has its genesis in the summer of 2015. Thats when Moyers retired after 48 years in the coal industry. He spent part of that time in underground mines, and some of it up top as a welder. The industry was good to him. He supported his family in tiny Valier, raised two daughters, lived a simple life hunting and fishing and going to church on Sunday. In retirement, he started to fret. One of his main concerns was one shared by his fellow members of the United Mine Workers of America. Bankruptcies in the coal industry, particularly of St. Louis-based coal giants Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, and its spin-off Patriot Coal, had put the promised health care benefits for coal workers in jeopardy. Moyers wasnt one to complain. He wasnt very outspoken, Shawna says. But he started talking frequently about what would happen if he lost his health insurance. In September last year, he did something that seemed out of character for him. He hopped on a bus with dozens of other Southern Illinois coal miners and headed to Washington to urge passage of the Coal Miners Protection Act, a piece of legislation meant to put the weight of the federal government behind the decades-old promise to coal miners to be taken care of in retirement. In December, the coal miners won a short-term victory. Congress passed a continuing resolution that would guarantee the benefits through April 28. Moyers wouldnt last that long. Around Christmas, it was really evident that something was wrong, said Craig Williams, Shawnas husband. The couple would travel to Valier most weekends from their home in University City to see Paw Paw. Thats what their 20-month-old son calls his grandfather still today, as he sits at the dining room table thumbing through a photo album. Craig and Shawna urged their father to seek medical help for depression, and in April, he did. On April 12, Moyers called Centerstone, a mental health provider about 20 minutes away, in West Frankfurt. He set an appointment for April 21. On that day, he went to his appointment, but somewhere, there was a mistake in his insurance paperwork. Craig and Shawna Williams believe somebody typed in a wrong birth date. But Moyers was told he couldnt be seen, so, not one to complain, he just went home. Shawna still has the text from her father that day. Went to Centerstone, it said. Insurance foul up. Two days later, he was dead. Moyers wife of 49 years, Suzanne, was in the other room calling for help, as Linnie put a gun to his chest and shot himself. Like many families who deal with suicide, the Williams have more questions than answers. Why didnt the mental health facility make sure someone saw Moyers that day, knowing he was depressed? Did his physician prescribe medicines that contributed to the depression or the suicidal thoughts? Why didnt they just put him in their car when they visited on April 9, and his hugs goodbye seemed extra long? This wasnt an act that this guy would have contemplated on any normal day, Craig says. For men who toil underground and then have to fight for the promise that was made to them, perhaps there is no normal. The National Institutes of Health reports that coal miners are the second-highest occupation at risk for suicide, and the rates rose significantly in the past two decades. Add to that the paucity of mental health care options in rural America, and its a recipe for something that is less than normal. The Williamses tell the story of a man they call their hero because they want others to be prepared if they have a loved one in a similar situation. He didnt come to Centerstone by accident, Craig says. People who walk through those doors may be hanging by a thread. Mental health needs to be taken seriously. On May 4, the U.S. Senate passed the Coal Miners Protection Act. It was too late for Paw Paw. ST. LOUIS A city police dispatcher who sent officers to the wrong address during a domestic dispute before an attacker returned and murdered two people may be held liable in civil court for the death of only one of the victims, a St. Louis judge has ruled. Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker dismissed a wrongful death lawsuits claims that Tony Jordans murder July 9, 2014, in the 5800 block of Cabanne Avenue could have been prevented if the veteran dispatcher had not misheard the 911 callers address and sent police to a home about a block away. Dierker ruled, however, that the lawsuits claims that the dispatchers error led to the death of the 911 caller herself must go to trial. The killer, Adrian Houston, 39, of University City, was sentenced in January to 20 years in prison after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. Jessica Thompson, 25, was inside her apartment with a male friend when Houston, her boyfriend, showed up. He banged on the doors and windows, entered and choked her. Tony Jordan, 32, the groundskeeper who lived at the apartment complex, went to Thompsons apartment after hearing screams and told Houston to leave. Thompson called 911 for help. Jordan went outside. The dispatcher, Patricia Sticken, then a 26-year veteran of the department, heard Thompsons address as the 5900 block of Cabanne and sent officers there. Police didnt arrive at Thompsons apartment until after Jordan and Thompson were shot at her apartment building. A few months after the killings, Jordan and Thompsons relatives sued the dispatcher, the police department, the city, the former Police Board commissioners and former Mayor Francis Slay, blaming the deaths on the error. Sticken was suspended and later retired. Dierkers order says the defendants had no duty to protect Jordan and could not have foreseen he was in danger because of Stickens error because they couldnt have known Jordan was outside the apartment some 40 minutes after Thompson called 911 for help. If defendants are liable to the Jordan plaintiffs, they would be liable to anyone who is injured because of a 911 operators dispatching error in response to a call, Dierker wrote. That burden of preventing injury to anyone in the vicinity of crimes being reported via 911 is incalculable, he said. Dierker said claims over Thompsons death must go to trial. The duty of a 911 operator is limited to those persons who participate in a 911 call and are reporting a danger to themselves, Dierker wrote. Otherwise, the duty of 911 system operators to accurately process calls would be universal. Joel Currier 314-621-5804 @joelcurrier on Twitter jcurrier@post-dispatch.com The Hazelwood school district reversed on Thursday evening its controversial mass suspensions of student protesters after three days of bitter acrimony that pitted parents and students against the administration. The announcement was made on the school districts website, ending days of near-complete silence on the part of the school district about the controversy. The reversal came on the heels of a daylong effort in which a group of students and parents staked out the administrative offices demanding action. The districts statement said that new information gathered Thursday led to the change, namely that employees of the District encouraged and may have manipulated students into the walkout, which resulted in disruption and created safety concerns. Diane Livingston, the teachers union president, was vexed by the accusation that teachers had a hand in the walkout. There was no manipulation, Livingston said. And I will stand by that. She said she believed the district was trying to blame teachers for a mistake it made. The districts announcement states that Hazelwood West Principal Dennis Newell made the decision to rescind the consequences for students. Therefore, underclassmen will be allowed to return to school tomorrow and resume regular activities, the statement reads. In addition, the 12 Hazelwood West seniors who were suspended earlier this week may return on Friday for rehearsal in preparation for their graduation. All students missing exams during their suspension will be permitted to make up the exams. Tammy Rooney began to cry when she heard the news read aloud from the districts Facebook page at a meeting at AME Ward Chapel Church called in the wake of the suspensions. Its been a tough two days, Rooney said. Rooney is the mother of a senior who was temporarily barred from participating in graduation on Saturday. Her sons suit and her dress had already been purchased for the occasion. Its a once-in-a-lifetime thing and they almost took it away from me, she said of the opportunity to see her only child graduate from high school. But the celebration at the meeting did not last long before the discussion turned to next steps to address long-standing grievances with the district over transparency and school policies on discipline. The ACLU of Missouri, which took part in the meeting, lauded the districts change of heart but condemned the penalties that were reversed. We are disturbed at the retaliatory and excessive punishment of students who were peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights, the group said in a statement. In the future, we hope that the school district encourages students to be engaged citizens in our democracy and fosters trust that educational institutions fully support free speech and well-thought-out civil disobedience. The group had said earlier in the day that it planned to file suit against the district on Friday if the decision to repeal the suspension was not made. Advocates said they believed that added pressure to the district to reverse course. Sophomore Ishmaiah Moore, who participated in the demonstrations, said the districts move didnt address all the issues that had been raised. I cant help but to say the fight is not over, Ishmaiah said. She said students were concerned about the repercussions teachers might face as result of the protests. Throughout the day Thursday it had appeared that the district would not budge on the matter. About 50 people arrived early at the districts administrative building Thursday morning demanding a meeting with Superintendent Nettie Collins-Hart. They were denied but did manage a sit-down with administrators in which parents said the district continued to stand by the suspensions. Three parents, including Kayrisa Ezeufo who has two daughters who attend West, had an hourlong meeting at noon with Newell and Bruce Green, the assistant superintendent for high school education. The parents said Green and Newell said the students were cursing and running during a student walkout at the school Monday in support of union teachers. That poor behavior was the districts reason for the suspensions, Ezeufo said. We looked at them, we cant even believe they were saying this, Ezeufo said. She said she felt that the administrators listened to the parents but stood by the suspensions. The districts statement Thursday repeated the assertion that the student protests Monday, which were in support of the districts union teachers, were not peaceful. Students in the hallways and outside of the school walked, ran, and shouted chants using vulgarities and profanities. Approximately 200 students left their classrooms without permission. District officials had previously been unavailable to comment on the matter, fueling a growing anger among many community members seeking answers. Earlier in the week, a school board meeting was cut short before dozens of community members could comment on the issue. The group that gathered through much of the day Thursday also included students and civil rights activists. Some of the students who were suspended Tuesday were holding signs for honks on the sidewalk, because theyre not allowed on district property. Hazelwood West teachers collected more than $200 to provide pizza, bottled water, chips and other food for the dozens of students who gathered. Some teachers also wore black ribbon pins in solidarity with the students. The suspensions, if they had been enforced, would have prevented seniors from participating in graduating ceremonies. Some feared the penalties would also threaten the scholarships of those who plan to use an A+ Scholarship to receive two free years of community college. That concern was brought up by at least one Hazelwood West senior this week. Among the eligibility requirements for the scholarship is maintaining a record of good citizenship, in addition to volunteer hours and grade requirements. A spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Higher Education said its up to the high school to determine whether a suspension violates that record of good citizenship. But the district stated Thursday: Even as these consequences were being considered, at no time were students college or athletic scholarships in jeopardy, such as A+ Scholarships. The statement also said the Hazelwood School District respects students voices and the exercise of their First Amendment rights, but we do not condone disruptive behavior or the violation of District policies. Specifically, the statement seeks to draw a distinction between prior student protests at Hazelwood which did not result in discipline and the one Monday. Comparisons to this walkout have been made to other walkouts in previous years and under different circumstances. Those walkouts were in fact, organized, authorized, and supervised by the District. A special SEBI court has rejected Sahara chief's medical certificate for an upset stomach, and issued notice to his doctor to be present in court. By Vidya : A Mumbai court rapped Sahara chief Subrata Roy for skipping his hearing today at a Mumbai court due to stomach problems. In his absence, Roy's lawyers had presented a doctor's certificate, which said Roy had gastroenteritis and will not make it to the court. Judge MG Deshpande of the special Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) court rejected Roy's application for exemption from hearing, and instead issued a notice to the doctor to be present in court on June 7. advertisement SEBI also issued a bailable warrant against Roy and asked Delhi Police to furnish records of his movement. Roy has been on parole granted by Supreme Court, and has been given protection of the Delhi Police, which would in a way have a record of all the places he has visited. Just two months ago, the court had issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Roy for failing to appear for his hearing and non-compliance with its earlier orders. The NBW was cancelled, however, after he presented himself at the next hearing. Roy was released on a personal bond, and bail was granted on the condition that he will be present for all hearings, unless he gives appropriate reason for not being present. The court was to frame charges in the SEBI case against Roy and his three group firms' directors -- Ravishankar Dubey, Ashok Roy Choudhary and Vandana Bhargava -- today. LAWYERS FILE APPLICATION ON BEHALF OF COMPANY Roy's lawyers have also filed an application on behalf of the company, requesting discharge from the case saying, it is a case of double jeopardy. His lawyer Ashok Saraogi said, "if the company gets discharged then the directors and shareholders also automatically get discharged. That is why the discharge application is filed on behalf of the company." According to Sahara, they have already been prosecuted by Registrar of Companies in Lucknow for the same offences for which now SEBI wants to prosecute them. "When the company has been prosecuted and fined then it cannot be prosecuted for the same offence again," Saraogi said. The court in Lucknow had already fined the Sahara group in the case against Sahara Housing and Sahara Real Estate, which had taken deposits from general public to the tune of Rs 24000 crore between 2009 and 2011, against the deposits made by the investors. Sahara had issued debentures for 3 and 5 years to them, but this money was never returned by the company. A SEBI personnel explained that according to the rules, if the number of investors crosses 49, it no longer falls under the ambit of the Registrar of Companies, and instead comes under the purview of SEBI. The company has to be listed on the exchange, and a red herring prospectus needs to be issued. "This entire issue had gone all the way to the Supreme Court and the apex court has already decided that it is only SEBI which can prosecute in this case," he said. advertisement The Supreme Court has already made it clear that Sahara has to generate the specified Rs 24,000 crores by selling off properties like Amby Valley in Pune, and handing over the proceedings to SEBI, which will disburse the amount to investors with valid certificate. Also Read: Sahara's Rs 39000-crore Aamby Valley property in Pune to be attached, orders Supreme Court Sahara's Subrata Roy warned by Supreme Court: Pay Rs 2050 crore by June 19 or go to jail Also Watch: Has Opposition's balloon gone bust after SC rejected Sahara papers --- ENDS --- ST. CHARLES Relatives of a nursing home patient who suffered fatal burns while smoking a cigarette are questioning how long she was left unattended and whether proper procedures were followed before and after she caught fire. Donna Chapman, 83, died Monday after suffering third-degree burns Saturday evening as she smoked in her wheelchair at NHC HealthCare. Partly paralyzed from a stroke years ago, Chapman had been wheeled onto the nursing homes patio and left there alone to smoke a cigarette before dinner Saturday, according to her daughter-in-law, Mary Portscheller of Wildwood. Chapman ignited her clothing and was found ablaze by an attendant. She caught fire and burned, Portscheller says. The doctor said several times that she had very deep burns on her breast, her back and the back of her head. Her family was shocked when they saw her in the trauma center. Blackened parts of her skin were coming off. Her badly burned clothes were reduced to scraps. Her bra disintegrated. Her white hair was charred black. She lingered in the hospital on Mothers Day, then died at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Irate over Chapmans death, Portscheller said the nursing homes account to her that Chapman was unattended for 10 minutes didnt add up. Portscheller and her husband, Dean Chapman, question: How did she get burned so badly, over 20 percent of her body, if left alone for only 10 minutes? Why wasnt Chapman wearing a special fire-resistant smoking apron, which was assigned to her months ago? Was the attendant who saw her on fire trained to use a specially made fire blanket to smother the flames? The nursing homes executive told Chapmans family that Chapman had wanted to smoke before dinner, so an attendant put her on a patio, or courtyard, off the hallways for 10 minutes. The attendant returned to find Chapman on fire, then ran to get help instead of using the fire blanket that was stored on the patio, Portscheller said. A St. Charles Fire Department report puts the fire at about 5:15 p.m. Smoke alarms were going off when they arrived, but the fire had been put out. The report said it appeared Chapmans clothing or the foam padding surrounding her had ignited. NHC HealthCares administrator, Seth Peimann, told the Post-Dispatch that Chapmans death was a bad accident. Peimann said he already had talked with investigators with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. No one from that agency was available for comment. This is a very difficult time here at the center, Peimann said. A lot of people were really attached to her. She was part of our family. We miss her. Peimann declined to say if the attendant knew how to use the fire blanket or if the nursing home allowed people in wheelchairs to smoke without smoking aprons and without supervision. In general, Peimann said, certainly were always looking to improve, always evaluating. Portscheller said the nursing home wasnt being forthcoming. It doesnt make sense what theyre saying, she said. They left her just 10 minutes? I think she was left out there a lot longer, as deep as the burns were. I dont think theyre telling us the whole story. Peimann, the nursing home administrator, declined to talk with a Post-Dispatch reporter about what happened the day Chapman died or answer questions about the nursing homes policies and practices. I dont know if I want to go into specifics, said Peimann, who has worked at the nursing home 10 years. Our concern is for our employees and the family. There are a lot of people who care here, and no one wants to see this occur. Stroke leads to nursing home Chapman worked most of her life, as a clerk for auto sales, insurance and home building companies. Her career highlight, her family says, was becoming the first woman underwriter at an insurance company in Orlando, Fla. Chapman suffered a stroke at the age of 75 and moved into the nursing home on Sugar Maple Lane in St. Charles seven or eight years ago. She was partly paralyzed from the stroke and had the use of only her right arm. With the good arm, she could operate her own motorized wheelchair. When she wanted to smoke, she would drive her wheelchair to the patio and put the cigarette in her mouth and light it. A bag on the side of her wheelchair held her cigarettes and lighter. Three months ago, the nursing home assigned her a smoking apron, a silicone-coated fiberglass fabric that covers someone from their shoulders to below their knees. It protects wheelchair users from accidental cigarette burns. Chapman needed one, Portscheller said, because she had started to get burn holes in her clothing and on her wheelchair. The family was in favor of the apron, hoping any stray ashes would slide off the apron. Portscheller said the family had tried to get Chapman to give up smoking. She was down to about a half pack a day, and we had tried to get her to quit, Portscheller said. She said, Thats my one thing, please dont take that away from me. Thats the one thing I can enjoy. Three days before the fire, the staff at the nursing home took away Chapmans electric wheelchair. Her right arm was getting weaker, and she had been having trouble controlling the chair. She would bump into things. In addition, the staff was concerned that she was found outside in the chair and seemed confused on at least one occasion. She was put in a manual wheelchair, meaning she was dependent on staff to move her from place to place. On the day she was burned, Portscheller and her husband were at home in Wildwood. They planned to visit Chapman that evening. Portscheller was wrapping a Mothers Day gift for Chapman when she got a call from the hospital saying that Chapman had fallen asleep while smoking and got burned. I was thinking maybe her foot got burned, because I thought, How would she get burned with a smoking apron? Portscheller said. Im thinking the apron covered her, maybe the cigarette fell past the apron and got her foot. At the burn unit at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur, a doctor explained to Chapmans family that the burns were so bad she would need eight skin grafts, painful procedures that might be too much for her. He said it would be tough on her to do all these painful skin grafts, Portscheller said. So we knew we were going to lose her. The St. Charles County medical examiners office is awaiting a report from paramedics. Once those records and other medical records are gathered, the medical examiner will review the records and determine a cause of death. Weve already lost her At the hospital, the nursing home administrator talked to the family, according to Portscheller. She said he apologized and admitted Chapman hadnt had a smoking apron on. He said, Well, you know how people dont like those, Portscheller said. She asked the administrator how they put the fire out, and he said the staff was supposed to know how to use the burn blanket. I thought supposed was an interesting word, she said. Portscheller said the patio had no video monitors. Portscheller said she and her husband believe the nursing home was negligent and shouldnt have such lax standards that allow certain patients to smoke. Weve already lost her, Portscheller said through tears Thursday. Our goal is to raise awareness of this. Something needs to be done. She said she thought the state needed to look into these liberal smoking policies. If someone is in a nursing home, theyre there because of a cognitive or physical issue. They shouldnt even be smoking at all, unless supervised by someone sitting with them, she said. No one who cant get up and walk away should be allowed to smoke unsupervised. Its time to come clean about my Russia connection. I have, in fact, met privately with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. We discussed intelligence matters, questions of Russian meddling and efforts to deceive the American people. During our hourlong interview in June 2014, Kislyak was charming but also crafty, manipulative and evasive. Yet his words offered an ominous glimpse of things to come in U.S.-Russian relations. I knew to be on my guard at all times because Kislyaks experience dated back deep into the Cold War, when diplomats were spies and spies were diplomats. I emerged from the meeting wondering why anyone, anywhere, would ever trust someone like him. At the time, Kislyak was being shunned all around Washington, which is probably why he would agree to meet with someone as lowly as I. Kislyaks shunning ended last week when President Donald Trump not only invited him into the Oval Office along with Russias foreign minister but also presented a beaming smile as he shook Kislyaks hand while a Russian government photographer snapped a photo. Only three months before our Dallas meeting, Russia had launched a secret invasion of Ukraine to seize the Crimean Peninsula and annex it. Russia had amassed thousands of troops on the border with eastern Ukraine and was actively arming and assisting separatist rebels there. A month after our meeting, a surface-to-air rocket, manufactured and trucked in from Russia and fired from rebel-held territory, would shoot down a Malaysian passenger jumbo jet, killing all 283 aboard. Russia would do everything in its power to obstruct investigations into that atrocity. Also at that time, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad was escalating efforts to put down an armed rebellion, including the use of chemical weapons. Russia stood alongside Hezbollah and Iran in Assads defense. Pick just about anything bad going on in the world, and Moscow seemed more likely than not to be on the side of bad. I couldnt wait to dig in on these controversies when Kislyak sat down opposite me at a Dallas Morning News boardroom table in an interview arranged by the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth. Kislyak started by trying to justify Russian armed intervention in Ukraine, saying the legitimate (that is, pro-Moscow) government in Kiev had been overthrown. He sidestepped whether Russias military and intelligence had created and armed the separatist movement, a blatant violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. As for Crimea, Kislyak was matter-of-fact. Some people had to organize themselves into a resistance in Crimea because of the Kiev governments oppression, he said. We also had armed forces there, and those armed forces were there under agreement with the Ukrainians for years and years. We had to think about protecting ourselves there because the situation was developing in a very, very chaotic way. The presence of Russian forces certainly made sure a lot of things happened in a very peaceful way because all these threats to attack these people were neutralized with not a single shot fired just because we were there. In fact, I noted, Crimea was not the scene of chaos. There was no legal justification for Russian troops to leave their naval base and take positions on the streets for a military takeover. He countered: We didnt know whether our forces would be threatened. So they repositioned themselves. They didnt participate, as you call it, in military operations. What they were doing was just being there, protecting our people and protecting the local people against provocations. Regarding international outrage and imposition of sanctions, Kislyak said, Some people call it an illegal annexation. First of all, its not annexation, and you cannot deal with this issue like a piece of real estate. Its about people who have the right of self-determination, and its enshrined in the U.N. charter. I asked Kislyak about Russian meddling in the affairs of other nations. His response: It depends on how you define meddling. He said that certain stereotypes had developed as a result of growing tension between Washington and Moscow. Such as? No matter what Russia does, it is a threat to the United States. That Russia is working against the American interests, he said. Imposing sanctions was something that doesnt have any practical consequences except for poisoning the atmosphere in our relations. It certainly creates a significant reaction in Russia. He added ominously: Thats something I hope is going to be fixed in the future. How long it will take, I dont know. We now know how long it took. Russia meddled mightily in the Nov. 8 presidential elections, probably with Kislyaks support. Moscow got its man elected to the presidency. And even as that man was firing the FBI director and fending off an investigation into Russian election meddling, Trump found the time to invite Kislyak in for an Oval Office visit. The chaos engulfing Washington has Kislyaks ample thumbprint all over it. Im sure Vladimir Putin couldnt be happier. To read the interview, visit tinyurl.com/kislyak. By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, May 18 (PTI) Girls have outshone boys in the class 12 examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE), the results of which were declared today. This year, overall 64.50 per cent students passed the senior secondary examination, which is slightly better than the last years 62.40 per cent. A total of 73.44 per cent girl students have passed the class 12 examination as compared to 57.58 per cent boys, a spokesman of the Board said. advertisement For the first time this year, Aadhaar number of a student is mentioned on their certificate, he was quoted as saying in an official release. "There are around 5,000 examinee whose Aadhaar numbers have not been updated as they have failed submit it. Though their results have been declared on the Boards website, keeping in view the interest of the students, but their certificates would not be issued without the Aadhaar number. "Thus, they need to give the Aadhaar number as soon as possible, and only the school or the candidate will be responsible for any delay," he said. A total of 2,10,867 students took the class 12th examination, out of which 1,36,008 cleared it. As many as 42,245 students have received compartment and 30,966 failed, the spokesperson said. The pass percentage of government schools, he said, was 65.57 per cent, while that of government-aided schools 66.38 per cent. The pass percentage of private schools was behind the government schools at 63.16 per cent. In this examination, the pass percentage of students of rural areas was 66.92 per cent, whereas the urban area students had a pass percentage of 60.26. The spokesman said that the Board has announced the results of science, commerce and arts streams of Class 12th conducted in March 2017. PTI SUN SMJ --- ENDS --- Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Milk and curd will continue to be exempt from taxation when the Goods and Service Tax (GST) replaces current indirect taxes. 'Mithai' or sweets will attract 5 per cent levy. Daily-use items like sugar, tea, coffee (barring instant coffee) and edible oil will attract the lowest tax rate of 5 per cent, almost the same as current incidence. Prices of foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, will come down as they will be exempt from GST. Currently, some states levy Value Added Tax (VAT) on them. "We have finalised tax rates for a majority of the items as well as the exempt list (at today's meeting)", Jaitley told reporters. The GST rate for all but six out of the 1,211 items was decided on the first day, he said, adding the tax rate for items that would be decided on Friday include gold, footwear, branded items and bidi. "Rates have been finalised for the rest," he said. Also, the GST for packaged food items is yet to be finalised. Friday's meeting will also decide on the rate of tax for services, he said. Seven per cent of the items fall under the exempt list while 14 per cent have been put in the lowest tax bracket of 5 per cent. Another 17 per cent items are in 12 per cent tax bracket, 43 per cent in 18 per cent tax slab and only 19 per cent of goods fall in the top tax bracket of 28 per cent. As many as 81 per cent of the items will attract 18 per cent or less GST. Aerated drinks and cars will be in the 28 per cent bracket. On top of the peak rate, small cars will attract a 1 per cent cess, mid-sized cars will attract 3 per cent and luxury cars 15 per cent. On gold, states demanded a 4 per cent tax even though the rate is not among the 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent approved bands. ACs and refrigerators will fall in the 28 per cent tax slab while life-saving drugs have been kept at 5 per cent rate. Jaitley said that there would be no inflationary impact as most of the rates which are at 31 per cent have been brought down to 28 per cent. Coal will attract GST of 5 per cent as against the current tax incidence of 11.69 per cent. "Cereals will be in the exempt list. But what is to be done with packaged and branded food has to be separately decided. We are yet to decide on that," he said. Jaitley said, "The key feature of Thursday's rate decision has been that tax rate under GST will not go up for any of the commodities. There is no increase. On many commodities, there is a reduction particularly because the cascading effect of tax is gone." Dr Harsh Vardhan, a cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government, has been given the additional charge of the environment ministery after Anil Dave, who held that portfolio, passed away in New Delhi. By India Today Web Desk: Dr Harsh Vardhan has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) after the death of Minister of State Anil Madhav Dave who held the portfolio under an independent charge. Dave was found dead at his official residence in New Delhi. His death came to light after his staff tried to wake him up at 7.30 am today morning. advertisement Dave was appointed as the Minister of State (MoS) with an independent charge of MoEF in the Narendra Modi government on 5 July, 2016. President Pranab Mukherjee, acting on the advice of PM Modi, gave Dr Harsh Vardhan the charge of MoEF today. "The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Dr Harsh Vardhan, Cabinet Minister shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in addition to his exiting portfolios," a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan read. Dr Harsh Vardhan, a senior minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet, holds the charge of the ministries of earth sciences and science and technology. For a brief period in 2014, Harsh Vardhan was the Health Minister in the Modi cabinet. DAVE'S DEATH CONDOLED President Pranab Mukherjee wrote to Abay Dave, brother of late Anil Madhav Dave, condoling the latter's death. "I am sad to learn about the sudden demise of your brother, Shri Anil Madhav Dave," the president said. "Shri Dave rendered commendable service to the nation as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment," Mukherjee also said. "He made important contribution as member of various Parliamentary Committees during his 8 years as Rajya Sabha member. His tenure as Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Environment was distinguished by extensive efforts to conserve nature and protect environment", the president added. Ending the message, Mukherjee said, "Please accept my heartfelt condolences and convey the same to the members of your family. May you all have the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude". Dave's death was condoled by nearly all leading politicians and members of the government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dr Harsh Vardhan too posted a condolence message on Twitter, saying, "Feel sad abt demise of dear ministerial colleague Anil Madhav Dave today morning- was a noble intellectual soul.May His Soul Rest In Peace (sic)." ALSO READ | National flag to fly at half-mast as a mark of respect to Anil Madhav Dave advertisement ALSO READ | Anil Madhav Dave was passionate about Narmada river revival, often cycled to Parliament ALSO WATCH | Environment minister Anil Madhav Dave passes away; PM Modi calls it personal loss --- ENDS --- MovingImage Now Available as SaaS Solution on the Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform Operating on Microsoft Azure ensures that the MovingImage Enterprise Video Platform will remain flexible and highly available at all times for customers worldwide. Berlin, Germany( ) MovingImage today announced that the companys secure Enterprise Video Platform (EVP) is now available as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Operating the solution on Microsoft Azure not only guarantees flexibility and high availability for international users, it also enables them to access a wide range of services on Microsoft Azure that perfectly complement the features of the EVP, such as the text-to-speech function and image recognition services that are offered as part of Microsoft Cognitive Services. We made the strategic decision to cooperate with a global cloud service provider for our enterprise video platform in order to better support our many international customers, says Rainer Zugehor, CEO of MovingImage. We opted for Microsoft after carrying out a thorough evaluation. Microsoft Azure offers an outstanding technology. Our live-webcast application has already been available on Azure for a while. Now customers can also access our entire video management portfolio on Azure. With Microsoft Azure datacenters worldwide, movingimage can offer its international customers more flexibility and scalability. And for those companies that require it, the public-cloud version of EVP on Microsoft Azure can specifically be hosted in European data centers where the data is subject to European data protection regulations. Videos are the communication medium of the future for companies, says Stephanie Keinert, Lead for Partner Streaming Solutions. The high scalability of Microsoft Azure supports and complements the secure Enterprise Video Platform from movingimage. About MovingImage As the leading global provider of secure enterprise video technology, with locations in Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, MovingImage's mission is to revolutionize how enterprises and organizations use video. Their software-as-a-service enables companies to efficiently manage all their video assets centrally and stream them in the best quality on any device. MovingImage boasts an extensive customer portfolio of over 500 companies, including DAX-listed corporations such as the Volkswagen Group, Allianz and Bayer. A veteran Sydney journalist allegedly blackmailed members of a A$165 million (NZ$177 million) tax fraud syndicate after conspirators in the group had a falling out, it can be revealed. Explosive documents tendered in Central Local Court on Thursday state that well-known television journalist and former crime reporter Steve Barrett allegedly blackmailed two members of the syndicate during a meeting at the offices of Clamenz Lawyers on February 1. Eight people were arrested on Thursday over the alleged tax fraud syndicate including Adam and Laura Cranston, the son and daughter of Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston. Michael Cranston has also been issued a future court attendance notice for a charge of abusing his position as a public official. The police documents reveal that one syndicate member, Daniel Rostankovski, turned on other conspirators and allegedly tried to extort money from them. Australian Federal Police AFP handout photo showing the arrest of Adam Cranston outside his Bondi home. At the February 1 meeting, Rostankovski and Barrett allegedly threatened to expose the conspiracy in the media if money wasn't handed over. "Police allege ... Rostankovski and Barrett attempted to blackmail the co-conspirators in relation to their involvement in the conspiracy," the police documents state. Rostankovski allegedly demanded A$5 million or Barrett would expose the group in the media. ROB HOMER/SUPPLIED ATO Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston will be charged over the alleged fraud. Rostankovski felt like he had been deceived by the group as other members were receiving more money than him. The group allegedly agreed to their demands if he didn't go to the media, the police or the ATO. An agreement was signed that outlined such undertakings, the police documents reveal. Rostankovski, a 28-year-old from Waterloo, was granted strict bail in Central Local Court on Thursday. Barrett has not been charged. He did not return Fairfax Media's calls on Thursday. Barrett, who previously worked for 60 Minutes, was a long-time employee as a producer in the Channel 7 newsroom but left the network in March 2016, before the alleged blackmail took place. Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Leanne Close said the syndicate appeared to use the money to fund a "lavish lifestyle". Among the items seized under proceeds of crime were 25 motor vehicles, including luxury cars and racing cars, 12 motorbikes, 18 residential properties, two aircraft, A$1 million from a safe deposit box, firearms, jewellery, bottles of Grange wine and artworks. ATO Second Commissioner Andrew Mills said two other ATO officers were also being investigated internally for potential code of conduct breaches. It's believed they tried to look up information on the ATO's audit at the behest of Michael Cranston. The announcement came after nearly 300 police officers on Wednesday carried out raids across Sydney, Wollongong and the Southern Highlands, arresting nine people. Among those who appeared in court on Thursday are Rostankovski, 28, from Waterloo; Jason Cornell Onley, 47, from Vaucluse; Daniel Hausman, 47, from Woollahra; Christopher James Guillan, 46, from Sutherland; Dev Menon, 33, from Wahroonga and Devyn Hammon, 24, from Balgownie. Police will allege in court that the syndicate members ran a legitimate payroll company, Plutus Payroll, and accepted money from legitimate clients to process payroll on their behalf. "This money was transferred to seven sub-contracted companies known as Tier 2 companies, which then made payroll payments to individual workers or clients," the federal police said in a statement. Tax office investigators, who helped the federal police during the investigation, estimate the amount of tax obligations not paid to the tax office to be A$165 million. Mills described Michael Cranston as one of the organisation's "long-serving senior officers" who had "quite an illustrious [career] up until this point". Mills said he was confident the tax office's systems had not been compromised nor breached and the accused employees were not able to obtain any information. "The investigation has so far not revealed any evidence of actual intervention or influence on audit cases, or of money being refunded, or of tax liability being changed," Mills said. "The information I have to date shows no compromise of the operations of our administration. Our systems, controls and procedures worked effectively and we have been able to successfully isolate and protect the investigation, working well with the Australian Federal Police over many months to build a picture of what has been happening." Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulated the federal police for the investigation and "taking the action that they have". The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce its verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case today (Thursday) at 3:00pm. Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of espionage by a Pakistani military court. The international court had conducted a hearing of the petition filed by India on May 15. Counsels of the two states, Pakistan and India had concluded their arguments following which the panel had reserved the verdict. Pakistan had maintained that it was beyond jurisdiction of the court to hear such a case. Counsel for Pakistan Khawar Qureshi maintained that responsibility to punish terrorists lies with all of the countries. Qureshi said that the issue at hand concerns national stability of Pakistan and ICJ does not have the jurisdiction to rule over such case. Pakistan would not be deterred in fight against terrorism and those sponsoring terror could not shake its resolve, the counsel added. Qureshi said that India owns Jadhav as its national and that there should be no interference on Pakistani soil. India, till date, has not presented Jadhavs birth certificate and passport, he added. Earlier that day, a 13-member Indian legal team presented arguments which were branded weak by experts of the law. The international court had then adjourned the hearing and reserved the verdict. This is the second time that Pakistan and India have taken an issue to the International Court of Justice. Earlier in 1999, Indian forces had shot down an unarmed aircraft of Pakistan Navy that flew at least two kilometres inside the territory. ICJ took up the plea filed by Pakistan seeking USD60 million in compensation from New Delhi. However, the ICJ ruled that the issue was beyond its jurisdiction. Kulbhushan Jadhav, an agent of Indias Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was sentenced to death for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities in Karachi and Balochistan. After the verdict, India moved to the International Court of Justice against the death sentence and termed the conviction in its application as egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. India stated that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav. The verdict of International Court of Justice (ICJ) issuing an order staying the execution of Kulbushan Jadhav was already leaked to India ahead of time, said Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakariya. The International Court of Justice on Thursday issued an order staying the execution of Kulbushan Jadhav by Pakistan, a causing shock and disappointment in Pakistan. Reacting to the ICJs verdict, the spokesperson said that he had already watched the verdict on Indian media. The ICJ verdict has fuelled intense speculations with observers including journalists saying that the Indian lobby in the court had influenced and then leaked the verdict. Earlier today, Prominent Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai also leaked the verdict ahead of the time on his twitter. Quoting buzz from the Hague, the journalist said India will be granted consular access while Pakistan will have to suspend spys sentence for now. Citing the declaration, the spokesperson said Pakistans reply to the court has been submitted in line with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, explaining that Pakistan, in some issues, does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ., adding the ICJ has given three similar rulings in the past. The FO has also requested access to Indian spy Jadhavs accomplices. Zakaria said that India did not give a positive response to Pakistans request regarding access to Jadhavs accomplices. The spokesman pointed out that there exists a bilateral pact on consular access between the two countries since 2008. Zakaria said that according to the pacts Article six, the matter of consular access lies solely on the merit of the case. He said India weaved a humanitarian angle in the Indian-spy Kulbushan Jadhavs case to divert the worlds attention from his real actions: fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan. After India stood exposed in state-sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle, he said. He also said that Pakistans stance on the RAW agent is very clear: It is a matter of national security and we will not compromise on it. Judge Dalveer Bhandari has been a Member of the ICJ since 27/4/2012 -- he has served on the Indian Supreme Court & CJ of Bombay High Court pic.twitter.com/T8sOn6H8cL omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) May 18, 2017 The international Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav and ordered providing consular access to him here on Thursday. Pakistan shall take necessary measures to ensure that Jadhav is not executed until the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the court all the measures taken in implementation of the courts order, the order stated. India has the right to seek consular access for Jadhav, it added. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. By Press Trust of India: Trust Lucknow, May 18 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today directed the Uttar Pradesh government not to interfere in the functioning of a vocational training centre run by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Amethi. This may be seen as a setback to Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani who had alleged that the land in Jais in Amethi where the centre is being run has been grabbed by the Trust. advertisement The Lucknow bench of the High Court issued the directions on a writ petition of a self-help group -- Vikas Block Mahila Samuh. The division bench of justices SN Shukla and SK Singh directed the state government to file a response against the petition and fixed the second week of July for the next hearing. Irani, who had unsuccessfully contested from Amethi Lok Sabha seat against Rahul Gandhi in 2014, had alleged that the land in question was meant for a college and the district Sub- divisional magistrate had issued a notice to the Trust. Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala termed it as "a big victory for the women of Amethi" and said the order ensures that vocational training activity at the Jais centre in Amethi will carry on unabated and without interference from the state government. He said this order has effectively stalled the UP governments efforts to close down the Jais Vocational Training Centre in Amethi at the behest of Smriti Irani and the BJPs political manoeuvres. The petitioner had objected to a notice issued by Sub Divisional Magistrate, Tiloi, Amethi on April 22 in which he had asked the petitioner to state as to under which authority the centre was being run under the Rajiv Gandhi Women Development Programme at that place, which is a government land as recorded in revenue records. The petitioners counsel CB Pandey argued that although the land is recorded as government land, it is specified that the same would be used for vocational training. He said there was nothing illegal in case the petitioner carried out vocational training there. Considering that the place in question was earmarked for vocational training, the bench, in an interim direction, restrained the state authorities from disturbing the running of the Centre. "This is a part of a political witch-hunt initiated and carried out by Smriti Irani who has made many speeches and held several meetings with the district administration regarding this issue directing them to take coercive action. advertisement "Such efforts will only end up destroying the livelihood of lakhs of innocent women of Amethi and Uttar Pradesh who have over the years benefited from the training and expertise provided at the Centre," Surjewala said. The Congress leader said the land for the centre was allotted by the government over three decades ago to Manuj Kalyan Kendra, a not-for-profit organisation, for vocational training purposes. The activities carried out at the centre are in fulfilment of the objects for which the land was allotted to Manuj Kalyan Kendra and at their request, he said. He added that the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana "RGMVP" was providing the training for and on behalf of Manuj Kalyan Kendra (MKK). Surjewala said the MKK remains the allottee of the land of the training centre and RGMVP is merely a programme conducting the training. By repeatedly questioning RGMVP on the land, the UP government was deliberately trying to politicise the issue by sending notices to, manhandling and threatening women and physically visiting the premises asking threatening questions, he said. PTI COR NAV SMI SKC AKK --- ENDS --- General VK Singh has also demanded that separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani should not be allowed to live in relative comfort while under house arrest and instead be locked up in central prisons on terrorism charges. WATCH VIDEO By Rahul Kanwal: In an extremely hard hitting interview to India Today, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, General VK Singh has demanded that the Hurriyat Conference be declared a terrorist organisation and separatist leaders like Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate be immediately jailed under the Public Safety Act of Jammu and Kashmir. WATCH VIDEO General Singh has also demanded that people like Syed Ali Shah Geelani should not be allowed to live in relative comfort while under house arrest. advertisement Instead, Singh wants that the Hurriyat leaders be locked up in central prisons on terrorism charges. He congratulated the India Today Group for Hurriyat Truth Tapes and described the special investigation as the most compelling evidence ever gathered against the 'terrorists' in the Hurriyat because the Hurriyat leaders have themselves admitted that they are paid by Pakistan to burn schools in Kashmir. General Singh said the onus is now on the Mehbooba Mufti government to commence immediate and unprecedented clampdown on the Hurriyat Conference leaders who only care about the well being of their own families and are nothing but stooges of Pakistan. India Today aired a special investigative report where Hurriyat's Provincial President (Geelani Faction) Naeem Khan was caught on camera admitting that Pakistan is funding violence in the Kashmir Valley. Several top Kashmiri separatists were also caught on camera confessing to receiving funds from across the border. Some of them also admitted they raised money domestically, pledging to repeat the deadly events of 2016 if financed again. The stunning probe that rips apart the devious designs of anti-India forces in Kashmir includes Hurriyat's Provincial President (Geelani Faction) Naeem Khan, Tehreek-E-Hurriyat's leader Gazi Javed Baba, and JKLF chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar (Bitta Karate). The investigation traces the terror funding trail. Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan stealthily travels down to Delhi to meet India Today reporters, who posed as potential funders. The investigation revealed that Pakistan's agents who are trying to destabilise Kashmir through street violence are hidden in Delhi. The expose was hailed not only by the government and the BJP but also by the Congress. Also read: India Today impact: NIA roped in to probe Pakistan link in Hurriyat tapes, says Kashmir minister Hurriyat hypocrisy: How children of separatist leaders lead a life of luxury India Today reporters threatened after expose on Hurriyat leaders getting funds from Pakistan Caught on Camera: How Pakistan funds Kashmiri separatists to burn the Valley - India Today Exclusive WATCH | Hurriyat tapes: NIA investigating Pakistan link, law will take its course, says J-K minister --- ENDS --- advertisement The International Court of Justice will soon deliver its interim verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence case. From his military court trial to India taking Pakistan to the ICJ, here's everything you need to know about Jadhav death sentence matter. Pakistan claims to possess a passport belonging to Jadhav in which the former Indian Navy officer allegedly bears a Muslim name By India Today Web Desk: After hearing arguments from India and Pakistan earlier this week, the International Court of Justice will today deliver its verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence. An 11-judge ICJ bench will start delivering the verdict at 3.30 pm (IST) at a public sitting in The Hague, Netherlands. The verdict will be regards to India seeking provisional measures against Pakistan in the Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence. India has essentially asked the International Court of Justice to suspend the death sentence awarded to Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, by a military court in Pakistan. advertisement India has contended that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by not providing New Delhi access to Jadhav. During a public hearing on Monday, Harish Slave, representing India, pleaded that until the time the International Court of Justice delivers a final judgement in the Jadhav case, the world court direct Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav is not executed. Pakistan asked the ICJ bench to reject India's request, contending that the International Court of Justice had no jurisdiction on the matter. KULBHUSHAN JADHAV DEATH SENTENCE: A TIMELINE On April 10, Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations released a statement saying that Kulbhushan Jadhav had been sentenced to death after being convicted by a Field General Court Martial on charges of espionage. The death sentence was confirmed by Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Pakistan claimed Jadhav was an operative of India's external intelligence, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). Pakistan said Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan, a southwestern Pakistani province where Islamabad has repeatedly accused RAW of promoting unrest, in March 2016. Trashing Pakistan's claims, India responded on the death sentence by saying that the execution, if carried out, would be termed by New Delhi as 'per-meditated murder.' Slamming Pakistan for carrying out a "farcical" trial, Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said that all efforts would be made to secure Jadhav's release. Responding to Pakistani claims of Jadhav being a RAW agent, India said that he was a former Indian Navy officer turned businessman. Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran during a business trip and was then taken to Balochistan, New Delhi said. In the days after the death sentence against Jadhav was announced, Pakistani officials, including Islamabad's envoy to New Delhi Abdul Basit, said Jhadhav was sentenced under the due process of the law and that he has the complete right to appeal his death sentence and, ultimately, seek mercy. Meanwhile, India yet again sought consular access to Jadhav. On April 26, Pakistan denied India's request for consular access for the 16th time. New Delhi had request Islamabad for consular access to Jadhav ever since his arrest in March 2016. However, each time Pakistan refused saying that since Jadhav was being charged with espionage, it was under no obligation to grant India consular access. On May 8, India finally moved the International Court of Justice, charging Pakistan with "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations" in the matter of the detention and trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav. This was the first time in 18 years that India and Pakistan arrived at ICJ doorsteps and the first time since 1971 that New Delhi took Islamabad to the World Court. Responding to India's petition, ICJ president Ronny Abraham wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asking Islamabad to desist from executing Jadhav until the court heard the matter. The public hearing was held on May 15 at The Hague, Netherlands. At the hearing, India, which was represented by senior lawyer Harish Salve, reiterated its stand that the Pakistani military court's trial violated in international law and that the death sentence awarded to Jadhav should be annulled. India further criticised Pakistan for not making public the evidence it claimed to have against Jadhav. Khawar Qureshi, who represented Pakistan, countered by bringing up Islamabad's stand that the Vienna Convention does not apply since Jadhav was charged under espionage. Pakistan went on to say that India was invoking the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice for 'political theatre.' ALSO READ: India, Pakistan face-off at ICJ after 18 years: When India had shot down a Pakistani aircraft in 1999 Is International Court of Justice stay on Kulbhushan Jadhav hanging binding on Pakistan? All about how ICJ functions Pakistan condemned Kulbhushan Jadhav, but India provided fair trials to 27 Pakistani spies, say sources India suspended talks, not us, says Pakistan's envoy to US ALSO WATCH: India's full argument of Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in ICJ Pakistan's full argument of Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in ICJ --- ENDS --- PM Modi also expressed satisfaction at today's order where ICJ asked Pakistan not to execute alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. By India Today Web Desk: After India scored a victory over Pakistan in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called up External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj where he lauded veteran lawyer Harish Salve's effort in the International Court of Justice. Salve, was also part of the team that successfully argued at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against a bid by Marshall Islands to sue India for violating the nuclear disarmament obligations, has won praise from all quarters for his strong arguments in the court. advertisement PM Modi also expressed satisfaction at today's order where ICJ asked Pakistan not to execute alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. Swaraj was also all praise for Salve. She tweeted saying, "We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ." She also complimented her team of officers in the ministry of external affairs for their tireless efforts and hard work. HOW HARISH SALVE TILTED THE DECISION IN INDIA'S FAVOUR Many believe that Harish Salve, with his rich experience and thorough knowledge of international legal cases, was responsible for today's provisional order in the ICJ which went in India's favour. It was upon his insistence in the court that the judges didn't allow Pakistan to screen Jadhav's so-called confessional video. Presenting its arguments against Pakistan for violating the Vienna Convention and denying consular access to Jadhav, the senior lawyer Harish Salve had cited the examples of ICJ rulings in cases pertaining to Mexico, Nicaragua and Germany. WHO IS HARISH SALVE? Salve, one of the most expensive lawyers in the country who is known to charge as high as anywhere between Rs 6 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per appearance in the Supreme Court or the Delhi High Court, charged only Re one for this case which was in the national interest. Also a former solicitor general of India, some of his most high-profile clients include Salman Khan, Mukesh Ambani, Lalit Modi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Amarinder Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Keshub Mahindra and Vodafone India. His convincing arguments, which were also at display during the International Court of Justice hearing on Monday, make him arguably the best legal eagles in the country. In the past, Salve has worked with former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee. Salve, a former solicitor general of India, who has made his base in London, is a chartered accountant and a commerce and law graduate. He started his career as a chartered accountant but later on moved to the legal profession with his initial professional experience under Nani Palkhivala and Soli Sorabjee, two great legal minds of India. advertisement Salve became a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court in 1992 and the solicitor general of India in 1999. Also read: ICJ orders Pakistan to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed before final orders, big victory for India Harish Salve, who charged Re 1 in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, drives a Bentley, loves playing piano Harish Salve charged Re 1 to fight Kulbhushan Jadhav case at International Court of Justice Also watch: How India's legal rep Salve unwinded after arguing Jadhav's case at ICJ --- ENDS --- The New Zealander who died in the Polish mountains last week has been identified. He was 23-year-old Tauranga man Elliot Buckley, who died while hiking in the Tatra Mountains. Elliots parents, Ken and Colleen Buckley, are currently travelling to Poland with his with his brother, Isaac, to bring him home. His body was found by tourists in an area known as Green Pond, in the Gasienicowa Valley. It is understood Elliot began his hike in the national park on May 10th, before his body was found above the snowline on the morning of May 11th. According to Polish news website Fakt24, rescuers admitted he almost certainly died as a result of injuries sustained following a fall. The New Zealand Consulate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are currently assisting the Buckley family. -Newsie. From today 28 pupils from Merivale and Gate Pa schools will be able to ride their own bikes where they like. The children have been surprised with a gift of a brand new bike and helmet thanks to New Zealand Retail Property Group and Variety the Childrens Charity, as part of Varietys Bikes for Kids programme. The pupils, aged seven to nine, had no idea what was in store for them when they arrived at Fraser Cove Shopping Centre this morning after being told they were off to see some art, and instead discovered they were going home with a brand new BMX-style Raleigh 20 bike. They were all nominated by their schools and community groups as children who show leadership abilities, or for their resilience under difficult circumstances. And none of them have owned a new bike of their own before. We want these students to have the independence and freedom that comes with riding a bike, says Variety chief executive officer Lorraine Taylor. By giving the bikes as part of this presentation with NZRPG, we benefit the children here and provide an incentive for their peers to follow in their footsteps. The partnership between NZRPG and Variety has seen almost $75,000 invested since 2016 to help children in communities surrounding the groups shopping centres and businesses. Part of this commitment to the community is gifting bikes to deserving kids from local schools like Merivale and Gate Pa, says NZRPG marketing and communications general manager Sara Johnson. As our organisation has grown, so has our commitment to our local communities, and especially to the children of the Bay of Plenty. Kids here today have a chance to enjoy the freedom that comes with riding a bike, and were delighted to see them take their new wheels out for a spin. With all eyes on Bermuda, its enigmatic allure is evident, with the America's Cup placing this destination on the map as one of the most visually arresting yachting destinations yet. Made ideal by its natural water playground, its water gates open up to some of the best sailors across the globe, promising an unmatched experience for sailing teams and spectators alike. The Charm of a Community What defines Bermuda's appeal, alongside its white washed beaches, calm waters and idyllic temperature is its close knit community, distinguished from the Caribbean in a character in charm unlike anywhere else. Giving this destination the bow it deserves, the monumental America's Cup has shone light on an already Nicole of Nicole of Royal Bermuda Yacht Club explains It is an absolute joy to be involved in the Americas Cup, Bermuda has a very special character unlike anywhere else in the Caribbean. It is friendly and incredibly community driven, and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club are thrilled to be a part of it. The Event Calendar Co-organising the Superyacht Regatta and J Class Regatta, The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club will attract an extensive fleet of superyachts, both sail and power, expected to descend on the island to witness the exciting Americas Cup action. As reputable hosts of international sailing events, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club will continue its legacy in uniting sailing enthusiasts to some of the most eagerly anticipating sailing events on the yachting calander. Member Exclusivity Setting Royal Bermuda Yacht Club apart is its exclusivity, offering its members bespoke berthing facilities in the heart of Bermuda. Its idyllic waterfront location and premium harbour entertain members all year-round, making it an undisputed home-away-from home, delightful stop-off and warm community as you make your way across the Atlantic. Stay tuned for all updates on Superyachts.com Bermuda series, as we shine the light on the destination with a difference on the approach to the America's Cup. Faper Group, the holding company founded by Fabio Perini, signed a partnership agreement recently with Fenix Srl, a family company led by Dino Tabacchi and represented in this operation by his son Edoardo Tabacchi. This operation represents a capital injection of 27 million, respective shareholdings of 50.01% for the Faper Group and 49.99% for Fenix srl; meaning a new future for Perini Navi. The management of this company has a long history, explains Lamberto Tacoli. Its a great deal because of the Italians that did them. The Perini family started this relationship with the Tabacchi family, they are both extremely passionate for the business. Its an Italian company that remains 100% Italian. This operation, comments Fabio Boschi, CEO of Faper Group, is an example of the immense value of Italian excellence. We have worked intensely to renew the company and adapt it to the changing demands of the market. We are proud to see that this effort has been recognised by one of the most important families of Italian entrepreneurs. We are also enthusiastic about the involvement of Lamberto Tacoli, entrusted by Edoardo Tabacchi to lead the company, who will contribute his experience and business acumen to Perini Navi and Picchiotti. They have put me in charge of this big, huge responsibility, adds Tacoli, any shipyard in the world has up and downs, our business is very connected to alot of different situations that happen around the world. I think, Perini now has a new opportunity with a new capital increase, and a new boost in terms of management, to start again with a lot of wind in the sail. Edoardo Tabacchi commented: It is an honour for me and my family to enter into the world of yachting with the most recognised company in the sector. Meeting Fabio Perini, whom I have no doubt is the most important inventor in the nautical sector, was the beginning of an extraordinary adventure which am sure will endure well into the future. Ive known the Tabacchi family for a long time and hold them in high regard, declared Fabio Perini, Founder of Perini Navi. I am extremely happy to share with Edoardo the future of Perini Navi, who is perfectly aligned with the companys values and DNA. Fabio Perini remains as Honorary President, Lamberto Tacoli becomes Chairman and CEO, Fabio Boschi and Edoardo Tabacchi have been appointed as Vice Presidents. In addition, two other members will be appointed to the Board of Directors. Reports from across the border suggests that Pakistan will not accept the verdict. By India Today Web Desk: While delivering the order on the Kulbhushan Jadhav issue, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today made it clear that its verdict is binding on Pakistan. But Pakistan may or may not agree to execute the order. After the verdict was announced, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria put up a defiant face saying they do not accept jurisdiction of ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country. advertisement ICJ President Ronny Abraham had however asserted that they have jurisdiction over the case. The court also backed India's contention that there has been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its national, whom Pakistan believes is a spy, had been denied 16 times. Sand art in support of Kulbhushan Jadhav (Image credit: @sudarsansand) Reports from across the border suggests that Pakistan will not accept the verdict. IF PAKISTAN REJECTS VERDICT? If Pakistan temporarily agrees to accept the stay on execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, it may take part in the hearing on the merit of the case. If the final verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case goes against Pakistan, it again may or may not agree to accept it. The United States has already done so in the Nicaragua case and went ahead with the execution of the foreign national. If Pakistan chooses to go the US way, India can take the matter to the United Nations Security Council under Article 94 of the United Nations Charter. WHAT CAN HAPPEN AT THE UN? 1. The UNSC may refuse to intervene. 2. It may force Pakistan to enforce the order. If Pakistan remains adamant, the UN may impose sanctions. India's diplomatic ability will be put to severe test if and when the matter goes to the UNSC. India and China have sparred over several issues in recent times and also Beijing considers Islamabad its all-weather friend. Under the given circumstances, it is very unlikely that China would allow punitive action against Pakistan or let Pakistan be shamed at an international forum. For India it will become an opportunity to show some diplomatic maneuvering as China requires its help and support for its ambitious One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. If India gives an assurance to China that barring the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in PoK, it would cooperate with them, Beijing may actually choose not to use its veto citing international order. One of the permanent members of the UNSC may veto the motion and the matter will end there. Then there is no mechanism through the UN or India can force Pakistan to honour the international law. advertisement 3. One last option before the UNSC is to cite threats to international peace and security and take punitive action against Pakistan forcing it execute the order of the ICJ. But the UN has never exercised this option till date. Also read: Pakistan on Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict: No change in our stance, will expose true face of India How International Court of Justice decided in India's favour in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: An explainer Also watch: Pakistan cannot execute Kulbhushan Jadhav till final verdict: ICJ --- ENDS --- The International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav until the court can hear the dispute in full. By India Today Web Desk: In a huge win for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today ordered Pakistan not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav - accused of spying by Pakistan and later given death sentence by a Pakistani military court - till a final decision is taken by the United Nations court. "It is appropriate for the court to order that Pakistan take all measures at its disposal to ensure mister Jadhav is not executed before this court has given its final decision," said presiding ICJ judge Ronny Abraham, reading the court's unanimous decision. advertisement The ruling further asks Pakistan to inform the International Court of Justice of all measures taken by Islamabad to ensure that Jadhav is not executed. While ordering Pakistan not to execute Jadhav, Judge Abraham noted that Jadhav has been granted a 150-day period to seek clemency. The period ends in August, which means that Jadhav's execution could happen immediately thereafter, Abraham further noted. While reading out the verdict in The Hague today, Abraham also rejected Pakistan's contention that the world court had no jurisdiction in the Jadhav death sentence case. Judge Abraham said that prima facie, the court has the jurisdiction. The ICJ's ruling came after New Delhi asked to World Court to indicate provisional measures stopping Pakistan from executing Jadhav until the ICJ can hear the merits of the case in full. The India case against Pakistan rested primarily on the argument that the latter had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Access by not allowing New Delhi consular access to Jadhav. THE JADHAV CASE IN ICJ New Delhi took Islamabad to the The Hague, Netherlands-based International Court of Justice after a Pakistani military court convicted Jadhav of espionage and sentenced him to death. India has contended that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Access by not allowing New Delhi consular access to Jadhav. At the ICJ hearing on Monday, India, represented by Harish Salve, further said Jadhav's sentence violated international law and asked the 11-judge court to issue a provisional ruling that would prevent Pakistan from executing Jadhav until the ICJ can hear the matter in detail. Since Jadhav's arrest in March 2016, India has sought consular access 16 times. Pakistan has rejected each and every request, claiming that since Jadhav is charged under espionage, Islamabad does not need to grant New Delhi consular access to him. Apart from this argument, Pakistan, during the public hearing at the ICJ on Monday, also said that World Court has no jurisdiction in the matter and hence, India's request must be rejected. advertisement India invoked the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention to contend that the ICJ has jurisdiction in the case. The Optional Protocol says that all disputes relating to alleged violation of the Vienna Convention fall under the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy-turned businessman, was sentenced to death in April this year by a Pakistani military court. Jadhav was found guilty of a being a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent and of fermenting unrest in Pakistan's Balochistan, from where, Islamabad claims, Jadhav was arrested. India slammed Pakistan for conducting a "farcical", secretive trial and said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran and later brought to Balochistan. Vowing to do everything necessary to secure Jadhav's release, New Delhi said that Jadhav's death sentence, if carried out, would be treated by India as "pre-meditated murder". Also watch: Kulbhushan Jadhav will not hang till final verdict: ICJ ALSO READ | What happened inside ICJ as court delivered Jadhav verdict ALSO READ | Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence: All that has happened ALSO READ | India, Pakistan face-off at ICJ after 18 years: When India had shot down a Pakistani aircraft in 1999 advertisement ALSO WATCH | India's full argument of Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in ICJ --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: The Hague, May 18 (PTI) Indias lead attorney Harish Salve who represented Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhavs case at the International Court of Justice cited three previous death penalty and Vienna Convention-related cases fought at the world court during the trial. The three cases were Mexico vs US, Germany vs US and Paraguay vs US. advertisement Mexico vs US: In 2003, Mexico took the US to the ICJ over a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention with respect to 54 Mexican nationals who were sentenced to death in the US. They requested the court to ensure that the US should not execute or set execution dates for any Mexican national before the court passed judgment. The ICJ ruled that its jurisdiction lay only in establishing whether the US breached its obligations as listed under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention and not functioning as "a court of criminal appeal". However, the US Supreme Court held that the order of the ICJ was not binding unless Congress has enacted statutes implementing it or unless the treaty itself is "self- executing." Germany vs US: In the second case, German national Walter LaGrand and his brother Karl were arrested in US state of Arizona in 1982 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. In 1999, Germany instituted proceedings against the US for allegedly failing to inform the duo of their right to consular access, guaranteed by the Vienna Convention. The appeal was filed on the eve of the brothers execution. However, Karl was executed before the case started and Germany demanded that the US compensate his family and halt Walters execution till proceedings were pending. In its verdict the following day, the ICJ asked the US to ensure Walter was not executed during proceedings. He was executed in a gas chamber in Arizona after the ruling. Paraguay vs US: The third case was again filed against the US when Paraguay dragged America to the ICJ in 1998 alleging that the state of Virginia had violated Vienna Convention by failing to inform Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan, of his right to contact the Paraguayan consulate for assistance after his arrest. The Hague had called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. However, Breard was executed on April 14, five days after the verdict. Paraguay later withdrew the case. PTI NSA UZM --- ENDS --- advertisement By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) India and Belgium are expected to sign an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters as both countries held discussions on it today. The negotiations on the proposed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in criminal matters between India and Belgium were held here, an official statement said. The Belgian delegation was led by Steven Limbourg, general counsellor and head of the directorate-III criminal law of the directorate general legislation, fundamental rights and freedoms, while the Indian delegation was led by Bipin Mallick, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs. advertisement The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, the statement said. PTI ACB KUN --- ENDS --- Pakistan has claimed that India is building its nuclear capability at a rapid pace and also raised questions over New Delhi's bid for a seat in the NSG. India has the fastest growing nuclear programme in the world, Pakistan said. (File Photo) By India Today Web Desk: Amid heightened tension between the two neighbouring nations in the wake of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan has said that India is capable of producing 2600 nuclear weapons. Claiming the India has the fastest growing nuclear programme in the world, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told reporters in Islamabad that India's nuclear aspirations pose a threat to strategic stability in the south Asian region. advertisement "Pakistan has been underscoring the risk of diversion by India to imported nuclear fuel, equipment and technology received pursuant to civil nuclear accord and 2008 energy waiver by Nuclear Suppliers Group," Radio Pakistan quoted Zakaria, as saying. The top Pakistan official also raised concerns over India's bid for a permanent membership at the NSG, saying the world community should check the risks involved in allowing New Delhi a seat in the elite group. Graphic by Tanmoy Chakraborty 'INDIA RETHINKING NO FIRST USE NUCLEAR POLICY' Pakistan's statement regarding India enhancing its nuclear capability has come just days after reports suggested that New Delhi may be rethinking its nuclear doctrine. India may abandon its 'no first use' nuclear policy and launch a preemptive strike against Pakistan if it feared that Islamabad was likely to use the weapons first, a top nuclear expert on South Asia has claimed. "There is increasing evidence that India will not allow Pakistan to go first," Vipin Narang, an expert on South Asian nuclear strategy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had said. He also pointed out that India's preemptive strike may not be conventional strikes and would also be aimed at Pakistan's missiles launchers for tactical battlefield nuclear warheads. ALSO READ: India may abandon its no first use nuclear policy: Expert India building secret nuclear city, claims Pakistan Pakistan's new nuke threat: Why India has to worry By testing missile with 10 nuclear warheads, is China preparing for a military showdown with US? WATCH: Pakistan defence minister threatens India, says "we'll use special bombs" --- ENDS --- This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? Google likes to implement its AI and machine learning tech into a number of products, such as the Allo messaging service and Google Photos. At the I/O event yesterday, the company announced it is bringing the same technologies to another area: a job search product. CEO Sundar Pichai said Google For Jobs would arrive in the coming weeks in the US (global launch to follow) as part of Google Search. "Just like we focused our contributions on teachers and students through Google for Education, we want to better connect employers and job seekers," Pichai explained on stage. "Whether you're in community college looking for a barista job, a teacher who's relocating across the country and wants a teaching a job, or someone who's looking for work in construction, the product should do a great job of finding that for you," the CEO added. Users will be able to filter jobs by location, title, category or type, date posted, number of hours, etc. It can also show information such as commute time. Pichai said Google for Jobs would return more accurate search results than other sites thanks to its machine learning capabilities. Somewhat surprisingly, Google for Jobs is initially partnering with LinkedIn, Facebook, Careerbuilder Monster, Glassdoor, and other similar services. Google has been testing a cloud jobs API for the last year that allows "company career sites, job boards, applicant tracking systems, and staffing agencies to improve the job search experience of job seekers who visit their sites and apps." Johnson and Johnson said the API resulted in an 18 percent increase in applicants. The machine learning comes into effect when users search for terms that aren't universally used. "Retail Jobs," for example, will also show positions that employers have described as "store clerks," "sales associates," "store managers," and so on. "I'm personally enthusiastic for this initiative because it addresses an important need and taps our core capabilities as a company from searching and organizing information to A.I. and machine learning," said Pichai. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 18(PTI) Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today highlighted the importance of intelligence gathering and the use of modern technology for strengthening rail security. "Challenges of secured travel are increasing day by day not only in India but even globally. So security has assumed greater significance," the minister said at a round table conference here on rail security. A steep rise in accidents caused by suspected sabotage such as tampering of tracks has become a matter of concern for the railways. With its wide and open network, the sector is especially vulnerable to sabotage. advertisement At the conference, the ministry sought ideas from other stakeholders to arrive at solutions for improving rail security. "We need to take preventive measures to prevent occurrences of crime and for this intelligence gatherings have to be improved. Technology will play a very big role in this," Prabhu said. Citing the example of Konkan Railway, he said it had a centralised monitoring system which should be replicated elsewhere. The minister said a forensic laboratory was also being set up for the Railway Protection Force (RPF). "The RPF continues to coordinate with state police as law and order is a state subject," he said. Prabhu said he had written to chief ministers asking for help in the seamless policing of the rail network. PTI ARU BDS --- ENDS --- Uber was reportedly looking to team up with Tesla for self-driving cars last year, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk rejected the proposal. The matter went under the radar so far, but it has now come to light that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick went to Musk to pitch the idea, but Musk said it was "too far out" and Uber would be better off focusing on its ride-hailing business. Wild Ride News surfaced thanks to the upcoming book Wild Ride, written by Adam Lashinsky from Fortune. Bloomberg got a copy of the book before it hits the market next week, and revealed Uber's partnership plans with Tesla. In the book, Kalanick recalls the discussion with Musk over the partnership proposal and how it all went down. "I said, 'Look man, we should partner. Elon spent the rest of the call convincing me that it's too far out, and it's not realistic, that I should just stick to what we do best and be focused, or I'm going to f--- it all up. That's when I knew Tesla was competing.'" Uber Wanted To Join Forces With Tesla Against Apple The chat took place after Apple made a hefty $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing, at the time one of Uber's biggest rivals in China. Kalanick approached Musk thinking they could team up against Apple. At that point, Tesla was equipping its cars with the semi-autonomous Autopilot driving system, while Uber was working on its own autonomous driving tech. In the book, Kalanick highlights that Musk played coy when they talked about a potential partnership, but he later found out that self-driving cars were already a priority for Tesla. Just days after talking with Kalanick, Musk reportedly laid out a plan for Tesla's strategy and priorities for the next decade. The plan included a concept for a ride-hailing service similar to Uber, which would enable Tesla owners to rent their vehicles to others for profit. Bloomberg further notes that a person close to Musk confirmed that the Tesla CEO refused Kalanick's offer for a partnership, but did not try to talk him out of pursuing self-driving car ambitions with Uber. Uber's Troubles Uber has been having a tough time recently on several fronts, including with its self-driving car business. The company is currently involved in a legal dispute with Waymo, after ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski left to join Uber and apparently stole thousands of documents in the process. A judge recently denied Uber's request for private arbitration instead of going to trial, but at least Uber can continue working on its technology as long as Levandowski goes nowhere near its LiDAR systems. Levandowski had already stepped down as Uber's self-driving car chief as the lawsuit with Waymo intensified. Uber still faces an uphill battle and increased competition, especially since Waymo just teamed up with Lyft to work on self-driving car technology. Things might have worked out differently for Uber if it scored a partnership with Tesla, but we'll never know. An Uber initial public offering has been rumored, but in this context it seems highly unlikely it will happen anytime soon. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. To say the legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm has been tense would be an understatement. The two companies have been after each other since January of this year, and it looks like the two are not showing signs of backing off or reaching a settlement. Qualcomm Fires Back On Wednesday, May 17 Qualcomm filed lawsuits against four Taiwan-based companies with ties to Apple. The companies in question are Foxconn, Compal, Wistron, and Pegatron, four of the manufacturers responsible for building iPads and iPhones. The lawsuit is for unpaid royalties owed to Qualcomm for use of its patented tech in Apple-branded smart devices. The reason for Qualcomm going through these companies, rather than Apple, is because of the way Apple handles licenses. Rather than paying these license fees directly, companies and manufacturers pay the license to, say, Qualcomm, and Apple, in turn, reimburses said company. The lawsuit infers that Apple told the four companies in question to stop paying the license to Qualcomm and break the contracts with the San Diego tech company. Heated Back And Forth The whole legal battle began back in January, when Apple filed the first of many suits and countersuits. The first lawsuit claimed that Qualcomm had been asking and charging substantial royalties for tech licenses that weren't its own. Apple also claimed that Qualcomm owed it $1 billion, refusing to pay it due to Apple working with a Korean regulatory investigation into Qualcomm. Qualcomm then fired back in April with a countersuit against Apple. In it, it claimed that Apple had conspired with other tech companies, like Samsung, to attack the company via a regulatory investigation and by providing false information to the investigators about Qualcomm. During an investor call, Qualcomm also claimed that Apple was purposely withholding royalties. Apple said it's waiting until the legal dispute is settled before paying license fees. Qualcomm, on the other hand, said this is to force the chipmaker to agree to the license changes Apple wants from it. Not The Only Front This is only a part of the problem that has kept Qualcomm's legal teams busy. Just before the first Apple lawsuit was filed, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust suit against the company, claiming that Qualcomm lowered license fees to drive manufacturers to it while forcing out competition. This had more fuel added to it when Intel and Samsung joined the FTC suit. Right now, Qualcomm's chips are some of the most commonly used modem chips in phones, allowing them to connect to the different cellular networks available. But if any of these suits against Qualcomm are successful, the company could find itself in deep trouble. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Shadow Brokers, the hacking group behind the release of the WannaCry malware, has announced that it will be releasing more of its stolen data on a monthly basis. In a blog post, the group said that the data would be available to anyone willing to pay a subscription fee. The Goods The hackers have not offered proof that they possess any more data, but have alleged that their collection includes Windows 10 exploits, banking information, and "compromised network data from Russian, Chinese, Iranian, or North Korean nukes and missile programs." In a post on their blog, the hackers announced that they would be launching a monthly data dump service, comparing it to a "wine of the month club" for hackers. The group said that the data would be locked behind a subscription fee, but, beyond that, they do not care who buys the data or for what purpose it is used. The group appears to have no qualms regarding the harm that could come from the sale of the stolen data as the subscription service appears to be open to anyone, from tech enthusiasts to terrorist organizations. In fact, the only thing we really know about the group's choice of clientele is their frustration that no tech companies or national governments were willing to pay the ransom. The group called out several countries, international organizations, and multinational companies by name, including the UN, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Interestingly enough, one of the countries mentioned in the blog post is "Korea," which casts doubt on the theory that North Korea was behind the recent WannaCry attacks. Of course, anything the Shadow Brokers say should be taken with full shaker of salt. WannaCry While the hackers behind the actual WannaCry attacks have not been identified, we do know that the malware itself was obtained from the Shadow Brokers, who stole it from the NSA. Microsoft had previously patched the vulnerability, but many computers had not installed the updates and were left exposed. Most troubling was the fact that hospitals often used older machines running outdated operating systems, which were left open to the WannaCry exploit. The leaked WannaCry software has also caused a rift between Microsoft and the U.S. government, with the Redmond-based company criticizing the NSA for holding on to exploits. "Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage," said Microsoft's Brad Smith. "An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen. And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today - nation-state action and organized criminal action." 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The vast majority of measles cases occurring in the United States can be put down to Americans who have traveled abroad without being immunized against the disease. Although measles has been officially eradicated in the United States since 2000, sporadic outbreaks continue to happen because unvaccinated people visiting foreign countries contract the disease elsewhere and bring back the virus upon returning home. This puts their families and entire communities at risk of becoming infected, underlines a new study published May 16 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the paper, every year, millions of U.S. residents fly to foreign destinations without getting the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. The reasons why these travelers skip the recommended measles jab are diverse, but in most instances, it all comes down to people's refusal to get vaccinated. More Than Half Of US Travelers Bypass Measles Vaccination The study, conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, aimed to get to the bottom of this situation and investigate both the process through which clinicians assess which travelers qualify for the measles vaccine and why some of the eligible people refuse vaccination. The team analyzed data provided by 24 different travel clinics associated with the GlobalTravEpiNet (GTEN) consortium a national network of clinics coordinated by Massachusetts General Hospital and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two dozens GTEN clinics provided information regarding 40,810 adults born after 1957 who were evaluated between 2009 and 2014. Since the first measles vaccine didn't become available until the early 1960s, people born before 1957 are extremely likely to have had the disease and built immunity to the virus. The general recommendations state that people who aren't immune to measles should receive two doses of the MMP vaccine before traveling abroad. However, the study uncovered that more than half of U.S. travelers who should have been immunized didn't get vaccinated against measles before leaving the country. The research revealed that although 6,612 people (16 percent of the cohort study) were eligible for vaccination, more than half of them 53 percent, or 3,477 people weren't vaccinated when they visited the travel clinic. "Of U.S. adult travelers who presented for pretravel consultation at GTEN sites, 16 percent met criteria for MMR vaccination according to the provider's assessment, but fewer than half of these travelers were vaccinated," the authors write in the abstract of their paper. Why Americans Traveling Abroad Aren't Getting the MMP Vaccine The reasons why these nearly 3,500 people bypassed vaccination are as just as alarming as the potential consequences of this worrisome situation. According to the research, 48 percent of them (or 1,689 people) simply refused getting the measles vaccine. Data from the GTEN clinics pointed out three quarters of these travelers opted to skip vaccination because they weren't concerned about the measles, whereas about a fifth of them expressed concern about vaccine safety. The others mentioned cost as justification for denying immunization. Another reason why half the people who qualified for the vaccine left the country without it has to do with the healthcare provider's decision not to administer it. The study further documented that 966 people (28 percent) weren't vaccinated because the provider thought they didn't need it. Lastly, an additional 822 people (24 percent) didn't get the MMR vaccine due to health system barriers, such as the vaccine not being available at the clinic. Study authors note that unvaccinated MMR-eligible travelers were more likely to have been evaluated in the South and at nonacademic health centers. It was also here that nonvaccination due to traveler refusal was most frequent 1,432 people (63 percent) in the South and 1,178 people (66 percent) in nonacademic centers. Why Measles Immunization Matters Given that millions of U.S. residents fly to foreign countries each year, the study's results suggest that nearly 5 million of them could be at risk for measles. "An increase in MMR vaccination of eligible U.S. adult travelers could reduce the likelihood of importation and transmission of measles virus," study authors show in their paper. In a separate editorial related to the research, Dr. Lori Handy of Thomas Jefferson University and Dr. Paul Offit of the University of Pennsylvania pointed out, "exotic infections, such as malaria and yellow fever, preoccupy travelers," but "measles should be just as feared." In their editorial, Handy and Offit remind the public that the 2014 measles outbreak that wreaked havoc in the United States was triggered by a combination of two factors: infected travelers importing the virus and the low vaccination rate of certain populations. "This outbreak was linked to travel to the Philippines, which was in the midst of a measles epidemic. In 2015, a multistate outbreak associated with Disneyland likely was the result of a park visitor who had traveled overseas; 188 cases were reported that year," note the authors in their article, published on the same day as the Massachusetts General Hospital study. Similarly, the current Minnesota measles outbreak, which according to an update from the Minnesota Department of Health has now reached 60 confirmed cases, is also associated with unvaccinated people in the Somali community living in Minneapolis. All but three of the outbreak patients were not vaccinated. Handy and Offit advocate for strongly encouraging measles vaccination before flying abroad and believe the task to help educate travelers about the implications of the disease its potential illness severity, contagiousness, and threat to the wider population should fall on health providers. Their view is also supported by lead study author Dr. Emily Hyle, who is an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "It is a message that we hope will get out to all international travelers, even people who aren't considering their itineraries to be high-risk," she said in a statement. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Traveling has never been a simple venture for anyone to undertake, but the recent travel ban instituted on large electronics in airline cabins hasn't helped the situation. And if the ban gets extended into the summer, it could cause more headaches and prove quite costly. Most Frustrating Way To Travel The original ban, put in place in March, banned large electronics, like laptops, in airline cabins on U.S.- and UK-bound flights from several predominantly Muslim nations. The ban was sparked by a government belief that terrorist groups had put renewed efforts into making bombs that could be hidden in devices, like tablets and laptops, making these harder to detect. This implies that a finished bomb could get through airport security, which, in some cases, still lacks the tools to detect certain materials. A would-be bomber could also slip the pieces onto a plane separately to make the bomb in flight. The ban, expected to run through October this year, may also be extended in the States to include nonstop inbound flights from Europe. European and U.S. representatives were expected to meet this week to discuss the potential ban extension. This extension could, potentially, jump the number of affected flights up from 50 to more than 400 flights a day. The situation is made more complicated because if the ban was extended, it would be a quick implementation - leaving airlines little time to make the necessary adjustments. Any Alternatives? In response to this news, the International Air Transport Association, a global airlines group that represents more than 250 airlines, asked for the representatives to find an alternative to a larger ban. It echoed the sentiments of airlines, saying that the ban could create more problems than it may solve. It could also cost passengers more than a billion dollars. The ban could also create new safety risks, given the fire risk modern batteries could present in the plane's hold. The timing of this couldn't come at a worse time for travelers, given the amount of traveling that occurs over the summer. The aforementioned costs create a new headache - one without a remedy - for both sides, considering the busy travel season. It could be even worse for the airlines themselves, considering that airlines are reliant on selling upgraded seats and the need to train and re-train staff around the extension. So while flying is the fastest, safest way to travel across continents, the electronics ban could make it the most complicated too. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In a race to develop smaller and lighter technology, companies usually spend millions of dollars. From smartphones to computers, latest devices are smaller and more compact than the earlier iterations. Space agencies are no different and they are persevering to create smaller satellites and payloads, which are easier to deliver to the Earth's orbit vis-a-vis larger ones. A teen from India has the solution to the problem. The 18-year-old accomplished something even NASA scientists have been unable to create the smallest satellite ever. KalamSat: The Smallest Satellite The 3D-printed satellite dubbed KalamSat is just 1.5 inches in size and weighs just 2.25 ounces, making it the smallest and the lightest satellite. To put things into perspective, the KalamSat is even lighter than an iPhone! The satellite is the brainchild of Rifath Sharook who made it using lightweight carbon fiber. The enterprising teen used a 3D printer to develop the fiber. Come June 21, NASA will launch the smallest satellite aboard a rocket from a facility on Wallops Island. KalamSat will take a 4-hour long journey to operate for 12 minutes in microgravity. "We built it completely from scratch. It will have a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation and the magnetosphere of the Earth," Sharook revealed in an interview. The teenager shared that the primary purpose for sending KalamSat into space was to ascertain whether the reinforced carbon fiber 3D-printed element was sturdy enough to bear the various pressures during the microgravity flight. KalamSat: What Prompted The Name? Sharook chose to name his creation KalamSat after former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who was also a scientist and greatly supported scientific pursuits. The science protege entered his satellite in a NASA organized competition titled the "Cubes In Space." School students from across the world were told to invent a device that could fit inside a 13-foot cube and weighed no more than 2.25 ounces. The contest received over 86,000 entries from 57 countries out of which 80 were chosen. Among these final 80 inventions, Sharook's tiny KalamSat managed to impress judges and he won the competition. Other Similar Teen Scientists NASA has a habit of accepting help from external sources and the agency believes scientific knowledge may come from people of all ages, races, and creed. In March, NASA was in the news when a 17-year-old UK teen corrected some of its data, which was gathered from the International Space Station. Another 17-year-old's creation named the miniPCR is also set to be sent aboard the ISS. This device is said to be capable of analyzing space-faring microbes on the spot and will be of immense help in scientific research and study on the space station. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A couple from Magnolia in Arkansas is facing felony as their baby has suffered a maximum of 100 rodent bites. 19-year old Erica Michelle Shryock and 18-year-old Charles Elliott were previously held at a Columbia County facility for endangering the welfare of a minor-first degree, but the charge has since been updated to a Class B felony. Case Details Deputy prosecuting attorney Ryan Phillips said that last Sunday at around 11:30 a.m., police were sent to the Magnolia Regional Medical Center, where they were tipped that a female baby who was 15 days old was given treatment for rat bites all over her hands, arms, fingers, and even face. Included in her injuries was a 1-inch-long wound found on the forehead, rendering the skull visible. Later on, the infant was transferred to Arkansas Childrens Hospital. According to Elliots mother, Elliot was afraid the baby would be taken away after a mouse bit her. The couple feared too that after finding out the injuries, the authorities would take the baby away from them once brought to the hospital. Elliots mother claimed persuading the young couple to finally take the baby to the hospital after seeing her injuries. Police also spoke with Shryock, who said she was jolted awake by the baby screaming on Sunday morning and saw her covered in blood. Elliott relayed the same information to them, adding that when he started cleaning up the blood, he saw rat footprints in the babys crib. Based on the interview with the couple, Shryock prepped the baby to sleep in a bassinet at around 5:30 a.m. The screams were heard at around 7:30 a.m. while the baby was sleeping in the same room of their house, and the couple admitted waiting until Elliots mother arrived at around 9 a.m. before rushing to the hospital. Rats In The Family Home Both Shryock and Elliot admitted that they had previous knowledge of a rat problem in their house. But [she] admitted that neither she or Charles did anything to address the rodent issue, the official statement noted. After an authorized check of the residence, the police saw a bassinet by the living room from the bedroom. The bloody object had rat footprints, while a bedroom also had a bloodied infant toboggan, bloodied baby blanket, and a wood cabinet containing rat droppings. A doctor told investigators that the infant had severe skin destruction from rat feedings, adding it likely took hours to take place. The patient is considered in distress while it was all happening, with the babys caregivers not present or unable to respond to the situation. The child received an estimated 75 to 100 rat bites. She also underwent facial reconstruction surgery Monday to tackle the open wound on her head. The couple is currently held without bond, and a class B felony is penalized with 5 years to 20 years of imprisonment and a $15,000 fine at a maximum. Back in 2013, 10-year-old Aidan Pankey died, and the familys lawyer argued that Petco and their supplier Barneys Pets were aware that the rats they sold were affected by the bacteria causing rat-bite fever. A San Diego jury eventually ruled that Petco was not liable for the boys death. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung Galaxy C10 Spotted Online | TechTree.com It looks like Samsung is all set to battle the smartphone industrys new segment of phones with a dual camera setup. Yes, a recent post published on TheMobileIndian.com mentions about Samsung Galaxy C10 with dual rear camera setup being spotted online. Being the first Samsung phone to have a dual camera setup, the Galaxy C10 has been alleged to come soon into the market with a model number SM-C9100, while we may also expect the Galaxy C10 Plus to come as SM-C9150 or SM-C9158. It is also being said that both these phones will be supporting AI assistant Bixby and thus, may sport a dedicated Bixby Button as well. However, speaking about the Galaxy C10, rumours have suggested that the smartphone will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor which is an oct-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz. We may also see the smartphone with 6 GB RAM and 6 inch display screen. Adding further, if we also consider previous leaks and speculation, we may expect this smartphone to be specifically launch for Chinese and Indian market only. TAGS: Samsung Indian Judge Dalveer Bhandari of the International Court of Justice made a separate declaration as part of the UN court's verdict asking Pakistan to ensure that Kulbhushan Jadhav was not executed pending the final decision. By India Today Web Desk: The International Court of Justice today asked Pakistan to ensure that "(Indian national Kulbhushan) Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision."There was no disagreement among the 11 judges of the International Court of Justice, which also has a Chinese judge among the current members. Along with the verdict is appended a separate declaration by Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari. The ICJ press release said, "Judge Bhandari agrees with the decision of the Court to indicate provisional measures. However, he wishes to place on record his views concerning the requirements for indicating provisional measures in more detail." advertisement This case gives rise to questions pertaining to the basic violation of human rights through the denial of consular access during the pendency of court proceedings in Pakistan, which culminated in the death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav, the ICJ release said. Before moving to the ICJ, Justice Dalveer Bhandari had served as a senior judge at the Supreme Court of India. JUSTICE BHANDARI'S DECLARATION: TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS Judge Bhandari discussed the four requirements for the indication of provisional measures in the Kulbhushan Jadhav's case - prima facie jurisdiction, plausibility, real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice and the link between the rights claimed on the merits and the provisional measures requested. Judge Bhandari underscored the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances in which Jadhav was arrested. He made clear that the India and Pakistan do not agree as to where Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested, whether within or outside Pakistan. Judge Bhandari stressed the diplomatic intercourse between the two countries relating to India's consular rights with respect to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Despite thirteen Notes Verbales sent by India to Pakistan, latter did not communicate to India either the charges against Kulbhushan Jadhav, or the documents of the proceedings against him, Justice Bhandari said. Justice Bhandari also outlined the court proceedings in order for Kulbhushan Jadhav to obtain a revision of his death sentence or to be granted clemency. It is currently not clear whether any of these domestic remedies have been triggered by Kulbhushan Jadhav himself while it is known that his mother has filed both for appeal under Section 133 (B) of the Pakistan Army Act 1952, and for clemency under Section 131 of the 1952 Act. Moreover, Judge Bhandari emphasised that Pakistan's denial of consular access has determined a situation in which India has no direct knowledge of the charges against Kulbhushan Jadhav, as well as of the proceedings against him in the Pakistani military court. Justice Bhandari further analysed the role of the 2008 India-Pakistan Agreement on Consular Access. He agreed with the ICJ that there was nothing which prima facie suggested that India and Pakistan, by concluding the 2008 Agreement, limited or set aside their reciprocal obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Justice Bhandari declared that "the 2008 Agreement amplifies, confirms andextends the Parties' reciprocal obligations relating to consular assistance, for which the Vienna Convention is a framework. Therefore, the 2008 Agreement does not exclude the Court's jurisdiction in the present case." Justice Bhandari stressed "such a dispute falls within the scope of the Vienna Convention ratione materiae since the facts alleged by India all pertain to its consular rights guaranteed under the Vienna Convention, yet allegedly denied by Pakistan." According to Justice Bhandari, "the rights claimed by India on the merits are plausible because they concern consular access to a person who is indisputably an Indian national, who has been arrested, tried and convicted in a foreign country." ICJ Judge Bhandari further said that "it is possible that appeals against (Kulbhushan) Jadhav's death sentence are still ongoing, and therefore rights to consular access plausibly apply." Judge Bhandari clarified that it did not matter, for making a finding of urgency, how long a period of time is likely to elapse before Kulbhushan Jadhav is executed. So long as there is a real risk that Kulbhushan Jadhav would be executed before the final disposal of the case by the Court, there is urgency in the circumstances. Justice Bhandari concluded "during the pendency of the proceedings before the International Court of Justice, Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav shall not be executed." ALSO READ | ICJ orders Pakistan to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed before final orders, big victory for India ICJ says Kulbhushan Jadhav will not hang: What happened inside World Court at Hague ALSO WATCH | Kulbhushan Jadhav will not hang till final verdict: ICJ --- ENDS --- The government is also reviving the technical cells of the Jammu and Kashmir police, which have the capability and permission to track suspected mobile phones in the Kashmir valley where terrorists have become quite active since last year. By Ajit Kumar Dubey: With the Army expecting a surge in infiltration attempts and attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, security forces are getting help from national agencies such as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) in tracking the activities of terrorists across the border. The government is also reviving the technical cells of the Jammu and Kashmir police, which have the capability and permission to track suspected mobile phones in the Kashmir valley where terrorists have become quite active since last year, Army sources said here. advertisement The NTRO has been quite active in tracking the communication of terror operatives across the border and the effort has been enhanced in wake of the intelligence inputs that a number of small groups of terrorists have been sitting along the Line of Control (LoC) at many locations, the sources said. TECHNICAL CELLS TO BE REVIVED Sources said the presence of terrorists in some of the locations along the LoC has also been picked up by the NTRO and the technical intelligence gathering capabilities have been strengthened by the agency there. Jammu and Kashmir police teams are also reviving their technical cells which were tracking terrorists in a major way before the valley saw a rise in protests after the elimination of terrorist Burhan Wani and mobile networks and communication were banned for a long period there, the sources said. With a long break in the use of mobile phones, a number of terrorists and their sympathisers changed their numbers and a precious way of keeping a track on the terrorists was lost. "Now with mobile networks back, the local police teams have started working and they are sharing their data with the Army and also providing actionable intelligence to us on many occasions," a source said. Army sources said the force used the technical intelligence also to track down the murderers of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz who was killed by terrorists recently. FOCUS ON SOUTH KASHMIR Sources said the security forces had gathered some specific inputs through both human and technical intelligence about those terrorists but they seem to have managed to escape from that particular area. Meanwhile, Union defence minister Arun Jaitley and Army Chief General Bipin Singh Rawat reviewed the security situation in Srinagar with local commanders and other stake holders on Wednesday evening. Sources said the meeting focussed specially on bringing back normalcy in South Kashmir area as the area has seen an increase in the number of terrorists of both local and foreign origin in the last year. With an increase in number of terrorists, local commanders are in favour of increasing the number of troops to handle the situation, sources said. advertisement The region may also see a reshuffling of troops from relatively peaceful areas to the South Kashmir area as the force is now carrying out more of clear and search operations to prevent the open movement of terrorists in the villages and hinterland, they said. Also read: Major terror attacks on Indian Army, CRPF in Jammu and Kashmir: A timeline Also read: Kupwara: Meet the brave housekeeper who shot terrorists Also read: Kupwara attack: Ghost of Uri haunts Army, urgent need to seal borders --- ENDS --- Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, met this Wednesday in the country's capital with the leaders of the National Congress: the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur... | Read More Over 14,000 jewellers will be staging dharnas in various parts of the state on Friday to protest against growing number of attacks on them, demanding safety and prompt police action in the cases registered so far. By Shiv Pujan Jha: Jewellers in Uttar Pradesh will go on strike across the state on Friday to protest against the growing instances of attacks on them. The Opposition has already taken on the state government on the issue of law and order. Over 14,000 jewellers would be staging dharnas in various parts of the state, demanding safety and prompt police action in the cases registered so far. advertisement THE STORY IN DETAIL Vinod Maheshwari, a member of the All India Jeweller Swarnkar Trade Federation, said that the jewellers feared for their safety and that they had also gone and met the ADG (Law and Order) in Lucknow on Thursday to press for their demand. While the jewellers have got an assurance from the ADG of all possible police help, the federation has now decided to hold statewide protests. On Monday, Mathura-based jewellers Megha Agarwal and Vikash Agarwal were shot dead by suspected miscreants. Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma and Uttar Pradesh DGP Sulkhan Singh's visit to Mathura on Wednesday to meet their relatives drew a lot of flak. The ruling party has been saying that they are taking all possible steps to ensure the rule of law prevails in the state, but the Opposition has been bringing up the issue. Talking to India Today, the jewellers' federation recalled several thefts and attacks in the state against the jewellers in Chowk area of Lucknow, in Varanasi and in Mathura, among many others elsewhere in the state. The association said that the police had miserably failed in cracking any case. It indicated that despite CCTV footage in several cases, there were no arrests or recoveries made, certainly not in keeping with the magnitude of the crime. The jewellers said that in case of the loot of 10 kg of gold in Varanasi, police had been able to recover just 80 grams. Similarly, out of 32 kg of gold looted in Chowk area of Lucknow, only 8 kg had been recovered. The jewellers' federation is planning to step up its agitation in the days to come and are demanding police protection. Also read | Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath warns criminals after robbers loot Rs 4 crore jewellery Also read | Uttar Pradesh's Rampur gang smuggles gold by becoming Haj pilgrims --- ENDS --- Nick Holt and Kath Mattock, the directors of Channel 4s The Trial, explain how they created a fictional court case to reveal the hidden complexities of a murder trial Details The Trial is a five-part hybrid drama doc series stripped across one week on C4 which aims to reveal the inner workings of the justice system. In it, a fictional crime is authentically tried by a team including QCs, a judge and a jury. The only actors include the accused a man pleading not guilty for the murder of his wife and some of the witnesses. It aims to reveal the inner workings of the justice system. How did The Trial come about? Nick Holt Id previously spent nearly two years in Scotland researching and making The Murder Trial for Channel 4. Id spent a great deal of time looking at cases and then contacting all those involved from lawyers, to victims families, to the accused -seeking permission to film the trials. It was incredibly difficult getting all the consents needed. There were so many interesting cases sailing past our noses we couldnt get to. So we created a fictional case. Tell about your approach to making the film? NH It was almost like making a nature documentary, we baited the traps, edged back, erected hides and shot the lawyers in their natural habit on the rig. As soon as the door of the court closed it was vital the trial and court behaved exactly like a real one. Id seen a drama called Murder on the BBC and was fascinated about how theyd used documentary grammar in a fictional/drama setting. I contacted Kath Mattock, the producer, and we always ended up talking about the space between drama and documentary, what could one unlock in the other. Kath Mattock Im an avid watcher of documentary I never feel like I know where its going to go. Drama narratively can feel very predictable and controlled, almost sealed off. The most recent drama I made, Murder for BBC2, which also involved intensive trial research, was all told in direct to camera testimony, CCTV and archive footage and was largely inspired by Errol Morris film The Thin Blue Line. This direct access to characters has an impact. It breaks the fourth wall of drama. Tell us about the development process NH We knew the two key aspects to this were seeing into the world of the lawyers and a jury. Both are entirely off limits as far as the UK legal system is concerned. We wanted a case that felt normal. With the help of writer Sarah Quintrell, we went for a case that jurors might see themselves in, a domestic setting rather than, say, a gang related murder. We kept as close to the real jury selection process as possible. In our case we filmed in a recently decommissioned Crown court in Newbury. We then sent letters to homes within that catchment area saying theyd been selected for jury service the only difference being our letters referenced C4 rather than the CPS. We then had a large pool of potential jurors available during our shoot dates. As in real life, they turned up for jury selection and 12 names were randomly selected by the court clerk. We wanted lawyers who were going to embrace the series. They needed to be comfortable with the premise (many werent) and willing to share the tricks of the trade. We were delighted with Max Hill QC and Michelle Nelson prosecuting and John Ryder QC and Lucy Organ defending. A very experienced judge would also be needed to oversee proceedings. We were incredibly fortunate to find the Rt Hon Brian Barker CBE QC whod recently retired. No one alive has judged more murders at the Old Bailey. How did you prepare for the shoot? NH Preparation for filming was single handedly the biggest aspect of the production. For the lawyers to feel they were trying a real case, they needed all the evidential bundles theyd expect in a real case. We ended up creating some 800 pages of evidence with all the requisite witness statements, phone logs, CCTV material, forensic, police and SOCO material. We also had to cast the case. It was important we cast actors who could adapt to the live element of the court. Many of the witness were giving evidence live unscripted for hours on end. It was vital they, and their stories, could hold up to intense scrutiny. KM We shot all the police interviews as improvised pre-trial as they had to be served as evidence along with all the CCTV which gave a real exciting sense of how this was going to come together. Led by ex-officers in real time, it gave a measure of what we were dealing with at two and three hour stretches. The actors were totally immersed in their own timelines for the above and we refreshed this before we went into court. Each day in court had an actor pre-meet and was responding in some way as the trial evolved. The QCS approached it diligently and adversarially as they would a normal trial and day in court. As for the jury, they started out excited, then entered into the world of the story and the burden of decision took a real weight by the end. Shooting the scripted and the additional archive was relatively straight forward! What were the key challenges of making it? KM Staging the court case as a two week event that ran as close to a real trial as possible. It placed extraordinary demands on the actors. We rehearsed and developed the characters and story with the actors over a two week period. What kit did you use? NH We shot the courtroom on the rig. We used near 40 rig cameras throughout the building. As in real cases, theres a great deal of personal phone, video and stills material. The drama scenes were shot on an Arri Alexa. Did the series change significantly in post production? KM Balancing the reveal of the story over five episodes and the balance of court experience to interview to exterior court room material was constantly evolving. Much of the density and detail of the story we had created just couldnt hold in five hours; the sheer volume of material was overwhelming for a period before it really started to take shape . The Trial starts on Sunday 21 May at 9pm on C4 Broadcaster C4 Indie Dragonfly, part of Endemol Shine Group Commissioning editors David Brindley, Amy Flanagan Exec producers Jon Smith, Emma Loach Directors Nick Holt, Kath Mattock Series producer Hamish Fergusson Producer Andy Litvin Writer Sarah Quintrell Line Producer Kat Young DOPs Simon Tindall, Carlos Catalan Designer David Bryan Editors Ben Brown, Richard Graham, Martin McDonnell, Simon McMahon, Chris Nicholls Share this story Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti leaves for London while under the CBI's radar for an alleged case of bribery and corruption. By India Today Web Desk: Former finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram who is under CBI scanner for an alleged case of bribery and corruption, on Thursday left for London. "Karti is travelling as per earlier travel plans. He will return after a few days. There is no ban on his travel," his father and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said. advertisement The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation against both father and son related to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearances given to INX Media. The CBI, on Tuesday had carried out searches at Karti's homes and offices in four cities to probe charges that he had received money from a media firm owned by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea to help them evade a tax probe. POLITICAL VENDETTA: CHIDAMBARAM Slamming the government, the senior Congress leader said, "The government, using CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends. The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organizations. All I will say is, I shall continue to speak and write." Whereas, Karti Chidambaram has maintained that he will come out clean as there was nothing to hide. He said he had cooperated with probe agencies and has paid all his taxes. "The case against me has been foisted purely out of political reasons and vendetta. Nothing can be proven against me and I have not done any crime. It has been done mainly to muzzle my father's voice against the government," he said. CBI FILES FIR The CBI had filed an FIR against Karti and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board conditions for an investment from Mauritius. With inputs from PTI Also read: CBI raids Chidambaram, son Karti's residences; Modi govt trying to silence my voice, says former minister Also read: Chidambaram on CBI raids: Modi government trying to silence my voice Also watch: CBI raids on Chidambaram, Karti, trigger political slugfest --- ENDS --- The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement We provide you a point-by-point explainer on how the International Court of Justice arrived at its decision to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav till the final verdict in the case is announced. By India Today Web Desk: The 11-judge bench of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague unanimously agreed to accept India's plea against Pakistan's death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav. The bench led by Judge Ronny Abraham asked Pakistan not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav till the final verdict in the case is not pronounced by the International Court of Justice. advertisement HERE IS HOW THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE DECIDED IN INDIA's FAVOUR: QUESTION 1: JURISDICTION TO HEAR THE CASE The ICJ began by considering if it has jurisdiction to hear the case. The Court said that India sought its jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention under which the Court has jurisdiction in "disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the Vienna Convention". The Court said that both parties, India and Pakistan, have differed on the question of India's consular assistance to Kulbhushan Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. The Court noted that the acts alleged by India--Pakistan's failure to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to arrest and detention of Jadhav--appear to be falling within the scope of the Vienna Convention. The Court said this was sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol. The ICJ also observed that the existence of a 2008 bilateral agreement between the parties does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. QUESTION 2: IF THE RIGHTS ALLEGED BY INDIA ARE PLAUSIBLE The Court observed that rights to consular notification and access between a State (India) and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State (Pakistan) to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights are recognised in Article 36 ( paragraph 1) of the Vienna Convention. India has alleged violations under this provision. The ICJ said that it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. QUESTION 3: IF THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN THE RIGHTS CLAIMED AND PROVISIONAL MEASURES REQUESTED The ICJ said that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention are preserved. The Court observed that a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. QUESTION 4: IF THERE IS A RISK OF IRREPARABLE PREJUDICE AND URGENCY The Court said that the mere fact that Kulbhushan Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore is executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The ICJ then observed that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav would probably not take place before August 2017. This means, the Court said, that there is a risk that an execution could take place any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. advertisement The ICJ noted that Pakistan has not given any assurance that Kulbhushan Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. Under such circumstances, the Court said that is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. COURT's ORDER TO PAKISTAN The Court asked Pakistan to take measures at its disposal to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in the case, and that it will inform the Court of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE ICJ ORDER: A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. A copy of the International Court of Justice order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The declaration by an Indian judge in the ICJ bench. The declaration by an Indian judge in the ICJ bench. advertisement ALSO READ: ICJ orders Pakistan to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed before final orders, big victory for India ICJ's Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict: PM Narendra Modi lauds lawyer Harish Salve for his UN court presentation Sushma welcomes ICJ ruling on Kulbhushan Jadhav, says India will do everything to save him ALSO WATCH: Pakistan cannot execute Kulbhushan Jadhav till final verdict: ICJ --- ENDS --- Heads up to prevent injury from falls Morning walks in my neighborhood are one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. I love the coolness of daybreak and the special sightings of the stag and two does that frequent our open space. I also enjoy my walk because each day at... Signs that point to the best time for retirement Ive been thinking a lot about retirement lately. One of our amazing staff members, who has been with Senior Concerns for the last 13 years, retired last month. It just doesnt seem real. I always thought of Dana as young. Certainly not the person to... Rethinking the mandatory retirement age How old is too old for working at a job? Last week a news story hit my inbox and it really got me to thinking about age and retirement. The article noted that Target Corp. abandoned its mandatory retirement age of 65 for its CEO,... Tips to promoting a healthy nights sleep for children Question: Help, please. My daughter is almost 2 years old and has been an easy child to put into her own bed. Yet in the past few weeks she is purposefully stretching out the bedtime routine longer and longer. She wants more: more stories, more... After the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan Nawaz Sharif's government came under heavy fire from the people and Opposition alike for mishandling the case. By Santosh Chaubey: With the International Court of Justice today staying Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution till it reaches to a conclusion, Opposition in Pakistan is slamming Nawaz Sharif's government for mishandling the case. The ICJ directed Pakistan to "take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings". According to a Dunya News report, main opposition parties of Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have sought Sharif's reply and have demanded him to urgently convene a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting. advertisement PPP's Sherry Rehman, a former foreign minister of Pakistan, has blamed the Sharif government of ignoring a 'case pertaining to national security' because the 'government remained stuck in Panama Leaks SC case'. PTI has blamed the Sharif government of working for vested interests and hidden motives that ultimately proved damaging. PTI's chief Imran Khan has said that "the nation demands Sharif family disclose all its financial interests/assets abroad especially with Jindal in India and that "Pakistan cannot afford to have its security jeopardised by the Sharifs' financial interests abroad". NAWAZ MET INDIAN BUSINESSMAN RECENTLY PTI is also demanding details of a recent meeting held between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian businessman Sajjan Jindal. Jindal is believed to be a close aide of Narendra Modi too. India had approached the ICJ on May 8 and the UN's judicial arm had agreed to conduct a public hearing of the matter on May 15. After the May 15 hearing, the court read out its order on Thursday, favouring India. KULBHUSHAN JADHAV'S CASE On April 10, a Pakistan military sentenced Kulbhushan Jadhav to death after convicting him for espionage and sabotage activities in Pakistan. Pakistan claims Jadhav, who allegedly used the alias Hussein Mubarak Patel in Pakistan, was attached to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Pakistan arrested Jadhav in March 2016. The Indian government has maintained that Kulbhushan Jadhav is a former Indian Naval officer turned businessman who was on a routine business trip to Iran when he was abducted by Pakistani intelligence. Reports say he was captured by the Taliban and later sold to the Pakistan Army. ALSO READ: ICJ verdict is fine but can Kulbhushan Jadhav be saved? What lies ahead ALSO READ:Pakistan on Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict: No change in our stance, will expose true face of India ALSO READ: How International Court of Justice decided in India's favour in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: An explainer --- ENDS --- You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A New Orleans man has admitted to trafficking a 15-year-old girl for sex by transporting her from Baton Rouge to the Crescent City and back to the capital city, Acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson reported Thursday. Udraka Roberts-Bey, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Baton Rouge federal court to conspiring to engage in sex trafficking of a minor. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick did not set a sentencing date. The girl, who lived in Arkansas, was rescued last June during an undercover operation at a Baton Rouge hotel, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said previously. Jennifer Gabrielle Anselmo, 23, of Slaughter, also was arrested during the undercover operation, but federal authorities dismissed a conspiracy charge against her in January. A second woman, Skylar Marie Harris, 21, of Lake Charles, was arrested during another undercover "date" at the hotel. She faces a misdemeanor prostitution charge in Baton Rouge state court. Over objections from New Orleans lawmakers, a bill aimed at setting up uniform, statewide rules for Uber and Lyft won approval Wednesday in the Louisiana House. The vote was 79-12 on House Bill 527 sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chairman Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville. Uber and Lyft are called ridesharing services and are accessible through an app. Havard and other backers of the bill said Lyft and Uber now operate under a patchwork of regulations that vary from parish to parish, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Under the legislation, the state Department of Agriculture would oversee the ridesharing services. The state would collect 1 percent of the services gross receipts for administrative costs, 95 percent of which would be returned to local governments where the rides took place. But New Orleans and some other legislators said the change would unfairly nullify existing contracts hammered out by local officials. Rep. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, offered an amendment that said the law would not override any local ordinance. Carter said Uber officials agreed to a contract to operate in New Orleans, then sought a state law that would override that agreement. "My concern is someone negotiating with the city of New Orleans, any city, any parish in this state, in bad faith," he told the House. Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, and other critics said New Orleans charges Uber drivers the highest fees in the nation. Morris said when cities extract money from private firms "I think that is negotiating in bad faith." "I think this bill does a good thing and opens up a private enterprise, allow people to travel from one place to another, and your amendment would gut this bill and have it serve no purpose whatsoever," he added. Carter's amendment failed 32-60. A lobbyist for the city of New Orleans has said Havard's bill would cost the city $2 million per year. Backers said Wednesday 44 states have adopted uniform rules for ridesharing services, with Texas and Alaska being the latest additions. They also say Uber and Lyft reduce drunk driving, offers drivers a chance for flexible income and fuel local economies. Legislation touted as a way to prevent controversial speakers from being shouted down at Louisiana colleges and universities failed Thursday in the state House. House Republican Caucus Chairman Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, sponsor of the bill, noted that nationally some campuses have erupted over speakers invited by faculty and organizations, especially conservatives. "In some instances around the United States, universities are actually capitulating to those threats and capitulating to those acts and closing off the free exchange of ideas that are so critical for our students to have," Harris told the House. "Unfortunately in America today, there are those in society trying to limit our expression of ideas and free speech in higher education," he said. The vote on the measure, House Bill 269, was 46-34, seven short of the minimum required. The 105-member House was missing some members during a rare, late Thursday afternoon session. Amid national controversy, House panel endorses bill touted as way to ensure open debate on campuses A bill aimed at ensuring free speech on Louisiana campuses, and penalizing students who disr The sponsor has the option of again trying to win House approval. Harris was peppered with questions on why the bill is needed if Louisiana has avoided showdowns over controversial speakers, like the University of California at Berkeley experienced. Rep. Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston, said he has heard nothing from officials at two universities in his area Louisiana Tech and Grambling about the need for action. "Do we really need any more enforcement that allows colleges to do what they already do?" Shadoin asked. Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, questioned why the First Amendment is not adequate to prevent campus disruptions. Harris acknowledged that LSU and other state colleges and universities have avoided controversy. "LSU has an excellent record of protecting freedom of speech," he said. However, Harris said he has received emails from students and faculty who say such a law is needed in Louisiana. The bill would have required school management boards to spell out policies governing free speech, disruptions and sanctions that could follow. "Protests and demonstrations that infringe upon the rights of others to engage in or listen to expressive activity shall not be permitted and shall be subject to sanction,"according to the bill. Violators would have faced up to a one-year suspension or expulsion for multiple violations. By Press Trust of India: Colombo, May 18 (PTI) Tamils in Sri Lankas war-ravaged northern and eastern provinces are today observing the eigth anniversary of the end of the three-decade brutal civil war in the country in 2009. The Tamil Genocide Remembrance day will be marked by various events at Mullivaikkal, the location of the final battle between the Lankan troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). advertisement Amongst those taking part in the Remembrance are hardline northern Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran along with Tamil Peoples Council (TPC), Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF), Tamil civil society, political parties of former Tamil militants and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians. Wigneswaran has called for a three-minute silence to remember those who died during the civil war and asked overseas Tamils to observe the commemoration. The Tamils want to press for an international investigation on the victims of the final battle, he said in a letter addressed to the Tamil diaspora. S J Emmanuel, President of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a Tamil diaspora group, has appealed to observe the Mullivaikkaal commemoration in peaceful prayers. Tamil nationalists had organised a series of memorial events starting from May 12 for seven days. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has condemned an attempt to ban commemorations of the dead by Tamil families in Mullivaikkal. ITJP said a court order in Tamil from the District Judge and Magistrate of Mullaitivu has placed a 14-day ban from this evening on all ceremonies near the Catholic Church in Mullivaikkal East, on the grounds that they may adversely affect "the countrys integrity, national security and the peace of the nation". The LTTEs 30-year separatist campaign ended on May 18, 2009 in the northeastern Mullaithivu district when Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, was killed by Lankan troops. According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to the conflict with the defeat of LTTE in 2009. PTI CORR KJ MIN KJ --- ENDS --- Louisiana could outlaw supplying kids 12 years old and younger with Uzi submachine guns and other fully automatic weapons under legislation that cleared a House committee Thursday. House Bill 67, by Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, would penalize adults who give, sell, lend and otherwise provide children with fully automatic weapons, which can shoot a stream of bullets with a single pull of the trigger. Norton said her measure was inspired by a 9-year-old Arizona girl who was allowed to fire an Uzi submachine gun at a firing range and lost control of the weapon, killing her instructor in 2014. Norton's original bill only outlawed the small Israeli-made machine guns, but it was amended to include all fully automatic weapons. Federal and state laws prevent handgun ownership of people under 17 with exceptions built in for kids who are at gun ranges, or are taking hunter and gun safety classes. But there are no age prohibitions in Louisiana on ownership of long guns, which include rifles and shotguns. Louisiana lawmakers reject effort to allow concealed guns without permits State legislators on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have allowed Louisiana residen But Louisiana isn't alone. In fact, the majority of states also don't have bans on long guns for children. Norton's HB67 narrowly escaped a House criminal justice committee, on a vote of 7-6. This is the third time Norton has brought such a measure Louisiana Legislature, but only the first time the bill has made it out of committee. Louisiana is considered to be one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation. The proposed law would ban 12-year-old kids and younger from having access to the weapons, even in a supervised setting like a gun range. The penalties would be imposed on the adult who provides the child with the gun. A gun range is one of the rare ways a child might have access to a fully automatic weapon. Any automatic gun built after 1986 can only be possessed by military, law enforcement, a gun range, and dealers who sell to those groups. "To legally possess those kinds of weapons is very rare anymore, they're not in private hands very often," said Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville and a former chief deputy of Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office. He said oftentimes the ones in private ownership are collectors items. "The law as written means it would be illegal for a child to hold an unloaded weapon, or a collector's item from World War II," said Bacala, who opposed the bill. In this Wednesday, March 15, 2017, photo, people stand in line at a United Airlines counter at LaGuardia Airport in New York. In a report being issued Thursday, April 27, 2017, about the April 9 dragging incident involving a passenger on an overcrowded United Express plane, United spelled out how it selects passengers for involuntary bumping. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) ORG XMIT: NYBZ406 State park? Historic site? Nungesser wants people to 'decide for themselves' on monuments' meaning State park? Historic site? Nungesser wants people to 'decide for themselves' on monuments' meaning The New Orleans City Council on Thursday advanced a plan that calls for the construction of a new, 89-bed facility for mentally ill inmates at The 1911 Jefferson Davis statue erected in the Jim Crow racial segregation era is taken of its pedestal in New Orleans, La. Thursday, May 11, 2017.The city council voted to remove the monument and three other Confederate and white supremacist monuments in Dec. 2015. Well, hello Friday! You have made it to the end of the working week, but I hope you remembered your brolly. Heavy rain is forecast today, in fact half a month's worth of rain is predicted to fall over the next two days. Expect up to 25mm today and another 20mm on Saturday. Sunday is tipped to be sunny and dry with a top of 17 degrees, so keep your outdoor fun for the end of the weekend. Lucky on this wet day, there's plenty of news to read. ACT short-changed by the federal budget The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Pakistan not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav till further orders. The top UN court observed that India has the right to demand consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. By India Today Web Desk: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has asked Pakistan not to carry out the death sentence awarded to Kulbhushan Jadhav , the Indian citizen arrested on espionage charges. The ICJ said that India has the right to demand consular access to Jadhav, arrested from Pakistan's Balochistan region in March, 2016. The top world court while rejecting Pakistan's argument that the court did not have jurisdiction, said it would hear the case and seek arguments from both sides. advertisement The court asked Pakistan to take all measures to ensure that 'Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court'. While India has contended that Pakistan has gone against the Vienna Convention awarding death sentence to Jadhav on charges of espionage, Pakistan claims that Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was working for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) when he was arrested from Balochistan in March, 2016. HERE'S WHAT THE ICJ SAID: ICJ says Pakistan can not execute Kulbhushan Jadhav till it delivers final verdict in the case ICJ says prima facie it has the jurisdiction to decide on the matter ICJ overrules Pakistan contention on jurisdiction India has the right to consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav: ICJ Pakistan should have given consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav ICJ has jurisdiction over dispute over Vienna Convention India and Pakistan have been party of Vienna Convention since 1977. Both parties bound by Vienna Convention Justice Ronny Abraham, President ICJ, reading out verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence The circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remains in dispute between India and Pakistan: ICJ The top world court begins reading the order. International Court of Justice starts hearing into Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence case. Indian delegation arrives at the ICJ. India is being represented by senior lawyer Harish Salve. 11-judge bench of the top UN court at The Hague, Netherlands, to decide whether the stay on Jadhav's death sentence will continue. ICJ to deliver interim verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence case at 3.30 pm Responding to India's petition, ICJ president Ronny Abraham wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asking Islamabad to desist from executing Jadhav until the court heard the matter. The public hearing was held on May 15 at The Hague, Netherlands. India moved the International Court of Justice on May 8, charging Pakistan with "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations" in the matter of the detention and trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav. This was the first time in 18 years that India and Pakistan arrived at ICJ doorsteps and the first time since 1971 that New Delhi took Islamabad to the World Court. WATCH: ICJ verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav: Does India have a strong case? ALSO READ: ICJ to deliver interim verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence case today: All that has happened so far India, Pakistan face-off at ICJ after 18 years: When India had shot down a Pakistani aircraft in 1999 Pakistan condemned Kulbhushan Jadhav, but India provided fair trials to 27 Pakistani spies, say sources India suspended talks, not us, says Pakistan's envoy to US --- ENDS --- Singapore Airlines will temporarily reduce the number of flights from Canberra to Singapore and Wellington for three months from August. Instead of flying four times a week there will be three flights in one week of August, September and October, resulting in a net loss of three services overall. Singapore Airlines has been operating in Canberra since September. Credit:Jay Cronan Spokesman Karl Schubert said the decision was part of normal operations. "During low season we regularly make ad hoc changes to our flight schedules to meet market demand and ensure we are optimising the performance of the route during low season," Mr Schubert said. Australia's biggest funeral services provider, Invocare, is in the business of taking care of the business of the "departed", and it is good to see the ASX-listed group's board is taking this vocation seriously. One of the resolutions that will be presented to investors at this Friday's shareholder meeting asks them to give the board a rubber stamp for the "approval of potential termination benefits" if a senior executive happens to have, well, departed. InvoCare reported double-digit earnings growth last year. Credit:Fairfax Corporations law requires that a company get investor permission for any termination payout that is more than an executive's fixed annual pay packet. As the Australian Shareholders Association points out, the board is seeking a three-year pass instead of coming to investors on a case-by-case basis. Needless to say, the ASA is opposing this, along with the remuneration report and another granting performance rights to the chief executive, Martin "Wyatt" Earp. Chinese investors wanting to buy Australian farms or agribusinesses must obtain "broad community approval" if they want to operate in Australia, according to a new report to be released in Beijing on Thursday. The report, produced by Powell Tate Australia and Weber Shandwick China, finds "there is not a strong xenophobic sentiment against Chinese investment in Australian agriculture" but that there was a "significant misunderstanding" about such investment. According to those involved in the sale, Mr Lu bought the dairy operation after a single three-hour visit in November 2015. Credit:Bloomberg "Misperceptions" included views that: Chinese investors are state owned enterprises doing the bidding of the government; they care more about profits than people; they disregard the environment; and they ignore local communities and sensitivities. The report says Australian agriculture needs Chinese investment, and the various concerns about such investment can be addressed. Way back in the 1880s, no one put much value on the long-term health of Broken Hill Pty. According to a story that's been told for more than a century, the stock price of the miner now known as BHP Billiton was once decided by two early shareholders over a game of cards. Things have changed a lot since then, of course - and differences over how to protect a legacy once gambled on a hand of euchre form the heart of the dispute between BHP and Elliott Management. By any reasonable assessment, the company's foray into onshore US petroleum has been a disaster. Gonski 2.0 fallout With the sound and fury of post-budget arguments now starting to abate, the winners and losers from this exercise are becoming clearer, as the fallout from Gonski 2.0 illustrates (Letters, 18 May). It's no surprise that from this government the winners are again the well-off. They get to keep their company tax reduction, negative gearing and capital gains discounts. And in this budget they also get new benefits from downsizing their homes, elimination of their deficit tax and an increase in so-called needs based funding for elite private schools. And who are the losers from this budget? As always, the young, especially those without recourse to wealthy parents. High youth unemployment, lack of housing affordability, inadequate apprenticeship schemes and the underfunded TAFE sector all remain virtually ignored. Now, on top of this, they are faced with university funding cuts, drug testing for dole recipients and reduced weekend penalty rates. As a result they are being cast even further into the wilderness. If Turnbull and Morrison think this is a "fair" budget, as they keep preaching, then they clearly have no idea what real fairness is for the genuine battlers out there. Chris Danckwerts Turramurra Students from The King's School Cadet Corp take part in the annual Ceremonial and passing out parade on the J.S. White Oval. Credit:Steven Siewert As a person who is inclined politically to the left rather than the conservative side, I at first thought that the budget at last was getting rid of the wrangling over Gonski, which was primarily caused by PM Gillard's decision not to cut funding to any school (Letters, May 18). Really, I felt such relief that the arguments would stop and the government could get on with governing. But surely Gonski's formula must be deeply flawed if it promises funding increases to ridiculously well-endowed schools like King's, and reduces funding to much less well-equipped government schools. This does not make any sense at all and will serve only to increase the money/class divide in this country. Lee Andrews Faulconbridge Fundamentalism in debate resistance Senator Penny Wong. Credit:Andrew Meares Regarding Senator Wong's most recent complaint about so-called "fundamentalism" ("Wong eyes religion in equality debate", May 18), her taking aim at religious "fundamentalism" blocking same-sex marriage simply betrays her own unwillingness to properly understand others' point of view. Those with sincerely held religious views think "love" is a poor basis on which to make law not because we are opposed to love; on the contrary, we think love is a wonderful basis for marriage. It's just not the only one and it's almost impossible to legislate for. Who is going to send out the love police to make sure couples really do love each other? The real fundamentalism in our country at the moment is shown by those like Penny Wong who so consistently seek to portray any disagreement over this issue as narrow-minded and hateful. Only when we can move beyond such blinkered stereotyping can we have a proper debate over what marriage actually is and how our law should reflect it. We may eventually vote for a change in marriage definition, but surely not without a proper debate beforehand. Wong's repeated forays into the media over this issue suggest that she thinks otherwise a strange position for such a prominent person in our democratic life to take. David Ould Macquarie Fields Penny Wong's counterclaim to children being stripped from marriage by progressives is that love is being stripped from marriage by conservatives. Wasn't it that great progressive Bertrand Russell who argued, "it is of children alone that sexual relations become of importance to society, and worthy to be taken cognisance of by a legal institution"? In short: you can't legislate for love, you can for children. Wong's young-earth theory of marriage appears to pop into existence with romanticism in the 1800s. Marriage was legislatively enshrined as society's reproductive system for long aeons before the big bang of identity politics. Love is essential for life, just not for marriage legislation. Jon Guyer Wentworth Falls No right to interfere in assisted dying My dear mother passed away some years ago after suffering the indescribable ravages of Alzheimer's for over a decade (Letters, May 18). She and my father made their wills when they were mentally competent to do so and with advice from their solicitor, there were no problems. Mum took me aside when she was "mentally competent" and told me that she wished to include directions that, should she suffer debilitating pain and/or mental dysfunction or total dependence on others or machines to keep her alive, then she wished that her "life" should be ended with dignity and in peace. She believed that I was "sensible enough" (her words) to have her wishes met. Tragically, this was, and is, still against the law. As long as I live I shall never forget the mental and physical anguish she suffered. I became a supporter of "assisted" death. The present proposed changes to the law in this state will do nothing to solve this issue. The provisions are too clumsy. No politician, bureaucrat or religious faith has the right to interfere. If a person is deemed to be mentally sound enough to make a will, then surely, at the same time, he or she should be able to choose when and how a dignified and peaceful passing is appropriate. Geoff Lewis Raglan NSW Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile. Credit:James Brickwood In opposing medical assistance to die, Fred Nile is half wrong when he says that doctors "are committed to saving lives, not killing patients". ("Premier Gladys Berejiklian silent on assisted suicide", May 16). Of course doctors are healers, but what happens when they cannot heal? Research shows that a majority of doctors unlike the AMA support voluntary assisted dying. It also shows that a substantial proportion of them have, for compassionate reasons, helped a dying patient to end their life, even though technically that is against the law. It's happening every day and the law should recognise and regulate it. Richard Mills Leura Budget pain from political gain Peter Martin pinpointed the time from which government receipts failed to catch up with expenditure ("Hacking the budget: the tricks that hide the unending deficit", May 18). Before 2008, government receipts always caught up with expenditure, because of wages growth and bracket creep. But there were other factors at work, very specific to 2008. The first obviously was the GFC, but Australia recovered very quickly from that. The other factor, not mentioned in Peter Martin's article, was that 2008 was the year the tax cuts started to bite. Remember the 2007 election? The Howard government was trying to win another term, using the windfall from the mining boom to hand out tax cuts. Labor matched the promises. These decisions, by both parties, were politically astute and economically stupid. George Rosier Carlingford State of play It's State of Origin season: mate against mate, state against state. But this year has added spice with former Queensland ALP Premier Anna Bligh in the Big Banks colours lining up against former NSW ALP Premier Nathan Rees wearing the Financial Sector Union colours ("Rees ready to shape up to Bligh", May 18).. Despite some collusion on the great big new tax, this will be a tough, spiteful series. With the banks needing friends and supporters and in the face of record profits versus record low wage increases I reckon on a NSW win this series. Don Smith Ashfield I must admit that when he was premier I had little time for him, however, given he spent some if his early life as a garbologist, he has my support when he describes the proposed bank tax as "populist rubbish policy". Allan Gibson Cherrybrook A rational assessment Over the years I have been somewhat critical of Michael Pascoe's commentary on political and economic matters. ("Forget the banks, check the $150 billion the ATO is not collecting locally", May 18). Today I was pleasantly surprised by what is probably the most rational assessment of how to effect budget repair, without turning the world on its head, proposed so far. The range of simple and modest changes proposed, and the rational assessment of the reality of the bank tax, demonstrate that if everybody contributes a little the problem can be easily resolved. Alas, unlike the rational approach Pascoe has adopted, we have stalwarts on both side of politics so entrenched in their own self-serving interests they can never admit there is a way for all to cooperate. And whatever would the press have to report if everybody agreed for a change? Gary Bigelow Oatlands Someone to watch out for us Centrelink can harass, threaten and and demonise its customers for the sake of often minuscule repayments; the Tax Office regularly employs similar heavy-handed tactics; the Liberal's latest budget will see the banks gouge their customers us to pay for their new $6 billion government impost, while those on the absolute lowest economic rung could suffer the indignity of being drug tested to qualify for their next welfare payment. But in the rarefied atmosphere of the big end of town, greed and nepotism reign supreme ("ATO Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston to be charged over tax fraud", smh.com.au, May 18).This latest instance of alleged theft from the public purse just confirms the general impression that, while most of us slog away each week struggling to do the right thing, there are a lot of pigs out their with their snouts deep in the trough. Well done to the AFP, and in NSW the ICAC, for watching out for us. Patrick McGrath Coogee Morality at play In response to David Ashton (Letters, May 17), morality is not an independent, existential universal truth but a human construct, a conscious decision to define some conduct as good and acceptable, and other as bad and reprehensible. As such it is every much an invention as an arbitrary distinction between baby and ftus. And, cynical though I may be, in the end "good" is what is enforceable under the law and that depends on majority political opinion, and that sometimes can be very prejudicial to justice for the individual or minority group - think homosexual or pregnant woman in need of a termination. Arthur Cooper Alstonville Cheaper schools solution Here's a thought for all those struggling to afford private education ("Enrolments at Sydney Catholic high schools drop for the first time in 20 years", May 18). Have your kids educated for free at the local public school and spend the money you save on books, music lessons, family outings and holidays. It really is that simple. And just think of all the greenhouse gases you will save. Tom Orren Wamberal What surprised me more was that the figure was still so high. After all the revelations over the last few years, why would anyone take the risk and place their precious child into such an institution? Gareth Turner Louth Park An emissions intensity scheme could become official policy of the NSW Nationals on Friday, a move that would represent a split from the federal leadership and a challenge to the Turnbull government's climate change agenda. After the state's Young Nationals backed the contentious proposal in April, the motion will be on the agenda at the party's annual conference, a two-day gathering that will draw hundreds of rank-and-file supporters, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce. The call for a national emissions intensity scheme will be hotly contested as will the removal of abortion from the NSW Crimes Act and an increased Syrian refugee intake. The policy battles highlight the generational evolution taking place within the party, which is deeply conservative at a parliamentary level but more socially and environmentally progressive among younger members. That would, in effect, set the top tax rate at 49.5 per cent under a future Labor government - a move that drew stinging criticism from former prime minister Paul Keating, and caused some internal disquiet within the ALP. Fairfax Media has spoken to several Labor MPs who were surprised by the tactics Mr Shorten adopted in his budget response. Broadly speaking those MPs, who asked not to be named, believe Mr Shorten made a mistake by opposing a rise in the Medicare levy for all income earners and that he moved too far to the left of the political spectrum in his reply. Those MPs fear that, like former prime minister Tony Abbott, Mr Shorten is in danger of falling into the trap of ruling out measures proposed by the current government that could help repair the budget. "We have to think long and hard about our journey to the next election. First we have to win the election, but then we also have to govern afterwards," one said. For two decades, the king of the Netherlands has been putting the royal in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. King Willem-Alexander said in an interview published on Wednesday that for the last 21 years, he has flown twice a month as a commercial airline co-pilot for KLM's Cityhopper subsidiary, a regional carrier that flies among European cities. Dutch King Willem-Alexander regularly pilots for KLM. Credit:Peter Dejong He was seldom recognised in uniform, particularly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when safety protocols were introduced to limit access to cockpits, he said. The king would often greet passengers over the intercom, but not readily identify himself. Japanese Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, will wed a former college classmate, Japanese media reported, heating up debate on the ever-shrinking royal family since she must become a commoner after marriage. Japan's cabinet is expected to approve a bill on Friday to allow Akihito, 83, to step down, the first abdication by a Japanese emperor in nearly two centuries, after he said last August he feared age would make it hard to fulfil his duties. Japanese Emperor Akihito, seated third left, and Empress Michiko, seated fourth left, smile with their family members during a photo session for the New Year at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Princess Mako is top left. Credit:AP But the legislation will make no reference to the controversial topics of whether to revise a males-only succession law or to allow women to stay in the imperial family after marriage, a move conservatives fear would be a first step to letting females inherit the throne. Asked about the problem of the shortage in royals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Wednesday: "There is no change in our view to proceed with consideration of steps to ensure stable imperial succession." Few things arouse my suspicion as much as white lefties denouncing identity politics. Not because I think identity politics is beyond criticism the opposite in fact. There are problems with what we call identity politics which I will get to a little later. But first, what gets my hackles up is how this attack on "identity politics" often follows a predictable pattern: take an example of systemic discrimination (usually against a woman), ridicule it as attention-seeking, and then moralise about how identity politics as a whole will be the death of the left. Greens co-deputy leader Larissa Waters soothes baby Alia Joy after breastfeeding her in the Senate. Credit:AAP And so it was last week when Crikey columnist Helen Razer derided Greens senator Larissa Waters for "tediously returning the Greens back to the fold of identity politics". Razer was referring to Waters breastfeeding her infant daughter in parliament the first to do so and her comment that the Liberal government doesn't "care about women". Look, if Razer or anyone else wants to complain about Waters using the occasion to draw attention to herself, that's one thing. But to use this one incident to denounce all political activism that elevates the concerns of marginalised "identities" as useless, well that's another. That's the left's own version of dog-whistling; a call to shut down anyone they regard to be distracting from the "real issue" of working class exploitation. On November 30, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to purchase 145 M777 ultra-light artillery guns, through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The air portable 155mm/39 calibre gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems. (Photo: Reuters) By India Today Web Desk: Ending a three-decade-old howitzer drought, the Indian Army is all set to receive its first heavy ordnance as the first two guns out of the 145 M777 ultra light artillery guns it ordered from the US will be arriving today, a month ahead of schedule. The two 155mm/39 caliber ultra light howitzers will be firing at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan today. advertisement "In fulfillment of the United States' Foreign Military Sale of 145 M777 ultra light weight howitzer to India, we are pleased to confirm that the first two weapon systems will land in India ahead of schedule over this weekend," a BAE Systems spokesman said in a statement. "We continue to support the US government in integrating this new weapon system with the Indian Army's artillery modernisation program," he added. The acquisition of the 'Ultra Light Howitzers', thus called because at 4.2 tons, they weigh only a third of normal 155 mm howitzers. The guns, which can be carried underslung by heavy lift helicopters like the Chinook, will give the army tremendous flexibility especially along the mountainous border with China. HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW The guns were expected to arrive in June. On November 30, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to purchase 145 M777 ultra-light artillery guns, through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The Union Cabinet on November 17 approved the much-awaited deal, which would add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army, especially against China in eastern front. The air portable 155mm/39 calibre gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems. The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million. Out of 145 guns, BAE will deliver 25 guns and rest 120 will be assembled in India between 48-54 months by BAE partner Mahindra Defence at their plant in Faridabad, Haryana. The ultra light howitzer is being purchased primarily to deploy on mountains in eastern border with China to provide the much-needed fire power to the Indian Army in the region. The last artillery guns that India purchased were the much-controversial Swedish Bofors guns in mid-1980s. The Bofors scandal that broke out nearly 30 years ago had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. WATCH | All you should know about India's Rs 5000 crore M777 howitzer deal with US India signs Rs 5000 crore M777 howitzer contract with US BAE Systems signs letter of agreement and acceptance for Indian M777 Howitzers (With inputs from IANS) --- ENDS --- The local fashion world collectively swooned on Wednesday when Ginger and Smart presented a resort collection that was full of bold geometric prints and a touch of I Dream of Jeanie. While the clever collection won't be in stores for a few months, lovers of the brand, known for its prints and dresses, can pick up a bargain on past seasons' stock all weekend. There's up to 80 per cent off, including shoes and samples. 1 Yarra Street, Richmond. Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-4pm. Fresh off the runway ... Ginger and Smart has a warehouse sale on past seasons' stock this weekend. Now for a sale that will make you feel good about life. Wear for Success, which provides clothing to people experiencing hardship to help them re-enter the workforce, is having a massive winter sale. A damning parliamentary report has not ruled out the possibility that St Vincent's Hospital attempted to cover up the chemotherapy dosing scandal that has embroiled the Sydney institution for almost two years. The rigorous legislative committee inquiry into off-protocol chemotherapy prescribing in NSW has delivered its final report, after investigating the circumstances surrounding oncologist Dr John Grygiel, who flat-dosed or underdosed at least 129 cancer patients. Dr John Grygiel fronts the parliamentary hearing into off-protocol chemotherapy dosing. Credit:Peter Rae The extent of the practice was not made public until February 2016, despite it coming to the hospital's attention in June 2015. Many of his patients found out through media reports. "The committee is not able to discount the possibility of a cover-up on the part of St Vincent's Hospital," the report concluded. Older people will be the target of an expanded "robo-debt" collection measure the Department of Human Services has confirmed will raise close to $1 billion. Despite the fall-out from the government's debt collection saga, the DHS will expand the program from July 1 using information from the Tax Office about pensioners' interest earnings and asset values. Pension recipients earning interest on term deposits and income from property are expected to shoulder most of the $980 million savings burden the government has projected over the next three years from the expansion of its debt program. The department will check ATO data against the income and assets clients reported to it to decide whether to pursue debts, DHS officials told senators. After months of salacious headlines and nasty smears, celebrity couple Kelly Landry and Anthony Bell sat on opposite sides of the courtroom, flanked by their families, as they awaited the outcome of their bitter court battle. Following a judgment lasting nearly an hour in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, magistrate Robert Williams dismissed an application by police on behalf of Ms Landry for an Apprehended Violence Order against Mr Bell. Kelly Landry and (inset) Erin Molan and Anthony Bell. While Mr Williams accepted Ms Landry's account that Mr Bell had intimidated her during a "disturbing" and "chilling" incident at their harbour-front home in Sydney's eastern suburbs last year, he said it would not be appropriate to make a permanent order. "There appears to be little if no opportunity of future incidents," Mr Williams said before noting that the application by police had been properly brought. Sydney commuters endured further disruptions to bus services in Sydney's inner west during the evening peak on Thursday despite fresh orders from the industrial umpire for about 1200 drivers to return to work. While the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has notified drivers of the latest orders, national vice-president Dave Woollams said drivers were unlikely to return to work because of their anger at the NSW government's decision to privatise services in the city's inner west and south without warning. "Charlton Heston in a chariot is not going to get them back," he said at a rally on Thursday. "They have told us they are not going back." Mr Woollams said privatisation would result in a casualisation of the workforce and a private operator ditching services if they proved unprofitable. A 25-year-old man has escaped serious injury after two men crashed a car into his BMW convertible before assaulting him and stealing the car. About 10pm, the man was sitting in his car outside a gym in the Brisbane CBD when the other car crashed into him. The men stole a 2013 BMW Z4 similar to this one from the man in St Lucia. Credit:QPS Media According to police, he chased the vehicle to St Lucia, where it had crashed into a tree on Dell Street. Police said two men in the crashed car assaulted the man, stole his black 2013 BMW Z4 and drove off. There has been a massive four-fold jump in the number of injured native animals bought to the RSPCA's wildlife hospital at Wacol in the past four years because of land clearing, new homes, cars and dogs. That comes as the findings of a Queensland government 2017 interim koala protection report found "little evidence that the rate at which koala habitat has been cleared has declined since 2008 - despite existing measures and the introduction of a number of new measures to protect koala habitat". "In fact, over this time period the rate of loss of habitat has tended to increase," the Queensland government's expert panel interim report on clearing koala habitat found in February 2017. RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said the number of Australian native animals bought to the organisation's Wacol hospital had increased from 8500 per year to 22,000 in since 2013. The Queensland government has knocked back a request from the family of high-profile suspected murder victim Sharron Phillips for a new inquest, citing a police investigation and lack of new evidence. The Ipswich woman disappeared in 1986 and her body was never found despite hundreds of leads. Siblings want police to search this Riverview block of land. Her sister Donna Anderson called for the coronial investigation to be held after breaking her 27-year silence to Fairfax Media last year to call on police to examine her father's alibi. Police reopened the investigation in the wake of comments from Ms Anderson and her brothers but failed to find any trace of the woman when they dug up a Carole Park property in June 2016. Google's smart benchtop speaker is coming to Australia mid-year, challenging Amazon's Alexa for pride of place in Aussie kitchens. Running the AI-powered Google Assistant, the voice-controlled Google Home lets users speak naturally to access a wealth of online services as well as listen to music and control smart home appliances. Google's smart speaker is coming to Australia mid-year along with four other new countries, as part of Google Home expansion plans announced overnight at the Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California. Google's Home smart speaker is coming to Australia. At the same time the Google Assistant is spreading its wings, expanding beyond Google Home and Android smartphones to Apple's iPhone as well as smart home appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and ovens. Google Assistant is also embracing the Internet of Things, with a new developer kit allowing hardware makers to connect practically any device to the internet and control it via Google Assistant. "The Assistant is becoming even more conversational, always available wherever you need it and ready to help get even more things done," says Google Assistant VP of Engineering, Scott Huffman. California: Google kicked off its annual developers conference Wednesday by outlining a broad vision of how it thinks artificial intelligence will shape the way we communicate, travel, work and play. Chief executive Sundar Pichai said that improving artificial intelligence is Google's top strategy in its continuing goal to organize the world's information. Using AI, Gmail will now suggest phrases for your replies, based on its interpretation of your conversation. Google Photos will figure out which of your snapshots are best for sharing, and it will use facial recognition to figure who should get those photos. A program called Google Lens will analyze your photos and be able to remove obstacles, such as a chain-link fence, that obscure your shot. Google Assistant will also be more proactive, now nudging you to leave earlier if the traffic to your next appointment is bad, rather than waiting for you to ask about it. The differences are subtle, but significant, said Gartner research vice president Brian Blau. "We're not going to see that many new features - maybe some new buttons and dials. But what will improve is how well these apps relate to the individual." By Press Trust of India: Shimla, May 17(PTI) A 57-year-old man from Maharashtra died of swine flu at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital here this evening. Avinash Patil fell sick when he was going to Shimla with his wife and two other colleagues. However, they continued with their journey and checked into a hotel in Shimla where his condition worsened and he was shifted to the IGMC at midnight, Senor Medical Superintendent Dr Romesh Chand said. advertisement The doctors collected his blood samples and sent them for test and simultaneously started treatment but he died this evening. The reports received late in the evening confirmed that he was suffering from swine flu, he said. The IGMC authorities made arrangements for sending the body to Maharashtra. The wife of the deceased and the other two persons have also been given temiflu. This was the second death due to Swine flu in Himachal Pradesh over one week. Last Thursday, a 65-year-old patient from Dehra in Kangra district died of swine flu. More than half-a-dozen cases of swine flu have been reported in two state-run medical colleges and hospitals in Shimla and Kangra over the last week. PTI PCL GVS --- ENDS --- Melbourne's second major container port should be built near Werribee, the Andrews government's infrastructure adviser says, but not for another 40 years or so. Infrastructure Victoria has advised the government that Bay West, somewhere between Werribee and Point Wilson, is the right choice for a future port, once container traffic outgrows capacity at the Port of Melbourne. Australia and New Zealand each announced on Saturday the start of free trade agreement negotiations with the Pacific Alliance trade bloc. Credit:Jessica Shapiro The port's container terminal would be built offshore a four-kilometre-long industrial island connected with the mainland via a 1-kilometre road and rail bridge that would radically reshape Port Phillip Bay. New road and rail links would also be built across Melbourne Water's vast Western Treatment Plant, which is also a protected site for birdlife. Riccardo Accaputo was watching TV with his aunt on Wednesday night when up to eight men stormed their home in Melbourne's west armed with weapons. A group of between six and eight men broke into the Gillespie Drive house in Melton South just after 7pm, police say. One of the men demanded the keys to Mr Accaputo's Ford XR8 sedan parked out the front, while the others ransacked the house. Armed with metal poles, the men stole cash, computers and jewellery from the terrified pair. Footage of four men ransacking an East Malvern jewellers on Thursday. Credit:Ten Eyewitness News "I just was working and four people come down and smash all the glass," he told Fairfax Media. "All faces covered and very tall. Jafari Jewellery after the violent robbery. Credit:Paul Jeffers "They had a big hammer and a steel bar, they just grabbed jewellery from all of the cabinets and smashed everything inside." The quick-thinking jeweller of 30 years said he then chased the thieves down the street, where he saw their getaway vehicle, and snapped a photo of them leaving. Store owner Mohamed Jafari inspects the damage to his store on Thursday. Credit:Paul Jeffers "I was running up to them, and the car was just there waiting and they just sit in the car and drive off," he said. "It's a new BMW, silver colour." One of the smashed cabinets inside Jafari Jewellery on Thursday. Credit:Emily Woods Mr Jafari said the thieves made off with gold rings, necklaces and diamonds. He fears he may have lost tens of thousands of dollars. Store owner Mohamed Jafari managed to get this photo of the getaway car, a silver BMW (left, driving away). "They took gold, diamonds, rings, just everything," he said. "They should just put them in prison, because it's devastating." Police outside Jafari Jewellery which was hit by thieves on Thursday. Credit:Twitter/@7NewsMelbourne Detective Sergeant Peter Lockman said the masked and gloved offenders were in the store for more than a minute, smashing glass cabinets and cases. "These men come armed with a purpose so it's extremely lucky no one has been hurt," Detective Sergeant Lockman said. "It was very brazen [being] this time of day where there is a street full of pedestrian traffic going about their business." Detective Sergeant Lockman said it was unclear if the attack was linked to a spate of violent jewellery store robberies across Melbourne, however police hold concerns about the surge in this particular type of crime. "It's very similar offending to other incidents we are investigating," he said. "We hold concerns because they are very brazen attacks." Owner of Central Park Cakes, Harry Hrambanis, spoke of his horror at seeing the gang of balaclava-clad men fleeing down the street clutching trays of stolen jewellery. Items of jewellery spilled out of the trays onto the footpath as the men fled, he said. "We were so terrified we locked ourselves inside our store," Mr Hrambanis said. Mr Hrambanis has owned the cake store, two doors down from the jewellery store, for more than 35 years. He said he heard glass smashing and people screaming before the men stormed in and ransacked the store. "I've never seen anything like this happen, it was incredibly scary and daunting," he said. "We heard the glass smashing and people were yelling and then a few minutes later we see four blokes running past and getting into a getaway car. "It's a busy shopping strip, but it has always been safe." Mr Hrambanis said he consoled Mr Jafari in aftermath of the attack. "I ran down to see if he was OK and he was OK, but he was pretty shaken-up." The shopping strip was closed off for more than an hour while police examined the scene. It is still being determined what was stolen during the incident. No one was injured, police said. Mr Jafari said the store was fitted with security cameras and footage of the incident had been handed over to police. It is the second daring daylight jewellery store robbery in three days, after thieves smashed the front cabinets of JK Collections Jewellers at Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre in Mulgrave on Tuesday. The thieves threatened the store owner and customers with an axe before making off with jewellery and watches. It echoed a similar daylight robbery in March, when four thieves in balaclavas stormed a Michael Hill store at the Plenty Valley Westfield shopping centre in South Morang. About a dozen jewellery stores have been targeted by thieves since October. Holloway Diamonds outlets in Brighton and Canterbury have been robbed three times this year. Loading Toorak's IMP Jewellery has also been targeted twice. Thieves also smashed their way through jewellery stores in South Yarra and Elsternwick. Two Melton men have faced court charged with more than 50 offences allegedly committed during a three-day crime spree which included Tuesday's dramatic daylight invasion of a home in Hillside. Matthew Mesley, 26, and Joshua Wood, 18, appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday in a subdued state, with Mr Wood appearing to sport a black eye They have been charged with 55 offences including unlawful assault, intentionally causing serious injury, arson and unlawful imprisonment for tying up a 55-year-old woman up with a phone cord, taping her mouth shut and beating her. Mr Wood was ordered to meet with the prison nurse as soon as possible regarding a drug condition. Mr Wood and Mr Mesley allegedly fled in the victim's 2008 Volkswagon and later set fire to the vehicle. Victoria's fire services will be dramatically overhauled with Premier Daniel Andrews splitting volunteer and paid firefighters into two separate authorities. The move comes with political risk for Mr Andrews, who has already lost much political capital, and a minister, over his intervention in an industrial dispute between the CFA and its paid staff represented by the United Firefighters Union. The Premier's plan to split the firefighting services in two is a risky political move. Credit:Twitter/@MFBChief Under the plan, passed by Cabinet on Thursday, the MFB will be replaced with Fire Rescue Victoria, which will cover all paid firefighters, including those at 35 integrated CFA stations across suburban Melbourne and in regional centres. The CFA will continue to exist and will become a volunteer only service, with its role strengthened under law. The Andrews government is also injecting $100 million to the service. It used to be much simpler - couples would buy a house and then start a family. But now, we are starting families and then looking for somewhere to rent. In a generation, the number of Victorian families renting has more than doubled. More than 200,000 Victorian families are renting now, according to an analysis of bonds and census data between 1996 and 2016 by the Tenants Union of Victoria. Jeremy Grey, with his daughter Amelia, 11, has always rented with his young family. Credit:Jason South Consider Jeremy Grey, a father of three who has rented all his life. He estimates he moved five time before his eldest child started primary school. Mr Grey, who works in administration for the Community and Public Sector Union, said some of those houses desperately needed maintenance. Three female teenagers have been charged following a violent crime spree that ended with a man being allegedly stabbed in Sunshine North. Police said a 26-year-old man suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries during the incident on Thursday, May 4 and was taken to hospital. Police charged a Seaford woman,18, a 16-year-old from Richmond, and a 17-year-old from Frankston, with intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury, assault with weapon, and assault in company and theft. Police also believe the trio were also involved in a robbery in Flinders Walk earlier that day where it is alleged they stole another man's backpack. The 18-year-old woman was arrested on Wednesday and was remanded to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 19. Police are investigating after a man stabbed and killed a Labrador in a Mirrabooka park on Wednesday in full view of its owner. The 22-year-old local woman was exercising four-year-old Luna and her male Labrador in a park off Apple Blossom Drive at 6pm when the alleged attack occurred. Luna, the Labrador. Credit:WA Police "I made them sit then took them off their leads," she told media on Thursday afternoon. "They saw this person and [ran over]. "It shouldn't be too bad if I don't tag off." Those were the words of James Burton after he accepted a challenge from Perth's online community to visit every train station in Perth all 71 of them. The 21-year-old's unusual mission was sparked by a throwaway remark he made on Reddit on April 30. "Someone on the Perth sub-Reddit posted a picture saying, 'Oh, they've finally opened up the Aubin Grove train station', and I posted in the comments and said, 'I should check that out, I've got some free time', and people scoffed and said, 'why on earth would you go there?'," he said. Police have charged a third person in relation to two fires that gutted an elderly couple's Warwick home. A 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were initially charged earlier this month, after the Arson Squad found they had set fire to the home twice in less than three weeks. The 17-year-old from Marangaroo will appear in Perth Childrens Court on Thursday. WA Police Sergeant Andrew Maher said a third person had now been charged as a result of the Arson Squad's ongoing investigations. "A 17-year-old boy from Marangaroo has been charged with burglary and commit, and criminal damage by fire and stealing," he said. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Integrated (Mauritius) Healthcare Holdings, an arm of Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, today sold its entire 4.78 per cent stake in Apollo Hospitals Enterprise for over Rs 829 crore through open market transactions. Pursuant to stake sale, Apollo Hospitals plunged by 2.66 per cent to close at Rs 1,246.20 on NSE. Intra-day, the stock had touched a low of Rs 1,246.10 and a high of Rs 1,271.45. advertisement According to bulk deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the fund has sold a total of 66,54,712 shares, amounting to 4.78 per cent stake, of Apollo Hospitals. The shares were offloaded on an average price of Rs 1,246.32, valuing the transaction at Rs 829.38 crore, data showed. Meanwhile, DB International purchased over 13.45 lakh shares of the healthcare company, while SBI Mutual Fund bought 19.52 lakh scrips of Apollo Hospitals. At the end of March quarter, Integrated (Mauritius) Healthcare Holdings held 66,54,712 shares, or 4.78 per cent stake, in Apollo Hospitals. Earlier on March 3, the fund had offloaded a little over 6 per cent stake in Apollo Hospitals for about Rs 1,070 crore. PTI SP JM --- ENDS --- "They're in the business of caring and dealing with the youth, and in the past they've looked at having separate facilities for males and females and they've obviously changed that decision," Mayor Sammels said. "They're the professionals and their decision would have been made on all the evidence that's been presented to them in the past." Y-Shac has facilities in both Rockingham and Spearwood that provide youths aged 15 to 20-years old who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness with crisis accommodation. They also offer 24-hour support from youth workers. Now it's about being able to respect each young person for who they are and what they're looking for at that particular time so that's one really good benefit. A sad number Almost 4 per cent of 15-19-year-olds in the Perth metro area are sleeping rough. Ms Rolle said youth homelessness was a big issue facing not just the Rockingham area, but the greater Perth metropolitan area, with about 4,500 young people sleeping rough on any given night. That's almost 4 per cent of all young people between 15 and 19 years of age in the greater Perth area, according to the Bureau of Statistic's 2011 Census. Housing Minister Peter Tinley said there were a variety of reasons young people could find themselves homeless. "These young people may be escaping an unstable home life, family or relationship breakdown, eviction, exposure to crime, drugs and violence or dealing with complex mental health issues," he said. "They are greatly in need of a safe space that provides them with stability, guidance and access to agencies that can provide a range of support services." Ms Rolle said youth unemployment often preceded homelessness, with people under 25 years of age who haven't stayed engaged in education and training finding it particularly difficult to find secure employment and stable living arrangements. Mayor Sammels said while Rockingham had a high level of youth unemployment, he wasn't sure if it was a direct contributing factor causing youth homelessness. "Compared to the average, youth unemployment is higher in this region, but I don't know if that plays a role with [youth homelessness] or not." 'Breaking the cycle' The news Y-Shac She said the new facility had been a great success so far. The new Rockingham facility, which was officially opened on Monday and is operated by Anglicare WA, first opened its doors in August 2016 and replaces the old Baldivis Y-Shac. Ms Rolle said the new center, which is located on Jecks Street in central Rockingham, significantly improved on the Baldivis facility. "The old property was on a semi-rural block, so there was no access to transport from there unless whoever was working at the time would drive someone to the train station. So basically we had a pick up and a drop off twice a day. "The other thing was that it had limited access to being able to go and hand out resumes, and it was also difficult for young people to continue with the school that they were enrolled in." She said the new facility had been a great success so far. "It's been working really well. Young people are able to access public transport quite readily, there's a bus stop just up the road and they're able to get to shops and banks and employment agencies on their own, which is empowering them to be able to take responsibility and accountability for how they move forward for what it is they'd like to achieve next." Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk praised the new center and said it would play an important role in the community. "The new Y-Shac is an exceptional facility where young people receive the guidance they need to reach their potential in life and help break the homelessness cycle," she said. Ms Rolle said the services offered by Y-Shac had the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of those who it supported. Phnom Penh: Australian nurse and surrogacy broker Tammy Davis-Charles shook her head in dismay on Thursday when a court postponed a verdict at her trial in the Cambodian capital. Ms Davis-Charles was sent back to one of the country's harshest overcrowded prisons. Police alleged the 49-year-old mother of six from Melbourne, falsified documents, including birth certificates, to smooth passage of surrogacy paperwork through Cambodia's murky legal system and the Australian embassy in Cambodia. Her lawyer, Cheang Sophoan, told Fairfax Media the decision was a violation of her rights because she has already spent six months in jail. He said the main charge she faces relating to arranging surrogacies only carries a six-month sentence. A Sydney schoolgirl was rescued from the basement of the home of a convicted killer after the American man allegedly lured her on the social media app Snapchat to fly from Australia to the US, police say. When NYPD officers raided the home of 39-year-old Sean Price in the New York borough of Queens last week, they allegedly discovered Price and the 16-year-old girl, from Sydney's upper north shore, hiding in the basement of the property. Price has allegedly admitted to police that he paid for the girl to fly to the US and took her on a cross-country road trip, having sex with her along the way. Price reportedly has a lengthy criminal history, including criminally negligent homicide for the death of a passenger in a car crash. He has now been charged with a range of new offences, including rape in the third degree, police say. Dana Rohrabacher has long been a lone pro-Russian voice on Capitol Hill, defending Putin and urging dialogue with the Kremlin. Credit:AP The conversation provides a glimpse at the internal views of GOP leaders who now find themselves under mounting pressure over the conduct of President Trump. The exchange shows that the Republican leadership in the House privately discussed Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and Trump's relationship to Putin, but wanted to keep their concerns secret. It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally. The House leadership has so far stood by the White House as it has lurched from one crisis to another, much of the turmoil fuelled by contacts between Trump or his associates with Russia. House Speaker Paul Ryan flanked by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the Republican Conference/ Credit:AP House Republican leaders have so far resisted calls for the appointment of an independent commission or a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference, though pressure has been mounting on them to do so after Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey and the disclosure that the president shared intelligence with Russian diplomats. Evan McMullin, who in his role as policy director to the House Republican Conference participated in the June 15 conversation, said: "It's true that Majority Leader McCarthy said that he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking." President Donald Trump has sought to play down contacts between his campaign and Russia. Credit:AP McMullin ran for president last year as an independent and has been a vocal critic of Trump. When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: "That never happened," and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: "The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false." FBI Director James Comey was sacked by Donald Trump. Credit:AP After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: "This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humour. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What's more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia's interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity." "This was a failed attempt at humour," Sparks said. Evan McMullin ran for president last year as an independent. Credit:AP Ken Grubbs, a spokesman for Rohrabacher, said the congressman has been a consistent advocate of "working closer with the Russians to combat radical Islamism. The congressman doesn't need to be paid to come to such a necessary conclusion." When McCarthy voiced his assessment of whom Putin supports, suspicions were only beginning to swirl around Trump's alleged Russia ties. At the time, US intelligence agencies knew that the Russians had hacked the DNC and other institutions, but Moscow had yet to start publicly releasing damaging emails through WikiLeaks to undermine Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. An FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence the presidential election would open the following month, in late July, Comey has said in testimony to Congress. Trump has sought to play down contacts between his campaign and the Russians, dismissing as a "witch hunt" the FBI and congressional investigations into Russian efforts to aid Trump and any possible coordination between the Kremlin and his associates. Trump denies any coordination with Moscow took place. Presidential candidate Trump's embrace of Putin and calls for closer cooperation with Moscow put him at odds with the House Republican caucus, whose members have long advocated a harder line on Russia, with the exception of Rohrabacher and a few others. Among GOP leaders in the House, McCarthy stood out as a Putin critic who in 2015 called for the imposition of "more severe" sanctions for its actions in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. In May 2016, McCarthy signed up to serve as a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, breaking ranks with Ryan who said he still wasn't ready to endorse the candidate. McCarthy's relationship with Trump became so close that the president would sometimes refer to him as "my Kevin." Trump was by then the lone Republican remaining in the contest for the nomination. Though Ryan continued to hold out, Trump picked up endorsements from the remaining GOP leaders in the House, including Steve Scalise, the Majority Whip, and Republican Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers - both of whom took part in the June 15 conversation. Ryan announced on June 2 that he would vote for Trump to help "unite the party so we can win in the fall" but continued to clash with the candidate, including over Putin. While Trump sought to cast Putin as a better leader than then-President Obama, Ryan dubbed him an "aggressor" who didn't share US interests. On the same day as Ryan's endorsement, Clinton stepped up her attacks on Trump over his public statements praising Putin. "If Donald gets his way, they'll be celebrating in the Kremlin," she said. Ukrainian officials were unnerved by Trump's statements in support of Putin. Republicans, they had believed, were supposed to be tougher on Russia. When Trump named Paul Manafort as his campaign manager in April 2016, alarm bells in Kiev started ringing even louder. Manafort was already well known in Ukraine because of his influential role as a political consultant to Viktor Yanukovych, the country's former Kremlin-friendly ruler until a popular uprising forced him to flee to Russia. Manafort had also consulted for a powerful Russian businessman with close ties to the Kremlin. "Ukraine was, in a sense, a testing ground for Manafort," said Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets, who became a grudging admirer of Manafort's skills in the so-called "dark arts" of political stagecraft while Berezovets was working for one of Yanukovych's political rivals. At the urging of Manafort, Yanukovych campaigned with populist slogans labeling NATO a "menace" and casting "elites" in the Ukrainian capital as out of touch, Berezovets said. Trump struck similar themes during the 2016 campaign. The FBI is now investigating whether Manafort, who stepped down as Trump's campaign manager in August, received off-the-books payments from Yanukovych's party, US officials said. As part of that investigation, FBI agents recently took possession of a newly-discovered document which allegedly details payments totaling $US750,000. Ukrainian lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko, who first disclosed the new document, declined to comment on his contacts with the FBI. A spokesperson for Manafort has said that Trump's former campaign manager has not been contacted by the FBI. Manafort has also disputed the authenticity of the newly-discovered document. Groysman, on an official visit to Washington, met separately with Ryan and McCarthy on June 15 at the Capitol. He told them how the Russians meddled in European politics and called for "unity" in addressing the threat, according to US and Ukrainian officials. Ryan issued a statement after the meeting saying, "the United States stands with Ukraine as it works to rebuild its economy and confront Russian aggression." Later, Ryan spoke privately with McCarthy, Rodgers, Scalise and Rep. Patrick McHenry, the deputy whip, among others. Ryan mentioned his meeting with Groysman, prompting Rodgers to ask: "How are things going in Ukraine?" according to the recording. The situation was difficult, Ryan said. Groysman, he said, had told him that Russian-backed forces were firing 30-40 shells into Ukrainian territory every day. And the prime minister described Russian tactics that include "financing our populists, financing people in our governments to undo our governments." Ryan said Russia's goal was to "turn Ukraine against itself." Groysman underlined Russia's intentions, saying "They're just going to roll right through us and go to the Baltics and everyone else," according to Ryan's summary of the prime minister's remarks in the recording. "Yes," Rodgers said in agreement, noting that the Russians were funding non-government organisations across Europe as part of a wider "propaganda war." "Maniacal," Ryan said. "And guess, guess who's the only one taking a strong stand up against it? We are." Rodgers disagreed. "We're not. . .we're not. . .but, we're not," she said. That's when McCarthy brought the conversation about Russian meddling around to the DNC hack, Trump and Rohrabacher. "I'll guarantee you that's what it is...The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump," McCarthy said with a laugh. Ryan asked who the Russians "delivered" the opposition research to. "There's... there's two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. "Swear to God," McCarthy added. "This is an off the record," Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that. "No leaks, alright?," Ryan said, adding: "This is how we know we're a real family here." UP Minister Shrikant Sharma and DGP Sulkhan Singh today faced stiff opposition in Mathura as they visited the city to take stock of the law and order situation there. UP Minister Shirkant Sharma and DGP Sulkhan Singh with the family of one of the jewelers killed in Mathura. (Photo: Kamir/India Today) By Siraj Qureshi: When UP Minister Shrikant Sharma and Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh visited the Braj region today to take stock of the law and order situation there, they were welcomed with a shutdown by shopkeepers. There visit to Mathura came close on the heels of the murder of two jewelers in the city. Besides, four other killings were reported in 24 hours from the district, which is also the Assembly constituency of Shrikant Sharma. advertisement Srikant Sharma and Sulkhan Singh visited the houses of the two deceased jewelers on a day when traders had given a call for bandh. Even petrol pumps refused to sell fuel in protest of the killings. A group of people even demanded resignation of the minister. The BJP workers were not behind in expressing their anger on this incident. They demanded the strictest action against the police officials making them accountable for the law and order situation. UP Minister Shirkant Sharma with the kin of one of the jewelers killed in Mathura. (Photo: Kamir/India Today)(Photo: Kamir/India Today) ACTION AGAINST POLICE OFFICIALS Mathura Kotwali in-charge Surendra Pal Singh has been suspended by the SSP. The police post in-charge and two constables were also suspended for laxity on duty. It is being speculated that the SP (City) may also face inquiry very soon in this incident. The anger of the locals was so intense that Shrikant Sharma and Sulkhan Singh were forced canceled their plan to survey the shop, where this incident happened. They headed towards Agra, where the DGP held a meeting of the police officials of the region. Traders of Mathura had called a shut down as UP Minister Shrikant Sharma and DGP Sulkhan Singh visited the city. (Photo: Kamir/India Today) 'CHANGE IN WORKING OF POLICE' Talking to India Today, DGP Sulkhan Singh said that "some radical changes will be implemented to improve the working of police". However, he said that these changes would not be revealed to general public right now. The police officials will be made responsible for the crime taking place in their duty area and the police will work in close cooperation with the locals to prevent crimes, he said. He said the long-stalled work of verifying the identities of employees and tenants would be undertaken at a rapid pace as it has been seen that these crimes are committed by those who do not have a permanent residence in the area. He said that the police will not be allowed to lose its confidence and no official will be allowed to work under political pressure. UP Minister Shrikant Sharma and DGP Sulkhan Singh holding a meeting in Mathura. (Photo: Kamir/India Today) UP Minister Shrikant Sharma and DGP Sulkhan Singh holding a meeting in Mathura. (Photo: Kamir/India Today) advertisement WHAT OPPOSITION SAID Former president of the Minority Cell of the Samajwadi Party Mohammad Yaseen said that the BJP called the Akhilesh Yadav'r rule as 'Jungleraaj' but in barely two months, the crime levels in UP shot skyward. The government has been watching helplessly with no clue on how to control these crimes, Yaseen said. There have been allegations that right wing outfits are exerting pressure on the police, who have let the former roam scot-free. The anti-Romeo squad only worked till it was harassing honest youngsters and now it has failed completely, Yaseen further alleged. Yaseen also said that the BJP had no idea how to rule such a huge state like Uttar Pradesh. ALSO READ | CCTV footage: Armed robbers open fire in Mathura jewellery shop, gun down two traders ALSO WATCH | Uttar Pradesh shocker: In Etah, SP neta's nephew thrashes cop --- ENDS --- Young Bengals grow up to provide special season in Blythewood The feeling amongst the team is sky high right now, Seidel said. We knew we were young last year and had a lot coming back this year. You dont know... Falcons fall to Lucy Beckham Find these pictures and many more here! One of the most prolific eras in A.C. Flora Falcons girls tennis has come to an end. With a 4-3 loss on... Seth Meyers is apparently a fan of The Daily Beast. On Tuesday night during his A Closer Look segment, the Late Night host cited a story by The Daily Beasts Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng, and Jana Winter revealing that when the news first broke of President Trump allegedly divulging highly classified information to Russian officials during their Oval Office visit, his senior administration staffers resorted to hiding in offices. And on Wednesday nights A Closer Look, Meyers shouted out another story in The Daily Beast detailing the fallout in the wake of the Comey memo. Well, a senior official in the Trump administration was really blunt, telling The Daily Beastand this is a real quoteI dont see how Trump isnt completely fucked, said Meyers. I like how thats worded in a way that makes it clear theres no alternative. According to The New York Times, a memo composed by former FBI Director James Comey following his Feb. 14 meeting with Trump explained how the commander in chief asked him to end his offices investigation into Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser who was fired after it came to light that hed lied to numerous Trump officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Russian officials during the White House transition. I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go, Trump told Comey, according to the memo. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go. I hope you can let this go. Not only is Trump corrupt, hes not even smooth about it, joked Meyers. He sounds like a guy who tries to bribe the maitre d at a restaurant but slips him a handful of loose change. Meyers then attempted to break down some of the madness of the past few days. So now the FBI director claims to have written documentation showing that the president tried to intervene in an investigation, which of course comes after Trump fired Comey specifically because of the Russia investigation, and then tried to intimidate Comey with a threatening tweet, said Meyers. And how are Republicans reacting? Well, in the immediate aftermath of the Comey memo, GOP congressmen went completely MIA, refusing to go on any cable network to address the bombshelleven Fox News. Weve tried tonight to get Republicans to come out and talk to us, and there are not Republicans willing to go on camera tonight, said Fox News Brett Baier. Even Fox News cant get Republicans to come on. Thats like E! not being able to book a Kardashian, cracked Meyers. Then the kicker: Trump is harming his presidency so much I wouldnt be surprised if he was throwing it because he has money on his own impeachment. India Today aired a special investigative report where Hurriyat's Provincial President (Geelani Faction) Naeem Khan was caught on camera admitting that Pakistan is funding violence in the Kashmir Valley. By Devina Gupta: After India Today special expose on Pakistan funding the separatists in the Valley to create trouble, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the guilty will be punished. Mehbooba Mufti who has in the past toed the line of involving 'all stakeholders' in the Kashmir peace resolution in an exclusive interview to India Today admitted that now a line has to be drawn and those who want 'to keep valley on fire' have to be identified. advertisement "We need to differentiate between people. Those who really want to restore peace and normalcy in the state and those who want to keep the valley on fire", said Mehbooba Mufti to India Today. India Today aired a special investigative report where Hurriyat's Provincial President (Geelani Faction) Naeem Khan was caught on camera admitting that Pakistan is funding violence in the Kashmir Valley. Several top Kashmiri separatists were also caught on camera confessing to receiving funds from across the border. Some of them also admitted they raised money domestically, pledging to repeat the deadly events of 2016 if financed again. The stunning probe that rips apart the devious designs of anti-India forces in Kashmir includes Hurriyat's Provincial President (Geelani Faction) Naeem Khan, Tehreek-E-Hurriyat's leader Gazi Javed Baba, and JKLF chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar (Bitta Karate). Mehbooba Mufti who also had a key security meeting with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley clearly stated that the guilty will be punished. "As there is a section who have accepted that they get money to disrupt peace of state and they are the people who are disrupting peace, so law of land will take action," said Mehbooba Mufti to India Today. Already the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been roped in to now track down the separatists 'pak agents' in the valley. "We just can't see everyone through same glasses. There are people who want peace and there are people who want to disrupt so we will have to differentiate", reiterated Mehbooba Mufti. Also read: India Today impact: NIA roped in to probe Pakistan link in Hurriyat tapes, says Kashmir minister Hurriyat hypocrisy: How children of separatist leaders lead a life of luxury India Today reporters threatened after expose on Hurriyat leaders getting funds from Pakistan Caught on Camera: How Pakistan funds Kashmiri separatists to burn the Valley - India Today Exclusive WATCH | Hurriyat tapes: NIA investigating Pakistan link, law will take its course, says J-K minister --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, May 18 (PTI) Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today defended stone-pelting by Kashmiri students, arguing it was a way to vent their anger against the system that is "inimical and hostile" towards them. He also said a "blanket ban" on the freedom of expression and absence of student activism in the educational institutions was the primary factor for the ongoing students agitation in Kashmir. advertisement "There is a blanket ban on freedom of expression, even inside school premise, let alone in colleges and universities. Student activism is a distant dream in Kashmir and no form of deliberation and exchange of ideas and expression of thought is "allowed," he said addressing a seminar here. The seminar, "Constructive society and the role of students", was organised at a school in downtown Srinagar as part of the commemorative program organised by Anjuman Nusratul Islam in memory of its former president Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq who was assassinated by militants on May 21, 1990. The Hurriyat Conference chairman said with such "strict" curbs in place for students, authorities have pushed students and youth of Kashmir to wall leaving them with the only option of hitting the streets to be heard. Mirwaiz demanded that students associations should be revived in the schools, the colleges and the universities across Kashmir. Also, student activism and freedom of expression be restored and students be allowed to put forth their point of view and aspirations. "Absence of this (student activism), it is leading to the current crisis," he said, adding the situation in Kashmir was "volatile due to political, social and religious curbs and bans" put in place to crush the "peoples movement". He said now, even the students of educational institutions were being made "soft targets by the state which is highly condemnable". Farooq said while the situation in Kashmir is "volatile with political social and religious curbs and bans" put in place to crush the "peoples movement" now even on the educational front students are being made "soft targets by the state which is highly condemnable". "It is highly deplorable and unfortunate on the part of the authoritarian state that even students are targeted by them and and are at the receiving end of their repressive policies. A direct confrontational approach has been taken against the students as they are treated like an enemy by the state," Mirwaiz alleged. PTI MIJ SMJ --- ENDS --- advertisement U.S. Rep. Bill Flores said Wednesday that his office has gotten "dozens" of calls from constituents demanding the impeachment of President Trump or an independent special prosecutor to oversee the Russia investigation, as well as "dozens" of calls from constituents offering support for the president -- though "not as many as people calling for impeachment," he said. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced former FBI Director Robert Mueller would serve as special counsel to oversee a federal investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election The 17th District U.S. congressman called into The Eagle on Wednesday evening to weigh in on the latest news from the White House during a particularly dramatic week in Washington, D.C. Flores said he doesn't "worry about the president's ability to safeguard classified information" after the Washington Post reported Trump had disclosed classified intelligence to the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during a recent White House meeting. Flores said there are three components to intelligence: actual data, sources and methods. "The president has broad authority to declassify, on his own, the data," Flores said, adding that "the sources and methods are what you need to be concerned about." Flores said he can't yet comment on a New York Times report about a memo written by former FBI Director James Comey stating that Trump asked him to stop investigating former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn. "I need to see the memo," Flores said. "I don't want to comment on hypotheticals." Flores rejected the idea that the scandals could wreck the congressional agenda. "Our agenda is on track," he said. "The only thing that's different is I get a lot of questions about what's going on at the White House." Law enforcement officials and civilians gathered Wednesday under a rain-soaked pavilion in Veterans Park in College Station to mourn and honor the fallen with a special service as part of National Law Enforcement Memorial Week. Wednesday marked the 30th year local authorities and civic leaders have recognized the week with a ceremony. Officers and their families, as well as other local residents from Bryan, College Station and area counties, stood in reverence for the lowering of the American flag and a 21-gun salute. "Reflecting upon the past year, it's difficult as a law enforcement official," said CSPD police chief Scott McCollum in his address to the crowd. "Not only have we faced much loss, but also much criticism and scrutiny." Of the 144 police officers across the U.S. killed in the line of duty in the past year, 21 were from Texas, including the five Dallas-area officers who were killed July 7 by a lone gunman. McCollum reminded those in attendance of the deaths of local law enforcement officials since 2000, when Mark Hiatt of the Bryan Police Department was killed in a motorcycle crash. He spoke of Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann, who was gunned down in College Station in 2012, and Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders, who was shot in 2013 while executing a search warrant. Sowders' mother, Ann, was present at the memorial service and has attended every year since her son's death. "It's important to the officers here, and to my son's memory," she said. "It's an honorable profession." Sowders said her son was a good, genuine person. She hopes that going forward, citizens will think to be considerate of law enforcement and of one another. "Police do their job every day, and they're people who serve our community," she said. "We just need to show more respect across the board; not just police officers, but everybody." Wednesday's event was a new experience for Bryan police officer Ruth Torres. Though she has been on patrol in Bryan for nearly nine years, she hasn't attended the annual memorial service until this year. "I know a few officers who have been in situations before that could have resulted in this day," she said. "Their names could have been called here. ... It's a close call every day." Local Methodist pastor Tommy Myrick has served as the CSPD chaplain for five years and has had to counsel friends and families of fallen officers in the past. "It's something you don't ever want to do," Myrick said during the reception following the ceremony. "Once you've done it, you don't ever want to do it again. But at the same time, it's good to be there with those people and help them through their journey." Myrick said he wishes the general population would realize the motivations of the average law enforcement official and respect the sacrifice. Most officers, he said, enter law enforcement to help people, not to write tickets or inflict pain. He hopes everyone will be able to come together in support of the people who protect them, he said. "This is a community event," Myrick said. "It's not just for our officers. An officer is one of our own -- part of the community. When they die, the whole community suffers." Once McCollum had finished his keynote address and the reception began, uniformed officers who didn't need to return to patrol broke bread with their loved ones. McCollum sat with his little sister, Cynthia Funderbunk, and other family. Funderbunk said she attends the memorial service yearly. She can remember the days before McCollum was chief, when he, too, was out on patrol, and she would fear for his safety. She regularly thinks about other families of officers who worry daily if their loved one is coming home from work alive. "For those whose lives are on the line, they sacrifice so much," she said. "I feel the community has a duty to honor them, when they take care of all of us. That 21-gun salute gets me every time." The Texas A&M University System is looking to position itself as a leader in the field of cybersecurity amid global headlines demonstrating the dangers of such attacks. Vice Chancellor, Dean of Engineering and Director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station M. Katherine Banks said the timely cybersecurity initiative is envisioned to have a far-reaching impact on several areas of research and study throughout the A&M System. "Cybersecurity is now a topic on the list of every politician and government official that I know," Banks said, referencing the "WannaCry" ransomware attack that impacted more than 150 countries over the weekend. "It certainly the warfare of the future. ... It's a huge issue, and it's really about protecting the nation. We need a front line who can protect the nation against these types of attacks." Texas A&M University professor of practice in the College of Engineering Stephen Cambone said. Cambone -- who previously served as the first U.S. undersecretary of defense for intelligence under President George W. Bush -- was announced as the initiative's leader Monday. Banks said Cambone's previous experience made him the "obvious choice" for the job as system officials began the process of determining their pick earlier this year. "I think we are so fortunate to have him," Banks said. "I cannot think of a better person to lead such an expansive initiative at such a critically important time." Cambone said he was drawn to accept the system's offer as he learned more about the land grant mission of Texas A&M and the impact it had in driving the initiative's mission. "It means first and foremost service to the state of Texas," Cambone said. "We want to make sure [citizens'] livelihood is protected under the increasing risk posed by working and living on the internet." In addition, he said he felt the institutional resources -- including 11 universities and seven state agencies -- at the A&M System's disposal positioned it well to be a leader in exploring new ways to further cybersecurity. Banks said cybersecurity is an important consideration for a number of fields including health care, manufacturing, energy and autonomous vehicles, as a number of industries move in an increasingly digital direction. Because of the issue's broad scope, Banks envisions the initiative as an expansive, multidisciplinary effort to develop stronger pathways for research, academic and workforce education and community outreach. Looking ahead, Cambone said there are plans for the initiative to explore several areas of the cybersecurity realm, from partnering with the Bush School for Government and Public Policy to address policy questions to working with the technology industry to test the vulnerabilities of current and developing products. One of the ways Cambone said he expects to address the latter comes out of A&M System plans to build a facility on the RELLIS Campus where researchers and their industry partners can stage and test in a practical environment the internet of things -- "smart" products such as kitchen appliances, thermostats and lights. "It would be an analog to an ordinary home," Cambone said. "We could use it as a base for looking at the security of various devices, transport networks like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 5G, as well as how it all interacts with one another both in the home environment and, as importantly, the back end where all the data that is being generated by this internet of things is being stored and acted upon." Cambone said in addition to plans for collaborative research and testing, the initiate also will tie into ongoing efforts to develop a wider range of educational offerings in the realm of cybersecurity. He specifically praised the work being done by Daniel J. Ragsdale, director of the Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center, who has been a driving force behind Texas A&M University's push to develop major and minor degree options in cybersecurity. "On the education side, there's some good progress being made already," Cambone said. "[Ragsdale] is doing a terrific job in terms of getting the curriculum lined up." Cambone said beyond the effects the initiative will have on the A&M System, those who participate will have the opportunity to contribute to the "rich debate" over the future of digital spaces. "We're hopeful we can craft something that will be responsive to that growing demand for thoughtful folks coming together with both a policy background and a technology background," Cambone said. "We have too few people who know technology who are intimately familiar with public policy issues. ... It's a real opportunity, and we're looking forward to it." Wine, door prizes, live music and more are headed to Downtown Bryan on Saturday as part of the fourth annual Spring Sip & Shop. From 3 to 7 p.m. in 18 participating downtown shops, guests will have the chance to sample wine while interacting with the shop's owners. Purchasing a ticket to the event includes a commemorative wine glass, a shopping bag and a map of downtown. Katelyn Brown, events coordinator with the Downtown Bryan Association, said tasting wine -- specifically Texas wine -- is a draw. "I feel like everyone is always interested in an event that's involved with wine, and getting to experience tasting wine is always fun -- to grow your palate and also to really feature Texas wines, and that's kind of what our event is about," Brown said. "And of course we run Texas Reds, this is kind of like a mini-spinoff of that as well." Brown said they will be plenty of opportunities to try wine at the event -- each of the participating merchants will feature two different types of wine, typically a white and a red. Additionally, some of the door prizes guests can win include gift cards to the local restaurants or shops participating, among others. The event will start at the Palace Theater and wrap up at La Salle, featuring live music and drink specials for the attendees. Carolyn Catelena, owner of the Texas Rose Boutique, said she's looking forward to interacting with the community during the Sip & Shop. In years past, the Texas Rose Boutique has featured Texas wines and is planning to do the same this year. "It creates a very friendly shopping atmosphere," Catelena said. "People are interested, of course, in the wine as well as interested in viewing our selections of apparel and jewelry and things that we have to offer. And so, it does make a great evening of being able to educate the public as to what Bryan Downtown has to offer." A portion of the proceeds from tickets sales will go toward renovating the Queen Theatre, a project important to the Downtown Bryan Association, Brown said. "We've been working really hard to renovate the Queen, and so a big part of what we do here with the Downtown Bryan Association is working toward fundraising so we can complete that project," Brown said. "And our goal is to hopefully get that open within the next several months -- most likely in 2018. And so anything that we can do in downtown as far as having events to bring people to the area will definitely benefit the Queen and working towards its renovation." Tickets are $35 for general admission, and check-in begins at 2:30 p.m. For more information and the full list of participating merchants, visit downtownbryan.com. DMK Working President MK Stalin has said that the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu is only focused on safeguarding its government. By Pramod Madhav: Keeping his word, DMK Working President, MK Stalin has begun his lakes and water bodies desilting program across the State. Following his 'Namaku Naamey' (self reliance) vow, Stalin has entered the field himself, often posing in front of cameras while cleaning lakes body with a shovel. Today, Stalin participated in a desilting program at Thogamalai near Karur. "He got out his vehicle to inspect the desilting work and suddenly he got a wild idea to operate a JCB. it was interesting to see a prominent party leader do so," one of the residents in Thogaimalai said. advertisement Stalin has said that the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu is only focussed on safeguarding its government, and because of this, reforms have been put on the backburner. Stalin has alleged that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is not bothered about solving Tamil Nadu's drinking water or irrigation problems, which are expected to worsen in the future. Meanwhile, the AIADMK has argued that the Tamil Nadu government has already released Rs 100 crore to ease the state's drinking water shortage. With temperatures reaching up to 44 degrees Celsius, and cyclone Vardaah almost wiping Chennai's green cover, the state is likely to witness hot days ahead. ALSO READ: DMK to desilt water bodies in TN, blames govt for apathy Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa-Karunanidhi spat of 1989 returns in EPS-Stalin fight ALSO WATCH: DMK protest: Stalin released after being taken to Mylapore police station --- ENDS --- A group of Texas A&M professors are asking President Michael K. Young to apologize for what they believe is a lack of understanding of the black American experience, a request voiced after the administrator recently condemned comments about race violence made by a tenured faculty member. A radio interview given almost five years ago by philosophy professor Tommy Curry and uploaded to YouTube with audio and still photographs surfaced May 8 in an online article for The American Conservative, accusing the teacher of talking about killing white people for the sake of liberation and equality. Curry -- who has taught at Texas A&M since 2009 and has received national awards for his work on critical race theory and Africana philosophy -- told The Eagle his words were taken out of context as he was referencing black resistance to oppression over time and why that resistance was violent. Curry said he's met with several administrators who have assured him that his comments fall in line with academic freedom, but on Wednesday he remained disappointed that Young had not contacted him to discuss the situation. He said he's received death threats in the past week and reported each to authorities, and that he continues to receive terrorizing emails and phone calls. Meanwhile, an A&M official said Young also has received hateful emails, and that the university doesn't condone such threats. Some online comments have called for both to be fired from A&M. Young could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the university referred The Eagle to a second statement on the matter made by Young on Wednesday in which he stands by his initial remarks, while stating that he knows comments made by scholars often are misunderstood. At no time during the five-minute recording made in 2012 does Curry advocate violence. Within two days of the conservative website's story going viral through social media, Young sent an email to the Aggie community and posted it online, describing the professor's comments as disturbing and standing in stark contrast to the Aggie core values "that we hold true toward all humanity." The letter given to Young on Monday that asks him to apologize carries the names of 23 A&M professors who support their colleague. It states that the admonishment of Curry, who is black, follows a pattern of ultra-right-wing attacks on scholars -- especially minority academics -- who "strive to rescue America from its endemic problem of 'race illiteracy.' " The letter signed by three professors -- Violet M. Johnson, director of Africana Studies; Shona N. Jackson, associate professor of English, and Carmela Garritano, associate professor of Africana Studies and Film Studies -- includes the names of 20 other professors associated with Africana Studies. It asks for an apology for misrepresenting Curry's work as anything less than reflective of A&M's core value of excellence, as well as an apology to the Africana Studies faculty for not having the "common decency" to talk to any of them or even Curry when the issue surfaced. "You have chosen to acknowledge as truth a mischaracterization of Dr. Curry that was deliberately created by white supremacists and disseminated on websites associated with the alternative right and its agenda," the letter states, suggesting that Young, however inadvertently, "championed and gave legitimacy to a white supremacist agenda." Though Young's letter doesn't identify Curry, it's clear to whom his comments are referencing. Young stated then -- and again in the second email published online Wednesday -- that he has a "career-long, unwavering support for academic freedom, an essential element to enhance understanding and allow us to come to a closer approximation to the truth." Wednesday's letter from Young acknowledges that he knew Curry's comments made on the 2012 radio show were in reference to a movie related to the professor's scholarly work and that it wasn't his intent to suggest otherwise, "nor to overlook the oppression that led to this kind of scholarship, only to reassure our community of that for which we stand as a university." Young said to those who considered his comments disparaging to certain types of scholarly work or in any way impinging upon academic freedom that he regretted "any contributions that I may have made to misunderstandings in this case, including to those whose work is contextualized by understanding the historical perspectives of events that have often been ignored." Still, Young said, he stood behind his comment that it's not within the values of the university to promote violence toward a group of people because of their race. Jackson, one of the professors who signed Monday's letter to the administration, said Wednesday she was extremely disappointed with Young's latest statement, which appears to -- at least in part -- be in response to their letter. "It doesn't fully respond to the substance of our letter," she said. "He doesn't retreat from his initial position. It's good to affirm academic freedom, but it doesn't mention the original story that started all this was manufactured. It doesn't condemn the violent threats against Tommy." She said Young appears disengaged from the problem that his remarks have created. "His remarks likely will have an impact on recruitment of minorities to this university and it does impact the faculty who teach about minority oppression in the classroom," she said. "You already have students coming to class who do not know a huge part of American history. I don't think he understands that his first and second statement don't actually help this situation." The letter from the professors said that when Young described Curry's arguments as "reprehensible," he dismissed the face of global black oppression." "You dismiss our history of struggle. You dismiss the continuity of struggle. You dismiss the fact that blacks have had to fight to be included in 'all of humanity,' as you referenced it," the letter states. "In the United States, we have a long history of white violence against minorities. Adolf Hitler did not come up with ideas on his own but was directly tapping into population control methods that European kingdoms, nations and the United States initiated, yet we remain unable to acknowledge a black or Native American holocaust?" No railway station from Mumbai could make it to the list of top 10 cleanest ones across India in the third-party survey report presented by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: None of the railway stations in Mumbai city could make it to the list of top 10 in the third-party survey report on the cleanest stations of the country presented by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday. The survey assessed the cleanliness of 407 railway stations in the country, out of which 75 fall under the A1 category - accounting for an annual passenger revenue of more than Rs 50 crore each. The CST and Mumbai Central are both A1 category stations. The other stations surveyed included 332 A category stations, which account for an annual revenue of Rs 6 crore to Rs 50 crore each. From Maharashtra, Pune was ranked 9th among the 20 cleanest stations under the A1 category, and Ahmadnagar ranked third in 'A' category stations. advertisement While Bandra station got the 15th rank, Mumbai Central stood 27th while the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CSTM) a distant 44th. India Today decided to conduct a reality-check of these stations to find out which of these were really clean. First our reporter went to the Mumbai Central railway station, a major one on the western line. Mumbai Central not only caters to local commuters, but also to those outstation. When we reached the platform, it looked clean. There were dustbins kept over short distances so that people could use them easily. TOILETS IN A TERRIBLE STATE While the platform was being cleaned at regular intervals, public toilets were in a terrible state. The Mumbai Central station scored 720 marks out of 1000 and secured the 27th rank in the country. Then we moved to the Bandra railway station, which was ranked 15th. Bandra station wasn't as clean as Mumbai. Tobacco and betel leaf spit marks smeared the dustbins kept at the platforms here. Outside station, there was a debris of waste. In the survey report, Bandra station scored 763.3 marks out of 1,000 and bagged the 15th position. Situation at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus was not good too. There was rubbish seen lying at its entrance. As we entered the terminus building, it was crowded. Due to dearth of space on benches, people sat and ate on the floor and left the remaining packed food behind. The Lokmanya Tilak Terminus scored 660 points and ranked 60th in the country. TOBACCO, BETEL LEAF SPIT MARKS AT STATIONS The reality-check then shifted to the Dadar station, which scored the 70th rank with a score of 560. Tobacco and betel leaf spit marks were seen here too. The platform here too was not clean. We even inspected the public toilet at Dadar station. While it looked reasonably clean from a distance, it was stinking. Dadar, which is a common station on the Central and Western Railway, also failed to make it to the list of top 10 stations. advertisement Finally, our India Today reporter reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM) station. On the central railway line, it's the last station for local trains. It is regarded as the entry point of Mumbai. At CSMT, a local train plies every 3 minutes and footfall here is always higher compared to that at other stations of the country. This station scored 679.1 points out of 1000 and ranked 44 in the country. While the platform was relatively clean, the tracks weren't. It was disappointing to see a station like CSMT figure so low in the list. Sources at CSTM told us that officials were not happy with this survey. They felt that it was unfair to compare a busy station like CSTM to another which had a smaller footfall and a lesser frequency of trains. At CSTM, there is a local train every 3 minutes and the footfall of commuters is also high. In such a situation, it becomes tough for those responsible for cleaning to do so at regular intervals. Also read | Suresh Prabhu inaugurates passenger amenities at Mumbai railway stations Also read | One Rupee Clinics now open at 14 Mumbai railway stations advertisement Also read | Free high-speed Wi-Fi from Google now available at Mumbai Central, 100 stations by end of 2016 --- ENDS --- Texas A&M President Michael K. Young released an open letter to the university community Wednesday clarifying comments made a week ago related to a professor's statements made in a 2012 podcast. Tommy Curry, a tenured philosophy professor who also teaches Africana Studies, has received widespread support from academia since Young's first letter a week ago admonishing his comments related to race. Curry has since said his remarks were taken out of context. In the most recent letter Young said while he stands "firmly behind my comment that it is not within the values of our University to ever promote violence toward a group of people because of their race," he added that he hoped to "affirm my career-long, unwavering support for academic freedom." "Scholars have a responsibility to engage in deep dialogue and ask questions within their areas of expertise," Young said. "However, through sound bites or social media headlines, profound issues can be oversimplified and distorted." Young said he is aware Curry's statements at the time were in reference to the movie Django Unchained and connected to his area of academic study. "It was not my intent to suggest otherwise nor to overlook the oppression that led to this kind of scholarship, only to reassure our community of that for which we stand as a university," Young wrote. "For those of you who considered my comments disparaging to certain types of scholarly work or in any way impinging upon the centrality of academic freedom at this university, I regret any contributions that I may have made to misunderstandings in this case, including to those whose work is contextualized by understanding the historical perspectives of events that have often been ignored." During the nearly 5-minute interview Curry presented his analysis of the historical context related to a joke made by actor Jamie Foxx which referenced his character in the movie killing whites. At no point did Curry show support for the comment. The comments were published online by a conservative-leaning website, prompting complaints made the university. Curry, who has since received support from hundreds of students and faculty members at the university, said Wednesday that he's disappointed Young has not reached out to him to discuss the matter. The spokesperson for the university said Young will not make further comments on the issue. This story is developing and will be updated. One of the most revealing reflections on this process was by written Victor Lebow, published in the Journal of Retailing in Spring 1955: "Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption." "Rituals"? "Spiritual satisfaction"? What he's describing here are the roots of the modern practice of branding, perceived obsolescence, and the warped identity politics which flow from that - transforming shopping into a quasi-religious frenzy. The apotheosis of Lebow's idea is embodied in today's ironic acceptance of our dependency on consumption, whilst at the same time our seeming inability to change that situation. Curiously, coming right up-to-date, Chuck Palahniuk's phrase that, "things you used to own, now they own you", is now set to become reality with the development of the 'Internet of Things'. Hence why non-participation is revolutionary Which brings me back to the hummus crisis ... The myth at the heart of consumerism is that it is economically and qualitatively better to buy a new product than to repair something, or to create it yourself. While for most people that might be true for the most complex goods, such as a computer, that's not true of hummus - and many other things which make up large parts of our everyday life. Food is at the top of that list of 'easily do-able' things - not just preparing it, but growing it too. Gandhi, reflecting the ideas of 'modern' simplicity and frugality he took from Thoreau and Tolstoy, entreated us to "be the change you want to see in the world." In fact, as Thoreau and Tolstoy outline, to make change in ourselves we need to go further than simply 'being', and transition into 'doing', by working outside of domineering economic structures. Most importantly, you should find ways to take enjoyment from that proces - hijacking the momentary reciprocity embodied in acts of consumption by taking pleasure in your own daily acts of creation. 'Active' rather than 'passive' mindfulness One recent movement attempting to find solace in this sea of stress is 'mindfulness' - the idea that you should be aware of and live within the experience of the moment. Mindfulness is often portrayed as a passive, meditative act. But in my experience repetitive or ordered acts like cooking food are quintessentially meditative. More than that, the act of creation is a literal expression of our self-awareness ... "I do, therefore I am!" The case of food is also deeply symbolic. It embodies a long human tradition surrounding the concept of sustenance, and of connection to those who will partake of the food. This is why food preparation was historically viewed as a quasi-spiritual 'prayer', or act of devotion, often surrounded by ritual. Every act of creating food from raw, natural ingredients - in contrast to Linder's "thawing and heating" - is a spiritual process beyond that which ordinary consumerism can achieve. That is why the modern pressures of life, by denying us that meditative 'recreation', demeans our human capacities. 'Involuntary simplicity' Another popular movement is 'voluntary simplicity' - attempting to respond to the crisis of consumption by consuming less. That's ultimately my own response. Lately though, given current economic realities, I've started to talk about 'involuntary simplicity'. To express it in ecological terms, the current trend of rising inequality, and economic austerity, is 'forcing' simpler, less-intense patterns of consumption on the major part of the population. People are protesting to reverse austerity. Likewise, the recent votes for Trump or Brexit can be seen as a protectionist call to preserve the heydays of the consuming lifestyle engineered in the 1950s. Is this valid in ecological terms - given the pressing ecological limits to consumption? Or is it simply an expression of the material dependency of the addicted consumer? In my view, we need to embrace the ecological dimension that austerity creates; a 'societal detox' from the addictive lifestyles created by consumerism. For what is economic austerity in the developed world if not an unplanned and chaotic form of the 'contraction and convergence' process - which many talked of in the 1990s as a solution to many of the world's ecological ills? If we could provide an 'ecologically civilized' alternative to economic austerity then we'd be addressing many of the globe's current environmental and social ills. Making hummus is a symbolic act towards a greater change I love making food. It's deep; primal. It speaks not only to my own need for simple, non-processed food, but also to my need to create. Bread, pies, cakes, nut burgers, soya milk and more besides. The point here is not simply to make hummus. The point - in consciously reversing the process described by Linder or Lebow - is that by extricating ourselves from our economic dependency we simultaneously develop the skills of resiliency. The act of being involved in preparing your food can, if you live that as a personally creative process, become a profound and basic statement of your greater world view. How far you go down that route is up to you. Even if we don't do it all the time, by developing these skills we learn the capacity to 'do without' and create our own alternatives. And as mainstream economics fails, enforcing 'involuntary' simplicity' in an desperate act of self-preservation, such skills can be a vital survival tool for us all. Recipe: 'Own-made super-strength hummus' This is my recipe to make five kilos of hummus. I make a five kilo batches and freezing them in small containers as it is far more efficient in terms of time and resource consumption. You can scale the figures for whatever quantity you require (e.g. to make 1 kilo, divide everything by 5). Note also that this recipe does not use 'power tools'. In my view the physical exercise, the smells and textures of the process are an important part of the 'producer', as opposed to 'consumer', experience. If you want to make hummus like that in the shops you will need to add another litre or so of water, and use an electric liquidizer to get the same texture. Likewise, use about a quarter of the garlic and about half the amount of tahini - although that will significantly reduce the nutritional quality. Recipe (main ingredients in bold) Take around 1.25 kilos of dried chickpeas and soak them for 12 to 15 hours (unless you can grow them, dried pulses are less impacting on the environment than canned). Add 10 grams/1 tablespoon of coarse salt, dissolved in water, and then add more water to cover the chickpeas with at least 50% of their depth in the container. This is because the chickpeas will swell, almost doubling in size, and doubling in weight - to roughly 2.4 kilos. Drain and refill the water in the pan. Make sure the swelled chickpeas are well covered in water, add another 10 grams of salt, bring to the boil and then simmer until soft enough to mash. This might take 1 to 2 hours in an ordinary large saucepan. It is more efficient to use a pressure cooker. At 12 pounds pressure they cook in about half the time (roughly 1 hour) using about the same amount of heat - hence why pressure cookers are more energy efficient. If you can chop garlic and squash the lemons quickly enough you can do the next two steps while the chickpeas boil - otherwise you'll need to prepare them before. Peel, squash and chop around 6 large bulbs/400 to 450 grams of fresh garlic. It's important to crush the garlic first before chopping in order to extract as much of the oil as possible. Squash and sieve the pips from 10 to 12 lemons to produce around half a litre of lemon juice. When the chickpeas have boiled drain the water - then rinse with cold water and drain again. This is important not only because it stops you scaling yourself on boiling hot chickpeas, it also stops the heat driving off the nutritious essential oils from the crushed garlic and lemon juice. Then roughly mash the chickpeas, not to puree them, to ensure most of them have burst. Add the garlic, lemon juice, and 150 millilitres of olive oil - then give everything a good mashing to mix everything together. Add 1 kilo of tahini. This takes some effort as the oily tahini doesn't mix easily, but this can be helped by slowing adding around half a litre of warm water at this point. Add more to create the consistency of hummus you desire. Keep mashing until you reach either the 'crunchy' (with lumps) or 'smooth' texture you want. Spoon the hummus into small containers. To keep for more than a week or so you'll need to freeze them. Allow the containers to air-cool until they reach room temperature before putting them in the fridge; then allow them to cool for a few hours/overnight in the fridge before putting them in the freezer. This avoids using excess 'mechanical' energy to cool the hummus. Last, and most importantly, eat the hummus. To defrost a container just take out out of the freezer and leave for a couple of hours before returning it to the fridge. Note, if you follow my 'super strength' recipe, while all those garlic oils might make you very healthy you might also find that you're eating alone Buying the ingredients from superstores the cost is around 3.60/kilo - in contrast to the roughly 5/kilo from shop-bought hummus. However, due to the much higher quantities of garlic and tahini, this recipe creates a qualitatively richer, tastier and more nutritious product. Paul Mobbs is an independent environmental researcher and freelance author. He is also the creator of the Free Range Activism Website, FRAW A fully referenced version of this article is available on FRAW. The video accompanying this article, entitled 'Hummus and Mindfulness', can also be found on the 'ramblinactivist' YouTube channel. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... A host of TV celebs were present at Reema Lagoo's funeral to bid a final farewell to the actress. By India Today Web Desk: Film and TV actress Reema Lagoo passed away earlier today after she suffered from a cardiac arrest. She was 58. TV and film celebs have been expressing their sadness at the news on various social media sites, and quite a number of them turned up at her funeral to pay their last respects. Sachin Pilgaonkar at Reema Lagoo's funeral. Photo: Yogen Shah advertisement Sachin Pilgaonkar, who had directed the actress in Tu Tu Main Main was seen with wife Supriya Pilgaonkar, who had worked with Reema on Tu Tu Main Main. Barkha Bisht at Reema Lagoo's funeral. Photo: Yogen Shah Also read: Naamkarann actor Viraf Patel's post on Reema Lagoo's death is heartbreakingly beautiful While Naamkarann actress Barkha Bisht also arrived to bid a final farewell to Reema with her actor-husband Indraneil Sengupta. Kiran Kumar. Photo: Yogen Shah Veteran TV actors like Kiran Kumar, and Guddi Maruti were also present. Guddi Maruti. Photo: Yogen Shah Reema Lagoo was last seen in the Star Plus show Naamkarann. She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actor, and theatre director. --- ENDS --- Check out formal fashion, hike Starr's Cave and more this weekend in SE Iowa Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday executed eight terrorists who were convicted under the country's military court system. By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan, in quick succession, hanged eight "hardcore terrorists" over a period of two days. The executions were announced by the Directorate of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan military's media wing, in similarly worded press releases. Four men were executed on Wednesday while another four were hanged today. The executions took place at an unspecified jail in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. advertisement The four terrorists executed today were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Rizwan Ullah, Sardar Ali and Sher Muhammad Khan. Those executed on Wednesday were named Ahmed Ali, Asghar Khan, Haroon ur Rasheed and Gul Rehman. According to the ISPR, all the eight men were active members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and were tried under Pakistan's military court system, the same system that sentenced Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. Notably, the practice of trying civilians suspected of terrorism was renewed by two years in March this year, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday. The military courts were first set up for a two-year period after the December 2014 attack at an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed. The eight terrorists executed on Wednesday and Thursday were accused of various offenses of terrorism, "including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies", the ISPR said. The four men executed today were further accused of "destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure". According to Justice for Pakistan, a human rights law firm based out of Lahore, Pakistan has executed 457 people since the 2014 Peshawar attack. According to PTI, Pakistani officials have maintained that the country's military courts serve as a deterrent against terrorism. However, human rights groups have raised questions about the secrecy with which the military courts function. ALSO READ | US sanctions JuD, other Pakistan terror groups, day after it warned India, Afghanistan of attacks ALSO READ | Hafiz Saeed spreading terrorism in name of jihad, says Pakistan ALSO WATCH | Monster of terrorism created by Pakistan, now devouring it: India at UN --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Michael Stimma and his family moved their Villa Italia restaurant from the East Side to a promising parkside area in the city center three years ago. They have not regretted their decision a day since. The product of a public-private partnership investing tens of millions of dollars in improvements, the Mill River Park is growing into a Stamford version of Manhattans Central Park. Businesses around the park like Villa Italia comprise some of the main beneficiaries of its metamorphosis highlighted by new features such as a carousel as the influx of visitors to the green space translates into more patrons. Its brought a whole new energy to this area, definitely revitalizing the community, said Stimma, who is manager at Villa Italia, in an interview last week at the restaurant. The park used to be an eyesore. Now its just beautiful. Seeing potential Long overlooked as a nondescript patch of ground on the western edge of downtown, the park has undergone a transformation in the past decade. The Mill River Park Collaborative, a public-private partnership, is leading a $100 million project that includes expanding the park to 31 acres and creating a 3-mile greenway to Stamford Harbor. Under contract with the city to develop and operate the park, the collaborative has raised $15 million of its $20 million capital-campaign goal, according to its website. This month, the park reached another milestone with the opening of a carousel in the parks northwest corner. This park was a dump before it became a fabulously engaging and dynamic green space, said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District. Having a robust park within the downtown is essential for an economically vibrant city and for a healthy environment. Stimma and his family closely watched the parks beautification before they moved Villa Italia in early 2014 from its former address at 812 E. Main St. They considered locations in the downtown core to the east of the park, but settled on 26 Mill River St., where a Hampton Inn and Suites is located. We looked downtown, and everything was so congested, and there was no parking, Stimma said. I think its the best of both worlds here. Were centrally located, but it doesnt feel congested. About a year before Villa Italia moved to Mill River Street, an approximately 202,000-square-foot office building a few hundred yards away at 9 W. Broad St. sold for $14.5 million. The edifice languished with only one tenant, but the buyers were willing to take a chance on the property. If the Mill River Park had not begun what had started and if it wasnt at the point visually where it was four years ago, I honestly dont know if they would have bought the building, said Christian Bangert, executive vice president and principal of Rhys, the real-estate firm that has brokered all leases at 9 W. Broad St. in the past four years. It was an important puzzle piece. Reaping the dividends For Villa Italia, the sweeping views of the parks lush landscape framed by the downtown skyline represent one of its greatest draws. The restaurant attracts a range of regulars from the millennial generation to senior citizens. It also does robust business from functions such as baby showers. Coming here, it seems like youre in a different city, having all the greenery and Stamford skyline as the backdrop, Stimma said. It just seems so unique. Teff Stamford, an Ethiopian-Eritrean restaurant at 113 W. Main St., is also benefiting from the increased foot traffic in the park. Situated across the street from the Mill River Playground, the establishment attracts many families, who dine there before and after trips to the park. I think what the park is doing is exposing more people to how great the West Side is, said Teff general manager Senay Mekonen. Its the link between the downtown and West Side thats breaking the stereotypes about the West Side. People are finding out that the West Side is a really nice place. Stimma and Mekonen said they expect to see business grow as the carousel gains in popularity. The upcoming opening of an ice-skating rink on the east side of the park would generate another group of potential patrons. Meanwhile, the park has contributed to a turnaround at 9 W. Broad St., which is now about 80 percent occupied. We see it as an amenity to our building, Bangert said. Many employees during lunch hours and breaks will walk out of the building and go across the street and eat lunch or read a book. It provides a green outlet where people can relax. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In Fairfield County, more nursing homes rate above average than below. But while 15 have five stars in a government rating system, four have just one and qualify as much below average. Picking a nursing home can be a complicated process and a common one, especially for Connecticut residents where a doctor noted a demographic tsunami triggering growing need. Nearly 10 years ago, Medicare tried to make the nursing home choice a little easier with a searchable online ratings system where facilities can garner one to five yellow stars like a TripAdvisor for nursing homes but based on compiled self-reported and inspection data. All Medicare- or Medicaid-certified facilities get a rating. Consumers are much more savvy now, said Dr. Gerard Kerins, a geriatrics specialist at Yale New Haven Hospitals Saint Raphael Campus and geriatrics professor at the Yale School of Medicine. Along with more awareness, he has seen the ratings help facilities to self-evaluate and make it more difficult for them to hide information. While Kerins believes patients or families are reluctant to select a facility with a 1-star rating, he sees most still primarily base their choice on their doctors recommendation. For his own patients, Kerins would recommend a facility with three to five stars. Medicares ratings are calculated using annual state inspection results, staffing levels, Registered Nurse staffing levels and quality measures. Kerins tabbed the quality measures as most important, covering self-reported data on infection and fall rates, untreated patient pain, if patients need more help after a stay than when they first arrived and more. More Information Fairfield County nursing homes' Medicare ratings 15 have a 5-star (much above average) rating Four have a 4-star (above average) rating Seven have a 3-star (average) rating 11 have a 2-star (below average) rating Four have a 1-star (much below average) rating What's in town? Cambridge Health and Rehabilitation Center, Fairfield - 4 stars Carolton Chronic and Convalescent Hospital, Fairfield - 5 stars Fairview Healthcare Center of Fairfield, Southport - 1 star Ludlowe Center for Health and Rehabilitation, Fairfield - 5 stars What's in town? Cambridge Health and Rehabilitation Center, Fairfield - 4 stars Carolton Chronic and Convalescent Hospital, Fairfield - 5 stars Fairview Healthcare Center of Fairfield, Southport - 1 star Ludlowe Center for Health and Rehabilitation, Fairfield - 5 stars Waveny Care Center, New Canaan - 5 stars Westport Rehabilitation Complex, Westport - 3 stars See More Collapse Because the star ratings are based on the average nursing home, only a certain percent can get the top 5-star designation. The stars range from one to five, representing much below to much above average status. Kerins warned not every 5-star facility is deserving of that high status, though most are good facilities. Medicares system is not without its criticisms. Both staffing and quality measures are based off self-reported data and health inspection results vary by state, making the comparison most accurate within state lines. While Kerins said the self-reported information Medicare uses is not likely to be perfectly accurate, he believes most facilities attempt honesty. In total, most people strive to be honest because they want to improve, he said. Forty-one Fairfield County nursing homes currently appear in Nursing Home Compare, Medicares tool to search its assessments. Of those facilities, only two have the highest possible markings an overall 5-star designation as well as five stars for the three assessment categories: health inspections, staffing and quality measures. The two top-ranking facilities are Waveny Care Center, located at 3 Farm Road in New Canaan, and Lourdes Health Care Center, located at 345 Belden Hill Road in Wilton. Both have under 100 beds and non-profit ownership. Four, however, ranked much below average: Fairview Healthcare Center of Fairfield, Cassena Care at Norwalk, Laurel Ridge Health Care Center and RegalCare at Greenwich. All four facilities had below or much below average health inspection ratings and were under for-profit corporation ownership. Located at 930 Mill Hill Terrace in Southport, the former Fairview facility is now RegalCare at Southport. It received more than twice the average number of health deficiencies during health inspections last year, including an August finding that the nursing home area was not free from accident hazards and risks or not enough supervision was offered to prevent avoidable accidents. Fixed in early October, that deficiency is designated as having potential for actual harm. RegalCare at Southport did not return a call requesting comment. Under the same current ownership, RegalCare at Greenwich is the only Fairfield County facility currently flagged on Medicares site as a Special Focus Facility. That means government inspection teams have found a history of persistent poor quality of care and that it could eventually lose its Medicare and Medicaid eligibility. The 1188 King St. facility is among seven RegalCare Management currently operates, all in Connecticut. Medicare deems two average, two below average and two much below average not including the 1-star former Fairview. While not familiar with the Southport facility, Kerins said for-profit facilities that frequently change names usually indicating they are being bought and sold to different corporations tend to struggle more often to perform well because of corporate pressure to turn a profit. He noted there are quality for-profit nursing homes that offer average and above care. Facilities run by local health systems or as nonprofits tend to struggle less to provide high-quality care, Kerins reported, based on what hes observed in the greater New Haven area. Carolton Chronic and Convalescent Hospital, a rehabilitation and long-term care facility at 400 Mill Plain Road in Fairfield, is among five-star awardees. Medicare gives the 229-bed for-profit facility much above average staffing and quality measures ratings and an above average health inspection rating. Were very happy with our 5-star rating, and we feel we deserve it because we provide excellent care, Administrator Dennis Kretzmer said. He said the Medicare ratings system didnt impact Caroltons care, and its staff have always been motivated by doing their best for patients rather than a high rating. Caroltons President and CEO, however, explained he wants potential patients or residents and their families to look beyond the stars. I think its very important that families do not just look at the five-star rating, Carmen Tortora said. It really doesnt tell you the whole story of the facility. He urged families visit, get a sense for a nursing homes atmosphere and see its care as they themselves walk around and observe if a location can meet their family members needs. Five-star facilities can have deficiencies, Tortora added, and 3-star facilities could provide good care. You have to have people go and see the communities and compare, Tortora said. Kerins suggested family members drop in unannounced and said the family of a resident needs to stay actively involved with ensuring good care. Most facilities offer good care for a vulnerable population in need by his assessment, but Kerins cautioned, consumer be aware. The Madhya Pradesh government declared a two-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the departed leader, Anil Madhav Dave. By Press Trust of India: The sudden death of Union minister Anil Madhav Dave came as a shock to the people of Madhya Pradesh, who started flocking at Nadi ka ghar (house of river), his residence here. The Madhya Pradesh government declared a two-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the departed leader after he passed away this morning in New Delhi, even as leaders cutting across party lines expressed profound grief over his demise. advertisement A pall of gloom descended at Nadi Ka Ghar with Dave's supporters flocking the three-storey building set up by him which was also used to run Narmada Samagra, an NGO for conserving river Narmada, the lifeline of MP. Born on July 6, 1956 at Barnagar in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain district, Dave, a bachelor, used to live in this house whenever he was in Bhopal. The house used to be his nerve centre for running the river conservation campaign as well as to formulate strategies for contesting elections. A master strategist, Dave was credited with bringing the BJP to power in MP in 2003 by running a successful campaign against the then Congress Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. PLANT TREES TO GIVE ME PLEASURE: DAVE Dave's love for environment and water bodies is also reflected in his will that he left for those who wanted to cherish his memories, BJP's spokesman Rajnish Agrawal said. "If you want to cherish my memories, plant trees and save them. This would give me pleasure," Dave stated in the will written on July 23, 2012. "Maximum efforts should be made for the conservation of rivers and water bodies and by doing so, use of my name should be avoided," he said in the will. WATCH: ALSO READ: Anil Madhav Dave was passionate about Narmada river revival, often cycled to Parliament Anil Madhav Dave, Union environment minister, dead; shocked at sudden demise of a friend, says PM Modi --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WILTON The Wilton Police Department marked a milestone last Thursday in promoting Anna Tornello to sergeant, making her the first female sergeant in town history. Since joining the Wilton police force in 2010, Tornellos excellence in the field has never wavered. As a cadet at the Connecticut Police Academy, Tornello received the prestigious Luciano Award, conferred for high academic achievement earning the top score among her peers. As an officer, Tornello received numerous distinctions, from letters of commendation and recognition from peers, as well as members of the public, to her 2011 Meritorious Service Award for tackling a bank fraud suspect. Tornello is also a four-time recipient of the MADD award for her dedication to DUI enforcement, and twice the recipient of the AAA Traffic Safety Hero award. While Tornello is proud of her distinction as the first female sergeant in department history, Police Chief John Lynch said that Tornellos the type of officer who wants to be remembered for her abilities, not milestones. She wants to focus on her abilities, which she feels is more important in making us successful. She has worked hard to earn her position and will continue to do so, he said. Tornello is one of only 37 certified Drug Recognition Experts in the state, an expertise that places special emphasis on detection of drivers intoxicated by drugs. Tornellos extensive expertise has also landed her gigs on the Fairfield County Crisis Negotiation Team, the Wilton Police Honor Guard, and as the regional hostage negotiator. Skills wont be the only thing Tornello brings to the table as sergeant. Her unique perspective as a woman will also lend a new edge to the police force, Tornello said. Although I am proud to be the first female sergeant of the Wilton Police Department, being a woman simply means to offer a different perspective, a different approach to issues and different solutions, Tornello said. Tornello moved to the United States in 2003 from Italy, where she was a municipal police officer for seven years, and a member of the motorcycle unit emergency response team for six years. Prior to joining the Wilton police force, Tornello was employed by the Connecticuts Judicial Marshal Service. Tornello continues a legacy started by esteemed peers like Lori Withall, who was the first female officer hired by Wilton in 1979, and Eva Zimnoch, who became the departments first female detective in 2015. Though she admits that hard work and perseverance guided her along the path to success, she also said that her ascent wouldnt have been possible without the help and support of her colleagues. None of us can succeed in a vacuum, and I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to work with a highly professional and competent group of people, she said. ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1046; Twitter: @Tomlinson_PE It would be wrong to sugarcoat what a Taliban victory would mean for Afghanistan. Many Afghans will suffer when we leave, although leave we mustif not this year, then some other year In my almost thirty-five years serving our country as a diplomat, I had only one true regretmy year in Afghanistan, 2009-2010. The camaraderie among the Americans, both civilian and military, who worked at the embassy was inspiring, and the dedication and courage of our Afghan colleagues was humbling. But the good work we did there quickly proved quixotic. I particularly regret that I had been such a strong proponent for the military and civilian surges that took place that year, often taking the lead within the embassy in pushing for more and more civilians to serve alongside our military personnel. It seemed to me at that timealthough I had wiser colleagues in the embassy who were very skeptical about the surge(s)that we owed it to those who had sacrificed their lives to make Afghanistan a better place not to give up, and that we also owed it to the Afghan people, many of whom daily risk their lives believing in a better future for their country because of their unflinching belief in the omnipotence and altruism of the American people. But I was wrong. Terribly wrong. And although President Obamas decision to go along with that surge was politically astute (or he would have been blamed for our ultimate failure in Afghanistan as well as Iraq) and although that surge, like President Bushs earlier surge in Iraq in 2007, initially succeeded, it should have been obvious that our success would only be transient and that ultimately our very presence in Afghanistan was a stumbling block to any lasting peace there. When in Doubt, Dismiss All Doubt Casinos make money. They make a lot of money. They make their money based on one simple human foible: Men might find it hard to leave the table when they are winning, but they find it far harder to leave when they are losing. This is especially true when both money and prestige are on the line. Only the very best of players knows when to walk away; know when to run as that old Kenny Rogers ballad goes. And what most people dont understand, but every casino manager knows is this: Greed plays only a small part in the reluctance to fold em and leave. The excitement of winning, the sheer delight in overcoming the odds, the testing of manhood, and the certainty of our own specialness all weigh heavily on anyone who tries to get up from the table. And what makes it even harder is that you dont lose all at once. You decide to double down a few times, and you come up a winner now and then, so you press on, thinking the odds have turned and refusing to notice that short-term wins cant be kept forever. What is true at the gaming table is a hundredfold truer in war because there is one thing that makes it even harder to leave: an audience. And when the whole world is your stage and the prestige, honor, and loyalty of the worlds greatest power is on display, walking away becomes implacably difficult. We have on occasion, of course, walked away, but only at great moral and psychic cost. It took us enormous losses of life and treasure to leave Vietnam, and today we still argue long into the nightas do many gamblersthat if we had only stayed a little longer it would all have turned out differently if we had only not deserted our allies, if we had not been so self-indulgent, if we had not grown tired in the face of a relentless enemy. We deserted that battlefield, but the wounds took a generation even to start to heal, and the scars will remain for many generations to come. Why We Cannot Win Before the end of May the Pentagon will recommend to President Trump a surge in troops to break the stalemate with the Taliban. He is almost certain to accept the recommendations. Like his two immediate predecessors, President Trump will not want to be seen to lose a war, and so he will likely concludedespite his campaign rhetoric about not getting bogged down in aimless, endless conflictsthat he must give the military whatever they ask for. He will also feel compelled to accept the recommendations because like those gamblers at the gaming table, he assumes he can do better than his predecessors. He will be told and he will believe that the reason we have not won the war yetjust as in Vietnam and Iraqis because we have been fighting with one arm tied behind our back. And on a tactical level, our military leaders will be right. More liberal and flexible Rules of Engagement (ROE) will enable our military to conduct more lethal and effective actions against enemy targets. So the next surge of troops, accompanied by new ROEs, will prove tremendously, albeit only temporarily, effective, breaking the stalemate and allowing both the Pentagon and the President to declare that the tide has turned and victory is assuredmuch as the Pentagon and President Bush did after the 2007 Iraq surge. But these tactical gains come at severe strategic costs. First, the new ROEs will result in greater civilian casualties that will inevitably be criticized in the media and turn public opinion even more against the war. Inside Afghanistan itself, the mounting casualties will further erode Afghan confidence in us. Second, even without the new ROEs, our military and civilian leaders still have not come to terms with the simple truth that we are not welcome in Afghanistan. Most of the Afghan people, even many who appreciate our assistance, are uncomfortable with our being an occupying force in their land. Some cultures and peoples react more negatively to foreign occupation, and the Afghans, like most of the Islamic world, are among the most intolerant and easily inflamed when strangers overstay their welcome. Third, we have failed for sixteen years to articulate what a realistic victory looks like. If the point of our invasion was to rid Afghanistan of Al Qaeda, then we should have left by 2003. If it was to eliminate the Taliban, then we should never have let them escape to Pakistan. To rid the country of the Taliban now would take more, much more in terms of manpower and money and time than is politically palatable to the American public. And it would also require us to face the fact that Pakistan, the enemy we insist on calling an ally, does not want us to win and will do all in its power to prevent our success. Is the Pentagon and White House really ready to punish Pakistan for harboring the Taliban and providing them support? There is nothing emanating from the White House or Pentagon to suggest that either is prepared to risk chaos in Pakistan in order to win in Afghanistan. But without that confrontation with Pakistan, no surge can ultimately succeed. But perhaps most importantly, and what neither the Pentagon nor the White House wants to recognize, is the simple reality that someday we must leave. And when we do, all the old wounds and animosities and all the radical ideologies will explode with a vengeance. The Taliban is in no rush. They know they can wait us out. All we can do with this latest surgeas with the Bush surge and the Obama surgeis delay the inevitable. Nothing more. We do not belong there, and our very presence feeds opposition to our objectives. I am sure that when the first Crusaders entered Jerusalem in 1099, they thought they were there for good and that the surges (subsequent Crusades) of the next 170 years would ensure an enduring victory. Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose. The Cost of Leaving While this essay deplores those who delude themselves into thinking we can succeed in Afghanistan, it would be wrong to sugarcoat what a Taliban victory would mean for Afghanistan. Many Afghans will suffer when we leave, although leave we mustif not this year, then some other year. And when we finally do, it is those Afghans who have stood steadfast beside us who will suffer most. Primary amongst them will be the women. For nearly a full generation now women in Afghanistan have had access to education and good health care. They have had the freedom to work and to own businesses and to enter politics. All this will likely change once we leave. It is also quite likely that the country itself will splinter, with the Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazara continuing the fight against the central government if it is controlled by a resurgent Taliban. The one silver lining, if you can call it that, is that the next Afghan government will be unfriendly toward Iran. There is also the prospect of internecine warfare among various factions within the Taliban and between the Taliban and ISIS. But these silver linings should not allow us to ignore the negative consequences of our leaving. Our only solace is that we cannot forestall forever our own departure, and our continual involvement in Afghanistan is, on balance, exacerbating rivalries among the various people of Afghanistan and worsening the overall image of the United States. Sixteen years is long enough for any occupation. At this stage, Afghanistan will have to find its own way forward. If and when it does stabilize, we should be ready to offer economic support and technical assistance. But we cannot save those who do not want to be saved by us. Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politicswe approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now. Hall County may have to cut $2 million to balance the fiscal 2018 budget. The Hall County Board of Supervisors received that information on Wednesday morning during a special meeting on the preliminary fiscal 2018 budget. In his presentation to the board, certified public accountant Brad Fegley, who assists Hall County in its budget process, gave a rundown of the added costs the county will face for the fiscal 2018 budget. Preliminarily, to accommodate the 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment, plus step, minus salaries, would require an additional $570,000. The final year of the salary survey will result in an added cost of $200,000. Hall County will also have $750,000 in added health insurance costs. Loss of the state inmate revenue will mean $1 million less coming into the countys coffers. In terms of added savings, having no additional pay period this year will potentially result in a savings of $520,000 for the county, meaning the county faces $2 million in cuts, Fegley said. Fegley said one other thing that needs to happen is to transfer $750,000 in inheritance tax revenue to the liability claim reserve, a reserve fund for health insurance. We are doing that just because we are making sure we have enough reserves, he said. The thing we are trying to do here is to put it over there with the thought that, if you dont use the money, then it will go back to inheritance and its inheritance money. The good part is that then you have dollars set aside in case something major happens. That is going to be one of the things that we are going to suggest when we do the budget. Board Assistant Stacy Ruzicka said Hall County Assessor Jan Pelland was very helpful in giving her thoughts on what would happen with property valuations, but she was hesitant to go into detail. She is very good about saying, Here is where we are at with personal property, real estate appraisal, and here is where are at with all these different things, Ruzicka said. But Jan does not want to be that person to give that projection for the future. So we are always very conservative of this number. This number has never gone over. Weve never had to tell you valuations are too high. Ruzicka said there may be a loss in personal property taxes for Hall County next year due to issues with them last year with some big corporations. They missed the deadline for getting tax exemptions, she said. So they paid taxes last year, and this year they will not. That is very significant. Fegley also discussed the data sheet of Hall Countys tax levies, provided to each supervisor, in depth with the county board. As you look through here, you can see that the countys part of the levy is 35 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, he said. Thats pretty much where you guys have been stuck at between that 35- and 36-cent (range). Fegley also explained, and Ruzicka clarified after Wednesdays special meeting, that the total county levy jumps to 39 cents, as 4 cents go to other entities including the Grand Island Rural Fire District, Hall County Agricultural Society and the Hall County Airport Authority. Fegley and Ruzicka said the levy also takes into consideration a 4-cent additional jail bond levy, which could raise the levy to 43 cents. The jail bond is a levy set by a vote of the people, Fegley said. It is not a dollar amount you set in the agreement. It was a levy amount that was set. Also at Wednesdays meeting, the county board voted 7-0 to approve increasing medical premiums by 25 percent, increasing life insurance premiums by 10 cents per month and keeping dental premiums the same. According to information provided in the meeting agenda packet, that would result in an increase of $150.26 a month in medical premiums for a single plan and $364.16 a month in medical premiums for a family plan compared to the previous year. The employee contribution would be $467.92 per year for a single plan with the employees paying 5 percent of salary and $655.09 per year paying 7 percent. Hall Countys contribution would be $8,890.52 for a single plan paying 5 percent and $8,703.35 for a single plan paying 7 percent. For family plans, the employee contribution would be $4,565.16 a year if paying 20 percent and $5,021.68 if paying 22 percent. Hall Countys contribution would be $18,260.64 if employees are paying 20 percent and $17,804.12 if employees are paying 22 percent. For the record In other action, the county board: Voted 7-0 to have a zero percent increase in operating costs for each Hall County department. Voted 7-0 to have each Hall County department devote $5 per full-time employee to unemployment benefits. Voted 7-0 to approve a budget letter that will be sent to department heads, appointed officials and agency directors informing them of the budget process and actions they need to take in completing their budgets for the fiscal 2017-18 year. Tuesday nights thunder and lightning may have seemed severe, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Kelley said they brought enough rain to put Grand Island in range of hitting the May precipitation average. The weather service in Hastings recorded 40 mph winds Tuesday night, with top gusts at 53 mph. At 7 a.m. Wednesday, the weather service reported 1.44 inches of rain at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island. It continued raining on and off throughout the day on Wednesday. Area residents should brace for more action on Thursday night, with storms continuing on Friday. Kelley said Act 2 will bring at least half an inch to Grand Island, with a 70 percent chance of a full inch and a very good chance of 1.5 inches falling throughout the full storm. Saturday will be a transition day to Sundays good weather. Radar predicts Saturday will be cool and cloudy with temperatures in the upper 50s, but Sunday will reach 70 degrees, accompanied by plenty of sunshine, Kelley said. With the Tuesday and upcoming Thursday storms, Kelley said, Grand Island will likely hit the average May precipitation rate. As of 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Grand Island had received 3.2 inches of rain for the month of May, putting the city within an inch and a half of hitting the May average of 4.41 inches. If we get another inch or so of rain Thursday into Friday, well be on our way to being normal, Kelley said. The rain also brings Grand Island up to the yearly average, erasing the 0.67 of an inch precipitation deficit Grand Island had on May 1. After Tuesdays storm, Kelley said, there was no flooding concern, but Thursdays storm could bring danger to the area stretching from Harlan County Lake through Hastings and up to Columbus. This strip through Central Nebraska has received 2 to 3 inches in the last three days, Kelley said. So thats the area were most concerned about. The National Weather Service did issue a flash flood watch for part of south-central Nebraska for Thursday evening through late Friday night. The watch area includes Adams, Hall, Hamilton, Merrick and Polk counties. Sarah Schlund, an Extension educator for crops and water, said this concern comes at one of the most stressful times for farmers. Heavy rain can introduce several problems for newly planted crops, such as delaying planting, crusting the soil surface and flooding germinating seeds. But Mother Nature fluctuates, Schlund said. Tuesday and Thursdays rains are only a part of a season, and on their own, they dont represent a major threat to crops. David Hauschild, who has a farm 5 miles east of Ravenna, agrees that output is based on many variables and that the storms are a part of a normal summer rain schedule. My family has been farming in Ravenna since 1880, and in over 130 years, Ive never seen a year where we havent had crops, Hauschild said. You have to take things like rain with a grain of salt and not panic. Things usually work out fine. Grand Island Public Schools has hired Jennifer Lohrberg as principal at Engleman Elementary School, replacing Jane Gloor, who is retiring. We are excited to bring in Ms. Lohrberg and her experience innovating and educating students, Superintendent Tawana Grover said. Id like to thank the parents and staff for their input and involvement in the process. Lohrberg is currently the principal at Delta Middle School in Delta, Colo. She has also served as assistant middle school principal, achievement center coordinator, special educator and elementary teacher in Norfolk Public Schools, Zion Lutheran School in Pierce, Lincoln Public Schools and Lubbock, Texas. What excites me about Grand Island Public Schools is also what excites me about Engleman: true enthusiasm from educators and parents who want to make a difference for all students, Lohrberg said. It is infectious. Every Student, Every Day, A Success is more than just a saying. Its a commitment of the community, district, parents and staff to do whatever it takes to grow and support students academically, socially and emotionally. Lohrberg will fill the position vacated by Gloor, who is retiring after 19 years of leading GIPS elementary schools and five years in Central City. She has been at Engleman the last two years. We are incredibly grateful for the impact Mrs. Gloor has made on students during her time at GIPS, Grover said. We wish her well in her much-deserved retirement. The job at Engleman is exciting for Lohrberg for a number of reasons, she said, not the least of which is the high expectations for student achievement. Everyone I met at Engleman is committed to this challenging and rewarding work. I am honored and proud to be a part of it and cant wait to get started, Lohrberg said. With past experience in Nebraska, she is ready for the return from Colorado. My last two years in western Colorado helping my family has been wonderful. My position in Delta has been very rewarding, she said. The truth is, I missed the people of Nebraska. When researching districts with openings, Grand Island was a standout for me. There is incredible community and parent support for education, dedicated staffs in buildings across the district, innovative approaches to student supports. The strong leadership of the GIPS district office, led by Dr. Grover, peaked my interest. After coming to interview in Grand Island, I was hooked. I knew this is where I wanted to be. Priyanka Chopra was asked who among Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson had a bigger, you know. Her answer was priceless. By India Today Web Desk: Priyanka Chopra is busy soaking up the sun in Miami, all while promoting her upcoming film Baywatch. The Miami premiere of Priyanka's maiden Hollywood film Baywatch saw our Desi Girl being cheered by all. The actor was on a talk show too to talk about Baywatch, her co-stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron and more. Everything was hunky-dory till she reached the rapid fire round. advertisement The round, called 'Between The Rock and a Hot Face', had Priyanka choosing one of the two, Dwayne Johnson or Zac Efron, as answer to various questions. Soon, a bomb was dropped. The host asked Priyanka a question that she was completely unprepared for: Who has a bigger d**k - Zac Efron or Dwayne Johnson? To that, PC first just about betrayed a blush, and then went on to laugh, and finally answered, "I'm not... That was not part of the question!" She was also asked who among Dwayne and Zac is more flirty. Priyanka found it difficult to choose between the two. Watch the clip here: Priyanka's Baywatch hits the screens on May 25 this year. PHOTOS: Priyanka Chopra goes into Baywatch mode, burns up the beach in a bikini ALSO SEE: In Baywatch's new trailer, Priyanka makes life hell for Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron ALSO WATCH: After Quantico, Priyanka Chopra in Hollywood film Baywatch now --- ENDS --- Stage Stores, the Texas company that bought Gordmans out of bankruptcy, has plans to turn the chain into an off-price retailer like TJ Maxx or Burlington, Stage Chief Executive Michael Glazer said Thursday. Gordmans current business model is a hybrid between a department store and an off-price retailer. The one thing all of us have to acknowledge, its the one area of retail that has continued to prosper, even in difficult times, Glazer said of the off-price model during a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday morning. TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods, has been growing since the recession, while many other retailers are struggling and shuttering stores. Off-price retailers typically buy excess inventory from department and specialty stores, allowing them to sell well-known brands at a heavily discounted price. Such chains often operate under a treasure hunt model, where items may not be available in a full run of sizes and colors. Gordmans previously had bought about 80 percent of its merchandise normally, and 20 percent opportunistically, the way a chain like TJ Maxx buys merchandise, said Thorsten Weber, Stage chief merchandising officer. Stage plans to shift the model to buy about half upfront, and the other half opportunistically, he said. The chain will eliminate coupons, sales and promotions as a result, although Gordmans former Chief Executive Andy Hall already had pulled back the chains coupon offerings. Weber said the company has appointed Clark McNaught, already with Stage, to head up the Gordmans buying team. Stage also retained some buyers from Gordmans who previously worked for Burlington. Glazer also touted that Gordmans stores are located in Midwest markets larger than those Stage already operates in and that Gordmans average customer is much younger than Stages. He also praised Gordmans home and gift business, which he said makes up more than 25 percent of sales. Gordmans, founded in Omaha more than 100 years ago, declared bankruptcy in March and at least 50 of the chains stores were purchased by Stage. Stage operates 800 stores nationwide that go by a variety of names, including Peebles, Bealls and Goodys. One Gordmans store in Council Bluffs will remain open. The rest in the Omaha area are conducting going-out-of-business sales and are expected to close this month. A few days after marking its first 100 days in office, the Trump administration closed in on another milestone: $300 billion. Thats the total value of goods that crossed U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico between Inauguration Day and April 29. President Trump was presented with a similar data point before he tacked away from a decision to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement. According to the Washington Post, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross showed the president a map indicating areas of the United States that would be harmed by the collapse of NAFTA, including many that are home to the presidents core supporters. Canada is the No. 1 destination for U.S. exports. Trade with Mexico supports 6 million American jobs, from corn farmers in Iowa to auto workers in South Carolina. With integrated manufacturing, its more accurate to speak of a North American auto industry than a strictly American one. After the briefing, and phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Trump announced that hed defer termination in favor of renegotiation. This is encouraging news. Not only did Trump avoid a crisis that would have hit U.S. manufacturing, services, farming and consumers, he also recognized a central, underlying truth about the much-maligned trade deal: It is wiring that connects and provides power to large parts of the American economy. But it needs an update. We each endeavored during the Clinton and Obama administrations to improve the NAFTA agreement to better serve American workers and consumers. We see an opportunity to seize this challenging political moment and grow the U.S. economy in ways that benefit more Americans, including those whove rallied behind Trumps anti-free-trade message, by modernizing NAFTA. U.S. negotiators should not throw up barriers to trade or impose border taxes, which will inflict collateral damage on millions of American workers and consumers. Rather, they should write rules for economic areas not included in the original agreement a quarter century ago, including energy, digital trade and e-commerce. There is also room to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards and increase the domestic content required for cars and other products; indeed, rules of origin for NAFTA are tweaked on a regular basis. These updates, handled carefully, should make the United States more competitive globally, not less. The administration can further use negotiations to advance American interests in areas such as regional security and immigration. Of course these topics are already under discussion. Over the last four years, the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue has, among other things, established a shared, data-based framework for identifying new border infrastructure needs, developed a common agenda for smoothing business regulations and promoted the seamless flow of energy across the border. NAFTA has always been a means to an end larger than trade. It cemented ties with our neighbor to the north. It was instrumental in helping the United States and Mexico climb out of a deep hole of mutual distrust and hostility. Both of us have made many official trips to Mexico. Weve witnessed the breathtaking shift in the image of the United States from negative to positive. NAFTA deserves much of the credit for transforming North America from a region characterized by suspicion into one where together we can confront transnational security and economic threats. Any upcoming renegotiation of NAFTA with our neighbors also provides an opening for self-examination. Many Americans feel left behind by the global economy. The great challenge of our time is how to address this critical issue not with an insufficient Trade Adjustment Assistance package tacked onto a free trade agreement, but holistically. We must develop a robust, independent strategy to arm American workers with the skills they need to adapt not only to globalization but also to technological advances. Trumps campaign placed concerns about NAFTA front and center. He now leads a nation and an administration that is deeply divided over its approach to trade. As he learns more about the realities of NAFTA, he has an opportunity to improve it. At the same time, our nation must develop a robust domestic job training strategy and strengthen the safety net for American workers. Thats what winning on trade requires. Mack McLarty was White House chief of staff and special envoy to the Americas under President Clinton. Penny Pritzker was secretary of Commerce under President Obama. They wrote this for the Los Angeles Times. New U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is getting plenty of advice as he begins his new job after being sworn in to the position Monday. Most of the advice, and concern, is about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Leading the list of those concerned are farmers, ranchers and government officials from farm states. On Tuesday, Gov. Pete Ricketts and some Nebraska farm groups hosted Mexican officials and had a clear message for them. Bilateral trade with Mexico has helped grow agriculture in our state over the years, Ricketts said. Mexico is Nebraskas largest export market for corn, dairy, sugar and sweeteners, and the second largest market for soybeans, wheat, sorghum and distillers grains. All of this combined accounts for thousands of Nebraska jobs. Im encouraged by local and national discussions to expand trade, and am committed to helping grow our trade relationship with Mexico so we can continue to grow Nebraska. Kelly Brunkhorst, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, said Mexico is Nebraskas largest export market for corn, which adds $287 million in value to Nebraskas economy. Under NAFTA, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have tripled and quintupled, respectively. This is because corn is exported to Mexico without tariffs or duties. However, farm groups say that trade is threatened because President Donald Trump has indicated he wants to renegotiate the agreement. So farm groups are rightly increasing the heat on Lighthizer. Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska was among a group of 18 Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to Lighthizer saying modernization of NAFTA may be appropriate, but warned that going too far could have devastating economic consequences. Among other benefits, NAFTA has led to tremendous growth in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada, integrated cross-border supply chains that benefit U.S. employers and more than tripled U.S. exports of goods (including agricultural and manufactured goods) and services, the senators said. As senators who represent states that see a significant economic impact from trade, we will maintain a keen interest in the ongoing process surrounding NAFTA and look forward to working with your office. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska even voted against Lighthizers nomination because of concerns that he would seek to blow up NAFTA. In a letter written with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sasse wrote, Your confirmation process has failed to reassure us that you understand the North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA) positive economic benefits to our respective states and the nation as a whole. We fear that you do not have an appreciation for the millions of jobs created by this free trade deal, and that you would not champion agriculture during your time as USTR. The letter said that Mexican officials have cited the possible renegotiation of NAFTA as a major reason why they are currently pursuing actions to import less corn from the U.S. and more from other nations, including Argentina and Brazil. As trade representative, Lighthizer must be a champion for agriculture. He must not sacrifice the gains that NAFTA and other trade pacts have brought to the ag economy for a protectionist policy that will drive U.S. trade partners elsewhere. Lighthizer must seek a balance between improving trade agreements, while at the same time not hurting the thriving trade market for American ag products. H.S. football playoffs: Central Bucks West vs. North Penn in a rematch North Penn plays at rival Central Bucks West in the quarterfinals of the PIAA District One Class 6A playoffs, while Souderton and La Salle are on the road By Amit Tyagi: When you think of the iconic Bollywood film Maine Pyaar Kiya, images of Salman Khan and his onscreen mother Reema Lagoo's cherubic face come to mind. Reema Lagoo was the quintessential Bollywood 'maa,' but being a blend of modern and traditional, she broke the stereotype of the Bollywood 'maa' in the 90s. On the morning of May 18, the film industry woke up to the news of the sad demise of the veteran actor in Mumbai. She was 58 and passed away after a cardiac arrest at Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Till last night, Reema was shooting for her television show Naamkarann and complained of chest pain after she reached home. She was rushed to the hospital, but sadly, could not make it. She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee. advertisement With a career spanning almost four decades in films, television and theatre, Reema was an actor par excellence. Acting was in her blood, as she hailed from a film family (her mother Mandakini Bhadbhade was a popular actor), and she started her career by doing theatre. Her real name, Nayan, was changed to Reema Lagoo post her marriage to actor Vivek Lagoo and even though the couple separated, she continued to use the name and surname as she considered it lucky for her. After dabbling in Marathi theatre in the 80s, Shyam Bengal launched her in Hindi films with Kalyug opposite Shashi Kapoor. She then did films like Aakrosh, Nasoor and Rihaai. Her first commercial success was Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, where she played Juhi Chawla's mother. This role established her as the perennial mother for the next two decades. Reema's next film, Salman Khan and Bhagyashree-starrer Maine Pyaar Kiya, made her a nationwide sensation. She played a modern but sanskaari mother, challenging the prototype of Bollywood mothers of that time. Reema's onscreen pairing with Salman Khan as mother and son was loved by the audience so much that it was repeated in many other hits like Saajan and Hum Saath Saath Hai. She worked with all leading Indian filmmakers and actors in a career spanning almost four decades. Reema's career in television was equally glorious, but mostly in the comedy genre. Shows like Tu Tu Main Main and Shriman Shrimati explored her funny side. However, when she started her television career, way back in 1985, it was with a soap opera, Khandaan. Till the time of her death she remained active on television, and in fact, shot for Mahesh Bhatt's show, Naamkarann, the evening before her sudden demise. Reema played one of the prime characters in Naamkarann, and the show will surely suffer due to her untimely demise. However, as they say, the show must go on... ALSO READ: Veteran actor Reema Lagoo dies of cardiac arrest at 58 ALSO READ: Amitabh Bachchan to Priyanka Chopra, B-Town mourns Reema Lagoo's demise WATCH: Reema Lagoo dies of cardiac arrest in Mumbai --- ENDS --- advertisement Lately, we suspect that Paul Ryan must spend every day in a state of exquisite agony. Each day brings new agonizing things, and some more than others. At times, the speaker of the House, must wake up and already sense impending doom, such as the morning after news has broken that Ryan and other Republicans were caught on tape speculating that Donald Trump might be paid by the Russians. Thursday was one of those days. "There have been some members who have said, 'We might be better with Vice President Pence,' " said a reporter at Ryan's regularly scheduled news conference in the Capitol basement, implying a President Donald Trump impeachment scenario. "Oh, good grief," Ryan said, appearing pained. "What's your take on that?" "I-I-I. We shouldn't even - I'm not even going to give credence to that. I'm not even going to comment on that. That's - well, there's not even a point making a comment on that." Another question: "Earlier this week, Senator McConnell said, 'We could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things.' " the reporter asked. "Do you agree with that assessment?" "Well, yeah," said Ryan. "It's always nice to have less drama." Did anyone want to ask questions about tax reform? Ryan asked. Did anyone want to talk about the technology-related bills that had passed that week, including one that would "bring the government into the age of cloud computing"? The press seemed only mildly interested in cloud computing. The night before, the deputy attorney general's office announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Trump campaign's potential Russia ties. Just a few hours earlier, Ryan had been publicly asked whether he retained full confidence in the president. "I do," he had said, in the tone of a bridegroom who knows that it's too late to return the tuxedo. Then came the year-old recordings of Ryan and his colleagues, in which Ryan had told everyone else in the room to keep their mouths shut with their Russia-pays-Donald speculating. "No leaks," he had said, following up with a sad et tu, Brute plea: "This is how we know we're a real family." His communications staff spent Thursday morning tweeting that Ryan had been joking - "Obviously a joke. Media needs to get a grip."- in between trying to get Ryan's followers stoked about taxes: "Who's up for a big-time hearing on TAX REFORM at Ways and Means?" Ryan tweeted, too. He tweeted about NAFTA. He tweeted a photo of himself shaking hands with the president of Colombia. Earlier this week, some data analytics people analyzed several politicians' Twitter accounts. They determined that Ryan was scientifically the most detested person in the survey. They determined this by calculating his ratio of retweets by other people (which are usually positive) to replies from other people (which are usually negative). Ryan had a worse ratio than Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Mike Huckabee or Donald Trump. The agony of Paul Ryan! Five years ago he was wonky hope of the Republican Party, the would-be boy wonder to Mitt Romney's would-be president. Less than two years ago, the man was fervently courted into his current job by colleagues who were certain he could unite the GOP. He hated Trump back then. You could just tell. And now, just this week: The New York Post's Page Six was reporting that cooking celebrity Sandra Lee would not appear on a "Fox & Friends" segment with him because he literally made her feel nauseated. "What occurred to me is that we are both from Wisconsin," she told the column. "And I realized he is the one thing from Wisconsin that I cannot tolerate or stomach." A newspaper from his home state published an editorial, "House Speaker Paul Ryan needs to be replaced with an adult." The congressman from the next district over remarked that Ryan "seems to roll over and want his belly rubbed by the president." "Saturday Night Live" had a go: Ryan was portrayed this week as a bootlicking soda jerk who exists only to bring Trump his nightly two scoops of ice cream. "He feeds me dog food," the character remarked cheerfully. Ryan had fallen into a pit of Trump-by-association, a pit that ever widens, a pit that defines our times. "One more question," one of his staff members warned reporters at Thursday's news conference. Ryan called on a reporter from PBS. She asked a policy question, about health care: assuming it passed, would changes take effect next year, or in 2018? Ryan appeared in his element. He told her the Department of Health and Human Services would be the best place to answer her question, and went out into the rest of his day. By India Today Web Desk: Bollywood's favourite mother, Reema Lagoo passed away earlier today after a cardiac arrest. The 58-year-old actor was best known for her performances in Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho. Reema was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai late last night after she complained of chest pain. The hospital's Executive Director Ram Naraian told PTI, "We will issue a health report later in the day, after consulting with her family." advertisement Reema, who was also a popular television personality, was last seen in Star Plus's show Naamkaran. She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actor and theatre director. WATCH: Reema Lagoo dies of cardiac arrest in Mumbai --- ENDS --- Southern Illinois University Trustees approved a loan of SIUE unrestricted reserve funds to its sister university in Carbondale. At the last regular meeting of the SIU Board of Trustees, board members approved a plan to loan up to $35 million from the SIUE campus to the cash-strapped Carbondale campus. University officials said the loan would be repaid over the course of 10 years. SIU President Randy Dunn said the plan will set a borrowing cap as well as a pledge that the first obligation on replenishment of funds from SIUC will be to SIUE once a state budget is in place. Dunn said the loan will prevent SIUC from going into the red. Faculty representatives from SIUE voiced concerns with the loan plan. Kim Archer, president of the SIUE Faculty Association, expressed concern for the deal in a press release before the Board of Trustees meeting. Archer stated that faculty at SIUE have gone without a raise for four years, gone without filling vacant tenure positions, gone without salary comparable to sister institutions and gone without support staff. SIUE faculty certainly do not want to see SIUC close, the press release said. But neither should our proactive sacrifices and efforts be overlooked or taken for granted. We hope this is not the case, but we are still waiting for a strong public message to counter the implication that SIUCs welfare trumps that of SIUE rather than quotes in the media about how SIUC will not drain SIUE too far.' SIUE has approximately $70 million in reserves since the campus has made many budget cuts to stay ahead of the states budget impasse. The loan would come out of those reserves. Jason Plummer, vice president of R.P. Lumber, was recently named one of the hardware industrys 2017 Young Retailers of the Year award recipients by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA). The award, now in its 21st year, identifies and promotes the next generation of aspiring independent home improvement retailers, recognizing individual achievement by industry retailers age 35 and younger throughout the United States and Canada. Selected from different retail categories, eight winners were chosen based on a number of criteria including professional activities and highlights in areas such as career and community involvement, hardware industry education and extracurricular activities. Plummer was honored at an event May 8 in Las Vegas as part of the National Hardware Show and NRHA All-Industry Conference. Plummers commitment to excellence is shown in his dedication to constantly improving and growing R.P. Lumber, one of the largest family-owned hardware, lumber and building material dealers in the country. Plummer is involved in numerous functions at R.P. Lumber, including new store development, finance, merchandising, purchasing and operations. Plummer also pointed out the close-knit organization at R.P. as a key strength of the company. My parents and my sisters work in the business, he added. It is a blessing to be able to work every day with your family and the many great team members we have at R.P. This year is our 40th anniversary, and we have a lot of team members who have been with us 20, 25 and 30-plus years a real testament to the company and our team. R.P. Lumber was founded by Jasons parents, Robert and Donna Plummer, in 1977, with one store in Staunton, IL. The company has since grown to 66 locations across Illinois and Missouri and recently launched a new inventory and merchandising program that will roll out to all their locations this year. My goal is to make sure our team members and existing stores are constantly improving, said Plummer. We want to perform at our best so we can deliver R.P.s Best Service and Best Value, our hallmark. Additionally, Plummer is working on expanding R.P. Lumbers digital capabilities, recently rolling out a new website and entering a partnership with an ecommerce platform, allowing the company to offer more than 100,000 items for sale online. Other future initiatives include opening additional stores in 2017 and expanding the companys kitchen and bath business. Plummer consistently works to improve himself professionally by staying up to date with trends and being involved within the industry. Hes on the board of the Illinois Lumber and Material Dealers Association and remains active with other organizations such as the Illinois Business Alliance and numerous Chambers of Commerce as a voice for business in regards to government regulations, taxation, and other issues impacting employment, growth and economic opportunity. To be selected as a Young Retailer of the Year is a high honor, one that Jason Plummer has earned through his dedication to business improvement and passion for his community, says Bill Lee, NRHA president and CEO. The industry anticipates the selection of the program honorees every year, and were thrilled to celebrate Jasons extraordinary accomplishments. This isnt the only recent national recognition for the Plummer family. Hardware + Building Supply Dealer (H+BSD), a national publication covering the home improvement industry, named R.P. Lumber its 2017 Hardware All Star for the state of Illinois. RP Lumber was the only company in the state, and one of only 50 nationwide, to be selected for All Star status. The magazines editors select their All Stars based on an extensive range of business criteria, including longevity, growth, employee development and retention, creativity and local involvement. In recognizing RP Lumber, H+BSD highlighted the company on the strength of its story as a classic American success and its consistent growth over the past four decades. Were honored and grateful to receive this recognition and be counted among such a select group of successful independent home improvement businesses across the country, said Plummer. Our entire team works hard to build relationships, go the extra mile for our customers and provide them the best experience possible. This recognition wouldnt be possible without our teams efforts and customers support. R.P. Lumber is backed by the strength of its status as a member-owner of Do it Best Corp., a US-based hardware, lumber and building materials co-op with thousands of independently owned locations in the United States and 52 other countries. R.P. Lumber Co., Inc. is a full service retail home center and building materials supplier that offers kitchen cabinets, paint, windows, doors, hardware, plumbing, electrical, drywall, shingles and roofing products, tools and accessories, and much more. R.P. Lumber is known for providing its industry-leading Best Service and Best Value by offering full-service delivery, kitchen cabinet design, deck design, blueprint takeoffs and design, truss design and manufacturing, and much more for retail consumers, do-it-yourselfers, and professional contractors. Learn more at rplumber.com. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tenggara Strategics (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 14:46 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a173ab5 3 Opinion land,land-dispute,land-distribution,economic-inequality,poverty-alleviation,agrarian-reform,communism,Jokowi-administration Free Poverty eradication is high on President Joko Jokowi Widodo administrations agenda. On his election campaign trail in Bandung, West Java, on July 3, 2014, he elucidated how he would address the acute poverty among 29 million citizens, 18 million of whom live in rural areas. A priority program he envisaged was provision of land to 4.5 million poor families. They would be entitled to training on modern agriculture, which he expected would underpin his national food self-sufficiency effort. To realize his ambition, he promised to repair and build irrigation systems for 3 million hectares of farmland, construct 25 irrigation dams and open 1 million hectares of agricultural land outside Java. Farmers would have their own banks and the business-minded would receive capital to start small and medium enterprises. The National Logistics Agencys (Bulog) role would be expanded. In short, Jokowi wished to make farming an attractive profession for the young at a time when farmers are aging: 8 million of them are older than 54 years and only 6.5 million are younger a number that has dwindled over time. More than 56 percent of farmers own less than 0.5 ha of farmland. Jokowi pledged to redistribute 1.1 million ha of land for a million families every year. This year, after almost three years in office, his administration has begun in earnest his much anticipated land reform program, starting with a plan to redistribute 9 million ha of agricultural land to farmers in rural areas and 13 million ha of forestland to customary communities. Land reform is part of his effort to narrow the gulf between the rich and the poor, the classic problem that makes economic growth useless because the fruits are mostly enjoyed by the wealthy. In 2014, the Gini ratio the most common statistical dispersion measurement of inequality was 0.41 and in 2016 it lowered to 0.39. It was still high but better than that of China, the Philippines and Malaysia. A basic issue that sits in the center of his supporters aspirations is the unequal holding of state land. Ever since Indonesias independence in 1945, land has been largely controlled by a few elites: politically wired entrepreneurs, the military and Islamic religious institutions. Today, about 530 forest concession holders control an estimated 36 million ha of land. On the other side, farmers land holding has been petering out as tradition compels them to bequeath their property to their offspring. Often, they have to let go of their property to make way for public development projects. Dud law The legal basis of land reform is outlined in Law No. 5/1960. Introduced by the administration of former president Sukarno, the law aims to 1) replace the colonial legal system 2) end land ownership and concession by foreigners 3) overhaul existing land ownership structures and 5) make the legal basis for the implementation of the 1945 Constitutions Article 33, which asserts that the economy shall be organized as a common endeavor based upon the principles of the familial system; sectors of production that are vital for the country and affect the lives of the masses shall be under the powers of the state; and the land, the waters and the natural resources within shall be under the powers of the state and used to the utmost benefit of the people. Thus, essentially, Jokowis intended land distribution strategy is only one element of land reform, as the 1960 law envisages. Rudimentary issues like land conflicts and land ownership restructuring have yet to be addressed. Jokowis initiative has been hailed as a daring move that will likely meet fierce resistance from the numerous powerful political, religious and economic elites, many of whom have controlled most of Indonesias land long before Indonesia gained independence. Iwan Nurdin of the Agrarian Consortium (KPA) notes that the agrarian reform has not taken place and the law has never been enforced. This has led to the deepening of land holding inequality, proliferating land conflicts and environmental degradation. Centuries before Indonesias independence in 1945, people made their subsistent livelihood in land, notably forests, they considered their own. But when Soeharto came into power replacing Sukarno, forests were regarded as state land and divided among his cronies as forestry estate. Gone were the customary rights of tens of millions of people and so conflicts proliferated. But in 2012, the Constitutional Court reinstated the customary rights. Challenges History shows that enforcing the 1960 Basic Agrarian Law has never been easy. The presence of the formidably powerful elites in control of resources is the hardest shell. A world-class orator, president Sukarno would insist that the law was meant to end the monopoly of natural resources he sarcastically likened to colonial practices. In the other corner, his political enemies exploited his land reform policy, saying it smacked of communism and linking him with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). After tumultuous years, he fell from power in 1965. If enforced, the 1960 agrarian reform laws provisions seeking to limit ownership of land will most likely spark resistance from the elites. The limitation would be dealt with in Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perpu) No. 56/1960, which sets the maximum ownership based on the level of population density. In the least dense regions (less than 50 people per square kilometer), the maximum holding is 15 ha for irrigated land and 20 ha for unirrigated land. In the most densely populated areas (more than 400 people per square kilometer), the maximum limit is 5 ha for irrigated land and 6 ha for unirrigated land. In Indonesia, which still nurses wounds from the 1965 massacre, which was blamed on the PKI, land reform retains what is perceived as a communist stink. It brings memories back of Lenin, who coined the phrase when he implemented his land to the tiller propaganda to win farmers hearts and minds. During Soehartos 32-year rule, land reform was rarely discussed publicly. Among his most remembered programs was transmigration, which resettled poor people from the densely inhabited islands of Java and Bali to other islands. As the political climate leading up to the 2019 presidential election is beginning to heat up, political enemies have also begun firing salvos, renewing their attempt to stain Jokowis land reform initiative with the so-called dirt of communism. And the smear campaign is likely to escalate. Challenges also come from within the government; the Environment and Forestry Ministry, for instance, has reportedly refused to participate in the implementation and rejected the idea of redistributing forestland to the people. Conclusions Redistributing 9 million ha of land as part and parcel of Jokowis food self-sufficiency goal and commitment to lift people in rural areas from poverty is a small step in agrarian reform. The absence of a clear-cut government regulation on the implementation of the Presidents agrarian reform leaves basic issues in the dark. The only thing the government has made clear is that the land is available in all 34 provinces. To play it safe, Jokowi has begun to redistribute 9 million ha of conflict-free land, thus reducing the risk of further complications and theoretically increasing the probability of success. But fundamental issues such as who the eligible beneficiaries would be, the redistribution process and terms and conditions all remain a wild guess. Jokowi has no grand plan to settle the countless land conflicts across the country resulting from poor law enforcement and forever posing a serious threat to national stability. Actors in the disputes include the government, private companies, state companies, local people/communities, the police and the military. Obviously, Jokowis land reform has been prematurely launched. However, even though the regulation has yet to be made and the technicalities yet defined, the plan has been widely praised as a daring move and one that was not prioritized by most of his predecessors. Despite the lack of a clear plan, narrow scope of reformation and poor coordination among related ministries, advocates have commended his scheme as a daring move. It is hoped that the initiative ushers in more comprehensive agrarian reform. However, the manifold discrepancies also raise fears that the project will fail, again. Jokowi and supporters of land reform should join hands to make it a success. For such reform to succeed, Jokowi will have to make it a social movement. Farmers and their associations should be involved in the decision-making process because as the receiving end, the farmers know what they need and what to do with the land they would obtain. The President also needs to join forces with pro-agrarian reform civic groups. *** Backgrounder is an independent research-based analysis by Tenggara Strategics, a business and investment research and advisory institution established by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The Jakarta Post and Prasetiya Mulya University. Tenggara Strategics provides the business community with reliable business intelligence to enable them to tap into the valuable opportunities available when doing business in Indonesia. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to academia@jakpost.com. For more information click here. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo Thu, May 18, 2017 16:58 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a17ba75 2 People princess-mako,kei-komuro,Japan Free Emperor Akihito's granddaughter's upcoming engagement to her college sweetheart, a commoner, will cost the princess her royal status in a move that highlights the male-dominated nature of Japan's monarchy as it faces a potential succession crisis. Public broadcaster NHK broke the story of Princess Mako's engagement late Tuesday, sending the country into a tizzy with the news dominating television chat shows and newspaper coverage ahead of an expected official announcement in coming weeks. This picture taken on May 17, 2017 shows Kei Komuro, a university friend of Princess Mako speaking to the media in Tokyo. The upcoming engagement of Emperor Akihito's granddaughter to her college sweetheart has brought joy to Japan but is highlighting the vulnerability of the male-dominated imperial family at a sensitive time for the ancient institution.(STR / JIJI PRESS / AFP/File) Her reported fiance, Kei Komuro, a telegenic 25-year-old commoner once named "Prince of the Sea" in a tourism promotion contest, briefly met journalists on Wednesday, but dodged questions on the engagement, saying he would only speak about it "when the time comes". The national rejoicing, however, has been tempered by concerns over the future of the royal family as the country prepares for its first imperial abdication in two centuries amid an acute shortage of male heirs. Read also: Jack Ma dethrones Wanda's Wang to take richest crown Mako, 25, is the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino, Akihito's second son, and like all female imperial family members loses her royal status upon marriage to a commoner under a controversial law. The law does not apply to male royals, with Akihito and both his sons marrying commoners, who are now part of the monarchy. The news reignites a debate on whether the law should be changed so women can continue in their royal roles in a bid to increase the chances of potential male heirs to a monarchy that does not allow females to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Left: Princess Mako attends a ceremony of the Utakai Hajime (New Year Poetry Reading) in January. Right: Kei Komuro leaves his house in Kohoku Ward, Yokohama, on Wednesday morning.(Yomiuri Shimbun photos via The Japan News/File) Traditionalists, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, strenuously oppose such changes, even though Japan has been ruled by female sovereigns in past centuries. The government is currently preparing legislation to allow Akihito, 83, to abdicate in favour of his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito. Following Naruhito's reign, his brother Akishino and Akishino's son, 10-year-old Hisahito, will be next in line. But after that there are no more eligible males, meaning the centuries-old succession would be broken if Hisahito fails to have a son in the future. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Natacha Yazbeck (Agence France-Presse) Dubai, United Arab Emirates Thu, May 18, 2017 15:11 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a17721d 2 Lifestyle arab-fashion-week,fashion,Dubai Free Designers, buyers and influencers have descended on Dubai for Arab Fashion Week, a five-day event dedicated to ready couture and resort wear for women, men and those who refuse a label. The show opened Tuesday night with Jordanian-Canadian sensation Rad Hourani, known for his unisex designs, Palestinian-American Jenanne Filat and her menswear lineup straight out of Arkansas, and runway darlings Marchesa. Hourani sent his models down the catwalk in geometric, binary-transcending designs "based on style preference rather than gender," with men, women and gender non-conforming models in layers of dark boiled wool and poplin, and all in pastel slip-on shoes. Filat, of the US-based menswear line Barakat Bespoke, meanwhile decked her all-men lineup in suits, metallic lipstick, and no shoes. The week will also showcase designers specializing in abayas, a traditional robe-like dress that is gaining popularity among major labels as they move into regional markets. The International Dwarf Fashion Show will also host a show by American Wardrobe featuring models living with dwarfism. Models walk down the catwalk wearing designs by Marchesa during the Arab Fashion Week in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai on May 16, 2017.(AFP/Karim Sahib) 'Design is for everyone' While listed as an international fashion week alongside Paris and Milan, the twice-yearly Arab Fashion Week offers exclusively see-now-buy-now collections and pre-collections -- an issue that has been met with some contention by traditional gatekeepers in the world of high fashion. "Design is for everyone," explained Hourani, an invited member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, France's exclusive trade association for haute couture. Hourani, the first unisex designer to join the association, was handpicked in 2010 by Vogue's Anna Wintour and the late Franca Sozzani to showcase his work in Milan. Along with Burberry, he has been a vocal champion of expanding the traditional system, and timeline, of ordering designs strictly as they appear on the runway months in advance. A model presents on the catwalk a creation by Rad Hourani during Arab Fashion Week in Dubai on May 16, 2017. (AFP/Karim Sahib) True to his aesthetic, his Dubai show was conceptually complex but structurally clean: square necklines, skirts layered over pants, and matte black shades in sharp contrast against uncoiffed hair and a soundtrack featuring the iconic songs of Lebanese diva Fairuz. "I don't aim to make men feminine, or women masculine," Hourani told AFP after his show. "It's to infuse the two anatomies and create one pure unisex neutral pattern. I think it's important to understand what neutrality is, what unisex is about." 'Bold and unapologetic' On the other end of the spectrum is Marchesa. The brand's trademark fairytale pre-fall collection was an instant hit with the Arab Fashion Week crowd, some of whom put on their Marchesa best for the occasion. Many were still snapping selfies on the catwalk moments after the lights dimmed and music started. With three-dimensional floral appliques, layers of tulle, long beaded fringe and intricate embroidery in blush, blue and metallics, Marchesa's collection of gowns was met with nods and excited whispers. Her four-year-old refusing to leave his mother backstage, Marchesa co-founder and designer Georgina Chapman made last-minute adjustments to her lineup with her son Dash on her hip. "We've always had a strong clientele base here and I think it's because the Middle Eastern woman, the Arab woman, appreciates fashion," Chapman told AFP. Read also: Hong Kong watch auction to present Laurent Picciotto's collection A model presents on the catwalk a creation by Jenanne Filat during Arab Fashion Week in Dubai on May 16, 2017. (AFP/Karim Sahib) "She's not afraid of trying something ... She's bold, and she's glamorous, and she's feminine, and she's unapologetic about that." And it's not just the women who are bold in their sartorial choices. Barakat Bespoke, a family business out of Little Rock, Arkansas, showcased a selection of suits, cuffed pants and cotton tees on a group of male models from around the world, and of different ages. "This is the first time we've done anything international," said designer Filat, as her gold-lipped, braided-haired models stopped to hug her backstage. "We have to design things a little differently for the Middle East, but it's a little more fun," she said. Fashion designer Georgina Chapman, co-founder of Marchesa, waves to the audience on the cat walk after her shows during the Arab Fashion Week in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai on May 16, 2017.(AFP/Karim Sahib) "We can do things a bit more outside the box than what we do traditionally, since... we design for the (US) south, generally, which is very conservative." And with the Muslim fashion industry booming, spending on modest wear -- which includes both traditionally feminine and gender-shunning designs -- is expected to top $480 billion annually by 2019. "There's more strictness in the Middle East, but I also see here so many women who are free, who are evolving," said Hourani. "People understand my clothes -- women and men. It doesn't feel at all that I'm in the wrong place." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Glenn Chapman (Agence France-Presse) Mountain View, United States Thu, May 18, 2017 11:02 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a162a77 2 Science & Tech Google,#Google,Google-i-o,digital-assistant,#digital-assistant,Apple,#Apple,iPhone,Siri,technology,#technology,Internet,#Internet Free Google announced Wednesday it was bringing its digital assistant to Apple iPhones as part of its effort to win the battle with tech rivals on artificial intelligence. At its annual developers conference at an outdoor concert-venue near its main campus in Mountain View, California, Google unveiled its vision for computing centered around artificial intelligence. "We are now witnessing a new shift in computing: the move from a mobile-first to an AI-first world," Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said during an opening presentation. "It is forcing us to reimagine our products for a world that allows a more natural, seamless way of interacting with technology." Those interactions, for Google, include using artificial intelligence to let people engage computers conversationally, have software anticipate needs, and let smartphone cameras "recognize" what they see. "In an AI-first world, we are rethinking all of our products and applying machine learning to solve problems," Pichai said. Google Assistant, the center of its AI efforts, is in a fierce battle with rivals such as Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft Cortana and Apple's Siri to be the top choice for use in smartphones as well as connected homes, cars and a range of other devices. "Siri's got company, and all these other guys are pretty serious about it," said Gartner analyst Brian Blau. Artificial intelligence is being woven into Google's free Gmail service, used by more than a billion people, for features such as suggesting responses to messages. For example, opening an email containing an invitation to dinner might trigger a prompt to reply "I'm in." Read also: Google wants Android and its assistant to power your car too Smartphones get eyes Google machine vision capabilities are being used to enable services such as recognizing who is in pictures and what they are doing as well as translate languages in signs viewed through smartphone cameras, demonstrations showed. Advanced "Lens" features are being added first to the Google Photo application, which is available free. Aiming a smartphone camera at a flower will prompt it to be identified; while aiming it at a complex password and hotspot name on a router will let it automatically log into the wireless connection. Google also unveiled a second-generation computer chip it designed specifically to improve cloud computing capabilities in data centers. "We want Google Cloud to be the best cloud for machine learning," Pichai said. He described the internet giant's core search service and its Google Assistant as the company's most important AI products. Google Assistant, introduced last year, is now on more than 100 million devices, according to the team's vice president of engineering, Scott Huffman. "We are really starting to crack the hard computer challenge of conversationality," Huffman said. "Soon, with Google Lens, your assistant will be able to have a conversation about what you see." Google used the conference to announce a software kit that will let developers build Assistant capabilities into robots, applications, and other computerized creations. Google also announced enhancements to its Home personal assistant, adding abilities such as hands free telephone calls and acting as speakers for wireless audio. Read also: New MacBooks expected to be revealed at Apple developers conference Android gets lean Developers cheered when talk turned to Google-backed mobile operating system Android. Google announced that more than two billion devices powered by Android software are used monthly in a freshly passed milestone. The coming version of Android, referred to simply as "O" for the time being, will also have boosted artificial intelligence features along with enhanced security, executives showed. Google is also crafting a lighter version of Android, referred to as "Go," designed for maximum performance on low-cost, entry-level smartphones in developing countries where internet bandwidth is lean or expensive. Google said that while it is happy with the momentum of its Daydream virtual reality platform based on using smartphone as screens in headsets, it is working with partners on stand-alone virtual reality gear. Partners in the endeavor include Vive-maker HTC and Lenovo, according to Google virtual reality team vice president Clay Bavor. The gathering, which attracted some 7,000 developers on site and had thousands more watching online, focused on software with little mention of hardware, noted analyst Blau. "There is a continuing trend where devices are becoming devalued and what is on the screen is becoming more valuable," Blau said. "With AI, all the apps are getting upgraded so they don't need new hardware." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 19:02 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a182375 1 People travelers,traveling,mike-and-shannon-mills,motorcycle,#travel,#traveling,#motorcycle Free Married couple Mike Mills and Shannon Mills are currently visiting Indonesia after having traveled to 41 countries by motorcycle since 2014. They arrived in Belawan, North Sumatra, in early April. The couple then continued to Banda Aceh and Weh Island before traveling south, driving along the shores of Sumatra toward Bandar Lampung and crossing the Sunda Strait to Tanjung Priok harbor. Mike drives a 2009 Suzuki DR650 while Shannon drives a 1996 Suzuki DR650. They began the journey from their home in Seattle, Washington, United States, in September 2014, traveling to various regions in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. Among the countries they have visited include Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, France, Spain, Austria, Romania, Turkey, India and Thailand. In total, they have traveled approximately 81,859 kilometers. The couple have a mission to promote humanity and friendliness. They want to prove that unlike what may be reported in the news, all people from all countries are equally kind, despite different cultural approaches. The Mills couple also wanted to conquer their own fears to prove that ordinary people can travel the world using their own money, Antara reported. Read also: Children risk life to achieve dreams "We can walk out of our door, drive the motorcycles and become Christopher Colombus, National Geographic and Sir Ernest Shackleton. Life is limited and precious. We couldn't accept the fact that we didn't make full use of our dreams when the chance appeared to us by itself," said Shannon. When asked the reason why they decided to use their current vehicles, Mike said that it was because the type of motorcycle was durable. "They are strong, reliable and easy to take care of. If I can restart this journey, I will choose to use the same motorcycle," he said. Following their visit to Jakarta, the couple plan to visit Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, to attend the first Horizons Unlimited Indonesia Travelers Meeting from May 18-22, an event held by Jeffrey Polnaja, the first Indonesian man who traveled the world by motorcycle over the course of seven years. Mike and Shannon are scheduled to attend the show as guest speakers, as well as screen a film about their journey in Latin America. After the meeting, they plan to return to Jakarta and continue their journey to Bali before traveling by sea to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (mas/asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 12:52 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a169288 1 National homosexual,aceh,sharia,HumanRights Free The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) has condemned the decision of a sharia court in Banda Aceh to sentence a 24-year-old man from Langkat, North Sumatra, and a 20-year-old man from Bireun Regency, Aceh, to 85 lashes for engaging in a homosexual relationship. The two men, identified only by their initials MT and MH, were found guilty of violating Qanun Jinayat, the provinces Islamic penal code. In a statement released on Thursday, the ICJR said the law was unfair because it stigmatized Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people. "This law violates privacy rights. It also triggers homophobia in society," the group said. The sentence of caning, ICJR commented, had no legal basis as Indonesia did not recognize corporal punishment. "Caning is inhumane and demeaning, the group said. They further argued that Qanun Jinayat was problematic as a majority of people charged with the sharia articles were not represented by lawyers. (ary/rdi) Topics : homosexual aceh sharia HumanRights Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 14:58 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a175b09 1 Business motorcycle,automotive-financing,Adira-Dinamika-Multi-Finance Free The shareholders of publicly listed financing firm PT Adira Dinamika Multi Finance agreed to divert Rp 505 billion (US$ 37.85 million) of the companys net profits into dividends during a meeting in Jakarta recently. The dividend amount is equal to 50 percent of Adiras net profits for 2016 and translates into Rp 505 per share. The dividend will be paid out on June 16, Adira Dinamika Multi Finance director I Made Dewa Susila said after attending the annual general shareholders meeting on Wednesday. (Read also: Adira books quarterly profit of Rp 328b) The shareholders also approved the appointment Hafid Hadeli as the companys new president director, replacing Willy S. Dharma, who was appointed commissioner along with Muliadi Rahardja. Hafid said the company, a subsidiary of private lender Bank Danamon, hoped to grow its new financing segment by 5 percent to 10 percent this year. In 2016, it booked Rp 30.9 trillion in new financing, an increase of 1.3 percent from 2015. Our strategy is to expand financing to used-cars and motorcycles, he said. In the first quarter, its new financing surged slightly by 4.3 percent to Rp 7.3 trillion from the same period last year. Motorcycle financing contributed to more than half of its revenue, followed by financing for cars and durable goods. (tas) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 14:23 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a172724 1 Business Agoda,millenials,travel,Accommodation Free Online booking accommodation platform Agoda.com hopes to host more non-hotel accommodation options on its website in order to attract the growing millennial market, said Agodas country director Gede Gunawan during a media briefing event in Jakarta on May 17. We see that millennial customers [aged between 25 and 34 years] have completely different interests from other groups of people. In general, they prefer non-hotel accommodation options with unique themes, he added. According to the survey conducted by Agoda on 1,000 millennials, the reason for this difference is related to their keen desire for challenges and exploration without certain guidelines while traveling. About 77 percent of our respondents want challenges and about 52 percent say they intentionally get lost while travelling, Gede said. Currently, Agoda hosts about 19,500 accommodation options nationwide, about 10,000 of which are non-hotel accommodation options. The company aims to host 22,000 accommodation options by the end of this year. I expect the non-hotel portion will be about 80 percent, Gede said. Agoda claims to be the biggest online accommodation platform in Indonesia. Currently, the company hosts about 50,000 accommodation options in Southeast Asia and 1.3 million accommodation options worldwide. (ecn/bbn) Topics : Agoda millenials travel Accommodation The veteran actor was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Ambani Hospital after she complained of chest pain but died after suffering a cardiac arrest. By Shivangi Thakur: Actor Reema Lagoo died at the age of 58 after suffering a cardiac arrest around 3 am today in Mumbai. The veteran actress was admitted to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital after she complained of chest pain. Lagoo's son-in-law Vinay Waikul told PTI, "She was complaining of chest pain so we took her to hospital around 1 am. She passed away due to a heart attack around 3.15 am. She was perfectly fine and had no health issues...so it is really shocking for all us that she is no more with us." advertisement Lagoo appeared in Marathi and Hindi films, besides doing a number of TV shows. She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actress and theatre director. Lagoo has worked in superhit films like "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Saajan", "Vaastav, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" and, "Hum Saath-Saath Hain" among others, while her popular television serials included "Tu Tu Main Main" and "Shrimaan Shrimati". Her acting career spanned over four decades and she was last seen in the television show "Naamkaran", aired on Star Plus. WATCH | Veteran actor Reema Lagoo dies of cardiac arrest in Mumbai --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 13:48 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a16e5d3 1 City reclamation,Jakarta-Bay,study Free The team formed by Jakarta governor-elect Anies Baswedan to lead his transition to power has asked Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan to open up a recent study about the Jakarta Bay land reclamation project. Former minister Rizal Ramli decided to halt the project as recommended by a recent study. When he was reshuffled, the report was never made public, team member Marco Kusumawijaya said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. Recently, the Central Information Commission rejected an appeal from a coalition of fishermen and environmentalists who wanted the report to be made public. The report includes explanations about the environmental, social and economic impacts of the project. Luhut recently stated he would invite Anies and his deputy Sandiaga Uno to talk about the project once they took office in October. Anies and Sandi vowed to halt the controversial land reclamation project during the gubernatorial election campaign. (kuk) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 17:24 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a17e5a4 1 Business Perppu,bank-secrecy,Jokowi,house-of-representatives,deliberation Free The government has sent regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2017 on financial information access for taxation purposes to the House of Representatives to be looked at by lawmakers and representatives of the government. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Wednesday at the State Palace that the issuance of the Perppu was part of his administration's commitment to adapting to a globalized world. "I've already conveyed the message many times that in 2018 everything will be open," Jokowi said, referring to Indonesia's decision to comply with the global Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) agreement, which was initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (Read also: Government issues regulation to end bank secrecy) Indonesia is not a member of the OECD but the government intends to join the AEOI movement to exchange information, including on bank accounts in the country, the President said. Under the Perppu, the Directorate General of Taxation is allowed to access bank accounts without a permit from either the Finance Ministry or Bank Indonesia governor. It allows officials of tax offices to directly access bank accounts owned by both Indonesian citizens and foreigners. Before the Perppu was released, the Directorate General of Taxation was required to get a permit from both institutions before accessing bank accounts. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati would make an official statement regarding the Perppu after returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the location of the Islamic Development Bank annual meeting. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 08:50 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15be87 2 World #SouthKorea,#Indonesia,#CreativeEconomy Free Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf received on Wednesday a diplomatic medal from South Korea for services in strengthening bilateral ties in the creative industry. South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Cho Tai-young presented the Gwanghwa Medal during a ceremony at the South Korean Embassy in Jakarta, where the envoy conveyed in his remarks appreciation to Triawan, according to a statement from the embassy. The medal, which is the highest honor for foreign citizens given by the Korean government, was awarded to Triawan for services in improving cooperation between Indonesia and Korea in the creative industry. Even more, Triawan Munaf as the senior liaison officer has encouraged the realization of cooperation between the two countries in the field of economy and trade, and has helped Korean companies expand to Indonesia, according to a statement from the embassy. Triawan was appointed Bekraf head in January 2015 and was also appointed by President Joko Jokowi Widodo as the senior liaison officer for Korea in November of the same year, with duties that include encouraging South Korean investment into Indonesia. Jakarta and Seoul established diplomatic relations in 1973 and in 2006 established a strategic partnership. Korea is Indonesias fifthlargest trading partner, while the archipelago sits in the 12th spot for the East Asian country, according to the embassy. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 19:57 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a183063 1 National e-ID,#e-ID,house-of-representatives,setya,setya-novanto,Golkar,GolkarParty,Andi-Narogong Free Businessman Paulus Tannos, one of six witnesses presented at a hearing on embezzlement involving e-ID card procurement on Thursday, admitted he had a meeting related to the project with House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto. Paulus, the owner of PT Sandipala Arthaputra, one of companies involved in the Rp 5.9 trillion (US$ 439.38 million) project, testified via teleconference from Singapore, where he lives. I once met with Setya Novanto at his house. At that time, he was still the chairman of the Golkar Party faction at the House, Paulus said at the Jakarta Corruption Court . Andi Agustinus asked me to meet Setya together with him at the latters house, he added, replying to a question by presiding judge Jhon Halasan Butarbutar. Paulus said Andi gave him Setyas address and told him to meet him there. When he arrived at Setyas house, the businessman said, Andi phoned and asked him to meet directly with Setya, saying he would arrive late because he was caught in traffic. I introduced myself to Setya Novanto as one of the implementing parties of the [e-ID] project and gave him my business card, said Paulus. Paulus said he met the Golkar Party politician once again at his office at Equity Tower in the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), South Jakarta. Paulus said the meeting was cut short when Setya told him he had to go to the House immediately. By making an appointment for my meeting with Setya, I think Andi was trying to tell me he was Setyas close friend. (mrc/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua Thu, May 18, 2017 22:17 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a185d95 1 National HTI,Papua,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,hardliner,GP-Ansor,NU,Nahdlatul-ulama,NahdlatulUlama Free Representatives of many societal elements in Papua have called for the disbandment of a hard-line Islamic group, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which now has about 300 followers in regencies and municipalities across the region. With an ideology that contradicts Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, the presence of HTI can divide the nation and trigger social conflicts, critics say. The deputy chairman of the Papua chapter of the Islam Propagation Institution (LDI), Samsudin, said ulama (Islamic leaders) from areas across Indonesia rejected HTI in 2006 and their decision had not yet changed. Hence, Indonesian authorities should not hesitate to take tough measures against the organization. HTI must be banned in Papua because it will only destroy the harmonious life of religious followers in the region, Samsudin said. He was speaking in a seminar jointly conducted by Indonesias largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Religious Affairs Ministrys Papua office in Jayapura on Thursday. (Read also: Papuan people reject Hizbut Tahrir: Expert) Amirmahmud Madubun of GP Ansor, the young wing of NU, said the government must be active in educating people at the grassroots to reject HTIs ideals and concepts in Papua because it expanded its influence by creating cells on that level. If needed, the Religious Affairs Ministry would write letters to schools and religious institutions in Indonesia to give them an understanding about HTI so they can reject both the ideology and the teachings it spreads, said Amirmahmud. HTI entered Papua in the beginning of 2000 along with the start of Indonesias reform era. In Jayapura, there are about 100 HTI supporters, while in Merauke 50 people have joined the group, said Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 14:00 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a16f0af 4 City #Indonesia,#students,#accident Free A search and rescue team has recovered the bodies of four students of Hidayatullah Islamic Junior High Boarding School in Depok, West Java, who drowned at Cidora Beach in Garut, West Java. A fifth student remains missing. Iwan Ruswanda, secretary of the school, said Thursday that the bodies of Faizal Ramadhan, Khalid Abdullah Hasan and Rizal Amrullah were recovered on Wednesday afternoon while Vishnu Dwi's body was recovered on Thursday morning. He added that the team was still trying to find M. Syaifullah Abdul Aziz. We are hoping that everyone prays for us, Iwan said as quoted by tempo.co. Previously, 23 students went to the beach after finishing an exam on Monday. Iwan said that 13 of them were swimming when a big wave hit on Tuesday evening. We rescued eight of them but five others were dragged out by the waves, he said, adding that they had been warned not to swim in the sea. (dra/jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 20:33 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a184b38 1 National UN,UPR,Human-Rights-Council,human-rights,human-rights-abuse,LGBT,#UN,women-rights Free The government has expressed early signals of its refusal to comply with all of the United Nations Human Rights Councils (UNHRC) recommendations on issues like the death penalty, blasphemy and sexual orientation. The UNHRC submitted 75 recommendations to Indonesia in response to a review on the countrys human rights situation during the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meeting earlier this month. Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN Hasan Kleib said Indonesia had responded to the majority of the recommendations, most of which called for more policies to promote the rights of women and children. The government needed more time to consider all of the 75 recommendations. We need to discuss them with stakeholders, Hasan said on Thursday. He said the government should be careful in responding to harshly worded recommendations conveyed to Indonesia by several member states. Some countries made firm suggestions, such as asking Indonesia to abolish the death penalty or to adopt the International Criminal Court (ICC) convention. The Law and Human Rights Ministrys director of human rights and justice, Mualimin Abdi, said the government would include the UPR recommendations that the government agreed with in an amendment of the Criminal Code (KUHP) that was being deliberated at the House or Representatives. The government is scheduled to present the final decision during a meeting at the UNHRC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in September this year. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 07:56 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a1556a3 1 World #Jokowi,Jokowi,#XiJinPing,Xi-Jinping,#OBOR,OBOR,maritime-silk-road,#MaritimeAxis Free Indonesia at the Belt and Road Summit in Beijing underlined on Monday the importance of integrating the archipelago, as well as the Southeast Asian region in developing China's vision to revive a modern-day Silk Road. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said maritime aspects in the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) would be difficult to realize without significant contribution from Indonesia and Southeast Asian countries, according to a State Palace statement. In addressing the attending 28 national leaders at the forum, Jokowi noted that Indonesia, as the largest maritime economic zone that was strategically located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, was ripe with the potential for connectivity development because of its lack of infrastructure. While touting ongoing national efforts in large-scale infrastructure development, Jokowi invited projects on cooperation and connectivity development as part of realizing the vision of OBOR. "As President Xi Jinping announced yesterday morning, our vision will be built one by one. There is an English saying of 'seeing is believing,' let's show the world that we are actually building our vision in a concrete way," Jokowi said. (Read also: RI hopes to boost maritime, people-to-people cooperation with Poland) Jokowi was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), where he and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of a business agreement between the two countries on a US$4.5 billion loan with the China Development Bank to build Indonesia's first high-speed railway. (ipa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 13:52 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a16eeb2 1 National caliphate,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,MUI,clerics Free A member of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the nation's top Islamic clerical body, has said that people who want to replace the countrys political system with khilafah (an Islamic caliphate) are betraying the consensus agreed upon by the nations founding fathers. Establishing a caliphate in Indonesia is a religious deviation and a political betrayal, M Cholis Nafis, who chairs the MUI's Islamic propagation commission, said as quoted by Tribunnews.com. Cholis said a caliphate, in which a caliph leads a global Islamic government under Islamic rule, is merely an ijtihad, or an interpretation of the teachings of Islam. It is not the only interpretation found in the Islamic world, he added. He argued that even the Prophet Muhammad promoted governance based on pluralistic values when he established Madina as the first Islamic polity. Therefore, we agree with the governments policy of cracking down on any movement that threatens the nations unity, he said. The government is currently preparing to ban Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). HTI declares that the values of democracy contravene the fundamental vision of Islam. The organization has called for the creation of a global Islamic caliphate. (ary/af) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten Thu, May 18, 2017 15:06 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a1769fb 1 Business trade-expo,exports,target,transaction Free The government hopes to seal transactions worth US$1.1 billion during Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), Indonesias largest trade exhibition, that will run from Oct. 11 to 15. In line with that target, it also expects the exhibition to lure in 16,000 visitors from around the world. To date, about 70 percent of booths have been booked. Next, were going to encourage state-owned enterprises [to join the expo] and approach potential buyers worldwide through our trade delegates, said Trade Minister Enggartiasto during the launch of TEI on Thursday. At least 132 trade officials in Indonesian embassies and Indonesian Trade Promotion Centers worldwide have been trying to persuade potential buyers to attend the expo. (Read also: Trade Expo lures visitors with prime Indonesian products) The annual event comes at a time when Indonesia is struggling to jack up its exports amid weak overseas demand. This year, it hopes to raise exports by 5.6 percent to $154.6 billion. Unlike in past years, this years exhibition will take place at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition Center (ICE) in BSD City, Tangerang, Banten. The exhibition will take up 15,000 square meters of space. It will present seven pavilions showcasing furniture, fashion, craft and creative products, food and beverages and other locally manufactured goods. Last year, the event, which was held at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Jakarta, attracted 1,066 exhibitors and booked $1.02 billion in transactions. It also saw the presence of 15,567 visitors. (lnd) Donald Trump has termed the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the Special Counsel to probe Russia's role into last year's Presidential election the greatest political witch hunt in US history. By Santosh Chaubey: Donald Trump has termed the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the Special Counsel to probe Russia's role into last year's US Presidential election a political witchhunt. Mueller has been hired to lead the ongoing FBI investigation into Russia's meddling into last year's US Presidential Election and to find out whether some members of the campaign team of Donald Trump were complicit in the whole Russian game that intended to benefit Trump's campaign. advertisement Accusing the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration of indulging in illegal acts, Trump said, "There was never a special counsel appointed to oversee the acts of his Democrat predecessors. He has likened the appointment of the Special Counsel with the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history". GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF A POLITICIAN IN AMERICAN HISTORY: TRUMP "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration, there was never a special counsel appointed", Trump tweeted. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 After Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for the latter's handling of Russia's meddling role in US election and after Comey claimed that Trump had asked him to drop the probe into his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's Russia connection, the Trump Administration and the White House faced a barrage of questions. Democrats were openly accusing Trump of trying to influence the FBI investigation into Russia's meddling for his vested interests. Under pressure, Deputy Attorney General of the United States Rod J. Rosenstein announced Mueller's appointment yesterday. Mueller headed the FBI from 2001 to 2013, a period that witnessed a Republican President in George Bush and a Democrat President in Barack Obama. Mueller has earned the reputation of being a hard taskmaster and an honest, tough and resolute person. He is known as someone who doesn't toe the line and instead stands for principles as he did in 2004 when he had threatened to resign if the then US President George Bush went ahead with domestic surveillance plans without approval of the US Department of Justice. Trump welcomed the appointment, saying "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. There was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity." Robert Mueller, while accepting this responsibility, said he would discharge it to the best of his ability. Also read | Former FBI chief Robert Mueller appointed as special counsel to probe Donald Trump-Russia ties Also read | Can prove Donald Trump did not pass Russia secrets, says Vladimir Putin ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Bamako, Mali Thu, May 18, 2017 10:49 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a1624be 2 World #Islamists,#adultery Free An unmarried couple were stoned to death in public in northeast Mali by "Islamists", local officials told AFP on Wednesday, the first such incident since jihadist groups were driven out of the region. Jihadists seized key northern cities in Mali in March 2012, and though they were driven out by a French-led military intervention in 2013, Islamist groups continue to make their presence felt with frequent attacks on domestic and foreign forces. "The Islamists dug two holes where they put the man and the woman who lived maritally without being married," said a local official. "They were stoned to death." The stoning happened in Taghlit on Tuesday, close to Aguelhok in the Kidal region, and the same source told AFP that members of the public were invited to take part. "Four people threw stones at them until they died," they said. Another local official said the Islamists had accused the unmarried couple of violating "Islamic law", which requires punishment by stoning. During their brief control of key towns in the vast north, jihadist groups imposed a version of Sharia law which forced women to wear veils and set whipping and stoning as punishment for transgressions. In July 2012, the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group stoned a couple in public in Aguelhok who they accused of having children outside marriage. The stoning comes on the eve of an expected visit to Mali by French President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to meet French troops stationed there on Thursday or Friday. The Malian Association for the Defence of Human Rights (AMDH) described the stoning as "cowardly murder". "This is barbaric. The people who did this should be arrested and put on trial," said Oumar Diakite, an AMDH official. A 2015 peace deal signed by Tuareg-led rebels, the government and pro-Bamako militias aimed to quell separatist uprisings in the north and isolate jihadist groups. But its implementation has been piecemeal and the jihadists, who did not sign up to the accord, continue to mount attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces. The new UN peacekeeping chief said a rapid intervention force of Senegalese troops would soon be deployed in central Mali, which has seen an increase in attacks and communal violence since 2015. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on his first visit to Mali since becoming under secretary-general for UN peacekeeping operations, said the UN mission lacked capacity. "We are hopeful that, soon, a number of reinforcements will arrive, which will make up for these shortcomings," he said. The UN mission, known by its acronym MINUSMA, has been stationed in the west African country since 2013 and is considered the world body's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. The opposition Parena party meanwhile noted that 309 people had been killed since the beginning of the year by armed groups, describing "alarm at the deterioration of the security situation" two years after the signing of the peace deal. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nezar Patria and Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 07:24 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15492e 2 National #Jokowi,#Pancasila,#criticism Free In September 1989, then-president Soeharto told top editors during a return flight from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia that his government would defend the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. Soeharto, who was forced to quit after a bloody riot in 1998, said anything was allowed, including replacing him, as long as it was in line with the Constitution. If they want to replace me in an unconstitutional way, Ill clobber them, whether they are politicians or generals, he said. It was the first time Soeharto, who ruled the country for 32 years, used the word gebuk (clobber), which analysts said reflected his anger at alleged plots to oust him at the time. On Wednesday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo brought the word back into the countrys political discourse when he told chief editors at the State Palace that he would take firm action against any group that sought to replace Pancasila and the Constitution. Two years into his presidency, Jokowi has found himself struggling to launch his reform agenda, with rising sectarianism allegedly being used by his political opponents to undermine him. The issue of sectarianism emerged after Jokowis ally, nonactive Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, decided to seek reelection in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. His candidacy, his allegedly blasphemous speech in September and his eventual conviction divided the nation and triggered major rallies by his detractors and supporters. With hard-line groups such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leading the political rallies against Ahok, his election defeat and conviction are largely seen as a setback for Indonesian democracy and pluralism. In his strongest statement on the current political situation, Jokowi said, We do not prohibit people from demonstrating to express their opinions or to assemble. All must be done within the legal corridor. If it is outside the legal corridor, then we should clobber [the perpetrators]. For Jokowi, words matter. When mentioned by the editors that the word gebuk brought back the memories of authoritarianism under Soeharto, Jokowi said there was no other term that could describe his stance. If I say that I will twist [their ears] then I will be considered lenient, Jokowi said and smiled, adding that any crackdown must be carried out according to prevailing regulations, customs and moral values of the country. The President said as a democracy, Indonesia guaranteed the right of people to express their opinions, but the government would move against anyone who violated the law when exercising their constitutional rights. Jokowi said as president, he would do anything to defend the countrys Constitution, adding there was one organization in particular promoting an ideology that contravened Pancasila and the Constitution and threatened the unity of the country. He was possibly referring to Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), members of which took part in all anti-Ahok rallies. The group has been promoting the establishment of a global caliphate with Indonesia being one of its provinces. No, I cannot let them grow [bigger]. I am the president and will comply with the Constitution, the President said. During the meeting with the editors, Jokowi also dismissed rumors about a revival of the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which Jokowis family had been accused of being a part of. What PKI? If it is revived then lets clobber it! The TAP MPR [the Provisional Peoples Consultative Assembly] has already banned it. Jokowi slammed rumors that he was connected to the PKI. The PKI was dissolved when I was four years old. How could I be a member of the PKI? It is clear where I was born and who my parents are. Political communications expert Effendi Ghazali said the word gebuk had only been used twice in the history of Indonesian politics, first by Soeharto and now by Jokowi, to express anger over something. It means that [Jokowi] is very angry [about the situation in Indonesia]. When someone uses the word, they are aware of the consequences and risks they might face, he told The Jakarta Post. Effendi said Jokowis move to invite chief editors was aimed at gaining support from media outlets with regard to the governments plan to crack down on any mass organization deemed antiPancasila by the government. However, Effendi said media outlets should be fair in interpreting Jokowis stance on anti-Pancasila organizations and that the government must go through the court system before banning any organization. If the government wants to clobber any organization, then it must go through the courts. We should not let the government do so without a judicial process, Effendi said. Victims of human trafficking appear at the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) for a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday. Police recently arrested 10 suspects and rescued 148 victims during a crackdown on a human-trafficking network. The victims had been seduced by the prospect of lucrative jobs in the Middle East.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)(Bareskrim) for a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday. Police recently arrested 10 suspects and rescued 148 victims during a crackdown on a human-trafficking network. The victims had been seduced by the prospect of lucrative jobs in the Middle East.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 09:52 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15fc4c 1 Business sugar-factory,incentives,Regulations,industry-ministry Free The government has issued a regulation that aims to bring in more investments to the sugar industry. Under Ministerial Regulation No. 10/2017 on raw materials incentives in sugar industry development issued by the Industry Ministry, investors establishing a sugar factory in 2010 and onward are allowed to partially import raw sugar while developing their own plantations. Developing sugarcane plantations is not easy; its costly and businesspeople face many challenges, starting from finding the proper land for the plants and seedling development, said Panggah Susanto, the ministrys agro-industry director general, in a press conference on Wednesday. (Read also: Sugar price ceiling of Rp 12,500 per kg effective in March) Thats why we give them time to develop it in stages while theyre able to import the raw materials. For those building the factories outside Java, they have seven years to develop a plantation. In the first year, they need to source at least 20 percent of raw sugar domestically and are allowed to import up to 90 percent of it. In the seventh year, they need to source at least 90 percent locally, with up to 55 percent from imports. In the eighth year, they need to fully source raw sugar locally and stop any imports. For those investing in Java, they have five years to do so while those looking to open another factory or plantation have three years to do so. The ministry is waiting for investors to apply for the incentive up to the end of this month. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 08:29 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15ae68 2 Business #business,#oil Free Oil and gas may have been king of the jungle for decades, but investors are being reminded of the increased competition from renewable energy sources as the government emphasizes the need for efficiency in the upstream sector. Over the past three years, investment in the upstream oil and gas sector has plunged to almost half of the usual figure of more than US$20 billion, partially due to continuously low oil prices and the governments frequent policy changes leading to uncertainty. The current situation is not much better, with the government predicting a $13.8 billion total investment by year-end. While this years estimate is higher than the $12.01 billion invested in 2016, it is still a significant drop from $15.9 billion in 2015. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan reminded investors that it was unlikely to get any easier in the future, with global crude prices still hovering around $50 per barrel. Furthermore, renewable energy sources have continued to become cheaper as a result of more readily available technologies that are regarded as much cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. New and renewable energy is a sector that we have to consider seriously. I feel that perhaps in the future, the competition between fossil or traditional energy and renewable energy will mount from time to time [] they might compete in the future, whether we use oil or gas or renewable energy, he said during the 41st Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) exhibition and conference on Wednesday. While fossil fuel-based power remains much cheaper than renewable-source power, the gap is getting narrower. For example, electricity procured from gas can cost from around 7 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 14 kWh depending on the country. On the other hand, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) states that electricity from utility-scale solar photovoltaic systems can now cost as little as 8 cents per kWh. The emphasis on efficiency and cost-cutting measures has been a recurring theme in the energy sector under President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration. The most drastic measure taken by the government is its recent decision to issue a new production-sharing, or gross-split, scheme, in which it will no longer be responsible for reimbursing contractors for exploration and exploitation activities. Many investors have been accused of depriving the state budget of revenue while providing little in return as oil production continues to go downhill. The government claims the new scheme is actually more enticing for investors and will revitalize the industry, because contractors no longer have to gain approval from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) for every aspect of their upstream projects, which theoretically translates to faster business processes. However, there are always two sides to a story and companies argue that the gross-split mechanism means they risk losing a lot of money for exploration and exploitation in Indonesian areas that are mostly considered as frontier, with difficult terrains and where most of the reserves are in deepwater locations. IPA president Christina Verchere emphasized that investors took the issue of efficiency as seriously as the government. I think its important to clarify that its in the investors interest for costs to be low. It impacts our profit lines too, so we want to be efficient, she said. (Read also: Government defends oil and gas gross-split scheme) Wood Mackenzies Asia Pacific research director for upstream oil and gas, Andrew Harwood, said there had been huge exploration budget cuts since 2014 caused by low oil prices, with many companies opting to invest in exploration opportunities that are more easily commercialized than Indonesias deepwater reserves. Even so, Wood Mackenzie notes that countries like Mexico and Canada are attracting more investment for deepwater reserves despite Indonesias equal potential. One of the biggest problems, Harwood added, was the lack of transparency and cooperation between ministries. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua Thu, May 18, 2017 17:26 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a17e801 1 National HTI,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,Islamic-caliphate,Pancasila,NKRI,Papua Free Furtive attempts by hard-line group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI ) to campaign for the establishment of a caliphate are being met with rejection from all societal elements in Papua, as Papuans consider them to contradict the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, an expert has said. I can say HTI has committed an attack against the government by waging a war of ideas. It teaches its cadres to fight against the state. They camouflage their fight against the state with various activities. They create a clash of opposing ideals and ideologies, political analyst Ridwan Al-Makassary said as quoted by Antara on Thursday. He was speaking in a seminar jointly conducted by Indonesias largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Religious Affairs Ministrys Papua office in Jayapura on Thursday. Established in Jerusalem by Taqiyuddin An-Nabhani in 1953, Hizbuth Tahrir aimed to build a caliphate and was opposed to democracy, Ridwan said. Hizbuth Tahrir has attempted to expand its influence in several countries, such as Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and several other Islamic countries, but it has received massive rejection and has been banned as it is considered dangerous to those countries, he said. HTI entered Indonesia in 1980s, targeting university students and mosque congregation members. It spread to Papua in the 2000s following the fall of the Soeharto regime, which was known for its tough measures against Islamic organizations. Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy R.Amar said although HTI had an ideology that was against Pancasila and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, it was important for the government to find elegant ways to disband the organization. We cannot use violent ways, because we have a law that regulates procedures required in the disbandment of a mass organization, he said. (rdi/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Manila Thu, May 18, 2017 10:25 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a160791 2 World #ASEAN,#Philippine,#Duterte Free The Philippines will no longer accept grants from the European Union, the EU delegation to Manila said Thursday, following repeated tirades from President Rodrigo Duterte over its criticism of his deadly drug war. "The Philippine government has informed us that they (will) no longer accept new EU grants," the delegation said in a brief statement. The decision will affect grants worth 250 million euros ($278 million), according to Franz Jessen, the EU's ambassador to Manila. Philippine government officials did not immediately comment, with the finance department saying a statement would be issued later on Thursday. Duterte, 72, has repeatedly criticised European lawmakers and the EU for condemning his drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives and led to warnings from critics of a crime against humanity. In comments last year, he used vulgar language and raised his middle finger in a response to a European parliament statement expressing concern over the killings. The German government also expressed concern after Duterte last year drew parallels between his drug war and Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler's Holocaust. "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said, underestimating the number of people killed in the Holocaust. Duterte later apologised for the Hitler reference but said he was "emphatic" about wanting to kill addicts. Duterte easily won presidential elections last year after promising to end crime by killing tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts. Police have reported killing about 2,700 people since Duterte took office at the end of June and immediately launched his war on drugs. Unknown assailants have killed more than 1,800 others, while about 5,700 other violent deaths are under investigation, according to police data. Partly in response to American criticism of the drug war, Duterte has also loosened the Philippines' ties with traditional ally the United States. He has instead embraced China, which has supported his drug war and sought to deepen economic ties by providing billions of dollars worth of investments and aid to the Philippines. Duterte, a self-described socialist, has also forged warmer relations with Russia, and will travel to Moscow next week to meet President Vladimir Putin. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 20:14 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a18453d 1 City red-tape,Tangerang,disabled-people,baby Free A five-month-old baby born without eyelids and with multiple malfunctioning organs in Tangerang, Banten, is facing difficulties in getting treatment due to red tape. The babys mother, Anita, 31, said the treatment of Siti Nurjelita Velly was covered by the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) and donations, but added that hospitals had rejected requests for treatment, primarily due to the family residing in a different location to where the baby was born. The hospitals have been giving us various reasons, Anita said on Thursday, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. Siti was born in Lebak regency, Banten, without eyelids and suffering from a hernia as well as harelip on Dec. 1, 2016. Her parents, both factory workers, now reside in Tangerang regency. In early April, the parents brought Siti to the Balaraja general hospital. However, due to minimum facilities at the hospital, doctors referred the baby to the Tangerang regency general hospital. (kuk) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 12:30 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a1672bd 1 Business Terregra-Asia-Energy,listing,trading-debut,renewable-energy,power-plant,solar-power,MoU Free PT Terregra Asia Energy, the first renewable energy firm to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), is negotiating with several multinational companies that have shown interest in taking part in the company's projects. Terregras managing director and vice president director, Lasman Citra, said the firm had 12 power plant projects in the pipeline that companies had shown interest in, including those using micro hydro and solar power that were expected to be constructed within the next five years. "We expect to sign an MoU [memorandum of understanding] with two or three utility players in the second half of the year. We will be so happy if they invest in our company, as they have experience in this field," he said, while refusing to reveal the identity of the foreign companies as negotiations were being conducted privately. By 2023, the company expects to see the renewable energy power plants run with a total capacity of 492 megawatts. Terregra saw on Tuesday a 70 percent increase in its share price during its trading debut to Rp 340 (30 US cents. Shares closed at Rp 424 on Wednesday. The company aims to book Rp 50 billion in revenue this year. In the first 10 months of 2016, it posted revenue of Rp 9 billion. (yon/ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 09:25 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15e36e 1 National #Jokowi,#ahok,#Blasphemy Free The public has called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to immediately repeal Article 156a on religious blasphemy of the Criminal Code (KUHP), with thousands of people having signed an online petition urging the government to do so. Through an online petition entitled President Jokowi, Scrap Article 156a on Blasphemy from KUHP Revision" registered at change.org, two petitioners, Gita Putri Damayana and Gita Syahrani, raised the call. In less than a week since the petition was submitted online, more than 10,000 people have endorsed it as of Thursday morning. (Read also: Ahok guilty of blasphemy, sentenced to two years) The petition was created following the decision of the North Jakarta District Court to sentence non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and ethnic Chinese, to two years in prison for defaming religion last week. Ahok's conviction is one among many cases [] that shows that Article 156a of the KUHP is used to judge someones beliefs and ideas, and that difference is something that is seen as wrong, the petitioners wrote in the petition as quoted by change.org. The petition, directed toward Jokowi and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, urged the President through the minister to push legislators at the House of Representatives, which is currently amending the KUHP, to scrap the article. There is still time for the public to push for the agenda to scrap Article 156a from the KUHP, the petition read. By Press Trust of India: Thane, May 18 (PTI) Police have seized nearly Rs 1 crore in demonetised currency notes from three persons, who were later arrested. Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a car at Parsik circle in Mumbra township of Thane district at around midnight on Tuesday. They found Rs 1 crore in old notes in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations in the possession of three persons, including a woman employee of a private bank, an official release issued by Thane police said today. advertisement The three persons was planning to get the notes exchanged for new bills. They were later arrested and a case was registered against them under relevant sections, Thane police PRO Sukhada Narkar said. Police are trying to find out from where did the accused get the junked notes, Narkar said. PTI COR ARS GK SDM --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra Thu, May 18, 2017 17:22 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a17d8b8 1 National aceh,drug-dealer,Medan,North-Sumatra,CrystalMeth,crystal-methamphetamine,CrystalMethamphetamine,shabu-shabu,ShabuShabu,#Aceh Free The North Sumatra Police reported on Thursday they shot and killed two alleged drug dealers from Aceh as they attempted to escape custody during an operation in Medan. Both men were 22 years old and residents of Pidie regency, Aceh. North Sumatra Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Sari Ginting claimed the two, who were already in custody, were armed and fought off police officers, although police did not explain when or how the men obtained firearms. They threatened the officers using homemade revolvers, forcing the police to shoot them both dead, she said. Rina said the two drug dealers were arrested on Jl. Sei Rokan, Sei Sekambing B district, Medan, at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, following reports from locals. During their investigation, police officers suspected two men they saw riding a motorcycle and they caught them. They found one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine and confiscated it as evidence, Rina said. Based on the findings, personnel of the Medan Polices narcotics division searched the boarding room of the two suspects on Jl. Sei Begawan, Medan, where they said they found another 1 kg of crystal meth. During an interrogation, the two suspects claimed they had a crystal meth storage room in a house at the Torganda residence complex on Jl. Bunga Raya, Medan Sunggal. The police brought the men to Torganda where the suspects, who had apparently armed themselves before being arrested or had obtained guns while in police custody, threatened to shoot the officers with revolvers and fled to a nearby public cemetery. They ignored the warning shots, forcing our personnel to shoot them. They died at the location, said Rina. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, May 18, 2017 11:32 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a164459 1 Business Unilever-Indonesia,cooperation,platform,Internet Free Consumer goods firm PT Unilever Indonesia has increased its cooperation with e-commerce platform Blibli.com by placing a Unilever Anchor Store feature on the online shopping website to improve services for customers. All of the companys products are featured in a store on the website, Unilever Indonesia e-commerce head Hira Triadi told reporters on Wednesday. Weve been cooperating with Blibli.com since December 2015, starting with a single product. We then continued with more products in 2016, Hira said. With the anchor store, all Unilever products, including ice cream, can now be bought through the website, she added. Hira said her company expected to reach more customers, especially millennials and those who are social media savvy. Meanwhile, Blibli.com trade partnership head Lay Ridwan Gautama said that his platform currently had more than five million registered customers, 50 percent of which were return customers who actively bought products through the website. We also have many more unregistered customers who buy products through our website, he said, adding that his company gradually held activation programs such as road shows to increase the number of registered customers. Lay said that his company expected to increase the number of female customers as they contributed the most to the purchasing of personal care and home care products two top-selling categories of Unilever products on the website. (yon/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayee Macaraig (AFP) Manila Thu, May 18, 2017 14:52 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a174fb7 2 SE Asia #Philippine,#Duterte,#EU Free The Philippines said Thursday it would refuse European Union grants that "interfered" with its internal affairs, following the bloc's repeated criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war. The European Union has been one of the most vocal international critics of the drug war, which has seen thousands of people killed since Duterte came to power last year. "The president has approved the recommendation of the department of finance not to accept grants... from the EU that may allow it to interfere with the internal policies of the Philippines," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters. Abella said one grant had already been declined for having "objectionable" conditions attached to it, although he refused to elaborate. The European Union is the Philippines' eighth biggest source of aid, with assistance last year worth $217 million, according to government data. It was not clear how much money was in jeopardy. Abella said humanitarian aid would still be accepted but the EU ambassador to Manila, Franz Jessen, said the decision impacted 250 million euros ($278 million) in grants. Economic secretary Ernesto Pernia added to the confusion by saying Duterte may retract it. "I will not take that as a policy. It is more of a reaction to criticisms. To me, on face value, it appears kind of unwelcome or not a good move but perhaps, I don't think it's going to remain as such," Pernia told reporters. Duterte, 72, has repeatedly criticised European lawmakers and the EU for condemning his drug war, which has led to accusations of a crime against humanity. The European Union has said is reviewing Philippine exports' duty-free status because of rights concerns, which also include Duterte's plans to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility to nine. Duterte last year used vulgar language and raised his middle finger in response to a European parliament statement expressing concern over the killings. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Bangkok Thu, May 18, 2017 13:04 2001 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a16a318 2 SE Asia #Thailand,#junta,#power Free Thailand's junta is mulling a new cyber law that would grant authorities the power to access any private sector computer system, a tool they say is needed to defend against hackers. The bill was proposed after the massive "WannaCry" cyberattack sparked havoc in computer systems worldwide, but it is controversial because Thailand has previously adopted cyber laws that have been used as a cudgel against government critics. The new law proposes setting up a National Cyber Security Committee which would be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who seized power in 2014 and has stamped down on dissent. The committee would oversee cyber defence capabilities and would be authorised to access any private company or citizen's computer with a court order. During "national emergencies", when authorities have to move quickly, the bill proposes a court order would not be necessary and could be obtained retroactively. "Officials must get court approval before accessing private company data. They cannot do so without a court warrant, unless it is a case of an emergency," Major General Pisit Pao-in, a member of the committee that drafted the law, told AFP. "An emergency would mean a threat that is imminent against a large section of society or one that endangers the country," he added. Pisit said it was "coincidence" that the bill was made public the same week as the WannaCry attack. But he said that type of widespread global malware hack would constitute the kind of national emergency that could trigger the government to use their powers. Thailand already has highly restrictive web laws -- something critics say damages the junta's stated desire to turn the country into a regional digital hub. Top of the list is the country's broadly-worded 2007 Computer Crimes Act. It was originally envisioned as a tool to stamp out internet scams by banning the uploading of false or misleading information online. But it has since been wielded with increased regularity against critics or people who speak out against wealthy companies and figures. The junta passed a strengthened version of the law in December which also banned uploading "immoral" content and gave authorities wider surveillance powers. The country also retains a ferociously enforced royal defamation law that bans criticism of the monarchy. More than 100 people have been charged with it since the coup, many for comments they make online with some jailed for decades. The Thai Netizen Network, which advocates for greater cyber freedoms, criticised the proposed cyber security bill. "The real purpose is to control internet communication and social media to suppress government critics and to cover up failures and corruption by those who are in power," the group said in a Facebook post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Aruna Harjani (The Jakarta Post) Osaka Thu, May 18, 2017 09:03 2002 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a15c666 4 Activities sakura,Japan,osaka,outdoor-activities,spring,cherry-blossoms Free In Japan, the Sakura season symbolizes a brand new start and hope for people of all ages and professions. The smell of grilled meat is in the air as I walk along the path toward Osaka Castle. Laughter seems to be an epidemic in the area, triggered by the cans of beer taken from a portable icebox. Although the flowers are not in full bloom yet, the spirit of Sakura is already evident among the hundreds of people seated on plastic-covered soil. While I am disappointed by the lack of Sakura flowers, the celebration from the Japanese is overwhelming. They bond in style with friends and family. They sit in circles, playing music and grilling meat on their mini-grillers. Some of them dance while some walk around and just eat ice cream. There are stalls selling Japanese cuisine and delicacies. One can hear the vendors calling out to the crowd to purchase their products. A local by the name of Shiko comes to Osaka Castle every year with her husband. I like to come here every year to see the Sakura, she says. The Sakura is a much-awaited season in Japan. People from all over Japan and across the globe flock to where the ume flowers, or the Sakura flowers, bloom. Trees in Japan are mostly found in parks and shrines. They are rarely available in the downtown areas of Japanese cities. Read also: How to shoot the cherry blossoms: Tips from a photographer The next day we drove to Kyoto and rented kimonos. Kyoto is known as an artsy city. The locals wear their kimonos more often than their counterparts in other cities. The government encourages the locals to wear kimonos by providing discounts on products and food to people who wear them. Hundreds of people queue at a miniature shop to get the size of everything needed for their kimonos. The ground floor is for registration and the second floor is where you choose your kimono. You pay to rent your kimono on the third floor and then you move to the fourth floor where a lady will help you dress up. I look at my watch and realize half the morning is gone and therefore, I decide to forfeit the Japanese hairstyling. With our costumes, we go to Maruyama Park where the cherry blossom trees line up, still waiting to bloom. Japanese-style tables are neatly stacked over the grounds with red cushions as seats. Food is served in bento boxes. After lunch, we head for Kyomizu Temple. Wearing our Japanese slippers, we tread the hilly slopes to Kyomizu Temple. Along the path, rows of shops selling Japanese products offer a worthwhile stop for browsing. We decide to call it a day and head back to the rental shop. It takes just three minutes to remove our costumes. The next morning we head for Todaji Temple to witness a beautiful hanging cherry blossom tree. This kind of tree is unique because of its falling branches. It is definitely a must-see. Opposite the temple is a deer park. Crossing the striped painted floor, we walk toward deer and feed them with thin biscuits and sweet potatoes. Moving on, we rush to the train station to go to Tokyo. The two-hour ride is relaxing. Before we go anywhere else, we stop at a shop that sells the famous Tokyo Banana, a banana-shaped chiffon cake printed with hearts with banana cream inside. Upon reaching the city, we head toward Tokyo Tower. Across the street, the pavement is layered with fully bloomed cherry blossoms. Unlike in Osaka, the locals in Tokyo are more minimalist and formal in their methods of celebration. They use overturned cartoon boxes as their tables and have snacks to eat. They dress formally in suits and jackets. I come here to spend the evening with my friends after work. My workplace is just across the way. I dont have to pay to take this space. It is open for the public, said a Tokyo local named Muyira. On the way to dinner, we pass by the Imperial Palace to take a few photos. The next morning, we head for Ueno Park, where fully bloomed trees of cherry flowers line up and create a captivating scene. Hundreds of people from all over the world walk through the park, one of the most famous parks in Tokyo. Like most parks, people picnic by the side of the park. Read also: Words you have to know before enjoying Japanese cuisine A group of elderly people sit together in a circle, chatting. It looks like a senior citizens workshop and they seem to be enjoying it. On another side, younger people prepare their space with a pastel-themed decor. One of them, Aki, prepares his space to celebrate with friends. I live in another town, but I took a day off today from my boss so I can sit here the whole day with my friends, Aki said. I would say the Sakura flower festival is one of the most beautiful events I have ever seen. The flowers excited my senses and it was inspiring to see how the Japanese people reflect on hope. Sakura is a sign of the end of winter and the start of spring. The sun starts to shine and the weather is gentler on the human body. It touched me to see people seated on the grounds together despite differences in financial status, gender and age. Everyone had a chance to celebrate in his or her own way. The school ran into trouble after Naik and his banned NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) came under scrutiny for terror related cases. By Mustafa Shaikh: Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi has taken over the management of Islamic International School (IIS), run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The school ran into trouble after Naik and his banned NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) came under scrutiny over terror related cases. Islamic International School conducts classes from nursery to class X. The controversy surrounding Zakir Naik had put a question mark on the fates of around 200 students of the school. advertisement Now, the management of the school will be run by Abu Asim Azmi's Niyaz Minority and Welfare trust and the school will be renamed as Avicenna International School. Azmi has confirmed the change in management but refused to comment on the syllabus and orientation of the school. Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had investigated the syllabus of IIS to check if the students were being radicalised. Nothing scandalous was found in the school's syllabus, however. ALSO READ: Abu Azmi mocks Karan Johar on becoming a dad via surrogacy: If you have any medical issue, adopt Women sugar, molesters ants: 10 Abu Azmi shockers on Bengaluru nightmare WATCH: --- ENDS --- Heres the latest on the investigation into the destructive fire at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. A 14-year-old boy who was arrested Tuesday evening in connection with the synagogue fire was released into parental custody after an initial court appearance yesterday. As the New York Times reported, he appeared in Family Court and the case was referred to the citys Law Department. The teen, whose name is being withheld because hes being prosecuted as a juvenile, lives about a half mile from the synagogue at 60 Norfolk St. The teen is due back in court May 31, when prosecutors will be required to spell out the charges they plan to pursue against him. More from the Times: The police took the teenager into custody after interviewing his two companions, who were released. He was brought on Tuesday night to the 7th Precinct station, where Commissioner James P. ONeill happened to be attending a community council meeting. The boy declined to talk to investigators and requested a lawyer, the police said. The police have not determined a motive or uncovered any indication of bias. The Lo-Down first reported the arrest yesterday morning, after we witnessed the boy being escorted by cops into the precinct the previous evening. Eyewitnesses saw three teens running from the synagogue shortly after the fire erupted Sunday evening. Security camera tape was used by cops to identify the teens. On Wednesday, The New York Post identified the teen, reporting: David Diaz was with other teens inside the abandoned Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue when he allegedly set a curtain on fire Sunday night, according to the sources. The flaming curtain fell onto some pews, causing the fire to quickly spread through the building, which was destroyed. Several teens were caught on surveillance video fleeing the scene and a female friend of the alleged arsonist gave him up to cops after they spotted her going to school on Tuesday Diaz is also responsible for a smaller blaze that broke out at the synagogue on May 7, according to law-enforcement sources. In the past day, construction fencing went up around the 167-year-old building. Fire investigators have not been able to conduct a search of the main floor of the synagogue due to stability concerns. Safety supports will be put in place before they enter the building. Astonishingly the synagogues towers remained standing, noted the Times, giving preservationists some hope that part of the the city landmark could be salvaged. This morning, a Department of Buildings spokesman said the agencys investigation into the structural stability of the building is still ongoing. US President Donald Trump to discuss about ISIS and extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan on his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. By Press Trust of India: US President Donald Trump will discuss steps to continue the fight against the ISIS and extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he addresses the Muslim world during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The discussion on extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would come up as a part of the larger debate within the Islamic world, and specifically to this part of the world, a senior Trump administration official said on the condition of anonymity yesterday. advertisement "So the general problem of extremism, which is the same problem in Mosul as it is in Afghanistan and to some degree in Pakistan. That's the issue we are trying to deal with, which is extremism. So it will be something that will be discussed," the official said. Leaders of more than 50 mostly-Muslim countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan from India's neighbourhood, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The official was responding to a question about the US governments plans to deal with extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I believe the leader of Afghanistan and the leader of Pakistan will both be at the Summit, which is excellent, the official said. Although, Riyadh has not yet confirmed a separate bilateral talk between Trump and either of the two leaders -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The extremism issue would also figure for discussion during Trump's participation at the NATO summit in Brussels. The Trump Administration is in final stage of formulating its Afghanistan-Pakistan policy which among other things would decide on the number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. The final decision in this regard would be taken by the generals on the ground. Also Read: Donald Trump to deliver an inspiring speech on Islam in a middle east nation, but can he belie his past? Can prove Donald Trump did not pass Russia secrets, says Vladimir Putin Also Watch: When Trump baffled Sweden with his comment on immigration crisis there --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: We all know popular TV couple Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya and Vivek Dahiya's relationship is goals. The couple is currently blowing everyone's mind by their incredible dance moves on dance reality show Nach Baliye 8. And as if that was not enough, Vivek has gone ahead and done something that will just make your hearts melt. Also read: When Divyanka Tripathi broke down on the sets of Nach Baliye 8 advertisement Divyanka recently posted a picture of herself with Vivek and her loved ones, and wrote in the caption of the picture, "When everyone's posing and your husband is looking at you. It's Awwwwdorable!" Here's the picture: When everyone's posing and your husband is looking at you... Its Awwwwdorable! A post shared by Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya (@divyankatripathidahiya) on May 16, 2017 at 11:08pm PDT And we have to say that we agree with Divyanka. Vivek looks completely smitten by her, and it is indeed adorable. Talk about relationship goals. --- ENDS --- Now in its seventh year, The Green Carnation Prize aims to seek out the best writing by an LGBTQ+ author in the UK. The prize was founded in 2010 by author Paul Magrs and journalist Simon Savidge, in response to the scandalous lack of prizes for gay men in the UK. Recently, the award has expanded to include authors from the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum. It was named after the green carnation often worn by Oscar Wilde which has since become an emblem of homosexuality. Director of the Prize, Simon Savidge, says: I am so proud that the Green Carnation continues to recognise the wealth of LGBTQ+ writing talent published in the UK. Tackling difficult and important subjects from mental health to AIDS, these brave writers push boundaries and need to be championed. The 2017 prize will be awarded on the 22nd of May. Here is a breakdown of the shortlist: London Lies Beneath, Stella Duffy (Virago) Synopsis: This neo-Victorian novel, which was inspired by real events, centres around three main characters: Tom, Jimmy, and Itzhak. Theyve grown up in the crowded slums of Walworth and are expected to follow in the footsteps of their fathers, which threatens to trap them in poverty-stricken London. When they hear of a scouting trip, sailing from Waterloo to Sheppey and the mouth of the Thames, they are all determined to take the opportunity and leave their lives behind. However, when tragedy strikes, their friendship is tested. Critical reception: Throughout there is a profound sense of belonging, of blood, of the ties which bind. Duffys narrative lulls you into the ordinary at the outset, but builds, poetically, into steady waves first of fear, then of sorrow. The Irish Times. Gavin McCreas recent novel Mrs Engels, addressing exactly this issue, offers a much more subtle and linguistically lively exploration of class in the Victorian city. In London Lies Beneath, flat-footed ideology combines with persistent grammatical weakness to mar an otherwise interesting novel. The Guardian. About the Author: Stella Duffy has written 14 novels, 50 short stories, ten plays, and a multitude of articles and reviews. The first novel in her Saz Martin series, Calendar Girl, came fifth in The Big Gay Reads 2007 poll and she has also won Stonewall Writer of The Year twice once in 2008 for The Room of Lost Things and in 2010 for Theodora, Actress, Empress, Whore. Last year, she was awarded an OBE for services to literature. How to Survive a Plague, David France (Picador) Synopsis: How to Survive a Plague charts the story of the grass-roots movement of activists who used scientific research to develop HIV drugs in the 80s and 90s. As a result of their achievements, 15.8 million people taking anti-AIDS drugs are alive thanks to their work. This narrative weaves together stories from over a dozen individuals. It provides an insider account of a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history one that is becoming increasingly forgotten amongst millennials. Critical Reception: The definitive book on AIDS activism The San Francisco Chronicle. The story of how Aids activists took on the FDA and leading scientific experts has been told before, most notably by the sociologist Steven Epstein. However, the great advantage France has is that as a journalist with the New York Native he was an eyewitness to many of the key moments during the spread of the disease and, as a gay man, shared in activists pain and suffering. It is a difficult balancing act, but France avoids hagiography. Instead, he uses his privileged access to put us in the heart of the action, or more usually, inaction. The Guardian. About the Author: David France is best known for his investigative journalism on LGBTQ+ topics. He is the former Newsweek senior editor and has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and GQ. His 2016 book How to Survive a Plague was named in the New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2016 list and has received rapturous reviews. In 2012, he released a documentary of the same name, which was nominated for an Academy Award. A Portable Shelter, Kirsty Logan (Random House) Synopsis: Inspired by the likes of Angela Carter, this novel which could easily pass as a collection of short stories tells the story of Liska and Ruth, who tell their new-born baby a multitude of stories. Each try to keep their storytelling a secret; Ruth tells hers when Liska is at work, and Liska when Ruth is asleep. Theres tales of circuses, werewolves, witches, and dragons to pore over in this novel brimming with magical realism. Critical Reception: Portable Shelter is not just a storybook. It is a subtle examination of why and how we tell stories to ourselves and others, stories that reveal and disguise our truths. It is a book to read all at once, on a train, or slowly, chapter by chapter, out loud. Christina Neuwirth. Her skill with language is unquestioned, so its a pity that ability is shackled to these mawkish little tales. The National. About the Author: Kirsty Logan is a Scottish writer living in Glasgow. Her main influences include Angela Carter and Emma Donoghue she even wrote her thesis on retold fairytales which feeds in to The Portable Shelter. Her first short story collection, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales, was shortlisted for The Green Carnation Prize in 2014 and also won the Polari First Book Prize, which celebrates writers exploring the LGBTQ+ experience. What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell (Picador) Synopsis: Greenwells debut novel explores how our past experiences and our culture shape how we love. It details the story of an American teacher who falls in love with Mitko , a charismatic young hustler. Their relationship develops over a period of months and becomes intimate yet full of anguish, cast in the shadow of the narrators troubled upbringing in South America. Critical Reception: The first great novel of 2016 Publishers Weekly. Edmund White has declared this book a masterpiece, and What Belongs to You stands naturally alongside the great works of compromised sexual obsession such as Thomas Manns Death in Venice, Nabokovs Lolita, Candia McWilliams A Case of Knives and Alan Hollinghursts The Folding Star. The Telegraph. About the Author: Gareth Greenwell is a poet, author, literary critic, and educator. He has been a vocal advocate of LGBT rights in Bulgaria, drawing attention to the experiences of non-English speaking LGBTQ+ people through broadcasts, interviews, blog posts, and reviews. His fiction has been published in The Paris Review and A Public Space and his criticism can be seen in The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Augustown, Kei Miller (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) Synopsis: It is 1982 in Augustown, Jamaica, and Ma Taffy sees her six-year-old nephew return home with his dreadlocks shorn. She tells him the story of Alexander Bedward, the flying prearcherman . Trouble is brewing once more in the town, so Ma Taffy decides to recount what happened to the Rastaman and his helper, Bongo Moody. Critical Reception: Jamaica is a maddening country but Millers writing has a cool immediacy. With subtlety he captures the poor peoples patois without compromising its authenticity, summoning the rhythms and phrasing in a way that reflects the old English at its root. His language doesnt flashily announce its difference, but allows you to wrap your foreign tongue and ears around its poetry. The Guardian Miller's storytelling is superb, its power coming from the seamless melding of the magical and the everyday , which gives his novel a significant fabular quality. Sunday Times. About the Author: Kei Miller divides his time between the UK and Jamaica. After dropping out of university in Jamaica, he now works as a lecturer in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2014, he was named as one of the 20 Next Generation Poets, a list which is compiled only once every ten years. His third novel, Augustown, has already won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Its true indeed that absolutely nobody asked for another King Arthur adaptation, but really we are so blessed that Guy Ritchie decided to make one anyway. That old, endlessly rebooted tale thats seen more iterations than could fit round a round table? All it took was Ritchies magic touch to make it into undeniably the best action film of the year. I promise Ill get to the truly mind-blowing action in a moment, but Im going to get my nerd on first. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Arthur legend is its many iterations from all over the country, and the oral tradition resulting in a canonical body of literature thats constantly in flux. The art of storytelling itself is so key to the many stories surrounding Arthur, and Ritchies narrative style engages with the tradition in such a refreshing way. Fans of Ritchies will be familiar with the technique he uses where flashbacks occur as characters explain to each other recent events the best without a doubt being Gerard Butler in the criminally underrated RocknRolla. Well, in King Arthur he uses this truly gut-busting effect to convey the mutable plurality of the narrative. Storytelling and memory are both active participants in the film, and theres a recurring memory which has particularly powerful effect as something is added to it every time its shown. Its such a brilliant engagement with the idea that orally transmitted stories are totally reliant on the memory of the storyteller, and therefore every time the story is told, there will be something different about it. Theres one particular moment which I hope none of you get spoiled for, because it achieves what I thought was impossible: genuinely surprising the audience. We all watched BBC Merlin religiously (dont try and deny it), weve all seen at least three versions of a King Arthur film, some of us even read versions of it, but Ritchie manages to invent one of the most emotionally weighty moments of the film in a very organic way. Okay, enough pretentious stuff. Charlie Hunnam did a great job at playing a surprisingly down-to-earth, relatable Arthur. A classic cheeky British lad with banging muscles and a huge, uh, sword? What more could anyone ask for? The balance of banter and genuine compassion in his character effortlessly outdid all on-screen superheroes from the last decade in terms of likability. On the subject of out-doing superhero movies, someone tell the Marvel and DC execs that this is how you film dynamic action sequences! Shaky closeups for chase scenes, fluid and innovative camera work making fight scenes totally unpredictable, and best of all: montages! In every other becoming-a-hero story, the montages are blatantly a device used to speed along the boring bits, right? But Ritchies montages are so fresh and exciting. Fast-paced and explosive, with hammering soundtrack to match, each montage in this film added so much to the story as well as being some of the most visually exciting sequences in the film. He makes predictable and necessary plot points seem new and invigorating because hes a literal filmmaking genius. To be honest, though visually stunning, the opening sequence does drag a little, but as the film hits its stride the pacing really is on point, helped along by the incredible soundtrack varying between haunting, possible-gaelic vocals and pumping instrumentals. Adding to the epic nature of the film were the incredible landscapes. All the locations in the movie are from around England, Scotland, and Wales, and knowing that Arthurian figures may well have really walked those forests and mountains only increases the authenticity. The rest of Arthurs gang each get their moments to shine. Djimon Hounsou, as he always seems to, plays a pretty standard role as one of the most important secondary characters why does nobody ever give that dude a lead part? Also part of the team is Aiden Gillen, you know, Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, which was weird because I kept waiting for him to betray them. He just has a sneaky face. Neil Maskell (Humans) gets one of the standout moments of the film with the young Bieu Landau, who plays his son. As for female characters, Astrid Berges-Frisbey plays a slightly wooden but very plot-necessary Mage. Though the animals she controls with her magic do look super CGI, the 3D effects are so cool it didnt even bother me. Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders) is mostly wasted, whilst Katie McGraths role is basically just a cameo. I hesitate to say that Poppy Delevigne was wasted in her role because I have no idea if she can actually act, but her part is tiny too. Lets just say there were definitely too many women killed off in this film. No romance subplots though, so, you win some you lose some. Anyway, speaking of cameos, putting a whole new contemporary twist on the theme of British legends, David Beckham popping up in the middle of the movie really does elevate it to a level of absurdist cinema never before reached in the mainstream. Lets just say the poor guy wont be winning any Oscars, but it was pretty funny. Last but not least, Jude Laws villainous uncle Vortigern balanced Eric Banas dashing Uther in a standard formulaic way. Quick-tongued slim evil brother vs. muscular bearded good brother its like Loki and Thor, Scar and Mufasa, you get the picture. Vortigerns a pretty far cry from The Young Pope though, so if youve just come off binging that then its a real trip. Law does a good job with the surprisingly complex emotional arc of the character. The Law/Ritchie team up did just make me yearn for Sherlock Holmes 3 though. Fingers crossed King Arthur gets a sequel and Ritchie doesnt leave us hanging again. Overall this really is the most fun movie youll have seen all year. Give yourselves a break from studying, treat yourselves to this electric romp through British legend. It really does have something for everybody. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is out in UK cinemas May 19th. New legislation is to be put into place to ensure that all models are maintaining a healthy weight, as well as to make sure that Frances fashion industry represents real bodies rather than those of an unattainably low BMI. In order to discourage models from living unhealthy lifestyles in order to maintain excessively low weights, each model will have to provide a doctors certificate awarding them with a full bill of health before they can hit the catwalk. If any organisers fail to go through with this new policy they could face a fine of 75,000. Due to Frances status as one of the greatest influencers in the fashion industry, it may lead to similar policies being created across the globe. Spain and Italy have both created similar legislation focusing on the models BMI (body mass index) score. A previous draft of the French policy also focused on BMI, saying that models will have to maintain a score of at least 18, but this was later changed due to the BMIs unreliability. The BMI can be calculated by comparing an individuals height to their weight. However some cast doubts over this method as it does not take into account somebodys bone density, muscle mass or other vital components that you need to consider when evaluating somebodys health by their weight. A new website encouraging students to register to vote has launched a tool to help them decide whether to cast their vote at home or university. new tool Under voter registration rules, students are allowed to be registered both at home and their university. Theuses data compiled by Matt Morley to show students if their vote will be more influential at home or university. (ge2017.com/students) The founder of the innovative site told us he devised the idea after his sister sought advice on where to vote. Being the political nerd I looked it up, Morley said. After realising that no site was making this process easy and that hundreds of thousands of students could potentially be impacted by this, we decided to build it. (ge2017.com/students) This is done by identifying swing seats and safe seats using data from the last election, polls and census data and calculating which postcode has more impact. The website is part of the #TurnUp campaign to encourage voter registration, and has compared over 250,000 postcodes already. We've now helped over 105,000 + students in a matter of days! Not sure if you should vote at home or uni https://t.co/i7bMKm1YGJ #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/1ZpE5nuVXk GE2017 (@GE2017dotcom) May 17, 2017 Explaain If you arent a student, dont despair., the company behind the website, is creating a similar site for all voters. 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Here comes the twist in the tale. The writer of Hansal Mehta's Shahid, Sameer Gautam, has now made a similar allegation against Apurva. Shahid's poster credits Sameer Gautam Singh as the writer, but Gautam shares the credit for screenplay with Apurva Asrani and Hansal Mehta. Sameer wrote in a Facebook post, "Apurva Asrani joined early as an editor and I had tremendous respect for him... Shahid was written, shot and Apurva was now editing it. A few weeks later, when I came back to Mumbai and met Hansal Sir, the festival cut was ready. We worked on the subtitles for the festival cut and by Gods grace, our film was selected in TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), just to let you know, I was supposed to have a 'Written By' credit then (sic)." He elaborated, "One day, not much later, I got to know from a team member that Apurva is insisting on a screenwriting credit for the film. (Hansal) Sir was happy with this cut and he then spoke to me about this. At first, I did not know what to say and then I said 'No!' because I had given the film 4 years of my life with nothing but that to show for it. Apurva kept at it and refused to work any further unless he was given a Screenplay credit for Editing this 'Fresh approach/ Narrative' to the film. Hansal Sir was in a Catch 22 situation and I could see it. It was difficult for him." Sameer wrote that after Hansal tried his best, but "finally gave in to Apurva's demands." He added that Apurva "hijacked the credit and positioned himself as the writer from the time it got screened in MAMI (the film festival organised by Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image). I was not there and it is my fault. I was attending to my ailing mother in Delhi and I had to be there." The writer wrote that he was compelled to come forward with his story after all this time because of "the sheer magnitude of (Apurva's) hypocrisy." He defended Hansal Mehta and added, "I know I am not the only one Mr. Asrani has stepped over. He is a regular offender." advertisement You can read Sameer's full post HERE ALSO READ: Simran writer Apurva Asrani slams Kangana Ranaut for 'lying' that she developed the script OPINION: Simran teaser proves that solo Kangana Ranaut is the best Kangana Ranaut, don't saddle her with heroes ALSO WATCH: Team Shahid is back, Hansal Mehta directs Rajkummar Rao in his next --- ENDS --- The comments came hours after the South said it wanted to reopen a channel of dialogue with North Korea as Moon seeks a two-track policy, involving sanctions and dialogue, to try to rein in its neighbour. By Reuters: South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday there was a "high possibility" of conflict with North Korea, which is pressing ahead with nuclear and missile programmes it says it needs to counter US aggression. The comments came hours after the South, which hosts 28,500 US troops, said it wanted to reopen a channel of dialogue with North Korea as Moon seeks a two-track policy, involving sanctions and dialogue, to try to rein in its neighbour. advertisement North Korea has made no secret of the fact that it is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the US mainland and has ignored calls to halt its nuclear and missile programmes, even from China, its lone major ally. It conducted its latest ballistic missile launch, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, on Sunday which it said was a test of its capability to carry a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead", drawing Security Council condemnation. "The reality is that there is a high possibility of a military conflict at the NLL (Northern Limit Line) and military demarcation line," Moon was quoted as saying by the presidential Blue House. He also said the North's nuclear and missile capabilities seem to have advanced rapidly recently but that the South was ready and capable of striking back should the North attack. Moon won an election last week campaigning on a more moderate approach towards the North and said after taking office that he wants to pursue dialogue as well as pressure. But he has said the North must change its attitude of insisting on pressing ahead with its arms development before dialogue is possible. South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Duk-haeng told reporters the government's most basic stance is that communication lines between South and North Korea should reopen. "The Unification Ministry has considered options on this internally but nothing has been decided yet," said Lee. NO WORD YET ON THAAD Communications were severed by the North last year, Lee said, in the wake of new sanctions following North Korea's fifth nuclear test and Pyongyang's decision to shut down a joint industrial zone operated inside the North. North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North defends its weapons programmes as necessary to counter US hostility and regularly threatens to destroy the United States. Moon's envoy to the United States, South Korean media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, left for Washington on Wednesday. Hong said South Korea had not yet received official word from the United States on whether Seoul should pay for an anti-missile US radar system that has been deployed outside Seoul. advertisement US President Donald Trump has said he wants South Korea to pay for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system which detected Sunday's test launch. China has strongly opposed THAAD, saying it can spy into its territory, and South Korean companies have been hit in China by a nationalist backlash over the deployment. The United States said on Tuesday it believed it could persuade China to impose new UN sanctions on North Korea and warned that Washington would also target and "call out" countries supporting Pyongyang. Speaking to reporters ahead of a closed-door UN Security Council meeting, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also made clear that Washington would only talk to North Korea once it halted its nuclear programme. As about Haley's comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China would work hard at reducing tensions on the Korean peninsula and finding a peaceful resolution. TRUMP'S WARNING Trump has called for an immediate halt to North Korea's missile and nuclear tests and US Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood said on Tuesday that China's leverage was key and Beijing could do more. advertisement Trump warned this month that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, and in a show of force, sent the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group to Korean waters to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan. The US troop presence in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War, is primarily to guard against the North Korean threat. ALSO READ: South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in throws left-leaning history textbooks out of schools Moon Jae-in is the new South Korea President, White House joins in the celebration --- ENDS --- The Supreme Court today finished hearing the triple talaq case and reserved its verdict on whether the practice is constitutionally valid. By Anusha Soni, Ahmad Azeem, India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today concluded its historic hearing on triple talaq, but reserved its order. The six-day hearing was conducted on a clutch of petitions challenging triple talaq, polygamy and 'nikah halala' and was heard by a five-member Constitution bench of the apex court which included judges from different religious communities including Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, and Parsi. advertisement During the final stages of the hearing, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which is defending triple talaq in the apex court, today said it is ready to issue an advisory to all qazis (Islamic jurists) to ascertain women's view on triple talaq and put it in the nikahnaama (contract of the Islamic marriage). Still, AIMPLB lawyer and former Law Minister Kapil Sibal reiterated his earlier argument that the Supreme Court should not get into validity of religious customs and beliefs. When the bench asked Sibal how a custom which is "theologically sinful" be part of the practices of a community, Sibal said testing the validity of customs and practices of a community is a "slippery slope" and the Supreme Court must not venture into it. Here are the latest developments: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had suggested that the Centre could put in place a law to deal with issues, including triple talaq, instead of waiting for it to decide on the matter judicially, and wondered whether it is possible to give the Muslim woman the option to oppose instant divorce. "We may or may not (decide the issue), but you do," said the constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi as the latter urged the court to step in a situation where there is no legislation. The five-judge Constitution bench also asked the Centre as to why it did not legislate to regulate marriages and divorce among Muslims. "You (Centre) said if court quashes triple talaq then you will make a law but why the government did not make a law for last 60 years?" the bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, asked. Rohatgi replied that the hallmark of a secular court was to reform without waiting for a legislation, when such matters come to it. "I will do what I have to do but the question is what will you (court) do? I have given statement on instruction. I speak for the government and can't speak for parliament," he said reiterating that the top court was guardian of fundamental rights and has to see whether there was any violation of such rights. Earlier on Wednesday, the bench asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board if it was possible to give the woman the option, before she gives her consent to nikaah, that the marriage she was entering into would not be dissolved through instant triple talaq. The apex court suggested whether a clause can be added on the Nikaah Nama to say that the marriage can't be dissolved by the husband by pronouncing instant triple talaq. As Rohatgi referred to the Vishakha guidelines that were framed by the top court to protect women at the workplace in the absence of any law, Justice Kurian said that it was in the domain of a statute and not the constitution. In an obvious comparison to the steps taken to reform Hindu practices, when the Attorney General referred to the abolition of Sati, infanticide and Devadasi system, Justice Kurian said that all those (abolitions) were legislatively decided. "Did the court do it? No, legislation got rid of it," Chief Justice Khehar observed. The court described the issue before it as something not between the majority and the minority communities but an intra-minority issue of tussle between Muslim men and women - which he said was a tussle between haves (men) and have-nots (women). Describing instant triple talaq as a "pernicious practice", Rohatgi urged the court to "step in as a guardian of the fundamental rights". ALSO READ: Triple talaq is sinful, states Islamic religious text, then why keep it? Supreme Court ups the ante Triple talaq matter of faith for 1400 years similar to Hindu belief that Ram was born in Ayodhya: AIMPLB to Supreme Court Triple talaq: How it affects lives of India's 90 million Muslim women WATCH | Triple talaq: Supreme Court reserves verdict as 6-day hearing ends --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: India New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Sweden has offered its expertise and technology in environment-friendly public transport and solid waste management for developing smart cities in India. This emerged during a meeting of Sweden Minister of European Union Affairs and Trade Ann Linde and Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu here today. Sweden has evinced a keen interest in partnering with India for development of smart cities, an official release said. advertisement "Sweden has suggested a Common Plan of Action for applying its expertise and technology in promoting sustainable and green-friendly public transport solutions besides solid waste management in smart cities," it added. The visiting Swedish minister said her country is a global leader in waste management, urban mobility solutions, smart parking systems and air filtration -- which are integral to smart city plans of Indian cities. She said that a Swedish company SCANIA would soon be operating 55 ethanol-based buses in Nagpur. Stressing that the mission offers ample investment opportunities to Indian and foreign companies, Naidu said the smart cities could benefit from Swedish technologies, particularly in the areas of public transport and solid waste management. PTI MP IKA --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) Countrys largest software exporter TCS today said it has co-developed a digital platform for benefit of fishermen in Senegal. The Tata Group company has tied-up with Qualcomm and FHI 360 to implement a digital solution for the fishermen in the African nation using wireless technologies, it said. The programme involves launching an application which will improve safety of fishermen at sea by helping them access weather information and navigational resources and will also help rescuers locate them in case of an emergency, it said. advertisement The app will also given them access to training and educational resources like fish processing best practices in video, audio and PDF formats, and also have market information to ensure best yields, it said. Mobile connectivity also provides easier access to information about affordable loans that help participants expand their businesses by working with local micro-lending institutions, it said. The company had first launched a similar solution in 2007 known as Fisher Friend, while the programme implemented by FH 360 has been on since 2016. "This is a great example of how digital technologies can be harnessed to create a profound impact on the community at large. This program is positively affecting the lives of those in Senegal?s fishing community by addressing everyday challenges," the companys global head of the Technology Business Unit, V Rajanna, said. "It builds linkages among fishermen, fish processors, government agencies, mobile network operators, and local NGOs to improve small-scale fishing and processing," FHI 360?s Director of Programs for TechLab, Berhane Gebru, said. PTI AA DK DK --- ENDS --- Ballot stamps cause minor issue in Brown, turnout in Codington 63% While there was a minor issue counting some ballots in Brown Co., local election officials said Tuesday night went pretty well. SD voter turnout 57.5% The child-friendly tablets, which will come in candy flavours like orange and strawberry, is expected to be a game-changer in improving treatment for Tuberculosis. By Priyanka Sharma: There is good news for children suffering from tuberculosis as the government has started the rollout of the world's first easily-dissolvable and flavoured drug in five states as part of a pilot programme. The child-friendly tablets, which will come in candy flavours like orange and strawberry, is expected to be a game-changer in improving treatment. At present, medicine for tuberculosis is extremely bitter in taste and is given four times a day. These flavored medicines would be given only two times a day. Dr Jagdish Prasad, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) told Mail Today, "This is for the first time that union health ministry has come up with flavored and tasty medicine for tuberculosis for kids. India is the first country in the world to start with candy-flavored medicine for TB at a national level." advertisement According to officials, body weight of children has been divided into six categories - 4 to 7kg, 8 to 11kg , 12 to 15kg, 16 to 24kg, 25 to 30kg and 30 to 35kg - based on which medicine would be given to a child. Commenting on the benefits of the new TB medicine, Dr Prasad, said that these pills are easily soluble in water and a child can easily drink it like a fruity drink. "Whichever flavor child likes, doctors can recommend that particular flavour medicine," he added. PROJECT TO ONLY EXPAND COUNTRYWIDE The Centre has started the pilot project in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Maharashtra. It plans to expand this project to 18 states by the end of July and the entire country by the end of this year, the DGHS said. Doctors at private hospitals gave their thumbs up to the launch. Dr Vikas Maurya, head of department of Pulmonology at Fortis Hospital (Shalimar Bagh) told Mail Today, "It is a good move by the government as it so difficult to get children to take the medicine because of the bitter taste." As of now, 70,000 kids suffering from the disease are being treated by the government. The total number of kids suffering from TB in India is estimated to be around 1.5 lakh. TB is India's "severest" health crisis and kills an estimated 1,400 people a day, says Centre's draft on National Strategic Plan (NSP) for eliminating TB (2017-2025). The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) notified 17.5 lakh TB patients in 2016, from both public and private sectors, and 33,820 drug-resistant TB patients are notified additionally, the latest TB report released by the union health ministry government said. In 2015, TB was estimated to have killed 1.8 million people worldwide and six countries-India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa - accounted for 60 per cent of the total number of cases of tuberculosis worldwide. Also read: 'Vegetarian' capsules to replace animal-based capsules soon Also read: Parents in Punjab willingly trafficking kids to Europe due to drug menace, reveals Mumbai police --- ENDS --- advertisement Lucknow's Tunday Kebabi signed out its signature dish from March 23 after the Yogi government started its crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses. By Rajat Rai: Wednesday came as a pleasant surprise for Tunday Kebab lovers as after a gap of about two months, the 112-year-old outlet has started serving its legacy, the buffalo galauti kebabs, again. Though the footfall increased gradually only towards the evening, owners expect business to be back on track shortly. "We are happy. People will definitely start coming once the news spreads", said Md Usman, the owner whose grandfather started the outlet a century ago. advertisement It is to be mentioned that the outlet signed out its signature dish from March 23 after the Yogi government started its crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses. The Allahabad High Court last week directed the state government to issue licenses and no objection certificates to meat sellers - in a relief that was welcomed by sellers whose licenses were not renewed since March. Usman said, "Earlier, we used to consume about 80kg of buffalo meat and mutton everyday at each of our two outlets, but as chicken and mutton are very expensive, our sale was badly hit. However, we hope to serve the people like we did in the past", Usman said. Also read: Lucknow's famous Tunday Kababi shuts one outlet due to meat shortage Also read: This Delhi restaurant has vegetarian sausages and meatballs on offer --- ENDS --- Though the police is yet to register any FIR in the case officers from Hazratganj, Kaisarbag, Maryahu and Gazipur have been formed into a team to probe the matter from all possible angles. By Shiv Pujan Jha: After reverberations were felt in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly as Opposition raked up the issue of mysterious death of Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari in Hazratganj area on Wednesday an SIT has been constituted to probe the matter. Though the police is yet to register any FIR in the case officers from Hazratganj, Kaisarbag, Maryahu and Gazipur have been formed into a team to probe the matter from all possible angles. advertisement The Opposition on Thursday had tried to corner the government on the mysterious death of the IAS on which the ruling party had stated that the matter was under investigation and that the viscera and heart and also blood samples were preserved for further investigations. The ruling party also indicated that the family members were alleging that he was about to unearth some scam of Karnataka and they were fearing that the IAS was possibly murdered. The team is taking into account the various circumstantial evidence besides family version and is seeking opinion of experts. The samples have been sent for forensic examination and advice sought from experts from AIIMS. Talking to India Today, SSP Lucknow divulged that there was an injury on the chin and 5 other aberrations on the body. He indicated that these injuries were not sufficient to cause death. Even the post-mortem report prepared by a panel of experts is silent on the exact cause of death of the officer. It is hard to establish if it was a case of homicide, suicide or natural death. Since there has been no complaint so far in the matter the police have not yet filed an FIR in the case. The police so far do not have any circumstantial evidence that proves that it could be a murder. But given the sensitivity of the case the police are banking heavily on the FSL report for which even AIIMS has been roped in. Such reports may take at least three weeks time. The IAS officer found dead under mysterious circumstances was staying at state guest house in Hazratganj for the last two days. He was posted as commissioner of food and civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru. On Wednesday he was found dead. The relatives and friends have indicated to the police that Tiwari was under depression and was also under tremendous pressure from someone senior to him. Also read: Lucknow: Senior IAS officer found dead near state guest house in Hazratganj --- ENDS --- If you are an intrepid traveller, these scenic volcanoes around the world must be on your bucket list. By Mail Today Bureau: If you are a geography nerd and are looking to light up your holiday, go for guided, safe tours around the world to extinct, active or dormant volcanoes. Though the holiday will seem to be a tad risky, the sceneries near the volcanoes are worth it. Ixigo and BigBreaks.com have compiled a list of volcanic wonders you can visit. advertisement Mount Bromo, Indonesia Named after the Hindu god Brahma, this mighty volcano is one of the most well-known volcanoes in Southeast Asia. A popular ritual is held near the volcano by the local inhabitants called Tenggerese, during the Yadnya Kasada festival. People throw fruits and vegetables into the volcano as a part of this ritual. Also, one can opt for hiking activities on this mountain. Ixigo says the price starts from Rs 15,000. Mount Vesuvius, Italy Says Kapil Goswamy of Big-Breaks.com, "The volcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Italy is known to have erupted massively in 79 AD leading to the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It is estimated that this explosion released much more thermal energy than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings." It is currently home to one of the most densely populated volcanic regions, making it a dangerous but beautiful spot. Also Read: We bet you have not heard of these crazy-beautiful Indian hill stations Kilauea, Hawaii Kilauea in Hawaii. Photo: Mail Today Also known as the daddy of accessible active volcanoes, Kilauea receives nearly hundred million tourists every year. The volcano became a tourist attraction beginning around the 1840s when travellers started pouring in to take a first-hand look and stand transfixed by its power. "Today tourism is driven by the island's exotic tropical locations and the best time to view the volcano is just before dawn," Goswami says. Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico Better known as El Popo, this natural marvel is said to be the most active volcano in Mexico. The name of the volcano literally means 'smoking mountain' Special Initiative eruptions caused by this volcano are periodic in nature, with its last emission in 2013. So, for a marvellous time, a visit to this gorgeous destination should be on your list. Airfare starts from Rs 68,000. Mount Etna, Italy The volcano at Mount Etna. Photo: Mail Today This active volcano located on the island of Sicily is known for its frequent eruptions of ash and lava. Standing 10,900 ft tall, this is considered the tallest in Europe. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site and the best time to visit this snowcapped volcano is between the months of April and November. Prices at Ixigo start at Rs 37,000. advertisement Sierra Negra, Ecuador Sierra Negra. Photo: Mail Today Sierra Negra volcano is located on one of the most active volcanic areas in the world in Ecuador. It has the second largest crater in the world which offers impressive views for visitors. One of the high points of a tour to this volcano is that one can hike the mountain and stand on the rim of the second largest volcanic caldera in the world. The visitors get a close peek into the sixmile wide crater and also get an opportunity to trek around the mountain landscape full of lava fields. India's only live volcano is in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it is called the Barren Island volcano. The Barren Island volcano, located in the Andaman Sea, had started showing activity in the year 1991 after being dormant for over 150 years. In 2017, it has once again started spewing ash. The other volcanoes in Andaman are named Narcondam and Baratang. Dhosi Hills, located on the borders of the Indian states of Haryana and Rajasthan, is an extinct volcano which has a temple, pond, fort and caves on the top and forest around it. Other volcanoes in India are Deccan Traps in Maharashtra and Dhinodhar Hills in Gujarat. --- ENDS --- advertisement The first two of the M777 Ultralight Howitzers landed here on Thursday, bringing an end to the Indian Army's three decade wait for a new artillery gun. The two 155mm/39 calibre ultralight Howitzers arrived on a chartered flight. The guns, which have a maximum range of 30 km, will be tested in Pokharan in Rajasthan. "Two M 777 A-2 (Indian) ULH arrived today for preparation of firing tables. During this event, the guns will fire 155 mm indigenous ammunition," the Indian Army said in a statement. As per the contract agreement, firing tables are being prepared by the contracted agency US Government and BAE GCS Ltd with support of Indian Army. Three more guns will be received in the second stage in September 2018 for training, the Indian Army said. Thereafter, induction will commence from March 2019 onwards at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid 2021. According to sources, over the next year, another 23 guns will be delivered off the shelf, and another 120 will be sent in a semi-knocked down condition, to be assembled in India by Mahindra. At 4.2 tonnes, these guns weigh only a third of the normal 155 mm Howitzers, and are expected to add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army. The M777 guns, which can be carried underslung by heavy lift helicopters, are expected to give the Army tremendous flexibility in operations, specially in mountainous terrain. On November 30 last year, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to buy 145 M777s through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million. India last inducted the Swedish Bofors guns in the 1980s. The deal however got tainted by an alleged scam with allegations of kickbacks being received by Indian leaders. The Bofors guns however have been a mainstay for the Indian Army for decades, and played an important role in the Kargil conflict. The M777s would increase Indian Army's ability in high altitudes. These guns are being used by the US, Canadian and Australian armies. The 111MW Sawra Kuddu Hydroelectric Project being constructed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) in Shimla district would be commissioned by next year, an official said on 17 May. The hydro project, which will generate 386 million units (MU) per annum, is expected to be commissioned by December 2018, an HPPCL spokesperson told IANS. He said HPCCL's Managing Director Devesh Kumar visited the project site on Wednesday and inspected the progress of work. Kumar inspected the diversion barrage, underground powerhouse and the head race tunnel. An official statement quoting Kumar said the works of diversion barrage and the powerhouse have been completed. The 350 m-long head race tunnel is now progressing and will be completed by this September. The Sawra Kuddu Hydroelectric Project is a run-of-river project on the Pubber river in Jubbal tehsil. The diversion barrage is located near Hatkoti and the powerhouse is located on the left bank of Pabbar river near Snail village. After commissioning each project, affected families will be provided 100 units of electricity per month for a period of 10 years. In addition, one per cent of revenue from power generation shall be contributed towards the local area development fund during the operation stage. Himachal Pradesh's economy is highly dependent on hydroelectricity, horticulture and tourism. State's hydroelectricity generation potential is 27,436 MW about 25 per cent of India's total potential in the sector. However, only 10,351 MW has been harnessed till December 2016, which is 37.73 per cent of the total potential, says the state's Economic Survey 2016-17. Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday sought the Centre's support for a full-fledged agriculture university and a Centre of Excellence for Horticulture to be established in Arunachal Pradesh. Khandu conveyed this to Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Sudharshan Bhagat, who called on him at his office on Thursday. Noting that technological support in agriculture and horticulture is crucial to boost farm output, the Chief Minister requested Bhagat to consider a full-fledged agriculture university and a Centre of Excellence for Horticulture in Arunachal. On development of animal husbandry in Arunachal, Khandu requested for a Pig Research centre in the state to support pig rearing. Similar to a Yak Research Centre set up in West Kameng district, Khandu called fo0r a National Research Centre for mithun, and said the animal has traditional values among the locals. The mithun, also known as gayal, is a large semi-domesticated bovine found extensively in northeast India, Bangladesh, northern Burma and in Yunnan, China. While noting that Arunachal has the largest numbers of mithun in the country, Khandu said that National Research Centre for Mithun will multiply its numbers and take care of its preservation. The Chief Minister also told the visiting Union Minister that Arunachal has started its mission to make the state fully organic, in keeping with the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the states go organic. The BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh launched Oragnic Mission last month and has set the target of three years to achieve the goal. The BSP on Thursday asked the Yogi Adityanath government as to what was its plan to curb crime in the state claiming that criminals were feeling emboldened while the chief minister was merely making announcements. The government is "merely blowing its own trumpet" by making announcements about different works but it has not taken any concrete steps, BSP legislature party leader Lalji Verma said speaking in the Assembly during the motion of thanks on Governor Ram Naik's address. "What is the plan for controlling crime?.Despite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath making statements time and again, there appears to be no control on criminals," Verma said. He claimed that crime had increased ever since the present dispensation came to power in March this year. "The governor's address states that women can roam about freely even at 12 in the night whereas the cases of rape have increased and they are feeling terrorised," Verma claimed. He listed several incidents including an IAS officer's death, a "film-style loot" in Mathura, to stress that there had been a spurt in crime. "In the home district of the chief minister, Gorakhpur, 18 major cases of loot have taken place as criminals feel emboldened that their interests are safe," Verma said. He also sought to know the steps taken by the government towards making roads pothole free and setting up of a task force for freeing encroached government land. "If they do not give details, it means that these are mere announcements," he said, adding that government had said that it will set up 25 medical colleges and eight AIIMS-type institutes for which they have to arrange doctors which was not happening. "This is a kind of magical government like the central one which has not yet fulfilled, even after three years in office, the promise of Rs 15 lakh in everyone's account and creating 2 crore jobs annually," Verma said, taking a dig. He likened the state government to a new bride who just pretends to do more work to impress others. Om Prakash Rajbhar of Bhartiya Samaj Party (a BJP ally), Satish Mahana, Sheetal Pandey and Sanjay Sharma (all BJP) also participated in the discussion. Earlier, during Zero Hour, BSP members staged a walkout expressing dissatisfaction over parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna's reply about a police raid on the house of their MLA Vinay Shankar Tewari in Gorakhpur some days ago. The members alleged that it was a case of political vendetta, while Khanna claimed that police had infoWhat is your plan to to control crime?, BSP asks Yogi Lucknow, May 18 (PTI) The BSP today asked the Yogi Adityanath government as to what was its plan to curb crime in the state and claimed that criminals were feeling emboldened while the chief minister was merely making announcements. The government is "merely blowing its trumpet" by making announcements about different works but it has not taken any concrete steps, BSP legislature party leader Lalji Verma said speaking in the Assembly during the motion of thanks on Governor Ram Naik's address. "What is the plan for controlling crime?.Despite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath making statements time and again, there appears to be no control on criminals," Verma said. He claimed that crime had increased ever since the present dispensation came to power in March this year. "The governor's address states that women can roam about freely even at 12 in the night whereas the cases of rape have increased and they are feeling terrorised," Verma claimed. He listed several incidents including an IAS officer's death, a "film-style loot" in Mathura, to stress that there had been a spurt in crime. "In the home district of the chief minister, Gorakhpur, 18 major cases of loot have taken place as criminals feel emboldened that their interests are safe," Verma said. He also sought to know the steps taken by the government towards making roads pothole free and setting up of a task force for freeing encroached government land. "If they do not give details, it means that these are mere announcements," he said, adding that government had said that it will set up 25 medical colleges and eight AIIMS-type institutes for which they have to arrange doctors which was not happening. "This is a kind of magical government like the central one which has not yet fulfilled, even after three years in office, the promise of Rs 15 lakh in everyone's account and creating 2 crore jobs annually," Verma said, taking a dig. He likened the state government to a new bride who just pretends to do more work to impress others. Om Prakash Rajbhar of Bhartiya Samaj Party (a BJP ally), Satish Mahana, Sheetal Pandey and Sanjay Sharma (all BJP) also participated in the discussion. Earlier, during Zero Hour, BSP members staged a walkout expressing dissatisfaction over parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna's reply about a police raid on the house of their MLA Vinay Shankar Tewari in Gorakhpur some days ago. The members alleged that it was a case of political vendetta, while Khanna claimed that police had information that one of the culprits in a loot case was hiding there and therefore the action was taken. While the Government of India refutes report of massive WannaCry ransoware cyber attack in India, reports from various agencies point in a different direction. By Shashank Shekhar: Amidst contradictory statement from cyber security experts and the Centre that has left many confused about the impact of global cyber attack WannaCry ransomware in India, multiple reports surfaced claiming a fresh round of infections in the country. According to the cyber security experts, many corporate, institutions and individual have been hit by the ransomware. Only government offices have come forward and have reported the matter but no business enterprise has admitted cyber breach. advertisement NO SERIOUS IMPACT IN INDIA: GOVT Corporates are internally trying to resolve it through their IT team and those who have not got any back up of their data are resorting to paying the ransom through bitcoin. The central government had earlier said the ongoing ransomware cyberattack didn't have a serious impact in the country. Cyber-security experts, on the other hand, say the malware has infected at least 48,000 computer systems across various organisations in India raising doubts whether possible ransomware attacks are being properly reported in the country. Pune-based Quick Heal Technologies has detected over 48,000 MS-17-010 Shadow Broker exploit hits responsible for 'WannaCry ransomware' outbreak in India. "The attack is not focused on any particular industry but is widely spread, especially across those organisations, which are online and connected," Quick Heal Technologies' managing director Sanjay Katkar said. He explained that 60 per cent of the attempts by the malicious ransomware were targeted at enterprises, while 40 per cent were on individual customers. CYBER INSURANCE "There have been over 700 distress calls by customers in the last few days, following the attack that affected 150 countries. The top five affected cities are Kolkata followed by Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Pune and Mumbai, with the top top five states being West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, NCR (Delhi), and Odisha," he said. Fresh reports of attack have also started getting lodged from other parts of the country. The data system of the government-run City Hospital at Berhampur in Odisha was also allegedly attacked. Meanwhile, another computer of Community Health Center at Purushottampur was feared to have been hit by WannaCry. Cyber experts claim the outspread of this global cyber threat has also opened a huge market for cyber insurance, which only few opted for. However, there is a huge debate if cyber insurance also covers the ransom paid to cyber criminals. "Insurance cover only takes care of data or financial loss. Paying extortion money does not come under it. In case the client is using pirated or old software which is making them victim to cyber crime, no money will be paid," said a senior executive of a private insurance company who also said there is a spike in queries of cyber insurance. advertisement ALSO READ | Wanna Cry ransomware cyber attack: 104 countries hit, India among worst affected, US NSA attracts criticism ALSO READ | Ransomware cyber hack: Indian doctor in London warned days ago UK healthcare system would be hit --- ENDS --- Goas IT Minister Rohan Khaunte on Thursday thanked US President Donald Trump for the crackdown on H-1B visa, saying that the states talented professionals who had migrated to America will now return. Speaking to a group of polytechnic students in Panaji, Khaunte said the state government will soon come out with a proper policy on start-ups for those returning from US. "Thanks to Donald Trump, we are having issues of H-IB visas. We are having a lot of people who have gone abroad, who are wanting to come back for various reasons, Khaunte said. "We need to find industry and security for them. And that is a challenge which we have taken. I am happy and quite proud to say that in the next 10 days, a proper policy on start-ups will be implemented," he added. The minister also said that bureaucratic red-tape was leading to delay in getting sanctions for start-ups in Goa. (With inputs from agencies) President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday lavished praise on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, lauding her government's competence especially in the education and health sectors. "She is doing lot of work, in education, in health. I have been a part of the state politics for 50 years. After becoming President, I have come to the state so many times," the President said at a programme here. " From my personal experience I can say her government is working competently. I bless her as an elder. She is much younger to me," he added. Then, turning to Banerjee, who was present on the dias, he said: "You go ahead, God will help you". Mukherjee, who was speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences Eastern India's first full-fledged healthcare institute dedicated to liver diseases also commended Banerjee for taking immediate action after she received complaints that medical treatment was being "sold at an exorbitant cost". Banerjee had in February met private hospital authorities and pulled up many of them for "unethical" money-making practices and followed it up by passing the stringent West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017 that led to the formation of a regulatory commission to monitor the activities of private healthcare providers. "After receiving complaint that instead of service, treatment was being sold at an exorbitant cost, she has taken immediate action. "She has spoken to doctors, talked to the departments concerned, and individual and organisations who are involved in the matter. And she has found out a way through discussions," Mukherjee said. Rhinos in Asia are critically endangered. If one studies the status of the Greater One Horned (or Indian) Rhino, it will reveal that conservation measures have, to an extent, helped this species in Assams Kaziranga National Park their status has now changed from endangered to vulnerable. The authorities at Kaziranga conducted its12th Rhino population estimation exercise in March 2015. The committee was headed by C Muthu Kumarvel, IFS, divisional forest officer, Golaghat Division. The rhino population in Kaziranga and adjoining areas has been estimated at 2,401. But there is no place for complacency, as the spectre of poaching still looms over this animal, which is persecuted for its horn. If one moves their gaze to Africa, a survey reveals there were an estimated 65,000 black rhinos in sub-Saharan Africa but about 90 per cent of them were killed in the 1970s. There are fewer than 2,500 left in pockets of Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. Incredibly, our study now shifts to the US, where an unexpected visitor arrived at a location in America, and whose activity provided thought-provoking analyses to wildlife experts around the world. From the US this melodrama zooms into Paris, Ireland and Vietnam. But these countries are not known for keeping thousands of rhinos, are they? The rhinos saga unfolds in this extraordinary tale. The University of Vermont, US, has a famous 130-year-old wing called the Torrey Hall. In that time Torrey Hall served the university with its first library and museum the building was named after Joseph Torrey, a professor and the universitys ninth president. In 1824, the building encountered a fire, which consumed the library and destroyed a repository of books. Torrey travelled to Europe, to procure books for the library, and returned with 7,000 volumes. In 1862, a new library was built and was named in Torreys honour. After serving the University of Vermont, for nearly a century, Torrey Hall went through major renovations, in 1974 and some changes were made. The Pringle Herbarium was moved to Torrey Hall and the Hall is also home to the Thompson Natural History Collection, where, among scores of specimens, is displayed a black rhino horn, which has been in the custody of the university for many decades. An episode occurred, which also found its way into the universitys history. On 27 April this year, a thief entered the University of Vermont, disabled a lock and went inside Torrey Hall, from where he went like a homing pigeon to the Thompsons Natural History Collection, grabbed the black rhino horn, and disappeared. Wilson Ring, of the Associated Press, reported that the burglar had stolen the horn with the sole intention of selling it in the black market, where it could be worth a million dollars. Ring writes, Its obviously very, very, valuable, if it makes its way into Asia. The university is offering a reward of three thousand dollars for the horns return and records state that the horn was received by the university sometime in the early 1900s. This could translate into a disturbing new trend because rhino horn poachers have begun to target rhino horns outside Africa or India. In March 2017, poachers killed a black rhino in a zoo near Paris by shooting it and then with the aid of a chainsaw sawed off the horn. A month later, a gang of thieves based in Ireland, went on trial for stealing up to 80 rhino horns from museums across Europe. Karen Brulliard, of The Washington Post, writes, Prices for rhino horns have increased almost thirty times and a full horn can sell for more than one million dollars. But Gwynn Guilfords report in The Atlantic is interesting because Guilford writes of a rumour in Vietnam it goes that powdered rhino horn could cure cancer. Statistics, however, did reveal that from 1990 to 2007, rhino poaching declined due to traditional Chinese medicine replacing rhino horn powder. But the powder curing cancer and its efficacy as an aphrodisiac, has increased poaching of rhinos again. Bill Kirkpatrick, a professor at the University of Vermont, says that samples in a university help research but data can be lost forever, if a sample, like the one at Torrey Hall, is stolen. The rhinos saga has reflected humanitys mindless slaughter of animals and birds, many of which have declined over the decades. Charles Darwin wrote on the prerequisites needed to keep animals and creatures of the earth multiplying on the planet, The vigorous, the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply. Tragically, those vigorous and healthy animals cannot compete with guns and traps of poachers who can go to any extent for a rhino horn. In a big snub to Pakistan, the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav till the final verdict, on Thursday. Jadhav, who is Pakistans custody on the charges of spying, was sentenced to death by a military court of the neighbouring country recently, prompting India to move the world court. He is said to be a former Indian Navy officer and had taken premature retirement. At the hearing on May 15, both India and Pakistan vehemently defended their respective positions on the issue. India maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, and his trial was farcical in the absence of any evidence against him and denial of right to consular access. Pakistan denied consular access to Jadhav even as India requested for the same 16 times. Heres a timeline of the Jadhav case: 3 March 2016: Pakistan counter terrorism officials arrest Jadhav on the charges of terrorism and sabotage from Saravan, near the Iran border to the south east of Zahidan. 24 March 2016: Pakistani army claims Jadhav is a RAW agent. 26 March 2016: Pakistan summons Indian High Commissioner, lodging protest on the illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities. 29 March 2016: Pakistan releases Jadhav's confessional statement video, in which Jadhav is seen as saying that he is a serving Indian Navy officer and operative of the RAW. India questions legitimacy of the confession video, alleging third-degree techniques could have been used to get a tutored statement. April 2016: Provincial government of Balochistan files an FIR against Jadhav on charges of terrorism and sabotage. 7 December 2016: Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan prime minister's adviser on foreign affairs, admits not enough evidence was provided on Jadhav. 31 December 2016: Pakistan claims it will hand over a dossier on Jadhav to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. 3 March 2017: Aziz takes U-turn from previous statement on insufficient evidence on Jadhav, saying he will not be extradited to India come what may. 10 April 2017: Pakistan's military establishment announces that Jadhav will be hanged after a military court found him guilty of espionage and sabotage. 10 May 2017: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) asks Pakistan not to act on Jadhav's execution. 15 May 2017: India, Pakistan argue in the ICJ. 18 May, 2017: The ICJ rules against the execution of Jadhav till the final verdict from the same court. As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed satisfaction over the UN top courts verdict. Other political leaders also hailed the order. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. I assure the nation that we will leave no stone unturned to save Jadhav. Major victory for India #Kulbhushan Jadhav case. ICJ upholds India's right to consular access, put a stay on death execution. Justice prevails, Union Urban Minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Twitter. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to welcome the order. Strongly welcome the ICJ stay on Kulbushan Jadhav's execution. Entire country is united in ensuring his safe release, Kejriwal tweeted. Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said: ICJ decision upholds India's right to consular access, puts stay on death execution a major victory for India in Kulbhushan case. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted: ICJ order on #KulbhushanJadhav brings welcome relief. GOI should use full diplomatic might & efforts at all fora to ensure his safe return. Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia said: Welcome the verdict by ICJ to stay execution of #KulbhushanJadhav. Hope the case reaches logical end. The best legal minds from India and Pakistan are expected to fight it out at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when it conducts an oral public hearing on 15 May on the petition moved by New Delhi to seek justice for former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded death sentence by a Pakistani military court. is learnt that New Delhi is seeking to prepare a 'water-tight case' against the Pakistani authorities over the manner in which they arrested him from near the countrys border with Iran and declared him a RAW agent. India would also point out how Pakistan had violated the international conventions on consular matters by not giving consular access to the Indian prisoner. It would be argued that Pakistan was bent upon hanging an Indian national on frivolous charges without a fair trial, which would be regarded as a "premeditated murder". The civilian government of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, though virtually kept out of the loop over the Jadhav issue, is also said to closely coordinating with the Army over the position Islamabad would take at the ICJ. Prime Minister Sharif, who is scheduled to leave for China on Friday to attend the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Summit, had a threadbare discussion with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Wednesday over the situation arising from the ICJ granting stay on the execution of the Indian prisoner. According to the press release put out by the ICJ, India would make its oral observations at the court before lunch on Monday while Pakistan would argue its case in the post-lunch session. The hearing will be open to the media as well as the general public on a first-come first-served basis. Senior Lawyer Harish Salve is expected to lead the charge from the Indian side. He will be assisted by a team of lawyers. Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday sought to divert attention from the Jadhav issue by charging India with violating the ceasefire on the border, killing a man and injuring three others. The Pakistan Foreign Office summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and told him that the "deliberate targeting" of civilians was contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws. However, Singh told the Pakistani officials that the "cross-border firing was initiated by Pakistani troops to give cover to terrorists" and "Indian troops responded only in self-defence". Uncertainty has gripped the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its plan to make a foray into the coming Gujarat assembly elections in the wake of the party's successive debacles in the recent Goa and Punjab assembly polls as well as the Delhi municipal elections. The Gujarat polls are scheduled to be held in December 2017. AAP sources told The Statesman that in view of the party's recent back-to-back electoral setbacks besides the raging intra-party power struggle, the party leadership seems to have been compelled to put the Gujarat poll plan on hold. It is another matter that the AAP had been all geared up earlier to enter the Gujarat electoral arena and take on the incumbent BJP which has been ruling the state for the last 19 years that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 12-year-long tenure as its chief minister. The AAP's Gujarat in-charge and Delhi Labour Minister, Gopal Rai had earlier been camping regularly in Gujarat in order to expand the party's organisational base there. On 26 March, the AAP also held a state-level volunteers' meeting in Ahmedabad to launch the ground work for the elections in the BJP's strongest bastion. Rai, who is now also the AAP's Delhi convener, had then announced that the party would contest all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. Sources however said that a string of poll drubbings in recent months and their adverse political and organisational fallout have now forced the AAP top brass to rethink their Gujarat strategy before firming up a decision whether to contest the election or pull out from the formidable battlefield. On 30 April, the AAP's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), its highest decision-making body, called off its meeting which was supposed to discuss the party's strategy for the Gujarat elections. The AAP's electoral track-record has not been impressive anyways in Gujarat where even the principal Opposition Congress has been relegated to the margins for many years. The AAP had contested the 2012 assembly elections and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat, but it lost hugely on both occasions with candidates losing their security deposits. In 2012 assembly elections, the AAP contested on 7 seats while in 2014 Lok Sabha polls it fought in 24 seats without winning any seat. The AAP's communication head and national spokesman, Dilip Pandey told The Statesman that the party's bid to contest polls in Gujarat will be decided by the PAC in due course. "Our volunteers in Gujarat are continuing their work to garner support for the party. But the decision to contest the election will be taken by the party's top leadership in coming days," Pandey said. Consensus rather than confrontation will be the BJPs approach while going about finalising the name of its nominee for President of India. Incumbent President Pranab Mukherjees five-year term comes to an end on 25 July. The process of electing his successor has to begin ahead of it. Given the political mood the Opposition parties are unlikely to allow the ruling BJP a cakewalk. The BJP central leadership has been informally engaged in talks on the issue but is yet to formally sit down and finalise a name for the next incumbent at Rashtrapati Bhavan. But the overweening mood within party circles is to avoid any confrontation, sources told The Statesman here. The ruling party is expected to formally begin the deliberation process sometime in June. The BJP to begin with, sources said, has shortlisted five probable candidates for the top job, including Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu. These names have been so far informally discussed. Some other names might well be suggested when the party leaders meet, sources said. The situation is very fluid. We dont know which direction the entire election process will take. After this month, we will sit down for a formal discussion. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah will take the final call, they are in search of a candidate who will be acceptable to all, including the Opposition, sources said. A section of leaders in the party feels that given the fairly good chemistry between President Pranab Mukherjee and Modi, and if the Opposition too insists on giving him another term then the BJP should explore that option as well. The Modi government has been comfortable working with Mukherjee, they argued. The BJP, however, is keen to have a candidate of its choice as the next President, sources pointed out. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair a meeting with Chief Ministers of five states to review issues pertaining to Indo-China Border security. The Home Minister will leave on a three-day visit to Sikkim on Friday for the meeting, which will see the presence of CMs of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. According to a press release, the objective of the meeting is to strengthen the coordination of the Ministry of Home Ministry with the five states to improve the Indo-China Border security. Singh is expected to discuss about the border infrastructure programmes , border area development programme and coordination issues between the states and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) among others. Apart from the meeting, the Home Ministers itinerary includes a visit to Nathula Pass and ITBP border post, where he is expected to meet with the jawans. Further, he is also expected to interact with jawans at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing, the Sashastra Seema Bals bns headquarters. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair a first security review meeting on May 20 with Chief Ministers of five Himalayan states on the India-China border during his three-day visit to Sikkim, an official said on Thursday. Mehbooba Mufti, Virbhadra Singh, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling, and Pema Khandu, who are Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh respectively will attend. "The meeting organised by the Home Ministry will be held on Saturday in Gangtok," a Ministry official said. The Home Minister will leave Delhi for the Sikkim visit on Friday. The objective is to strengthen coordination of the Ministry with these five states so as to improve overall border security, he said. The official said that border infrastructure work undertaken by the Home Ministry, border area development programme and coordination issues between the states and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will also be discussed in the meeting. The ITBP is responsible for the security of 3,488 km-long India-China border in Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km), and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km). The Home Ministry's move comes days after India refused to participate in China's One Belt, One Road conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. During his three-day visit to Sikkim, the Minister will also visit Nathula Pass and ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the troopers deputed on the India-China border. Rajnath Singh will also visit the Sashastra Seema Bal battallion headquarters at Geyzing and Yuksam, besides flying over the border guarding force's border posts at Uttarey, Kumukh and Bajrajadhara on the India-Nepal Border on May 21. He will also interact with troopers at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing before attending a civic action programme at Pelling in Sikkim. Here's all you need to know about former Indian Supreme Court judge Dalveer Bhandari, who is part of the International Court of Justice panel hearing Kulbhushan Jadhav's case. All you need to know about International Court of Justice judge Dalveer Bhandari. (Image via YouTube) By India Today Web Desk: Among the 11 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) presiding over Kulbhushan Jadhav's case, is former Indian Supreme Court judge Dalveer Bhandari. Judge Bhandari gave a declaration today, separate from the verdict given by the panel headed by Judge Ronny Abraham, in which he placed on record "his views concerning the requirements for indicating provisional measures in more detail." advertisement In his declaration, 69-year-old Judge Bhandari discussed the uncertainty surrounding circumstances in which Jadhav was arrested, the role of the 2008 India-Pakistan Agreement on consular access and the scope of the Vienna Convention in Jadhav's case, among other things. Here's all you need to know about Justice Bhandari: #1 Justice Bhandari, born on October 1, 1947, graduated in humanities and law from Jodhpur University. In June 1970, he was invited to a six week workshop organised by the University of Chicago on Indian law research in Chicago, United States. During the period he worked closely with leading academicians and scholars of the United States. #2 Judge Bhandari was an advocate in Rajasthan High Court between 1968 and 1970. He then went to the United States of America on scholarship to pursue a Master of Laws degree. He returned to India and Rajasthan HC three years later, to continue practicing law. Before he became a judge, Judge Bhandari had a distinguished career as an attorney at law for 23 years. #3 Judge Bhandari was a judge in the Indian judiciary for more than 20 years, before his elevation to the UN court. He served as a senior judge in the Supreme Court of India from 2005 to 2012. He became a judge in the Indian higher judiciary in 1991, and served as a judge in Delhi High Court, before going on to become the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in 2004. He delivered many judgments on comparative law, public interest litigation, constitutional law, criminal law, civil procedure code, administrative law, arbitration laws, insurance and banking and family laws. #4 In one of his landmark judgments as a Supreme Court judge, Bhandari granted a couple divorce on grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage". The government is now considering incorporating his suggestion for amendment of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Justice Bhandari's various orders also led to the release of higher quantities of food grains to the population living below the poverty line. In another case, Judge Bhandari ordered state governments to ensure sufficient night shelters for homeless people across the country. He also passed a number of orders in favour of right to free and compulsory education. #5 Justice Bhandari has chaired the Committee to consider cases of accreditation of legal correspondents in the Supreme Court, the Committee for the selection of law clerk cum research assistants to be provided to the Chief Justice and other judges of SC, and the Committee for selecting the teaching faculty for the National Judicial Academy set up by SC in Bhopal. advertisement #6 During his time as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court he delivered a number of judgments in various branches of the law. His judgments and orders have led to a much larger allocation of funds for malnutrition in the five most backward districts of Maharashtra. #7 Bombay High Court achieved the distinction of functioning on a full strength of 60 judges for the first time and on the recommendation of Justice Bhandari, the sanctioned strength of the Bombay High Court was increased from 60 to 75 judges. A number of new court buildings were also set up in Maharashtra and Goa, during his time as CJ. #8 Justice Bhandari strived for better infrastructural facilities for subordinate judiciary in Maharashtra and Goa, and also worked towards their computerisation, videoconferencing facilities, legal aid and legal literacy programmes. He played a key role in setting up the Information Centre for Litigants in the Bombay High Court. advertisement #9 As a judge in the High Court of Delhi, Justice Bhandari delivered several landmark judgments in almost all branches of the law. His orders led to the closure of a 100-year-old slaughterhouse and construction of a new modernised facility. #10 In 2007, he was unanimously elected as President of the India International Law Foundation and continues in that position. Judge Bhandari has been an Executive Member of the International Law Association, India Chapter, since 1994. #11 In December 2010. Karnataka's Tumkur University conferred an honorary doctorate on Justice Bhandari "for his magnanimous contribution to law and justice". His citation read: "Man of mettle and integrity. An illustrious legal luminary of international repute. A pioneer in the implementation of novel innovative practices in the legal system of India. A staunch crusader for gender justice, equality rights and intellectual property rights. The laurels and awards conferred on him in recognition of his yeoman service stand on the proud pedestal of his magnanimous contribution to law and justice are laudable." #12 In June 2013, the National Law University in Delhi, also conferred an honorary doctorate on Justice Bhandari, in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee. The citation said: "Dr. Justice Dalveer Bhandari is a thorough crusader of gender justice and equality rights, particularly, the rights of the poor and the marginalised sections of the society. Dr. Justice Dalveer Bhandari is known for delivering landmarks and innovative judgments in many branches of law. He is recognised for his judgments in relation to providing food grains for population below poverty lines, night shelters for homeless people, right to free and compulsory education for children, larger allocation of funds for malnourished children and protection of ecology and environment, amongst others. The superior quality of his judgments is well recognised both in India and abroad. Dr. Justice Dalveer Bhandari is a shining example of legal acumen with a human touch." advertisement #13 In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Judge Bhandari's book 'Judicial Reforms - Recent Global Trends' at Rashtrapati Bhavan in presence of President Mukherjee. #14 In 2014, the then Vice President Hamid Ansari conferred the "First Justice Nagendra Singh International Peace Award" on Justice Bhandari. Ansari said it was "most befitting" that Justice Bhandari was getting an award named after late Justice Nagendra Singh, who was himself a distinguished ICJ Judge, as well as its President. #15 Justice Bhandari was overwhelmingly elected as a judge of the International Court of Justice, after a gap of more than two decades since such an election of an Indian. He obtained 122 votes in the General Assembly and 13 votes in the 15-nation Security Council against his Filipino rival Justice Florentino Feliciano, who received just 58 votes. Bhandari's term, that began in 2012, will continue until 2018. --- ENDS --- Cutting across political lines, tributes poured in for Union Minister Anil Dave who breathed his last on Thursday as leaders, ministers and Governors acknowledged his hardwork and contribution as the countrys environment minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to condole Daves death and tweeted: Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment." "I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," Modi said in another tweet. Union Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar said Dave had dedicated his life to the conservation of the Narmada river with "exemplary honesty." "It is really sad and shocking. He was a great, great environmentalist," Akbar told the media. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said the nation has lost a true patriot. "Anil Dave was true worker of the RSS and the BJP. Throughout his life, he served the nation with utter dedication. The nation has lost a true patriot and son of mother Narmada. This loss would not be compensated ever," he tweeted, Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi remembered Dave as a soft spoken and gentle human being. "Shocked by his sudden demise (he was a) soft spoken and gentle human being He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality," she said. Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit in his condolence message said that the death of the union minister was a great loss to the country. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her condolence message said: Saddened at the sudden passing of Union Minister Anil Dave Ji. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami expressed grief and regret and said: I express my heartfelt condolences and sympathies with the family of Anil Madhav Dave and pray for his soul to reach the holy abode. Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described the BJP leader as a "very nice man" and remembered the support Dave had extended to him during his stint as Environment Minister in the previous Congress-led UPA government. "He supported whatever I did when I was minister," Ramesh said adding that Dave had a special interest in river conservation. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said Dave had devoted his life to environmental issues and the country has lost a committed environmentalist and worthy politician. Dave, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and a member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh, died at his official sidence in Delhi. He was found dead around 7.30 am on Thursday when his staff tried to wake him up, sources said. The national flag will fly at half-mast across the country on Thursday. Exactly 35 years after the Left Front scrapped the study of English at the primary level and with disastrous consequences, the Trinamul governments decision to introduce what it calls the three-language formula from Classes One to Ten deserves unqualified support. In retrospect, the dropping of English had caused far greater damage to a generation than the CPI-Ms high-voltage industrialisation that wasnt. On both counts ~ the search for learning and the quest for a new economy ~ West Bengal has had to pay for a Panglossian agenda. The striking feature of the critical paradigm shift is that Bengali has been made a compulsory discipline in all schools in West Bengal ~ the vernacular, the English medium and the minority missionary institutions. The CPI-Ms disingenuous intitiative in 1982 was of course jettisoned by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee after he took over as Chief Minister in 2001, but the damage, almost irreparable, had already been wrought. The latest arrangement envisages the study of English and Bengali plus Hindi or any other recognised language; the inclusion of Alchiki ought to satisfy the Adivasis and the Santhals. The study of languages has been broadbased; regretfully, however, the cavil of the chattering class that it will add to the burden of children is as hypothetical as it is misplaced. It is hard not to wonder whether the grouse is essentially that of the teachers, who will now face a tighter schedule. It is fervently to be hoped that the execution of the three-language formula will be balanced to the extent possible with equal emphasis on Bengali, English, and the third language. The noble objective being that when a student reaches Class Ten, he/she will be uniformly proficient in all the three languages. Till not very long ago, some of the missionary schools offered the ridiculous option of studying Lower Bengali as a compulsory subject for the Senior Cambridge/Indian School Certificate examination. It was almost a disgrace to the language of the state. In the net, when these students entered college, they lacked the wherewithal to study the universitys Bengali syllabus at the Pass level. Hence the popularity of the subject called Alternative English. Indeed, one major lacuna of Bengals school education system has been the overdose of English at the cost of Bengali or vice-versa depending on the medium of instruction in a particular school. An earnest effort to correct this inherent imbalance in the search for learning has been long overdue. The states endeavour richly deserves a serious follow-through. As the exceptionally distinguished academic, Sukanta Chaudhuri, remarked on Tuesday: It is unfortunate that Bengalis, who have lived in Bengal for generations, now view the language with neglect and at times even contempt. Brazilian President Michel Temer has denied participation in any bribery scheme related to the meat industry, a media report said. Earlier on Wednesday, O Globo daily published a story detailing how Temer was reportedly caught on tape talking to Joesley Batista, director of meatpacking giant JBS instructing him on a deal, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the report, in the conversation, Batista tells Temer he was paying a hefty monthly bribe to jailed former head of the House of Representatives Eduardo Cunha in exchange for Cunha's silence. Temer then instructs Batista to "keep paying." Batista delivered the evidence to the prosecution office and confirmed his testimony to a member of the Supreme Court. In an official statement, Temer admitted to meeting Batista, but said he never tried to buy Cunha's silence. "President Michel Temer has never requested payments to obtain the silence of former Representative Eduardo Cunha. He did not take part or authorise any actions aimed at preventing the former Representative from turning state evidence or collaborating with the court," said the statement. Before releasing the statement, Temer met with some members of his cabinet. The news that Temer might have been compromised in tape was the latest episode of the Brazilian political drama. The Federal Police have been investigating a major corruption scheme in the government and in contracts with private companies for the past three years. In 2016, President Dilma Rousseff was impeached, due to the combined efforts of Temer and Cunha. US President Donald Trump is looking forward to working closely with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and is willing to make peace with North Korea through engagement if the conditions are right, according to a top Seoul envoy. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday during a 15-minute meeting with special envoy Hong Seok-hyun in Washington, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. "(President Trump) talked about sanctions on North Korea and cooperative relations with China. And he said he looks forward to cooperating closely with President Moon in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue so as to produce an outcome," Hong said. "Though we're now at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he said he has a willingness to make peace through the so-called engagement if certain conditions are right. He said, however, that what he's willing to do is not talk for talk's sake but for talks that produce an outcome," the envoy said. Also in attendance at the meeting were Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. Hong said he handed Moon's letter to Trump and expressed thanks for supporting South Korea's security and inviting the South Korean leader to visit Washington next month. The two countries agreed earlier this week to hold a summit between Moon and Trump in Washington in late June. It was the first time Trump has met with a South Korean official since taking office. The meeting came after North Korea successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday. Two staffers at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul were detained by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the intelligence agency of Afghanistan, under unclear circumstances, the media reported on Thursday. The two men, Hassan Khanzada and Syed Munir Shah, were at a market when they were picked up by NDS members and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassy's official vehicle, Dawn online reported. Khanzada serves as a visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah is a staff driver. The embassy approached the Afghan Foreign Ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, reports Dawn online. On Wednesday, Afghan deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams was summoned to the Foreign Office over the detention of the embassy staffers. "The Afghan deputy head of mission was summoned to the Foreign Office today to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the incident in which two diplomatic officials in Kabul were detained, reportedly by Afghan security agencies," the Foreign Office said. Pakistan accused Afghanistan of violating Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961). "It was emphasised that such incidents undermined the constructive engagement which the two countries envisaged for strengthening of bilateral ties," it said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Jamie Droste, student life advisor at the Foxborough Regional Charter School, shows some of the thousands of canceled stamps for the Holocaust Stamp Project. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Olympic gold medalist Kaetlyn Osmond can't wait to skate in front of Newfoundland crowd for her first performance since COVID When Kaetlyn Osmond steps on the ice at the Mary Browns Centre in St. Johns next month, it will be the first time the Marystown native has performed on ice in front of an audience since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. It's also the ... Organisation: American Refugee Committee (ARC) International Duty Station: Uganda Reports to: Field Program Coordinator About ARC: The American Refugee Committee (ARC) International is an International nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that provides humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries around the world. The ARC seeks to promote peaceful and safe communities where men and women have equal rights and communities can access locally owned, high-quality services. Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The applicant for the American Refugee Committee (ARC) Clinical Psychologist job opportunity should hold a Diploma in Psychiatry from a recognized and approved institution At least two years experience in diagnosing and treating mental, emotional and behavioral disorders with training in community psychology and knowledge in Trauma counseling. Possess a valid riding permit Fluency in Kiswahili and Kinyabwisha is an added advantage. How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested applicants should send an application letter, updated CV & copies of academic documents via email only to UGjobs@arcrelief.org addressed to The Human Resources Manager, American Refugee Committee International Kampala. nd May 2017 Deadline: 22May2017 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Organisation: United States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Salary Grade: FSN-1 (Ugshs 20,988,534 p.a. inclusive of allowances) Vacancy Announcement Number: 12-17 About US Embassy: The United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years. Ambassador Deborah R. Malac currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador. Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Peace Corps Job Summary: The Janitor will provide support to the U.S. Embassy, GSO warehouse and U.S. mission house pool during make ready season. The incumbent performs laborer duties during absence of laborers or during increased workload in these categories. Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: NOTE: All applicants must address each selection criterion detailed below with specific and comprehensive information supporting each item. The ideal candidate for the United States US Embassy Janitor job placement should have completed elementary school Some janitorial work experience is required. Ability to maintain offices clean, neat and safe is required. Working knowledge and proper use of cleaning materials. Names and types of unsafe cleaning material are required. Language: Level I (Rudimentary) English ability is required. This will be tested. How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates who wish to join the United States Embassy in Kampala are encouraged to Apply Online by following the instructions below; under the careers page for US Embassy Kampala using the link, Click Here Applicants shall be required to registerunder the careers page for US Embassy Kampala using the link, You will receive confirmation of registration and proceed to apply. On completion of this process you will receive an auto response via your email. NB: Applicants claiming a U.S. Veterans preference must submit written documentation confirming eligibility (e.g., Member Copy 4 of Form DD-214, Letter from the Veterans Administration, or certification documenting eligibility under the VOW Act with an expected discharge no later than 120 days after the certification is submitted) by the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the written documentation confirming eligibility is not received in the HR office by the closing date of the vacancy announcement, the U.S. Veterans preference will not be considered in the application process. Specific criteria for receiving a U.S. Veterans preference may be found in HR/OEs Family Member Employment Policy (FMEP). Your application will be reviewed if you have fulfilled all the requirements including submission of standard file types such as Microsoft Word (.doc) and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) in a single attachment (No Zipped files, Links or Multiple Attachments) and should not exceed 10MB. rd May 2017 Deadline: 23May 2017 The US Mission in Kampala provides equal opportunity and fair and equitable treatment in employment to all people without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, marital status, or sexual orientation. The Department of State also strives to achieve equal employment opportunity in all personnel operations through continuing diversity enhancement programs. find us on our Facebook page For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com orfind us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Organisation: BRAC International Duty Station: Kampala. Uganda Reports to: Program Manager, Scholarship About US: BRAC International is one of the worlds largest Non-Governmental Development Organizations, working in a number of countries in Africa and Asia on poverty alleviation Programs, is registered in Uganda as BRAC Uganda. The organization implements integrated development approach combining Education, Health, Agriculture, Livestock, Adolescent Empowerment and Microfinance. Program: About BRAC Uganda ScholarshipProgram: The programme delivers to the Scholars holistic financial, psychosocial and academic support throughout their secondary education. In Uganda, this eight year programme is extending support to 5,000 Scholars across the country. The programme was rolled out in 2012 and currently has close to 4000 Scholars enrolled in 104 top schools while 1100 scholars have successfully completed their secondary education. Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: The Regional Coordinator will be tasked with managing program implementation as per agreement with MCF Participate in the selection and recruitment of scholars Regular follow up on scholars academic performance and analysis of end of term reports. Organize parents support forum at least once a year and ensure 100% parents attendance. Organize community service trainings for the scholars and workshops for mentor teachers and head teachers Following-up on scholars discipline and make sure they take part in leadership and other program activities. Building and maintaining good relations with all program stakeholders both within and out of the organization. Reporting and analyzing program initiatives, financial management and accountability of all regional activities Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The incumbent should preferably hold a Bachelors degree in Education, development studies or relevant humanities. At least four years experience in working with a multi-cultural environment. Excellent communication, liaison and coordination skills. Ability to lead, motivate, inspire and establish trust among scholars, parents and mentor teachers Good computer skills (MS office proficiency) Excellent report writing and analytical skills Ability to work both independently with minimal supervision as well as in a team setting How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their application letters, updated CVs and academic documents (with transcript) via email to hrd.uganda@brac.net with the position title as subject header addressed to; The HR Manager, BRAC Uganda, P.O. Box 31817, Kampala Uganda th May 2017 Deadline: 28May2017 PAUL SCHNEIDEREIT: Treatment centre for PTSD in first responders, military opens in Nova Scotia Imagine its your job, every day, to be ready to rush to scenes where men, women or even children had been killed or badly injured, often in horrific circumstances. Really, consider what that might be like. If youre like most of us, the thought ... Patnaik's close aides say that to understand him, one has to understand his empathy By Pratul Sharma/Photos Sanjay Ahlawat Bharuch is an industrial powerhouse district in Gujarat. A number of listed PSU and private industries in the oil and gas, machining and tooling, chemicals and dyeing sector thrive here, on what once used to be the most fertile stretch of Narmada river. It is here, back in 2006, that the late Union Environment and Forest Minister Anil Madhav Dave, would frequently visit. Industrial effluents was killing the Narmada river, and Dave and his 'Narmada Samagra' were the environmental warriors against the industrial poison. I have sailed, travelled in a Cessna and trekked by foot along Narmada river doing the Sangh's work, he would tell young journalists those days after his June 5 Environment Day press conference. Dave's love for the Narmada spilled over into his other activities as well. Based on his circuitous travels across Narmada river, he authored his famous travel book Amarkantak Se Amarkantak Tak. His home in Bhopal is also aptly called 'Nadi Ka Ghar' (House of Rivers). He is also accredited for creating the Narmada Festival, and later on making it the International Festival of Rivers, in close association with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan. His other interest was rural development, and that also saw him supporting initiatives to put up wind mills in hilly tribal hinterlands of the Satpura range in the border areas of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Later in Delhi, upon donning the role of Union Minister for Environment and Forest, Dave reached out to states like his predecessors had never done before. Even though his efforts would bring him mixed success, he would be relentless with the states in pushing them to compliance. "Daveji is different. With him it is very difficult to win," Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister had said after meeting the Union Environment Minister after days of smoggy skies in Delhi. The Delhi chief minister along with chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had agreed to work together on a list of 17 demands of the Environment Ministry, to clean the air in the national capital. Lately, despite his failing health, Dave was enthusiastic about his ministerial responsibilities. Just before the approval of GM mustard came up to him from the biotech regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), Dave said he would want to discuss with all stakeholders (states) who are objecting the gene-modified oil seed before he signs his approval. Despite his enthusiasm, Dave's health had been on a downhill slope. Consecutive bouts of pneumonia and viral fever had affected him. While there were rumours that he was undergoing chemotherapy, Dave never really confirmed it when asked about his health. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other important political leaders from across parties have expressed grief at the sudden demise of a committed individual. Dave was declared dead on Thursday morning after he was admitted to AIIMS on Wednesday night. We would remember him always as maa Rewa's son, said Rohit Prajapati of Gujarat-based Paryavaran Sangrakshak Samity (PSS), who has worked with Dave on Narmada conservation. The Union government sent out wireless messages to all government offices and states informing of Dave's demise on Thursday morning and requested all national flags be at half-mast on May 18 and 19. Dave's funeral and cremation will take place on the banks of the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, in keeping with his wishes. The Bofors ghost has finally been exorcised. Not only had it haunted the Indian Army for 30 years, but also jinxed every gun-maker in the world who had come with his ware to India. On Thursday, finally, the Indian Army got two new guns of its own to test in the desert, and call the shots, so to speak. The new M-777 guns, acquired after a deal initiated by the Manmohan Singh government in 2011 and finalised for $ 737 million by the Narendra Modi regime last year, will be lighter than the Bofors and of even slightly shorter range. The present plan is to have 145 guns, of which the first 25 guns will be imported, at the rate of two every month from September 2018, and the remaining to be assembled locally by the private company Mahindra Defence. Mahindra has been told to dispatch five guns every month from March 2019. The entire induction will be completed by 2021. The guns are learnt to be meant for seven regiments that will be part of the new mountain strike corps that is being raised on the China front in the eastern sector. Made of titanium, these guns are billed as the world's lightest 155 mm guns (weighing less than 10,000 pounds), and can be carried over the mountains, slung from helicopters. The guns have a range of 30 kmslightly less than the Bofors 155mm, but one doesn't need long range in the mountains. Designed in a modular fashion, the guns can also be shoved up narrow mountain roads, dissembled and reassembled quickly. US, Canadian and Australian armies have the guns in their armouries. The M-777 will be the first of the artillery guns. There is also a parallel contract to acquire, over the next three and half years, 100 self-propelled guns, to be called K-9 Vajra-T, though a collaborative deal between L&T and the South Korean firm Hanwha Techwin. These will also be 155mm calibre, but will be self-propelled and tracked. Since the Bofos buy of the 1980s that spiralled into a major political scandal with charges of kickbacks flung against the then Rajiv Gandhi regime, India hadn't got a single artillery gun. Since then, firms came to be probed at the very scent of a scandal and it had come to such a stage that almost every major gun-maker in the world, who made an offer to India, had come to be blacklisted. Major gun-makers such as Denel of South Africa and Singapore Technologies, had suffered the odium of blacklisting. A double murder and an attempt to loot a jewellery shop in Mathura (May 15), which is the constituency of cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma, the killing of the father of an IPS officer in Ghaziabad (May 11), the attack on Muslims in a village in Sambhal district (May 11) indicate that the Yogi Adityanath governments claim to establish better law and order in the state is crumbling. Ever since Adityanath took charge as Chief Minister of the state, law and order has been his priority. Soon after assuming charge, he said, gunde or badmaash ya to jail jaye ya UP chhod de(Goons and criminals can either go to jail or leave UP). However, the past two months saw a hike in the crime graph. The murder of two goldsmiths Megh Agrawal and Vikas Agrawal, and loot of Rs 4 crore worth jewellery and cash from their shop in Mathura caused severe embarrassment for Adityanath. The incident happened during the ongoing Assembly session which gave opposition enough ammunition to attack the government. To save his face, Adityanath sent his cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma and the DGP of the state to assuage the family members of the deceased, and immediately transferred 67 police officers in UP. The first Assembly session of the Yogi government saw a huge ruckus by the opposition leaders, who protested the poor law and order situation in the state. In another incident, Ishwar Tyagi, father of Sanjiv Tyagi, an IPS official, was found shot dead at his residence in Ghaziabad about a week ago. The cops are still investigating the matter. The recent death of the IAS officer under mysterious circumstances in the heart of Lucknow too jolts Yogi's claims. On April 24, a middle-aged couple was brutally killed along with their two daughters inside their house in a remote area in Allahabad. According to Munna Lal, Additional Superintendent of Police, Allahabad, Makkhan Lal, his wife and two daughters, aged 22 and 17, were killed by goons who slit open their throats. Apart from these gruesome murders, a number of rape cases have been reported from various parts of the state. In Auraiya district in western UP, a 13-year-old Dalit student was raped. On May 13, a newly-married woman was gang-raped in Kaushambi district in eastern UP, after miscreants looted her house. According to official figures, 393 rape cases were reported from different parts of UP in April alone, which comes to an average figure of 12 rape cases a day. While the opposition has been attacking Adityanath for UP's deteriorating law and order situation, he has asked a year's time to improve the situation. Everyone knows who all are involved in such crimes. No crime would be allowed under political patronage, said Adityanath. Sanjay Bajpai, the Congress spokesperson said, After the BJP assumed power in the state, law and order situation has reached its nadir. The killings in Allahabad and the double murder in Mathura are burning examples of this. Rapes have gone up and goons are striking at their will. It seems that criminals are running a parallel government in the state. Rajendra Chaudhary, the Samajwadi Party leader, attacked the Yogi government and said, This government is a total failure on the law and order front. All its tall claims to improve the situation in the state have proved totally hollow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been focussing on issues back home, till now. His hectic season of foreign visits has started. After his first foreign visit to Srilanka during the Vesak Day last week, Modi will embark on a three-nation tour later this month. Modi, whose government completes three years in power on May 26, had traveled to 45 countries till now. The prime minister will travel to Germany, Spain and Russia from May 29 onwards. After that he will visit Kazakhstan in June to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) , followed by his much-hyped visit to Israel in July. Pakistani PM will also attend SCO meeting, but given the hostile relations between the two countries, a meeting between the two leaders is quite unlikely. Much would depend upon the way Pakistan treats Kulbhushan Jadhav. Modi's Russia visit is to participate in St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held from June 1-3. India is the guest country at the 21st edition of the forum. Modi, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin, will jointly hold a session, during which he is likely to ask for more investments in India when the world leaders will be present. Both leaders will also hold separate talks. Some of the agreements, including on Kundakulam nuclear power plant, are likely to be signed. The meeting also assumes significance in the backdrop of India boycotting China's Belt Road Initiative, which Putin had attended. But before Modi reaches Russia, he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This would be PM's second visit to Germany during which economic agreements are likely to be signed. Modi had earlier visited Germany in April 2015 when India was the 'Partner Country' in the annual Hannover Fair. On May 31, the prime minister will be in Spain where his focus will be on seeking cooperation in sectors like infrastructure and energy. It is an important battle won. The war, however, is on. India got more than it had hoped for at the International Court of Justice. Hoping to get a provisional stay on the hanging of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, India was in for a pleasant surprise at the utterances of the President of the ICJ, Ronny Abraham, who noted the urgency'' in ordering the stay. Abraham pointedly noted that Pakistan had said that there was no likelihood of the execution till August 2017, which suggested that the execution could happen any moment after that date''. Abraham also said that the arguments [by Pakistan] that Jadhav could petition for clemency and that the date of the execution was not fixed were not enough, and emphasised that there was an urgency in ordering the stay. There is jubilation in the Indian camp at present with a lot of back thumping. The ministry of external affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay termed the ICJ order as unanimous, favourable, unambiguous and clear.'' External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj lost no time in tweeting: I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, we will leave no stone upturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav. Baglay termed the development as an essential first step in ensuring justice for Jadhav. We hope it will remedy the egregious violations on Jadhav and violations of international conventions by Pakistan.'' India, however, knows that there is a long road ahead, and not every turn could be as favourable as this. India has not just bought time for Jadhav with the quick move to the ICJ, it has also established that Pakistan's actions were in violation of the Vienna Convention. Indeed, with Abraham pointing out that the Convention overrides bilateral agreements as long as both countries remain signatories to it, and that the convention does not exclude persons accused of espionage and terror, Pakistan's entire arguments at the hearing were demolished. The court has also ordered Pakistan to indicate the measures it will take to ensure Jadhav's safety till the final disposal of the case and also to inform the court about these measures. Given that Pakistan agreed to participate in the hearing, it will now find itself bound to follow the directives of the court, too. Pakistan has sought to save face with some bluster. In a craftily worded statement, the office of the Attorney General of Pakistan said that the provisional measures [for ensuring Jadhav is not executed before the case is decided] are a procedural process...These measures have no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the Court.... The Court's decision today has not changed the status of Commander Jadhav's case in any manner.'' The statement added that Jadhav still has ample time to petition for clemency. So what is next? The ICJ order on Thursday was only for a provisional stay on Jadhav's execution. India's prayer before the court was also for a declaration that the sentence of the military court was in violation of the Vienna Convention and in defiance of elementary human rights of an accused mandated under the 1996 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It has appealed to the court to direct Pakistan to annul the decision of the military court. If Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, India has appealed to the ICJ to declare the decision as illegal and direct Pakistan to release Jadhav. As dates for the hearing are announced and the arguments shifted to The Hague, what actions will play out in the subcontinent? The MEA is not sure whether it will make fresh pleas for consular access, given that its 16 pleas so far haven't been withdrawn. The matter is subjudice,'' said Baglay. May 19 is the last day for filing an appeal against the sentence. The MEA said it had no idea whether Jadhav was able to file the appeal, given that India had no information on where in Pakistan he is incarcerated. In the days to follow, how the diplomacy plays out between the two nations could decide on what the fallout of the Jadhav case could have in the subcontinent. The United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) hosted a conference in Brussels to expose attempts by Pakistan to designate Gilgit Baltistan as the fifth province of the country, thereby illegally annexing what was originally a part of undivided Jammu and Kashmir. The conference was chaired by Sikander Abbas, former President of the UKPNP, while Amjad Yousaf, Vice Chairman Jammu Kashmir National Independent Alliance (JKNIA) and Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of the UKPNP, were among the speakers. The conference was well-attended and included leaders of other ethnic groups of Pakistan, viz., Riaz Pir Representative Pushtoonistan Freedom Movement, Malik Bazai, Pushtoon political activist, Shafi Muhammad Burfat, Chairman Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, Shan Shinwari, Director Bacha Khan Trust, Munir Mengal, President Baloch Voice Association and human rights activist and lawyer Claudia Heidelberg. Speaking on the occasion, Shaukat Kashmiri held Pakistan responsible for the current backwardness of the areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) including Gilgit Baltistan. He blamed Pakistan for invading Jammu and Kashmir in 1948, creating chaos and confusion with regard to the UN resolutions, and over the years failing to vacate its private militias and regular troops from occupied Kashmir, thereby failing to comply with the recommendations of the UNSC resolution. Kashmiri leaders added that Pakistan was now trying to annex Gilgit Baltistan, an area over which it has no constitutional mandate as per the Pakistan Constitution. Hinting at China's role behind Pakistan's move to annex Gilgit Baltistan, he stated that China should realise that the Kashmir dispute was not just a regional issue, but an international problem. Mahmood Kashmiri, chairman of the JKNIA, in his speech, highlighted how Pakistan was exploiting the natural resources of the so-called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. Leaders of other Pakistani ethnic groups threw light on the State-supported human rights violations in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A resolution was adopted at the conclusion of the conference, wherein all participants unanimously agreed to declare J-K as one political entity comprising areas of Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. They strongly condemned Pakistan's attempts to declare GB as a fifth province, expressed serious concerns about the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other mega projects that would result in the exploitation of the national resources of Gilgit Baltistan. The resolution stated that the CPEC had hidden military and strategic agenda and therefore would have a negative impact on the Kashmir dispute. It called on the Pakistan government to stop using J-K's territory for fanning terrorism and to restore basic human rights in the region. Meanwhile, Germany-based Sindhi leader Shafi Muhammad Burfat, chairman Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz has given a call to various Pakistani oppressed groups to form a strategic alliance or united front to oppose the Pakistani State. The first meeting to discuss this alliance was held on May 9 in Brussels. The ethnic groups that have shown an interest in joining the alliance include Sindhis, Kashmiris, Baloch and Pashtuns. The second meeting to discuss the nature, aims and objectives of this alliance is expected to be held in June and will be hosted by the Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz. It is likely that groups like the UKPNP, Jammu Kashmir National Independent Alliance, Pushtoonistan Freedom Movement, Baloch Voice Association, World Sindhi Congress etc. will attend this meeting. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have seized 350 square km (135 square miles) in the past week, tightening "their noose" on Islamic State in an advance to isolate its base of operations at Raqqa, a spokesman for the US-led coalition said. Some 3,000 to 4,000 Islamic State fighters are thought to be holed up in Raqqa city where they continue to erect defences against the anticipated assault, drawing coalition air strikes to stop them, Colonel Ryan Dillon, said a spokesman for the US-led coalition. The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, has been encircling Raqqa since November in a multi-phased offensive backed by the US-led coalition that is also fighting Islamic State in Iraq. Last week, the SDF accomplished a major goal by capturing Tabqa some 50 km (30 miles) west of Raqqa. "In the last week, the SDF have tightened their noose around ISIS in the northern and eastern and western part of Raqqa," Dillon said. SDF fighters had drawn as near as 4 km (2.5 miles) to Raqqa at their closest point to the city. "They have taken almost 350 sq kilometres of ground from ISIS, so they continue to just encroach and ... tighten, and tighten and tighten that isolation ring, quite frankly largely uncontested," he said. The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, said last week it expects to launch the final assault on Raqqa city in early summer. YPG and SDF officials had previously given April start dates for the assault, but these slipped as the battle for Tabqa went on. Asked about the timeframe, Dillon said: "We do not try to stick to a timeline. "There's a principle of war called surprise and we want achieve that and we want our partner force to achieve that when they do decide it is the right time and place or places ... to start their assault." Defences being erected by Islamic State include earthen berms, some of them designed to hold large pools of water. In some cases, these had collapsed, causing flooding in Raqqa city. While the coalition already has armed Arab fighters in the SDF, the White House last week authorized supplying weapons for the YPG, to help in the Raqqa assault. Dillon said there had been no deliveries and no specifics on the types of weapons and equipment the SDF will receive. Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has fought a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy and rights inside Turkey. Why did you write to the prime minister about the alleged corruption among judges? As per the Indian Constitution, the judiciary is the highest body. The Central and state governments, assemblies, Parliament, bureaucrats, politicians or the general public cannot interfere with the judiciary. Thats why the judiciary is functioning as an autocratic establishment. However, the trouble is that there are no improvements, no comments, no initiatives or no opposition. But why did you write to the PM? I lodged the complaint with the prime minister against 20 judges of the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court. I have alleged that those 20 judges are corrupt. I made a request to the honourable prime minister to conduct a comprehensive inquiry with the help of a top officer from the CBI, one from the revenue intelligence, one from the enforcement wing and one from the National Investigation Agency. I also mentioned ten witnesses, who are mediators and brokers to the corrupt judges, for the illegal transaction of money. They misused judicial and administrative power. Who are they? The star witnesses are one Mr B. Hari, private secretary to the chief justice of the Madras High Court and Mr R. Kannapan, now registrar-cum-administrator of the Madras High Court. Kannapan was given double promotion by the then chief justice of the High Court since he had been maintaining confidentiality and has been very sincere with him regarding illegal transactions. Both witnesses should be interrogated by the aforesaid top officers. All culprits who are responsible for siphoning off money need third-degree treatment. Third-degree? Is it permissible under law? The law does not permit the third-degree method. But in this case, it is necessary in order to recover about Rs 10 lakh crore. Where is the money? It is invested not only in India but also in foreign countries through the international hawala system. Knowing this crucial situation, seven judges of the Supreme Court, in order to protect the 20 corrupt judges, including themselves, issued a suo motu contempt procedure against me, which is out of law and out of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Why didnt you lodge your complaint with the Chief Justice of India? I have lost confidence in the present Supreme Court judges. The order on February 8, 2017 by the seven judges, snatching away my administrative power, shows non-application of mind and not following the proper procedure of law. It is not suitable for execution. The seven judges continuously passed erroneous orders against me in order to harass me. They even sent the West Bengal director general of police to me twice to make me comply with their order. They also ordered my medical examination to determine my mental stability. To determine my mental stability and that of the seven judges, a comparison of their judicial orders and mine should be made. After that, one would know who requires medical treatment. Why did the seven judges oppose you? They must have their own share of interest. Therefore, they adopted the shortcut method to quash my complaint. You run the risk of impeachment. I challenge the Supreme Court judges to push my case of impeachment to Parliament immediately. I am ready to face the lawmakers. But I am sure they would not do it as they would be exposed. Are you not afraid of impeachment? I am waiting for that. I requested then chief justice of India H.L. Dattu to send me to Parliament with Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul [former chief justice of the Madras High Court and now a judge of the Supreme Court], who is one of the accused persons, according to me. I made the same request to chief justice T.S. Thakur. But none of them accepted my prayer. So what can I do? Why do you confine yourself to corruption in the judiciary? During my practice as an advocate, I learned about so many irregularities among judicial officers and I was not happy. After my elevation as a judge, I noticed that most of the judges of the Madras High Court were worse than criminals. I was upset about their illegal activities, corruption, forgery, custodial rape and caste discrimination. Is there a nexus between the political establishment and the judiciary? I will confine myself to the judiciary where I have worked for 32 years. I levelled several complaints from 2011 about the mode of selection of High Court judges, district judges, senior and junior divisional judges and their promotions. Did you face any threats for raising your voice against corruption? Since the judiciary is for the general public, I am disclosing the irregularities to them. Besides, the salary, facilities and perks of the judges are given out of public money. I am not bothered about who said what. I am not bothered about judges quality, but I am bothered about the welfare of the general public. So I raised my voice. I am a whistleblower. If any personbe it from the general public, from the legislature or from the executivediscloses corruption by the judges, they would be put in jail. But in my case, the situation is not applicable as I am holding a constitutional office. My fight will continue till June 11, 2017, when I retire. Thereafter, the legal fight will cease as I will lose my legal weapons. After retirement, what are you going to do? I want to start a judicial academy in Tamil Nadu. Poor people could not make a mark because of poor English. I want to give them training so that they could become good lawyers and judges. Have you met any BJP leaders? Even though I am a Hindu, two months ago I made a representation to the Supreme Court to give adequate representation to minorities like Muslims, Christians, the most backward and the de-notified for appointment as judges to various high courts. I am free-minded about religion, caste, race and creed. During my tenure, I have rendered quality judgments to litigants without any ill-will or favour. I have no intention to join any political party or to involve in any political activity. Because, the president, vice president, governors, ambassadors and judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, should not involve in politics after their tenures are over. This is to maintain ethics. Is it proper to attack judges of the Supreme Court? They are the wrongdoers. By attacking them, I am doing nothing wrong. Can the Supreme Court issue contempt notice to a High Court judge? No, they cannot. Their order is completely wrong. Can you overrule the Supreme Court? Under the Constitution, the powers are granted to the Supreme Court under Article 32. Similar powers are given to the High Courts under Article 226. So, the Supreme Court and the High Courts are equal. It is a constitutional logjam. The Supreme Court judges cannot issue such orders against me. It is illegal and immoral. What was your reaction when the Supreme Court ordered your mental examination? I am a stable person. I was not shocked. I am a highly educated, cultured and civilised person. I have seen several bad situations in my life. So, if any kind of harsh situation arises in my life again, I wont be afraid. I have no fear to oppose the Supreme Court judges. Are you against the Supreme Court or only a few judges? I am against only seven judges. I respect the Supreme Court. This interview was conducted on May 4 and 5 and has been edited for clarity. (VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE) For the first time in modern history, a sitting mayor of New York City came to Boro Park and Flatbush to hear the concerns of the community at a town hall hosted by Councilman David Greenfield. Mayor Bill de Blasio returned to his Brooklyn roots to take questions from community residents on a variety of pressing issues, ranging from the speed limit on Ocean Parkway to complaints about garbage pickup and reduced public pool hours. The Mayor was accompanied by a phalanx of his top aides, including an impressive array of commissioners. Literally, every major city agency had its commissioner or deputy commissioner here, Greenfield said. It was an incredible scene. The Mayor brought City Hall to Brooklyn. The New York Police Department was also well represented, with Southern Brooklyn Chief Steven Powers in attendance along with the commanding officers of the 61st, 62nd, 66th, and 70th Precincts. Councilman Greenfield moderated the event, and Mayor de Blasio listened and responded to over forty questions in a forum lasting approximately three hours. Many of the commissioners and agency heads stayed until well past 11:00 p.m. to resolve community concerns. This was the most successful community political event in the history of Boro Park and Flatbush, Greenfield said. I give Mayor de Blasio enormous credit for coming here. He was engaged, focused and committed to getting results to everyone. FULL HOUSE By the time the Mayor entered the room, there was not a free seat in sight. All told, more than 600 people were seated in the cafeteria at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, with dozens of others standing in the back rows against the walls. 100 more residents watched the event from the overflow room next door. The fact that we were completely full shows how strongly residents of these communities want their voices heard, Greenfield said. Greenfield introduced de Blasio as someone he has worked with to achieve several key goals, including Greenfields landmark legislation providing security funding for all non-public schools in New York City. We are the first city in the world that says Every child that goes to school deserves security,' Greenfield explained. It could not have happened without the Mayor, and I am incredibly thankful for that. After Greenfields remarks, de Blasio praised the Councilmans hard work and devotion to the community. This is an incredibly hardworking guy. He is smart, and he is purposeful, and he is substantive. When he puts his mind to something, there is a very good chance it is going to happen, de Blasio said. FOCUS ON TRANSPORTATION Transportation was a consistent topic throughout the night, with Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Brooklyn Deputy Keith Bray facing an array of questions regarding parking, speed limits, and bus patterns. In his speech, the Mayor announced that he was expanding Greenfields parking meter program, in which parking meters on Friday are reprogrammed so that people can pre-pay before early winter Shabbos. Once the expansion goes into effect, over 1,300 meters in Boro Park and Flatbush will allow residents to purchase meter tickets up to four hours in advance on Friday afternoon. This, the Mayor said, will allow people in the community to properly prepare for Shabbos without the fear of a parking ticket. The loudest applause of the night came when one community member asked why New York City reduced the speed limit on Ocean Parkway from 30 to 25 miles per hour. Although de Blasio explained why the speed limit itself cant be changed, Greenfield pointed out that some of the communitys concerns could be addressed without raising the speed limit. The problem is that there are speed cameras, Greenfield said. You dont even realize that youre going 36 miles per hour because everyone is going 36 hours per hour. Thats whats frustrating. KAPAROS AND JEWISH CONCERNS Jewish issues were also threaded throughout the evening, which was unsurprising for the large Jewish crowd, with representatives from multiple mosdos and Jewish organizations in attendance. One leader asked why there were so few Orthodox Jews at the highest levels of the Citys business and government. De Blasio both saluted the hard work of Orthodox entrepreneurs and officials and discussed programs to swell their ranks. Later, a man stood up to demand that the Mayor end the pre-Yom Kippur custom of Kaparos, in which participants slaughter a chicken that is donated to charity. The man claimed that participants violate New York City health codes. Greenfield, speaking as both a representative for the community and a law professor, struck back by quoting the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, saying Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Greenfields response was met with enthusiastic applause from the crowd. So many important issues were discussed during the town hall that the Mayor might have never known about before, Greenfield said. Everyone here saw that Mayor de Blasio is committed to resolving their issues and improving our neighborhoods. Overall, this town hall was an incredible success! (YWN World Headquarters NYC) A multi-nation military exercise in Jordan that appears to have rattled neighboring Syria is wrapping up with a 36-hour non-stop practice bombing flight meant to show the United States can reach faraway targets. Close to 7,200 troops from more than 20 countries, including the U.S. and its Arab allies, participated in the annual 10-day Eager Lion exercise, which ends later on Thursday. U.S. Central Command spokesman Kyle Raines says a B-1 bomber flying from the U.S. to Jordan will drop a bomb on a military training base before returning home, without pause. At the beginning of exercise, pro-Syrian media reported that U.S., British and Jordanian forces were massing on the Jordanian side of the border. At the time, Syrias foreign minister warned Jordan against sending troops to Syria. (AP) As Jerusalem is busy preparing for the 50th anniversary of the liberation from Jordanian occupation, the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research reports the Jewish population of the capital has increased 174%, from 197,700 in 1967 to 542,000 today. It is added that in 2015, about 24,000 babies were born in the capital, compromising 13% of all births in Israel. While the nationwide average number of children per family is 3.1, in Yerushalayim that figure stands at 3.9. Fertility rates among Jews in the capital is up, while it is declining among Arabs. This is due to the growing chareidi population in the capital. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) (COMMUNICATED CONTENT) If you are looking for an out of town community where and are the focal point, then Rochester may be the place for you. We are a warm, caring community located in a safe, beautiful neighborhood where you can purchase a 3-4 bedroom home for under $200,000. In Rochester you are not just another face in the crowd and you can truly be part of building a growing community. Additionally, Rochester is only a 3 hour drive from Toronto and 4 hours from Monsey, making it easy to visit family and friends. Below is a list of jobs that are currently available that have been submitted by members of the community. Limudei Kodesh and Chol teaching positions Derech HaTorah of Rochester is seeking fabulous, dynamic, talented teachers for Limudei Kodesh Kindergarten and Second grade. Openings also for certified, outstanding elementary school General Studies teachers. In addition to our unbelievable tuition promotion for new Rochester families, all DHR teachers receive major tuition breaks. Please send your resume to [email protected] if you are interested. Child Care Director Job position available for an experienced Director of a child care center located in Rochester, NY. We are looking for a detail-oriented leader who is calm under pressure, thinks creatively, is flexible, solution-oriented and will inspire teachers and staff to deliver their best for each child and family. Must have the ability and interpersonal skills necessary to build a strong team and create a nurturing, stimulating, environment for children, staff and parents. Our newly established child care center is a NYS licensed, non-profit entity. Please click HERE for full job description, qualification requirements and contact information. RN and mental health professional positions Attention RNs and licensed mental health professionals (LMHC, LMFT, LCSW): full time jobs available in Rochester, NY. Great pay, benefits, and work environment. Moving packages are also available. If you would like any information on the positions available, salary negotiations, perks, etc. please contact Hindy Dahari at [email protected] Chemical Dependency Therapist Full-time outpatient chemical dependency therapist position available through the University of Rochester located in Henrietta (15 minutes from Rochester). Its a supportive environment to work in with flexible hours and great benefits. If you have experience in mental health counseling and/or addictions (even if youre not CASAC) please email me at [email protected]. This is my current position so please feel free to ask me any questions. Click HERE to see the full job description. MDS Coordinator Ontario Center for Rehabilitation and Health Care is looking for an experienced MDS Coordinator. The candidate must be a RN. Please contact Yudi Polatoff with any questions at 585-396- 4385 or forward you resume to [email protected]. If you are interested in any of these jobs please contact the person who submitted the job above. You also can always visit our website www.TorahRochester.com to learn more about the Rochester community as well as other possible job opportunities. In the latest State Comptrollers report released this week, a number of areas are addressed as is the norm. One person mentioned is Minister of Agriculture (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel gives tens of millions of dollars to groups and organizations for example, a Torani garin, a small group of dati leumi persons or families moving to an area in the hope of establishing a larger community. The comptroller is critical of the fact that Ariel allocates large sums of money for these Torani projects inside populated areas instead of in peripheral areas that need Jewish settlement. Regarding the Ministry of Housing, the state comptroller adds: The Ministry of Construction and the Settlement Division set criteria for providing assistance, so that there was no difference between organizations operating in disadvantaged communities and those operating in communities with strong socio-economic status, and the expenditure of tens of millions of shekels from the state budget for the support of non-profit organizations Their actions are inconsistent with the purpose of the governments decision. The report adds that persons close to Minister Ariel advised him and he acted by allocating tens of millions of shekels without consulting with professionals to first justify the expenditures. The report states Ariel simply supports causes close to his heart rather than professionally probing and funding in line with state needs. Ariel often bypasses the ministrys director-general, allocating funds as he wishes, bypassing the proper channels. The report adds Ariel makes decisions which involve advancing his personal party interests as well as business interests, adding In doing so, Minister Ariel is responsible for a serious failure in governance and for harming proper administration. The report, which relates to his tenure as Housing Minister, states he uses any and all resources to advance the settlement movement above all else. Ariels decisions to involve his political associates in areas related to the provision of assistance to settlement nuclei, and even to assign them roles in the garin administration he established in the Ministry of Construction during his term of office, raises the concern that he has worked to ensure that budgetary support for non-profit organizations will be entrusted to the partys political and ideological activities A substantive and direct connection to some of these associations. The involvement of those close to him allowed the group to include settlement groups that were not eligible for assistance earlier. In response, Ariel explained he respects the State Comptrollers Office and has already instructed his staff to implement recommended changes contained in the report. He adds he is proud to be the force behind the Torani garin projects, projects that enjoy cabinet approval as well as the attorney general and this applies to religious and secular garins alike. MK (Bayit Yehudi) Betzalel Smotrich attacked the report stating The portion of the State Comptrollers report dealing with the garin project is one of the most biased and political ones written since the establishment of the state, and more and more times the critic has been falling into the trap of being used by a political side with a vested interest against another political party. The ability of the elected echelon to determine its policy and implement it. Smotrich accused the comptroller of advancing a personnel agenda, that of the Extremist left-wing. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) A child was locked in a parked vehicle in Raanana on Wednesday morning 21 Iyar. The mom summoned police as he was locked inside. Police responded immediately. Police the vehicles windshield using caution, and extricated the 1-year-old child who was in the vehicle for about 15 minutes. It appears he was playing with the vehicles remote and locked the vehicle. Baruch Hashem he did not appear to suffer injury. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Raanana City Hall) Chareidi faction heads in Knesset; Aryeh Deri, Moshe Gafne and Yaakov Litzman met in Knesset on Wednesday afternoon, 21 Iyar. Rav of the Kosel & Holy Site Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz Shlita also attended the meeting. The meeting surrounded their objections to an egalitarian prayer area near the Kosel, having to provide an alternate plan to the cabinet. The matter is awaiting a ruling from the High Court of Justice. The chareidi coalition partners have drawn their line in the sand, explaining they will not tolerate the egalitarian prayer area and the Kosel must remain under the exclusive control of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Orthodox practice. One of the problems the chareidim are facing is Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is not a fan of the current bill. Deri however is confident the bill will pass in Knesset and become reality. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continues to stall, preferring to be bound by a High Court ruling, which is most unlikely to be found acceptable by the chareidim. Nevertheless, he will point a finger of blame at the court, hoping to save his coalition. If the court announces its ruling, then the vote on the bill supported by the chareidi lawmakers will most likely be another bill to circumvent the High Courts ruling. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Israeli Minister of Economy Eli Cohen met last week with German Minister of Economy and Energy, Ms. Brigitte Zypries. The two discussed ways to strengthen economic relations between the two countries. Germany is Israels third most important trade partner and Israel is Germanys second most important trade partner in the Middle East. In addition, there are a number of leading German companies that operate in Israel, including: Siemens, SAP and Deutsche Telekom. The scope of trade between the two countries reached $7 billion in 2016, with Israeli exports reaching $1.6 billion, a growth of 3% from 2015. The two countries economy ministries run a joint program for cooperation in industrial R&D. Since its beginning, 24 joint projects in different industrial fields have been launched. In order to continue strengthening bilateral economic and industrial cooperation, Ministers Cohen and Zypries agreed to hold a joint Innovation Day in 2018 that will focus on industry, especially advanced manufacturing, as well as cooperation on R&D between the two countries. During the Innovation Day held in Israel in 2015, a business delegation of 100 German companies came to Israel and attended a gathering with hundreds of Israeli companies. The event led to business and technological cooperation between Israeli and German companies in a variety of industrial fields. The Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen said that, We see Germany as an important trade partner that has succeeded in maintaining its creative industry, and therefore cooperation between the two countries is extremely significant for helping Israel learn from the German model and increase the role of industry in our economy to 20%. I hope business cooperation between companies from both countries will lead to investments by German companies in Israel in the field of advanced manufacturing. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Belgian authorities say they have carried out security threat assessments ahead of President Donald Trumps visit to Brussels next week but see no need to increase the national threat-alert level. Belgium has remained on Level 3 meaning that an attack is possible and likely since the deadly suicide-bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and subway on March 22 last year. Belgiums Crisis Center said Wednesday that Level 4 is not determined in any of these assessments at this time, and that it has no information indicating that a terrorist attack might be planned. Top of the scale Level 4 indicates a threat of imminent of attack. Rallies have been organized in protest against the May 25 NATO meeting, part of Trumps first European tour. (AP) A Hungarian court has ordered the arrest of Horst Mahler, a neo-Nazi wanted by Germany who claims to be seeking asylum in Hungary. The Budapest Court said Wednesday that some details of Germanys extradition request for Mahler still need clarification. It said he may be held until June 26. Mahler fled Germany to avoid serving a prison sentence for Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic incitement. He is fighting his extradition. Attending the court hearing in a wheelchair, Mahler also complained about inadequate facilities for people with disabilities at his place of detention; the judge said the problem would be remedied. Mahler was taken into custody Monday in the western Hungarian city of Sopron and claims to have requested asylum from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (AP) Surrounded by multiplying questions, President Donald Trump complained Wednesday that no politician in history has been treated worse. Democrats demanded an independent commission to dig into his firing of FBI Director James Comey, but Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan cautioned against rushing to judgment. Ryan said Congress needs to get the facts, but it is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on a key House oversight panel, countered that Ryan and the Republicans had shown zero, zero, zero appetite for any investigation of President Trump. The White House has denied reports that Trump pressed Comey to drop an investigation into Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In addition Trump is facing pointed questions about his discussions with Russian diplomats during which he is reported to have disclosed classified information. Also Tuesday, in an extraordinary turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to turn over to Congress records of Trumps discussions with the diplomats. The White House has played down the importance and secrecy of the information Trump gave to the Russians, which had been supplied by Israel under an intelligence-sharing agreement. Trump himself said he had an absolute right as president to share facts pertaining to terrorism and airline safety with Russia. Yet U.S. allies and some members of Congress have expressed alarm. Republicans and Democrats alike were eager to hear from Comey, who has increasingly emerged as a central figure in the unfolding drama. The Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday asked Comey to appear before the panel in both open and closed sessions. The committee also asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to give the committee any notes that Comey might have made regarding discussions he had with White House or Justice Department officials about Russias efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. Putin told a news conference that he would be willing to turn over notes of Trumps meeting with the Russian diplomats if the White House agreed. He dismissed outrage over Trumps disclosures as U.S. politicians whipping up anti-Russian sentiment. Asked what he thinks of the Trump presidency, Putin said its up to the American people to judge and his performance can be rated only when hes allowed to work at full capacity, implying that someone is hampering Trumps efforts. Trump himself hasnt directly addressed the latest allegations that he pressured Comey to drop the Flynn investigation. But the swirling questions about his conduct were clearly on his mind when he told graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut that no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. Striking a defiant stance, he added: You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. I guess thats why we won. Adversity makes you stronger. Dont give in, dont back down. And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face. As for Comey, whom Trump fired last week, the FBI director wrote in a memo after a February meeting at the White House that the new president had asked him to shut down the FBIs investigation of Flynn and his Russian contacts, said a person who had read the memo. The Flynn investigation was part of a broader probe into Russian interference in last years presidential election. Comeys memo, an apparent effort to create a paper trail of his contacts with the White House, would be the clearest evidence to date that the president has tried to influence the investigation. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Tuesday requesting that it turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Comey and Trump. He said he would give the FBI a week and then if we need a subpoena, well do it. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said late Tuesday that the developments had reached Watergate size and scale. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, said simply, It would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House. The person who described the Comey memo to the AP was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The existence of the memo was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. The White House vigorously denied it all. While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn, a White House statement said. Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13, on grounds that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russians. The intensifying drama comes as Trump is set to embark Friday on his first foreign trip, which had been optimistically viewed by some aides as an opportunity to reset an administration floundering under an inexperienced president. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina: Hes probably glad to leave town, and a lot of us are glad hes leaving for a few days. (AP) President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday, met at his residence in Jerusalem with a delegation visiting Israel, made up of Jordanian sheikhs representing different tribes from across Jordanian society, from Irbid, Zarqa, and Amman. Also, participating in the meeting were senior members of the, Middle East Department, of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation of sheikhs was visiting Israel for five days, during which they met with different faces from across Israeli society, deepening the understanding between the peoples. The President spoke with the delegation about his childhood in Jerusalem, and about his father, who had translated the Quran, and One Thousand and One (Arabian) Nights, from Arabic into Hebrew. Our history in Israel, and of my family, is of 210 years of continuous connection with the Arab communities in the Land of Israel, and of course with the Bedouin sheikhs, from whom my father learned much. The President reiterated the long-standing ties between the Hashemite Kingdom, and between the Jews in Israel, and said, Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom are working together in the understanding that we are destined to live together in this land. The President stressed, We believe wholeheartedly that everyone of us needs the ability to serve God according to their faith. When you go around Jerusalem you see how Muslims go to the mosques, Christians to church, and Jews to synagogue. In every group there are extreme elements, but we must seek out that which we share in common, and not that which divides us. The sheikhs thanked the President for his warm welcome, and said, We have come from the land of a hero of peace, King Hussein, a land of agreement, cooperation, and giving, a land of peace and tolerance. We came here in order to implement the peace process, in the name of the leaders of the Hashemite Kingdom, and we bring words of peace to all with whom we speak. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Mark Neiman, GPO) Police on Wednesday afternoon 21 Iyar entered Meah Shearim and made a number of arrests, persons who they feel are connected to the burning of chareidi IDF soldiers (Chardakim) in effigy on Lag BOmer. Three youths were taken into custody as police have expended significant manpower and resources since Lag BOmer to learn their identities. The suspects are reportedly 21, 15 and 11-years-old. Parents of the minors were called and they are in the custody of child services. A police spokesman emphasizes This is the first stage and the investigation is continuing to determine if others were involved. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called the Hebrew Universitys Faculty of Humanities decision to not play Hatikvah at Thursday nights graduation ceremony embarrassing and the peak of subservience, the opposite of national pride. The Prime Ministers statement came following a recording obtained by the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu in which a department worker explained that the facultys dean ordered the national anthem not to be played as to not offend any of the Arab students. We are proud of our country, our flag, our national anthem, and this only reinforces my opinion to pass the national law that we are leading in order to anchor into law the national symbols that are so dear to us, added Netanyahu. Education Minister and head of the Council for Higher Education Naftali Bennet also responded to the news by phoning Hebrew University President Menachem Ben-Sasson and clarifying that Hatikvah needs to be played at every state ceremony held at the University. Bennet added that in regards to non-state ceremonies, the decision of whether or not to play the anthem cannot be influenced by consideration of whose feelings it hurts, as a symbol of the State of Israel does not constitute any harm. The Education Minister also informed the President that as a public institution, Hebrew University must honor the state that stands behind it. Prof. Ben-Sasson said that he would ensure that the national anthem is played at state ceremonies, and would look into this specific event. In a statement released by Hebrew University, they said that: There is no statutory provision and/or guidance from the Council for Higher Education regarding the singing of anthems at academic ceremonies, hence there is no basis for complaints to the university on the subject. At official state ceremonies at Hebrew University, the national anthem is played as usual. At academic ceremonies, there is no obligation to play the anthem. Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg noted that over that past few weeks, we have been witness to a number of anti-Israel events held on Israeli campuses, including events marking Israels establishment as a catastrophe. We welcome the mobilization of government officials who are working to stop this absurdity, Peleg added. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) A financier who stole 31m worth of trading secrets is begging to be deported fuelling fears he wants to cash in on his knowledge in China. Ke Xu, 33, was locked up for hacking into the computers at the London hedge fund he worked for, Trenchant, and stealing its money-making algorithms. Sin city: Ke Xu was locked up for hacking into the computers at the London hedge fund he worked for Normally, the Chinese national would be sent straight back to his home country after his release but Trenchant has asked the Home Office to delay deportation so what he knows does not fall into rival hands. Bosses are even willing to pay Xu up to 48,000 to stay until the strategies he stole become redundant in August next year. But his lawyers told a court Xu would suffer psychological harm if kept away from his wife and parents in China. Xu claimed that his parents dumped his computers in a river in a bid to prevent further trouble. Xu, who earned 485,000 from Trenchant in 2013, stole computer codes, abruptly quit the following year and flew to Hong Kong to offer himself to headhunters. He was then arrested, extradited and sentenced to four years in jail. He is due for release in April. The boss of Patisserie Valerie has hit out at Labours tax-raising manifesto, saying it would be bad for business. Luke Johnson, 55, chairman of the cafe chain, said the key to boosting living standards was to support British enterprise. Whoever gets elected needs to encourage investment and job creation, and added regulation and increased taxes can only be negative, he said. If they want a more prosperous society we need to be an enterprising economy. Labours election promises included raising corporation tax by almost 20bn a year and increasing taxes for the highest paid. Businesses say the plans will make the UK less competitive and will stifle investment and growth. It came as Patisserie Valerie, which has 192 stores, reported an 11 per cent rise in sales to 55.5m in the six months to March 31. Profits rose 15.7 per cent to 9.7m. Patisserie has sought more ways to sell its products, and last month launched in 12 Sainsburys stores. Shares closed yesterday up 7.5 per cent, or 24p, at 344p. Ralph Lauren has found a new chief executive after its previous boss made a shock departure following a row with its 77-year-old founder. Patrice Louvet, 52, will step into the post in July, two months after the exit of Stefan Larsson, who announced he was leaving after just a year in the role. Larsson had grand plans to slash jobs, close stores and shake up the management, as well as speed up the supply chains. But his methods clashed with Laurens focus on design, quality and client relationships. Moving forward:Patrice Louvet will step into the post in July, two months after the exit of Stefan Larsson Now Louvet, former group president of beauty at Procter & Gamble, will join the luxury fashion brand as his replacement. Lauren, who is executive chairman and chief creative officer, said: Finding the right partner to work with me to take us forward in our evolution has been my primary focus over the last several months, and I am thrilled that Patrice is joining. French-born Louvet spent 25 years at P&G, after serving a spell as an officer in the French navy. He will collect 960,000 in basic salary when he joins the company, and he could earn a bonus of 2.9m and equity grants of 5.8m depending on his performance. He will also receive sign-on awards, which will be worth about 9.7m this year. Louvet said: Ralph is one of the worlds greatest fashion icons and someone I have admired for many years, and its an incredible opportunity to partner with him to continue to build on 50 years of heritage and innovation. Cyber security firm Sophos shot to the top of the FTSE 250 after posting an upbeat set of results in the wake of the WannaCry virus chaos. The firm saw 117.8m added to its value after boasting that its customers had not been hit by Fridays ransomware attack, which left hundreds of thousands of organisations reeling. In fact, its program to protect against such attacks has become the fastest-growing software in its history. Customers include a number of NHS trusts, which chief executive Kris Hagerman said had been successfully defended against WannaCry. He said: It is a wake-up call for the world that IT security has to be a top priority. Sophos was founded 30 years ago by Oxford University friends Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer, before growing into one of Europes biggest cyber security companies. The pair have each seen the value of their 9.25 per cent stakes in Sophos rise 25m since the cyber attack on Friday, with shares up more than 17 per cent in just six days. The firms revenues also rose 10.8 per cent to 408.2m, while losses narrowed from 52.7m last year to 37.9m in the year to March 31. Yesterday, it saw shares rise 6.9 per cent, or 25.6p, to an all-time high of 395.4p. The FTSE 100 retreated from record highs on concerns that US President Donald Trump could be impeached for attempting to influence an investigation into his election campaign. It slipped 0.3 per cent, or 18.56 points, to 7503.47. Hikma Pharmaceuticals was again among the indexs biggest losers as it continued to be hit by the decision of the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, to reject its generic version of GSKs asthma drug Advair. The firm faced its fourth key broker downgrade in a week yesterday as Jefferies cut it to underperform from buy and dropped its price target to 1450p from 2160p. It is now down 12.2 per cent since the drugs rejection last Thursday. Shares fell 2.8 per cent, or 49p, to 1717p. Retail chains Dunelm and Halfords each suffered after analysts at HSBC said they could be hit by the UKs current economic climate. Analysts at the bank downgraded both from buy to hold, warning against a toxic combination of increasing prices and falling wage growth in the UK. The bank also said consumers were less likely to spend money on non-essential items such as sofas and bikes. Dunelms shares fell 4 per cent, or 24.5p, to 591.5p, making it one of the FTSE 250s biggest losers, while Halfords was down 1.1 per cent, or 3.8p, to 356.3p. Car seller Auto Trader dipped after broker Berenberg gave it a sell rating and a price target of 350p a downsize of 16 per cent. The broker said the firm was likely to be hit by a shrinking used car market, as well as by the growing popularity of electric vehicles, car sharing and self-driving cars. Shares in the firm fell 3.3 per cent, or 13.8p, to 405.5p. Foam maker Zotefoams rallied after a record performance in the first quarter of the year, despite a minor pay revolt at its AGM. Revenue for the first three months of the year was in line with expectations around 28 per cent higher than the same period in 2016. But at the firms AGM, 8 per cent of voters rejected its pay policy, which saw chief executive David Stirling granted a 6 per cent pay rise for the firms current financial year, taking his pay to 238,500. He is also eligible for a bonus of up to 75 per cent of his salary. Shares rose 7.4 per cent, or 21.5p, to 311.5p. BT faces another fine after customers waited more than six months for high-speed internet services to be installed. The telecoms watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation after Openreach failed to meet a target of installing 97 per cent of new ethernet lines within 159 working days. Sign of the times: The telecoms watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation after Openreach failed to meet a target Ethernet connects computer systems to form a local network, often used in businesses. Ofcom has not said how much the fine could be, or whether BT has failed to comply with the timing obligation. But if BT is forced to pay, it would be another embarrassing blow for chief executive Gavin Patterson who is battling to prove his house is in order after its Italian arm exaggerated its profits in a 530m accounting scandal. Openreach said it missed the target by less than 0.25 per cent but said it would work with Ofcom in the investigation. Theresa May has pledged to abolish the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as she seeks to overhaul how white collar crime is tackled in Britain. In the Conservative Party manifesto, the Prime Minister said she would fold the organisation into the National Crime Agency (NCA) if she wins the general election. The pledge follows a string of clashes between the SFO and May, who as Home Secretary in David Camerons government had argued that it should be part of the NCA, which fights organised crime. Pledge: Theresa May will fold the SFO into the National Crime Agency if she wins the general election But the move dismayed lawyers and anti-corruption groups. The SFO is currently investigating claims of fraud at Barclays over a Qatari fundraising in the financial crisis, whether senior Bank of England staff sought to rig Libor rates, and allegations about drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. This is a political pledge and we cannot comment, it said in a statement. Stephen Parkinson, a partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, said it was dreadful news. He said: I have two main concerns. Firstly, that there will be organisational paralysis; people will leave the SFO in droves so it will lose expertise. Secondly, I fear momentum will be lost and there will be a failure to open cases that should be taken up. David Corker, a partner at law firm Corker Binning, said: The NCA has not yet proved its effectiveness and there is a great danger that the fight against fraud would be compromised if the SFOs work was absorbed into its broad remit. Naomi Hirst, senior campaigner at Global Witness, said: It is absolutely vital that the SFO remains independent from Government interference. Rolling the SFO into the NCA could seriously jeopardise the integrity of Britains response to white collar crime, not strengthen it. The SFO thought it had removed the cloud over its future with a landmark victory over Rolls-Royce. In January, the engine maker agreed to hand over 497.3m to settle bribery claims and avoid a prosecution. Insiders said it showed the agencys approach was working and that it was able to take on big businesses. Another key victory came last month when Tesco handed over 129m following an investigation into an accounting scandal. But the organisation has been plagued by failures. In 2006, it abandoned a corruption probe into BAE Systems after pressure from Saudi Arabi. It also had to pay damages to the entrepreneur Tchenguiz brothers. The SFO has had chronic problems with funding, relying on 34m a year, less than the sum many of its targets might be prepared to spend. Tory donor fraud quiz The Conservatives have received a 50,000 donation from a Syrian-born businessman recently questioned by the Serious Fraud Office. Ayman Asfari, 58, chief executive of oil services group Petrofac, made the donation this month. His wife Sawsan donated 50,000 to the Tories at the same time. Asfari was quizzed by the SFO as part of a probe of Unaoil, a Monaco-based firm accused of corruptly securing contracts. Petrofac used Unaoil for consultancy work in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009. Marks and Spencer has been crowned supermarket of the year, ending a run of recent successes for rivals Aldi and Waitrose, in the latest Which? awards held this today. M&S, which has popular 10 dine-in deals and eye-catching 'food porn' adverts, pipped Aldi and Waitrose, as well as Iceland and Lidl, which were also nominated by the consumer group. It comes after Aldi yesterday took 40 gongs for its own-brand food at The Grocer's own label food & drink awards 2017. Top brands? Nationwide and M&S were voted best bank and supermarket respectively In second place was fellow discount chain Lidl, which won 28 prizes in total, including a gong for a luxury brie cheese that costs just 99p. Meanwhile in the Which? awards, Nationwide Building Society was named banking brand of the year, ahead of First Direct and TSB. Toolstation was once again named retailer of the year, beating Allbeauty, Apple, John Lewis and Richer Sounds. The awards ceremony was jointly hosted by Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith and television presenter Natasha Kaplinsky in a London ceremony. Peter said: 'Consumers should be at the heart of every business. Brands that deliver excellent products and services for their customers deserve to be recognised and rewarded. 'The Which? awards winners list honours the commitment of those businesses that strive to meet the expectations of consumers and go above and beyond to respond to their needs.' Natasha Kaplinsky: The Strictly Come Dancing star hosted the event today The 'positive change award' was given to Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom. Which? said it's in recognition of the 'significant progress' the regulator has made over the past two years in putting consumers at the heart of its agenda, working to improve products and services across the telecoms industry. Despite this, line rental costs continue to increase for households even though wholesale costs have fallen. Which? says its awards recognise the exceptional standards of brands whose products consistently perform highly when tested by its independent research teams. This year Samsung, Apple and Miele triumphed in the sound and vision, computing and mobile, and home appliance categories respectively. LV= won insurance provider of the year, Utility Warehouse telecom services provider and trusted trader was Homeglaze Home Improvements Ltd. The travel gong was scooped by Riviera Travel. MBABANE They fought and conquered. This is the best phrase to describe the victory of the four dismissed supervisors of SEC, after the Industrial Court declared the termination of their services unlawful. SEC is the Swaziland Electricity Company. Mbongiseni Dlamini, Gcina Maseko and Thabiso Simelane were charged with gross negligence which resulted in the death of an employee from Mormond Electrical, while Simon Dlamini was facing charges of dishonesty or fraud. They each appeared before different chairpersons, for their disciplinary hearings who separately issued final written warnings but the management of SEC overturned those decisions and replaced them with sanctions of dismissal. This resulted in the four running to court where they were among other things, seeking an order interdicting the company from dismissing them from work. Industrial Court Judge Nkosinathi Nkonyane yesterday declared that the companys decision of dismissing the four employees was unlawful. The employer in the present case took a long time to intervene and review the decisions of the chairpersons in the circumstances where unfairness and prejudice would occasion the applicants (four employees) if the court were not to intervene and declare the course of action adopted by the respondent (SEC) as being unlawful, said Judge Nkonyane. The court further found that SEC was stopped from exercising the substitution right because it unreasonably delayed in the circumstances of this case. MANZINI Preliminary investigations in the kidnapping of businessman Almor Oliveira have revealed footage showing a BMW similar to the main suspects following the businessmans car on the day of the kidnapping. The police investigations had established that the possible hijackers could be people close to Oliveira and these included his tenants, employees and business partners. Among these was Oliveiras former tenant Qing Ming He, whom police were able to identify as the main suspect through the footage showing the BMW on April 16, 2017. In his written submissions, where he is opposing the application for bail for the accused, Senior Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo portrayed the duo of Qing and Dao Thanta Hue as key players in the kidnapping of the businessman. Oliveira has been missing for a month now after he was reportedly kidnapped at his place of business in Matsapha on April 16. Investigations led to the arrest of two suspects, one from China and the other from Vietnam, Qing and Hue. The pair was arrested in Ezulwini and was found in possession of a 9mm revolver and a 12 Bore shotgun. The police also found a licensed gun belonging to Qing, with suspected blood stains in the vehicle. In his submissions, Senior Crown Counsel Nxumalo stated that police further obtained the lease agreement between the suspect and the victim which had Qings cellphone number that was no longer in use. In respect of the first applicant (Qing), the crown has led evidence to the effect that if released, he may attempt to evade trial. This is because he tried to search the cleaners pockets while in his cell in Matsapha. There is a strong suspicion that he was looking for the keys to escape from custody, submitted the Crown. MBABANE The corpse found floating in a river at Buka has been confirmed to be missing cop, Schaza. Schazas real name is Mduduzi Matsebula and was recently involved in a car accident while driving Chief Justice Bheki Maphalalas vehicle, about two weeks ago. Suspicions are to the effect that he might have been murdered as his body was found tied with laces from his own sweater. He was also found without his shoes and reports were that his nose and mouth were missing. Matsebula, who was a popular figure was reported missing on Friday by his wife, and soon after, a search for him ensued. Police tried in vain to find him throughout the weekend until they received a report which that there was corpse which was found floating in a river at Buka and no one seemed to know who had disposed it there. Police thereafter, issued an announcement for people who may know the person who was found dead, to come forth for identification purposes. It was later established that the corpse was that of Matsebula. News of his demise was confirmed by Superintendent Khulani Mamba, the Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, in an interview yesterday. Mamba did not rule out possibilities of Matsebula being murdered, but added that they were thoroughly investigating the matter. What will help us now is a post-mortem which will inform us if he was killed and dumped in the river or if his cause of death was drowning, Mamba said. MATSAPHA A Hlophe family of Mbikwakhe woke up to the astonishing image of an open grave on their family cemetery. The discovery was made by one of the family members who had come to the homestead to check her husbands grave. The family echoed each other, stating that they had never seen anything like this before as they shook their heads in disbelief. The corpse of a baby, was also missing from the grave according to family members. They could neither confirm, who, how nor when the person entered the homestead and succeeded in performing the gruesome act. According to Jacos Hlophe, the grave belonged to his three-month -old great grandchild who died after a short illness in 2012. As per family tradition, the child was buried at Mbikwakhe, where all his other relatives are laid to rest. The graveyard is situated metres from the homestead, just a few meters from the yard. While most of the graves already had headstones, the babys grave was covered with a heap of sand protected by rocks on the sides. According to Hlophe, it is common knowledge that graves belonging to babies were much shallow than those belonging to adults. Hlophe first shared that a long practised family tradition was that every Easter Monday, the family would visit the graveyard and clean up by removing weed that had grown overtime and other dirt around the graves. He said on that day, nothing seemed suspicious and the family went on to enjoy their holiday. On Saturday morning, one of the familys daughters-in-law decided to come to the homestead to check her husbands grave, she was joined by another member of the family and as they entered the graveyard, they were met with the suspicious looking grave as if someone had picked up all the grass we had removed from around the graves and dumped it on that particular one said Hlophe. Insurance Back RENOMIA, double awarded at the Insurer of the Year Awards gala RENOMIA was awarded the Czech Insurance Broker of the Year Awards 2016 ceremony's highest prize, while Jirina NEPALOVA, CEO RENOMIA, received the honorary award for the Personality of the Insurance Market. "RENOMIA has built up its strong position in the local and international market on the foundation of always acting in the best interest of the client and offering them consultation support. To be voted Insurance Brokerage of the Year is particularly valuable, as our qualities are recognized by industry professionals whom I hold in great esteem", Jirina NEPALOVA, CEO RENOMIA, commented on the achievement. RENOMIA, the largest insurance brokerage founded in Central and Eastern Europe, was voted Insurance Broker of the Year as part of the Insurer of the Year Awards already for the third time in the last six years. The awards are organised by Association of Czech Insurance Brokers (ACPM) and co-organised by the Czech Insurance Association (CAP) under the patronage of Jiri RUSNOK, Governor of the Czech National Bank which acts as the industry market oversight authority. "Our clients' expectations are growing, so if we aim to be successful over the long term, we have to always improve and develop. We put a great emphasis on risk management; our risk analysis prevents losses on the client side. We cultivate expertise in specialist areas and we understand the business of our clients; we also invest in digitalisation. We are seeing a good rate of organic growth and as well as growing through acquisitions in the Czech Republic and abroad. We offer insurance cover all over the world. Thanks to all this we can give our clients top-quality service and professionalize the market," added Jirina NEPALOVA. The evaluation criteria included the quality of data supplied to the insurer, quality of communication between the broker and the insurer and, especially, between the client and the broker, expertise in insurance management, the agents' professional knowledge and the development of new products. At the gala award ceremony, Jirina NEPALOVA, CEO and Founder of RENOMIA, also collected an honorary award for the "Personality of the Insurance Market". The award is presented for excellent and outstanding contribution to the development of the Czech insurance industry. Jirina NEPALOVA has been in insurance for close to 40 years and has extensive experience in implementation of insurance programmes across various industries and in claim adjustment. In 1993, she founded APS Hranice in Hranice na Morave, which later changed its name to RENOMIA. In the past ten years, RENOMIA has been the Czech market leader. Today, RENOMIA GROUP is the market-leading consultancy in the area of insurance and risk management founded in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. RENOMIA Group is the market-leading consultancy in the area of insurance and risk management founded in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2016, the company prescribed premiums reaching CZK 8.3 billion and presently operates a network of branches in six countries of Europe. RENOMIA is also the founding member of RENOMIA EUROPEAN PARTNERS - a partnership of market-leading independent insurance brokers whose network spans 32 countries in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Author: Adina TUDOR on 18.05.2017 Archive Comment this article 0 comments Atention! "Comment" and "E-mail" are mandatory Name: If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered If you are not logged on, your name will appear preceded by '(Anonymous)'. For authentication, click here If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered E-mail: Comment: < 10.000 car. Fill in the code from the image: Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted Wednesday that there was confusion at City Hall after two U.S. Department of Homeland immigration officials appeared at PS 58 in Maspeth last week asking about a fourth-grade students enrollment. The mayors press secretary tweeted Saturday that the school turned him away but little more information was made available, leading some in the media to report that ICE agents had made the visit and were turned away because they did not have a warrant. The mayors protocol for city schools, laid out in March, required immigration agents to have a warrant and proved effective. It took us a while for us to get the clarification because we had not been notified by them and because of all the rhetoric we have heard we were confused legitimately, de Blasio said at an unrelated news event Wednesday. And Im happy to clarify it, because it was better than we feared. It was proof that the protocol for ICE agents was working. That was important for people to know because parents are scared. The notion that it was anything but enforcement did not come to us for quite a while. But the Department of Education knew all along. Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina greeted parents at the school Monday morning to calm fears, letting parents know the visit was made by two federal agents from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of DHS, but not directly involved with ICE. Farina said the Department of Education is aware of the students identity, the family has been informed and it is not believed to be an immigration issue rather part of an administrative inquiry pertaining to an immigration benefit request. This was not ICE. This was an agent that we are still trying to discover. He didnt bring a card, he didnt bring a badge, Farina said. He never got beyond the front desk. Our protocol now is to make sure when anyone comes into the building, to show information. He waits outside the school building, then that school notifies the lawyers at DOE, we notify immigrant services, and its handled on that level. The mayor got further clarification when he met for nearly an hour Monday with DHS Secretary John Kelly and discussed the incident. They pledged to work together to ensure that the DHS investigative work in question would be performed remotely and without the presence of federal immigration agents in New York City schools. The whole situation could have been averted if DHS had reached out to us, de Blasio said. We would have said, if you need the information, well provide it. U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) is looking for answers. She fired off a letter to the head of USCIS demanding to know why the agents were at PS 58, in her district, to begin with. As a mother of two public school students here in Queens, one of which is also in the fourth-grade, I remain deeply concerned about USCIS agents showing up to PS 58, Meng said. We want to know about the agencys policies, protocols and circumstances that led to the agents entering the school, and I eagerly await answers to these important questions. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gina Martinez Hiram Monserrate plans to return to city politics. The disgraced former councilman and state senator plans to run for City Council against Julissa Ferreras Copeland (D-East Elmhurst) in the fall election. This is not Monserrrates first attempt to return to politics. In 2016, he ran and lost his bid for Democratic district leader in Elmhurst and Corona. Monserrate was expelled from the state Senate in 2010 after he was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo. In 2008, Monserrate slashed Giraldos face with glass, then pulled her down the stairs and hallway of his Jackson Heights apartment building. Giraldo later claimed the slashing was an accident, but Monserrate received a misdemeanor assault conviction for pulling her by her hair, which was caught by a security camera. Later, in 2012, Monserrate was sentenced to 24 months in prison for mail fraud. He had used City Council funds through a Corona nonprofit to fund his failed 2006 state Senate campaign. Despite his controversial past, he is still technically allowed to run for office. According to the New York City Board of Elections, once a convicted felon has served his or her time and owes nothing to the city or state, they are free to run for public office. Monserrate is focused on the issues and has made the $3 billion Willets Point redevelopment plan his main platform. My campaign for City Council is all about putting the needs of our community first and representing working families that live in the 21st Council District and not the special interests or the super wealthy 1 percent, he said in a statement. The greatest crime perpetuated on the people of Queens County is manifesting itself right before our eyes with the support of our present failed leadership. Forty acres of parkland from Flushing Meadows Corona Park and up to 64 acres of taxpayer property handed over for a total of $1 to billionaire developers. Our community is on the precipice of being sold out to developers. This type of corporate welfare has no place in our city. Monserrate has made his return to the political spotlight in protest of the Willets Point mega-mall project, which would use parkland for commercial development. He has teamed up with the East Elmhurst Alliance at several news conferences in recent months, urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to support the original plans for the land he championed as a councilman in 2008. According to Monserrate, the original mixed use plan included 5,500 units of housing, 35 percent of which was to be permanent affordable housing; an 850-seat public school; and a project-labor agreement that ensured that workers in retail shops would be unionized. I am ready to make amends and give back to the community that has supported me for so long, Monserrate said. I am prepared to be the fighter that will bring affordable housing, jobs, more schools and protect our public parkland. Ferreras-Copeland said she had no comment at press time. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Naeisha Rose Oliver Sohngen, founder of the Long Island City Academy of Music, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with minors and sex trafficking, according to the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Oliver Sohngen, a music school teacher, allegedly engaged in disturbing, predatory conduct: preying on minor girls for sex, said Joon Kim, the acting Manhattan U.S. attorney. He alledgedly had sexual contact with minor girls at least twice, and attempted to engage in sex trafficking of girls under the age of 14. Allegations in the criminal complaint against Sohngen, 52, of Long Island City, included inappropriate text messages with minors ranging from 17 to as young as 8 years old. In the complaint, Sohngen is accused of engaging in sexual contact with minor girls at the conspirators apartment in the Bronx, Kim said. The criminal complaint is 33 pages long, including 25 pages worth of text message exchanges involving Sohngen, who also uses the aliases Helmuth Moss and Stephan Weierbach. The music school at 44-02 23rd Street has been operating for 10 years, based on its website. Sohngen is charged with conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, attempted sex trafficking of a minor and attempted inducement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, prosecutors said. These acts allegedly took place between March 2013 through January 2016. One of the special agents working on the case was Angel Melendez, who is in charge of the New York Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of Homeland Security. In or about January 2016, Sohngen appears to have used a cellular phone to communicate with an undercover NYPD officer ,who he understood to be a 15-year-old girl, Melendez said in an affidavit. Sohngen attempted to meet with the purported 15-year-old girl in order to engage in oral sex and other sexual conduct. Police Commissioner James ONeill commented on the case. We remain resolute in working along with our law enforcement partners to identify, apprehend, and prosecute those individuals who prey upon our most innocent victims, ONeill said. I commend the detectives and agents involved in this investigation. Also partnering with Kim in the investigation was the Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. We have a duty to protect our vulnerable youth, and with our partners in the Manhattan U.S. Attorneys Office, we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who supports this cruel exploitation, Clark said. Times' Game of the Week Preview: No. 4 Mapletown vs. No. 5 South Side No. 5 South Side gears up to stop the top-scoring No. 4 Mapletown Maples and star running back Landan Stevenson in the quarterfinal Class 1A matchup. Insurance Back The 20th edition of FIAR - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum started on Sunday in Poiana Brasov Re/Insurance professionals from all over the world, representatives of European authorities and national insurance organizations, specialists representing brokerage companies, lawyer firms, and many more companies from related domains gathered at Poiana Brasov in Romania at the 20th edition of FIAR - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum. The participants at FIAR 2017, representing over 130 international companies, will have the opportunity to join specialized conferences and workshops analyzing the latest trends in the insurance, reinsurance and brokerage fields, as well as to take part in networking events and bilateral meetings which will enable them to discover new business opportunities and to gather valuable insights and experience. Thus, the event's agenda includes bilateral meetings, traditional networking events, as well as 6 conferences and workshops: HEALTH & LIFE INSURANCE Conference, INSURANCE MARKET TRENDS Conference, BROKERS Conference, NAT CAT & REINSURANCE Conference, MOTOR INSURANCE Conference, and the PRIVATE PENSIONS Workshop. Some of the keynote speakers that have already confirmed the presence at the event include Michael BRANDSTETTER, EU & International Affairs, VVO - Austrian Insurance Association, Andrea FUCHS, Head Market Underwriting CEE, Swiss Re Europe, Eugene GURENKO, Lead Insurance and Risk Management Specialist, World Bank, Lenka de MAURO, Deputy Head of Office, GDV - German Insurance Association - European Office, Richard NATHSCHLAEGER, Region Manager Austria & Italy, Vice Chairman CEE Advisory Board, AUDATEX, Juan - Ramon PLA, Secretary General, BIPAR, Managing Director, Corporation de Mediadores de Seguros, Spain, Member of IRSG, EIOPA, Michael THEILMEIER, Senior Vicepresident, Gen Re Germany, and Falco VALKENBURG, Chairperson Pensions Committee, Actuarial Association of Europe, OPSG Member, EIOPA. FIAR 2017 is organized with the official support of UNSAR - The National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania, UNSICAR - The National Union of Insurance Brokerage and Consultancy Societies from Romania, PRBAR - The Romanian Patronate of the Insurance - Reinsurance Brokers, CFA Society Romania - Chartered Financial Analyst Romania, and APPA - Association for Promoting Insurance, as well as IIS - International Insurance Society as Supporting Organization. JLT Re supports the Forum as Strategic Partner, while TRUST Re, OMNIASIG VIG, GENERALI Romania, MILLI Re, ERGO, PAID Romania, and CERTASIG are Main Partners. FRISS, MARSH, EUROINS, ASIROM VIG, SAFETY Broker, DESTINE Broker, EUROTAX, GOTHAER Asigurari Reasigurari, RECREX, and Telecom Data Consulting are Partners of the event, while BMW - Automobile Bavaria Group is FIAR'S OFFICIAL CAR. The Forum is organized with the support of STELLA Artois and NESCAFE Alegria and is supported by Belarusian association of Insurers, XPRIMM Insurance Report, xprimm.com, RFI Romania and ziuaveche.ro as Media Partners. The complete program of the event is available on the official website Author: Adina TUDOR on 18.05.2017 Archive Comment this article 0 comments Atention! "Comment" and "E-mail" are mandatory Name: If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered If you are not logged on, your name will appear preceded by '(Anonymous)'. For authentication, click here If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered E-mail: Comment: < 10.000 car. Fill in the code from the image: After nearly three months of living in the church, Vizguerras gambit paid off. On May 11, federal immigration authorities granted her a two-year stay of deportation, allowing her to spend Mothers Day at home with her children. I have missed my kidsthis fight is for them. And at the same time, its for all of the mothers and fathers who are in the struggle, she said at a press conference as she left the church. Even before this victory, Vizguerra had become a symbol of both the grave circumstances facing undocumented immigrants and the extraordinary measures theyand their alliesare ready to take. In April, she was named to Times list of the 100 most influential people of 2017. The intense interest in Vizguerras case speaks to the political potency of sanctuary: In the age of Trump, sanctuary has become a watchword across the political spectrum. For the Right, its a synonym for impunity. The new administration has gone to war against so-called sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently described sanctuary cities as crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime. For Democrats, sanctuary has become a rallying cry of resistance: Elected officials in blue cities and states have pledged to rebuff Trumps attempts to enlist local police for immigration enforcement. Yet theres no standard definition of what constitutes a sanctuary city, or how far one will go to protect undocumented residents. Even the protections that liberal cities like Denver provide are often thin in practicethey did little to help Vizguerra. Thats why she and other organizers are attempting to expand sanctuary beyond a set of vague legal policies, reviving it instead as a political movement. Todays efforts recall those of the 1980s, when churches harbored as many as 2,000 refugees fleeing U.S.-sponsored violence in Central America. But activists are also updating sanctuary for the Trump era. Students are staging walkouts to demand that their campuses provide protection and resources to undocumented students and their families. Unions are negotiating contracts that bar employers from retaliating against undocumented workers. Neighborhoods are organizing block by block to protect residents from both immigration raids and police violence. All of these efforts are expanding where sanctuary takes placeand who can access it. Maria Turcios is taking the sanctuary movement to the streets. (Photo courtesy of the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia) Redefining sanctuary After Trumps victory, more churches have opened their doors as sanctuary spacesthe Church World Service estimates that the number has doubled from 400 to 800. And as Vizgerras case shows, the strategy has the potential to win immigration relief for people who have few options left. But physical refuge isnt feasible for all of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. Another challenge is the lack of a clear resolution. In the 1980s, there was an end goal for Central American immigrants in sanctuarynamely, winning asylumand churches rarely had to provide long-term protection. Today, there is no such path on the horizon. That presents a real challenge for sanctuary, says Norma Stoltz Chinchilla, a professor of sociology and womens studies at California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Its also unclear whether Trump will play by the rules that have made churches a relatively safe space for immigrants. Under Obama, ICE generally followed its policy of avoiding sensitive locations such as churches and schools, with a few notable exceptionsin 2016, agents arrested a man in Chicago after reportedly luring him out of a church with fake text messages about his cousin being in an accident. Francisca Porchas, director of Arizonas Puente Human Rights Movement, thinks ICE under Trump will have few qualms about pushing into a church. If sanctuarys only power is religious or moral authority, we are skeptical that there can be a moral argument under this administration, she says. That has led organizers to ask what a more robust form of sanctuary looks like. To start with, it will have to back up moral rhetoric with the power to enforce sanctuary through direct action. This hit home for Maria Turcios, a Honduran immigrant and organizer with the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, when she received a frantic call from a friend in 2015. The woman was hiding under a bed with her 3-month-old child as ICE raided her home. Agents had apprehended the womans husband as he left the house, then used his key to let themselves in. Turcios and another organizer grabbed a bullhorn and rushed over, hoping to stop the raid. By the time they arrived, the agents had already taken the family. The painful incident sparked a conversation about how to handle a surge in deportations of Central American immigrants by the Obama administration. Previously, Philadelphia organizers had focused their efforts on providing refuge to undocumented immigrants within churches; Turcios own daughter took sanctuary for 58 days in 2014. But with surprise home raids on the rise, we werent going to be able to get all those people into the church, so we started looking at other options, explains Turcios. From there, Sanctuary in the Streets was born. It mobilizes volunteers to interrupt immigration raids in progress, based on the idea that the members of a churchnot just its physical structurecan create sanctuary for vulnerable members of their congregation. To facilitate the campaign, the New Sanctuary Movement set up two hotlines to report ICE activityone in Spanish and one in Indonesian. At first, the lines received few calls. Then, the day after the election, there was a huge surge of interest, says Peter Pedemonti, director of the New Sanctuary Movement. Amidst the despair and disbelief, it was a really concrete campaign that was ready on day one. Philadelphia organizers maintain a hotline for residents to report immigration raids. (Photo courtesy of the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia) As of April, 1,800 people have signed up to participate in Sanctuary in the Streets, up from 65 people last year. With those numbers, the group hopes to be able to deploy volunteers to immigrant-heavy neighborhoods within five minutes of a distress call. Since Trump took office, the hotline has received dozens of calls. In order to be involved in direct action, volunteers must go through a nonviolence training. We want people not only to know what to do when they get there, but the spirit and tone of what were doingthat discipline of nonviolence, explains Pedemonti. Early one morning in March, Turcios got a call from a woman whose neighbors home was being raided by ICE. Turcios, a small group of volunteers and several other neighbors hurried over and surrounded the home, taking photos and asking agents why they were detaining the man. The crowd grew until the ICE agents said the young man wasnt the person they were looking for and left. Turcios counts this as an encouraging victory. Still, during the weeks she runs the hotline, she is constantly tense. Her cell phone never leaves her side, and she often finds herself glancing at it, wondering if this is the hour shell get an emergency call. Im not indifferent to the pain and fear that immigration can have on people, because Ive lived through it, Turcios says. Its also the fear that gives me the strength to keep fighting. A Los Angeles school holds a Know Your Rights workshop for students on March 9. The previous week, ICE arrested a students father as he dropped her off for school. (Photo: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images) Sanctuary in name only At the same time that groups build sanctuary from the bottom up, many are also pushing cities that call themselves sanctuaries to provide real refuge. Elliott Young, director of ethnic studies at Lewis and Clark college, says that discussion of sanctuary often misses an important point: City officials have often declared sanctuary, but then dont take steps to see how local policing efforts deliver people to ICE. Even if police dont officially collaborate with ICE, immigrants are often profiled and arrested for non-violent crimes such as traffic violations. Once theyre dragged into a courthouse, they can be picked up by ICE. Take Chicago, which passed an ordinance in 2012 limiting police cooperation with ICE. The ordinance has several loopholes; most notably, police can work with ICE to detain immigrants who have a pending felony prosecution or are listed in the police gang database. Immigrant rights advocates say that these loopholes leave residents like Wilmer Catalan Ramirez vulnerable. The 31-year-old was arrested by immigration authorities at his Chicago home on March 27 and was still in detention at press time. His wife, Celene Adame, says authorities came to their door asking for a man named Rubio but then arrested her husband instead. Adames lawyer was told that Ramirez was in the gang database. She disputes that he was involved in gang activity, but suspects he may have ended up on the list because he was a bystander in a drive-by shooting in January. Adame also says that immigration authorities slammed Ramirez to the ground when they arrested him, fracturing his shoulder. Adame and attorneys with the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center have since filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that the gang database constitutes discrimination against Black and Latino men. The suit also alleges that ICE used excessive force in arresting Ramirez and that the detention center is illegally denying him medical care. Adame fears for her husbands health; he is still recovering from paralysis on his left side from the shooting. I am constantly worried about him, she says. He needs a special boot, so he can barely walk. In January, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel was quick to reassure residents that Chicago would remain a sanctuary city. But Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a 28-year-old rookie City Council member, thought less symbolism and more action was needed. So Ramirez-Rosa worked with community groups to introduce an amendment eliminating carve-outs in Chicagos existing ordinance. Among other changes, police would no longer be able to share information with ICE about individuals on the gang database, which Ramirez-Rosa has said is like the no-fly list: You dont know you got on it, and there is no way to get off it. Hes also declared his ward office a sanctuary space and coordinated volunteers to go door-to-door distributing signs to residents: This home does not open the door for immigration agents or other law enforcement. The intersection between deportation and policing creates a doubly precarious situation for immigrant communities of color. But it also presents an opportunity to expand the movement for sanctuary and offer an alternative vision of community safety. Thats the goal of Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), Mijente and Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), three community organizations creating a Black-Brown alliance in Chicago to expand sanctuary by fighting for policies that create protections for all city residents. First up, the coalition is mobilizing to pass the amendments co-sponsored by Ramirez-Rosa. The group is also pushing the city to remove roadblocks to accountability in its police union contract. We recognize sanctuary should not be a single-issue movement, because we dont live single-issue lives, says Janae Bonsu, national policy chair of BYP100. Ultimately, the groups say, real sanctuary might involve redirecting resources away from immigration enforcement and bloated policing and toward community needs like housing, education and healthcare. But for now, theres a straightforward ethos that connects sanctuary organizing in places like Denver, Philadelphia and Chicago. Whether in cities, churches, schools or homes, communities are finding new ways to keep each other safe. Sanctuary is the protection we give to each other, says CSULBs Stoltz Chinchilla. Its the solidarity that we can lend person to person. The New York Post reported an Amtrak train en route to Albany broke down Tuesday night as it was leaving Penn Station in New York City. The locomotive had a "propulsion issue" just outside the station, the Post reported, but was able to back into the station after an 81-minute delay, where repairs were made. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Schenectady Stephen Piorkowski, surrounded by brightly colored artwork on the walls and deep in concentration, was busy painting the lines of a mandala across a clay tile. First, he dipped his brush in a jar of pale, pink glaze; then he dabbed it, slowly, to form a design of intersecting teardrop shapes across the white square. In between brush strokes, Piorkowski was happy to extol the benefits of his art for wellness and remembrance. It opens "a gateway to your mind," he said, and unlocks the door to long-past recollections. An epileptic since he was 2 years old, Piorkowski had gathered on Friday with over half a dozen others at the Schenectady branch of CREATE (Capital Region Expressive Arts, Therapy, and Empowerment) Community Studios for a dose of art therapy. It's an activity that Piorkowski said goes a long way toward helping him cope with his condition. More Information What is art therapy? "Art therapy is a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use art media, the creative process and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem." - American Art Therapy Association Becoming an art therapist Q: What qualifications are required in New York to be a licensed creative arts therapist? A: Generally, "each New York licensed practitioner has a master's or higher degree in a program of creative arts therapy or its equivalent, has passed a state-approved exam or assessment, and has completed at least 1,500 hours of clinical experience under supervision of a qualified, licensed mental health professional." - State Office of the Professions See More Collapse With its aid, "I was able to actually re-create my memories of my past life of growing up with my epilepsy from the time I was a toddler all the way up until now." It's a process, he said, that takes the darkness from his childhood and his seizures and brings it into the light. Piorkowski, 65, is one of the many whom CREATE co-founder Heather Hutchison intends to assist at her nonprofit's Schenectady branch and at its sister site in Saratoga Springs. Hutchison, a licensed creative arts therapist who has worked in New York for 10 years, opened the branches in February with three colleagues to provide a central location for art therapy in the Capital Region. The demand here for such services is high, she said, but there's no real directory for agencies like hospitals to use when seeking a provider. As Hutchison and her colleagues receive requests from agencies in the region to provide training for staff or parents, they can now refer these demands to providers in the area who are best equipped to do the job, creating a network. CREATE also enlists instructors in everything from visual arts to music, who give classes and sessions for anyone in the neighborhood to enjoy. Over the course of a week, visitors to CREATE's locations will be able to choose between knitting, animation, writing, painting and more, all within a community of participants. The end result is a plethora of services for people in all stages of life. In a CREATE studio, LGBTQ teens can find a safe space; students with developmental disabilities can learn teamwork by painting together; and guests of Code Blue and Shelters of Saratoga can use animation to share their stories. Early intervention In particular, this environment could provide help for people who are sinking into a crisis and throw them a life-preserver at a point midway between health and hospitalization. As CREATE co-founder Julianne Lewis puts it, "The health care system doesn't have a structure to help people unless they need to be hospitalized." She and Hutchison aim to come to the rescue before that happens. Reasons for hospitalization can include mental health and addiction. Until it gets to that, chances for art therapy are sparse. Aili Lopez, another CREATE co-founder who is employed at a Saratoga Springs facility, has observed this treatment gap firsthand. "I see a lot of clients coming in again and again, and I see them benefiting from the art therapy in the hospital," Lopez said. However, the level of art therapy offered at hospitals is tough to find anywhere else; clients can access it only after their problems are grave enough to require their admittance. When these clients leave, their access to that therapy ends, the progress they made might be cut short and their troubles might return. Once outside, clients can find therapists and recovery programs, but none of that connects them to "day-to-day life" the way a loaded paintbrush can, Lopez said. "Even when you have health insurance, lots of insurance doesn't cover the level of care that people need when they come out of a crisis," Lewis said. The communal nature of art therapy sustains clients at the state of wellness they achieved in the hospital. Those in need might not be able to afford medication, Lewis said, "but you can pick up a paintbrush and do work in a supportive environment." Community involvement Piorkowski's tile was approaching completion at the end of Friday's session, and a series of graceful curves lay on its surface like lace. Eventually, it will join 49 other tiles on a wall at Schenectady County Community College outside the school's Canalside cafe. Students will be invited to wield brushes and glaze, and their mosaic will spread awareness of people with disabilities. "One of my hopes being in Schenectady is to work on community public arts projects murals, that sort of thing," Hutchison said. "I'm working with other people who are active in Schenectady in the arts scene and other artists, and we're discussing putting together a committee that would look at various other neighborhood art projects." The plan for SCCC originated when Piorkowski saw the empty wall at the school, where he is an employee and a student in hotel management, and discerned a "blank canvas" worthy of a beautiful message. School officials welcomed his idea. The tiles will be fired in a kiln at 1,800 degrees F. with the help of Amanda Stickney, another guest at Friday's art therapy session and a professional artist in her own right. While stressful tasks like math and science can trigger her epilepsy, Stickney, a ceramicist, said she has never had a seizure while working on her art, which has a relaxing effect. "Part of our mission is community connection," Hutchison said. To that end, she and her colleagues welcome artists whose work invites visitors to take part in the creative process. CREATE has only just gotten off the ground, but its plans for development and programming are already in place. "Right now, we're funding everything ourselves," Hutchison said. "But we're a 501-3c, so we'll be applying for grant funding and starting some public crowdfunding." CREATE will hold grand opening celebrations at its Saratoga Springs branch from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday and at the Schenectady branch from 5 to 8 p.m. June 16. A special exhibition in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month will feature artwork dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, grief, suicide and self-identity. Kellen Riell is a designer and editor at the Times Union. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Taishan, China Taishan, or Mount Tai, is China's most sacred mountain. For centuries, emperors climbed it to pay homage to heaven and earth. Philosopher Confucius is said to have stood at the towering top, looked down and pronounced the world a small place indeed. While it isn't one of China's tallest mountains, the way to the top is still a challenge consisting of more than 6,000 stone steps, with the option of taking a cable car halfway. Walking the whole way can take anywhere from three to seven hours. I'd heard stories about elderly groups and others resolutely marching up the mountain in the dark and arriving in time to see the sunrise, but I decided, with some friends, to start in the afternoon and see the sunrise after spending the night in a hotel at the top. More Information If you go Mount Tai: Located in Tai'an city, Shandong province. Open 24 hours, year-round. From February to November: adults, $18, children, $9. December to January, adults, $15, children, $7. Getting there: High-speed trains run to Tai'an city from Beijing (two hours), Shanghai (four hours) or Jinan city, capital of Shandong province (30 minutes). Then take a bus or taxi to one of four entrances, including Red Gate and Peace Blossom Valley. From the Peace Blossom Valley entrance, you can also take a tourist bus ($5 one-way) to the cable car station. Cable car is $15 one-way. Lodging: Xianju Hotel, top of Mount Tai, near the South Heaven Gate. Standard rooms from $60 upward. See More Collapse We entered through the Red Gate at the south foot of the mountain, stopping to look in temples with burning incense and at some of the hundreds of stone tablets that dot the way up. We were surrounded by serene greenery, punctuated every so often by a rousing round of mainland or Taiwanese pop music from tourists carrying personal stereo systems for all to hear. Two 7- and 9-year-old brothers offered me a welcome excuse to rest from climbing when they asked "auntie," one of the few foreigners on the mountain, to pose for a photo with them. Then I continued to follow in the footsteps of the emperors. In 219 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin Dynasty, held a ceremony on the summit to announce to the gods that he had successfully unified China. For thousands of years, Taishan has been a source of inspiration for poets and thinkers, and a place to worship. The mountain is the most venerated of China's five sacred mountains. This is because it is the easternmost, and in Chinese culture east is regarded as a sacred direction, because that is where the sun and moon rise. Confucius, whose hometown Qufu is not too far away, declared from the summit: "Climb Mount Tai and the whole world looks small." His words express how Mount Tai looks large against its low-lying surroundings, and also the more philosophical musing that the higher you climb, the greater your vision. For me, the higher I climbed, the more steps I saw, until finally I got to the steps leading up to the cable car station. Of course, Confucius wouldn't have taken the cable car, but I wasn't Confucius. And two hours of climbing steps was enough of a climbing experience for me. On top of the 5,069-foot mountain, lodging is limited. There are a few basic hotels, and travelers also come equipped with camping gear. We stayed in a hotel and paid $15 per person to sleep on mattresses in a room with 13 people. Outside our door, other guests slept in tents or rows of beds lining the corridors. Another likely difference between my experience and that of Confucius: He probably didn't climb the mountain with thousands of other people. In the morning, we got up at 4 a.m. to position ourselves for the sunrise, apparently peak time on the mountain. From Jade Emperor Peak, sitting among hundreds of others, many in rented green army overcoats to keep warm against the strong wind, we were fortunate enough to see a clear sunrise, majestically bathing the mountain peaks in light. Despite the many people, our weekend trip to Taishan was a relaxing and energizing experience. The greenery up the mountain made for a picturesque climb, and the second-day valley hike was to me the highlight. It was serene, allowing me to contemplate the greater vision I had gleaned from the top of Mount Tai. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Washington, D.C. As a cascade of revelations continues to engulf President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including representatives John Faso and Elise Stefanik, increasingly are finding themselves behind the eight ball. Last week, it was Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey amid the bureau's investigation of possible links between the president's campaign and Russia, and the role they might have played in swinging the 2016 election to Trump. On Monday, it was a report that Trump revealed classified information in a meeting with Russia's foreign minister and U.S. ambassador. Then on Tuesday, it was reports of a Comey memo documenting how Trump pressured him to go easy on fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "I hope you can let this go," Comey quoted Trump as saying. And Wednesday? The Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation. Mueller headed the bureau through the tumultuous decade following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Business as usual in Washington seemed to grind to a halt Wednesday as lawmakers and officials scrambled for handholds, fearing descent into a widening political abyss. Republicans were among those scrambling, with Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, demanding the FBI turn over relevant documents and summoning Comey to appear before the House committee he chairs, and Rep. Justin Amash a conservative outlier and Trump critic suggesting impeachment might be a possibility. The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee also demanded the FBI turn over all documents relating to communications between Comey and the Trump administration over the Russia investigation. House Speaker Paul Ryan cautioned against "rushing to judgment" while declaring Congress needs to get the facts. Even so, he said, "it is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president." Stefanik and Faso both chose to tiptoe through the deepening crisis Wednesday. Faso joined his congressional neighbor, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Newburgh, in announcing legislation to push airlines to carry child-appropriate medication formulas and dosages to protect against anaphylactic shock caused by peanuts and other potential allergens. Last week, Faso laid out what he saw as a logical sequence of events to address the Trump-Russia allegations: Appoint an FBI director acceptable to both sides of the aisle and if that proves problematic, go for a special prosecutor. The Kinderhook Republican did not respond to a request for an interview Wednesday, instead sending a statement through his spokeswoman: "Facts are more important than Washington political games. Let the appropriate committees do their oversight work and collect the facts." Stefanik, of Willsboro, also hewed closely to her congressional agenda. The 32-year-old sophomore hailed passage of legislation to help young workers develop technical skills by the House Education and the Workforce Committee, of which she is a member "This is especially important in the North Country, which is home to many industries ranging from bus and train manufacturing to paper mills and a workforce that is eager for continued opportunity," she said in a press release. Her spokesman, Tom Flanagin, said she supports Ryan's call for Congress to dig to the bottom. "As a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Congresswoman Stefanik is part of the ongoing bipartisan Russia investigation and will follow the facts wherever they lead," he said. Both Faso and Stefanik may well dread blowback in their upstate swing districts, which encompass a wide swath of rural New York, from the Hudson Valley up through the North Country. The 19th and 21st districts are conservative-leaning, but both are viewed as competitive for Democrats especially if the pendulum swings against Republicans in potential wave election. Their positions in support of a controversial GOP health care replacement of Obamacare have drawn a number of sharp-edged questions at public appearances, though their experiences have not been as vitriolic as those suffered by many of their colleagues. Some New York Republicans didn't hold back on the question of whether an actual crisis exists. "At present, it's a lot of Washington fog," said GOP state Chairman Edward Cox, who said he'd been to a series of Republican meetings in San Diego and Miami where the subject didn't even come up. New York Democrats had an easier time of it, mixing a sense of greater GOP vulnerability with a rising eagerness to pounce. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer went to the Senate floor Tuesday evening shortly after the New York Times broke the story of Comey's memo about his discussion with the president. "Concerns about our national security, the rule of law, the independence of our nation's highest law enforcement agencies are mounting," said Schumer, never one to shy away from phrase-making. "I say to all of my colleagues in the Senate: History is watching." Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, insisted the various investigations should be embraced as a bipartisan effort. "The American public deserves the truth," he said. "It's not about being Republican or Democrat. It's about safeguarding our republic." Asked what advice he would give his Republican-lawmaker neighbors, Tonko said: "Advice? I don't think I need to give my colleagues advice on how to do their jobs. The American people deserve the truth, and I'll leave it at that." dan@hearstdc.com State Police ALBANY A city man was drunk when he parked his car at the State Police Academy and got out to lie in the grass Wednesday afternoon, troopers said. Patrick French was more than three times the legal limit for driving while intoxicated when he stopped his car in a parking lot and settled in the grass, State Police said. A state trooper was seriously injured during a traffic stop Wednesday afternoon, according to the Corning Leader. The trooper, based in Painted Post, was hurt when her vehicle was struck by a pickup, the newspaper reported, citing State Police officials and a local television station, WETM. The regime is getting understandably nervous faced with this opposition. It is already in a weak position and the public outcry is making it rock at its foundations, fearful of another rising like in 2009. Faced with the popular threat, the Iranian regime, as it has done continually over the past few decades, is ramping up its suppression of the people. The brave freedom-yearning people are displaying slogans saying that their vote is for Maryam Rajavi the leader of the opposition. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, said last week that the election can be a sign of the countrys honor or they can be a sign of its weakness and create problems and declared that those who act against it will be punished. He said they will undoubtedly face a harsh slap. Ali-Asghar Ahmadi, the head of the regimes State Election Committee, also said last week that plots were currently underway and declared that security and military personnel would be at the elections. He said that the police will implement security and will be complemented by the Bassij forces, the IRGC, the Intelligence Ministry and the army, in which the regime as full trust and faith. The head of the police special commandos said that his force has been doubled in size and is able to tackle domestic enemies. The head of security in the regimes election committee said: Security preparations, intelligence awareness and planning by the rapid response units has been planned such that any action that aims to disrupt security and order during the election would be dealt with firmly in the quickest possible timeframe, and we will decisively prevent any form of insecurity. The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said at the beginning of the month that the PMOI are trying to influence the election and urged the people to not be influenced by the enemys propaganda. It said that the intelligence services will firmly act against the peoples hope () to strike a blow to the system. Another news agency said that those who are opposed to the elections are trying to influence the outcome. It accused the PMOI of spreading tales and rumors via social media sites. Betty Warren Herzog (1920-1993) was a 20th-century artist known for her emphasis on realism. She spent the latter part of her life as a resident of the Capital Region, where she taught at her studio in Malden Bridge, a hamlet in the north part of Chatham; painted the official portrait of New York Gov. Hugh Carey that now hangs in the Capitol; and drew sketches that accompanied stories for the Times Union's Christmas Fund. Herzog worked under the name Betty Warren, and became nationally known as a portrait artist during a time when abstract expressionism was the more prominent art form of the day. She befriended Norman Rice, director of the Albany Institute of History & Art, who was instrumental in helping Warren make a name for herself in Albany. In turn, she helped shape the careers of many artists who studied her realistic techniques and went on to their own prominence in the field, such as Nelson Shank. Prior to coming to Albany through marriage to Jacob Herzog, a prominent Albany lawyer, Warren had married actor Stuart Lancaster, grandson of circus legend Charles Ringling; she moved with Lancaster to Sarasota, Fla., where she found the inspiration to produce remarkable circus portraits. Yet this was a career that took place during a time when individual artists did not necessarily give much thought to "marketing their brand." Warren's legacy might have largely died with her, in fact, if not for the dedicated efforts of her friend Diane Reilly, a Voorheesville woman who has made researching Warren's life and artistry a labor of love. A collector of stories, Reilly has spoken to many people who once sat to have their portraits done by Warren. Or, more accurately, sat many times in this age of selfies and ubiquitous digital portraiture, it is perhaps easy to forget that having one's portrait painted was actually a commitment that could involve multiple visits and remaining still for hours at a time. Reilly is assembling her research into what might one day become a definitive biography of Warren. It will feature stories of people being reunited with portraits of themselves done many years prior, a subject she finds particularly fascinating. "Have you ever found an old photo of yourself?" she asks. "It can really trigger not only memories, but an appreciation for an era." One such reunion happened for septuagenarian Rensselaer native Jack Millea, who sat for his portrait to be painted by Warren some 40 years ago. Millea hadn't set out to be a model; he was merely working as a house painter for one of Warren's next-door neighbors. Around the same time, Warren had gotten tapped by New York City-based Portraits Inc. to produce a sample portrait of a "youngish businessman." The artist looked out her window, saw Millea on a ladder and decided that, with a change into a suit and tie, he would be a perfect fit. "I sat for her probably on 10 or 12 different occasions, a hour or more at a clip," Millea recalls. "She would never let me look at the painting until it was completed." Even then, he only got to see it once he was invited to an unveiling that Warren hosted at her home, and soon afterward both painting and subject went their separate ways. Shortly after Warren died, however, Millea attended a showing of her work at the Malden Bridge studio. At the gathering one of Warren's two sons approached him and said, "You look really familiar to me." He had recognized him from the portrait but at the time, neither son had any idea where to locate the piece, which sat somewhere within an overwhelming collection representing a lifetime of work. Flash forward many years later, to nearly present-day: Warren's elder son enters a care facility for Parkinson's disease and allowed Reilly to become the caretaker for much of his mother's work. While looking the collection over one day, one of Reilly's family members recognizes the person in the Millea portrait as someone he knows. Reilly tracks down the subject and invites him to see the work. Viewing the work becomes a chance for Millea to literally look into a mirror reflecting back a younger version of himself: "I had forgotten how big it is," Millea laughs. "It's actually life-size." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Warren was also commissioned to create childhood portraits of one of the daughters of Lewis Swyer, a patron of the arts and founder of an Albany construction company that built high-profile projects such as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Swyer's daughter Carol fondly recalls visiting Warren in her Tudor-style home near Washington Park; at one end of the home was a solarium, she says, that contained an art studio. Swyer would make regular visits there after ballet class, patiently posing in her leotard and tights for long stretches. Looking back, she acknowledges that the experience was unique: "You don't totally understand at 8 years old. You don't know that other people aren't doing that." Although one of the Swyer portraits never left the family, the other had been painted for family friends. Not unlike Millea's experience, the second portrait has since found its way back to its subject. Echoing Reilly's sentiment, Swyer says, "I like the idea of reuniting the people with the art." Meanwhile, Reilly continues to gather biographical material, keeping her eyes and ears open. "I just hope that there are some other people in Albany that might still have a good story for me," she says. Time will tell. Tony Pallone is a frequent contributor to The Times Union. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Schenectady The advantages of waterfront living are abundant. "That feeling you get looking out at a body of water is tough to replace," said Joel Koval, president of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors and a broker with RealtyUSA. "Water's very soothing, providing a great view," said Rocco Ferraro, who chairs the Clifton Park planning board. But all that beauty comes with a cost. Whether it's the rental premium you'll pay for a waterfront view, or the hefty flood insurance premiums if you're too close to the water, waterfront living can be expensive. At Mohawk Harbor, which will provide dozens of new apartments and condominiums on the Mohawk River in Schenectady, construction workers raised the shoreline anywhere from 3 to 6 feet to place the buildings above the floodplain. Koval, who owns a property on Third Avenue in Troy's Lansingburgh section two blocks from the river pays $1,900 a year in flood insurance premiums. The house is just 900 square feet. Diane Sluus, a broker with Keller Williams Capital District who specializes in waterfront properties, has a property in South Troy that requires flood insurance, for which she pays $400 a year. But it's not just the expense of flood insurance, which banks typically require before they'll provide a mortgage. Waterfront property in many areas of the Capital Region for decades was something to be shunned. "From a historical perspective, our least desirable land uses were along waterfronts," said Ferraro. "They were discharge points" for sewage, often untreated, and other wastes, as well as transportation routes, both on the water and along the shoreline, where the land was often level. As late as the 1960s, the Hudson would have a certain stench on warm summer nights. New York Central Railroad for many years touted its "water level route" between New York City that followed the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, as well as the Great Lakes. And Interstate 787 provides a major barrier to the Albany riverfront. But environmental regulations have helped clean up polluted waterways and led to a new appreciation of area rivers. Now, "our land is being repurposed to introduce uses that are more compatible," with parkland and recreational uses often highlighted, Ferraro said. Many waterfront homes are second homes, where the owners intend to spend weekends and vacations. "I always seem to be working with one or two people looking for vacation waterfront property," said Koval. "Fewer are looking for year-round waterfront" property. Seasonal homes typically are smaller and less expensive than year-round waterfront houses. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. But not always. It's not difficult to find large houses with plenty of waterfront along Lake George selling for $2 million or more. Indeed, the Aubrey Guri Team/RealtyUSA in Saratoga Springs had at least four Lake George properties listed for more than $2.4 million. At the other extreme, modest properties can be found along the Hudson River on Second Avenue in Troy, and on smaller lakes in Rensselaer County. "The bigger the lake, the more the price goes up," observed Sluus. "If you have to cross over a highway, or you only have lake rights, that affects the price." Increasingly, old warehouses and factory buildings are being converted into apartments in such cities as Troy and Cohoes, while new apartment buildings also are going up along area riverfronts, including Schenectady, Cohoes and Green Island. Over the long term, prices will continue to rise. "There's only so much waterfront property out there," said Koval. eanderson@timesunion.com 518-454-5323 THE ISSUE: Trump's appointments and policy changes advance secrecy, set back progress. THE STAKES: By catering to special interests in ways he once decried, the president further destabilizes Washington. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion - See More Collapse --- One of Donald Trump's memorable campaign pledges was to "Drain the swamp!" As president, though, he seems determined instead to preserve it and make sure no one knows what lurks there. Far from draining government of special interest influence, President Trump seems intent on filling the swamp ever fuller, by both policy decisions and a seeming inability to restrain himself from vendettas. He ran as an outsider, but Trump and his chaotic administration are pursuing a political agenda as inside-the-Beltway as any career elected official. Take, for instance, Mr. Trump's reversal of ethics rules related to the hiring by federal agencies of people who previously lobbied that same agency. A rule put in place in the first year of President Barack Obama's tenure prohibited an agency from hiring anyone who had lobbied it within two years. Mr. Trump abolished the ban. Now new employees can get a waiver in order to work in areas overlapping their previous lobbying assignments, but, in another break from the Obama era, Mr. Trump is keeping the waivers secret instead of posting them on agency websites. The result, rather than the pristine landscape Mr. Trump promised, is a fog rising from the old swamp. The public has no way of knowing who might be flouting ethics rules, nor even, with the White House's new refusal to release visitor logs, what outside interests are meeting with which administration officials. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. This invites apparent but unchallenged conflicts of interest. Consider: The new director of White House environmental policy, Michael Catanzaro, was until recently a lobbyist for energy companies and the Association of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. Teresa Manning was named the deputy assistant secretary at the Office of Population Affairs, within the Department of Health and Human Services. OPA annually distributes nearly $300 million in family planning funds and shapes policy and regulations on contraception and teen pregnancy. Previously a lobbyist for anti-abortion organizations, Manning has said she doesn't believe contraception works and doesn't support any government role in family planning. At least four members of Mr. Trump's Cabinet or inner circle of advisers have close ties to Wall Street, and among Mr. Trump's first executive orders was one to start scaling back financial-overhaul laws put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. This from a man who, as a presidential candidate, derided opponent Hillary Clinton as "nothing more than a Wall Street puppet" and as someone "bought and paid for by Wall Street." These are not the actions of a renegade outsider taking on an entrenched political system. They're the clear advancing of an agenda to reverse progress made in consumer protection, energy, climate change, women's rights and other fronts. Far from draining the swamp, Mr. Trump is dredging it even deeper. After Ahmadinejad, the country was on the brink of economic collapse mainly because of UN Security Council sanctions that had been imposed when Iran refused to suspend its nuclear program. So there entered Rouhani. His rhetoric had the right tone and he immediately agreed that the country should slow down on its nuclear program so that relations with the West could be repaired. In return, sanctions were eased. However, when the nuclear deal was being negotiated, nobody seemed to notice that Rouhani has a deceitful past. And the fact that Iran could restart its nuclear program at any time in the future was ignored. The Obama administration decided to go ahead and reward the Iranian regime with a large sum of money that has since been spent on funding terrorism, propping up Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad and other malign activities. During moderate Rouhanis time in office there were thousands of executions, even of women and young people who were minors at the time of their arrest. Suppression of the Iranian people was also ramped up and Rouhani was a close confidante of Supreme Leader Khamenei who can in no way be described as having moderate views. Even before becoming President of the Islamic Republic, Rouhanis previous career is also as far away from moderate as is possible. He was national security advisor during Hashemi Rafsanjanis time in office in which there were two major terrorist attacks that are said to have been carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its Quds Force, and its militia Hezbollah. Both Rouhani and the then-President had knowledge of the attacks. Rouhanis rival in the upcoming election is Raisi. He was involved in the 1988 massacre which resulted in the death of more than 30,000 political prisoners. He was part of the so-called death commission that was responsible ensuring the Supreme Leaders orders were carried out. The Iranian regime is scattered with people like these two candidates. No matter who becomes the next president, it is certain that the future of the country is as doomed as it currently is unless the regime is overthrown. Members of the Iranian opposition are currently taking part in a campaign that is speaking out for democracy and against the corrupt election that is about to take place. These people have been hailed by the leader of the opposition as a beacon of light for the people of Iran who so desperately want the freedom and democracy that they deserve. Bord Gais Energy Student Theatre Award for Best Overall Show comes to Thurles for the second year in succession as Billy Elliot follows on from The Lion King. Students in the Presentation Secondary School in Thurles are dancing in the classrooms today after it was announced that they have retained the Best Overall Show in the Bord Gais Energy Musical Theatre Student Awards for their fabulous production of Billy Elliot which ran before the mid term break in the Autumn 2016. The magnificent show played to packed audiences throughout the run with all those who attended being mesmerized by the talent on show. And, their views were clearly endorsed by the judging panel when it came to making the all-important decisions as Pres' Thurles was announced as being top of the pile once again. And, to add to the excitement, Zoe Gleeson was announced as Best Performer in a Supporting Role - another very appropriate and worthy winner following sterling performances in the show. 'All out together' - a scene from Billy Elliot staged so brilliantly by Presentation Thurles. The awards are fitting for all the students who participated to enthusiastically as well as for the Production Team led by Trisha McElgunn, Mairead Hackett and Patrick Conlon. And, coming off the back of the same award for last years Lion King, it makes Pres' Thurles the undisputed champions of musical theatre in the secondary school sphere. It had been felt that The Lion King could not be topped, but the Pres' girls managed to do it again and the standing ovations which greeted their performances throughout the run were fully deserved and totally justified. There is a great buzz in the school today and a wonderful sense of having achieved something very special - it takes a good school to win an award, but a great school to retain it. he Bord Gais Energy Student Theatre Awards recognise and rewards participation in the dramatic arts in schools across Ireland. Since its inception in 2013, over 1,000 schools have participated in the programme A homeless man trespassed into the private homes of two families in Killea, terrorised young children and later assaulted two Gardai in Tipperary Courthouse, heard Thurles District Court. Inspector Padraic Powell told Judge Elizabeth MacGrath that Andrew Phillips, of no fixed abode, and originally from the UK, was charged with trespassing in Gortacurra, Killea, Templemore, on April 4th this year, in such a manner and without reasonable excuse, as would likely cause fear to another person. One of the premises was the home of Mary Bourke. Mrs Bourke told the Court that she was inside her home that day cooking, while her three children, aged 4, 9 and 13 were outside on the trampoline. Mrs Bourke saw Andrew Phillips approach the gate, and heard roaring and shouting from her children. One of them said to her: Mammy, theres a funny man outside. Ms Bourke told Phillips to leave and he said no. Before that he was shouting at my kids. Phillips said it was a public area, but Mrs Bourke said it was her private yard. Phillips looked at her with a piercing eye and and caused her to feel terror. Phillips demanded food and water. He kept shouting. He said I am not moving, this is a public highway. Phillips ran off, and Mrs Bourke said she could remember her 4-year-old child screaming...I was frightened myself. Mr Phillips represented himself in Court and cross examined Ms Bourke in the Witness Box. Ms Bourke told the Judge that Phillips continued shouting and roaring. Mrs Bourkes poor mother in law was near the door, and she was terrified that he would go into her. At this point, Gardai arrived. Ms Bourke added: he was walking along the the road. He saw the gate was open. He saw the kids. He decided to come in. He kept saying your kids are jeering at me. In Court, Phillips said to Mrs Bourke: Hello, I do remember seeing you about five weeks ago. At any time did I physically touch your children? No, you just terrified them, responded Mrs Bourke. Mrs Bourkes neighbour PJ Nolan gave evidence that that he was the owner of the other property, and did not give permission to Phillips to enter his land. No, I most certainly did not, he said. Shannon Tierney said her siblings were outside in the bouncy castle that day. I was watching I heard Chloe tell him to go away. She went on to tell Phillips to stay outside, it was private property, but he kept advancing. She said shed call the Guards, and went back to close the doors. I was terrified at this stage. I kept asking him what do you want? He kept looking at me. Ms Tierney told Phillips he made me feel very unsafe and scared. He did not respond to me. I went back in and locked the door. Phillips asked her if he touched the children. No, but you terrified them to the point that theyre afraid to go out. You invaded my personal space, and thats not okay with me. Another neighbour, Mick Costello, said he looked out through the window and saw Phillips walking along the road, before there was a commotion with the kids. I decided something wasnt right. The two Alsatian dogs were barking and the kids were roaring. He did not interact with me. Phillips passed in front of him as if he was a piece of wood. Mr Costello called his wife and Phillips spoke to her, saying he wanted water and food. While she was making a sandwich, he was looking into the windows of my house in a way Mr Costello did not like. Phillips maintained it wasnt a criminal offence to want water and a sandwich. Garda PJ OBrien said he came across the defendant walking along the road, after reports of him in a yard. Garda Kevin Joyce got out and approached Phillips but he did not speak to us. He turned his head away. Phillips later claimed they were bogus policemen. The complainant who owned the yard did not make an official complaint to Gardai. The two Gardai later encountered Phillips again later that day. Mrs Bourke was upset and frightened. Her daughter was shivering. Shannon Tierney was shocked, absolutely terrified. Phillips had to be escorted out into the roadway, and into a patrol car. Andrew Phillips was physically resisting me in the patrol car, added Garda OBrien. Garda Joyce gave evidence corroborating his colleagues account. Mrs Bourke was very unsettled and scared by this person. Her daughter was absolutely terrified. Phillips behaviour was very irrational and they considered detaining him under the Mental Health Act. He had to be held in the back of the patrol car. ShannonDoc assessed Phillips but his behaviour did not warrant him coming under the terms of the Mental Health Act. Courthouse Assault Separately, Phillips was charged with assaulting both Garda Joyce and Garda OBrien in Market Square, Tipperary town, on April 5th last. Phillips was being conveyed to the Courthouse that morning, and while they were at the back door of the Courthouse, he once again became resistant. He needed to be carried up to the top of the stairs, said Garda Joyce. Phillips headbutted Garda Joyce in the chest, and kicked Garda OBrien in the leg. We placed him back in the van and brought him to Limerick prison. Mr Phillips maintained he could not have assaulted either men as he was handcuffed, but Judge MacGrath said being handcuffed does not mean you cannot assault somebody. Judge MacGrath found the facts proven against Phillips in both incidents and convicted him of two counts each of trespass and assault. As Phillips did not want to engage with the Probation Services or have the matter adjourned again, Judge MacGrath said she must impose a custodial sentence. Phillips was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 4 months imprisonment in relation to Killea, and two terms of 2 months for both assaults - to run consecutive to the 4 months. In total, Phillips will therefore serve six months, backdated to April 5th. Judge MacGrath added: Mr Phillips, you have problems, you need to mind yourself. Thieves have once again targeted the area outside Newport with the report of at least 2,900 worth of property taken from a parked car in the past week. At the end of April, Nenagh Gardai issued a warning to motorists to be careful when parking cars in the Glen Clare area after a number of handbags and cash were taken from parked vehicles. And the Gardai have placed signs in car parks in Nenagh and Thurles warning people not to leave their cars unlocked or valuables on show. In the latest incident, property worth 2,920 was stolen from a car that was broken into in a secluded area near Newport while the owner of the vehicle had gone for a walk on the Bog Road at Shower. When the owner returned he discovered the rear driver's side window smashed and a laptop, briefcase and some other items stolen. A vehicle was also targeted at the GAA grounds in Moneygall on Thursday night or Friday morning last when a flashing amber beacon and mud flaps were stolen. The total value of the missing property is estimated at 600. On Friday night or Saturday morning last, a blue Fiat Punto was stolen from outside Castleshepherd House in Ballingarry, Roscrea. In Borrisokane, Gardai are investigating the theft in recent days of an alloy wheel from a car at Finnoe Drive in the town. Gardai in Newport are seeking the public's help in relation to the theft of 600 worth of tools from a shed at Rockvale in recent days. Two petrol strimmers and a power washer were taken and damage was also caused in the break-in to the shed. There have also been a number of drug seizures in the Nenagh area over the past week. Cannabis herb worth 50 was seized at Arra Heights, Portroe, on Tuesday of last week. Cannabis herb worth 25 was seized at Ormond Keep in Nenagh on Wednesday of last week. Cocaine, valued at 20 was seized from a male in Silver Street in the town on Sunday. Two motorists were arrested on suspicion of drink driving. In the early hours of Sunday, a woman in Ormond Keep, Nenagh, and a male in Silver Street, Nenagh. Another driver for a similar alleged offence was arrested at Carrigatoher at 12.30pm on Friday last. Gardai made arrests for suspected thefts from Tesco in Nenagh on Wednesday of last week. A person was detained at 5pm on suspicion of stealing 45 worth of clothing and another individual was arrested at 7.30pm on suspicion of stealing an airbed and pump, valued at 50. Gardai in Roscrea are investigating the breaking of windows at a house in Chapel Lane in the town on Sunday night or Monday morning last. Some 250 worth of damage was caused. In a separate incident, a male was arrested for a suspected breach of public order on Sunday last at 8pm in Main Street, Roscrea. Following the departure of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Leader of Fine Gael, party members in Tipperary will be making up their minds on who to vote for in the succession race. Geographically, Simon Coveney would seem to have the advantage over Leo Varadker in the bid to claim the Tipperary vote as part of the succession race following last nights departure of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny as FG leader. Minister Coveney was in Tipperary only a few weeks ago where he received a great welcome in Clonmel, Nenagh and Templemore. And, Templemore Thurles Municipal District Chairman Cllr Joe Bourke nailed his colours to the mast by declaring his support for the Cork man in the leadership race. There were quite a number of prominent FG people there on that occasion and Cllr Bourke received a big cheer for his comments - included were the likes of former TD Noel Coonan and Cllr John Crosse, both of whom are influential figures in the party. Of course Minister Coveney, if he is to be leader, will have to pass through Tipperary on each visit to and from his native county and home in Cork. That too could help sway support in his direction. 'You go over there and play on Varadkers team ' -Enda Kenny pictured during a charity event with Simon Coveney. Minister Varadker is supposed to have a slight lead at the moment according to the poles. But, will there be a third candidate in the race? Minister Richard Bruton, who has close links in Tipperary with the FG faithful has yet to declare his hand. Were he to stand he would certainly garner a lot of support too and would be regarded as a steady hand on the wheel. The Fine Gael ladies are having an afternoon team even in the Horse and Jockey tomorrow afternoon and MEP Deirdre Clune and Kate O'Connell will be in attendance at the event. There is sure to be a lot of discussion and debate at that event. Hydetown Elementary School fifth-grader Zane Mott discusses some features in the mass customized learning pilot program to Amy Munro, of the state Department of Education (center), and Malynda Mauer, of Intermediate Unit 8, during a tour of the school on Wednesday. [May 18, 2017] CompSource Mutual Insurance Company Honored with Company of the Year Award from the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma CompSource Mutual Insurance Company, the leading provider of workers' compensation insurance in Oklahoma, was recognized by the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma as the 2017 Company of the Year. The award is voted on by the IIAOK membership and recognizes the company that has made a difference in the agent community by providing excellent products and services to independent agents and the independent insurance agency systems. CompSource was presented the award at the IIAOK's 110th Annual Conference and Trade Show. "It is an honor to be recognized as the 2017 Company of the Year from the IIAOK. We continually strive to mainain competitive rates and improve our processes; ensuring agents and policymembers receive the best customer care. We understand the critical role independent insurance agents play in helping to keep Oklahoma's workforce safe; we are incredibly proud to be recognized as their trusted partner for providing workers' compensation insurance," said Jason Clark, President and CEO of CompSource Mutual Insurance Company. "We are proud to recognize leaders in the industry who make outstanding contributions to the Association and the community. CompSource has been an active partner of IIAOK for many years and has made a positive impact on our industry. We congratulate them and look forward to their continued efforts in support of the independent agent community," said Denise Johnson, President and CEO of Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005612/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Dianrong Announces Next Technology Agreement Outside Mainland China HONG KONG, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dianrong today announced a new technology agreement with Maggie Ng, a leading consumer banking executive in Asia Pacific, to launch the first global fintech marketplace connecting Asian investors with high-quality, low-volatility and largely untapped asset classes, including U.S. consumer lending. The new strategic alliance combines Dianrong's advanced technology with Ms. Ng's extensive consumer-lending experience. Ms. Ng and Dianrong engineers are currently completing beta testing for the new fintech platform that will provide Asian investors with an integrated solution to access U.S. marketplace lending assets. The platform will utilize multiple U.S. marketplace lenders and a single onboarding and know-your-customer process. It will also offer advanced risk modeling capabilities, added credit enhancement and structuring features, and blockchain solutions to safeguard data integrity. Investors will also have access to real-time performance monitoring, U.S. tax-exemption filing capabilities and a secondary market for liquidity. The new fintech marketplace leverages Dianrong's award-winning Tuantuanzhuan (TTZ) technology, which has the ability to allocate investor capital across hundreds of thousands of loan assets in real time. "Conumer lending, especially in the U.S., offers consistent performance with lower risk profile over time. However, the infrastructure to connect Asian investors with this attractive asset class has been lacking to date," said Soul Htite, Founder and CEO of Dianrong. "Maggie approached Dianrong for help to build a fintech solution for Asian investors, to finally access this seemingly hidden asset class and put consumer lending to work for more Asian portfolios. We are thrilled she has selected Dianrong as her technology partner," Mr. Htite added. "I have wanted to help bridge the gap between Asian investors and U.S. consumer lending assets for a long time, but making that connection remains difficult and expensive within traditional banking channels. Fintech removes much of that friction and significantly reduces the overall cost and complexity. With Dianrong's advanced technology, we can make these solutions available now," said Ms. Ng. "Dianrong is the perfect choice to help provide Asian investors with simple, affordable access to US consumer lending assets. And their underlying technology will ensure unmatched speed-to-market, ongoing efficiency and outstanding reliability," she added. Ms. Ng has almost 20 years of financial services and consumer lending experience. She most recently served as the Head of Asia and EMEA Lending at Citibank N.A. Previously, she headed Citibank Hong Kong's credit cards and unsecured lending businesses. Ms. Ng also served on the Board of Directors for Citibank HK. Prior to Citibank, Ms. Ng held senior positions at Ernst & Young (Australia) and Broken Hill Proprietary (HK) Ltd. Ms. Ng holds an MBA from the California State University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Information Technology from the University of New South Wales. A commercial launch of the platform, to be based in Hong Kong, is expected by the end of the second quarter of 2017, pending final regulatory approvals. About Dianrong Dianrong, a leader in online marketplace lending in China, originates more than US$300 million in monthly assets for 3.8 million retail lenders. Founded in 2012, Dianrong offers individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises a comprehensive, one-stop financial platform supported by industry-leading technology, compliance and transparency. The company's sophisticated and flexible infrastructure enables it to design and customize lending and borrowing products and services, based on industry-specific data and insights, all supported by online risk-management and operation tools. Dianrong's specific offerings include loan originations, investment products and marketplace lending solutions. The company remains among the most advanced financial technology platforms in China, as of year-end 2016. Dianrong was also named in 2016 to the executive directorship of the National Internet Finance Association of China, led by the People's Bank of China. Based in Shanghai, Dianrong has 28 offices across China and employs approximately 3,500 professionals, including 600 full-time fintech engineers. For more information, please visit https://www.dianrong.com/en/index.html. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170518/1855300-1 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170518/1855300-1LOGO [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] They point out that the country will continue to be ruled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei no matter who is elected to be the next president. People around the country have been putting up posters in defiance of the farce election that is about to take place. Members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have spoken about how elections in the West cannot be compared to those in Iran, pointing out that Iran is ruled by theocracy. It is illegal in Iran to be a member of the NCRI as the Iranian government has deemed it a terrorist organisation. However, the members of the group are defiant and determined to live in a democratic country once the Iranian regime has been overthrown. In the countrys capital there are posters with slogans calling for a regime overthrow and references to the corrupt candidates. Current president Hassan Rouhani and rival Ebrahim Raisi have histories of violence and brutality. Rouhani, the so-called moderate president, has a horrifying record of executions during his time in office. Ebrahim Raisi was involved in the 1988 massacre in which more than 30,000 political prisoners were executed. He was part of the death commission that approved the murders. Many NCRI members have been victim to the Iranian regime. Many have been arrested and tortured. Many others have been executed. At the minute the opposition activists are trying to ensure that the people of Iran are one day free and are pushing to bring democracy to the country. Many of the activists say that they are taking such a risk because they owe it to those before them that made the ultimate sacrifice for the people. The leader of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, said in a statement to Fox News: This sham is an attempt to put a 21st century veneer on a medieval regime, all of whose factions pursue the same policies vis-a-vis suppression at home, export of terror abroad, the nuclear weapons program, and pilfering of the Iranian nations wealth. She praised the activists and said that they are the hope for the people that are suffering in Iran. She encouraged them to continue and said that the overthrow of the religious dictatorship is possible and within reach. [May 18, 2017] Government of Canada Reducing Its Environmental Footprint and Energy Costs Public Services and Procurement Canada Participating in Zero Carbon Pilot Program to Reduce Government of Canada's Carbon Footprint OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which includes greening its own operations. The government is pleased that the Arthur Meighen Building in Toronto, Ontario, has been selected by the Canada Green Building Council to participate in its Zero Carbon Pilot Program. Through this innovative pilot program, the Canada Green Building Council will provide guidance so that the government is able to meet the new Zero Carbon Building Standard. New and existing buildings that have high energy performance, use alternative energy sources and achieve a zero carbon footprint can be certified with the standard. Public Services and Procurement Canada has identified the Arthur Meighen Building as a major renovation project to become a modern workplace environment. Quotes "This project embodies our commitment to improving how we manage energy performance of federal buildings. Through this and other initiatives across government, we are taking steps to reduce our footprint and green our buildings." Steven MacKinnon Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Quick Facts Built in the 1950s, the Arthur Meighen Building is a 10-storey building with an area of 41,085 square meters. An initial feasibility study, focusing on energy efficiency, showed that it is possible to reduce the building's greenhouse gas emissions by 88%, compared to the current building's performance, and achieve annual savings of over $500,000 in energy costs. in energy costs. A zero carbon building produces, or procures, carbon-free renewable energy in an amount sufficient to offset the annual carbon emissions associated with its operations. The renovated building will serve as the main Government of Canada building in the Ontario Region. Associated Links Canada Green Building Council Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook SOURCE Public Works & Government Services Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Jenner & Block Expands Communications, Internet And Technology Practice With Three Former High-Ranking FCC Officials In Its Washington, DC Office WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenner & Block announced today that three former high-ranking Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials have joined the firm's Communications, Internet and Technology Practice. Howard J. Symons, former FCC General Counsel and former Vice Chair of the FCC's Incentive Auction Task Force, has joined as a partner; Roger C. Sherman, former Chief of the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Chief Counsel to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, will serve as of counsel, effective June 7, 2017; and Johanna R. Thomas, former Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, has joined as special counsel. All three are based in the firm's Washington, DC office. "We have a renowned Communications, Internet and Technology Practice with a long history of handling matters that have transformed and continue to transform the telecommunications, media, and broadband industries," said Terrence J. Truax, Jenner & Block's managing partner. "Howard, Roger and Johanna will provide additional depth and breadth to the practice, further strengthening the team's ability to provide counsel to clients on the complex issues they face as these industries continue to evolve." Howard Symons. With nearly 40 years of experience in telecommunications law and policy, Mr. Symons has held senior positions in government and the private sector. As General Counsel of the FCC, he oversaw more than 60 lawyers who provided legal support for the Commission's policy and rulemaking activities and recommended decisions in adjudicatory matters. He also served as one of Chairman Wheeler's four senior advisors. As Vice Chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force, Mr. Symons was one of the primary architects of the first incentive auction: a two-sided auction in which broadcasters bid to give up their spectrum and wireless providers bid to buy it. From 1985 to 2014, Mr. Symons was a partner at another AmLaw 100 firm, chairing that firm's communications practice and serving as a member of the Policy (Executive) Committee. Between 1981 and 1985, he served as Senior Counsel to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications of the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he was responsible for developing legislation on matters ranging from domestic telephone policy to cable franchising and international telecommunications. Roger Sherman. Mr. Sherman has significant experience in a wide array of communications and technology matters, particularly in the wireless space. During his more than 20 years in Washington, Mr. Sherman has held senior positions at a federal agency, on Capitol Hill, and inside a major wireless company. In his role as the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief, he advised the Chairman and Commissioners on complex wireless matters, met regularly with C-suite executives in the industry, and supervised a team of more thn 200 professionals. Before joining the Bureau, Mr. Sherman held a number of senior positions on Capitol Hill in which he advised on communications policy and other issues. As Chief Counsel to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he coordinated the Committee's legislative agenda and oversight efforts for a wide range of policy issues including health care, energy, telecommunications, and consumer protection. As Chief Counsel and Staff Director to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, he advised members on communications policy, legislation, and FCC oversight. Before working at Energy and Commerce, Mr. Sherman was Deputy Chief Counsel to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Before entering government service, he was a director/senior counsel with Sprint Corporation, focusing on its wireless business. Johanna Thomas. Ms. Thomas is an experienced media, internet and telecommunications lawyer. As legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel, she provided strategic legal and policy counsel on wireless, international and public safety issues. At the FCC, Ms. Thomas also served as a legal advisor to the chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and as an attorney advisor in the Media Bureau's Industry Analysis Division. Prior to entering government service, Ms. Thomas was an associate in the telecommunications, internet and media group at another Am Law 100 international law firm. Led by co-chairs Samuel L. Feder and John L. Flynn, Jenner & Block's Communications, Internet and Technology Practice is at the forefront of rapid changes in the business and regulation of these converging industries. The group represents clients in pursuing large mergers and other transactions, entering new industries, navigating new regulations and legislation, and creating new products and services. Its lawyers are best known for tackling particularly difficult problems and bet-the-company matters that require a combination of the team's top legal skills, hands-on FCC experience, and commitment to work wherever and whenever needed to achieve clients' objectives. "We are excited that Howard, Roger and Johanna have joined the team," said Mr. Feder, a former General Counsel of the FCC. "Howard is well versed in the issues of broadband, telephony and wireless, adding to our already strong reputation in those areas. Roger is widely regarded as one of the premier strategists on wireless regulatory matters, and Johanna's experience providing legal guidance on a variety of areas will add tremendous value for our clients in the industry." Mr. Flynn added, "Howard, Roger and Johanna have exceptional skills and industry knowledge that will benefit our clients and round out our growing team. Our practice has continued to grow in recent years with a team of dedicated associates, including several who have been promoted to partner, and the arrivals of partners Nancy Libin and Rebekah Goodheart. With the addition of these former high-ranking officials, we expect the wireless, cable, privacy, satellite, and new technology matters we handle to continue to expand." Mr. Symons earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Mr. Sherman received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Amherst College and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Ms. Thomas earned her A.B. with honors from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S COMMUNICATIONS, INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE Jenner & Block has a decades-long reputation for handling communications matters of national importance. This tradition began in the 1980s with the firm's work as lead counsel on behalf of MCI in the antitrust suit against AT&T. The practice represents communications and media companies across the United States, handling matters on the forefront of nearly all areas of communications law, including the internet, cable, telecom, wireless, satellite and media. In addition to FCC-related counseling, the Jenner & Block team has been engaged in a virtually nationwide set of activities related to seeking approval from state public utility commissions. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK Jenner & Block (www.jenner.com) is a law firm with global reach, with more than 500 lawyers and offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2016, The American Lawyer named Jenner & Block to the A-List, which recognizes the top 20 US law firms. The American Lawyer also recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the United States six of the past nine years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jenner--block-expands-communications-internet-and-technology-practice-with-three-former-high-ranking-fcc-officials-in-its-washington-dc-office-300459943.html SOURCE Jenner & Block [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2017] L. Song Richardson Appointed Interim Dean of UC Irvine School of Law UCI Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia has appointed L. Song Richardson Interim Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Richardson (News - Alert) will assume the deanship on July 1, 2017. She succeeds Founding Dean Erwin Chemerinsky who will become the Dean of University of California, Berkeley School of Law in July 2017. Click here for the chronology of UCI Law's groundbreaking history. "I want to express my enormous gratitude to Dean Erwin Chemerinsky for all he has contributed to the success of the Law School and the entire University during his tenure as dean," said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. "I'm very grateful that Song Richardson has agreed to serve as interim dean, knowing that she will work with the law school community to maintain our extraordinary momentum." "Song Richardson's exemplary academic career and leadership as senior associate dean have prepared her to be an effective interim dean for the School of Law," said UCI Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia. "I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to lead UCI Law as its interim dean," said L. Song Richardson. "Along with Dean Chemerinsky, campus leadership, our top-ranked faculty, and our wonderful staff, students and alumni, we have created an extraordinary Law School that fosters innovation and promotes excellence in legal education. Through our collective leadership, I look forward to an exciting future for UCI Law and to more continued success." About L. Song Richardson Richardson has been a member of the faculty at UCI Law since 2014 and serves as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs since 2016. She received a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A., cum laude, from Harvard University in Psychology. With a Joint Appointment in Criminology, Law & Society, Richardson teaches and writes in the areas of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Law and Social Science. She serves on the Faculty Advisory Board for the Center on Law, Equality and Race and is also a Faculty Affiliate for the Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy. Richardson is a member of the American Law Institute, the country's leading independent organization made up of elected judges, academics, and practitioners which publishes works to clarify and improve the law. She is also the 2011 recipient of the American Association of Law School's Derrick Bell Award, which recognizes a junior faculty member's extraordinary contribution to legal education, the legal system or social justice through mentoring, teaching, and scholarship. Her article titled, "Police Efficiency and the Fourth Amendment," was selected as a "Must Read" by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Her co-edited book, "The Future of Crimnal Justice in America," was published by Cambridge University Press. Richardson frequently presents her work at academic symposia, non-academic legal conferences, and is frequently invited to speak across the country for judges, prosecutors, public defenders, police officers and private industry. Richardson's interdisciplinary research uses lessons from cognitive and social psychology to study criminal procedure, criminal law and policing. Her scholarship has been published by law journals at Yale, Cornell, Northwestern, Southern California, and Minnesota, among others. Dean Richardson previously held law professorships at DePaul University, American University, and the University of Iowa. Her legal career has also included partnership at a boutique criminal law firm and work as a state and federal public defender in Seattle, Washington. She was also an Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Immediately upon graduation from law school, Professor Richardson was a Skadden Arps Public Interest Fellow with the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles and the Legal Aid Society's Immigration Unit in Brooklyn, NY. Richardson also won first place in nine major piano competitions, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. About UCI Law One of the top law schools in the country, UC Irvine School of Law is the first public law school in California in nearly 50 years. Fulfilling a longstanding vision of the campus, the school opened its doors to its first class of 60 law students in fall 2009. In May 2017 our Inaugural Class celebrated the first five-year reunion. Today, the Law School has 47 full-time faculty members and 350 students. The School of Law is an innovative and visionary law school focused on training talented and passionate lawyers and driven by academic excellence, intellectual rigor and a commitment to enrich our communities through public service. From the outset, our goal has been to create one of the top law schools in the country and to prepare our students for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. UC Irvine School of Law combines the best of a large and renowned academic institution with a collegial, supportive and friendly environment. The Law School ranks highly and receives tremendous accolades. In 2015, its first year of eligibility, UCI Law ranked No. 30 by U.S. News & World Report out of 200 ABA-accredited law schools in the country. This was the highest debut ranking by any new law school in U.S. News history. UCI Law ranked No. 28 overall in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, U.S. News also ranked UCI Law No. 15 in Clinical Training, No. 17 in Intellectual Property Law, in the top 14 in student diversity and tied with Yale for third for best student/faculty ratio. Other national accolades include: A 2015 study by members of the University of St. Thomas School of Law measured the scholarly impact of law school faculties. UCI Law ranked No. 6 behind Yale, Harvard, Chicago, NYU and Stanford. The National Law Journal ranked UCI Law No. 2 in the country for placement of our students in government and public interest jobs. In the National Jurist 2017 list of Best Schools for Practical Training, UCI Law ranked No. 6 overall with an A+ grade, one of only nine law schools nationally to receive top honors. In the 2016 Law School Survey of Student Engagement, the vast majority of our students rated their entire educational experience as "Excellent," far exceeding our peer schools and the national average. UCI Law ranked No. 7 in a recent ranking of student placement in prestigious federal judicial clerkships. Our students' post-graduation professional opportunities are outstanding and include federal judicial clerkships, large, medium and small law firm employment and public interest legal positions locally and nationally. The Law School faculty are accomplished thought leaders from around the country with a broad range of expertise. Our curriculum is innovative, challenging and hands-on, and emphasizes strategic problem-solving. Clinical education is a cornerstone of the experience at UC Irvine School of Law. Every student must participate in one of the core clinics, listed below. Students develop practical legal skills through public interest work in these areas: Core Clinics Appellate Litigation Community & Economic Development Criminal Justice Domestic Violence Environmental Law Immigrant Rights Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology International Justice Elective Clinics Civil Rights Litigation Department of Fair Employment and Housing International Human Rights Reproductive Justice Veterans Moreover, the Law School's commitment to public service is demonstrated by the large number of students participating in extra-curricular pro bono projects every year. Since we opened our doors to students in 2009, 94 percent of all UCI Law graduates have participated in the school's Pro Bono Program. The Law School is also highly interdisciplinary, with many faculty members from across campus holding joint appointments and many law faculty holding appointments in other departments. Students can take courses in other fields and can earn joint degrees in almost any area. A robust array of programs complements our curriculum, including a regular speaker series and a myriad of student organizations. The UC Irvine School of Law Centers and Institutes provide in-depth impact by forging interdisciplinary partnerships with leaders from around the world. These include: Center for African Business, Law & Entrepreneurship Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession Center on Globalization, Law and Society Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources Center on Law, Equality and Race Center in Law, Society and Culture Civil Justice Research Institute Cybersecurity Institute UCI Initiative to End Family Violence Korea Law Center US-China Institute Click here for a high-resolution photo of Interim Dean Richardson. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006414/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Anxiety and Panic Disorders Drugs Market - Trends and Forecasts by Technavio Technavio's latest report on the global anxiety and panic disorders drugs market provides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006363/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global anxiety and panic disorders drugs market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) Sapna Jha, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on the central nervous system sector, says, "Prozac represented the pharmaceutical market in the 1990s with its multi-billion-dollar drug sales, which made depression more curable. Then followed the other blockbuster drugs such as XANAX, which became the first drug to receive the US FDA's approval for the treatment of anxiety and panic attacks." Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. The top three emerging trends driving the global anxiety and panic disorders drugs market according to Technavio research analysts are: Synergistic effects of medication aided with neuromodulation devices/b> The global anxiety and panic disorders drugs market has witnessed many repurposed and off-label drugs for their treatment. The traditional therapeutic approach has left people only with a partial treatment, resulting in a large pool of untreated or partially treated population. Therefore, to offset the impact of these drugs, many novel techniques have been developed over the past few years to satisfy the demand for novel treatment approach for these disorders. "Non-invasive procedure along with other medications has completely removed the use of sedatives or anesthesia and alleviated seizures or loss of consciousness. Such benefits have led to its high acceptance in the developed countries," according to Sapna. Growing public awareness The growing public awareness about depression is expected to increase the acceptability of various drugs. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Mental Health America, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Suicide Awareness, Voices of Education, and Freedom from Fear are some of the non-profit organizations that are involved in spreading awareness about depression and its implications. These organizations mostly rely on social media and word-of-mouth techniques to communicate with their target audience. They use blogs, Facebook (News - Alert) posts, tweets, and YouTube videos extensively to increase awareness. Evolving scientists' interest for development of novel therapeutics The scientists have been targeting a variety of innovative pathways for the treatment of anxiety and panic disorders including the traditional approaches such as dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways. However, the continuous focus of scientists to develop novel therapeutics have led to the discovery of some new targets that may serve helpful for the treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. The key vendors are as follows: AstraZeneca Eli Lilly GlaxoSmithKline Pfizer Browse Related Reports: Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like in-vitro diagnostics, oncology, and vaccines. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006363/en/ [May 17, 2017] Much Anticipated KineMaster for iPhone Finally Released on the App Store SEOUL, South Korea, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KineMaster, a professional video editing app developed by NexStreaming (CEO: Il-Taek Lim), has been released on the App Store. KineMaster, which made its debut on Google Play at the end of 2013, has won the hearts of its users by bringing video editing features to smartphones that were previously only available in a PC environment. KineMaster has been featured internationally as App of the Week on Google Play in numerous countries, and has received multiple awards both at home and abroad. On April 28th, KineMaster launched on the App Store, and is now available to iPhone users as well. As more and more people record video using smartphones, action cameras, drones and other personal mobile devices, the need to edit these videos for both personal and professional use continues growing. KineMaster makes this possible directly on the smartphone by providing precision audio and video editing tools, as well as multiple video layers (for B-roll and picture-in-picture support), Chroma Key(Green Screen), key-frame animation, animated handwriting, overlays, visual effects and more, with even more effects, music and overlays available for download via the KineMaster Asset Store. The KineMaster user interface is carefully crafted to provide a simple, comfortable and convenient moile editing experience while still providing a full set of professional editing tools at your fingertips: A blend of power and convenience that sets the standard for mobile video editing. NexStreaming is preparing a special launch event for KineMaster on iPhone, with free 30-day promotional codes offered to qualifying applicants. Follow @KineMaster on Twitter and watch for a tweet during the first week of May with detailed information on how to participate. Jaewoo Kim, Head of Video Editing Business Division at NexStreaming, said, "KineMaster users produce incredible, sophisticated videos combining many hundreds of carefully choreographed layers and our engineers are building enhanced tools to continue to improve the convenience and seamlessness of working with such complex projects on mobile." He also said, "The KineMaster for iPhone release is a major step forward, reinforcing KineMaster as the market leader in mobile video editing." NexStreaming also offers the NexEditor SDK, a video editing solution, which is the underlying video editing engine KineMaster is built upon and can also be used to build applications that work with photos and videos on both Android and iOS platforms. NexStreaming will be attending Mojocon 2017 in Galway, Ireland from May 4th through May 6th to explore business partnership opportunities and to showcase KineMaster's current and upcoming features as well as the new iPhone version. KineMaster is the editor of choice for professionals and amateurs alike all around the world, including North America, Europe, Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, India and more, and in China under the Chinese brand name "Qiaoying". KineMaster can be installed via the App Store, the Google Play Store, and via the Tencent, Baidu, Xiaomi and 360 app markets in China. About NexStreaming NexStreaming is a widely acknowledged mobile multimedia software company with its own video-processing technologies highly optimized for mobile devices. Products include: NexPlayer SDK, providing HD video streaming services including live broadcasting, NexEditor SDK, the advanced and sophisticated video editing solution delivering optimum performance on every device for the fastest recording and editing, KineMaster, the first and only professional video editor app available for iPhone and Android, and SingPlay, the Karaoke app that converts MP3 music into karaoke tracks in real time. NexStreaming is a publicly traded company listed on the Korean stock exchange (KOSDAQ:139670) since December 2011, with its headquarter in Seoul, Korea and branches in Spain, the U.S, China and Taiwan. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170502/1840171-1 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Mesosphere Expands Presence in Europe with New VP Sales Patrik Svanstrom Joins Company Leadership SAN FRANCISCO and HAMBURG, Germany, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mesosphere the creators of DC/OS, a premier platform for building and running data-rich, containerized applications today announced the hire of Patrik Svanstrom as Vice President of EMEA Sales to lead and grow its Europe-based sales team. Svanstrom brings over 20 years of experience in enterprise software and infrastructure markets and has held executive management positions at both startups and established multinational companies, including MapR, Informatica, HP, EMC and Oracle. "We're seeing massive interest in Mesosphere DC/OS from companies across EMEA, so this is the opportune moment to bring in a strong sales leader," said Will Freiberg, COO, who leads the global sales team at Mesosphere. "Patrik has led international sales and go-to-market organizations across a wide range of industry sectors and solution areas. I am incredibly excited to have Patrik join our team, as his leadership and passionate approach to strategic business will stengthen our presence in Europe as we seek to serve more customers internationally." "I'm excited to join Mesosphere as the company has transformative technology for the kinds of applications that are really changing the world from IoT to connected cars to machine learning and AI," said Svanstrom. "Mesosphere DC/OS is the best solution available to power data-rich, microservices-based applications, and it's the only platform capable of natively deploying and elastically scaling big data tools and containers side-by-side." The company was founded by German engineers, Florian Leibert CEO and Tobias Knaup CTO, and is actively expanding the team in Hamburg, with a focus on engineering talent. Svanstrom's hire comes shortly after Mesosphere announced a partnership with Dell EMC and a global reseller agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The company marked the one-year anniversary of open source DC/OS in April, which has attracted more than 100 integrated services and 100 enterprise companies. About Mesosphere Mesosphere is leading the enterprise transformation toward distributed computing and hybrid cloud. Mesosphere DC/OS is the premier platform for building, deploying, and elastically scaling modern applications and big data. DC/OS makes running containers, data services, and microservices easy across your own hardware and cloud instances. Mesosphere was founded in 2013 by the architects of hyperscale infrastructures at Airbnb and Twitter and the co-creator of Apache Mesos. Mesosphere is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in New York and Hamburg, Germany. Mesosphere's investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Microsoft. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Deloitte Launches Enhanced Digital Banking Offering LONDON, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ -- Deloitte today announced the launch of its enhanced Digital Bank offering to further accelerate a bank's digital transformation. Based on the Salesforce Intelligent Customer Success Platform and utilizing the Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, Digital Bank helps banks create exceptional experiences by providing tailored banking capabilities with accelerated implementation and realization of value. "Today's banking world is being disrupted by new technologies, nontraditional competitors, regulatory changes and ultrasophisticated customers requiring speed and innovation to maintain exceptional customer loyalty and advocacy," said Joe Guastella, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and global consulting leader, financial services. "To compete in the changing banking landscape, it's important for banks to provide their customers with experiences that are genuinely and positively surprising in both their function and appearance. Digital Bank is designed to help banks create value by offering their customers banking capabilities that are tailored to their individual needs, behaviors and patterns." The service is integrated with a wide range of leading cloud vendors, enabling clients to benefit from pre-integrated partner technologies. This flexible, open, and adaptable platform enables banks to deliver digital banking experiences that can drive differentiation, innovation and outstanding customer and employee experiences. Digital Bank's capabilities and potential benefits include: Augmented Salesforce Platform with many technologies, fintech solutions and AppExchange partners, as well as personalized channel engagement through automated marketing using Salesforce Marketing Cloud Ability to expand relationships by having full visibility into bank relationships across business units Established customer trust through multifactor secured cloud banking platforms and improved onboarding for customers through a fully mobile process enabled by many technologies Increased speed and agility to meet customer needs, as well as the regulatory needs of the banking industry, using predictive analytics based on account behavior to recommend next best offers and next best actions Accelerated implementation allowing banks to generate ROI faster, including liking newly created accounts in Salesforce to a blockchain secured digital identity Rohit Mahna , GM of financial services, Salesforce. "Deloitte Digital's new service will help banks to better serve their customers by providing them with a simplified and connected experience at every touch point." "Today's digital customer journey requires a whole new mindset, and this unique consultancy model removes traditional barriers, allowing banks to better serve customers in a simpler, smooth way, which is at the core of effective digital transformations," said Paul Clemmons, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and global Salesforce alliance leader. For more information, find a member of the Deloitte team at our booth at the Salesforce London World Tour (BOOTH #101) or visit the Digital Bank page at https://www2.deloitte.com/digitalbank. Deloitte Digital has created a new model for a new age a creative digital consultancy. That means bringing together all the creative and technology capabilities, business acumen and industry insight needed to help transform clients' businesses with digital. With Deloitte Digital's end-to-end capabilities, clients bring their greatest ambitions, knowing Deloitte Digital has what it takes to bring new business visions to life. Visit www.deloittedigital.com or follow on Twitter @DeloitteDigi_US or @DeloitteDigital. Salesforce, Financial Services Cloud and others are among the trademarks of Salesforce.com, inc. About Salesforce Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE. About Salesforce Financial Services Cloud Salesforce Financial Services Cloud is transforming the client-advisor relationship by empowering advisors to build deeper, 1-to-1 relationships with clients; enabling advisors to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time focusing on investors; and allowing advisors to engage more comprehensively with clients and their households on any device at any time. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deloitte-launches-enhanced-digital-banking-offering-300459708.html SOURCE Deloitte [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] HotForex Receives THE BIZZ 2017 Peak of Success PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The prestigious award is a recognition of the forex broker's business excellence at an international level Online forex and commodities broker, HotForex was acknowledged by the World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB) to collect the most important business honor in the world, THE BIZZ 2017 Peak of Success. The award, which aims to offer to the global business community a range of benefits that further their development, recognized HotForex as a leading business that contributes to the daily growth of its local economy. Moreover, the prize distinguished the broker's Excellence in Business Leadership, as well as Business and Quality Management. Representatives of the World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB) visited the forex company's offices and deivered the award to members of the HotForex management in a private ceremony. Commenting on the distinction, a HotForex spokesperson said, "Being awarded with THE BIZZ 2017 Peak of Success is a testament to our meticulous approach in ensuring service and operational excellence. We are very honored to have been acknowledged at a local as well as at a global level with this prestigious award. We aim to continue delighting our clients through innovation and creating value-added trading solutions." WORLDCOB was founded in 2004 in the US, with the vision to create an international business organization that would bring together and recognize those companies who were leaders in their fields, striving day in and day out to boost the growth of the economy in their countries and the world and making them models to be followed. To learn more on how HotForex is a leader in its field, visit our website. About HotForex HotForex is a leading, global multi-asset broker that offers both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. Since its foundation, the company has consistently won coveted titles from respected finance industry bodies for its innovative Forex trading service provision. Risk warning: Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high degree of risk to your capital. Media Contact: HF Markets Ltd Tel: +44-(0)-2033185978 Email:[email protected] SOURCE HF Markets Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Nokia and China Huaxin sign definitive agreements for creation of new Nokia Shanghai Bell joint venture Nokia Corporation Stock Exchange Release May 18, 2017 at 09:00 (CET +1) Nokia and China Huaxin sign definitive agreements for creation of new Nokia Shanghai Bell joint venture Beijing, China - Nokia and China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center ("China Huaxin") today signed the definitive agreements of the proposed integration of Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd. (ASB) and Nokia's China business. The new joint venture will be branded as Nokia Shanghai Bell (NSB). As a result of today's announcement, the joint venture will become Nokia's exclusive platform in China for the continued development of new technologies in areas like IP routing, optical, fixed and next-generation 5G; and with the support of Nokia, NSB will continue to look for opportunities in select overseas markets. ASB and Nokia's China business have been effectively operating as one entity since January 2016 when an interim operational agreement was signed. The closing of today's agreement, targeted to happen in July 2017, is subject to various customary administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions. Nokia will own 50% plus one share of NSB, with China Huaxin owning the remainder, and the new joint venture will have one board of directors and one management team. NSB will represent the major part of Nokia's overall Greater China business and fully leverage both shareholders' strengths, including innovation, global scale, efficiency and a deep understanding of the local market; and with the aim of increasing Nokia's market presence in China. It will further Nokia's strategic goals of leading in high-performance networks with communication service providers and expanding to new vertical markets in enterprise, public sector, and cloud/internet companies. NSB research and development (R&D) will be an integral part of Nokia's global R&D community, with a total of around 16 000 personnel, including 10 000 researchers, working across six R&D sites in China. It will maintain and further enhance Nokia's world-class product and research capabilities in areas that include 5G, IoT and Cloud. NSB's R&D scope and activities will be carried out according to Nokia's applicable policies, global R&D processes and product roadmaps. NSB will also support strategic initiatives of the Chinese government and engage in long-term research projects aligned with and implementing Nokia Bell Labs' Future X Network. Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, said: "Today's agreement is historic for Nokia and for China, marking the next step of our decades-long commitment to the country and underscoring China's leading role in developing next-generation communication technologies. Nokia Shanghai Bell will enhance our ability to innovate, helping us strengthen ties with communication service providers and expand to new, fast-growing sectors in need of high-performing networks." Yuan Xin, General Manager of China Huaxin, said: "We are fully confident in the new joint venture's success during the industry transformation brought by the new technologies like 5G and IoT. The successful combination globally and in China brings together the leading E2E network technologies and most powerful innovation engines from both sides. We're excited to work with Nokia to establish a future-oriented innovative technology company, with a win-win cooperative model for the bigger success in the new era." About China Huaxin China Huaxin Post and Telecommunication Economy Development Center is an industrial investment company that seeks long-term commercial growth opportunities in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector. China Huaxin has extensive global operations and international investment experience. China Huaxin aspires to be a competitive global industry holding group that creates long-term value for its stakeholders and for society as a whole by nurturing and advancing technology innovation in the Information Industry. www.sinohx.com About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governmens, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing. From the enabling infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things, to emerging applications in virtual reality and digital health, we are shaping the future of technology to transform the human experience. www.nokia.com Media Inquiries Nokia China Communications LING Yi T: +86 21 38436561 M: +86 18616388716 [email protected] Nokia Corporate Communications T: +358 10 448 4900 [email protected] FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS It should be noted that Nokia and its businesses are exposed to various risks and uncertainties and certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those regarding: A) our ability to integrate Alcatel Lucent into our operations and achieve the targeted business plans and benefits, including targeted synergies in relation to the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent; B) expectations, plans or benefits related to our strategies and growth management; C) expectations, plans or benefits related to future performance of our businesses; D) expectations, plans or benefits related to changes in organizational and operational structure; E) expectations regarding market developments, general economic conditions and structural changes; F) expectations and targets regarding financial performance, results, operating expenses, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, cost savings and competitiveness, as well as results of operations including targeted synergies and those related to market share, prices, net sales, income and margins; G) timing of the deliveries of our products and services; H) expectations and targets regarding collaboration and partnering arrangements, joint ventures or the creation of joint ventures, including the creation of the new Nokia Shanghai Bell joint venture and the related administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions, as well as our expected customer reach; I) outcome of pending and threatened litigation, arbitration, disputes, regulatory proceedings or investigations by authorities; J) expectations regarding restructurings, investments, uses of proceeds from transactions, acquisitions and divestments and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, divestments and acquisitions; and K) statements preceded by or including "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "sees," "target," "estimate," "designed," "aim," "plans," "intends," "focus," "continue," "project," "should," "will" or similar expressions. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Because they involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the results that we currently expect. Factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) our ability to execute our strategy, sustain or improve the operational and financial performance of our business and correctly identify and successfully pursue business opportunities or growth; 2) our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies of the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent, and our ability to implement our organizational and operational structure efficiently; 3) general economic and market conditions and other developments in the economies where we operate; 4) competition and our ability to effectively and profitably compete and invest in new competitive high-quality products, services, upgrades and technologies and bring them to market in a timely manner; 5) our dependence on the development of the industries in which we operate, including the cyclicality and variability of the information technology and telecommunications industries; 6) our global business and exposure to regulatory, political or other developments in various countries or regions, including emerging markets and the associated risks in relation to tax matters and exchange controls, among others; 7) our ability to manage and improve our financial and operating performance, cost savings, competitiveness and synergies after the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent; 8) our dependence on a limited number of customers and large multi-year agreements; 9) exchange rate fluctuations, as well as hedging activities; 10) Nokia Technologies' ability to protect its IPR and to maintain and establish new sources of patent licensing income and IPR-related revenues, particularly in the smartphone market; 11) our dependence on IPR technologies, including those that we have developed and those that are licensed to us, and the risk of associated IPR-related legal claims, licensing costs and restrictions on use; 12) our exposure to direct and indirect regulation, including economic or trade policies, and the reliability of our governance, internal controls and compliance processes to prevent regulatory penalties in our business or in our joint ventures; 13) our ability to identify and remediate material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; 14) our reliance on third-party solutions for data storage and service distribution, which expose us to risks relating to security, regulation and cybersecurity breaches; 15) inefficiencies, breaches, malfunctions or disruptions of information technology systems; 16) Nokia Technologies' ability to generate net sales and profitability through licensing of the Nokia brand, particularly in digital media and digital health, and the development and sales of products and services, as well as other business ventures which may not materialize as planned; 17) our exposure to various legislative frameworks and jurisdictions that regulate fraud and enforce economic trade sanctions and policies, and the possibility of proceedings or investigations that result in fines, penalties or sanctions; 18) adverse developments with respect to customer financing or extended payment terms we provide to customers; 19) the potential complex tax issues, tax disputes and tax obligations we may face in various jurisdictions, including the risk of obligations to pay additional taxes; 20) our actual or anticipated performance, among other factors, which could reduce our ability to utilize deferred tax assets; 21) our ability to retain, motivate, develop and recruit appropriately skilled employees; 22) disruptions to our manufacturing, service creation, delivery, logistics and supply chain processes, and the risks related to our geographically-concentrated production sites; 23) the impact of litigation, arbitration, agreement-related disputes or product liability allegations associated with our business; 24) our ability to optimize our capital structure as planned and re-establish our investment grade credit rating or otherwise improve our credit ratings; 25) our ability to achieve targeted benefits from or successfully achieve the required administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions and implement planned transactions, including the creation of the new Nokia Shanghai Bell joint venture, as well as the liabilities related thereto; 26) our involvement in joint ventures and jointly-managed companies; 27) the carrying amount of our goodwill may not be recoverable; 28) uncertainty related to the amount of dividends and equity return we are able to distribute to shareholders for each financial period; 29) pension costs, employee fund-related costs, and healthcare costs; and 30) risks related to undersea infrastructure, as well as the risk factors specified on pages 67 to 85 of our 2016 annual report on Form 20-F under "Operating and financial review and prospects-Risk factors" and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proven to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Accenture Selected by Tokyo Metropolitan Government to Recruit Companies from Abroad in Advanced Technologies and Fintech Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has been selected by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) to support recruiting companies from outside Japan in the fields of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), big data and analytics, as well as in the fields of asset management and fintech. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006215/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) To address its aging and shrinking workforce, Japan is striving to improve labor productivity and support advanced manufacturing. As part of this effort, the TMG has been working to recruit companies to boost Japan's economic growth and international competitiveness. As advanced technologies can help modernize communities and improve business productivity, the TMG will step up its efforts through 2020 to attract technology companies to Tokyo, encouraging high value operations such as regional headquarters and research and development centers at the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters. An additional TMG project will seek to attract companies in the fields of asset management and fintech to the Special Zone and other locations. The overall goal for the two projects is recruitment of 10 companies in each project, a total of 20 companies by March of 2018. Accenture will support both projects, by developing compny target lists and outreach activities, including providing consultation by Japanese and international industry experts, matchmaking with businesses in Tokyo, and supporting recruitment of Japanese employees. To help attract companies focused on advanced technologies, dedicated teams for this program will establish points of contact, named "Access to Tokyo" within Accenture's offices in Paris, London, and San Francisco. Working closely with the team in Tokyo, they will build relationships with local chambers of commerce and other key executives, host seminars, and promote the attractiveness of Tokyo as an investment destination. Since 2013, the TMG has been strategically recruiting companies from outside Japan to establish regional headquarters and research and development centers in the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters. Accenture has supported this effort for four consecutive years, recruiting 80 companies in diverse fields including fintech, information and communications, healthcare, and content/creative industries so far. "We are excited to be selected for the projects to recruit to Japan companies related to financial technology and advanced technologies to the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters," said Hiroshi Goto, who leads Accenture's Health & Public Service business in Japan. "Utilizing Accenture's global network and broad capabilities, we will continue to recruit companies to strengthen the competitiveness of Tokyo and indeed all of Japan." About Tokyo's Special Zone for Asian Headquarters The Special Zone for Asian Headquarters encompasses regions around Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa/Tamachi, and Ikebukuro Stations as well as central Tokyo and waterfront area and former Haneda Airport site. The TMG strategically attracts foreign companies to the Special Zone, comprehensively offering bold deregulation, preferential tax treatment, and generous packages of fiscal and financial assistance. In September 2011, the TMG applied for designation based on the Comprehensive Special Zones Act, and in December 2011, it was designated by the Japanese national government as the Comprehensive Special Zones for International Competitiveness. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions-underpinned by the world's largest delivery network-Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 401,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006215/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] However, in the next few days President Trump will be in Saudi Arabia and it is expected that he will be better received than his predecessor. Riyadh is expecting the US President to make assurances that his administration will continue to crack down on the Islamic Republic and to maintain the pressure it is exerting with regards to its malign activities. This will be President Trumps first international voyage since becoming president, and the Saudi leaders are keen to point out the significance of the first stop being the birthplace of Islam. Trump will also meet with leaders of the six nation GCC (the Gulf Cooperation Council) and will share a meal with officials from dozens of Muslim countries. The visit will show that the United States is renewing and repairing relations with its allies in the Middle East after Obama effectively neglected them. Gulf leaders had the view that Obama decided to prioritise the 2015 Iran nuclear deal instead of a US-Gulf alliance. Saudi leaders have for a long time been criticising Iran and its malign activities and interference in the region. The Trump administration has agreed that it poses a great threat to national security and is eager to rectify this. Trump and many officials in his administration agree that the nuclear deal is badly-drawn up and that Iran is playing a very dangerous role in the Syrian civil war. Gulf leaders would likely welcome any designation of Iranian-supported militia groups as terrorist organisations. They would also welcome more support from the US in the Yemen war where they have been battling against Iran-backed Houthis. Both nations fear that unravelling the Iran nuclear deal will make the threat worse, but the United States has been very clear to Iran that it is no longer the golden days of the Obama administration that let Iran away with numerous infractions. [May 18, 2017] ActiveState Collaborates with Intel to Offer Intel Math Kernel Library (Intel MKL) Performance-Optimizations for Data Science and Machine Learning Python Packages in ActivePython VANCOUVER, B.C., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ActiveState, the open source languages company, announced today the inclusion of Intel's Machine Kernel Library (MKL) Performance-Optimizations for data science and machine learning Python packages in ActivePython 2.7.13 and ActivePython 3.5.3. In the latest release, NumPy, SciPy, matplotlib, and theano packages now run faster by internally leveraging the multi-threading and vectorization features of Intels MKL in ActivePython. "Intel MKL allows Python users to take advantage of the Intel Advanced Vector Extension 2 (Intel AVX2) instructions in our multicore and many-core processors for machine learning and other numerical computing, with no changes to their existing code," said Robert Cohn, Senior Principal Engineer, Intel Corporation. "Data scientists and technical compute users are enabled to tackle the most demanding computational tasks while using Python." With the proliferation of smart devices and the large volume of data generated by them, companies are leveraging data and using machine learning to provide their customers with a better experience when using their applications. In addition, computation speed has increased so now organizations are able to do a lot more with neural networks than they could in the past. According to Gartner, "The volume of inquiry call from Gartner clients about AI, advanced machine learning and related topics increased by 200% between 2015 and 2016...By 2020, 20% of enterprises will employ dedicated people to monitor and guide machine learning (such as neural networks). The notion of training rather than programming systems will become increasingly important."* "To ensure that our customers are able to leverage the advancements of deep learning, the latest release of ActivePython now includes TensorFlow and theano, some of the most popular Python packages in the area of machine learning. We have also added Jupyter notebook support that enables data scientists to share their code and collaborate with colleagues," said Tom Radcliffe, Vice-President of Engineering at ActiveState. "This year, we've brought continual refinements to ActivePython, with each release bringing greater power to data science teams." In addition, ActiveState has added more security and data engineering Python packages in the ActivePython 2.7.13 and 3.5.3 distributions. The service-identity package, that works with OpenSSL in Python, prevents a known man-in-the-middle attack problem. ActivePython now also includes Luigi, Dask, and Apache Airflow, Python packages that make it easier for Data Engineers to schedule jobs, author pipelines, and monitor these tasks. Commercially supported and quality-assured, ActiveState performs license reviews and vulnerability scans to ensure they are providing their customers with the most secure Python packages. Learn more and download ActivePython Community Edition for free here: https://www.activestate.com/activepython *Gartner, Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017: Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Machine Learning, 15 March 2017. About ActiveState ActiveState, the open source languages company, believes that enterprises gain a competitive advantage when they are able to quickly create, deploy and efficiently manage software solutions that immediately create business value, but they face many challenges that prevent them from doing so. The company is uniquely positioned to help address these challenges through our experience with enterprises, developers and open source technology. ActiveState is proven for the enterprise: more than 2 million developers and 97 percent of Fortune 1000 companies use ActiveState's end-to-end solutions to develop, distribute, and manage their software applications written in Perl, Python, Ruby, Go, Node.js, Lua, Tcl and other dynamic languages. Global customers like Cisco, CA, HP, Bank of America, Siemens and Lockheed Martin trust ActiveState to save time, save money, minimize risk, ensure compliance, and reduce time to market. To learn more visit, www.ActiveState.com. Press Contact: Jesse Casman for ActiveState [email protected] 415-730-2793 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] The WannaCry Legacy: How the Attack Will Shape Cybersecurity COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The WannaCry ransomware that has affected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries now has largely halted its crawl across the globe, but experts at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business say the attack's real impact might be yet to come. They predict the assault could herald a turning point in cyber intrusions and in the way institutions handle cybersecurity. "The damages from the attacks could have easily been avoided had the organizations followed well-known precautions updating operating systems and installing recent security patches," says Martin Loeb, Deloitte & Touche faculty fellow, professor and chairman of the Department of Accounting and Information Assurance at the Smith School. He co-authored the Gordon-Loeb Model for Cybersecurity Investments with Smith School colleague Lawrence A. Gordon, EY alumni professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance. The attack exploited known vulnerabilities in an older version of Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities that could have been blotted out with recent patches. Now the widespread attack is exposing "the underinvestment in cybersecurity by many organizations," Loeb says. This could be one of the lasting legacies of the WannaCry attack, says Sandor Boyson, research professor and co-director of the Supply Chain Management Center at the Smith School. "When you don't do the patching and versioning, you don't get the full protection and full spectrum of defense against vulnerabilitis that companies have become aware of," says Boyson, who for nearly a decade has advised the National Institute of Standards and Technology on cyber supply chain risk management. "Patching and versioning deficiencies are a big problem." Experts say remiss patching helps explain why institutions in China, where pirated software is more prevalent, were harder hit than in some other parts of the world. Chinese state media said the ransomware struck nearly 40,000 institutions in that country, including government agencies, banks, schools and information technology firms. Loeb and Gordon have spent 18 years warning companies to reconsider the amount of money they devote to cybersecurity issues, increasing allocations in some cases and distributing money more efficiently in others. "These two concerns lie at the heart of the Gordon-Loeb Model for cybersecurity investments," Loeb says. The model, developed with research support from the Smith School and the National Security Agency, is explained in this video. Of course, ransomware, such as the kind deployed by WannaCry, is not new. Attacks like these have been increasing in frequency in recent years. But no attack has spread so widely before. The WannaCry hackers were said to have demanded $300 ransoms from affected users, payable in the bitcoin digital currency. Sums paid worldwide appeared this week to be relatively modest, in the tens of thousands, not the millions or billions. But the ransoms were being paid, raising the spectre other attackers will try the same thing. "We have seen these kinds of threats mutate into something far less benign," Boyson says. Sometimes, a hacker decides the single ransomware payment is not sufficient, so they write a code that allows them to attack the computer again, demanding another payment, in what's called an advanced persistent threat. "The big problem is we don't see the incentives in place for a lot of change yet, either at the legislative level, the regulatory level or the legal insurance level," Boyson says. "We don't really see a converging set of incentives that would drive behavior." But that could change, Boyson says, as attacks like WannaCry gain global attention. Visit Smith Brain Trust for related content at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. Contact: Greg Muraski at 301-892-0973 or [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-wannacry-legacy-how-the-attack-will-shape-cybersecurity-300460038.html SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Symphony Retail Solutions Announces Xcelerate Retail Forums 2017 - Las Vegas | Paris PARIS, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symphony Retail Solutionsthe combination of Symphony GOLD and Symphony EYCtoday announced its second annual Xcelerate Retail Forums in the US and France. The sister events will take place on 12 14 September 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada and 9 11 October in Paris, France. Building on the great success of last years inaugural event, which emphasized the themes of speed and agility and provided a venue for the launch of Symphony Retail Cloud, this years forums will add a focus on the future of customer-centric retailing, and how to meet todays shopper demands in the face of rapidly changing technology and ever-evolving retail trends. In addition, this years events will incorporate content across newer retail innovations including: artificial intelligence, conversational insights, and other technologies that are fast becoming imperatives for successful businesses. Were excited to meet the demand for this years event in the wake of success of the Paris inaugural event last October, said Graeme Cooksley, CEO and President of Symphony GOLD. Ours is an industry that is wrought with significant disruption. To remain competitive in todays ever-shifting, customer-led marketplace, retailers and CPGs must not only enlist constant innovation through technology enablers, but also via key forums of idea exchange. Successful leaders understand this, and that only the nimble will surface to meet the unyielding demands of todays global customer. A forum specifically designed for senior executives of retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers, Xcelerate 2017 will host some of the worlds most recognized corporate leaders, analysts, innovators, and disruptors. They will share their experiences on topics including: cloud, big data and analytics, customer insights, marketing, category management, supply chain, and retail operations. Featured speakers will include: Evan Anthony , Former Head of Corporate Marketing, Advertising, Digital, Loyalty and Consumer Research, The Kroger Company , Former Head of Corporate Marketing, Advertising, Digital, Loyalty and Consumer Research, The Kroger Company John Armstrong , Head of IT, Central England Co-operative , Head of IT, Central England Co-operative Shelly Blythe , Senior Category Manager, Pepperidge Farm , Senior Category Manager, Pepperidge Farm Patrick Buellet , Chief Technology Oficer, Symphony GOLD , Chief Technology Oficer, Symphony GOLD Jim Carrol , Futurist , Futurist Lora Cecere , Founder, Supply Chain Insights , Founder, Supply Chain Insights Dr. Pallab Chatterjee , Chairman, Symphony Retail Solutions and CEO, Symphony EYC , Chairman, Symphony Retail Solutions and CEO, Symphony EYC Graeme Cooksley , CEO & President, Symphony GOLD , CEO & President, Symphony GOLD Kenny Endermuhle , Director of Category Management and Center of Excellence, Nestle Purina , Director of Category Management and Center of Excellence, Nestle Purina Ken Fenyo , Head of Consumer Markets for McKinsey Fast Growth and Former VP of Loyalty, The Kroger Company , Head of Consumer Markets for McKinsey Fast Growth and Former VP of Loyalty, The Kroger Company Andy Green , Driver, The BLOODHOUND Project , Driver, The BLOODHOUND Project Gary Hardy , COO, Big C , COO, Big C Ken Hughes , Consumer and Shopper Behavioralist , Consumer and Shopper Behavioralist Joan Lewis , Former SVP & Officer of Global Consumer & Market Knowledge, Procter & Gamble , Former SVP & Officer of Global Consumer & Market Knowledge, Procter & Gamble John Lucot, Former President & COO, Giant Eagle Former President & COO, Giant Eagle Phil Murphy , Category Insights Manager, Sargento , Category Insights Manager, Sargento Richard Noble , OBE, Project Director, The BLOODHOUND Project , OBE, Project Director, The BLOODHOUND Project Michael Quinn , Sr. Director Category Management, Kellogg , Sr. Director Category Management, Kellogg John Rossman , Managing Director, Alvarez and Marsal (and former Director of Enterprise Services, Amazon) , Managing Director, Alvarez and Marsal (and former Director of Enterprise Services, Amazon) Steve Strachota , Chief Supply Chain Officer, Southeastern Grocers , Chief Supply Chain Officer, Southeastern Grocers Petter Aamot Vangstein , CIO, REMA 1000 , CIO, REMA 1000 Dr. Romesh Wadhwani , Chairman & CEO, Symphony Technology Group , Chairman & CEO, Symphony Technology Group John Williams , Director, Category Management, Dr Pepper Snapple Group , Director, Category Management, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Ed Wong, SVP Supply Chain & CIO, Smart and Final This years events will again feature an Innovation Zone, giving attendees hands-on access to the latest next-generation technologies from Symphony Retail Solutions and its partnersall supporting the core themes of speed, agility, and meeting the ever-evolving retail trends driven by the mandate to exceed todays demanding customer expectations. Click here to register for Xcelerate 2017 Las Vegas Click here to register for Xcelerate 2017 Paris Additional Resources: Visit the Xcelerate site Tweet this: [email protected] shaping the future of customer-centric retailing at #XcelerateRetail in Las Vegas and Paris About Symphony Retail Solutions Symphony Retail Solutions brings together Symphony EYCs customer-centric retail insight solutions with the Symphony GOLD unified software for omni-channel retail to solve the toughest business problems for 15 of the worlds 30 largest retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains worldwide. These combined capabilities also power the Symphony Retail Cloud, the industrys first role-based, customer-centric cloud solution that enables retailers and manufacturers to deliver more than two percent revenue growth by translating customer intelligence into insights and actions that drive bottom-line decisions. For more information, visit: http://www.symphonyretailsolutions.com/about/company Press Contact: For further media information contact: Symphony Retail Solutions Paul Hoffman [email protected] 603-439-0593 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Frontline Education Momentum Continues in 2017 MALVERN, Pa., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontline Education achieved major strategic milestones in the first quarter of 2017 across new clients, new solutions and thought leadership with the launches of the company's Integrated Insights Platform, Frontline Mobile and civil discourse-focused publication, The Line, along with increased results in financing and acquisition, that together have yielded new solutions offerings and client partnerships. The early momentum has continued into the second quarter of this year. "We spent much of 2016 executing on aggressive sales and service strategies designed to promote growth across the organization and help achieve the goals of the districts we support," said Frontline Education President & CEO, Tim Clifford. "Strategic acquisitions, core product development and service platform investments built a foundation for the launch of the Integrated Insights Platform as well as The Line in early 2017, while an aggressive sales and service approach positioned Frontline to attract, implement and service more than 9,500 K-12 organizations, including more than 8,500 districts." The launch of the K-12 education market's first Integrated Insights Platform provided opportunities to expand Frontline Education's market position across the company's industry-leading solutions portfolio in Recruiting & Hiring, Absence & Time, Professional Growth and Special Ed & Interventions. This shift, early in the first quarter of 2017, resulted in increased partnerships with districts of all sizes and types including more than 125 multi-application sales and 77% of sales coming from existing clients, demonstrating high client satisfaction as well as the strong validation of Frontline's solutions. An approximate 20% increase in appications per client from 2016 to early 2017 indicates a shift towards more significant district partnerships with Frontline Education over typical point solution vendor relationships and shows that districts understand the benefits of adopting multiple, integrated solutions from one partner. Applications and solutions releases including Frontline Mobile, which added more than 10,000 active users in three months, and Frontline Central gave Frontline Education the leading market position necessary to ensure key sales including Detroit Public Schools, Kansas City Public Schools Unified School District 500 and Jefferson County Schools. "The time savings with Frontline Central is huge. Lots of streamlining and lots of important timelines reduced so that we can focus on bigger and better things," said Loraine Morazzano, Ph.D., Senior Chief Officer, Human Capital for Grand Prairie Independent School District in Texas. "We are saving money by eliminating the paper from our onboarding process. Now that money is freed up for other initiatives." While organic growth represents a large percentage of the strategic plan, Frontline Education has also maintained corporate development momentum from the five acquisitions that were completed last year. Frontline investors finished 2016 by raising another round of equity capital to put an additional $100 million in acquisition-related funding on the balance sheet. A critical component of growth at Frontline Education coming into 2017, that foundation led to the acquisition of Teachers-Teachers early in the second quarter. In addition to milestones in sales, acquisition and development, the debut of The Line, a publication for superintendents by superintendents, created a tangible representation of Frontline Education's thought leadership initiative. Focused on civil discourse and the path forward for K-12 education, The Line is a publication of the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. The recently announced appointment of Ted Mitchell, former Under Secretary of the US Department of Education, to the Frontline Education board has added to the company's leadership position in the education market. About Frontline Education: Frontline Education is an integrated insights partner serving more than 9,500 K-12 organizations and millions of educators, administrators and support personnel in their efforts to develop the next generation of learners. With more than 15 years of experience serving the front line of education, Frontline Education is dedicated to providing actionable intelligence that enables informed decisions and drives engagement across school systems. Bringing together the best education software solutions into one unified platform, Frontline makes it possible to efficiently and effectively manage the administrative needs of the education community, including their recruiting and hiring, employee absences and attendance, professional growth and special education and interventions programs. Frontline Education corporate headquarters are in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with offices in Andover, Massachusetts, Rockville Centre, New York and Chicago, Illinois. Learn more at www.frontlineeducation.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/frontline-education-momentum-continues-in-2017-300460075.html SOURCE Frontline Education [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Menlo Ventures Raises $450 Million Fourteenth Fund To Invest In Early Consumer, Enterprise, And Frontier Technologies MENLO PARK, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Menlo Ventures today announced the closing of Menlo Ventures XIV, a $450 million fund dedicated to investing primarily in early-stage consumer, enterprise and frontier technologies. The funding brings the firm's total capital to more than $5 billion under management. "Menlo's emphasis on early-stage investing in our main funds is a strategy that's working," said managing director Mark Siegel. "Our focus is on deep, analytical research in fast-moving core areas like Marketplaces, Cloud Infrastructure, SaaS, Fintech and Cybersecurity. We are also digging into new frontier areas that will create massive technological shifts such as artificial intelligence, computational biology, robotics and drone technology." Menlo's latest fund coincides with the firm's unveiling of a San Francisco office, where the entire team splits time together between the new office and its Menlo Park headquarters. "Our core team is dedicated to operating within this hub for talent as we expand our Fuel services program, host events, and work together more flexibly and collaboratively than a traditional venture capital firm," said managing director Venky Ganesan. "The expansion to San Francisco will strengthen our partnerships with the next generation of entrepreneurs." Menlo begins the new fund with strong momentum in its current portfolio including iconic consumer companies like Machine Zone, Uber, Stance, Rover.com, Poshmak, Roku, eero and Warby Parker, cybersecurity companies like BitSight, SaaS companies like Heap, Overops and Signifyd, and fintech fast movers like Betterment, Bluevine, and RealtyShares. Early bets on frontier technologies include Clarifai in the AI sector, Dedrone in cybersecurity, and Synthego in computational biology. "The Menlo team immediately understood our market and strategy which allowed them to act quickly and decisively. First meeting to funding was a matter of weeks," said Matt Zeiler, founder and CEO of Clarifai. "Working with them has been fantastic. The entire team is involved and in the trenches with us, which is a true hallmark of a value-add venture firm," he added. Menlo's fund was oversubscribed with both new and existing limited partners. "Menlo has a long term track record, outstanding reputation among entrepreneurs, and proven ability to identify trends and invest in iconic early stage companies," said Erik Lassila of Peakview Capital. "We're proud to partner once again with this smart, innovative group of partners." Menlo will invest 80% of the fund in core thesis areas and 20% in frontier technologies, targeting early-stage investments with 50% of the fund going toward Series Seed and Series A deals. Menlo will continue its allocation of $15 million for the Menlo Talent Fund, aimed at promising seed-stage ideas. Menlo XIV's investment team consists of four managing directors: Mark Siegel, Venky Ganesan, Matt Murphy and Shawn Carolan. Talent Partner Jordan Ormont rounds out the team, along with investment professionals Tyler Sosin, Steve Sloane, Jayni Shah and Croom Beatty. Menlo will continue to expand its EIR, Venture Partner, and Fuel team; the latter provides assistance to companies in the early go-to-market stage of their evolution and currently includes team members Jenny Saling (marketing), Jordan Ormont (talent), and Kayla Hinderscheid (customer development). Menlo's history of successful investing includes the funding of more than 440 companies with an aggregate market value exceeding $250 billion. In the last five years alone, Menlo's 33 exits have a combined market value of $5.4 billion. Menlo is currently investing in Menlo XII, a $400 million early-stage fund, and the $250 million Menlo Opportunity Fund, aimed at early growth investing. About Menlo Ventures Menlo Ventures provides capital for multi-stage consumer and enterprise technology companies. Since 1976, the firm's market-driven analysis has led to the identification of opportunities and successful investments in innovative technology markets. Notable areas of investment include Marketplaces (Uber, Rover.com, Breather, RealtyShares, Getaround), Consumer services (Machine Zone, Tumblr, Betterment, Poshmark, Roku, Siri), Smart cloud infrastructure (Dropcam, 3Par, Avi Networks, Avere Systems, eero), SaaS (Carbonite, Signifyd, Clarifai, Overops, Usermind), Fintech (Betterment, Bluevine, RealtyShares) and Cybersecurity (Cavium, IronPort, BitSight, vArmour, Dedrone). Menlo's portfolio includes more than 70 public companies and more than 100 mergers and acquisitions. Menlo Ventures has $5 billion under management and is currently investing Menlo Ventures XII, a $400 million fund with $15 million allocated to the Menlo Talent Fund for fast seed funding, and the Menlo Opportunity Fund, a $250 million fund that targets solely early growth investments. For more information, visit www.menlovc.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/menlo-ventures-raises-450-million-fourteenth-fund-to-invest-in-early-consumer-enterprise-and-frontier-technologies-300459672.html SOURCE Menlo Ventures [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Alabama Virtual Academy at Eufaula City Schools to Celebrate Graduation Ceremony Alabama Virtual Academy at Eufaula City Schools (ALVA-ECS), an accredited, full-time online public school program serving students in Kindergarten through 12th grade, will honor the Class of 2017 at a graduation ceremony on Friday, May 19, at Eufaula High School. Sixteen ALVA-ECS graduates have the opportunity to join fellow seniors at Eufaula High School, a local brick and mortar secondary school serving grades 9 through 12, as part of a combined commencement. This year's virtual graduates have been accepted to the following universities and post-secondary institutions: University of Alabama - Birmingham, Southern Union State Community College, Jefferson State Community College, Calhoun Community College, Auburn University at Montgomery, Troy University, Northwest Shoals Community College, and St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX. ALVA-ECS provides a rigorous, engaging online curriculum, including courses in language arts/English, math, science, history, world languages, art and music, as well as high school electives and Advanced Placement courses. ALVA-ECS offers an individualized approach to ensure every student receives an exceptional learning experience. Details of the commencement are as follows: Alabama Virtual Academy at Eufaula City Schools Graduation Ceremony Friday, May 19, 2017 7:30 p.m. Eufaula High Schol Eufaula, AL 36027 ALVA-ECS is authorized by the Alabama State Department of Education and the Eufaula City Schools Board of Education. About Eufaula City Schools Established in 1872, Eufaula City Schools is the oldest city school district in Alabama and is the heartbeat of this beautiful southeast Alabama city. Eufaula City Schools is a progressive district providing many academic, enrichment, and technical opportunities for students and teachers while maintaining the values and traditions of the best in public schools. More information can be found at www.eufaulacityschools.org or https://youtu.be/bNhbdkiFyAY. Eufaula City Schools also has Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter pages. About K12 Inc. K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) is driving innovation and advancing the quality of education by delivering state-of-the-art, digital learning platforms and technology to students and school districts across the globe. K12's curriculum serves over 2,000 schools and school districts and has delivered more than four million courses over the past decade. K12 is a company consisting of thousands of online school educators providing instruction, academic services, and learning solutions to public schools and districts, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. The K12 program is offered through K12 partner public schools in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and through private schools serving students in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. More information can be found at K12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005878/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] OSE Immunotherapeutics to Present at Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum NANTES, France, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (ISIN: FR0012127173) (Mnemo:OSE) announced today that the Company will present at the upcoming Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum being held on June 2, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois, in parallel to the international annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Dominique Costantini, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, will provide an overview of the Company, its most recent accomplishments and future growth steps. She will focus on its original immuno-oncology portfolio, including combined neo-epitopes specifically activating T lymphocytes (Tedopi in phase 3 registration trial in Non-Small Lung Cancer) and new checkpoint inhibitor blocking myeloid suppressive cells associated to the tumor (OSE-172/Effi-DEM, SIRPa antagonist in preclinical stage). Both products have a strong interest in combination with the available T checkpoints as well as in case of escape to this line of immune treatment. Our franchise in immuno-oncology is positioned on T-cell specific activation by neo-epitopes and on suppressive cell blockage in the tumor microenvironment by a checkpoint. Tedopi and OSE-172 (Effi-DEM) are key assets to reinforce our visibility with clinicians, in particular in the United States, said Dominique Costantini. Details of the June 2, 2017, presentation: Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel Presentation track: B Presentation time: 11:30 AM Central Time About the Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum The 3rd Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum is designed to bring together thought leaders from cancer research institutes, patient advocacy groups, pharma and biotech to facilitate partnering and funding & investment. Around 250 delegates and about 30 presentations by listed and private biotechnology companies seeking licensing & investment are expected. Numerous networking opportunities will be available via an online One-2-One meeting system with dedicated meeting facilities to make the event more transactional. ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registrtion trials to R&D: In immuno-oncology: Tedopi, a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Currently in registration Phase 3 trial advanced NSCLC HLA A2+ patients EU /US - Orphan Status in the US - Registration expected in 2019 - A Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in NSCLC is considered in 2017. to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Orphan Status in the US in NSCLC is considered in 2017. OSE-172 (Effi-DEM), new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP-a receptor - In preclinical development for several cancer models. In auto-immune diseases and transplantation: FR104, CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - Phase 1 trial completed - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - to pursue clinical development. OSE-127 (Effi-7), interleukin receptor-7 antagonist - In preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune diseases. License option agreement with Servier for the development and commercialization. The portfolios blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present* and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018**. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln https://twitter.com/OSEIMMUNO https://www.linkedin.com/company/10929673 Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as expect, anticipate, believe, target, plan, or estimate, their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 28 April 2017 under the number R.17-038, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2016, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. Contacts OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie Detry [email protected] +33 143 297 857 Media: AlizeRP Caroline Carmagnol / Laetitia Abbar [email protected] +33 647 389 004 LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos [email protected] +41 79 367 6254 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] INVESTOR ALERT: Goldberg Law PC Announces an Investigation of Barrick Gold Corporation Goldberg Law PC, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick" or the "Company") (NYSE: ABX). If you purchased or otherwise acquired Barrick shares, and would like more information about the investigation, we encourage you to contact Michael Goldberg or Brian Schall, of Goldberg Law PC, 1999 Avenue of the Stars Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 800-977-7401, to discuss your rights without cost to you. You can also reach us through the firm's website at http://www.Goldberglawpc.com, or by email at [email protected]. The investigation focuses on whether Barrick and certain of its officers and/or directors violated federal securities laws. On April 24, 2017, the Company revised its full year guidance, stating that full year gold production is now expected to be 5.3 - 5.6 million ounces, down from our previous range of 5.6 - 5.9 million ounces. Barrick attributed approximately two-thirds of the reduction to the planned sale of 50% percent of its Veladero mine. Barrick also revised Veladero guidance, projecting full-year production at Veladero of 630,000 - 730,000 ounces, compared to the Company's previously-issued guidance of 770,000 - 830,000 ounces. When this news was announced, Barrick's stock price dropped. If you have any questions concerning your legal rights, please immediately contact Goldberg Law PC at 800-977-7401, or visit our website at http://www.Goldberglawpc.com, or email us at [email protected]. Goldberg Law PC represents shareholders around the world and specializes in securities class actions and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005968/en/ [May 18, 2017] Winners Announced for the 2017 Panasonic Kid Witness News Video Competition NEWARK, N.J., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Corporation of North America announced the winners of its 2017 Kid Witness News (KWN) video competition. The "Best Video of the Year" awards went to Rancho Minerva Middle School (Vista, CA) for their video "Dear America" and Eastlake High School (Chula Vista, CA) for their video "It's Worth It". Another top winner was Maui High School (Kahului, HI) which was awarded the "Best Eco-Effect PSA of the Year" Award for its video, "An Ocean Delicacy." In addition to the top winning schools, four other schools received the 2017 New Vision Award: Primary (grade 4-8) Prairie View Elementary ( Enid, OK ) "It's About Time" ) "It's About Time" Sheridan Jr. HS ( Sheridan, WY ) "The Food Group" Secondary (grades 9 12) Vista Academy HS ( Denver, CO ) "My Helping Hands" ) "My Helping Hands" Val Verde HS ( Perris, CA ) "5 Finger Discount" Peter Fannon , Vice President of Corporate, Government and Public Affairs, Panasonic Corporation of North America. Through the KWN video education program, Panasonic provides participating schools (grades 4-12; age 18 and under) with the latest digital equipment so students can create and communicate stories that are important to them and their communities. This year students were required to create human interest stories of their choosing. The KWN program emphasizes team-centered learning that encourages students to develop valuable cognitive, communication and organizational skills through the use of an artistic platform. Students and teachers from the winning schools traveled to Newark, NJ for the KWN Winners Weekend, which included an awards ceremony at Panasonic's North American headquarters in Newark and sightseeing in New York City. About Panasonic Kid Witness News Kid Witness News (KWN) got its start in 1989 in the U.S. as a hands-on video education program supported by Panasonic North America, which supplied video cameras and editing equipment to public elementary and middle schools to make news programs from the perspective of children. The program was subsequently expanded globally. At present, 548 schools from 23 countries are program participants. KWN is designed to foster creativity and presentation skills among young students. Supervising teachers cite further merits of the program such as a heightened awareness of the environment and the community as well as development of team skills among participants through the process of creating videos. The expanding network of KWN schools also provides a platform for international exchange among KWN students. Learn more about Panasonic Kid Witness News at http://www.panasonic.com/us/corporate/profile/community-outreach.html About Panasonic Corporation of North America Newark, NJ-based Panasonic Corporation of North America is a leading technology partner and integrator to businesses, government agencies and consumers across the region. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Panasonic was featured in Fortune Magazine's 2016 ranking of 50 companies that are changing the world and doing well by doing good. Specifically cited were its smart and sustainable technologies, including its contributions to smart cities and the electric vehicle revolution. Learn more about Panasonic at www.panasonicmovesus.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/winners-announced-for-the-2017-panasonic-kid-witness-news-video-competition-300460164.html SOURCE Panasonic Corporation of North America [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Schneider Electric Canada provides safety precautions for water-damaged equipment due to flooding Electrical components affected by flooding may not be safe to operate Company offers tips and guidelines for residents, business owners and electrical contractors Schneider Electric Canada joins local flood relief program MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Schneider Electric Canada, the global specialist in energy management and automation, urges those affected by recent floods to exercise caution when working with water damaged electrical equipment, and is offering tips to homeowners, businesses and electrical contractors to stay safe. While restoring power is a priority, doing it safely is an absolute necessity. Schneider Electric Canada recommends the following safety guidelines before re-energizing a home or business: Ensure the power is off before working on any equipment Call a licensed electrician to inspect and repair your electrical system Many types of electrical equipment must be replaced after exposure to water (Details here) Electrical equipment must be used in accordance with the ratings and instructions for that equipment Electrical equipment must be installed in accordance with the Canadian Electrical Code and other applicable local or provincial codes Installations or repairs should be inspected by qualified authorities before restoring power To learn more about dealing with water and damaged electrical equipment, visit the links below for electrical safety guidelines, visit us at www.schneider-electric.ca or call 1-800-265-3374. Electrical Safety Guidelines for Home, Business Owners Evaluating Water-Damaged Electrical Equipment ESA Document: Electrical Safety and Water Damaged Electrical Equipment Schneider Electric is also working closely with local teams in affected areas to help in the rebuilding effort. Our Donor Matching program is helping residents in need. Canadians interested in offering support can donate to the local Red Cross Spring Floods Appeal. About Schneider Electric Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and automation. With revenues of US~$26 billion (~25 billion euros) in FY2016, our 160,000+ employees serve customers in over 100 countries, helping them to manage their energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. From the simplest of switches to complex operational systems, our technology, software and services improve the way our customers manage and automate their operations. Our connected technologies reshape industries, transform cities and enrich lives. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life Is On. www.schneider-electric.ca SOURCE Schneider Electric [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] The National Association of Women Lawyers Announces 2017 Annual Meeting Awardees The National Association of Women Lawyers ("NAWL") is pleased to announce those who will be honored at the association's 2017 Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon on July 20, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City. These awardees are leaders of their industry who have dedicated themselves to strengthening the legal profession by working toward parity for women and minority lawyers. The 2017 awards are: Arabella Babb Mansfield Award given in recognition of a lawyer's professional achievement, positive influence, and valuable contribution to women in law and in society - to Hon. Amy Klobuchar , U.S. Senator from Minnesota; given in recognition of a lawyer's professional achievement, positive influence, and valuable contribution to women in law and in society - to , U.S. Senator from Minnesota; President's Award for championing policies, programs, and procedures to retain, promote, and advance women attorneys - to HP Inc. , for the company's public position on the importance of actively promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and its creation of a pipeline of future women leaders. Cynthia Bright, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, U.S. Litigation and Government Investigations, will accept the award on HP's behalf; for championing policies, programs, and procedures to retain, promote, and advance women attorneys - to , for the company's public position on the importance of actively promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and its creation of a pipeline of future women leaders. Cynthia Bright, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, U.S. Litigation and Government Investigations, will accept the award on HP's behalf; M. Ashley Dickerson Award given in recognition of a lawyer who promotes diversity - to Hon. Wilhelmina M. Wright , Judge for the U.S. Distrct Court for the District of Minnesota; given in recognition of a lawyer who promotes diversity - to , Judge for the U.S. Distrct Court for the District of Minnesota; Lead By Example Award for a leading male attorney in a law firm, company, government unit, or public interest entity who supports the advancement of women within his organization - to Mark Roellig , Chief Technology and Administrative Officer, MassMutual; and for a leading male attorney in a law firm, company, government unit, or public interest entity who supports the advancement of women within his organization - to , Chief Technology and Administrative Officer, MassMutual; and Virginia S. Mueller Outstanding Member Awards recognizing leading NAWL members for their exemplary work and contributions to NAWL - to Margaret Drew, Director of Clinics & Experiential Learning, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Mimi B. MacDonald, Executive Director - Senior Legal Counsel - Wholesale Litigation, AT&T (News - Alert) Ramona Romero, General Counsel, Princeton University; and Eva M. Spahn, Associate, Greenberg Traurig, LLP. www.nawl.org/2017AnnualMeeting or call 312.988.6186. The mission of the National Association of Women Lawyers is to provide leadership, a collective voice, and essential resources to advance women in the legal profession and advocate for the equality of women under the law. Since 1899, NAWL has been empowering women in the legal profession, cultivating a diverse membership dedicated to equality, mutual support, and collective success. If you are not already a member, please considering joining. NAWL welcomes the membership of individual attorneys, including private practice, corporate, academic, government and non-profit attorneys, and groups, including law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations. Learn more at www.nawl.org. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006365/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP Video PSA College Scholarship Contest Winners Announced CLEVELAND, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP is pleased to announce the winners of its 2017 Spangenberg Law Firm Video PSA College Scholarship Contest. The 2017 Spangenberg Law Firm Video PSA College Scholarship Contest invited students who will be in college this fall and who share the firm's passion about important societal issues to create an original Public Service Announcement video on one of four important topics: What can college students do to raise awareness about campus safety issues? How can we help raise awareness about privacy and online security in the digital age? How can we help to raise awareness about Traumatic Brain Injuries and prevention? How can young people raise awareness and help prevent human trafficking? The First Prize winner chosen by the law firm's selection committee on the basis of originality, creativity, strength of message and ability to inspire viewers is Ohio high school senior, Cade Santha. Mr. Santha, who created an impactful video PSA on the subject of campus safety, was chosen from among the more than 50 entries submitted by students from 22 states. Mr. Santha, is a graduating senior at Boardan High School in Boardman, Ohio, and will be a freshman this fall at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. As the First Prize winner, Mr. Santha is the recipient of a $2,000 college scholarship. Additionally, twenty finalists' video PSAs were posted online for a public voting selection process to determine the Second and Third Prize winners, during which nearly 2,800 votes were cast. The Second Prize winner, chosen by the public, is Suzanna Thallman, a current student at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Bowling Green, Ohio. Ms. Thallman's creative video PSA advocated for campus safety, offering a glimpse into the several ways BGSU promotes smart decision-making and safety on its campus. Ms. Thallman is the recipient of a $1,000 college scholarship. The Third Prize winner is Max McIlquham, a graduating senior at Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton, Massachusetts. Mr. Mcllquham used his personal experience with a concussion to explain what should be done after receiving a traumatic brain injury. This fall, Mr. Mcllquham will be attending Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, and is the recipient of a $500 college scholarship. Spangenberg partner, Nicholas DiCello, praised the winners stating, "Congratulations to our many Spangenberg video scholarship entrants. This year's submissions were creative and raised awareness on important topics. And a special congratulations to our winners, including Cade Santha, whose first place video on campus safety was very well done and communicated a strong and direct message on ways college students can always stay safe on campus." All three winning entries from the 2017 Spangenberg Law Firm Video PSA College Scholarship Contest can be viewed by visiting spanglaw.com/scholarship. About Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP Many of Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP's cases come via word-of-mouth, either from satisfied former clients or from other attorneys who know the firm is skilled at handling complex litigation and trying the most difficult cases. The Cleveland attorneys of the Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber have devoted themselves to representing injured persons and aggrieved businesses for more than sixty-five years. Spangenberg Shibley & Liber, founded in 1946, and has won more than one billion dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients. The firm maintains a "Best Law Firms" rating by U.S. News for Tier 1 Medical Malpractice Law and Personal Injury Litigation. For more information, you can contact the firm online or call 216-600-0114. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spangenberg-shibley--liber-llp-video-psa-college-scholarship-contest-winners-announced-300460440.html SOURCE Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2017] LegalShield CEO Jeff Bell Challenges Conventional Wisdom about Lawyers at GLSA Legal Conference Jeff Bell, Chief Executive Officer of LegalShield, one of North America's leading providers of affordable legal plans and identity theft solutions for individuals, families and small businesses, joined a panel session of legal experts on Thursday, May 18 at the Group Legal Services Association (GLSA) annual education conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The session, titled "State of the Industry: What's Next?", kicked off the first day of the conference, which focuses on providing lawyers involved in the legal services plan industry, with education, support and collaboration so that they may focus on the practice of law rather than the marketing of their law practices. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006468/en/ LegalShield CEO Jeff Bell (second from right) spoke on a panel at the GLSA Legal Conference in Phoenix, Arizona (Photo: Business Wire) GLSA is a Chicago-based nonprofit, ABA-affiliated membership association for those involved in the legal services plan industry, which delivers legal services to a broad range of clients. Members are ommitted to providing affordable access to legal services. The industry panel featured Bell and several other members of the GLSA including Dan Lear, Director of Industry Relations at Avvo; Brian Caron, General Counsel and Vice President of Hyatt Legal Plans; Jean Clauson, Provider Relations Recruiting Manager at ARAG North America; Allen Rodriguez, CEO of ONE400; Ralph Vernassal, Head of Attorney Services at Rocket Lawyer; and John Wachsmann, managing attorney at Wachsmann & Associates. The discussion focused heavily on how technology impacts equal access to justice. "LegalShield believes that lawyers and citizens can both win," said Jeff Bell. "We believe that our society has erroneously taught all of us, from the time we were children to fear lawyers and the law. Lawyers are expensive. Lawyers are unresponsive. Lawyers are not accountable. Lawyers speak their own language. Lawyers patronize the common woman and man." About LegalShield LegalShield is one of the North America's leading providers of legal safeguards for individuals, families and small businesses. The company also offers one of the industry's most affordable and comprehensive identity theft plans, IDShield. LegalShield plans provide protection to more than 4.1 million individuals, and IDShield provides identity monitoring and restoration services to more than 1.64 million individuals across North America. More than 141,000 companies offer LegalShield and IDShield plans to their employees as a voluntary benefit. For as little as $17.95 per month, LegalShield members get access to attorneys with an average of 19 years of experience in areas such as family matters, estate planning, financial and business issues, consumer protection, tax, real estate, benefits disputes and auto/driving issues. Unlike other legal plans or do-it-yourself websites, LegalShield has dedicated law firms in 50 states and four provinces in Canada that members can call for help without having to worry about high hourly rates. For more information, visit http://www.LegalShield.com or http://www.IDShield.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006468/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Election results: Check out results from various races across the state Council approves rules to limit self-storage growth Future self-storage facilities in the city of Thousand Oaks will be excluded from prime commercial areas, according to a new ordinance adopted by the City Council this month. In a... Dealership does Distinguished thing SPECIAL TRIPChildren from Boys & Girls clubs in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Moorpark, and Oxnard and Port Hueneme attended Misty Copelands Oct. 18 appearance in the Distinguished Speaker Series at... Stagecoach Inn honors veterans The Stagecoach Inn Museum is honoring those who served with a Veterans Day exhibit featuring museum volunteers who have served in the military as well as family members who have... Sitting shotgun in a Volvo V90, I watched as the driver used the Android-powered infotainment system in the crossover wagon to chart a course to San Francisco. "Let's get a coffee along the way," he suggested, pressing a button on the steering wheel to activate Google Assistant, which found a Starbucks on our route while recalculating directions to our final destination. And because the car was getting a little toasty on a warm Northern California spring afternoon, we asked Google Assistant to turn up the Volvo's air conditioning a notch. Of course, since our demo car was sitting in the middle of a tent at Google's I/O conference, we weren't actually going anywhere. But Google's automotive ambitions certainly seem to be in overdrive, as it works to incorporate Google Assistant into its Android Auto automotive platform. This Volvo V90 prototype uses Android to power its infotainment system. Just this week, Google announced that both Volvo and Audi plan to use Android to run the infotainment systems on future cars. While it's unclear when these Android-equipped autos will hit the road, this is a deeper integration than earlier iterations of Android Auto. For starters, the infotainment systems in these cars will operate independently of your phone. And Google Assistant, Google's voice-powered digital helper, will be along for the ride. MORE: 30 Best Things Google Assistant Can Do Both Volvo and Audi had prototypes on display at I/O this week besides the V90, Audi had a Q8 that conference attendees could sit in for a spell. Once inside either car, you could get a glimpse of just how Android will integrate itself into your ride, controlling music playback, adjusting heating and air conditioning, and helping with navigation. The interior of Audi's Android-equipped Q8. In Audi's Q8, the infotainment system panel featured a tile-based interface all the easier to quickly tap a selection without taking your eyes off the road. And while Android wasn't powering the car's digital instrument console in the Q8, it could tap into information from that system to help with calculations like listing the time to your destination. In a broad sense, this doesn't sound like that much of a departure from Android Auto, Google's effort to optimize its mobile operating system for the car so that drivers can get navigation info and control music, podcasts and audiobooks without distractions. At last year's I/O, a Maserati concept car showed off an infotainment system built on Android Nougat. Volvo's V90 also uses Android to power its infotainment panel. The difference, of course, is that Audi and Volvo are moving forward with actual cars, not just concepts. And more importantly, Google Assistant is part of the mix now, adding hands-free operation to Android-powered infotainment setups. That's a big addition, especially given Google Assistant's emphasis on conversational commands. When it was time to adjust the climate control in the Volvo V90, I didn't have to instruct the Assistant to turn on the air conditioning or rattle off a specific temperature. Aall I had to do was say, "OK Google, make it cooler in the car." If Google has its way, you'll be able to tap into the Google Assistant to perform more actions from the driver's seat. A session at the I/O developers conference focused on how app makers can better tailor their offerings for the car, and voice-driven actions seem to be a key part of that. The Audi Q8 at Google I/O Google sees several potential uses cases for the Assistant to be your co-pilot on drives. A third-party app could be adapted for the car to let you make reservations or order take-out during your commute. You could also potentially use voice commands to sync up with your smart-home devices from the road, turning on the lights before you get home so you don't have to walk into a dark house, or locking your doors if you forgot to in the rush to get out of the house in the morning. There's even a gaming potential, as the Assistant can launch trivia and quiz games to entertain your kids on lengthy road trips. All that depends on developers coming out with auto-friendly versions of their apps, and Google's Android becoming the driving force behind more infotainment systems in cars. But those plans are clearly in motion to make Android more of a presence in our cars. For more Google Assistant-related tips, tricks, and how-tos, check out our complete guide to Google Assistant. Photo Credits: Philip Michaels/Tom's Guide Update, 5/19/17, 11:48am PT: Added a video. Original article, 5/17/17, 2:05pm PT: Google is preparing to launch the next iteration of the Google Expeditions immersive education platform. With Tango-ready smartphones on the market, the company will launch Expeditions AR this fall. Google launched the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program in the 2015/2016 school year with the intent of bringing low-cost virtual reality field trips to the classroom. The company created a series of over 100 virtual tours that teachers could share with the kids in their classrooms. Google traveled the world with Expedition Teams to showcase the Google Expeditions platform to teachers in thousands of schools to drum up interest in the program. Yet Google Expeditions on Google Cardboard barely had a chance to catch on before Google moved on to the next thing. Image 1 of 6 Google is now creating Expedition content for the companys Tango AR platform. Instead of Google Cardboard HMDs and smartphones, Googles Expedition Pioneer Program will bring Asus Zenfone AR Tango-ready smartphones and selfie sticks to showcase augmented reality education experiences in the classroom. To be clear, Google did not say it would abandon Expeditions on Cardboard, but the company is focusing its energy on its latest technologies. Augmented reality offers an entirely new class of education experiences that VR cant provide. VR could remain as the primary virtual field trip platform, but AR opens a world of possibilities for visual learning in the classroom. Google Tango AR technology enables shared classroom experiences in which everyone can participate. With Google Cardboard, kids could experience a virtual field trip at the same time as the class, but even though the class is sharing the same experience, the kids remain isolated in their own headset. With Tango devices, everyone in the room can see the same AR experience together. And Tangos spatial awareness technology allows everyone to see the experience from their own perspective. Google told us that each phone synchronizes to the teachers phone over WiFi, so everyone sees the same experience in real-time. Before the experience starts, the teacher must create a map of the space with their phone. That map is then used as the reference point for the position of the AR experience. The spatial map then propagates over the network to the students' phones. The student phones references the teacher's map information and compares it to the camera system's view to line up the virtual image.This way, a teacher could have their students gather around a demonstration and know that everyone will see the AR objects at the same time and in the same location. When you start the Expeditions app, you'll get a prompt to select guide (teacher) or follower (student). If you select follower, the map will automatically download from the guide phone. Google said the software will let only one phone chose guide. The rest are forced to join as followers. Google said it currently has Expedition AR experiences that teach kids about asteroid belts and other objects in space, the intricacies of a double helix strand of DNA, the chaos of a category 5 hurricane, and the artistry of the Statue of David. Its unclear if Google plans to build more AR experiences before it rolls the program out later this year. Googles Expedition Pioneer Program will begin touring from school to school this fall to showcase the new AR content for Google Expeditions. Community radio music directors often have an encyclopedic knowledge of local music and an insatiable thirst to keep their ears ahead of the curve. So in this Tone Deaf series, the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) invites music directors to highlight new Aussie tunes that you might have missed. In this edition, Will Backler from RTRFM in Perth contributes with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amraps music distribution service AirIt. Check out Wills selections below and if youre a musician you can apply here to have your music distributed for free to community radio on Amraps AirIt. Salary Beyond Ahead of the release of their debut album Upside Down Island, Perth nine-piece Salary deliver a single of grandiose experimental indie-pop sounds, a track that builds and builds based around infectious guitar hooks, subtle horns and synths, a relentless beat and vocalist Sean Gormans distinctive processed vocals. Rebel Yell High Authority Brisbanes Grace Stevensons new single is a heavy, relentless industrial leaning 4/4 analogue techno jam, dominated by a pulsating squelchy bassline, pounding drums and Stevensons spoken word vocals. An overdriven kick drum underpins the intensity, giving way to rapid hi-hats and sweeping synths, with the track maintaining an inescapable sense of urgency right to the conclusion. Simone and Girlfunkle Fight On The first new sounds from these WA favourites is another dreamy indie-pop excursion, with catchy guitar chords meeting ethereal vocal harmonies, luscious synths and harmonious harmonicas. As you inevitably start to hum along, the crisp drums will make your head nod right until the last chord rings out. Mt. Mountain Dust Perth psych-rock quintet Mt. Mountain released the amazing Cosmos Terros a year ago and have managed to surpass it, with the truly epic Dust, taken from the EP of the same name. Delving further into the realms of drone based doom sounds, Dust combines hypnotic repetitive drums with a pulsating bass line, eventually giving way to a thunderous climax. Shady Nasty Citizens Arrest Sharp, angular and dark yet lulling guitar tones with strained vocals, grimy bass and tight drums collide on the opening track from Sydney band Shady Nastys new self-titled EP, managing to have you hypnotised just as the track breaks down and snaps you back into reality. Ferla Wasted on You Melbournes foremost low-rent disco practitioners irresistible single from the Guilty Pop/Stay Posi double EP is an absolute earworm, straddling the line between euphoria and melancholy through its myriad of dominant synths and reverb drenched vocals that grapple with the grieving process of a relationship in the mellowest of manners. The Fruity Whites Getting It Together Perths pre-eminent pedlars of lo-fi, boxed wine influenced melodic sounds are back, following up 2013s Goon Tapes with a single of captivating, jangly alt-country pop. Hugh Mannings lyrics are as equally charming as they are somewhat confronting, detailing the mundane and heartbreaking aspects of adulthood in excruciating detail. Ryan Beno Saline Luscious, layered post-rock sounds driven by by jazzy swinging drums, reverb drenched sweeping guitar chords, a pulsating bass line and swelling synths combine to progress in intensity until the track turns into a gorgeous jazz influenced second movement. Mikey Young Socks Nostalgic, tropical slo-mo house is our first taste from musician/audio engineer Mikey Youngs soon to be released Your Move Vol 1. Amongst playing with Total Control, and working as a mastering engineer, Mikey also manages to find time to craft tracks based around a wide range of analogue synth sounds, from bleeps and bloops to sweeping pads, bubbling bass lines and extravagant chords. "In a 48-page order this morning, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson directed an outside expert she appointed to determine if the government intentionally and purposefully procured and obtained recordings of attorney-client communications, and whether intentionally, or not, the government listened, viewed and/or used such recordings. Vastly expanding the scope of an investigation of video and audio taping of attorney-client meetings and phone calls at the detention center in Leavenworth, a federal judge now wants to know whether the government obtained and used such recordings. In a 48-page order this morning, U.S. Claycomo police officer & wife arrested, accused of submitting fake pain pill prescriptions CLAYCOMO, Mo. -- A Claycomo police officer and his wife are accused in Clay County of attempting to pass a fraudulent prescription for Oxycodone at several pharmacies in Kansas City's Northland. Adam Wade, 34, and his wife Skye Wade, 34, both of Parkville are charged with two and three counts respectively, of 'fraudulently attempting to obtain a controlled substance'. police dude now facing fraud allegations should remind us all of the rampant opioid crisis getting worse across the nation . . . And in our backyard as well. MAYOR SLY SELLING A NO-BID SWEETHEART DEAL FOR LONGTIME CORPORATE PATRONS IS THE MOST CORRUPT ENDEAVOR UNDERTAKEN IN KANSAS CITY HISTORY!!! CAN MAYOR SLY MAINTAIN HIS GOOD GUY IMAGE WHILE SELLING THIS SHADY NO-BID NEW AIRPORT PLAN??? Kansas City will fight about a proposed plan for a new airport today but most of the arguments will overlook at critical component that has dominated the local discourse for more than half a decade: The highly touted charm and charisma of Mayor Sly James employed to sell a litany of taxes and questionable public projects now pushing the biggest local gamble of all time.Today that image persona might finally confront real questions from the public.Why???Nice guy or not, forgive the optimism but, Kansas City voters and residents aren't stupid.The merits of the new airport scheme and criticism of MCI in its current configuration will be the focus of the discussion but the more important fact is that even Mayor Sly's most strident allies must admit that thisand a sign of corporate welfare graft at its worst.Theand in the end, as always, Kansas City cash will end up paying for this disaster in the making . . . As always.Also, the designs for the new airport have all been disappointing so far and selling this project that Kansas City will own but not manage is a sketchy proposition at best.Still, this is debate isn't about the merits of the new airport vs. fixing something that locals already like and depend upon . . . The struggle is obvious for locals who have even a modicum of understanding about local politics:You decide . . .Check the links . . .Developing . . . Hepatitis C rising in Kansas City with opioid epidemic, ReDiscover says KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The opioid epidemic in the United States is bringing about another serious problem: Hepatitis C. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows new Hep C infections almost tripled in five years. New infections rose from 850 in 2010 to 2,436 in 2015. The Kansas City junkie class is growing faster than most local realize thanks to the medical industrial complex and so many pill mill docs turning their patients into addicts. Here's the consequence of one healthcare dilemma creating another . . . Take a look: WILL THE KANSAS CITY HOMICIDE SPIKE GROW EVEN MORE DEADLY WHILE MAYOR SLY IS PUSHING HIS DEVELOPMENT AGENDA!!! Double murder Wednesday in Kansas City has been exceptionally with more gunfire erupting on local streets as of this writing.Today we counted the 43 homicide in Kansas City so far compared to 35 at this time last year.To wit . . .Priorities for KCMO leadership seem to be an airport, a convention hotel and keeping toy train streetcar hype running. Meanwhile a cop is hiking to Jeff City to get help as a homicide uptick is now in it's 3rd year.Check the links from today . . .Developing . . . Kansas City Homicide Investigation Man's body found on Indian Creek Trail, KC police say NewsChopper 9 SOURCE: NewsChopper 9 Kansas City police are investigating after a man's body was found early Thursday near 103rd Street and Wornall Road. Police were called to the area at 6:30 a.m. by a cyclist who found the man dead on the Indian Creek Trail. Meth Town Gunfire Exchange Man injured in shooting involving Jackson County deputy INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A man was injured in a shooting involving a Jackson County deputy in Independence, Missouri on Thursday morning. Authorities responded to the area of Little Blue Parkway and R.D. Mize Road around 8:30 a.m. Officials said the man injured in the shooting was transported to the hospital. Startup Tech Scene Report Kauffman report: KC startup momentum builds for 3 years running, improves national rank Momentum in Kansas City's startup community continues to grow, found that for the third consecutive year, entrepreneurial activity in the Kansas City metro has grown. The index - which presents entrepreneurial trends nationally, at the state level and for the 40 largest metro areas - revealed that Kansas City's startup activity moved from a No. A few more new items worth a click from the mid-morning . . .Another quick open thread . . . Kansas City police officer Kelly Sapp is walking to Jefferson City for a chance to talk directly with Gov. Eric Greitens about the problem of violence in the inner city. Sapp volunteers by reading to children at a school in Kansas City. Kansas City Ready To Make KC-based Make48 invention contest to become national TV show The inaugural season of Make48 will be featured on more than 200 public television stations via American Public Television, reaching about 70 percent of U.S. households. Founded in 2015, Make48 challenges inventors to build a product over a weekend. For the show, however, the competition will be transformed into an educational documentary series showcasing the invention process. Meth Town Auntie Beat Down Charge Prosecutors charge woman in Independence homicide, suspect claimed the victim was her aunt The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office has announced charges in Tuesday's homicide in Independence. Courtney A. Hackney, 32, faces charges of murder second degree and armed criminal action in connection with the beating death of Holly Barnett. Police were called to a home in the 700 block of Walnut Street Tuesday night. Northeast Destruction Moves Ahead Crime Scene Check Across The Bridge Police investigating Northland armed burglary with multiple suspects where victim was struck in head KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A burglary victim told police that three men broke into her home on Monday morning, assaulted her and fled after taking money and a laptop. A Kansas City police report says this happened at about 11 a.m. in the 9800 block of N. Highland Place. Kansas City Good Cause Conclusion??? KC Cancer Survivors Day rally to end after 32 years - unless a new organizer is found Think of it as a casualty of its own success. Kansas City's annual Celebration of Life rally - a joyful and often emotional recognition of cancer survival that has been a June tradition for 32 years - will be held for the last time this year. J-Lo's BoyToy Broadcaster A-Rod to make FS1 booth debut for Thursday's Yankees-Royals game A-Rod is back with the Yankees ... only this time he'll be calling their game from the broadcast booth. Celebrate Kansas City Crowd Help Crowd lifts Cadillac to free pedestrian after two vehicles barrel toward him An elderly Missourian is lucky to be alive today after a car that had pinned him to the ground was lifted off him by witnesses. According to Orlando Gentry and Troy Robertson were working at a Kansas City, Mo., clothing store when a stolen minivan careened through a red light at 35th and Prospect and was immediately T-boned by a woman driving a gold Cadillac. Curvy Brit modelinspires this bit of local link collection and some of the top news from the current Kansas City news cycle. Take a peek:And this is thefor right now . . . KCMO Morning Alarm Burning Sensation KC Fire: Man jumps out window to get to safety during fire KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Fire Department was called to the scene of a house fire on Bellfontaine Avenue around 3:30 a.m. Thursday. The man living inside the home jumped out the back window to get to safety. He's being treated at the hospital. Morning Gunfire Report Shooting near 39th, Vineyard sends man to hospital Shooting near 39th, Vineyard sends man to hospital Authorities say victim suffers minor injuries A disturbance led to a shooting early Thursday on the city's east side, Kansas City police said. Police officers were called about 3:30 a.m. to the 3900 block of Vineyard Road. More Toy Train Taxes Your questions about the proposed KC streetcar expansion answered KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The mail-in ballot process for the proposed KC Streetcar expansion is different than most elections. First, people who live in the transportation development district or TDD that will be impacted have to request a ballot. Then they have to show proof of voter registration, get their form notarized and mail it to the county. Early Start For Real World More than 70 students graduated from college Wednesday...before graduating from high school 76 students have a college degree...but not a highs school diploma. This is all thanks to dual credit and early college programs. Cowtown Leaker Party!!! Kansas Citians supporting Chelsea Manning's release Supporters celebrated the release of Chelsea Manning from Fort Leavenworth military prison Wednesday on the Plaza at the J.C. Nichols Fountain in Kansas City. Manning was convicted in 2013 of espionage after disclosing secret U.S. government files to WikiLeaks and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Suburban Driveway Danger Camera captures Raytown school bus almost hitting young girl RAYTOWN, Mo. - A father is outraged after he says a school bus nearly took his daughter's life. Not only were the parents of the first-grader watching from their home. But a security camera captured the moment a more than 20,000 pound bus nearly struck the little girl. KCMO Conversation Continues Armed man barricades himself inside Kansas City home KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- Officers responded to reports of an armed man in the 600 block of Forest Wednesday at about 3:00 p.m. When they arrived, officers tried to talk to the man, but he then barricaded himself inside the home. Police eventually escorted one woman out of the residence to safety. Springtime Losing Streak Cont'd Yankees tee off on Jason Vargas in 11-7 romp over Royals KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Not even the starting pitcher with the best ERA in the majors could slow down the hot-hitting, free-swinging New York Yankees on Wednesday night. To start #TBT we begin our morning withher her most politically charged work taking on the persona of a leading GOP lady.Closer to home, we're looking at these local links:Thesong of the day isand this is thefor right now . . . When you ask Westerners about Japan, odds are theyll come up with some peculiar stereotypes, generally involving things like Sailor Moon and maybe (OK, probably) some tentacles. Of course, not every stereotype is true. There are a lot of normal aspects to Japanese culture, and Japan in general is home to some incredible history and one of the most technologically advanced and financially robust populations in the world. Then again, theres a reason Westerners look a little sideways at the Japanese sometimes and we have a feeling you might, too, when you read about some of their rather unorthodox obsessions 10. Yaeba Protruding Tooth Your average American spends about $685 on dental care. Not all that surprising considering the media constantly reminds us of the virtues of oral hygiene with celebrities flaunting their expensive Hollywood smiles. Whereas we might go to the dentist to straighten crooked teeth, some Japanese women are embracing their crowded dentures. Called yaeba, women display their dental imperfections proudly with some even seeking professional help to create the look. Theres lots of different explanations as to why the yaeba craze has been so successful in Japan. Some suggest that it captures a girls youth; others argue its just another way that women change their appearance to conform to male standards. While all of this might be enough to make a brace-wearing-teenager sigh in despair, in reality yaeba is a mostly harmless fashion trend that can be reversed as styles change. In fact, although yaeba may appeal to the younger crowd, older women are electing to get treatment to fix those imperfect teeth once and for all. 9. Zentai Full Body Suits A zentai suit, zentai meaning whole or entire in Japanese, is a skin-tight item of clothing that is usually associated with superheroes or an athletes uniform. All in all, that seems sensible and isnt the sort of thing that people would think twice over. However, plunge a little deeper and you find a group of enthusiasts with different motives. For some these suits offer a sense of anonymity so often missing from everyday life; for others, it helps them find a place in society by hiding their outward appearance. Theres even those who find a sexual element to zentai suits, with one fan remarking how he liked to be touched and stroked by others. This is one trend that is branching out of Japan into the West. The Zentai Project group, which is based in Britain, holds occasional walkouts where members go out in public taking pictures with amused tourists. So now you know that guy walking down the street isnt just doing a bad imitation of Spider-Man, hes a full blown Zentai suit practitioner. 8. Eyeball Licking Aside from sounding incredibly unhygienic, eyeball licking is a supposed craze practiced in Japanese schools. Unusual at best, examples of this eccentric trend can be found on YouTube, comic books, and even in music videos. You might prefer a handshake, but some Japanese school children view eyeball licking as a sign of intimacy. Whether all of this is fact or fiction is a matter of debate. The Japanese website Naver Matome claims its a serious problem with a third of a classroom full of 12 year olds admitting to giving it a go. One teacher reported an increasing number of children suffering from styes along with students hiding their infections by wearing eyepatches. Tokyo-based writer Mark Schreiber, on the other hand, disagrees. Schreiber contacted two ophthalmological associations, an ophthalmologist, a professor and an organisation of school clinicians all of whom had never heard of the practice. This might be one we would like to think is an urban myth. After all, health experts have been quick to advise of the dangers of licking eyeballs: styes, conjunctivitis, ruptures to the cornea, ocular chlamydia and in extreme cases, blindness are some of the things you can look forward to. Either way it seems unlikely that this trend will spread across the Pacific. 7. 1873: The Year of the Rabbit Rabbits: cute, furry, cuddly and nowhere to be seen on the Japanese islands before 1873. When rabbits were imported as curiosities, the Japanese people went crazy for the creatures. A rabbit back then could fetch amazing prices, with a single rabbit sometimes going for as much as $1000, but $400 to $500 being a more regular occurrence. The year 1874 saw the government put a capitation tax on rabbits, prices fell from dollars to cents and for rabbit gamblers the good times were over. Its important to stress that some people took this craze very seriously. One man spent everything he had on two rabbits only for them to die soon after. His daughter, taking pity on her father, sold herself to a brothel. With the money earned, she bought two more rabbits that also went on to die. Having had enough the man committed suicide; his daughter followed his example. This story baffled Australias the Launceston Examiner so much that they remarked: Life is apparently cheap in Japan, since the value of two human lives seems to be equal to that of four rabbits! 6. Byojaku New fashion trends occur on an almost yearly basis in Japan. Some Japanese fashion is well known in the West with some trying to mimic the latest Tokyo trends. One of the more obscure fashion crazes in recent years is Byojaku or Sickly Face in English. Byojaku can trace its origins back to an April issue of Ranzuki a Japanese fashion magazine. Since then, whether byojaku is a good or a bad thing has been a subject of curiosity for the Japanese media. According to Japanese school girls, the byojaku look involves pale skin, worried brows and slightly flushed cheeks and lips. This is not to suggest that this craze is confined to schools. Mai Shiraishi, Kanna Hashimoto and AMO are all celebrities known for this look. So why are women choosing the byojaku style? Its suggested that the look produces an unapproachable, damsel-in-distress message that asks people to protect them. 5. Japans Bagel Heads For most people, all body modification means is getting your ears pierced or the odd tattoo. The more extreme practices of body medication, such as eyeball tattooing, are part of a fringe community which exists throughout the world. Japan, however, manages to take this unconventional subculture and add a unique twist. The bagel head look is achieved by injecting saline into the forehead while pressing your thumb down. Starting as long ago as 1999, the trend is still going strong and is surprisingly one of the tamer practices on the scene. For those that want to pursue something more outrageous: ear pointing, navel removal and amputation are all viable options. You might be wondering what any of those last three things entail. Well, ear pointing involves sharpening your ears to look like a cat. Naval removal is the literal removal of the navel from the body, and amputation is exactly what it sounds like with one practitioner suggesting the loss of a couple of fingers. If you decide youd rather just stick to injecting saline into your head, then prepare to spend some serious money. The bagel head look lasts for less than 24 hours, so youll need to keep forking out that hard-earned cash on saline to keep up the effect. There is some good news for the vain the skin doesnt sag no matter how many times you do it. 4. The Toilet Paper Craze of 1973 In 1973, Japan was almost caught with its pants down when toilet paper became the years must have item. An oil crisis and fears of a paper shortage led Japanese nationals to grab any paper they could get their hands on whether it be toilet paper, facial tissues, disposable diapers or sanitary napkins. One man in Shizuoka managed to get a hold of a thousand rolls of toilet paper, which is enough to last five years provided his family used four rolls a week. At the time, Japan imported oil to maintain a modern lifestyle. When the 1973 war in the Middle East threatened Japans supply of inexpensive oil, people panicked with demands for basic consumer items raising prices exponentially. In some parts of the country, the price of a roll of toilet paper more than doubled within a couple of weeks. It got so bad that people stole toilet paper from public buildings just to keep up supplies. This isnt something Japan just laughs off lightly. In 2014, the government fearing another scare, rolled out a public awareness campaign encouraging the stockpile of toilet paper and even the sale of specifically packed emergency use toilet tissue. One more reason not to grumble next time you reach out to an empty holder. 3. Hamuketsu Hamster Bottoms Hamuketsu is best described as a surreal mixture of the Japanese words for hamster and bottom. Bizarrely, more than 40,000 copies of photobooks dedicated to hamster bottoms have been sold. A Facebook page devoted to hamuketsu has thousands of fans uploading hundreds of pictures. To get an even bigger picture of how popular hamster butts are in Japan, we need look no further than the first book on the subject, Kawaisa-ni Monzetsu Hamuketsu, which featured 72 shots of photogenic hamsters. It was so popular that it outsold its originally printed 7,000 copies forcing a reprint. Its been said this is just another development of an aspect of Japanese culture known as kawaii, meaning cute or adorable in English. When asked about the trend, Takeshi Takahashi, spokesman at Hamuketsus publishers Basilico, explained: The great thing about hamuketsu is that it is delightfully cute. I cant stop smiling when I see these butts. 2. Sea Bunnies A genus of sea slugs native to the Pacific Ocean and found in the waters north of Japan, these nudibranchs and marine gastropods have become a Japanese internet phenomenon. Named sea bunnies for their rabbit-like appearance, some can grow up to 8 inches with coats and ears that some find cute. The fur-like coat is the result of bunches of tiny rods, named caryophyllidia, that cover the animals back. Arranged around knobs that are occasionally black, this gives the sea bunny its speckled appearance. Its ears are actually two antenna-like formations that are most likely sensory organs. Known under the scientific name rhinophores, they are used to sense chemicals in the water that help sea bunnies locate food and mates. Sea bunnies can relax when it comes to natural predators, as theyre very toxic. So, although youre safe to enjoy from a distance, touching them seems like a bad idea. Thankfully most people are content to just look at pictures. A webpage dedicated to the creatures has been shared nearly 10,000 times. 1. Kancho Kancho is a popular prank where children sneak up on an unsuspecting victim only to poke one another with pointed fingers in the behind, yelling kancho at their hapless opponent. Aside from traumatizing a few English teachers, the prank is generally well received. Kancho isnt necessarily encouraged in Japan, but children are seldom scolded for it. A popular source of ridicule online, sites such as Tofugu offer survival guides on how to protect your posterior from wayward children. Common throughout Japan, kancho is a classic example of how two cultures can be so different. Whereas it would be more likely to spurn allegations of sexual abuse in the West, kancho is seen as mostly harmless fun in Japan. A trend that children will grow out of as they get older. We may have a lot in common, but there are some trends in Japan that manage to make even the most well-traveled gasp in amazement. Other Articles you Might Like For the day, the Acropolis Museum will exhibit for the first time fragments of a statue depicting the Polos Kore Entrance to all museums in Greece will be free of charge on Thursday (May 18) as they celebrate the International Museums Day, with several events planned for visitors. The theme chosen for 2017 is "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums". For the day, the Acropolis Museum will exhibit for the first time fragments of a statue depicting the Polos Kore (young woman with a high head dress) inside the Archaic Acropolis Gallery, together with the exceptional head 696. These fragments are currently in the museum's store rooms. Visitors will be able to view these artifacts arranged in a special showcase in order to get the complete picture of the statue before its destruction by the Persians. On the occasion of this years International Museum Day, the Museum produced, in collaboration with the Hellenic Mint, commemorative medals dedicated to the boar. Massive and ferocious, the wild boar inspired both awe and dread in the ancient Greeks. Boar hunting required a well-coordinated team of hunters, capable of tracking down and fatally wounding an aggressive and potentially deadly prey. These medals will be available for purchase at the Acropolis Museum Shops from Thursday 18 May 2017. Archaeologists at the Archaeological Museum in Athens will narrate stories behind selected exhibits that relate to latent traumatic memories. What secrets does the Linear B tablet from the palace in Pylos hide? Where are the two men and the eight women referred to on the table heading to? What magical powers could the ancient inscription on the lead tile from Salamis have for the ancients? These and other stories will reveal an unknown or contested world of antiquity, while other narratives will familiarize visitors with aspects of the modern history of antiquities. The objective of International Museum Day is to raise awareness of the fact that, museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. It is organised on and around 18 May each year. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Saudi Arabia is making good progress in identifying and reducing obstacles to private sector growth and a large, sustained fiscal adjustment is needed to achieve budget balance over the medium term, an IMF report said. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Tim Callen held discussions from April 30 to May 11 on the 2017 Article IV Consultation with Saudi Arabia. At the conclusion of the mission, Callen said in a statement: Saudi Arabia has embarked on a bold reform program under Vision 2030. The reforms aim to diversify the economy, give a larger role to the private sector, increase the number of jobs for Saudis in the private sector, and adjust fiscal policy to ensure macroeconomic stability. The reforms are ambitious and further efforts on effective prioritisation, sequencing, coordination, and communication will be needed to maximise the chances of their successful implementation. The government is adapting its fiscal policy to lower oil prices. The aim of bringing about a large, sustained, and well-paced fiscal adjustment to achieve a balanced budget is appropriate, he said. "The target of balancing the budget, however, does not need to be met in 2019 as set out in the Fiscal Balance Program (FBP) given Saudi Arabias strong financial asset position and its low debt. A more gradual fiscal consolidation to achieve budget balance a few years later would reduce the effects on growth in the near-term while still preserving fiscal buffers to help manage future risks," Callen said. Energy price reforms are a key priority, but there is scope for a gradual implementation to give households and businesses more time to adjust. The household allowance is a welcome and powerful tool to support low- and middle-income households as energy prices increase, while support to industry should be available on a limited, temporary, and transparent basis. Successfully implementing non-oil revenue reforms such as the excises and VAT is very important. The recent steps to increase the transparency of fiscal policy through the publication of the Fiscal Balance Program and the First Quarter Budget Report are very welcome. This greater transparency will help private businesses and investors better plan their investment and employment decisions," said the statement. The authorities are beginning to make good progress in identifying and reducing obstacles to private sector growth, including by reducing custom clearance times, making it easier to start a business, and moving toward completion of the new bankruptcy and commercial mortgage laws. In collaboration with the business community, these efforts should continue." Callen said additional reforms are expected to be announced in the coming months to boost the private sector, including an ambitious privatisation and PPP programme to reduce the role of the government in the economy. Creating more jobs for Saudi nationals in the private sector is essential. A national dialogue between the government, businesses, and those who want to work or take entrepreneurial opportunities could help find solutions to the jobs challenge that are tailored for all. Consideration needs to be given to how to increase the competitiveness of Saudi workers in the private sector. Allowing greater mobility of expatriate workers in the economy would help close the wage gap between Saudi nationals and expatriates. Encouraging more female employment will have a positive economic impact. Women are as well educated as men, and their participation in the labor force has been increasing in recent years. However, the level is still low which means that their skills and endeavors are not contributing as much as they could to the growth and productivity of the economy," he said. Banks are well regulated and supervised, and SAMA has successfully managed emerging financial sector risks over the past year. Efforts by the Capital Market Authority to develop the local capital markets are very welcome and will provide more financing and saving opportunities in the domestic economy. The exchange rate peg to the US dollar continues to serve Saudi Arabia well given the structure of the economy," said the statement. - TradeArabia News Service The World Bank has announced a $350 million programme to support wide-ranging reforms of financial intermediation in Morocco. The operation supports new sources of financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while improving the regulatory oversight of the banking sector. The operation also supports capital market development by broadening the range of instruments and strengthening the protection of Moroccan investors. Finally, it addresses the financial sustainability of the civil service pension fund, thereby preserving its role as a major institutional investor. The programme will eventually unleash new financing solutions for small enterprises and the real economy more broadly, said a statement. To improve access to finance and promote financial inclusion, the Second Capital Market Development and Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Development Policy Loan (DPL) supports the expansion of the states loan guarantee schemes into Moroccos regions. It also supports the development of credit information on new borrowers to facilitate lending decisions, as well as the provision of alternative payment services outside the traditional banking system. This will over time improve the financial lives of households and small enterprises with hitherto limited or no access to the formal financial system. With the financial sector exposed to new risks as the economy develops and Moroccan companies diversify into Africa, the DPL also supports enhanced central bank supervision of banks particularly those belonging to large financial conglomerates that could pose a risk to the entire financial system. Stabilising the finances of the Caisse Marocaine des Retraites, the mandatory pension fund for civil and military services, is a key part of the programme. The reform gradually increases both the retirement age and contributions, as the first stage of a comprehensive reform toward restoring financial soundness to the pension system. The reform raises immediately the minimum pension payments for those at the lower end of the salary scale to protect the least well-off retirees and women survivors. Taken together, the reform safeguards the pension promises made by the State to its civil servants, it said. Morocco has made significant progress over the past two decades in modernizing its financial system and creating an environment conducive to private sector development, said Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Maghreb country director for the Maghreb and Malta. Global experience shows that private initiative is the engine of job creation, and better access to finance for SMEs, along with other financial inclusion efforts while safeguarding financial stability, will help unlock the immense potential of Moroccos youth and women. - TradeArabia News Service Oman is working on new regulations that will allow expatriates to own properties in the sultanate irrespective of the number of years they have spent in the country, said a report It also includes a proposal to earmark a certain percentage in selected mixed-use projects outside the integrated tourism complexes (ITCs) for them, reported Oman Observer, citing a top official from the Ministry of Housing. The decision will be announced once the subject is discussed in the Majlis Ashshura and approved by the cabinet, stated Siham Al Harthy, the director-general of Real Estate development. "We are ready from our side and we support ownership of properties by expatriates outside the ITCs. The matter must go through the Majlis Ashshura and approved by the Cabinet before we can go ahead," Al Harthy was quoted as saying in the report. She pointed out that there will be no eligibility criteria such as the number of years an expatriate has to spend in Oman for owning a property. The new regulations will also address the concerns vis-a-vis the visa requirements, she stated. "We dont want to introduce any half-hearted measures, Al Harthy was quoted as saying. She said there are 500,000 applications for land in Oman. We hope to accommodate them through affordable housing projects in Muscat and other places, including the project announced in Barka, she added. The government is planning affordable housing districts through a public-private partnership. The foreign ownership of properties outside the ITCs is necessary and will boost the market in Oman, said the report citing Mohammed bin Salim al Busaidy, the chairman of Oman Real Estate Association and a Majlis Ashshura member. He said the matter has not yet come before the Majlis Ashshura, but it will be fast-tracked and received positively. There are expatriates who have been staying in Oman for many years. They want to feel secure here. They should be encouraged to invest their savings here, he added. Karcher, a global leader in innovative cleaning technology solutions, is showcasing its products and solutions at Project Lebanon, a premier exhibition for building material and equipment, being held in capital Beirut. The 22nd edition of Project Lebanon concludes tomorrow (May 19) at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Centre. The expo features a B2B matchmaking platform, an innovative or start-up pavilion, and live demonstrations. Lebanon is an important trade and re-export market not only because of the countrys geographic location, but also because of its diaspora spread across the globe, said experts. Non-resident Lebanese, contribute to the countrys economic development by driving investments into the country. Doing business in Lebanon is a gateway to other markets within the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region as well. Lebanon is set for an industrial growth in 2017, with a focus on the construction and real estate sectors, they added. Real estate sector requires high-intensity cleaning jobs at and around construction sites and Karcher has quality products for the industry, said a top official. "We are optimistic about Lebanons economic growth, as it is strategically located for extensive trade and re-exports in the region and globally," remarked Mazen Abou Chakra, the export sales director, Karcher Middle East. "Our presence in Lebanon is part of our Middle East strategy. Having existed in this region for more than 20 years, we want to ensure our products, solutions, innovation, and quality has touched everyone," he said. Karcher, he stated, received an overwhelming response at Project Lebanon and was very happy with its participation in this key industry event. Gebran Safi, the owner, Mecanix Shops, a professional dealer for Karcher in Lebanon, said: "The construction companies are always on the look out for top products, be it in a market thats rebuilding or an already established market. In a new or a rebuilding phase of a market, the companies need long lasting products with a proven track record, for their investment to be secure." "In an already established market, the companies are always looking for ways to extend their existing assets like cleaning equipment, through experienced annual maintenance contracts. We have a variety of machines that suit every phase of the construction cycle," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) has announced the activation of a number of initiatives with 500 Startups, a global venture capital seed fund, to help the regions rising technology start-up scene. QSTP, part of Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D), is Qatars hub for technology-based innovation and entrepreneurship. The initiatives are the result of an memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between QSTPs parent organisation, QF R&D, and 500 Startups earlier this year, said a statement. As per the agreement, QF R&D is working with 500 Startups through the 500 Startups Mena Fund, known as 500 Falcons, which achieved a first closing earlier this month, it said. Looking to invest in 100 to 150 companies and keeping a reserve follow-on investment, the 500 Falcons fund will focus on early-stage startups in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, Mena diaspora founders, and non-Mena founders targeting Mena countries. Moreover, QSTP and 500 Startups launched a new regional accelerator, Doha Dojo, which brings the coveted 500 Startups Series A Accelerator Program to the region. The programme will run once a year in Doha, accepting a limited number of regional tech-startups that have achieved a product market fit milestone in their startup development lifecycle, received funding from 500 Falcons, and are ready to scale up their business. The first batch of nine companies from across the Arab world will showcase their tech products at a special Investors Day organized by QSTP on May 23 at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). It will serve as an ideal opportunity for participants to build bridges with potential investors from around the Arab world. Additionally, the Investors Day will feature six new startup spinoffs from QFs Research-to-Startup (RTS) program launched earlier this year by QSTP in partnership with Wasabi Global Ventures, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), and QFs Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (IPTT) office. The RTS is designed to be a smooth launch-pad of startups that leverage technologies developed by research and academic institutes in Doha, said a statement. Dr Hamad Al Ibrahim, executive vice president, QF R&D, said: Qatar Foundations mission to support innovation is the main drive behind our partnership with 500 Startups. I believe this is the beginning of a new era for tech-startups in the region, who will be enabled by this initiative and the expert organisations behind it. We endeavour to create enough momentum to spur progress and empower our youth to excel in-line with the worlds tech entrepreneurship scene, he said. Dr Maher Hakim, QSTP executive director, said: We are in pursuit of a dynamic and sustainable technology startup ecosystem in Qatar and the wider region. The partnerships with global ecosystem builders, such as 500 Startups and Wasabi, are part of a strategy to integrate Qatars young tech entrepreneurship ecosystem within the regional and global ones, he said. The impact of these partnerships is already being felt as 15 promising tech startups will pitch their ideas and business visions to investors from Qatar and the region in the focused Investors Day. This event is designed to broaden the horizons and opportunities of local and regional tech-startups, he added. The Investors Day will also feature a series of side activities to help participants build lasting business relationships. The side events will include roundtable discussion on the status of venture capital and corporate strategic investment and funding in the Mena region, and discussions on exploring ways to further strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the wider region, it stated. TradeArabia News Service CEO CHAT: BSOs Ourabah Says Frontier Trading Is Worth the Effort While space might be the final frontier, equities traders are looking to Terra Firma for their next alpha generating execution and need look no further than the emerging markets. In a conversation with Traders Magazine, CEO Michael Ourabah of BSO, a connectivity provider for high-frequency traders looking to trade in emerging markets, discussed the merits of trading in less developed markets and countries. Trading in frontier or less-developed equity markets certainly has its share of attention lately as the buy-side has seen profit margins and alpha dropping lower and lower in all the established markets, both in North America and Western Europe. And the frontier markets, such as sub-Sahara Africa, the Middle East or even parts of Asia have a significant draw. Clearly, the buy-side has been looking to get more alpha and emerging markets are a major draw. But going into the emerging market has a cost, and if you do it in the wrong way, it can spell disaster, Ourabah began. Also, there are a lot of regulatory constraints - issues for deploying technologies and resources. So, we help enable the buy-side by having done all the technological work required in these areas over the past 10 years. Weve built what we feel are the absolute lowest latency paths and infrastructure to get them trading in these geographies. But still, getting a buy-side trader going requires a certain je ne sais quoi depending on the jurisdiction they are looking to enter and BSO feels it has just the right touch to help. As Ourabah told Traders Magazine, some locales such as India, the Middle East, Istanbul and South Africa can all tax a traders patience, but BSOs longstanding relationships within these markets can smooth the way. All these markets are not easy to trade in and there are a lot of constraints around the regulatory environment, but we have a lot of insight and experience with these issues, he continued. Normally we help them get in there from a trading and investiture aspect, but we also connect them with our local partners who we know can help facilitate their market entry. Ourabah explained that buy-siders need to be patient when trading in some of these jurisdictions as country-specific regulations affect how to collect earned alpha namely getting money from the frontier country to the buy-siders office. Some countries require monies earned to remain within the country for a time, or be reinvested within the country to ensure no speculation or currency drain. It can be a struggle to get money out, Ourabah said, recalling some of his clients travails. They definitely do, but how this is done is a mystery to me! 1 2 next For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: [May 17, 2017] Virtustream to Showcase Expanded Premium Supplier Capabilities for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud at SAPPHIRE NOW Virtustream, the enterprise-class cloud company and a Dell (News - Alert) Technologies business, today announced that it will expand capabilities as a premium supplier of SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. These enhancements will explore new offerings to specific verticals and additional geographies. SAP (News - Alert) HANA Enterprise Cloud offers tailored solutions for regulated industries including healthcare, life sciences, utilities and the public sector. "Virtustream is laser focused on developing innovations within our technology as well as expanding our solutions for key vertical markets," said Simon Walsh, COO, Virtustream. "Last year, we successfully launched a formal public sector practice and recently, we announced our new healthcare cloud. Our technology is purpose-built for the heightened performance, security and compliance requirements of regulated industries, and these advanced capabilities with SAP will complement and expand on these existing focal points within our business." This initiative also includes potential SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud geographic expansion- leveraging Virtustream's recent global investment- into Japan, ANZ, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and the Nordics. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is a fully scalable and secure managed cloud offering available only fro SAP. It provides customers the full power of SAP HANA in a private, managed cloud environment that is supported by the most knowledgeable resources in the industry - from infrastructure to applications. Virtustream, an SAP partner, is participating at SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference being held May 16-18 in Orlando, Florida in booth #438. SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference are the world's premier business technology event and largest SAP customer-run conference, offering attendees the opportunity to learn and network with customers, SAP executives, partners and experts across the entire SAP ecosystem. About Virtustream Virtustream, a Dell Technologies business, is the enterprise-class cloud company that is trusted by organizations worldwide to migrate and run their mission-critical applications in the cloud. For enterprises, service providers and government agencies, Virtustream's xStream Management Platform and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) meets the security, compliance, performance, efficiency and consumption-based billing requirements of complex production applications in the cloud - whether private, public or hybrid. *Virtustream and xStream are trademarks or registered trademarks of Virtustream, Inc. in the United States or in other countries. All other trademarks used are the property of the respective owners. SAP, SAPPHIRE NOW, SAP HANA and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006104/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2017] Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Showcases Expansive Oncology Clinical Development Program and Commitment to Exploring Novel Combinations at ASCO 2017 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced that more than 80 presentations, including 16 oral presentations and seven poster discussions, highlighting data from Company-sponsored studies, collaborations and investigator-sponsored research evaluating its oncology compounds across 20 types of cancer, will be featured at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2017 in Chicago from June 2-6. Results to be presented represent the breadth of the Company's Oncology research portfolio, including monotherapy and combination studies of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab), as well as studies of Empliciti (elotuzumab) and Sprycel (dasatinib). The Company will also present updates from its robust investigational pipeline, including proof-of-concept efficacy data for its anti-lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) monoclonal antibody in combination with Opdivo and pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and safety data on its investigational glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-related gene (GITR) agonist alone and for the first time, in combination with Opdivo in advanced solid tumors. Several presentations will report data from clinical collaborations supportive of the Company's efforts to advance understanding of the potential role for Opdivo in combination with novel mechanisms of action for several tumor types, including the first presentation of data evaluating the safety and efficacy of Opdivo in combination with epacadostat, Incyte's selective IDO1 enzyme inhibitor. Presentations featuring translational medicine research underscore Bristol-Myers Squibb's scientific leadership in driving understanding of how a patient's tumor biology can potentially guide treatment decisions. Data from research on the Company's medicines to be presented during the meeting include: Gastrointestinal Malignancies Combination of nivolumab + ipilimumab in the treatment of patients with deficient DNA mismatch repair/high microsatellite instability metastatic colorectal cancer: CheckMate 142 study Author: Thierry Andre Abstract #3531 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Colorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Concordance of DNA mismatch repair deficient/microsatellite instability assessment by local and central testing in patients with metastatic CRC receiving nivolumab in CheckMate 142 Author: Scott Kopetz Abstract #3548 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Colorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Nivolumab in sorafenib-naive and -experienced patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: The CheckMate 040 study Author: Todd S. Crocenzi Abstract #4013 Poster Discussion Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Saturday, June 3, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, Hall D2 CheckMate 577: A randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study of adjuvant nivolumab or placebo in patients with resected esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer Author: Ronan Joseph Kelly Abstract #TPS4131 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A CheckMate 649: A randomized, multicenter, open-label, phase 3 study of nivolumab + ipilimumab or nivo + chemotherapy vs CTX alone in patients with previously untreated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer Author: Markus H. Moehler Abstract #TPS4132 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Nivolumab ipilimumab in patients with advanced/metastatic chemotherapy-refractory gastric, esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer: CheckMate 032 study Author: Yelena Yuriy Janjigian Abstract #4014 Oral Abstract Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Sunday, June 4, 9:24-9:36 AM, Hall D2 Genitourinary Cancer Health-related quality of life as a marker of treatment benefit with nivolumab in platinum-refractory patients with metastatic or unresectable urothelial carcinoma from CheckMate 275 Author: Andrea Necchi Abstract #4526 Poster Session: Genitourinary (Nonprostate) Cancer Sunday, June 4, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Glioblastoma Histopathologic review of suspected disease progression in patients with recurrent glioblastoma receiving nivolumab ipilimumab: CheckMate 143 Author: Solmaz Sahebjam Abstract #2001 Oral Abstract Session: Central Nervous System Tumors Sunday, June 4, 8:12-8:24 AM, S100a Overall survival by line of therapy in Medicare-enrolled glioblastoma multiforme patients Author: Abdalla Aly Abstract #2039 Poster Session: Central Nervous System Tumors Monday, June 5, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Gynecologic Cancers An open-label, multicohort, phase 1/2 study of nivolumab in patients with virus-associated tumors (CheckMate 358): Efficacy and safety in recurrent or metastatic cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers Author: Antoine Hollebecque Abstract #5504 Oral Abstract Session: Gynecologic Cancer Friday, June 2, 4:12-4:24 PM, S406 Head and Neck Cancer Nivolumab vs investigator's choice for platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (Checkmate 141): Outcomes in first-line R/M patients and updated safety and efficacy Author: Maura L. Gillison Abstract #6019 Poster Discussion Session: Head and Neck Cancer Monday, June 5, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Monday, June 5, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, S406 Nivolumab vs investigator's choice in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: Efficacy and safety in CheckMate 141 by prior cetuximab use Author: Robert L. Ferris Abstract #6020 Poster Discussion Session: Head and Neck Cancer Monday, June 5, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Monday, June 5, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, S406 An open-label, multicohort, phase 1/2 study to evaluate nivolumab in patients with virus-associated tumors (CheckMate 358): Efficacy and safety in recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma Author: Jean-Pierre Delord Abstract #6025 Poster Session: Head and Neck Cancer Monday, June 5, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Characterization of potential predictive biomarkers of response to nivolumab in CheckMate 141 in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Author: Fernando Concha-Benavente Abstract #6050 Poster Session: Head and Neck Cancer Monday, June 5, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Hematologic Malignancies Phase 2 trial of dasatinib in pediatric patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase Author: Lia Gore Abstract #10511 Oral Abstract Session: Pediatric Oncology II Monday, June 5, 8:24-8:36 AM, S504 Impact of dose reductions on 5-year efficacy in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase from DASISION Author: Jorge E. Cortes Abstract #7051 Poster Session: Hematologic Malignancies-Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Phase 3 ELOQUENT-2 study: Extended four-year follow-up of elotuzumab plus lenalidomide/dexamethasone vs Ld in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma Author: Sagar Lonial Abstract #8028 Poster Session: Hematologic Malignancies-Plasma Cell Dyscrasia Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Nivolumab in combination with daratumumab, with or without pomalidomide and dexamethasone, for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: 2 cohorts of the phase 1 CheckMate 039 safety study Author: Alexander M. Lesokhin Abstract #TPS3102 Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A CheckMate 436: A phase 1/2 study to evaluate safety and efficacy of nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin in patients with CD30-expressing relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphomas Author: Paul M. Barr Abstract #TPS7577 Poster Session: Hematologic Malignancies-Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Author: Paul M. Barr Abstract #TPS7577 Poster Session: Hematologic Malignancies-Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A CheckMate 602: An open-label, randomized, phase 3 trial of combinations of nivolumab, elotuzumab, pomalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma Author: Sagar Lonial Abstract #TPS8052 Poster Session: Hematologic Malignancies-Plasma Cell Dyscrasia Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Melanoma Overall survival analysis from an expanded access program of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma (CheckMate 218) Author: David Hogg Abstract #9522 Poster Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Association of distinct baseline tissue biomarkers with response to nivolumab and ipilimumab in melanoma: CheckMate 064 Author: Scott Rodig Abstract #9515 Poster Discussion Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Saturday, June 3, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, E354b Management of gastrointestinal toxicity associated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab (IPI) or IPI alone in phase 2 and 3 trials in advanced melanoma Author: Jeffrey S. Weber Abstract #9523 Poster Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Efficacy and safety of nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma and poor prognostic factors who progressed on or after ipilimumab: Results from a phase 2 study (CheckMate 172) Author: Dirk Schadendorf Abstract #9524 Poster Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with melanoma metastatic to the brain: Results of the phase 2 study CheckMate 204 Author: Hussein Abdul-Hassan Tawbi Abstract #9507 Oral Abstract Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Sunday, June 4, 10:12-10:24 AM, Arie Crown Theater Thoracic Malignancies Nivolumab plus ipilimumab as first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC: 2-year OS and long-term outcomes from CheckMate 012 Author: Jonathan Wade Goldman Abstract #9093 Poster Session: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Metastatic Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Checkmate 816: A phase 3, randomized, open-label trial of nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs platinum-doublet chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment for early-stage NSCLC Author: Patrick M. Forde Abstract #TPS8577 Poster Session: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Local-Regional/Small Cell/Other Thoracic Cancers Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Checkmate 743: A phase 3, randomized, open-label trial of nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs pemetrexed plus cisplatin or carboplatin as first-line therapy in unresectable pleural mesothelioma Author: Gerard Zalcman Abstract #TPS8581 Poster Session: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Local-Regional/Small Cell/Other Thoracic Cancers Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Nivolumab ipilimumab in advanced small cell lung cancer: first report of a randomized expansion cohort from CheckMate 032 Author: Matthew David Hellmann Abstract #8503 Oral Abstract Session: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Local-Regional/Small Cell/Other Thoracic Cancers Monday, June 5, 9:00-9:12 AM, Hall B1 Pipeline FRACTION (Fast Real-time Assessment of Combination Therapies in Immuno-ONcology)-gastric cancer (GC): A randomized, open-label, adaptive phase 2 study of nivolumab in combination with other immuno-oncology agents in patients with advanced GC Author: Praveen Aanur Abstract #TPS4137 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Author: Praveen Aanur Abstract #TPS4137 Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Initial efficacy of anti-lymphocyte activation gene-3 (anti-LAG-3; BMS-986016) in combination with nivolumab in patients with melanoma previously treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy Author: Paolo Antonio Ascierto Abstract #9520 Poster Discussion Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Saturday, June 3, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, E354b Author: Paolo Antonio Ascierto Abstract #9520 Poster Discussion Session: Melanoma/Skin Cancers Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Saturday, June 3, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, E354b Preliminary results of a phase 1/2a study of BMS-986156 (glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-related gene [GITR] agonist), alone and in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced solid tumors Author: Lillian L. Siu Abstract #104 Clinical Science Symposium: "Check" This Out: The Step Beyond PD-1 Blockade Sunday, June 4, 10:12-10:24 AM, Hall D1 Clinical Collaborations Nivolumab + nab-paclitaxel + carboplatin in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: Interim results from a multicenter phase 1 study Author: David Michael Waterhouse Abstract #9095 Poster Session: Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Metastatic Saturday, June 3, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Ceritinib plus nivolumab in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive (ALK+) advanced non-small cell lung cancer Author: Enriqueta Felip Abstract #2502 Oral Abstract Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Saturday, June 3, 1:39-1:51 PM, E450ab Author: Enriqueta Felip Abstract #2502 Oral Abstract Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Saturday, June 3, 1:39-1:51 PM, E450ab Effect of a novel IL-2 cytokine immune agonist (NKTR-214) on proliferating CD8+T cells and PD-1 expression on immune cells in the tumor microenvironment in patients with prior checkpoint therapy Author: Chantale Bernatchez Abstract #2545 Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A A phase I study of enadenotucirev (EnAd), an oncolytic Ad11/Ad3 chimeric group B adenovirus, in combination with nivolumab in tumors of epithelial origin Author: Wael A. Harb Abstract #TPS3115 Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Epacadostat plus nivolumab in patients with advanced solid tumors: Preliminary phase 1/2 results of ECHO-204 Author: Raymond P. Perez Abstract #3003 Oral Abstract Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 2:15-2:27 PM, Hall D1 Clinical results with combination of anti-CD27 agonist antibody, varlilumab, with anti-PD1 antibody nivolumab in advanced cancer patients Author: Rachel E. Sanborn Abstract #3007 Oral Abstract Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 3:27-3:39 PM, Hall D1 International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON) Function and expression of checkpoint inhibitors and immune agonists on immune cells in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, smoldering multiple myeloma and MM and tumor-specific T lymphocytes Author: Jooeun Bae Abstract #11577 Poster Session: Tumor Biology Saturday, June 3, 1:15-4:45 PM, Hall A Loss-of-function of PBRM1 to predict response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma Author: Diana Miao Abstract #3016 Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Discussed at the Poster Discussion Session on Monday, June 5, 2017, 4:45-6:00 PM, Hall D1 Metabolomic correlates of response in nivolumab-treated renal cell carcinoma and melanoma patients Author: Marios Giannakis Abstract #3036 Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics-Immunotherapy Monday, June 5, 8:00-11:30 AM, Hall A Bristol-Myers Squibb & Immuno-Oncology: Advancing Oncology Research At Bristol-Myers Squibb, patients are at the center of everything we do. Our vision for the future of cancer care is focused on researching and developing transformational Immuno-Oncology (I-O) medicines for hard-to-treat cancers that could potentially improve outcomes for these patients. We are leading the scientific understanding of I-O through our extensive portfolio of investigational compounds and approved agents. Our differentiated clinical development program is studying broad patient populations across more than 35 types of cancers with 14 clinical-stage molecules designed to target different immune system pathways. Our deep expertise and innovative clinical trial designs position us to advance I-O/I-O, I-O/chemotherapy, I-O/targeted therapies and I-O/radiation therapies across multiple tumors and potentially deliver the next wave of therapies with a sense of urgency. We also continue to pioneer research that will help facilitate a deeper understanding of the role of immune biomarkers and how patients' individual tumor biology can be used as a guide for treatment decisions throughout their journey. We understand making the promise of I-O a reality for the many patients who may benefit from these therapies requires not only innovation on our part but also close collaboration with leading experts in the field. Our partnerships with academia, government, advocacy and biotech companies support our collective goal of providing new treatment options to advance the standards of clinical practice. About the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON) The II-ON, formed in 2012, is a global peer-to-peer collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb and academia advancing the science of Immuno-Oncology (I-O) through a series of preclinical, translational and biology-focused research objectives. The research in the collaboration is focused on three fundamental scientific pillars: understanding the mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy; identifying patient populations likely to benefit from immunotherapy; and exploring novel combination therapies that may enhance anti-tumor response through complementary mechanisms of action. The II-ON facilitates the translation of scientific research findings into drug discovery and development, with the goal of introducing new treatment options into clinical practice. In addition to Bristol-Myers Squibb, the II-ON currently comprises 15 leading cancer research institutions, including: Clinica Universidad Navarra, Columbia University Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Earle A. Chiles Research Institute (Providence Health & Services), Institut Gustave Roussy, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, National Cancer Center Japan, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, University College London, The University of Chicago and West German Cancer Center/University Hospital Essen. About Opdivo Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers. Opdivo's leading global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibb's scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 25,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression. In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 60 countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan. In October 2015, the company's Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union. U.S. FDA-APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma. OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologou hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and post-transplantation brentuximab vedotin. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY. Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose. Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions. Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis. Fatal cases have been reported. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and for symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or more severe pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, fatal cases of immune-mediated pneumonitis have occurred. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.1% (61/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients. In Checkmate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 4.9% (13/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.4% (9/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=8). Immune-Mediated Colitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. Withhold OPDIVO monotherapy for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon re-initiation of OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO and YERVOY for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.9% (58/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients including three fatal cases. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis. Immune-Mediated Hepatitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 1.8% (35/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%. Immune-Mediated Neuropathies In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported. Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis, immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency, autoimmune thyroid disorders, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer hormone replacement as clinically indicated and corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypophysitis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (20/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.7% (54/1994) of patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, diabetes occurred in 0.9% (17/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, diabetes occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated nephritis. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grades 2-4 increased serum creatinine. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased serum creatinine. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 1.2% (23/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients. Immune-Mediated Skin Adverse Reactions and Dermatitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated rash, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), some cases with fatal outcome. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 rash. For symptoms or signs of SJS or TEN, withhold OPDIVO and refer the patient for specialized care for assessment and treatment; if confirmed, permanently discontinue. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis. Immune-Mediated Encephalitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated encephalitis. Evaluation of patients with neurologic symptoms may include, but not be limited to, consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI, and lumbar puncture. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, encephalitis occurred in 0.2% (3/1994) of patients. Fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient after 7.2 months of exposure despite discontinuation of OPDIVO and administration of corticosteroids. Encephalitis occurred in one patient receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (0.2%) after 1.7 months of exposure. Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. Across clinical trials of OPDIVO the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in <1.0% of patients receiving OPDIVO: uveitis, iritis, pancreatitis, facial and abducens nerve paresis, demyelination, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune neuropathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypopituitarism, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastritis, duodenitis, sarcoidosis, histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi lymphadenitis), myositis, myocarditis, rhabdomyolysis, motor dysfunction, vasculitis, and myasthenic syndrome. Infusion Reactions OPDIVO can cause severe infusion reactions, which have been reported in <1.0% of patients in clinical trials. Discontinue OPDIVO in patients with Grade 3 or 4 infusion reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with Grade 1 or 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, infusion-related reactions occurred in 6.4% (127/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients. Complications of Allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO Complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who received allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Outcomes were evaluated in 17 patients from Checkmate 205 and 039, who underwent allogeneic HSCT after discontinuing OPDIVO (15 with reduced-intensity conditioning, 2 with myeloablative conditioning). Thirty-five percent (6/17) of patients died from complications of allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Five deaths occurred in the setting of severe or refractory GVHD. Grade 3 or higher acute GVHD was reported in 29% (5/17) of patients. Hyperacute GVHD was reported in 20% (n=2) of patients. A steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, without an identified infectious cause, was reported in 35% (n=6) of patients. Two cases of encephalitis were reported: Grade 3 (n=1) lymphocytic encephalitis without an identified infectious cause, and Grade 3 (n=1) suspected viral encephalitis. Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred in one patient, who received reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT and died of GVHD and multi-organ failure. Other cases of hepatic VOD after reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody before transplantation. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD have also been reported. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT. Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune-mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO. Lactation It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose. Serious Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=268). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In Checkmate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=206). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) relative to the OPDIVO arm (n=313). The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 46% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pyrexia, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. In Checkmate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]), adverse reactions leading to discontinuation (4.2%) or to dosing delays (23%) occurred. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were infusion-related reaction, pneumonia, pleural effusion, pyrexia, rash and pneumonitis. Ten patients died from causes other than disease progression, including 6 who died from complications of allogeneic HSCT. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 21% of patients in the safety population (n=263) and 27% of patients in the subset of patients evaluated for efficacy (efficacy population [n=95]). In Checkmate 141, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, dyspnea, respiratory failure, respiratory tract infections, and sepsis. In Checkmate 275, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were urinary tract infection, sepsis, diarrhea, small intestine obstruction, and general physical health deterioration. Common Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=268) was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=206) vs dacarbazine (n=205) were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO (n=313) arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite. In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406) vs everolimus (n=397) were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]) and the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), respectively, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) were fatigue (32% and 43%), upper respiratory tract infection (28% and 48%), pyrexia (24% and 35%), diarrhea (23% and 30%), and cough (22% and 35%). In the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), the most common adverse reactions also included rash (31%), musculoskeletal pain (27%), pruritus (25%), nausea (23%), arthralgia (21%), and peripheral neuropathy (21%). In Checkmate 141, the most common adverse reactions (=10%) in patients receiving OPDIVO were cough and dyspnea at a higher incidence than investigator's choice. In Checkmate 275, the most common adverse reactions (= 20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270) were fatigue (46%), musculoskeletal pain (30%), nausea (22%), and decreased appetite (22%). In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%). Checkmate Trials and Patient Populations Checkmate 067 - advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 037 and 066 - advanced melanoma; Checkmate 017 - squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Checkmate 057 - non-squamous NSCLC; Checkmate 025 - renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 205/039 - classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 141 - squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275 - urothelial carcinoma. Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY. About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Collaboration In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Ono), Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies - as single agents and combination regimens - for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. About Empliciti Empliciti is an immunostimulatory antibody that specifically targets Signaling Lymphocyte Activation Molecule Family member 7 (SLAMF7), a cell-surface glycoprotein. SLAMF7 is expressed on myeloma cells independent of cytogenetic abnormalities. SLAMF7 also is expressed on Natural Killer cells, plasma cells and at lower levels on specific immune cell subsets of differentiated cells within the hematopoietic lineage. Empliciti has a dual mechanism-of-action. It directly activates the immune system through Natural Killer cells via the SLAMF7 pathway. Empliciti also targets SLAMF7 on myeloma cells, tagging these malignant cells for Natural Killer cell-mediated destruction via antibody-dependent cellular toxicity. On November 30, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Empliciti in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior therapies. On May 11, 2016, the European Commission approved Empliciti in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. The safety and efficacy of Empliciti is being evaluated by other health authorities. Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie are co-developing Empliciti, with Bristol-Myers Squibb solely responsible for commercial activities. U.S. FDA-APPROVED INDICATION FOR EMPLICITI EMPLICITI (elotuzumab) is indicated in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior therapies. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Infusion Reactions EMPLICITI can cause infusion reactions. Common symptoms include fever, chills, and hypertension. Bradycardia and hypotension also developed during infusions. In the trial, 5% of patients required interruption of the administration of EMPLICITI for a median of 25 minutes due to infusion reactions, and 1% of patients discontinued due to infusion reactions. Of the patients who experienced an infusion reaction, 70% (23/33) had them during the first dose. If a Grade 2 or higher infusion reaction occurs, interrupt the EMPLICITI infusion and institute appropriate medical and supportive measures. If the infusion reaction recurs, stop the EMPLICITI infusion and do not restart it on that day. Severe infusion reactions may require permanent discontinuation of EMPLICITI therapy and emergency treatment. Premedicate with dexamethasone, H1 Blocker, H2 Blocker, and acetaminophen prior to infusing with EMPLICITI. Infections In a clinical trial of patients with multiple myeloma (N=635), infections were reported in 81.4% of patients in the EMPLICITI with lenalidomide/dexamethasone arm (ERd) and 74.4% in the lenalidomide/dexamethasone arm (Rd). Grade 3-4 infections were 28% (ERd) and 24.3% (Rd). Opportunistic infections were reported in 22% (ERd) and 12.9% (Rd). Fungal infections were 9.7% (ERd) and 5.4% (Rd). Herpes zoster was 13.5% (ERd) and 6.9% (Rd). Discontinuations due to infections were 3.5% (ERd) and 4.1% (Rd). Fatal infections were 2.5% (ERd) and 2.2% (Rd). Monitor patients for development of infections and treat promptly. Second Primary Malignancies In a clinical trial of patients with multiple myeloma (N=635), invasive second primary malignancies (SPM) were 9.1% (ERd) and 5.7% (Rd). The rate of hematologic malignancies were the same between ERd and Rd treatment arms (1.6%). Solid tumors were reported in 3.5% (ERd) and 2.2% (Rd). Skin cancer was reported in 4.4% (ERd) and 2.8% (Rd). Monitor patients for the development of SPMs. Hepatotoxicity Elevations in liver enzymes (AST/ALT greater than 3 times the upper limit, total bilirubin greater than 2 times the upper limit, and alkaline phosphatase less than 2 times the upper limit) consistent with hepatotoxicity were 2.5% (ERd) and 0.6% (Rd). Two patients experiencing hepatotoxicity discontinued treatment; however, 6 out of 8 patients had resolution and continued treatment. Monitor liver enzymes periodically. Stop EMPLICITI upon Grade 3 or higher elevation of liver enzymes. After return to baseline values, continuation of treatment may be considered. Interference with Determination of Complete Response EMPLICITI is a humanized IgG kappa monoclonal antibody that can be detected on both the serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation assays used for the clinical monitoring of endogenous M-protein. This interference can impact the determination of complete response and possibly relapse from complete response in patients with IgG kappa myeloma protein. Pregnancy/Females and Males of Reproductive Potential There are no studies with EMPLICITI with pregnant women to inform any drug associated risks. There is a risk of fetal harm, including severe life-threatening human birth defects associated with lenalidomide and it is contraindicated for use in pregnancy. Refer to the lenalidomide full prescribing information for requirements regarding contraception and the prohibitions against blood and/or sperm donation due to presence and transmission in blood and/or semen and for additional information. Adverse Reactions Infusion reactions were reported in approximately 10% of patients treated with EMPLICITI with lenalidomide and dexamethasone. All reports of infusion reaction were Grade 3 or lower. Grade 3 infusion reactions occurred in 1% of patients. Serious adverse reactions were 65.4% (ERd) and 56.5% (Rd). The most frequent serious adverse reactions in the ERd arm compared to the Rd arm were: pneumonia (15.4%, 11%), pyrexia (6.9%, 4.7%), respiratory tract infection (3.1%, 1.3%), anemia (2.8%, 1.9%), pulmonary embolism (3.1%, 2.5%), and acute renal failure (2.5%, 1.9%). The most common adverse reactions in ERd and Rd, respectively (>20%) were fatigue (61.6%, 51.7%), diarrhea (46.9%, 36.0%), pyrexia (37.4%, 24.6%), constipation (35.5%, 27.1%), cough (34.3%, 18.9%), peripheral neuropathy (26.7%, 20.8%), nasopharyngitis (24.5%, 19.2%), upper respiratory tract infection (22.6%, 17.4%), decreased appetite (20.8%, 12.6%), and pneumonia (20.1%, 14.2%). Please see the full Prescribing Information for EMPLICITI. About Sprycel Sprycel was first approved by the FDA in 2006 for the treatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) who are resistant or intolerant to prior therapy including imatinib. At that time, Sprycel was also approved for adults with Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are resistant or intolerant to prior therapy. Sprycel is approved and marketed worldwide for these indications in more than 60 countries. Sprycel is also an FDA-approved treatment for adults with newly diagnosed CP Ph+ CML (since October 2010). Sprycel received accelerated FDA approval for this indication. Additional country approvals for this indication total more than 50. U.S. FDA-APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR SPRYCEL SPRYCEL (dasatinib) is indicated for the treatment of adults with: Newly diagnosed adults with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase. Chronic, accelerated, or myeloid or lymphoid blast phase Ph+ CML with resistance or intolerance to prior therapy including imatinib. Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) with resistance or intolerance to prior therapy. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Myelosuppression Treatment with SPRYCEL is associated with severe (NCI CTC Grade 3/4) thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, and anemia, which occur earlier and more frequently in patients with advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL than in patients with chronic phase CML. Myelosuppression was reported in patients with normal baseline laboratory values as well as in patients with pre-existing laboratory abnormalities. In patients with chronic phase CML, perform complete blood counts (CBCs) every 2 weeks for 12 weeks, then every 3 months thereafter, or as clinically indicated In patients with advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL, perform CBCs weekly for the first 2 months and then monthly thereafter, or as clinically indicated Myelosuppression is generally reversible and usually managed by withholding SPRYCEL temporarily and/or dose reduction In clinical studies, myelosuppression may have also been managed by discontinuation of study therapy Hematopoietic growth factor has been used in patients with resistant myelosuppression Bleeding-Related Events SPRYCEL caused thrombocytopenia in human subjects. In addition, dasatinib caused platelet dysfunction in vitro. In all CML or Ph+ ALL clinical studies, =grade 3 central nervous system (CNS) hemorrhages, including fatalities, occurred in <1% of patients receiving SPRYCEL. Grade 3 or greater gastrointestinal hemorrhage, including fatalities, occurred in 4% of patients and generally required treatment interruptions and transfusions. Other cases of =grade 3 hemorrhage occurred in 2% of patients. Most bleeding events in clinical studies were associated with severe thrombocytopenia Concomitant medications that inhibit platelet function or anticoagulants may increase the risk of hemorrhage Fluid Retention SPRYCEL may cause fluid retention. After 5 years of follow-up in the randomized newly diagnosed chronic phase CML study (n=258), grade 3/4 fluid retention was reported in 5% of patients, including 3% of patients with grade 3/4 pleural effusion. In patients with newly diagnosed or imatinib resistant or intolerant chronic phase CML, grade 3/4 fluid retention occurred in 6% of patients treated with SPRYCEL at the recommended dose (n=548). In patients with advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL treated with SPRYCEL at the recommended dose (n=304), grade 3/4 fluid retention was reported in 8% of patients, including grade 3/4 pleural effusion reported in 7% of patients. Patients who develop symptoms of pleural effusion or other fluid retention, such as new or worsened dyspnea on exertion or at rest, pleuritic chest pain, or dry cough should be evaluated promptly with a chest x-ray or additional diagnostic imaging as appropriate Fluid retention events were typically managed by supportive care measures that may include diuretics or short courses of steroids Severe pleural effusion may require thoracentesis and oxygen therapy Consider dose reduction or treatment interruption Cardiovascular Events After 5 years of follow-up in the randomized newly diagnosed chronic phase CML trial (n=258), the following cardiac adverse events occurred: Cardiac ischemic events (3.9% dasatinib vs 1.6% imatinib), cardiac related fluid retention (8.5% dasatinib vs 3.9% imatinib), and conduction system abnormalities, most commonly arrhythmia and palpitations (7.0% dasatinib vs 5.0% imatinib). Two cases (0.8%) of peripheral arterial occlusive disease occurred with imatinib and 2 (0.8%) transient ischemic attacks occurred with dasatinib Monitor patients for signs or symptoms consistent with cardiac dysfunction and treat appropriately. Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) SPRYCEL may increase the risk of developing PAH, which may occur any time after initiation, including after more than 1 year of treatment. Manifestations include dyspnea, fatigue, hypoxia, and fluid retention. PAH may be reversible on discontinuation of SPRYCEL. Evaluate patients for signs and symptoms of underlying cardiopulmonary disease prior to initiating SPRYCEL and during treatment. If PAH is confirmed, SPRYCEL should be permanently discontinued QT Prolongation In vitro data suggest that dasatinib has the potential to prolong cardiac ventricular repolarization (QT interval). In clinical trials of patients treated with SPRYCEL at all doses (n=2440), 16 patients (<1%) had QTc prolongation reported as an adverse reaction. Twenty-two patients (1%) experienced a QTcF >500 ms In 865 patients with leukemia treated with SPRYCEL in five Phase 2 single-arm studies, the maximum mean changes in QTcF (90% upper bound CI) from baseline ranged from 7.0 to 13.4 ms SPRYCEL may increase the risk of prolongation of QTc in patients including those with hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia, patients with congenital long QT syndrome, patients taking antiarrhythmic medicines or other medicinal products that lead to QT prolongation, and cumulative high-dose anthracycline therapy Correct hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia prior to and during SPRYCEL administration Severe Dermatologic Reactions Cases of severe mucocutaneous dermatologic reactions, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome and erythema multiforme, have been reported in patients treated with SPRYCEL. Discontinue permanently in patients who experience a severe mucocutaneous reaction during treatment if no other etiology can be identified Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS) TLS has been reported in patients with resistance to prior imatinib therapy, primarily in advanced phase disease. Due to potential for TLS, maintain adequate hydration, correct uric acid levels prior to initiating therapy with SPRYCEL, and monitor electrolyte levels Patients with advanced stage disease and/or high tumor burden may be at increased risk and should be monitored more frequently Embryo-Fetal Toxicity Based on limited human data, SPRYCEL can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Hydrops fetalis, fetal leukopenia and fetal thrombocytopenia have been reported with maternal exposure to SPRYCEL. Transplacental transfer of dasatinib has been measured in fetal plasma and amniotic fluid at concentrations comparable to those in maternal plasma. Advise females of reproductive potential to avoid pregnancy, which may include the use of effective contraception, during treatment with SPRYCEL and for 30 days after the final dose Lactation No data are available regarding the presence of dasatinib in human milk, the effects of the drug on the breastfed infant or the effects of the drug on milk production. However, dasatinib is present in the milk of lactating rats. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from SPRYCEL, breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with SPRYCEL and for 2 weeks after the final dose Drug Interactions SPRYCEL is a CYP3A4 substrate and a weak time-dependent inhibitor of CYP3A4. Drugs that may increase SPRYCEL plasma concentrations are: CYP3A4 inhibitors: Concomitant use of SPRYCEL and drugs that inhibit CYP3A4 should be avoided. If administration of a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor cannot be avoided, close monitoring for toxicity and a SPRYCEL dose reduction should be considered Strong CYP3A4 inhibitors (eg, ketoconazole, itraconazole, clarithromycin, atazanavir, indinavir, nefazodone, nelfinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, telithromycin, voriconazole). If SPRYCEL must be administered with a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor, a dose decrease or temporary discontinuation should be considered Grapefruit juice may also increase plasma concentrations of SPRYCEL and should be avoided Drugs that may decrease SPRYCEL plasma concentrations are: CYP3A4 inducers : If SPRYCEL must be administered with a CYP3A4 inducer, a dose increase in SPRYCEL should be considered Strong CYP3A4 inducers (eg, dexamethasone, phenytoin, carbamazepine, rifampin, rifabutin, phenobarbital) should be avoided. Alternative agents with less enzyme induction potential should be considered. If the dose of SPRYCEL is increased, the patient should be monitored carefully for toxicity St John's Wort may decrease SPRYCEL plasma concentrations unpredictably and should be avoided Antacids may decrease SPRYCEL drug levels. Simultaneous administration of SPRYCEL and antacids should be avoided. If antacid therapy is needed, the antacid dose should be administered at least 2 hours prior to or 2 hours after the dose of SPRYCEL H 2 antagonists/proton pump inhibitors (eg, famotidine and omeprazole): Long-term suppression of gastric acid secretion by use of H 2 antagonists or proton pump inhibitors is likely to reduce SPRYCEL exposure. Therefore, concomitant use of H 2 antagonists or proton pump inhibitors with SPRYCEL is not recommended Drugs that may have their plasma concentration altered by SPRYCEL are: CYP3A4 substrates (eg, simvastatin) with a narrow therapeutic index should be administered with caution in patients receiving SPRYCEL SPRYCEL plasma concentrations are: Adverse Reactions The safety data reflects exposure to SPRYCEL at all doses tested in clinical studies including 324 patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase CML and 2388 patients with imatinib resistant or intolerant chronic or advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL. The median duration of therapy in all 2712 SPRYCEL-treated patients was 19.2 months (range 0-93.2 months). Median duration of therapy in: 1618 patients with chronic phase CML was 29 months (range 0-92.9 months) Median duration for 324 patients in the newly diagnosed chronic phase CML trial was approximately 60 months 1094 patients with advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL was 6.2 months (range 0-93.2 months) In the newly diagnosed chronic phase CML trial, after a minimum of 60 months of follow-up, the cumulative discontinuation rate for 258 patients was 39%. In the overall population of 2712 SPRYCEL-treated patients, 88% of patients experienced adverse reactions at some time and 19% experienced adverse reactions leading to treatment discontinuation. Among the 1618 SPRYCEL-treated patients with chronic phase CML, drug-related adverse events leading to discontinuation were reported in 329 (20.3%) patients. In the newly diagnosed chronic phase CML trial, drug was discontinued for adverse reactions in 16% of SPRYCEL-treated patients with a minimum of 60 months of follow-up Among the 1094 SPRYCEL-treated patients with advanced phase CML or Ph+ ALL, drug-related adverse events leading to discontinuation were reported in 191 (17.5%) patients. Patients =65 years are more likely to experience the commonly reported adverse reactions of fatigue, pleural effusion, diarrhea, dyspnea, cough, lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and appetite disturbance, and more likely to experience the less frequently reported adverse reactions of abdominal distention, dizziness, pericardial effusion, congestive heart failure, hypertension, pulmonary edema and weight decrease, and should be monitored closely. In newly diagnosed chronic phase CML patients: Drug-related serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported for 16.7% of SPRYCEL-treated patients. Serious adverse reactions reported in =5% of patients included pleural effusion (5%) The most common adverse reactions (=15%) included myelosuppression, fluid retention, and diarrhea Grade 3/4 laboratory abnormalities included neutropenia (29%), thrombocytopenia (22%), anemia (13%), hypophosphatemia (7%), hypocalcemia (4%), elevated bilirubin (1%), and elevated creatinine (1%) In patients resistant or intolerant to prior imatinib therapy: Drug-related SAEs were reported for 26.1% of SPRYCEL-treated patients treated at the recommended dose of 100 mg once daily in the randomized dose-optimization trial of patients with chronic phase CML resistant or intolerant to prior imatinib therapy. Serious adverse reactions reported in =5% of patients included pleural effusion (10%) The most common adverse reactions (=15%) included myelosuppression, fluid retention events, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, dyspnea, skin rash, nausea, hemorrhage and musculoskeletal pain Grade 3/4 hematologic laboratory abnormalities in chronic phase CML patients resistant or intolerant to prior imatinib therapy who received SPRYCEL 100 mg once daily with a minimum follow up of 60 months included neutropenia (36%), thrombocytopenia (24%), and anemia (13%). Other grade 3/4 laboratory abnormalities included: hypophosphatemia (10%), and hypokalemia (2%) Among chronic phase CML patients with resistance or intolerance to prior imatinib therapy, cumulative grade 3/4 cytopenias were similar at 2 and 5 years including: neutropenia (36% vs 36%), thrombocytopenia (23% vs 24%), and anemia (13% vs 13%) Grade 3/4 elevations of transaminases or bilirubin and Grade 3/4 hypocalcemia, hypokalemia, and hypophosphatemia were reported in patients with all phases of CML Elevations in transaminases or bilirubin were usually managed with dose reduction or interruption Patients developing Grade 3/4 hypocalcemia during the course of SPRYCEL therapy often had recovery with oral calcium supplementation Please see the full Prescribing Information for SPRYCEL. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that any of the oncology compounds mentioned in this release will receive regulatory approval for an additional indication. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170517006335/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi, May 18 American auto major General Motors on Thursday decided to stop selling its vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here after struggling for over two decades to make a mark. The company will now focus on exporting vehicles from its manufacturing plant at Talegoaon in Maharashtra after it stopped production at its first plant at Halol in Gujarat last month. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The decision follows a comprehensive review of future product plans for GM India and is part of a series of actions taken by General Motors to address the performance of its operations worldwide, the company said in a statement. It has also exited from four other international markets, including Russia and Europe. GM Executive Vice President and President of GM International Stefan Jacoby said that after exploring many options the company determined that the increased investment originally planned for India would not deliver the returns of other significant global opportunities. "It would also not help us achieve a leadership position or compelling, long-term profitability in the domestic market," he added. GM sales in India were down nearly 21 per cent in 2016-17 to 25,823 units. Its production however grew about 16 per cent to 83,368 units most of which were exported. In 2015, GM had announced plans to invest US$ 1 billion to enhance manufacturing operations and roll out 10 locally produced models in India while deciding to stop production at its first plant at Halol in Gujarat. However, struggling to make a turnaround in India, the company put on hold the plan and undertook a full review of its future product portfolio here. "Difficult as it has been to reach this decision, it is the right outcome to support our global strategy and deliver appropriate returns for our shareholders, Jacoby said. The company informed employees of General Motors India about the decision. It, however, did not disclose how many of the would be affected by the development. Sources, however, said the decision would affect a minimum of 200 employees. GM India President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem said going forward focus for the company's manufacturing base at Talegaon would be "export markets, upcoming export vehicle launches and exploring longer-term strategic options". "Exports will remain our focus going forward as we continue to leverage India's strong supply base," he said, adding that recently new Chevrolet Beat hatchback was exported to Mexico and Central and South American markets and will launch Chevrolet Beat sedan later this year for those markets. GM India's export business has tripled over the past year, Kazem added. GM sells Chevrolet brand of vehicles in India. Last month, the company had stopped production at the Halol plant, a move that affected around 1,100 employees. The Halol unit, which had a total annual manufacturing capacity of 1.1 lakh units annually, was originally planned to be shut by mid-2016. GM has been in talks with China's SAIC Motor Corporation to sell the plant. A term sheet was signed a few months back to evaluate a possible deal but the Chinese firm stated that a final takeover would be subject to government approvals, settlement of labour and all other pending issues by the American auto major. PTI Melbourne, May 18 The Queensland government has offered Indian mining giant Adani a deal that would result in it paying just 2 million Australian dollars a year in royalties on its proposed Carmichael coal mine project in Australia, according to a media report. The so-called royalties holiday for the proposed 21 billion dollar Galilee Basin facility would expire after seven years and could cost taxpayers 320 million dollar in lost revenue, ABC News reported. However, rejecting the claim, Adani Australia spokesperson said no such agreement with the state was signed so far. The ABC report claimed that the agreement between the state and Adani Australia would see the company pay just 2 million dollars a year in royalties on the start of the project and would later increase after several years. Queensland has a system for coal mines in which a smaller amount is paid at the start which increases as production at the mine increases. ABC said that state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Treasurer Curtis Pitt had been negotiating the deal with Adani. It said Palaszczuk, who neither confirmed nor denied the royalty agreement, said, What we know about this project is that it is vital for regional jobs. The report further claimed that Adani was seeking a total royalty holiday from the start of production that would have seen the company pay nothing. Shadow treasurer Scott Emerson has slammed the plan, saying the government needed to explain why taxpayers money is being used to benefit just one mining project. Labor said previously, heading into the election, they would never give taxpayer funds to one company, Emerson said on Thursday. I think this is an extraordinary situation to see this government doing a secret deal behind closed doors to favour one company. Adani Australia, however, said it would pay all royalties and taxes and also generate 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Queensland. Meanwhile, a latest report released by an independent body Climate Council of Australia on Thursday warned against the project stating that the Carmichael mine posed serious risks to the environment, public health and North Queensland tourism. The project, one of the worlds largest, is set to start construction this year after being given the green light by the federal and Queensland state governments. The project involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of spoil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which will then be disposed of on land. PTI Ishrat S Banwait Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 18 A sexual harassment complaint against a Senator has rocked Panjab University. The Senator was allegedly pressurised to resign by the Vice-Chancellor as a condition for the complaint to be withdrawn. However, even after the Senator submitted a written resignation, the complaint was not withdrawn. The Senator then sent an application to the VC stating withdrawal of his resignation. Three weeks ago, a professor in one of the affiliated colleges of Punjab sent a written complaint to the VC against PU Senator and head of Punjabi department at Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Harjodh Singh. Instead of sending the complaint to the statutory body formed for the purpose, the Panjab University Committee against Sexual Harassment (PU-CASH), the VC decided to act upon it himself. Chairperson of the committee Nishtha Jaswal confirms that no one has the authority to do so and the complaint has to be forwarded to the committee. The Senator, when contacted, said he was under immense pressure to resign. He said, It was like the VC had a revolver on my temple. I had no option other than resigning then and there. The complainant and the Senator were called by the VC in his office this Sunday where the latter was made to resign. He says that the complaint has not been withdrawn and he has learnt that the VC has sent it to the police instead. Harjodh says that the VC does not have power to accept his resignation and he has now written to the Chancellor to withdraw his resignation. The complaint says that after a meeting with someone at Chandigarh, the complainant and Harjodh were going back together towards Punjab in her car. However, Harjodh took a diversion and later sexually harassed her. She said, It is a sorry state of affairs where we have to depend on men for all our work. Women should have 33 per cent reservation in the PU. Harjodh, on the other hand, says, We had a fallout on the way and argued about something. The next thing I know is that a complaint has been filed against me. He added that being a first-time Senator, he was not aware of the politics in the PU and fell prey to it. Vice Chancellor AK Grover refused to comment on the matter. Two years ago, a similar complaint was filed against the VC by a university professor. In 2013, a sexual harassment complaint was filed by a UBS professor against the current Dean University Instruction and another professor of the department. Multiple complaints by students against university staff have figured in the past as well. Fact file Harish Khare The 2017 presidential election time-table will kick in over the next two weeks, but the political bosses and managers have already begun their manoeuvres and exertions to find a replacement for Pranab Mukherjee. No one should be surprised to be told that like all his predecessors since Rajendra Prasad, President Mukherjee, too, hopes for a second term. He will not get it. He has not endeared himself sufficiently to the ruling establishment for it to oblige him with five more years in the spacious Rashtrapati Bhavan. And, within the Opposition he commands only mixed respect. Above all, he is no Rajen Babu. Yet a new President has to be found. And it is an arduous search, not to be undertaken lightly. It is not an inconsequential office. Admittedly, the President of India is not just a ceremonial head of the Republic; and, again, arguably the exact nature and extent of his power remains far from a settled proposition. Beginning in 1967, efforts have been made to make the President of India much more of an active political player than envisaged in the Westminster model of government. In 1967, it need be recalled, a sitting Chief Justice of India, inexplicably and inexcusably, became embroiled in the politicians' squabble when he got tempted with the idea of occupying Rashtrapati Bhavan; Chief Justice Subba Rao allowed himself to be persuaded to become the Swatantra Party-Jana Sangh presidential candidate against the Congress nominee, the vastly respected Dr Zakir Husain. Zakir Sahib won easily and handsomely, but the judiciary lost its image and reputation as an institution above party partisanship. And, then, again, in 1969, Zakir Sahibs untimely death necessitated one more presidential contest; and, once again, the presidential election was sought, this time by the Congress bosses, to fix Indira Gandhi, who, they thought, was becoming too big for her boots. The years 1967 and 1969 firmed up the notion of presidential mischief. Since then sections of the political class have periodically tried to mobilise and manipulate Rashtrapati Bhavan in their partisan wrangles. The Rajiv Gandhi-Zail Singh spat remains the classic reading for every student of constitutional missteps. And, in contrast, is the case of President Shankar Dayal Sharma, speaking out on December 6, 1992, when the Prime Minister of the day, PV Narasimha Rao, seemed determined to keep silent in the face of the massive assault on Indias secular project. Still later, President KR Narayanan stood up for political fairness and constitutional morality when he returned the IK Gujral governments recommendation for the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh in 1997. Presidential energy can sometimes be critically helpful. Nonetheless, it needs to be reiterated clearly and unambiguously that Rashtrapati Bhavan is not and cannot be allowed to become a rival centre of authority. There is no room for an activist President in Rashtrapati Bhavan; his job is not to be a speed-breaker or to run hurdles for the democratically elected Prime Minister. Political power lies with the Prime Minister and upon his ability to command the confidence of the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is the embodiment of the popular democratic will and it is he and, not the President who is enjoined to govern the country in conformity with the Constitution of India. The President is not totally devoid of prerogatives and powers but he does not run the country. Patronage, power, policies and initiatives are all in the Prime Ministers domain. Yet the President is not a simple rubber-stamp no Mrs Pratibha Patil or Mrs Sumitra Mahajan will do. Rashtrapati Bhavan is also not a place to park superannuated leaders in recognition of their services to the party. And, certainly, the mansion atop the Raisina Hill is not for a judge who might have bailed out this or that powerful political impresario at a critical junction. It should be easy to agree that the man (or the woman) who gets to reside in Rashtrapati Bhavan has to be a substantial personality. The presidency, after all, is not without its expectations of substance and stature. The ceremonial part of the presidency itself makes demands of dignity and decorum. Physical well-being and agility should be the minimum qualification; and, perhaps, a modicum of intellectual stamina. Indeed a President with a patina of intellectual and scholarly accomplishments becomes an asset, especially in interactions with global leaders. President KR Narayanan was an outstanding example of such usefulness. After the BJPs bumper crop in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the numbers in the 2017 presidential college are stacked up, more or less, in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance. The Prime Minister and his advisers cannot be faulted for wanting not to have a President who may have the potential of becoming an antagonist. The Constitution does not favour a confrontationist in Rashtrapati Bhavan. At the same time, very many sober citizens would want the final choice to be an outstanding personality, someone who could be a source of wise and sagacious advice to the Prime Minister. On the other hand, the Opposition, led by the Congress, is within its legitimate right to make every effort to use the coming presidential contest as an opportunity to consolidate its own ranks and test the extent to which unity and cooperation is possible among disparate non-BJP formations. If the Opposition is able to zero in on a man or woman of stature and standing, then the ruling party will feel obliged to make a matching substantive choice of its own. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to predict how a President would turn out to be. The very magnificence of the building, the very elaborate ceremonial paraphernalia, the mahamahim mumbo-jumbo, the handsome and presentable ADCs, with their golden braids, and many other symbols of pomp and ceremony combine to give a false sense of power. And, then, sometimes there are family members who instigate thoughts of delusion and rebellion; and then, not to be discounted, are the cunning aides who succumb to the allurement of conspiracy. Mature polities instinctively watch against such miscalculations and mischief. And, for this very reason alone, the choice of a man of substance and learning becomes a republican imperative. By virtue of being the Head of State, the President also becomes a custodian of its republican virtues and vitality. The citizens expect the President to keep a careful eye on the goings-on in the realm. The citizens, particularly the middle classes, like to be reassured that the polity is firmly anchored in a certain constitutional wholesomeness. In other words, no Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed-type spinelessness. Without injecting any kind of constitutional imbalance, the next President would be called upon to provide a balance. Washington, May 18 Pranay Varada, a 14-year-old Indian-American student, has won the prestigious USD 50,000 National Geographic Bee competition, maintaining the dominance of the community in the contest. I was absolutely sure I could win that challenge, Varada said soon after bagging the coveted competition, which for the past one decade has been dominated by Indian-Americans. Having done this for such a long time and winning it now, its just a feeling of satisfaction, Varada, an eighth grader from Texas, said. A runner-up last year, Varada this time did not want to take any chance. He was declared the winner as he won the first tie-breaker question when he correctly identified the Kunlun Mountains as the 1,200 mile range that separates the Taklimakan Desert from the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, he gets USD 50,000 in scholarship and other prizes. Veda Bhattaram, another Indian-American from New Jersey, finished third at the finals held here on Wednesday night, while Thomas Wright from Wisconsin was declared the runners up. Wright received USD 25,000 and Bhattaram got USD 10,000 in scholarships. This year, six of the 10 finalists were Indian-Americans. Indian-Americans have won the National Geographic Bee competition for the last six consecutive years. Last year, Rishi Nair, a sixth grader from Florida, had won the contest. PTI London, May 18 A 69-year-old British landlord who instructed agents not to let his properties to people from India and Pakistan is facing legal action, UK's human rights watchdog said. Fergus Wilson, one of the UK's biggest buy-to-let landlords, banned "coloured" people from renting his properties as they cooked curry and left behind lingering smell. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed that it had applied for an injunction against Wilson at the Central London County Court. "We have asked the court if it agrees with us that Mr Wilson's lettings policy contains unlawful criteria and, if so, to issue an injunction," said EHRC chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath. "As this is now formal legal action we will release further information at a later date," she said. However, Wilson remained defiant over his policy, which he justifies on economic grounds to save costs on re-carpeting homes that smell of Indian cooking once tenants have left. "Given that I have not had any Indian or Pakistani person apply for a house during the past five years, I am not sure what the EHRC seeks to achieve," he said. "It is not the colour of their skin, but the smell of the curry. A person is quite entitled not to purchase a house that smells of curry but to purchase the house next door which does not smell of curry. The EHRC appears to be saying that the purchaser then must let the house to someone who does cook curry," he added. The former boxer, whose property empire in Kent includes around 1,000 homes in the Ashford and Maidstone areas of south-east England, denied he was being racist. "There has been much support for the stance I have taken. I do not apologise for it. Faced with the same circumstances, I would do it again," he said. The EHRC had demanded a written assurance from Wilson that he would not refuse to let a property based on race, colour, nationality or national origins. It said it would now begin an investigation into his policy on women as it emerged his lettings criteria also covers a ban on single parents, "battered wives", parents with children under 18. His stand had emerged as an email to his agents was leaked to the media earlier this year. "No coloured people because of the curry smell at the end of the tenancy," it read. According to the UK's Citizens Advice Bureau, refusing to rent or let a property based on race is unlawful. PTI [May 18, 2017] US Colleges & Universities Face Challenges with Cloud Computing Education, Despite High Demand in Global Workforce WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite an increasing need for cloud computing skills in the global workforce, a large number of colleges and universities are slow to offer courses in this field, according to a new report from Clutch, a leading B2B research firm. LinkedIn named "cloud and distributed computing" as their number one global skill of 2016, indicating a high demand for hiring in 2017. Yet, course offerings are still limited at many institutions of higher education. Clutch interviewed four professors of cloud computing education from Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University, and the University of North Florida. The objective was to gain insight into the current state of cloud computing education, as well as its benefits to students and most prominent challenges. The professors indicated that, while cloud computing courses are increasing in prevalence at universities and colleges, they are still far from routine. Through the interviews, Clutch identified three main obstacles that may be hindering universities or colleges' ability to implement a cloud computing course: The higher cost of resources for courses The fast-paced innovation inherent in the field Limited on-campus expertise In regards to cost,Dr. Majd Sakr, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, said that "negligent students" led to runaway server usage costs in the early years of his cloud computing course. Typically, cloud computing services are paid for via usage and unless that usage is purposefully regulated, students can potentially accumulate high price tags on projects. Furthermore, Dr. Ken Birman, a professor at Cornell University, says that cloud computing cannot be taught until its pace of development slows down. "As a purely pragmatic matter, we cannot teach the area until it begins to slow down and hold still for at least a few years at a time," he said. However, fast-paced innovation may be an issue academia faces with increasing frequency in the future. The report suggests that cloud computing's innovation will potentially never slow down. Lastly, cloud computing's recent emergence as a field means that universities and colleges may be slow to find available expertise to properly teach the subject. Institutes of higher education can potentially address this issue by offering cloud computing training to current faculty, or by reaching out to industry leaders interested in teaching, according to Dr. Sanjay Ahuja of the University of North Florida (UNF). Despite these obstacles, Dr. Ahuja of UNF, Dr. Sakr of Carnegie Mellon and Professor Kevin McDonald of Georgetown University say they are strongly in support of cloud computing education at universities and colleges. "It's becoming more important to understand cloud computing simply because it's being adopted quite rapidly now," said McDonald. "Having in-depth experience and knowledge of the cloud is probably a core competency going forward." For the complete report, please visit: https://clutch.co/cloud/resources/cloud-computing-education-2017 About Clutch A B2B ratings and reviews firm in the heart of Washington, DC, Clutch connects you with the agencies and software solutions that can help you enhance your business and meet your goals. Our methodology maps agencies and software solutions based on consumer reviews, the type of services offered, and quality of work. Contact Riley Panko [email protected] 202.899.2779 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-colleges--universities-face-challenges-with-cloud-computing-education-despite-high-demand-in-global-workforce-300459848.html SOURCE Clutch [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Meerpur (Rewari), May 18 Rao Inderjit, Union Minister, and Randhir Singh Kaprivaas, Rewari MLA, today expressed resentment before Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for non-execution of announcements and discrimination with Ahirwal in terms of development. Karpivaas said that he would not hesitate to oppose the CM again if his district was ignored in terms of development. People present at the function also endorsed both the leaders by clapping and raising slogans in their favour. The leaders were here to celebrate the annual function of Indira Gandhi University (IGU) today. The Chief Minister inaugurated three projects and laid the foundation stones of six others worth Rs 105 crore. Ram Bilas Sharma, Education Minister; Rao Narbir, PWD Minister; and Banwari Lal, Public Health Minister, were present. Being an MLA, it is my right and responsibility towards the public to raise the issue of my constituency before the Chief Minister. I respect the CM and have full faith in him, but will not hesitate to re-launch my fight against discrimination with my area, said Kaprivaas. He said the annual budget of the IGU had been curtailed this year, which was an indication of injustice with the region. The MLA even resented delay in providing grant to the gram panchayats, stating the panchayats were unable to carry out development works in their villages concerned due to not getting funds even after one-and-a-half year. He demanded grant of Rs 20 crore to each gram panchayat without further delay for development. Ram Bilas Sharma announced to affiliate all colleges of Rewari and Mahendragarh districts to IGU. Rao Inderjit took a dig at Sharma when he came to address the gathering. He said the announcement had already been made in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, so he (Sharma) should do some serious work for the execution of the announcement without further delay. Khattar clarified that the government had enacted a law to affiliate colleges to their nearby university and it had been sent to the Governor for approval. Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Rewari, May 17 It was a day of triumph for protesting girl students of Government High School, Gothra Tappa Dahina village, Rewari, with Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg and local BJP leaders today handing them over a copy of a government notification, upgrading the school to the senior secondary level (Class XII), as demanded by them. There was jubiliation all around as the 20 girls broke their week-long fast. Finally, we have achieved our target. The government invariably takes long to implement its announcements. Hence, we had insisted on a written order. Our demand met, we will attend classes from tomorrow, said one of them, looking rather overwhelmed. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Sarpanch Suresh Chauhan called it a victory of girls fighting for their right to education. The girls had launched an indefinite fast to mount pressure on the government to upgrade their school, saying they faced harassment at the hands of anti-social elements on their way to the school at Kanwali. As announced by Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, not only has their school been upgraded, but a principal too has been appointed. The admission process commences tomorrow. Asked about the sexual harassment faced by the girls, PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, School Education, said: Besides the government, it is also the responsibility of panchayats and prominent people of the area to confront such anti-social elements. Meanwhile, welcoming the development, Ved Prakash Vidrohi, former state Congress spokesman, claimed the BJP government had lost credibility and, hence, was forced to issue written orders. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, May 18 Struggling hard to make the Chamba Medical College functional from this academic session, the Himachal Government has gone as far as Srinagar to scout for doctors to be able to fulfil the strict faculty conditions of the Medical Council of India (MCI). Even though the shortage in faculty is just 12 per cent following the MCI inspection of Chamba Medical College on April 24 last month, it is still not certain if the college would become functional from this academic session, about three months from now. Though most of the doctors, hailing from Pathankot, J and K have joined the much-anticipated nod is still awaited. If the MCI does not give the go ahead for starting classes from this session then retaining the already appointed faculty will be a cumbersome task. There is no denying that Chamba will have all senior faculties but if the medical college does not start this year, retaining the faculty will be rather tough, admitted revealed Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary, Home and Health and Family Welfare. However, the fact that interviews were held by the Health Department even in Srinagar shows the earnest efforts that are being made to meet the strict MCI guidelines. We have been able to get most of the faculty for Chamba Medical College. We even held interviews in Srinagar from where six doctors have joined at Chamba, revealed Prabodh Saxena. Out of 105 doctors required for Chamba, 54 would be in the rank of Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors to be able to start the first year classes at Chamba. The rest of the requirement would be met by posting Senior and Junior Residents at Chamba. The government has taken up the issue of giving the nod to Chamba Medical College with the Union Health Ministry also and it is being expected that the MCI could adopt a lenient view. The Nahan Medical College had become functional last year and it is almost certain that classes will start at the Ner Chowk Medical College in Mandi. The two medical colleges at Chamba and Hamirpur remain to be made functional. Colleges yet not functional Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, May 18 Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh are not on the same page over dealing with separatist groups, including the Hurriyat Conference. The Chief Minister had recently stated that the state government would consider any request for security from separatist leaders if they approached it following a threat by former Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Mussa. In contrast, the Deputy Chief Minister, who belongs to the BJP, is not against banning the Hurriyat Conference. The Centre as well as the state will take a call on banning the Hurriyat Conference and separatist groups. We will look into all aspects in this direction, Nirmal said in Srinagar today when his reaction was sought by a TV channel on the demand for declaring separatist groups as outlaws. Some separatist leaders had admitted to accepting money to spread trouble in the Valley during a sting operation conducted by the channel. The Deputy Chief Minister minced no words in attacking the separatist groups. The government will take appropriate action against those who are creating trouble in the Valley, he said. The Deputy Chief Minister admitted that it had been established that the Hurriyat Conference and some other groups were fomenting trouble in the Valley. It was on record that Pakistan was creating trouble in the Valley with the help of some locals by funding terrorism and stone-throwers through hawala, he said. The Deputy Chief Ministers stand against the Hurriyat Conference brings to the fore serious differences between the PDP and the BJP over dealing with separatist groups. Both parties, with diametrically opposite ideologies, are speaking in conflicting voices on vital issues. On May 13, Chief Minister had stated that her government would consider any request for security from separatist leaders if they approached the authorities following a threat by militant commander Zakir Mussa. Mussa, in a video message last Friday, had threatened to kill separatist leaders for terming Kashmir a political issue instead of an Islamic struggle meant to enforce Sharia (Islamic law) in the state. Chief Minister and other PDP leaders have repeatedly termed Hurriyat leaders as stakeholders in the Kashmir problem and advocated that all separatist leaders should be engaged in the dialogue process to restore normalcy in the Valley. Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 18 Union minister Arun Jaitley today did not outrightly reject the possibility of talks with separatists, but said the focus at the moment was to first improve the situation in the Kashmir valley. When asked whether the Central government will have a dialogue with the Hurrriyat Conference, Jaitely responded with: Let the situation become normal that is the top priority. As and when we decide, the Central government will make a statement. The Peoples Democratic Party which shares power with the BJP in J&K has been calling for the dialogue with Kashmiri separatists. Jaitley told reporters in Srinagar that the situation in some parts of state was quite challenging. I found Srinagar fairly normal. It is certainly far better and more normal than what media has conveyed to us, he said. Jaitley, who in also the Defence Minister, had reviewed the security situation in Kashmir at Armys Srinagar-based 15 Corps headquarters on Wednesday. I had a detailed meeting with the Chief of Army Staff and senior officials and Defence Secretary-designate and they gave a me a detailed presentation. The Armys principal job is to look after the Line of Control and handle conflict in some areas. In both areas, the Army is fully confident of meeting the situation, the minister said. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 18 The Police Commissionerate today registered two FIRs as per the special Act in two recent cases in which doctors were attacked and hospitals were ransacked by patients kin. In the first case, Dr Jagdeep Madaan, an orthopaedic surgeon at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, was attacked by a family member of one of his patients after he asked the patient to get the knees replaced. The family member attacked the doctor and said he was misguiding his mother. The second case involved Dr Ashish Ohri of Arogya Hospital Jassian Road, Haibowal, where incidence of violence occurred on the intervening night of May 13-14 after the death of a 64-year-old patient, suffering from cancer of pancreas, shortly after surgery. In both the cases the Model Town and Haibowal police stations have registered FIRs under The Punjab Protection of Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2008 against the assailants. Earlier, the police had registered FIRs under bailable sections only. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wanted action as per the special Act passed by the government for the welfare of doctors fraternity. It was only after the doctors lobby pressed the police to register cases under the special Act that officials sought opinion from DA Legal and finally registered the FIRs. While expressing satisfaction over registration of the FIR under the special Act, Dr Madaan said this would provide secure environment to doctors for work. The FIR was registered against Shobit Sachdeva, he added. The IMA president, Dr Avinash Jindal, said according to the Act, an offence committed against a doctor or a paramedic institution was non-bailable and punishment could be imprisonment up to one year or more or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both. When docs face wrath In the two separate cases the doctors were attacked by kin of the patients. Initially, the police registered FIRs under bailable sections only, which invited objections from members of the Indian Medical Association. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 Thirty-one years after the Bofors artillery guns were imported from Sweden and the resultant bribery scandal, the first-ever addition to the Indian artillery has happened, breaking what is termed as the Bofors jinx. The first two pieces of the Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) M-777, arrived at an airport in India on Thursday morning. These of the 145 orders from the BAE systems at a cost of US $ 737 million are set to be formally handed over to the Army in the next two to three weeks. The Army wants to start firing the guns immediately in the peak summer at Pokhran in Rajasthan. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The BAE Systems spokesperson said on Wednesday: In fulfilment of the United States Foreign Military Sale of 145 M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers to India, we are pleased to confirm that the first two weapon systems will land in India ahead of schedule. The 155 MM 39 calibre guns will be moved from the airport, to the companys India facility for integration as each of the guns have been shipped in two parts that need to be assembled. As per the contract BAE systems will assemble, integrate and test the guns at a facility it has created with Mahindra. This will be the main ground-based weapon for the Mountain Strike Corps. India had not ordered any new 155 MM artillery guns since March 1986 when 410 pieces of the Swedish company Bofors FH-77B 155mm/39 calibre howitzer were bought for approximately Rs 1,437 crore. In June last year, the Ministry of Defence, then headed by Manohar Parrikar, okayed the purchase of 145 artillery guns meant especially for deployment in the Himalayas. The BAE will supply the first 25 guns in ready-to-use condition. The ULH was originally proposed back in 2008. Made of titanium, each gun weighs 4,000 kg making its transportable by CH-47 Chinook helicopters, C-17 Globemaster and the C-130 Hercules aircraft or on trucks with ease to provide increased mobility in the mountains. Armys Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan, drawn in 1999, aimed to acquire 2,800-3,000 155 mm/52-calibre guns of all kinds and 155 mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers by 2027. The projection includes 814 truck-mounted guns, 1,580 towed guns, 100 tracked self-propelled guns, 180 wheeled self-propelled guns and 145 ultra light howitzers. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav until it rules on the merits of the case. The stay passed unanimously by the court is a diplomatic victory for India as it upheld its argument that Pakistan has violated the Vienna Convention. For Pakistan, it comes as a setback since the court did not accept its arguments that the 2008 bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan on consular access takes precedence over the Vienna Convention. While India welcomed the decision and said it was a matter of relief for everyone, Pakistan was quick to say that the United Nations highest court has no jurisdiction in national security matters. Edit: Reprieve for Jadhav Full text: What the Court said Read: ICJ order on Jadhav binding on Pakistan: India Pak does not accept ICJ's jurisdiction in national security matters: FO India heaves a sigh of relief as ICJ stays Jadhav's execution The Ministry of External Affairs said the ICJ order was unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous. MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the provisional relief provided by the ICJ is the first step towards ensuring justice. A statement by the office of Pakistans attorney general was in line with the position taken by their foreign office that the order of the ICJ did not change the status of Jadhav in any manner. We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end, said the statement. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Pakistan foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said India had been trying to hide its real face by taking the case of Jadhav to the ICJ. The ICJ, in its stay today, upheld Indias argument on the urgency of the issue. Without prejudging the result, the ICJ considers that the risk or irreparable prejudice, the mere fact that Jadhav is under such a sentence and might be executed, is sufficient to demonstrate such a risk. There is considerable uncertainty as to when the decision on any appeal is rendered or when Jadhav will be executed, said ICJ President Judge Ronny Abraham. What might make matters tough for Pakistan are the courts observations that its orders are legally binding. Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan in March last year for espionage. While India has accepted that Jadhav is a former naval officer, it has rubbished claims of his being a spy. "Satisfied at ICJ order staying the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. Satisfied at the efforts of Harish Salve for presenting Indian case effectively. Narendra Modi, PM "The ICJ order has come as a great relief... We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting Indias case so effectively before ICJ. I assure that under the leadership of PM Modi, we will leave no stone unturned to save (him). Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister "As a lawyer for 40 years, you get a feel of how judges are reacting. I felt a positive energy when I was arguing the case. I felt judges were connecting. I felt gratified. I did not feel that connection when the other side was arguing. Harish Salve, Counsel for India New Delhi/Mumbai, May 18 India on Thursday heaved a collective sigh of relief after the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, with political leaders hailing the order, and the former Navy man's friends erupting in joy and bursting firecrackers. Harish Salve, India's attorney at ICJ, the UN's highest judicial body, came in for fulsome praise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and a host of other leaders for his strong defence of Jadhav, facing gallows in Pakistan after a military court summarily convicted him of espionage and engaging in subversite activities. Soon after the 11-judge ICJ bench unanimously stayed Jadhav's execution, Modi was on phone line with Swaraj, thanking her and appreciating the efforts of Salve in securing a fresh lease of live for the former naval officer, officials said. An apparently relieved Swaraj took to twitter to tell people about the "great relief" she felt and vowed to "leave no stone unturned" to save Jadhav from the gallows. "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. "We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him)," Swaraj said in a series of tweets. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, too, welcomed the stay on the execution of Jadhav, saying the order gave people of India "a deep sense of satisfaction". He said the Modi government will go "to any extent" to save the 46-year-old former soldier. The ICJ's decision to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav gives the people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief," Singh said in a statement. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad welcomed the ICJ order and asked the government to ensure justice is done to him and he is brought back to India. "The case against Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan was a sham and was in gross violation of international law as his execution was ordered by a kangaroo court without consular access. It is appreciated that the World Court saw reason in the Indian appeal," he said in a statement. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was in Srinagar for the GST Council meeting, complimented Salve for the order. "#ICJ verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan," Jaitley said in a series of tweets. He also complimented Harish Salve, who represented India at the ICJ at The Hague. "Well done! #HarishSalve - you have done India Proud," Jaitley, himself a legal luminary, said. "Congratulations to EAM Smt. @SushmaSwaraj ji and the entire Hague team," he said in another tweet congratulating External Affairs Minister. BJP president Amit Shah also welcomed the order and hailed the Modi government for taking "quick and effective" action in the matter. In Mumbai, where Jadhav grew up, his tense friends and well wishers had prayers on their lips as they waited with bated breath for a favourable ICJ order. They organised a 'Ganesh puja' to propitiate the elephant headed God, one of the most worshipped, and revered for his power to remove obstacles and bring good luck. As their prayers got answered, his friends at the Silver Oak Apartments in Powai burst crackers and chanted slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. The friends of the embattled soldier had earlier launched a signature campaign to build public pressure on Pakistan to secure Jadhav's release. Some local politicians also joined in the celebrations. In a big relief for India, the ICJ in the Hague in Holland today asked Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. India had moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence to Jadhav after Pakistan ignored its request for consular access to the former Navy man 16 times. According to Pakistan, Jadhav was seized by its security forces in the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. India has disputed the claim and said Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests. PTI [May 18, 2017] CRTC and Australian agency join forces to combat spam and unwanted telemarketing calls OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced a partnership with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to combat commercial electronic messages (spam) and telemarketing. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC Chairman and CEO, and Richard Bean, ACMA Acting Chairman. The memorandum of understanding will allow the two agencies to develop a coordinated approach in enforcing Canadian and Australian spam and telemarketing laws, thereby reducing the threat they pose to citizens in both countries. Furthermore, it will solidify and strengthen confidence in both countries' communications networks. As part of the agreement, both organizations have agreed to facilitate virtual training opportunities and staff exchanges where mutually beneficial. Quick Facts The memorandum of understanding will facilitate research and education related to unauthorized telemarketing, telephone calls and commercial electronic messages. As part of the agreement, both agencies agree to provide investigative assistance, where applicable, in accordance with domestic law. In February 2017 , the CRTC signed a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs to fight unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam). , the CRTC signed a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs to fight unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam). In June 2016 , the CRTC along with eleven other international agencies, including span >Australia, signed an agreement to fight unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications; all countries are members of the Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network . , the CRTC along with eleven other international agencies, including span >Australia, signed an agreement to fight unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications; all countries are members of the Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network . In March 2016 , the CRTC and U.S. Federal Trade Commission signed an agreement to fight unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications. , the CRTC and U.S. Federal Trade Commission signed an agreement to fight unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications. In November of 2016, the CRTC and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission signed an agreement to fight unwanted telemarketing and robocalls to consumers. Canada's anti-spam legislation prohibits the sending of commercial electronic messages without the consent of the recipient, as well as online threats (e.g. phishing, malware and botnets). anti-spam legislation prohibits the sending of commercial electronic messages without the consent of the recipient, as well as online threats (e.g. phishing, malware and botnets). Under the CRTC's Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, telemarketers are not permitted to call Canadians whose telephone numbers are registered on the National Do-Not-Call List and must meet certain requirements when making robocalls. "Whether you live in Canada or in Australia, unlawful spam and unwanted calls continue to be bothersome. Coordinating our efforts increases our chances of protecting citizens in both countries from those wishing to wreak havoc by engaging in unlawful activities." - Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC Chairman and CEO. Associated links Memorandum of understanding between the Australian communications and media authority and the Canadian radio-television and telecommunications commission on mutual assistance in the enforcement of laws on commercial electronic messaging and telemarketing News Release - CRTC partners with New Zealand regulator to fight spam News Release - CRTC partners with international agencies to fight spam and unsolicited phone calls News Release - CRTC signs partnership agreement with U.S. Federal Trade Commission to fight unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications Ask a question or make a complaint Stay Connected Follow us on Twitter @CRTCeng Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/crtceng SOURCE Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Singapore, May 18 The Indian warship building industry enjoys a premium position in the world, having built every type of ships, aircraft carriers and submarines, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba has said. All 41 ships and submarines currently on order are being built in India by Indian yards, Lanba, who is here for an introductory visit from May 14 to 18, said at a reception held on Wednesday on board the Indian naval ships--Sahyadri and Kamorta--both of which were built in India. The Indian warship building industry today enjoys a premium position among maritime nations of the world, having built every type of platform, aircraft carriers to submarines, he said. Today the Indian navy prides itself as one of the few navies of the world which may be called a builders navy in the true sense, Lanba said. The navy chief underlined the importance of indigenisation in building the naval assets in India saying it is the surest way for strategic autonomy. He joined the Republic of Singapore Navys (RSN) 50-year celebration and the International Maritime Review (IMR). There are 28 naval ships from 20 countries with their naval chiefs in Singapore for four days of gathering for IMR and RSN celebrations at the Changi Naval Base. The splendid sight of majestic warships with happy men and women manning them is indeed heartening and inspiring. I am sure this momentous occasion brings our oneness, will propel our navies and forces to come together in the global quest to ensure safe and secure seas, Lanba said. The Indian navy remains committed and will stand for security and growth for all in the region, he said. As the maritime neighbours, both the navies (India and Singapore) have our task cut out and with such a high-level of conversion of national interests, it is natural that our navy-to-navy relationship has flourished. Singapore is a valuable friend located just across the bay. The Indian navy, therefore, deeply values and cherishes its association with RSN, Lanba said as he congratulated RSN for its 50 years of service. The IMR not only showcased the might of the Singapore Navy but also brought together navies from across the globe, signifying our common desire to use the sea to promote cooperation and friendship so as to develop partnership for the secure maritime future. Navies conduct fleet reviews to symbolise their loyalty and allegiance to the nation, as well as strengthen the bond between sailors and the state, Lanba said. Occasions such as this provide the crew an opportunity to interact and share perspectives and more importantly build bridges of friendship with friendly maritime nations, the navy chief added. Lanbas introductory visit underscores the warm and long-standing bilateral defence ties, strengthened by the revised Defence Cooperation Agreement signed in 2015 as well as the Air Force and Army Bilateral Agreements concluded in 2007 and 2008, respectively. PTI New Delhi, May 18 Karti Chidambaram, who is under CBI investigation for an alleged bribery and corruption case, on Thursday left for London on what his father described as a scheduled trip. Karti is travelling as per earlier travel plans. He will return after a few days. There is no ban on his travel, his father and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram told PTI here. The CBI, on Tuesday, had carried out searches at Kartis homes and offices in four cities to probe charges that he had received money from a media firm owned by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea to help them evade a tax probe. Karti Chidambaram has denied all the charges made against him. The CBI had filed an FIR against Karti and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board conditions for an investment from Mauritius. PTI Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 In his will penned in July 2013, Union minister Anil Madhav Dave who passed away today, had said no memorial, competition, award or statue should be erected in his memory, but do plant trees and protect them. If you want to do something in my memory, please plant trees and protect them, it will give me anand (happiness). Likewise make efforts as per your samarthya (strength) to save rivers and water bodies, the river conservationist, environmentalist and social worker who passed away this morning, is believed to have willed. Despite not keeping well for many weeks, Dave worked as the countrys Environment Minister almost till his last breath. Just a few hours before he met civil society groups protesting against bio-tech regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)s recent nod to GM Mustard, in his office. While later in the evening he was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussing key policy matters, possibly also the contentious issue. Born on July 6, 1956, at Barnagar, Ujjain, in Madhya Pradesh, Dave connected with social work early in life. He founded a movement, NGO Narmada Samagrha, for conservation of the river on the banks of which, he wished to be cremated in a modest way without any pretentions as he willed. An MCom from Gujrati College, Indore, his specialisations were Rural Development and Management. In the BJP, he went on to be acknowledged for his immense organisational skills, honed perhaps by a long association with the Sangh. Dave shot into political prominence when in 2003 when he, as chief of its election management committee, crafted the strategy that led to the defeat of the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh. He joined RSS due to his familys long association with the right-wing organisation and was deputed to the political arm ahead of the State elections. His skills in booth-level management and planning made the soft-spoken but politically astute Dave continue as the committee head for both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections till about 2014. A NCC Air Wing Cadet, he was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 aircraft over the Narmada from the source to mouth, and also completed a 1,312 km raft journey along the entire length of the river. A prolific writer, he also authored several books in Hindi and also in English. The resolution passed by the Cabinet today said the country had lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of State (Independent Charge). As founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad, he edited the monthly magazine Charaiveti and JAPthe Jan Abhiyan Parishad Journal. He also organised the staging of a play on Chhatrapati ShivajiJanata Raja which has been staged 1,000 times, including at Wembley, London. As an environmentalist, he worked tirelessly for conservation of Narmada river. He was a true nationalist and handled his public responsibilities with politeness and grace. In his passing away, the nation has lost an eminent leader from Madhya Pradesh, stated the resolution. Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 As the International Court of Justice at The Hague on Thursday stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi expressed the hope that Pakistan could be forced to conduct a re-trial in a proper and fair allowing him to have legal assistance. I think its a big victory for India and a big day for human rights. Its a big relief to India andJadhavs family. After this order of the International Court of Justice, he cant be executed during pendency of Indias case at the ICJ, the Attorney General told The Tribune. Rohatgi said now it was clear that Pakistan had put up a charade of a trial. The fact remains that Pakistan is not willing to give consular access to India to meet Jadhav. The top law officer, however, said: Todays order is only a provisional measure. Its only the first stage. Even on the issue of jurisdiction the finding is a prima facie finding. Pakistan still maintains that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction in the matter. Now that we have ensured that Jadhav is not executed during the pendency of the matter at the ICJ, we need to prepare for the next step when our case will be taken up and decided on merits, Rohatgi said. Asked what could be the best case scenario for India at the ICJ, the Attorney General said: One way could be a retrial in regular court with proper legal assistance and consular access being made available to Jadhav. Such trial should be open to public. The second and the best case scenario for us could be that the ICJ says Jadhav should be repatriated to India, Rohatgi said. Terming it the grandest victory of India, Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand said The international adjudication process does not leave any scope for Pakistan to avoid compliance of the order which is binding in nature. She said the ICJ did not find Pakistans claims about Jadhav credible. Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, May 18 Taking up the 1994 custodial deaths of seven Sikh TADA prisoners in the Pilibhit district jail, the Allahabad High Court today asked the state government to submit its response by July 7. A Division Bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava took up the petition of Sukhveer Singh, Gurnam Singh, Harjindar Singh Kahlon and others, challenging the 42 jail officials going scot-free after the withdrawal of the Crime Branch (Crime Investigation Department) inquiry against them. The court allowed the application for adding certain parties in the Sukhveer Singh and others case against the 42 accused persons then posted in the Pilibhit jail. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Led by the then Jail Superintendent, Vindhyachal Singh Yadav, they were reportedly responsible for the custodial deaths of seven Sikh TADA undertrials on the night of November 8-9, 1994. Six of the convicts were recorded to have been brought dead to the Pilibhit District Hospital over a period of 12 hours while critically injured Vichitra Singh, who was referred to King George Medical College in Lucknow, succumbed to his injuries 12 days later. The remaining 21 convicts with serious injuries were hospitalised and sent back to the prison after recovery. The Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government in 2007 had clandestinely invoked Section 321 of the CrPC to withdraw the cases against the accused. This was in contradiction to an earlier order of the Department of Home issued (January 16, 1995) by the Principal Secretary, Jails, on the orders of the Governor by means of which sanction for the prosecution of PCS officer Vindhyachal Singh was granted under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code,1973. Vibha Sharma Tribune News service New Delhi, May 18 Environment Minister Anil Dave, a long-time RSS member best known for crafting the BJP strategy to unseat Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2003, died here today. 60-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he died, according to official sources. Dave was a bachelor. Read: Harsh Vardhan gets additional charge of Environment Ministry Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of the Environment Minister. The Prime Minister said that he was "shocked" by the sudden demise of a friend and a respected colleague. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 However, the cause of Daves death is not known. The minister was believed to have not been keeping well for a while. Even the questions related to his ministry were answered by his predecessor Prakash Javadekar during the Budget Session of Parliament. Dave was appointed the Environment Minister with an independent charge after Javadekar was promoted to the Cabinet rank as the HRD Minister in the last government reshuffle. Daves held a meeting with the Prime Minister last night, which was believed to have been around the contentious issue related to the GEAC nod to GM mustard. I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 He was a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. Meanwhile, former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh condoled the demise of Dave. Describing the BJP leader as a very nice man, Ramesh in his condolence message remembered the support Dave had extended to him during his stint as Environment Minister in the previous Congress-led UPA government. He supported whatever I did when I was Minister, Ramesh said. The Rajya Sabha MP said Dave, who was an ideal Chairman of the Rajya Sabha select committees, had special interest in river conservation. He listened to everybody... (He) did not give offence to his political opponents, Ramesh said. With PTI inputs Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Kila Lal Singh (Batala), May 18 Accusing five youths of their village, Shampura, of molesting them, two Dalit sisters today rushed to Kila Lal Singh police station in torn clothes. The teenaged girls claimed that they had lodged a verbal complaint with the police a few days ago that the youths had photoshopped their pictures and posted these on social media. Despite repeated requests, the police took no action because the youths were known to a prominent Congress leader of Gurdaspur district, they alleged. Instead, the cops picked up our brother and beat him up him in the police station this morning. The cops also informed the boys about our complaint. They came to our house and tore our clothes, threatening us with dire consequences if we reported the matter, they said. When the sisters reached the police station, scores of villagers blocked the road along the UBDC canal to protest against the police. Subsequently, Batala SSP Deepak Hilori ordered the Kila Lal Singh SHO to book the boys under Sections 354 (assault on a woman or using criminal force to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence) of the IPC. The accused are Rahul, Sulieman, Akash, Raju and Punna. The allegation that the girls pictures were photoshopped is being probed. The police are not working under any pressure, the SSP said. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 18 State Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) co-president Aman Arora today urged estranged AAP leaders, including former state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, to return to the party fold. Addressing mediapersons after a meeting with party volunteers, Arora said Chhotepurs expulsion was avoidable. His ouster was one of the major reasons for our debacle in the Assembly elections. He will be welcomed back in the party. We will try to persuade all leaders who were expelled or have quit AAP to come back, he said. On the removal of Gurpreet Singh Waraich as the state convener, Arora said the decision was taken after a one-on-one interaction between around 70 senior party leaders from Punjab and Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi. He added that Waraich was more inclined towards a career in films. I also had a meeting with Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Waraich before the decision was taken. Waraich said he joined the party as a volunteer and would be ready to work as one, Arora said. Later, talking to The Tribune on the phone, Arora said initiating a dialogue with party rebels, including MPs Dr Dharamvira Gandhi and Harinder Singh Khalsa, would strengthen the party. Clear air about Dodas jail meet: Phoolka Chandigarh: Leader of Opposition HS Phoolka on Thursday demanded an explanation from Excise and Taxation Minister Manpreet Singh Badal about a meeting between liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and Ferozepur Divisional Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) Jaswinder Singh in an Amritsar jail on Wednesday. The Akalis lost the Assembly elections, but their closeness with Congress leaders is helping them to run their business from jails, he said. Phoolka demanded that Doda be kept under round-the-clock surveillance and that no one be allowed to meet him without courts permission. TNS CHARLESTON -- Tales of dangers at a science fair, animal battles, missing siblings and demonic confrontations stood out in the annual Young Authors contest in the Charleston school district this year. The four student authors all plan to attend the program's state conference Saturday, a benefit of their being named school winners among grade school and middle school students. The Illinois Reading Council sponsors the Young Authors program. Winners from schools throughout the state will attend the conference, which takes place on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal. A committee at each of the four Charleston school district schools that participated selected the top authors from a total of 36 entries. For the second year, there were also grade level winners at some schools to recognize more students, according to Patti Murphy, assistant principal of Carl Sandburg and Jefferson elementary schools and the contest's coordinator. There are also enough volunteers to accompany the students to the conference this year for a winner from Ashmore Elementary School to be included, Murphy said. At the state conference, the students will be able to meet and learn from professional authors and share their stories with others. "It really does a lot to encourage their continued writing," Murphy said. The winners of this year's contest were: Sabrina White, second grade, Carl Sandburg Elementary School, for "Lucy Saves the Science Fair" Sabrina said Lucy, the story's main character, has to save her school's science fair from a "giant mud glob" that her brother made. "I just used my imagination," she said of how she came up with the idea for her story. Lilly Gannaway, third grade, Ashmore Elementary School, for "The Four Baby Monkeys and the Big, Bad Hippo" Lilly described her story as a "fractured fair tale" based on "The Three Little Pigs." In the tale, monkeys are stuck in a tree because a hippo wants to eat them, she said. "Monkeys are my favorite animals," Lilly said. "I also like hippos." Ella Yoder, sixth grade, Jefferson Elementary School, for "Bird" Ella said her story is about a brother and sister who visit a field where they're not supposed to go. They fall asleep, and when the girl wakes up her brother's missing and she has to find him. The title comes from the boy's belief that people come back as animals after they die and his wanting to come back as a bird, Ella said. She added that she was inspired by a video game she played. "I created this world and thought up this story," Ella said. Destinee Tuttle, seventh grade, Charleston Middle School, for "Red Eyes" Destinee described a horror story in which a girl dreams about a demon. She eventually moves to a place where a girl was killed and has to confront the actual demon, she said. "I've always like that," Destinee said. "I love scary stories." Other grade level winners from Carl Sandburg were Reilly Melton, first grade, and Emma Mae Karbassioon, third grade. Jefferson's other grade level winners were Ryan He, fourth grade; Kenzy Eastman, fifth grade; and Madison Step, sixth grade. GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 18 Blame it on lack of political will or funds, the poor upkeep of the historic Jallianwala Bagh ends up denting the significance it has. The 6.5-acre park houses a memorial established in 1951 to commemorate the martyrs massacred by the British on April 13, 1919. Despite it being declared a heritage site by Union Minister Arun Jaitley, the Jallianwala Bagh is in a dismal state. The century-old structures that share its boundary wall are on the verge of collapse, putting to risk the lives of thousands of visitors. The bullet markings are missing at several points. While the dusty paths and heaps of garbage point towards a lack of maintenance, the light and sound show facility installed in 2010 has been lying defunct for more than four years. Similarly, the 18-minute documentary, which was shown through a projector daily in seven shows at a 50-seat hall at the park, too has been discontinued. An official said a report to revamp the infrastructure and conservation of the old buildings on the periphery of the park was prepared, but nothing came of it. The trust headed by the PM hasnt scheduled even a single meeting since the NDA government under Narendra Modi came to power. Proposals were made several times and once, even the tenders were called, but in vain, he said. The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, which is responsible for the parks upkeep, runs under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. It comes directly under the jurisdiction of the Union Ministry of Culture. Lately, Union Minister of Tourism Mahesh Sharma visited the place. Dejected by the dismal state of affairs, he termed it pathetic. MP Shwait Malik, who had raised the issue in Parliament recently, alleged negligence on the part of the trust. A comprehensive plan has been conceptualised to overhaul the infrastructure. The Centre will be commemorating the centenary of the massacre in 2019. Before that, this plan will have to be executed. The northern side buildings on the baghs periphery have already been purchased from the owner. There is a proposal to convert it into a library... The other rickety structures too will be preserved. The light and sound show will be replaced with a 4-D audio-video system, he said. Sukhdev Singh, convener of INTACH, Punjab, which is into preserving historic sites, said, At present, its facade has been changed totally with inappropriate construction. Conservation experts need to be taken into the loop before taking up the revamp plan. Tribune News Service Sangrur, May 18 A day after two farmers ended their lives in Bathinda district, two more farmers allegedly committed suicide at Ubhawal and Mangwal villages of Sangrur today. The police have started investigations in both cases. Sources said Hardev Singh of Ubhawal went to his fields this morning and hanged himself with a tree. Some villagers spotted the body and informed his family. The deceaseds family members said he was under stress due to a debt of around Rs 8 lakh taken from a bank and private money lenders. Nirmal Singh, incharge, Badrukhan police post, said: Hardev had taken a loan and failed to repay it. He was under stress these days and consequently hanged himself. We are conducting further investigations. In the second incident, Harjinder Singh of Mangwal allegedly consumed some pesticide last evening following which he was rushed to hospital where he died today. His neighbours said he was under stress as he failed to repay a debt of around Rs 4 lakh. Ranjit Singh, SHO, Sadar, said: Last evening, his family members told us that he had taken some medicine by mistake. We are probing the matter. Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 18 Resentment is brewing among ministerial staff serving in the Horticulture Department against the state governments proposed move to merge the Department of Horticulture with the Agriculture Department and ending its separate entity. The move had gained concurrence during the recent visit of the Union Minister for Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh, who during his recent visit here, had called for the merger of the two departments. The move will prove to be detrimental to the growth of horticulture in the state which should be encouraged at all costs, said Arvind Bjilvan, president of the Horticulture Ministerial Staff Association. Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 18 As a fallout of the Rs 240-crore NH-74 (four laning project) land acquisition scam that originated in Udham Singh Nagar, the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways has stopped compensation payments to owners against land acquisition through the joint accounts system opened in the name of Competent Authority Land Acquisition (CALA) for different national highway projects. To check misappropriation of funds, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has introduced a single account centralised fund management system for proper management of compensation funds for the land acquired for national highway projects undertaken by the NHAI. All the payments will be routed through the centralised Competent Authority Land Acquisition (CALA) account, instead of the CALA joint accounts, said Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy. It has been learnt that though the payment system came into effect in September 2016, but in several states the joint accounts continue to be operated. After which, the new orders have been issued for closure of accounts by April 2017. The new system is expected to ensure proper financial discipline, better management of funds and simplification of the monitoring mechanism. Several middle level bureaucrats have been charge-sheeted after a massive fraud in the land acquisition came to light in Udham Singh Nagar under the investigation of Kumaon Commissioner D Senthil Pandiyan. However, no investigation has been carried out in the role of the banks or their manager in misappropriation of funds or illegal diversion of funds against the banks who had routed the funds. So far, the CBI has not started the probe into the scam. In Uttarakhand, work on widening the Haridwar-Dehradun National Highway is still pending and several other highway projects are under way. It remains to be seen how this new arrangement will help check misappropriation of land acquisition funds. Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 18 An interactive workshop was jointly organised by the World Bank and DHI, India, in collaboration with the Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project (UDRP) under the Department of Disaster Management, Government of Uttarakhand, in Mussoorie today. The project River Morphological Analysis and Design of River Training and Bank Protection Works in Uttarakhand State is being undertaken with the aim of obtaining a sound and dependable model and a supporting state-centralised river information system, which is streamlined, efficient, easily updatable and accessible. In this regard, four major rivers (Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Kali) are being studied. The aim of the workshop was to share the findings related to analysis and design for River Training and Bank Protection Work in the state. Amit Singh Negi, Secretary, Disaster Management, was the chief guest on the occasion and informed the participants about the World Bank-assisted Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project. Chalisgaonkar, HoD, Irrigation Department, shared the extensive work done by the Irrigation Department post June 2013 disaster and other river protection works undertaken in states. London, May 18 Theresa May on Thursday unveiled her Conservative Party's election manifesto that makes cutting immigration from countries like India, a central poll pledge if her party wins the June 8 general election. The British prime minister set out plans to further tighten rules for skilled workers from outside the European Union (EU), which involves anyone employing a non-EU worker to be expected to pay 2,000 pounds for each worker every year. This amount doubles the "Skills Charge" of 1,000 pounds already in force. Non-EU migrants will also be made to pay more for using the state-run National Health Service (NHS). "It is right that we want to bring net migration down to sustainable levels because of the impact uncontrolled migration has on people and public services... We want to increase the Skills Charge because that money can then be put into training people here to be able to take those jobs while we still have a system that brings in the brightest and best into the country," May said, in response to questions after her manifesto speech at Halifax in the West Yorkshire region of England today. The changes, viewed as the party's attempt to woo back voters who had swung towards the anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2015 general election, are likely to hit Indians the hardest as they comprise of the largest number of skilled workers granted visas to live and work in the UK. According to the most recent UK Home Office figures, Indian nationals accounted for 53,575 or 57 per cent of skilled work visas granted in 2016, with US nationals the next largest group at 9,348. The Tory manifesto stresses a continued effort to "bear down on immigration from outside the European Union", including overseas students. "We will increase the earnings thresholds for people wishing to sponsor migrants for family visas. We will toughen the visa requirements for students, to make sure that we maintain high standards," it reads. "We will expect students to leave the country at the end of their course, unless they meet new, higher requirements that allow them to work in Britain after their studies have concluded." Overseas students will remain in the immigration 55 statistics in line with international definitions and within scope of the government's policy to reduce annual net migration. The Conservative party's tough stance on immigration reaffirms a previous pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands. Net migration, the difference between people coming to the UK for more than a year and those leaving, stood at 273,000 in the year to last September. It was last below 100,000 in 1997 and there had been some speculation if the party would choose to drop the "tens of thousands" target it has consistently failed to meet. The manifesto also pledges to reduce and control immigration from Europe after Britain leaves the EU and is able to exercise its own border controls. "We will leave the European Union and take control of our money, take control of our borders and take control of our laws. We will forge a new deep and special partnership with Europe, but reach out beyond Europe to strike new trade deals for our goods and services with old allies and new friends around the world too," May said in her speech, which reiterated her central message of offering a "strong and stable leadership". "Every vote for me strengthens my hand in Brexit negotiations," she added. The manifesto launch is seen as May's attempt to highlight issues beyond Brexit and incorporates major changes to the country's social care system as well as efforts to pump in an extra 4 billion pounds into the schools system by 2022. Universal free school lunches for infant pupils in England will be scrapped but free breakfasts will be offered across the primary school years. The Tories have dropped another key party pledge from the past a "tax lock" promised by former British Prime Minister David Cameron, committing to no increases in income tax and national insurance contributions. "We must take this opportunity to build a great meritocracy in Britain. It means making Britain a country that works, not for the privileged few, but for everyone," she said, adding that her party's manifesto reinforces the Conservative stance as a "low tax party". As well as the previously announced cap on energy prices, the manifesto also pledges to force mobile phone firms to make billing fairer, tackle rogue landlords and cut the cost of buying a home by cracking down on rip-off conveyancing and legal fees. To tackle funding crisis in the care sector, wealthy pensioners will lose up to 300 pounds in winter fuel payments and more elderly people could be forced to pay to be looked after in their own homes. The money saved by means-testing the winter fuel payment will go directly to fund health and social care. The Tories claim their plans guarantee that no one, no matter how high their care costs, will have to sell their family home during their lifetime. Workers will also be given the right to request up to a year's unpaid leave to care for a relative. The Tory announcements today complete the launch of party manifestos by all major political parties in the fray in the June 8 election. Voters have been offered extremely stark choices with the Labour party's strongly socialist-oriented pledges, including re-nationalisation of key UK bodies like railways and postal system, and the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats offering a second referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. PTI Washington, May 18 Former FBI director Robert Mueller has been appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between President Donald Trumps campaign and Moscow. The decision by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller, 72, as special counsel came following a week of turmoil for the White House after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter. Rosenstein said he had taken the decision to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump. President Donald Trump on Thursday decried the appointment of a special counsel to lead the Russia probe as the single greatest witch-hunt in US history, hours after he said he looked forward to a thorough investigation. In the face of rising pressure from Capitol Hill, the US the Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Moscow. Trump said in a statement on Wednesday night that a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. In a pair of Twitter posts on Thursday morning, Trump made clear he was unhappy with the latest development to roil his administration. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed! Trump wrote, misspelling the word counsel as he referred to former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! The comments mirrored a speech by Trump on Wednesday, before Muellers appointment was announced, in which he said no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result, he added. Mueller served as FBI director for 12 years after his nomination by President George W Bush in 2001. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed Muellers appointment for the investigation. The appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence, Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senator Al Frankens said appointing Mueller is an important step that will help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. Agencies Mueller, a no-nonsense man Known by some as Bobby Three Sticks because of his full name Robert Mueller III, the former FBI director is famous for his no-nonsense style and independence in high-profile government investigations A decorated Vietnam War veteran, Mueller was named to the post by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. His investigation will run in parallel to those being carried out by the FBI and the US Congress Mueller will have the authority to investigate not only links between Russia and the Trump campaign, but also any matters that may arise directly from the probe. Democrats and Republicans alike praised his appointment 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians Islamabad/The Hague, May 18 Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, its Foreign Office said on Thursday after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. The head of Pakistan's delegation at the International Court of Justice termed its order staying the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "basic ruling" and said the UN court had not mentioned anything about maintainability of the order. Asked by reporters outside the ICJ if Pakistan will stay Jadhav's execution as ordered by the court, Moazzam Ahmad Khan initially did not reply. He then said the ruling was "basic". He did not comment on the merits of the case. "This is a very basic judgment. What the court has done is that it has given a ruling on provisional measures," Khan told reporters. "It did not say anything on the merit of maintainability of the order," he said. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court. Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistan's reply to ICJ was in line with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said issuing of stay by the ICJ in interim case of Jadhav is not something extraordinary. He said courts sometimes grant such orders which do not have any bearing on long-term running of the case. Aziz said it is wrong impression that the selection of counsel in the case was not appropriate. He said the matter of consular access was not included in operational order of the court. "Our stance is that security reasons are also very important," he added. Information Minister Mariyum Aurangzeb said no compromise will be done on Pakistan's nation security. Commenting on the ICJ ruling, Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's Office said the ICJ's decision has not changed the status of Jadhav's case in any manner. In a statement, it said in today's interim order, ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Commander Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case. The statement said the provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the court to have full consideration at a later hearing. It said these measures have no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the Court. It said Pakistan attended the hearing out of its utmost respect for the court and pursuant to the established jurisprudence that the challenge to jurisdiction can be made via appearance and not by abstaining from the process. In addition, Pakistan attended because of its conviction that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues is through peaceful means, the statement added. "We are confident that India would not be able to hide the subversive activities it is trying to carry out through its agents like Jadhav," it said. Weak case Meanwhile, experts and the opposition leaders blasted ICJ order as failure of the Nawaz Sharif government to press the case properly. "We based our case on jurisdiction and it proved weak. More arguments should have been made regarding espionage," Pakistan People's Party leader Sherry Rehman said. Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani told DawnNews the decision is alarming because "ICJ does not have jurisdiction. It's Pakistan's mistake to have appeared there. They shouldn't have attended. They have shot themselves in the foot." London-based Barrister Rashid Aslam said Pakistan was ill-prepared and did not utilise the 90 minutes it had to make its argument. Agencies Washington, May 18 Reacting to the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaigns ties with Russia, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. The Justice Department on Wednesday appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as the special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Russian interference in the last years presidential elections. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly, Trump said in a statement. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country, he said. Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said, In my capacity as acting attorney general, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, he said in a statement. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly, he said. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result, he added. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. That is what weve been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue, Ryan said. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Muellers for the investigation. The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence, Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senatr Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will hopefully help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and Im encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election, Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. While this is an important step forward, we still need a bipartisan, independent commission to carry out a public investigation into Russias interference in our election. The American people deserve answers, he said. PTI London, May 18 Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, a harsh critic of the West and the standard bearer of Irans security hawks, has drawn on economic discontent to mount an unexpectedly strong challenge to pragmatist Hassan Rouhani in Fridays presidential elections. A protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi has focused his campaign on the economy, promising the poor housing, jobs and welfare benefits. Iranian media have speculated that he could go even further than the presidency as a possible successor to his patron Khamenei, the 77-year-old who has been in power since 1989 and whose authority exceeds that of the elected president. In the tense final televised debate, Rouhani stretched the boundaries of permissible rhetoric in Iran to paint Raisi as a power-hungry pawn of the security services. Mr Raisi, you can slander me as much you wish. As a judge of the clerical court, you can even issue an arrest order. But please dont abuse religion for power, Rouhani said at one point. He said security and revolutionary groups were busing people to Raisis rallies, and asked who financed them. But Raisis economic message could win traction with voters who have seen few benefits so far from Rouhanis signature achievement, a deal with world powers to curb Irans nuclear programme in return for lifting financial sanctions. Raisi says the president sold out Irans interests too cheaply to the West, betting too strongly on rapprochement with enemies while doing too little at home to boost production. Our problems cannot be resolved by Americans and Westerners, Raisi said in September before announcing his candidacy. They have not resolved a single problem of any country. They have brought nothing but misery to other nations. However, Raisi has said he will abide by the nuclear deal and will guard it regardless of its many faults. Reuters Reformists alarmed Washington, May 18 US President Donald Trump will discuss steps to continue the fight against the ISIS and extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he addresses the Muslim world during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The discussion on extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would come up as part of the larger debate within the Islamic world and specifically to this part of the world, a senior Trump administration official said on the condition of anonymity yesterday. So the general problem of extremism, which is the same problem in Mosul as it is in Afghanistan and to some degree in Pakistan, thats the issue that were trying to deal with, which is extremism. So it will be something that will be discussed, the official said. Leaders of more than 50 mostly-Muslim countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan from Indias neighbourhood, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The official was responding to a question about the US governments plans to deal with extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I believe the leader of Afghanistan and the leader of Pakistan will both be at the Summit, which is excellent, the official said. Although, Riyadh has not yet confirmed a separate bilateral talk between Trump and either of the two leadersAfghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The extremism issue would also figure for discussion during Trumps participation at the NATO summit in Brussels. The Trump Administration is in final stage of formulating its Afghanistan-Pakistan policy which among other things would decide on the number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. The final decision in this regard would be taken by the generals on the ground. PTI Islamabad, May 18 Pakistan has rejected former military ruler Pervez Musharrafs demands of military security and safe passage to Dubai to face his high treason trial, saying an absconder cannot give conditions and dictate his prerequisites to the court. The federal government yesterday told a special court that being an absconder for high treason, Musharraf, 73, cannot seek any relief until he surrenders before the court which is trying him in the high treason case. An absconder cannot dictate his prerequisites to the court and give conditions, that too his own subjective satisfaction, as to when he will appear and for how long, the government said in its response. However, the government said it was willing to provide all due security to Musharraf as per his entitlement. The court will resume proceedings in the high treason trial on May 19. Musharraf imposed emergency in 2007 by suspending the constitution, which is a high treason according to the constitution in Pakistan and carries maximum death penalty. PTI Sought safe passage United Nations, May 18 US Ambassador Nikki Haley will make her first trip overseas this week as Washingtons envoy to the United Nations, traveling to Jordan and Turkey to focus on the plight of Syrian refugees. Haley will meet with government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations and UN agencies during the visit from May 19 to 25. The US administration sparked a global uproar earlier this year when President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the US resettlement program for refugees from Syria. That order, which also banned entry for citizens from six Muslim countries, was blocked in US courts. Haley said her trip to two of the hardest-hit countries by the Syria refugee crisis would show that the United States should not be accused of heartlessness when it comes to refugees. No country has invested more in protecting, housing, feeding and caring for Syrian refugees than the US, Haley wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The United States has provided nearly $6.5 billion in aid for Syria since 2011, she said, adding that the US administration will continue to support countries on the front line of the refugee crisis. Turkey hosts nearly three million Syriansout of the more than five million who have fled the war over the past six years. In Jordan, some 6,57,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN, but the government says the true figure is 1.3 million. A former governor for the state of South Carolina, Haley began work Trumps ambassador to the United Nations in late January. Her first visit to the field comes as UN agencies are worried about proposed US funding cuts that could cripple the world bodys humanitarian work. AFP Youve probably seen disposal wells in big, bold print in the across news headlines in Oklahoma over the last few years. And by now, youve probably read enough to know that Oklahoma is home to nearly 4,000 disposal wells. But do you know why we need them? Disposal wells are necessary for the oil and natural gas industry to dispose of a thing called produced water. Most people dont know it, but here in Oklahoma the earth actually produces more water than it does oil. Thus the term produced water. In fact, in some parts of our state, 10 barrels of water are produced for every barrel of oil. This produced water is basically ancient seawater that has been trapped in rock formations thousands of feet below the earths surface for millions of years. This water, because it is so old and so far below ground, is impossible to drink, or use for anything on the surface without proper filtering and treatment. So, disposal wells are used to put the untreated water back into the areas where it was originally found. Disposal wells have been used in Oklahoma for nearly 60 years and are heavily regulated and monitored by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Theres been a lot of confusion between this produced water and the water that is used during hydraulic fracturing, which is called flowback water. To hear from the experts at Ground Water Protection Council about these processes and the differences between produced and flowback water, visit EnergyHQ.com. That library book about North Dakota will surely pop up before the final school bell rings for the year on Thursday. The past few weeks have been a blur. There were Teacher Appreciation Week events, including an hours-long session of making and decorating 41 treat sacks. School projects that roll, glitter and include slideshows were constructed. Half of that work was done at the local Tulsa City-County Library branch after both our personal computers freakishly crashed and burned. Assemblies, dance rehearsals, theater performances, final tests, an orchestra concert, school carnival, a school dance, skate night, promotion ceremonies and a couple of family events to round out the days. My sons school ID broke in half, and his notebook is held together with duct tape. Some origami homework for my daughter was fished out of the trash. Those growing kids are squeezing into their school uniforms because I refuse to buy anything new now. The yard got high enough to nearly need a brush hog. The sink has not been free of dishes since Easter. The weekly facetiousness I once took in checking online homework, grades and notes in school folders was chucked sometime around St. Patricks Day. Thank goodness my husband picked up the slack. Its the end of the school year. Im worn out. Im limping to the finish line. I would call uncle, but Im pretty sure none of them want to take on any of this. Teachers clearly need a break, but the parents arent far behind. Its as hard to end school as it is to start school. Maybe even harder. At least the first day of school is celebrated as a season. Back-to-school comes with sales and shiny, new things. Sure, its also busy, and its expensive having to buy school uniforms, clothes and school supplies. But its the return of structure and normalcy. Everyone has taken their vacations, is well-rested and ready to tackle a new chapter. Now, the countdown is near on closing the book. The decorations are coming down and lockers cleaned out. Were all just exhausted. For some teachers, they wont be coming back, either to retirement or getting out of the profession. Theres a sadness there, and well-wishes for what comes next. For graduates, its an exciting time to seek that next adventure. For the rest of us, well enjoy the nearly three-month hiatus. Itll be good to reorganize and refocus. By the time school rolls around again, Ill be ready, and maybe those wayward library books will be found. Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby was acquitted by a jury of eight women and four men (three jurors were black) of first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher. Key points and quotes from the past week follow a full week of testimony and the jury's finding late Wednesday evening. Here are some highlights from the past week of the trial: Police helicopter pilot Officer Michael Richert testified that Shelby said after the shooting: I cant believe he made me do it. Richert could be heard saying Crutcher looks like a bad dude who could be on something just before he fell to the ground. Richert testified that I had no idea whether Crutcher was under the influence of any substance. I was basing those statements on everything in the totality of the circumstances. I knew there was going to be a group of people that didnt like what happened simply because of the color of somebodys skin, said Cpl. Wyett Poth. He said he was incident commander the night of Sept. 16. He told Shelby not to say a word until she had retained her rights after she fatally shot Crutcher, a black man. When someones going for lethal, you do not go less lethal, defense attorney Shannon McMurray said in opening statements. Shelby testified that she chose not to arm herself with a Taser because of her belief that Crutchers actions indicated he had a weapon. No gun was found on him or in his SUV. It was obvious there was something that transpired before I arrived, backing officer Tyler Turnbough testified, adding later that the situation made me a little uneasy, a little edgy. Turnbough testified that he announced to Shelby that he had a Taser ready, to which he reported she made a verbal acknowledgment. But Shelby said she didnt realize that her backing officer was even there until after she had fired the fatal shot. Turnbough said he deployed his Taser to stun Crutcher twice as Shelby fired. McMurray brought out a replica of the drivers-side door of Crutchers SUV and had Turnbough point out the area in which he and Shelby believed Crutcher was reaching with his left hand for a gun. Tiffany Crutcher testified that her twin brother was not left-handed. Jurors watched about 40 minutes of video showing Shelby talking to lead homicide detective Sgt. Dave Walker during a Sept. 19 interview. I shot him in the side. I thought he was gonna kill me, Shelby can be heard saying on the video. Ive never been so scared. Walker then asked Shelby whether she had felt the need to fire a second shot, and she responded, No, because the action stopped. I only used the force that I needed to stop. Walker told Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray that he showed Shelby video of the shooting from a dash camera and police helicopter before going with her and Scott Wood into an interview room for her official statement. When asked why he did so, Walker said it was to get the most accurate statement we can about what took place. I was taken aback by the lack of protocol and (the) lack of respect, Walker said of the way the District Attorneys Office filed charges, describing how he felt angry and disrespected because of the work he had done investigating the shooting. Ive never had a charge filed without consultation with the detective (involved) or myself, Walker said. He added that it was the first case in which a Tulsa police officer was charged for a fatal shooting committed in the line of duty. When asked whether Shelbys was a case he would send to the DA for prosecution, he said no. District Judge Doug Drummond decided to allow the defense to make limited references to Crutchers legal history, related only to four instances over a 21-year period in which police previously described him as noncompliant. Walker said it was important to know both that Crutcher had outstanding warrants, which court records show were for failure to pay costs, and that he had been arrested in the past on complaints of obstruction. Shelby was unaware of any of Crutchers background at the time of the shooting. Shelby testified that police training videos showed her that if suspects are allowed to reach into their vehicles, they can pull out guns and kill you, which is why deadly force can be warranted. Im told in my training that you dont let them pull their arm back out, Shelby said. If you hesitate and delay, then you die, she said. Is Terence Crutchers death his fault? Gray asked. Yes, Shelby replied, adding later that if he would have only communicated with me and complied with what I asked, none of this would have happened. Shelby testified that she was suspicious of Crutcher after she smelled a chemical odor she associated with PCP toward the beginning of their altercation. Gray, in response, asked her why she hadnt mentioned that until her trial. She claims it was left out of the 60 Minutes segment with her interview. She did not include that statement in her interview with Walker. After a juror was excused Monday due to an illness, the panel comprises nine white people and three black people eight women and four men. Betty Shelby murdered my brother, and after she murdered my brother, all of the officers involved with the Tulsa Police Department covered for her. What I got out of this case was that a coverup was exposed, Tiffany Crutcher said after Betty Shelby was found not guilty. A group of about 50 protesters who marched from the courthouse plaza down Fifth Street and stopped outside the Mayo Hotel, where they believed Officer Betty Shelby was staying late Wednesday night. People screamed for Shelby to be brought out of the building, calling her a pig and a rat. The Rev. Ray Owens, Metropolitan Baptist Church, said the verdict was so incredibly painful. Owens said he heard no one talk about a violent reaction, but he did sense a mood change when the verdict came down. I just cant believe that were here again. Im outraged, he said. I remain pleased that my city, and especially the Crutcher family, have handled this with incredible grace and dignity. We have to find ways to express outrage. Rodney Goss, pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church, said he was very disappointed" in the Betty Shelby's not guilty verdict. You just have to be even-keeled. My prayer is that the city will find a way to vent, maybe angrily, but peacefully, and that we will preserve our dignity and continue to show the nation that were capable of self control and temperance, even in the face of severe adversity. "We know we've had failings," Police Chief Chuck Jordan (right) said at a news conference Thursday morning. "We understand that, and we're committed to making a better relationship." He told the media that Betty Shelby's employment as a Tulsa police officer was being evaluated by city and police HR and legal departments. At a news conference Thursday with Terence Crutcher's family, attorneys for his estate and local interfaith leaders, a call was put out to Tulsa Police Department to immediately terminate Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker, who was tasked with investigating Crutcher's fatal shooting by Officer Betty Shelby. Tiffany Crutcher cited his testimony admitting he treated Shelby differently than other people accused in fatal shootings. Reaction to the acquittal of Betty Shelby outside the Tulsa County Courthouse built slowly into a loud protest along downtown streets Wednesday night. Initially, about 40 to 50 supporters of the Terence Crutcher family erupted into chants of no justice, no peace as word of the verdict was announced. A group of Shelby supporters left quietly once word of the verdict came from the courthouse. Many in the crowd were tearful, including Rhonda Washington, a black mother of two from Tulsa. I have a 20-year-old son who can barely leave the house because Im so scared something could happen to him. It doesnt matter that hes been raised right, she said. Its terrible to have to live in captivity and fear. Washington said she came to the courthouse to show her support for Crutcher but didnt bring her kids because she was unsure of what to expect from the crowds. Shortly after initial reaction to the verdict set in, it appeared that sheriffs deputies and a crowd of protesters tensely squared off on the west side of the courthouse, but the moment was brief. A group of about 50 protesters marching away from the courthouse plaza down Fifth Street stopped outside the Mayo Hotel, where they believed Shelby was staying. People screamed for Shelby to be brought out of the building, calling her a pig and a rat. Some in the crowd also screamed profanities, including a repeated chant of murdering b----. Protesters beat on the hotels windows and doors before they were covered from the inside. The crowd was racially diverse with a high concentration of people in their 20s. The only police presence early was the police helicopter as it circled. Mario Johnson, who identified himself as the pastor of Seeking the Kingdom Ministries, which meets at the Central Library, pleaded with the crowd to be unified and peaceful in its protest. The protesters began to march away from the Mayo, and about 15 of them began using their bodies to stop traffic on Denver Avenue about 11:30 p.m. Protesters chanted profanities aimed at police. Five police cars arrived at Sixth Street and Denver, and an announcement was made over loudspeakers that we are here to ensure your constitutional right to assemble. Protesters were directed to stop blocking traffic and to leave the area. Officers also announced over their loudspeakers: If you do not leave now, chemical agents will be used. Officers blocked traffic on Denver at Fourth and Sixth streets and watched the crowd of mostly younger protesters. At around 12:20 a.m., the protest line dispersed and traffic began flowing along Denver. OKLAHOMA CITY Negotiations on revenue-raising options continued Wednesday at the Capitol as lawmakers struggle to come up nearly $1 billion to fill the fiscal year 2018 budget hole. The talks came after a $345 million revenue-raising package failed in the House late Tuesday. Republican and Democratic legislative leaders met with Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday morning and again in the afternoon, said House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairwoman Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang. Mike Ray, Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus media director, said leaders reached no agreement after the morning session. Republicans, who are in the majority, would need some of the 26 members of the House Democratic Caucus on their side to raise revenue through a tax increase. It takes a supermajority in both chambers or a vote of the people to raise taxes. Revenue-raising measures must start in the House and cant be done during the last five days of a session. House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, is seeking an income tax increase on high wage earners in exchange for votes to increase the tax on gasoline and diesel by 6 cents a gallon, Ray said. Inman wants those earning $200,000 a year to pay 6 percent, a 1 percetage point increase over the current rate of 5 percent, Ray said. House Democrats want those earning $400,000 and up to pay 7 percent as opposed to 5 percent, he said. In exchange for votes to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50, House Democrats want production from all new wells taxed at 5 percent. Currently, all new wells pay 2 percent for the first 36 months in a gross production tax discount period. Fallin has vowed to veto any budget that contains deep cuts to state agencies, which have already seen deep reductions. A special session, either concurrent with the regular session or after it, may be necessary to finalize a 2018 budget, officials say. Lawmakers must adjourn by 5 p.m. May 26, and House members were told Wednesday afternoon to be prepared to meet through the weekend. OKLAHOMA CITY House Republicans apparently arent giving up on teacher pay raises or a cigarette tax increase this session, despite repeated setbacks. Two teacher pay bills, a single $1,000 bump and the 1-2-3 plan introduced at the start of the session, and a measure to reapportion cigarette taxes if an increase is adopted were heard late Wednesday in a key House committee. All three measures passed. In a budget of $6 billion, I think we can prioritize a teacher pay raise, said Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Broken Arrow, who is carrying both teacher pay bills. The two measures, House Bills 2416 and 2417, are almost identical to Rogers bills that have run aground in the legislative process. HB 2416, a single $1,000 raise, is similar to a bill House leadership tried to use as leverage for votes on a $345 million tax increase that failed to get the 76 votes required Wednesday night, and to a bill earlier in the week linking a pay raise to a 4.5 percent tax on video services, digital downloads and fur storage. The only difference is that HB 2416 is not linked to any other bill. Rogers said HB 2417 is the same bill that passed the House earlier in the session but could not get a vote on the Senate floor. It calls for $1,000 raises in 2018, $2,000 raises in 2019 and $3,000 raises in 2020. The raises would require between $50 million and $60 million per $1,000 increase. Democrats tried to press Rogers for details on funding of the raises but were eventually cut off by Chairman Leslie Osborn, who said questions had to be on specifics of the two bills. The Democrats, who voted against the measures, said that without funding the bills were an empty promise that in the end would frustrate teachers even more. How we are going to pay for this is important, said Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa. I am for your deal. However, I will not make a promise we cant keep. Rogers countered that without the bills, teachers stood almost no chance of across-the-board raises in the coming budget year. If were serious, we can make it happen, he said. The two new bills are a lifeline for teacher pay raises, but a tenuous one. One or both would have to get through a Senate committee made up of almost all members and floor votes in both the House and Senate. Also heard late Wednesday in the House committee was HB 2382, which would reapportion cigarette taxes if they are raised by 62 cents, 67 cents or $1.50, all of which have been proposed. Majority Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, who is carrying the bill, said he still wants the largest amount as both a smoking deterrent and revenue source for health care. If we lock up and dont pass a cigarette tax, I think health care would be decimated, he said. The $1.50 tax has failed twice on the House floor, once as a stand-alone bill and once as part of the revenue package that failed Tuesday night. Democrats joined a faction of Republicans in stopping both bills, which require 76 votes in the House, but House Democrats have said they would vote for the increase as part of a larger revenue package that includes a hike in the gross oilfield production tax and possibly income taxes. Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a woman during a robbery on the grounds of an east Tulsa apartment complex early Thursday. The shooting was reported at the Sawmill Apartments, 12900 E. 35th Place, about 3:30 a.m. The woman was found lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the forehead, Tulsa Police Cpl. R.W. Solomon said. Were going on a whole bunch of assumptions right now, Solomon said. The woman, identified by police as Vennie Jean Blalock, 64, had gotten out of her vehicle and was walking toward an apartment when two men at least one of whom had a gun approached her from behind and tried to rob her, police said in a news release. Blalock was shot after she turned and struggled for the weapon, police said. A resident of the complex told police the woman had knocked frantically on his door about the time of the shooting. Solomon said another resident called police. The robbers ran north through the complex after the shooting. A police K-9 unit searched for them but lost their scent somewhere in the complex, police said. No descriptions of the men were available. Anyone with information may contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 918-596-COPS (2677), online at p3tips.com/918 or through the Tulsa Tips app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play or iTunes stores. The homicide tip line may also be reached at 918-798-8477 or emails sent to homicide@cityoftulsa.org. Several national news outlets were in Tulsa during Officer Betty Shelby's trial, and some covered the resolution from outside Tulsa. Some news outlets cited content from Tulsa World in publishing news of the verdict. If you want to see what the rest of the country outside of Oklahoma may be reading today, Tulsa World has gathered a handful of major publications' story links. You can also check out all of the coverage from Tulsa World staff to make sure you didn't miss any important local news. Tulsa World coverage: National coverage TULSA, Okla. Jurors on Wednesday found a white police officer not guilty in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man last year, one in a string of law enforcement killings of black men that have prompted a national debate about race relations and the use of force. Like several other recent cases, the trial of Officer Betty Jo Shelby in the death of Terence Crutcher demonstrated both the increased pressure to hold officers responsible for using lethal force and the difficulty of convicting them of a crime. The Tulsa County District Court jury of eight women and four men, including at least four black jurors, deliberated for about nine hours before finding Officer Shelby not guilty of manslaughter. Shannon McMurray, Officer Shelbys lawyer, said late Wednesday that her client was overwhelmed and would make a full statement in the morning. She is elated, Ms. McMurray said. We all are. Its a true and just verdict. An Oklahoma jury on Wednesday acquitted a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa last year. Tulsa officer Betty Shelby was found not guilty in the Sept. 16 shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher in a case that garnered national attention and widespread protest from Black Lives Matter. Jurors deliberated more than nine hours before delivering the verdict. Afterword, Gov. Mary Fallin called for calm as dozens of protesters outside the courthouse chanted: No justice. No peace. No racist police, the Associated Press reported. The verdict drew a sharp response from the Crutchers father. Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder, the Rev. Joey Crutcher said. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby was found not guilty Wednesday for the fatal shooting of unarmed black motorist Terence Crutcher, whose death was captured on video. The verdict, which Tulsa World reported came after nine hours of deliberation, was met with tears by members of the jury and outrage from Crutchers family. Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder, Crutchers father, Joseph, told reporters after the verdict. I don't know what was in the mind of that jury. Crutchers sister, Tiffany, accused the police for trying to cover-up her brothers murder to protect Shelby and criticized them for not immediately providing care after he was shot. District Judge Doug Drummond asked the courtroom ahead of the verdict to trust the system, adding this was a very difficult case with lots of difficult issues. Tulsa, Oklahoma (CNN)After nine hours of deliberations, a jury acquitted white Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man. The incident, which took place in September, was one of a number of police shootings of unarmed black men across the United States in recent years that have heightened concerns about possible police misconduct. Shelby said that she fired out of fear when she killed Crutcher, who had his hands above his head. Before issuing a verdict Wednesday night, the nine white jurors and three black jurors asked the judge if they could explain their verdict in court. A jury on Wednesday acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Tulsa last year. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, 43, had been charged with manslaughter in the September 2016 shooting death of Terence Crutcher, 40, during an encounter that began with the report of a stalled vehicle. The district attorney's office announced a verdict had been reached shortly after 9 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET), more than eight hours after deliberations began, NBC affiliate KJRH reported. The manslaughter trial against Shelby opened May 10 with prosecutors laying out how the five-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department encountered Crutcher what should have been a routine traffic matter that went too far, they said. TULSA, Okla. A white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year has been found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter after nine hours of jury deliberations. Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher Sept. 16 on a city street where his SUV had stalled. The video taken of Crutcher's shooting by a dashboard camera and helicopter shows Crutcher walking away from Shelby toward his SUV with hands above his head. The family of Terence Crutcher burst into tears and reacted with outrage after jurors found Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty in the Sept. 16 shooting. "Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder," Crutcher's father, Rev. Joey Crutcher said after the verdict was announced. About a dozen people waiting in the hallway outside the full courtroom where closing arguments were taking place in the Betty Shelby manslaughter trial decided to depart to the courthouse plaza to rally in support of Terence Crutcher. Angie Pitts, who's attended several Black Lives Matter rallies and marches in Tulsa, pulled a Black Lives Matter T-shirt from her bag and led the handful of people from the fourth floor of the courthouse to the plaza. Because they couldn't get into the courtroom, she said, they might as well rally. Pitts led a number of chants, calling "hands up," to supporters who responded, "don't shoot." The small rally materialized about 10 a.m., two hours after the scheduled start time of a Justice4Crutch rally planned on the plaza prior to this morning's court proceedings but that never came to fruition. A man walking near the library shouted profanities at the demonstrators, telling them, among other things, to shut up. Angela Hearn was among the demonstrators who moved from inside the courthouse to the plaza Wednesday morning in support of Crutcher. She said she sees a discrepancy between how Shelby was treated in this shooting and how a non-law enforcement officer is treated because of her own run-in with police. Hearn pleaded guilty to an amended charge of domestic assault with a deadly weapon in an incident where she claimed self-defense. Two years after that incident, Hearn filed a protective order against the man she shot, according to court records. She said he came after her with a gun. "Shelby's not being held to the standard that she should be held at, because me, I'm a regular citizen with no credentials, and they held me at a higher standard than they're holding her right now," Hearn said. However, Hearn said she has sympathy for both families involved in manslaughter case, saying no matter what the jury decides, one of those families will be affected. "Regardless of how they feel," she said, meaning the demonstrators chanting near her on the plaza, "I'm my own person. Both families are going to be affected." About an hour after the demonstration began, its members slipped away, leaving the courthouse plaza, once again, empty. Ahead of National Reconciliation Week, The Feed is presenting a local doco Young & Black, that asks How does it feel to be millennial and Indigenous in Australia today? This will be presented by Laura Murphy-Oates meeting with four prominent young Indigenous Australians. The Feeds Laura Murphy-Oates was born in the 1990s. Her life as an Indigenous Australian was supposed to be easier and more inclusive than generations before her. After all, it was the time of Mabo, the Native Title Act, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaths in Custody, the Bringing Them Home report and Keatings famous Redfern speech. However, it was also the first time we met One Nations Pauline Hanson, who said in her maiden speech that: Along with millions of Australians, I am fed up to the back teeth with the inequalities that are being promoted by the government and paid for by the taxpayer under the assumption that Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in Australia. Its now fifty years after the birth of reconciliation with the 1967 referendum, and this generation were supposed to inherit a very different society but how did the dichotomy in public and political opinion affect Indigenous children of the 90s, how much has changed, and what (and who) is still the same? Young & Black is a new 30 minute documentary special produced by The Feed team airing in the lead up to National Reconciliation Week, in which Laura meets four prominent young Indigenous Australians to unpack the truth about what it means to be young and black in Australia today. Nakkiah Lui is a writer and comedian, best known for her work on Black Comedy. She is a proud Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman who isnt afraid to bare all and speak her mind whether its schooling a TV panel about modern racism, speaking publicly about domestic violence or confessing that one time she accidentally dated her cousin. She is passionate about comedy because it allows her people to tackle serious issues in an accessible way. Geoffrey Winters is a Native Title lawyer and the young Liberal candidate who ran against Deputy Leader of the Labor party, Tanya Plibersek, in the most recent Federal election. He is now, but hasnt always been, a proud Gamilaroi man. Winters had to find a way to accept his partys policy on a plebiscite for marriage equality in order to have a chance at driving change from inside the system, something he is committed to achieving for Indigenous Australians. Kirra Voller is a proud Wirangu musician-turned-justice campaigner, who was thrust into the national spotlight after the treatment of her brother in the now infamous Don Dale youth detention centre, was exposed by ABCs Four Corners. In a way, Kirra blames herself for leading Dylan astray while they were growing up, but she was also his saving grace, singing to him (and the rest of the kids in the prison) down the phone line every night. Otis Carey is a surfer, model, artist and a proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung man. A few years ago he sued for defamation when a surfing magazine described him as ape-ish. He focuses now on educating the industry for the young fellas coming up the ranks behind him. Join Laura with Nakkiah, Geoffrey, Kirra and Otis as they explore their unique Indigenous Australian experiences and discover what its really been like growing up as black millennials in the world today. On the power of comedy What I love about comedy is I think laughing is the best way to rebel. You know, I think laughing in the face of your oppressor is, is so incredibly powerful. Nakkiah Lui On activism versus politics There are two options you can either stand on the outside and throw stones at it or get inside and fix it. Geoffrey Winters On family I remember the first night that he went out at night. It was because of me I was responsible for Dylan that night and I probably led him down the wrong path Kirra Voller On being a role model The Indigenous surf community in Australia is growing so quickly I just want to pave the way for them so its a lot easier for them to get to where they want to get to. Otis Carey Laura Murphy-Oates is a Logie-nominated journalist and a 26-year-old Ngiyampaa Weilwan woman. She is a reporter and producer on The Feed, weeknights at 7.30pm on SBS VICELAND. Tuesday 23 May at 7.30pm on SBS VICELAND. Looking for jobs? Well, Google has some big news for millions of job seekers, and it's pretty awesome. The search giant has just announced plans to launch a new initiative that will make job searching a less hassle and much easier for everyone. Google made the big announcement this week. The Mountain View-based search company this week announced plans to launch a new initiative that will help the Americans find their jobs. Called Google for Jobs, an online search effort that aims to pull in contextual data from multiple sources, use machine learning and connect the labor pool to employers across various skill levels. It aims to streamline the job application, making it more accessible and much easier for every job seekers. The new search service will also include a feature in the search that collects and organizes the vast amount of info about the latest jobs and make them accessible or easier to find for job seekers. Google also plans to use machine learning to cluster the vast amount of job info that it gathered online and then bring that relevant job info to users along with contextual data, the USA Today reported. In a recent company's blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the newly introduced Google For Jobs will launch as part of its search results in the coming weeks. The CEO also added that the company's latest search effort addresses an important need and taps its core capability as a company. Google CEO Pichai also added that his company is also teaming up with several job-hunting platforms, which includes LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Monster, Facebook, Glassdoor and more. The Google partnership also include working on application programming interfaces (APIs) for Google For Jobs, which will allow companies, career sites, job boards, and even staffing agencies to improve the job search experience of job seekers who visit their websites and job platform. Additionally, CEO Pichai also emphasized that the newly announced Google For Jobs will work across all experience and job levels. Pichai also said that the company will be using machine learning technology to crunch the vast amount of info that being gathered across the web and to bring that relevant jobs information to job seekers along with commute times. Pichai made a bold claim that the job search service is appealing and that the applicant can get and apply with just a click of a button. What remains to be seen in this new initiative is how the search giant will going to monetize the new job service and what it means for other leading job listing sites such as Monster.com, Indeed, Glassdoor and much more. It also not clear if Google has plans to join the job market, launching a more credible competitor to job search engines like Indeed and Monster. Currently, it only sends job seekers to another job service to apply. According to a recent business data from Bloomberg, the job search platform Indeed has managed to generate over $300 million in revenue in the first half only of 2015. This is certainly an attractive opportunity for the search giant to jump on the bandwagon and to take on incumbents. As for the Google for Jobs availability, Google said the new job service will start rolling out in the US in the next few weeks. There is a spark of renewed interest over the Bermuda Triangle after the recent mysterious disappearance of a prominent New Yorker Jennifer Blumin, her two sons, and their pilot as their plane was flying over the area. The weather was fine that day and the plane took off without a problem, which continues to baffle investigators. The recent Bermuda Triangle disappearance was just one of the many mind-boggling incidents that happened in the region. As far as record shows, hundreds of ships, yachts, and more than 70 planes including the one that carried Blumin and company have met a mysterious fate in the area. Some of the most popular disappearances include the USS Cyclops which suddenly disappeared in the area in 1918 along with its 309 crew and the cargo ship El Faro which also went missing with 33 men on board. Theories and Possible Causes A lot of theories have arisen regarding the mystery that surrounds the Bermuda Triangle. Some of those include a large, invisible alien colony, a strong electromagnetic field, bad weather, and a large undersea field of methane. One theory that seemed to make sense, however, was that from a group of meteorologists who proposed that the region is surrounded by hexagonal clouds that produce 170 miles-per-hour air bombs. They came up with the theory after studying the imagery taken by a NASA satellite. The images, they said, suggest that these clouds can spread between 20 to 55 miles across with 45-feet high waves inside them. Ryan Cerveny, a meteorologist from Arizona State University, said that these air bombs are caused by microbursts, a phenomenon where blasts of air from the bottom of the cloud come down with such force that big waves are produced when they hit the ocean. The waves become more massive when they interact with each other. If the theory is indeed true, then that could be the reason for the hundreds of disappearances. Satellites continue to hunt for these types of clouds to give more weight to the theory. Lavinia Woodward has hogged the news recently and become the subject of many debates because she might be spared from the punishment due her. The reason is simple - she was extremely talented. Because of this many are asking if this is now the age where punishment is dependent on merit. Woodward, a college undergraduate at Oxford University's Christ Church College, dreamed of becoming a heart surgeon. This dream does not seem impossible since she is smart, wealthy, and beautiful. One day, however, she got stoned on drugs and stabbed her boyfriend with a bread knife. If this were another person, he or she would have landed in a cold, prison cell already. But not Lavinia Woodward, whom judge Ian Pringle described as an extraordinary young lady. Aside from that, Woodward's college testimonials no less glowing. These moved the judged leading him to mete out a non-custodial sentence so that she will have time to get over the drugs. Woodward reportedly went off to Milan where her mother lives after the sentence was meted out. She will resume her studies in Christ Church when she gets back in autumn. Woodward's case was not the first where an elite student was spared from jail time. Last year, Ivy League student Brock Turner got only three months jail time after sexually assaulting a woman. In the same way, the judge who handled the case said that a long sentence would hurt his career and have a severe impact on his life. Many are now asking if this is the rise of an era where punishment is based on merit and talent. Where the talented and smart get away with the crime while those who are considered less brilliant can languish in jail for many years. The judges who handled the cases meted out a more lenient sentence because it could ruin the future careers of Woodward and Brock. How about the rest? How about the man who went to jail just because he disrupted a boat race? Or the men who served time because they kicked a hedgehog? Don't they have the right for their career prospects as well? One of her followers asked her on Twitter if she would help him pay his college tuition fee. Nicki Minaj replied with a challenge asking students to show her "straight A's" and she will pay for their loans. Now, over the weekend, the famous rapper shared on Instagram the lists of the names with payments doled out since her call last week. She truly exchanged tuition money for legitimate "straight A" report cards. Additionally, Nicki Minaj revealed that she will be starting a charity to further help low-income students "very soon". One student from Ohio University, Devonte Portis, is one of the lucky students who got the financial aid from the female rapper. He told CNN that the event was "so coincidental" and that it is a "blessing". Portis noted that the payment took less than a week to be completed and he is already registered to go back this summer. Per The News, the celebrity's Instagram post showed that she has paid over $18,000 to eight students. The bills were used to pay for their loans, tuition fees, and school supplies like books. For the record, Portis is currently a sophomore at Ohio University majoring in Public Relations. His best friend, a female named Christina Holland, also qualified for the grant. Portis added that he is now looking forward to continuing his education at Ohio University. He stressed that he well "forever be grateful" for her (Minaj) generosity. Nicki Minaj is only one of the popular musicians who made education a priority in their charity works. Beyonce announced that she will fund four scholarships for "young men and women who are unafraid to think outside the box" last month. Queen B wants students to be "bold, creative, conscious, and confident." On the other hand, Chance the Rapper donated $1 million to Chicago's public schools last aMrch too. The latter then created an arts fund to help schools that werehit by budget cuts. Maz Jobrani, the famous Iranian-American stand-up comedian, graced the commencement exercise of the University of California (UC) Berkeley. In his speech, he took a swing at anti-immigrant sentiments but delivered it in both funny and serious manners. Speaking in front of over 45, 000 people at the California Memorial Stadium, Maz Jobrani appeared to be calm and at perfectly at home. The audience also included native speakers of Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin, Farsi, and Hindi. The actor, according to Berkeley News, started with the phrase "I am the American dream". Maz Jobrani then acknowledged the beauty of the mix of people present during the graduation rites. For the record, he graduated from UC Berkeley in 1993 with degrees in political science and Italian. In the venue, 5,500 UC Berkeley seniors stood out in black caps and gowns as they marched onto the field with smartphones in their hands. On the other hand, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks described UC Berkeley as the most important school not just for quality education but also for the values it upholds. Dirks mentioned about the threats the campus faces such as the stagnant state funding and the reduced federal funding for research. He ended with a statement telling students the UC Berkeley still needs the alumni after they leave the school. Per Time, which published a copy of the speech of Jobrani, showed how the actor warned the audience about the dangers of censorship. He urged the people to defend free speech rather than attacking it. Winding down, Jobrani asked the graduates to travel, no to popular tourist spots, but to Muslim countries. Jobrani noted that Muslims are "not out to get them". He then joked that Muslim people only want them to buy a rug. Thus, Jobrani reminded the students to "never pay full price" and "always negotiate". The crowd laughed after that. Well, for his closing remark, Jobrani reminded students to always kiss their parents. The youth should always kiss their parents especially when they are immigrants because tomorrow they might be deported. The crown laughed one more time. Below is the official video of the speech from UC Berkeley Educational Technology Services: January 24 2013 A Perthshire eco-house designed by Kirsty Maguire Architect, one of just a handful in Scotland to be built entirely off grid, has been given the go-ahead by planners.Located in Trinity Gask the five-bedroom home will be clad in Scottish larch boarding and eschews concrete foundations in favour of a stilted wooden platform.All its energy needs will be met through renewable sources and a management strategy for the surrounding land adopted even the driveway will utilise recycled plastic matting to allow grass to grow through.Maguire said: This is a really exciting opportunity to show how we can cut waste and live more sustainably it is a glimpse of the future.What we are creating is a large, comfortable and beautiful family home which needs the minimum of energy to keep it warm, light and bright even in a harsh Scottish winter.And all the power it does need will come from renewable sources generated or grown on site electricity from a small wind turbine and from biofuels.The house will hold the warmth so effectively that heating will only take the same energy as it needs to run a kettle and a toaster. A minimally traumatizing surgery for a maximum-risk heart DALLAS May 17, 2017 Seven percent. Thats the percentage of the blood in Tommy Lloyds heart that would flow through his aorta with each squeeze of his heart. For a healthy heart, that number should be about 70 percent. While most people have a three-part aortic valve that opens and closes to send blood from the heart to the body, Mr. Lloyd was born with a two-part valve, which tends to stiffen and wear out earlier. And thats what happened to Mr. Lloyd. The discovery sent him to Dr. Neelan Doolabh, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern, who specializes in a rare minimally invasive procedure for valve-replacement that minimizes the trauma of heart surgery. The specialized technique accounts for less than 1 percent of aortic valve replacement surgeries, but for people like Mr. Lloyd, its a critical option to have. Im going to spell this out for you, Dr. Doolabh told Mr. Lloyd. We can replace the valve without problem, but your heart is so weak its going to be hard restarting your heart after the heart-lung machine. Rather than the more traditional 10-inch vertical incision down the center of the chest to access the heart, Dr. Doolabh recommended the minimally invasive approach, which requires less than a 2-inch incision between the ribs. Almost all patients needing a valve replacement are good candidates for the technique, which Dr. Doolabh has been performing for a decade, but its especially valuable for patients who are older, obese, or have multiple health issues. Dr. Doolabh performs a rare minimally invasive procedure that requires only a 2-inch incision between the ribs. It was terrifying to be told that I was that ill, Mr. Lloyd said. But I told him I would rather flame out than fade away. On the day of his surgery, Mr. Lloyd said, he was yukking it up, trying to keep things light. But when his wife bent down to kiss him and say shed see him later, the fear must have shown in his face. While his team was making the final preparations for the surgery, Dr. Doolabh quietly reached for Mr. Lloyds hand with reassurance. Dr. Doolabh and the surgical team took just two hours to replace the damaged aortic valve, and when it came time for Mr. Lloyds heart to restart, it responded with a normal beat, beat, beat. I was so happy that I lived, Mr. Lloyd recalled of awakening in his room. The things Id worried about Who was going to take care of my wife? Would I see my three grandkids grow up? it was all OK. Mr. Lloyd said he feels immense gratitude for Dr. Doolabh and the rest of the team. When I was being discharged, Neelan came by and we talked. I had tears in my eyes and I apologized for the tears, Mr. Lloyd recalled. He said, Its quite normal. Youve been on the biggest roller coaster ride of your life. Dr. Neelan Doolabh says with the minimally invasive approach, people can often resume normal activities in about 10 days. Recovery for the traditional open-heart surgery approach can be six to eight weeks before patients can return to normal activities like driving. With the minimally invasive approach, people can often resume normal activities in about 10 days and more importantly for Mr. Lloyds situation the minimally invasive surgery is far less stressful on the body. Instead of the traditional surgery dividing the breast bone, this less traumatic procedure makes heart surgery a viable option for patients with complex health situations, Dr. Doolabh said. For Mr. Lloyd, who had always led an active life on his East Texas ranch, it meant doing many of the things that he hadnt been able to do for quite a while before the valve replacement. Living on acreage, theres always something to do. Building a fence. Taking down a pine tree and cutting it up to make a bonfire. Have I cut down any 90-foot trees lately? No, but that will be happening when it needs to be done, he said. My goal was to turn my heart clock back 10 years, and that goal has been accomplished. Tommy Lloyd has returned to a more active life on his East Texas ranch since undergoing a rare minimally invasive valve-repair surgery. About UT Southwestern Medical Center UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty includes many distinguished members, including six who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. The faculty of almost 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in about 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients and oversee approximately 2.2 million outpatient visits a year. ### Media Contact: Cathy Frisinger 214-648-3404 cathy.frisinger@utsouthwestern.edu To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email, subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews LogiLube LLC Becomes Latest Graduate of UWs Business Incubator LogiLube LLC, a Laramie-based technology company that specializes in intelligent machine health condition monitoring, is the latest startup company to graduate from the University of Wyomings business incubator, the Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC). The company was created in July 2013 in the WTBC and has recently relocated to an Albany County-owned facility now that the company has outgrown its space at the incubator, says Jon Benson, WTBC CEO. Currently at 10 employees, the company has plans to grow to 17 by the end of the year. They have done a great job building a Wyoming company, says Bill Gern, UW vice president for research and economic development. LogiLube has gone to great lengths to hire Wyoming natives and UW graduates, and keep them here in the state. Beginning with their first employee, LogiLube has tapped UWs engineering and computer science departments for interns who have been hired on as full-time employees. The new location also will allow the company to manufacture its SmartOil machine condition-monitoring system in Laramie, along with other products from the companys suite of Smart products. Since LogiLube moved into the WTBC, they have done the right thing, which is to focus on a problem rather than a single product, Benson says. They have developed a product ecosystem that is very compelling to energy producers here in Wyoming and beyond, because it addresses so many issues. The company is the ninth to graduate from the WTBC. Others are Falcon Computers, Firehole Composites, Happy Jack Software, Medicine Bow Technologies, Bright Agrotech, Analogic Engineering, Z4 Energy and Project Guide Services. Administered by the UW Office of Research and Economic Development, the WTBC is a business development program whose main activity is a business incubator that provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools necessary for success. The WTBCs main office is on the UW campus, with other incubators located in Casper and Sheridan. The incubators provide access to office space, shared services and business management advice to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses faster and stronger than they would otherwise. LogiLubes core products allow its customers to monitor the condition of their machinery remotely and in real time. The SmartOil system continuously measures key parameters of lubrication oil, applying custom-developed algorithms through edge analytics to determine dangerous conditions that could cause a potentially costly catastrophic failure. Imagine an energy producer had a large engine-driven compressor system that was helping them produce natural gas. This engine is helping the company make money and be successful, Benson says. What the SmartOil system does is allow that producer to know that there is an issue with the engine before it stops making them money. Hopefully, the producer can resolve the issue while it is still small in scale and prevent costly repairs and down time. While the company has targeted the oil and gas industry in Wyoming as an initial market, LogiLube has entered Colorado and Texas, securing several new midstream natural gas processing customers. The incubator graduate company also has entered the wind power generation market with its newest product, SmartGear, pursuing developing opportunities in the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm in Carbon County. For more information, call the WTBC office at (307) 766-6395 or email WTBC@uwyo.edu. About LogiLube LogiLube LLC is focused on predictive data analytic solutions for the wind, oil and gas industries. The companys patented technology identifies imminent failures in oil and gas equipment, and provides real-time condition-monitoring data online from anywhere around the globe. This data allows companies to manage potential problems, increase equipment uptime and revenue. The companys newest product, SmartGear, monitors the most critical component of revenue generation -- wind turbine drive trains. LogiLube's smart solutions cover every critical factor to uptime reliability, including real-time reporting of fluid conditions, automated oil sampling, vibration condition and lubricant consumption monitoring, combined with fleet-wide data analytics. SmartOil is a machine-mounted, real-time oil condition-monitoring system designed to increase valuable equipment uptime and overall reliability. SmartLab is a physical oil sample management program that, when combined with SmartOil, provides an end-to-end solution that ensures samples are reliably taken, tracked and analyzed, with results uploaded to cloud servers, typically within 24 hours or less, reporting actionable intelligence. For more information, visit www.logilube.com. UW Trustees Education Initiative Board to Meet June 26 The University of Wyoming Trustees Education Initiative Board is scheduled to meet Monday, June 26, at 10 a.m. in Salons D and E of the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. The meeting is open to the public. The board will review proposals from the initiatives research work groups. The Trustees Education Initiative (TEI) was established by the UW Board of Trustees in fall 2014 to elevate the UW College of Education to national pre-eminent status in professional educator preparation, ultimately to improve and enhance K-12 education in Wyoming. The TEI Board is composed of trustees, UW administrators, College of Education representatives, Wyoming K-12 educators, first lady Carol Mead, external members and others. Six of the nine Trustees Education Initiative research work groups have begun their work, with the final three slated to begin in fall 2017. The Trustees Education Initiative hosted a series of 10 town-hall meetings throughout Wyoming in February and March. Input received from the town-hall meetings is posted online at: www.uwyo.edu/trust_edu_init/town-hall-meetings.html. Nebraska officials made two announcements Thursday aimed at strengthening trade with Asia. Gov. Pete Ricketts announced during a speech at the Lincoln Kawasaki plant that he will embark on a second Japanese trade mission in September. Ricketts will lead a Nebraska delegation to the country Sept. 10-16. It will include visits to Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Shizuoka, which is a sister city to Omaha. Ricketts pointed out that Japan is the No. 1 foreign direct investor in Nebraska. Since 2010, Japanese companies have invested $4.4 billion in the state. There are 35 Japanese companies with 65 business locations in Nebraska, employing more than 4,400 people. "Japan continues to be one of Nebraskas most important trading partners," Ricketts said. Also on Thursday, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced it has signed a written agreement with Chinas Shaanxi Province that outlines a bilateral commitment to grow opportunities for trade, entrepreneurial training and economic research. The letter was signed at the Midwest International Trade Associations World Trade Conference meeting in Omaha on Wednesday. The department said the agreement serves as a continuation of efforts by Nebraska to strengthen relationships between the two regions. Ricketts visited Shaanxi during his 2016 International Trade Mission to China, and he and the province's governor signed a sister state agreement. Nebraskas opportunities to grow business partnerships with Shaanxi have grown in recent years. In 2008, Shaanxi logistics service company, Easyway International, established its North American headquarters in Nebraska. The letter of intent details collaboration between economic leaders from Nebraska and Shaanxi to develop priorities for growing industry clusters in both regions, such as agriculture, bioscience and renewable energy utilization, among others. A federal judge Wednesday took the blame for a mistake at a March jury trial over synthetic marijuana sales at a Lincoln head shop, but he found it wasn't enough to warrant a new trial. "A fundamental error occurred in this case in that we had a trial on a crime that does not exist," defense attorney Kory Reiman said. At the end of a 14-count complaint, the government had accused Allen Peithman of violating the supervised release he was on for a previous drug case at the time of the conspiracy. In March, he and his mother, Sharon Elder, the former owners of Lincoln head shops Dirt Cheap and Island Smokes, went on trial in U.S. District Court for a conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia and packets of potpourri containing federally controlled substances, and other related charges. Over three weeks, the government and the defense laid out their cases. But it was only after the jury came back finding them guilty of six of 14 counts, as Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf was preparing for sentencing, that the judge noticed an issue: Violation of supervised release, it appeared, isn't a separate offense but rather an enhancement for sentencing. Last month, after consulting with the attorneys, Kopf vacated the jury's guilty verdict on the count. But Reiman argued that Peithman should get a new trial on the other six charges, because jurors learned information at trial about Peithman that he otherwise could have fought to keep them from knowing. Namely, that Peithman had previously gone to prison and was on supervised release. As it was, the information was relevant to count 14, so he didn't, Reiman said. At a hearing Wednesday on the motion, he tried to share in the blame for what happened, but Kopf stopped him. "It's my fault, not your fault, not the government's fault," the judge said. "But in good conscience, I don't see how there was any prejudice to your guy at all." Regardless, Reiman said he would have tried the case differently. But, Kopf said, Peithman himself made 18 references in voluntary statements, after he was given Miranda warnings, to being in prison or on supervised release as his reason for not being part of the business. Elder gave that as a reason, too, he said. Then there were the calls between them talking about business while Peithman was in prison, Kopf said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Fullerton said it absolutely would have been part of her case in chief. Reiman said at least it would've been an option for him to try to keep that out. In the end, Kopf said he felt horrible about what happened, but found that neither Peithman nor Elder suffered any prejudice as a result of count 14, which has been vacated. "There certainly was an error. It was my fault. But I find and conclude that the error was harmless," he said. Sentencing is set for June. A judged ordered an 18-year-old man held on $100,000 bond after prosecutors charged him with the attempted robbery of a man on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus Tuesday night. Abdoulaye Weah, of 2635 S. 16th St., appeared in court Thursday after being arrested early Wednesday. University police say Weah and two other men were involved in the attempted robbery of a 34-year-old on the west side of the Nebraska Union. One of the men pointed a handgun in the 34-year-old's face and demanded his belongings, according to police. A second man then threw a backpack at the victim before they took off empty-handed, police said. Weah was stopped by police near 21st and Q streets a short time later and identified by the victim and surveillance video as one of the suspects, police said. UNL police have not said whether any other suspects have been arrested. Top US and EU officials traded information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats. (AFP/ANWAR AMRO) Both sides said they intended to hold more talks next week in Washington on a possible ban of such equipment. "Both sides exchanged information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats," a joint statement said. They discussed "existing aviation security standards and detection capabilities" as well as security improvements "related to large electronic devices placed in checked baggage," it added. The US Department of Homeland Security sparked deep concern in Europe last week when it said it would soon decide on extending to European airlines a carry-on computer ban on flights from eight mostly Muslim countries. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc took part in what US officials said were four hours of "robust" talks with a US delegation led by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke. But a senior US administration official told reporters on a conference call that there were points of agreement and points they were continuing to discuss. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was mulling "next steps" and would make any decision based on an evaluation of threats, the official said on condition of anonymity. "Secretary Kelly has made no decision on expanding the restriction on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins, but the decision is currently under consideration," the senior official said. A US ban on now ubiquitous laptops could cause havoc, with more than 3,250 flights a week scheduled to leave EU airports for the US this summer, according to industry data. Some experts also say there is a security risk in putting them with checked luggage given the danger of their batteries catching fire. In March, Washington banned passengers from eight countries in North Africa and the Middle East from bringing laptop computers, tablets and other electronic devices larger than cellphones as carry-on items. Britain followed with a similar ban applying to incoming flights from six Middle East and North African countries. The move, which requires passengers to put the devices into checked baggage, came amid concerns that jihadist groups were devising bombs disguised as batteries in consumer electronics items. A bomb that blew a hole in the fuselage of a Somali airliner in February 2016, killing one person, is believed to have been built into a laptop computer carried into the passenger cabin. The opening ceremony of the exhibition The exhibition is being held from May 18 to 20 at the Saigon Exhibition Conference Centre (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City. The venue covers an area of nearly 8,000 square metres, showcasing screen printing, special printing, digital inkjet, textile printing equipment, and related products. There are more than 100 exhibitors from Japan, Vietnam, China, India, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. The three-day event is expected to welcome 6,000 visitors and industrial buyers from all over the Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific Screen Printing and Graphic Imaging Association (ASGA) has been organising industrial exhibitions since 2001. The association hopes that the first Vietnamese exhibition will contribute to technological advancement of screen printing and digital printing in the country. The event would also promote the industry globally, creating greater cooperation platforms and more opportunities. According to the organiser, Vietnam is luring in more foreign direct investment in the textile, footwear, packaging, and electronics sectors, which creates additional demand for printing products and services. The industry requires advanced technology to meet the evolving demand of consumers. ASGA is committed to promoting new technologies and development in Vietnam. ASGAs pavilion is dedicated to display various creative prints from Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, and Australia. Meanwhile, there is a venue for exchange and interactive activities to enhance mutual understanding among industry colleagues. A seminar on digital textile and garment printing will also be held at the exhibition to update participants on the future trends in Vietnam and Southeast Asian markets. A food stall sprawls on the pavement of Ly Thuong Kiet Street - one of the main street in the Ha Nois commercial district of Hoan Kiem. Similar violation of public space are targeted in the sidewalk cleanup campaign which has gone on for three months in large cities of Viet Nam. - VNS Photo Thai Ha The campaign, which originated in HCM City, is aimed at "reclaiming" sidewalks for their rightful users pedestrians from various parties encroaching upon public space for different purposes -- from parking of vehicles to exhibition of goods as well as one of Viet Nams charm - street food stalls. Hoang Trung Hai, secretary of Ha Nois Party Committee, in a working session held yesterday with Ha Nois National Assembly delegates, said after three months, the maintenance of public order and prevention of sidewalk encroachment have not been as forceful as expected. Hai said five working groups will be established and sent to every district in the city to handle violations and monitor the commitment of local officials. He warned that strict disciplinary measures will be applied should the working groups find a lack of oversight on the part of the officials, adding that, this is a necessary step to ensure local officials carry out their responsibility dutifully. The municipal Peoples Committee said that, so far, the sidewalk reclamation campaign has involved the engagement of a total of 22,700 public servants. Some 111,000 "open letters" were sent out, resulting in thousands of households signing a commitment to not violate public space. However, the municipal authorities also admitted that at certain areas, local governments carried out the restoration of public order rather hastily and recklessly, evidenced by the breaking up of household ramps that protrude onto the pavements, the questionable felling of trees, or the parking boundary markers that do not provide sufficient parking space, among others, which were counter-productive and led to public ire. Meanwhile, on the same day, Ha Anh Tuan, head of urban management of ong a District one of the main districts of Ha Noi said the district has set up a hotline to receive public reports on any sidewalk encroachment. Tuan also said the district is mulling the installation of a camera system in its jurisdiction to monitor the sidewalks. Pham Tuan Long, deputy head of the Hoan Kiem District Peoples Committee, told online newspaper VnExpress that around the Sword Lake one of the citys main tourist attractions street vendors continue to loiter, but those are just exceptions, not due to lax oversight. Households in these two districts have received support from the district authorities to switch jobs or to relocate their businesses to organised localities (the walking streets or established markets). In the future, city authorities said they would establish market areas for street vendors and other sidewalk vendors to operate. However, it takes time to find a suitable location, and in the meantime, street vendors have been urged to voluntarily turn to other jobs. Panoramic view of Tetra Pak Singapore CIC This centre will help the regions food and beverage manufacturers discover growth opportunities, accelerate and enhance product innovation to create winning solutions for their brands. Located at the Tetra Pak Jurong site, the new CIC was custom-made to bring together Tetra Paks infrastructure, expertise, and processes to help customers ideate and evaluate products across the entire value chain. Equipped with the latest tools and technologies, the centre is designed to facilitate brainstorming, prototype product formulation, customize packaging design, and finally refine the product until its full-scale market launch. The Asia region is dynamic and rapidly growing, yet increasingly complex. The market has proliferating consumer segments and need states, with more competition, rapid technological advancements, and increasing cross-border trade. This means that brand owners require a stronger focus on customisation, innovation, and speed-to-market, said Bert Jan Post, vice president of Marketing and Product Management at Tetra Pak South Asia, East Asia & Oceania. The Singapore CIC was created to partner with our customers in addressing these challenges. Part of Tetra Paks Marketing Services, the CIC provides customers the entire innovation journey under one roof, significantly increasing the speed and probability of their success. The Marketing Services approach follows a customised, end-to-end collaborative journey with brand owners, focusing on a specific market need. Subject matter experts from across the world are involved, leveraging the companys portfolio of packages, services, and automation solutions showcased at the CIC. The Singapore CIC is the third in Tetra Paks expanding global network of CICs, after Denton (US) and Dubai (UAE). Centres in Lund (Sweden) and Monte Mor (Brazil) will also be launched in the coming months. The launch of the Singapore facility reaffirms our dedication to providing a full spectrum of solutions for our customers to support their success in the marketplace, said Post. Industry 4.0 is revolutionising manufacturing, but the textile and garment sector is slow to adapt Photo: Le Toan Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), Vu Duc Giang said that, in the past a factory with 30,000 spindles for making thread required up to 450 labourers. In the wake of Industry 4.0, a factory of comparable size now requires only 30 labourers maximum. A worker of old could only run two machines simultaneously. Now, one worker can operate 8-10 machines or even up to 12 machines at once. Therefore, when the spectre of Industry 4.0 sweeps across, a huge volume of workers will become superfluous. Industry experts and sector insiders assume that Industry 4.0 will only affect specific sections of the value system, having little to no effect on activities higher up on the value chain such as the design phase. Pham Xuan Hong, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garment- Textile- Embroidery- Knitting (AGTEK), told VIR that some of their member units have invested in state-of-the-art equipment, but investment volumes remain modest. For instance, Viet Tien Garment Corporation has bought automatic equipment for certain stages of their shirt production process, and Hoa Tho Corporation spent a large sum to modernise their suit production facilities. Hong argued that about 50-100 steps are involved in making garment items, thus businesses will gradually automate their production processes ad hoc. The top concern of textile and garment firms at present is to ensure stable production and incomes for labourers, Hong said. Echoing his view, a source from French lingerie maker Scavi said that it is nearly impossible to automate the design process, as it caters to ever-changing fashion trends and customer tastes. The company has invested heavily in new equipment and technologies in the past, but mainly for specific parts of production. A recent International Labour Organization report shows that Industry 4.0 might make redundant 65 per cent of labourers in the textile, garment, and footwear industries in Indonesia, 86 per cent in Vietnam, and 88 per cent in Cambodia. Vinatas deputy chairman Truong Van Cam said that the consequences might not be so serious, and the automation rate varies based on the production stage. Experts, however, warned that textile and garment firms must find suitable growth paths for themselves. Hong from AGTEK suggests making full use of current production capacity to increase accumulation and prepare resources for technology innovations. Two essential factors for businesses in the sector are investment capital and labourer skills, Hong said, adding that most textile and garment businesses are concentrating on changing their business management methods. Additionally, they are also paying more attention to increasing sales in the domestic market. With plenty of time to spare, the sixth annual Give to Lincoln Day surpassed its previous donation record, hauling in more than $3.3 million by 7 p.m. Thursday. "How far can we take this thing tonight?" asked an excited Barbara Bartle, president of the Lincoln Community Foundation. The 24-hour fundraising event, hosted by the foundation, had raised $3.3 million from 13,700 donors for local nonprofits by 7 p.m. Thursday, more than a quarter of a million more than last year's rain-drenched Give to Lincoln Day. More nonprofits participating in the event, an increased match from the foundation, better weather and ample media exposure helped contribute to the record-breaking day, Bartle said. Most donations came in online through the foundation's revamped website, Bartle said. But nearly one-third were expected from in-person donations at the donation center, which joined 60 other booths that circled Tower Square on Thursday afternoon. Games and live music livened the windy, packed square as potential donors and pedestrians examined a variety of booths, including one run by the Capital Humane Society complete with an adoptable 9-week-old kitten and fliers about the society's programs. "As a nonprofit agency, we rely on the community for support," said Charleen Engberg, director of education and volunteers at the Capital Humane Society. "So it's wonderful that we have this day as a way to support the nonprofit of their choice and our programs." Bartle was happy to break the $3.3 million fundraising record set in 2015. The foundation will match nearly $350,000 in donations from a variety of supporters, a $50,000 increase from last year. "It doesn't matter if someone gives $10 or $10,000. Collectively, we do such a great job to support our nonprofits," Bartle said. By 7 p.m., the Food Bank of Lincoln had garnered the most donations out of the 365 nonprofits, with approximately $130,800 raised. Last year, the Pius X Foundation led with $133,527 in donations. Valeria Murphy came to Tower Square to represent St. Monica's Behavioral Health Services for Women, a Lincoln-area nonprofit that serves women struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues. Murphy, the event coordinator at St. Monica's, which had raised around $34,000 by 7 p.m., said Give to Lincoln Day is one of the only ways the nonprofit can spread the word about its services. "We don't have a budget for advertising, so when events like this can bring awareness to the community, it really helps us a lot," said Murphy. While booths at Tower Square were only set up until 2 p.m., online donations will be accepted until midnight at www.givetolincoln.com. Dalyce Ronnau of Lincoln donated to the Girl Scouts and the Lincoln City Mission because of the role they play in the community. "Nonprofits are very beneficial in providing services that no one else provides," Ronnau said. According to Bartle, Give to Lincoln Day is an affordable fundraising option for nonprofits who don't have to spend a lot of money to advertise the event. It's also a great way for people who might not normally donate to give back to the community, Bartle said. "Today, everyone can be a philanthropist." The toll gate of New Dong Nai Bridge. The Ministry of Transport has shortened the tolling duration of 13 build-operate-transfer (BOT) road projects including New Dong Nai Bridge The toll collection time of the National Highway 1 bypass in Thanh Hoa City in northern Vietnam is reduced the most, by 20 years and one month, according to the ministrys Public Private Partnership Investment Project Management Department. The VND822 billion project was originally permitted to collect tolls for a period of 27 years and eight months in its BOT contract. But after the final settlement, the definitive evaluation totals only VND718 billion and the tolling time is cut to seven years and seven months. Other projects whose tolling duration is significantly slashed are the National Highway 10 section between Tan De Bridge and La Uyen Bridge in Thai Binh Province (nine years and six months); New Dong Nai Bridge and its two access roads (eight years and seven months); and Co Chien Bridge on National Highway 60 linking Tra Vinh and Ben Tre (six years and one month). The project with the smallest tolling time cut is the National Highway 1 bypass in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, with 12 years and nine months, down from the original 13 years and one month. Meanwhile, the tolling duration of four projects has been extended by a total of 24 years and five months. In particular, My Loi Bridge on the extended part of National Highway 50 has its toll collection time increased from 28 years and four months to 44 years and six months; Yen Lenh Bridge, National Highway 38 from 17 years and one month to 21 years and four months; the Uong Bi-Ha Long section of National Highway 18 from 16 years and four months to 19 years and four months; and the Ben Thuy-Ha Tinh City section of National Highway 1 from 20 years and five months to 21 years and five months. The tolling time extensions of these four projects result from lower-than-expected vehicle traffic. In fact, their revenues are much lower than planned. The original toll collection period stated in a BOT contract is just an estimate while it will be made official after the definitive evaluation and actual vehicle traffic are determined. Therefore, after the final settlement, many projects have had their tolling time cut. Having examined 27 BOT projects, the State Audit of Vietnam found their tolling time was longer than it should be. It requested the Ministry of Transport to shorten their tolling time by a total of nearly 100 years. HCMC War Remnants Museum receives a huge of foreign arrivals At the working, leaders of departments, agencies and museums in the City had a general idea for creating more advantaged conditions so that the museum becomes attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists. Currently, the city has eight museums including Ho Chi Minh City Museum in the city, History Museum, War Remnants Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Ton Duc Thang Museum, Museum of Aodai, and Southern Vietnam Women Museum. Director of War Remnants Museum Ms. Huynh Ngoc Van suggested the citys tourism industry needs to exploit tour in line with learning about Vietnams history. In fact, Cu Chi Tunnel and War Remnants Museum always attract a huge of arrivals. Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Culture and Sport Department Mr. Nguyen Van Minh said that the department submitted the city Peoples Committee for ticket price. Accordingly, the ticket is expected to cost VND 30,000 per person. Some museums plan to operate 24 hours to serve tourists starting June 1, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May held talks with European Council President Donald Tusk in London, on Apr 6, 2017. (Photo: AFP/Justin Tallis) With tensions high as next month's Brexit talks approach, Britain has said it will fight back if the EU will not strike an acceptable exit deal. This has sparked fears in Brussels that London would attempt to undercut EU regulations after the divorce on a range of issues if talks turn sour. "The UK must be aware that any free trade agreement will have to ensure a level playing field and encompass safeguards against unfair competitive advantages," Tusk told MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. This guarantee would involve a wide range of matters, including "tax, social, environmental and regulatory measures and practices," Tusk said. Negotiations on a trade deal are not expected until talks on the fate of the millions EU citizens and Britain's exit bill have made "sufficient progress". Tusk hailed the EU's remaining 27 members who "have been united, consistent and have demonstrated solidarity with one another since the Brexit referendum last June." The Brexit negotiation "is now in the hands of our capable divorce lawyers," said European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, who also addressed MEPs, in reference to the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier. "I want to wish him luck as I know he will leave nothing to chance," Juncker said. Oxfam made the assessment today at the event titled Tax equality: a view from the operation of multinational companies and banks. The event aims to introduce the three latest reports produced by Oxfam on the use of tax havens by Europes biggest banks, the rigged tax reform proposed by the new US administration, and the global race to offer the lowest corporate tax, respectively, and assess Vietnams tax incentive policies. Oxfams research shows that developing countries including Vietnam have been losing $100 billion annually as a result of corporate tax avoidance schemes. Recently, the government issued Decree No.20/2017/ND-CP regulating tax administration with respect to enterprises having transactions with related parties. Starting May 1, large companies are required to provide country-by-country reporting. According to Francis Weyzig, policy advisor on tax justice and economic inequality at Oxfam Novib, this requirement makes the Vietnamese tax system more advanced than those of the OECD. However, Vietnam can consider having public country-by-country reporting. The European Unions public reporting requirements have shown benefits. If data is available publicly, it allows investors and the public to assess a companys tax behaviour. It stimulates less aggressive tax behaviour. It enables monitoring of profit shifting developments, provides information about tax incentives, and helps to hold governments accountable, he said. In Vietnam, tax incentives take the form of reduced tax rates, tax holidays, investment allowances, tax credit, partial or full exemption from import tax or indirect taxes, accelerated depreciation, and incentives provided in economic zones and export processing zones. According to Oxfams evaluation, the tax incentives are generous and scattered. They are generous in the sense that the corporate income tax in Vietnam is now lower than the regional average, as the country has reduced its rates from 28 to 20 per cent, and at the same time, it gives more incentives than Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia. As of 2014, Indonesia gave Samsung tax exemption for 10 years, while Vietnam gave 15 years. Many countries have abolished tax incentives, such as Jamaica, Egypt, and China, which only offers tax reductions for high-tech companies. At the same time, tax incentives are scattered among sectors, areas, and situations, with 30 encouraged sectors, 27 specially encouraged sectors, 53 out of 63 provinces, and over 300 economic, high-tech, and export processing zones as well as tax rulings. Regulations regarding tax are also scattered in different legal documents issued by multiple ministries. This, according to Oxfam, creates loopholes for tax avoidance. Oxfam assessed that many incentives are not effective. For example, incentives based on the companys profit, such as holidays and reduction, cause companies to change their investment projects after holidays in order to qualify for a new holiday. Location-based and sector-based tax incentives still fail to attract more investment into the regions and sectors that they are intended to help. There is no information on which and what level of incentives companies are enjoying. Government agencies and local authorities rarely publicise information on budgetary loss from tax incentives, and they do not include tax incentives in calculating budget expenditure. There is no thorough analysis on the costs and benefits of tax incentive policies in terms of encouraging investments. According to Oxfam, expanding tax incentives is one of the reasons for a reduction in state budget revenue. Oxfam recommends that Vietnam establish a mechanism to collect information on tax incentives, which includes the number of qualifying projects, the economic contribution of these projects, and the budget loss from tax incentives, and then make this information public. There should also be a cost-benefit analysis before and after implementing tax incentives. The government should also review and gather all incentive policies to avoid redundancy, and limit the use of tax holidays and reduced tax rates which have the highest cost in terms of budgetary revenue. Dau Anh Tuan - Director general of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Legal Department In a 2013 survey of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) on transfer pricing, VCCI found that companies, no matter where they come from, are no different in their stance on transfer pricing. In Vietnam, many big multinational companies (MNCs) continuously report losses, but keep expanding and recruiting. They also keep praising Vietnam as an investment destination. Many FIEs said that Vietnams tax policies are not stable, which is why they have to hedge risks by transfer pricing in order to ensure that their investments are effective. I propose that the related government agencies look into this. Moreover, there are differences in the treatment of FIEs and domestic companies. Many localities have the mindset that attracting FIEs is equivalent to success. So FIEs house with their projects from province to province, shopping for the most incentives on offer. There should be a report on the effect of FIEs on provinces. Nguyen Duc Thanh - President of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research Transfer pricing is a global issue. Oxfams reports are going to alert policy makers of all countries, developed or developing, prompting them to cooperate to bring tax dodging activities of big companies under control. FIEs currently contribute 72 per cent to Vietnams exports, while the domestic private sector and state-owned companies contribute the rest. Of this 72 per cent, big companies like Samsung contribute the most. The Vietnamese government encourages these companies to invest, hoping that their investments are going to create a ripple effect, bringing growth for Vietnamese companies, too. However, these big MNCs are the most likely to do transfer pricing, because they have bases everywhere. If Vietnam continues to give them incentives and grow dependant on them, tax-related risks will only mount. When Vietnam integrates deeper into the global economy, it should work with international organisations to improve its tax system to prevent such risks. Phan Le Thanh Long - Regional director of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Australia in Vietnam Foreign companies that earn big profits in Vietnam have very high motivation to conduct transfer pricing. There are two ways they go about this. Output-wise, they take advantage of the different tax rates between companies and between different localities in Vietnam. Input-wise, they inflate the price tag on the equipment they import into Vietnam or the cost of installation and consultancy and management fees from the parent company. Vietnam issued Circular 66 on providing guidelines on calculations of market price in business transactions between affiliated parties in 2010, but it proved ineffective in preventing transfer pricing. The new Decree 20 is an upgrade. It applies to all transactions of all companies, not just FIEs or Vietnamese companies. However, many companies that have been operating stably in Vietnam and have been very good at complying with tax regulations are concerned that the additional reporting requirement is going to be a burden. During an interview last June in his New York office, I asked Donald Trump about his use of language that many considered insulting and divisive: "Will there be a pivot for you from the primaries to the general election campaign?" The candidate said "I agree" about the tone of the campaign and that he intended to pivot. "It's starting very soon," he promised. We're still waiting. The president was within his rights to discharge FBI Director James Comey, but it is the way he did it, sending a letter instead of a face-to-face meeting or even a phone call, that was disturbing. Comey was not only blindsided when he learned of his dismissal during a speech in Los Angeles, the president called him names and then tweeted that Comey " ... better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Intimidation is ugly and unbecoming for any president. Comey's sudden dismissal is fueling suspicions there is more to discover about alleged connections between the Trump campaign and Russia, something that has yet to be proved. Whatever Comey's shortcomings -- and there are more than a few -- he deserved better, even if only to make the president look good. In an interview with Lester Holt of NBC News, the president called Comey "a showboat" and said he was guilty of "grandstanding." Maybe so, but wouldn't the president have benefited by thanking Comey for his years of public service? Wouldn't it have been better if he'd said, "I want to see the FBI move in a different direction"? The president has threatened to cancel the daily White House briefings because he says he is moving so fast his spokespeople don't always get it right. Fine, let him brief the press directly as FDR and Calvin Coolidge did. I voted for Trump and have appreciated his promises to take the country in a better and more prosperous direction. His selection of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court and his promise to fill lower courts with constitutional conservatives has the potential to place government back within the boundaries the Founders set for it. His businessman instincts to reform a government that has become bloated, dysfunctional and burdened with debt are much needed. However, the president's goals are hurt when he, instead of his policies, becomes the story -- especially a negative story. Anger is not policy. Insults do little to change anyone's mind. The latest Quinnipiac University Poll shows the president's approval rating has dropped to 36 percent, a near record low. His disapproval has risen to 58 percent. Astonishingly, the poll also shows the media, which Trump has often called "fake news," and worse, is now trusted more than him. That is bound to harm his policy goals as Democrats smell blood and feel empowered to oppose him on everything. Here are some positive suggestions that might turn things around. An old Glen Campbell song should be his theme: "Try a Little Kindness." Find some positive things to say and do. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 1988. Have some newly employed people in, as he did with the coal miners, some of whom were unemployed or underemployed during the Obama years. They could thank the president for reducing expensive regulations on businesses that allowed them to hire more people. Trump should remind Americans where he is trying to take the country. Turn those constant tweets into positive statements. Just as light overcomes darkness, so, too, do positives overcome negatives. Americans respond to optimism (read Ronald Reagan's speeches). Let the Democrats own gloom and doom. The president should rise above that and rekindle an optimistic spirit that has always led America to new heights. Please knock off the insults, Mr. President. They are poisoning your presidency and the good you and a Republican Congress can do. The Dangerous Side-Effects of Plastics, and How to Minimize Their Toxic Impact Plastics are not only an environmental disaster; these man-made conveniences introduced a century ago are also harming our physical and mental health. Phthalates chemical compounds used to make plastic more flexible and durable are found in more products than you might imagine, and have become the human bodys The United States has expressed concern about Tuesday night's violence outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington. At least two people were arrested and 11 people were injured in the altercations involving protesters and Turkish security personnel. The incident took place while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Zlatica Hoke reports. President Donald Trump sets off on his first international trip Friday to the Middle East and Europe, no doubt hoping to leave behind a string of political firestorms that have raged for most of the past week over his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his sharing of classified intelligence with Russian officials, and reports that he pressed Comey to end the investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. But at the heart of the domestic baggage that will accompany the president on his trip is a central concern over Trumps credibility, now under fire by Democrats and a number of Republicans. The political turmoil was clearly on the presidents mind Wednesday as he offered advice to U.S. Coast Guard cadets at their commencement in Connecticut. Never, ever, ever give up. Things will work out just fine, Trump said. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down. You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. Focus on Comey The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Comey to appear in both public and private sessions, and a key House Republican, Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is asking for all documents and possible recordings that detail any interactions between the president and Comey before the president fired him last week. With the White House in turmoil and given the conflicting explanations on Comeys firing, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wondered this week whether the president can be believed. There is a crisis of credibility in this administration, which will hurt us in ways almost too numerous to elaborate, Schumer said on the Senate floor. At the top of the list are an erosion of trust in the presidency and trust in America by our friends and allies. Republicans split For the moment, Republicans seem split on how aggressively to move ahead, but they are concerned their congressional agenda is being derailed because of the White House crises. House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Wednesday he wants to avoid rushing to judgment. Ryan said our job is to be responsible, sober and focused only on gathering the facts. Ryan also noted there are people out there who want to harm the president. But other Republicans have expressed concern about the controversies that have engulfed the White House. I think it would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Overseas baggage The controversies hounding Trump at home are bound to follow the president on his overseas travel, said foreign policy analyst Anthony Cordesman at the Council for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. One question everyone outside the United States has and are not likely to ask the president is, what is his actual political strength relative to the divisions with Congress, the problems within his own party and can he move forward with his own agenda? Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a frequent Republican critic of the president, suggested that Trump's overseas trip may be coming at a good time, telling the Associated Press that a lot of us are glad hes leaving for a few days. Graham said the controversies are likely to follow Trump on his trip, but he urged the president to stay disciplined, stay focused and deliver on the world stage. Combative Trump Trumps combative comments at the Coast Guard Academy Wednesday may be welcomed by his core supporters around the country, many of whom believe the establishment and news media are actively working against him. But many analysts, including some Republicans, see the presidents combative nature as a problem, especially during a crisis. He has promised to disrupt the status quo, which he has certainly done, said Republican strategist John Feehery in describing Trumps appeal. He has found a willing and able opponent in the national news media. With his supporters, it might help him. But in building credibility, it definitely hurts him. The president is sure to face more credibility tests in the near future, especially given the likelihood that former FBI Director Comey will eventually publicly testify before Congress. As Senator Schumer told his colleagues this week, the country is being tested in unprecedented ways. I say to all of my colleagues in the Senate, history is watching. Assailants attacked gay and transgender rights activists and torched a rainbow flag at a small rally in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Law enforcement officials said on May 18 that two police officers were hospitalized after police tried to disperse a group of about 30 assailants in the center of the eastern city. Video footage from the May 17 violence showed young men dressed in black attacking activists and fighting with police officers, one of whom holds his hand to his bloodied head and says he was hit with a rock or a brick. At one point, an assailant uses a cigarette lighter to torch a rainbow flag -- a symbol of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights -- and holds it as it burns. Kharkiv police said on Facebook that four of the assailants were detained and could be charged with violence against law enforcement authorities. They could face five years in prison if tried and convicted. Organizers of the rally said they were attempting to draw attention to homophobia in society. Several gay-pride parades have been banned in Ukraine in recent years, but authorities have sought to display more tolerance by permitting various LGBT events to take place and providing better protection. The violence in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, came after Kyiv hosted the Eurovision Song Contest on May 9-13 -- an event whose slogan this year was "Celebrate Diversity." Tanya Cooper, a Kyiv-based Ukraine researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told RFE/RL ahead of the pop competition that the slogan "sounds hollow in a country where LGBT people still do not enjoy equal protection under law and in employment." With reporting by AFP To those who think President Donald Trump should be driven from office, history would say: Good luck with that. Removing a president between elections is tough by design, though mechanisms exist. Trump could simply ride out the storm, as various presidents in hot water have done or find himself on a constitutional or political avenue to an exit. Heres a look at end-game scenarios that Trump foes dream about and allies may (or may not) have reason to worry about: First, the issue The beating heart of the matter is a memo James Comey wrote to himself and shared with others in the FBI weeks before Trump fired him as the bureaus director. The memo alleges Trump asked him to end the FBIs investigation of Michael Flynn, who had just been removed as Trumps national security adviser after lying about his Russia contacts. If true, the allegation may point to obstruction of justice Watergate-level wrongdoing by a president. Or it may be judged to fall short of criminal obstruction. More broadly, the FBI, several congressional committees and now a special counsel appointed Wednesday by the Justice Department are pressing ahead with investigations into possible coordination between Trumps campaign and Russian officials. The Comey memo had intensified calls for a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of it all, and those calls were answered, and the stakes raised, when former FBI chief Robert Mueller was named to lead that investigation. His position comes with wide-ranging powers of inquiry. What constitutes obstruction Tricky one. Meddling in a federal investigation by asking it to stop could qualify as obstructing justice. Thats if the president was trying corruptly to influence the Flynn probe. Intent is key, and can be hard to pin down. Congressional leaders are seeking a copy of the memo and other records that might exist on Trumps interactions with Comey, and they want the ousted FBI chief to testify at hearings. The question will surely be central in Muellers work as well. The I-word Two presidents have been impeached, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both were acquitted by the Senate. So no president has been driven from office by an impeachment. But a looming impeachment of Richard Nixon, when his support from fellow Republicans had collapsed and devastating evidence had emerged against him, drove him to resign. Long story short: Nixon was complicit in the cover-up of a politically directed burglary of Democratic headquarters at the Watergate building and related misdeeds. The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him but he resigned before the full House voted on the matter. How impeachment works It starts in the House of Representatives. The House can bring one or more articles of impeachment against a high official with a simple-majority vote. When it does so, thats a charge of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, not a conviction. A trial then is held by the Senate, with the Supreme Court chief justice presiding if the accused is the president. The Senate can find the accused guilty and remove that person from office with a two-thirds majority vote. How it worked with Clinton The Republican-led House impeached Clinton on charges of lying under oath and obstructing justice in his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. The trial lasted five weeks in the Republican-controlled Senate, with senators sworn in as jurors, and ended with acquittal. The Senate split 50-50 on the charge of obstructing justice, well short of a two-thirds majority, and voted 55-45 that he was not guilty of perjury. How it worked the first time After the Civil War, Johnson clashed with a Republican-controlled Congress over reconstruction of the South and his firing of Abraham Lincolns war secretary, Edwin M. Stanton. The House approved 11 articles of impeachment, and the Senate pursued three, each time falling one vote short of a two-thirds majority. Johnson, acquitted, finished his term. There's another way, and it's convoluted Meet the 25th Amendment. It came into effect in 1967, as a way to clarify the Constitutions lines of succession after John Kennedys 1963 assassination. It wasnt drawn up to replace unpopular or incompetent presidents but to set a clear process of continuity if a president is disabled, temporarily or permanently, or otherwise unable to fulfill duties. Its use has been noncontroversial, guiding Gerald Ford from the vice presidency to the presidency when Nixon stepped down and Fords successor as vice president, for example. It would take a massive loss of confidence from Trumps aides and fellow Republicans in Congress for this to work against him. A vice president and a majority of a Cabinet can temporarily sideline a president. For that to stick and a vice president to finish out a presidents term, it would require a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress. A Thai law student arrested for sharing a critical article about his country's new king that was posted on Facebook is this year's winner of South Korea's most prestigious human rights award. Organizers for the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award said the parents of Jatupat Pai Dao Din' Boonpattararaksa will receive the award on his behalf Thursday at a ceremony in Gwangju city. Police in Thailand arrested Jatupat in December for sharing a critical profile about King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkunan that was posted on Facebook by the Thai-language service of the BBC. Under Thai law, insulting the monarchy is a crime that carries a prison term of three to 15 years. Critics say the country uses the law to silence political dissidents. Jatupat, who was indicted in February and has been denied bail several times, is a prominent member of Dao Din, a small student organization that has protested against Thailand's military government. The BBC article he shared included mentions of the king's personal life when he was crown prince, including details of three marriages that ended in divorce and other material Thai news media are prohibited from publishing. The May 18 Memorial Foundation, which organizes the Gwangju Prize, said in a statement that Jatupat's strength, courage and indomitable struggle showed he is willing to sacrifice his safety and future to protect democracy and the rights and freedom of his people. The prize, which rewards contributions in human rights and democracy, was created in 2000 to honor a democratic uprising in Gwangju in May 1980 that South Korea's then-military dictatorship violently suppressed, leaving hundreds dead. An official from the May 18 Foundation said it requested that Thailand release Jatupat so he could receive the award personally, but the Thai government sent a refusal through its embassy in South Korea earlier this month, saying that the country was handling Jatuput properly based on its laws. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office rules. Brazilian federal police are searching the office and homes of a top senator and presidential contender. Thursday's searches of Sen. Aecio Neves' home in Rio de Janeiro and his Brasilia office are fallout from a widespread corruption investigation that has also reached President Michel Temer. Neves nearly won the presidency in 2014 and had planned to run in 2018. He is being investigated in several corruption cases related to the Car Wash probe into kickbacks to politicians. He has denied wrongdoing. Late Wednesday, Globo newspaper reported that Neves was recorded asking JBS meat-packing company executive Joesley Batista for $700,000 to pay for his Car Wash defense. Globo also reported that Temer was recorded by Batista endorsing the bribing of a former lawmaker to keep him quiet. Temer denies the allegation. WASHINGTON -- Although William J. Baumol, who recently died at 95, was not widely known beyond the ranks of economists, all Americans are living with, and policymakers are struggling with, "Baumol's disease." It is one reason brisk economic growth is becoming more elusive as it becomes more urgent. And it is a disease particularly pertinent to the increasingly fraught health care debate. Born in the Bronx, Baumol spent his teaching career at Princeton and NYU but remained an aficionado of New York opera, and when in 1962 the Metropolitan Opera's orchestra went on strike, Baumol sought an explanation for the Met's regularly recurring labor troubles. He postulated "cost disease" afflicting labor-intensive service industries: Productivity will often increase not at all, or much slower, in some sectors -- e.g., nursing, teaching, the performing arts -- than in the overall economy. Decades later, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who in 1962 was a young aide to Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg as he arbitrated the orchestra dispute, explained Baumol's disease this way: "The number of players, the number of instruments, the amount of time it took to 'produce' a Mozart quartet in the 18th century will not have changed one whit two centuries later. To play the 'Minute Waltz' in 50 seconds leaves something to be desired. True of first violinists, kindergarten teachers, beat cops, sculptors, and so through a great repertoire of occupations." Goldberg's 1962 encounter with Baumol's disease in the Met's orchestra initiated thinking that led in 1965 to the National Endowment for the Arts (and, on the Great Society principle of no conceivable claimant left behind, the National Endowment for the Humanities). This elicited Moynihan's corollary to Baumol's theory: "Activities with Baumol's disease migrate to the public sector." Moynihan, thinking that it will be "the undoing of modern government" if there is too much migration, worried especially about health care. In 1993, at a health care hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Moynihan received blank looks when he asked three medical deans what they could do about Baumol's disease. So Moynihan elaborated: "Montefiore Hospital was founded in New York City in the 1880s. At that time, how long did it take for a professor of medicine to make his morning rounds, and how many interns would he take along with him?" Dean: "Oh, about an hour; say 12 interns." Moynihan: "And today?" Dean: "Got it!" Perhaps technological advances will somewhat increase the productivity of teachers (e.g., online learning) and doctors (e.g., diagnostic advances using the human genome) as they have of policing (e.g., more efficient deployments of personnel). But there are limits. And a Mozart quartet must raise prices and donations or become dependent on government. As a Democrat, Moynihan worried that the "stagnant services" would become identified with government, as would his party, while the Republican Party would be increasingly identified with a private sector becoming ever more dynamic relative to the public sector. Actually, however, the current health care policy morass suggests this: Disregarding, as the public seems wisely inclined to do, Republicans' rhetorical flights, the two parties are about equally identified with government, and equally expected to use it to nurture public contentment with labor-intensive service industries. Such industries might become increasingly important and problematic. In an appreciation of Baumol's work, The Economist noted this possible implication of Baumol's disease in a world of increasing automation: "As machines become better at doing things, the human role in generating faster productivity growth will converge towards zero. At that point, so long as society expects everyone to work, all spending in the economy will go towards services for which it is crucial that productivity not grow, in order to provide jobs for everyone. Society could seemingly be both characterized by technological abundance and paralyzed by cost disease." Happily, predicted horrors have a way of not happening, because projected trends become disrupted by unforeseen developments. It is, however, not prudent to count on what cannot be anticipated. John Maynard Keynes lamented that the "encroachment of ideas" in public policy usually is gradual because politicians and government officials are rarely influenced by new ideas after age 30, so they apply to current events ideas that "are not likely to be the newest." Today, however, increased productivity is increasingly imperative as an aging workforce retires into the expensive embrace of the entitlement state. So, Baumol's disease is a now-old idea that should be on policymakers' minds. Brazilian President Michel Temer gave his blessing to an attempt to pay a potential witness in the countrys biggest graft probe to remain silent, according to plea bargain testimony by a powerful businessman, newspaper O Globo reported Wednesday. Temer acknowledged Wednesday he had met the businessman, JBS SA Chairman Joseley Batista, in March but denied any part in alleged efforts to keep jailed former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha from testifying. According to the O Globo report, Batista allegedly recorded the discussion with Temer about hush money the executive paid to Cunha, according to the newspaper. The report did not say what Cunha was asked to keep quiet about. When Batista told Temer he was paying Cunha to remain silent, the president was recorded saying, You need to keep that up, OK? according to the newspaper report, which did not identify a source for the information. Cunha, once a powerful member of Temers ruling party, has previously said he had compromising information about a host of senior politicians linked to a vast political bribery scandal at state oil firm Petrobras. O Globo reported that Batista and his brother, JBS Chief Executive Wesley Batista, presented the recording to prosecutors as part of plea bargain negotiations underway since March. Temers press representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. JBS, the worlds biggest meatpacker, declined to comment. A senior JBS executive said there had been no formal communication about the matter within the company. Senator Romero Juca, the head of the governments coalition in the Senate, said the accusation was one of many that would be investigated, but it would not slow Temers efforts to pass a reform agenda aimed at closing a huge budget deficit and restoring investor confidence after a deep recession. The JBS executives plea bargain agreement is being overseen by Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin, who is responsible for the bribery investigation known as Operation Car Wash. The agreement includes a fine of 225 million reais ($72 million), according to O Globo. JBS, already struggling with a food safety scandal as well as a probe into loans it received from Brazils state development bank, also hired a law firm to discuss a leniency deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, the newspaper reported. China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to a framework for a code of conduct in the South China Sea, a development that could ease tensions in the disputed waters. China's foreign ministry said senior officials from ASEAN and China agreed to the framework that establishes guidelines for a final agreement. The terms were reached at a meeting in the southwestern province of Guizhou. China claims ownership of nearly all of the South China Sea, believed to be the source of vast oil and gas deposits, despite partial counterclaims from Taiwan and several ASEAN members. The dispute has created divisions among ASEAN members that usually try to operate by consensus. The issue escalated in recent years as China followed a strategy of constructing artificial islands in the sea that can support regional military facilities. The strategy has provoked intense reaction from other claimants and the U.S., which argues China's actions threaten the ability to navigate freely through the strategically important area. A draft of the framework describes the projected agreement as "a set of norms to guide the conduct of parties and promote maritime cooperation in the South China Sea," adding it is "not an instrument to settle territorial disputes." ASEAN and China adopted a non-binding declaration in 2002 not to use threats or force to assert claims to the territory. But China refused to honor the declaration as legally binding, and instead used the intervening time to build artificial islands. Former Philippines president Benigno Aquino had taken a firm position against China's claims, but relations between the two countries have warmed considerably since last year's election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has declined to confront China on the issue with the hope of being rewarded with aid and investment. Chinese and Philippine officials will hold their first round of bilateral talks on their part of the dispute in China on Friday. Duterte said on Thursday he would be willing to explore the South China Sea's natural resources along with rival claimants China and Vietnam. As China hails the success of its first Belt and Road summit, major powers remain skeptical about the $1 trillion-dollar infrastructure and trade project. Analysts say while the ambitious plan has whet the appetite of developing nations, China missed an opportunity to get developed countries on board. The fact that China could get the leaders of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, along with 29 heads of state to sign a communique is a triumph for Beijing, said Ethan Cramer-Flood, associate director for the Conference Boards China Center for Economics and Business. By signing the document, they publicly endorsed Beijings vision. But that victory was largely symbolic, he said. Is it a signal of genuine economic cooperation or is it anything as significant, like a free trade negotiation where new policies are going to emerge because of this document. No, it certainly is not, it is a statement of intent, Cramer-Flood said. That intent was borne out by the use of bland phrases such as encouraging, enhancing and promoting, which showed up 16 times in the document. The document is loaded with references to U.N.-related issues, everything from poverty to sustainability and its wording was clearly strained and stressed to be overwhelmingly inclusive to get everyone on board, he added. It also appears to have been prepared beforehand and participants had little opportunity to participate in its wording. Unmet expectations This was an opportunity to create, well, on the one hand, the institutionalization of the initiative, which I think is very important, especially to the Western countries, you know. On the other hand, it was also an opportunity to create greater stakeholder buy-in, said Jan Gaspers, a China analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies or MERICS. The communique could have been an opportunity for Belt and Road countries to re-shape the initiate, but it was clear from the wording that did not happen, he said. China also missed an opportunity when it failed to get support from developed countries to sign a crucial document for reducing trade barriers. Gaspers said those who refused to sign the document saw it as a step backwards. Basically, it would fall behind what was agreed within the framework of G-20 Summit last year on trade issues as it regards to transparency, reciprocity and so on, Gaspers said. Analysts say participants found common ground on issues such as finance, but the document on free trade was the one that faced the most headwinds. Certain western principles and values that some of the European countries wanted to insert were rejected by the Chinese side, said the Conference Boards Ethan Cramer-Flood. And not just the Chinese side, I am hearing talk of Russia and Turkey as well, they werent able to get aligned on that wording. Wording and principles aside, it is mostly about getting a share of business. Putting own interests first Christopher Balding, a professor at Peking Universitys HSBC Business School, said Beijing has made it exceedingly clear the Belt and Road will be a China focused project that will openly favor Chinese firms. I dont think anyone [in developed countries] has any real expectations that their businesses will be able to compete for One Belt, One Road business in any real manner, Balding said. At the same time, developed countries are keenly aware the initiative is not only about public diplomacy, but also about domestic politics. Later this year, China hosts a once in five-year leadership reshuffle, and raising the countrys international profile is crucial for President Xi Jinping as he works to consolidate power within the party. This is essentially what amounts to be an election year in China. This is something that a lot of people have overlooked, the importance of how this plays domestically in bolstering Xi Jinping and the [Communist] partys image, Balding said. Gaspers said the meeting was also significant because of a political alignment of authoritarian forces that emerged, noting that it was no coincidence that Xi Jinping and the presidents of Russia and Turkey were seen standing so close to each other during the meetings. It shows a shift in terms of global and bilateral, and indeed multilateral alliances. That was confirmed at the summit and so optics were quite interesting, he said. Congolese authorities said on Thursday they had recaptured 179 fugitives who broke out of the capital's main prison, in a mass escape that underscored growing security concerns since President Joseph Kabila refused to step down from power. Police in Kinshasa urged residents in a statement to turn in other fugitives and collaborate with authorities "to avoid the resurgence of criminality in the coming days." Democratic Republic of Congo's government initially said about 50 prisoners escaped from Makala prison when it was attacked on Wednesday by supporters of a jailed separatist cult leader. The justice minister later declined to provide a figure, saying that would interfere with the investigation. But current and former prisoners at Makala told Reuters that about 4,000 prisoners had escaped. "We recovered 179 of the fugitives," Fidele Mpayi, the mayor of Kinshasa's Selembao district, where the prison is situated, told Reuters. He said he did not know how many prisoners had escaped. Kabila's decision to remain in power after his mandate expired in December has fueled deadly street protests and a surge in militia violence. Ne Muanda Nsemi, the self-styled Congolese prophet and leader of the Bundu dia Kongo movement whose supporters led the attack, remains at large, Mpayi said. Bundu dia Kongo representatives have denied responsibility for the attack. Nsemi was arrested in March after a series of deadly clashes between police and his supporters, who want to revive the Kongo kingdom, which flourished for centuries around the mouth of the Congo River. Mpayi added that at least two police officers had been killed in Wednesday's attack. The government spokesman previously said that one police officer and five assailants had died. Conflicts in Congo between 1996-2003, mostly in the east, caused the deaths of millions of people, mainly from hunger and disease. Dozens of armed groups continue to fight over natural resources and prey on the civilian population. Cuba said on Thursday 1,847 residents had so far contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus, warning that certain provinces on the Caribbean island still had high rates of infestation despite a series of measures to stave off the epidemic. At the start of the global Zika outbreak, Cuba managed for months to fend off the virus that can cause microcephaly in babies as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, even as neighboring territories like Puerto Rico were hard hit. The Communist-run country called out the military to help fumigate, activated neighborhood watch groups to check for places with standing water where mosquitoes breed, and instituted health checks at airports and other entry points to the island. "Even though we have managed to reduce the cases of infestation ... there are still provinces like Havana, Guantanamo, Cienfuegos and Camaguey, with big risks and rates of infestation," the head of the Civil Defense's Department of Disaster Reduction, Gloria Gely, was quoted as saying by state-run media. Although generally a mild disease, the virus is a particular risk to pregnant women as it can cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. Gely did not detail how many of the cases were contracted locally nor whether there had been any instances of babies born with microcephaly on the island of 11.2 million inhabitants. There is no preventive treatment against Zika, but drug companies are rushing to develop a vaccine. The virus has spread to more than 60 countries and territories since the current outbreak was identified in Brazil during 2015. The European Union's competition watchdog has fined Facebook 110 million euros ($122 million) for providing misleading information over its buyout of mobile messaging service WhatsApp. The European Commission said Thursday that when Facebook informed the Commission of the 2014 buyout, it said it would be unable to "establish reliable automated matching" between Facebook and WhatsApp user accounts. But the Commission says that in 2016, WhatsApp offered updates including the possibility of linking user phone numbers with Facebook user IDs. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the fine is proportionate and serves as a deterrent. She said "the Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts." Some Dutch passengers on KLM flights might have recognized the co-pilots voice when he introduced himself on the airlines Cityhopper services. It was not just their co-pilot telling them weather conditions and estimated time of arrival. It was their king. Regular guest pilot King Willem-Alexander told national newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview published Wednesday that he has ended his role as a regular guest pilot after 21 years on KLMs fleet of Fokker 70 planes and before that on Dutch carrier Martinair. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service. While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not clear how frequently it happened. De Telegraaf said he does it twice a month. As a guest flier, the king is always co-pilot. Flying relaxing The 50-year-old father of three and monarch to 17 million Dutch citizens calls flying a hobby that lets him leave his royal duties on the ground and fully focus on something else. You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them, the king told De Telegraaf. You cant take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying. Willem-Alexander said he is rarely recognized by passengers, especially since security was tightened on board planes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Before Sept. 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there, he said, adding that very few people recognize him as he walks through Amsterdams Schiphol Airport in KLM uniform and cap. And even when he makes announcements to passengers, Willem-Alexander says that as a co-pilot he doesnt have to give his name. So while some people recognize his voice, it is far from all passengers. But most people dont listen anyway, he added. Civil society groups in India are working together on a new campaign to end child sexual abuse by 2021 by raising awareness and action to the widespread problem. In a country where most families prefer to keep cases of child sex abuse under wraps, the latest one came to light because it was simply not possible to ignore it. The plight of a 10-yearold girl in the Indian state of Haryana, who was allegedly raped repeatedly by her stepfather, was brought before police and the courts some 20 weeks after she became pregnant. Her mother, a housemaid, took her to a doctor when she suspected something amiss and then called a womans helpline. The court allowed doctors to do an abortion although Indian law prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks. The young victim had remained silent about the abuse all along because her stepfather warned her not to say anything. That is why Break the Silence became the rallying cry as a charity, World Vision India launched the campaign this week. Along with civil society groups, it aims to raise awareness among five million children, parents and communities across 200 districts about the problem and how to address it. Social silence Child rights campaigners say although child sex abuse is rampant in the country, there is a deafening social silence because the abusers are usually caregivers or persons in trust parents, close relatives, or those known to the child such as teachers and neighbors. In a conservative society, the problem often remains confined within the four walls of the home either the children are too scared to talk about it or parents are resistant to complain. It is something people like to keep a secret, there is a stigma attached to it, says Cherian Thomas, Director of World Vision India. Among the very few cases that do get reported, he said, some of the reports are very horrific, because it involves very young children. The scale of the problem is widespread a 2007 government survey found that 53 percent of children had faced some form of sexual abuse. A more recent one conducted by World Vision India among 45,000 children revealed this bleak picture has not changed over the years. I do believe it is an epidemic, I believe it can be prevented, I believe it needs to be treated as an epidemic which means it has to be dealt with on a war footing, said Anuja Gupta whose RAHI Foundation began working in the area of child sex abuse two decades ago when the problem was barely acknowledged. And contrary to popular perception, it is not just girls who are abused. The bulk of the time, the perpetrators are male, the victims however can be both girls and boys, said Thomas. And those from affluent families are as much at risk as those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Given the reluctance to confront the issue, child rights campaigners say most perpetrators get away with their crimes. Awareness programs With cases seldom bring reported, there are growing calls for educational and training institutions to incorporate child sexual abuse awareness programs in their curriculum. A senior police officer in New Delhi, Robin Hibu, said institutions like family, school, places of worship and community leaders will have to play a greater role given the fact that police cannot intervene unless cases are brought to their attention. If anybody can be taught about what is good touch, bad touch, what is the way the child should be encouraged, he said. You have to instill the confidence in the child, and we have to involve the parents, involve the teachers. In city slums, abuse takes place because mothers often have to leave young children unattended when they go to work as did the mother of the 10-year-old who became pregnant. The stepfather, in his twenties, took advantage of her absence. Komal, who came to New Delhi from her village 10 years ago and works as a part-time housemaid, was not surprised when she heard the report of the young 10-year-old girl being sexually abused by her stepfather. She said it is common knowledge in her slum that such abuse takes place. We have to take great care of our girls. I only leave my two daughters with my sister, she said. Campaigners say on the plus side more people are waking up to the problem, and more survivors of child abuse are stepping forward to talk about it. And while the five million children World Vision aims to reach is, as Director Thomas said, a small drop in the larger ocean of a country of 1.3 billion people, campaigners hope it will become a movement which will get the whole country involved. More than 80 girls went on a hunger strike in northern India to protest the harassment they faced on the way to school, drawing attention to the dangerous commutes that are a key barrier to girls' education in the country. The teenagers, from grades nine and 10, ended the strike after eight days on Wednesday, when the education minister of northern Haryana state said he would add two grades to their school so they would not have to go to another village to complete their high school education. The girls said they were harassed by young men on motorbikes who made lewd comments, tugged at their clothes and took pictures of them on their mobile phones as they walked or cycled to school everyday. For grades 11 and 12, the girls would have had to travel 3 km (2 miles) to another school. They had said they would drop out, as the extra distance would mean more harassment. "A principal has been appointed, and admissions will start for the 2017-18 session on Thursday itself for the new classes," Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma told reporters. Television images showed the girls, in blue and white uniforms, slumped in the laps of their mothers and other students before they ended their fast. Some were hospitalized after they fainted. While literacy levels in India have steadily climbed as enrollment surged, the dropout rate remains high. About 18 percent of students dropped out before grade 10, according to official data. A survey by nonprofit Save the Children found the dropout rate for girls is as high as 70 percent. That has led to an uneven national literacy rate of 65 percent for women compared to 82 percent for men. Reasons for dropping out range from poverty to lack of facilities such as toilets, which affect adolescent girls more, said Soha Moitra, a director at nonprofit Child Relief and You (CRY) in Delhi. To address these problems, officials passed the 2009 Right to Education Act promoting free, compulsory education for children up to age 14, and have introduced efforts to build more toilets under a national cleanliness campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed the importance of educating girls with the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" (save your daughter, educate your daughter) campaign. But the issue of unsafe commutes is unresolved, Moitra said. "Especially in villages and small towns, students may have to walk through open fields and lonely neighborhoods," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable because of the lack of safe public transport." A 2014 poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked India the fourth most dangerous place for a woman to take public transport. With a patriarchal society and cultural preference for sons, Haryana has among the lowest sex ratios with 879 females per 1,000 males, compared to the national average of 943. The state also has a high incidence of violence against women. Earlier this week, Haryana police said a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and murdered by men who smashed her skull with bricks. "The issue is no longer if girls want to study. It's an issue of safety. If we cannot guarantee that, how can we blame them for dropping out of school?" Moitra said. Indonesian authorities have arrested a Japanese man who conservationists say is a major player in the illegal wildlife trade for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 250 reptiles out of the country. The head of law enforcement at Jakarta's international airport, Ridwan Alaydrus, said Thursday that Katsuhide Naito was arrested after customs officers found 181 lizards, 65 snakes and seven turtles in his luggage. He said the wildlife seized Tuesday included 12 different species, three of which are endangered. Naito allegedly bought the haul from poachers in northern Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo, Alaydrus said. It included green tree snakes, Borneo lizards and pig-nosed turtles, which are protected under Indonesian law. Naito was arrested before boarding a flight to Japan. His travel documents indicated he is a frequent visitor to Indonesia, holding Platinum Elite Plus status with the country's national airline, Garuda. Alaydrus said the man could be charged under Indonesia's animal quarantine law, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine. The Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia program said it hopes Naito will also be charged under conservation laws with a maximum prison term of five years. The group's crimes unit manager, Dwi Adhiasto, said Naito was a "big player" in the wildlife trade and was previously arrested in Australia in 2005 for smuggling 39 exotic reptiles from Southeast Asia. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 13,000 islands, is home to numerous reptile species, some of which are on the brink of extinction because of deforestation and poaching. Iran announced plans Thursday to sanction nine U.S. individuals and companies in response to what it called an unacceptable, illegal decision by the United States to impose new sanctions in connection with Irans ballistic missile program. An Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said those sanctioned violated human rights through direct or indirect links to Israeli government crimes in Palestinian territories or by supporting terrorists. It said their names would be announced later. US sanctions The U.S. Treasury announced the new sanctions Wednesday on two Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network. These sanctions target Iranian officials as well as a China-based network that are providing support to Syria and supplying items to further Irans ballistic weapons program, said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. The United States will remain vigilant when it comes to Iran. The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Stuart Jones, said Irans missile program is in breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Iran continues to pursue missile-related technologies capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, Jones said. Missile program Iran has insisted it was not working toward building nuclear weapons, and on Thursday reiterated its stance that its missile program is both legal and part of its right to self-defense. The announcement of new U.S. sanctions came as President Donald Trump extended relief from sanctions linked to Irans nuclear program, as part of the 2015 international agreement to limit Iranian nuclear activity. Under that deal, sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program were waived in exchange for Irans commitment to roll back its nuclear activity in ways that would ensure it could not develop nuclear weapons. The sanctions relief requires a waiver that must be renewed every six months. Jones said the U.S. is still forming a comprehensive Iran policy, alluding to Trumps assertion that he may tear up the nuclear deal after he finishes reviewing it. In the meantime, Jones said, the U.S. will keep implementing the deal, including the sanctions relief. Human rights The State Department also released a new report criticizing Iran for human rights abuses. Jones said the U.S. will continue to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses with new actions. Whether it is imprisoning people arbitrarily, inflicting physical abuse and torture, or executing juvenile offenders, the Iranian regime has for decades committed egregious human rights violations against its own people and foreign nations, and this pattern of behavior must come to an end, he said. He also called on Iran to immediately release Americans detained in the country. The announcements and the report come just days before Iran holds presidential elections that pit President Hassan Rouhani against several conservative opponents. It also comes ahead of Trumps five-day trip to the region. The Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages in central Syria on Thursday, capturing at least one of them in violence that left 52 people dead including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were beheaded, as well as Syrian troops, according to state media, medical officials and an opposition monitoring group. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam, raising fears the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The villages are located near the town of Salamiyeh and the highway that links the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, but state media said traffic was not affected. State news agency SANA said militants were able to storm homes in the southern part of the Aqareb al-Safi village, adding that government forces repelled them, pushing them back toward the desert. The head of the National Hospital in Salamiyeh, Dr. Noufal Safar, said the hospital received 52 bodies, including 11 women and 17 children. He said some of them were beheaded and others had their limbs amputated. "They were brought with all forms of deformations but most of them appear to have died as a result of gunfire," Safar told The Associated Press by telephone. He added that most of the dead and wounded were brought by ambulances. Safar quoted some of the wounded people as saying the extremists began storming homes and beheading women inside. Rami Razzouk, a coroner at the hospital who inspected the bodies, said the children brought in were mostly dismembered, while most of the men died from shelling or heavy machine gunfire. He said at least nine children were beaten with heavy objects such as bricks or stones on their heads or necks. Razzouk said there were "a couple of children whose heads were fully dismembered because of the beating." Two of the children "had most of their limbs removed so they had to be carried in blankets" and two men were shot in the eye, he said. He said 120 people were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 52 people were killed in the fighting, with the dead including 15 civilians, 27 Syrian soldiers and 10 unidentified people. SANA said 40 people were wounded. Fighting Islamic State The attack on Aqareb al-Safi came as government forces are on the offensive against the extremists in other parts of Syria, mostly in the northern province of Aleppo and the central Homs region and to the east. U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces are, meanwhile, marching toward the extremists' de-facto capital of Raqqa, in northern Syria. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the group captured Aqareb al-Safi and Mabouja. It identified residents as members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam. The Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death. IS has massacred thousands of Shiites and other opponents in Syria and Iraq, often boasting about the killings and circulating photos and videos of them online. Aamaq claimed that 100 Syrian troops and pro-government gunmen were killed in the fighting. "Dozens of people are missing but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh," said the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said IS deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi. State TV said two people were wounded in IS shelling in Salamiyeh. Also on Thursday, SANA reported that Assad met with Iraq's national security adviser, Faleh al-Fayad, to discuss steps to improve coordination between their countries' militaries in the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border. Under siege in other parts of Syria, Islamic State forces staged a surprise attack Thursday on two government-held villages in central Syria's Hama province that killed more than 50 people, according to media reports and sources in the region. Fierce clashes between IS fighters and pro-Syrian government forces in the villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh left at least 15 civilians and 27 pro-regime troops dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitors in the area. IS suffered 15 casualties, the observatory said. Syria's state news agency put the death toll at 52, including 15 children. There were reports of IS militants torturing villagers and looting homes. "My friend lost four of his children after IS slaughtered them all," Maher Esber, a political activist from the area, told VOA. "We do not know if my friend is alive, but I saw the bodies of his children." Esber said IS was out for revenge after government forces last week inflicted heavy casualties in another village in the region controlled by IS. "The regime bombarded that village," he said. "Many civilians were killed." The pre-dawn attack Thursday by IS came with IS first shelling a regime checkpoint. Syrian troops had pulled back in recent days, assuming IS was weakened in the region, Esber said. "The Syrian army moved its tanks from the area," Esber said. "IS used this to sneak into our areas." IS previously attacked Al-Mabujeh in March 2015, killing more than 37 residents. The villages are largely populated by Sunni Muslims and members of the Alawite clan tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Central Hama province is regarded as a no man's land where parts are under IS, rebel or government control. IS is facing a major assault from U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces in northern Syria in an offensive toward Raqqa, IS's de facto capital in Syria. Another Nigerian schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists two years ago is free after escaping her captors. A spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari gave no details Wednesday, but said Nigerian soldiers found her and brought her to the capital. Her escape comes two weeks after Boko Haram freed 82 of the girls in a prisoner swap with the government. They are expected to be reunited with their families in the coming days. The Islamist group kidnapped 276 girls from their dormitory in Chibok in 2014, outraging millions around the world. Twenty-one others were freed in October, while several others have either been let go individually or escaped. More than 100 of the girls are still being held. Boko Haram has killed thousands in its 8-year terrorist campaign to turn northern Nigeria into a staunch Islamic state. Nigerian officials say they believe the militants kidnapped the girls to intimidate civilians against resistance. The Koch Brothers' political network is preparing to spend millions of dollars to ensure their vision for tax reform isn't lost in the increasing chaos consuming President Donald Trump's administration. The network's leading organizations, Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, on Thursday released a set of general preferences for major changes to the tax code. While explicitly stating their opposition to new border-adjustment or value-added taxes, there were few specifics in a document that was designed to inject a new sense of urgency into the stalled tax debate. "Now is the time. We've got to unite around these principles," network spokesman James Davis said. "The White House hopefully will see this as a jolt to support them in driving this forward." Beyond Thursday's release, Davis said the network backed by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign through the summer to ensure their conservative tax plan is not forgotten. The campaign will include digital ads and town hall meetings across the country, along with phone banks and direct mail. The Koch push reflects broader concerns from the nation's business community that Trump's promise to overhaul the tax code may fall victim to his mounting political challenges. The stock market on Wednesday suffered its largest single-day loss of the Trump presidency. That was before the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate allegations that Trump's campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Late last month, Trump released a one-page proposal that included massive tax cuts for businesses and a bigger standard tax deduction for middle-income families, lower investment taxes for the wealthy and an end to the federal estate tax for the superrich. It's largely in line with the Koch network's preference, which calls for lower rates, fewer brackets and the elimination of "special loopholes" and deductions. There were modest signs Wednesday that the Trump administration was trying to spark new momentum for its tax plan. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other administration officials met with Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee in what Democrats described afterward as an opening conversation in the tax debate. Even under the best of political circumstances, tax reform is difficult. Congress hasn't overhauled the tax code in more than three decades. "If we don't start making the case to the American people and showing them how this improves their lives now, it becomes increasingly more and more difficult, particularly as we move closer to the election," Davis said. A bill that would have let communists legally work in California government was withdrawn Wednesday after the sponsor said he learned it caused veterans and Vietnamese-Americans "distress and hurt." Assemblyman Rob Bonta, a Democrat from the San Francisco Bay Area, announced he was shelving the bill and apologized to veterans and people who fled the communist regime in Vietnam. His bill, AB22, would have repealed part of state law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s, when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate the U.S. government was rampant. The Cold War-era law made belonging to the Communist Party a fireable offense for public employees. Bonta said such provisions have since been ruled unconstitutional. Under his bill, employees could still have been fired for belonging to organizations they know advocate overthrowing the government by force or violence. The state Assembly narrowly approved the bill last week. Some Assembly Republicans spoke forcefully against the measure before voting against it. Republican Assemblyman Randy Voepel, who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China were "still a threat." "This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians," said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican a coastal district in Southern California. "Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against." Assemblyman Ash Kalra, one of Bonta's fellow Democrats, praised his colleague for shelving the bill, saying it caused pain for many of his constituents. Mobs looted shops and fought security forces overnight in Venezuela's restive western region, where three soldiers were being charged on Thursday with the shooting death of a man who was buying diapers for his baby, witnesses said. Six weeks of anti-government unrest have resulted in at least 44 deaths, as well as hundreds of injuries and arrests in the worst turmoil of President Nicolas Maduro's four-year rule of the South American OPEC nation. Protesters are demanding elections to kick out the socialist government which they accuse of wrecking the economy and turning Venezuela into a dictatorship. Maduro, 54, the successor to late leader Hugo Chavez, says his foes are seeking a violent coup. One of Maduro's main opponents, local governor Henrique Capriles, said on Thursday his passport was annulled when he was at the airport outside Caracas about to embark on a trip to denounce human rights violations at the United Nations in New York. "My passport is valid until 2020, what they want to do here is avoid us going to the United Nations," he said in a video posted on Twitter. "I won't be able to travel," Capriles added. The move comes a month after the two-time presidential candidate, who was seen by many as the opposition's best chance in the presidential election scheduled for 2018, was banned from holding political office for 15 years. Capriles, a sports-loving lawyer who has tried to shake the opposition's reputation of elitism by focusing on grassroots efforts with poor Venezuelans, narrowly lost the 2013 vote against Maduro and the two frequently lock horns. Unrest in the west Across the country near the border with Colombia, clashes and lootings raged overnight, despite the government sending 2,000 troops to Tachira state. Security forces fired teargas at stone-throwing gangs, and crowds smashed their way into shops and offices in state capital San Cristobal and elsewhere. Forty-six-year old Manuel Castellanos was shot in the neck on Wednesday when caught in a melee walking home with diapers he had bought for his son, witnesses said. Diapers have become prized products in Venezuela due to widespread shortages of basic domestic items. The State Prosecutor's Office said three National Guard sergeants would be charged later on Thursday for their "presumed responsibility" in his killing. Earlier in the week, a 15-year-old was shot dead when out buying flour for his family's dinner. Most shops in San Cristobal, a traditional hotbed of anti-government militancy, were closed on Thursday, with long lines at the few establishments open. International disquiet at the Venezuelan crisis is growing. France became the latest country calling for mediation amid the worsening situation. Britain warned its citizens against "all but essential travel" to Venezuela. The Tyrannosaurus rex had jaws and teeth strong enough to pulverize bones, a new study suggests. The pressure the huge dinosaur could muster when biting was equal to the weight of three small cars simultaneously generating world record tooth pressures, researchers from Florida State University and Oklahoma State University said. T. rexs bone-crushing bite is typically not seen in reptiles, which arent able to chew up bones, but in carnivorous mammals like wolves and hyenas. Researchers say the T. rex could bite with more than 3,600 kilograms of pressure, which is twice the force of the current living crocodile. For bone crushing, however, the dinosaurs conical teeth generated enough pressure to cause bones to explode. "It was this bone-crunching acumen that helped T. rex to more fully exploit the carcasses of large horned-dinosaurs and duck-billed hadrosaurids whose bones, rich in mineral salts and marrow, were unavailable to smaller, less equipped carnivorous dinosaurs," said Paul Gignac, assistant professor of anatomy and vertebrate paleontology at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences. To reach their conclusions, researchers looked at the musculature of crocodiles, which are close relatives of dinosaurs. They also looked at birds, which are modern-day dinosaurs. Crocodiles revealed that bite force did not fully account for the ability to crush bones, so researchers looked at what they call tooth pressure. "Having high bite force doesn't necessarily mean an animal can puncture hide or pulverize bone; tooth pressure is the biomechanically more relevant parameter," said Gregory Erickson, a Florida State University professor of biological science. "It is like assuming a 600 horsepower engine guarantees speed. In a Ferrari, sure, but not for a dump truck." T. rexs unique teeth capitalized on the bite power, researchers said. The dinosaur "managed these feats, in part, because of its large size but more so because of a specific set of tooth traits - extraordinarily large, conical and strongly rooted teeth that were replaced after being worn biennially," Gignac told CBS News. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. An ongoing measles outbreak in Minnesota has shined a light on the fact that many Somali immigrants choose not to vaccinate their children. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 63 measles cases have been reported statewide as of May 16, and 53 of those cases were Minnesotans of Somali origin. Sixty of the reported cases involve individuals confirmed to not be vaccinated. Public health officials blame false rumors that vaccines are linked to autism and other health problems for the high rate of unvaccinated children in Minnesota's Somali-American community. The department's disease director, Kris Ehresmann, said anti-vaccination groups have targeted the community with events and have even translated the anti-vaccine documentary Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe into Somali. They have been very aggressive and are continuing in their efforts to reach out to the community with misinformation throughout the duration of this outbreak, Ehresmann said. Anti-vaccine views In interviews with Somali mothers, VOA's Somali Service found that anti-vaccine views are widespread. I have a baby boy who was well before the vaccine, but eventually he became autistic because of the vaccine. After him, I have never vaccinated my children, said Safia Sheikh Mohamed, a mother of four children. Mohamed listed a number of problems she believes are associated with vaccines, including food allergies, ear infections and eczema, a treatable condition in which the skin becomes inflamed or irritated. Another mother said she vaccinated her child, but did so later in life. I never gave vaccines to my last born child before he turned 6, during his first year of school. Community leaders reach out Multiple large-scale studies have found there is no connection between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, despite rumors to the contrary. The Minnesota Department of Health is working hard to dispel such beliefs through outreach campaigns. The department has a Somali staff member and a group of Somali health advisers who meet one-on-one with people and attend various community meetings. "Our challenge at this point is really scalability, Ehresmann said. If we could multiply our efforts by 10-fold or more, that would be great, but obviously there are resource challenges. Ahmed Roble, a Somali-American physician who owns a clinic in Minnesota, said he and his colleagues try to dispel misinformation. As health professionals, our aim is not only to cure the patient but also to give them counseling," he said. "That is what we do for the worrying mothers and fathers who are skeptical about MMR vaccination. Perhaps the best argument for vaccinating children is the current outbreak, which may be frightening parents into action. Prior to the outbreak, about 30 Somali children per week received the MMR vaccine in Minnesota, but, since the outbreak, that number has grown to 500 children per week. We know that as a result of the outbreak and perhaps as a result of seeing measles in real life there, that combined with other messaging has made an impact on a number of the parents, Ehresmann said. Additionally, parents are beginning to see the consequences of not vaccinating children. Children who are not vaccinated are forced to stay out of daycare for 21 days if a measles case is reported and could be forced to stay out indefinitely if multiple cases occur. State Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to serve in a state legislature, invited parents, doctors, owners of clinics and community leaders to share their thoughts at a meeting on Wednesday. She called for parents who do not vaccinate their children to take responsibility. It will be the parents' responsibility if they dont want to vaccinate. They should go and discuss with doctors, and then, if they insist, its their responsibility. It will be documented, she said. The state is bracing for an uptick in cases as the month of Ramadan approaches in late May and June and families gather for the celebration. The final celebration of Eid al-Fitr has the greatest potential for spreading the disease. It would represent the biggest risk for potential transmission, said Ehresmann, because "its bringing together kids and adults and everybody, and it's not just the population of a single mosque, its multiple mosques coming together. That factor means that could have the potential for transmission. Robert Mueller III is a lawyer who served as the sixth director of the FBI from September 4, 2001 to September 4, 2013. Mueller, 72, was born in New York City in 1944. He served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years during the Vietnam War. He received several commendations, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, for his service. He went on to study law at the University of Virginia and worked as a litigator in San Francisco before going into public service. He joined the U.S. Department of Justice in 1989. There, he worked on several high profile cases, including the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and crime boss John Gotti. He worked in the private sector from 1993-95 and then returned to public service. In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Mueller as the FBI director. He started the job a week before the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. That changed the FBI focus to counter terrorism. President Barack Obama asked Mueller to continue as FBI director for two years longer than his 10-year term. He was replaced by James Comey on September 4, 2013. MOUNT PLEASANT What are some of the issues plaguing urban areas, and can the state do anything to help? The state Assembly Committee on Urban Revitalization held a public hearing Thursday in Mount Pleasant trying to find answers to both questions as part of a series of hearings throughout the state. Racine-area officials and advocates said resources could be directed toward areas like schools and anti-poverty efforts, and they called for the state to work with faith-based and minority communities. In Racine Unified schools especially, poverty is a major factor that impedes student success and is seen throughout the area, Superintendent Lolli Haws told the committee. But Unified has found success with programs targeting younger students, Haws said. She and County Executive Jonathan Delagrave pushed for more funding toward full-day 4-year-old kindergarten. We have students coming to school academically and socially and certainly unaccustomed to the typical expectations we hold for our children, Haws said. Delagrave also called for more support for foster care families, saying Racine County has a crisis with too few families available for foster children. Mario Martinez, a business owner who serves on the city Plan Commission and other groups, said the state Legislature should avoid divisive bills such as legislation targeting so-called sanctuary cities. Latinos are starting to leave the area and go to places like Illinois where they feel more welcome, he said. Pastor Melvin Hargrove called for the state to work with faith-based groups to help solve urban woes. One of the things Im finding out more and more is the church community is being left out of what can be a solution to some of the problems we have, Hargrove said. Legislation could follow Before the hearing held in the back of Los Mariachis restaurant, 5821 Washington Ave. committee chairman state Rep. Bob Gannon said the committee wanted to see what programs are working and how the state can continue to support those. Gannon, R-West Bend, pointed to Racine Vocational Ministry, which helps people getting out of prison to become employed, as an example of a organization that works. The Racine hearing is one of several around the state that has or will be held. Gannon said legislation could be presented following the committees work. The goal is to potentially have some legislation, said state Rep. Jason Fields, D-Milwaukee. But going around and hearing from the people, I think thats the place to start. For as long as Navajo healer Jonah Yellowman can remember all the way back to Creation southeastern Utahs Bears Ears region has been central to the culture and religion of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Indian tribe, and Ute Mountain Ute people. Its tens of thousands of archeological sites date back 13,000 years. Its sacred land, said Yellowman, spiritual adviser to Utah Dine Bikeyah, a nonprofit organization working to protect the regions cultural and natural resources. Our ancestors are buried there. There are petroglyphs and stone markings there. We even have ancient sweat lodges and hogans, referencing Navajo traditional wood and mud dwellings still used today for religious ceremonies. Bears Ears is where we gather herbs for medicine and for our ceremonies. And its where we get the firewood that we use to heat our homes in winter," he said. In 2016, after intense lobbying by environmentalists and tribes, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed the Bears Ears National Monument and established a commission of tribal representatives to consult with the government on how the land should be used. For more than a century, however, the region has also been home to non-Native farmers and ranchers who depend on Bears Ears for water and grazing their livestock. They were outraged over Obamas move and, despite government reassurance, fear they will lose access to the area. Gavin Noyes, executive director of Utah Dine Bikeyah, suggests racial tensions may also be at play. About 8,000 Navajo currently live in San Juan County, where Bears Ears is located, nearly half of the countys total population of 15,000. Theres a new generation of Navajos, with college degrees and graduate degrees, he said. They are strong in number and sophisticated in their knowledge. And theyve decided to take the reins of their future - and the non-Natives are terrified. Preservation versus utilization Since the 19th century, pot hunting the looting of Native American antiquities and graves has been big business in the United States. In 1906, during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, Congress passed the American Antiquities Act in an attempt to stop artifact stealing. The law gave U.S. presidents the authority to bypass Congress and designate historic landmarks as national monuments, protecting them from exploitation. Since then, 16 presidents have exercised that privilege, designating nearly 130 national monuments, most still standing and managed by federal agencies. Some monument land is protected as park property, but the bulk is used for grazing, hunting, fishing and mining. Over in the neighboring county, directly to the west, President [Bill] Clinton came in 1996 and designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 1.7 million acres [688,000 hectares] of Utah canyon, said Matt Anderson, policy analyst for the Coalition for Self-Government in the West, a project of the Salt Lake City-based Sutherland Institute. When he made that designation, he promised that grazing would remain at historical levels, said Anderson. But in the last 20 years, the Bureau of Land Management has cut the grazing by a third in that national monument. Ranching families have had to move out in droves, and in the summer of 2015, the local county had to declare a state of emergency. Anderson pointed out that other tribal groups in the area oppose monument status. A lot of the tribes complaining dont even live at Bears Ears, he said. He also worries that national monument status encourages large numbers of tourists and he worries that the Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service lack the budget to protect monument areas. Anderson failed to mention, however, that the Clinton move interfered with plans to mine billions of tons of coal beneath Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. And neighboring Bears Ears holds sizable deposits of uranium, along with copper and vanadium, which are used in making steel. Mining would boost the countys faltering economy. In January, Utah lawmakers appealed to President Donald Trump to rescind Obamas proclamation and return Bears Ears to its former status. On April 26, Trump called on the Department of the Interior (DOI) to review all national monuments larger than 4,047 hectares with an eye toward their status and use. "The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres [hectares] of land and water, and it is time we ended this abusive practice," the president said. On May 5, the agency announced a 15-day period for public comment on the debate, beginning May 12. Critics, including Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, say such a short public comment period could pose a challenge for tribal peoples who may not have access to the internet. DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke traveled to Utah last week to meet with people on both sides of the issue and says he will make preliminary recommendations within 45 days. He has promised to keep an open mind. Retired Army General Michael Flynn, a staunch political surrogate for Donald Trump's election as president and for 24 days his first national security adviser, now is certain to be at the center of a new special prosecutor's investigation of Trump campaign links to Russian interests. The 59-year-old Flynn has already been at the heart of several controversies in Trump's four-month presidency and now will face new scrutiny with the appointment Wednesday of special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the county's top criminal investigative agency. In 2015, when Trump began his presidential run, Flynn was paid more than $30,000 to attend Moscow events, including one where he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner celebrating the Kremlin-controlled RT television network. Fired Trump fired Flynn in February from the key White House posting after routine U.S. eavesdropping on foreign officials showed he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington in the weeks before Trump assumed power in late January. Flynn had been kept on the job for 18 days after the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, had warned the White House that he could be subject to blackmail from the Russians because he had misled Pence. Then, a day after Trump ousted Flynn, associates of former FBI chief James Comey, whom Trump fired last week, say that the president urged Comey at a White House meeting to drop his investigation of Flynn and that Comey soon after made extensive notes about his conversation with Trump. The White House says Comey's contemporaneous recollection of his discussions with Trump are not accurate, while some legal experts say that if true,Trump's efforts to end the Flynn probe could be construed as obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense. Last week, Trump said that as he was thinking of "this Russia thing," he fired Comey, who was leading the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign's links to Russia. Trump has been dismissive of investigations of his campaign's links to Russia, saying that claims of Moscow's meddling in the election to help him win are an excuse by Democrats to explain his upset win over former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Comey firing and the reports of Trump's attempt to curb the Flynn investigation led to calls from lawmakers, Democrats and some Republicans, for appointment a special prosecutor in the Russia investigation. Mueller will fill a role independent of the normal channels of authority at the country's Department of Justice. Trump team notified about probe The New York Times said in a Thursday report that the new Trump administration named Flynn as national security adviser even though Flynn told the president-elect's transition team weeks before the January 20 inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working during the presidential campaign as a paid lobbyist for Turkish interests in the United States. Flynn was paid more than $500,000. The inspector general at the U.S. Defense Department announced recently it is investigating whether Flynn sought permission for the Russian and Turkish payments after he was specifically warned when he retired from the military to not accept any money from foreign governments. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Flynn and other Trump aides were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails in the last seven months of the presidential campaign ahead of the November 8 vote. Ousted by Obama administration Flynn headed the Defense Intelligence Agency for two years under former President Barack Obama, until he was ousted in 2014 for his chaotic management of the spy agency. Later, Flynn emerged as a sharp critic of Obama's handling of national security matters, while supporting Trump's long-shot run for the presidency. Flynn made a speech at last year's Republican national convention that handed Trump the party's presidential nomination. Flynn led thousands of party faithful in an anti-Clinton chant, "Lock her up!" for the way she handled national security material on her private email server while she was the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he did not believe the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel will interfere with congressional probes of Russia and the 2016 U.S. election. Ryan also told his weekly news conference that he was in a meeting last night with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and congressional leaders, but would not comment on the discussion. Support for French President Emmanuel Macrons new centrist party is growing before legislative elections next month, a poll found Thursday, raising the chances that he will be able to win parliamentary backing for his reform plans. A Harris Interactive poll found Macrons Republic on the Move party, together with allies, set to win the largest share of the vote in the first round of the National Assembly elections June 11. Thirty-two percent of 4,600 registered voters questioned planned to vote for Macrons party, it said. That was up three points from a similar poll May 11 and up six points from a poll May 7, the day that Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen to become French president. All-stripes Cabinet Macron, 39, who smashed the traditional left-right grip on French politics to win the presidency, gave ministerial jobs to conservatives, socialists and political newcomers Wednesday, appointing an unprecedented all-stripes Cabinet to bridge divides and broaden his support. In a morning radio interview, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe dismissed a suggestion that the mixed government was an electoral gimmick, saying progress was its unifying theme. Clearly it is a government built to last, he told France Inter. As the legislatives approach, this (government) is of course essential, and will determine everything that happens afterwards. But the government is here to govern. It is here to prepare the recovery, it is here to create something, it is here to put projects in place. The new Cabinet will meet for the first time Thursday. Legislative elections Under the French voting system, if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round of voting for the National Assembly, the leading candidates go forward to a second round June 18. The Harris poll gave no forecast of what would happen then or how many seats each party might win. But the polls findings strengthen the chances that Macron will be able to count on parliamentary backing for his plans, which include corporate tax cuts, labor market reforms, and a 50 billion euro investment plan coupled with public spending savings. The Harris poll for French television found support for the center-right The Republicans and the far-right National Front both at 19 percent, each down one point from the May 11 poll. Support for the far-left France Unbowed party rose a point to 15 percent while the Socialist Partys backing fell by a point to 6 percent. The online poll was carried out between May 15 and 17, after Macron named conservative lawmaker Philippe as his prime minister and before the new government was unveiled Wednesday. Six French voters out of 10 hope that Macron will have a majority in parliament, the Harris poll found. More candidates to be named Macrons party announced a list of 428 candidates, most of them political unknowns, last Thursday to fight the parliamentary elections. But the party, which currently has no seats in the National Assembly, has yet to pick dozens of other candidates for the 577 seats at stake, hoping more politicians from other parties will switch sides. Iraqs Sunni minority is pushing for a greater say in power once the Islamic State group is defeated, reflecting growing sentiment that the countrys government must be more inclusive to prevent extremism from gaining ground once again. But so far, theres little momentum. Many Shiite politicians are wary, and the Sunni leadership is divided and disorganized. On the ground, tensions are further stoked because Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters control some mainly Sunni areas recaptured from IS militants and are resistant to withdrawing. Sunni resentment over disenfranchisement and the rise of Shiite power after the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein fueled an insurgency and gave a foothold to al-Qaida. The U.S. military, backed by Sunni tribal fighters, largely crushed al-Qaida. But Sunni bitterness over continued discrimination by Shiites helped in the subsequent rise of the Islamic State group. Each time, the rise of militants only deepened Shiite suspicions that the Sunnis cannot be trusted. U.S. officials backing Baghdad in the fight against IS have warned repeatedly that the same could happen again now unless the government is made more inclusive. A historic compromise is a must, otherwise Iraq will be gone, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the former parliament speaker said. He and some Sunni factions put together a working paper outlining their stance for talks on a new system, calling for negotiations over dramatic changes to the constitution. Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called repeatedly for unity after the defeat of IS, and Shiite politicians say they recognize the need for more inclusiveness. We have big concerns for the post-Daesh period, said Shiite lawmaker Ali al-Alaq, using an Arabic acronym for IS. He says proper distribution of resources and rebuilding of state institutions are key to keeping the country together. But any real talks are on hold while fighting rages over the Islamic State groups last main urban bastion, Mosul. And already there are fault lines over numerous issues. Security The Sunni working paper calls for steps to address their complaints that crackdowns on militants have unfairly hurt their community. It demands a halt to random arrests, the freeing of detainees not convicted of crimes and eventually a review of anti-terrorism laws. Shiite politicians have long resisted those demands, pushing for a tougher fight against terrorism. Shiites, estimated at up to 60 percent of the population of more than 36 million, often suspect the Sunni minority of secret sympathies with militants and of aiming to regain power. Long term, many Sunnis want provincial governors to have greater control over security forces on their soil, ensuring that Sunnis are patrolling Sunni regions. But Shiite-led governments have long distrusted local Sunni security forces, at times refusing to arm or pay them. The collapse of mainly Sunni police forces in the face of the IS blitz of 2014 only reinforced Shiite fears that Sunnis would not act against militants. Militias Intertwined with Sunni security demands is their deep opposition to Shiite militias, which have a major role in the fight against IS but are also accused of abuses against Sunnis. The working paper calls for the disbanding of the government-backed umbrella group of militias, most of them Shiite. Far from agreeing to disband, however, the militias are pushing for greater official recognition of their power. Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters hold significant parts of Nineveh province and other mainly Sunni areas. The Federal Police, an overwhelmingly Shiite force, is also fighting in Mosul alongside the military. Sunnis want those forces to leave quickly. Decentralization A main Sunni call is for greater authority and resources to be handed down to the provinces, giving Sunnis more say in areas they dominate. A major issue would be how to distribute government funds. Sunnis have long complained that Shiite-majority areas get favored in budget spending, infrastructure development and directing of investments. That question will become particularly acute after ISs fall because billions of dollars are needed to rebuild Sunni cities destroyed in the fight against the militants, and there is grumbling that no plan has been put together for reconstruction. The working paper also calls for significant reforms to ensure Sunnis have a voice in the central government. It demands an end to the system of divvying up government posts that effectively turns ministries into fiefdoms of political factions, particularly Shiite ones. But that could meet resistance from Shiite parties with entrenched interests. In the eyes of some Shiites, Sunni complaints over Shiite domination only fuel sectarianism. The Kurds Iraq faces another possible conflict over the Kurds. The Kurdish autonomous region in the north has repeatedly called for a referendum on full independence from Iraq. Now, Kurdish leadership says such a vote could happen as early as September. That is potentially more explosive because the Kurds seized extensive areas outside their self-rule zone during fighting with IS. Most notably, they hold the oil-rich central province of Kirkuk, which they have long claimed as their own but has significant Sunni Arab and ethnic Turkmen communities. Sunni divisions Not all Sunni factions have signed onto the working paper. Since Saddams fall in 2003, Iraqs Sunni Arabs have been wracked by divisions and lack a strong political party to press their case in Baghdad. If a compromise is not reached with Baghdad, it could strengthen calls for Sunnis to demand outright autonomy like the Kurds. So far, that holds limited appeal among Sunnis because their provinces lack resources and would likely be squeezed out of oil wealth. Still, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former Nineveh governor, is one of a few calling for a self-rule region. He says the priority is the liberate Mosul, then try talks with Baghdad. But failing that, Mosul residents have the right to create their own region. We will still need Baghdad only to protect the borders, he said. Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy News Service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasnt reported, but Turkey has long opposed U.S. military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces. At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department. News about Flynns activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating. Trump fired Flynn in February on other grounds that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. McClatchys reporting reflects previous reports in The New Yorker and other media outlets about Flynns work on behalf of Turkey. The military plan against the Islamic State stronghold was eventually approved, but not until after Flynn had been fired. Human rights groups have condemned harsh prison sentences and called for the release of three Lao migrant workers who posted critical comments on social media and joined a protest outside the Lao Embassy in Thailand. The workers, Somphone Phimmasone, 30, Soukan Chaithad, 33, and Ms Lodkham Thammavong, were sentenced in early April to prison terms of between 12 and 20 years. A harsh message on human rights The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) said the sentences sent a chilling message across Lao civil society that the government is determined to crush the slightest sign of activism and opposition to its authoritarian rule. While in Thailand, the migrant workers posted messages on social media critical of the government, alleging corruption, deforestation, and human rights violations. They also participated in a protest against the government outside the Lao Embassy in December, 2015. They were arrested in March 2016 after returning to Laos to reapply for official documents before planning a return to Thailand. Government accuses the 3 of threatening national security Lao state-run television showed Somphone, Soukan, and Lodkham, being held in custody at the police headquarters in Vientiane. Official reports accused the three of threatening national security and tarnishing the governments reputation. Andrea Giorgetta, FIDH Asia Desk director, said the arrests highlighted the governments close monitoring of citizens abroad. The government of Laos went out of its way to persecute these three dissidents actually based in Thailand. It shows that the government is also stepping up on-line monitoring of its citizens because these three have expressed their opinions and criticisms of the government policy, Giorgetta told VOA. Laos classified as not free The U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House, in its assessment of the civil liberties and media rights, classifies Laos as not free, with low or zero ratings on political right and liberties. In 2016, Freedom House noted Lao authorities were increasingly attentive to criticism on social media, detaining citizens for contentious posts ahead of Laos chairing meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thailand freedoms Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the migrant workers had taken advantage of the relative freedom they experienced in Thailand to criticize the Lao authorities. The criticisms should not be a crime, he said, adding the three were held for several months in pre-trial detention. The sentencing highlighted the shortcomings in the Lao judicial system, he said. There is a complete lack of transparency and accountability within the Lao judicial system, which you see when people dont have access to lawyers, trials are conducted in secret, families are only informed well afterward of proceedings against their loved ones. No tolerance for criticism The verdicts add to a list of arrests and forced disappearances of activists and protesters who have been critical of issues ranging from land disputes to allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The high profile disappearance in December 2012 of well known civil society leader Sombath Somphone, after he was seen being arrested at a police checkpoint, remains unresolved amid calls for transparency in the case. Shalmali Guttal, a spokesperson for The Sombath Initiative, said harsh sentencing by authorities in Lao has been on-going over several years as regional governments also look to tighten controls over social media. A long history This is a trend in Lao for sure. Its been going for a very long time of course because there is no critical discussion publicly about policy, about governance, about how the affairs of the state and society is conducted. So yes, thats been going on. It is also part of this trend in the region, Guttal said. Other cases include the 2009 detention of a group of men and women planning to participate in pro-democracy demonstrations in Laos, while in 2007 an outspoken critic of Chinese sponsored agricultural projects also disappeared. FIDHs Giorgetta said with the existing media outlets tightly controlled, increasingly people and Lao civil society have turned to social media to express grievances. We have seen arbitrary arrests of activists who have exposed cases of corruption and bad governance, he said. Huge construction projects underway Of key concern are major infrastructure projects, especially by Chinese and Vietnamese investors, including the China-led $6.0 billion, 415 kilometer rail line from northern Laos to the capital Vientiane. The infrastructure and development projects being implemented in Laos but that merely results in massive human rights violations like the case of the Lao China railway that just started [in construction], he said. Robertsons Human Rights Watch says a major concern for the three migrant workers will be to survive the harsh prison conditions. He said the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party has applied its full force to basically ruin these peoples lives and throw them behind bars for long sentences, which given the very poor conditions in Lao prisons, for some of them could be a death sentence. Scientists have discovered a possible cure for all five known Ebola viruses, one of which ravaged West Africa in recent years. The so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies were discovered in the blood of a survivor of the West African epidemic, which ran from late 2013 to mid-2016. The deadly virus killed more than 11,000 people of the nearly 29,000 who became infected in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Ebola got its name from the first documented outbreak, which occurred along the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, in 1976. Since then, there have been two dozen outbreaks of Ebola in Africa, including a current one that has infected nine people in the DRC. Three people have died. Kartik Chandran, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, helped identify the antibodies, which were described online in the journal Cell. He is optimistic that the antibodies can be used as a single therapy to treat all Ebola viruses. "Based on the nonhuman primate studies that are ongoing, and given the fact that they are pretty predictive, I would be optimistic that they could be used to protect people and reverse disease," Chandran said. 350 antibodies isolated Researchers isolated about 350 antibodies from the human blood sample, two of which showed promise in neutralizing three viruses in tissue culture. The antibodies work by interfering with a process that the pathogen uses to infect and multiply inside cells. The drug company Mapp Pharmaceutical Inc. is now testing the antibodies in monkeys to make sure they are safe and effective. A forerunner of the experimental drug, called Zmapp, was in the experimental stages when it was pressed into service during the last epidemic. Zmapp is a combination of cloned antibodies discovered in mice that enlist the body's natural immune system to fight infection. If given up to five days after symptoms appear, it can cure the disease. The problem, Chandran said, is Zmapp is not terribly specific and works to neutralize only Ebola Zaire, one of the five known viruses. He said the broadly neutralizing human antibodies attack and destroy all of the viruses. It took scientists just six months to discover the antibodies, according to Chandran, "so this is really incredibly fast and incredibly gratifying. And we are hoping that things will continue at this pace and that in very short order we will be in a position to be able to test these things in people." While the broadly neutralizing antibodies are being developed as a treatment, Chandran envisions using them in a vaccine that can be given ahead of an Ebola outbreak to guard against infection. In 1892, Homer Plessy refused to sit in the black section of a passenger train - a violation of Louisiana law. Four years later, Plessy was a plaintiff in a case Plessy v. Ferguson that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which on this day, May 18, in 1896, upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the separate but equal doctrine. Rejecting Plessys argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the high court ruled that a state law that implies merely a legal distinction between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and 14th Amendments. Justice John Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson, argued that forced segregation of the races stamped African Americans with a badge of inferiority. That same line of argument would become a decisive factor in another landmark case that laid the foundation for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Separate but equal remained in place in America until 1954, when the Supreme Court revisited the concept in the case of Brown v. the Board of Education, asserting the right of black children to attend all white public schools. In a unanimous and historic decision, the justices found that separate but equal has no place in the U.S. Constitution, reasoning that it was a clear violation of the 14th amendment, which guaranteed equal protection for all citizens. Ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will not honor a subpoena issued by a Senate committee looking into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the panel's chairman said Thursday. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina told reporters that Flynn's lawyer has informed the panel he will not abide by a subpoena for private documents. The decision comes as no surprise, legal experts say, given that Flynn would be waiving his constitutional protection against self-incrimination by turning over personal documents to the committee. Flynn, though his lawyer, had earlier asked for immunity from "unfair prosecution" in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with the committee. "We'll figure out on Gen. Flynn what the next step if any is,'" Burr said. The Senate committee is one of several on Capitol Hill investigating possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. Flynn is also the target of other congressional investigations as well as an ongoing FBI counterintelligence probe and a grand jury inquiry. Flynn was fired from his position as Trump's national security adviser in February. At the time, Trump said he fired Flynn because he misled senior administration officials, including the vice president, about his contacts with Russian officials. Nina Ginsberg, a veteran Washington defense attorney with extensive experience in national security cases, said that without an ironclad immunity deal from the committee, Flynn would have been exposed to questioning from investigators about any personal documents he gave up. Providing those records to the committee would provide authorities with "a lot more information and the legal basis for questioning him about them," she said. Somalia's al-Shabab publicly cut off the right hands of two men on Thursday after a sharia court convicted them of breaking into a shop and stealing about $500, the al-Qaida-linked group said. The two men had confessed to the theft in Tiyeglow district of the southern Bakool region and were ordered to refund the money, Moalim Gedow, al-Shabab's Bakool governor told Reuters. An al-Shabab ambulance then took the men to hospital, Abdullahi Madey, a Tiyeglow resident told Reuters. Al-Shabab, which has been fighting for years to topple the central government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law, carries out executions, floggings and amputations after summary trials in cases ranging from espionage to theft. South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent a message to Tokyo this week saying the 2015 comfort women agreement related to Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, needs to be revisited. Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye approved the comfort women deal which included a carefully worded statement of apology by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who offered vague apologies and remorse for immeasurable and painful experiences, and an $8 million donation to a victims fund as a final legal and political settlement to this highly charged issue. But the agreement, which was said to "finally and irreversibly" resolve all grievances, has been unpopular in South Korea and was immediately criticized by some of the few surviving comfort women who were among the 200,000 women in Asia who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Opponents of the deal want a more sincere public apology from the Japanese leader specifically articulating the Japanese governments responsibility for perpetrating these wartime atrocities. And they want official state compensation made to the victims rather than an unattributed donation. Campaign issue Park was recently impeached for her alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. Moon, who was elected president of South Korea on May 9, had campaigned on the promise to renegotiate the comfort women deal with Japan. In fact, all the major presidential candidates opposed the comfort women deal, even conservatives who were aligned with Park in the past. On Wednesday, the South Korean special envoy to Japan, Moon Hee-sang, discussed this sensitive issue with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. He also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday. Afterward they both emphasized the strong economic ties between the two countries, their shared democratic values and the need to cooperate to deter the growing North Korean nuclear threat. But renegotiating the 2015 agreement could renew old frictions between the two major U.S. allies in Asia. Park had refused to meet with Abe for years before the deal was reached, and crucial high-level economic and security cooperation initiatives were put hold. Mutual violations While Tokyo may not be interested in reopening this divisive issue, Japan analyst Hosaka Yuji at Sejong University in Seoul said President Moon will look for evidence to show that Japan has violated the deal to call for a renegotiation. If South Korea gets verification which can persuade Japan as well as the international community, I think the renegotiation can be done in a way South Korea wants. Otherwise, it will be defeated by Japan's argument, said Hosaka. Visits by Japanese lawmakers to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo honoring Japan's war dead, which also includes the remains of war criminals, might be considered a breach of the resolution to refrain from further provocations and criticism of the other country on this issue. Abe has not visited the controversial shrine since the agreement was reached, but has sent an offering that stirred controversy and outrage in the region. In January, Tokyo recalled its ambassador to Seoul to protest a comfort women statue placed in front of the Japanese consulate in the South Korean city of Busan. The envoy returned in April but the diplomatic quarrel has not been resolved. The 2015 bilateral agreement came about in large part due to pressure from the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama. Hosaka said it is unlikely President Donald Trumps administration will get involved. As [President Trump] focuses on 'America First', he will move only if there is benefit for the U.S., he said. In addition to historical differences, the two Asian neighbors also hold conflicting claims to a set of islands called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese that are controlled by South Korea. With the United States accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government of mass killings of prisoners and use of a crematorium to burn the bodies, human rights advocates said the negotiations in Geneva this week on the Syria crisis should make detainee conditions a priority. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has been meeting separately with Syrian government and opposition delegations this week during the latest round of talks, hoping to bridge gaps between the rival sides, while ensuring any outcome is consistent with previously adopted U.N. Security Council resolutions. Dubbed as proximity talks in which government and opposition delegations are not expected to speak face to face, the latest gathering marks the third round in 2017. Allegations denied The U.S. State Department said on Monday that as many as 50 prisoners a day are being killed at the Saydnaya prison, one of Syria's largest and most secure prison complexes. It alleged that the government of President Bashar al-Assad then uses a crematorium installed inside the Saydnaya facility to hide evidence of the mass killings. Syria's Foreign Ministry denied the U.S. allegation, calling it a Hollywood story detached from reality. Syria's opposition has been pressing the detainee issue for some time but met with limited progress. Advocacy group Human Rights Watch said its research found the systematic and widespread treatment of detained civilians in prisons across Syria, including Saydnaya prison, amounts to crimes against humanity. . The parties should agree on ensuring access by independent monitors to Syrian government detention centers and prisons, said Sarah Margon, Human Rights Watch's Washington director. Ultimately, accountability for the treatment of detainees will need to be part of a comprehensive U.S. policy for Syria, Margon added. Important step for US The rights group also said Washington's recent push on Moscow over the Syrian government's treatment of prisoners is an important step to bring more pressure to bear on Bashar al-Assad's daily atrocities. The detainee file must be at the forefront of talks in Geneva, according to Save Our Syria, a coalition of Syrian civil society and humanitarian groups, adding, "In order for the Syrian political process to be credible, it must deliver concrete progress on the detainee file a chief concern for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian families that have been affected by Assad's mass detention. Past Geneva talks have produced the agreement that the warring sides will discuss agendas including a new constitution, reformed governance, new elections and the fight against terrorism, but progress has not yet been made. Slim at best Some analysts said the chances of progress at the new talks at Geneva are slim at best. Detainee issues will be a priority for the U.S. and for the U.N., but the Syrian government will simply deny everything. Progress on the issue is unlikely, Daniel Serwer, professor of conflict management at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told VOA. This week's talks follow a deal by Russia, Turkey and Iran to arrange and monitor the so-called de-escalation zones in Syria to reduce the violent conflicts. These new accusations from the State Department appear to be an attempt to pressure Russia even more strongly into exerting influence on Assad to play by the rules of law, Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Charles Lister told VOA. "For now, the international community's energy would be better focused on talks aimed at de-escalating the conflict on the ground in order to generate conditions more amenable to a meaningful political process," he added. Competing agendas In Geneva, a spokesperson from the High Negotiations Committee, the main Syrian opposition group, said on Wednesday, "We're here to try to save lives; but, the other party does not care about the lives of Syrians." Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State militant group as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support Assad. The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Acting Assistant Secretary Stuart Jones, urged Russia to exercise its influence over the Syrian regime to guarantee that horrific violations stop now with great urgency. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday pledged to treat "very seriously" any business dealings President Donald Trump or his family might have with foreign companies flagged by officials as national security risks. Mnuchin did not say any such cases existed. A senior Democrat pressed Mnuchin, in an appearance before senators, to produce a list of the Trump family's business relationships with foreign companies. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Mnuchin had not adequately responded to his March 2 letter asking whether the Treasury had a list of Trump's business partners. The senator wanted to see whether any of them were on sanctions lists or had been investigated by a national security watchdog that analyzes foreign investments. A Treasury official said in an email that the department responded to the letter on March 31, but the official provided no details. Weekly reviews Mnuchin said he reviewed cases at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States every week. The Treasury is the lead department among the government agencies that are part of CFIUS. "I can assure you that if there were any cases that involve the president or any members of his family, that they would be treated very seriously. We would review them as we would anything else," Mnuchin told the Senate panel. Trump, a wealthy real estate developer, has declined to sell his global businesses despite demands from critics that he do so to avoid conflicts of interest. Trump has said his two oldest sons will have daily control of his businesses while he is president. A Reuters review in March found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida. Police in Uganda have come under fire for allegedly torturing suspects, with both the president and interior minister publicly recognizing the problem this week and calling for it to end. On March 17, Uganda's assistant inspector general of police was gunned down in Kampala. Five days later, police said they were holding 17 suspects; however, it was a month before those individuals appeared in court. While media was blocked from the proceedings, leaked photos of the inmates appeared to show clear signs of abuse. When the suspects were brought to court for a second time on May 5, the detainees told the magistrate they were being beaten. They raised their hands several times, showing the magistrate wounds and bruises on their wrists. They said they were being kept handcuffed for long periods of time and were not being fed. The proceedings were broadcast on national television, sparking outrage. Ugandan police spokesperson Asan Kasingye says two police officers have been arrested. "[In] the techniques of investigations, torture is not cited anywhere," Kasingye said. "So if you step out of procedure, definitely we shall question you, not only why you did it but you must also tell us, who told you to do it, if you were under command." The 17 suspects looked to be in better shape Thursday at their third court appearance. Witnesses say a few of the suspects appeared to be limping, and several had what looked to be healing wounds on their arms. President on torture Earlier this week, President Yoweri Museveni released a public letter to security chiefs. The president said torture is "unnecessary and wrong" and does not produce reliable evidence. He said torture is not to be used. The Minister of Interior Affairs then appeared before parliament and apologized to the country in response to the media reports of police torture. He admitted that laws have been broken and said investigations are ongoing. However, Uganda Law Society President Francis Gimara says it will take more than words to create lasting change. He says the law society is engaging with the Director of Public Prosecution. "We want him to enter into an MOU [memorandum of understanding]," Gimara said. "We say for torture cases, give them to us, Uganda Law Society. We will prosecute the commanding officers because we think they are the ones responsible for these increased acts of torture and torture is unacceptable because it is degrading, it is traumatizing, and in this time and age, barbaric." New police procedures Police spokesperson Kasingye says police are implementing new procedures to document a detainee's condition at the time of arrest. "Before you sign [a] detention order form, [you] ascertain the condition under which that suspect has been brought," Kasingye said. "And if you are not sure about the medical condition of that suspect, you are not obliged to detain that person. And number two, to make sure that somebody is treated." Uganda's anti-torture act of 2012 prohibits intentionally causing pain to anyone to obtain information or a confession. Conviction of violating that law could result in imprisonment for 15 years. Proof of torture has undermined prosecutions in Uganda. At least two cases have been dropped in recent years after defense lawyers presented evidence that their clients had been tortured while in custody. The 17 suspects detained in connection with the murder of the police commander are expected back in court on June 1. The United Nation's highest court has ordered Pakistan not to execute an Indian naval officer who has been convicted of spying and terrorism. The International Court of Justice unanimously ruled Thursday that Kulbhushan Jadhav should not be executed pending the outcome of a suit filed by India that alleges Pakistan violated Jadhav's right to consular and attorney access after his arrest last year. Jadhav was convicted in Pakistan and sentenced to death on April 10. Pakistan contended that Jadhav's rights were not breached and that the court's order to stay his execution was unnecessary because it was not imminent. A Pakistani lawyer added that a bilateral agreement allows either country to make decisions on consular access in cases involving politics or security. At hearings Monday, Indian lawyers maintained Pakistan had violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Pakistani representative Mohammad Faisal on Monday showed judges a copy of an Indian passport Jadhav was said to have been carrying at the time of his arrest in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel. The representative said the passport was an "obvious indication of covert and illegal activity." Faisal said Jadhav "confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan." The case could take years to settle so judges issued Thursday's order to ensure Jadhav is not executed before the case ends. Rulings by the U.N.'s highest court are final and binding on the countries involved. Mel Brooks made it clear that he was not paid to appear at the premiere of the new HBO documentary If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast. They never pay, they never pay, he joked. How funny I was tonight and I don't get a penny. Brooks stole the show from fellow Hollywood legends Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke and Norman Lear, with whom he shared the stage after the screening Wednesday. The four longtime friends star in the film, which explores what makes for a vibrant, active life after age 90. Non-famous nonagenarians and centenarians are also featured, including a 101-year-old competitive runner, a 100-year-old pianist and a 98-year-old yoga teacher. Producer George Shapiro (Seinfeld) said the cast is truly sending a love letter to the human race. Reiner, 95, serves as host of the film, interviewing his friends Brooks and Lear, along with 95-year-old Betty White and 100-year-old Kirk Douglas. All the active elders say the key is keeping yourself healthy and staying engaged with life by doing what you love. The film and its subjects are vivacious and inspiring. Van Dyke is still singing and dancing - onscreen in the new Mary Poppins, in theaters next year, and off-screen with his wife, who's more than four decades his junior. His advice is to keep moving, which is also the title of his book on aging published in 2015. Lear is working on a reboot of his 1975 series One Day at a Time. Reiner said writing every day gives his life purpose, adding that he just finished a book called Too Busy to Die. I just say eat bran, Brooks quipped. Tom Bergeron moderated the post-screening discussion with the stars. Once they got going, Brooks declared, Tom, you're superfluous, really. Everybody here is a self-starter. The conversation was actually one of mutual admiration. Reiner called Brooks the funniest human being in the world and Van Dyke ``the single most talented man that ever lived. Van Dyke described his stage-mates as creative giants and said Reiner has been his mentor and idol since they met. When Bergeron asked if any of the men had ever considered retirement, Brooks said, I thought of retiring Carl, but he won't. They also talked about Donald Trump, the 2000 Year Old Man and who had the nicest shoes (Brooks). Well, I have the most money here, except for Norman, Brooks said. Norman, you should dress better. If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast is set to debut June 5. U.S. officials say they are closely following Ukraines order blocking access to a number of Russian websites in the latest round of sanctions over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. A U.S. State Department official on background told VOA that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's recent decision to cut access to several popular Russian websites, such as search engine Yandex, for three years, undermines Kyiv's constitutionally enshrined right to free expression. Despite Russian-controlled media campaigns that seek to undermine Western media and the Ukrainian government with fake stories and false information, "freedom of expression is a key element of every healthy democracy, and it is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution. "We call on the Ukrainian government to find a way to protect its national interests that does not undermine its constitutional principles," the official said. Asked if there was any communication between U.S. and Ukrainian officials prior to Poroshenko's announcement of the ban, the official said although they could not comment on private diplomatic conversations regarding specific issues, "we have routinely engaged in conversations with the government of Ukraine about the importance of upholding free expression." The listed websites were still functioning in Ukraine on Thursday, and it is unclear how and when the government plans to block them. The Ukrainian government cited security concerns, saying the ban was imposed partly to protect against companies "whose activities threaten the information and cyber security of Ukraine," according to a statement released by the Security and Defense Council. Kyiv-based Freedom House analyst Matthew Schaaf on Wednesday told VOA the media watchdog was concerned about Poroshenko's decision, and that the justification for targeting only specific companies and networks remained unclear. "We look at this as another effort to block access to media and Internet resources, and this is becoming a tendency, unfortunately, in Ukraine," he told VOA's Russian service. "The issue is that it ultimately leads to people having less access to information, less access to news, less access to discussions about important social and political issues." Schaaf also said that although many Kyiv residents may engage news and information via social media platforms such as Facebook, fellow Ukrainians in other parts of the country depend disproportionately on Russian-made platforms such as Odnoklassniki. "With [Poroshenko's] decision, the participation aspect is especially worth highlighting," he said. "Odnoklassniki and other social media networks, I don't use them myself, but a lot of people in Ukraine do. ... What are those people going to do now, when they don't have access to those resources of news and information about what the government is doing?" Odnoklassniki and another social media site, Vkontakte, plus Yandex were among those added recently to the list of over 400 Russian firms blacklisted by Kyiv since Moscow's annexation of Crimea and consequent pro-Russian separatist uprising in 2014. According to the Reuters news agency, the Kremlin has threatened retaliation. This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Ukrainian and Russian services. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. The U.S. State Department is expressing concern about Tuesday's violent clash involving supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a few dozen protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington. Erdogan's bodyguards were involved in the scuffle. MOUNT PLEASANT The village's Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday postponed a meeting regarding an order to close a longtime cabinet-making business. An attorney for Ron's Custom Cabinets asked the board to hold off on meeting until it appoints a member to fill a vacant board seat. A rescheduled date has not been set. Ron's Custom Cabinets, 8312 Gittings Road, was ordered to close because of a 1992 zoning board decision directing the business to close by 2005 and a complaint filed by a resident saying the business has operated illegally for the past 12 years. The business' attorney, John Bjelajac, has appealed the decision, saying the 1992 decision was unlawful. In case you had any doubt, Dynasty still lives for drama. The CWs reboot of the classic soap stars Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon Carrington, whose father (Grant Show) announces hes going to marry Cristal (Nathalie Kelley). Cristal doesnt exactly come from the Carringtons Uber-wealthy background, and you guessed it catfights quickly ensue. The Gossip Girl team of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage is executive producing the series, alongside Revenges Sallie Patrick, Jane the Virgins Brad Silberling, and Esther and Richard Shapiro, the creators of the original Dynasty. The new soap will air just after Riverdale on Wednesdays this fall. As a bonus, watch an excerpt from the pilot below. Tonight is the big night. Its the opening of Leviticus Vegas! If you sat down for this episode and thought wed be sitting through a low-budget Oceans 11 remake starring Cookie and her sisters, then you are clairvoyant because I did not see this one coming but I was not disappointed. It was only a matter of time before Empire tried to pull off a legit heist. Plus, we got to Tarantino it, seeing the end then flashing back to earlier to watch it all go down. Cookie, Candace, and Carol arrive at the casino in their finest sequins and shades. Cookie is prowling around through the showgirls and hot female DJ when shes recognized on an iPad by a security guard. Considering shes the owners ex-wife and the co-owner of the company and a minor celebrity, wouldnt people know who she already is? Well, she gets kicked out and Lucious stares her down as she goes. Cookie throws chips in the air and knocks over peoples stacks on her way out. Flashback to two weeks earlier: The family is meeting at Empire and theyre trying to come up with a plan to get baby Bella back. Hakeem sees a woman walking with a lil baby and he chases after her and accuses her of having his baby. That wouldnt be a particularly efficient kidnapping if you walked the kidnapped baby through the familys workplace. Apparently, this is the third time Hakeem has done that. Lucious has to run because he has a meeting with Nia Long and Eva Longoria. Theres a big reveal this episode that Eva Longoria is Mormon and its a big deal. Everyone is like, Oh my God, youre Mormon. What the fuck?! Eva Longoria just reminds them she doesnt want any hip-hop hooligans running around Vegas. Yeah, shes Mormon. Thats something Mitt Romney would say. Nia Long consults her ledgers in her private safe and Thirsty asks if theres anything he can do and Nia Long is bothered by him and makes Lucious fire him. Jamal is rehearsing some songs for his When Cookie Met Lucious release party. I cannot wait for this album to be released. I feel like when its released, Jamals story can really move forw wait? What? Of course, Lucious asks Jamal to push WCML back so it doesnt compete with Inferno. His insistence that everyone is scrambling for an album from a 50-year-old rapper who hasnt put out an album in years is preposterous. Cookie invites Thirsty and Jamal to a meeting at her house to discuss what to do about Lucious. Cookies solution isnt to take Lucious out, but to get rid of Nia Long. Xzibit and Andre get in a scuffle and Xzibit walks and takes his guys with him. The Lyon children doubt that this is the best path to bringing the family back together and they walk out too. Thirsty is the only one left for Cookie. Lucious has Duke Page over to his house to ask him to find baby Bella. Mama Walker stalks them and hides glass in their lunch because she doesnt want Duke Page in her house. Duke Page proves to be helpful when he brings a DCFS employee who has been forging paperwork to get kids out of the system. Duke and Lucious kick his ass together and its a really bonding moment between brothers. Meanwhile, Cookie prepares her crack team to break into Leviticus Vegas and steal Nia Longs ledgers. Carol is going to distract the security guards, Candace and her man are going to pose as high rollers, and Becky is going to crack the safe. Sure. This all makes sense. Becky cant crack the safe so Thirsty walks her through a safe-cracking guided meditation until she finally gets it! Its time for another B-roll of Vegas! Fountains! Casinos! Craps tables! In the car on the way to the casino, Candace and Carol are freaking out and Carol keeps almost telling the drivers what theyre about to do. Porsha is posing as a waitress for some reason. Candace demands that her high-rolling husband get a tour of the vault and they get the security code and pass it off to Thirsty. Andre finds Eva Longoria and introduces himself while her jaw drops and she drools on herself. Thirsty is watching outside in a camper talking to everyone. Its time for Carol to distract the security guard, but hes not interested in her at all. Because hes only got eyes for Becky. They almost play this for a laugh but GET IT, BECKY. The gang decides at the last minute that theyre going to completely switch things around and let the woman who has no experience or training on cracking a safe try to open it. But I mean, Becky only successfully opened a safe once, so that isnt much better. Becky seduces the guard and Carol just opens the safe, I guess? We never see it happen. Cookie takes the ledgers back to Eva Longoria to hopefully get Nia Long arrested, but Lucious storms in and gives Eva Longoria another bribe. Sorry, Cookie. Fortunately for her, Andre slinks in and kisses Eva Longoria. This woman is getting it from all sides. Cookie is pouting with Hakeem and Jamal when Lucious comes in and Jamal says that hes going to listen to Lucious and postpone WCML. Cookie flips out because this cant be a clever idea for Jamals career. She runs out, hurt that her sons turned against her in her crusade against Lucious. Finally, Duke Page sits down with Lucious to tell him that he found baby Bella at the DuBois family home. But before he gets a chance, they start talking about how they need to come together as a family and protect each other. Never mind that Lucious got Duke kicked out of the FBI. Before Duke Page can tell Lucious, The person you 100 percent thought had your granddaughter totally does, MAMA WALKER COMES IN AND STABS HIM IN THE NECK WITH A LETTER OPENER AND HE DIES RIGHT THERE. Brenda E. Mathers as Caroline, and Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Dale Cooper. Photo: ABC For all of the eccentric characters that David Lynch and Mark Frost created during Twin Peaks original two-season run, its understandable if youve forgotten a detail or two about the robust cast that occupies the quirky Northwestern town. (And some of them arent even coming back. Phew!) Ahead of Showtimes premiere of the third season, weve recapped the final small-screen moments of every character whos returning. You have until Sunday to wildly speculate whats happened to them in the 25 years since. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) In an image that single-handedly caused an uptick in psychiatrist visits in 1991, Agent Cooper woke up in his Great Northern hotel room, surrounded by Sheriff Truman and Doc Hayward, and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. (Hows Annie?) He proceeded to squeeze a tube of toothpaste into a sink and ram his head into the bathroom mirror, where his reflection revealed that the demonic entity of Killer BOB has taken Coops doppelganger form. The real Cooper is trapped in the Black Lodge. Shelly Johnson (Madchen Amick) and Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) Shelly and Bobby watched his parents happily eating breakfast together, the sight of which caused Bobby to propose to her on the spot. Shelly told him shed think about it, since shes technically still married to Leo. FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) He was finally able to give Shelly a smooch at the Double R, then departed with this delightful line when Bobby witnessed their fleeting romantic scene: YOU ARE WITNESSING A FRONT THREE-QUARTER VIEW OF TWO ADULTS SHARING A TENDER MOMENT! TAKE ANOTHER LOOK SONNY, ITS GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN! Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) Audrey went to the Twin Peaks Savings and Loan to protest the branchs connection to the proposed Ghostwood project, chaining herself to a vault door. When Pete and Andrew arrived at the bank and opened a safety deposit box that was left behind by Thomas, it exploded and blew the entire bank up. Its revealed in Frosts The Secret History of Twin Peaks that Audrey survived the attack after being shielded by Pete. Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer) and Sylvia Horne (Jan DArcy) He got punched in the face by Donnas father, Doc Hayward, after its revealed to Donna that Ben is actually her biological father. Doc Hayward also slammed Bens head on the fireplace, which appeared to knock him unconscious. (The Doc had some power!) Sylvia was present during this heated confrontation, and was clearly upset that their bottled-up past has resurfaced. Jerry Horne (David Patrick Kelly) After doing some Civil War reenacting to get his brother, Ben, out of his dreamlike state, Jerry attended a board meeting with Ben and John to hear about how the pine weasel could potentially stop the Ghostwood development plans. The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) She presented Agent Cooper with a jar of oil that was given to her by her late husband, which she said will provide an opening to a gateway. This gateway ended up being Glastonbury Grove in Ghostwood National Forest, where the entrance to the Black Lodge is located. Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) She and Agent Cooper completed their sting operation to take down Jean Renault and Preston King. FBI Special Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) Back in town to investigate the arrival of Windom Earle and the mysteries surrounding Josie, Agent Rosenfield delivered evidence to Agent Cooper that confirms Josie was indeed the one who shot Coop in his hotel room. Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) He, along with Sheriff Truman, were with Agent Cooper when he woke up in his Great Northern hotel room. The duo brought Coop to the hotel after the events that transpired at the Black Lodge. Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz) He accompanied Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman to Glastonbury Grove, and the two of them kept an eye on Coop while he was in the Black Lodge for about ten hours. (They didnt actually see the inside of the Black Lodge themselves, though.) Unsure of how long Coop would be gone, Deputy Andy took a break to get breakfast and coffee for him and the sheriff. Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) Lucy decided that the father of her child was Andy, not Dick. The two lovebirds kissed and said I love you for the first time, despite some brief anxiety on her end about giving birth. James Hurley (James Marshall) After that whole soapy (and murderous!) debacle with Evelyn, James chose to leave Twin Peaks and do a bit of traveling. We last see him in the form of a postcard, of which he sends to Donna from San Francisco, where he wrote of his intention to travel to Mexico. Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) He mediated divorce proceedings for Nadine and Big Ed, and he later brought a possessed Sarah to the Double R to have a conversation with Major Briggs. In The Secret History of Twin Peaks, its revealed Dr. Jacoby was suspended from practicing psychiatry in Washington and moved to Hawaii to write his memoirs. Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) Possessed by Killer BOB, Leland violently smashed his head against a mirror and died in the arms of Agent Cooper. When BOB left his body just before he died, Leland expressed remorse over killing his daughter Laura, as well as Maddy Ferguson and Teresa Banks. A few episodes later, Coop encountered Lelands doppelganger in the Black Lodge, where he said that he didnt kill anyone. Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) Seemingly possessed by Windom Earle, Dr. Jacoby takes Sarah to the Double R to deliver Major Briggs an important message: Im in the Black Lodge with Dale Cooper. Im waiting for you. Shes disheveled and speaks in a distorted tone. Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz) Hes smothered to death by Leland by a pillow in the hospital. Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie) and Mike Snake Nelson (Gary Hershberger) After believing she was a teenager, Nadine got hit in the head by a sandbag at the Miss Twin Peaks contest, which caused her to revert to her adult self. She rejected the advances of her sort-of teenage boyfriend, Mike, because she couldnt remember him, and expressed confusion about why Norma was present when she awoke from her state. Mike apologized to Ed for the unusual chaos that surrounded their past few weeks. Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) and Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) Ed and Norma were present with Snake when Nadine returned to her old self, but prior to that, they both embraced and declared their love for each other. Obviously, this declaration was complicated by the events surrounding Nadine. Deputy Tommy Hawk Hill (Michael Horse) and Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) Deputy Hawk brought Ronnette to the police station to smell the oil that the Log Lady presented to Agent Cooper. Distressed, she immediately recognized the smell from the night of Lauras murder. Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson (Sheryl Lee) Both Laura and Maddy were murdered by Killer BOB, who took the form of Leland Palmer. Laura appeared in the Red Room and Black Lodge when Agent Cooper was there, where she said, Ill see you again in 25 years (among other things). Maddy also appeared in the Black Lodge in front of Coop, where she implored him to watch out for her cousin. Carl Rodd (Harry Dean Stanton) Rodd only appeared in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. He helped various FBI agents investigate Teresas trailer at the Fat Trout Trailer Park after her murder he owned the trailer park and last helped Agent Cooper by showing him Agent Chester Desmonds car. It had lets rock written on it. Betty Briggs (Charlotte Stewart) Before she and her husband, Major Briggs, shared a nice breakfast together at the Double R, she and her son, Bobby, had a tender moment in their home when they were both unsure if the Major would turn up safe after his mysterious disappearance. The One-Armed Man, a.k.a. MIKE (Al Strobel) He advised Agent Cooper how to unlock and decipher Lauras dream. He also detailed the perfect relationship he and BOB had when they were murdering people together: He called it a golden circle. The Giant (Carel Struycken) The Giant appeared in the Red Room during Agent Coopers visit in the final episode, where he took the form of the elderly waiter giving Coop a cup of coffee. Sitting next to the Man From Another Place, he said, One and the same, and then disappeared. RACINE A Racine man was charged with nine felonies after allegedly aiming a gun at a car Tuesday in the 4200 block of Durand Avenue. Allen L. Reed, 19, of the 1600 block of Packard Avenue, was charged with three counts of recklessly endangering safety and five counts of felony bail jumping, in addition to firearm possession as a felon and possessing an illegally obtained prescription. According to a criminal complaint, Reed pleaded guilty May 9 to two prior bail jumping charges. Officers from Racine and Mount Pleasant responded at about 11 a.m. Tuesday to a report of shots fired in the 4200 block of Durand near the Park Vista Apartments, according to the complaint. Although police didn't say in the complaint whether Reed actually fired a shot, they reportedly found a bullet and casing at the scene. According to the complaint, a witness saw Reed aim a gun at a blue car with three men inside and then run from the scene on foot. Police said they found Reed at the corner of Durand Avenue and Kentucky Street not far from the apartments and confiscated a pill in his possession for which he did not have a prescription. Reed made his initial court appearance Wednesday, according to court records. Records show his bond was set at $50,000 and that he will make his next appearance at a preliminary hearing May 25. Alfred Hitchcock won fame as a director of suspense films, told with a strong visual sense, but a Brazos Theatre cast will explore another dimension of his storytelling this weekend, one complete with creaking doors, foreign accents and limping footsteps. The theater will present Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play, a collection of three Hitchcock films adapted for radio: the murder mystery The 39 Steps, the espionage film Sabotage and a search for a serial killer in The Lodger. Brazos Theatre director Beth Richards said the radio play by Joe Landry merges two of her companys regular offerings: murder mysteries and radio shows, the latter featuring actors reading scripts rather than fully staged and costumed theatrical pieces. I was looking for something a little bit different . . . and this show kept popping up in my search, she said. While Brazos Theatre has done shows such as The Golden Age Of Radio, the triple Hitchcock billing ups the challenge of a predominantly aural production in terms of characters and sound effects, she said. The radio play will feature 10 actors plus narrator Bob Scattergood, who will play a wide range of characters, shaping them largely through vocal inflection and accents. Given the English setting of the three Hitchcock stories, that means British, Irish, Scottish and American accents, plus character development communicated through tone and timbre. The movable action of the plays, with interior and exterior scenes, also requires imagination and dexterity for a sound effects person, whos called upon to create the sound of creaking doors, window blinds and a limping man using a crutch. Watching the sounds as theyre produced creates part of an audiences enjoyment, noted Richards, whose years as a Waco radio personality gives her plenty of experience in telling stories and communicating through voice alone. A dinner catered by Baris Italian will accompany the radio play for those who buy a dinner theater ticket. Deadline for dinner theater reservations is Friday morning. The U.S. Department of Education is doing its best to further the image of a federal government bureaucracy awash in nit-picking intransigence, bull-headedness and lacking in common sense. And this time, thats going to cost an estimated 2,400 high school students from poor families who in the past have benefited from tutoring and counseling programs to help them prepare for college through the Upward Bound program. In its nit-picking wisdom, the Department of Education denied grant applications from at least 40 and perhaps as many as 77 colleges and organizations because the applications werent double-spaced, had improper margins or used the wrong font. For the University of Maine-Presque Isle, that means there will be no college preparation and planning help for about 129 high school students in 16 high schools in rural Maine. Grant-writing staff there committed the unpardonable sin of submitting an application that had one-and-a-half-line spacing instead of the required double-spacing. Denied, denied, denied. Ditto for the Upward Bound program at Wittenberg College in Ohio, the University of Montana, which has cancelled its six-week summer campus program for 55 students, Michigan State University, the University of Chicago and other colleges across the country. According to news reports, more than $10 million in grants were denied to at least 40 colleges who used the Upward Bound program to give high school students from low-income families tutoring, career advice, help in applying to colleges and obtaining scholarships and other financial aid. Summer programs also give students a sample of college life and arrange school visits at some colleges. Appeals to the Department of Education over the denials fell largely on deaf ears and were met with a rules are rules response. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a memo in April saying applications will no longer be rejected for formatting errors in the future, but congressional aides say they have been told this years rejections will not be reviewed. But these are five-year grants and a denial this time around doesnt give a college or university a chance to come back next year and apply the next round wont come until 2022 and in the interim many of the Upward Bound programs will likely die. And its a double-whammy for colleges that have participated in the program in the past since the grant-approval process awards 15 points toward the 110 possible score to programs that have participated in consecutive years. The grant money denied this year to some institutions will not go unallocated it will slide down the ranking scale to another college program. Colleges denied this years grants will then lose their point advantage in subsequent years. That, predictably, has senators and congressmen from both political parties fuming. This is the kind of bureaucracy that President Trump ran against, said an aide to U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio. More than 20 senators and 30 members of the House fired off a letter to DeVos urging her to reconsider, saying the grant denials were absurd and a clear example of the harm that results from inflexible, bureaucratic procedures. The Maine congressional delegation sent DeVos a letter of its own urging her to apply common sense. That would be uncommon in this bureaucratic nightmare. As one representative of the Council for Opportunity in Education put it: The level of strictness the department is imposing is totally mind-blowing. This is why people dont like the government. Put that in all caps. And double-space it. The Legislatures Republican-controlled budget committee ditched Gov. Scott Walkers proposals to cut a century-old labor review commission and freeze technical college tuition. They also altered Walkers proposed changes to a tax credit meant to encourage home ownership and his proposal to eliminate a board that oversees for-profit colleges. Walker proposed eliminating the Labor and Industry Review Commission and move its functions to other departments. His proposal would have cut 26.5 positions and saved $5.2 million. The budget committee voted 12-4 to keep the commission but reduce about eight vacant positions, which Democrats opposed. Under the proposal, the chief justice of the Supreme Court would review commission decisions to see if they comply with state law and submit findings to the governor and Joint Finance Committee by July 1, 2018. Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said the committee tried to strike a compromise. Is LIRC a necessary function to preserve equal rights and safety or is it an added layer of bureaucracy? Darling said. I hope this is a good balance. The commission traces its roots to the State Industrial Commission, created in 1911 to administer the states workers compensation law. The current commission was created in 1977 to hear appeals of decisions by administrative law judges or state agency hearing examiners related to unemployment insurance, workers compensation and equal rights. Walkers proposal to eliminate the commission was one of several in his 2017-19 budget seeking to reduce the size and scope of state government. He has also clashed with labor unions and pushed a pro-management agenda during his two terms in office a background that raised questions about how his administration would adjudicate disputes on certain labor issues. The number of decisions the commission has issued is down more than 50 percent since 2010. In 2016, the panel issued 1,768 decisions, and only 88 (5 percent) were appealed to a circuit court. Commission chairwoman Laurie McCallum told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this year that she thought the commission worked well and dismantling it would cost the state positive accomplishments the agency has accomplished, including over 100 years of development of the law. Tech tuition freeze The budget committee dumped Walkers proposal to freeze tuition in the Wisconsin Technical College System. It also rejected a Democratic proposal to provide free technical college for all, which would have cost the state $545 million over two years. Current tuition rates are $3,911 for vocational students and $5,291 for those planning to transfer to a four-year college or university. Those rates are 1.5 percent higher than last year. Walker proposed increasing technical college funding by $10 million over the biennium, which would be equivalent to a 1.5 percent increase in tuition in each of the next two years. Instead, the committee directed $5 million to technical college need-based financial aid. Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Darling said the other $5 million Walker proposed would be used elsewhere in the budget. Wisconsin Student Government, which represents technical college students, objected to the tuition freeze, saying it could affect course and instructor availability, technology and add to waiting lists for high-demand programs. They also called for increasing need-based financial aid. Democrats argued the state should prioritize free technical college education rather than spending millions of dollars on tax cuts that benefit the wealthy. They noted that Walker has shifted his focus on economic development from job creation to worker training, and eliminating tuition would remove a barrier. But Republicans said paying tuition helps build character and more than 90 percent of the states technical college graduates find work within six months. Free college? News flash for you: Bernie Sanders lost, Nygren said. We dont just get things for free in this country. We work for them. For-profit oversight The committee also amended Walkers proposal to eliminate the Educational Approval Board, which provides oversight of for-profit colleges in the state. The committee voted unanimously to move the board and its 6.5 staff positions to the Department of Safety and Professional Services and discontinue the seven-member board on July 1, 2018, but retain the staff. Finally, it eliminated Walkers proposal to change the way performance-based funding is distributed to the technical colleges, a system that was adopted in the 2013-15 budget. Homestead credit The committee amended Walkers proposed changes to the homestead credit, which is a refundable credit available to homeowners and certain renters with an annual income below $24,680. Eligible claimants can receive up to $1,460 based on property taxes paid. Walker wanted to limit the credit to those 62 and older, the disabled and working adults. Critics said that would remove a safety net for homeowners who become unemployed for an extended period. Under Walkers proposal, about 22,100 claimants would lose the credit or have it reduced. About a third of those have children or other dependents. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated almost 40 percent of them receive unemployment compensation. Other claimants who would lose the credit include early retirees, those on child support and those with interest, dividend and capital gains income, according to the fiscal bureau. Walker also sought to reinstate indexing of the homestead credit for those who remain eligible, which would have benefited an estimated 64,000 older adults and 30,000 with disabilities. The committee on a party-line vote eliminated the indexing provision and altered the governors formula so that 2,000 more claimants would retain the credit and 10,800 wouldnt see their credit reduced. Those without earned income would still not qualify. The move saves the state $22.3 million, or about $1.1 million more than Walkers proposal. Republicans said with low unemployment, those who arent earning income should have no problem finding jobs. If we want to help people it should be through social programs, not our tax code, Nygren said. Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said the proposal increases taxes on people who can least afford it. I cant tell if this is a motion where we need $23 million because we dont have enough to pay for other things, or we resent people who are poor, Hintz said. Eighteen more bikers filed federal civil rights lawsuits Wednesday as attorneys scrambled to beat the filing deadline on the two-year anniversary of the deadly Twin Peaks shootout. The suits were filed by Dallas attorney Don Tittle, who represents 116 bikers seeking to recover damages from what they claim were their false arrests in May 2015 and being placed under what they charge were excessive $1 million bonds. The mass arrests were unprecedented in both their scope and the complete absence of individual, particularized facts to establish probable cause, the suit alleges. This suit seeks to correct the miscarriage of justice and assault on the United States Constitution perpetrated by these defendants. The lawsuit names as defendants former Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, Waco police Detective Manuel Chavez, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna, the city of Waco, McLennan County, Waco Assistant Police Chief Robert Lanning, Waco police Detective Jeffrey Rogers, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Steven Schwartz and DPS agent Christopher Frost. In the aftermath of the incident at Twin Peaks, defendants apparently concluded that the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution ceased to apply, and could be ignored given what they perceived as an immediate need to announce the re-establishment of law and order in their town, the suit alleges. The bikers charge that they were arrested without cause and because of their mere presence at the scene, the clothes or colors they were wearing and which group they were riding with. Rather than investigating the incident and relying on actual facts to establish probable cause, defendants theorized that a conspiracy of epic proportion between dozens of people had taken place, and willfully ignored the total absence of facts to support their theory, according to the lawsuit. The bikers deny that they were members of a criminal street gang or that they regularly associate with the commission of criminal activities, as alleged in the identical arrest warrant affidavits drafted to detain 177 bikers on the day of the shootout. Plaintiffs categorically deny the truthfulness or accuracy of either statement. Defendants conduct of alleging these facts against plaintiffs when they, in fact, had no such evidence can only be construed as willful, intentional and/or reckless, the suit alleges. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, of Austin, is presiding over the cases involving the 116 bikers. He initially put a stay on the civil cases, saying that the criminal cases in McLennan County needed to be tried before the civil proceedings. He extended that stay until Sept. 1 in the civil rights cases filed by the unindicted bikers, who have asked that their civil cases proceed since they are not involved in the criminal matters. However, Sparks cautioned McLennan County and city of Waco officials that after Sept. 1, he would require more than their mere assurances that cases against unindicted bikers remain under investigation to convince him to keep the stay in place. The following news release from theWashington Attorney General's Office details Attorney General Bob Ferguson's involvement in promoting the rights of transgender people, who are people just like the rest of us. No citizen's rights should be diminished. Kudos to Bob Ferguson. --Publisher Rick Nelson OLYMPIA Attorney General Bob Ferguson is leading a coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia in urging the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to uphold the right of a transgender student in Virginia to use the school bathroom corresponding to his gender identity. Policies barring transgender individuals from using the appropriate facilities for their gender are based in fear and violate the civil rights of our transgender community members, Ferguson said. The states, co-led by Ferguson and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed an amicus, or friend of the court, brief in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. Gavin Grimm, a transgender high school student, filed a lawsuit after his school board changed district policy in reaction to some parents complaints, barring him from using the boys restroom. A federal district court dismissed his claim, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and ordered the district court to continue hearing the case. Grimm brought his suit under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, which was set for argument in March. Ferguson and Schneiderman led a coalition of 18 states and the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court, asking the Court to uphold the right of transgender students to use school bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. After the Trump Administration withdrew guidance that had been prepared to assist schools in avoiding discrimination against transgender students, the Court canceled the oral argument and sent the case back to the Fourth Circuit to reconsider in the absence of that guidance. In his amicus brief just filed in the Fourth Circuit, Ferguson argues that in addition to constituting sex-based discrimination under Title IX, discrimination against transgender people harms states, poses serious public health risks and causes enormous harm to transgender people. Discrimination against transgender people has no legitimate basis and serves only to injure a group that is feared for being different, the states brief asserts. It harms transgender people at work, at school, and in other settings, causing tangible economic, emotional, and health consequences. Transgender individuals face pervasive discrimination in school, violence, and harassment that are much higher than non-transgender students. In the 2015 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 77 percent of respondents who were known or perceived as transgender in grades K-12 reported experiencing harassment by students, teachers or staff. More than half of transgender students (54 percent) reported verbal harassment, and more than a third reported physical attack (24 percent) or sexual assault (13 percent). A November 2016 report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation showed a sharp increase in hate crimes against transgender people. And since late 2016, at least nine transgender people, have been murdered in the United States. Transgender individuals attempt suicide at a rate nine times that of the general population. A recent study found that transgender people denied access to bathroom facilities were nearly 20 percent more likely to attempt suicide than transgender people who had not. The states amicus brief argues that there are proven, cost-effective ways to maximize privacy for users of school restrooms and other facilities without discriminating. For example, Washingtons Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction offers this guidance: School districts are to allow students to use the restroom that is consistent with their gender identity consistently asserted at school, and any student transgender or not who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason, should be provided access to an alternative restroom (e.g., staff restroom, health office restroom). In this way, students who may feel uncomfortable sharing the facility with the transgender student(s) [have] the option to make use of a separate restroom and have their concerns addressed without stigmatizing any individual student. No student, however, should be required to use an alternative restroom because they are transgender or gender nonconforming. Twenty states, including Washington, offer explicit civil rights protections for transgender individuals. The Washington Law Against Discrimination and the Equal Educational Opportunity Law provide important protections for transgender and gender non-conforming students. Deputy Solicitor General Alan Copsey was the lead author of the brief for Washington. Oral argument in the case has not been set. To The Eagle: Hello, My name is Annica Eriksson and I am from Sweden. It seems that parts of my family went to America as a lot of other Swedes did. I found a letter from one of them that lived in Cathlamet. She died in 1989 (17/8) and her name was Helga Benson Head. She came to America in 1912 with her mother Berna (Bernhardina) and her grandfather. Her father had probably left Sweden earlier I think. I found a letter that Helga had sent in 1968 to my father and mother in Gothenburg. She mentioned a son and his three daughters. They lived in Portland, Ore., she said. But she never wrote any names or addresses. So I just ask you if you could help me finding them. By names or addresses or anything. I remember Helga in 1968. I was only eight years old but I thought it was very exiting. Visiting family from USA! Helga B. Head and her husband, John Alden Head, are buried at Greenwood Cemetery. She died in 1989 and John Alden on Nov 28, 1952. John Aldens parents were Eliza Filer Head 1870-1966 and William Wilkie Head 1866-1965. They are also buried at Greenwood. Helgas Swedish parents are also buried at Greenwood. John and Berna Benson. My question is if there is some way for me to find the names and maybe addresses to Helgas son and his children? They lived in Portland in 1968. Some information have I found but not more than I write in this letter. It should be very nice if there is a chance to get in contact with these relatives. I know that this is a strange thing to send a email about. By the way; the last address on this letter from 1968 is: Mrs John A. Head, Cathlamet, Washington 98612, USA. It would be so nice to find more relatives in USA! Best, Annica Eriksson , Johns Vag 9, 457 47 Hamburgsund, Sweden email: annica.bje@telia.com ASHLAND The developers of a proposed housing development that would use tax increment financing spoke to the Ashland-Greenwood Board of Education about their plans. Don Kracl, Brian Chaffin and Mark Palmer of Ashland Investment Company spoke at the school boards regular meeting Monday night about their plans for the Whitetail Run development at the intersection of Highway 6 and 66 in Ashland. The developers have asked the City of Ashland to approve tax increment financing funding for the development. Tax increment financing (TIF) is a way of financing the public costs for infrastructure like water and sewer and roads that are associated with a private development like Whitetail Run. The increase in property tax that would result in the improvement of the property is not paid to the taxing entity, but rather used by the developer to help pay down the public infrastructure investment for a period of time set by the local municipality. The length of time cannot surpass 15 years according to state law. TIF can be used for commercial, residential, industrial or mixed-use projects. In the case of the Whitetail Run project, the plan is to use TIF for Phase 1, which would include 50 houses and a small commercial development. Kracl said the commercial end could include a hotel, a small strip mall and a small sit-down restaurant. Kracl said the developers are asking for TIF for the first phase of the development for infrastructure. It will cost about $2 million to bring water and sewer lines to the area, as well as to add turn lanes on the highway, pave part of Dennis Dean Road and take care of necessary dirt work. School board members have expressed concerns about an influx of students into the school district, which is already experiencing some growing pains in the lower elementary grade levels. The district is proactively trying to keep on top of growth. We are able to grow at a nice pace and stay ahead of things from a financial standpoint and from a kid count standpoint, said board member Dave Nygren. The board has been working on plans for the future, which could include a bond issue to pay for new facilities. We were developing a five, 10, 15 year plan and we were anticipating a bond issue to fit in there somewhere, Superintendent Jason Libal said. The Whitetail Run development could speed up the process, he added. Libal said he and the school board are gathering as much information as they can on TIF and the potential impact on the district. The biggest thing is to make sure we have the resources and facilities to meet the needs of our students, especially if our population is increasing, said Libal. Early estimates have indicated there could be as many as 2.3 children per household in the development, which would equal 115 youngsters. However, Kracl disputed these figures. He said he consulted the U.S. Census and determined that the state average of people, not children, per household is 2.4. He added that the average number of children under the age of 18 in the state is 0.6 per household. Using those figures, he estimated the first phase of the development would add 30 children to the community. I dont think were going to drop a bunch of kids in the district right away, added Chaffin. School board member Suzanne Sapp said those averages may not apply to Ashland, where the Sabre Heights housing development is teeming with children and a baby boom seems to be taking place in the Iron Horse development. They are all families with children, she said. Sapp added that families look for communities with a strong school district, and Ashland-Greenwood has a great reputation based on test scores and other factors. We are going to be a very desirable community to move to, she said. Chaffin said the district wont see any students from Whitetail Run until at least 2019, when he estimates the first homes will be built. The 50 homes in phase one will take several more years to complete. Were looking at a four to eight year window, he said. Once home construction gets underway, the developers would plan to build 12 to 15 homes per year, Chaffin said. Mike Bacon, an attorney who specializes in TIF and is working with the developers, provided a slightly different number. Currently they are planning 10 a year, he said. It could be less, it could be more. Bacon said the 10-house-per-year rate would be a benefit to the taxing entities, because it would actually increase property valuation. He said TIF funding would be applied to the first 10 lots. Those lots would have their tax base frozen at the present level, which is ag land valuation. But as those lots are built up, the valuation of the other 40 lots will increase to market valuation rates, he said. So that would then become the base, he said. Chaffin said he contacted school administrators in other cities who have approved TIF for residential projects to gauge how it affected their school districts. Beatrice officials told him that state aid offset the increase in students. At Yutan Public Schools, two residential TIF projects have not affected enrollment even though 19 homes have been built in the last three years, according to Superintendent Stan Hendricks, Chaffin said. Libal said he and the school board will continue to educate themselves on TIF as the process continues. Our stance is we support growth in the community and we support economic development but we have concerns about what this project could bring to us, he said. WAHOO Area schools commencement has concluded, but for many area graduates, their education is just beginning. A uniform trend regarding students post-secondary plans could not be identified between all-area schools, but many school counselors are reporting an increased number of graduates plan to attend a four-year college. Wahoo Grades Seven through 12 School Counselor John Harris said that 67 percent of Wahoos graduating class will attend a four-year institution. Another 20 percent will continue their education at a two year college, five percent at a technical or trade school and 5 percent graduated undeclared and 3 percent have enlisted into the United States active military. Harris said one thing that stood out to him was the fact that very few students graduated undeclared. They knew what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go, he said. Whether they stray from those plans who knows, but I was pleased that they did their research. Wahoos graduating class excelled academically, Harris added. The class as a whole had over a B average, and earned a 23.5 ACT class average. The state average in 2016 is a 21. The majority of Bishop Neumann graduates will also be headed to a four-year college or university in the fall. Of the 47 graduates, 30 will attend a four-year institution, 12 will attend a two-year college, three will join the military full-time and two will join the military reserve. This was a group that was strong in their academics, extra-curriculars and spiritual life, said Bishop Neumann School Counselor Missy Chvatal. The graduating class earned slightly more than a 23 ACT average. The class ACT average was what was unique about Yutans graduating class, said Yutan Guidance Counselor Becky OMalley. This class has one of the highest ACT averages of a (Yutan) graduating class, she said. The Yutan Class of 2017 has a slightly greater than 24 ACT average. Of Yutans 38 graduates, 35 will be attending either a four year or community or trade school. Of the 35 attending a post-secondary learning institution, 31 will be attending a four-year institution. Thats a high percentage of graduates going on to a four-year college, OMalley said. She said, as typical, many graduates will be attending either the University of Nebraska Omaha or University of Nebraska-Lincoln. College is the plan for the majority of East Butler graduates, too. Of the schools 25 graduates, 14 will attend a four-year institution, while nine will attend a two-year school. East Butler School Counselor Cathy Simmerman said graduating students post high school education plans differ each year, as students interests do. Last year, most students that went to a two-year school went more to get an applied science degree, where this year I think the majority that go two years will transfer for a four year after that, she said. The majority of Raymond Centrals graduating class will also head to college. Of 44 graduates, 41 will attend college. Raymond Central Guidance Counselor Tasha Osten said the majority of students attending college will either attend UNL or Southeast Community College. The class earned a 20 ACT average. Theres more of an even divide of post high school education plans for Cedar Bluffs Class of 2017. According to Cedar Bluffs School Counselor Janelle Stansberry, this years trend shows more students than normal will be attending a two-year institution. Theyre seeing that there are a lot of opportunities with a skilled degree in the state of Nebraska, she said. The class earned a 22 ACT average. The Cedar Bluffs Class of 2017 applied to more colleges and obtained more scholarships than normal, she added. Of Meads 15 graduates, 10 plan to attend a four-year institution and five plan on attending a two-year. Mead Seven through 12 Guidance Counselor Dawn Moser said she expects Meads graduating classes to be larger after the next couple of years. Wahoos graduating class of 64 students is on the small side of typical, Harris said. For the past several years, Wahoos graduating classes have alternated in size in increments of about 10. Ashland-Greenwoods commencement is at 2:30 p.m. May 21. Fifty-nine seniors are expected to graduate. WAHOO The first round of bridge projects in Saunders County that are part of the Nebraska Department of Roads County Bridge Match Program are one step closer to construction. An inter-local agreement between Saunders County and Otoe and Nemaha counties was approved May 9 for six construction projects. The projects are to replace bridges 20 feet or longer and that are on each countys list of structurally deficient bridges with corrugated metal pipes (CMP). Saunders County Public Works Director Steve Mika said part of the criteria for funding approval included what NDOR considered innovative ways of bundling projects with other counties to reduce costs. Each county in this inter-local agreement has two bridges that will be replaced with CMPs. With each project being similar, it reduces costs for engineering and the pipes can all be purchased at once, Mika said. The estimated cost for all six bridge replacements is $636,000. Each county is responsible for 45 percent of the cost of each project. Funds from the bridge match program will pay for the materials. Each countys 45 percent of the project constitutes bridge removal, installation, preliminary surveys and plans, utility relocation and engineering all aspects of work that county workers do on a regular basis. Mika said programs like this work well for the counties, as his workers would be doing something every day anyway. The hours they work will now be put towards these projects. The next step is to let the projects for bid, which will simply be the purchase of materials. Mika said there is a lead county that advertises for bids and in this set of projects, its Otoe County. Mika also said the two projects in Saunders County should be done over the course of the summer with no issues. The two bridges to be replaced with culverts in this package are near county roads 24 and U, northeast of Prague, and on County Road 14 between county roads V and W, southeast of Cedar Bluffs. There is no specific timetable for the next round of projects to be approved across the state, Mika said. This first round of projects is not necessarily a trial run for the program, he added. The money will be approved for projects incrementally, potentially until 2022. But welcomes another opportunity for growth in Panama City Clarke at the Mira Flores Locks of the Panama Canal with the Pacific Ocean in the background, during a recent visit. WAITSBURG Carol Clarke has faced and overcome many challenges in her life, but when it comes to retiring she's already chalked it up as a "fail." The school district superintendent and elementary school principal will wrap up her 13th year and officially retire from Waitsburg on June 30, but will leave for a new job in Panama City, Panama in July. As with most of the experiences in her life many that could be described as difficult or unpleasant Clarke is excited to pursue just one more opportunity for growth and service. Clarke was born on a fifth-generation family farm in Matoon, Ill., but spent her childhood moving with the navy when her father re-enlisted shortly after her birth. She had lived in 30 addresses by the time she was 31years old (a fact she discovered while trying to adopt her sons) and said she loved the experience of seeing new places and meeting new people. She graduated from Ray High School in Corpus Christi, Texas and says her claim to fame is that she attended high school with actress Farrah Fawcett. However, with 700 students in her graduating class, and Farrah being three years older they "didn't travel in the same circles," she said. Clarke graduated from high school on June 1, 1967. This year, on the 50th anniversary of her high school graduation, she will give the baccalaureate closing prayer for the class that was in kindergarten the year she began teaching in Waitsburg. "That's pretty special," she said. The day after Clarke graduated, her parents put her on an airplane to Illinois and her dad went to Vietnam on an aircraft carrier. Clarke said she wanted to be a special educator because she had always had good experiences in school. She saw that wasn't the case for everyone, and wanted to help others learn to accommodate and adapt. She said she was denied the opportunity because of a speech impediment that resulted from her hearing impairment. Instead, she graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She taught at Luke Air Force Base before working with the Department of Defense in Germany, where she taught in an American kindergarten. She returned to the U.S. in 1976 and attended graduate school at Memphis State University, where she earned her masters of education in reading while working as a teacher in a K-12 Christian school. She had met Stan Clarke, who was an air force officer, while in Germany, and when he returned to the U.S., they strengthened their relationship, and later married. She joined him in California and worked toward a second master's degree as a school psychologist at University of California Davis, while working as a teaching assistant at the university. In 1979, Stan accepted a position as Grower Relations Manager for Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Grandview, Wash. Carol was hired as a reading specialist for special needs students in Grandview, which was exactly what she had wanted to do when she was denied the opportunity 10 years prior. "It gave me so many opportunities to grow professionally and personally. I learned braille. I learned to sign. I really honed my skills in how to work with children with challenging behaviors," Clarke said. After 10 years in Grandview, Clarke accepted a position as a teacher for the deaf and hearing impaired in the Sunnyside School District. She was later encouraged to go into administration and earned her principal credentials as well as her doctorate. "Earning my doctorate wasn't something I did for professional advancement. It was something I did as a personal accomplishment," Clarke said. "Quite a challenging accomplishment while raising three children, a niece, and a husband," she added, laughing. She became an administrator in the Sunnyside School District in 1996. She was offered principalship of Chief Kamiakin Elementary School in 2001, which was the year she completed her doctorate, and the year Stan accepted a position as WWCC Enology and Viticulture Instructor, in Walla Walla. With their children out of the house, Stan and Clarke lived apart for three years, reconnecting on the weekends. Clarke said her position was especially challenging, overseeing 32 fifth and sixth grade classrooms, with 30 students each, spread over 11 buildings. The district was very large, and the demographics were 80% Hispanic, with many speaking Spanish-only. There was a high level of poverty, as well as gang and drug issues, she said. "What an opportunity for growth and to hone my skills in Spanish. I was blessed to be challenged like that," she said. Clarke eventually began looking to relocate closer to Stan and was pleasantly surprised to be hired on as district superintendent and elementary school principal in Waitsburg. Clarke said her challenges here have been very different, and include the impact of federal and state guidance over a school district, trying to maintain the level of services with diminishing resources, and declining enrollment. What she has enjoyed most is getting to know the kids, the staff, and their families, she said. "I think the challenge of having to deal with the loss of a loved one was made a lot easier because of the relationships that I had in a small community. You don't always have that," Clarke said, referring the passing of Stan in 2007. When it comes to retiring Clarke said she knew she wanted to make sure the class she started with made it all the way through. "That class was my first big decision. I had to decide to hire a second kindergarten teacher, because there were so many of them. And I wasn't ready for that yet!" Clarke said, laughing. Clarke said that as it got closer to time for that class to graduate, she realized it would be a good time to explore new horizons and move in different directions. She was looking forward to more time to herself and being a bit more selfish, but it turns out that wasn't the plan after all. Dena Wood Carol Clarke in her office at Waitsburg Elementary School. She will retire from Waitsburg in June and will travel to Panama in July, where she will work at a private Christian school. In January, Clarke received an email from a dear friend that teaches in Panama City, whom she had visited in November, saying Clarke would be the perfect person for a job opening. The K-12 Christian school where her friend teaches was in need of a Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator, and Clarke couldn't resist the pull. The school serves 270 students, and 23 passports are represented in the population, with many missionary and diplomat students. "What a wonderful opportunity! I felt I could contribute to student achievement in a different way, and it's warm 24/7!" Clarke said. Clarke's son, who recently married, will move into her Waitsburg home, and she plans to head to Panama City toward the end of July. She will move into a fully furnished apartment, and receive a stipend while there. She said she plans to rely on public transportation, a bicycle, and her feet to get around. "It's a great opportunity, and I hope to help in any way I can," Clarke said. IMAGINING Arts was about all we could do over the last 18 months or so, but now we need imagine no more. Celebrating its 20th... 7-member SC bench formed to hear IGP case Supreme Court has formed a bench comprising seven justices to hear on Nepal Police Inspector General appointment row. The team at Waterford Walls has hardly been able to contain its excitement this week as it brings another exciting artwork to the city.... Waterford Fine Gael Senator John Cummins has described the progress which has been made on the purchase of the former Waterford Crystal site for... CHANGES to the junction between New Street and Barrack Street have backfired, becoming yet another source of traffic chaos in the heart of the... AS we count down the days, hours and minutes to Christmas, we at Waterford Today would like to make one appeal before the festivities... When you buy online, you have the right to the same protections under consumer law as buying in a shop. Online shopping is at an... A Garda sergeant, who was seen assaulting a member of the Traveller community, was not prosecuted or disciplined over the incident, it has emerged. The... James Berry is the Global Director of Transport at Woods Bagot, a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Australia. Integrated transport planning will be key to addressing many of the issues that are currently facing Perth including employment, housing affordability, car congestion and connectivity into the city. Well-designed transit oriented developments (TODs) can bring huge prosperity to a city. Credit:Woods Bagot The recent $20 billion funding announced by the Federal Government for rail projects to cut congestion in Australian cities, grow the regions and create thousands of employment opportunities has come at the right time. The reallocation of some of the existing funding for the Perth Freight Link project to Metronet will help deliver world-class public transport through the creation of new lines from Joondalup to Yanchep the linking of Thornlie to Cockburn and the much needed circle line. While Metronet will improve land values and provide additional revenue for the State, it will fall short if the design of the rail and associated transit oriented developments (TODs) is not considered in an integrated way. This means ensuring the connections between modes of transport are optimised, the buildings are designed around the people who use them and the public spaces - the urban design and "placemaking" - creates safe new city districts that are loved by the people who live there. A Booragoon vet has been deregistered and ordered to pay $200,000 after she allowed veterinary students on placement to perform surgery on animals. The State Administrative Tribunal found Elizabeth-Jo Willot Vickridge guilty of breaching the Veterinary Surgeons Regulations Act between July 2010 and February 2013. Elizabeth-Jo Willot Vickridge specialises in household rabbits. Credit:ABC Perth The judgement said the Tribunal was satisfied Ms Willot Vickridge should face disciplinary action due to the breach. "The respondent breached the Vet Act when she permitted her employees and veterinary students, whom she allowed to undertake Extramural Placement at her practice, to perform acts of veterinary surgery and to provide veterinary services in breach of the Vet Act and Vet Regulations," it said. Brain-dead patient gives new life to two people In a major achievement in the organ transplantation history in the country, kidneys of a brain-dead person have been successfully transplanted to two people in Bhaktapur. Govts revenue collection jumps over 40 percent The governments revenue collection jumped 43.8 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year on the back of a surge in tax and non-tax receipts. IGP appointment case: Justice Shrestha barred from hearing One of the seven justices of the Supreme Court bench formed to hear on the Nepal Police Inspector General appointment row has been barred to seat in the court proceeding owing to his relation with DIG Nawaraj Silwal. New guidelines on forest land clearance issued The government has issued new guidelines on forest land clearance making it easier for developers of large infrastructure projects to acquire wooded areas at their proposed construction sites. No plans to slash prices amid profit jump: NOC Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) does not plan to slash gasoline prices anytime soon even though import prices have dropped and its profits have jumped threefold. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 17, 2017 | 10:00 PM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY One man was killed and another man injured in a crash Wednesday afternoon in Graves County. According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, the wreck happened at 4:30 pm in the 6000 block of State Route 131. Deputies said an SUV, driven by 82-year-old Bobby Mohler of Hickory, was traveling north when it began to swerve. Police said the vehicle left the road and overturned approximately three times, coming to rest on its top, off the road. Mohler was pronounced dead at the scene by the Graves County Coroner's Office. His passenger, 45-year-old Jason Mohler, also of Hickory, was transported via helicopter to a Nashville area hospital for what deputies called life-threatening injuries. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2017 | 06:30 AM | DRAFFENVILLE, KY UPDATE: According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, Mudge has been found safe and has returned home.ORIGINAL STORY:Marshall County authorities are asking for the public's help locating a missing teenager. According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, 17-year-old Kenneth Mudge left his home in Draffenville around 5:30 pm Wednesday. He was last seen on Hwy. 68 in Draffenville attempting to flag down traffic. Police say Mudge is 5' 9 tall and weighs 170 pounds, with blondish/brownish hair. He was last seen wearing a white Polo, blue jeans and cowboy boots. Anyone with information on Mudge's whereabouts is asked to contact the Marshall County Sheriff's Office. Discovery Park to kick off "Let It Glow" light show Friday By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2017 | 10:47 AM | LYON COUNTY, KY Kentucky State Police have charged two Caldwell County men on burglary charges following an investigation that began in March of last year. The burglary occurred between March 3 and March 6, 2016, at 237 Mobile Drive in Eddyville. During the burglary, a large fireproof safe containing a large sum of cash and an air rifle were taken from the home. During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered one of the suspects, 32-year-old Jason Wynn of Princeton, had also been involved in three other burglaries from the same area. KSP presented information to a Lyon County Grand Jury which resulted in the issuance of indictments on May 1 for all four burglaries. Police said 25-year-old Travis D. Hale, also of Princeton, has been charged with 2nd degree burglary and theft by unlawful taking over $10,000. At the time of his arrest, he was already incarcerated in the Hopkins County Jail. Wynn has been charged with four counts of 2nd degree burglary, theft by unlawful taking over $10,000, and 1st degree persistent felony offender. At the time of his arrest, Wynn was already incarcerated in Oldham County. RJP-N for postponing elections Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) leaders have urged both the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) to postpone the second phase of local polls to ensure the endorsement of the amendment proposal. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2017 | 05:51 AM | WASHINGTON, DC Congressman James Comer spoke with the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, about tobacco regulations in an Agriculture Committee meeting Wednesday. Rep. Comer used a regulation the Obama Administration issued in the final days regarding the amount of N-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) in smokeless tobacco as an example of a broken regulatory system. This unattainable regulation is devastating to tobacco farmers across the first district. My hope is that with Secretary Perdue working with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price we can ensure proper regulations are established that are actually achievable. Dark-fired tobacco is very important in my district, and I want to make sure I do everything I can to help make sure it continues to thrive, said Rep. Comer. I was pleased to hear Secretary Perdues position that sound science and facts, not ideological beliefs, will play an important role in the USDAs approach to rulemaking. Also encouraging were his comments about cooperation amongst the agencies in DC to work toward common goals instead of agency infighting over jurisdictions, Comer added. Congressman Comer sent a letter to President Trump in the early days of his Administration and asked Agriculture Secretary Perdue about the matter. By The Associated Press May. 18, 2017 | 04:58 AM | WASHINGTON, DC President Donald Trump says a thorough investigation will confirm what he says is already known: that there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and any foreign entity. Trump commented late Wednesday after the Justice Department announced the appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller to oversee the probe into Trump-Russian connection in the 2016 election. Trump says In a written statement that he looks forward to "this matter concluding quickly." He also pledges to never stop fighting for the people and issues that are important to the country's future. Trump last week fired James Comey from his post as FBI director, explaining that it was partly because of the Russia investigation. Gorey music students jet off to L.A. to experience the sights and sounds of the showbiz world COUNTY MOVING TOWARD $135 MILLION BUDGET FOR FY 17-18 WITH NO PROPERTY TAX INCREASE PROPOSED After a 10 per cent property tax increase a year ago, and the prospect of perhaps a cut in the county's tax rate this year, Henderson County commissioners appear set to pass a proposed $135,014,200 budget with no change in the tax rate for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Commissioners looked at proposed budgets for virtually every county department on Wednesdasy The county managers proposed budget for gthe new fiscal year starting July 1 is an increase of roughly 2.7 percent over the previous budget. The county is planning to pull $10,407,627 from its fund balance of roughly $45 million to balance the budget, keeping the tax rate at 56.5 cents per $100 of property valuation, according to figures presented at Wednesdays Board of Commissioners budget workshop. In his budget message, County Manager Steve Wyatt showed that the countys tax rate is still among the lowest of counties with 100,000 or more people, ranking as fifth lowest, just behind Davidson County. In the written budget message, Wyatt says the board has undertaken the largest capital improvement plan in its history, including long-needed investments in schools and public facilities. While those come at a cost, it delays a higher financial burden to the taxpayer in the future, he added. Those capital improvements include Hendersonville High, Innovative High Schools, Edneyville Elementary, Emergency Management Headquarters and the controversial $20 million Law Enforcement Training Center proposed to be built on the campus at Blue Ridge Community College. Following that 10 per cent, or 5 cent per $100 valuation, increase in the county's tax rate last year, Wyatt said some months ago that he would not be surprised if commissioners proposed a property tax roll back in the FY 17-18 budget...but that apparently is not going to happen. Figures that came out this week are all subject to final approval by commissioners after a public hearing prior to the start of the new fiscal year.. Rollercoaster relationship Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will complete three years in office on May 26. During this time, his administrations foreign policy has drawn particular attention with its neighbourhood first policy. Services exports jump 20.6pc on tourism hike Nepals services exports jumped 20.6 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year driven by a hike in the number of tourists visiting the country. The election effect Come July and it will be a full decade and a half since we have had elected representatives at the local level. The great deal of China Nepal finally took a decision to join Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) last week, and a memorandum between the two countries was signed in Kathmandu. UML calls for probe into poll violence The main opposition party, CPN-UML, has suggested forming a parliamentary committee to probe into the incidents of violence that were reported during the first phase of local level elections that were held in provinces 3, 4 and 6 on Sunday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The stereotypical Canadian does not boast about achievements. Thats probably why the annual $100,000 Manning Innovation Award is not more well known than it should be. It has been around since 1980 and Manitobans have won it a couple of times, including two years ago when Mark Torchia and Richard Tyc won for their joint development of the NeuroBlate System, and in 2010 by Werner Ens and Ken Standing for their work in the field of mass spectrometry. The award honours innovators who have developed and successfully marketed a new concept, process or procedure. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Gary Kobinger (above), along with his colleague, Xiangguo Qiu, is up for the Manning Innovation Award for developing a treatment for the Ebola virus at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. This year, there are two groups of Manitoba nominees for the $100,000 award: Gary Kobinger and Xiangguo Qiu for their work at the National Microbiology Lab on the development of a treatment for the Ebola virus, and Manas Banerjee, of XiteBio Technologies Inc., who developed a new formulation of microbial inoculants to enhance plant growth and crop yields. This is the third time Kobinger and Qiu have been nominated. The timing of todays announcement (Qiu and Banerjee were to be on hand at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce event) is significant for Kobinger and Qiu because a brand-new outbreak of Ebola has just occurred. The World Health Organization has confirmed three deaths earlier this week in a remote northeastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In an interview at his office at Universite Laval in Quebec City, where he is now based, Kobinger said it would be hard to find anyone at the Level Four lab at Winnipegs National Microbiology Lab who had not contributed to the Ebola research over the past 10 years. The results of some of that work will quite likely come into play in the coming weeks in Congo. Kobinger said both the rVSV vaccine and ZMapp treatment both of which include substantial contributions from Kobinger and Qius team could be crucial in the current outbreak. The rVSV vaccine has been through clinical trials and the ZMapp has had significant positive results in a trial in 2016. There was compassionate use of both with good results in the massive outbreak in West Africa in 2014-15. Intense collaborations with partners in Canada, the U.S. and various agencies worldwide contributed to generate a stockpile of ZMapp for international public health security. The bottom line is that ZMapp reached 92 per cent success (in the small clinical trial in 2016) and as of today with an ongoing outbreak the one treatment that is up there first on the line is ZMapp, he said. Kobinger continues to conduct research into the ecology of the virus and how it circulates in the species that carry it. We still dont understand why it appears in humans, he said. We are always caught off guard. He is indifferent to the commercial ramifications of the development of the treatment. Some say because Ebola outbreaks are so rare and that those infected are, sadly, the poorest of the poor in the poorest countries, discovering treatments has not been a top priority for pharmaceutical companies. That makes the work that Kobinger and Qius team undertook even more noteworthy. Kobinger said what may be even more substantial about their work is that it has provided the foundation for the recent explosion of monoclonal antibody therapies as a new way to look at treatments of all sort of infectious diseases. He said so much work is being done around the world that he cant even keep up. As for the Manning Award, he said. It would be fantastic to win on the third try. This is the first time Banerjee has been nominated for the award. But the Winnipeg scientist/entrepreneur is another classic example of dedicated scientific research done without being distracted by the demands of quarterly returns to shareholders. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Files Manning nominee Manas Banerjee, of XiteBio Technologies Inc., developed a new formulation of microbial inoculants to enhance plant growth and crop yields. In his case, Banerjee has been doing research in cell microbiology for about 25 years and has developed a sustainable business over the past six years with more than a dozen employees and a growing and loyal customer base across Canada and the U.S. Banerjee works in the field of microbial inoculants and has competitors with names like Bayer, BASF and Dupont. His innovative technology is called AGPT (Advanced Growth Promoting Technology). Whereas the product from the competition will try to supplant native soil microbes, XiteBios inoculants are designed to work with the microbes that are already there. We came up with a formulation, AGPT, that creates a synergy, he said. The inherent natural reaction for the existing microbes is to kick out the newly introduced bacteria (that will promote plant growth). Our product is the opposite. Rather than fight against them, we work with them. Banerjee is aware of the challenges and demands agricultural producers face and does not want to be part of an exercise that does not produce actual benefits for the farmers. Even though he has had many offers from the larger agricultural nutrient companies to buy his company, he said he has no desire to sell. When you work in a private company like mine, you have to innovate, you have to think outside the box, he said. Sometimes it is not that easy. Sometimes you have to take the path which the other guys might not take. Banerjee said he is gratified by the growing number of repeat customers who not only use his product each year but double their order. For someone whose work is appreciated by many, but does not have the high profile of the more well-known brands, being up for a Manning Award is a big deal. It is definitely an honour, he said. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A WINNIPEG gourmet food producer has been named one of the top 10 new food companies in Canada by Food In Canada magazine. Gourmet Inspirations owner and founder Peter Fehr said Wednesday that being named to this years Top 10 list was a complete surprise because he never asked to be considered for the honour. I did nothing. They reached out to me, he said in an interview, adding one of the magazines editors called him about a month ago, told him his company was being included on this years list, and sent him a question-and-answer sheet to fill out. Peter Fehr, owner of Gourmet Inspirations, says the recognition was a total surprise. I have no idea how they found me, he said. In a brief introduction accompanying this years list, which appeared in its May issue, the magazine said each year it shines a spotlight on 10 growing Canadian food and beverage businesses it thinks will be making headlines in the coming year. It then lists this years selections, with a question-and-answer-style article on each. A spokesperson for the magazine could not be reached for comment on how the businesses on this years list were selected. Gourmet Inspirations produces four flavours of gourmet sauces, which it sells to fine-food stores, gourmet butcher shops and to two grocery-store chains Save On Foods and Red River Co-op. The versatile sauces can be used as a glaze, a marinade, a salad dressing, a finishing sauce, a drizzle or as a cooking ingredient. In his response to one of the questions posed by the magazine, Fehr said it was a Texas rancher who gave him the idea to launch Gourmet Inspirations. He said he met the rancher while working as a chef at a fishing resort in northern Manitoba. The rancher really liked one of the sauces he was using and told him he should start bottling and selling it. Fehr now sells his sauces to about 85 retail and wholesale clients in Canada. About 20 to 30 of them are in Manitoba, and the rest are in Toronto and Vancouver. He said being named to the Food In Canada list is a big deal for his little company, which is based in Winnipeg and has a small production facility in Warren. The magazine, which has been in business for nearly 80 years, bills itself as the voice of the food and beverage processing industry in Canada and has nearly 12,000 subscribers across the country. This will really help to boost business, getting some exposure like this. I definitely hope to get some more retailers out of this, Fehr said. Prior to this, one of the other highlights for Gourmet Inspirations was having its line of gourmet sauces showcased in the luxury-gifts suite at this springs Academy Awards event in Los Angeles. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/05/2017 (2002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A students attempted suicide, used needles discarded near the local school and a brazen Facebook post pushing packets of meth while theyre hot are propelling a Manitoba First Nation to ban drug dealers. Again. Were looking at banishing drug dealers from the community to prevent drugs from coming in, and were looking at at the issue of drug testing, Sandy Bay Chief Lance Roulette said by phone Wednesday. We need to move in on some of these dealers and catch them red-handed with the substances. The chief and council of Sandy Bay, an Ojibway First Nation of more than 6,000 people, 165 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg took the first step last Friday by passing a motion called a band council resolution to ban drug dealers, institute routine drug testing for band employees, including elected leaders, and extend curfews at night. Under the proposed ban, the community would have the authority to evict drug dealers arrested on the reserve and keep them out until they can prove theyve been rehabilitated. To be enforceable, such an action requires a bylaw police can act on, a process that will involve a community referendum, so the timeline for the ban is uncertain. Community leaders began discussing a ban a couple of weeks ago after they became aware of social-media posts by band members selling or soliciting illegal drugs online. Then, security personnel turned in used needles found about 45 metres from the communitys school. Its getting really scary out there, especially for our children. I have children, and it really frightens me to hear theres that type of material near the school grounds. It could end up in the playground, and we want to eliminate that. There was a posting last week, Thursday, where one of our band members had pictures of packets of meth in his hand under his profile name, saying, Come get them while theyre hot. A snap of that photo has been forwarded to the police, Roulette said. And about 15 minutes ago, I got a text from one of our former principals. There was a suicide attempt last night, this young guy who tried this substance, meth. I believe hes under observation right now. I havent had a chance to talk to his family. Hes a high school student on the reserve. Roulette said. Roulette said hes been meeting this week with provincial justice officials to see how to pass an enforceable bylaw. The First Nations lawyers are also talking with federal justice officials because the reserve falls under federal jurisdiction with the Indian Act. The idea is to arrest dealers trafficking drugs to children and teenagers on the reserve and banish them until they can prove theyve been rehabilitated, Roulette said. The First Nation has seen joint drug raids by the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Police and the RCMP in the past but the dealers keep coming back, the chief said. First Nations have grappled with similar bans in the past in response to drug crises, with varied success. This spring, two First Nations in New Brunswick were reported to have passed bans in an effort to control drug trafficking. Two others, one in New Brunswick and another in Nova Scotia, are said to be eyeing similar measures. Last year, Saskatchewans Makwa Sahgaiehcan was reported to have banned six non-band members and warned a dozen band members after a crystal meth problem. Three other Saskatchewan First nations also banished people in an effort to control crime. One of them, Muskoday First Nation held a referendum at the end of October and succeed in passing the first-ever banishment law on a reserve. In 2012, the Samson Cree in Alberta, then known as Hobbema, voted to give community leaders the power to evict gang members. In Manitoba, Norway House tried to banish troublemakers but in 2009, Indian Affairs in Ottawa overturned the ban, saying the First Nation didnt have the power under the Indian act to enforce its bylaw. Roulette said Sandy Bay also tried to evict drug dealers in 2011, but without the force of a bylaw, the effort withered. Now, theyre trying again. The immediate focus is on the hard drugs that are coming in the cocaine, the meth, the ecstasy. We need to act now, he said. with files from The Canadian Press alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba deserves consideration from the federal government for the enormous investment the province is making in green, hydroelectric power, Premier Brian Pallister says. Without elaborating, Pallister suggested Thursday the $10-a-tonne minimum price on carbon Ottawa is requiring the provinces to implement next year is negotiable. He also hinted he may wish to see carbon tax levies collected by Ottawa and returned to the provinces used to lower hydro rates in Manitoba. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister would not address the NDP's allegations Thursday. Pallister was reacting to a technical paper on carbon pricing released by Ottawa on Thursday. The federal government is set to introduce legislation later this year to require all provinces to develop carbon pricing plans by 2018, or one will be imposed on them. The carbon tax or cap-and-trade equivalent would be set initially at a minimum of $10 a tonne, or 2.33 cents a litre at the gas pumps. By 2022, it would rise to $50 a tonne or 11.63 cents a litre. Pallister said Manitoba is spending billions of dollars right now on hydro development and the federal government ought to recognize that fact. Ottawas latest statement on carbon pricing doesnt do that, he said. It doesnt demonstrate a recognition of the considerable investment that Manitobans have made in making our province the greenest in Canada, he told reporters. I would like to see some respect shown for that reality. Manitoba will create its own carbon pricing plan rather than have one imposed upon it by Ottawa, the premier said, adding the government has consulted broadly with Manitobans on the subject and will continue to do so. The province plans to develop options for Manitobans to consider. It will unveil its strategy later this year. We cant hope to achieve long-term environmental sustainability without economic sustainability, too, Pallister cautioned. These two things have to go together. So we want our plan to be one that reflects the realities for Manitoba. Ottawa again vowed Thursday to rebate all carbon-price levies back to the provinces. Asked whether Manitoba might use some of that money to lower consumer hydro rates, reducing the burden on ratepayers, the premier didnt rule it out. What a great idea. Its one of the possibilities, absolutely, he said, emphasizing it is one of several options hes considering. NDP environment critic Rob Altemeyer said the premier should be embracing a national carbon-pricing scheme as an opportunity to boost hydro exports and create green jobs. Instead, he said, Pallister appears to be noncommittal on the federal initiative. We are a green-energy powerhouse, Altemeyer said. Taxing carbon could provide the needed impetus to finally see a national hydro grid built that would substantially increase opportunities for Manitoba Hydro to boost its exports, he said. Altemeyer said any carbon tax levies returned to the province should compensate low-income people for the higher costs they are forced to incur, such as for home heating, with the remainder going to efforts that will address global warming. Weve got so many young people coming out of university, coming out of the colleges, ready to go to work and make the world a better place. Its this governments job, and its their obligation to capture those opportunities and make that happen, the NDP critic said. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/05/2017 (2002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A report Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologize this fall to thousands of Canadians persecuted by the federal government because of their sexuality is long overdue, says a Winnipeg human rights activist. We wish that theyd done this long ago. People lost jobs and homes and suffered substantially, said Chris Vogel, who, with his partner, Rich North, put gay marriage on the national map in 1974. The apology is expected to happen in the House of Commons after a summer of consulting with advocates who have been demanding an apology and compensation for those mainly gay men persecuted because of their sexuality, the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg gay activists Chris Vogel, left, and Richard North have been married for over 40 years. In September, the Free Press reported the Trudeau government said it was considering a national apology for people who were imprisoned, fired from jobs or persecuted because of their sexual orientation. The government was reportedly working with Egale a national LGBTTQ* human rights organization on the details and scope of such an apology, which was expected to come as early as last fall. Vogel said the apology was to include pardons for men convicted of gross indecency because they had consensual gay sex. Some convicted in the earlier years were labelled dangerous sex offenders, said Vogel. I expect there are people hiding the fact that they were classified as dangerous sexual offenders, he said Wednesday. I expect a lot of them will be coming out of the woodwork privately to have that taken off their records. I think were going to hear about a lot of applications for pardons. Over the years, the 70-year-old Vogel said hes heard about men in this province who were unable to pass criminal record background checks for volunteer jobs because they were convicted of having sex with another consenting man. He recalls a time when the federal government had a very elaborate fruit machine it used to try and detect whether or not someone was homosexual. It tried to measure a subjects physical response to certain images to determine whether or not they were attracted to men. Its researchers gathered data they believed pointed to someones sexual orientation, he said. They thought that men who wore short-sleeved shirts and drove white cars, that made them gay. Right now, Vogel said, he and North are still campaigning for their rights in Manitoba. Our big fight is with the province, said Vogel. Were still after them to register our marriage. The couple has complained to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission about how their marriage, which happened 30 years before same-sex marriage was legalized in this province in September 2004, isnt recognized. On Monday, they learned an adjudicator has been appointed to rule on their complaint. Vogel said the apology from Trudeau wont help him or his partner personally but should impact those directly affected and Canadians in general. It probably affects public opinion and reminds people of the bad things that have happened and that persecuting a minority because they dont like the colour of their eyes is wrong. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/05/2017 (2002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ricky Strongquill runs his fingers along his neck, tracing the jagged scar that serves as a permanent reminder of a darker time in his life. Its a past hes not proud of. And one he cant change. These days, Strongquill is on a much different path in life, one that has helped heal the many invisible wounds that were leaving an even bigger mark on him. It all began with an extraordinary gesture toward a most unlikely source the stranger who helped send him on his downward spiral by murdering his father. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ricky Strongquill, the son of RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill with letters he received from Robert in prison. It remains one of the most shocking crimes in Manitoba history: a well-respected RCMP officer ambushed on the highway during a routine traffic stop and gunned down. The December 2001 killing of Const. Dennis Strongquill near Russell was the culmination of a wild and dangerous spree by three heavily armed fugitives on the run from Alberta Robert Sand, his brother Danny Sand, and Roberts girlfriend, Laurie Bell. Danny Sand was killed days later by a police sniper while staked out on the roof of a Saskatchewan motel, while his brother and Bell would give themselves up to face justice. Robert Sand, who shot Dennis Strongquill, was convicted of first-degree murder after a jury trial in Brandon and given a life sentence with no chance of parole until 2026. Bell was found guilty of manslaughter for encouraging the attack and ultimately sentenced to 10 years behind bars, which she completed in 2011. CP Const. Dennis Strongquill Dennis Strongquill, 52, was survived by six children, along with a network of friends and colleagues across the country who were sent into mourning. Family members agree nobody took his violent death harder than 20-year-old Ricky Strongquill, who was already teetering toward a lifestyle that had loved ones worried. At that age, Id already been experimenting a lot with partying. This just kind of gave me a stepping stone to say OK, its all right to do it now, Strongquill told the Free Press this week from his apartment in Osborne Village. And so there were drugs and alcohol for years after that. There was a lot of resentment, a lot of hate. His siblings, especially older sister Teresa Strongquill, tried to steer him toward a better place. To seek help. To talk to professionals. But he was having none of it. I bottled it all up. To me, I was a ticking time bomb, he says. His father, a proud Mountie, would not have stood for this kind of behaviour, but he was no longer around to try and stop it. There were multiple trips to the drunk tank and several overdoses, including one particularly close call with cocaine that left him hospitalized. There was also an out-of-control party that ended with him being slashed in the throat by his own cousin. We were the best of friends. We had done our drugs. Cocaine, weed, some drinking. I didnt know hed done ecstasy. He went into a crazy psychosis state, says Ricky Strongquill. The attacker had also stabbed his wife in the same frenzy, leaving her seriously injured. After the brush with death, Strongquill says he began to evaluate his life. He was unemployed, essentially couch-surfing with family and friends, with no real future ahead of him. It was bleak. I couldnt continue like that, he says. It was killing me. It was slowly killing me with the drugs and the alcohol. I finally had enough. Strongquill vowed to make a concerted effort to get clean and sober but realized one of the keys to doing so was letting go of so much of the anger within him. CP Robert Marlo Sand was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill. The first step was forgiving his cousin for what hed done. That ended up being easier than expected, given their previous close relationship. The cousin was ultimately charged and convicted, but he stayed in touch during the process and was there when he was released from prison a few years later. The next step on his journey was going to take a massive leap of faith. About three years ago, he sat down with a pad of paper and began writing what would prove to be a life-altering letter. Nobody else knew what I wanted to do. It wasnt for anybody but myself, Strongquill says of his decision to reach out to Robert Sand. I told Robert I wasnt speaking on behalf of my family. This was for me to heal. One of us had to start this. All of us kids were going to be angry our entire life. Sand had never once apologized for killing Dennis Strongquill, fighting the charges at trial and not uttering a single word at sentencing. That didnt matter to Ricky Strongquill, who knew what he wanted to do. I just told him I was ready to forgive, he says. There were moments of hesitation, specifically with regards to how other family members would feel, including his late father. I thought about whether I was doing the right thing. What would my dad think? Am I dishonouring him? Would he be disappointed? says Strongquill. The letter was forwarded to Sand through David Gustafson, executive director of the Community Justice Initiatives Association in British Columbia. The organization works with families of crime victims and offenders who are open to a restorative justice approach as part of the healing process. They said what I was doing here was setting a pretty big ball in motion. I said that was good because I wanted to let go of all that crap, says Strongquill. Gustafson told the Free Press it was a remarkable move by Strongquill to reach out to Sand for the purpose of unconditionally granting forgiveness to him. (Sand) sat quietly as he read the letter we had just handed him, slowly shaking his head in amazement at the words he was reading, said Gustafson. Sand would write a two-page letter back in which he expressed shock at hearing from him. Gustafson said the inmate really laboured over his response. Your letter came as a surprise and impacted me deeply. Ive read out its words over a dozen times and put pen to paper almost as many. I dont believe I have ever been as impacted by written words, nor have I written anything as important and difficult as this letter, Sand began in his February 2014 reply. It was the start of a truly unusual relationship. - excerpt from letter written by Robert Sand to Ricky Strongquill, son of Dennis Strongquill You and I have a couple things in common I noticed after reading your letter, Sand continued in that initial reply. I also havent missed a single day without thinking of your father, my brother and everything that happened in those dark days. Ive lived a life of many regrets, but the loss of our loved ones and the widespread trauma I caused is by far my biggest. Strongquill had shared some details about his struggle with addiction in the years after the murder. Sand mentioned how his abuse of drugs and alcohol had contributed to his actions, and how he feels like a different person having been clean for several years behind bars. I still struggle to live with the things Ive done, and I dont imagine it will get any easier, Sand wrote. No one should have to go through what our families have gone through. Ricky, I am wholeheartedly sorry for taking your father from you and yours. I understand that he was a good man and father, making his loss even more painful. There will never be anything I could say or do to take back or make up for what I have done. Was it genuine? Strongquill was convinced it was. After all, he was the one who approached Sand, with the killer having nothing to gain at that point considering parole eligibility was still more than a decade away. You could tell hed done some work on himself spiritually, says Strongquill, who learned through prison officials of the various programs Sand had taken to better himself. I never even considered the possibility of forgiveness from a relation of your father, Sand wrote. When I sat reading your words, it really rocked me hard. You sound like a good man, Ricky. One no doubt your father would be proud of. I am not sure I would have the strength to forgive if I were in your shoes. Strongquill says it was those final words, near the end of Sands letter, that hit him the hardest. My dad would be proud, I think. My whole life Id heard that, even after he passed away. It never really meant anything to me. But to hear Robert say that brought me to tears, he says. An excerpt from letter written by Robert Sand to Ricky Strongquill, son of Dennis Strongquill Strongquills family had mixed emotions. Four of his siblings, while supportive of his move, wanted nothing to do with Sand. But Teresa eventually followed suit, seeing the value in what her brother had done and writing her own letter and even taking it a step further by flying out to B.C. in March 2016 to sit down with Sand in prison. I found what I was looking for when I decided to forgive. However, I will never forget, she told the Free Press this week of the four-hour meeting. Im a much happier person. Im more at peace with myself since I went out to visit him. I realize hes a person too who did something terribly, terribly wrong, she said. I saw with my own eyes that he was genuinely sorry, and I got an apology for what occurred. Teresa ultimately wrote a letter to federal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould about her meeting, which she called history in the making. CP The hearse containing the casket of RCMP Constable Dennis Strongquill is escorted by some of the over 300 police officers who came to the church in Powerview, Man. for his memorial service on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001. I would like to thank you personally for having these programs in place so that families can take these opportunities to help them in their healing process, she wrote. I was able to witness a miracle because I was able to forgive the offender and saw with my own eyes and heart that he truly was sorry and took full responsibility for his actions. Ricky Strongquill would receive another letter from Sand shortly after Teresas visit. I could feel that she is strong and her strength was reinforced by a pure heart. She truly is a special person and a blessing for those around her, Sand wrote of Teresa. Ill be honest, walking into that meeting wasnt easy, and what followed didnt get any easier. I could feel that she was void of hate or malice, sincere in her compassion and forgiveness. At first, I found that difficult to understand that, but over time Im also realizing how toxic hate, resentment and shame can be. Sand mentioned how Teresa told him Ricky had recently experienced a bit of a setback in his rehabilitation and the killer urged his victims son to stay strong. Hearing this. I wanted to do something to help. Not knowing how I could, I decided to write. Ricky, I hope that you wont give up on sobriety and that happy and joyous life free from drugs and alcohol. I know that you have the strength to pick yourself back up. Its not the fall thats important. The important thing is picking yourself back up and learning from the experience. I wish you success and happiness and will send you strength and positive energy, Sand concluded. After so many directionless years, Ricky Strongquill believes he has found his true calling. Now 36, he is set to graduate later this year from the culinary arts program at Red River College. Hes an up-and-coming chef in this city, currently doing his practicum at Niakwa Country Club, and hopes to carve out a successful career in his industry. He looks to some famous chefs in the world who have overcome plenty of obstacles to achieve their success and hopes to one day be a similar role model others, especially First Nations youth. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ricky Strongquill with a photo of his father You know what excites me about cooking? When it puts a smile on someones face. You genuinely know you did a good job, Strongquill says. I get my inspiration from these big chefs. A lot of their stories are the same. When they were young, they had these dark years. He doesnt hide from his past and admits he is far from perfect, including a slip-up with hard drugs about a year ago, which is around the time Sand wrote his last letter. Theres always a fear, a constant fear. I call them reminders, he says. Im an optimist now. I take that and use (the past) as a reminder thats not where I want to be. Once he gets his diploma, Strongquill plans to take a trip out west to see Sand. He said its all part of the journey hes on. I definitely started healing a little differently. Its always going to be an open wound. Its always going to hurt, he says. But this definitely has made things easier. The next step is for me to go out there. He says he wasted many valuable years of his life but believes his real purpose has emerged. In addition to his career, hes in a long-term relationship and has a place of his own. I have no regrets. I had to go through what I had to go through to get where I am. I did a lot of work on myself to get where I am, he says, while noting the role Sand has played in the process. It was like a weight was lifted off, one that you didnt know was holding you down. I said everything I wanted to say. I felt like this was the right thing I had to do. mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Canadian Press FILE--Robert Marlo Sand is led by RCMP officers into Brandon Correctional Institute Sunday, Dec.23, 2001 in Brandon, Man. Two young Albertans, including Sand, showed no emotion as they made their first court appearance Monday, Jan.7, 2002 charged in the murder of RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill.(CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/Brandon Sun - Colin Corneau) CP Legacy Brandon Sun Robert Marlo Sand is seen in this undated police photo provided by court. Bell is currently on trial for the shooting death of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Dennis Strongquill in Brandon court. (CP PHOTO/HO/Brandon Sun) Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Last weeks ransomware attack that brought down MRI scanners in the U.K., railroad ticket machines in Germany, interior ministry computers in Russia and parts of the FedEx network in the U.S. is bound to cause a backlash against spy agencies cyberwarfare capabilities. It shows that services such as the U.S. National Security Agency hoard weapons that, by their very nature, target civilian infrastructure. The WannaCry attack wasnt a big-time nation-state operation, though its likely that it may have originated in Russia (though later reports suggested a North Korean link). Last year, 75 per cent of crypto ransomware malware that encrypts files on the target machine to force its owner to pay a ransom in exchange for their decryption originated from the Russian-speaking hacker underworld. The largest number of WannaCry attacks occurred in Russia and Ukraine. The hackers here werent playing some political interference game: They were after money, in bitcoin. Researchers who tracked the bitcoin addresses hardwired into the malware found that tens of thousands of dollars had been paid before the spread of the virus was halted by a cybersecurity expert who accidentally found a flaw in WannaCry. FRANK AUGSTEIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS British IT expert Marcus Hutchis has been branded a hero for slowing down the WannaCry global cyber attack. That flaw, apparently the result of the hackers rather clumsy attempt to prevent their malware from being analyzed, shows the attack wasnt highly sophisticated. Its main element was developed by the NSA, not hackers a vulnerability codenamed Eternalblue, which allowed the agency to commandeer old, pre-Windows 10 versions of the Microsoft operating system. Following the WannaCry attack, Microsoft has joined the ranks of those criticizing the NSA and CIA for hoarding vulnerabilities. In a strongly worded blog post, company president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote: Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen. And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today nation-state action and organized criminal action. Microsoft and its peers shouldnt count on the NSA to hand over information about vulnerabilities; spies will be spies. Given the current regulatory environment, its the responsibility of these companies themselves, with their enormous financial resources, to track down these gaps in the security of their products, paying to acquire information if necessary. Smith, however, is right when he calls for a Digital Geneva Convention that would protect civilians against nation-states cyberwars, just as the Fourth Geneva Convention defends civilians in time of conventional war. How the NSA planned to use Eternalblue in the first place is a good question. The fact that it only works against old Windows systems shows that it is specifically directed against civilian infrastructure, such as public-sector networks that are often administered cheaply, by overworked and less-qualified information technology professionals, on obsolete hardware, with software that wont run on Windows 10. The newest version of the Microsoft operating system now holds just 26 per cent of the global market. The share of Windows 7, released in 2009, is 48.5 per cent, and seven per cent of the worlds Internet-connected computers still use 16-year-old Windows XP. No matter how Microsoft pushes the newest system to customers (the upgrades are free), some systems stick with the old versions, simply because they cant afford the switching effort in terms of the time required and the old hardwares insufficiency. Expensive MRI machines used by the British National Health Service are a good example; medical equipment is likely to run antiquated systems and is exposed to attacks delivered through the Internet. The Russian interior ministrys computers affected by the WannaCry virus arent military-use machines; theyre old computers in police stations and service centres, the ones that are always the last to get an upgrade. Its easy to say everyone should be vigilant, install every patch released and, preferably, never miss an operating system update. Certainly many institutions and companies underinvest in this area. These civilian systems, however, will always lag behind and thats why the NSA thinks old Windows vulnerabilities are worth hoarding. Its tempting for an intelligence service to find ways to shut down an adversarys power grid or hospital system, or to hack traffic lights in a big city to cause chaos. But thats as unethical as shooting or torturing the civilians in war. It should be illegal to develop such weapons, just as it is to produce nerve gas for military uses. It would be naive to believe that would rule out the use of such cyberweapons. But it will improve intelligence services accountability and, at the very least, force them to take better care of any dark stuff that comes into their hands. As it is, if they have a piece of malware, its highly likely that even small-time criminals will have it, too. Leonid Bershidsky was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. Bloomberg Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The delays are inexcusable. To the families that should be most invested in the process, they are frustrating and hurtful. But can anyone really say theyre surprised by the negligible progress made thus far by the bureaucracy-bound National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls? The Native Womens Association of Canada (NWAC) this week issued its second report card on the inquiry, and the group gave the public investigation process passing grades on none of the 15 key criteria identified by NWAC. Ten of the measurement areas, concerned mostly with the inquirys organizational structure, accessibility, communication and respect for families, survivors and other stakeholders, were given complete fail grades. The remainder were judged to be either in need of action or not subject to assessment because of insufficient information. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett In particular, NWAC criticized the inquiry commissions decision to focus on assembling legal and research teams during its startup phase, leaving communications and community-relations components severely understaffed. According to the report card, this has created a framework eight months into the inquiry process that makes it very difficult for First Nations, Inuit and Metis families to make themselves heard. In criticizing the inquirys failure to create a process that is sensitive to the trauma suffered by individuals, families and communities directly affected by the murder or disappearance of indigenous women, NWAC bluntly stated that it cannot recommend that families participate in the inquiry process until a more trauma-informed framework is adopted. On Tuesday, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett expressed sympathy for the concerns raised by NWAC and other groups, but noted that the inquiry operates at arms length from government. When the families have concerns, I have concerns, she said. The inquiry, which is being conducted by Marion Buller British Columbias first female First Nations judge and four other commissioners, is expected to last two years and cost nearly $54 million. Delays in scheduling hearings the first is slated for May 29 in Whitehorse, but others have been pushed back until fall at the earliest and problems encountered by individuals seeking to register to contribute have already put both the timetable and budget in question. By creating a process that has made the fundamental element of public involvement so difficult, the inquiry commission has already distanced itself from its core goal of promoting and advancing reconciliation. And the challenges created by its unwieldy and, according to NWAC, inappropriately top down structure will only increase as the investigation moves into its public-hearings stage. In part, the inquirys ineffectiveness to date is a reflection of the fact that its most important goals are inevitably at cross purposes. The collection of stories and insights from people affected by the MMIW issue is necessarily a time-consuming process, made more so by the inquiry commissions early missteps. The other pressing concern facing the commission the federal-government directive to recommend concrete actions to remove systemic causes of violence and increase the safety of indigenous women and girls in Canada is an ongoing life-and-death issue that begs for the sort of swift and decisive action that government-mandated inquiries are simply not designed to deliver. Indigenous communities frustrations are justified. The talk has barely begun. Whatever action might result is years away. In the meantime, indigenous women continue to die and disappear. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/05/2017 (2004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Shinderpal Jandu arrived in Canada 24 years ago. He worked as a mechanic at Canadian Tire for five years, then with Volkswagen for a year and a half before he and a partner opened the Bosh Auto Service Centre on Selkirk Avenue at McKenzie Street. Jandu took over the business in 2005 as sole proprietor. Shinderpal Jandu arrived in Canada 24 years ago. He worked as a mechanic at Canadian Tire for five years, then with Volkswagen for a year and a half before he and a partner opened the Bosh Auto Service Centre on Selkirk Avenue at McKenzie Street. Jandu took over the business in 2005 as sole proprietor. Doug Kretchmer The friendly staff at Bosh Auto Service Centre on Selkirk Avenue (from left) Anmol S. Thind, Gurtej S. Karry, Maninder S. Marok, Pardeep S. Saggu, and Shinderpal Jandu. I have had my car repaired there a few times over the last year and not only were they able to squeeze me in right away but their prices were very reasonable. This is the beauty of a lot of the businesses in the North End affordability, perhaps due to lower overhead as a result of cheaper real estate. Shinderpal now owns the building and says he loves Winnipeg. While most of his family lives in B.C., he told me that the people here are very friendly and I have more time for family. I know the feeling, having lived in Vancouver myself in the 90s. I think B.C. actually means Bring Cash, as it is very expensive to live there. People spend a lot of time working, sometimes at two jobs, just to pay the bills, leaving little time for family and friends. Here in Winnipeg, business seems to be booming and Shinderpal and his four mechanics are a well known team on the Selkirk Avenue strip. Each time Ive had my car repaired at Bosh, Ive met customers who have become regulars as a result of the great, reliable service they tell me they can always count on. Heck, I was even treated to pizza when I showed up to pay for the repairs done on my car the week before. I find it interesting when someone moves to Winnipeg from a country whose thermometers rarely dip below zero. But Shinderpal told me he loves winter. Even in -37 C (or colder), the warmth and friendliness of Winnipegs genuine people is a wonderful thing. Doug Kretchmer is a freelance writer, artist and community correspondent for The Times. Email him at quidamphotography@gmail.com Twitter: @DougKretchmer A 46-year-old man was killed and more than 25 others were injured Tuesday evening when a reported tornado devastated a trailer park near Chetek in western Wisconsin. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald described the scene at Prairie Lakes Estates mobile home park, with 50 to 60 trailers, as total devastation and said first responders could hear people yelling for help when they arrived. He said at least one child was among the injured. One person, identified by Fitzgerald as being a 46-year-old man, died at the mobile home park. No details of the fatality were given. Fitzgerald said 17 people were taken to area hospitals with about 5-10 more people having minor injuries and refusing treatment. The New Auburn Area Fire Department First Responders had two trucks and six personnel at the scene, and the Bloomer Community Ambulance Service also responded. There were among 12 area ambulance services and six fire departments at the scene. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was scheduled to view the damage Wednesday afternoon. Fitzgerald on Wednesday praised the efforts of first responders, who were first called at 5:33 p.m. He says that in some cases, the responders left their own storm-damaged homes to help search the mobile home park. Fitzgerald says they lifted walls off people who were trapped. Chetek Mayor Jeff Martin estimated the park, about 40 miles north of Eau Claire, had around 50 homes. Martin also said several turkey barns in the area were also hit hard. We have several reports in the county of other structures down, trees down and damaged vehicles, Fitzgerald said. Devin Feuerhelm said that his sister, Lenna Samuelson, lives at Prairie Lakes Estates with her two daughters, Ashley and Brenna. While their home was flattened, the SUV next to it was untouched. He said her sister also had her 2-month-old grandson, Nolan, in the home when the storm hit, and they had nowhere to go but the bathtub. Nolan escaped with just a couple of scratches, he said. Samuelsons daughters suffered minor injuries, and the mother suffered a gash on her head, but he said all are expected to be fine. Dale Daily said Wednesday that he heard the warning siren sound about a half-hour before the tornado hit Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Park. He says he and his wife drove away to safety and returned just after the twister left the area to find the park in ruins. Daily says he walked among the debris and helped free a man who was buried under a refrigerator and debris. He says the man had bad head trauma and that he tried to keep him from going to sleep. Mark Tyson said he and his wife Robin were huddled behind a living room chair as the storm hit Tuesday evening when an entire wall of their mobile home suddenly came flying at them. I thought we were done, said Tyson. Shards of glass were flying at them like bullets, Tyson said: When your house comes apart like that, theres no place to go. I thought this is it. The Twin Cities station of the National Weather Service tweeted a photo of large hailstones that fell in the town of Barron, with the largest 3 inches in diameter. The Barron County Department of Health and Human Services is asking the public for now to not to bring more donations to an emergency shelter set up at Mosaic Telecom in Cameron, because of limited space. The care and concern from the community has been overwhelming. Additional needs will be shared with the community when known. Please monitor the Barron County Sheriffs Department Facebook page for further updates. The county plans to open a volunteer reception center on Friday to coordinate trailer park clean up efforts. Fitzgerald said the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are setting up shelter and providing food and clothes for the families in need. The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs said two people on Tuesday night stayed at the shelter set up in Cameron, while others stayed at motels or with friends and family. The department said seven to eight homes in Rusk County were damaged or destroyed by Tuesdays storm. The tornado traveled easterly through the county, touching down in several places. Included in the path of the tornado were the Lake Amacoy and Conrath areas, which sustained the most severe damage, Rusk County Sheriff Jeffrey S. Wallace said. We escaped the tornado with a few minor injures but sustained heavy damage to public and private properties...(If) anybodys offering assistance, please call the sheriffs office at (715) 532-2189, Wallace said. In Taylor County, several power power poles and lines were down in the Stetsonville area. The Wisconsin tornado was part of a huge swath of the Plains and Upper Midwest threatened with severe weather and followed a turbulent but less violent night of storms in southern Wisconsin on Monday night. Emergency management officials in Grant County reported a gust that hit 68 mph in Cuba City, and wind felled tree branches in the Hazel Green area and debris was blowing across the highway in Ellenboro. The National Weather Service office in La Crosse received numerous reports of winds topping 50 mph, and trees and power lines are down in Green and Lafayette counties. A mobile home is a particularly dangerous place to be during a tornado, according to the National Weather Service. The high winds during a tornado can rip a mobile home, which frequently would not have a foundation, from its moorings. In 2011, when devastating tornadoes struck in Joplin, Missouri, and in Alabama and Mississippi, 111 of the 551 people killed nationwide in tornadoes, or 20 percent, were in mobile homes, according to the Storm Prediction Center website. More than two dozen tornado sightings were reported to the National Weather Service Tuesday night across the five states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The storm also brought numerous reports of large hail and strong winds. In Oklahoma, a tornado damaged much of a subdivision on the southern fringe of Elk City, Oklahoma, about 110 miles west of Oklahoma City. Fire Chaplain Danny Ringer told reporters at the scene late Tuesday that one person was known dead from the twister. He also said the storm destroyed 40 homes and damaged 50 to 75 others severely. It was not immediately known if there were injuries. Convicted Bethany L. Gates, 31, of Mondovi, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of felony battery to a police officer and resisting arrest. Other charges of disorderly conduct, battery and bail jumping were dismissed. Gates was sentenced to a year of probation and 21 days in jail. Probation included counseling, taking prescribed medications and payment of $518 in court costs. Two sheriffs deputies arrested Gates at G Stop Bar in Gilmanton last November where they were dispatched to a report of a disorderly woman threatening to hit other people in the bar with beer bottles. Officers said Gates resisted arrest and kicked one of them twice. Other bar patrons told police that Gates assaulted them, one of them hit with an empty bottle. Bar goers told police that Gates became upset after someone made fun of a song she played in the tavern. Juan V. Cavazos, 24, of Minnesota City, Minn., pleaded no contest and was found guilty of second offense operating while intoxicated. Fined $834.27, 10 days in jail, drivers license revoked for 12 months, ignition interlock device required for 12 months, referred for alcohol abuse assessment and drivers safety plan. Charged Kevalee M. Meyer, 17, of Mondovi, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges accusing her of theft, disorderly conduct, possession of illegally obtained prescription drugs and possession of marijuana. A case status hearing was set for May 24 when Meyer also was scheduled to be accused of new charges of bail jumping and involvement in driving a car without consent. Deputy Sheriff Mike Osmond filed a police report describing response to a call last Oct. 17 in Mondovi where a woman said her 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo car was taken without consent. Jordan Papenfuss, 30, of Blair, court hearing adjourned to June 16 on charges accusing him of second offense possession of THC, possession of narcotics, possession of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended license. Jesse B. Ristow, 27, of Baldwin, plea hearing scheduled June 14 on a misdemeanor traffic charge accusing him of second offense operating while intoxicated. Ristow pleaded not guilty in October. Michael J. Christner, 34, of Eau Claire, arrest warrant issued May 8 for failure to appear in court as scheduled on charges accusing him of possessing methamphetamine and operating while license revoked. Frank J. Bertollini, 34, of Eau Claire, case status hearing scheduled July 21 on charges accusing him of third offense operating while intoxicated and bail jumping. Bertollini has pleaded not guilty. Robert A. Ericson, 33, of Fountain City, court hearing adjourned to June 14 on charges accusing him of second offense possession of THC and first offense operating while intoxicated. Agriculture was in the stage of the ox cart in the log cabin when the Winona Republican was established in 1855. The forests of Winona County were being cleared away by the pioneers, and crude log cabins were being erected. The logs not needed for building were rolled into piles and burned, or occasionally chopped into cordwood and hauled to Winona, where they were sold to steamboats. The pioneers had to make most of their own tools. The wheels for their ox cart were large logs, sawed to the proper thickness. Some had no wheels at all, but used runners even in the summer. Oxen were preferred to horses as draft animals. The ox is stronger, and there were few roads, or none at all, where most of the farm hauling was done. Under a heavy load oxen tug and twist, using the leverage of the tongue to good advantage, notably when plowing in grubby land. High-strung horses, even draft animals, on the other hand, are inclined to throw their whole weight into the collar at once. The matter of harness furnished another argument for the ox. Any handy farmer could make a yoke for oxen, and a blacksmith could mend the chains. Oxen could also forage for a living better than horses. Almost any kind of cow made a fairly good beast of burden, and animals taken from the regular herd yielded to training fairly easily. Farmers who could not afford the luxury of an ox team dug up the soil with large hoes, and planted corn and potatoes. Wheat was threshed by flailing, and corn was ground in coffee mills. On the farm of A. B. Drew in Rollingstone valley, corn was ground into mush with a homemade instrument consisting of a section of a large log standing on end, with the top hollowed out like a bowl, and an oak pounder or pestle wieghing 40 or 50 pounds suspended above the bowl by a springboard. Mr. Drew came to Winona from Indiana in a covered wagon in 1852 and was Winona Countys first farmer. He harvested the first crop of wheat in southern Minnesota, and sold the first wagon load of wheat in Winona. The first gristmill in the county was built by Alan and Gilbert in Minnesota City in 1853. In 1856, Wilson Davis build a water-power flour mill in the village of Pickwick, and this big stone mill, as it was called for many years, had a large output and was noted for its winter wheat flour. In the early days it was the mecca of wheat growers, and they came from as far as 100 miles by ox teams to get their annual supply of flour. The worst problem for the early pioneers on the ridges was water. At first they used surface water, and saved it after washing their hands and faces or vegetables to water their hogs. Many were compelled to haul water for their household purposes three miles or more. Some built cisterns, and later on, windmills, but only a few could afford to drill down 200 or 300 feet for water. An abundance of wild game did much to solve the serious problem of food. As one old settler put it, all one had to do was shoot into a flock of pigeons and pick up a peck of them. There were plenty of prairie chickens, too, ducks and geese in the spring and fall, and deer in the winter, and the streams were filled with trout. A herd of 40 elk was seen on the ridge between the Root and Zumbro rivers back in the 1850s. The early trails leading past Sugarloaf into Winona crossed the lake at a point about half a mile west of the present Mankato dike. There was a hard sandy bottom at the time; not until the farmlands began to be plowed and cultivated did such vast quantities of mud drain into and settle in Lake Winona. During high water the pioneers made the crossing on a scow. I wish Mondays bombshell from the Washington Post that President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week which jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State was a surprise. It is not. Lets put aside the possibility that Trump was deliberately giving information to Russia as part of a deliberate long-term quid-pro-quo going back to the campaign. That seems far, far, less likely to me than a much more characteristic explanation for Trump actions: He was just shooting off his mouth without having any idea about potential consequences. In other words, its yet another example showing that the president of the United States is either incapable of or unwilling to learn what he needs to know to function even minimally in his job. A man who would blurt out that he obstructed justice is hardly likely to bother learning what he should and shouldnt say to anyone in any situation. Granted, one might think he would care when U.S. interests (and perhaps lives) are on the line, but weve seen no evidence of that; that officials expressed concern with Trumps handling of sensitive information as well as his grasp of the potential consequences is consistent with everything weve seen from him in the campaign, during the transition, and after he took office. Or theres this: U.S. officials said that the National Security Council continues to prepare multi-page briefings for Trump to guide him through conversations with foreign leaders but that he has insisted that the guidance be distilled to a single page of bullet points, and often ignores those. Can anything be done to improve this situation while he remains in office? The same thing is true now thats been true from the start: As unsuited as Trump is for office, his weaknesses could at least be minimized if he were forced to accept a professional presidential staff structure. There was some talk over the weekend of Trump himself wanting to clear house, but thats not what Im talking about. Whats needed is for patriotic-minded Republicans to impose on him a professional chief of staff a Rob Portman, or Mitch Daniels and to get rid of the amateur hour hangers-on, beginning with Trumps own family members. Doing so wouldnt solve everything not by a longshot. The constitutional system requires a real president, and were not going to have a competent one any time soon. But it could help quite a bit. For one thing, a strong, professional chief of staff could impose some rational order on the paper flow, which is one reason Trump keeps getting in trouble. The truth is that Trump has given Republicans in and out of Congress more than enough leverage to force him to behave himself. Hes been in violation of conflict-of-interest guidelines and the emoluments clauses of the Constitution since Inauguration Day, and hes now almost certainly guilty of at least a mild form (and perhaps a lot more) of obstructing justice. If House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threaten him with impeachment and conviction, its no empty bluff. They could threaten to do plenty of other damage to him without playing the impeachment card, whether its insisting on making his income tax returns public or (finally!) forming a select committee to look into the Trump-Russia scandal. And, yes, if he resists, they can also threaten to go public with any number of highly embarrassing things he is certain to have said and done behind closed doors with them and with other members of Congress. Sure, Trump will still be close-to-impossible to manage no matter how the White House is organized. But right now its organized to maximize chaos, with a president who needs the tightest possible constraints on everything he sees, reads, and watches. Ronald Reagan needed to be carefully managed so he didnt go off script inappropriately but when he had a competent White House staff, he rarely harmed U.S. interests by doing so. What it comes down to is that senior Republicans have a responsibility to their party and to the nation to intervene and get this administration to shape up. History is already going to be harsh to those who allowed Trump to win the Republican nomination for president; it will be even harsher to those who dont step up now. Yes, Im talking about the president as if he was a toddler. As Dan Drezner has repeatedly pointed out, thats how his own staff talks about him. Either that, or they talk about him as if he was a moron. Its an entertaining game to decide which at least until the toddler/moron starts handing out U.S. intelligence to Russia. Not that Reagan is an equivalent of Trump, since Reagan had strong, well-developed policy positions and had excellent political skills in some areas, and he certainly took the presidency seriously. Still in that respect they are comparable. If it were up to me, Id lower the voting age to at least 14, so that everyone would have an opportunity to cast at least one ballot for president before graduating from high school. At a victory rally for Frances young new President Emmanuel Macron outside the Louvre last week, I was struck by the generational gap between the candidate and his most animated supporters. Most younger people in the crowd looked relieved but far from overjoyed; the most visibly enthusiastic among them were of West African or Arab descent. And when Macron took the stage and began to speak, it was the older heads in the crowd that nodded at his words. I remember, in 2002, watching French students my age demonstrate against right-wing nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of this years losing candidate, Marine Le Pen: Vote for the crook, not the fascist, they chanted, referring to the corruption-accused Jacques Chirac. Today, their equivalents chant neither the banker nor the racist. From vote to dont in just 15 years. Liberals worldwide seem to have concluded, with a collective sigh of relief, that Macrons emphatic victory is a sign that the global populist wave has peaked and that time is on their side. Such optimism is premature. The weakness of Macrons appeal and strength of Le Pens among many young French voters is further evidence of a disquieting truth: In many parts of the world, the young may simply care less about liberal democratic values than they once did. True, young Britons largely voted against the idea of leaving the European Union and American youth overwhelmingly rejected Donald Trumps candidacy although he may have won because not enough of them cared enough to turn out against him. And there are specific reasons why French youth might be angry: Youth unemployment is notoriously high, for example. But, like all economic anxiety explanations for a turn to radicalism, this one is incomplete. After all, while youth unemployment is at 23 percent today, it was only a few percentage points lower in 2002, when French youth enthusiastically turned out against Le Pens father. The fact is, theres no reason to assume that younger, first-time voters will become a bulwark for liberal, centrist politics against a populist upsurge. A widely quoted paper last year by Roberto Foa and Yascha Mounk examined data from the World Values Survey and concluded: Back in 1995, for example, only 16 percent of Americans born in the 1970s (then in their late teens or early twenties) believed that democracy was a bad political system for their country. Twenty years later, the number of antidemocrats in this same generational cohort had increased by around 4 percentage points, to 20 percent. The next cohort comprising those born in the 1980s is even more antidemocratic: In 2011, 24 percent of U.S. millennials (then in their late teens or early twenties) considered democracy to be a bad or very bad way of running the country. Survey results from the worlds largest democracy are no more comforting. New Delhis Centre for the Study of Developing Societies surveyed Indians between 15 and 34 last year and came out with some numbers that should depress liberals everywhere. A majority of those surveyed wanted to ban films that hurt religious sentiments; 24 percent would be unhappy living next to someone of African descent; 43 percent believed men were better leaders; only four percent married outside their caste. And, as it happened, about 60 percent said India needed a strong leader who doesnt need to bother about winning elections. In fact, political scientists and survey takers have been warning for some time that we shouldnt assume that young voters will usher in a new age of social and political moderation. Some have pointed out that millennials are more extreme than previous generations; others found nearly a quarter of young French people thought only a revolution could fix things, up from seven percent in 1990. And, of course, as the Atlantics Derek Thompson has pointed out, 42 percent of young Americans surveyed by Pew said socialism was better than capitalism even though only 16 percent could define it. Nationalism and grievance are not exclusive to the old. In fact, in many countries, older generations have lived through darker and more illiberal times, and are thus more likely to understand the dangers of giving in to the politics of grievance that give birth to populism. We must accept that younger people seeking to find a place for themselves in a world they feel doesnt recognize their desires are as likely, perhaps more, to sustain illiberal populism as their parents or older siblings. Ultimately, the aura of inevitability that liberalism has chosen to surround itself with over the past few decades may be its worst enemy. Too many liberals will sit back after seeing a victory like Macrons and believe that a natural order has been restored, not appreciating how many young people resent such smugness. Liberalism is not a default option; it has to be fought for, generation after generation. Perhaps this one more than most. What started as a casual home-brewing demonstration in Baraboo has blossomed into an annual festival that showcases homemade beers from across the state. The eighth annual Brew at the Barn home brew competition is once again shaping up to be a beer lovers paradise, complete with samples of homemade beers, wines, sodas, ciders and meads. But the celebration wasnt always so widespread. It started as just a bunch of guys who got together out on the deck at the Barn Restaurant, said organizer Christin Harding. Jim Kinsman from Reedsburg did a presentation on how to make beer out on the deck one day, and I thought Wow, this is really great we should all get together and drink this. Harding didnt stop with a homebrew happy hour, however. The multiple sclerosis advocate from Baraboo sought to make the celebration a fundraiser for the Wisconsin chapter of the MS Society, as well. The home-brewing festival now pulls in about $1,500 for the MS Society on average each year. Harding said the money is used locally to fund programs, classes and conferences for people who have MS, along with research on the disease. I like the fact that the funds that are raised go to people in Baraboo, said Harding, who has been living with MS for 23 years. I know a number of people in Baraboo, besides myself, who have benefited from things the Wisconsin chapter of the MS Society has done. Brew at the Barn has expanded over the years and now features beers from four area brewing clubs. This year, members of the Bluff Hoppers in Sauk Prairie, Clown Town Brew Club in Baraboo, the Dells United Frequent Fermenters, and Buck Run Brewing out of Richland Center will showcase their novelty beers. Independent brewers from Verona, Madison, Monona, Richland Center and Janesville will offer homemade beverages, as well. In addition to a wide variety of beer tasting options, local brewer Jim Kinsman said the festival provides an opportunity for individuals who are interested in brewing to chat with knowledgeable artisans. People always ask how I did something, and my response is usually, Well this is what I did, he said. Most of the time were not real secretive about what we did or how we did it. The event will be held Saturday, June 3 at the Barn Restaurant in Baraboo. Throughout the afternoon, beer lovers can sample libations produced by breweries, craft independents and amateurs. They can also vote for the brews they like most. Local blues musician Mark Tully will perform at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $35 at the door or $30 in advance and can be purchased at Barabrew Liquor, the Barn Restaurant or Viney and Viney law offices. Tickets include all you can eat and drink specials and a commemorative drinking glass. In addition to ticket proceeds, the fight against MS will benefit from a raffle whose items include brewery accessories such as signs and bottle openers. Harding said her goal is to raise $5,000. University of Wisconsin-Baraboo Sauk County leaders plan to rename the campus science building after former Dean Thomas Pleger. The Campus Commission approved dedicating the building to Pleger during its Thursday meeting on campus. The measure will be further considered by the Sauk County Board of Supervisors and the Baraboo City Council in the coming months. Pleger died in earlier this month after undergoing emergency brain surgery in Michigan. At the time, he was serving as president of Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. Pleger previously spent 21 years working throughout the University of Wisconsin System, most recently as campus executive officer and dean at UW-Baraboo from 2006 to 2014. During the Campus Commission meeting, Sauk County Attorney Todd Liebman provided a draft resolution to rename the universitys science building, the construction of which Pleger championed. Toms professional commitment and dedication to the campus led to tremendous improvements including the construction of the landmark science building, which came to fruition in large part due to Toms leadership and hard work, and his dedication toward forging a truly positive relationship with the joint owners who funded the construction, Liebman said, reading from the draft resolution. Commissioners expressed interest in holding a dedication ceremony for the renaming of the building. Baraboo Mayor Mike Palm said it may make sense to hold the ceremony in conjunction with UW-Baraboos 50th anniversary celebration this fall. It brings it all under one umbrella, he said. Commissioners said they were unsure of the total project cost, but lettering and other expenses will come from budgeted funds. Commissioner Scott Von Asten opposed renaming the building, adding that his opposition was only due to his personal beliefs. Im going to vote against this, and I want to be clear: this has nothing to do with our friend Thomas, he said. It has to do with the fact that I dont believe we should put names on public buildings. JUNEAU Stormy weather Wednesday did not stop the loyal officers of Dodge County from paying tribute to officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. The memorial was held inside the Dodge County Administration Building in Juneau with Deputy Administrator Jason Smith of the Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigations as a speaker. Smith is a 25-year veteran of law enforcement and served with the Milwaukee Police Department commander of the Intelligence Fusion Center and helped coordinate responses to the mass shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek and Azana Spa in Brookfield. The memorial is devoted to the men and women to protect those who need protecting, The. Rev. Tim Bauer spoke to those gathered. Its not how they died, but how they lived. Smith said that 245 men and women in law enforcement, two from Wisconsin, died in line of duty in 2016. They were all taken far too suddenly and far too soon, Smith said. Horicon Police Chief Joseph Adamson read the names of those honored on the memorial: Marshal William Gibson, Oct. 19, 1882, was the chief of the Horicon Police Department. He had taken a revolver away from a suspect when he was putting him in a jail cell, but was not aware the suspect had a second revolver. Gibson was shot and killed and the suspect fled. Officer Hugo Lisko, Sept. 27, 1926, was employed with the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He died in a motorcycle accident at age 28. Officer Kurth Bentz, May 8, 1936, was employed with the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He was killed when his police motorcycle struck a truck that had turned in front of him as he attempted to catch up to a speeding vehicle. Chief Charles Liebenow Sr., June 2, 1941, was the chief of the Horicon Police Department. He was shot and killed while attempting to talk to a suspect during a domestic disturbance. The suspect committed suicide after killing Liebenow. Guard David Davies, Dec. 10, 1945, was employed at Central State Hospital, DOC. He was bludgeoned to death by two patients in the hospital. Sheriff Herbert Schwantes, Jan. 5, 1954, was the sheriff of Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He died of a heart attack. Detective Donley Dye, June 26, 1978, was employed at the Dodge County Sheriffs Office when he died of a heart attack. Chief Gene Zangl, Feb. 14, 1985, was the chief of the Mayville Police Department when he died of a heart attack. Officer Gary Mass, April 9, 1986, was a native of Horicon and employed with the Yuma Arizona Police Department. He was shot and killed while responding to a call on a bus at a local Greyhound depot. Maas confronted two men at the Greyhound depot, one of them opened fire, striking him and fatally injuring him. Maas was able to return fire killing one suspect. The second suspect was arrested a week later and convicted of first-degree murder. Capt. Thomas Beahm, Aug. 17, 1994, was employed at the Burke Center, DOC. He was killed while traveling between facilities. His patrol unit was struck head on by another vehicle. Deputy Ralph Zylka and Deputy Sung Bang, Aug. 17, 2000, were employed by the Milwaukee Sheriff Department. They died after the helicopter they were in crashed in Dodge County. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs has been directed to revise its public records policies within 30 days after a personnel investigation found records procedures werent followed in two cases. Also an agency employee in charge of reviewing public records requests was reassigned after being placed on paid administrative leave for 75 days. The cases stem from a request last fall by a veterans advocate for an incident report related to a potentially hazardous liquid oxygen leak in May at the veterans home at King. The agency withheld the incident report after determining the requester, Rick de Moya, who had filed hundreds of records requests, identified the wrong building where the liquid oxygen incident occurred. Department of Administration personnel administrator Greg Gracz wrote that while the denial was technically within the bounds of the law, it wasnt consistent with the spirit of Gov. Scott Walkers March 2016 executive order regarding transparency in the records process. The agency should have sought clarification from de Moya, rather than deny his request, Gracz said. Then in early February, the Wisconsin State Journal asked the department for emails related to the denial, including one in which former assistant deputy secretary Dan Buttery told Walkers office that the liquid oxygen report had been provided to de Moya. The State Journal had obtained the email from Walkers office through the states public records law and sought additional internal emails from Veterans Affairs to explain Butterys statement to the governor. Reid Aaron, a Veterans Affairs staff member responsible for reviewing agency records requests, made about 300 pages of emails available for review at the agencys office. The State Journal review found that the emails provided didnt include the Buttery email. After the State Journal inquired about the Buttery email to agency spokeswoman Carla Vigue, the agency began an investigation and placed Aaron on administrative leave. According to an investigative report, Aaron later located a copy of the missing email and said he found it among the documents originally provided to the State Journal. However, Vigue noted the email was printed horizontally unlike all of the other 300 pages of emails. Also, there were two copies of the email in the electronic records of the documents. Aaron told investigators he did not remove the email, and didnt reinsert it after it was reported missing. The DOA personnel investigation determined there wasnt enough evidence to conclude that any of the various veterans affairs staff who reviewed the stack of records willfully removed the email. Others who reviewed them included Vigue, lawyer Phil Rangsuebsin and then deputy secretary Kathy Marschman. The investigation also concluded the agency should have provided the records to the State Journal in an electronic format, so there wouldnt be any confusion about the records. It is clear that the process for handling public records requests in the Department of Veterans Affairs must be greatly improved to avoid the confusion and lack of accountability evident in the handling of the records requests at issue in this investigation, Gracz wrote. Gracz noted DVA had already updated its policies, but asked DVAs legal counsel to provide DOA with a plan and revised policy within 30 days that would address the issues identified in the report. The WDVA recognizes that there is room for improvement in our open records process and we have already begun making changes to it, Vigue said in a statement. Mexican food lovers have a new restaurant to enjoy. El Asador is open at 452 Broadway in downtown Wisconsin Dells. The owners have three Al Asador Houses in Chicago and this is the first in Wisconsin. The owners come from a large family that has been Chicago based, but they often made visits to Wisconsin Dells and desired to bring their own taste to the area. When they noticed that the previous restaurant at the location, Taste of New Orleans, had left, they went to work to liven up the building and open their own spot. The restaurant offers an array of authentic Mexican foods including flavorful meats, ripe tomatoes, fresh avocados, fresh-made tortillas, drinks with sweet and rich strawberry tastes, thick slices of potatoes and even cactus. We only serve authentic food, said El Asador manager Jose Sanjuan. We are originally from Mexico and are excited to be in Wisconsin Dells. We are going to be open all year long and have really enjoyed the location and all of the people. It feels colorful and alive and we have the most authentic menu. We play authentic Mexican music. We love to say, El Asador is where you can remember all the traditions and flavors of Mexican food. El Asador has a vast menu and serves breakfast from open to close, the summer hours will begin after May 25. The restaurant will open at 9 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. A breakfast favorite is the El Asado style eggs, two strips of bacon, sliced ham, steak, two eggs and a side of chorizo. It will also serve eggs and cactus in red salsa in addition to many other breakfast plates. We do fresh tortillas, fresh nopales, jalapenos with the seeds in them for spicy food lovers, Sanjuan said. Our menu is full of pictures of the food so you can make a very visual choice. All of our food is always fresh. We do famous Mexican soups We have a vegan menu, we have a childrens menu and our avocados are always freshly cut. El Asador is famous for the parrilladas that can be served for two, four or more people. The parrilladas include beef ribs, pork chops, sausage, chicken, radish, cactus, sweet pepper, grilled onions, jalapenos, deep fried potatoes and queso fresco. I have had Mexican all over, to every place I have traveled, said Tennessee native Gene Mehlhoff, who was stopping in the Dells for a meal. The food here is great. The flavor is very good. The onions are very sweet and good and the meat was so flavorful. I have never had this dinner before and it is great. There is so much food, the portions are large. For birthdays, the restaurant features Big Mama Margaritas for those 21 and over, and chocolate cake for those younger to help celebrate. An upstairs area contains private tables for a more intimate meal. We are really looking forward to doing more catering too, Sanjuan said. We have a cart where all of the tacos are made fresh, so you can have a real and authentic Mexican party and food in your backyard or at any event. They are made fresh to order. We want to give everyone five-star service, starting when they walk in, with the host at the door. For more information contact El Asador at 608-678-2273 or online at www.elasadorchicago.com. Arts Quarter taking shape as architect is announced for Muscarelle expansion Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall: Phase two of the plan includes the renovation of Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall. Theatre and speech will move out of PBK Hall in the summer of 2018, with faculty offices and classes moving into Morton Hall. Performances are likely to be held in Trinkle Hall, which will be outfitted to house them. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption Next steps are taking shape for the new Arts Quarter at William & Mary. Pelli Clarke Pelli of New Haven, Connecticut, has been selected as the architectural firm that will design a planned state-of-the-art facility called The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, which will include an expanded Muscarelle Museum of Art. The selection is the latest step in the construction and renovation that will result in a planned Arts Quarter prominently situated on Jamestown Road. That plan includes phase one with the building of a new music facility, phase two with the renovation of Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall and phase three with the renovation and expansion of Andrews Hall and facilities for art and art history. The new music building will run next to PBK on the Barksdale Field side of it. Current plans have design work on phases one and two taking place over the next 15 months, after which ground will be broken on the two projects simultaneously in summer 2018. They are expected to be completed in the summer of 2020, according to Martha Terrell, senior planner and assistant to the senior vice president for finance and administration. Moseley Architects of Norfolk is the primary architect with music and performing arts specialist HGA Architects out of Minneapolis serving as subcontractor for the music building and PBK renovation, Terrell said. Funding Last year the state budget included design and construction authority for the first two phases of the Arts Quarter. The idea is that both can be done concurrently and therefore reduce the total cost of the project. The design funding that the state has provided will pay for phases one and two through preliminary working drawings, Terrell said. At the completion of the preliminary working drawings, university officials and the architects will do a cost estimate, which will be sent to the Bureau of Capital Outlay Management in Richmond to set the final budget. The total project estimate is currently $118 million. Construction, which could begin by summer 2018, is expected to take two years. Theatre and speech will move out of PBK Hall in the summer of 2018, with faculty offices and classes moving into Morton Hall, Terrell said. Performances are likely to be held in Trinkle Hall, which will be outfitted to house them. University officials will get the architects for the arts buildings together with those for the museum so that they can share their vision and make sure their designs are compatible, Terrell said. We just want to make sure that whatever distinctive identity they might have will be complementary to each other, she said. The Muscarelle Museum expansion is being funded by private donations and quite possibly may be in progress at the same time construction is being done for the music building and PBK Hall renovation. Design and construction Currently faculty leaders and members from theatre, speech and dance, as well as music, are meeting with architects and acousticians to finalize the uses of the space in the new buildings. The music building will contain a 450-seat concert hall and a 125-seat recital hall, with classrooms and faculty offices on the second floor, and applied faculty, practice rooms and the library on the lower level. The main theatre in PBK Hall will be renovated from its current approximately 750 seats down to just under 500. The building will also contain a 250-seat studio theatre, a 100-seat lab theatre and a 60-seat dance recital theatre in addition to classrooms and faculty offices. We did a lot of work on the preplanning study to try to make it as instructional-intensive as it needs to be to support the students and what the students are doing, Terrell said. The university considered using off-campus facilities for theatre and speech. But Sam Jones, senior vice president for finance and administration, was adamant that students attending the university during the construction didnt get short-changed, Terrell said. Christopher Owens, chair of theatre, speech and dance, is already planning for what he conjectures will be three years of displacement during construction. In addition to moving classrooms and offices and using a temporary performance space, the department will move its scene shop to a facility at the Dillard Complex and relocate its costume shop to space in Campus Center/Trinkle Hall. That includes more than 240 lighting instruments, tons of fabric and all the lumber it usually takes to mount a production, according to Owens. He is working on planning for building a temporary 250-seat theatre with seating at Trinkle, as well as joining a handful of key colleagues in the work on the new building. Were all very excited, but were frightened at the same time, Owens said. Just because its this wonderful big deal, but we really want to get it right because its going to be up for another 50 years. And some of us are going to work in it, and we want to work well. Music and dance will stay in their current spaces in Ewell and Adair halls, respectively, during construction. But each has a few performances a year in PBK Hall that will take place in Trinkle through that time period. Synergy Jamie Bartlett, chair of the music department, pointed out that music has never had a large performance venue and uses various facilities in the local area as well as PBK after theatre season ends each semester. She described the new concert and recital halls, as well as additional faculty offices, in the new music building as ideal for having a thriving center for everything. From the plan it looks like yes, well be getting what were very, very excited about it, Bartlett said. I like the idea of being closer to theatre, speech and dance and art and art history to bring the arts alive on campus. She spoke about the creative outlet that music provides as a key element for a well-rounded student, pointing out how many non-music majors take lessons and participate in music ensembles. Dance Program Director Joan Gavaler is thrilled at the prospect of having more than one dance studio in which to schedule classes and rehearsals. She is also looking forward to having all of the arts and music colleagues in one place and fostering informal interactions that will come from that, she said. The synergy that I think can grow out of that once this building is built, and we have all moved together, is the main thing that Im looking forward to, Gavaler said. Two W&M students awarded Udall Scholarships Udall Scholar: Talia Schmitt '18, an environmental community health major, is one of two recipients of the Udall Scholarship at W&M. The Udall Foundation selected 50 students nationwide with interests in the environment, Native health care or tribal public policy. Photo by Aaron Bayles Udall Scholar: Mackenzie Neal '18, a government major, is W&M's first Udall Scholar to be awarded in the tribal public policy category. Photo by Colleen Truskey '17 Photo - of - Hide Caption Two William & Mary students are among just 50 nationwide to receive prestigious Udall Scholarships. Talia Schmitt 18 and Mackenzie Neal 18 were selected from a pool of nearly 500 applicants from 224 colleges and universities. The awards are reserved for students who intend to pursue careers related to the environment, Native health care or tribal public policy. Each student will receive up to $7,000 and will travel to Tucson, Arizona, in August to mingle with other scholars, program alumni and experts in the field. A first for the Tribe Neal, a government major with a global studies minor, is W&Ms first Udall scholar in the tribal public policy category. While Neal is a member of the Quapaw Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma, she didnt grow up on the reservation and only learned of her heritage when she was 8 or 9 a revelation that left a big impact on her future both personally and professionally. I grew up completely unattached from my tribal background, but Ive been trying to reconnect and learn the language, said Neal. Since then, Ive found a lot of meaning in my tribal history. I see the struggles that my ancestors have been through and how much has gone into preserving the culture. Its important to me to continue that. Since coming to W&M, Neal has proudly identified with her heritage, founding the American Indian Student Association to both educate non-Natives on American Indian culture and to connect with other students from different tribes and backgrounds. The group has hosted the William & Mary Powwow a traditional gathering of tribal people three years in a row, featuring authentic Native dancing, drumming and singing as well as traditional regalia, crafts and food. I wanted an opportunity to talk about issues affecting Native policy and to connect with people outside my tribe and people who have been raised Native since birth, because my experience has been very different from most Native students, said Neal. Outside of W&M, Neal has had plenty of opportunities to meet with other Native people and learn more about tribal policy the field she hopes to someday make her career. In 2016, Neal was a youth delegate for the White House Tribal Nations Conference, where she spoke with Native students from as far as Alaska about the distinct issues their tribes face. That same year, as an intern with the State Department, she learned how much international relations and tribal policy can overlap (as in the case of transnational pipelines, for instance). It would be amazing if I could somehow act as a tribal consultant for the State Department, visiting tribes in the United States, hearing their grievances or ideas and translating that back to the State Department in a way thats culturally relevant but also communicable and understandable to people who dont know about tribal issues. Through connections made with the Udall Foundation, Neal might just be one step closer to her dream. Udall chooses really smart, creative and engaged students so it will be cool to meet people like that with similar interests and career aspirations, said Neal. A steward for the environment Though she might not have known it at the time, Schmitt began a lifelong love affair with the outdoors on a week-long camping trip in California with her 6th-grade class. It was the first time Id really spent that much time outside, and it had a huge impact on how I saw nature and respected the environment, said Schmitt. As I got older I realized more and more how much that opportunity influenced me. Schmitt was in fact so moved by the experience that she made it her mission to become the influencer, providing kids with similar opportunities and education so that they, too, can develop an early appreciation for the world around them. As the founder of Eco-Schools Leadership Initiative (ESLI), Schmitt trains high school and college students to educate elementary school students throughout Virginia about various environmental issues. The curriculum, which Schmitt developed, uses interactive games and activities to teach on topics ranging from biodiversity to renewable energy. Exposure to the outdoors has proven time and time again to be very important for well-being it reduces mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, said Schmitt. And, of course, theres also the benefit to the environment. The more kids learn the closer they are to becoming environmental stewards who share what they learn with their friends and family. That domino effect is really important. Schmitt, a self-designed environmental community health major, plans to focus her career on environmental education and policy. In addition to her ESLI program, Schmitt is working on a pilot program in northern Virginia that will allow elementary students to take two-three day environmental education camping trips similar to the one that impacted her as a kid. As a sustainable dining intern at W&M, Schmitt has been heavily involved in ensuring there are more sustainable food options in dining halls. Her initiatives have included facilitating a partnership with a local farm to procure sustainable produce and expanding composting on campus. Were really trying to improve and educate students about composting and because of that weve been able to reduce our waste tremendously, said Schmitt. Now William & Mary is actually the leading composting college in the state. Schmitt said shes most looking forward to the connections shell make through the Udall Foundation and the knowledge shell be able to leave the conference with later. The Udall Scholarship will allow me to think critically about environmental issues and to brainstorm solutions to these problems with all of these bright minds who are equally as passionate about the environment as I am, said Schmitt. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Argentina and China sign contract for two reactors 18 May 2017 Share China is to supply Argentina with two nuclear power reactors - one a Candu pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR), the other a Hualong One pressurised water reactor (PWR). The contract was among 19 agreements signed yesterday in Beijing during a meeting of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Argentinean president Mauricio Macri. The signing of the contract (Image: CNNC) In November 2015, Argentina signed deals with China for the construction of its fourth and fifth nuclear power plants: a third Candu PHWR at the Atucha site and a PWR at an unspecified site. The projects were said to be worth around $15 billion, with China contributing 85% of the required financing, according to a statement issued at that time by the Argentine president's office. A memorandum of understanding affirming that agreement - made under the previous government of then-president Cristina Fernandez - was signed in June 2016 by Argentina's minister of energy and mining Juan Jose Aranguren and Nur Bekri, director of China's National Energy Administration. Yesterday a general contract was signed between Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA (NASA), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and CNNC subsidiary China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation (CZEC) for the two reactors. The contract was signed by NASA president Omar Semoloni, CNNC board chairman Wang Shoujun and CZEC president Yang Chaodong. According to the agreement, CNNC and NASA will begin construction in 2018 of a 700 MWe Candu-6 PHWR and will start building a 1000 MWe Hualong One PWR in 2020. In July 2014, China and Argentina signed a new high-level agreement towards construction of a third PHWR at the Atucha plant in Argentina. Through the agreement, CNNC is to assist NASA by providing goods and services under long-term financing. That agreement was ratified in February 2015. The accord provides for NASA - holder of rights to Candu technology - to be designer, architect-engineer, builder and operator of the new reactor. In 2012, central planners in Beijing directed CGN and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to 'rationalise' their reactor programs. This meant CNNC's ACP1000 and CGN's ACPR1000 were 'merged' into one standardised design - the Hualong One. CGN refers to its version of Hualong One as the HPR1000. In fact, each company has its own supply chain and their versions of Hualong One will differ slightly (units built by CGN will use some features from the ACPR1000), but the design is considered to be standardised. It is set for wide deployment in China as well as export to other countries. Hualong International Nuclear Power Technology - the joint venture between CGN and CNNC to promote the Hualong One reactor design in export markets - was officially inaugurated in March 2016. Pakistan's Karachi Coastal Power station is likely to be the first export of Hualong One units. The Hualong One design is also being promoted for use at the Bradwell site in the UK. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Indian units to boost domestic nuclear industry 18 May 2017 Share Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described his Cabinet's approval of the construction of ten indigenously designed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) as a "big boost" for his Make in India program of localised manufacturing. The Cabinet, chaired by Modi, yesterday approved the construction of ten 700 MWe units in a "significant decision to fast-track India's domestic nuclear power program". The Cabinet's announcement did not give any timeline or locations for the new plants, but said the project would result in a "significant augmentation" of the country's nuclear generation capacity. India has 6780 MWe of installed nuclear capacity from 22 operational reactors with another 6700 MWe expected to come on stream over the next five years, the cabinet noted. It said the ten new units would be a "fully homegrown initiative", with likely manufacturing orders to Indian industry of about INR 700 billion ($11 billion). The project will adopt a "fleet mode", bringing "substantial economies of scale" and maximising efficiency, the Cabinet said. It is expected to generate more than 33,400 jobs and strengthen the country's credentials as a "major nuclear manufacturing powerhouse". "The approval also marks a statement of strong belief in the capability of India's scientific community to build our technological capacities. The design and development of this project is a testament to the rapid advances achieved by India's nuclear scientific community and industry," the Cabinet said. The decision "reflects the government's commitment to prioritise the use of clean power in India's energy mix, as part of low-carbon growth strategy and to ensure long-term base load requirement for the nation's industrialisation," the statement noted. Modi tweeted: "A vital decision of the Cabinet that pertains to transformation of the domestic nuclear industry." India's most recent nuclear power plan, issued in 2012, includes 700 MWe PHWRs with two units each to be built at Gorakhpur, Chutka, Bhimpur, Mahi Banswara and Kaiga, with potential construction starts this year. In addition, further Russian-designed VVER reactors are to be built in the second phase of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant at Tamil Nadu. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Russia begins fuel unloading of Northern Fleet 18 May 2017 Share Russia has started unloading used fuel from nuclear submarines in Andreeva Bay, the former base of the Northern Fleet, a unit of the Russian Navy responsible for the defence of the north-western part of the country. The work is organised by RosRAO - a Moscow-based Rosatom subsidiary that provides commercial back-end radioactive waste and decommissioning services. RosRAO has its northern centre, SevRAO, in the Murmansk region, where Andreeva Bay is located. SevRAO is engaged in remediation of the sites of Northern Fleet bases, and dismantling of retired nuclear-powered naval ships and submarines. In May 2014, SevRAO signed a RUB100 million ($1.85 million) contract with Norway's Finnmark to upgrade the Andreeva Bay storage facility. This was set up in the 1960s but closed after an accident in 1982, and resumed operation with Norway's support in the late 1990s. Regular shipments of used submarine fuel from Andreeva Bay storage to the Mayak facility in Ozersk for reprocessing are due to start this year, and 22,000 naval fuel assemblies are expected to be shipped by 2024. Workers on the fuel unloading project in Andreeva Bay (Image: RosRAO) SevRAO director Valery Eremenko said in a RosRAO statement yesterday that seven used fuel assemblies, equivalent to one batch, had been unloaded in a single day and would be placed in a transport container. Radiation levels during the operation remained within required limits, Eremenko said, and the time needed met expectations evaluated at the development stage. "It's worth noting that the first batch is just that and there is a lot of work ahead of us," he said. "We're confident that during the handling of the used nuclear fuel we will be able to acquire additional operational skills, improve certain production processes and thereby speed up its export." Sending used nuclear fuel from Andreeva Bay for further processing is scheduled for the end of June, RosRAO said. Andrey Golini, general director of Russia's Federal Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, said in the RosRAO statement yesterday the fact the unloading operation was conducted in "normal mode" reflected the "well-coordinated work" of its specialists, who prepared the entire infrastructure for handling the used nuclear fuel, of RosRAO, which carried out the unloading, and of the design and technical solutions implemented by a large team from other Rosatom subsidiaries and contractors. Vladimir Luzin, director general of RosRAO, described the unloading of the first batch of used nuclear fuel as "a landmark event", the culimination of ten years of design and development work, and "an example of successful multilateral international cooperation in solving the complex problems of the 'nuclear legacy' of north-western Russia, enhancing nuclear and radiation safety and improving the environmental situation". He added: "One can say with confidence that another important step has been taken in the work of Rosatom's enterprises to solve environmental problems in the Arctic zone." Rosatom and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development manage their so-called Nuclear Window program - part of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, which originates from the European Union's Northern Dimension Initiative to promote cooperation between countries of the Baltic and Arctic Sea regions. The objective of Nuclear Window, which started in May 2003, is to provide funding for projects that will mitigate the legacy of the operation of nuclear-powered ships and submarines of the Northern fleet in Russia that are at different stages of decommissioning. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Planning all of the elements of a vacation can be very hectic, as it often requires informed decision making. One could spend hours pouring through travel guides and recommendations. This rings especially true for Canada, which is one of the largest countries on the planet. This article helps by restricting the area of focus to the east coast of the country. Below we explore eight unique attractions available to this specific area. 8. Gros Morne National Park (Newfoundland and Labrador) Gros Morne National Park is known for its stunning cliffs. Located on the west coast of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Gros Morne National Park is an outstanding destination. It is the second largest national park in the entire country. Although the harsh climate in the region restricts survival to arctic wildlife such as beavers, black bears, and snowshoe hares, there are also a handful of other interesting wild animals to see. Nevertheless, the geological splendor of the region are spectacular enough on their own. Hiking and camping are both available activities in the area, which is established with an elaborate transport network for vehicles. How to visit: The closest airport is located at Deer Lake, which is about an hour away by car. Car rentals are available there. When to visit: Most people visit Gros Morne in July and August when the weather is at its warmest, although activities are available year-round. 7. Peggy's Cove (Nova Scotia) The famous Peggy's Cove lighthouse. Next on our countdown is Peggy's Cove, which is located in Nova Scotia. Peggys Cove encompasses a wide range of scenic views that are iconic Canadiana. Exploration can also be an eventful activity for visitors with a passion for adventures. Accommodation ranges from oceanfront houses to bed and breakfast rooms among others. How to visit: Peggy's Cove is located on Route 333, about 45 minutes from Halifax by car. When to visit: Peggy's Cover is open all year around, even during foggy weather (which is plentiful on the east coast). 6. Louisbourg (Nova Scotia) The historic buildings of Louisbourg. The Fortress of Louisbourg, as it is famously known, is the next destination on the countdown. The fortress is full of history. The attractive buildings and the extensive beach gives Louisbourg a different twist and spectacular scenery. There are also activities such as hiking and sight-seeing available. The seafood alone is incentive for one to visit Louisbourg. How to visit: Louisbourg is located on Cape Breton Island, about a 5 hour drive from Halifax. When to visit: Louisbourg is open year-round. 5. Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) Colorful houses in Charlottetown. The province of Prince Edward Island is home to Charlottetown, which is also the province's capital. Although its population is only around 35,000, Charlottetown has the feel of a city much larger. It is known for its quaint, colorful historic buildings and homes, as well as its laid back feel. Charlottetown is a great starting point from which to explore the rest of the province, which is home to beautiful red clay beaches and the famous Anne of Green Gables museum experience. How to visit: Prince Edward Island is accessible from New Brunswick by the Confederation Bridge. When to visit: Landscapes are most beautiful in the summer, although the city offers attractions all around the calendar. 4. Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) The winding roads of Cape Breton. The stunning natural landscape of Cape Breton is reason enough to visit the east coast of Canada. An island famous for its roadtrip scenery, Cape Breton has often been cited for its closeness in appearance to the Scottish Highlands. How to visit: The Trans-Canada Highway reaches Cape Breton.There is also an airport on the island. When to visit: It is possible to visit Cape Breton in every season. 3. Annapolis Valley (Nova Scotia) The morning sunrise in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. The Annapolis valley is a natural valley that is located in Nova Scotia. The region prides itself on having some of the best soil and climatic conditions and is also gaining recognition for its production of fine wine. It is possible to visit the vineyards in the area. How to visit: The Annapolis Valley is located in the western section of Nova Scotia. It is accessible by highway. When to visit: Although summer is a lovely season in the Valley, the fall colors are a sight to be seen. 2. Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick) The famous Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is a bay that is located on the northeast posterior of the gulf of Maine on the transitional borders of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. There is also a small portion of the bay which extends to the USA. The area experiences the worlds highest tides, spectacular fossils as well as sea cliffs and an exceptional assortment of marine life. Activities such as hiking, kayaking, and tidal rafting are the order of the day in the bay. It is no wonder the phenomenal bay is widely recognized as one of the seven wonders of North America. How to visit: The Bay of Fundy is located nearby the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. When to visit: In order to experience Bay of Fundy to its full potential, be sure to check ahead for tide times. 1. Citadel Hill (Nova Scotia) The clock tower of the Citadel, Halifax. The Citadel Hill wraps up our list of places to visit in Atlantic Canada. The hill consists of four beautifully constructed forts famously known as Fort George. The site has been transformed over the years to be an attractive area for tourist activities. The fort is a home for numerous historical war antiques. Moreover, the view from above the hill is described as breathtaking, which makes it worth the visit on its own. How to visit: Citadel Hill is located in the middle of Halifax. When to visit: Citadel Hill is open daily from 9-5. Chinese is made up of various groups of related languages, which all form the Sino-Tibetan language family. Almost 1.2 billion people, equivalent to 16% of the worlds population, speak some form of Chinese as their first language.There are about 7 to 13 main Chinese groups of languages that vary according to the classification scheme. Mandarin is by far the most widely spoken variation of the Chinese language spoken by about 848 million people, followed by Wu spoken by almost 80 million people. Chinese Dialects Mandarin is Chinas most widely spoken language, used by over 848 million people all over the world including significant populations in Taiwan and Singapore. Mandarin has four major variants and holds ancient Chinese consonants. Yue or Yueh (Cantonese) is spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. The speakers of Cantonese are the most conservative regarding preservation of final consonants and tonal categories. Wu is a romantic Chinese dialect with over seven variations within its speakers. The language is soft and light with a good flow. People from Shanghai have spoken Wu for over 2,500 years. Min or Miin is spoken by over 70 million people and has different sub-dialects. Southern Min (Minnan) is spoken in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Zhejiang, and in Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Northern Min is spoken in Northern Fujian and Wuyishan, Jianyang, and Songxi regions. In Northern Min dialects, some initials are softened compared to the other Min dialects. Eastern Min (Min Dong) is spoken in Fuzhou, the capital and largest city of Fujian while Central Min (Min Zhong) is spoken in Sanming, hilly areas of Fujian and Sha County. Lastly, Pu-Xiang Min (Xinghua or Hingwa) is a branch of Min spoken as a mother tongue in Putian City and Xianyou County. The Jin dialect is spoken by close to 45 million people and has many similarities to Mandarin. The Hakka, meaning guest families, is a major dialect that retains nasal and stops endings of ancient Chinese language. Hakka phonetics is close to those of the Sinitic Gan language which is spoken in Jiangxi province and its surroundings. Xiang, also known as Hsiang or Hunanese, has five sub-dialects. Xiang people have played revolutionary roles in China such as the Chinese Communist Revolution. Mao Zedong was Xiang speaker. Lastly, the Huizhou, also known as Hui, is a group high internal variation of sub-dialects that may not properly communicate with each other. Most Hui is, therefore, multilingual to understand each other. Hui does not have syllable codas and nasals. Chinese Language Variations By Area Where They Are Spoken Mandarin is widely spoken in the Northern and southwestern parts of China, while the Wu, Gan, and Xiang are used in the Central parts of China. The Hakka, Yue, and Min inhabit the southern China. Jin is used in northern China provinces of Shanxi, Fen River Hebei, and Henan while Huizhou is spoken in Huizhou County and Southern Anhui. The Hakka live in parts of Guangdong, Fujian, southern China and parts of Taiwan and South East Asia. Gan, on the other side, is spoken in Jiangxi province. Different Min dialects are spread over South Eastern China and neighboring countries. Xiang is dominant in Hunan and Northern Guangxi. Differences Between Chinese Dialects There are major differences with Chinese dialects that non-Chinese speakers may not realize. The Southern Min, for instance, is not intelligible with the Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, Hakka, and Mandarin despite sharing historical backgrounds. Hakka dialect is also not comprehensible to the Yue, Wu, Southern Min, and Mandarin while Pu-Xiang vowels differ significantly from Southern Min. Southern Chinese dialects have fewer consonants compared to the central and northern dialects because the southern Chinese have preserved final consonants for centuries while the others evolved. Northern dialects, on the other hand, have fewer distinctions on phonetics than the south. A common trend within Chinese dialects shows that difference in speech becomes more pronounced with the increase in the distance. Similarities Between Chinese Dialects Despite the variations, boundaries, and historical differences between the different Chinese dialects, there are few similarities within particular dialects. The Wu, Min, Xiang, and Mandarin sub-dialects have glottal stops when speaking while the Wu and Min have retained most features of ancient Chinese. The Hakka and Gan (Hakka-Gan) dialects closely relate and can communicate with minimum difficulties because they preserved Middle Chinese voiced initials that have disappeared in the other dialects. The Mandarin and Wu remain the most spoken Chinese dialects outside China. Pu-Xiang phonology is also almost like that of Southern Min dialect. Deductions Chinese people form the highest number of people by race globally. Variations in Chinese dialects represent the diversity not known by many people outside China. Historical and physical separation has led to the evolution of these dialects with each influencing and getting influenced by other boundary languages. The government of Australia, also known as the government of the Commonwealth of Australia, is run through a federal parliamentary constitution monarchy. It is divided into the executive arm, legislative arm, and the judicial arm. The queen is head of state of Australia and she is represented by the governor general with executive powers as authorized by the constitutional convention. The governor general heads the executive branch and authorizes powers to the Australian cabinet which is headed by the prime minister. The premier is the head of the government. He also chairs the National Security Council. The article below highlights some people who have held the title of the Prime Minister of Australia. Prominent Prime Ministers of Australia Edmund Barton Edmund Barton was a member of parliament in New South Wales before his appointment as Australias first premier. He was a political leader and a judge who was part of the federation movement whose aim was to form the Commonwealth states of Australia which was achieved in the 1890s. He was appointed the prime minister and was sworn in together with his ministers on January 1, 1901. The first mandate of his government was to conduct the first federal election which was held in March 1901. He was a moderate conservative which made him less popular with his Labor Party members. In 1903, he quit the position of prime minister to pursue his career as a judge of the High Court of Australia where he served until his death in 1920. Joseph Cook Joseph Cook was the sixth prime minister of Australia and one of the founding members of the Australian Labor party. He was first elected to the parliament of New South Wales in 1891 as MP to represent Hartley. In 1913, the Commonwealth Liberal Party, led by Cook, won the majority seat in the house. However, he could not govern effectively due to a hostile senate that had a Labor Party majority. He triggered a double dissolution after his frustration by the senate which rejected most of his bills resulting in an election in 1914. Cook was defeated during the September 1914 elections by Andrew Fishers Labor Party who also succeeded him as the prime minister. Cook served as Australian High Commissioner in London from 1921 to 1927 after his resignation from parliament. He died in 1947. Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Australian prime minister. He joined politics in 1981 but his attempt to enter the Australian Parliament was not successful as he was defeated in a 1981 election. He first served as the parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and later as the opposition leader. He was elected the parliamentary leader and prime minister in 2015. His government was re-elected in 2016. In 2016, Turnbull oversaw the agreement between Australia and the US to swap about 1,250 refugees on Nauru with thousands of refugees originating from Central America. His energy policy has included the wholesale dismissal of the renewable energy target. Turnbull is married to Lucy Hughes and together they have two children. Appointment and Replacement of the Prime Minister Despite the significance of the prime ministers office, the constitution of Australia does not mention the office. The position only exists through longstanding tradition and political convention. However, it is the most powerful parliamentary position in the country. The prime minister is appointed and sworn in by the governor general. The premier is appointed from among the members of the house of representatives or senate. Traditionally the premier has always been appointed from the house although the constitution does not have such requirement. If a prime minister resigns or dies, the governor general will appoint the person elected as leader by the governing party as the new prime minister. The Macedonian people are a Slavic ethnic group. They are native residents of the region of Macedonia which in its modern form is known as the Republic of Macedonia. The population of Macedonian people is estimated to be between 2 to 2.2 million with nearly two-thirds of them living in the Republic of Macedonia. The rest live in small communities in several countries mostly around Macedonia. 5. Description Macedonia is a landlocked country in Balkan region of south-east Europe. The modern Republic of Macedonia shares its borders with Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia. The Macedonian state was established in 1944 despite their claims to nationhood going largely ignored as the World War II was going on in full swing. The history of the region dates back to the medieval times though. The earliest evidence is provided by Byzantine documents which indicate the Slavs of Macedonia as a unique group of peoples. Macedonia is also the only country that gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 without any form of bloodshed. 4. Architecture Macedonia has a major urban center in Skopje which is a metropolitan city. A quarter of people reside in this city which derives its architectural influences from the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Almost all houses have a balcony as a mandatory feature of the house while a central courtyard is also a common feature in the apartment buildings with most single rooms opening in the same central courtyard. Most of the affluent neighbourhoods have double or triple storey units with a first or second floor extended into the street. 3. Cuisine The Balkan cuisine is influenced by Greek and Turkish foods. Many of the fresh produce is locally grown and harvested. Vegetables, fruits and herbs are all readily available as the warm weather supports agriculture and provides excellent conditions for farming. Macedonian food is famous for its dairy products, wines and local varieties of alcoholic beverages. The national dish of Macedonia is considered to be Tavce Gravce which is made of fresh beans. The national drink is called mastika, which is a liqueur containing almost 43% alcohol. 2. Cultural Significance The Macedonian language belongs to a group of South Slavic Languages. The language and its roots are preserved as continual efforts continue to be directed in this area. Macedonian was first codified in 1940s only - its a fairly new standardized language. It is commonly spoken all over the country as it also serves as the official language. The written script bears close resemblance to Cyrillic script. 1. Threats Past threats to the culture have included organized attacks in some cities. Macedonian people, or a small group of them, participated in World War II in some battles in 1943 which eventually led to the formation of the state. However, they formally gained independence only in 1991 after which the efforts were redirected to the quick inclusion in the European Union for the benefit of the economy. Finally, the state is claimed by both Greece and Bulgaria to be rightfully theirs although there hasnt been active political unrest in recent times stemming from this. Macedonian people are generally the most welcoming in the Balkan states and tourists often return with fond memories and a desire to return again due to the amazingly hospitable nature. South Asia is the southern region of the Asian continent, covering the Himalayan peninsula and the Indian plate. South Asia covers an area of about 1.9 million square miles. The region is made up of countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan. South Asia has been under the influence of various cultures since prehistoric times which have played a direct and indirect impact on the current cultures in the region. Primary cultures in the region include Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism. These cultures are very diverse regarding social, political, economic, and religious practices. Timeline Of South Asian History Madrasian Culture 2,500,000BC The Madrasian culture occurred during the Lower Palaeolithic period around 2,500,000BC. The culture has been identified as one of the earliest divisions of the Stone Age era characterized by tools such as flake tools, microliths, cleavers and bifacial hand axes. The tools were primarily made of quartzite. One of the Madrasian sites is Attirampakkam which is located near Chennai city (formerly Madras). Riwatian People 1,900,000BC Like the Madrasian culture, the Riwatian culture existed during the Lower Palaeolithic period. One of the Riwatian sites was discovered in Pakistans Punjab region. The people of these cultures made similar tools to those of the Madrasian culture with quartzite as well. Excavations in prehistoric sites linked with the Riwatian period identify evidence of occupation by Homo erectus from Africa. Homo erectus is associated with the development of the Oldowan industry which came after the Riwatian era. Soanian People 500,000BC The Soanian culture occurred in regions of India, Pakistan, and Nepal between 500,000 and 125,000 BC. The Soanian is also a lower Palaeolithic culture with significant sites in Adiala, Chauntra, Khasala Kalan, Khasala Khurd, and Sivalic Hill. Homo erectus man lived during this period relying heavily on the use of bifacial hand axes, and other tools made of quartzite, jasper, and Chert. The tools were characterized by increasingly wavy edges made through flaking. Stone Age 50,000-3000BC The Stone Age covered three distinct periods including the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic period. The major feature of the Stone Age era is the use of stone tools. The period covers a unique era of evolution and development of human civilization linked to the discovery and use of tools. Stone Age sites such as Batadombalena and Balilena of Sri Lanka have shown evidence of Homo sapiens residence in South Asia during the period.Homo sapiens is said to have first originated from the Sri Lankan region before spreading to other areas. Early humans during this period lived in stone caves. Bronze Age 3000-1300BC The Bronze Age period followed the Stone Age period and lasted between 3000 and 1300 BC. The Indus valley civilization is said to have evolved towards the end of this period. The period is characterized by the increased knowledge in tool-making and other handicraft skills. The civilization during this time had a more organized urban structure with brick houses, drainage, and water supply systems, and use of metals such as bronze, copper, and lead. Sites with Bronze Age artifacts include Tamil Nadu, Indus River, and Punjab province. Iron Age, 1200-230BC During this period, iron was the primary tool making material due to the increased knowledge in the melting of iron ore. In South Asia, the period occurred towards the end of the Indus civilization period. During this period, humans would make weapons made from alloys through the use of kilns. These developments saw the increased use of steel weapons. Cultures existing during the South Asian Iron Age include black and red ware culture, Painted Gray Ware culture, Panchala, Kuru kingdom, and Maurya Empire. Classical Period, 230BC-AD1279 South Asia experienced a period of re-urbanisation and religious, and literacy growth following the unification under the Gupta Empire. During this period, Jainism and Buddhism developed as new religions which developed new aspects and practices. Principles of morality in Buddhism led to its popularity in South Asia and later in other regions of Asia. The period was also characterized by increased artistic creativity, advancement in agriculture, scientific and technological innovations including the invention of the decimal numeral system, as well as improvements in engineering and architecture. Islam also spread in the region during this period. Late Medieval Period, 1206-1596 The late medieval period began in 1206 and ended in 1596. This period included various rules and dynasties in the Indian subcontinent including the Delhi, Mamluk, Khilji, and Tughlaq, Sayyid, and Lodi Sultanates, the kingdoms of Deva, Ahom, Chitradurga and Reddy, the Vijayanagara Empire among other dynasties. The region during this period lacked a definite paramount leader with several rulers existing during the late medieval period. The period was succeeded by the more organized and powerful Mughal empire. Early Modern Period, 1526-1858 The early modern period in South Asia was marked by the rise of the Mughal Empire in 1526 and ended after the fall of the empire in 1857. In this period, the empire enjoyed high levels of expansion from conquests in Samarkand, Punjab, and Kabul. The empire was one of the most powerful with seven generations of rulers, who had a remarkable talent in leadership and established highly organized administrative systems. Despite the leaders being of Islamic origins, they had a tolerance for Hinduism which was important in prolonging the empire. The empire was annexed by colonial powers in the 19th century. Colonial Period, 1510-1961 The colonial period in South Asia began during the 16th century with the arrival of the Europeans in Asia and ended in the 20th century. The first European to arrive in the region was Vasco da Gama in the 15th century which attracted more Portuguese traders. The Dutch arrived shortly after the Portuguese and ruled the Ceylon (currently Sri Lanka) for 137 years. The British later occupied the Calcutta and Madras regions in the 17th century. The arrival of the French in 1674 led to competition between the British and French which was also influenced by their wars in Europe. After the defeat of French in 1757 in Bengal, British became the dominant power in the Indian peninsula. The colonial period ended in the mid-20th century during which India was partitioned. Post-colonial South Asia South Asia is ranked as one of the most populous regions in the world. In recent times, there has been an increasing growth in the regions middle class while the wealthy class remains small. The economies of the region are rapidly developing and great changes in the social sphere are also taking place. Why Are Global Executions On The Rise? In 2015, the world witnessed a remarkable rise in executions worldwide. According to Amnesty International, more people were put to death that year than at any other time since 1989. Its review of the use of death penalty by various countries found that 1,634 people were executed in 2015, a 50% increase than the previous year. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were responsible for 89% of death sentences. The figure does not include North Korea or China, where records are kept secret. China remains the worlds topmost executioner and Amnesty fears thousands were likely killed in 2015. Though the watch group added that the number of executions seemed to have actually decreased in recent years, Chinas secrecy around death penalties made that impossible to verify. Worst Offenders According to the Guardian, the worlds top five executioners are Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China and the United States. The first three resorted to executions at never-before levels, often after unfair trials. Iran put to death around 977 people in 2015 compared to 743 the year before. The overwhelming majority of executions were for drug-related crimes. Among the people put to death in 2015, four were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, violating international law. Pakistan maintained what Amnesty called a state-sanctioned killing spree, which started after it lifted its seven-year moratorium on civilian executions in 2014. At the least, 326 people were sentenced to be hanged, the highest total Amnesty has ever recorded for the country. Pakistan also awards capital punishment for crimes like blasphemy and murder. Saudi Arabia put 158 prisoners to death in 2015, a rise of 76% over the previous year. Most were beheaded, although others were killed by firing squads. Sometimes the bodies were displayed in public. The fifth-highest executioner in 2015 was the United States. Ironically however, the total of 28 deaths was the countrys lowest in 24 years. Increased Security Threats There were remarkable increases in the use of death penalties in other countries including Egypt and Somalia, who executed 22 and 25 prisoners respectively. In another development, at least six countries, which had not put anyone to death in 2014, had resorted to capital punishment in 2015 including Chad, who put 10 people to death. For Indonesia, the toll was 14. Amnestys death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgo told CNN that terrorism-related security threats and the general global unrest is a leading factor in the rise of executions. Many governments respond to these threats at the cost of human rights. Amnestys secretary-General, Salil Shetty lamented the rise in global executions and called for the slaughter to end. Not for the last 25 years have so many people been put to death by states around the world, he added. On the positive side, Amnesty International also found that a majority of the worlds nations had abolished the death penalty, confirming the long-term trend towards making laws more humane. In fact Madagascar, Fiji, the Republic of Congo, Suriname and Mongolia outlawed the death penalty in 2015. Tolerance & Understanding Requested As Wrexham Tries To Tackle Local NPS Problem This article is old - Published: Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 A groundbreaking multi-agency approach in tackling substance misuse is being trialled in Wrexham. In March 2017 Wrexham made national press when a collection of images showing suspected substance abuse on Lord Street and in the bus station went viral. The images, which dated from 2015 onwards, were shared over 30,000 times on Facebook. The national coverage brought issues with substance abuse in Wrexham to the forefront of many peoples minds, with local businesses, residents and politicians / campaigners calling for further action in tackling the issue. Often there is criticism that not enough is being done to tackle issues with substance abuse in Wrexham with images of suspected users and comments about the lack of action being taken in the town centre often circulating online. Behind the scenes however, we are told there are weekly meetings with relevant partners, including representatives and Wrexham Council and North Wales Police, to create and strengthen a co-ordinated approach to provide support to those in Wrexham with complex needs and the wider public. One such response to drug problems in Wrexham came in the form of getting everyone in a room, including substance users at a trial event held in Trinity Church on King Street on March 30th you can read our indepth write up here. The primary aim of the event was to attempt to gently force those in need of support to come into the church and interact with support workers. During the day users had the opportunity to receive support from from various agencies and find out further information on the sort of help available to them. Last Thursday saw the second event of its kind to take place with the Salvation Army in Rhosddu used as a venue for organisations such as the Welsh Ambulance Service, CAIS, tenancy support, The Wallich, Wrexham Council and harm reduction, to offer help and assistance to any service users who needed it. Those in the room who spoke to Wrexham.com said they were aware of the long journey ahead in tackling substance abuse in Wrexham, however felt that events like these were unique in the UK. Addressing those present at the start of the event, Sgt Vic Powell described it as one big, collaborative learning experience and was a case of getting everyone in a room. Sgt Powell said: We cant achieve what we are trying to achieve without everyone in a room, and that includes service users and the people we are trying to support as they are part of this puzzle and part of the solution, and we need to embrace what we have to say. The first multi-agency meeting provided a degree of education in both ways and I would like to mirror that. The reason Ive looked at this is because we are all going through the same things and it is almost like a revolving door. I think we need to deliver more of what we deliver at a street level as a collaborative. The people we are dealing with are ultimately people in crisis and chaos and I think we need to change how we deliver the answer. There is not one team with the answer. Success can only be delivered through effective collaboration, that is where I am coming from. I would like to stress this is not intelligence gathering. This about gathering information on the services we need to deliver it is a service user delivery forum. He added: I will leave you with one final thought. It is from Gandhi and has resonated with me You must be the change you wish to see in the world we are here to give that change. Issues surrounding New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) formerly known as legal highs have presented themselves in various forms across the country, with seemingly no one having solution at present. The recent Psychoactive Substances Act made the previously known legal highs illegal, with new legislation introduced to target the production and supply of such substances. It attempted to close a loophole on previous law which saw a drug get outlawed, but then a tweak to the chemical formula would then make it legal. One approach currently used in Wrexham to manage the impact of substance abuse is the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) which covers the town centre and also Rhosddu Park and cemetery. The PSPO prohibits people from loitering in a state of intoxication or through drug induced activity. Introduced in the summer of 2016, the PSPO also includes banning inhaling, injecting, smoking or otherwise using any intoxicating substances. Those found breaching the PSPO face a fine of 100 (or 75 if paid within seven days) however non-payment could see prosecutions with a maximum penalty upon conviction being a fine up to 1000 with those subject to such a fine being without the means to pay. However the recent media coverage surrounding use of NPS substances such as spice and mamba in Wrexham, has led to questions over whether the PSPO works or if alternatives should be explored. Speaking to Rhian Jones, Wrexham Councils senior partnerships officer, we were told that the approach Wrexham is taking is groundbreaking and that while they are not condoning anti-social behaviour, the aim is to take the focus from criminality. It is also hoped that such events can help find out what the service users needs are and what additional resources and wrap around support is needed. She said: This is one part of a wider plan. We meet with partners every week with a view to get responses in developing a coordinated approach. These are people with complex needs and the objective is to provide with them with the support they need. We are not condoning anti-social behaviour. The problems in the bus station and the town centre, we are not condoning it. It is unpleasant and not nice for residents and businesses. As a partnership we have signed up to that to make sure that Wrexham is safe for everyone. We are keen to understand who these people are and what their needs are. Rhian also explained that with NPS being so new, there are complexities surrounding the drug; with some of the current policies for substance misuse not being fit for purpose in tackling the problem. She added: What has tended to happen is these people have been depersonalised. They have complex needs and they need help. Issuing fixed penalty notices is not always the approach, however it does have a place to play in the wider picture. The clean-ups for discarded needles feeds into the wider plan. We dont know why NPS is presenting itself as it is in Manchester and Wrexham. However we are finding in a world of community safety, there is always somewhere to go to draw from previous experience. This gives people the chance to talk and show we are trying collectively to sort the issue. Events such as the one held in the Salvation Army and Trinity Church seek to offer a more holistic approach to helping those living with substance abuse and its effects. Gaps had also been identified from the March event, with involvement from mental health providers seen as integral in taking the process further. The set-up for last weeks event was simple everyone in a room, including service users. Held at the Salvation Army, the room was divided into several separate sections with small circles of chairs dotted around with panels breaking up the space to allow for an element of privacy. Service users started to arrive the location shortly after 9:30am, with attendance dipping off near 11:30am. We were told by several representatives that there were more users in attendance at this particular event, who were invited to the main room to speak to the various agencies and seek help if required. Agencies providing mental health and housing support seemed particularly busy. One former service user explaining to us that more housing would help reduce the problem almost straight away with accommodation providing the first level of stability and normality for those living with addiction. Lack of housing and homelessness in Wrexham is an issue faced by agencies, with one representative from homeless charity, The Wallich, telling us that the service can deal with anything between 20 and 40 individuals locally each day. The view of this years earlier coverage of the town centre is mixed, however the fact the story of substance abuse in Wrexham town centre was not new news was stressed. While some residents may be deterred from visiting the town after the press coverage, there was a hope among some that the increased awareness of local problems could lead to additional funding for Wrexham. Speaking after the event Sgt Powell said he had been heartened that the event had been so well attended. He said: I think it has been really effective and it is the first time so many agencies in the one room I am heartened that so many have turned up. The aim is to get people into the same room open communication on a practitioner level and cross communication is key. We have gone some way to being at that. This has to be something everyone buys into. Following on from last weeks event, a debrief session between all the agencies involved will take place early next month to find out how the process can evolve going forward. It is hoped that a similar event will take place again the near future with plans to further expand the offering to service users. Commenting on the often critical comments on social media about substance abuse in Wrexham, we asked Sgt Powell what reassurance he could the wider public about what is being done to tackle the issues in the town centre. He said: The problems we are facing are complex and have been decades in the making. As a result we are not going to solve them in the next 12 months or the next few years. It is a long process. I would like to reassure the public that we are doing things. We are aware of the frustration, but I would ask for tolerance and understanding. Police Appeal Following Pontblyddyn Petrol Station Burglary This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 North Wales Police are asking the publics assistance following a commercial burglary at Pontblyddyn Service Station at approximately 2am this morning. Det Inspector Jackie Downes at Mold CID said During the break-in offenders attempted to steal a significant quantity of tobacco however due to the prompt arrival of patrolling officers they were thwarted but unfortunately made off before they could be arrested. If anyone has any information about this incident or witnessed any suspicious behaviour or activity please contact Police. It is worth reminding members of the public to remain vigilant at all times and if you see any suspicious behaviour contact police immediately. Id like to emphasise the importance of adequate security on all business premises. We are all fortunate to live and work in a low crime area but this has come about through hard work with our partners and the local community. We need assistance to help prevent these incidents in the first place, identify who may be responsible and report suspicious activity immediately. North Wales Police would like to hear from anyone who has information to contact them via the web live chat. Alternatively phone Police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and quote V071107. Police Respond to Incident at Town Centre Car Park Concerns For Womans Safety This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 The entrance to a town centre car park was temporarily closed off this afternoon while police responded to an incident. North Wales Police were seen at the entrance to St Marks Road shortly before 4pm with reports of a person sitting on the roof of the multi-storey car park. The entrance to St Marks Road was temporarily closed off to the public while officers attended the scene. A spokesperson for North Wales Police said: At 3:55pm we were called to St Marks Car Park following concern that someone was on the roof. Officers attended and spoke to a local female in her 30s, who after a short conversation was taken to a place of safety. We would like to local people for the brief inconvenience caused while officers managed and resolved the situation quickly and professionally. No one was harmed. *Picture sent to Wrexham.com by Damian Angry workers in Flint, Michigan piled into a City Council meeting Wednesday to oppose city plans to put tax liens on their houses and strip them of their homes if they failed to pay back bills for water still poisoned with lead and bacteria. Under intense pressure from residents, the Democratic-controlled city council hurriedly convened an emergency session, just two days before the May 19 deadline to impose liens on some 8,000 homes, or a fifth of the citys 40,000 occupied homes. The threat to seize workers homes has provoked popular outrage in the city, which used to be the manufacturing hub of General Motors. Three years ago, an emergency manager appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder ordered a switch of the citys water supply from Great Lakes water pumped and treated by the Detroit water system to heavily polluted and untreated water from the Flint River. This move, approved by Snyders Democratic Party state treasurer, Andy Dillon, precipitated the lead poisoning of city residents and a massive public health crisis that continues to this day. The rage and pointed comments by residents exposed the deep alienation of the largely working-class population from the entire political establishment, which carried out this crime to funnel more money into the hands of wealthy bondholders, private contractors and real estate developers. Over the last three years, Democrats and Republicans alike, from Governor Snyder to President Obama, have sought to cover up this crime and mollify public anger with bogus promises that have brought no relief. Declaring that lead levels had fallen below unsafe levels, Governor Snyder cut off subsidies that were paying up to two-thirds of residents water bills. The city then began mass water shutoffs, followed by the foreclosure threat. The state government is also suspending its bottled water distribution program. City Council President Kerry L. Nelson opened the meeting by asking for a prayer, which included, Please God, give the people trust in their government. This was followed by an explicit threat by Nelson to have any resident arrested for disorderly conduct if they did not obey the councils rules, including limiting their comments to three minutes. Several cops were present by the public microphone and throughout the auditorium to enforce the threat. Last month, six residents were arrested at a town hall meeting convened by Mayor Karen Weaver. This was aimed at intimidating and silencing residents angered over claims that the water is safe and that they could lose their homes if they did not pay their water bills. Afterwards, Weaver, another Democrat, said that, although she did not want to see people lose their homes, she had no choice but to enforce the city ordinance. Youre not going to take my property for this stinking water, declared one angry resident at yesterdays meeting. Another worker, Jackie said, People have huge water bills, and you are going to attach liens on their houses? If you take their houses who is going to live in them then? Where are they going to go? These families didnt cause the problem, we didnt ask for it. Our lives have been turned upside down. Our health is bad, our children are sick, and God only knows what is going to happen to them as they grow older. There has got to be another way. Where is the dignity of the people of Flint? Nadika said. Although the water is not fit to drink, we need the water to clean our houses and flush our toilets. Now I have a lien on my house that I struggled a long time to pay for. Ive been on my own since I was 18 years old, and Ive never had a problem paying my water bill. Im 60-plus now. I dont feel like I should pay for this water. It was a cover-up. They didnt let the people of Flint know about this until after it started killing people and our kids got sick and broke out in rashes. I would love for the people of Flint and my people to have justice and dignity. Another worker, Chris, said, Our rates are too high, and we have bad water. You need to lower the rates and make it more affordable. We know the water is no good. How can people be charged for water if they are not using it? Youre the legislative body, but I want to know what you have changed in the last four yearsthe answer is nothing. Actions were taken by state officials to cause Flint to enter a financial crisis. We know the same players were involved in the water that has caused us physical harm. And now the same players are applying pressure on the city to collect more money. Why should we agree with those culprits who are strangling the people to get more money? Investors are positioning themselves to buy these foreclosed houses. I am sure the cost for the city of Flint of massive foreclosures and homelessness will be far higher than what we are trying to collect with the water. Were supposed to clean our body parts when General Motors wont clean its car parts with this water, another worker said. A disabled veteran said, I was sent all over the world, and I saw the miserable water in countries like the Philippines and other Third World countries. I never thought when I came back home to Flint that it would be the same. If ISIS or Al Qaeda poisoned the water we would be dropping bombs on them. But no one was arrested for poisoning Flint. I fought the war on terror, but I dont know what is more frightening, fighting a bunch of guys with guns and bombs or living in fear of what is going to come out of my faucet. To contain public anger, City Council President Kerry Nelson, working with the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, quickly cobbled together a resolution for a temporary moratorium on issuing the liens, which was passed by the council. The measure does not provide debt forgiveness for residents who have been charged for poisoned water. It only blocks the amount accumulated between April 2014 and until such time as unfiltered tap water is deemed potable (safe to drink or to use for food preparation without risk of health problems) from being transferred to a homeowners tax debt. This means the additional unpaid bills accumulated in the meantime can be imposed as a tax lien whenever some unnamed body deems the water safe or after a one-year limit set by the City Council. The resolution also does not eliminate tax liens imposed prior to April 2014 or do anything to recover the homes of workers who lost their homes prior to that date. In any case, the resolution, which was not even reviewed before the meeting by the councils legal representative, other council members, let alone the public, may not be enforceable. It could also be quickly vetoed by Mayor Weaver, who did not bother to attend the meeting. On Wednesday, workers across Greece mobilized in a one-day strike called by the trade unions against new austerity measures dictated by the European Union and imposed by Greeces Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) government. The 900-page bill prepared by the EU and Syriza contains yet another cut to pensions, ranging from 9 to 18 percent depending on the pension; the imposition of income taxes on anyone making over 5,681 per year; cuts of up to 50 percent in state financial aid for heating, unemployment insurance, and other programs; measures to facilitate mass sackings; and more privatizations of public enterprises. The accord also reportedly contains promises by Syriza to introduce laws to limit the right to strike and facilitate the banning of strikes. It is a further stage in the betrayal by Syriza of all the promises it made to the Greek people when it came to power in January 2015 to put an end to EU austerity. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared Wednesday that the new measures would unleash a tsunami of investment, presumably because capital would be attracted by the prospect of hiring super-exploited Greek workers paid wages comparable to those of workers in China. Among Greek workers, however, anger is rising against Syriza. Large sections of the working class adhered to the strike call. Trains, buses, Athens mass transit and public hospitals were all on strike or working with skeleton crews on reduced hours. Air traffic controllers struck for four hours Wednesday and will do so again on Thursday. Tens of thousands of people marched in several protests organized in Athens by the different trade union bureaucraciesthe ADEDY public-sector workers union, the GSEE private-sector union, and the PAME union linked to the Stalinist Greek Communist Party (KKE). The Panhellenic Federation of Sailors union announced the extension of a strike initially called for Tuesday and Wednesday through to Friday. In a statement, it asked for the understanding and full support of both the travelling public and all Greek workers, explaining that the new cuts would expose sailors to poverty and destitution. Their strike affects, in particular, the Greek islands, halting ferries and isolating the islands from the mainland. In Thessaloniki, Greeces second city, mass transit workers continued a strike they launched on Monday. The 2,300 Thessaloniki Public Transport (OASTh) workers are demanding the payment of back wages for March and April 2017. Management is still refusing this demand and has called on the courts to ban the strike. OASTh management lost its first court case however, when a lower court ruled that its suit had no juridical foundation and delayed the next hearing on the matter to September 26. A tense confrontation unfolded in the streets of Athens between on-duty riot police and uniformed strikers, including firemen, soldiers and policemen, whose so-called special salaries system is under attack in the current legislation. At noon, forces from trade unions representing the police, the soldiers and other security forces occupied the General Accounting Office and demanded to see Alternate Finance Minister George Chouliarakis. They also deployed a banner asking Tsipras in Greek, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in German, How much is the life of a Greek policeman worth? They also marched on the parliament, where parliamentarians from Syriza and other parties were debating the bill. Three squads of on-duty riot police blocked them at the Vasilissis Sofias entrance to the parliament to keep them from storming the building. However, a number of individuals, including union officials and leaders of various professional associations, managed to enter the building and denounce Syriza parliamentarians discussing the bill. Cries rang out of Have you no shame? You have nothing to do with the Left, and Youre selling out everything! One ADEDY member confronted former Syriza Labour Minister Giorgios Katrougalos, citing his promises when Syriza came to power that no further cuts would be made to pensions. A leader of the Greek union of disabled persons denounced Syriza for cutting social assistance, and representatives of the soldiers and police unions denounced the impoverishment of their members and Syrizas betrayal of its election promises to the Greek people. Responsibility for the acute political crisis that is emerging in Greece lies above all with the reactionary role of Syriza. In 2015, under conditions of economic collapse and mass unemployment, with the dead end of Greek and European capitalism plainly evident after six years of deep austerity, the party promised to end austerity while desperately seeking a deal with the EU. Syriza refused to make any broader appeal to the European working class to support Greek workers against the EUs threats to cut off credit and bankrupt the country. There was unquestionably a powerful objective basis for such a revolutionary policy. A year after Syriza came to power, a mass movement of workers and youth erupted in France against the Socialist Party (PS) governments reactionary labour law. A more recent Europe-wide poll of youth, titled Generation What, found that a majority of European youth would be willing to participate in a large-scale uprising against the existing governments. Syriza rejected such a policy and worked feverishly in the interests of the Greek capitalist class. It quickly repudiated its promise to end the EU austerity Memorandum with Greece and organized a referendum on EU austerity in July 2015, hoping to obtain a popular vote for austerity to justify a capitulation to Brussels. When the Greek people voted against austerity, Syriza ignored the no vote and began implementing harsh EU austerity measures to uphold the euro and Greeces ties to the EU and the NATO military alliance. These historic events vindicated the warnings of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), which alone warned before Syrizas election that the affluent middle class forces in Syriza, bred on anti-Marxist postmodernist theories, would betray all their promises. The way forward for Greek workers today is not occasional protests called by trade unions close to Syriza or the KKE, but the construction of a revolutionary leadership that can mobilize the European working class in a struggle for socialism. The strategy of launching brief trade union protests and appeals to the Greek government or the EU has proved totally impotent. Since the 2008 crisis erupted, Greece has gone through 14 pension cuts, which have cut pensions by an average of 40 percent. With a quarter of workers and half of youth unemployed, and therefore often dependent on their parents pensions, the latest cut will have a devastating impact. The Parliamentary Scientific Committee has ruled that the new bill violates the Greek constitution. However, Syriza and the EU are set to trample on the constitution, as they did the referendum vote, and impose the cuts anyway in order to placate the EU and maintain Greek capitalisms alliances with Washington and the EU. All the appeals and symbolic protests have fallen on deaf ears. Only a revolutionary policy can offer a way forward. A report published this week in Institutional Investors Alpha Magazine reveals that hedge funds in 2016 hemorrhaged investors, who took with them an estimated $70 billion from the $3 trillion hedge fund industry. Despite this multi-billion dollar exit, hedge fund managers continued to enjoy extraordinary compensation; the 25 top earning hedge fund managers pocketed a combined total of $11 billion last year. James Simons, a former National Security Agency (NSA) code cracker and the head of Renaissance Technologies, made about $1.6 billion. Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio brought in $1.4 billion. Robert Mercer, Renaissance Technologies co-chief executive and one of the biggest contributors to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, earned $120 million. Hedge funds have consistently yielded disappointing returns over the past eight years, even as the stock market as a whole has thrived. Some managers only brought in single-digit returns for their investors last year; some lost billions of dollars. Many investors shut down and offloaded their funds at the fastest rate since the 2008 financial crisis. Hedge fund managers compensation, however, has continued to soar over the past decade. Even though the top 25 hedge fund managers earned less in 2016 than they did in 2015 (when they collectively earned $13 billion), the total is still more than double what the top earners in 2000 made, the first year that Institutional Investors published its list. The lowest ranking manager among top-50 richest managers made more money in 2016 than any bank executive, including the executives of J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Many of the hedge fund managers on Alphas top 25 and top 50 lists actually posted subpar returns. Among these is Kenneth C. Griffin, a major Republican donor, who netted his investors returns of just 5 percent in 2016. He earned $600 million. Daniel Loeb of Third Point finished the year with an income of $260 million, even though he made his investors just 6 percent. Hedge fund managers are able to make such exorbitant paychecks, regardless of whether their investors make money or lose it, because of what is known as the 2-and-20 fee system. Hedge funds generally charge their investors 2 percent of their investments annually, irrespective of the investments performance. In this way, whether their investors lose, break even, or make a profit, managers have an enormous guaranteed income. When an investment makes a profit, the hedge fund manager typically commands 20 percent of the earnings. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who reaped a windfall by betting on the collapse of the housing market in 2008, called 2016 the most challenging year. Paulson has earned $15.45 billion since 2000, yet he was bumped off of Institutional Investors top hedge fund managers list because of double digit losses last year. Other hedge fund managers, citing industry headwinds, closed their doors last year. Wild swings on the stock market, such as occurred after Donald Trumps election and Britains vote to exit the European Union, caused other wary hedge fund managers to withdraw from the business. Many of the managers who persisted in 2016, including some of those on Institutional Investors list, were able to continue bringing home their outrageous earnings by negotiating fees and percentages with nervous investors. Despite this, they earn significantly more in a year than the average American ever will, even after a lifetime of work. The hedge funds that managed to make a profit last year are worth noting. Renaissance Technologies, worth about $42 billion, employs cryptographers, physicists, and even astronomers to analyze massive amounts of data that the company uses to inform investment choices. Founded by the former military and NSA codebreaker Simons, the firm jealously guards the precise details of its investment analysis and strategy. The company was able to maintain profits for its investors, in both domestic and foreign equities, even as other hedge funds teetered in the wake of Brexit. Hedge funds have garnered distaste, wariness, and outrage amongst the public, which politicians have leveraged to their advantage. Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, accused hedge fund managers of collecting fees without adding value. New York City pension funds were, in many cases, withdrawn from hedge funds last year, although Stringer added about $170 million in police and firefighter pension funds to hedge funds. The comptrollers office requested that the remaining hedge fund managers lower their cut of the investments and waive their management fees. President Trump played upon the publics outrage at hedge fund managers in his presidential campaign. Trump accused hedge fund managers of getting away with murder and vowed to close the loopholes that allow them to pay lower taxes. His proposed tax plan, however, does nothing of the sort. To the contrary, while it closes the carried interest loophole, it lowers the income tax rate on profits earned by investment managers. The contradictions rife in any serious look at hedge funds--underperforming investments coupled with outrageously high earnings for managers--highlight the seething ferment of the global capitalist crisis. Workers worldwide face greater and greater uncertainty about wages, food security, and health care access. The stock market remains highly volatile, subject to upheavals in the face of geopolitical tensions. Yet hedge fund managers continue to earn exorbitant fees, betting on risky ventures with workers retirement accounts. The disgruntlement among investors concerning hedge funds further reveals the tensions amongst the numerous parasitic layers of the bourgeoisie and the upper middle class, who fight, not for the responsible spending of workers 401ks and pensions, but for their own cut of profits in the face of diminishing returns. Stringer rightly accuses the top-earning managers of earning massive profit without adding value, but he fails to recognize that the only real value rests in what workers produce--and when workers have been reduced to poverty by declining wages and by unemployment, the ever rising value of the stock market is illusory. Both the lackluster performance of hedge funds and the obscene wealth of their managers underscore the illusory nature of the stock markets performance. They also signify the need, greater, perhaps, than at any time in history, for workers to unite internationally to wrest the value produced by their labor away from the Wall Street gamblers and the politicians who cater to them. A new report titled I Still Need You published Monday by Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 10,000 immigrants detained by ICE each year in California are parents of US citizens. The study is particularly significant because it is one of the first systematic attempts to determine the number of detainees who have children that are citizens. While California records mostly do not specify whether or not detainees have US citizen children, Human Rights Watch looked at nearly 300,000 immigrants detained by the Obama administration in facilities in California over a four-and-a-half year span, from 2011 to 2015. The records for one nine-month span, October 2014 to June 2015, consistently contained data on detainees children. The authors used statistical methods to reliably fill the gaps for the rest of the period. Analyzing the records for that nine-month span, the studys authors found that 42 percent of detainees had US citizen children. This means approximately over 10,000 parents were taken from their families each year from 2011 to 2015. The number of families separated by the draconian US immigration policy is undoubtedly much higher, as this statistic does not take into consideration parents whose children are not US citizens. It is estimated that California holds the second highest number of immigrants in detention facilities on any given day, holding approximately 15 percent of the immigrants detained nationwide, following only Texas. Immigration authorities detain noncitizens in 10 main California immigration detention facilities, which housed a total average daily population of 4,594, according to government data through December 5, 2015. During this four-and-a-half year period the study showed that 292,221 adults entered ICE detention facilities in California, averaging about 65,000 a year. In November of last year, DHS officials reported holding more than 41,000 people during the same time in immigration detention facilities nationally. The authors also looked at criminal history information for people detained between October 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. Nearly half47 percentof the people detained during this period had no criminal history. Only 9 percent of detainees could be identified as having been convicted of a violent felony, but even this small percentage may be an exaggeration considering the broad categorizations for violent felony provided by ICE. The remaining criminals27 percenthad convictions that were nonviolent and very minor, mostly involving immigration violations, drug use, drug possession, or a DUI. Over half of ICE detentions in California within the dataset ended in deportation. Another 7 percent left through voluntary return or departure, a practice in which the detainee agrees to return to his or her home country voluntarily and in exchange, the US Department of Homeland Security does not place a removal order on the person. The time that detainees spend in detention was found to vary significantly. The vast majority, 84 percent, spent less than one month in detention. Of those held under a month, 64 percent were released or removed within one day. This means that individuals who have spent most of their lives in the United States, mothers or fathers of US citizen children, could be forcibly taken from their families and deported back to their home countries within 48 hours of being detained. On the other end of the spectrum, there were 8,298 individuals who spent more than 6 months in detention centers and 1,787 who were detained more than a year. Only one-tenth of the detainees in the dataset bonded out of detention. The Human Rights Watch dataset did not show how many individuals were represented by counsel. However, according to another recent study of immigration bond hearings in California, the odds of being granted bond are more than 3.5 times higher for detainees represented by attorneys than those who appeared on their own behalf. A 2016 study, by the California Coalition for Universal Representation, found that 68 percent of detained immigrants in California are unrepresented by counsel and that detained immigrants who had counsel won their cases more than five times as often as those who did not. One of the main aims of this report was to provide more evidence to help push through four initiatives which the California legislature is currently considering regarding immigration detention. The four bills moving through the state Legislature include: Senate Bill 54 would bar local and state law enforcement from using their resources to help federal immigration enforcement, bar sheriffs from contacting ICE about someone in their jail and end contracts that local municipalities have to hold immigrant detainees for ICE. Senate Bill 6 would provide legal aid to individuals arrested by ICE who are not convicted of a violent crime. Senate Bill 29 would end ICE contracts for facilities run by private companies in four California cities, impose alternative standards for facilities holding immigrant detainees in local jails, make more detention records public documents, and expand who could sue on behalf of immigrant detainees. Senate Bill 630 would prohibit counties from using state funds to expand jails that also are used to house federal prisoners, including immigrant detainees, for 10 years. While there certainly is content within the four bills being considered that may improve conditions for immigrant detainees, none of these measures come close to, or ever could, achieve what the Human Rights Watch hopes for in its report: humane and dignified conditions for people held in immigration detention. Even if the bills do pass in California, which is not certain, they still must overcome federal regulations. President Trump has already threatened to withhold federal funds to crack down on sanctuary cities and states that choose not to comply with federal immigration laws. The US immigration detention apparatus is enormous. The US government holds 441,000 people in over 200 immigration jails across the country. On top of this, it is an incredibly lucrative business. The two private prison companies that run over 65 percent of the ICE detention facilities in the United States, GEO Group and CoreCivic, each gave $250,000 to fund Trumps inauguration. The stocks of these two companies nearly doubled in the wake of Trumps election. The idea that this massive detention apparatus will be downsized or could be transformed into a more humane system is a pipedream; in fact, there can be nothing humane about these detentions. Even if exceptional standards were put in place, and legal counsel provided to everyone, the most devastating aspect of the process still stands: families will be separated, children will watch their parents be taken away by armed men, and individuals will be forced to return to countries largely foreign to them, often overwhelmed with violence. Iranians will vote Friday in the countrys quadrennial presidential election under conditions of mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and beyond. The Trump administration, the Pentagon and broad sections of the US political establishment are bristling with opposition to Iran, which they deem an impediment to their drive to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and establish unbridled US dominance over the oil-rich Middle East. Israel and Saudi Arabia, Washingtons closest regional allies and the first stops on Trumps impending foreign tour, continue to threaten Iran. Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant called Tuesday for Israel to assassinate Assad and then attack the head of the serpent which can be found in Tehran. Earlier this month, Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ruled out dialogue with Tehran and said he was working to ensure the battle with Iran will be waged in Iran, not the Saudi homeland. Officially, there are four candidates in Irans presidential race, two others having dropped out this week. But only the incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, and Ebrahim Raisi, a former attorney general who heads a major religious foundation, have any chance of winning. Although Raisi has never before stood for elected office, he reputedly has the support of the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards and more socially conservative sections of the Shia clergy. Rouhani is touting the nuclear accord Iran reached with the major powers (the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union) in 2015 as his administrations premier accomplishment. Under the accord, Tehran agreed to dismantle or freeze large parts of its civilian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of punishing US-led and European-backed economic sanctions that had crippled Irans economy. All the candidates are committed to supporting Irans continued adherence to the nuclear accord. However, Raisi and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who withdrew from the presidential race to endorse Raisi last Monday, have pointed out that few of the economic benefits Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif claimed the accord would bring have materialized. There has been an uptick in economic growth, as Irans oil exports, which were more than halved by the sanctions, have rebounded, and Tehran gained access to tens billions of dollars of its own money that were frozen in the world banking system. But foreign investment has flagged and in 2016 the official jobless rate rose to 12.5 percent. Youth unemployment is more than double that. As Rouhani and Zarif hoped, European business and political leaders flocked to Iran when the nuclear accord officially took effect in January 2016 so as to scout out the governments promises of an Iran open for business, including a more investor-friendly regime in the energy sector and special concessions for European energy companies. However, few European investments have followed. While Europes depressed economy is a factor, the principal reason is that European companies, especially its banks, are terrified of running afoul of Washingtons secondary anti-Iran sanctions regime. In the name of human rights, antiterrorism and derailing Irans ballistic missile program, US sanctions continue to target large sections of Irans economy. According to the Financial Times, so robust are Americas secondary sanctions, the Iranian economy desperate for investment, jobs and technology transfer ispractically cut off from the global banking system. Added to this is the extremely volatile geopolitical situation in the Middle East. With the US, to say nothing of many of the European powers, seeking to overthrow Irans only regional governmental ally, the Assad regime in Syria, European companies are worried that events in Syria or elsewhere could rapidly lead to an escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington, leaving their investments stranded. As part of his reelection campaign, Rouhani has promised he will negotiate an end to all US sanctions during his second term. However, he has not said a word about how this will be achieved. The US political establishment, Republican and Democratic alike, has made clear that this would require Tehran to surrender across the board to US imperialisms strategic demands. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has made clear it has Iran in its crosshairs. Only grudgingly did Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledge last month that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the nuclear accord. Even as they did so, they served notice that they are seeking the appropriate geopolitical conjuncture to ratchet up pressure on Iran. Trump has accused Iran of not living up to the spirit of the (nuclear) agreement, while Tillerson has resurrected US claims that Iran is seeking to become a nuclear state and accused it of exporting terror and violence. During a recent televised debate, Raisi attacked Rouhani for showing weakness in the face of the enemy. He has also sought to appeal to socioeconomic discontent. Toward that end, he has promised to increase taxes on the rich and to triple, for the three lowest income deciles, the meager cash handouts that are given Iranians in lieu of the subsidies on fuel and food prices Rouhani and his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, phased out. In an interview with Reuters, Saeed Leylaz, an economist associated with the reform, or pro-Rouhani, political camp, said, Though unrealistic, (Raisis) promises will surely attract millions of poor voters. Rouhanis support comes disproportionately from the more privileged sections of Iranian society. This includes those bourgeois and upper middle-class layers that supported the Green movement, which challenged Ahmadinejads reelection in 2009 on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, in the hopes of bringing to power a government that would reorient Iran toward the US and slash government spending on poorer sections of Iranian society. Soon after assuming office in 2104, Rouhani invited the IMF to return to Iran, stepped up privatization, and further slashed social spending. Rouhani and his supporters have made much of Raisis role in the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, including thousands of Tudeh (Communist Party) members and other leftists. Raisi was one of four Islamic Republic judges who sanctioned and supervised the killings. But Raisi is not the only one with blood on his hands. The entire clerical political establishment, including Rouhanis mentor, the recently deceased former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, Green leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Rouhani himself were complicit in this crime. According to reports in the pro-Rouhani Western media, the election race has grown tighter in recent days. This is reflected in the streets, with the rival camps mobilizing tens of thousands of supporters at rallies in the campaigns final days. Irans ruling elite is itself deeply divided. Rouhani speaks for those sections eager for close ties with the Western imperialist powers, beginning with Germany, France, Italy and the other states of the European Union. Their hope, although rarely publicly articulated for fear of provoking mass opposition, is that ultimately Iran will become a junior partner of US imperialism, resuming the role it played under the bloody dictatorship of the Shah, when Tehran served as Washingtons principal regional ally. Other sections favor a more confrontational stance with Washington based on their calculation that the US will not accommodate the Iranians bourgeoisies regional-power aspirations, not least because this would require that Washington downgrade the status of its chief local clients, Israel and Saudi Arabia, and potentially that of Turkey as well. The divisions over Irans strategic orientation are tied to definite economic interests. Those backing Rouhani tend to be more traditional sections of the bourgeoisie, including those who developed close ties with Europe during the 1990s, when Tehran embraced the IMF and rolled back many of the concessions made to working people in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah. A considerable section of their opponents has ties to the network of companies, many of them privately owned, associated with the Revolutionary Guards, or commercial ties to Russia and China that allowed them to profit from sanctions busting. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Islamic Republics theocratic supreme ruler since 1989, has long played a Bonapartist role. During the 1990s and in the first years of the Bush administration, he repeatedly authorized overtures to the US. Later, he backed Ahmadinejad, who appealed to popular anger over rampant social inequality and made a very public showing of defying Washington by expanding Irans civil nuclear program. Fearing the explosive social consequences of Irans deteriorating economy, Khamenei subsequently switched gears again at the conclusion of Ahmadinejads second term. He supported Rouhanis pursuit of a nuclear deal with Washington and once the accord was reached ordered the regime, and specifically the Revolutionary Guards, to close ranks behind it. However, Khamenei was carefullike Obama, only with the roles reversedto describe the nuclear deal as a test of US good will. More recently, he has been highly critical of the continued US sanctions on Iran. Apparently with Khameneis approval, if not at his behest, the Guardian Council, a body staffed by specialists in Islamic law and charged with vetting election candidates, prevented Ahmadinejad from challenging Rouhani in Fridays election. As in past presidential elections, Irans supreme leader has indicated no preference. But he has made repeated calls for a strong turnout, saying it will be a testament to the strength of the Islamic Republic. Europes governments and corporate media are eager to see Rouhani reelected, as is much of the US and political establishment. There is a minority faction, however, that would welcome his defeat, because they calculate it could be exploited to scuttle the nuclear accord and ratchet up tensions with Iran. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a column by an ex-CIA Iran expert, Reuel Marc Gercht, titled In Irans election, Americans should root for the hard-liner. Unsubstantiated accusations by American and allied intelligence experts that North Korea was responsible for last weeks WannaCry ransomware cyber-attacks are being used to further demonise the isolated country and portray it as a dangerous rogue state that must be brought to heel. A propaganda campaign is underway in the US and international mediaominously reminiscent of the 2002-2003 hysteria over Iraq and weapons of mass destructionto condition public opinion for the prospect of a devastating US-led war on the Korean Peninsula. The same US media outlets that served as conduits for the false allegations against Iraqparticularly the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and Fox Newsclaimed that the Pyongyang regime has hundreds of hackers it uses to attack computer networks and Internet communications. The focus on North Korea serves the additional purpose of deflecting attention from the fact that the source code of WannaCry originated in the US National Security Agency (NSA)the major actor in international cyber warfare. Among the countries most affected by the WannaCry malware were North Koreas nominal ally, China, as well as Russia, which has condemned the US military build-up on the Korean peninsula. Establishment journalists stretched their imaginations to explain why Pyongyang would target them. The New York Times enlisted Boo Hyeong-wook, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, to speculate that North Korea was sending a warning to China that it must not abandon it. The claims of North Korean cyber warfare followed its testing on Sunday of a long-range missile, in defiance of US threats of military strikes. Japanese officials have reported that the weapon was fired on a vertical trajectory, reaching an altitude of 2,000 kilometres, before coming down in the Sea of Japan just 700 kilometres from its launch site. The Japanese reports were used in the media to make lurid claims that the test proved North Korea could attack US bases in Hawaii and Guam with a potentially nuclear-armed missile, and that it would soon have the capability to launch nuclear attacks on the continental United States. Emergency sessions of the United Nations Security Council were held on Monday and Tuesday at which US ambassador Nikki Haley demanded Chinese and Russian collaboration with harsher sanctions. Both Beijing and Moscow fell into line, voting for a resolution condemning the missile test, and agreeing to negotiate the further economic isolation of North Korea. While denouncing Pyongyang, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin also told journalists on Monday that the US and its allies should stop intimidating North Korea and find a peaceful solution to the problem. The response of the Trump administration and the Pentagon has been to ratchet-up the portrayal of North Korea, and its head of state Kim Jong-un, as an imminent threat. The head of US Pacific Command (PACOM), Admiral Harry Harris, visited Japan on Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defence Minister Tomomi Inada. Speaking at a Japanese strategic think-tank later in the day, Harris declared: Combining nuclear warheads with ballistic technology in the hands of a volatile leader like Kim Jong-un is a recipe for a disaster every test he makes is a success because it takes North Korea one step closer to being able to deliver a nuclear-equipped missile anywhere in the world. Harris spoke as the commander of a massive military force, much of which is deployed in close proximity to North Korea. At PACOMs disposal are two aircraft carriers, nuclear missile-armed submarines, destroyers and cruisers armed with cruise missiles, B-2, B-1 and B-52 long-range bombers, and hundreds of jet fighters and ground attack aircraft. In the event of war, Harriss subordinate in South Korea, General Vincent K. Brooks, would assume operational command over the 625,000-strong, well-equipped South Korean military, as well as the tens of thousands of American ground troops in the country, and some 3.1 million South Korean reservists who could be called into active service. The Japanese military, one of the most advanced in the world, would provide additional air and naval power. Playing his part in hyping up the air of tension, new South Korean President Moon Jae-in asserted on May 17: We are living in the reality where there is a high possibility of military clashes. Elected on a policy of seeking a rapprochement with North Korea, Moon, in line with the Trump administration, stressed again that talks would take place only if Pyongyang changes its behaviour. The precondition for talks indicated by Washington has been a unilateral declaration by North Korea that it is ending its nuclear and missile programs and will allow existing weapons to be dismantled under international supervision. If Pyongyang does not, the Trump administration continues to assert that all options are on the tablethat is, all-out war. Japans militarist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once again endorsed the possibility of war during a joint interview on May 17 with CNBC and Broadcast Satellite Japan. He declared: President Trump says all options are on the table. He is demonstrating this position both by words and by action It is indeed very clear that the threat posed by North Koreas missile and nuclear program is now entering into a new stage. A feature in the Atlantic, headlined North Korea: The Military Options, sets out in chilling language the implications of war on the Korean Peninsula. The article interviewed New Zealand-based Korea researcher Van Jackson, from Victoria University in Wellington. Citing Jackson, it notes: [T]he Trump administration also appears to have not ruled out a preventive strike akin to what the George W. Bush administration undertook in Iraqstriking first to neutralize a threat that may materialise in the future. The article ends with modelling of the consequences of a war by Sam Gardiner, a retired US Air Force colonel who has done such estimates for the past 25 years. His model is based on the scenario that the Trump administration launched only a limited cruise missile strike on North Koreas nuclear installations. For 48 hours, Pyongyang makes no response, while it covertly floods special forces into the South, who launch attacks on military bases, including with sarin gas. War begins. South Koreas capital, Seoul, comes under artillery bombardment, while the US and South Korean militaries launch a massive military campaign against the North, with the goal of overthrowing the Kim regime and occupying the top half of the peninsula within 60 days. Gardiner concludes his scenario: We are less than 24 hours into the battle. The medical situation in Seoul is in crisis. Some estimates have put the casualties from conventional shelling and chemicals at over one million. It will be a long time before we really know. The unstated aim of such modelling is to prove that a limited military strike by the US and its allies would be counter-productive as it would simply provide North Korea with the time to launch devastating retaliation. The intended conclusion is that an initial assault must be of such overwhelming shock-and-awe dimensions that the Pyongyang regime and the North Korean military are rendered incapable of any serious response. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of the North Korean militarya force numbering some one million, mostly young conscripts with largely obsolete equipmentis based close to the border. Along with missile sites and attempts to assassinate the countrys leadership, a pre-emptive US onslaught would target mass troop concentrations with a murderous air assault, seeking to slaughter as many people as possible with high explosives, cluster bombs and versions of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb that the US military used for the first time in combat in Afghanistan last month. The election last Sunday in the German state of North Rhein-Westphalia (NRW) contains important lessons for future social conflicts and class struggles. The election took place under conditions of mounting social tensions and a deepening international crisis. Social inequality is assuming ever more grotesque forms. Millions of workers in Germany labour under precarious conditions, and more than a quarter of the population of some cities in the Ruhr region live below the poverty line, while a tiny elite has enriched itself to an unimaginable degree. Since the assumption of power by Donald Trump in the United States, the danger of a nuclear war with Russia or China has grown. Germanys ruling elite has responded by undertaking a massive rearmament programme and returning to its old militarist traditions. There is immense anger and outrage at these conditions. Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of the population opposes war and militarism. According to the recently published Generation What? study, 86 percent of young people in Germany believe that inequality is growing. Only 1 percent fully trusted politics, while 71 percent had no trust at all. Meanwhile, 42 percent said they would participate in an uprising against those in power if one developed in the near future. But these sentiments find no expression in official politics. It is significant that the Social Democrats (SPD) effectively collapsed in NRW, achieving their worst result since 1947, with just 31.5 percent of the vote. When the coal industry went into terminal decline in the mid-1960s, the SPD rose to become the strongest party in NRW. Until the mid-1990s, its vote in the state election never fell below 45 percent, and sometimes rose above 50 percent. But now it is justifiably seen as the party responsible for social misery: as the party of the Agenda 2010 reforms and the Hartz laws, which thrust millions of workers and their families into poverty and desperation; as the party of the debt brake, which ruthlessly cuts spending at the state and municipal levels; as the party of the corrupt trade union apparatus, which organised the closure of steel and auto plants while smothering all opposition; and as the party of global military interventions and the strengthening of the state apparatus. In recent weeks, the SPD completed the picture by criticizing Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen from the right, following troubling revelations about a far-right conspiracy in the army. The SPDs defence policy spokesman, Rainer Arnold, accused Von der Leyen of creating a climate of uncertainty and mistrust of the military, because she had suggested the possible existence of a right-wing conspiracy in the army without presenting any evidence. The attempt to give the SPD a new face with Martin Schulz, and adorn it with the slogan of social justice, has failed miserably. Apart from party functionaries, who fear for their lucrative posts and sinecures, nobody took the Schulz hype seriously. The SPDs defeat in NRW is the third in a row, coming after Saarland in March and Schleswig-Holstein a week ago. The SPD has also dragged the Greens, which have long abandoned any association with appeals to social issues (insofar as they ever had any) and developed into the party of the arrogant, privileged middle class, into the abyss. The Left Party failed to gain entry into the NRW state parliament. Although it gained 2.5 percentage points, this is extremely low, given the combined losses of the SPD, Greens and Pirate Party of 20 percent. The period in which this party could falsely portray itself as a left alternative to the SPD is over. With Sahra Wagenknecht as the face of its campaign, the Left Party swung between the adoption of the Alternative for Germanys (AfD) anti-refugee agitation and appeals for a place at SPD leader Hannelore Krafts cabinet table. The news that the Left Party imposes cuts just as brutally as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD when in power, has long ago done the rounds. The defeat of the SPD and Greens has resolved nothing. The beneficiaries were right-wing parties, which will continue the policies of social cuts, the strengthening of the state apparatus and militarism. The CDU, which, to its own surprise, won the election, is now hoping for a fourth term in office for Angela Merkel after the federal election in September. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), an anti-social lobbying front for the banks and major corporations, which seemed to have ceased to exist after its failure to win representation in the Bundestag four years ago, emerged as the third strongest party and is once again campaigning with its former arrogance. The AfD, in its first election, won 7.4 percent of the vote, and in some impoverished areas, where social anger is especially strong, it secured double digit results. The lack of a progressive answer to the social crisis enables it to channel anger at the establishment parties in a reactionary, nationalist direction. It is time for the working class to draw political lessons from these developments. The dangers connected with the rise of the far right cannot be underestimated. The discovery of a right-wing terrorist cell in the army, which was concealed by senior officers for years, shows that the ruling elite will not shrink from resorting to the methods of the Nazis to defend capitalism. The period in which the working class could realise its interests through the ballot box is long gone. The Social Democrats and their allies in the trade unions are instruments of the ruling class. The latter see their task as being the defence of location Germany, i.e. the profits of German corporations, by continuously forcing down wage, pension and welfare benefit levels. Social democratic parties have collapsed in other countries as a result of these policiesincluding in Greece, Spain, and more recently, in the Netherlands and France. After decades of social cuts, financial speculation and uninterrupted wars in the Middle East and Africa, the crisis of world capitalism has reached a point where progressive reforms are no longer possible. This is shown most clearly in the United States, where the criminal underworld has entered the White House in the person of Donald Trump, and the entire state apparatus finds itself in a deep crisis and riven by bitter infighting. In Europe, the European Union and NATO, which for decades formed the basis for German foreign policy, are breaking apart. Germanys ruling class has responded by once again raising the claim to be the hegemon of Europe and a world power. But the capitalist crisis also creates the conditions to overcome it. Millions of people reject war, militarism and capitalist exploitation. Major class battles are inevitablebut they must be politically prepared if they are not to end in catastrophe and defeat. The working class must prepare to take over the control of society and reorganise the entire process of production along socialist lines. Instead of the profit interests and enrichment of a few, the economy must serve the requirements of society. Modern technology provides unimaginable possibilities for this. The realisation of such a socialist programme requires an international perspective. Workers must unite across borders and fight jointly against the destruction of their rights and achievements, against war and the strengthening of the state. Exactly a century ago, the Russian workers proved that it is possible to conquer state power, put an end to war and to reorganise society on the basis of socialist principles. The subsequent Stalinist degeneration of the Soviet Union does nothing to diminish the historic significance of the October Revolution of 1917. The most important precondition to prepare for the coming class struggles and the realisation of a socialist programme is the building of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP). The SGP and its sister parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International are the only organisations in the world today fighting for a socialist response to the global capitalist crisis. The building of the SGP is the most urgent task arising out of the bankruptcy of the Social Democrats and the trade unions. The 67 members of the Board of Trustees of New York University (NYU) include among them some of the wealthiest people on the planet. They are a cross-section of the ruling class, and particularly that of New York City and Wall Street, affecting the operations of NYU in countless ways. The political roles that two NYU trustees play in protecting the wealth and privileges of the ruling class stand out most clearly: Laurence Fink and John Paulson. Fink heads the Boards Financial Affairs Committee. He is also a trustee and co-chair of the NYUs Langone Medical Center. Fink is one of the most powerful men on Wall Street. His investment firm, BlackRock, is the worlds largest asset manager, with assets under management of more than $5 trillion. Its clients include most of the major banks in the country, including Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. Finks own net worth is $340 million. Fink is a lifelong Democrat and has donated to the presidential campaigns of John Kerry, Barack Obama, and, in 2016, Hillary Clinton. He has donated to the campaigns of New York Senator and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer more than once. In 2009, he contributed to the Republican Senatorial campaign in the state of California of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (who also ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination). He has financially supported other Republicans, including Ohio Senator Rob Portman and Alabama Senator Richard Shelby. That Fink pays close attention to imperialist foreign policy is indicated by the fact that he is a director of the major establishment think-tank, the Council on Foreign Relations. He told a panel on Saudi Arabia there this January that his firm is preparing to bring investor money from around the world to the Kingdom. Fink, as we have noted in an earlier article on the NYU Board of Trustees, was widely believed to have had ambitions of becoming secretary of the treasury in a Clinton administration. Finks NYU connections are politically significant. It is noteworthy, for example, that BlackRock has on its Board of Directors longtime Clinton operative Cheryl Mills. In 2002, Mills became NYUs senior vice president for operations and administration, where she directed contract negotiations with the adjunct faculty and graduate students, among the most poorly paid employees of the university. In 2006, Mills was appointed NYU general counsel. Subsequently, she served under Hillary Clinton in the State Department, and currently she is the CEO of BlackIvy Group, which seeks investment opportunities in Africa. BlackIvys executive chairman is Obama bundler and NYU Board of Trustees member Anthony Welters. It is normal for the upper echelons of society who serve as trustees for NYU to make political contributions to both Democrats and Republicans, who, after all, serve the same masters. It is no surprise, therefore, that Fink, a longtime Democrat, would nevertheless pronounce on government policy as a member of Donald Trumps Strategic and Policy Forum. Trump formed this group shortly after he took office. It is chaired by billionaire investor and former Fink associate Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone. It includes such ultra-rich figures from the corporate and banking world as Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors; Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (and a Trustee of NYUs Langone Medical Center); Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company; and Jim McNerney, former chairman, president and CEO of Boeing. Along with nearly every other prince of the financial industry, Fink favors loosening the already mild regulations on banking that were put in place after the 2008 crash by the Obama administration. Last month, he told FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo (also an NYU Board of Trustees member), A reduction in regulation is necessary. I believe it will unlock some money, it will streamline our economy. Since the election of Trump, Fink has spoken publicly several times about the decay of US infrastructure bridges, tunnels, and highwaysduring which he has called for the privatization of infrastructure development. [Infrastructure] projects must deliver competitive returns and that will often require efficiencies that can only be achieved through private ownership. The privatization of public assets is in fact a policy that runs like a red thread though the activities of members of the NYU Board of Trustees. To name only a few examples: * Chairman William R. Berkley, the insurance magnate (net worth $870 million), sits on the Board of Directors of Achievement First charter schools in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. * Stanley Druckenmiller, the husband of NYU Trustee Fiona Druckenmiller (and a donor of $300,000 to the presidential candidacies of Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich), is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Geoffrey Canadas Harlem Childrens Zone, a major purveyor of charter schools in New York. * Trustee Kenneth Langone, who made his $3 billion fortune from Home Depot (and was a major donor to Chris Christie), is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NYU medical center named after him. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the Harlem Childrens Zone. John Paulson is another one of the politically prominent financial aristocrats on the Board of Trustees. The WSWS has noted that his massive donations to universities ($500 million to his graduate alma mater Harvard Business School) and to New York Citys Central Park ($100 million) epitomize the aristocratic principle, in which public services, education, and the populations access to art and culture exist only by the beneficence of the extremely wealthy. When Paulson began to suspect in 2005 and 2006 that the housing bubble was close to bursting, he purchased millions of dollars of insurance (credit default swaps) on mortgages. The gamble paid off, and it made billions for himin one case, $70 million in 25 minutes. Paulson did not issue public warnings or condemn the practices of the banks and home loan companies. In fact, he reportedly worked with Goldman Sachs to circulate bad loans in the form of collateralized debt obligations so that he and his investors could reap even bigger profits when the market collapsed. Goldman Sachs was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but not Paulson. Paulson donated money to the campaigns of both Republican and Democratic candidates, the latter including former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. Recently, he has tended toward funding Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Ohio Senator Rob Portman and former South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney, who is Trumps current director of the Office of Budget and Management. Paulson became an early supporter of the Trump presidential campaign in 2016. Trump has invested in Paulsons fund in the past, and the two have had other business dealings with each other. According to Bloomberg.com, in the last few months of 2016 Paulson and Co. contributed nearly $300,000 to the Republican presidential campaign. New York magazine quoted one person close to Paulson who said of his attitude toward Trump: He discounts all the crazy stuff. He served on the Trump Inaugural Committee, which by some estimates spent more than $200 million on the ceremony. A major concern of Paulsons has been the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the huge mortgage providers that the federal government put in receivership to prevent them from collapsing in 2008. The two lenders have recovered, but the profits they make now go directly into the US Treasury. Paulson is also a supporter of the privatization of education. In 2015, he donated $8.5 million to Success Academy, the largest chain of charter schools in New York City. Like Fink, Paulson is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. Both Fink and Paulson are members of the Executive Committee of the Partnership for New York City, which has long played a role in pressuring New York City government to impose austerity. They are joined on this committee by the Tisch family and Martin Lipton, key players on the NYU Board of Trustees. Chelsea Manning walked out of the US militarys maximum security prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the early morning hours Wednesday after serving a sentence of more than seven years, marked by brutality and ill-treatment tantamount to torture. Mannings supposed crime was that of exposing to the people of the United States and the entire planet the criminal atrocities carried out by the US government in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Washingtons conspiracies around the world. It is ironic that the release of the US Army private imprisoned for leaking classified documents received minimal coverage from the corporate media, even as it churned out endless stories covering President Donald Trumps alleged exposure to Russian officials of classified secrets. The political crisis in Washington is the product of a bitter internecine struggle between rival factions within the ruling political establishment and the US state apparatus, which are equally hostile to the democratic principles and antiwar sentiments for which Chelsea Manning sacrificed her freedom and nearly lost her life. Days after her sentencing in August 2013, Manning came out as a transgender woman, but the military held her in an all-male prison, subjecting her to sexual humiliation and denying her treatment for her well-documented gender dysphoria. Much of her imprisonment was spent in punitively imposed solitary confinement. The predictable result was extreme mental anguish, depression and attempted suicide. Mannings seven years of imprisonment and torment at the hands of the US military represented the most draconian punishment ever imposed for leaking classified documents in the United States. She was originally sentenced to 35 years in prison in a drumhead military court martial, in which the prosecution pressed for a treason conviction, a charge that carries the death penalty. Whom did Manning betray? Certainly not the American people, to whom she helped expose crimes being carried out behind their backs. Rather, her actions cut across the interests of the American capitalist ruling class, which is waging endless predatory wars and building up a police-state apparatus to suppress social unrest and popular resistance at home. Working as a 22-year-old military intelligence analyst in Iraq, Manning became increasingly opposed to the US war and occupation in that country. In early 2010, she provided WikiLeaks with hundreds of thousands of classified documents exposing Washingtons crimes. Among the first pieces of this classified material to catch the attention of a wide public was the chilling Collateral Murder video. Viewed by millions, the video, recorded through the gun sight of a US Apache helicopter, provides a gut-wrenching exposure, not only of a deliberate massacre of over a dozen unarmed civilians, including two Iraqi reporters working for the Reuters news agency, but of the criminal character of the US war as a whole. Other documents provided by Manning made it clear that the US was vastly underreporting the number of civilians being killed and wounded in Afghanistan. Manning also gave WikiLeaks some 250,000 diplomatic cables from American embassies around the world, which exposed official US lying, efforts to subvert governments, and dossiers on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, showing most of them had no significant role in terrorist operations. The exposure of these crimes provoked a vindictive reaction from the Obama White House and the State Department, then headed by Hillary Clinton. The persecution of Manning was part of a broader crackdown on whistleblowersthe Obama administration prosecuted more individuals under the Espionage Act of 1917 than all previous administrations combined. This crackdown went hand-in-hand with the buildup of a state repressive apparatus that extended from the massive spying on the US and world population to the presidents invoking of the power to order the drone missile assassination of anyone, anywhere in the world. If Obama commuted Mannings sentence on his final day in office (adding 120 days onto her time served), it was not out of any last-minute sympathy for the imprisoned soldiers suffering, or any newfound democratic convictions. It was a calculated political act, aimed at sanitizing the filthy record of his administration and currying favor for the Democratic Party. The conviction and the draconian sentence remain on the books, a brutal warning to anyone thinking of following in the persecuted privates footsteps. During the seven years that Manning spent enclosed behind cement and iron bars, the governments witch-hunt and persecution against those daring to expose its crimes has only intensified. Julian Assange has been trapped in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, threatened by a US federal grand jury. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated last month that Assanges arrest was a priority, adding that the US government was stepping up our efforts on all leaks ... whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail. This was accompanied by an extraordinary speech by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who branded WikiLeaks a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia. He declared that Assange has no First Amendment freedoms and that anyone who reveals the secrets of the US government is an enemy guilty of treason. Edward Snowden, who exposed the NSAs illegal wholesale spying operations, has been turned into a man without a country, living in forced exile in Moscow. Both Trump and Pompeo have publicly called for his execution. If Manning, Assange and Snowden are compelled to face the threat of imprisonment and even death for lifting the lid on Washingtons dirty secrets, it is in large measure because the corporate media in the United States is fully complicit in these crimes, functioning more and more openly as a propaganda arm of the US government. In a revealingly hostile response to Mannings pending release, the New York Times buried an article deep inside its printed addition Wednesday under the headline Manning Is Set to Be Freed 28 Years Ahead of Schedule. Presumably the newspaper of record would have preferred she serve her full term. The Timess former executive editor, Bill Keller, expressed his attitude toward the WikiLeaks revelations in 2010, while Manning was being brutalized in a Marine Corps lockup in Quantico, Virginia. He described himself as uncomfortable with the notion that the Times can decide to release information that the government wants to keep secret, a practice that in an earlier period was regarded as the most essential function of the so-called Fourth Estate. He made the Orwellian declaration that transparency is not an absolute good and that Freedom of the press includes freedom not to publish, and that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity. Today, the Timess editorial pages are under the direction of James Bennet, a figure with the closest ties to the state apparatus and the top echelons of the Democratic Party. (His father is a former head of USAID, a front for the CIA, and his brother is the senior senator from Colorado.) The Times churns out war propaganda, while news coverage is, by the papers own admission, vetted by the US intelligence agencies. These practices set the tone for the corporate media as a whole. The suppression of freedom of the press and free speech in the USepitomized by the relentless persecution of Manning, Assange and Snowdenis driven by the needs of Americas ruling oligarchy, as it seeks to extricate itself from deepening economic and political crises by means of ever more dangerous acts of military aggression abroad, while confronting rising hostility and anger from masses of working people in the US and around the world. The defense of these rights and the fight against state repression can be waged only as part of the struggle for the independent political mobilization of the working class against the capitalist system. Following the recent local government elections in Scotland, the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Theresa May is now the second largest after the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Tories won 276 of 1,227 seats, an increase of 161. Their share of the vote almost doubled from 13 to 25 percent. This was not restricted to wealthier areas. Among those areas returning Tory councillors were Shettleston in Glasgow and Ferguslie Park in Paisleyboth among the poorest areas in Britain. How is this to be explained? While the election took place amid sharply deepening austerity, with the potential break-up of both the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom looming, the main issue fought out in Scotland was whether another referendum on Scottish independence should be held. The last referendum was held in 2014, with the No to independence campaign winning with a 10 percent margin of victory. Immediately before Mays triggering of Article 50, paving the way for British departure from the EU, Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a new referendum sometime in 2018 or 2019. Sturgeons decision was in large part an attempt to capitalise on the 2016 Brexit referendum vote, with Scotland supporting remaining in the EU by 63 percent, in a dramatic reversal of the vote in England. It followed repeated rebuffs from the British government over the SNPs proposals to ensure, on behalf of Scottish-based business, continued access to the European Single Market in any negotiations with the EU. Sturgeon anticipated that calling a new poll would strengthen her electoral position, while giving the Scottish government leverage over the terms of Brexit. The manoeuvre failed. Although the SNP won the local election by a substantial margin, it was not the resounding triumph its leadership anticipated. The party lost control of Dundee and did not win an overall majority in Glasgow, Scotlands largest city. Compared with the last local authority elections in 2012, the SNPs share of the vote held at 32 percent. But compared to the general election of 2015, where the party won over 50 percent of the vote, ground was lost. Opinion polls suggest that the SNP could lose around seven of its 56 Westminster seats to the Tories in the June 8 general election. A number of processes are at work. Underpinning the Tory successes is the continuing decline of the Labour Party. In 1999, Labour controlled 17 of 32 local authority areas with 509 seats out of 1,222. After this months local elections, Labour can only exercise any power in coalition with its rivals and holds only 262 seats out of 1,227. Labours collapse in Scotland has been long in the making. The Scottish party supported the Blairites in ditching whatever remained of Labours reformist past, and provided no small number of its leading personnel, including two Labour chancellors, Alastair Darling and Gordon Brown. In 2007, Brown replaced Tony Blair as prime minister. In local government, the party pioneered the shift to privatisation by transferring services to Arms Length External Organisations (ALEOs). These semi-private outfits, generally controlled by figures close to the local authority, can raise capital, hire and fire workers and reduce their conditions in line with the financial requirements of the local authority. Both the ALEOs and the top local authority posts provide an extremely comfortable living for a small number of officials close to the party in power, while vicious cuts are imposed year after year. Previously, the SNP was the almost exclusive beneficiary of disaffection with Labour. But this is now changing. In power in Holyrood for 10 years, the SNP has agreed to all the local government cuts demanded by Westminster, through year on year freezes on council tax bills. In the local authorities it controls, it has directly implemented cuts. In Dundee, run by the SNP until last week, some 16 million will be cut from the budgets for vital services following 23 million last year. At the same time, council tax bills are set to rise by 3 percent. In taking over control of Glasgow from Labour, the SNP will undoubtedly pursue identical policies at the expense of the working population. Faced with the betrayal of their social aspirations by the SNP and Labour, and confronting nothing but the prospect of further cuts whichever party of the regional elite is in power, the majority, 53 percent, did not vote at all. But under conditions where all parties are clearly lined up against workers interests, the national question, Scottish or British, is coming to dominate politics for a section of workers. Under Scottish leader Ruth Davidson, the Tories have aggressively targeted the SNP on this issue. Davidson fought the election by trumpeting she is leading Scotlands fightback against the SNP and vehemently opposes another independence referendum. Labour, under Jeremy Corbyn, has been unable to take a clear position. Corbyn said in March that he was absolutely fine with a poll, before stating, a day later, that he opposed one. Labours hapless leader in Scotland, Kezia Dugdale, has been just as equivocal. Among some Labour supporters, Davidsons claim to be against division likely struck a chord. Most of the seats gained by the Conservative and Unionist Party were taken from Labour by winning votes from those who are against erecting a border between Scotland and England with everything that entails. Among those elected as Tories were formers supporters of the British National Party, admirers of racist Tory politician Enoch Powell and current members of the Protestant Orange Order. Leader of the Orange Order in Scotland, Jim McHarg, told the Herald that its members elected as councillors, Labour or Tory, could do no harm to the Unionist people. Full responsibility for the sway held by competing nationalisms over political life lies with the pseudo-left tendencies, which for decades have portrayed Scottish independence as a left-wing and progressive response to Tory rule. This embrace of nationalism makes them the de facto advocates of divisions in the working class, not only between those on Scotland and England but within Scotland itself. They act openly as a loyal ginger group, urging the SNP to take a harder line on independence. The Scottish Socialist Party has urged the snap general election to be run as The Independence Election, urging Corbyn voters in Scotland to recognise and seize the profound opportunity independence offers herea fairly unambiguous call for a vote for the SNP. They solidarise themselves with SNP leader Alex Salmond, who has criticised Sturgeon for not focusing sufficiently on independence, declaring, We are bound to say we agree with Alex. We realise Sturgeons reluctance to follow his advice since a third of SNP voters dont support independence. But putting seats before causes is extremely short-sighted. They conclude with the pathetic declaration, We will therefore press the SNP to put just such an unequivocal commitment to independence in its [sic] manifesto. And we will criticise them if they do not. A recent statement from the Socialist Party Scotland (SPS)allies of the Socialist Party of England and Walesimplicitly welcomes the possible impact of a Tory general election victory, suggesting, If the Tories were to win an increased majority in June, this would add further impetuous [sic] to demands for a second referendum and support for Scottish independence. It could also set a collision course between the Scottish Government and Westminster over that issue. Ahead of the commencement of the sixth round of peace talks in Geneva Tuesday, the US State Department accused the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad in a Monday afternoon press conference of burning the bodies of thousands of political opponents in a crematorium at the Sednaya prison near Damascus. Presenting satellite images of the facility, acting Assistant Secretary of state Stuart Jones denounced Assad for sinking to a new level of depravity. He claimed that up to 50 people were being hanged at the prison every day and that the crematorium had been constructed to remove the need to bury bodies in mass graves. Even the United Nations special Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, was compelled to acknowledge Tuesday that the body could not independently confirm the State Departments unsubstantiated allegations. The US moved swiftly to implement new sanctions on Syria, citing attacks on civilians to justify the banning of doing business with five individuals and five Syrian companies. This followed three weeks after the Treasury Department unveiled broader sanctions against 271 individuals April 24, accusing them of involvement in the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun April 4. The brutal US sanctions regime in place since 2011 has in fact made it increasingly impossible for aid organizations to provide for the desperate civilian population. A Syrian government statement dismissed the US allegations as a Hollywood plot. U.S. administrations continue fabricating lies and allegations to justify their aggressive and interventionist policies in other sovereign countries, the Syrian foreign ministry stated. These allegations are totally untrue and are only fabrications by the imagination of this administration and its agents. Indeed, since the outbreak of the war for regime change which it instigated in 2011, Washington has time and again seized upon fabricated reports of chemical weapons attacks, such as the 2013 incident in Gouta or last months unverified claims about the use of sarin gas, to justify an escalation of the conflict. Within little more than 48 hours of the first lurid media headlines accusing the Assad regime, without any evidence, of deploying sarin in Khan Sheikhoun, Trump ordered the launching of 59 cruise missiles on a Syrian air base, killing nine civilians and 15 people in total in the process. The atrocities committed by the Assad regime have been well documented. In February, an Amnesty International report detailed how between 5,000 and 13,000 prisoners had been executed at the Sednaya facility since the outbreak of the conflict. But such brutality is hardly unique to the Assad regime in the Syrian conflict, which has also seen the deliberate targeting and killing of civilians by the US-backed so-called rebels. However, the crimes of the Assad regime pale in comparison to those of US imperialism, which is least in a position to lecture anyone about human rights. The Syrian conflict, which Washington fomented through the CIA and other covert operations, has claimed the lives of close to half a million people and forced millions more from their homes. The destruction of the country is only one episode in a long series of brutal US-led military interventions throughout the Middle East over the past quarter century, which have included the devastation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. Taken together, the US and its allies are responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Just days before the latest allegation against Assad, Airwars, an independent monitoring group, released estimates showing that over 13,000 civilians have been killed in Syria and Iraq since the US-led coalition began its air war ostensibly targeting ISIS in the fall of 2014. On Tuesday, both the Assad government and rebel activists blamed the deaths of at least 40 civilians and the injuring of scores more in the eastern town of al-Bukamal in a US-led coalition air strike. Rebels reported that at least 11 children were among the dead. Predictably, the US military denied responsibility for the incident. Washingtons outrage at civilian casualties has been highly selective. While Trump demonized Assad as a monster after the alleged chemical weapons attack, which reports said claimed the lives of 80 people, there was virtual silence from the Trump administration a week later when a rebel suicide bombing killed over 120 civilians being transported by bus through areas controlled by US-backed Islamists. Jones indicated the real target of the latest US claims of atrocities by the Assad regime when he declared Monday, These atrocities have been carried out seemingly with the unconditional support from Russia and Iran. The Trump administration, like its predecessor, has no interest in bringing the bloodbath in Syria to an end, but is prepared to recklessly escalate the conflict so as to secure Washingtons geostrategic domination over one of the worlds most energy-rich regions. In recent months, Trump has doubled the number of US troops operating in Syria and loosened the rules of engagement for US aircraft, resulting in a sharp rise in civilian casualties. The escalation is a desperate attempt to offset the debacle confronting the US-backed Islamist proxies, which were driven from Aleppo late last year and now no longer control any major urban area. As the talks got under way in Geneva, reports emerged of pro-Assad forces making advances in eastern Damascus and being on the verge of bringing the entire city under its control for the first time since the conflict broke out. The escalation of the Syria conflict directly poses the danger of a wider war erupting that would draw in regional and global powers. In an indication of the mounting tensions in the region, Israeli housing minister Yoav Gallant, a former Israeli Defence Forces commander, seized on the latest US allegations against Assad to call for the Syrian presidents assassination. Likening Assads assassination to cutting off the tail of a snake, he added that afterwards, We can focus on the head, which is in Teheran. Washington is yet to explicitly endorse the Astana ceasefire agreement brokered earlier this month, which implemented a halt in fighting in four areas across the country: in the south, in Homs and Hama provinces, and in the northwestern Idlib province. The Financial Times reported this week that the framework established by the de-escalation zones is increasingly being viewed by the powers involved in Syria as a mechanism for partitioning the country as each actor moves to strengthen its own position. The newspaper pointed to the proposal for a buffer zone in the south near the Jordanian border, noting that it could become the base for a push by US proxies to cut off Irans access route through eastern Syria to Lebanon. On the other hand, pro-government and Iranian-backed forces hope to prevent US proxies from taking ISIS territory around Deir ez-zor in order to strengthen Iranian supply lines. The situation in Syria after Astana is not the same as it was before, a diplomat told the FT. Whether the Astana deal becomes a map to partition or power sharing, the race now is to get the biggest share. In a related development that points to the ongoing danger of the major powers being dragged further into the conflict, Britains Daily Telegraph reported Monday that pro-Assad troops are advancing on a military base close to the Iraqi border used by British and US secret service personnel. This is the second of two articles containing interviews conducted by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) with teachers who attended the recent Australian Education Union delegates meetings in the state of Victoria. The first can be read here. The AEU called the meetings for delegates to cast an indicative vote on a new four-year agreement , which union officials had already signed with the Victorian Labor government. The deal, like those of the past three-and-a-half decades, represents an escalating attack on the jobs, wages and working conditions of all Victorian public school teachers. At the meetings, AEU officials sought to limit discussion, or suppress it altogether, in an attempt to push through a Yes vote. At some meetings, Socialist Equality Party members and supporters who are teachersand were elected by their union branches as delegateswere able to move resolutions upholding the democratic right of teachers to speak. At others, the AEU blocked them. At several meetings, however, SEP representatives spoke against the deal, exposing in detail why teachers should vote No. More than 55,000 public school teachers, education support (ES) staff and other Department of Education and Training workers covered by the agreement, must now vote on the deal in a secret ballot. SEP members and supporters are campaigning among rank-and-file teachers and ES staff for a No vote. Judith, a secondary teacher who attended the delegates meeting in Springvale, was critical of the way the union officials ran it. Most teachers knowledge of the agreement is very limited, she said. The whole process was very undemocratic. There should be mass meetings where everyone can hear everyone else. Judith pointed out that even her own understanding of the contents of the deal was limited. We just got told by one of the people on union state council that not much had changed in the agreement. We are so busy and dont have time to spend reading such a long document. I went to the ratification meeting in 2013. A few people tried to put forward the no case. But the union got all the time to speak. It was futile really. You put your hand up to speak and its all them. This time I put the no vote in at the start and left. Judith referred to the Bracks report, a document drawn-up by former Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks, which advocates an accelerated assault on teachers jobs and working conditions, including school amalgamations, and intensified teacher surveillance tied to performance. The government and the union seem to agree with the Bracks report, she observed. I read your article on what the union is suppressing. The report actually mentions how schools should change their compositions to lower costs. Its not in that language, but that is what is meant. Concerned about the impact of the latest measures on older teachers, Judith commented: I previously applied to freedom of information because I noticed so many teachers named as excess were more than 50 years-old. I found that of 416 teachers in excess since 2013, 363 are classification 2 (older teachers). Its not meant to be based on the amount you cost. Jess, a primary school teacher of six years standing, spoke to the SEP after attending the Meadow Heights delegates meeting. The whole process at the meeting was extremely undemocratic, she said. Im not sure why there had to be a resolution put for democratic discussion to happen. Surely that should happen naturally? Jess also criticised the way the meeting was run. When we arrived, we had to vote. Then you had what I call a semi discussion. Clearly what the union were looking for was one answer. Walking into the meeting, the union guy who greeted us said Meredith Peace [AEU Victoria President] is going to speak for an hour and you dont have to stay. You can pop your vote in and head off if you like. When we walked in, she continued, there were hardly any chairs set up, just a handfulthree rows. I was thinking, are we the only ones staying? We were going to stay, of course, but imagine if you came and saw that! You would think, maybe Ill vote and go. Jess warned that such anti-democratic measures had been planned. You need to read between the lines on all these things, she said. This was a conscious thing by the union. From the beginning the process has been intentional. This was all announced just before end of holidays. It doesnt just happen like that. They [the AEU] did, in many ways, try and stop discussion and put a lid on it. Referring to the immense workloads teachers face, with an average of 15 hours overtime being worked by Victorian teachers each week, Jess pointed out that the union made a big deal of workload, half way through last year, and it is the biggest problem facing teachers. It is not wages, it is workload. This issue has not been addressed whatsoever. Workload, or the lack of a solution, is one of the main things that they did not want exposed, she added. Nothing was done to address workloadand they knew they hadnt addressed it too. Jess went on to draw out other measures in the agreement that the union had not raised in schools, or at the delegates meetings. The fact that performance and the development review online and peer observations were somehow snuck in there by the union is really frightening. Peer observation happens at our school, but it is by choice. The fact that it is now mandatory makes you feel that they are checking up on younot that it is some benefit. With the vote, I feel teachers and ES [Education Support] staff havent had the opportunity to read it or hear the other side. I know of people through social media who like the AEU site, but they only read the bullet points, because they only have time to read these things. They are only reading what has been sent to them. If you only look at those things, then it sounds pretty good. There is an overwhelming vote for yes, because people dont get the opportunity to hear the other side and read between the lines. All you need is one voice in a branch to represent the opposition, to bring your attention to all the other facts that the union is not talking about. Unfortunately, not all schools have that. I really think that is the reason why there has been a yes vote. Jess was concerned that teachers would respond to the vote statistics, released by the union after the delegates meetings, by thinking that the agreement must be good. The vote was 82 percent Yes and 18 percent No. She noted: It is a real pressure. Imagine you are a person who voted yes at the delegates meeting, and the data had come out the other way aroundthat the majority had voted no. Then you are sitting there thinking Oh! What have I not read? What havent I realized? Then you are probably going to go back and have a proper look. Referring to the discussion at the Meadow Heights meeting, where SEP members had insisted on a democratic discussion and put forward the case for a No vote, Jess said: I think if everyone had been at the Meadow Heights meeting and heard the discussion, it would have been a much closer vote. Who is going to bother to sit down and read a lengthy document, when all the voices around you are saying yes, yes, yes? To contact Teachers and ES Staff against the Victorian Education Agreement, visit our Facebook page. The recently published book The Return of History, Conflict, Migration and Geopolitics in the 21st Century by academic Jennifer Welsh, which has been widely promoted by Canadas state-funded broadcaster, provides an indication of the mounting concern among so-called liberal sections of the ruling class about how to deal with the reemergence of imperialist conflicts and deepening social inequality. Based on human rights propaganda and a dishonest presentation of the virtues of international law, Welsh argues that the West, including Canadian imperialism, has to act more aggressively to defend its supposedly cherished liberal democratic values against terrorism and a resurgent Russia. Welsh is a professor of international relations at Oxford University and, perhaps more significantly in the context of her latest volume, special adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine. R2P was developed by an international commission in the early 2000s funded by the Canadian government and has served as the ideological justification for a series of US-led wars and military interventions, most prominently in Libya in 2011. Welshs central thesis is that the West, and above all the United States, has become too complacent about its position in the world and must more actively uphold democracy and other values in the face of new emerging challenges. She acknowledges that the capitalist triumphalism in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union proved to be overly optimistic. The world is not moving inexorably towards democratic capitalist uniformity, as so many ideologists predicted in the early 1990s, but is showing signs of a return to past conflicts and divisions. If we continue to muddle along, Welsh writes, lulled by the conviction that our model is best, that current challenges will ultimately not defeat us, and that everyone else in the world wants what we want, we will not be able to respond to an unforeseen shock or an emerging sign of decay. Behind the rhetoric, Welshs call for a more forceful upholding by the US of values such as democracy and human rights amounts to a plea for an even more aggressive assertion of its imperialist ambitions, as becomes clear throughout the book. Welshs views represent those of an important section of the ruling elite in Canada. Her book is all the more significant because it formed the basis for the Massey Lecture Series, an annual event broadcast by the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in November. It is more than mere coincidence that Welsh was chosen to deliver the 2016 series, less than one year after the coming to power of a Liberal government in Ottawa committed to a repackaging of Canadian imperialist ambitions on the global stage behind a veil of propaganda about human rights and democracy. The refutation of Fukuyamas End of History Francis Fukuyama summed up the wave of celebration that swept the capitalist class in the immediate post-Soviet period with his theory of the end of history. His contention was that with the end of the Soviet Union, liberal capitalism no longer had a serious competitor and would thus become the natural economic, social and political system to which everyone would strive. History as Marx had understood it, as the history of class struggle, was over and Marxism and socialism were dead. Even someone like Welsh, who praises Fukuyama and fondly recalls the early 1990s as a time when she and an entire layer of privileged academics saw their living standards rise as new opportunities opened up, is compelled to acknowledge that Fukuyamas theory has been refuted. Our own liberal democratic society was not inevitable, she writes in chapter one, before going on to stress that such principles were fought for, above all, in the two imperialist world wars in the first half of the 20th century. The past few years have been less like transitions to a democratic capitalist order, as Fukuyama had predicted, and more like the return of history. With this remark, Welsh sums up her concerns about what she claims is an increasingly assertive Russia, mounting violations of international law, unprecedented numbers of refugees in the post-war era, and the substantial growth of social inequality. But despite acknowledging that 25 years after the dissolution by the Stalinist bureaucracy of the Soviet Union the capitalist system confronts a deepening crisis, she insists that no alternative exists. We live in a society without genuine opposition, where even to imagine an alternative economic and political system seems futile, she asserts. However, Welsh is troubled by the fraying of social relations in Western societies, which she views as an obstacle to pressing ahead as aggressively as possible with the assertion of the global imperialist interests of the US and Canada. She cites as her role model George Kennan, the US Cold War diplomat who advanced the idea of containment towards the Soviet Union. A key component of Kennans strategy, under conditions of the post-war capitalist boom, was the strengthening of welfare state measures so as to secure a degree of social and political stability within the US and Western Europe to enable the imperialist powers to concentrate their full attention on confronting the Soviet Union and not a hostile challenge from below at home. A dishonest cover-up of imperialist war crimes Welshs function as an apologist for the imperialist powers finds its clearest expression in her treatment of the role of the United States and its allies in the numerous wars they have waged over the past 25 years. While at times advancing the mildest criticism of aspects of US foreign policy, she does so within a framework which accepts without question the bogus notion that Washington acts around the world to defend human rights and expand democracy. She opens chapter two, on The return of barbarism, with a description of the apparently sudden emergence of Islamic State in the summer of 2014. She details the spread of the jihadist groups control over large parts of Iraq and Syria as something that took the US by surprise and which could not have been foreseen. Having presented this false narrative, she proceeds to make a timid criticism of US policy in Iraq. While accepting wholesale the fraudulent propaganda of the Bush administration that it was bringing democracy to the Middle Eastern country, Welsh admonishes Washington for its failure to develop a post-conflict strategy. The lack of a plan for Iraq resulted in the development of ethnic tensions, she continues. In this context, she notes that the US unwittingly assisted sectarianism with its policy of relying on Shia parties to rule in Baghdad while Sunnis were largely excluded. This analysis is a complete distortion of the history. The reality is that Washington actively encouraged sectarian divisions in Iraq to maintain its control over the puppet government in Baghdad so as to secure access to Iraqi oil and retain its dominant geostrategic position in the energy-rich region. This policy gave rise to an Iraqi branch of Al-Qaida, which did not exist prior to 2003, among disaffected Sunnis, many of whom would later go on to form ISIS. Any notion that Welsh is merely confused or inconsistent in her approach to the crimes of American imperialism is dashed by her descent into outright falsification of history. Her account of recent experiences with humanitarian interventions simply leaves out one of the most notoriousand for Welsh, given her own professional background, one of the most damningthe 2011 US-NATO war to topple the Gaddafi regime in Libya. NATO launched thousands of bombing raids on the North African country, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands and the plunging of Libya into a vicious civil war. The NATO action was initiated under the pretext of R2P, with widely reported claims that Gaddafis forces were preparing to massacre civilians. In fact, the NATO operation was carried out in violation of international law to support a collection of Islamist extremist militias, including many gunmen who were later funnelled into Syria with the assistance of the CIA to form the backbone of the Islamist opposition to the Assad regime. Important sections of this fighting force joined ISIS when it emerged. The US continued to see ISIS as an ally in the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and only moved to confront it as its control over wide swathes of Iraq threatened to destabilize Washingtons client regime in Baghdad. There is no innocent explanation for Welshs deletion of the entire Libyan experience from the historical record. The United Nations, where she works as a senior adviser on R2P, played a critical role in providing legitimacy for the imperialist onslaught on Libya. A Security Council resolution denounced Gaddafi and explicitly referred to the R2P doctrine to sanction the measures taken by the US-led NATO operation. The only conclusion that can therefore be drawn is that she chose to omit the Libyan episode because it contradicts her depiction of Washington and its allies as opponents of Islamist terrorism, and crusaders for democracy and international law. Her potted history of the fate of international law since World War II is extraordinarily obtuse. She avoids informing her readers that the key development in international law following the uncovering of the Nazis horrific crimes in 1945 was the conclusion, expressed in the Nuremberg trials, that the waging of aggressive war was the greatest of all crimes against humanity. To mention this fact would inevitably lead to the conclusion that the United States is the principle violator of international law today as a consequence of its acts of aggression against countries from Yugoslavia in the late 1990s, to Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 2000s and Libya and Syria in recent years. Welsh prefers to focus her attention on the medieval concept of a just war, which represents a major regression from the principles laid down at Nuremberg. Just war theory accepts that conflicts will break out and merely requires that the participants provide an appropriate justification for launching them and adhere to basic standards of moral behaviour while engaged in them. Even by these standards, it would not be difficult to demonstrate Washingtons criminal role on the world stage, from the 2004 assault on Fallujah to its recent massacre of civilians in the bombing of Mosul. But Welsh devotes all of her efforts to identifying instances where US rivals such as Russia or Syria have violated such legal principles, leading her to the truly outrageous conclusion, there is strong evidence that liberal democratic states have gone the furthest in actually implementing the legal commitments they signed onto in the post-war period. Claims of Russian aggression Welshs book was published last fall at the height of the virulently anti-Russia campaign waged by a substantial sections of the US political and media establishment during the 2016 US presidential election campaign. The lurid claims of Russian interference in the election, none of which have been backed up with a shred of evidence, have been used to attack Donald Trump from the right and step up pressure for an intensification of Washingtons confrontational approach to Moscow, including the real possibility of all-out war. Welsh supplies ideological ammunition for this reactionary campaign, which she seeks to conceal with phrases about human rights and democracy. According to Welsh, Russia has been the principal destabilizing force in world politics for decades. The author is prepared to embrace any expression of opposition to Russia, even when it is associated with the most extreme right-wing forces. She uncritically hails the fascist-led coup in February 2014 in Ukraine, where protests in Kiev against pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych were led by neo-Nazi forces like the Right Sector and Svoboda. The coup, triggered by Yanukovychs refusal to sign an association agreement with the European Union, was aimed at bringing Ukraine into the Western sphere of influence and expanding the domination of the US and Germany over the country at Russias expense. For Welsh, this was only to be welcomed, as she enthused, You could smell the scent of revolution in Kiev. In reality, the strongest scent emanating from the so-called opposition forces was the stench of Western dollars and euros. The US boasted about how it had invested billions of dollars to fund political groups opposed to Ukraines close ties to Russia, most infamously in the recorded telephone remarks of under-secretary of state for Europe Victoria Nuland. The distortions reach new heights when Welsh turns to Syria. Russia is singled out for pursuing its own geostrategic and economic interests by intervening on the side of the Assad regime, Moscows main ally in the Middle East. By contrast, Welsh writes of the United States, the US has drastically curtailed its global ambitions and its willingness to deploy its forces abroad. This false narrative is part of Welshs sustained effort to portray US imperialism and its European allies as essentially moral and humane actors, whose actions are always motivated by the greater good. By contrast, Russia and any country aligning with it seek to pursue only the basest and most self-interested goals. The reality is, of course, very different. The Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, representing the interests of a criminal layer of billionaire oligarchs whose wealth was largely based on the theft of state property during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, offers no progressive alternative to imperialism. In Ukraine, it encouraged pro-Russian separatism in the east of the country and in Syria it has propped up the Assad dictatorship with the aim of retaining its sole military base outside of the former Soviet Union and countering US efforts at regime change. This has only heightened the danger of the Syrian conflict spiraling out of control and exploding into a regional war that would rapidly bring the major powers into direct conflict. But both of these initiatives are essentially defensive responses to the aggression of Western imperialism. For over a quarter century, the US has waged virtually uninterrupted wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, a fact which Welsh deliberately evades in her presentation. The suggestion that Washington has drastically curtailed its world ambitions would be news to the millions of Iraqis, Afghans and Syrians driven from their homes due to the destruction of their societies by US-led or US-incited wars, which have been responsible for the deaths of millions. Welsh lends further credence to the anti-Russia campaign in the US by embracing wholesale the allegations of mass Russian spying on Western countries. On the other hand, the vast global spying network led by the American National Security Agency, which is gathering information on billions of people around the globe, does not even rate a mention. In this context, it is revealing that Welshs only reference to Edward Snowden, whose leaks exposed the true extent of Washingtons spying network, is to denounce him because his revelations allegedly made it easier for terrorist groups to encrypt their communications. Welsh concludes her chapter on Russia by attempting to distance herself somewhat from the most hardline anti-Russian forces. Perhaps, she suggests, Western hubris may also have been partly to blame for the deterioration in relations. She proposes that a way be found to keep the door open for Russian cooperation with the US and its allies through negotiations and multi-lateral organizations. But, she insists, this can only be achieved if the US lays down strict guidelines which, if violated by Russia, will result in swift punishment. In essence, her talk of cooperation notwithstanding, Welshs appeal amounts to the suggestion that the Kremlin be given another chance to fully subordinate itself to US and European imperialism so as to avert a calamitous conflict that could trigger world war. The fact that such explicitly anti-Russia positions were given an official forum by the CBC with its invitation to Welsh to deliver the Massey Lectures is of great political significance. Canadas Liberal government has been one of the leading proponents of the international anti-Russia campaign. It has committed 450 Canadian troops to lead a NATO battalion to be deployed to Latvia as part of the US-led alliances attempt to encircle and menace Russia. In March, the Trudeau government also announced an extension of a military mission to Ukraine, where Canadian troops are training army and national guard units to wage war on pro-Russian separatists. Planning to save capitalism from itself The object of Welshs biggest fear remains unmentioned by name throughout the book: the working class. Her reference in the title to the return of history is a tacit admission that the class struggle, dismissed by Fukuyama and so many others as a relic of the past, is once again emerging on the surface of political life around the world. This finds its sharpest expression in Welshs concluding chapter, where she discusses her concern at the growing levels of social inequality in Western society. This is not done, however, due to any objection in principle to significant levels of social inequality and class oppression, but rather because she fears that the levels it has reached are unsustainable and undermine the ability of the United States and its imperialist allies to pursue their global interests. As she notes, the failure to manage inequality within certain limits threatens to breed grievances that can become revolutionary or violent. As well as once again invoking her hero Kennan, Welshs remedy for the current situation amounts to issuing appeals to the ruling class to recognize the error of its ways. This enters the realms of the absurd as she proposes the conducting of psychological interventions to assist would-be capitalist benefactors to increase their empathy for society and think less about personal gain and private profit. She also favourably quotes British left author Paul Mason, who has distinguished himself over recent months for his open embrace of the US-led war-mongering campaign aimed at Russia. All of this is based on the promotion of Cold War liberalism, which is presented by Welsh as a peace-loving, democratic ideology. At various points she urges the United States and the West to reinvigorate their commitment to liberal-democratic values, while concealing entirely from the reader that such values have always been bound up with the ruthless assertion of US imperialist dominance throughout the world, from the Korean War to Vietnam, the CIAs brutal interventions into Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world to install and prop up ruthless dictatorships, and the vast military deployment, including its huge nuclear arsenal, to confront the Soviet Union. It is this legacy which Welsh is nostalgic for when she appeals for a reinvigoration of liberal-democratic values. The drastic expansion of militarism, which is being rapidly implemented by the Trump administration in the US and by virtually every other imperialist power around the globe, is not only aimed at preparing for the inevitable military conflicts that will arise between the major powers over markets and geostrategic control of key regions, but to suppress all opposition that will no less certainly emerge from the billions of working people who oppose the reckless drive to war. TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Late April, Davis Cripe, a South Carolina teenager collapsed and died after consuming too much caffeine in a short time. It's a sobering reminder that a commonly consumed substance can have some very serious side effects. The average adult should only consume 400 mg or less of caffeine. To put that into perspective a small 8.4 oz. can of regular Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine, with larger cans and other brands containing much more. A 20 oz. bottle of Lipton Peach Iced Tea has a fraction of that, with 24 mg of caffeine. Obviously, since caffeine is found almost everywhere, it can be very difficult limit your intake to less than 400 mg. Most adults to turn to caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks to help them feel more awake and alert. Though even with adults, having too much caffeine can have side effects. Some of these effects include a jittery feeling, an increased heart rate, heart palpitations, or even the feeling of being more anxious than usual. Chances are, if you've felt these side effects, you've continued to feel them long after you've finished your beverage. That's because caffeine can stay in your body for about ten hours, which is why doctors say you should limit your caffeine intake to the morning, especially if you have problems sleeping. "If you're having any sleep habits at all, I would encourage you to really limit your caffeine consumption, particularly after lunch," says Dr. Matthew Standridge M.D., a doctor at TMH Physician Partners - Southwood. "If you're going to have caffeine, keep it to the first thing in the morning. But if you have issues with sleep, I wouldn't drink caffeine at all." Of course, much of what has been discussed thus far has been geared toward adults. But what about children and teenagers? Well, for young children, doctors don't recommend any caffeine at all. For special occasions like a birthday party, a small glass is OK, but that should be it. Water is really the best drink for kids as it is free of extra sugars and caffeine. As for teenagers, they should be limited to one, maybe two sodas or coffees a day, but only if they really need it. When it comes to energy drinks, they should be kept away from teenagers altogether. "For older kids, teenagers, they usually start to consume and it's a little harder to regulate," says Dr. Maci McDermott, a pediatrician with Capital Regional Medical Center. "They kind of have their own money. They're doing their own thing. Even then, though, I really discourage any energy drinks. They have really high levels of caffeine. Sometimes equaling 10-15 sodas." Dr. McDermott recommends that parents talk to their teenagers about limiting their caffeine intake. Caffeine may seem benign, but abusing it can lead to unwanted side effects. With that being said, caffeine in small doses isn't dangerous. However, consuming anything in excess, whether your an adult, teenager, or child, can be bad. Of course, if you have any questions about caffeine, for yourself or your children, or any side effects you may feel after having a caffeinated beverage, it is always best to talk to your doctor. MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) - The city of Midway is holding a special meeting tomorrow to go over two key issues in the midst of change in leadership. A special meeting Thursday is bringing out two big issues. The first is one we've told you about, regarding the future of former police chief Tom Murray. The other has to do with the future of the man who called for his termination. Murray filed a letter of intent to sue the city after council voted to fire him for "insubordination." since then, the council has been discussing his potential return to the police department, which will now be losing another member. Captain Carlos Hill notified the city his last day would be May 17th. We've also learned of another departure from the city. Operations Manager Joe Lewis is retiring Thursday, but the change doesn't stop there. A new mayor is now in charge. Councilwoman Wanda Range is now in that position. And there will be a new city manager too, though it's still unclear when the search will begin. City council voted not to renew the contract of Auburn Ford, opting to keep him on a day-to-day basis until council finds a replacement. Ford was the main force behind Tom Murray's termination after Murray went to state investigators about Ford's legal right to serve in office. The special meeting is set for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at city hall. WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say new leads in an 11-year-old southeast Georgia murder case resulted in the arrests of three men. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday that 60-year-old Willie James Carradine; 39-year-old William Faison; and 38-year-old Robert Nathan Hall have been charged with murder in the slaying of 36-year-old Anthony Dale Vickers of Waycross. Vickers' burned body was found near an intersection in June 2006. An autopsy found that he died from a gunshot wound. Faison was arrested and jailed in Ware County. Carradine was already incarcerated at Autry State Prison on separate charges. Hall was arrested in Independence, Missouri, where he now lives, and the GBI says he'll be returned to Georgia. It wasn't clear whether any of the men had a lawyer who could comment on the charges. (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)--Tallahassee Police Officer Rachelle Denmark is off the bike and in our studios after the Police Unity Tour. WTXL checked in with her all week long as officers prepared for the ride. We also interviewed her via Skype during the three-day bike ride. Officer Denmark says it was an incredible experience to ride into Washington D.C. Each year, hundreds of law enforcement officers and survivors of loved ones killed in the line of duty participate in the Police Unity Tour. It's to bring awareness to those who gave their lives to serve others. The tour also raises money for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall and Museum. (RNN) - A Florida man was trying to kiss a rattlesnake when it bit him on the tongue, witnesses told Action News Jax. Ron Reinold was rushed to the hospital in a medical helicopter after the snake bit him Tuesday. He was in critical condition, Putnam County Fire and Rescue told WFTV. Neighbor Charles Goff said he found the snake on Monday and they put it in a tank. "The next morning before I got up, they were playing with the snake," Goff told Action News. "One boy said 'I'm going to kiss it in the mouth' and it bit him in the face." Family said Reinold was doing much better on Wednesday, and he is expected to survive. Copyright 2017 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved. Under a new law signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, holding a device of any kind while driving is illegal. (Photo illustration by JAKE PARRISH/Yakima Herald-Republic) You are the owner of this article. Two different events are taking place these days in the State of Israel: The first event is the launch of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) . Actually, two new corporations. The second is the preparations for US President Donald Trumps visit Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter When examining the time and political resources put into these two events, one gets the impression that the Israeli governments top priority is the media, followed by minor issues like American pressure and policy. The Israeli leadership, alongside the media, has succeeded in separating the wheat from the chaff and putting all its resources into the chaff. This is a skill that has never been seen before in the history of the Jewish people. As I write these words, I am still part of the IPBC news divisions broadcasting schedule. The broadcasts were launched on Monday. In a spectacular show of cronyism and stupidity, the Israeli government managed to give the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) workers hope, and then inform them that the IBA is being shut down half an hour before the Mabat news program; to establish a broadcasting corporation and then try to shut it down; to pass a law to create another corporation while wasting hundreds of millions of shekels from the taxpayers money, and then give the public broadcasting 24 hours to prepare. Cabinet meeting. Today, there are right-wing politicians with an organized world view, and there are those who define themselves according to Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) This bizarre story mostly affects private people like me (my wife is still convinced that a daily program in the eveningwhile the children are being put to bedis indeed a left-wing conspiracy, as Coalition Chairman David Bitan defined the IPBC), not the states future. The IBA, which was shut down after countless discussions and decisions, and the corporations that were launched this week are part of the changes in the Israeli media. The odd way in which this is happening is part of shallow and corrupt cronyism, nothing more. With all due respect to my own profession, the State of Israels strength does not depend upon the nature and managers of public broadcasting. That is both the truth and the problem. Everything that happened around the IPBC over the past year is nonsense. Its a story of people and the way they are treated, obsession, zigzagging and political activists who can no longer tell the difference between the chicken and the egg. They put everything in the pot and call it shakshuka. Thats what happens when power goes to ones head. There wasnt, and wont be, a shred of ideology in the obsession over the IPBC. There is no one in the Likud party, including Miri Regev and Tzachi Hanegbiwho have turned into chief nodding ministerswho knows the exact reason for this farce. If only there was a clear purpose behind the mess: To create an Israeli Fox News channel, to open the market to competition or to adopt a libertarian approach that says there is no need for public broadcasting. Each of these goals is worthy of discussion, but here there was nothing. There was nothing in the studios where the prime ministers emissaries gave interviews on the IPBC. There was nothing in the Knesset. There was nothing in terms of results. In Israel of 2017, there is an ideological right and there is a sociological right. There is a right with organized world views, and there is a right whose organized world view is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The IPBC interests no one, but there are those who choose to define themselves according to Netanyahu, who support him. Why? Because. They are convinced that this foolishness is a real battle against the media, that apologizing to Turkey and paying it for the terrorists it sent here was the right thing to do, just because he did it, and that saying leftists three times a day is a proper alternative to a right-wing policy. Empty table Now, we should weigh the obsession with the IPBC and compare it to the attitude towards Trumps upcoming visit, to the voices arriving from Washington that Trumpdespite the declarations, the affection and the Jewish son-in-lawhas chosen the Palestinian narrative that the parties can be pressured into 1967 borders. Yet the political side, which interests the ideological right and its different factions, doesnt seem to interest many of the politicians who call themselves right-wing. Thats the absolute truth. Try to figure out what Bitan thinks about negotiations with the Palestinians. Or what Tzachi Hanegbi or Miri Regev or Miki Zohar think. Like with the IPBC issue, there was no need to wait for the last minute with the diplomatic issue either. Waiting for the last minute before the visit is incompetence. We didnt need three months to realize that Trump has no intention of becoming the leader of Bayit Yehudi, or to arrive at the last minute, half an hour before the visit is made public, and remember that there is a diplomatic plan. Trump is an unexplained phenomenon: While firing the FBI director (and reminding us that Israeli democracy is full of advantages), he dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize and promises a deal. Its hard to cope with dreams and beliefs. Its even harder when there is no response. One of the arguments voiced by the Israeli Left is that the Right has no clear policy. Its an argument that I see in my email inbox every Saturday. Its convenient to think that one sidethe Leftcannot fulfill the dream and that the other side has no plan. That way, everyone is in the same boat. The truth is that there are many thoughts and ideas on the table, on many tablesapart from the government table. US President Donald Trump. While firing the FBI director (and reminding us that Israeli democracy is full of advantages), he dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize and promises a deal (Photo: AP) Our preoccupation with Yair Garbuz and the IPBC comes at the expense of having a vision. When Netanyahu talks about the two-state solution in English without believing in it, Israeli politics loses the ability to talk straight to the pointthe dugri that once characterized Israelis. In the days of former US President Barack Obama, talk of a two-state solution contained a motive of a diplomatic maneuvering, and what we were left with was a lie that neither side believes in. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett is saying it out loud, but he is alone in a government that sanctifies maneuvering for the sake of maneuvering. From an ideological perspective, the State of Israel is withdrawing into a sort of Allon Plan based on Areas A and B. The interest is a diplomatic separation from the Palestinians, not a security separation. There is one enemy state in Gaza, and in the West Bank there already is a state minus, as Netanyahu calls it, an autonomy plus, as Bennett calls it, or any other name. There is no chance for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borderseveryone understands that, but the Israeli government is incapable of sitting down and discussing what it looks like and what it means. A debate will require us to tell the truth, to directly say that the Israeli government is the one sustaining and maintaining the Palestinian Authority, that its in our interest. A debate will require us to discuss the five Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the fence that no one controls. A debate will require us to talk about a vision, and thats somewhere everyone is afraid of reaching. They would much rather deal with the reality of the television screen. A raging fire broke out on Sunday night at a 19th Century synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The fire broke out around 7:00 pm local time at the historic 167-years-old Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue, according to NBC New York. Photo: EPA Videos uploaded to social media showed heavy flames raging from the top of the building, which appeared to be severely damaged. The intensity of the flames prevented firefighters from entering the synagogue, and so they were forced to battle the fire from the outside . The roof of the synagogue collapsed during the event. Photo: Reuters We could see smoke from our roof on 10th street and 1st avenue, Lower East Side resident Robbie Swain, 21, told the New York Post. It was bad, dudeinsane. Never seen anything like this before, added the 21-year-old. Photo: EPA When it was going, it looked like a giant brick oven (inside). I swear to you, like straight up everything inside was on fire, fire 150 feet up, said 36-year-old Danny Agnew, also speaking with the New York Post. I thought the whole thing was going to collapse. The fire was almost as tall as the building behind itnot smoke, straight up fire. Photo: EPA There were no reports of injuries, nor was it immediately clear what sparked the fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated, and a search of the grounds around the synagogue will be done Monday, according to NBC New York. According to the the New York Times, yhe abandoned building, which was built in 1850, once housed the citys oldest Jewish Orthodox congregation. President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi responded to the question "is there hope for a solution to the Palestinian issue under Trump?" saying "there is the opportunity, and if it would be taken we could reach a solution and the conflict will become history." El-Sisi added that "Trump is the deciding factor in this solution. My estimation is that he doesn't take much time to decide on things." El-Sisi then addressed Israel, saying "you have a chance for peace and there's an opportunity for us all to live together. It will be a grave mistake to waste that opportunity." 1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process. 2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive. 3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents. 4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance. Vote View Results Israeli security forces launched a wide scale operation overnight Wednesday in a renewed crackdown on the families of the Hamas terrorists who in 2014 kidnapped and murdered the teenagers Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrah. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter During the joint operation between the IDF and the Shin Bet, dozens of Hamas targets in Hebron were also raided in an effort to smash the terror movements infrastructure in the city. IDF forces raid Hamas targets As forces combed through multiple Hamas sites, NIS 5,000 shekels were confiscated from the families of the terrorists who murdered the teenagers. Vehicle confiscated (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Vehicle confiscated (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) During the operation last night, thousands of shekels were seized, along with two vehicles and two computers that are of the equivalent value to the money that the families received from the terrorists. IDF soldiers briefed before the operation (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Also during the night, security forces arrested 22 wanted Palestinian in different cities and towns in the West Bank suspected of involvement in terror activities, disruption of public order and violence. Last year, the IDF confiscated significant sums of money from families affiliated with Hamas terrorists. The defense minister revealed more than he had wanted to. He tried to calm everyone down, but left behind an alarming uncertainty. Avigdor Lieberman announced Wednesday that the intelligence relations between Israel and the United States had not been affected by the reports that the American president had leaked sensitive Israeli intelligence information to the Russians. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The thing is that no one had spoken about a crisis in the intelligence ties between the two countries as a result of Donald Trumps babbling. Israel needs the US intelligence more than the US intelligence needs Israel. The problem is what was not said in the defense ministers statement. Lieberman didnt deny the report, neither about the information that was shared with the Russians nor about the fact that Israel was the source of that information. Moreover, he failed to address the reports about the huge damage caused by the leak. This isnt the kind of damage that can be ignored. In general, without addressing this specific affair, when information is leaked from one country to another, in a place where there are international collaborations, more than one country is likely to suffer. Trump (R) and Putin. Defending the US president is worth the Russian leaders while. Where else will he find such a stupid rival? (Photo: AP) The US media is serving as a platform for people in the American intelligence services who have apparently decided to destroy Trump politically. Not only are they presenting the president as a threat to homeland securityalmost like a Russian collaboratorin a bid to humiliate him even more, they are also exposing sensitive information and causing irreversible damage. Presenting Israel, for example, as the source of the information that was leaked to the Russians was aimed at presenting Trump as a fool who is incapable of distinguishing between different types of information and who is putting a very important ally at risk. Such a story, if true, instantly places Israel on the front against the Islamic State. The damage that Trump may have caused could have repercusions that last for years, as it sometimes takes years to create accessibility to certain information, and it sometimes takes even more years to restore the damage caused to this accessibility. Whoever leaked the story to the American press understood the extent of the damage very well. Its very possible that the information Trump shared with the Russians was not dramatic. Had it been shared in a professional manner, no damage would have been done. Its safe to assume, however, that the way those pieces of information were shared with the Russians revealed the way the information had been obtained, and exposing this to a Russian partner with different interests could destroy a unique pipe of information. Israel, as reported, is an observer in the American intelligences most intimate forum, which includes five countries: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the United States. This group has full cooperation and signed agreements on anything that has to do with relaying and sharing information. Israel rightfully earned its status as an observer in this exclusive group. There are detailed agreements between Israel and the US on intelligence issues. There are no such agreements between Israel and Russia. Leaking information that belongs to these countries is a betrayal of trust. The Americans went wild with the Pollard affair and never forgave Israel for selling technological information to China. What Trump is doing is as serious as that. Furthermore, Israel and other countries are cooperating with different European states in the war on terror. When the French, for example, uncover an ISIS cell and prevent a terror attack at a stadium, the intelligence doesnt necessarily come from France. When the Germans capture an ISIS cell on German soil, there is a chance that they received the warning from foreign friendly intelligence. Trumps leak of information to the Russians may also bring to an end the European regimes success in taking over ISIS cells in their territory. There is no doubt that senior American intelligence officials in Moscow are trying to repair the damage caused by their president. Despite his announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of revealing the transcript of the conversations between Trump and his foreign minister, and even if he doeshe wont provide the full transcripts. Defending Trump is worth his while. Where else will he find such a stupid rival? Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stated in an interview with Arab media Wednesday that he has great faith in US President Donald Trump in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while urging Israel not to miss the opportunity to make piece. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter When asked if there is any hope for a solution to the Palestinian issue under Trumps leadership, al-Sisi responded that "the Palestinians are open to peace, the Arabs are open to peace and Israel believes that there is an opportunity for it. In truth, there is an opportunity, and if it is taken we could reach a solution and the conflict will become history." Al-Sisi went on to describe Trump as being the decisive factor in the success or failure of any deal. King Abdullah and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Photo: AFP) "Trump is the deciding factor in the solution (to the conflict). My estimation is that he doesn't take much time to decide on things," al-Sisi said, before turning his focus to Israel. "You have a chance for peace and there's an opportunity for us all to live together and allow a better future for our people, one without hate. It will be a grave mistake to waste that opportunity." The Egyptian president noted that he is optimistic ahead of the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh, where Trump is set to participate before making his way to Israel. "When I met with Trump we focused on the fight against terrorism and in resolving the Palestinian issue. Our interests are aligned on the matter," he said. When he was asked how he views the relations between his country and the US after his visit to the White House and Trump's promises to aid Cairo, al-Sisi stated that he has "a lot of trust in Trump, his capabilities and promises. There are things we will announce and things we intend to keep to ourselves. Things are moving positively." Finally, al-Sisi shared his opinion on the US president, saying that Trump "is a unique and great man. When he tackles an issue, he does not accept failure and he will settle for nothing short of success." Photo: AFP Egypt was the first stop in the Middle East for Trumps predecessor Barack Obama, who delivered his famous Cairo speech in which attempted to renew relations with the Muslim world and expressed, much to Israels dismay, his disapproval of settlements in the West Bank, thereby setting the tone for what was to become a comparably frosty US-Israel relationship. By contrast, Trump is set to make Saudi Arabia his first destination during his upcoming Middle East visit, after which he will visit Israel. Egypt, this time, does not appear on his itinerary. On Wednesday, al-Sisi met in the Egyptian capital with Jordans King Abdullah in a bid to close ranks ahead of Trumps visit to the region. Germany is free to withdraw its troops stationed at Turkey's Incirlik air base if it wants to, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding Berlin should drop its "patronising approach" to Ankara. Cavusoglu made the comments in an interview with private broadcaster NTV. Germany said on Wednesday it was considering moving the roughly 250 troops deployed at Incirlik to Jordan because Ankara refuses to grant German lawmakers access to the site. Turkish officials have told Reuters the visit by lawmakers would not be appropriate at the moment. China said on Thursday it had lodged a complaint with the United States after it imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme. China has complained repeatedly to the United States about unilateral sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies linked to either Iran or North Korea's nuclear or missile programmes. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under a 2015 international nuclear deal even as he imposed the new penalties. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China followed local rules and regulations and closely adhered to its responsibilities to the international community. "China is opposed to the blind use of unilateral sanctions particularly when it damages the interests of third parties. I think the sanctions are unhelpful in enhancing mutual trust and unhelpful for international efforts on this issue," she told a daily news briefing. "China has lodged representations with the United States and hopes the US side can on the principle of mutual respect resolve non-proliferation issues through dialogue and communication," Hua added. President Donald Trump will not use his upcoming trip to Israel to announce plans to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, although he still ultimately wants to take that step, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The official said the Trump administration does not want to complicate attempts to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by announcing the embassy move. Such a failure to implement the move would seriously dash hopes in Israel which were raised during Trump's campaign when he repeatedly pledged to move the embassy to the "eternal capital of the Jewish state, Jerusalem." President Donald Trump (Photo: EPA) The trip is Trump's first outing abroad as president and it will include the announcement of a US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, Saudi investment in US infrastructure and the establishment of a center to combat Islamic extremism in Riyadh, the official said. Since taking office in January, Trump has shown signs of shelving his campaign pledge to move the embassy from Tel Aviv, while vowing to do what is necessary to clinch a Middle East peace agreement. While eager to see Trump make the move that no other president has dared to make, the Israeli government has stated that it will not seek to bend the presidents arm on the matter, ostensibly out of caution not to provoke the capricious president. US Embassy (Photo: AFP) The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump remains committed to his campaign pledge to ultimately relocate the US embassy but does not plan to announce such a move while on his trip. "We're having very good discussions with all parties and as long as we see that happening, then we don't intend to do anything that we think could upset those discussions," the official said. Since both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have expressed interest in returning to the negotiating table, "we don't think it's the right time to do it right now," the official said. "But we'll re-evaluate it down the road." A three-way meeting between Trump, Netanyahu and Abbas is not expected during the trip. Photo: AFP During a trip to Saudi Arabia that begins with his arrival in Riyadh on Saturday, Trump will express support for forming a NATO-like force for the Middle East, backed by Gulf states, the official said. Saudi Arabia has in the past proposed a stronger union with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, but it has yet to come to fruition. Forming a joint Gulf country military alliance has been discussed for many years in the region. The idea of a joint military command center was first announced in 2012. An indictment was filed against 59-year-old Gaza resident Ibtissem Musa for smuggling explosivesdisguised as medicineinto Israel. According to the indictment, Musa escorted her sister for cancer medical treatment in Jerusalem in April, using her sister to carry four tubes labeled "medicine" that contained explosive material. She was caught in a security check. According to the allegation, Musa received the tubes from Hamas and was supposed to transfer them to the hand of an Arab-Israeli woman A Palestinian man was killed on Thursday after an Israeli settler opened fire on a group of some 200 Palestinian rioters who were hurling rocks and stones at passing vehicles near Huwara in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The shooter, who was taken for questioning shortly after the incident, said that he felt that his life was in danger and claimed that he did not fire directly at the group of rioters, but rather into the air. "I saw death staring at me," he later said. X His wife, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him, claimed that the rioters attempted to drag her husband from his car to lynch him. X Friends of the shootera father of eight from the settlement Itamarsaid that he was returning from shopping when he came across a Palestinian ambulance that was blocking his path. A man dressed in medical uniform apparently exited the ambulance and started kicking their door. Taya (L) and the wounded AP photographer (Photo: AFP) Photo: AFP According to the shooter, a mob then encircled his car and started pelting it with rocks. Fearing for his life, the settler loaded a gun and fired shots in the air. He said that if he had not fired, he would have been lynched. Photo: AFP The Palestinian health services stated that two were wounded during the shooting, which was confirmed by the IDF shortly thereafter. The first victim was identified as Moataz Hussein Taya, 23, from the village of Bita, who was critically wounded and succumbed to his wounds moments later. The shooter's vehicle, blocked by an ambulance (Photo: AFP) The second victim was identified as an AP photographer, Majdi Eshtiya, who suffered moderate wounds after being shot in the arm. The shooter's car (Photo: TPS) A security video of the incident shows the protest the settler came upon, which was in solidarity with Palestinian security prisoners jailed in Israel. The video shows the settler's car surrounded by people who are preventing him from moving. The Israeli car is then seen pushing forward, hitting some of the protesters blocking his path, as an ambulance drives onto the road, blocking it. It is at this point that the rioters begin kicking the car and throwing stones at it. The video does not, however, show the shooting. The shooter's car (Photo: TPS) The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, condemned the killing of the Palestinians on his Twitter, saying "Those responsible must be investigated and prosecuted." This roused the anger of Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who called on Mladenov "to apologize for this disgraceful condemnation." "An Israeli citizen was attacked with rocks and nearly murdered by an incited mob. He was acting in self-defense. Have you checked (what happened) before condemning?" Bennett asked Mladenov. The victim Moataz Hussein Taya (Photo: TPS) The Yesha Council also expressed its support of the settler, saying "We back the resident who defended his life and prevented the lynch," adding, "We support the IDF and demand to investigate the Red Crescent organization that blocked the resident's car, as well as to take a hard stance against the stone-throwers." The wounded AP photographer The IDF arrived shortly after the shooting to prevent more casualties and disperse the riot. This is the second incident within a day in which an Israeli settler is reported to have shot a Palestinian rioter who threw rocks at his car. (Translated & edited by Lior Mor) Israel's Hebrew University decision not to play the national anthem at a graduation ceremony has sparked outrage among senior government ministers, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release a statement slamming it as "shameful." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The prestigious university said the anthem won't be played at a Humanities Faculty graduation event Thursday "out of consideration" for Arab participants. Netanyahu didn't hold back on his views on the explanation, making no efforts to hide his disdain. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) The decision represented the height of subservience and the opposite of the national pride, Netanyahu scathed in a recorded statement. We are proud of our country, our flag, our national anthem and it only strengthens my (belief) in the passage of the Nationality Bill that we are leading in order to safeguard through law our national symbols that are so precious to us. The prime minister was far from alone in his disapproval. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) expressed his surprise at the decision. To cancel the national anthem at the graduating ceremony in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem? As a graduated I was shocked, he said. I call on the university heads to change the strange decision. A 'shameful' decision (Photo: AP) The university's "consideration" stems from a sensitivity to the fact that some Arabs may feel excluded by "Hatikva" ("The Hope") because of its emphasis on Jews' historic aspirations for statehood. But such reasoning struck few emotional chords with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who also issued a statement dismissing the universitys sensitivity as grounds for the move, labelling it as an embarrassment to the wonderful Zionist roots of one of the most important institutions in Israel. Barkat also called upon the leaders to reconsider its decision and restore self-respect. Hebrew University is a public institution that receives government funding. A similar move last year drew protest from faculty member and students. Education Minister Naftali Bennett's (Bayit Yehudi) office said he told the university president, Menachem Ben-Sasson that as a public institution, it should respect the state that supports it. The university rebuffed the criticism, saying there was no legal requirement to play the anthem at academic functions. Politicians were not the only ones irked by the move, with the universitys own student council expressing opposition. The Hatikvah anthem is one of the main symbols of the state of Israel. We see in it a symbolism which gives a national and appropriate depth to the formal ceremonies of the Hebrew University as a public institution in the state of Israel, the statement began. The Hatikvah gives honor to the university and we do not see at as harming any specific people. In addition, as a council we make great efforts regarding proper and respectful integration of all its students. You should be respectful and tolerant towards everyone in an academic institution, but not by forfeiting one of the most important symbols of most of the Israel's civilians. We believe that the University should hold its ceremonies along with all the official symbols of the country, as the Hebrew University in the country's capital should. We call to the university to play the Hatikvah tonight, as well as every graduation ceremony it holds. Some 100 people with disabilities are protesting outside the government buildings in Tel Aviv, demanding to raise their disability benefits to equal minimum wage. The protesters blocked one of Tel Aviv's biggest intersections and nearby major roads during the evening rush hour and are expected to stay there until 9pm. Some 100 people with disabilities are protesting outside the government buildings in Tel Aviv, demanding to raise their disability allowance to equal minimum wage. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The protesters blocked one of Tel Aviv's biggest intersectionsKaplan-Givat HaTahmoshet outside the Azrieli Mallduring the evening rush hour and are expected to stay there until 9pm. Police said other main roads in the area will be closed during the protest: Kaplan St will be closed from the east between Ibn Gabirol Street and the Begin-Kaplan intersection; Givat HaTahmoshet St will be closed from east to west from Yigal Alon St; the entry and exit ramps to the Ayalon Highway (Highway 20) will be closed at the HaShalom Interchange on the north and south; Begin St will be closed on the north and south. Disabled protest in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Welfare Minister Haim Katz and coalition chairman David Bitan to discuss the disability allowance. : , X The three agreed to establish a team to determine what the increase would be. The team will be headed by Prof. Avi Simhon, the head of the National Economic Council, and will include representatives from the Finance, Welfare and Health ministries as well as the National Insurance Institute. Disabled protest in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi) The team is expected to recommend to the Finance and Welfare ministries to significantly raise the disability allowance to NIS 4,000 ($1,110) in a gradual manner. At present, the disability allowance is NIS 2,342 ($650) a month. The committee is expected to recommend to raise the allowance to some NIS 3,000 ($835) in the first stage and later, in several stages, up to some NIS 4,000. Disabled protest in Tel Aviv (Photo: Avi Hai) The disabled protesters, meanwhile, demand to raise their allowance to equal minimum wageat present some NIS 5,000 ($1,390), but is expected to increase in 2018. Last week, some 50 protesters blocked the area around the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem, demanding to raise the disability allowance and receive aid in buying medicine. Israel is a cyber power, according to Dr. Milan Simic, one of the most respected cyber experts in the world, following the large-scale cyber attack that took place last week and hit many countries around the world, but as far as is knownnot Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Dr. Simic attended a conference held in Tel Aviv this week hosting reinsurers from all over the world. It is one of the most important conferences in the global insurance industry. Insurance conference in Tel Aviv (Photo: Yaron Brener) This year, the conference focused on cyber issues, and on the second day, Dr. Simic, vice president and international operations manager of Air Worldwide Company, gave a lecture on the subject of cyber insurancea relatively new areaand the risks and challenges facing insurance companies. "Israel is completely in a league of its own, almost the world champion in terms of global investment in cyber security, so for the Israelis among you, you probably have people in the country who are more than able to help the insurance industry develop the cyber insurance product," said Dr. Simic. Gideon Hamburger (Photo: Yaron Brener) Gideon Hamburger, president of Harel Insurance and Finance, told Ynet how insurance companies are preparing for the possibility of a cyber attack. "Cyber security is now topical because of what happened last weekend," he admitted. "Companies have been providing us with cyber protection consulting for a long time If we take, for example, what happened last weekend at the hospital, then in a cyber attack, even medical records can disappear, surgical procedures are postponed and, therefore, many lawsuits can be filed against the hospitals." Hamburger emphasized that one of the important things for all directors in public companies to do is take care of cyber insurance. "If they don't have insurance and God forbid the company faces a cyber attack, many class action suits will be filed against those directors. Directors without cyber insurance may be personally sued," he explained. Dr. Milan Simic (Photo: Yaron Brener) "A cyber attack can lead to losing our customers' names and portfolios, failures in collecting premiums from people or companies that have yet to pay, and of course, it would take a long time to recover all of these things, which of course is also true for banks and other organizations." The president of Harel Insurance and Finances noted that it is difficult to estimate the economic damage caused by such a cyber attack. "As a hi-tech state we are very aware of this We learn about this issue every day, we have heard from the reinsurers who visited Israel over the past two days about cases they have dealt with and we learn from them as well. But the interest of reinsurers in Israel is tremendous, and they come from all over the world to learn from us." BEIRUTThe Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages in central Syria on Thursday, capturing at least one of them in violence that left 52 people dead including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were beheaded, as well as Syrian troops, state media, medical officials and an opposition monitoring group said. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam, raising fears the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Nikolai Maldanov, condemned the shooting by the settler who was attacked in the Hawara area and killed a Palestinian youth. Maldanov wrote in his Twitter account that he "condemns the killing of the Palestinian by the Israeli settler, and those responsible must stand trial." A summit meeting between US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahdmoud Abbas is not on the cards for Trump's visit to Israel next week, a White House official said Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Even though such a meeting is not on the agenda for the American president's upcoming visit to the region, it is included in future plans, the official said. According to the official, Trump will use his visit on Monday to tell the Palestinians that he recognizes their right for self-definition and that they deserve to be treated with respect. Abbas, Trump and Netanyahu: No summit meeting planned (Photo: AFP) Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel's Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer met on Thursday with Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, to prepare for the upcoming visit. An American official on Thursday rejected reports that Trump has already made his decision regarding moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying the American president has no plans of making such a decision before his visit. Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has reportedly threatened to resign over his objection to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's choice to head the Civil Service Commission. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Litzman (United Torah Judaism) met twice with Netanyahu last week in an effort to convince him not to appoint Michal Abadi-Boiangiu to the office of the Civil Service Commissioner in place of Moshe Dayan, who will stepping down at the end of the month. According to inside sources, he left a resignation letter on the prime minister's desk on Wednesday, which is supposed to take effect if Abadi-Boiangiu gets the appointment. Litzman, however, denied that he had threatened to resign, but confirmed that he was opposed to the appointment. Netanyahu said he would consider his request. Minister Yaakov Litzman (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitz) Litzman's close associates are harshly opposed to Abadi-Boiangiu and say that if she is appointed, "civil service is in danger of being destroyed." They claim that ministers, MKs and treasury officials also object to the appointment. Behind closed doors, Litzman slammed her with harsh accusations and called her "corrupt." Abadi-Boiangiu, who is considered a close associate of Netanyahu, resigned in January from the Finance Ministry after six years as the ministry's accountant general. Earlier this week, the prime minister set up an nominations committee to approve the appointment of the next civil service commissioner. If appointed, Abadi-Boiangiu will become the first woman to be elected for this office. Litzman and Abadi-Boiangiu have locked horns before, with their biggest clash being over the appointment of Prof. Zeev Rotstein to the head of the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Abadi-Boiangiu objected Rotstein's appointment because of the disciplinary proceedings against him at the Civil Service Commission, but Litzman insisted and got what he wanted. In the past, Litzman demanded Abadi-Boiangiu's dismissal and accused her of endangering human life. Her name was also linked to the submarine affair: about two months ago, she gave testimony to the police about a loan given to the German corporation. In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, she addressed the affair, saying, "I had no connection." WASHINGTONMelania Trump is announcing her first foreign trip as first lady of the United States. Mrs. Trump is accompanying President Donald Trump on his inaugural overseas trip, a four-country, five-stop tour that begins Friday. The Trumps will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium, and the trip includes an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The first lady is joining the president for some events, but will participate in other events on her own. The White House isn't releasing a comprehensive itinerary for Mrs. Trump, citing security concerns. US-led coalition jets hit a convoy of Syrian and Iranian-backed militias that were heading towards the Tanf base in southern Syria where US special forces are based, a rebel official with a Pentagon-backed rebel group said on Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Muzahem al Saloum, from the Maghawir al Thwra group, told Reuters that the jets struck after rebel forces clashed with advancing Syrian and Iranian militias that were about 27 kms away from the base along the Damascus-Baghdad highway. Attack in Syria (File photo: AFP) "We notified the coalition that we were being attacked by the Syrian army and Iranians in this point and the coalition came and destroyed the advancing convoy," Saloum said. Said Seif, an official with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army Shahid Ahmed Abdo rebel group, said the US intervention will help the rebels to hold their ground against any future incursions by the army and its Iranian-backed militias. Western intelligence sources told Reuters that US and British special forces are expanding the Tanf base to oust Islamic State militants from the eastern province of Deir Zor, that straddles Iraq, from the south east of Syria. The Damscus-Baghdad highway was a major weapons supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria until Islamic State seized territory along the Iraqi Syrian border, regional intelligence sources said. Assad's army (Photo: AFP) The Syrian army had been sending reinforcements in the last few weeks to the desert region near its border with Iraq and Jordan. They captured the remote town of Sabaa Biyar near the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway in an attempt to prevent areas left by Islamic State hardline militants in March from falling into the hands of Western-backed moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels. Regional intelligence sources and rebels say the ultimate goal of the Syrian army's push in the Badia was to link its forces with Iraq's Shiite paramilitary groups on the other side of the border. The Shiite troops launched an offensive on Friday to drive the militants from the desert region near the border with Syria. Iraqi Shiite militia leaders said they hoped to link up with Syrian government forces. Col. Ronen Manlis officially became the IDF Spokesperson on Thursday during a ceremony held at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In attendance were IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and members of the General Staff. Manlis replaces Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, who was appointed head of the IDF's Manpower Directorate. Brig. Gen. Ronen Manlis (Photo: IDF Spokesperson) "If in the past, victory was determined only on the battlefield, today, it is also done in the media," said Defense Minister Lieberman at the ceremony. "The battle for public opinion is no less important than the one on the battlefield, and to explain our position in Israel and abroad, the battle over public opinion is very important." Lieberman, Almoz, Manlis and Eisenkot (Photo: IDF Spokesperson) Chief of Staff Eisenkot added, "We, as the IDF, are in a glass house for the Israeli society, which is looking to the army with the expectation and understanding this country's insurance is the IDF. I believe that public trust in the IDF is perhaps the most important element in the IDF's ability to meet its challenges and fulfill its mission." Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz (Photo: IDF Spokesperson) Almoz congratulated Manlis on his assumption of office and said, "I am mainly passing on the people to you. Behind the title 'IDF Spokesperson,' there are male and female officers and talented and intelligent soldiers. This is a unique group of people." Manlis summed it up, saying "I take on the role of the IDF Spokesperson, understanding my responsibility, in awe of the position, with modesty and with an understanding of its importance on the battlefield. The criticism that sometimes appears in the media is legitimate and can and should help the IDF become a better army, and we must learn from it and improve. But the knowledge that the IDF is an army of the state, the army of all of us, must always be present." WASHINGTONThe United States and Israel are trying to move past President Donald Trump's apparent sharing of Israeli intelligence with Russia. But American and Israeli spy professionals say they're frustrated and fearful about the repercussions to the US-Israeli intelligence partnership. During a recent meeting with two Russian officials, Trump shared information about an Islamic State threat involving laptops on airplanes. That's according to a senior US official not authorized to discuss sensitive intelligence matters and speaking on condition of anonymity. The US-Israeli partnership is critical because Israel has spies in parts of the Mideast where the US doesn't. Israeli also has robust cyber capabilities in the region. Former intelligence officials worry Israel will be more reluctant to share highly classified information with the Trump administration, especially if it could endanger spies. This past week, I ran across a story about an amazing woman who I learned was my famous predecessor at the York News-Times. Her name was Fern Martin Rose. Many senior citizens in the York community likely remember her, as Ferns reporting and column writing were said to be products of rare talent, hard work and dedication. The story of her career was told back in 1999, as she became the first woman inducted into the York County Ag Hall of Fame. She was the first . . . and one of only a few to this day, I should mention. I didnt write that particular story, so I was unfamiliar with the details of her career. I had heard her name before, but wasnt aware of how fascinating she was. She was affectionately known by her readers and colleagues as a news hen, the story said. Im not quite sure what a news hen is, but Im guessing its probably a good thing. She was also called a five-foot-tall dynamo. Well, arent all of us short people? We have to compensate for our stature. Fern was born Nov. 21, 1903, north of Wood River to John W. and Carrie (Clement) Martin. She graduated from Grand Island High School in 1921 and attended Grand Island Business College. Although lacking in journalism training, she was a prolific writer and self-described snoop who loved to put her musings, details and reports to paper, and was a skilled photographer and dark room artist. She captured the beauty of farm life in her writings. She started her tenure at the York newspaper in 1956, the story said, where she put her conversational skills to work, chatting in a column called On The Beat which was later called Ramblin With Rose. And it was noted that her presence as a woman in a predominantly male field went unnoticed. She won numerous awards, taking ownership of writing accolades from accomplished men in the industry . . . back when women werent supposed to. In 1970, Fern wrote that her beat was the mortuary, the courthouse, the city offices and the fire department, so she relied on her column to put forth her fun side as she wanted something with more spirit. Oh, I so understand that sentiment. The weight of hard news is sometimes heavy to carry . . . and it feels good to strip off that responsibility and just write, once a week, whatever the heck I want for this little space on Thursdays. In addition to writing with a flair for the humorous and spunky side, she covered dozens of county fairs from 1956 through 1969. She was a tireless supporter of 4-H, the county fair, agriculture and rural matters. Testament to her dedication went on and on as many noticed she didnt care how many hours she had to work or how much it took to do her job the right way. Her connection with her readers, along with her farm stories, has become legendary, the story said. Fern Rose died in York on April 17, 1996, at the age of 92. That was two years before I even arrived in York or went to work at the newspaper, so I was unaware of her reputation. Well, until yesterday . . . when I read her story for the first time. I think its wonderful that this extremely talented woman worked so hard and was so well respected that her story lives on decades after she sat writing in this very room where I sit writing this. Im so intrigued by the story of the woman who did my job decades ago. Im sure the tireless dynamo had no idea she would someday be written about by a woman who unknowingly followed in her position. She wouldnt have had time to care . . . as the next story or next column beckoned for her attention. So thanks, Fern, for paving the road for women like me. Its because of you that white space was made available for this writer and many more. And Im so glad I found your story. I only hope we can continue to do justice to what you started. YORK A North Carolina man was scheduled for arraignment in a case involving the illegal possession of money while violating a law, after nearly $16,000 in cash was allegedly found in his vehicle and a drug dog indicated it had been in the presence of narcotics. Matthew J. Garduno, 30, of Greensboro, N.C., however was granted a continuance this past week. Hes been charged with a Class 4 felony. According to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the York County Court, a York County Sheriffs deputy was on routine patrol in York County when he saw a motorist do an illegal U-turn. A traffic stop was initiated and Garduno was identified as the driver holding an Oregon license. He was argumentative from the beginning about the reason for the stop, the deputy wrote in his report. I also noticed several indicators of possible drug trafficking by what I could see in plain view of the vehicle. The deputy noted that Gardunos tongue was allegedly green, which he said is an indicator of recent usage of marijuana. The deputy ran Gardunos criminal history and allegedly found that it included arrests for possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, selling controlled substances, possession/manufacturing methamphetamine, maintaining a place for controlled substances, shoplifting, and more in North Carolina. The deputy said he asked for consent to search the vehicle and was denied. In his report, he said he called for a canine unit to be brought to the scene and at that point Garduno allegedly offered that he had $13,000 in cash that was to be used to buy vehicles. After the canine unit arrived, the drug dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. A search was conducted. Investigators allegedly found an emergency kit that is used to halt a heroin overdose, marijuana and two tins containing cash. When the cash was counted, the total was found to be $15,640. The drug dog also indicated to the smell of narcotics in the cash. Investigators also found a counterfeit $50 bill in the cash, allegedly. 10 bidders preselected for Dunkerque wind France has pre-selected 10 companies and consortia to bid in its third offshore wind tender, according to local reports. The tender covers between 250 MW and 750 MW of new offshore wind capacity in a 122-sq km site, around 11 km from the port of Dunkerque in northern France. According to reports, the Commission de regulation de lenergie (CRE) has pre-approved Norways Statoil, Swedens Vattenfall, InControl France and Belgiums Deme Concessions Wind, as well as consortia comprising: Spains Iberdrola Renovables and RES; Frances Engie with Portuguese EDPR; Belgiums Parkwind with Frances Valeco; EDF EN with Innogy and Enbridge; and Canadas Boralex with CMI5i Pastor. These companies were deemed to have met technical and financial criteria, and will enter the selection phase this summer. This should take around four to six months, with the winner announced in early 2018. Bidders will reportedly be assessed on price, optimisation of the site and environmental considerations in this respective order of importance. The successful project would then be commissioned sometime in 2022. Announcing the Dunkerque tender in December 2016, French Minister of the Environment, Energy and the Sea Segolene Royal said that it would involve a process of competitive dialogue that would allow those bidding to improve their bids during the process, and so, it is hoped, keep costs down. She added that environmental studies would be carried out by the authorities before the end of the bidding process and the permitting process would be streamlined. At the time, a separate round was also announced for a 120-square km site, with up to 500 MW of capacity, off the island of Oleron on the countrys Atlantic west coast, where some firms, including Germanys WPD, had long lobbied for access. Frances first offshore tender, for 2 GW of capacity across four different sites, was issued in 2012. EdF and Alstom won the right to develop three of the sites, which will use more than 250 turbines, while Spains Iberdrola, in conjunction with the French nuclear group Areva, took the final spot. In 2014, a consortium led by Frances Engie and including compatriots Areva and Neoen Marine, along with EDP Renovaveis of Portugal, won a tender for a further 1 GW. These capacities were tendered as part of Frances original energy plans to establish 3 GW of offshore wind by 2023, under the so-called Plan de programmation pluriannuelle de lenergie (PPE). Revised targets have since stated there could be a further 3-GW pipeline after 2023 in a high-uptake scenario, although current expectations suggest that its focus will remain on floating turbines. 2016 saw four consortia awarded tenders to build floating wind pilot projects at Gruissan, Groix, Faraman and Leucate. Recent reports indicate that the industry is pressing the government to hold a larger 2-GW floating tender in early 2018 which, if heeded, could see the countrys 6-GW offshore scenario met sooner than expectations. This NewsBase commentary is from our REM publication. To sign up for your free trial, click this link: http://newsbase.com/publications/rem-renewable-energy Read more NewsBase top stories via this link: http://bit.ly/2h95NUx Washington: US President Donald Trump will discuss steps to continue the fight against the ISIS and extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he addresses the Muslim world during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The discussion on extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would come up as part of a large debate within the Islamic world and specifically to this part of the world, a senior Trump administration official said on the condition of anonymity yesterday. "So the general problem of extremism, which is the same problem in Mosul as it is in Afghanistan and to some degree in Pakistan, that's the issue that we're trying to deal with, which is extremism. So it will be something that will be discussed," the official said. Leaders of more than 50 mostly-Muslim countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan from India's neighbourhood, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The official was responding to a question about the US government's plans to deal with extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I believe the leader of Afghanistan and the leader of Pakistan will both be at the Summit, which is excellent,the official said. Although, Riyadh has not yet confirmed a separate bilateral talk between Trump and either of the two leaders -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The extremism issue would also figure for discussion during Trump's participation at the NATO summit in Brussels. The Trump Administration is in the final stage of formulating its Afghanistan-Pakistan policy which among other things would decide on the number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. The final decision in this regard would be taken by the generals on the ground. Washington: The United States said on Wednesday it was voicing its "strongest possible" concern to Turkey over a street brawl that erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during President Tayyip Erdogan`s visit to Washington, DC. Turkey blamed the violence outside its ambassador`s residence on demonstrators linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but Washington`s police chief called it a "brutal attack" on peaceful protesters. Police said 11 people were injured, including a Washington police officer, and two people were arrested for assault. At least one of those arrested was a protester. "We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. A video posted online showed men in dark suits chasing anti-government protesters and punching and kicking them as police intervened. Two men were bloodied from head wounds as bystanders assisted dazed protesters. Washington Police Chief Peter Newsham told a news conference on Wednesday police had a good idea of most of the assailants` identities and were investigating with the Secret Service and State Department. One of the men arrested, Jalal Kheirabadi, told Reuters he was being beaten by three or four people when a DC police officer accused him of assault. He spoke by phone on Wednesday night after he was released pending a June court hearing. Kheirabadi, 42, of Fairfax, Virginia, said he attended the protest to urge the United States to continue its support for Kurdish forces in Syria. He said he remembered being punched by three or four of Erdogan`s guards and seeing a DC police officer fall, but he did not recall hitting the officer. "He stood up and protected me from them, and then he handcuffed me. He was a real gentleman, I appreciated that," said Kheirabadi, adding that he immediately apologised to the officer. Kheirabadi said he has lived in the United States for 13 years with his family, including a young son, and had never been in legal trouble in the United States before his arrest. "I didn`t go there to fight," he said. "It just happened." Hyderabad: Hyderabad police on Thursday registered a case of sedition against three alleged ISIS sympathisers. The police had yesterday summoned Salman Mohiuddin, Abdullah Basith and Qureshi, who were arrested for allegedly trying to join the ISIS and later released on bail. They were questioned yesterday when a news channel aired their interview, showing they were allegedly linked to the Middle East terror organisation. A case was today registered against the trio on the charges of waging or attempting to wage war against the Government of India, sedition and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. "After questioning, we placed the three under preventive arrest under the Criminal Procedure Code and produced before the executive magistrate. They were let off after execution of bonds," a police officer said. The police also issued a notice to the TV channel, seeking the original interview tape. "We will verify the content of the tape," Deputy Commissioner Avinash Mohanty said. Mohiuddin, a US-returned engineer, was arrested in Hyderabad in 2015 when he was preparing to board a flight to Dubai, allegedly on the way to Syria to join the ISIS. Basith was among the three men who were arrested from Nagpur in December 2015 when they were allegedly on their way to join the terror group. Qureshi, held on a similar charge, had been let off after counselling. Seoul: A Thai law student arrested for sharing a critical article about his country's new king that was posted on Facebook is this year's winner of South Korea's most prestigious human rights award. Organisers for the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award said the parents of Jatupat "Pai Dao Din" Boonpattararaksa will receive the award on his behalf today at a ceremony in Gwangju city. Police in Thailand arrested Jatupat in December for sharing a critical profile about King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkunan that was posted on Facebook by the Thai-language service of the BBC. The prize was created in 2000 to honor a 1980 democratic uprising in Gwangju against South Korea's then-military dictatorship. Hundreds of people died following a violent suppression by the government. Colombo: Tamils in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northern and eastern provinces are today observing the eigth anniversary of the end of the three-decade brutal civil war in the country in 2009. The Tamil Genocide Remembrance day will be marked by various events at Mullivaikkal, the location of the final battle between the Lankan troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Amongst those taking part in the Remembrance are hardline northern Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran along with Tamil Peoples' Council (TPC), Tamil National Peoples' Front (TNPF), Tamil civil society, political parties of former Tamil militants and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians. Wigneswaran has called for a three-minute silence to remember those who died during the civil war and asked overseas Tamils to observe the commemoration. The Tamils want to press for an international investigation on the victims of the final battle, he said in a letter addressed to the Tamil diaspora. S J Emmanuel, President of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a Tamil diaspora group, has appealed to observe the Mullivaikkaal commemoration in peaceful prayers. Tamil nationalists had organised a series of memorial events starting from May 12 for seven days. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has condemned an attempt to ban commemorations of the dead by Tamil families in Mullivaikkal. ITJP said a court order in Tamil from the District Judge and Magistrate of Mullaitivu has placed a 14-day ban from this evening on all ceremonies near the Catholic Church in Mullivaikkal East, on the grounds that they may adversely affect "the country's integrity, national security and the peace of the nation". The LTTE's 30-year separatist campaign ended on May 18, 2009 in the northeastern Mullaithivu district when Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, was killed by Lankan troops. According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to the conflict with the defeat of LTTE in 2009. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today expressed his grief over the sudden demise of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. In his condolence message, Kumar said that Dave was a renowned politician, Rajya Sabha member and a social worker. Dave's death has caused a void both for society and politics, Kumar added. The CM prayed to the Almighty to give strength to the minister's relatives and followers to bear the huge loss and grant eternal peace to the departed soul. Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) passed away today in New Delhi. 60-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. New Delhi: Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has pumped in USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,079 crore) in Indian digital payments platform, Paytm, marking the largest fund infusion by a single investor in an Indian start-up. This is Softbank's largest investment in a single company in India. While both the companies have declined to comment on the valuation, market watchers say that the deal values Paytm at about USD 8 billion. The funding will help Paytm expand fast its soon-to-be launched payments bank operations as well as grow its user base and introduce more financial products for consumers. SoftBank joins Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial as amongst the largest investors in One97 Communications which operates Paytm. Interestingly, SoftBank was an early investor in Alibaba. "In line with the Indian government's vision to promote digital inclusion, we are committed to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers and merchants by providing them digital access to a broad array of financial services, including mobile payments," SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son said. SoftBank has committed investment of over USD 10 billion in the Indian market. While it has pumped in close to USD 2 billion into Indian startups like Snapdeal and Ola in last few years, it has also written off a significant portion of that on account of loss in valuation. The fund infusion in Paytm comes at a time when SoftBank is working on a sale plan of e-commerce firm Snapdeal. SoftBank is the largest shareholder in Snapdeal, which is locked in an intense battle with Amazon India and Flipkart. Flipkart - which is in talks to buy Snapdeal - had raised a similar amount last month, although from three investors Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. It was dubbed the largest capital raised in the Indian internet sector. Paytm has been one of the prominent beneficiaries of the government's move to scrap high denomination notes. Paytm has seen manifold growth in transactions on its platform as well as expansion in number of users. Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said: "This investment by Softbank and support of the incredible entrepreneur Masayoshi Son is a great endorsement of our team's execution and vision." The company plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore over the next three to five years to enable half a billion Indians to join the mainstream economy, the statement said. Paytm offers mobile wallet (over 220 million users) and e-commerce services and will launch its payments bank operations from May 23. It had raised USD 60 million from Taiwanese chip maker MediaTek last year. New Delhi: A children home shelter ' SPYM-Wishes and Blessing Home', where over 50-60 small children used to live was demolished allegedly by the Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in Nizammudin on Thursday. Reportedly, the home shelter SPYM is a Delhi Government aided Non-Governmental Organisation ( NGO) and they were provided by the land by the government. "SPYM-All wishes and Blessing home is my home. 50-60 children used to live in this home. In 2014, we have adopted this home. We have adopted this from Delhi Government's Raen Basera policy and transformed it into SPYM-Wishes and Blessings Home. There are 60 children and 15 females. All were abandoned. Out of these 60 children, 45 go to schools. Today, DDA people arrived and demolished our home," the SPYM owner told ANI. The homeless children are now demanding justice. New Delhi: In a bid to assuage the anger of Delhiites grappling with the water crisis, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Wednesday promised that supply of water in the national capital will normalise by Thursday. Kejriwal had yesterday said that neighbouring Haryana has commenced releasing water for Delhi. "Haryana has started releasing water. Production likely to be normal by tommorow (Thursday) morning and distribution by tomorrow (Thursday) evening. We are constantly monitoring the situation," Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday. Delhi Jal Board CEO Keshav Chandra expressed hope that production at the treatment plants -- Wazirabad and Chandrawal -- will "stabilise" by Thursday and supply will gradually improve. Water supply in the national capital was hit after Haryana on Monday evening reduced water supply to the city. Two water treatment plants -- Wazirabad and Chandrawal which treat around 220 MGD (million gallons per day) out of the 900 MGD treated in Delhi -- were down to 60 percent of their capacity as the city was receiving around 80 MGD (million gallons per day) less than its share. Under the circumstances, certain areas that come under the distribution network of these plants remained affected through the day. Out of the 900 MGD, around 550 (almost 60 percent) comes from Haryana and the rest from Uttar Pradesh. The Lutyens' Bungalow Zone, which comes under the New Delhi Municipal Council, and houses the PMO, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and residences of several Union ministers, judges, Army officers, and bureaucrats, among others, was affected by the shortage. On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government asked Delhi's Lt Governor Anil Baijal to request Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to intervene on the water-release issue. Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday wrote to Lt Governor Anil Baijal over water shortage in parts of the city and demanded a meeting with the Delhi Jal Board. In the letter, he also targetted Kejriwal, saying the AAP leader was too busy in "power games" to pay attention to draw up a summer plan of power and water supply in the city. The national capital faces shortage of water every summer and engages in a tussle with Haryana. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The "2011 vintage" manufacturing policy is being modified to align it with initiatives like 'Make in India' as also Industrial Revolution 4.0, which refers to high end automation, Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. The national manufacturing policy (NMP) "is of 2011 vintage", which envisaged that manufacturing should contribute 25 percent in India's GDP by 2022, she said. Currently, the sector contributes about 16-17 percent to India's economic growth. The NMP, formulated in 2011, provides certain tax and other benefits to boost the sector's growth besides creating 100 million additional jobs. "Yes, we have initiated the process (to revamp the policy). I have instructed the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to get into the details of that," the Commerce and Industry Minister told PTI in an interview. She said it is necessary to modify the policy as in the last three years, the government has taken a host of initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' and significantly relaxed foreign investment policy. The revamped policy, she said, is also necessary as the government has to protect the interest of all segments of industry whether it is highly or partly automated and SMEs which are yet to adopt modern technologies. "Into this debate, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is rapidly catching up. You like it or not, some industries are bringing in robotics in a very big way; some partly using that and some others absolutely have no impact of this because they can not afford or they do not want it. But we have to have a place for all the three," Sitharaman said. Industrial revolution 4.0 encompasses use of robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data analytics and automation. Initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' are aimed at making India a manufacturing hub and they ought to find a place in the national manufacturing policy. "There should be some coherence. So I have asked them (DIPP) that in the context of three years of Make in India, get all these (initiatives) coming into this narrative," she said, adding that the policy should be relevant. New Delhi: A court in China has sentenced a man to five years in jail for selling endangered animals. The man, who has been identified by his surname Wei, conducted his business on social media platforms and managed pet stores that sold animals including otters, boa constrictors and toucans since 2015, the people's court of Dongxing city said. In May 2016, Dongxing forest police seized six toucans, four otters and 20 boa constrictors from his home. All the animals are under state protection, according to the court. Wei was also fined 30,000 yuan ($4,000). (With IANS inputs) New Delhi: Condoling the death of Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, who passed away on Thursday following a cardiac arrest, UN Environment Programme Executive Director Erik Solheim described the late minister as a wonderful advocate for environment. "Deeply sad to hear that Anil Dave has passed away," Solheim tweeted. He said Dave was "such a wonderful advocate for the environment -- we'll miss him dearly". Dave was 60 years of age. According to official sources, the two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he died. Various leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee have expressed shock at the sudden demise of the minister. (With Agencies input) Turkey: Turkey called Thursday for the removal of the US diplomat coordinating the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, accusing him of backing Syrian Kurdish militias. Washington and Ankara are bitterly at odds over US support for the Kurdish People`s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, which Turkey considers a front for banned Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) separatists. "Brett McGurk is definitely giving support to PKK and YPG. It would be useful if this person was replaced," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV television. Last year, McGurk visited YPG members who controlled the Syrian town of Kobane and was awarded a plaque, which drew Turkey`s wrath. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily told Washington at the time to choose between Ankara and "terrorists". But Ankara is now upbeat about the future of relations with Washington under President Donald Trump, with Cavusoglu praising the new administration as "more sincere" after Erdogan`s talks with the US leader this week. Erdogan met Trump at the White House on Tuesday, with the two leaders pledging to improve ties between the NATO allies -- even as Erdogan gave a stern warning about Washington`s arming of Kurdish militia in Syria. "It is absolutely unacceptable to take the YPG-PYD into consideration as partners in the region, and it`s going against a global agreement we reached," Erdogan said in Washington, referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, whose armed wing is the YPG. The United States sees the YPG as the most effective force on the ground in the fight against Islamic State militants.Turkey is keen to join a future battle to recapture the de facto IS capital of Raqa in Syria, but only if Kurdish militia forces do not participate. US officials told Ankara that the YPG would not constitute a threat for Turkey and that arms supplied by Washington would be used in Raqa and in the south, not against Turkey, Cavusoglu said. Speaking to reporters at the Turkish embassy in Washington, Erdogan said he told Trump that if there were a YPG attack, Ankara would act unilaterally. "We clearly told them if there is any attack by the YPG against Turkey, we will apply the rules of engagement without asking anyone," he was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet newspaper Thursday. Erdogan also said that the US had made up its mind on Raqa, which meant Turkey could not join the operation "under the current circumstances," referring to the YPG`s involvement. But Erdogan said he believed Washington "will knock our door on the issue of Syria." McGurk was in northern Syria Tuesday and Wednesday for talks with the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, and the YPG, according to a source in the nascent Raqa city civilian council. The council has been set up to manage the city once IS fighters have been ousted. The meetings which took place in Kobane and Ain Issa focused on "the plan of attack on Raqa and providing support for people fleeing the fighting," the source said. Turkey: On Thursday turkey hit back at German threats to pull its troops out of a key NATO base on its soil, saying it would "not beg" them to stay. Ankara and Berlin are locked in another spat over Turkey`s refusal to allow German lawmakers to visit the Incirlik base near Syria, which is used by the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group. Germany warned earlier this week that it could move its troops elsewhere, with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel accusing Turkey of "blackmail". "It is up to them, we will not beg them," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV, saying Ankara was not blackmailing Germany. Germany has about 250 military personnel stationed at the base, flying Tornado surveillance missions over Syria and refueling flights for partner nations battling IS jihadists. Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday described Turkey`s position as "unfortunate", saying that Germany, while continuing talks to resolve the issue, would also look for alternatives, including in Jordan. Gabriel accused Ankara on Wednesday of "looking to blackmail" the German parliament. "If it is not possible to work normally at Incirlik -- and this includes visits by German parliament lawmakers -- then we will have to look for alternatives," he told German newspaper Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung. "I can only hope that the Turkish government will change its mind in the coming days. Otherwise, the parliament will no longer let our soldiers go to Turkey." Cavusoglu said if Gabriel made such remarks, it was "disrespectful" as Turkish and German officials were working to improve relations. He said Gabriel had made different remarks in private, suggesting the minister was using the dispute for political gain ahead of September elections in Germany. Ties between the NATO allies have been strained since the failed coup in Turkey last year, but have worsened over multiple issues including the referendum campaign to expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s powers. Relations plunged further after Turkey imprisoned Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish journalist with Die Welt, on terror charges earlier this year while Germany granted political asylum to some Turkish military officers accused of involvement in the attempted putsch. Last year, another row over Incirlik saw Turkey deny German lawmakers the right to visit for many months after the German parliament voted to recognise the Ottoman Empire`s World War I-era massacre of Armenians as a genocide. Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Thursday gave appointment letters to over 18,000 police recruits, including 4,500 women, of various ranks, at a mega ceremony held here. Total 18,217 police recruits, including 4,527 women, were given appointment letters at the special event organised at the Sabarmati river front, where apart from Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and several state ministers, top police officers were also present. The chief minister formally handed over the appointment letters to around 15 recruits during the event. "This is for the first time in the history of Gujarat, that over 18,000 policemen are given appointment letters. To strengthen the police force, we have recruited over 26,000 policemen in the last one and half years," Rupani said in his address. Gujarat in-charge DGP Geetha Johri said, "These newly-recruited policemen include 13,000 Lok Rakshaks (constables), 3,904 SRP jawans, 220 Police Sub Inspectors, 200 Assistant Sub Inspectors, 752 jail sipoys. 59 Intelligence Officers and 82 Assistant Intelligence Officers." State Home Minister, Pradeepsinh Jadeja said that before joining the force, these policemen would undergo rigorous training at various police training schools in the state. In his speech, Rupani urged them to discharge their duties honestly and said they should refrain from demanding and taking bribes. "This entire recruitment process was completely transparent, as none of you can claim that you got the job by paying money, which used to happen in the past. I now urge you to refrain from taking money from people once you join the force," he said. Of the total number of recruits, around 50 per cent were either graduates or post-graduates. Rupani also said that the government was mulling to open new 'sainik schools' in the state to encourage youths to join the Army and police force. Chandigarh: HBSE Result 2017, Haryana Board 12th Result 2017 , HBSE Senior Secondary Result 2017, HBSE Haryana result 2017, likely to be declared on Thursday. The Board of Secondary Education Haryana (BSEH) is expected to declare the Haryana Senior Secondary Exam Results 2017 at 4 pm today. Check bseh.org.in to access HBSE Sr. Secondary results 2017, Haryana Class 12 results 2017. The senior secondary exams are held twice in a year, during the month of September/October and during February/March. Haryana Class 12 exams were held from 7th March to 8th April 2017. How to check Haryana Board (HBSE) Results 2017: Open the official website Click on Senior Secondary Examination Results 2017 tab Enter Roll number, mobile number, email id and select stream (Arts, Science, Commerce) Your Result will be displayed Take a print out or download and save it for future reference Established in 1969, Bhiwani-based Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) conducts the Public Examinations at Middle, Matric (Secondary or High School) and Senior Secondary School (Academic & Vocational) levels twice a year in the state of Haryana through the affiliated schools. New Delhi: It's a tell-all interview of Dr Najma Heptulla. This week Dr. Najma Heptulla will be the guest in Zee Regional Channels' special show 'A Dialogue with JC'. Dr. Heptulla fluently answered all the questions put by Zee Regional Channel's CEO Jagdish Chandra. Dr. Heptulla who started her public life as an MP of Upper House in 1980 answered directly to the question on her quitting Congress. According to her she was not getting that respect in Congress which she got in BJP. When she met Narendra Modi Dr. Heptulla said, she met PM Modi for the first time in Gujarat when the devastating earthquake struck the state during Keshubhai Patel's tenure. Dr. Heptulla praised PM Modi for working at the grassroots level in all the areas. She said, it is very important to audit work rather than only money. She said, PM Modi echoes her thinking that people should not be seen between majority and minority but only between rich and poor. According to her, she is impressed by PM Modi's mantra 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'. On Triple Talaq issue On the issue of Triple talaq, she said PM Modi is speaking on behalf of Muslim women. Dr. Heptulla said, she had congratulated Muslim men for giving their women the freedom to vote freely in UP elections. She said, she had struggled all her life for the rights of Muslim women. She echoed the voice of the centre government and said Triple Talaq should be scrapped immediately as it is only a medium of oppression. According to Dr. Heptulla, it is contradictory that we are living in the ages of Facebook and Whatsapp and we are favouring a 1400 years old ritual. She said only the supreme court can decide on this issue and not the personal law board as it is only an NGO. On Manipur elections Dr. Heptulla side-lined this allegation that she had not invited the single largest party in Manipur. She said, she only had worked in favour of a stable government. She said her relationships were equally good with the present CM and his predecessor. Speaking on Manipur, she said, backwardness and roads are the main issues there. She praised Minister of Transport Mr. Nitin Gadkari for the highway via north east and Myanmar to Thailand. She also stressed on the fact that world's highest bridge is also being build in Manipur. She said, she is also working on agriculture and organic farming in the state. She appreciated that there were no economic blockade and no bomb blasts in the state now. On Presidential polls Dr Heptulla declined and said she never talked to BJP President Amit Shah on making her the candidate in President and Vice President elections. She also said that PM Modi will not waste this opportunity and this Presidential election will send a message to the world. On Kashmir issue Speaking on the conditions prevailing in Kashmir Dr. Heptulla said the situation is not that bad as shown in media. FULL INTERVIEW - 'A DIALOGUE WITH JC-DR. NAJMA HEPTULLA' will be aired on Saturday 9.30 PM and Sunday 2.30 PM on Zee network channels New Delhi: After six days of historic hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the triple talaq, the Supreme Court on Thursday concluded arguments and reserved its verdict in the case. The apex court is expected to pronounce its verdict in the triple talaq case in July. Earlier, when the hearing resumed in the apex court, key petitioner Shayara Banos counsel Amit Chadha asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to accept that the practice is a sin. The Centre had on Wednesday urged the highest court to abolish triple talaq, the way practices like 'Sati and Devdasi' were abolished from the country. Objecting to the Centre's arguments, the AIMPLB informed the Supreme Court that marriage in the Muslim community is a contract and in order to protect their interests and dignity, women can put special emphasis on certain clauses in 'nikahnama'. The AIMPLB said Muslim women too can pronounce triple talaq and ask for very high 'mehr' amount in case of divorce. The board also showed the court a resolution passed on April 14 2017 which stated triple talaq as a sin and that the community should boycott the person doing such an act. The board said this when the Supreme Court asked the AIMPLB whether a woman can be given an option of saying 'no' to triple talaq at the time of execution of 'nikahnama' (Islamic marriage contract). The five-judge Constitution bench also said if all 'Qazis' can be asked to include this condition at the time of marriage. "Is it possible that Muslim women are given an option to say 'no' to triple talaq at the time of execution of nikahnama," asked the bench. The apex court also wanted to know from the AIMPLB if it is possible for the board whether their (SC) advisory will be followed by the Qazis at the ground level. One of the board's lawyers, Yousuf Hathim Muchala, told the top court that the advisory of AIMPLB is not mandatory for all Qazis to follow. Muchala, however, made it clear that the board accepts the suggestions in all humility and will look at it. Hearing on Wednesday was the fifth day of the hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging triple talaq, polygamy and 'nikah halala' which is going on before a bench comprising members of different religious communities including Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim. Appearing on behalf of the AIMPLB, Kapil Sibal had on Monday said that the apex court should not decide or interfere in one's faith and belief. To this, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, one of the five judges constituting the bench asked if they should not hear the matter at all. "Yes, you should not hear," replied Sibal. Earlier, Sibal asked the top court as to how a 1400-year-old practice be branded 'unconstitutional'. "Triple talaq is going on since 1400 years, how can you say it is unconstitutional?" Sibal asked the apex court. Sibal further argued that just like the Hindus' faith about Rama's birth at Ayodhya cannot be questioned, similarly triple talaq which is also a matter of faith for Muslims should not be questioned. The bench also questioned the AIMPLB on the position of e-divorce given on WhatsApp in Islam. The Centre, during the earlier hearing, assured the apex court that it would come out with a law to regulate marriage and divorce among Muslims if Triple Talaq is upheld as invalid. New Delhi: Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on Thursday. He was 60. The two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. Dave, an expert in river conservation and a member of the parliamentary forum on global warming, was appointed environment minister only last year. Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party's spokesman Tajinder Pal S Bagga has posted a 'My Wish and Will' document signed by Anil Dave on the microblogging website Twitter. As per the document (dated July 23, 2012), Dave did not want any statue, competition, memorial in his name after his demise. He wanted people to plant trees instead. Here is the document: New Delhi: A 'hawala' operator involved in a graft case against sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, who is accused of attempting to bribe Election Commission officials, has been arrested, a Delhi Police official said on Thursday. The alleged hawala operator, Lalit Kumar alias Babu Bhai, was presented before Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry who remanded him in police custody till May 20. Public Prosecutor Balbir Singh said Kumar's custody is required to recover the mobile phone he used to communicate with other accused. The police accused Lalit Kumar of giving Rs 1 crore in unaccounted money to middleman Sukesh Chandrashekar through an unidentified person. They claimed the money was meant to bribe Election Commission (EC) officials to get an order, favouring allotment of the frozen 'two leaves' poll symbol to the AIADMK faction led by V.K. Sasikala. The symbol matter is pending before the Election Commission. Dhinakaran is a nephew of the jailed AIADMK General Secretary, Sasikala. Meanwhile, the court upheld as "maintainable" the Delhi Police plea for permission to get voice samples of Dinakaran and Chandrashekhar to authenticate a recorded conversation between them. The court directed the investigating officer to take requisite steps to obtain consent of the accused for giving their voice sample. "I deem it expedient in the interest of justice to allow the investigating officer to take requisite steps to obtain consent of accused for giving his voice sample for comparison from Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL)," the court said. Chandrashekhar was arrested on April 16. On April 25, the Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested Dinakaran for having tried to pay Rs 50 crore in bribes to the the poll officials through middleman Chandrashekar to get the 'two leaves' poll symbol. Dinakaran, Chandrashekhar, Mallikarjuna, a long-time friend of Dinakaran, and 'hawala' operator from Delhi Naresh Jain are already in judicial custody till May 29. New Delhi: Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on Thursday. 60-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away. Several leaders condoled the sudden demise of Dave. President Pranab Mukherjee expressed shock over sudden demise of Dave. He tweeted: "Shocked by sudden demise of Union Environment Minister Shri Anil Dave; deepest condolences to his family & well wishers." Smriti Irani: Absolutely shocked to hear about Anil Daveji's demise. Soft spoken,passionate about environment, literature, culture, he was always kind. Suresh Prabhu: Very sad&shocking #AnilDave passing away,irreparable loss.He selflessly worked for decades for @RSSorg @BJP4India&several social issues RIP Sadananda Gowda: Shocked to hear the Sudden demise of Sri Anil Madhav Dave ji ,my Coleague Environment Minister. My heartfelt condolences. Prakash Javadekar: Saddened by the sudden demise of my colleague Anil Madhav Dave ji.My heartfelt condolences. Dave ji was a real nature lover , had a vision of protecting environment & ensuring development. Venkaiah Naidu: Shocked and extremely sad to know the sudden demise of my colleague Sri Anil Madhav Dave,Environment Minister.My heartfelt condolences. Manohar Parrikar: Shocked & saddened by untimely demise of Shri. Anil Dave. India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment. Kalraj Mishra: Sudden demise of Anil Madhav Dave ji is hard to believe, heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family. May his soul Rest In Peace. Nirmala Sitharaman: Shocked to hear Shri @anilmdave is no more. A passionate conservationist,remarkably documented the Narmada.Will miss his presence in the RS. New Delhi: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has joined Twitter, a social media platform where the Ministry of External Affairs is known for its active presence. Jaishankar, late to join the social media bandwagon, took office as the country's top diplomat in January 2015. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, with nearly eight million followers, leads the MEA team on the microblogging site and is known to be prompt in reaching out to Indians in distress across the world. Nirupama Rao, who served as foreign secretary between 2009 and 2011, was a pioneer in the use of the social media among top government officers. She had been widely praised for going on Twitter to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from strife-torn Libya in 2011. With around 30 million followers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the most popular world leaders on Twitter. Jaishankar is yet to post his first tweet. New Delhi: Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan was, Thursday, given an additional charge of the Environment Ministry after the death of Anil Dave. Dave died here today. He was 60. "The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Dr Harsh Vardhan, Cabinet Minister shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in addition to his existing portfolios," the President`s Office said in a statement. The two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS at around 8:45 am, where he passed away, according to official sources. The news of the demise of Dave, a bachelor, was broken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, who said he was with the minister until late last evening, discussing policy issues. The body of Dave, a long-time RSS member best known for crafting the BJP strategy to unseat Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2003, was taken to his residence at Safdarjung road. After a few hours, it will be flown to Indore where the minister's brother lives. (With Agency inputs) The Hague: In a major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan to suspend death sentence of alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav till a final decision is taken. ICJ president Judge Ronny Abraham also asked Pakistan to apprise it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. "This court unanimously decides that Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal so that Kulbushan Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision of this court in the matter. It also unanimously decides that the court must be told of the measures Pakistan takes to implement this order," ICJ president Ronny Abraham said in the operative portion of the order which he read out in the open court for nearly 30 minutes. Officials of both the countries were present when the judge asked the registrar to communicate the order to both the parties. Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. While reading out the court verdict, Judge Ronny Abraham said the decision of the 11-judge bench was unanimous. The ICJ said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977. #KulbhushanJadhav case: ICJ verdict triggers India vs Pakistan on Twitter The court asserted its jurisdiction over the case of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer while noting that the circumstances of his arrest remain disputed. Justice Abraham noted the Pakistan counsel's argument that Jadhav would not be executed till August but there was no assurance that he would not be executed after that. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction at the order of the ICJ. He spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to thank her and appreciated the efforts of advocate Harish Salve who represented India in the case, official sources said. Sushma Swaraj also welcomed the International Court of Justice's verdict on Kulbhusban Jadhav and said that India would leave no stone unturned to save him. India had on Monday sought the UN's highest judicial body`s intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav`s death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. The ruling came three days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions in the case. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 03 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict: India wins at ICJ, Pakistan's lies exposed! What all court said - EXPLAINED in 10 points Jadhav's case is the latest flash point in the tensions between Pakistan and India. On May 08, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging the violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On May 09, the global court stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure. The face-off over Jadhav has brought relations between the two rival neighbours to a new low. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) pronounced its provisional measures on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Thursday, 10 days after India approached it demanding suspension of the death sentence given to its former navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court. Find the full communique by the International Court of Justice below: "The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today indicated to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, of Indian nationality, is not executed pending a final judgment of the Court in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan). In its Order indicating provisional measures, which was adopted unanimously, the Court also stated that the Government of Pakistan shall inform it of all measures taken in implementation of that Order. It further decided to remain seised of the matters which form the subject of the Order until it has rendered its final judgment. History of the proceedings India filed its Request for the indication of provisional measures on 8 May 2017, the same day that it initiated proceedings against Pakistan in a dispute concerning alleged violations of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 with respect to an Indian national, Mr. Jadhav, sentenced to death in Pakistan. Reasoning of the Court The Court begins by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalls that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over "[d]isputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the [Vienna] Convention". In this regard, the Court notes that the Parties do indeed appear to have differed, and still differ today, on the question of India's consular assistance to Mr. Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. The Court then turns to the question whether the rights alleged by India are at least plausible. It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. The Court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Mr. Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. The Court concludes by indicating the following measures: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. Composition of the Court The Court was composed as follows: President Abraham; Judges Owada, Cancado Trindade, Xue, Donoghue, Gaja, Sebutinde, Bhandari, Robinson, Crawford, Gevorgian; Registrar Couvreur. Judge Cancado Trindade appends a separate opinion to the Order of the Court; Judge Bhandari appends a declaration to the Order of the Court." Note: The Court's press releases do not constitute official documents. New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday termed the International Court of Justice verdict on alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav a "major victory" and said that India will seek consular access to Jadhav again. "It is a major victory for India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case," Naidu tweeted. "We will be pursuing consular access for him. They are duty bound to give it.. They (Pakistan) are exposed. They have to respect the Vienna Convention," Naidu told reporters separately. In major relief for India, the ICJ on Thursday asked Pakistan not to execute Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. India has sought consular access to Jadhav 16 times since his arrest in March 2016 on espionage charges, but was refused. New Delhi: India and Sweden on Thursday discussed bilateral issues, including threat from the Islamic State, radicalisation, and steps taken to counter global terror. The talks were held between a delegations led by Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs and Trade Ann Linde and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju here. "Both appreciated the ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber security and anti-radicalism being pursued by the two countries and emphasised the need for close collaboration both at bilateral and multilateral levels to counter this very serious threat," a Home Ministry statement said. Linde observed that terrorism and IS threat are big issues for Europe and urgent steps are being taken to check the same. She shared Swedish perceptions about Brexit and challenges of refugee influx faced by her country. While she reiterated the commitment on economic cooperation, the Swedish side offered transfer of technology and capacity building so as to make India a hub for global supply chain, the statement said. Rijiju apprised the Sweden Minister of steps taken to tackle terror as well as steps taken for de-radicalisation and counter-radicalisation of youths. The visiting Minister showed interest for supply of equipment and other items for the modernisation of central armed police forces. Sweden's Ambassador to India Harald Sandberg and senior Home Ministry officers were present during the meeting. New Delhi: India on Thursday asserted that ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, is binding on Pakistan. At the same time, External Affairs Ministry termed the verdict as "unanimous" and "unambiguous", adding that the government will do everything possible to save the life of Jadhav. Addressing a press conference, MEA Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the provisional relief provided by the ICJ is the first step in ensuring justice to Jadhav. "The order by the ICJ is unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous. The verdict a matter of great relief for people of the country," he said. Baglay also said that the order is binding on Pakistan. Earlier, in a major boost to India, the ICJ today stayed the execution of Jadhav, who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The UN's highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". "The court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order," a press release from the global court said. Asserting its jurisdiction over the case, the court backed India's contention that there has been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times. India and Pakistan, it noted, have been signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977. As soon as the order came in, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the verdict as a "great relief", as per PTI. They both thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed the battery of lawyers presenting India's case. However, in Islamabad, Pakistan said it did not accept the ICJ ruling in matters related to national security. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying it was "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. The unanimous verdict of the 11-judge bench comes three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded annulment of the sentence and described Pakistan's trial to convict Jadhav as "farcical". Pakistan, in turn, had argued that the 46-year-old Indian national was a spy and India's plea was "misconceived". The court said Pakistan had indicated that the execution would probably not take place before August 2017. "This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case." It also noted the urgency of the case since Pakistan had given "no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision". Examining India's argument that is a risk of irreparable prejudice, it said, "... The mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India". India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. The next day, the global court gave Jadhav a lease of life and stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi/The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on Thursday pronounce its verdict on India's appeal seeking suspension of the death sentence awarded by a Pakistani military court to its national Kulbhushan Jadhav. "The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan), tomorrow on Thursday 18 May 2017, the international court said in a release today. "A public sitting will take place at 12 noon (3.30 pm IST) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, will read the court's decision". The ICJ ruling also made it clear that "pending the meeting of the court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects." The decision comes after India on Monday sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of the death sentence of allegedly spy Jadhav, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. Kulbhushan Jadhav case hearing: India demands immediate suspension of death sentence; Vienna Convention not for spies involved in terror, Pakistan tells International Court of Justice India, whose request for consular access to Jadhav was turned down 16 times, had approached the ICJ on May 08. Indian lawyer Harish Salve accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a "farcical trial" for convicting Jadhav without a "shred of evidence" following which the court had stayed his execution. The lawyer told the court that Jadhav was kidnapped in 2016 from Iran where he was pursuing his business after retiring from the Indian Navy, brought to Pakistan and was shown to have been arrested in Balochistan and presented as an alleged Indian spy. Salve demanded that Pakistan should annul Jadhav's death sentence as he was not even given a chance to defend himself. Pakistan, however, rejected the plea on the ground that India had no right to invoke the jurisdiction of the UN's highest court because the Vienna Convention does not provide for matters relating to spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage. Islamabad also asked the court to reject India's plea for provisional measure in the case. Denying the charges levelled by India, Pakistan has maintained that it had requested an Indian assistance in the investigation of Jadhav's alleged "involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan", which it said New Delhi did not provide. India is represented by its 'Agent' Deepak Mittal, who is the head of the Pakistan division in the External Affairs Ministry and the case is argued by its lead attorney Harish Salve. The India team is expected to be present at the time of the verdict. The face-off over Jadhav has brought relations between the two rival neighbours to a new low. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The Pakistan government on Thursday expressed its dissatisfaction over the International Court of Justice's verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence case and said it would soon present more evidence on the matter. "Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security. We will present more proofs against Jadhav at the court," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said. Hitting out at India, Zakaria said that the country is trying to hide its real face by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. "India didn't give a positive response to Pakistan's request regarding access to Jadhav's accomplices. It is trying to defend a person whose actions led to killing of scores of innocent Pakistanis," Zakaria added. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. Adding further, he said, "India is desperately tried to divert the world attention by presenting Kulbhushan's case from humanitarian angle." Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death in March by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. The court today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. New Delhi: Indian on Thursday registered a major diplomatic, moral and legal victory against Pakistan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. ICJ on Thursday asked Pakistan not to execute alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. Soon after the ICJ's verdict came out, External Affairs Minister took to Twitter to pay thanks to lawyer Harish Salve who represented India at ICJ in Kulbhushan matter. We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 It's noteworthy that eminent lawyer Harish Salve charged us Re 1 as his fee for this case. The fee amount was confirmed by Sushma Swaraj. Not fair. #HarishSalve has charged us Rs.1/- as his fee for this case. https://t.co/Eyl3vQScrs Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 15, 2017 ICJ verdict on Kulbhushan "This court unanimously decides that Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal so that Kulbushan Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision of this court in the matter. It also unanimously decides that the court must be told of the measures Pakistan takes to implement this order," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said in the operative portion of the order which he read out in the open court for nearly 30 minutes. Officials of both the countries were present when the judge asked the registrar to communicate the order to both the parties. In the detailed order, the court said prima facie it felt that it had jurisdiction to go into the matter given the details of the present case. The court also found that there exists a lien between the rights India seeks to assert and the provisional measures the court can deploy. Justice Abraham noted the Pakistan counsel's argument that Jadhav would not be executed till August but there was no assurance that he would not be executed after that. The court also noted that Jadhav should have been given consular access as sought by India. New Delhi: Pakistan, which recently test-fired its 2,750-km range Shaheen-3 missiles to prevent India from gaining a second-strike nuclear capability from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has built a secret nuclear weapons storage facility at the foot of Peer Than Mountain near Haripur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the military intelligence, Pakistan's secret nuclear weapons storage facility in Peer Than mountain was unknown until recently. Inputs gathered by the military intelligence through satellite imagery suggest that Pakistan's Shaheen-III ballistic missiles, which are capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, could have been secretly deployed there. The possible deployment of Shaheen series ballistic missiles in the secret storage facility poses a grave threat to India as it is located about 320-km from Amritsar, 520-km from Chandigarh and 720-km from New Delhi. This assumes significance since the Shaheen-III ballistic missiles are capable of delivering a nuclear weapon and can hit targets as far as 2,750 kilometres effectively. According to the Outlook magazine, Pakistan has been working assiduously to safeguard its nuclear first strike capability and to maintain second strike capability. Over the years, Pakistan has built many secret nuclear weapons storage facilities to ensure survivability of its nuclear arsenal from Indias first strike. In a series of exposes through open source Google Earth satellite imagery, we will sketch out Pakistans various underground and tunneled nuclear weapons storage facilities. The construction of the tunneled facility began in the first half of 2003 and possibly completed around 2011. In all these years, the Indian Army possibly had no clue regarding Pakistan's secret nuke weapons storage facility. According to Outlook report, it has two main tunnels with three layered perimeter fence, support area with administrative office, mechanical transport (MT) garages, residential buildings and two Masjids. However, it is still unclear as to how many such nuclear-capable missile bases are there in Pakistan, which has a stockpile of around 140 nuclear warheads. New Delhi: After India scored a victory over Pakistan in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called up External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj where he lauded veteran lawyer Harish Salve's effort in the International Court of Justice. PM Modi also expressed satisfaction at today's order where ICJ asked Pakistan not to execute alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. Sushma Swaraj too was praise for Salve as she tweeted saying, "We are grateful to Mr Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ." "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav. I compliment my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work," she said. We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 I compliment my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 She also complimented her team of officers in the ministry of external affairs for their tireless efforts and hard work. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will leave on a three-day visit to Sikkim tomorrow. During the visit, the Home Minister will chair a meeting of the Chief Ministers of five states on the Indo-China Border viz Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to review the Indo-China Border Security issues, in Gangtok on May 20. This is the first time such a meeting is being held by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The objective of the meeting is to strengthen the coordination of MHA with the five states on Indo-China Border to improve the overall border security as states are also partners in security of the borders. In this meeting, discussion will be held about the border infrastructure work under taken by MHA, Border Area Development Programme and coordination issues between the states and the ITBP etc. Singh will also be visiting Nathula Pass and ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the Jawans of ITBP on Indo-China Border. On May 21, he will visit the SSB Bns. Hqrs (Geyzing and Yuksam), besides, flying over SSB border posts at Uttarey, Kumukh & Bajrajadhara on Indo-Nepal Border. The Home Minister will also interact with jawans at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing. Singh will later attend a Civic Action Programme at Pelling in West District, Sikkim. New Delhi: As part of a pilot project, initiated by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), nearly 2,000 students of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS) will be taught science and mathematics on tablets. Under the project, the students will not be required to carry books to school every day as they will have online access to reading material. Not only this, the students will also submit their assignments and reports and get evaluated online. The KVS is likely to submit a final proposal in this regard to the MHRD today. A Times of India report quoting a senior HRD Ministry official said that pilot project will probably start from July-August, 2017. "The idea is to supplement the knowledge the students will get from books in the STEM subjects using technology, he added. Under the project, the students will have access to 'epathshala' - the digital textbooks and resource material of NCERT and sharpen their learning experience through animation, videos in the STEM subject. Select students of Class IX or XI may be chosen for training under the project by the HRD Ministry after the final proposal is submitted. Over 2,000 students from KVs across 25 regions will be selected for the pilot project. Each region will have at least one school where the initiative will be launched and based on the experience and outcome, the HRD Ministry will take a call on its full scale implementation in 2018. At the moment, the KVS is believed to be preparing the training module for the teachers who will be part of the pilot project. Interestingly, tablets will be provided free of cost to the students by the MHRD and a student can retain it for a period of two to four years. Srinagar: The central government on Thursday ruled out to hold any talks with separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir in near future, saying that its priority is to improve the situation in the Valley first. "Our priority is to improve the situation first," Minister for Defence and Finance Arun Jaitley told reporters here when asked if the Centre had any plans to hold talks with separatist groups like Hurriyat Conference in view of the demand repeatedly made by the BJP's alliance partner, the PDP. When asked whether there was a possibility of replacing Mehbooba Mufti as the state chief minister by a BJP nominee in view of the deteriorating security situation, Jaitley said, "I have not heard of any such thing. I am not aware of this thing." Jaitley, who in his capacity as Defence Minister reviewed the security situation in Kashmir yesterday, said it was not as bad as the impression was being given by some media outlets. The situation in the valley is improving, he said. "Well, I can only say this that I had a detailed meeting with Chief of Army Staff (Gen Bipin Rawat) and all the senior officers of the Army last night. The defence secretary designate was also with me. "The Army's principal job is to look after the Line of Control (LoC) and also some conflict management which is required. In both the areas, the Army is fully confident of dealing with the situation," he said. Srinagar: One policeman and a civilian were injured after terrorists hurled a grenade at a police station in Srinagar's Safa Kadal area on Thursday. #Visuals from J&K: Grenade lobbed at a police station by terrorists in Srinagar's Safa Kadal pic.twitter.com/U2NBlesN6X May 18, 2017 The attack came even as defense Minister Arun Jaitley reviewed the overall situation in the Kashmir Valley with Chief of Army staff General Bipin Rawat and other senior army officers. The Pakistan Army, earlier on Sunday, instigated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Chiti Bakri area of Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army also retaliated to the unprovoked act strongly and effectively. At least two civilians including a minor girl were killed and nine people, including four soldiers were injured in the unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Rajouri district. Srinagar: The brother of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mohammad Shafi Dar was on Thursday found dead at a hotel in Srinagar. An investigation is underway. The deceased has been identified as 36-year-old Reyaz Ahmad Dar. Mohammad Shafi Dar is the Handwara zone president of the ruling PDP, an official said. The body was recovered under suspicious conditions from a hotel room in Dalgate area of the city, the official said, adding that there was no visible mark on it. Police said the deceased was living with his brother. A case has been registered and a probe is underway, police said. (With Agency inputs) Lucknow: On a day he was to celebrate his 36th birthday with his family in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich, Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari was found dead under mysterious circumstances near a guest house in Lucknow on Wednesday. Posted as the Food and Civil Supplies commissioner in Bengaluru, Tiwari was heading an investigation into a food and civil supplies scam there, reported The Pioneer. The Lucknow Police suspects that Tiwari fell while he was out for a morning walk. However, the 36-year-old deceased's older brother Alok Tiwari told The Times of India: "He (Anurag) was a bookworm and read up to 2 am. My brother never stepped out for a morning walk and something seems fishy. "Senior officials in the civil supplies department in Karnataka kept harassing Tiwari. His leave was not sanctioned and he was considering changing his cadre from Karnataka," Alok added. Amar Ujala quoted Alok as claiming that Anurag Tiwari had unearthed a Rs 2,000 crore scam in his department and apprised the Karnataka government of the same. However, no action was taken, further alleged Alok. His inconsolable parents, who live in Kanungopura area in Bahraich, told the steady stream of visitors and relatives that they had organised a 'Mahamrityunjaya Jaap' for their son's long life on his birthday when the news of his death reached them. Tiwari had come to Lucknow on Tuesday and a room for him was booked at the VIP guest house on Mirabai road by his batchmate PN Singh, who is currently Vice Chairman of the Lucknow Development Authority. His father BN Tiwari kept on mumbling that his son's life has been snatched by someone. A retired physics professor at a local college, he, however, did not name any suspects. Anurag Tiwari was youngest of the three brothers and was selected in the IAS in 2007. He had married Arunima Pathak in 2008 in Kanpur but the couple separated within a month and later settled for a mutual divorce. Family members said they did not suspect any role of their daughter-in-law in the death of their son but said that this could be the handiwork of some corrupt people in Karnataka, whose life had been made miserable by their honest son. Police so far have not said anything conclusively on the possible reasons behind the death of the young bureaucrat. There was an injury mark on Tiwari's chin and some blood was found on the spot where the body was found but there were no other injury marks. Police Inspector AK Shahi told news agency IANS that the exact cause of the death would only be ascertained after post-mortem. Tiwari had earlier served as Deputy Commissioner of Bidar, Assistant Commissioner of Madhugiri, Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu and Deputy Secretary, Finance, in Karnataka. (With Agency inputs) Mumbai: Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi's trust has taken over Islamic International School (IIS), run by controversial preacher Zakir Naiks banned Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). Azmis Niyaz Minority Education and Welfare Trust has taken over the school and will be renamed Avicenna International School. Confirming the development, the SP leader said the controversy surrounding Naik had put a question mark over the fate of around 200 students studying in IIS, so for the betterment of the students, his trust decided to take care of their future and take over the management of the school in Mazgaon. Azmi has assured that the school will run with the same school staff. Zakir Naik came under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' reported that one of the perpetrators of the July 1, 2016 terror attack in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook in 2015 quoting Naik. The foundation had first come under the scanner after the terrorist responsible for Dhaka attack in 2016, in an online post had said, that he was inspired by Naik's speeches. Following the Dhaka terror attacks last year, the NIA had filed the case against Naik and other officials of his Mumbai-based NGO. Naik was on a tour abroad at that time and has since not returned to India allegedly to evade arrest under various charges, including inspiring terrorist activities and money-laundering. In December last, the Centre had permanently cancelled the FCRA licence of Naik's NGO and his educational trust after declaring it as a terror outfit. New Delhi: Finnish mobile firm HMD Global will start selling the new version of the iconic Nokia 3310 handset for Rs 3,310 in India from Thursday. "The Nokia 3310 will be available across top mobile stores in India starting May 18, 2017... Will retail at a recommended best buy price of Rs 3,310," HMD Global said in a statement. The new Nokia 3310 will come in four colours -- warm red and yellow, both with a gloss finish, and dark blue and grey, both with a matte finish. HMD Global has licence to design and sell Nokia branded phones globally as well as use technologies developed by Nokia Corporation. The new Nokia 3310 is a dual SIM 2.5G feature phone with 1200 mAH battery that promises around 22 hours of talk time with one-time full charge. It has a 2.4-inch display, 2 megapixel camera with LED flash, bluetooth and USB connectivity option, 16 MB internal with external storage option of up to 32 GB. Nokia 3310, known for its robustness, was the most widely used feature phone globally during 2000-05. It is estimated to have sold 126 million units globally when there were only a few countries with mobile networks. The model was discontinued in 2005. Noida: With the entire India - from politicians to commoners - demanding suspension of the death sentence given to Kulbhushan Jadhav by the Pakistan Military court, locals in Mumbai held special prayers and `hawan`. People attending the prayers were seen carrying photos of Jadhav and banners that spoke of the support for him.Talking to ANI, Jadhav`s childhood friend Arvind Singh said he was hopeful that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would give a verdict in India`s favour. "We all are praying that he is delivered justice. Almost everybody here is praying for him. We have been campaigning on various fronts for his safe return. We are very hopeful that the verdict is going to be in our favour. The way Salve ji has put his point, we are very hopeful," he added. Hawans are also being held in other parts of the country including Varanasi and Patna among others.The most-awaited judgement in regard with the case is all set to be pronounced today by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Pakistan military court awarded death sentence to the former Indian naval officer on April 10 for alleged "espionage and subversive activities". However, India, after being denied consular access for 16th time, dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention.India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan`s from carrying out the death sentence of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Demanding immediate suspension of Jadhav`s death sentence, New Delhi expressed fear that Islamabad might execute the formal Naval officer even before the hearing of the ICJ was over.Pakistan, on its part, told ICJ that the provisions of Vienna Convention on consular access were not applicable for a `spy`. It also accused India of using the international body for political theatrics.Arguing before the 11-judge bench at the ICJ, which included former Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari,India`s counsel Harish Salve stressed that not granting consular access and not giving legal representation of Jadhav`s choosing amounted to a "miscarriage of justice" and a "violation of his right" to defend himself from concocted charges in a "farcical trial". India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan`s from carrying out the death sentence of Jadhav.Noted lawyer Harish Salve had told the court that India couldn`t arrange for Jadhav`s defence due to denial of consular access by Pakistan. He said India made innumerable requests for consular access, but Pakistan refused to provide documents relating to the case and consular access to him.Pakistan raised the confession statement of Jadhav as a base of its argument and accused India of using the ICJ for its "political theatrics. " India termed that the confession of Jadhav was forcibly taken by the military while in captivity and he was tried by a military court in Pakistan.Pakistan`s counsel Khawar Qureshi, while presenting Islamabad`s stance in the ICJ on death sentence handed to Jadhav, said that the former naval officer entered Islamabad through Iran using a fake passport. He told the court that Pakistan had given India all information regarding Jadhav`s investigation, but didn`t receive any response from New Delhi.India demanded immediate suspension of Jadhav`s death sentence but Pakistan presented the Kulbhushan Jadhav case as a matter of national security and the ICJ`s decision would not apply to "matters related to the national security of Pakistan. "It will be a big success for India and a setback for Pakistan if the death sentence of Jadhav is suspended by the ICJ. Where on the one hand, India`s hopes regarding Jadhav will revive, on the other, Pakistan`s relations with the other nations will suffer, affecting the country multi-laterally and economically. New Delhi: The most prestigious Cannes Film Festival has kicked off and will be an extravagant affair from May 17-28, 2017 where world famous celebrities will be gracing the event. A Cannes regular from Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was recently spotted leaving for the big affair but not alone. She took her daughter Aaradhya along with her and the beautiful mother-daughter duo was clicked on the airport. Several fan clubs took to Twitter and Instagram to share their airport pictures. Check out their adorable clicks here: A for Adorable Aaradhya pic.twitter.com/irXQxP95mD As R F (@amit_AishGang) May 17, 2017 Aaradhya seems more excited than Mama. pic.twitter.com/8dVBIOSXHM abarb (@juzzme25) May 17, 2017 Meanwhile, Deepika Padukone made her stunning Cannes red carpet debut on May 17. This year Sonam Kapoor too will be seen gracing the red carpet at Cannes. Mumbai: Sonam Kapoor says when she was new in the film industry, she was told that the career of an actress ends soon but it was her father, actor Anil Kapoor, who motivated her to work. "He (Anil Kapoor) is so empowering as a person. He is such a feminist. He has never made me feel that because I am a girl, I am something less," she says. "When I was 22-23 and had joined the film industry, somebody told me 'why are you going slowly (in your career)'? And I told my dad that they're saying that I can only work till I am 30-31 years old, so I should do as much work as I can. He said 'don't think like that. This is your job, you love acting, you should be doing this for the rest of your life'," she says. The 31-year-old actress lauds her parents for supporting her and her younger sister Rhea's choices. "He (Anil Kapoor) has never ever made me feel that 'oh you need to get married, you're a girl, you don't deserve this'," Sonam says. "When I came in this industry, it was a shock (to me) that people are so sexist, because my father, mother were never that. They never made Rhea and me believe that we are not capable human beings because we are women," she says. Sonam will be next seen alongside Akshay Kumar in "Padman" and "Veere Di Wedding. New Delhi: Bollywood's ultimate girl-next-door Shraddha Kapoor is ready to entice her viewers in 'Half Girlfriend' starring Arjun Kapoor in the lead. The film is high on buzz and is slated to open in theatres on May 19, 2017. But Shraddha has of late been in news for just for her professional work, but personal life as well. The young actress was reportedly in news for dating actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar. However, she has quashed all such rumours as baseless. According to TOI.com, the actress has rubbished all such talks in an interview with Filmfare. She said that there is no truth in such rumours and said that her focus is now on delivering good performances. She even made it clear that such false news does affect her family. She has been quoted as saying: "I am happy being single and focussing on my work. Agar boyfriend hota toh main distract ho jaati. Right now I don't feel it's necessary. Yes, sometimes it's difficult to give time to a relationship. But I don't believe it's impossible. If you want to have a relationship, you will manage to balance it with work. My definition and understanding of love keeps evolving. My current understanding of love is that when it happens you cannot deny it; you can't help it, no matter what you do. I view love as a necessity. Pyar har insaan ki zindagi me bahut zaroori hai. I was, but I don't want to be a possessive girlfriend anymore. I want to give space to that person. Allow them to do what they want." Chennai: Tamil Nadu SSLC Result 2017, TN 10th Result 2017, SSLC 2017 Examination Results, Tamil Nadu Class 10th SSLC Examination Results 2017 will be declared on May 19 (Friday) The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination results will be declared by the Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE) Tamil Nadu at 10 am. TN SSLC Exam Results 2017, Tamil Nadu Board SSLC Examination Results, Tamil Nadu Class 10 Results 2017, TN 10th Result, SSLC Result 2017 will be declared on official website http://tnresults.nic.in/ 7,12,339 number of studnets are eagerly waiting for Tamil Nadu Class 10th Results 2017, TN SSLC Result 2017, TN SSLC 10th result, Tamil Nadu SSLC exam, Tamil Nadu 10th Board Results, TN 10th result 2017. How to check TN Board Result 2017, TNBSE 10th Result 2017: Keep your Roll Number and other essential details handy Log on to the official website of the board - tnresults.nic.in Type in your details as asked carefully and that too without any mistake Roll No., Name, mobile number, email ID as applicable Your result will be flashed online Students are advised to take a print of their result for future references. The Tamil Nadu SSLC exams 2017 were held from 8 March to 30 March, 2017. Tamil Nadu SSLC Results 2016 6,47,856 number of studnets had appeared for the exams. Overall percentage 92.9 percent. Passing percentag eof boys stood at 96.11 percent, whereas 96.36 percent girls passed out last year. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh jewellers will go on a strike from Friday to protest against the killing of two traders in Mathura. The jewellers across the state have raised their voices after two traders, who were shot dead in Mathura. They were killed by some people who escaped with gold of Rs four crore and are demanding Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to provide safety to them. The jewellers' community has voiced its concern over the safety issues post the murder. Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister and Mathura MLA Shrikanth Sharma yesterday said that the accused would soon be put behind bars. "It's very unfortunate incident and our sympathy lies with the families of the victims. We have got some clues about the incident and would ensure to put the criminals behind the bars through proper investigation," Sharma told the media in Mathura. He said that the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) has ordered for increase in the patrolling following the incident. "The ACP is closely monitoring the case and has ensured to punish the guilty very soon. He has also increased patrolling following the Mathura incident," he added. Sharma said Chief Minister Adityanath has expressed his disappointment over the incident and called for strict working of the law and order in the state. "We will meet the families of the victims and would visit hospital too. We assure to increase the safety in the state and make sure to develop fear of law among the criminals," he said. Two traders, Vikas and Megh Agarwal - were gunned down by six armed persons who entered their shop Mayank Chain, in the Koylawali Gali, in the busy market area of Holi Gate on Monday night. They escaped with gold worth Rs. four crore. Beirut: The Islamic State group killed more than 50 people in an attack on two government-held villages in central Syria`s Hama province on Thursday, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on two villages killed 15 civilians and 27 pro-government fighters, with another 10 bodies yet to be identified as government fighters or local residents. IS also lost 15 fighters in the attack, the monitor said. Tipoli: Libya on Thursday asked Italy to arm the patrol boats it uses in the fight against illegal immigration across the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe. Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti this week handed over to the Libyan coastguard four patrol boats repaired in Italy as part of a cooperation deal against people traffickers. Another six patrol boats are to follow soon after the training of their Libyan crews, he said. "These boats are not fitted with arms. We can't used them for patrols when the traffickers are increasingly armed," Abdullah Tomia, a senior naval officer in charge of cooperation with Italy, told a news conference in Tripoli. "We`ve asked Italy to arm the patrol boats," he said, while noting that Libya was still under a UN arms embargo in force since its 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi. "Before the revolution, we were dealing with unarmed traffickers. But no we are up against fierce, armed gangs," Tomia said. Libyan authorities have complained about lacking the means to deal with the floods of migrants who try crossing the Mediterranean in makeshift boats. Last year, a record 181,000 migrants reached Italy, 90 percent of them from Libya. Kathmandu: Nepal's House Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar on Thursday prorogued Parliament, leaving the fate of the second phase of local body polls unknown and undecided. Agitating parties have been consistent in their demand that local body polls cannot take place without a consensus being reached on the Constitution Amendment. The government on Thursday accepted some of the demands of the Madhesh and Tharuhat movements and also agreed to facilitate the release of political prisoners. Nepal on Sunday held the first phase of local elections after nearly two decades in three of the seven provinces which witnessed a 73 percent turnout. The holding of election in remaining provinces remains uncertain for now. The low lying areas where the second phase of election is scheduled to be held have nine million voters and the electoral body of Nepal, Election Commission, Nepal is set to start the preparations for the election from next week. New York: A car plowed into pedestrians at the busy tourist destination Times Square in New York on Thursday, killing one person and leaving 12 others injured, authorities said. The New York Police Department said in a tweet that "due to a vehicle collision" that resulted in injuries to pedestrians, emergency vehicles are in the area of Times Square, the hugely crowded tourist destination in Manhattan. The Fire Department said in a tweet that one person died in the incident and 12 were injured. "FDNY confirms 1 fatality, 12 injuries in Times Square motor vehicle accident, 45 St/Broadway," it said. Images on social media showed the car with a smoking hood slightly overturned on a barrier at a sidewalk in Times Square. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was headed to the scene. Emergency response crews, including ambulances and fire trucks, were on the scene, which had been cordoned off. Authorities are investigating the incident to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred during lunchtime here with hundreds of thousands of people on the street. With the advent of summers, it is peak tourist time in one of the most popular destinations in the world. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that US President Donald Trump "has been made aware" of the incident at Times Square. He "will continue to receive updates", Spicer tweeted. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday hanged four more Taliban terrorists convicted of different terrorism-related offences by controversial military courts in the restive northwestern province, the second such execution in as many days. The terrorists were hanged in a jail in the Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province, the worst hit due to violence by Taliban terrorists, taking the number of hanged terrorists to over 170 since the Peshawar terror attack in 2014. "They were involved in different terror activities including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies," said army. The terrorists were tried by military courts which work in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants, it said. The convicts were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Rizwan Ullah, Sardar Ali and Sher Muhammad Khan. All of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Four "hardcore" terrorists convicted of "heinous" terrorism-related offences were hanged in the restive northwestern province yesterday. Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students. Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack. Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 170 militants. Islamabad: Pakistan`s federal government has rejected conditions set by former president retired General Pervez Musharraf, such as the provision of military security and safe passage back to Dubai, to face his high treason trial, the media reported on Thursday. In a response submitted to the three-judge special court seized with the high treason case, the federal government said on Wednesday that being an absconder for high treason Musharraf cannot seek any relief until he surrenders before the court, Dawn online reported. The response stated: "An absconder cannot dictate his pre-requisites to the court and give conditions, that too his own subjective satisfaction, as to when he will appear and for how long." Musharraf filed an application before the special court on May 5 in which he expressed willingness to face the trial under military protection and assurance from the court that he would be given safe passage back to Dubai. Through its chief prosecutor in the case, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, the government said: "The application has been filed only to prolong the conclusion of the trial." However, the government said it was willing to provide "all due security" to Musharraf, "as per his entitlement", reports Dawn online. The government asked the court to dismiss Musharraf`s application seeking military security and safe passage to Dubai, and to take "all appropriate coercive measures to procure the attendance of absconding accused to complete the trial". The special court will resume proceedings in the high treason trial on Friday. Paris: A parliamentary majority looks to be within reach for centrist French President Emmanuel Macron in next month`s parliamentary elections, opinion polls indicated on Thursday, as his cross-partisan government held its first meeting. Macron`s election as president on May 7 smashed a decades-old left-right grip on politics and has left the conservative Republicans (LR) and the Socialists in disarray. But he needs a win for his fledgling party in legislative elections to implement his policies. An OpinionWay/ORPI poll found Macron`s Republic on the Move (REM) set to win 27 percent of votes in the first round of the National Assembly election on June 11, ahead of all other parties. It projected that, after the second round on June 18, Macron`s party would have secured 280-300 of the 535 mainland seats in the lower house. When overseas territories are included, 289 seats are needed for an absolute majority. Two other polls published on Thursday by Harris Interactive had Macron`s party leading with 32 percent, up three points since May 11 and six points since May 7. But another survey sounded a cautionary note, finding that only 45 percent of voters had confidence in Macron and even fewer in Prime Minister Edouard Philippe - the lowest ratings for French leaders starting their terms in over 20 years. Those present at the cabinet meeting, the first since ministers were appointed on Wednesday, included economy and budget ministers from the right, a TV environmentalist put in charge of ecology and energy, and a veteran Socialist who was defence minister in the last government and is now in charge of Europe and foreign policy. "Having different political backgrounds will not stop us working intelligently for France, this was the first message the president wanted to convey," government spokesman Christophe Castaner told a news conference. LABOUR REFORM THE PRIORITY He said labour reform, highly controversial in France, "must be launched very quickly". Macron`s plans, which he wants to carry out using executive decrees, include tackling unemployment of 9.6 percent by making hiring and firing easier. Philippe, a conservative who was de facto excluded from the Republicans for joining the government, told France Inter radio he would campaign to help secure an REM majority. Republicans campaign leader Francois Baroin voiced his anger at the defections of Philippe, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, saying: "This is not the spoils of war, it`s a hostage-taking." Philippe said that, despite its diversity, the cabinet was built to last, but his assertion is likely to be tested over the coming weeks and months. Several ministers, including Le Maire, have said they will stand in the parliamentary election, and Philippe confirmed that they would have to quit the government if they lost. In addition, the four ministers who have held cabinet positions in the past will have to learn to work closely with colleagues who have come from civil society. One controversial appointment was that of Nicolas Hulot, a well-known TV environmentalist who has no background as a politician despite having advised several previous governments. News of his appointment on Wednesday sent shares in the dominant state power utility EDF sharply down amid concerns that he might want to force the pace of change in France`s nuclear-dominated energy mix. But Castaner said Hulot would have to stick to Macron`s programme, adding: "A minister doesn`t set conditions for a president or a prime minister." Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday, and will on Friday travel to visit French troops stationed in Mali. Seoul: South Korea`s foreign ministry said on Thursday preparations have begun for a summit meeting with the United States slated for late June, as both countries aim to strengthen ties in the face of North Korea`s weapons development. Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in`s envoy for China, Lee Hae-chan, had not met Chinese President Xi Jinping as of 0540 GMT, foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a regular media briefing. Istanbul: Turkey is ready to retaliate if it faces a threat from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and will not shirk from launching a military campaign if need be, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. In his first public address since returning from a visit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Erdogan said he told the United States that Ankara would "exercise its rights under the rules of engagement", without consulting anyone, if it felt it needed to. Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and the European Union. Washington sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. "We are facing a picture where terrorist organisations are constantly supported, strengthened and are confronting us. Turkey is not a country that will consent to such treatment," Erdogan said in a speech to business leaders in Istanbul. "With the Euphrates Shield operation we have carried out the first step to foil this plot. After this, we will not hesitate to carry out similar operations whenever we see necessary." Ankara launched its "Euphrates Shield" operation inside Syria last year, backing Syrian rebels with tanks, air strikes and special forces to sweep Islamic State from its southern border - and stop the advance of the YPG. "If these terrorist organisations constitute a threat towards our country, we would do what is necessary by exercising our rights under the rules of engagement. We are telling you this now in advance," Erdogan said. "When we take this step, we don`t speak or consult with anyone as we don`t have any time to waste. We would just take the step." Erdogan said he told the United States that Turkey could not be part of the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State because of the participation of the YPG. His comments came hours after Ankara said the United States should dismiss its special envoy in the battle against Islamic State, citing his support for the Kurdish militia. "Brett McGurk, the USA`s special envoy in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), is definitely and clearly giving support to the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial if this person is changed," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV television. Cavusoglu said Trump had understood Turkey`s position, and did not challenge Erdogan when the Turkish president set out his possible response to the YPG. Differences over Syria policy have caused friction with Washington, a NATO ally of Turkey`s. U.S. officials said this month that the White House had approved supplying arms to the YPG, a decision that caused alarm in Ankara. Last month, Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq`s Sinjar region and YPG militia in Syria. Washington voiced concern over the air strikes and said they harmed the coalition`s fight against Islamic State. Adding to the tension, on Thursday U.S. Senator John McCain called for the expulsion of Turkey`s U.S. ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during Erdogan`s visit. "We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America ... This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically," McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, adding that legal action could also be pursued. Turkey blamed the violence outside its ambassador`s residence on demonstrators linked to the PKK, but Washington`s police chief called it a "brutal attack" on peaceful protesters. Police said 11 people were injured, including a Washington police officer, and two people were arrested for assault. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Noyemberyan community is transitioning to solar energy. The community authorities seek to spread the culture of using solar energy among the local population, Armen Amiraghyan, aide of the Noyemberyan municipal head told ARMENPRESS. We find the installation of a solar station an important component of the communitys development. The program is approved, the premises for the solar station are chosen and have been approved by experts. Several technical issues are currently being finalized, Amiraghyan said. The stations output will supply energy for the street lighting and community offices. Initial estimates suggest the community will save 14-15 million drams annually through the use of the solar station. We find this program to be a priority component of the communitys development. We try to make the usage of solar energy a culture in our community. Energy saving is a very important factor, not only is it economically beneficial, but also important in terms of ecology. When people see specific examples and efficiency, the usage of solar energy will very quickly become a serious culture, he said. The Noyemberyan community is consolidated, it comprises 9 settlements, including Noyemberyan town and 8 villages. The total population is a bit over 17 thousand. Locals are mainly engaged in agriculture and service sector. According to the local official, several reprocessing enterprises operate in the community, however with limited capacity. A meat processing enterprise is active, and its leadership is trying to enhance the capacity. In some villages, residents make their living by working abroad. Employment is also limited in the agriculture sector, because a part of the cultivating land is in danger zone under Azerbaijani crosshairs. The community has over 5 thousand hectares of land which can be cultivated, half of which is in a dangerous zone. In some years, the Azerbaijanis had cultivated lands from their side and then quickly set it ablaze, and the fire spread in the Armenian direction. The first solar village is considered to be Lernamerdz community of Armavir. Under an implemented project, the water heating system of the entire village is operating by solar heaters. Solar boilers have been installed on the rooftops of over 80% of homes, and in addition solar batteries have been installed on 25% of rooftops. At the same time, locals were provided with energy saving LED bulbs. A total of over 40 million drams were invested in the project. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh told Armenpress the Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire regime over 60 times across the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. The Ministrys statement says: On May 17 and overnight May 18 the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime over 60 times by firing more than 650 shots from various caliber weapons at the Armenian positions in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. In addition, the Azerbaijani forces fired also anti-tank grenade launcher (23 grenades) at the eastern direction, D-44 cannon (18 shells) and 82 mm mortar (4 shells) at the north-eastern direction of the line of contact. Artsakhs Defense Army forces took preventive measures and continued confidently fulfilling their military duties. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Attacks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail against peaceful human rights protesters yesterday have been condemned by Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who, along with DC Police Chief Peter Newsham, has launched an investigation into the unprovoked beatings, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). What we saw yesterday a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration is an affront to DC values and our rights as Americans, said Mayor Bowser in a statement issued earlier today. I strongly condemn these actions and have been briefed by Chief Newsham on our response. The Metropolitan Police Department will continue investigating the incident and will work with federal partners to ensure justice is served. Police Chief Newsham stated, The actions seen outside the Turkish Embassy yesterday in Washington, DC stand in contrast to the First Amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect each and every day. Noting that there have been two arrests already in the case, Newsham explained that we have every intention to pursue charges against the other individual involved. We commend Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Newsham for taking the lead in condemning this vicious attack on peaceful protesters in Washington, DC and look forward to working closely with federal and metropolitan law enforcement officials to ensure that justice is served, said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. President Erdogan may be able to get away with similar attacks and repression in Turkey but we simply cannot allow him to export his brand of hatred and repression to our nations capital or anywhere in the US. The State Department announced it was concerned by the violent incidents involving protesters and Turkish Security personnel on Tuesday evening, stating that violence is never an appropriate response to free speech. Hamparian condemned the State Department statement as weak and ineffective and, frankly, embarrassing. Apparently, as far as the State Department is concerned, there is no line that Recep Erdogan cannot cross, explained Hamparian. He sent his goons to DC to rough up Americans and suppress the free speech rights of US citizens, and all the State Department can muster is a generic expression of opposition to violence. Hamparian was videotaping live at the scene of the May 16th attack, which took place in front of the Turkish Ambassadors residence where, according to the Daily Caller, President Erdogan was scheduled to have a closed door meeting with representatives of The Atlantic Council, a leading think tank in Washington DC which receives funding from Turkey. Hamparians video showed pro-Erdogan forces crossing a police line and beating peaceful protesters elderly men and several women who were on the ground bleeding during most of the attack. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. In his commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, US President Trump proclaimed that "no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly" by the media, CNN reported. That's probably all you saw -- or heard -- about Trump's speech. But, luckily, the camera kept rolling -- and the microphones stayed live. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was sitting next to Trump. And it's Kelly who says to Trump of the sword: "Use that on the press, sir." YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. US President Donald Trump plans to hold a meeting with four candidates for the position of director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, Reuters reports. Spicer said the president would meet with acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman and former senior FBI official Richard McFeely. The position was left vacant after Trump fired James Comey. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Kurdish community of Armenia Knyaz Hasanov thanked the Armenian people, the countrys leadership for ensuring the presence of national minorities in the Parliament, reports Armenpress. Knyaz Hasanov delivered a welcoming speech at the launch of the first session of the newly elected Parliament led by him. Today, it is a very happy, and at the same time very honorable day for me. On behalf of the national minorities living in Armenia I express my gratitude to the Armenian people, Armenias leadership in the face of President Serzh Sargsyan for ensuring the presence of the national minorities in the Parliament, he said. Thereafter, he opened the first sitting of the Parliament of 6th convocation. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Garegin II congratulated Members of Parliament of the newly elected Armenian Parliament on the first session and blessed the legislative body with a prayer. In his speech, the Catholicos mentioned that the role of the Parliament is being significantly expanded in the state administration system, due to the transitioning to a parliamentary system as result of the Constitutional changes. The Catholicos delivered a prayer, which was joined in by all MPs, and wished success and achievements to the Parliaments activities. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Hakob Beglaryan, deputy chairman of the state committee of urban development, has been relieved from office by PM Karen Karapetyan, the governments press service told ARMENPRESS. Beglaryan has been elected to the Parliament under the ruling partys regional list. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is convinced that through joint efforts it will be possible to consistently strengthen the parliaments role both in Armenia and abroad. The Presidents Office told ARMENPRESS in a speech during the first session of the newly elected Parliament, the President said: Your Holiness, Distinguished Members of the National Assembly, Dear Guests, I once again congratulate the Republican Party of Armenia, Tsarukian Alliance of political parties, Elq Alliance of political parties, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation on assuming their share of political responsibility for the Republic of Armenia for the next five years. It happened through the free and transparent elections which were highly praised. I congratulate all participants of the first session of the 6th National Assembly and wish you productive work. Two years ago, when the concept of the constitutional reforms was being approved, I was confident that soon we would enter a groundbreaking period of time which would be promising but also challenging. That day has come, and I congratulate us all on that occasion. And I congratulate you, dear parliamentarians, twofold since on this critical stage you are to make the first and most important step towards the establishment of a new state system of governance. We all realize that there is much work to be done but we have resolve, great optimism, and enduring experience of many years to bring our task to a successful end. Certainly, the laws pertaining to the priority functions of the Parliament have already been created, the laws which should not only be legally correct but also functional and coherent. Constitutional reforms cannot be fully carried out without such laws. Some would say, its better to have a deficient law than no law at all. It is a minimalistic approach, and for me it is unacceptable. At this most serious period of time, when the country is going through legal and political changes, we cannot afford such luxury. Deficient or bad laws are not only unapplicable but also harmful. Your mission is to create laws which will meet the expectations of the public; you, as the main actors of this process, are responsible for the task. However, activities of the legislature are not limited to adopting legislation. Transition to the parliamentary system of governance, which is stipulated by the changes introduced to the Constitution, entails a considerably greater role of the parliament also in foreign policy issues. From this point of view, the priority should be given to the introduction of the principles aimed at the enhancement of parliamentary diplomacy as well as implementation of concrete steps and actions. It is obvious that nowadays Armenia should intensify her actions at the international parliamentary organizations and come up with new initiatives. International parliamentary organizations are the best and probably the largest platform for introducing different idea to the international community and presenting the views of the Armenian side. It is necessary to conduct active politics in the framework of that platform to reduce the number of the anti-Armenian resolutions and projects regularly instigated by Azerbaijan, promoting instead the truth. It is expedient to re-organize our parliamentary diplomacy to make it more efficient laying its foundation on the following principles: participation, initiative, partnership, constant ongoing work, accountability, coordination, personal responsibility, continuity, and consistency. This is indeed a vast and important area of work, which we will revisit later. As a result of the amendments made to the Main Law, the parliament is from now on entitled to form constitutional bodies endowed with important and extensive functions. Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court Council these are the new and significant justice structures which will be formed through your direct participation. It is the greatest popular and democratic trust which is given to form independent and professional judicial authority. At the same time, you will be responsible for the results positive as well as negative - of these bodies activities. I also envision a law enforcement structure - robust and cooperative, strong and ready to assume responsibility. To promote the development of that structure is everybodys duty. Only structure like that will allow for everyone the state, the entire society, and every member of it, to feel strong and safe, and in the development of such structure you, through your control and containment functions, are to play the pivotal role. Appointment of Prosecutor General and Ombudsman, formation of autonomous bodies and investigation commissions: these are constitutional tools whose utilization allows the parliament to participate directly or indirectly in the improvement of the law enforcement structure, or rather to say, law upholding structure. Consistency of each parliamentarian and constant parliamentary control should result in transparency and public accountability of the structure becoming an established practice, a workstyle. I am sure you realize that. At the same time, I would like to invite your attention to an important issue: We have said on many occasions that the amended Constitution will enhance the role of the political parties in our public life. We have also stressed that that ideologically like- minded people will be the driving force behind these parties. However, as the President of the country and as the head of the largest political structure, I urge all political forces represented at the National Assembly while electing individuals dealing with the justice or law enforcement systems or in formation of such bodies to be guided by the principle he or she is a professional rather than he or she is a confederate. Only based on this approach we can ensure a viable justice system. I would also like to underscore that such a system will be successful only if there is intolerance towards corruption. No doubt, the face of corruption today has changed. Gradually it becomes more visible and vulnerable. The state continues to enroot in the minds of the society and individuals the culture of zero tolerance towards corruption. But we cannot be content with the exiting results. We need to improve the institutionalized anti-corruption system and ensure its consistent development. We all realized that otherwise all initiatives are doomed to failure. Honesty plus professionalism minus corruption this is the desired formula of success. Here, we have to rely on experts. Corruption is appealing to the amateurs; to the professionals it is disgusting, repealing, and simply lossmaking. The newly elected National Assembly has also a very unique mission: You will ensure the transformation of the state governance system. The difficult but also historic role of switching to a parliamentary system of governance is on your shoulders, and a successful accomplishment of this transition phase greatly depends on that. The more smoothly and fully this process is carried out, the more infallible the transformed state machine will function. The key to the efficient state system is in the harmonious interaction of all branches of power and their interconnection. At least, my years-long experience of state activity speaks of it. I anticipate a greater degree of cooperation between the National Assembly and other state bodies, and I, as the Head of state, as the guarantor of the Constitution, today, just as yesterday, state my readiness, in the framework of the authorities vested in me by the Constitution, to assist and promote that cooperation and strengthening of mutual links. I will do it also tomorrow, at least as long as I am the President. I am confident that through the joint efforts we will be able to persistently enforce the role of the parliament and its influence in inside Armenia as well as outside our country because the parliament is the main platform for political dialogue, pluralism, and presenting diverse ideologies. This is the main institution which shapes political culture, where political competition should appear and crystalize. In the light of new constitutional regulations, the activities of the National Assembly should be aimed not only at the enforcement of statehood but also at the development of parliamentarism. I am confident that mature parliamentarism, with all its ideological and regulatory functions, will be the number one guarantee for the development of our renewed statehood. The international community highly values Armenias resolve and readiness to conduct elections which testified to a democratic and statebuilding advancement. This is gratifying for me, and I believe for you too. You have received the required mandate of trust. As the saying goes, a good start is a half the job done. Now, it is necessary to carry on and move the process forward. Dear Compatriots, When we initiated constitutional changes back in 2013, we conditioned them by the necessity to apply the principle of supremacy of the law, improvement of constitutional provisions which guarantee basic human rights and freedoms, factual balance of power, and improved public administration. When in the past we spoke of the existing problems and conditioned them in part by the peculiarities of the system of governance, inconsistent utilization of the division and balance of power, structurally inefficient solutions, the low level of political and constitutional culture, immaturity of partisan system, many were sceptic about it. The period of time after the constitutional changes of 2015 and especially the April 2, 2017 elections to the National Assembly and the post-election situation proved that we were right in choosing the path for solving problems. By switching to a parliamentary system of governance, we have considerably reduced or even eliminated political resistance or the threat to turn a crisis into public confrontation. Establishing a parliamentary system of governance, we have neutralized the threat of political monopoly. I also believe that constitutional changes eliminated inconsistencies among the functions and authorities of different governing bodies and officials. The reforms have created a sufficient constitutional base so that disputes between the President of Armenia and National Assembly, President and Government, National Assembly and Government as well as disagreements between the different state power bodies with regard to the constitutional authorities are solved not on the political but legal field. Constitutional changes overcame the functional dualization of the executive branch. The Government will be endowed with the executive authority, whiled the President of the Republic will have predominantly balancing and restraining authority as it is typical for the Head of state. The constitutional changes of 2015, while highlighting the issues of further development of the lawmaking and regulatory functions of the National Assembly, also strengthened the role of the parliamentary bodies in the areas of legislative activities, increased the share of the parliament in the formation of state power and governing bodies, expanded its supervisory power, enforced the constitutional guarantees for the rights of parliamentary minority. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Each of the newly elected MPs in accountable not only to his political force, but first of all for the voters who have hopes in them, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in his remarks during the first session of the newly elected Parliament. All times cause problems, we must pass on a country having less issues to our generations through decisions made in this hall, we must pass on a more powerful and firmly standing state to our generations. The great volume of duties which the Members of Parliament and Cabinet members will have shortly is obvious. If in the presidential system a higher institution existed from these two bodies, the President of Armenia institution, which could have corrected the possible mistakes or insure these bodies from possible shortcomings, then in the parliamentary administration system this kind of institution will no longer exist. Therefore it will be necessary to rely on your own powers, experience and circumspect. Expansion of powers doesnt happen for no reason. Each of you is accountable not only to his political force, but first of all before the voters, before all those people who have linked their hopes with those sitting here today by voting in their favor, a hope of a better fatherland, a hope of having a more secure and just fatherland. And we, here present, dont have the right to disappoint these people, the President said. The full text of the Presidents speech will be available shortly. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The change of status-quo is acceptable for us, but only in case of comprehensive settlement of the conflict, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said during his speech at the Parliament, commenting on some views voiced by political forces during the pre-election period, which, according to him, can lead to wrong mindset, reports Armenpress. Firstly, attempt was made to revive the discussion of one of the oldest proposals over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement which succeeded and it is normal. Insisting that the best document was negotiated in the past which today can be a key for the settlement means to sin against reality. But the reality is that in December 1997 the document didnt lead to the settlement of the issue, rather, as the title says, it aimed at ceasing the armed conflict. It ensured a kind of new ceasefire agreement, this time accompanied by peacekeeping forces and several other provisions. The Armenian sides were receiving suspicious security guarantees and no less dubious and uncertain prospect for the conflicts political settlement, making disproportional concessions instead, Serzh Sargsyan said. The President said that the supporters of this proposal both before and now blame those who rejected it calling them supporters of maintenance of status-quo. When Baku issues falsification that we want to maintain the status-quo at any cost, perhaps this may fit within the Azerbaijani logic, but such opinion voiced from Armenia is unacceptable. The change of status-quo is acceptable for us but only in case of the comprehensive settlement of the issue, he said. Serzh Sargsyan recalled that Armenia repeatedly supported the settlement based on mutual concession the essence of which is the recognition and exercise of Artsakhs right to self-determination. Yes, we dont want maintenance of status-quo, and dont want the next generation to bear the burden of the conflict settlement, and our joint efforts together with the Co-Chairing countries on the conflict settlement are directed towards this, the President said. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The absence of Armenian-Turkish political relations cannot hinder the dialogue between the societies of the two countries, Heghine Manasyan CEO at Caucasus Research Resource Center- Armenia (CRRC-Armenia), said during the international conference Armenia-Turkey: Paving the Way for Dialogue and Reconciliation in the Yerevan State University on May 18, reports Armenpress. Quite huge efforts are being made to change the situation in Armenia-Turkey relations, and many people think that the problems can be solved through dialogue. Of course, there is no dialogue at the political level, but it doesnt mean that conferences should not be held. We need to hold a dialogue, understand the situation in Turkey and Armenia, Manasyan said. She said the aim of the conference is to create platform for dialogue and exchange of views between the Armenian and Turkish researchers. Dirk Lorenz- Head of Political, Press and Information Section at the EU Delegation to Armenia, said the political atmosphere is not so favorable for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, however, this most not hinder the establishment of dialogue between the representatives of the societies of the two countries. The representatives of two publics need to understand each other, find paths for dialogue. The European Union attaches importance to contributing to such dialogues between the societies of both states, Dirk Lorenz said. The conference is attended by over 40 experts from Armenia, Turkey, the US and the European countries. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The newly-elected Parliaments layout is promising, including the opposition, Republican Party lawmaker Armen Ashotyan told reporters. Surely, I find their todays action to be a childish illness, a childish illness of Armenias political arena, but I am convinced that our partners wont take such actions which dont create any political value in the future, or will take very little. And the Republican is a large team, and unlike many political forces, changes within the party have never been an end in itself. People of different generations and worldviews always complement each other. The youth has vigor, but lacks experience, while the senior generation has experience, but a problem of vigor, therefore the best team is the team which combines experience, skills and vigor, Ashotyan emphasized. He said its too early to evaluate the current Parliament, but emphasized that it has been given a historic chance. The Parliaments role, the quality was given by the Constitution, this means that this Parliament has a greater mission. Surely I dont want to overshadow the work of the previous Parliaments, especially when Ive had the honor of being a lawmaker in the past, he said. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) on May 17 sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging immediate action to hold individuals accountable for brutal attacks on peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Ambassadors residence on Tuesday, Asbarez reports. Video evidence indicates men dressed in suits viciously beat multiple individuals, throwing them to the ground and kicking them in the head. Numerous news reports indicate these individuals were members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail who accompanied him on his official state visit this week. Alarmingly, this behavior is indicative of the broad crackdowns on political activists, journalists and religious freedom in Turkey that have greatly harmed Turkish democracy in recent years, said Royce in his letter. He urged the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to immediately deal with this issue and bring all appropriate criminal charges before these individuals leave the US. Agents of foreign governments should never be immune from prosecution for felonious behavior, the Congressman said. Above all else, they should never be permitted to violate the protections afforded by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, added Royce. Supporters of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have attacked peaceful protesters in Washington D.C. The demonstration, which began at Lafayette Square at noon, was organized by a coalition of organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the American Hellenic Council. Several different groups, which included representatives from the Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, and Assyrian communities, participated in the protest, while President Erdogan met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. Later it was reported that Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail were the attackers of the peaceful protest. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Armen Ashotyan, MP of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) at the newly-elected parliament, is satisfied with the April 2 parliamentary election results and the composition of the new parliament, Armenpress reports. Today I entered with pride the parliament as an MP. Its not a secret that I always liked the National Assembly as a political institution. I am very satisfied that I have been elected as an MP, I am very satisfied with our partys results in the elections, and I am very satisfied with the overall composition of the parliament, Ashotyan told reporters, adding that the political processes are yet to come, and the parliaments role is being reassessed in the country. The political processes in Armenia are firstly linked with internal developments and there must be a response to foreign threats. The parliament must continue remaining the mirror of public, social, humanitarian issues, he said. Commenting on rumors about his nomination for the post of Vice-Speaker of the parliament, Ashotyan said: Such questions which try to exploit my potential political ambitions are already overdue. The first session of the newly-elected parliament was held on May 18. The session is chaired by head of Armenias Kurdish community Knyaz Hasanov. The session was attended by President Serzh Sargsyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II who delivered speeches. Ashotyan will assume the post of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Criminal proceedings were launched by the military investigative committee on the death of serviceman Grisha Karapetyan, the investigative committee told ARMENPRESS. Earlier it was reported that the serviceman was shot dead in the morning of May 17 while stationed in a combat position of an unnamed military base of Armenia. According to preliminary information, the serviceman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound from his service firearm. A criminal case was filed in the 5th garrison military investigative department. Law enforcement agencies are investigating whether the shooting was accidental or not. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said on May 18 that the Organization had to start the process of closure of the Office in Yerevan, since no consensus could be reached on the future mandate of the Office, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the OSCE. The closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan follows months of negotiations and extensive efforts by the 2016 German OSCE Chairmanship and the 2017 Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to resolve the deadlock on the extension of the Offices mandate. The OSCE opened its field presence in Armenia in 2000. Zannier said that the Office in Yerevan, with its dedicated staff, had made a significant contribution in assisting and advising the Armenian authorities on the implementation of OSCE commitments. Co-operation with Armenia has always been very fruitful, he said. The OSCEs activities in the country included, among others, assistance with police reforms and support for reviewing and streamlining the national regulatory frameworks affecting business activity and the daily lives of citizens. In 2006, the Office in Yerevan established a Programme Implementation Presence in the Syunik region to contribute to sustainable development. Secretary General Zannier emphasized that the OSCE will seek to continue its engagement with Armenia in line with existing OSCE commitments across all three security dimensions the politico-military, the economic and environmental and the human dimension. The Office in Yerevan will discontinue its operations on 31 August 2017. SAN FRANCISCONakedSword Originals has released the first scene from its newest series shot on location in Israel, Kiss and Tel Aviv. Directed and filmed by NakedSword's award-winning Mr. Pam, Kiss and Tel Aviv features a stellar cast of American models mixed with models from around Europe and Israel including Falcon Exclusive Ryan Rose, Kayden Gray, Josh Milk, Ken Rodeo, Massimo Piano, Klein Kerr, Ashley Ryder, and Rocco Steele. The men were all filmed outdoors, showcasing the natural beauty of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is the crown jewel of Israel, glowing under the burning Middle Eastern sun along the Mediterranean sea and it's recognized around the globe for its world-class beaches, thriving nightlife, and most importantly some of the most beautiful men in the entire world. The city is alive with locals and tourists alike looking for action and is surprisingly a gay Mecca of sorts. NakedSword's cast of hung superstars are on the hunt for some fun while in Israel and boy do they find it. This gorgeously filmed series sees Rocco Steele and Kayden Gray DP power-bottom Ashley Ryder on a rooftop overlooking the city and Ryan Roses prayers are answered when he gets fucked by Kayden in the crashing waves on the local beach ... and much more. In the first episode, Cock By The Ocean, now playing, the glorious clear blue skies and crashing waves are the perfect backdrops for Ryan Rose and Kayden Gray who decide that this Tel Aviv beach is now clothing optional. After briefly sunbathing they start to explore and find the perfect place out on the rocks to deep-throat each other. Kayden bends Ryan over then slams himself inside him and pounds him hard. Ryan pushes Kayden back into the surf so he can ride him until he cums. Ready to bust, Kayden stands up and jerks off, shooting his load into the Mediterranean. This scene is the perfect way to kick off this one-of-kind-series. This could be the most beautiful movie we've ever produced, said Tim Valenti, president of Falcon Studios Group and The NakedSword Network. The combination of Israel, the Dead Sea and fantastic models from Europe and America really make for a winning combination!" Don't miss one of NakedSword Originals' most epic series ever produced now playing only on NakedSword.com. Penrith-based family bakers Bells of Lazonby has launched four new loaf cakes to help caterers take advantage of growing trends. The Banana; Lemon & Blueberry; Chocolate & Salted Caramel; and SMores Loaf Cakes have been developed by Bells in response to consumer demand, the company told British Baker. Emily Sudell, Bells of Lazonby marketing executive, said: Sales of sliced loaf cakes are becoming increasingly popular as consumers look to purchase sweet treats with healthier portion sizes. Each slice of our loaf cake is around 100g and therefore a little smaller than traditional round cake slices, ensuring customers can enjoy an indulgent treat with a few less calories. She added the company had worked hard to develop four on-trend flavours, which are as eye-catching as they are tasty. Every cake is hand-finished by Bells of Lazonbys bakers before being cut into 10 slices and frozen boosting convenience and minimising waste, it said in a statement. Each loaf has five days shelf life from defrost. The loaves are available now from wholesalers including Howells, whose commercial director Andy Breffit, said: The new loaf cakes from Bells of Lazonby are really on-trend and just what our catering customers are looking for to make their dessert menus current and relevant. Birds has confirmed its Burton offering will restructure due to a decline in sales and the changing nature of town centre shopping. The company said that the move, which will see the cafe close and the bakery expand, will not result in any job losses. The bakery firm also revealed it is planning to open a new store in Branston and cut the ribbon on a new site in Stretton precinct today (18 May). It said these new ventures will see around 200,000 invested in the wider East Staffordshire area. Last month, Birds began work on a new site in Stretton. Mike Holling, head of retail at Birds, said: After being part of the business for more than 50 years, it was an extremely hard decision to take when deciding to close our tea rooms in Burton. It has been a fixture of the high street for a long time but it has seen sales decline for the past five years due to the ever-changing nature of the high street and the marketplace in general. It was a very hard decision to make but the move will now allow us, by removing the staircase to the first floor, to expand what we offer to our customers at our popular main Burton shop. We are pleased that all staff will be redistributed - some staying in our two stores in Burton and some moving to Stretton - and remain a part of the Birds family. He added that the ink is now dry on the contract for a new Birds store in Branston, based in the Branston Square retail park. This, coupled with new site in Stretton, will see an investment of around 200,000 in the area by the firm and thus reaffirming our commitment to continue to serve our customers in East Staffordshire. The average pay received by public school teachers in North Carolina this year was $49,837, up four percent from the 2015-16 school year. That was the largest pay hike for teachers in the United States, and boosted North Carolina's ranking in average pay to 35th. Adjusted for cost of living, we rank 31st in the nation Keep in mind that these figures reflect actions taken last year by the General Assembly and former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. His Democratic replacement, Roy Cooper, and the North Carolina Senate have already released 2017-18 budgets that include another large increase in teacher compensation. So it is likely that, unless many other states enact large pay hikes this year, North Carolina's ranking in average teacher pay adjusted for cost of living will end up close to the national median next year.And if you focus on that, you will be missing the real story.I support the legislature's teacher-pay raises, make no mistake. But if the intent were simply to raise average pay to some national benchmark, it would be wrongheaded. Most peer-reviewed academic studies of the issue find no statistically significant relationship between average teacher pay and educational outcomes such as student graduation rates or test scores.It's the quality of teaching that matters, of course. But teachers are no different from any other professionals, in that they vary in quality across what statisticians would call a "normal distribution." A few teachers are spectacular. Some are very good. Many are average. Some are ineffective. A few are disastrously bad.Teachers don't underperform because they are underpaid. In most cases, raising their salaries won't make them better teachers. On the other hand, high-performing teachers often have many other career options, both inside and outside education. Paying them more won't necessarily make them better teachers, either, but it may keep them teaching in our classrooms instead of decamping to greener pastures.The real story of the past several years is that North Carolina lawmakers have been restructuring the pay scale for teachers in ways intended to attract and retain high performers. For example, lawmakers have increased pay more for teachers early in their careers, which is when the largest gains in teacher performance tend to occur. Later in their careers, additional years of experience don't appear to correlate with increases in teacher effectiveness, which again isn't unique to education but is evident in other professions, as well.North Carolina lawmakers have also funded pay increases and bonuses for teachers based on demonstrated high performance. At the same time, they've gotten rid of compensation practices that don't result in higher teacher effectiveness or student gains, such as pay bumps for teachers who acquire graduate degrees (which has long been a way to spin the turnstiles at graduate schools of education, rather than a proven means of improving classroom instruction ).If you think of school employees as a political constituency lobbying against other interest groups to get as much tax money as possible during the legislative process, then these distinctions don't matter a great deal. You may well think largely in terms of average teacher pay and cite the state's national ranking when it is low enough to sound like a persuasive argument for more money.But if your goal is to expand and enhance educational opportunity in North Carolina, then these distinctions are of primary importance. Over time, you want to structure the compensation and personnel systems of schools so that they encourage high-performing teachers to stay - and to work in our most challenging classrooms - while encouraging low-performing teachers either to improve rapidly or to find some other occupation better suited to their talents and skills.There is plenty of room for debate about whether the specific policies enacted in North Carolina over the past three years will work as intended. No other state or school system has developed a perfect off-the-shelf model that we can just adopt. But to fixate on national rankings in average teacher pay misses the point entirely. Education chairman says late-career teachers should continue getting salary bumps, asks how DPI will make major cuts in budget Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, at a March press conference to announce the filing of a bill to enact the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program, a plan to help draw teachers to low-income and rural schools. (CJ Photo by Kari Travis) RALEIGH Some education items in the Senate budget will remain, House leaders say.But some will go.Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, chairman of the House Committee on K-12 Education, told Carolina Journal the changes are imminent.Teacher pay gets top billing. The Senate budget provides an average 3.7 percent pay raise for teachers the first year. Starting salaries for new teachers would remain at $35,000 a year, and early-to-mid career teachers would see raises from 1.7 percent to 8.5 percent.Teachers with more than 25 years' experience would see no change, and that's a problem, Horn said.Horn said.Horn said classroom performance is the best measure for pay raises.Horn praised the Senate's approach to teacher recruitment, a major concern for the state's low-income and rural schools.The budget locks down $4.6 million to fund Senate Bill 252, the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program.Horn, a primary sponsor of the House version of that legislation, said the program will encourage up-and-coming teachers in science, technology, engineering, math, and special education to remain in North Carolina's public schools.The program would award eligible students forgivable college loans of up to $8,250 annually for four years.It's an important investment in long-term teacher recruitment and maintenance, Horn said.he added.The House also may spend more to support accessibility and accountability in early childhood education.Preschools are failing children across the state, said Horn, who would like to fund a new position in the Department of Public Instruction, assistant superintendent of early childhood education.That official would oversee training for early childhood teachers and be held accountable for how those teachers perform.he said.Other portions of the budget are more controversial.Senate leaders slashed DPI's budget by 25 percent, cutting $13.2 million from the department's more than $52 million plan. The proposal cuts $513,000, the equivalent of four staff positions, from the budget of the State Board of Education.In contrast, State Superintendent Mark Johnson received an allotment of $433,000 to fund up to five positions in his office.The Senate's move is a power play spurred by recent tensions between the General Assembly and the state board, said Terry Stoops, vice president of research and education studies at the John Locke Foundation.Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed House Bill 17, which stripped the board of some of its administrative powers and gave them to Johnson.Board members sued the state over the law's constitutionality.That lawsuit is ongoing.The Senate's budget allocated $300,000 to pay for Johnson's legal fees.Stoops said.The Senate plan cut other items in the state board's budget.Stoops said.Stoops added,The Senate's budget providesHorn said.But, he said, the planned cuts to DPI's budget are controversial and confusing.Senate leaders gave the department no guidance about how to trim costs by as much as 25 percent, Horn said.The Senate did tell DPI where not to cut, however.Teach for America, the Excellent Public Schools Act, School Connectivity Program, Achievement School District, and positions appointed by and directly reporting to the state superintendent also were declared off-limits for budget cuts.Horn said.On May 12, State Board Chairman Bill Cobey told NC Policy Watch aCobey saidCobey was traveling and unavailable for comment to CJ at press time.House committees are working on the budget and plan to wrap up their work by the Memorial Day weekend. The budget may reach a vote of the full body the week of May 29. The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day? Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount. Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what so called "Democracy" does exists. Tom Campbell Voter ID is dead in North Carolina...or is it? U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' pronouncement on the matter raises many questions, and whereas opponents of the 2013 Voter ID law were quick to celebrate victory, they might have been premature.Essentially, Roberts said the highest court wouldn't consider the appeal of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals verdict - that the law discriminated against African American voters - because the court wasn't sure who was speaking for the plaintiff (state) in the appeal. In fact, he urged us not to take the decision as a comment about the substance of the law.It is no wonder the Supreme Court might be confused. Following the lower court's ruling, then-Attorney General Roy Cooper stated he would not appeal the decision, leaving Governor McCrory to make the appeal to the Supreme Court. Shortly after becoming governor, Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein withdrew the state's appeal. Just who is the plaintiff in the appeal?We have many questions. First, what is wrong with asking voters to present some identification when they vote? 32 states currently have some form of voter ID laws. If, however, the motivation for voter ID is to intimidate or disenfranchise certain groups from voting, that is clearly unconstitutional and just wrong. It would be equally wrong to ascribe intent to our lawmakers, but based on their efforts in redistricting and discrimination, a reasonable person might conclude they weren't merely interested in just preventing voter fraud, most especially since evidence of voter fraud is minimal.Justice Roberts' question is valid and timely in the voter ID case, namely who does and should represent the state? Our constitution envisions it to be our Attorney General's office, but does this constitutionally-elected officer have the prerogative to decide which laws will or will not be defended? In a perfect world one would hope that the legislature would involve the AG in considering legislation, but we know this doesn't always happen. Previous AG's have determined not to defend certain laws, so some precedent has been established, but if the AG will not defend legislation do the Governor and/or the legislature have the authority to hire their own attorneys at taxpayer expense? When our long-standing system breaks down, especially when the AG, governor and legislative leadership might belong to different political parties, how can we avoid overt partisanship? This is a good government question.Assuming there was no confusion about who is officially representing the state in the voter ID case would the Supreme Court have considered the appeal? The 4th circuit decision declared the 2013 law (later amended), "with almost surgical precision," targeted African Americans. The state was unable to convince that court to the contrary. Previous court decisions at many levels have come down solidly against discrimination and restriction of voting rights, however we now have a new Supreme Court and it remains to be seen how this new court might rule.Legislative leaders declare they will pass new voter ID legislation. While we have no objection to verifying our identity when voting, we suggest lawmakers consult the other 32 states to determine how to do so in a way that will both pass court scrutiny and not discriminate against certain voters. Enjoying DSLR Photography Wet Felting Yeast Bread Basics with Rachel K. Making Herb Vinegar Contact: Attila Nemecz Attila Nemecz Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu WASHINGTON, N.C. The following personal enrichment classes are available through the Continuing Education Division at Beaufort County Community College. To register or to get on the mailing list for seasonal catalogs, call 252-940-6375 or email continuingeducation@beaufortccc.edu.Students will spend four spring evenings learning how to better use their DSLR camera. David Clark, a seasoned commercial photographer, will share his expertise and his passion for making great photos. Each evening students will make and share photos with class members as they come to understand how the elements of light interact with the camera. Explore metering, exposure and using various lenses to get desired results. Students will use different modes to photograph people, indoor objects and outdoor scenes. They will learn to format in RAW or JPEG as the need arises. The result will be the best vacation pictures ever. This $50 class will take place on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. starting May 23.Manipulating colorful wet wool produces beautiful art fabric with a variety of uses. In fact, felting is the oldest known fabric-making technique. Students will take home at least two pieces as wall hangings, mug rugs or art. All the supplies are provided. By the end of the class, students will feel confident in wet felting a mug rug at home. This $40 class will take place on Tuesday, June 12 at 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.Rachel K. makes wonderful pastries and breads at her bakery in Washington. In this class she will share her secrets for making homemade yeast bread. Students will cook loaf bread from a sweet dough and make whole wheat bread, too. Rachel will include bread-making history and science. Students will enjoy the whole process from proofing to rising to baking to eating. They will bake their own loaves of white, wheat and sweet bread to carry home, making family and friends proud of their delicious baked goods. This $35 class will take place on Thursday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m.Dorita Boyd of Raindrop Ridge Farm has spent many years growing the finest herbs and making herbal products. In this class she will show students how to make delicious herb vinegars, and she will share many uses for these vinegars. She will give tips on growing herbs, harvesting and cleaning them, processing, and filtering and producing finished bottles of herb vinegar. Each participant will make and carry home a 16 oz. bottle of rosemary vinegar, along with some of Dorita's recipes. This $20 class will take place on Tuesday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. Cooper met with members of the North Carolina delegation in Washington Contact: Ford Porter Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov WASHINGTON, D.C.: Governor Roy Cooper encouraged continued collaboration to secure additional federal funding for Hurricane Matthew recovery in a meeting held yesterday with members of North Carolina's Congressional Delegation. Gov. Cooper met with Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis and Representatives Adams, Butterfield, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, Price, McHenry, Meadows, Pittenger, Rouzer, and Walker.said Governor Cooper.Gov. Cooper discussed the need for federal hurricane recovery funding with both the Senators and the Congressional delegation. In addition to discussing strategies around disaster relief, they talked about North Carolina's acute needs for housing, small business, and agricultural recovery.Hurricane Matthew caused an estimated $4.8 billion in damage in Central and Eastern North Carolina. The recent $929 million request was a very conservative and highly targeted request to address critical needs in safe, affordable housing, infrastructure losses and health needs. Of that $929 million, $600 million was requested for unmet needs in housing. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration's Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) allowed for only $6 million. Remaining Congressional requests for crop damage, business repair and public buildings were ignored.In December, HUD allocated an initial $198 million down payment for long-term disaster relief in addition to some funding for other federal and state projects. Emergency funding from FEMA is also flowing into affected communities. As is common practice with major disasters, that initial allocation was followed by a more comprehensive request addressing pressing unmet needs.The Governor's Office is also working with state and local emergency management officials to compile damage assessments for all 50 counties that were declared federal disaster areas because of Hurricane Matthew, half of the counties in the entire state. The Governor and his staff have engaged in ongoing discussions with members of the congressional delegation, particularly Senator Tillis, Representative Price and Representative Rouzer, to determine what state and local needs were most appropriate to include in the supplemental federal request.In response to the funding shortfall, Governor Cooper expressed his disappointment in a letter last week that called for more robust aid, especially in the form of housing block grants from HUD in the upcoming budget process. By mid week, at the rabbit patch, routine has "set in" comfortably. Thankfully, for me, variations are few and far between. I just love familiar. It does not make for a dull life for me. I have never been anything but a "homebody". Of course, the one exception, is when I visit my children. In that case, I am ready "at the drop of a hat". Otherwise, after work and an errand or so at times, I generally come home in great spirits and hum while I fix supper. My grown up sons come in and smell supper cooking, and I am happy.There is a little country store, just a few miles from the school, that I stop at several times a week. Yesterday, as I was leaving, upon opening the door, a tiny, little, baby sparrow tried to hop in. He was so curious, it seemed and hardly afraid. I considered it a pleasant surprise. I convinced him to go in another direction and wished him well. I thought of the old hymn, "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and it gave me great comfort, for the little bird-and me.Kyle and Christian, have finally started repairing the leaky roof. As it turns out, the repair is not nearly as complex as they first thought. Kyle called me to come see something and so I prepared myself for the awful mess it was making. There was a heap of debris-and it was awful, but what a treasure lurked beneath the paneled ceiling. . .there was beadboard in a pleasing, pale , shade of turquoise. It was preserved beautifully and perfectly. This was another pleasant surprise, that day. Suddenly the leaking roof did not seem the tragedy, that I had deemed it. The wide hall, painted white should make for a pretty thoroughfare into the living room-and I just happen to have a turquoise bird to sit on the shelf that adorns the wall.As happy, as I am to find a pretty ceiling, I remain steadfast on my mission to downsize. Of course, spring is an especially beautiful season here and I remind myself, that I will have a lot more time to visit with my children and only grandchild, Lyla. This spurs me on to lofty notions of a little cottage somewhere, that will probably need to be painted- and flowers will need to be planted. I have a great deal of peace about the whole affair. It has taken me two years to get in this state. First, I kept looking at other big old houses as I am so drawn to them. The children would not even slow down, when I pointed one out. Then there was the concept of a smaller yard, to grasp. There just has to be room for roses and Sweet Williams. I so hope for at least one old tree, too. I can safely say that "hope springs eternal" in my heart for all of this to come to pass, though I do not know the hour.Last night, when the world fell silent, I went out. I find such conditions quite favorable for my spirit. The stars reminded me of strands of diamonds. Everywhere I looked, it seemed silver garlands were strewn about the night sky. Somewhere, far away a dog was barking. The only other sound was the occasional breeze whispering in the pines. Such moments bring me to my knees and make me sorry for any doubt I may have ever harbored, for any unkind thought I may have ever entertained. Such conditions make me want to sing, sometimes. And so, I joined up with whispering pines and the far away barking dog and sang what " a little bird told me" . . ."I sing because I'm happy-I sing because I'm free-for His eye is on the sparrow-and I know He watches me." This is a little different from what I am known for. Actually its very different but its still recognizable as all Rod Eccles.Last night, I watched the latest two episodes of the Hulu original series, Handmaid's Tale. The series is based on a book written and released back in 1985. It is classified as a Utopian and Dystopian work of fiction.First you must understand by whom the work of fiction was written. Funny enough, it's a work of fiction about the United States of America written by a Canadian woman by the name of Margaret Atwood. The setting of the novel? Well the setting in right smack in the middle of the cradle of American freedom. The recognized birthplace of the USA. It is set in New England. Boston to be exact. Yes, Boston.How can it be both Utopian and Dystopian at the same time? Yea I asked myself that question. But then I remembered a line by one of the main characters. Doesn't even matter who it was. The point was made loud and clear.The line was made after the main character, the Handmaid, asked a question in response to being told "we are making it better". She asked better for everyone?The answer actually stunned me to my core. "Better for everyone always means worse for some."Now in a Utopian society, would I be wrong in believing that it should be better for EVERYONE? I don't think I would be wrong in thinking that. However, there is a problem with Utopia. It doesn't exist. It never has and it never will, at least not by human standards and by human hands.You see, Utopia comes at a terrible price. It comes at the price of freedom. It comes at the price of individual choice. It comes at a price of many human lives. It comes at an unbelievably terrible and heavy price.This is why the book is also classified as Dystopian. You see, Utopia doesn't exist and cannot exist so therefore it has to be Dystopian.Why is this important to know? Because we have a political and social class that believes we can reach Utopia. They believe we can have a Utopian society. If only we let them run everything. If only we put them all in charge. If only we would fully and totally trust them.They believe Ronald Reagan was wrong when he said "the nine most terrible words in the English language is I'm from the government and I'm here to help." No truer words have ever been uttered by a human being on this planet.This was more than a warning issued by President Reagan. It was a true vision of the future. The future which is now the present.We are now living in a day when we have a growing number of people, Americans, that actually believe the lie that the government is here to help. In fact too many Americans now believe that ONLY the government can help.The reality is that government probably caused the problems that every day Americans face on a daily basis. The reality is that government broke many of our institutions and traditions simply because they believed they knew better. The reality is that our government today actually thinks that it has the answers to just about every single problem we have, if only we would let government take over and control our everyday life so they can fix those problems.The reality also is that if we do that, we will be enslaved by our government. We will lose our freedom. We will lose our ability to choose save one. We will have the choice to live or to die. To live, you must bow down before the government elite and pledge your undying loyalty and obedience. If you don't do so, then you choose to die.There will be no other choice available. Except one.Fight.Fight for freedom.Fight for your right to choose what kind of life you want.Fight for your God given right to exist on your terms.Fight. Capitulate. Die.In a Utopian society, those are the only choices you have.In a Handmaid's Tale, those are the only choices available to them.Funny how art imitates life. Or is it life imitating art?You choose.My state, the great state of New Hampshire, we have a very simple four word motto.Live Free or Die.Notice the word capitulate is not there.Now you know what I choose.How about you? Not Resting in Peace On January 30th 1661 Oliver Cromwell was "executed" more than two years after his death. Make sure you change your will by adding the following words, "Do Not Treat My Head Like Oliver Cromwell's Head". Allow me to explain... When Oliver died in September 1658 the English people were very sad. They cried a lot & gave him a big funeral. They buried him & his head in Westminster Abby. So far so good for Oliver & his head. In 1660, the monarchy was back on the throne. Soon after that Oliver's body & his head were removed from the Abby. And now, The Rest of the Story: January 30, 1661...Oliver's body was dragged thru the streets. Still wrapped in grave clothes, it was hanged. Six hours later the body was lowered from the gallows & was beheaded. This was a bad beheading. It required 6 or 8 blows by an ax. A few keepsakes were snipped off like finders, toes & an ear. The body was buried in a deep unmarked pit beneath the scaffold. Oliver's head was paraded thru the streets. The populace hurled insults & garbage at Oliver's head. Five days later Oliver's head appeared prominently displayed atop Westminster Hall, affixed to an iron-tipped pole driven thru the crown of the skull. Oliver's head remained there for many years. One night in 1685 the wind blew Oliver's head down. A sentry put Oliver's head beneath his cloak & took it home. Exactly what happed to the head is not exactly cataloged but the head kept popping up at irregular times & places but its authenticity is fairly certain. At some point the sentry's daughter sold Oliver's head to a family in Cambridgeshire. From 1710 to 1738 Oliver's head was in a private London museum. At an uncertain date the Russell family acquired Oliver's head. Between 1773 & 1780 Oliver's head descended to the possession of Samuel Russell who had small museum in which Oliver's head became the prime exhibit on the second floor. At one point Russell tried to sell Oliver's head to Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge where Oliver's whole body had been a scholar one year when he was young. The college refused to buy it. It seems they were still mad at Oliver's head for melting their silver plate to finance his war against Charles I & for imprisoning their headmaster. At a date uncertain, another private museum impresario named James Cox bought Oliver's head. Soon after buying Oliver's head, Cox resold Oliver's head to a trio of speculators for 230 pounds. By 1799, Oliver's head was again on display in a Bond Street exhibit. In 1814, Josiah Henry Wilkinson bought Oliver's head & used to take it to parties as a conversation piece & titillated the other guests by passing it around, iron stake & all, while giving lectures on phrenology. For almost a century & a half Oliver's head stayed in the possession of the Wilkinson family. The family did begin to treat Oliver's head with more respect. Oliver's head was subjected to various antiquarian & scientific investigations: o In 1911 Oliver's head was exhibited before the Royal Archaeological Institute. o In the 1930's two "cranial detectives" studied Oliver's head thoroughly & conclude Oliver's head was authentic beyond all reasonable doubt. Oliver's head descended into the Canon Horace Wilkinson family. When Canon died he bequeathed Oliver's head to Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge. This justified Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge's earlier decision (around 1790) not to buy Oliver's head cuz they now got Oliver's head for free. In 1960 the College gave Oliver's head a descent burial. Since they could not find where Oliver's body was buried beneath London's streets, they buried it near the entrance to the College's chapel. The exact spot is secret to prevent any future desecrations at the hands of pranksters, collectors or Irish extremists still angry at Oliver's head for its treatment of their ancestors at Drogheda & Wexford in 1649. I ask u, why would they think that might happen? Source: After the Funeral by Edwin Murphy, copyright 1995. Would I kid u? Smartfella As Donald Trump's national security adviser, one of the first moves Michael Flynn made was aligned precisely with the wishes of Turkey. But Flynn had a secret. He'd been paid half a million dollars to represent the interests of the Turkish government. And team Trump knew. Trump eventually would approve a plan to attack the Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa, but not until weeks after Flynn had been fired under a cloud of suspicion regarding his ties to Russia and Turkey. From the McClatchy report tonight, news that some members of Congress are now privately using the word "treason" to describe Flynn's Turkey-flavored intervention into U.S. military policy on ISIS: One of the Trump administration's first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey, whose interests, unbeknownst to anyone in Washington, he'd been paid more than $500,000 to represent. The decision came 10 days before Donald Trump had been sworn in as president, in a conversation with President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, who had explained the Pentagon's plan to retake the Islamic State's de facto capital of Raqqa with Syrian Kurdish forces whom the Pentagon considered the U.S.'s most effective military partners. Obama's national security team had decided to ask for Trump's sign-off, since the plan would all but certainly be executed after Trump had become president. Flynn didn't hesitate. According to timelines distributed by members of Congress in the weeks since, Flynn told Rice to hold off, a move that would delay the military operation for months. If Flynn explained his answer, that's not recorded, and it's not known whether he consulted anyone else on the transition team before rendering his verdict. But his position was consistent with the wishes of Turkey, which had long opposed the United States partnering with the Kurdish forces and which was his undeclared client. On 3/9, Fox asked Pence about Flynn filing w/DOJ as a foreign agent re Turkey. Pence: "hearing that story today was the first I heard of it" https://t.co/xSCBD8XoR2 Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 18, 2017 1/4McGahn was told about Flynn/Turkey, per NYT 3/9Pence (who ran the transition); note what he says 2xunprompted pic.twitter.com/T9eV4sAX0W Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 18, 2017 After receiving $500,000 from Turkey, Michael Flynn intervened to stop an operation against ISIS that Turkey opposed https://t.co/8hrrrzWcsR Nathan McDermott (@natemcdermott) May 18, 2017 Related news tonight, the Trump team knew Flynn was under federal investigation for his strange ties to Turkey and Russia when Trump named him national security adviser. PHOTO: Then White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (C) arrives prior to a joint news conference between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria "The key to restoring the rule of law is to blunt Trump's aggression and put him on the defensive," says Bob Ferguson, an internationally rated chess master and the attorney general for Washington State. He says Trump's opening move as president a Muslim ban was like the King's Gambit, "the most aggressive opening in chess." It's a poor choice in chess and politics, and Trump has been playing defensively ever since. From Time: First, we studied Trump's moves and prepared. During his campaign, Trump said he wanted to create "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." His adviser Rudy Giuliani explained to Fox News, "When he first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'" Like White sacrificing a pawn on the second move, the President telegraphed his intent to act aggressively. Once Trump told the nation he wanted the travel ban, we marshaled our resources and prepared arguments for the move we knew was coming. Second, we did not accept Trump's playing field as he presented it. We blunted his action by moving the field of battle to the courtroom. In that setting, Trump was on the defensive. After all, it isn't the loudest voice that prevails before a federal judgeit's the Constitution. Third, we capitalized on the weaknesses created by Trump's early moves. For example, Trump's team did little, if any, vetting of the travel ban. They failed to ask their own executive agencies to review the Executive Order. In short, it was sloppy. It was the first time college student Trudy Tulugarjuk travelled outside of Canada. "It was cool to see the outside world for the first time," said Tulugarjuk, a first-year student at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, an Ottawa-based college for Inuit studies. Fourteen first-year students flew across the Atlantic this month for a cultural exchange with Finland's Indigenous Sami people, as a part of the school's program. "We got to meet a lot of people and perform and share our stories," said student Emmeline Ipeelie. The students started their trip in the capital Helsinki, visiting the parliament and the University of Helsinki where they met with professors of Indigenous studies and languages. They got to tease their taste buds with Finnish foods, stay with local families, and hold performances to share Inuit and Sami culture. But the most memorable was their visit to Inari Village, a small community that's home to many Sami, the Indigenous people who live throughout Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. "The highlight was when we went to see a reindeer herder and we got to pet some reindeer and just hang out with them," said Tulugarjuk. "[It's] kinda like a once in a lifetime," said Ipeelie, who also enjoyed visiting the home of a Sami reindeer herder. Students say it was the similarities between the two Indigenous groups that left an impression. "Sami people are very similar to us, even their land is very similar, except the fact that they have trees," said Tulugarjuk. "Our languages are very important." Students learned about Sami governance, broadcasting, and language revitalization because a few of the 10 Sami dialects are considered endangered. "Sometimes Inuit are made out to be that we're the only ones that are struggling," said Ipeelie. "We still have our culture going, and Inuit and Sami are working to strengthen [it]. It's still alive." Policy Congress Seeks to Establish New Student Data System with College Transparency Act A new bipartisan bill introduced this week in the United States Senate and House of Representatives aims to increase transparency on higher education outcomes. The College Transparency Act of 2017 proposes a student data reporting system that tracks outcomes such as enrollment, completion and post-college success. It would overturn a ban on federal student-level data collection that came about with the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Statements from the Senate and House seem to downplay security and privacy issues in favor of the potential to help students make more informed choices about postsecondary education. "Today's students and their families need accurate, accessible, and comprehensive information in order to choose the college that is the best fit for their individual needs," wrote Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in a fact sheet on the bill. "Unfortunately, important information about whether or not a particular college or major pays off for students is currently incomplete. For example, despite the vast majority of students citing finding a good job as their primary reason for going to college, there is currently no easy way to evaluate the labor-market success of various programs or majors. Moreover, our current, burdensome reporting system is antiquated; it leaves critical questions unanswered; and it does not reflect the realities of today's students. It's time to modernize the postsecondary data reporting framework in order to more accurately report college outcomes, allowing for greater college transparency for the public, students, families, and policymakers." "Education is the single best investment a person can make in today's economy. Students should be empowered to make the decision that's best for them, and that starts with having accurate, credible and accessible information at hand," said Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) in a news announcement. "We wouldn't expect someone to buy a home without researching their investment first, and higher education should be no different. Students should be able to know which institution will serve them best. Likewise, colleges and universities deserve better data so they know where they're performing well, and where they can make improvements. The College Transparency Act is an important step in that direction." The bill puts security and privacy protection for the postsecondary student data system in the hands of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). "Colleges would report data to this new data system and NCES would be responsible for presenting the information in a user-friendly manner for students and the public, while safeguarding student privacy," according to the fact sheet. "NCES would be able to connect with specified federal agencies in order to report on certain student outcomes. This bill would prohibit a federal college ratings or rankings scheme, while providing important information to researchers and colleges for institutional improvement. The bill would ensure that student information is protected through the following provisions: disclosure limitations, prohibitions on the sale of data, penalties for illegally obtaining information, protections for vulnerable students, prohibition on law enforcement access, and strong limitations on personally identifiable information." Scholarships More Colleges, Universities Join Scholarship Platform to Fund Good Students The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis, Harvey Mudd College and Grinnell College are all part of the newest cohort of campuses to join a growing community of academic institutions partnering with Raise.me, a platform that helps high school students raise funding for college. The platform rewards good students for their hard work: Starting from grade 9, students can input their achievements (class grades, clubs, sports, etc.) to earn micro-scholarships from colleges on Raise.me. Different academic institutions award different amounts for the same achievement. So, U Penn could reward a student $150 for earning an A in algebra, while Grinnell could offer $100, for example. Micro-scholarships typically range from $100 to $3,000 and can be redeemed once a student is admitted by a partner college. More than 700,000 students, or one in every two students attending high schools across the United States, have used the platform to raise money for college, a recent company blog post states. The average Raise.me user receives about $20,000 from partner colleges. Raise.me launched nationally in the fall of 2014. The company says it focuses on boosting access to higher education, especially for low-income and first-generation students. The platform has helped students earn more than $1 billion in scholarships. Raise.mes college partners see micro-scholarships as a way to remove perceived financial barriers and show students a path to college that they can pursue with confidence, said George Kirkland, Raise.me co-founder and vice president, in the blog post. Raise.me helps Washington University achieve one of its most important priorities to expand opportunities for talented first-generation and low-income students. We are excited to provide a tool that both motivates students to work hard and educates them about the college application process while expanding their academic reach and making WashU and the partner institutions accessible to them, said Ronne Patrick Turner, vice provost for Admission & Aid at Washington University in St. Louis. To learn more about how the micro-scholarships work on the platform, watch the video below. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2017 - 11:16 | All, World Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a special envoy of new South Korean President Moon Jae In held talks Thursday in Tokyo on their countries' response to North Korea, which test-fired its latest ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan over the weekend, among other issues. Moon Hee Sang, a heavyweight lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, said at the outset of the meeting, which was open to the media, that the two countries "have in common a practical interest to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue." The envoy handed over a personal letter from President Moon, saying the new South Korean leader hopes to meet with Abe in person soon. Noting Tokyo and Seoul are each other's "most important neighbors, sharing strategic interests," Abe said, "I would like to build a future-oriented Japan-South Korean relationship with the new administration of President Moon Jae In." The talks between Abe and the special envoy are also believed to have taken up the issue of Korean "comfort women" who were forced to work in wartime Japanese military brothels. Tokyo and Seoul reached an agreement on comfort women in 2015, under which the two countries confirmed the longstanding dispute is "resolved finally and irreversibly." In accordance with the terms of the deal, Tokyo disbursed 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) last year to a South Korean fund to provide support for former comfort women and their families. President Moon, who took office last week, repeatedly vowed during his election campaign to renegotiate the agreement, which was reached under his predecessor's administration and drew criticism that it does not reflect the former comfort women's wishes. - With many celebrity marriages crashing in recent times, its understandable that many are refusing to get married - Uti Nwachukwu recently said he doesnt want to rush into marriage - This is after he revealed that he was in a long distance relationship Uti Nwachukwu is one person who doesnt shy away from speaking his mind on trending issues of the day. Recall how he came to TBoss defence when she was on reality show Big Brother Naija? READ ALSO: Moji Olaiya dies two months after giving birth Speaking in a recent interview, the TV host and actor revealed that contrary to the prevailing opinion that he was single, he was in a long distance relationship and he met his current boo via her DM. Uti Nwachukwu Asked if the relationship was headed towards the altar, he answered that marriage is a big word and that hes not in a rush, and that hell get married in the right time, but for now he is currently not thinking about it. Talking on why he hasnt been appearing in many movies in recent times, he said that theres too little fortune for actors in Nigeria as against their Western counterparts adding that its too much stress for too little money, he told Ghana's Joy TV. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria Watch Iyanya tell NAIJ TV the reason why his relationship with female celebrities never work out below Source: Legit.ng Amazon (AMZN) is hiring a business lead to figure out how the company can break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market. For the last few years, Amazon has held at least one annual meeting at its Seattle headquarters to discuss whether it should enter the pharmacy business, says two people familiar with the company's plans. But this year, with the rise of high-deductible plans and the trend toward consumers paying for health care, it is ready to get more serious. Two people said that it's not a done deal that Amazon will move into this space, given the complex web of established players. But it is bringing on a new general manager to lead the team and formulate a strategy, and is deep in discussions with industry experts. That hire would sit under the consumables business, the source said. Another person said Amazon has started to recruit more broadly from the pharmacy space. The company recently started selling medical supplies and equipment in the U.S. , and is hiring for its "professional health care program" to ensure that the company is meeting regulatory requirements. It also hired Mark Lyons two months ago from Premera Blue Cross. A source said that Lyons is tasked with building an internal pharmacy benefits manager for Amazon employees, which might be later scaled out. Amazon declined to comment. Japan Times reported in April that the company expanded its Prime Now delivery service to include drug and cosmetic sales, with the support of local partners. Amazon's category page on its Japanese site now includes "pharmaceuticals," and sells drugs to patients with approval from a pharmacist. Amazon often tests new product lines in non-U.S. markets, before it assesses whether to roll it out in the domestic market. The company tested its secret drone-delivery program in Canada, for instance. In the United States alone, more than 4 billion prescriptions are ordered every year. In 2015, patients, insurance companies and other payers spent an estimated $300 billion on prescription drugs. Story continues For Amazon, it's a lucrative market that would require navigating a variety of existing players. For consumers with a high dollar deductible, Amazon could someday be a go-to destination to shop for drugs. "I think Amazon would introduce a lot of transparency to what drugs really cost," said Stephen Buck, a health entrepreneur and co-founder of GoodRx, a service that promises to save consumers on the price of prescriptions. Buck sees a slew of potential opportunities for Amazon, including a product that competes with pharmacy benefits management giants like Express Scripts (ESRX) and CVS Health (CVS). Buck estimates that it's a $25 billion to $50 billion market opportunity for Amazon, if executed well. But the company would also face challenges entering a regulated market. "Prescription transfer laws and e-prescribing make it a little more difficult than putting something in a cart and checking out," he said. Amazon previously backed a " dotcom " darling called Drugstore.com in the late 1990s, with CEO Jeff Bezos taking on a director role. At that time, it was speculated that Amazon could carve out a huge chunk of the prescription and over-the-counter drug sales market. Drugstore.com later sold to Walgreens, which eventually shut it down. More From CNBC By Nandita Bose NEW YORK (Reuters) - German discount grocery chain Lidl, which is opening its first U.S. stores this summer, said its products would be up to 50 percent cheaper than competitors, which are already caught up in a price war. "This is the right time for us to enter the United States," Brendan Proctor, chief executive officer for Lidl U.S., told Reuters at a media event in New York late on Tuesday. "We are confident in our model. We adapt quickly, so it's not about whether a market works for us but really about what we will do to make it work." Lidl, which runs 10,000 stores in 27 countries, and German rival Aldi Inc have already upended Britain's grocery retail market, hurting incumbents like Tesco Plc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc's ASDA supermarket chain. Lidl said it would open its first 20 U.S. stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, starting on June 15. Eighty more will follow in the United States within the first year, which Procter said would create 5,000 jobs. . Analysts estimate the company will have more than 330 U.S. stores by 2020. The stores will be 20,000 square feet in size and have only six aisles. The retailer's in-house brands will account for 90 percent of the products. The first 100 stores are newly constructed standalone retail properties that Lidl owns and developed. The company is open to leasing locations as it opens new stores, Proctor said. As Reuters first reported, Wal-Mart is running price tests in 11 U.S. states, pushing vendors to undercut rivals by 15 percent, and Aldi is aiming for prices 21 percent below its U.S. competition. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) Kevin McCarthy Paul Ryan House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republican colleagues in a private conversation last year that he thought Donald Trump was being paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Washington Post report published Wednesday. McCarthy made the comments to House Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders in Washington on June 15, 2016 a month before Trump clinched the Republican nomination, and just after news reports surfaced that Russia had hacked into the Democratic National Committee. "Theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy said, the Post reported, citing a recording it obtained of the conversation. Dana Rohrabacher is a Republican congressman from California known for his staunchly pro-Russia views. When some of his audience laughed at the comments, McCarthy added: "Swear to God," the Post reported. Ryan reportedly ended the conversation and insisted those present to not discuss it with the press. "This is an off the record," Ryan told staffers, laughing. "NO LEAKS...alright?! This is how we know we're a real family here." Rep. Steve Scalise, the majority whip, chimed in: "That's how you know that we're tight." "What's said in the family stays in the family," Ryan said. The full transcript can be read here. Spokespeople for both Ryan and McCarthy initially denied the conversation ever took place. But when the Post told them that there was a recording of the conversation, they said McCarthy's comments were a joke. "This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor," Ryan's spokesman, Brendan Buck, told the Post. "No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. Whats more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russias interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity. Story continues After the Post report was published, McCarthy echoed Buck's assertion that his comments were an "attempt at humor gone wrong." This was an attempt at humor gone wrong. No surprise @WashingtonPost tried to contort this into breaking news. Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 17, 2017 Ryan has been under pressure to endorse the creation of a special congressional committee to investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. That pressure has grown enormously since last Tuesday, when Trump fired FBI Director James Comey who was leading the bureau's probe into Russia's election interference and reportedly disclosed classified information to Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting the next day. Ryan defended Trump's decision to dismiss Comey, telling reporters he thought Trump "lost patience" in the FBI Director "and I think people in the Justice Department lost confidence in Comey himself." The FBI's Acting Director, Andrew McCabe, disputed claims that agents had been disillusioned with Comey's leadership during a Senate Judiciary Hearing last week. Republican lawmakers appeared to reach a tipping point on Tuesday night, when the New York Times reported that Trump had asked Comey to end the investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. But the House Speaker confirmed on Wednesday that he still has full confidence in Trump, and asked why Comey had not resigned in protest if he felt that what Trump had asked of him was inappropriate. "The last thing I'm going to do is pre-judge anything," he said said in a press conference held at the Republican National Committee. "I'm a person who wants to get the facts." NOW WATCH: 'Really?': A reporter calls out Huckabee's claim that 'countless' FBI employees were happy with Comey's firing More From Business Insider By Jessica Toonkel and Daniel Wiessner NEW YORK (Reuters) - The death of Fox News founder Roger Ailes could pose a major hurdle to a series of lawsuits that claimed he sexually harassed female anchors and contributors at America's most-watched cable channel. The sexual harassment claims against him could be complicated by a 19th-century New York state law that bars people with stakes in lawsuits from testifying about private conversations with parties who have died. Ailes, 77, died from bleeding on the brain caused by a fall last week at his home in Florida, according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner. His departure from Fox News in July amid a sexual harassment scandal abruptly ended his 20-year reign at the cable channel that helped reshape American politics with conservative-leaning hosts such as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. Former anchor Andrea Tantaros and contributor Julie Roginsky have claimed in lawsuits that Ailes harassed them and that Fox News retaliated against them for rebuffing him. The Tantaros case is in arbitration in New York and the Roginsky case is pending in Manhattan State Supreme Court. The law, commonly known as the "dead mans statute," is rarely invoked outside of cases involving disputed wills and estates, lawyers and law professors said. But if the law is raised by Fox or Ailes estate, it could set back Tantaros and Roginsky, whose key claims are based on private conversations with Ailes. "If no one else was there, you probably have to build your proof another way," said Stephen Gillers, a professor at NYU School of Law. The law would only apply to lawsuits in which Ailes is named as a defendant. Watch news, TV and more Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. SHOCK AND GRIEF Fox News, which Ailes started in 1996 with the backing of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, raised the temperature of on-air debate on U.S. television, generally taking a hardline conservative view. It has had a mixed relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime friend of Ailes, but was instrumental in his election victory in November. Story continues Ailes received a severance package of about $40 million when he left Fox News, owned by Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, according to a source familiar with the situation. He went on to serve as an informal adviser to Murdoch. "Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes," Murdoch said in a statement. "Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have," he added. "Roger was a patriot, who never ceased fighting for his beliefs." Hannity paid tribute on his show to his former boss. Today America lost one of its great patriotic warriors," he said in a statement read on the channel. "For decades, RA (Roger Ailes) has impacted American politics and media. He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape single-handedly for the better." Democrats also weighed in on someone they often saw as a foe. "I knew Ailes. Competed against him in campaigns," said David Axelrod, ex-adviser to former President Barack Obama, on Twitter. "Railed against him many times. But appreciated our frank, back-channel conversations." SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUITS Fox has been roiled by sexual harassment claims for more than a year, which prompted Ailes' exit last summer. In April O'Reilly, the channel's most-watched host, was also forced out after the New York Times reported that Fox and O'Reilly had paid five women a total of $13 million to settle harassment claims. Bill Shine, co-president of Fox News who had been at the channel since its inception, also left this month. Despite the high-profile departures, Fox News ratings have remained strong. Ailes' chief lawyer Susan Estrich did not respond to a request for comment about the state of the lawsuits. Before his death, Ailes took steps to limit any financial loss from lawsuits. He bought an oceanfront home in Palm Beach for $36 million shortly after leaving Fox News and declared himself a state resident, according to public records. The moves allowed Ailes to take advantage of Florida "homestead" laws that protect residential property from claims by creditors, according to Lee-Ford Tritt, a professor of estates and trusts at the University of Florida. "Florida has amazing creditor protection," Tritt said. It's why people like O.J. Simpson bought a house there." The legal protections will likely pass onto his wife, who would typically inherit control of the house under Florida law barring a prenuptial agreement to the contrary, Tritt said. Ailes also owned homes in Cresskill, New Jersey, and Garrison, New York. The Cresskill home was up for sale at the time of his death, according to public records. Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's office said Ailes died of complications from a subdural hematoma - a pool of blood on the brain - caused by a fall at home that injured his head. A Palm Beach police report showed Ailes fell on May 10. The medical examiner's report said Ailes' hemophilia, which prevents blood clotting, contributed to his death, which it said was accidental with no evidence of foul play. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Anna Driver, Jill Serjeant, Anthony Lin and Joseph Ax, writing by Bill Rigby; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and David Gregorio) SoFi wants to completely change the way millennials think about financial services, from wealth management to credit card rewards. Could SoFi's mobile app become a one-stop shop for handling money? Social Finance, more commonly known as SoFi, wants to change completely the way millennials think about financial services. This San Francisco startup began in 2011 by helping people refinance student loans. Thanks to flexible payment options and a deliberately simplified process, SoFi quickly became one of the largest online lenders in the U.S., even expanding to personal loans up to $100,000 and launching a mobile mortgage app in 2015. Now SoFi is expanding and diversifying, offering mobile wealth management services and applying for a bank charter as they develop new banking products. Read: What Happened To LendingClub? Bank Industrys Big Disrupter Stumbles SoFi CEO and co-founder Mike Cagney Tuesday told Mad Money host Jim Cramer that SoFi thinks of people as "members" not customers because the future belongs to personalized, service-oriented fintech models. "For example, [if] one of our members loses their job, we'll put them in unemployment forbearance. We'll actually help them get re-employed, Cagney said. We've done that over 200 times for our members. And it's very different than how a traditional financial services firm would approach banking." Forbes reported in 2016 that SoFi set itself apart from traditional lenders like Wells Fargo because the tech-savvy startup seemed genuinely interested in offering services to improve peoples lives. According to Fortune magazine, SoFi has a matchmaking service for borrowers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, plus networking events for members in 60 cities. The company doesn't have a spotless track record. Last summer SoFi paid a $2.4 million settlement in a lawsuit involving 10,700 users. The startup allegedly violated California state law by running hard pull credit inquires, which can lower the prospective borrowers credit score, instead of soft pull inquiries that don't leave any mark. But SoFi showed it is still invested in that trustworthy reputation, beyond their products, by kicking off a marketing campaign in May to help millennials get raises at work. Story continues When I started my career, you didnt have to ask. You knew when you were going to get a raise. You knew the promotion process. It was very clear, SoFi chief operating officer Joanne Bradford told Vogue. But now the economy has changed so much, most people dont know any of those things. They dont know their worth in the marketplace. ... You must create opportunity for yourself. Meanwhile, SoFi raised $500 million from Silver Lake Partners and acquired Zenbanx, a firm that offers multicurrency mobile banking. If SoFi gets the industrial banking charter it is applying for, Cagney told TechCrunch SoFi could give discounted rates to people who set up automatic payments and launch a rewards program to help people repay loans with a SoFi-issued credit card. John Gardner, general manager of SoFi Wealth, told Fast Company the company aims to transition from a transaction-based business focused on lending to a true relationship-based business with all kinds of financial services. The suite of SoFi Wealth services offers American members free advice via mobile chat and optimized portfolios that take the users long-term goals and personal risk profile into account. Fast Company reported new members, without SoFi loans, can access the same wealth management services if they invest at least $500, or start triple-digit monthly deposits, plus pay a 0.25 percent management fee on any assets over $10,000. Read: Home Ownership: Millennials Could Jump Into The Housing Market In 2016 So far, it looks like SoFi is living up to its reputation for helping millennials access financial services for the first time through its mobile app. Sixty-five percent of the business we do is first-time homebuyers; its a big deal were opening up to the jumbo first-time market, Michael Tannenbaum, SoFis vice president of mortgages, told NerdWallet. In 2016, Dan Macklin, SoFis vice president of community and member success, told Forbes personal loans and mortgages accounted for 50 percent of the companys loan volume. The online lender clearly sees a future that includes student loans, but is not limited to them. A SoFi life insurance pilot program is already underway, and Reuters reported the company expects to launch broader financial planning services later this summer, including a joint program for couples learning how to manage their money together. Related Articles donald trump steven mnuchin Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin just said the words that will lead to a sigh of relief on Wall Street. During his testimony to the Senate banking committee on Thursday, the Treasury secretary said the Trump administration did not support the separation of investment banks and commercial banks. "We think that would have a very significant problem on financial markets, on the economy, on liquidity," he said. "We do think there are potential things we could look at around regulation, but we do not support separation of banks and investment banks." Sen. Elizabeth Warren quickly pointed out that this conflicted with previous statements by President Donald Trump, Mnuchin, and economic adviser Gary Cohn, who all said the White House was considering a new form of Glass-Steagall, the law that once mandated the separation. Trump told Bloomberg in an interview on May 1 that he was "looking at that right now" when asked about breaking up the big banks, and the idea was in the Republican Party's platform. Glass-Steagall was passed during the Great Depression to keep the kind of risk Wall Street firms take with trading out of the commercial banking system. Its repeal in 1999 led to a wave of combinations and is considered a factor in the 2008 financial crisis. Warren took Mnuchin to task on this apparent reversal, saying the original Glass-Steagall was designed to separate commercial and investment banks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin waits to testify before the Senate Banking Committee at hearing on Domestic and International Policy Update on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas "There are aspects of Glass-Steagall that you support, but not breaking up the banks and separating commercial banking from investment banking?" Warren said. "What do you think Glass-Steagall was if that's not right at the heart of it?" Mnuchin said Trump and the administration hadn't changed their position. "We, during the campaign ... specifically came out and said we do support a 21st-century Glass-Steagall," Mnuchin said. "That means there are aspects of it that we think may make sense, but we never said before that supported a full separation of banks and investment banks." Story continues Warren said Mnuchin's support for Glass-Steagall and rejection of the main aspect of the original law made little sense. "Let me get this straight: You're saying you are in favor of Glass-Steagall, which breaks apart the two arms of banking, except you don't want to break apart the two parts of banking. This is like something out of George Orwell," Warren said, alluding to the concept of doublespeak from Orwell's dystopian novel, "1984." Mnuchin reiterated that the administration favored a "21st-century Glass-Steagall," not the original Glass-Steagall. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. NOW WATCH: This man spent 6 weeks working undercover in an iPhone factory in China here's what it was like More From Business Insider Drew Angerer | Getty Images. While Trump has lagged with appointments to the executive branch, he has fulfilled his promise to nominate judges favorable to conservatives. President Donald Trump lashed out again Thursday at the ongoing inquiries into his presidential campaign and Russia, counteracting an earlier, more measured response from the White House. On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Among the things being investigated are possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin. In a pair of Thursday morning tweets, Trump asked why no special counsel was appointed for what he called "all of the illegal acts" of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Obama administration. He then called the Russia investigation "the single greatest witch hunt in American political history." Trump's tweets took a starkly different tone from the official statement the White House released in his name Wednesday night: "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." It marks at least the third time in just over a week that Trump has either contradicted or muddled a statement from his White House. Trump last week fired ex-FBI Director James Comey, whose agency was investigating the president's campaign, and reports since then have raised questions about whether he had tried to influence the investigation. After Trump ousted Comey, the White House first said the president did so because of a Justice Department memo criticizing the FBI chief's performance. Later, though, Trump told NBC News that he would have fired Comey "regardless" and was thinking of the "Russia thing" when he did so. Story continues White House officials also vehemently denied reports that Trump shared highly classified information in a meeting with Russian diplomats last week. But in later tweets, the president said he did share information about threats with the Russian officials, though he neither confirmed nor denied if it was classified. The mixed messages come as rumors have swirled about a possible shake-up of White House communications staff. On Wednesday, Trump complained in the middle of a U.S. Coast Guard Academy commencement speech that he has been "treated worse" than any politician "in history." Also From CNBC Watch The Profit on Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. More From CNBC Since the election, the sectors of the US stock market most closely linked to President Donald Trump's proposed economic policies have shown remarkable resilience. Until now. Reports this week that Trump in February had asked James Comey, then the FBI director, to drop an FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for equity investors. Here's a roundup of the damage: No area of the so-called Trump trade has been hit harder than banks. An index tracking the sector, which had been seen as benefiting from Trump's call for looser regulatory oversight, slipped by 3.5% on Wednesday, headed for its biggest drop in almost two months. Banks were the stock market's big postelection winner, surging by 32% to a bull-market high through March 1, nearly triple the gains of the broader S&P 500. Companies that pay the most taxes also incurred the wrath of stock traders. Viewed as best positioned to benefit from a tax cut, the high-tax group lost 1.2% on Wednesday, the largest single-day decline since March 21. Industrial companies were also unable to escape unscathed, falling by 1.4%, also the biggest drop since late March. Boosted by expectations of $1 trillion in infrastructure spending, the sector was the second-best performer in the months following the election, trailing only financials. While it's far too early to call the end of the Trump trade, there's no doubt traders are feeling more trepidation about stocks than at any point since the election. For evidence of that, look no further than the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, a barometer of investor nervousness. Until Wednesday, the so-called fear gauge was hovering close to its lowest level on record. Now it has spiked by as much as 32%, the biggest intraday increase since September 9, two months before the election. 5 17 17 vix COTD It's important to note, however, that US stock investors have made a habit of buying on weakness throughout the eight-year bull market. Following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, the S&P 500 fell by 5.3% over two trading sessions, only to make up those losses in about a week. Story continues The same dynamic was in play when China unexpectedly devalued its currency in August 2015. After the S&P 500 underwent an 11% correction, traders bought the dip and restored the benchmark to its pre-sell-off levels within about two months. Still, investors today are markedly less hedged than they were in those two situations, as indicated by the VIX's near-record low level heading into Wednesday. But whether the market's complacency will come back to bite it is anyone's guess. Stay tuned. NOW WATCH: China built a $350 million bridge that ends in a dirt field in North Korea More From Business Insider Pakistani government-sponsored legislation aimed at reforming the archaic governance regime in the countrys beleaguered northwestern tribal areas has stalled because of disagreements within the ruling coalition. Protests erupted in the National Assembly, or lower house of the Pakistani Parliament, on May 18. Lawmakers made angry speeches after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs administration indicated it would not press for adopting constitutional amendments aimed at changing the status of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into a regularly administered region. Opposition leader Khurshid Shah accused Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz-led government of sabotaging its own legislative agenda on long-awaited FATA reforms. While hiding behind walls, the government is sabotaging FATA reforms through its allies, he told lawmakers. Shah was referring to Pakistani media reports that said Sharif has directed his administration to postpone a push for adopting the proposed legislation until his return from an ongoing visit to China. Several reports in the Pakistani media said Sharif made the decision after his allies -- the Islamist leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Pashtun nationalist Mahmood Khan Achakzai -- opposed the proposed laws. In a telephone call on May 17, Rehman reportedly convinced Sharif to postpone the reforms. The two leaders are rumored to have the Pakistani leaders ear. Opposition to this process by one of the governments allies smelled foul as opposition parties had no objection [to the key provisions of the FATA legislation], opposition lawmaker Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the parliament. Qureshis Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf and Shah Pakistan Peoples Party are among a dozen major political parties pushing for the reforms. Rehmans Jamiat Ulema-e Islam Fazal and Achakzais Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party oppose the reforms citing the need for more consultations, the historical status of the region, and worries over the consequences of the reforms, particularly for their respective parties. The snag is likely to torpedo years of work. The proposed legislation is the result of decades of activism and consensus-building. After discussing the outline of the reforms for nearly seven years, a majority of the countrys political parties welcomed modest reforms outlined in a report by a government committee earlier this year. A public opinion survey says most FATA residents back key provisions of the reforms. On May 15, the Pakistani government tabled two bills and a constitutional amendment in the parliament. The proposed legislation aims to merge FATA into the neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, replace the regions draconian century-old Frontier Crimes Regulations with a new law and extend the jurisdiction of the countrys high courts into the region. Given its blessing by the Pakistans powerful military establishment, the reforms are Islamabads effort to alleviate the suffering and marginalization of FATAs estimated 7 million to 15 million residents who are divided into a dozen major Pashtun tribes. The reforms are part of Islamabads efforts to stabilize the region, which forms an arch along Pakistans western border. An estimated 50,000 civilians died in more than a decade of unrest in the region when Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and an array of local and international militants ruled parts of FATA. Small and large-scale Pakistani military operations, claiming to be fighting the militants, forced more than 3 million civilians in FATA to abandon their homeland. Most have now returned to their villages but many are dismayed by the governments negligence and inability to help in rebuilding their homes and livelihoods. The move has disappointed proponents of the FATA reforms. The minister told us that we will not move the bills for voting in this session after the prime ministers conversation [with Rehman], Lawmaker Shahbuddin Khan, who represents FATAs Bajaur district in Pakistans parliament, told the Daily Express Tribune citing a telephone conversation with Abdul Qadir Baloch, Pakistans states and frontier regions minister. Shah Ji Gul Afridi, another FATA lawmaker, was threatened with expulsion after he protested the change in the governments posture. Please do not compel me to have you thrown out of the parliament, Pakistani media quoted National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq as warning the lawmaker. Maulana Fazal Rehman [is] sabotaging FATAs merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, lawmaker Aftab Sherpao, leader of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) wrote on Twitter. QWP will resist this move as this is [a] great injustice to the country and the people of FATA. Rehman, however, says FATA was formed because of agreements between British India and Afghanistan in the late 19th century. Today, if we violate those agreements, how will our neighbors react? he asked in a speech to the parliament on May 15. Are we going to add to Pakistans difficulties [by implementing these reforms]? Afghanistan, however, has not opposed the current reforms. Since 2002 Kabul has called for friendly relations with Islamabad and an end to its alleged covered support to Taliban and other Afghan insurgents. Achakzai also remains skeptical. We need to ask FATAs people what they desire, and respect [their] opinion, he told lawmakers on May 18. Do not extend any law to FATA against their will; it will be unconstitutional and undemocratic, he added in comments cited by the Associated Press of Pakistan, a government news agency. Proponents of the reforms, however, are not deterred. FATA does not belong to the people of FATA alone as it belongs to every Pakistani, lawmaker Qureshi noted. He added that the Pakistani Parliament had representation from FATA and is capable of and entitled to deciding its future. Late on May 18, Baloch, Pakistans states and frontier regions minister reiterated his administrations resolve to implement the reforms. He refuted the oppositions claims that their administration is delaying the reforms through its allies. His administration, however, is running out of time. It has only a few days to adopt the legislation before the parliament will go into the budget session before the end of May. The session, which goes on for weeks, forces the government to postpone its legislative agenda to focus on debating and adopting the countrys annual financial plan. Afrasiab Khattak, a former lawmaker and leader of the pro-reform Awami National Party, attempted to highlight the irony in Sharifs handling of the issue. Suppressing FATA Pashtuns voice in parliament is like isolating instead of mainstreaming them, he wrote on Twitter. Government hurts the people by delaying reforms. -- With reporting by, Dawn, Geo News, Express Tribune, and APP CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NXT Energy Solutions Inc. (NXT or the Company) (TSX:SFD) (OTCQB:NSFDF) advises that it has commenced work on the first ever SFD Multi-Client Survey in the Gulf of Mexico. NXTs patented SFD Technology has been approved by the Comision Nacional de Hidrocarburos, (CNH), for work credits by exploration companies in Mexico. Details of the authorization can be found on the ARES (CNH Exploration Authority) website: http://www.gob.mx/cnh/documentos/consulta-las-ares-otorgadas The airborne survey will be conducted over the areas that have been identified by CNH for the shallow water bid-round 2.1, covering the Tampico-Misantla, Veracruz and Cuencas del Sureste exploration areas. For further information on these areas please visit: http://rondasmexico.gob.mx/r2-l01-bloques The SFD survey covers an area of approximately 8,900 square kilometers and provides participants with a unique data set which may be used to confirm seismically identified potential traps. The SFD survey may also provide critical information on the presence of potential trapped fluid accumulations, which may be useful in the evaluation of prospective blocks. The Company anticipates the program will take approximately 25 days to complete. The results and recommendations will be made available to participating customers prior to the bid round. The survey data should then have continuing utility to the winning bidders as they develop their drilling plans. NXT was recently featured in a supplement of the Oil and Gas Journal that focused on the Mexican Hydrocarbon and Electricity sectors. To download a copy of the article please visit www.ogj.com. George Liszicasz, Chairman and CEO of NXT stated, We are very pleased to commence work on this first of a kind survey, and look forward to working with our customers on the integration of this data set to identify the areas on which to focus their exploration efforts. This survey builds on the existing SFD database that we acquired in the Gulf of Mexico in 2012 for PEMEX, where SFD anomalies have been proven by drilling activity. We continue to view the Gulf of Mexico as one of immense importance for NXT. NXT Energy is a Calgary based company whose proprietary Stress Field Detection ("SFD") survey system utilizes quantum-scale sensors to detect gravity field perturbations in an airborne survey method which can be used both onshore and offshore to remotely identify areas with exploration potential for traps and reservoirs. The SFD survey system enables our clients to focus their hydrocarbon exploration decisions concerning land commitments, data acquisition expenditures and prospect prioritization on areas with the greatest potential. SFD is environmentally friendly and unaffected by ground security issues or difficult terrain, and is the registered trademark of NXT Energy Solutions Inc. NXT Energy provides its clients with an effective and reliable method to reduce time, costs, and risks related to exploration. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may include forward-looking statements. When used in this document, words such as intends, plans, anticipates, expects and scheduled, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of factors can cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Risk factors facing NXT Energy are described in its most recent MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2016 which has been filed electronically by means of the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") located at www.sedar.com. Such forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them, either publicly or otherwise, to reflect new events, information or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities law. Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) nor the OTC QB Markets accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Out of Scope This might be tempting choice, but other jobs might be just 1% of total jobs. In that case, the plan may work - Incorrect Out of scope If prior experience is required to succeed in the program, the plan will fail. - Correct Out of scope as cost of the program is not discussed - Incorrect In response to a high unemployment rate and to complaints from businesses that prospective employees are under-qualified for the available jobs, particularly in the sciences, the Labor Department has released its plan to address both problems. It will offer six-month training programs, free of charge to unemployed citizens, to prepare citizens for jobs as laboratory and medical technicians. Each citizen will have the opportunity to participate in one program free of charge, and the Labor Department will offer salary subsidies to firms that hire graduates of these programs.Which of the following, if true, would constitute reason to believe that the labor departments plan will not achieve its aims?A) Many universities and technical colleges offer nine- and twelve-month programs to train students in the same fields -B) Laboratory and medical technician jobs are not the only jobs for which companies are struggling to find qualified employees.C) Similar programs in neighboring countries have had mixed results. -D) Successful graduates of technical training programs nearly always have scientific job experience prior to enrolling in such programs.E) The proposed program is significantly more expensive than several alternatives proposed by members of the legislative body -_________________ Legit.ng gathered that the founder of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet TB Joshua, provided financial support to Libyan deportees. Prophet TB Joshua has once again done what many will consider a great deed, considering the fact that they were not done to members of his church. Even though it wouldn't be the first time the controversial prophet would be doing this, he invited Nigerians who were deported from Libya, to his church, to offer them his little token. According to a post shared on the church's official Facebook page, TB Joshua gave the deportees the total of N6 million and bags of rice, alongside his popular 'morning water'. TB Joshua donated N6m to Libyan deportees READ ALSO: These guys dont seem to care about whats on their T-shirts (photos) According to reports, the prophet gave instructions for the money to be released to the deportees, even though he's outside the country. Sharing the post on their official Facebook page, they wrote: "On Friday 17 May 2017, 200 Nigerians who were deported from Libya rushed to The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in search of refuge. When Prophet T.B. Joshua, who is currently in Ecuador for the opening of the new school donated by Emmanuel TV, heard of their arrival, he said that they should be attended to the same way as the deportees of the previous week. He instructed that foodstuff and financial support be provided immediately. Many of the deportees were weak and sick from their difficult episode. They were given a cash gift totaling 6 Million alongside two bags of rice and Morning Water to start their lives afresh. Glory be to Jesus Christ! If you dont give, you dont receive. - Prophet T.B. Joshua" PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest gossips on Naij Gossip App See photos below: The Libyan deportees got N6 million from the founder of SCOAN The deportees were also fed at the church The deportees show off the cheques they were given The deportees jubilated after receiving their money The deportees were overcome with joy after they heard what they were getting from the prophet The deportees were given two bags of rice each The deportees pick up their bags of rice joyfully This is just awesome! Meanwhile, see this video of a Nollywood actor who said he'll soon become a pastor: Source: Legit.ng In recent times, it has been identified that people go about looking for what to steal. This act is mostly conducted in public places so people dont notice them. On Wednesday, May 17, it was reported that the Joint Matriculation Board (JAMB), deducted 100 marks from a candidates result after the CCTV camera caught him cheating in the examination hall. Legit.ng gathered that another candidate has been arrested in Benue state after he was caught stealing inside the examination hall. Terva Tersasba surrounded be other candidates in Benue state READ ALSO: JAMB allegedly deducts 100 marks from guy who was caught cheating during examination (photo) According to Otafu Jeremiah Ikweng, who shared the news on his Facebook profile, he posted several pictures of the young man with the caption: Please see what people have turn to, this boy was arrested by the police for stealing somebody's phone in jamb hall he identified himself as Terva Tersasba from Benue State please suggest what should be done to him. See post below: PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App Watch related video of how applicants lament bitterly over JAMB registration hassles below on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng - 25 years old boy Chidiebere Uka was reportedly killed by popular chief in Imo state - The deceased was said to have gotten into a fight with Chief Njiribeako and his family - Njiribeako allegedly laid ambush for Chidiebere and beat him to his death - His family seeks for justice Tragedy struck on April 28, when late Chidiebere Uka engaged in a fight with one of Chief Njirieako sons in Umucha, Umuoba, Uratta, Imo state. The fight which was meant to come to an end after the intervention of Chief Njirieako escalated when the elderly man and the rest of his family laid ambush for 25-year-old Chidiebere which unfortunately led to his untimely death. Legit.ng gathered that this brutality did not go down well with the deceased family as they have now filed a petition to the commissioner of police in Imo state stating that they wont rest until justice is served Late Chidiebere Uka READ ALSO: JAMB candidate arrested for stealing someones phone inside the examination hall (photos) The petition reads: It began on the 28th of April 2017, When Chidiebere Uka (the deceased) 25years old, had a fight with Chimezie Njiribeako the son of one Chief Victor Njiribeako. The whole family carried the fight forward and on Saturday the 29th of April, 2017, the Njiribeako family led by their father CHIEF VICTOR NJIRIBEAKO, his wife, CHARITY NJIRIBEAKO, and their children, NDUBUISI, EMENIKE, EMMANUEL, PEACE and the mastermind, CHIMEZIE NJIRIBEAKO laid an ambush, upon sighting the deceased on a bike, Chimezie pulled him down from the bike (okada) and the whole family pounced on him and started beating him up. All plea from the deceased for them to spare him fell on deaf ears as they continued hitting him with deadly weapons, Chief VICTOR NJIRIBEAKO, their husband/father was heard instructing his family to kill him that nothing will happen. He boasted that it will only take money and connection which he boasted of possessing. Peace and Ndubuisi Njirieako (the chief's children) Unfortunately, passersby and onlookers could not do anything as they were threatened with violence by the Njiribeako family. The mother of the family, Mrs Charity, grabbed the deceased by his TESTICLES and other members of the family fluttered on him. They continued beating him until he lost consciousness and was left for dead. The deceased's elder brother Mr Chimamkpa on getting information that his younger brother was being lynched by Njiribeakos rushed to the scene of the incident and met the deceased gasping for breath. He first rushed him to the nearest hospital around Salvation Hospital, MCC Road, Owerri where the deceased was rejected, then to Aladinma Hospital, Owerri where he was informed that his sibling is dead. Not believing this pronouncement, he rushed him to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where it was also confirmed that his brother has died. He then deposited the corpse in the mortuary and incidented the matter at the Owerri North Divisional Police Headquarters, Uratta (Toronto). PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App Letter of case transfer The Owerri North Divisional Police had told the family that they were conducting preliminary investigation on the matter from the 30th of April 2017 to the 8th of May 2017. After a week of supposed investigation, we wrote a petition see attached copies to the State CID alleging misdemeanor with the handling of the case and therefore requested a transfer of the case to the State Command, Owerri. On Monday 8th May 2017, the case was successfully transferred to the State CID, Owerri. Our worry now is that the key suspect and culprit of the killing of our son/brother, CHIEF VICTOR NJIRIBEAKO has been released by the Nigerian Police with the excuse that he was being released on health grounds with no prior medical report evidencing any ailment(s). We therefore reject this unfairly prejudiced excuse against #JUSTICEFORCHIDIEBEREUKA. This is because the said Chief Victor Njiribeako with his earlier boast can compromise the thorough investigation of this case. And presently, we're getting information that the Imo State CID are planning to release another of the suspects on the flimsy excuse that she pleaded an alibi. This is even when they are yet to apprehend the other suspects that absconded. READ ALSO: Lady shares pictures of her 21st birthday, Nigerians react Charity Njirieako (Chief's wife) and one of his sons We implore the Nigeria Police, State CID Owerri, Imo State under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police- CP CHRIS EZIKE to carry out their investigations into this premeditated murder of a young man in his prime UNABATED, irrespective of whomsoever that is aligning forces OR whose ox is gored, AND we are ALSO using this medium (though we will officially send letters) to extend our invitation to #CivilSocietyOrganizations #NigerianHumanRightObservers #NigerianPress and all other related partners and crime watchers to come to our aid to ensure JUSTICE is served in this matter." Watch Legit.ng video below: Sad! Source: Legit.ng As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ... A measles outbreak has hit the midwestern state of Minnesota, with 50 cases reported in recent weeks. Health officials say at least 45 cases were among children in the Somali-American community in the city of Minneapolis. Nearly all of those affected were not vaccinated against measles. Measles is a serious disease that can cause breathing problems, brain swelling, or even death. It spreads very easily among unvaccinated people. U.S. health officials recommend that all children receive a combined vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella. This combination vaccine is called MMR. But many parents in the Somali community oppose vaccinations because they believe they can cause a child to develop autism. A 2014 study by the American Board of Family Medicine found that 35 percent of Somali parents surveyed in Minneapolis believed the MMR vaccine causes autism. Just 8 percent of non-Somalis held the same belief. Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a developmental disability. It affects a persons ability to communicate and do things with other people. The University of Minnesota reported in a 2010 study that about one in 32 Somali children aged 7-9 in Minneapolis developed ASD. Another highly publicized study from a British researcher in 1998 linked autism to the MMR vaccination. The 1998 study was later discredited and withdrawn by the British journal The Lancet, which reported it. Other research in recent years has failed to support the 2010 studys findings. One major study involving 95,000 American children was released in 2015. It found no harmful link between the MMR vaccine and ASD, even in children already at higher risk for ASD. Other American communities with low vaccination rates have also experienced measles outbreaks in recent years. Dr. Mohamed Hagi Aden is with Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. He told VOA's Somali Service all parents should inform themselves about the latest research suggesting no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The Minnesota Department of Health is taking steps to win back trust in vaccines. Two Somalis are now working with the department on outreach efforts. One visits mothers' groups, day care centers and schools to talk about vaccines. The other informs parents about autism and provides information about resources for special-needs children. Minnesota health officials have requested $5 million in state money to deal with the measles emergency, as well as other recent outbreaks of tuberculosis and syphilis. Im Bryan Lynn. Mohamed Olad Hassan and Steve Baragona reported on this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted it for Learning English, with additional material from the Associated Press and other sources. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Do you think parents should accept official recommendations to vaccinate their children? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story outbreak n. sudden start of disease breaking out swelling n. area of the body that grows larger than normal because of illness or injury recommend v. suggest something is good for a particular purpose discredit - v. something revealed to be not true outreach n. going out into a community to provide information or services (HealthDay)Many Americans still don't get lifesaving cancer screenings because they are uninsured, a new report reveals. Uninsured people have the lowest rates of mammography, Pap testing and colon cancer screening in the United States, according to American Cancer Society researchers. "The report underlines the growing disparities in cancer prevention between groups of the American populations defined according to race, ethnicity and socio-economic status," said Dr. Paolo Boffetta. He is associate director for cancer prevention at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, in New York City. But another study published Wednesday found that more cancers have been caught in their early stages since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most likely because the law requires that insurers offer complete coverage for certain cancer screenings. Meanwhile, the American Csncer Society's new report detailed promising news in the prevention of cancer. For example, smoking has continued to decline. In 2015, only 15 percent of adults smoked cigarettes. Smoking among high school students fell from 29 percent in 1999 to 9 percent in 2015. Use of indoor tanning beds also has continued to decrease. Only 4 percent of adults reported using a tanning bed in 2015, while use among high school girls has declined from 25 percent in 2009 to 11 percent in 2015. But the United States still does not take full advantage of all known ways to prevent cancer, said report author Ann Goding Sauer. "We have made headway in certain areas, but we still have a ways to go," Sauer said. "There are things we still can do." Screening can catch certain cancers while they are still treatable, but too few Americans are receiving regular testing, Sauer and her colleagues found. The lowest rates of screening tend to be among the uninsured, noted Dr. Jan Buckner, an oncologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Recent immigrants also were less likely to receive regular cancer screening, possibly because they either are uninsured or don't know how to access health care. The American Cancer Society report found that: Only half of women aged 40 and older had a mammogram within the past year, and two-thirds had one within the past two years. The lowest rate of mammography in the past two years occurred among uninsured women (31 percent). Just four out of five adult women had received a cervical cancer-detecting Pap test in the past three years. The uninsured (61 percent) and recent immigrants (68 percent) were even less likely to have had the test. Only 63 percent of adults aged 50 and older had undergone colon cancer screening. Again, the uninsured (25 percent) and recent immigrants (34 percent) lagged behind. "What does stand out is the unevenness of screening and prevention, and it's pretty clear that a lot of the disparity relates to income," Buckner said. Americans also are not taking advantage of another means of cancer preventionthe HPV vaccine to protect against human papillomavirus. This vaccination can prevent nearly all cases of cervical cancer, as well as many cases of oral and anal cancer, but only 63 percent of girls and 50 percent of boys had received at least one dose of HPV vaccine in 2015. About 52 percent of girls and 39 percent of boys completed two or more doses. "Even though adolescents are getting vaccinated for other things, HPV is still lagging behind those other vaccinations," Sauer noted. Obesity also is increasing Americans' cancer risk, the report added. Excess weight has been linked to a higher risk for 13 different forms of cancer, including breast, ovarian, stomach, kidney, liver, pancreatic and colorectal cancers, according to the report. Seven out of 10 adults carry excess weight, and 38 percent are obese, the report says. Obesity also tripled among teenagers between 1976 and 2002. Unfortunately, Americans are not taking the steps needed to help control their weight: Only half of adults and 27 percent of high school students meet recommended levels of physical activity. Fewer than one-third of adults or high school students reported eating two or more servings of fruit per day. Only 16 percent of adults and 15 percent of high schoolers ate vegetables three or more times per day. "Reducing disparities in cancer prevention and controlnotably in smoking and obesity prevalence, and access to screening programsshould be given the highest priority at the national and local level," Boffetta said. The new American Cancer Society report was released online May 18. More information: Paolo Boffetta, M.D., MPH, associate director, cancer prevention, Tisch Cancer Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City; Ann Goding Sauer, MSPH, epidemiologist, American Cancer Society; Jan Buckner, M.D., oncologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; May 18, 2017, American Cancer Society report, Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures 2017-2018 Paolo Boffetta, M.D., MPH, associate director, cancer prevention, Tisch Cancer Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City; Ann Goding Sauer, MSPH, epidemiologist, American Cancer Society; Jan Buckner, M.D., oncologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; May 18, 2017, American Cancer Society report, For more on cancer screening, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: University of Manchester Researchers at The University of Manchester have discovered that a protein (5T4) found on the surface of cells contributes to chemotherapy resistance in the most common type of childhood leukaemia. Using a novel approach, early testing shows that targeting the protein with an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) could hold promise in improving treatment. The research, which was funded by the blood cancer charity, Bloodwise, is published in Haematologica. Survival rates for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) have improved substantially over the years. Now, around nine in 10 children can look forward to being cured, but current treatment usually an intense course of chemotherapy is gruelling and can leave children with life-long side effects such as infertility and even secondary cancers. There is also a chance of the blood cancer returning if high levels of leukaemia initiating cells remain after the first rounds of intensive treatment. If the cancer comes back, it is more difficult to treat. In a study led by Professors Vaskar Saha and Peter Stern, researchers analysed samples from children who were determined to be at either low or high risk of relapse based on the numbers of leukaemic cells remaining after their first round of chemotherapy. The researchers found a high proportion of 5T4 positive leukaemia cells in patients with a high risk of relapse, while this marker was not detected in samples taken from children who responded well to initial treatment. 5T4 positive leukaemia cells are significantly more clonogenic. This means that the disease can recur from very few residual cells. The researchers discovered that the 5T4 protein helps leukaemia stem cells migrate from the blood vessels to the safety of the bone marrow during treatment, which makes these cells much harder to eradicate as this offers protection from chemotherapy. Using a model system of human leukaemia engrafted in mice, an ADC developed by Pfizer Inc., A1mcMMAF, which targets cells with 5T4 molecules on the surface and delivers a drug which is toxic for the cells, was shown to be very effective in treatment. In addition, when used in combination with dexamethasone, a standard component of induction therapy, there was a significantly improved survival of the mice. Professor Vaskar Saha, who led the research with Professor Peter Stern at The University of Manchester, said: "Although this is early work, our findings suggest that leukaemic initiating cells that have 5T4 are better at entering sites in the body that will protect them from standard chemotherapy, causing drug resistance and relapse. By targeting 5T4 in mice, we have shown that we can selectively attack the treatment-resistant leukaemia cells." Dr Alasdair Rankin, Director of Research at Bloodwise, said: "The chemotherapy currently used to treat childhood ALL is not always effective, and can cause life-long side effects. Using targeted therapies alone or in combination - that hone in on specific characteristics of the cancer cells, could eventually make therapies gentler and more effective. These early findings are promising, and have opened up the future possibility of a new targeted treatment for childhood ALL." More information: Owen J McGinn et al. Targeting the 5T4 oncofoetal glycoprotein with an antibody drug conjugate (A1mcmmaf) improves survival in patient derived xenograft models of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Haematologica (2017). Owen J McGinn et al. Targeting the 5T4 oncofoetal glycoprotein with an antibody drug conjugate (A1mcmmaf) improves survival in patient derived xenograft models of acute lymphoblastic leukemia,(2017). DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2016.158485 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The faces of people around us influence what we find attractive, according to the latest research by the University of St Andrews. The study, published today (May 18, 2017) by the journal Human Nature, examined how the appearance of a person's population influences their facial preferences. Researchers Carlota Batres, Mallini Kannan and David Perrett found that people tended to prefer mates with the same characteristics as those they were most familiar to. The study involved asking male and female subjects in different areas which men and women they found most attractive from digitally-manipulated face pairs. The researchers also collected photographs of the subjects which were then rated online by different participants residing in in another country. The study found that the facial characteristics common to each person's population were considered to be the most attractive. For example, the faces of women in rural areas of Malaysia and El Salvador were rated as looking heavier than women's faces from urban areas. Both male and female subjects in those rural areas preferred heavier-looking female faces. Dr Carlota Batres, who led the research, said, "In a world where it is said that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', it might actually be that 'beauty is in the faces of those we behold', since we grow to like those around us." Further research will be needed to examine just how far this effect can extend, such as whether binge watching a specific show could lead us to prefer people who look like those actors, or whether high exposure to politicians' faces could also influence our preferences. Professor David Perrett, who runs the Perception Lab at St Andrews, added, "Future research that examines beauty ideals between populations should also examine the facial characteristics that make up such populations." More information: Carlota Batres et al. Familiarity with Own Population's Appearance Influences Facial Preferences, Human Nature (2017). Journal information: Human Nature Carlota Batres et al. Familiarity with Own Population's Appearance Influences Facial Preferences,(2017). DOI: 10.1007/s12110-017-9289-8 Credit: xiaphias/Wikipedia You know the drill: You haven't had a good night's sleep for a few days and now you don't like what you see in the mirror - puffy eyelids, dark circles, sallow skin. You splash some water on your face and hope no one notices. Besides, it doesn't really matter if you look tired, you tell yourself. It's not like anyone is going to notice, right? Wrong. It turns out that just two consecutive nights of restricted sleep can make you appear less attractive to others and, even worse, make them less interested in hanging out with you, according to a study in Royal Society Open Science. "People seem to be able to tell when someone needs more sleep, and are more inclined to leave them alone in that case," the authors wrote in the new work. To come to this conclusion the researchers recruited 25 volunteers who agreed to deliberately limit their sleep for the good of science. Member of this group, referred to as "subjects" in the paper, had their photo taken twice - once after two consecutive nights of normal sleep (about 7.5 hours) and again after two consecutive nights of poor sleep (about 4.25 hours). In both sets of pictures the subjects were photographed in a gray T-shirt, with their hair pulled away from their faces, and were told not to wear makeup. Next, the researchers showed the photos to a different set of 122 volunteers they called "raters." These people were asked to rate the subjects on attractiveness, health, sleepiness and trustworthiness. They also were asked how much they would like to socialize with the person in the photo. The study authors found that overall, raters were less willing to socialize with tired-looking subjects compared with those who were well rested. In addition, they also deemed the poorly rested subjects to be less attractive, less healthy and more sleepy compared to when they were well rested. "Telling someone they look tired says more about your perception of them than you might think," the authors wrote. The study did not address the reason that a lack of sleep makes others want to avoid you, but the authors have a hypothesis. They explain that blood flow to the skin is strongly promoted by sleep. Perhaps when we don't get enough sleep, that results in restricted blood flow to the skin, which in turn would make us look more pale and tired. "We're still not sure about this," said Tina Sundelin, a post-doctoral student in psychology at both the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and New York University who led the work. "Hanging and swollen eyelids is probably due to something other than blood flow, but we haven't looked into that yet." She added that not everyone looks worse after a few nights of bad sleeping. "For some participants, it was very clear which condition the photo belonged to, and for others, there was virtually no difference between the two," Sundelin said. "A couple of participants were even rated as more attractive after sleep restriction." And here's another piece of good news: Sundelin said that coffee and makeup might help a person look more awake. "Something as easy as smiling might help," she said. "A 2013 study indicated that sleep-deprived people look a bit more sad, so smiling more may further counteract the effects of looking tired." It's good to know you've got options if you've had a few rough nights, but Sundelin still encourages you to prioritize getting more sleep. "That gives other benefits as well," she said. More information: Tina Sundelin et al. Negative effects of restricted sleep on facial appearance and social appeal, Royal Society Open Science (2017). Journal information: Royal Society Open Science Tina Sundelin et al. Negative effects of restricted sleep on facial appearance and social appeal,(2017). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160918 2017 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A new study indicates that waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) may be as reliable as direct measures of different types of body fat for assessing an individual's risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). In the past two decades there has been an increase in the prevalence of CKD that has paralleled the increase in the prevalence of obesity. Although higher BMI has been associated with development of CKD, it may be important to consider where excess fat is stored, rather than simply how much excess fat a person is carrying. This is because fat can have differing effects on health and metabolism depending on its location in the body. To investigate, Magdalena Madero, MD (National Heart Institute, in Mexico City) and her colleagues examined information from computed tomography scans on 2489 Health Aging and Body Composition Study participants who had normal kidney function and an average age of 74 years. The scans measured visceral abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, and intermuscular fat. The team also collected patient data on BMI and waist circumference. CKD developed in 17% of participants over a median follow-up of 9 years. Visceral fat, intermuscular fat, BMI, and waist circumferencebut not subcutaneous fatwere all associated with kidney function decline and the development of CKD. "Although we hypothesized that direct measures of body fat would provide a better risk estimate for kidney function decline, we found that anthropometric measures of body fat such as BMI appear to provide similar estimates," said Dr. Madero. More information: "Comparison between Different Measures of Body Fat with Kidney Function Decline and Incident Chronic Kidney Disease," Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (2017). Journal information: Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology "Comparison between Different Measures of Body Fat with Kidney Function Decline and Incident Chronic Kidney Disease,"(2017). DOI: 10.2215/CJN.07010716 VEGF-A (blue) in follicular cells of the thyroid. This study shows that the protein VEGF-A and its correspondent receptor VEGFR2 trigger two common hallmarks of thyroid diseases: enlargement of the thyroid and increase in density of the capillaries surrounding this gland. Credit: Institute for Basic Science A research team has clarified a molecular mechanism of the thyroid and surrounding vascular system in the most common form of hyperthyroidism. Published in the EMBO Molecular Medicine journal, these findings provide a potential therapeutic target for thyroid diseases. The thyroid is a highly vascularized organ found behind the Adam's apple. Some of the functions of the thyroid are regulated by a hormone called thyrotropin, produced in the brain. Graves' disease, the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in the United States, affects both the thyroid and the surrounding vascular network. In this disease, the thyroid produces an excessive amount of hormones and the capillaries become denser. "Previous studies show that abnormalities in thyroid glands and surrounding vasculature are interconnected, we wanted to understand how this happens, at the molecular level," explains Koh. Using animal models that simulate Graves' disease, IBS scientists uncovered the biological pathway contributing to this disorder. They found that the culprit is the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). This protein is involved in forming new vessels around the thyroid. It also regulates the hormonal exchange between these vessels and the thyroid through very small pores called fenestrae. Thyrotropin affects the vascular diameter of capillaries surrounding the thyroid. Changes in vascular diameter with normal (left), less than normal (middle), and higher (right) levels of the hormone thyrotropin. Excess of thyrotropin stimulation is associated with human thyroidal diseases like hyperthyroidism, Graves' disease, goiter, and cancer. Credit: Institute for Basic Science Upon stimulation with the thyrotropin hormone, VEGF-A is produced by the thyroid gland. As a result, the thyroid enlarges and the walls of the capillaries (constituted mainly by endothelial cells) increase the expression of VEGFR2, the receptor for VEGF-A. By blocking VEGFR2, the scientists could inhibit enlargement of the thyroid and stop vascular remodeling. "Our findings identify VEGFR2 blockade as a novel therapeutic avenue for targeting thyroid disease associated with thyrotropin," explains Koh. The research team could also exclude other molecular pathways. For example, they found that the angiopoietin-Tie2 pathway, fundamental in other tissues like the eyes and brain, does not play a major role in remodeling the vasculature of the thyroid gland. Finally, VEGFR3 was ruled out from the indispensable pool of proteins that maintain thyroid vascular integrity. More information: Jeon Yeob Jang et al. VEGFR2 but not VEGFR3 governs integrity and remodeling of thyroid angiofollicular unit in normal state and during goitrogenesis, EMBO Molecular Medicine (2017). Journal information: EMBO Molecular Medicine Jeon Yeob Jang et al. VEGFR2 but not VEGFR3 governs integrity and remodeling of thyroid angiofollicular unit in normal state and during goitrogenesis,(2017). DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201607341 Your spit may hold a clue to future brain health. Investigators at the Beaumont Research Institute, part of Beaumont Health in Michigan, are hopeful that their study involving small molecules in saliva will help identify those at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease - a neurologic condition predicted to reach epidemic proportions worldwide by 2050. Their study, "Diagnostic Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease as Identified in Saliva using 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics" was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 58(2) on May 16. Investigators found salivary molecules hold promise as reliable diagnostic biomarkers. The study exemplifies the quest by scientists to combat Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative brain disorder with no cure and few reliable diagnostic tests. In the United States, Alzheimer's is a health epidemic affecting more than 5 million Americans. Investigators seek to develop valid and reliable biomarkers, diagnosing the disease in its earliest stages before brain damage occurs and dementia begins. Researcher Stewart Graham, Ph.D., said, "We used metabolomics, a newer technique to study molecules involved in metabolism. Our goal was to find unique patterns of molecules in the saliva of our study participants that could be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in the earliest stages, when treatment is considered most effective. Presently, therapies for Alzheimer's are initiated only after a patient is diagnosed and treatments offer modest benefits." Metabolomics is used in medicine and biology for the study of living organisms. It measures large numbers of naturally occurring small molecules, called metabolites, present in the blood, saliva and tissues. The pattern or fingerprint of metabolites in the biological sample can be used to learn about the health of the organism. "Our team's study demonstrates the potential for using metabolomics and saliva for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease," explained Dr. Graham. "Given the ease and convenience of collecting saliva, the development of accurate and sensitive biomarkers would be ideal for screening those at greatest risk of developing Alzheimer's. In fact, unlike blood or cerebrospinal fluid, saliva is one of the most noninvasive means of getting cellular samples and it's also inexpensive." The study participants included 29 adults in three groups: mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and a control group. After specimens were collected, the researchers positively identified and accurately quantified 57 metabolites. Some of the observed variances in the biomarkers were significant. From their data, they were able to make predictions as to those at most risk of developing Alzheimer's.Said Dr. Graham, "Worldwide, the development of valid and reliable biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease is considered the No. 1 priority for most national dementia strategies. It's a necessary first step to design prevention and early-intervention research studies." As Americans age, the number of people affected by Alzheimer's is rising dramatically. According to the Alzheimer's Association, by 2050, it's estimated the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease will triple to about 15-16 million. Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia affecting a person's ability to think, communicate and function. It greatly impacts their relationships, their independence and lifestyle. The condition's toll not only affects millions of Americans, but in 2017, it could cost the nation $259 billion. More information: Ali Yilmaz et al, Diagnostic Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease as Identified in Saliva using 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2017). Journal information: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Ali Yilmaz et al, Diagnostic Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease as Identified in Saliva using 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics,(2017). DOI: 10.3233/JAD-161226 (HealthDay)Families seeking to cool off don't expect to pick up a nasty infection. Yet, outbreaks of a diarrhea-causing parasitic infection have doubled in recent years at swimming pools and water playgrounds in the United States, health officials warn. At least 32 outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis were reported in 2016, compared with 16 outbreaks in 2014, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Crypto is the most common cause of diarrhea, the CDC says. It spreads when people come in contact with the feces of an infected person. Otherwise healthy people can be sick for up to three weeks with watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea or vomiting, the CDC warns. The infection can become life-threatening in people with compromised immune systems. The cause? Adults or children sick with crypto-caused diarrhea are swimming in public pools despite their illness and further spreading the parasite, said Michele Hlavsa, chief of the CDC's Healthy Swimming Program. During a diarrheal incident, "a typical person who's sick with Cryptosporidium can release 10 million to 100 million oocysts, which is the infectious stage of crypto," Hlavsa said. "Swallowing 10 or fewer of these oocysts can make you sick. Looking at a typical-sized pool, even swallowing a mouthful of water can make us sick." People also can contaminate pool water with crypto through physical contact, said Lilly Kan, senior director of infectious disease and informatics with the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO). For example, parents might spread the parasite if they change a child's crypto-contaminated diaper and then hop in the water without properly washing their hands, Kan said. Hlavsa explained that crypto is resistant to chlorine, and can survive up to 10 days in even properly chlorinated pool water. "The oocysts have a hard outer shell, and that makes them very resistant to chemical disinfectants," Hlavsa said. Last year's crypto outbreaks numbered the highest this decade, according to the CDC report. However, experts can't tell whether more outbreaks are actually occurring or public health officials have gotten better at detecting them, Hlavsa said. The findings were published May 19 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The report cited some state-specific outbreaks: Ohio experienced a nearly fivefold increase in cryptosporidiosis cases in 2016, with 1,940 reported cases compared with an average 399 cases during the prior four years. One outbreak sickened members of a university sports team after they visited a water park. Arizona reported 352 lab-confirmed cases between July and October 2016, compared with a maximum 62 cases detected annually in years prior. These included 36 players and family members associated with a Little League team who got sick after visiting a Maricopa County aquatic facility. People should not swim if they are sick with diarrhea, and they should keep children with diarrhea out of the pool, Hlavsa said. If they have been diagnosed with crypto, they should wait two weeks after diarrhea has stopped to go swimming. Parents should take kids on bathroom breaks often, and shouldn't count on swim diapers protecting other swimmers from exposure to a child's diarrhea, Hlavsa added. "Swim diapers do not contain diarrhea," she said. "If water is getting into that diaper, then water is getting out." To protect themselves, swimmers should avoid swallowing any pool water, and make sure that kids don't have pool toys that encourage swallowing the water, Hlavsa said. A second report in the MMWR noted another potential hazard of public poolsinhalation of toxic chlorine gas. Between 2008 and 2015, mishandled pool chemicals harmed about 190 people in California in nine separate incidents, the report noted. Symptoms of inhaled chlorine gas included vomiting, coughing and eye irritation. Workers need to read the label on pool chemicals, follow the directions and wear proper safety equipment, Hlavsa said. In addition, Jennifer Li, senior director of environmental health for NACCHO, said that employees should clear the pool area before starting recirculation pumps, because introduction of concentrated pool chemicals can cause a sudden release of chlorine gas. Managers of pools and water parks need to make sure employees are trained, Li added. "There's a lot of seasonal staff at these public venues, and they need to be properly educated before they're out there doing pool maintenance," Li said. More information: Michele Hlavsa, RN, MPH, chief, Healthy Swimming Program, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Lilly Kan, MPH, senior director, infectious disease and informatics, National Association of County & City Health Officials; Jennifer Li, MHS, senior director, environmental health, National Association of County & City Health Officials; May 19, 2018, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Michele Hlavsa, RN, MPH, chief, Healthy Swimming Program, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Lilly Kan, MPH, senior director, infectious disease and informatics, National Association of County & City Health Officials; Jennifer Li, MHS, senior director, environmental health, National Association of County & City Health Officials; May 19, 2018, For more on healthy and safe swimming, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Journal information: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A first-ever global study finds massive inequity of access to and quality of health care among and within countries, and concludes people are dying from causes with well-known treatments. "What we have found about health care access and quality is disturbing," said Dr. Christopher Murray, senior author of the study and Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. "Having a strong economy does not guarantee good health care. Having great medical technology doesn't either. We know this because people are not getting the care that should be expected for diseases with established treatments." For example, on a scale of 1 to 100 for health care access and quality, Norway and Australia each scored 90 overall, among the highest in the world. However, Norway scored 65 in its treatment for testicular cancer, and Australia scored 52 for treating non-melanoma skin cancer. "In the majority of cases, both of these cancers can be treated effectively," Dr. Murray said. "Shouldn't it cause serious concern that people are dying of these causes in countries that have the resources to address them?" The top-ranked nation was Andorra with an overall score of 95; its lowest treatment score was for Hodgkin's lymphoma at 70. The lowest-ranked nation was Central African Republic at 29; its highest treatment score was for diphtheria at 65. Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who participated in the study, commented: "Using deaths that could be avoided as a measure of the quality of a health system is not new but what makes this study so important is its scope, drawing on the vast data resources assembled by the Global Burden of Disease team to go beyond earlier work in rich countries to cover the entire world in great detail, as well as the development of a means to assess what a country should be able to achieve, recognizing that not all are at the same level of development. As the world's governments move ahead to implement the goal of universal health coverage, to which they committed in the Sustainable Development Goals, these data will provide a necessary baseline from which they can track progress." The United States had an overall score of 81, tied with Estonia and Montenegro. As with many other nations, the US scored 100 in treating common vaccine-preventable diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, and measles. But the US had nine treatment categories in which it scored in the 60s: lower respiratory infections (60), neonatal disorders (69), non-melanoma skin cancer (68), Hodgkin's lymphoma (67), ischemic heart disease (62), hypertensive heart disease (64), diabetes (67), chronic kidney disease (62), and the adverse effects of medical treatment itself (68). "America's ranking is an embarrassment, especially considering the US spends more than $9,000 per person on health care annually, more than any other country," Dr. Murray said. "Anyone with a stake in the current health care debate, including elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels, should take a look at where the US is falling short." The study was published today in the international medical journal The Lancet, and represents the first effort to assess access and quality of services in 195 countries from 1990 to 2015. Researchers used a Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index, based on death rates from 32 causes that could be avoided by timely and effective medical care, known as "amenable mortality." Scores were based on estimates from the annual Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study (GBD), a systematic, scientific effort to quantify the magnitude of health loss from all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors by age, sex, and population. With more than 2,300 collaborators in 132 countries and 3 non-sovereign locations, GBD examines 300-plus diseases and injuries. In addition, data were extracted from the most recent GBD update and evaluated using a Socio-demographic Index (SDI) based on rates of education, fertility, and income. SDI goes beyond the historical "developed" versus "developing" nations. Previous assessments of health quality and access were limited primarily to high-income countries, particularly in Western Europe. Nations in much of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in south Asia and several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, experienced the lowest rankings. Nonetheless, many countries in these regions, including China (score: 74) and Ethiopia (score: 44), have seen sizeable gains since 1990. The paper does offer some favorable signs of improvement in health care access and quality. Since 1990, several countries have achieved progress that met or surpassed levels reached by other nations of similar development. These countries included Turkey, Peru, South Korea, the Maldives, Niger, Jordan, and several Western European nations such as Switzerland, Spain, and France. IHME plans each year to update the report, "Healthcare Access and Quality Index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015: a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015." It aims to use these results to better understand gaps and opportunities for improving health care access throughout the world. The Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index is a summary measure based on 32 causes, that in the presence of high-quality health care, should not result in death. These 32 causes were selected as part of research that Professor Martin McKee and Dr. Ellen Nolte, both co-authors in this study, began in the early 2000s. The causes are: Tuberculosis Diarrhea-related diseases Lower respiratory infections Upper respiratory infections Diphtheria Whooping cough Tetanus Measles Maternal disorders Neonatal disorders Colon and rectum cancer Non-melanoma skin cancer Breast cancer Cervical cancer Uterine cancer Testicular cancer Hodgkin's lymphoma Leukemia Rheumatic heart disease Ischemic heart disease Cerebrovascular disease (stroke) Hypertensive heart disease Chronic respiratory diseases Peptic ulcer disease Appendicitis Inguinal, femoral, and abdominal hernia Gallbladder and biliary diseases Epilepsy Diabetes mellitus Chronic kidney disease Congenital anomalies Adverse effects of medical treatment Spacefilling model of oxytocin. Created using ACD/ChemSketch 8.0, ACD/3D Viewer and The GIMP. Credit: Wikipedia. Oxytocin is often called the "love hormone" or "cuddle chemical," but American and Norwegian researchers have found out that it may as well be called a "crisis hormone." "When people notice that their partner is showing less interest in their relationship than they are, the level of this relationship-building hormone increases," says Andreas Aarseth Kristoffersen, a research assistant in NTNU's Department of psychology. The hormone oxytocin has long been associated with relationships in several different ways. Oxytocin has a great reputation, because it is thought that it can make us feel better by reducing anxiety and making us feel more generous. Our brain secretes it during orgasm. It also influences the relationship between mother and child. But it's not all cuddling and love. Two or more possibilities "Two main theories exist. Some scientists believe that oxytocin is released primarily to enhance a relationship and make it stronger when you're with someone you love," says Aarseth Kristoffersen. But others believe that oxytocin levels increase primarily when we find ourselves in difficult or even threatening situations. In those cases, the hormone helps us seek out new social relationships. However it may not just be either-or. Hormone increases in good and bad times NTNU researchers joined researchers from the University of New Mexico to study the connection between oxytocin and investment in couple relationships. The researchers examined 75 American couples, and 148 Norwegian individuals who were one of the partners in their relationships. Newly minted Ph.D. Nicholas M. Grebe is the study's first author and visited Professor Kennair at NTNU's Department of Psychology. Kennair has collaborated with Grebe's Ph.D. advisor Professor Steven W. Gangestad. "Participants in the study were asked to think about their partner and how they wish their partner would connect with them in the relationship," says Trond Viggo Grntvedt, PhD, from the Department of Psychology. (See Fact Box for precise wording.) Oxytocin levels were measured both before and during the tasks. In both studies, individuals showed elevated hormone levels when they felt strong personal investment in the bond. In this case, oxytocin's reputation as a love hormone holds up. "Yes, oxytocin relates to one's feelings of involvementbut, this association is particularly strong when one feels more involved than their partner," says Nick Grebe. But the crucial finding came from simultaneously examining both partners' involvement.. The partners who were more invested in a relationship released more oxytocin when they thought about their relationship than the less invested partner did. Considering both members together, it was the difference in investment between partners that predicted an increase in oxytocin. Here, oxytocin may be acting more like a "crisis hormone." "It's seems contradictory that you would release more oxytocin both when things are going well and when they're not, but that's how it is," says Aarseth Kristoffersen. But why would that be? Put more effort into the relationship "This may be because people in a relationship where their partner is waffling need to engage more," Aarseth Kristoffersen says. "The idea behind the prediction was that oxytocin might promote attention and motivation toward the relationship when it was both important and threatened," says Professor Gangestad. For example, the partner who is most invested in the relationship might benefit from putting even more effort into making it work, so that the more sceptical party re-engages. "What's implied here is a statement about what oxytocin is doing: It's perhaps fostering attention to and motivation to "take care of" the relationship," says Gangestad. Nevertheless, there is apparently some would say fortunately a limit. This would apply to relationships where everything seems lost and is clearly heading for a break-up. In those situations, the more invested partner does not show the same increase in oxytocin levels. "There's no point in investing more in a lost cause," says Kennair. There appears to be a limit to how long you should spend energy and resources on a relationship that is simply over. However, this is still mostly speculation for now. What you believe is what matters The researchers found no significant difference between US and Norwegian results. Responses to the study tasks were consistent across cultural conditions, which reinforces the theory that the underlying explanation is biological. The procedure in the two countries differed somewhat. The American couples were asked directly about how committed they were in their relationships. The Norwegian individuals were asked how invested they thought their partner was in the relationship. This made no difference for the results. It is enough if you think the relationship is weakening because your partner is losing interest. This will trigger your brain to release extra oxytocin. "I might emphasize that it isn't necessarily 'bad' or 'good' for a person to release oxytocin. Yes, it might motivate attention that helps to maintain a relationship, but as the article hints, that isn't necessarily desirable, though it could be! What is biologically 'functional' and socially 'desirable' are two different things," says Nick Grebe. "We think that viewing oxytocin in this way can help us understand why it plays a role in other kinds of interdependent social relationshipsnew romances, mother-infant bonds, as two examples. The idea is that emotionally salient relationships, especially when those relationships are vulnerable, are elicitors of the oxytocin system," Nick Grebe concludes. More information: Nicholas M. Grebe et al. Oxytocin and vulnerable romantic relationships, Hormones and Behavior (2017). Journal information: Hormones and Behavior Nicholas M. Grebe et al. Oxytocin and vulnerable romantic relationships,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.02.009 Provided by Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Queen's University Belfast is co-leading a major UK trial -- one of the biggest in the world in the area of respiratory failure. Credit: QUB A new technology'dialysis for the lungs'which could save thousands of lives in Intensive Care Units is being taken forward by researchers at Queen's University Belfast in one of the biggest clinical trials in the world in the area of respiratory failure. Queen's researchers and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust are co-leading the landmark trial involving 1,120 critically ill patients in 40 different hospital sites across the UK over the next four years. Recruited patients will test the effectiveness of a new procedure designed to alleviate the pressure put on the lungs by mechanical ventilationor 'ventilators'. Researchers believe the new procedurewhich removes carbon dioxide from the blood in a process similar to kidney dialysiscan significantly improve survival rates in people suffering respiratory failure but only a full trial will provide evidence. Respiratory failure is common in the UK; about 100,000 people each year require ventilators and up to 40% of these patients ultimately die. In Northern Ireland, around 600 people require ventilators with approximately 240 deaths. The number of deaths exceeds that from road traffic accidents or from common cancers such as prostate cancer. Although ventilators save lives, they are also linked with damage to the lungs, because of the pressure exerted. The new technology being trialled by Queen's and Belfast Trust is called 'extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal' and allows for a gentler ventilation. Queen's and Belfast Trust medics completed a pilot trial last year, across 10 UK sites, which demonstrated that the procedure was safe and did facilitate gentler ventilation. The full trial will concentrate on how significantly it can impact mortality rates. Professor Danny McAuley, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen's University Belfast, explained: "A mechanical ventilator acts like bellows as air is forced into the lungs under pressure. If the pressure is too high, this can cause lasting damage. "These new devices, however, have been designed to help remove carbon dioxide from the patient's blood - in a process quite similar to kidney dialysiswhich is one of the main functions of the lungs. By temporarily removing this function from the lungs, it means lungs do not have to work quite as hard, so a gentler ventilation should be sufficient. "Recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines have encouraged clinicians in the UK to recruit patients to our trial which is a great endorsement of what we are doing here at Queen's." Dr James McNamee, from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said: "In our study, there will be two groups of people admitted to ICUs with respiratory failure. One will receive the best level of care within current NHS guidelines while the other group will have the additional, new treatment to artificially remove the carbon dioxide from their blood. At the end, we should know whether the new technology can significantly impact on mortality rates." The extracorporeal CO2 removal device to be used in the study, called the Hemolung Respiratory Assist System, is manufactured by US-based ALung Technologies. Peter DeComo, Chief Executive Officer of ALung said: "We are excited to see the study proceed from the pilot to pivotal stage. We applaud Professor McAuley and his team for their efforts and obtainment of this important milestone." Queen's University Belfast is co-leading a major UK trial -- one of the biggest in the world in the area of respiratory failure. Credit: QUB The 2.1million research project, including the pilot trial, is being funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment Programme. Dr Janice Bailie, Assistant Director of the Public Health Agency's Health and Social Care R&D Division in Northern Ireland, which has provided long-term support to help the Northern Ireland team secure the award said: "I am delighted that Northern Ireland will lead this UK-wide research study that has the potential to improve the management of patients in critical care worldwide. "The prestigious National Institute for Health Research offers the opportunity for local researchers like Professor McAuley and his team to bring major research income to Northern Ireland, to support this type of study. The results of this study will be of interest at an international level and will highlight the capability of Northern Ireland researchers to lead globally significant healthcare research". After celebrating its 50th anniversary in May 2016, the Rochester Epidemiology Project team is not stopping to rest. Instead, they are marking the beginning of the next 50 years with the launch of a tool that could change community and public health in the region. The Rochester Epidemiology Project's new Data Exploration Portal places regional disease prevalence data at the fingertips of health care providers and researchers. It pulls from the database that includes nearly all health information for Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents back more than 50 years. Medical records from a large contingent of the residents of 26 surrounding counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin also are in the database. Exploring the data in this free-to-access tool will enable medical researchers to compare and correlate the prevalence of different conditions and determine if there is something to investigate. They can find age- or sex-specific information, identify geographic clusters and determine if data are available to support their hypothesis. Public health agencies can use the Data Exploration Portal to narrow their focus to the conditions most relevant to their communities. "Knowing what conditions are most common in our communities helps us plan programs and allocate funds in an efficient manner," says Pete Giesen, director, Olmsted County Public Health Services. Primary and community care providers can identify potential patient needs and better personalize care. "The new data exploration portal will provide information about whether a particular condition exists in a geographic area," stated Kathryn Lombardo, M.D., president of Olmsted Medical Center. "For clinicians, this means we will be able to better determine the likelihood that two different clinical conditions could occur together. And, at point-of-care, it will help us determine what questions may need to be asked of our patients and, ultimately, enable us to provide more personalized care." Patients, too, can find the portal informative as they seek to learn more about their disease. "A patient recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis can find out how common the disease is in the area and know that she is not alone," says Walter Rocca, M.D., a neurologist and epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic, and co-director of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. "A son whose father has Parkinson's disease can learn how common the disease is and how the risk increases with age, and is greater for men." "Much like what we can do from a public health perspective, advocacy groups may use the Rochester Epidemiology Project's Data Exploration Portal to help define the health landscape and identify diseases and conditions that appear together," says Giesen. "This could lead to new education, outreach or collaboration opportunities." "The Rochester Epidemiology Project Data Exploration Portal provides a new way to examine the occurrence of diseases and facilitate prevention in our community," says Dr. Rocca. "We are excited to be able to share some of the data and to see what other insights it will bring to community health and wellness." Learn more about the Rochester Epidemiology Project's history by viewing its historical timelinea new interactive online display. In addition, rochesterproject.org contains information on the more than 2,600 publications that have resulted from research based on Rochester Epidemiology Project data. It also has information for current and potential researchers, as well as news and community resources. Cassie Boness, a graduate student in clinical psychology, conducted a survey to examine what techniques and instruments mental health professionals are using to aid in their determinations of whether certification of an ESA is appropriate. Credit: MU College of Veterinary Medicine Service animals help owners navigate daily tasks and often have years of training to help them serve disability-related functions. However, little consensus exists when it comes to the certification of "emotional support animals" (ESAs). These animals usually have little or no specific training, which poses a challenge for mental health professionals who are asked to certify them. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have conducted a survey to examine what techniques and instruments mental health professionals are using to aid in their determinations of whether certification of an ESA is appropriate. Researcher recommendations could help mental health practitioners make better judgments when certifying ESAs and steer policy-making decisions for housing and travel sectors. "ESAs are legally different from service animals, such as guide dogs," said Cassie Boness, a graduate student in clinical psychology in the MU College of Arts and Science. "An ESA usually provides companionship, relieves loneliness and sometimes helps with anxiety or depression. Although emotional support animals can be pets, they're not considered pets under the law and sometimes special accommodations must be afforded to individuals who have ESAs. Because of this requirement, owners seek out ways to get their pets certified without thinking about the ramifications of their actions." Federal and state laws regulating ESAs often are convoluted and ever-changing. For example, landlords who normally prohibit pets must allow ESAs and waive any fees or pet deposits. Airlines are required to allow ESAs to accompany their owners in the main cabins of aircraft. As a result, it can be implied that some patients who claim they need ESAs are doing so to "buck the system," causing a dilemma for mental health professionals who often are tasked with certifying these animals, Boness says. Boness, working with Jeffrey Younggren, a forensic psychologist and clinical professor at MU, surveyed 87 mental health professionals, 31 percent of whom have made ESA recommendations. Survey participants were required to read ESA policies, including the Department of Transportation's requirements for airline travel. Participants then answered questions about the certifying process. The survey demonstrated that both clinical and forensic practitioners are making ESA recommendations; both groups believe certifying ESAs is appropriate for treating patients. Results and recommendations from the study indicate that clinicians should not certify ESAs and doing so can trigger ethical and legal challenges, including a pending case in Colorado, Younggren says. Based on their findings, Boness and Younggren recommend that: Requests for ESAs should be met with the same thoroughness that is found in any disability evaluation Professional guidelines outlining the types of assessments, who conducts them and how they are conducted are needed Local, statewide and national policymakers should consult with mental health professionals as they vet and evaluate future legislation "A clinical practitioner's primary goal is treatment; often, personal relationships with their clients can lead to biased assessments and a willingness to certify ESAs," Younggren said. "Forensic psychologists, such as those who give expert testimony on mental capacity in court, often use comprehensive methods to assess patients. These mental health professionals generally don't have relationships with those they are assessing, are much more objective and are likely to certify ESAs correctly." The study, "The Certification of Emotional Support Animals: Differences between Clinical and Forensic Mental Health Practitioners," has been accepted for publication in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Ben Mol as a baby (just a few weeks old) with his mother, Annemie Mol-Albers, 1965. Until he embarked on this study, Professor Mol had no idea that he himself was the result of a successful pregnancy following this medical procedure. Credit: Professor Ben Mol, University of Adelaide Infertile couples have a major opportunity to achieve a successful pregnancy without the need for IVF, thanks to new research into a 100-year-old medical technique. The now lesser known techniquewhich involves flushing the woman's fallopian tubes with an iodised poppy seed oilhas been proven to have significant benefits for fertility, according to the largest study undertaken by a team involving researchers in the Netherlands and Australia. The results of the study will today be published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They will also be presented at the 13th World Congress on Endometriosis in Vancouver, Canada, by project leader Professor Ben Mol, from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, and a member of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute's Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children theme. Known as the H2Oil study, the project compared the benefits of flushing the fallopian tubes with either an oil-based or water-based solution in 1119 women. With Professor Mol, this work was conducted by Dr Kim Dreyer and Dr Velja Mijatovic from the Department of Reproductive Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, and a research team from 27 medical centres in the Netherlands. 100-year-old technique The procedure, known as hysterosalpingography (HSG), is a dye test of the fallopian tubes conducted under X-ray. The procedure was first carried out in 1917, and since the 1950s both water-based and oil-based solutions have been used. "Over the past century, pregnancy rates among infertile women reportedly increased after their tubes had been flushed with either water or oil during this X-ray procedure. Until now, it has been unclear whether the type of solution used in the procedure was influencing the change in fertility," says Professor Mol, who himself was conceived after his mother underwent such a procedure. "Our results have been even more exciting than we could have predicted, helping to confirm that an age-old medical technique still has an important place in modern medicine," he says. Results show clear benefits of oil-based solution Almost 40% of infertile women in the oil group and 29% of infertile women in the water group achieved successful pregnancies within six months of the technique being performed. The oil-based product used in the study was Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, an iodised solution of fatty acids from poppy seeds. This product is currently available in 47 countries around the world. "The rates of successful pregnancy were significantly higher in the oil-based group, and after only one treatment. This is an important outcome for women who would have had no other course of action other than to seek IVF treatment. It offers new hope to infertile couples," Professor Mol says. The big question: why? "It was long believed that testing a woman's fallopian tubes could have fertility benefits through 'flushing out' the kind of debris that hinders fertility. The reality is, we still don't really understand why there is a benefit, only that there is a benefit from this technique, in particular for women who don't present with any other treatable fertility symptoms," Professor Mol says. "Further research would need to be conducted into the mechanisms behind what we're seeing. For now, and considering the technique has been used for 100 years without any known side-effects, we believe it is a viable treatment for infertility prior to couples seeking IVF. "Not only is there a known benefit, but this flushing procedure is also a fraction of the cost of one cycle of IVF. Considering that 40% of women in the oil-based group achieved a successful pregnancy, that's 40% of couples who could avoid having to go through the huge costs and emotions associated with IVF treatment," he says. Turning around infertility - a family history Until he embarked on this study, Professor Mol had no idea that he himself was the result of a successful pregnancy following such a procedure. In the 1960s, after being considered infertile for nine years, Professor Mol's mother underwent an HSG which, coincidentally, also used Lipiodol. "It was only after I started researching this technique that my family told me what had happened," Professor Mol says. "My mother went from being infertile for many years to becoming pregnant, and I was born in 1965. I also have a younger brother. So it's entirely possible - in fact, based on our team's research, it's highly likely - that my brother and I are both the result of this technique helping my mother to achieve fertility." What can infertile couples do? "The use of used Lipiodol itself is not currently practiced widely, so the first thing couples need to do is to speak with their doctor about it," Professor Mol says. "Professional bodies responsible for guidelines, funders of health care, and fertility clinics all have a role to play in assisting infertile couples to make this intervention available to couples before IVF is started," he says. This study received no financial assistance from the makers of Lipiodol. Professor Mol's research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). More information: Kim Dreyer et al, Oil-Based or Water-Based Contrast for Hysterosalpingography in Infertile Women, New England Journal of Medicine (2017). Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine Kim Dreyer et al, Oil-Based or Water-Based Contrast for Hysterosalpingography in Infertile Women,(2017). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1612337 Microsoft has announced that it will deliver cloud services from data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2018. Services offered will include Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics 365. Although Microsoft did not state who it will partner with for the local data centres, an industry source told MyBroadband that two data centre players will be involved a different one for each city. These new Microsoft Cloud regions will offer enterprise-grade reliability and performance combined with data residency, said Microsoft. This will help organisations and people from across Africa accelerate their journey to cloud computing, it said. The data centre presence in South Africa will bring Microsoft to 40 cloud regions around the world more than any other cloud provider. Now read: Windows Azure confirmed for SA About 30 people were arrested after they blocked Grayston Drive in Sandton during a protest on Wednesday afternoon, Johannesburg metro police said. About 100 cars blocked the road, causing traffic delays, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said. Police reportedly fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at employees of telecommunications equipment company Huawei. A police spokesperson said more than 300 workers staged a protest after they were fired. Minnaar said the cars were towed away around 17:00. Thirty people were arrested, but only 16 were charged with public violence and contempt of court, he said. News24 Now read: Vodacom store robbed by men in luxury cars Poland and Slovakia will increase defense spending Audi presents new crossovers Q8 e-tron Benny Gantz: Israel has an opportunity to strike Iran's nuclear facilities Samvel Babayan: Russia will withdraw peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh Hungarian government sets price ceiling on eggs and potatoes Benny Gantz: Israel does not have the production capacity to supply Ukraine with air defense systems Germany must adopt energy-saving measures in face of skyrocketing inflation Beglaryan: Azerbaijan continues and will continue its policy of genocide and hatred against the Armenian people Kiev believes it is too early to talk about withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson Raisi: Relations between Tehran and Moscow have a bright future Taliban virtue representative kills minor for refusing to marry Meeting held at Ministry of Defense Kaljurand: A fair peace agreement, that will guarantee the rights and security of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, is needed ATMs closed at night in Germany because of increasing number of break-ins Moldova to request 450 million from EU amid fears of stopping Russian gas supplies Kazakhstan plans to make knowledge of Kazakh obligatory for obtaining citizenship Vladimir Putin to visit Armenia Ayoob Kara: Israel and Azerbaijan must act together against Iran Macron: France ends its military mission in Africa Military forces of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey take part in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline protection exercise Shoigu orders withdrawal of troops across Dnieper River Swedish parliament will vote to change constitution for NATO membership on November 16 Reactor at nuclear power plant in southern Sweden stops unexpectedly due to turbine malfunction Margaret Thatcher's dressing table case sells for $145 Zakharova comments on Azerbaijani attacks on Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh Israel may reconsider its position on military aid to Ukraine because of threat from Iran Tehran expresses readiness to play role in resolving conflict between Russia and Ukraine Zakharova: Russia closely coordinates with Armenia and Azerbaijan on preparation of peace treaty U.S. cut its oil production forecast in 2023 Gen. of Justice: Armenia is already going to abyss MFA says Russia promotes comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations Australia to ban former military pilots from working in China Ministry: 1,034 participants of 44-day Karabakh war declared disabled Russian Security Council Secretary accuses Western intelligence services of organizing unrest in Iran Niagara Falls is illuminated in colors of Azerbaijani flag through efforts of Azerbaijani Embassy to U.S. 'Armenia' bloc: Authorities going to peace at any cost legitimize change of power Dollar falls, euro rises in Armenia FT: Taiwan plans to establish drone production, allocated $1.6 billion Azerbaijan's 'Horst Wessel' for Iran: Baku media replicates 'murder story' Tesla recalls 40,000 electric cars because of problems with power steering Sky News: Russia handed over Javelin, NLAW and Stinger missiles to Iran in exchange for drones Russia has record number of Armenia migrants outflow Stoltenberg says NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023 Iranian Interior Ministry: Organizers of riots in Iran were trained in 8 unfriendly countries Europe fills its gas storage facilities almost 100% before cold season Greece MPs visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan Strasbourg city council adopts resolution on supporting Armenia Ohanyan: We see hope in Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan format regarding Karabakhs future Turkey says it will not focus only on Russian gas David Babayan says Azerbaijan makes propaganda against Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh Former ECHR judge: UN Security Council does not consider Karabakh's separation illegal Shavarsh Kocharyan says current PM took step of declaring Armenia aggressor AraratBank underwrites FINCA UCO bonds First ombudsperson says current Armenian authorities are illegitimate Armenian National Committee of America: Dr. Oz Defeated in Pennsylvania Senate race Head of Turkish Ministry of Agriculture: 10.1 million tons of grain exported from Ukrainian ports Putin and Lukashenko discuss upcoming CSTO meeting by phone Armenia legislature discusses issues of residents of Karabakhs Kashatagh region handed over to Azerbaijan President pays tribute to martyrs of 3rd Artsakh war Australian pedophile sentenced to 129 years in Philippines Japan says North Korea launches alleged ballistic missile British cabinet minister resigns after recent harassment allegations Eleving Group member Mogo applies the best practices in Armenia Artsakh FM: Azerbaijan will have to take new realities into account in near future Iran MFA. Azerbaijan president's reaction is incomprehensible Parliament speaker considers transit visa requirement for Armenia citizens at Poland airports worrisome Pashinyan: Armenia-Cambodia warm relations have great prospects for development Karabakh state ministers advisor: Aliyev statement was once again filled with confessions of use of force Javier Colomina: NATO supports normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations Copper falls in price Iran official: Goal of $3bn trade with Armenia will be realized under this government Karabakh FM: Azerbaijan has become more aggressive, brazen with Turkeys support MOD: Artsakh army units did not open fire towards Azerbaijan positions Oil prices go down Armenia Security Council chief briefs Poland Senate vice-speaker on regional developments Azerbaijan fires at Armenia positions Gold prices go down Newspaper: Armenia law enforcement agencies operative intelligence teams to enter several officials houses US midterm elections virtually over, counting of votes underway US State Department: Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs agreed to continue meetings, direct dialogue India's Supreme Court releases men sentenced to death for rape and murder Global South needs $2 trillion year to fight climate crisis McDonald's releases chair for gamers with burger stand The Telegraph: Rishi Sunak to announce major natural gas deal with US after COP27 summit U.S. officials secretly ask major banks to continue doing business with some Russian firms 19fortyfive: Is America tired of the war in Ukraine? EU replaces pipeline Russian gas with imported Russian LNG Kommersant: China split the 'unity' of the West Expert estimates level of Azerbaijan's information attack on Armenia in September, comparing it to 44-day war UK wants to work more with the U.S. on gas supplies Donald Trump votes in Florida midterm elections EU admits: It is impossible to set a ceiling on gas prices that will not affect contracts or security of supply Most valuable metal of year is named Mehr: Nikolai Patrushev arrives in Tehran Turkish TV company confesses that Ankara and Israel were arming Azerbaijan against Armenia Who is Baku threatening? Armenia's former deputy defense minister decodes Aliyev's statements Army Commander-in-Chief: Even those who claim to be superpowers do not dare to attack Iran Iran and Russia to build joint pipeline India to continue buying Russian oil Businessman Zhong Shanshan becomes richest man in China YEREVAN. US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills made a startling statement during the capital city Yerevan conference on the prospects for the development of renewable energy, according to Zhamanak (Time) newspaper. He said there is a prospect for an 8-billion dollar investment in the renewable energy sector in Armenia, and they have invited the representatives of several major American companies to Yerevan, to present the [respective] opportunities of Armenia. The ambassador stated that their [corresponding] expectation from the halls of power of Armenia is that equal investment conditions be created. 8 billion dollars are not just a number (). It is about an investment prospect which is a technological investment, so to speak. [Also,] he [Ambassador Mills] stated that Armenias potential and prospects in this regard are of regional importance. [But] the US ambassador does not point to the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] problem, the existence of the conflict, among the conditions for these huge investments. In practice, the US views the region within a stability mode in its policy for the prospects for the coming years. The whole question that remains is to what extent the authorities of Armenia are in keeping with all this, wrote Zhamanak. YEREVAN. Inaugural session of the new National Assembly (NA) of Armenia has kicked off. The President as well as the Catholicos of All Armenians will deliver welcoming remarks at the event. Subsequently, the MPs of the 6th-Convocation NA will take a parliamentary oath. Afterward, the NA speaker, deputy speakers, and standing committees chairs will be elected by secret ballot. Unlike the previous NA, however, there will be a third deputy speaker in the new parliament of Armenia, and this person will be the representative of the opposition, for the first time. The new NA has 105 deputies, instead of the previous 131 MPs, and it will comprise four factions: RPA (Republican Party of Armenia), Tsarukyan Bloc, Yelk (Way Out) Bloc, and ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun Party). Also, the serving government will resign in the first session of the new parliament. The President will appoint the new Prime Minister within ten days. The new government members will be appointed within twenty days after the appointment of the Prime Minister, and the program of the new government will approved within another twenty days. YEREVAN. Russian soldier Valery Permyakov will serve full term in Russia, former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan told reporters within the first session of the 6th National Assembly. Touching upon the issue of Permyakov's extradition to Russia, he noted that sending a convicted person to a country of his citizenship is a conventional provision that has been in force since 1946.And if any country violates its convention obligations, this will lead to other consequences. It extends to all countries of the world. When a person who committed a crime is transferred to the country of his citizenship, it isn't violation of the country's dignity. For these years numerous Armenians have been transferred to serve their term here. And this does not mean that the dignity of another country was humiliated. We should not take it so painfully, because it's just about legal processes, Kostanyan said. According to the indictment, Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, entered the Avetisyan family home and killed seven persons, including two children, in January 2015. In August of the same year, the Russian garrison court sentenced Permyakov to ten years in prison. And in August 2016, the Shirak District Court of First Instance found him guilty of the murder of seven people, and sentenced him to life in prison. At present, Valery Permyakov is kept in custody in the aforesaid Russian military base. EU-Turkey relations are in transitional phase, as Turkey is on the path of transformation, representative of the EU delegation to Ankara Ireneusz Fidos said. Mr. Fidos addressed participants of Armenia-Turkey: Paving the Way for Dialogue and Reconciliation conference that is organized in Yerevan on Thursday within the framework of Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process project funded by EU. However, the diplomat emphasized that some statements made by Turkish leadership are often contradictory and confusing for the Europeans and policy makers in the EU. There is public pressure to change EU-Turkey relations. Pressure comes from societies all over Europe based on statements or actions by Turkey officials. At the same time there is consensus in Europe that we have to continue engaging with Turkish government and Turkish opposition and society, he added. The diplomat recalled that on June 25 president of Turkey will hold meetings with EU officials in Brussels on the margins of NATO summit. We expect a joint commitment on both sides to turn over the page of our relations, but not forgetting about the state of democracy and rule of law in Turkey. By turning over the page I mean we have to start talking to each other to get Turkey back on track of Europeanisation. It will not be easy, he emphasized. YEREVAN. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considers, first of all, the issue of legitimacy and compliance of the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev's decision to pardon Safarov with the European convention, former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan told reporters within the first session of the 6th National Assembly. According to him, Armenia is involved in this matter as a third party. And we have proved that the fact of Safarov's pardoning by Aliyev contradicts requirements of the European convention on human rights, Kostanyan emphasized. Gurgen Margaryan and Ramil Safarov were attending a NATO-sponsored English-language course in Budapest. On 19 February 2004, Safarov murdered Margaryan by decapitating him with an axe. In April 2006, Safarov was found guilty of murder by the Budapest City Court, and was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the possibility of conditional release after 30 years. The court found that Safarov had intended to kill two Armenian participants at the course on the anniversary of the beginning of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. After the Court of Appeal upheld this judgment in February 2007, Safarov began serving his sentence in a Hungarian prison. In August 2012, the Hungarian Minister of Justice approved Safarovs transfer to Azerbaijan with a view to his serving his sentence there. A few hours after, however, Safarov was transferred on 31 August 2012, he was granted a pardon by the Azerbaijani President and set free. He was also promoted to major, awarded eight years salary arrears, and offered an apartment. In response to this development, Armenia suspended its diplomatic ties with Hungary. Ramil Safarovs pardoning was condemned by virtually all international organizations. YEREVAN. Hovhannes Avoyan - the co-founder and CEO of PicsArt, published an article about Artificial Intelligence (AI) on VentureBeat.com - the leading source for news, events, groundbreaking research and perspective on technology innovation. Hovhannes Avoyan writes that according to Google Trends, the hype around Artificial Intelligence has been growing dynamically in the last several years. In 2012, only 5% of the U.S. population searched for information about artificial intelligence. In 2017, that figure has jumped to an estimated 60%. The hype around AI is justified for a number of reasons and AI development will continue to exponentially infiltrate our day-to-day lives. Unlike in the early days of AI, there are now many useful and powerful frameworks that enable easy implementation of AI technologies and remove much of the need for engineers to build code from scratch, making AI more widespread and available to companies of all sizes and across industries. There are also many pre-trained neural networks that are available for common use in different domains, like content, image, and voice recognition. Increasingly affordable AI maintenance and the increased speed of calculations thanks to GPU are also significant factors in the unbridled growth of AI. All these initiatives allow AI to flourish at an exponential rate. Compared with the results from the analog algorithms, and thanks to the combination of machine learning and big data, previously unsolvable problems are now being solved. In his article, Avoyan refers to Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Alphabet. According to Schmidt, AI can be harnessed to help solve major challenges like climate change, food security, and many other problems in health care, energy, and other critical sectors. Machine learning algorithms can directly analyze thousands of previous cases of different types of diseases and make their own conclusions as to what constitutes a sick individual versus a healthy individual, and consequently help diagnose dangerous conditions including cancer. What will come of all of this? Change, and innovation, at an unmatched pace. Read the full article on venturebeat.com. PicsArt is one of the leading social photo editing apps, with over 400 million downloads and 90 million active users. The app uses Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies for its app. Moreover, PicsArt is strongly involved in promoting Artificial Intelligence in Armenia through educational programs and other initiatives. The OSCE Office in Yerevan will stop its activity on August 31, the organization informed on Thursday. The OSCE Permanent Council has been unable to reach consensus on extending the mandate of the organizations representation in Armenia. According to the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, the office in Yerevan and its staff significantly contributed to supporting the Armenian authorities in fulfilling their obligations within the framework of the OSCE. The cooperation with Armenia has always been fruitful, he noted, adding that the organization will continue cooperating with the country in other directions, TASS reports. The OSCE Bureau supported Armenia in developing democratic institutions and enhancing the civil society. This included implementation of activities in such spheres as legislative reforms, fight against corruption and trafficking, environmental protection, raising the awareness on human rights, freedom of press, gender equality, support to the work of the police service, as well as reforms in the armed forces. Armenia remained the only country in the South Caucasus region, where the OSCE office operated. In 2015, the OSCE Office was closed in Baku. The mandate of the OSCE Office in Georgia expired in December 2008. The operation of the OSCE Office in Yerevan hung in the air due to the lack of consensus on extension of its mandate. Azerbaijan raised claims against the program related to demining trainings. The German and then the Austrian chairmanship tried to persuade Azerbaijan of the invalidity of its claims but to no avail. The Armenian side agreed to stop the program but Azerbaijan continues to exert efforts towards interfering with the work of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. Earlier, talks were held in Vienna, which, however, yielded no positive results. YEREVAN. - The statement of the Armenian Justice Ministry on handing over Valery Permyakovwho was sentenced to life for killing the Avetisyan family in Gyumrito Russia is illiteracy. Representative of the Avetisyans legal successor, attorney Lusine Sahakyan told the aforementioned to Armenian News NEWS.am, referring to the statement. Since the beginning we stated that the law enforcement authorities of Armenia should have taken effective steps instead of failure to act and detain Permyakov. Since the moment Permyakob was detained by the Russian law enforcement authorities, he could no longer be handed over to Armenia by virtue of relevant interstate treaties and constitutions, which ban their citizens extradition. In particular, Russia could not hand its citizen over to Armenia. That is the reason why Permyakov was never handed over to Armenia and during his entire stay in Armenia was kept in custody in the 102nd military base based on the decision and judicial act of the competent Russian authorities. That is, he was in the Russian jurisdiction, Sahakyan said. In her words, the Armenian court was merely given an opportunity to render a decision. That is, Permyakov continued to remain in the Russian jurisdiction but the judicial act was issued by the Armenian court. It was then apparent that Permyakov, who hadnt been handed over to Armenia since the very beginning, would serve his sentence in Russia. We must simply take into consideration the fact that there are two judicial acts: one issued by the Russian court and the other by the Armenian one. As you know, the Russian court sentenced Permyakov to 10 years in prison for committing a crime against military service procedure, while the Armenian court sentenced him to life for the murder of the Avetisyan family. If Russia hadnt recognized the judicial act of the Armenian court, after being taken to Russia, Permyakov would only serve his sentence of 10 years in prison. In fact, during this time the relevant court of Russia recognized the judgment of the Armenian court and [thus] after being only taken to Russianot being handed over, extradited therePermyakov will serve his sentence to life. the attorney said. The attorney was seriously concerned by the statement of the Ministry of Justice. It makes you think seriously. It is unclear how the Justice Ministry could be guided by the Convention On extraditing convicts for further service of sentencewhen Permyakov had not been handed over to Armenia. Even if Permyakov was in the Armenian jurisdiction, being detained by the Armenian police since the beginning, they should have been guided by other conventionsnot this onein order to hand him over to Russia, Sahakyan said. In this connection, since such a statement was released, we are going to demand the request on handing over the convict together with the documents attached in order to understand what process took place in reality. If they were guided by the mentioned conventionwhich they couldnt doits Article 5 prescribes in which cases a person cannot be extradited. It is particularly mentioned that the convicts extradition can be denied if the damage caused by the crime hasnt been compensated. According to Article 8 of the same convention, information on the damage and its compensation shall be submitted along with the request for extradition. Everyone knows that there is a civil claim and that the damage caused as a result of the crime has not been compensated. Even if Permyakov wasnt a serviceman, was in the Armenian jurisdiction and this convention was to be used, they couldnt have handed him over, Sahakyan added. The statement of the Ministry of Justice has nothing to do with law, interstate agreements and international norms. If this is a reality and they were guided by the mentioned convention, I consider this as illiteracy, she concluded. As a mediator in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russia condemns the ceasefire violation and urges the parties to take all the necessary steps to prevent the further escalation of tension in the zone of conflict. Official Spokeswoman for the Russian MFA, Maria Zakhariva, stated the aforementioned at a briefing on Thursday. She noted that according to the information collected from different sources, the Azerbaijani side fired at a military object on the opposite side of the contact line on May 15, to which the other side retaliated. The information on the nature of the object, the degree of the damage infliceted and casualties sustained among its personal staff are controversial. I once again expressed the principled stance of Russia on the issue, Zakharova stressed. Referring to the organization of a meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in the near future, she noted that there is nothing to announce about yet; once there is information on possible contacts, we will announce it. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs condemn these recent ceasefire violations and call upon the sides to take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America, released the following statement today: According to information collected from multiple reliable sources, on 15 May, Azerbaijani armed forces fired a missile across the Line of Contact, striking military equipment. On the evening of 16 May and continuing into 17 May, Armenian armed forces retaliated with mortar fire of various calibres. These actions by both sides represent significant violations of the ceasefire and are cause for alarm. There are contradictory reports regarding the targets of these recent strikes, as well as about casualties sustained and damages inflicted. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office continue to collect further data and analysis to gain more complete and accurate information about the current situation. The Co-Chairs condemn these recent ceasefire violations and call upon the sides to take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone. At Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Free Report unit Google's I/O conference beginning Wednesday in Mountain View, Calif., CEO Sundar Pichai gets the chance to play up new products. Pichai also has the opportunity to stake out Google's position in a global app ecosystem rivalry with Appleundefined , which will hold its own World World Wide Developers conference in San Jose in early June. Apps are a fast-growing business for both of the Silicon Valley icons. Consumers spent $45 billion in Google's and Apple's app stores last year, BMO Capital analyst Tim Long estimated in Tuesday report, growing 36% from the prior year. The two paid out $31 billion of that to developers last year, according to Long's calculations. BMO estimates that Google Play made $5.4 billion in fiscal year 2016 sales, accounting for about 6% of Alphabet's top line. Jim Cramer and the AAP team suggested recently that Google's efforts to diversify its business outside of search ad sales reflects the company's evolution and is a reason to like the stock. Get a free trial subscription to Action Alerts PLUS. Apple is still the top dog, however. BMO Capital calculates that the company's app store generated $7.3 billion in fiscal year 2016 revenue, or 35% more than Google. Still, BMO says that the app sales represent just about 3% of Apple's total revenues. The iPhone was the original showcase for smart phone apps, giving Apple a head start on the market. In addition, Apple users tend to spend more on average on apps than Android users. "That total spend on iOS apps is larger than Play Store spend may be a surprise to those aware of how much bigger the Android installed base is," Long wrote. "However, given the premium nature of iPhones, as well as, we believe, the often better quality of apps in the Apple store, we find iOS device owners spend nearly three times as much on Apps," Long wrote. Apple is playing up app culture with the Shark Tank-esque original series Planet of the Apps, which it will launch soon on Apple Music. The series, which features Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk and will.i.am, will pit app developers against each other for funding. Tim Cook touted the App Store's 40% growth in the company's early-May earnings call for the second fiscal quarter, and noted that the business generated twice the revenue of Google, according to App Annie. In the next two years, however, BMO expects Google's app revenues to grow faster than Apple's. The firm forecasts that Google's app store revenues will grow 29% this year, 24% next year and then 20% in 2019. By comparison, BMO put's Apple's App Store revenues growth at 23% per year for the next four years. The app explosion comes as the telecoms that provide the infrastructure for the ecosystem have struggled to grow wireless service revenue. "We observe meaningful value continuing to shift away from telco spending, toward millions of developers and Google and Apple themselves," Long wrote. The lead-up to presidential impeachment is worse for markets than the actual process, at least judging by what happened last time around. Rumblings of impeachment have begun to creep up across America and on Capitol Hill amid reports President Trump may have asked since-ousted FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. While most senior Democrats say it is too soon to realistically discuss the possibility of impeaching Trump, investors are clearly unsettled. The good news: during Bill Clinton's impeachment process in 1998-99, stock markets did fairly well. The bad news: the current scenario is not exactly the same. The Clinton administration was plagued by a series of scandals in the 1990s, culminating in the president's impeachment by the House of Representatives in December 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to his extramarital affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The House had voted to initiate proceedings in October of that year in the wake of a report by independent counsel Kenneth Starr detailing Clinton's misdeeds. Following the impeachment, the Senate acquitted Clinton in February 1999. Market reaction to the Clinton scandal was perhaps in retrospect surprising. While stocks fell ahead of the release of the Starr report, they climbed thereafter and through the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings. The S&P 500 climbed slightly from July 1 to July 17 of 1998, but from there until the release of the Starr report on September 9, it fell by 19.4%, according to data from CFRA Research. After that, however, it rallied, recovering the entire decline by November 28, 1998, while impeachment proceedings were still underway but a month before a conclusion was reached. "The Starr Report didn't have anything new that people weren't aware of already, so the market felt comfortable to move up again," said Seth Kaplowitz, a San Diego-based attorney and finance lecturer. From when the House voted to start impeachment proceedings on October 8, 1998 to the Senate's acquittal on February 12, 1999, the S&P climbed from about 960 to 1230, a 28% gain. The scandal brewing around the Trump administration at the current moment, however, does not exactly mirror Clinton, warned Princeton University historian and CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer. "This was after years of investigating President Clinton on all kinds of issues," he said, noting controversies including Whitewater and Travelgate. "This was just a very long process by Republicans by claiming there was scandal in the White House." While the Clinton affair was a slow burn, things at the moment appear to be moving much faster. Take, for example, the timeline events of the past eight days. Trump fired FBI Director Comey last Tuesday. On Wednesday, he met with Russian diplomats, on Thursday, he told NBC's Lester Holt he fired Comey over the Russia investigation, and on Friday, he tweeted he has "tapes" of the pair's conversations. On Monday, reports indicated he shared highly classified intelligence in the Russia meeting. On Tuesday, it was reported that the information came from Russia. Later in the day, news of the Comey memo broke. "There's much more shock and awe right now in terms of how fast this is happening and probably the sense of uncertainty," Zelizer said. "You had been through so many scandals in the 1990s, it wasn't clear this would amount to anything as it unfolded, whereas here there is probably more to fear that this could be more serious stuff." There are other differences, too. The Clinton impeachment proceedings came after the president's reelection, when the White House had a much more coherent, professional team in place. "There was never a sense that the Clinton White House was dysfunctional," Zelizer said. "Today, people aren't even sure who is in control in the Oval Office." He also noted that Clinton had a clear partisan enemy in Congressional Republicans and then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. While Trump has placed the blame for his troubles on the media and the Democrats, "that's not the heart of the story right now," Zelizer said. To be sure, Trump is not on the brink of impeachment. While some Democrats and even a select few Republicans have begun to mention the matter, action is likely a ways away -- and unlikely with the GOP in control of Congress. Washington, D.C.-based research firm Height LLC in a note on Tuesday assigned 15% odds to impeachment, resignation or some other method of removal for Trump, though they clarified that just two weeks ago they put the chances at 0%. "Such processes can take months if not years, but they can wrap up quickly once some major shoe drops," analysts Peter Cohn and Nils Tracy said. For example, Nixon resigned just weeks after the Supreme Court compelled him to provide unedited access to his Oval Office recordings. And while markets took a big hit during the Watergate scandal, there are no guarantees they would with Trump. They didn't in the Clinton impeachment, and the investors might not mind the prospect of a President Pence, who might have an easier time delivering tax reform Wall Street so desires. "Consider the fact that the drama-free Vice President Mike Pence would assume the position with strong working relationships on Capitol Hill and knowledge of the political process from his years in the House and as Indiana Governor," Cohn and Tracy said. "Having a President with more political capital to spend and higher approval ratings could mean more gets done legislatively." Read More: 5 Things You Must Know Before the Market Opens Thursday Market Recon: Corporate America Is Fundamentally Sound Markets Down? Get Used To It: Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap Editors' pick: Originally published May 17. Certain Master Limited Partnerships--such as Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) and Western Gas Equity Partnersundefined --are good investments. At least that's according to Douglas Rachlin, managing director of the Rachlin Group of Neuberger Berman. Rachlin spoke Wednesday to hedge fund managers at the SALT conference in Las Vegas. "There are certain MLP names today that have been household names in the MLP space, and these names are too large and carry too much debt and probably will continue to go sideways from here," Rachlin said. "But there are certain opportunities that we call clear shots; Energy Transfer Equity is our No. 1 position today." Rachlin said ETE has an export terminal outside Philadelphia and benefits from exports of natural gas to Mexico, which is a large buyer of natural gas. "They are the largest interstate pipeline network in the state of Texas," Rachlin said. "We're projecting ETE to earn over $2 a share by the end of 2020." He also said he likes Western Gas Equity Partners, which was formed by Anadarko Petroleum to develop midstream energy assets. "The reason why Russia and the rest of OPEC won't be able to determine oil prices is that technology continues to improve and the cost of finding oil and gas continues to go down and the No. 1 area inside this country today for that is the Permian Basin," Rachlin said. Separately, Emanuel J. Friedman, CEO of EJF Capital LLC, told TheStreet after speaking at the conference, that he believes the Federal Reserve is easing restrictions on small and midsize regional banks, which will allow many of them to combine. He focused his comments on a threshold that regulators had set at $50 billion for so-called "Systemically Important Financial Institutions," or SIFIs, with all banks above that level being subject to additional capital and additional restrictions. Now, Freidman argued, the Fed has implicitly hiked that level by easing some restrictions. "The original SIFI level was $50 billion, and then the issue became so how do you create loopholes by saying what is systemic for certain purposes is not $50 billion but actually $100 billion or $250 billion; so when BB&T whats to buy three banks they [regulators] said, 'we don't view them as being systemic,'" Friedman said. However, Friedman said consolidation won't be permitted among the largest U.S. banks. "The real evil five banks that have 75% of the market, they have the least probability of major regulatory reform because the Federal Reserve board all views them as having systemic risk," Friedman said. "They have the least support on the Republican or Democratic side." His comments come after the Fed in March raised to $100 billion the amount of combined assets that would trigger a systemic risk review of proposed bank mergers, a significant increase and yet another boon for deals involving regional lenders. Reade Griffith, Chief Investment Officer, at Polygon's European Event-Driven Fund, told hedge fund managers he was bullish on Europe, particularly after the pro-European Union candidate, Emmanuel Macron, was elected recently in French elections. "The big factor people were waiting on was the French election, was that going to go fine? it ended up with an outcome people and markets liked," Griffith said. "As you are looking forward the political risk in Europe is coming down. It's not gone. You still have issues with Germany and the IMF sorting out Greece. But Europe does not look like an underperformer when it comes to earnings noise so that's good." Irena Polic was just a normal teenager, enjoying a very nice life in Croatia, when she walked to high school and saw a tank lurking on a street corner. I remember thinking, This isnt supposed to be happening, said Polic (Cowell 01, linguistics; MA, linguistics), who is now the highly respected managing director of UC Santa Cruzs Institute for Humanities Research. She remembers thinking, This is in color! I saw all these World War II movies. They were all in black and white. The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the government of Croatia and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces. Polic lived through the war, and survived with family and friends in a basement for a year, after being forced to take a leave of absence from school. The experience forced her to think about life and my place in the world, the sort of issues that preoccupy the worlds poets, historians, ethicists, and philosophers. In a sense, her focus has not changed at all over the years. Polic, the winner of this years UC Santa Cruz Outstanding Staff Award, is a staunch advocate of the humanities, which addresses the same concerns that went through her head during those fearful days in the basement: Humanities are not a luxury," she said. "Humanities are our life. They show us who we are and where we come from. Polic, who started working at UC Santa Cruz in 2008, and has been managing director of IHR since July of 2016, will be recognized at the Staff Appreciation Picnic from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, on the East Field. The Outstanding Staff Award, presented every year by the UC Santa Cruz Alumni Council and the Staff Advisory Board, recognizes staff members who go "above and beyond" to help students or colleagues, improve programs and contribute to the universitys intellectual and physical environment. Humanities evangelist A passion for her work drives Polic, along with a strong sense of urgency. She believes the humanities are under threat at far too many public universities, and she wants to ensure a future in which her children can learn languages and delve into history, literature, and the arts. Colleagues praise her attention to detail and her boundless encouragement for faculty, graduate students, and fellow staff members. Others who work closely with Polic praise her as forward thinking. Humanities professor Karen Bassi, in a letter recommending Polic for the award, described her as exceptional in all ways. Without her help, I would not have been successful in applying for large grants. Under Polics strong leadership, the IHR established the Public Fellows Program, which gives doctoral students in the humanities a chance to contribute research, programming, and communications to various nonprofits and companies. It helps us to earn a living wage in the summer months, said Sarah Papazoglakis, a Ph.D. candidate and instructor in the Humanities Division, in her letter praising Polic. Along with UC Santa Cruz history professor Nathaniel Deutsch, the faculty director of the IHR, Polic also instituted a new program called Ph.D.+, a monthly program on campus that supports graduate students in the humanities, giving them opportunities to discuss future goals while connecting them with Ph.D. recipients who have chosen to work in non-academic careers. But Polics value to the campus goes beyond these programs, Papazoglakis continued. She is also able to brainstorm (and) take advantage of opportunities that bring resources to UC Santa Cruz and evangelize for the humanities, even in the face of austere funding environments. It all adds up to a dream job for Polic, who was taken completely by surprise when she got a call letting her know she is this years honoree. The attention is a bit overwhelming. Im much more comfortable behind the scenes, she acknowledged. But this is such an honor. When they told me, I just couldnt believe it. I thought this was something that people get at the end of their careers, and I still have many years to go. Polic emphasized that her work for the IHR is part of a team effort. One thing that is really important to me is that people understand that I dont work alone, she said. My main partner in all of this is Nathaniel Deutsch, without whom none of this would have been possible. Our team is incredible. For his part, Deutsch praised Polic for elevating the profile and impact of IHR: Largely due to Irenas extraordinary efforts, the IHR has become one of the most dynamic and exciting units on campus. Enduring hardship It seems that Polic was born for this job. But her path to UC Santa Cruz was full of surprises, challenges, and sudden reversals. The story begins during her youth in Croatia. In 1994, as the war raged on, she longed to move to America, but the only way out was to be part of a high school exchange program. She found placement in California, but her plans to move to Simi Valley fell through at the last moment when the Northridge Earthquake devastated the area that was supposed to be her new home. Then came a lucky break, not just for Polic but for all the people who work with her. When the Simi Valley family could no longer house her, she got a call from the exchange program, letting her know that the program had found an alternative family in a different part of the state. Instead of the residing in Ventura County, as originally planned, she would be living 321 miles to the north, in a little coastal town called Santa Cruz. It was Januarythe dead of winter in Croatia. If she were home, she would still be shivering and fearful in the basement. Instead she found herself going on a tour of her new town with her host family, which showed her the gracious homes and surf breaks of West Cliff Drive. It felt like I was living on a different planet, she said. Ive been in California ever since. Money was tight, and she initially went to Cabrillo College for financial reasons, but she finished her education at UC Santa Cruz with help from a Pell Grant. Forging connections This intimate connection with the campus, along with her lifelong love for the humanities, informs her work. So does her strong conviction that the campus and the surrounding community must come together in the name of the humanities. She also believes that the humanities has a PR problem that must be addressed. How can the campus showcase the impact and relevance of humanities programs, and bring its power and potential to the people who live around the campus? With these goals in mind, she and Nathaniel Deutsch launched a series called Questions That Matter, partnering with local institutions including Bookshop Santa Cruz, and the Museum of Art and History in downtown Santa Cruz to explore thought-provoking issues. The series kicked off in the winter of 2015 with Making the Cosmos Local at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. These events defied all expectations. A few worried skeptics told her that no one would come. Instead, each IHR event downtown has been jam packed. All of them have drawn hundreds of people. Polics strong defense of the humanities does not equate to criticism of the sciences. I love science. Science saved my daughters life, said Polic, the mother of twins, referring to her young daughter Alexass successful treatment for a tumor on her liver when she was 2 years old. It shouldnt have to be either-or, Polic said. Humanities and the sciences are both important. Humanities should not be thought of as something to think about only if your other needs are met. That is really missing the point. When my children grow up, I want them to study language, she said. I want them to think about history and delve into the world of literature. When they are listening to a news broadcast, and someone says something that makes no sense at all, I want them to know how to question it. I want to make sure they have a future in which the humanities plays a pivotal role in their lives, regardless of what they want to do or what they decide to be. AIHA Announces Support for Accurate Workplace Injury and Illness Records Restoration Act The association announced support for the government employees that are working to introduce the act. The American Industrial Hygiene Association has announced its support of the Accurate Workplace Injury and Illness Records Restoration Act, a bill that would reinstate the OSHA recordkeeping rule that was overturned this year by use of the Congressional Review Act. AIHA says accurate injury and illness records are essential in identifying and correcting workplace hazards. "Accurate recordkeeping is a cornerstone of protecting worker health and safety," said AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan, CAE. "It better enables both employers and employees to identify hazards and patterns and target limited resources to areas of need. Accurate recordkeeping further helps to avert future harm that costs businesses, consumers, and taxpayers millions in addition to the significant emotional toll of workplace injuries and illnesses. AIHA applauds the introduction of the Accurate Workplace Injury and Illness Records Restoration Act and supports its swift passage in the House and Senate." The bill, H.R. 2428, would allow OSHA to issue citations where violations of recordkeeping requirements continued for more than six months. NIST Researchers Recommend Spectrometry for Detecting Fentanyl Their paper discusses the use of portable detectors to protect first responders who may be handling unknown powders. A paper published by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggests that first responders employ two technologies -- Ion Mobility Spectrometry and Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry -- in order to detect trace amounts of fentanyl in unknown powders they may handle on the job. These will detect it even when it is mixed with heroin and other substances, and law enforcement officers can use that to protect themselves from harmful exposures. The NIST article summarizing the paper mentions a detective in New Jersey, Dan Kallen, who was searching a home with other officers in August 2015 when they found a bag of white powder. "Kallen removed a scoop of powder for testing. When he was done, he closed the bag, and a bit of air escaped, carrying a puff of powder with it. It was enough to send Kallen and a fellow officer to the emergency room," the article states, adding that drugs in the bag included fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Kallen described his exposure in a Drug Enforcement Agency video warning first responders about the dangers of handling unknown powders. The paper has been published in Forensic Chemistry. It is the first research to identify the lowest concentrations at which fentanyl mixtures can be detected using the two techniques, according to the article, suggesting these methods can protect law enforcement officers, evidence examiners, and drug-sniffing dogs. IMS instruments are commonly used at airports to check for traces of explosive residue. "Currently, police officers have to handle drugs to test them," said Ed Sisco, a research chemist at NIST and lead author of the study. "But with these technologies, they can just swab the outside of a bag to test for fentanyl" and take extra precautions if the test is positive. The article says IMS instruments cost about $35,000 and are the size of a microwave oven, while DART-MS instruments are more sensitive but larger and more expensive. Ohio Agencies Award $976,600 in Mosquito Control Grants During the past two years, the two agencies have awarded nearly $3 million to local health departments and communities for mosquito control programs to prevent disease outbreaks. Craig W. Butler, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and Ohio Department of Health Acting Director Lance Himes on May 17 announced nearly $1 million in grants to community health departments and related public entities statewide for mosquito control. The intent is for the funding to mitigate the spread of mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, West Nile, and La Cross Encephalitis. "The Mosquito Control Grant program has been a major success," Butler said. "Tires are often a breeding ground for mosquitoes and, fortunately, we have developed an innovative way to put dollars to work to help prevent mosquito-borne illnesses." The grants will specifically target: mosquito surveillance larval control adult mosquito control, including spraying where mosquitoes' presence poses a risk to public health community outreach breeding source reduction, including trash and tire removal A total of $976,600 in grants are being issued in 35 counties and four cities. They're available in collaboration and with support from the Ohio Department of Health's larger effort to mitigate the potential for outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses. During the past two years, the two agencies have awarded nearly $3 million to local health departments and communities for mosquito control programs. Secretary of Labor Visits BMW Training Facility in Germany U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has traveled to Germany this week in order to tour the BMW Group's apprenticeship training facility. U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta traveled to Germany this week to tour the BMW Group's apprenticeship training facility in Munich and to attend the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers' Meeting in Bad Neuenahr. The BMW visit builds on the move to improve workforce training in the United States that started when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the White House in March. DOL reports apprenticeships in the United States are on the rise because they allow employers to retain talented workers. The G20 sessions will discuss the American workforce, including job training and empowering women in the workplace. Internet security became a hot topic when a ransomware attack hit more than 300,000 computers worldwide, affecting the likes of Britain's National Health Service, US package delivery giant FedEx and Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail network Avast, the company behind the leading antivirus software, warned Thursday against attacks on home appliances connected to the internet, calling hackers targeting home routers a major threat to consumers. "It's a trivial thing to do and there's nothing the user can do to fix it, other than to throw the router away and put in a new router," Avast chief executive Vincent Steckler told reporters. Avast chief technology officer Ondrej Vlcek said that more and more people were using internet-enabled appliances which he described as "a total nightmare when it comes to security". Vulnerable appliances include TV sets, audio systems, coffee machines and toys, according to the Prague-based company, which every month registers 444 million users and prevents 3.5 billion malware attacks and 500 million visits to harmful websites. In February, London police arrested a Briton suspected of staging a cyberattack on household routers run by Deutsche Telekom in November 2016, which knocked an estimated million German households offline. Steckler said his company had hacked into a router at a recent show in the United States to demonstrate the harm such attacks can do. Avast changed the router's firmware, took control of a TV set and made it play a Barack Obama speech over and over. "Even if you turn off the TV, the router turns the TV back on and the user can't see anything other than the Obama speech," Steckler said, adding that the hacker could then hold the TV for ransom. "I know most people, especially Americans, care much more about their TV than they do about their data. They'd probably be much more willing to pay ransom for it," he said, chuckling. Internet security became a hot topic last Friday when a ransomware attack hit more than 300,000 computers worldwide, affecting the likes of Britain's National Health Service, US package delivery giant FedEx and Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail network. 2017 AFP The monitoring of shoreline erosion at Imnaaluk (Toker Point), NWT, Canada. Credit: De Gruyter Although computer models of archaeological sites are ideal software tools for managing spatially referenced data and commonly used to yield insights which contribute to the protection of heritage materials, some scientists question their credibility, calling for these long-term trends be 'ground truthed' in order to ensure that calculated rates of change reflect observed phenomena 'in the field'. This is particularly true in areas which tend to experience more pronounced and cumulative impacts of modern climate change. A recent study by Michael J. E. O'Rourke from the University of Toronto, published in Open Archaeology, provides a new perspective on the severe impacts of escalating climate change on the heritage resources of Canadian Arctic. Referring to the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) analytical methods in assessing the threat of shoreline erosion to archaeological sites in the Canadian Arctic, it details steps taken to review the quality of the GIS model in light of a discrepancy with rates observed during annual survey visits. So how reliable GIS computer models really are? Using GIS methods to compile shoreline positions from archival aerial photography helps indicate valuable long-term trends when assessing shoreline erosion in the vicinity of archaeological sites. The author observed, however, that single episodes of extreme erosion resulting from increasingly volatile weather patterns in recent years have a serious impact on the reliability of shoreline erosion models, suggesting the use of more current imagery sources procured over shorter time intervals. In this case, researchers produced a historical model of shoreline erosion for the Kugmallit Bay area, located along the Beaufort Sea coast in the Canadian Northwest Territories and processed the photography using ESRI's ArcGIS software and the U.S. Geological Survey's Digital Shoreline Analysis System. To assess the accuracy of this model they conducted two field surveys in 2013 and 2014 and found that the model significantly played down the change rates in the vicinity of Imnaaluk. Only then, the model was reviewed for errors and revised using recent satellite imagery secured through a DigitalGlobe Foundation Imagery Grant. Finally, they accounted for weather and sea-level records to determine the possible cause of the observed discrepancy. But the review of analytical methods actually suggested that the model was an adequate means of calculating long-term trends in coastal change rates. The weakness of the model, however, was related to its lack of recent temporal resolution, which proves necessary to account for periodic episodes of extreme erosion taking place within the Kugmallit Bay area. Scientists recommend using the system with caution: While change rates generated by such methods can be useful in highlighting areas at risk in a general sense, they can be limited by the increasingly volatile weather conditions. Given that rates of erosion within the study area reach as high as nine meters of shoreline loss per year, semi-regular imagery updates would be required to adequately manage coastally situated archaeological features. "O'Rourke provides a clear, well-researched perspective on the serious impacts that climate change is having on the heritage resources of northern coasts", says Dr. Christopher B. Wolff from the University at Albany. "As an archaeologist who studies Arctic and Subarctic coastal peoples, erosion associated with intense storm activity, loss of permafrost, rising sea levels, and increasing human activity is devastating to comprehend; however, this study not only documents those processes, but provides a means to examine their highly variable impacts that, hopefully, can lead to constructive ways to prioritize research and mitigate destructive processes in this extremely important region." The original research paper is available fully in open access to read, download and share on De Gruyter Open. More information: Michael J. E. O'Rourke, Archaeological Site Vulnerability Modelling: The Influence of High Impact Storm Events on Models of Shoreline Erosion in the Western Canadian Arctic, Open Archaeology (2017). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2017-0001 Provided by De Gruyter Open King, the gaming company that owns Candy Crush, is banned from collecting statistics on the ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation of employees Sweden's data protection agency Thursday banned King, the gaming company that owns Candy Crush, from collecting statistics on the ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation of employees, even when used for promoting diversity. The company defended its practice, saying it did not intend to discriminate against anyone and that employees were free to decide whether or not to provide the information to their employer, the agency said. "The information is collected on an individual level in order to see if, over time, sexual orientation or belonging to a specific ethnic group could have an impact on career opportunities," the agency said, after an investigation. But Swedish law, which conforms to European Union regulations, bans the collection of this type of information without clearance from authorities, the agency said. In King's case, it would not be justified, it added. The Swedish regulators also took issue with the company's claim that the information was collected on a voluntary basis, saying "employees are in a relationship of dependency with their employer". 2017 AFP While Barack Obama played a critical role in getting even reticent parties to sign on to the 2015 Paris Agreement, his successor President Donald Trump is threatening to withdraw America from the hard-fought climate agreement The shadow of Donald Trump looms large over the climate-rescue Paris Agreement, thrashed out by nearly 200 countries over years of painstaking, often belligerent, bartering in which the United States has a chequered history. As power has changed hands between Republicans and Democrats, the country has alternatively played an inspirational or obstructionist role over two decades of negotiations for a UN pact to avoid the worst ravages of global warming, observers say. Ultimately, the US president, in the person of Barack Obama, played a critical role in getting even the most reticent of parties to sign on to the 2015 Paris Agreement that requires everyone to cut back on coal, oil and gas emissions. Now his successor is threatening to withdraw America from the hard-fought dealfor many just the latest move in a two-steps-forward-one-step-back dance with the world's second-largest carbon emitter. A history: Rio Earth Summit It all started with the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro which set up the UN's climate convention and launched negotiations for a global deal to rein in global warming. From the very beginning, Washington resisted any attempt at a "top-down" imposition of emissions cuts, insisting on national sovereignty in setting limits. Then president George H W Bush reportedly told the Rio summit that "the American way of life is not up for negotiations. Period", linking prosperity to continued carbon emissions. "Even at that time, fossil fuel interests were quite strong in the process," said Christian Aid's Mohamed Adow, who has closely followed the negotiations for years. Kyoto Protocol Negotiations for a new deal saw the US stand firm on its objection to the so-called "top-down" approach. America also insisted that responsibility for emissions cuts must be shared between rich and developing nations. This put it in conflict not only with the developing world, who insisted that rich countries with a longer history of pollution must make the bigger sacrifice, but also some industrialised nations who saw a need for targets and deadlines. America's negotiating partners ultimately agreed on a deal in Japan in 1997 that satisfied Washington's demands. Bill Clinton's vice president Al Gore signed the treaty in 1998, but the administration could never muster the two-thirds Senate support required to officially ratify it. His successor, George W Bush, an oil man, called the agreement "unfair and ineffective" and in 2001, months after taking office, announced he would not ratify it. Observers say this was largely driven by fear that China and other fast-developing would have an unfair advantage in economic growth, with a licence to exploit fossil fuel. The treaty entered into force, without America, in 2005, committing 37 developed economies to an average five-percent cut from 1990 levels in the period 2008-2012. Canada later withdrew, and New Zealand, Japan and Russia failed to renew their commitments post-2012. Bali Action Plan In 2007, the world's nations gathered for their annual negotiating round in Bali to talk about a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration again objected to any differentiation between rich and developing country obligations. This time, the rest of the world revolted, and the US delegation was booed and told in no uncertain terms by one participant: "If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way." Washington relented, and the Bali Action Plan was adopted, setting a 2009 deadline for a new treaty to fight global warming. Copenhagen The 2009 round of negotiations in the Danish capital, meant to deliver the first truly universal climate pact by the deadline set, ended in near-failure amid bickering between rich and poor countries. The US, with backing from several other countries, insisted it not be a binding treaty. In the end, the meeting yielded a non-formal "accord". Warsaw In 2013, in Warsaw, the big fight was again about legal obligation, and the wording of a final accord opted for countries to pledge carbon-cutting "contributions" rather than "commitments". Paris Agreement The final result, the 2015 Paris pact, is a compromise. It consists of a legally-binding core agreement and a supporting register of non-binding "Nationally Determined Contributions", or NDCs, to curb emissionsdecided by countries themselves. This allowed Obama to pass the agreement by executive order, and meant the administration need not submit its NDC to a hostile senate for approval. "Yet again, other countries went along to keep the US in the regime," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientistsa veteran observer of the two-decade-old process. But this very compromise also means there will likely be no repercussions if Trump's US scraps its NDC, or simply disregards it. Chai Qimin of China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, says US participation in the climate process works in cycles, determined by domestic election outcomes. After an imperfect Kyoto Protocol entered into force, "we waited for eight to 10 years" for a new pact, the Paris Agreement. "Should we wait again?" he asked on the sidelines of UN climate talks in Bonn. "Maybe we should wait another eight or 10 years... But also, it's with uncertainty. After four years (of Trump) will there be a new president who is favouring" climate action? "Maybe not." 2017 AFP The Paris Agreement commits signatories to limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels UN climate negotiations conclude in Bonn on Thursday with delegates putting on a brave face despite the threat of an American exodus hanging over their global pact to stem global warming. Envoys from nearly 200 country signatories to the Paris Agreement kept a close eye on Washington throughout their 10-day huddle for any signal about President Donald Trump's intentions. On the campaign trail, Trump had threatened to "cancel" the hard-fought pact in which his predecessor, Barack Obama, played an instrumental role in dragging it over the finish line in 2015. On the second day of the Bonn talks, the White House announced the postponement of a meeting to discuss America's future in the deal, compounding the uncertainty. A historically small US delegation at the annual round of technical negotiations was thus also left in the dark. "I personally have met with the head of the (US) delegation a couple of times and... he's just very open in repeating: 'Our position is under review'," UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said on Thursday. But delegates insisted that work continued on outlining a nuts-and-bolts "rule book" for implementing the agreement's goals, despite the ever-present "Sword of Damocles", as one put it. Many commented that the mood was a positive one, and that the American delegation participated in the talks, though cautiously. Progress despite the odds There is the fear, however, that whatever progress is made now could easily be swept off the table when the negotiators get together next, perhaps encountering a new US team with a different brief. "The rest of the world must continue to work towards progress together," said Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, who will preside over the next ministerial-level round of climate talks in November. The Paris Agreement: key points "We shouldn't give up because one of the community, one of the family, has decided that they will not walk with us." Observers pointed to the importance of coming meetings of the G7 and G20, strategic country groupings of which the US is a member, in putting pressure on Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by China. "We work very hard together with many other friends in the world to convince the US that staying in the Paris Agreement is the right way to go," Jochen Flasbarth, Germany's state secretary for the environment, told journalists in Bonn. "Germany stays committed to the international UN climate process. We believe that it is irreversible and many, many countries indicate to us that nobody has the intention of thinking about another format, another track apart from the UN." There are fears in some quarters that an American withdrawal may encourage others to follow suit, or at least harm the collective will, built up over two decades of tough negotiations, to act tougher on climate change. The Paris Agreement commits signatories to limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. This will be achieved by limiting emissions from burning coal, oil and gas. But the fossil fuel lobby in America exerts a strong influence over climate politics, both national and international. "We don't know," what Trump will eventually decide, "but we won't stop our work even if the result is a negative one," Khan said. "Progress must be pursued irrespective of the odds." The "rule book" the Bonn participants started work on is meant to guide countries in implementing the Paris Agreement's goalswhat type of information to include in their emissions-curbing updates, for example. The rules must be finalised by next year, leaving just over 18 months for what appears set to be a difficult negotiation. 2017 AFP Credit: University of Manchester Scientists have revealed that some of Earth's atmosphere may have been brought to the planet by comets billions of years ago. The mystery of how the Earth's atmosphere was formed has long baffled scientists. Some researchers think comets might have originally brought some of the water, organic and atmospheric molecules to Earth that now make up its life. Now a new study, published in Nature Communications, by researchers from The University of Manchester, UK, Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques (CRPG) and Universite de Lorraine (Nancy, France), has found evidence to back up the theory. The scientists have been analysing tiny samples of ancient air trapped in water bubbles found in the mineral, quartz, which dates back more than three billion years. The team found that the air in the rocks is partly made up of an extremely rare form of the chemical element, xenon. It is known as U-Xe and what makes it so rare is that it isn't usually found on Earth. The component is not present in the Earth's mantle, nor is it found in meteorites. Therefore, the team believe that the U-Xe must have been added to the Earth after a primordial atmosphere had developed. Simply put, comets are the best candidates for carrying the U-Xe to the planet. Co-author, Prof Ray Burgess, from Manchester's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences explains: "The Earth formed too close to the Sun for volatile elements, such as U-Xe, to easily condense and they would have rapidly boiled off the surface and been lost to space. "The reason that oceans and an atmosphere exist at all is because volatiles were still being added after the Earth formed. The puzzle is in identifying where the volatiles came from and what objects carried them to the early Earth. "The difficulty is that many of the different volatile ingredients that were originally added have been thoroughly mixed together by geological processes during Earth's long geological history." To combat this 'mixing' issue the team used tiny samples of ancient air trapped in water bubbles found in quartz in drill cores from the Barberton area of South Africa. The rocks from this region of the continent are extremely old and very well preserved. The team found that, in the Barberton quartz, 3.3 billion year old U-Xe has a composition very different from the xenon found in the Earth's atmosphere today. Lead author Dr Guillaume Avice from CRPG, said: "We measured the amount and isotopic abundance of xenon in the 3.3 billion year old air with unparalleled precision. "Xenon is a noble gas which, being chemically inert and having nine isotopes, is an ideal element to reveal the xenon isotopic composition in the Earth's primary atmosphere. This also makes it an ideal way of finding out where the atmosphere came from." Prof Bernard Marty, who initiated the study and who is also based as CRPG, said: "Our study reveals that 3 billion years ago there was already a xenon component in the Earth's atmosphere different from solar gases and in asteroids. One possibility is that this xenon was from comets." But the discovery also shows the research possibilities of studying gases found trapped deep in the earth. Dr Avice added: "The study of gases trapped in ancient rocks opens new perspectives in our understanding of the origin and evolution of Earth's volatile elements which are key factors for our planet's habitability." Researchers in Norwich, UK, are hoping to make crops more resistant to disease. Credit: Kamoun Lab @ TSL As the world's population rises, scientists want to edit the genes of potatoes and wheat to help them fight plant diseases that cause famine. By 2040, there will be 9 billion people in the world. "That's like adding another China onto today's global population," said Professor Sophien Kamoun of the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK. Prof. Kamoun is one of a growing number of food scientists trying to figure out how to feed the world. As an expert in plant pathogens such as Phytophthora infestans the fungus-like microbe responsible for potato blight he wants to make crops more resistant to disease. Potato blight sparked the Irish famine in the 19th century, causing a million people to starve to death and another million migrants to flee. European farmers now keep the fungus in check by using pesticides. However, in regions without access to chemical sprays, it continues to wipe out enough potatoes to feed hundreds of millions of people every year. "Potato blight is still a problem," said Prof. Kamoun. "In Europe, we use 12 chemical sprays per season to manage the pathogen that causes blight, but other parts of the world cannot afford this." Plants try to fight off the pathogens that cause disease but these are continuously changing to evade detection by the plant's immune system. Arms race In nature, every time a plant gets a little better at fighting off infection, pathogens adapt to evade their defences. Now biologists are getting involved in the fight. "It's essentially an arms race between plants and pathogens," said Prof. Kamoun. "We want to turn it into an arms race between biotechnologists and pathogens by generating new defences in the lab." Five years ago, Prof. Kamoun embarked on a project called NGRB, funded by the EU's European Research Council. The plan was to find a way to make potatoes more resistant to infection using advanced plant-breeding techniques. Then serendipity struck. In the early stages of the project, scientists in another lab discovered a ground-breaking gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas which allows scientists to delete or add genes at will. As well as having potential medical applications in humans, this powerful tool is unlocking new approaches to perfecting plants. "If we think of the genome as text, CRISPR is a word processor that allows us to change just a letter or two," explained Prof. Kamoun. "The precision that this allows makes CRISPR the ultimate in genetic editing. It's really beautiful." The fungal disease wheat blast is destroying crop yields in Bangladesh. Credit: Kamoun Lab @ TSL One of the simplest ways to use CRISPR to improve plants is to remove a gene that makes them vulnerable to infection. This alone can make potatoes more resilient, helping to meet the world's growing demand for food. The resulting crop looks and tastes just the same as any other potato. Prof. Kamoun says that potatoes which are missing a gene or two should not be viewed in the same way as genetically modified foods which sometimes contain genes introduced from another species. "It's a very important technical difference but not all regulators have updated their rules to make this distinction." Potatoes are not the only food crops that can be improved by CRISPR-Cas. Prof. Kamoun is now working on a project that aims to protect wheat from wheat blast a fungal disease decimating yields in Bangladesh and spreading in Asia. Looking ahead, CRISPR will be used to improve the quality and nutritional value of wheat, rice, potatoes and vegetables. It could even be used to remove genes that cause allergic reactions in people with tomato or wheat intolerance. "If we can remove allergens, consumers may soon see hypoallergenic tomatoes on supermarket shelves," Prof. Kamoun said. "It's a very exciting technology." While targeting disease in this way could be a game changer for global food security in the years ahead, experts believe other approaches to plant breeding will continue to have a role. Understanding meiosis a type of cell division that can reshuffle genes to improve plants can help farmers and the agribusiness sector select for hardier crops, according to Professor Chris Franklin of the University of Birmingham, UK. He leads the COMREC project, which trains young scientists to understand and manipulate meiosis in plants. The project applies the wealth of knowledge generated by leaders in the field to tackle the pressing problem of feeding a hungry world. "COMREC has begun to translate fundamental research into (applications in) key crop species such as cereals, brassicas and tomato," said Prof. Franklin. "Close links with plant-breeding companies have provided important insight into the specific challenges confronted by the breeders." Elite crops There may be untapped potential in this approach to plant breeding: most of the genes naturally reshuffled during meiosis in cereal crops are at the far ends of chromosomes genes in the middle of chromosomes are rarely reshuffled, limiting the scope for new crop variations. COMREC's academic and industry partners hope to understand why this is so that they can find a way to shuffle the genes in the middle of chromosomes too. And the food industry is keen to produce new 'elite varieties' that are better adapted to confront the challenges arising from climate change, says Prof. Franklin. "A number of genes have now been identified that can make this reshuffling relatively more frequent," he said. "CRISPR-Cas provides a way to modify the corresponding genes in crop species, helping to translate this basic research to target crops." More information: Targeted mutagenesis in the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana using Cas9 RNA-guided endonuclease by Vladimir Nekrasov, Brian Staskawicz, Detlef Weigel, Jonathan D G Jones & Sophien Kamoun in Nature Biotechnology 31, 691693 (2013). DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2655 Involvement of the Cohesin Cofactor PDS5 (SPO76) During Meiosis and DNA Repair in Arabidopsis thaliana by Monica Pradillo, Alexander Knoll, Cecilia Oliver, Javier Varas, Eduardo Corredor, Holger Puchta and Juan L. Santos in Front. Plant Sci., 01 December 2015 . DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2015.01034 Journal information: Nature Biotechnology In what experts called an unprecedented mass cyberattack using ransomware, more than 200,000 computers around the world were hacked beginning Friday using a security flaw in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system The fight against cyberattacks has sparked exponential growth in global protection spending, with the cyber security market estimated at $120 billion this year, more than 30 times its size just over a decade ago. But even that massive figure looks set to be dwarfed within a few years, experts said, after ransomware attacks crippled computers worldwide in the past week. The "global cyber security market was worth $3.5 billion" in 2004, according to a study by Cyber security research firm CyberSecurity Ventures, but in 2017, "we expect it to be worth more than $120 billion". In the five years ending in 2021, the firm said it expected worldwide spending on cybersecurity products and services "to eclipse $1 trillion". "It has clearly been a rapidly increasing market for many years, particularly in the last two or three years," said Gerome Billois, a cyber security expert with consulting firm Wavestone. Much of the growth will be spurred by massive cyber attacks like the so-called "Wannacry" ransomware that struck targets in dozens of countries, ranging from British hospitals to Russian banks. In what experts called an unprecedented mass cyberattack using ransomware, more than 200,000 computers around the world were hacked beginning Friday using a security flaw in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, an older version that was no longer given mainstream tech support by the US giant. The virus spread quickly because the culprits used a digital code believed to have been developed by the US National Security Agencyand subsequently leaked as part of a document dump, according to the Moscow-based computer security firm Kaspersky Lab. The attack blocks computers and puts up images on victims' screens demanding payment of $300 (275 euros) in the virtual currency Bitcoin, saying: "Ooops, your files have been encrypted!" The massive attack has been a boon for cyber security firms, driving up stock prices of some while others, like six-year-old American start-up Crowdstrike, were able to raise $100 million in one day. Ransomware: 'key trend' High-profiles attacks like WannaCry "drive the market," Ilex International president Laurent Gautier told AFP. Ransomware attacks represent about 22 percent of all global incidents NTT Security, an information security and risk management firm, handles for clients, said Kai Grunwitz, the firm's senior vice president for central Europe. That number jumps to 56 percent for financial firms. "So these types of attacks are certainly one of the key trends" driving up spending on computer security systems and tools, Grunwitz said, but "buying more software or hardware products will not fix the problemawareness, procedures and a strategy aligned with the specific risk profile are key." "Nevertheless, the global security market has grown in terms of revenue, and we see a very strong potential for additional growth in products but even more in consulting and managed security services over the next few years." A still nascent industry just 12 to 13 years ago, the market gradually expanded because of the "digitisation of companies and countries" and the increasing online attacks which publicised the rising digital threat, Billois said. "The growing wave of ransomware in 2014 created an enormous source of business for security research firms" because "companies were made aware of their vulnerabilities," said security expert Jerome Saiz. Companies were slow to realise they needed to protect themselves since "the return on investment is impossible to determine," Saiz said, "and we cannot know which attacks we survived and how much they cost". For large companies, putting in place an IT security strategy can cost tens of millions of dollars, he added. Some like French telecoms firm Orange choose to bring the security in-house. The telecoms giant bought cyber security firm Lexsi last year. To better respond to the threat from the other side, smaller security firms have banded together to create alliances, like the group of French companies who formed Hexatrust in 2014. Either way, software security companies like US anti-virus firm Symantec are reaping the benefits. The company "doubled" its share price in one year, said chief security strategist Laurent Heslault. But the threat from ransomware is hardly the only danger on the horizon. The hacking of interconnected appliances and other internet-connected things, the theft of personal and financial data, and hackers engaging in online political campaigns will all drive the market in the coming years. The biggest troubles however will not come from an attack but a "skills shortage": "a million cyber security jobs worldwide actually remain unfilled," Heslault said. 2017 AFP Plasticine caterpillars ready for deployment in Ithaca New York. Credit: Saskya van Nouhuys A new Oxford University collaboration revealing the world's prime insect predation hotspots, achieved its landmark findings using an unusual aid: plasticine 'dummy caterpillars.' The fact that the tropics are home to more species than the Polar Regions is well known. However, whether or not there is likely to be more predatory behaviour nearer to the Equator because of this, has remained largely unknown. The new study published in Science has revealed a global pattern of predation on insect herbivores. The trends observed were surprising, revealing that predatory behaviour in the tropics is not driven by birds or mammals but by ants and other small arthropods. The international team made the discovery by examining a fraction of caterpillars eaten along an 11,635 km gradient from the Arctic Circle to southern Australia. The work revealed that a caterpillar living near the Equator is eight times more likely to be eaten, than a caterpillar at the poles. The findings were achieved with surprisingly simple materials. To measure local predation rates, researchers glued thousands of artificial caterpillars made from plasticine, to plants across 31 sites around the world. Predators of caterpillars, such as birds and ants, are then tricked into thinking the decoy insects are the real thing, and only realise that they have been deceived when they have taken a bite. The team then revisited sites several times to check for bite marks, and evidence of any predatory behaviour. Dr Eleanor Slade, one of the study's lead authors and a researcher in Zoology at the Universities of Oxford and Lancaster, said: 'The great thing about this method is that you can track down who the predator was by inspecting the attack marks. The jaws of an insect, like an ant, will leave two small piercings, whereas a bird beak will cause wedge-shaped marks. Mammals will leave teeth markswell, you get the idea." The authors used bite marks on the caterpillars to identify the predator. In this case, the plasticine caterpillar has been repeatedly pinched by the wedge-shaped beak of a bird. Credit: Tapani Hopkins Tomas Roslin, the other lead author and Professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Helsinki, said: 'The pattern was not only mirrored on both sides of the Equator, but also appeared across elevational gradients. Moving up a mountain slope you find the same decrease in predation risk as when moving towards the Poles. This suggests a common driver could be controlling species interactions at a global scale.' Decoy insects have been used in previous ecology studies, but never before on such a broad scale. It was comparing results from these smaller initiatives that inspired the team to take their research to the next level. Eleanor Slade said: "Tomas had used plasticine caterpillars in Greenland and thought they didn't work when he found very low attack rates. I had used them in the rainforests in Borneo, and had detected very high attack rates. Just imagine if these are the two end points of a global pattern, we thought. And that is exactly what they turned out to be.' The replica insects were placed at far-flung locations across the globe, which meant that gathering the corresponding data required a lot of team work, with a total of 40 researchers from 21 countries working on the project. Bess Hardwick, the laboratory manager for the research, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, said: "This is the beauty of what are called 'distributed experiments'. As ecologists, we typically ask questions about patterns and processes much larger than we as single researchers or teams can examine. But by designing experiments that can be split into smaller work packages, we can involve collaborators all over the world, and work together to understand the bigger picture.' For the insights gained to be comparable, consistency and standardisation were key. The dummy caterpillars were designed at and sent to researchers from the projects central "hatchery", at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Moulded from green plasticine, the materials were shaped to closely resemble "loopers" (or "inchworms"). Even the glue used to attach them to plants was included in the kit to ensure the same look and smell of caterpillars across all sites. A total of 2,879 were used in the study and left at the sties over the course of four to 18 days. The caterpillars were then carefully detached from the leaves and returned to Helsinki for analysis. Led by Bess Hardwick, the team inspected the caterpillars for signs of predator-induced damage, such as bite marks. By attributing each attack mark to a specific predator group, the team was then able to identify a clear culprit behind the latitudinal gradient in attack rates. A plasticine caterpillar glistening with moisture while probing for predator attacks in the forest of Tai Po Kau, Hong Kong. Credit: Chung Yun Tak Dr Will Petry, Postdoctoral Research Associate at ETH Zurich, who contributed data and supported analysis from California, said: 'People often think of vertebrates as the most important predators in the tropics, but birds and mammals weren't the groups responsible for the increase in predation risk towards the Equator. Instead tiny arthropod predators like ants drove the pattern.' The findings may also have implications for herbivore evolution, Dr Petry said: 'Our results suggest that tropical caterpillars would do well to target their defences and camouflage specifically against arthropod predators. Closer to the poles, lower predation may allow caterpillars to let their guard down.' Professor Roslin said: 'To understand why the world stays green and is not fully consumed by hordes of caterpillars, we should appreciate the role of arthropod predators. Our findings suggest that their role may be even further accentuated towards the Equator." Herbivores in tropical forests remove 10 to 30 per cent of a plant's leaf area per year. Interactions between plants and their herbivores and predators will therefore affect forest eco-system structures, and in turn how they function. When there is higher predation of leaf-eating caterpillars this may cascade through the ecosystem, with knock-on effects for the growth and survival of plants. Uncovering a gradient in how species interact therefore provides a foundation for understanding global patterns in ecosystem processes (e.g. herbivory and plant productivity), ecosystem services, (e.g. carbon storage and crop yields), and how long-term changes in the environment may affect biodiversity. Moving forward, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate further academic investigation into whether the patterns revealed translate into cascading effects for herbivory of plant leaves, and whether these patterns will ultimately affect the structure and function of forest ecosystems. More information: T. Roslin at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden el al., "Higher predation risk for insect prey at low latitudes and elevations," Science (2017). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi 1126/science.aaj1631 Journal information: Science Provided by University of Oxford (Left) Actual pellet of dolomite and ferrosilicon. White portion is dolomite rich, and the black portion is ferrosilicon rich. Ferrosilicon is concentrated in the center portion.(Right) Five stacked to form the microwave wavelength (antenna structure). Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology A research group led by Professor Yuji Wada and Adjunct Professor Satoshi Fujii of the Tokyo Institute of Technology has devised a magnesium smelting method that uses nearly 70 percent less energy than conventional methods by using microwaves. Dolomite ore (MgO, CaO), which is a raw material for magnesium metal, does not absorb microwave energy well and does not generate heat. When electrically conductivity ferrosilicon (FeSi) used as a reducing agent was mixed with the raw dolomite material and made into an antenna structure, it more easily absorbed the microwave energy and reduced in temperature. Internal heating and contact point heating, which are microwave characteristics, were observed, and the average reaction temperature for this smelting was lowered from the conventional 1,200 - 1,400C to 1,000C. This research result was published in the April 12th issue of Scientific Reports. Currently, the smelting of magnesium metal is mainly performed using the Pidgeon method (a thermal reduction method) in which the material temperature is raised using a large amount of coal as the heat source. About 80 percent of magnesium metal is produced in China. A large amount of coal is consumed for smelting, resulting in the generation of the air pollutant PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) and the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which are major problems. Difference in the distribution of the electric field in the applicator with and without the antenna structure through simulation. Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology The Pidgeon method is a technique for heating dolomite ore and silicon iron to high temperatures and then cooling the evaporated magnesium to obtain magnesium metal. Where (s)=Solid and (g)=Gas: 2MgO (s) + 2CaO (s) + (Fe)Si (s) 2Mg (g) + Ca2SiO4 (s)+ Fe (s) Dolomite mineral: MgO, CaO; Ferrosilicon: FeSi Heat source: Coal By using ferrosilicon as the reducing agent, devising the shape of the raw material pellet obtained by mixing dolomite and ferrosilicon and forming it as an antenna with a resonance structure of 2.45 GHz (the frequency for microwave ovens), it was possible to confine the microwave energy to the pellet. In a small-scale experimental reactor, 1g of magnesium metal was smelted successfully. Also, in order to accurately estimate the energy, a demonstration furnace about five times larger than the experimental furnace was produced and experiments were conducted, resulting in the successful smelting of about seven grams of magnesium metal. This can reduce energy by 68.6 percent compared with the conventional method. X-ray diffraction result of the obtained magnesium metal. Magnesium peak is observed. Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology Future Developments This technique is promising for the high-temperature reduction process of oxides. In the future, through further development of this research, it will be applied to the smelting of other metal materials to save energy with steel, metals, materials and chemistry, and reduce carbon dioxide pollution, which is one of the causes of global warming. More information: Yuji Wada et al, Smelting Magnesium Metal using a Microwave Pidgeon Method, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep46512 Journal information: Scientific Reports Credit: University of Kansas Legislative changes that were introduced in response to corporate scandals in the 1980s and 1990s, and the many others since, have especially motivated larger companies to create ethics and compliance officer positions. These officers are usually tasked with insuring employee compliance with ethical values and legal principles. But the ethics and compliance officer role is a challenging one, according to research that includes a University of Kansas professor in the School of Business. As exemplified by the recent Volkswagen and Wells Fargo scandals, the mere presence of an ethics and compliance officer within an organization is no guarantee that unethical behavior will not occur and cause major issues for some of the world's largest companies. "Society has come to define business as being rational, profit focused and not very ethics focused," said Niki den Nieuwenboer, assistant professor of organizational behavior and business ethics. "Ethical values and questions don't always come up and are, for some managers, harder to talk about and more easily ignored." Den Nieuwenboer's work focuses on management and unethical behavior. She and her co-authors from Pennsylvania State University published a study in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes that found ethics and compliance officers reported facing major challenges to the legitimacy of their role within their organizations. The researchers interviewed 40 ethics and compliance officers about their experiences. The researchers recommended companies facilitate better conditions to help ethics and compliance officers, known as ECOs, reach legitimacy. Den Nieuwenboer said a prevailing assumption among business leaders is that "they don't hire crooks," so they don't need to worry that employees might behave unethically. "It is in a way the default," she said. "We all assume the majority of people want to be law-abiding citizens. However, ethical lapses can be hard to recognize because they don't look like a guy with a big pile of money running out the door. People need ethical training and guidance to help recognize when they are facing ethical challenges and to learn how to deal with them." She added that simply because most people know it's wrong to participate in some of the most egregious or overt unethical behavior, that doesn't mean everyone knows how to handle every ethical challenge they might encounter in their field. This can be especially important and complicated for organizations that have clients or suppliers across the globe, as different cultures can have different norms, which do not always cohere with U.S. norms or laws, she said. Also, in the Volkswagen and Wells Fargo scandals, it appeared damage occurred when employees basically cut corners in sales or engineering development based on pressure to live up to performance standards. Den Nieuwenboer said the research team also found that the ECOs tend to engage in action they termed "legitimacy work" through a number of tactics to help gain credibility in the eyes of fellow employees. "For one thing, it's super complicated, because when you're doing a really good job as an ethics officer, it essentially means that nothing happens," Den Nieuwenboer said, "in the sense that the absence of scandal is your success. It can be hard to justify spending money and time in the pursuit of having nothing happen." ECOs interviewed, for example, mentioned not using "ethics" or the "e-word," she said, instead talking about business principles and practices or integrity as a way to frame their work. Some also report metrics such as number of staff trained per year or number of calls made to the ethics hotline as a way of justifying the resources that are spent on ethics management and as a way of showing success of the program. But she mentions those measures are ambiguous as well. "Does a higher number of calls signal success of a program, or does it suggest that there is more unethical behavior going on?" she said. Den Nieuwenboer said business schools and professors stressing ethics as part of a curriculum could likely help long-term as new professionals move into the field and by default expect ethical behavior to be an emphasis in their corporate jobs. "As business professors, we could have an influence in this area," she said, "by questioning whether business is just for a profit or if there are certain moral responsibilities that they have as well." More information: Linda Klebe Trevino et al. Legitimating the legitimate: A grounded theory study of legitimacy work among Ethics and Compliance Officers, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.10.009 Journal information: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Domestic extremists tend to be much older, better educated, more affluent, more religious, and are more likely to be white than street gang members, according to a sweeping new University of Colorado Boulder study that systematically compares the groups for the first time. The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and published today in the journal Justice Quarterly, also found that contrary to popular belief, U.S. gang members seldom go on to become radicalized and commit acts of terrorism. The findings come as the Trump administration has named the large U.S. street gang MS 13 "one of the gravest threats to American public safety," and ideologically motivated extremism remains a national concern. The authors hope the paper, and related studies, will be used to help inform policies to counter both domestic terrorism and gang participation. "Both criminal gangs, like MS-13, and domestic extremist groups, like neo-Nazis, pose great risks for crime and violence in the United States," said lead author David Pyrooz, an assistant professor of sociology. "This study gives us a much better statistical portrait of what such groups look like in relation to each other." For the study, researchers compared data from 1,473 political extremists in the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset with 705 gang members from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSR) dataset. PIRUS includes information, taken from interviews and media accounts, about members of violent extremist groups or terrorist organizations, and individuals who committed crimes motivated by far-right, far-left, Islamist, or other ideologies. "Criminologists have been studying gangs for years, whereas the study of domestic extremists is relatively recent," explained co-author Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. "There has been some hope that if the processes by which individuals get into gangs resemble how they get into terrorist organizations, we might be able to use what we know from countering gang participation to counter participation in terrorism." But the study suggests there are fewer links than suspected. Only 82 domestic extremists - less than 6 percent - had gang ties. "This suggests gangs are not breeding grounds for extremism as previously thought," said Pyrooz. On average, members of extremist groups are 34 years old; gang members are 19. While females constitute nearly one-third of gangs, 90 percent of extremists are male. Eighty percent of domestic extremists are white, while fewer than half of gang members are. And just 1.2 percent of extremists have no religious affiliation, while 24 percent of gang members are not religious. In all, the groups showed similarities in only 10 out of 27 measures. "Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that, on an individual level, policies and programs designed to prevent and intervene in gang membership might not translate very well to domestic extremism," said Pyrooz. "The jury is still out for group- and community-level approaches." That said, the researchers did find a few compelling commonalities that draw people to both types of groups, including strong attachments to like-minded peers and poor employment history. For studies to come, they're conducting in-person interviews with gang members to compare their life histories with those of domestic extremists. "We want to better understand how and why members from each of these groups enter and leave them, and provide this basic research to people out in the trenches dealing with these issues," Pyrooz said. More information: "Cut from the same cloth? A comparative study of domestic extremists and gang members in the United States." Justice Quarterly (2017). Journal information: Justice Quarterly The silver serves as a kind of intermediary between the gold particles while not dissipating energy. Credit: Liedl/Hohmann (NIM) Today's computers are faster and smaller than ever before. The latest generation of transistors will have structural features with dimensions of only 10 nanometers. If computers are to become even faster and at the same time more energy efficient at these minuscule scales, they will probably need to process information using light particles instead of electrons. This is referred to as "optical computing". Fiber-optic networks already use light to transport data over long distances at high speed and with minimum loss. The diameters of the thinnest cables, however, are in the micrometer range, as the light waveswith a wavelength of around one micrometermust be able to oscillate unhindered. In order to process data on a micro- or even nanochip, an entirely new system is therefore required. One possibility would be to conduct light signals via so-called plasmon oscillations. This involves a light particle (photon) exciting the electron cloud of a gold nanoparticle so that it starts oscillating. These waves then travel along a chain of nanoparticles at approximately 10% of the speed of light. This approach achieves two goals: nanometer-scale dimensions and enormous speed. What remains, however, is the energy consumption. In a chain composed purely of gold, this would be almost as high as in conventional transistors, due to the considerable heat development in the gold particles. A tiny spot of silver Tim Liedl, Professor of Physics at LMU and PI at the cluster of excellence Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM), together with colleagues from Ohio University, has now published an article in the journal Nature Physics, which describes how silver nanoparticles can significantly reduce the energy consumption. The physicists built a sort of miniature test track with a length of around 100 nanometers, composed of three nanoparticles: one gold nanoparticle at each end, with a silver nanoparticle right in the middle. The silver serves as a kind of intermediary between the gold particles while not dissipating energy. To make the silver particle's plasmon oscillate, more excitation energy is required than for gold. Therefore, the energy just flows "around" the silver particle. "Transport is mediated via the coupling of the electromagnetic fields around the so-called hot spots which are created between each of the two gold particles and the silver particle," explains Tim Liedl. "This allows the energy to be transported with almost no loss, and on a femtosecond time scale." Textbook quantum model The decisive precondition for the experiments was the fact that Tim Liedl and his colleagues are experts in the exquisitely exact placement of nanostructures. This is done by the DNA origami method, which allows different crystalline nanoparticles to be placed at precisely defined nanodistances from each other. Similar experiments had previously been conducted using conventional lithography techniques. However, these do not provide the required spatial precision, in particular where different types of metals are involved. In parallel, the physicists simulated the experimental set-up on the computer and had their results confirmed. In addition to classical electrodynamic simulations, Alexander Govorov, Professor of Physics at Ohio University, Athens, USA, was able to establish a simple quantum-mechanical model: "In this model, the classical and the quantum-mechanical pictures match very well, which makes it a potential example for the textbooks." More information: Eva-Maria Roller et al. Hotspot-mediated non-dissipative and ultrafast plasmon passage, Nature Physics (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nphys4120 Journal information: Nature Physics Findings by Benoit Bruneau (left) and Elphege Nora (right) from the Gladstone Institutes reshape our understanding of how DNA is organized in cells. Credit: Chris Goodfellow, Gladstone Institutes After decades of research aiming to understand how DNA is organized in human cells, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have shed new light on this mysterious field by discovering how a key protein helps control gene organization. Humans have nearly 30,000 genes that determine traits from eye color to risk for hereditary diseases. Those genes sit along six feet of DNA, which are carefully organized into chromosomes and stuffed into each and every microscopic human cell. "The extreme compacting of DNA into chromosomes is like taking a telephone cord that stretches from San Francisco to New York, and stuffing it into a backpack," described Benoit Bruneau, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone and lead author of a new study. "The organization of chromosomes is not random, but rather very complex, and it is critical for normal development. When this process goes wrong, it can contribute to various diseases." How is our DNA organized? Chromosomes are coiled into loops and then organized into many large domains called topologically associating domains, or TADs. Within each TAD, several genes and the elements that regulate them are packaged together, and they are insulated from those in neighboring TADs. "Imagine TADs are like adjoining rooms: like the genes in each TAD, people in each room can talk to one another, but not to people in the next room," explained Elphege Nora, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in Bruneau's laboratory and first author of the study. "In previous work, we showed that TADs package genes together and insulate them from neighboring genes. The burning question then became: what controls this TAD organization?" In the new study, published in the renowned scientific journal Cell, the scientists discovered that the key to organizing these TADs is a protein called CTCF. "CTCF is a fascinating protein," said Bruneau, who is also a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "It can be found at the boundaries of TAD domains, and was previously thought to be involved in many aspects of chromosome organization. We wanted to see what would happen to the structure of chromosomes if we removed all the CTCF from cells." CTCF: observing a protein that is impossible to study Researchers have struggled with studying the role of CTCF in the past, because it is absolutely essential to cells' survival. Therefore, completely removing CTCF would cause cells to die, making them impossible to study. DNA double helix. Credit: public domain "We used a new genetic method to completely eliminate CTCF in mammalian cells," said Nora. "Using this technique, we destroyed the protein very quickly so that we could study the cells before they died. This allowed us to look at the entire genome in the absence of CTCF and observe the effects." In collaboration with a team of computational biologists led by Leonid A. Mirny at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a team of biochemists led by Job Dekker at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Gladstone scientists demonstrated the importance of CTCF for the insulation of TADs. "We noticed that, in the absence of the CTCF protein, the insulating boundaries of TAD domains had almost fully disappeared, so that genes and regulatory elements could now interact with those in adjacent TADs," added Nora. "This would be like removing the wall between adjoining rooms, so that people could now freely interact with others in the neighboring room." However, the absence of CTCF had little effect on how genes connect within a single TAD. This indicates that CTCF is required for insulating TADs from one another, but not for packaging genes within these domains. This represents the first conclusive study to show that the two mechanisms are separate and controlled by different proteins. Redefining our understanding of CTCF Now that the scientists finally had a way of removing CTCF from cells, and disrupting the organization of TADs, they could start studying its impact on various aspects of the genome. They leveraged this new ability to examine other levels of chromosome organization. "We looked at a level of organization called compartmentalization, which separates active and inactive genes within a cell nucleus," said Nora. "This helps the cell identify which genes to use. For example, skins cells don't need eye-related genes, so these genes would be tightly packaged in a compartment and put away, because the cell will never use them. We used to think that boundaries of TAD domains were a prerequisite for the organization of these compartments." "To our surprise, we found that is not the case," said Bruneau. "When we deleted the CTCF protein, which caused TAD boundaries to disappear, we saw no effect on the organization of the larger compartments. This interesting finding revealed that CTCF and TAD structure are not required for compartmentalization but, rather, that an independent mechanism is responsible for this chromosome organization." "Our findings redefine the role of CTCF in gene regulation and provide new insights about the fundamental processes that govern genome organization" added Bruneau. "With this knowledge, we can now start reevaluating the cause of several diseases, as chromosome organization-including TADs-is often disrupted in many cancers and involved in significant developmental defects, such as congenital heart disease." Prior to its publication in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, a preliminary version of the study was posted on bioRxiv, an open-access distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences, and downloaded nearly 5,000 times over the past few months. "Websites like these offer new, exciting, and more direct ways to share research results," said Bruneau. "It also provided us with valuable input that helped shape our final manuscript and future research." The human heart beats approximately 35 million times every year, effectively pumping blood into the circulation via four different heart valves. Unfortunately, in over four million people each year, these delicate tissues malfunction due to birth defects, age-related deteriorations, and infections, causing cardiac valve disease. Today, clinicians use either artificial prostheses or fixed animal and cadaver-sourced tissues to replace defective valves. While these prostheses can restore the function of the heart for a while, they are associated with adverse comorbidity and wear down and need to be replaced during invasive and expensive surgeries. Moreover, in children, implanted heart valve prostheses need to be replaced even more often as they cannot grow with the child. A team lead by Kevin Kit Parker, Ph.D. at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering recently developed a nanofiber fabrication technique to rapidly manufacture heart valves with regenerative and growth potential. In a paper published in Biomaterials, Andrew Capulli, Ph.D. and colleagues fabricated a valve-shaped nanofiber network that mimics the mechanical and chemical properties of the native valve extracellular matrix (ECM). To achieve this, the team used the Parker lab's proprietary rotary jet spinning technology - in which a rotating nozzle extrudes an ECM solution into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels. "Our setup is like a very fast cotton candy machine that can spin a range of synthetic and natural occurring materials. In this study, we used a combination of synthetic polymers and ECM proteins to fabricate biocompatible JetValves that are hemodynamically competent upon implantation and support cell migration and re-population in vitro. Importantly, we can make human-sized JetValves in minutes - much faster than possible for other regenerative prostheses," said Parker. To further develop and test the clinical potential of JetValves, Parker's team collaborated with the translational team of Simon P. Hoerstrup, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, which is a partner institution with the Wyss Institute. As a leader in regenerative heart prostheses, Hoerstrup and his team in Zurich have previously developed regenerative, tissue-engineered heart valves to replace mechanical and fixed-tissue heart valves. In Hoerstrup's approach, human cells directly deposit a regenerative layer of complex ECM on biodegradable scaffolds shaped as heart valves and vessels. The living cells are then eliminated from the scaffolds resulting in an "off-the-shelf" human matrix-based prostheses ready for implantation. In the paper, the cross-disciplinary team successfully implanted JetValves in sheep using a minimally invasive technique and demonstrated that the valves functioned properly in the circulation and regenerated new tissue. "In our previous studies, the cell-derived ECM-coated scaffolds could recruit cells from the receiving animal's heart and support cell proliferation, matrix remodeling, tissue regeneration, and even animal growth. While these valves are safe and effective, their manufacturing remains complex and expensive as human cells must be cultured for a long time under heavily regulated conditions. The JetValve's much faster manufacturing process can be a game-changer in this respect. If we can replicate these results in humans, this technology could have invaluable benefits in minimizing the number of pediatric re-operations," said Hoerstrup. In support of these translational efforts, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Zurich announced today a cross-institutional team effort to generate a functional heart valve replacement with the capacity for repair, regeneration, and growth. The team is also working towards a GMP-grade version of their customizable, scalable, and cost-effective manufacturing process that would enable deployment to a large patient population. In addition, the new heart valve would be compatible with minimally invasive procedures to serve both pediatric and adult patients. The project will be led jointly by Parker and Hoerstrup. Parker is a Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute and the Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Hoerstrup is Chair and Director of the University of Zurich's Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), Co-Director of the recently founded Wyss Translational Center Zurich and a Wyss Institute Associate Faculty member. Since JetValves can be manufactured in all desired shapes and sizes, and take seconds to minutes to produce, the team's goal is to provide customized, ready-to-use, regenerative heart valves much faster and at much lower cost than currently possible. "Achieving the goal of minimally invasive, low-cost regenerating heart valves could have tremendous impact on patients' lives across age-, social- and geographical boundaries. Once again, our collaborative team structure that combines unique and leading expertise in bioengineering, regenerative medicine, surgical innovation and business development across the Wyss Institute and our partner institutions, makes it possible for us to advance technology development in ways not possible in a conventional academic laboratory," said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at HMS and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS. More information: Andrew K. Capulli et al, JetValve: Rapid manufacturing of biohybrid scaffolds for biomimetic heart valve replacement, Biomaterials (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.04.033 Journal information: Biomaterials These two images, taken a year apart, reveal a moon orbiting the dwarf planet 2007 OR10. Each image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, shows the companion in a different orbital position around its parent body. 2007 OR10 is the third-largest known dwarf planet, behind Pluto and Eris, and the largest unnamed world in the solar system. The pair is located in the Kuiper Belt, a realm of icy debris left over from the solar system's formation. Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Kiss (Konkoly Observatory), and J. Stansberry (STScI) The combined power of three space observatories, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, has helped astronomers uncover a moon orbiting the third largest dwarf planet, catalogued as 2007 OR10. The pair resides in the frigid outskirts of our solar system called the Kuiper Belt, a realm of icy debris left over from our solar system's formation 4.6 billion years ago. With this discovery, most of the known dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt larger than 600 miles across have companions. These bodies provide insight into how moons formed in the young solar system. "The discovery of satellites around all of the known large dwarf planets - except for Sedna - means that at the time these bodies formed billions of years ago, collisions must have been more frequent, and that's a constraint on the formation models," said Csaba Kiss of the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. He is the lead author of the science paper announcing the moon's discovery. "If there were frequent collisions, then it was quite easy to form these satellites." The objects most likely slammed into each other more often because they inhabited a crowded region. "There must have been a fairly high density of objects, and some of them were massive bodies that were perturbing the orbits of smaller bodies," said team member John Stansberry of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. "This gravitational stirring may have nudged the bodies out of their orbits and increased their relative velocities, which may have resulted in collisions." But the speed of the colliding objects could not have been too fast or too slow, according to the astronomers. If the impact velocity was too fast, the smash-up would have created lots of debris that could have escaped from the system; too slow and the collision would have produced only an impact crater. Collisions in the asteroid belt, for example, are destructive because objects are traveling fast when they smash together. The asteroid belt is a region of rocky debris between the orbits of Mars and the gas giant Jupiter. Jupiter's powerful gravity speeds up the orbits of asteroids, generating violent impacts. The team uncovered the moon in archival images of 2007 OR10 taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Observations taken of the dwarf planet by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope first tipped off the astronomers of the possibility of a moon circling it. Kepler revealed that 2007 OR10 has a slow rotation period of 45 hours. "Typical rotation periods for Kuiper Belt Objects are under 24 hours," Kiss said. "We looked in the Hubble archive because the slower rotation period could have been caused by the gravitational tug of a moon. The initial investigator missed the moon in the Hubble images because it is very faint." The astronomers spotted the moon in two separate Hubble observations spaced a year apart. The images show that the moon is gravitationally bound to 2007 OR10 because it moves with the dwarf planet, as seen against a background of stars. However, the two observations did not provide enough information for the astronomers to determine an orbit. "Ironically, because we don't know the orbit, the link between the satellite and the slow rotation rate is unclear," Stansberry said. The astronomers calculated the diameters of both objects based on observations in far-infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory, which measured the thermal emission of the distant worlds. The dwarf planet is about 950 miles across, and the moon is estimated to be 150 miles to 250 miles in diameter. 2007 OR10, like Pluto, follows an eccentric orbit, but it is currently three times farther than Pluto is from the sun. 2007 OR10 is a member of an exclusive club of nine dwarf planets. Of those bodies, only Pluto and Eris are larger than 2007 OR10. It was discovered in 2007 by astronomers Meg Schwamb, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz as part of a survey to search for distant solar system bodies using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. The team's results appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington, D.C. Credit: NASA/John Sonntag A fjord in southern Greenland, as seen during Operation IceBridge's last flight of the 2017 Arctic campaign, on May 12, 2017. This final full science flight, ICESat-2 South, was designed along the ground tracks of NASA's upcoming Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), to fill in a gap in altimetry coverage of central southern Greenland. Supporting ICESat-2, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, is one of the primary goals for Operation IceBridge. But the large volumes of data on Arctic sea and land ice that IceBridge has collected during its nine years of operations there have also enabled scientific discoveries ranging from the first map showing what parts of the bottom of the massive Greenland Ice Sheet are thawed, to improvements in snowfall accumulation models for all of Greenland. IceBridge has produced unprecedented three-dimensional views of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, providing scientists with valuable data on how polar ice is changing in a warming world. Provided by NASA Credit: University of Cambridge New book suggests there is early evidence of a coming U-turn in the globalisation of manufacturing and that the story we are told about the direction of the global economy is wrong. For decades we have been told that globalisation is an irresistible force. As Tony Blair said: "you might as well debate whether autumn follows summer." According to a new book by a Cambridge academic, however, factors ranging from automation and 3-D printing to environmental regulations and customer expectations are now spelling the beginning of the end for globalised manufacturing. Dr Finbarr Livesey, an expert in public policy, says that while digital globalisation continues apace, early signs can be seen of a sea change in the production and distribution of goods: with global supply chains shrinking as companies experiment with moving production closer to home. In the book "From Global to Local: the Making of Things and the End of Globalisation," published this week by Profile Books, he argues that many of the big assumptions we have about globalisation and outsourcing are now wrong, and that the global economy is subtly changing in ways yet to be picked up by blunt macroeconomic measurements. "Robots are becoming cheaper than overseas labour, climate concern and volatile fossil fuel markets are restricting carbon footprints, and consumers increasingly expect tailored products with express delivery. Bouncing production around the planet is already making less and less economic sense," says Livesey. "Holding on to familiar stories about the global economy is not an option, as technological and political changes make a mockery of any past consensus." However, he warns against falsely claiming such shifts as a victory for protectionism: the technologies allowing the return of production to high-cost economies are unlikely to mean the promised return of jobs. Livesey also argues that if 'deglobalisation' is indeed coming down the line then Brexit may be a particularly bad move for UK manufacturing: "Trying to reach over our neighbours in the name of 'global Britain' at a time when many companies are on the cusp of reverting to regionalism means that marginal calls for European manufacturing bases may go to France or the Czech Republic, for example, rather than the UK," he says. Leaders in both west and east have hitched their wagons to the apparent inevitability of globalisation over the past thirty years. Yet, as Livesey points out, regionalism never went away. A significant percentage of exports continue to land in the same area they originate: around 50 percent in Asia and North America, and as much as 70 percent in Europe. Credit: University of Cambridge In the book he draws attention to examples of what he believes to be "weak signals of early change" as major companies tentatively start to U-turn on globalisation. The new Adidas 'Speedfactory' uses automation and 3-D printing to produce high-end trainers not in China or South Asia, but in Germany. "And we were told textiles were never coming back," says Livesey. The mighty General Electric recently rejuvenated a vast manufacturing "ghost town" in Kentucky when they realised appliances could be made for the same or cheaper in the US than in China. Foxconn, the company that makes iPhone innards, raised eyebrows when they suggested robots could replace one million Chinese workers and that production could even move to the US as a result. Global supply chains cost companies time in an age of next-day delivery, and add risks of disruption from cultural differences to natural disasters and even intellectual property theft. They also take a heavy environmental toll: shipping alone produces a billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to that of Germany. "Take Zara, one of the daughters of 'fast fashion'," says Livesey. "They have a cycle from design through to production and shop floor delivery of just four weeks. In some cases it would take almost that long just to ship product from China. The new 'Belt and Road' initiative may only reduce that to two weeks. "Many companies can't afford the time, not to mention the added risk, of freighting goods around the world. Zara base much of their production in Spain, Portugal and Morocco to be on Europe's doorstep an example of 'nearshoring'." Ultimately, the journey from production to customer may be measured in metres rather than continents. For example, Harvard Bookstore's 'Espresso Book Machine' uses information from digital files to print and bind new books in store on demand. Livesey highlights the patents for mobile 3-D printing filed by Amazon in 2015 as indicative of a hyper-local rather than hyper-global direction for production. "While not currently feasible, there may come a time when your purchased product is printed en route to your house." While he admits that the data from the last few decades can make his position seem Canute-like at the moment, Livesey argues that the tide is turning, with signals of new localism amid the noise. A recent survey of over 500 companies found well over half were moving production away from China. One in six companies surveyed by the Engineering Employees Federation had moved production from a low-cost economy to the UK. The Korean government passed a 'U-Turn' law encouraging companies to return from China. "Companies are deciding to have their production either in their home country or nearby. Automation is attacking the costs of labour and shifting the calculus for managers. Political forces are constraining the space for manufacturing, for example restricting emissions from transport. The early signs are there." Saddleworth moor, where the victims of the Moors Murders were buried. Credit: blogsession.co.uk/Flickr, CC BY-SA Ian Brady, who tortured and killed five children in the UK in the 1960s with his accomplice Myra Hindley, died in prison on May 15. Jailed in 1966, Brady buried four of his victims in shallow graves on Saddleworth Moor outside Manchester and the remains have since been found. Sadly, the body of one his victims, Keith Bennett, however, is still missing. Brady's death has left Bennett's family feeling like the final chance to find his remains has been lost. The police, however, insist that the search will go on. But how do you go about finding a lost body after so many years? UK Home Office statistics show that around 2,000 of the 200,000 people who are reported missing each year are still not found after 12 months. Some want to start a new life, but an unknown number become victims of crime. Some are murdered. Most of these cases are solved fairly rapidly, but some so-called cold cases are harder to crack. Luckily, science can help. In many homicide cases, bodies end up getting buried in the ground. There are various scientific methods that can help locate such victims, with one of the most important being to identify variations in the surface, such as depressions or small hills, which could indicate that a body has been buried underneath. Search teams can also use specialist "cadaver dogs" to sniff for remains or geophysical methods to scan identified areas. The latter include ground penetrating radar, which uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. Theres a lot of science to take into account before search teams can start digging. Credit: University of Messina We recently published a review which set out best practice when it comes to finding bodies on land. We discovered that a phased approach usually yields the best results. This involves starting with analysis of large-scale satellite data to locate potential burial areas for example where soil has been recently disturbed. You then proceed with initial site investigations, looking at suspect areas to find out the soil type and other environmental data. The last stage involves carrying out focused site searches and digging. Control studies with animal and human bodies But despite this knowledge, the current detection rate of cold cases is low perhaps only one in 100 cases are successful. As each case is unique, control studies using purpose-built clandestine graves are helping us further work out which detection techniques work best in which cases. In the UK, we currently use pigs as human analogues, although the US, Australia and, since January, the Netherlands, use donated human cadavers. The approach needed will change as a body decomposes (see figure below) with the local soil type, burial style and the types of rock in the ground also being important variables. A 50-year-old body buried in a shallow grave in the moors may be relatively intact in wet peatland, whereas a recently buried body in dry sand will rapidly decay. Ground penetrating radar is best to locate bodies that have been wrapped in something (wrapping provides a good reflective surface). In other cases, where the body is still decomposing, fluids such as blood from the cadaver can be detected by machines that measure electrical resistivity how strongly a material opposes the flow of an electric current. In a recent study, we showed that conductivity in grave soil water rapidly increases up to two years after burial data which we can use to estimate the time since death. Control studies can only go as far back in time as experiments last, so researchers have also been looking at real graves that are much older to assist with more ancient missing persons cases. Graveyards and cemeteries are an obvious choice for this. These can be geophysically surveyed, most commonly with ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity to look for bodies buried without a grave stone. These can be exhumed, both for research purposes and to confirm the identity of the remains. We did this recently when new church community halls were being built on old graveyards. Exhumation regulations differ across the world, but in the UK you are allowed to do this if burials are over 100 years old. An issue with this, however, is that graveyard burials are in coffins, often along with preservatives. Few accidental burials or homicide graves use coffins or chemicals. Nonetheless, ongoing geophysical research of graveyard burials is extending our knowledge of how long bodies are detectable for. This can certainly feed into cold case searches. Search for a missing person in woodland in the Midlands with a magnetic gradiometer. This kind of research has also improved our understanding of how well different survey methods work in different environments. For example, electrical resistivity surveys tend to work best in clay-rich soils whereas radar is best in sandy soils. We've also learned that gravestones are often not exactly in the correct position, and that graves containing many bodies are often not vertically aligned. This may occur due to coffins subsiding in soft ground, or in more extreme examples, due to "coffin slip", where in inclined ground, burials move down the slope over time. Clearly more research needs to be done to improve detection rates of cold cases. In fact, the key is to combine collaborative academic control studies with input from search practitioners and experts. Advances in technology such as drones that can help locate surveys in real time and more sensitive geophysical devices are also allowing us to integrate both simple observations and advanced geophysical searches into one system. There's certainly good reason to believe that Bennett was also buried somewhere on the moor. Initial searches, mainly using police manpower and volunteers looking for physical signs of ground disturbance, were unsuccessful. Many other methods have since been used, including specialist search dogs and metal detectors (should there be metal in Keith's clothing). Soil sampling and other tests have also been used to look for decomposition of fluids, but it is probably too late for this now. Ground penetrating radar has also been used to search for a skeleton. However, these methods are time consuming and only a relatively small area can be surveyed each time. But, as long we continue looking and use the latest technology and research to inform the search there is every chance that we could one day find Bennett's body. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The dry yellowish leaves on these rice plants are a classic symptom of bacterial blight, a devastating disease that affects rice fields worldwide. Credit: Meng Yuan Researchers have successfully developed a novel method that allows for increased disease resistance in rice without decreasing yield. A team at Duke University, working in collaboration with scientists at Huazhong Agricultural University in China, describe the findings in a paper published May 17, 2017 in the journal Nature. Rice is one of the most important staple crops, responsible for providing over one-fifth of the calories consumed by humans worldwide. Diseases caused by bacterial or fungal pathogens present a significant problem, and can result in the loss of 80 percent or more of a rice crop. Decades of research into the plant immune response have identified components that can be used to engineer disease-resistant plants. However, their practical application to crops is limited due to the decreased yield associated with a constantly active defense response. "Immunity is a double-edged sword, " said study co-author Xinnian Dong, professor of biology at Duke and lead investigator of the study. "There is often a tradeoff between growth and defense because defense proteins are not only toxic to pathogens but also harmful to self when overexpressed," Dong said. "This is a major challenge in engineering disease resistance for agricultural use because the ultimate goal is to protect the yield." Previous studies have focused on altering the coding sequence or upstream DNA sequence elements of a gene. These upstream DNA elements are known as promoters, and they act as switches that turn on or off a gene's expression. This is the first step of a gene's synthesis into its protein product, known as transcription. By attaching a promoter that gives an "on" signal to a defense gene, a plant can be engineered to be highly resistant to pathogens, though at a cost to growth and yield. These costs can be partially alleviated by attaching the defense gene to a "pathogen specific" promoter that turns on in the presence of pathogen attack. To further alleviate the negative effects of active defense, the Dong group sought to add an additional layer of control. They turned newly discovered sequence elements, called upstream open reading frames (uORFs), to help address this problem. These sequence elements act on the intermediate of a gene, or messenger (RNA, a molecule similar to DNA) to govern its "translation" into the final protein product. A recent study by the Dong lab in an accompanying paper in Nature has identified many of these elements that respond in a pathogen-inducible manner. Researchers have developed a way to make rice more resistant to bacterial blight and other diseases without reducing yield. Credit: Max Pixel The Dong group hypothesized that adding this pathogen-inducible translational regulation would result in a tighter control of defense protein expression and minimize the lost yield associated with enhanced disease resistance. To test this hypothesis, the researchers started with Arabidopsis, a flowering plant commonly used in laboratory research. They created a DNA sequence that contains both the transcriptional and translational elements (uORFs) and fused them upstream of the potent "immune activator" gene called snc1. This hybrid sequence was called a "transcriptional/translational cassette" and was inserted into Arabidopsis plants. When plants have snc1 constitutively active, they are highly resistant to pathogens, but have severely stunted growth. Strikingly, plants with the transcriptional/translational cassette not only have increased resistance, but they also lacked growth defects and resembled healthy wild-type plants. These results show the benefits of adding translational control in engineering plants that have increased resistance without significant costs. The Dong group then sought to apply these findings to engineer disease-resistant rice, as it is one of the world's most important crops. They created transgenic rice lines containing the transcriptional/translational cassette driving expression of another potent "immune activator" gene called AtNPR1. This gene was chosen as it has been found to confer broad spectrum pathogen resistance in a wide variety of crop species, including rice, citrus, apple and wheat. The transgenic rice lines containing the transcriptional/translational cassette were infected with bacterial/fungal pathogens that cause three major rice diseasesrice blight, leaf streak, and fungal blast. These showed high resistance to all three pathogens, indicating broad spectrum resistance could be achieved. Importantly, when grown in the field, their yieldboth in terms of grain quantity and quality per plantwas almost unaffected. These results indicate a great potential for agricultural applications. This strategy is the first known use of adding translational control for the engineering of disease-resistant crops with minimal yield costs. It has many advantages, as it is broadly applicable to a variety of crop species against many pathogens. Since this strategy involves activating the plants' endogenous defenses, it may also reduce the use of pesticides on crops and hence protect the environment. Additionally, these findings may be broadly applicable to other systems as well. These upstream elements (uORFs) are widely present in organisms from yeast to humans, with nearly half of all human transcripts containing them. "The great potential in using these elements in controlling protein translation during specific biological processes has yet to be realized," Dong said. More information: Guoyong Xu et al. uORF-mediated translation allows engineered plant disease resistance without fitness costs, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22372 Journal information: Nature Stepan Ivantsov. Credit: TSU During an expedition to the Krasnoyarsk Territory, scientists from Tomsk State University and St. Petersburg State University (TSU and SPBU), discovered the remains of a previously unknown mammal, the baidabatyr. It is classified among multituberculates, one of the ancient taxa of mammals of the Middle Jurassic. The name derives from the structure of its teeth. These animals appeared in the Jurassic period and survived the mass extinction of species at the end of the Cretaceous. Some species of multituberculates survived into the Paleogene. Thus, this clade/group has existed for about 150 million years. "Baidabatyr is a multituberculate mammal. We found only one tooth, and immediately realized that the characteristic number and location of the tubercles indicates that this is a species previously unknown to science. This is an important find for Western Siberia," said Stepan Ivantsov, a TSU paleontologist. He clarified that there are no present representatives of this orderthey died out about 20 million years ago. "Judging by the structure of the tooth, it was a herbivorous animal, and probably ate seeds. The size of the tooth is a couple of millimeters, which means that the animal was the size of a hamster or slightly larger. The name was composed of the words 'bidarka' (kayak)because the site of the find can be reached only by kayakand 'batyr,' which means 'hero,' in Turkish. The first representatives of this taxon were found in Mongolia, and the name of most species traditionally includes the Mongolian word 'baatar.' We decided to name it in Turkish, because it is one of the local languages," said Stepan Ivantsov. According to the scientist, the find was made on the Bolshoy Kemchug River in the remote taiga. The southeast of Western Siberia in the Early Cretaceous was a refugiuman area where some species of the Jurassic period were preserved into the Cretaceous, several million years longer than taxonomic relatives elsewhere on Earth. The remains of the animal were discovered in the summer of 2015. However, before the scientists officially announced their discovery, they had to describe the find and publish an article in a leading international journal. More information: Alexander Averianov et al, An enigmatic multituberculate mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Siberia, Russia, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2017). DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1293070 Journal information: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Provided by National Research Tomsk State University The researchers made sensors from porous thin films of organic conductive plastics with the goal of portable, disposable devices for medical and environmental monitoring. Credit: L. Brian Stauffer A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath or toxins in a building's air could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor devices. By riddling the thin plastic films with pores, University of Illinois researchers made the devices sensitive enough to detect at levels that are far too low to smell, yet are important to human health. In a new study in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, professor Ying Diao's research group demonstrated a device that monitors ammonia in breath, a sign of kidney failure. "In the clinical setting, physicians use bulky instruments, basically the size of a big table, to detect and analyze these compounds. We want to hand out a cheap sensor chip to patients so they can use it and throw it away," said Diao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois. Other researchers have tried using organic semiconductors for gas sensing, but the materials were not sensitive enough to detect trace levels of disease markers in breath. Diao's group realized that the reactive sites were not on the surface of the plastic film, but buried inside it. "We developed this method to directly print tiny pores into the device itself so we can expose these highly reactive sites," Diao said. "By doing so, we increased the reactivity by ten times and can sense down to one part per billion." For their first device demonstration, the researchers focused on ammonia as a marker for kidney failure. Monitoring the change in ammonia concentration could give a patient an early warning sign to call their doctor for a kidney function test, Diao said. The material they chose is highly reactive to ammonia but not to other compounds in breath, Diao said. But by changing the composition of the sensor, they could create devices that are tuned to other compounds. For example, the researchers have created an ultrasensitive environmental monitor for formaldehyde, a common indoor pollutant in new or refurbished buildings. The group is working to make sensors with multiple functions to get a more complete picture of a patient's health. "We would like to be able to detect multiple compounds at once, like a chemical fingerprint," Diao said. "It's useful because in disease conditions, multiple markers will usually change concentration at once. By mapping out the chemical fingerprints and how they change, we can more accurately point to signs of potential health issues." More information: Fengjiao Zhang et al, Solution-Processed Nanoporous Organic Semiconductor Thin Films: Toward Health and Environmental Monitoring of Volatile Markers, Advanced Functional Materials (2017). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201701117 Journal information: Advanced Functional Materials Misha Govshteyn and his colleagues at the cybersecurity start-up Alert Logic dropped all their projects about a month ago, except for one they deemed a graver threat than the rest. Someone had stolen never-before-seen hacking tactics from the National Security Agency and posted them online. Working in shifts for 36 hours straight, dozens of Alert Logic engineers in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Cardiff in Britain, and Houston devoted their attention to analyzing the leaked computer code. What they found could undermine the privacy of the crucial corporate files they protect for 4,000 media companies, retailers and app makers. They developed a way to stop their clients from falling victim to the spying and issued warnings to the public through blogs and social media. Several security firms around the world echoed that sentiment, blasting alerts in mid-April instructing systems administrators to tighten defenses because the NSA leak was sure to lead to a cyberweapon, and signs of a brewing attack had emerged. It's clear the advice didn't reach or sway everyone: The so-called WannaCry ransomware offensive seized an estimated 300,000 computers within the last week, with repairs and other associated costs possibly running into the billions of dollars globally. WannaCry illustrates the challenge faced by cybersecurity companies as data breaches, credit card theft and phishing become more common. Security researchers regularly sound the alarm - but they fear their warnings are getting lost in a sea. The problem, they acknowledge, is partially their own making as researchers and firms sometimes overhype threats to gain publicity. But there also remains a gap between external advice and internal action across the corporate cybersecurity landscape. This is a concern for Govshteyn and others in the industry. Even though WannaCry marked only a temporary inconvenience for most, cybersecurity experts continue to fear the next onslaught could take someone's life. "What we're doing now with warnings by Alert Logic and other companies in the security industry clearly isn't working," Govshteyn said. The answer, he says, could be governments holding companies accountable for failing to take proper precautions, especially in the face of warnings. About a month ago, private researchers announced they had identified computers compromised by breach methods held by the NSA. The fact that they emanated from the intelligence agency was a sign to the researchers that the tactics were more likely than others to prove virulent and highly effective. At that point, hackers aren't believed to have deployed a weapon such as ransomware to lock users' files. But they had an entryway to do so if they wanted. "It's highly likely what we saw were precursors to WannaCry," said Govshteyn, Alert Logic's co-founder and senior vice president of products. Alert Logic quickly informed clients, including about two dozen customers whose security practices left open dangerous holes. Other information security companies shared news of thousands of infected computers. Matthew Hickey, co-founder of Hacker House in Britain, said his teams had been tracking several similar leaks since late last year and saw this NSA-related batch as the most worrisome. As the days went on, Hacker House kept issuing ever-heightened warnings of a "Microsoft apocalypse." The early detection should have led people to update their systems with a patch from Microsoft and adjust firewall settings, said Vladimir Vlaski, founder of Milwaukee firm BelowDay. Some heeded the advice. But many more apparently ignored it or weren't aware. The number of infected computers rose to more than 428,000 from 50,000 in five days, he said. British computer security researcher Kevin Beaumont said people mocked his prediction that the NSA intrusion tactic would be used to set off a worm - malware that automatically crawls from computer to computer across networks. Many again sidestepped his concerns in the early hours of the eventual worm's launch last Friday. It wasn't until hours later, as computers worldwide fell into its grip, that more of the industry galvanized. The chatter about the need to intensify security because of the NSA leak may have been drowned out by the news cycle surrounding President Trump in recent weeks, security consultants suspect. The lack of focus on cybersecurity in some corners of the world outside of the U.S. may have also contributed to the damage. People who were aware of the specter of WannaCry may have brushed aside the issue as overblown. Tiago Henriques, chief executive at Swiss company Binary Edge, can understand why. To many, people such as Henriques might just be the boy who cried wolf one too many times when no creature was lurking. "It's very hard for us in the industry to work through all the noise, so you can imagine what it looks like to people outside," he said. "Every time a new vulnerability is released everyone tries to sell it as the most critical thing in the world when sometimes in reality they aren't so. I'm not surprised that sometimes people don't really listen to us anymore." At Alert Logic, Govshteyn admits they certainly yelled fire unnecessarily to drum up customers in one case years back. "And we made a decision we would never do it again," he said. "It wasn't trivial, but we added to the noise." He suggested an impartial government institution perhaps could step in to prioritize threats. Until then, he described the closest thing as the Internet Storm Center - a global threat-sharing group sponsored by a for-profit technology training institute in Maryland. Even if a warning comes from a source widely seen as credible, many of those affected by WannaCry may continue to defer upgrades, whether because of possible software malfunctions or complacency. "It's a horrific idea to run outdated, unsupported systems in mission-critical environments," Govshteyn said. "But when someone has made bad decisions this many times, I wouldn't be expecting a warning to matter much." A test of whether they prove him wrong could soon. The same entity that released the NSA files last month proclaimed Tuesday that it would share more tactics to paying subscribers in the coming months. Govshteyn said Alert Logic would subscribe, depending on the cost, and the cycle of analysis and warning would begin anew. 2017 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Payment Alliance International Poised for Growth with New Office Facilities LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 17, 2017 (Business Wire) Payment Alliance International (PAI), the nations largest, privately-held ATM provider, announced today it is moving its headquarters to a new location in Louisville, Kentucky. The company has leased approximately 30,000 square feet of newly-built office space in the Old Henry Crossings Business Park and will occupy the building as of June 1, 2017. PAI operating centers in three additional states relocated earlier this year to new, expanded facilities designed to accommodate the companys continued growth and success. Business should be fun and filled with passion, said John J. Leehy III, president and chief executive officer of PAI. The new facilities offer our employees an incredible home equipped with state-of-the-art communication and business support technologies, added Leehy. We are excited about the growth weve enjoyed and believe this move will further strengthen our team and increase our ability to care for customers. The new headquarters, developed in conjunction with Schulte Design and Construction, was designed to meet PAI functional and productivity specifications while simultaneously boosting employee satisfaction and promoting PAIs distinctive culture. The facility features a highly-secured data center, a technologically-advanced corporate training area, a series of employee collaboration rooms and the latest in multi-point video conferencing. CBRE Group, Inc. facilitated the search and evaluation of properties, as well leasing of the new building space on behalf of PAI. About Payment Alliance International (PAI) Payment Alliance International (PAI) is the nations largest, privately-held provider of ATMs, offering processing and maintenance services, equipment sales and support, customized partner programs, ground-breaking revenue-generating solutions and unique ATM branding opportunitiesall designed to increase overall profitability, reduce operational expenses and maximize uptime. Payment Alliance International is based in Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, please visit GoPAI.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Other POS News: LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ QSR Automations, the hospitality industry leader in kitchen and restaurant management platforms, will showcase a diverse portfolio of next-generation solutions at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show, May 20-23, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois at the McCormick Place Center in booth 6846. Every year NRA provides us the opportunity to show off our progress from the previous year. This year is no different. Were committed to continuously improving our products and partnering with other progressive industry leaders. Were excited to share these updates on the show floor, said Lee Leet, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of QSR Automations. - Reno Omokri has lashed out at the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) - He said the north has no power to decide for Nigerians - This was in reaction to claims by the Northern Elders Forum that Vice President Osinbajo cannot replace Buhari in 2019 Reno Omokri, former special aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Nigerians alone can decide their fate, come 2019. The cleric's comments are in reaction to a recent claim made by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF). Legit.ng earlier reported elders from the north are insisting that the region must retain the presidency. NEF said in the event that President Muhammadu Buharis failing health prevents him from seeking re-election in 2019, Osinbajo will not be handed the position. Speaking through Professor Ango Abdullahi, its mouthpiece, NEF said the region must be allowed to field a presidential candidate through the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. The New Telegraph quoted Abdullahi as saying that in such a situation, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo should be allowed to complete the term of office till 2019 as stipulated by the constitution. READ ALSO: I did not say FG is confused over who will sign 2017 budget - Lai Mohammed In reaction to these claims, Reno Omokri took to social media to air his view. He said Ango Abdullahi has no basis for saying the north would not allow Prof Osinbajo to take over from Buhari. Below are his comments on the issue. In comparing the Buhari-led administration to that of his principal, Omokri noted that the APC is yet to fulfill the promises made to the Nigerian people. Reno Omokri also went on to post the photo of an APC chieftain who was speaking ill against GEJ. According to Omokri, the APC chieftain has regretted his statements against GEJ, seeing that the PMB government is "clueless". Meanwhile, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has reacted to reports suggesting that he said Nigeria's Federal government is at a loss over who will sign the 2017 budget. The minister of information claims he never made such a statement, saying his earlier statement on the budget issue was misinterpreted. The minister made the clarification via a press statement by his aide, Segun Adeyemi. Mohammed maintained that detractors of the government are cooking up malicious misrepresentations. PAY ATTENTION: Get more videos on Legit.ng TV He noted that what transpired at the post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing earlier on Wednesday, May 17, has been taken out of contest. Lai Mohammed said that when he was asked a question relating to the signing of the 2017 Budget, his response was: "When it is transmitted to the presidency, the issue will be addressed. He further stressed that anything beyond that response amounts to deliberate mischief and should be ignored. Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians air their views regarding the possibility of having Professor Osinbajo as president. Source: Legit.ng - Governor Fayose has declared that he has the right to leave the PDP - The Ekiti governor insisted that he remains a member but is already strategising for 2018 election - He vowed to dump the PDP if Sheriff wins at the Supreme Court Governor Ayodele Fayose has reiterated his desire to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if Senator Ali Modu Sheriff wins at the Supreme Court as part of his strategy for 2018. The party has been involved in leadership tussle with Senator Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi taking the case to the Apex Court to determine who deserves to be the true chairman of the party. READ ALSO: UK issues warning to coup-plotters in Nigeria The Nation reports that Fayose hosted students at the Government House where he revealed that he was strategizing ahead of 2018 and would not want to be caught unawares. He said he still remained a member of the PDP for now but would not hesitate to dump the party if Sheriff wins at the Supreme Court. He said: Im still a member of PDP and the chairman of its Governors Forum. There are no two sides to it. Fayose's new political poster without the PDP logo But the strategy for 2018 election is my business. No law says I should not run on the platform of another party if PDP is no longer a right direction. If they are bent on destroying PDP, let them go ahead. I will never have anything to do with Senator Sheriff. The party is like a vehicle and the vehicle cant be more important than the driver. Ahmed Makarfi who is the chairman of the caretaker committee of the PDP released a statement saying he did not ask members of the party to leave for another one. He said: Our attention has been drawn to a story that we advised members to defect. It becomes necessary we issue a statement because of the rumours spreading that we have directed people in Lagos State to vote for APGA. We never did so. It should be noted that we at the national level have never asked anyone to defect to another party. Legit.ng had earlier reported that Fayose removed the logo and name of PDP from his campaign office at Olora junction, Adebayo, Ado-Ekiti. The one storey building was repainted white, with every insignia of PDP removed. Before repainting, the building had Fayoses picture embossed on PDP logo with the inscription: Fayose Our Leader, Architect of Modern Ekiti." PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The billboard, with Fayoses portrait, reads: Ekiti 2018: Support Continuity, Fayose Leads, We Follow. Again, Its Going To Be 16-0. Legit.ng asked Nigerians who they would vote for between Fayose and President Muhammadu Buhari and this is what they had to say: Source: Legit.ng The Alberta tar sands hold 170 billion barrels of recoverable oil, one of the largest reserves in the world. Thanks to technological advances, that ultrathick oil is easier and potentially much more profitable to recover than in the past. Production has been projected to increase over the next decade to about 4 million barrels per day. That puts the region at the center of a massive North American oil economy. The problem is getting this unconventional oil safely to refineries across the continent. As new pipelines have been proposed, opponents have fought back, citing concerns about global warming, spills and safety. Keystone XL, 830,000 barrels per day: Blocked Dakota Access, 470,000 barrels per day: Stalled by protests Northern Gateway Pipeline, 500,000 barrels per day: Rejected Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, 590,000 barrels per day: Approved in Canada; protests and lawsuits expected Energy East Pipeline, 1.1 million barrels per day: Proposed, though being protested Yet oil continues to flow down the path of least resistance toward the Great Lakes. It runs along a pipeline route that has been in place for more than 60 years. Over the years capacity has been increased by: Adding lines Increasing the pipeline pressure And keenly working within some would say around pipeline regulations. The pipelines running into Wisconsin today have a capacity roughly equal to U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico combined. And the company that owns the pipeline network is considering adding a fourth line in Wisconsin one that could dwarf the rejected Keystone XL. Pipelines are the safest way to move oil to market, but they are hardly risk free. In Michigan, two 63-year-old pipes carry oil along the bottom of the Great Lakes. Critics say the potential for a spill here poses an unacceptable risk. As sentiment grows to shut those pipelines down, companies continue to look for ways to get the oil to market. Several Injured, 1 Dead in New York Times Square Crash At least 19 people were injured and one was killed when a vehicle crashed through pedestrians at Times Square in New York City. Several people were seriously injured and one has died as the result of a vehicle crash in New York Citys Times Square this afternoon. NYPD are investigating the crash that happened at noon in Times Square as an isolated incident not related to terrorism. Police believe suspect to be a 26-year-old male with a prior DWI charge on his record. He was placed in custody shortly after the crash. One male in custody in the #TimesSquare vehicle collision. It is believed to be an isolated incident, it remains under investigation. NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 18, 2017 Witnesses at the scene say the red Honda drove through a possible yellow, or red, light at the intersection of 7th and 45th hitting at least 19 people and killing one. Some reports say that the driver might have tried to make an illegal U-turn and drive down the street the wrong way before erratically swerving to the final crash point. #FDNY confirms updated patient count at Times Square motor vehicle incident - 19 injuries, 1 fatality FDNY (@FDNY) May 18, 2017 The vehicle came to a stop by the steel barriers placed around Times Square recently as a result of the vehicle attacks overseas in Nice and Berlin. Witnesses believe the car might have made it all the way through Times Square injuring more people had the barriers not been set in place. Due to the increase in deployment of officers at popular tourist locations, police were on the scene in less than a minute to tend to the injured pedestrians and place the suspect, who attempted to flee, into custody. This is a developing story. Follow @1105Sydny on Twitter for more. Brazil's President Michel Temer faced calls for his removal Wednesday after a newspaper reported that he had been recorded discussing payments of hush money to a corrupt politician. Temer immediately denied the report in O Globo newspaper. According to the report, which could not be immediately verified, an executive from the meatpacking giant JBS, Joesley Batista, met with Temer on March 7. During the meeting, the report said, Batista recorded himself telling Temer that he was paying money to buy the silence of disgraced ex-speaker of the lower house Eduardo Cunha. Cunha is in prison after having been found guilty of taking millions of dollars in bribes in Brazil's giant Petrobras oil company embezzlement scandal. According to the account, Temer told Batista: "You need to keep doing that." Temer's office issued a statement saying: "President Michel Temer never solicited payments to obtain the silence of former deputy Eduardo Cunha." Globo did not say how it got the information about the recording, which it said was offered in a plea bargain between Batista and his brother Wesley with prosecutors. - Impeachment call - Temer took over last year after the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff, a political earthquake to a large extent engineered by the then-powerful Cunha. There were immediate demands late Wednesday from leftist opponents for Temer's removal. The Workers' Party issued a statement also naming five other parties that called for his resignation and snap elections. Several hundred anti-Temer protesters gathered in Sao Paulo, while in the capital Brasilia motorists honked horns and yelled "Temer out!" Congressman Alessandro Molon, from the Rede party, filed a demand for impeachment with the speaker of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia. Maia, who would have to accept the demand for proceedings to start, made no comment to reporters as he left for an emergency meeting with the government, Globo reported. "Now there is... proof that the president committed a crime," said protester Thiago Rocha, 33, in Brasilia. "These people, like me, when they saw that on the news, they came here spontaneously, because they cant take it any more. We want democracy, we are outraged with this putschist president," Rocha, a university professor, said. In Sao Paulo, Workers' Party state lawmaker Beth Sahao said that the report confirmed what opponents had been waiting for: "Concrete evidence of corruption in the Temer government, but especially of the person of President Temer himself." - Economic reforms under shadow - The allegations in O Globo, which is part of the most powerful media group in Latin America's biggest country, were a new shockwave from a corruption scandal tearing apart the country's political elite. Investigators mounting what's called the "Car Wash" probe have uncovered gigantic embezzlement from Petrobras, with scores of politicians accused of taking bribes from executives in exchange for sweetheart contracts with the state-owned oil company. Already a Who's Who of the elite has been imprisoned or placed under investigation. The accusations against Temer are especially explosive as he has been in power barely a year since the bitter maneuvers to push Rousseff out of office. She was found guilty by Congress of illegally manipulating the government's accounts to mask the depth of a painful recession. On being stripped of the presidency her vice president, Temer automatically took over. Rousseff, from the leftist Workers' Party, accused Temer and Cunha, from the center-right PMDB party, of mounting a coup. Temer quickly set about introducing market reforms to try to get Brazil's floundering economy back on the rails. The new scandal could further undermine support in Congress for those reforms, particularly a push to raise the minimum age for retirement in an attempt to rework the costly pension system. BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Constitutional Court has struck down two provisions meant to speed approval of laws on the government's peace deal with Marxist FARC rebels, a move that will likely extend congressional debate on the accord. The decision, announced late on Wednesday, was made after the right-wing Democratic Center party, which opposes the peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, sued over parts of a broad peace law already approved by Congress. The ruling requires more than one round of congressional voting on accord-related laws and will likely draw out debate on pending laws about rural reform and political participation for the FARC which are opposed by the Democratic Center. Delays may spark complaints about government slowness from the rebels, who are in special camps handing over their weapons. However, President Juan Manuel Santos' coalition has a majority in Congress and the laws still look set to be approved. The ruling will add "legitimacy" to the laws, Luis Guillermo Guerrero, the head of the court, told journalists on Thursday. Many laws related to the accord have already been approved, including one to give amnesty to the majority of FARC fighters. The ruling will not affect those laws. "The implementation of the peace deal and the advances in Congress to support it are not at risk," Alfonso Prada, the president's general secretary, said on Thursday. Prada said he spoke to Santos, who is visiting United States President Donald Trump in Washington, about the ruling early on Thursday. "We have confidence that Congress will continue processing the laws to implement the peace accord," Prada said. FARC leader and former peace negotiator Ivan Marquez said on Twitter that the rebels "are confident the president will use the powers given to him by the Constitution to move this peace process forward." (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb, Luis Jaime Acosta and Carlos Vargas; editing by Grant McCool) The scene at I12 Katong Mall at around 11pm. Photo: Andre He UPDATE: In a statement, SCDF said that a fire broke out in a first floor unit in I12 Katong, involving the contents of a storeroom. The fire has been extinguished, and damping down operations are in progress. There are no reported injuries. Heartland shopping mall I12 Katong was cordoned off on Wednesday night (17 May), as smoke was seen emanating from the building and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel were called to the scene. Around 40 people were seen gathering outside the mall, some of whom have their vehicles parked in the building. An eyewitness reported seeing smoke from about 10.30pm, and that there was a burning smell on the scene. Ambulances and Red Rhinos were also spotted at the scene. Police were heard telling the gathered crowd that they would be allowed into the building in batches to get their vehicles once the smoke has cleared. Ms Lim, who works in a retail outlet in the mall and declined to give her full name, said that she was in a lift when smoke started coming into the lift. I panicked (as) I didnt know if it was smoke from a fire. I used my keys to knock on the lift door and I pressed the alarm bell, as I was stuck in the lift. But thank God, the lift stopped on the first floor. This is a developing story. Yahoo Singapore has reached out to the SCDF for further details. Additional reporting by Andre He Late last month, fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn under investigation by federal prosecutors, with his lawyer seeking immunity for him to testify to Congress met with a small group of loyalists at a restaurant in the northern Virginia suburbs. Saddled with steep legal bills, Flynn wanted to reconnect with old friends and talk about potential future business opportunities. But one overriding question among those present were his views on the president who had fired him from his national security advisor post. Flynn left little doubt about the answer. Not only did he remain loyal to President Trump; he indicated that he and the president were still in communication. I just got a message from the president to stay strong, Flynn said after the meal was over, according to two sources who are close to Flynn and are familiar with the conversation, which took place on April 25. The comment came at the end of an especially difficult day for Flynn, during which his legal woes appeared to grow: Two congressmen House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings, D-Md. after reviewing classified Pentagon documents, had just accused Flynn of failing to disclose foreign income from Russia and Turkey when he sought to renew his security clearance. The sources who spoke to Yahoo News say Flynn did not indicate how Trump had sent the message whether it was a written note, a text message, a phone call or some other method. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) But the fact that the two men have stayed in contact could raise additional questions about the presidents reported request to now former FBI Director James Comey to shut down a federal investigation of the retired Army general. House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., left, and Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speak to reporters about President Trumps former national security advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn, on April 25, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Democrats and some legal commentators say that Trumps request, as recorded by Comey in a memo I hope you can let this go could amount to an effort to obstruct a federal investigation that might ultimately implicate the president himself. Any ongoing contacts between Trump and Flynn are likely to be among the matters closely scrutinized by Robert Mueller, the ex-FBI director named late Wednesday as the new Justice Department special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation. Story continues But friends of Flynn insist the presidents comment could also be viewed not as a deliberate effort to obstruct justice but a personal plea however ill-advised on behalf of a down-on-his luck friend who had stood by Trump throughout his campaign and is now ostracized by former associates and struggling to find new consulting work. Basically what [Trump] was saying is, Can you take it easy on my buddy?, said one friend of Flynn who has stayed in touch with him. National security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2017. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters) Either way, the sources say, Flynn has given no indication that he has any plans to turn on Trump to cut himself a deal for leniency. Speculation that he might do so was rampant in late March when his lawyer, Robert Kelner, confirmed that Flynn would be willing to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Kelner added in a public statement that his client certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it. (Kelner did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Senate intelligence committee chair Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters today that Flynns lawyer has indicated his client may not honor the panels subpoena for documents relating to its Russia investigation.) But Flynn, in multiple talks with friends and former associates, has repeatedly dismissed the idea that his story might include giving evidence against the president. Thank God Trump is president, Flynn said after he was fired, according to one of his friends. Can you imagine if Hillary had won and what she would be doing? These are two men who bonded on the campaign trail, said another close associate of Flynn who, like others quoted in this story, asked not to be publicly identified. Flynn always believed that Trump would win. They were together so much during the campaign that Flynn became family. There has been zero sign of anything but supreme loyalty. That close bond described by one friend as brothers in the foxhole would appear to explain why Trump hired him as national security advisor even after, as the New York Times reported Wednesday, Flynn notified the transition teams chief lawyer, Don McGahn, that he was under criminal investigation. That conversation took place as early as January 4, according to the Times, which also reported that Flynn believes the FBI investigation including recent subpoenas from a federal grand jury in northern Virginia was instigated by former Obama administration officials after Trump rejected President Barack Obamas advice not to hire Flynn as his national security advisor. President-elect Donald Trump, left, accompanied by then RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, right, and retired Gen. Michael Flynn, center, speaks to members of the media at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 21, 2016. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) Friends and associates who spoke to Yahoo News say Flynn has also blamed his troubles on unidentified former Clinton aides who he believes pushed for him to be investigated because of his prominent role during the campaign, including his speech at the Republican National Convention when he led delegates in a chant of, Lock her up! One example he has cited is the FBIs apparent focus on his initial failure to register with the Justice Department as an agent of the Turkish government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act while he was serving as the Trump campaigns principal national security advisor. Flynn had registered with Congress last August as a lobbyist for an obscure Dutch firm, Inovo BV, headed by a businessman, Ekim Alptekin, with close ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Only belatedly, after the FBI investigation began, did he file in March a far more detailed report with the Justice Department, disclosing that he had signed a contract for more than $500,000 to lobby on behalf of Turkish government interests. His efforts included running a campaign to discredit an exiled cleric living in Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen, and to lobby for his extradition to Turkey . The Erdogan government, which blames Gulen for orchestrating a failed coup last summer, is seeking to return him for trial. As Flynn has argued to friends, the Podesta Group a firm headed by Tony Podesta, the brother of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta also recently retroactively registered with the Justice Department for work it had done between 2012 and 2014 for a pro-Russian political party named the Party of Regions, which paid it a reported $1.2 million. (The party had long been a client of Paul Manafort, who later became Trumps campaign manager.) Heather Podesta and Tony Podesta, chairman of the Podesta Group, attend the intimate Summer Chic barbecue at Esther Coopersmiths Washington, D.C., home to celebrate the recent marriage of lawyer Jack Einwechter to Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., on Aug. 2, 2011. (Photo: Rebecca DAngelo for the Washington Post) As Flynn has told friends, he believes there is a double standard in his being investigated because of his Turkish contract while there is no indication the Podesta Group is under similar scrutiny. Similarly, Flynn has suggested other potential legal issues he is facing such as his failure to disclose a $45,000 contract he had for a speaking appearance in Moscow with RT, the Russian government-funded television network, when he was seeking to renew his security clearance was a paperwork oversight rather than a deliberate effort to conceal payments from a foreign government. As for the actions that ultimately got him fired his conversation last December with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and his untruthful denial to Vice President Mike Pence that the two of them discussed the possible lifting of sanctions Flynn has suggested that he was only seeking to fulfill Trumps campaign promise to improve relations with Moscow. Based on the accounts provided to Yahoo News, Flynn has not said whether Trump directed or authorized him to reach out to the Russian ambassador a key unanswered question in the probe. But one of the friends said Flynn has alluded to multiple meetings and conversations with the Russian ambassador. Reuters reported Thursday that Flynn and other Trump advisors had at least 18 phone calls and emails with Russian officials, including Kislyak, during the last 7 months of the 2016 presidential campaign. Vice President Mike Pence and then national security adviser Michael Flynn, right, shake hands before the start of the joint news conference by President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2017. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP) Flynn also has emphatically rejected the idea he has any regrets about his short-lived job in the administration, given all the legal problems it has caused him. No, he told a friend. I did it for the country. Read more from Yahoo News: PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call to continue discussions on regional crises in Ukraine and Syria despite their conflicting views, a French presidency official said on Thursday. "Despite diverging positions on a number of subjects, they noted the old and singular relationship between the two countries, which have had 300 years of diplomatic relations," the aide to Macron said. "Citing General de Gaulle, President Putin underlined the fact that France and Russia were strong when they were united," the aide said, adding that Putin had initiated the phone call and congratulated Macron on his election and cabinet appointments. The Kremlin said in a statement earlier that Putin and Macron had discussed possible further cooperation in resolving the Ukraine crisis. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Adrian Croft) By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday urged Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards and the Basij militia under its control not to meddle in Friday's presidential election, in a rare warning that underscored rising political tensions. The Guards, who oversee an economic empire worth billions of dollars, are seldom criticised in public, but the pragmatist Rouhani is locked in an unexpectedly tight race against hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who is believed to have their support. "We just have one request: for the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards to stay in their own place for their own work," Rouhani said in a campaign speech in the city of Mashad, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA). Rouhani reinforced his appeal by quoting the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, who he said had warned the armed forces against interfering in politics. Suspicions that the Guards and Basij falsified election results in favour of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to nationwide protests in 2009. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were arrested, according to human rights groups, in the largest unrest in the history of the Islamic Republic. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, said on Wednesday that maintaining security was a top concern for the election. He also denounced the heated rhetoric of the campaign as "unworthy", in a thinly-veiled rebuke of Rouhani, who is seeking a second four-year term. ACCUSATIONS Rouhani, 68, and Raisi, a 56-year-old protege of the supreme leader, have traded charges of graft and brutality on live television with an open vehemence unseen in the near-40-year history of the Islamic Republic. Raisi has accused Rouhani of being corrupt and of mismanaging the economy. Rouhani, who wants to open up Iran to the West and ease social restrictions within the country, has responded by accusing Raisi, who served on the judiciary for several years, of human rights violations. Both men deny the other's accusations. Raisi developed a close relationship with senior members of the Revolutionary Guards while at the judiciary and has their backing, according to Mohsen Sazegara, a founding member of the Revolutionary Guards who is now a U.S.-based dissident. "Raisi is the Revolutionary Guards' candidate," he said. The Guards are looking beyond Friday's election and see Raisi as a possible candidate to be the next supreme leader, analysts say. Although Khamenei, 77, is guarded about his political preferences, he also appears to back Raisi both as a presidential candidate and possible successor. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Gareth Jones) Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that offers personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it provides contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, VEBA/HRA, and health and welfare consulting services. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. As of January 24, 2022, it operated approximately 215 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. Theres a reason that Lucky Charms cereal consists of more than just marshmallows. But those marshmallows do seem to be everyones favorite part. So General Mills (NYSE:GIS) is capitalizing on that popularity by giving away 10,000 boxes of marshmallow-only Lucky Charms. As part of the promotion, customers can purchase specially marked boxes of regular Lucky Charms cereal that include a code inside the box. Customers can then check the code to see if they won. This isnt the first time General Mills has given away marshmallow-only Lucky Charms either. But it is the largest such promotion to date. In fact, the company chose to expand the campaign in part because of the popularity of an earlier social media contest where 10 boxes of marshmallow-only cereal were distributed. And reaction is huge! Just as big as game 7 tonight. General Mills announces plans to give away 10,000 boxes of Marshmallows Only Lucky Charms pic.twitter.com/3rorPds4z0 Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 16, 2017 Lucky charms is now gonna sell boxes of just the marshmallowsthe world is slowly improving crankdatholly (@crankdatholly) May 18, 2017 People are so childish I say as I sit in my footie pajamas and pick out all the marshmallows from the Lucky Charms box. Cat (@sassy__cat6) May 14, 2017 My sister used to pick out all the marshmallows from the bag every time we had lucky charms and Im still mad about it tom (@RichHomieTom) May 18, 2017 Guys Nicholas & I are eating lucky charms & he saved all his marshmallows for me @ the end. Im so in luv oh my gosh pic.twitter.com/STEfEPygIn Emma leigh (@emma_curdy) May 18, 2017 Its a pretty simple concept give away a special edition item thats especially popular with customers. But small businesses can potentially put their own unique spin on this type of promotion. Look at Limited Time Offer Marketing Examples So brainstorm how you can make this concept your own. Think about your top selling items and take customer feedback into account as well. Then look for additional inspiration in real-life limited time offer marketing examples such as Starburst and Starbucks. You might just be able to come up with something your customers will love as much as Lucky Charms customers love marshmallows. The online retainer lures its future workers by wages and benefits. Font size: A - | A + Though Amazon, one of the worlds largest online retailers, refuses to make public the price-tag of a state-of-the-art returns centre it is now building in Sered in western Slovakia, it did reveal the remuneration packages for entry-level positions. It hopes that by what it calls one of the highest wages in the sector, it will manage to recruit the 1,000 workers it plans to hire over next three years. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Opening of this specialised returns centre is a reflection of our need to maintain the current level of service and certainty for customers as we continue to grow, said Roy Perticucci, Vice President of the Amazon EU Customer Fulfillment, when showing the construction site to government representatives as well as journalists on May 12. But experts warn that in this region, with its low jobless rate and plenty of work opportunities, the pool of free workers is shallow and the American company will have to steal workers from other companies. Amazon has already started the recruitment process for entry-level associates. Hourly wages start at 4.6 per hour, up to 6.5 per hour. Amazon offers an additional 20 percent bonus for attendance and performance. Thus if an entry-level employee works for Amazon full-time, together with a 20 percent bonus he will make over 920 per month. On top of that he will receive the 13th month bonus, along with a benefits package including: life insurance, additional pension insurance, private health care and the Career Choice programme. Under the latter, Amazon pre-pays 95 percent of tuition fees for entry-level employees who have one years tenure, for four years. In the district of Galanta to which Sered belongs to, the jobless rate in March was 2.88 percent with 1,455 jobseekers able to take a job immediately based on data from the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (UPSVaR). Vacancies in this district number about 1,800. In nearby towns the situation is similar. This region is highly industrialised with plenty of work opportunities. As the biggest competitors to Amazon, experts mention carmakers Volkswagen Slovakia in Bratislava, PSA Groupe in Trnava, and Jaguar Land Rover which is just building its plant near Nitra, as well as Samsung in Galanta. For example, the average gross monthly wage including bonuses for blue collars at the Trnava carmaker is 1,330 and the company still struggles to find enough workers. Jaguar Land Rover has promised average wages of around 1,200. Amazon is optimistic and its objective is to become an employer of first choice in Slovakia. We hire and develop the best; we dont hire just anyone our logistics is at the heart of the Amazon experience, said Perticucci. Amazon is growing at a pace that requires the best and brightest talent to be brought in to our company to help us continue to make history. Amazon in Slovakia The returns centre in Sered will be not the first operation of Amazon in Slovakia. It already operates a shared service centre in Bratislava which opened in 2011 and now has 850 financial and HR managers working there, as well as managers for contact with consumers and sale support and analytics. The American company has plans for its further expansion. Also there were rumours, back in 2014, that Amazon might build a distribution logistics centre near Malacky. But nothing of this sort has materialised. Read also: Read also: The Amazon centre near Sered nears completion Read more Now Amazon has chosen, out of all potential places in Europe, an industrial park next to Sered, about 60 kilometres from Bratislava, comfortably accessible by the D1 highway and R1 dual carriageway, to build a state-of-the-art returns centre to serve customers across the European Union. The company announced its arrival in Sered in March. We always carefully select our investment locations, said Perticucci. There are key factors Amazon considers when selecting a new place for its facility. The first is whether there is a pool of potential employees large enough. Secondly, Amazon needs transparent legislation and rules that permit timely new construction and 24-hour operation, seven days per week. The last but not least is good infrastructure. We are very happy to have found all these elements in Sered, said Perticucci. Economy Minister Peter Ziga stressed that Amazons investment, which he estimated in the tens of millions of euros, goes neither into the industrial production nor the automotive industry by which it contributes to a better division of investments in the country. It is also important due to its added value as Amazon plans to launch its latest technologies here, said Ziga. Finance Minister Peter Kazimir pointed out that even though Amazons investment in Sered would have managed to qualify for state investment stimuli, the company has not applied for it. Only Sered received a subsidy to build this industrial park. Also, those commuting to Sered from longer distances may get a state contribution. Returns centre in Sered Amazon plans to put the returns centre into operation sometime this autumn. This will be the only returns centre in Europe as its other three returns centres are in the US. In Sered workers will deal with returned items, either those that failed to be delivered, or those returned by customers. People either return items when these do not meet their expectations or if they are not satisfied with them. Online shoppers also often order clothes or footwear in several sizes and keep only those that fit. The others they return. The Sered centre will be the biggest and the most modern reverse logistics centre Amazon has, promises Perticucci. It will use Amazons newest hardware and software solutions available in the network. The new centre will be over 60,000 square metres and it will have over 1,000 workstations of various types. These workers will check the returned items and decide whether they can be re-sold, returned to a vendor, used in another way or destroyed. Operations of a returns centre are more demanding and complex than of a traditional distribution logistics centre. Costs may also be several times higher. The principal witness of the prosecution, Robert Toth testified at court in an example of the gang underworld and struggle for power. Font size: A - | A + In the case of the murder of the founder of the criminal gang Sykorovci, the principal witness of the prosecution, Robert Toth, testified at the Bratislava I District Court. Toth said that with other charged men, he had participated in the murder of Miroslav Sykora in February 1997 as a driver but he did not watch the murder directly. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Miroslav Sykora is considered the founder of the Bratislava-based gang called after him, Sykorovci. He was shot down in February 1997 at the parking lot of the Holiday Inn hotel in Bratislava, reportedly shot by Richard Bencic and Milan Majtan with machine guns. His driver, Peter R., died later in hospital of the shot wounds, Sme wrote. Four men stand accused in the event that started the gang wars in Slovakia, the Sme daily wrote on May 17. Toth further said that in December 1996, Peter Krizanovic, known under the nickname Duran, asked him to work as a bodyguard for him. At that time, Duran who was involved in a dispute with Sykora stayed in Nitra, as his friend (one of the charged men) Lubos Ferus had significant power and influence there. Duran was also recuperating from the amputation of his right shin that had been injured in a shoot-out. Duran suspected Sykora of being involved in the shoot-out, as they had had a dispute revolving around money from a bank robbery. Sykora came to the appointed meeting accompanied by Robert Lalis and Peter Congrady. He allegedly asked Ferus to hand over Duran. But Ferus realised he would be the next to go, according to Toth. Later Ferus started pushing for the elimination of Sykora and Duran eagerly agreed. Richard B., nicknamed Kofola, brought guns and phones; Milan M., another bodyguard, checked and prepared everything. Marek Luptak and his already deceased brother Radoslav L. procured cars and necessary documents. Kofola and Milan Majtan shot at Sykora at the Holiday Inn parking lot, according to Toth. However, neither him, nor Lubos Ferus were physically present they only learnt the result from a phone call. Ferus allegedly paid the shooters 1.5 million Slovak crowns (about 50,000) and Toth received 300,000 crowns (10,000). Who was interested in Sykoras death The shooters were not afraid of prosecution, as the secret service with three letters was also interested in Sykoras death. In March 1997, Robert Toth was taken into custody for other crimes and thus stopped to meeting the other accused men. Four men are accused of the murder of Miroslav Sykora, according to Sme: Lubos Ferus, deemed the leader of Nitra gang world, allegedly organised it, while Marek Luptak, Richard Bencic and Milan Majtan are accomplices in the crime. All four of them, prosecuted at large, deny their guilt. Lubos Ferus was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok to 15 years in the case of the Piestany gang called Pitovci II, but the verdict is not yet effective. The prosecutor claims that these four were members of a gang that also included Peter Krizanovic, aka Duran, and Radoslav Luptak, a police officer and brother of Marek Luptak. Duran is considered to have had the biggest motive for killing Sytra, mostly due to their fight for influence in the underworld and as revenge for his crippling. Duran ultimately died shortly after Sykora during a car explosion, while Radoslav Luptak was shot down. A week after a helicopter crash, an accident involving a ministry car coming back from the funeral claimed another life. Font size: A - | A + A car belonging to the Interior Ministry crashed on the D1 highway between Strba and Vazec on May 16 around 18:00. In this accident, a 24-year old female employee died in the ministerial car driving three people. The cause of the accident is not yet known. The Volkswagen Touareg involved was driven by a police officer, and therefore the Interior Ministrys inspection is investigating the crash. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Employees of the Interior Ministry were returning from a business trip during which they attended the burial of two fire-fighters who died in the helicopter crash in Presov a week ago, the Pravda daily wrote. The victim of the car crash was authorised to oversee a project of a furniture-producing workshop in Krompachy, ministry spokesperson Andrea Dobiasova told the daily. The car left the highway, broke a fence and ended in a ditch. The victim sat in the back seat and was probably not fastened with a seatbelt. She was taken to hospital in Poprad seriously injured; there, she died of her injuries. The other two ministry employees are injured but stable they suffered fractures. The fire-fighters who were also returning from the funeral of their colleagues found debris of the car as far as 150 metres away. Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said a car accident occurred on the way back from a business trip which claimed one young and perspective life, adding that he was very sorry for that. He suggested, as also informed by experts, that it was rainy and the road was wet which may have been one of the causes of the tragedy. Road traffic analyst Jozef Drahovsky opines that the wet road and a skid were the joint cause. Slovakia will send specialists to Iraq to train members of their army in mine clearance, ground maintenance and special operations. Font size: A - | A + On May 17, the cabinet approved a plan according to which up to 47 Slovak soldiers should be sent to the Iraqi region between October and December. Sending soldiers to Iraq forms part of Slovakias contribution to NATOs fight against terrorism. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement We're part of NATO, and as a coalition partner we will from part of a global coalition in the fight against the Islamic State," Defence Minister Peter Gajdos said after the cabinet session, as quoted by the TASR newswire, stressing that this will be a training mission, and not a combat one. Slovakia will present its contribution in the form of special soldiers to its allies at the NATO summit in Brussels later this month. Our contribution will focus exclusively on carrying out training tasks and on providing advice and assistance in the process of forming capacities of the Iraqi forces on the territory of the Republic of Iraq. We arent planning to dispatch any combat units, added Gajdos, noting that the Slovak contribution should involve a maximum of two six-month tours of duty. Mission: training Iraqis The members of the Slovak army who will be in charge of the demining training will educate instructors of the Iraqi armed forces to this effect and will issue permits for using the Bozena 4 light demining system. Slovak military police officers will also train members of the Iraqi federal and local police, while Slovak soldiers for special operations will provide military assistance to members of the Iraqi special forces in acquiring the required skills. The total cost estimates for dispatching the Slovak soldiers amounts to some 5.7 million in the case of one tour of duty and about 8.8 million in the case of both. The Slovak capital Bratislava intends to attract tourists with a new campaign based on personalities that have historical ties with the city, such as Maria Theresa, Albert Einstein and Pope John Paul II. Font size: A - | A + A new campaign to promote Bratislava will be launched in the next few days in neighbouring countries, as well as in Germany and Great Britain, the TASR newswire learnt from the Bratislava Tourist Board executive director Alzbeta Melicharova on May 17. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Late Pope John Paul II visiting Bratislava... (Source: Courtesy of Bratislav Tourist Board) Bratislava needs strong promotion, Melicharova said. We were searching for the right form and decided to do so via these world-known personalities. The campaign will be launched on social networks and at underground stations, airports and important international bus and rail hubs. The board wants to communicate historical monuments, design and smart solutions that are important to the Slovak capital through people such as Albert Einstein. Maria Theresa was crowned in Bratislava 276 years ago. Pope John Paul II, who visited Bratislava a couple of times, will represent the proximity of Bratislava and its residents to the spirit of nature, coherence and sport, which unite people and create unrepeatable moments, Melicharova opined, as cited by TASR. ... and Maria Theresa (Source: Courtesy of Bratislava Tourist Board) Bratislavas annual coronation ceremony, at which the coronations of kings and queens of the Kingdom of Hungary are re-enacted, should be boosted into more of a tourist attraction, showing that the Slovak capital is proud of its rich history. Over 1.2 million tourists visited Bratislava in 2016, an increase of over 15 percent from the previous year, when the one million limit was exceeded for the first time. We want to outdo these figures, Bratislava mayor Ivo Nesrovnal told media. The first estimates indicate that we might succeed. This is thanks to the fact that Bratislava makes investments in cleaning, restoring monuments and reconstructing roads, so that tourists wont come here just for a few hours but will spend a longer time here and then return. A year after the Basternak case began, nothing seem to be sticking to the interior minister. Yet. Font size: A - | A + Not even Lexa faced an onslaught like Kalinak now does. When Culture Minister Marek Madaric, a member of the governing Smer party, said this about his fellow cabinet member Robert Kalinak during a live debate organised a few days ago by the Dennik N daily, one could even detect in his tone a sense of genuine sympathy for the interior minister. In fact, Madaric went on to admit that if he were in Kalinaks shoes, he would already have quit. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement It is unorthodox, to say the least, for a ruling politician to compare himself or his peers to the notorious Meciar-era spy chief Ivan Lexa, who faced charges for nothing less than ordering the kidnapping of the then-presidents son. Kalinak will probably not thank his colleague Madaric for this comparison. Read also: Read also: UPDATED: Interior Minister refuses to leave after avoiding competition Read more But, unlike Madaric, Kalinak is not giving in, despite the allegations never satisfactorily addressed surrounding him in connection with the now infamous Basternak case that he has; despite the student-organised protest by thousands in the streets of Bratislava; and apparently despite even the latest accusations that he illegally ordered the major reconstruction of a building for Bratislavas long-awaited client service centre without running a public tender first, after his ministry had legally, but questionably, rented it without a preceding public tender. Kalinak is made of harder stuff than Madaric, it would seem. Or if not harder, than definitely more persistent and more slippery: this is a truly Teflon-coated minister. In Slovakia, every time a politician faces accusations of misconduct and fails to explain them but also refuses to step down, commentators usually sigh about the lack of political culture in the country, some attributing it to the immaturity of Slovak democracy, others simply claiming that politicians are too arrogant and too self-righteous to act otherwise. Yet it is not like nobody has ever resigned, even for things that seem like petty mistakes compared to the claims that Kalinak has been facing for a year now. This goes for Smer politicians too. We do not need to go into the CT-scanner scandal that brought down Smers second strongest man, Pavol Paska, who was speaker of parliament at the time. In 2015, Pavol Pavlis who served for a short time as the economy minister in Robert Ficos Smer-only second government, resigned after it turned out his ministry had hired the company of his brother-in-law for cleaning services. We should note that this does not appear to have disqualified him from public office: Pavlis ran for parliament on Smers slate last year again and was subsequently appointed by the current government to lead the public measurements office. Cleaning services also ended the ministerial career of Smers first defence minister, Frantisek Kasicky, who quit in 2008 but later went on to become Slovakias envoy to NATO. For now, let us recall these ministerial fails from Smer, which after all runs the kitchen, rather than pointing fingers at its opponents, as Fico routinely does when he defends his minister by pointing to the alleged failings of the parties now in opposition. As any chef knows, Teflon pans come in various qualities. With cheap ones, the non-stick is sure to start failing pretty quickly; with proper Teflon pans that cost you a lot the effect can last for years. But even the finest coating will eventually decay, when subjected to enough abuse, or sufficiently rigorous cleaning. And the longer the owner takes to replace the pan, the more dirt will stick. The Ministry of Education agrees cooperation with Yad Vashem. Font size: A - | A + Slovak teachers will attend lectures about the holocaust at the Israeli Yad Vashem holocaust remembrance centre as part of the cooperation with Israel. Education Minister Peter Plavcan signed an agreement with Yad Vashem while on a visit to Israel on May 18. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The biggest holocaust remembrance centre in the world, Yad Vashem, was found in 1953 based on a decision made by the Israeli Parliament. Its role is to keep the remembrance of millions of holocaust victims during the Second World War alive. Read also: Read also: We were joking before the trip, women from the first transport to Auschwitz recall Read more The education of the younger generations should prevent extremism, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, according to Plavcan. Our aim is to support the critical thinking of young people and help them to recognize the lies about historical events, said Plavcan, as quoted by the SITA newswire. The Education Minister informed his Israeli partners on the specific steps that Slovakia has taken. He emphasized the founding of the first Slovak museum dedicated to holocaust victims but also the addition of history lessons and the organisation of excursions to Nazi work camps. The Agricultural Ministry will not support the absolute ban of pesticides, thinks Greenpeace. Font size: A - | A + Despite 50,000 people signing a petition against the use of any kind of pesticides, neonicotinoids harming bees in particular, the Slovak Agricultural Minister, Gabriela Matecna (SNS) will not support an absolute ban, Greenpeace stated on May 18. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The European Commission proposed a ban of three types of neonicotinoids but Matecna wants to ban only the foliar (on the leaves) application of the pesticides. This is a clear evidence that the Ministry is not taking the opinion of 50,000 people seriously, according to Greenpeace. It is a good step forward but not enough, said Katarina Jurikova, the coordinator of campaign Jedlo pre zivot (Food for life) from Greenpeace Slovakia, as quoted by the SITA newswire. The science proves and institutions show that the soaking of seeds in pesticides is risky and could cause mass poisoning for bees, Jurikova continues. An argument that with the cancellation of soaking, other substances will have to used, proves the faulty mind-set of the Ministry. One dangerous substance cannot be replaced with another. Its time for Slovakia to intensively support ecological farming, she said, as quoted by SITA. Ecological farming offers many alternatives to pesticides and work on big farms as well as small ones. Read also: Read also: Adopt a Beehive: a young beekeeper with a novel project Read more The Ministry has to take steps that dont kill bees, dont pollute water or soil and produce healthy food, summed up Jurikova for SITA. Neonicotinoids are the best-selling substances against animal pests. The European Union cut down on the use of three of these substances in 2013. Restriction will end this year. Scholarships More Colleges, Universities Join Scholarship Platform to Fund Good Students An online fundraising platform that has helped high schoolers raise more than $1 billion in scholarships for college is growing its community of academic institution partners. The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis, Harvey Mudd College and Grinnell College are all part of the newest cohort of campuses to join Raise.me. The platform rewards good students for their hard work: Starting from grade 9, students can input their achievements (class grades, clubs, sports, etc.) to earn micro-scholarships from colleges on Raise.me. Different academic institutions award different amounts for the same achievement. So, U Penn could reward a student $150 for earning an A in algebra, while Grinnell could offer $100, for example. Micro-scholarships typically range from $100 to $3,000 and can be redeemed once a student is admitted by a partner college. More than 700,000 students, or one in every two students attending high schools across the United States, have used the platform to raise money for college, a recent company blog post states. The average Raise.me user receives about $20,000 from partner colleges. Raise.me launched nationally in the fall of 2014. The company says it focuses on boosting access to higher education, especially for low-income and first-generation students. To learn more about how micro-scholarships work, watch the video below. Student Data Privacy Privacy Advocates Release Toolkit for Parents to Protect Student Data The Parent Coalition for Student Privacy (PCSP) and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) earlier this week released a free, online toolkit that offers guidance to parents on how to protect their childrens personal information. The two national organizations say that schools are increasingly outsourcing operations to vendors that store students personal data in the cloud and share that information with third parties. Therefore, its more important than ever for parents to take some control over their childrens information, according to the toolkit announcement. The Parent Toolkit for Student Privacy: A Practical Guide for Protecting Your Childs Sensitive School Data from Snoops, Hackers and Marketers encourages parent to be more proactive in questioning privacy terms set by vendors that their school district works with, offering advice on how to talk to the school and other tips. PCSP and CCFC cite the fact that data collected by schools and vendors can include their childrens names, birth dates, academic scores, browsing history and more, which can later be sold or hacked. The toolkit was created in response to parents growing concerns over student data privacy, according to the announcement. Recently, popular education platforms like Edmodo and Schoolzilla have been attacked by cybercriminals, resulting in student data being exposed. The toolkit is available free to parents on the CCFC and PCSP sites. An infographic, released with the toolkit, can be found below. Special Education Report: Students with Learning and Attention Issues Three Times More Likely to Drop Out One in five children have learning and attention issues, or brain-based challenges in reading, writing, math, organization, focus, listening comprehension, social skills, motor skills or a combination of these, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). In a new report, the NCLD examines why students facing these issues are three times more likely to drop out of school. For The State of learning Disabilities, the NCLD used recently released data for the 2015-2016 school year and other field-leading research to shine a light on the current challenges and opportunities facing the 1 in 5 children who have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and ADHD, the reports introduction states. Offering up statistics, first-person stories, recommendations and more in the report, NCLD looks at how specific learning disabilities (SLD) can impact student success, starting in K12 and moving on to college and the workplace. For starters, the NCLD found that only a small subset of students are formally identified with disabilities in schools, despite the prevalence of children with learning and attention disabilities. As a result, many K12 schools lack specific policies and other supports to help these students achieve academic success and career readiness. Only one in 16 public schools have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for SLD, for example. Students with IEPs were 85 percent more likely to repeat a grade than their peers without disabilities in 2013-14, according to the report. Read More The United States Department of Education set forth guidelines on how to use IEPs to set high standards for students with disabilities. In addition, learning disabilities is the largest of 13 categories covered under special education law, accounting for nearly 39 percent of students receiving special education in 2015-16, says NCLD. Yet, one in 50 public schools receive special education funding under the civil rights statute Section 504. It isnt that these students cant be diagnosed and helped; new research is deepening our understanding of the differences in brain structure and function in children with learning and attention issues, the report states. Brain scans and other tools are also helping researchers measure the biological impact that instructional interventions have on children who learn differently, including those with dyslexia, ADHD and other issues. However, delays in SLD identification persist and many students struggle for years before receiving help. As a result, they face a number of challenges on their own. Individuals with learning disabilities are three times more likely to drop out of school, the NCLD found 18.1 percent compared to 6.1 percent for the average dropout rate of all students. These students are twice as likely to be suspended. Additionally, chronic absenteeism is a problem, with 19 percent with IEPs missing three or more weeks of school each year. Notably, these challenges impact students across all races and ethnicities, but low-income, minority and English language learners are more likely to identify having a SLD. The report also touches on the stigma surrounding learning attention disabilities how students with SLD are often seen as lazy or unmotivated to learn in classrooms. The NCLD says these perceptions can contribute to the fact that some students wont disclose that they have a learning disability. Based on recent surveys, insights into stigma include: 33 percent of educators say that sometimes what people call a learning disability is really just laziness; 43 say they would not want others to know if their child has a learning disability; 48 percent of parents believe incorrectly that children will outgrow these brain-based difficulties; and Parents only follow doctor recommendations on SLD about 54 percent of the time. Not too surprisingly, high school seniors seem to carry these challenges with them to college and the workplace. Low self-esteem and stigma help explain why young adults with learning disabilities who are as smart as their peers enroll in four-year colleges at half the rate of all young adults. Lack of self-advocacy and self-regulation skills may explain why students with learning disabilities who attend any type of postsecondary school are less likely to graduate than students without disabilities, according to the report. Stigma and other factors can explain why many college students with SLD refrain from accessing campus resources. Another reason is not knowing what kinds of disability services are available in college or not having the paperwork needed to access them. The good news is that with the right support, students can achieve at high levels, the NCLD wrote, emphasizing a need for targeted policy reforms and more research into evidence-based solutions to curb dropout rates for these students. The NCLD noted a few states are beginning SLD identification in children ages 3-5, including California, New York, New Jersey and Iowa. In Kansas, for example, educators use a multi-tier system of supports to help educators use data-based decision-making in a specific subject like math or reading. Specific state progress can be found in the State Snapshots section of the report, which offers two-page summaries for each state, highlighting key data points in comparison to national data in areas of special education and retention rates. About the Author Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected]. To view the full report, visit the National Center for Learning Disabilities site STRUGGLES FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN Friday, May 19, 2017 4-6 PM Room C197 The Graduate Center, CUNY Archive Wars and Democratic Aspirations in Guatemala Kirsten Weld, Harvard University Guatemalas long civil war (1960-1996) is often remembered, not inaccurately, as a time of unyielding state repression. Yet it was also a time of democratic aspirations, in which generations fought, against all odds, to make their country more just and humane. Using struggles over citizen access to state archives as its entry point, this talk traces a genealogy of grassroots challenges to authoritarianism and state violence. Though the uneven results of those struggles attest to the ongoing solidity of Guatemalas structures of domination, they also speak to the power and endurance of alternative visions. The "People" in Venezuelan Politics: Crisis and the Constitution in the '90s Julie Skurski, The Graduate Center, CUNY Electoral Reform and the 1940 Cuban Elections Ilan Ehrlich, Bergen Community College Cubas 1940 elections represented the first time in sixteen years that all political parties were allowed to participate. This followed closely on the heels of several other democratic shoots and sprigs. One of the candidates competing for Cubas presidency in 1940 was Fulgencio Batista who had dominated the islands politics as its military chief since 1934. His chief rival, Ramon Grau, opted to rely on his personal popularity and reputation for probity. Grau had ruled briefly as provisional president in 1933 and issued a raft of decrees which had endeared him to many Cubans. Grau and his fellow Autenticos hoped their novel electoral strategy, which eschewed money out of both necessity and belief, would yield fruit. Even Autentico candidates who counted personal wealth, such as Eddy Chibas, refused to spend money on his congressional campaign. In the end, though, this strategy proved a failure and served as an important lesson for both Grau and the Autenticos. Moderator: Samuel Farber, Brooklyn College, CUNY Kirsten Weld (Ph.D., Yale University), a historian of modern Latin America, is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of History at Harvard University. Her first book, Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala , analyzes the last half-century of Guatemalan history by focusing on the politics of archival access and knowledge production; it won the 2015 WOLA-Duke Human Rights Book Award and the 2016 Best Book Prize from the Latin American Studies Associations Recent History and Memory Section. Her current book project, for which she was a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies in 2014-2015, examines the impact and afterlives of the Spanish Civil War in Latin America. Julie Skurski (Ph.D., University of Chicago) came to the Graduate Center in January 2009 from the University of Michigan, where she taught in the Departments of Anthropology and History, and served as Associate Director of the Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History. Her interests lie in the subjects of historical anthropology, race, gender, postcolonialism, popular religion, and Latin American, Caribbean, and Atlantic studies. Her books include States of Violence (2005), co-edited with Fernando Coronil, and Anthrohistory: Unsettling Knowledge, Questioning Discipline (2011), co-edited with Coronil and others. Skurski is now at work on Civilizing Barbarism: Nationhood, Masculinity, and Mestizaje in Early Twentieth-Century Venezuela . Ilan Ehrlich (Ph.D., The Graduate Center, CUNY) is Assistant Professor of History at Bergen Community College. His book, Eduardo Chibas: The Incorrigible Man of Cuban Politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), is a political biography that explores the role of messianism and charisma in defending democratic institutions. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Dr. Ehrlich was a dissertation fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography. Samuel Farber (Ph.D., University of California) is an emeritus professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College of CUNY. He was born and raised in Cuba and has written numerous books and articles about the country. His most recent books include The Politics of Che Guevara: Theory and Practice and Cuba Since The Revolution of 1959. A Critical Assessment published by Haymarket Books in 2016 and 2011. TO REGISTER send email to bildner@gc.cuny.edu By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission accused telecoms and cable group Altice on Thursday of breaching EU rules by taking control of PT Portugal before the deal had been approved by EU regulators. Altice said it would challenge the allegations. "Altice does not agree with the European Commission's preliminary conclusions and will submit a full response," it said in a statement. If the Commission concludes Altice acted too soon, it could impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the company's annual worldwide turnover. Altice's 2016 consolidated group revenues were 23.5 billion euros (20 billion). Altice agreed a 7.4 billion euro deal in December 2014 with Brazil's Oi to acquire sole control of PT Portugal. The Netherlands-based holding company notified the Commission in February 2015 of its plans and the Commission cleared the transaction with conditions in April 2015. Altice, founded and controlled by Franco-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi, was fined on similar grounds last year by the French competition authority with regards to its acquisition of SFR Group . "In today's Statement of Objections, the Commission takes the preliminary view that Altice actually implemented the acquisition prior to the adoption of the Commission's clearance decision, and in some instances, prior to its notification," the Commission said in a statement. It added the purchase agreement put Altice in a position to exercise influence over PT Portugal before notification and clearance and that in certain instances Altice had exercised "decisive influence". The Commission added the investigation did not impact its approval of the transaction. (additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Editing by Susan Thomas and Mark Potter) MIAMI (AP) Authorities were searching Tuesday in the Bahamas for a small overdue plane with four people from the U.S. on board, including a prominent New York businesswoman and her two children. The U.S. Coast Guard says the twin-engine MU-2B was east of the island of Eleuthera on Monday when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with the plane. It was en route from Puerto Rico and never made it to its destination of Titusville, along the northeastern coast of Florida. Debris and an oil slick was spotted east of Eleuthera but authorities were still trying to determine whether it came from the missing plane, according to Marilyn Fajardo, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami. "We are still searching for survivors," she said. The people on board the plane were identified as Nathan Ulrich, 52, of Lee, New Hampshire, and Jennifer Blumin of New York, 40, along with her 4-year-old and 10-year-old sons. Blumin was founder and CEO of Skylight Group, which provides event space around New York City, specializing in the fashion industry. The company confirmed she and members of her family were on the plane in a statement. "Her family is working with investigators and we politely ask that you respect their privacy at this time," the company said. Their plane was at about 24,000 feet when air traffic control lost contact. "There's no indication of significant adverse weather at the time," said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman. Ulrich was listed as the pilot but it was not known who was flying it at the time, Kelly said. Blumin owned the plane through a consulting company, according to New York State and aviation records. Coast Guard aircraft were searching along with Customs and Border Patrol and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Eleuthera. A Coast Guard cutter was dispatched to the area and was expected to arrive later Tuesday to assist with the search. See Also: The Independent Elon Musk , Reportedly Considers , Putting All of Twitter Behind a Paywall.According to CNBC, on Nov. 7, online news source Platformer said it had learned that "Musk has discussed putting the entire site behind a paywall.".While the move "does not appear imminent" and it's not clear whether Musk will go through with it.the new Twitter CEO has been vocal about generating more revenue for the company.In fact, he's already decided that Twitter Blue will now cost $8 a month and provide verification for users. .Musk also fired Parag Agrawal, dissolved Twitter's board and changed the platform's misinformation policies ahead of midterm elections.Musk also fired Parag Agrawal, dissolved Twitter's board and changed the platform's misinformation policies ahead of midterm elections.Musk also fired Parag Agrawal, dissolved Twitter's board and changed the platform's misinformation policies ahead of midterm elections.CNBC reports that Twitter has also laid off nearly half of its employees since Musk acquired the company. .Given Musk's radical changes, a platform-wide paywall doesn't seem out of the question.Neither he nor Twitter have commented on the possibility.Twitter has experienced a significant drop in revenue due to advertisers pausing spending while they observe how the platform changes under Musk's direction.Twitter has experienced a significant drop in revenue due to advertisers pausing spending while they observe how the platform changes under Musk's direction By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's anti-graft watchdog said on Thursday it had frozen the assets of its chief accountant and planned to charge him with corruption, part of an aggressive anti-graft drive in which thousands of officials have already lost their jobs. President John Magufuli, in office since November 2015, has vowed to root out the "cancer" of high-level corruption that has long bedevilled economic growth in the east African nation. The state-run Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) said it had secured a magistrate's order freezing the assets of Godfrey Gugai, its chief accountant. They include six vehicles and 40 apartments, houses and prime plots in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and other major urban centres. "The Resident Magistrate's Court of Dar es Salaam region at Kisutu has issued freezing orders against properties of one Godfrey Gugai, who is about to be charged with corruption offences and other related offences," the PCCB said in a public notice.Reuters was unable to contact Gugai and his ex-colleagues said he was not reachable. It was not immediately clear whether he was already in detention but the PCCB said he would be arraigned at a Dar es Salaam court "over the next few days". Under Tanzania's anti-graft law, public officials convicted of possession of unexplained wealth face a sentence of up to seven years in jail, a fine or both.Businesses have long said corruption and government inefficiency are major obstacles to investing in Tanzania, which ranked 116 out of 176 countries in Transparency International's 2016 corruption index, where No. 1 is deemed least corrupt.Magufuli has dismissed several senior public officials, including the head of the government's anti-graft body, the tax chief, a senior railway official and the head of the port authority.Nicknamed "the Bulldozer" for his ability to push through major projects, Magufuli in April ordered the immediate dismissal of more than 9,900 civil servants after a nationwide verification of academic credentials uncovered workers with forged school and college certificates.The crackdown on academic fraud came after another purge launched in March 2016 discovered more than 19,700 "ghost workers" on the country's public sector payroll. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by George Obulutsa and Gareth Jones) By Samia Errazzouki AL-HOCEIMA, Morocco (Reuters) - Thousands of Moroccans marched in a northern town to protest against injustice and corruption on Thursday, seven months after a fishmonger was crushed inside a garbage truck there while trying to retrieve fish confiscated by the police. Waving banners proclaiming "Are you a government or a gang?" and local protest flags, the march made its way peacefully through the centre of Al-Hoceima, packing the main square under the watch of police and gendarmerie checkpoints. Political protests are rare in Morocco, but tensions in Al-Hoceima have been simmering since October following the death of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri. The incident sparked outrage against "hogra", a colloquial Derja Arabic term for deprivation of dignity because of official abuses or corruption, and prompted some of the largest protests since Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations in 2011. Thursday's marchers filled the main square and local businesses shut shops, cafes and restaurants in an unprecedented show of support. Crowds booed as they passed a police station. "Our demands are clear, we want the removal of the security presence here, we want hospitals.... we want jobs, we want universities," said 23-year old Mohammed Boumasoud, a member of the "Hirak" movement that denounces corruption. Two police and three gendarmerie checkpoints filtered traffic entering the city, marking an increase from the usual level of security. Moroccan authorities usually police protests heavily, nervous about unrest since the 2011 demonstrations. During those protests, Morocco's king devolved some of his authority to an elected government in a constitutional reform. Governments in North Africa are wary of protests tapping into frustrations among unemployed youth over jobs and a lack of development in marginalised areas. Tunisia this month saw protests that threatened to block gas production in the south of the country. As crowds gathered in one square, Nasser Zefzafi, leader of "Hirak" rallied protesters over a megaphone. He has been the target of attacks in pro-palace media, who have accused him of being a separatist for the Rif region. The anger over Fikri's death, which shocked even staunch supporters of the palace, was a reminder the broader resentment at the establishment over joblessness and the gap between rich and poor that partly drove the 2011 pro-democracy protests. Earlier this week, the Moroccan government released a statement acknowledging the protests in the Rif and urging officials to move quickly to implement a development strategy aimed at providing jobs. Rif briefly declared independence in the 1920s during the resistance against Spanish colonial rule. Even after independence the region had a contentious relationship with central authorities, often claiming it has been abandoned. "Mouhcine Fikri's death was the last drop that made the glass overflow," said activist Rabih Boushaaoul, a member of Hirak. "Fikri's death woke the Rif up from a deep sleep." (Editing by Patrick Markey and Hugh Lawson) (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia and Israel, two bastions of relative calm in the war-battered Middle East, on his first foreign trip beginning this weekend. In much of the region, authoritarian governments duel for power with political Islamists and militants as rival creeds and ethnic groups vie for dominance. Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq are riven by wars. Israel and the Palestinians are still locked in their decades-old struggle, while Bahrain rumbles with unrest. All 50 Muslim states whose leaders Trump will meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh are menaced by the rise of Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. He has promised to rid the world of the scourge of "radical Islamic terrorism". Attitudes towards Trump are coloured by the actions of his first four months in power. Among them: his attempt to ban citizens of six mostly-Muslim countries from travelling to the United States; his decision to launch cruise missiles against a Syrian airbase to punish Damascus for a chemical weapons attack; and his decision to arm Kurdish militias fighting IS in Syria. In short interviews, residents of the Middle East from all walks of life tell Reuters what they expect of Trump. SYRIA Marla Awad, businesswoman, Damascus "What matters to me was one very negative decision - his refusal to allow the Syrians to immigrate to America in a racist way, because travelling to it was a dream for me to fulfil my ambitions to study and work." Sherine Haji, 23, fighter in Kurdish YPG militia "The plan to arm the YPG is a decision taken late. We have experienced many heavy battles. If this support was happening in the first place, the advances would have been quicker. We would not have to sacrifice many lives. "Now I'm wounded, I've lost two legs, but rather than aching because of my pain, I'm worried for my people. This must end, no one else should be in pain. There must be free and peaceful life in this country." IRAQ Ali Bassem, 26, Iraqi fighter on Mosul front line "He is a hero. He got Daesh out of Iraq. He is cooperative with the Iraqi people and we and the Americans are one nation. We are brothers." Sattar Muhsin Ali, stationery store owner, Baghdad "I think the core policy of Trump is focusing on eliminating terrorism and drying out its financial sources in the world and curbing the terror-supporting states, especially those neighbouring Iraq. "The impact of Trump's policy on the future of the Middle East will hold positive elements. For example, Iraq suffered a lot from the policy of the former American administrations which led to the spread of chaos and finally to the emergence of Daesh." Hidaya Muhyiddin, 35, crafts salesman "Trump should take speedy decisions, and for Kurds, they are oppressed and America has the right to arm them and support them militarily and financially. America must help Kurds not only in Syria but in all Kurdish areas." LEBANON Charbel Fares, artist, near Sidon in South Lebanon "Trump's policies will lead us either to a world war with the Middle East as its centre stage or towards a compromise between all the conflicting powers based on dividing our countries and changing the boundaries determined by the Sykes-Picot agreement (between Britain and France in 1916)." George Gharib, accessories shop owner, Beirut "I do not expect any change in American policies towards the region, especially since President Trump is committed to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and there is no intention to pressure Israel. "He will be like all previous presidents who came before him with bias and abiding by Israeli interests." BAHRAIN Mohammed Ateeq, banker and blogger "President Trump has promised to dramatically change America's stance in the Middle East most notably by scrapping the Iran nuclear agreement, getting involved to eradicate terrorists in ISIS ... and to negotiate a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. "All of these are common promises and rhetoric outlined by most U.S. candidates and previous presidents. However, this is all easier said than done." LIBYA Sameh al-Abani, 38, watch seller "When Trump took office as president of the U.S., he issued an order preventing some Arab and Muslim nationalities from entering, causing tension in the region. "His policy in Syria is not clear. Arming the Kurds is not right from my perspective. This will also drive Turkey to launch attacks towards Kurds." Salem al-Warfali, 31, barista "Trump's policy is aimed at deepening the differences between Muslims and Christians. This will have a very bad impact and will lead to the continuation of hostility." PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES Anonymous female fighter from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), southern Gaza Strip "Trump is a man of war, he works on spreading war, chaos and killing among people. Like other presidents who came before him, I do not see he will bring about peace or any good to the Palestinian people. "I see that there is another war coming." YEMEN Abdulwali Ahmed Qadhi, bureaucrat, Sanaa "What Trump is doing in the Middle East is terrorizing, just terrorizing. An idiot with no policy but terrorizing. He wants countries to recognise Israel." SAUDI ARABIA Nayef al-Hayzan, 28 "I expect that Trump's visit will have a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and discussions are expected to tackle the problems in Syria and (energy giant) Aramco's privatisation in international markets and U.S. markets in particular." Abdulaziz al-Anbari, 32 "I think Trump as a Republican president will help improve relations with the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia. I do not want to commit on Trump's policy in Syria and arming the Kurds now. Let's wait and see what comes from his visit." EGYPT Mubarak Mashali, 20, student at Cairo University "I think Trump is going to ruin things and make them worse than they already are throughout the whole Middle East." JORDAN Lara Shahin, 35, Syrian refugee and handicraft worker in Amman "Trump's decision to strike at the air base was a surprise move that raised my hopes the U.S. President will take bolder decisions in future that would end President Bashar al-Assad's rule and allow me to return home to a democratic country." ISRAEL Ovad Chen, falafel stand owner, Jerusalem "I see myself as a very simple person and I believe that at the end of the day, God controls everything. Therefore, it doesnt really matter what Trump is saying or doing in the Middle East or anywhere else. "Even if we might think people are in any sort of control or power, this is all an illusion. God is the real king." (Reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday she will visit Turkey and Jordan from May 19-25 to see how Syrian refugees "are coping, day in and day out," to see U.N. humanitarian work and highlight the U.S. aid response. It will be the first overseas trip by Haley, a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, and follows a bid by Trump to temporarily ban refugees from entering the United States and to cut funding to the United Nations and its agencies. "What is happening in Syria and its neighbouring countries is a true humanitarian crisis. But those who accuse the U.S. of heartlessness in the face of this crisis are wrong," Haley wrote in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on Wednesday. "No country has invested more in protecting, housing, feeding and caring for Syrian refugees than the U.S. We have provided nearly $6.5 billion in emergency assistance for Syria since the start of the crisis," she wrote. Haley said she would talk to government leaders about how U.S. programs to help refugees are working. She also plans to visit refugee camps and families, U.S. funded schools and to witness U.N. efforts to ship humanitarian aid into Syria from Jordan and Turkey. "With American help, Syria's neighbours have made the difference between life and death for millions of Syrians. The U.S. and the U.N. will continue to do a great deal of heavy lifting for these desperate people," Haley wrote. Haley's trip coincides with Trump's maiden trip abroad to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium. A crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war and Islamic State militants used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. Half of Syria's 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400,000 killed. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio) SANTIAGO, May 17 (Reuters) - Chile's Concha y Toro, one of the world's biggest wine makers, said on Wednesday its profit fell more than 20 percent in the first quarter, hit by a poor harvest and a slide in sterling after the UK's Brexit vote. Concha y Toro reported earnings of 12.8 billion Chilean pesos ($19 million) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, down 24 percent from a year ago. Net profit tumbled nearly in half to $3.8 billion pesos. "Concha y Toro faced a challenging external scenario, marked by the depreciation of key currencies for exports," the company said in a statement. "This affected sales and was combined with a jump in wine costs, a product of a weaker harvest in 2016." Britain is a key export market for the producer of such brands as Casillero del Diablo, Don Melchor and U.S. affiliate Fetzer-Bonterra. The vote to leave the European Union in June 2016 has led to a steep drop in the value of the pound, making imports into the country more expensive. At the same time, wine production in Chile fell an estimated 21 percent last year due to adverse weather conditions. A growing trend in Concha y Toro's portfolio toward higher-margin premium wines partly offset the difficulties, it said. It is not yet clear whether the 2017 harvest has been a good one in South America, with high summer temperatures, late frosts, and wildfires raising concerns. Santiago-listed shares in the company fell 1.4 percent to 1,080 pesos apiece on Wednesday. "We are maintaining a long-term positive view on the company, although we highlight the persistency of cost pressures, and the risk over the 2017 harvest that could raise costs and margin pressure," said analysts at BCI. ($1 = 669.1500 Chilean pesos) (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) See Also: 888poker XL Inferno Series Day 10: 'spud_gun888' Wins Super High Roller May 18 2017 Eric Mertens On the 10th day of the 888poker XL Inferno Series, there were 11 new tournaments. Most of the attention went to the XL Inferno #126 - $5,200 XL Inferno Super High Roller Chip In, where the high rollers competed for a huge prize pool. Let's take a look at who took the most money and the results in other tournaments. XL Inferno #126 - $5,200 XL Inferno Super High Roller Chip In Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $5,200 May 16 121 $810,000 Players started the tournament with 20,000 in chips and had the option to do a rebuy in case they lost all their chips. At the end of the registration period, there were 121 players and 41 rebuys to create a total prize pool of $810,000 which was divided among the last 18 players. Long before the money was reached, Chris "888Moorman" Moorman, Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov, Thomas "WushuTM" Muhlocker, Doug "DougPolkPKR" Polk, Scott "AggroSantos" Margereson, Mike "SirWatts" Watson, Roman "Romeopro33" Romanovskyi, Jussi "jnevanli" Nevanlinna and Sergio "zcedrick" Aido all busted from the tournament. Before the bubble came in sight, the tournament lost Niklas "tutten7" Astedt, Dominik "888Dominik" Nitsche, Adrian "ADRI_ATM" Mateos, Jonathan "chut_up" Von Fleet, Parker "888tonkaaa" Talbot and Anton "anteen" Bertilsson. On the bubble, "aIderfaIder" lost with his pocket jacks against ace-five and he was the last player to leave the tournament empty-handed. The final table was reached after more than one hour and it started with just seven players. On the bubble of the final table, "sweetness158" and Robin "Inho" Yitalo were both busted so only seven players took a seat. In quick succession, "iBotPauseNot" (seventh, $32,400), "Vickktor" (sixth, $40,500) and "AlreadyHigh" (fifth, $48,600) busted. From that moment, it was a long grind with the final four players. In the end, "ZeusLAZER" was sent to the rail in the fourth place after losing with ace-ten against ace-jack. Fabricio "DrMiKee" Gonzalez ended up all in for his last nine big blinds with ace-six against the ace-seven of chip leader "spud_gun888." Once again, the best hand held up and Gonzalez was sent to the rail in third place for $98,415. Once again, "Kannwas" made it to the final table after finished in second place in the $2,100 High Roller earlier this series. This time he started with a 3:1 deficit and once again he couldn't win. On a king-five-seven-six-ten board, he bet-called all in with eight-ten for the second pair. That wasn't good enough because spud_gun888 showed six-ten for two pair. Kannwas had to settle for $129,600 and spud_gun888 secured the top spot for $186,300. Position Player Country Prize 1 spud_gun888 United Kingdom $186,300 2 Kannwas Germany $129,600 3 Fabricio "DrMiKee" Gonzalez Uruguay $98,415 4 ZeusLAZER Canada $72,900 5 AlreadyHigh Mexico $48,600 6 Vickktor Poland $40,500 7 iBotPauseNot Canada $32,400 8 Robin "Inho" Yitalo Sweden $24,300 XL Inferno #120 - $10,000 Lightning 6-Max Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 16 155 $22,800 Once again, the first winner of the day came from the $10,000 Lightning 6-Max. This time there were 155 players competing to create a prize pool of $22,800. Thailand's "ihavenoboss" took the victory and received the first prize of $5,928. Place Player County Prize 1 ihavenoboss Thailand $5,928 2 mil3n4oO Czech Republic $3,990 3 cuadrado12 Sweden $2,964 4 888pruha Kazachstan $1,938 5 xXGlamBabeXx Ireland $1,482 6 ZeroNineee Czech Republic $1,026 XL Inferno #121 - $15,000 Breeze Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 16 465 $23,250 "WadoIchimonj" was crowned winner in the XL Inferno #121 - $15,000 Breeze. He defeated Brazil's "Luanova14" in the final heads-up to snag the first prize of $4,417. Place Player County Prize 1 WadoIchimonj Netherlands $4,417 2 Luanova14 Brazil $3,255 3 lovelydonk Finland $2,383 4 Concrete1990 Netherlands $1,813 5 Ozzy_M Poland $1,278 6 DJ_Guetta777 Belarus $988 7 1OMGsolucky1 Sweden $755 8 noWHATfella Brazil $523 9 suitedfish Austria $385 XL Inferno #122 - $15,000 Deepstack Swordfish Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $30 May 16 816 $22,440 Another Brazilian winner came in the XL Inferno #122 - $15,000 Deepstack Swordfish. The Brazilian players, who are pretty much dominating this series, saw their fellow countryman "ALTUSDOMUS" win the title and first prize of $4,061. Place Player County Prize 1 ALTUSDOMUS Brazil $4,061 2 jota_ocho Peru $2,917 3 kamalove999 Germany $2,187 4 3bet4nuzZ Germany $1,638 5 Scampi76 Germany $1,155 6 R3li_able Lithuania $931 7 l.mantovan Brazil $706 8 IMDool Lithuania $495 9 BTIPPPPP Canada $287 XL Inferno #123 - $25,000 Crocodile Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $160 May 16 316 $47,400 One of the tournaments with a higher buy-in on Day 10 was the XL Inferno #123 - $25,000 Crocodile. The 316 players paid the buy-in of $160 to create a prize pool of $47,400. On the final table, Apo "APOARSLAN" Arslan and Anton "anteen" Bertilsson were the familiar faces. Arslan finished in sixth ($2,085) and Bertilsson finished in fourth place ($3,910). The first prize of $9,171 went to Czech Republic's "BigNich09," who defeated "23noraB" in the final heads-up. Place Player County Prize 1 BigNich09 Czech Republic $9,171 2 23NoraB Austria $6,873 3 PuntSonPunt Czech Republic $5,214 4 Anton "anteen" Bertilsson Sweden $3,910 5 Madeon1994 Sweden $2,701 6 Apo "APOARSLAN" Arslan Sweden $2,085 7 SkallePer58 Sweden $1,611 8 Jimmy90511 Malta $1,137 9 Jaolito85 Brazil $829 XL Inferno #124 - $15,000 Swordfish Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $30 May 16 767 $21,092.50 Place Player County Prize 1 sosickPL Poland $3,870 2 aeon.nOOb Russia $2,763 3 buszmen88091 Poland $2,088 4 ZDamian Poland $1,571 5 fortunato2b Russia $1,096 6 StorValle Sweden $885 7 AKyki89 Czech Republic $674 8 LLDG11 United Kingdom $464 9 rafa.udi543 Brazil $274 XL Inferno #125 - $20,000 Monsoon Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 16 743 $37,150 Place Player County Prize 1 MWFTBG Sweden $6,817 2 MrGanjaman Czech Republic $4,866 3 cikipaujeje Lithuania $3,677 4 tocanopai Brazil $2,767 5 GramNaKartke Poland $1,931 6 PridvorD Ukraine $1,560 7 BTIPPPP Canada $1,188 8 hypoagrobot United Kingdom $817 9 Dziesma Cyprus $482 XL Inferno #128 - $50,000 Tuesday Challenge Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 16 730 $73,000 In the XL Inferno #128 - $50,000 Tuesday Challenge, Swedish player "Toobo16" snagged the title and secured the $10,374 prize. He defeated "PrdelXXl" in the deciding heads-up after the final three players made a deal. The runner-up received $9,536. "ofcourseobv" got $10,274 for third place. Place Player County Prize 1 Toobo16 Sweden $10,374 2 PrdelXXl Czech Republic $9,536 3 ofcourseobv Brazil $10,274 4 Zebest7r Canada $5,438 5 BigNich09 Czech Republic $3,796 6 IaMTheDaNGeR United Kingdom $3,066 7 OTwenty Netherlands $2,336 8 mrx122 United Kingdom $1,606 9 Viachello Estonia $949 XL Inferno #129 - $20,000 Tornado Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 16 211 $29,500 One of the bigger tournaments on Day 10 was the XL Inferno #129 - $20,000 Tornado. In this tournament, 211 players competed for a prize pool of $29,500. After several hours, Russia's "Jujin_EX" took the victory and received $6,342. Place Player County Prize 1 Jujin_EX Russia $6,342 2 joga_pra_cor Czech Republic $4,572 3 PuntSonPunt Czech Republic $3,466 4 Truchota Peru $2,581 5 ego_death United Kingdom $1,770 6 uR4iseM3Up Austria $1,475 7 gripsed Canada $1,180 8 DuduPa1986 Canada $885 9 Ti0373 Russia $590 XL Inferno #130 - $10,000 Turbo Chip-In Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 16 367 $22,700 Place Player County Prize 1 WowAceDude Sweden $4,051 2 Ipoo1 Sweden $3,539 3 MarianMera Romania $2,383 4 TeamShippo Netherlands $1,816 5 FernandoKoni Brazil $1,271 6 Clay_Born Sweden $964 7 lovesuiii China $737 8 Sinatra48 Lithuania $510 9 bubbleboybr Brazil $376 Sharelines Most of Day 10's attention went to the XL Inferno #126 - $5,200 XL Inferno Super High Roller Chip In. Four More Important Changes at the 2017 WSOP May 18 2017 Mo Nuwwarah For amateur and pro poker players alike, if they can travel to one poker series a year, it's generally going to be the World Series of Poker. Pro players plan their annual schedules around the WSOP; amateurs save up for their yearly Las Vegas binges and everyone has become used to things being done and set up a certain way at poker's biggest gathering. However, each year, there are small changes to the event as organisers strive to improve the WSOP, sometimes in response to player feedback and other times simply because they think they've spotted an inefficiency that can be corrected. Already, there have been some announced changes for 2017. For one, the November Nine has been banished to poker's history books, a nine-year experiment that's been shelved in favour of a two-day break and July finish for the Main Event. There's been a major change to the mechanics of calling a clock, with a new rule allowing tournament supervisors to institute countdowns with no player prompt and a shorter clock overall. Also, the coverage schedule has been revamped with Poker Central handling live stream duties. In addition to these changes, the WSOP has issued a press release outlining a number of less major tweaks for the 2017 Series. Below, we've listed a few of the more important ones that players and fans should know about before they step foot in the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino this summer. Amazon and Brasilia Switch Roles In years past, poker fans knew if they wanted to watch the big drama and the moments where the legends separated themselves from the merely great by claiming gold bracelets, they needed to head to the Amazon Room. That's where tournaments restarted from Day 2 and beyond, with the most prestigious final tables taking place on the "mothership" main stage, surrounded by friends, family and fans in the seats. Not so anymore. Now, Brasilia Room will be the destination of choice for those looking to sweat final table action. The ESPN set will be built there around the main featured table along with two "outer" featured tables, as in recent years. There will be 30 more tables set up in the room as well, presumably to cover other restarts. That means Day 1s need a new home, and that home will be the Amazon Room. There will be 180 tables set up in the Amazon Room to handle Day 1 action, with the most massive tournaments spilling over into the Pavilion. Speaking of the Pavilion... Pavilion to Host High Roller Lounge, General Rest Area ...there will be a couple of changes to the Rio's most sprawling ballroom. The jack-of-all trades room that has been the home for cash games, satellites and Daily Deepstack action in recent years will also serve as a place players can grab a seat and take a breather. King's Casino from the Czech Republic has stepped in as a sponsor for a high-stakes cash game lounge. Fifteen tables will be sectioned off in a designated area where players participating in high-stakes games can relax and enjoy "the Rozvadov high roller experience." King's Casino's own Leon Tsoukernik will be on hand, and he's been known to hop in high-stakes games himself and get his share of action. For those with less deep pockets, the stage area of the Pavilion will be turned into a general break area for players. Tables and chairs will be set up so they can eat and hang out while waiting on seats, tournaments or other developments. Player of the Year Changes One of the most prestigious awards in poker is the WSOP Player of the Year. It rewards a player who excelled throughout a long stretch of tournament poker that encompasses games ranging from limit hold'em to some of the wild stuff played in the dealer's choice tournaments. King's Casino again has a role in the changes here, as they'll be sponsoring the award for 2017. As part of King's Casino's new role as the host of WSOP Europe, they'll hand out a seat to 2017 WSOP Europe Main Event to the player accumulating the most points over the course of the 71 open events. Additionally, the method of determining a victor will change. Gone is the use of the Global Poker Index points formula, and in its place will be a "proprietary formula." More details will presumably emerge before the series starts. Daily Deepstacks New Home, New Schedule If the aforementioned lounge on the Pavilion's stage sounded an awful lot like the dining area of the poker kitchen, that's likely because it seems to be replacing it. There will still be food service booths in the Miranda Room, but no seating will be available. Instead, Miranda will now be home to the ultra-popular Daily Deepstacks series, which will award tens of thousands in prize money every day at affordable price points. Many players travel to the Rio with the goal of simply grinding the Daily Deepstacks day in and day out, and now they'll often be sitting among the 45 tables in the Miranda Room. Some large tournaments will also utilise the Miranda Room for spillover and restarts. The schedule has been adjusted. Whereas in 2016, the $365 Daily Deepstack took place at 9 p.m. and the $135 Daily Deepstack took place at 7 p.m., those will now be switched. The $365 will still feature "an accelerated format" in an attempt to get the tournament done at a reasonable time. Past Daily Deepstacks have been known to run well into the next morning in some cases. The WSOP did not make any announcements regarding the 2 p.m. $235 Daily Deepstack or the 5 p.m. $185 Daily Deepstack, so those will likely remain unaffected. Sharelines What's in store for players and fans at the 2017 WSOP? Find out. UK & Ireland Online Poker Rankings: Grafton Enters UK Top 10 May 18 2017 Matthew Pitt Editor There are two new names in the top 20 of the United Kingdoms online poker rankings, provided by our friends at PocketFives.com, although one of this new duo has featured in the spotlight previously. The player known as Deepincidurr debuts in 18th place in the UK and a career-high of 148th in the world. Hailing from Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent, Deepincidurr has almost $700,000 in online poker tournament winnings despite his largest cash weighing in at $14,071. What Deepincidurr is is consistent and that consistency has, rightly, seen him climb up the rankings. CrackedeI29 is the player returning to the UKs top 20. Thought to be one of the many UK-based Spaniards, CrackedeI29 has more than $1.37 million in winnings, including a recent $2,527 score for finishing seventh in the Big $109 at PokerStars. Conor 1_conor_b_1 Beresford still leads the UK rankings but should be overtaken once Patrick pleno1 Leonards impressive weekend results are added to his profile. Leonard, a partypoker ambassador, had been on fire over the past week and can brag of results such as: First place in the $215 PLO Heads-up SCOOP at PokerStars for $18,567 at PokerStars for $18,567 Fourth place in the $1,050 NLHE 8-Max SCOOP at PokerStars for $59,175 at PokerStars for $59,175 Sixth place in the $300K Super High Roller Powerfest at partypoker for $18,113 at partypoker for $18,113 Fourth place in the $500K Gtd Powerfest at partypoker for $47,748 Two other players who could improve their ranking next week are Ludovic ludovi333 Geilich and Kenny SpaceyFCB Hallaert. Geilich banked $31,6989 by finishing third in the $109 NLHE 8-Max SCOOP while Hallaert won a $1,050 NLHE 8-Max SCOOP for a huge $147,938. Sam TheSquid Grafton climbed several places on the back of his win in the $1,050 NLO8 SCOOP event which netted him $51,285. Grafton also helped himself to the $29,865 runner-up prize in the $100,000 Mini Chip-In XL Inferno tournament at 888poker, but that has not yet been added to his PocketFives points tally. UK Online Poker Rankings (May.18, 2017) UK Rank Player Points 1 Conor 1_conor_b_1 Beresford 6998.48 2 Patrick pleno1 Leonard 6766.20 3 Manu mbo90 Bardon 5642.11 4 Ludovic ludovi333 Geilich 5512.99 5 Kenny SpaceyFCB Hallaert 5350.56 6 Oscar MendaLerenda Serradell 5011.98 7 Scott Aggro Santos Margereson 4822.48 8 Sam TheSquid Grafton 4790.82 9 David davaman Lopez 4782.27 10 luckyfish89 4698.30 11 Chris moorman1 Moorman 4677.21 12 Vicente vicenfish Delgado 4656.97 13 Phil philroyal888 Mighall 4548.23 14 Richard Keldo Kellett 4365.94 15 Rick TheClaimer Trigg 4258.81 16 FouEnculePL 4232.90 17 que_te_crio 4219.86 18 Deepincidurr 4127.14 19 CrackdeI29 4091.05 20 Jamie EzGame89 OConnor 4043.46 Tomas Geleziunas Up to Fourth in Ireland The top three players in Ireland remain the same this week, with James Jaymo Noonan, Toby JobyToyce Joyce and Dan NukeTheFish! Wilson occupying those three spots, but Tomas luckymo32 Geleziunas has climbed a couple of spots to fourth place. Geleziunas puts in some ridiculous volume online and has been hitting final tables with an alarming regularity this past week. Geleziunas may be some way off a top three position in the Irish rankings, but if he continues in this vein of form, anything is possible. Cathal shinerrr Shine should improve his current position once the next update is complete thanks to banking $15,532 by finishing second in the 888poker $100,000 Sunday Challenge while Dara Doke OKearney could climb after his runner-up finish in the $30K Gtd Powerfest event at partypoker that won him $4,779. Lastly, a shout out to Andrew UlDuffer Sweeney who returned to the Irish top 20 after finishing second in the $1,050 PLO8 6-Max SCOOP, a finish worth a cool $49,113. Irish Online Poker Rankings Top 20 (May. 18, 2017) UK Rank Player Points 1 James Jaymo Noonan 5440.09 2 Toby Jobytoyce Joyce 5311.69 3 Dan NukeTheFish! Wilson 4464.92 4 Tomas luckymo32 Geleziunas 3880.98 5 Noogaii 3725.49 6 FoxyLisa 3583.31 7 Kevin SuitedAcesBaby Killeen 3509.26 8 Daniel danielt999 Tighe 3156.36 9 Sean monkeybudgie Prendiville 3116.23 10 Conor ccoonnoorr ODriscoll 3104.26 11 Cathal shinerrr Shine 3081.92 12 Dara Doke OKearney 3014.30 13 Dan DatWillDoPig Rankin 2929.08 14 Nicholas YerSoLucky Newport 2882.48 15 Daragh daragh999 Davey 2711.31 16 Gary relaxnspew McGinty 2699.98 17 Jason blaaaaaah666 Tompkins 2429.47 18 Andrew UlDuffer Sweeney 2390.56 19 Frank Denman98 Lillis 2287.90 20 rtspurs 2215.07 Because of their inspirational examples of successful careers, their commitment to service and their generosity to New Mexico State University, Kevin Johnson, chief executive officer of Starbucks, and Laree Estes Perez, former NMSU Regent, received honorary degrees at the NMSU commencement on , at the Pan American Center. Johnson attended NMSU from 1978 to 1981 and received his bachelor of arts degree in business administration with a major in business systems. During his time at NMSU, he found a passion for writing computer software, and he discovered an appreciation for mentorship. His passion for software and eventual degree led him into a career in technology, which included IBM, Microsoft, and serving as chief executive office of Juniper Networks. Johnson served on the National Security Telecommunication Advisory Committee under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Johnsons journey led him to Starbucks, which he joined in 2009 as a member of its board of directors. In March 2015 he became president and chief operating officer and assumed the role of CEO in April of this year. Through the years, Johnson and his wife, June also an NMSU graduate have generously supported NMSUs Arrowhead Center and the College of Business Information Systems mentorship program. It was at New Mexico State where I discovered a passion for technology and business, which became my career, Johnson said. My experience at NMSU also taught me the importance of helping others, which June and I have carried forward throughout our lives. I am honored to return to the campus and receive this recognition from NMSU. His commitment to innovation and his ability to follow his heart extend beyond the world of business. Johnson was a founding board member of NPower, an organization that provides nonprofits with access to technology and the skills needed to fulfill their social missions. He is involved with Catalyst, a leading nonprofit focused on expanding opportunities for women in business. The Johnson family also supports Youth Eastside Services, one of the largest providers of youth and family counseling in the Seattle area. The Johnsons are not the only people who have recently shown an enormous amount of generosity to NMSU. Former NMSU Regent Laree Estes Perez has named the NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences including the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management in her estate for the purpose of establishing scholarships. I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for the honor, Perez said. Its certainly the greatest honor that Ive ever received. NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers said both recipients bring generosity and successful business backgrounds to the university. Both of our honorary degree recipients have had distinguished careers, Carruthers said. Among the things that stand out to me, in addition to their prowess in business, is how generous they have been to NMSU. They have donated their time, their efforts and monetary resources to benefit our students. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Perezs deep respect for NMSU stems from the history of family members attending the university and from the universitys important role in agriculture. In 1991, New Mexico Governor Bruce King appointed Perez to the NMSU Board of Regents, on which she served for six years. She was president of the board from 1994 to 1996. The combination of her business background, ties to the agricultural industry and history of working on her family ranch made her an ideal candidate for the board of regents. Although she did not attend NMSU as a student, Perez recalls being surrounded by exceptional faculty, students and staff during her tenure on the board. As a regent, she recognized the importance of the universitys Cooperative Extension Service, as well as the vital depth and width of influence NMSU had throughout the entire state of New Mexico. Perez received a bachelors degree of business administration in finance and economics from Baylor University. Following graduation, she was very generous of her time in New Mexico, serving on numerous civic boards and committees. She also served on the Baylor University Board of Regents for nine years. In 1996, Perez sold her Albuquerque-based Medallion Investment Management Company to Loomis, Sayles & Company, one of the largest companies in the United States. She joined the Michigan-based investment advisory company DeRoy and Devereaux, where she has been vice president since 2002. Perez has helped that business grow to over $1.1 billion in assets. She has served on the boards of several major public companies, including United New Mexico Bank, the bank purchased by Norwest Bank and eventually acquired by Wells Fargo. She was a board member for the RRI Energy/GenOn Energy, one of the largest utility companies in the United States. She currently serves on the Martin Marietta Materials Inc. Board of Directors in Raleigh, North Carolina, as the ethics, environmental, health and safety committee chair. My financial education, broad experience, geographic location and being a Hispanic female have all contributed to my board achievements, Perez said. There is no question that her ties to New Mexico are strong, and her roots in the state run deep. Her grandparents came to the state as ranchers in the early 1920s when they primarily herded sheep, and up until recently, she owned and operated a part of the family ranch near the small town of Yeso. She recalls New Mexico State being what you relied on if you were a rancher or in the agricultural business in any way. She launched her career in New Mexico, and her family and many of her clients still live in the state. Although she resides in Arizona, Perez visits New Mexico often. She considers herself just as much an Aggie as anyone who attended or worked for the university would. When my term ended as a regent, I had a great love for the university and for what we do there, she said. Secretly, Ive always wanted to officially be an Aggie, and this is my chance. Supporting NMSU with a generous gift just seemed like the natural thing to do for Perez. New Mexico State University is like the salt of the earth, she said. To me, thats one of the greatest compliments you can give a person, because it means theyre just what matters to make the world better, to make life better. And that reminds me of the university, because its heritage and its legacy are based on the earth and what lives off the earth. Albuquerque police are searching for a man accused of stabbing and killing his ex-girlfriend at her home earlier this month. Officer Fred Duran said Hector Gamboa, 59, is wanted on charges of murder, tampering with evidence and bribery/intimidation of a witness for allegedly killing Blanca Renova, 54. A confidential informant told police Gamboa confessed to stabbing Renova as she was getting out of the shower. Gamboa threatened the informant with a knife afterwards. Duran said Gamboa is on the loose and APD is asking for the publics help. We ask that no one try and apprehend Gamboa and immediately call police, Duran said. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Renova was found at her home near Central and Wyoming on May 5 by her daughter Nancy Vizcarra and Nancys 4-year-old son. What started out as a suspicious death investigation soon became a homicide investigation. Investigators on scene said Renova had been stabbed repeatedly and there was blood throughout the home. Nancy Vizcarra told officers she found Gamboas cell phone in the house as well. Although APD released the information today, another of Renovas daughters, Linda Vizcarra, said she has believed since the day her mother died that Gamboa did it. I knew, inside of me, that it was him, Vizcarra said, when her mother was found with her throat slit nearly two weeks ago. Gamboa had already put a knife to Renovas throat back in March, she said. She called me crying and scared to death, Vizcarra said. Renova filed a restraining order on March 15. In the order Renova wrote that Gamboa became more aggressive in the six months before the restraining order was filed, using a knife in at least one instance. He made threats in the past that if I reported incidents to police he would kill me when he got released, Renova wrote. She wrote in the order that Gamboa had recently stolen her house keys. Im concerned for my life and my safety is at risk, Renova wrote. Renova had a court date on May 3, Vizcarra said. She never made it. Knowing that he just killed my mom and now hes on the loose, she said. Its just awful. The family has been sharing Gamboas photo on Facebook since Renovas death. We think hes in Mexico already, hiding, ?she said. He had all the time in the world. Vizcarra said her mother had been with Gamboa on and off for over a year, but Linda Vizcarra said she had never met him. She would leave him and then come back, she said. She would say hes going to change.' Vizcarra said her mother would show up with bruises, and then lie about where they came from. I said to her Mom, just leave him, just go away if you dont feel secure,' she said. Dont stay there. Gamboa had two prior arrests for domestic abuse one against a family member and another against a woman who was his girlfriend at the time. Vizcarra said she only hopes Gamboa is brought to justice. I dont think he deserves anything from me not even a word, she said. I hope God makes him pay for what he did to my mom. MOSCOW Vladimir Putin rushed Wednesday to defend U.S. President Donald Trump from criticism over sharing classified information with Moscow, issuing a strongly worded statement that reflected the degree of the Russian leaders frustration with the Washington infighting that has thwarted Kremlin hopes for a detente. Trumps decision to divulge classified intelligence with Russian diplomats marked a step toward Putins long-held goal of forging an alliance with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. Putin has pushed for anti-terror cooperation for years, arguing that the fight against the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations would only succeed if Moscow and Washington combined their efforts. In his view, such a partnership could provide further benefits by defusing tensions between Russia and the West and eventually leading to the lifting of sanctions the U.S. and the European Union imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine. The Kremlins expectation that Trump and Putin would meet soon after Trump took office have withered amid congressional and FBI investigations of the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Putin still hopes to meet his American counterpart on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Germany in early July. However, the Russian leader revealed his growing impatience Wednesday with a stinging attack on Trumps critics. While the Kremlin initially refrained from comment about the intelligence controversy, Putin finally dropped decorum and lashed out at Trumps detractors in decidedly undiplomatic language. Im surprised to see them upsetting the domestic political situation in the United States under anti-Russian slogans, he said. These people either dont understand that they are hurting their own country, and in that case they are just dumb. Or they do understand everything, and that means that they are dangerous and unscrupulous. Trump has been put on the defensive for sharing classified information with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador during a White House meeting last week. The presidents critics say the disclosure could compromise the source of the intelligence provided by a U.S. ally and make other nations wary about sharing sensitive information with the United States. Trump tweeted Tuesday that as president he had an absolute right to share with Russia facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety, adding that he did it for humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism. For the Kremlin, Trumps conversation with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was a welcome indication of his willingness to pool efforts with Russia in the fight against the Islamic State. U.S. President Barack Obamas administration shunned such cooperation, citing the Kremlins efforts to shore up Syrian President Bashar Assad. Trumps gesture was particularly important for Moscow given the spike in tensions following the U.S. missile strike in April on a Syrian air force base that Washington said was a staging point for a chemical attack. Moscow has insisted that the Syrian government was not involved in the chemical attack, a claim dismissed by Washington and its allies. Putin said he was pleased by the results of Lavrovs meeting with Trump, but demonstrated his irritation with what he described as anti-Russian political schizophrenia spreading in the U.S. We initially watched the evolving political struggle with amusement, but today it makes us feel sad and causes concern, he said. He added that its up to the American people to judge President Trumps actions, and obviously it can only be done when hes allowed to work at full capacity. On a sarcastic note, Putin said he issued Lavrov a reprimand for failing to share the classified information he had received from Trump with him and the Russian intelligence agencies. Its very bad of him, Putin said following talks with visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as Lavrov and other Russian officials present exchanged smiles and laughed. Putin went on to say that Russia was ready to provide the notes taken at Trumps meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak to Congress, if the White House approves. Top Russian lawmakers also have vented frustration and anger over the latest commotion over Trumps relationship with Russia. Konstantin Kosachev, who leads the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russias parliament, denounced what he described as a perverted attitude to Trump sharing classified data. Imagine for a second that we in Russia criticize our president for warning you Americans of a looming threat, Kosachev wrote on Facebook. Dont you feel sick of or scared with such American values?' Fyodor Lukyanov, who chairs the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, an association of top political and security experts in Russia, said Putins comments suggest the Kremlin was increasingly losing hope for normalized ties with Washington. No one expected that political infighting could reach such a pitch, Lukyanov said. If Trumps meeting with Lavrov has caused such fallout, one can only wonder what his meeting with Putin would entail. Hours after a nuclear engineer with the U.S. Air Force shot and killed a motorcyclist at a West Side carwash last March, he told detectives the shooting was in self-defense. The detectives told James Morales, 49, they would continue to investigate and turn over the case to the District Attorneys Office to decide if he will face charges, according to a police report released to the Journal Wednesday. No charges have been filed against him. Michael Patrick, a DA spokesman, said attorneys received a large chunk of the case a couple of weeks ago, but are still waiting for ballistic, autopsy and other reports Were still getting information on it, Patrick said. There are still more tests that need to be completed. When reached by the Journal, Ryan Villa, Morales attorney, reiterated that the shooting was done in self-defense. Roybal attacked him without any provocation, Villa said. Roybal was armed with a knife and a gun. Shortly before 6 p.m. on March 26, Earl Roybal, 59, and his girlfriend, Libby Miller, were at the Hose It carwash on Coors near Quail NW cleaning Roybals Harley-Davidson before going on a ride. Thats when Morales pulled up behind them in his blue Chrysler and asked when Roybal would be finished with the carwash bay, according to the police report. Roybal said they were almost done and Morales mumbled something and went back to his car, Miller told detectives later. Then the two men got into an argument. I couldnt hear him because they were pretty close and he went like that and pushed Earl, Miller said. Earl pushed him back and he went back to punch and when he went back, the guy pulled out a gun. Earl stepped back, had his hand out, and goes Bro, everybody has a gun. Then, she said, Morales shot Roybal three times hitting him in the left chest, the upper abdomen and his left forearm. Roybal was also carrying a gun, but when officers arrived it was in the holster, according to the reports. Witnesses told detectives Roybal had not drawn his weapon and was backing away with his hands up when he was shot. And grainy surveillance footage from the carwash shows Morales bringing his hand back and drawing his gun as Roybal backed away with his right hand stretched out in front of him, according to the reports. Roybal was taken to the hospital, where he died. Morales called police and stayed on the scene to be interviewed. I got clobbered in the face, he told detectives. I saw his gun. I was shocked. Police said his face was swollen and he had a laceration on his chin. According to the report, Morales had a concealed carry permit and no convictions, and Roybal did not have a concealed carry permit and also had no convictions. Dear Vice President Pence, I hope youre holding up under the strain. I hope you dont mind me writing to you like this, but as one of those conservatives who was somewhat reassured by Donald Trumps decision to put you on the ticket, I feel compelled to ask: Whats the endgame here? Retired Gen. Michael Flynn, the presidents first national security adviser, was reportedly fired for misleading you about his conversations with the Russians. But last week, you were apparently misled about the presidents reasons for firing the FBI director. Four times you said James Comey was terminated on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general, who criticized how Comey handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation during last years campaign. Then the president told NBCs Lester Holt that the recommendation had nothing to do with it. It was all about the Russia investigation. Maybe you werent misled. Maybe you were part of the deception. But Id like to think thats not the case. Either way, is this really what you had in mind when you took the job? I wouldnt dare appeal to you as a man of devout Christian faith; thats not my job. (Its also particularly awkward for a guy named Goldberg.) Nor do I see much point in blathering on about patriotism. I know youre a patriot with an abiding love for your country. So lets talk about your ambition. Ambition is not necessarily a dirty word. The founders thought that ambition more than almost anything else would preserve our system of checks and balances and safeguard our liberty. I have to assume you accepted your position at least partly for the same reason many of your predecessors did: to get you closer to the top job. The best way for you to be elected president is for Trump to have a successful presidency while maintaining your own credibility as a successor. Thats easier said than done. Theres a reason only two VPs (Martin Van Buren and George H.W. Bush) have been elected straight to the Oval Office since the passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804. You need the 2024 election to be a referendum on the Trump presidency, with a majority of voters wanting to stay the course. Its early yet, but may I ask: Hows that going? Im not privy to whats happening behind the scenes, but from where Im sitting, it doesnt look like its going too well. The Comey fiasco doesnt help the president, and your apparent willingness to abet his misbehavior doesnt help you. The latest firestorm over allegations the president revealed classified information to the Russians is still raging and many questions remain, but the controversy certainly underscores concerns about the presidents ad hoc approach to the job. I understand that the vice presidency is an awkward position under the best of circumstances. Its a bit like the Newark Airport of constitutional offices, mostly famous for the bad things people say about it. John Nance Garner, Franklin D. Roosevelts first vice president, said it wasnt worth a warm bucket of, well, historians debate which bodily byproduct he mentioned. Harry S. Truman, FDRs third vice president, said the office was about as useful as a cows fifth teat. If that was once true, it isnt any longer. As you like to say, Trump threw away the old playbook. You have a role to play beyond acting like a campaign flunky, praising the president at every turn as a man of action displaying his broad-shouldered leadership. Theres room to do more on your own shoulders. Much of the presidents power is derived from what Teddy Roosevelt called the bully pulpit, or what legendary political scientist Richard Neustadt called the power to persuade. In todays media landscape, you have an especially potent bully pulpit, because youre the one person the president cannot fire. I dont think you should resign in response to the president hanging you out to dry in the Comey affair, but threatening to do so if he plays you for a patsy again might just might help the president get his act together, which would be good for you, the party and the country. You are also the tiebreaker in the Senate, which means something given the GOPs precariously thin majority. The president claims to value loyalty, but we know he respects strength. For your sake and the country, maybe its time to show some. Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. E-mail goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, Twitter @JonahNRO. Copyright, Tribune Media Services Inc. WASHINGTON Im often asked if I think President Trump will make it through all four years of his term. My stock reply: The better question is whether we will survive the next four years. It wouldnt surprise me at all if he does make it to 2020 without impeachment, or the 25th Amendment, blocking his path. Trump has a long history of walking out of disasters unscathed. Its those around him the Sean Spicers of the world who are destroyed. Alas, poor Spicer! I knew him well. He was one of the top Republican flacks in town, affable and quick-witted, always happy to dish with reporters off the record. I liked him. I still like him or at least that Spicer I knew before he answered Donald Trumps call. The Spicer who strode into the White House briefing room Monday afternoon I did not recognize. He scanned the room, unsmiling. He furtively checked his watch. He recited a long opening statement carefully and flatly, as if reading from a science textbook. And he had absolutely nothing to say. President Trumps hint that he taped conversations with Jim Comey? I was very clear that the president would have nothing further on that last week. The Russia probe generally? The presidents positions been very clear. And everything else: I think Ive made it very clear. He made it very clear. Its been made very clear. Spicer was studiously dour and clearly wasnt enjoying himself. He was puffy, pinched and pale. And little wonder: Trump has sucked the lifeblood out of him. The president turned him into a national punchline on his first day on the job, forcing him to provide alternative facts about the inauguration. On Friday morning, Trump confirmed for the world what was widely suspected: Spicer doesnt really know whats going on. As a very active president with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy! Trump proclaimed. The next day, Saturday Night Live did its latest sendup of the hapless spokesman. This time Melissa McCarthys Spicer hid in the bushes, attacked reporters and rode his motorized podium in search of Trump, vainly seeking assurance that he hadnt been lied to. Alec Baldwins Trump tried to grope and kiss McCarthys Spicer. Is this like The Godfather when you kiss me and no one ever sees me again? the Spicer character asked. Yes, the Trump character answered. Its a matter of time until life imitates sketch. Washington is abuzz with speculation about when Spicer will be shown the door, but it doesnt really matter. His credibility, and his dignity, have already been defenestrated. He will soon be added to the heap of unhappy people who cast their lots with Trump and were repaid with misery. Trump entities have filed for bankruptcy protection six times. Investors, lenders and workers took hits and Trump moved on. Trump was caught on tape boasting to Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women and Billy Bush lost his job. Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort poured themselves into Trumps campaign and were unceremoniously dumped. The carnage has increased since Trump came to Washington. National security adviser Michael Flynn is out and potentially in legal trouble. The FBIs Comey arguably handed Trump the election and learned of his dismissal from TV. As my Washington Post colleague Abby Phillip documented, Vice President Pence has been unflagging in his loyalty, only to be made the public face of official narratives that turn out to be misleading or false. Trump humiliated Steve Bannon by publicly downplaying their association. Trump repaid House Speaker Paul Ryans loyalty by winking at calls for Ryans ouster. Attempts to defend Trump by aides Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have left them sounding clownish. Trump takes what he can from each of his aides and allies and then moves on. It would seem that time is near for Spicer, who started Mondays briefing 45 minutes late and, in the minutes that followed, avoided answering questions by saying no fewer than 22 times how very clear he or Trump had been about this or that. At the end of the lifeless performance by the beleaguered spokesman, what was clear is this: His utility to Trump has diminished. And, as many a Trump loyalist has discovered, you are useful to Trump until you are not and then you are cast aside. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank. E-mail: danamilbank@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group. SANTA CRUZ, Calif. The third suspect arrested in a Northern California child abuse case involving a brain surgeon and a nurse has been identified as a 29-year-old Arizona nurse. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2rt4phV) court documents show Emily Joy Stephens was arrested May 12 in Tucson, Arizona on six felony child sex abuse charges involving three children under the age of 10 and three children under 14. Stephens is accused along with Dr. James Kohut, who was arrested Sunday at his home in Santa Cruz, and nurse Rashel Brandon, arrested May 9 in nearby Watsonville. Court documents show the child abuse happened on May 9, 2017. Stephens, who works as a nurse in Pima County, Arizona, and Brandon also face charges for allegedly capturing the abuse on video. Many peculiarities found in the Land of Enchantment can still be considered remnants of the Wild West. One of them is the law. And the evolution of law in these parts is behind the new documentary Taming New Mexico. The film will premiere at 7 tonight on KNME channel 5.1 and then be rebroadcast at 6 p.m. May 21, on channel 9.1. It may play nationally on PBS stations in July. The hourlong program explores the history, issues and human drama that shaped New Mexicos federal judicial system. Executive producer Michael Kamins says the documentary shows how New Mexico transitioned from the Spanish-American rule of law, through the Territorial period to statehood. And it ends with todays legal system. Kamins serves as executive producer and worked with filmmaker Anthony DellaFlora to produce the segment. The most difficult part was going through 300 years of the system, Kamins says. Choosing which stories to tell was very important. Anthony wrote the script and did all the footwork. Then we decided what to look at for the film. The story goes as far back as Dona Teresa de Aguilera y Roche, as she confronted the Spanish Inquisition in the 17th century. Dona Teresa was a privileged, educated, tenacious and outspoken woman who was not afraid to voice her complaints about living in what she considered a hardship outpost in dusty Santa Fe. In the mid-1600s, those complaints, combined with her misunderstood ways and the hardball politics of the day that pitted state against church, brought her under the scrutiny of the Spanish Inquisition, whose reach crossed an ocean into the Americas. Her misfortune came in part from the fact that she was married to Bernardo Lopez de Mendizabal, governor in Santa Fe from 1659 to 1661. The pair were imprisoned in Mexico City on various charges, including that they were crypto-Jews. She fought to prove their innocence, even after her husbands death. Her story is amazing, Kamins says. It really shows the viewers a different time. Another spotlighted case is Wen Ho Lee, who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In December 1999, the scientist was indicted on charges of stealing secrets about the U.S. nuclear arsenal for China. Federal investigators were unable to prove the accusations, and Lee pleaded guilty to improper handling of restricted data. Kamins and DellaFlora enlisted the help of University of New Mexico history professor Paul Hutton. He was involved from the very beginning of the project and wanted to be in the conversation of explaining why the courts in New Mexico are unique. The issues are different from other parts of the country, Hutton says. And in the federal courts, there are a wide range of issues that judges have to deal with. I came away with a renewed respect for what they do. Kamins says, New Mexico is probably one of the most diverse places to practice law. Practicing law in the state means that judges must know water and land laws, immigration laws and Native laws. Hutton says that courts and judges get a bad rap in todays society. Weve seen a lot of that recently, Hutton says. We wanted to show how difficult it is to be a judge in New Mexico. We wanted to put it into context that an audience would understand. Truth is, outside of the courtroom, the average person doesnt know the intricacies of the court system. To do so, the team got access to federal judges, state historians, civil rights attorneys and law professors. Hutton says it was extremely important to have access to these people. Each one was able to tell their story, he says. With the federal judges, the viewer gets an opportunity to see exactly what goes on in the courts. I think the documentary is well done and informative. Taming New Mexico is narrated by legendary journalist Sam Donaldson. Sam was the perfect choice for narrator, Kamins says. He understands what its about and what we were trying to convey. And hes interested in New Mexico history. DellaFlora says, After watching, youll have a much better understanding of why New Mexico is the way it is today. Establishing law and order here has never been an easy task. UpFront is a regular Journal news and opinion column. Comment directly to Journal Arts editor Adrian Gomez at agomez@abqjournal.com. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor. We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com. Featured in Taming New Mexico Retired U.S. District Judge Bruce Black Sr. U.S. District Judge James Parker Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo U.S. District Judge James Browning U.S. District Judge Robert Brack Robert Torrez, former New Mexico state historian Rick Hendricks, New Mexico state historian Maureen Sanders, civil rights attorney Phil Davis, civil rights attorney Kevin Washburn, UNM law professor Mark Lee Gardner, author, To Hell On a Fast Horse Frances Levine, author of Dona Teresa Confronts the Spanish Inquisition: A Seventeenth Century New Mexico Drama SANTA FE A recent bump in New Mexico gross receipts tax collections has eased some legislators concerns about a short-term budget crisis, but Gov. Susana Martinezs administration says its too early to tell if the state has emerged from a revenue downturn. With a special session on tap for next week, Senate Finance Committee Vice Chairman Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, said the revenue uptick could allow lawmakers to more easily balance next years budget. Were not out of the woods, but were not in as difficult of a situation as we were in January, Cisneros told the Journal. The concern of a shortfall (for this year) is alleviated and were now trying to make sure we dont find ourselves with a shortfall (next year). Preliminary data compiled by the Legislative Finance Committee and shared this week with lawmakers shows general fund revenue levels were roughly $110 million higher than projected through March. Gross receipts tax collections drove the better-than-expected revenue picture, with GRT receipts more than $40 million above estimated levels, according to the LFC. Martinez, the states two-term Republican governor, has criticized the Democratic-controlled Legislature for not doing more to shore up this years budget and relying on tax and fee increases which she vetoed to help pay for state government operations in the coming year. Due to concern over declining cash flows, Martinez last month directed cabinet secretaries in her administration to come up with employee furlough plans. While the improved revenue picture and cost-savings generated by a state hiring freeze appear to make furloughs unlikely before the new budget year starts July 1, Martinez administration officials have not yet confirmed they will be avoided. It continues to be something were keeping on the table because were not sure what the Legislature is going to do in the special session, Martinez deputy chief of staff Nick Piatek said Wednesday. A labor union official said earlier this week his union has received no response since asking State Personnel Director Justin Najaka last month to provide justification for furloughs, which havent been used as a cost-saving tool in the state since 2010. Its been radio silence since that point, said Miles Conway, communications director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union in New Mexico. He also said AFSCME has a very aggressive defense prepared in case the Martinez administration does move forward with a furlough plan. The city of Albuquerques chief administrative officer says he thinks a simple legislative fix is all thats needed to ensure that the current $2.4 million in longevity pay for veteran Albuquerque police officers can continue past June 30, regardless of revenue projections. In an email sent to Police Chief Gorden Eden on Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Perry said he doesnt believe the existing longevity program is in jeopardy, and he asked Eden to relay that message to officers. At the existing time, we see no reason why this funding will not be available for the current longevity program and it was also included in the Mayors original budget, Perry wrote. At issue is the 2017-2018 budget approved by the City Council this week. The budget boosts longevity pay for veteran officers from $2.4 million to $4 million. But councilors also approved an amendment that places the entire $4 million into a reserve fund with payments to officers contingent on the city meeting revenue forecasts. Perry, in his email, states that a legislative fix to keep the appropriation in place for the existing longevity program should be easily achievable. The fix sought by the administration involves legislation to pull the $2.4 million out of the reserve fund, and allocation of that funding for the longevity program. City Councilor Pat Davis, who sponsored the contingency amendment, said he still doesnt believe that the contingency amendment will require the city to stop paying officers longevity stipends because those have already been negotiated. APD officers with eight or more years of seniority began receiving longevity stipends in July 2016 under an agreement the city negotiated with the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, the officers bargaining unit. That contract expires at the end of June, but the mayors budget had rolled the $2.4 million longevity pay into next years budget with the intention of continuing those payments. TULSA, Okla. A jury on Wednesday acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who says she fired out of fear last year when she killed an unarmed black man with his hands held above his head. The family of Terence Crutcher burst into tears and expressed outrage after jurors found Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16 shooting. About 100 demonstrators later gathered outside the courthouse and some briefly blocked a main street. Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder, Crutchers father, Rev. Joey Crutcher, said after the verdict was announced. A lawyer for Shelby said the officer was elated that the jury found her not guilty. Shes ready to get back to her life, Defense Attorney Shannon McMurray said. Shelby looked stone-faced when the verdict was read, but Crutchers family was quickly ushered out of the courtroom sobbing and wailing. At least four of the 12 jurors were crying as they left the courtroom and they did not look at either the family of Crutcher or Shelby. The jury comprised eight women and four men and included three African-Americans. Shelby testified that she fired her weapon out of fear because she said Crutcher didnt obey her commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Crutcher was unarmed. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted. They noted Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasnt combative part of which was confirmed by police video taken from a dashboard camera and helicopter that showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby, hands held above his head. Shelbys attorneys argued that in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground. Shelby also said she feared Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic known as Angel Dust that makes users erratic, unpredictable and combative. An autopsy showed PCP was in Crutchers system, and police said they found a vial of it in his SUV. Crutchers family said police attempted to demonize Crutcher over the drug possession to deflect attention from the fact officers didnt find a gun inside his SUV. The killing of 40-year-old Crutcher was among a spate of officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. About 100 demonstrators gathered in a plaza outside the courthouse Wednesday evening to protest the verdict. They chanted: No Justice, No Peace. No Racist Police. A smaller group later briefly blocked a major downtown road but dispersed peacefully. Police kept a relatively low profile, standing about a block away. Marq Lewis, organizer of the local civil rights group We The People Oklahoma said the verdict was a blow to Tulsas black community. When is it going to stop just officer-related shootings? When will the police change policy? he asked. Tulsa has a long history of troubled race relations dating back to a 1921 race riot that left about 300 black residents dead. In 2015, a poorly-trained white voluntary deputy, Robert Bates, shot and killed a black man after Bates said he mistakenly reached for his gun rather than a taser. The shooting led to the departure of the sheriff. Six days after the Crutcher shooting, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Shelby. An affidavit accused her of becoming emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted. Defense attorney McMurray argued that prosecutors rushed to charge Shelby for political reasons, fearing civil unrest like the angry street protests that erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott four days after Crutcher was killed. But the reaction in Tulsa was more muted, with protests but no violence. LAS VEGAS, N.M. Three zoos across the United States will be getting endangered boreal toads raised by students at New Mexico Highlands University as part of a nationwide effort to preserve the species. School officials say the Detroit Zoos National Amphibian Conservation Center, the Denver Zoo in Colorado and the Staten Island Zoo in New York are accepting the live toads. The amphibians were raised from eggs in a biology lab at the northern New Mexico school. Highlands biology professor Sarah Corey-Rivas says the toads are essential to mountain ecosystems and provide nourishment to other species. She says losing the toads makes it harder for ecosystems to recover from disturbances such as drought. Corey-Rivas says the decline in boreal toads and other amphibians in North America is due to the chytrid fungal disease. BEIRUT The Latest Syria developments (all times local): 8:15 p.m. U.S. officials say an American airstrike has hit pro-Syrian government forces in southern Syria as they were setting up fighting positions in a protected area. The officials say the strike near Tanf hit a tank and a bulldozer and forces there, but it was not clear if they were Syrian army troops or other pro-government allies. One official says the pro-regime forces had entered a so-called de-confliction zone without authorization and were perceived as a threat to U.S.-allied troops there. The officials say the strike was a defensive move to protect the U.S. allies. It wasnt clear if U.S. forces were there. The officials werent authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. BEIRUT The Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages in central Syria on Thursday, capturing at least one of them in violence that left 52 people dead including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were beheaded, as well as Syrian troops, state media, medical officials and an opposition monitoring group said. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam, raising fears the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The villages are located near the town of Salamiyeh and the highway that links the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, but state media said traffic was not affected. The attacks come as government forces are on the offensive against the extremists in other parts of Syria, mostly in the northern province of Aleppo and the central Homs region and to the east. U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces are meanwhile marching toward the extremists de-facto capital of Raqqa, in northern Syria. State news agency SANA said militants were able to storm homes in the southern part of the Aqareb al-Safi village, adding that government forces repelled them, pushing them back toward the desert. The head of the National Hospital in Salamiyeh, Dr. Noufal Safar, said the hospital received 52 bodies, including 11 women and 17 children. He said some of them were beheaded and others had their limbs amputated. They were brought with all forms of deformations but most of them appear to have died as a result of gunfire, Safar told The Associated Press by telephone. He added that most of the dead and wounded were brought by ambulances. Safar quoted some of the wounded people as saying the extremists began storming homes and beheading women inside. Rami Razzouk, a coroner at the hospital who inspected the bodies, said the children brought in were mostly dismembered, while most of the men died from shelling or heavy machine gun fire. He said at least nine children were beaten with heavy objects such as bricks or stones on their heads or necks. Razzouk said there were a couple of children whose heads were fully dismembered because of the beating. Two of the children had most of their limbs removed so they had to be carried in blankets and two men were shot in the eye, he said. He said 120 people were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 52 people were killed in the fighting, with the dead including 15 civilians, 27 Syrian soldiers and 10 unidentified people. SANA said 40 people were wounded. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the group captured Aqareb al-Safi and Mabouja. It identified residents as members of President Bashar Assads Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam. The Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death. IS has massacred thousands of Shiites and other opponents in Syria and Iraq, often boasting about the killings and circulating photos and videos of them online. Aamaq claimed that 100 Syrian troops and pro-government gunmen were killed in the fighting. Dozens of people are missing but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh, said the Observatorys chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said IS deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi. State TV said two people were wounded in IS shelling in Salamiyeh. Also on Thursday, SANA reported that Assad met with Iraqs national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad to discuss steps to improve coordination between their countries militaries in the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border. ____ Associated Press writer Hashem Osseiran in Beirut contributed to this report. MERIDIAN, Miss. Call them the unrecovered a handful of states where job markets, nine years later, are still struggling back to where they were before the recession. Thats true in Mississippi, where job numbers and the overall size of the economy remain below 2008 levels. Unlike states that have long since sprinted ahead, Mississippi is struggling with slow economic growth and slipping population in a place thats rarely at peak economic health. The same is true for New Mexico, where the unemployment rate has been the nations worst for several months, and job growth has slowed to a crawl. Miguel Brown of Meridian, Miss. is working on oil rigs off the shore of Texas, chasing higher wages. Its rough, said the 49-year-old Brown. Theres not a whole lot of jobs in Meridian, especially that pay anything. Not only Mississippi and New Mexico, but also Alabama, Michigan and West Virginia are still short of pre-recession job levels by multiple measures. That contrasts with states including Colorado, North Dakota, Texas and Utah, where employment numbers have soared. Nationwide, job numbers surpassed pre-recession peaks in the middle of 2014, about the same time Mississippi was saddled with the nations highest unemployment rate. Now, its New Mexico with the highest unemployment rate 6.7 percent as of March, with April figures to be released today. Yet for years, the state had seen unemployment and job growth rates that were better than, or at least equal to, the nations as a whole. State leaders say New Mexico must diversify its economy so it is less dependent on the oil and gas industry and on government jobs, while economists add that the recession has brought lasting structural changes with which the state is struggling. Emilia Istrate, who produces a yearly report on how local economies are faring for the National Association of Counties, said the recovery has been widespread but uneven. It explains why so many Americans dont feel the national economic numbers. Its because they live in one of these places that is still in recovery or struggling, Istrate said. Growth has long lagged in Mississippi, and jobless rates are high even in good times. The unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in March, the lowest since the U.S. Labor Department began the current system of measurement in 1976. But at the same time that the Magnolia States unemployment rate was at a record low, it tied for the ninth highest among the states. Mississippi suffers from a cluster of ills that make it an economic laggard. Only 53 percent of Mississippi adults were working in 2016, the second lowest share of any state. Mississippis economy depends on slow-growth sectors, including government employment. While nearly 30 percent of Americans older than 25 have a bachelors degree or higher, only 21 percent of Mississippians do. The overall size of Mississippis economy was smaller in 2016 than it was in 2008, and people are beginning to vote with their feet: the states population has fallen in the last two years. I think the population is falling because of the economy, said state economist Darrin Webb. People have had to go where the jobs are. PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and convened his Cabinet for the first time Thursday all under a growing cloud of concern that his office is trying to control the press. The government, appointed Wednesday, is a carefully calibrated balance of 22 prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right, half of them women. They arrived for their first meeting Thursday with smiles, posing for photographs on the front porch of the presidential Elysee Palace. After the meeting, Macron talked by phone with Putin about possible cooperation on international issues, including the fight against terrorism. The Kremlin said in a statement that the two voiced readiness to develop traditionally friendly economic, political and cultural ties. Macron held a defense council including the defense minister and the military chiefs to focus on security issues. The country remains under a state of emergency, and under threat from Islamic extremists, since deadly November 2015 attacks. During the Cabinet meeting, Macron called on his ministers to have the necessary discipline and solidarity despite their sometimes stark political differences, government spokesman Christophe Castaner said. In keeping with Macrons independent centrist line and goal of reshaping French politics, his ministers include both Socialists and conservatives. Castaner, a Socialist who joined Macrons movement last year, said our political background will not prevent us to work smartly for France. Meanwhile, tensions have arisen over Macrons policies toward media access, recalling similar conflicts over coverage of Donald Trumps presidency in the U.S. Some French political reporters said that Macrons office called their media organization to designate specific journalists who will be able to cover Macrons first trip outside Europe, scheduled in Mali on Friday. In the past, French media would decide themselves who to send on presidential trips. Castaner answered that he wasnt aware of this specific issue but tried to reassure reporters, explaining theres a need to limit the number of journalists during certain visits. As youve seen during the campaign, the presence of 50 journalists and a dozen (television) cameras can affect direct dialogue and discussions that the president has with the French, he said. Its not about controlling. Its not about imposing anything. Castaner said he and the president are committed to letting journalists do their jobs. Im taking note of your concerns and I will pass them on, he said. Reporters without Borders denounced a concerning signal to the press. Christophe Deloire, the secretary general of the organization, said its not the Elysees role to select journalists during official visits (since) this system could be used as a means of pressure. To limit the number of journalists during an event has nothing to do with selecting a cast of the journalists allowed to cover the presidencys visits. Should this be the case, it would be an illegitimate interference, Deloire said. France is ranked 39th in the 2017 world press freedom index by the NGO. Also Thursday, for the first time in years, the Elysee courtyard was closed to media following the Cabinet meeting. Castaner said the closure wasnt aimed at controlling the governments image but rather was a one-time event because the ministers needed to take an official photograph. He said the press will be allowed to attend the end of future Cabinet meetings and question ministers in the Elysee courtyard starting next week. Thursdays meeting was largely about getting to know each other. The government is led by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, a conservative. The most senior Cabinet job, interior minister, went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the long-time Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macrons presidential bid. The armed forces are now led by centrist, pro-European Sylvie Goulard, 52. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, the former defense minister, stays on in Macrons new government as foreign minister and Europe minister. ___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report. TORONTO The most controversial thing about Canadas move to legalize marijuana nationwide may be setting the minimum age for use at 18. Thats three years lower than in U.S. states that have embraced legalization. Advocates for the measure say putting the limit at 21 would encourage a black market and drive youths into the hands of criminals. But health experts are worried that the provision will encourage use of a substance that can have long-term consequences on still-maturing brains. The legislation introduced last month would make Canada the second country to have nationwide legalization, after Uruguay, which also set the minimum age at 18. While eight U.S. states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana, users there must be at least 21. As New Mexicos higher education officials near a deadline for deciding whether to roll back scholarship assistance for tens of thousands of college students, lottery officials said Thursday theyre transferring less money into the fund that supports the program. Transfers of lottery proceeds through April are lagging by nearly $8 million compared to the same time last year, and projections show the overall return to the scholarship fund by the end of this fiscal year is expected to fall short of last years levels by about $9 million. New Mexico has struggled in recent years to find a solution to solvency problems with the program. Legislators during their regular session did not pass any measures that would affect the programs long-term bottom line, leaving state higher education officials to sort out how to stretch the funding. Some have warned that the scholarships might only pay 70 percent of tuition starting next fall. State officials are still crunching the numbers and it will likely be next month before any decisions are made. Officials with the state Higher Education Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday. Tuition and demand for the financial aid have outpaced revenues from lottery sales since 2009, forcing lawmakers to be creative. When ticket sales didnt cut it, they turned to liquor excise revenues but now that funding is being phased out and the urgency is growing as the state grapples with a budget crisis. New Mexico is among several states that offer scholarships fueled by lottery revenues. However, the state is among one of the poorest in the nation and a place where higher education is seen as a luxury by some who have a difficult time meeting eligibility requirements and rounding up needed financial aid. Advocates are worried that any decrease in the scholarship award could result in fewer students pursuing degrees. More than 30,000 students now receive the scholarships. Lottery Chairman Dan Salzwedel is blaming what he called artificial barriers for keeping the lottery from maximizing sales. Pointing to an existing requirement that 30 percent of lottery sales be funneled to the scholarship program, he and others have suggested that repealing the requirement would free up more money for higher prize payouts, which would boost sales and result in more proceeds for scholarships. Lottery officials said doing away with similar requirements have helped scholarship programs in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. The dynamics are simple. Without legislative relief from the mandate, my worst fear is that next year we will be reporting another decline in lottery transfers, he said. Annual revenue from ticket sales plateaued at $46 million last year, while tuition costs for eligible students are closer to $60 million a year, according to state higher education and lottery officials. The figures released Thursday also show that monthly proceeds this fiscal year exceeded last years levels only twice in a 10-month period. Lottery officials also are warning lawmakers, who will be meeting next week for a special session, that doing away with the lotterys gross receipts tax exemption could further harm the scholarship fund. Funding for lottery scholarships lags by nearly $8M A state District Court judge handed down a 14-year sentence Wednesday for a man accused in a deadly shooting sparked by a game of beer pong. Luis Delgado, 24, pleaded no contest to aggravated battery and aggravated burglary in February. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Delgado faced between two and 14 years in prison. Nathan Ware, also charged in the killing, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder and lesser crimes, and is serving a 20-year sentence. Prosecutors called Ware the mastermind. Police said Ware got into a fight with two men over a game of beer pong a drinking game in which teams throw ping pong balls into cups of beer. Ware left the party, returned later, forced his way into the home, at which point both men were shot. Joray Chavez died later of his injuries. Judge Brett Loveless said the idea that a beer pong fight led to someones death was absolutely ridiculous and concerning. You get alcohol and firearms involved, he said, nothing good comes of it. Before announcing the 14-year sentence, Loveless noted that Delgado was on probation for a domestic violence case at the time of the shooting. Delgados actual role that night is unclear. His defense attorney Nicole Moss said he was not even at the party until Ware called to ask him for a ride. Moss said Delgado arrived at the apartment just as Ware was breaking into the home. His really big mistake that leads him here today is the fact that he didnt do anything to stop it, she said. He watched what happened, this horrible shooting, and then he helped Mr. Ware leave. A local think tank has launched a campaign to defeat a proposed 2 cent per gallon gasoline tax in Albuquerque before the measure even makes it on the ballot. The Rio Grande Foundation, a libertarian-leaning group, unveiled its #NoABQGasTax education campaign on Thursday. The accompanying website www.noABQGasTax.com contains a petition asking city councilors to reject the proposed gas tax increase, calling it a regressive tax that would hurt lower- and moderate-income households. Local tax burdens are out of control, the website states. We CAN stop this tax increase, but citizens need to tell the City Council and Mayor that they are taxed enough already! The Rio Grande Foundation helped defeat a proposed soda tax in Santa Fe earlier this month. Albuquerque City Council President Isaac Benton, a Democrat, is proposing the measure to generate additional funding for road repairs and enhancements. Under the proposed ordinance, city voters would have final say on whether the gas tax is enacted. But before it could end up on the ballot, the measure would need to be approved by the City Council and signed by Mayor Richard Berry. I think we have a lot of tax increases going on, Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing told the Journal. Locally, weve had a mental health tax at the county, the otter tax, the Bernalillo County just-because-we-can (gross receipts) tax. We could have state increases, though that looks less likely. I think enough is enough, and I think its important that we fight back. Gessing also said the ordinance is vague about where money generated from the tax will go. And in its news release, the Rio Grande Foundation states that the tax would not be dedicated to road construction or new river crossings, but to rehabilitate transportation systems, such as the despised Albuquerque Rapid Transit system. Benton countered that revenues from the proposed gas tax are clearly not for any project like ART, and he added that if thats not clear they will make it clear. Revenues generated from the tax could help us greatly in our huge backlog of outdated roadways, Benton has said, noting that much of the citys roadway system was built between the 1960s and 1980s and isnt compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. Its a tough time for revenue for municipalities, Benton said. This is something we should have a debate on and have everyone vote their opinions. The ordinance would generate an estimated $4.8 million a year in new revenue. The city would be able to use that new revenue stream to secure significantly more in bond funding for road projects. BOSTON (AP) A Massachusetts congressman is taking issue with Republican President Donald Trump's claim he's the target of the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history. That's because Democrat Seth Moulton represents Salem, the scene of the single greatest witch hunt in American history. Trump tweeted his comment Thursday following the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations his campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Moulton responded, tweeting out as the Representative of Salem, MA, I can confirm that this is false. Nineteen men and women were hanged and one man was crushed to death during the 1692 Salem hysteria. The episode has been used as a cautionary tale in the more than three centuries since. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. SEATTLE Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee met Thursday to discuss a shared interests ranging from trade to climate change. Trudeau told reporters their private meeting at a Seattle hotel was an opportunity to talk about the incredibly close ties between Washington state and British Columbia and indeed, all of Canada. Were both strongly engaged on issues of climate change, issues of openness to trade, leadership on refugees as well, and an understanding that diversity can be a real source of strength, he said. Inslee called Trudeaus visit fitting because we share so much more with Canada than just a common border. We share an incredible commitment to defeating climate change and a recognition that we can grow our economies while were doing that, he said. It is a great pleasure to know that we have a national leader in the North American continent whos committed to that. In a news release issued after the meeting, Inslees office said the governor and prime minister discussed their respective efforts on curbing carbon pollution: with Inslee talking about his clean air rule to cap carbon pollution, and Trudeau describing pollution reduction initiatives in Canadas largest provinces, including British Columbia. They also discussed increased oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, as well as efforts to protect the areas southern resident orca whale pod. Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia are involved in initiatives promoting clean energy and the feasibility of a high-speed rail connection connecting Canada to the Pacific Northwest. The states transportation budget signed by Inslee earlier this week includes $300,000 to study the possibility of a train that would travel 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour) from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon with stops in Seattle and Olympia. Canada is Washington states second largest destination for exports behind China, according to the states Commerce Department. Bilateral trade between the Washington state and Canada totaled $19.8 billion last year, with $12.8 billion of that accounting for Washington imports from Canada. The prime minister arrived in the state Wednesday to attend and speak at Microsofts CEO Summit in Redmond. The event, which was closed to the public and media, focused on cybersecurity and the space race. Trudeaus office said he was the first sitting head of government or state invited to address the summit and attended so he could promote Canadas technology industry. After their Seattle meeting, Inslee was traveling to Mexico to meet up with a state delegation on a trade mission and Trudeau was heading to Burnaby, British Columbia for an event. When Trudeau left the Seattle hotel, he was met by about a dozen protesters opposed to Canadas Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion and carried signs saying Trudeau You have a Choice and Tar Sands or Clean Lands. AUSTIN, Texas A Texas Army National Guard officer returning home after nearly two years deployed to Afghanistan says he had to pay United Airlines $200 because his military bag was overweight. KTBC-TV in Austin reports 1st Lt. John Rader of Kyle had a duffel just over the 70-pound military bag weight limit, for no charges, to take a United flight Monday from El Paso. Rader had a layover in Houston before arriving at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. United, in a statement Thursday, said the charge would be refunded to Rader as a goodwill gesture. The carrier says military personnel are allowed to check five bags, weighing up to 70 pounds apiece, for free. Raders bag had a Kevlar vest, two helmets and boots. He didnt have another bag with him to transfer items. ___ Information from: KTBC-TV, http://www.myfoxaustin.com Trust falls and personality tests are hallmarks of corporate team-building events, but The Dinner Detective offers something different: an interactive dinner theater experience that specializes in corporate team-building events. The business, born in 2004 in Culver City, Calif., has worked with a number of New Mexico companies since it expanded to the state about a year ago. Clients include Lighthouse Technologies, New Mexico Gaming LLC, Goodman Realty, Hospital Services Corp., LSG and Associates, the New Mexico Dental Association and Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino. It was fun, said Pepper Skodack, a representative with LSG and Associates, a staffing agency. They were able to incorporate a lot of the acronyms that we use and a lot of stuff that was familiar to the employees. While most mystery dinner performances are set in the past, The Dinner Detective uses present day cold cases in its stories, allowing the actors to mix in with the audience, said founder and president Scott OBrien. The shows use no costumes or stage. The performers are in line with you, he said.They sit at your table. The audience doesnt know until someone dies. OBrien said the business idea was hatched while he and his wife were working with television producer David E. Kelly on the hit show The Practice. The couple went to a dinner theater and left underwhelmed by the show and overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. My wife dared me to do better. Thats how all of this started, said OBrien. Part of what makes The Dinner Detective conducive to corporate events is the use of trained improvisation actors who can go off script and include personalized corporate messages, themes and team-building exercises in the stories. Being different and thinking outside the box are major motivators for OBrien, and he believes that is what has made The Dinner Detective so popular. If youve got something cool and different, it picks up steam pretty quickly, he said. Thats what happened in Albuquerque. The Dinner Detective is in 53 cities, performing in Albuquerque at the Marriott at Louisiana and Interstate 40. It also does public performances. Merkury Innovations sub-brand Geeni yesterday announced the inclusion of Google Assistant support for its lineup of smart plugs and smart bulbs, similarly to how some of the companys products are already integrated with Amazons Alexa. The firm is also launching a new smart surge protector that supports the Google Assistant for $39.99, available today on the companys website and in brick and mortar stores of its retail partners in the United States. Geenis range of products now offering Google Assistant integration includes the Lux Series of light bulbs priced at $24.99-$29.99, as well as the Prisma Series LED bulbs featuring customizable white or color settings for the price of $24.99-$34.99. Additionally, the Energi Series smart plug and energy meter now also supports the Google Assistant, and the company is expanding its product portfolio with the aforementioned Geeni SURGE smart surge protector lineup available for purchase starting today. The Geeni SURGE can be connected to a single wall outlet and is equipped with four plugs and four USB charging ports. Each plug can be controlled individually either through the dedicated Geeni application or using the Google Assistant. In practice, Geenis integration with the Google Assistant gives users the ability to control their lights and plugs directly or by issuing voice commands to Google Assistant-enabled devices such as the Google Home smart speaker. In addition, according to Category Manager at Merkury Innovations, Sol Hedaya, the Geeni line of products works with existing, regular Wi-Fi networks, meaning that prospective buyers wont have to invest in a smart home hub in order to have control over the Geeni ecosystem. Users also have the ability to control each Geeni smart device individually or can control multiple devices in a group at the same time. The brand new Geeni SURGE protector along with other Geeni smart home products can be purchased online via the companys official website. Additionally, Geeni products are also available in the United States through Best Buy, as well as Home Depot, and should soon be available on Amazon. While the integration with the Google Assistant is a novelty for the Geeni ecosystem, the companys smart products can always be controlled on smartphones lacking Google Assistant integration, as long as they are compatible with Geenis Android app. The desktop web client for Google Allo will be publicly released in a couple of months, according to Nick Fox, Vice President of Communications Products at Google. The Alphabet-owned company debuted a broad range of new services and product improvements at its Google I/O 2017 developer conference that started just yesterday but the Google Allo communications service wasnt in the spotlight of its Keynote. Prior to the event, Fox took to Twitter to reveal that developers and users shouldnt expect more details on the desktop browser version of Google Allo at Google I/O 2017 because the apps development team is still in the process of optimizing the client that reportedly isnt ready for a public release and is still a month or two away. While Fox noted that he personally uses the Google Allo web client on a daily basis and is loving it, Googles VP didnt provide any more details on the matter. Given the vague wording of Foxs statement, the public release of Google Allo for desktop browsers may come in late July or even be pushed back to a later date seeing how the companys senior executive was careful to not make any specific promises. Googles plans for Allo are currently unclear as the company hasnt made any major announcements regarding its instant messaging (IM) solution in recent months, with some industry watchers pointing out how the service hasnt really taken off in the West and is currently only enjoying a large popularity in Asia, particularly India. Regardless, Allos Google Play Store listing reveals that its Android version has been installed more than 50 million times as of early May, which is far from disappointing performance for an app thats less than eight months old and is competing in an oversaturated market. Apart from expanding the functionality of Allo, Google is also keen on releasing a desktop browser client for the service due to the fact that doing so would help grow its Google Assistant ecosystem. The text-based variant of the companys artificial intelligence (AI) companion is not only integrated into Allo but is also supported in the main smartphone version of the service as of today, and the Alphabet-owned company will likely continue looking for ways to bring its digital helper to more devices in the future. The Google Assistant is now compatible with new appliances made by LG Electronics, as well as dozens of additional Internet of Things (IoT) devices from numerous other consumer electronics manufacturers, the Alphabet-owned tech giant announced. The latest expansion of Googles artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem was first talked about during the opening Keynote of Google I/O 2017, the latest iteration of the companys annual developer conference that started yesterday in Mountain View, California. While the list of devices compatible with the Google Assistant is now dozens of entries longer, all of the newly supported IoT appliances and gadgets were manufactured by 11 companies. Googles new partners include home automation startup Hive, smart light bulbs company Wiz, and well-known networking equipment manufacturer D-Link. The Google Assistant will now be able to connect with a broad range of new devices, all of which will be controllable using the companys voice-enabled digital companion through its Home Control feature. Apart from the Google Home variant of the AI companion, the new expansion will also include its smartphone counterpart thats now also available on iOS devices, the Mountain View-based Internet giant confirmed. The handset version of the Google Assistant just received support for third-party actions that are further expanding its capabilities and the list of supported devices, though not all actions supported by the Google Home connected speaker will necessarily be available on smartphones. Those that currently are can be found under the Assistant Apps section of the AI app and need to be referred to by name in order to be used. Some of the major consumer electronics companies that are currently in the process of rolling out support for third-party actions on the Google Assistant include smart irrigation company Blossom, Roomba maker iRobot, and home appliances firm GE Appliances. LG Electronics is debuting support for the Google Assistant with its Signature product lineup and is expected to debut more compatible devices in the near future, as well as update its existing portfolio with support for the Google-made voice-enabled helper. An update on Googles efforts to expand its AI ecosystem in an effort to compete with the likes of Alexa and Siri is expected to follow in the coming months. Yesterday, Googles Vice President of Virtual Reality, Clay Bavor announced at the annual I/O keynote event that their educational Expeditions application will be expanded to include an Augmented Reality (AR) mode. The Expeditions app allows students to experience virtual reality field trips, by using Google Cardboard headsets, which first launched across Europe, Canada and the United States in May 2016. It gives the ability to tour many virtual locations and spaces, such as Buckingham Palace in the UK, Antartica, and the International Space Station. Google first announced the launch of the application two years ago at their annual event, and up until now, it has been used by over 2 million students worldwide. The application was then opened up to anyone who wished to try it out at the end of June last year. The new AR mode uses Tango technology from Googles Pioneer program. Tango, known as Project Tango while in the testing phase, is an augmented reality computer platform. It allows various devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to detect their position relative to everything around them through the use of positional tracking, instead of GPS. Tango uses this ability to map the areas of each individual classroom and place the 3D objects at certain points. Students can then use Tango-compatible smartphones, including the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro to view 3D models of objects such as the Statue of David, volcanoes, DNA molecules, and others. Users can simply point the AR-ready device at the assigned points within the classroom to be able to view the fully interactive objects. Its possible to walk around the objects, step back to view them fully or view them up close through the use of positional tracking. It is hoped that this technology will assist teachers in a variety of educational settings and especially when they are explaining concepts and ideas that may be hard for students to simply visualize. The new features will be launched later this year, through Googles Pioneer program and it is hoped that it will help students to collectively enjoy the power of interactive learning. There is currently an application form available for teachers who wish to sign up for this program on the Pioneer Program website. Amidst all of the other exciting A.I. developments coming out of the companys I/O developer conference, Google has now revealed that its Google Home smart assistant is finally ready to spread out and among the first places its going is to Canada. Currently, the device is only available to customers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The announcement came as part of the Internet search giants keynote speech, as part of the conference which started on May 17 and runs until May 19. While no specific launch date was given, the A.I. powered device is said to be arriving in the country sometime in the summer of 2017. The ability to make calls via the IoT hub was also announced at I/O 2017 and Canadians will be getting access to that feature at some point as well. As with the Home device itself, however, Google didnt mention exactly when that will be coming to customers in Canada or the U.S., but customers in the U.S. will be seeing the feature first. Fortunately, Canadian users can expect most other features to be intact when Google Home is finally released in the country. That includes the new features announced today and the features that already existed for Google Home users. Among those is the ability to cast visual representations of responses to voice actions from Google Assistant to a compatible display, such as a smart TV or a television with a Chromecast dongle connected to it. Users will, of course, be able to send multimedia to the connected display but will also be able to send general information such as the schedule from a Calendar or address information and navigation directions. In addition to coming to Canada, Google Home will also be heading to Austrailia, France, Germany, and Japan. For consumers outside of those countries, it goes without saying that the situation could easily change since there are still two days of I/O conference left to get through. However, todays keynote was the most likely place for any announcements of the sort. In the meantime, Google users in Canada only have a few months left at most before they can begin using voice actions to control the plethora of smart home devices currently available. The first day of Google I/O 2017 is over and with it likely the biggest announcements. The most notable of all of the stuff that Google had to unveil today could very well be the Android O Beta Program, though that probably depends on how you look at it as some users could be more interested in other things that Google was introducing for the first time to the public. Nevertheless the Android O Beta Program is definitely one of the biggest announcements of the day and is sure to be one of the biggest announcements of the conference,as most everything that needs to be announced happens during the Keynote and during Day one. In addition to the Android O Beta Program officially being announced, which is also available today to opt into for anyone with a compatible device, Google also introduced Google Lens which for the user, is essentially a visual search tool that utilizes the rear-facing camera of a smartphone to help users take action. Aside from Google Lens and the Android O Beta Program, Google announced other things as well, like Google Home heading to Canada and other regions. Users of Google Home will eventually be able to utilize the smart speaker powered by Google Assistant to make voice calls hands-free so they wont have to reply on using their smartphone for communication, and this feature will support multiple users thanks to Google Home supporting multiple users. Rumor had it that Google was planning on unveiling a new VR headset today that would be running on their Daydream platform, and while they didnt actually unveil a new headset, they did confirm that new Daydream hardware was coming and whats more is that it will be in the form of two headsets that are standalone models, with one coming from HTCs Vive team and the other being built by Lenovo. There was no mention of a release date for either headset but since theyll both be standalone anyone who picks one of these up wont need to have a Daydream compatible phone. Of course, we cant talk about Daydream without mentioning that Google confirmed both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will be gaining Daydream support through a software update later this year, which helps to expand the potential adoption of the Daydream platform by consumers even further. There was lots more to hear about from Google I/O today, and if you happened to miss any of it you can find everything in the links down below. Advertisement Keynote Speech Android O Google Home Advertisement Android TV Android Go Android Auto Advertisement Google Play Apps YouTube Advertisement Daydream/VR/AR Google Assistant Developers HTC was founded way back in 1997, and it was founded on May 19, which means tomorrow will be 20 years of HTCs existence, so HTC decided to commemorate this occasion by releasing a really nice infographic. If you take a look at the infographic which is available down below, you will essentially get to see a timeline of their key products. Now, as part of this infographic, the company also added 20 fun facts for you to read, which are attached to certain years, and relative to HTCs key successes / moments. Now, let us mention some key moments of HTC as a company. HTC was founded by Cher Wang on May 19, 1997, and the company is headquartered in Taiwan, though it has sales and service centers in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The HTC Kangaroo was the first device launched by the company, and in 2006, HTC introduced the first 3G-enabled Windows-running smartphone. Now, the first HTC-branded Android device was announced back in 2008, and its called the HTC Dream. The company won several prestigious rewards in 2009 and 2010, while the first HTC-branded Nexus phone arrived in 2010, the HTC Nexus One. This is a smartphone that many people remember with affection, and easily one of the companys best-known devices to date. HTC was named the Device Manufacturer of the Year back in 2011, and the HTC One M7 and HTC One M8 received the Phone of the Year awards in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The company introduced the HTC RE in 2014, thus expanding its product line, and the HTC Vive VR headset arrived in 2015, it was unveiled during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. HTC also mentions a number of partnerships the company managed to achieve during its lifetime, including the one with Under Armour back in 2016. The HTC U11 is also listed on the companys infographic, as this is the companys all-new flagship, and it managed to climb all the way up to the top of DxOMarks best smartphone camera ratings list. If youd like to check out the full infographic HTC released, it is included below this article, and shares a number of additional facts about the company. Artificial intelligence (AI) was such a big focus of Googles keynote address at the I/O developers conference this year that the companys CEO, Sundar Pichai, felt compelled to also post about the technology via Googles official blog. Pichai wanted to put the focus squarely how Googles A.I efforts are serving users and to shed some light on AIs benefits and challenges. Google has, Pichai writes, tried to solve complicated, real-world problems from the very earliest beginnings of the company. To do that, theyve utilized computer science and human insight, even as the technology around us forces dramatic change. The slew of applications, from Google Maps to YouTube, and even Android itself, were borne out of that drive and the move to mobile computing is what really enabled it to take off. However, Pichai notes that the technology world is shifting again and this time in a more AI-centric direction. The central theme that cuts across every form of AI is machine learning. Machine learning may be best summed up by examples of how AI uses it to take in information. Cameras can help AI to take in and learn about real world objects in a way similar to how people do when they first start learning precisely what everything is. Then, AI remembers those examples, and begins to learn how to recognize different instances of similar objects. Google showed a glimpse of how useful that can be at I/O 2017 with Lens. The same process can be outlined with of sound, thanks to microphones, speakers, and the science of sound waves. Its important to bear in mind that it isnt the hardware itself that is seeing or hearing things. Instead, the what is learning is a complex array of algorithms and the software those comprise. Since that software often crosses into or exists in the cloud, it can also take references from across the internet and all of the video, audio, images, and text stored there. Its that machine learning which is forcing Google to reimagine its current products and services, causing the company to reexamine old hardware and invent both new hardware and software to keep up with the growing number of use cases. Information pouring out of Google today included news about the companys second generation Cloud-based Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). The TPUs allow developers to create new uses for AI and machine learning through the Google Cloud Platform, opening up possibilities far beyond what would be possible if only well-funded companies had access to AI capable hardware. The company is also working to simplify the complex process of creating a neural network the central hub, connecting everything that makes up a machine-learning capable AI with a new approach called AutoML. Pichai ends his post with a reminder that machine learning goes well beyond services like Google Assistant, too. Although Googles AI assistant had a huge day at I/O, machine learning can have an enormous impact on millions of lives outside of simple convenience. The AI being developed by or in partnership with Google can help detect cancer better. It can power robots to perform jobs or tasks that are inherently difficult or dangerous. Moreover, it can assist in finding real people to fill positions that a given organization or company is having trouble finding an employee for. Machine learning can help democratize access to information and present people with new opportunities they may not have otherwise had. There may still be a long way to go before the potential of machine learning or AI can be fully realized, but the industry has taken the first steps and that potential is there. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on relieving Felix Tsolakyan from the post of Head of the Presidential Oversight Service, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress. Tsolakyan has been elected member of the Parliament based on the April 2 parliamentary election results. The first session of the newly elected Parliament will be held on May 18. Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. The annual Australasian Law Awards were held at The Star Sydney last night with the best firms, in-house legal teams and deals revealed.Sponsored for the third consecutive year by official partner FTI Consulting, the event was attended by a full house of 676 of Australias top legal professionals. Awards were presented in 34 categories covering firms, in-house teams and deals.Journalist and author Peter Fitzsimons was back in the hot seat as MC for the night. Guests were entertained with a surprise performance by singing waiters act The Three Waiters as well as acoustic band Luke Zanc Trio, who created a unique spin on classic tunes. Clayton Utz was one of the big firm winners last night, featuring in several winning deals and taking home the JLT Employee Health & Wellbeing Award as well as two individual awards Young Private Practice Lawyer of the Year (30 or under) for rising star Thomas Dougherty, and Scarlis Pringle Law Firm Leader of the Year (>200 Employees) for the firms chief executive partner, Rob Cutler.Across the Tasman, Fonterra Co-operative Groups in-house team proved unstoppable, winning Russell McVeagh NZ In-house Team of the Year for the third consecutive year. It was IFM Investors that picked up the Clayton Utz Australian In-house Team of the Year, while the prestigious Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year award, sponsored by FTI Consulting, went to Brookfields Claire Bibby for the second year in a row for her contribution to the legal profession.In a year marked by several significant deals, the award for Australian Deal of the Year went to the Acquisition of Asciano by Brookfield and Qube. One of the largest ever takeovers executed in Australia, the deal involved a line-up of the countrys best firms: Allens Baker McKenzie , Bell Gully, Clayton Utz, Gilbert+Tobin, Herbert Smith Freehills Jones Day , King & Wood Mallesons and MinterEllison Congratulations to all of last nights award winners. Photos and video coverage from the event will be available next week at www.auslawawards.com.au and in an upcoming special edition of Australasian Lawyer.Winner: Arrium Group insolvencyWinner: Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and Investa Property GroupWinner: SMART ABS Series securitisationWinner: Merger of Queensland electricity distributors to create Energy QueenslandWinner: VIVA Energy REIT IPOWinner: Acquisition of Asciano by Brookfield and QubeWinner: ABI acquisition of SABMillerWinner: Salvos LegalWinner: Clayton UtzWinner: Harmers Workplace LawyersHighly Commended: Australian Business Lawyers & AdvisorsWinner: Sparke Helmore LawyersWinner: Bird & BirdWinner: Nexus Law GroupWinner: Alex BaykitchWinner: Stephen LanckenWinner: Thomas Dougherty, Clayton UtzHighly Commended: Holly Sara, Jones Day & Stipe Vuleta, ChamberlainsWinner: Louise Young Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth GamesWinner: National Australia Bank Group Governance & Legal TeamWinner: AIA AustraliaHighly Commended: ChubbWinner: Macquarie Capital Legal TeamWinner: Fonterra Co-operative Group LimitedWinner: Claire Bibby, BrookfieldWinner: John Strowger, Chapman TrippHighly Commended: Silvana Schenone, MinterEllisonRuddWattsWinner: Philippa Stone, Herbert Smith FreehillsWinner: Chapman TrippWinner: Allens - Mergers and AcquisitionsWinner: Sandra Gibson, LOD - Lawyers On DemandRob Cutler, Clayton UtzWinner: IFM Investors Australian legal teamAcquisition of Asciano by Brookfield and QubeHarwood AndrewsSalvos LegalHerbert Smith Freehills With an abundance of Chinese investors eying Australian agriculture and agribusiness assets, lawyers representing them should make one thing clear to their clients: the goodwill of local communities is vital if they want their new ventures to succeed, according to a new report.In The Licence That Matters: Beyond Foreign Investment Review Board Approval For Chinese Investment in Australian Agriculture & Agribusiness, Powell Tate said that a social license is needed to successfully operate in the Australian market, or to even just launch successful bids for assets.This license isnt obtained from any federal or state authority, like the FIRB, but must instead be earned from local communities acquired companies and assets are in, the study said.In the agriculture and agribusiness sector, the government recently rejected two bids linked to China for S. Kidman & Co. due to conflicts with national interests. State Grid Corporation of Chinas bid for Ausgrid, the NSW governments power distribution company, was also rejected last year.Investors need to demonstrate a commitment to Australian society that goes beyond earning profits in order to succeed, even where an investment is providing an economic benefit to the nation, said Alistair Nicholas, executive vice president and director of special projects at Powell Tate Australia, a public affairs agency.Conducted over the past 12 months, the study involved interviews with parties close to foreign investment and within the agriculture sector including current and former politicians, political advisors, government bureaucrats, academics, industry association members, the business advisory community, and investors from China. The study was led by Nicholas, who was helped by Yang Xing, associate director at Weber Shandwick China, who led interviews with Chinese stakeholders.After listening to key stakeholders, we found that Chinese investors are best advised to adopt a joint venture model rather than make straight-out investments in Australian agriculture if they are to succeed. It seems Chinese investors going abroad now have to consider the same model that was required of foreign companies when they first entered China after it opened to the outside world, Nicholas said. As business tycoon Li Ka-shing adds another company to his already extensive energy portfolio in Australia, two top firms have taken lead roles in the deal.King & Wood Mallesons acted for Cheung Kong Infrastructure, which led a consortium that bought 100% of the stapled securities of energy distribution company DUET Group, which was advised by Allens . The consortium was made up of Lis companies, which he is directing away from investing in Europe due to uncertainties in the region.The deal, which was implemented on 15 May through four inter-conditional schemes comprising three company schemes of arrangement and a trust scheme, was worth $7.4bn.It comes after the Foreign Investment Review Board approved Cheung Kongs bid for DUET last month. Cheung Kong made headlines last year after regulators rejected its bid for New South Wales power distributor Ausgrid in a shock decision. KWM fielded a multidisciplinary cross-border for the major deal. The Australian team was led by projects partner Louis Chiam, M&A partner David Eliakim, M&A senior associate Daniel Natale, and projects senior associate Jonathan Mitchell. The firms Hong Kong team was led by partners Hayden Flinn and John Baptist Chan, and senior associate Amy Chan.The Allens legal team was led by partners Marc Kemp and Stuart McCulloch. There were assisted by counsel Andrew Wong, senior associate Charles Ashton, and lawyers Isaac Wall and Harry Cook from the M&A practice; senior overseas practitioner James Kanabar and associates Patrick Boyle and Virosh Poologasundram from the funds practice; partner Alan Maxton and senior associate Morgan Phelan from the finance practice; and partner Richard Harris and senior associate Daniel Macpherson from the litigation practice. The Legal Services Commission of South Australia (LSC) is stepping up efforts to reach out to military veterans, as the sector experienced a massive drop in legal aid applications last year.In line with the Commonwealth governments drive to assist veterans with mental health problems, the commission want veterans with psychological and physical injuries to know that they may be eligible for legal aid when challenging decisions about military pensions or compensations for war-caused injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder.The commission said that its data reveal a 50% decrease last year in legal aid applications from veterans in South Australia seeking assistance in these matters.The legal assistance we provide recognises the enormous sacrifices that military personnel make in the service of their country, said Chris Boundy, the LSCs manager of access. Significant numbers of veterans suffer from physical or psychological injuries. It is vital that eligible veterans receive specialised legal assistance if they seek to challenge a decision regarding compensation or pension payments.Boundy said that the commission provides free, independent advice about rights and entitlements under the Veterans Entitlements Act and the Military Rehabilitation Compensation Act. It can also advise on the merits and chances of success of lodging claims and appeals.Its important to note that, while grants of legal aid are usually means tested, grants to war veterans in these matters are not means tested. However, there is a merits test which requires there to be a reasonable prospect of success in the matter for a grant of legal aid to be provided, Boundy said.Veterans can reach the LSC through 1300 366 424 or their website In a bid to streamline its operations for the sake of profit, Chevrolet as a brand will be phased out from two markets by the end of 2017. The writing was on the wall bearing in mind Chevrolet had a similar fate in Europe in 2016, where it was replaced by the Opel and UK-only Vauxhall brands.As the industry continues to change, declared Mary Barra , we are transforming our business, establishing GM as a more focused and disciplined company. The chairman and CEO also declared that the automaker remains committed to deploying capital to higher return initiatives that will enable us to lead in our core business and in the future of personal mobility.The markets in question are India and South Africa. The former, which is represented by GM India , will transition to produce cars exclusively for export. The production facility located in Talegaon will continue manufacturing vehicles for three important markets: Mexico, Central and South America.In South Africa, Isuzu agreed to purchase the automaker's 30% share in Isuzu Truck South Africa, the Struandale plant and a handful of other facilities. Given these circumstances, General Motors and Groupe PSA are in the middle of evaluating future opportunity for the Opel brand in this part of the world. Chevy, however, is due to disappear in the Eastern Africa region too.Stefan Jacoby, who is the president of GM International and executive VP of General Motors , has the following explanation in store: We determined that continued or increased investment in manufacturing in South Africa would not provide GM the expected returns of other global investment opportunities.Restructuring will further extend to Singapore . In this part of the world, the automaker intends to cut back on the responsibilities of the local business. Strategic oversight of the company in regional markets such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Southeast Asia, and India will continue. CRDi Following a set of uncamo'd spy pics published at the beginning of May, the carparazzi caught the all-new model yet again posing on the streets of Lisbon. Coming courtesy of the peeps over at Autoplus France , the photos in question reveal what can only be characterized as a face to be remembered.Theres no denying Hyundai did its best to make the Kona as stylistically individual as possible in a sea of lookalikes, and frankly, the design team did a fine job. The twin headlight arrangement deserves the biggest thumbs up. The contrasting gloss black A-pillars and roof count are neat too.From the profile, the plastic cladding makes a great team with the pumped-up wheel arches, whereas the rear end is designed to put an emphasis on width. As far as the interior is concerned, the visuals are a bit on the underwhelming side of things, more so when compared to the exterior of the vehicle whose name is inspired by a Hawaiian district . Pretty much the same can be said about whats hiding under the hood of the new crossover.Hyundai has yet to say a word about the suck-squeeze-bang-blow matter, but bearing in mind that the Kona is targeting the European market, the 1.0 T-GDI three-cylinder and 1.4 T-GDI are sure bets. We also expect the 1.6turbo diesel mill to make the cut to satisfy the frugality-minded consumer group.Slotted under the Tucson , the upcoming Kona is the first step in Hyundais plan to become the number one Asian automaker in Europe by 2021. By then, the brand intends to launch 30 new models and derivates. Not the same can be said about Lamborghini, but it's only down to a bit of a confusion. The smartphones that bear this name are actually made by a different company run by Tonino Lamborghini, the son of Ferruccio Lamborghini, the man who launched the carmaking business.Tonino Lamborghini specializes in luxury goods (clothing apparel, watches or eyewear) and services (boutique hotels and restaurants). Of course, the confusion isn't created by accident as the two enterprises share very strong links, including the raging bull logo. So while they might be built by different entities, the Lamborghini cars and the Tonino Lamborghini smartphones certainly make a perfect couple.That's because the latest phone launched by Tonino uses the same type of metal the obnoxious supercars that share the same name are made of, for instance. Unlike one of the previous phones , though, the Antares, the design of the ALPHA ONE is much more straightforward - when 99 percent of the surface is covered by a rectangular display, there's only so much you can do about the 1 percent left.But that's not to say the ALPHA ONE doesn't have great features. The ones that stand out the most are the Italian black leather covering the back of the device, lined up with contrasting gold stitchings. The camera bezels and all the other metallic parts are also golden, in keeping with the theme.As far ar technical specs go, the Tonino Lamborghini ALPHA ONE gets a 5.5-inch QHD display, 4 GB or RAM, 64 GB of expandable memory, dual SIM support, a Qualcom Snapdragon 820 chip, and a 3,250 mAh battery. The only price available at the moment is for the Russian market and it translates to a little over $2,100, which isn't really all that much for a client of Automobili Lamborghini . The phone will eventually be available in the UK, South Korea, China, and the UAE as well. According to the NHTSA 's description of campaign number 17V253000, the 2014 to 2015 and 2017 Sentra is affected by the same defect as the electric vehicle. More to the point, a manufacturing error within the front passenger airbag inflators is the culprit. If left unfixed, the airbag may not deploy as intended in the event of a crash.The issue is unique to vehicles that have been fitted with airbag inflators produced by Daicel, a Japanese corporation that gave birth to photographic film manufacturer Fujifilm in 1934. And in stark comparison to Takata s mess-up, the tier 3 supplier is the outfit that identified the potential defect that affects its inflators.Neither Nissan nor Daicel are aware of any incidents related to the problem, though both companies agreed to recall out of an abundance of caution. The repair is straightforward: replace the old airbag, fit a redesigned unit, and thatd be everything. In terms of notification, owners will receive mail from Nissan in due time, with the safety recall expected to begin on June 11, 2017.Including Canada, Mexico, and federalized territories, Nissan estimates the grand total of affected vehicles to be in 28,606: 2,055 Leal models (1,921 sold in the U.S.) and 26,551 units of the Sentra (22,556 sold Stateside). In detail, however, whats the particular that makes all those airbag inflators defective?Heres what Nissan has to say on the subject: The coolant within these inflators may have been affected by two potential conditions. First, rust may have formed on the rod as a result of long-term storage. Second, the rod may have been formed with tooling affected by excessive wear. If both of these conditions are present, insufficient compression strength of the coolant within the inflator housing may result and may lead to an improper airbag deployment in a crash. Proposals to spin off air traffic control from the FAA to be handled by a private agency charging user fees gained support on Wednesday in Washington, but it was still unclear if the plan has enough momentum to become reality. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a letter to Sen. John McCain that his department is supportive of a possible privatization of ATC services and recognizes the potential risks. The support from Mattis could be key, according to The Hill. Its a huge deal, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told reporters. Concerns over security have long been cited by those who oppose the change, Shuster said. And Secretary Mattis is saying we support it. President Trump and major airlines also have expressed support for privatization. The FAAs infrastructure is increasingly obsolete, and its technology is from the last century, Shuster said at the hearing. As a result, shocking amounts of tax dollars and time have been wasted over the last 35 years, he said. General aviation advocates have long lobbied against privatization schemes, arguing that the proposed changes would help the airlines while hurting private flyers. If the system is privatized, who will effectively control this monopoly, and for whose benefit? asked Ed Bolen, president of NBAA, in a statement issued Wednesday. Concerns over the answer to that question have been raised by aviation groups, organizations on the political left and right, members from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate, mayors from across the country and a majority of American citizens. NATCA President Paul Rinaldi testified before the committee that his organization supports reform of the ATC system to ensure a stable and predictable funding stream. He added its key that the system continue to support safety and efficiency as top priorities and continues to provide services to all segments of the aviation community, from commercial passenger carriers and cargo haulers to business jets and to general aviation, from the major airports to those in small communities and rural America. Airline officials didnt appear at the hearing, apparently in response to recent public-relations incidents. Perhaps they recognize that the American people are not interested in giving more control to the airlines, said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a member of the panel, when, between dragging a passenger off a plane and massive computer failures, they cant even get their own houses in order. France's data privacy regulatory arm announced it's fining Facebook 150,000 euros for violating data privacy standards. The group says Facebook used consumers' data, without a legal basis, to help advertisers target ads, and employed an unfair and opaque tracking technique through a cookie called "datr." Belgium has announced similar conclusions. Why it matters: Europe has much stricter data privacy policies than the U.S., which has inhibited data-driven U.S. tech companies like Facebook and Google in those markets. Facebook, in particular, has been affected because of cookies they use to collect users' data even when they aren't signed in. E.U. regulators argue Facebook isn't doing enough to inform people about data collection. Still to come: France and Belgium are part of a group of countries currently reviewing data policy policies. Spain and Germany are still reviewing Facebook's policies. The two key threads to follow in the seemingly endless stream of breaking news that emerged Wednesday night: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller special prosecutor in the FBI's Russia probe. President Trump, who was given no advance warning, released a brief statement insisting there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. Hours later the NY Times reported that the Trump transition team was aware of a federal investigation into Michael Flynn over undeclared lobbying for Turkey before he became national security adviser, and McClatchy reported that Flynn had delayed a Pentagon plan that was opposed by Turkey. Introducing the special prosecutor... Mueller led the FBI from 2001-2013, under presidents from both parties, and is one of the most widely-respected figures in U.S. law enforcement. He will report directly to Rosenstein, as Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from the Russia probe. The tick tock on the announcement, via Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs: Rosenstein signed the order without consulting the White House, subsequently informing WH Counsel Don McGahn. Senior staff assembled in the Oval Office. Trump seemed "calm." 25 minutes later, at 6pm, the Justice Dept made a public announcement. Rosenstein's revenge... Last week, Rod Rosenstein was the toast of the White House. Tonight, he went against President Trump's wishes and took the Russia probe to a new level. The initial party line on James Comey's firing was that Trump had accepted the recommendation of his deputy attorney general, a "universally respected" and apolitical figure. Rosenstein was reportedly infuriated that Trump's decision had been pinned on him. Whether it was his intention or not, Rosenstein has exacted revenge over how the Comey firing played out. Read the full article. The powers of a special counsel... Read Axios' Shannon Vavra on what a special counsel is, and how it differs from what happened during Watergate. Neal Katyal, former DOJ official: "Here's the deal on Trump firing Mueller: He can. We wrote the special counsel regs knowing that any Pres has constl power to do so, but we made it hard by regulation." Nancy Pelosi and the Dems want an independent commission outside of DOJ's control. The Flynn timeline, based on NYT report Nov 18: Trump offers Flynn NSA post Jan 4: Flynn discloses he is under federal investigation Jan 20: Trump takes office, Flynn becomes NSA Jan 26: Sally Yates warns McGahn Flynn could be subject to Russian blackmail Feb 13: Flynn dismissed as NSA The delayed attack... Ten days before President Trump took office, Michael Flynn helped delay a Pentagon plan to attempt to retake the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, per McClatchy. The plan was opposed by Turkey, which had previously paid Flynn for lobbying work. How it reportedly happened: Then-national security advisor Susan Rice approached Flynn about having Trump sign off on the plan, which utilized Syrian Kurdish forces and was to be executed under Trump's administration. Flynn told her to hold off, without consulting anyone else on the transition team and without any explanation. Read the full article from Axios' Stef Kight. Back to that Trump, Russia meeting... Per the Wall St Journal: "The classified information that President Donald Trump shared with Russian officials last week came from an Israeli source described by multiple U.S. officials as the most valuable source of information on external plotting by Islamic State." The mood in the West Wing Per the Washington Post's Ashley Parker and Abby Phillip: "Some White House staffers have turned to impeachment gallows humor. Other mid-level aides have started reaching out to consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close the staffer." And on Capitol Hill Per Axios' Jonathan Swan: "In the House Republicans' conference meeting on Capitol Hill this morning, the mood among members was subdued and somewhat anxious. One source described members as 'shellshocked.'" Per Politico's Burgess Everett and Josh Dawsey: "The Trump White House has done essentially no damage control.... No talking points have been distributed, and few reassurances have been given to Republicans. 'I've not heard that from them. I've heard nothing. I should, shouldn't I? I'm not sure that there's that level of organization,' Sen. Thune said. 'For most people this is kind of: Formulate and express your own point of view if you want to.'" Just to recap... Trump campaign officials engaged in more contacts with Russians and Kremlin-affiliated individuals than have previously been disclosed, according to a new Reuters report that cites "current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges." The timing: "The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016..." "The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016..." Main focus: "Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Kislyak and Trump advisers, including [Michael] Flynn..." "Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Kislyak and Trump advisers, including [Michael] Flynn..." Caveat: "The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far..." Why it matters: "The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators..." Michael Flynn is expected to plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the former Russian Ambassador this afternoon. What's not included in the charges against Flynn is his foreign work for Turkey last year, which was the subject of investigations earlier this year after foreign interests led Flynn to delay an Obama administration military attack on ISIS. Why it matters: While Mueller doesn't seem as interested in his foreign work, Flynn did not legally lobby for a foreign country, which doesn't seem to help his case. Here's how and when Flynn worked for Turkey over the past year: Last year, Flynn registers as a U.S. lobbyist, but not a foreign agent. He claims he will not receive more than $5,000 for lobbying. August 9: Michael Flynn signs a contract with a Dutch firm, Inovo BV, which is owned by a Turkish man with close ties to Ankara. Flynn was promised $600K in exchange for three months of work for the Turkish government. Nov. 8: Flynn publishes a pro-Turkey op-ed on the Hill's website. Nov. 11: Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross reports that Flynn's firm had been hired by a Dutch company with ties to Turkey, pointing to Flynn's op-ed at The Hill as a potential example of such work. That Ross story launched the first investigation into Flynn. Nov. 30: He is first contacted by the Department of Justice's National Security Division for more information. Flynn's contract with Inovo BV ends, and his firm received $530,000 as they had not completed a video they were asked for. Dec. 1: Flynn terminates his lobbying contract with the Senate, claiming he had received less than $5,000 from Inovo BV. Jan. 4: Flynn and his lawyers tell the Trump transition team about the DOJ's investigation into his work with Turkey. January, days before inauguration: Flynn denies Susan Rice's request to sign off on a plan for retaking Raqqa from ISIS. The move was in line with Turkey's interests. Feb. 13: Flynn resigns from his position as National Security Advisor, after it was discovered that he lied to Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Feb. 14: Trump reportedly asks FBI Director James Comey to let go of the investigation into Flynn. March 7: Flynn files paperwork at the DOJ, claiming to be a foreign agent and disclosing that he had been paid $500K to work for Turkey's interests last year. 18 May 2017 10:25 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov May 18 marks the 25th anniversary of the occupation of Lachin region, beautiful and essential part of Azerbaijan, by Armenian armed forces. Mountainous Lachin, located in the southwest of Azerbaijan, was seized by the Armenian forces in 1992. The region is located between Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia, and the only road from the occupant country to Nagorno-Karabakh passed through the center of Lachin. After occupying Shusha, the pearl of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian armed forces seized settlements around Lachin and started intensive firing of the center of the region. Launching their invasion on the night of May 16 from a place called Turshsu in the occupied Shusha and the Gor region of Armenia, the enemy occupied Lachin. Most of the Armenian armed forces managed to invade the region through the Lachin corridor. As a result of the Armenian attack, more than 300 Azerbaijani military men and civilians were killed or went missing; 103 people were wounded or disabled. Armenian invaders did not spare even children 18 Azerbaijani children were killed, 225 were injured and 31 lost both of their parents. As many as 63,341 Azerbaijani citizens were expelled from their homes in Lachin as a result of the occupation. The seizure of Lachin,a region of geo-strategic significance for Azerbaijan, dealt a serious blow to the economy of the country roughly $7 billion. Armenian invaders destroyed hundreds of cultural objects, settlements, villages and historical monuments. Moreover, the enemy destroyed industrial enterprises and agricultural fields of the region. As many as 8,950 buildings, 7 industrial and construction enterprises, 471 service facilities, 154 schools and many cultural and historical monuments of Lachin remain under occupation until today. The region was rich in minerals, construction materials, gold, mountain crystal, silk, granite, mercury, limestone, harsh stone, travertine, mineral water, and healing herbs. There were rare mahogany trees, cobalt, uranium, iron, and marble of different colors. As many as 34,877 hectares of Lachins territory were covered with rare mahogany trees included in the Red Book. However, Armenians plundered all these natural resources of the region after the invasion. A quarter-century has passed since the occupation of Lachin, but Azerbaijanis still wait for the return to their homeland. Regrettably, their desire remains unnoticed by the world community Armenia keeps ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. Azerbaijan tries to resolve the conflict as soon as possible, while the aggressor Armenia does the opposite by making every effort to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh. Currently, 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories remain under Armenian occupation and over 1 million of refugees and IDPs have to live far away from their homes in hope of returning there someday. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 11:57 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The Armenian side has revealed footage of shelling of human settlements and positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, as well as the information about allegedly losses from the Azerbaijani side, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on May 17. By disseminating this video, Armenia demonstrated that it periodically shells not only the positions of the Armed Forces, but also the human settlements of Azerbaijan, thereby confirming that Armenia continues provocations against the peaceful Azerbaijani population, the ministry reported. The Armenian militaries subjected to intensive fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces and human settlements in the Agdam direction of the front using the mortars of various calibers, the ministry added. The Defense Ministry reaffirmed that as a result of the enemy shelling, peaceful population and military personnel of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces did not suffer any losses and military equipment was not damaged. Chief Executives of the Agdam and Tartar regions have earlier informed that the Armenian armed forces shelled villages of the regions, but no losses were recorded. The Armenian side constantly breaches the ceasefire and resorts to attempts of sabotage against Azerbaijan. Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces, using large-caliber machine guns and mortars, have 115 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact. For more than two decades Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevans aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions in a brutal war in the early 1990s. Despite a fragile ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Armenia keeps violating armistice with Azerbaijan. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 16:16 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, American senator Roger Wicker, during the Helsinki Hearing Exchange on Iskander Missile Systems in Washington on May 17, raised the topic about Russias destabilizing transfers of threatening weapons systems to neighboring and regional countries. Wicker said that Russia has transferred the Iskander-E missile system to the OSCE member state Armenia and these destabilizing arms transfers are stoking tensions throughout Europe and Eurasia, according to the meetings transcript. Stephen Rademaker, former assistant secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration and head of the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, for his part, noted that the Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR) exists to limit missile technology transfers. He went on to say that the key question is which version of the Iskander missile systems was transferred by Russia to Armenia, because various versions of Iskander are limited or not limited to the MCTR. If it was Iskander-E then it was consistent with the MCTR, noted Rademaker, adding that if it was Iskander-M, then it would be inconsistent. I have actually seen conflicting press accounts of which version was transferred to Armenia, he added. In 2016, Russia and Armenia signed a new agreement on new weapons transfers to Armenia and the development of overall military-technical cooperation; and most significantly the transfer to Armenia of the Iskander missile. For more than two decades Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevans aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions in a brutal war in the early 1990s. Despite a fragile ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Armenia keeps violating armistice with Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 10:34 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, will introduce Islamic banking products in Azerbaijan and lobby for changes in countrys banking legislation in order to incorporate Islamic banking. This will be realized in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the ICD signed with the Association for Azerbaijan-Arab Countries Cooperation (AACC). With the signing of the MOU, the two institutions agreed to cooperate to facilitate information and expertise exchange in order to develop effective cooperation, which may include organizing joint investment forums, professional programs, market research, workshops, publications, study tours, qualifications, and much more. ICD's CEO Khalid Al-Aboodi stated that this MoU is strategic for both parties. We believe it will enhance cooperation between ICD and AACC in the Islamic business and finance sectors, which reflects ICDs determination to deploy all efforts to encourage Islamic finance in the development of the private sector in Azerbaijan and in CIS region, he added Chairman of AACC Elshan Rahimov, for his part, added that the political will of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev plays an important role in the formation of the friendly relations existing between Azerbaijan and Arab countries. We consider ICD as strategic partner in Arab region and by signing this MoU we cemented our relationships and it will help us to define our strategy for coming months, he said. AACC together with ICD plans to host First investment Forum for the investors from Arab countries in October 2017 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Islamic Development Bank is an international Islamic financial institution, established in accordance with Articles of Agreement done at the City of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed and ratified by all member countries. The purpose of the Bank is to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities individually as well as jointly in accordance with the principles of Islamic Law. The decision to create the Cooperation of Azerbaijan and Arab Countries Public Association is timed to President Ilham Aliyevs initiative that 2017 has been declared the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan, and Baku currently hosting the Islamic Solidarity Games. The aim of establishment of the Association, in which, along with Azerbaijani businessmen, entrepreneurs from Arab countries will also be represented, is the strengthening of economic partnership between Azerbaijan and Arab countries through the promotion of mutual trade and investment, development of friendly relations between the states. Azerbaijan is among several central Asian countries creating a more welcoming framework for sharia-compliant banking to attract investments and financing from the Islamic capital market. Islamic financial tools can become the channel through which assets of those, who do not want to use traditional financial services, can be involved in the economy. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 12:10 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Baku will host the Bavaria-Azerbaijan business forum on May 31. The event, to be organized by German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce, will be held within the framework of working visit of the business delegation from Bavaria led by Secretary of State in the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology, Franz Josef Pschierer. The forum is organized in cooperation with the Bavarian Association for International Economic Relations (mbH). Following the official opening ceremony and company presentations, B2B meetings will be held between German and Azerbaijani companies in the field of mechanical and plant engineering, construction, information and communication technologies, environmental technology, medical services, consumer goods and tourism. Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Germany were established in February 1992. Germany is among Azerbaijans top five most important trading partners. The major portion of trade turnover figures fall to the share of industrial production. German exports to Azerbaijan consist mainly of motor vehicles, iron and steel goods, machinery and production facilities. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Germany amounted to $260.75 million in January-April 2017,according to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 15:44 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Some brands of the European Union countries plan to enter the Azerbaijani market. Romania and Greece, who well justified themselves in the European market, featured their products in Baku on May 17. Creek Delcof S.A and Romanian Angelis SRL companies presented their products for the guests. The two companies produce a number of delicious food that is currently sold all over the world both within the European Union and outside. With their labels the companies use a lot to promote themselves outside of the EU. Romania is relatively new for the EU, however, Angelis has a significant share in the food industry, and its manufacturing capacities are enough to produce hundreds of tons of products. Speaking at the event Konstanntinos Apostolou, president of Delcof S.A., said that quality and certification of the products are the main goal of the company. DELCOF S.A. was founded in 1999, making use of a program of the Ministry of Development, created to establish business clusters. The Greek fruit canning industry became a pioneer in this effort and used this opportunity to create a horizontal network. Apostolou added that their products are also exhibited at the World Food Azerbaijan 2017 and CaspianAgro 2017 exhibitions due at Baku Expo Center until May 19. We are here to persuade Azerbaijani consumers to taste our products, he said. DELCOF is very active in executing promotion programs for European canned peaches, which so far have successfully reached many markets all around the world including Great Britain, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Norway, South Korea, Turkey, Australia, Japan, India, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bolivia and Mexico. Liviu Cicioc from Angelis SRL, one of the bodies of Romconcerv, said that 22 Romanian products are featured at Baku Expo Center. Talking about their products Cicioc noted that from seeding up to final processing the company follows all the EU requirements using their state-of-theart equipment. We carefully follow the traceability of raw material from seed and until the transformation of vegetables and fruits in finished product and chemicals pesticides and fertilizers are administered within the required limits, he said. ANGELIS founded in 1992 is one of oldest companies operating in the private food system in Romania which has an important contribution to relaunching and developing producers's canned, wines and beverage activity in Romania and Moldavia. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 16:00 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Indonesia is interested in developing relations with Azerbaijan in the fields of tourism, trade and investment, Indonesian Ambassador to Baku Husnan Bey Fananie told Trend. Describing the relations between Azerbaijan and Indonesia, the ambassador noted that they are at a very good level. This year the Azerbaijani government delegation will visit Indonesia, where during the meetings it is planned to define spheres for mutual investments, the ambassador added. Fananie noted that tourism, culture, education and trade are currently priority areas for cooperation between Indonesia and Azerbaijan. Today, Azerbaijan delivers oil to Indonesia. Currently, there is a successful cooperation between SOCAR Trading company and Indonesias Pertamina state oil company, and SOCAR Trading sells third party oil to Indonesian refineries for processing. Along with this, Indonesia is ready to supply agricultural products - coffee, tea, palm oil, as well as products of light industry - furniture, tires, clothing and so on to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Indonesia have already started discussing prospects for development of cooperation in the non-oil sector. Business forum was held in Guba between entrepreneurs of the two countries on May 3. The two are also discussing the possibility of canceling visa regime for tourists from Indonesia, as well as launching a direct flight from Baku to Jakarta. The trade between Azerbaijan and Indonesia is mostly related to the energy sector, as Azerbaijan emerged as the second biggest supplier of crude oil to Indonesia in 2011 after Saudi Arabia. Trade turnover between Indonesia and Azerbaijan for the first quarter of 2017 amounted to $9.2 million, according to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 17:00 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Azerbaijan Business Center, Iran Trading House and representation of the Union of Turkmen Industrialists and Entrepreneurs will appear in Astrakhan. Governor of the Astrakhan Region of the Russian Federation Alexander Zhilkin announced about this at Russian Foreign Ministrys meeting in Astrakhan on issues of interaction with the countries of the Caspian region. The meeting participants, including State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin, Russian Ambassadors to Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, noted that the Astrakhan region has been positioning itself for many years as the main conductor of Russian policy in the Caspian direction. Zhilkin noted that the aggregate share of the trade turnover of the Astrakhan region with the countries of the Caspian region amounted to almost 70 percent in 2016. "Recently, important investors from the Caspian countries have come to the region and started implementing huge investment projects in the fields of agriculture, industrial production, trade and logistics complexes," the governor said. He cited as an example the creation of a poultry complex in Volodarsky district by Iranian investors, construction of an enterprise for the production of transformers by the Azerbaijani company ATEF-RUSS. Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover. At present, enterprises of 71 regions of the Russian Federation cooperate directly with Azerbaijan. 15 regions of Russia have relevant agreements with Azerbaijan on trade and economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. The trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan amounted to almost $2 billion in 2016. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 10:54 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations has met with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku. Hoenlein, addressing the meeting, commended the Azerbaijani government's attention to the Jewish community. Jewish community has long enjoyed a peaceful co-existence in Azerbaijan and perfectly integrated into the community, he said. Recalling his previous visit to Azerbaijan, he also hailed the country's development in various fields. Mammadyarov, in turn, emphasized that the peaceful co-existence of representatives of various religions in Azerbaijan is a vivid example of tolerance. He said that Azerbaijani government pays special attention to the promotion of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. The sides exchanged views on the prospects for bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and the USA, as well as relations with the American Jewish community. Earlier, President Ilham Aliyev received Malcolm Hoenlein in Baku. During the meeting, the declaration of 2017 as a Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan, the country's successfully hosting the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku and the excellent organization of the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue was hailed as Azerbaijan's contributions to strengthening intercultural dialogue. The importance of the fact that multiculturalism was ensured in Azerbaijan was emphasized at the meeting, and it was noted that measures taken in this regard are followed with great interest. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 17:20 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Margot Ellis, acting assistant administrator for U.S. Agency for International Developments (USAID) Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, arrived in Azerbaijan on May 16 for a four-day visit. She met with Khalaf Khalafov, deputy minister of foreign affairs, Azay Guliyev, chairman of the Council for State Support to NGOs, and other government representatives, to discuss bilateral cooperation in development between the U.S. and Azerbaijan. Ellis also met with international organizations and institutions represented in Azerbaijan, including the EU, the UN, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to learn firsthand about the foreign assistance provided in Azerbaijan. Ellis also met with representatives of civil society organizations. USAIDs goal is to have a strong, positive relationship with Azerbaijan and to assist Azerbaijanis who want their country to become a stable, prosperous, and democratic country, Ellis said during her visit. On May 19, Ellis will travel to Goranboy, Shamkir and Samukh regions to meet with community members and beneficiaries of the projects supported by USAID and the government of Azerbaijan. She will also visit Ganja city to meet with local women in order to discuss womens empowerment in the rural areas of Azerbaijan. Margot Ellis has more than 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian response. She joined the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia in August 2016 as senior deputy assistant administrator. Ellis previously served as acting assistant administrator for the USAID Asia Bureau from 2008-2010 and as mission director in Uganda for three years. Ellis held leadership positions for six years in USAIDs Mission to the West Bank and Gaza from 1999 to 2005. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business with an MBA in finance and from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in economics. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 17:59 (UTC+04:00) By Trend About 260 organizations, including those at the federal level, represent the interests of Azerbaijani citizens in Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on May 18 commenting on the closure of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress. Russia values strategic partnership with Azerbaijan. The policy to comprehensively strengthen the relations was adopted by the heads of the two countries, she said. Zakharova also expressed confidence that the situation concerning the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress will not damage the Azerbaijan-Russia relations. The Supreme Court of Russia, on the basis of an appeal by the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation, liquidated the registration of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress on May 15. This decision was met with deep regret and serious concern by the entire Azerbaijani community, compatriots living in Russia, and other foreign countries. The Congress, which unites more than 2 million Azerbaijanis living almost in all regions of Russia, was established in 2001 on the initiative of national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President Vladimir Putin. Throughout 16 years of its activity, the organization has played a huge role in strengthening of civil peace and interethnic harmony in Russia, development and deepening of socio-economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 12:22 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The state energy companies of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have agreed to jointly develop oil and gas fields. SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uzbekneftegaz Alisher Sultanov signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the 21st Uzbekistan International Oil & Gas (OGU) Exhibition and Conference in Tashkent. Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR and Uzbekistans Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company are linked by the relations of lasting partnership, Abdullayev said at the Key Development Prospects for Future Growth of Oil and Gas Industry in Uzbekistan conference held within the framework of the OGU Exhibition and Conference. Abdullayev reminded that SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz cooperate within the framework of a joint venture created on an equal footing for processing of oil sludge and clean-up of oil contaminated soil. SOCAR also provides assistance to the Uzbek partners in the introduction of the latest developments and technologies in the field of energy saving and alternative energy sources, he added. In May 2016, SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz signed a memorandum providing for cooperation in the exploration and development of oil and gas fields and other potential areas for the development of the energy sector. The 21st International Oil & Gas (OGU) Exhibition and Conference 2017 international exhibition and conference will end on May 19. The event is timed to the 25th anniversary of the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company in 2017. About 200 companies from 30 countries take part in the exhibition. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 13:18 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva U.S. President Donald Trump on May 17 extended sanctions relief for Iran according to nuclear deal even as he imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. Although Trump continued ex-president Barack Obamas pact, which he has long been criticizing and ordered to review the deal, the U.S. has a tough position towards Islamic Republic. "We inform that the United States continues to waive sanctions as required to continue implementing U.S. sanctions-lifting commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," Assistant to the Secretary of State Stuart Jones said. At the same time, the U.S. retains sanctions against Iran on the missile program, human rights and on suspicion that Tehran sponsors terrorism. Trump imposed new penalties on seven Iranian and Chinese people and companies regarding the Islamic Republics ballistic missile program. Meanwhile, Tehran underlined that it will not stop its missile program despite a new round of sanctions. Iran will continue its missile program in line with its inalienable and legal right to upgrade the countrys defensive capabilities, according to Islamic Republics foreign ministry. The Iranian foreign ministry statement underlined that the Islamic Republics missile program does not violate any of Irans international commitments as well as the 2231 resolution of UN. As a counter-measure to new U.S. sanctions, the Islamic Republic imposed sanctions on nine U.S. companies and individuals for human rights violations through direct or indirect cooperation Israel in committing crimes against humanity or other terror acts, participation and assistance in supporting terrorist groups in the region and repression of people in the Middle East and participation in acts against the national security of Iran, the Iranian foreign ministry statement said. The nuclear deal was negotiated in July 2015 between Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. By ratifying the plan, Iran agreed to scale down its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 16:42 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The United States does not intend to prevent Iran from exporting oil, President Donald Trump stated about this in its official notification to the Secretary of State and Finance and Energy ministers. Such notifications are being sent by U.S. presidents to their ministers since 2012. Trump said that the U.S. still does not need to import oil from Iran for its own market. However, as my administration is reviewing its policy on Iran and in line with the U.S. commitment on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions, the United States is not currently making efforts to reduce Irans crude oil sales, Trump's notification said. Iran, five permanent UN Security Council members, Germany and the European Union signed the JCPOA in July 2015 to ensure the peaceful nature of Irans nuclear program. Then, the Islamic republic pledged to refrain from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions imposed against Iran. The agreement provides that in return for verifiable abiding by its commitments, Iran receives relief from U.S., European Union, and UN Security Council nuclear-related economic sanctions. Recently, President Donald Trump has ordered a full review of the 2015 agreement, which he has repeatedly criticized as a failure of his predecessor. At the same time, the U.S. retains sanctions against Iran on the missile program, human rights and on suspicion that Tehran sponsors terrorism. Since the lifting of international nuclear sanctions on Iran in early 2016, Iran strives to regain its lost positions in the world energy market. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 17:14 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The North Atlantic alliance excludes the possibility of direct military operations in Syria, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said upon arrival at the EU Council on Defense in Brussels. "It is very important to understand that NATO does not take part in any military operations, and there were no inquiries about it," he said, answering journalists' questions, TASS reported. At the same time, he stressed that NATO will continue to support the coalition against the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. "NATO must continue to support the coalition, regardless of whether we formally join the coalition," Stoltenberg said. All members of the 28-alliance are already members of the anti-IS coalition, though NATO itself formally isn't. The decision on the issue of whether NATO will become a part of coalition is expected to be taken at the summit of the alliance scheduled for May 25 in Brussels. NATO currently provides support with AWACS surveillance planes and with training in Iraq, in addition to what its member nations provide individually. The U.S. under President Donald Trump is keen for a greater emphasis on NATO fighting terrorism. The Government of Germany has so far been categorically against NATO joining coalition in fight against ISIS. As a justification for its position, it stated that NATO's participation would intensify conflicts in the region or, at the very least, will complicate the search for a peaceful settlement. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 17:24 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Ankara failed to persuade the U.S. not to support the Democratic Union Party (PYD), listed by Turkey as a terrorist group, says Ismail Hakki Pekin, former head of intelligence at General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. The U.S. will support PYD by providing it with arms, he told Trend on May 18. U.S. officials said PYD will participate together with the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in the operations to liberate the Syrian city of Raqqa, which is the main stronghold of the IS, Pekin said. The U.S. support for PYD will negatively affect the Ankara-Washington relations, he said. However, closing the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey or imposing other sanctions against Washington arent yet matter of discussion. Pekin added that Washington will continue to support Turkey in the fight against the IS and in operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group in northern Iraq. Washington may also cooperate with Ankara to expand security zones and humanitarian corridors in Syria, he said. The Turkish Armed Forces cannot carry out new military operations in the direction of Syrian northwestern city of Idlib as this territory is declared a de-escalation zone. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently met with his American counterpart Donald Trump for the first time. The main topics of discussions were bilateral relations and regional issues. Special attention was paid to the settlement of the Syrian crisis, while Erdogan told Trump about Ankara's concern over Washington's support for PYD. Earlier, President Trump approved a plan for providing PYD with arms in Syria despite Turkey's objections. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 May 2017 18:10 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Belarus and Tajikistan intend to expand cooperation in the field of agriculture. This was discussed at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, which was held in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Belarus, Belta reported. Agriculture and Food Minister of Belarus Leonid Zayats noted that in the first quarter of this year the organizations belonging to the system of the Ministry managed to increase the export of goods to Tajikistan by almost 2.4 times compared to the same period of last year. The positive dynamics of supplies of milk products, dried milk, meat, starch, flour, malt extract, etc. has been preserved. Currently, the partners interested in organizing a joint venture to produce MTZ tractors in Tajikistan. In addition, the Tajik side shows an interest in cooperation in the field of seed production, including the cultivation of seeds of potatoes, cereals, corn. Another area in which there is an interest in deepening cooperation is livestock breeding. In 2010, 2011 and 2013, deliveries of pedigree animals for the development of dairy cattle breeding have already been carried out from Belarus to Tajikistan, and this experience has positively proved itself. Tajik Agriculture Minister Izzatullo Sattori, in turn, praised the development of relations between the two countries in the agricultural sector. He reaffirmed the interest in setting up a joint company to assemble MTZ tractors in Tajikistan and noted that the need in Belarusian agricultural equipment is high for the agro-industrial complex of Tajikistan. The minister is confident that the parties need to expand mutually beneficial cooperation not only in agriculture but also in industry, transport, science-technical and cultural areas, including at the interregional level. The participants of the meeting approved the action plan on the implementation of the interstate program of economic cooperation in agriculture between the two countries for 2017-2018. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz It was announced today that the European Space Agency (ESA) and Dublin City University have partnered to establish a Satcom IoT Maker Space, which aims to support the development of innovative Machine-to -Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for satellite communications. Based at DCU Alpha, the Universitys Innovation Campus, and supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the initiative will provide opportunities for rapid prototyping and validation of challenging innovative technologies proposed by ESA and DCU, which are targeted at industry, space tech entrepreneurs, academics and the wider Maker movement. The demand for connectivity for what is anticipated will be up to 26 billion Internet of Things devices by 2025, will require both terrestrial and satellite communications. With the DCU based Maker Space and continued support and collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, ESA aims to accelerate research and development in this area in order to provide truly global communications satellite coverage for all such devices in the future. Published projects will provide opportunities for target stakeholders to address individual design and development challenges. Over an 18 month period, projects will be awarded and implemented by target stakeholders via a competitive process. Maker Space activities will be 100% funded with typical values of between 5,000 and 20,000 per activity. Speaking today, Minister for Training, Skills & Innovation, John Halligan said, "This activity has the potential to support a growing number of Irish technology companies which are developing innovative technology solutions for the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) market. I am particularly pleased to see the development of ESAs role, working with Irish institutions and industry in fostering continued innovation in this area." Source: www.businessworld.ie Eighty five percent of Irish companies currently deploy cloud technology according to Equinix, the global interconnection and data centre company. Equinix have today announced the results of an independent survey of senior IT decision-makers in Ireland which shows that more than half (53%) already have plans to increase deployment in the next year and a further 38% are considering increasing their cloud usage. The typical medium to large enterprise will spend on average 190,000 on cloud technology and services in the next 12 months. The findings show that cloud technology is widely deployed by Irish enterprises and as they embark on their digital transformation journeys, businesses are relying on their cloud service providers (CSPs) to help them become digitally competitive. When asked to list their top reasons for using cloud technology, 48% said it provides them with the ability and flexibility to scale, while 34% said it helps with speed of deployment. Despite the clear competitive advantage of using cloud, businesses face barriers to adoption or increased adoption. Security risks were listed by 60% of the respondents when choosing the top barriers. That was followed by loss of control of data and governance (50%) and the high costs associated with deployment (38%). The survey confirms the growing significance of cloud within Irish organisations, with some 24% of respondents saying more than a quarter of their IT budget now goes on cloud spending. Irish businesses are also becoming more sophisticated in their deployment and are looking for ways in which different CSPs can serve their various digital transformation and overall IT strategy. Of those that are using cloud, some 58% of respondents said they are using multiple CSPs. Commenting on the figures, Managing Director for Ireland and emerging markets at Equinix, Maurice Mortell said, "Irish businesses have really embraced cloud and you can see that in the amount they are investing in it and the increasing sophistication of their usage. Cloud is essential for all businesses today not just IT companies." He added, "In fact, its quite hard not to be utilising the cloud in some form or another these days. However, businesses must ensure that they are using the cloud in a secure, efficient and innovative way that enhances their business and helps them compete in the digital era." Source: www.businessworld.ie Modified On May 03, 2017 07:53 PM By Raunak If buying a car is a contemplative process then maintaining it over the years is equally time and money consuming Owning a new set of wheels is always a happy and joyous experience that involves flaunting your new ride to friends and family, while making your neighbours go green with envy at the same time! As we all know, it is not just the monthly EMIs that we need to think about, there are a whole lot of other expenses related to your car that will lighten your wallet! Here are five points that will help you get a gist of the expenses involved after buying a new car. Insurance We begin with insurance because it is perhaps the biggest amount youre going to pay annually. Under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988, insurance is mandatory for all vehicles and its amount varies according to the model or type of vehicle you own. In the past couple of years, Zero Depreciation Cover or Bumper-to-Bumper insurance has become the prime choice for car buyers. It costs nearly 10-20 per cent over a standard insurance policy, but covers almost every single part of your vehicle. But there is a silver lining. If you havent claimed insurance in the previous year, then you get a no claim bonus the next time you renew your policy. The no claim bonus percentage increases year-on-year. You can opt for zero depreciation insurance for up to five years post the purchase of your car. Also with this insurance, there is an option to keep your IDV (insured declared value) amount which is generally the same as the ex-showroom price of your car. So in the case of a grand theft auto or if you have totalled your vehicle, you get the amount equivalent to the ex-showroom price of your car that was applicable at the time of purchase. Check out: Car Insurance on CarDekho Regular maintenance This is one vital aspect where we recommend you to not cut any corners. Regular maintenance includes proper cleaning of your vehicle, going for predefined tyre care (alignment, rotation and balancing) among others. If you do it meticulously, it will result in the longevity of your car. Regular cleaning is important for your car as it helps keep the car in pristine condition. Just keep in mind to do it properly, otherwise, youll end up doing more harm than good. For this, head over to our detailed article here: 5 Ways To Keep Your New Car In Top Condition Tyres are an essential part of a vehicle since they are the only point of contact with the ground. Regular maintenance of the cars tyres which include maintaining the manufacturer-recommended tyre pressure along with checking the wheel alignment, wheel balancing and rotation is advisable to extract best possible mileage out of your tyres. It is advisable to check the wheel alignment, balancing and rotation every 5,000km for the longevity of your tyres (costs around Rs 1000-1500 depending on the weight required in balancing). Periodic maintenance This aspect is a no-brainer since almost everything is set by the manufacturer from service intervals (set according to time duration or distance covered) to what kind of work needs to be carried out at every service. These details can be found in the cars user manual. Usually, every alternate service ends being costlier than the previous one. Check out: Maintenance schedule of your car Replacing parts This is another essential area where you have to pay attentions as this involves your safety. We have talked about tyre maintenance, now it's time to dwell into the practice of changing them (all the four tyres at the same time). Change your tyres when their tread depth goes below the recommended level. Not doing so will seriously affect the performance and braking distance of your vehicle. Also, do invest in a good set of rubber. Check out a wide range of tyres here: Tyredekho.com Speaking of the battery and wipers, it is advisable to change wipers after every season or after a year at the very least. The cars battery needs to be replaced every three years or so. When it is on its way out, either replace the battery or do a battery health check up to see if it is healthy enough to not leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. The latter is extremely important, especially with diesel cars during the winter months. Check out batteries here: BatteryDekho.com Fuel and parking charges At first glance, your parking and fuel expenses may not seem too expensive. In reality, however, they do make a chunk of the dough you spend on your new car. With our country set to become the third-largest automobile market in the world in the near future, the fight for a space to park your car is only going to get worse. In several cities across the country, proper infrastructure for parking your car is often lacking. And if you park your car in a parking lot, we are sure you know that parking rates fluctuate depending on whether its a holiday or a weekday. At some places, the rates are truly exorbitant. If you live in an apartment complex or a society, your annual parking charges are anywhere between Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 depending on the city you reside in. With fluctuating fuel prices, it is important that one choose a suitable car depending on their need, monthly usage and their budget. For that, do check our detailed article here: Which Car To Buy: Petrol Or Diesel? We Have the Answer. Check out: Upgrading Your Car? Check Out These Key Facts Modified On May 18, 2017 07:28 PM By Tushar With General Motors exiting the domestic market, how will you, the Chevrolet owner, be affected? Lets cut straight to the chase. Chevrolet has lakhs of existing customers in India, including around 6,000 that were added in 2017 alone. With General Motors, or rather, Chevrolet, stopping domestic sales in India, existing owners will surely have several questions on their mind. So, we spoke to Chevrolet Indias senior executives to bring you some clarity on the situation as it stands: 1) Where can I get my car serviced? Chevrolet has stated that it will ensure a hassle-free ownership experience for existing customers. It is coordinating with existing dealers/service partners to ensure that customers can still go to their authorized service centre to have their cars maintenance needs catered too. 2) Will I face issues with regard to spare parts? The company has assured customers that any maintenance-related work, including spare part sourcing will not be an issue. Spare parts will be available across the country through the brands 150 dealer network. 3) What about my warranty and the complete care program? Kaher Kazem, President and MD, General Motors India, has confirmed that all warranties offered will be honoured by the company and all policies held by customers remain unaffected. The Chevrolet Complete Care program is also valid and Chevrolet will continue to provide service center support along with 24/7 contact center and roadside assistance support. 4) Will my resale value be affected? It is highly likely the Chevrolet products will take a hit in value in the used car market. All the models Chevrolet sell will be discontinued from December 31, 2017, and such actions have a negative impact on a cars value. 5) Should I buy a Chevrolet, whether new or used? It is worth considering if you're looking to score a hard bargain. Dealers will be looking to clear their stock, which makes it a buyers market. Customers can twist a dealers arm to get heavy discounts, but bear in mind the prior point i.e. your resale value is likely to take a hit a few years down the line. Also, while the company has given its assurances, it remains to be seen how the situation pans out. 6) What about upcoming launches? The shutdown includes upcoming cars like the new Beat and Beat Essentia as well. Neither one of these cars, nor the new Cruze will come to India. In short, no new Chevrolet model will be launched in India from now on - locally made or imported. 7) So is Chevrolet in India anymore? Yes. Chevrolet will be producing cars at its plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, but it will only be for export markets. Additionally, the General Motors technical centre in Bangalore will be actively participating in the brand's research and development activities. Have any more questions? Share them with us in the comments section. Also read: General Motors Shuts Its Halol Plant After Two Decades Modified On May 18, 2017 12:44 PM By Raunak The Puntos successor, the Fiat Argo, looks sharp and contemporary and will take on the baton from its over-a-decade-old predecessor! Meet the Fiat Argo, which in all probability, will replace the Fiat Punto EVO in India like it will do the same in Brazil. Fiat has revealed the much awaited Argo in a set of official pictures ahead of its full unveil later this month in Brazil. The Punto has served a long time in Fiats stable and it will now be replaced globally (still selling in select markets, including India) by the Argo. The mystery behind the new name! If it had carried the Punto moniker forward then it would technically be the fourth-generation Punto. However, Fiat decided not to carry forward the 'Punto' label and renamed its successor as Argo. According to the Italian automaker, Argo is taken from the famous ship of Jason and the Argonauts in Greek mythology, which is also a large constellation in the Earth's southern sky. Design The overall design of the Argo is diametrically opposite to the Puntos. The Italian flair that the Punto flaunts is rather subdued under its sharp and contemporary silhouette. Nonetheless, the Argo looks fresh and competitive in the cut-throat competition in its segment globally. It gets Fiats latest grille design, which is also seen on its elder sibling, the Tipo hatch (on sale in Europe). This grille design is also present on the Abarth 124 Spider and there's a subtle hint of it on the Fiat 500 facelift as well. The grille is flanked by swept-back double barrel headlamps, which are LEDs (similar to the 2017 Honda City and the upcoming Jazz facelift) as seen in the teaser video, and there are LED daytime running lights as well. The official pictures are perhaps of the top-spec, performance-oriented version of the Argo, which might be sold as the Abarth version in India. Notice its alloys, which appear to be an evolved (read: mutated!) version of the current Abarth Scorpion alloy wheels. Also, it gets red accents on its bumpers to show that this is the go-fast version. (In Picture: Abarth Scorpion alloys of the current Abarth Punto) Theres a side cladding, including the wheel arches, much like the discontinued international Abarth Punto. The rear gets a diffuser, which has a trapezoidal exhaust tip. The split-wrap-around tail lamps are similar to the Tipo hatch. It flaunts a huge FIAT moniker at the centre, reminiscent of the old Fiat models. There's a spoiler as well. (In Picture: Fiat Tipo hatch) Indian debut The Argo will be revealed completely in Brazil in coming days along with its prices. Though not confirmed for India, we believe that it might be launched in the country by 2019. The Brazilian version will be powered by a 1.0-litre, 1.3-litre and 1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol engines. If launched in India, expect the Argo to get familiar 1.3-litre MultiJet diesel and 1.4-litre T-Jet turbo petrol mills. Recommended Read: Fiat Punto EVO Pure Launched At Rs 5.13 Lakh Published On May 18, 2017 02:48 PM By Rachit Shad The Talegaon assembly plant will remain as an export hub In April 2017, General Motors India shut its Halol plant in Gujarat. Rumours are that SAIC, a Chinese carmaker, is negotiating terms with GM India to buy that facility. Now though, the Indian arm of General Motors (GM) has announced that it will cease domestic sales on December 31, 2017. Although this comes as a shocker to many, it isnt really surprising considering how the carmakers fortunes in India have plummeted in recent years. The company has confirmed that its Talegaon facility, which is in close proximity to Pune, will remain operational, but only as an export hub. This decision, as per the company, is part of a series of actions taken to re-evaluate business performance of its operations globally. However, the move to cease domestic sales follows a review of future product plans for India. In June last year, GM came to the conclusion that its Indian operations are best utilised for exports to other countries. In a press release, Stefan Jacoby, GM executive vice-president and president of GM International said, We explored many options, but determined the increased investment originally planned for India would not deliver the returns of other significant global opportunities. It would also not help us achieve a leadership position or compelling, long-term profitability in the domestic market. Difficult as it has been to reach this decision, it is the right outcome to support our global strategy and deliver appropriate returns for our shareholders. GM India president and managing director Kaher Kazem confirmed that the company had launched the new Chevrolet Beat hatchback for export to Mexico and Central and South American markets and is all set to launch the Beat-based sedan in those markets later this year. Kazeem added that the company will will support the affected customers, employees, dealers and suppliers in India. Chevrolet owners, as per him, can be assured that GM India will continue to honour all warranties and provide complete after-sales support. Also Read: General Motors Shuts Its Halol Plant After Two Decades Christian charity warns of 'staggering' influx of child refugees from South Sudan to Uganda The number of South Sudanese child refugees travelling alone to seek sanctuary in neighbouring Uganda is approaching the 'staggering' and 'alarming' level of 10,000, a leading Christian charity has warned. World Vision estimates that since July 2016, some 9,000 unaccompanied minors and separated children from war-torn South Sudan have crossed into Uganda. The international humanitarian organisation says that unless conflict ceases in South Sudan, by mid-2017 Uganda could soon become home to some 10,000 recently separated and unaccompanied refugee children. In the past year, Uganda has become host to the largest refugee settlement in the world, with more than 2,000 refugees from South Sudan have been arriving into Uganda every day. Some 86 per cent of these are women and children, according to the international refugee body UNHCR. World Vision is working on the ground to register hundreds of unaccompanied South Sudanese minors arriving daily at the world's largest refugee settlement: Uganda's Bidi Bidi refugee camp, with a population of 270,000 people. Gilbert Kamanga, World Vision Uganda'scountry director, said: 'Every day World Vision is registering more than 100 separated and unaccompanied minors. The majority of these children saw their parents being killed while others lost touch with their families once fighting broke out. Some of them walk for more than a week to get to Uganda, with nothing to eat.' He added: 'This is one of the worst forms of violence against children. It must stop. Peace needs to prevail in South Sudan.' World Vision is currently overseeing the case management and identification of separated refugee children and unaccompanied minors at Bidi Bidi and Imvepi refugee settlements in northern Uganda. The children's charity has been able to institute interim foster care support for more than 2,500 unaccompanied minors and help at least 1,000 separated children re-unite with their relatives. 'Children make up the highest percentage of new arrivals and they bear the brunt of the conflict in South Sudan,' said Kamanga. 'All in all, World Vision figures show that 6,057 unaccompanied minors and separated children have been registered in Bidi Bidi settlement, while 3,098 have been registered at Imvepi refugee settlement. 'This on-going influx has caused huge gaps in the areas of child protection, psychosocial support, education, peaceful coexistence and youth development programming.' Christian leads protest against Indonesian vice president at Islamic Centre praised by Prince Charles A passionate protest is taking place this afternoon outside the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, where the Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla is due to deliver a lecture. The protest in favour of Christians and other minorities and against Islamic extremism comes just a day after the Prince of Wales spoke at the inauguration of the new home for the centre, appealing for better 'cultural connectivity' in society and praising the centre's goals of 'dialogue, understanding and connection'. The peaceful demonstration is aimed at highlighting the 'ongoing persecution of minorities,' and comes after the jailing earlier this month of the Christian former governor of Jakarta, Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, on blasphemy charges. One demonstrator claimed that eight security men from the embassy could be seen taking photographs of the protesters. Mariella Djorghi, a Catholic from Indonesia and a trained lawyer who helped organise the protest, told Christian Today: 'My main point is to ask questions to Jusuf Kalla how he would envisage a moderate Islam in Indonesia. Because at the moment what we have seen is a Christian governor who has lost a re-election because Muslims went onto the streets with placards quoting a Koran verse al Ma'ida 51.' The verse reads: 'O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.' Djorghi said: 'Because of that, my belief was that the vote was switched. He is a governor who has proven to be highly competent, and he lost to an Islamist who was openly supported by Jusef Kalla, who should have remained neutral.' 'So what message is this sending to non-Muslims like me? It means that you are not welcome in this country. 'I would not be risking standing here being registered by the intelligence of the embassy so I cannot go home, or whatever they might have in store for me, if I did not feel passionately about this. Many people are scared because they have families back home. If you can do that to a governor, you can do anything to anyone else. Why is the governor behind bars and not them? 'I asked an embassy official, how would he feel if he sees Christians marching down the street saying ''Christians should not choose non-Christians as leaders'? He said that he has to be neutral. How can you be neutral in the face of such injustice?' Djorghi added: 'When I found out that Prince Charles was the patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, I thought: "Please resign from that post. This is not good news for you." It beggars belief. 'This is no longer about the Christian governor he is in jail and there is nothing I can do about that now. It is about us and what happens to us.' Djorghi, an Indonesian resident from London, has written to Oxford University's Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson regarding Kalla's invitation,saying that he is not fit to discuss 'moderate Islam'. Her protest has been supported by the British Pakistani Christian Association, which has set up a petition. The Association's chairman Wilson Chowdhry said: 'I join Mariella and other humanitarians in expressing deep concern for the bias support that the Vice President gave to an Islamist candidate for the Jakarta governorship for which he was widely criticised.' Christianity invented human rights. Secularists need to remember that The UK government seems to suggest every few months that it's going to get rid of the Human Rights Act. So far it remains on the statute books. Plans to replace it with a British Bill of Rights never seem to get off the drawing board, but maybe the outcome of the EU Referendum will change that. Into this uncertain environment, a new book has been published which examines the Judeo-Christian basis of human rights and suggests a religious basis should be maintained for any future Bill of Rights. The book Religious Approaches To Human Rights, by Martin Davie was published this month. It has drawn the anger of the National Secular Society in a blog on its website, penned by NSS executive director, Keith Porteous Wood. In it he offers a sort-of review of the book as well as reporting on the launch event in Parliament. According to the introduction he, "Offers a critical review of a new book that claims Human Rights owe their existence to religion when the greatest modern threat to Human Rights comes from organised religion." Upon this obvious non sequitur, he bases his whole review (and I might add, much of the approach of the NSS). The argument seems to be that because some religiously inspired regimes around the world are horribly repressive, then human rights can't possibly have had a religious background in the first place. Not only is this philosophically incoherent, it's historically inaccurate it's an indisputable fact that the concept of human rights developed in a Christian context. Firstly, let's deal with Porteous Wood's opposition to the repression and violence which is commonplace in certain religious regimes around the world. On this, he and I are of one mind. He highlights Saudi Arabia as one of the most depraved regimes in history (as I've written about here) and there is no doubt that the extreme Salafist form of Sunni Islam promoted by the country's leading religious authorities is to blame (it also inspires ISIS). I'll stand shoulder to shoulder with the NSS and anyone else who opposes the UK government's support for Saudi Arabia and its horrific regime. But does Porteous Wood really believe it's credible to equate any group which is 'religious' with the bloodthirsty theocrats of Saudi Arabia?? However bad the Saudis are (or the Iranians, or any other repressive religious regime) though, that tells us nothing about the development of human rights. 'Human rights' as a concept is a relatively recent invention, but it has been built on centuries of development in European thought from the Church Fathers, through medieval philosophy, through the Enlightenment and into the 21st century. While not all those debating the development of human rights would have described themselves as Christians (Spinoza, Thomas Paine...), they were working in a distinctly Christian environment. The ground had been laid by Aristotle, via Thomas Aquinas. Porteous Wood seemingly rejects this. He says, "Natural rights" (whatever they are, I suspect natural in the eyes of the beholder)." In one fell swoop, he dismisses centuries of argument and debate and defenestrates the philosophy of giants like John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Hugo Grotius. But no matter, because Porteous Wood and the NSS don't seem especially interested in where human rights come from merely that they want to assert that they are 'a good thing'. This is naive. The NSS says it exists to, "Uphold the universality of individual Human Rights." That's admirable, but human rights were not created ex-nihilo by the European Convention or the Universal Declaration. They have a basis in the Judeo-Christian worldview. Nick Spencer from Theos has demonstrated how equality and toleration (two key concepts in the foundation of human rights) come from the English Bible. If human rights don't have a religious basis as the NSS seems to want to argue then where do they come from? We need to be told how a secular campaign group seeks to persuade the rest of us that human rights are inherently good. They must do more than merely give examples of bad religious regimes from around the world. Indeed, Christians are only too aware of the systematic denial of human rights as the most persecuted minority in many parts of the globe (something which, in fairness, the NSS does mention). It isn't that there can't be a secularist basis for human rights (although I struggle to see how the inherent dignity and therefore rights of each human are grounded on a purely atheistic basis) it's just that Porteous Wood utterly fails to make a coherent case for it. There are some vague allusions to secularism being neutral and fair to all something which just isn't true. To spend a blog saying how dreadful various religious crimes have been doesn't get us anywhere. Many secularist regimes have been beyond gruesome Pol Pot's Cambodia, Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China to name but three. Yet it would be unfair for me to suggest these represent secularism. Instead I'd like to have a grown-up conversation about how, in a pluralist society like the UK or the USA, we can talk about human rights, their origin, our obligations to each other and more while acknowledging that we are products of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Without it, human rights are not axiomatic. The Church has, of course, abused its power over the centuries. There are dreadful religiously motivated regimes around the world. No one doubts these facts. Yet to suggest that because of them, we should deny where human rights comes from in the first place, is overkill. Let's have a proper conversation about how we live together as religious and non-religious people in a plural society, rather than tarring all people of faith with the Saudi brush. It's boring, banal and doesn't get us anywhere. Egypt's Coptic Pope meets the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury in historic UK visit Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Pope was received this month by the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prince of Wales during an historic pastoral visit across the United Kingdom. The meeting of the Queen and Pope Tawadros II, 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark took place on 9 May at Windsor Castle. Tawadros presented the Queen with a Coptic icon portraying the Holy Family's famous 'Flight to Egypt' seen in the New Testament. After the meeting, His Grace Bishop Angaelos, who leads of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, said: 'This meeting between Her Majesty and His Holiness is an embodiment of our Coptic Orthodox Church here in Britain, made up of those, many of whom will have roots in Egypt, who still feel connected to Egypt, but are very integrated as British Copts. 'I am personally thankful for this meeting that reinforces this composite and naturally organic identity at the highest level of our Church and nations.' Last week, Tawadros met Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace. The pair met privately before joining the rest of the delegation. In an address at Lambeth, Pope Tawadros II thanked the Archbishop for his hospitality. He said: 'We are grateful to God for the co-operation, dialogue, and Christian love between our two Churches. 'We are hopeful and pray for more and more Christian unity globally and we believe it is possible through the love of God, and through the ecumenical blood of all Christian martyrs.' Pope Tawadros signed the palace's guestbook with the words 'Love Never Ends'. In turn, Welby praised the 'profound inspiration' of the Egyptian Coptic Church, which has been subject to severe persecution in recent months, including the Palm Sunday bombings on Coptic churches, which killed 45 and injured over 100. Welby said: 'The courage of your people their constant faith, their steadfastness, their long endurance brings to life those words we read so often in the epistles of Saint Paul, and we are truly grateful and give thanks to God for you and for your people.' On May 17, Pope Tawadros, alongside Bishop Angaelos, met with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales at Clarence House. Prince Charles has been an outspoken voice against religious persecution in the Middle East and Egypt, publicly advocating for Christians and other minority groups in said regions. Reflecting on the Coptic Pope's visit as a whole, His Grace Bishop Angaelos said: 'It has been a blessing for the Coptic community here in the United Kingdom to engage with their shepherd. It was also an opportunity for His Holiness to meet his flock and to encounter some of the work being done under the various ministries within the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom. 'I am thankful that the visit was fruitful and gave His Holiness an overview of the diverse and dynamic role of Coptic Christians across Britain who endeavour to live faithfully according to their Christian principles, while being fully integrated into their surrounding community. I am also pleased that we had the opportunity to learn from the example of peaceful yet powerful resilience that His Holiness and our brothers and sisters in Egypt demonstrate on a daily basis.' How can we be sure Jesus will return and how should we prepare? I CAN remember exactly how I heard about 9-11. I had taken our young daughter to a local playground. She was playing happily on the slide when a man came up to me and said something like, 'I guess you felt you had to get out and get some air, given what is happening in America today.' I had no idea what he was talking about. But once he had explained, I rushed home, put on the TV news, and watched transfixed and appalled for hours. The terrorist attack of 11th September 2001 was something no-one had expected, for which no-one had planned, and which was seemingly beyond comprehension. Everything changed that day. For first century Jewish people, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD by Roman forces had a similar impact. It was the largest building anywhere in the city, visible for miles the heart of life, culture and faith. And it was decimated. You can still see some of the massive building blocks lying where they were thrown over on that day. Unlike 9/11, however, there had been a warning. Forty years earlier, as Jesus walked around the temple, his disciples commented admiringly on the temple's massive and impressive structure (Mark 13v1). But far from responding in kind, Jesus instead offers words which would have stunned his friends: 'Do you see these great buildings?' he says. 'Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down,' (v2). It was a devastating prediction. And his words came true, of course. For unimaginable as it might have seemed when he said those things, his prophecy was fulfilled with shocking accuracy. As we continue our fortnightly pilgrimage through Mark's gospel we come to chapter 13 one of the most complex parts of the New Testament. Whatever else might be said about this section, however, we can take away the clear reassurance that if Jesus was able to predict with unnerving precision what would take place several decades later in relation to the temple, we can be sure that one day the New Testament promises about his return will also be fulfilled. Christians differ over whether Mark 13 refers just to the destruction of the temple, or to Jesus' second coming as well. Either way, much of the New Testament is clear that one day he will come again (for example 1 and 2 Thessalonians). And what is also clear is that Jesus gives us pointers here in Mark about how to live as we await that day. (1) We can be confident that history is in God's hands even when it feels out of control (v1-31). There will be wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes and famines (v7-8). But this does not mean God has lost control of history. We are not to be thrown by these things. Jesus predicts them. (2) We can expect pain. There will be earthquakes and famines (v7-8, 17-19). God does not promise exemption from them. Paul in Romans says 'in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us' (8v37). We might ask: in what things? 'Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword,' he says. In those things we are more than conquerors not by being taken out of them, but by persevering through them. (3) We can expect persecution from local government, even from religious people, from national governments (all in v9), from family (v12), and in fact from anyone (v13). We are to respond by being on our guard (v9) and keeping on preaching the gospel (v10), trusting the Holy Spirit to help us (v11). (4) We can expect counterfeit religion. Jesus predicts false religious leaders and prophets will turn up (v21-22). It is not generally seen as acceptable today to declare that some beliefs are simply wrong. We live in a relativistic age, where tolerance and love are equated with regarding all worldviews as equally valid. But this is not the line Jesus takes. (5) We should build our lives on Jesus' words. 'Heaven and earth will pass away,' Jesus declares, (v31), 'but my words will not pass away.' Politicians' promises will fail; Jesus' words will stand the test of time. (6) We should be alert. This is what Jesus says in v23 and later on he reiterates it, telling us, twice, to stay spiritually awake (v35 and v37). We are not to become sleepy disciples, but be active and vigilant in our service of Christ. A famous Anglican prayer sums how we can respond: 'O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful as we await the coming of your Son our Lord; that, when he shall appear, he may not nd us sleeping in sin but active in his service and joyful in his praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.' David Baker is a former daily newspaper journalist now working as an Anglican minister in Sussex, England. The Rough Guide to Discipleship is a fortnightly series. Find him on Twitter @Baker_David_A Johnnie Moore joins praise for Trump's advocacy for imprisoned US pastor in Turkey Evangelical leaders are hailing Trump's efforts to secure the release of an imprisoned American pastor in Turkey. In a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday Trump pressed the Turkish leader on Andrew Brunson, who has been held since October on immigration violation charges after running a small church in Izmir, Turkey. His charges have since escalated to accusations of terrorism, though Turkey has produced no evidence for their claims. Johnnie Moore, evangelical author and advocate for persecuted Christians, said: 'This shows the clear and open lines of communication between evangelicals and this White House.' He told RNS: 'Not only were we able to make the President and Vice President aware that this was a priority of ours, we were pleased that they shared our concern and acted upon it.' It comes after the White House said Trump had pressurised Erdogan on the issue. 'President Trump raised the incarceration of Pastor Andrew Brunson and asked that the Turkish government expeditiously return him to the United States,' a statement on Tuesday read. The American Centre for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a religious freedom advocacy group, announced on Monday it had submitted a formal statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council appealing for a quick release. Jay Sekulow of the ACLJ joined the praiseof Trump's advocacy with president Erdogan. 'Last week, I urged the President and the Vice President when I met with them in the White House to raise Pastor Andrew's case with Turkish leaders. Today, they did just that, raising his plight directly to President Erdogan,' he wrote. 'This is exactly what we asked the President to do and is a major sign of significant progress toward bringing Pastor Andrew home.' Major Trump speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia being drafted by 'Muslim ban' architect A forthcoming major speech in Saudi Arabia by Donald Trump on the need to confront radical Islam is being drafted by an advisor who devised the 'Muslim ban' policy which was blocked by the US courts, according to reports. Trump's speech, which will be delivered to around 50 Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia during his international tour which begins later this month, is reportedly being written by Stephen Miller, who played a key role in the travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries that did not include Saudi Arabia. The speech is likely to be in stark contrast to that given in 2009 by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama in Cairo, entitled 'A new beginning,' aimed at rebuilding American relations with Islam following the 'war on terror' under George W Bush. Miller reportedly wrote Trump's inauguration speech, though Trump has claimed that he wrote it himself. As a student, Miller co-founded the Terrorism Awareness Project, an initiative run by the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center, which has been accused of ties to anti-Muslim hate groups. Miller said at the time that the project was aimed at educating students about the risk of 'Islamofascism,' a term coined by the British neo-conservative writer Christopher Hitchens. The President 'will deliver an inspiring but direct speech on the need to confront radical ideology and the president's hopes for a peaceful vision of Islam to dominate across the world,' Trump's national security adviser H R McMaster said. 'The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilization and to demonstrate America's commitment to our Muslim partners,' he added. McMaster is also reportedly contributing to the speech, along with Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner and his deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, CNN reports. Controversially, Saudi Arabia was not on the list of countries affected by Trump'stravel ban. During the presidential campaign, Trump proposed to ban all Muslims from entering the US and claimed he saw Muslims 'clapping and cheering' as the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, in a claim that has been disputed. Trump is planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican - where he will meet Pope Francis - Brussels and Sicily during his first foreign trip. Thousands of Christians to unite in prayer for biggest evangelism project in a generation Hundreds of thousands of Christians will unite in prayer later this month in the most ambitious evangelism project in a generation. The Archbishop of Canterbury is calling on believers of all denominations to back his 'Thy Kingdom Come' initiative, aimed at bringing together sparking a wave of prayer around the world. 'It's not a Church of England thing, it's not an Anglican thing, it's a Christian thing,' said Justin Welby. 'Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that we, those who follow him, might "be one that the world might believe". We are invited to make a lasting difference in our nations and in our world, by responding to his call to find a deep unity of purpose in prayer.' He added: 'In these times of transformation across Europe, mass migration and war, it has never been more important to pray in whatever way we can. To be transformed as individuals and as communities so that we deepen our relationship with God and work together towards peace.' The project, now in its second year, saw more than 100,000 people join the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for 10 days of prayer in 2016 between the Christian festivals of Ascension which celebrates Jesus departing to heaven after his resurrection, and Pentecost which celebratesthe Holy Spirit falling on Jesus' disciples. Many more are expected to join this year with the initiative reaching Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists and free evangelicals as well as Anglicans. Stretching right around the world churches are organising firework celebrations, street parties, prayer walks, candlelit services and prayer tepees. In the UK the BBC will live broadcast a service on Pentecost Sunday featuring Welby alongside the charismatic worship leaders Matt Redman and Tim Hughes as well as Liz Adekunle, archdeacon of Hackney. Emma Buchan, who heads up the project, says the response has been 'overwhelming'. She says: 'We've heard from churches across the world, including different denominations and traditions, who have all pledged to get involved from South Africa to Canada and from the Brazil to Hong Kong. Each place is organising the time in their own way, for example in Hong Kong they are planning big celebrations in the cathedrals and establishing a network of "prayer warriors".' Two gay men accused of having sex are sentenced to 85 public lashings each in Indonesian province Two gay men accused in Indonesia of having sex with one another were both sentenced yesterday to 85 lashes in public. The case is the first of people being punished for homosexuality in the highly conservative province of Aceh under a strict version of Sharia law. Human rights activists called the punishment excessive and a dangerous turn of events in the province. Local reports said that vigilantes had caught the two men naked in bed together, and that the pair had pleaded not to be reported to the Shariah police. Then, in an attack recorded on video, the two men were then beaten before being taken to a local police station. There, the chief investigator for the Shariah police, Marzuki Ali was recorded asking the men, aged 20 and 23: 'So you don't like women? Not interested in them any more?' Homosexuality has been illegal in Aceh since 2014, but this is the first time citizens have been punished for it. One hundred lashes is the maximum sentence for the supposed crime, but the court sentenced the men to 85 each after they apologised for their actions. According to Human Rights Watch, a total of 339 people were caned in Aceh in 2016 on charges of moral indecency. The sentencing coincided yesterday with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Homosexuality is legal in most of Indonesia, with Aceh being the only province in the country that has formally adopted Shariah. However, a nationwide campaign by conservative civil society groups against homosexuality has culminated in a major case that is currently before the country's Constitutional Court, which will decide whether sex outside marriage should be banned throughout Indonesia. Such a ban would effectively make homosexual sex illegal, as Indonesia has not legalised gay marriage. Dede Oetomo, a veteran Indonesian gay rights campaigner, said that Acehnese activists were 'all scared'. Indonesia has a highly decentralised structure of government, with local and provincial governments sometimes adopting laws that are far more conservative than that of the national government. In 2001, the Indonesian government granted Aceh a special right to impose a legal code based on the Koran, as part of a long-term effort to make peace with the leaders of an Islamic insurgency there. A number of Christian churches have been burned down by Islamic extremists in Aceh in recent years. Unmarried couple stoned to death by 'Islamists' in Mali An unmarried couple were stoned to death by 'Islamists' in Mali earlier this week, local officials have revealed. In the first incident of its kind since jihadist groups were driven out of the region after a French-led military intervention in 2013, the public were reportedly invited to take part in the stonings of the man and woman. 'The Islamists dug two holes where they put the man and the woman who lived maritally without being married,' a local official told AFP. 'They were stoned to death.' The attack happened on Tuesday in Taghlit, close to Aguelhok in the Kidal region in north-east Mali. 'Four people threw stones at them until they died,' the official added. Another local official said that the Islamic extremists had accused the unmarried couple of violating 'Islamic law', which requires punishment by stoning. During their brief control of key towns in the vast north from 2012, jihadist groups imposed a version of Sharia law which forced women to wear veils and declared whipping, stoning and mutilation as punishment for transgressions. In July 2012, the Ansar Dine group, which is linked to al-Qaeda, stoned a couple in public in Aguelhok who they accused of having children outside marriage. The Malian Association for the Defence of Human Rights described the stoning as 'cowardly murder'. An official, Oumar Diakite said: 'This is barbaric. The people who did this should be arrested and put on trial.' News of the stoning comes on the eve of an expected visit to Mali by the new French president Emmanuel Macron, who is due to meet French troops stationed there. With immigration reform back in the news, everyone seems to assume that any new system of admitting immigrants would be administered by Washington. Its not too late, though, for Congress to consider a more federalist approach. State and local governments, the authorities best positioned to understand their own needs and capacities, should have a greater say in directing the flow of immigration. To that end, Washington could let states sponsor regional visas. Like H-1B employment visas, regional visas would last three years and could be extended to six years. The visas would be dual-intent, meaning that holders could apply for permanent residency (and eventually citizenship). The states would sponsor these visas according to their own economic needs, reserving the right to require visa holders to live in specific cities or regions. Visa holders would have to find full-time employment and remain in good standing under American law. They would be free to bring dependents for the duration of their time in the United States. The promise of a path to citizenship would make the regional restriction almost entirely self-enforcing: few visa holders would risk losing their citizenship opportunity by moving to another region. States might also encourage compliance by requiring every regional visa holder to purchase a primary residence. A home-purchase condition could be particularly useful in regions or cities, such as Detroit, that are experiencing net outmigration and have large inventories of vacant homes. A regional visa with a home-purchase requirement would bear some resemblance to the EB-5 visa, which offers immediate residency and green cards to wealthy international businesspeople who invest at least $1 million in an American company (or at least $500,000 in certain distressed areas). Though the home-purchase condition would require a much smaller investment, regional visa holders would face a longer path to residency than EB-5 visa holders do. Regional visas would offer substantial improvements over employment-based visas, such as the H-1B visa for specialty occupations and the H-2A visa for temporary agricultural workers. These visas tie the holder to a single employer. Regional visas, by contrast, would allow holders to seek opportunities throughout regional labor markets, making those markets more efficient. The visas would also enhance the quality and depth of states labor pools, which would, in turn, attract businesses, generate jobs and economic growth, and expand the local tax base. And though the visas would offer a hand up to economically struggling regions, they would also give local governments an incentive to make themselves attractive to potential residents by proving that their communities are safe, economically dynamic, and well governed. Similar policies have worked elsewhere. Under Canadas successful Provincial Nominee Program, for instance, the provinces, not the federal government, determine which immigrants to admit. Its time for the United States to follow suit. Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images Trumps reign is so erratic, unpredictable, and unprecedented that it is only natural that it has accelerated the medias ingrained tendency to search for historical analogies to current events. From the moment of Trumps election to his recent firing of the FBI director, comparisons to previous historical epochs and events have flowed ceaselessly through the media. Weve seen Trump compared to fascist dictators of every stripe, from ancient Roman tyrants to the European dictators of the 1920s to the Latin American caudillos, as well as to Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn; Reagan; and Nixon, Nixon, Nixon. Reporters have always resorted to historical analogy to deepen readers grasp of the present. For decades it seemed that every few months, someone would quote that old saw from George Santayana, the poet and essayist: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Santayanas idea has become an article of faith in uncertain times. But making such analogies to explain what is happening around you is a fraught enterprise. Connecting present and future is one of journalisms crucial roles. But just as analyzing geological layers wont prevent an earthquake, drawing connections with the past wont prevent disasters in the present. It was German scholars who perfected the study of history as an academic field, and there were perhaps no more historically minded people than the Germans as the Nazis rose to power. ICYMI: A Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks movie has former New York Times journalists pretty ticked off Sign up for CJR 's daily email Yet historical knowledge worked against foreseeing the National Socialist takeover of the country and its consequences. No one could imagine the worst because the worst had never happened in that way. The unknowable became the unimaginable. In that case, knowledge of history made people blind to the way history was being made all around them. Instead of looking for the future in the misty past, we should be looking for it in the inchoate patterns of the present. It is unfortunate that journalists quote only Santayanas famous line, and not the entire passage in which it occurs. Progress, Santayana wrote in the same paragraph, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement Santayana was a political conservative, and his famous axiom must be seen in the light of his politics. He mistrusted, even feared, radical social change. The Life of Reason, where the axiom appeared, was published in five volumes between 1905 and 1906, the time of the first Russian revolution, which saw the rise of terrorism as a political tool in the form of waves of assassinations. Versed in the aims of the most radical Russian revolutionaries, Santayana himself must have been thinking of the past, in particular the French Revolution, during which Robespierre proclaimed the abolition of history and established a new calendar, starting with Year One. Yet knowledge of the past could not prepare anyone for Robespierre and the terror he imposed after the revolution. And all the knowledge about all the tyrannies and mass murders throughout history could not foresee either the Nazis or Stalins murder of tens of millions. All the historical analogies now being made on a daily basis between Trump and various historical villains are not going to protect us from the worst that Trump will do. ICYMI: Journalists, heres what to do when things start to get genuinely bad Once the comparison between Trump and, say, some Latin American dictator is made, alarm rises and then, gradually, complacency sets in. Trump is like Pinochet, some commentators write. But social turbulence preceded Pinochet and his coup had the backing of the Chilean military, not to mention the active support of the American government. You read the analogy, look out the window, see that nothing like that is happening, and start to relax. The fact of the analogy having been made, and then having been proved false, induces complacency. This doesnt mean that Trump doesnt pose a grave threat to the republic, as every passing day makes more clear. It means that should the threat materialize it will be as unprecedented as Trump in the White House is himself. Instead of looking for the future in the misty past, we should be looking for it in the inchoate patterns of the present. The most vicious legislation, in the form of the House health care package, made its way to the Senate, soon eclipsed by Trumps firing of Comey, which itself was overshadowed by reports that Trump revealed highly classified national security information to visiting Russian diplomats. Now we have the bombshell of Comeys claim that Trump pressed him to discontinue the FBIs investigation into Mike Flynn. How long until the next bombshell eclipses that one? With each new revelation of incompetence or potential wrongdoing, each revelation becomes outdated and nearly forgotten. For a lot of people, historical analogies in such a historically unprecedented time are a kind of prayer, but one in which the reader or viewer or listener orients herself toward the world not by what the world is, but by what the world was. These days it seems that the people who remember the past are doomed, not to repeat it, but to miss what is happening in the present. This became explicit one night, shortly after Trumps firing of the FBI director, when Carl Bernstein appeared on CNN to talk about the event. Asked, inevitably, to detail the similarities between Trumps actions and Nixons dismissal of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor tasked with investigating the Watergate break-in, Bernstein shook his head, smiled, and began instead to detail all the ways Trumps firing of Comey and Nixons of Cox differed, the main one being, as Bernstein observed, that there were no prominent Republicans this time around to condemn the presidents actions, as there had been in 1972 when Howard Baker denounced Nixon. Ironically, some other journalists repeatedly quoted Bakers famous question as vice chairman of the Senate Watergate committeeWhat did the president know, and when did he know it?in order to invoke a wistful analogy, wishing aloud for a Republican to play Bakers role. But few media people made it clear, as Bernstein did on CNN, that the absence of such figures was one reason the analogy didnt hold. Or as USA Today put it, [Trump] has something Nixon never didimmunity by congressional majority. Hegel once wrote that Reading the morning newspaper is the realists morning prayer. One orients ones attitude toward the world either by God or by what the world is. The former gives as much security as the latter, in that one knows how one stands. For a lot of people, historical analogies in such a historically unprecedented time are a kind of prayer, but one in which the reader or viewer or listener orients herself toward the world not by what the world is, but by what the world was. The present dissolves, and we are left with the reassuring past, which is over and done with, and out of which America emerged triumphant. This too, the analogies tell us, shall pass. The result of such remembrance of the past is often to dull people to the realities of the present. But events that become historical happen for the first time. That is why we remember them as history. The truth of this is now unfolding before our very eyes. TRENDING: One word you thought the TSA would never use Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Lee Siegel , a widely published writer on culture and politics, is the author of six books and the recipient of a National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism. Pundits were marveling at the roiling news out of Washington in the past week, even before the latest striking developments on Trump and Russia. And then this morning came word of another signal event: The unexpected death of Roger Ailes, the disgraced former overlord of Fox News and, not incidentally, a man who played a key role in the most earth-shaking political event of the decade, the election of Donald Trump as president. Ailess legacy will be much discussed in the coming days. One of his signal successes, however, was prominently on display from the moment the news broke. The New York Timess story on his death had this for its third graf: Fair and balanced was Mr. Ailess defining phrase for Fox News, along with another slogan: We report. You decide. Though routinely mocked by liberal critics, who regarded the network as decidedly unfair and imbalanced, those words amounted to an article of faith for Mr. Ailes. Can you see Ailess influence? Its that part about liberal critics. Ailes brilliantly set up his network in opposition to a supposed liberal media. The Times said his work was criticized only by those liberal criticswhich of course was to be expected. But Ailes wasnt just a problem for liberals. He was a problem for anyone who cares about truth and, by extension, the role of a free press in a democracy. RELATED: The inside story of how a New York Times reporter took down Bill OReilly Sign up for CJR 's daily email The word conservative when used in this context gets him off the hook as well. Heres the next graf in the Times story: If we look conservative, he said, its because the other guys are so far to the left. But Ailes didnt create Fox to be conservative in the normal sense of the word. He created it to be partisanto support whoever was wearing the Republican jerseyand thats a key difference. An organization that adhered to free-market values and, say, personal responsibility would have been a much different animal. On Fox, you could always see the networks support for one side, and against the other. This came up every time news good for Democrats but bad for Republicans was delivered outside of prime time, at the end of a show, under the breath of one of the networks blond-helmeted female talking heads, or in the opening clause of a sentence, only to be dismissed, diminished, or refuted in the second part of that same sentence. Its not conservative, for example, to attack John Kerrys war record or impugn the patriotism of those who disagree with you, or to give extensive airtime to those doing so with little or no opportunity for opposing viewpoints. The partisanship came up everywhere, like in the breathless way Megyn Kelly would describe some innocuous development in the Hillary Clinton email story as game-changing. RELATED: Remembering history wont save us from Donald Trump Do CNN and MSNBC have their problems? Certainly. CNN is a frivolous basket case of a network. MSNBC goes off the rails, too. Youll never hear a reasoned criticism of a union on the network, and this reporter noted some of the buffoonery spewed by Rachel Maddow in these pages last year. But the problem CNN grapples with every day is that it allows partisans from both sides to spew talking points. Foxs whole network was a talking point, and for only one side. This is the accomplishment that should be at the heart of discussions of Ailess legacy: He normalized the abnormal. The other thing Ailes did was reduce newsgathering standards across the board. Once in a while Kelly, Shep Smith, or Bret Baier would say something off message, which the network would trumpet as evidence of its evenhandedness. To be fair, the network sometimes got things right when others didnt. I remember a few days before the election seeing a Fox field reporter in Michigan tell a news anchor that the Clinton campaign was seeing a free fall in its numbers there. In fact, the reporter was onto something few others noticed. But its worth noting that my citing that report represents the sort of intellectual honesty that was almost entirely missing from Fox. Heres an example that stays with me. In 2013, amid the government shutdown, the hosts of Fox & Friends were aghast at a story the network had been featuring for days: Veterans who wanted to get in to see the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, which had been shut down, along with most other nonessential governmental operations. The shutdown was at the very least a bipartisan accomplishment, but largely the work of anti-Obamacare and anti-Planned Parenthood forces in the GOP-controlled House. Fox focused on the aged former soldiers whoin the networks version of eventswere being blocked by the Obama administration from seeing the memorial. The government is acting as your enemy, opined an exercised Tucker Carlson on Fox & Friends that morning. Cohost Anna Kooiman added: The Republican National Committee is offering to pay for it to keep it open so that the veterans from Honor Flight are going to be able to go and see this. [The memorial] honors them. It really doesnt seem fair, especiallyand were going to talk a little bit later in the show too about some things that are continuing to be funded. And President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the Museum of Muslim Cultureout of his own pocket!yet its the Republican National Committee whos paying for this. Note how, the facts aside, the GOP favors keeping the government open, while the Obama administration was more interested in a Museum of Muslim Culture. That museum was a fiction, of course. Note as well how Carlson, now the leading man in the networks primetime lineup, didnt chime in with a correction, or to ask, Why would the president fund a Muslim museum? Hes not a Muslim. At just about any other established news site in the US, this would have been a major embarrassment for everyone on the show and the institution. There would have been a formal correction, perhaps noting that the source of the bad information was a satirical news site. ICYMI: A Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks movie has former New York Times journalists pretty ticked off So outlandish was Foxs assertion that a correction, of sorts, was issued. Not on the air, but on Twitter, and not on the networks Twitter account but Kooimans less-prominent account, with a tweet that apologized in vague terms: I made a mistake yday after reading flawed research abt a museum closing. Most Fox watchers and many others would shrug at the story, but its only because we have become so inured to the networks sleaziness. In January 2015, after commentators across the network had spread the untruth that there were no-go Muslim areas in European cities, and then-host Jeanine Pirro had devoted an entire segment to the supposed phenomenon, the network did a formal correction. On a Saturday night. Anchor Julie Banderas forthrightly said the errors were regrettable. But then she added: There are certainly areas of high crime in Europe, as there are in the United States and other countries, where police and visitors enter with caution. Of course, this is irrelevant to the main point, and contextually false. For example, Banderas could have said, In fact, crime in the US has fallen precipitously over the last 25 years, and yet even now, the homicide rate in the US far exceeds that of western Europe. But not at a network run by Roger Ailes. As you might surmise from both examples, the network is obsessed with race. Or to be more frank, it was obsessed with pushing the buttons of racists, and stirring up racial resentment by focusing on negative stories about racial minorities. And racial minorities were not the only targets. Gays, women, the poorjust about any group the networks aged and cranky audience could get mad atwas given the same hateful treatment. ICYMI: Journalists, heres what to do when things start to get genuinely bad Ailes left Fox last July after an exploding sexual harassment scandal tarnished the networks image in a way that even his longstanding supporter Rupert Murdoch couldnt ignore. Ailes walked away with some $40 million. The Times said he died today from a blow on the head he sustained May 10 in a fall at his Florida mansion. Ailess family deserves our condolences, particularly the wife he humiliated. The network as a whole, not so much. As the Times story displays, the rest of the media remains outmaneuvered by the strange and baleful beast Ailes created. Its not liberal cant to say that Fox traffics in lies and, sometimes, hate; that it has no shame when caught in those lies or hate; and that it has existed too long without the shunning it deserves. Ailess legacy also includes the fake news epidemic that has confounded political debate in this country. Ailes and Fox gave the fake news architects their blueprint. With Bill OReilly also removed after his own flurry of sordid accusations, and even the departure of important Ailes deputy Bill Shine, the networks ongoing recipe for influence may change. Some reports say Murdochs sons, James and Lachlan, may move Fox closer to the mainstream. But Ailess ethical and moral vinegar will remain, pickling the reputation of the channel and virtually all who work there. Whatever happens, it wont be easy to remove the smell. TRENDING: A hidden message in memo justifying Comeys firing Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Bill Wyman is the former arts editor of NPR and Salon.com. Follow him @hitsville. AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a total length of 26,076 km, including 17,329 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,340 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,407 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation. Canadas top startup accelerator has joined forces with Dalhousie to launch a new branch of the program in Atlantic Canada one that will help promising ventures transition into high-growth companies. Dals Rowe School of Business will serve as the hub for the Atlantic offshoot of Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a program based at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management. Like the Toronto program, CDL-Atlantic will provide startups with access to a powerful network of accomplished entrepreneurs and investors through a nine-month, milestone-based mentoring program. Mentors in the program in the past have included the founders of WIND Mobile, Kik, Kobo, as well as companies that have sold to tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon. CDL has proven to be incredibly effective in helping young companies strengthen and expand their ventures through exposure to expert guidance and pivotal investment opportunities. Since launching in Toronto in 2012, CDL companies have generated more than $1-billion in equity value. An offshoot launched earlier this year in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia has added to that success. "We are thrilled to join such a strong network of universities and business schools, says Sylvain Charlebois, dean of Dals Faculty of Management. Knowledge sharing is so critical to an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Our economy will reap significant benefits from this partnership. Expanding success nationally Halifax-based Volta Labs CEO Jesse Rodgers, who was the founding director of the Rotman CDL program and will now serve as a regional leader in CDL-Atlantic, says Dal is a natural partner on the program. Its the top research school in Atlantic Canada, and throw in the massive investments into oceans research happening there and it makes so much sense, he says. Its seems like the timing is right and the location is right. In addition to a general stream, Dalhousie will have a specialty program for ocean, clean and agri-food technology companies. By collaborating with Dal and other partners in the region such as the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), CDL-Atlantic will help leverage the unique strengths in the region and spur the commercialization of more ocean, clean technology and agriculture research. As part of the program, Dal MBA students can take a CDL course on technology driven high-growth company creation and have an opportunity to work with the participating startups and mentors. CDL-Atlantic will allow our students at the Rowe School of Business to gain valuable knowledge and real-world experience with innovation-driven companies, and to see the business judgement and leadership of top entrepreneurs and mentors, said Dr. Charlebois. CDL-Atlantic will draw on mentors from Toronto, Boston, New York as well as some regional entrepreneurial leaders such as seafood and telecom baron John Risley and serial entrepreneur Jevon MacDonald. MacDonald, who has served as a fellow for the Rotman program and has built companies in Toronto, Austin, Silicon Valley and Halifax, says he is thrilled to be joining CDL-Atlantic in the same capacity. Im passionate about building our startup community in Atlantic Canada, which is greatly out-performing on a per capita basis, he says. This new partnership is an exciting step towards showing the world what we have to offer, namely, the talent and ambition to build global scale technology companies. MacDonald has helped catalyze the startup ecosystem in the Atlantic region over the years, co-founding Volta Labs, investing in and mentoring local entrepreneurs and supporting key initiatives in schools. Setting ventures apart Ventures in the CDL program work closely with mentors to set measurable targets that they must reach each eight weeks during the program. Should the startups fail to meet those targets, they risk being asked to leave the program. Its one of the most valuable programs out there, but its also one of the toughest, says Mark Hobbs, co-founder and CEO of Fundmetric, a data-driven fundraising startup currently finishing up the Rotman program. His company has been through several different accelerator programs since its launch in 2013. Hobbs, who got involved in entrepreneurship as a student at Dal, says CDL has been hugely valuable for his company, which now counts Saint Johns University in New York City and the United Church of Canada among its clients. We were able to get a group of mentors who could see patterns before we could and put us on the trajectory to make us more successful, he says. Fundmetric is more investor-ready now, too, says Hobbs. We were able to find answer to certain questions, which has allowed us to put together some projections, says Hobbs, and that has allowed us to approach venture capital firms and get some offers on the table. CDL-Atlantic is expected to launch in January 2018. Look for more details from the Rowe School of Business in the coming months. Orange has announced the launch of its brand in Liberia, with Cellcom Liberia now rebranded as Orange Liberia. The acquisition of the Liberian operator Cellcom was finalised by Orange through its subsidiary Orange Cote dIvoire on 6 April 2016, allowing the group to reinforce its presence in West Africa. Following this rebranding, Orange Liberia stands to benefit from being part of a large international group. Orange will provide its marketing expertise and technical capability to further strengthen the operators established network and enhance customer service in Liberia. With over 1.6 million customers at the end of February 2017, Orange Liberia is the leading mobile operator in Liberia in terms of customers. Founded in 2004, the mobile operator has been a driving force in democratising access to telecommunication services across the country, despite difficult market conditions. It has always been a forerunner in terms of network deployment and in 2012 was the first operator in Liberia to launch 3G (HSPA+) services, followed by 4G-LTE services in 2016. Orange will pursue this strategy and will continue to invest in the development of its network. With a population of 4.6 million people and relatively low mobile penetration rate (70% of the population) the country has a high growth potential for Orange. To support this development, the group will work to reinforce the quality of access in several areas. In terms of network expansion, the group constructed 39 sites in 2016, with an additional 65 planned for 2017. Part of the plan is to accelerate broadband deployment and to expand 4G penetration across the country. Orange will also strongly enhance Internet quality by providing access to its submarine and international cable networks. Orange Liberia will benefit from two additional secure connection points in Abidjan and Paris that will multiply network capacity by four. Bruno Mettling, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Orange Group and Chairman and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, commented: With this new presence in Liberia, Orange extends its footprint in West Africa. The launch of the Orange brand confirms our confidence in the countrys ongoing economic recovery and our commitment to bring all the benefits of new digital services to Liberians. Mamadou Coulibaly, CEO of Orange Liberia, added: Even in 2017, an important part of the Liberian population is still waiting for basic telecom services. We will invest significantly in network roll-out across the entire country, develop e-recharge in order to ease the constraints of scratch-cards loading, and launch Orange Money, a new robust platform to boost mobile banking services in the country. We will as well introduce new highly competitive offers and low cost Smartphones in order to boost digital inclusion. Any trade deal negotiated by the EU following the conclusion of Brexit negotiations must meet the standards set by the bloc for labour and competition rules, the European Commissions Margrethe Vestager has said. Vestager is the EU's competition commissioner, and pointed towards a deal negotiated with Canada to be held up as a model for future trade deals with the bloc. Uncertainty remains about the future relationship between Europe and the UK post-Brexit, with negotiations between the sides set to begin in the near future. EU leaders set out their guidelines for the negotiations earlier this month, including a vow not to give the UK any competitive advantage in any trade deal. Uncertainty remains about the future relationship between Europe and the UK post-Brexit In the interview with several European newspapers, Vestager said any deal must be mutually beneficial. "It is about trusting the other part to do something that you find sufficient, not necessarily the same, but something that one way or another matches your own way of looking at things so that you do not import things that would not accept in your own jurisdictions." The EU-Canada trade deal, known as Ceta, was negotiated over a seven-year period by Vestager's colleague Cecilia Malmstrom, and includes provisions for labour standards and human rights. "I think the work done by Cecilia is a model of how modern trade agreements can look," Vestager said. The UK faces a general election on 8 June which will give further indication on what the governments stance will be heading into the Brexit negotiations. Former US national security adviser Michael Flynn would not honour a subpoena to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the panel's chairman said. The US Department of Justice has appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation into Russian interference in last year's presidential election, as the pressure on President Donald Trump grows. There were calls for Trump to be impeached on Wednesday after a recent series of allegations surrounding his campaign links with the Kremlin, including the sacking of FBI chief James Comey and the release of a memo from the intelligence official suggesting Trump tried to have the investigation shut down. Mueller served as FBI director under both George W Bush and Barack Obama, and will be appointed as an independent lead of the investigation, a decision welcome by members of both major parties in the US. Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein confirmed Mueller's appointment in a statement. "The public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, Rosenstein said. "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted." IMPEACHMENT TALK Trump's presidency has been dogged by constant speculation pertaining to his election campaigns purported links to the Kremlin, which came to a head once again on Tuesday as it was reported he revealed classified information to senior Russian officials. A US congressman officially called for Trump's impeachment on the House floor on Wednesday, following the explosive New York Times report that Trump told Comey to drop the investigation into controversial former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Global markets have been affected by this weeks revelations in the US, but City of London Markets analyst Markus Huber reckons that selling on such political uncertainty is often short-lived. "If there are more negative revelations to come regarding Trump markets will keep suffering, however at the same time sell-offs caused by politics and not fundamentals are often short-lived as at least in the short-term they have rather very little impact on the economy and on corporate earnings," Huber said. UNDISCLOSED CONTACTS Trump and his campaign team had as many as 18 undisclosed contacts with Russian officials during last year's election, Reuters reported later. According to sources cited by the news agency, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and other advisers had received and made a number of undisclosed calls and emails during the final months of the race, where Trump defeated Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. Phone calls between Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak are at the centre of the reports, with an acceleration of contacts after the vote as the two allegedly sought to establish a back channel for Trump and opposite number Vladimir Putin. US President Donald Trump and his campaign had as many as 18 undisclosed contacts with Russian officials during last year's election, Reuters has reported. According to sources cited by the news organisation, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and other advisers had received and made a number of undisclosed calls and emails during the final months of the race, where Trump defeated Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. Phone calls between Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak are at the centre of the reports, with an acceleration of contacts after the vote as the two allegedly sought to establish a back channel for Trump and opposite number Vladimir Putin. There were calls for Trump to be impeached on Wednesday after a recent series of allegations surrounding his campaign links with the Kremlin. These include the sacking of FBI chief James Comey and the release of a memo from the intelligence official suggesting Trump tried to have the investigation into the links shut down. Holiday operator Thomas Cook posted its half-year results for the six months to 31 March on Thursday, reporting like-for-like revenue up 3% to 2.99bn, which the board said reflected strong winter demand to Spain and long-haul destinations. The FTSE 250 companys gross margin was down 40 basis points, mainly due to weaker trading at Condor as previously highlighted, although its seasonal underlying EBIT loss improved by 2m to 177m. Its seasonal loss for the period after tax improved by 27m to 272m. Thomas Cook had net debt of 794m at period end - a 34m improvement, which the board said reflected strong bookings for summer 2017. Thomas Cook has delivered a good performance in the first six months, said chief executive Peter Fankhauser. The progress we've made on our strategy helped achieve a 3% increase in revenues, with strong customer demand for our holidays despite the competitive environment. Fankhauser said the actions taken by the company to improve its holiday offering - managing its portfolio of hotels more tightly for quality - were delivering good results. Our customer satisfaction score increased by eight points compared with the same time last year. I am confident we can increase this further, with the roll out of our successful 24-hour hotel satisfaction promise to 80% of customers in our core sun & beach hotels this summer, and other exciting new initiatives in the pipeline. The company said it also made great progress in developing its own-brand hotels and resorts, which gave customers a unique Thomas Cook experience. We're planning 11 new hotel launches this summer including our new family-friendly Casa Cook in Kos, complete with its own beach club, and our first hotel in Sicily, the Sentido Acacia Marina, Fankhauser said. We also have a further 11 openings in the pipeline for the next 18 months, including at least two new Casa Cook hotels. Looking ahead to the key summer season, Fankhauser said the board was seeing strong customer demand across most of its markets. Greece continues to be the standout destination for Summer 2017 while customers are also seeking out smaller European destinations like Cyprus and Bulgaria, as well as travelling further afield. In contrast, following strong growth last year, bookings to the Spanish Islands have levelled off in a very competitive market. Fankhauser said he was also pleased with the progress made in the group airlines business. Bookings were up significantly for the summer, boosted by the addition of 15 new destinations to the flight programme. In our German airline, Condor, the actions we've taken after the market disruption of last year have started to come through, and we are confident that Condor will return to profit for the full year. Despite continued overcapacity in the airline market and strong competition particularly in our UK business, based on current trading we expect underlying EBIT for the full year to be in line with current market expectations. Fankhauser said that, looking across the group, he could see real momentum behind the boards strategy for profitable growth. By putting a clear focus on giving customers the very best experience when they holiday with Thomas Cook, and making our operations more efficient, I am confident that we can continue to transform the business and deliver increased value to shareholders. Cairn Energy announced the results of another successful appraisal well offshore Senegal on Thursday. The FTSE 250 company said rig performance continued to be excellent and operations had been safely and successfully completed ahead of schedule and under budget following drilling, logging and drill stem testing. It said the objective of the SNE-6 well, together with the previous successful SNE-5 well, was to flow oil from one of the principal units in the upper reservoirs and demonstrate connectivity between the two wells. Pressure data from SNE-6 immediately confirmed good connectivity with SNE-5 and as a result a short DST was performed, Cairn reported. The company's analysis and integration of the collected dataset was continuing with initial results confirming main reservoir units, pressure data and fluid contacts were in line with previous SNE appraisal wells. Multiple samples of oil were recovered during the DST, with analysis indicating oil of similar quality to previous wells. Two DSTs were conducted within the upper reservoir units, with DST#1A flowed from an 11m interval at a maximum rate of 4,600 barrels of oil per day on a 60/64" choke. A 48 hour main flow period was performed at 3,700 bopd on a 52/64" choke. For DST#1B, an additional 12m zone was added and the well flowed at a maximum rate of 5,400 bopd on a 76/64" choke, followed by a 24 hour flow at an average rate of 4,700 bopd on a 64/64" choke. Pressure data from SNE-6 confirmed that the upper reservoir was connected with SNE-5, around 1.6km away, Cairn said. Work was ongoing to integrate the new data and to estimate the extent to which water flood secondary recovery can be applied to the upper reservoirs. Further analysis would be performed once interference test data had been collected from the observation wells, Cairn explained, to determine the impact on modelled reservoir architecture, recoverable resource base and forward development plan. The company expected to provide further information at its half year results in August. This is our ninth successful well in Senegal in three years, said chief executive Simon Thomson. The results from this latest well together with SNE-5 and VR-1 provide essential data as we move towards submitting a development plan for the SNE field to the Government of Senegal in 2018. Operations now move to FAN SOUTH as we continue to test significant further prospectivity in the extensive acreage position. Movie screen operator Cineworld said revenues rose 15.8% on a constant currency basis for the January 1 to May 11 period. The cinema chain said strong admissions growth took place across both the UK and the rest of the world, with particularly good performances in the UK, Israel, Romania and Slovakia. The growth was driven by the attractiveness of the film slate, the group's new openings in the prior year and the improved results from the ongoing refurbishment programme, Cineworld said. The highest grossing films in the period were Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Sing, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The Fate of the Furious and The Lego Batman Movie. Retail revenue also showed strong growth of 19.7% as a result of the increase in admissions, the nature of the film mix and the expansion of the group's retail offerings, such as the opening of new Starbucks outlets and VIP sites, the company added. The increase in UK admissions also had a positive effect on screen advertising revenues for the period, with other Income increasing by 7.5% across the group, despite a particularly strong comparative period. Whilst still early in the year, the Group is on track to deliver a performance for the year in line with current market expectations. Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that staff at two of Cineworld's Picturehouse outlets would be protesting outside the company's annual meeting about pay. Staff at the Ritzy in Brixton and several other cinemas have gone on strike in recent months in their battle to secure the independently calculated living wage for workers. In London, the living wage stands at 9.75 an hour. The shareholder group ShareAction said it was supporting staff in their battle for better pay. A spokesperson for ShareAction told the newspaper: With the growing momentum of staff calling for a Living Wage, the board of Cineworld have a lot to answer for at their AGM. Institutional investors will be closely following how the company responds to the concerns raised from their staff and shareholders today. According to the report, Picturehouse has argued that its pay rates are among the highest in the industry, starting at 8.18 an hour, above the governments national living wage of 7.20 an hour and minimum wage of 6.95 an hour. Dalata Hotel Group announced on Thursday that it has entered into an agreement with Kieran Wallace as receiver to acquire the freehold interest of certain elements of the Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane in Dublin 2 and the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley, also in Dublin, for a consideration of 62.5m. The London-listed firm said it expected that the transaction would complete in June, adding that it was subject to approval of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane is a 4 star 304-bedroom hotel located in the South Docks area of Dublin. Dalata agreed to acquire the freehold of the ground and lower ground floors - which contain the reception area, bar, restaurant, leisure centre and back of house facilities - 170 bedrooms and vacant ground floor area. The company said it holds a lease on those elements until 2040, at an annual rent of 2.524m per annum, subject to upward-only rent reviews at five year intervals. It said the transaction would bring the total number of bedrooms owned by Dalata in the hotel to 193, out of a total of 304 bedrooms. Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley is a 4 star 353-bedroom hotel located to the west of Dublin adjacent to the orbital M50 motorway and Liffey Valley shopping centre, Dalata explained. The company agreed to acquire the freehold of the core hotel - incorporating 159 bedrooms, the leisure centre, meeting rooms, reception, bar & restaurant, car-park and 2 vacant retail units. Dalata currently managed the hotel under a short-term management agreement for the receiver, which generated 500k in fee income in 2016. The remaining 194 rooms are owned by individual investors and were not included in the sale. It was estimated that the portion of the hotel included in the transaction generated 2.5m of EBITDAR in 2016. On completion, the hotel will be rebranded as Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley. The consideration is payable in cash, Dalata confirmed. At the same time, the company announced that it was in exclusive negotiations to sell and lease back one of its Clayton hotels in the UK. It expected that contracts would be exchanged on the transaction within the coming weeks and close in the second half of June. We have been seeking to purchase as much of the freehold of Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane as possible since we floated the company in March 2014, said Dermot Crowley, deputy CEO of business development and finance. I am delighted that we will now own the majority of the hotel and that as a result of this transaction, we will be able to add much needed conference facilities to the hotel in an area of the property that is currently in a shell and core condition. Crowley said the transaction was also consistent with the companys stated strategy of buying out the freehold interests of leased properties with future unpredictable rent reviews. We have managed the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley since March 2016 and are very excited about the potential of this hotel under the Clayton brand. We believe the proposed sale and leaseback of one of our UK properties represents a very good opportunity to utilise the strength of our balance sheet. Marston's announced on Thursday that it had agreed to acquire the Charles Wells brewing business from the Charles Wells Group, for a cash consideration of 55m plus working capital adjustments. The FTSE 250 company said the Charles Wells Brewing and Beer Business, based in Bedford, was an established high quality brewing business with a portfolio of more than 30 beers including leading brands such as Bombardier, Young's and McEwan's. In addition, the business had UK distribution rights for the Estrella Damm lager brand and other beers under license including Kirin and Erdinger. As part of the acquisition, Marstons said it entered into a long-term exclusive agreement to supply all beer, wine, spirits and minerals to the Charles Wells pub estate. The brewery site, which is freehold, employs around 300 people. Marstons said the Charles Wells Brewing and Beer Business acquisition complemented its existing strategy, as it extended its number one position in the premium bottled ale and cask ale markets, and enhances its share of the premium canned market. It also strengthened its presence in London and the South East, and presented a platform to expand into Scotland. Finally, Marstons said the transaction developed its licensed brands business and expanded its production capabilities to include lager brewing and canning, whilst improving production and distribution efficiency. The board said there was a strong financial rationale for the Charles Wells Brewing and Beer Business acquisition, with the enterprise value of 55m equating to 9x current EBITDA before synergies. It said the transaction was to be funded through a new equity placing, and added that expected synergies of 4m were to be achieved by financial year 2019. The return on invested capital was expected to exceed 18% in the third full year. We are delighted to have agreed to acquire Charles Wells Brewing and Beer Business, said Marstons chief executive Ralph Findlay. It is a high quality brewing business offering us opportunities to extend our trading area in the South of England and Scotland, and brings a range of well-known and popular brands into our portfolio. We also aim to develop further our range of international licensed brands, and look forward to working with our new overseas partners, including Estrella Damm, Erdinger and Kirin. Findlay said the acquisition of Charles Wells Brewing and Beer Business built on Marston's established brewing prowess, and was a further step in its objective to develop the leading premium beer business in the UK market. We have demonstrated our ability to acquire, integrate and develop beer brands evidenced by the success of brands such as Hobgoblin, Wainwright, and Lancaster Bomber. We have also achieved success with international licensed brands including Shipyard, now the 2nd biggest craft beer in the UK on trade. Justin Phillimore, chief executive officer of Charles Wells Brewery, said the company was delighted to have reached an agreement with Marston's to acquire the brewery and become a close trading partner. After a detailed review of our strategy we had decided to re-balance the company more towards retail investment and that meant finding a partner we could work with for the future. There are opportunities for both companies in this deal and we look forward to bringing them to life. Under-fire Petrofac chief executive Ayman Asfari made a donation to the Conservative party ahead of Junes general election, despite being under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. Theresa May's party received the cash donation from the oil services firms boss just days before it was revealed that Petrofac and Asfari were being investigated over suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering. Syrian-born Asfari and his wife have been long-time donors to the Tories, forming part of an elite group that all contributes over 50,000 apiece per year. Syrian-born Asfari and his wife have been long-time donors to the Tories Electoral Commission records show that the Conservatives received donations totalling more than 4m in their first week of fundraising , while Labour gathered around 2.7m. Petrofac became the subject of a criminal investigation from the SFO last week, related to its relationship with Monaco-based consultancy firm Unaoil. Asfari and chief operating officer Marwan Chedid have both been questioned under caution by the SFO, the agency said, confirming that it "is investigating the activities of Petrofac Plc, its subsidiaries, and their officers, employees and agents for suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering". Shares in the firm were sent 9% lower when the investigation was revealed, and were trading 5.45% lower as of 16:31 BST on Thursday. Prudential has reported strong first-quarter profits growth and a boardroom reshuffle, with finance chief Nic Nicandrou shifted over to manage the key Asia business and a 26-year Deloitte veteran appointed to take over as chief bean counter. Current Prudential Corporation Asia chief executive Tony Wilkey will step down "to pursue new challenges" after more than a decade with the savings and investment group. Mark FitzPatrick, who will leave his role on Deloitte's UK executive committee and as managing partner for clients and markets, is well known to the Prudential board having been seconded to the FTSE 100 company as director of compliance in 2012. Group new business profit in the first three months of 2017 of 856m is up 42% on the same period last year thanks the benefit of the weak pound, or 25% at the underlying level. Asia was main contributor of new business, with new business profit up 45% to 561m, or 26% underlying. In the US, $1.3bn of positive net flows and market movements lifted assets 5% to $157bn. Pru's Jackson business is felt to be in the prime position to benefit from US regulatory developments, representing a "significant opportunity to access new asset pools" including the $2trn variable annuity market and the wider adviser distributed market where it sees an additional $14trn as yet been unpenetrated by variable annuities. In the UK life business, sales were up 33% and assets under management up 11% to 27.5bn as gains were made in the retirement savings market. Net inflows of 3.6bn at the M&G asset management arm lifted AUM 5% to 144bn. Markets seemed reassured, with the late morning announcement sending the shares in Prudential into the red before they were later lifted to a slight 0.3% gain at 1,736.5p in late trading on Wednesday, not far from recent all-time highs. 'Matchless knowledge' Taking over as finance director later in the summer should be a piece of cake for FitzPatrick, having led the advisory group's CFO training programme and its insurance and investment management audit practice, with Prudential CEO Mike Wells hailing FitzPatrick's "quarter of a century leading the most complex projects in global financial services" and a "matchless knowledge of the sector". His appointment has received regulatory approval. Nicandrou, who joined Prudential in 2009 after a number of finance roles at Aviva, has some operational experience at the Pru having been executive director responsible for its African insurance operations. Wells added that he was "a talented strategist and rigorous operational manager". He added: "We have built a market-leading business in Asia thanks to a relentless focus on the customer, disciplined execution by a talented team and clear priorities. As we have reported today, we continue to have strong momentum across the region. While our franchise strength and capability remains second to none, we have clear priorities to leverage our platform and accelerate our business to serve the significant and growing needs for savings and protection products across the region. Making a booking If you have a hearing impairment and need assistance on your journey, let us know when you book or contact us a few days before you fly. If youre flying from the USA or Canada, you can contact us on our text telephone (TTY) number 1-888-3201576. At the airport We can arrange a meet and assist service from check-in to the gate, and from the aircraft to your onward transport at all airports. There are screens displaying flight information throughout the airport and at the departure gate. You can also download our free Emirates App to get live travel updates along your journey. This includes check-in times, boarding announcements, your baggage carousel number at arrivals in Dubai, and any changes to your flight such as delays or cancellations. If you let us know at check-in, we can tell you if your flight is delayed or if the departure gate changes. You can also ask any of our team members for information at any time. On board All our safety videos are captioned in English and Arabic. And on selected routes we have safety videos with captions for additional languages. We can also give you an individual safety briefing on your flight. If youve already contacted us, then the cabin crew will approach you. Otherwise you can always ask. They will explain the safety procedures, exit locations, and how we can best assist you. A member of our cabin crew will update you when announcements are made on the flight. For safety reasons, were unable to give you an exit row seat. Inflight entertainment Many of our movies and TV shows have closed captions showing dialogue as well as sound references. You can use our headphones with standard hearing aids switched to the T position. If you want to plan your playlist, you can check out this months closed captioned movies and TV shows here. The pressure of predation increases towards lower latitudes and elevations, a new study modeling herbivore arthropods across the globe finds. This is the same pattern seen with respect to biodiversity, which has been known to be richer closer to the equator and at lower elevations. A widespread view among scientists is that biotic interactions become increasingly strong at lower latitudes. However, assessing such a theory can be challenging because of the complexity of large-scale patterns, which are often pieced together from data obtained by a variety of methods and protocols. Taking a more simplified approach, Tomas Roslin and colleagues modeled the predation rate of caterpillars across an 11,660-kilometer latitudinal gradient spanning six continents, also analyzing changes that occur across elevation. They measured predation risk by monitoring the fates of 2,879 model caterpillars molded from green plasticine over 4 to 18 days. The authors report that for every 1 of latitude away from the equator, the daily odds of a caterpillar being attacked decreased by 2.7%. Predation rates also decreased with increasing elevation, where every additional 100 meters of elevation decreased the odds of predation by 6.6%. The authors explain that, to counteract increased predation at low latitudes and evolutions, caterpillars could have evolved to shorten their development times, thereby reducing the lifespan over which they are vulnerable to prey; however, in an initial assessment of whether this was happening, the researchers found development times weren't impacted by latitude the way predation rates were. They conclude there is indeed an overall increase in pressure on larval herbivores at lower latitudes. ### According to a new study, patients who took opioids before knee surgery experienced about 9 percent less pain reduction at 6 months following surgery compared to patients who did not Boston, MA-- There is growing concern regarding opiod use prior to a total knee replacement (TKR), and recent research has suggested that preoperative opioid use may lead to worse pain outcomes following surgery. A team of investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital evaluated pain relief associated with TKR in patients who had used opioids before their procedure and compared it to pain relief in patients who had not. The authors found that patients who had higher pain catastrophising, the degree of an exaggerated, negative response to pain, were more likely to take opioids for pain relief. They found that patients who used opioids to manage their knee pain before their total knee replacement had less pain relief after the operation. The study was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. "With these study results, we'd encourage physicians to consider discussing long term implications of opioid therapy with their patients," says Elena Losina, PhD, lead author, director of the Policy and Innovation Evaluation in Orthopedic Treatments Center and co-director of the Orthopedics and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Although each patient case is different, patients and physicians should discuss the potential impact of using opioids in patients with knee osteoarthritis who are likely to consider total knee replacement within the next two years." Knee osteoarthritis is a condition associated with significant activity limitation and chronic pain. While a TKR is an effective treatment in relieving pain and restoring function, patients spend an average of 13 years using non-surgical options for pain management including the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, and intra-articular injections. As the authors quote in the paper, the United States has spent over $1.5 billion annually on prescription opioids for people with knee osteoarthritis. Additionally, opioid utilization has increased drastically, with nearly 40 percent of Medicare patients with knee osteoarthritis receiving at least one opioid prescription in 2009. Although previous studies have suggested that using opiods preoperatively is associated with poor pain outcomes, the research was based on limited sample sizes and pain catastrophizing was not considered. The team reviewed data from 156 patients who had TKR at an average age of 66. They collected patient-reported outcomes and demographic data both before and six months after surgery, and abstracted data regarding opiod use from the patients' medical records. Researchers found that prior to surgery, 23 percent of patients had at least one opioid prescription. Using standard pain scales (Pain Catastrophizing Scale, the Western Ontario and the McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)), researchers quantified the pain experiences of patients undergoing TKR. Researchers used sophisticated analytic methods to compare the change in the WOMAC pain score six months after knee surgery and establish the difference between patients who had and those who had not used opioids before TKR. Researchers found that the patients who used opioids prior to surgery had about 9 percent less pain reduction at six months following surgery. "Our findings support previous research that indicated preoperative opiod use was associated with worse clinical outcomes. This data demonstrates that preoperative opioid use may also lead to lesser pain relief in the early postoperative period," said Losina. The researchers also note that since the U.S. spends over $1.5 billion annually on prescription opioids for patients with knee osteoarthritis, and nearly $30 billion on illicit use, reducing the use of opioids may decrease their harmful effects. Clinicians and policy makers may consider limiting the use of opioids prior to TKR to optimize post-TKR pain relief. ### This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Grant K24AR057827 and Partners HealthCare. Paper cited: Losina et al. "Impact of Preoperative Opioid Use on Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes." Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.16.01200 Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 793-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare. BWH has more than 4.2 million annual patient visits and nearly 46,000 inpatient stays, is the largest birthing center in Massachusetts and employs nearly 16,000 people. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in patient care, quality improvement and patient safety initiatives, and its dedication to research, innovation, community engagement and educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. Through investigation and discovery conducted at its Brigham Research Institute (BRI), BWH is an international leader in basic, clinical and translational research on human diseases, more than 3,000 researchers, including physician-investigators and renowned biomedical scientists and faculty supported by nearly $666 million in funding. For the last 25 years, BWH ranked second in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) among independent hospitals. BWH is also home to major landmark epidemiologic population studies, including the Nurses' and Physicians' Health Studies and the Women's Health Initiative as well as the TIMI Study Group, one of the premier cardiovascular clinical trials groups. For more information, resources and to follow us on social media, please visit BWH's online newsroom. Now that we know that egg-making stem cells exist in adult rodents and humans and that these cells can be transplanted into mice with premature ovarian failure to produce offspring, the next question is to assess whether the offspring from the egg-making stem cells of a single adult mouse are biologically normal compared to natural births. On May 18 in the journal Molecular Therapy, researchers in China show that female mice with early menopause that receive egg-making stem cells from another mouse are capable of producing healthy pups 2 months later with no observable genetic malfunctions. "One of our aims is to cure the disease of premature ovarian failure using female germline stem cells," says senior author Ji Wu, a reproductive biologist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "Before this treatment can be applied to humans, we need to know the mechanism of female germline stem cell development and safety after transplantation of single mouse female germline stem cells." Premature ovarian failure, also called early menopause, is the loss of normal ovarian function, and thereby the release of eggs, before the age of 40. The condition is rare, affecting 200,000 women in the United States per year, and is incurable, although it can be treated with hormone supplements. Multiple groups are now looking at whether stimulating tissue regeneration or using stem cell transplants could help. In the Molecular Therapy study, Wu and her colleagues isolated and characterized female germline stem cells from a single transgenic mouse with cells that show green fluorescence when activated by a blue laser. This allowed the researchers to observe and analyze the development of the transplanted stem cells, which were introduced to the ovaries of other mice using a fine glass needle. Wu and colleagues found that the transplanted egg-producing stem cells exhibited a homing ability and began to differentiate into early-stage oocytes when they reached the edge of the ovary. The oocytes spent a few weeks maturing and yielded offspring within 2 months. The researchers then demonstrated that the developmental mechanisms of eggs derived from transplanted germline stem cells were similar to that of normal eggs. "The results are exciting because it's not easy to get offspring from female germline stem cells derived from a single mouse," Wu says. Wu's lab is also working to establish female egg-producing stem cell lines from scarce ovarian tissues derived from follicular aspirates--the leftover cells gathered when a clinician searches a patient for oocytes--that are produced and discarded in in vitro fertilization centers worldwide. These aspirates can yield stem cells that differentiate into eggs in the lab, with the potential to be transplanted. The study not only provides a new approach to obtain human female germline stem cells for medical treatment, but also opens several avenues to investigate human oogenesis in vitro. ### This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China, the National Nature Science Foundation of China, and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medicine-Engineering Fund. Molecular Therapy, Wu et al.: "Tracing and characterizing the development of transplanted female germline stem cells in vivo" http://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(17)30180-6 Molecular Therapy (@MolTherapy), published by Cell Press for the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, is a monthly journal for international research on the development of molecular and cellular therapeutics to correct genetic and acquired diseases, including but not limited to research on gene transfer and editing, vector development and design, stem cell manipulation, vaccine development, pre-clinical target validation, safety/efficacy studies, and clinical trials. Editor-in-Chief: Seppo Yla-Herttuala, University of Eastern Finland. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. Tomatoes have come a long way from their origins as pea-sized berries due to humans breeding tomato plants to produce bigger fruit. However, favorable mutations that went along with increased fruit size and other beneficial traits do not always play well together. A study published in Cell on May 18 found that natural mutations in two important tomato genes that were selected for different purposes in breeding can cause extreme branching and reduce fruit yield when they occur in the same plant. However, the researchers have found a way to use those genes to create an improved tomato plant that grows a larger number of tomatoes. One of the two genes is ancient, dating back to when Native Americans in South and Central America domesticated the tomato plant more than 8,000 years ago. That gene causes the green leafy "cap" on top of tomato fruits to grow larger, the researchers found. The other gene, called Jointless2, is a 20th-century mutant, which results in a smoother stem connected to the fruit and a firmer attachment to the plant. Jointless2 is particularly sought after because it makes tomatoes easier to harvest, but the presence of both mutations in one plant causes the branches that make the flowers (and later, fruit) --known botanically as "inflorescences"-- to branch wildly into patterns that look "a bit like a broom." "On the surface, you would think that's great because more branches on each infloresence means more flowers, which would mean more fruits; but in fact, more branches and flowers doesn't always translate to more fruits," says senior author Zachary Lippman, a plant geneticist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "In order to make those fruits, the plant has to pump a lot of resources into the young fruits as they start to grow. But plant can't handle that imbalance of having too many fruits, so the fertility is quite low." In other words, highly branched tomato plants end up producing fewer tomatoes. However, Lippman and his colleagues thought that there might be advantages to having low levels of branching, such that the "weak branching" plant would have more flowers than a non-branching plant but not so many that the tomatoes fail to grow. They decided to investigate the genes behind flower-bearing branches and their growth patterns. First, the team discovered genes that caused "strong branching" mutants. They found mutations in two closely related genes, both of which play a role in initiating flower growth by turning genes on and off in plant stem cells. One of the genes, Jointless2, was already well known in tomato genetics circles, but the second gene's function was unknown. To find out what the gene did without Jointless2 around, the researchers used CRISPR "gene editing" to create a tomato with a mutation in the mystery gene. Those mutants grew larger sepals, the small leaves at the base of a flower that become a part of the little green cap on the fruits. It's unclear what the benefit of larger sepals and a larger green cap would be, Lippman says, but the mutation is present in more than 85% of modern tomatoes, meaning that it's hard to breed a jointless tomato without running the risk of extreme branching. "In the 1970s, breeders wanted to use Jointless2 so much that they said, 'We're going to find a way to use the genetics to our advantage, and we're going to find other genes to suppress the branching.' So they knew they had this extreme branching, but they didn't know which gene was mutated," says Lippman. "Their goal was to suppress the branching, to bring it back to the unbranched state, which is what you see in the grocery store with tomatoes on the vine. And they achieved it. They achieved it in many cases, but not all. In so doing, we feel that they have missed an opportunity to achieve weak branching, to tune the architecture in such a way that you can get a benefit." With the newly identified branch-driving genes in hand, the researchers were able to use natural mutations and CRISPR to engineer several different tomato plants with varying degrees of inflorescence branching, including one with "weak branching" but high fruit yield. Lippman hopes that the results from this study can be useful not only for tomato breeders, but for other crops, as well. Tomatoes are in the same genus as potatoes and eggplants (as well as poisonous Nightshades). They are also in the same family as tobacco and bell peppers. Some of these genes may also be important for those crops, and the principles behind the experiment may be applicable to distantly related plants, too. "The more we understand about basic plant biology, basic mechanisms of plant growth, and plant development, the more we have at our fingertips the knowledge and tools to rework the system or tune the system and exploit the system," says Lippman. "Even when we find negative mutations, we can exploit that knowledge and turn them into a positive." ### This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program, an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program, a European Research Council - Advanced Grant, and the US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research & Development fund. Cell, Soyk and Lemmon et al.: "Bypassing Negative Epistasis on Yield in Tomato Imposed by a Domestication Gene" http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30486-5 Cell (@CellCellPress), the flagship journal of Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that publishes findings of unusual significance in any area of experimental biology, including but not limited to cell biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, virology and microbiology, cancer, human genetics, systems biology, signaling, and disease mechanisms and therapeutics. Visit http://www.cell.com/cell. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. LOS ALAMOS, N.M., May 18, 2017-- Using neutron crystallography, a Los Alamos research team has mapped the three-dimensional structure of a protein that breaks down polysaccharides, such as the fibrous cellulose of grasses and woody plants, a finding that could help bring down the cost of creating biofuels. The research focused on a class of copper-dependent enzymes called lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), which bacteria and fungi use to naturally break down cellulose and closely related chitin biopolymers. "In the long term, understanding the mechanism of this class of proteins can lead to enzymes with improved characteristics that make production of ethanol increasingly economically feasible," said Julian Chen, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist who participated in the research. A multi-institution team used the neutron scattering facility at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron X-ray source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to study LPMO. Both SNS and ALS are DOE Office of Science User Facilities. Los Alamos Bioscience Division scientists Chen, Clifford Unkefer, and former postdoctoral fellow John Bacik, working with collaborators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, solved the structure of a chitin-degrading LPMO from the bacterium Jonesia denitrificans (JdLPMO10A). The team's results are published in the journal Biochemistry. One of the biggest challenges biofuel scientists face is finding cost-effective ways to break apart polysaccharides such as starches and cellulose, which are widely distributed in plants, into their subcomponent sugars for biofuel production. LPMO enzymes, which are seen as key to this process, use a single copper ion to activate oxygen, a critical step for the enzyme's catalytic degrading action. While the specific mechanism of LPMO action remains uncertain, it is thought that catalysis involves initial formation of a superoxide by electron transfer from the reduced copper ion. By understanding the location of the copper ion and the constellation of atoms near it, the researchers hope to elucidate more about the enzyme's function. To do this, they rely on first determining the structure of the enzyme. Although a number of X-ray crystallographic structures are currently available for LPMOs from fungal and bacterial species, this new structure is more complete. The investigators used X-ray crystallography to resolve the three-dimensional structure in clear detail of all the atoms except for hydrogens, the smallest and most abundant atoms in proteins. Hydrogen atom positions are important for elucidating functional characteristics of the target protein and can best be visualized using a neutron crystallography. The investigators used this complementary technique, to determine the three-dimensional structure of the LPMO, but highlighting the hydrogen atoms. Notably, in this study the crystallized LPMO enzyme has been caught in the act of binding oxygen. Together with the recent structures of LPMOs from a wide variety of fungal and bacterial species, the results of this study indicate a common mechanism of degrading cellulosic biomass despite wide differences in their protein sequences. This study has furthered insight into the mechanism of action of LPMOs, particularly the role of the copper ion and the nature of the involvement of oxygen. Biofuels research is part of the Los Alamos National Laboratory's mission focus on integrating research and development solutions to achieve the maximum impact on strategic national security priorities such as new energy sources. ### The paper: Neutron and Atomic Resolution X-ray Structures of a Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenase Reveal Copper-Mediated Dioxygen Binding and Evidence for N-Terminal Deprotonation. Funding: The Los Alamos component of the research was funded by the DOE Office of Science and imaging analysis was performed at DOE Office of Science user facilities. The work was also supported by The Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. About Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, BWX Technologies, Inc. and URS Corporation for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns. OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 18, 2017--Oak Ridge National Laboratory today welcomed the first cohort of innovators to join Innovation Crossroads, the Southeast region's first entrepreneurial research and development program based at a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory. Innovation Crossroads, announced in the fall of 2016, is one of DOE's Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs that embed top technical talent within national labs as entrepreneurial research fellows with the express goal of subsequently launching businesses. The program's dual focus on early-stage R&D and entrepreneurial development enables the innovators, selected through an open merit-based process, to transform their breakthrough ideas into U.S.-based companies. The two-year fellowship provides a cost-of-living stipend, comprehensive business development plan assistance, and up to $350,000 to use on collaborative R&D at ORNL, the nation's largest science and energy laboratory. The Innovation Crossroads entrepreneurial research fellows will have access to world-class scientists and DOE facilities at ORNL, including the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, the National Transportation Research Center, the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, and the Spallation Neutron Source. Through the program and partnerships with mentor organizations in the Southeast, fellows will also receive assistance with developing business strategies, conducting market research, and finding long-term financing and potential commercial partners. The first cohort of Innovation Crossroads fellows include: * Anna Douglas: Carbon-Negative Manufacturing of Nanotubes Anna Douglas is developing a process that utilizes carbon dioxide, potentially from captured greenhouse gases, as feedstock to produce carbon nanotubes at significantly lower cost. She is a doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary materials science at Vanderbilt University and team lead for SkyNano LLC. Matthew Ellis and Samuel Shaner: Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology Matthew Ellis and Samuel Shaner are working to develop an advanced nuclear power plant reactor using licensed, low-enriched uranium that relies on liquid metal as a coolant, resulting in a safer, more efficient reactor with the potential for faster licensing and installation. They are doctoral candidates in nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founders of Yellowstone Energy. Mitchell Ishmael: Active Energy Storage Mitchell Ishmael's novel solution for energy storage aims to utilize low-grade waste heat by storing it as thermal energy in tanks, resulting in a cheaper alternative to providing backup power than standby generators or batteries. Ishmael is a materials science and engineering doctoral candidate at Cornell University. Ming Qi: Hydrogen Peroxide Electrolyzer and Zinc Peroxide Battery Ming Qi is developing a new onsite, modular production process for hydrogen peroxide that would replace expensive centralized chemical plants, benefiting industries such as paper and pulp, textiles, and water purification. The technology could be used in two more applications: improving the chlor-alkali process, and advancing the development of a high energy-density zinc peroxide battery. Qi holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is co-founder and chief executive officer of Peroxygen Systems, Inc. "We are delighted to welcome the first cohort of entrepreneurs to Innovation Crossroads," said Thomas Zacharia, deputy for science and technology at ORNL. "We look forward to the new ideas and enthusiasm that they are bringing to the Laboratory, and we are committed to supporting them in realizing their goals for transforming the nation's energy marketplace." Innovation Crossroads is one of three DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs. These programs, funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) and co-managed with the Technology-to-Market program within DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), address critical gaps in human capital by providing fellowships and two-year institutional homes where talented innovators become first-time entrepreneurs. "Through Innovation Crossroads and our other Lab-Embedded-Entrepreneurship Programs, we are leveraging our investments in our national labs to help promising researchers turn their discoveries into viable products and American businesses," said Mark Johnson, director of AMO. "We are working to ensure that advanced technology innovation will continue to drive economic growth and job creation in America." Innovation Crossroads has selected LaunchTN and the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council as ecosystem partners for the fellows. These organizations are currently launching the Tennessee Energy Mentors Network and will provide access to experienced energy professionals and other partners from across the state to help the Innovation Crossroads participants. More details can be found at http://www.innovationcrossroads.ornl.gov. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE's Office of Science. The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates research and development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. EERE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) supports early stage applied research and development of new materials, information, and processes that improve American manufacturing's energy efficiency, as well as platform technologies for manufacturing clean energy products. AMO works closely with EERE's Technology-to-Market Program on lowering barriers to market exploration of competitive clean energy technologies. ### *For detailed project summaries and biographical information, see the Innovation Crossroads website. Image: https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-welcomes-innovation-crossroads-entrepreneurial-research-fellows Caption: ORNL welcomed its first group of research fellows to join Innovation Crossroads, an entrepreneurial research and development program based at the lab. From left, Matthew Ellis and Samuel Shaner of Yellowstone Energy; Mark Johnson, director of DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office; Johanna Wolfson, Technology-to-Market director in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Ming Qi of Peroxygen Systems; and Mitchell Ishmael of Active Energy Systems. Not pictured: Anna Douglas of SkyNano Technologies. NOTE TO EDITORS: You may read other press releases from Oak Ridge National Laboratory or learn more about the lab at http://www.ornl.gov/news. Additional information about ORNL is available at the sites below: Twitter - http://twitter.com/ornl RSS Feeds - http://www.ornl.gov/ornlhome/rss_feeds.shtml Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/oakridgelab YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/OakRidgeNationalLab LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/companies/oak-ridge-national-laboratory Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/Oak.Ridge.National.Laboratory Road salt, used in copious helpings each winter to protect them from ice and preserve safe driving conditions, is slowly degrading the concrete they're made of. Engineers have known for some time that calcium chloride salt, commonly used as deicer, reacts with the calcium hydroxide in concrete to form a chemical byproduct that causes roadways to crumble. A civil engineer from Drexel University is working on a new recipe for concrete, using cast-off products from furnaces, that can hold its own against the forces of chemical erosion. More than 900,000 tons of deicing salt is used each winter in Pennsylvania alone. While winters in the Northeast put pressure on departments of transportation to keep roads clear and deicer is an effective part of that process, it also contributes to the thousands of miles of roads that need to be patched and repaired each year. Yaghoob Farnam, PhD, an assistant professor in Drexel's College of Engineering and director of the Advanced and Sustainable Infrastructure Materials Research Group, is looking for a solution to this problem in the recipe for concrete. Farnam created a method for using fly ash, slag and silica fume -- leftovers from coal furnaces and the smelting process -- in a new concrete mix that is more durable because it doesn't react with road salt. He recently published his findings in the journal of Cement and Concrete Composites. "Many departments of transportation have reduced the amount of calcium chloride they use to melt ice and snow, even though it is very efficient at doing so -- because it has also been found to be very destructive," Farnam said. "This research proves that by using alternate cementitious materials to make concrete, they can avoid the destructive chemical reaction and continue to use calcium chloride." The goal of Farnam's work is to produce a concrete mix as strong as the ones currently used to build roads, that contains less calcium hydroxide -- the ingredient that reacts with road salt to form a compound called calcium oxychloride. This chemical tends to expand when it is formed, and when that reaction happens in the pores of cement it can cause degradation and cracking. Farnam's research led him to the conclusion that these "supplementary cement materials" could be substituted into the mix with a better result when they come in contact with calcium chloride deicing salt. "There is a great push to use these power industry byproducts because they take up space and some of them can be harmful to the environment," Farnam said. "We believed that portions of the byproducts such as fly ash, slag and silica fume could be used to make concrete that is both durable -- and cheaper, because it uses recycled materials." To test his theory, Farman's lab created cement samples using varying amounts of fly ash, silica fume and slag and compared them to samples of "ordinary Portland cement" -- the most common type used in roads. His findings confirmed his hypothesis, namely that the samples containing more cement substitute materials did not produce as much calcium oxychloride. An examination of the ordinary Portland cement samples, via acoustic emissions, x-rays and microscopy, revealed damage after just eight days of exposure due to the formation of calcium oxychloride while samples with proper amount of fly ash, silica fume and slag did not show damage during the testing period. The study also revealed that higher concentrations of calcium chloride produce more calcium oxychloride when it reacts with concrete. So, theoretically, using lower concentrations of calcium chloride on roads could help extend their life, but it would also make it less effective as a deicing agent. "An additional concern is that calcium oxychloride can form even if the concrete is not undergoing a freeze-thaw cycle. It is a chemical reaction that can happen at room temperature, so it can take place when the roads are pre-salted even if ice doesn't form. And as the salts remain on the surface after a snowstorm the reaction will continue to degrade the road, so it is vitally important to minimize this reaction in order to preserve the infrastructure," Farnam said. Farnam's lab will continue to search for ways to improve the materials we use in our infrastructure. They are currently pursuing a method for creating a protective layer on the surface of concrete by using bacteria that can prevent calcium oxychloride formation. ### DURHAM, N.C. -- In October 2012, as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the densely populated U.S. East Coast, the state of New Jersey needed information fast. State planners and emergency managers turned to U.S. Census Bureau data about the people living and working in the affected area to identify the communities that would be hardest hit, and come up with a plan for recovery in the months that followed. A team led by Duke University, in collaboration with the Census Bureau, has developed new methods that enable people to learn as much as possible from Census data and other government workforce statistics for things like disaster management, policy-making and funding decisions, while guaranteeing that no one can trace the data back to your household or business. Census-related statistics are used to allocate more than 400 billion dollars annually for disaster relief, job training centers, roads and other services. At the same time, Americans entrust the Census Bureau and other agencies with their personal information on the understanding that their answers will be kept confidential. Duke assistant professor of computer science Ashwin Machanavajjhala and graduate student Samuel Haney described their approach on May 18 at the Association for Computing Machinery's 2017 SIGMOD/PODS Conference in Chicago. Any time you fill out a Census Bureau survey or census, your answers are combined with others to produce summary statistics about the local population in each city and rural area: how many people live and work there, what jobs they do, how they commute to work and other characteristics. These de-identified data are released in aggregated form and mined for patterns and insights that have an enormous impact on your life, from whether a business decides to relocate or expand to your area, to how many police officers and firefighters your town has and where to build new hospitals and schools. The Census Bureau uses a variety of measures to ensure that no one can reverse-engineer the data and identify individuals within them. The challenge, Machanavajjhala said, is to enable third parties to sift through the data to make discoveries about the respondents as a group, while revealing as little as possible about any individual or business in it. One approach to this balancing act, first proposed in 2006, involves a set of techniques called "differential privacy." With differential privacy, a person can share their personal information without worrying that someone analyzing the aggregated data might be able to figure out which information is hers. No one can identify your data, even if they have other information about you. Although differential privacy was introduced more than 10 years ago, it is just now beginning to be put to use more widely for collecting and sharing sensitive data. Apple has implemented differential privacy techniques in iOS 10, the latest mobile operating system for the iPhone. Google has done the same for its Chrome Web browser. "Today, differential privacy is considered a gold standard for analyzing sensitive data," Machanavajjhala said. Differential privacy techniques typically work by computing the true answer and then adding random noise to the output. The goal, Machanavajjhala said, is to ensure that adding or removing any single record or individual from the database doesn't significantly affect the outcome. But critics of differential privacy argue that achieving that goal requires introducing too much noise to glean accurate insights. That goal is based on a mathematical definition of privacy that may be overly strict for certain applications, Machanavajjhala said. "And in many cases, it may not match up with what is required by law, or what users think is meant by privacy." Instead, the researchers tried a new approach. They took the privacy protections required by law, and adapted them into a customized definition of privacy similar to differential privacy. Then they developed algorithms that injected just enough noise to satisfy that definition and uphold the law. The researchers ran an experiment where they applied their algorithms to real-world employment data underlying an online mapping tool produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, called OnTheMap for Emergency Management. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the mapping tool has provided accurate estimates of the number of affected workers by race, ethnicity, industry or other characteristics, to figure out which groups of people or types of businesses were most in need of aid. Users could also use the data set to view where businesses are located and how employees travel to work to determine the impact of the hurricane on commuters. But in their experiment, the researchers were able to prove, mathematically, that such answers wouldn't get someone any closer to inferring information about any single person or business that might violate privacy regulations -- such as whether an employee held a job at a particular workplace, or precisely what fraction of a company's workforce belonged to a certain race or had a certain level of education. Their study showed it is possible to release such data to the public for analysis and guarantee it safe against unwanted leaks, with comparable or even better accuracy of the results than current methods -- which don't make similar privacy guarantees. The algorithms aren't specific to U.S. Census Bureau data. The techniques they developed are applicable to other employment-related statistics produced by other countries or agencies as well, such the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. ### Other authors include John Abowd, Matthew Graham and Mark Kutzbach of the U.S. Census Bureau, and Lars Vilhuber of Cornell University. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (1253327, 1408982, 1443014, BCS-0941226, TC-1012593, SES-1131848), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (N66001-15-C-4067) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. CITATION: "Utility Cost of Formal Privacy for Releasing National Employer-Employee Statistics," Samuel Haney, Ashwin Machanavajjhala, John Abowd, Matthew Graham, Mark Kutzbach and Lars Vilhuber. ACM SIGMOD/PODS Conference, Chicago, IL, May 14-19, 2017. A study of the soft drink consumption patterns of more than 1000 schoolchildren presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal (17-20 May) shows that overweight and obese children tend to drink more sugar sweetened soft drinks than normal weight children. The authors, led by Dr Janas Harrington of University College Cork, Ireland, say that taxing such drinks in combination with other public health measures could help in the fight against childhood obesity. The Irish Government plans to introduce a such a tax in 2018. The obesity epidemic -- around 170 million children worldwide are overweight -- is a public health crisis with the potential to reverse positive trends in life expectancy and undermine the financial viability of health systems. Although the epidemic has many causes, links between the consumption of SSDs and excessive weight gain in children have been observed. Furthermore, excessive consumption of SSDs is associated with increased prevalence of tooth decay. This new study investigated the association between SSD consumption and overweight and obesity in Irish schoolchildren. The researchers analysed data from 1075 children aged 8-11 years from the Cork Children's Lifestyle Study (CCLaS), which was conducted in primary schools in Cork City, Ireland in 2012, and was funded by the National Children's Research Centre, Crumlin. Participants completed 3-day food diaries to assess the intake of SSDs. Body mass index (BMI) was used to define obesity. The authors analysed data from children whose reported energy intake was within the normal range (referred to as 'plausible energy reporters; PERs') - a total of 724 children (two-thirds of the sample). The researchers found that almost 1 in 5 (18%) of children with plausible (normal) energy intake were overweight or obese compared with 1 in 4 of the total sample. The majority (82%) of participants (PERS) consumed SSDs. On average participants drank one standard can (328ml) a day. SSDs contributed to an average of 6% total calorie intake and almost a quarter (22%) of total sugar intake. Average calories from SSDs increased incrementally between weight categories: SSD contributed 108 kcal for normal weight children and 155kcal for overweight/obese children, equating to 5.8% and 7.6% respectively of total daily calories respectively. Average intake volumes were also substantially higher in children who were overweight or obese compared to normal weight children--383ml per day for overweight/obese children and 315ml per day for normal weight children. Further analyses showed that high consumers who drank more than half a normal can of SSD per day (>200ml/d) were twice as likely to be overweight or obese than low volume consumers who drank less than half a can per day (<200ml/d), after adjusting for gender, parental education, physical activity and TV viewing. Moreover, the researchers noted a clear trend of decreasing BMI with falling soft drink consumption. Dr Harrington concludes: "While no single measure will reverse current trends in obesity, given the high level of consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the lack of nutritional value of these products, action needs to be taken to reduce consumption, particularly in children. There is a compelling case for the introduction of public policy to reduce sugar-sweetened drink consumption in the population. The introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in combination with other public health interventions has the potential to have a measurable effect on the scale of the epidemic of childhood obesity." The Irish Government plans to introduce a tax on SSDs in 2018. The next steps of this research group will be to monitor consumption of these drinks in the run-up to the introduction of the tax, and to assess the impact of the tax following its introduction. Dr Harrington adds: "It is unlikely that the introduction of the tax will have a direct short-term impact on obesity levels, it is more likely to have indirect impacts such as reducing the consumption of these beverages; increasing consumption of non-sugar beverages such as water; product re-formulation; and changing public attitudes. This will be a fascinating experiment in public health policy." ### Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing twice as fast as in the rest of the globe, while the Antarctic is warming at a much slower rate. A new study published in Earth System Dynamics, a journal of the European Geosciences Union, shows that land height could be a "game changer" when it comes to explaining why temperatures are rising at such different rates in the two regions. Climate models and past-climate studies show that, as the Earth warms in response to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, temperatures rise faster at the poles than in other parts of the planet. This is known as polar amplification. But this amplified warming is not the same at both poles. "On average, warming for the entire Antarctic continent has been much slower than Arctic warming so far. Moreover, climate models suggest that, by the end of this century, Antarctica will have warmed less compared to the Arctic," says Marc Salzmann, a researcher at the Institute for Meteorology, University of Leipzig in Germany. A possible cause for the accelerated Arctic warming is the melting of the region's sea ice, which reduces the icy, bright area that can reflect sunlight back out into space, resulting in more solar radiation being absorbed by the dark Arctic waters. Scientists believe this is an important contribution to warming in the region, but it's not the only one. Changes to the transport of heat by the Earth's atmosphere and oceans to the poles have also been suggested as a possible contributor to the steep rise in Arctic temperatures. In addition, the cold temperatures and the way air is mixed close to the surface at the poles mean that the surface has to warm more to radiate additional heat back to space. These effects may not only lead to stronger warming at the north of our planet, but also at the south polar region. "I wondered why some of the reasons to explain Arctic warming have not yet caused strongly amplified warming in all of Antarctica as well," says Salzmann, the author of the Earth System Dynamics study. There had to be other factors at play. "I thought that land height could be a game changer that might help explain why the Arctic has thus far warmed faster than Antarctica," he says. With an average elevation of about 2,500 m, Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth, much due to a thick layer of ice covering the bedrock. The continent also has high mountains, such as Mount Vinson, which rises almost 4,900 m above sea level. To test his idea, Salzmann used a computer model of the Earth system to find out how the climate would react to a doubling of the atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration. He also ran the same experiment in a flat-Antarctica world, where he artificially decreased the land height over the entire southern continent to one metre, a value similar to the surface height in the Arctic. This allowed him to compare how differently the Earth would react to an increase in greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere if Antarctica was assumed flat. The experiments showed that, if Antarctica's land height is reduced, temperatures in the region respond more strongly to a rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases over the continent. This contributes to an increase in Antarctic warming, which reduces the difference in polar amplification between the Arctic and the Antarctic. The most significant factor, however, was a change in the way heat is transported in the atmosphere from the equator to the poles in the flat Antarctica world compared to the reference model. "Assuming a flat Antarctica allows for more transport of warm air from lower latitudes," Salzmann explains. "This is consistent with the existing view that when the altitude of the ice is lowered, it becomes more prone to melting," Salzmann explains. In the long term, this could contribute to accelerate Antarctic warming in the real world. As the region warms due to increased greenhouse-gas emissions, ice melts, reducing Antarctica's elevation over centuries or thousands of years. This, in turn, would contribute to even more warming. ### Please mention the name of the publication (Earth System Dynamics) if reporting on this story and, if reporting online, include a link to the paper (http://www.earth-syst-dynam.net/8/323/2017/) or to the journal website. Discovery at Gladstone Institutes will help reevaluate the cause of certain cancers and developmental defects SAN FRANCISCO, CA--May 18, 2017--After decades of research aiming to understand how DNA is organized in human cells, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have shed new light on this mysterious field by discovering how a key protein helps control gene organization. Humans have nearly 30,000 genes that determine traits from eye color to risk for hereditary diseases. Those genes sit along six feet of DNA, which are carefully organized into chromosomes and stuffed into each and every microscopic human cell. "The extreme compacting of DNA into chromosomes is like taking a telephone cord that stretches from San Francisco to New York, and stuffing it into a backpack," described Benoit Bruneau, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone and lead author of a new study. "The organization of chromosomes is not random, but rather very complex, and it is critical for normal development. When this process goes wrong, it can contribute to various diseases." How is our DNA organized? Chromosomes are coiled into loops and then organized into many large domains called topologically associating domains, or TADs. Within each TAD, several genes and the elements that regulate them are packaged together, and they are insulated from those in neighboring TADs. "Imagine TADs are like adjoining rooms: like the genes in each TAD, people in each room can talk to one another, but not to people in the next room," explained Elphege Nora, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in Bruneau's laboratory and first author of the study. "In previous work, we showed that TADs package genes together and insulate them from neighboring genes. The burning question then became: what controls this TAD organization?" In the new study, published in the renowned scientific journal Cell, the scientists discovered that the key to organizing these TADs is a protein called CTCF. "CTCF is a fascinating protein," said Bruneau, who is also a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "It can be found at the boundaries of TAD domains, and was previously thought to be involved in many aspects of chromosome organization. We wanted to see what would happen to the structure of chromosomes if we removed all the CTCF from cells." CTCF: observing a protein that is impossible to study Researchers have struggled with studying the role of CTCF in the past, because it is absolutely essential to cells' survival. Therefore, completely removing CTCF would cause cells to die, making them impossible to study. "We used a new genetic method to completely eliminate CTCF in mammalian cells," said Nora. "Using this technique, we destroyed the protein very quickly so that we could study the cells before they died. This allowed us to look at the entire genome in the absence of CTCF and observe the effects." In collaboration with a team of computational biologists led by Leonid A. Mirny at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a team of biochemists led by Job Dekker at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Gladstone scientists demonstrated the importance of CTCF for the insulation of TADs. "We noticed that, in the absence of the CTCF protein, the insulating boundaries of TAD domains had almost fully disappeared, so that genes and regulatory elements could now interact with those in adjacent TADs," added Nora. "This would be like removing the wall between adjoining rooms, so that people could now freely interact with others in the neighboring room." However, the absence of CTCF had little effect on how genes connect within a single TAD. This indicates that CTCF is required for insulating TADs from one another, but not for packaging genes within these domains. This represents the first conclusive study to show that the two mechanisms are separate and controlled by different proteins. Redefining our understanding of CTCF Now that the scientists finally had a way of removing CTCF from cells, and disrupting the organization of TADs, they could start studying its impact on various aspects of the genome. They leveraged this new ability to examine other levels of chromosome organization. "We looked at a level of organization called compartmentalization, which separates active and inactive genes within a cell nucleus," said Nora. "This helps the cell identify which genes to use. For example, skins cells don't need eye-related genes, so these genes would be tightly packaged in a compartment and put away, because the cell will never use them. We used to think that boundaries of TAD domains were a prerequisite for the organization of these compartments." "To our surprise, we found that is not the case," said Bruneau. "When we deleted the CTCF protein, which caused TAD boundaries to disappear, we saw no effect on the organization of the larger compartments. This interesting finding revealed that CTCF and TAD structure are not required for compartmentalization but, rather, that an independent mechanism is responsible for this chromosome organization." "Our findings redefine the role of CTCF in gene regulation and provide new insights about the fundamental processes that govern genome organization" added Bruneau. "With this knowledge, we can now start reevaluating the cause of several diseases, as chromosome organization-including TADs-is often disrupted in many cancers and involved in significant developmental defects, such as congenital heart disease." Prior to its publication in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, a preliminary version of the study was posted on bioRxiv, an open-access distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences, and downloaded nearly 5,000 times over the past few months. "Websites like these offer new, exciting, and more direct ways to share research results," said Bruneau. "It also provided us with valuable input that helped shape our final manuscript and future research." ### About the research project Alec Uebersohn from Bruneau's lab at Gladstone also contributed to the study, as did Anton Goloborodko and Nezar Abdennur from Mirny's lab at MIT, and Anne-Laure Valton and Johan H. Gibcus from Dekker's lab at UMass Medical School. Research at Gladstone was supported by the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (grant U01HL098179); Gladstone Institutes; and a generous gift from William H. Younger, Jr. Nora was also supported by fellowships from EMBO, the Human Frontier Science Program, and the Philippe Foundation. Tomorrow's computers will run on light, and gold nanoparticle chains show much promise as light conductors. Now Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich scientists have demonstrated how tiny spots of silver could markedly reduce energy consumption in light-based computation. Today's computers are faster and smaller than ever before. The latest generation of transistors will have structural features with dimensions of only 10 nanometers. If computers are to become even faster and at the same time more energy efficient at these minuscule scales, they will probably need to process information using light particles instead of electrons. This is referred to as "optical computing". Fiber-optic networks already use light to transport data over long distances at high speed and with minimum loss. The diameters of the thinnest cables, however, are in the micrometer range, as the light waves -- with a wavelength of around one micrometer -- must be able to oscillate unhindered. In order to process data on a micro- or even nanochip, an entirely new system is therefore required. One possibility would be to conduct light signals via so-called plasmon oscillations. This involves a light particle (photon) exciting the electron cloud of a gold nanoparticle so that it starts oscillating. These waves then travel along a chain of nanoparticles at approximately 10% of the speed of light. This approach achieves two goals: nanometer-scale dimensions and enormous speed. What remains, however, is the energy consumption. In a chain composed purely of gold, this would be almost as high as in conventional transistors, due to the considerable heat development in the gold particles. A tiny spot of silver Tim Liedl, Professor of Physics at LMU and PI at the cluster of excellence Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM), together with colleagues from Ohio University, has now published an article in the journal Nature Physics, which describes how silver nanoparticles can significantly reduce the energy consumption. The physicists built a sort of miniature test track with a length of around 100 nanometers, composed of three nanoparticles: one gold nanoparticle at each end, with a silver nanoparticle right in the middle. The silver serves as a kind of intermediary between the gold particles while not dissipating energy. To make the silver particle's plasmon oscillate, more excitation energy is required than for gold. Therefore, the energy just flows "around" the silver particle. "Transport is mediated via the coupling of the electromagnetic fields around the so-called hot spots which are created between each of the two gold particles and the silver particle," explains Tim Liedl. "This allows the energy to be transported with almost no loss, and on a femtosecond time scale." Textbook quantum model The decisive precondition for the experiments was the fact that Tim Liedl and his colleagues are experts in the exquisitely exact placement of nanostructures. This is done by the DNA origami method, which allows different crystalline nanoparticles to be placed at precisely defined nanodistances from each other. Similar experiments had previously been conducted using conventional lithography techniques. However, these do not provide the required spatial precision, in particular where different types of metals are involved. In parallel, the physicists simulated the experimental set-up on the computer - and had their results confirmed. In addition to classical electrodynamic simulations, Alexander Govorov, Professor of Physics at Ohio University, Athens, USA, was able to establish a simple quantum-mechanical model: "In this model, the classical and the quantum-mechanical pictures match very well, which makes it a potential example for the textbooks." ### WHAT: Adding the injectable drug mepolizumab to standard treatment for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare immunologic disease, significantly improved clinical outcomes among participants in an advanced clinical trial, scientists report. The study was funded jointly by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the pharmaceutical company GSK, which makes mepolizumab. The trial took place at 31 research sites in nine countries, including the NIH Clinical Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Mepolizumab is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat people with severe eosinophilic asthma. In EGPA, previously known as Churg-Strauss Syndrome, the number of a type of white blood cell called an eosinophil increases dramatically. People affected usually experience severe asthma first and later develop multi-organ damage as eosinophils accumulate in the walls of blood vessels. The eosinophils release toxic proteins that cause inflammation of and damage to blood vessel walls, leading to restricted blood flow and tissue damage. People with EGPA are currently treated with oral steroids, which usually must be taken continuously, but their long-term use has serious side effects. Additionally, the steroids do not help everyone, and relapses are common. To try to prevent recurrent relapses, doctors can add medications that suppress the immune system, but these drugs also can have serious side effects. In the Phase 3 clinical trial, scientists tested the efficacy of adding mepolizumab to steroid treatment for EGPA, with or without immunosuppressants, in 136 patients who either had not responded to treatment or had relapsed. For one year, half the participants received injections of mepolizumab and half received injections of a placebo every 4 weeks. Neither the investigators nor the participants knew who had received which until the end of the trial. EGPA was in remission cumulatively for at least 24 weeks in 28 percent of participants who received mepolizumab but in only 3 percent who received placebo. In addition, the disease was in remission at weeks 36 and 48 in 32 percent of participants who received mepolizumab but in only 3 percent who received placebo. Roughly half of participants who received mepolizumab did not achieve remission, compared to 81 percent of those who received placebo. An NIAID-funded study is under way to learn what biological markers distinguish those who benefitted from mepolizumab from those who did not. More information about the completed trial is available at ClinicalTrials.gov under study identifier NCT02020889. ### ARTICLE: ME Wechsler et al. Mepolizumab or placebo for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis. New England Journal of Medicine DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1702079 (2017). WHO: Alkis Togias, M.D., chief of the Allergy, Asthma, and Airway Biology Branch in the NIAID Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, is available for interviews. CONTACT: To schedule interviews, please contact Laura S. Leifman, (301) 402-1663, laura.sivitz@nih.gov. NIAID conducts and supports research--at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide--to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov. The combined power of three space observatories, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, has helped astronomers uncover a moon orbiting the third largest dwarf planet, catalogued as 2007 OR10. The pair resides in the frigid outskirts of our solar system called the Kuiper Belt, a realm of icy debris left over from our solar system's formation 4.6 billion years ago. With this discovery, most of the known dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt larger than 600 miles across have companions. These bodies provide insight into how moons formed in the young solar system. "The discovery of satellites around all of the known large dwarf planets - except for Sedna - means that at the time these bodies formed billions of years ago, collisions must have been more frequent, and that's a constraint on the formation models," said Csaba Kiss of the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. He is the lead author of the science paper announcing the moon's discovery. "If there were frequent collisions, then it was quite easy to form these satellites." The objects most likely slammed into each other more often because they inhabited a crowded region. "There must have been a fairly high density of objects, and some of them were massive bodies that were perturbing the orbits of smaller bodies," said team member John Stansberry of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. "This gravitational stirring may have nudged the bodies out of their orbits and increased their relative velocities, which may have resulted in collisions." But the speed of the colliding objects could not have been too fast or too slow, according to the astronomers. If the impact velocity was too fast, the smash-up would have created lots of debris that could have escaped from the system; too slow and the collision would have produced only an impact crater. Collisions in the asteroid belt, for example, are destructive because objects are traveling fast when they smash together. The asteroid belt is a region of rocky debris between the orbits of Mars and the gas giant Jupiter. Jupiter's powerful gravity speeds up the orbits of asteroids, generating violent impacts. The team uncovered the moon in archival images of 2007 OR10 taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Observations taken of the dwarf planet by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope first tipped off the astronomers of the possibility of a moon circling it. Kepler revealed that 2007 OR10 has a slow rotation period of 45 hours. "Typical rotation periods for Kuiper Belt Objects are under 24 hours," Kiss said. "We looked in the Hubble archive because the slower rotation period could have been caused by the gravitational tug of a moon. The initial investigator missed the moon in the Hubble images because it is very faint." The astronomers spotted the moon in two separate Hubble observations spaced a year apart. The images show that the moon is gravitationally bound to 2007 OR10 because it moves with the dwarf planet, as seen against a background of stars. However, the two observations did not provide enough information for the astronomers to determine an orbit. "Ironically, because we don't know the orbit, the link between the satellite and the slow rotation rate is unclear," Stansberry said. The astronomers calculated the diameters of both objects based on observations in far-infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory, which measured the thermal emission of the distant worlds. The dwarf planet is about 950 miles across, and the moon is estimated to be 150 miles to 250 miles in diameter. 2007 OR10, like Pluto, follows an eccentric orbit, but it is currently three times farther than Pluto is from the sun. 2007 OR10 is a member of an exclusive club of nine dwarf planets. Of those bodies, only Pluto and Eris are larger than 2007 OR10. It was discovered in 2007 by astronomers Meg Schwamb, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz as part of a survey to search for distant solar system bodies using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. The team's results appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington, D.C. ### For images and more information about the study and Hubble, visit: http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-18 http://www.nasa.gov/hubble Donna Weaver / Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 410-338-4493 / 410-338-4514 dweaver@stsci.edu / villard@stsci.edu Csaba Kiss Konkoly Observatory, Budapest, Hungary 011-36-1-391-9341 kiss.csaba@csfk.mta.hu John Stansberry Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 410-338-2442 jstans@stsci.edu When you notice your partner is less interested than you are, your brain may send out a hormone that can help you fix the relationship LOVE HORMONE: Oxytocin is often called the "love hormone" or "cuddle chemical", but American and Norwegian researchers have found out that it may as well be called a "crisis hormone." "When people notice that their partner is showing less interest in their relationship than they are, the level of this relationship-building hormone increases," says Andreas Aarseth Kristoffersen, a research assistant in NTNU's Department of psychology. The hormone oxytocin has long been associated with relationships in several different ways. Oxytocin has a great reputation, because it is thought that it can make us feel better by reducing anxiety and making us feel more generous. Our brain secretes it during orgasm. It also influences the relationship between mother and child. But it's not all cuddling and love. Two - or more - possibilities "Two main theories exist. Some scientists believe that oxytocin is released primarily to enhance a relationship and make it stronger when you're with someone you love," says Aarseth Kristoffersen. But others believe that oxytocin levels increase primarily when we find ourselves in difficult or even threatening situations. In those cases, the hormone helps us seek out new social relationships. However it may not just be either-or. Hormone increases in good and bad times NTNU researchers joined researchers from the University of New Mexico to study the connection between oxytocin and investment in couple relationships. The researchers examined 75 American couples, and 148 Norwegian individuals who were one of the partners in their relationships. Newly minted Ph.D. Nicholas M. Grebe is the study's first author and visited Professor Kennair at NTNU's Department of Psychology. Kennair has collaborated with Grebe's Ph.D. advisor Professor Steven W. Gangestad. "Participants in the study were asked to think about their partner and how they wish their partner would connect with them in the relationship," says Trond Viggo Grntvedt, PhD, from the Department of Psychology. (See Fact Box for precise wording.) Oxytocin levels were measured both before and during the tasks. In both studies, individuals showed elevated hormone levels when they felt strong personal investment in the bond. In this case, oxytocin's reputation as a love hormone holds up. "Yes, oxytocin relates to one's feelings of involvement -- but, this association is particularly strong when one feels more involved than their partner," says Nick Grebe. But the crucial finding came from simultaneously examining both partners' involvement.. The partners who were more invested in a relationship released more oxytocin when they thought about their relationship than the less invested partner did. Considering both members together, it was the difference in investment between partners that predicted an increase in oxytocin. Here, oxytocin may be acting more like a "crisis hormone". "It's seems contradictory that you would release more oxytocin both when things are going well and when they're not, but that's how it is," says Aarseth Kristoffersen. But why would that be? Put more effort into the relationship "This may be because people in a relationship where their partner is waffling need to engage more," Aarseth Kristoffersen says. "The idea behind the prediction was that oxytocin might promote attention and motivation toward the relationship when it was both important and threatened," says Professor Gangestad. For example, the partner who is most invested in the relationship might benefit from putting even more effort into making it work, so that the more sceptical party re-engages. "What's implied here is a statement about what oxytocin is doing: It's perhaps fostering attention to and motivation to "take care of" the relationship," says Gangestad. Nevertheless, there is apparently - some would say fortunately - a limit. This would apply to relationships where everything seems lost and is clearly heading for a break-up. In those situations, the more invested partner does not show the same increase in oxytocin levels. "There's no point in investing more in a lost cause," says Kennair. There appears to be a limit to how long you should spend energy and resources on a relationship that is simply over. However, this is still mostly speculation for now. What you believe is what matters The researchers found no significant difference between US and Norwegian results. Responses to the study tasks were consistent across cultural conditions, which reinforces the theory that the underlying explanation is biological. The procedure in the two countries differed somewhat. The American couples were asked directly about how committed they were in their relationships. The Norwegian individuals were asked how invested they thought their partner was in the relationship. This made no difference for the results. It is enough if you think the relationship is weakening because your partner is losing interest. This will trigger your brain to release extra oxytocin. "I might emphasize that it isn't necessarily "bad" or "good" for a person to release oxytocin. Yes, it might motivate attention that helps to maintain a relationship, but as the article hints, that isn't necessarily desirable, though it could be! What is biologically "functional" and socially "desirable" are two different things," says Nick Grebe. "We think that viewing oxytocin in this way can help us understand why it plays a role in other kinds of interdependent social relationships--new romances, mother-infant bonds, as two examples. The idea is that emotionally salient relationships, especially when those relationships are vulnerable, are elicitors of the oxytocin system," Nick Grebe concludes. ### Source: Oxytocin and vulnerable romantic relations, Nicholas M. Grebe, Andreas Aarseth Kristoffersen, Trond Viggo Grntvedt, Melissa Emery Thompson, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Steven W. Gangestad. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Science Direct, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28254475 FACT BOX This was the task: "Please spend a few minutes thinking about your relationship with your partner. Then write about ways that your partner responds to you in ways that show that your partner truly accepts and connects with you, or how you wish your partner would respond to you in ways that show that your partner truly accepts and connects with you. In total, you'll have about 10 min for this task. So you have a few minutes to gather your thoughts before writing." Oxytocin and vulnerable romantic relationships (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314227000_Oxytocin_and_vulnerable_romantic_relationships [accessed May 12, 2017]. Patients at intermediate risk for surgery have lower stroke risk with TAVI than surgery TAVI is increasingly being used to treat patients at intermediate risk for surgical mortality who require aortic valve replacement. However, patients undergoing valve replacement face increased risk of death and long-term morbidity due to periprocedural stroke after either transcatheter or surgical valve replacement procedures. "As TAVI moves into lower-risk patients, it's important to understand the relative risk for neurological complications following surgical aortic value replacement and TAVI," explained the lead author of the SURTAVI trial, Pieter Kappetein, Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The trial randomised 1,660 patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis and at intermediate surgical risk to aortic valve replacement with TAVI or surgery. A neurologist or stroke specialist evaluated any patient who had a suspected neurological event after their procedure. Results showed that the incidence of early stroke at 30 days was significantly lower in patients undergoing TAVI (3.3%) than in those having surgical aortic valve replacement (5.4%, p=0.031). Stroke incidence remained lower at two years with TAVI compared to surgery (6.3% vs. 8.0%, p=0.143). One-year mortality was similar for TAVI and surgery patients with stroke or with encephalopathy at 30 days. "Surgical aortic valve replacement carries a higher risk in intermediate-risk patients and TAVI might be the preferred treatment in patients with aortic stenosis," suggested Kappetein. He said, "This is the first time that there has been shown to be a lower stroke rate with TAVI compared to surgery," adding that the findings will change practice. Further results showed that quality of life, based on the SF-36 physical summary, was lower at 30 days for all patients with early stroke compared to those not having a stroke. Quality of life improved more quickly in TAVI patients with stroke but was similar by six months regardless of procedure type. ### Contact information Contact: Pieter Kappetein, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands email: a.kappetein@erasmusmc.nl Corresponding session EuroPCR 2017 session: Thursday 18 May 09:45-10:45, Hot Line/Late-breaking Trials, Coronary interventions, interventions for valvular disease, CTO, STEMI, Stents and scaffolds, TAVI; Main Arena Help for journalists to cover EuroPCR 2017 For any press-related inquiries, please contact: EuroPCR Press Coordinator, Isabelle Uzielli iuzielli@europcr.com Register and attend EuroPCR 2017 as a journalist Press registration for EuroPCR is open to accredited journalists, free of charge. Journalists must hold a valid press card and/or provide a letter of assignment from a recognised publication. To register as press go to https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/EuroPCR-2017/Press EuroPCR press releases EuroPCR press releases can be found at https://www.pcronline.com/News/Press-releases?date=2017 Attend press briefings For the press briefing schedule check https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/EuroPCR-2017/Press EuroPCR abstracts Abstracts are available online at https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/EuroPCR-2017 Notes to Editors What is EuroPCR? EuroPCR, the official annual meeting of the European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology, is the world-leading course in interventional cardiovascular medicine. PCR has established a distinctive format for educational activities in the field of cardiovascular interventions. Beyond its flagship course in Paris that gathers more than 11,500 participants every year, PCR organises annual courses in Singapore, London UK, Dubai EAU, Johannesburg RSA, Milan Italy, Chengdu China and Tokyo Japan. For further information on EuroPCR, PCR London Valves, PCR Peripheral, PCR-CIT China Chengdu Valves, GulfPCR-GIM, AsiaPCR, AfricaPCR, PCR Tokyo Valves, and all PCR activities, please contact: Celia Vila: cvila@europa-organisation.com. For more information, please visit: https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/EuroPCR-2017 and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/PCRonline using the hashtag #EuroPCR Bone cancer patients facing difficult pelvic surgeries at the Texas Medical Center could soon benefit from Rice University research that will use personalized computer models to predict surgical outcomes for patients. The research is being made possible by a $5 million grant by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to recruit mechanical engineering researcher B.J. Fregly to Rice's Department of Mechanical Engineering. The grant is one of 10 totaling more than $25 million approved this week by CPRIT in Austin. Fregly, a Knox T. Millsaps Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida, is a classically trained mechanical engineer with more than 30 years of research experience building computer models that predict how a patient will function following different planned surgical or rehabilitation treatments. With motion-capture technology similar to that used by the film industry, Fregly and colleagues build personalized computer models of individual patients that can simulate post-treatment patient function for a wide range of treatment options being considered by the clinician. By performing the simulations in a systematic manner, Fregly's team seeks to identify the optimal surgical or rehabilitation treatment and how the clinician should implement it for the current patient -- a process called "personalized medicine." "My research program has always had a heavy orthopedic, human movement prediction and computational treatment design focus, and developing my CPRIT research plan in collaboration with surgeon Valerae Lewis at MD Anderson (Cancer Center) helped me realize how relevant my research toolbox is to orthopedic oncology," Fregly said. Lewis is chair of the Department of Orthopedic Oncology at MD Anderson. "I am extremely grateful to CPRIT for giving me the opportunity to take the innovative personalized treatment design methods I have been developing for other orthopedic conditions and apply them to cancer surgeries, where every patient is truly unique and requires a truly unique treatment plan," Fregly said. "I am enthusiastic to explore a broad range of orthopedic oncology applications with Dr. Lewis and her team in the years to come." Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Fregly earned his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his doctoral degree from Stanford University before moving to the University of Lyon, France, for postdoctoral studies under a Chateaubriand Fellowship. He also worked at a Silicon Valley software startup for four years before joining the University of Florida in 1999. In his second year at Florida, Fregly was recognized as Teacher of the Year in his department, and in 2008 he was named Teacher of the Year in Florida's College of Engineering. He has published more than 75 refereed journal articles and won numerous research grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including an NIH R01 "Knee Grand Challenge" grant in 2010 to collect and make freely available comprehensive human movement data sets that musculoskeletal modeling researchers around the world use to validate their predictions of muscle and joint contact forces in the knee. Fregly is no stranger to Rice. His wife, Shirley, is a 1988 alumna, and his son, Christopher, just completed his freshman year at Rice. In fact, Fregly's recruitment to Rice began with an August 2016 conversation as he was moving his son into university housing. "Shirley and I were helping move Christopher into his room at (one of Rice's residential colleges), and he walked in and said, 'I just met the college master (Laura Schaefer), and she said she wants to speak with you,'" Fregly recalled. Schaefer, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, had recognized the senior Fregly's name and wanted to encourage him to apply for a position at Rice. Fregly said Schaefer also encouraged him to apply for CPRIT funding. Fregly's CPRIT research will focus on using patient-specific computational walking models to predict which type of pelvic surgery -- and how to perform it -- will maximize a patient's ability to regain mobility. Few cancer surgeries today are as invasive or life-changing as those involving the pelvis, the ring-shaped bone that anchors both the spine and hips. Removing key parts of the bone can keep patients off their feet for more than a year, and outcomes are so variable that patients often go into the operating room without a clear idea of what their walking ability will be like after surgery. "Custom pelvic prostheses have the potential to both maximize walking ability and minimize recovery time, but they are not available clinically because of low reliability," Fregly said. "That's an engineering problem that Rice is in a good position to tackle." He said his lab will work with Scott Tashman, director of the Biomotion Lab at the University of Texas Health Science Center, to gather patient-specific 3-D imaging, gross body movement and fine bone movement data. Using those data, Fregly's team will create a state-of-the-art computer model for each patient, and those models will provide force and stress predictions that mechanical engineering researcher Fred Higgs, director of the Particle Flow and Tribology Lab at Rice, will use to create custom prostheses with 3-D printing. "Our hope is to improve the postsurgical functional outcome and recovery time for pelvic sarcoma patients in the Texas Medical Center, regardless of which surgical method a patient receives," Fregly said. He said the CPRIT project is only possible because of the willingness of Rice and Texas Medical Center experts to collaborate. "This project could not have happened without a collaborative team," Fregly said. "I'm pulling it together and leading the modelling, but without Valerae Lewis we would have no clinical problem to address and no patients. Without Scott Tashman, we couldn't do pretreatment testing or assess how patients are progressing. And we need Fred Higgs' expertise to create custom implants using additive manufacturing. It really will take all of us to make this project go." Fregly will join Rice's faculty Aug. 1. Cancer is a leading cause of death for Texans. CPRIT was approved by state taxpayers in a 2007 ballot initiative to provide $3 billion to support cancer research statewide. To date, CPRIT has awarded $1.8 billion in grants to Texas researchers, institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention and product development research programs. ### Related stories from Rice: Rice awarded grant to recruit Stanford cancer researcher -- March 27, 2017 http://news.rice.edu/2017/03/27/rice-awarded-grant-to-recruit-stanford-cancer-researcher/ Rice wins award to recruit cancer researcher -- June 6, 2016 http://news.rice.edu/2016/06/06/rice-wins-award-to-recruit-cancer-researcher-2/ Rice recruits cancer researcher from Harvard with CPRIT grant -- May 26, 2015 http://news.rice.edu/2015/05/26/rice-recruits-cancer-researcher-from-harvard-with-cprit-grant/ Nanomedicine expert joins Rice faculty -- Dec. 15, 2014 http://news.rice.edu/2014/12/15/nanomedicine-expert-joins-rice-faculty/ This release can be found online at news.rice.edu. Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews. Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview. On November 17, 2015, actor Charlie Sheen publicly disclosed he was HIV-positive on NBC's Today Show. How might such celebrity announcements affect public health in the population at large? That's a question scientists and advocates grappled with in a study published last year in JAMA Internal Medicine led by San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health research professor John W. Ayers. The researchers found that Sheen's disclosure corresponded with millions of online search queries for HIV prevention and testing, even though neither Sheen himself nor public health leaders called for such action at the time. In a new, follow-up study published in the journal Prevention Science, Ayers and colleagues found that not only did Sheen's disclosure lead people to seek information about HIV, it also corresponded with record levels of at-home rapid HIV testing sales. The team collected data on weekly sales of OraQuick, the only rapid in-home HIV test kit available in the United States, to investigate whether Internet queries (based on Google Trends data on searches with "test," "tests," or "testing" and "HIV") could be correlated with any uptick in HIV testing. "Our strategy allowed us to provide a real-world estimation of the 'Charlie Sheen effect' on HIV prevention and contrast that effect with our past formative assessment using Internet searches," said study coauthor Eric Leas, a research associate in the SDSU-UCSD joint doctoral program in public health. The week of Sheen's disclosure coincided with a near doubling in OraQuick sales, which reached an all-time high. Sales remained significantly higher for the following three weeks, with 8,225 more sales than expected. "In absolute terms, it's hard to appreciate the magnitude of Sheen's disclosure," added study coauthor Benjamin Althouse, research scientist with the Institute of Disease Modeling. "However, when we compared Sheen's disclosure to other traditional awareness campaigns the 'Charlie Sheen effect' is astonishing." OraQuick sales in the time period around Sheen's disclosure were nearly eight times greater than sales around World Aids Day,, one of the most well-known and longest-running HIV prevention awareness events. The team's most significant takeaway, however, is that these findings reinforce their past analyses of Google search data. Using Internet searches alone the team was able to predict HIV testing sales within seven percent for any given weeks. "Public health leaders are often cautious, choosing to wait for traditional data instead of taking reasonable action in response to novel data, like Internet searches," Ayers said. " Our findings underscore the value of big media data for yielding rapid intelligence to make public health actionable and more responsive to the public it serves." Study coauthor Mark Dredze, a Johns Hopkins University computer scientist, added that "public health must ready itself for the next Sheen-like event by embracing big media data for decision making." said. Still, it may be the window has not fully closed on the Charlie Sheen effect, he said. "Our findings build on earlier studies that suggest empathy is easier to motivate others when the empathy is targeted toward an individual versus a group" said coauthor Jon-Patrick Allem, research scientist with the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. "It is easy to imagine that a single individual, like Sheen, disclosing his HIV status may be more compelling and motivating for people than an unnamed mass of individuals or a lecture from public health leaders." ### The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) organised the "Launch Ceremony of the Cambodia Service-Learning and Leadership Summer School 2017" today (18 May 2017). Combining leadership education and Service-Learning (SL), this Summer School is organised in collaboration with The Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), the national university of Cambodia, as part of PolyU's initiative in fostering students' holistic development, and in nurturing them as future ethical leaders with a heart to serve the global community. Over 140 PolyU students and 80 RUPP students will join the one-month Summer School programme this year. This is the first time that a programme combining Service-Learning and leadership in Cambodia is offered. Participating students will be able to develop their leadership skill and interact with university students in Cambodia while serving the local community there. PolyU President, Prof. Timothy W. Tong, said in his welcoming remarks that PolyU commits to the development of Service-Learning and leadership education with a target of equipping students to become responsible global leaders. Prof. Tong said, "We aim to provide a platform for students from Hong Kong, Cambodia and other parts of the world to improve their leadership skills, particularly through Service-Learning. The Cambodia Service Learning and Leadership Summer School has been established to achieve this goal." In support of PolyU's endeavours in SL and leadership education, Hong Kong Airlines will generously sponsor PolyU with 80 round-trip tickets this year, which enables participating students to serve the world outside Hong Kong. Mr Tang King Shing, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Airlines, said, "Hong Kong Airlines has been committed to contributing to society and our 'Embrace the World' Student Sponsorship Programme is designed to inspire the younger generation to fly high and explore the world. We are pleased to be given a chance by PolyU to support its Cambodia Service-Learning and Leadership Summer School programme, which is truly a life-changing opportunity for both students and the beneficiaries." Officiating guests of the ceremony included Vice-President (Student and Global Affairs) of PolyU Prof. Angelina Yuen, and Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme) of PolyU Prof. Daniel Shek. Other than Cambodia, PolyU has been undertaking Service-Learning and leadership education in various parts of the world. A showcase exhibiting PolyU's efforts and achievements in off-shore SL and leadership education, such as in Cambodia, Myanmar, Rwanda, Vietnam and Korea, was also held at the venue. ### Press Contact Miss Kim Wong Global Youth Leadership Institute Tel: 3400 8531 Email: kim.hk.wong@polyu.edu.hk Infertile couples have a major opportunity to achieve a successful pregnancy without the need for IVF, thanks to new research into a 100-year-old medical technique. The now lesser known technique -- which involves flushing the woman's fallopian tubes with an iodised poppy seed oil -- has been proven to have significant benefits for fertility, according to the largest study undertaken by a team involving researchers in the Netherlands and Australia. The results of the study will today be published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They will also be presented at the 13th World Congress on Endometriosis in Vancouver, Canada, by project leader Professor Ben Mol, from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, and a member of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute's Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children theme. Known as the H2Oil study, the project compared the benefits of flushing the fallopian tubes with either an oil-based or water-based solution in 1119 women. With Professor Mol, this work was conducted by Dr Kim Dreyer and Dr Velja Mijatovic from the Department of Reproductive Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, and a research team from 27 medical centres in the Netherlands. 100-year-old technique The procedure, known as hysterosalpingography (HSG), is a dye test of the fallopian tubes conducted under X-ray. The procedure was first carried out in 1917, and since the 1950s both water-based and oil-based solutions have been used. "Over the past century, pregnancy rates among infertile women reportedly increased after their tubes had been flushed with either water or oil during this X-ray procedure. Until now, it has been unclear whether the type of solution used in the procedure was influencing the change in fertility," says Professor Mol, who himself was conceived after his mother underwent such a procedure. "Our results have been even more exciting than we could have predicted, helping to confirm that an age-old medical technique still has an important place in modern medicine," he says. Results show clear benefits of oil-based solution Almost 40% of infertile women in the oil group and 29% of infertile women in the water group achieved successful pregnancies within six months of the technique being performed. The oil-based product used in the study was Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, an iodised solution of fatty acids from poppy seeds. This product is currently available in 47 countries around the world. "The rates of successful pregnancy were significantly higher in the oil-based group, and after only one treatment. This is an important outcome for women who would have had no other course of action other than to seek IVF treatment. It offers new hope to infertile couples," Professor Mol says. The big question: why? "It was long believed that testing a woman's fallopian tubes could have fertility benefits through 'flushing out' the kind of debris that hinders fertility. The reality is, we still don't really understand why there is a benefit, only that there is a benefit from this technique, in particular for women who don't present with any other treatable fertility symptoms," Professor Mol says. "Further research would need to be conducted into the mechanisms behind what we're seeing. For now, and considering the technique has been used for 100 years without any known side-effects, we believe it is a viable treatment for infertility prior to couples seeking IVF. "Not only is there a known benefit, but this flushing procedure is also a fraction of the cost of one cycle of IVF. Considering that 40% of women in the oil-based group achieved a successful pregnancy, that's 40% of couples who could avoid having to go through the huge costs and emotions associated with IVF treatment," he says. Turning around infertility - a family history Until he embarked on this study, Professor Mol had no idea that he himself was the result of a successful pregnancy following such a procedure. In the 1960s, after being considered infertile for nine years, Professor Mol's mother underwent an HSG which, coincidentally, also used Lipiodol. "It was only after I started researching this technique that my family told me what had happened," Professor Mol says. "My mother went from being infertile for many years to becoming pregnant, and I was born in 1965. I also have a younger brother. So it's entirely possible - in fact, based on our team's research, it's highly likely - that my brother and I are both the result of this technique helping my mother to achieve fertility." What can infertile couples do? "The use of used Lipiodol itself is not currently practiced widely, so the first thing couples need to do is to speak with their doctor about it," Professor Mol says. "Professional bodies responsible for guidelines, funders of health care, and fertility clinics all have a role to play in assisting infertile couples to make this intervention available to couples before IVF is started," he says. This study received no financial assistance from the makers of Lipiodol. Professor Mol's research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). ### Media contacts: Professor Ben Mol, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide; Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children theme, SAHMRI: cell phone +61 (0)434 122 170, ben.mol@adelaide.edu.au Professor Robert Norman, Professor of Reproductive & Periconceptual Medicine, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide: cell phone +61 (0)450 840 245, robert.norman@adelaide.edu.au Among the hundreds of species of damselfish, only a few protect and care for their young; a newly discovered species raises the number from three to four The vast majority of coral reef fish produce large numbers of young that disperse into the ocean as larvae, drifting with the currents before settling down on a reef. Giacomo Bernardi, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, studies reef fish that buck this trend and keep their broods on the reef, protecting the young until they are big enough to fend for themselves. On a recent trip to the Philippines, Bernardi and his graduate students discovered a new species of damselfish that exhibits this unusual parental care behavior. Out of about 380 species of damselfish, only three brood-guarding species were known prior to this discovery. Bernardi's team had gone to the Philippines to study two of them, both in the genus Altrichthys, that live in shallow water off the small island of Busuanga. On the last day of the trip, the researchers went snorkeling in a remote area on the other side of the island from their study site. "Immediately, as soon as we went in the water, we saw that this was a different species," Bernardi said. "It's very unusual to see a coral reef fish guarding its babies, so it's really cool when you see it." Genetic tests on the specimens they collected confirmed that it is a new species, which the researchers named Altrichthys alelia (Alelia's damselfish, derived from the names of Bernardi's children, Alessio and Amalia, who helped with his field research). A paper on the new species was published May 18 in the journal ZooKeys. Parental care dramatically improves the chances of survival for the offspring. According to Bernardi, less than one percent of larvae that disperse into the ocean survive to settle back on a reef, whereas survival rates can be as high as 35 percent for the offspring of the Altrichthys species. Yet the parental care strategy remains rare among reef fish. "It's a huge fitness advantage, so why don't they all do that? There must also be a huge disadvantage," Bernardi said. One big disadvantage is that the young are unable to colonize new sites far from the home reef of their parents. As a result, brood-guarding species (the technical term is "apelagic" species, because they don't have a pelagic, ocean-going phase) tend to occur in highly restricted areas, which leaves them more vulnerable to extinction. "I suspect that species evolve this strategy regularly, and they are successful until there is some change to the local habitat, and then the whole population gets wiped out," Bernardi said. "These are very fragile species. The Banggai cardinalfish is one that was discovered just a few years ago in a small area in Indonesia, and it's already on the endangered species list." ### Bernardi's graduate students, Gary Longo and Angela Quiros, are coauthors of the paper. This research was funded by the National Geographic Society and the UCSC Committee on Research. Irvine, Calif., May 18th, 2017 -- By analyzing both the genes that control color detecting photoreceptors and the structural components of the eye itself, University of California, Irvine evolutionary biologists have discovered male and female butterflies of one particular species have the unique ability to see the world differently from each another because of sex-related evolutionary traits. The study, which appears in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, offers new insights into these selective environmental pressures that guide butterfly eye evolution. Led by Adriana D. Briscoe, UCI professor of ecology & evolutionary biology at the Ayala School of Biological Sciences, researchers discovered that the butterfly species Heliconius erato possesses a distinct set of visual photoreceptors based on species sex. Females of the species contain two types of the ultraviolet opsin gene (UVRh1 and UVRh2), while males lack UVRh1. The findings were surprising to the group, as no other animal has been found to have a sex-linked difference in the make-up of its eye that depends on the suppression of an opsin gene. The researchers also noted that the violet receptors controlled by the expression of the ultraviolet opsin genes may help facilitate species recognition between Heliconius erato and other butterflies. "We are only now beginning to appreciate that male and female Heliconius see the world through different eyes," said Briscoe. "Pollinator preference can have a huge impact on the evolution of flower coloration, just by virtue of which flower gets visited. Flowers may change their colors to match what butterflies can see; and sex differences add another layer to the story of these interactions." Briscoe and her colleagues were astonished by the sex differences found in the Heliconius erato species; however, it remains to be determined why such differences would evolve in the first place. Their findings shed light on a fascinating way that environmental pressure can give rise to the origins of a new visual receptor. "We think this study will inspire visual ecologists to look more closely at the behavior of each sex - how they see each other, how they see flowers and how they find places to lay their eggs," she said. We are testing this hypothesis by giving male and female Heliconius butterflies color vision tests in the lab." Briscoe and study co-leader, UCI post-doctoral scholar Kyle McCulloch, added "Finding this level of color receptor diversity in closely related butterflies supports other studies showing that eye evolution is not always a slow and conservative process. As a field, we are still not sure why some lineages diversify and use many more color receptors than others, but with this study, we can frame new hypotheses to answer these questions. In particular it will be exciting to learn what mechanisms during development lead to these sex and species differences in the eye, and what selection pressures - mate choice, foraging, oviposition - lead to these differences in Heliconius." ### Other researchers who contributed to this work are Furong Yuan and Gilbert Smith from UCI, Ying Zhen from Princeton University, Matthew Aardema and Peter Andolfatto from Princeton University and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, Jorge Llorente-Bousquets from Universidad Nacional AutOnoma de Mexico. The research was supported by the Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigacion e Innovacion Tecnologica (DGAPA-UNAM IN-214212 to JL); UCMEXUS-CONACYT (CN-13-591 to AB and JL); and the National Science Foundation (IOS-1257627 to AB and PA). About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu. Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists. May 18, 2017 - Domestic extremists tend to be much older, better educated, more affluent, more religious, and are more likely to be white than street gang members, according to a sweeping new University of Colorado Boulder study that systematically compares the groups for the first time. The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and published today in the journal Justice Quarterly, also found that contrary to popular belief, U.S. gang members seldom go on to become radicalized and commit acts of terrorism. The findings come as the Trump administration has named the large U.S. street gang MS 13 "one of the gravest threats to American public safety," and ideologically motivated extremism remains a national concern. The authors hope the paper, and related studies, will be used to help inform policies to counter both domestic terrorism and gang participation. "Both criminal gangs, like MS-13, and domestic extremist groups, like neo-Nazis, pose great risks for crime and violence in the United States," said lead author David Pyrooz, an assistant professor of sociology. "This study gives us a much better statistical portrait of what such groups look like in relation to each other." For the study, researchers compared data from 1,473 political extremists in the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset with 705 gang members from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSR) dataset. PIRUS includes information, taken from interviews and media accounts, about members of violent extremist groups or terrorist organizations, and individuals who committed crimes motivated by far-right, far-left, Islamist, or other ideologies. "Criminologists have been studying gangs for years, whereas the study of domestic extremists is relatively recent," explained co-author Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. "There has been some hope that if the processes by which individuals get into gangs resemble how they get into terrorist organizations, we might be able to use what we know from countering gang participation to counter participation in terrorism." But the study suggests there are fewer links than suspected. Only 82 domestic extremists - less than 6 percent - had gang ties. "This suggests gangs are not breeding grounds for extremism as previously thought," said Pyrooz. On average, members of extremist groups are 34 years old; gang members are 19. While females constitute nearly one-third of gangs, 90 percent of extremists are male. Eighty percent of domestic extremists are white, while fewer than half of gang members are. And just 1.2 percent of extremists have no religious affiliation, while 24 percent of gang members are not religious. In all, the groups showed similarities in only 10 out of 27 measures. "Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that, on an individual level, policies and programs designed to prevent and intervene in gang membership might not translate very well to domestic extremism," said Pyrooz. "The jury is still out for group- and community-level approaches." That said, the researchers did find a few compelling commonalities that draw people to both types of groups, including strong attachments to like-minded peers and poor employment history. For studies to come, they're conducting in-person interviews with gang members to compare their life histories with those of domestic extremists. "We want to better understand how and why members from each of these groups enter and leave them, and provide this basic research to people out in the trenches dealing with these issues," Pyrooz said. ### The National Institute of Justice funded the study, "Cut from the same cloth? A comparative study of domestic extremists and gang members in the United States." Arizona State University criminologist Scott Decker also contributed. Contact: David Pyrooz, 303-492-3241 david.pyrooz@colorado.edu Lisa Marshall, CU Boulder media relations, 303-492-3115 lisa.marshall@colorado.edu CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath or toxins in a building's air could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor devices. By riddling the thin plastic films with pores, University of Illinois researchers made the devices sensitive enough to detect at levels that are far too low to smell, yet are important to human health. In a new study in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, professor Ying Diao's research group demonstrated a device that monitors ammonia in breath, a sign of kidney failure. "In the clinical setting, physicians use bulky instruments, basically the size of a big table, to detect and analyze these compounds. We want to hand out a cheap sensor chip to patients so they can use it and throw it away," said Diao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois. Other researchers have tried using organic semiconductors for gas sensing, but the materials were not sensitive enough to detect trace levels of disease markers in breath. Diao's group realized that the reactive sites were not on the surface of the plastic film, but buried inside it. "We developed this method to directly print tiny pores into the device itself so we can expose these highly reactive sites," Diao said. "By doing so, we increased the reactivity by ten times and can sense down to one part per billion." For their first device demonstration, the researchers focused on ammonia as a marker for kidney failure. Monitoring the change in ammonia concentration could give a patient an early warning sign to call their doctor for a kidney function test, Diao said. The material they chose is highly reactive to ammonia but not to other compounds in breath, Diao said. But by changing the composition of the sensor, they could create devices that are tuned to other compounds. For example, the researchers have created an ultrasensitive environmental monitor for formaldehyde, a common indoor pollutant in new or refurbished buildings. The group is working to make sensors with multiple functions to get a more complete picture of a patient's health. "We would like to be able to detect multiple compounds at once, like a chemical fingerprint," Diao said. "It's useful because in disease conditions, multiple markers will usually change concentration at once. By mapping out the chemical fingerprints and how they change, we can more accurately point to signs of potential health issues." ### Diao's group collaborated with Purdue University professor Jianguo Mei on this work. Editor's notes: To contact Ying Diao, call 217-300-3505; email yingdiao@illinois.edu. The paper "Solution-Processed Nanoporous Organic Semiconductor Thin Films: Toward Health and Environmental Monitoring of Volatile Markers" is available online. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201701117 A new Oxford University collaboration revealing the world's prime insect predation hotspots, achieved its landmark findings using an unusual aid: plasticine 'dummy caterpillars.' The fact that the tropics are home to more species than the Polar Regions is well known. However, whether or not there is likely to be more predatory behaviour nearer to the Equator because of this, has remained largely unknown. The new study published in Science has revealed a global pattern of predation on insect herbivores. The trends observed were surprising, revealing that predatory behaviour in the tropics is not driven by birds or mammals but by ants and other small arthropods. The international team made the discovery by examining a fraction of caterpillars eaten along an 11,635 km gradient from the Arctic Circle to southern Australia. The work revealed that a caterpillar living near the Equator is eight times more likely to be eaten, than a caterpillar at the poles. The findings were achieved with surprisingly simple materials. To measure local predation rates, researchers glued thousands of artificial caterpillars made from plasticine, to plants across 31 sites around the world. Predators of caterpillars, such as birds and ants, are then tricked into thinking the decoy insects are the real thing, and only realise that they have been deceived when they have taken a bite. The team then revisited sites several times to check for bite marks, and evidence of any predatory behaviour. Dr Eleanor Slade, one of the study's lead authors and a researcher in Zoology at the Universities of Oxford and Lancaster, said: 'The great thing about this method is that you can track down who the predator was by inspecting the attack marks. The jaws of an insect, like an ant, will leave two small piercings, whereas a bird beak will cause wedge-shaped marks. Mammals will leave teeth marks -- well, you get the idea." Tomas Roslin, the other lead author and Professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Helsinki, said: 'The pattern was not only mirrored on both sides of the Equator, but also appeared across elevational gradients. Moving up a mountain slope you find the same decrease in predation risk as when moving towards the Poles. This suggests a common driver could be controlling species interactions at a global scale.' Decoy insects have been used in previous ecology studies, but never before on such a broad scale. It was comparing results from these smaller initiatives that inspired the team to take their research to the next level. Eleanor Slade said: "Tomas had used plasticine caterpillars in Greenland and thought they didn't work when he found very low attack rates. I had used them in the rainforests in Borneo, and had detected very high attack rates. Just imagine if these are the two end points of a global pattern, we thought. And that is exactly what they turned out to be.' The replica insects were placed at far-flung locations across the globe, which meant that gathering the corresponding data required a lot of team work, with a total of 40 researchers from 21 countries working on the project. Bess Hardwick, the laboratory manager for the research, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, said: "This is the beauty of what are called 'distributed experiments'. As ecologists, we typically ask questions about patterns and processes much larger than we as single researchers or teams can examine. But by designing experiments that can be split into smaller work packages, we can involve collaborators all over the world, and work together to understand the bigger picture.' For the insights gained to be comparable, consistency and standardisation were key. The dummy caterpillars were designed at and sent to researchers from the projects central "hatchery", at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Moulded from green plasticine, the materials were shaped to closely resemble "loopers" (or "inchworms"). Even the glue used to attach them to plants was included in the kit to ensure the same look and smell of caterpillars across all sites. A total of 2,879 were used in the study and left at the sties over the course of four to 18 days. The caterpillars were then carefully detached from the leaves and returned to Helsinki for analysis. Led by Bess Hardwick, the team inspected the caterpillars for signs of predator-induced damage, such as bite marks. By attributing each attack mark to a specific predator group, the team was then able to identify a clear culprit behind the latitudinal gradient in attack rates. Dr Will Petry, Postdoctoral Research Associate at ETH Zurich, who contributed data and supported analysis from California, said: 'People often think of vertebrates as the most important predators in the tropics, but birds and mammals weren't the groups responsible for the increase in predation risk towards the Equator. Instead tiny arthropod predators like ants drove the pattern.' The findings may also have implications for herbivore evolution, Dr Petry said: 'Our results suggest that tropical caterpillars would do well to target their defences and camouflage specifically against arthropod predators. Closer to the poles, lower predation may allow caterpillars to let their guard down.' Professor Roslin said: 'To understand why the world stays green and is not fully consumed by hordes of caterpillars, we should appreciate the role of arthropod predators. Our findings suggest that their role may be even further accentuated towards the Equator." Herbivores in tropical forests remove 10 to 30 per cent of a plant's leaf area per year. Interactions between plants and their herbivores and predators will therefore affect forest eco-system structures, and in turn how they function. When there is higher predation of leaf-eating caterpillars this may cascade through the ecosystem, with knock-on effects for the growth and survival of plants. Uncovering a gradient in how species interact therefore provides a foundation for understanding global patterns in ecosystem processes (e.g. herbivory and plant productivity), ecosystem services, (e.g. carbon storage and crop yields), and how long-term changes in the environment may affect biodiversity. Moving forward, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate further academic investigation into whether the patterns revealed translate into cascading effects for herbivory of plant leaves, and whether these patterns will ultimately affect the structure and function of forest ecosystems. ### Notes to editors: The full citation for this paper is 'Higher Predation Risk for Insect Prey at Low Latitudes and Elevations," By T. Roslin et al. It is available to download from Science from Thursday 18 May 2017 http://www.sciencemag.org/ Images and credit details: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ou93l2cpgdax0xf/AAD9Dy-znUbrpKK7XfxHrIvSa?dl=0 For further information please contact Lanisha Butterfield, Media Relations Manager, University of Oxford, at 01865 280531 or lanisha.butterfield@admin.ox.ac.uk The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) is one of four academic divisions at the University of Oxford, representing the non-medical sciences. Oxford is one of the world's leading universities for science, and MPLS is at the forefront of scientific research across a wide range of disciplines. Research in the mathematical, physical and life sciences at Oxford was rated the best in the UK in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. MPLS received 133m in research income in 2014/15. Marilyn, the first automated car to be granted a road traffic testing permit in Finland, and its spouse Martti have taken things to a new level together and started exchanging information with each other and their driving environment. They will take the next step in their relationship in the autumn, when the public digital infrastructure can also talk with the couple. The automated cars developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland can hear, see and sense, and Finnish intelligence hums in their brains. They are able to follow a pre-programmed route and avoid collisions with sudden obstacles without input from the driver. The cars currently require the lane markings or sides of the road to be visible. This is, however, only the first step; by 2020, the cars will be driving in more demanding conditions on roads covered in gravel and snow. "Our cars already have enough equipment required for automated driving, and now we are taking the most out of them with software technology. The challenges range from small to big ones, but that's fascinating," says project manager Matti Kutila from VTT. The autonomous cars feature a thermal camera for observing people and animals; a stereo camera and radar for high-resolution scanning of the vicinity; laser scanners and long-range radars for seeing farther; and GPS/Glonass receivers for positioning. The cars also have inertia units for determining direction and accelerations. The actuators are cylinders and motors. The sensors and actuators are connected by intelligence that creates a situational awareness and controls the actuators so that the car moves as planned at an accuracy of milliseconds and centimetres. "The communications channel of the automated cars is open, but the messages are not yet fully compliant with the standards. Come autumn, the cars will exchange information in a standard format, also allowing others to talk with them," says Kutila. "Big things will be seen in 2021" According to Kutila, the next step for VTT's automated cars will be changing the wavelengths of the optical components, increasing the resolution of the radar, and building more intelligence in the software monitoring the capabilities of the sensors. These are intended to do their part in tackling demanding weather conditions such as a slippery road surface, concealed edge of the road or fog. Different scenarios are added step by step in the development of the autonomous cars (such as cities, main roads, snow, exit ramps) that the car can manage, while increasing the driving speed and managing difficult driving conditions with improved intelligence. "Today, the automation of traffic is generally speaking just taking its first steps - the big things will not come until 2021 and later. This is a kind of a 'never ending story'. It is certain that the number of code lines in cars will grow explosively in the coming years - today, we are talking about maybe 3,000 lines in our cases," says Kutila. Autonomy will also be introduced into lorries and buses and even ships, but in a different form. Working machines, however, are marching in the front lines of the development of autonomy. Their working areas can be limited, which makes autonomous operation easier. In traffic, creating such limits is not as easy. Safety and cybersecurity threats will be increasingly involved when the IoT for vehicles, or Internet of Things, and information networks advance. A lot of work is still required to develop a car that operates completely reliably and observes its environment. "What the cars have today has not been built in six months; it is a result of over 20 years of work," says Kutila. ### VTT the Technical Research Centre of Finland also co-operates with global brands such as Daimler, Renault, Autoliv, Cerema, EICT, Hitachi, Ibeo, Innoluce, Technical University of Tampere, University of Ulm, Xenics, Oplatek, Vaisala and Modulight in the ECSEL co-funded initiative called DENSE. Finnish partners involved in the national TEKES co-funded project called UrbanAutoTest include LinkMotion, Tieto, TTS, Taipale Telematics, City of Tampere, Trafi and Here. Media material: http://www.vttresearch.com/media/news/vtts-autonomous-cars-take-to-public-roads-and-start-communicating-with-each-other Further information: VTT Matti Kutila, Project Manager Tel. +358 40 820 8334 matti.kutila@vtt.fi @matti_kutila Further information on VTT: Milka Lahnalammi-Vesivalo Communications Manager +358 40 5457 828 milka.lahnalammi-vesivalo@vtt.fi http://www.vtt.fi VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is the leading research and technology company in the Nordic countries. We use our research and knowledge to provide expert services for our domestic and international customers and partners, and for both private and public sectors. We use 4,000,000 hours of brainpower a year to develop new technological solutions. VTT in social media: Twitter @VTTFinland, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Periscope. (BOSTON) --The human heart beats approximately 35 million times every year, effectively pumping blood into the circulation via four different heart valves. Unfortunately, in over four million people each year, these delicate tissues malfunction due to birth defects, age-related deteriorations, and infections, causing cardiac valve disease. Today, clinicians use either artificial prostheses or fixed animal and cadaver-sourced tissues to replace defective valves. While these prostheses can restore the function of the heart for a while, they are associated with adverse comorbidity and wear down and need to be replaced during invasive and expensive surgeries. Moreover, in children, implanted heart valve prostheses need to be replaced even more often as they cannot grow with the child. A team lead by Kevin Kit Parker, Ph.D. at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering recently developed a nanofiber fabrication technique to rapidly manufacture heart valves with regenerative and growth potential. In a paper published in Biomaterials, Andrew Capulli, Ph.D. and colleagues fabricated a valve-shaped nanofiber network that mimics the mechanical and chemical properties of the native valve extracellular matrix (ECM). To achieve this, the team used the Parker lab's proprietary rotary jet spinning technology - in which a rotating nozzle extrudes an ECM solution into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels. "Our setup is like a very fast cotton candy machine that can spin a range of synthetic and natural occurring materials. In this study, we used a combination of synthetic polymers and ECM proteins to fabricate biocompatible JetValves that are hemodynamically competent upon implantation and support cell migration and re-population in vitro. Importantly, we can make human-sized JetValves in minutes - much faster than possible for other regenerative prostheses," said Parker. To further develop and test the clinical potential of JetValves, Parker's team collaborated with the translational team of Simon P. Hoerstrup, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, which is a partner institution with the Wyss Institute. As a leader in regenerative heart prostheses, Hoerstrup and his team in Zurich have previously developed regenerative, tissue-engineered heart valves to replace mechanical and fixed-tissue heart valves. In Hoerstrup's approach, human cells directly deposit a regenerative layer of complex ECM on biodegradable scaffolds shaped as heart valves and vessels. The living cells are then eliminated from the scaffolds resulting in an "off-the-shelf" human matrix-based prostheses ready for implantation. In the paper, the cross-disciplinary team successfully implanted JetValves in sheep using a minimally invasive technique and demonstrated that the valves functioned properly in the circulation and regenerated new tissue. "In our previous studies, the cell-derived ECM-coated scaffolds could recruit cells from the receiving animal's heart and support cell proliferation, matrix remodeling, tissue regeneration, and even animal growth. While these valves are safe and effective, their manufacturing remains complex and expensive as human cells must be cultured for a long time under heavily regulated conditions. The JetValve's much faster manufacturing process can be a game-changer in this respect. If we can replicate these results in humans, this technology could have invaluable benefits in minimizing the number of pediatric re-operations," said Hoerstrup. In support of these translational efforts, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Zurich announced today a cross-institutional team effort to generate a functional heart valve replacement with the capacity for repair, regeneration, and growth. The team is also working towards a GMP-grade version of their customizable, scalable, and cost-effective manufacturing process that would enable deployment to a large patient population. In addition, the new heart valve would be compatible with minimally invasive procedures to serve both pediatric and adult patients. The project will be led jointly by Parker and Hoerstrup. Parker is a Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute and the Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Hoerstrup is Chair and Director of the University of Zurich's Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), Co-Director of the recently founded Wyss Translational Center Zurich and a Wyss Institute Associate Faculty member. Since JetValves can be manufactured in all desired shapes and sizes, and take seconds to minutes to produce, the team's goal is to provide customized, ready-to-use, regenerative heart valves much faster and at much lower cost than currently possible. "Achieving the goal of minimally invasive, low-cost regenerating heart valves could have tremendous impact on patients' lives across age-, social- and geographical boundaries. Once again, our collaborative team structure that combines unique and leading expertise in bioengineering, regenerative medicine, surgical innovation and business development across the Wyss Institute and our partner institutions, makes it possible for us to advance technology development in ways not possible in a conventional academic laboratory," said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at HMS and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS. ### MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE PRESS CONTACT Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University Benjamin Boettner, Benjamin.Boettner@wyss.harvard.edu, +1 617-432-8232 University of Zurich, Institute for Regenerative Medicine * IREM Prof. Simon P. Hoerstrup, Simon.Hoerstrup@irem.uzh.ch, +41 44 634 56 25 MULTIMEDIA CONTACT Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University Seth Kroll, seth.kroll@wyss.harvard.edu, +1 617-432-7758 The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University(http://wyss.harvard.edu) uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing that are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and formation of new startups. The Wyss Institute creates transformative technological breakthroughs by engaging in high risk research, and crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers, working as an alliance that includes Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences and Design, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, Tufts University, Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH) is a member of the League of European Research Universities and numbers among Europe's most prestigious research institutions. UZH's international standing is reflected in the many renowned academic distinctions conferred upon its members, including twelve Nobel Prizes. As Switzerland's largest university, UZH has a current enrollment of over 25,000 students and offers the most comprehensive academic program in the country. Nearly 5,000 excellent members of staff teach and perform research at one of the University's 150 departments, including over 600 professors. UZH also looks back on a rich history, having been founded in 1833 as Europe's first university to be established by a democratic political system. The mission of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine * IREM is advancing molecular life sciences into next generation bio-inspired therapy at the interface of degeneration and regeneration with a major focus on the most relevant human diseases, including neurodegeneration and cardiovascular disease. The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences(http://seas.harvard.edu) serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard, other universities, and corporate and foundational partners, we bring discovery and innovation directly to bear on improving human life and society. May 18, 2017 - Six months after knee replacement surgery, pain outcomes were not as good for patients who previously took prescription opioids, according to a study in the May 17 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. "Our results should be viewed as a warning that using opioids during the preoperative period may be problematic due to their negative effects on subsequent TKA outcomes," comments senior author Elena Losina, PhD, of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Previous Opioid Users Get Less Pain Relief from TKA The researchers analyzed data on 156 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at their hospital between 2011 and 2013. The average age was about 66 years and 62 percent of patients were women. Average pain score before surgery was about 44 on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the worst score. During the two years before TKA, 23 percent of patients had received at least one prescription for opioid pain relievers. Nine percent had multiple opioid prescriptions. (Nearly all patients received opioids for pain relief after surgery.) Six months after TKA, pain scores and other outcomes were compared for patients with and without previous opioid prescriptions. The analysis included a "propensity score" to account for other factors associated with an increased likelihood of using opioids. After surgery, the previous opioid users had a higher average pain score: about 17, compared to 10.5 for those who did not receive opioids. The difference in postoperative pain-score reduction between the two groups was significant after adjusting for preoperative pain score and other health conditions. The factor most strongly related to preoperative opioid use was an elevated score for "pain catastrophizing"--the degree to which a person has exaggerated negative responses to and worries about pain. Dr. Losina and coauthors write, "Pain catastrophizing may play an important role in decisions by physicians and patients to use opioids, which then places [patients] at risk for poorer outcomes." The use of opioids for chronic non-cancer-related pain has increased dramatically in recent years. In the United States, more than $1.5 billion per year is spent on prescription opioids for people with knee osteoarthritis. A 2009 study suggested that nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries with knee osteoarthritis took prescription opioids. Patients with painful knee osteoarthritis spend an average of 13 years on medications and other treatments before undergoing TKA. This new study suggests that nearly one-fourth of such patients take opioid pain relievers before TKA. The findings "support and expand on" previous evidence that preoperative opioid use leads to worse clinical outcomes after total joint replacement and other major orthopedic surgery procedures. Considering the long duration of knee pain most patients experience before they finally undergo TKA, the study may have important implications for creating appropriate treatment guidelines. Dr. Losina and colleagues conclude, "Clinicians and policy makers may consider limiting the use of opioids prior to TKA to optimize post-TKA pain relief." ### The study was funded by National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH/NIAMS) Grant K24AR057827 and Partners HealthCare. Click here to read "Impact of Preoperative Opioid Use on Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes." Article: "Impact of Preoperative Opioid Use on Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes" (doi: 10.2106/JBJS.16.01200) About The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS) has been the most valued source of information for orthopaedic surgeons and researchers for over 125 years and is the gold standard in peer-reviewed scientific information in the field. A core journal and essential reading for general as well as specialist orthopaedic surgeons worldwide, The Journal publishes evidence-based research to enhance the quality of care for orthopaedic patients. Standards of excellence and high quality are maintained in everything we do, from the science of the content published to the customer service we provide. JBJS is an independent, non-profit journal. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). For more information about our solutions and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. A new campaign has been unveiled by rural organisation the CLA to unite people who love the countryside and believe it is worth investment. The organisation which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses, launched the campaign to mobilise the public to show their support for the importance of investing in the countryside post-Brexit at the Devon Show today (18 May). As well as garnering public support The Countryside Matters campaign also aims to educate people about the important benefits delivered by a working countryside, from supplying affordable and nutritious food through to promoting natural storage and cleaning of water and maintaining habitats for wildlife. Over the coming months, the CLA will be taking this message around the country at country shows and to newly elected MPs. The CLA has previously warned of catastrophe for the rural economy unless Government negotiators secure the right Brexit deal with the remaining 27 members of the European Union. '8th wonder of the world' CLA President Ross Murray said the British countryside is the '8th wonder of the world' and the envy of many. He said: It provides us with a large proportion of the food we eat and the water we drink, it cleans the air we breathe and sustains a rich diversity of wildlife. These features bring benefits to every person who lives in, works in, or enjoys visiting our countryside. But there is risk once the UK leaves the EU. It is vital for the Government to treat farming, the rural economy and our landscapes as a public investment priority. Money can be spent in new ways to deliver better outcomes for the economy and environment. If you believe in a vibrant, living and working countryside then you believe the countryside matters. This is why are launching The Countryside Matters campaign to highlight why it should be a government priority, that it is worth investment and that the return on that investment benefits everyone. Farmers and the general public can support the campaign by signing up at the Countryside Matters website and tweet why the countryside matters on Twitter using the hashtag #countrysidematters. The president of a French farming union has called for a 'hard border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit to prevent food entering EU markets too easily. Christophe Hillairet, who has been president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Ile de France for over 10 years, said the British government will sign deals to import food from Commonwealth countries post-Brexit and that those products could then be transported across a future EU land border via Northern Ireland. But the calls have been described as 'disappointingly self-centered' by the President of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), John Comer. Mr Hillairet said French farmers are very worried about the departure of the UK from the EU. "Ireland is a big problem," he told Agra Europe. "We will need to have a hard border between the North and the Republic as otherwise we will have lots of products that will cross from north to south. "That would be very dangerous for our producers." 'Not helpful' Mr Hillairet expressed fears to Agra Europe that lamb from New Zealand could arrive in Northern Ireland and cross a 'soft' border into the Republic of Ireland, before entering the mainland EU markets. Prime Minister Theresa May sought to reassure Northern Ireland's political leaders last July that there would be no border checks for imported and exported goods. Speaking before she left London, she said she viewed Northern Ireland as a 'special and valued part' of the UK. Irish Creamery president Mr Comer said the only people enjoying Mr Hillariet's comments were anti-EU British eurosceptics. "That must not happen, and with respect to our French friends, we would prefer them to reflect on the common good and not just on their own particular sectoral interests." Speaking from Leinster House, Sinn Feins agriculture spokesman, Martin Kenny expressed deep concern at the remarks. "We can assure him that Irish farmers do not want an influx of non-EU produce either, but it is a pity that, instead of listening to us and supporting designated special status for the North within the EU in order to secure the integrity of the customs union, he should take a Franco-centric approach. "Calls for a hard border are not helpful." Theresa May has today (18 May) launched the Conservative manifesto for next month's general election. The party pledges to bring 'sustainable growth' to rural and farming communities, so that people in these areas can have the same opportunities as those who live in towns and cities. Theresa May says she is determined to grow more, sell more and export more British food. The manifesto states that she wants to bring more stability to farmers as the UK leaves the EU. New frameworks will be created supporting food production and stewardship of the countryside. May has committed to supporting the same cash total amount in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament. New agri-environment scheme The manifesto states that the Conservatives will work with each devolved nation to work on a new agri-environment scheme, to be introduced in the following parliament. May wants to expand Natural England's provision of 'technical expertise' to deliver environmental improvements on a 'landscape scale', from enriching soil to building more dry stone walls. The manifesto states that the Conservatives want to improve natural flooding management by improving the quality of water courses to protect against soil erosion and damage to vulnerable habitats. The Conservatives will make CCTV in slaughterhouses mandatory in efforts to improve animal welfare. They also want to control the export of live animals for slaughter. The party will allow a free vote in parliament to decide on the future of fox hunting. A 25-year-plan on the environment will be produced to 'leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it'. Other farming manifestos Labour has officially launched their manifesto. The manifesto pledges an end to the badger cull, a ban on neonicotinoids and the promotion of cruelty free farming. The Liberal Democrats unveiled their manifesto yesterday (17 May), saying that UK farming will be in 'huge danger' of leaving EU. They propose a second referendum. Welsh political party Plaid Cymru has also released their manifesto, calling for a Brexit deal which best represents Welsh agriculture. Numerous rural organisations have released their own manifestos, including the NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, the CLA, the Soil Association, the Tenant Farmers' Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the British Veterinary Association, the Farmers' Union of Wales, the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the Countryside Alliance. A Cornish farmer has a plan to release two beavers in an attempt to tackle flooding and improve water quality. Farmer Chris Jones, whose land lies upstream of Ladock, a village that has been hit by severe flooding, plans to release two beavers into a fenced enclosure along a small stream. Experts in dealing with flood risk at the University of Exeter have studied the land, and believe by building dams the beavers will naturally slow the flow of water that could otherwise flood areas downstream. The researchers will monitor the impact of the beavers on flooding and the quality of water being released, drawing on expertise gained from monitoring the release of Eurasian beavers at a site in Devon. The fenced project hopes to show that beavers can help create new wildlife habitat, make streams cleaner and crucially, help to reduce flooding. But to bring the beavers back the Cornwall Wildlife Trust needs to raise at least 15,000 over the next six weeks, which they hope to do through a Crowdfunder campaign. The beavers will be re-introduced to a specially-fenced five acre area at Woodland Valley Farm, upstream of Ladock village, just outside of Truro. Chris Jones, the farmer at Woodland Valley Farm where the beavers will be released, said: Weve done a lot of work getting the site ready for the first task of installing the beaver-proof fence. This will then be rigorously tested by beaver conservation experts to make sure they will be safe in their new home. I am hoping the beavers will transform the site by digging new ponds and water channels, making it much better for wetland wildlife. Young farmers are key to the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) has said. In response to ongoing efforts to redefine the CAP, CEJA has released its vision in the document 'Young Farmers are Key in the Future CAP'. CEJAs document represents nearly two years worth of work from CEJA members, and is the culmination of a final summary document, as well as the seven position papers which were used to create it. CEJA President Alan Jagoe said: It has not addressed the key area of generational renewal. It is for this reason that I ask you now to channel your inner young farmer and be bold and ambitious for the next CAP. Generational renewal CEJAs plan focuses on the three key areas where change must happen. Generational renewal, progressive environmental measures and sustainable economic support. It is through developments in these areas that young farmers across the EU aim to ensure jobs, growth and investment in rural communities, as well as making rural areas places where people will want to live and work. Mr Jagoe said: Civil society will see that the CAP is good value for money, while farmers, the environment and the consumer will ultimately all be the winners together. The document describes how to distribute the new and enlarged CAP budget: 20% to be allocated to various measures and instruments specifically targeted to Generational Renewal; 50% to be allocated to Sustainable Economic Support and 30% to be allocated to Proactive and progressive environmental measures. More than 250,000 people and over 600 organisations said the European Union must 'fundamentally rethink' the CAP. What's happening Shares of Banco Santander Brasil SA (BSBR -6.99%), Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB -6.12%), and Banco Bradesco SA (BBD -18.56%) are down by 17% to 20% as of 12:10 p.m. EDT, as part of a broad meltdown in Brazilian share prices. So what Reports suggest that heads of JBS SA, Brazil's largest meatpacking company, secretly recorded Brazilian President Michel Temer authorizing bribes to Eduardo Cunha to buy his silence. Last October, Cunha was arrested in Brazil on accusations that he had more than $40 million worth of bribery money stashed away in secret bank accounts, among other charges. Temer came to power after his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached for illegally manipulating government accounts to make the country appear to be in better fiscal shape than it actually was. Now Temer could face his own impeachment proceedings for authorizing the payment of bribes. Temer could be the third president to be impeached in a span of only 25 years. A popular Brazilian stock ETF that trades on U.S. exchanges is down by about 16% on the news. A local index, which is denominated in Brazilian real, is down about 9%. The difference is largely due to the Brazilian currency's one-day decline against the U.S. dollar. U.S.-listed shares of Banco Santander Brasil SA, Itau Unibanco Holding SA, and Banco Bradesco SA are denominated in dollars, and are thus bearing the full brunt of local stock declines and currency fluctuations. Now what Brazilian banks were already under pressure from rising non-performing loans (NPLs). Across the local banking industry, NPLs grew to 3.8% of gross loans in 2016, reaching the highest level since 2009, when NPLs reached 4.2%, according to World Bank data. Banco Santander Brasil SA reported that 15 to 90 day delinquencies rose to 5.5% in the first quarter of 2017, up from 4.8% a year earlier. A lengthy recession has weighed on the banking industry's profits. Brazil's economy shrank by 3.8% in 2015, and 3.6% in 2016. The IMF recently slashed its estimate for Brazilian economic growth to 0.2% in 2017, suggesting that even before the recent scandals and political uncertainty, Latin America's largest economy was still on weak economic footing. Weak economies typically provoke central bank action, particularly rate cuts. Brazil's central bank slashed its benchmark rate from 14.25% in October to 11.25% at the most recent meeting in April, weighing on the banking industry's prospects for writing loans at attractive yields. Given a weak economic recovery and renewed uncertainty, larger rate cuts could be in the cards, further weighing on the industry's share prices. Haiti - Japan : Donation of $18 million for the construction of schools Tuesday, Japan's Ambassador to Haiti Yoshiaki Hatta and Haitian Chancellor Antonio Rodrigue signed a grant agreement of Government of Japan amounting to $18.2 million through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. This donation is intended for the construction of fundamental schools and the provision of equipment in the departments of the Center and Artibonite, in the tow This donation will allow to finance, among other things, the construction of 99 classrooms, all equipped, and 108 toilets in 13 schools located in these two departments, said Yoshiaki Hatta adding that the project also included the construction of sanitary blocks suitable for wheelchairs and access ramps in its facilities for persons with reduced mobility as well as installations of systems for the production of solar energy. PI/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Fed up of students in Petit-Goave Monday around 10:30 am, students at the Lycee Faustin Soulouque in Petit-Goave, very angry, threw stones at the city's public prosecutor's office, exceeded by the strike of the teachers that lasts for more than 3 months ! In addition, Pierrevilus Jean Elius, the Director of the Lycee Faustin Soulouque, announced to the studentscertain projects that an international organization "R_Solution" intends to carry out at the Lycee... HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave) Revival of national production and smuggling At the beginning of the week at the National Palace, President Moses met with a delegation from the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) to revive national production but also on the fight against contraband, which deprives the State according to estimates by ADIH of nearly $ 500 million per year. It was also mentioned the reciprocity in trade with the Dominican Republic and the harmonization of the external tariff of CARICOM... Reappropriation of Place Catherine Flon Tuesday, as a prelude to the celebration of the 214th anniversary of the creation of the flag (18 May), the Ministry for Women's Affairs and Women's Rights organized a re-appropriation ceremony of the Place Catherine Flon. Meeting between the Ministry of Tourism and MHAVE Tuesday, Colombe Emilie Jessy Menos, the Minister of Tourism and Stephanie Auguste, Minister of Haitians Living Abroad (MAHVE), discussed at the approach of the summer season around the definition of a strategy for the improvement of service in hotel infrastructures, tourist sites and other places destined to receive members of the Diaspora for rural festivals. They also considered the optimization of the reception service at the airport and the definition of a pilgrim route. Clerks on strike The court clerks of Petit-Goave observe three days of strike. Aine Walcker Martin, he spokesperson for the strikers, criticized the decision of the investigating judge Morin who ordered the arrest of their colleague Frederic Gedeon whose they demand the release and secondly he called for a wage increase for the clerks. HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave) DR : Donation of Haitian books to the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo Tuesday in the Dominican Republic, Minister Counselor Jean Tholbert Alexis at the head of a delegation from the Consulate of Haiti in Higuey, officially handed over 150 works in French by Haitian authors to the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and bookshelf to the name of Jacques Stephen Alexis in the library of the institution. HL/ HaitiLibre Pardee hires Butterworth to manage community health initiative Related Stories Milton Butterworth, chief development officer of Blue Ridge Health, is moving across town to become manager of community health at Pardee Hospital, Pardee UNC Health Care announced Thursday. In this new position, Butterworth will represent Pardee as a member of the Henderson County Partnership for Health and will manage a $450,000 Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas grant the Duke Endowment awarded the Pardee in January. The Henderson County Partnership for Health, a diverse group of community organizations working collaboratively to improve community health, is now one of 15 coalitions in the Duke Endowments Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas initiative. Over the years, Milton has worked tirelessly to develop the collaborative culture we pride ourselves on today, said Dr. Richard Hudspeth, chief executive officer and chief medical officer at Blue Ridge Health. While he will be missed, we couldnt be happier about the opportunity to continue working with him to improve population health in this collaborative way. Pardee and BRH have been longstanding community partners and are strategically aligned to address medical care access in Western North Carolina through the medical residency program and clinic access. Like both Pardee and Blue Ridge Health, Milton believes everyone deserves the opportunity to be healthy, said Johnna Reed, chief administrative officer for Pardee UNC Health Care. We are pleased that he will lead our initiatives to improve health for Henderson County residents. Butterworth starts the new job on July 1. An unmarried couple has been stoned to death by jihadis in Mali as groups linked to al-Qaeda intensify a bloody campaign to establish an Islamic state. An official said local residents in Taghlit, Kidal region, were invited to take part in the public punishment for allegedly violating Islamic law. The Islamists dug two holes where they put the man and the woman who lived maritally without being married, he told AFP. They were stoned to death. Four people threw stones at them until they died. Tuesdays execution is the first reported stoning in the west African nation since France launched an intervention to drive Islamists and separatist Tuareg rebels back from northern regions in 2013. It came shortly before Frances new President Emmanuel Macron visits Mali on his first foreign tour, where he is due to meet French troops fighting insurgents throughout lawless swathes of desert in the north. Members of al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar Dine previously stoned a couple accused of having children outside of marriage to death in nearby Aguelhok in July 2012. Source : The Independent UK The U.S. hotel industry reported occupancy was flat (-0.1% to 67.9%), but ADR and RevPAR showed positive year-over-year performance during the week of 7-13 May. ADR rose 2.1% to $125.64 and RevPAR increased 2% to $85.34. The U.S. hotel industry reported mostly positive results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 7-13 May 2017, according to data from STR. In comparison with the week of 8-14 May 2016, the industry reported the following: Occupancy: -0.1% to 67.9% Average daily rate (ADR): +2.1% to US$125.64 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +2.0% to US$85.34 Opposite from last week, STR analysts note that occupancy was considerably lower on Friday and Saturday due to a comparison with a non-Mothers Day weekend a year ago. Among the Top 25 Markets, Orlando, Florida, posted the largest year-over-year increases across the three key performance metrics. Occupancy grew 14.1% to 76.2%, ADR was up 13.1% to US$118.89 and RevPAR rose 29.0% to US$90.66. Four additional markets experienced a double-digit lift in RevPAR for the week: St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (+18.7% to US$82.60); Seattle, Washington (+15.1% to US$137.83); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey (+14.8% to US$129.13); and Denver, Colorado (+13.9% to US$108.08). While no markets outside of Orlando reported double-digit growth in occupancy for the week, three did record a double-digit increase in ADR: St. Louis (+12.5% to US$113.48), Seattle (+11.9% to US$168.36) and Philadelphia (+10.7% to US$160.86). Houston, Texas, saw the weeks steepest declines in occupancy (-7.6% to 61.5%) and RevPAR (-13.1% to US$63.52). New Orleans, Louisiana, reported the largest drop in ADR (-7.2% to US$151.53). View weekly U.S. hotel performance review STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com. eZee Technosys announces strategic partnership with Wise Technology Corp., Taiwan eZee Technosys, leading hospitality solutions provider based in India recently announced strategic partnership with Wise Technology Corp, Taiwan. Under this alliance, Wise shall be the official partner in Taiwan to offer eZees Channel Manager eZee Centrix. With an aim to deliver next generation total solution to hospitality industry in Taiwan, eZee Technosys has undertaken the pursuit to provide what regional hoteliers require. Mr. Vipul Kapoor, Co-founder of eZee Technosys signed the partnership agreement with Mr. Mercy Lin, Co-founder, Mr. Peter Lin CEO, and Mr. Jery Lin President for E-Commerce Division of Wise Technology Corp. in presence of Mr. Loke Chee Hoong, CEO eZee Technosys Malaysia last month in Taiwan. Wise Technology Corp. has been operating in Taiwanese hospitality and travel market since last 27 years. Hence, in order to work towards common objectives, this partnership has emerged between technology giants. Since eZee Technosys is already present in Malaysia and catering to Asia Pacific region, the next logical step was to expand in neighborhood territories. As a result of partnership with Wise Technology Corp., eZee is resolute on providing their feature rich Channel Manager eZee Centrix in Chinese language. Besides, eZee shall also provide software support to hoteliers in locally spoken Chinese language. This much awaited partnership is the beginning of a hospitality technology transformation in Taiwanese hotel industry. It is time to go a step beyond and overcome the language barrier. By joining hands with each other we are determined to combine regional and technical expertise across the nations and empower hoteliers. Expressed Vipul Kapoor, co-founder of eZee Technosys. This venture can be considered as a giant leap in terms of IT service delivery for eZee as well as Wise in Taiwan and neighbourhood territories. Having served in more than 140 countries across the world, eZee has highly focused on southeast Asian region since beginning when it comes to serving travel and tourism based industries with technology. The hoteliers in Taiwan shall benefit consequently due to this association since they will get to use Wise PMS integrated with Channel Manager eZee Centrix. Established in 1990, Wise Technology Corp. mainly invests in and delivers hospitality management systems, internet booking solutions as well as leisure travel services and various other solutions in Taiwan. More than 1000 hotels in Taiwan are already using Wise PMS which includes major hotel groups and properties. Delivering electronic services chiefly, the organization aims to expand in territorial market by adding more services and products to their portfolio. Both the organizations shall initiate a pursuit of mutually set objectives and provide world class hospitality technology in Taiwan through seamlessly integrated total solutions.Correspondingly, the end users will benefit from the all-in-one hospitality technology under one roof. About Wise Technology Corp., Taiwan Located in Taipei, Taiwan; Wise Technology Corp. deals in hotel management and operations automation, payroll, Restaurant POS system, Accounting and various ERP services in country. Serving major hotel groups and properties in Taiwan, Wise Technology Corp. provides real-time booking, web design, e-commerce services and more in leisure travel industry. About eZee Technosys, India eZee Technosys is one of the few complete hospitality IT solutions providers worldwide. Offering solutions that cover hotel management, booking management, online room distribution, restaurant management, hotel mobile apps and more. They offer on-premise along with cloud based solutions as well as mobile applications for eZee solutions. Founded in 2005, eZee Technosys today serves 6000+ clients in 140+ countries globally. Visit eZees corporate website for more. First Property Slated to Open September 2017 on Grand Cayman Howard Hospitality Group (HHG) has announced the launch of Locale, an innovative new limited-service hotel brand. Redefining traditional extended stay conventions, Locale appeals to the millennial mindset while creating an open, inclusive concept for savvy travelers from all walks of life. The brand's first hotel is presently under development in a coveted spot on Grand Cayman along the Seven Mile Beach corridor, near local businesses and the popular Camana Bay shopping and dining area, with a projected opening date of September 2017. When it opens, Locale Grand Cayman will feature smartly designed 'live and work' guestrooms and lofts catering to the business travel set frequenting Grand Cayman today; inclusive public spaces with trendsetting technologies; a variety of retail shops; and a roster of local partnerships to connect guests with memorable, immersive travel experiences. Dynamic F&B concepts will include Bonfire, an urban Italian kitchen, and Swirl, an artisanal Columbian gelato shop. "We are thrilled to officially announce the launch of our new brand, Locale, which lets us continue growing our footprint in Grand Cayman while introducing something truly fresh and new to the market here," said Howard Sitzer, Chief Executive Officer for HHG. "Grand Cayman is a hotbed of international tourists today, especially millennial business travelers frequenting the island for combined 'bleisure' trips. We have begun crafting a uniquely modern hotel brand we feel will be groundbreaking and inspirational." Understanding what it takes to connect with the most influential generation of travelers today, Locale Grand Cayman will offer the opportunity to help shape the brand's identity from the very beginning. This unique approach will allow HHG the chance to reveal forward-thinking programs, services and amenities, determining what makes the cut for future locations based on customer feedback, giving travelers a sense of ownership in the brand's future. "We believe there is a definite appetite amongst frequent travelers today, especially those seeking unique out-of-the-box experiences, to be part of a cultural shift a movement, really creating the hotel brand of the future," said Sitzer. "Based on the feedback we've already received from core target groups, we believe the future is incredibly bright for a model like Locale and we are excited to see where this takes us, as we eye additional destinations." Each future property in the Locale brand portfolio will boast its own distinctive personality, while connected to others with a common Locale mindset and consistent brand attributes. Additional details regarding Locale Grand Cayman's on-site amenities and activities will be announced in the coming months, as will plans for the brand's future expansion. The heart of the Black Bay Master Development will consist of a luxury branded hotel and villas set on 180 acres on the beautiful southern tip of the island. Range Developments, an international developer focusing on luxury hotel projects in the Caribbean, signed definitive agreements with the Government of Saint Lucia yesterday(Tuesday 16) to continue the development of the Black Bay Master Development. The heart of the Black Bay Master Development will consist of a luxury branded hotel and villas set on 180 acres on the beautiful southern tip of the island. The site is on the Caribbean southwest coast, within easy reach of the international airport and the Pitons, the world famous heritage site. The Master Development will be developed in a number of phases. The luxury hotel, the anchor of the Master Development, will be developed under the country's Citizenship-by-Investment programme and will comprise of 180 rooms. From left: The Honorable Pinkley Francis, Chairman Invest St Lucia; Kamal Shehada, development director, Range Developments; Mohammed Asaria, vice chairman Range Developments; the honorable Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia; the honorable Bradley Felix, Minister of Commerce; the Honorable Dominic Fedee, Minister of Tourism "We have been working with the developer and are grateful for their patience in working with us on getting to this point of such a project which will benefit everyone," says Allen Chastanet, prime minister of Saint Lucia. "I am looking forward to the commencement of construction of this project which coincides with our overall development plans for Saint Lucia." Range Developments has received plaudits and awards both for its designs and robust and innovative corporate social responsibility activities. "This will be our third major luxury development in the Caribbean and we are delighted to be working with the Government of Saint Lucia," says Mohammed Asaria, Vice Chairman of Range Developments. "Range is aggressively expanding in the Caribbean. The Park Hyatt St Kitts will be completed in the coming months and Kempinski Dominica is advancing with pace." The Black Bay hotel will be designed and built to the highest standards in keeping with Range Development's ethos. Range will imminently be announcing the hotel operator for the development. The project will create about 500 jobs on the island during construction, with a similar amount once the hotel is operational. Saint Lucia's Citizenship-by-Investment programme is aimed at encouraging investment in the region. Investors not only have a chance to invest, but assuming they meet the stringent requirements, apply for citizenship of the country, with all the benefits of full citizenship. Ban-the-Box Moves on Campus and Points to Cont'd Change in Social Fabric Regarding Question of Criminal History; Opines CriminalBackgroundRecords.com Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-18-2017 2:40 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes Recent actions on college campuses across the country point an emerging trend by students to ban-the-box, which asks the question of criminal record, from applications. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com opines: The emergence of the powerful student voice reminds us that the issue of Ban-the-Box is not limited to pre-employment background screening, but rather it is a universal issue that should be noted by any entity utilizing criminal records as part of a verification process.At universities, such as Columbia and Syracuse, students are petitioning administrations to review the use of criminal record questions on entrance applications and in doing so are creating additional light on a universal challenge. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com opines; The use of criminal background records as part of applicant vetting remains controversial and the issue is beginning to boil on college and university campuses across the cou... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Should Health-Care Benefits Design Address Employee Financial Status? Posted by Lenny Sanicola on Wednesday, 05-17-2017 7:34 pm Currently 2.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 2.0 from 1 votes I had the great opportunity to attend the 2017 WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference, and go to several of the breakout sessions. One session that I went to was on the subject of population health management, and the impact of employees financial status on the access and use of health-care benefits and services. The session was led by Bruce Sherman, MD of Conduent HR Services. We know that wage stagnation and benefits cost growth are making health care less affordable for all individuals. According to the 2016 Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, the rise in health-care deductibles has had a very significant impact on this unaffordability. Per the Large Employers 2017 Health Plan Design Survey by the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), 49% of respondents offer consumer-driven health plans (CDHP) as a plan option, while 35% offer it as full replacement. Significant to note is the rise in full replacement from 10% in 2010. Growth in CDHP offerings by employers c... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Wild Friends Foods Announces Additions to Executive Leadership Team Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-18-2017 1:45 pm Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes New Vice President of Sales charged with driving distribution and business developmentPORTLAND, OREGON (PRWEB) MAY 17, 2017Wild Friends Foods, leader in innovative, all-natural nut butter, today announced the appointment of James Moss, Vice President of Sales. At the helm of the disruptive nut butter brands growing Sales function, Moss will report directly to Wild Friends Foods cofounder and CEO, Keeley Tillotson. Moss is charged with driving distribution and business development in natural and conventional retailers across North America.Moss joins Wild Friends Foods from Hail Merry, a Dallas-based organization focused on snacking and desserts, where, in the role of Senior Vice President of Sales, he was responsible for growing incremental distribution beyond the brands natural channel roots. Prior to Hail Merry, Moss was Vice President of Sales for NextFoods, a Boulder, Colorado-based company with a functional beverage portfolio, where he was instrumental in aligning brokers and d... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Page Content Montreal, 18 May 2017 ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu brought a clear message this week to the State leaders and heads of international organizations attending the High-level Dialogue of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing that more targeted and determined investments in aviation development would be a key contributor to the overall success of the China's new and expansive initiative. Speaking at the Thematic session of the Forum, organized by the People's Republic of China and conducted in Beijing on 14-15 May, Dr. Liu highlighted how air transport connectivity between States and economic sectors promotes a wide range of direct and indirect socio-economic benefits. A key dynamic for the Belt and Road partner States to appreciate is the direct relationship which exists between investments in aviation development, and returns in terms of sustainable socio-economic prosperity for local citizens and businesses, Dr. Liu stressed. States which make commitments to support fully ICAO-compliant air transport operations, as well as modernized airport and air navigation infrastructure, will inevitably grow their tourism and trade revenues, open up new markets and supply routes for local producers, expand their tax bases in aid of long-term planning certainty, and develop a solid foundation from which to ensure sustainable socio-economic prosperity, well into the future. The Chinese Government proposed to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which is referred often as the Belt and Road initiative. The Chinese objective of the Belt and Road initiative is to boost interconnectivity and infrastructure development by working together with States along the Belt and Road, reviving the ancient trade routes. Connectivity on policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people are declared to be the focus. The Belt and Road Forum was the highest level gathering thus far to discuss this initiative which attracted 29 foreign heads of state as well as Ministers and government officials from over 130 countries, including 70 international organizations. The ICAO Secretary General made it clear to all that the civil aviation network is projected to double its volume of flights and passenger by 2030, and that this growth holds tremendous economic potential which will support all the States in achieving the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The call to action I propose today is therefore very simple: invest in aviation development and align your air transport policy objectives with those of your national development plans. Doing so will be essential to your overall Belt and Road objectives, and to your achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals under Agenda 2030,she remarked. On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum, Dr. Liu signed an agreement of international cooperation on behalf of ICAO with the Administrator of China's Civil Aviation Authority and in presence of the Minister of Transport. On 15 May, Dr. Liu signed a new agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation with the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce wherein the Chinese Government pledged to give a grant of US$ 4 million to ICAO for projects relating to safety, security and sustainable development of air transport. On 16 May, Dr. Liu called on the Minister of Transport of China, Mr. Li Xiaopeng, and discussed some of the challenges Asia and Pacific States can experience in achieving effective ICAO compliance. She thanked the Minister for the Government of Chinas support for the ICAO Regional Office in Bangkok, as well as its Regional Sub-office in Beijing which focuses on air traffic management advancement. ICAO Regional Director for the Asia and Pacific Region, Mr. Arun Mishra accompanied Dr. Liu on the trip. Resources for Editors About ICAO A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States. Contacts Anthony Philbin Chief, Communications aphilbin@icao.int +1 (514) 954-8220 +1 (438) 402-8886 (mobile) Twitter: @ICAO William Raillant-Clark Communications Officer wraillantclark@icao.int +1 514-954-6705 +1 514 409-0705 Twitter: @wraillantclark We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector Gun Politics and Religion Converge in Film The Armor of Light Date: Saturday, June 10, 2017 Time: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM Event Type: Class/Workshop Organizer/Author: Niles Discovery Church; SJ Peace & Justice Center Email: Phone: 510-797-0895 Location Details: Niles Discovery Church 36600 Niles Blvd. Fremont, CA 94536 Gun Politics and Religion Converge in Film The Armor of Light FREMONT CA The film The Armor of Light asks the question, Can you be pro-life and pro-gun? It will be shown June 10 at 1:30 p.m. as part of the free Second Saturday Documentary Series at Niles Discovery Church, 36600 Niles Blvd., at the corner of Nursery Ave. Director Abigail E. Disney follows the Rev. Rob Schenk, an Evangelical minister and anti-abortion political activist, as he struggles with his conscience and his conservative beliefs in the wake of fatal shootings in his own Washington, D.C., neighborhood. Politics and religion converge when Rev. Schenck meets Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis, an unarmed teenager who was murdered in Florida. Also an Evangelical Christian, McBaths personal testimony compels Rev. Schenck to reach out to pastors around the country to discuss the moral and ethical response to gun violence with explosive results. Toni Shellen, coordinator of the Tri-City Chapter of the Brady Campaign, will moderate discussion following the film. This film is a departure from our typical offerings, explained the Rev. Jeffrey Spencer, Senior Pastor at Niles Discovery Church. We tend to show films that address a social issue and discuss it. This time, were looking at a spiritual question as it relates to a social issue. Niles Discovery Church identifies as a Progressive Christian congregation, rather than Evangelical, Spencer said. Nonetheless, I think we can learn from the struggles two particular Evangelicals have had to live an integrated faith. After all, dont we all want to live a life of authenticity, regardless of our religious traditions? The Second Saturday Documentary Series is co-sponsored by Niles Discovery Church and the San Jose Peace & Justice Center. The Carlyle Group CEO took to the stage at SALT to discuss tax legislation, dry powder, income inequality, and the Russia investigation. David Rubenstein, co-founder and chief executive of the Carlyle Group, predicts that President Trump will not be able to get tax legislation passed in the near term owing to a lack of full Senate support and the unlikeliness that lawmakers will be able to resort to a standard procedure for passing contentious legislation. The thing most of us have thought about is tax legislation. All of us have been focused on that for quite some time. I dont think its going to happen any time soon, said Rubenstein, speaking at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas. Rubenstein said tax legislation is unlikely to be passed in the Senate due to a potential filibuster from the Democrats. Theres no way to pass tax legislation in the Senate with Republican votes only. The only way you can do it is through budget reconciliation, he said, explaining that this is how the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, was passed. Budget reconciliation bills are not subject to filibuster. But Rubeinstein says even this is unlikely, because he doesnt see Congress agreeing to a fiscal year 2018 budget in the near future. We havent had a real budget agreement of any consequence for some time if you have no budget for FY18, you have nothing to attach a budget reconciliation bill to, he said. And even if a budget is passed, and tax reform gets attached to that, there isnt enough revenue to pay for it, Rubenstein argued. All the various options being discussed a border adjustment tax, charging income tax on health insurance benefits offered by private employers, or removing the mortgage-interest deduction are politically very unpopular. That leaves dynamic scoring, according to Rubenstein, which includes estimates for how much the legislation will boost economic activity. If there is a tax bill of any consequence, itll have to rely on dynamic scoring and the assumption that you are going to increase economic activity, he said. Passing tax reform has been one of the stated early goals of the Trump administration, along with repealing the Affordable Care Act. After a vote on an early version of a new health care bill was scrapped, Republicans in the house passed a measure earlier this month repealing and replacing the signature legislative achievement of the Obama Administration. But that bill, the American Health Care Act, faces an uphill battle in the Senate. As part of his campaign rhetoric, President Trump came down hard against the so-called carried interest loophole that allows some private investment fund managers to treat gains on their investments as income tax, rather than capital gains. Rubenstein has lobbied hard against removing the carried interest benefit, which benefits private equity managers and some hedge funds. Rubenstein didnt bring up carried interest in his talk, but he tackled the broader issue of income inequality. All of us here, if you can afford to come to this conference and afford to come to Las Vegas, you are in the one-tenth of the 1 percent, he said. Income inequality in U.S. is growing; income inequality is growing around the world. Eight percent of the people in the world own 85 percent of the assets. Rubenstein, who has become increasingly active in philanthropy in recent years, said he feels the problem of decreasing social mobility is a bigger problem than income inequality and repeated calls he has made in past SALT speeches urging attendees to engage in philanthropy. He delved briefly into the environment for active investment management, pointing out that private equity managers have $1.4 trillion in dry powder and more money flowing into these funds all the time. Despite headwinds facing active managers, the increased turmoil around the world should benefit alternative investment managers, he said. Our industry is flush with a fair amount of cash, said Rubenstein. The hedge fund industry is going to have more money coming into it than ever before. I wont say its a golden age for the alternative investment industry, but the alternative industry is likely to be benefiting from a lot of the concerns around the world. As for the news that a special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, had been appointed to investigate Trumps ties to Russia, Rubenstein a consummate Washington insider said that in his experience, the investigation will not wrap up tidily any time soon. This will go on between six and 12 months, based on history, he said. Dont expect breaking news every second on whats going to happen. There will be lots of news stories, but nothing dramatic will happen for quite some time. Burma ANP Chairman: NLD Should Build Trust With Military, Amend the Constitution Dr. Aye Maung at the Lower House on May 18. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYIDAW Arakan National Party (ANP) chairman Dr. Aye Maung has urged the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) to build trust with the Burma Army, with an eye to amending the military-drafted 2008 Constitution through Parliament. Wouldnt a constitutional amendment benefit the peace process? If the NLD thinks so, there must be a channel to amend the Constitutionand that would be amending it in Parliament, U Aye Maung, who is also the lawmaker for Ann Township, told reporters in Naypyidaw. While in opposition, the NLD held nationwide campaigns with the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society to amend Section 436, which restricts further amendments to the Constitution. The section requires that at least 75 percent of lawmakers approve proposed amendments to much of the Constitution, a difficult feat in a Parliament that guarantees 25 percent of seats to the military. Constitutional amendments will mean a positive turn in civil-military relations. There must be negotiations and compromises between the forces, said U Aye Maung. The Parliament under the previous government had tried to amend it but it didnt happen. Shouldnt the current Parliament give it a try? he added, referring to parliamentary votes proposed by an NLD lawmaker in June 2015. The votes posited to trim the share of ballots required to amend the Constitution to 70 percent and amend a constitutional clause that bars anyone whose spouse or children are from foreign countries from becoming president or vice president. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis late husband and two sons are British citizens. Both votes were rejected. U Aye Maung said the Constitution cannot guarantee self-determination and equality for Burmas ethnicities. We have to try to amend the 2008 Constitution if we want to establish a genuine Union, he said. Our party has a policy to try to amend the Constitution within the legal framework within five years, Dr. Soe Win Oo, vice chairman of the NLD Rangoon Division chapter, told The Irrawaddy. Given the situation of the country, we have to take careful steps, taking everything into account. NLD chairperson and State Counselor. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has also suggested amending the Constitution within the legal framework in a way that least impacts national reconciliation. The country has had three Constitutions: the first was drafted in 1947 and used from Burmas independence in 1948 to 1962, when the regime under dictator Ne Win suspended it. Ne Win became president at the time the second Constitution was introduced in 1974. The military-based State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) suspended the 1974 Constitution in 1988 and Burma remained without a Constitution until 2008. The 2008 Constitution has been widely criticized for being undemocratic. Lower House speaker U Win Myint told reporters last year that the Constitution could be amended only after peace is achieved in the country. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Burma Civil Society Forum Calls for End to Forced Conscription Civil society organizations (CSOs) meet for the 16th Civil Society Forum on Peace (CSFOP) in Rangoon on May 15-16. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy RANGOON The 16th session of the Civil Society Forum on Peace (CSFOP) has called for a countrywide halt to forced conscription. Militia forces under the Burma Army and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have been conscripting locals in Kachin and Shan states, according to the CSFOP, a quarterly gathering of more than 70 civil society organizations (CSOs) and networks, held at The Orchid Hotel in Rangoon on May 15-16. U Tin Oo, the Secretary of the Northern Shan Civilian Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (CCMC)., said: All the armed groups in northern Shan State are recruiting the locals without their consent. He said militia under the Burma Army based in the Kaung Kha area had been recruiting one person per household in the regions Kutkai Township. U Tin Oo also urged both sides to deescalate military tensions and refrain from planting mines in places accessible to civilians. Daw Esther of the CSFOP claimed militias under the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were forcibility conscripting in Kachin State. There is always recruitment when clashes are fierce, said Mi Kun Chan Nom, a CSFOP delegate and spokesperson for Mon Womens Organization. But we call for a stop to forced recruitment. We urge both sides not to conscript. More than 170 locals fled their homes in Mawkmai Township, southern Shan State, for fear of conscription in the second week of May. According to the national ceasefire agreement, signatories are not allowed to recruit new members. In an open letter of recommendations for the peace process, the CSFOP has asked the government, the Burma Army, and EAOs to stop conscription. The letter urges the government to inform concerned signatories of the NCA two weeks in advance before holding national-level political dialogues in ethnic states so that they can properly prepare. The letter also presses the government to clear mines, educate locals about the danger of mines, and not to block humanitarian aid for displaced people, but instead ensure aid for them in cooperation with CSOs. It tells the government not to take action against CSOs under section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, introduced during the colonial era in 1908. Anyone who aids and abets members of an unlawful association can face two to three years in jail and a fine under the act. Most EAOs that have not signed the NCA are considered illegal organizations under the law. In the letter, CSOs also urged the government to allow NCA non-signatories to participate in the discussion at the second round of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference, to begin on May 24. Dated May 17, the letter was sent to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee chairman Saw Kwe Htoo Win, and the Delegation for Political Negotiation of the United Nationalities Federal Council leader Khu Oo Reh. Launched in August 2012, the CSFOP is held to represent and address the needs of people in the countrys peace process. In the 16th session of the CSFOP, 175 delegates were in attendance. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Burma KNPP: We Will Not Attend Panglong Peace Conference Khu Oo Reh at the 13th KNPP congress in May 2017. / KNPP Congress / Facebook CHIANG MAI, Thailand The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) confirmed it will not join the upcoming Union Peace Conference next week nor sign the government-proposed deed of commitment (DoC) at a central committee meeting on Wednesday. Khu Plu Reh, a KNPP secretary and spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy the KNPP would not join the upcoming peace conferencealso known as the 21st Panglong peace conferenceif it was invited as an observer. It would not sign the DoC as that was a pledge to pursue the governments path of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), he said. We stick to the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)s eight points until they are negotiated, he said, as the UNFCs delegation for political negotiation has been in talks with the governments Peace Commission for them to sign the NCA if their proposed terms are agreed. The government obstinately moves forward with the NCA roadmap, but they do it without finishing one step before another, Khu Plu Reh added, referring to the fact that national level dialoguesethnic stakeholder consultations that are a key step in signing the NCAhad not been conducted by all groups. At the peace conference, which begins May 24, delegates would sign a Union accord on five key sectors, despite many groups not being represented, he said. KNPP appointed new central committee members on Wednesday, including the vice chairman and secretariat team, from its leading 33 committee members elected at their 13th congress last week. Khu Oo Reh, former vice chairman, was reappointed into the same position and Shwe Myo Thant, Khu Plu Reh and Khu Daniel were appointed as secretariats. The New Mon State Party, also a UNFC member, said they would not attend the upcoming conference as an observer. The KNPP representatives joined the first round of the peace conference in August and September 2016, together with its bloc the UNFC and shared their position with the conference. The government said they would invite NCA non-signatory ethnic armed groups with delegate status if they agreed to sign the DoC. Although the governments peace commission led by Dr. Tin Myo Win and the UNFCs delegation for political negotiation, led by Khu Oo Reh, agreed at their last meeting on April 28 that they would meet again prior to the second round of Panglong, the UNFC has reportedly been unavailable to meet. Burma Northern Alliance Plans to Send Committee to Panglong Third ethnic summit held last year in the Wa capital of Panghsang. / The Irrawaddy RANGOON The Northern Alliance urged that all ethnic armed groups and political parties be invited to attend the upcoming 21st Century Panglong conference without restriction, in a statement issued by the group. The statement added that it would send a committeeknown as the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committeeto the peace conference if other groups were not left out. Northern Alliance membersthe Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA)recently met with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) in Panghsang, the capital of the Wa Self-Administered Zone. Representatives from each group agreed that if the government did not invite all of the groups, then none of them would attend. The groups also asked the Burma Army to cease offensives in ethnic areas and to meet with their committee soon. Sources from the governments Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) said Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) non-signatories would be invited to join the Panglong conference as observers, and only after they signed a deed of commitment (DoC). Under this status, they would be unable to participate in discussions during the conference. The Northern Alliance statement did not comment on whether it would join if it were invited under observer status. Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw, General Secretary of the TNLA and a member of the Northern Alliance, told The Irrawaddy: If we do not have equal rights, we [the TNLA] will not attend. If Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government and the Tatmadaw [Burma Army] want peace in the country, they should have courage and let all ethnic armed groups attend the conference. There should be no restrictions. Otherwise, it will be difficult to build a Union, he said. Reddit Email 263 Shares By Neal Gabler | (Billmoyers.com) | Contrary to the myth, Nixons resignation was anything but the inevitable consequence of a powerful constitutional juggernaut. A witness indicates H.R. Haldeman, Nixons chief of staff, on a diagram as he testifies before the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate hearings. The nationally televised hearings began in mid-May 1973 and resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon on Aug. 8, 1974. (Photo by Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Our Constitution works. So declared newly installed President Gerald Ford in 1974 after Richard Nixons resignation. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Oh glory be! Alls well that ends well. That has been the conventional wisdom ever since. Nixon was checked by checks and balanced by balances. The republic was saved, proving, in the words not only of Ford but of just about everyone, that the system does indeed work. The real lesson of Watergate is not that the Constitution worked. It is that it failed spectacularly. Except for one thing: It didnt. In fact, the real lesson of Watergate is not that the Constitution worked. It is that it failed spectacularly. Contrary to the myth, Nixons resignation was anything but the inevitable consequence of a powerful constitutional juggernaut. Rather, it was the consequence of a bizarre, highly improbable series of events that was more reminiscent of Rube Goldberg than James Madison or Alexander Hamilton (Goldberg being the cartoonist who drew elaborate machines that performed the simplest task by setting off a long, complicated chain reaction). So if youre thinking (dreaming) that crazy King Donald will be deposed by our vaunted checks and balances, consider first that if the political system really worked, a narcissistic man-child like Trump could have never gotten to the presidency, and second, that the Constitution is a shoddy and inadequate contraption unsuitable for ridding us of narcissistic man-children. Simply put, dont count on it. I dont know if Trump colluded with the Russians to win the election or if he is conducting a cover-up of his minions actions. New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote that Trumps machinations either indicate concealment or insanity. I would actually bet on the latter. But even if he is guilty even if he has a smoking gun in his hand it would still take Rube Goldberg to oust him. So says Watergate. Lets begin at the beginning. It is incontrovertible that President Richard Nixon connived to pay off the Watergate burglars so that they wouldnt squeal and that he approved of an elaborate system to halt the investigation that could lead from the burglars to his Committee to Re-Elect the President. But to get from there to a possible impeachment and the resignation that obviated the necessity for the impeachment was a long and tortuous road. If the pugnacious senior justice on the District of Columbia Federal Court, John Sirica, hadnt appointed himself to preside over the burglars trial; and if Sirica hadnt expressed his skepticism that the crime ended with the Keystone Cops who stood before him; and if that skepticism hadnt led Sirica to pressure the defendants to turn on the higher-ups responsible; and if one of those Cops, James McCord, hadnt accepted Siricas invitation to do so and hadnt written him a letter exposing the hush money And if two enterprising Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, hadnt sniffed a larger conspiracy and began unearthing it; and if The Posts managing editor Howard Simons, the papers executive editor Ben Bradlee and its owner Katharine Graham hadnt supported them against enormous pressures and threats from the administration; and if the media hadnt picked up the story instead of ignoring it; and if FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt hadnt decided to leak information on the Watergate investigation to Woodward and Bernstein, thus keeping the story afloat; and if, despite the 1972 Nixon landslide, Congress hadnt been in Democratic hands, allowing a Senate investigation that would have never occurred under Republican rule; and if the chairman of the Senate Select Committee hadnt been a canny old conservative Southerner named Sam Ervin, who looked like anything but a hardened partisan out to get Nixon And if the House Judiciary Committee hadnt wrung a promise from Attorney General Eliot Richardson that he would appoint a special prosecutor; and if Richardson hadnt appointed Archibald Cox, a man of impeccable character and integrity; and if Nixon himself hadnt recorded his conversations; and if, during those Senate hearings, John Dean, White House counsel, hadnt hypothesized that Nixon might have been taping conversations, which prompted committee staff to make that query of every witness; and if a Nixon deputy assistant named Alexander Butterfield hadnt then revealed the recording system and the tapes; and if Cox hadnt then subpoenaed the tapes; and if Sirica hadnt ordered the White House to honor the subpoena; and if Nixon hadnt poured gasoline on the Watergate fire by refusing to honor the subpoena; and if Nixon hadnt ordered Attorney General Richardson to fire Cox; and if Richardson hadnt resigned rather than do so; and if the deputy attorney general, William Ruckleshaus, hadnt also refused to fire Cox; and if the odious solicitor general, Robert Bork, as now acting attorney general, hadnt finally fired Cox, touching off a firestorm; and if Cox hadnt reacted to his firing so temperately that partisan hostilities werent enflamed; and if Sen. Howard Baker (R-TN) hadnt been the ranking minority member on the Select Senate Committee investigating Watergate and reluctantly allowed to follow the trail where it led rather than take the partisan approach and resist it And if Nixon hadnt rejected advice to take the tapes on the White House lawn and burn them; and if Siricas order for Nixon to turn over the tapes hadnt been upheld by the Supreme Court (with Chief Justice Warren Burger, a Nixon appointee, writing the majority opinion); and if another man of integrity, Leon Jaworski, hadnt been named to replace Cox as special prosecutor and continued to pursue the matter doggedly; and if the tapes hadnt finally been revealed to contain a smoking gun as to Nixons participation in the cover-up if any one of those things hadnt happened, the investigation almost certainly would have been derailed, the media and public interest almost certainly would have waned, the Republican charge that it was all a partisan witch hunt almost certainly would have prevailed, and Nixon almost certainly would have survived. Too many ifs. And that is precisely what Trump is counting on to derail the Russian investigation. Trump cant help but notice that almost everything that led to Nixons demise was extra-constitutional: the medias diligence, the cooperation of leakers, the probity of the individuals investigating him, the conscience of the judges and of the appointed officials like Richardson and Ruckleshaus, who eschewed partisanship for patriotism, and finally the public pressure that got the Republicans to cave. In short, there was nothing inevitable about it, which also means it is very unlikely to be replicated. Republicans, then as now, were determined to defend their man and throw every monkey wrench they possibly could to stall the investigation. The other day I heard some pundit wax rhapsodically about how Sens. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) and Hugh Scott (R-PA), and Rep. John Rhodes (R-AZ) marched to the White House to deliver Nixon the news that the jig was up and he would have to resign, as if these three wise men were putting country over party. That is a lot of bull roar. Those wise men only gave Nixon their verdict after he finally was outed as having approved a cover-up, which is to say long after the public had already turned decisively against him. By May 1973, for the first time, more Americans disapproved of him than approved of him. By the end of the year, that disapproval was well above 60 percent. The handwriting wasnt only on the wall for Republicans. It covered the wall. But even then, they didnt run from Nixon. They crawled from him. Remember: It took more than two years for Watergate to play out. Two years. Again: the system didnt work. Sen. James Risch on PBS NewsHour Back to present day: Trump can pretty much count on Republicans support, unless his approval ratings continue to nosedive, because Republicans are largely hypocrites and because there are no Howard Bakers anymore (not that Baker was a paragon), or anyone on the Republican side for whom collusion with the Russians would outweigh dismantling the welfare state. On Tuesday, Sen. James Risch of Idaho told the PBS NewsHour that Trump should be commended for giving classified intelligence to the Russians and that the investigative focus should be on finding the traitor who leaked the story to The Washington Post. Not exactly a profile in courage. Whats more, Nixon didnt have Fox News, Limbaugh and Drudge to fight back on his behalf. Trump does. And dont count on public pressure from the right. While Trumps approval ratings are historically low at roughly the same level as Nixons during the Watergate hearings there is still that core that sticks with him, 82 percent of rank-and-file Republicans. They pose a threat to any Republican officeholder who breaks with Trump because they are likely to abandon them before they abandon him. And as for those honorable men and women of conscience, well, we have only to look at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to see how imperiled they are. In just a day, Rosenstein sullied a nearly 30-year reputation as a sterling public servant by drafting a shockingly phony excuse for Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey an excuse that Trump undermined the next day. Apparently, integrity isnt what it used to be. And remember that the hopelessly compromised Rosenstein, who has already said he sees no need for a special prosecutor, would be charged with appointing one. And as for a new FBI chief to head the investigation? Well, of course, Trump will appoint him or her. And finally there is this: unlike Nixon, Trump aint leaving unless he is booted out. So dont count on some moderate Republican or some high-minded career prosecutor or some unimpeachable judge or some FBI leader or some administration whistle-blower or the Supreme Court or the Constitution or even Rube Goldberg to save us from Trump. We got lucky once very, very lucky. We arent likely to be that lucky again. Neal Gabler is an author of five books and the recipient of two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, Time magazines non-fiction book of the year, USA Todays biography of the year and other awards. He is also a senior fellow at The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California, and is currently writing a biography of Sen. Edward Kennedy. Via Billmoyers.com Related video added by Juan Cole: CBS News: McCain: Trumps actions are of Watergate size and scale VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Aton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:AAN) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to report the results of the final eight drill holes from the recently completed 12-hole diamond drill program, totaling 1975 metres, at Hamama West. Hamama West is one of three zones that comprise Hamama, located within the Company's 100% owned Abu Marawat concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession") in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Highlights: All eight drill holes intersected mineralization (see Table 1), with drill hole HAD-012 returning 22.0 metres of 2.73 grams per tonne gold equivalent (g/t AuEq). Drill holes HAD-005, 010, 011, and 012 confirm the continuation of wide zones of sulphide mineralization outside of the existing mineral resource at Hamama West (see Figure 1). Drill hole HAD-007 returned 28.0 metres of 2.84 grams per tonne g/t AuEq, including 4 metres of 6.05 grams per tonne gold and 376 grams per tonne silver, from the Crocs Nose Zone, which is not included in the existing mineral resource estimate (see Figure 2). The drill results confirm that sulphide mineralization continues along strike on the eastern flank of the Main Zone (MZ), which means that there is significant potential to increase resources in this area. Table 1: Hamama West drill results Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t)* Zn (%) HAD-005 70.0 91.4 21.4 1.08 30.4 1.52 0.38 HAD-006 37.0 38.0 1.0 0.80 18.9 1.07 0.05 and 39.0 44.0 5.0 0.00 0.7 0.02 0.70 HAD-007 7.0 35.0 28.0 1.65 82.7 2.84 0.02 incl. 7.0 16.0 9.0 2.20 8.2 2.32 0.03 incl. 31.0 35.0 4.0 6.05 376 11.41 0.00 HAD-008 42.0 48.0 6.0 0.01 3.4 0.06 1.05 HAD-009 84.0 88.0 4.0 0.08 13.3 0.27 0.64 HAD-010 129.0 177.5 48.5 0.80 15.5 1.02 0.18 incl. 129.0 133.0 4.0 0.46 11.9 0.63 0.03 incl. 136.0 141.0 5.0 0.90 40.7 1.48 0.75 incl. 144.0 177.5 33.5 0.91 13.5 1.10 0.12 HAD-011 91.0 138.0 47.0 0.61 31.0 1.06 0.15 incl. 91.0 114.0 23.0 0.31 42.3 0.92 0.20 incl. 114.0 138.0 24.0 0.90 20.2 1.19 0.11 HAD-012 109.0 112.0 3.0 1.30 102 2.77 0.68 and 136.0 158.0 22.0 0.87 130 2.73 0.09 *Using a 0.5 g/t AuEq cut off. Gold equivalent was calculated using a 70 gold-to-silver ratio and assumes 100% metallurgical recoveries. Cautionary note: this ratio changes over time. Holes HAD-005, 010, 011 and 012 were planned to test the potential for increasing sulphide resources on the eastern flank of the MZ at Hamama West. Today's assay results confirm that potential. Holes HAD-006 and 007 were drilled towards the south, and tested the Crocs Nose Zone, south of the Main Zone (see Figure 2). The high grade intersection from hole HAD-007 extends the mineralization previously intersected in surface trench HAT-113 and holes AHA-045 and AHA-046 (see news release dated June 9, 2015) to the east. The mineralization at the Crocs Nose Zone has only had limited testing to date, and is interpreted as being a faulted offset of the Main Zone mineralization, which strikes under the Nubian Sandstone unconformity. This zone was not included in the Hamama West resource estimate (see news release dated January 24, 2017) and the new drilling results confirms the potential to delineate additional near surface resources in this area. "We're very pleased with the drill results from this campaign," said Mark Campbell, President and CEO of Aton. "Not only did it return some of the highest-grade intercepts to date from Hamama West but the results from the eastern flank of the Main Zone and the Crocs Nose Zone demonstrate how we can continue to grow resources at Hamama West. Exploration activity is slowing down in anticipation of Ramadan but we still have lots of exploration results to report from the regional exploration program which will demonstrate the district scale potential of the Abu Marawat Concession." Figure 1: Hamama West long projection Figure 2: Drill hole collar plan Figure 3: Cross section 534250 East Figure 4: Cross section 534200 East Activity update: Continued regional exploration results; Metallurgical test work in preparation of a Preliminary Economic Assessment for Hamama West; Activity at Hamama Camp is slowing down in anticipation of Ramadan, May 26-June 28. About the Hamama deposit The Hamama deposit ("Hamama") is located at the western end of the 40-km long gold trend at the Abu Marawat Concession and is comprised of three zones, Hamama West, Hamama Central and Hamama East. Hamama West hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 341,000 ounces' gold equivalent ("AuEq") and an Indicated Mineral Resource of 137,000 ounces AuEq (see news release dated January 24, 2017). The mineralized horizon at Hamama has a strike length of approximately 3-km and mapping indicates that the prospective horizon (or the hanging wall contact) may be over 6-km long. Other potentially mineralized horizons, separate from the main mineralized horizon, have also been mapped in the general Hamama area. About Aton Resources Inc. Aton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:AAN) is focused on its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat"), located in Egypt's Arabian-Nubian Shield, approximately 200-km north of Centamin's Sukari gold mine. Aton has identified a 40-km long gold trend at Abu Marawat, anchored by the Hamama deposit in the west and the Abu Marawat deposit in the east. In addition to the Hamama and Abu Marawat deposits, the trend contains numerous gold exploration targets, including three historic gold mines. Abu Marawat is over 738km2 in size and is located in an area of excellent infrastructure, a four-lane highway, a 220kV power line, and a water pipeline are in close proximity. Qualified Person The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Roderick Cavaney BSc, MSc (hons), MSc (Mining & Exploration Geology), FAusIMM, SEG, GSA, SME, Vice President, Exploration, of Aton Resources Inc. Mr. Cavaney is a qualified person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc., please visit us at www.atonresources.com. TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Moneta Porcupine Mines Inc. (TSX: ME) ("Moneta") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kevin B. Heather to the Board of Directors, subject to standard TSX approval. Ian C. Peres, President and CEO stated, "The addition of Kevin to the Board of Directors will add significant and relevant project exploration and development experience and in-depth technical knowledge to Moneta. We look forward to his contribution and insight on the continued exploration of Golden Highway and our overall land package." Dr. Heather commented, "I am excited to be joining the Moneta board to support the advancement of their exceptional land package to the next stage of discovery and value/wealth creation for all stakeholders. The Moneta land package is one of the last, large land positions along the world class Destor Porcupine structural corridor and already hosts a significant gold resource, but it is my firm belief that there is much more gold to be found and I look forward to contributing my technical knowledge to discover those additional ounces." Kevin B. Heather, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc., Ph.D., is an exploration geologist with 40 years of field experience in North and South America and has a demonstrated track record of delivering high-quality technical work that has led to value-wealth creation in the junior exploration sector. Dr. Heather is a Fellow, Councillor and Honorary Lecturer for the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and is a co-founder and Chairman of the Chilean-based charity "Fundacion Mineros Contra El Cancer". Dr. Heather was co-founder and is currently the Chief Geological Officer and Technical Committee Chairman for Regulus Resources Inc. (TSX-V: REG) and is responsible corporate oversight of the technical aspects of the company's exploration activities in addition to building a technical committee comprised of strong geological, metallurgical, and engineering professionals to advance the company's projects in Peru, Argentina and Nevada. Dr. Heather was also a founding officer and former Vice President Geology of Antares Minerals Inc. (TSX: ANM) where he directed the geological mapping, target generation, planning, supervision, and execution of exploration programs that led to the discovery of the high-grade Haquira East deposit in Southern Peru. He was also involved in the overall development of the Haquira Cu-Mo-Au porphyry project which was sold to First Quantum Minerals in December 2010 for C$650 million. From 1985-1992, Dr. Heather was employed as a Senior Geoscientist by the Ontario Geological Survey, where he was a team leader for various large, field-based regional- and mine-scale geological mapping programs in various Archean greenstone belts of Northern Ontario. During this time, Dr. Heather was part of a team specializing in the geology of Archean mesothermal lode-Au deposits and co-authored several publications. From 1992-1997, Dr. Heather was a Senior Geoscientist for the Geological Survey of Canada, based in Ottawa, and was responsible for a 5-year, multidisciplinary, regional geological mapping program in the mineral prolific, Archean-aged Abitibi-Swayze greenstone belt of Canada. This work formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation at University of Keele (2001). In 1997, Dr. Heather joined Barrick Gold Corporation in Chile (Barrick Chile Ltda.) as a Senior Exploration Geologist involved in exploration for high- and low-sulphidation epithermal Au deposits in the high-Andes of Chile and Argentina. From 1997-2002, Dr. Heather mapped and explored within the prolific El Indio-Tambo mineral district and the world-class Pascua-Lama Au-Ag project in central Chile. During 2002-2003, Dr. Heather completed a district-scale, geological/structural mapping and target generation program for Anglogold at their Cerro Vanguardia low-sulphidation Au-Ag deposit in Patagonia, Argentina. This work lead to the discovery of tens of kilometres of additional Au-bearing vein structures not previously recognized or drilled. About Moneta Moneta holds a 100% interest in 5 core gold projects strategically located along the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone in the world class Timmins Camp with over 85 million ounces of past gold production. The Golden Highway Project covers 12 kilometres of a highly prospective volcanic/sedimentary belt along the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone and currently hosts a NI 43-101 resource estimate of 1,091,000 ounces indicated (31.1 Mt at 1.09 g/t Au) plus 3,204,000 ounces inferred (83.3 Mt at 1.20 g/t Au), clustered within four kilometres. Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / May 18, 2017 - NORTEC MINERALS CORP. (the "Company" or "Nortec") (TSXV: NVT) is pleased to announce that the Company's Joint Venture earn-in partner, Avalon Minerals ("Avalon") of Milton, QLD, Australia, completed an extensive Induced Polarisation Survey ("IP Survey") as part of the Stage 2 exploration program on the Satulinmaki Gold Prospect, Tammela Project, Southern Finland. Avalon has completed Stage 1 and holds a 51% interest in the Project. Avalon and Nortec will form an 80:20 Joint Venture partnership on completion of the Stage 2. The results from the IP Survey by Avalon confirms the potential for the occurrence of a large gold system on the Satulinmaki Prospect. Avalon's 2016 drilling, together with the historical drilling results by the Finnish Geological Survey "GTK"), returned significant intersections (Re: Nortec's press releases dated 20 February 2017). Avalon's press releases can be viewed on: http://www.asx.com.au/asx/share-price-research/company/AVI http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170517/pdf/43j9skkwxcwbz9.pdf http://avalonminerals.com.au/ Highlights Outstanding results from the large Induced Polarisation geophysical survey at the Satulinmaki Prospect. Three-dimensional geophysical modelling identifies extensive areas of what is likely to be structurally-controlled alteration and mineralization Drill targets identified on multiple structural corridors up to 1.2km long, with significant vertical extent Newly recognised large gold system potential represents a 'scale change' at Satulinmaki The large IP Survey was completed at Satulinmaki during the period January - April 2017. The key objective of the survey was to define areas of altered host rock within which gold mineralisation is expected to occur. The IP Survey clearly identified mineralized zones previously intercepted in historical drilling by GTK and the seven holes drilled by Avalon in 2016. These target signatures were used to define other potential gold-bearing zone targets in the project area. Geophysical mapping of interpreted sericite alteration and distribution of sulphides, both known to be associated with gold mineralisation from drilling, has shown two main trends (Figures 1 and 2) Figure 1: Compilation of IP survey results showing trends identified as being prospective for gold mineralisation relative to the exisiting drilling. The ENE Satulinmaki trend is now 1.2km long and significantly expands the gold target (Re: Avalon Press Release May 17, 2017) Figure 2: Target domains as defined from IP survey (Re: Avalon Press Release May 17, 2017) The main Satulinmaki gold trend, outlined over a ~300m strike length by drilling, is extended to 1.2 kilometres by the IP survey; and A new 800 m long northwest trending zone was delineated. In addition, the survey has defined: Subordinate trends to the south of Satulinmaki, each up to 400m long; and Subtle trends to the north of Satulinmaki showing both ENE and NW patterns. Conductivity results have identified discrete anomalies that coincide with the high-grade intersections (SMDD007, 23.5m at 3.3g/t Au including 9.2m at 7.3g/t Au). Chargeability results, which are interpreted to map the sulphides commonly associated with the gold mineralisation, demonstrate significant vertical extent to well beyond the depth of previous drilling and to at least 300m below surface (Figure 3). Figure 3: 3-D image of the Satulinmaki Prospect drilling area showing considerable depth extent of chargeability anomalies that may be related to gold mineralisation. Unmarked holes are those drilled by the Finnish Geological Survey (GTK) (Re: Avalon Press Release May 17, 2017) Mohan R. Vulimiri, CEO of Nortec comments, "Nortec is very pleased with the quality of work that Avalon, our joint venture partner, has been doing on the Satulinmaki Project. The target generation and correlation between drilling grade and the quality of the target is an exceptional result for this program. These results further demonstrate the potential for exploration at Satulinmaki to define a large gold system with considerable vertical extent. Nortec looks forward to Avalon's next drilling campaign." About Nortec Minerals Corp. Nortec is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tammela Minerals Oy (TamOy), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Nortec holds 49% in two Joint Venture (JV) holding companies, Kultatie Oy for the Somero 1 to 12 claims (Riukka and Satulinmaki gold zones) and Litiumloydos Oy for Tammela 1 to 3 claims (Kietyonmaki lithium prospect). TamOy also staked the Rehumaki exploration reservation over an area of 117 km2 around the Somero and Tammela claims. This reservation forms part of the Joint Venture with Avalon. Nortec entered into a Joint Venture with The Golden Rule Limited to acquire an 80% interest in the Tomboko and Diugafara Gold Properties located in Guinea, West Africa. Nortec will also earn an 80% interest in TGR's minority financial interests in other exploration licenses located in Guinea. Details are contained in the Company's February 21 and April 12, 2017 news releases. Mohan R. Vulimiri, M.Sc., P.Geo, CEO, Nortec Minerals, is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Vulimiri has approved the corporate and technical content contained in this press release VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") (TSX:TV)(LMA:TV)(OTCQX:TREVF)(FRANKFURT:4TI) reports that at its Special Meeting held on May 17, 2017 shareholders voted in favour of all resolutions supporting the Company's proposed acquisition of a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80.08-percent interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90-percent interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39.24-percent interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire a 100-percent interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada, and certain related exploration properties and assets. There were 157,588,572 common shares represented in person or by proxy at the Special Meeting, representing 39.04% of the Company's total issued and outstanding common shares. The report of voting results is as follows: Description of Matter Outcome of Vote Votes For Votes Withheld Votes Against 1. Consideration Share Resolution Resolution approved 139,844,550* (99.81%) n/a 267,116 (0.19%) 2. Private Placement Resolution Resolution approved 139,659,903* (99.68%) n/a 451,763 (0.32%) 4. Shareholder Rights Plan Termination Resolution Resolution approved 139,819,920* (99.79%) n/a 291,746 (0.21%) * Excludes 17,476,906 shares held by interested parties "The overwhelming approval by the voting shareholders is a resounding endorsement of the Company's planned acquisition of these zinc mines from Glencore," stated Dr. Mark Cruise, Trevali's President and CEO. "This transformative transaction will propel Trevali to top-10 global zinc producer status and create a premier pure-play zinc miner with sector-leading leverage to the commodity." ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with two commercially producing operations. The Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander mine in Peru and its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. Trevali also owns the Halfmile and Stratmat base metal deposits, located in New Brunswick, that are currently undergoing a Preliminary Economic Assessment reviewing their potential development. Additionally, the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Glencore PLC to acquire a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80.08% interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90% interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39.24% interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire 100% interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada and certain related exploration properties and assets. The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV), and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Mundoro Capital Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MUN)(www.mundoro.com) ("Mundoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the start of the drilling program at the Tilva Rosh gold target on the Company's 100% owned Savinac license ("Savinac"). Savinac is one of the four exploration licenses located in the southern portion of the Timok Magmatic Complex in Serbia that are 100% controlled by Mundoro ("Timok South Projects" see Figure 1: Savinac License Location Map). Teo Dechev, CEO and President of Mundoro commented, "The prior drilling results at Tilva Rosh successfully followed the surface trench results of high grade gold-silver mineralisation down dip along the structure. The current program aims at defining the extent of near surface mineralisation along a 400 meters strike length and up to 100 meters depth. To date the mineralisation is open to the north, south and at depth. Mundoro is focused on drill testing select target areas in the Timok South Projects in parallel to furthering the JOGMEC funded Timok North Projects programs. We believe this parallel strategy of testing and advancing assets, through either partnerships or our own treasury, provides continuous opportunities to shareholders for creating value." TILVA ROSH GOLD TARGET The current drill program at the Tilva Rosh gold target is designed to follow up on two key gold bearing features: (i) a mineralised gold bearing hydrothermal breccia structure containing significant gold grades and (ii) quartz veins that also host gold mineralisation which have been identified with prior trenching and drilling. The 2017 drill program is budgeted for 1,500 meters of shallow drilling in 14 holes as shown in Figure 2: Tilva Rosh Drill Plan Map to test 400 meters along strike and up to 100 meters down dip extension. Previous Work at Tilva Rosh Mundoro conducted geochemical, mapping, trenching, and ground magnetic surveys over the Savinac license as well as compiling historic data, targeting epithermal and porphyry Cu-Au systems. This work outlined the Savinac mineralised belt (9 km by 2 km) which includes the Tilva Rosh epithermal system expressed on the surface with a large area of advanced argillic alteration covering 4 km by 1 km. Tilva Rosh was explored previously in the late 1970's and early 2000's but significant gold mineralisation and porphyry Cu-Au potential was identified by Mundoro's exploration in Q4-2013. As part of the 2014 program, six inclined diamond drill holes totaling 917.8 m were drilled at the southern portion of Tilva Rosh system to test the down dip extent of the high-grade gold mineralisation, which was previously confirmed by trenching results of 12 m @ 33.03 g/t AuEq (30.39 g/t Au, 171.27 g/t Ag). Collar locations for the previously drilled holes are also shown in Figure 2: Tilva Rosh Drill Plan Map. The previous Tilva Rosh drilling program demonstrated continuation of surface mineralisation at dow-dip for a north-west striking hydrothermal breccia structure which hosts the high grade gold. Copper mineralisation was intersected at depth in four of the six drill holes drilling in 2014 as shown in Table 1 below and appears to be related to supergene enrichment. The Company believes copper was not present at surface due to the highly acidic nature of the lithocap in the area caused by the high pyrite content in the system. The eastern most drill holes, SAV02 and SAV05, intersected the highest lead-zinc contents (up to 2.2% Zn and 0.6% Pb) suggesting lateral zoning indicative of a porphyry style hydrothermal system. Table 1: Summary of significant results from the 2014 Tilva Rosh drill program Drill Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) CuEq (%) SAV_01 11 18 7 7.90 _ 46.74 8.68 _ Including 13 15 2 24.98 _ 128.05 26.95 _ Including 13 14 1 42.90 _ 199 46.22 _ 126 133 7 0.35 _ 2.76 0.40 SAV_02 30 40 10 0.34 _ 2.16 0.38 _ 67.7 71.8 4.1 0.62 _ 2.36 0.66 _ 95.6 100.0 4.4 0.54 _ 6.38 0.65 _ SAV_03 71.0 76.0 5.0 2.54 0.59 15.54 3.73 2.36 Including 74.0 74.7 0.7 10.35 1.47 50.10 13.52 8.54 SAV_04 42.2 51.3 9.1 1.24 0.33 9.00 1.91 1.21 Including 43.3 47.3 3.0 1.45 0.58 14.60 2.61 1.65 SAV_05 29 50.2 21.2 0.25 _ 1.78 0.28 _ Including 30.4 36.0 5.6 0.43 _ 3.30 0.49 _ Including 46.2 50.2 4.0 0.35 0.14 3.88 0.63 0.40 SAV_06 38.5 42.9 4.4 0.59 0.21 14.95 1.17 0.74 Gold Equivalent ("AuEq.") is calculated using the formula AuEq = (g/t/Au) + (g/t/Ag) + ($/ozAu)/65 + [(%Cu) x (22.0462) x ($/lbCu)] [(1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)]. is calculated using the formula AuEq = (g/t/Au) + (g/t/Ag) + ($/ozAu)/65 + [(%Cu) x (22.0462) x ($/lbCu)] [(1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)]. Copper equivalent (CuEq%) is calculated using the formula CuEq = (%Cu) + [(g/t/AuEq) x (1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)] [(22.0462) x ($/lbCu)]. is calculated using the formula CuEq = (%Cu) + [(g/t/AuEq) x (1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)] [(22.0462) x ($/lbCu)]. Metal prices used are : gold price of US$1300/oz, copper price of US$3/lb, and silver price US$20/oz. : gold price of US$1300/oz, copper price of US$3/lb, and silver price US$20/oz. All thicknesses from intersections from drill holes are down-hole drilled thicknesses or outcrop sample length thickness. True widths cannot be determined from the information available. Future Targets at Tilva Rosh The initial drill results from Tilva Rosh are encouraging and are interpreted to be proximal to a Cu-Au porphyry system related to a large area of advanced argillic lithocaps to the north (approximately 500 meters), highlighted with a molybdenum anomaly and followed outwards to zones of lead-zinc. These are geochemical signatures of porphyry deposit footprints and where the Company believes there is good potential for further porphyry drill targets. BORSKO DRILL PROGRAM UPDATE The drill program at the Borsko license in Serbia, which is being sole funded by JOGMEC as part of the JOGMEC option announced in August 2016 ("Timok North Projects"), has completed to date a total of 3,123 meters of diamond drilling in three holes: BJ-06, BJ-07, BJ-08. Due to the extended drill campaign at Borsko, which began in February 2017 and was extended twice, the Company now expects the assay results from this drill program to be announced in June. ANGEL DRILL PROGRAM UPDATE The commencement of the drill program at the Angel Vyvoda ("Angel") gold target in the Zvezda license in southeastern Bulgaria has been moved back due to mechanical problems with the drilling equipment. The Company expects the drilling program to now commence around the end of May with assay results from the Angel drilling program expected in August. The Angel drill program will test the large gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly that is also associated with the Au-Ag-Sb-As-Mo suit of elements (which indicate an epithermal environment that has the potential to host a mineralized system) seen in the geochemical survey that cover an area of a 2.7 km x 1.5 km and delineating at least three sets of E-W to NW-SE structures. For further information on the Angel drill program, please refer to our press release on September 16, 2014. Sampling and Analysis All drill core samples are processed and assayed using 50-gram fire assay with atomic absorption finish and ME-MS61 by ALS Serbia and Romania. Quality Assurance and quality control procedures include the systematic insertion of standards and duplicates into the sample streams. Field duplicate samples are taken every 25 samples and standards and blanks are inserted after every 20th sample. All data collected in the field and assay results from the laboratories are routinely verified and entered in an Access database. Qualified Person Technical information contained in this Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. G. Magaranov, P. Geo., Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Mundoro Capital Inc. Mundoro is a Canadian mineral exploration and development public company focused on building value for its shareholders through directly investing in mineral projects that have the ability to generate future returns for shareholders. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of projects in two European countries as well as an investment in a producing gold mine in Bulgaria and a feasibility stage gold project in China. The Company holds eight 100% owned projects in Serbia, the four Timok North Projects are in option to JOGMEC, and the four Timok South Projects are being advanced by Mundoro. Mundoro's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MUN". Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Prophecy Development Corp. (Prophecy or the Company) (TSX:PCY, OTCPK:PRPCF, Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to announce that it has finalized detailed internal mine plans for the Paca project, initially targeting nearsurface mineralization with a low mining strip ratio. In addition, the Company has executed agreements regarding the sourcing of skilled workers through the local Pulacayo cooperatives for future mining operations at the Pulacayo and Paca projects. Further to the Companys news release dated December 2, 2016, Prophecy has renewed the letter of intent (LOI) to lease mining equipment from Oroscons S.R.L. Under the updated LOI which expires June 30, 2017, Oroscons agrees to provide Prophecy through lease, a mining and transportation fleet that would enable open-pit mining of the Paca deposit at a minimum rate of 200 tonnes of ore per day. Further to the Companys news release dated December 14, 2016, Prophecy is negotiating with a number of vendors that provide dedicated toll milling services at their ore processing facilities located in Potosi, which is a 2.5 hour drive by car, on paved road from Pulacayo. The toll milling services would entail the processing of mined materials to be supplied by the Company, utilizing conventional crushing, grinding and flotation technology to produce zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates. Given the low rates of capacity utilization of a great number of ore processing facilities (>50) in Potosi, the Company is confident it can finalize a new toll milling agreement at lower cost than the one signed last December. Prophecy continues discussions with a number of large trading and smelting companies that are interested in purchasing future zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates processed from Pulacayo and Paca mined materials and providing Prophecy with advance payment against future concentrate delivery to finance Paca to production. The most recent trial test runs at two concentrate-buyer designated processing facilities demonstrated high rates of silver recoveries (>85%) from Paca bulk sampling. Prophecy is further encouraged by an improved concentrate purchase term-sheet received from a major trader in May with significantly lower processing charges, consistent with industry trends. Please refer to the Companys June 18, 2015 and September 21, 2015 news releases for details regarding the amount and grade of resources for the Pulacayo and Paca deposits. Lastly, the Companys Bolivian subsidiary, ASC Bolivia LDC Sucursal Bolivia, has invested approximately US$28 million at Pulacayo and already acquired necessary environmental and social licenses to mine at Pulacayo. The Company is working with the Bolivian mining ministry and Corporacion Minera De Bolivia (COMIBOL) (which is under internal restructuring with a newly-appointed COMIBOL President) to obtain authorization for mining. The Company is confident that all key pre-requisites (community and ministerial support, mining equipment, mine plan, toll milling, concentrate off take and project financing through advance concentrate sales payments) are or will be in place for rapid mobilization to bring Paca and Pulacayo to production as soon as authorization is obtained. In March, Prophecy partially sponsored a Bolivian delegation headed by the Bolivian Minister of Mining and Metallurgy to attend the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in Toronto, Canada. The event successfully brought new Canadian investors to Bolivia. The Company will provide further update on project progress in due course. A positive production decision would not be based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability so would carry increased uncertainty and the risk of failure as to the mining method and profitability. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release was reviewed and approved by Christopher M. Kravits, CPG, LPG, who is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Kravits is a consultant to the Company and serves as its Qualified Person and General Mining Manager. Mr. Kravits is not independent of the Company since most of his income is derived from the Company. About Prophecy Prophecy Development Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that is engaged in worldwide mineral and energy exploration and development. Further information on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com. VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 17, 2017) - Almaden Minerals Ltd. ("Almaden" or "the Company") (TSX: AMM) ( NYSE MKT : AAU) announces that the independent NI 43-101 Pre-Feasibility Study of the Ixtaca Gold-Silver Project located in Puebla State, Mexico (the "PFS"), has been filed on SEDAR. A summary of findings from the PFS was announced in Almaden's press release issued April 3rd, 2017. The full report, prepared by Moose Mountain Technical Services ("MMTS"), can be viewed under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. The independent qualified persons responsible for preparing the PFS are Tracey Meintjes, P.Eng. and Jesse Aarsen, P.Eng. of MMTS, Ken Embree, P.Eng. of Knight Piesold Ltd., Kris Raffle, P.Geo. of APEX Geoscience Ltd., and Gary Giroux, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. of Giroux Consultants Ltd., all of whom act as independent consultants to the Company, are Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and have reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. About Almaden Almaden Minerals Ltd. owns 100% of the Tuligtic project in Puebla State, Mexico. Tuligtic covers the Ixtaca Gold-Silver Deposit, which was discovered by Almaden in 2010. Employees watch an electronic board to monitor possible ransomware cyberattacks at the Korea Internet and Security Agency in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap South Korea's state-run cybersecurity agency said Wednesday that 14 companies have been struck by the crippling ransomware "WannaCry" so far, which has been emerging as one of the biggest threats to global cybersecurity. Ransomware refers to malware that locks up files on a computer with encryption until the victims pay a certain amount of money to hackers. The latest instance of ransomware, called "WannaCry," first surfaced last week, damaging some 200,000 computers in 150 countries around the globe. The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) said it has received 5,012 calls inquiring into ransomware through its hotline so far. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 17, 2017 Google will announce at its I/O developers conference on Wednesday a completely redesigned AdMob advertising platform and advancements to its digital payment service aimed at helping developers accelerate their ability to build in-app experiences for customers. During the keynote, Sridhar Ramaswamy, svp of ads and commerce at Google, will discuss the redesign of the platform for mobile and desktop. Developers will have the ability to pick an app to monitor, review the key metrics and then quickly take action to fine-tune its performance. Google has also integrated Google Analytics for Firebase into the core of the redesigned AdMob so marketers will have quick access to metrics. Linking the AdMob and Firebase accounts will give users access to detailed ad revenue data and user insights such as time spent in the app and in-app purchases. advertisement advertisement AdMob has paid developers more than $3.5 billion dollars in ad revenue for the more than 1 million apps across iOS and Android. The new AdMob was built based on what Google calls Material Design, a new suite of tools and open-source projects aimed at helping to make product design easier. For developers, ads through AdMob are one way to monetize their apps, and in-app purchases are another. Google also will announce several payment options during the keynote. For starters, users will have multiple Google payment options, like a credit or a debit card previously saved via Android Pay, a payment card used to transact on the PlayStore or a form of payment stored via Chrome. They will be able to use these saved payment options in third-party apps and mobile sites, as well as on Google Assistant. The Google Payment API will enable merchants and developers to speed checkout conversion by offering users an easy way to pay with credit and debit cards saved to their Google Account. In the blog post, Ramaswamy called the API a "significant innovation" that can enable faster checkout, more conversions, and reduce abandoned carts. Ramaswamy will also introduce App Attribution Partner, a new measurement program that allows developers who rely on third-party measurement providers to measure the impact of ads and gain valuable insights about how users engage with your app. The launch partners are adjust, Adways, AppsFlyer, Apsalar, CyberZ, Kochava and TUNE. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 17, 2017 Facebook has defeated a lawsuit accusing it of violating users' privacy by gleaning data from health sites in order to send people targeted ads. The complaint, brought in 2016 by a Missouri resident proceeding under the pseudonym "Winston Smith," alleged that Facebook gathered data about users' visits to a host of sites, including ones operated by the American Cancer Society, Melanoma Research Foundation and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Facebook gathers this data via the "Like" button, according to the court papers. Smith and the other users claimed that Facebook violated several privacy laws, including the federal wiretap act, which prohibits companies from intercepting transmissions without at least one party's consent. Smith and the others also sued the Web site operators for allegedly violating the wiretap act, and their own privacy policies, which promised to refrain from sharing users' personally identifiable information. advertisement advertisement Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in the Northern District of California quietly dismissed all claims against Facebook and the health sites. He ruled that the users consented to Facebook's data-gathering efforts, which the company discloses online. Facebook's "Data Policy" provides that the site collects information from third-party sites that use Facebook services, including the "Like" button and Facebook log-in button. "This includes information about the websites and apps you visit, your use of our Services on those websites and apps, as well as information the developer or publisher of the app or website provides to you or us," Facebook says in its policy. Davila also ruled that he lacked jurisdiction over the American Cancer Society and other health site operators because they aren't based in California. Internet law expert Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University, notes that some of the issues presented by this lawsuit were first litigated more than 14 years ago in a lawsuit against marketing company Pharmatrack. In that matter, Pharmatrack allegedly used cookies to track people at pharmaceutical companies' Web sites. That matter, like the allegations against Facebook, hinged on whether the users' consented to online tracking. A federal appellate court ruled in 2003 that Web users could proceed with claims that Pharmatrack violated the wiretap law, ruling that the users didn't consent to have their communications accessed by Pharmatrak. "The efforts to grab data aren't a new thing," Goldman says. "The demand has been there for decades." AOL News, Thursday, May 18, 2017 10:03 AM Alabamas Legislative Black Caucus is outraged by an email that seemed to describe African Americans as monkeys. The sender of the email, Rep. Lynn Greer (R-Rogersville), has apologized. The subject line reads, "POLITICS psychology," and includes an anecdote about four caged monkeys trying to reach a banana tied to a string. It concludes that "from time to time, ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME!" Then it states: "This is meant as no disrespect to monkeys." Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) said, "I haven't seen this kind of disrespect in my entire life." Read the whole story at AOL News , Thursday, May 18, 2017 4:58 PM Courtney O'Donnell, the town manager of Stockton Springs, ME, will revive her monthly email newsletter despite complaints about a previous newsletter. The prior e-letter was a nightmare" because of frequent updates each day, said Selectman Peter Curley. "It was totally out of control. It became a total gossip thing but I don't want to get into it." ODonnell said the new newsletter will go to people who sign up for it. Read the whole story at Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, custom manufactured modular facilities, and blast resistant structures. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary products and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. company also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. Black Diamond Group Limited markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. The firm specializes in early stage, acquisition, distressed investments, short-term financing to mid-market companies, corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. The firm invest in attractive businesses through the public debt and equity markets or by providing financing. The firm invest in Business services, Industrials and Residential sectors. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in the property, power, and infrastructure sectors. Its property business includes owning and managing office properties, developing master planned residential communities, and offering clients bridge and mezzanine lending, alternative assets funds, and financial and advisory services. Through its subsidiaries, the firm operates hydroelectric power facilities, interconnections and transmission facilities in Northeast North America, and development of wind power in Canada. Through its subsidiaries, it invests in specialty funds including private equity and makes direct investments in real estate, energy, and resource assets. The firm launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. It also manages real estate and hedge funds. The firm invests in equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It also invest in British Columbia, United States, Brazil, Australia, Chile, Uruguay, New Zealand. It prefers to invest between $2 million and $500 million in its portfolio companies. The firm also prefers to take both minority and majority stakes in its companies. It was formerly known as Brascan Corp. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Bogota, Colombia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Calgary, Canada, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Gatineau, Canada, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, London, United Kingdom, Melbourne, Australia, Montreal, Canada, Mumbai, India, New York City, Perth, Australia, Shanghai, China, and Sydney, Australia. Ciena Corporation provides network hardware, software, and services that support the transport, routing, switching, aggregation, service delivery, and management of video, data, and voice traffic on communications networks worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers hardware networking products and solutions that optimized for the convergence of coherent optical transport, optical transport network switching, and packet switching. Its products include 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, 5430 Reconfigurable Switching System, Waveserver stackable interconnect system, and the 6500 Reconfigurable line system, and the 5400 family of Packet-Optical platforms, as well as Z-Series Packet-Optical Platform; 3000 family of service delivery switches and service aggregation switches, and the 5000 family of service aggregation switches, as well as 8700 Packetwave Platform and the Ethernet packet configuration for the 5410 Service Aggregation Switch; and 6500 Packet Transport System. This segment also sells operating system software and enhanced software features embedded in each of its products. The company's Blue Planet Automation Software and Services segment provides multi-domain service orchestration, inventory, route optimization and analysis, network function virtualization orchestration, analytics, and related services. Its Platform Software and Service segment offers OneControl unified management system and platform software services, as well as manage, control, and plan software. The company's Global Services segment provides consulting and network design, installation and deployment, maintenance support, and training services. The company sells its products through direct and indirect sales channels to network operators. Ciena Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Legal & General Retirement (LGR), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Legal & General Insurance (LGI). The LGR segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; longevity insurance products; lifetime mortgages; lifetime care plans; retirement interest only mortgages; and workplace savings scheme that provides corporate pension scheme solutions. The LGIM segment offers index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real assets. The LGC segment provides investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The LGI segment offers protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; reinsurance; savings and death benefits; and annuities. It is also involved in the unit trust and institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses. In addition, the company engages in the investment, operation, management, trading, and letting and operation of leased real estate; and construction of commercial buildings, financial intermediation, pension tracing and transfer, insurance agents and brokers, fund general partner, commercial lending, venture capital investing, contractual scheme, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory, business information consultancy, and technology services. Legal & General Group Plc was founded in 1836 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. CA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. Its MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. The company offers thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by life science, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. Waters Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts. Last Decembers Andrew McCutchen trade talks between the Nationals and Pirates included top prospect Lucas Giolito and left-hander Gio Gonzalez, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman notes that talks between Pittsburgh and Washington centered around three players, and he reported back in December that Giolito and minor league righty Dane Dunning were a part of McCutchen talks. Some combination of Giolito, Dunning and Gonzalez (whose salary is roughly similar to that of McCutchen) certainly seems like a nice haul for the Pirates, though to be fair, Heyman hasnt specifically listed that trio in a singular report, nor is it clear that said trio was ever actually offered. Furthermore, its not known whether the Nationals or the Pirates are the team that backed out of talks before Washington sent Giolito, Dunning and Reynaldo Lopez to the White Sox in exchange for Adam Eaton. McCutchen is off to an ugly .214/.286/.393 start at the plate, though Giolito hasnt fared much better in the minors. Through 34 1/3 Triple-A innings, hes posted a 6.55 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent ground-ball rate. More notes on the Nats It was a day to celebrate mothers and Jandel Event Planners took it upon themselves to celebrate Mothers' Day in grand style, with an event themed Celebrating the Glory of Womanhood. Patrons, who were mainly mothers, were treated to nice relaxing musical performances and amazing gift packages on Sunday, May 14. The icing on the cake was performance by the King of Comedy, DKB. The comedian mounted the stage and gave a rib-cracking performance which left the mothers present laughing their heads off. He started his performance by appreciating mothers and also gave a clear distinction on why mothers are very much celebrated than fathers. He further went on to give an account of his visit to Kumasi and other hilarious jokes which got the mothers laughing hysterically. Apart from DKB, there were also musical performances by Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the Year, Joe Mettle and the Rap Doctor, Okyeame Kwame. See photos below: Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com Ghanas number one Family oriented programme on Joy FM, Home Affairs hosted by Edem Knight-Tay last Saturday made the dream of one proud mother a reality. Anita Doris Agbozo won the GHS30,000 Mamas Living Room Make Over competition to have her living room refurbished. She was not the only proud mother celebrated on Mothers Day as three other ladies entered the competition to win various gifts to show their mothers how much they are appreciated. In celebration of Mothers Day, Home Affairs programme run a competition in which participants took pictures of themselves and their mothers as well as a picture of their mothers living room. There was a total of not more than 10 ladies who entered the competition. They sent an email to tell the judges why their mothers living room deserved the makeover. The ladies together with their mothers then made a studio appearance to explain why their mother is the best mother and partook in the knowing-me-knowing-you competition. Madam Agbozo, a relationship manager with one of the top banks and mother of Evangeline Aryee shared the story of determination, love and living a dream. She told of how she single-handedly raised her only child whom she conceived when she was still a secondary school student. A schoolmate who left her on her own after pregnancy never showed up and she had to go through a torrid time with stimatisation by her mates and society. According to her, she ignored all advice from close friends and mates to abort the foetus since there was no man to take care of her. Luck was on her side as she delivered during the long vacation and immediately continued with her studies when school resumed. I refused to stay home despite the stimatisation because I did not want to give up on my dream to be a lawyer. Sadly, she had to abandon her legal studies when she lost her mother in the process. Madam Agbozo later gave up studying law as she did not have the support she needs to see her through. She went ahead to study to stenography and in the process ended up a relationship manager at one of the top banks. Her daughter, Evangelina Aryee who entered her name in the competition from all indications knows her mother very well as she scored 16 points in a 20 points knowing-you knowing-me competition. For Remy who entered the competition to win her mother Josephine Adu, 69, a retired teacher a living room makeover, she described as her mothers living room as embarrassing to bring in visitors. Madam Adu brought the studio mood down with her touching story of loss, despair and later hope. She was sacked from her marital home by her military husband before her first trimester when he came back from peacekeeping. To make matters worse he did not tell her why he wanted her out. As a teacher getting a transfer from Accra to Akim Oda to be with her parents was not easy as she had not planned for it but she had no choice. She was lucky to finally got to be with her parent but did not want the burden of them taking care of two people so she had to double her efforts in everything she did. Madam Adu said although she had the opportunity to go to the university, she did not want to leave her teenage girl to anyone so she skipped the opportunity. She was determined for her daughter to get what she could not get in her life so she sacrificed everything for Remy. Remy said her mother has struggled all her life and winning the dream makeover will be a great reward she could give to her mother. Philomena Djaba, a retired teacher got her daughter Victoria King to speak about the time they had together growing up. Madam Djaba spoke about the disciplinarian she was recounting the story about how she went to her daughter's school to instill some sense in her. The mother of three and a second wife went through hell raising her first daughter who has just graduated from the university. Mrs King explained that her mother has done a lot for her telling how much she wanted to get the makeover to put a smile on her mother's face. Millicent Ahiadzo, a nurse, and mother of Esenam Adaklu shared the sad story about how she received a phone call that changed her life. Her son called her from home one afternoon to tell her about his father falling sick and being rushed to the hospital. Minutes later, she was called again and told the sad news of the passing of her husband. She was left on her own to take care of four children with the help of her siblings. Two of her children are in the university at the same time and a graduate working and the other at now in the senior high school. Esenam Adaklu believed that her mother has done a lot for them and deserved to win the living room makeover. All the mothers were given vouchers for treatment at Spa body and Beyond with products from Bio Care Curls and Naturals and textiles from Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL). Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com A never ending argument, a battle of two passionate cultures or a matter of taste and preferences. Call it whatever. The age old debate between Ghanaians and Nigerians about their respective jollof has to come to an end at some point. Although there is no jollofmeter to measure the quality or otherwise of each, we can conclude this long fought battle for supremacy by taking the respective meals through these few parameters. 1. What is Jollof? - Legend has it that the Wolof people of Senegal invented this meal presumably because of its name. It is made with rice, tomatoes, tomato paste sometimes with spices and vegetables. It is accompanied by either meat, chicken, fish or eggs. Some even go the extra mile of adding cole slaw. But if its original name was Wolof, can Ghanaians and Nigerians stop the battle now and explain to us why the name Jollof? Well, now that we have identified what it is, lets put both of them on the table. Which qualifies as jollof and which doesnt? Per the method of preparation, ingredients and final outcome (devoid of taste however), we can confidently say that, both Ghanaian and Nigerian jollofs pass this test. Score after round 1: Ghana 1-1 Nigeria. 2. Taste : On to round 2. This is the most difficult parameter to have used thus far with taste being a subjective parameter depending on individuals. There is no way a Ghanaba who has lived in Ghana since birth or a proper Omo Naija will accept that the opposite country s jollof is better than theirs. If you are used to eating one type of jollof always, then briefly tasting another will hardly cause a change in your preference. It is easy to fall victim to that school of thought which suggests that a neutral person tastes both and passes judgement. But with so many years of this practice, we seemed not to be going anywhere. Many tourists visit both Ghana and Nigeria tasting both Jollofs. In the end, when you ask which tastes better, you may not like what you hear. When in Accra , in order to avoid Ghanaian trouble, they choose Ghana jollof. When in Lagos, you dare not choose another. After interactions with a Ghanaian , Yaw Baah - who has lived in both Ghana and Nigeria tasting both meals, the findings were that he preferred Ghanaian jollof because it is often less spicy and the type of rice often used is perfumed long grain. On the other hand, Nigerian Jollof to him was very spicy and the grains were very big. The taste to him wasnt that different but the moisture content of the Nigerian jollof was higher making it sticky. In order to avoid bias, we had a chat with a Nigerian lady as well who has lived in both countries and has tasted both meals. Expectedly, she chose Nigerian jollof over the Ghana one because she thinks Nigerian is more nutritious and gets one full as compared to the light Ghana jollof. Their assertions may not reflect what the whole Ghana and Nigeria think but based on their submissions, we score this round Ghana 1 - 2 Nigeria. 3. Garnishing : So you may be wondering what garnishing has to do with any of this. The appearance of jollof can either make you fall in love or lose appetite depending on which end of the table you sit. WIthout fear or favor, when both meals are served on a table, even Nigerians want to eat Ghana Jollof. The glow and spark that accompanies garnished Ghanaian jollof can make you half full even before you begin to taste it. Some Nigerians have mastered the art of garnishing in recent years and present stiff competition for their Ghanaian counterparts. However, this round belongs to Ghana and round 3 ends Ghana 2-1 Nigeria. And yes! There is absolutely nothing to pick between these two. Ghana Jollof is Ghana Jollof and Ghanaians love it just the same way Naija Jollof is Naija jollof and Nigerians adore it. When jollof is carefully prepared, noting the right ingredients and properly garnished, it doesnt even matter whether it is Ghanaian or Nigerian. Just dive in and kill it! Just note that the social media polls and boastings have no bearing on the taste of jollof you decide to eat. If you are a tourist in Africa, just ensure to consult local folk before deciding on any type of jollof to eat. They know where the best food is. So whether na Ghana jollof or Naija jollof, na your own mouth go make sweet you.!!! Credit : Bennet Otoo , Jumia Travel One of Ghanawebs columnists, Francis Kwarteng, recently had a constructive engagement with one of his dedicated readers, Mr. Michael Mensah-Bonsu, who simply wants to be addressed as Mike. Most importantly, we are extremely grateful to have intelligent, respectful, tolerant, and knowledgeable readers like Mike supporting our work. Having said that, Francis initially wrote to Mike after his article, titled Erotic Chinese Sex Stares Akufo-Addo, first appeared on Ghanaweb. As a matter of fact we petitioned Mike to allow us to publish his private communications, a request to which he agreed unconditionally. Our first email to him reads: Dear Good Friend, I read your comments on my article, Erotic Chinese sex stares at Akufo-Addo, and decided to reach out to you. "Of course, I am saying this because you were one of those who truly understood the import of the article. Thanks so much. MIKES FIRST RESPONSE: Dear Francis So nice of you to write back. I am so extremely grateful to you (and I think all Ghanaians should be) to have brave people like you who, against all oddsinsults, threats and the like, are ready to speak up. We come from a very rich countryrich in natural resources, brains and fertile soil, and food that grows on its own, and yet run around begging for everything. Imagine borrowing $447 - 600 million US dollars EVERY YEAR just to import rice. (From the US, a country which itself does not grow rice.) Where are our other foods? Our 'so-called leaders' for decades, have been giving away our gold and diamonds for 'peanuts'. Since Kwame Nkrumah, who managed to get 49% and later General Acheampong, 51% of the proceeds for us, those who came after agreed to 30%, (Rawlings) 10% (Kufuor) and I believe, 3% (Atta Mills-Mahama). While accepting these, our rivers, fish, drinking water and our people were being polluted, our people went down the mines to bring our 'white masters' the gold and diamondsand these morons of leaders did not even know the harm they were allowing foreigners to mete out to our people. Now the Chinese have a free pass. They (our leaders) took us to HIPIC but never told us the real truth, that the so-called debt forgiveness was ONLY a suspension of interest payments for a period of time. They did not tell us that the 'suspended accrued interest' would later be added onto the principalthis is criminalthey should all be in jail. They destroyed our cedi by matching it a-par with the US dollar even though we had no collateral to support that raise in value. Food that cost you 3 old cedis suddenly cost you 3 new cedis, an equivalent of $3 US. They forgot that we had all along been borrowing even to support our GDP. Little to no industrial produce and you par up your currency with an economic powerhouse like the US. I do not know where they studied economics - on Mars, maybe. Nana Addo was there, a minister, when Kufuor and Sam Jonah sold out our gold reserves. They have all been around for decades overseeing the spraying of our cocoa with potent insecticides, herbicides all of which drain into our drinking and underground water, into the food chain and causing cancers of all types, just for a few paper currency. Kwame Nkrumah put up technical universities, polytechnics, etc., etc., training brilliant young men and women and yet when we need an ORDINARY road, they call in the "experts" from abroad to build them for us. Where are our engineers? I am sorry I could go on and on and end up boring you with things you already know. God bless youplease continue. You have my undivided attention. Sincerely, Mike. ELSEWHERE MIKE SENT FRANCIS KWARTENG THESE HEARTWARMING EMAILS: Hi Francis I am happy you like my contribution. I never like to hide behind a 'screen' when saying what people may not likeI am always ready for a debate and accept my mistakes if I am proven wrong. I think the whole country needs a serious and honest debate if we want Ghana and Ghanaians to do better. I give you the credit for standing up first. Keep up the very good work. READ THIS ALSO: Hi Francis We need to broaden the debate so that those who do not share our views can 'intelligently' disagree, but with tangible reasons... More grease to your elbow Francis. Ghana needs to change for the betterSo I would like to support the younger generation that wants to bring real change. Please stay in touch. AND THIS: Good morning Francis I think you should read this article in today's Ghana Homepage: Government To Abrogate $510 AMERI Deal (if you have not read it already). If true (I am inclined to believe that it is), another rip-off by our so-called leaders. Despite Kwame Nkrumah's mistakes, I am 100% convinced that there have never been a president in Ghana who can compare himself to NkrumahI would have taken up his torch and continued the race to make Ghana the real paradise it is. Over to you Francisyou have my support. Have a great day. Mike. We thank Mike for his generosity, time and kind words. But we will advise our readers and leaders to pay close attention to what he has to say in his first email communication to us. In truth, it summarizes our work on Ghanaweb and other web portals. That is all we can say for now. Thanks to all our dedicated readers. Please continue to read! We shall return 17.05.2017 LISTEN Accra, May 17, GNA - The Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) on Wednesday commended government for swift moves against Petroleum Black Market dealers following after a 48 hour ultimatum issued by the association to the state to bring the menace to an end. 'Before the expiration of the 48 hours, we had series of meetings with the National Security Minister, the Vice President and other stakeholders in the industry after which a strategic action plan has been designed to deal with the Petroleum Black Market dealers. 'We are satisfied with the action taken so far but we are monitoring with an eagle's eyes to ensure that there is no laxity. The combat against illegal Petroleum dealers is going to be relentless and robust,' Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, AOMCs Industry Coordinator told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra. On May 2, the Association exposed the activities of illegal Petroleum dealers, outlined its impact on the economy and Oil Marketing Companies, recommended an action plan and capped it with an 48-hour ultimatum to government to bring the menace to an end. Mr Agyemang-Duah said in spite of government's promised action plan, 'we are not going to fold our arms and wait, we will continue to monitor and track the activities of these dubious dealers and expose them. He urged the public to venture information on illegal petroleum product dealers to the national security operatives. 'We commend the media especially the Ghana News Agency, who continue to assist in the combat against illegal petroleum product dealers. We acknowledged the role of the media and urged all media practitioners and media houses to support efforts towards filtering our society,' Mr Agyemang-Duah noted. Meanwhile market shares statistics based on total volume of products sold by OMCs obtained by the Ghana News Agency indicated that three OMCs - Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), Vivo Energy Ghana Limited and Total Petroleum Ghana Limited controlled 43.28 per cent of the market shares in 2016. The remaining 56.72 per cent of the market shares is controlled by over 140 OMCs. The market shares statistics indicated that due to the activities of illegal petroleum product dealers most of the genuine OMCs volume of litres sold flopped heavily between 2015 and 2016 fiscal year. The statistics indicated that GOIL's volume of sales climbed up marginally from 697,258,570 litres in 2015 to 754,373,594 litres in 2016; Zen Petroleum Limited moved up from 129, 316,920 litres in 2015 to 164,936,680 litres in 2016; Puma Energy Limited also jumped up from 85,171,170 litres in 2015 to 130,487,280 litres in 2016; and Tel Energy Limited shot up from 64,260,090 litres in 2015 to 77,226,410 litres in 2016. Other marginal gainers in 2016 were: Frimps Oil Company Limited volume of sales moved up from 69,840,390 litres in 2015 to 73,547,860 litres in 2016; and Allied Oil Company Limited jumped up from 71,288,500 litres in 2015 to 73,317,500 litres in 2016. The rest were: Petroleum Solutions Limited moved up from 62,514,370 litres in 2015 to 65,694,620 litres in 2016; Sephem Oil Company Limited also jumped up from 60,093,000 litres in 2015 to 63,812,000 litres in 2016; and Kan Royal Services Station and Trading Limited moved up from 22,162,490 litres in 2015 to 24,518,610 litres in 2016. The statistics indicated that Vivo Energy Ghana Limited volume of sales dropped from 593,149,600 litres in 2015 to 571,103,900 litres in 2016; Total Petroleum Ghana Limited dropped from 520,589,125 litres in 2015 to 427,942,362 litres in 2016; and Star Oil Company Limited dipped from 193,462,020 litres in 2015 to 176,287,520 litres in 2016. Top Oil Company Limited dipped from 84, 017,960 litres in 2015 to 76,073,320 litres in 2016; Glory Oil Ghana Limited plunged from 69,631,810 litres in 2015 to 55,174,730 litres in 2016; and Union Oil Ghana Limited also followed the downward trend from 61,304,110 litres in 2015 to 53,712,890 litres in 2016. Champion Oil Ghana Limited jumped down from 64,270,170 litres in 2015 to 53,242,450 litres in 2016; Quantum Petroleum Limited slumped from 71,982,230 litres in 2015 to 51,477,944 litres in 2016; and Engen Ghana Limited went down from 63,992,690 litres in 2015 to 51,307,440 litres in 2016. The market share statistics showed that Dukes Petroleum Company Limited dropped from 53,692,730 litres in 2015 to 47,102,190 litres in 2016; Compass Oleum Limited also dropped from 61,153,000 litres in 2015 to 38,045,900 litres in 2016; and Galaxy Oil Company Limited dipped from 42,380,952 litres in 2015 to 35,752,500 litres in 2016. Pacific Oil Ghana Limited dipped from 49,814,180 litres in 2015 to 35,581,700 litres in 2016; Nasona Oil Company Limited jumped down from 56,047,500 litres in 2015 to 34,098,500 litres in 2016; Unity Oil Company Limited went down from 38,234,080 litres in 2015 to 33,449,500 litres in 2016; and Strategic Energies Limited dipped from 38,651,560 litres in 2015 to 28,919,330 litres in 2016. Other OMCs which were heavily hit by the activities of illegal Petroleum product dealers were; Petrobay Oil Limited went down from 34,137,730 litres in 2015 to 28,442,840 litres in 2016; Excel Oil Company Limited jumped down from 48,674,740 litres in 2015 to 26,973,790 litres in 2016; and Benab Oil Company Limited slumped from 20,225,320 litres in 2015 to 18,930,310 litres in 2016. Cash Oil Company Limited flopped from 27,050,190 litres in 2015 to 14,837,980 in 2016; Karela Oil and Gas Limited dropped from 16,777,740 litres in 2015 to 12,253,500 litres in 2016; and Superior Oil Company Limited jumped down from 12,548,110 litres in 2015 to 8,805,710 litres in 2016. GNA By Francis Ameyibor, GNA Accra, May 17, GNA - Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says ports inefficiencies breed corruption and waste and gave the assurance that government would put in place appropriate policies to improve ports efficiency for accelerated national development. He said these inefficiencies and man-made bottlenecks had direct bearing on the tax revenues collected at the ports that encouraged collusion among some importers, clearing agents and Customs officers to exploit the system. He, therefore, charged various stakeholders rendering services at the country's ports to adopt practical approaches towards removing those bottlenecks to improve the competitiveness of the ports and businesses as well as importers and exporters. Vice President Bawumia said this when he delivered a keynote address at the Port Efficiency Conference in Accra on the theme: 'Improving Port Efficiency and Trade Facilitation in Ghana' on Wednesday. The conference brought together experts in marine operations worldwide including Dubia, Singapore and Antwerp as well as key stakeholders from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, freight forwarders and importers and exporters. The stakeholders would deliberate on bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering port operations and suggest measures to deal with the canker to improve efficiency at the ports and increase government revenues. Vice President Bawumia, therefore, charged participants to delve deep into finding ways to improve access to berths, turnaround time for vessels calling at the port, dwelling time for containers, and processing and clearing times for import and exports to enhance ports efficiency. He noted that an efficient port translated into competitiveness for importers and exporters and increased government's revenues. Vice President Bawumia said ports were the main gateway used by countries to access global trade and a critical component of a country's ease of doing business and trade facilitation as well as key economic and trade drivers, therefore, there was the need to optimize their operations to increase revenue to the State. He said the GPHA handled about 70 per cent of the national and neighbouring landlocked Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger's trade and traffic, adding that the importance of the ports to the overall socio-economic development of the country and the sub-region could not be overemphasised. He called for timely reporting and availability of accurate and consistent data in the ports operations in order to monitor and evaluate development process. 'Ghana's ports have seen some improvements over the years. We have created new berths, built new terminals, upgraded equipment and implemented several reforms to raise the efficiency of the ports, facilitate trade, and improve revenue mobilisation. 'In spite of all these efforts, most users of our ports will agree that we are far from achieving the level of port efficiency that we all wish to see and to make Tema or Takoradi the ports of choice in the sub-region,' he said. He gave the assurance that Government would work with the GPHA and other stakeholders towards the realisation of the objectives of the Tema and Takoradi port expansion to ensure rapid industrialisation. Mr Kweku Ofori-Asiama, the Minister of Transport, said the conference aimed at making the country's ports efficient to compete effectively with other ports in the Sub-region and generate adequate revenue to the Government to support national development. Against this backdrop, he said the ports must have the required technology, infrastructure and human resource to provide efficient services in terms of handling of cargo and traffic. He said over 80 per cent of the country's trade volume was through sea transportation therefore the ports were very important assets for revenue mobilisation. Mr Ofori-Asiama, therefore, urged the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and GPHA, which collect duties and tariffs on behalf of the state, to address revenue leakages and adopt efficient ways of increasing revenues. He called for infusion of information and communication technology and marketing of the ports worldwide to increase cargo volumes to generate more revenue to the Government. In a 2013 study conducted by renowned researchers Brian Slack and Claude Comtois on "Ships Time in Port, an International Comparison,' the average time in port for vessels in Europe is about 25 hours, East and North Asia is about 17 hours, and South Africa is 64 hours while the Port of Tema did about 103 hours in 2016. GNA By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA Accra, May 17, GNA - Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye, the Speaker of Parliament, has urged internal auditors to be resolute and play their roles effectively to impact positively on society. He said Internal audits provide a number of important services to company management, and that it was imperative for practitioners to uphold the tenets of the practice and ensure efficiency in the profession. Prof Ocquaye said this on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 4th African Internal Auditors International Conference in Accra on the theme 'Insight to Foresight: The New Imperative for Internal Audit and Governance''. The three-day conference is being held in collaboration with the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana (IIA-Ghana) designed for internationally acclaimed corporate governance professionals, to afford them an opportunity to share ideas with participants on corporate governance effectiveness, strategies for enhancing oversight responsibility and bridging the gap of understanding between internal auditors, the Board and Management. The conference is also to equip the Board, Chief Executive Officers and Audit Committee members to perform their oversight responsibilities effectively. The Speaker of Parliament said internal auditors play a critical role in the development of a country through detection and prevention of fraud, and urged practitioners to continue to adhere to its functions and protect the national resources from financial irregularities. Prof Ocquaye noted that it was the duty of internal auditors to unearth any form of abuse from public funds, to sustain and avoid financial malfeasance at various organisations. He urged authorities to work with the law enforcement agencies to sanitise the profession from corruption, adding that anybody caught in financial malfeasance should be dealt with according to the law. This, he explained, was critical because abuse of public funds affected development projects, as lack of accountability hampered societal progress. The Speaker of Parliament urged African leaders to clearly identify institutional challenges in the system and fashion out mechanisms to address the lapses to improve efficiency in the practice. Mrs Angela Witzany, Chairman of the Board, Global Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) said it behooved on practitioners to know the risk of an organisation, audit beyond traditional areas and align with organisational goals. Mrs Witzany urged practitioners to focus on problem-solving mechanisms in an organisation, provide high level of communication, invest in relationships and respect diverse opinions for the success of the profession. Mr Richard Chambers, President IIA Global, said the conference would look at what it takes to be a successful internal auditor in the 21st century and focus on risk in business operations, technology, and other challenges organisations face. He said the Global Institute was working to provide members worldwide resources that would allow them to identify where risks were for fraud and corruption, so that they could be reported to the appropriate authorities. GNA By Kodjo Adams, GNA Robert Anane/Elizabeth Fosu Accra, May 17, GNA - Ghana has been described as an important development partner of China on the African continent. 'Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ghana and China 57 years ago, the two countries have enjoyed fruitful cooperation in the economic and trade fields, bringing tangible benefits to people of the two countries.' Sun Baohung, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, said this at the opening ceremony of the China Trade week in Accra on Wednesday. She said last year, trade between Ghana and China reached US$5.976 billion, making Ghana the seventh largest trading partner of China in Africa. China's imports from Ghana for the same year, was US$ 1.305 billion, and export to Ghana, US$4.671 billion, the Chinese Ambassador said, adding that China's non-financial direct investment inflows into Ghana, also hit US$2.511 billion. She said the encouraging figures, held proof of the great potential that the two countries had in their future economic relations. 'Good stories will continue as now, both sides are actively exploring diversified forms of cooperation,' Ambassador Sun said. She said with the NPP government's pledge to Ghanaians to implement concrete measures to achieve industrialisation and economic restructuring, 'there will be great room for China-Ghana cooperation'. Ambassador Sun said the two countries needed to work more closely than ever to score new achievements and keep forging ahead in 'win- win' cooperation. She said it was important for the two countries to focus on the major projects that had a significant bearing on Ghana's development as a nation. 'China is willing to study in a serious manner, the cooperation in energy, infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agricultural modernisation and ecological protection, to enhance Ghana's capacity for sustainable development,' the Chinese Ambassador said. Mr Yoofi Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council, said Ghana would position itself to be a key business partner of China. 'We will make conditions conducive for you to bring your factories here and create jobs. Ghana is ready and serious,' he said. In a speech read on his behalf, Dr Alan Kyeremanteng, Minister of Trade and Industry, said whilst Ghanaians businesses would be protected at all cost by the laws of the land, they also needed to be strengthened and promoted. To do that, he said it was necessary to collaborate with partners including China. The Minister stressed, that the focus was to enhance and promote businesses within the country, and ultimately, socio-economic growth. Organised by MIE Events, the two-day programme would receive reputable manufacturers travelling to Ghana from China to showcase their products and build trade relations with the Ghanaian business community across a range of sectors including construction, machinery, auto-parts. The event would also present feature seminars on how to do business with China. GNA Accra, May 17, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured that his government has began fulfilling the promises made to Ghanaians in the run-up to the December 2016 elections, saying that Ghanaians would soon witness the immense benefits of the pledges made to them. He indicated that he did not make the promises to win votes, as his political opponents sought to portray, but made them 'to save the future of our country. I have said to the Ghanaian people that it is my intention that all these critical commitments are upheld.' President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he was addressing the Ghanaian Community resident in Dakar, on the second day of his three-day visit to Senegal,. He said: 'with correct and honest leadership, we can get to where all of us want to get to. I am confident of that the path we are on.' He indicated that the path to returning Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity had begun with the revival of the Ghanaian economy. With the majority of jobs in Ghana created by the private sector, the President indicated that 'if the private sector does not have the strength to be able to operate and grow, it becomes difficult to create jobs. So our attitude has been that, let us do whatever we can to strengthen the private sector in Ghana to work and create jobs, especially for our young people in Ghana.' He noted that the raft of tax cuts and incentives introduced to stimulate the growth of the private sector had resulted in one billion dollars of revenue taken away from the exchequer, so private sector operatives use that money to grow their businesses and create jobs for the youth. The Free Senior High School Policy, described by President Akufo-Addo as 'my obsession', he said, is on its way to being fulfilled, indicating that his government will fund the cost of public Senior High Schools for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards. With the restoration of the National Health Insurance Scheme being a major campaign pledge, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government had found it necessary to find the money to stave the scheme of collapse. 'The NHIS was collapsing because it owed so much to the providers, and a lot of the providers were insisting on 'cash and carry'. We don't want to go back to 'cash and carry'. We have begun to claw back the arrears and began now to pay the service providers. So in the months ahead of us, we are going to see the full recovery of the NHIS,' he assured. Touching on the agricultural sector, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that the programme for 'Planting for Food and Jobs' launched in Goaso a month ago is the answer to the twin-problem of the migration of youth to city centres in search of non-existent jobs, as well as an end to the disgraceful spectacle of Ghana importing food stuffs from neighbouring countries. He explained that the Planting for Food and Jobs would be anchored on the pillars that would transform Ghanaian agriculture: the provision of improved seeds, the supply of fertilizers, and the provision of dedicated extension services. Assuring that all the necessary measures had been put in place to guarantee the success of the programme, President Akufo-Addo indicated that to ensure fertilizer was readily available to the farmer at affordable prices, government had reduced its prices by 50 percent. Additionally, with a looming shortage of agricultural extension officers in the next two to three years, and largely as a result of the previous NDC administration's decision not to employ any of the 3,200 graduates from the country's five Colleges of Agriculture between 2011 and 2015, President Akufo-Addo revealed that his government has, in the last three months, employed 1,200 of these graduates. He assured further that 'in 2018, we will employ 2,000 more extension officers, with the solemn pledge of employing more graduates from our Colleges of Agriculture in the subsequent years.' On the commitments made to protect the public purse, President Akufo-Addo stressed that his government is 'bringing back competitive tendering for all transactions in the public sector. Sole sourcing, with one or two people sitting in a room and agreeing on things, is over. We are not going to do that again in Ghana. We are going to make sure that the competitive basis for doing things is restored.' He concluded by stating that 'We are determined to turn round the fortunes of Ghana. Ghana should not be a poor nation. We are not a poor nation. I refuse the description of Ghana as a poor country. We are a rich nation, and we will make sure that the wealth of the country is apparent in the lives of its people.' GNA By Ken Sackey, GNA 17.05.2017 LISTEN Accra, May 17, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated Ghana's preparedness to share its experiences in the management of its oil and gas resources, as well as the measures taken to ensure the prudent and effective use of the proceeds from their sale with Senegal. He said: 'With the recent discovery of oil and gas in Senegal in commercial quantities, and with our experiences, I believe Ghana is well-equipped to share with you the dos and don'ts in the effective management of oil and gas revenues.' President Akufo-Addo's made the statement in response to the request put forward by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, at a meeting held at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, to discuss possible areas of co-operation between the two countries. President Akufo-Addo who is on the second phase of his ECOWAS tour to Senegal, Guinea and Cape Verde, has already toured the three countries bordering Ghana; Togo, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire- in a wider move to introduce himself to and deepen relations with countries in the ECOWAS region. The tour would further the President's quest to strengthen bilateral ties and to restate Ghana's commitment to the ECOWAS project. He would in the month of May, pay official working visits to Nigeria, Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone. President Akufo-Addo explained that the production of oil and gas, and the revenues from the sale, presented the two countries with the perfect opportunity to transform the structure of their respective economies, from raw material producing and exporting ones to industrialised, value-added economies. To this end, the two countries have resolved to create the necessary legal framework for the conduct of bilateral co-operation with Senegal soon to send a team to study Ghana's nascent oil and gas industry and adopt best practices in the management of Senegal's oil and gas resources. Ghana, President Akufo-Addo told his Senegalese counterpart, was also seeking to deepen bilateral co-operation with Senegal in the areas of agriculture, particularly in the horticultural and fisheries sector, tourism, defence, trade, investment, and energy, amongst others. 'In the area of education, I believe that strengthening of co-operation between our two countries, especially in the learning of English and French languages by our youth, would be of immense benefit to us, as we seek to make the process of integration of West Africa real. To this end, my government intends to make the learning of the French language compulsory from basic to Senior High School level. 'Co-operation with Senegal in the training of French teachers would be helpful in ensuring the success of this policy. By the same token, I am keen to revive the yearly linguistic programme between the two countries which will enable Ghanaian students undertake proficiency courses in French at the famous UniversitA Cheikh Anta Diop, in Dakar,' he said. Reiterating his commitment to the ECOWAS project, President Akufo-Addo stressed the commitment of his government towards strengthening the ECOWAS Community. He noted that With West Africa's population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years, there were immense opportunities to bring prosperity to West Africa, with hardwork, enterprise and creativity. 'The time for West African integration is now. Ghana and Senegal should be at the forefront of the process that will convert ECOWAS into a true regional market. A working, common regional market in ECOWAS has to be a very fundamental objective of all our peoples and governments in the region,' he said. Touching on the situation in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, President Akufo-Addo maintained that peace and stability in the region were essential to the viability of the ECOWAS market. 'To that extent, all of us in the region are anxious to see the unfortunate events of the last few days in Cote d'Ivoire come to a rapid conclusion so that peace, law and order can be guaranteed in that key member state of ECOWAS. We must all encourage and support the initiatives President Alassane Ouattara is taking to find a satisfactory conclusion to the crisis, to the mutual benefit of all. We pray for God's guidance for him and all the actors in the Ivorian situation,' he added. President Akufo-Addo commended President Macky Sall for the strong leadership he had shown, since assuming the reins of office in Senegal, which had made the country to become the second fastest growing economy in West Africa, having grown at 6.6 percent in 2016, behind CAte d'Ivoire, and the fourth fastest in sub-Saharan Africa. 'Under your leadership, Mr. President, the agricultural, industrial and services sectors of the Senegalese economy have witnessed significant growths. Reforms and public investment under the Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE), together with your strong leadership, account for this. Long may it continue!!'. 'Perforce, I must applaud you for the step you have taken to establish the industrial enclave at Diamniadio, which you are going to show me this afternoon, and the ultra-modern tramp system, the first in West Africa, to link Dakar to the industrial enclave. The success of these undertakings can only enhance the strength of the Senegalese economy,' President Akufo-Addo added. GNA By Ken Sackey, GNA Accra, May 17, GNA - Mr Ishmael Ashitey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, has advised the Newly Sworn-in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the region to make judicious use of funds allocated to them. He urged them to avoid corrupt practices and ensure value for money in all their transactions. Mr Ashitey was speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of 14 MMDCEs in Accra on Tuesday. The newly sworn-in MMDCEs are Felix Mensah-La; Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Clement Nii Lampety Wilkinson; Ga West Municipal Assembly, Daniel Alexander Nii-Noi Adumuah; Adenta Municipal Assembly, and Albert Boakye Okyere; Ashaiman Municipal Assembly. The others are Solomon Appiah; Kpone Katamanso District Assembly, Gladys Tsotsoo Mann Dedey; La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly and Evelyn Adjeley Twum Gyamrah; Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly. The rest are Jonathan Teye Doku; Nigo Prampram District Assembly, Daniel Akuffo; Shai Osudoku District Assembly, Dr Emmanuel Lampety; Ga Central Municipal Assembly, A.L Akrofi; Ada West District Assembly, Janet Tulasi Mensah; Ga East Municipal Assembly and Joseph Nyarni Stephen; Ga South Municipal Assembly. The appointments are in accordance with Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 20(1) of the Local Governance Act 2016, Act 936. Mr Ashitey called on the chief executives to deepen the country's democratic credentials, promote local economic development and promote effective and efficient local government administration and participatory democracy at the local level. He said the dynamics of the assembly system some years back in terms of socio-economic, political, technical and administrative dimensions had changed considerably and this, therefore, called for strategic thinking. 'Some aspects of the work of the assemblies have become more prominent and challenging and would require that the Chief Executives learn fast to adapt to the system,' he said. The Minister said the task ahead was not easy and advised them to prepare their minds and position themselves well for the work. He implored them to, as a matter of urgency, acquaint themselves with the requisite tools that would be needed in the performance of their duties including the 1992 Constitution, the Local Governance Act 2016, (Act 936), the Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), the Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act921), the Internal Audit Agency Act 2003 (Act 658) and the Local Government Service Protocols and Delivery Standards. Mr Ashitey urged them to be courteous and co-operate with all interest groups within their jurisdiction especially Members of Parliament and chiefs to ensure development, adding that; 'avoid partisanship in the performance of your duties and let the development of your people and the assembly be your focus.' He warned that their continuous stay in office, to a large extent, would depend on their performance and the extent to which they had adhered to the rules and regulations governing the conduct of business at the assemblies. GNA By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA Introduction Anyone who has carefully listened to H.E. President Akufo-Addo throughout the 2016 campaign and after assuming office will understand that the free Senior High School (SHS) programme is intended for all Ghanaian children regardless of their academic abilities, and family backgrounds. Consistent with this view, government intends to seek constitutional amendment to redefine basic education to include secondary education so that every child of school going age would have access to education from KG to SHS. As a prelude to this monumental structural change, Government has demonstrated its commitment to begin implementing the free SHS policy in September, 2017. Whilst the policy intention appears laudable, I have consistently advised the Government, through any medium possible in Ghana and abroad to hasten slowly and give itself at least 1-4 years period, comprising 1-year inception phase and 2-3 implementation phase. The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast together with several other notable education professionals have made similar observation. My advice was born out of my professional knowledge and understanding of previous education reform agendas from 1957 till date, why they failed to meet reform targets and my genuine concern for addressing widespread disparities in education access across the country, especially among vulnerable groups. Limited information flow on the free SHS Programme Many stakeholders including the media, civil society organization, parents, teacher associations, the academic community, amongst others, have been patient on how Government intends to roll out the free SHS policy. This is largely due to the seemingly lack of information and limited stakeholders involvement in evolving a workable implementation plan and evaluation framework for the programme. By now a Governments White Paper detailing a roadmap to implementation should have been issued for our perusal and contributions. Of importance is how we ensure that foreign nationals in our JHS system do not flood our secondary school system as well to enjoy free SHS. With so many unanswered questions, our very vibrant media would always ask any Government official questions on Free SHS at the least opportunity afforded them. Education Ministers Interview with Starr FM On Tuesday 16 May, an online news portal quoted the Minister for Education as saying only brilliant students will have the opportunity to enjoy the governments Free SHS policy in September. Of course the Hon Minister has denied ever using the adjective "brilliant" in the interview he granted compelling Starronline.com to retract, and accordingly replaced brilliant with students who pass the BECE. This will be the third time the Minister has had to deny a news report, or complained of being misquoted by the media, a situation he needs to appropriately address. Nevertheless, I am still clear in my mind what exactly the Hon Minister meant with reference to the quotations attributed to him in the story. Save the use of the adjective brilliant the underlying contentions of the news report has not been denied. Mr Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng who is the Executive Secretary to the Minister in attempting to clarify the matter on Facebook confirmed my understanding of the Ministers thinking. As he aptly puts it: Sit the BECE,pass, get placed in a public SHS and you benefit from Free SHS. For the purpose of those who have not read my previous publications on this BECE system, I will attempt to explain briefly and make a strong case that any implementation of free SHS on the basis of BECE grades is elitist, selective and undermines the President's vision of universal basic education from primary to SHS. The purpose of BECE The BECE taken at the end of the second term of the final year of Junior High School, focuses on selection of few above average students who qualify to offer grammar/academic programmes at the Senior High Schools (SHS), The scores are derived using the students raw test scores and the overall distribution of scores, such that results are assigned a value from 1 (the highest) to 9 (the poorest performers) (the stanine system). In each year the grades are identically distributed such that 4% of students receive a 1, 7% a 2 and so on, fitting 54% of students into grades 4, 5 and 6, collectively described as pass for SHS. This so called pass in BECE, has been defined as gaining an aggregate range of 6-36 in the best six subjects with a grade 6 or better in the core subjects (i.e. Mathematics, English, Integrated Science and Social Studies). All pupils who fall below this cut-off point have technically not acquired the qualifying grades to SHS and could be described as poor performers (or below average students) as per the grade interpretation provided at the back of the certificate. If government were to grant free SHS to students based on this pass or fail as the Hon. Minister seems to pontificate, then the award scheme is definitely for the brilliant students (those in above average and average grade categories), you may call it a scholarship scheme then. An important psychometric property of any test like the BECE is that, it must be able to discriminate between highest and lowest performers, the brilliant student (high achiever/performer) must pass and the weak student (low achiever/performer) must fail. Anything short of that attenuates the validity of the test. This is why exams (including BECE) are written under strict conditions to avoid collusion and cheating, so that such confounding factors do not obfuscate the measurement of the true cognitive abilities of the candidates. From Grades (pass/fail) to Raw Scores Following years of criticism against pass/fail system of selecting JHS graduates into SHS, the Ghana Education Service has now ignored the use of grades in the SHS selection, in favour of students raw scores where the cut-off point appear to be dependent on the number of factors including the number of declared vacancies in the SHS/TVIs. This has resulted in an expanded access to secondary education in recent times. In the 2016/2017 academic year, for instance, GES is reported to have placed 95% (437, 962 out of 461,013) of the BECE candidates in the 512, 114 declared vacancies at SHS/TVIs across the country. This means that students were placed in secondary schools (SHS/TVIs) regardless of whether they obtained the qualifying grades or not, given that it is theoretically impossible to obtain 95% pass under the BECEs stanine system as explained earlier. Wide disparities in the Pass/Fail grade description There is some evidence to suggest that a large proportion of pupils who do not obtain the qualifying grades (or pass) to proceed to SHS are from disadvantaged backgrounds, suggesting a high achievement gap between students from underserved communities and those from seemingly affluent backgrounds. In 2014 for instance, only 11%, 22% and 11% of BECE candidates obtained the qualifying grades for SHS in the Upper East, Northern and Upper West Regions of Ghana, respectively. The pass rate figures for Greater Accra and Ashanti region were around 80% during the same period. The Ghana Living Standard Survey 6, classify districts under the three Northern regions among the poorest in Ghana with low annual family income compared to Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions. As per this example, if the Government offers free SHS to students who pass/fail BECE, then it raises equity and social justice issues which have become a global benchmark, particularly in the context of the UNs Sustainable Development Goal 4 of improved learning outcomes for all. Why pass and qualify for free SHS diktat Government has allocated Ghc400 million towards the implementation of free SHS to be financed by the ABFA (GHC 211,717,458) and the unknown domestic sources (GHC 188,282,542). If we assume 10% (46,100) increase in enrolment in 2017/2018 compared to last year (average enrolment increase over the last decade revolves around 15,000, with the highest being that of 2016, around 33,000), we are looking at roughly 484, 062 qualified free SHS students in September 2017 (based on raw score placement, not grades). Obviously, the first year budget allocation cannot adequately finance all the fees components for both day students (around Ghc 500/ student plus free lunch) and boarding students (around Ghc 1000) government intends to absorb. Thus the only logical explanation to the Ministers pass and qualify for free SHS diktat, could be the unstainable cost implication the programme imposes on the Governments fiscal space. Way forward Clearly, Governments vision for free SHS aligns with helping vulnerable groups by removing financial barriers and improving access to SHS together with addressing inequalities in opportunities to transition from JHS to SHS. Achieving this developmental goal lies at looking critically at the data sitting at the Ministry of Education to identify which categories of people are gaining less access to secondary education. If Government proceed with the pass BECE and qualify for free SHS cliche in September, 2017, the programme will remain selective and will benefit students who attended relatively good private JHS, more than the large majority of young people in the rural areas, especially girls from disadvantaged backgrounds who attended public JHS, and could not meet the high stake cut-off point. In allocating financial support to our secondary schools in September, Government must acknowledge the inequalities in funding options for schools particularly contributions of the Old Student Associations and PTAs, and how that widens the quality inputs gaps in schools (e.g. teaching and learning resources, pupil- teacher ratio and infrastructure deficit) and achievement gaps, as we work towards equal quality education for all by 2030. Dr. Prince Armah is an Education Consultant, Researcher and Qualified Teacher (QTS and GTCS) of mathematics and mathematics teacher education, with professional experience in UK and Ghana contexts, spanning a period of 15 years. He is the Founder and Executive Director of The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) think tank, Accra-Ghana. Bamako (AFP) - A rapid intervention force of Senegalese troops will soon be deployed in central Mali, which has seen an increase in jihadist attacks and communal violence since 2015, the new UN peacekeeping chief said. "We are awaiting the upcoming deployment in the centre (of Mali), by Senegal, of a rapid intervention force to deal with the situation of insecurity," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, under secretary-general for UN peacekeeping operations, told reporters on his first visit to the west African country since taking office. "In light of the security situation," the UN's Mali mission (MINUSMA) had a "robust mandate but, despite its efforts, there was a lack of capacity," Lacroix said Wednesday. "We are hopeful that, soon, a number of reinforcements will arrive, which will make up for these shortcomings," he said. MINUSMA has been stationed in Mali since July 2013 and has just over 12,000 military and police personnel on what is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. It is the most deadly peacekeeping mission since Somalia in 1993-95, with more than 70 peacekeepers killed. Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013. A 2015 peace deal signed by Tuareg-led rebels, the government and pro-Bamako militias aimed to quell separatist uprisings in the north and isolate jihadist groups. But its implementation has been piecemeal and the jihadists, who did not sign up to the accord, continue to mount attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces. "The peace agreement is a process that is slowly evolving, too slowly no doubt, even if there has been some progress recently and which must be encouraged," said Lacroix. Those developments include the establishment of interim authorities in the north and the start of mixed patrols, said Lacroix, who held talks with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga. Whether enveloped by the thick smog from factories or choked with invisible poisons from vehicle exhausts, many cities around the world are losing the battle against air pollution. Somewhere between 5.5 million and seven million people die from breathing in the smoke, harmful gases and soot being pumped into the atmosphere. In China and India, the toll of this toxic air is particularly alarming, causing three million deaths in those two countries alone. This is leading some out-of-breath citizens to go to extraordinary lengths: they are turning to bottled air. The idea is to raise awareness and provide people with fresh air at a price A growing number of companies are compressing and bottling fresh countryside air and selling it online. It sounds like a joke (and it has been in the past) but the idea is to raise awareness and provide people with fresh air at a price. One such company is Vitality, based in Edmonton, Alberta, which collects air from the Canadian Rockies and compresses it into containers. A single eight-litre bottle of compressed Canadian air which comes with a specially designed spray cap and mask holds around 160 breaths and costs C$32 ($24) per bottle. Lam started the business to sell the canned air as joke gifts, but demand for the product took off in a surprising way Chief executive Moses Lam started the business to sell the canned air as joke gifts , but demand for the product took off in a surprising way. He says China, India and South Korea have become the companys principal markets. Our target markets are places choked with polluted air, and where many people actually pass away prematurely due to pollution. Our air is simply an experience that many within China and India will not get to experience, says Lam. He now sells 10,000 bottles a month in China and hopes to grow that number to 40,000. They have just started operating in India, where they hope to sell 10,000 bottles a month. While Lam says lots of people purchase our product to use as a gift, he thinks hes onto something. For us, it is definitely a legitimate business. We will be the next bottled water. Aethaer began collecting air to raise awareness of pollution, coining the term "air farming" in the process (Credit: Aethaer) While some of the bottled air trend seems to be tongue-in-cheek, there appears to be a growing market for those looking to sample the air for themselves too. Vitality is not alone. British firm Aethaer collects air from the UK countryside and sells it for 80 ($103) a jar. Aethaer founder Leo De Watts began the practice as an enviro-political artwork, coining the playful term air farming for the method used to capture the air. Concerned that the scale of global air pollution was hard to comprehend through statistics, he started Aethaer to raise awareness about the issue. The money from the jars of air is reinvested to create cheaper breathing masks. [Jars of air] can either be bought for aesthetic reasons or to be inhaled, says De Watts. We expect many people [are] buying them as decorative pieces, investments, or gifts. He has drawn scorn for selling air, saying critics feel as though I am a con-artist, cheating people out of their hard earned cash. De Watts says the companys primary market is China, and he doesnt disclose sales figures. But, he says, at the end of the day, we are a company selling fresh air to people who can afford it, and anti-pollution facemasks to those who cant. The clean mountain air from Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains can seem attractive to those living in polluted cities (Credit: Getty Images) Unsurprisingly, scientists say there is no evidence or research which shows the upside of bottled air. This is unlikely to provide any health benefits. Clean air bottles is a gimmick, a waste of money, says Shawn Aaron, director of the Canadian Respiratory Research Network. Yet canned or bottled air is not the only way companies are cashing in on pollution. Swedish entrepreneurs Fredrik Kempe and Alexander Hjertstrom stumbled upon one idea during a trip to Ahmedabad, India. Hjertstroms long-dormant asthma came back during their trip and their subsequent quest for a quality pollution mask in India led them to start selling their own. We started to research the market and to our surprise most of the masks we found were basic and far from perfect in their construction, says Kempe. Designs were primitive, reminiscent of the masks worn by dentists or miners nothing you would want to wear every day. The air pollution in Ahmedabad, India, ignited a health issue as well as an idea for a business (Credit: Alamy) The pair launched a company called Airinum, which sells colourful and camouflaged masks in a range of styles for between $66 and $75 apiece. The masks use three separate filter layers that help to keep out the fine particles of pollution found in car exhausts and smog. Kempe says wearing one of his masks is better for your health than not wearing one. But he is careful not to take the claims too far. The masks, for example, offer little barrier against pollutant gases, such as nitrogen dioxide, that are emitted from car exhausts. The demand for designer masks is growing . Start-ups like Idealist Innovations in China, Vogmask in the US, and Freka in the UK, offer trendy pollution masks for between $33 and $100. Companies like Airinum are trying to reinvent the face mask as a stylish accessory (Credit: Airinum) There is some research to support wearing a well-designed facemask to help filter out pollutants, but, these are short-term studies looking at surrogate health outcomes like blood pressure and heart rate variability. Some of the dramatic clains that are made do alarm me Benjamin Barratt Masks would have to be used for very long periods to have a big impact on the chronic effects of air pollution, says Benjamin Barratt, a senior lecturer in air quality science at King's College London, who remains suspicious of these designer products. Some of the dramatic claims that are made do alarm me. Yet, as concerns about air pollution increase, the market for products that protect against its harmful effects is likely to grow. A good example of this is the Air Shield a baby stroller that circulates filtered air to create a clean microclimate inside. It was invented by Dominykas Budinas, an automotive designer from Lithuania, and won second place in the Electrolux Design Lab in 2015. Budinas drew inspiration from the ventilation systems used in cars for the concept. While it has yet to attract commercial interest, he is eager for it not to be a luxury product. Air pollution in the worlds biggest cities has become a formidable problem, says Budinas. Yet, for those who can afford it, there are ways of taking at least a few clean breaths. Lawyer the embattled Delta Force members who were standing trial for storming a Kumasi court and freeing some of their members in lawful custody has said that he was surprised by the AGs decision to drop charges again his clients. He said he was nonetheless excited they were freed since it confirmed his long-held view that they were innocent. The 8 members of the pro-NPP vigilante group were standing trial for forcibly freeing some of their members who were facing charges of conspiracy to assault at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and assaulting the Regional Security Coordinator from lawful custody in April this year. But at the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the principal State Attorney in a rather shocking statement said they did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute the accused persons. This is despite the fact that the court raid occurred in broad daylight in the presence of many, including security officers at the court. A video footage also emerged with more details as to what happened and who A video footage also emerged with more details as to what happened, but according to the Attorney, the evidence was not enough hence the decision to drop charges. The court, presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons and dismissed the case on that ground. Lawyer Matthew Appiah in an interview with Citi News said, they were not expecting the decision by the state attorney. As we have already indicated, there was no evidence to show that the accused persons were the people who forcibly entered the courtroom on that fateful day the docket was sent to the AG's department and they studied it so that is their conclusion, he said. See more As we have already indicated, there was no evidence to show that the accused persons were the people who forcibly entered the courtroom on that fateful day We thought that the Police had come with their evidence. We didnt know the evidence they had but the docket was sent to the AG's department and they studied it so that is their conclusionWe were not expecting it, we were just informed about it by the Police this morning [Wednesday], he said. State attorney didnt consult AG before dropping charges Meanwhile, government has denied that it sanctioned a decision to the drop charges against the freed Delta Force members. The Ministry of Information in a statement copied to citifmonline.com said that the Principal State Attorney in the case did not consult the Attorney General before dropping the charges against the accused. It further hinted that it was further investigating the matter and will take the necessary actions to remedy the situation. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana The government has denied that it sanctioned a decision to drop charges against some members of pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Force who were standing trial for storming a magistrate court to free their members in lawful custody. The Ministry of Information in a statement copied to citifmonline.com said that the Principal State Attorney in the case did not consult the Attorney General before dropping the charges against the accused. According to the ministry, it has launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to the prosecutor declaring that the AG did not have sufficient evidence against the accused persons. It said the action by the State Attorney may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature. A Kumasi Circuit court, presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons and dismissed the case of the Delta Force members after the prosecutor said it had instructions from the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, to drop charges against the accused because they had insufficient evidence. The 8 members of Delta Force were standing trial for allegedly storming the court premises earlier this year to free 13 of their members who were standing trial on trial for vandalizing property at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and assaulting the Regional Security Coordinator because they were against his appointment. But the Ministry of Information said, the decision by the State attorney was taken on the prosecutor's own accord. It added that government was committed to ensuring that the rule of law is properly applied in the matter. It further revealed that it will deal with persons whose actions in the matter bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute and assured that it will take the necessary measures to remedy the situation in the interest of the Republic. Read the ministry's full statement below: The Attorney Generals department is investigating circumstances under which a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi decided without recourse to advice from higher authority on a matter of high public interest of this nature to drop charges against persons arrested in connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Magistrates court in April this year. Preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature. While the department awaits the full results of this investigation we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule of law is applied at all times and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute will be sanctioned and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic. Signed Information Ministry By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana One person is reported dead whilst five have been injured as a result of gas explosion at a welding shop in Tamale. The welding shop is at Lamashegu industrial area near Guinness Ghana Limited depot. The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital Morgue whilst the injured are receiving treatment. According to an eyewitness, Mary Mensah, the deceased moved from his welding shop to assist his colleagues fix a problem on someones car. She said in the process of welding, the gas cylinder exploded and damaged properties including Guinness Ghana Limited Toyota Hilux Pickup and a long truck both packed at the -depot. This incident follows a similar one that occurred at the Takoradi Port Hospital in the Western Region where over 100 sustained injuries from a gas explosion on the Sekondi-Takoradi road. Early this year , there was a gas explosion at Trade Fair and Labadi in the Greater Accra Region. By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana The Minority in Parliament is demanding the re-arrest of the eight members of vigilante group, Delta Force who were set free on Wednesday after they raided a competent court of jurisdiction. We demand therefore that the cancerous exercise of discretion be reversed immediately, the accused re-arraigned before court, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu stated. A Kumasi Circuit Court presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah, discharged the accused persons and dismissed the case after the Attorney General pursuing the case directed the police to discontinue it because they had insufficient evidence against them. But according to the Minority, evidence abounds even on social media that could have been used to nail the alleged culprits provided government did not want to apply partisan considerations to the matter. Addressing the media, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to show leadership in the face of what they term as an utter disrespect to the institution of the Judiciary. We refer to the action by the Hon. Attorney-General as bizarre because this is a government that claims to be adherent to the Rule of Law. This is a travesty of justice and a lack of respect for the judiciaryThe decision by the Hon. Attorney-General is a confirmation of the claim by the leading members of the NPP at the time of the lawless action by the Delta Forces that the culprits will be set free. We are of the view that government is pandering to partisan pressures to the detriment of justice and to upholding the independence of the judiciary. Huruna Iddrish said they consider the Nolle Prosequi as a gross abuse of discretion simpliciter and we call on the President to demonstrate leadership and not to be led by the various lawless forces within his party. Background They eight were arraigned for freeing some 13 of their members who were facing trial for assaulting the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator. They were prior to being discharged on Wednesday granted bail . Release of Delta Force members unreasonable A Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Legal Team, Abraham Amaliba had described as unreasonable , the basis for which the eight Delta Force members were freed. Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Amaliba maintained that the argument of evidence proffered by the prosecution and the Attorney General is unfortunate and unbelievable. It is a sad day for the Rule of Law in Ghana. This government claims they are advocates for the Rule of Law but I don't think they believe in the Rule of Law at all. In the first place, how did they identify the eight accused persons before arresting them? They must have known that they were the ones who perpetrated the offence and for them to come out and say there is no evidence linking them to the offence; that is the question. Did they just go on the streets and randomly arrest people. They have time without number acknowledged that they are members of the NPP. The Attorney General is a member of the NPP. The Attorney General cannot see herself prosecuting them and so clearly this has more to do with using party affiliation to discontinue the matter. It has nothing to do with the lack of evidence, he added. By: Godwin A. Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin 18.05.2017 LISTEN The Ghana Bar Association says it was shocked by the release of some eight members of pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, who were being tried for attacking a court. GBA Vice President, Tony Forson told Joy News Wednesday, the Association has decided to study the judges ruling to understand what led to the decision. He said GBA is still committed to its earlier statement that the eight men should be prosecuted for disrupting justice. A Kumasi Circuit Court has discharged eight members of NPP-linked militia group, Delta Force, who were being tried after they disrupted court proceeding of 13 of their members on April 6, 2017. The 13 were part of 21 men arrested by the police after they attacked the newly appointed Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei. The men had said Mr Agyei did not deserve the position because he played no role in the struggle to bring the NPP into power. They wanted President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint their leader who was instrumental in the NPP's 2016 elections camapign. Out of the 21 men who were rounded up by the police and arraigned, only 13 showed up. This compelled Presiding judge, Mary M.E. Nsenkyire to direct the 13 men to be kept in custody to reappear on April 20. Dissatisfied with the judges decision, the well-built men numbering 50 stormed the court and resisted an order to hold 13 of their members in prison custody. They freed their colleagues. Eight of them were charged with disturbing a court session, for resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 persons who were in lawful custody. At a court hearing in Kumasi Wednesday, the case against the eight was dismissed due to the absence of evidence. The Minority has asked President Akufo-Addo to demonstrate leadership by calling for the re-arrest and prosecution of the eight men without fail. "We demand therefore that this cancerous exercise of discretion be reversed immediately and the accused re-arraigned before court without any further hesitation," Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu said at a news conference in Accra. Adding its voice to the condemnation of the judge's ruling, GBA said it will be studying the decisions that led to the release before making its official stance know. "We don't really know what the truth is..[but] when a lawyer is in court, the brief he has is what he use and not the information in the media," Mr Forson told Evans Mensah on Joy FM's Newsnite. Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo The Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo has said she did not order the discontinuation of the case involving the eight members of Delta Force. In a statement signed by the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, the A-G said she has ordered investigations into the circumstances under which the Principal State Attorney in Kumasi dissmised the case. The GBA Vice President described the development is an "interesting" one especially when the dismissal was blamed on the A-G. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Instagram: @Realbrakopowers 18.05.2017 LISTEN Young Africa Leaders Network has a weekly discussion platform where the youth discuss various topics in the society that promote awareness and change in the society. The week YALN discussed on the topic Understanding Gender Equality" today. The resource person was Jerold Arthur To get a vivid picture of what Gender Equality, we need to visit some key terms that are relevant to the concept Gender .Sex Gender Equality Affirmative action Personally, what do you think gender is? Member 1 answered; I think gender is the classification of human into male or female as well as the roles they play in society Member 2; I think is the classification of human species into male or female Member 3; I think that is sex, reacting to the answer by member 2 Resources Person: Gender is a socially constructed definition of women and men. Gender is determined by the conception of tasks functions and roles attributed to men and women. It is worth noting that Gender in not the same as Sex. The difference is that Sex is a biologically constructed definition. Thus, ones sex depends on their biological makeup, chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external organs etc. Whilst sex classifies us into male and female. Gender classifies us into *masculine and feminine Gender is the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. In Ghana, we have sharply allocated femininity to women and masculinity to men and anyone who tries to cross this sharp rule is abhorred. E.g: we see being in the kitchen as a feminine role and therefore should a man goes to the kitchen to cook for even his child is given names like 'Kojo basia' etc Meanwhile, it is not so in other social constructions. It can, therefore, be concluded that whilst gender differs in every cultural or social setting, sex, on the other hand, is the same in every setting. With this foundation what then do we mean by the term as Gender Equality? Gender equality seeks to give equal opportunities to both masculine and feminine sides of gender. Note: that there is a sharp difference between Equality and Equity. Whilst Equality is treating everyone the same; Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Therefore gender equality is simply treating both masculine and feminine side of gender equal. This is a very good cause but most people disagree with it. I won't blame them because even the UN has turned gender equality into gender equity Gender equity is where one side of gender is empowered more than the other in order to promote gender equilibrium. It is also very necessary but not in every social setting since gender varies from society to society. Gender equality seeks to give equal opportunities to both masculine and feminine sides of gender. Therefore, whilst gender equality seeks to provide a levelled playing field for both sides of gender, gender equity places one side in an advantageous position over the other; mostly to close a gap or correct some wrong. In most instances, gender biases are levelled against the feminine side. And in these cases, society has allocated this side of gender to women. It is, therefore, obvious that most gender biases are against women. And this has necessitated calls and movements for women empowerment which is confusingly termed women equality. The masculine side of gender is also allocated to men in most societies and this has also led to some level of biases. For instance, if a woman is pregnant, the man has no say in whether to keep the child or for both parties to consider an abortion. Also, roles related mainly to gender and children are automatically given to women. An affirmative action is a tool used to champion gender equity. They are set of rules, principles and actions intended to end and correct the effects of a specific form of discrimination. They include government-mandated, government-sanctioned, and voluntary private programs that tend to focus on access to education and employment, specifically granting special consideration to previously excluded groups such as women or racial group Hence, policies, programs and activities that seem to promote and empower women or girls are affirmative actions that are geared towards gender equity and not gender equality In societies in Ghana, most have argued that gender equality already exists. But that is not the case since we keep assigning feminine roles to women and masculine roles to men. And thus does not provide an equal playing role. That is why affirmative actions like access to education and girls child scholarships are still important. To conclude, 'achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone's responsibility' -Ban Ki Moon. It is necessary that we join forces to create an equally enabling environment for both sides of gender in order to promote social development. Thank you. Note Gender equality is not a competition with men Gender equality is not daughter not respecting her father Gender equality is not disrespecting your male boss YOU CAN JOIN THE PLATFORM BY CONTACTING THE PRESIDENT +233245247296 The heavy downpour and cold winds could not stop the 50 individuals who gathered at the Ghana Consulate in New York City on Saturday May 13, 2017 to miss the inaugural meeting of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, USA, Inc. (GCC-USA) This was a follow-up to the March 18, 2017 meeting of 15 budding Ghanaian entrepreneurs who defied the snow to do something different from the usual Ghana independence celebration of dance, dinner, and dissections of what ails Ghana. These business and social entrepreneurs aim to discover and support each other; and organize themselves to be serious stakeholders in Ghanas socio economic development. Accordingly the stated purposes of GCC-USA are: (1) To advance business and social entrepreneurship among Ghanaians Living Abroad (GLAs) through support and facilitation; (2) to marshal resources to contribute to the socio-economic development of Ghana through multilevel engagement with government, private, and civic structures to benefit all the people of Ghana; and (3) to promote increased quality of life of Ghanaians Living Abroad through charitable activities. Hon. Bernard Quantson, the Ghana Consul General opened the meeting by remarking that GLAs have built individual excellence in many fields. What has been missing is group excellence. Thus he commended the group for being persistent and determined to formalize themselves into the much- needed Chamber of Commerce driven by Ghanaians. He introduced the honorary consul for Arkansas and the Delta Region of the USA, Mr. Sherman Banks, who congratulated the group and shared that we have been late while others have been getting bigger slices of the pie. With strength in numbers, he encouraged GCC-USA to be focused, aim high, sell Ghana, and bring it glory. He urged that African-Americans should be embraced into the group. The author, who chaired the meeting, emphasized that the emphasis is on Ghana, the country, therefore all enterprise-purposed people, regardless of race and nationality are welcome to participate and be members of GCC-USA. This was welcome news, especially to Mr. Charles Nimmo Ntiamoah-Mensah (aka Mr. CNN) who has been recovering from personal health challenges while managing the esprit de corps of the new organization with the dream that it will indeed be the point organization for marshalling resources to build up individual members, our dear Ghana, and its people, from the least to the greatest. Mr. Bola Ray, Ghanas media impresario made his appearance and was able to interview a few members including Mr. Kwasi Twum Ampofo of KTA mobile phone fame (the inventor and CEO [email protected]). Ms. Dzifa Adjorlolo ([email protected]) represented Royal Olives Estates that specializes in building custom houses in Ghana. A new GLA inventor is Mr. Godfred Biney who has created a solar-powered generator and whole house off grid solutions ([email protected]). The lawyers (Eric Okyere Darko [email protected]), and certified public accountants were present (Benjamin Manuh [email protected], Moses Mensah [email protected]). Helping Hand Foundation was introduced as working to restore the WEB DuBois Center in Accra- one of its major projects (Mr. Japhet Aryiku [email protected]). But for space, we would list the amazing activities of each of the 50 attendees that as the Consul General said mark individual GLAs excellence. Having enjoyed the sumptuous lunch catered by GGs Kitchen (914-471-7656) complete with fresh snail khebab, the challenge is to meld the high achieving individuals into a collective powerhouse to create wealth and propel a nation northward. Great ideas and hands are very welcome. Ghana Chamber of Commerce, USA, Inc. has been incorporated as a non-charitable nonprofit entity in New York State. An interim executive committee was formed to devise the by-laws , dues structure, meeting schedules, set up a web site, a list serve, and complete the organizational set up. In the meantime the attendees paid $100 each to provide funds for the organizational costs, thereby becoming founding members of GCC-USA. This unique opportunity is available until June 13, 2017 for others to be on record. The executive committee comprises: Dr. Kofi A. Boateng (Chair), Mr. Charles Nimmo Ntiamoah-Mensah (COO), Ms. Rose Ivy Quarshie (Treasurer), Lucy Asare (Secretary), and the following as members: Ms. Dzifa Adjorlolo, Mr. Hashim Haruna, Dr. Owusu Kizito, Ms. Mary Edusei, Mr. Jerry Adinkra, Mr. Japhet Arjiku, and Terry Oppong. The vision is that Ghana Chamber of Commerce, USA, Inc. will develop a successful prototype, build chapters across the USA, and collaborate with GLAs in other countries to model the organization. For further information send e-mails to [email protected] or [email protected] The transition of a traditional society to a modern one under the rule of law is painful, demands discipline, and can take centuries. In some special cases under strong transformational leadership, it can be shortened to say 35 years as Lee Kuan Yew did for Singapore! Do the people of Ghana have the discipline in our culture to develop rapidly under the rule of law? Sometimes I feel sorry for my people in Ghana since every human deserves the best! But in the last 48 years since student days activism in California, I have come to admit that Ghana and Africa and their people march to a different tune of life, as Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore once said to his wife after studying Africans at a conference in Nigeria. On this case of the Delta Force storming a court room to release friends on trial, one can only envision the wild American cowboys some 200 years ago! Today even a President's indiscretion with a woman in his office and "small lies", as Bill Clinton found out, or semblance of "buga-buga" exercise of force or threat, as Donald Trump is finding out, can lead to serious legal consequences! Is Ghana developed like America? For a man who left his heart in Ghana but lives in California, if you ask my opinion I'd say this Delta Force case is a "foolish case", as my 105 year old aunt Maame Attaa would say. Let us all recall that we are in a nation of Ghana and era today where 1. Only 35 years ago a group of young men took guns and seized the whole nation at bay and ruled for 11 years! 2. A sitting judge of the courts was abducted in the night and murdered and to date nobody has been found guilty in over 30 years! 3. Huge amount of loans, over $20 billion incurred on behalf of the nation for water, electricity, roads and highways, have all been so mismanaged and nobody has been sent to prison! 4. Cocaine in the custody of police and the judicial system turned into baking powder and to date nothing has happened! 5. Large amount of drugs seized on the oceans have not resulted in convictions in five or more years. 6. A loan of $2.3 Billion taken from the World Bank for water works around the country in 2003/2004 has still not resulted in reliable water delivery for some major cities; 7. A loan of $4.2 billion taken in 1989-92 from the World Bank for road and highway construction did not last for 2 years for highways to develop potholes large enough to swallow a sheep; 8. Executives at major government corporations like ECG, VRA, GRIDCO, Cocobod, Ghana Airways, Ghana Telecom, can pay themselves like Arab princes and steal as they like, and yet run the corporation to the ground without even able to collect account receivables! 9. Outgoing Presidents can award themselves national honors and gold chains and parliament only jumps when asked to jump! And 10. Appointed and elected representatives of our people have strong intent and mission to gain their first million dollars in public office! And nobody goes to prison! Growing up in rural Ghana under Christian disciplinary principles before coming to America may tend to let a young man have a rosy picture of the past. However some of us have learned better and found the other side of our greedy, selfish and evil nature!! If anybody is looking for justice in Ghana, I suggest they take a deep breath! The whole civil service including police, customs and staff of government Ministries will have to be sacked and new employees hired after training in customer service and ethics! Any Ghanaians living abroad will confirm why investing in Ghana has become distasteful despite the hype. The police is totally useless when one needs help! Personal experiences we share among ourselves depict theft within families that are never prosecuted! Massive theft! Does any elected official in government really care about the poor left behind? So please tell me again why young men in Kumasi or Tamale or any town should give a hoot about the laws you all set! I will never advocate violence and think what the members of the Delta Force did was wrong! However who throws the first stone? If you ask my opinion, I say this is a foolish case! Ghana is a failed state! Let is cut the pride and admit it! Maybe we can start from scratch as other societies have done after total destruction! Dr. Kwaku A. Danso, President- Ghana Leadership Union,Ltd. 18.05.2017 LISTEN Same as Julius was forewarned to be beware the ides (15th) of March, so do I admonish Ghanaian politicians and law court judges to beware of the tactical inducements by Kumawuhemaa Nana Abenaa Serwaah Amponsah. The ides of March was seen by Spurinna, the seer, to be portentous for Julius Caesar hence warning him to be very careful. The seer wanted Caesar to take all the necessary precautions to avoid the assassination that was ominously looming upon him but which he, Caesar, could not see for his lack of spiritual foresight. Failing to heed the soothsayers admonition, but additionally making a mockery of him saying, "The Ides of March are come", implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone.", Caesar indeed met his fatal end on the ides of March. Was Caesar not stabbed to death by among the sixty conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius at a meeting of the Senate? I have cited this reference to Caesar to emphasize my point to our politicians and judges who are constantly being contacted by Kumawuhemaa and her conspirators with intent to influencing them to twist justice in her favour, with regards to the ongoing Kumawu chieftaincy dispute although, the abundant evidence and facts already in the public domain prove her guilty. I am not being prejudicial but that is the fact! Any politician or judge who allows him or herself to be influenced by promises of money or gifts of any sort to them by Kumawuhemaa to do anything flagrantly untoward, will eventually have themselves not only to blame but also, suffer concomitant repercussions. Right from the bribery, extortion and corruption events that unfolded in Manhyia Palace on 24 February 2014 during the camouflaged final adjudication of the Kumawu chieftaincy dispute presided over by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his Asanteman Council, through to the fraudulent gazetting of Dr Yaw Sarfo as Kumawuhene, the evidence and facts are so overwhelming to not being able to be twisted by any politician or judge without publicly being noticed and adjudged as corrupt. Yes, she has been courting the favours and sympathies of some politicians by lying about some people to them. She is the person causing problems in Kumawuman but nobody else. She is causing the problems by colluding with equally irresponsible traditional leaders who are bent on short-changing Kumawuman by dubiously availing themselves of the wealth of the area to the detriment of the inhabitants. Has she not been using the police to terrorise the people? If she were innocent in all that she does, why does she always have to rush to arrange the police to suppress the genuine concerns of the subjects of Kumawuman? No matter what she does, the truth will out and Barima Tweneboa Kodua V, a royal from the matrilineal descent of Barima Tweneboa Kodua I, the originator of the Kumawu Kodua Stool, shall prevail. The politicians and the judges may allow themselves to be persuaded by Kumawuhemaa to side with her falsehoods, manipulations and evil machinations but in the end, the wish of God in favour of Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and the law-abiding citizens of Kumawuman shall stand tall like the statues of liberty in France and America. She has been able to convince some politicians to turn against some people, claiming they are sponsoring others to cause commotion in Kumawuman. It is rather Kumawuhemaa and her evil-mindedness, collusion with selfish and greedy chiefs that are causing problems in Kumawuman but not any rich persons. For what happened at Manhyia Palace which is a breach of the Ghana Criminal Code 1960 (Act 29) and Akan chieftaincy conventions, interested public readers could review the YouTube video link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac8wZIPlVu8 To conclude, I shall advise the politicians that she has already approached for assistance to ensure her evilness prevails to be very careful as they will not be spared the wrath of God and exposure by Rockson Adofo, the self-styled defender of the poor and the needy in Kumawuman, if not in Ghana. Under the government and the watch of His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the rule of law, justice and peace shall prevail with corruption becoming curtailed, if not becoming the thing of the past. I hope Hon. Albert Kan Dapaa and Hon. Osafo Marfo will be very cautious next time they are approached by Kumawuhemaa. A word to the wise is enough! Rockson Adofo Myjoyonline has secured a document detailing the reasons adduced by a state attorney for dropping criminal charges against eight pro-NPP Delta Force members. In the statement, the Senior State Attorney in Ashanti regional office of the Attorney- General's Department, Marie Louise-Simmons, recommended the dropping of the charges because of lack of evidence. There was an uproar when eight persons standing trial for raiding a court in Kumasi were set free Wednesday, May 17, 2017, on the recommendation of the state attorney. In her letter, Louise-Simmons said the two policemen who volunteered witness statements 'clearly' could not identify those who forcibly entered the court that fateful day, April 6, 2017. The Delta Force members had descended on the court to free 13 of their colleagues who were standing trial for attacking the Ashanti regional security coordinator George Agyei last March. Some eight suspects were arrested and charged with disturbing a court session, for resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 persons who were in lawful custody. But at a court hearing last Wednesday, the state dropped the charges. A move that has been widely condemned by sections of the public including the official opposition in parliament, the NDC and the government which says it is investigating the development. The no-evidence explanation has raised suspicions that the governing New Patriotic Party, which prides itself as a party of respect for the rule of law is condoning lawlessness. The government in its defence has said it was not consulted by the state attorney in Kumasi before discontinuing the case. The Attorney-General Gloria Akuffo has consequently ordered investigations into the circumstances under which the Senior State Attorney got the suspects discharged for lack of evidence. Please read full statement of the State Attorney: Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com The brutal abduction early last week of Chief Olu Falae, a former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) and former finance minister, by a band of suspected Fulani herdsmen has once again brought to the fore the often tragic excesses of cattle herders whose distorted understanding of their place as co-inhabitants in their host communities appears to have led into the erroneous and dangerous belief that they are, perhaps, incapable of being restrained by any law. On Monday, September 21, 2015, the day Falae turned 77, armed Fulani herdsmen reportedly stormed his farm at Ilado in Akure North council of Ondo State, attacked his workers and violently took him away. This was how his personal assistant (PA), Capt Moshood Raji (retd), explained what happened while speaking with newsmen in Akure on Thursday, September 24, the day Falae regained his freedom, as reported by Vanguard newspaper on Friday: About a month ago, there was a clash between the herdsmen and Chief [Falae] when some cows destroyed maize on the farm. I was the one that led the policemen to arrest them. We arrested some and detained them for about four days. Chief Falae said he has no problem with them that they have to sign an undertaking that they will not go there again. They signed an agreement that they will not go there again. The Fulani Secretary signed for them. The secretary then said I should caution Oga [Falae] that he should go and fence his farm. He said if he dared harm any cow or kill any of their cows, there would be trouble. He said that before the officer in charge of SARS. They have [now] carried out the threat. What they destroyed was about N500,000.00 but N120,000 was paid and the chief distributed the money to all his workers when it was brought to him. After his abductors set him free, Falae told Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State who visited him that during his four days in captivity, he was made to sleep on bare floor and trek several kilometers from his farm in Ilado where he was kidnapped to about 10 kilometers near Owo where he was eventually set free. And when Gen Alani Akinrinade visited him on Monday September 28, he explained further: When the hoodlums came, they slashed me with their cutlasses; they said I was not cooperating. And they dragged me barefooted into the bush. After dragging me around for about two hours, they stopped somewhere for us to rest It was about 2.30pm on Monday that we started walking with very few stops until 2am the following morning. I suspect that I must have covered a minimum of 15km. That morning I did not take anything. So all day, I had no food, no water and I walked close to 15km. How I survived I cannot really remember. I had no food in my stomach, I had no shoes, my clothes were torn to shreds In that place, we all slept on bare ground, unfortunately, the rain came in the night and I was thoroughly drenched where I was lying down . They offered me bread, but I told them I cannot eat it. I demanded for a bottle of coke, which was what I drank everyday to have the strength to survive and to continue the march, because they were permanently moving. There were six of them with three or four guns and every half an hour or so, they will say, Baba we are going to kill you if you dont give us money. We are going to kill you.(Vanguard 29 September 2015) It was reported that Falae had returned with a wound on his left hand. His abductors had asked for N100 million as ransom, which they later reduced to N90 million. Although Falae has confirmed that his family eventually paid the kidnappers some money before they released him, he did not say how much. But Vanguard newspaper of September 29 quoted a dependable source as disclosing that the family parted with N5 million to secure Falaes release. Given the tone and contents of the statements of those who had condemned Falaes abduction, it ought to be clear to the federal government that the activities of these Fulani herdsmen have unduly tested the patience of a growing number of Nigerians, and now pose a serious threat to peace and unity in this country. Afenifere, the Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political and Cultural group, for instance, is insisting on an immediate end to the Fulani cattle rearing business in every state of Yorubaland. Rising from a six-hour meeting in Akure on Monday, September 28, the organization condemned in very strong terms Falaes abduction and called for the arrest of the kidnappers without any further delay. Given the tension this incident has triggered which might be unduly compounded by any reoccurrence, a lasting solution must immediately be found to the menace of these herdsmen before they plunge this country into an avoidable crisis. Falaes ordeal attracted such significant attention, including a presidential order to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to immediately secure his release, because of the caliber of his person. Some other victims who had even lost their lives only managed to attract just a brief or even no mention in the papers. Their families are in their quiet, obscure corners mourning their loss. In March 2015, for instance, an 85 year-old community leader in Oma Eke village in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Pa Tagbuo Oguejiofor, was murdered in cold blood by some Fulani herdsmen rearing their cattle in his community. According to PUNCH newspaper of March 19, 2015, the late octogenarians offense was that he had the temerity to drive away these herdsmen who had unleashed their cattle on his farm which promptly devoured his crops and polluted his water well. Later, they armed themselves, returned to the farm, murdered him and went their way. How these herdsmen are able to retain the conviction that farms that people had invested labour and resources to raise would continue to serve as food for their cattle remains very difficult to comprehend. And the deprived farmers are expected to go home quietly (and probably thank the herdsmen and their cattle for helping them to destroy the farms they may have raised with their life-savings or even loans), or else they would lose their lives, or (if they are lucky) be kidnapped so that their families would pay huge sums to secure their release. Not even during the colonial era, with all the several inhuman and degrading treatments suffered by the conquered and colonized natives, were human beings brazenly subjected to such extreme indignities. So, those who are seeking to entrench such a callous and oppressive enterprise should better know that they are planting a time bomb in the country by unduly provoking an otherwise peace-loving people who would rather go about their normal lawful activities without any molestation. When you carry out an internet search on Fulani Herdsmen, you will be shocked at the incredibly humongous harvest of tragedies these fellows have accumulated with utmost impunity across Nigeria. You will be further benumbed by the lamentation everywhere that they always manage to get away with whatever they do. Even when they are arrested after any of their deadly exploits, they would always find their ways out of custody soon, further emboldened to wreak more bloody devastations. When they invaded a village in Benue State around 4 a.m. in March this year, for instance, more than 90 lives (including those of women and children) were callously wasted before their bloodlust could be assuaged (Vanguard of March 16, 2015). It must, however, be pointed out that these herdsmen are doing an important work which they are sadly discrediting with their brazen disregard for the rights of others, including the right to live and undertake lawful activity with any disruption. Their product serves as a source of protein to many across Nigeria. Their activities must therefore be regulated for it to continue to enjoy accommodation and acceptability in the places where they operate. They must be made to realize that there are laws governing civilized existence and that Nigeria is not their conquered and lawless jungle. President Muhammadu Buhari should not continue to carry on as if he has not heard the very loud insinuations here and there that these killer-herdsmen are being emboldened to perpetrate more atrocities across Nigeria because of their deep conviction that being a Fulani like them, the president would not allow the law to take its full course. There have also been reports that the police have been unable to charge to court the several Fulani herdsmen who had been arrested for attacking communities and killing, maiming, raping and rendering people homeless by destroying their homes, because they always got orders from above to set them free. These can in no way represent the right signals for building and sustaining an orderly and harmonious society. President Buhari must hasten to allay the growing fears that his body language is already brewing too early in his administration. In most cases, these itinerant herdsmen are not the owners of the cattle they are rearing. The owners who sit in their comfortable homes and watch them kill, maim and abduct innocent people with alarming regularity must now be compelled to realize that there is a limit to impunity in a society governed by law. Even when people are provoked, they should learn to restrain themselves from taking laws into their hands and report their grievances to lawful authorities. The only way, however, to halt these reckless and callous killings is for those who perpetrate them to be duly dealt with according to the law. So long as people enact tragedies and go scot free, so long will others be emboldened and even derive animation from doing more. And the helpless victims, when stretched beyond their malleable limits, might be compelled to resort to self-help to protect themselves, and we can all guess what this will spell for the country. A lasting solution to these constant clashes would be for the government to muster the political will to confine the activities of these herdsmen by mandating cattle owners to build ranches and grazing grounds for their cattle. Given the amount of blood-curdling tragedies the constant clashes between herdsmen and farmers have already accumulated across the country, this measure and more should be treated with the urgency they deserve. *Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, a journalist and writer, is a columnist with Daily Independent, a national newspaper published in Lagos ([email protected]; Blog: www.ugowrite.blogspot.com; twitter: @ugowrite) *September 30, 2015 *Uploaded May 18, 2017 President Muhammadu Buhari visits his cows in his home state of Katsina Chairman of the pro vigilante group of the governing New Patriotic Party Delta Force Salu Musa has indicated that his group is recruited more people into its fold despite the bad press the group has attracted over the past few months. The group seized the airwaves early last month when its members stormed the regional coordinating council to physically drag out the Regional Security Liaison Officer George Adjei whose appointment they were opposed to. Thirteen members of the vigilante group who were arrested in connection with the rioting and vandalism were bundled out of a court in Kumasi by their colleague Delta force members while they were being tried. The eight who were reported to have broken into the courts to aid the escape of their colleagues were on Wednesday released following the insistence of the Attorney General that there was not enough evidence to incriminate them. Speaking to the media after the case however, the chairman for Delta Force Salu Musa disclosed that the group has rather become more attractive after the barrage of court cases against its activities. He added that the group had recruited in excess of two thousand five hundred (2,500) more members because of the approach of the New Patriotic Party towards the issue. If you work for a party which comes to power; it does not mean you should be allowed to break the law. So we are not discouraged by the court cases. We are even more invigorated because at first, we had 4,500 members in the Ashanti region. But now since the incidents, we now have 7 thousand members because people now know how the NPP enforces the rule of law. It is however not certain how this tacit admission means to the resolve of political parties to disband all political vigilante groups whose activities have usually spilled over into excesses that have severally threatened the peace and stability of the country. A few years ago, we had a very important and urgent need to be in Kumasi very early the next day. It was already midnight (Nigerian Time, but 11pm in Ghana), and we were still in Accra, surrounded by its brilliant lights and soothing serenity (there was not the faintest hint of any generator sound anywhere), wondering what to do. But a Ghanaian who was with us did not seem to share our worries. He simply told us to hit the road, that in the next three hours, we should be in Kumasi. I looked at him with surprise and disbelief. Who was sure nobody had hired him to lure the three of us into a well-laid ambush by violent robbers? When I expressed my concern about armed robbers, his answer was sharp: There are no armed robbers! When later I repeated the concern, he said something he quickly realised he should not have said, but which Nigerians need to continue hearing no matter how painful we find it: I have told you no armed robbers! This is not Nige! He cut himself short. It suddenly occurred to him that he had gone too far in his bid to emphasize that point. When I called a Nigerian friend in Ghana and he reassured me that the long journey from Accra to Kumasi was safe, we hit the road. At the one or two places where very friendly policemen stopped us, they merely looked at the vehicle and waved us on with their torches, without the slightest hint that they wanted a bribe. And so, after a long journey through a quiet expressway and vast, quiet countryside, we embraced the warmth of the clean, well-lit streets of Kumasi early that cold morning, and found our way to the serene ambience of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). No doubt, Ghana is a very poor country. Beyond the glitter of an efficient system is poverty that is real and palpable. But Ghana has been lucky with its leaders. What nation would not prosper under the watch of transparent, patriotic and result-oriented leaders who are not afraid to live among the people (unlike Nigerian leaders who hide themselves in an impregnable fortress like Aso Rock)? It is only thieving, failed leaders that live in perpetual fear of the citizenry. The Ghanaian president lives in a street with very little security and has neighbours just like any other Ghanaian. Throughout my stay in Ghana, I never dialled any number twice with my Ghana MTN line, no matter the country I called! But in Nigeria, if you dial a familiar number (duly saved in your phone), what you would probably hear is: This number does not exist on this network. Or: The number you have dialled is incorrect. And so on! You may eventually get through if you exercise more patience. What a country! Service providers in Ghana are effectively monitored and regulated. The regulatory body ensures that no service provider sells lines more than it has the capacity to manage. And so the people make calls and get through with ease. The same thing happens virtually every other place in Africa where the same service providers we have in Nigeria also operate. But in Nigeria they act with impunity while they function effectively every other place else. It offends me each time anyone attempts comparing Nigeria with Europe or America. From Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, down to Togo and Benin Republic here, Nigeria is, perhaps, the only country in Africa that is yet to achieve some appreciable stability in its electricity supply. We are here still grappling with pitch darkness and watching our pitiably blank and groping leaders telling embarrassing, infantile stories to explain away their inexplicable failure and insufferable incompetence, while very poor countries we can easily buy up with our humungous resources have since left us behind on this issue of power supply and provision of other social amenities. In most of these countries, one can conveniently walk to any public tap and drink water, but whoever tries that here any time some liquid manages to trickle from any public tap would be guilty of attempting suicide. At Kwame Nkrumah University, Americans, Britishers, Chinese and people from diverse nations of the world are proudly enrolled as students. In 1993, an American Professor of Economics proudly told me that while he studied for his Masters Degree at the University College, Ibadan, (UCI) in 1958, he stayed at Kuti Hall. I wonder if he can advise any American child today to get near that same Kuti Hall he spoke so glowingly about, or encourage the child of his worst enemy to attend a Nigerian University. While a friend and I took a walk around midnight on a Saturday, we felt so safe, despite the several trees in the well landscaped and beautified compounded that lend the school its serenity, but which could provide cover for any campus cultists to strike, like we regularly witness in Nigeria. As we stood on a walkway, about eight American youths dashed across, chattering, laughing and feeling so much at home. I am told that children of countless Nigerian government officials are also enrolled in the school, generating huge funds to Ghana with which it now offers divers scholarships to its own citizens. Yes, Nigerian public officers would prefer paying all the money (usually stolen from the public purse) to Ghana than improving and making our own schools safer so that youths from several parts of the world can also come here (as used to be the case) to study. Ghanaians do not have the drive and innovativeness of Nigerians. Under focused and honest leaders whose eyes and hearts are not solely glued on the treasury, what would stop Nigeria from becoming one of the greatest countries in the world? So, while our leanly endowed neighbours are gradually laying solid foundations for greater tomorrow, Nigeria is decaying and sinking into unimaginable depths. Laden with an equally insufferably inept and morally impaired legislators, what options are left for a country so immensely rich, but so irresponsibly managed? Painful truths, but let's tell them to ourselves to see if they can awaken a strong resolve in us to put our house in order. *Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is a Nigerian journalist and writer. He could be reached with: [email protected]. Many of his articles are archived in his blog: www.ugowrite.blogspot.com; twitter: @ugowrite Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye at work EIGHT MEMBERS of the Delta Force, who were standing trial for invading a courtroom in Kumasi and freeing 13 of their colleagues, have been set free. A Kumasi Circuit Court, presided over by Patricia Amponsah, yesterday discharged the accused persons because of lack of evidence to prosecute them. The action has caused furore, with the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) accusing the government of deliberately freeing the accused. However, the Attorney General has stated that she is averse to the decision of the state attorney in Kumasi to free the suspects. Charge The 13 all members of the Delta Force a vigilante group linked to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), were standing trial for allegedly assaulting George Adjei, the Ashanti Regional Security Liaison Officer, whose appointment they opposed. They allegedly dragged him from his office. The KMA court had remanded them into prison custody but before the security agents could take them away, eight people caused a stir by storming the courtroom to set them free. On that same day, the Ashanti Regional Police Command managed to arrest some people at Asafo, a suburb of Kumasi, who were believed to be members of the Delta Force who set the 13 free. Charges They were then charged for causing disturbances in court, resisting arrest and rescuing persons in lawful custody. The eight persons were remanded and later granted bail by the court. 8 Discharged During yesterday's sitting, the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, noted that the police, after investigations, could not find evidence to support the charges, which were leveled against the eight people. The court was therefore left with no other option than to discharge the accused persons, who looked sober throughout the duration of the happenings. After going through the docket, Marie Louise-Simmons, the Senior State Attorney, standing in for the Chief State Attorney wrote, I therefore advise that the charges of disturbance of court and resisting arrest & rescue against the suspects must be dropped for lack of evidence to prosecute. The statement indicated, From the docket, the incident occurred inside the KMA Circuit Court Room. The evidence suggests that it was a very busy Court that day. However, only two policemen being the CWO [Court Warrant Officer] in the Court were made to volunteer witness statements. The complainant [G/SGT Asagre Albert and G/SGT. Evans Kugbeadzor] , volunteered a statement; however, his statement does not suggest that he was a witness to the incident. The statement of the two policemen clearly indicates that they could not identify any of the persons that forcibly entered the court room that day in disregard of the judge's orders and aided the escape. Sgt. Asagre stated clearly that he could not identify any of the said criminals. Sgt. Evans Kugbeadzor also stated that his attention was on the safety of the judge and after ushering the judge into her chambers, he returned and realized that all the 13 accused persons and their supporters had left the court. It is therefore difficult to ascertain how and on what basis these suspects were arrested. There is no indication from the diary of action that the police got any confidential information about the identity of the actual person that aided the escape. Again, after the arrest of the suspects, there is no indication that any identification parade was conducted for any of the possible witnesses to have identified any of the suspects. All the suspects have also denied in their statements that they committed any offence. In fact, none of them admitted that they entered the court room that day, though some of them admitted being outside the court room that day. It is a basic principle in criminal prosecution that there can be no better identification of an accused than the evidence of a witness who swears to have seen the accused committing the offence. As it stands now, there was not even a single witness who can aid the prosecution to identify any of the suspects. There is also no other piece of evidence that links any of the suspects to the offence they have been charged with. Despite the unfortunate and despicable incident that occurred and the manner in which it occurred, the investigations conducted and the evidence available makes it extremely impossible to successfully prosecute any of the suspects herein. Jubilations There were wild jubilations at the court premises as scores of people, mostly friends and loved ones of the eight accused persons, who trooped to the court premises, were seen hugging the accused persons. Lawyer's Response Counsel for the accused persons, Mathew Appiah, stated that they had continually said their clients were innocent and that the verdict of the court had indeed vindicated them. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The Attorney Generals Department is investigating circumstances under which a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi dropped charges against persons arrested in connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Magistrates Court in April this year. According to the AG, the investigation has become necessary due to the state attorneys decision to drop the charges without seeking advice from higher authority. Members of Delta Force a vigilante group affiliated to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in April, 2017 stormed the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed the members of the group who were facing charges for causing disturbances at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council. Reports indicated that the group vandalized some court properties, and almost assaulted the judge, Mary Senkyire. A statement released yesterday by the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid, said preliminary investigations suggested that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution. The statement said the action may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature. He said, While the department awaits the full results of this investigation, we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule of law is applied at all times and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute will be sanctioned and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic. BY Cephas Larbi A LEAKED audio tape purported to have been recorded by assigns of the Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Haung, has put the Deputy Ashanti Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Chief Supt Peter Adu Appiah, in hot waters. The audio recording, which purports to put the GIS boss in-charge of Enforcement and Intelligence Bureau in the region in a complicit position, has compelled superior officers to recall Mr Appiah to the GIS headquarters in Accra. He has since been put under investigation after the audio recording, being played on some radio stations in the regional capital had come to the attention of the authorities, Chief Superintendent Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Relations Unit of the GIS, said. He told Joy Fm that he was not in the position to comment on the said audio tape that was a subject of investigation with some people involved, and that those mentioned on the tape would be given an opportunity to respond to it. The tape, according to media reports, appears to be a recording of conversation between C/Supt Adu Appiah and two other men who posed as staff of the Flagstar House who came to the GIS Ashanti Regional office in Kumasi during the arrest of Aisha Huang, the alleged notorious illegal miner. This new twist comes after the release of the sex tapes and photographs following the locking up of the 31-year-old Chinese woman and four of her assigns for trial by an Accra High Court. Aisha is perceived as untouchable, having built a network of influence in high places in the country with her 'woman power,' on which she and her gang rely for protection whilst engaging in illegal gold mining activities popularly known as galamsey. Despite government's moratorium on galamsey operations across the country, the lady continuously carried on her illegal gold mining activities with impunity because she was said to be holding secret sexual video tapes of some power brokers in the security services and some politicians which she was using for blackmailing. Meanwhile, a man claiming to be the former house help of the Chinese galamsey queen, Eric Amponsah, has alleged that Aisha was a bankroller for the Ashanti Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as she funded most of the party's electioneering campaign activities prior to last year's elections. He told a local radio station in Kumasi Abusua Fm that the galamsey kingpin doled out the huge sums of money to the NDC, aside bearing the cost of T-shirt printing and other paraphernalia of the party. Embittered Amponsah said he was the errand boy for the collection of the printed T-shirts, some of which he claimed were printed at the Kumasi Technical Institute area. From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi Some affected people embarking on clean-up after the flood. INSET: Kwame Atta A HEAVY downpour in the Tema metropolis on Tuesday reportedly swept away a 49-year-old man at Bankuman, a suburb of Tema-Newtown, in the Greater Accra Region. The deceased, Kwame Atta, a welder, was said to have gone to pick a battery from his car when he slipped and fell into a drain. He was reportedly carried away by the floodwater in the drain. His body was found the following day in stagnant water. He left behind eight children and a window, Esi Fosua Atta. Narrating the incident to DAILY GUIDE, Ms Esi Fosua stated that her husband returned from work on that fateful night and parked his vehicle outside the house. According to her, he told her that he wanted to pick his battery from the vehicle and come back. She further stated that after collecting the battery, he placed it on a culvert and in an attempt to cross the gutter, he slipped and fell into it. Due to blackout at the time of the incident, nobody saw what transpired to give my husband a helping hand, until he was found dead in the flood when power was restored, she asserted with pain. Faustina Akua Donkor, a relative to the deceased, told DAILY GUIDE that she heard an unusual noise outside her house and decided to come out and catch a glimpse of what was transpiring when she shockingly saw the corpse of Kwame Atta. Lo and behold, on arriving at the scene, I saw Kwame Atta lifeless, she averred. Meanwhile, the body has since been deposited at the 37 Military Hospital, pending autopsy. Also at Manhean, a suburb at Tema-Newtown, several residents have been displaced following the Tuesday nights heavy downpour. Properties worth millions of Ghana cedis were said to have been carried away by the flood. Some affected residents narrated to DAILY GUIDE that they had to seek refuge at the homes of friends and relatives. The assembly man for Manhean Electoral Area, Godfred Abbey Tetteh, said he had a distress call at about 7:30 pm from some residents complaining that their rooms had been flooded and properties being carried away. According to him, he quickly rushed to the scene where he saw residents' properties destroyed with others being swept away. He maintained that he had since reported the incident to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and the Flood Response Team of the National Disaster Management Organsiation (NADMO) to assist the affected persons with the required aid. However, no casualties were recorded. From Vincent Kubi & Bernard Aryee, Tema- Newtown Three pages lay before me like episodes in the Delta Force Horrifying Movie and all I can say is what a sad day. The first: court discharges eight Delta force vigilante members of the governing New Patriotic Party. Reason being that the attorney generals department does not still have enough evidence to link the eight to the attack on the court and the freeing of 13 Delta force members who were being tried for assaulting a national security coordinator. To make things more heart breaking, the chairman of the Delta force Salu Musa says the Delta force has become so attractive that its membership has increased from 4,500 to 7,000 in the Ashanti region. The second: the minority says the eight should be rearrested. Led by minority leader MP and lawyer Haruna Idrisu, they described the judgement and the advise offered by a very respected senior State Attorney Marie Louis Simons as a slap on the face of justice. Third: the Information ministry releases a statement accusing the state attorney in Kumasi for acting unilaterally without recourse to the AGs office in Accra. In what could be described as an investigation with a ruling already delivered; the statement says the AGs office will investigate the case of a breach in laid down internal procedure. Now a few concerns I have and why I am saddened by the incidents tabled so far are as follows: The police doing investigations have not been able to identify who really perpetrated that act of entering a magistrates court, threatening the judge, breaking through the judges back door and letting out 13 people who were standing trial. We are told they just got the wrong people. All this happened and the Delta Force was successful while we still had law enforcement in Kumasi. They said there were videos which several people have. I heard a lawyer say the videos were blur and the person who took the videos had not stepped up as witness. Is this to say the police have no forensic tools to help it extract clear pictures from a video to aid investigations? A little bird who knows Delta Force members tells me he can identify as many as 15 of the men in the videos. Still on the leg of investigations for evidence: the thirteen who have been in police custody for over a month since they turned themselves in after being rescued by their compatriots. Can anyone tell me they (the thirteen) do not know their friends who aided them to escape and run away together with them? What kind of precedence is this setting? Someone can easily break into the courts; conduct a smooth operation of overriding the police; threatening a judge who has to be bundled for cover and free persons standing trial and does it so successfully that no trace is left for the perpetrator to be traced and arrested? Why would a statement come from the information ministry questioning the decision of the court and the conduct of the state attorney? Do the authors of that letter acknowledge the weight of their insistence that the case should have been referred to the Attorney Generals office in Accra for advice? My little consultation with legal luminaries suggests that there is a commendable process in the countrys judicial system where state attorneys in the various decentralized offices are empowered to give independent advice on cases. I would wish to also interrogate if this statement had the blessing of the Attorney General and minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo This statement from the information ministry appears to suggest that the state would have required that it goes to the politician, cabinet member Minister of Justice and Attorney General Gloria Akuffo to offer advice. A state attorney empowered to independently give advice on the basis of the evidence and facts before her, is being hounded publicly because she gave her professional advice without consulting the politician Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecution. Where then lies that campaign promise of the president Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo to establish the office of the special prosecutor. Wouldnt there be any time when the state will ascribe these descriptions of a matter of high public interest of this nature to shoot down his advice and require that the politician minister of justice and attorney general be asked to intervene in some cases? And the minority. I think sometimes they are too quick to come out to create a storm in the tea cup without taking time to study the case properly. You may have a point. But the fact would make the point as useless and shameful as the haste with which it is delivered. Lawyers in political suits attacking the very profession to which they have sworn to protect just for populism and political point scoring. Proffering solutions or recommendations may not be in my purview to offer. But a little Bible Verse tells me all things work together for good for them that love the lord. And the lord sure loves justice because he is the highest judge. Lets learn lessons. At least we can now apprise ourselves of the operations of the Attorney Generals office and how state attorneys can operate. We can now also tell how our police personnel can operate. May be we can add fixing CCTV cameras in all our courts. The rest of the recommendations I leave to the experts to give. Concerned Citizen Ivan Korshie Heathcote Fumador. 18.05.2017 LISTEN If there is an aspect of policing that is the most difficult one, it is probably arrest. It simply means to take someone into custody. Not just into custody anyhow but it should be lawful because Ghana is a democratic country. Article 14(1)(g) cites the grounds on which a criminal arrest can be done and that is upon reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime, or about to commit a crime. I still remember how I received a hefty blow in my right eye in the course of arrest. For days, my right eye remained reddened and also not forgetting how I was given a hot slap by another suspect in one afternoon. I had a swollen cheek for three days. I am not the only one but almost every police officer has a wide array of experiences when it comes to arrest. I remember how two of my colleagues who went to make arrest in one of the surrounding villages of Peki were themselves locked up by civilians in a room and beaten mercilessly until a civilian ran to the police station to complain. They almost killed them. Some of our colleagues have become incapacitated and some have even died because of arrest. Pray for police officers effecting arrests. Not an easy task my people. The problem with us - both the police and the citizenry is the right orientations as far as arrest is concerned. We all get it wrong at times if not all the time. Sometimes the police violates the rights of the citizenry in the course of arrests and sometimes the civilians also resist arrest unreasonably due to sheer ignorance. Arrest of misdemeanour cases should never be a scuffle between a police officer and a civilian whilst felonious cases like robbery and murder should be approached with some kind of force since such suspects are always violent in nature. The police officer effecting arrest should employ some mechanisms of psychology if possible to prepare the mind of the suspected criminals for it not to appear as if they have been condemned to death already without trials before a court of competent jurisdiction. In as much as people will want to escape justice after committing crimes, it is the duty of the police to employ laid down procedures of arrest to bring suspected criminals face to the full rigors of the law. If the arrest procedure is flawed, the accused person stand the chance to be discharged without recourse to the substance of the case and the weight of the offence. Just imagine as a police officer and after sustaining multiples injuries to arrest a criminal only to be discharged by the court that the arrest procedure is wrong? It's cos 90. Section 3 of Act 30/60 otherwise known as the Criminal Procedure Code instructs that in making arrest, the police officer or other person making same shall actually touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested. .. Again, Article 14(2) of the 1992 Constitution makes it clear that a person who is arrested....shall be informed immediately; in a language that he understands, of the reasons for his arrest.....and of his right to a lawyer of his choice. Here all that the law requires is that touch the person you are arresting and tell him or her in a language he she understands and why you are arresting him or her. You must also tell them their rights to a lawyer of their own choice. If you don't understand their language, get an aide. In the celebrated case of ASANTE vs THE REPUBLIC (1972)2 GLR 177, Asante who has earlier on been convicted for assaulting a police constable in the process of resisting arrest was freed when he appealed against his conviction that his arrest was unlawful. His appeal was held that he is entitled to resist unlawful arrest. The facts of the case were that Asante who was then a driver was believed to have loaded his vehicle badly on a market day so the police constable was dispatched to have him arrested. In the process of arrest, a scuffle ensued between them leading to tearing of the constable's police uniform. In the course of arrest, the police constable never mentioned to Asante why he is arresting him. The sentence was quashed on the grounds that arrest was unlawful since the police constable did not tell Asante why he is being arrested. Under no circumstances should the police or anybody effecting an arrest beat a person suspected of a crime if that person should surrender or avail him or herself to be arrested no matter how grieveous the offence is. To beat a person suspected to have committed a crime in itself is a crime of assaults and also some kind of instant justice contrary to the legal principles of a person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved or has pleaded guilty, as stipulates by Article 19(2)(c). It is not the duty of the police to punish criminals by beating them. However, a criminal is likely to be entitled to some "severe beatings" on the justifiable grounds that he or she resisted arrest lawfully. Resisting arrest unlawfully is the one that the body of the person is touched and told in a language that he or she understands and the reasons why he or she is being arrested, yet he or she resists it. In that case the law permits reasonable force which is often relative to be employed in the course of arrest should one resist it. In this instance, it is just a matter of when persuasion fails, force must be applied. Section 31 of Act 29/60 otherwise known as the Criminal Code cites grounds on which the use of force or harm is justified and that includes resisting arrest particularly in felonious cases -section 31(d & e). A person arrested by the police or civilian with or without warrant should be sent to the police station as early as possible as instructs by section 9 of Act 30/60. Failure to send arrested persons to police station or a place designed for the reception of arrested persons amounts to assault by imprisonment contrary section 85(c) of Act 29/60. That is criminal and unlawful arrest. A person taken into police custody according to section 9 of Act 30/60 shall be given reasonable facilities for obtaining legal advice, taking the steps to furnish a bail otherwise making arrangements for his defence or release. If not, Article 14(3)(b) says that the arrested person should be put before a court within 48 hours. By concluding it is onus on the police officer effecting arrest to know the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and Act 30/60 relating to arrest of suspected criminals. It is also the duty of the police to take into consideration the rights and dignity of the Ghanaian as the Constitution says in Article 15(1) that the dignity of all persons shall be inviolable. If you should arrest a person unlawfully, Article 14(5) says that the person shall be entitled to compensation from you. This is democracy so let us all get the right orientations as far as arrest of suspected criminals are concerned. We will save ourselves a lot. Just a police lance corporal. Ahanta Apemenyimheneba Kwofie III [email protected] #Ahantadiaries_17_05_17 A STAUNCH supporter of ex-President Mahama in Kumasi, Appiah Stadium, has caused a stir, vowing to damage his manhood if Mr. Mahama decides not to contest for the presidency again in 2020. I will, with all my strength, sit on my manhood and balls to damage them and cause severe injuries and pains to myself if ex-President Mahama refuses to contest the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential primary. DAILY GUIDE Story Appiah Stadium, who was speaking on Kumasi-based Nhyira FM, was reacting to a front page story in the DAILY GUIDE's Tuesday's edition, headlined 'Mahama In Kumasi Secret Meeting Over 2020'. The news report mainly talked about a meeting that Mr. Mahama, reportedly, held with key NDC members in the Ashanti Region at an unknown location over the weekend, where he called for their support for his presidential bid. Mahama Is The Best Even though Appiah Stadium, for obvious reasons, did not confirm the report, his utterances perhaps gave a clear indication that Mr. Mahama was indeed lacing his boots to contest the NDC top position again. According to him, Mr. Mahama is the best among all the NDC presidential hopefuls, stressing that he is prepared to damage his manhood, to display his anger and disappointment should Mr. Mahama opts out of the NDC race. Second Jesus Appiah Stadium described Mr. Mahama as My second Jesus Christ on this earth, indicating that the former president had done a lot for him and his family so he is prepared to sacrifice his life for Mr. Mahama to be president again. He said he had even named his daughter after Mr. Mahama as a sign of appreciation over the amazing love that Mr. Mahama had displayed to him and his family over the years. According to him, he can only reciprocate the former president's love by working assiduously for him to lead the NDC to electoral triumph again, hopefully in 2020, when Ghana goes to the polls again. Appiah Stadium indicated that no amount of sabotage or pull him back actions, within or outside the NDC, can stop Mr. Mahama from realizing his ambition of becoming president again on NDC ticket in 2020. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi Vice President Bawumia is finding it difficult to comprehend what accounts for the unnecessary delays in clearing goods at the Tema and Takoradi ports. Delivering the keynote address at the 'Port Efficiency Conference' in Accra yesterday which was put together by the Office of the President, he wondered why we still have delays in the clearance of goods and the attendant costs such as demurrage and rent at the ports. It is estimated that in the year 2016 alone, shippers (importers) paid an estimated amount of $100 million in demurrage charges. The last time a similar estimate was conducted in 2013, the demurrage amount was about $75 million. Concern But, the Vice President insisted this is not the kind of revenue we need or want to build this country. For him, it is a punitive cost, an inefficiency cost. It is an avoidable cost, and it only goes to demonstrate that shippers are not releasing containers to the shipping lines in good time. Apart from that, he said there are other inefficiency and nuisance costs, including those used in 'facilitating' clearance through the Regulatory agencies and GRA Customs itself. These, according to him, do not only contribute greatly to the high cost of goods and services in the country, but also render our exports uncompetitive, and most importantly lead to high dissatisfaction among port clients. He therefore stressed the belief that these inefficiencies and man-made bottlenecks have direct bearing on the tax revenues collected at the ports. Aside that, the Vice President said the inefficiencies encourage collusion among some importers, clearing agents and Customs Officers to exploit the system to the detriment of tax revenue. That, he said was the reason for government's introduction of the Destination Inspection Scheme, and the single window systems to address the issue of efficiencies at the port. That notwithstanding, Dr Bawumia noted with worry that there are still bottlenecks and there is a sense that the problems of cargo clearance at the ports remain major concerns, insisting the issue of an ineffective customs valuation system still needs to be addressed. Hope He therefore charged participants at the 'Port Efficiency Conference' to focus on the issues of commercial invoices for imports and how to develop a system that will address that challenge once and for all. Let us also be mindful that just throwing money and equipment at challenges is not always the best approach to problem solving. We need an understanding of processes, how to get systems to work together, and just as important, how we manage the human factors that make things happen or not happen, he charged. On his part, Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah noted with worry that despite efforts by the GPHA in collecting payments for the services it renders to its clients, like every human institution, its efforts at revenue mobilization can be improved. He thus stressed the need for what he called 'heavy infusion of IT to improve the systems' and 'marketing of the ports to increase cargo'. Issues He identified a number of operational challenges facing the country's ports which has led to high cost of doing business, as well as revenue leakages and losses. They included the high number of state institutions involved in the clearing process, high port user charges compared to the sub-region, limited port capacity, congestion at the port, delays in the clearing process leading to high cost of business and revenue leakages. For him, Ghana does not have to re-invent the wheels but to learn from best practice from elsewhere. By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent THE PUBLIC Utility Workers Union (PUWU) has called on the Energy Sector Minister to provide strategic direction and policy guidelines for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) but not to descend into minor operational areas which management of the company could easily deal with. In a statement issued recently and signed by Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, General Secretary of PUWU, which reacted to a publication by this newspaper headlined: Energy Minister Uncovers ECG's Rot, PUWU indicated that Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were to be blamed for ECG's debts instead of the company. If there is any accumulation of debt, then it is just coming from the angle of the MMDAs, and this has come about because of political directives not to disconnect the MMDAs because government has promised to pay the bills of the MMDAs. However, as at the end of 2016, the MMDAs debt stood at GH1,390,966,034.74. MMDAs debt For the first three months of 2017, the MMDA debts totaled GH226,967,736.08, and of this debt for 2017, government has paid GH18,133,575.17. As at the end of March 2017, total debt including that of GWCL was GH1,599,800,195.66, so it is strange for the Minister to attribute this accumulation of debt to the reckless acts or behaviour of ECG employees. If there is any debt accumulation, then it is the direct action of government for non-payment of MMDA bills, and not any inaction on the part of ECG employees. There have been several instances where efforts to collect amounts MMDAs owe have been frustrated and sometimes interfered by political pressures, such that even organisations that were disconnected were asked to be reconnected by political authorities. No board It continued that four months into the new government, ECG had no board. ..And with an Acting Managing Director, how do you expect key decisions to be taken to ensure improvement in the company's operation? Is it the question of giving the dog a bad name, so to hang it? And we also want to draw the attention of government that such kind of pronouncements will not inure to the benefits of the Company or Ghana, because at the end of the day, even if you are going ahead with this PSP, you are projecting a very weak Company that will weaken the negotiations with any prospective bidder, and we think that the Minister ought to look at the bigger picture and see how to position ECG to be a Company that can provide value for Ghana and for Ghanaians. Weekly collection ECG's currently average weekly collection is GH103,918,594.11, as against a target of GH130,000,000. This excludes indebtedness by MMDAs and Ghana Water Company Limited, which are state entities. US embassy billing According to PUWU, the assertion that the US Embassy demands bills and ECG had not been able to provide the Embassy with bills was also very strange because as far it knows to date; the US Embassy did not owe ECG in terms of bills. So if they were not getting bills, would they have paid all their indebtedness till date? So this is a statement we find very unfortunate, and ask the Minister to provide further details. Similar details are also required about the issue of spare parts. Currently ECG is having shortage of materials which is affecting the one day service that was introduced by the Company. MTN With respect to MTN owing ECG about GH35,000,000 as asserted by the Minister, PUWU said that was basically an issue of billing arrangement and some challenges with the initial CMS as it was deployed, which had been identified, and efforts were underway towards correcting the situation. It said MTN had over 1000 sites, with some MTN sites already being billed through the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system, allowing bills to be read automatically from remote areas. It is the few areas which are not on the AMR that arrangements are being made to sort out the actual amounts that MTN has to pay, which some of the residential sites are being made to pay. However, the billing anomaly has been identified and the corrections are being made, so it is not accurate to say that MTN owes that much and nothing is being done to collect monies from it. [email protected] By Samuel Boadi While speaking recently at the palace of the Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Usman, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, reaffirmed his love for President Muhammadu Buhari and cherished his relationship with him in since both of the joined together to lead the nation. He declared: The president has been treating me as a brother. In fact, the president has taken me as a son in the way he treats me. Going by the amount of responsibilities the president has given me; it shows that he seriously believes that we can live as brothers in this country. He seriously believes in the unity of Nigeria. I pray the Lord will preserve our president to continue to lead us just as the nation has voted him to do so. The mere mention of the name of President Muhammadu Buhari is a solution to many problems in Nigeria. It is simply an intoxicant to the souls of millions of Nigerians. The name, in Nigeria today as always, is a scarecrow for some and a gentle guide to others. It is a name whose effects generate immediate hypertension in some, cause unconsciousness for some and relieve others of heartaches and satanic tendencies against Nigerians and the nation. A name that is so much loved by patriots and so much hated by hypocrites and conspirators. But the name has come to be a mirror in the history of Nigeria, a name that even the bad eggs cum political cabals in the society, will reckon with in future. Yes, the love which patriotic Nigerians have for President Buhari is really immeasurable. I cannot quantify it myself, though mine overflows ordinary emotion. Great past and present military and democracy leaders in Nigeria, even at par in political influences, experiences and interests, have praised Buhari at different occasions, testifying his dignity, integrity, patriotism, dedication to national service and development, as well as Buharis disdain of sloth, inhumanity, indiscipline, corruption and national misconceptions. I will use some of the superb quotes on the perception and beliefs of Nigerians about Buhari to conclude this piece. This is a man who contested the presidential elections four times and practically won all but was denied the three previous ones. His popularity has consistently grown from one time to another. In 2003, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) robbed him for then incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo was allocated 24,456,140 votes while 12,710,002 votes were allocated to the man of the people, Muhammadu Buhari. In 2007, Buhari was robbed by the INEC for late President Umaru Musa YarAdua who was allocated 24,638,063 votes against 6,605,299 allocated to the peoples choice. This time, it was plotted to render him unpopular. It did not end there. Nigerians insisted to push for him with their lives and love. Nigerians clamoured for his presidency. In 2011 and for the third time, INEC fixed the presidential election result at 22,495,187 votes for then incumbent past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan against the candidate of the Nigerian masses with only 12,214,853 votes. It is on record that out of the exhilarating love for him, Nigerians vehemently protested which led to loss of the lives of some citizens. Surely, this was in collaboration with the powerful political elites who were and have always been afraid of being exposed and corrected. Then in 2015, the voices of the masses were stronger as they stood solidly for change. Against the wishes of the powerful cabals, INEC was, for the first time in the long history of Nigeria, resistant in following the old path. The will of the majority of the people of Nigeria prevailed and INEC responsibly declared the real winner of the presidential election where President Buhari defeated the incumbent Jonathan with 15,424,921 votes against 12,853,162. This was the first time in the history of Nigeria an incumbent president was defeated at the polls. What manner of love is this? This enthralling love and compassion was further displayed during the celebrations of two more occasions: declaration of his victory at the polls and the swearing-in. Wide and wild celebrations were observed across the nation. History has recorded these to surpass the celebration of the 1993 victory of MKO Abiola over Bashir Tofa in 1993. Moreover, the Presidents 51-day vacation and medical trip to London and the nationwide celebrations that followed his return were manifest of Buharis attachment to the Nigerian people and their affection for him. Many Nigerians have always been ready to lay their lives for him, not merely because he is a leader but because he is trustworthy, reliable and patriotically development-driven. Again, an examination of the fading faceoff between him and the senate will give another side of the love Nigerians have for him. It is like the people say: Do not our anointed any harm. In most states especially of the north, the lawmakers fighting Buhari have difficulties in accessing their communities. Some of them have been receiving bashings from their constituencies and districts. This is an immediate reaction. Some have already been penciled down by their people never to return to the hallowed chambers in 2019. What manner of love is this? Now, wherever Buhari goes, there is no rented crowd. Thousands of patriots troop out en masse to welcome him. Nigerians gather in their thousands to pray for him. Even in those areas where he was presumed to be less loved, he is overwhelmingly received and hailed. All these manners of love are not for nothing. He is performing. He is slowly but steadily fulfilling his promises to Nigerians, in stimulating the economy for job creation, in the anti-corruption war and in the security of lives and property. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, confirmed this grand love for Mr. President at many fora. When a delegation of Northern Youths Initiative for Peace and Good Governance visited him in Abuja, Adesina said: I am glad that majority of Nigerians are with President Buhari. The level of excitement and jubilation around the country is a clear testimony of the love, confidence and belief which Nigerians have in his leadership. This is despite the economic recession which a global phenomenon. The Presidents daughter, Zahra Buhari Indimi, on her Instagram page, praised Nigerians for their faith in her father whose sincerity and passion for Nigeria and her people, she said, cannot be described. And Mrs. Lauretta Onochie once leading an event titled Host Oil Communities Declare Fasting, Prayers for Buhari: We love President Buhari declared: I have said it many times that Niger Deltans love President Buhari. Its our thieves and their hired hands on the social media that have created the false impression that we, Niger Deltans, hate our President. President Buhari was elected to serve all Nigerians and he is proving himself to be a leader of all, including the Niger Delta. Let me end this piece with some more passionate proclamations by prominent Nigerians on him. The low and unheard voices of the masses are numberless. But for the elite, these are just a few. First executive president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shegari declared The army after toppling our democratic regime have no option but to install Buhari as head of state so as to avoid credibility problems, especially in the sight of the international community because of his being an epitome of integrity. The man I describe as father of modern politics in Nigeria, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, described Buhari in his book titled:Not My Will: General Muhammadu Buhari as a member of the Supreme Military Council and head of NNPC was by nature taciturn and introvert. But he took any work that was given to him very seriously. He is reliable as he is hardworking and honest, his path of moral probity and rectitude are incorruptible. In another quote, Obasanjo averred There are only two honest and reliable Nigerians, myself and Buhari. All what PDP is saying of Buhari being fundamentalist are mere hot lies. They just fear, lets go to jail. Late Umaru Musa Yaradua said: Buhari was a big brother and a father to some extent that means nothing in life and to the nation always other than good. So, I fear no harm from him. Former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar described him saying, Buhari is honest and sincere in all his conduct that perhaps, only very few Nigerians could match him in integrity. Immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan said of him: Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is a true patriot, respected former head of state and elder statesman and a nationalist. As for late head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha, he proclaimed during the inauguration of PTF: I have realized our collective mistake in over-throwing you. I have seen the terrible damage which our inaction caused to the Nigerian psyche. I am most sorry. Please, come and do what is best known about you, patriotic service to the nation. In the same vein, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida followed up by declaring: If Buhari quits PTF job as he promises and as we knew him to mean his words, all along, I support the idea of scrapping PTF as no one else can do the job as him. In another event, IBB opined: I respect Buhari. He was my boss. He is an honourable man. And I can say this anywhere. A member of Board of Trustees of PDP, Alhaji Isiyaku Ibrahim said: As a member of PDP BOT, I decided personally to donate to Buharis campaign organization because of my firm belief in his ability to right all the nations wrongs. At a book launch in Kaduna, Ibrahim noted: Buhari is as clean as the book I am holding. According to a one-time minister of petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West, Buhari is a leader to depend on: The issue of Gen. Buharis presidency is always being derided by the criminals who looted the nation to stupor by embarking upon a campaign of calumny with a view to smear his name and deny Nigerians having a leader who can improve their lots. Even the factional leader of PDP, Senator Ahmad Makarfi once proclaimed: If the truth must be said, Buhari remains the only real threat to PDP whither he runs for the presidency or not due to his wider followership among the masses that now hit the elite circle. What else is required to sound a warning to the detractors of the present government that even if President Buhari wishes to run for the presidency as long as he wishes, though I am sure he will never disrespect the constitutional provision on tenure, he will always win just as he has done since 2003. Assuredly, he will not seek a third term in 2023. He will remain who he has been, unruffled, determined and a harbinger of development for Nigeria. Any critical observer of the pictures where ex-military leaders and heads of state played chess and draft will never find Buhari there, maybe an indication that he had never conspired against national interests or compromised integrity, patriotism and humanity. To say the least, one with God is majority. And if God be with him for being for Nigeria and Nigerians assuredly God is with him who can succeed in being against him? What more and what manner of love is this? Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected] Preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn this year (COP23, from 6 to 17 November), are well underway and on track to deliver the infrastructure and arrangements needed for a successful meeting that can play its role in advancing the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement. Delegates will be able work in state of the art conference facilities, and benefit from an array of services, exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events, which the citizens of Bonn can also enjoy. The secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as host of the Conference, is working with the Government of Germany, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Bonn and the incoming Fijian COP23 Presidency to ensure a dynamic and successful Conference. Speaking on the last day of the May UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, which is in preparation of COP23, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said: I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the incoming Fijian Presidency for its leadership, Germany for its excellent support, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for its backing and the City of Bonn for its efforts to make the conference a success. We are extremely honoured to be hosting COP23 and are determined to ensure strong and positive outcomes that will advance climate action across the globe. We are also determined to make the conference environmentally-friendly and a place where the atmosphere of positivity permeates throughout the negotiations and the many events planned," she added. The Chief Negotiator for the COP23 Presidency, Ambassador Nazhat Shemeem Khan, expressed Fijis gratitude for the support and encouragement it has received in the process so far, including from the UNFCCC, the German Government and the current Presidency of the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22), held in November last year. Following our consultations at the May UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, it is clear that the desire to keep up the momentum on the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement is widespread. Working with our partners, we want to harness this collective enthusiasm to strive for ambitious goals at COP23 and beyond, she said. We are particularly encouraged to see that the concept of 'talanoa' - meaning storytelling and dialogue - has already begun to take root in the negotiations and consultations. We truly believe that this inclusive, respectful and participatory approach will lead to decision making that moves the global climate agenda forward, she added. Talanoa is a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue that builds empathy and leads to decision making for the collective good. The name of one of the two main conference zones on the Rhine reflects Fijian culture. Climate Campus A Bula Zone will be composed of the World Conference Center Bonn, UN Campus and an extended area behind the Deutsche Welle building in Bonn. The word Bula originates from the Fijian culture and means hello as well as a blessing of health and happiness. The Bonn Zone, which will be located in Bonns park area known as the Rheinaue, will accommodate climate action events including some high-level events, side events and exhibits organized by both UNFCCC and the Government of Germany. It will also include some media activities as well as events in the delegation pavilions. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the German Federal Environment Ministry, said his country is honored to be hosting or supporting three global conferences which focus on climate change - the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, the G20 Summit and COP23. As President of the G20, we are pushing to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement and focus particularly on the vulnerability of small island developing States. It is our great pleasure to support Fiji, the first ever small island developing state to hold the COP presidency, in its efforts by serving as technical host of COP23. We are pleased to have this opportunity to present the new and innovative concept for a global conference - one conference, two zones. With this concept we are highlighting the importance of climate action by having multiple non-state actors complement the formal negotiations." Bonn has already attracted a total of around 20 UN entities which link to the issue of sustainability. And it already has experience in hosting major meetings, although not yet one of this size. Bonns Mayor Ashok Sridharan said: "Bonn was the venue of UN Climate Change Conferences in 1999 and 2001, and Bonn is proud to be the venue of another COP. This time, however, the challenge is far bigger: the expected number of participants will be higher than anything Bonn has seen to date. For us, this is a fantastic opportunity: for two weeks, Bonn's name will be in the news across the globe. And we must not forget the positive economic effects of such a conference. At the same time, it is a challenge: we will do everything to warmly welcome the delegates from all over the world here in Germany's United Nations City. Moreover, the conference will also be a fine opportunity to demonstrate that the City of Bonn takes the issues of sustainability and climate protection seriously. We intend to reach out to our local citizens and raise awareness for the topics of the conference. And we will involve the local public wherever this is possible. After all, our citizens will have to deal with some restrictions during this time. Our Federal President has recently referred to Bonn as the world capital of sustainability. I am very confident that our city will live up to this reputation," he added. The City of Bonn and the entire region are undertaking a number of measures to boost sustainability. For example, in addition to an already well-functioning and integrated public transportation system, the municipality will make available additional trams and buses to accommodate access to the COP. Deutsche Bahn (German railway), with funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is building a UN Campus train stop close to the conference venue. In order to achieve the overall goal of climate neutrality, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated in connection with the conference will be reduced to the extent possible. Unavoidable emissions - as those associated with travel, which is responsible for the lions share of the overall footprint - will be offset, including through the UNs Climate Neutral Now Initiative. A scene from the screening exercise 18.05.2017 LISTEN The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Halo Medical Services, Dr Hamza Asumah, has observed that confined populations are a group at high risk for hepatitis B because the disease is infectious. According to him, some people experiencing acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection appear to have a history of camping just like people in orphanages. Speaking to DAILY GUIDE during a free hepatitis B screening and vaccination exercise organised by his organisation, in collaboration with Eno Heritage Foundation, at the Cherubs Orphanage Home in Kumasi, Dr Asumah stated that offering HBV vaccination to such people could have a significant effect on public health. A total of 50 children and 10 caregivers at the home benefited from the exercise that was aimed at preventing proportion of new hepatitis B infections among underprivileged people in society. Also in attendance were members of the National Optometry Students Association (NOSA) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), who conducted a free eye screening exercise for the inmates. Dr Asumah explained that the orphans do not only need food items and suppliers that are donated regularly to the home, but good health as well, for which Halo Medical Services and Eno Heritage Foundation decided to take up the responsibility. They live in a community and are prone to contracting this infectious disease. This is why we decided to come and screen them at no cost to any of them, and vaccinate to keep them safe, he intimated. The medical doctor asserted that it is also the fundamental right of every orphan to get good health no matter the circumstances in which they find themselves. The CEO of Eno Heritage Foundation, Ms Eno Safo, added that the project formed part of the organisation's corporate social responsibilities. From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was on Tuesday 16 May decorated with the highest national award of Senegal, the Grand Croix de lOrdre national du Lion (Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion). Mr Akufo-Addo was decorated by Senegalese President Macky Sall. Mr Akufo-Addos tour of Senegal was to strengthen Ghanas ties with the Francophone country and officially introduce himself to the Senegalese president as the new Ghanaian leader. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo indicated his preparedness to share the experiences Ghana has gained in the management of its oil and gas resources, since its discovery in 2007, as well as the measures taken to ensure the prudent and effective use of the proceeds from their sale, with Senegal. According to Nana Akufo-Addo, With the recent discovery of oil and gas in Senegal in commercial quantities, and with our experiences, I believe Ghana is well-equipped to share with you the dos and donts in the effective management of oil and gas revenues. He has since left Senegal for Guinea. During the governorship and states houses of assembly elections that took place in Nigeria last Saturday (April 11, 2015), several persons reportedly died across the nation. As I write now, a day after the elections, there are reports of raging battles in a couple of states. What it is most likely to boil down to is that some other people will also foolishly waste their lives like some others before them before the smoke of the senseless war clears. Now, apart from any hapless individual accidentally discharged by one of Nigerias habitually reckless and trigger-happy cop or someone caught in the crossfire as rival political groups clashed and unleashed violence on each other, all the others killed during this election while fighting political wars died for nothing. They died for nothing because they counted themselves as nothing, hence they could waste their precious lives fighting for mostly common thieves or glorified thugs striving to become governors or honourable members of the house of assembly so they can plunder the resources of the state and cart away as much loot as they can before their tenure expires. What beats me is how a human being could devalue his life so much that he could expose that life to serious danger by agreeing to undertake a violent activity on behalf of someone who may not even be informed if he is killed someone who does not even know him or care whether he lives or dies. Sometimes, all it takes to motivate these misguided combatants would just be a few crumpled naira notes, some bottles of beer or gin and poorly produced T-shirts bearing the faces of the fellows who they have been hired to fight and die for. Most of the time, he does not even have the slightest hint of contact with these his ardent supporters. Or if he does, it may just be to come out in front of his house or step out of his luxury car at some other place to address and charge them to be prepared to lay down their lives to ensure that only the credible candidate (himself) wins the election for the good of the state. Meanwhile, he had taken care to ensure that his wife and children are far removed from the theatre of battle where he is urging some deluded Nigerians to shed their blood to secure for him and his family a life of limitless luxury. He would only bring them back to join him to wallow in boundless comfort when the battle is won after some fools had died and gone to hell while fighting to ensure he was rigged into office. Of course, we know that whenever Nigerian politicians threaten that blood would flow, what they always have in mind is not their own blood or that of their children and wives. Even their distant relations and friends do not figure in their calculations. What they have in mind is the blood of grossly impoverished Nigerians (people totally unfamiliar and unrelated to them) whom they believe they would always be able to easily brainwash and deceive with dirty naira notes to unleash violence and sometimes waste their lives. And only a thorough fool will allow himself to be deceived. Indeed, it is time these Nigerians realized that they have been fooled and debased for so long now. It is time they placed great value on their lives and nudge themselves into the edifying awareness that these politicians that move them into the streets are in no way superior to them. In fact, they may even possess more dignity and even better intelligence than those politicians they are worshipping and dying for. When the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega announced that Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has won the presidential election, it was reported that not less than 25 people died and several others were wounded while madly celebrating the announcement. Like many others before them, these, too, died for nothing. As they ran about and indulged in several life-threatening displays, some of them fell off motorcycles and cars where they had perched carelessly chanting the name of a man who is not even aware of their miserable existence or would even see, let alone, mourn, their corpses after they have foolishly wasted their lives. Some others were crushed by vehicles that rammed into them as the wild reveling was stretched to very dangerous extremes. But as these fellows of very low self-esteem rejoiced themselves to death, the man whose accomplishment they were wildly celebrating was in his comfortable house in Daura calmly savouring the joy of his sudden elevation and transformation and surrounded by his family, and, perhaps, new fat leeches who were busy negotiating themselves into the corridors of power from where they would, like their predecessors, suck Nigeria pale. And it is possible that only a few hours earlier, those same people were lying prostrate at the feet of President Jonathan licking his feet. That is the enduring character of Nigerian politics and politicians. Now, despite all I have said here now, some fellows will still elect to die for nothing in 2019 or during some of the governorship elections that would come before then. But if they are wise, they would choose not to. It is within their power to decide to avoid this grossly unprofitable game of death. They can boldly tell any politician threatening that blood would flow not to count on them to help him accomplish that. He should instead start with his own blood and that of his wife and children. Yes, these Nigerians can refuse to be the ones to die for nothing. By the way, who is this noisy politician urging you to die for him? When stripped of all the pomp and flowing gown, he may just be another scum out there merely looking for a meal ticket. And that is bitterest part of it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is a Nigerian journalist and commentator on public issues. He could be reached with [email protected]. Many of his articles are published and archived in his blog: www.ugowrite.blogspot.com. Twitter: @ugowrite April 2015 Be silent always when you doubt your sense; and speak, tho' sure with seeming diffidence. Some positive persisting fops we know who if once wrong, will needs be always so; but you, with pleasure own your errors past and make each day a critic on the last. Alexander Pope An Easy on Criticism DESIDERATA (Latin: desired things) written by an American author, Max Ehrmann, has not ceased to catch my fancy, and to tickle me: '' Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story'' Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, the darling wife of former leader Flt. Lt Jerry John Rawlings has achieved many significant and remarkable things for herself and the Ghanaian society, especially for women. You cannot forget her specially designed headwrap. She stood solidly behind her husband in the heady days of the 'soi disant' revolutionary days when J.J. was the lord of all he surveyed, running through the humdrum and pedestrian democratic era, to the gloomy days in opposition. Nana Konadu, born in September, 1948 to the late J.O.T. Agyemang was among the lucky few to earn a place at Achimota School where she met Jerry. She graduated in Art and Textiles at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. After her husband's forays in town, she provided a home for him, and they were blessed with four beautiful kids, one boy and three girls, all of whose schooling expenses were borne by kindhearted benefactors. Ezanetor has since graduated as a medical doctor. It cannot be Nana Konadu's making that some of the sons and daughters of those consumed by the ' revolutionary fire, including Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, Kutu Acheampong, Utuka, cannot, like the itinerant, nomadic gypsies, find a place to lay their heads. Zanetor Rawlings is now a Member of Parliament for Klottey Korley Constituency. The sun has shone brightly on her and she is even being touted to partner anybody NDC elects as flagbearer, to be that person's vice. That may, perhaps, tell the reason why despite the shoddy treatment by the NDC executives, J.J. still remained a member of the party and his daughter, Ezanetor toed the line. After graduating from KNUST, Nana Konadu has earned several degrees certificates and diplomas, the most luscious of all being the doctorate degree which was bestowed on her and her husband by the Lincoln University, U.S.A. She is credited with the formation of the 31st December Women's Movement which taught women how to generate income and save money for community projects. The movement gave opportunities for women to be part of the decision-making process; women were propelled to adopt policies on health and education; was keen on adult literacy; discouraged early marriages and was formidable in the affairs of children to the extent of pushing Ghana to adopt the UN Convention on the Right of the Child. Nana Konadu and her movement may be given the accolade for their crucial role in the adoption of the 'Intestate Succession Law' which is applicable to anyone dying without preparing a 'Will' or 'Last Testament'. On joy FM's 'Personality Profile' recently, Nana Konadu declared: I am happy there is a change I am happy because you can't have a situation where we claim to be doing well, calling ourselves low middle income group, and live in a miserable situation I went round the country and I saw poverty staring at me the likes of poverty that I hadn't seen since 1982 and it gripped my heart and touched every part of my body that this has to change I am tired of the noise At the final analysis, I am somebody who believe in honesty and hard work. As things started changing, I advised myself She enjoined critics of the new government who are lambasting it for under-performance to exercise patience, noting, a party has taken eight years to destroy us and you expect somebody to use 100 days to fix it? Some people would dismiss this statement as 'sour grapes' that is, disparaging NDC because she was denied the leadership position at the Sunyani Congress and that prompted her to break away and form her own party, National Democratic Party, becoming its flag bearer in the 2016 elections. When the fox in Aesop's fable could not reach the grapes high up on the tree, it consoled itself by sneering at the grapes- they were sour! The change that brought Akufo Addo into office has shaken the whole country. It could be likened to a tsunami, or at best, a tornado. But, of course, it did not affect everybody the same way. Other people believe in her frankness: she is ready to 'tell it as it is' or 'tell it like it is.' She means whatever she says. Everybody, especially those in opposition, is moving helter-skelter, unsure where to berth, so some people believe. Nana Konadu has stuck her neck out, and made a long-lasting confession. 'You and I were not there' to see which way the Rawlings's household voted at the last presidential election! Did it go right or left? No one can telland we are all not seers or palmists. Kwesi Botchway may do all the research. Perhaps, his committee's findings may be a palliative. We are all waiting to see what the Committee has foundwhether it was arrogance, or failure to listen to the grassroots, or refusal to give campaign moneys where they should have gone, or Are there any lessons to be learnt from all this rigmarole- the fuss about Nana Konadu's statement? Oprah Winfred is quoted as saying: '' Keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you'll have to eat them, you can swallow it well.'' It is advice for both the pro- Nana Konadu as well as the anti-Nana Konadu elements. People should refrain from calling her anything close to Biblical Jezebel. Nana Konadu may be the lucky person to have been married to the Africa Ranking's 9th Richest Man, with an assessed wealth of 50 million dollars. It is the reward for his telling the court martial trying him in 1979 for mutiny that they should leave his men alone; he was responsible for their actions. At least, if you cannot call her Cinderella, don't call her Desdemona either. Keep your mouth shut. Africanus Owusu- Ansah africa[email protected] Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, May 18, 2017 The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Japan (GOJ) have signed an agreement for a US $ 300 million facility under the joint initiative titled Enhanced Private Sector Assistance ( EPSA ) for Africa. The loan, worth JPY 34.41 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 300 million) is intended to support private sector operations in Africa through the AfDBs non-sovereign window. The agreement, which was signed at the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, was in the presence of AfDB Senior Vice President Charles Boamah, AfDB Acting Finance Vice-President Hassatou NSele, Charge daffaires ad interim of Japan to the Republic of Cote dIvoire Yukuo Murata, representing the Cote dIvoire Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ms. Momo Morioka. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Senior Vice President Boamah thanked the people and government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency for their continuous support to the AfDB and the African Continent under the EPSA Initiative. The signature of this Exchange of Notes marks the conclusion of the 2nd phase of the EPSA Initiative and the beginning of the 3rd phase, was announced at the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held at Nairobi, Kenya on August 2016. The 3rd phase has a joint target (Japan plus AfDB) of USD 3 billion over the next three years. The Senior Vice President emphasized the importance of the EPSA loans-which have so far reached a cumulative 1.5 billion USD since 2007. Japan is a very strategic partner of the AfDB and a major trading partner for Africa. Your support in promoting private sector growth, quality infrastructure and co-financing operations, has allowed the Bank to grow its private sector portfolio ten-fold. Under the new High 5 priorities, all of which involve the private sector, the Loan will accelerate expansion of our private sector portfolio even further, he said. Acting Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Cote dIvoire, Yukuo Murata, commended the Bank for its past efforts and shared the intention of Japan in successfully achieving the joint targets of the 3rd phase of EPSA, which was agreed at 6th TICAD. The first Private Sector Assistance Loan from JICA to the AfDB was signed in 2007 for USD 100 million. This seventh loan brings the grand total to USD 1.5 billion. The Private Sector Assistance Loans are one of three components comprising the EPSA Initiative, the other two being the Accelerated Co-financing Facility (ACFA) for public sector co-financing with JICA, and the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance ( FAPA ), a multi-donor thematic trust fund administered by the Bank. The media has been charged to help create awareness on poor sanitation, especially in the Kumasi metropolis, to enable the new Chief Executive of KMA achieve his vision of making the city clean. According Nana Yaw Wiredu, the Assemblyman for Ahinsan Estate, media Houses within the Kumasi metropolis should allocate some few minutes of their air time and spaces for solely educating listeners, readers and residents on the need to contribute their quota to keep the city clean from filth. Nana Yaw Wiredu, who is also the convener for the Environmental and Sanitation sub-committee of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) emphasized the role of the media to eradicate filth within the Kumasi Metropolis and appealed to media practitioners to, as a matter of urgency, declare war on poor sanitation, just like they are doing for the governments fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, which is currently yielding positive results. He said, even though the media houses within the metropolis are doing the education, a lot more is needed to be done before things get out of hand. According to the Ahinsan Estate assemblyman, the sanitation situation in and around the metropolis is nothing to write home about and stressed the need for all hands to be on deck. Nana Yaw Wiredu hoped that if the media houses, especially the electronic media allocated at least 30 minutes for solely educating residents on sanitation, it would enable the sanitation and Environmental health officers, members on Sanitation Sub-committee and other stakeholders to reach out to majority of the people in the Kumasi metropolis From Ernest Best Anane, Kumasi 18.05.2017 LISTEN President Akufo-Addo says his government has begun fulfilling the promises made to Ghanaians in the run-up to the December 2016 elections and that sooner than later, Ghanaians will be witnesses to the immense benefits of the realisation of the pledges made to them. President Akufo-Addo indicated that he did not make the promises to win votes, as his political opponents sought to portray, but made them to save the future of our country. I have said to the Ghanaian people that it is my intention that all these critical commitments are upheld. Addressing the Ghanaian Community in Dakar, on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, on the second day of his 3-day visit to Senegal, the President was confident that: With correct and honest leadership, we can get to where all of us want to get to. I am confident of the path we are on. The path of returning Ghana to progress and prosperity, he indicated, has begun with the revival of the Ghanaian economy. With the majority of jobs in Ghana created by the private sector, the President indicated that, if the private sector does not have the strength to be able to operate and grow, it becomes difficult to create jobs. So our attitude has been that, let us do whatever we can to strengthen the private sector in Ghana to work and create jobs, especially for our young people in Ghana. To this end, President Akufo-Addo noted that the raft of tax cuts and incentives introduced to stimulate the growth of the private sector has resulted in $1 billion of revenue taken away from the exchequer, so private sector operatives use that money to grow their businesses and create jobs for the youth. The Free Senior High School Policy, described by President Akufo-Addo as my obsession, is on its way to being fulfilled, indicating that his government will fund the cost of public Senior High Schools for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards. With the restoration of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) being a major campaign pledge, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government has found it necessary to find the money to save the scheme from collapse. The NHIS was collapsing because it owed so much to the providers and a lot of the providers were insisting on 'cash and carry'. We don't want to go back to 'cash and carry'. We have begun to claw back the arrears and began to pay the service providers. So in the months ahead of us, we are going to see the full recovery of the NHIS, he assured. Touching on the agricultural sector, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that the programme for 'Planting for Food and Jobs', launched in Goaso a month ago, is the answer to the twin-problem of the migration of youth to city centres, in search of non-existent jobs, as well as an end to the disgraceful spectacle of Ghana importing food stuffs from neighbouring countries. Planting for Food and Jobs, the President explained, will be anchored on the pillars that will transform the Ghanaian agriculture; the provision of improved seeds, the supply of fertilizers and the provision of dedicated extension services. Assuring that all the necessary measures have been put in place to guarantee the success of the programme, President Akufo-Addo indicated that to ensure that fertilizers are readily available to the farmer at affordable prices, government has reduced the prices by 50%. Additionally, with a looming shortage of agricultural extension officers in the next two to three years, and largely as a result of the previous NDC administration's decision not to employ any of the 3,200 graduates from the country's 5 Colleges of Agriculture between 2011 and 2015, President Akufo-Addo revealed that his government has, in the last 3 months, employed 1,200 of these graduates. He assured further that: In 2018, we will employ 2,000 more extension officers, with the sole pledge of employing more graduates from our Colleges of Agriculture in the subsequent years. On the commitments made to protect the public purse, President Akufo-Addo stressed that his government is bringing back competitive tendering for all transactions in the public sector. Sole sourcing, with one or two people sitting in a room and agreeing on things, is over. We are not going to do that again in Ghana. We are going to make sure that the competitive basis for doing things is restored. He concluded by stating that: We are determined to turn round the fortunes of Ghana. Ghana should not be a poor nation. We are not a poor nation. I refuse the description of Ghana as a poor country. We are a rich nation, and we will make sure that the wealth of the country is apparent in the lives of its people. 18.05.2017 LISTEN The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) chapter of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASSAG) last Friday defied a court injunction and swore in newly-elected executives into office. On the night of Friday 12 May, 2017, embattled GRASSAG executives refused to be restrained by the court, following electoral malpractices and inaugurated the newly elected executives at the KNUST Great Hall, where top ranking members of the university authorities witnessed the illegality. The nocturnal inauguration was fused into the swearing-in ceremonies of the KNUST Students Representative Council (SRC), local National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and the International Students Association (ISA) in the face of an interim injunction. A High Court order granted by Judge Beresford Acquah to Mr. Stephen Osei-Gyasi (Plaintiff), intercepted by The Chronicle read: I hereby order that the EC and Kusi Boakye be restrained from having any dealings with the swearing-in of the newly elected executives of GRASSAG-KNUST, either by the defendants /respondents, their privies, agents, workmen, etc, pending the determination of the suit. The ten-day injunction was issued on May 4, 2017, but authorities at KNUST have ignored the high court order by his Lordship Bereford Acquah and sworn the elected officers into office. The Kumasi High Court placed a ten-day interim injunction on the Electoral Commission and out-going KNUST-GRASSAG president, Kusi-Boakye, over electoral malpractices, hampering the induction of newly elected executives ,who were elected on April 7 and 8, 2017. In a suit, Stephen Osei-Gyasi versus the Electoral Commission (EC), the former, who happens to be the campaign manager of Mr. Cephas Bayor, who contested in the just ended KNUST- GRASSAG elections, prayed the court that the composition of the vetting committee was skewed, in that, the senate speaker and GRASSAG Student Representative Council vice president forced their way into the vetting committee, even though they were not supposed to be on the said committee. In the face of the questions about legality of the vetting constitution, KNUST-GRASSAG went ahead and voted for Mr. Osei-Gyasi, though his (plaintiff) counsel, Maxwell Bosea, complained to the court that during the election, most of the students could not vote, because the computer which was used to conduct the polls in some areas were faulty, which disenfranchise some of the students. According to counsel Bosea, his client had exhausted all the local legal channels on the KNUST campus, but his grievances were not heard, hence they dragged the issue to court for redress. The court consequently granted an order for interim injunction, thus -Ihereby order that the EC and Kusi Boakye be restrained from having any dealings with the swearing-in of the newly elected executives of GRASSAG-KNUST, either by the defendants/respondents, their privies, agents, workmen etc, pending the determination of the suit. In a telephone interaction with the head of communication at KNUST, Mr. Kwame Yeboah Jnr, he confirmed to the paper that newly-elected KNUST GRASSAG executives have been sworn into office. According him, GRASSAG held an election and some groups raised issues about the electoral process, but their petition did not reach the appropriate office for inquiry, adding that the issue is in court and he cannot delve into it. The university official noted that even though the dean of students and the office of the Vice Chancellor were not served, he confirmed to The Chronicle that indeed some KNUST GRASSAG executives were served with the injunction. From Richard Owusu-Akyaw, Kumasi 18.05.2017 LISTEN The government has distanced itself from a decision by a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi to release eight Delta Force members who were standing trial for some 'unlawful' acts they committed. According to the government, it did not authorise the decision to drop the charges against the members of Delta Force, a pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group. A statement issued by the Information Ministry, indicated that the Attorney General's Department was investigating the circumstances under which the Principal State Attorney took that decision. Preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse, even to the Director of Public Prosecution, and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature, the statement noted. The eight members of the Delta Force were standing trial for allegedly storming the court premises earlier this year to free 13 of their colleagues. The 13 were standing trial for destroying properties at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, and assaulting the Regional Security Coordinator, because they were against his appointment. Yesterday, a Kumasi Circuit Court, presided over by Her Honour Patricia Amponsah, was compelled to release the accused persons and dismiss the case. The Prosecutor is reported to have said it had instructions from the Attorney General, Ms Gloria Akuffo, to drop the charges against the accused persons, because they had insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information, in a statement, said the decision of the State Attorney was taken on the Prosecutor's own accord, without recourse to higher authority, adding that an investigation had been launched into the matter. The government, through the Information Ministry, had since given the assurance of its commitment to ensure that the rule of law was applied at all times. While the department awaits the full results of this investigation, we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule of law is applied at all times, and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute, will be sanctioned, and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic, the statement concluded. By Maxwell Ofori 18.05.2017 LISTEN Please Note: The first full paragraph on Column 5 of my article, The Beauty and the Bugri on page 14 of the Friday May 12, 2017 edition of The Chronicle should have read: But, here again, Otiko should have informed the Regional Chairman all the same that she was coming into the region for an official visit, however. By the letter, no one can blame Otiko for not informing the Regional Chairman before going into the region. Today's article reads: A while ago, Ghanaians woke up to the news that one of the beloved daughters of our governess-general, H.E Sun Baohong, claims she has video coverage of what some of our high and mighty do behind closed doors, and beneath the sheets with some of the members of the fair sex from the nation of our new colonial masters. So far, we have not heard Governess Sun Baohong issue any statement on this. The last time she spoke, she decreed that we should never, in our lives, make any bad statement about her China and Chinese people; probably the revisit of False Report Act of the first republic. Beautiful Asia Huang, popularly called Aisha, was alleged to have hand-picked 70,000 Chinese virgins and brought them down to Ghana to be catalysts in the illegal gold mining sector. All they have to do is to warm the bellies of otherwise sexual pensioners, and wake up their libidos so that they can perform like young stags. The idea is for her to hold a trump card that could stop any move by any law-abiding officer of the state, who wants to halt her illegal mining. Certainly, with the message that the boss, the senior man himself, has been caught on video panting and drilling beneath the sheet like some equipment drilling oil, any attempts to halt her criminal business will be terminated, even without orders coming from above. Then, suddenly, sex tapes started flying across the scene, with new pedigree Ghanaian porn stars being advertised, with such video were accompanying names of some high and mighty. One of the first to drop down was allegedly a top member of Parliament (MP) and an ex-minister. The problem was that his face was blurred, while his Chinese partner had her face very clear and sharp. The only sharp shot of this man was a shot taken of the back of head. It raises some doubts how his face was blurred in one shot, and his back was very clear in another. The pictures did not look like photo-shop, only that when it mattered most, the villain's face was blurred. I took the trouble to advise people not to share, but delete. And a friend reminded me of how rubbish I could sound for suggesting that. The last time I felt highly insulted, so when I meant good, was when my dear old father looked at me in anger one day, and said to me, You are incorrigible. A secondary form four student, who never bothered about reading story books, I took the word to a complement and felt proud that I was called incorrigible, until a year later when something prompted me to check the meaning. I felt sad and highly insulted about what my dear old daddy thought of me. Today, a bosom friend and I always laugh over this. Now, if you cannot surely identify the actors and actresses on stage, and someone who means well advices against propagating the issue and you think it is rubbish talk, then you have my sympathy. At any rate, even if it is true that these powerful politicians did what they were said to have done, I feel that we need not put too much blame on them, but rather look at Asia Huang and hang everything on her. May I remind us all that, in Ghana, morality does not place center stage in determining the competence of an office holder. But why do we delight in assisting this nation to go down whenever we find some fault in high places? I am not advocating for us to hush-hush when something bad happens within the arms of government. I am only suggesting that we find ways of dealing with such matters behind closed doors first, and if the desired effect is not got, then we can go public. The other day, it came to light that some justices of the courts compromised their oath and sold justice for a pittance, in fact, it was not even about the highest bidder, it was about anything will do. The news alone would have shaken the judiciary, and I was hoping that the issue will be dealt with behind closed doors, so that the overall integrity of our judicial system will not be dented. However, there was a public premiere of the compiled video clips of judges negotiating for a couple of goats and a few cedis put in white envelopes. The result was that, ever since, when you see a judge sitting on a case and he starts saying things which are not too clear to you, you immediately start wondering whether his goat pen at home had not got new inmates. Or whether he is now able to fill his tank and drive around without the petrol gauge reading dangerously low. Looking at the bigger picture, we have international bodies and other nations mocking us for having a compromised judiciary. And investors will be wondering whether it will be worth it investing in Ghana, with a weak and corrupted judiciary that can easily be compromised. And next time you see a foreign investor seriously negotiating for a couple of goats, you are not too sure whether he will be presenting them to some chief for a piece of land, or for a judge to win a case in court. This is how Ghana has gone low. Human-trafficking is an international crime which ranks next to drug trafficking as crimes against humanity. Humans, mostly women and girls, are trafficked from one place to the other for sex trade. And falsifying your intentions of visiting a country on your immigration card is, in itself, a crime. Keeping a brothel or a sex haven and operating prostitution is, in itself, a crime, I believe, and of course that makes one a pimp, which is an unlawful profession. Not declaring your profit from work that you do, so that you pay the appropriate taxes, is a crime called tax evasion, and it is a punishable offence. Using all means within your means to lure someone to commit a crime is a crime called entrapment. And if you use this evidence as a trump card to have charges dropped against you for your own wrongful acts, or you expose the evidence, it is called blackmail, and is, in itself, a crime. We have people just walking into our country and luring our chiefs, elders, high and mighty, politicians, security capos and what have you, to do anything they want, and instead of exposing these foreigners, we take delight in exposing our own, who are just exercising their waists under strong and irresistible coercion. In the Ghanaian culture, they have not erred, so long as the women they engaged and interacted with in bed are not married. The only problems they will have include not to be trusted by their wives and in-laws. Church members will also hold them in high suspicion, to the extent that girls will be warned to stay clear of them. Which lady will like to joke with men who have been to the Mysterious East and back, and known everything in the deep dark forests there? Unless that girl in question has travelled far before. From what is happening in Ghana, in view of the fact that we have and are willfully trading our heritage for a pittance, the emphasis must be more on driving out foreigners who have left their countries, which enjoy lush vegetation and pure water bodies, to come here and make a mess of our arable lands and waters. Let us deal with them first, before we turn to our own and ask them to recite the national pledge, with emphasis onI Promise To Hold In High Esteem Our Heritage Won For Us Through The Blood And Toils Of Our Fathers then we can deal with them as we deem fit. Seriously, if their fathers used their blood and toils to obtain and preserve heritage for us, then why should these men toil in bed to get their blood mixed with some bastard of a foreign whore? Is that in order? To take our people on first is a show of weakness, and indicates that we have a fear of foreign villains. Hon. Daniel Dugan 18.05.2017 LISTEN A private legal practitioner and member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba has accused state prosecutors of shielding evidence that could lead to successful prosecution discharged Delta Force members. What has happened is a tacit admission that the presidency, New Patriotic Party (NPP) together with the Attorney General support Delta Force supports their criminal activities The State has dropped charges against the eight members of NPPs vigilante group; Delta Force who were standing trial for their alleged role to aide thirteen of their members from prisons custody. The case was called for hearing but police persecutor on Wednesday told the court upon advice from the Attorney General, the state prefers dropping the charges citing lack of evidence to continue to prosecution. The Attorney General should have contacted the judge attacked on their first appearance in court. They can talk to the courts clerk, those who were in the court room to witness proceedings and the journalists around at the time for some evidence if they claim they dont exist Lawyer Amaliba suggested. While acknowledging that the Attorney General can discontinue the case by filling Nolle Prosequi, he claims the Attorney General did a poor job to gather enough evidence. He stated the decision taken by the Attorney General is a bad precedent which can entice other NPP members in near future to engage in criminality demanding that all 8 be re-arrested and arraigned before the court to face the full rigors of their action to serve as a deterrent to others. Meanwhile, Governance expert, Prof. Emmanuel Asiamah has slammed government for discountinuing the trial. Governance expert, Professor Emmanuel Asiamah has questioned the powers of the Attorney General to drop charges against the eight members of Delta Force said to have aided the escape of thirteen of their members from prison custody. I know for sure that the constitution gives the Attorney General the power to file what is called Nolle Prosequi he pointed out in radio interview. Even though the Attorney General has power to discontinue cases but it is not every case especially high profile case likes assault. I will rather prefer it will be Mr. George Agyei who will come out and say I am not continuing the case. The President/Executive Director of Institute of Certified Business Analysts & Consultants (ICBAC) clarified The eight members of the Delta Force vigilante group were standing trial for allegedly conspiring to free their colleagues who were standing trial for assaulting Mr. George Agyei, the Ashanti Regional security coordinator. The case was called Wednesday 17,2017 but the Principal State Attorney Marie Louise-Simmons told the court the state is no more interested in perusing the charges against the accused because their docket lacks evidence. But Prof. Emmanuel Asiamah stated that it is bad precedence set by the Attorney General claiming there is no evidence for successful prosecution to continue the case. For the Attorney General to come and say there is no evidence or they do not have interest is quite unfortunate. I know the case could have travelled to an end justices will prevail, he stated on Radio Ghana. He said the state should have gathered evidence from the media to pursue to the case if they claim to they do not have it and that, the court will finally decide. President Akufo-Addo, has indicated his preparedness to share the experiences Ghana has gained in the management of its oil and gas resources, since its discovery in 2007, as well as the measures taken to ensure the prudent and effective use of the proceeds from their sale with Senegal. According to President Akufo-Addo: With the recent discovery of oil and gas in Senegal in commercial quantities, and with our experiences, I believe Ghana is well-equipped to share with you the dos and don'ts in the effective management of oil and gas revenues. President Akufo-Addo's statement was in response to the request put forward by the President of Senegal, His Excellency Macky Sall, at a meeting held at the Presidential Palace, on Tuesday, 16th May 2017, to discuss possible areas of co-operation between the two countries. The production of oil and gas, and the revenues from the sale thereof, President Akufo-Addo explained, present the two countries with the perfect opportunity to transform the structure of their respective economies, from raw material producing and exporting ones to industrialised, value-added economies. To this end, the two countries have resolved to create the necessary legal framework for the conduct of our bilateral co-operation in this regard, with Senegal soon to send a team to study Ghana's nascent oil and gas industry and adopt best practices in the management of Senegal's oil and gas resources. Ghana, President Akufo-Addo told his Senegalese counterpart, is also seeking to deepen bilateral co-operation with Senegal in the areas of agriculture, particularly in the horticultural and fisheries sector, tourism, defence, trade, investment, and energy, amongst others. In the area of education, I believe that strengthening of co-operation between our two countries, especially in the learning of English and French languages by our youth, would be of immense benefit to us, as we seek to make the process of integration of West Africa real. To this end, my government intends to make the learning of the French language compulsory from basic to Senior High School level, he said. President Akufo-Addo continued, Co-operation with Senegal in the training of French teachers would be helpful in ensuring the success of this policy. By the same token, I am keen to revive the yearly linguistic programme between the two countries which will enable Ghanaian students undertake proficiency courses in French at the famous Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, in Dakar. Reiterating his commitment to the ECOWAS project, President Akufo-Addo stressed the commitment of his government towards strengthening the ECOWAS Community. With West Africa's population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years, President Akufo-Addo indicated that there are immense opportunities to bring prosperity to West Africa, with hard work, enterprise and creativity. The time for West African integration is now. Ghana and Senegal should be at the forefront of the process that will convert ECOWAS into a true regional market. A working, common regional market in ECOWAS has to be a very fundamental objective of all of our peoples and governments in the region, he said. Touching on the situation in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, President Akufo-Addo maintained that peace and stability in the region are essential to the viability of the ECOWAS market. To that extent, all of us in the region are anxious to see the unfortunate events of the last few days in Cote d'Ivoire come to a rapid conclusion so that peace, law and order can be guaranteed in that key member state of ECOWAS. We must all encourage and support the initiatives President Alassane Ouattara is taking to find a satisfactory conclusion to the crisis, to the mutual benefit of all. We pray for God's guidance for him and all the actors in the Ivorian situation, he added. President Akufo-Addo commended President Macky Sall for the strong leadership he has shown, since assuming the reins of office in Senegal, which has led to that country becoming the second fastest growing economy in West Africa, having grown at 6.6% in 2016, behind Cote d'Ivoire, and the fourth fastest in sub-Saharan Africa. Under your leadership, Mr. President, the agricultural, industrial and services sectors of the Senegalese economy have witnessed significant growths. Reforms and public investment under the Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE), together with your strong leadership, account for this. Long may it continue!! Perforce, I must applaud you for the step you have taken to establish the industrial enclave at Diamniadio, which you are going to show me this afternoon, and the ultra-modern tram system, the first in West Africa, to link Dakar to the industrial enclave. The success of these undertakings can only enhance the strength of the Senegalese economy, President Akufo-Addo added. Juaben (Ash), May 18, GNA - Madam Beatrice Serwaah Derchie has been endorsed by the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Assembly as the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE). Sixty-six (66) of the members, representing 97.5 per cent, voted yes for her while two people said they opposed her nomination. Madam Derchie thanked the assembly for the opportunity and pledged to work hard to accelerate the development of the municipality. Her confirmation was, however, not without drama and this has left the governing party in the area, badly bruised and limping. All government appointees of the assembly, including the party's secretary, organizer, women's organizer, and youth organizer, were replaced 24 hours to the election, which was supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC). Such was the heat, that, the venue of the emergency meeting to decide the fate of the appointee had to be moved from the municipal capital, Ejisu to Juaben. Ms. Sandra Boateng, a party foot soldier, who claimed she was chased out of a house with a cutlass at Bomfa where she had gone together with some other ladies on a door-to-door campaign, during last year's election, spoke of her fear to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that 'things are only going to get messy and stormy'. 'There are deep divisions and resentment. Many people feel wounded and hurt. I cannot foresee the party's officials lending their support to the appointee and cooperating with her.' GNA By Boakye-Baafi, GNA 18.05.2017 LISTEN Accra May 18, GNA - A Financial analyst, who allegedly took $360,650 under the pretext of securing importers' Letters of Credit (LC), but failed, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court. James Aborgah charged with defrauding by false pretences, has however, pleaded not guilty. The Court, presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, admitted Aborgah to bail in the sum of 1.2 million cedis with three sureties to reappear on May 31. Prosecuting, Chief Superintendent of Police Duuti Tuaruka told the Court that the complainant, Mr Agyare Samuel Somuah, was a businessman residing in Accra. The accused person is the Chief Executive Officer of Liquidity Limited located at Adabraka. The Prosecution said within the month of August last year, the complainant had a business deal to import 2.5 metric tonnes of refined sugar from Brazil to Ghana, but lacked the financial backing to import that quantity of sugar. In desperation, he said, the complainant was directed to one Rexford Amankwah to contact the accused person to assist him get Letters of Credit together with collateral to the tune of 3,937,500 dollars at his liquidity investment office at Adabraka. On August 11 last year, Prosecution said, the complainant in the company of his business partner, Kweku Adjei and Rexford Amankwah, met in the accused person's office. Aborgah assured them that he could assist the complainant to obtain the Letters of Credit with the face value of 3,937,500 dollars as collateral to enable him to import the refined sugar from Brazil to Ghana within two weeks after the complainant had paid a facility processing fee of $360,650. To facilitate the payment, Aborgah gave the complainant his Unibank account at the Makola Branch to effect payment. The complainant, the Prosecutor said, became convinced and paid the fee into Aborgah's account. However, Chief Supt. Tuaruka said Aborgah after collecting the money, failed to provide the Letters of Credit but began giving excuses. Also, prosecution said, Aborgah failed to refund the facility processing fee to the complainant. On May 3, this year, a report was made to the Police and Aborgah was nabbed. GNA By Joyce Danso, GNA 18.05.2017 LISTEN Kumasi, May 18, GNA - The KMA Circuit Court has adjourned the case involving 13 members of a group calling itself 'the Delta Force', and reported to be aligned with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), to June 15. This was at the request of the prosecutor, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Asumadu Okyere-Darko. He informed the court when the case came up for hearing on Thursday, that the docket had been sent to the Attorney General for study and subsequent direction. Salu Issaka, Kofi Kyei, Hamza Mohammed, Kwabena Owusu, Akwasi Owusu, Abubakar Saddiq, Yussif Saliu, Kwadwo Bamba, Salu Yussif, Kwaku Awotwi, Kwadwo Boadu, Jamil Issah and Awal Sadat Abubakar, are standing trial for conspiracy to commit assault of a public officer and assault. They have additionally been charged with causing unlawful damage and preventing a public officer from executing his duty. All of them have pleaded not guilty and are each on GHE10,000.00 bail with two sureties to be justified. They have also been reporting to the police once in every week. The accused persons are alleged to have assaulted the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Mr. George Adjei in his office, and damaged some office equipment, on March 23. One of the lawyers defending them, Mr. Matthew Appiah, who spoke to the journalists after the trial judge, Mrs. Mary Nsenkyire, announced the adjournment, said they were ready for the case. GNA By Gifty Amofa, GNA 17 May, 2017---Airtel Ghana, the Smartphone Network, and Coderdojo, the global organisation that focuses on building networks of free computer programming clubs, have teamed up to shape the minds and empower young coders and programmers in Ghana to develop technical and practical skills in line with Airtel Ghanas commitment to empower young people through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The partnership enables pupils of La Wireless Cluster of Schools and its environs to be trained in coding and programming by volunteers from Airtel Ghana and Coderdojo. The second coding session, as part of this initiative, was held last Saturday attracting over 40 pupils from the La Wireless Cluster of Schools and its environs. Airtel Ghana and Coderdojo are focused on empowering young coders and programmers to use the knowledge and practical skills garnered to write codes, develop Apps and programmes that solve practical every day challenges in society. The initiative is also aimed at exposing young people to coding and programming at an early age to ensure they are grounded and well position to be global tech leaders and innovators in the future. The coding and programming clubs (Dojos) provide fun, free and open learning environments where young people can meet others with similar interests, develop skills and build creative projects of their own. Commenting on the initiative, Airtels Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Hannah Agbozo said, We are thrilled to partner with Coderdojo to make available this globally recognised platform to enable our young people learn, create and collaborate. At Airtel, we believe in unleashing the potential of young people through and we have consistently done so through our community investment initiatives such as the School Adoption programme and Evolve with STEM initiative. Coding and programming is at the heart of digital innovation and creativity. We want to empower these young minds with the knowledge and practical skills to be global technology leaders of the future. Through this initiative we are providing the platform for students to connect, collaborate and create technological solutions that addresses the challenges their communities face. Technology is a driver of innovation and development. It is an enabler and as we empower our young people through initiatives such as this, we put them on a sound footing to lead the development agenda for our continent. Our gratitude goes to Coderdojo for partnering us to impact the young people in this country. She concluded. Samuel Polley, Country representative of Coderdojo commended Airtel Ghana for partnering with Coderdojo to reach out to pupils in La Wireless and its environs. He was optimistic that the initiative will be extended to other communities to benefit students nationwide. Airtel Ghana continues to demonstrate commitment towards empowering people through its impactful CSR initiatives such as the School Adoption Programme and the Evolve with STEM initiative. About Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 372 million customers across its operations at the end of March 2017. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com About Airtel in Africa Airtel is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all. Airtel has 17 operations in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel International is a Bharti Airtel company. For more information, please visit www.airtel.com , or like the Airtel Ghana Facebook page via www.facebook.com/airtelgh or follow us on Twitter via the handle @airtelghana. James Kwabena Bomfeh used to be one of my top admirers for the principled stance he took on national issues. But I cannot say so now. Initially, I had thought, erroneously that he was out for a change. Little did I know that he was not a genuine patriot, but a snake under green grass! Yes, people like Kwabena Bomfeh are a disappointment and betrayal to our genuine aspirations. His bellicose attitude against Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP began to manifest itself just before the December, 2016 Elections. He has since gained notoriety as a ranting ant. In all sincerity, I can rightly say he is cut in the mould of the well-known CIA agent in Ghana. But who is this notorious character, one may ask? Well, do you remember the Wilkileaks tapes that were made public just before the December, 2008 General Elections? Here was this massa mantra of a man who secretly went to the U.S. Embassy in Accra to fabricate lies about a decent and patriotic Ghanaian that God has prepared to put the destiny of this great nation into his hands. But the fact that King Midas had asses ears could not be hidden for long. And so it was with the greatest schemer and liar of all time - My good old friend, Kwesi Pratt of massas mantra. There is no other word I can use to describe the two buddies other than those I have used. The two are the very embodiment of the devil incarnate, for their notoriety knows no bounds. But between Kwabena Bomfeh and my good old friend, Massa Kwesi Pratt, I cannot say which of them is the worst culprit is. I leave that decision to you. Kwabena Bomfehs true colours began to manifest themselves few months to the December, 2016 Tsunami which swept away the last vestiges of the corrupt, rudderless and Mephistophelean Nefarious Destructive Cancers administration, led by confused and tribalistic, John Dramani Mahama. At that time, Current President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo became the focal point of Kwabena Bomfehs attack. Whether the matter that was being discussed had anything to do with Nana Akufo Addo or the NPP, the self-appointed destroyer of the NPP would attack Nana Akufo Addo personality. I did not understand him then, and I still dont. In one of my history lessons I learnt about Ancient Rome which then had Carthage as one of its vassal states. There was an old senator, Cato by name. No matter which topic was being discussed, anytime he had an opportunity to make a contribution, he would always end his speech with the words: Cartago delenda est, meaning Carthage must be destroyed. Now, what is Kabila saying here? He is alleging that the country is a secular state and so cannot use state funds to build a Cathedral for the Christian Community. Well, he is entitled to his own myopic idea. No doubt at all since the constitution of the land guarantees him that. But who is contesting the fact that Ghana is a secular state? None! What then is Kabilas unnecessary gaffe here? All that the State is doing is to provide land for the project. Chikenah! The various Denominations in the Christian Community are contributing money to put up the Cathedral. But be as it may be, I wish Kabila had not ventured into an area he is not conversant with and which has the propensity of inflaming religious tension in the country. I wish he would either remove or adjust his lenses and reason as a patriotic Ghanaian. Did he ascertain the facts before coming to the conclusion that the Cathedral is being funded from state coffers? Would he in all sincerity answer these posers? Is the Presidents well-being not the responsibility of the State? Does that not include his mental, physical as well as spiritual well-being? How can we cater for his Physical health but deny responsibility for his spiritual well-being? Late President Professor John Evans Atta Mills decided he would not tolerate the pouring of libation at State functions and that was that. Kabila kept quiet in those days. Why did he not protest against the offering of Christian and Islamic prayers at State Functions then? When did he realize the Country is a secular state? If we were to go by his line of argument, it follows then that neither Christian nor Islamic prayers could also be offered at State functions. You see how hollow and untenable his argument is. Do traditionalists not have a stake in the affairs of the country? Did anybody complain when late President Mills issued his fatwa? None, not even the traditionalists who were affected by the edict or fatwa raised a voice! But we are a considerate and fair-minded people. Late President Mills established a Chaplaincy at the Castle which then served as both his official residence and the Seat of Power. The State bore all the expenses incurred during the period then Chaplaincy was in existence. Revered men of God were sponsored or seconded to The Castle to attend to the spiritual needs of the then Number One Citizen. In all those instances, Kabila kept mute. But now, he has regained his voice. Today, my good old friend and brother, Kwabena Bomfeh, aka Kabila is raving, raging and ranting like an ant at any decision taken by the Presidency. Ghanaians need to ensure that the Physical, mental and the Spiritual well-being of our President as well as his Vice are well-taken care of. It was for that reason Ghanaians spent such horrendous amount of money to ensure that late President Mills regained his health. Unfortunately, some unpatriotic elements at the Presidency made such a wish impossible. It is now crystal clear that any positive point to be scored by frustrating the desperate and mischievous antics of Kabila will be highly commendable. Kabila has constituted himself into a serial critic who has made it his mantra to make strong and caustic remarks about Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and his administration. We have not forgotten so soon the desperate attempts to defend the erroneous notion that the Ghanaian Nation has only one Founder, not Founders. This was after Current President had called for a debate on the matter. Ghanaians are now wide awake and will not allow what happened to late President Mills to happen to Nana Addo. If your mother has counseled you, we have equally received same from our mothers. (se wo maame atu wo fo a, yenso, yen maame atu yen fo). Ghanaians would not fold their arms and allow evil manipulators to take President Nana Akufo Addo down the same precipice they took Mills through en route to Golgotha. We were all in this country when we were told by Nii Lante Vanderpuye, MP for Odododiodoo and avowed hater of the Akan race that a juju ring was made for late President Professor Atta Mills to counteract the evil effects after late President Mills shook hands with a prominent Chief from the Western Region? I, Citizen Daniel Danquah Damptey, who appointed himself Special Aide to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, when he was the Presidential Candidate of the NPP will defend to the last atom of my energy and everything within me to ensure that the mental, physical as well as the Spiritual well-being of the President are guaranteed. Let me reiterate the fact that any attempt to belittle our charismatic President and Gods Own Elect will not be tolerated by the down-trodden citizens in the country. In this wise, I appeal to all patriotic Ghana to come together to frustrate sinister plots by all those who have a predilection for mischief making against the President. And this is exactly what I am doing. Would you join me in this crusade? In conclusion, I am happy that James Kwabena Bomfe, aka Kabila has gone to court in pursuance of his evil mantra of punching holes in any policy put in place by Akufo Addos NPP Administration. The Supreme Court does not consist of robots. It comprises men and women of integrity. The building of a Cathedral by the Christian Community is not against the tenets of the Constitution. This is a task that must be accomplished. On this we stand! Daniel Danquah Damptey ([email protected]) 0243715297. 18.05.2017 LISTEN The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has lashed out at the Attorney-General, Justice Gloria Akuffo, for failing to produce evidence to prosecute eight members of the Delta Force, a vigilante group linked to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). He said the Attorney-General's deliberate action to curtail the trial of the eight would lead to gross lawlessness, and consequently called for urgent corrective measures to haul the suspects back to court to uphold rule of law. The eight members of the Delta Force were standing trial for allegedly storming a Kumasi Circuit Court on April 6, this year, to free 13 of their members, who were standing trial for vandalising property at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, and assaulting the Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei, because they were against his appointment by President Akufo-Addo. The group claimed that Mr. Agyei was an opportunist, and, therefore, wanted President Akufo-Addo to appoint their leader, who was instrumental in the NPPs 2016 elections campaign, and its subsequent victory. The eight were, therefore, charged with disturbing a court session, for resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 persons who were in lawful custody. At a court hearing in Kumasi, yesterday, the case against the eight was dismissed due to the absence of evidence. Following this, the Minority caucus of Parliament, led by Haruna Iddrisu, yesterday, at a news conference at Parliament House, described the acquittal of the eight as a bizarre legal development in the country. He said the Attorney-Generals refusal to pursue criminal contempt charges against the Delta Force members was a slap in the face of the administration of justice, the rule of law and the judiciary in Ghana. Building his argument, Mr. Iddrisu said the NPP government has claimed to be a devotee of the rule of law, but the Attorney-Generals decision to curtail [the] trial for want of evidence is a travesty of justice and a lack of respect for the judiciary. The Executive, he went on, has a duty to defend the tenets of the Constitution and, in particular, demonstrate in conduct and action its respect for the other arms of government, particularly, the Judiciary. We demand, therefore, that this cancerous exercise of discretion be reversed immediately, and the accused re-arraigned before court without any further hesitation, otherwise justice delivery will suffer a downward spiral with this uninformed action. Haruna Iddrisu also referred the Attorney-General to Facebook and other social media blocs, where there is enough evidence to aid the State Prosecutor re-arrest and prosecute the Delta eight. We are of the view that the government is pandering to partisan pressures to the detriment of justice, and to upholding the independence of the Judiciary. Article 296(a) & (b) of the 1992 Constitution circumscribes the exercise of discretion as follows: Where in this Constitution or in any other law discretionary power is vested in any person or authority a) that discretionary power shall be deemed to imply a duty to be fair and candid; By Maxwell Ofori & Inusa Musah Police in Dzodze in the Volta Region have arrested their 28-year old Police Constable for allegedly defiling a 13- old girl. The suspect Constable Kennedy Sarfo, a police officer stationed at Dzodze in the Ketu North District allegedly defiled the girl in his room. An anonymous source in the town who disclosed the incident to Citi News said the victim who is a primary five pupil was asked by an errand boy of the police officer on 7th May to accompany him to the officer's room. On reaching there, the errand boy who is also a commercial motor rider in town let off; leaving the victim and the suspect alone in the room. The officer then at a gunpoint allegedly forced the young girl into having sex with him. Constable Sarfo after the act detained the victim is his room till the next day and threatened to kill her if she reported her ordeal to anyone. The source said the victim was seen bleeding and the parents got wind of the issue and confronted the officer who then pleaded that the issue be settled at family level. The suspect according to the source gave GHC4O to the parents of the victim and had since refused to pick his calls although the victim's health was deteriorating. The situation compelled the parents to send the victim to the hospital and subsequently reported the case to his superiors. The Ketu North Police Commander DSP Robert Lawson who confirmed the incident Citi News said the suspect has been arrested while the case is being investigated. By: King Norbet Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana National Youth Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Samuel Awuku say it will be 'a waste of time and resources' should the Attorney General decide to continue investigations eight members of the party's militant group, Delta Force standing trial for raiding a court in Kumasi. In his view, it will be difficult for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the suspects were indeed the ones who raided the court. Mr. Awuku comment is in reaction to the Attorney General's decision to investigate reasons adduced by the Principal State Attorney in Kumasi for dropping criminal charges against eight pro-NPP Delta Force members. The eight suspects were arrested and charged with disturbing a court session, for resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 persons who were in lawful custody. But at a court hearing last Wednesday, the state dropped the charges for lack of evidence. A move that has been widely condemned by sections of the public including the official opposition in parliament, the NDC and the government which says it is investigating the development. The no-evidence explanation has raised suspicions that the governing New Patriotic Party, which prides itself as a party of respect for the rule of law is condoning lawlessness. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by its Minority in Parliament is calling for the immediate arrest for proper prosecution. But on Asempa FM's Ekosii Sen programme Thursday, Sammy Awuku said they will not sacrifice innocent Delta 8 on the altar of cheap politics. He maintained that the eight people were not at the scene when the supposed court raid happened thus re-arresting them will amount to an infringement of the fundamental human rights. Let's not give innocent people a bad name, add political colour and hang them on the altar of politics he stressed. The NPP Youth leader said they are committed as a political party to hunt for the culprits who perpetrated such shameful act but the eight freed are innocent. It is better 10 guilty men go free than one innocent man being convicted wrongly. The onus lies with the police to prove their case he stated. Sammy Awuku, however, could not fathom why the opposition NDC are all of a sudden defending the judiciary when in fact they did worse while in government. The prosecution said they don't have evidence so if the NDC which is insisting the eight persons are re-arrested should provide evidence. -Adomonline Rome (AFP) - Some 2,300 migrants headed for Italy in 22 barely seaworthy vessels were rescued off the Libyan coast on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said. Coastguard and military vessels joined forces with others chartered by humanitarian organisations to come to the rescue of the migrants, who were packed into 10 wooden boats and 12 rubber dinghies. "About 2,300 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean today," the coastguard said in a statement. Prudence, a vessel chartered by medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres, picked up 770 people, many of them young children -- one a baby aged just six weeks, it said. SOS Mediterranee's and MSF's Aquarius vessel rescued 560 people and Phoenix, chartered by Maltese NGO Moas, hauled in another 360. Some 46,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year even before Thursday's drama, around a third up on the same period last year, according to the Italian interior ministry. At least 1,229 people have drowned making the perilous trip, according to the International Organization for Migration -- one death for every 39 persons rescued. The latest wave of people picked up comes as Italy beefs up security ahead of next week's G7 summit at Taormina in Sicily. The summit poses a challenge given that local authorities on the island have banned migrants from disembarking at Sicilian ports. Southern mainland ports or and those in the of Sardinia will instead take the strain. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaben Constituency Ama Pomaa Boateng welcomed home 81 Chibok girls who were kidnapped in April 2014 by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Ama Pomaa Boateng who is attending the 2017 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament of the Fourth Legislature in Abuja doubles as the Vice-Chair of the Gender, Women Empowerment & Social Protection Committee and ECOFEPA said she was blessed to have met them. The Committee, as well as the ECOFEPA members, joined her to make cash and in-kind donations to the girls who were released by Boko Haram last week. Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls were released after negotiations between the terrorist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, the office of Nigerian President Buhari said. A government official close to the negotiations told CNN the freed girls were in military custody in the town of Banki in northeast Nigeria. After their release, they were transferred to the capital, Abuja, where they had medical checks and reunited with their families. They are believed to be among the 276 girls, ages 16 to 18, forced from their beds by Boko Haram militants in the middle of the night in April 2014. The kidnapping from a boarding school in the town of Chibok sparked global outrage and the social media movement #BringBackOurGirls. In her address to the girls at an undisclosed location in Abuja, the MP reiterated the need for the girls to continue their education. She spoke of what a blessing it is for her to have met all the 82 girls, who were recently freed, personally. The Juabeng MP encouraged them the girls and their parents asking for support for them to deal with the terrible experience they have been through. Ms Boateng assured them the support of the ECOWAS encouraging the girls to go back to school, dream big and not let their experience define who they become. She pleaded for society to welcome them back and give them all the necessary support they need not stimatise them in any way. She also assured them of Ghanas support through various petitions to the Nigerian embassy in Ghana and encouraged the ECOWAS communities to make girl child education a priority. The MP offered to mentor and help them integrate into society She thanked all parents, Nigerian government, international communities, institutions and individuals who in their diverse ways supported for the release of the girls. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A recent attack targeting UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic was carried out with heavy weapons that have not been used in other outbreaks of fighting, a UN official said Thursday. Deputy UN envoy Diane Corner said the fighters used mortars and grenade-launchers in the May 13 assault in the town of Bangassou, which had until then mostly been spared from violence. The attack targeted a "MINUSCA base deliberately, in a major way, including using some fairly serious weaponry," Corner told reporters by videolink from Bangui. "It looks like someone has been financing this." Corner did not speculate as to who may have bankrolled the offensive, which left at least 115 people dead, including a Moroccan peacekeeper. Five other peacekeepers -- four Cambodians and a Moroccan -- died on May 8 when their convoy was ambushed not far from Bangassou, in the deadliest attack so far on the mission. Fighting erupted in two other towns -- Alindao and Bria -- that have left scores dead but those clashes were among factions of the Christian anti-Balaka coalition and of the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels. In Bangassou, the attack blamed on anti-Balaka rebels targeted the UN base before turning to Muslims in the southeast town, located near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. "This is of a different order of magnitude," said Corner, adding that it points to a "more sophisticated" planning. Control of resources in the area -- which is rich in diamonds, gold, coffee and cattle trading - may have played a role in fighting, she added. Hundreds of reinforcements were sent to Bangassou to restore calm, and Corner said the situation remained "extremely fragile." The United Nations has 10,000 troops and 2,000 people serving in its MINUSCA force in Central African Republic, which descended into bloody sectarian fighting after the 2013 overthrow of leader Francois Bozize. Paris (AFP) - President Emmanuel Macron on Friday visits conflict-torn Mali, where French troops have been fighting jihadists for four years, in his first official visit outside Europe after taking power. He will address French soldiers stationed in the city of Gao in Mali's deeply troubled north. The French base there has 1,600 soldiers -- the biggest outside the country. The troops are part of Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror operation whose mission is to target jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert. Set up in 2014, the operation comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed across five countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso. It operates Mirage 2000 fighter jets and drones for gathering intelligence. Macron will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of Armed Services Sylvie Goulard, as well as the head of the French development agency (AFD) Remy Rioux. Macron will hold talks with Malian counterpart Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on the fight against terrorism and the west African country's rocky path to normality since a 2015 peace deal. Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in March 2012, and these forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year. But jihadists continue to roam the country's north and centre, mounting attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces still stationed there. Germany is the biggest contributor to the UN force in Mali, or MINUSMA, which has been stationed there since July 2013 and has just over 12,000 military and police personnel on what is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. Sources in his entourage said 39-year-old Macron would seek to emphasise the need for closer European cooperation in the fight against jihadists, especially with EU heavyweight Germany. France wants a "new Franco-German impetus so that Europe plays a greater role in defence and security matters, especially in Africa and the Sahel," a source said. Macron has already discussed this on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first leader he met after taking office. Mark Twain, 1865 portrait, a rare image View Photos Angels Camp, CA As the first of well over 2,000 amphibious attendees of the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee get it off to a leaping start today, one can imagine the spirit of celebrated American author and humorist Mark Twain hovering over it all, chuckling incredulously. It is the perfect time to recall when, back in the Gold Rush days of 1865, Twain first published The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, a hilariously re-spun story that fabulously and famously ignited what would become for him a quite illustrious and remarkable career that effectively made him a rock star in his own time. More locals than not can proudly recount that the yarn was inspired by a barroom tale the author heard in an Angels Camp tavern during the 88 days he spent in the Mother Lode (still still known by his given name of Samuel Clemens), where Twain scholars say he found his voice. In turn, some 18 years after Twains passing in 1910, this proud note gave rise to a local event that, every second weekend in May, continues to celebrate his literary roots and the resilience of the rural city where, while mining for his lifes purpose Twain struck a lode that he turned into literary gold. ThenAnd Still Now In 1928, the City of Angels Camp was able to get a grant and have the streets pavedand decided to have a frog jump, Fair CEO Laurie Giannini recounts. In the 30s, [the Jump] merged with the Calaveras County Fair and the two events became one and it really is our hook and makes us unique and really brings people to the fairgrounds. Although no one has ever kept an official crowd count from year to year, she estimates have ranged around 35,000, well over eight times the population of Angels Camp, which 2010 census figures counted at 3,835. One of the downtown areas biggest draws continues to be the sidewalks themselves, inset with bronze plaques memorializing the overall winning frog jump winner each year; among these is that of the world record setting Rosie the Ribiter, that in 1986 jumped 21 feet, five and three-quarter inches. Aspiring frog jockeys this weekend are no doubt earnestly hoping to beat that mark, surely for the boasting rights, towering trophy and custom belt buckle, if not the $5,000 cash payout that accompanies it. More Twain Material From His 88 Days Coming As tied as Twain is to the Mother Lode, more tales and writings that involve or are inspired by the area are about to be brought to public light over 150 years after he began chronicling. In fact, a hilarious tale of two Tuolumne County miners will be among a forthcoming collection of Mark Twains San Francisco Letters to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and other California Newspapers, 1865-1866. The editors of the Mark Twain Papers (MTP) at the University of California at Berkeley, The Bancroft Library describe the material as the result of some 40-plus years worth of scholars painstakingly research and reassembly of newspaper excerpts and scrapbook clippings; a kind of literary archeology. Twains San Francisco 1865-1866 writings were slated for print by the University of California Press this fall but have been pushed back several months says Robert Hirst, Berkeleys general editor of the Mark Twain Papers. He projects a publication date in fall 2018 or early 2019 at this point. New Twain Works Will Also Be Available Free, Online Hirst adds that work on it is going on in tandem with a re-release of The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progress. Among Twains most popular works and a travel book in and of itself, it chronicles what the author described as his Great Pleasure Excursion in 1867 on board the chartered vessel Quaker City through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers. Hirst says the new version will include portraits of nearly all those onboard with whom Twain engaged and spoofed with great relish. When released, the San Francisco 1865-1866 papers will contain, at about 65,000 words, roughly a quarter of Twains correspondence over that time. Our collection does now contain some stuff most scholars have not seen, let alone the general publicthe contents will also go up on our website, free of charge, Hirst effuses. The website, which is known as the Mark Twain Project Online, aims for the lofty goal of recovering and curating a fully annotated digital critical edition of everything the author ever wrote. The idea is that anything that he wrote [for] the Enterprise or any other local paper, which he did a few odd things when he was in San Francisco, is going to be [included] in one chronological sweepanyone who is interested in that early period in his life is going to be interested in this, Hirst says. Often evoking the influences of the Gillis brothers with whom Twain lived with in their tiny cabin on Jackass Hill the writings, according to Hirst, contain some of what he considers to be the authors best. I always thought that the experience in Angels Camp was formulative in that way, Hirst shares. He heard all kinds of stories, basically away from the pressure of the city and the pressure to make up his mind what to do with himself and absorbed an enormous amount of stuff that continues to show up in his books for the rest of his life. Continuing, he confides, So we are excited about this, partly because we do not think that anyone has had the chance to really follow him in great detail while he is in San Francisco and partly because it has been a long time coming I have been working on it ever since I first became interested in Mark Twain back in 1967! From the papers, Hirst issued a clip The Rawhide Ranch Story humorously recollecting a harrowing bind that two Tuolumne miners got into and (spoiler alert) by a nearly miraculous intervention escaped. To read it, click here. More On The Fair, Jump Read and view more about this years Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee attractions in Clarke Broadcastings kick off story, reported here. Hear Giannini featured this week on the Mother Lode Views radio show here. 2017 Peace Officer Memorial View Photos Sonora, CA Law enforcement agencies from around Tuolumne County gathered at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds yesterday to honor officials who have fallen in the line of duty. It is one of many similar type somber events taking place around the state and nation this week in honor of National Peace Officer Memorial Day. Sheriff Jim Mele says, People always talk about it will never happen or cannot happen in Tuolumne County. Well, we read the names of six individuals that have died here in Tuolumne County. The last one was Deputy David P. Grant on May 31, 2004. We also remembered all of the officers and deputies that were killed in the line of duty in California in 2016, which was a total of 12. We read their names, and we paid respect for their sacrifice. The names of the fallen were read by Sheriff Mele, acting Sonora Police Chief Turu VanderWiel and CHP Lt. Commander Shane Ferreira. You can click on the slideshow icon to see a list of the 12 officials who tragically passed away last year. - Lai Mohammed has said that he did not speak of any confusion in the presidency over 2017 budget - Mohammed say the news making the rounds is a misinterpretation of his speech - The minister has labelled the misinterpretation as malicious Alhaji Lai Mohammed has reacted to reports suggesting that he said Nigeria's federal government is at a loss over who will sign the 2017 budget. The minister of information claims he never made such a statement. He said his earlier statement on the budget issue was misinterpreted. The minister made the clarification via a press statement by his aide, Segun Adeyemi. Mohammed maintained that detractors of the government are cooking up malicious misrepresentations. He noted that what transpired at the post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing earlier on Wednesday, May 17, has been taken out of contest. Lai Mohammed said that when he was asked a question relating to the signing of the 2017 Budget, his response was: "When it is transmitted to the presidency, the issue will be addressed. He further stressed that anything beyond that response amounts to deliberate mischief and should be ignored. READ ALSO: Dogara reveals plan to have 30-year-old Nigerians run for presidency Lai Mohammed says some detractors of the FG are cooking up malicious misinterpretations of his statement Legit.ng earlier reported that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was yet to receive the 2017 budget from the National Assembly over 24 hours after it was passed. Daily Trust quoted a source at the presidency as revealing this adding that the budget was being expected. The source said the presidency would commence scrutiny of the document once the National Assembly forwarded it. The minister of information and culture on Wednesday, May 17, said the National Assembly has yet to transmit the 2017 Appropriation Bill passed into law last week to the presidency. Mohammed fielding questions from State House correspondents at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting said that the decision on who signs the Appropriation Bill into law would be decided when the document is finally transmitted. Legit.ng gathered that the minister said that an advanced copy of the budget has been received by the minister of budget and national planning. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app In a similar vein, the presidency has promised that the 2017 budget will be signed immediately by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo when it gets to them. According to a report by Vanguard, the presidency assured that it would not hesitate to perform the all-important ritual. The presidency however stated that the clerk of the National Assembly was yet to transmit the document, even as it says it is anxiously waiting for it to arrive at Aso Rock. Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians react to the allocation for health within the Nigerian budget. Source: Legit.ng - Lawrence Anini was a dreaded armed robber in 1986 in Benin City, then Bendel state - He terrorised the residents including neighbouring towns of Agbor, in the present Delta state - He was almost invincible in the city as he terrorised the area, sending fear into the residents - He was eventually captured and publicly executed in March 1987 with his gang members and some police officers Have you ever wondered how some persons are described as famous while others infamous? It is simply a matter of what they are to be remembered for. In the history of infamy, the name Lawrence Anini goes down in Nigerian history as one of the leading names if not the number one in notoriety. In the 1980s, the name Lawrence Anini was the most notorious and the most dreaded criminals in the country. One might think of him as the Nigerian version of the biblical Barabbas in terms of his notoriety, only the Jews may not have chosen him over Jesus, considering the number of lives lost during the period of his terrorism and robbery in Benin City and other communities in the defunct Bendel state. As far as criminals in Nigeria are concerned, one could be right to say there have only been two sort of criminals, Lawrence Anini and others. This is combining all other criminals into one and Anini one. Just as Justice Omo-Agege had remarked while passing his lead judgment at the High Court of Justice off Sapele road in Benin City: Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it would be of unblessed memory. Few people, if ever, would give the name to their children. This explains the level of atrocity committed by this criminal who held Bendel state ransom with terrorism. How dreaded armed robber, Lawrence Anini, held Benin City ransom in 1986 Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini, was what one might be tempted to refer to as a five star celebrity of some sorts, whose gang singlehandedly caused fear and terror in the area now known as Edo state, formerly Bendel state. He was in fact the only criminal whose reign of terror was so bloody that he became a topic of discussion at the state security council meeting under the then military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. Being the only son among the three children of his mother, he had lost his father as a young boy, and barely managed to finish primary school as he had started showing signs of truancy at an early age, and dropped out of secondary school shortly after to become an apprentice with a mechanic in the last 70s. READ ALSO: Former PDP chairman in Bayelsa assassinated Habits die hard and so even as an apprentice, the truancy in him kept coming to the surface and in no time, he was fired by his boss and proceeded to become a driver conveying stolen goods for criminals. In no time, he became what one might describe as the chief agbero of the motor park, controlling and commanding touts, and even settling issues among the various motor park factions and unions. By the time he was 34, he had considered that armed robbery would be far more lucrative for him than merely being an errand boy conveying stolen goods for criminals, and proceeded to form his own five-man gang which included, Monday Osunbor, Friday Ofege, Henry Ekponwan, Eweka and Alhaji zed zed or Zegezege who was never captured. Initially, they were into hijacking of vehicles, robbing banks as well as travelers on the high way, and worked hand-in-hand with some corrupt seeds in the police force who helped to cover their tracks and share loots. A betrayal of trust by his police counterparts in early 1986, led to the prosecution and execution of two members of his team, and sparked off a retaliatory move on his part and in the four-month reign of terror which lasted between August and December 1986, his gang sent no fewer than nine policemen to their graves, alongside countless other civilians. In August 1986, a fatal bank robbery linked to Anini was reported in which a police officer and many others were killed. That same month, two officers on duty were shot at a barricade while trying to stop Aninis car. On September 6, same year, the Anini gang snatched a Peugeot 504 car from Albert Otoe, the driver of an assistant inspector general of police, Christopher Omeben. In snatching the car, they killed the driver and went to hide his corpse somewhere, and the skeleton was only discovered about three months, 16 kilometers away from Benin, along the Benin-Agbor highway. The day after that, a Peugeot 504 car was snatched by the same gang near the former FEDECO office in Benin. With only a couple of days interval, they struck again, killing two policemen in Orhiowon local government area of the state. There were also other robbery attacks that pointed to Aninis involvement, took place. Notable among them were the murder of Frank Unoarumi, a former employee of the Nigerian Observer newspapers; the killing of Mrs. Remi Sobanjo, a chartered accountant, and the stealing of the Mercedes Benz car in Benin, of the then Ovie of Ughelli, Delta state. How dreaded armed robber, Lawrence Anini, held Benin City ransom in 1986 The Anini gang also struck at a gas station along Wire Road, Benin, where he stole a substantial part of the days sales. The highpoint of it all was when, after shooting the stations attendant and joyfully started spraying money along the road for free pick by market men and women at a village near Benin as he drove away. The height of Aninis revenge against the police, however, took place on October 1, 1986, the Independence Day when the states commissioner of police, Casmir Igbokwe, was ambushed by the gang in Benin, and nearly yanked off his nose in a hail of bullets. The police boss survived the attacks with serious injuries. Prior to that attack, and still on the same day, the Anini men had gunned down a police man within the city. READ ALSO: SEE 5 Nigerian billionaires who can end poverty in Nigeria according to Oxfam On October 21 of same year, a Benin-based medical doctor, A.O Emojeve met his end when they gunned him down along Textile Mill Road still in Benin. Still unsatisfied, the gang robbed the Agbor branch of African Continental Bank and carted away about N46, 000, a heart-palpitating sum in the 1980s. "The Law", as he was nicknamed, once escaped an operation that went bad, by driving in reverse from Agbor, Delta state, to Benin City, Edo state. His reign made dim the previous experiences under Ishola Oyenusi, who was tagged the king of robbers in the 1970s and Youpelle Dakuro, the army deserter who masterminded the most vicious daylight robbery in Lagos in 1978, in which two policemen were killed. As expected, his news dominated the media, as it was even said that he wrote numerous letters to media houses using political tones of Robin Hood-like words, to describe his criminal acts. Nigerian newspapers and journals were also publishing various reports and editorials on the Anini Challenge, the Anini Saga, the Anini Factor, Lawrence Anini the Man, the Myth, Anini, Jack the Ripper, and Lawrence Anini: A Robin Hood in Bendel. The Guardian asked, emphatically, in one of its reports: Will they ever find Anini, The Law? Alarmed by his seeming invincibility and evasiveness, and sensing the fear that had gripped the whole country, the military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, then ordered a massive manhunt for the kingpin and his fellow robbers. This was to the extent that after a meeting of the then armed forces ruling council of Babangida, in October 1986, he turned to the inspector general of police, Etim Inyang and asked: My friend, where is Anini? The police thus went after them, combing every part of Bendel state where they were reportedly operating and domiciled. However, the more the manhunt, the more intensive and cruel their attacks became and it began to seem like they would never get caught as it was rumored that he had charms that helped him disappear as soon as the police approached the robbery scenes. However, as fairy-tale fans like to believe, good must someday triumph over evil; and so the invincible Anini eventually got apprehended after four months of terror. His end was not as most would have pictured it considering the invincible image he had achieved in the publics eye. December 3, 1986, turned out to be the day he met his waterloo. His capture turned out to be only a little dramatic. It took the courage of superintendent of police, Kayode Uanreroro. Acting on a tip-off, he Uanreroro caught Anini at No 26, Oyemwosa Street, opposite Iguodala Primary School, Benin City, in company of six women. Uanreroro led a crack 10-man team to the house, knocked on the door of the room, and Anini himself, clad in underpants, opened the door. Where is Anini?, the police officer quickly enquired. Caught off guard and having no escape route, Anini tried to be smart in answering the questions as to his whereabout; Oh, Anini is under the bed in the inner room. As he made the fatal error of trying to walk past Uanreroro and his team. Uanreroro promptly reached for his gun, stepped hard on Aninis right toes and shot at his left ankle. Before he was eventually taken away, he received several other shots in the same leg which was later amputated in a military hospital, and he sat in a wheel chair all through the period of his trial. When his hideout was searched, police recovered assorted charms, including the one he usually wore around his waist during operations. All charms were disposed after his arrest. How dreaded armed robber, Lawrence Anini, held Benin City ransom in 1986 Contrary to how one might have pictured him remaining mute and stone-hearted to the end, Anini appeared remorseful and revealed a lot of information in pidgin English since he had a poor command of English. What one might find hard to understand is, how the same person who wrote to the media in English language about his operations would have such a poor command of the language that he had to speak in pidgin? In custody, Anini revealed their principal informant as senior police officer, George Iyamu, who also supplied them arms and ammunition and police movement intelligence. He even disclosed that Osunbor, who had been arrested earlier, was his deputy, saying that Osunbor, who had a remarkable dexterity with guns, actually shot and wounded the former police boss of the state, Akagbosu. He mentioned a few other people complicit in their operation, even though his deputy Monday Osunbor did not reveal a thing from the time of his capture till his execution. PAY ATTENTION: install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Despite Iyamus staunch denial during the court trial, he was sentenced to death alongside five other police officers who were implicated. The robbery suspects, including Iyamu, were sentenced to death. For Prince Amen Oyakhire, the head of general investigation department at force CID, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi Lagos, who was deployed to Bendel by the then inspector general of police, Etim Inyang, the investigation and subsequent arrests had to be carefully done to ensure that they were captured alive. Speaking in an interview, more than 26 years after the execution, he stated that they worked according to the instructions they had been given. We arrested them because we knew that if killed in the process and their dead bodies put on the TV, people might not be convinced that such dead bodies were those of Anini and his cohorts. When arrested, they didnt hesitate to disclose their escapades during interrogation .They were allowed to speak and indeed they spoke to Nigerians, he said. Chief Osaheni Uzamere, who was the defense counsel in the court trial, representing Lawrence Anini and other members of his gang recalled, in a recent interview that he had been the lawyer to Anini and his gang for four years before they were brought to book. Responding to how he felt about their execution, he stated that life was simply a matter of choice. I decided to be a lawyer. They decided to be criminals. So if they decided that quick money was what they wanted, they should bear the consequences. Besides, as soon as they were arrested, they confessed to a lot of things. Due to amputation of his leg, Anini was confined to a wheelchair throughout his trial. He was eventually sentenced to death by Justice James Omo-Agege and executed on March 29, 1987. Watch this Legit.ng video where Fani Kayode gave details of his talk with President Muhammadu Buhari Source: Legit.ng - The UK warned against soldiers carrying out a coup in Nigeria - This followed a warning by the chief of army staff warning soldiers not to mix with politicians - The UK government said it would not support an undemocratic change of government The UK government has warned against the planning or execution of a coup in Nigeria by soldiers as a way of changing government insisting it will not support such undemocratic process. There was concern that some soldiers were being approached by politicians on how to carry out a coup and this concern as strengthened by Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratais warning to soldiers not to mix with politicians. READ ALSO: Former PDP chairman in Bayelsa assassinated The army chief warned all officers and soldiers interested in politics to resign their commission or apply for voluntary discharge forthwith. Any officer or soldier of Nigerian Army found to be hobnobbing with such elements or engaged in unprofessional conducts such as politicking would have himself or herself to blame. The Punch reports that the UK in its reaction warned against a military change of government insisting democratic processes should be the only method of selecting leaders. The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright, spoke on Wednesday, May 18 saying leadership must be about choices. He said: The British Government believes that democracy is absolutely critical in Nigeria. There is a democratic process here; there are elections. If you are not happy with your leaders, then you should change your leadership process through your leaders and through elections. That is exactly what happened in 2015 and it is what the British Government will expect to happen in Nigeria. So, our position is very clear; we stand for democracy, we stand for the democratic process and we stand for change, if that is what the people of Nigeria want. It has to be a choice that the people make and not a choice that is imposed upon them. Also, the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the People Democratic Party asked Buratai to name the politicians and soldiers that were in alliance to overthrow the government. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The party said: He should come out more openly and tell Nigerians what is actually happening. What exactly is the nature of the contact politicians are making with the soldiers? We would like to know the nature of the contact and who and who are making the contact. It is only reasonable that he exposes those involved. What are those politicians making these contacts asking for? The truth is that as a nation, we cannot go back to Egypt, because democracy is our Promised Land. Legit.ng spoke with Nigerians on whether President Muhammadu Buhari should hand over power to the vice president and this is what they have to say below: Source: Legit.ng - Female Boko Haram bomber attacked a military checkpoint - She was however prevented from gaining access to the residential area - Two soldiers were injured from the attack and are receiving treatment Two soldiers were left injured after a female Boko Haram suicide bomber launched a surprise attack on a military checkpoint in the Konduga area of Borno state. The Cable reports that the attack was carried out on the night of Wednesday, May 17 by a female terrorist. READ ALSO: Nigerian Army raises coup alarm, warns soldiers not to mix with politics It was reported that the terrorist pretended to be chatting with a soldier at the military check-point and even asked for his phone number before detonating her explosive. A witness said: The soldier did not know what she was up to. She was chatting with him and before he knew it she had detonated her explosive." A soldier who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the attack and said soldiers prevented the terrorist from causing grave harm to residents. We heard the unfortunate sound and did not know exactly what it was. Before we knew it, we discovered that it was at one of our checkpoints." PAY ATTENTION: Get more videos on Legit.ng TV There was no casualty on the civilian side because our men prevented the suicide bomber from going into the residential area. The soldiers were rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) where they are undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, the army said it arrested about 126 suspected Boko Haram members. The army revealed that the suspects were apprehended at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), camp in Damboa, Borno state. Army chief, Lucky Irabor, made the disclosure while fielding questions from journalists in Maiduguri. The Major General said the suspects were flushed out during mop up operations. Irabor said that the mop up was conducted after the Boko Haram terrorists stormed Sabon Gari area in Damboa Local Government area of the state. In the Legit.ng video below is an update on the Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram in 2017. Source: Legit.ng - Some lawyers have moved for further probe into a statement made by Lt Gen Tukur Buratai - Buratai had recently warned soldiers to stay away from associating closely with politicians - Certain senior lawyers in the country fear that politicians might be meeting soldiers to carry out some hideous tasks Certain senior advocates in the country have asked that the recent warning by Lt Gen Tukur Buratai should not be taken for granted. Buratai had warned in an earlier report by Legit.ng, that army officials should stay off politics and politically related activities. The chief said this on Tuesday, May 16, in a statement issued by the army spokesperson, Sani Usman. Reacting to Buratai's warning, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said the officers involved as well as the politicians should be identified. READ ALSO: Police officers allegedly kill 20-year-old boy in Lagos for refusing to hand over his phone (photo) Chief Ozekhome has demanded the fishing out of politicians who are meeting military officers in secret The activist said the military ought to investigate properly and if possible set up a special panel over the issue. Ozekhome claims that the chaotic state of the country is good cover for a coup. He said all the coups in Nigeria have always been played out when there is so much disaffection and dissatisfaction among the populace. Stressing that it is inconceivable that some military personnel, seeing the shambles, the directionlessness, the lack of compass, the state of fixation and melancholy in the country may want to find an extra-legal of having another government. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The activist urged the authorities find whoever is approaching the military officers. He said they should find them out. It may be that it is the military officers that are reaching out to the politicians. It could either way a symbiotic relationship. Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians, are airing their views as regards President Buhari's health. Some believe Buhari should hand over to his vice, while others disagree, here are their reasons. Source: Legit.ng Editor's note: A public affairs commentator, Charles Ibekwe writes on the controversy surrounding popular freelance journalist and blogger, Ahmed Salkida, especially as regards his close relationship with the leaders of the dreaded Boko Haram sect. Read below: A Nigerian freelance journalist and blogger, Ahmed Salkida is in the news again. Last year, the Nigerian Army declared Salkida and the duo of Ahmed U. Bolori as well as a woman, Aisha Wakil wanted for their suspected links with the Islamist group, Boko Haram. The matter is still on the cards. But of the trio, Salkida appears to suspiciously cultivate, nourish and sustain anti-state links with the Boko Haram terrorists in the guise of journalism. About Boko Haram news, trust Salkida. He is always the first to break it and first receives it exclusively before any other journalist. Talk of scooping news, the passion of journalists. He must really be a brainy and investigative journalist, if this level of nexus with the deadly terror sect is all about serving the ends of journalism and public interest. But it is doubtful and somewhat deceptive whether these are what navigate his outing on terrorism reportage. The Nigerian military devoted its heart and soul to the anti-terrorism campaigns before Boko Haram terrorists were defeated. Disseminated information is power. And if propaganda is tilted in favour of enemies of the state, the criminals would be encouraged and energized to execute more evil plots. In the scenario of Salkida and BHTs, the best interpretation of the roles he has played over the years seems more of propagating terrorists activities, an indication of the extent of his romance with them. Every day, the illumination his actions brandish, suspiciously go beyond professional limits, patriotism to his country, the innocence and neutrality of a journalist as defined by ethical codes. Salkida has been having a running battle with the military authorities in Nigeria for a while Salkida rarely reports Nigerian militarys exploits or subjugation of BHTs. At each time, he is motivated to write in traditional media or blog on social media, it is the interests of terrorists he promotes against Nigeria and her peoples. Nigeria is a country swimming in laws. But the ability to enforce it has been a nagging problem. Nigeria has the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) which has been operative since 2011. And clauses in the law frown at such suspicious romance with terrorists, as flaunted by Salkida. It is responsible for action of some Nigerians in court to compel security agents and necessary authorities to arraign Salkida before a competent court of law to explain his innocence or get blown up by his own antics. These Nigerians under the aegis of The Incorporated Trustees of Overt Legacy and Human Development Initiative have filed suit FHC/ABJ/CS/416/2017 on May 15, 2017, at a Federal High Court in Abuja. It seeks to compel the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Director-general of Department of State Service and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to arrest and prosecute Salkida alongside his Boko Haram sympathizers. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The latest spark came from what the group believed to be an inciting video Salkida again posted on his Twitter handle on May 12, and further circulated by an online medium, disclosing plans by Boko Haram Terrorists to bomb the FCT Abuja and other cities in Nigeria, after the release of the 82 Chibok girls. The organization interpreted it as " inciting video Salkida again posted on his Twitter handle on May 12, and further circulated by an online medium, disclosing plans by Boko Haram Terrorists to bomb the FCT Abuja and other cities in Nigeria, after the release of the 82 Chibok girls. The organization interpreted it as "attempting to dislodge the government of Nigeria contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013." Salkida may have been performing his professional duties, as watchdog of the society. But there are several loopholes in his sustained disposition in reporting Boko Haram terrorism and public interest in Nigeria. The Nigerian Army proclaimed this much when it declared the trio wanted about a video Sakilda posted on his Twitter where BH factional leader, Abubakar Shekau displayed the Chibok schoolgirls held in captivity by the insurgents. The Army claimed, Salkida averred, the said video on his Twitter was sent exclusively to him before the sect uploaded it to YouTube. And Shekau said in the video in question that Boko Haram would only negotiate with the Nigerian government through journalists closely associated with the sect. This reveals an unusual friendship with the sect at least, on the face value. And eventually Salkida made up the government team of negotiators with BHTs, under the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan. And the rest is history. So, the group is seeking to know the extent of Ahmed Salkidas closeness to Boko Haram terrorists to the extent of enjoying their confidence for negotiation and whether this closeness does not run antithetical to the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended). The same suspicion still rages. On August 8, 2016, Ahmed Salkida had a Twitter chat with a journalist and United States-based university teacher, at Kennesaw State University, Associate Professor of Journalism, Mr. Farooq Kperogi. This was at the heat of the declaration of Ahmed Salkida and two others wanted by the Nigerian Army after investigations allegedly linked them to BHTs. In the chat, Salkida raised several issues for clarification from Kperogi. But the highpoints of the Twitter chat with the Professor can be discerned from these excerpts from the chat as he sought to know whether he was wrong for stopping the syndication of BHTs stories to colleagues because of their persecution of him; Kperogi replied: It is not in the traditional sense of a journalists duties, but in the norms of conflict-sensitive reporting, it may be Salkida asked again; What is the red line for a journalist with professional access to a terror group? Kperogi replied: Dont propagate their willful propaganda that you know to be false. Dont join them. Thats commendable. Its a cardinal ethical principle in journalism that we not report on what weve not verified. Be faithful to the facts, let accuracy and verifiability be your watchwords, report all sides to a conflict avoid perpetrating stereotypes, reach out to be people who want to bring about peace, not just the war mongers Salkida and two others were declared wanted by the Nigerian military last year Salkida cannot claim in all honesty that he has complied with this advice from this knowledgeable counselor and professor of journalism. Salkidas recent video posting where a recently released Boko Haram commander, Shuaibu Moni, swapped in exchange for the 82 Chibok girls was featured and the threats issued, are suspicious willful propaganda for terrorists. The second leg of the counsel to Salkida was the necessity to stick to facts, accuracy and verifiability of his reportage. By Tweeting the video, it means, he is sure and can verify the threats of the terrorists as real against the Nigerian state? How did he get to know the veracity of the threats or the possibility of its occurrence? It means, he is in a position to disclose when the terrorists want to strike, the level of their readiness and so on. PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV Furthermore, in the text of a speech Salkida presented at a forum in Dakar, Senegal, published on April 1, 2012, titled, Reporting Terrorism in Africa: A personal Experience With Boko Haram, he divulged very interesting insights. He spoke of his relationship with the founder and pioneer leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, which he tied to his interest in reporting their initial activities. According to him, security agents who were supposed act on his reports to nip the potentially explosive rebellion rather persecuted him. However, Salkida narrated how the relationship has blossomed since then. He averred; Soon, ours became a relationship, but for me it was simply the relationship between a reporter and a vital news source. It was a relationship defined by mutual respect. And thereafter, the Salkidas relationship with the sect and its leaders has been sustained all through to Abubakar Shekau, after Yusufs death. And he further disclosed how they release to him information prior to their heinous mass attacks, like in the instance of the current video. He explained, The sect, for instance, made known its planned mayhem of July 2009 to me hours before they attacked. I hinted the local authorities but they were simply not interested in what seemed to them the outrageous ranting of some obscure clerics. But its doubtful whether Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria have such sacred links with other journalists who report terrorism like Salkida. He dreads betraying terrorists, but appears more delighted in betraying Nigerian state and compromising national security. It is understandable that from 2006 when Salkida published his first newspaper article on Mohammad Yusuf to the peak of Boko Haram terrorism in 2009, and before May 2015, he would have reported terrorism from all sides as Professor Kperogi would later counsel. That was the era terrorists went berserk, striking unhindered and triumphed against security agents as exemplified by the fabled tactical withdrawal of troops in the face of terrorists superior power at the battlefield. But since President Muhammedu Buhari became Nigerias leader and Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai appointed the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to lead the counter-insurgency, the narrative changed. Nigerian troops began by decapitating the terrorists, reclaimed captured territories, arrested scores, including commanders, sheer military might forced many others into surrender and the eventual defeat, with the capture of Sambisa forest. For 18 months or more, Nigerian military has been beyond suppression by these terrorists. And with the level of confidence enjoyed by Salkida among the sect leaders and followers, it is unlikely for him to have reported the military exploits of Nigerian troops against Boko Haram insurgents, such as reporting the armys capture of their commanders in battle. If he had done it, the confidence terrorists reposed in him would has eclipsed, and they would have probably blown off his skull long ago. Remember that Abubakar Shekau coldly murdered lieutenants he accused of betraying the sects cause. Professionally, Salkida is challenged to show his published news or tweets on the strings of episodes, leading to the militarys courageous defeat of BHTs, like he delights in publishing their propaganda about plots of impending attacks. These lacunas in his narrations and disposition have heightened the suspicion of the Group, which is pushing for a legal action against him. In the Tweet of May 12, did Salkida care to get the reaction of the Nigerian authorities before posting the video which would have reflected the two sides of the story? In Africa, it is not only Nigeria that is plagued by terrorism. But the difference in Salkidas case is the perceived deep-rooted passion and attachment to terrorists propaganda against national security or public interest, which many fear violates extant laws on curbing terrorism in Nigeria. Nigerians are waiting for his trial for these suspicions to be cleared. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@naij.com drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page! Watch the Legit.ng TV video below of kids affected by Boko Haram attacks. Source: Legit.ng - The Nigerian police has reacted to the news that a man was dragged by their officials in Benin - The video which showed a man handcuffed to a police truck and lying on the ground led to widespread outrage - The police has however released a statement relaying their version of what happened The Nigerian police through the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), has revealed that the video which recently went viral and reportedly shows a man been dragged by the police while chained to their truck is misinterpreted. According to the police, there is no frame in the video that shows the man being dragged. They said that the man was simply arrested and when he tried to escape he was handcuffed to the truck. Legit.ng gathered that subsequently, reinforcements were called in and the man was put back in the truck before being taken to the station. They also shared pictures to show the men were unhurt. The police shared pictures of the men to show that they did not use unnecessary force READ ALSO: BREAKING: Mother, 3 children burnt to death in Lagos Below is a part of the statement released: "It is important to state that there is no frame in the 1:34" video in circulation on various social media platforms that shows anyone being dragged by a police patrol vehicle as insinuated. "Preliminary #PCRRU investigation reveals that on Sunday 14.05.2017 at about 9:30am, the Police at Esigie Division in Benin-City, Edo state received an information regarding congregation of suspected cultists in preparatory to the commissioning of a felony. "Based on the information, police team was dispatched to the scene where two male persons were arrested while others took to their heels. "Upon a search on the person of the suspect seen handcuffed to the vehicle in the video some quantity of weeds suspect to be Indian hemp and powder suspected to be banned substances were found on him. "Both arrested suspects were then loaded into the patrol vehicle and secured accordingly to prevent escape during transportation to the Police station. At a point along Sopkonba Road, Benin-City a crowd tried to prevent the free passage of the patrol vehicle transporting the suspects. "That in the process one of the suspects (one seen in the video) tried to escape by jumping off the back of the open pick-up patrol van but was restrained by the handcuff attaching him to the vehicle. A reinforcement was called and the suspects were eventually taken to the station." Nigerians have reacted to the police statement. Below are some of the things they said: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV! Meanwhile, watch this Legit.ng video of a family who lost a member to a stray police bullet: Source: Legit.ng Legit.ng gathered that a man identified as Prophet Talent Madungwe, has laid claims to being God's adviser and knowing when the world will come to an end. Of all the stories by people who claim to have had personal encounters with God, this one takes the cake, as he not only claims to know God's 'roster' as his 'adviser', he also knows when and where to have his 'meetings'. Controversial Zimbabwean prophet, Prophet Talent Madungwe, who claimed to have met God about 20 times, said he's God's adviser and also knows when God will be ending the world. 31-year-old Prophet Madungwe also claimed that God check's people's righteousness on a monthly basis, and ranks them according to countries. Prophet Talent Madungwe claims to have seen God severally READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Young lady calls out Nigerian pastor who allegedly has 58 wives According to H-Metro, Madungwe said he's the 4th person after the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit), he said even the angels in the Bible are ranked beneath him. He claimed he met God on April 30, 2017, and that he couldn't take pictures for proof. He said: You cant have pictures of God, the cameras will not function. He came to me in physical form on April 30. Only 60 people were righteous in the month of April and among those only a few of the popular prophets were among the list. I cannot reveal the names. I came fourth because I performed better than the others. Performance is judged monthly. In April I saw God and he ordained me to be his advisor, told me when the world will come to an end. PAY ATTENTION: Get latest gossip stories on our app NOW God told me that if all people repent, the world will come to an end in 300 years but if it is not the case then it will be 100 years. As I have said, Im Gods advisor and I will have a meeting with Him and tell him if people are repenting. This will be in five years. When asked to describe what Heaven looks like since he's been there before, he likened it to an American city. He said: Earth is the photocopy of heaven. The only difference is that heaven is built in gold. Heaven is like New York City only that it is built in gold. Meanwhile, see Biafran supporter who claims to be God: Source: Legit.ng Digital Bananas Technology by their admission are no strangers to the success stories of candidates who receive work experience through their platform. Yet, one of the successes they choose to constantly tout is of a young Nigerian woman who landed a job with the U.K Bank, HSBC all the way from Nigeria. It certainly is not as far fetched as youd think, with some of the top companies in the U.K already trusting the competence of Digital Bananas Technology- a company which is leading the way in Digital Transformation. Digital Bananas Technologys platform, eWorkExperience helps thousands of individuals gain international work experience and on the job training. The end point? To secure lucrative roles as Business Analysts and Project Managers in multinational companies. When we asked about their success rate, the numbers suggest high efficiency as well as success. With 4,000+ success stories to date, Digital Bananas Technology is now focusing on Nigerians in Nigeria and preparing them to conquer the digital world. Admitting that quality work experience is one of the requirements to getting a great job quickly helped us understand the gap the country is filling. Nigeria has one of the highest unemployment and underemployment rates in the world but it is in these discouraging stats Digital Bananas is taking its initiative from. Speaking with the CEO of Digital Bananas Technology, Keji Giwa after a free session in their Lagos DigiHub on Saturday, he spoke a great deal about the increasing role of data in todays world. "10 years ago, of the top six companies in the world, only one was a tech company. Today, of the worlds six largest companies, five are in technology." "Todays reality is that all the things digital have completely replaced oil and Nigerians must be equipped with the tools to deal take advantage of this." He said. He also spoke on special offers the company has for Nigerians as well his confidence that there will be more success stories from Nigerians living in Nigeria by the end of the year. The transcript of the success story sent in by the Nigerian candidate who secured a HSBC job is below (names are protected per the candidates request) Candidate: "Hi Keji, I have some good news for you but I will like to be anonymous. I applied for a Digital BA role from Nigeria and got a job in the UK. Modupe Yusuf is my mentor. Im not sure if she has mentioned this yet to you; I just got a call from the recruiter a few hours ago, telling me I was successful, but you know they still need to do checks and all which would take about 6 weeks. "Oh I didnt mention the company, its HSBC. "I explained to them that Ive been working remotely (from Nigeria) for DBT from: May 2016 to March 2017. God is awesome Keji! Thank you. You dont know how excited I am right now Career Insights: Please please just tell me how DBT got you prepared, the digital Transformation Training and your advice to those in UK and Nigeria. Candidate: For me it was really about working passionately on all the projects I was involved in, volunteering for tasks, always being eager to take in any knowledge from videos on the e work experience, learning from more people, attending training sessions etc. I also paid for the Digital Transformation training and it was very helpful in my interview. "I would advise those in the UK and Nigeria (especially Nigeria) to target international companies in the UK and apply directly to them. It doesnt matter where you apply from, as long as you have the talent they are looking for. "Of course also participate actively in projects and try to be on as many projects as you can because it will broaden your knowledge and skills. Also the DX training is a must. Companies are really looking for candidates with the digital transformation experience "Above all, we should always trust God because he makes the impossible possible. I cant believe he has brought me to this point and Im so grateful "In my phone interview, I was asked competency based questions on conflict management, communication, customer delivery, innovation etc. I had to give answers based on scenarios working on different projects in dbt. I was also asked technical based questions on requirements prioritisation, defect management, working in an agile environment and how I would improve their banking services- this was were my knowledge on DX came in handy. "Then my face to face interview was pretty much focused on my personality and how I work in teams. I also gave examples where I could.I really think the DBT framework impressed them and all the tools we use for requirements engineering and agile development may have done this for me. Also the manager who interviewed me said she saw defect management on my CV and she was eager to know more from me.thank you Get started for free by registering on www.careerinsights.tv/start-free or call them directly on 07011852771, 08026194849, 08086776800 (Nigeria) , 02038903449 (UK). Source: Legit.ng - Two men were caught in Lagos trying to steal a generator - They were beaten and stripped before being handed over to the police - The victims warned people in the area to be wary of similar thieves who used the same tactic Two men who tried to steal a generator in Lagos were apprehended and severely beaten before they were handed over to the police. The victim of the theft in an exclusive report to Legit.ng indicated that the two men were scavengers who hunt around for condemned aluminium. READ ALSO: Kachikwu to be announced as substantive oil minister as cabal kicks He said they had stolen the generator of someones neighbour and sold it and were about to steal his own when he had gone to work when neighbours apprehended them. They were beaten and stripped naked before finally handed over to the police. Read the report below: They came to steal my generator and were nabbed and they are currently at the police station. Those leaving around Onireke, Ojo cantonment should be wary of those guys pushing trucks and hunting for condemn aluminium, some of them are criminals. It happened yesterday (May 17) at Onireke area of Oriade local council where I live. I left for work leaving my generator set under the staircase only to return at evening and found nothing, I raised alarm immediately. I was told by my neighbors how the thieves came parading as condemn aluminium pushers but with an intention to steal. The suspects with the generator they stole They quietly opened the gate and went behind the building and carried one generator, they went to the next street and sold to already-waiting buyer. The daring thieves came back for the second generator which is mine, not knowing that someone has been monitoring them. They were apprehended while trying to put the generator inside their truck. The suspects were stripped naked by a mob They were beaten mercilessly and handed over to the police who later traced the first generator to Alaba Arago area of Okokomaiko where the man who bought it was also arrested. They are currently at the Tedi police station. Recently, a suspected burglar who was caught trying to break into a boutique in Delta state was severely beaten up. The thief who was caught trying to break into a boutique somewhere in Okpe Road, was beaten thoroughly by an angry mob before he was allowed to be taken away by some policemen to prevent him getting killed. Legit.ng spoke with some Nigerians to name a politician who is not corrupt and they gave their opinion in their video below. Source: Legit.ng - The European Union has barred Nigeria's Med-View Airline - The airline has been banned from operating in Europe - A total of 181 airlines were banned from flying their planes into Europe Med-View Airline has been barred by the European Commission from operating within its airspace over safety reasons. Reports have it that the airline was one of those under the EU Air Safety List Annex A. READ ALSO: UK government reacts to Buratais warning to soldiers against planning coup The list includes all airlines banned from operating in Europe. The airline has been banned from operating in Europe Legit.ng learnt that a total of 181 airlines were banned from flying their planes into Europe, with 174 airlines barred due to safety in the aviation of their home countries. Legit.ng also gathered that the European Union Air Safety List comprises of the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards. According to The Punch, air carriers from Benin Republic and Mozambique were removed from the list, while four individual airlines, one each from Nigeria, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe, were added. Med-View however is yet to react to the development. Legit.ng recently reported that a Medview Airline flight from Lagos to Abuja was suspended midair after a fault was observed on the plane. Legit.ng reported that a passenger on the flight said passengers suspected the plane, with flight number VL 2102, was faulty before takeoff, but they were assured by the pilot and the crew that all was well. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The passenger went further to claim that few minutes after take-off, the plane had to return to the Lagos Airport due to the problem. In the video below by Legit.ng, a Nigeria insisted that former President Jonathan was never a bad president. Watch the video: Source: Legit.ng - The Nigerian government is continually showing interest in the military crisis in Cote dIvoire - A small group of soldiers had rebelled against the country's government over delay in their salaries - The Nigerian government is making moves to end the impasse A statement from the presidency has said Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been in phone discussions with Ivorian and Liberian presidents, regarding a peaceful resolution of the military mutiny in Cote d'Ivoire. In a series of tweets via its Twitter page, the presidency noted the readiness of the federal government to work with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other West African leaders to pursue a quick resolution of the situation. Acting President Osinbajo has been in talks with his counterparts in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire to find a solution to the crisis PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app On Wednesday, May 17, Aso Rock condemned the recent mutiny by a small fraction of Cote dIvoire's armed forces, against the government. In a statement posted on the Nigerian Presidency Twitter page, the Nigerian government expressed strong and unflinching support for President Alassane Ouattara, commending him for his ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis. The statement urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, remain calm and continue dialogue. "We urge the mutineers to return to their barracks and refrain from any action capable of undermining peace, security and democracy in Cote d'Ivoire. "We urge the people of Cote dIvoire to remain steadfast in their support for the government and to refrain from giving support to the mutineers in the overall interest of the peace, tranquility, good order and prosperity of Cote d'Ivoire," the statement said. PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV Watch the Legit.ng TV report on the firepower of the Nigerian Air Force below: Source: Legit.ng - Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has signed three executive orders - The three orders will significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country - They will ease business, fast track budget submissions, promote made in Nigeria products Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday, May 18, signed three executive orders that will significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country forthwith. Premium Times reports that ahead of the signing, Mr Osibanjo held an interactive session at the old Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa with all relevant government officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of departments and agencies among others. READ ALSO: SEE 20 countries MASSOB says will monitor Biafra anniversary Legit.ng gathered that the session was meant to directly engage government officials who would be implementing the orders and the new instructions. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Legit.ng had reported that Osinbajo ordered that Nigerians must eat and drink Nigerian products at state banquets, adding that the present administration was committed to ensuring that government and its citizens patronise locally made products. In his Facebook post, the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said the Executive Orders would significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country forthwith. He said: "Every time a public servant is an obstacle to anyone seeking approvals or licenses, he/she attacks the Nigerian economy and our future prosperity. "Today, I signed Three Executive Orders. "The Executive Orders will significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country forthwith. "The Executive Orders broadly address: "Transparency and efficiency in the business environment which will ease doing business in the Nigeria. "Support for local content in public procurement by the Federal Government "Timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government. Below are the some highlights of the Executive Orders; 1. Every Ministry, Department or Agency of the Federal Government must publish the full lists of requirements/conditions for obtaining products/services. This commences with immediate effect. 2. If there is any conflict between a published list of requirements and conditions and an unpublished list, the published list shall prevail. 3. Where a Government Agency fails to communicate approval/rejection of an application within stipulated time, application shall be deemed approved and granted 4. Where applications are rejected within stipulated timeline, the rejection must be issued with reasons. 5. Tourist and Business Entry Visas to Nigeria must now be issued or rejected with reason by Embassies within 48 hours of receipt of valid application. 6. The Apapa Port shall resume 24-hour operations within 30 days of the issuance of the Order The executive orders also stipulate sanctions and punitive measures meant to address violations where necessary. Together, Nigeria will prevail. Meanwhile, some Nigerians insist that Jonathan was a good leader who was surrounded by some wrong people. Watch this Legit.ng video: Source: Legit.ng SAN JUAN, P.R. Puerto Ricos first day in federal court to reduce its $123 billion in bond debt and unfunded pensions got off to a cordial enough start on Wednesday, but after a few hours, the gloves started to come off. A conflict is starkly in front of us today, warned Marcia Goldstein, a lawyer for the National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation, which has insured about $3.6 billion of the islands bonds. Broadly speaking, the case pits one set of bondholders those who bought general-obligation bonds against a second group that bought what are known as Cofina bonds, which are backed by a fixed portion of Puerto Ricos sales tax revenue. But the island does not have the resources to repay any of its creditors, or even cover all basic government operations, so there are no good choices or answers. The Federal District Court judge in the case, Laura Taylor Swain, who flew to San Juan from New York, stressed the urgency of the situation and the need for the parties to continue trying to mediate their differences. The economy grew for a fifth consecutive quarter at the start of 2017, the longest stretch of growth in more than a decade. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying for four and a half years to coax the economy into a higher gear. Although Japans output is still the worlds third-largest, after the United States and China, consistent growth has been elusive the result of headwinds like a declining population and deflation. What Happened? Japanese gross domestic product increased by 2.2 percent in annualized terms in the three months through March, the governments Cabinet Office said in a preliminary estimate on Thursday. The economy has now been expanding for a longer period than at any time since 2005-6, when it grew for six quarters in a row. Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, the first admiral ever convicted of a federal crime while on active duty, was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 months in prison for lying to investigators about his involvement in a bribery scandal that has ensnared numerous Navy officers. Admiral Gilbeau pleaded guilty last June to making false statements when he told agents that he had never received any gifts from Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian ship supplier at the center of a bribery scandal. Image Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau Credit... Reuters Mr. Francis, who is known as Fat Leonard, has been charged in the case with 19 Navy officers. Ten of the officers have pleaded guilty, mostly for accepting Mr. Leonards bribes of trips and prostitutes in return for routing ships to ports where he could ring up millions of dollars in fraudulent charges. Rescue workers on Wednesday continued to collect debris from an MU-2B aircraft that went down about 15 miles east of Eleuthera, the Bahamas, said Eric Woodall, a spokesman for the Coast Guard. The three passengers aboard the private plane were the New York event space entrepreneur Jennifer Blumin, 40, and her two sons, Theodore, 3, and Phineas, 4. The pilot was Ms. Blumins boyfriend, Nathan Ulrich, 52, a founder of a scooter company, Xootr. There have been no body parts or survivors found, Mr. Woodall said. The father of the children, who was in New York at the time of the crash, was the architect James Ramsey. Over the past 13 years, Ms. Blumin, the founder and chief executive of Skylight Group, had become a prominent player in the fashion industry, pioneering the practice of taking short-term leases on large, derelict buildings and renting them to clients like Ralph Lauren and Google for parties and fashion shows. Youll have to wade through several topics to get to the heart of Legion of Brothers, but once youre there, some intense stories make the effort worthwhile. This documentary, directed by Greg Barker, recounts secret missions by Special Forces who were sent to Afghanistan immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Within weeks, small teams of these soldiers formed coalitions with the Afghan Northern Alliance, waged war on enemies and, at the time, drove the Taliban from power. In interviews, Green Berets describe ferocious events, like the annihilation of a Taliban convoy, and sorrowful moments, like battlefield errors that led to the friendly-fire deaths of several Americans. Other scenes touch on post-traumatic stress, combat tactics, civilian readjustment and more. Its a lot to cover in under 80 minutes, and Mr. Barker sometimes spreads himself too thin clarifying details are frequently not supplied. A tighter focus, like those employed by the documentaries Citizen Soldier, which followed deployed National Guard members, or Thank You for Your Service, which looked at suicides among military veterans, could have fostered a clearer narrative. Mayor Bill de Blasio has a message for New Yorkers fed up with subway delays, crowded train cars and the general sense that the aging system is edging closer to meltdown. It could be worse. You could be driving. Even though there are problems in the subway system, I think they pale in comparison to the problems on our roads, Mr. de Blasio said. Mr. de Blasio repeatedly said during a news conference on Wednesday that he was not responsible for subway problems; that was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos headache. However, Mr. de Blasio reserved his harshest comments for the state of the citys roadways. Avoid driving whenever humanly possible, he said. For our subways look, theres work that has to be done. But theyre still a hell of a lot more reliable than driving on the streets. The militant group F.A.L.N., the Spanish acronym for the Armed Forces of National Liberation, thought of itself as waging war with the United States to win independence for Puerto Rico. Its most deadly bombing was in 1975 at Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan, a blast that killed four and injured scores. No one has ever been charged with carrying out the bombing. Image Mr. Lopez Rivera following his conviction in Chicago in 1981. Credit... Chicago Tribune, via Associated Press Mr. Lopez Rivera was serving a lengthy sentence for his activities with F.A.L.N., including transportation of firearms with the intent to commit violent crimes, and transportation of explosives with intent to kill and injure people and to destroy government property. He was never charged with carrying out acts of violence. After his sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in January, Mr. Lopez Rivera was moved from a federal penitentiary in Indiana to house arrest in Puerto Rico, until his release on Wednesday to the cheers of supporters on the island, where many consider him to have been a political prisoner. Speaking after his release, Mr. Lopez Rivera railed against capitalism and gentrification and thanked the leftist governments of Venezuela and Cuba that supported him while he was in prison. He also denied taking part in any action that took human life. He added that the days of armed revolution are long past. I have always said that human life is sacred, he said. For eight generations in the life of a city that changed constantly around them, the twin towers on Norfolk Street beckoned the faithful on Manhattans Lower East Side: first, Baptists, whose congregation was the forerunner of the Riverside Church; then Methodists; and then, for 122 years, Orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe, who called the synagogue Beth Hamedrash Hagodol the Great House of Study. Much of what remained of the 167-year-old building, a city landmark at 60-64 Norfolk Street, burned to the ground amid plumes of smoke on Sunday, and the police say a 14-year-old boy is responsible for the fire. No injuries were reported. The boy, whose name the police withheld because he is being prosecuted as a juvenile, was taken into custody on a felony arson charge Tuesday at his home about a half-mile from the burned-out synagogue, the police said. The boy appeared at Family Court in Manhattan on Wednesday, where the case was referred to the citys Law Department, which prosecutes most cases involving children ages 7 to 15. He was then released to his parents and ordered to return to court on May 31, when prosecutors must outline what charges they intend to pursue against him. In case youve had the pleasure of forgetting, The Flight 93 Election was the title of a portentous essay, published last September under a Roman pseudonym in The Claremont Review of Books, that declared the stakes for the United States in 2016 thus: Charge the cockpit or you die. In the lurid imagination of the author it turned out to be Michael Anton, who now holds a senior job in the White House the American republic was Flight 93, a plane deliberately set on a course for destruction by liberals and their accomplices in the Republican establishment and the globalist Davoisie. As for Donald Trump, Anton implied that he was the political equivalent of Todd Beamer, the heroic passenger who cried Lets Roll in a desperate bid for salvation. You may die anyway, Anton warned. You or the leader of your party may make it into the cockpit and not know how to fly or land the plane. There are no guarantees. Except one: If you dont try, death is certain. And here we are, not four months into the collapsing Trump presidency, living Antons dreams. In recent days, the radio host Michael Savage has acknowledged the administration is in trouble. John Podhoretz in the New York Post and later The Wall Street Journals editorial page each compared Trump to Jimmy Carter the most damning of all conservative indictments. I think Putin gets personal pleasure from exploiting the vulnerable position Trump has found himself in. VALERIY SOLOVEY, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, about President Vladimir V. Putins offer to provide a transcript of the meeting with Russian diplomats at which President Trump disclosed classified intelligence. Mr. Futterman had a far different take, saying the department had shown that it is incapable of reform by itself and that it urgently needs federal intervention. He said that the new rules on Taser use, especially, were weak and that the policy gave officers too much discretion to use more force than necessary. Chicago is struggling with parallel crises of endemic violence and distrust of the Police Department. More than 200 people have been murdered in Chicago already this year, and three officers have been shot so far in May. Kevin Graham, the newly elected president of Chicagos Fraternal Order of Police, said that the rules did not need to be rewritten and that the officers he represents were already doing heroic work in dangerous conditions. What I have not heard said, and what needs to be said, is that people do not have the right to resist arrest, he said. Now they want to try and change the narrative and say, Oh, well, were using too much force. We arent. Im not saying that that never happens, but Im saying that I certainly dont see that on a daily basis. The outcry that led to the review of use-of-force policies can be traced to the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager who was shot 16 times by a white police officer as several other officers watched. The new rules would require officers to intervene verbally if they see their colleagues using unnecessary force. In the McDonald case, the accounts given by other officers at the scene supported the story of the officer who fired the shots but were contradicted by video. Chicago officers will also face new restrictions on using deadly force against fleeing suspects: It will be allowed only when the person poses an immediate threat. Last summer, an unarmed teenager running away from officers here was fatally shot in the back after crashing a stolen car. Many of the arrests took place at immigrants homes, as teams of agents spread out in the early hours of the morning to catch people before they left for work, a common tactic designed to avoid a public scene. But agents also have been moving more aggressively, taking into custody people who arrived for routine check-ins, and even apprehending people arriving at courthouses on nonimmigration matters. The rapid increase in arrests was primarily the result of one of Mr. Trumps first significant immigration moves, rescinding rules laid down by former President Barack Obama that prioritized the arrest of the most serious criminals and largely left other undocumented immigrants alone. More than half of the increase in arrests were of immigrants who had committed no crime other than being in the country without permission. Mr. Obamas policy was rooted in both humanitarian and budgetary reasons, but to Mr. Trump and his supporters, and many ICE agents, it represented a failure to enforce the law and a de facto amnesty for millions of people in the United States illegally. Supporters of Mr. Trumps immigration policies welcomed the news. I feel thats one step in the right direction, I definitely feel that way, said J. D. Ma, a lawyer in Clarksville, Md., who voted for Hillary Clinton but agreed with the president on immigration. The reality is that if you dont do that, thats going to encourage wave after wave and disrupt the order of the society. I understand the concern in this community with this in-custody death and I, and we, share that concern, Undersheriff McMahill said. Officer Lopera is on paid leave as the Las Vegas police investigate the matter. Image Undersheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas police spoke at a news conference on Wednesday. Credit... John Locher/Associated Press The episode began about 12:50 a.m. on Sunday when Mr. Farmer approached Officer Lopera and his partner inside the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, according to the authorities. Mr. Farmer was sweating heavily, appeared panicked and said people were chasing him all classic signs of excited delirium, Undersheriff McMahill said. Officer Lopera tried to talk to Mr. Farmer, but he ran off into an employee-only area, according to the authorities. Officer Lopera ran after him, but lost Mr. Farmer before catching up to him outside the building where Mr. Farmer was trying to open the tailgate of an occupied pickup truck, according to the police. (The driver of the vehicle later told investigators that he did not believe Mr. Farmer was trying to carjack him, Undersheriff McMahill said.) Officer Lopera followed Mr. Farmer as he ran to the drivers side of the vehicle, according to the police. He believed Mr. Farmer was trying to carjack the vehicle and fired his Taser at him. WASHINGTON The account from the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey of President Trump pressing him to drop an investigation into Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, has escalated talk among the presidents critics that his actions may amount to obstruction of justice and grounds for impeachment. Asking F.B.I. to drop an investigation is obstruction of justice, Representative Ted Deutch, Democrat of Florida, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. Obstruction of justice is an impeachable offense. But several legal specialists across party lines cautioned that talk of impeachment was premature while the facts remained unclear; the White House has denied that Mr. Trump pressured Mr. Comey to drop the case. Still, the early chatter has heightened interest in how the impeachment process works. Heres what you need to know: What is impeachment? The Constitution permits Congress to remove presidents before their term is up if enough lawmakers vote to say that they committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. WASHINGTON Did you hear the one about the Russians paying off the future president of the United States? It seems House Republicans have. Their two highest-ranking members on Wednesday walked into a firestorm of their own making, negotiating the latest Republican headache after The Washington Post reported that Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, said in a private session last year that President Trump, then a candidate, could be receiving payments from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin immediately intervened during the meeting and brought the conversation to a halt, according to a June recording reviewed by The Post, swearing his colleagues to secrecy amid laughter. The New York Times has not obtained a recording and cannot appraise the tone of Mr. McCarthys original remarks. On Wednesday, he said he was just kidding. WASHINGTON Republicans on Wednesday abruptly pivoted and rushed to call on James B. Comey, who was fired as F.B.I. director by President Trump last week, to testify before several committees, produce memos and provide greater detail of his encounters with the president. After days of showing limited interest in drawing more attention to the emerging controversy about the presidents role in the investigation into Russian election meddling, Republicans were now offering Mr. Comey highly public forums to lay out his version of events. Mr. Comey, who has served as a foil, an object of derision and a political martyr for both parties, is suddenly Capitol Hills most-wanted man. On Wednesday, Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to Mr. Comey with the committees vice chairman, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, asking him to appear in both closed and open hearings before their committee. The two senators also requested that Andrew G. McCabe, the acting F.B.I. director, provide the committee with the memo that Mr. Comey is said to have written suggesting that Mr. Trump asked him to shut down an investigation into Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser. Updated Oct. 30, 2017 Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in the Russia investigation, charged Paul Manafort, President Trumps former campaign manager, and a business associate with money laundering, tax fraud and foreign lobbying violations. The indictment was the first to be filed since Mr. Mueller took over in May the investigation into Russias meddling in the election and possible links to Mr. Trump and his associates. Mr. Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein after Mr. Trumps firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director. Here is a look at what Mr. Muellers position entails and doesnt. What is within Mr. Muellers jurisdiction? Mr. Rosensteins letter gave Mr. Mueller the authority to look into not only Russias interference in the 2016 election and any coordination with Trump campaign officials, but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. And it included a reference to a Justice Department regulation that permits special counsels to investigate attempts to impede their inquiry. District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler told the jury to ask whether there was really any such movement by Mr. Crutcher, or if he was simply going to the car with his hands up, and making the turn and pivoting to put his hands on the car when the shot is fired. Prosecutors also argued that Officer Shelby fired several seconds before the gesture the defense cited as the basis for her fear. Ms. McMurray said the prosecution was a response to media hysteria, and she accused Mr. Kunzweiler of hypocrisy in attacking the credibility of officers who testified for the defense. The district attorney routinely calls officers as witnesses in other cases, yet he has the audacity to come in here and tell you that law enforcement officers, after he tells you how brave they are and have a difficult a job to do, will come in here and lie to protect Officer Shelby, Ms. McMurray said. The last three years have brought intense protests over lethal use of force by law enforcement, and mounting public pressure to punish officers, particularly when race is a factor and video recordings offer grounds to second-guess the police. But convictions remain unusual. In the deaths of Eric Garner on Staten Island, Tamir Rice in Cleveland and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., grand juries declined to charge the officers, leading to renewed protests and allegations that prosecutors had not pressed hard enough for indictments. Prosecutors charged six officers in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, but three were acquitted, one officers trial ended in a hung jury and the remaining charges were dropped. In the killings of Samuel DuBose in Cleveland and Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., the officers were charged, but their trials ended in hung juries; the officer who shot Mr. Scott later pleaded guilty to related charges. In the fatal shootings of Laquan McDonald in Chicago and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., the officers have been charged but have not yet gone on trial. In the McDonald case, a prosecutor waited more than a year to file charges, and did so only after a judge ordered the release of video of the killing. Shortly before he died, Mr. Crutcher stopped his S.U.V. in the middle of a North Tulsa street and got out, behaving erratically and prompting 911 calls from other motorists. An autopsy later showed that he was high on PCP, and Officer Shelby testified that she could smell the drug. Joesley Batista, the chief executive of J&F Investments, which controls JBS, visited Mr. Temer at his official residence in Brasilia, the capital, on the evening of March 7. Mr. Batista was carrying a hidden recording device, the newspaper reported. On the recording, Mr. Batista said he had been paying hush money to Eduardo Cunha the former speaker of Brazils lower house of Congress, who has been jailed since last year for his role in the graft scheme and Lucio Funaro, who also figured in the Cunha case. Mr. Temer told Mr. Batista that he would have to keep up the payments, the newspaper said. Then he told Mr. Batista to contact a lawmaker from Mr. Temers party about a problem J&F was having at a power plant it owned. Another company executive was filmed handing over a first payment, about $143,000, to the lawmaker. In a statement, Mr. Temer confirmed the meeting in March but denied the accusations. President Michel Temer never solicited payments to obtain the silence of ex-deputy Eduardo Cunha, the statement said. He did not participate nor authorize any movement with the objective of avoiding a plea bargain or collaboration between the justice system and Mr. Cunha. Mr. Temer was already accused of negotiating a $40 million bribe in 2010 for his Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, a claim he also denies. Prosecutors have said he has temporary immunity from being investigated for matters outside his time in office, which lasts through 2018. UNITED NATIONS The number of children traveling by themselves among documented refugees and migrants has nearly quintupled to the highest on record, and many of them are at risk from smugglers, sex traffickers and other predators, the United Nations said in a report published on Wednesday. The report said the findings amounted to an alarming international lapse in providing basic safety and security for the worlds most vulnerable people. One child moving alone is one too many, and yet today, there are a staggering number of children doing just that, said Justin Forsyth, the deputy executive director of Unicef. We as adults are failing to protect them. At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were recorded in 80 countries in 2015 and 2016 combined, compared with 66,000 in 2010 and 2011, the report said. Ah, sizzling burgers and a tasty side of the arts. Weve picked the top festivals in theater, dance, pop and classical that we think you should see this spring and summer around the country. Festival TransAmeriques MONTREAL, MAY 25-JUNE 8 Pleasure and protest are recurring themes at this late-spring feast, which offers a taste of Quebecois and European dance rarely seen in the United States. The Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen considers nudity and power in her hedonistic 7 Pleasures, the Hungarian performance artist Eszter Salamon mines a multicultural history of war dances in her Monument 0, and the heady Spanish dancer Rocio Molina infuses flamenco with a punk sensibility in Caida del cielo. Also on deck is Blank Placard Dance, replay, by the French choreographer Anne Collod, in which silent protesters take to the streets with blank signs. fta.ca Spoleto Festival USA CHARLESTON, S.C., MAY 26-JUNE 11 The 41st iteration of this multigenre festival spotlights the dazzling tap artist and nimble musician, as the best tappers are Ayodele Casel, who offers a world premiere exploring communication through rhythm. Andrea Miller, soon to be the first choreographer in residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents her turbulent W H A L E, and the flamenco dancer Maria Pages celebrates femininity in Yo, Carmen. From Tel Aviv, Hillel Kogan brings his smartly satirical We Love Arabs, a reckoning with the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A woman, alone, stomps in place and slaps her chest and thighs. She runs in circles and spins. She weeps and crumples and slams into walls. At one point, during the 20 minutes that we watch her, she murmurs to herself, but doesnt say anything intelligible. And that makes her performance a surprising one to find in the middle of a play. The play is Arlington, by the acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh, which continues at St. Anns Warehouse. The setting is a nondescript waiting room, equipped with surveillance cameras a kind of prison cell. In the first of the works three sections, its inhabited by Isla, who carries on a conversation with a young man in an adjacent control room, turning the play into something of a love story. But these two characters disappear for the central section, replaced by that stomping, spinning, nearly silent young woman. Its an unusual choice for a playwright, especially one prone to having his characters gush torrents of words. Speaking over the phone from London last week, Mr. Walsh said he knew early in the writing of Arlington that the middle segment had to be dance. Rachel Rose, a young artist who in recent years has excited collectors and institutions, is the inaugural recipient of the Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media, a new initiative by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Italy. Through the program, the museum and foundation plan to commission and acquire a new piece every two years specifically by artists who work with video, film, performance and sound. Ms. Roses commission will be unveiled in Philadelphia next spring before traveling that winter to Turin, where it will be shown in the collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengos exhibition space. Other works by Ms. Rose, who was born in 1986 and graduated from Columbia Universitys M.F.A. program in 2013, have been shown and collected by institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is known for collagelike video installations she has used the word palimpsests that pull stories from diverse imagery and environments. Erica Battle, a curator at the Philadelphia museum, said that beyond video, Ms. Roses works are experiences. She really thinks about time and different elements, and how they come together in space, Ms. Battle said. Whats in a home? At the very least, a portrait of its occupants, and a fertile memory bank of rooms, light, objects and relationships for frequent visitors. This much is demonstrated by the captivating, often large paintings in Homemaker, Becky Susss excellent Manhattan debut at the Jack Shainman Gallery. These views of comfortable middle-class interiors most of them from her grandparents now-demolished Long Island home are eerily still and shelter-magazine neat. The furniture, rugs, books, art and artifacts are placed just so, yet they set a lot in play. Representing a range of world cultures, they appear to be tokens from the travels of well-educated people: They conjure a complex mix of delight, taste, openness and an admiring, seemingly benign colonialism. Stylistically, these scenes are superhybrids. They have the detail and sweetness of folk paintings; a scale thats sometimes Abstract Expressionist; the sharp-focus of photography and the geometry and spatial tricks of hard-edge abstraction. In August, with its facing armchairs and end tables beneath a framed rubbing from Angkor Wat, the vividly grained parquet floor recedes at one angle through a door and at another through a broad archway. In Blue Apartment, a nearly flat blue-patterned rectangle sort of resolves itself into a covered bed. These rooms and their contents must have helped Ms. Suss become an artist. We sense their hold on her and are alerted anew to the ones that haunt us. Trevor Noah of The Daily Show expressed on Wednesday what a lot of the country was feeling: He can hardly believe how the White Houses political scandals continue to mount. This happens literally every day now. We start the day going, I cant believe what Trump did yesterday. And then by the end of it, its more like, I cant remember what Trump did yesterday. TREVOR NOAH People are talking about President Trump being in real trouble this time. Which means for Trump, its a normal Wednesday. TREVOR NOAH But Mr. Noah said that no matter what the president does, theres one network you can count on for a shot of Trump-friendly coverage. Last night I realized why Donald Trump loves Fox News so much. Theyre basically his Snapchat filter. Because whatever the reality is, they will always make him look better than he is. Yeah, and just like a snap, were all hoping that he disappears soon. TREVOR NOAH Issas Middle Finger: An Inspiration to Sean Spicer? Blow-Up, Michelangelo Antonionis mod masterpiece, gets a belated 50th-anniversary tribute. And some of Michael Fassbenders earliest television roles arrive for streaming just in time for Alien: Covenant. Whats Streaming BLOW-UP (1966) on FilmStruck. A photographer (David Hemmings) in swinging London discovers a murder taking place in the background of an image of a woman (Vanessa Redgrave) who is being romanced in a park in Michelangelo Antonionis titillating thriller. The Criterion Channel on FilmStruck is pairing it with Blow Up of Blow-Up (2016), a 50th-anniversary documentary by the Italian journalist Valentina Agostinis that revisits the films key locations, explores Antonionis approach to art direction and features interviews with mod types, including his dialogue assistant Piers Haggard; the fashion photographer David Montgomery; and Simon Napier-Bell, an author and former manager of the Yardbirds. The show, Taking It to the Streets! The Art & Design of Posters and Flyers on the Lower East Side in the 80s & 90s, is a project by ABC No Rio, a cultural center that is continuing programming while building a new headquarters on Rivington Street. The exhibition includes works by artists like Sue Coe, Eva Cockcroft and Eric Drooker and will run through June 20 at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space. We wanted to recreate that street corner where all of these fliers and stencils could be seen, an organizer of the exhibition, Seth Tobocman, said recently at the museum. No Rios director, Steven Englander, said the show was inspired by questions about how Donald J. Trumps potential effect as president might be compared to Ronald Reagans. Mr. Tobocman, co-editor of a long running political comic book called World War 3 Illustrated, added that one aim of the exhibition was to explore links between contemporary protest movements and past political activism on the Lower East Side that focused on local and national issues. Many fliers in the show are specific to the neighborhood. Some refer to a clash in 1988 between police officers and protesters as the officers tried to enforce a curfew at Tompkins Square Park. A group called Revolt Against Gentrification Erasing Our Neighborhood, or Rage On, advertised a gentrification tour with a picture of the Christodora House, a luxury building on Avenue B that was a target of protest and vandalism. A flier titled Loisaida Intifada, using a nickname for the neighborhood, showed a figure throwing a flaming bottle and declared: Take our homes, well take the streets. There are also fliers addressing issues that resonated beyond the neighborhood even as they were posted there. Three tell the story of Michael Stewart: He was arrested in connection with subway graffiti in 1983 and died after being brought to a hospital by transit police, bruised and hogtied. A poster by Mr. Tobocman described the fatal shooting by the police in 1984 of a Eleanor Bumpurs, from the Bronx. Others referred to campaigns against automobile use, nuclear power and United States covert actions in Latin America. What great books will emerge from the Trump era? Novels? Reportage threaded into volumes that will resemble The Best and the Brightest or All the Presidents Men? Cookbooks? (When some of us feel shattered, we turn toward the stove.) One of the finest and least-known books about Richard M. Nixons presidency and the shrinking American soul is, of all things, a nonpoliticians memoir: Charles L. Mee Jr.s A Visit to Haldeman and Other States of Mind, first published by M. Evans & Company in 1977. Its a moody, patriotic, paranoid (When politics goes berserk, Mee writes, we all go mad), unbuttoned and deeply literate book about one mans search for what went wrong with the American experiment, and what still might be worth upholding and defending in our politics. Its never felt more relevant. It reads like a subversive civics class written by Michael Kinsley by way of Charles Portis, Warren Zevon, Garry Trudeaus Mike Doonesbury and the madcap 1960s underground journalist Raymond Mungo. Its a short, strange trip. What happened to conservatism? Two new books one by Patrick Buchanan, the other about William F. Buckley trace the movements roots and its unexpected Trump-era evolution. Joshua Ferris presents a dynamic story collection full of discord and delusion; Richard Russos stories go right ahead and break your heart. And for young readers, new books show how big issues like migration and fracking can change the course of a family and a life. Radhika Jones Editorial Director, Books TRAJECTORY: Stories, by Richard Russo. (Alfred A. Knopf, $25.95.) In this collection of stories, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls returns to the male archetypes he knows so well. Russo is also a screenwriter now, and one of the characters in this volume appears to be modeled on Robert Redford. The story in which he appears will abruptly break your heart, our critic Jennifer Senior wrote. Thats what Richard Russo does, without pretension or fuss, time and time again. NIXONS WHITE HOUSE WARS: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever, by Patrick J. Buchanan. (Crown Forum, $30.) Nixons young aide emerges as the most intriguing figure in his own account, urging his boss to create a new majority anchored by the white working class, not just in the South but also in Northern, mostly Catholic, enclaves. Buchanans grand strategy, Joe Klein writes in our review, has made him one of the most consequential conservatives of the past half-century. Indeed, hes a reactionary who was also an avatar: the first Trumpist. A MAN AND HIS PRESIDENTS: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr., by Alvin S. Felzenberg. (Yale University, $35.) Felzenbergs accomplished and admiring biography highlights Buckleys efforts to exclude extremists, bigots, kooks, anti-Semites and racists from the conservative movement. Reading the book in light of events since Buckleys death in 2008 from the rise of Sarah Palin to the rise of Donald Trump one realizes that the odyssey in question is that of conservatism itself. Antarcticas ice sheet may have gone into the early stages of an unstoppable disintegration, as the rate at which some of its glaciers are melting is accelerating. We traveled there with scientists who are racing to understand what is happening as billions of tons of ice are sliding toward the sea. Our four virtual-reality films take you on, above and below the Antarctic ice. We dont say this lightly: A collapse could threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars of property on coasts. We do not believe that uttering false statements to an investigating agent and that seems to be all that was proved here who might or might not testify before a grand jury is sufficient to make out a violation of the catchall provision of 1503, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote in the majority opinion. Mr. Trumps statement to Mr. Comey about the investigation of Mr. Flynn if it was made and the later firing might have some impact on the F.B.I. investigation, although it is not entirely clear how much because the director is not involved in the day-to-day conduct of the inquiry. The Times reported on Thursday that the White House knew Mr. Flynn was under investigation when he was appointed, and that a grand jury has now issued subpoenas in the case, but there is no information available at this point that it had been convened in February when Mr. Trump spoke with Mr. Comey. The mere prospect of a grand jury proceeding is not enough under the Aguilar decision to constitute an obstruction of justice, even if the presidents statement could be construed to go that far. A second provision frequently used is 18 U.S.C. 1512(c), which makes it a crime for any person who corruptly otherwise obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so. Congress added this subsection in 2002 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to broaden the reach of the obstruction of justice provision to more clearly include conduct like that involving the accounting firm Arthur Andersens shredding of documents related to its audit of Enron. The firm was convicted in 2002 even without this change in the law, but the Supreme Court subsequently reversed the jury verdict in Arthur Andersen v. United States because the trial judge gave a flawed instruction on what constituted corruptly. The court, with Chief Justice Rehnquist writing the unanimous opinion, explained that corrupt conduct was normally associated with wrongful, immoral, depraved or evil actions, which requires a consciousness of wrongdoing rather than just a questionable result. There have been comparisons of Mr. Trumps statements to the Watergate cover-up that toppled President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. The smoking gun recording in that case, however, was much more incriminating as Mr. Nixon told H. R. Halderman, his chief of staff, six days after the break-in that the C.I.A. needed to tell the F.B.I. dont go any further into this case. Whether Mr. Trump could be found to have the requisite intent is not clear from the memorandum Mr. Comey is reported to have written about their conversation in February. Asking the F.B.I. director to let this go regarding Mr. Flynn is the type of ambiguous comment that might not be interpreted as directly interfering in the investigation, and therefore insufficient to establish a corrupt intent. The death of Roger Ailes on Thursday was always fated to be channeled through partisan filters. He was the man most responsible for building Fox News into a powerhouse conservative network, before he was ousted last summer amid accusations of sexual harassment. Commentary on his legacy was particularly split on social media, where intense criticism of Mr. Ailes began simultaneously with the reports of his death. Many condemned Mr. Ailes and his network, pointing in particular to the manifold accusations against him, which he had always denied. But numbers of conservatives celebrated him as an inventive giant who fundamentally transformed television, a medium that he had understood instinctually since childhood. The major networks unveiled their offerings for the coming television season to advertising buyers in Manhattan this week. Money, prestige and cultural import were at stake. Two New York Times reporters who cover media John Koblin and Sapna Maheshwari assess what they saw at the CBS presentation on Wednesday, the fourth and final upfront presentation from the major broadcast networks. JOHN What a difference a year makes. Last year, Stephen Colbert barely earned a footnote in CBSs upfront he was trailing Jimmy Fallon by as much as a million viewers a night, and he was being badly outshined by his colleague, The Late Late Show host, James Corden. CBS all but ignored him. This year, with Colbert surging and unexpectedly besting Fallons The Tonight Show, he was featured prominently in CBSs opening sizzle reel and then came out to lead a song-and-dance number. He even took on the role of Company Man, proudly promoting all the top shows that CBS has on the air. CBSs top dog, Les Moonves, admitted to the upfront crowd, And if you think I love Stephen more now because hes No. 1? Youre right. (Colbert took it to another level later: His first guest on his show Wednesday night was The Talk co-host Julie Chen, Moonves wife.) Sapna, Colbert set the tone for what was probably the most high-energy upfront weve seen all week. SAPNA I absolutely agree, John, and ad buyers at the after-party felt that way. It didnt hurt that CBS executives appeared to pay the right amount of attention to Google, Apple, Amazon and the rest of the internet while also hyping their own unique wares. Weve seen the networks touting how theyre No. 1 all week, but CBS, as we know, is able to lay claim to the most viewers over all. The Colbert opening was a huge hit, helped by what a wild news week its been his jokes riffed off James Comey, Sean Spicer and, of course, President Trump, and appeared to land right on target. JOHN And one other joke I need to mention from Moonves: One year ago, who wouldve predicted Stephen Colbert would be winning late night on CBS and Bill OReilly would be doing a podcast in his underwear? After talking to a bunch of folks, theres a consensus about this years upfronts: lackluster. NBCs effort for the second year in a row at combining its broadcast network with all of its cable channels didnt gel. (Whats the through line between This Is Us, CNBCs Jim Cramer and USAs W.W.E. competitions?) Fox was too sports-heavy, and the trailers for the networks new shows were uneven. ABCs was a wee bit too nostalgic. But CBS hit a different chord, and we heard genuine enthusiasm from advertisers at Carnegie Hall. The death of Roger E. Ailes, who helped build Fox News into a cultural and political force, capped what has been an extraordinary period of upheaval at the network. Since Mr. Ailess downfall in July after a series of sexual harassment allegations, Fox News has grappled with near-constant turmoil, including the ouster of Bill OReilly, the top-rated cable news host, and a damaging exodus of advertisers. This is what life has been like for the network in the last 10 and a half months. It was unexpected, he said of being a part of the exhibition. I have done all I could to shield myself from whats going on in the world and this show, with its message of unity, was a clear (if gentle) statement about what is going on the world. But I was confident because of what it is and where it was going. When Mr. Rosenthal first heard of the exhibition, organized in part by a friend, Alessandra di Castro, the director of the Jewish Museum in Rome, he had been impressed by the idea, he said by the surprise of these two institutions transforming a growing dialogue into action during a period of global isolationism and had wanted to help out. His first idea was to make a few small items for the gift shop: a mezuza and a Star of David pendant. Because of time pressure, however, he couldnt, so Ms. di Castro suggested he make a piece for the show itself instead. I thought he would never do it, she said. But it inspired him for a mysterious reason I dont know. He wouldnt tell me what he was making. What he was making as a gift for the Jewish museum and in five weeks, an uncharacteristically fast turnaround for Mr. Rosenthal, whose average piece takes three months to six years, according to the craftsman Laurent Bouissiere turned out to be a three-dimensional living branch of a menorah. It was made in bronze and aluminum (with a touch of gold), and shaped like the limb of an almond tree in bloom with multitudinous pink enamel flowers and a central bud glowing with a pave mix of white and gold diamonds, blue and violet sapphires, and pink rubies, one petal lit with stones like a flame. When she saw it, Ms. di Castro said, I was very moved. Every few years, there are certain places that are seen as good training grounds, said William S. Susman, founder of the investment firm Threadstone Advisors. For a while it was Bloomingdales, then Neiman Marcus. Now its the consumer products firms. They teach branding and direct-to-consumer sales, especially direct-to-millennial-consumers, and that is what everyone wants. They also may have more in common with billion-dollar global brands such as Ralph Lauren than smaller luxury houses do, said Robert Burke, founder of the luxury-sector consultancy Robert Burke Associates, especially in terms of managing an organization of global scale. It arguably began in 2001, when LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton hired Antonio Belloni, also a former Procter & Gamble executive, as group managing director, a job he still holds. But it didnt cause much disruption in the industry until 2004, when Francois Pinault, then chief executive of the conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (later PPR, and now Kering), chose Robert Polet, a frozen-foods executive from Unilever, to run the luxury division Gucci Group. Mr. Polet was replacing Domenico De Sole, a widely respected fashion executive who, with Tom Ford, had revived Gucci and turned it into a global power. The industry scoffed at the idea of an ice cream salesman managing brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. The idea being, apparently, that someone with experience in selling such commoditized pleasures could not possibly understand the mysteries and creativity involved in luxury. Common sense suggests that asking the right questions before getting married can make for a better union, but rarely is the other side of the coin examined. That could be because, by the time the prospect of divorce surfaces, spouses may already be in a stressful frame of mind, and in no mood for a game of 20 or even 11 questions. That is a mistake, said Nancy Colier, a psychotherapist in Manhattan. Even if the ultimate decision is to dissolve the marriage, asking the right questions before contacting a lawyer or mediator, and perhaps with the assistance of a marriage counselor, may prove worthwhile. Still somewhat spry at 65 and looking or so he believed like a bespectacled, balding Jimmy Olsen in one of those narrow bow ties he favored, David W. Dunlap settled into a window cubicle overlooking an unprepossessing stretch of West 41st Street, took three or four sips of his black French Roast coffee, inhaled shallowly and held that breath. Then he opened his email. Image Would this have worked better with an anecdotal lede? It was May 2017, but it might have been almost any morning since the late summer of 1975, when he started his career at The New York Times. The day ahead could hold anything, he knew, so the sweetness of anticipation was always blunted by wordless dread. What awaited were a request from his boss, Diego Ribadeneira, to help out on the story of a landmark synagogue on the Lower East Side that had been destroyed by fire over the weekend. Another editor, Susan Lehman, asked for a piece about the need to rein in anecdotal ledes. It soon became clear that the story was going to take on outsize meaning. In my encounters with the women, with the strenuous pushback from Mr. Cosbys legal team and his supporters, in the reverberations of the story across popular culture, I saw it was about power relationships; about race; about how sexual assault cases are prosecuted; and about an icon who had changed the face of American television with The Cosby Show. As a Brit, it took me into a new arena of American mythology and celebrity. I found myself exercising a completely new set of reportorial skills. This wasnt the war zone of Afghanistan, or the bright lights of Manhattan art auctions. Instead, I had to learn to listen quietly, patiently to people who said they had been sexually assaulted, and to spokesmen for Mr. Cosby who said these same people were liars. At the beginning, my team and I spent several months trying to find and talk to some of the women with stories of sexual assault who had stepped forward publicly into a glaring media spotlight and some who hadnt. This task involved spending long hours listening to the harrowing accounts of what they said they had been through and carefully gauging the credibility of the accusations. How did they come to meet him? What, if anything, did they gain from going public? What were the details similarities to other womens accounts, a willingness to share private details, their own loss of innocence that pointed to whether they were reliable? In order to give the womens accounts context, we had to piece together Mr. Cosbys own life and career in the 1960s, 1970s and onward, recreating his daily routines around stage sets and performances from New York to Las Vegas. We tracked down people who had known him back then to ask about his habits at work, his family life, and whether his vehement denials were plausible after so many women had come forward with similar accusations of assault. Eventually, several women brought civil suits, and prosecutors in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Cosby has a home, reopened a decade-old investigation and filed the only criminal charges that have been brought. (My profile of the woman at the center of the case is on Page C1.) Capuchin monkeys use poisonous millipedes and citrus as insect repellent. With howler monkeys, self-medication may veer into social engineering. Ken Glander, an emeritus scientist at Duke, thinks that female howlers sometimes seek out foods that change the acidity of their reproductive organs after mating. By changing the pH balance, he told me, these females may promote the success of male over female sperm, resulting in more male offspring. Should one of those males rise in a troop and sire many children, his mothers genes are also spread with them. Is what seems to be self-medication simply another instinctual behavior, like the urge to procreate or eat when hungry? Or is it a skill that animals acquire through experience? Most scientists I spoke to pointed out, almost bashfully, that natural selection could produce self-medicating behaviors without the humanlike learning and sharing of expertise that we associate with medical treatment. Animals that happen to eat medicinal plants at the right time might survive more successfully than those that dont, causing that behavior to spread. Smaller-brained animals, like caterpillars and ants, are probably self-medicating as a matter of instinct. Even monkeys, with their larger brains, seem to use insect repellents automatically: some drool, writhe and fall into what looks like a trance whenever they encounter a millipede. And yet sheep, which are often considered dimwitted compared to primates, seemingly learn from experience what medicinal plants to draw on and when. There appears to be no hard line in our imagined hierarchy of the animal kingdom, below which self-medication is instinctive and above which medicinal behavior derives from learning. Chimps and other great apes differ, of course, from many other animals. They have culture that we recognize as such and Huffman considers medical knowledge part of that cultural inheritance. Young chimps closely watch what their mothers eat, and he suspects that this is how they learn what plants to make them better. Chimps in other troops chew different plants than Chausiku did, suggesting that their medicinal knowledge is specific to their environs, not hard-wired. But not everyone thinks the science is settled. Moreover, its still unclear how an infant watching its mother learns to associate bitter-tasting plants with physical relief, given that the mother, not the infant, is the one experiencing it and that the effect may not be felt until a day or more after dosing. Thats the puzzle, the well-known primatologist and author Frans de Waal told me. And how do they discover medicinal plants to begin with, particularly given their usual bitter taste? It doesnt sound logical to me, he said, but it must have happened, because we see animals flock to certain resources when theyre sick. Huffman thinks that people may have acquired medicinal knowledge through the observation of animals. He often tells a story he heard from his friend Kalunde, who died in 2013, to illustrate the point. Kalundes grandfather, a healer, once watched a sick porcupine eat the roots of a plant known to be quite poisonous. When the porcupine recovered, Kalundes grandfather began experimenting with the root in small doses, first on himself and then on fellow villagers. It turned out to be an effective treatment for dysentery, one the Tongwe still use today. Chapter 3 of Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There culminates with Alices coming to a wood where things have no names. Immediately upon entering, she is unable to identify anything around her, knows not what to call herself or the surrounding trees or the strangely fearless fawn that soon approaches. Mutually enchanted, the two commence walking along together in utter peace and calm, Alices arm cradling the fawn as they go. The assuaging grace of this trance is broken only upon coming to a clearing where name recognition returns and the startled fawn bounds away in fright, leaving Alice bereft and forlorn. Carrolls parable about the distancing effects of human consciousness and language has particular resonance at a time when close encounters with nonhuman animals are increasingly being sought to heal our psychic and social woes. It is, in effect, a kind of wood with no names into which animal therapy allows its participants entrance. At equine-therapy programs like Compton Jr. Posse in Los Angeles (pictured here), inner-city adolescents find a refuge from drugs and street-gang culture by developing equestrian skills and learning to regard the knowing gazes of 1,000-plus-pound horses and guide their beguiling power. In return for striving in school, the programs participants, ranging in age from 8 to 18, are taught to ride horses, groom them and clean their stables. These experiences keep them within what Mayisha Akbar, the founder of Compton Jr. Posse, calls the horses personal circle. Horses have a profound effect on humans. Whether they have a physical handicap or an emotional handicap or a mental handicap, when youre around a horse, Akbar says, the energy is so powerful that it tunes the body up. Thats why there are so many therapeutic riding programs, because they do see physical changes in people who are around horses. Sweeter and soapier than weve come to expect from the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, The Commune swaddles the pain of a disintegrating marriage in a good-natured cocoon of laughter and larks. Set in the mid-1970s and loosely based on the directors own experiences (previously explored in his stage play, Kollektivet), Tobias Lindholms screenplay sacrifices credibility for quirkiness. So when Erik and Anna (Ulrich Thomsen and a magnificent Trine Dyrholm) inherit a rambling mansion that they cant afford to live in, and decide to create a commune to defray expenses, naturally they choose housemates whose peculiarities far exceed their incomes. Though they provide color and friendly conflict, these folks are never more than narrative satellites, vehicles for embarrassing outbursts and sentimental health crises. Yet among the skinny-dipping sessions and eventful house meetings, Ms. Dyrholm quietly and affectingly takes Anna to the brink of despair and back again. A longtime news anchor whose career is threatened by stress and ageism and whose marriage to Erik a crabby, self-centered professor has begun to ossify, Anna seems the sole adult in a house filled with children. Even her wardrobe is out of sync with the other womens floaty, hippie layers. Like Annette Benings resilient matriarch in Mike Millss recent and delightful 20th Century Women (which shares some thematic similarities with The Commune), Anna is a woman of a certain age coping with uncertain times. It says much for Ms. Dyrholms performance that we never doubt that she will prevail. Twenty cents. That was the subway fare in 1968, and politicians from New York City to Albany knew that the surest way to get voted out of office was to be seen as responsible for raising it. So when Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and his deputy, William J. Ronan, made their gambit to seize control of the citys transit system, they couched the move as an attempt to preserve the 20-cent fare. But it was about more than that. It was a battle of egos, pitting the giant who had remade the citys infrastructure, Robert Moses, against a governor insistent that the state take over the entire transportation network. At the heart of the scheme proposed by Rockefeller and Ronan was a bold idea: Because the state controlled the tolls on the citys bridges and tunnels, it could subsidize the subway and keep fares in check. Speaking to members of the National Rifle Associations Leadership Forum last month, Mr. Trump argued that for too long, Washington has gone after law-abiding gun owners while making life easier for gang members, and singling out MS-13, which has plagued certain localities, Suffolk County on Long Island for example, more than others. Although compiling accurate statistics on gang-related homicides is an extremely difficult business if a gang member shoots his girlfriend, is that an act of gang violence or domestic assault? Jessica Vaughan of the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies has testified before Congress that her organization, through its examination of open-source material, found that MS-13 was responsible for approximately 40 murders in this country between 2014 and early this year. While the real figure is sure to be considerably higher, it is clearly nowhere near the 33,000 deaths that are attributable to guns in this country every year. While it is clear that gang violence can be, and has been, reduced when local law enforcement officials enjoy good relations with immigration officials, it is by no means obvious that ICE raids of the kind held recently do anything to bring gang-related murders down. Between 2007, two years after they became regularly reported, and 2012, the last year for which the National Gang Center has statistics (thanks to federal funding cuts that have impeded the organizations research efforts), the number of gang-related homicides in this country increased to 2,363 from 1,975 among the jurisdictions that reported results to the center. National homicide numbers over all fell by about 13 percent during the same period. So what can be done about urban gang violence? in New York, the Citizens Crime Commission, an independent organization devoted to novel solutions to public safety problems, has seemed to be in the vanguard of tailoring technological innovations to prevention. The organizations president, Richard Aborn, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorneys office, speaks more in the patois of Silicon Valley than in the jargon of policing. With ample philanthropic funding, the commission has developed something called the E-Responder, which automates the process of identifying particularly disturbing or violent social media posts. Interestingly, Mr. Aborn has found that New York gang members, many of whom are affiliated with neighborhood crews rather than international syndicates, prefer obvious channels like Facebook rather than encrypted and out-of-view sites like WhatsApp, making their comings and goings easy to track. Tellingly, they are interested to a great extent in spectacle. They want the taunts and the vitriol to be recognized by others in just the same way the graffiti artist wants to be seen, Mr. Aborn said. He is not going to be interested in applying graffiti to a building that will be torn down the next day. This is all about the bravado of confrontation. You dont do it in a format that can disappear in two seconds. Whats the value in being tough for two seconds? JERUSALEM President Trump leaves for the Middle East on Friday. The trips objectives, his national security adviser, H. R. McMaster, has told reporters, is to broadcast a message of unity to Americas friends and to pay his respects to the homelands and holy sites of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. Mr. Trump will begin in Saudi Arabia, with which his administration is nearing consummation of a $100 billion arms deal; hell meet with leaders of the Arab League Americas partners, as General McMaster says whom hell encourage to take bold, new steps to promote peace and to confront those, from ISIS to Al Qaeda to Iran to the Assad regime, who perpetuate chaos. In Jerusalem, Mr. Trump will reaffirm Americas unshakable bond to the Jewish state and in Bethlehem, express his desire for dignity and self-determination for the Palestinians. American leadership is necessary to move the region toward the peace, security and stability that the people there so deserve, General McMaster said. Lets strain to ignore the latest reasons to question Mr. Trumps fitness for office or, indeed, his survivability in it: the firing of James Comey as F.B.I. director, the intelligence leak to Russia. General McMaster has laid out the policy lines of a Republican administration that is just beginning its four-year term. To be sure, the approach has been enigmatic so far. But that may be an advantage, since progress toward those goals does not depend on the president alone. Among Trump advisers like General McMaster, a refreshed realists view of the Middle East seems to be unfolding. Impeach Mr. Trump and you get Mike Pence, who was instrumental in replacing Michael Flynn with General McMaster and was the lead adviser in appointing Jim Mattis as secretary of defense and Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. To hear the world leaders who gathered in Beijing last weekend boast about Chinas ambitious plans to spend more than $1 trillion on roads, ports, energy and other major projects in 60 countries, linking Asia, Europe and Africa, is to be reminded how Americas vision and influence have shrunk under President Trump. While Mr. Trump pushes an America First agenda of isolationism and protectionism and embroils himself in controversies that raise doubts about his competence, President Xi Jinping of China exudes purpose and confidence as he tries to remake the global economic and political order and lure nations into Beijings orbit. Mr. Xi held the Beijing forum to showcase his One Belt, One Road initiative, which is aimed at creating a modern version of the Silk Road, a network of trading routes from China to Africa and Europe. Dozens of world leaders, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia, attended. Many of them praised Mr. Xis vision, which he first voiced in 2013, and were enthusiastic about locating projects in their countries, financing them, building them or managing them. The plan offers many ways countries can participate; Britain and Singapore, for instance, seem eager to handle private financing. Chinas leader has advantages in promoting his agenda. Hes in control. (Its worth remembering that he is hardly a democrat.) His government has lots of money to invest. His propaganda machine is disciplined and relentless. And Mr. Xi himself is a Barnum-like salesman. Development holds the master key to solving all problems, he said at the forum, as if One Belt, One Road were the ultimate cure-all. The simmering talk of impeachment swirling around President Trump largely concerns whether he committed a crime by asking James Comey, when he was still the director of the F.B.I., to end an investigation of Michael T. Flynn, the onetime national security adviser. From the perspective of criminal law, the resulting questions, which pertain mainly to the presidents intent in making the request, are inescapable. From the perspective of the decidedly political act of impeachment, they are irrelevant. The purpose of impeachment is not punitive. It is prophylactic. Criminal law looks backward toward offenses committed. The object of impeachment is not to exact vengeance. It is to protect the public against future acts of recklessness or abuse. Consequently, the issue in deciding whether Mr. Trump is liable to impeachment is less what happened in the Oval Office between him and Mr. Comey than what those events say about what will happen in similar situations in the future. That is not a case for casual impeachment. On the contrary, since it is harder to predict future acts than to prove what has already occurred, such a standard may be harder to meet. Our tendency to read the impeachment power in an overly legalistic way, which is ratified by 230 years of excessive timidity about its use, obscures the political rather than juridical nature of the device. The Constitution applies presidential impeachment to Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. The famous latter phrase does not refer to offenses like burglary on the one hand or loitering on the other. If it did, impeachment would be available for casual transgressions, which no framer of the Constitution intended. The phrase dates in American constitutionalism to the founder George Masons proposal to make the president liable to impeachment not just for treason and bribery the original formulation at the Constitutional Convention but also for what he called maladministration. His fellow framer James Madison objected to the vagueness of the term, so Mason substituted high Crimes and Misdemeanors. That phrase, in turn, is traceable to the British legal commentator William Blackstone, a contemporary who was revered in colonial America, who applied it to the mal-administration of high officers, among other things. To the Editor: Re Special Counsel Will Investigate Russia Influence (front page, May 18): When Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp in Washington, Im sure he didnt think that the process would begin in the White House. The appointment of Robert S. Mueller III, a former F.B.I. director, as special counsel is welcome news. History tells us that the road ahead of him is long and that we can expect many obstacles to be thrown in his path. Even before the appointment, the Trump administration had begun to circle the wagons. It appears that Mr. Trump may have committed acts that could amount to obstruction of justice. Thats why Mr. Muellers appointment is so important. In the end, we can only hope that the democratic institutions upon which our nation was founded will prevail against what is certain to be a fierce campaign to prevent the truth from surfacing. JAY N. FELDMAN PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. To the Editor: Re The Special Counsel America Needs (editorial, May 18): As it turns out, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, is a stand-up guy who cares more about the country than his own job. President Trump must be absolutely fuming over the appointment of a former F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller, as the special counsel who will lead the inquiry into any possible collusion between Mr. Trump or his campaign and Russian officials. The increase in safe House seats from 1992 to 2012 is the driving force behind the growing significance of primary elections and the declining salience of general elections. For Republicans, safe districts where the potential threat to an incumbent is in the primary and not in the general election rose from 136 in 1992 to 191 in 2012. For Democrats, the number of safe districts grew from 111 in 1992 to 156 in 2012. Republicans focused on self-interest or self-preservation are under pressure from all directions. Nolan McCarty, a political scientist at Princeton, made the point in an email that, given the current level of polarization, a Republican who challenges his party by taking on President Trump and still survives the primary may not be rewarded in the general election because there is much less opportunity for offsetting support from Democrats and Independents. Another factor elected Republicans must consider in calculating their positions is an upsurge in straight ticket voting since 1992. Marc Hetherington, a political scientist at Vanderbilt, argues that voting patterns in states and districts are making it increasingly hazardous for a politician to break ranks: Consider voting behavior in the 2016 election. For the first time in history, every state that voted Democratic voted for a Democrat for Senate. Every state that voted Republican voted for a Republican for Senate. As for congressional districts, the number of split voting districts between the presidential and House elections reached a minimum since such records have been kept, which dates to 1920. In the current political climate, Hetherington said: Republicans hate the Democratic Party so much and Democrats hate the Republican Party so much that they do not view the other side as a viable option. In the past, when the electorate was less partisan, Republicans would have to worry about what Democrats in the electorate thought because they counted on getting votes from Democrats when they had to face the voters in the fall. Now, they do not. Along similar lines, Martin Gilens, a political scientist at Princeton, noted: Compromise and bipartisanship are increasingly viewed as betrayal. In recent years, challenges to party leadership have come only from extremist factions like the Tea Party, not from centrists concerned with maintaining institutional norms or adopting policies with widespread appeal. In her 2016 book, Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, describes some of the forces that contribute to the rejection of compromise and bipartisanship. Lee points out that when control of the House and Senate is up for grabs as it has been since 1980 the pressure on members to maintain strict partisan loyalty intensifies. She argues that Intense party competition for institutional control focuses members of Congress on the quest for partisan political advantage. When party control seemingly hangs in the balance, members and leaders of both parties invest more effort in enterprises to promote their own partys image and undercut that of the opposition. Partisan calculations, Lee writes, will weigh more heavily on political decision making under more party-competitive conditions. And when majority status is in play, members of out parties tend to think in terms of winning the long game of institutional control rather than the short game of wielding influence by cooperating in policy making. Chris Cillizza, a political commentator at CNN, recently wrote that Trumps series of self-inflicted wounds has congressional Republicans mystified and scared, desperately trying to figure out what Trump will do next and, as importantly, what it all means for their own political prospects. To date, Republicans have stood by Trump or at least stayed silent in the face of his many foibles. While a great danger facing Republicans one with vast consequences going forward is that they will wait to act longer than their voters are prepared to tolerate, there are clear signs that Republican willingness to stand behind Trump has begun to fray. On Wednesday, before Muellers appointment was announced, two Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine had already suggested that it might well be time for the appointment of a special prosecutor. Other Republican senators who have publicly criticized Trump include Ben Sasse of Nebraska, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona. In normal times, the appointment of a former F.B.I. director as a special counsel to investigate whether a sitting presidents associates colluded with the Kremlin to put him in office would be a powerful reaffirmation of the rule of law. The official who appointed the counsel is a former federal prosecutor, and he demonstrated independence by not informing the White House in advance. In normal times, those who believed the president colluded with the Kremlin could be reassured that the investigation would be credible. Those who believed the Kremlin conspiracy was a partisan myth could feel confident that the counsel would not fall prey to political pressures. But we have not been living in normal times since Donald Trump was inaugurated in January and set about making a mockery both of his oath and of the office of the presidency. And the appointment of Robert Mueller, the former F.B.I. chief, to investigate the Kremlin Kaper is a classic too-little-too-late action taken by the wrong person. Mueller was chosen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a former United States attorney, because Rosensteins boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, had recused himself from the Russia investigation. TAIPEI, Taiwan Chinas aggression in the Asia-Pacific region has been met with little tangible response from the United States and other countries. Chinas neighbors have acquiesced to Beijings claims to the airspace above the East China Sea and have stood by as it embarked on a long-term project to militarize the South China Sea. The security balance in Asia is shifting under the weight of a resurgent China. Beijings belligerence presents an existential threat to Taiwan, a country that Chinese leaders have long vowed to take by force if they deem necessary. For years, the political establishment in Taipei has delegated responsibility for responding to Beijing to the United States. Still, with Chinas military advances and unchecked assertiveness, we Taiwanese could be headed for a compromise over the fate of our country on Chinas terms. Whether Taiwan eventually falls to Beijing depends on the choices we make now. Taiwan needs a new approach for its security: The political leadership must correct decades of mismanagement of the military and accept ultimate responsibility for the defense of the country. Taiwans capitulation to Beijing would not only destroy the way of life for the 23.5 million Taiwanese who have become accustomed to personal freedom and democracy but it would also harm the interests of the United States and its allies. China would be emboldened to consolidate its claims to the surrounding skies and seas, destabilizing the entire Asia Pacific. With full control of Taiwan, Beijing would gain access to ports and airfields uncomfortably close to Okinawa, where over 20,000 American troops are stationed. The report of the presidential leak was greeted with anger, but it cannot be said that there was great surprise. At a meeting between American and Israeli intelligence officials a few weeks before Mr. Trumps inauguration, the Americans recommended to the Israelis that they refrain from passing to his White House sensitive secret information, or material that could lead to the baring of sources or methods of intelligence gathering at least until it became clear that Mr. Trump or members of his staff were not linked inappropriately to the Russians or exposed to extortion by Moscow. An Israeli who took part in that meeting told me it was a bizarre scene and against all the rules of protocol. Israel has good reason to be concerned about its intelligence making its way to Moscow: Russia is a major player in the war in Syria on Israels northern border, where it has also become a close ally of Iran and Hezbollah, Israels sworn enemies. But the problem goes even deeper: If Israeli intelligence that has been shared with the United States whether the National Security Agency, the C.I.A., the Defense Department or the White House is not safely guarded, Israel faces a major threat to its security. Cooperation with Americas agencies is deeply embedded in Israels intelligence community. This relationship was born in 1956, when an Israeli spy was the first to obtain a copy of the famous speech by Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union admitting Stalins crimes and handed it over to the C.I.A. Since then, the cooperation has grown beyond the C.I.A.-Mossad liaison to take in other agencies, including in particular the collaboration between the N.S.A. and its Israeli counterpart, Unit 8200 of the Military Intelligence Directorate; the F.B.I. and its parallel internal security agency in Israel, the Shin Bet; and other organizations. The N.S.A. and Unit 8200 have signed a number of secret agreements and have even erected giant N.S.A. satellite antenna dishes southwest of Jerusalem. In this relationship, Israel has always had an advantage in the recruitment and handling of agents in Arab countries, and the Americans have the edge when it comes to the technology for intercepting transmissions. In practical terms, Israel has become the eyes and ears of the United States in the Middle East. This arrangement has freed the United States from a heavy intelligence-gathering burden. But it has also forced the Americans to depend upon the Israelis. When the latter failed to see dramatic developments in the arena, or didnt want to see it, the Americans were also blinded, as in the surprise attack of the Arab states against Israel in October 1973. The intelligence relationship between Israel and the United States suffered a crippling blow in 1985, when it was discovered that Israel was running a spy, Jonathan Pollard, inside United States Naval Intelligence. This act, as well as other breaches of confidence, generated enormous suspicion toward Israel. The United States continued to cooperate with Unit 8200, but it also tapped the encrypted phone conversations between its representatives at the N.S.A. and their commanders here in Tel Aviv. Until 1999, the modern solution to the problem of policing the White House was to create an independent counsel. But the cure was worse than the disease, diverting executive power outside constitutional controls and sapped the presidency of energy. Frequently, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, an effort to undermine the Constitutions separation of powers will come before the court clad, so to speak, in sheeps clothing. But in the case of the independent prosecutor, he wrote, this wolf comes as a wolf. After presidents from both parties had suffered at the hands of independent counsels in the 1980s and 90s, Congress allowed the statute to expire. The type of special prosecutor just appointed by the acting attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, differs from the independent counsels created under the expired act and is significantly weaker. Mr. Muellers role will be governed by Justice Department rules, which can always be overridden by the president. The larger defect of independent counsels, of either type, is that they had the convenient effect of relieving Congress of its constitutional duty to constrain an abusive president. If Mr. Trump has truly impeded a valid investigation, Congresss initial action should be refusal to enact his legislative agenda or fund White House priorities. If these measures fail, Congress can turn to impeachment, which allows for the removal of a president for high crimes and misdemeanors. Contrary to common wisdom, impeachment does not require the president to commit a crime but instead refers to significant political mistakes or even incompetence. This was the framers intent as Hamilton explained in Federalist 65, impeachment was to tackle the misconduct of public men or the abuse or violation of some public trust. Such offenses, he wrote, are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. After the Civil War, for instance, the Senate came within one vote of removing President Andrew Johnson for undermining Reconstruction. The first step would be for Congress to form a special committee to investigate the Russia controversy and the Trump-Comey affair. To forestall this, Mr. Trump should look to the example of his predecessor Ronald Reagan. The Iran-contra scandal nearly destroyed Reagans presidency and could have led to his impeachment. After the revelations that his national security staff had traded arms for hostages held by Iran and transferred funds to the Nicaraguan contras, Reagan cleaned house and agreed to reforms of government oversight of covert action. After that, his presidency not only survived but also thrived. President Trump should emulate Reagan. He should fire his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, and all the others who brought the chaos of the presidential campaign into the White House. He can replace them with more experienced government hands, much as he replaced Mr. Flynn with H. R. McMaster. He can appoint an independent presidential commission to get to the bottom of the Russia affair, copying the Bush inquiry into Iraqs W.M.D. program. Most important, Mr. Trump should begin deferring to Congress on domestic policy and instead focus on national security and foreign affairs, where the framers wanted the presidencys structural advantages of unity, speed and energy to shine. The alternative is to spend his term in office floundering from one self-inflicted controversy to the next, exhausting himself amid a rising flood of investigations. WASHINGTON When Air Force One touches down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week, President Trump can be sure of one thing: His Saudi hosts have firmly pressed the reset button on a relationship that became strained in the latter years of Barack Obamas presidency. Mr. Obama made four visits to Saudi Arabia, more than any other United States president. He agreed to sell the Saudis more weapons than any other president. He provided American military support for the Saudi intervention in the civil war in Yemen. Yet the Saudis rightly saw him as so anxious to solidify his legacy of the nuclear deal with Iran that he was willing to weaken the United States 75-year-old strategic relationship with their country. In fact, it appeared as if Mr. Obama was willing to tacitly accept Irans efforts to dominate the Middle East. Saudi leaders believe they have a better ally in the new American president, whose administration came out early with clear and forceful warnings that it was putting Iran on notice after Tehran tested a ballistic missile. This was followed by the approval of the sale of ammunition to Saudi Arabia that Mr. Obama had suspended. The rapprochement culminated in a high-profile visit by the Saudi deputy crown prince to the White House in March. After several years of distancing, the views of Washington and Riyadh seemed very much aligned. Still, the Saudis will be listening intently this weekend for even more reassurance from Mr. Trump that the Iran page has truly been turned and that the Saudi-American alliance is back on track. Mr. Trump should offer three strong messages for his Saudi hosts. We take a close look at Rod J. Rosenstein, the man who picked that special counsel. Is he the presidents problem or his protector? We talk with Glenn Thrush, a White House correspondent for The Times, and Megan Brown, a lawyer in Maryland who first met Mr. Rosenstein in 2000 when he hired her for her first law internship. Theyve stayed in touch ever since. Background reading: More on Mr. Rosensteins appointment of Mr. Mueller as special counsel. What Mr. Muellers autonomy means for the president. Why its so hard to have an independent investigation. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that isnt enough, we can even text. How do I listen? If you dont see an audio player on this page or to subscribe to The Daily for free, follow the instructions below. On your iPhone or iPad: Open the preloaded app called Podcasts; it has a purple icon. If youre reading this from your phone, tap this link, which will take you straight there. (You can also use the magnifying glass icon to search; type The Daily.) The many flights of stairs annoyed them both. Just because I can handle it doesnt mean it makes my life any easier or adds value to my life, Mr. Le said. I would prefer to leave my fitness activities to when they are planned and measurable. As their lease approached expiration last fall, the couple went on the hunt for someplace bigger and better. They budgeted about $2,500 a month. Meanwhile, last summer, they started training at a new gym in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Squats and Science Barbell, one of the few in the city suitable for competitive powerlifters, they say. The trip there took an hour each way. In order to perform at my best, I need to use equipment that would best simulate competition conditions, Mr. Le said. Because the equipment is so expensive and the sport is so niche, finding the right equipment is near impossible. For most people, if theres a line to be drawn in terms of what can be bought on Craigslist which somehow lives on after all these years it might be at a house. Things to put inside a house, yes; materials to build a house with, sure; even a car, to be parked in the garage of a house thats been rented via Craigslist why not? But the house itself? Thats what real estate agents are for. And yet, to hear Amanda Bupp tell it, and to see Amanda Bupps house, buying a house on Craigslist is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, even a great idea. In 2011, Bupp was living with her then-girlfriend, Bianca Barattini, in Brooklyn. The couple decided they wanted to own a weekend place in the Catskills (where they are also now part-owners of the Graham & Co. hotel), and while browsing the site, Bupp happened upon a foreclosure in Phoenicia, N.Y. The place was completely decrepit, an old hunting cabin, she says, that someone had attempted to update at some point but then gave up on. There was no bathroom, and a drop ceiling with an attic that was just filled with stuff the farther we would dig back, the older the things, like Christmas decorations from the 50s. It was pretty scary. And yet it was also ripe with potential at least for Bupp, a fashion-industry veteran. We could have just knocked it down, she says. Instead, they chose to maintain the original skeleton of the house, using it as a creative constraint: It was kind of nice to work around the parameters of what the old place was. Inside, they moved walls, reimagining the layout of rooms to give the interior a new logic and flow, and added oversize, single-paned picture windows, left undressed to allow for as much light as possible. The house, which abuts a nature preserve, is really in the woods, says Bupp, which means extreme privacy but also extreme shade. Europes love affair with Facebook may be coming to an end. On Thursday, the European Unions powerful antitrust chief fined the social network 110 million euros, or about $122 million, for giving misleading statements during the companys $19 billion acquisition of the internet messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. The fine one of the largest regulatory penalties against Facebook comes days after Dutch and French privacy watchdogs ruled that the company had broken strict data protection rules. Other European countries, notably Germany, are clamping down on social media companies, including issuing potentially hefty penalties for failing to sufficiently police hate speech and misinformation. The European Unions antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said that Facebook had told the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, that the social network would not combine the companys data with that of WhatsApp, which has more than one billion users. Yet last August, Facebook announced that it would begin sharing WhatsApp data with the rest of the company. That could allow it to gain an unfair advantage over rivals, by giving it access to greater amounts of data to help support its online advertising business. In 2019, two square blocks in Times Square have been irradiated, and in response, President Trump has imposed martial law. That is the backdrop of Building the Wall, a new two-character piece by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle) that is one of the first political dramas to imagine explicitly the darkest ramifications of the 2016 election. Mr. Schenkkans last New York production, All the Way, took us inside the Oval Office of Lyndon B. Johnson. The heart of the new play is a conversation between a liberal African-American history professor (Tamara Tunie) and a white supervisor of a private prison (James Badge Dale), who also happens to be a Trump supporter. Building the Wall, which is scheduled for a limited run, through July 9, and is directed by Ari Edelson, displays the theaters ability to respond quickly to current events. (Opens on Sunday, May 21, at New World Stages, buildingthewallplay.com.) The Man in the Ceiling, based on Mr. Feiffers 1995 young adult novel about a boy cartoonist named Jimmy Jibbett, will have its world premiere May 30 through June 25 at the well-regarded Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, N.Y. The musical has taken 21 years to reach this point, coming together as a collaboration among three illustrious principals, each working in an unaccustomed role. Image A copy of Mr. Feiffers book. Credit... Christopher Gregory for The New York Times While Mr. Feiffer wrote plays earlier in his career, this is his first musical. Mr. Seller, the director, is best-known as the Tony Award-winning producer of Hamilton and Rent. (Hes venturing into TV, too, producing the high school drama teacher series Rise for NBC.) And Andrew Lippa, the composer and lyricist, is also acting, portraying Jimmys Uncle Lester. During one tricky moment in the rehearsal, Mr. Lippa (The Addams Family, Big Fish) stepped out of character and back into his role as composer. When the actors found they didnt have time to move from one part of the stage to another during Getting It Right, the opening number, he suggested adding a little vocalizing to bridge the timing gap. He ran to a piano to tap out the four notes. Is that a good thing? he asked. Thats a great thing, answered Spencer Liff, the choreographer. Andrew was enriching that moment, Mr. Seller said later of his longtime friend. I always defer to my creators. Now both 52, theyve known each other since both were 6 in Oak Park, Mich., and Mr. Sellers parents bought a house from Mr. Lippas parents. Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.) Todays introduction comes to us from Jennifer Medina, a national correspondent in Los Angeles. School board campaigns are often sleepy affairs, not the sort of electoral battle that generates widespread attention and outside donations. But this weeks election for the Los Angeles Unified school board was something of an epic proxy fight. Some saw it as a battle over the influence of the teachers union. Others cast it as a fight against the education agenda of President Trump and Betsy DeVos and the expansion of charter schools. After Tuesdays results, the seven-member school board that governs the nations second largest public school system will be dominated by supporters of charter schools who may move to increase the number of publicly funded but privately run schools across the city. The election drew in some $14 million making it among the most expensive school board races in the countrys history and a host of high-profile endorsements. In the end, the candidates who portrayed themselves as supporters of dramatic changes won out, leaving the teachers union and its supporters angered and worried about the future. Steve Zimmer, the school board president who lost to the challenger Nick Melvoin, was so angered by the defeat that he refused to make the customary congratulatory call. Mr. Zimmer called the results devastating and said he would never run for office again. Holly Jacobs says her living nightmare began in 2009. That year, she was the victim of a uniquely modern attack, having discovered intimate photos and a video, along with her personal details posted online. The material proliferated and the images were sent to a co-worker and her boss. She feared losing her job and being kicked out of graduate school, and she spent years on damage control. I cant really say that it ever ended. Im pretty sure that my images are still being posted, but I just stopped searching my name, she said. Ms. Jacobs is far from alone. As the Center for Investigative Reporting revealed in March, thousands of Marine Corps women faced similar unwanted exposure when their photos were shared by active-duty and veteran Marines in a Facebook group that is now the subject of a Defense Department criminal investigation. The Addict Lemuel Johns, 35, of Chicago On July 7, 2008, Mr. Johns sold $3,000 worth of crack, or 127 grams, to his girlfriend, who turned him in because she believed he was cheating on her, his lawyer said. Mr. Johns was an addict who began using crack at age 13, after the death of his mother left him homeless and, effectively, an orphan. He had several run-ins with the law, and at the time of his federal indictment Mr. Johns was serving time in state prison for his most serious crime, aggravated battery and harming a peace officer. He had requested and completed a drug addiction program in prison. Under the Holder memo, Mr. Johns was charged with two counts of using the telephone to arrange the crack sale, each of which carries a maximum sentence of four years with no mandatory minimum. The judge sentenced him to five years. If the Sessions memo had been in effect at the time, Mr. Johns could have been charged with distribution of 127 grams of crack, which carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. Using a prior drug-related conviction, by then over a decade old, prosecutors could have doubled that, requiring the judge to impose a minimum sentence of 20 years quadruple his sentence. Because of adjustments to the law to bring crack sentences more in line with those for powder cocaine, if Mr. Johns committed the same offense today, under the Sessions memo he could face a mandatory minimum of 10 years. The Courier Rosa Lozano, 50, of Los Angeles On Jan. 23, 2014, Ms. Lozano tried to cross the border from Mexico to California in a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. Hidden in the doors was 17 kilos of methamphetamine. Decades before, Ms. Lozano had become addicted to meth while in an abusive marriage. More recently, her boyfriend had been deported and was pressuring her for money. A neuropsychologist who evaluated her said she had major depressive disorder, stimulant dependence and dependent personality disorder. She told authorities she was to be paid $3,500 for smuggling the meth. Under the Holder memo, she was charged with importing meth and a judge sentenced her to almost four years in prison. While incarcerated, she completed an intensive drug treatment program, which entitled her to an early release. WASHINGTON When House Democratic leaders hastily called a news conference Wednesday to demonstrate their outrage at President Trumps latest dramatics, they took great pains to show they were not seeking to railroad him out of the White House. No one ought to, in my view, rush to embrace the most extraordinary remedy that involves the removal of the president from office, said Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the sober-minded senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. He warned that Democrats should not let their actions be perceived as an effort to nullify the election by other means. At that very moment, Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, was in the well of the House thundering, The president must be impeached! The barrage of reports about Mr. Trumps chaotic and controversial administration has helped revive Democrats, raising their hopes that they can ride a Trumpian backlash to great success in next years elections. But with the cloud over the White House darkening each day, liberal activists are courting a backlash of their own as they demand of their lawmakers nothing short of driving the president from office by any means necessary. WASHINGTON The Trump administration gave Congress official notice on Thursday that it plans to renegotiate Nafta but provided only the vaguest of hints about modest changes President Trump would seek to an agreement that he has called the worst trade deal ever. In a brief letter to lawmakers, Robert Lighthizer, the newly confirmed United States trade representative, said the administration aimed to support economic growth and better-paying jobs through unspecified improvements to Nafta that would modernize the 23-year-old agreement. But the notice a drastically scaled-back version of a draft the administration circulated this year promised no major modifications of the sort that the president has hinted he will seek. Mr. Trump had threatened to withdraw completely from the agreement, only to relent in late April when the leaders of Canada and Mexico, the other parties to the deal, called and asked him to renegotiate instead. Sonny Perdue, his secretary of agriculture, also presented Mr. Trump with a map illustrating the potential negative consequences for American farmers if the deal were shut down. President Trump insisted that there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian officials, though he added, I can only speak for myself. Mr. Trump, speaking in the East Room of the White House, said he respected the appointment of a special counsel to investigate ties with Russia. The entire thing has been a witch hunt, Mr. Trump said. Theres no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign but I can only speak for myself and the Russians zero. The president said the questions surrounding his campaign and Russia were divisive. I think it divides the country, Mr. Trump said. I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. Read more from The Timess Mark Landler and Glenn Thrush Rosenstein knew Comey would be fired before he wrote memo. Mr. Rosenstein told senators that he knew President Trump planned to fire Mr. Comey as director of the F.B.I. before Mr. Rosenstein wrote a memo outlining the reasons for his dismissal, according to three Democratic lawmakers who were in the briefing. WASHINGTON Several White House advisers and personal associates of President Trump have urged him to hire an experienced outside lawyer to help him deal with issues arising from a surging controversy over whether his campaign had ties to Russia, according to several people briefed on the conversations. The recommendations came even before a special counsel was named on Wednesday to lead the investigation into any collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian officials. Mr. Trumps aides and allies were said to be especially concerned by the revelation that James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by Mr. Trump, has contemporaneous, detailed memos reconstructing conversations with the president. While the office of the president is represented by the White House counsel, presidents in the past have employed outside lawyers when their private actions were called into question. The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. Thats why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen. Has this series exposed you to new ideas? Tell us how. Email us at ourpicks@nytimes.com. From the Right Buck Sexton in The Federalist: Right now, considering the ongoing political siege against the administration, this looks like an unnecessary risk that could turn into a major blunder. Mr. Sexton warns Republicans who have hailed the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as a positive step to be careful what they wish for. While he concedes that the move will restore public faith in the ability of federal law enforcement to deal with such a politically charged matter, he has little confidence that Democrats and assorted Trump critics in media will refrain from using the investigation for partisan ends irrespective of the eventual outcome. Read more _____ Rick Wilson in The Washington Post: Sticking with Trump to the bitter end and pretending the unfolding chaos is just fake news wont save your reputation as the walls close in. It wont ease the judgment of history. It wont do anything to polish up your future Wikipedia entry. Louisiana has the nations highest incarceration rate. But this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards struck a deal to reduce sentences and the prison population, saving millions annually. If lawmakers approve the changes, Louisiana will be following more than 30 states, including Georgia, Texas and South Carolina, that have already limited sentences; expanded alternatives to incarceration, such as drug treatment; or otherwise reduced the reach and cost of the criminal justice system. Many of those states say they have saved money while crime rates have stayed low. In Washington, though, the nations top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has charted the opposite course. He announced last week that federal prosecutors should aim to put more people in prison for longer periods, adopting the sort of mass-incarceration strategy that helped flood prisons during the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. His move which he said would promote consistency and respect for the law alarmed critics who feared that the Trump administration was embracing failed, even racist, policies. My alarm and that of many other patients with chronic diseases escalated with the latest plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. We fear proposals to slash Medicaid and set higher insurance premiums for older citizens as well as those with pre-existing conditions. Doctors, hospital administrators and insurance companies have all opposed the legislation that the House passed last week, saying that millions will be harmed, including people who could avoid cancer altogether or be cured of early stage disease with prevention or detection measures. In consultations with their physicians, a number of men and women currently in treatment are voicing qualms unrelated to their cancer-specific challenges. Dr. Reshma Jagsi, a radiation oncologist and ethicist at the University of Michigan, used to draw a line between politics and the clinic, but after the 2016 election she could no longer do so. In her recent article in JAMA Oncology, From Muslim Registries to Radical Health Care Reform Caring for Patients in an Era of Political Anxiety, Dr. Jagsi states that patients have started to express apprehension about disclosing their religion on medical forms and about the shifting government resources upon which they can rely. The current administration, Dr. Jagsi concludes, has caused a wave of fear I have never seen before in my professional career. Dread and panic have a detrimental impact on survival rates. A 2016 report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on a research study on the impact of insolvency concludes: Severe financial distress requiring bankruptcy protection after cancer diagnosis appears to be a risk factor for mortality. There is also concern about the future of cancer research including the ambitious moonshot former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is leading. In the presidents budget proposal, funding for the National Institutes of Health would be cut by $5.8 billion, approximately 18 percent. Will promising investigations into immunotherapy, genetics, early detection tools, and vaccines, supported by the N.I.H., have to be scrapped? The sense of helpless uncertainty that accompanies my experience of cancer is exacerbated by claims and counterclaims I read daily in the newspaper, charges and refutations that make it difficult to distinguish truths from falsehoods. Truth-telling has always been an urgent concern of cancer patients and their caregivers. The number of suspected cases of Ebola has risen to 29 from nine in less than a week in an isolated part of Democratic Republic of Congo, where three people have died from the disease since April 22, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The W.H.O. was criticized for responding too slowly to an outbreak in West Africa in 2014 that left more than 11,000 people dead, and Dr. Peter Salama, the executive director of the organizations health emergencies program, said at a briefing that it was essential to never, ever underestimate Ebola and to make sure we have a no-regrets approach to this outbreak. The risk from the outbreak is high at the national level, the W.H.O. said, because the disease was so severe and was spreading in a remote area in northeastern Congo with suboptimal surveillance and limited access to health care. Risk at the regional level is moderate due to the proximity of international borders and the recent influx of refugees from Central African Republic, the organization said, but it nonetheless described the global risk as low because the area is so remote. Im optimistic, Peter J. Li, a China policy adviser to Humane Society International, said in a telephone interview. Of course we understand that no law can completely deter the sale of dog meat in Yulin. But this ban suggests that the government is becoming more serious about taking action in a determined way. Animal rights supporters were calling it a milestone victory in the campaign to end the consumption of dogs in China. Activists said notice of the temporary prohibition was conveyed orally to local restaurant owners and vendors. In the past, officials have mostly skirted the issue, insisting that the festival is a local tradition signaling the summer solstice and not organized or endorsed by the government. Reached by telephone on Thursday, employees at four government departments in Yulin, including the food safety bureau, said that they had not heard of a ban. I dont think they will publicly acknowledge it, said Andrea Gung, the founder of the Duo Duo Project, referring to the government officials. But my source spoke with every single one of the dog meat vendors at Dongkou Yulins main market for the meat and they all said the same thing: a seven-day ban on dog meat sales starting on June 15. It remains to be seen to what extent a ban will be enforced. The ban lasts only a week. While this covers the days before the festival and its opening, when a majority of the dogs are typically killed and consumed, activists expect that most, if not all, of the dog meat vendors will resume selling once the ban is lifted. In addition, it is unclear whether the prohibition extends to cats, which are also consumed during the festival, though their meat is less popular. NEW DELHI The International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan on Thursday to stay the execution of an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage, the latest development in a high-profile case that has further strained relations in an already tense region. The court asked Pakistan to delay the execution of the officer, Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, until it had a chance to rule on a case brought by India, which claims that Pakistan prevented Mr. Jadhav from having access to consular officials after his arrest. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order, the court said in its order. Mr. Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 and charged with espionage and sabotage. He was accused by the Pakistani government of fomenting terrorist activities in the restive southwest province of Baluchistan and sentenced to death last month. The Pakistani authorities have pointed to his arrest as evidence of Indias involvement in terrorist activities in the country. BERLIN Anis Amri, the Tunisian man who killed 12 people in an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December, had been flagged weeks earlier as a high-level drug dealer, according to a newly discovered police document that has caused an uproar in Germany. The document, which was uncovered recently during a review by the Berlin city government, has induced a new round of anguished questioning in Germany about whether the countrys worst terrorist attack in decades could have been prevented. Berlins interior minister, Andreas Geisel, who announced the discovery of the document on Wednesday, told city lawmakers on Thursday that a thorough investigation is what we owe the victims, their families and the survivors. The document, dated Nov. 1, was uncovered by Bruno Jost, a former federal prosecutor whom the city hired to review the case. It said that Mr. Amri was suspected of commercial-level, gang-related narcotics trafficking charges serious enough to merit prompt police action. THE HAGUE A Dutch court on Thursday convicted 20 people of sexist and racist online hate speech directed against a black politician and media personality, in a case that many here saw as an indictment of the ostensible culture of tolerance in the Netherlands. Twenty-two people were charged with harassing the politician, Sylvana Simons, though she said in a complaint that she had received abusive comments from 40,000 internet users. One defendant, who received 80 hours of community service, the days harshest sentence, was accused of digitally adding Ms. Simonss face to a video of Ku Klux Klan members lynching people. Of the 22 defendants, one was acquitted on Thursday when the court ruled that he had not targeted Ms. Simons directly. Another case was dropped against a 15-year-old minor. The court said it had focused on prosecuting those who had made the worst comments and whose identities could be ascertained. TEHRAN For months now, a black-turbaned cleric from eastern Iran has been campaigning in provincial cities, presenting himself as an anticorruption hero as he rallies support among the poor and the pious in an underdog effort to win the presidency in Fridays election. While the candidate, Ebrahim Raisi, 56, a hard-liner who made his career in Irans judiciary, seems to have come out of nowhere, he is seen as a favorite and possible successor to Irans 78-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Winning the presidency, many analysts say, could be a major step in his ascent to that all-powerful position. When he speaks I hear our leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, said Hadi Seifollah, 32, who runs a shop selling prayer mats, religious rings and the white-and-black checkered scarves worn by Irans paramilitary basij forces. Raisi believes first in the Islamic Republic, its ideology, he added. He will deal with corruption. Other candidates only talk about the economy. JERUSALEM An Israeli settler whose car was caught up in a pro-Palestinian street demonstration in the West Bank on Thursday opened fire on the protesters, killing a 23-year-old Palestinian man and wounding a news photographer. The protest, held in support of Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike that has now lasted 32 days, was one of several marred by violence recently. At a protest near the city of Ramallah on Thursday, Israeli soldiers fired on demonstrators, wounding one Palestinian. The day before, a settler fired a gun at protesters blocking roads near Ramallah and throwing stones; a 19-year-old Palestinian was injured in that episode. The deadly shooting on Thursday took place near the village of Hawara, about five miles south of Nablus. It set off a battle of blame. WASHINGTON American warplanes in Syria attacked a pro-government convoy on Thursday after it ignored warnings and violated a restricted zone around a base where United States and British Special Forces train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State, Pentagon officials said. The American strike, corroborated by both pro- and anti-government fighters on the ground, was at least the third time in recent months that the United States military has attacked forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. On Thursday, American officials said, more than 20 vehicles drove within 18 miles of the al-Tanf base in southern Syria housing the American and British Special Forces, breaching the so-called deconfliction zone radius around the encampment. Low-flying American aircraft buzzed the convoy and fired a warning strike, trying to get the vehicles to reverse course, the Pentagon officials said, but when the convoy continued, the planes opened fire. What happened in 15 prominent cases in which black people were killed by the police or died in custody: Officer fired 6 cases Officer indicted or charged 8 cases Settlement reached 11 cases Officer convicted 3 cases Cases in which black people were killed by the police or died in their custody have risen to national prominence in recent years, often prompting protests nationwide. This year, an off-duty Dallas officer fatally shot Botham Shem Jean when she mistook his apartment for her own, and Stephon Clark was shot dead in his grandmothers backyard by the police in Sacramento. To see how the cases were processed and moved through the judicial system, we tracked the outcomes of 15 high-profile deaths from 2014 to 2016. In some of the cases, the police offered an explanation for their actions, but many viewers of raw footage concluded that their actions were unjustified. Officers were indicted or charged in eight of the cases. Three cases resulted in convictions, one of which came with a prison sentence after a guilty plea. On Friday, Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014. After a mistrial for murder or voluntary manslaughter charges in December 2016, Michael T. Slager, the North Charleston, S.C., officer who fatally shot Walter L. Scott in the back as Mr. Scott was running away, pleaded guilty to civil rights charges in May. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison. Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter after Akai Gurley was killed by a ricocheting bullet in a dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project. The judge later reduced the conviction to criminally negligent homicide. Mr. Liang was sentenced to five years of probation. [For more coverage of race, sign up here to have our Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox.] After two mistrials, Cincinnatis top prosecutor said in July last year that he would drop charges against a former University of Cincinnati police officer, Ray Tensing, who fatally shot Samuel DuBose in 2015 during a traffic stop. A judge later dismissed the charges. In May of last year, Officer Betty Jo Shelby was found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black driver, in Tulsa, Okla. In seven cases, no officers were charged, and they may never be. For example, in the case of Keith L. Scott, 43, who was shot during a confrontation with the police in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Charlotte, N.C., the prosecutor decided not to charge Officer Brentley Vinson, saying that the officers use of deadly force was justified. In another case, Timothy Loehmann, the officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice in Cleveland, was never criminally charged in the death of the 12-year-old boy. But two and a half years after the shooting, Mr. Loehmann was fired for providing false information when he had applied for the job. Cases in which officers have not been charged: Case Officer fired Settlement 2016 16 Keith Lamont Scott Charlotte, N.C. no Paul O'Neal Chicago no Alton B. Sterling Baton Rouge, La. yes 2015 15 Christian Taylor Arlington, Tex. yes $850,000 2014 14 Tamir Rice Cleveland no - not for shooting $6 million Michael Brown Ferguson, Mo. Resigned $1.5 million Eric Garner Staten Island no $5.9 million Most police shootings are found to be legally justified, said Philip M. Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University and a former police officer who tracks police crime. Under the relevant Supreme Court case law, Mr. Stinson said, if an officer has a reasonable apprehension of an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or deadly force being imposed against the officer or somebody else, then theyre justified in using deadly force. The scale of Antarctica is startling. Miles of ice stretch to the horizon, growing thicker as you move toward the South Pole. This line represents 20 miles. ROSS SEA Cape Crozier Cape Tennyson ROSS ICE SHELF Mount Terror Lewis Bay ROSS ISLAND MOUNT Erebus Cape MacKay Fog Bay The southernmost active volcano on Earth. Aurora Glacier Scientists at McMurdo Station are working to understand the continents history and to predict its future. The scale of the task is enormous.This flat expanse of white is the Ross Ice Shelf, a floating chunk of ice nearly as large as Texas. Windless Bight Hut Point Peninsula Dellbridge Islands Erebus Ice Tongue This is Williams Field, an airfield on the ice shelf. McMURDO SOUND McMurdo Station This is the edge of the ice shelf, where it meets the thinner, seasonal sea ice. Mount Heine McMURDO ICE SHELF WHITE ISLAND Mount Nesos Cape Hodgson BLACK ISLAND ROSS ICE SHELF Brown Peninsula Hahn Island Minna Bluff MOUNT Discovery Heald Island Eady Ice Piedmont Koettlitz Glacier Lake Morning Mason Spur MOUNT MORNING This line represents the route of the New York City Marathon. On average, runners finish it in about four and a half hours. Shults Peninsula SKELTON GLACIER Fishtail Point Glaciers flow into the Ross Ice Shelf Evteev Glacier Teall Island ROSS ICE SHELF MULOCK GLACIER Buntley Bluff Cape Lankester Hoffman Point Bertoglio Glacier Brosnahan Island Mount Keltie CONWAY RANGE Cape Murray ROSS ICE SHELF CARLYON GLACIER MacDonald Point Reeves Bluffs Bowling Green Plateau Goorkha Craters COOK MOUNTAINS Dot Peak Gawn Ice Piedmont Foggydog Glacier Mulgrew Nunatak Cape Kerr Diamond Hill The Nozzle Brown Hills Tentacle Ridge Cranfield Icefalls DARWIN GLACIER Horney Bluff Junction Spur BYRD GLACIER Merrick Glacier Island Arena Ragotzkie Glacier Darwin Mountains Yancey Glacier Mount Ash Forbes Ridge Midnight Plateau Dusky Ridge HATHERTON GLACIER Hinton Glacier Lieske Glacier Derrick Peak Judith Glacier MOUNT OLYMPUS Peckham Glacier BRITANNIA RANGE Mount Henderson Mount Quackenbush Haven Mountain Three Nunataks Vantage Hill Remseyer Glacier BYRD GLACIER Mount Rummage Darnell Nunatak Rundle Peaks Sefton Glacier Bates Nunataks Zeller Glacier Byrd Neve There are 2,300 more miles of ice to cross between this spot on the East Antarctic ice sheet and the continents opposite shore. EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET The scale of Antarctica is startling. Miles of ice stretch to the horizon, growing thicker as you move toward the South Pole. ROSS SEA Cape Tennyson ROSS ICE SHELF Lewis Bay Scientists at McMurdo Station are working to understand the continents history and to predict its future. The scale of the task is enormous.This flat expanse of white is the Ross Ice Shelf, a floating chunk of ice nearly as large as Texas. McMurdo Station ROSS ICE SHELF Brown Peninsula MOUNT Discovery Mason Spur MOUNT MORNING ROSS ICE SHELF This line represents the route of the New York City Marathon. On average, runners finish it in about four and a half hours. ROSS ICE SHELF CONWAY RANGE DARWIN GLACIER BYRD GLACIER Judith Glacier Peckham Glacier Mount Henderson Haven Mountain Vantage Hill BYRD GLACIER Darnell Nunatak Bates Nunataks Zeller Glacier Byrd Neve There are 2,300 more miles of ice to cross between this spot on the East Antarctic ice sheet and the continents opposite shore. EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET The scale of Antarctica is startling. Miles of ice stretch to the horizon, growing thicker as you move toward the South Pole. ROSS SEA Cape Crozier Cape Tennyson ROSS ICE SHELF Mount Terror Lewis Bay ROSS ISLAND MOUNT Erebus Cape MacKay Scientists at McMurdo Station are working to understand the continents history and to predict its future. The scale of the task is enormous.This flat expanse of white is the Ross Ice Shelf, a floating chunk of ice nearly as large as Texas. Hut Point Peninsula McMURDO SOUND McMurdo Station Cape Hodgson BLACK ISLAND ROSS ICE SHELF Brown Peninsula Hahn Island Minna Bluff MOUNT Discovery Heald Island Eady Ice Piedmont Koettlitz Glacier Lake Morning Mason Spur MOUNT MORNING ROSS ICE SHELF This line represents the route of the New York City Marathon. On average, runners finish it in about four and a half hours. Shults Peninsula SKELTON GLACIER Glaciers feed Ross Ice Shelf ROSS ICE SHELF Evteev Glacier Teall Island MULOCK GLACIER Buntley Bluff Cape Lankester Hoffman Point Bertoglio Glacier Brosnahan Island Mount Keltie CONWAY RANGE Cape Murray ROSS ICE SHELF CARLYON GLACIER MacDonald Point COOK MOUNTAINS Gawn Ice Piedmont The Nozzle Brown Hills Tentacle Ridge Cranfield Icefalls DARWIN GLACIER Horney Bluff Junction Spur BYRD GLACIER Merrick Glacier Ragotzkie Glacier Darwin Mountains Yancey Glacier Forbes Ridge HATHERTON GLACIER Hinton Glacier Lieske Glacier Derrick Peak Judith Glacier Peckham Glacier BRITANNIA RANGE Mount Henderson Haven Mountain Three Nunataks Remseyer Glacier BYRD GLACIER Darnell Nunatak Rundle Peaks Sefton Glacier Bates Nunataks Zeller Glacier Byrd Neve There are 2,300 more miles of ice to cross between this spot on the East Antarctic ice sheet and the continents opposite shore. EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET This is the last of three dispatches from a New York Times reporting trip to Antarctica. From the air, the Ross Ice Shelf looks like a vast white plain extending to the horizon. The monochromatic landscape is relieved only occasionally by rocks poking through, or by deep crevasses in the ice itself. Only at its edge does the ice shelf become something more dramatic: a spectacular sheer cliff rising 100 feet above the ocean and extending 900 feet below the surface. From that cliff edge, icebergs occasionally calve away, completing a thousand-year journey of the ice from land to sea. Scientists are racing to understand what is happening to the Ross Ice Shelf and the rest of Antarctica as the planet warms around it. They are trying to map the thickness of the ice and the shape of the sea floor beneath it in an effort to gauge how vulnerable the shelf may be to collapse, and how soon that could happen. Scientists are also trying to measure the role of human-caused climate change in weakening some parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and to fathom how damaging the seas around the continent might prove to be as they warm over time. The edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The answers carry profound implications for humanity. In the scientists worst-case computer simulations, continued global warming will cause the Ross Ice Shelf to weaken and collapse starting as early as the middle of this century. Right now, the shelf works like a giant bottle-stopper that slows down ice trying to flow from the land into the sea. If it collapses, the ice could flow into the ocean more rapidly, an effect that has already happened on a much smaller scale in other areas of Antarctica. The most vulnerable parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet could raise the sea level by 10 to 15 feet, inundating many of the worlds coastal cities, though most scientists think that would take well over a century, or perhaps longer. They are worried about a possible rise of as much as six feet by the end of this century. Whether these alarming forecasts ultimately prove right depends in part on the shape of the sea floor beneath the ice shelf, and in particular on whether it has deep channels that can funnel warming ocean water under the ice shelf and attack the West Antarctic ice sheet from below. A different undersea topography high ridges of rock, for example may keep warmer water out, stabilizing the ice sheet, possibly for hundreds of years. Were hoping to figure out how warm water can get to the edge of the ice sheet, said Robin E. Bell, head of the Columbia University laboratory that sent a team to survey the Ross Ice Shelf late last year. What are the sort of hidden roads it can go on? As they flew back and forth across the vast white landscape in December, the Columbia scientists used some of the worlds most sophisticated geophysical instruments to see into and beneath the ice. As the hours-long flights wore on, the scientists took turns napping, knitting or eating cold pizza, but at all times, somebody kept close watch on the instruments. Kirsty J. Tinto, the scientist leading the field team, loved watching as the measurements stripped away the illusion that the ice was just a flat, boring pancake. You take a slice through it and you can see a thousand years of history, a hundred million years of history, she said. Kirsty J. Tinto steps out of an LC-130 Hercules on the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf appears stable now, so the Columbia project will function somewhat like a doctors baseline X-ray a starting point for comparison if the ice starts to deteriorate. Satellite evidence suggests that this is already happening in other parts of West Antarctica, and many scientists believe that relatively warm ocean water is the culprit. Its kind of a blowtorch on the underside of the ice shelf, said Robert A. Bindschadler, a retired NASA climate scientist. But the story is not straightforward, and the warmer water attacking the ice has not been linked to global warming at least not directly. The winds around the continent seem to be strengthening, stirring the ocean and bringing up a layer of warmer water that has most likely been there for centuries. Are those stronger winds tied to human-caused global warming? Some scientists think so, but others say the case is unproven. Were not sure because we dont have enough data, for long enough, to separate signal from noise, said Eric J. Steig, a scientist at the University of Washington who has studied temperature trends in Antarctica. Though the role of global warming is unclear now, it is likely to be a factor in the relatively near future. Many experts think warmer air temperatures could start to weaken the ice of West Antarctica from above, even as warmer ocean water attacks it from below. The warmer water seems to be doing the most damage to a series of glaciers that flow into a region of West Antarctica called the Amundsen Sea. Satellites have identified the most rapid loss of ice there, raising a critical question: Has an unstoppable collapse of the ice sheet already begun? Ross Ice Shelf Pine Island Glacier Thwaites Glacier Ross Sea Amundsen Sea Pine Island Glacier Thwaites Glacier Amundsen Sea Red areas have lost significant amounts of ice since 2010. The Amundsen Sea region is one of the remotest parts of the continent, far from American and British research bases. Working together, the two countries are planning to devote tens of millions of dollars to getting better measurements there, having decided that it is imperative to begin answering questions about the regions potential collapse. For instance, scientists need to know a lot more about the ground beneath the glaciers there. Is it slick mud that may allow the ice to flow much faster, or hard rock that may slow down the ice even in a warmer world? What we need to know is really the details of what is occurring where the ice, ocean and land all come together, said Ted A. Scambos, a University of Colorado scientist who is helping to plan the joint research effort. Unraveling the answers, and gaining a better understanding of how Antarcticas ice has waxed and waned in the past, may offer a rough guide to the changes that human-caused global warming could wreak in the future. Already, scientists know enough to be concerned. About 120,000 years ago, before the last ice age, the planet went through a natural warm period, with temperatures similar to those expected in coming decades. The sea level was 20 to 30 feet higher than it is today, implying that the ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica must have partly disintegrated, a warning of what could occur in the relatively near future if the heating of the planet continues unchecked. But some research suggests that a catastrophe might not yet be inevitable. In a study last year, Robert M. DeConto of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and David Pollard of Pennsylvania State University used their computer model to predict what would happen if emissions were reduced sharply over the next few decades, in line with international climate goals. Under the most ambitious scenarios, they found a strong likelihood that Antarctica would remain fairly stable. Theres still a chance that all hell will break loose, Dr. DeConto said. But the model is suggesting theres a way to reduce the risk of a big sea-level rise from Antarctica. Donald Trump has selected Saudi Arabia as the destination for his first trip abroad, strengthening U.S. ties to a regime that is fueling the very extremism, intolerance and violence that the US government purports to eradicate. Here are 10 reasons why the United States should not be closely allied with the Saudi kingdom. 1/ The Saudis export an extremist interpretation of Islam, Wahhabism, around the globe. Over the past three decades, Saudi Arabia has spent about $4 billion per year on mosques, madrassas, preachers, students, and textbooks to spread Wahhabism and anti-Western sentiment. Let's not forget that 15 of the 19 fanatical hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Saudis, as was Osama bin Laden himself. 2/ The Saudis fund terrorism worldwide. A Wikileaks-revealed 2009 cable quotes then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying, "Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide " More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar e-Tayyiba and other terrorist groups." In Syria the Saudis are supporting the most extreme sectarian forces. And while the Saudi government condemns ISIS, many experts, including 9/11 Commission Report lead author Senator Bob Graham, believe that ISIS is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money and Saudi organizational support. 3/ The government represses religious minorities. Trump says he is promoting tolerance, but this theocratic Sunni regime is based on repressing the Shia minority and non-Muslims. It is the only country in the world to ban all churches, and atheism is a capital offense. Year after year, the U.S. government's own Commission on International Religious Freedom says Saudi Arabia commits "systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom." 4/ Free speech and free association are forbidden in the kingdom. Criticizing the Saudi regime can lead to flogging, long jail sentences or even beheading. Tragic examples are Raif Badawi, languishing in prison for blogging; attorney Waleed Abulkhair, serving a 15-year sentence for defending human rights; and Ali al-Nimr, arrested as a minor and now on death row for nonviolent dissent. 5/ The regime is the most misogynist, gender-segregated country in the world. Women are not even allowed to drive and must live under a guardianship system that gives men authority over the most important decisions in their lives. 6/ There is no political freedom in Saudi Arabia. While most of the world's monarchies have evolved to lessen the role of royalty, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world's last absolute monarchies\. The Saud family picks the king, who then has ultimate authority in virtually every aspect of government. There are no national elections and political parties are banned, as are unions and most civic organizations. 7/ They have engaged in a catastrophic war in Yemen. In March 2015, the Saudis launched a bombing campaign in Yemen that has targeted schools, hospitals, markets, weddings and funerals. The war has resulted in acute malnutrition and disease, leaving a Yemeni child dying every 10 minutes. Instead of supporting the bombing, the US government should be pushing a ceasefire and negotiations. 8/ Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Scores of people are killed each year after being convicted of various nonviolent charges that range from adultery, apostasy, drug use and sorcery. The executions are usually carried out by public beheading. 9/ The Kingdom primarily functions on the backs of mistreated foreign laborers. Of the nation's 30 million people, some 10 million are foreigners. Workers from poor nations seek economic gains within Saudi Arabia, but are often lured under false pretenses and then not allowed to leave the country without permission from their employer. Female migrant workers, treated like indentured servants, often face physical and sexual abuse. 10/ Saudi Arabia helps maintain the world's destructive dependence on oil. Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of oil in the world. With its vast potential for solar energy, Saudi Arabia could lead the world in renewable energy. Instead, the economy remains almost entirely dependent on oil and on the international level, Saudi Arabia works with the United States to oppose global climate agreements that would affect oil profits. If the Trump administration truly wants to find a way out of the wars in the Middle East and make the United States safer from terrorists, it would do well to stop arming, aiding and abetting the ruthless Saudi regime. Is it irresponsible to hold firm on the "Goldwater Rule," which restricts psychiatrists and psychologists from commenting on the mental health of the President? After almost every tweet and action by President Donald Trump there is an outpouring of alarm about his mental health. Political commentator George Will in a Washington Post article on May 3, 2017, wrote that President Trump has a dangerous disability. In a subsequent MSNBC interview he called it a mental disorder. Other pundits, news anchors, columnists, and ordinary citizens have similarly questioned the mental health of President Trump. Is this a liberal conspiracy, as some Republicans have claimed? Hardly. The fact is that leading Republicans and conservatives have also questioned Donald Trump's mental stability. During the presidential debates Kentucky Senator Rand Paul called Donald Trump "a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag," adding that "a speck of dirt is way more qualified to be president." Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Trump was a "pathological liar" doesn't know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth. The man is utterly amoral. You know, morality does not exist for him." And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared: "Donald Trump is a madman who must be stopped." Others as well have questioned Trump's mental state : Michael Bloomberg ("Let's elect a sane competent person"), Stephen Hayes ("Yes, Donald Trump is crazy,"), and David Brooks ("Trump"appears haunted by multiple personality disorders"). And currently, according to journalist Carl Bernstein, senior Republicans are privately discussing the President's mental stability. James Comey himself, referring to Trump's accusation that former President Obama wiretapped him in Trump Tower, called Trump's claim "outside the realm of normal" and "crazy." This rising cacophony of voices questioning the president's mental health is unprecedented and alarming. Exacerbating this alarm, and validating the gravity of this situation, are the assessments of Donald Trump's mental status by eminent mental health experts , such as psychiatrists Robert Jay Lifton and Judith Herman. They questioned his ability to act rationally in a crisis--a frightening prospect for the man who controls the nuclear code . Earlier this year thirty-five psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers issued a warning about Donald Trump's mental health. And on April 20, 2017, another thirty psychiatrists at a Yale University symposium warned of Donald Trump's "dangerous mental illness." In rendering their views these professionals have exposed themselves to sanctions by their professional associations. These organizations prohibit a psychiatrist or psychologist from diagnosing someone they have not personally examined--commonly interpreted as an office visit examination. The Goldwater Rule of the American Psychiatric Association and a similar ethical rule of the American Psychological Association do not consider valid or acceptable diagnoses drawn from even extensive observations of behavior in a wide variety of real-life settings and interactions. They specify a sharp distinction between such diagnosing "at a distance" and diagnosing based on a "personal" examination," as in an office visit. Can this dichotomy stand up to close scrutiny? Or does it fly in the face of widely endorsed principles for assessing behavior and mental status? Shouldn't the crucial litmus test be the amount and quality of data relevant to a diagnosis? An office visit can sometimes provide little, while direct observation of behavior in real life can yield more extensive material for a valid evaluation. When I was a school psychologist, we often observed children in their classrooms and play situations for the purpose of assessing behavioral disturbances and making recommendations. The insights from these in-vivo on-site observations of real behavior in everyday settings were considered superior to data from office evaluations. The office visit is an artificial setting that can inhibit, restrict, and mask behavior, compared to natural settings--especially with uncooperative or manipulative patients. How many psychiatrists and psychologists would relish the opportunity to observe their patients at work, out on a date, or at the family dinner table--a fantasy feast that's rarely feasible. But with Donald Trump, they have it all--a power-packed smorgasbord of behaviors delivered on a huge golden platter. Would anyone seriously argue that Donald Trump's behavior during the campaign--and currently--is insufficient for evaluating who he is? Would a visit by Trump to a psychotherapist reveal something that the whole world hasn't observed on TV, Twitter, and in the press? Thanks to social media and 24-hour cable news coverage, showman Donald Trump has delivered a banquet of disturbing behaviors in real time. You can even TiVo his speeches, actions, and tweets and savor them over and over at your convenience--or view the thousands of videos posted on YouTube. It's a diagnostician's dream windfall. With this in mind, the examination of the smorgasbord of real behaviors, often in real time, are personal examinations --not based on news reports, other third party communications, or hearsay. Thus the American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association need a better argument for dismissing assessments based on these personal evaluations than tagging them as "diagnosing from a distance," while sanctifying the office visit. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Donald Trump - Caricature (Image by flickr.com) Details DMCA Here's what I saw unfold in the media during the 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday afternoon (May 15-16). On Monday, I saw blaring headlines throughout the day on Twitter about how Trump had betrayed some "highly-classified" intelligence secrets to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their meeting last week. I was busy and paid little attention to this news, but I figured Trump must have committed one of his hallmark impetuous faux-pas involving some massive security breach, given the hysterical tone of the coverage. I awoke Tuesday to read the stories in the New York Times (NYT), and the Washington Post (WaPo), sourced to anonymous "current and former government officials," recounting that Trump had told the Russians a big secret--the NYT did not specify what, but WaPo identified it as an "Islamic State terrorist threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft." As both papers acknowledge--though WaPo makes the irrelevant point that it would be illegal "for almost anyone in government"--Trump, as president, did nothing illegal in telling the Russians this, and, according to the NYT's own sources, and to National Security advisor Lt. Gen. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson--the only people cited who were actually in the room--Trump "discussed the contents of the intelligence, but not the sources and methods used to collect it." Per McMaster: "The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation. At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly." Neither of the articles, and no one cited in them, disputed this. Per WaPo: "He did not reveal the specific intelligence-gathering method, but he described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances." So far, I was seeing nothing to break a sweat over. Is there some problem with notifying Russia--or anyone else, for that matter--of an Islamic State threat to blow up civilian aircraft with laptop bombs? Is the idea that we're supposed to sit back and let it happen? What sane person wouldn't be glad this warning was given to Russia, and wouldn't want Russia to give it to us if the circumstances were reversed? Is this not a routine exchange of threat information in a closed principals' meeting? Besides, was there really any great secret here? I had seen a number of reports in the last few weeks that the government was "likely to expand [the] airline laptop ban" and that "U.S. Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies believe ISIS" can now "effectively conceal explosives in laptops and other electronic devices." I'm going to take a wild guess and conjecture that, if ISIS were planning something with laptops on airplanes, the group would have read the same reports and figured out that someone was on to them. So that cat was out of the bag before Trump said anything to Lavrov. And it was not Trump, but the media, who revealed knowledge of this plot publicly, before and after the Lavrov meeting! No, the big "alarming" deal here wasn't that Trump revealed the ISIS plot, but that knowledge of it was based on information provided by "a Middle Eastern ally that closely guards its own secrets," and was shared "without the express permission of the ally who provided it." Trump committed a "breach of espionage etiquette." There was no accusation that Trump said who that ally was, or even that "the intelligence came from a Middle Eastern ally or precisely how it was gathered." So the only way, this Tuesday morning, we and the Russians knew that some "ally" was involved was because, not Donald Trump, but some anonymous "officials," through the NYT and WaPo, revealed it to the whole wide world. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. You say that you want facts - facts and more facts, before you can commit. Before you finally decide to become part of something: a political party, a movement or another human being. You already have plenty of them: an avalanche, a tsunami of facts. "In fact", your life is overflowing with facts. Most of them are brought directly to your living room or bedroom, or to your office; they shine from the liquid crystals of your computer monitors, and from increasingly flat and sleek television screens. There is really no need to travel, is there? There is no need to "get dirty". Without leaving your chair or couch, you can even get some basic science of Newton, Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci. You can experience, second-hand of course, but in the safety and comfort of your home, the most extreme misery of Haitian or Jamaican slums. You can be shown a battleground, you can see the most exotic and most 'forbidden' women being made love to by someone else, and you can get inside royal palaces. It is all there, at your fingertips: formulas and definitions, music and porn, history and even some poetry, if poetry is what you are really searching for. There is no reason to step outside. Of course many people have to go out, at least from Monday to Friday, to attend to their typically monotonous jobs. From time to time they have to buy some groceries, although groceries can be ordered online or using the phone, and some jobs these days do not even require the personal presence of employees. While individualism (egoism) is what increasingly defines most of the cultures in the West, true individuality (uniqueness) has almost vanished. Although the internet is overflowing with information, data and "facts", although there are now hundreds of channels available from the menus of television cable providers, the living room -- computer or living room -- television set combinations are producing increasingly monotonous results: people are more and more phlegmatic, their way of thinking is uniformed, and they are not willing to take almost any risks: intellectually, emotionally or physically. Passivity is being constantly rationalized, defended. On the surface, reasons given to justify lack of commitment are logical, 'sensible', and sometimes even righteous. Passivity has become 'calm', and so have despair, desolation and gloom. Instead of encouraging violent rebellious outbursts of anguish as something natural, positive and even essential (should one not be fighting with all his or her might against all the forces which are making life pointless and useless?), almost everything that is defined by society as "negative emotions" gets subdued and controlled by medication and therapy. This way, medical "science" becomes a culprit, murders many healthy reactions, and in the end, kills life itself. It is rarely pronounced, but it is essential to realize: A person who feels violently sick because he or she is surrounded by a thoroughly unhealthy, even insane environment (political system, family, work, sets of constantly repeated lies) is actually reacting in a vigorous and healthy way. It is like when the body is fighting against severe infection. Only in this case, the battle is mental. People are expected to be "normal", while standards defining "normalcy" have roots in mental illnesses from which entire society is clearly suffering. Not only immigrants; now everyone is obliged to "conform". What does it really mean, to conform? Is it: to become atomized, apathetic and therefore alone and vulnerable? Life then flows slowly, calmly, coldly and emotionlessly. A person grows up, matures, ages and dies. Society slowly deteriorates. Planet Earth is getting gradually ruined. Surrounded by uniformed and perpetual misery, passivity and amnesia, one is not aware of his or her suffering. The screen in front of people shines late into the night. Everything is reduced to short barks and uniformed symbols pre-programmed into mobile phones. Something has gone missing. There seems to be an urgent lack of something very essential, a gaping deficit. In such an environment, love cannot thrive, and revolution can never take place. In sterility and surrounded by emotional emptiness, human beings can live a little bit longer, but can such an existence be really called life? Reality is "authentic" only if experienced holistically and first-hand. This is the conclusion at which I arrived, after witnessing hundreds of conflicts all over the world, but also after observing so many glorious moments, so many great human achievements, in virtually all corners of the globe. A computer monitor only offers extremely filtered, even "censored" images of reality (no matter how high-definition it might be), as well as some basic sound. Even our imperfect and limited human senses are capable of capturing, registering and processing incomparably much more than that. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Paperwork was filed in January 2017 with the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) to start an animal protection caucus to advocate for humane legislation, educate legislators and their staff on the need for sensible animal protection legislation, and improve animal welfare in the state. The MDP is dragging its feet on approving the caucus to protect the voiceless in our state. Animal protection caucuses are popular. Congress formed the House Congressional Animal Protection Caucus in 2009. Members of Congress, such as Representative McCollum, are even showcasing animal protection issues on their websites. The California Legislature has an animal caucus. There are plenty of issues that we need to get to work on in Michigan. We need to overturn breed specific legislation that harms dogs and breaks up families in Michigan communities. We need to pass HB 4025, which provides penalties for persons engaged in cruel treatment of companion animals in the presence of a child. HB 4026 would protect animals in domestic violence situations. Each day the MDP drags its feet on approving the caucus, the less likely it is for these bills to pass. A state representative sent a letter of recommendation to the Michigan Democratic Party to approve the caucus. Now, it's your turn. Please contact MDP Chair, Brandon Dillon, in support of the Animal Protection Caucus: Brandon Dillon Chair Michigan Democratic Party 606 Townsend St. Lansing, MI 48933-2313 (517) 371-5410 bdillon@michigandems.com As of now, Mr. Dillon has not returned e-mails from the organizer of the animal caucus. Intelligence still lurks outside the realms of Academe, Politics, Literature and "Experts." My horseman/carpenter high school classmate, Josh Bauman, a very smart cookie and fellow musician, Picture on Wall of Fame, Bradfordville Blues Club, Florida (Image by self) Details DMCA "For my friends and frenemies on Facebook, it has come to a juncture, once again, where my thoughts on the recent political events require input. The underlying question to all of the recent activities involving Trump and the White House reduces to one: Why? Those of us who can read between the lines and understand the comments made by Donald, Jr. as well as the activities in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last 20 years, know that the answer lies in the tax returns and the unwinding of the complex shell companies used illegally by Russian Oligarchs to launder money through real estate purchases. Since money laundering and doing business with criminal organizations and terrorist organizations or those associated with them is a felony, Donald Trump has a lot to hide. These activities are more than likely the reason behind Trump's recovery from his disastrous failures in Atlantic City as well as other deals that may not have worked out so well. As the FBI connects the Trump campaign to the Russians, eventually they will find out that the connection between Trump and the Russians preceded the campaign's connection. Then my longtime internet colleague Lincoln Ramirez opined, sourly, but with absolute credibility, given the events of the last 7 months: " I wouldn't put it past the American people to not give a damn if he's a criminal. They have taught me I can never be disappointed or disgusted enough at their collective voice." Well, as I answered him: P.T. Barnum famously said, "one can never go broke underestimating the taste of the American people." Tio Linc ha razon. They already didn't care that he was a p*ssy-grabber. They watched him urge violence in his campaigns like the Mafia-associate gambling-industry rep he is. Surely they knew that he was absolutely ignorant of any nuclear matters when Marco Rubio had to explain to him what the Nuclear Triad is. Surely people could see there was not a shred of patriotism or empathy, not a clue about actually governing through a mechanism in which he was not the monarch, the boss, who could just fire anybody he pleased whenever he pleased for whatever reason he chose to disclose, or not to disclose. I'm thinking Trump knows his goose is cooked. He's made American diplomacy moot. Heck, we don't have ambassadors to most countries now. Who needs 'em, thinks Trump, a man with a pathologically small attention span or capacity for reflection, I've got Twitter! And now he lets the Russians into the big office and lets them in on whatever they couldn't find out by hacking. I have said, from sometime in the campaign when Trump tweeted some sort of statement that was really outrageous, and repeated, when he tweeted "let there be a nuclear arms race," that the intelligence community would at some point have enough of it, and would make sure he was deposed. He's doing a fine job of incriminating himself, of course. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. "The wandering scribe of war crimes" is how TomDispatch regular Ann Jones once described me. Indeed, for more than a decade, across three continents, I've been intermittently interviewing witnesses and victims, perpetrators and survivors of almost unspeakable atrocities. I can't count the number of massacre survivors and rape victims and tortured women and mutilated men I've spoken with, sometimes decades -- but sometimes just days -- after they were brutalized. In almost every case, what occurred in only a matter of minutes irreparably altered their lives. I've also spent countless hours talking with another class of atrocity survivors: witnesses who did little else but watch and perpetrators who beat, tortured, or killed innocents in the service of one government or another. In almost every case, what occurred in just a matter of minutes irreparably altered their lives, too. Sometimes, it seemed as if the survivors coped with the trauma far better than the perpetrators. I remember an American veteran of the Vietnam War I once interviewed. He had a million stories, all of them punctuated with a big, bold laugh. Jovial is the word I often use to describe him. We talked for hours, but I finally got down to business and he quickly grew quiet. Then, jovial he was not. I asked him about a massacre I had good reason to believe he had seen, maybe even taken part in. He told me he couldn't recall it, but that he didn't doubt it happened. (It wasn't the first time I'd heard such a response.) While he had endless war stories, when it came to the darkest corner of the conflict, he said, his memories had been reduced to one episode. As was standard operating procedure, his unit burned villages as a matter of course. In one of these "villes," a woman ran up to him, bitter and enraged, no doubt complaining that her home and all her possessions were going up in flames. After shoving her away several times, he drew up the butt of his rifle and slammed it straight into the center of her face. It was an explosion of blood, he told me, followed by shrieks and sobs. Mr. Jovial walked away laughing. That's it, all he could remember, he assured me. He recalled it because he couldn't forget it. At the time, the act was meaningless to him. Decades later, he relived it every day -- her shattered nose, the blood, the screams. He asked himself over and over again: How could I have done that? How could I have walked away laughing? I suggested that he was incredibly young and poorly trained and scared and immersed in a culture of violence, but none of these answers satisfied him. It was clear enough that he was never going to solve that riddle, just as he was never going to forget that woman and what he did to her. Today, TomDispatchregular and former State Department whistleblower Peter Van Buren takes on these same issues, plumbing the depths of "moral injury" -- what, that is, can happen to soldiers when the values they're taught as civilians are shattered on the shoals of war. Van Buren learned something of this firsthand in Iraq and grapples with it in his new World War II novel, Hooper's War. "Van Buren doesn't provide simple answers, and readers are left with the understanding that decisions made in battle can be both right and wrong at the same time," says Kirkus Reviews of this "complex" alternate history. Given America's penchant for ceaseless conflict, his book, like his piece today, raises questions that remain tragically relevant. Ever relevant, you might say. Nick Turse Whistleblowers, Moral Injury, and Endless War Was Chelsea Manning Motivated By Moral Injury? By Peter Van Buren "My guilt will never go away," former Marine Matthew Hoh explained to me. "There is a significant portion of me that doesn't believe it should be allowed to go away, that this pain is fair." If America accepts the idea of fighting endless wars, it will have to accept something else as well: that the costs of war are similarly endless. I'm thinking about the trillions of dollars, the million or more "enemy" dead (a striking percentage of them civilians), the tens of thousands of American combat casualties, those 20 veteran suicides each day, and the diminished lives of those who survive all of that. There's that pain, carried by an unknown number of women and men, that won't disappear, ever, and that goes by the label "moral injury." The Lasting Pain of War When I started Hooper's War, a novel about the end of World War II in the Pacific, I had in mind just that pain. I was thinking -- couldn't stop thinking, in fact -- about what really happens to people in war, combatants and civilians alike. The need to tell that story grew in large part out of my own experiences in Iraq, where I spent a year embedded with a combat unit as a U.S. State Department employee, and where I witnessed, among so many other horrors, two soldier suicides. The new book began one day when Facebook retrieved photos of Iraqi children I had posted years ago, with a cheery "See Your Memories" caption on them. Oh yes, I remembered. Then, on the news, I began seeing places in Iraq familiar to me, but this time being overrun by Islamic State militants or later being re-retaken with the help of another generation of young Americans. And I kept running into people who'd been involved in my war and were all too ready to share too many drinks and tell me too much about what I was already up all too many nights thinking about. As these experiences morphed first into nightmares and then into the basis for research, I found myself speaking with more veterans of more wars who continued to suffer in ways they had a hard time describing, but which they wrestled with everyday. I realized that I understood them, even as they seemed to be trying to put their feelings into words for the first time. Many of them described how they had entered the battle zones convinced that "we're the good guys," and then had to live with the depth of guilt and shame that followed when that sense didn't survive the test of events. Sometimes they were remarkably articulate, sometimes anything but. It seemed not to matter which war we were talking about -- or whether I was reading a handwritten diary from the Korean War, an oral history of the Pacific War, or an old bestseller about a conflict ironically labeled "the Good War." The story always seemed to be the same: decisions made in seconds that lasted lifetimes, including the uncomfortable balancing of morality and expediency in situations in which a soldier might believe horrific acts like torture could save lives or had to accept civilian casualties in pursuit of military objectives. In war, you were always living in a world in which no action seemed ideal and yet avoiding acting was often inconceivable. PTSD and Moral Injury Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "Rob Kall demonstrates how the Bottom-Up revolution has ushered in a business, political and social upheaval the likes of which we've never seen. Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution is a must read book that you need, to understand how this revolution affects every area of your life and the opportunities it is creating." Jim Donovan, author, happy@work - 60 Simple Ways to Stay Engaged and Be Successful Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. By Donald Trump Translated into English by David Swanson I am very honored to have been invited here to tell you about Islam. King Salman invited me, and I said you know I really need to go to Israel first because I have a connection to any chosen people. I was chosen by the majority of Americans last November, of electoral Americans. They love me. But King Salman -- great guy, really great guy, and such beautiful houses -- King Salman told me what he wanted me to talk about, and then I had to say yes. I had to. There was no question. King Salman -- and you know people in the United States are thinking of giving me that same title, King, they're thinking about it, I won't say they're going to do it, but they really really want to -- King Salman said to me, "Donald," he said, "do you remember when I closed that nude beach in France so that we could have a little party, just a simple private party? Do you remember," he said, "how the French were upset and claimed I was against nude beaches?" That was a misunderstanding, not true at all, completely fake news of the worst sort. And I remember that the King kept the beach nude for the entire party. No question. Never any question about that. And I remembered it perfectly -- I've been told I have one of the best memories ever found in recent years -- so there was no need for the King to lift up his robes to remind me. But he's a great kidder, King Salmon. Now, here's the point, King Salman, not Salmon which I do love, not Salmon but Salman, the King and not the fish, he said that what he wanted me to talk about was clearing up misunderstandings about Islam. So that's what I'm here to do. People back in the United States like to say that Islam is violent and barbaric. And I see what they mean. I really do. There are some nasty Islamical dudes out there. That's the problem. They're giving Islam a bad name. Now, let me give you the facts. In Saudi Arabia, executions use swords. They're fast and pain-free. In Arkansas, executions use chemical injections. The victim writhes in pain for a while before dying. One way is not more barbaric than another. It's just a cultural variation, like a style of clothing. There's not an Islamic or a Christian way of torturing a prisoner, there's just torturing. These things connect us all as human beings, not as religions. When Islamic Saudi airplanes -- made in the USA! -- bomb Yemen and blockade that place to protect the world from the extremists that are there, and people say oh that's so Islamic to kill so many people and starve so many children to death. And I say, look at who's providing the airplanes, and the targeting -- only the United States can provide targeting like that, let me tell you -- and who's refueling the airplanes mid-air? Have you ever seen the Chinese try to do that? It's like watching monkeys trying to mate hanging from vines. Ugly. Sad. No, really, it's sad. Islamic countries are violent, it's true. But almost all of the weapons you find there are Christian weapons. And it was a Christian weapons company that paid for that little beach party, remember, King? So, one religion is not more advanced and powerful than another. That's a lie. As you may know, though people back in the United States like to deny it, before I was elected with such a huge majority, the United States had a Muslim president. And he invaded Iraq, which I said no, I said yes invade Iraq but I didn't mean that, and boom -- look at the hornet's nest he created. And now that Muslim attack on Muslims created extremist Muslims. What we need are peaceful Muslims willing to fight the extremists. We need peaceful Muslims to say, you know, enough is finally enough, and begin killing more families. That's why every nation that the United States bombs under my command is a Muslim nation. Because I am focused on stomping out the extremist Islamicism and replacing it with a peace-loving Islam. I'll tell you my vision. I won't say I'm a visionary, but there are people, many many people who say that, and I won't say they're wrong. In my vision there is nothing wrong with a religion in which the women walk around prepared with sheets, you know what I mean. They just need to loosen up a little about people ripping those sheets off them. That's how you improve relations, how you improve respect between our two peoples. So, I stand here today, and I say to you, Mr. King, tear down those sheets! Thank you. God Bless you. And God Bless the United States of America. From flickr.com: anguish (Image by Unknown Owner) Details DMCA WASHINGTON -- People who struggle to cope with uncertainty or the ambiguity of potential future threats may have an unusually large striatum, an area of the brain already associated with general anxiety disorder, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "Uncertainty and ambiguity of potential future threats are central to understanding the generation of anxiety and anxiety disorders," said lead author Justin Kim, PhD, of Dartmouth College. "Our research suggests a relationship between an individual's ability to deal with this uncertainty and the volume of gray matter within a specific area of the brain." The research was published in the APA journal Emotion. In the study, 56 students had MRI scans taken of their brains after filling out a survey designed to measure their ability to tolerate the uncertainty of future negative events. Kim and his colleagues analyzed the MRIs and compared them with the intolerance of uncertainty scores. They found the volume of the striatum was significantly associated with intolerance of uncertainty. In November 2015, Brazil declared a national emergency with regards to the Zika virus outbreak that had taken hold of the country. Now, Brazil is finally calling an end to its national emergency due to a sharp decrease in the number of cases reported. To recap: Zika is a virus primarily spread through mosquito bites, although it can be sexually transmitted as well. The disease causes symptoms such as fever, rash, headache, joint pain and muscle pain, although the most infamous symptoms have been those associated with difficulties during pregnancythe virus has been known to cause birth defects and has been linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome.. The number of cases from January to April 2017 decreased by 95 percent when compared to the same time period last yearwith 7,911 reported cases this year versus a much higher 170,535 in 2016, according to the Brazilian health minister. Further, there have been no reported deaths in 2017, compared to the eight reported last year. What appears to have happened is there is now herd immunity in the population because so many people were infected, said Professor David Heymann, who was chairman of the World Health Organizations emergency committee for the Zika outbreak. Now the virus cant find enough people who dont have protection, to circulate. Unfortunately, this herd immunity does not mean an end to the virus indefinitely. As immunity decreases, because new populations come in that havent been exposed to Zika, [and] as they get older, there may be epidemics in the future, Heymann said. As there is still no vaccine for the Zika virus, it is recommended to continue taking precautionary steps against mosquito bites. You can find more information about the virus on the CDCs website. Photo: Oregon State University, CC-BY Emma Korstanje is a freelance journalist based out of Athens, GA. Never thought of visiting Panama? Well, you might be soon. In our Breakout Role series, we take a look at places that have seen huge increases in tourism in the last few years, and try to figure out whats causing all the hype. has given a lot of tours in his life. After leaving his job in Boston, the travel enthusiast spent years leading groups on vacations across the Western Hemisphere, including a seven-month drive that spanned a full south-to-north journey, all the way from Argentina to Alaska. But in 2003, OBrien decided to narrow his scope. Instead of driving through multiple borders during a single trip, he set up shop in one small, singular nationPanama. Now, his tour company, called Barefoot Panama provides in-depth explorations into a country largely known to the outside world for its canal rather than its tourist attractions. However, OBrien wasnt alone in his decision to focus on Panama, as more and more vacationers have been drawn to the country over the past several years from 2004 to 2014, the nations annual visitors essentially tripled. Still, 2016 might have been the biggest year for Panamanian tourism ever, with the country finding itself on Forbes annual top destinations list while also reporting a 22 percent increase in visitors during the previous year. Photo: Tamara Aguilar, CC-BY Money is typically a strong motivator, and things were no different in Panamas early days as a tourist hotspot. According to OBrien, cheap shopping was a large part of the nations draw during the mid-2000s, a trend that was likely enhanced by the fact that the American dollar is widely accepted as for payment at a conveniently equal exchange rate: equal rate. Money also made Panama a popular retirement location, with older foreigners finding financial benefits and cheap living within the countrys idyllic beachside scenery. This trend remains true today, and as recent as this year the nation was ranked by Investopedia as the second best place for Americans to retire. Still, OBrien says these factors havent led to as large of a tourism surge it seems, and much of the countrys greatest attractions still remain under the radar. That being said, he believes the sky is the limit, and that Panamas viability as an all-around vacation stop is spreading slowly but surelyoften by word-of mouth and returning visitors. I never thought I would have this amount of repeat customers, OBrien says. But people come down here for a weekend and go, whoa, weve gotta come back. Photo: Matthew Straubmuller, CC-BY Despite this recent success, OBrien thinks tourism still isnt a major priority in Panama. Some of this may have to do with the nations economya large degree of its money comes from commerce, the canal and banking, meaning the hospitality industry can get ignored at times. [The government doesnt] really understand [tourism], because they dont need to, OBrien says. Also, the economic benefits that come with an increase in foreign visitors is somewhat mitigated by the fact that many people who visit the country are often just passing through on their way to another location. Because of its location and its status as the home base for the Panamanian-owned Copa Airlines, Panama City has become a hotbed for short-and-sweet flight stopovers, even ranking as one of on Conde Nast Travellers best places to spend a quick layover. Additionally, many tourists encounter the country during multi-country cruises, perhaps only briefly docking in Panama between stops in Mexico or the Caribbean. This trend could only continue to grow too, as a recent, massive expansion to the original canal is allowing more cruise ships to pass through the country. If you get out of a plane or a cruise ship, youre not getting out of the city, OBrien says. However, there is a small, strange silver lining to be found in the limited way many tourists experience the nation. According to OBrien, so many of the countrys most remarkable sights remain relatively unharmed, simply because theyre so underutilized. As a resultwith the exception of the environmental harm associated with cruise vacationsmuch of Panamas beauty has remained unspoiled and preserved. Photo: HarmonyonPlanetEarth, CC-BY So what are these incredible, under-visited destinations that OBrien is talking about? In terms of pure charm, the San Blas Islands provide visitors with an almost entirely untouched Caribbean haven. Considering its size, Panama is also one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and Coiba National Park is perhaps the greatest testament of this fact. Occupying Central Americas largest island, the nature preserve that OBrien calls a poor mans Galapagos is home to howler monkeys, sea turtles and many species of rare birds. For more wildlife, the Pearl Islands, located off of the countrys Southeastern coastline is a whale watching hub. Of course, the canal and Panama City arent unappealing just because of their popularity, and making the trip to witness the magnitude and engineering accomplishment of the 48-mile waterway is certainly worth seeing. In the city, Casco Viejo capitals old town that OBrien compares to New Orleans French Quarterfeatures plazas, beautiful outdoor cafes and historical tours of 18th century churches and a museum dedicated entirely to the canal. Flight Rates: Current round trip rates from Los Angeles to Panama City range from $500 to $1,080, while flights leaving from New York cost between $550 and $1,250. Travel Concerns: The U.S. Department of State warns travelers of the presence of criminal organizations in the Mosquito Coast and Darien regions of the country, as well as the presence of crime in major cities. There is no visa required for entry into Panama. Currency Exchange: 1 USD = 1 Panamanian Balboa More Info: Visit Panama has a pretty comprehensive travel guide, and the site features sample trip itineraries, top 10 lists and a regional breakdown of some of the countrys biggest highlights. Top photo: Roman Konigshofer, CC-BY Dillon Thompson is freelance writer with a love for travel and an addiction to coffee and hip-hop music. megagrip ANTIGRIP Hot and sunny training day in Curacavi. After a week of rain, the terrain was ideal for riders to pedal to the limit. Saturday also inaugurated the season of the Montenbaik Enduro Kids, an event with categories from 3 to 13 years that emulated an enduro race with all its characteristics. The race day begins with the delivery of the chips, in charge of the Montenbaik Tech team, which on this date needed a staff reinforcement with the almost 500 registered riders. The medical and rescue team were also boosted due to the size of the race. Alejandro Nicoreanu organizes the local rescuers for the day of work. The experience of Jose Manuel Perez is denoted in his collection of time stickers, definitely, this is not his first career. Pedro Barros opens the stage Espejo XL, where the race day begins with the pilots of Enduro2. The day begins with a link to the top of the hill, not enough to discourage the racers. In the photo the Master C Juanjo waving to the camera. There are some Montenbaikers who have a special way to get to Curacavi. Los Capachos, an ideal spot for an Enduro race. In the Enduro 2 category, some very young riders make their debut on the Curacavi tracks. The terrain in Curacavi is something special. At the top of the hill, quartz stones are found everywhere. The first riders going down with the morning mist still in the valley. Marcelo Donoso, freerider and trail builder, comes down to check the slopes during the race. One of the dangers of Curacavi. Tubeless are mandatory. Riders from the Rigid category opening the new Capatonga stage. This category is one of the most competitive of the championship. The wild Tiuque watches the La Mina stage. Antonia Wurth, the current National Champion, down the rock steps at Capatonga. Alejandro Noemi, a mistake and you're already in the official video of the race. Omar "Waazaa" Salas is always in the right place. Above the Las Turcas stage the day is still cloudy and with the possibility of rain, this could completely change the competition. Female presence in Curacavi. The girls of Enduro 2 ready for the last descent of the day. An unexpected change. The Enduro 1 riders were able to enjoy the last two stages with sun and the perfect grip. Our special Chiguiro is the organizer of the enduro races in Colombia and partner of Montenbaik. Florencia Espineira goes down strong on the way to first place in Curacavi. One more novelty for the locals was the last leg of the Las Turcas stage. The final turns of La Turcas. Even with the megagrip this area put several in trouble. Trailbuilder Pierre Plaza was attentive to the development of the race. Despite his dislocated shoulder, he did not stop working the whole event. Felipe Vial was the fastest of the day. After a very good season in 2016 when he finished with the third place in the national ranking, 2017 has not been easy despite the good results. At this moment without an official team and with a 2016 bike, Felipe is demonstrating that he can be the fastest in Chile. The good atmosphere is breathed and lived in a Montenbaik Enduro. The top 10 riders climb to Escalones, the last stage of the day. Antonio Leiva is one of the big names of Chilean MTB. Apart from winning the Master C category, he is one of the supporters of the new Montenbaik Enduro Kids with prizes from his brand Kido Outdoors. The day ends with the finish line next to the race village where the audience awaits the final results. All pilots and public enjoy and chill with the evening sun. And the winner is ... Felipe Vial in his first overall win in a Montenbaik Enduro, adding emotion to the ranking of the Chilean championship. Cerveceria Kross never fails. Pierre Plaza and the Motorex team enjoy the Golden and the Pilsen. The locals of Curacavi were also present with their barbecue trailer and to enjoy the race. 2- Antonia Wurth (21:31.62) 3- Elisa Chichi Garcia (23:10.61) The fastest women were: 1- Florencia Espineira (20:34.02- Antonia Wurth (21:31.62) 3- Elisa Chichi Garcia (23:10.61) 1- Felipe Vial (17:45.46) 2- Pedro Burns (17:53.19) 3- Milciades Jaque (18:00.01) 4- Pedro Ferreira (18:10.51) 5- Mauricio Acuna (18:25.83). The overall winners of the 3rd. stage of the Montenbaik Enduro Series 2018 in Curacavi. In Chile no Sunday is over without an asado. Thank you all, see you at the next stage in La Serena! A weekend to be remembered in Curacavi with the National Montenbaik Enduro Series and also with the first edition of the Montenbaik Enduro Kids. One hour from Santiago in the Los Capachos sector, the event brought together the entire family of the Chilean enduro, from the big names, teams, and brands of the sport to the new talent and beginners of all ages.It was a record of 480 riders on Sunday, along with their families and friends who took advantage of the perfect weather to have an incredible time, both on the bike and in the race village that became a great family party.The trails for this occasion were exceptional. In addition to a physically and technically demanding line, the perfection of the unsurpassedthat we had thanks to the rains of the week. Almost as if it were scheduled, the weather was on our side. Remember we are talking about Chile, home of the, and to ride these trails in wet-but-not-muddy conditions were no less than historical.The results are available on the Montenbaik Enduro website . Enjoy our photo report below.Words: Jonatha Junge and the Montenbaik CrewPhotos: Jonatha Junge One of the key updates to note is the move to large volume, though not quite plus tires that were beginning to see from a number of brands. The 2.6" tire width seems to be gaining quite a bit of support within the industry, with its benefits being claimed extra traction without the amount of tire deformation that we see from plus tires. The new Mach 5.5 rolls on 27.5" wheels that are shod with 2.6" Maxxis treads, showing Pivots support for the move. It also features 140mm of rear travel and the Fox 36 up front is set to 160mm, but the bike can be setup with a 150mm fork without negatively altering the geometry. Pivot Mach 5.5 Details Intended use: Trail, all-mountain Rear wheel travel: 140mm Fork travel: 160mm Wheel size: 27.5'' 66.5 head angle w/ 160mm fork 12x148mm rear axle Di2 integration Sizes: XS / S / M / L / XL 5.2-pound frame (claimed for a medium) Integrated low durometer frame protection MSRP: $4,899$10,199 USD (complete) w/ nine model options. MSRP: $3,099 USD (frame). www.pivotcycles.com, @pivotcycles Intended use: Trail, all-mountain Rear wheel travel: 140mm Fork travel: 160mm Wheel size: 27.5'' 66.5 head angle w/ 160mm fork 12x148mm rear axle Di2 integration Sizes: XS / S / M / L / XL 5.2-pound frame (claimed for a medium) Integrated low durometer frame protection MSRP: $4,899$10,199 USD (complete) w/ nine model options. MSRP: $3,099 USD (frame). Updating the Mach 5 The XL is pretty long, with a 485mm/19.09" reach. The confidence inspiring 2.6" Maxxis DHF Wide . The rear tire is a 2.6" Maxxis Rekon. The front and rear tires feature EXO casings. An upgrade to the Fox Float X2 shock is available on the Team and Pro model ranges for an additional $399 USD. Compact and stiff rear triangle and DW-Link suspension. The Mach 5.5 is fitted with Pivot's Phoenix components. The 35mm-diameter, 50mm stem enduro/trail stem and carbon bar. Pivots Phoenix Pad-Loc grips feature a 32.5mm diameter and a soft durometer rubber. An early version of the cut guide for the Pad-Loc bars that Pivot are working on with WTB. Threading the needle into some chunk. The bike granted confidence to ride blindly into some ugly terrain. Moar climbing. Out of the saddle efforts are more common (for me) in Moab than anywhere else I've ridden to date. It was also required to help keep the front down in a number of situations. Over the last few years, Pivot has seen some great growth as a brand, and claim that they've grown by more than forty percent in the last twelve months alone. Last summers release of their Switchblade and other recent bikes prior to this have been key to this growth, and now theyre releasing an update to one of their staple trail bikes, the Mach 5.5. Pivot's founder, Chris Cocalis, claims that the market for trail bikes is going to grow, and he sees the 130140mm travel segment as a go-to bike for many. With a number of updates, the new Mach 5.5 is Pivots take on the weapon for this audience.Chris confessed that this update to one of their key bikes has been in the works for a whilethe 5.5 model has been in the lineup since they launched in 2007. He states that the reason for this was that the Mach 6 pedaled so well they didnt see a need, but now with things changing in the industry, he felt it a good time to move forward with the update. The new Mach 5.5 takes on the brands more stretched-out reach numbers, with measurements in line to that of their Switchblade, released only twelve months prior. Compared to the previous model, the Mach 5.7, numbers have grown from 2060mm depending on where you are in the size range. They continue with the DW-Link, which is used across every dual suspension bike in their range.Development of the updated model began two and half years ago when the team built the first aluminum test bikes using their in-house facilitiesa year prior to this they began design and development. Cocalis states that more often than not, their suspension kinematics are good to go out of the computer, but they still test this on the alloy models. A key point to their aluminum testing protocol, and an important component for Cocalis, is getting the ride feel the same as what they expect from their carbon production models (once at that point of development). For the Mach 5.5, Pivot went through three rounds of prototypes to get the frame geometry and ride feel to where they wanted.The Mach 5.5 continues to utilize the DW-Link without the need for the clevis seen on their longer travel options. This is achievable thanks to the shorter travel and the result is a shock thats driven directly by the seatstays. Pivot found that the shorter travel models dont require the control that the longer travel models do and it also allows the bike to be lighter, an attribute they feel is of high importance in this segment. The full cartridge bearing, upper DW-Link includes the move to a bearing for the shock mount, new for the 5.5, and the result is claimed added sensitivity off the top, which should increase traction on the trail.On the topic of traction, the bike now comes fitted with 2.6 Maxxis rubber, with all models in the range coming with a Minion DHF out front and a Rekon in the back. Having key touch-points such as tires remain the same across the range is important to Pivot, enabling them to make sure that important components such as tires are reliable across their range. Pivot did a good amount of testing with tire and rim widths and arrived at the conclusion that a 3536mm internal rim width is optimal with the 2.6 WT Maxxis tires. Many of their alloy wheeled models feature the DT Swiss M1700, which has an internal width of 35mm, and for the carbon wheel option, Pivot worked with Reynolds to develop a 36mm internal width carbon wheel, the first from the brand and not currently available aftermarket. The carbon Reynolds wheels are available on the top tier, Team models, or can be upgraded to on the Pro level for an additional $1,300 USD.In developing the geometry for the new Mach 5.5, the team at Pivot stretched out their front end (440mm/17.32 reach on a size medium), but kept the chainstays short (430mm/16.9), claiming that they wanted the bike to be stable, but still contain a lively, playful feel on the trail. Along with this, the head angle is slacker than many older trail bikes, at 66.5, but not so slack that it encroaches on the more aggressive, all-mountain/enduro end of things. Pivot also worked hard on the ride feel of the frame, tuning it to provide a lively ride, with a stiff frame being the goal, but say they made sure it has enough flex to remain on line and not create a harsh ride.A number of additional, interesting points of note; the rear brake mount is post mount 180mm, so there are no 160mm rotors allowed here. A water bottle will fit within the front triangle of every size model, with a Fox Float X2 shocka $399 USD optional extra for the Team and Pro model builds. The rear axle is of the 12x148mm varietyno Super Boost here. Pivot note that there was no need to go to the Super Boost width on the Mach 5.5 and they were able to achieve plenty of clearance, both tire and heel, within the constraints of the 148mm spacing. The full bike is setup for internal cable routing, with Di2 integration and some points of integration for the upcoming Fox Live system which is claimed to have changed considerably since our first look at the technology, but Fox remains very tight-lipped. There are no internal tubes for the cables, but things are kept tightly in place through the entry/exit port clamps for the cables.Pivot also unveiled their range of Phoenix components recently and they had them on hand to discuss in some more detail. The new Mach 5.5 that we rode included many of the new parts as well, including their Pad-Loc grips that they worked on in collaboration with WTB. Aware that some riders were wary of the new bar/grip system, Pivot has been working with WTB on creating a cutting guide that will allow riders to cut the bars to length, but still have the wedge for the locking interface with the grip. The goal is to produce the cutting guide so that it retails at no more than $10 USD. They have also developed a plug for the end, for those that wish to run either the Phoenix Carbon bar or any other handlebar featuring the Pad-Loc system, allowing the bars to be used with regular grips.Theyve also been doing some study on the stem interface and according to Chris Cocalis, this is where the steering on a bike can lack response with a weaker interface resulting in more twist and therefore making it harder to direct the front wheel precisely. With that said, Pivot has chosen to go with 35mm diameter bars and feel that they can improve shock absorption, steering accuracy, and weight of their cockpit by going this route over their 31.8 components. Their Phoenix Team Enduro/Trail stem comes in 10mm increments from 35mm65mm and features 7-degree rise/drop. and their bar comes in one size of 20mm riseit features 5-degree upsweep and 8-degree backsweep. Their grip is thick and soft and features a 32.5mm diameter, low durometer rubber that utilizes the Pad-Loc system.We hit the trails of Moab to see what this new mid travel bike from Pivot was all about. For anyone that hasnt ridden in Moab, think square edges everywhere, lots of rock, and very physical riding with the climbs as tough as the descents. Theres not a lot of dirt, and when you do hit some, its more of the loose, sandy variety. A bike of this nature seems quite fitting for the environment and the 2.6 tires were no doubt going to help with traction in a number of scenarios, right?Our first day was spent on the up and downs of Mag 7, Gold Bar, and a slew of others along the way and finished with Portal, and day two was spent on Amasa Back and Captain Ahab. The constantly changing terrain required a bike (and legs/lungs) that was able to climb short bursts with relative ease and take on some deep compressions and high speed hits on the descents. I rode the XL Mach 5.5 and found the fit similar to my personal bike, with a 485mm reach, 624mm stack, and 50mm stem. The seat angle was a little slacker than I am used to, and the head angle a little steeper. The chainstay length is on the shorter side at 430mm (16.93).My initial suspension setup was a little softer in the mid-stroke than preferred and I found the bike to sink farther into its travel too often, losing valuable momentum in the process. The simple addition of a volume spacer to the Float X2 in the rear and roughly 10psi more air in the fork remedied this, with the bike maintaining momentum out of compressions far better afterward. Traction remained really good on the loose-over-hard surfaces and cornering over varied terrain resulted in very few situations that saw the Mach 5.5 get out of sorts. The high volume of the Maxxis 2.6 tires definitely contributed to this as well and based on my size, Pivot had set my tire pressures to approximately 19psi front, 25psi reara little lower in the front than I would typically run, but I had no issues with tire roll on the trails.The bigger volume Maxxis tires arent a great deal larger in appearance than some other tire manufacturers regular tires, but Maxxis have updated them to work better than their other tires with wider rims like the 36mm Reynolds rims fitted on the test bike. Traction on the tech, punchy climbs of Moab was great and anything short of completely mucking up a pedal stroke or lacking power would result in making it to the top. Under heavy braking was the first situation where the extra tread was most apparent, with a number of situations experienced while riding the trails for the first time, blind, being quickly diffused thanks to the tires ability to maintain grip when the XT brake levers were suddenly grabbed by the handful.When we got to Portal trail the bike really began to shine. The trail is littered with square edges, loose sandy spots and plenty of boulders trying to take you out (they succeeded, claiming one of our team members, who went home with a broken hand). Momentum on this sort of trail is your friend, and to do so required a lot of body English. The bike maintained momentum well and coming over blind rock gaps, drops and quirky channels with pedal catchers was no problem, as long as momentum was present. As soon as a mistake was made and that momentum was lost, it was easy to get hung up on the features. This is not to fault the bike and speaks more to the Mach 5.5s ability to grant the confidence needed to go hurtling down such a nasty, awesome section of trail, blind. The combination of the big tiresnot too big that they feel vagueand the suspension on the Mach 5.5 did a great job in muting the noise of the trail, allowing me to keep on trucking.The rear of the bike felt quite stout, especially when slamming it into corners or through angled G-outs like those experienced when banking across a rock roll into a compression at the bottom. Pushing the rear into corners made it very apparent that the bike wanted to propel me forward and there wasnt going to be a lot of give in the frame when doing so. Pivots use of short chainstays helped in some of the awkward corners that Moab is known for, making it easier to hang off the back of the bike a little and swing the front end around. The downside I found was that combined with a seat tube angle slacker than I'm used to, the two resulted in it being more of a challenge to keep the front wheel weighted sufficiently and tracking on steeper, more technical climbs. There was room to roll the saddle farther forward in order to compensate, which once done helped, but personally, I would have liked a seat angle at least a degree steeper if the stays were going to stay so short. For shorter riders this shouldnt be much of an issue at all, but for taller riders like myself (193cm), I found my weight was too far out over the rear hub.Pivots Mach 5.5 is stiff, but its not harsh, and over the couple of days aboard it I never had it deflect off line. It appears that their goal of a balanced ride feel between stiffness and give may have been achieved, but more time on the bike would be necessary to confidently claim it so. The team has also done a good job of balancing the 20mm difference between the front and rear of the bike and it rode well during my time on it in Moab, working quite equally front to rear despite the difference. Initial impressions are that this is a great bike that can cover a wide gamut of riders. It felt light and nimble, but was down to get rowdy when it was required to do so.The Mach 5.5 is available at your local dealer as you read this. The bike is available at three build levels, Team, Pro, and Race, with nine build-kits total. Full bike builds range in price from $4,899$10,199 USD and the frame is available for $3,099 USD. 888poker Launches the 8-Team for the 2017 WSOP May 18, 2017 Matthew Pitt Editor 888poker, the official sponsor of the World Series of Poker, is sending a team of poker players to the 2017 WSOP known as The 8-Team. A lucky qualifier could become a part of it and have the chance to fly the 888poker flag at next years series. Five teams, each from a different country, feature a team captain, a wing man and a qualifier will be chosen to represent the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Sweden at the upcoming 2017 WSOP Main Event. The qualifier who lasts the longest out of the five qualifiers will win a value-packed package to the 2018 WSOP Main Event. The captains have already been chosen; the wing men will be revealed in the next couple of weeks. The qualifiers will be chosen from everyone who qualifies for a 2017 WSOP Main Event package online at 888poker, which anyone can do for as little as $0.01. 8-Team Team Captains 888poker has selected its captains for 8-Team and, as you would expect, they are members of 888pokers elite team of ambassadors. Captaining the U.K. is none other than Chris Moorman. With almost $14 million in online tournament winnings and $4.6 million from his live poker exploits, Moorman is a proven winner and a player worthy of being the captain of any poker team. Team Brazil will be captained by Bruno Foster Politano, a player who has already enjoyed the sweet taste of WSOP success. Politano navigated his way to an eighth-place finish in the 2014 WSOP Main Event and returned home with $947,172. One of Twitchs hottest properties, Parker Talbot, will be in charge of Team Canada. Known affectionately as Tonkaaaa, Talbot is on the lookout for his first WSOP cash this summer and will be doing everything in his power to get that particularly monkey off of his shoulder. Leading Team Sweden into battle is Sofia Lovgren. The popular Swede may be primarily a cash game player, but she is no slouch in poker tournaments either. At the 2016 WSOP, Lovgren played her way to 12th place in the Millionaire Maker event, a tournament that attracted a huge field of 7,190 entrants. Lovgren is hopeful of winning a WSOP bracelet this summer. Last, but not least, is Team Germany. Dominik Nitsche leads Germany into battle knowing he is one of the most successful poker players of recent years. Nitsche has three WSOP bracelets to his name and more than $6.5 million in live poker tournament winnings. Do you think Nitsche can secure his fourth bracelet in Las Vegas this summer? Get a Free WSOP Satellite Ticket Worth $30 Download 888poker via PokerNews, make a deposit of $20 using the bonus code PNWSOP30 and 888poker will reward you with a WSOP Step 5 satellite ticket worth $30 for free. This in on top of the free $88 (free 20 to UK residents) you receive just for creating a new 888poker account. What was that driver thinking? Earlier today, one woman was killed and 22 other pedestrians were injured by a maroon Honda going full speed, jumping the curb and barreling into the a crowded group of pedestrians in New York's Times Square. It is easily the busiest area for foot traffic in the city because of it's tourism and close proximity to Broadway musicals. People were busy looking up to take pictures and down at their smart phone. They would never had imagine this could happen. The scene of a fatal accident occurred right at the corner of 45th Street and Broadway at 1155 local time (1655 GMT) and drove at high speed before crashing into a stanchion. The FDNY received the first emergency call just before noon. The suspect, Richard Rojas, who drove his vehicle the wrong way, over three block, was arrested after the incident. The 26-year-old Bronx man has arrested two times prior for driving under the influence of alcohol, in 2008 and 2015. He is being tested for alcohol consumption. Rojas is a U.S. citizen who previously served in the Navy, authorities said. [rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fnews%2F624%2Fcpsprodpb%2F131C8%2Fproduction%2F_96108287_115f1bcf-9eff-4834-be65-df10a956b518.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk&s=800&h=e683131946a0642992220bfd7c572dc287ecee7a5ae7affb312b79bd6d644bbc&size=980x&c=1500033875 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fnews%252F624%252Fcpsprodpb%252F131C8%252Fproduction%252F_96108287_115f1bcf-9eff-4834-be65-df10a956b518.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fichef.bbci.co.uk%26s%3D800%26h%3De683131946a0642992220bfd7c572dc287ecee7a5ae7affb312b79bd6d644bbc%26size%3D980x%26c%3D1500033875%22%7D" caption="EPA" pin_description="" image-library="0" expand=1 photo_credit=""] EPA "There's no indication the crash was related to terrorism," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a news conference, "however, the White House and FBI were made aware of the incident." Times Square was the target of an attempted attack in May 2010 when a Pakistani immigrant planted a car bomb at an intersection. The device failed to detonate and he was arrested shortly after boarding a flight to the Middle East. "It is believed to be an isolated incident, it remains under investigation," the New York Police Department said on Twitter. The victims were an 18-year-old woman who was killed and her 13-year-old sister had also been injured. There were four injuries that were considered to be critical, officials said, though all were expected to survive. Three more were in serious condition. "He was driving very fast," said Karma Namgyal, 49, a street vendor. "He was going the wrong way up the street and drove onto the sidewalk. He started hitting people. They were flying in the air. He plowed through them. The people he hit were face down. Everyone else started screaming. It was all fast. " Several witnesses reported that after the driver crashed, he tried to get away. He didn't get far. He was forcibly subdued and taken to the ground by five bystanders. They held him there until police arrived. [rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fnews%2F624%2Fcpsprodpb%2F0385%2Fproduction%2F_96110900_834c4e80-bb79-4b8d-950d-e9cd3725c79c.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk&s=531&h=fddc633f7f92cde1277a68634de21de1dfccc804423f48c942516ac23a8d1079&size=980x&c=979194382 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fnews%252F624%252Fcpsprodpb%252F0385%252Fproduction%252F_96110900_834c4e80-bb79-4b8d-950d-e9cd3725c79c.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fichef.bbci.co.uk%26s%3D531%26h%3Dfddc633f7f92cde1277a68634de21de1dfccc804423f48c942516ac23a8d1079%26size%3D980x%26c%3D979194382%22%7D" caption="" pin_description="" image-library="0" expand=1 photo_credit=""] "It sounded like a bomb going off," said Dave Willis, a tourist from the U.K. "I ran over and it was over in seconds. He was tackled to the ground." "We saw people laying on the sidewalk...with crowds of people laying around them," one witness told Fox News. "You could see clumps of people down the sidewalk with people all around them trying to help them." One witness, Ed G Val, was across the street when he saw the car speeding north on the west sidewalk of 7th Avenue. "A woman in front on the sidewalk was hit and tossed before then car reached 44th street [and] continued ploughing people down at full speed up to 45th street, where it was stopped after crashing into more people and the light posted pictured," he said in an Instagram post. "Due to a vehicle collision with pedestrian injuries, emergency vehicles are in the area of #TimesSquare," the NYPD tweeted. "Expect delays in the area." The tragedy of this event has been felt throughout this city and beyond. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement the event was "nothing short of horrific". White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump has also been informed about the incident. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Agricultural Adjuvant Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Agricultural Adjuvant Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 08:23:07 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 372 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Agricultural adjuvant are used to enhance the effectiveness of pesticides such as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and other agents that are used to control or eliminate the unwanted pests. Adjuvant plays a crucial role in improving the efficiency of agrochemical and also for increasing the yield or productivity of the crop. Agricultural adjuvant includes ammonium fertilizers, surfactants and oils.Agricultural adjuvant plays a key role in the global agrochemical market. The market has grown exponentially over the recent few years and this growth is expected to continue over the forecast period. Various factors such as ease of application, innovative product contributions, advanced production practices, increased accessibility and increasing attack of pests and diseases play a vital role in driving the overall agricultural adjuvant market. Adjuvants are slowly making their mark as the best tool for farmers used to improve application, achieve more cost-effective solution, facilitate the dosage, better-targeted and more environmentally acceptable pest control. A significant amount of the demand for agricultural adjuvants market is anticipated from countries such as France, India, Australia, Italy, U.S., Brazil and Germany among others. The global agricultural adjuvant market consists of activator adjuvants and utility adjuvant. Activator adjuvants include ammonium fertilizers, oils and surfactants while utility adjuvants consists of water conditioners, buffering agents, compatibility agents, buffers, anti-foam agents and drift control agents among others. Agricultural surfactant chemicals are the most dominating product which captures the maximum market share of the overall agricultural adjuvant market. North America is expected to be the largest market for agricultural adjuvant.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-331 The leading players of agricultural adjuvant market includes Akzonoble N.V. (Netherlands),Adjuvant plus Inc. (Canada), Brandt Consolidated (U.S.),Momentive Performance Materials (U.S),Clariant International Ltd. (Switzerland), LambertiSpA (Italy),Solvay SA (Belgium), Croda Chemicals (India), Dow Croning (U.S.),Helena Chemical Company (U.S.) andTanatex Chemicals (Europe) among others. This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product types and distribution channels.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-331 Clinical Alarm Management Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 07:43:30 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 716 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Clinical alarm systems are devices that alert caregivers of immediate adverse patient conditions and help in enhancing potential patient-safety. Alarmsmust be accurate, unique and provide alerts, which could be readily identified and understood by caregivers and the products must belong to standardized & approved product categories. These systems are either built-in or attached to other medical equipment & monitoring systems. Alarm fatigue is the psychological effect produced by too many alarms occurring in a clinical environment, causing clinicians to miss true clinically significant alarms. When alarms work well, the environment of patient care is enhanced. When alarms do not work well, they pull caregivers away from their line of respective duties and other patients, or even ignore alarm sounds altogether. Cases of ignored alarms have resulted in patient deaths earlier in extreme cases. Most often, the major usability problem is an alarm flood- too many alarms ringing together, in case of any device failure. Other defects hampering clinical alarm uptake in sophisticated healthcare systems include poorly designed alarms, improperly set alarm points, ineffective alarm announcements, and unclear alarm messages among others.Clinical Alarm Management Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing awareness of care providers towards enhancing patient safety is a prominent factor pushing the revenue growth of the clinical alarm management market. Others revenue drivers include rising medtech investments by governments of all major countries and promoting access to basic healthcare across all sections of the society. Integrated alarm system designs are often not standardized across different medical equipment systems and devices. This could be considered as a restraint for clinical alarm management market. Improper alarm escalation leading to false negative cases - such as a patient needs immediate clinical attention but a clinician is not alerted - substantially compromises on patient-safety. Other factors negatively affecting market growth are lack of product standardization across regions and lack of proper skills to rationalize the alarm adjustment process.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1713 Clinical Alarm Management Market: SegmentationClinical alarm management market is segmented based on product type, end user and geography.Based on product type, clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:Physiological monitorsTelemetry monitorsVentilatorsInfusion PumpsAnesthesia MachinesCompression PumpsFeeding PumpsNurse Call SystemBed AlarmsBased on end user, the clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:HospitalsClinicsAmbulatory surgical centersLong term and palliative care centersHome careOthersClinical Alarm Management Market: OverviewIn the present market scenario, clinical alarm manufacturers prioritize sensitivity over specificity. This often leads to a large number of false positive cases, which is often misleading. Particularly, when alarm frequency is high, caregivers could become desensitized, develop alarm fatigue, and create a false negative outcome, compromising patient safety. With rise in the number of urban healthcare centers across regions, there clinical alarm management market is witnessing a sustained growth in demand for standard and tested products. To avoid product level dysfunctionalities, the AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) Foundation had added clinical alarms to its portfolio of multidisciplinary initiatives to advance patient safety and created an Alarm Best Practices Workgroup in 2012. The committee reviews and recommends best practices on clinical alarm management at regular intervals. Developed pharmaceutical markets are expected to create sustainable traction in generating demand for standardized clinical alarm systems over the forecast period, while developing markets are expected to follow suit.Clinical Alarm Management Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global clinical alarm management marketis classified into seven regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to dominate the clinical alarm management market in terms of both revenue and demand generation owing to greater awareness on medtech advancement followed by Western Europe. However, over the foreseeable long term, markets in Latin America and Asia-Pacific could prove lucrative in terms of market opportunities owing to persistence of factors such as greater penetration of access to organized healthcare and rising disposable income level contribution to private healthcare spending.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1713 Clinical Alarm ManagementMarket: Key PlayersSome of the major companies contributing to global clinical alarm management market include Medtronic, Extension Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Koninklijke Phislips N.V., Baxter incorporated, Connexall, Mindray Medical International Limited among others. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 07:42:21 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 795 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic condition that causes severe pain in legs, arms, feet, and hands or may involve the entire body. CRPS is commonly of two types, with similar symptoms and treatment. If Complex Regional Pain syndrome occurs after an injury without any nerve damage, it is known as Type I CRPS (also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy). Type II CRPS occurs after a specific nerve injury or trauma. The prognosis of complex regional pain syndrome differs from person to person. In most cases, CRPS is mild and patient recovers gradually with time, and in some cases, the symptoms are severe, with long-term disability. CRPS occurs in both men and women, but women are more likely to be affected.The cause of the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is not well understood. In about 90% of cases, CRPS occurs due to injury or trauma. The common factor of injury includes limb immobilization, soft tissue injury, fracture, sprain or due to needlestick injuries caused during surgical procedures. Peripheral nerve abnormalities in patients with CRPS includes unmyelinated and lightly myelinated nerve fibers at the axon region that causes abnormal neurological conditions. CRPS is common in patients with inflammatory and autoimmune conditions as an elevated level of inflammatory chemicals such as cytokines are found in tissue with CRPS. Currently, genetic predisposition of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is not examined broadly. A study related to the familial occurrence of CRPS among Dutch patients resulted that CRPS may occur in a familial form, but inheritance pattern was unclear.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1708 Diagnosis of CRPS depends upon the individuals medical history and the extent of symptoms. There are limited diagnostic methods available for CRPS. The incidence rates reveal that female are three times more affected than male. According to a study conducted in U.K, 1 in 3,800 people develops CRPS each year. CRPS can be treated by therapy (Rehabilitation Therapy, Psychotherapy) or medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and others.Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market: Drivers and RestrainsCurrently, there are no drugs approved by US FDA - for the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. However, physicians prescribed therapies and medicines to alleviate chronic pain. Recently U.S. Food and Drug administration, designated Neridronic acid breakthrough therapy, undergoing clinical trials for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The drug has also received Fast-track and orphan drug designations from the FDA. Intense research and development, the rise in the incidence of CRPS cases, successful completion of clinical trials are anticipated to fuel the growth of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The strict regulatory approval and the high cost of medication in the near future could restrain the growth of Complex Regional Pain syndrome market.Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market: SegmentationThe global complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) market has been classified on the basis of therapy type, route of administration, distribution channel, and geography.Based on Therapy Type, the Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market is segmented into following:Physical TherapyDrugsAnalgesicsAntidepressantsCorticosteroidsOthersSurgical sympathectomyIntrathecal drug pumpsSpinal cord stimulationBased on the Route of Administration, the global Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) market is divided into following:OralIntravenousBased on the distribution channel, the Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market is segmented into the following:Hospital PharmacyDrug StoresRetail PharmacyE-commerceComplex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market: OverviewNational Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting research for CRPS on the brain and CNS by focusing on studying new approaches in treating CRPS. Based on the therapy type the global Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) market into physical therapy, drugs such as analgesics, antidepressants, corticosteroids, surgical sympathectomy, intrathecal drug pumps and spinal cord stimulation. On the basis of route of administration, the global Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) market in segmented into oral and intravenous administration. Based on the distribution channel, the market is segmented into hospital pharmacy, drug stores, retain pharmacy and e-commerce.Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the global Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Along with expansion in the emerging markets, and greater focus on early diagnosis, screening, monitoring and clinical development of drugs have been the major strategies adopted by major players in the global complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) market.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1708 Complex Regional Pain syndrome (CRPS) Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) market are Mallinckrodt Pharmaceutical, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Mylan N.V., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., AbbVie, ACTAVIS, Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sandoz, and Janssen Global Services, LLC.and others. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 14:30:33 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 394 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for First Colombia Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Nashville, TN (FSCWire) - First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTC Pink:FCGD). has issued a press release with the following headline:First Colombia Gold Corp Updates Market on Coal OperationsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on First Colombia Gold Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/First Colombia Gold Corp.Source: First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTC Pink: FCGD, ISIN: US3197142009, WKN: A112QT)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 8:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of First Colombia Gold Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Diketene Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 12:24:24 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 585 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Diketene is a light colored or colorless liquid, non-hygroscopic that is polymerized on standing. It has a pungent odor and is irritant to eyes, nose and throat. Diketene is inflammable and has a moderate risk of fire. It is a dimeric form of ketene and is similar to but less toxic than ketene. It readily polymerizes and hence cannot be stored or shipped in gaseous state. Diketene is not isolated but it is consumed once as it is produced. It is known by the formula (CH2CO) 2 and is a member of the oxetane family that is formed by dimerization of ketene. Diketene is produced by dehydrating acetic acid at a temperature of 700 to 750 degree celcius in the existence of triethyl ether as a catalyst. The other method for manufacturing diketene is by thermolysis of acetone at a temperature of 600 to 700 degree celcius in the presence of catalyst such as carbon disulphide. Some of the diketene derivatives include acetoacetates, arylamides, alkylamides, acrylic acid esters and other diketene derivatives.Diketene is an important industrial intermediate that is used in the manufacture of acetoacetate amides and esters which also substitutes 1-phenyl-3-methylpyrazolones. It is also used in the production of dyestuff and pigments. Diketene is a highly reactive building block that can be combined to manufacture a wide range of products. It has applications in vitamins, pharmaceuticals, pigment and agrochemical industries among others. Some of the niche markets are in plasticizers, cosmetics and paints to name a few.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-332 The factors which drive the diketene market are the growing applications in the pharmaceutical and pigment industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, diketene is used in the manufacture of wide range of antibiotics. The others industries such as the paints and agrochemical are also anticipated to boost demand for diketene in the market in the near future. Among the above mentioned factors, the upcoming application in the pesticide industry is also expected to fuel demand for diketene as 40% of diketene is consumed by the pesticide industry.The factors that are responsible to hamper the growth of the market include the ill effects of diketene on human health as it is a strong irritant to eyes, nose and throat. Inhalation of diketene causes respiratory tract infection and irritation, can be harmful if swallowed and can be harmful if absorbed by skin causing skin irritation. These factors act as restraining factors for the growth of the diketene market.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-332 The key segments for diketene market include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The strong growth in the pigment industry in the developed countries such as U.S. is expected to cater demand for diketene in the market. The developing country such as the Asia Pacific has huge growth potential for the pharmaceutical industries and hence is anticipated to boost demand for diketene. China has huge production facilities for diketene and hence it consumes huge amount of diketene for a wide variety of applications.The major companies profiled for diketene are Lonza (Switzerland) and Synthetic Chemical Industry, UCC, FMC (United States), Eastman (United States), Celanese (Britain), Hoechst (Germany), Teijin Shoji Co. Ltd (Japan), Daicel Chemical Industry (Japan). The companies like Eastman have expanded the production capacity of diketene, primarily the derivatives such as acetoamides, acetoacetates and acetoacetanilides to meet the growing demand of the pharmaceutical industry and the pigment industry.Browse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/diketene-market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 13:24:11 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 390 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for GreenBank Capital Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - GreenBank Capital Inc. (CSE:GBC). has issued a press release with the following headline:GreenBank Completes Acquisition of 35% of Ubique MineralsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on GreenBank Capital Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/GreenBank Capital Inc.Source: GreenBank Capital Inc. (CSE: GBC, WKN: A1W8UJ, ISIN: CA3935762029)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 7:24 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of GreenBank Capital Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 14:09:28 Press Information Published by ACN Newswire +65 6304 8926 e-mail https://www.acnnewswire.com/ # 866 Words ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926 Ever-popular Geylang Serai Bazaar to return with over 1,000 stallsSINGAPORE, May 16, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The annual Hari Raya Light Up 2017 in Singapore will return to Geylang Serai from 20 May to 7 July 2017, to delight local and international visitors with a visual extravaganza comprising over 900,000 LED light bulbs, and a month-long shopping fiesta.Themed "Deepening the kampung spirit", the annual event will feature new larger-than-life installations fashioned after traditional Malay icons, and educational displays about Malay arts and culture. The ever-popular bazaar will also return with a wide array of food, snacks, and traditional Malay costumes and accessories. These will be complemented by free weekend performances and movie screenings.Dr Teo Cheng Swee, Chairman of Hari Raya Light Up 2017 Organising Committee said, "Every Hari Raya Puasa, Geylang Serai is illuminated with brilliant light displays. While being a platform for commemorating Ramadan, the annual Hari Raya Light Up also provides an opportunity for local and international visitors alike to explore the precinct and understand more about the Malay culture in Singapore. We hope that this year's event will once again charm everyone who passes through Geylang Serai, with the myriad of exhibits and lively bazaar." "The Hari Raya Light Up is one of Singapore's major festive attractions, adding colour to the vibrant Geylang Serai precinct and to Singapore as a whole. We are glad to continue supporting the event in providing a rich festive and cultural experience for Singaporeans and international visitors," said Mr Kenneth Lim, Director of Cultural Precincts Development, Singapore Tourism Board.- Larger-than-life installations to acquaint visitors with Malay traditionsOver seven weeks, visitors will be treated to a visual feast of larger-than-life light installations modelled in the likeness of traditional Malay heritage icons.Located along Sims Avenue and Changi Road, the centerpieces of Hari Raya Light Up 2017 will incorporate a kampung, as if welcoming visitors into a traditional Malay home of yesteryear. This will be complemented by leaf motifs designed like songket, a traditional Malay fabric made of hand-woven patterns. Additionally, other arches will feature words of blessings that Muslims often use during the holy month.Other gigantic installations include a 4.4-metre tall wau (Kelantanese kite) which allows the curious to learn about the richness and diversity of Malay arts and culture, and a 12-metre wide kelong (offshore platform made of wood) and sampan (fishing boat) that will form the main stage area for weekly performances and movie screenings.To educate members of the public about the history of Hari Raya and Geylang Serai, Hari Raya Light Up 2017 will feature a temporary exhibition, with a housing that mimics the weaves of a ketupat (rice dumpling). Visitors will be acquainted with Malay traditions during Ramadan and Hari Raya Puasa, the history of Hari Raya bazaars and the Malay community's spirit of gotong royong (co-operation).Visitors will also get a blast from the past, in the form of a pop-up museum showcasing gongs, fishing boats, weaponry used by Malay nobles and traditional Malay games.- Ever-popular Geylang Serai Bazaar to return 25 May to 24 June 2017In conjunction with Hari Raya Light Up 2017, the annual crowd-pleaser, Geylang Serai Bazaar, will return from 25 May to 24 June 2017. Spanning the areas around Geylang Serai market, Joo Chiat Complex and along Haig Road, stalls will offer exciting snacks such as candyfloss burritos, poke bowls and rainbow planet ice-cream buns. Malay patrons preparing for Hari Raya Puasa can also find a wide variety of traditional costumes and decorations at the Geylang Serai Bazaar.- Breaking fast with new citizensAnother highlight of the festivities is a mass break fast session on 17 June. For the first time, new citizens will be invited to break fast alongside the locals to better understand the meaning behind Hari Raya.- Rich line-up of community eventsTo further enliven Geylang Serai during Hari Raya Puasa, cultural performances will be held near Kampong Kembangan Community Club every weekend between 20 May and 7 July 2017. Popular acts that will perform include Ramili Sarip - Singapore's very own "Papa Rock" - and other cultural groups well-versed in the kompang (traditional Malay percussion instrument) and Malay dance.Movie buffs can also look forward to free screenings of popular Malay films by P. Ramlee, such as Laksmana Do Re Mi, Seniman Bujang Lapok, Pendekar Bujang Lapok and Ali Baba Bujang Lapok.Additionally, a Cultural Heritage Race on 3 June 2017 will bring Malay traditions closer to participants, as they race around Geylang Serai to discover more about Hari Raya celebrations. The event is open to new citizens, locals and tourists keen to experience another aspect of multi-racial Singapore.For more information about Hari Raya Light Up and its fringe activities, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/HariRayaLightUpSingapore2017/ Artist impressions of various displays are available here. http://bit.ly/2rl5eJu Please credit them to "Hari Raya Light Up 2017".For media queries, please contact:Charlene HoNinemer Public Relations P L+65 6534 9909charleneho@ ninemer.com Nur Atiqah M. HattaNinemer Public Relations P L+65 6534 9909atiqah@ ninemer.com Topic: Press release summarySectors: Trade Shows, Travel & TourismFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright 2017 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 13:57:01 DIFCs strong ties with India showcased at special event Indian firms continue to be attracted to DIFCs robust regulatory & legal infrastructure Indian Firms Look to Dubai International Financial Centre for Growth Dubai International Financial Centre Authority Hajar Al Ketbi, +971 4 362 2440 Vice President - Corporate Communications & Public Relations Hajar.AlKetbi@difc.ae or APCO Worldwide Magdalena Stepien, +971 56 114 2948 Director mstepien@apcoworldwide.com Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia is attracting a number of Indian financial services related firms, making it the destination of choice for them to access the region. This was reaffirmed during a special event on Wednesday 17 May where DIFC hosted a number of top-tier consultancy firms from India, aimed at further reinforcing the financial centres strong ties with the country. DIFCs links to India are already strong. From hosting just one financial institution in 2007, DIFC is now home to many Indian firms. DIFCs 2024 strategy aims for even further growth, and has ambitious plans to attract more Indian banks, financial institutions and firms operating out of the centre. A number of recent developments are evidence of DIFCs strengthening position in terms of Indian business and finance. UTI International, Indias largest asset manager, has just set up its latest fund in DIFC. Praveen Jagwani, CEO of UTI International said, We found that DIFC offers a comprehensive ecosystem required for a thriving asset management business a world class regulator and a plethora of administrators, law firms, accounting firms and availability of talent. Current pricing incentives are designed to attract more Indian and other asset managers to Dubai, the largest fund regime in the region. Recent changes to domestic regulations in India, and the India-Mauritius tax treaty, mean that Indian asset managers are seeking alternative fund jurisdictions. DIFCs vibrant ecosystem, coupled with its efforts to improve ease of business and an enabling Qualified Investor Funds regime, has seen significant interest from Indian asset managers. Recently, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank upgraded their representative office status in DIFC to Category 1 License, with HDFC Life and Axis Bank, the third largest of the private-sector banks in India, also strengthening their operations in the centre. DIFC is also home to leading Indian banks, financial institutions and fund managers including ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India, IIFL Private Wealth Management, L & T Capital Markets Limited and Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Limited. DIFC has also recently signed two separate MoUs - with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), Indias first financial services centre, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Developmental Authority (MMRDA), an urban town planning and development authority established by the Maharashtra state government. Both MoUs provide for the sharing of knowledge and international best practice. These developments come against a backdrop of strengthened ties and co-operation between the two countries, with 14 wide-ranging, bilateral agreements signed in January this year. Salmaan Jaffery, Chief Business Development Officer at DIFC Authority, said: We are living in an era where UAE-India ties are accelerating. With 2.6 million Indian expats living in the UAE, 26,000 Indian firms and over 40,000 UAE-based firms owned by non-resident Indians, the bond between the UAE and India is already strong. Indian institutions make up the third largest community of financial firms in DIFC, behind the US and UK, and DIFC is the ideal platform for Indian businesses and institutions as it offers political and financial stability, an investor-friendly setting, strong regulation and an English common law base. DIFC is an important link for India in the South-South corridor, connecting the subcontinent to Africa and Central Asia. There is a huge opportunity for Indian firms looking to conduct business in DIFC. In the last year, high-level delegations from DIFC have made visits to India as well as China, Europe, the UK, India, Africa, the United States of America and countries in the Middle East, with participation in well over 100 different events driving knowledge sharing and demonstrating thought leadership across the globe. *Source: ME NewsWire View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705180056 PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 16:13:01 International SOS Foundation Announces the Singapore World Summit on Work Related Travel Safety, Health and Security and its Resulting Declaration International SOS Group Head of PR: Suzanne Withers t +44 (0)20 8762 8494 / m +44 (0)7825 425 500, suzanne.withers@internationalsos.com The International SOS Foundation, supported by the Ministry of Manpower Singapore, is calling on safety & health leaders and business leaders worldwide to attend the Singapore World Summit and sign a declaration in support of the principles of prevention with regards to work-related travel safety, health and security. Official signing of the declaration will take place at the Summit meeting at the opening of the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Singapore on 3 September 2017. Laurent Fourier, International SOS Foundation, comments, The prevention of work-related travel safety, health and security incidents has become a vital element of occupational safety and health. Organisations are faced with an increasingly challenging and complex world of domestic and international pressures, rapid growth of the mobile workforce1 and increased regulations. We know that organisations want to make a difference in the lives of their mobile workforce and make a commitment to Duty of Care and we are now calling on business leaders to declare this interest to encourage all organisations worldwide to do the same. Prevention is crucial, but when prevention is not possible, preparedness and speed are often a key factor in protecting the workforce. The Singapore Declaration will also call on leaders to recognise the necessity of the ability to respond rapidly and effectively to incidents involving mobile workers. International SOS Foundation is seeking participation from leaders of government ministries and agencies, intergovernmental organisations, social security organisations, employers and workers organisations, business leaders and those involved in travel, health and security for organisations of all sizes, NGOs, safety and health organisations and institutions, senior occupational health and safety practitioners as well as institutions of higher learning and others. Delegates registered to the Summit, prior to 15 August 2017, will also have the opportunity to see and provide comments on the initial draft of the Declaration, return it to the secretariat and after legal review have the opportunity to see the final draft of the Declaration before the Summit and the signing ceremony. For further information and to register for the Summit, click here and for more information on the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work click here. ENDS 1 Price Waterhouse Cooper's "Talent Mobility 2020" Publication View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705180057 PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 14:30:38 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 396 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Kapuskasing Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:KAP). has issued a press release with the following headline:Kapuskasing to Acquire Historic Producing Daniels Harbour Mississippi Valley Type Zinc Property in NewfoundlandTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Kapuskasing Gold Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Kapuskasing Gold Corp.Source: Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: KAP)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 8:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Kapuskasing Gold Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 22:38:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 393 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for McLaren Resources Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - McLaren Resources Inc. (CSE:MCL). has issued a press release with the following headline:McLaren Announces the Appointment of Dr. Andrew J. Ramcharan as DirectorTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on McLaren Resources Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/McLaren Resources Inc.Source: McLaren Resources Inc. (CSE: MCL, WKN: A0M1KN, ISIN: CA5817631099)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 4:38 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of McLaren Resources Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 08:33:01 First-Ever Study on 2.0 mm DES, EuroPCR Late-Breaking Data Show Exceptional Deliverability and No Stent Thrombosis for the Resolute Onyx DES DUBLIN and PARIS- May 18, 2017 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today announced that the Resolute Onyx(TM) Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) met its primary endpoint of Target Lesion Failure (TLF) at one year for the treatment of coronary artery disease in extra-small vessels. Results from the RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study were presented today as a Hot Line/Late-Breaking Trial Session at the 2017 EuroPCR Annual Meeting and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Cardiovascular Intervention. It is estimated that approximately 65 percent of extra-small vessels are located in critical locations of the heart, making them significant lesions to treat.1 Designed specifically for extra-small vessels, Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm DES yielded excellent clinical outcomes in the study compared to a pre-specified performance goal with patients experiencing significantly low rates of TLF at one year (5.0 percent, p<=0.001). The study enrolled 101 patients with extra-small vessel sizes (2.0 mm - 2.25 mm) who received the Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm diameter DES across 20 sites in the United States and Japan. "Treating coronary disease in extremely small arteries presents a real clinical challenge, as these lesions tend to be located in difficult-to-reach areas of the heart, have greater restenosis rates, and until now, we lacked the right stents to treat them safely and successfully," said Matthew J. Price, M.D., interventional cardiologist at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. and principal investigator of the RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study who presented the one-year data at EuroPCR. "The excellent clinical performance we observed demonstrates the importance of designing stents like the Resolute Onyx DES that address a relevant unmet need. Thinner struts with enhanced radiopacity and a lower crossing profile provide excellent deliverability, and the stent can be over-expanded to treat tapered, challenging lesions." In the study, the events included in the TLF primary endpoint were low at one-year, as defined by low target-vessel MI (3 percent), low target lesion revascularization (2 percent) and no cardiac death. Additionally, Resolute Onyx DES showed no stent thrombosis. The Resolute Onyx DES is the first and only DES to feature Core Wire Technology, an evolution of Continuous Sinusoid Technology (CST). CST is a unique Medtronic method of stent manufacturing, which involves forming a single strand of cobalt alloy wire into a sinusoidal wave to construct a stent. This enables greater deliverability and conformability to the vessel wall. With Core Wire Technology, a radiopaque inner core is incorporated within the cobalt alloy wire to enhance visibility for accurate stent placement. Core Wire Technology also enables thinner struts while maintaining structural strength. "The RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study builds on the positive body of evidence supporting the clinical performance of the Resolute Onyx stent," said Jason Weidman, vice president and general manager of the Coronary and Renal Denervation business, which is part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. "These initial results reinforce the unique design of the Resolute Onyx, providing physicians and patients around the globe with the gold standard in drug-eluting stents." The Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm diameter DES are for investigational use only in the United States. The Resolute Onyx DES received approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2017 and is now available for use in the United States for a broad range of sizes from 2.25 mm - 5.0 mm. It is also approved for use in Europe and other countries that recognize the CE (Conformite Europeene) Mark. In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world. About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 88,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. -end- 1 Schunkert et al. JACC July 1999 This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Medtronic plc via Globenewswire PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 09:32:01 The project driven by mVenturesBcn, the programme promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona to create and support new digital projects and businesses, and NUMA helps startups build their growth machines and fine-tune their execution to be ready to raise venture capital. All startups in the first edition have been funded and achieved substantial growth in their core business metrics. Ali Partovi, investor and advisor of Facebook, Uber, Airbnb or Dropbox, Amit Shafrir, former Badoo president and Gary Shainberg, former vice president of technology and innovation at British Telecom, are mentors of the program NUMA Barcelona is Looking for New Startups after the Success of the First Edition of Its Growth Program NUMA Barcelona Jordi Collell, +34 651 19 44 39 jordi.c@numa.co NUMA Barcelona, Europes first growth program driven by a joint-initiative of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona and French accelerator network NUMA, has opened the call for applications to the second edition of its growth program. Ten international tech start-ups with ambitious visions and demonstrated market validation will be selected to join the program in Barcelona, which will start in November 2017 and end in February 2018 at 4YFN. Like the first season, the program will focus on growth and execution. The team will work with startups to validate their execution plan, build their growth machine and prepare them to raise venture capital from local or international funds. Selected startups will receive 30.000 when joining the program and access to a follow fund supporting their growth during or after the program. The programs first edition has proven particular successful, with all business managing to raise funding and grow their core business metrics. Startups from the previous edition were selected amongst 900 applications from 46 countries and included companies such as Vitcord, a collaborative video application which since closed a 750k, or Trybe, a British peer-to-peer marketplace for indie chefs looking to grow their consumer base from their home kitchens. Active mentors of the program include Ali Partovi, investor and advisor of Facebook, Uber, Airbnb or Dropbox, Gary Shainberg, former vice president of technology and innovation for British Telecom or Amit Shafrir, former president of Badoo and AOL Premium Services, among others. Applications are open on NUMA Barcelonas website until July 9th. Interviews with start-ups will run throughout the summer. Final results will be communicated to the participating startups on September 26th. About NUMA NUMA is a global innovation network bringing growth and human capital to start-ups. NUMA has accelerated start-ups in seven different countries (France, USA, Germany, Russia, India, Morocco and Mexico), and plans to deploy its model in 15 countries by 2019. About mVenturesBcn & Mobile World Capital mVenturesBcn, a programme of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, is a key player in entrepreneurship and innovation. Mobile World Capital Barcelona, an initiative driving the mobile and digital transformation of society to help improve peoples lives globally, hosts the Mobile World Congress and delivers 4 Years From Now [4YFN], a business platform for the start-up community. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705180050 PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 23:05:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 392 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Organto Foods Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, B.C. (FSCWire) - Organto Foods Inc. (TSX Venture:OGO). has issued a press release with the following headline:Organto Issues Settlement Shares to SuperRebel.com and Extinguishes DebtTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Organto Foods Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Organto Foods Inc.Source: Organto Foods Inc. (TSX Venture: OGO, OTC Pink: OGOFF)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 5:05 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Organto Foods Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 10:02:01 Online printer offers even faster delivery for all products throughout France print24.com introduces its new Fast Delivery Service in France unitedprint.com SE Maria Lehmann 0049 (0)351 / 27225388 presse@unitedprint.com The online print shop UNITEDPRINT SE and its well-known brand print24.com is implementing its new standard and express delivery with even faster delivery times for its entire product portfolio throughout France! All products are now available with the new Fast Delivery Service, including Top sellers such as Posters, Flyers, Brochures and Business cards! The online printer promises one day faster delivery when ordering with standard or express delivery. print24.com matches the delivery times in France to the ones in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The customers will receive many Top sellers such as Flyers, Business cards and Postcards within four days when using standard shipping, within three days for express shipping and even within just one day when using priority shipping! We are very proud of being able to reduce the delivery times for all of our products without cutting down on quality or increasing prices, explains Ali Jason Bazooband, Managing Director for Innovation/Marketing of print24.com, Having said that, our Fast Delivery Service is available for all our customers throughout France! The new service is valid indefinitely for the entire range of products from print24.com without any surcharge or extra costs. print24.com is a UNITEDPRINT SE brand, a global and innovation-oriented e-commerce company for print and media. As one of Europes leading online print shops, UNITEDPRINT SE employs a staff of around 700 people and operates the renowned brands print24, Easyprint, Unitedprint, getprint, printwhat, FIRSTPRINT, DDK PRINT BIG, infowerk, and Unitedprint Shop Services (USS) in 26 locations worldwide (in Germany, 21 other European countries, and in Brazil, China, Canada, and the US). In addition to the standard print products, Unitedprint provides its customers with high-quality products and services ranging from textile printing, photo printing, large-format printing, advertising material, advertising equipment and the hospitality/gastronomy sectors. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705180050 PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 14:52:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 401 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Quantum International Income Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - Quantum International Income Corp. (TSX Venture:QIC). has issued a press release with the following headline:Quantum International Income Corp. Completes Acquisitions in the Georgia Gaming MarketTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Quantum International Income Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Quantum International Income Corp.Source: Quantum International Income Corp. (TSX Venture: QIC, TSX Venture: QIC.U, ISIN: CA74766M1005)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 8:52 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Quantum International Income Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 22:15:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 392 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for QuikFlo Health Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - QuikFlo Health Inc. (TSX Venture:QF). has issued a press release with the following headline:QuikFlo Announces Third Closing of Private PlacementTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on QuikFlo Health Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/QuikFlo Health Inc.Source: QuikFlo Health Inc. (TSX Venture: QF, FWB: 1QF, ISIN: CA74840V1004, WKN: A2ABE2)Date: May 18, 2017Time: 4:15 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of QuikFlo Health Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Corundum Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Corundum Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 08:25:51 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 594 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Corundum is a class of minerals, best known for the gem varieties such as ruby and sapphire, which are essentially the same mineral albeit of different colors. Corundum is a hard and highly stable mineral. It is the hardest mineral after diamond, making it the worlds second hardest mineral for all practical purpose. Chemically Corundum is nothing but aluminum oxide and it can be easily synthesized industrially. Synthetic corundum can be manufactured by adding small quantities of color producing elements to the solution of Corundum, which is then left to solidify in a predetermined shape. The process of synthetic production of Corundum is known as Verneuil Process. Corundum minerals are available in different colors. The most common varieties of Corundum are Emery (Black), Padparadschah (Pink and orange variety of Sapphire), Ruby (Pink or red), Green Sapphire, Blue Sapprihe, Star Ruby, and Star Sapphire among some others.The main application of Corundum is as precious stones. The gemstones that fall under Corundum minerals are perhaps the most sought after precious stones after diamond. Apart from the highly popular Red Rubies and Blue Sapphires, rare gemstones such as Padparadschah have witnessed an increasing demand in the jewellery market owing to its uncommon color. Non gem Corundum such as black Emery finds use as abrasive owing to its natural hardness. Brown Corundum is used as deburring agent due to its ability to smoothen ragged edges. It is also used for sand blasting, grinding and plunge cutting. White Corundum are less hard and more angular compared to its brown counterpart. However it exhibits faster rate of work and produce less heat upon friction. It is often used to polish glass. White Corundum also finds applications in vitrified grinding wheels, as sharpening agent for cutting tools, and precision milling equipments among other similar applications. The market for synthetically produced Corundum is driven by these industrial abrasion applications. The gemstone market is however driven by natural Corundum which are mined and processed.Although the gem and jewellery market accounts for a constant demand for Corundum minerals, price fluctuation of the jewellery grade Corundum is a major restraining factor for the market. Moreover the political turmoil in certain African countries such as Madagascar and the ban on the export of precious gems in Myanmar contribute towards the gap in demand supply chain.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-321 North America is one of the largest markets for Corundum, and there is a huge demand for artificial Corundum in the region due to the lack of natural occurrence. Europe also accounts for a considerable demand for the mineral. The demand is especially high from the manufacturing economies in the region such as Germany, Turkey and the U.K. In the Asia Pacific China is a major producer and consumer of artificial Corundum. Other than China countries such as India, Thailand, Korea and Japan are the major manufacturers of Corundum.Natural Corundum is mined from several countries such as Myanmar, India, Thailand, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. In the recent years some of the African countries have turned out to be significant producers of Corundum. Madagascar is especially rich in this mineral. Apart from Madagascar they are found in abundance in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. Emery is also found in North American countries including the U.S. and Canada.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-321 Some of the players in the Corundum market are K.A. Refractories Co. Ltd., Swarovski Gemstones, Alteo Alumina, Henge Group and Riken corundum Co. Ltd. among many others. Smart Pulse Oximeters Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 07:39:23 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 572 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Smart pulse oximeter is one of the fastest growing product type in the vital sign monitoring devices segment. Smart pulse oximeter is a non-invasive medical device used to measure the oxygen saturation level and heart rate in human. Smart pulse oximeter is a clip like device also known as a probe and is placed on body parts such as fingertip or ear lobe to measure the heart rate and oxygen level. It uses infrared light to measure the oxygen level and heart rate. The measurement of oxygen level and heart rate are very important while performing surgeries and injecting the anaesthesia, because the changes in the oxygen level in such a conditions may cause life threatening effects. Smart pulse oximeter also used to check the human health with a conditions such as heart attack, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anaemia, lung cancer and asthma. However, the readings of smart pulse oximeter may not accurate in peripheral vascular diseases. Smart pulse oximeters products market is segmented into handheld pulse oximeters, finger pulse oximeters, paediatric pulse oximeters and wrist pulse oximeters.. Hand held smart pulse oximeters are useful for pilots to check the oxygen level when they are operating at above 10,000 feet. These devices are also useful to the mountaineers and athletes to check the oxygen level. Paediatric pulse oximeters mainly used in the hospitals and these devices are separately designed to measure the oxygen saturation level and heart rate in the infants.Smart pulse oximeter market has been segmented on the basis of product type, and end userSmart Pulse Oximeter Market, by Product TypeFinger Pulse OximeterHandheld Pulse OximeterPaediatric Pulse OximeterWrist Pulse OximeterRequest For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1665 Smart Pulse Oximeter Market, by End UserHospitalAmbulatory surgical centresHome Care SettingThe use of pulse oximeter in the home care settings has expanded over the last few years and is expected to register a healthy growth rate during the forecast periodOver the past few years, leading players in the vital sign monitoring devices segment are manufacturing devices with new technology such as Bluetooth which displays the readings in the smartphone. Moreover, the availability of cost effective smart pulse oximeters are the factors driving growth of overall smart pulse oximeter market., World Health Organization (WHO) started safety pulse oximetry project to improve the health in middle-income countries also expected to boost the smart pulse oximeter market. Increasing incidence rates of trauma conditions and increasing prevalence of heart related diseases are also expected to drive the smart pulse oximeter market. However, availability of high end devices to measure the heart rate is expected to hamper the overall market.Depending on geographic region, Smart Pulse Oximeter Market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is estimated to contribute maximum revenue share in the global market of smart pulse oximeter followed by Europe. Asia Pacific regions are expected to grow at a higher growth rate owing to high occurrence of chronic disease. Middle East & Africa is expected to show a healthy growth rate during forecast period.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1665 Smart Pulse Oximeters Market: Key PlayersKey players of smart pulse oximeter market are Nonin Medical Inc, Shenzhen Creative Industry Co.,Ltd , iHealth Labs Inc. Indiegogo, Inc., Technocare Medisystems, Contec Medical Systems Co.,Ltd ., and Masimo PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 08:32:01 Virtus Partners Authorized by the Irish Central Bank as a Fund Administrator Virtus Partners LLC Dermot Caden Senior Director EU services Dermot.caden@virtusllc.com Virtus Partners LLC, a leading financial services company in the alternative asset administration space, is pleased to announce that on the 7th of April its Irish affiliate, Virtus Partners Fund Services Ireland Ltd, became authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland to provide fund administration services. Dermot Caden, Head of European Fund Services commented that: This exciting development will allow Virtus Partners to service its existing and new clients in the regulated fund space. Ireland has long been a key domicile for alternative asset managers and with Virtus having decided to make Dublin an operations hub for its broader European operations, becoming a regulated fund administrator in this jurisdiction was a next logical next step. Virtus Partners launched its Dublin Office in July 2016 and has quickly expanded servicing of European and global asset managers. Ireland is one of two key fund structuring destinations for both EU and non-EU managers; thus, it was a strategic imperative for the firm to acquire a regulatory license there. Virtus expects to continue to build out its operation in Ireland, capitalizing on secular shifts in capital markets as well as asset management operating models. Pradeep Rao, Managing Director (Europe) commented that: Virtus traditional middle office business has grown significantly in recent years as substantial capital has been raised in the European credit space. In keeping with that theme, we see opportunities to grow our fund administration business by offering a broader solution set to Virtus clients and market- both in Europe and North America. About Virtus Partners Holdings, LLC With over than $350 Billion of Assets under Administration (AUA), Virtus is a technology and services company specializing in providing tailored solutions to credit and fixed income managers. Virtus clients are served by more than 300 employees globally located in Houston, Austin, New York, Nanjing, London and Dublin. For more information please visit: www.virtusllc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705170062 Virtus Partners authorized by the Irish Central Bank as a fund administrator PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 22:37:01 Topeka, Kan., May 18, 2017 - The Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WR) Board of Directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share payable July 3, 2017, on the company's common stock. The dividends are payable to shareholders of record as of June 9, 2017. - 30 - As Kansas' largest electric utility, Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WR) provides customers the safe, reliable electricity needed to power their businesses and homes. We have 7,800 MW of electric generation capacity that includes renewables and traditional power sources with half the electricity supplied to our more than 700,000 customers from emissions free sources: nuclear, wind and solar, with a third coming from renewables. We are a leader in electric transmission in Kansas coordinating a network of lines and substations that supports one of the largest consolidations of wind energy in the nation. Our employees live, volunteer and work in the communities we serve. For more information about Westar Energy, visit us on the Internet at http://www.WestarEnergy.com . Media Contact: Gina Penzig Media Relations Manager Phone: 785-575-8089 Gina.Penzig@westarenergy.com Media line: 888-613-0003 Investor Contact: Cody VandeVelde Director, Investor Relations Phone: 785-575-8227 Cody.VandVelde@westarenergy.com This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Westar Energy, Inc. via Globenewswire PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-18 10:31:03 Wolters Kluwer Hires Global Head of Strategy, Product and Platform Management for Finance, Risk & Reporting Business Wolters Kluwer Paul Lyon, +44 20 3197 6586 Mobile: +44 77 6539 1824 Director of International Corporate Communications Governance, Risk & Compliance Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com Wolters Kluwers Finance, Risk & Reporting business has hired Rajat Somany as Global Head of Strategy, Product and Platform Management a newly created role. Somany will have global responsibility for all aspects of strategy, product management and platform profitability, based in London. He has more than 25 years of strategy, technology and operational management experience in the global financial services sector. For the past 12 years he held a variety of senior management roles as a Managing Director at Citigroup, with international assignments spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific and the U.S. In his new role Somany reports directly to Clive Pedder, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Wolters Kluwers Finance, Risk & Reporting business. With this senior hire we are further strengthening our overall product strategy and go-to-market capabilities, Pedder notes. Rajat has significant senior experience in the banking world that will allow us to further cement our position as the leading provider of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. Im delighted to welcome him to the firm. Regulators are demanding greater integration across business processes at banks and faster reactions to changing regulation, Somany says. Siloed approaches are, as a result, a thing of the past, and this is where Wolters Kluwer can help banks adapt. The firm has long proven itself to be a trusted provider of best-in-class regulatory reporting, risk and finance solutions for financial institutions globally, adopting agile and innovative approaches as content-led technology experts. Its an exciting time to join the firm and I look forward to working with my new colleagues to provide new and existing clients with access to market leading solutions. At the end of last year Chartis Research named the company [..]. Notably, this is the sixth year running that Wolters Kluwer has achieved this honor, with 2016 also seeing the firm win a plethora of other accolades for its dominant position in regulatory reporting (from the likes of FinTech Finance and Data Management Review). Wolters Kluwers OneSumX was also named Best Risk Management System by Banking Technology magazine at the end of 2016. In the past few months leading banks from every corner of the world have implemented the companys OneSumX solution for Regulatory Reporting, Risk and Finance (including IFRS 9 solutions). Major financial services providers to have recently announced their use of Wolters Kluwer include Nordea, BBVA, CIBC, Australias Queensland Treasury Corporation and The Swedish Export Credit Corporation. About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer which provides legal, finance, risk and compliance professionals and small business owners with a broad spectrum of solutions, services and expertise needed to help manage myriad governance, risk and compliance needs in dynamic markets and regulatory environments. Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705180050 For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. New this summer: travel packages to discover Yucatan cultural heritage. Contact Alejandra Kauachi info@mexicolindocooking.com +52 998 802 4388 Alejandra Kauachi+52 998 802 4388 End -- Everyday is resort time along the Riviera Maya.The Mexico Lindo Cooking School is a unique experience presenting traditional cuisine at a cozy Cancun casita that offers a variety of private intimate classes -- whether an all day immersive gourmet experience, a 3-course afternoon class, or a program dedicated to artisan tortilla and salsas.New this summer: travel packages to discover Yucatan cultural heritage and regional cuisine including Mayan influences, as well as Caribbean and European varietals. The Caribbean region boasts a tropical abundance of coconut, pineapple, tamarind and mamey -- all configure prominently in Yucatan menus.The new travel packages include a variety of options:Our standard 5 days/ 4 nights package includes a welcome dinner and breakfast at our casita + a day trip to Valladolid to see the sights and explore cultural heritage of the Yucatan Peninsula. Discover sustainable cenotes and colonial era architecture, notably the Convent of San Bernardino de Siena.Our 7 day/ 6 night package includes the same plus the option of a fishing day at Puerto Morelos beach or Sailing to Isla Mujeres.Our 9 day/ 8 night premium package includes the same plus a Merida tour. As state and regional capital, Merida is a vibrant cultural center featuring museums, galleries, theatres and restaurants.Please inquire other details, pricing, availability and reservations at the school: info@mexicolindocooking.comTripadvisor ratings ensures Mexico Lindo Cooking is culinary destination. Enjoy the best of Mexican cuisine by expert chefs in a sunny intimate atmosphere. Our CEO and Star Chef, Alejandra Kauachi recently participated in the Taco Competition at the prestigious annual Cancun Wine and Food Festival. Internationally trained and accredited, and also available for other onsite programs and looking forward to stateside collaborations.Mexico Lindo Cooking is a complete experience: a traditional kitchen sharing the best of Mexican heritage and culture. Come to the fiesta side of Riviera Maya to experience tradition + keepsake memories. Also a pleasure to present another fun armchair tour of our kitchen produced by EverythingPlayaDelCarmen.comCome to Cancun for the sunshine, stay awhile for your own magical fiesta! End -- Texila American University has entered an academic partnership with Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Under the partnership, PHSU will provide its accredited medical school curriculum to support TAU's program."The collaboration between Texila American University and PHSU represents a ground breaking development in the delivery of medical education," says Dr. David Lenihan, CEO of Ponce Health Sciences University. "The aim of the partnership is to enhance the training of Texila's students so they can better serve their local communities once they graduate. If they wish to practice medicine in the United States, our curriculum will adequately prepare them with a pioneering education model that adheres to U.S. standards."Under the partnership with PHSU, Texila American University's students will be taught using the flipped classroom model, in which short video lectures are viewed at home prior to class sessions, while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. Texila's students will be following the same exclusive medical education curriculum that PHSU provides to its students.Founded in 1977, PHSU has graduated more than 1,000 healthcare and medical professionals. Along with its MD program, PHSU offers several other medical education programs, including PhD degrees in Biomedical Sciences and Clinical Psychology; a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology; a Master in Public Health (MPH); a Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS); and a Doctor of Public Health in Epidemiology (DrPH in Epidemiology). The university is also the home of Ponce Research Institute, an internationally recognized facility that performs research in the areas of cancer, child and adolescent anxiety disorders, infectious disease, virology, and immunology."We're extremely excited to bring Ponce Health Science University's medical education methodology to our students," says Mr.Saju Bhaksar, the Founder & President of Texila American University. "The union between our programs marks the first time that an American medical school is partnering with a medical school outside the United States to build capacity, enhance educational content and upgrade the quality of student learning through a unique teaching approach and an innovative curriculum."Texila American University (TAU) is an international medical school that provides world-class learning and student experience. It was established in the year 2010 in Guyana, South America. Currently students from more than 40 countries are pursuing their medical program in the most advanced new University campus.TAU creates physicians and healthcare professionals and prepares them for flourishing careers in their relevant fields worldwide. At TAU, we deliver what it takes to transform dedicated students into qualified and successful professionals. TAU provides the opportunity to pursue world-class medical programs with hands-on clinical training and advanced infrastructure.Visit http://www.tau.edu.gy for details Holidays needn't be all about the destination. How you travel can also be just as important, staying in very special accommodation. This is the creed of Corinthian Travel which promises the holiday of a lifetime in Arabia, India, and North Africa. By: Corinthian Travel The Taj Mahal (India Tourism) Contact Mick Thompson, Travel Dog PR ***@traveldogpr.co.uk Mick Thompson, Travel Dog PR End -- For some, travelling is all about the destination, and wherever you lay your head is irrelevant as long as the accommodation is clean. For others,you travel is equally important, with a holiday providing an opportunity to indulge in some serious creature comforts, staying in some of the world's finest hotels, and enjoying private, chauffeur-driven transport throughout.This is the philosophy of Corinthian Travel which also offers a choice of Sapphire and Diamond-level accommodation on most itineraries and, by using their in-depth destination knowledge and utilising local contacts, a standard visit to some of the many iconic sites that await in India, North Africa and the Middle East are transformed into a wonderful, cherished memory.In 1631, the heartbroken Moghul emperor Shah Jehan ordered the construction of a spectacular monument in memory of his beloved wife. This gleaming mausoleum of flawless symmetry is studded with precious stones and built from milk-white marble and rose sandstone. The Taj Mahal is acknowledged as one of the world's most remarkable and romantic monuments and viewing it by moonlight is a unique experience that is possible for five days a month (if the weather is clear). The moonlight visit can be arranged on the 10-day Indian Sojourn itinerary.Pasha Dahabiya Nile Cruise ( https://www.corinthiantravel.co.uk/ destination/ egypt-holi... For pure relaxation, there is nothing quite like the experience of sailing slowly up the River Nile like the Pashas of old in a traditional, twin-masted wooden dahabiya! Dahabiyas have between eight and ten cabins and offer a much more intimate and immersive style of cruise that will enable you to visit villages and smaller sites, where the standard large multi-deck Nile Cruises can't dock. If you are looking for a small and elegant boat on which to cruise the River Nile, and enjoy at a more leisurely pace, then the dahabiya cruises could well be for you.Classic Israel ( https://www.corinthiantravel.co.uk/ destination/ israel-hol... 'The Eternal City' of Jerusalem is a special place to visit at all times of the year but during Holy Week and Easter it truly comes into its own. Celebrating the greatest events of Jesus' life at the very sites where they occurred, is a moving and unforgettable experience. Easter is also a wonderful time to see other Christian denominations celebrate their rites. On Corinthian Travel's private tour 'Classic Israel' you can plan a visit to coincide with Easter in Jerusalem.All Corinthian Travel holidays are on a private basis, based on two people sharing, and include chauffeur driven transportation, accommodation, meals and activities as per the itinerary, entrance fees and guides. Flights extra (bookable through Corinthian Travel).Call Corinthian Travel on 020 3583 6089 (www.corinthiantravel.co.uk) Inaugural event receives praise for uniting business leaders and experts addressing global challenges By: One World Identity One World Identity Media Contact owi@n6a.com End -- Riding the success of this week's inaugural K(NO)W Identity Conference, One World Identity (https://oneworldidentity.com/)is announcing plans to bring the event back to Washington D.C. early next year. The conference wrapped yesterday, May 17at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Center with over 800 business leaders and experts in attendance. Kicking off with keynote speaker Edward Snowdenwhistleblower and former NSA contractor, the three-day event boasted a lineup of 150+ notable speakers including Jai Arun of IBM, David Birch of Consult Hyperion, Pascal Bouvier of Santander Innoventures, Carmi Gillon of Cytegic Cybersecurity and many more. Leading sponsors included BBVA, IBM, Trulioo and Trusona.The K(NO)W Identity Conference provided a forum for identity experts across all industries to be at the nexus of ideas and policies that will fundamentally change identity around the world. Attendees dove into critical topics such as biometrics, blockchain, identity access management, fraud prevention and identity verification."As new technologies appear and mature every day, IBM is committed to helping organizations explore how they can use them to innovate and transform business applications,"said Jai Arun, Program Director, Blockchain and Identity Solutions, IBM. "At the K(NO)W Identity Conference, we saw how some of the leading minds in the identity verification space are applying innovations such as blockchain for highly secure, trusted and consumer-friendly solutions that have the potential to shape how we manage and verify identity moving forward."The fully immersive event, featured the world's best event technology connecting attendees both digitally and physically. BBVA held the finals for the identity category of the Open Talent Competition at the conference, giving dozens of startups the opportunity to compete for funding and valuable mentorship from the global Spanish bank."Identity is a hot topic in financial services, and we see it as one of the keys of our own digital transformation,"said BBVA Head of Open Innovation Marisol Menendez. "K(NO)W Identity brings together an active and engaged audience that understands the power of identity. Combining that influential audience and the BBVA Open Talent Identity competition was an opportunity we could not pass up."The BBVA Open Talent Competition sought for innovative identity companies that would help BBVA achieve the goal of transforming the world of banking. Amongst ten startups, this year's winner was SnapSwap, a Luxembourg based startup offering fully automated remote customer onboarding for financial institutions. SnapSwap brought home 30,000 euros and an invite to the Open Talent Global Summit and Immersion Week held in October 2017 at the BBVA Group headquarters in Madrid. BBVA Open Talent has grown to offer more fintech startups around the world the chance to compete and win competitions focused in seven key areas."We are very grateful to the BBVA team for the invitation, and the chance to showcase our product and be on stage with all of the other great startups here," added Denis Kiselev, CEO of SnapSwap.On Tuesday, the K(NO)W Nodes Awards recognized and celebrated the most compelling startups, individuals, and identity innovations of the year.This year's winners included: Identity Leadership Timothy Ruff (Evernym) Identity Government Leadership Niall McCann (United Nations Development Program) Rising Innovator Robin Tombs (Yoti Ltd.) CEO of the Year - Emma Lindley (Innovate Identity) Investor of the Year - Liron Gitig (FTV Capital) Greatest Social Impact Through Identity - Onfido Greatest Social Impact Through Identity Non-Profit - OpenID Foundation Best New Startup - Civic Overall Startup - Confirm.io Trailblazer - ID.MeThe K(NO)W Identity Conference came on the heels of a global ransomware cyber-attack, discussed by Snowden in his keynote speech. The attack highlighted the need for increased immediacy in spurring innovation and enacting change within the space."We created the K(NO)W Identity Conference with the goal of creating dialog that we didn't see happening between the pioneers solving today's identity challenges " said Travis Jarae, Co-Founder and CEO of One World Identity. "We could not be more thrilled with the result of this year's event, and look forward to topping it next year."The premier global event for the identity industry, the K(NO)W Identity Conference brings together the innovators, regulators and policy-makers shaping the future ofidentity. From payments, biometrics and FinTech to access management and anti-fraud,the identity industry is at the core of conducting business in the internet era. The 2017K(NO)W Identity Conference was held May 15-17, 2017 at the Ronald Reagan Buildingand International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. featuring 150+ speakers, 300+companies and over 1,500 attendees.The hub for all things identity, One World Identity aims to foster communication, open standards and innovation among the companies and professionals of the identity industry.Visit us at www.oneworldidentity.com for the latest in identity news, events, opinion and research coverage. Axelrode Orthodontics is expanding its practice to add an office in Benicia this month. By: Axelrode Orthodontics Axelrode Orthodontics Contact Debbie Lamb, Consultant ***@debbielamb.com Debbie Lamb, Consultant End -- Axelrode Orthodontics announces the opening of an office location in Benicia, California beginning May, 2017. The orthodontic practice is expanding from its current 3 locations in Vallejo, Pinole and Moraga to include Benicia.The Benicia office will initially be open 1-2 days per week located at 1075 First Street, Suite 4. Previously the location was occupied by Dr. Redd's practice.In 2014, Eric and Mark Axelrode joined Dr. Freer in Vallejo before he retired in 2015. Dr. Charlene Rocha joined the practice in late 2015 where she shares the same treatment philosophies of Drs. Axelrode. Working as a team they provide high quality orthodontic care in a compassionate environment.Axelrode Orthodontics provides orthodontic services for children, teens and adults. Axelrode Orthodontics is an Elite provider of Invisalign treating both teenagers and adults. The mission of the office is to provide the highest quality service that exceeds patients' and parents' expectations. Axelrode Orthodontics offers the best technology, a dedicated and skilled staff, and a friendly office environment. At Axelrode Orthodontics, the goal is to create experiences worth smiling about.More information can be found at VallejoOrthodontist.com/Benicia. ( http://vallejoorthodontist.com/ Benicia By: East and Greenwell Insurance Agency East and Greenwell win Allstate Agency Achievement Award for State of Florida Contact East and Greenwell Insurance Agency ***@allstate.com East and Greenwell Insurance Agency End -- Gregory Brock, Allstate Insurance Corporation's field sales manager in St. Petersburg, Florida visited East and Greenwell Insurance Agency last week to award Jeff East and Kevin Greenwell Allstate's "Agency Achievement Award, First Place" for the state of Florida. The award was based on 2016 business results and achieving top rankings for customer satisfaction and retention. je"We had already received the 'Agency Achievement Award' as the top Allstate agency in the Southwest Territory, one of three in the state of Floridabut being named the top Allstate agency from among all their agencies in Florida was an even greater honor," said Jeff East, agency principal. "It's all about how well our people serve the individual insurance needs of every client, every day. We're enormously proud and appreciative of every employee who made this achievement possible."East and Greenwell Insurance Agency was formed by Jeff East and Kevin Greenwell in 2012 to offer personalized insurance services to area residents. Offices are located next to Miromar Outlets at 20321 Grande Oak Shoppes Blvd., Suite 308, in Estero, FL 33928 and across from Mercato at 841 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, in Naples, FL 34108. For more information, call 239.434.7877 (Estero) or 239.672.4304 (Naples) or visit www.EastandGreenwell.com The Allstate Corporation is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through its Allstate, Encompass, Esurance and Answer Financial brand names and Allstate Financial business segment. Allstate is widely known through the slogan, "You're In Good Hands With Allstate."The Allstate brand's network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services in the United States and Canada. Hella Polska, a lighting and electronic systems provider for the motor industry, will open its 560 sq m office in the Catalina Office Center in Warsaw. Knight Frank acted on behalf of Catalina Investment, the property owner. Experts from JLL advised the tenant in the leasing process. The company will [] Everytown for Gun Safety, a three-year-old organization with three million supporters that advocates against gun violence, is launching a group for those in the book world called the Everytown Authors Council. The Council will include over 130 writers, illustrators, editors, agents, and others in the publishing industry who, Everytown hopes, can amplify the gun violence prevention movement through their words and through art. The Authors Councils first official action will take place next week, when its members have been urged to use the hashtag #WearOrange on their social media platforms to encourage people to do just that on June 2, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Fans of the Authors Council members who pledge to wear orange on that day will be entered into drawings for autographed books. Taylor Maxwell, press secretary for Everytown, said that the Authors Council emerged organically after Everytowns second #WearOrange Day, first held on June 2, 2015. (The date is tied to the 18th birthday of Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teenager killed by a random shooter less than two weeks after participating in President Obamas 2013 inauguration festivities.) Approximately 50 authors participated in #WearOrange day on June 2, 2016, including Jodi Picoult, Caroline Leavitt, Julianna Baggott, Gayle Forman, Sarah McCoy, and Julie Klam. These authors subsequently requested to form a group similar to Everytowns Creative Council, which is comprised of actors and others in the television/film industry and has been spearheaded by Julianne Moore since its launch two years ago. Maxwell said the Authors Council was created with the goal of "engaging the literary community" against gun violence. Authors are singularly suited to speak out on the need for common-sense gun laws, and to tell the stories of those who have been devastated by gun violence in this country, explained Picoult, whose 2007 novel, Nineteen Minutes, explores the aftermath of a school shooting in a small town. Our job as writers is to get people to engage and to start talkingand this is a conversation we as a nation badly need to have. Picoult is judging an essay contest on gun violence and its prevention that is sponsored by Everytown. The winning entry, which will be published in Teen Vogue, will be announced on June 2 as part of the #WearOrange campaign. Mexican broadcaster Televisa Networks has gone with Snell Advanced Medias ICE Channel-in-a-Box solution to add 37 channels of programming to its line-up. The platform will be implemented along with Morpheus automation, a Sirius 850 router, SAMs Rollmap infrastructure management system and IQ Modular infrastructure.Televisa distributes the content it produces through several broadcast channels, including 26 pay-tv brands in Latin America, Europe and the United States, as well as television networks, cable operators and over-the-top services in more than 50 countries.Our purchase of SAMs ICE, Morpheus, Sirius 800, Rollmap and IQ Modular infrastructure for the new playout facility is another example of how we continue to rely on SAMs rich knowledge in broadcast, said Eduardo Jimenez Machorro, director general de Operaciones y Servicios de Produccion at Televisa Networks.For this project, SAM orchestrated a system that brings an unmatched level of productivity to our workflow. With the system, which went live in late 2016, we can broadcast via multiple platforms and deliver multiple channels from a single system. Our automation will be much more tightly coupled with things like subtitling and integrated graphics, loudness control for all channels and our live captioning will be simplified. Well now also have a more efficient means of storage because ICE simultaneously plays the same file from a single shared storage unit which enables content to be shared between channels instantly and immediately available when required.ICE Channel-in-a-Box solution has an extensive toolset to manage playout operations, including single channel, multichannel, multi-region and multi-platform environments.Were delighted that Televisa is taking advantage of our ICE solution because its really going to simplify playout for them, said Rafael Castillo, vice president LATAM at SAM. ICE integrates more features than other CiaB systems on the market and helps to cut some of the hefty costs associated with broadcasting like infrastructure, power, rack space, heating and cooling. Undoubtedly, ICE will enable Televisa to run their operations more suitably and with less overall costs. GYUMRI, Armenia -- A Russian soldier convicted of murdering an Armenian family of seven in Gyumri in 2015 has been sent to Russia to serve out his life sentence, the Armenian Justice Ministry says. The ministry on May 18 said the move regarding Valery Permyakov, 21, was made in consultation with corresponding Russian authorities. Permyakov has admitted to gunning down a middle-aged couple, their daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and 2-year-old granddaughter in their home on January 12, 2015. The Avetisian family's seventh member, a 6-month-old baby boy, was stabbed and died a week later. He was arrested after fleeing to the Armenian-Turkish border hours after the killings. A Russian military court sentenced Permyakov to 10 years in prison for desertion and theft of firearms and ammunition in a short trial held in August 2015. His Armenian-jurisdiction murder trial began shortly afterwards. After he pleaded guilty, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment in August 2016. Armenia's Court of Appeals upheld the guilty verdict in December. Permyakov waived his right to make a final statement or explain his motives during the proceedings. Since his arrest, Permyakov has been held at the Gyumri headquarters of a Russian military contingent. The Armenian Ministry of Justice said earlier this month that Permyakov might be transferred to Russia "since both Armenian and Russian courts have handed down verdicts regarding him." Initially, officials in Moscow said Permyakov could only be tried by a Russian court because Russia's constitution prohibits the extradition of its nationals to foreign states. That caused outrage among many Armenians fearing a Russian cover-up of the massacre. Thousands demonstrated in Gyumri in January 2015 against the Russian military presence to demand Permyakov's handover to the Armenian authorities. Some protesters clashed with riot police outside the local Russian consulate before the Russians eventually agreed to place the case under Armenian jurisdiction. The Canadian government will back imposing sanctions on officials from Russia and other nations deemed guilty of human rights violations, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on May 17. Freeland told parliament that Canadas Liberal government supports draft legislation to expand the range of punitive measures that can be taken against foreign officials, including seizing and freezing assets. The bill is inspired by the case of Russian whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky, an anticorruption lawyer who died in 2009 after a year in a Russian jail. Magnitsky was imprisoned after accusing officials of a $230 million tax fraud. "I truly believe this is the direction the world is going, and I think it will send a strong message," Freeland said. In Canada and around the world, the issue of human rights sanctions and in particular the case of Sergei Magnitsky have drawn strong interest, and rightly so. Freeland's announcement came one month after the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee encouraged the Liberal government to broaden Canadian sanctions legislation to include human rights abusers. The previous Conservative government was wary of the move. The proposed Sergei Magnitsky Act has widespread backing in parliament and is considered likely to become law. Based on the Russian reaction to other nations that passed similar legislation, its likely that the legislation would further cool relations between Canada and Russia. The Obama administration and the U.S. Congress enacted their Magnitsky Act in 2012, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to respond with a law that banned American citizens from adopting Russian children. Tensions between Ottawa and the Kremlin have risen since Freeland, an outspoken critic of repression in Russia, took office. She is one of the Western officials placed on Russia's sanctions list in 2014 after Western sanctions were imposed on Russia for its annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. During Freeland's previous career as a journalist, she called Putin a "really dangerous" authoritarian. Britain last month passed legislation inspired by Magnitsky's death that would allow authorities to freeze the assets of alleged human rights violators. The Kremlin's own human rights council has said there was evidence suggesting Magnitsky was beaten to death in jail. But Putin has dismissed allegations of foul play, saying Magnitsky died of heart failure. With reporting by Reuters, Global News, Globe and Mail, and Canadian Press How nervous are the Kremlin's loyalists about the new protest mood sweeping Russia? Apparently, according to report this week in Meduza and Dozhd-TV, they're nervous enough to pay pop star Alisa Vox 2 million rubles to appear in a slick antiprotest music video warning young people to "stay out of politics and give your brain a shower." How nervous are the regime's surrogates about opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's ability to persistently harness the protest mood? Apparently nervous enough for Kremlin-connected oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is suing Navalny for libel, to post a 12-minute video online in which he calls the opposition leader and anticorruption crusader "a loser" and "a scoundrel." The pop star and the oligarch are just the two latest examples of the Putin regime's hybrid war against dissent. Teachers across Russia have been warning students about dire consequences for protesting. And, of course, pro-Kremlin vigilante groups have repeatedly attacked Navalny and other opposition figures with the green antiseptic zelyonka. It's all very thuggish. But it also a bit clumsy and smacks a bit of desperation. Now, this regime is not on the ropes, not by a long shot. But what I call the Crimea drug -- the patriotic euphoria unleashed by Putin's war on Ukraine -- is clearly wearing off and a nasty hangover is setting in. And for the first time in years, the Kremlin is losing control of the narrative. For the first time in years, they don't have a compelling story to tell. For the first time in years, the Putin regime appears to have run out of rationales for why it should rule indefinitely. Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page. The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling on the authorities in Russia's Chechnya region to allow international human rights organizations to conduct a "credible investigation into the alleged crimes against men perceived to be gay" in the North Caucasus republic. The resolution, which passed with overwhelming support on May 18, also demands authorities end what it says is a campaign of persecution and "immediately release those who are still illegally detained." It "deplores the unwillingness of local authorities to investigate and prosecute the serious violations directed specifically at individuals based on their sexual orientation, and reminds the authorities that the rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression are universal rights and apply to all." Russia has faced increasing pressure from human rights groups and Western governments following an April 1 report by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta on evidence of the torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya. Since the Novaya Gazeta report, gay men from Chechnya have given personal accounts to RFE/RL and other media of their escape from the abuse they faced in the region, run by Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who rights activists accuse of cultivating a culture of abuse and impunity. After weeks of silence on the issue, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 5 that he would speak to top law enforcement officials about the allegations, but also suggested that the reports are merely "rumors." With reporting by RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Pakistan not to execute an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage and terrorism. The UN court in The Hague said on May 18 that Pakistan should not carry out the death penalty against Kulbhushan Jadhav, pending the outcome of a case filed by India over the matter. Court President Ronny Abraham said the court decided unanimously to order Pakistan to "take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed." India lodged a case against Pakistan last week, alleging that Islamabad violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying Jadhav's right to consular assistance following his arrest last year. With the case expected to take months or years to resolve, New Delhi also appealed for the court to impose emergency measures to suspend Jadhav's execution until the legal battle has concluded. The ICJ, also known as the World Court, was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between states in accordance with international law. Its rulings are binding. "The ICJ order has come as a huge relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India," the countrys external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj, wrote on a Twitter post. Meanwhile, Pakistan's ambassador to the Netherlands sought to play down the significance of the court's order, saying, "It's a very basic thing which the court has done, given its ruling on a provisional measure which is basically a procedural process and I think that is about it." The ICJ "has said nothing on the merits or the maintainability of the case," Ambassador Moazzam Ahmad Khan added. The case has further strained tense relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan says Jadhav,46, was arrested in March 2016 in the southwestern province of Balochistan, which has been hit by a separatist insurgency that Islamabad accuses India of backing. New Delhi denies Jadhav was a spy and claims he was kidnapped from Iran. In an emergency ICJ hearing on May 15, Indian representatives said Jadhavs death sentence last month followed an "unjust" trial in a Pakistani military court and that Islamabad failed to respond to New Delhis demands for information about the case. But Pakistans representatives told the tribunal that Jadhav "confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan." With reporting by AP and Reuters Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine. But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown. The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes dual-use technology. The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case. The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war. At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products. But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States. A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers. These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations. To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components. The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China. Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU. "Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL. In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24. "Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions. Chinese Cameras, California Chips Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets. Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media. "The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019. The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components. One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone. Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers. Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military." The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology. Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone. Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication. Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone. Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran." "TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said. Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California. According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions. "This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes. AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 'No Authorization' Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP). The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia." "As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. . But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020. The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries. The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine. BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward." The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes. "For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations." BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines." Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are sending representatives to Vienna on May 24-25 for a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil exporters. (They are, of course, in the latter group.) The meeting will consider further production cuts to try to boost the price of oil on world markets. Both Astana and Ashgabat would also enjoy seeing the price of oil rise, but their envoys will come to the meeting with significantly different positions. Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbaev confirmed on May 15 that Kazakhs would attend the Vienna meeting. Astana was represented at a similar meeting in December 2016 at which the group first agreed to cut production. Bozumbaev said at that time that Kazakhstan would reduce oil output by 20,000 barrels a day (bbl/d) from its average of some 1.5 million bbl/d. But Kazakhstan reportedly was not keen on the timing of the cuts. After more than a decade of delays, Kazakhstan's massive Caspian offshore field, Kashagan, had just started producing oil in the summer of 2016, and Bozumbaev indicated Kashagan would be excluded from any production cuts. Kazakh authorities were relying on volumes from Kashagan to compensate for the drastic fall in oil prices, which played a huge role in the economic problems Kazakhstan experienced in 2016. Bozumbaev said on the eve of the December 2016 meeting that Kazakhstan planned for oil production to reach 85 million tons, nearly 10 million tons more than 2016 (though still the figure for output for 2014). In his May 15 announcement that Kazakhstan would attend the Vienna meeting, Bozumbaev said, "We will hold talks...[on] the role Kazakhstan will play in this agreement [for further oil cuts]." But he warned Kazakhstan would not "automatically" join decisions OPEC or other exporters made. Interestingly, on May 16, Kazakh news agency Kazinform reported that under a recently approved expansion plan for Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field, Kazakhstan's largest onshore field, production would reach some 850,000 bbl/d -- an increase of some 260,000 bbl/d compared to current output -- and total some 39 million tons per year. It appears Turkmenistan is sending representatives to the May meeting in Vienna, Reuters reported on May 11, citing OPEC sources. Turkmenistan did not send anyone to the December meeting, but Reuters' sources in OPEC seemed certain Turkmen representatives would be at the meeting and would back additional cuts to oil production. That might not mean much, since Turkmenistan only produces some 250,000 bbl/d. To put that into perspective, Saudi Arabia produces some 10 million barrels per day even after the agreeing to cut some 500,000 bbl/d. Turkmenistan is a natural-gas producer, and since the price of gas on world markets follows the price of oil, Turkmenistan stands to gain if oil prices increase. That would be one reason for Ashgabat to show its support for cuts in oil production. But there is possibly another reason. Turkmenistan has been desperately seeking investors for its planned gas-pipeline projects so the country can export more of its gas. Ashgabat has reached out, unsuccessfully, to Saudi Arabia, even to Qatar, itself a gas producer, looking for funding for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Ashgabat assumed responsibility for coming up with 85 percent of the money for the estimated $10 billion TAPI project, and reports from Turkmenistan over the last year show the country is in no financial condition to pay that money on its own. Turkmen authorities might be thinking there could be some quid pro quo here, and offer up support for oil cuts in the hope that one or more of the oil-exporting countries might be interested in helping finance a Turkmen export pipeline project. So Kazakhstan goes with tepid enthusiasm for further production cuts, knowing the country will not go along with reductions much longer, whereas Turkmenistan goes with really nothing to lose and possibly something to gain by agreeing to anything the oil-exporting countries wish to do. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced labor union leader Amin Eleusinov to two years in prison. The court handed down the sentence on May 16 after convicting Eleusinov, a union leader at the Oil Construction Company (OCC), of embezzlement and of publicly insulting, assaulting, and refusing to obey a representative of state authority. Eleusinov was arrested in January after hundreds of OCC workers went on hunger strike for two weeks to protest the closure of a trade union alliance. (RFE/RL's Kazakh Service) The U.S. State Department has welcomed Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanovs decision to give the opposition leader a mandate to form a new government, potentially breaking a political deadlock in the Balkan country. The U.S. statement on May 18 said the decision "represents an important step forward for Macedonian democracy and the people of Macedonia." "We look forward to working with the new government to tackle the myriad challenges facing Macedonia, including the need for democratic reforms and full implementation of the Przino agreement," the statement said, referring to an accord among Macedonian leaders brokered by the EU last year. Ivanov on May 17 asked the leader of the Social Democrat party, Zoran Zaev, to form a government after having refused for weeks to give Zaev the mandate. The Social Democrats and parties representing ethnic Albanians agreed to a coalition following a December parliamentary election in which no party received a resounding majority. But Ivanov -- an ally of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, which has ruled Macedonia for years -- had refused to give a government mandate to Zaev, contending that the coalition's agreement to make Albanian the nation's second language threatened national unity and sovereignty. However, after speaking with a U.S. envoy on May 1, Ivanov suggested he might relent if Zaev provided reassurances that his coalition would work according to the constitution and uphold national sovereignty. Zaev told reporters on May 4 he was "ready, if necessary, to see Ivanov and offer guarantees that the territorial integrity of Macedonia will be respected." The political stalemate stalled Skopje's efforts to move toward membership in the European Union and NATO. "The United States remains Macedonia's friend and partner, and we are committed to supporting its European and Euro-Atlantic future," the U.S. statement added. With reporting by AP and Reuters CHISINAU -- Moldova's pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, has accused the European Union of providing "geopolitical assistance" to his country in order to keep a series of pro-EU governments in power in Chisinau. Speaking in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Moldovan Service on May 17, Dodon said he had asked EU officials to freeze a proposed 100 million euro ($111 million) aid package for Moldova. Dodon also said he welcomed a May 16 decision by the European Parliament to postpone for at least a month a vote on whether the EU aid package should be disbursed to Chisinau. "Moldova has received massive support from our external partners, and I want to thank them for this," Dodon told RFE/RL. "But too often it was geopolitical assistance used not so much for the best of the Moldovan people, but for keeping in power a series of corrupt, oligarchic governments." "This is why, when we got the news from our European partners [about the postponed vote in the European parliament] I said it is a pity for the Republic of Moldova, but unfortunately, most of the time this money, was used to prop up the government [of the Democratic Party and Prime Minister Pavel Filip]," Dodon said, adding, "I even told this to [Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka] Tapiola." "So if this freeze of aid will create problems for the government and lead to early [parliamentary] elections, it's all for the best. I want early elections." Dodon insisted that the next general elections in Moldova, currently scheduled to take place in 2018, will lead to a parliamentary majority for his political allies in Moldova's pro-Russian Party of Socialists. "We have to start getting used to feeding ourselves. Why was this possible from 2001 to 2007, and now it isn't anymore," he asked rhetorically, referring to the period which coincided mostly with the rule of Communist President Vladimir Voronin. Other Aid Sources Dodon also said he has already launched negotiations with other sources of foreign aid on annual financial support ranging from $500 million to $1 billion per year. However, he refused to confirm whether those negotiations were being conducted with the Kremlin. "Moldova needs external financing -- not to prop up the current government, but for infrastructure, and for improving the quality of life in the country," Dodon said. "You will see next year when the government changes after the early or normally scheduled parliamentary elections. Another majority will come [into parliament], and I promise you, we have already launched negotiations on this [foreign financial support]." "You will see from where," he continued. "And not necessarily from the European Union and from the International Monetary Fund." "There is money in the world," said Dodon, who has visited Moscow multiple times, both before and after coming to power in December. "There are partners. There are friends who are ready to help. And there will be enormous investments." Earlier this month, Dodon's presence by the side of Russian President Vladimir during the May 9th parade in Moscow, raised eyebrows, as he was the only foreign head of state present at the ceremony. Dodon has previously vowed to scrap an EU trade deal in favor of a rival Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, and has predicted such a turn away from Brussels and toward Moscow would be inevitable if the pro-Russian Socialists come to power through Moldova's next general elections. The position echoes the sudden decision in 2013 by then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych not to sign an association agreement with the EU under pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin -- a decision that triggered the pro-Europe Maidan protests in Kyiv that eventually led to Yanukovych's ouster, Russia's annexation of Crimea, and its military intervention in eastern Ukraine. When asked by RFE/RL about his pro-Russia positions, Dodon insisted he is "a pro-Moldovan president and this will not change." "Yes, I have good strategic relations with Russia," Dodon told RFE/RL. "I admitted this openly. But I am not against good relations with the European Union and the United States." "Who made a mistake? The West did," Dodon said. "Why do they play this geopolitical game that I do not want? They financed [corrupt Moldovan] governments during the last seven years because they were afraid of the Russian tanks." 2 The interior of an apartment photographed in the midst of demolition on May 16. The newer plans to raze around 4,500 crumbling Soviet-era apartment blocks were reportedly well received by most Muscovites, but uncertainty over the relocation of residents has fueled resistance to the recent scheme. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered Russian troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnieper River in the partially occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, another retreat amid a number of setbacks for Moscow on battlefields in Ukraine's east and southeast. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "Begin to pull out troops," Shoigu said at a televised meeting with the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, Army General Sergei Surovikin, on November 9, adding that the withdrawal must be implemented in "the nearest future." "The lives of the Russian military personnel are always a priority for us. We must also take into account threats imposed on the civilian population and make sure that all civilians who chose to leave can do so," Shoigu said. "We also need to start withdrawing the troops and undertake all necessary measures to secure the move of military personnel, arms, and equipment to the other side of the Dnieper." Kherson was the first city fully captured by Russia during what Moscow calls a "special military operation" and the only regional capital controlled by the Russians since the offensive began on February 24. Ukraine's forces for weeks have been capturing villages as they advance toward the city, and Kremlin-installed leaders in Kherson have been evacuating civilians. Earlier on November 9, the Moscow-installed deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, died in a car crash. Shoigu's order came after Surovikin said it was impossible to deliver supplies to the city of Kherson and other areas on the western bank of the Dnieper River. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were strengthening their positions "step by step" in the south. "There is a lot of joy in the information space today, and it is clear why, but...the enemy will make no gifts to us," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, said earlier on Twitter that the Ukrainian side sees "no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight." Part of the Russian group remains in Kherson city, he said, adding that additional reserves are being sent to the region. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, are "liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements," he said. Zelenskiy has suggested that the Russians could fake a retreat in order to lure the Ukrainian Army into an entrenched battle in Kherson city. Speaking to reporters in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said Moscow's order to withdraw from Kherson was "evidence of the fact that they have some real problems with the Russian military." Moscow and Russian-installed officials in Kherson have said for weeks that they are evacuating residents of Kherson -- both the city and the region -- to "other parts of the Russian Federation" for their safety. Ukraine has said the Russian move amounted to their forced deportation. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the withdrawal announced by Shoigu is "part of an overall pattern or picture we have seen over the last month that Russia has absolutely lost the momentum." But Stoltenberg also cautioned against underestimating Russia. "They still have capabilities," he said in an interview with Sky News during a visit to London. "We have seen the drones. We have seen the missile attacks. It shows that Russia can still inflict a lot of damage." Kherson is considered by many military analysts as the most important of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia announced as annexed in September. It controls both the only land route to Ukraine's Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper River that bisects Ukraine. Earlier on November 9, Russia launched multiple suicide drones on Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding people and damaging civilian facilities, the head of the regional military administration said, as fierce battles were under way in the eastern Donetsk region and in the south. "The occupiers attacked the area massively with kamikaze drones, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. Ukrainian air defense destroyed some of the drones, but others hit targets. The Russian forces also used drones in an attack on the city of Dnipro, targeting a logistics enterprise. Reznichenko said four employees were wounded, and three of them are in serious condition in hospital. Russian forces also bombarded the Nikopol district in the region with Grad missiles and heavy artillery. Reznichenko said the shelling damaged private houses, a factory, and a power line, but people were not injured. Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine will not surrender a single centimeter of our land in Donetsk, where heavy fighting has been under way, and he thanked Ukrainian troops who are holding positions in the Donbas region. The epicenter of the battle for the industrial region of Donetsk is around the towns of Bakhmut, Soledar, and Avdiyivka. "The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level -- dozens of attacks every day," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late on November 8. "They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same -- to advance on the administrative boundary of the Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimeter of our land," he said. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russia said it annexed in September following referendums deemed as sham by Kyiv and its Western allies. Fighting had been going on there between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatist forces since 2014, the same year Russia illegally annexed Crimea. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and CNN A court in Moscow has sentenced a man who took part in an antigovernment protest on March 26 to eight months in a so-called colony settlement for attacking a police officer. The Tver district court on May 18 found Yury Kuly guilty of causing bodily harm to a law-enforcement officer. The March 26 rally, one of the largest protests in Russia in years, was not sanctioned by authorities. A colony settlement is an open prison type of penitentiary, where convicts live close to an industrial facility or a farm where they work. Kuly pleaded guilty and apologized to the officer, who filed the lawsuit. Kuly was the first participant in the March 26 protests across Russia, who was convicted. He and three other people -- Aleksandr Shpakov, Stanislav Zimovets, and Andrei Kosykh -- were arrested on suspicion of attacking the policeman at the rally. Police detained more than 1,000 people in Moscow alone over the anticorruption rallies organized by opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, the biggest demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin's government since a wave of protests in 2011-12. Based on reporting by Meduza and TASS MOSCOW -- As Russia tried to take the moral high ground after Ukraine this week banned a raft of Russian social-networking and news sites, some Russians saw a ray of hope concerning their own Internet worries -- namely the clouds gathering over the popular messenger app Telegram. The Vedomosti newspaper this week reported the app -- which allows rapid, encrypted messaging between users as well as encrypted voice calls -- may soon be blocked by the Russian authorities. But while several messengers, including Blackberry Messenger, have been banned this month, the suggestion that Telegram was being targeted seemed at odds with the burst of rhetoric coming out of Moscow following Ukraine's actions. Deputy Communications Minister Aleksei Volin ridiculed Kyiv's "short-sighted" ban of Russian social networks and media outlets, saying Moscow would be watching as Ukrainians download VPNs and "anonymizers" to bypass it. Within hours, Russian state TV was telling viewers how to circumvent attempts to block website access. As international rights groups amplified the disapproval over Ukraine's ban, some Russians took to social networks suggesting that the harsh reaction in Moscow to Kyiv's action may have made it difficult for Russia to carry through with any attempts of its own to block app access. "It would be nice to think that [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko has saved Telegram from being blocked with his idiotic act," wrote photojournalist Yevgeny Feldman. The angst among active Russian Telegram users -- who the company said numbered 6 million in January, rising threefold in the space of a year -- reflects the niche the app has carved out in the constellation of online platforms for private and public discussion. While the authorities have maintained a grip on traditional media, social and political conversation has flourished online, migrating over the years between social networks, blog platforms, and most recently taking off on the video-sharing site YouTube. Notably, the video channel of opposition leader and Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny has racked up more than 1.1 million subscribers as he eyes a presidential run in Russia's 2018 election. Telegram was launched in 2013 by Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who moved abroad after alleging that another of their brainchildren -- the country's largest social network, VKontakte -- had been taken over by pro-Kremlin forces. Aside from encrypted messaging and calls, the Telegram app allows users to subscribe to channels or feeds authored by other users -- leading to the proliferation of unrestricted blogs run by journalists, news sites, analysts, and others. The most enigmatic of the political channels is the popular, but anonymous Nezygar feed that has gained more than 37,500 subscribers and posts political news and supposed insider (Nezygar does the posting; not the subscribers) snippets on anything from the mood in the Kremlin to the clan affiliations of various politicians. The identity of its author is shrouded in intrigue, with state TV in January declaring (only to be proven wrong) that they had finally unmasked the author. The channel's name, Nezygar, combines the Russian negative "not" with the surname of Mikhail Zygar, the former chief editor of the liberal Dozhd TV and author of All The Kremlin's Men, which looks into President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. Oleg Kashin, a prominent Russian journalist whose Telegram channel has just shy of 10,000 subscribers, told RFE/RL in comments on Facebook that "Telegram really has become an important political platform," a charge led by channels like Nezygar. "With the emergence of Nezygar (we don't know who this is, but it is a brilliant media inspiration, the birth of a form and genre), a whole stratum of political channels have appeared that are free of any of the media's restrictions," he said. "That's why [Telegram] is used effectively both by the authorities and by its enemies for dumps, leaks, and manipulations, and this is already a real phenomenon." Commenting on the popularity of its encrypted messenger function, Kashin added, "With conversation, it's all entirely simple -- there are no other popular analogues to Telegram with its secret chats and other security." The Telegram messenger app thrives even in the most closed environments -- such as in Iran, where millions use it without fear of Tehran's efforts to monitor conversations. Ban Threat On May 16, citing sources, the Vedomosti business daily reported that the telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor had threatened in a letter to block Telegram if it did not comply by mid-June with a law requiring services to register with the state and ultimately make their data accessible to it. In comments to the news site RNS, Telegram rejected any cooperation with the state outright, saying: "No government or special service has ever received a single bit of information from us. That's how it will remain forever." A petition defending Telegram was soon posted on May 16 to generate media attention around the issue with the aim of "initiating discussion before the block, and not afterward." Meanwhile, Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelovsky declined to comment on the Vedomosti report, which he called "rumors," saying he would only comment on a news event like the registration of a service, or its blockage. "This is a continuation of the Russian authorities' pressure on social networks," says Oleg Kozyrev, Moscow-based new media analyst. "There are attempts to close specific communities online and entire social networks and these attempts have long been observed." "We also need to take into account that Telegram has recently gained popularity with political activists and journalists for talking to each other," he says. "This channel of communication definitely alarms the Russian authorities." A blog for the Tinkoff bank, which called Telegram the place "where the whole of progressive humanity communicates," recommended businesses that use the Telegram application branch out to reduce their dependence, should the ban go into effect. Kashin, however, expressed doubt the authorities would actually try to shut down Telegram. "I don't believe they can close it now -- it's technically difficult and unnecessary politically. The closure of Telegram has more significance in its current form -- as a threat." ON MY MIND Contrary to popular belief, we're not reliving the Cold War. Instead, we appear to be reliving an attempt by Russia to reestablish the Holy Alliance. In an insightful piece featured below, Vladislav Inozemtsev argues that the lessons of the mid-19th century are at least as relevant for today's confrontation between Russia and the West as the 20th-century superpower standoff. According to Inozemtsev, "the adversarial relationship between Russia and the West began over a century before the Cold War" when Russia emerged as the most conservative of the victors in the Napoleonic wars, formed the Holy Alliance with Austria and Prussia, and attempted to be the gendarme of Europe. Then, as now, Russia presented itself as the guardian of traditional values fighting the spread of liberalism. Then, as now, Russia was concerned with suppressing democratic revolutions, crushing rebellions in Poland in 1830-31 and Hungary in 1848-49. And then, as now, when Russia's antirevolutionary zeal turned much of Europe against it, it appealed to the Orthodox Christian populations of the Balkans. But then, unlike now, Russia has at least the tacit support of two of Europe's strongest monarchies, Austria and Prussia. Today, it has to settle for the support of Marine Le Pen and Viktor Orban. IN THE NEWS A top U.S. State Department official has warned that Russia is deepening efforts to influence Balkans politics, including encouraging the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia-Herzegovina to secede. The Canadian government will back imposing sanctions on officials from Russia and other nations deemed guilty of human rights violations, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on May 17. The United States should impose new sanctions and move more aggressively to "shape Russian thinking" in response to Moscows actions in Ukraine and elsewhere, former top State and Defense department officials said. Lithuania's foreign minister says the Baltic nation has given refuge to two gay men from Chechnya following reports of a campaign of torture and abuse against homosexuals in the southern Russian region. Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny says he has had to postpone the opening of his election campaign headquarters in Moscow. Vladimir Putin says that Moscow is prepared to provide a record of a White House meeting in which U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly shared classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The Georgian Foreign Ministry summoned the European Union's ambassador on May 17 to complain about what it said were inappropriate comments by an EU envoy during a visit to breakaway South Ossetia. WHAT I'M READING Russia's Long War On Liberalism In a piece for Project Syndicate, Russia's Cold War Habit, economist and political analyst Vladislav Inozemtsev looks at the 19th-century roots of Russia's war on modern liberalism. The War In The Donbas How much leverage does Russia have over pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine? Former U.S. State Department official Donald Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, takes a look in a report for the NATO Defense College. In a piece on the Carnegie Europe website, Gwendolyn Sasse, director of the Berlin-based Center for East European and International Studies, argues that "people living through the war in eastern Ukraine are not characterized by clear-cut ethnic or political identities." And in The Daily Beast, journalist Anna Nemtsova looks at Ukraine's war orphans. Can Ukraine Reform? In The New York Review of Books, Tim Judah asks, Will Ukraine Ever Change? Ukraine And Russia's Social Networks In his column for Bloomberg, political commentator Leonid Bershidsky looks at Ukraine's decision to block Russian social-networking sites. And in his column for Republic.ru, opposition journalist Oleg Kashin argues that the move illustrates the end of solidarity between Russian liberals and Ukraine. Russia And North Korea In another column, Bershidsky explains why "the key to North Korea is Russia." Pop Against Protests Meduza and Dozhd-TV are reporting that Kremlin loyalists paid Russian pop star Alisa Vox 2 million rubles ($35,000) to appear in an antiprotest music video. China, Russia, And The Silk Road In The Jamestown Foundation's Daily Monitor, Stephen Blank looks at Russia's reservations about China's Silk Road project. Russia has launched multiple suicide drones on Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding people and damaging civilian facilities, the head of the regional military administration said, as fierce battles are under way in the eastern Donetsk region and in the south. "The occupiers attacked the area massively with kamikaze drones, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. Ukrainian air defense destroyed some of the drones, but others hit targets. The Russian forces also used drones in an attack on the city of Dnipro, targeting a logistics enterprise. Reznichenko said four employees were wounded, and three of them are in serious condition in hospital. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Russian forces also bombarded the Nikopol district in the region with Grad missiles and heavy artillery. Reznichenko said the shelling damaged private houses, a factory, and a power line, but no one was injured. A fire spread over more than 3,000 square meters but was extinguished, Reznichenko said. Russian troops regularly shell the Dnipropetrovsk region with various types of weapons, in particular the Nikopol, Kryvorizky, and Synelnyk districts. In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine will not "surrender a single centimeter of our land" in Donetsk, and he thanked Ukrainian troops who are holding positions in the Donbas region. The epicenter of the battle for the industrial region of Donetsk is around the towns of Bakhmut, Soledar, and Avdiyivka. "The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level -- dozens of attacks every day," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late on November 8. "They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same: to advance on the administrative boundary of Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimeter of our land," he said. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russia said it annexed in September following referendums considered a sham by Kyiv and its Western allies. Fighting has taken place there between Ukrainian military and Kremlin-backed separatist forces since 2014, the same year Russia illegally annexed Crimea in the south. Zelenskiy said the goal of the Russian troops is to push to the administrative border of the Donetsk region. "We clearly understand the enemy's plans, so we act accordingly: carefully, thoughtfully, and in the interests of the liberation of our entire territory. We are strengthening our positions, breaking Russian logistics, and consistently destroying the potential of the occupiers to keep the south of our country under occupation," Zelenskiy added. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the most intense battles were taking place in Bakhmut and Soledar where the Ukrainian military repels dozens of Russian attacks per day. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the region's military administration, said the city of Bakhmut was badly damaged, and there is not a single surviving house in Avdiyivka, Maryinka, or Krasnohorivka. Russian troops are trying to wipe the cities "off the face of the Earth," he said. Fierce fighting was also going on on the edge of the town of Snihurivka, in the southern Mykolayiv region, according to Yury Barabashov, the town's Russian-appointed mayor, as cited by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the southern Kherson region, said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had tried to advance on three fronts, including Snihurivka. Vitaly Kim, the Ukrainian governor of the Mykolayiv region, apparently quoting an intercepted dialogue between Russian troops, suggested Ukrainian forces had already pushed the Russians out of the area. "Russian troops are complaining that they have already been thrown out of there," Kim said in a statement on his Telegram channel. The information could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian military said it destroyed two Russian ammunition depots in southern Ukraine on November 8, one in Snihurivka, and one in Kostromka, in the neighboring Kherson region. WATCH: Paratroopers with Ukraine's 79th Air Assault Brigade say they're holding positions around the small city of Maryinka in eastern Ukraine despite daily Russian attacks. Russia has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists in recent months seeking to stave off an offensive launched by Ukraine to regain Russian-occupied territories. Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on November 8 that 21 Russian conscripts had surrendered to Ukrainian forces around Svatove in the eastern Luhansk region. "These poor mobilized men -- really poor, they had had nothing to eat or drink in three days -- of course they decided to surrender," Zhdanov said on his YouTube channel. In the southern Kherson region, a battle between advancing Ukrainian forces and the Russian occupiers has been looming for weeks in the city by the same name, the only regional capital Russia has captured intact since its unprovoked invasion in February. Kherson is arguably the most important of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia says it annexed. It controls both the only land route to the Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper River that bisects Ukraine. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also commented on the fighting in eastern Ukraine on November 8. He was quoted by TASS as saying that information released about casualties among Chechen fighters near Lysychansk, a city in the eastern Luhansk region, was false. "Not a single fighter of ours was killed in the aforementioned area," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that he didn't want to comment on "such falsehoods" but found it necessary "to reassure all sane and concerned people." Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, released video footage that it said showed a drone strike obliterating a Ukrainian tank that was hiding in an urban area and shelling Russian troops. "A Russian squad of unmanned aerial vehicles spotted the Ukrainian tank and destroyed it using a precision strike," the ministry said on November 8, according to TASS. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Russian troops used drones and artillery on November 8 to shell communities along the Sumy region's border with Russia in northeastern Ukraine. The only damage reported was to utility poles. Sumy borders three regions of Russia: Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod. The border regions of Ukraine are regularly shelled by Russia. Neither side's battlefield claims could be independently verified. The Ukrainian military has accused Russian troops of more looting and destroying infrastructure in Kherson. "A convoy of trucks passed over the dam of the Kakhova hydroelectric station loaded with home appliances and building materials," the military said. Russians were dismantling mobile phone towers and taking equipment, it said, adding that near the city of Beryslav, Russian forces "blew up a power line and took equipment from a solar power station." With reporting by Reuters, AP, and CNN KYIV -- Ukraine is commemorating the victims of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's mass deportation of Tatars from Crimea in 1944. A minute of silence was observed at noon on May 18 across the country -- except in Crimea, which Russia seized in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum boycotted by many Crimean Tatars. In the Crimean capital, Simferopol, the Russian-imposed authorities prohibited Crimean Tatars from gathering in the central square to mark the anniverary of deportation. Several activists were detained, and later released. In Kyiv, by contrast, bells at Orthodox Christian churches tolled for a minute to pay tribute to the victims of the deportation. "Seventy-three years ago the communist regime brutally expelled Crimean Tatars and representatives of other ethnic groups from their homelands," President Petro Poroshenko said. "For the Ukrainian nation it is an unhealed wound that especially hurts after the annexation of Crimea," he said. The Crimean Tatars were deported en masse from the Black Sea peninsula in May 1944, after Stalin accused them of collaborating with Nazi Germany. Starting on May 18, 1944, some 250,000 were put on trains -- most of them in the space of two days -- and sent to Central Asia. Tens of thousands died during the journey or after they were left on the barren steppe with few resources. Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to Crimea until the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev conducted reforms in the years before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In November 2015, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law declaring May 18 the Day of Commemoration of Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatars. After Russia seized Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised the Crimean Tatars that they would be treated well and guaranteed equal rights. But Crimean Tatars, rights activists, and Western governments say Russia has subjected Crimean Tatars and others who opposed annexation to abuse, discrimination, and politically motivated prosecutions on false charges. WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. State Department official has warned that Russia is deepening efforts to influence Balkans politics, including encouraging the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia-Herzegovina to secede. Speaking to a House of Representatives foreign affairs subcommittee hearing on May 17, Hoyt Brian Yee, deputy assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasia, said U.S. policy was aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region. He said many of the Balkan nations -- Albania, Montenegro, Croatia -- are seeking even deeper integration into Western institutions such as the European Union and NATO, and Washington continued to encourage that. Albania and Croatia are already NATO members, while Montenegro is due to join the alliance next month. Croatia is also an EU member. Yee warned of Russias "malign influence" as Moscow tried to prevent that through financial and political means. Yee suggested that a humanitarian center set up by Russia in Nis -- Serbias third-largest city -- may have ulterior purposes aimed at influencing public opinion. And he said Moscow was trying to encourage the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia, a political arrangement that has kept uneasy peace in the country since the Dayton peace accords ended the regional war in the early 1990s. The U.S. Justice Department on May 17 appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team. The move, which was welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, came amid rising demands for an independent probe of alleged Russian efforts to sway the outcome of November's presidential election in favor of Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he decided to appoint a special counsel not because he believes "crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted," but because he believes "a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome" of the investigation. "The public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," Rosenstein said. A special counsel is considered independent because he has the authority to conduct an investigation with a staff of his own choosing and without any requirement to consult with or inform the Justice Department and White House about the course of the investigation. The special counsel also is authorized to prosecute any suspected crimes unearthed by the investigation. Suspicions that the White House may have tried to influence the Justice Department's own investigation of the Russian matter, which the FBI began last year, arose when Trump fired FBI Director James Comey a week ago. Further questions arose on May 16 when reports surfaced that Trump had asked Comey during his first weeks in office to end an investigation into Russia's ties with former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey wrote about Trump's request as well as other conversations he had with Trump in memos that were widely reported by media on May 16. The White House denied Comey's account of his conversation with Trump about Flynn. Several congressional leaders said Trump's request to quash the Flynn investigation may have amounted to obstruction of justice -- a criminal offense in the United States. By the evening of May 17, three congressional committees had demanded to see Comey's memos and were seeking to have Comey testify about his discussions with Trump. After the special counsel was named, Trump issued a statement late on May 16 saying that, once again, there were no questionable ties between Russia and his campaign. "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know: There was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." Earlier in the day, Trump had complained about media coverage of the Russian matter, saying that "no politician in history -- and I say this with great surety -- has been treated worse or more unfairly." Congressional leaders praised the decision to appoint a special counsel -- something Democrats have been urging since last year, with many Republicans joining the chorus in recent days. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said Mueller, who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013 during both Republican and Democratic administrations, was the right choice for the job. A special counsel is very much needed in this situation and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has done the right thing," Schumer said. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, called Mueller "a respected public servant of the highest integrity." She added that "a special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last. Director Mueller will still be in the chain of command under the Trump-appointed leadership of the Justice Department." "I believe Mueller will be independent, he will be thorough, and he will be fair, and he's not going to be easily swayed," said Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which is also investigating the Russian matter. Republican Jason Chaffez, chairman of the House oversight panel, said Mueller was a "great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted." Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, whose committee is also investigating the Russian matter, said appointing a special counsel was a "good decision" that "assures the American people that there's no undue influence" in the Russia investigation. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded earlier this year that Russia interfered in the election, and the FBI's investigation was building on those findings. Moscow has repeatedly denied any interference. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters Three suspects have been arrested in Uzbekistan's eastern Andijon region after a bad batch of strawberry ice cream put nearly 200 people in the hospital, local police sources have told RFE/RL. Law enforcement officials in the Shahrihon District said that a preliminary investigation indicated that the source of the tainted ice cream was a cafe in downtown Shahrihon, the district center. They said the operations of all ice cream shops in the town have been suspended. The precise reason for the sickness is not yet known. A regional health official told RFE/RL that 182 people were in intensive care wards at hospitals around the region. Five of the patients are in "very serious condition," he said. Local residents said hundreds of people were poisoned and there were rumors of several deaths, but the health official said none of the hospitalized patients had died. Image for reference. Mahindra First Choice Wheels has undertaken a study of the pre owned car market in India. Their third edition of the Indian Blue Book has been published and draws attention to the steady growth in the pre owned car market in the country. The study concludes that in FY18-19, the used car market in India crossed the 40 lakh unit mark, while the new car market stood at 34 lakh units in the same period. The rate at which the used car market in India is growing, it is expected to cross the 70 lakh mark by FY22. There are several factors that have caused this pre owned car market to gain in importance. Firstly, it is the downward revision in GST rate which has been reduced from 28 percent to 12-18 percent on used cars. Secondly, India gears up to enter the BS VI period from April 2020. This shift has increased the value of the used car market as the cost of new cars escalate following added investments in updating engines to comply with new norms. The decision of Maruti Suzuki to stop production of diesel cars from April 2020 will also add further impetus to the used car markets. The 2019 edition of Indian Blue Book also draws attention to the organized players in the used car market in the country which increased from 10 percent in FY11 to 18 percent in FY19. The survey conducted by consulting firm PremonAsia, which spanned 1500 respondents in 26 cities concluded that the used car market sees 62 percent of customer opting for a used car over a new car due to its affordability factor. 23 percent buyers prefer a used car for short distance travel while 15 percent were value seekers. It was also found that buyers prefer to buy cars which are upto 5 years old though the market sees more sellers of cars above 5 years of age which in turn sees a major chunk of used cars being sold off at zero profit or even losses. Major buyers in this used car segment opt for hatchbacks while 25 percent opt for sedans and only a small percentage of buyers seek used cars in the C or higher segments. Noting this outstanding demand, and registering 40 percent growth in FY19, Mahindra First Choice Wheels now targets 60-70 percent growth in the coming financial year. Expansion plans are being made to expand networks from 1,100 outlets to 1700 outlets by March 2020. Where the new car segment is concerned, SIAM has also revealed that the Indian passenger vehicle industry has seen its worst performance in five years in the just ended fiscal. Car sales grew 2.7 percent in 2018-19, its worst performance since FY14 while scooter sales were at their lowest pace in 14 years. Yamaha Fazer 25 is based on the naked FZ25, which was launched earlier this year at a starting price of INR 1.2 lakh, ex-showroom. Based on this motorcycle, Yamaha India has now launched Fazer 25, which will take on the likes of Bajaj Pulsar RS 200, Honda CBR250R, Mahindra Mojo, KTM RC 200, upcoming TVS Apache 310 and more. Launched back in August, deliveries of this new Yamaha motorcycle have not yet started in all cities. Recently, Yamaha India Facebook uploaded a photo stating that the deliveries have now commenced. In terms of design, new Fazer 25 is a more sporty looking bike with a muscular fairing in the front, split seats, LED taillights at the rear, alloy wheels, disc brakes, and wider tubeless tyres for extra grip, among other things. To be available in dual tone colours, the loud fairing design is the highlight. The bike in the images has a matte red fairing with bits of black and gold on it. There is also the FAZER 25 lettering. In fact, there is enough hint of gold shade in the bike, which makes it fit to be a three tone colour scheme, rather than a dual tone. The headlight unit is underlined by strip of LEDs. The number plate is housed on the fairing, which also provides slot for rear view mirrors. The fairing also houses LED turn indicators on its sides. Powering the new Yamaha Fazer 250 will be a 250cc single cylinder engine, the same engine, which powers FZ25 in India. This fuel injected, air-cooled engine is mated to a five speed gearbox, and delivers peak power of 20.9 PS / 8000 rpm, and a peak torque of 20 Nm at 6000 rpm. Most of the parts remain same as seen on FZ25 (suspension, tyres, alloys, brakes, instrument cluster, etc). Just like FZ25, ABS is not on offer. Two colour options are on offer Soulful Cyan and Rhythmic Red. Price starts from INR 1.28 lakh, ex-Mumbai and INR 1.29 lakh, ex-Delhi. Yamaha Fazer 25 Exhaust Note Yamaha Fazer 25 Soulful Cyan Colour Yamaha Fazer 25 Rhythmic Red Colour [wp-review id=242747] Researchers at Turku Centre for Biotechnology have invented new tools for decoding and controlling signalling circuits in living cells with flashes of light. In principle, any cellular circuit can now be targeted with the new method. By using this approach, the researchers discovered that major biological signalling circuits can be made to resonate when driven at their resonant frequency. Resonance is a familiar concept in music, physics and engineering and underlies technical approaches in chemistry, biology and medicine. "Our discovery that signalling circuits of mammalian cells can made to resonate is new and likely to have a relevance in the treatment of diseases. With this method we can control when the signalling pathway is on or off," says Senior Researcher Michael Courtney from Turku Centre for Biotechnology at the University of Turku and Abo Akademi University, Finland. The team developed optogenetic inhibitors for protein kinases such as JNK which is a central regulator of cell function. "JNK protein in the cell cytoplasm was not thought to regulate gene expression in the nucleus and we thought that continuous inhibition in the cytoplasm is ineffective. However, the team found that delivering a specific frequency of inhibition pulses to JNK in the cytoplasm drove inhibition of gene expression in the nucleus. This indicates that cell signalling circuits can be controlled in previously unforeseen ways once the appropriate time-code has been identified," says Courtney. He explains that not only might cell circuit resonance play an unexpected role in degenerative disease processes, but it could even guide the discovery of new therapeutic approaches. Interestingly, the only previous report on cell circuit resonance in the scientific literature showed it can be used to prevent microbial cells from growing. This new discovery of similar behaviour in mammalian cells suggests it could potentially be used to stop cancer cells from growing. "Currently, the development of resistance to new drugs is a major problem in cancer, as it cost billions of dollars to develop and approve new drugs, and yet they can rapidly become ineffective as a treatment. With this new research information, we can perhaps change the frequency instead of using the same drug and in this way achieve a better outcome," says Courtney. The research team's newly discovered phenomenon of circuit resonance in mammalian cells might offer a way to avoid or work around drug resistance. The researchers have now assembled a research consortium which has applied for funding in order to begin the evaluation of this idea. The team started developing light-regulated tools while at the University of Eastern Finland. The project was funded primarily by the Academy of Finland's Photonics programme. The mammalian circuit resonance was discovered and characterised by the team after moving to the University of Turku. The team received support from the Turku BioImaging and funding from the National Cancer Institute in the Uniteds States, the EU-Marie Skodowska Curie programme, and Finnish foundations including the Magnus Ehrnrooth, Alfred Koredelin, Instrumentarium and Orion Foundations. This work was published in the Nature Communications journal on 12 May 2017. Consumers today insist on all-natural everything, and food dyes are no exception. Even if food manufacturers are willing to make the change, current sources of natural dyes are expensive and hard to come by. Now, a large University of Illinois project is filling the gap with colored corn. "Most natural colors come from things like wine skins, red carrots, and beets. The problem with that is most of the product is wasted in extracting the coloring. It's not good value," says Jack Juvik, a geneticist in the crop sciences department at U of I. Juvik and an interdisciplinary team have been experimenting with purple and blue corn varieties, noting that health-promoting pigments known as anthocyanins are located in the outer layers of the corn kernel. That makes a big difference, economically. "You can process corn in different ways to remove only the outer layer. The rest can still be fed into the corn supply chain to make ethanol or grits or any of the other products corn is already used for. That outer layer becomes a value-added co-product," Juvik says. The team has covered a lot of bases since the $1.4 million project began in 2014. For example, they identified the optimal milling process and demonstrated that corn-derived anthocyanins remain stable in food products. What's left is to find the most potent sources of the pigments for future corn breeding. In a recent study, Juvik and his colleagues looked at anthocyanin type and concentration in nearly 400 genetically distinct lines of colored corn. They grew these lines in Illinois to see if anthocyanin concentration stayed constant from generation to generation -- a critical quality for breeding new varieties. Peruvian types had some of the highest anthocyanin concentrations, and they held up throughout multiple generations. "That's good news. It means we can select for the trait we're interested in without worrying whether it will be expressed in new environments," Juvik says. The next step will be getting those mighty Peruvian genes into high-yielding corn hybrids selected for production in the Midwest. If Juvik is successful, blue or purple corn could come to a field near you. Research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences solves a mystery that has long shrouded our understanding of white oaks: where did they come from? The approximately 125 white oak species in the Americas and 25 in Eurasia -- including the massive bur oak of American prairies and savannas, the valley oak of California and the eponymous white oak of eastern North American forests -- are important in forests and savannas throughout much of the northern hemisphere. Yet, despite their economic and ecological importance, not much was known about the evolutionary history of the white oak group until now. This paper, co-authored by Andrew Hipp of The Morton Arboretum and Paul Manos and John McVay of Duke University, reveals for the first time that Europe and east Asia have eastern North America to thank for their white oaks. Coupling genomic data with fossil records and novel analytical methods, the research suggests that the Eurasian white oaks arose from a North American ancestor that migrated to Europe, perhaps by way of the North Atlantic land bridge. This is a story that has long been hidden by ancient hybridization among the Eurasian white oaks. The research implements new analytical tools to tease apart hybridization from evolutionary history to tell the full white oak story. The study, funded by a collaborative four-year National Science Foundation grant to five institutions led by The Morton Arboretum, also shows that two oak species found on opposite ends of the globe, the Armenian oak (Quercus pontica) found in the Caucasus mountains and Sadler's oak (Quercus sadleriana) of California and Oregon, are each other's closest relatives. These species, the authors argue, are the last remnants of a widespread white oak lineage that stretched at least from Europe to the Pacific Northwest, of which all are extinct except for these two species. "Understanding even the most basic questions -- how many oak species are there? Where do they live? -- rests on our understanding of oak evolution," said study co-author Andrew Hipp of The Morton Arboretum. "This is the first paper to conclusively separate the role of gene flow and divergence to recover a holistic portrait of the white oak tree of life. It is a crucial step toward understanding why white oaks became so important to the ecology of temperate forests and savannas in the northern hemisphere." Mast cells, a type of white blood cell, are present in the airways of severe asthmatics even in the face of aggressive treatment, and their presence is associated with key indicators of severe asthma. It has long been thought that these mast cells contribute to the disease and that targeting them may improve symptoms and quality of life for patients with severe asthma. In a new, proof-of-principle study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have found that targeting the mast cells with imatinib, a drug used to effectively treat certain forms of cancer, improved airway hyperresponsiveness, a measure of the sensitivity of the airway, and decreased the number of mast cells present in the airway. Treatment also produced a small improvement in airway function. "By targeting these mast cells, we can actually make a difference for our patients with severe asthma," said Elliot Israel, MD, a physician and researcher in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at BWH and senior author of the paper. "This is an exciting development because patients with severe asthma often have poor disease control even when adhering to our best and most aggressive therapies." Imatinib (brand name Gleevec), is one of the first precision medicine cancer therapies and is currently used to effectively treat certain forms of cancer that have a specific mutation. It works by targeting the processes responsible for mast cell development, stem cell factor and its receptor, the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase, which are essential for not only normal mast cell development but also their survival. These new results suggest that KIT-dependent processes and mast cells contribute to the process of severe asthma, and suggest that imatinib and drugs that can inhibit mast cell development may be effective therapies for patients with severe asthma who do not respond well to current treatment options. "This study shows how the investigator community begins to apply knowledge of basic disease pathogenesis to tailor interventions to specific patient populations, which leads to more effective therapy. This is particularly the case for this patient group with a disease that is difficult to treat and that has a high morbidity rate," said James Kiley, Ph.D., director, Division of Lung Diseases, at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled 24-week trial of 62 participants with poorly-controlled severe asthma, researchers evaluated the impact of imatinib on the change in airway hyperresponsiveness and mast cell presence. Participants in the treatment group received imatinib for six months. Participants underwent a bronchoscopy with airway biopsy at the beginning and the conclusion of the study to assess airway mast cells. Airway responsiveness and airway function were also measured during the study. Israel and his colleagues report that patients in the treatment group experienced a reduction in airway hyperresponsiveness compared to placebo. Specifically, after three months, airway responsiveness decreased 50 percent in those treated with imatinib compared to those who received placebo. A similar degree of difference was seen between the groups at six months. Additionally, researchers found that imatinib reduced serum tryptase, a marker of mast cell activation, compared with placebo. Researchers also report that patients in the treatment group experienced a relaxation and opening up of the airways, which was an unexpected observation. Researchers note that patients in the treatment group experienced higher rates of muscle cramps and an abnormally low level of phosphate in the blood. While the results are preliminary, Israel and colleagues found that imatinib was more effective in patients who had less eosinophils, a type of disease-fighting white blood cell present in high numbers in certain types of severe asthma. "There are several new drugs for severe asthma that target the more allergic, or eosinophilic, type of severe asthma. If confirmed, our finding -- that targeting mast cells is effective for patients who do not have eosinophilic-type asthma -- is particularly exciting because this group of patients, which make up about 40 percent of patients with severe asthma, have no current treatment options to control their disease." Researchers note that larger-scale studies are needed to confirm their finding and evaluate longer durations of therapy in order to definitively determine clinical efficacy. Planning for these trials is underway. Children of migrants to Chinese cities have lower rates of obesity than youngsters in more affluent established urban families -- probably because their grandparents are not around to over-feed them, a new study has found. Fewer opportunities for unhealthy snacking and less pressure for academic achievement, leading to more active play, also contribute to migrant children's lower obesity rates. Large-scale migration sees millions of Chinese families leave the countryside and settle in the country's biggest cities in search of economic prosperity. However, migrant children are still at risk of increasing obesity because, unlike youngsters from affluent families, lack of parental supervision after school and unsafe neighbourhoods cause them to eat unhealthily and limit opportunities for active play. Researchers at the University of Birmingham interviewed parents, grandparents and teachers at schools in the city of Guangzhou, in southern China. Their study -- published today in the journal PLOS ONE -- explored the differences in perceived causes of childhood obesity between local and migrant communities. They worked in partnership with the Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and the Guangzhou Health Care Promotion Centre for Primary and Middle Schools to carry out the first qualitative study to explore and identify these differences in urban China. advertisement Dr Bai Li, from the University of Birmingham, said: "Childhood obesity is a global public health crisis -- particularly in China, yet the health of children who migrate with their parents to major Chinese cities has rarely been explored. "It is clear that an important step towards preventing the rise of obesity in migrant children is understanding the perceptions of parents, grandparents and teachers on the causes of childhood obesity." She added that 15 per cent of Chinese children and adolescents, aged 7-18, are overweight or obese -- accounting for 30.43 million individuals. Live-in grandparents in local families often took responsibility for looking after their grandchild, but many viewed a fat child as a symbol of health and success and, as a result, overfed them. However, grandparents of migrant children remained living in their hometown and had no influence on childcare. Migrant children had fewer opportunities for unhealthy snacking after school, because they had to catch buses home -- getting on and off the vehicles within their school. Yet, local children often bought food from unlicenced street traders or were met at the school gates by their grandmothers bearing snacks. advertisement "Although childhood obesity in major Chinese cities is currently more prevalent among local children than migrant children, recent trends suggest a steeper increase among youngsters coming to the cities from rural areas," commented Dr Li. "The results of our study highlight the need for tailored interventions to prevent a significant rise in the number of migrant children who are overweight or obese and the associated short and longer term health consequences. "Future interventions for local communities should include education for grandparents, enforcement of regulations limiting illegal food traders outside schools and education policies that re-balance academic focus with increased physical activity. Within migrant communities on the other hand, interventions should focus on supporting parents and providing more physical activity opportunities outside of school." Earlier research by Birmingham and Guangzhou researchers showed that the prevalence of obesity in resident children in Guangzhou was 20% compared with 14.3% in migrant children. Migrants now comprise up to 50% of the population in major cities across China. In general, they tend to have lower levels of income and education than city residents. The earlier study found that the obesity among resident urban children was higher in boys than compared with girls. It also increased as children grew older and per-capita household income and maternal education increased. Dr Weijia Liu said: "Childhood obesity is an important public health problem in China. With the cooperation of the University of Birmingham, the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control is able to deepen the research of factors contributing to childhood obesity in China. "Our research does not only provide a scientific basis for formulating effective intervention for childhood obesity in the city, but also strengthens the friendship and cooperation between the two cities." "The HPV vaccine has the potential to be one of the most significant cancer prevention tools ever developed, and it's already reducing the world's burden of cervical cancers," said ASCO President-Elect Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO. "The hope is that vaccination will also curb rising rates of HPV-related oral and genital cancers, which are hard to treat. This study confirms that the HPV vaccine can prevent oral HPV infections, but we know it only works if it's used." In one of the first large studies to explore the possible impact of HPV vaccination on oral HPV infections, researchers found it may confer a high degree of protection. The study of young adults in the United States showed that the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection was 88% lower among those who reported getting at least one vaccine dose than among those who were not vaccinated. Researchers reported that HPV vaccination rates remain low, especially among males, which limits population-level benefits of the vaccine in the U.S. The study will be presented at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. "Rates of HPV-caused oral cancers continue to rise every year in the U.S., particularly among men. And yet, no clinical trial has evaluated the potential use of the HPV vaccine for the prevention of oral HPV infections that could lead to cancer," said senior study author Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, who conducted the research at Ohio State University but is now a professor of medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "Given the absence of gold-standard, clinical trial data, we investigated whether HPV vaccine has had an impact on oral HPV infections among young adults in America," said Dr. Gillison. About the Study The authors based their study of oral HPV infections by assessing data from part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of Americans from 2009 through 2016. The NHANES is designed to assess the health and wellness of the U.S. population. advertisement In this analysis, the researchers focused on 2,627 young adults ages 18 through 33 during the period 2011-2014, comparing those who had received one or more doses of an HPV vaccine to those who had not. For the purposes of this study, the researchers evaluated the prevalence of the four HPV types (16, 18, 6 and 11) included in HPV vaccines prior to 2016 (the time at which a newer vaccine that protects against five additional HPV strains was introduced). HPV infection was detected from oral rinse samples that were collected by mobile health facilities supported by NHANES. The laboratory tests for HPV infection were developed and performed in Dr. Gillison's lab. Key Findings Vaccination Rates: The researchers found that from 2011 through 2014 fewer than 1 in 5 (18.3%) young adults in the U.S. reported receiving at least one dose of the HPV vaccine before age 26. The vaccination rate was much lower among men than women (6.9% vs. 29.2%) at this time. HPV Prevalence: Prevalence of oral HPV infections covered by the vaccine was lower among vaccinated vs. unvaccinated young adults, 0.11% vs. 1.61% -- corresponding to an 88% reduction in prevalence for vaccinated youth. In contrast, the prevalence of oral infection with 33 HPV types not covered by the vaccine was about the same between vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups (4% for those vaccinated vs. 4.7% for the unvaccinated; difference not statistically significant). U.S. Population-Level Impact of HPV Vaccination: Due to low uptake of the HPV vaccine in the U.S. thus far as reported by NHANES, the researchers estimate that the impact of HPV vaccination on the prevalence of vaccine-covered, oral HPV infections in the general population was modest, reducing prevalence by 17% overall; and by 25% in women and by about 7% in men between 2011 and 2014. "While we were encouraged that there was a notable impact of the vaccine on oral HPV infections among vaccinated individuals, that benefit was modest overall and lower than we would hope in men due to low vaccine uptake," stated Dr. Gillison. Next Steps Dr. Gillison emphasized that HPV vaccination is currently indicated for the prevention of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers in women and anal cancers in men. Whether the vaccines could eventually reduce the rising incidence of oral cancers related to oral HPV infection is thus far unknown. "The HPV vaccine is one of the most important advances in cancer prevention in the last several decades. Parents who choose to have their children vaccinated against HPV should realize that the vaccine may provide additional benefits, such as prevention of oral HPV infections linked to oral cancers," she concluded. This study received funding from The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, of the National Institutes of Health. A new Oxford University collaboration revealing the world's prime insect predation hotspots, achieved its landmark findings using an unusual aid: plasticine 'dummy caterpillars.' The fact that the tropics are home to more species than the Polar Regions is well known. However, whether or not there is likely to be more predatory behaviour nearer to the Equator because of this, has remained largely unknown. The new study published in Science has revealed a global pattern of predation on insect herbivores. The trends observed were surprising, revealing that predatory behaviour in the tropics is not driven by birds or mammals but by ants and other small arthropods. The international team made the discovery by examining a fraction of caterpillars eaten along an 11,635 km gradient from the Arctic Circle to southern Australia. The work revealed that a caterpillar living near the Equator is eight times more likely to be eaten, than a caterpillar at the poles. The findings were achieved with surprisingly simple materials. To measure local predation rates, researchers glued thousands of artificial caterpillars made from plasticine, to plants across 31 sites around the world. Predators of caterpillars, such as birds and ants, are then tricked into thinking the decoy insects are the real thing, and only realise that they have been deceived when they have taken a bite. The team then revisited sites several times to check for bite marks, and evidence of any predatory behaviour. Dr Eleanor Slade, one of the study's lead authors and a researcher in Zoology at the Universities of Oxford and Lancaster, said: 'The great thing about this method is that you can track down who the predator was by inspecting the attack marks. The jaws of an insect, like an ant, will leave two small piercings, whereas a bird beak will cause wedge-shaped marks. Mammals will leave teeth marks -- well, you get the idea." Tomas Roslin, the other lead author and Professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Helsinki, said: 'The pattern was not only mirrored on both sides of the Equator, but also appeared across elevational gradients. Moving up a mountain slope you find the same decrease in predation risk as when moving towards the Poles. This suggests a common driver could be controlling species interactions at a global scale.' advertisement Decoy insects have been used in previous ecology studies, but never before on such a broad scale. It was comparing results from these smaller initiatives that inspired the team to take their research to the next level. Eleanor Slade said: "Tomas had used plasticine caterpillars in Greenland and thought they didn't work when he found very low attack rates. I had used them in the rainforests in Borneo, and had detected very high attack rates. Just imagine if these are the two end points of a global pattern, we thought. And that is exactly what they turned out to be.' The replica insects were placed at far-flung locations across the globe, which meant that gathering the corresponding data required a lot of team work, with a total of 40 researchers from 21 countries working on the project. Bess Hardwick, the laboratory manager for the research, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, said: "This is the beauty of what are called 'distributed experiments'. As ecologists, we typically ask questions about patterns and processes much larger than we as single researchers or teams can examine. But by designing experiments that can be split into smaller work packages, we can involve collaborators all over the world, and work together to understand the bigger picture.' For the insights gained to be comparable, consistency and standardisation were key. The dummy caterpillars were designed at and sent to researchers from the projects central "hatchery," at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Moulded from green plasticine, the materials were shaped to closely resemble "loopers" (or "inchworms"). Even the glue used to attach them to plants was included in the kit to ensure the same look and smell of caterpillars across all sites. A total of 2,879 were used in the study and left at the sties over the course of four to 18 days. The caterpillars were then carefully detached from the leaves and returned to Helsinki for analysis. Led by Bess Hardwick, the team inspected the caterpillars for signs of predator-induced damage, such as bite marks. By attributing each attack mark to a specific predator group, the team was then able to identify a clear culprit behind the latitudinal gradient in attack rates. Dr Will Petry, Postdoctoral Research Associate at ETH Zurich, who contributed data and supported analysis from California, said: 'People often think of vertebrates as the most important predators in the tropics, but birds and mammals weren't the groups responsible for the increase in predation risk towards the Equator. Instead tiny arthropod predators like ants drove the pattern.' The findings may also have implications for herbivore evolution, Dr Petry said: 'Our results suggest that tropical caterpillars would do well to target their defences and camouflage specifically against arthropod predators. Closer to the poles, lower predation may allow caterpillars to let their guard down.' Professor Roslin said: 'To understand why the world stays green and is not fully consumed by hordes of caterpillars, we should appreciate the role of arthropod predators. Our findings suggest that their role may be even further accentuated towards the Equator." Herbivores in tropical forests remove 10 to 30 per cent of a plant's leaf area per year. Interactions between plants and their herbivores and predators will therefore affect forest eco-system structures, and in turn how they function. When there is higher predation of leaf-eating caterpillars this may cascade through the ecosystem, with knock-on effects for the growth and survival of plants. Uncovering a gradient in how species interact therefore provides a foundation for understanding global patterns in ecosystem processes (e.g. herbivory and plant productivity), ecosystem services, (e.g. carbon storage and crop yields), and how long-term changes in the environment may affect biodiversity. Moving forward, it is hoped that the findings will stimulate further academic investigation into whether the patterns revealed translate into cascading effects for herbivory of plant leaves, and whether these patterns will ultimately affect the structure and function of forest ecosystems. Who are you? A parent? An artist? A veteran? There are lots of different aspects of identity, and it takes more than just one to make you you. Ancient people were just as complex, but until recently, archaeologists didn't have a clear way to capture all the nuances of human identities from the past outside of broader labels like gender and social status. Individual people are an important part of the bigger human puzzle, because their unique actions accumulate to power cultural changes. Understanding them in detail gives researchers better insight into shifts that take place over generations, says Kelly Knudson. Knudson is a professor with Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change and director of its Center for Bioarchaeological Research. Together with Christina Torres-Rouff of the University of California Merced, Knudson has created a new model that brings together multiple lines of investigation to understand ancient lives on a microscale through the clues left behind in the grave. A forum paper outlining the model and its application, "Integrating Identities: An Innovative Bioarchaeological and Biogeochemical Approach to Analyzing the Multiplicity of Identities in the Mortuary Record," will be published in the June edition of Current Anthropology. "One of the things I'm excited about is our ability to simultaneously study large populations over many generations and the very intimate details of individual lives in the past," Knudson says. advertisement If tombs could talk Termed a "contextualized multiscalar bioarchaeological approach," this model explores individual identity using a mix of biological and cultural data from grave sites. The authors used it to investigate northern Chilean society during an environmental and political shift from the Middle Horizon (AD 500 -- 1100) to the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100 -- 1400). Details examined included: Cranial characteristics , which helped determine genetic relatedness at the population level. , which helped determine genetic relatedness at the population level. Modified head shapes , which demonstrated community identities, as skull shape was culturally dictated in the Andes. , which demonstrated community identities, as skull shape was culturally dictated in the Andes. Isotopic analyses , which revealed individuals' geographic origins and whether they moved during their lifetimes. , which revealed individuals' geographic origins and whether they moved during their lifetimes. Grave goods and construction , which shed light on how people were perceived and remembered by others. , which shed light on how people were perceived and remembered by others. The relationships these features had to an individual's sex, which expanded on understandings of social identity. In a comparison of two Middle Horizon-era cemeteries, the researchers found that even though the burial populations were related, they identified differently; one was much more cosmopolitan than the other, with the grave goods from distant regions like Bolivia and Argentina. Similarly, even individual graves from the same cemetery advertised unique identities. A detailed look at three neighboring tombs revealed three very different, though nearly contemporary, lives. Using their innovative blend of methods, Knudson and Torres-Rouff were able to piece together the identities of a wealthy young tradesman, a middle-aged spiritual leader and a young woman who spun colorful textiles. These graves stood in sharp contrast to graves from the Late Intermediate Period. Analysis of a burial from this time revealed a herdsman who, although honored by his community with a rare circular stone arrangement over his tomb, was buried with only a few, locally made items. Knudson and Torres-Rouff argue that as Andean society transitioned from the Middle Horizon to the Late Intermediate Period, they moved the emphasis from individual identity to community identity and from foreign connections to local isolation, likely as a response to the time's characteristic uncertainty due to widespread drought. "I was surprised to find that people hunkered down and stayed put rather than moving to better regions where it wasn't so dry," Knudson says. "I expected to see environmental refugees, but we didn't see that at all." Knowing how people were impacted by a changing climate 1,000 years ago informs not only our understanding of ancient people, but of ourselves as well. Society's response to today's challenges happens one person at a time; with this new model, we have the tools to see how that process works and how everyday lives shape history. "I think this long-term perspective is one of bioarchaeologists' very valuable contributions to the past and present," Knudson adds. An ambitious study led by San Diego State University researchers has investigated various factors that contribute to air pollution inside the house. Not surprisingly, cigarette smoke emerged as a major source of airborne particles in homes with smokers, but cleaning products, candles, frying food and marijuana smoking also jumped out as in-home air polluters. The findings are especially relevant to families with children living in low-income households; these kids are at greater risk of health problems resulting from poor air quality. "Our primary goal was to figure out what's happening in houses that leads to higher air particle levels and, in turn, to unhealthy environments for kids," said study coauthor John Bellettiere, a graduate student in the SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health. A research team led by SDSU environmental health scientist and lead author Neil Klepeis, behavioral health researcher and principal investigator Melbourne Hovell, and co-investigator Suzanne Hughes recruited into the study nearly 300 families living in San Diego with at least one child aged 14 and younger and one smoker. They installed a pair of air particle monitors in each of the homes, one in the area of the house closest to where smoking usually occurs and one in the child's bedroom. The monitors continuously scan the air for fine particles between 0.5 and 2.5 micrometers in size -- a range that includes dust, fungal spores, auto emissions and combustion byproducts. It's an important size range to human health, as these particles are of a size that can reach deep into the lungs, where they can influence a variety of health complications including breathing and cardiovascular problems. Over the course of three months, the monitors transmitted air quality data from the homes back to the researchers. On two occasions, the team conducted interviews to ask about what activities were occurring in the house at various times, such as cooking, cleaning and smoking. Finally, the scientists correlated the households' activities with their respective air quality monitor data and a clear picture emerged. Homes that reported cigarette smoking indoors had a median particle level that was close to double that of homes without indoor smoking. These particles contain nicotine and combustion byproducts well known to be dangerous to people's health, especially children's. Interestingly, marijuana smoking contributed to in-home air pollution about as much as tobacco smoking -- the first time such a finding has been reported. Finally, burning candles and incense, frying food in oil and spraying cleaning products also increased the number of fine particles in the air. The researchers reported their findings in journal PLOS ONE. "The aim of our research is, ultimately, to find effective ways to promote smoke-free homes and also to find good strategies, in general, for reducing exposure to household pollution," Klepeis said. "The findings from our work will allow for better education and feedback to families." Bellettiere says the team will follow up on its marijuana findings to find out whether the elevated air pollution that results from smoking marijuana translates into increased exposure to combustion byproducts and cannabinoids in nonsmokers living in the house. Klepeis added: "Our research team is continuing to develop novel monitoring devices and approaches that consumers can use to understand their air quality, and to explore ways that work for them and their families to reduce unhealthy pollutant exposures, especially for kids." The vast majority of coral reef fish produce large numbers of young that disperse into the ocean as larvae, drifting with the currents before settling down on a reef. Giacomo Bernardi, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, studies reef fish that buck this trend and keep their broods on the reef, protecting the young until they are big enough to fend for themselves. On a recent trip to the Philippines, Bernardi and his graduate students discovered a new species of damselfish that exhibits this unusual parental care behavior. Out of about 380 species of damselfish, only three brood-guarding species were known prior to this discovery. Bernardi's team had gone to the Philippines to study two of them, both in the genus Altrichthys, that live in shallow water off the small island of Busuanga. On the last day of the trip, the researchers went snorkeling in a remote area on the other side of the island from their study site. "Immediately, as soon as we went in the water, we saw that this was a different species," Bernardi said. "It's very unusual to see a coral reef fish guarding its babies, so it's really cool when you see it." Genetic tests on the specimens they collected confirmed that it is a new species, which the researchers named Altrichthys alelia (Alelia's damselfish, derived from the names of Bernardi's children, Alessio and Amalia, who helped with his field research). A paper on the new species was published May 18 in the journal ZooKeys. Parental care dramatically improves the chances of survival for the offspring. According to Bernardi, less than one percent of larvae that disperse into the ocean survive to settle back on a reef, whereas survival rates can be as high as 35 percent for the offspring of the Altrichthys species. Yet the parental care strategy remains rare among reef fish. "It's a huge fitness advantage, so why don't they all do that? There must also be a huge disadvantage," Bernardi said. One big disadvantage is that the young are unable to colonize new sites far from the home reef of their parents. As a result, brood-guarding species (the technical term is "apelagic" species, because they don't have a pelagic, ocean-going phase) tend to occur in highly restricted areas, which leaves them more vulnerable to extinction. "I suspect that species evolve this strategy regularly, and they are successful until there is some change to the local habitat, and then the whole population gets wiped out," Bernardi said. "These are very fragile species. The Banggai cardinalfish is one that was discovered just a few years ago in a small area in Indonesia, and it's already on the endangered species list." Page Content Across the country, employers and companies are dealing with efforts to decriminalize and legalize marijuana, both medicinal and recreational. In November 2016, by constitutional amendment, Arkansas legalized medical marijuana. Arkansas has since passed sweeping legislation targeting marijuana in the workplace, becoming one of the first states in the country to take an employer-focused approach to weed in the workplace. The November elections saw many states tackling both medical and recreational marijuana. Arkansas voters said yes to Initiative 6, the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment (MCA) of 2016. The MCA allows "qualifying patients" with certain medical conditions to buy cannabis from state-licensed dispensaries. The medical conditions include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Tourette's syndrome, Crohn's disease, PTSD, severe arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, severe nausea and several others. The MCA limits the number of state-licensed cannabis growing operations to between four and eight facilities and the number of state-licensed dispensaries to between 20 and 40. By later vote, municipalities will decide whether to allow dispensaries in their counties or cities. The MCA made it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an "individual" based on the individual's past or present status as a "qualifying patient." This is not uncommon. While very few states protect the use of medical marijuana, most all states with a medical marijuana program provide protections for participating in the program. In other words, simply being enrolled in or qualifying for a medical marijuana program is often protected. Using marijuana, however, is rarely protected by state law, and it remains absolutely illegal under federal law. Seeking to ease the burden on employers and clarify protections for employees, Arkansas recently amended the MCA. The changes were comprehensive and included: Clarifying that certifying an individual as a qualifying patient "is not a medical prescription." An important distinction for employers weighing potential ADA or FMLA issues. Limiting coverage to employers with nine or more employees. So employers with eight or less employees are not subject to the MCA's anti-discrimination provisions. With regard to the anti-discrimination provisions, they now apply only to an "applicant" or an "employee," not just any "individual." An employer cannot be sued under the MCA if acting in accordance with a drug-free workplace program or policy. An employer cannot be sued under the MCA if acting on a "good faith belief" that marijuana was possessed or used on the premises of the employer or during the hours of employment. "Good faith belief" is separately defined and examples are provided. An employer cannot be sued under the MCA if acting on a "good faith belief" that the employee or applicant was "under the influence" of marijuana while on the premises of the employer or during the hours of employment. "Under the influence" is separately defined and examples are provided. An employer cannot be sued under the MCA if excluding or removing an employee or applicant from a "safety sensitive position" based on the employer's good faith belief that he or she was engaged in the current use of marijuana. Generally, a positive drug test for marijuana cannot provide the sole basis for a good faith belief. A one-year statute of limitations has been set for any claim under the MCA. Damages under the MCA have been capped in accordance with the statutory caps in the Arkansas Civil Rights Act. Individuals (e.g., managers, supervisors, etc.) cannot be individually sued under the MCA. For Arkansas employers, it is now key to identify "safety sensitive positions" and to have written job descriptions substantiating them. It is also important to include in a written job descriptionor to otherwise have a written policy identifyingthe hours of employment. For all employers, Arkansas provides a good framework for updating written policies and implementing certain practices if you operate in a state with a medical (or recreational) marijuana program. If nothing else, regardless of where you operate, the recent focus on marijuana provides an excellent excuse for employers to review and update drug testing policies and practices. Zachary B. Busey and Nicholas L. Vescovo are attorneys with Baker Donelson in Memphis. Baker Donelson. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission. Page Content Beginning July 1, large employers in Georgia that offer paid sick leave will be required to permit their employees to use some of it to care for their immediate family members. The Georgia Legislature previously had been reticent to join the growing trend of states and cities imposing paid sick leave requirements on private sector employers. Nevertheless, on May 8, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a measure commonly referred to as a "kin care law" that will require employers that offer paid sick leave to employeesor choose to do so in the futureto allow employees to use their paid sick leave to care for their children, spouse, parents, grandparents, grandchildren or any person identified as a dependent on the employee's most recent tax return. How it Works The new law, which goes into effect on July 1, applies to employers with over 25 employees and to those employees who work at least 30 hours per week. When the law takes effect, qualifying employees will be entitled to use up to 5 days of paid sick leave per year to care for the needs of their immediate family members. Employees still must use their sick leave in accordance with the terms of their employer's policy and are only entitled to use accrued sick leave. The Georgia Legislature reportedly limited the definition of "employer" to employers with 25 or more employees in an effort to limit the impact on small businesses where increased use of paid sick leave is perceived to present more of a burden. The legislation also includes a carve-out for any "employee-owned" businesses, in which an employer offers an employee stock ownership plan; such companies are exempt from the requirements of the law. Importantly, Georgia's new law is limited to only those employers that already provide paid sick leave to their employees or that begin to do so in the future. Nothing in the new law requires an employer to offer sick leave if it otherwise does not do so, although bills that would require employers to offer paid sick leave have been introduced. Similarly, nothing in the law requires employers to offer a set amount of paid sick leave, nor does it require employers to permit employees to use more than five days of paid sick leave per calendar year for the care of an immediate family member. Notably, the new law does not contain any explicit enforcement provisions and explicitly states that it does not create a new cause of action against employers. Recommendations Employers that offer paid sick leave should consider preparing for the new law to go into effect this summer by reviewing their leave policies to ensure that they permit eligible employees to use up to five days of paid sick leave to care for immediate family members. Employers may want to consider training appropriate human resources representatives and managers on the new law, particularly because of its expansive definition of "immediate family member." Employers may also want to consider the implications under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, and the obligations that may arise when an employee requires or requests paid leave to care for a family member under the new law. Employers may want to consult with experienced employment counsel when addressing any of these issues. Shella Neba and Blaze Douglas are attorneys with Littler in Atlanta. Littler. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission. 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. In early 2017 Iran announced that it had recently flight tested Fakour-90 a copy of the American AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile. Video of the Iranian Fakour-90 missile was shown, with the missile actually being fired from an Iranian F-14A aircraft. Actually Iran had announced the Fakour-90 missile as ready for production in 2011 but since then there was no evidence that such a missile was in use. This sort of thing is nothing new for Iran. In the 1970s pre-revolution Iran was the only export customer for the American F-14 Tomcat carrier fighter. When the monarchy was replaced in 1979 by what would eventually become a religious dictatorship the F-14 remained in Iranian service along with some AIM-54 missiles that were said to be sabotaged by American technicians before they fled the country. Since then Iran has begged, borrowed and even stolen parts to keep some of the F-14As operational. To demonstrate this Iran had 25 of their F-14s perform a fly-over in the capital (Tehran) during 1985. But three decades later Iran still had about fifty (of the original 79) F-14As but only about a dozen were flyable. By 2007 it was believed that Iran had managed to keep only about three of its three-decade old F-14A jets to operational status. That in itself was seen as a major accomplishment. By 2011 it appeared that at least a ten more F-14As have been restored. Then the U.S. discovered that China had been supplying Iran with Chinese made parts for its U.S. aircraft. But the Chinese also provided parts from retired F-14s that were sold to authorized dealers (who agreed not to export the parts to Iran.) China has also supplied Iran with custom made F-14 components, for parts that were not obtainable from the United States. Finally, China was discreet about all this, until American investigations of Iran's F-14 support program began to bring out more details. This was partly because more Iranians were fleeing their homeland, and bringing more details of secret programs with them. The Chinese support for the Iranian F-14s has been going on for years and was a major factor in Iran announcing its F-14 refurbishment program in 2002. The Iranians also knew that the U.S. had been retiring their F-14s (the last one went in 2006) and that most of these would be sold for scrap. During the 1980s the Iranian F-14s were heavily used in the war with Iraq. In the last year of the war, 1988, an F-14 shot down an Iraqi jet, one of over 80 knocked down by their F-14s since 1980. That much is known, because there were witnesses and other evidence. Less well known is that Iran established a smuggling operation to obtain F-14 parts, and manufactured some itself. Russia (and later China) also helped with some custom made parts and refurbishment services. But going into the 1990s, fewer and fewer Iranian F-14s were seen in the air. Whenever an F-14 took off it was big news, and difficult to hide. Word got around, and with hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in exile, the word was passed on. Thus a 2002 claim that 25 Iranian F-14s were operational was not taken seriously. But by 2011 more F-14s were seen in the air, but don't expect another major, or even minor, flyover in Tehran. It was at that point Iran announced the Fakour-90 without mentioning that their supply of U.S. made AIM-54s ran out in the late 1990s. The U.S. Navys AIM-54 was withdrawn from service in late 2004. The Phoenix entered service in 1974, after about a decade of development. The Phoenix was quite high tech for its time. AIM-54 could hit a target up to 200 kilometers distant. The missile was designed solely for use on the F-14 fighter, which contained the powerful radar and fire control system required to make the Phoenix work. The F-14 could track 24 targets at once, and fire six missiles, in rapid succession, at six different targets. In the first full test, four out of six targets, all over 80 kilometers distant, were shot down. The half-ton missile traveled at a speed of over 1,300 meters a second and had a 62 kg (135 pound) warhead. It was an expensive missile, costing about $1.5 million dollars each (in 2017 dollars). During the 1980s the AIM-54 underwent upgrades, mainly in its electronics. Over 5,000 were built, but AIM-54 never shot down anything in combat. There are unconfirmed reports of Iranian F-14s using Phoenix missiles to down Iraqi aircraft during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, and in several other incidents. Iran was the only foreign nation to receive the AIM-54 (285 of them). One U.S. Navy AIM-54 was fired during the 1991 Gulf War, at an Iraqi helicopter. It missed. The Phoenix was not designed to take down helicopters. The main target was to be Russian bombers trying to get close enough to American aircraft carriers to launch their anti-ship missiles. This it did very well in numerous tests. That scenario become moot when the Cold War ended in 1991. So Phoenix died a virgin. Other countries still pose the same kind of threat Phoenix was designed to handle, but they can be dealt with using the more modern air-to-air missiles like the AMRAAM. This is what the Fakour-90 appears to be duplicating or, more likely, similar Russian and Chinese missiles it has had access to. A team of UN technical experts and sanctions investigators issued a report in early 2017 agreeing with South Korean allegations that North Korea was not only obtaining key components and manufacturing equipment via China but also prohibited raw materials and cooperation from Chinese banks and companies to pay suppliers and hide these activities from outside scrutiny. The Chinese government still denies knowledge of these activities but the latest evidence was so detailed and well documented that China did admit it must be acted on. What made this report possible was an unpublicized equipment failure in the February 2016 launch of a three stage Unha rocket. This was described as part of the North Korean space program to put satellites into orbit. The equipment failure had to do with the explosive charges in the first and second stages (which fall back to earth largely intact). Many of these explosives did not go off. South Korea knew that tests of three stage ballistic missiles (that can be used to reach North America or put a satellite into orbit) provide the most recoverable parts. For years South Korea has been recovering many components of the large rockets because the first two stages fall back to earth in the ocean way offshore in international waters. This incident left a lot more components largely intact and as South Korean investigators sought to identify how (or where) they were manufactured they discovered that many of the previously unidentifiable components (because of the self-destruct charges) were made using more advanced manufacturing technology than what North Korea was supposed to have access to. Further digging revealed that the manufacturing equipment was of European origins but was exported to China, via a contract that clearly stated none of it was to be exported to North Korea. The UN investigators not only confirmed the South Korean allegations but were able to uncover even more details. The Chinese government was forced to admit that certain Chinese firms were defying Chinese sanctions and smuggling the technology and some of the needed software and raw materials to North Korea. Before 2016 South Korean engineers concluded that the construction of the missile components retrieved appeared to be sloppy and there were some foreign components in the rocket but there was not enough recoverable evidence of anything more. Thus until 2016 the South Koreans concluded that the North Korean components and construction techniques were crude but effective, if not as reliable and efficient as Western or Russian designs. South Korean missile experts also concluded that physical evidence indicated North Korea had not developed any new ballistic missile technology, or even manufactured many new missile parts since at least 2012. It was in 2012 they South Korea began to recover components of North Korea multi-stage ballistic missiles and examine them. By 2012 South Korea had developed technology and techniques to retrieve a lot of these components and have South Korean and foreign experts closely examine them. Initially South Korean engineers and scientists concluded that most of the components appear to have been made in North Korea. The longest range rockets were based on much older (1960s and 70s) technology and the design of the rocket engine was almost identical to one built in Iran. Many of the imported components of the missile were items that are not covered by sanctions, as they have many other industrial uses. The Iranian connection was long known as was North Korean access to older Russian rocket technology. North Korea had carried out an impressive deception scheme that was largely undone by the failure of the self-destruct system for missile stages known to fall back into international waters where they could be recovered, even from great depths, if someone devoted enough time, effort, technology and money to the effort. But all such deception plans have potential weaknesses and malfunctioning self-destruct systems and dogged efforts by South Korean and UN investigators was one of them. Another vulnerability was China getting angry at North Korea for defying demands that they cease their nuclear weapons program (which was also getting illegal foreign tech) and freely exploiting the corruption inside China that tended to leave Chinese companies alone if their illegal dealings were discreet and the firm was bringing new revenue to China. That has changed, at least for Chinese firms that left enough clues behind for foreign investigators to collect and put in front of senior Chinese officials. by Austin Bay May 17, 2017 The so-called WannaCry computer virus attack that began on May 12 appears to be a global extortion operation. The attackers demanded that victims with infected computers pay a ransom if they wanted their information restored. Otherwise, the victims' information would be destroyed. Investigators speculate that a hacker group called The Shadow Brokers created the malware. According to the latest estimate, the WannaCry malware damaged over 500,000 computers in at least 150 countries. At this point, no one knows just how much ransom money the extortionists have gleaned from their crime -- and it seems to be a crime. However, this crime has all the marks of a successful "disruptor" attack in warfare, an attack designed to confuse and destabilize an adversary. A disruptor attack could cause physical destruction, but its critical goals are to disrupt the adversary's plans and demoralize him. WannaCry certainly disrupted businesses. The classic 1930s American mobster extortionist would break the grocer's storefront window or start a fire in the shoe store's office. WannaCry burned the office in cyberspace. The immediate effect is lost productivity, and that is an economic cost. The crime also spread fear and doubt -- fear of future attacks on computer vulnerabilities and doubt about security. Even precautions disrupt. For example, media reported that banks in India shut down several thousand ATMs because technicians feared WannaCry might infect them. Note that I didn't say the attack spread "terror." However, terrorists seek to incite paralyzing fear and seed doubt about a society's ability to defend itself. Clever criminal hackers can leave false clues to deceive police and cyber security services attempting to identify them. The same problem exists in national security. Cyber warfare is sometimes classified as a type of "gray zone" or "gray area" warfare. Cyber attacks don't use bullets and don't leave telltale bomb craters. "Gray zone" warfare encompasses more than cyber stacks. Russian propagandists succeed in portraying the "one bite at a time" battles the Kremlin orchestrates in eastern Ukraine as somewhere between war and peace. Chinese air force colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui explored this gray region in their 1999 treatise, "Unrestricted Warfare." Subtle attacks on an economy may be gray zone warfare. Thirteen years ago, I wrote a column on "agricultural terror," a sub-division of biological terror which is occasionally called "food terror." That post-9/11 column reviewed Great Britain's struggle with an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease that began infecting British cattle in early 2001. I was aware of several analytic war games conducted by federal and state government agencies that had explored U.S. agro-terror vulnerabilities. Terror attacks on food resources and production obviously threaten farm animals, plants and the food supply chain, but agro-terror is also economic terror. Cattle feedlots, with up to 10,000 animals packed into a small space, are a potential target. Spreading FMD among U.S. cattle herds could leads to losses in the billions of dollars. Agro-terror also produces a loss of public confidence in the food supply -- panic occurs, prices spike, fear spreads. Animal FMD may not kill humans (it can cause a mild illness), but try and explain that to a frightened public. However, its lack of human fatalities make it a potential gray zone weapon. Agro-terror isn't theoretical, though the following example may rate as agro-extortion of a peculiar type. In late 1989, a group called The Breeders announced that it had released Mediterranean fruit flies in several California counties. The group threatened to expand its attack to other areas unless the state banned the use of Malathion pesticide in aerial spraying. The state confirmed that there was a medfly infestation and concluded that someone may have intentionally spread the insects. Within three months, California ended the use of Malathion in aerial spraying. The infestation was finally eradicated by using sterilized medflies to interrupt the breeding cycle. The extortionist-terrorists eventually got what they demanded. Peace efforts in the north are not making a lot of progress and the corrupt generals who surrendered power in 2011 are not only still in business but increasingly fighting back against their critics. The violence against Moslems by Buddhist nationalists continues but at a greatly diminished rate. China continues to try and buy as much of the country as it can, despite growing resistance. In other words, nothing much has changed recently. The North Never Forgets Efforts to finally obtain a peace deal in the north continue slowly. In late 2016 the government and various tribal groups agreed to continue with the twice a year Panglong Conferences in an effort to negotiate a long term peace deal. The next meeting is on May 24th and prospects appear slim, even though 700 delegates will be at the meeting. This time everyone is invited, not just those who signed the NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement). The tribes continue to find it difficult to unite, even something that is mutually beneficial to all the tribes. Most tribal organizations now supports the idea of a peace deal but have been unable to achieve much progress on key issues. The causes of all this tribal strife go back a long way. Fighting between government forces and tribal rebels has, since 1948, left about 200,000 dead and crippled economic growth in the border areas being fought over. Officially known as the Union Peace Conference 21st Century Panglong conferences this is a long sought effort to update the original 1947 Panglong Conference held between the tribes and British colonial authorities just before Burma became independent. The 1947 conference got agreement for the tribal territories to be incorporated into Burma rather than remain a collection of tribal territories independent of any central government. World War II had just ended and the tribal territories of northern Burma and northeast India had been heavily involved because these areas had been a battleground for Japanese, British, Indian and tribal forces. The British convinced the tribes that being part of a larger neighbor (in this case former British colonies India and Burma) would be preferable to the pre-colonial chaos. The goal now is to create a mutually acceptable federal form of government in the tribal territories. The idea is to keep the Panglong Conferences going until there is a general agreement. India has been more successful with its tribes but still has trouble with some separatist tribal rebels. In Burma there are two major problems with getting the tribal situation. First there are the many complex disagreements between the Burmese government and the tribes in general. Then there are the many disputes between various tribes. Many of the tribal coalitions are held together mainly by the need to unite for mutual defense from the army attacks and sometimes other tribes as well. Peace with the national government leads to more factionalism among the tribal coalitions. This is already happening in those areas that have been a peace for a year or so. As democracy returned to Burma in 2011 the army was forced to reduce their operations against the tribes. That process is continuing and with comes more opportunities for tribes to revive ancient feuds. In addition to the new fighting between tribes there is the fact that some major tribal militias are not quite ready to negotiate. Most of these groups were allowed to observe the recent Panglong Conference but not participate. These observer groups are the MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army), TNLA (Tang National Liberation Army) and AA (Arakan Army), which all have serious territorial and economic disputes with the army. In Shan state, for example, the army and tribes are fighting over lucrative coal mining operations. In Kachin state the army violence is connected with the illegal gold mining. One reason for the new attitudes by the military is that more rebels are resisting. That, in part, is because the new government has also passed laws allowing northerners to legally start and operate their own radio stations and this has brought more people up there together in opposition to the various outlaw operations they must deal with daily. Most of those illegal operations are made possible by corrupt politicians and illegal foreign investments (mainly from China) and Burmese generals paid off to keep the angry tribal rebels from interfering. May 17, 2017: In the north (Kachin State) four jade miners were shot dead by soldiers who were guarding a jade mining site owned by a company partly controlled by senior military officers. This latest incident made the news because the four dead miners (and eleven others wounded) were local scavengers who scoured abandoned (because the owners felt there was not enough jade left to be worth extracting) jade mining sites. The soldiers were not on duty but were working second jobs to provide security for the jade mines and keep scavengers away to prevent accidental deaths and more unwelcome publicity. The scavengers have few other employment options and are not deterred by armed guards. The shooting incident comes a day after the mine owners managed to get the government to ban the showing of a new film (Jade and the Generals) that details the largely illegal jade mines of northern Burma. While the film could not be shown in Burmese theaters, it was available online and now the mine owners have another massive dose of unwanted publicity. Until now the only newsworthy incidents at the jade mines were about those who died in work related landslides. Since late 2015 (when a landslide killed over 200 miners) the government has threatened to suspend jade mining until acceptable environmental and safety procedures could be agreed on and implemented. Some work has been done on that but these new rules did not apply to the freelance jade miners who work illegally and are taking advantage of any mining bans to keep working. All the recent jade miner fatalities have been freelancers, usually inexperienced scavengers working in unstable areas that have already been scoured by professionals for nearly all the jade that was there. The main reason the government wants to reduce miner deaths is to halt all the bad publicity, which has forced the government to at least pretend to do something about what had been going on illegally in the north for decades. Efforts to enforce existing laws banning such activities and more forceful efforts to curb illegal jade mining did not work. Until now government threats caused unease among many of those involved in the largely illegal jade industry but had not slowed down production much. If anything jade mining has increased during 20i6 with some 300,000 workers, mostly manual laborers (and often illegal migrants) working in a 700 square kilometer area that, from the air, looks like a wasteland with dozens of hills leveled and the debris left in unstable heaps that cause most of the landslides. This was believed to be a good time for the government to try and reform the jade business. Demand and prices are way down in China and the jade producers have to increase production to make any money at all. That means the jade mining is more visible from the air (which the government controls) and space (where even commercial satellite photos show the jade operations). The tribes involved in the jade trade would normally fight hard to oppose any government crackdown but because many of the people killed in the jade mining incidents are from the north there is less justifications for the tribal militias to get involved. Most jade mining activity is 650 kilometers north of the Burmese capital. The fatal landslides occur because the jade mining often involves removing most of the vegetation on a hillside. With the trees and shrubs gone there is nothing to hold soil together when there are heavy rains. All this has brought a lot of unwanted publicity to the jade trade. Burma is the main source of jade on the planet and is a $30 billion a year operation in Burma. Yet only about one percent of that is taxed and half of the jade is found by illegal mining operations and is quietly sold to Chinese traders. Most of the illegal jade trade is controlled by Burmese military officers who have connections inside China. The rest is controlled by tribal rebels, mainly the Wa of the UWSA (United Wa State Army). Most of the jade is in the northern tribal territories and the army is constantly fighting with tribal rebels who are seeking to make some money in the jade producing areas. The corrupt Burmese generals and businessmen and their Chinese counterparts are not eager to give up the jade profits but they are now in a weak position. A lot of the current fighting in Kachin State is a continuation of this decades old Jade War. Local tribes have long complained that all the illegal jade and gold mining ruins many water supplies (streams and lakes) but since outsiders (military and tribal warlords) dominate and protect the illegal mining, no one cares about some bad water except a few locals. But that has changed since 2011 because all the publicity has forced the Chinese government to at least recognize that the problem exists, mainly because of Chinese demand for jade and Chinese providing the cash and access to Chinese made earth moving equipment and corrupt border guards who let the illegal cash and equipment into Burma and the valuable (and untaxed on either side of the border) jade out. The Chinese are now willing to help crack down on the jade and other smuggling because it involves items popular with many corrupt Chinese officials. May 16, 2017: In the south (the port city of Yangon, formerly Rangoon and the largest city in Burma) police seem to have ended over a week of anti-Moslem violence by arresting eight Buddhist vigilantes. May 14, 2017: For the second time this year there was a major clash between Burmese drug smugglers just across the border in Thailand (Chiang Mai province). This time Thai soldiers on patrol at night two kilometers from the border encountered a group of at least fifteen armed men apparently from Burma. When ordered to stop the intruders opened fire and fled. During a running gun battle that lasted about ten minutes the drug smugglers seemed to disappear into the darkness. The soldiers were unable to pursue in the dark so they called for reinforcements and established a defensive perimeter. Soon after dawn the troops searched the area and found eight dead smugglers (apparently from one of the Burmese tribes active in the drug trade) and six backpacks containing 600,000 methamphetamine pills. Also found were two M16 and one AK47 assault rifles and other equipment. Thailand continues having problems with the drug trade in neighboring Burma, where the northern tribes fight to resist government efforts to suppress the drug production. The largest state in the north (Shan state) has illegal drugs as the mainstay of the economy. The Burmese methamphetamine is a regional problem and in each of the last few years over a billion dollars in meth (usually in pill form) was seized in neighboring countries. After 2008 annual seizures rapidly increased and are now several hundred million doses of methamphetamine, worth over a billion dollars. Methamphetamine is the most popular drug in Southeast Asia and there are believed to be nearly a million meth addicts in Thailand, plus many tourists who indulge. Most (nearly half) of the seized pills are taken in China, followed by Thailand and most of it is coming from meth labs in northern Burma. The Burmese meth has become hugely popular in China, which is pressuring the Burmese government to do more about the problem and that has resulted in more police activity up there, but not enough to put a dent in the drug business. The Thais and Chinese are aware that the Burmese drug gangs have local security forces on the payroll, which is why these clashes with Burmese drug smugglers only seem to happen in Thailand. China plays down the fact that the smugglers dont have much trouble on the Chinese side of the border because of the corruption. May 11, 2017: In the northwest (Rakhine State) A Chinese state owned firm (CITIC) proposes to take an ownership share (85 percent) of the new port being built at Kyaukpyu. The Chinese are financing and building the port facilities there and want to convert what was originally a $9 billion loan into an ownership stake. This would give China control of yet another newly built port near India. This proposal is not unexpected and became more likely after the completion (in 2015) of a 770 kilometer oil pipeline from China. The pipeline can move about 4.5 million barrels of oil a day. Back in 2013 a 2,500 kilometer natural gas pipeline from Burmese gas fields into China was completed and began operation. About a third of the pipeline is in Burma, the rest is in China. This pipeline delivers 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year. This is equivalent (in terms of energy) to 15 million barrels of oil. The Burmese gas replaces the more expensive liquefied natural gas in three provinces of southwest China as well as eliminates the need for 30 million tons of coal a year (a major source of air pollution). The success of the pipeline deal led to a January 2016 agreement that had Chinese firms investing over $9 billion to develop a SEZ (Special Economic Zone) around the pipeline terminal that will include the Kyaukpyu deep water port and a huge (1,000 hectare/2,500 acre) industrial park. China is said to have offered an additional inducement to allow the port ownership. If this was permitted China would abandon construction of an unpopular dam in Kachin State. This damn destroyed much land long used by local tribes and sends over 80 percent of the electricity generated to China. May 9, 2017: In the south (Yangon) of anti-Moslem Buddhist vigilantes entered a Moslem neighborhood seeking Rohingyas they believed to be there illegally. Moslem men quickly assembled to confront the 30 or so vigilantes and a brawl began. The locals had also called the police who soon arrived and intervened. One Moslem man was wounded in the fighting. May 8, 2017: In the north (Kachin State) the KIO (Kachin Independence Organization) and the WNO (Wa National Organization) withdrew from the tribal coalition (United Nationalities Federal Council or UNFC). This was not unexpected because many of the Kachin tribes survive (some thrive) by taxing illegal mining and logging, something that Burmese government officials would continue doing, but with less restraint, if the tribes made peace and the rebels disappeared. The Wa rebels (UWSA or United Wa State Army) live in Shan state near the Chinese border have long been allies and business partners with the Kachin groups. The armed tribal rebels, especially the ones involved with the drug business, are not all that popular where they operate. Thats because the rebels encourage (sometimes coerce) local teenagers to join the rebels. These recruits get paid, but often not enough to justify the risk of getting killed or dying from disease or accident in the jungle. May 5, 2017: In the northwest (Rakhine State) there was a loud explosion outside a rural village (Thaenhi) that attracted police attention. After a three day investigation police found a recent grave containing two bodies that appeared to have died when a bomb was being built but went off prematurely. A week later the investigation continues. Police discovered bomb making materials and determined that devices being built were landmines. Police suspected there was some Islamic terrorist activity in the area because of an October 2016 Islamic terrorist. That was followed by security forces seeking suspects and information. This led to hundreds of Burmese Moslems killed and many more arrested. It is still unclear exactly who was behind the three guard posts on the Bangladesh border being attacked on October 9th by over 200 men armed with a few firearms and, for most of them, swords, spears and clubs. This left eight border guards dead and more soldiers died during operations after the attacks. All the weapons (several dozen firearms and 10,000 rounds of ammo) and equipment at guard posts were taken as the attackers fled. Thousands of Burmese Moslems (nearly all Rohingya) fled to Bangladesh as a result of the army reaction. Since 2012 nearly 170,000 Rohingya have fled Burma, most making an effort to leave the region (usually via Malaysia). Over 400,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes and take refuge elsewhere in Burma since 2012. April 29, 2017: In the north (Shan State) soldiers launched an offensive against TNLA tribal rebels. The troops arrived in the area four days ago with the obvious intention of staging a major operation. April 17, 2017: In the south (Yangon) police found the body of a publisher who has long put out a magazine (The Iron Rose Weekly News) detailing the corruption and other criminal behavior of the military and government officials. The victim was stabbed to death in his office over the weekend. This is the second critic of the former military government to be murdered this year, and other report getting threats. March 28, 2017: In the north several thousand Chinese troops carried out training exercises near the Burma border. These exercises involved live fire (actual artillery and aerial bombs) against ground targets. China has been trying to persuade the Burmese government to do something about reducing the fighting (between soldiers and tribal rebels) on Burmese side of the border. This border disorder has resulted in more Burmese refugees fleeing from the violence. As many as 5,000 a week were crossing into China. This is happening despite the Chinese government ordering soldiers and police to stop Burmese refugees at the border in addition to finding those illegally inside China and forcing them to leave. These new policies (as of January) made entering China more difficult and forced those already in China to hide (or pay bribes). China complains that the latest outbreak of tribal rebel violence in Shan and Kachin States had driven over 50,000 Burmese into China since October and interfered with trade and movement across the border. March 24, 2017: Burma has ordered more military equipment from India. In this case it is $40 million worth of lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes. India has earlier sold Burma submarine detection equipment. The Indian made Shyena lightweight anti-submarine torpedo is a recent development. This is the first export sale and the Indian Navy has apparently only received a few dozen of them. For India Shyena replaces the Italian A244S, a 254 kg (559 pound) model widely used (by 16 nations) since the early 1980s model. These smaller torpedoes are used mainly for anti-submarine warfare and are usually fired from helicopters, naval patrol aircraft or warships. India bought 450 of the A244S but obtained a license to manufacture their version (called NST58) in India and because of that was able to develop local suppliers for nearly all the components. The following companies are subsidiares of Becton, Dickinson and: Accuri Cytometers, Accuri Cytometers Inc., Alverix Inc, Alverix Inc., Atto Bioscience Inc, BD Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., BD Infection Prevention BV, BD Kiestra BV, BD Kiestra Total Lab Automation, BD Rapid Diagnostic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., BD San Luis Potosi S.A. de C.V., BD Switzerland Sarl, BD Ventures LLC, BD West Africa Limited, BDX INO LLC, Bard (Thailand) Limited, Bard ASDI Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc., Bard Acquisition Sub Inc., Bard Australia Pty. Limited, Bard Benelux N.V., Bard Brachytherapy Inc., Bard Brasil Industria e Comercio de Produtos Para a Saude Ltda., Bard Canada Inc., Bard Chile S.p.A., Bard Czech Republic s.r.o., Bard Devices Inc., Bard Dublin ITC Limited, Bard EMEA Finance Center Sp.z o.o., Bard European Distribution Center N.V., Bard Finance B.V. & Co. KG., Bard Financial Services Ltd., Bard Finland OY, Bard France S.A.S., Bard Global Holdings I LLC, Bard Global Holdings II LLC, Bard Global Holdings III LLC, Bard Healthcare Inc., Bard Healthcare Science (Shanghai) Limited, Bard Hellas S.A., Bard Holding SAS, Bard Holdings Limited, Bard Holdings Netherlands B.V., Bard Hong Kong Limited, Bard IP Holdings Inc., Bard India Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Bard International Holdings B.V., Bard International Inc., Bard Istanbul Healthcare Limited Company, Bard Korea Ltd., Bard Limited, Bard MRL Acquisition Corp., Bard Malaysia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd., Bard Medica SA, Bard Medical Devices (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical SA (Proprietary) Limited, Bard Mexico Realty S. de R.L. de C.V., Bard Norden AB, Bard Norway AS, Bard Pacific Health Care Company Ltd., Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., Bard Poland Sp. z.o.o., Bard Productos Plasticos e Medicos Ltda., Bard Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Bard S.r.l., Bard Sdn. Bhd., Bard Shannon Limited, Bard Singapore Private Limited, Bard Sourcing Office Singapore Pte. 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S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy UK, Becton Dickinson Insulin Syringe Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings II Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings III Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Israel Ltd., Becton Dickinson Italia S.p.A., Becton Dickinson Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi, Becton Dickinson Korea Holding Inc., Becton Dickinson Korea Ltd., Becton Dickinson Ltd., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Global Holdings Sarl, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings II S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings III S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings V S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Malaysia Inc., Becton Dickinson Management GmbH & Co. KG, Becton Dickinson Matrex Holdings Inc., Becton Dickinson Medical (S) Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Products Pte. 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Bard Inc, CME America LLC, CME Ltd., CME Medical (UK) Limited, CME UK (Holdings) Limited, CRISI Medical Systems, CRISI Medical Systems Inc., Caesarea Medical Electronics, Cardal II LLC, Care Fusion Development Private Limited, CareFusion (Barbados) SrL, CareFusion (Shanghai) Commercial and Trading Co. Limited, CareFusion 213 LLC, CareFusion 2200 Inc., CareFusion 2201 Inc., CareFusion 302 LLC, CareFusion 303 Inc., CareFusion Asia (HK) Limited, CareFusion Corporation, CareFusion Corporation., CareFusion D.R. 203 Ltd., CareFusion France 309 S.A.S., CareFusion Israel 330 Ltd., CareFusion Italy 312 S.p.A., CareFusion Manufacturing LLC, CareFusion Mexico 215 S.A. de C.V., CareFusion Netherlands 328 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 503 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 504 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands Financing 283 C.V., CareFusion Resources LLC, CareFusion S.A. 319 (Proprietary) Limited, CareFusion Solutions LLC, CareFusion U.K. 244 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 305 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 306 Limited, Carmel Pharma AB, Carmel Pharma Inc, Cato Software Solutions, Cell Analysis Systems Inc, Cellular Research, Cellular Research Inc., Clearstream Technologies Group Limited, Clearstream Technologies Limited, Clontech Laboratories Inc, Corporativo BD de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Critical Device Corporation, Cubex, Cytognos, Cytopeia Inc, DLD (Bermuda) Ltd., DVL Acquisition Sub Inc., Davol Inc., Davol International Limited, Davol Surgical Innovations S.A. de C.V., Difco Laboratories Incorporated, Distribuidora BD Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dutch American Manufacturers (D.A.M.) B.V., Dymax Corporation, Embo Medical Limited, Enturia de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Enturican Inc., FJ International Inc., FlowCardia Inc., FlowCardia LLC, FlowJo LLC, Franklin Lakes Enterprises L.L.C., GSL Solutions, Gamer Lasertechnik GmbH, GenCell Biosystems, GenCell Biosystems Ltd., GeneOhm Sciences Canada ULC, GeneOhm Sciences Inc, Gentest Corporation, Gesco International Inc., Gesco International LLC, Glentech Inc, HandyLab Inc, HandyLab Inc., IBD Holdings LLC, Iontophoretics Corporation, JoHome LLC, Kabushiki Kaisha Medicon (Medicon Inc.), Liberator Health and Education Services Inc., Liberator Health and Wellness Inc., Liberator Medical Holdings Inc., Liberator Medical Supply Inc., Limited Liability Company Bard Rus, Loma Vista Medical Inc., Loma Vista Medical LLC, Luther Medical Products Inc, Lutonix Inc., Med-Design Corporation, Med-Design Investment Holdings Inc., Med-Safe Systems Inc, Med-Safe Systems Inc., MedChem Products Inc., Medafor Inc., Medegen LLC, Medinservice.com Inc., Medivance Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NOW Medical Distribution Inc., NOW Medical Distribution LLC, Navarre Biomedical LLC, Navarre Biomedical Ltd., Neomend Inc., Nippon Becton Dickinson Company Ltd., Omega Biosystems Incorporated, P.R.C. (Isialys) Societe a responsabilitie limitee, PT Becton Dickinson Indonesia, PharMingen, PharMingen., Plasso Technology Ltd, PreAnalytiX GmbH, Pristine Access Technologies Inc., ProSeed Inc., Procesos para Esterilizacion S.A. de C.V., Productos Bard de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Productos Para el Cuidado de la Salud S.A. de C.V., Puls Medical Devices AS LC, PureWick Corporation, Roberts Laboratories Inc., Rochester Medical Corporation, Rochester Medical Ltd., Saf-T-Med Inc, Safety Syringes Inc., Scanwell Health Inc., Sendal S.L.U., SenoRx Inc., SenoRx LLC, Shield Healthcare Centers Inc., Sirigen Group Limited, Sirigen II Limited, Sirigen Inc., Sistemas Medicos ALARIS S.A. de C.V., Specialized Cooperative Corporation, Specialized Health Products Inc., Specialized Health Products International Inc., Specialized Health Products International LLC, Staged Diabetes Management LLC, Straub Medical AG, Straub Medical AG, Surgical Site Solutions Inc., TVA Medical Inc, TVA Medical Inc., Tepha Inc, Tepha Inc., Tissuemed Ltd., Tri-County Medical & Ostomy Supplies Inc., TriPath Imaging Inc., Tru-Fit Marketing Corporation, Vas-Cath Incorporated, Vascular Pathways Inc., Velano Vascular, Velano Vascular Inc., Venclose Inc., Venetec International Inc., Venetec International LLC, Visitec, Y-Med Inc., Y-Med LLC, and ZebraSci Inc.. Read More Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut. PARISAmazon.com Inc.s development of package-delivery drones is progressing to the point where the company is now thinking a lot about geese. The e-commerce company said Thursday it has started development of an air-traffic control system to manage its fleet as the drones fly from warehouses to customers doors. Amazon created a new research and development team near Paris, where about a dozen software engineers and developers will build a system aimed at ensuring flying delivery vehicles dont collide with buildings, trees, other drones or and most unpredictable of all birds. Or, to use aviation industry jargon, non-collaborative flying objects. Geese will never be collaborative so we have to sense and avoid those obstacles, said Paul Misener, Amazons vice president for global innovation policy and communications. Going from a warehouse to a customers location, a drone has to fly in the right direction, find it, but also avoid all the things along the way. Amazon decided to build its own traffic-control system after concluding whats available isnt adequate for a large fleet of autonomous drones. The company has hired engineers with expertise in aviation as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence. Misener said France was selected because of the availability of talented engineers interested in this area of aviation. The country has a rich history in mathematics education and companies including Facebook Inc., Google and General Electric Co. have also set up research facilities in Paris. Unlike an air-traffic control system used by airlines, Misener said a program for drones is more complicated because the vehicles fly at lower heights and must account for more obstacles. The management system will integrate detailed maps including temporary objects such as construction cranes as well as information about bad weather conditions. Drones will be programmed with instructions on how to react if they come near or strike a bird. However, similar to systems used by airlines, Amazon said the software it was developing will be loaded onto the drones themselves to allow the vehicles to communicate risks in real-time with each other, as well as a central control centre. In an interview at Amazons French headquarters in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Misener didnt give a timeline for when drones will be widely available for Amazon customers. He said it will depend largely on government regulations and the companys ability to prove its safe. This is highly regulated, he said. Were not going to launch this until we can demonstrate its safety. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration released rules last year that restricts drone flights over densely populated areas. If those rules hold, it would mean Amazons service would be restricted to more rural areas. Misener said regulations would likely mean some areas will get drone deliveries before others. Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos first announced the companys drone plans in 2013 as a way to deliver certain items to customers within 30 minutes. Misener gives the example of a guy realizing hes out of toothpaste before a date. Amazon has said about 85 per cent of the products on its website are light enough to be delivered by drone. When making a delivery, Amazon has proposed the vehicles will fly at heights between 200 feet and 400 feet, equivalent to being higher than an eight-story building. The drones, which will operate autonomously without a pilot, will fly at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. Amazon is conducting drone research in the U.K., Austria and the U.S. In Cambridge, about 60 miles from London, the company has been testing deliveries. France was one of the first countries to regulate commercial drone use in 2012, a move thats supported the growth of local companies from toy-aircraft maker Parrot SA to Delair-Tech, a maker of flying devices for farming to mining. In addition to building tools for managing its own drone fleet, Amazon said it has also been working with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Union and other countries to develop a broader traffic system for co-ordinating all drone flights in the air. Managing the air traffic control for big air crafts up at high altitudes is very different from this, Misener said. Beyond government regulation, one of Amazons most difficult jobs will be winning over people wary of package-carrying drones flying over head. We arent unaware, he says, that society has to accept this. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONThe next potential Canada-U.S. trade dispute unfolded Thursday as aerospace giants clashed at a Washington hearing that marked the formal launch of investigations into Boeings allegations that Bombardier received subsidies allowing it to sell its CSeries planes at below-market prices. The U.S. market is the most open in the world, but we must take action if our rules are being broken, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement after the hearing began. While assuring the case is decided strictly on a full and fair assessment of the facts, we will do everything in our power to stand up for American companies and their workers. U.S. aeronautics powerhouse Boeing argued at the hearing that duties should be imposed on Bombardier aircraft, insisting its smaller Montreal-based rival receives government subsidies that give it an illicit toehold in the international market. Lobbyists, lawyers and aerospace executives crowded the room for a little battle playing out in the broader context of the days larger trade news: the U.S. announcement that NAFTA renegotiations will start in the next 90 days. Bombardier has made it clear that its true goal is to grab half the international market share for 100-to-150-seat aircraft, according to Boeing, which argues its rival has received an unfair head start from Canadian taxpayers. Boeing vice-president Raymond Conner said the sale of cheap, subsidized planes to Delta Air Lines helped build momentum for Bombardier to enter a new market. If Bombardier reaches its stated goal, he said, it would squeeze Boeing from that market and cost the company US$330 million a year in annual sales. Today we are at a critical moment, Conner told the seven-member U.S. International Trade Commission. If you dont fix it now, it will be too late to do anything about it later . . . What we want is competition that is fair . . . You guys can fix this before it is too late. Boeing has petitioned the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate subsidies of Bombardiers CSeries aircraft that it says have allowed the company to export planes at well below cost. A preliminary determination on the petition is expected by June 12. If the ITC determines there is a threat of injury to the U.S. industry, preliminary countervailing duties could be announced in July, followed in October by preliminary anti-dumping duties, unless the deadlines are extended. Final determinations are scheduled for October and December. Boeing is calling for countervailing duties of 79.41 per cent and anti-dumping charges of 79.82 per cent. The process is similar to the one that has led to duties on Canadian softwood lumber. These are among the looming trade disputes with the U.S., as NAFTA talks could raise the heat on differences over dairy, dispute resolution auto parts and other issues. Boeing complains that Bombardier has received more than US$3 billion in government subsidies so far that have allowed Bombardier to engage in predatory pricing. Lawyers for the U.S. aerospace giant argued Thursday that Bombardiers own words prove it was rescued financially by multibillion-dollar assistance from the Quebec government, which last year invested US$1 billion in exchange for a 49.5 per cent stake in the CSeries. The company also shored up its finances by selling a 30 per cent stake in its railway division to pension fund manager Caisse de depot for US$1.5 billion. The federal government recently provided a $372.5-million loan. Thats on top of about $1 billion received in 2008 from Ottawa, Quebec and Britain to develop the CSeries. Bombardier representatives countered that their planes never competed with Boeing in a sale to Delta which the American rival describes as a seminal moment. Bombardier lawyer Peter Lichtenbaum said the plaintiff is a global powerhouse that hasnt lost any sales as a result of Bombardier, has an enviable order backlog and doesnt even compete with Bombardier in the sales campaigns it has complained about because the CSeries is smaller than Boeings 737-800 and Max 8 planes. Boeings petition in this case is unprecedented in its overreach, he said. If this is a case of David vs. Goliath, Boeing has cast itself in the wrong role. The Caisse said it will prove that its investments in Bombardier were always done on commercial terms and dont represent a subsidy. The allegations targeting the Caisse are baseless and outrageous, Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president of legal affairs, said in a news release. We will refute them while offering our full co-operation to U.S. agencies to bring this matter to a quick and satisfactory resolution. Boeings annual sales were US$94.6 billion last year. That means the US$330 million Conner expressed concern about amounts to one-third of one per cent of its annual sales. Bombardier revenues last year were US$16.3 billion, including US$9.9 billion from aerospace activities. With files from Ross Marowits in Montreal. Read more about: SHARE: Europes love affair with Facebook may be coming to an end. On Thursday, the European Unions powerful antitrust chief fined the social network 110 million euros, or about $122 million (U.S.), for giving misleading statements during the companys $19-billion acquisition of the Internet messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. The fine one of the largest regulatory penalties against Facebook comes days after Dutch and French privacy watchdogs ruled that the company had broken strict data protection rules. Other European countries, notably Germany, are clamping down on social media companies, including issuing potentially hefty penalties for failing to sufficiently police hate speech and misinformation. The EUs antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said that Facebook had told the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, that the social network would not combine the companys data with that of WhatsApp, which has more than 1 billion users. Read more: German consumer group sues WhatsApp over its data-sharing policy with Facebook Yet last August, Facebook announced that it would begin sharing WhatsApp data with the rest of the company. That could allow it to gain an unfair advantage over rivals, by giving it access to greater amounts of data to help support its online advertising business. Todays decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, Vestager said in a statement. And it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook. The commission must be able to take decisions about mergers effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts. In response, Facebook said that it had acted in good faith in its deliberations with Europes antitrust officials, and that it would not appeal the financial penalty. The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional, Facebook said in a statement. The commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review. The overall penalty amounted to a slap on the wrist it pales in comparison with the tens of billions of dollars the company earns in online advertising every year, and Europes antitrust officials stopped short of voiding the deal completely. But the fine signals that European officials are increasing their scrutiny of Facebook just as it becomes one of the largest technology companies on the planet. Increased oversight has become something of a rite of passage for U.S. technology companies operating in Europe. During the past two decades, Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, among others, have become targets of long antitrust investigations by the European authorities. That has often led to claims by tech executives that the region has an anti-American bias, accusations that European policy-makers deny. Facebook, experts say, is only the latest in a long line of Silicon Valley companies to face European regulatory anger, though this time, the focus is likely to centre on the reams of online data gathered, including information that Facebook collects on both its users and non-users through third-party websites. On Tuesday, French officials fined the social network 150,000 euros, or about $166,000 another relatively small penalty for failing to give the companys users in that country sufficient control over how their data is collected and used. Dutch regulators also ruled that the company had broken privacy rules, but so far they have not imposed a fine. While Facebook started in the United States and has expanded aggressively across the developing world, its actions in Europe and the response to those acts by local officials are likely to have implications on its global operations. The companys international headquarters are in Dublin. Though that is mostly for tax purposes, it gives European data protection and antitrust officials wide scope to monitor and police Facebook activities involving its more than 1.5 billion users outside North America. In the past, for instance, Facebook has been forced to alter its privacy settings for all of its users worldwide after European privacy campaigners brought legal challenges to how the social network collected and used peoples data. The changes come as policy-makers worldwide vie for influence over how people use digital services, including potentially putting limits on how companies like Facebook operate so as to exert some control over the Internet. It was inevitable that there would be this type of struggle, Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, said in an interview last year. The Internet is not used to national borders. On Tuesday, Thailand pressured Facebook to remove dozens of pages from its servers that broke the countrys laws about disparaging the monarchy. In Vietnam, Facebook agreed last month to take down some local content, including misleading articles and false accounts about senior government officials. Countries like Indonesia and the Philippines have also made demands against the companys role in spreading potential misinformation. While Facebook has come under scrutiny in the United States for allowing so-called fake news to spread on its network, including before the U.S. presidential election in November, federal lawmakers and policy-makers have so far used a relatively light touch with the social network. After Facebook announced last year that it would use WhatsApp data to bolster its wider advertising business, U.S. privacy campaigners filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, putting forward similar arguments to those made against the partnership in Europe. But whereas European privacy regulators forced Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp data for its wider purposes just a few months after the agreement was made public, U.S. privacy campaigners say that they have yet to receive an answer from the Federal Trade Commission about their concerns. Facebook continues to collect and use WhatsApp data from people in the United States who use the service. U.S. antitrust law has failed to keep up with the digital economy and the emergence of monopoly services, Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group in Washington, said in an email. There is far too much lock in with a dominant provider, and far too much consolidation of personal data. Read more about: SHARE: SAN FRANCISCOFor years, the Google coders and roboticists working on driverless cars have focused on making sure their creations could drive safely around California roads. Now, comes the next big test: getting regular civilians comfortable passing the wheel to a machine. This month, Waymo, the mobility division created by Google parent Alphabet Inc., is starting a free, experimental service that will ferry people around Phoenix, Ariz. In preparation, Waymo has added a new suite of hardware and interior designs to its cars, revealed here for the first time, which will help the vehicles see their surroundings better and transmit that information to their occupants. The projects technology chief Dmitri Dolgov says the upgrades will ease passengers concerns. Read more: As Uber stumbles, Lyft and Waymo team up on self-driving cars Driverless cars are learning from Grand Theft Auto This is no small matter. While driverless cars have demonstrated a remarkable ability to navigate a complex world, every hiccup makes news. Google vehicles have been involved in several fender benders, and a Tesla Model S operating in Autopilot mode crashed into a semi-trailer, killing the owner. The test will be watched closely by the tech and auto industries; a sour experience could turn off consumers, many of whom are skeptical of autonomous vehicles. They dont trust that the technology is going to work 100-per-cent of the time, says Kathy Rizk, director of Global Automotive Consulting at J.D. Power, which has conducted surveys showing that while consumers are enthusiastic about driverless cars, they remain wary. How do you put your trust in something thats going to take over the entire vehicle? Waymo originally planned to study human-robot interactions with its own concept car a round, pint-sized vehicle code-named Firefly that maxed out at 25 miles per hour and lacked a steering wheel and pedals. But California regulators insisted that the test vehicles must include controls so a human could take over. Waymo has since cut a deal with Fiat Chrysler to use tricked-out Pacifica minivans with all the usual controls that are now cruising around Phoenix. Waymo employees will keep watch in the drivers seat during the test. Waymo believes regulators will eventually green-light fully autonomous cars without the means for a human to take control. As a result, it may be necessary for the car to tell passengers what its doing (suddenly slowing down, say) and explaining why (because a dog ran into the street). How do people control the car? How do they tell the car where they want to go? Dolgov asks rhetorically. Some of those more subtle things explaining those to the user, to the customer, to the passenger is what weve been working on. Waymo has recruited several managers who worked on user design with popular Google products like Chrome and Android. This month, the company also hired a user experience researcher, who is supposed to help make passengers time in the cars intuitive, accessible, fun and even magical. In a mock-up viewed by Bloomberg, a special dashboard displayed nearby cars, pedestrians and buildings an effort to give people confidence that the car is competent and in control. Some nearby cars were lit up, if they were relevant to the situation. Others were shown less prominently. The message: Dont worry, the system sees the cars and understands which ones to track. Knowing buildings are there isnt critical, but showing them in outline helps orient passengers in the world. And when the vehicle yields to make a turn at a green light, the words waiting for intersection to clear appear. (The company stresses the design isnt final.) Beyond keeping passengers feeling safe, there are practical issues. Because passengers will enter via the rear doors, Waymos self-driving system brings the vehicles to a stop several feet forward from where traditional cars would pull up. Since Waymo was spun out of Alphabets X lab in December, it has thrown resources and talent at the hardware underpinning its autonomous vehicles. The division has hired aggressively, including several engineers from Terra Bella, the satellite division Google sold earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the situation. Waymo has also hired a number of reliability engineers from Tesla, a Waymo spokesperson confirmed. Earlier this year, the division unveiled a new suite of the sensors and chips that make autonomous cars possible. Not only are they cheaper, they also can generate a 360-degree view around the vehicle and see pedestrians and cars at far longer ranges. Newer cameras help the cars better navigate rain, a persistent challenge. Tiny wipers added to the spinning lidar atop the roof help mitigate a surprisingly routine problem: bird droppings. The new sensors can now see other vehicles and objects up to 200 yards away, Dolgov says. Among the thorniest challenges are so-called edge cases, unusual situations that must be mastered by the technology, such as anticipating the sometimes unpredictable actions of human drivers. Waymos latest hardware and software do a better job of figuring out how quickly cars are merging into freeway traffic, anticipating when someone is about to pull a U-turn and navigating unprotected left turns a particularly tricky manoeuvre because the car must figure out whether it has time to turn before oncoming traffic reaches the intersection. Dolgov says these advances give him confidence Waymo is ready to ferry around people who dont work for Alphabet. So bullish is Waymo that it deliberately chose a depot in Phoenix that forces its minivans to turn left into oncoming traffic. Still, Dolgov knows better than to be overconfident. The company held a very limited trial of its vehicles in Phoenix for two months and quickly found itself grappling with dust storms. Were in the learning phase, he says. Waymo may have a new avenue to expand road tests beyond Phoenix: The company cut a deal with Lyft Inc., which operates its ride-hailing service in at least 300 U.S. cities. Google has a history of rosy forecasts for fully self-driving cars, which some analysts say are still decades away. The company is also known for designing products with little idea of how theyll be received. Some became huge successes (gmail); others didnt (Google Glass). Waymo is acutely aware of this history, which may explain why it has taken so long to get a driverless service up and running. Competitive pressure may have forced its hand. Uber Technologies Inc., locked in a court battle over allegations it stole Waymo technology, has started its own self-driving tests in several cities. Tesla Inc. is aggressively expanding the Autopilot feature across its model lineup. And, of course, major automakers are all hard at work on their own robot cars. Waymo may have an edge over the traditional car companies. In J.D. Power focus groups, people said they believed tech firms including Tesla are more capable of perfecting the technology. Still, persuading people to actually get in one of these vehicles with no human fallback will take some effort. The reality is that the technology will be safer, says Chris Rockwell, the founder of user research firm Lextant. That doesnt necessarily get the passengers on board. Read more about: SHARE: CANNES, FRANCETwo movies about missing children and the quest for family reconnection are commanding attention as Palme dOr competition screenings begin with a bang at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Wonderstruck is by an American filmmaker, Todd Haynes, while Loveless is by a Russian one, Andrey Zvyagintsev and they could hardly be more different in their approach. Haynes film adapts a popular childrens novel by Brian Selznick (also the screenwriter), as it sumptuously and sentimentally recreates the New York City of 1927 and 1977, in stories split between 50 years and two kids, both deaf. Zvyagintsevs Loveless lives up to its bleak title in more current reality as it presents a marriage and society in disintegration, with the fate of a vanished 12-year-old boy hanging over the proceedings like a threatening storm cloud. Wonderstruck represents a shift toward the mainstream for Haynes, who last competed here in 2015 with Carol, an exquisite Eisenhower-era lesbian love story that won Rooney Mara the festivals Best Actress award. The new film could be described as Haynes art-house take on a Steven Spielberg movie, as he follows two children separated by time and place but both mysteriously drawn to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Haynes honours the books unique structure its half text and half pictures by presenting 1977 in colour and with sound and 1927 as a black-and-white silent movie, both years recreated with the filmmakers signature eye for detail. In the rural Minnesota of 1977, young stargazer Ben (Petes Dragon star Oakes Fegley) seeks answers about the identity of his missing father, information that his mother (Michelle Williams) strangely withholds. Dad is as abstract as the lost astronaut of David Bowies soundtrack tune Space Oddity. Bens woes escalate: hes rendered deaf by a freak lightning strike and mourning a tragic family loss. Neither deter him from leaving home and hopping a bus to New York, following clues he hopes will lead him to his father. In the Hoboken, New Jersey of 1927, young movie-lover Rose (Millicent Simmonds), stares at the silent screen at star Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), as live organ accompaniment heightens the elemental drama of Daughter of the Storm. The talkies are about to transform cinema forever, but Rose doesnt care, since shes been deaf since birth. She sets off on her own quest to NYC to find Mayhew. You probably dont want to know more than this going into the film, which Amazon Studios is expected to give a big Oscars push when it is released this fall. Haynes describes it as a metaphysical time travel story, one that was motivated as much by his love of old movies as by a desire to return to a simpler world before smartphones became the only things kids wanted to play with. The preteens of Wonderstruck use notepads and sign language to communicate and Rose is an accomplished builder of model skyscrapers. This film is also a tribute to what you do with your hands, with your fingers, Haynes told a press conference Thursday. Everything from sign language to building miniature buildings . . . its really a tribute to the tactile and the glue and the ink on your fingertips that I remember having on mine as a kid. Thats something I think kids still need to do, kids still love to do. We can learn a lot from that love of making things with your hands. Haynes reached out to the deaf community for casting assistance and through incredible good fortune found Simmonds, a first-time actress from Utah who delivers the films most memorable performance. Deaf in real life as well, Simmonds returned the compliment using sign-language, an interpreter by her side, as she described being in Wonderstruck as the highlight of her young life. The three main kids in the movie theres also Jaden Michael, who plays a New Yorker who befriends wandering Ben werent just in the movie, but also essential to the making of it, Haynes said. He also conscripted young people to assist with the editing process, so hed know when to cut from one era to another and maintain interest in the story. These kids are amazing and they taught us everything that we needed to know, Haynes said. The 12-year-old boy in Loveless also has something to teach his elders, although the life lesson hits home with far greater impact in Zvyagintsevs searing drama. Young Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) lives in an affluent Russian suburb where the modern apartment buildings offer a bucolic woodland view. Inside his home, however, his mother Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and father Boris (Alexey Rozin) are in the midst of a divorce so nasty, its no wonder Zvyagintsev claims influence from the marital meltdowns of Ingmar Bergman films. When Zhenya and Boris arent busy yelling at each other, or placating their new lovers, theyre cold-heartedly planning to ship Alyosha off to boarding school and later the military, since he was an accident they didnt plan for or want. Alyosha gets wind of their plans and becomes a runaway, as the film turns into a child-hunt procedural that is the equal of Zvyagintsevs Cannes 2014 stunner Leviathan, which won him that years screenplay award for its searing indictment of Russian life under the brutal rule of Vladimir Putin. As the unhappy people of Loveless search for the missing boy, radio and TV newscasts in the background report on the rise of apocalyptic cults, bloody war in Ukraine and other anxiety-inducing events. The battle at home is so much more immediate, however. Zvyagintsev and his sterling cast expertly paint the portrait of a family too blinded by selfish desires to see the pain they are causing others. It reminded me of Winter Sleep, the 2014 film by Turkeys Nuri Bilge Ceylan that won that years Palme dOr, a feat Loveless could achieve this year. So might Wonderstruck, which other critics here liked more than I did. Haynes reaches for the stars and falls short, in my opinion, but he does so beautifully. Safe, secure and sandwich-free: When I first attended Cannes for its 50th anniversary in 1997, all you needed to gain access to the Palais des Festivals was a press-accreditation card to wave at a security guard. I dont recall them even wanding people back then. Times have really changed for this 70th anniversary edition, in light of terror attacks both real and threatened that have bedeviled France. I had to pass through six security checkpoints Thursday on my way up the red carpet into the 8:30 a.m. screening of Wonderstruck: an airport-style metal detector, two separate bag checks, two separate wandings and a scanning of my press ID. I finally made it into the screening, which began 10 minutes late due to the security lineups, but my carefully hidden peanut butter sandwich didnt. It was spotted by a guard and trashed. You never know what mayhem a sandwich could cause. The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28. Follow Peter Howell on Twitter and Instagram: @peterhowellfilm. SHARE: ABOARD THE CANADIAN-That first overnight on the train was a gloriously sleepless blur disrupted by clickety clacks, rumbles, grinding squeals and ding, ding dings. Alone in F-130 in the Chateau Cadillac car on a Murphy bed pulled down from the wall to fill the room, I stared mesmerized through an extra-large window into the dark depths of northern Ontario and thought deeply Canadian thoughts. Happy 150th birthday, Canada. This year cries out for a celebratory road trip. I use the term road loosely. A train track will do just fine. Let someone else drive. For four nights on the Canadian, Via Rail Canadas iconic train from Toronto to Vancouver, I relaxed and watched boreal forest become prairie and then mountains. Somewhere north of Sudbury that first morning, I threw on clothes and tiptoed down the narrow hall, hands outstretched to brace for sways and lurches, through the Chateau Dollard sleeping car to the end of the train. The Laurentide Park car is tricked out with a downstairs lounge and upstairs domed seating area. The DIY tea and coffee station became my watering hole. Earl Grey tea in hand, I befriended Tom Box, a retired teacher from Port Hope and fellow early riser. He has been on every single Via route and it was his 20th time, give or take, on the Canadian, thanks to a great Black Friday deal. I just love train travel, Box confided. Especially these long-distance trips where youre off in your own little world for a few days. You are in your own world on the Canadian, but not necessarily alone. Work on the lost art of small talk in the dining car when youre seated with strangers. Play a board game with fellow passengers since theres no Wi-Fi and often no cell service. This 4,466-kilometre journey is a throwback to simpler times. Jason Shron a train nut from Thornhill that I met through Box has done the Canadian upwards of 40 times and found theres a tendency for people on the train to spill their guts to strangers, especially if theyre on divorce tours, which can become awkward the next day. Theres a certain magic to that, he admitted. He was taking his three kids to Winnipeg to meet his wife and other family for Passover. Shron owns Canadas largest model train company, built a section of a full-size Via car in his basement, is restoring two train cars and is writing a book about Via for its 40th anniversary next year. The Crown corporation doesnt celebrate its own history and doesnt celebrate its own people nearly enough, he lamented, and so hes like this one-man Via fan club. Make that two. Shron and Box love trains for different reasons the actual machines and the art of train travel but they are anomalies. Too many Canadians have never been on a train, much less slept on one. Trains are not a part of our modern lives or lexicon, so my learning curve is steep. Passenger trains dont have cabooses, conductors are obsolete and drivers are called engineers. Freight trains have priority in Canada when theres one line, so passenger trains like the Canadian have to wait on the siding, causing delays. There are economy-class seats that you sleep upright in, and banks of seats that convert into upper and lower berths at night with just a curtain for privacy. There are private rooms, some with a toilet that gets covered when the bed comes out, and a shared shower down the hall. I was lucky enough to experience Prestige class in a room with an L-shaped couch, Murphy bed and private en-suite washroom, with access to a trio of concierges, reserved seating at the front of the dome car, meals, booze and all the Earl Grey I could drink. The concierges provided a Champagne sendoff and bedtime chocolates, led a Canadian wine tasting, brought afternoon snacks (like smoked salmon on a bed of julienned cucumber) to me wherever I was, and even delivered dinner to my room twice when I was small-talked out. The meals were classic Canadian with elegant tweaks, like prime rib, rack of lamb, apple crisp and chocolate cake. One night we got Ovation chocolates because, in the endearing words of our server: Here at Via we like to give a standing ovation. I stole a few minutes with head chef Rob Brown, who likened the sensation of cooking on a moving train to surfing. You keep your knees slightly bent to maintain your centre of balance. If youre rigid, you might fall over. He wouldnt have fallen far in the tiny kitchen he shared with one cook. Our train had one dining car with 48 seats and meals in three assigned seatings. It was Browns third Via season, but he has cooked for 26 years. Look at the view you get, he bragged, pointing at Alberta somewhere between Edmonton and Jasper. You dont get that in any other kitchen. Service manager Mario Laurencelle echoed that sentiment, enthusing about his unbeatable office window as well as his second family of railroaders and endlessly interesting passengers. I listened to two of concierge Kevin Bows informal talks in the dome car, about the prairies and mountains. I took to heart his moms favourite saying: Youre not going to see anything if youre not looking. I didnt stay up late enough, or drink enough Canadian wine, to swap secrets with strangers. But gin and tonic in hand, I hung out with Sarah Smith and Ken Ross, London musicians who were on board to perform in economy and first class. It was only Smiths third time on a train but she already had important advice to share. Nobody warns you about the fact youre stuck with yourself so if youre not happy within, you wont be happy on the trip, she philosophized. To me, this is real living and everybody is in the same boat. Youre at the mercy of the rails. Its the ultimate letting go of control. The Canadian showed us mercy, with none of its legendary delays. For our April journey, we had just 17 cars, including two engines, one dining car, one baggage car and three dome cars. In high season, that could double. There were lots of retirees on board, a mix of Canadians and foreigners, plus a smattering of families. It was dreary outside, but the sunsets were otherworldly and it was a pleasure to get off and stretch at a few scheduled stops. In Hornepayne, Ont., the Legion wasnt quite open for a beer but theres a bear statue to take selfies with down the road. Im ashamed to admit I feasted on Wi-Fi after breakfast in Winnipeg instead of exploring. In Jasper, I wrangled a sit-down with our two locomotive engineers so didnt leave the train station. Justine Chambers and Rudi Switala have been driving trains for almost 80 years combined. They liken train travel to a mini cruise and shared their pleasure at seeing something new every day, even after all these years. Its not a boring job, Switala declared. And its not a boring journey, despite what some people fear. Most passengers worship the Rockies thats when the dome car gets crowded but the Prairies and Northern Ontario bush do it for me. I was happiest in no service zones when I couldnt compulsively check email on my iPhone. I loved that real life was miles away and the fact the train world actually runs in miles. I was amused by train time when the crew delayed time-zone changes so as not to disrupt meals. That last night, panicked to realize how precious few train hours were left, I cocooned in Chateau Cadillac F-130, staring out that extra-large window for one final sunset and making Canada a birthday promise: To give my kids a formative train memory this summer. Jennifer Bain was hosted by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Via Rail Canada, neither of which reviewed or approved this story. When you go Do this trip: Find out more about the Canadians Toronto to Vancouver experience, and other train routes, at viarail.ca. Top it up: Before getting on the Canadian in Toronto, I flew to Quebec City and started my journey at Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, taking trains to Montreal (where Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth is poised to reopen), Ottawa (Fairmont Chateau Laurier) and Toronto (Fairmont Royal York). I had breakfast at the Fairmont Winnipeg and spent my final night at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Fairmont has partnered with Via Rail Canada for Canadas 150th birthday to launch the Great Canadian Railway Adventure, a 20-day, customized, luxury hotel/train trip (with tours and transfers) that starts at $11,988 and runs until Dec. 31. Details: Fairmont.com Read more about: SHARE: VANCOUVERTwo men convicted of perjury in connection with a notorious stun-gun encounter at Vancouvers airport will have their appeals heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. The court announced Thursday in Ottawa that it would hear appeals from Const. Kwesi Millington and former corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson. As is customary, the court gave no reasons for its decision to hear the cases. Millington was sentenced to 30 months in prison for testimony he gave to an inquiry examining the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, who was jolted several times with a Taser at in the arrivals area of the airport. Read more: RCMP officer convicted of perjury in Robert Dziekanski Taser case loses appeal Mountie jailed 30 months for perjury in death of Robert Dziekanski Mountie who fired Taser at Dziekanski guilty of perjury Robinson was sentenced to two years less a day, one year of probation and 240 hours of community service. They were found guilty of colluding to make up testimony, but the two other officers with them that night were acquitted of the same allegations in separate trials. Glen Orris, the lawyer for Millington, said Thursday that the decision from the Supreme Court is his clients first break in the decade-old case. They obviously wanted to hear the argument that we are advancing, that the verdict basically was unfair and not based on the evidence, he said in an interview from Vancouver Orris said the high court has set a tentative date of Oct. 30 for the appeal. Dziekanskis mother said in a telephone interview from her home in Kamloops, B.C., that the decision wasnt what she wanted to hear. I just want this to be over and done with, then I could cherish the memories still, she said. I dont think I could ever let go ... but I try my best, I keep myself busy. She said the news was especially difficult just days after Mothers Day. She said in the six years she and her son were separated while she was living in Canada and he was in Poland, he would always call her on Mothers Day. It is very hard for me, she said, crying. Even after 10 years almost, hes gone and there is no justice for my son. A bystanders video played at the public inquiry and viewed millions of times on social media showed four RCMP officers approaching a troubled Dziekanski at the airport and within minutes he was jolted and lay dead on the floor. The officers told the inquiry they perceived Dziekanski as a threat when he picked up a stapler. The inquirys commissioner, Thomas Braidwood, said in his 470-page report that the officers approached the scene as if they were responding to a barroom brawl. He said they failed to reassess the situation when it became clear they were dealing with a distraught traveller who didnt speak English, rather than the drunk, violent man theyd anticipated. Millington, who fired the Taser, and Robinson, who was the senior officer at the scene, were found guilty of colluding to make up testimony presented at the inquiry. The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the perjury convictions of both men. SHARE: Negotiators for the shuttered Toronto Zoo and more than 400 striking staff are going back to the bargaining table. Christine McKenzie, president of CUPE Local 1600, confirmed Thursday that talks were slated to restart at 2 p.m. She got a call inviting her back to the table Thursday morning, one week after zoo staff put up picket lines and management closed the city-owned attraction to the public. Negotiations had broken down primarily over a two-decade-old contract guarantee that the attraction and animal research-and-breeding facility must employ a minimum of 150 permanent, full-time staff. I dont know, to be honest, what changed to restart talks, McKenzie said, noting she chatted about the logjam with Councillor Paul Ainslie, the zoo board chair, on Tuesday when striking zoo workers in Nathan Phillips Square put pressure on the city by at times drowning out an event featuring Mayor John Tory. She said the union has not wavered in its assertion the provision must be in the new contract to ensure a stable, secure workforce and the 43-year-old zoos stature as a world-level, species-saving facility, and not simply an amusement and attraction. We are adamant about it and I hope the city will realize it's not a detriment for the city to keep the provision, she said. We have 186 full-time permanent staff now so a minimum 150 is not unaffordable for the city and it benefits everyone to have a world-class zoo. Asked how long the new round of mediator-assisted talks are expected to last, McKenzie said: I have a feeling it could be a long night but I don't know. The zoos senior communications director also welcomed the resumption of talks. We look forward to getting back to the table this afternoon with the assistance of the provincially appointed mediator and remain hopeful that a fair and reasonable agreement can be reached that will be mutually beneficial to both parties, Jennifer Tracey said. Last Friday, in an email, she said: We have been clear during bargaining and remain resolute that we will not entertain the unions additional proposals that would essentially reinstate absolute job security for 150 permanent unionized employees regardless of the circumstances. This exceeds the level of job security possessed by most members of the public and other city employees. Tracey also said the zoo will remain shut for the duration of the strike. The zoo cancelled school trips and events including the planned grand opening of an $18-million Wildlife Health Centre a high-tech zoo hospital and laboratory with an atrium for public viewing. Management veterinarians, nutritionists and keepers are taking good care of the animals, she said. McKenzie has said the animals need the keepers who know them and take care of them daily, rather than a skeleton crew of managers who have not done hands-on work for years. Although its not peak season for zoo visitors, birthing season is kicking into high gear. The zoo has struggled with sagging attendance in recent years, even with four-legged stars including baby pandas. SHARE: BARRIE, ONT.A nurse accused of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death for taking a patient off life support testified this week that she was simply following the wishes of the patients husband. (He) had already made up his mind. The family was all aware of his decision and not one single person said no, dont do this. Everyone was aware of his decision, why he was making his decision including the physician, nurse Joanna Flynn, 51, told a jury Wednesday. I was trying to honour her wishes and do what she wanted, as relayed though her husband, the substitute decision-maker. Flynn took Deanna Leblanc, 39, off life support without a doctors order, and by doing so she hastened her death on March 2, 2014. Deanna was rushed to the hospital after going into cardiac arrest at her Midland home early in the morning. She died at 8 p.m. later that same day at Georgian Bay General Hospital, one hour after Flynn started her shift. The trial has zeroed in on whether Flynn followed hospital and regulatory body policies for discontinuing life support. The jury has heard a Georgian Bay General Hospital policy calls it a medical decision and requires a family meeting be called and documented by a doctor. It also stipulates a doctor be present when the patient is taken off the ventilator. Flynn testified she was not aware of this policy and did not believe she needed a doctors order to take Deanna off life support. She said she only needed the informed consent of Deannas substitute decision-maker, her spouse Michael. She said she also spoke to the Leblanc family and gave them ample opportunity to ask questions. The Crown is alleging Flynn coerced Michael into consenting to have his wife taken off life-support. Michael Leblanc, 51, has testified it was Flynn who first broached the subject of taking his wife off life support. He said Flynn told him his wife was brain-dead and that her heart would explode if she were left on the ventilator. It was watch that or shut the machines off so she could go peacefully. That was my choice, he said. Flynn testified Michael first raised wanting Deanna to be taken off life support and that she told him at least three times to sleep on it and wait until the next day. She wouldnt want to be hooked up to machines, she wouldnt want to live like this, Flynn said Michael told her shortly after her shift started around 7 p.m. Flynn maintained that she tried to tell this to Dr. Josef Dolezel, the physician in charge of the ICU that evening, but that Dolezel told her it could wait for the doctor who would be in the next day. When she told Dolezel a second time that Michael was insisting on withdrawing treatment that evening he dismissed me by turning his back on me while I was trying to relay important information, she said. In an incredulous tone, she said Dolezel instead asked her about an art pamphlet. When asked by the Crown why she didnt demand Dolezel to pay attention, why she did not speak up for Deanna, Flynn replied that in hindsight she should have tried harder. She said she intended to complain about Dolezels behaviour the next day. I was upset about the situation, she said. Im trying to be a nurse doing everything I am supposed to do for this patient and her husband and Im not getting any feedback from the most responsible physician. Im trying to include him in this and he is ignoring me. Dolezel has testified Flynn told him that Michael wanted to stop everything but he said that was new information and they needed to discuss it, by which he meant have a family meeting. He said he did not recall another conversation with Flynn where he said another doctor should deal with the situation the next day. He said he was dumbfounded when he went to Deannas room shortly after speaking to Flynn and found that Deanna was dead. The jury has heard Deanna was gravely ill and suffered severe brain damage. Two doctors who saw her said they diagnosed her as brain-dead and said that she was almost certainly not going to survive. Dolezel said her condition was likely irreversible but that he was not giving up on her. Crown prosecutor Bhavna Bhangu said Deannas condition was not irreversible, irreparable and terminally ill when Flynn took her off life support. Flynn said her understanding was that Deanna was not going to survive and that there was no treatment that could be done. I believe everybody, all the health care professionals, expected she was going to die, the family understood she was going to die. So yes, that was an expected death, she said. She testified she told Michael and the family that on the off-chance that (Deanna) survives she will never be the same because you can never know for sure what will happen. Bhangu suggested Flynn did not know key details about Deannas condition and her plan of care and did not take reasonable steps to find out. Flynn said she was not aware Deanna had been prescribed an antibiotic and that she did not know what other orders Dolezel was planning on making. She also did not tell Michael that Dolezel said the end-of-life decision should wait until the next day. If the doctor was contemplating orders and if he thought they were that important perhaps he should have gone to the patient himself, she said. She said she was focused on looking out for the needs of Michael and Deanna Leblanc. The trial continues. SHARE: Superior Court Justice Eugene Ewaschuk had many things to say during a witnesss testimony in front of the jury at the murder trial of Boysie Murray. The comments would prove to be so problematic that Ontarios top court took the relatively rare step of ordering a new trial. The interventions in question happened during the testimony of a witness identified only as T.J-D, who as a youth pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Shawn James. He shot James on Bleeker St. in Toronto from the back of a Beck Taxi cab being driven by Murray, who was also convicted of first-degree murder by a jury in 2011. Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel in a Court of Appeal decision released Wednesday, Justice David Watt found Ewaschuks repeated interventions during T.J-Ds testimony to have gone over the line in terms of what are considered to be acceptable interjections by a trial judge. What occurred marred the appearance of fairness so vital in criminal proceedings, Watt wrote. To a reasonable observer, the trial judge had cast his lot with the prosecution. The conviction must be set aside. Murrays appeal lawyer, Philip Campbell, told the Star he was a bit wide-eyed and eventually quite troubled when he read the transcript from Murrays trial. He said he was struck by the fact that the appeal panel hearing the case included Watt, who as a trial judge was the perfect example of a judge knowing when to properly intervene. Justice Watt as a trial judge was a model of restraint and reserve who didnt inject himself into the proceedings until it was time for him to make a ruling. Thats how it should be, Campbell told the Star in an email. As I read his judgment in this appeal I thought about the contrast between Justice Watts manner of judging and what happened at Mr. Murrays trial. Watt wrote that the critical issue for the jury at Murrays trial was his state of mind at the time T.J-D shot James, more particularly, his knowledge of the purpose of the trip to Bleeker St. and what T.J-D intended to do there. There was no dispute at the trial over who actually shot James, or who was in the cab at the time. Aside from T.J-D and Murray, a woman identified as C.L. was in the front passenger seat. She pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact. T.J-D, who had pleaded guilty to murder, was called as a witness by the Crown at Murrays trial. Although called by the prosecution, he is described as a defence-friendly witness by Watt. The Crown at Murrays trial anticipated T.J-D would be difficult. While he admitted to shooting James, he departed from the agreed statement of facts filed following his guilty plea, and maintained on the stand at Murrays trial that neither Murray nor C.L. knew in advance that T.J-D wanted to shoot James. He claimed on the stand that the killing was impulsive when he suddenly saw James appear on the sidewalk. According to the Court of Appeal, Ewaschuk, who retired in 2015, directed at least 70 questions at T.J-D during his examination-in-chief and more than 50 comments on the contents of his testimony. The trial judge commented that T.J-Ds memory loss was feigned and that he was simply unwilling to tell the truth about relevant events as he recalled it, Watt wrote. At one point in front of the jury, Ewaschuk said: He understands exactly whats going on. He thinks hes smarter than we are, thats the problem. In another instance, when T.J-D told the Crown he couldnt disclose where he got the gun to shoot James, Ewaschuk, on his own initiative, had him handcuffed in front of the jury and removed from the courtroom. When T.J-D refused to answer a question because he said it would put his life in jeopardy, Ewaschuk said: Its a very convenient excuse that hes giving. So lets see where we go. And then in the absence of the jury, he commented on T.J-Ds evidence to the lawyers by saying: I mean you might say its B.S., 99 per cent. As Watt explains in the appeal court decision, interventions by trial judges are appropriate for reasons such as clarifying evidence or ensuring a witness answers a question. He wrote that appeal courts are reluctant to interfere with a case where a judge is accused of improperly interfering during a trial. (Watt also noted that Murrays trial lawyer did not object to most of Ewaschuks interventions.) He wrote that if T.J-Ds evidence that the killing was impulsive, and not planned, was believed by the jury, then Murray was entitled to be acquitted. The trial judges repeated interventions during the testimony of T.J-D left no doubt of his view of T.J-D and his evidence. His remarks were disparaging and prejudicial, leaving no doubt where the trial judge stood on the issue of (Murrays) knowledge (of the murder), Watt wrote. Criminal defence lawyer Daniel Brown, who was not involved in this case, said an appeal court would rarely overturn a verdict on the basis of a judge improperly interfering during a trial. A judge should not enter the fray in such a way as to convey their personal views on the evidence or the credibility of a witness, he said. In this case, the trial judge clearly crossed the line by making disparaging and prejudicial remarks about the credibility of a central witness which led to an unfair trial. Watts statement indicating that to a reasonable observer, Ewaschuk had cast his lot with the prosecution, sounded familiar to criminal defence lawyer Edward Sapiano, who was involved in a famous courtroom showdown with Ewaschuk in 2005. He argued at the time that the judge should recuse himself because he was biased against defendants. Sapiano had presented about 20 Court of Appeal cases that contained criticism of Ewaschuk. The judge denied the recusal application. My argument was that any reasonable person reading this history, and these comments from the Ontario Court of Appeal, would be left with the impression that hes biased in favour of the prosecution, Sapiano told the Star. SHARE: There are occasions when we all have to pee in a cup. Feels dopey, carrying that little chalice of bodily excretion to a nurse or lab technician. But it doesnt often happen 30,000 feet in the air. Not a mile-high club of which I hope to ever become a member. This humiliating incident became public last week when a Missouri woman stepped forward publicly to describe how she was forced to urinate at her seat during a flight from Houston to Kansas City, Mo., after flight attendants refused her permission to use the restroom. Nicole Harper wrote on Facebook: As an emergency room nurse, I completely understand having a bad day on the job and having to deal with undesirable bodily fluids. What I dont understand is ZERO customer service, if I treated a patient this poorly I would surely have consequences . . . Mesa Airlines, a regional U.S. carrier and partner of United Airlines, is investigating. In fact, this episode occurred on the very same day, last month, that a 69-year-old passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight, battered and bloodied by aviation security officers, for refusing to give up his seat to an airline employee. United resurrected its Fly the friendly skies slogan just last September. Alternate slogan suggested in the online blowback: We put the hospital in hospitality. We have all become wearily accustomed to the ordeal that flying has become from the endless grind of security screening (off with the belt, off with the shoes, take your laptop out of the bag, is this a bottle of breastmilk or an improvised explosive device?) to bossy-boot rent-a-cops invasively patting down children, to flight attendants studiously ignoring a call-button summons, to knees squished up against the chest in economy, to out-of-pocket charges for food and checked baggage, to attempted clawback on points programs. But now theyre assaulting us, throwing off passengers with boarding pass in hand from overbooked flights and forcing travellers to piddle into a receptacle. How Harper even managed it defies imagination. Apparently her husband provided some modesty coverage, blocking the view while his squatting spouse . . . I dont even want to go there. In a statement, United claimed Harper attempted to use the lavatory during the planes descent, after passengers had been told to refrain from using the washrooms and buckle up. Customer safety is always our first priority, a spokesperson told the Washington Post, insisting that the no-loo rule is an FAA regulation, exceptions not allowed. At no point during the flight did flight attendants suggest that Ms. Harper use cups instead of the lavatory. Uh-uh, countered Harper, when she was interviewed by CBS. The incident happened in midflight, while flight attendants were serving drinks, she said. The seatbelt sign had been turned on, true, but crew members had allowed other passengers to use the restroom. Her overactive bladder condition made use of the facilities urgent. When Harper tried explaining that to a crew member either let me use the washroom or Ill need a cup the attendant handed her two of them. She filled both and was then made to hold on to them until accompanied to the lavatory later for disposal. A snippy attendant then further shamed Harper, claiming a HAZMAT team would have to be brought aboard to clean the entire row where shed been sitting. Harper felt like she had committed a crime. Well, you know, its a crime if they say it is. An upset Harper became increasingly irate when United customer service agents didnt afterwards return her calls. So she went public, somewhat reluctantly, because she didnt want to be known as the girl who peed in a cup. My own bladder has to be on the verge of splitting open before Id even venture to use the facilities because Im too focused on holding the plane up in the air, by sheer force of mind-over-logic willpower. No alcohol to calm the flying jitters for me, a phobia that hasnt diminished over the course of hundreds and hundreds of flights. But I was on a flight recently where the elderly woman sitting alongside suddenly turned to me, a look of horror on her face: I need to use the bathroom now. We were descending. The flight attendant, already strapped in, reached out to grab the woman as she stumbled past: Sit down! Sit down! Then gave her an embarrassing earful. I understand regulations and safety directives. But flight crews scarcely see us as human beings anymore. Were freight, annoying in our hesitant requests, a pain in the arse for our frailties and unreasonable expectations like maybe getting where weve paid to go, reasonably on time, hopefully unsoiled. Its such a sign of these uncivil and bullying times that Canadas transport minister, Marc Garneau, has found it necessary to protect passengers from shoddy treatment by airlines. On Tuesday, Garneau unveiled new legislation aimed at buffering travellers from the tyranny of the airline industry. Although details havent been specified and the provisions wont come into effect until next year, consumers might at least have a chance now to strike back at the evil empire of the airline industry: No forcible removal to accommodate airline employees, more recourse to compensation and better treatment when bags are lost or damaged and when flights are delayed or cancelled. Im still trying to get compensation for a bag lost by American Airlines last September. And why a routine $200 fee to change a flight? They just plucked that figure out of the air. Its a well-intentioned piece of legislation but it wont make the flying experience any more pleasant. Why is the caste system of first-class and steerage still allowed on flights anyway? Bet the passengers up front wouldnt be made to pee in a cup. A fluted champagne glass at least. Pack some Depends in your carry-on. Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. SHARE: In a dispute thats pitting transit against Tinseltown, the TTC is pushing back against the citys annual shutdown of King St. for the Toronto International Film Festival. The yearly closure forces a messy diversion of the 504 King streetcar, which carries 65,000 passengers on an average weekday and is the TTCs busiest surface route. At a meeting of the TTC board Thursday, TTC CEO Andy Byford said the transit agency fights every year to prevent the shutdown or at least lessen its impact, but the final decision is up to the city. We have been absolutely consistent, as far as I can remember, in opposing this absolute imposition on hundreds and thousands of riders per day, said Byford. We have consistently tried to get the best deal for our customers, but we have been overruled. Councillor and TTC board member Mary Fragedakis argued it was ironic that the city is embarking on a major pilot project later this year to prioritize streetcar operations on King, yet still plans to close the street to streetcars for four days. The pilot is scheduled to be implemented after TIFF. TTC staff said that the closure will likely go ahead in 2017 but there could be an opportunity to change plans for 2018. Board members suggested a number of potential solutions, including moving TIFF festivities to John St. or barring motor vehicles from King while allowing streetcars to proceed. In previous years, city officials have responded to the TTCs concerns by pointing out that TIFF is an important cultural and economic event for Toronto. A 2013 study determined the festival and the TIFF Bell Lightbox generate $189 million a year for the city and province. This year TIFF runs from Sept. 7 to 17. The city plans to close King from University Ave. to Charlotte St. from 5 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7 to Sunday, Sept. 10, with the street reopening by 5 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 11. The shutdown will affect four weekday rush hours, and there will also likely be some additional closures for red carpet events. TTC officials said they presented the city with a proposal for a shorter closure that would affect only three rush hours, but it was rejected. TTC chair Josh Colle said the annual shutdown doesnt make a lot of sense to me and agreed to write a letter to the city on behalf of the board objecting to it. I think theres a role for us to play for us to advocate for our passengers, he said. A previous version of this story misstated the date of the King St. closure this year, based on inaccurate information initially provided by the TTC. SHARE: Vaughans controversial deputy mayor, Michael Di Biase, has resigned in the wake of a scathing ethics probe that found the veteran politician repeatedly sexually harassed a city employee over a period of five months. The shocking allegations against Di Biase were made public in a report released Thursday by the citys integrity commissioner, Suzanne Craig, after a months-long probe. I find that the actions of the respondent constitute sexual harassment, Craig wrote in her 28-page report, which will be discussed at a special council meeting Tuesday. The respondents conduct created and contributed to an intimidating and offensive work environment for the complainant, contrary to his obligations under the code (of conduct) and under the citys Respectful Workplace Policy. Lawyers for Di Biase, who was mayor of Vaughan from 2002 to 2006 and has been a politician there for three decades, sent out a news release Thursday afternoon announcing he was stepping down. It has been my great honour to serve the City of Vaughan for 29 years as mayor, deputy mayor, regional councillor and local councillor, he said in the news release, which stated he was resigning from his roles at the city of Vaughan and on York regional council. While I have throughout maintained my innocence, I do not wish to be a distraction from the important work that is ahead for our council in protecting the interests of this city, said Di Biase, who earned almost $140,000 last year, according to the provinces Sunshine List. Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said Di Biases resignation would be effective Friday. I accept the deputy mayors decision to step down. As a council, it is our responsibility to champion the values of accountability, transparency and respect. As we move forward, we will continue to advance a culture of excellence in governance rooted in integrity, he said. The complainant, identified only as an employee of the city of Vaughan in the report, came forward to the integrity commissioner in January with allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment and reprisals. Craig said since sexual assault falls under the Criminal Code, that is a matter for police. It is unclear, however, if the woman pursued criminal charges. Craigs report deals with the sexual harassment complaint. None of the allegations have been proven in court. In the report, Di Biases lawyers said: The respondent takes these matters extremely seriously and, while he is known to be a warm and loving person, the respondent does not take advantage of vulnerable individuals. He takes great exception to the allegations put forward by the complainant. Di Biases lawyers also say that all physical interaction between himself and the complainant was consensual and not unwelcome or unwanted. According to Craigs report, the complainant alleges she was harassed over a five-month period, from March to July 2016, and that there were five instances of unwanted sexual advances, which included kisses on the mouth and the touching of her breasts. In her own words, she told Craig: Between April and July 2016, the respondent grabbed my breasts, thrusted (sic) himself against me, attempted to kiss me and put his tongue in my mouth on about five or six more occasions. Each time, I would tell the respondent to stop, that his conduct was unwelcome and made me uncomfortable. I also advised the respondent that I could not continue working for him if he continued to sexually assault and sexually harass me. The complainant discussed one of the alleged incidents with Di Biase over the phone, and recorded the conversation. According to a transcript contained in the report, the complainant describes feeling uncomfortable with Di Biases advances, and he apologizes but also makes light of the conversation, joking with the complainant that I will not do this anymore. But if you want to touch my breast, you can touch my breast. I give you my permission. Hows that? [Laughter.] In a response in the report, Di Biase said he was not the womans direct supervisor and that the city clerk was responsible for her work. He also said it was his custom, as it is with many Italians, to hug and kiss friends and colleagues on the cheek. He describes the complainants demeanour as flirtatious and overtly affectionate. Craig noted in her report that both their accounts of specific incidents were inconsistent, especially around the issue of whether the kissing was consensual. But Craig said her decision that Di Biase breached the citys code of conduct was based on three factors: balance of power, persistence of unwanted behaviour, and admission of conduct. It is my opinion, based on the evidence before me, that the respondent knew or ought reasonably to have known that his conduct was unwelcome and/or unwanted, she wrote. Craig had recommended a number of sanctions, including an apology to the complainant; that Di Biases pay be suspended for 90 days; that his designation as deputy mayor be suspended; that his authority over office staff be suspended; and that he lose the right to chair meetings of council and sit on standing committees. It is unclear how council will proceed now that Di Biase has resigned. This is not the first time Di Biase has found himself in hot water. Two years ago, another investigation by Craig found Di Biase breached Vaughans code of conduct by using intimidation and abusive language to pressure city staff who opposed his interference in the citys tendering process and his efforts to secure municipal projects for a local contracting company. At that time, council voted to dock Di Biases pay for 90 days, amounting to about $21,000. An OPP probe into Di Biase for allegations of criminal wrongdoing is ongoing. Read more about: SHARE: Alex Jones, the high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a right-wing radio show, said on Wednesday that he had mischaracterized the yogurt factory Chobani in statements on social media that led to a lawsuit. In a statement at the end of one of his broadcasts Wednesday, Jones said: During the week of April 10, 2017, certain statements were made on the InfoWars Twitter feed and YouTube channel regarding Chobani, LLC that I now understand to be wrong. The Tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be reposted. On behalf of InfoWars, I regret that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho, the way we did, he said. Read more: Chobani sues Alex Jones, claiming the Infowars host defamed the yogurt company The intel on this wasnt 100 per cent: #Pizzagate gunman says he regrets how he handled situation Chobani filed a lawsuit April 24 against Jones, claiming that he had posted false and defamatory news reports about the yogurt company and its founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Twin Falls County, Idaho, named Jones and the media companies InfoWars and Free Speech Systems as defendants. The reports were published April 11 on InfoWars.com and on The Alex Jones Channel on YouTube, saying that the companys factory in Idaho, which employs refugees, was connected to a 2016 child sexual assault and a rise in tuberculosis cases. They were promoted on Twitter under the headline Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists, and were spread widely online. On Wednesday, a Chobani spokesman, Michael Gonda, said in an email: The case has been resolved. Lawyers for Jones did not reply to emails Wednesday. Jones, appearing in a video statement last month after the lawsuit was filed, said that his organization was reporting on an assault case and tuberculosis rates from material that has been all over mainstream news. Chobani started as a yogurt business in upstate New York and expanded to Twin Falls, a city of about 46,500 south of Boise. Ulukaya became the target of anti-immigrant ire after he stepped up his advocacy of refugees employing more than 300 of them in his factories and starting a foundation to help migrants. The lawsuit filed by Chobani said that Jones and his companies had declined to remove the reports or publish a retraction despite multiple written demands, and also noted that Jones was no stranger to spurious statements. It cited his previous contentions that the Sept. 11 attacks were orchestrated by the U.S. government and that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax concocted by those hostile to the Second Amendment. It was not the first time that Jones has apologized for his remarks. In March, he apologized for his role in spreading the hoax known as Pizzagate, which claimed, falsely, that top Democratic officials were involved with a child abuse ring centered on Comet Ping Pong, a restaurant in Washington. The restaurant was besieged with threats, and in December a man drove from North Carolina to the pizzeria and fired a rifle inside. The man, Edgar M. Welch, 28, has pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and interstate transportation of a firearm and will be sentenced in June. SHARE: Dutch passengers on KLM flights might have recognized the co-pilots voice when he introduced himself on the airlines Cityhopper services. It was not just their co-pilot telling them weather conditions and estimated time of arrival. It was their king. King Willem-Alexander told national daily De Telegraaf in an interview published Wednesday that he has ended his role as a regular guest pilot after 21 years on KLMs fleet of Fokker 70 planes and, before that, on Dutch carrier Martinair. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service. While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not clear how frequently it happened. De Telegraaf reported that he does it twice a month. As a guest flyer, the king is always co-pilot. The 50-year-old father of three and monarch to 17 million Dutch citizens calls flying a hobby that lets him leave his royal duties on the ground and fully focus on something else. You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them, the king told De Telegraaf. You cant take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying. Willem-Alexander said he is rarely recognized by passengers, especially since security was tightened on board planes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Before Sept. 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there, he said, adding that very few people recognize him as he walks through Amsterdams Schiphol Airport in KLM uniform and cap. Even when he makes announcements to passengers, Willem-Alexander says that as a co-pilot, he doesnt have to give his name. So while some people recognize his voice, it is far from all passengers. But most people dont listen anyway, he added. SHARE: SAN CRISTOBAL, VENEZUELALegions of national guardsmen and military helicopters began descending on a western Venezuela state Wednesday where an outbreak of looting and political violence left at least three people dead in as many days, raising the nationwide death toll in a wave of unrest to at least 43. Fifteen-year-old Jose Guerrero died in San Cristobal on Wednesday after going out the previous afternoon to purchase flour and being shot near a protest, authorities said. His death means the number killed in nearly two months of protests and street clashes is likely to surpass that seen in the countrys last political upheaval in 2014, when 43 people died during three months of demonstrations against the socialist government. Top military commanders announced they were sending 2,000 national guardsmen and 600 troopers from special operation forces to Tachira, a mountainous state along Venezuelas border with Colombia where Guerrero and two others have been killed during protests since Monday. Read more: Venezuelas Maduro compares treatment of officials to that of Jews under Nazis Grisly 24 hours of turmoil leaves 4 dead in Venezuela protests Venezuelas protesters improvise combat gear using gas masks, gardening gloves A rash of violence across Tachira this week has left dozens of businesses looted, 11 police stations set aflame and nervous residents scrambling to buy what food they can find. Public transportation was shut down Wednesday, many businesses closed and long lines snaked to the few operating ATMs. From this moment we are not going to permit any more violent or terroristic acts, said Jose Morantes Torres, commander of a regional defence force overseeing operations. By late Wednesday afternoon, helicopters could be seen arriving at Tachiras military airport. Hundreds of national guardsmen in green uniforms were patrolling areas where protests have taken place, while others stood in front of grocery stores and other shops and some kept watch from armoured trucks. The military operation comes as President Nicolas Maduro faces mounting international pressure to hold elections and refrain from using tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters. Anti-government street mobilizations that began after the nations Supreme Court issued a ruling stripping congress of its last powers in late March are continuing on a near-daily basis. Meanwhile, the death toll is rising at a steady clip and is likely to surpass the 2014 protest fatalities in about half the time. The growing list of casualties puts both the government and the opposition in increasingly strained positions, analysts said. Deaths, which are often captured on cellphone cameras and shared widely online, will probably further isolate Venezuelas government from international public opinion. But the bloodshed also raises the question of how much longer the opposition can call on its supporters to take the risk of going into the streets, said Christopher Sabatini, a professor at Columbia University. The opposition has the moral upper hand, but as long as the government refuses to yield and kill its own citizens, how much longer can this go on? Sabatini said. Arrests have been made in just eight of the deaths, five of which involved police officers, according to the chief prosecutors office. Maduros government blames the opposition for the violence, saying they are purposely fomenting unrest in order to remove him from power. Opposition leaders deny that and say heavy-handed officers and armed, pro-government militias known as colectivos are responsible. The violence in Tachira began Monday after several weeks of largely peaceful protests. That day, the minister of the nations prison system was in San Cristobal to promote Maduros push to resolve the crisis by convening a special assembly to rewrite Venezuelas constitution, a proposal the opposition rejects. With her arrival, residents say, also came bands of colectivos who threatened protesters. Videos shared on social media by Tachira residents show armed men in masks roaming the streets on foot and motorcycles and in some cases appearing to open fire. On Monday afternoon, Luis Alviarez, 18, and Diego Hernandez, 33, were fatally shot during separate demonstrations. Videos of both incidents were distributed online, showing the two men lying lifeless on the pavement. By Wednesday, residents in San Cristobal woke up to discover dozens of businesses had been looted. Public transportation was shut down, the states agricultural industry a critical provider of Venezuelas fruits and vegetables paralyzed and people worriedly lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash. Guerrero, the latest casualty, was taken to a hospital Tuesday after being shot and died Wednesday morning after undergoing surgery, authorities said. Speaking outside a hospital, his sister lashed out at Maduro and blamed national guard officers for her brothers death. I hate you with all my heart, she said, crying. He was a boy of 15. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONCorrecting his earlier statement, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee said Thursday that ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn hasnt responded to a subpoena from the panel in its probe of Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina had said hours earlier Flynns lawyer had informed the panel he would not comply with the subpoena. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump Burr corrected himself by issuing a written statement saying Flynns attorneys have not yet indicated their intentions regarding the subpoena. Consistent with the committees position since the beginning of or investigation, I welcome their willingness to co-operate, Burr said. Committee staff didnt explain the reason Burr misspoke. Legal experts say that its unlikely Flynn would agree to turn over the personal documents because he would be waiving his constitutional protection against self-incrimination by doing so. Flynn, though his lawyer, had earlier asked for immunity from unfair prosecution in exchange for agreeing to co-operate with the committee. Flynns attorney Robert Kelner did not immediately respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment. Burr said Thursday that the committee is continuing to interview others as part of its probe including people affiliated with the campaign. So far, he said, the panel has interviewed well over 30 individuals. The Senate committee is one of several on Capitol Hill investigating possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign. Flynn is also the target of other congressional investigations as well as an ongoing FBI counter-intelligence probe and a grand jury inquiry. Flynn, a retired U.S. army lieutenant-general, was fired from his position as Trumps national security adviser in February. At the time, Trump said he fired Flynn because he misled senior administration officials, including the vice president, about his contacts with Russian officials. The committee issued the subpoena for Flynns records on May 10 after he declined to co-operate with an April 28 request for documents. That request was similar to ones received by other Trump associates, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Trump associate Roger Stone and former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page, a person familiar with the Senate investigation said. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential details of the committees investigation. Copies of the requests sent to Page and Stone were shared with The Associated Press. Those letters sought a wide array of electronic and paper records related to any contacts people affiliated with the Trump campaign had with Russian officials and Russian businesses. Emails, text messages, letters, phone records and information about financial and real estate holdings associated with Russia were among the information requested by the committee. Page shared a copy of his letter with the AP. Nina Ginsberg, a veteran Washington defence attorney with extensive experience in national security cases, said that without an ironclad immunity deal from the committee, Flynn would be exposed to questioning from investigators about any personal documents he gave up. Providing those records to the committee would provide authorities with a lot more information and the legal basis for questioning him about them, she said. Read more about: SHARE: PARISFrench President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and convened his Cabinet for the first time Thursday all under a growing cloud of concern that his office is trying to control the press. The new French government, which was appointed Wednesday, is a carefully calibrated balance of 22 prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right, half of them women. They arrived for their first meeting Thursday with smiles, posing for photographs on the front porch of the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. After the meeting, Macron talked by phone with Putin about possible co-operation on international issues, including the fight against terrorism. The Kremlin said the two voiced readiness to develop their nations traditionally friendly economic, political and cultural ties. Macron has previously taken a firm stance against Russias actions in Ukraine and Syria. Read more: French President Emmanuel Macron mixes old and new, left and right in Cabinet New French President Emmanuel Macron pushes Paris Olympic bid, vets ministers Macron also held a defence council meeting with the defence minister and the military chiefs to focus on security issues. France remains under a state of emergency, and under threat from Islamic extremists, since attacks in November 2015 left 130 people dead around Paris. During the Cabinet meeting, Macron called on his ministers to have the necessary discipline and solidarity despite their sometimes stark political differences, government spokesman Christophe Castaner said. In keeping with Macrons independent centrist line and his goal of reshaping French politics, his ministers include both Socialists and conservatives. Castaner, a Socialist who joined Macrons movement last year, said our political background will not prevent us from working smartly for France. Meanwhile, tensions have arisen over Macrons policies about media access, recalling similar conflicts over the coverage of Donald Trumps presidency in the U.S. Some French political reporters said Macrons office called their offices to designate specific journalists who will be able to cover Macrons first trip outside Europe, scheduled in Mali on Friday. In the past, French media would decide themselves who to send on presidential trips. Castaner said he wasnt aware of this specific issue but tried to reassure reporters, explaining theres a need to physically limit the number of journalists during certain visits. As youve seen during the campaign, the presence of 50 journalists and a dozen (television) cameras can affect direct dialogue and discussions that the president has with the French people, he said. Its not about controlling. Its not about imposing anything. Castaner said he and the president are committed to letting journalists do their jobs. Reporters without Borders denounced the new French governments concerning signal to the press. Christophe Deloire, the secretary general of the organization, said its not the Elysees role to select journalists during official visits, adding that this system could be used as a means of pressure. To limit the number of journalists during an event has nothing to do with selecting a cast of the journalists allowed to cover the presidencys visits, Deloire said. Thats an illegitimate interference of political power. France is ranked 39th in the 2017 world press freedom index by the NGO. Also Thursday, for the first time in years, the Elysee courtyard was closed to media following the Cabinet meeting. Castaner said the closure wasnt aimed at controlling the governments image but rather was a one-time event because the ministers needed to take an official photograph. He said the press will be allowed to attend the end of future Cabinet meetings and question the ministers in the Elysee courtyard starting next week. Thursdays Cabinet meeting was largely about getting to know each other. The government is led by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, a conservative. The most senior Cabinet job, interior minister, went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the long-time Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macrons presidential bid. The armed forces are now led by centrist, pro-European Sylvie Goulard, 52. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, the previous defence minister, stays on in the new government as foreign minister and Europe minister. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWACanada says its ready to talk now that U.S. President Donald Trump has formally launched the process to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday that Ottawa has already decided that updating the environment and labour sections of the trade pact will be two areas of focus going into the negotiations. Im not going to lay all my cards on the table now. I dont think Canadians would like us to do that, Freeland told reporters Thursday. Were going to take a very thoughtful and very strategic approach to the negotiations, but two areas that I think could very usefully benefit from modernization in NAFTA are the labour and environment chapters, Freeland said, citing the experience with the recently completed trade deal with the European Union. She noted that in letters to Congress to trigger the process for renegotiation, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also flagged those two areas, among others. So thats an example of some areas where I think we can do some really constructive work together, she said. Lighthizers notice to Congress Thursday set the clock ticking on the start of negotiations, saying they would begin as soon as possible but no sooner than 90 days. In the letter, Lighthizer who gave Canada advance notice of the move, according to Freeland said that elements of the 25-year-old deal are outdated and do not reflect modern standards. Lighthizers letter set out some elements of the trade deal that the U.S. would like to see modernized, including intellectual property rights and regulatory practices. Freeland said that Ottawa has a similar view and she tried to paint the renegotiation of the sweeping trade agreement as routine. Modernizing trade agreements is standard practice. Its good practice for trading nations, Freeland said. The foreign affairs minister said the formal triggering of NAFTA talks has long been anticipated and said the federal government has already started to consult with Canadian stakeholders about Ottawas priorities going into the talks. In April, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Freeland declined to speculate about Washingtons ambition to complete negotiations by the end of the year, saying any talk of timelines was premature. What I will say is we are ready to roll up our sleeveswe have been from day oneand we will work hard and seriously on updating this essential agreement. At the end of the day, our objective is going to be to negotiate a great deal for Canadians, and Im very confident we can do that, she said. Lighthizer said that the United States seeks to support higher-paying jobs in the United States and to grow the U.S. economy by improving U.S. opportunities under NAFTA. And he said that aggressive enforcement of the commitments made by our trading partners was vital and needed to be improved. We are committed to concluding these negotiations with timely and substantive results for U.S. consumers, businesses, farmers, ranchers, and workers, he said. The letter makes good on a key campaign promise by Trump, who came into office on a protectionist agenda, vowing to revive the U.S. manufacturing sector and lure back jobs that had gone offshore. The development, though not a surprise, does formally set the stage for potentially difficult negotiations between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. While Trump told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February that he was only looking to tweak trade ties between Canada and the U.S., more recently he has come out swinging against NAFTA. NAFTA has been a horrible deal for the United States. Its been very good for Canada, its been very good for Mexico, but its been horrible for the United States, Trump said in late April. At that time, Trump had threatened to pull out of NAFTA altogether but said he backed away after talking to Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who impressed on him the economic turmoil that such a move would cause. Now, if Im unable to make a fair deal, if Im unable to make a fair deal for the United States, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate NAFTA. But were going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot, Trump said. Freeland said that Canada goes into the talks looking to renew the trade deal with both the U.S. and Mexico at the table, dampening talk that Washington might want only bilateral deals. NAFTA is a trilateral agreement, and so the negotiations to modernize NAFTA need to be conducted in a trilateral fashion, Freeland said. Indeed, Freeland will be travelling to Mexico City next Tuesday for talks with Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexicos economy minister, and Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, in part about the NAFTA deal. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTON Brimming with resentment, U.S. President Donald Trump fervently denied on Thursday that his campaign had collaborated with Russia or that hed tried to kill an FBI probe of the issue, contending that even my enemies recognize his innocence and declaring himself the most unfairly hounded president in history. Asked point-blank if hed done anything that might merit prosecution or even impeachment, he said no and then added concerning the allegations and questions that have mounted as he nears the four-month mark of his presidency: I think its totally ridiculous. Everybody thinks so. Not quite everybody. While Trump tweeted and voiced his indignation at the White House, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed an independent special counsel to lead a heightened federal Trump-Russia investigation the day before, briefed the entire Senate behind closed doors at the Capitol. By several senators accounts, he contradicted Trumps statements that Rosensteins written criticism of FBI Director James Comey had been a factor in Comeys recent firing by the president. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump Trump is leaving Friday for his first foreign trip, to the Mideast and beyond, and aides had hoped the disarray at home would have been calmed if not resolved, allowing the White House to refocus and move ahead. Republicans on Capitol Hill hoped the same, reasoning that the appointment of a special counsel could free them to work on a major tax overhaul and other matters without constant distractions. Trump said he was about to name a replacement for Comey, another move to settle the waters. Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was seen as the front-runner. But calmness seemed far off. Trump clearly knew what he wanted to say as he took a few questions at a news briefing with visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Read more: As Trump crisis escalates, special counsel appointed to take over Russia probe: Analysis Trump to interview four FBI candidates for director position The Trump train is derailing. Jump off now: Menon Did he urge Comey at a February meeting to drop his probe of the Russia connections of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn? No. No. Next question. Did he in fact collude with Russia in his campaign to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton? Everybody, even my enemies, have said there is no collusion, he maintained. However another answer on that subject seemed both more specific and perhaps ambiguous. There is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign but I can only speak for myself and the Russians. Zero. The entire thing has been a witch hunt, he declared, echoing one of the tweets hed sent out just after dawn: This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! He said he respected the special counsel appointment but also said it hurts our country terribly. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Rosenstein was briefing the Senate about his decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the independent Trump-Russia probe. Senators said that Rosenstein steered clear of specifics while making clear that Mueller has wide latitude to pursue the investigation wherever it leads, including potentially criminal charges. Despite the presidents furious reaction, some fellow Republicans welcomed Muellers appointment and expressed hopes it would restore some composure to a capital plunged in chaos. Well get rid of the smoke and see where the actual issues lie, said Sen. Tim Scott. I do think that the special prosecutor provides a sense of calm and confidence perhaps for the American people, which is incredibly important. One striking piece of news emerged from Rosensteins briefing: He told senators that he had already known Comey was getting fired even as he wrote the memo that Trump cited as a significant justification for the FBI directors dismissal. Trump himself had already contradicted that explanation, telling interviewers earlier that he had already decided to dismiss Comey. He offered new justifications for his decision Thursday, even while referring to the Rosenstein memo as a very, very strong recommendation. Trump referred to Comeys testimony at a recent Capitol Hill hearing after which the Justice Department ended up having to amend part of his testimony regarding last years probe of Hillary Clintons email practices. That was a poor, poor performance, Trump said. And then on top of that, after the Wednesday performance by Director Comey, you had a person come and have to readjust the record, which many people have never seen before, because there were misstatements made. The Justice Department says Mueller, the new special counsel, has been given sweeping power to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, including potential links between Moscow and Trump associates. U.S. President Donald Trump has responded with a direct "no, no" to a question about whether he asked former FBI Director James Comey to shelf an investigation into his former national security adviser. Despite initially opposing appointment of an independent counsel, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that the development helps assure people and the Justice Department that theyre going to go do their jobs independently and thoroughly, which is what weve called for all along. At the same time, congressional committees are continuing their own investigations, leading to some turf warfare and sniping as the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee both sought to lay claim to testimony from Comey, while the House Oversight Committee also hoped to hear from the former director. The House intelligence committee announced that it had asked for documents from the FBI and the Justice Department. The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said he was supportive of investigations in Congress but expressed concern about the proliferation of hearings. I hope that we dont inadvertently trip up or damage the independent investigation of the special counsel, he said. The presidents tweets drew little reaction from fellow Republicans, who instead joined Democrats in heaping praise on Mueller, a longtime respected lawman who served under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, preceding Comey as head of the FBI. Read more about: SHARE: TULSA, OKLA.Tulsa leaders on Thursday called for a peaceful response to a jurys decision to acquit a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man, and said more must be done to fight racial divisions in Oklahomas second-largest city. The comments came after a jury on Wednesday found Tulsa officer Betty Shelby not guilty of manslaughter. She said she shot of fear Sept. 16 when she killed Terence Crutcher, who had his hands held above his head. The initial reaction from the community in the hours after Wednesday nights verdict was peaceful. About 100 demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse and some briefly blocked a main street, but police kept a relatively low profile, standing about a block away. Read more:Race didnt factor into shooting of black man: Oklahoma officer Mayor G.T. Bynum said at a news conference Thursday that he respected the jurys decision, while also calling Tulsas racial divide the citys greatest moral issue. This verdict does not alter the course on which we are adamantly set, he said. It does not change our recognition of the racial disparities that have afflicted Tulsa historically. It does not change our work to institute community policing measures that empower citizens to work side by side with police officers in making our community safer. At least four of the 12 jurors were crying as they left the courtroom Wednesday, and they did not look at either Crutchers family or Shelby. The jury comprised eight women and four men and included three African-Americans. Crutchers family was quickly ushered out of the courtroom sobbing and wailing after the decision. Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder, Crutchers father, the Rev. Joey Crutcher, said outside the courtroom. Shelby looked stone-faced when the verdict was read, but her lawyer said she was elated with the jurys decision. Shes ready to get back to her life, defence attorney Shannon McMurray said. Shelby testified that she fired her weapon out of fear because she said Crutcher didnt obey her commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Crutcher was unarmed. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted. They noted Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasnt combative part of which was confirmed by police video taken from a dashboard camera and helicopter that showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby, hands held above his head. Shelbys attorneys argued that in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground. Shelby also said she feared Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic known as Angel Dust that makes users erratic, unpredictable and combative. An autopsy showed PCP was in Crutchers system, and police said they found a vial of it in his SUV. Crutchers family said police attempted to demonize Crutcher over the drug possession to deflect attention from the fact that he wasnt armed. Radio chatter that captured moments before the shooting included an officer saying Crutcher looked like a bad dude who could be on something. The statements outraged Crutchers family, who said they indicated a racial bias. The killing of 40-year-old Crutcher was among a spate of officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. Marq Lewis, organizer of the local civil rights group We The People Oklahoma, said the verdict was a blow to Tulsas black community. When is it going to stop just officer-related shootings? When will the police change policy? he asked. Tulsa has a long history of troubled race relations dating back to a 1921 race riot that left about 300 black residents dead. In 2015, a poorly trained white volunteer deputy, Robert Bates, shot and killed a black man after Bates said he mistakenly reached for his gun rather than a Taser. The shooting led to the departure of the sheriff. A Tulsa jury convicted the then-74-year-old Bates of second-degree manslaughter and he was sentenced to four years in prison. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Shelby six days after Crutcher was killed. An affidavit accused her of becoming emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted. Defence attorney McMurray argued that prosecutors rushed to charge Shelby for political reasons, fearing civil unrest like the angry street protests that erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott four days after Crutcher was killed. But the reaction in Tulsa was more muted, with protests but no violence. SHARE: Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true. The wisdom of that old saying about the consequences of your wish coming true possibly being worse than you thought may never be more relevant than right now with the rising howls for the impeachment of Donald Trump. Thats because, as bad as Trump is, the United States could actually be in worse shape in the future if Mike Pence, his seemingly benign vice president, replaces him in the Oval Office. Indeed, Pence could well turn out to be a complete disaster as president for liberal-minded Americans. In sharp contrast to Trump, the former Indiana governor is a serious politician with extremist policy views that liberals seriously dont like. And thats why liberal-minded Americans, and like-minded Canadians, should be hoping the U.S. Congress doesnt impeach Trump at least not just right away. Calls for Trumps impeachment have risen sharply in the past week following his sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey, the revelation that he shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials and reports that he had allegedly asked Comey to drop the FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Read more: Trump lashes out after special counsel named for Russia probe: single greatest witch hunt More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress have called for Trumps impeachment. They argue Trumps actions are an obstruction of justice and constitute grounds for impeachment. A poll released earlier this week shows more Americans support impeaching Trump than oppose the idea. The survey, conducted May 12-14 by Public Policy Polling, found 48 per cent back such a move compared to 41 per cent who are against it. The process to impeach a president is relatively simple. First, a committee of the House of Representatives approves articles of impeachment. The U.S. Constitution says a president can be impeached for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. They cant be impeached just because they are incompetent, as Trump is proving to be. Second, the full House then votes to approve the articles. Third, the Senate must approve the impeachment articles by a two-thirds majority to convict a president. Only then would a president be officially removed from office. No president has ever been kicked out through the impeachment process. Bill Clinton in 1998 with the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Andrew Johnson in 1868 were both impeached by the House but later acquitted in the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before he was actually impeached by the Senate for his role in the Watergate affair. For anti-Trump people who wish to see him dumped, though, the prospect of Mike Pence should be chilling. Hes a true believer, a devout evangelistic Christian, a hard-line conservative on social issues, a get-tough-on-crime advocate, a hawk on foreign and defence issues and a guy with a history of attacks on civil rights and freedoms. Pence, a one-time radio talk show host, has been an elected politician since 2000, first as a congressman and most recently as governor of Indiana. In Congress, he was a champion of the right-wing Tea Party, consistently voting to cut government spending and comparing the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Obamacare to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As governor, he signed a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration bill into law in 2015 that discriminated against gay people by allowing businesses to refuse service based on their religious beliefs. He also signed one of the strictest abortion bills in the U.S., cut funding for public health departments, favoured moves to turn away Syrian refugees from Indiana and oversaw the Indiana State Police as it raided and shut a voter-registration program for African Americans. In the past Ive called Trump the worst president ever and raised the likelihood he may be mentally unstable, neither of which I take back. But for now Trump is constrained by both Republicans and Democrats whoare unlikely to pass any of his major political initiatives. Also, the military generals will likely control Trumps urges to go to war. However if Pence takes over the Republicans, who control Congress, will rally behind him, allowing him to push through an overall agenda more conservative than anything Trump might consider. If Trump must go, hopefully it wont happen until after the mid-term elections in November 2018 when the Democrats might win control of either the Senate or House, thus allowing them to block any extreme policies from Pence. So please dont impeach Trump, at least not just yet. Bob Hepburns column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca SHARE: Last year, activist Anita Krajnc was charged with criminal mischief for giving water to some thirsty pigs, owned by Van Boekel Hog Farms, as they were on their way to being slaughtered in Burlington. In Canada, pigs can be transported for up to 36 hours and other farm animals for as long as three days without food, water, or rest. Krajnc was acquitted on May 4, but the Ontario Superior Courts judgment was no victory for the animals Krajnc tries to comfort. Justice David Harris cleared Krajnc because she did not interfere with the hog farmers use of their property by quenching the pigs thirst but he refused to question the underlying premise that pigs are pieces of property whose need for water can be ignored. Pigs are not persons and they are property, Harris held in his decision. Dogs and cats and other pets are property too, and not persons. He recognized that the creatures Krajnc gave water to were upset/stressed, and that they eagerly accepted the water that was offered to them; expert witnesses at the trial observed that the pigs were panting, frothing at the mouth, and squealing, showing that they were overheated, dehydrated, and in psychological distress. And yet, the judge found that the treatment of the pigs complied with the applicable regulations and was therefore lawful. Krajnc may be free, but the legal framework that traps millions of animals in lives of captivity, exploitation, and abuse remains as entrenched as ever. This is a framework in which non-human animals are primarily considered property for human use, rendering their pain subordinate to human convenience. Non-living corporations are treated as legal persons but living, breathing, hurting animals are not. Canadian criminal law categorizes cruelty to animals as property offences. It took until December 2015 for a Canadian provincial legislature to acknowledge for the first time that animals are not inanimate objects, but sentient beings with biological needs. Quebecs Bill 54 has been hailed as a landmark for animals rights in Canada. Anyone who has ever lived with a pet knows that animals experience emotions and feel both physical and psychological pain, writes Canadian Federation of Humane Societies CEO Barbara Cartwright, but this is the first time in North America that these basic truths have been entrenched in law. Even so, despite the laws symbolic appreciation of non-human animals capacity to feel, it does not change the basic legal classification of animals as property in the province. (And in application it excludes farm animals, zoo animals, exotic species, and captive wildlife from its protections.) The still-prevalent idea that animals are essentially property means that in many instances, a relatively trivial human interest is balanced against an animals most fundamental interests in not experiencing pain or death, and the human interest nevertheless prevails, according to American law professor Gary Francione. The Canadian Criminal Code prohibits causing unnecessary pain and injury to animals meaning that pain and injury rationalized as useful for humans is allowed. Practices that involve extreme suffering for animals like tail docking, amputation of beaks and tusks without anaesthetic, castration, and confinement in spaces too tiny to move are standard in factory farming. More than 750 million animals are killed for food in Canada every year, and over a million more die while being transported to slaughterhouses, from causes such as extreme temperature exposure or being trampled/asphyxiated because of overcrowding. In 2014, the British organization World Animal Protection gave Canada a D grade for its failure to protect animals from abuse. Even under recently proposed amendments to Canadian animal transport regulations, cows and chickens and other farm animals can still be shocked with electric prods, and kept in extreme heat or cold without food and water for up to 36 hours. (The European Union, in contrast, has legislated a standard maximum of eight hours.) Canadians get only glimpses of the brutality that lies behind the food we eat, in videos from undercover investigations by animal rights advocates. Hidden camera footage shot at Ontario turkey breeder Hybrid Turkeys in 2014, for example, showed birds with large open wounds, employees being encouraged to kick the birds, and failed euthanizations (including one where a turkey was hit repeatedly with a shovel). Hybrid Turkey pled guilty and was fined $5,600 for these abuses in 2015. But even more disturbing than the sadistic violence that the law minimally punishes when exposed, is all the everyday violence against animal property that is officially permissible. Azeezah Kanji is a legal analyst based in Toronto. She writes in the Star every other Thursday. SHARE: When a Conservative senator was in the media spotlight two months ago after making controversial comments about the positives of residential school, I tried to avoid the coverage. My parents and their siblings were forced to attend the infamous St. Annes Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont. Their traumatic experiences led to addictions to cope, and some died without telling their stories. They, and their children and grandchildren, are still dealing with the effects of their residential school traumas today. So it is difficult for me to consider the positives of a system designed to eradicate our cultures. Despite my attempts, story after story would appear in my Facebook and Twitter feeds, which often included comments from supporters of the senator, serving as a constant reminder of the ignorance and racism in Canadian society directed toward Indigenous people, even among our politicians and lawmakers. I tried to suppress the pain until I finally broke down days later when my mother shared that she was celebrating 25 years of sobriety. As I sat my desk in the middle of the workday, the news triggered memories of my childhood before my mother began her healing journey. I tried to compose myself in order to finish the work day, but I could not and went home. Controversy surrounding these issues takes an emotional toll on Indigenous people. Residential schools. Boil water advisories. Youth suicide. Lack of housing or proper schools. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. If we have not lived these experiences, we often know someone who has. The most recent uproar about cultural appropriation continues to stir emotions. My eyes welled up earlier this week as I listened to an impassioned Jesse Wente become emotional while explaining the historical context of cultural appropriation while appearing on Metro Morning on CBC Radio. Whenever conversations like this occur, Indigenous people find themselves having to engage in debates on the issues reported in the media. They contend with trolls and stubborn white settlers as they attempt to dispel racist stereotypes and misconceptions, clear up misinformation, and relay cultural contexts to people often unwilling to listen and learn. It is frustrating, exhausting, and yes, emotionally draining just to read these debates, let alone engage in them. Especially as the same stories come up again and again. Indigenous people are in fact playing the role of educators to counter the failure of Canada to educate its citizens on accurate Indigenous history, cultures and perspectives. People who are not in school learn most of their information from the media. One of the most disconcerting developments of this appropriation conversation was that several senior editors and executives representing major media institutions felt comfortable not brave or audacious but comfortable to openly pledge seed money to support a so-called appropriation prize. They either did not, or chose not, to understand that for Indigenous people, appropriation means theft of concepts, of identities, of space for storytelling and artistic expression. By calling for such a prize, this incident is seen as a group of white people in power in media supporting the silence of Indigenous voices at a time where diversity is so needed. But this should not come as a surprise. Working Indigenous journalists have told stories of editors or producers ignoring or minimizing pitches on Indigenous stories. And it continues to exist in this supposed era of reconciliation. I met two young First Nations journalists within the past five years when I worked as a news editor and reporter in Northern Ontario. In asking their views on newsroom diversity, one said he experienced discreet forms of racism in journalism school but thought it would end there. I didnt realize the types of people who made those sorts of comments still got the top jobs in the industry, he said. I seriously wonder if there is room for an Indigenous journalist like myself in these conditions, and I think racial barriers are definitely prevalent in an industry already as air-tight as journalism. The other young journalist once had an internship at a major media news organization and said she was not shocked at all at the exposure of racism in Canadian media. Diversity in newsrooms sounds nice and certainly there are (people of colour) in them and reporting on stories, she said, but it doesnt hide the fact that many of the gatekeepers and senior execs are white. As part of my work, I present workshops to journalism students and media newsrooms on best practices when reporting on Indigenous stories, a presentation that includes historical context on residential schools, treaties and the Indian Act. I often imbue the presentation with my own experiences as a journalist and as an Indigenous person. Seeing the engagement and interest from some of the workshops to groups of usually young people gives me some hope. Even so, non-Indigenous journalists or students can only learn so much from a two-hour workshop. Such education should be institutionalized. Yet post-secondary schools and Canadian media outlets, and Canada at large, are slow to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Actions. Recommendation No. 86 specifically calls on Canadian journalism programs and media schools to require education for all students on the history and perspectives of Indigenous people. The gatekeepers are still in place. And in light of the gross ignorance on display in the past week, it is difficult to imagine they would either change or relinquish control anytime soon. In the meantime, Indigenous people will continue to try to fill those knowledge gaps through the platforms and tools at our disposal. We will continue to do so despite the emotional toll it takes on us. We do so, not out of spite or hate for contrarians, but out of love for our people and the land. We may shed tears on occasion but it gives us strength and healing. Because we are resilient. My mother and other survivors can attest to that. Lenny Carpenter is a member of Attawapiskat First Nation and grew up in the James Bay community of Moosonee. He is a program manager with Journalists for Human Rights and oversees the Indigenous Reporters Program. SHARE: Re: Trump asked me to stop Flynn probe, May 17 Trump asked me to stop Flynn probe, May 17 U.S. President Donald Trump may be done, but the extreme right wing Republican agenda will remain intact, guided by the more experienced and thus more dangerous Vice-President Mike Pence. The draconian tax plan, the evisceration of the Affordable Care Act, the destruction of the Environmental Protection Agency, the 20 or so states passing anti-protest legislation, the voter-suppression laws being readied for 2018, the attack on abortion rights none of that will change. The fact is, 60 million or so people voted for this. Theyre the ones whose hearts and minds have to change. Glen Loucks, Toronto SHARE: Re: Would PM go nuclear to build a pipeline?, Hebert, May 16 Would PM go nuclear to build a pipeline?, Hebert, May 16 On May 12, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced Bill C-78 to ban oil tankers off B.C.s north coast. This bill would eliminate Prince Rupert, the safest location for an oil tanker port on Canadas west coast, as the terminus for a single, highly efficient, environmentally responsible energy corridor, transporting oil, natural gas, gas liquids and clean hydropower through northern B.C., with local and First Nations support. Yet Trudeau approved the widely opposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which dramatically increases dilbit (diluted bitumen) tanker numbers through Vancouvers harbours and the Salish Sea. However, a B.C. NDP-Green coalition government, together with Lower Mainland municipalities like Vancouver and Burnaby, will seek to kill it, or delay it long enough to effectively kill it. Remember, 60 per cent of B.C. voters recently voted for parties opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Trudeaus tanker ban on the north coast likely kills all prospects for oil pipelines to the west coast. And, in spite of what he says, the Energy East pipeline to the east coast will never get approved or built because he knows opposition in Quebec would cost him seats in parliament. That leaves Alberta with no new markets and just one market for oil: the U.S., which is striving, successfully, to become self-sufficient in oil, and leaves eastern Canada to import premium-priced crude. Albertas late, great premier Peter Lougheed must be turning over in his grave. And Justin, you can kiss goodbye to your four Liberal seats in Alberta, at least one of your 17 seats in B.C. Mike Priaro, Calgary Read more about: SHARE: Re: Elephant in the (class)room is school closings, Cohn, May 16 Elephant in the (class)room is school closings, Cohn, May 16 Finally, a most interesting column on our multiple school boards. Catholic boards have not made sense for more than 50 years, likely more than 75. In fact, I feel former premier Bill Davis did a major disservice to Ontario in the 1970s when he extended funding to Catholic high schools. Quebec showed us how to do it, as well as Newfoundland. Ontario got rid of Protestant schools many years ago. Queens Park is overdue to get rid of Catholic boards and have a vibrant public education system. The government should initiate a plan to combine the French boards in the next year or two, to determine how best to combine the English boards. Needless to say, the teachers unions will have to understand that they serve the public and their students, not the union infrastructure. There are so many benefits to combining boards; the government just needs to step up and make it happen. Maureen Chorney, Mississauga If amalgamating schools boards is the answer, then the power of conventional wisdom must be challenged. It is not good enough to automatically default to the lowest common denominator. A superior school board system already exists that consistently boasts better results. Can I get an Amen? Ricardo Di Cecca, Burlington Read more about: SHARE: Messy political developments in Washington, D.C., spilled into financial markets on Wednesday in the most punishing day for stocks of 2017. The S&P 500 was down 1.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8%, or 372 points, and the Nasdaq slid 2.6%. The S&P 500's loss was the worst since Sept. 9. The Donald Trump scandal that provoked Wednesday's selloff was the second of the week: A New York Times report that Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to shut down the federal investigation into since-ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn was forced to resign on Feb. 13 amid questions over his contact with the Russian ambassador and discussions of U.S. sanctions. Comey wrote a memo detailing his conversation with the president shortly after it took place, according to the Times, which cited two people who read the document. It's part of a paper trail Comey created documenting what he believed to be improper efforts to influence the investigation. The president fired Comey, who was heading an investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged ties with Russia, early last week. The Times report may present the clearest evidence yet that the president has tried to influence government investigations into links between Russia and the Trump campaign. "The problem is not the turmoil, not the potential constitutional issues, and not even the ongoing tug of war between Republicans and Democrats," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. "The problem is that the markets have expected significant policy action on the economy, and such action is looking less likely by the day, given the many political items that need to be resolved first." Financial stocks were the worst performers on Wednesday. JPMorgan (JPM) - Get Free Report , Wells Fargo (WFC) - Get Free Report , Bank of America (BAC) - Get Free Report , HSBC (HSBC) - Get Free Report , Citigroup (C) - Get Free Report , and Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Free Report were sharply lower, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) - Get Free Report slid 3.2%. Wells Fargo and Citigroup are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells WFC or C? Learn more now. Only a day earlier, news broke that Trump had divulged highly classified intelligence to Russia during a meeting last week, according to a report from The Washington Post. Trump reportedly shared top-secret information on the fight against ISIS with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in a meeting in which U.S. media was barred. The meeting had also raised eyebrows because it occurred just a day after Trump fired Comey. While markets have rallied since the November election on Trump's pro-business agenda, the latest flood of distractions appears to have put progress on tax reform on the backburner. The scandals also distract from Trump's first official trip abroad as president later this week. He is set to travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Vatican City. "Stocks have taken to selling off on bad Trump-related news, first with Comey (and now again with Comey) and then with the alleged comments made to a Russian diplomat," Brian Sozzi wrote on our premium site for investors, Real Money. "This reaction by stocks could indicate the first signs of investors losing confidence in what Trump could get accomplished." Others argued that this could be a natural "buy-the-dip scenario," given that stocks recently reached all-time highs. "As investors turn to safe havens like gold, a pullback can present buying opportunities," Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E*TRADE, wrote in a note. "Further, this isn't the first negative headline we've seen and I wager that most feel it won't be the last. While no one knows what the future holds, if the market has illustrated anything in the past few months, it's that resiliency to political headwinds may be a crowning attribute." Safe-haven assets were higher on Wednesday. Gold prices climbed 1.9% to $1,259.50 an ounce, and silver prices increased 0.9% to $16.89 an ounce. Crude prices surged after U.S. inventories declined for the sixth week in a row. Stockpiles fell by 1.8 million barrels in the week ended May 12, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gasoline and distillate stockpiles also dropped. Oil settled at two-week highs earlier in the week after energy ministers from Russia and Saudi Arabia surprised markets by calling for an extension to an oil production-cap agreement. An extension to the OPEC deal will be the main point of conversation when the 13 member countries meet in Vienna on May 25. The current agreement, established last November, is set to expire at the end of June. West Texas Intermediate crude closed 0.8% higher at $49.07 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest settlement in nearly three years. In earnings news, Target (TGT) - Get Free Report increased 1% after topping quarterly estimates. The department store chain earned $1.23 a share, up from $1.05 a share in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings of $1.21 a share topped consensus of 91 cents a share. Sales of $16.02 billion came in higher than a target of $15.62 billion. Second-quarter profit guidance of 95 cents to $1.15 a share compared with analysts' target of $1 a share. Urban Outfitters (URBN) - Get Free Report declined 4.2% after disappointing quarterly sales. Revenue inched 0.2% lower over its recent quarter to $761 million, falling short of consensus by $8.8 million. Net income of 10 cents a share missed estimates by 6 cents. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) - Get Free Report tumbled 14.7% on disappointing guidance for its second quarter. Earnings are anticipated between 15 cents and 17 cents, below a target of 23 cents, while same-store sales are expected to come in flat or slightly lower. Analysts expected same-store sales to grow 0.5%. First-quarter profit came in short of estimates, though the teen retailer did post surprise growth in same-store sales. More than 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings so far this season. Of those, nearly 75% have exceeded earnings expectations, above the historical average of 64%, according to Thomson Reuters. On the topline, 63% have topped revenue estimates, a narrower beat than the average rate of 59%. More of TheStreet's top stories: Activist investment firm Marcato Capital Management increased its stake in Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) to 9.9% from 6.1%, according to an SEC filing. Earlier this week, Buffalo Wild Wings released an investor presentation that pushed back against Marcato's advocacy for the company to franchise more restaurants and shake up its board. The presentation specifically called out Marcato managing partner Mick McGuire, saying that "McGuire's 'plan' to create value for Borders was unsuccessful, and Borders was eventually liquidated in a bankruptcy process." Marcato released a deck in April that called for shareholders to vote for a new board. Buffalo Wild Wings' annual shareholder meeting is June 2. Retail's downturn giving you the blues? Jim Cramer has a list of retailers that are currently oversold, giving investors a leg up one of the market's most volatile sectors. Brazilian shares are falling Thursday sharply after news reports that the nation's President Michel Temer was caught on tape supporting payment of a bribe to make a corruption probe go away. The iShares Brazil Fund (EWZ) - Get Free Report, the largest exchange-traded fund based on the nation's stock market, fell 17% to $39.14. The Guardian newspaper reported that the tape surfaced as part of a plea bargain agreement with brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, who run JBS, Brazil's biggest meat-packing company. It said the tape also incriminate several other politicians. The tape is the most recent part of a multi-year corruption probe called "Operation Carwash." More than 80 people have been charged with bribery and money laundering to date. In April Moody's downgraded debt issued by units of Brazil's Odebrecht construction and energy conglomerate. The securities are notes issued by Odebrecht Finance (OFL) and guaranteed by Odebrecht Engenharia e Construcao (OEC) - Get Free Report . OEC is Brazil's largest construction company, with $10.5 billion in revenue for the year ending last September. Its parent company also owns oil and gas company Braskem The downgrade was partially caused by problems stemming from a corruption probe into Odebrecht and other companies. Odebrecht stands accused of forming a clandestine group called the division of structured operations - also knowns as the carwash - that served only to make bribery payments. The scandal led to the arrest of Odebrecht CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, who was sentenced by Brazilian courts to 30 years in prison and then reached a plea deal. The investigations reached to far corners of the business and political communities, and at one point last year former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated as part of related inquiries involving Petrobras. Teva Pharmaceutical's (TEVA) - Get Free Report search for a new CEO has resulted in the selection of a foreigner as the front-runner, Israeli financial news website Calcalist reports. Israel's largest firm is also searching for a chief financial officer in which three candidates are vying for the position. Israeli members of the board of directors are demanding that an Israeli be appointed CFO if the CEO is a foreigner, Calcalist said. "We are looking for a world-class individual with deep and broad pharmaceutical experience, an individual with experience dealing with global and complex companies, with a strong sense of corporate responsibility and proven strategic and operational capabilities," Teva chairman Dr. Sol Barer said. Shares of Teva were lower during early morning trading on Thursday. Jim Cramer and Real Money columnists discuss the latest from President Donald Trump and the GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. See which stocks they are discussing and get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Real Money. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services. It offers pineapples, fresh-cut fruit, fresh-cut vegetables, melons, and vegetables; non-tropical fruits, such as grapes, apples, citrus, blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, and kiwis; other fruit and vegetables, and avocados; and prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, other beverages, and meals and snacks. The company also engages in the sale of poultry and meat products; and third-party freight services business. In addition, it manufactures and sells plastic and box products, such as bins, trays, bags, and boxes. The company offers its products under the Del Monte brand, as well as under other brands, such as UTC, Rosy, Fruit Express, Just Juice, Fruitini, Mann's Logo, Arcadian Harvest, Nourish Bowls, Broccolini, Caulilini, Better Burger Leaf, RomaLeaf, and other regional brands. It markets and distributes its products to retail stores, club stores, convenience stores, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands. Credit Suisse Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. The company offers wealth management solutions, including investment advice and discretionary asset management services; risk management solutions, such as managed investment products; and wealth planning, succession planning, and trust services. It also provides financing and lending solutions, including consumer credit and real estate mortgage lending, real asset lending relating to ship, and aviation financing for UHNWI; standard and structured hedging, and lombard lending solutions, as well as collateral trading services; and investment banking solutions, such as global securities sales, trading and execution, capital raising, and advisory services. In addition, the company offers banking solutions, such as payments, accounts, debit and credit cards, and product bundles; asset management products; equity and debt underwriting, and advisory services; cash equities, equity derivatives, and convertibles, as well as prime services; and fixed income products, such as credit, securitized, macro, emerging markets, financing, structured credit, and other products. Further, it provides HOLT, a framework for assessing the performance of approximately 20,000 companies; and equity and fixed income research services. The company serves private and institutional clients; ultra-high-net-worth individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and affluent and retail clients; corporate clients, small and medium-sized enterprises, external asset managers, financial institutions, and commodity traders; and pension funds, hedge funds, governments, foundations and endowments, corporations, entrepreneurs, private individuals, financial sponsors, and sovereign clients. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through a network of 311 offices and branches. The company was founded in 1856 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland. Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at 13.7bn (British Land share: 10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years. The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation. Read More A delegation of 19 high-profile Omani exporters is participating on a two-day Ithraa-led trade delegation to Egypt. The mission included site visits to companies in Cairo as well as B2B meetings with Egyptian importers, agents and manufacturers. We are in Cairo to introduce our hosts to a range of high quality, Oman-made products, forge better connections with existing business contacts and establish new relationships too, particularly in food processing, marble, pharmaceuticals and plastics, explained Nasima Al Balushi, Ithraas director general of Export Development. Over 100 Egyptian companies attended Wednesdays B2B meetings. The visit has proven to be incredibly useful on a number of levels, as it is given participating Omani firms an excellent opportunity both to highlight their high-end offer in food production, marble, pharmaceuticals and plastics as well as communicate to our Egyptian counterparts that we are open for business, added Al Balushi. Founded in 1997, Ithraa is a government-run, ISO and Investor in People certified inward investment and export promotion agency. TradeArabia News Service Chile-based practice Elemental has been awarded a contract for a massive art museum on a historic waterfront site at Doha Bay after it won the Art Mill International Design Competition conducted by Qatar Museums to find an outstanding team to design this cultural marvel. Art Mill will come up over a one-million-sq-ft area in the centre of capital Doha. Elemental was selected by an international jury, from a 26-strong longlist, based on its strategies for the site and its links to the city. The Chilean group's concept design for the historic waterfront site in the centre of Doha took as its inspiration the rhythmic monumental grain silos that are the industrial legacy of the original flour mills on the site, which have produced bread for the state since the 1980s. However, in a creative riff, the team added to the strict geometry of retained silos a looser grouping of new silos that will act as cooling chimneys circulating air through the site that extends spectacularly on three sides into Doha Bay. Gifted with one of the most spectacular and historic sites in the centre of Doha, Art Mill will be pre-eminent in Dohas waterfront ensemble of institutions dedicated to art and is expected to become one of the worlds leading cultural centres, said the company in a statement. Lauding the novel design, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the chairperson of Qatar Museums, and jury chair, said: "Art Mill will be an international exemplar where art connects across cultures and boundaries. Elementals assured handling of space and scale in its treatment of the silos creates a memorable and original scheme that evokes a strong sense of calm." "The team showed a love of simplicity in the use of humble materials, which will acquire a patina with age," she stated. The concept design also received a pat from the international jury as a serene artwork, where the structure is the architecture. The teams environmental strategy also came for praise "for its understanding of the local climate". Elemental is led by Alejandro Aravena, the 2016 Pritzker Prize laureate, and supported by climate engineers, Transsolar; structural engineers, Schlaich Bergermann; and global design consultants, Stantec. We are hugely appreciative of the interest shown by the international architectural community in the project and would like to thank the long-list and the finalist teams for their work during the competition, stated Prof Harry Gugger, special adviser to Qatar Museums and competition juror. The competition reached out to some of the most extraordinary talents working in architecture today and Elemental, known for their social buildings, won in brilliant fashion, being both inventive and indefatigable. Elementals wonderful design proves once again that competitions get the best out of architectural practices, he added. The Chilean architect will now work with Qatar Museums to develop the initial concept design. A gallery of all eight shortlisted designs, including the runner-up Adam Khan Architects, will be published by the competition organisers, Malcolm Reading Consultants. The competition was hugely successful; the original open call attracted great interest from the international design community with 489 submissions received from 56 countries.-TradeArabia News Service Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a leading international aluminium smelter based in Bahrain, said it is a key sponsor of the first Bahraini-Egyptian Exhibition, currently being held in the kingdom. The three-day event will run until May 18, and is being held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The exhibition is being held under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. This exhibition, organised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in cooperation with the Federation of Egyptian Industries, is featuring exhibitors from a wide spectrum of business sectors including finance, manufacturing, banking, engineering, etc. Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray said: Bahrain has a long and well-established relationship with Egypt. As a leading company in the country, we are pleased to support this debut exhibition, which will further strengthen ties between the two countries, he added. Alba, represented by its acting public relations manager Fatema Al Mohri, took part in the press conference of first Bahraini-Egyptian Exhibition, which was held on April 26, at BCCI, it stated. TradeArabia News Service When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. The Opposition has threatened to take the Government all the way to the Privy Council over o Due to the road accident in Turkey, which occurred this morning near the city of Mugla, 16 Ukrainians have been injured, two of them need surgery. Official representative of the Department of Consular Service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Vasyl Kyrylych said this to Ukrinform. "Sixteen citizens of Ukraine were injured in the road accident in Turkey, two people needed surgical intervention, the best doctors were involved. Other people have minor injuries," Kyrylych said. He has added that the Embassy of Ukraine to Turkey, the Honorary Consul of Ukraine to Dalaman, an insurance company and a tour operator are taking all measures to provide assistance to the victims. As reported, the bus was traveling Thursday from popular tourist destination of Bodrum to Denizli province when it skidded on a rainy road and tipped over. ish Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius discussed the issue of informing the society about operational events in the East of Ukraine. This has been reported by the press service of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. "Given the close cooperation, I would like to invite officers from the Lithuanian Defense Ministry to cooperate with our officers in the governing bodies in order to gain the experience of conducting analytical work," Poltorak said. The parties also discussed the current situation in Ukraine. "I've had recently an opportunity to visit the ATO area and see what is happening with my own eyes, as well as communicate with local population, who suffers from the consequences of shelling," Linkevicius said. ish Since 2012, the exports of Ukrainian condensed milk and cream to Israel have increased more than fivefold, up to $1.4 million. This is reported by the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club. "Since 2012, Ukraine has increased the exports of condensed milk and cream to this country [Israel] 5.1 times, up to $1.4 million last year," the statement reads. The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club experts also noted an increase in the size of Ukrainian ice cream exports to Israel by 1.8 times. In 2016, the share of exports to Israel in total Ukrainian ice cream exports reached 23.3% or $ 2 million. ol President Petro Poroshenko met with President of the European Peoples Party Joseph Daul and Chair of the EPP Group in the European Parliament Manfred Weber in the course of the working visit to Strasbourg. This has been reported by the press service of the Head of State. The Head of State noted that the decision on visa waiver for Ukrainians has made Ukraine and the EU stronger, as freedom of movement is one of the foundations of the democratic community. Just as holding the Eurovision at the high level, the slogan of which Celebrate Diversity and Equality, has once again confirmed that Ukraine is an integral part of the united European family. The parties shared views on the further steps on the implementation of the European agenda of Ukraine, particularly expressed hope for the completion of ratification of the Association Agreement. The EPP leadership assured that Ukraine would further enjoy full support by the most influential European party in the issue of reforms and restoration of territorial integrity, including the issue of sanctions. The Head of State informed on the course of fulfillment of the Minsk agreements and continuation of the Russian aggression. The parties condemned another cynical shelling of Avdiivka that killed 4 civilians. The President of Ukraine emphasized that the 73rd anniversary of deportation of Crimean Tatars that will take place on May 18 is a painful reminder of current human rights violations on the peninsula and urged to back the efforts of Ukraine on de-occupation of Crimea. ish On May 18, Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak began an official visit to the Republic of Lithuania. This has been reported by the press service of the Defense Ministry. "Within the framework of the visit of the head of the Defense Ministry to Lithuania, a number of meetings with the Sejm representatives and official negotiations with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Lithuania are planned," the report says. During the visit, Poltorak will also meet with representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora and volunteers. ish On Wednesday, May 17, in Strasbourg, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko took part in the signing ceremony of the legislative act on abolishing visa requirements for Ukrainians for short-term trips to the countries of the European Union and the Schengen zone. The document was signed by President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and Minister for Home Affairs and National Security of Malta Carmelo Abela. As expected, the visa-free travels for Ukrainian citizens are to come into force on June 11. Ukraine is committed to return Russian-occupied Crimea by political and diplomatic means as Crimea has been and remains to be an integral part of our state. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this in his address to the Ukrainian people on the occasion of the Day of Struggle for the Rights of Crimean Tatar People. "In the confrontation with the enemy, who turns the blossoming Crimean land into a giant military base, our state will hold the stand of the civilized world and ensure the preservation of peace, freedom and democracy. We are committed to return the occupied Crimea by political and diplomatic means as Crimea has been and remains to be an integral part of our state," the statement reads. The President stressed that the leading democratic countries of the world categorically rejected Russias annexation of Crimea: "We highly appreciate their consistent and clear support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine amid the continuing Russian aggression, as well as their particular attention to the fate of the Crimean Tatars and all Ukrainian patriots in the occupied autonomy." Poroshenko expressed gratitude to foreign partners for all-round assistance in returning Crimea through exerting international pressure on the occupier by means of sanctions and judicial proceedings. "We have a legal assessment of the actions of the aggressor, the Russian Federation, from the International Court of Justice. We are also grateful to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the recent decision on the situation in Crimea, which put forward a number of demands to Russia, in particular, the demand to restore the activity of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea and allow its leaders to enter the peninsula," he said. The President also stressed that the decision on visa waiver for Ukrainian citizens opened up the new opportunities for the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine. ol Today, Ukraine commemorates the victims of deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. May 18, 1944, the State Defense Committee of the USSR ruled to start the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Uzbekistan and neighboring areas of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and some regions of Russia. A total of 238,500 Crimean Tatars were evicted, not including demobilized soldiers. As a result of the deportation, 46% of the Crimean Tatar population died, half of whom were children under the age of 18. Ukraine has recently recognized the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as the genocide. At 12:00, the victims of genocide will be remembered with a minute of silence. In addition, at 12:00 all the cathedrals of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate will toll the bells for five minutes in mourning and solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people. At 16:00, the National Opera of Ukraine will host a requiem concert with the participation of the President of Ukraine. At 18:00, a meeting in memory of victims of genocide is scheduled on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square. At 20:00, the first night of the feature film Anothers Prayer by Akhtem Seitablayev will be held. The mournful events will also be held in many other cities of Ukraine Kherson, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Odesa and others. ol Nearly 1,500 alumni and guests came home for ReUnion 2017 Boston, MA (UroToday.com) Dr. Taylor, from the University of Pennsylvania, utilized the NSQIP database from 2012-2015 to examine a 5-item frailty index to predict healthcare resource utilization after elective minimally invasive radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.Increased healthcare resource utilization was defined as prolonged length of stay (>4 days), discharged to continued care, or unplanned readmission within 30 days of surgery. The 5-item frailty index was modified based upon previously document variables and included: diabetes, impaired functional status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. They employed a multivariate model to determine if the frailty index could be used predict increased healthcare resource outcomes.After evaluating 2321 patients, increasing frailty score was a statistically significant predictor of increased healthcare resource outcomes. The 5-item frailty index was also a statistically significant predictor of prolonged length of stay and discharged to continued care on sub-analysis.In the age of healthcare reform, quality-based metrics are increasingly emphasized to maximize healthcare results while minimizing financial burden. Future studies like these are imperative to improve quality healthcare outcomes that are designing fiscally efficient and stress patient outcomes.Presented By: Benjamin Taylor, MDAuthors: Benjamin Taylor, Leilei Xia, Jose Pulido, Jeremy Bonzo, George Drach, Thomas GuzzoInstitution: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PAWritten By: David B. Cahn, DO, MBS, Fox Chase Cancer CenterTwitter: @dbcahnat the 2017 AUA Annual Meeting - May 12 - 16, 2017 Boston, Massachusetts, USA Boston, MA (UroToday.com) In this session, Dr. Kim reviewed the epidemiology, clinical framework, complexity and shortcomings of the present clinical data in active surveillance for prostate cancer. Additionally, he provided an outstanding overview of the potential molecular mechanisms of racial disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, and how those findings have the potential for influencing treatment paradigms.Dr. Kim demonstrated that in 2009-2013, non-Hispanic African Americans had a 1.73 times increased risk of diagnosis, 2.29 times higher rate of death overall and a 1.32 times higher rate of death after disease diagnosis. Active surveillance is a recommended treatment for very low risk and low risk prostate cancers. However, there has been no consensus on enrollment criteria or monitoring, and most active surveillance cohorts have a disproportionately small component of African-American men. Therefore, Dr. Kim wondered if urologists could safely apply current surveillance criteria and programs to African-American men.A study from Johns Hopkins and Rutgers Universities used both UCSF and NCCN active surveillance criteria to evaluate men who chose radical prostatectomy who were eligible for active surveillance. Of patients treated at their centers, it was determined that a higher proportion of African American men were upstaged at radical prostatectomy (>pT3) then their white counterparts (19.4% vs 10.1%, p=0.037). Additionally, a literature review showed wide disagreement amongst single and multi-institutional, and administrative database cohort analyses published studies since 2009.Newest data from a multi-institutional study examined pathologic findings of 1,923 whites and 333 African American men who were eligible for active surveillance. In their pooled outcomes, no differences were demonstrated in the rates of upstaging, Gleason grade, upgrading, path weight, or positive surgical margin. When sub-analyzed by institution, there were wide discrepancies in upstaging rates of African Americans, ranging from 10.80 to 0 times increased risk.Several molecular mechanisms have been proposed which may be the impetus of these findings. This includes the androgen/androgen receptor, growth factor/receptor and apoptosis. In the androgen pathway, the 5 alpha reductase gene, CYP17, CYP34A, and androgen receptor gene have all been implicated in mechanisms of oncologic aggressiveness. IGF-1, IGFB-3, EGFR, EphB2, BCL-2, MDM2 all have been identified in growth factor or apoptotic pathways that may influence treatment resistance as well.RNA sequencing has preliminarily demonstrated clustering by race, and trends can be demonstrated by population. However, no obvious pathway defect is present, as four pathways have been shown to be up-regulated in African Americans while over ten pathways have been down-regulated. Additionally, TCGA sequencing has shown no association between exome sequence and race.In summary, significant clinical disparities have been demonstrated between races in patients with prostate cancer. Molecular mechanisms of resistance have been proposed, however institutional biases may influence treatment outcomes. Present data does not support altering active surveillance enrollment criteria or monitoring due to race. Future prospective studies are needed to help decipher this challenging topic.Presented By: Isaac Y. Kim, MD, PhD, MBAWritten By: David B. Cahn, DO, MBS, Fox Chase Cancer CenterTwitter: @dbcahnat the 2017 AUA Annual Meeting - May 12 - 16, 2017 Boston, Massachusetts, USA The case of a U.S. pastor jailed in western Turkey since October after lawyers say the government deemed him a "security risk" has been elevated to the highest levels of U.S.-Turkey diplomacy. The White House and the legal team for American Protestant missionary Andrew Brunson said U.S. President Donald Trump raised concerns about his detention during meetings with his Turkish counterpart this week. "President Trump raised the incarceration of Pastor Andrew Brunson and asked that the Turkish Government expeditiously return him to the United States," the White House said in a statement after Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington on Tuesday. Authorities and representatives of the Protestant Christian community in Turkey say Brunson, who has been a Protestant missionary in Turkey for more than 20 years, is being held at an Izmir detention facility in isolation. He and his wife, Norine Brunson, who led the Protestant Resurrection Church in the city of Izmir, were detained October 7, Turkish officials confirmed to VOA. Norine Brunson was released October 20 and has since pursued her husband's freedom. Alleged ties to Gulen In a statement to the United Nations on May 15, the legal Christian advocacy group, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), said Brunson was told that he was being detained as a "national security risk." His "detention appears to be related to his work as a Christian minister," the statement said. Brunson was charged in December with belonging to what the Turkish government calls the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization (FETO). Gulen, a moderate Islamic preacher and Turkish citizen who lives in Pennsylvania legally, is accused by the Turkish government to be the mastermind behind the July 15 coup attempt. Turkey has been seeking Gulen's extradition. Tens of thousands of Turks have been arrested, suspended or fired from their jobs under a state of emergency imposed by the government following that failed coup attempt. Christian groups in Turkey told VOA they are being targeted by the conservative Muslim-dominated government. Officials in Ankara have not responded to several VOA requests for comment in Brunson's case. Appeal to Trump Through his attorneys, Brunson in March appealed to Trump for help. "Will the Turkish government face no consequence for stubbornly continuing to hold an American citizen as a political prisoner?" Brunson asked in a statement. "I appeal to President Trump: please help me. Let the Turkish government know that you will not cooperate with them in any way until they release me. Please do not leave me here in prison." ACLJ counsel met with Trump last week on behalf of Brunson. Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ executive director, told VOA on Wednesday that Brunson's case was brought up "three times" during Tuesday's U.S.-Turkey meeting "twice by the president and once by the Vice President [Mike] Pence," he said. Brunson's supporters don't know how Erdogan responded or will respond to the U.S. demand, Sekulow said. "President Trump is actively engaged with this issue," he said. "We are very encouraged by our government's position. This is not over until Andrew Brunson is free." Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA that it would be a diplomatic success for Trump if Brunson is released. "This shows that for Trump, this is an important issue," he said, adding that it plays to evangelical voters who backed Trump in November. But Turkish analyst Metehan Demir said that given the U.S. stance of not acting on Turkey's request for Gulen's extradition, it could be a long time until Brunson is released. "Both sides will continue to observe how the other side will move for some time," he said. The pastor's wife said she remains optimistic. "I am grateful that you are praying and I have heard of some who are fasting," Norine Brunson said in a web post late Tuesday. "Do continue to pray for the meeting between the two presidents. Pray for peace for Andrew and for me." Scientists say they have identified the sea monster that washed ashore on an Indonesian beach. The badly decomposing carcass measures over 15 meters long and baffled scientists since it washed up on Seram Island last week. Marine biologists now believe the carcass is a dead baleen whale, largely because of a visible skeleton, which would rule out speculation that the creature was a giant squid. "Giant squid are invertebrates and there are clearly bones visible, so I am very comfortable saying its some type of rorqual whale, said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation in an interview with the Huffington Post. Certain species of baleen whales (rorquals) have ventral grooves which run from their chin to their belly button. It is stretchy tissue that expands when they feed." Alexander Werth, a whale biologist at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia agrees with the assessment after seeing photos of the carcass on social media that showed the nearly amorphous carcass surrounded by blood in the water. He added that the carcass probably stinks to high heaven. "That's yet another reason you don't want to be close to these things, not because it's a scary, spooky creature, but [because] it would just be releasing some pretty foul, noxious gases," Werth told Live Science. Locals have asked the government for help in removing the whale. Gunmen suspected to be al-Shabab Islamic extremists killed an administrative chief in an attack in Kenya's north that left two police reservists missing, an official said Tuesday. The attack took place in Omar Jillo in Mandera county on Monday night, Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said. The county borders Somalia, where al-Shabab is based. Omar Jillo is among several towns in the area under dusk-to-dawn curfew over insecurity caused by the al-Qaida-linked extremists. A police report seen by The Associated Press says four unknown men believed to be al-Shabab members broke into the compound of administrative chief Dekow Abbey Sirat and interrogated him before they shot him dead. Mandera has been hardest hit in recent years by an al-Shabab campaign to avenge Kenyan troop presence in Somalia since 2011. Kenya's troops are part of the African Union force in Somalia helping the fragile central government counter al-Shabab's insurgency. On Friday, suspected al-Shabab extremists killed two quarry workers in Mandera. It was the third attack on quarry workers, the majority of whom are not Muslim, in the county since 2014. Separately on Tuesday, an improvised explosive device that officials said was planted by al-Shabab to target a police car instead struck a Toyota Land Cruiser near the Somalia border. A senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give media the information, said all four occupants of the vehicle were killed, including a child, in the attack near Liboi town. Kenya has managed to stop the frequency of al-Shabab attacks in its capital, Nairobi, and major towns, but human rights groups say the government uses methods such as extrajudicial killings that can fuel revenge attacks. The Trump administration has announced that it will continue nuclear sanctions relief for Iran, keeping in place an Obama-era deal. Under the 2015 deal, sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program were waived in exchange for Iran's commitment to roll back the program. But continuing the sanctions relief requires the renewal of a six-month waiver. The most recent waiver, issued by former Secretary of State John Kerry in December, was set to expire this week. But the administration also imposed unrelated sanctions on two Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. Iran continues to pursue missile related technologies capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, Washington's top diplomat for the Middle East, Stuart Jones, said, noting that the missile program is in breach of internationally backed U.N. Security Council resolutions. The State Department will continue to partner with our colleagues at the Department of the Treasury to ensure our national security in the face of Iranian threats. Jones said the U.S. is still forming a "comprehensive Iran policy,'' alluding to President Donald Trump's assertion that he may tear up the deal after he finishes reviewing it. In the meantime, Jones said, the U.S. will keep implementing the deal, including the sanctions relief. Human rights still a concern The State Department also released a new report criticizing Iran for human rights abuses. Jones said the U.S. will continue to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses with new actions. Whether it is imprisoning people arbitrarily, inflicting physical abuse and torture, or executing juvenile offenders, the Iranian regime has for decades committed egregious human rights violations against its own people and foreign nations, and this pattern of behavior must come to an end. He also called on Iran to immediately release Americans detained in the country. The announcements and the report comes just days before Iran holds presidential elections that pit President Hassan Rouhani against several conservative opponents. It also comes ahead of Trump's five-day trip to the region. [This story has been optimized for offline reading on our apps. For a richer experience, you can find the full version of this story here. An Internet connection is required.] Experts assumed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had the capability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile even before the July 4th test. Now, they know for sure: Pyongyangs missiles can reach as far as Alaska. [Experts: North Koreas missile was a real ICBM and a grave milestone] But experts dont think Kim wants to fire the missiles randomly. This notion that the program is unsophisticated is no longer true, and I dont think the strategy is unsophisticated, either, said Vipin Narang, an MIT professor who has written two books about nuclear strategy. Narang said Kims blueprint appears to be derived from the playbooks of other countries that developed nuclear weapons, including Pakistan. The short version: repel and deter. He would hope to have enough nuclear firepower to repel a conventional attack from South Korea while deterring a game-ending nuclear retaliation by the United States. The objective is to preserve the regime, right? said Narang. You really have to stop the invasion. And if you think you need nuclear weapons to do that . . . how do you deal with the fact that the U.S. is going to make you a smoldering, radioactive hole at the end of that? Well, if you can hold American homeland targets at risk, that might induce caution. It is a risky strategy, but not many options are available to a small country against a superpower. And it explains why Kim appears to be trying to build a diverse nuclear arsenal that is capable of striking targets as near as the South Korean border and as far away as the U.S. mainland. Close targets: U.S. bases near Seoul The North Koreans like their chances of repelling a South Korean invasion with conventional rather than nuclear weapons, said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. It is the U.S. forces in the region that worry them. The nuclear weapons are going to be targeted at ports and airfields and probably some army bases where U.S. forces are, he said. What they actually target, of course, is a little bit harder to guess. One of those bases, Yongsan Garrison, is in downtown Seoul. A nuclear device detonated there could destroy the city, possibly including the Blue House, South Koreas equivalent of the White House, which sits on a mountain in the north part. Lewis said two army bases, Camp Casey and Camp Humphreys, are probably high on the list. Camp Humphreys in particular is expanding rapidly as American forces in South Korea consolidate there. Other likely targets could be army camps Red Cloud and Market and Air Force bases Osan and Kunsan. A bit farther away: Southeastern Korea Sometimes Kim makes his intentions obvious. In response to a port call by the USS Ohio to Busan, which the North Koreans denounced in their media, North Korea shot a missile into the Sea of Japan. Photos released by North Korean media included a map showing that the missiles landing point was the same distance from its launch point as the port city of Busan. A pointed statement released with the photos made it clear that the exercise was a practice shot at Busan. Kim would want to disable anything in South Korea that would hamper the Americans ability to support the invasion, Lewis said, such as a trio of bases around Daegu. Another high-profile target could be the new Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), which the United States recently deployed to defend its Korean bases from incoming missiles. The wider region: Japan and others The sites Kim would be most concerned about in the rest of northeast Asia are pretty straightforward, Lewis said. That includes three U.S. bases in metropolitan Tokyo. A strike there would devastate parts of the city. Other probable strikes would aim to cripple Kadena and Futenma, two air bases on the Japanese island of Okinawa, which houses more than 27,000 U.S. troops at a cluster of installations. Okinawa, because of its central location in the region, is key to U.S. military in East Asia. Last month, the North Koreans fired four missiles that analysts say were practice shots simulating an attack on the Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station near Fukuoka. Lewis thinks Sasebo Naval Base in Nagasaki and Misawa Air Force Base to the north may be targeted as well. Farther away are Guam and even Australia, a seemingly improbable target, but one that North Korea threatened this month during a visit by Vice President Pence. U.S. Marines train with Australian troops on a base in Darwin in the north of the continent. Kims Holy Grail: The United States This is the deter part of the strategy. Kim wants President Trump and the U.S. military to believe he can strike their homeland so maybe they will think twice about obliterating his. The stars of a military parade last month in Pyongyang were huge green canisters which looked as if they could contain intercontinental ballistic missiles, the type that would be needed to hit the U.S. mainland. In case the point was too subtle, a concert video released around the same event showed missiles blowing up San Francisco. A mystery missile that showed up in the parade looked like a shorter version of an earlier known intermediate-range ballistic missile and is believed to be the missile test-fired May 14. The missile was fired almost straight into the air, but had it been launched at a lower angle, it couldve flown about 2,800 miles, according to physicist David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program. Three days before the test, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats said in an annual report to the Senate Intelligence Committee that he expects North Korea to conduct its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight test in 2017. If successful, the report said, it would serve as a milestone toward a more reliable threat to the US mainland. If Kim develops the technology, where would he aim ICBMs? The biggest clue may have come in 2013 from Kim himself, again through propaganda. A photo accompanying a media report about threats to the continental United States showed the dictator with military officers in what looks like a military office or situation room, and around them hung several maps and lists of U.S. installations. One map clearly showed four ominous lines originating from somewhere in Asia and ending in the United States. (Never mind that it is much more likely that an ICBM would be fired up over the Arctic Circle than straight east to west.) One of the lines ended at Honolulu, home to U.S. Pacific Command and the USS Cheyenne submarine, which can launch long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. A second ended in Southern California, probably San Diego, the Pacific Fleets home port. The easternmost line went to Washington, D.C. The end point of a fourth line is obscured by the officers hat, but Lewis believes it goes to Barksdale, La., home to Air Force Global Strike Command, which conducts long-range bomber missions. Pollack said experts say the only one of these sites North Korea could potentially reach now is Hawaii, and that is a stretch. South Korean media reported that the North has a missile with a range of more than 5,000 miles, long enough to reach Honolulu. If that missile exists, it has not been tested successfully. Lewis believe these sites are the real targets, because they all have a legitimate military purpose. Other analysts add Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, home to U.S. Strategic Command, and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the point of origin for nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers. Still others think Kim might target Seattle and San Francisco, the two largest West Coast population centers that would be the easiest to reach from North Korea. Its not like there is an answer written down in a little book, Lewis said. The North Koreans have a kind of articulated strategy, and theyve shown some scary stuff, and were left to sort of piece together what all that means. Should we panic? No, says Pollack. Look behind the rhetoric, he said, and when it comes to nuclear weapons, North Korea has threatened only retaliation, not a first strike. Theyre more capable than we give them credit for, Pollack said. But theyre sane. Ernest Hemingway is the macho face of 20th-century prose. His birth in 1899 marked the arrival of a man who wanted to dissociate literature from the taint of femininity it had acquired under the influence of Oscar Wilde and align it instead with a kind of hairy masculinity. Lilies and wallpaper were finished. In their place? Blood, battle, sex, hunts, death. Manly things. And to treat manly things properly, literature would require an appropriately manly style. Out with girly adjectives, rapt similes, elaborate metaphors, ethereal ruminations. In with curt observation, plain sentences, icy repetition. Wilde thought that all art had to be useless. Hemingway knew better: It was a duty. And it had, moreover, to be true. These beliefs, which placed Hemingway under the obligation to write what he experienced and experience what he wrote, help to account for the intensity with which the obsessions and traits we find in his work occur in his life. To encounter Hemingway as an adult was to be faced with a man whose appetite for supposedly masculine pursuits was so assiduously cultivated as to border on parody. He liked to shadowbox while walking down the street. He would routinely chivy his friends into the ring in order to engage in tests of strength. He developed obsessions with bullfighting, hunting, heroism, warfare, bodily exudations (blood being a particular favorite). He nursed a lifelong fear of being thought gay. He could be cruel and violent to women. In her balanced and well researched new biography, Mary V. Dearborn makes use of a host of hitherto overlooked material much of which she discovered in a collection of his mothers papers held by the University of Texas. She explores what made Hemingway cultivate the image he did, and whether there is more to her subject than such a portrait allows. The result is a work in which the Hemingway legend a phenomenon in which Dearborn has no investment emerges more or less intact. Only here it is presented with an array of qualifications that cast Hemingway as a more troubled, complex and tragic figure than most previous biographies have allowed. Dearborn begins her examination of Hemingways sensibility by attending to the curiosities of his childhood at Oak Park, Ill. His father was a puritanical doctor with a love of the outdoors (he taught his son how to hunt), a propensity for violence and severe manic-depression (he would eventually commit suicide). His mother could be a loving parent, but she was weirdly controlling and capable of alarming episodes of irresponsibility. When Hemingway was a baby she would hold him in her arms while firing a pistol (she once reminded him how he always loved to cuddle in my neck when the gun fired). And she insisted on treating him and his sister (18 months his senior) as twins, dressing them as both boys and girls as her whim dictated. Dearborn considers this habit a source of Hemingways subsequent (and largely private) preoccupation with gender fluidity, of his concomitant insecurity about his masculinity, and of the hatred he would feel for his mother in later life. Following high school and a series of journalistic apprenticeships, these formative influences, helped along by his recklessness and desire for action, would recur in Hemingways life with devastating force. Dearborn guides us engagingly through his traumatic experiences working for the Red Cross in the Great War (during which he was shot and almost killed); his attempt to establish himself as a writer in Paris in the 1920s; the suicide of his father; his experiences in the Spanish Civil War; his involvement spying against the Nazis (and for the Russians) during the Second; his literary success; his marriages to his four wives; his debilitating head injuries; his boozy retreat to a Cuban finca; his collapse into the madness, dipsomania and infirmity that would lead to his suicide in 1961. As Dearborn tells his story, we see Hemingway comport himself with compulsive nastiness, congenital dishonesty and staggering petulance. If he wasnt getting his way with women, he would threaten to commit suicide. If a friend had helped him with a literary matter (F. Scott Fitzgerald being the most notable case in point), that friend would almost always be disposed of. If his wives failed to behave with suitable deference, they would be subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Minor slights were routinely treated as gross transgressions. Animals were both revered and treated with terrible cruelty. He once boasted of shooting a dog in such a way as to ensure it would take days to bleed to death. Seldom does Dearborn soft-pedal such behavior. But she does situate it in the context of Hemingways struggle with an increasingly aggressive form of manic-depression, and of the alcoholism, paranoia and insecurity that exacerbated and accompanied the condition. She quotes Zelda Fitzgerald to the effect that everybody regarded him as self-evidently bogus. Nobody, said Zelda, is as male as all that. And she was right. In private, as Dearborn shows, Hemingway would talk with his wives about his desire to transgress conventional gender boundaries about his wish to be their girls. And they would sometimes allow him to explore the impulse. Dearborn explores these corners of his sensibility more fully than previous biographers, and she does so with subtlety and insight qualities that are also present in her discussions of Hemingways work. She is refreshing when she describes Death in the Afternoon as rambling and sometimes inane. And she can be funny, too, as when she documents the stylistic infelicities the relentless use of truly, thee, thou of For Whom the Bell Tolls. But Dearborn is not always convincing when writing admiringly. Her claim that Hemingway was uniquely adept at transforming life into literature is unverifiable, and vulnerable to the example of countless other writers (Saul Bellow among them). And her prose can be inattentive: We learn that Hemingway had his heart in his mouth; was spoiling for a fight; jumped at the chance to move to Chicago where he discovered that the best writers must learn to push the envelope. On the whole, though, this is an admirable, affecting and thoughtful biography, distinguished by a scrupulousness and good sense that animates its subject with vigor. Hemingway once said that to capture real life on the page it is necessary to include the bad and the ugly as well as the beautiful. Dearborn has taken that observation seriously. In doing so she has produced the most fully faceted portrait of Hemingway now available. And moved us closer to an understanding of his love, and his fear, of the truth. Matthew Adams is a British writer who contributes to the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement and the Irish Times. Marco Bagnolis Aleph (Keplero inciso), mecca and mixed media on wood with plexiglass case, on view through May 28 at Hillyer Art Space. (Courtesy Olnick Spanu Collection, New York) In the 1960s, while minimalism was draining the last bits of romanticism from American art, the home of the Renaissance experienced a kindred movement: Arte Povera (poor art). The three artists in Hillyer Art Spaces Marco Bagnoli, Domenico Bianchi, Remo Salvadori: From the Olnick Spanu Collection are from the generation that followed Arte Povera, according to the gallery notes. Yet pieces such as Salvadoris Continuo Infinito Presente share the earlier artists interest in simplicity, physicality and industrial materials: Its simply a circle of heavy steel cable, suggesting both a construction project and an enso, the swoop of black ink that represents enlightenment in Zen calligraphy. The other works are not quite so plain, and some even include pretty touches: Theres gold leaf in Salvadoris rendering of what appear to be orbiting half planets, and Bagnolis minimalist sculpture places a heartlike, red-glass form at the center of a steel cage atop an alabaster column. Such gestures are rare and generally discreet. There are calligraphic strokes in one of Bianchis pieces, but theyre ivory-on-ivory impressions in a wax circle atop a field of black squares. Orderly arrangements of rectangles feature in several pieces, whether theyre a series of Bianchis abstract watercolors or Salvadoris array of punched and bent tin squares. This work is starkly philosophical, but it keeps one foot planted in the metal foundry. Marco Bagnoli, Domenico Bianchi, Remo Salvadori: From the Olnick Spanu Collection On view through May 28 at Hillyer Art Space, 9 Hillyer Ct. NW. 202-338-0325. hillyerartspace.org. Joan Belmars Cambalache District #1, acrylic, oil, ink on paper, on view at Addison/Ripley Fine Art. (Joan Belmar) Joan Belmar Inspired by politics and cartography, Joan Belmar has often devised pieces in which images are partly hidden by ribbons or rounds of Mylar. There are just a few such constructions in Cambalache, the Chile-bred local artists show at Addison/Ripley Fine Art. Most of the works are mixed-media paintings that layer circles, grids, seemingly rocky expanses and place names. The dominant tones of these moon- or planet-scapes are black and gray, sometimes set off by one brighter hue, usually red or blue. Cambalache (barter) is the title of a 1930s tango composed for a film that condemned political corruption in Argentina. The political import of Belmars recent work is not blatant, but hes clearly pondering the climate in his adopted hometown. The names that punctuate these maplike pictures are not those of distant worlds: They identify cities and towns in the region that runs from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Affixed directly to the walls, the many small globes of Cambalache: Twenty States orbit a larger semicircle. This is the most flamboyant piece in a show notable for its subtlety. Using little color and only occasionally venturing into 3-D, Belmar relies on a strong graphic sense to craft some of the strongest work hes shown in Washington. Joan Belmar: Cambalache On view through May 27 at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-338-5180. addisonripleyfineart.com. Matthew Manns The Aesthete Escaped, oil on canvas, on view at Studio 1469. (Matthew Mann) Matthew Mann Indoor and outdoor are juxtaposed in Matthew Manns Luxury Trouble, but just as important is the shifting balance between representation and abstraction. The paintings in the D.C. artists show at Studio 1469 depict domestic interiors with various degrees of precision. Sometimes, bits of interior design resemble 20th-century art more than any object available at an upscale furnishings shop. In other pictures, chairs, clocks and a hat rack are arrayed in front of cross-hatched patterns that are just color and line, without any suggestion of a real-world location. Mann is something of a surrealist, so the clocks may allude to Salvador Dali. Other historical references are unambiguous: Several paintings reproduce posters from early 80s D.C. and Boston hard-core punk shows. The artist demonstrates his skills as a realist in canvasses such as Broken Windows, in which the view of trees outside is slightly blurred by glass but crisper where the panes are partly missing. The Aesthete Escaped is nearly all realistic, save for such touches as a flower arrangement of blobby expressionist brushstrokes. The pictures punchline is a trap door in the floor that appears to lead not to a basement, but to open sky. By pitting reality against whimsy, Mann always leaves himself a way out. Matthew Mann: Luxury Trouble On view through May 28 at Studio 1469, 1469 Harvard St. NW, rear. 202-518-0804. studio1469.com. Jeanne Garants Ebony, Graphite, Pewter, Bone, on view at Touchstone Gallery. (Jeanne Garant/Touchstone Gallery ) Jeanne Garant Executed primarily in black and gray, the paintings in Jeanne Garants 275 Stripes are almost austere. Yet there are glimmers of sensuousness in the Touchstone Gallery show, whether in the infrequent bright colors a gold bar, a red line or the textures within the muted, monochromatic blocks. Another low-key element is the translucent wax that partly covers some of the pictures, offering both a smooth sheen and ragged drips. Garants work shows the apparent influence of Barnett Newman, who called his thin vertical lines zips rather than stripes. Both artists take a geometric approach yet sometimes punctuate the rational forms with a freehand band of color, as in Recto/Verso. The Arlington artist ventures further with A Bit of Curry, a study in wavy lines whose only hard edges are the borders of the canvas. Most effective, though, are the pictures that maintain a tension between precision and intuition. Garants stripes can either hold a field together or slash it apart. Jeanne Garant: 275 Stripes: Oil & Cold Wax Paintings On view through May 28 at Touchstone Gallery, 901 New York Ave. NW. 202-347-2787. touchstonegallery.com. Gordana Gerskovic What color photographer wouldnt want to shoot in a country where people celebrate one holiday by throwing powdered pigments at one another? There seem to be traces of that festival, Holi, in Red, Yellow & Blue, a triptych in India Upclose, Gordana Gerskovics Foundry Gallery show. But its impossible to be certain, since the Zagreb-born local artist uses a macro lens to zoom into the details. She contemplates surfaces intimately to hint at their depths. As in previous work, Gerskovic seeks the weathered and worn: rusted metal, aged stone, walls with traces of almost-lost words and embellishments. Some titles indicate the locations, such as temples of Shiva or Hanuman. Others invoke such Hindu concepts as Pitta (Fire) an apparently charred exterior or Shanti (peace). Yet the visual results arent less a tour of India than of the photographers vision. Gerskovic makes the close-up a window to the universal. Gordana Gerskovic: India Upclose On view through May 28 at Foundry Gallery, 2118 Eighth St. NW. 202-232-0203. foundrygallery.org. A former admiral was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday for lying to federal agents about his part in the worst corruption scandal in Navy history, making him the highest-ranking officer convicted so far in an investigation that has ensnared more than 200 people. Robert J. Gilbeau, 56, became the first active-duty admiral ever to be convicted of a felony when he pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court here. At a hearing Wednesday, his voice broke slightly as he offered a public apology just before he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino. I am proud of my Navy career and proud to be an American, said Gilbeau, who has since retired. To the Navy, I want to say I am sorry. In a letter to the court, Adm. William F. Moran, the vice chief of naval operations, blasted Gilbeau, saying he had inflicted immeasurable damage upon the service and grossly dishonored his uniform and betrayed his fellow shipmates, the United States Navy and his country. An estimated 30 other admirals remain under scrutiny for possible criminal or ethical violations in the corruption case, Navy officials have said. All have come under investigation for their ties to Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing scores of Navy personnel with prostitutes, cash, luxury goods, top-shelf alcohol and extravagant meals paid for by millions of dollars in illicit profits that he gouged from the Defense Department. The scandal has rocked the Navy since the first arrests were made four years ago. Ten Navy officials have pleaded guilty and nine others have been charged with corruption-related offenses in federal court. Justice Department officials say the investigation continues to snowball and more indictments are possible. In addition, the Navy is pursuing its own investigations into about 200 uniformed personnel for possible violations of military law that could result in criminal or disciplinary proceedings. In a plea agreement, Gilbeau admitted to lying to federal agents about the nature and extent of his relationship with Francis, a longtime Navy contractor known as Fat Leonard. Prosecutors said the pair met 20 years ago during a port visit in Bali, Indonesia, and that Francis immediately began supplying the officer with prostitutes, lavish dinners and stays in hotel suites. Over the years, Francis learned that Gilbeau particularly liked to have sex with Vietnamese women two at a time so he provided the Navy officer with pairs of prostitutes on at least three occasions, according to federal authorities and others familiar with the case. Prosecutors also alleged that Gilbeau, a Navy Supply Corps officer, pocketed $40,000 in cash kickbacks from Francis as part of a scheme to overcharge the Navy for pumping wastewater from its ships. Gilbeau has denied the accusation. In a letter to the court, Gilbeau did not address his interactions with Francis but said his misconduct stemmed from post-traumatic stress, survivors guilt and a head injury he suffered as a result of a mortar attack in Iraq in 2007. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds. I am devastated by the situation I currently find myself in, he wrote. I do not desire a defense of my charges based on mental illness, but I do ask that this horrible condition that I suffer is taken into account as a potential mitigating factor. Gilbeaus attorneys said that he still receives intensive psychiatric treatment. To ease his anxiety, doctors prescribed him a therapy dog, a fluffy white Cavachon crossbreed named Bella. The 16-pound animal accompanied Gilbeau into the courtroom Wednesday and was given its own chair at the defense table. Defense attorney David Benowitz said that the dog was trained to calm Gilbeau by climbing in his lap whenever it sensed a spike in his blood pressure or anxiety level. He said Gilbeau would be deprived of the animal if he was sentenced to prison. As if on cue, Bella perched in Gilbeaus lap a few minutes later. His attorneys argued that he didnt deserve to go to prison, while prosecutors pressed for an 18-month sentence. In court papers, prosecutors suggested that Gilbeau was exaggerating his condition and that his psychiatric problems stemmed from his regret over being caught. They said he began exhibiting overt symptoms of mental illness only in 2013 right after news spread that Francis and several Navy officials had been arrested on corruption charges. At the time, Gilbeau held a key command job in Afghanistan overseeing the logistical withdrawal of U.S. troops. When Franciss arrest became public, Gilbeau began acting irrationally, showed signs of paranoia and became suicidal, according to his medical records. Under the terms of his plea deal, Gilbeau agreed to pay $150,000 in fines and restitution. He was allowed to retire from the Navy in October, but not before officials demoted him from rear admiral to captain. The Navy also slapped him with an other than honorable discharge a black mark on his military record. Despite those setbacks, he retained his rights to a military pension that pays him almost $10,000 a month. Whitlock reported from Washington. Mary Rich, the mother of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich, at a news conference in August. The family is demanding that Fox News retract stories, saying it impugned and destroyed Seth Richs legacy through careless reporting. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) The conspiracy-choked story of Seth Richs killing has made a sudden comeback thanks to Fox News, but the latest reporting seems to have generated more controversy than credibility. Richs family is demanding a retraction from Fox for airing unsubstantiated claims about the Democratic National Committee staffer, whose death last year generated a wild river of theories and innuendo about who was behind it. Foxs latest reporting on the unsolved crime has an odd twist: Much of its work relies on a private investigator who is also a Fox News contributor. The investigator, in turn, is being funded by a frequent Fox News guest. Rich, 27, was fatally shot last July by an unknown assailant as he was walking home late one night. His death, which police say appeared to be the result of a botched robbery, has become the subject of a popular right-wing theory, driven primarily by social media, that alleges that he was killed as payback for handing off thousands of emails to WikiLeaks that revealed embarrassing details about the inner workings of the DNC. The Rich story has taken on elements of the Comet Ping Pong conspiracy, a false and preposterous tale involving Hillary Clinton and her supposed operation of a child-abuse ring at a District pizza restaurant. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post) Fox News and WTTG-TV the Fox-owned broadcast station in Washington revived the buzz surrounding the Rich story with a series of reports beginning Monday night. Most prominently, Fox News reported Tuesday that Rich sent more than 44,000 DNC emails to a source affiliated with WikiLeaks before he died. It based the claim on a federal investigator, whom it didnt identify, and said it was confirmed by Rod Wheeler, a private investigator in Washington who has been working on behalf of the Rich family. But the family now sees Wheeler as someone whos helped to smear the memory of their son. [How Seth Rich became a meme in the weird presidential election] Richs family slammed the Fox report as false, and Wheeler, a former D.C. homicide detective, appeared to back away from it on Wednesday. He said in an interview that he could not confirm the identity of a federal investigator making such an assertion and that he had no direct knowledge of it. Foxs reporting has an unusual background, given the tangle of relationships among some of the principal players. Wheeler is a Fox News contributor, and his private investigation of the Rich case is being financed by Ed Butowsky, a Texas money manager who sometimes appears as a guest on Fox to discuss economics and personal finance. Butowsky who said he was once under consideration to be a contributor at the network confirmed in an interview that he is covering the expenses of Wheelers investigation. He said he is doing so out of sympathy for the Rich family. Its rare for a news organization to have such a close relationship with the people it is covering. Between them, Wheeler and Butowsky are playing three roles at once: as a Fox source, as a paid contributor to the network and as a supposedly independent investigator of the murder. In a segment featuring Wheeler on Tuesdays Hannity program, these multiple roles werent disclosed to viewers. On Monday, Wheeler told WTTG-TV, known as Fox5, that he believes the D.C. police department, which is investigating the case, has engaged in a coverup. He said the department had been told by sources he didnt identify to stand down in its investigation. In his appearance on Sean Hannitys program on Tuesday, Wheeler said he had found some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks without providing specifics. He added, I do believe that the answers to who murdered Seth Rich sits on his computer on a shelf at the D.C. police or FBI headquarters. The reports drew outrage and demands for a retraction from the Rich familys representative, Brad Bauman. The family is officially asking Fox and Fox5 to retract the [stories] and to immediately apologize to the family for the damage they have caused, Bauman said. If they do not retract and apologize, we will consider our options to hold them accountable for the damage they have done. They have impugned and destroyed Seth Richs legacy through careless reporting. Bauman said the Fox stations aired at least 10 damaging and false statements; he cited, among others, the assertion that Rich was in contact with WikiLeaks; that the FBI had custody of his computer; that the FBI was involved in the investigation; and that Rich ever had access to the emails in question through his work at the DNC. Fox can either distance themselves from this and do the right thing by the family or they can stand by it and litigate it in front of the entire country in a court of law, he said. Its up to them. [Rich family disputes reports their son leaked emails] Fox News said in a statement that it is continuing to track developments in the story and will update further when there are new developments. It had no comment about the familys reaction or about Wheeler and Butowsky. Fox5 did not respond to requests for comment. In an interview, Wheeler alleged that Fox5 edited his comments about the federal investigator out of context, creating a false impression. Specifically, he said the stations reporter asked if he had could confirm that a federal investigator had seen the DNC emails on Richs computer. Wheeler said the edited footage made it appear that Wheeler himself had seen such alleged evidence; he said he has not. Wheeler also acknowledged that his appearances on Fox to discuss the case could put him in breach of his contract with the Rich family. The contract states that all information developed by his firm in its investigation shall be treated as strictly confidential and cannot be released without the familys approval. Wheeler said his understanding was that he was free to talk about the investigation as long as I dont say Im representing the family. Ive been cautious not to do that. Has Thomas Vinterberg, with his latest film, found himself? While still in his 20s, the Danish prodigy won a student Oscar for his 1993 film-school thesis Last Round. In 1998, Vinterbergs The Celebration, which dealt with child sexual abuse, was met with shock and acclaim when it tied for the Jury Prize at that years Cannes Film Festival. The Celebration was the first film to be released as part of the Dogme movement, a half-serious, half-tongue-in-cheek experiment dreamed up by Vinterberg and his fellow Dane and artistic provocateur, Lars von Trier. As part of Dogmes stated vows of chastity, films made under that banner had to be shot using only hand-held cameras and natural light and observe other restrictions. What followed, however, were many years in the creative wilderness. Until Vinterbergs Oscar-nominated film The Hunt. But as powerful as that 2012 film is with, again, a child-molestation theme his new movie The Commune may be his most personal project yet. Based on Vinterbergs childhood in Copenhagen, where he and his parents lived for many years in an upscale commune with a group of journalists and academics, the new film centers on architect Erik (Ulrich Thomsen) and his TV-newscaster wife, Anna (Trine Dyrholm), who move into a sprawling group home with their teenage daughter Freja (Martha Sofie Wallstrom Hansen) while wrestling with infidelity, jealousy and divorce. Vinterberg, who turns 48 this month, took a break from shooting the movie Kursk, a drama about the 2000 Russian submarine disaster, to reflect, by phone, on the long, strange trip of his career. (This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.) A scene from Thomas Vinterbergs "The Commune." (Magnolia Pictures) Q: The Commune explores the theme of growing up, growing older, perhaps growing a bit disillusioned as well. Were you intentionally trying to hammer home those themes by casting Ulrich and Trine, with whom you first worked almost 20 years ago in The Celebration? A: Thats a beautiful way of analyzing it. Im not sure Im ready to say disillusioned, but yeah, growing older, the loss of innocence and what life brings when you come of age, is a very important theme of this movie. And, yes, I was deliberately thinking of the casting. The possibility of bringing Ulrich and Trine back together appealed to me, because we had established that young, loving couple 20 years ago. I thought it would be interesting to see where they are now. It may appear that Im disillusioned by my time in the commune, but the truth is Im actually missing it and longing for it. Q: How did the spirit of Dogme inform your work after The Celebration? A: The Dogme movement was very parallel to the commune I grew up in. It was a bunch of people doing something that hadnt been done before, jumping off a cliff, holding each others hands. When my parents moved into this house, they felt very naughty. Q: What happened to that house, by the way? A: Im actually sitting in that house, in my old bedroom, right now. Im in Copenhagen for 20 hours for a funeral. But to go back to your question, the Dogme movement being a part of a film crew in many ways, these experiences paralleled my childhood. Ive always been attached to communities of people who are willing to explore and to move themselves onto thin ice, because I grew up like that. There was definitely a mix of playfulness and arrogance with Dogme. We were narcoticly obsessed with the courage that we enjoyed sharing. Everybody warned me against making the first Dogme film. They said, Its suicide. It will kill your career. And yet it was so enlivening. I actually considered, at one point, making The Commune a Dogme movie. It has much in common with The Celebration: a bunch of people around a table telling truth to each other, loving each other, being a family. But then I realized, in thinking a little more, that Dogme was all about revolting against something. Back in 1998, at Cannes, Dogme became a kind of overnight fashion. Now its an old dress. To make this movie a Dogme film would have been like putting on a uniform. Q: There are two children in The Commune a little boy and an older teenage girl, Freja. Which character is you? A: I connect with Freja. I made her a girl, and I changed a lot of things. In writing this film, I saw many things through her eyes. Having said that, like the character of Erik, I also divorced my wife [Maria Walbom] after 20 years and married a younger woman [the actress Helene Reingaard Neumann, who plays Eriks lover, Emma]. So I also saw the story through Eriks eyes. The character of Freja (Martha Sofie Wallstrom Hansen) is a stand-in for Vinterberg. The director lived in a commune from age 7 to 19. (Magnolia Pictures) Q: Erik and Anna seem a little square to be starting a commune. Why did you decide to avoid the stereotype of the hippie? A: I wrote what I experienced. On my street, there were, I think, 32 houses, and eight of them were communes. This is in North Copenhagen, the posh, rich area of Copenhagen. Academics could only afford to live there by living together. And in this village of communes, each one was different. There was a much more hippie-ish, hash-smoking, idealist house right across the street. We shared parties and all that with them. But my particular commune was more of an extended family. It was pretty establishment: well-off academics eating together every night. Of course, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, dinner developed into a party. But our house was the reasonable place in the village. So I leaned up against my memories while also steering away from campfire singing and hash and red flags. I remember as a child hearing political debates. They were always very boring. Q: Speaking of politics, the character of the immigrant Allon, played by the Lebanese-born actor Fares Fares, is the subject of some bigotry when hes being interviewed to live in the house. Does a film about the 1970s have anything to say about Danish society today? A: Denmark, along with most of the countries of Europe, has closed its borders since then. Weve always been a fearful little shire here that shivers when it receives foreign objects. But now, that fear has been overtaken by a hostility and a brutal way of receiving foreigners. [Still,] things have changed. Back then, Denmark was a very white country. You can see that reflected in some of the humor against Allon. You saw that in The Celebration as well. When I was a child, if you were black and your name was George, you would be called Black George. Q: Youve said, in reference to your 2003 film Its All About Love an English-language romantic sci-fi thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes that is considered a flop: Its my troubled child: the dearest one to me, but also the one who behaves the worst socially. What did you learn from that mistake? A: The years after The Celebration were adventurous but also very painful, because I had to refind myself. With The Celebration, I had gone down a path that went no further. I felt I had made the ultimate film in that direction. So I turned, walked another way and started all over. That was very, very difficult. I found myself free-floating at first. Everything was torn apart: my career, my financial situation, my marriage, my relationship to my [former production] company [Nimbus Films]. I left everything. Its All About Love is a fable that comes from a very honest and worried and beautiful place, actually. As a narrative, as a piece of drama, its pretty dysfunctional, I guess. Only one person in 10 gets it on a good day. Thomas Vinterberg, director of "The Commune." (Magnolia Pictures) Q: The Commune began in 2011 as a play at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Tell me about that journey from stage to screen. It sounds like theater might have saved you, as a filmmaker. A: Lets zoom out. Several years ago, someone flew up here asking me to do theater. Having destroyed my career and my financial situation, I said no at first, because I dont know how to do theater. But I was without my company. I was without my monthly paycheck. This guy said to me, This is what I will pay you. Then I said yes before knowing what to do. It was a very creatively liberating thing for me to stop making work for money. I hadnt tried that before. He said, What do you want to do? I said, I dont know. He said, Tell me about yourself. The minute I told him about the commune and my upbringing, he was like: I insist you do that play. Write it with the actors. Write six or seven scenes, and improvise the rest. See if it works, and if you like it, go do the movie. On opening night, there was crying and a standing ovation. I felt a warmth, like coming back to my childhood. The Commune (Unrated, 111 minutes). Opens Friday at Landmarks E Street Cinema. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) speaks to the media during his weekley briefing on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Lately, we suspect that Paul Ryan must spend every day in a state of exquisite agony. Each day brings new agonizing things, and some more than others. At times, the speaker of the House, must wake up and already sense impending doom, such as the morning after news has broken that Ryan and other Republicans were caught on tape speculating that Donald Trump might be paid by the Russians. Thursday was one of those days. There have been some members who have said, We might be better with Vice President Pence, said a reporter at Ryans regularly scheduled news conference in the Capitol basement, implying a President Trump impeachment scenario. Oh, good grief, Ryan said, appearing pained. Whats your take on that? I-I-I. We shouldnt even Im not even going to give credence to that. Im not even going to comment on that. Thats well, theres not even a point making a comment on that. Another question: Earlier this week, Senator McConnell said, We could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things. the reporter asked. Do you agree with that assessment? Well, yeah, said Ryan. Its always nice to have less drama. Did anyone want to ask questions about tax reform? Ryan asked. Did anyone want to talk about the technology-related bills that had passed that week, including one that would bring the government into the age of cloud computing? The press seemed only mildly interested in cloud computing. The night before, the deputy attorney generals office announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Trump campaigns potential Russia ties. Just a few hours earlier, Ryan had been publicly asked whether he retained full confidence in the president. I do, he had said, in the tone of a bridegroom who knows that its too late to return the tuxedo. Then came the year-old recordings of Ryan and his colleagues, in which Ryan had told everyone else in the room to keep their mouths shut with their Russia-pays-Donald speculating. No leaks, he had said, following up with a sad et tu, Brute plea: This is how we know were a real family. His communications staff spent Thursday morning tweeting that Ryan had been joking Obviously a joke. Media needs to get a grip. in between trying to get Ryans followers stoked about taxes: Whos up for a big-time hearing on TAX REFORM at Ways and Means? Ryan tweeted, too. He tweeted about NAFTA. He tweeted a photo of himself shaking hands with the president of Colombia. Earlier this week, some data analytics people analyzed several politicians Twitter accounts. They determined that Ryan was scientifically the most detested person in the survey. They determined this by calculating his ratio of retweets by other people (which are usually positive) to replies from other people (which are usually negative). Ryan had a worse ratio than Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Mike Huckabee or Donald Trump. The agony of Paul Ryan! Five years ago he was wonky hope of the Republican Party, the would-be boy wonder to Mitt Romneys would-be president. Less than two years ago, the man was fervently courted into his current job by colleagues who were certain he could unite the GOP. He hated Trump back then. You could just tell. And now, just this week: The New York Posts Page Six was reporting that cooking celebrity Sandra Lee would not appear on a Fox & Friends segment with him because he literally made her feel nauseated. What occurred to me is that we are both from Wisconsin, she told the column. And I realized he is the one thing from Wisconsin that I cannot tolerate or stomach. A newspaper from his home state published an editorial, House Speaker Paul Ryan needs to be replaced with an adult. The congressman from the next district over remarked that Ryan seems to roll over and want his belly rubbed by the president. Saturday Night Live had a go: Ryan was portrayed this week as a bootlicking soda jerk who exists only to bring Trump his nightly two scoops of ice cream. He feeds me dog food, the character remarked cheerfully. Ryan had fallen into a pit of Trump-by-association, a pit that ever widens, a pit that defines our times. One more question, one of his staff members warned reporters at Thursdays news conference. Ryan called on a reporter from PBS. She asked a policy question, about health care: assuming it passed, would changes take effect next year, or in 2018? Ryan appeared in his element. He told her the Department of Health and Human Services would be the best place to answer her question, and went out into the rest of his crappy day. Donald Trump prospered because of Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes, while host Megyn Kelly left the network. (AP photos) If what Roger Ailes wanted most in life was true and lasting influence, he got it. The founder of Fox News is gone, but before he went, he helped put Donald Trump in the White House and, ironically, emboldened a nation of women to decide not to take it any more. Thats a powerful legacy. And power is what Ailes dealt in advising everyone from Richard Nixon to Rudy Giuliani, and giving Trump a platform and cheering squad like no other. Its unarguable: There would be no President Trump without Chairman Ailes. This power came with a price. Women who worked with him paid it in humiliation and psychological anguish. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post) But then they decided to learn from the master and take power back. Gretchen Carlson started it and its startling to think that one year ago, the former Fox host had not yet filed her sexual harassment suit against Ailes. He was still ensconced at the top of the network he co-founded 20 years before and his employees still quaked when he spoke. And the rest of us had yet to hear the now-famous words that he reportedly said to Carlson, pressuring her for sex in return for career advancement: Youd be good and better and Id be good and better. The former Miss America decided to pass. She took a career hit, and then she struck back. Carlson filed suit on July 6 last year, and, though Ailes never stopped denying that he ever harassed anyone, his world came tumbling down. Fast. He was gone from Fox two weeks later, after a parade of other Fox women came forward to back her up. I thought I would be fighting this all by myself, Carlson told me last summer. 1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Roger Ailes, former Fox News chief, remembered in pictures View Photos The founding executive helped turn the channel into a conservative juggernaut, before being ousted amid allegations of sexual harassment. Caption The founding executive helped turn the channel into a conservative juggernaut, before being ousted amid allegations of sexual harassment. Sept. 29, 2006 Roger Ailes poses at Fox News in New York. Jim Cooper/AP Wait 1 second to continue. Quite the opposite. Not only did Carlson prevail, reaping a $20 million settlement from Fox News, but the network since then has paid out at least $85 million to deal with sexual harassment claims including a big payout to its star, Bill OReilly, who joined Ailess fall from grace last month. Its been damaging, and the turmoil is far from over. You can be sure that bosses and human resource departments everywhere have taken note. No workplace in America will ever be the same, whether corporation, university or government office. Because what happened at Fox could happen anywhere. Sexual harassment allegations must be taken seriously, lest they explode in the employers face. Fox itself, of course, lives on without its biggest stars in OReilly and Megyn Kelly (who joined the ranks of Ailess accusers). And so does its most stunning achievement: the Trump presidency. A Pew survey showed that Trump voters disproportionately relied on Fox for campaign news. In the new Netflix documentary, Get Me Roger Stone, the famous Nixon-era dirty trickster describes his attraction to Trump as a presidential candidate: I was like a jockey looking for a horse. You cant win the race if you dont have a horse, and hes a prime piece of political horseflesh in my view. If Stone was the jockey, Ailes was the trainer, not just for Trump but for Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Giuliani: in the background, but calling the shots. And forever transforming conservative politics. Roger Ailes knew how to harness anger to move the electorate and in doing so he created Trumps base, said Morgan Pehme, the co-director of Get Me Roger Stone, which examines the rise of right-wing media and politics. But unwittingly, Ailes tapped into another kind of fury, too that of thousands, maybe millions of women fed up with the power imbalances of their lives and workplaces. Post-Ailes, and Bill Cosby and Bill OReilly, were in a moment of tremendous explosive potential for women, New York magazine writer Rebecca Traister, author of All the Single Ladies, told me. Anita Hills claims against Clarence Thomas didnt keep him from joining the Supreme Court but made sexual harassment a household phrase in 1991. Though a profound loss, Traister said, the episode propelled many women into Congress. Nearly three decades later, Ailess stamp on history isnt fully known. But his gift if you can call it that of calling forth the fury of the disenfranchised is playing out for women in ways he could never have imagined. And surely would have rejected. For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan Correction: Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the author met the Swedish ambassador to Ecuador. She met the Swiss ambassador to Ecuador. The story has been updated. From left, Matthew Saltzman, the author, Jessica Gretter, Susy Gretter and Carlo Gretter commune with the sea lions in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. (Claudia Gretter) Our readers share tales of their ramblings around the world. Who: Claudia Gretter (the author) of Baltimore; her mother, Susy Gretter; her father, Carlo Gretter; and her sister, Jessica Gretter, all of Boca Raton, Fla.; and her boyfriend, Matthew Saltzman of New York City. Where, when, why: We went to the Galapagos Islands, a province of Ecuador, and stayed at the eco-friendly, sustainable Pikaia Lodge for three days in July . We planned our visit around seeing sea lions but got so much more out of the trip. Behind the pool at Pikaia Lodge, the Pacific Ocean looms in the distance. (Claudia Gretter) Highlights and high points: On the first day, we took a bike ride around the hotel grounds. Not even five minutes into our trip, we saw a giant tortoise up close and picked a passion fruit right off the vine. Later, we saw sea lions, giant tortoises and so much untouched natural beauty. Cultural connection or disconnect: We got lucky: The Swiss ambassador to Ecuador was visiting the hotel at the same time as we were. Because all excursions are planned by Pikaia Lodge, we were able to enjoy a whole day together exploring the sights. He shared great stories about moving from Switzerland to Ecuador, and it was awesome to get to explore the Galapagos with him during our first visit there. Biggest laugh or cry: While visiting the sea lions, we noticed one pup (about 3 weeks old) making its way around the beach. Unfortunately, each sea lion he approached barked at him. It turned out that he had lost his mother and was trying to get the other mothers to nurse him. The little sea lion without his mother would die very soon of starvation. How unexpected: I have lived in Baltimore for the past few years while attending college and havent had much opportunity to see the nearby natural attractions. But the sights of the Galapagos Islands were breathtaking and now I am extra motivated to do so. I was shocked by how well-protected the environment was and by the importance placed on preserving it. Favorite memento or memory: The greatest gift I left with was a heightened awareness of the importance and necessity of nature conservation. I realized that the islands could be seriously damaged without proper stewardship. To tell us about your own trip, go to washingtonpost.com/travel and fill out the What a Trip form with your fondest memories, finest moments and favorite photos. More from Travel: Enchantment under the sea with whales in Tahiti Family history comes alive in Finland Honeymooning in Middle Earth: Leaving current events behind to explore New Zealand Alexandria The Alexandria Police Department began transitioning to a new records management system March 31 and anticipates completion by the end of May. For a specific criminal incident, call 703-746-6600. Visit alexandriava.gov for more information. Arlington These were among incidents reported May 1-8 by the Arlington County Police Department. For information, call 703-558-2222 or visit newsroom.arlingtonva.us. SEXUAL ASSAULTS Glebe Rd. S., 100 block, 3:45 p.m. May 2. A sexual assault was reported. Quebec St. N., 2100 block, noon May 3. A sexual assault was reported. ASSAULTS Army Navy Dr., 1700 block. An assault was reported. Columbia Pike, 3000 block. An assault was reported. Columbia Pike, 3800 block, 12:58 a.m. May 6. A man allegedly brandished a knife and began swinging it around other individuals. A man suffered a minor injury. A 25-year-old Arlington man was charged. Columbia Pike, 5000 block. An assault was reported. Courthouse Rd. N., 1400 block. Threats were reported. Frederick St. S., 800 block. An assault was reported. Garfield St. S., 1700 block. An assault was reported. George Mason Dr. N., 1600 block, 4:29 p.m. May 7. An assault was reported. Glebe Rd. N., unit block, 2:18 p.m. May 5. An assault was reported. Glebe Rd. S., 2900 block. An assault was reported. Lee Hwy., 3100 block, 12:16 a.m. May 6. An assault was reported. Lee Hwy., 4800 block, 11:13 p.m. May 7. An assault was reported. Oak St. N., 1600 block. A harassment incident was reported. Pierce St. N., 1500 block. A harassment incident was reported. Quinn St. N., 1500 block, 2:46 a.m. May 6. An assault was reported. Washington Blvd., 3000 block, 12:37 p.m. May 7. An assault was reported. Wilson Blvd., 3100 block, 2:05 a.m. May 6. An assault was reported. Wilson Blvd., 3200 block. An assault was reported. 31st St. S., 4400 block. An assault was reported. INDECENT EXPOSURE Wilson Blvd., 3100 block, 12:15 a.m. May 6. An indecent exposure incident was reported. ROBBERIES Hayes St. S., 1200 block, 10:49 a.m. May 8. A man assaulted an employee when he was confronted for concealing merchandise. A 30-year-old man, of no fixed address, was charged. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Army Navy Dr., 800 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Carlin Springs Rd. S., 600 block, 4:30 p.m. May 5. A theft from a store was reported. Columbia Pike, 4900 block. A theft was reported. Courthouse Rd. N., 1400 block, 3 p.m. May 5. A theft was reported. Edgewood St. N., 1600 block, 12:30 p.m. May 1. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Forest Dr. S., 1200 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Glebe Rd. S., unit block, 4 p.m. May 6. A shoplifting incident was reported. Harrison St. S., 1100 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Hayes St. S., 1100 block. A shoplifting incident was reported. Hayes St. S., 1100 block. Four thefts were reported. Henderson Rd., 4500 block, 7:30 p.m. May 1. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Kentucky St. N., 800 block, 5 p.m. May 2. A theft from a residence was reported. Kirkwood Rd., 1200 block, 9:30 a.m. May 2. A theft from a residence was reported. Lee Hwy., 4800 block, 8:35 a.m. May 7. A purse was stolen. Lee Hwy., 6200 block, 6:21 p.m. May 3. Property was stolen from a garage. Lynn St. S., 2600 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Nelson St. N., 1400 block, 8 p.m. May 1. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Patrick Henry Dr., 1400 block. A theft was reported. Stafford St. N., 1300 block. Property was entered. Stuart St. N., 900 block. Two thefts were reported. Stuart St. N., 1100 block, 1:05 p.m. May 5. A theft from a residence was reported. Walter Reed Dr. S., 800 block. A theft was reported. Wilson Blvd., 1200 block, 9:17 a.m. May 6. Property was stolen from a building entered by force. An investigation is ongoing. Wilson Blvd., 4300 block, 10 a.m. May 5. A theft from a building was reported. Fifth Rd. N., 4000 block. Property was entered. 24th St. S., 800 block, 2:28 p.m. May 7. Property was stolen from a residence entered by force. 28th St. N., 5200 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. 36th St. N., 5000 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Arlington Ridge Rd., 2300 block, 4:08 a.m. May 8. Police attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle running without its lights on. The driver stopped but allegedly accelerated at high speed traveling the wrong way on a ramp. The vehicle stopped after sustaining damage that disabled its tires, and the occupants fled on foot. An 18-year-old Hyattsville man and a juvenile were charged. Lexington St. N., 2900 block, May 4. A black 2011 Kia Optima was stolen. 11th Rd. S., 5100 block, May 4. A gold 2011 Jeep Cherokee was stolen. 23rd St. S., 2500 block, May 6. A white 2015 Mercedes Benz was stolen. VANDALISM Calvert St. N., 1900 block, 7:30 a.m. May 5. Property was damaged. Clarendon Blvd., 3100 block, midnight May 1. Property was damaged. Clark St. S., 3500 block. Property was damaged. Cleveland St. N., 400 block, 2:57 a.m. May 5. Property was damaged. Forest Dr. S., 1100 block. A vehicle was tampered with. Irving St. N., 1100 block, 11:35 p.m. May 5. Property was damaged. Key Blvd., 2800 block, 2:19 a.m. May 6. Responding to a report about individuals damaging vehicles, police located two men matching descriptions provided by a witness. An investigation revealed that the men retrieved a shotgun from their vehicle and discharged multiple rounds at several vehicles. A 21-year-old Springfield man and a 22-year-old Falls Church man were charged. 24th St. N., 2200 block. A vehicle was tampered with. A year after approving an 8.7 percent property-tax increase that helped fuel a successful campaign for term limits, the Montgomery County Council passed a $5.4 billion budget Thursday that wont impose new hardship on taxpayers wallets. The average annual residential tax bill will increase by less than $2 a month in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Overall, county government spending will increase by 2.7 percent, compared with 5.1 percent this year. Much of last years tax hike was used for what council members called an education-first budget that reduced class size and tried to close the achievement gap. The 160,000-student school system continues to be the budgets biggest line item by far, at $2.5 billion. That is an increase of $64.6 million, or 2.6 percent, over 2017, fully funding the Board of Educations request and paying for the fast-growing district to hire more than 100 full-time school employees, mostly teachers. The council approved 2 percent cost-of-living increases for unionized fire, police and general county employees. Eligible workers will receive additional 3.5 percent longevity increases. The countys nonprofit service providers will get a 2 percent bump. I believe the budget we have just approved harmonizes our fiscal realities with our values while building on the basic services that our residents and taxpayers see and rely on every day, said council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda). The new budget, which the council will formally adopt May 25, produced little of the rancor and angst that marked last years deliberations. Many voters have cited the property-tax increase approved last year as the reason they supported the term-limit ballot proposition, which passed by an overwhelming margin. It limits council members and the county executive to three consecutive four-year terms and will unseat four of the nine incumbent council members in 2018. Total spending in the final budget was almost identical to the amount proposed by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) in March. But council members shifted and skimmed $19.6 million from various corners of Leggetts budget to fund their own projects. Council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) pushed successfully for $2.2 million to expand Head Start to full days at 10 county schools, benefiting about 200 low-income 4-year-olds. He said it would take $35 million to cover all the children who should have full days in Head Start, adding that it was important to make a start. Council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) inserted about $300,000 to the $11.2 million Montgomery Cares program, which provides basic medical services for the uninsured. The extra funds will pay for an additional 1,000 patient visits to doctors. Leventhal, who is running to succeed Leggett as county executive in 2018, said demand for services started to decline after passage of the Affordable Care Act. But with national health-care policy in flux, he said, an increase was in order. If Republicans in Congress and President Trump are successful, more and more people will lose coverage, Leventhal said. A man was shot by police after he struck an officer with a truck near I-395 in Arlington. He was wanted on a warrant, police say. (Clarence Williams/The Washington Post) A man shot by police in Arlington during an attempted traffic stop Wednesday died of his injuries, officials said Thursday. Daniel George Boak, 28, of Centreville, Va., struck an officer with his truck before being shot, police said. Family members declined to comment. Boak was traveling on the southbound side of Interstate 395 in Arlington at about 4:30 p.m. when police noticed from a license plate reader that the truck belonged to a wanted suspect. When police tried to stop the vehicle, Boak maneuvered around the officers, authorities said. Boak then got off the highway at Glebe Road. As Boak waited in heavy traffic, officers again tried to stop the car, approaching on foot. Boak ignored their commands, police said, driving the truck into an officer and pinning him against another vehicle. At that point, police said, several officers fired at the driver and were then able to move the truck and free the trapped officer. No one else was in the truck. Boak was wanted on a warrant issued May 2 by Virginia State Police, department spokeswoman Corinne Geller said, at the request of the Virginia Department of Corrections Probation and Parole. He was accused of attempting to falsify a drug test by adulterating or substituting a urine sample, a misdemeanor. Authorities would not say why the drug test had been required. Arlington police spokeswoman Ashley Savage would not say how many officers shot at Boak or how many shots were fired. All officers involved are on administrative leave, in accordance with department policy, she said. Officers and fire department medics performed lifesaving measures on Boak at the scene. He was taken to Virginia Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead. The stricken officer was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said. On Thursday they said the officer had been released from the hospital. Surrounded by armed Kurdish soldiers in an Iraqi field near the Islamic State territory he had fled, Mohamad Khweis asked for a cigarette. The peshmerga all reached for their packs. Wait, the commander said, one soldier testified in federal court earlier this month. In English, he asked the American-born Khweis, Is it nicer here or in ISIS? Here, Khweis replied, according to the soldier. Its more free over here. It was March 2016, and Khweis soon landed in a prison in Irbil, Iraq, where he was given all the cigarettes he wanted and freely confessed, authorities say, to having joined the Islamic State. Judge Liam OGrady agreed that those statements were voluntary and ruled Wednesday that they can be used against the Northern Virginia man when he goes to trial in Alexandria federal court next month on terrorism charges. Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the ruling. [American ISIS fighter who found it hard returns to face criminal charges] Mohamad Khweis after a 2010 DWI arrest. (Fairfax County Police Department) The son of a limousine driver and cosmetologist who immigrated from Palestine, Khweis graduated from Edison High School in Alexandria in 2007 and earned an associate degree in administration of justice from Northern Virginia Community College. Before his travel and arrest, he was working as a Metro Access bus driver, according to court documents. Khweiss lawyers have said he was coerced into talking to FBI agents by an intense desire to go home and was blocked from seeing his attorney during the three months he was held in Iraq. It was apparent to every single person who interviewed him that Mr. Khweis was anxious, if not desperate, to get away from Kurdish custody and return home, defense attorney John Zwerling said in a recent court hearing. When one FBI agent left Iraq, he wrote to co-workers that he had to peel [Khweis] off my leg. The FBI kept Khweis in a Kurdish prison longer than it needed to in order to get him to talk, the defense claims, and kept him from counsel. Prosecutors countered that Khweis was held by the Kurds in accordance with their laws. They said he was simply eager to talk about his exploits, which took him from his home in Alexandria to Syria in just two weeks. This defendant could not help himself, Justice Department attorney Raj Parekh said at the court hearing. He wants his story to be out there, he wants his time with ISIS to be known. FBI agent Michael Connelly, the first American to interview Khweis in Iraq, testified at one court hearing that although Khweis was cooperative, over weeks of interviews the prisoner admitted several times that he hadnt been fully truthful and started his story again. (Jason Aldag,Adam Taylor/Twitter/@kurdistan83) One major lie was what Khweis told a Kurdish television station after his capture, Connelly said: that an Iraqi woman helped the American cross into Islamic State territory. Khweis actually found his way to the Islamic State alone, according to Connelly, connecting with facilitators on social media. Defense attorney Jessica Carmichael also said that Connelly, who was conducting intelligence interviews that could not be used to bring charges against Khweis, tainted subsequent interviews in which Khweis was told he could remain silent or speak to an attorney. In emails, Connelly said he really teed him up for the FBI agents who would conduct clean interviews for use in court. He is lined up perfectly for the clean team, Connelly wrote. Connelly testified that he was merely offering his perspective and that he had done nothing to undermine Khweiss right to remain silent in future interviews. Connelly said Khweis at one point voluntarily waived his right to speak to an attorney, saying it was a sign of his desire to cooperate. He knew this was something he couldnt walk away from, Connelly said. Attorneys for Khweis suggested that their clients cooperativeness stemmed from mistreatment in Kurdish custody. Kurdish and FBI officials disagreed, saying the American was given better treatment than other prisoners. They did acknowledge that he did not have a toilet in his cell and had complained regularly of stomach problems. The Kurdish soldier who captured Khweis recalled that his unit came upon Khweis in a field about 4 a.m. on the morning of March 14, 2016. They fired over the strangers head in the dark, and Khweis hid in the tall spring grass. After about two hours, as the sun began to rise, the soldier approached Khweis alone so if he blew himself up, we would only lose one person. He asked Khweis in Arabic to take off his clothes, miming the action when he didnt comply. After searching Khweis, they let him dress, handcuffed him and drove him to a compound in Irbil. The soldier admitted that he hit Khweis when the prisoner accused him, in Arabic, of not returning all of his money. I lost my temper and I slapped him, then apologized, the soldier testified. I felt bad and regretted it immediately. He said he was upset by the accusation and because Khweis had not revealed his understanding of Arabic during the tense standoff that morning. Both Kurdish officials testified through translators and were left unnamed because of concerns about their safety in Iraq. After he got on a plane to the United States in June, FBI agent Victoria Martinez testified, Khweis told her the peshmerga had blindfolded him and threatened to execute him. At that point, for the first time, Khweis invoked his right to remain silent. His defense attorneys say that that showed Khweis had been fearful of the Kurdish authorities and cooperating under duress. But Martinez said Khweis soon came over and began talking to her again a sign, prosecutors argued, that his volubility was unforced. Emails showed that Connelly thought Khweis could be an asset to the U.S. government as a rare American defector from the Islamic State. Connelly recalled Khweis saying he bangs on his cell door every night and asks to speak to the Americans because he remembers new ISIS information that could help the United States. In an email, Connelly expressed regret that he could not spend more time with Khweis, having determined that the prisoner had no more immediate intelligence to offer. Every [redacted] supervisor and agent in the United States working [redacted] should get a chance to talk to him, he wrote to a superior after the interviews. To this day, I think he could be valuable, Connelly testified. Rene Bermudez stands at a rally for his wife, Liliana Cruz Mendez, with their daughter Danyca, 4. Mendez, who entered the United States illegally, was detained by ICE during a meeting in Fairfax. (Antonio Olivo/TWP) Federal immigration officials detained an undocumented woman from Falls Church who came to their offices for a routine check-in on Thursday, drawing angry protests from advocates who say President Trump should focus on deporting those who pose a public-safety threat. The arrest of Liliana Cruz Mendez, 30, a mother of two from El Salvador, comes a day after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released statistics showing a significant increase in deportation arrests since Trumps inauguration, mostly involving undocumented residents with criminal records. While immigration hard-liners are applauding Trumps efforts, advocates for those here illegally say ICE is defining the term criminal so broadly that many minor offenders including Cruz Mendez, who has a misdemeanor conviction for driving without a license are being torn from their U.S.-born children. The agency also more than doubled the arrests of noncriminal immigrants, to nearly 11,000, about a quarter of the arrests reported Wednesday. This is the real face of what ICE is doing, said George Escobar, senior director of human Services for CASA, a Maryland-based nonprofit that is aiding Cruz Mendez. They are shattering families and childrens lives. Liliana Cruz Mendez, left, was taking into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday in Fairfax County during a routine check-in meeting. (Family photo) CASA originally said that Cruz Mendez had never been convicted of a crime. However, Fairfax County court records show the driving infraction from 2013. Her lawyer said the offense was not serious enough to warrant her ouster, noting that Cruz Mendez qualified for stays of deportation in 2014 and 2015. Immigration officials also confirmed reports on Thursday that ICE is reactivating long-dormant deportation cases that were closed under the Obama administration because they involved individuals who were not serious criminals or otherwise a priority for ouster. Court records show that tens of thousands of such cases were administratively closed without deportation proceedings during Obamas tenure, using a process known as prosecutorial discretion. ICE spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea did not say how many cases have been placed back on the docket. But she said the reopened cases involve immigrants who have since been arrested for or convicted of a crime. ICE generally reviews closed cases to determine if the closure is still appropriate, Elzea said. Immigration lawyers said they were aware of scores of reopened cases and not always involving criminals. In Detroit, a lawyer said he had three cases reopened that involved traffic stops. In Orlando, a longtime immigration lawyer said he knew of dozens of cases that had been reopened. Its happening, but its very hush-hush. Details are hard to come by, said the Orlando attorney, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation. Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the immigration courts docket is bursting at historic highs, and cannot easily absorb a flood of reopened cases. Marks, who is based in San Francisco, said she is scheduling cases into 2022. Were teetering on the point of implosion, she said. Trac, a Syracuse University organization, said there are nearly 600,000 pending deportation cases. But Don Rosenberg, a father who lives outside of Los Angeles, said it is unfair to dismiss any illegal immigrants including unlicensed drivers as minor offenders. His son Drew was killed in 2010 by an unlicensed driver from Honduras who came to the United States illegally and then secured temporary permission to stay. She may not have had the opportunity to say goodbye to her family, but she can still speak to them and see them, he said of Cruz Mendez. I never got to say goodbye to my son. Cruz Mendez came to America in 2006, when she was 18, to join a brother living in Virginia, CASA said. She been threatened by an older man who once held a pistol to her head to coerce her into having a romantic relationship. She was caught crossing the border illegally and released. Seven years later, Cruz Mendez was stopped by police in Fairfax County for allegedly driving without headlights. She had an outstanding deportation order and did not have a license, CASA said. She ended up in ICEs custody. By then, Cruz Mendez was married and had two children, including an infant who was breast-feeding. She released after three days, and had to check in with ICE at regular intervals. Thursday was the first check-in since Trump took office. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Advocates from CASA accompanied her and her family to the ICE offices in Fairfax, and launched an immediate social media and public relations campaign when she was arrested. Late Thursday afternoon, two dozen supporters held a rally outside the ICE offices to demand her release. They shouted Shame on you! and Not one More! This is so wrong, said Nancy Bleeker, who lives in McLean and heard about Cruz Mendezs arrest through her synagogue, Temple Rodef Shalom. Its not what our country stands for. Rene Bermudez, Cruz Mendezs husband, stood nearby with their daughter Danyca, 4. Their son, 10 was not with them. Bermudez said his wife expressed fear of returning to El Salvador, which has been ravaged by gang violence and has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, all Democrats from Virginia, released statements saying they would seek more information about the arrest. Liliana is a mother of two American children and poses no public safety or national security threat, Connollys statement said. I wont stand by silently while this administration seeks to break up Northern Virginia families. Michael E. Miller and Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report. MARYLAND Two men arrested in slaying of man Prince Georges County police have arrested two people in the slaying of a man whose body was found in Berwyn Heights. Erick Hernandez-Martinez, 21, and Jose Lara Campos, 19, have been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the killing of Juan Ponce, 38, Prince Georges County police said Thursday. The suspects live in Beltsville and were acquaintances of Ponce, police said. Someone found Ponces body atabout 9:20 p.m. May 3 in the 5700 block of Nevada Street, police said. A medical examiner determined that Ponce died of trauma to the body and ruled his death a homicide, police said. Detectives are investigating a motive, police said. Hernandez-Martinez and Lara Campos are being held without the possibility of release. Lynh Bui Man was trapped in car after deadly crash A second person died after a head-on collision on U.S. Route 50 in Annapolis that involved a young mother driving on the wrong side of the road with her 14-month-old son in the vehicle, authorities said Thursday. The mother also died and the infant was taken by helicopter for injuries. His condition was not known. Police identified the latest death as Robert Skidmore, 66, of Cape St. Clair, Md., and the mother as Laura Ashley Murphy, 22, of Salisbury, Md. [Route 50 eastbound near Annapolis reopens after a fatal crash] The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday along eastbound Route 50 near MD 2. Skidmore was trapped inside the vehicle for two-and-a-half hours before rescuers were able to get him out. He was taken to an area shock trauma center, where he died. Dana Hedgpeth Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the partys gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last years Democratic presidential race, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll. Democratic likely voters say Perriellos endorsements by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), icons of the national progressive movement, carry at least as much weight as Northams support from Gov. Terry McAuliffe and nearly all other Virginia Democrats in Congress and the state legislature. With less than one month before the June 13 primary, 40 percent of likely Democratic voters support Perriello, while 38 percent support Northam, a difference that is well within the surveys range of sampling error. Perriello is a former congressman, and Northam is the states lieutenant governor. More than 2 in 10 Democratic voters are undecided or have no current preference, a sign of fluidity leading into the final weeks before the June 13 primary, according to the poll co-sponsored by The Post and George Mason Universitys Schar School of Policy and Government. I like both the guys, said Shantanu Sharma, 46, of Sterling. Im torn between the guy with the establishment backing versus the guy with Bernie Sanderss backing. Among the broader group of Democratic-leaning registered voters, Perriello holds a slight edge over Northam, with 35 percent support to Northams 29 percent. Northams supporters are more apt to fit the profile of likely voters, though a factor that could prove decisive given that fewer than 10 percent of voters have participated in nonpresidential primaries in the past decade. Age is a clear dividing line in support, with Perriello, 42, leading Northam by 20 percentage points among Democratic-leaning registered voters ages 18 to 39, while Northam, 57, leads by 16 points among those ages 65 and older. The two run more evenly among voters in between. As one of only two gubernatorial races nationwide this year (the other is in New Jersey, which is less competitive), Virginia has drawn national attention as a proving ground for how Democrats move forward after Hillary Clintons defeat in November. Perriellos upstart candidacy has attracted national money and national media as he bashes President Trump at every opportunity, while Northam has patiently built support within the state and has campaigned on his ability to work with the Republican-controlled legislature. [Shades of blue: Northam, Perriello may clash mostly on style] Opposition to Trump clearly resonates with Virginia voters, only 36 percent of whom approve of his performance, according to the poll. Bridget Hewlett, 48, of Richmond, said she has been distraught and disillusioned with politics after watching how Trumps administration is playing out. I am not that type of Democrat who is hateful. I want him to succeed, she said. But he is getting on my nerves, and he is acting too childish. I want a governor who will come in and help the country calm down. I want the country to feel better again. I dont feel happy. Hewlett said she is leaning toward Perriello but hasnt made up her mind. Perriello leads by 18 points among Democratic-leaning registered voters who wanted Sanders to win the partys presidential nomination last year, while Clinton voters split 35 percent for Northam and 34 percent for Perriello. Judging from last years outcome, a Sanders strategy would seem risky in Virginia. Clinton beat Sanders by nearly 30 percentage points in the states primary, though voters then were also split along generational lines. Exit polling showed Sanders won nearly 7 in 10 voters under age 30, while Clinton won clear majorities of older voters. But the poll suggests that Perriellos Sanders-like approach is finding traction. A 57 percent majority of Democratic likely voters say the Sanders and Warren endorsements make them more inclined to back Perriello. Thats slightly higher than the 50 percent who say the support from McAuliffe and other Virginia Democratic officials makes them more likely to back Northam. That might suggest a shift in the state party. In the past, the Democratic Party of Virginia has always proudly bucked against the more progressive trends on the national party side, said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School. Theyve always had their success when they projected a more moderate image than the national party. I think things have flipped in some respects. Were seeing a much more progressive wing of the Democratic Party active in Virginia. Lucas Atkins, a 19-year-old college student from Roanoke, said he was drawn to Perriello after reading about his plans to increase taxes on the wealthy to expand social programs and learning he had the endorsements of Sanders and Warren. That means a lot to me personally because Bernie and Elizabeth Warren arent the average Democrat. They are not the same old centrist Democrat, said Atkins, who said the election of Trump should send a signal for Democrats to embrace the partys progressive wing. Id like to be optimistic and say some people might have learned the lesson that centrist establishment Democratic policies are not necessarily what the American people want. Northam and Perriello agree on most major issues and are seen by voters to possess similar attributes. But Perriello has a slight edge in the perception that he could stand up to Trump (38 percent to 30 percent), while Northam has a similar edge in perception that he could work with state Republicans (38 percent to 31 percent). Still, those results are within the polls range of sampling error. There are a couple of key regional differences. Perriello enjoys a massive advantage in the southwest part of the state, where 58 percent of Democratic-leaning registered voters say they support him compared with 20 percent for Northam. Perriello is from Charlottesville and represented the rural 5th District during his single term in Congress. Northam, who represented Norfolk in the state Senate, holds a smaller edge in the Hampton Roads region, with 40 percent support compared with 28 percent for Perriello. Between his career in the legislature and heavy TV advertising in Hampton Roads, Northam is a far more familiar figure in that part of the state. I havent had much knowledge of Mr. Perriello, no advertisements, nothing that would make me kind of think maybe I would prefer him, said Sandra Wilson, 58, of Norfolk, who said she supports Northam. The two are running virtually even in Northern Virginia, with 28 percent favoring Perriello and 26 percent for Northam. But more than one-third of those voters remain undecided, making the vote-rich area a major opportunity in the final weeks before the primary. One part of the national story line that doesnt hold up: Perriello has been claiming the progressive mantle, but registered voters who identify as very liberal are about equally split between the two. Similarly, Northam has been portrayed as the more conservative of the two, but Perriello has a statistically insignificant lead among moderate and conservative Democrats, 35 percent to 27 percent. The two are vying to take on one of the three Republicans running for that partys nomination in the primary. Those candidates are former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, state Sen. Frank W. Wagner (Virginia Beach) and Prince William County supervisor Corey Stewart. The poll found Gillespie with a commanding lead in that primary battle. [Post-Schar poll finds Ed Gillespie with big lead for GOP nomination] The Post-Schar School poll was conducted May 9 to 14 among a random sample of 1,602 Virginia adults reached on cellular and landline phones. The margin of sampling error for individual percentage results is plus or minus 4.5 points among the sample of 654 Democratic-leaning registered voters and six points among the sample of 351 likely primary voters. The range of sampling error for the difference between candidates support is 10 points among likely voters. Emily Guskin, Fenit Nirappil and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. Spectators sport paper hats and umbrellas to stay cool Wednesday before Columbia Universitys graduation ceremony in New York where more than 14,000 students accepted diplomas. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press) CALIFORNIA 21 arrested in Los Angeles police raids of MS-13 street gang Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement officers fanned out across Los Angeles in pre-dawn sweeps, serving arrest and search warrants as part of a three-year investigation into the ultraviolent street gang MS-13. Federal prosecutors unsealed a sweeping indictment Wednesday morning charging dozens of members and leaders of the brutal street gang with a variety of crimes, including murder. Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra Brown said the 127-page anti-racketeering indictment targets 44 members and associates of the gang, including the one-time leader of a Los Angeles faction of MS-13. Three people accused of murder could face the death penalty, she said. Twenty-one people named in the indictment were arrested in pre-dawn raids across Los Angeles, and Brown said warrants were served at more than 50 locations. Jail officials around the region also conducted cell searches, as some of those indicted were already in custody on unrelated charges. About a dozen of those arrested were so-called shot callers for the gang. At least three people were still at large Wednesday. Brown said MS-13 is responsible for murders of rival gang members, drug and human trafficking, prostitution and illegal alcohol sales, among other crimes. She described the racketeering case as one of the largest single cases targeting MS-13, a gang that started in Los Angeles but has expanded to nearly every state and El Salvador. The gang is blamed for horrific violence that has sent Salvadoran immigrants fleeing that country for the United States. Associated Press LOUISIANA Third Confederate monument removed Workers in New Orleans took down a Confederate monument to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard early Wednesday as onlookers watched from lawn chairs, defiant statue supporters waved Confederate battle flags and opponents celebrated. It was the third of four such monuments to come down under a plan proposed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and approved by the City Council more than a year ago. As with two earlier removals, it happened under cover of darkness. Work began soon after sundown and news outlets showed the statue being lifted off its base shortly after 3 a.m. The statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee will be the last to come down. The city already has removed one of the Confederacys only president, Jefferson Davis, and a memorial to a white rebellion against a biracial Reconstruction-era government in the city. Associated Press NEW YORK New York reaches anti-discrimination deal with housing enclave New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday announced an anti-discrimination settlement at a predominantly German-American housing enclave with a history as a Nazi camp in the 1930s. He said the German American Settlement League, located in Yaphank on eastern Long Island, has agreed to change policies that historically limited membership and homeownership to people of German descent. The settlement prohibits the league from discriminating against people on the basis of race or national origin. It also calls for an overhaul of membership policies and governance structure. A federal lawsuit was settled in 2016 by a couple who claimed exclusionary policies made it difficult for them to sell their home. Associated Press Teacher, son held in plot to smoke-bomb school: A faculty member and his 16-year-old son are accused of trying to set off a military-style smoke bomb at a private Colorado boarding school after the fathers contract wasnt renewed. The device was found Tuesday in the schools cafeteria, prompting the evacuation of 300 faculty and teachers from the Fountain Valley School for several hours. The device didnt detonate, police said Wednesday. Bryan Bolding, 46, the schools technology director, was arrested on suspicion of felony charges. The son was also arrested but not identified because he is a juvenile. Associated Press Correction: A previous version of this story, published on May, 18, 2017, included incorrect information about the crime for which Louisiana inmate Clyde Giddens is serving a life sentence. Giddens pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1964 for killing and dismembering a woman. Giddens, who is seeking early release from prison because of health problems, told a reporter that he received the life sentence for fighting with a man and stabbing him to death. Giddens's name and the incorrect information were removed from this story on March 14, 2018. Alton Batiste, 72, rests in the nursing unit of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Saint Francisville, La on April 26, 2017. Batiste has served 50 years in prison. (Annie Flanagan/for The Washington Post) In a deal announced on Tuesday, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) agreed to drop the proposal to offer early parole to geriatric prisoners in exchange for state district attorneys support for easing penalties for nonviolent offenders changes that aim to reduce Louisianas prison population by 10 percent in a decade. Its a landmark agreement for Louisiana, which locks up residents at a rate twice the national average, making it the countrys biggest jailer per capita. An unusual coalition of business and political leaders, religious groups and liberal activists has been working to end the states ignominious distinction with a package of bills that would shorten some prison sentences, prevent certain nonviolent offenders from going to prison and expand eligibility for parole. The changes would come as U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions moves federal sentencing in the opposite direction, toward stricter penalties. Last week, he directed federal prosecutors to impose charges that carry the most severe sentences, a reversal of the Obama administrations practice. We are returning to the enforcement of the laws as passed by Congress, plain and simple, Sessions said in a speech last Friday. If you are a drug trafficker, we will not look the other way, we will not be willfully blind to your misconduct. Alton Batiste, 72, in the nursing unit of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, has served 40 years in the prison commonly known as Angola. (Annie Flanagan/For The Washington Post) In Louisiana, district attorneys and sheriffs typically the most powerful elected officials in their parishes opposed early release for old convicted murderers and rapists. Theyre going to risk public safety and we would go back on the promises to victims that were raped and the families of those who were killed, said Bo Duhe, a district attorney in the state, before the deal with Edwards was reached. Edwards argued that the sentencing changes would make Louisiana safer by saving money that the legislation shifts to programs that help prepare inmates to re-enter society and stay out of trouble. Other proponents point to studies showing that former inmates become less likely to commit crimes as they age, a phenomenon they call criminal menopause. George Gilliam, 39, who is serving life at Angola, is known as a trusty and has more freedom than other inmates. His job is to oversee inmates teaching one of the rehabilitation programs at Angola. (Annie Flanagan/For The Washington Post) But Tuesdays deal means Louisiana will remain one of two states that keep felons convicted of second-degree murder behind bars for life. It is likely that the state legislature will approve the bills related to nonviolent offenders before its regular session ends on June 8. The state Senate Tuesday easily approved major components of the deal reached with law enforcement officials. This compromise package contains smart, aggressive reforms that will certainly improve public safety, Edwards told reporters Tuesday. The effort is part of a national campaign to reduce state prison populations, which soared after decades of tough on crime tactics. More than 30 states have adopted some form of smart on crime policies aimed at reducing the number of people behind bars, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. The nationwide effort began when conservatives and liberals united in Texas a decade ago to make many of the changes now under consideration in Louisiana. Since then, Texas has closed three prisons, the recidivism rate has dropped from 28 percent to 21 percent and parole revocations have fallen by 50 percent, said Jerry Madden, a Republican who chaired the Texas House committee that helped push through the changes. In Louisiana, proponents are armed with the findings of a blue-ribbon task force that reported that the state sends nonviolent offenders to prison at higher rates than other states and gives felons fewer opportunities for release. Spearheading the effort to pass the changes is Jimmy LeBlanc, the state corrections secretary under the previous Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, and now Edwards. For years, he adhered to the lock-em-up school. What were doing is not working, LeBlanc said. The stats are there. The state imprisoned 816 people per 100,000 in 2014 compared with 700 per 100,000 in Oklahoma and 633 per 100,000 in Alabama, the states with the second- and third-highest incarceration rate, according to the latest available figures in the Louisiana task force report. Propelling the high rates in Louisiana is the propensity to imprison people convicted of nonviolent offenses, principally drugs and theft. Louisiana sent nonviolent offenders to prison at twice the rate of South Carolina and three times the rate of Florida, even though the crime rates in the three states were nearly identical. Half of those sent to prison in Louisiana have run afoul of probation rules, so one of the proposed reforms would expand the alternatives to revoking probation for example, requiring probation violators to perform community service or face more drug tests. During Alton Batistes 40 years at Angola, his vision has deteriorated significantly. (Annie Flanagan/For The Washington Post) The main motivation for conservatives is to save money in a budget-strapped state that has lost 25,000 jobs over the past two years because of the drop in oil prices. As a whole, the changes would save an estimated $262 million over the next decade. The plan calls for investing 70 percent of the savings in programs that aim to reduce recidivism, like job skills training and drug abuse counseling. Currently, 1 in 3 people released from prison return within three years. Only about 1 in 10 inmates participate in the types of rehabilitation programs contemplated in the task force report. We cut higher education, we cut health care and we impose new fees, said state Sen. Danny Martiny, a Republican from suburban New Orleans who is the prime sponsor of the legislation. Im sick and tired of coming up here [to Baton Rouge] and facing a budget deficit and not looking at one of the biggest problems we have the cost of incarcerating prisoners. Koch Industries, among the nations top conservative donors, and other business executives and lobbies in Louisiana have provided support for those pushing the changes, which makes it an easier political sell. Offering parole to older inmates convicted of violent offenses and other changes dropped from the final plan would have lowered the projected imprisonment rate below Oklahomas and saved an additional $38 million over a decade. About 4,300 of Louisianas 4,850 incarcerated lifers are housed at Angola. The site of the 1995 movie, Dead Man Walking, Angola is an 18,000-acre prison farm bounded on three sides by the Mississippi River. Inmates watched by gun-toting guards on horseback work the fields of cotton, hay and corn, earning up to 20 cents per hour. In the hospitals nursing units, cans of Ensure, oxygen tanks and pitchers of water sit on nightstands next to beds in a dormitory setting. Angola has a hospice and two cemeteries. One has about 250 white crosses featuring the inmates names, dates of death and their Department of Corrections numbers. Two or three inmates die each month of natural causes and illnesses, said Gary Young, an assistant warden. An exhibit at the museum next to the Louisiana State Penitentiary showcases a casket made by inmates and a painting of the prison cemetery. (Annie Flanagan/For The Washington Post) Advocating for the early release of old violent offenders, Louisianans for Prison Alternatives held a rally on the steps of the state capitol recently before the deal was reached. Among those attending was Clarence Batiste, whose brother Alton has spent 40 years at Angola for aggravated rape. Two days after the rally, Alton Batiste shuffled into a waiting room at Camp F at Angola, guided to his seat by an inmate nicknamed Shorty who is serving time for second-degree murder. Alton Batiste, 72, is blind and frail. What I did was wrong, Batiste said of his crime. I can admit that. But I dont represent a threat to society anymore. Asked what he would do if he were released, Batiste said, Id like to go to church and do Bible study. Its what I do here every day. NEW YORK Driver rams into Times Square crowd A vehicle driving through New York Citys bustling Times Square plowed into a crowd, killing an 18-year-old woman and injuring 22 others during Thursdays lunchtime rush, authorities said. The driver, who was identified by police as 26-year-old Richard Rojas, was driving down Seventh Avenue in Manhattan when he made a sudden U-turn, mounted a sidewalk and drove at a high rate for several blocks, striking unsuspecting pedestrians along the way, authorities said. An 18-year-old woman was killed, authorities said, and her 13-year-old sister was injured. Police did not release information on the other victims. Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said during an afternoon news conference that there is no indication the incident was related to terrorism. Just minutes before noon, a maroon Honda Accord made a U-turn on Seventh Avenue and started speeding the wrong way from 42nd to 45th Street, according to authorities and witnesses. People described the horror on social media, saying a car had driven onto a sidewalk in Times Square, mowed pedestrians down and crashed. Witnesses said the wounded were laying on the sidewalks and others were screaming and running, the place is swarming with emergency vehicles and cops. Those in the area were told to shelter-in-place while emergency crews arrived at the scene. The Honda Accord that Rojas was driving sat smoldering, tilted on one side, at the corner of 45th Street. Authorities said Rojas is a U.S. Navy veteran with a criminal history that includes two arrests for drunken driving. After the incident Thursday, Rojas was taken into custody and was being tested for drugs and alcohol, police said. Police have not yet released the results of the tests. Lindsey Bever CALIFORNIA Texas men get 3 years for hate-crime attack Two men were sentenced to three-year prison terms for assaulting a Sikh man in Northern California and admitting to hate crimes. Colton Leblanc and Chase Little on Thursday each pleaded no contest to assault with a hate-crime enhancement. Maan Singh Khalsa was dressed in traditional Sikh clothes driving to a religious ceremony in Richmond, Calif., in September when someone in a pickup truck threw a half-full beer can at his car. Leblanc and Little then jumped out of the truck and punched Khalsa numerous times through an open window. They knocked off his turban and cut Khalsas hair with a knife. The Sikh religion considers unshorn hair sacred. The assault occurred in Richmond, which is 18 miles northeast of San Francisco. Associated Press COLORADO Man freed from prison may be deported A Colorado man ordered released from prison after being mistakenly set free a decade ago and then put back behind bars is now being held by federal immigration authorities and facing possible deportation to Cuba. U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement said Thursday that it took custody of Rene Lima-Marin, 38, after he was released from prison Wednesday. The agency is working to deport him to Cuba, a country he left as a toddler on the 1980 Mariel boat lift. Lima-Marin was convicted in 2000 of multiple robbery, kidnapping and burglary counts after he and another man robbed two video stores at gunpoint. He was mistakenly released on parole in 2008. He then held a steady job installing glass, got married and has a stepson, Justus, 10, and son JoJo, 7, who was born while he was out of prison. Authorities realized the mistake in 2014 and returned him to prison. A judge on Tuesday ordered Lima-Marins release, saying it would be draconian to keep him in prison and that he had paid his debt to society. But ICE can request that an inmate suspected of an immigration violation be held after their release from jail or prison under a form referred to as a hold or a detainer. Associated Press 83 gang members held in 5-state crackdown: Federal authorities say 83 members of the United Blood Nation gang have been indicted as part of a five-state crackdown on gang activity. The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said more than 600 federal, state and local law enforcement officers carried out the arrest warrants across North Carolina. Arrests were also made in South Carolina, Virginia, Florida and New York. Associated Press JORDAN Syrian refugee camp gets solar power Syrian refugees in Jordans remote desert were connected to solar power on Wednesday, making their community the worlds first refugee camp to be powered by renewable energy. The $4.5 million plant was funded by a foundation established by Ikea, the global home furnishings retailer. In the first phase, it will serve 20,000 of 35,000 people in the Azraq camp. The plants capacity is to be more than doubled eventually to provide power to all residents, the U.N. refugee agency said. About 5 million Syrians have fled their homeland since conflict erupted there in 2011 and quickly turned into a civil war. Jordan hosts about 660,000 Syrian refugees, more than 80 percent in communities and the rest in three camps, of which Azraq is the second largest. A solar power plant is under construction in the largest camp, Zaatari. Azraq, run by the U.N. refugee agency, was set up in April 2014. For the first 2 years, refugees in the camp had only solar lanterns and no electricity, enduring scorching summers and bitterly cold winters. Associated Press IRELAND Enda Kenny to leave prime ministership Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced Wednesday that he is resigning as leader of the Fine Gael party, paving the way for his replacement as Irelands head of government. Kenny said he will remain interim party leader until a successor is elected by June 2. Kenny, Irelands leader since 2011, said he would then stay as head of government for a brief but appropriate period while his successor holds talks with parties and independents propping up the minority government. Kenny has led the center-right Fine Gael for 15 years but has faced months of pressure to resign after being accused of a bumbling response to a police scandal. He is to visit the United States and Belgium next month in his final trips as prime minister. Kenny led Ireland through a difficult recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis. Voters weary of years of austerity turned to independents and protest parties in 2016 elections, leaving him atop a fragile coalition. Associated Press PHILIPPINES Duterte shuns E.U. on development aid The Philippines has told the European Union that it will no longer accept development aid from the bloc, putting at risk programs to assist poor and conflict-hit regions in the countrys south, Europes ambassador said Wednesday. Ambassador Franz Jessen said the decision to decline aid from the E.U., a strong critic of President Rodrigo Dutertes drug war, would mean the loss of about 250 million euros ($278.73 million) in grants allocated mostly to Muslim communities. The E.U. had been supporting Manilas efforts to end nearly 50 years of Muslim rebellion in a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people. Manilas move comes days after Duterte won billions of dollars in pledges from China. Duterte, who took office in June, says the E.U. does not understand the extent of the drug problem in the Philippines. Almost 9,000 people, many small-time drug users and dealers, have been killed in his drug war . Reuters 1 more kidnapped girl rescued, Nigeria says: A spokesman for Nigerias president said another young woman believed to be one of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls has been rescued. Femi Adesina said the girl was found less than two weeks after the release of 82 others. If the girl is confirmed to have been among those kidnapped, it would leave 112 still missing. The Islamist Boko Haram group abducted the girls from their school dormitory in the town of Chibok more than three years ago. Bodies of 29 miners pulled from shaft in S. Africa: South African police said the bodies of at least 29 illegal miners have been recovered from a shaft at an abandoned mine where an underground gas explosion occurred last week. Illegal mining is common in South Africa. Opposition leader gets mandate to form Macedonia government: Macedonias president handed left-wing opposition leader Zoran Zaev the mandate to form a government, an initial step toward ending a political crisis in which protesters stormed the parliament last month. Zaev has 20 days to seek a coalition partner and form a cabinet. Macedonia has been without an elected government since December. From news services VENEZUELA U.S. punishes judges over congress move The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the chief judge and seven other members of Venezuelas supreme court on Thursday as punishment for seizing powers from the opposition-led congress earlier this year, U.S. officials said. The sanctions package announced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was aimed at stepping up pressure on supporters of the leftist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro amid growing U.S. concern over a crackdown on street protests. Venezuelas latest wave of anti-government unrest, which has left at least 44 people dead in the past six weeks, began with the supreme court, packed with Maduro loyalists, assuming the powers of the opposition-led congress in late March. There was swift and widespread international condemnation of the de facto annulment of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, and the decision was later partially reversed. Among those hit with sanctions was Maikel Moreno, a Maduro ally who became president of the 32-judge court in February. All of those targeted will have their assets frozen within U.S. jurisdiction, and American citizens will be barred from doing business with them. Marine Le Pen, French National Front political party leader. (Jacky Naegelen/Reuters) The Department has in the past sanctioned current and former Venezuelan officials, charging them with drug trafficking or corruption. Reuters FRANCE Marine Le Pen to run for seat in Parliament French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is counting on June parliamentary elections to make her National Front party the leading political opposition force in France, said Thursday that shell be among the candidates running for a seat in Parliament. In her first public appearance since her May 7 defeat in the presidential election, Le Pen said in a television interview that she will run to represent her northern bastion of Henin-Beaumont. Forces of division, including general party disarray and a popular nieces announcement that she is leaving politics, have been closing in on Le Pen since her loss to centrist Emmanuel Macron, but she dismissed the notion that there were links between her loss and events widely seen as potentially weakening her party. We are in reality the only opposition movement. We will have an essential role to play. Associated Press ALBANIA Parties reach deal on legislative elections Albanias political parties reached a compromise Thursday, postponing next months parliamentary elections by a week following intensive talks mediated by a senior U.S. official. After a three-hour meeting, Prime Minister Edi Rama of the Socialist Party and Lulzim Basha of the opposition Democratic Party said they had reached a deal. The parties later said the vote would be held June 25 instead of June 18. The opposition has boycotted parliament since February, blocking judicial reforms, and had refused to register for the elections. Under the deal, it will have unlimited access to election material and offer names for the head of the election authority. The deal came after mediation by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee and U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu. Associated Press Salvadoran judge reopens case of archbishops murder: A judge in El Salvador reopened the nearly four-decade-old murder case of San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero and asked prosecutors to seek criminal charges against the main suspect. The ruling follows a decision last year by the countrys constitutional court to repeal an amnesty law that prohibited criminal trials stemming from the nations bloody 1980-1992 civil war. The main suspect in the slaying is Alvaro Rafael Saravia, a former soldier whose case was dismissed in 1993 because of the amnesty law. Romero, seen by some as a leftist symbol, was shot dead in 1980 by a right-wing death squad as he celebrated Mass at a hospital. From news services PRESIDENT TRUMP laid out the welcome mat this week for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the strongman apparently felt so much at home he thought it okay for his thugs to beat up peaceful demonstrators. That Mr. Erdogan has unfortunately been successful in stifling dissent in Turkey doesnt give him license to come to this country and attack one of its most basic, and cherished, freedoms. It must be made clear that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. A violent confrontation Tuesday evening outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in Northwest Washington resulted in 11 people being injured. Two people were arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, and D.C. police said Wednesday the investigation is continuing, with the possibility of other people being charged. Particular scrutiny needs to be paid to the actions of Mr. Erdogans security guards, who, a state-owned Turkish news service confirmed, were involved in the fighting because can you believe the gall? they didnt think police were doing enough to quiet the protest. Video and photographs of the incident show men in dark suits and ties, some holding Turkish flags, kicking and hitting protesters. Uniformed D.C. police officers at various points can be heard telling the men to back off and move across the street. According to D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, the situation was especially dicey because some of the Turkish guards were armed. What we saw yesterday a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration is an affront to D.C. values and our rights as Americans, said D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). This is not the first time Mr. Erdogan has come to the United States and ended up bullying those who dare to disagree with his cruel regime. His appearance at the Brookings Institution during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit was marred when his security detail roughed up demonstrators and tried to eject undesired journalists. There need to be consequences. The State Department issued a relatively strong statement Wednesday saying that it was concerned by the violent incidents involving Turkish security personnel and that the United States is communicating our concern with the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms. Thats a good first step, but it is not enough. Turkish personnel instigating this violence must be identified and, if possible, prosecuted or, if shielded by diplomatic immunity, made persons not welcome in this country. WASHINGTON AND the country received a much-needed shot of good news Wednesday evening with the revelation that the Justice Department will appoint a special counsel. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein named Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI chief. This was an essential and reassuring step after a series of alarming developments. The first question for Mr. Mueller will be whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election. The second question will be whether anyone in the Trump campaign colluded in the meddling. And the third question will be whether anyone in the administration, up to and including President Trump, illegally tried to interfere with investigations into the alleged meddling and collusion. An independent inquiry is needed because of statements and actions by Mr. Trump that raised serious concern about executive interference. These include his reported request in January that then-FBI Director James B. Comey swear his loyalty to the president; his reported attempt a month later to persuade Mr. Comey to drop an investigation of Mr. Trumps first national security adviser, who had to quit after he lied about the nature of his contacts with Russian officials; and his decision last week to fire Mr. Comey. Mr. Trump initially put forward false explanations for that firing but eventually admitted that he was motivated by his displeasure with the FBIs investigation of alleged Russian interference. A few notes of caution are in order. A special counsel is essential in this case, and Mr. Mueller must be prepared to follow the evidence wherever it leads. But theres always a worry when a prosecutor has only one mission that he will pursue it with excessive zeal. Thats less likely with a special counsel under current law than it was under the old independent-counsel statute, and its a trap that Mr. Mueller seems unlikely to fall into. But its worth keeping in mind. More salient is the fact that the special counsels job is only to look for criminal behavior and, if he finds any, to prosecute the wrongdoers. His job is not to inform the public or to pass judgment on actions that may have been unwise, inappropriate or unethical but did not violate the law. That is why this appointment does not let Congress off the hook. The American public needs a full accounting of Russian interference in the 2016 election; of American cooperation in that meddling, if any; and of administration efforts to impede investigations into the meddling and collusion, if they took place. The House and Senate intelligence committees are working on aspects of all that, and those must continue. But a full accounting is likely to emerge only if Congress appoints a special commission like the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks. With the Trump administration having led the way, Congress too should act. Although William J. Baumol, who recently died at 95, was not widely known beyond the ranks of economists, all Americans are living with, and policymakers are struggling with, Baumols disease. It is one reason brisk economic growth is becoming more elusive as it becomes more urgent. And it is a disease particularly pertinent to the increasingly fraught health-care debate. Born in the Bronx, Baumol spent his teaching career at Princeton University and at New York University and remained an aficionado of New York opera, and when in 1962 the Metropolitan Operas orchestra went on strike, Baumol sought an explanation for the Mets regularly recurring labor troubles. He postulated a cost disease afflicting labor-intensive service industries: Productivity will often increase not at all, or much slower, in some sectors e.g., nursing, teaching, the performing arts than in the overall economy. Decades later, New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who in 1962 was a young aide to Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg as he arbitrated the orchestra dispute, explained Baumols disease this way: The number of players, the number of instruments, the amount of time it took to produce a Mozart quartet in the 18th century will not have changed one whit two centuries later. To play the Minute Waltz in 50 seconds leaves something to be desired. True of first violinists, kindergarten teachers, beat cops, sculptors, and so through a great repertoire of occupations. Goldbergs 1962 encounter with Baumols disease in the Mets orchestra initiated thinking that led in 1965 to the National Endowment for the Arts (and, on the Great Society principle of no conceivable claimant left behind, the National Endowment for the Humanities). This elicited Moynihans corollary to Baumols theory: Activities with Baumols disease migrate to the public sector. Moynihan, thinking that it will be the undoing of modern government if there is too much migration, worried especially about health care. In 1993, at a health-care hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, then-Chairman Moynihan received blank looks when he asked three medical deans what they could do about Baumols disease. So Moynihan elaborated: Montefiore Hospital was founded in New York City in the 1880s. At that time, how long did it take for a professor of medicine to make his morning rounds, and how many interns would he take along with him? Dean: Oh, about an hour; say 12 interns. Moynihan: And today? Dean: Got it! Perhaps technological advances will somewhat increase the productivity of teachers (e.g., online learning) and doctors (e.g., diagnostic advances using the human genome) as they have of policing (e.g., more efficient deployments of personnel). But there are limits. And a Mozart quartet must raise prices and donations or become dependent on government. As a Democrat, Moynihan worried that the stagnant services would become identified with government, as would his party, while the Republican Party would be increasingly identified with a private sector becoming ever more dynamic relative to the public sector. Actually, however, the current health-care policy morass suggests this: Disregarding, as the public seems wisely inclined to do, Republicans rhetorical flights, the two parties are about equally identified with government, and equally expected to use it to nurture public contentment with labor-intensive service industries. Such industries might become increasingly important and problematic. In an appreciation of Baumols work, the Economist noted this possible implication of Baumols disease in a world of increasing automation: As machines become better at doing things, the human role in generating faster productivity growth will converge towards zero. At that point, so long as society expects everyone to work, all spending in the economy will go towards services for which it is crucial that productivity not grow, in order to provide jobs for everyone. Society could seemingly be both characterized by technological abundance and paralyzed by cost disease. Happily, predicted horrors have a way of not happening, because projected trends become disrupted by unforeseen developments. It is, however, not prudent to count on what cannot be anticipated. John Maynard Keynes lamented that the encroachment of ideas in public policy usually is gradual because politicians and government officials are rarely influenced by new ideas after age 30, so they apply to current events ideas that are not likely to be the newest. Today, however, increased productivity is increasingly imperative as an aging workforce retires into the expensive embrace of the entitlement state. So, Baumols disease is a now-old idea that should be on policymakers minds. Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook. With the stroke of a pen, Rod Rosenstein redeemed his reputation, preserved the justice system, pulled American politics back from the brink and, just possibly, saved the Republican Party and President Trump from themselves. The deputy attorney generals memo Wednesday night announcing that he had appointed Robert Mueller as special prosecutor to investigate the Trump administrations ties to Russia was pitch perfect in its simple justification: While he has not determined that any crime has been committed, he wrote that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command. This is precisely what Rosenstein needed to do for all parties, but particularly for his own honor. Rosenstein, just two weeks into the job, had trashed the reputation he had built over the years as a fair-minded and above-the-fray prosecutor by allowing Trump to use him as cover for Trumps own decision to sack FBI Director James Comey. Many who admired Rosenstein were stunned that he would let himself be used this way; I argued last week that if he cares at all about rehabilitating the reputation he built, Rosenstein has one option: He can appoint a serious, independent and above-reproach special counsel the sort of person Rosenstein was seen as, until this week to continue the Russia probe. In tapping Mueller a solid figure who served ably as FBI director under two presidents thats what Rosenstein did. [Trump has caused a catastrophe. Lets end it quickly.] Rosenstein also restores some confidence in a justice system that has been much abused by Trumps assaults on so-called judges. That system was gravely wounded by Comeys firing, ordered by Trump and overseen by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was supposed to have recused himself from the Russia probe but decided it was just fine to recommend the firing of the man overseeing that investigation and choose his replacement. (Peter Stevenson,Jason Aldag,Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) The deputy attorney generals decision also reduces partisan pressures that were very clearly harming the national interest. Republicans had gone into a crouch to protect against any suggestion that Trump and his advisers colluded with the Russians. Democrats were often leaping to conclude that there was high-level collusion. And nearly everybody had lost track of the most important issue: Russia, arguably our leading global adversary, had successfully meddled in a U.S. presidential election undermining confidence in our system of government and was ready to do it again. In this sense, Rosenstein also did a favor for congressional Republicans. A minority of GOP lawmakers had begun to see the urgency of putting country before party. House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is retiring, had directed the FBI to turn over documents. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and others have called for Comey to testify. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) invoked Watergate, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and several others joined calls for an independent commission or special prosecutor, and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) said impeachment could be in order. [Trump is totally delusional about whats happening to him right now] Congressional Republican leaders knew something was amiss with Trump and Russia. The Washington Posts Adam Entous reported Wednesday that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy last year was recorded saying that he thought Trump was paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But, shamefully, GOP leaders had been in denial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was steadfast against an independent prosecutor or commission, and House Speaker Paul Ryan continued to tether himself and his party to Trump. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Ryan, reading from a typewritten statement, gave what amounted to a generous Trump defense. Ryan alleged that there are some people out there who want to harm the president, and said of Comey: If this happened as he allegedly describes, why didnt he take action at the time? Ryan dismissed speculation and innuendo, saying theres clearly a lot of politics being played. He cited the acting FBI director as saying no one has tried to impede the FBI probe. There is plenty of oversight that is being done, Ryan assured all. Walking out, he was asked if he had full confidence in Trump. Ryan paused briefly mid-stride and said, softly, I do. It was a huge gamble by the top Republican in Congress. Ryans defense of Trump is a calculation that Trump will ride out the troubles. He is betting his political fortunes and perhaps his partys hold on the House on a man who has provided very little justification for trust. Rosensteins action rescues Ryan, McConnell and other GOP leaders from their own cowardice in refusing to demand more accountability from Trump. (Victoria Walker,Jayne Orenstein,Dalton Bennett,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Trump no doubt will feel betrayed by Rosenstein, as he felt betrayed by Comey. He was already feeling awfully sorry for himself, saying Wednesday that no politician has been treated worse or more unfairly. Now he is to be treated to the luxury of his own, personal special prosecutor. If past is prologue, Muellers investigation will be a huge distraction for the White House as everybody lawyers up and attention shifts from what remains of Trumps agenda to the latest twists and turns that can be discerned. I covered the Clinton White House during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, and I dont doubt that this probe, like that one, could prove debilitating to Trump. But Trumps agenda was already moribund. A mere 117 days into his presidency, Trump has already amassed a collection of scandals and failures that most presidents take years to acquire. Even before the latest debacles over Comeys firing, his memos and Trumps handing secrets to Russia, Trumps political capital had been drained by the health-care woes. Its hard to see how legislative momentum can be restored now that Washington has settled into scandal mode. Trump has the waddle of a prematurely lame duck. The Mueller appointment, at least, gives the Trump White House a chance to compartmentalize the scandals. And, crucially, it provides one more watchdog keeping Trumps autocratic instincts from getting the better of him and the rest of us. These first months of the Trump administration have tested the strength of Americas democratic institutions. The good news is it appears those institutions are holding. The press has been at its best, uncovering the alarming truths about Trumps Russia ties. Some brave patriots in intelligence and law enforcement and elsewhere in the federal government have taken risks to get the facts out. A few courageous lawmakers defied their party leaders and president. And now, finally, we see that one of Trumps high-level appointees had the courage to defy him. Its often said that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. On Wednesday night, Rod Rosenstein did something. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Stephen Rademaker, a principal with the Podesta Group, was an assistant secretary of state responsible for arms control and nonproliferation from 2002 to 2006. Last Sunday, North Korea successfully demonstrated for the first time that it could strike U.S. territory in the Pacific. After more than 25 years of wrestling with the North Korean nuclear threat, its time to recognize that North Korea is not merely seeking to gain bargaining leverage against us. Rather, it is determined to possess nuclear weapons, and we need to develop a realistic strategy for containing, defending against and deterring what will be a persistent and growing nuclear threat. Theres every reason to continue pursuing sanctions and diplomacy, but we should not premise our policy on the expectation that such efforts are going to succeed in persuading North Korea to change course. We must also recognize that there is no acceptable military solution to the problem. Even before the North produced its first nuclear weapon, the United States calculated that the potential cost for any military strike was too great for America and South Korea. Now that North Korea has nuclear weapons, as well as missiles that can reach Guam and beyond, this logic is even more compelling. It is indeed true, as the Trump administration has concluded, that China has the wherewithal to compel North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. But China is a great power that has had plenty of time to think through its policy. It is concerned, but clearly not panicked. More important, it perceives plenty of downsides to overreacting, including the potential collapse and absorption of its ally, North Korea, into Americas ally, South Korea. So great is our dependence on China that, like hostages held by a kidnapper, all previous administrations developed a sort of Stockholm syndrome, coming to believe that China was doing everything it could to help solve the problem, when it manifestly could do more. After 25 years, we should not assume that more hectoring, promises or threats will persuade China to act in ways it believes contrary to its interests. In the absence of good military options or a Chinese deus ex machina, the remaining options for eliminating the threat are limited. Weve tried them all, and all have failed. Bill Clinton pursued engagement, which lasted until North Korea was caught cheating on its commitments to us. George W. Bush switched to confrontation, until North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon. Then he reverted to engagement, but Barack Obama found the results so disappointing that he shifted to ignoring the problem (or, as his administration called it, strategic patience). The Trump administration can pick any of these options, but theres no reason to expect different results. North Korea has repeatedly demonstrated that it can withstand sanctions and that it will pocket whatever inducements we offer without abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Its time to take North Koreas words and actions at face value: North Korea is a nuclear-armed state and is determined to remain one. The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense system to South Korea is a welcome first step to contain the threat, allowing us to shoot down short- and intermediate-range missiles fired from North Korea. As North Korean missile capabilities grow, THAAD needs to be augmented with more robust missile defense systems, including the ship-borne Aegis system, the Aegis Ashore system now being deployed in Romania, expanded interceptor capabilities in Alaska and the corresponding sensors necessary to maximize the effectiveness of all these systems. But purely defensive systems will not suffice in deterring North Korea. We need new offensive capabilities that match North Koreas. For starters, because of U.S. pressure, the range of South Koreas ballistic missiles has been limited by mutual agreement since 1979. Such limitations make no sense in the face of North Koreas growing missile threat and should be lifted immediately. At the same time, additional offensive strike options need to be made available to our allies in the region, including long-range strike aircraft, aerial refueling capabilities and precision-guided munitions. President Trump was ridiculed during his campaign for suggesting that South Korea and Japan may want to consider deploying their own nuclear weapons. But Trump did not invent this idea. Polls show that roughly two-thirds of South Koreans believe their country should have its own nuclear weapons. As an alternative, the United States should be prepared to return its own tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. The withdrawal of those weapons was announced by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 as North and South Korea were finalizing an agreement to denuclearize the peninsula. North Korea has never respected that agreement, so we need not defer to it, either. None of these ideas represent a preferred response to the North Korean nuclear threat. They are, instead, a last recourse. But the past quarter-century teaches that we have no realistic alternatives. There is really only one issue in American politics at this moment: Will we accelerate our way to the end of the Trump story, or will our government remain mired in scandal, misdirection and paralysis for many more months or even years? There is a large irony in the politics behind this question. The Democrats narrow interest lies in having President Trump hang around as close to the 2018 midterm elections as possible. Yet they are urging steps that could get this resolved sooner rather than later. Republicans would likely be better off if Trump were pushed off the stage. Yet up to now, they have been dragging their feet. The reports that Trump asked then-FBI Director James B. Comey to drop his investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn may finally be concentrating Republican minds. [Trump is totally delusional about whats happening to him right now] They certainly focused the decision-making of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who announced Wednesday afternoon that he was naming former FBI director Robert S. Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trumps 2016 campaign and Russian interference in the election. (Peter Stevenson,Jason Aldag,Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) House Speaker Paul D. Ryan signaled the changed mood earlier in the day not by what he said but by what he didnt. Ryan has been embarrassingly eager to defend Trump, but he did not rush to his support this time. Instead, the Wisconsin Republican called for a sober and dispassionate response, warned against rushing to judgment and insisted that our job is to get the facts. When word got out (probably from Comey or his sympathizers) of what Trump had said to the FBI director about Flynn, Republicans (such as Rosenstein) were left with no choice but to pursue the matter further. The speaker expressed faith in Trump only when prompted by a shouted question at the end of his news conference. After some thought, he replied with a soft I do when asked if he had full confidence in the president. Nothing could be worse than slow-walking the Trump inquiries. The evidence is already overwhelming that he is temperamentally and intellectually incapable of doing the job he holds. He is indifferent to acquiring the knowledge the presidency demands and apparently of the belief that he can improvise hour to hour. He will violate norms whenever it suits him and cross ethical lines whenever he feels like it. [Rod Rosenstein just pulled American politics back from the brink] He also lies a lot, and has been perfectly happy to burn the credibility of anyone who works for him. White House statements are about as believable as those issued regularly by the Kremlin. And Trumps friend Vladimir Putin could not resist interfering yet again in our politics. Putin offered to provide Congress with a record of our presidents meeting with top Russian diplomats to shed light on exactly what highly classified intelligence information Trump shared with them. Adding to the insult, the Russian leader spoke of a political schizophrenia taking hold in the United States that was eliciting concern in his country. Perhaps Putins taunt will elicit increasing concern among Republicans that our nation cannot endure much more of this. The surest sign that the bottom is falling out from under Trump was a Wall Street Journal editorial that declared flatly: Presidencies can withstand only so much turbulence before they come apart. The Journal warned that Trump was on the verge of betraying his supporters, as his Presidency sinks before his eyes. Any GOP leader losing the support of the semi-official organ of Republican conservatism should know that his partisans are headed to the exits. But how can we speed our nations escape from the catastrophe Trump has created? The Senate Intelligence Committee took an important step by announcing a bipartisan invitation to Comey to testify. The sooner he tells his story, the better. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York proposed that both parties demand that Congress get any memos, tapes and transcripts shedding light on Trumps meetings with the Russian diplomats and with Comey. The naming of an independent counsel cannot become an excuse to pull back on congressional fact-finding. The country needs to know if there was collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia whether or not a crime was committed. And Democrats should ask Republicans to join them in pledging opposition to any appointee to head the FBI who is not universally seen as immune to Trumps influence. It shows how far along we are that fears are already being voiced of a political backlash from his supporters if Trump is railroaded out of office. But delaying the process of getting to the truth will harm our country far more. And Republicans who throw up roadblocks will be hurt most of all. Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. PRESIDENT TRUMP has empaneled a commission to investigate voter fraud. The real fraud is the commission itself. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is to be led by Vice President Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Mr. Kobach, a Republican, is a longtime champion of voter suppression laws who seconded as absolutely correct the presidents fabricated assertion that Hillary Clintons victory in the popular vote, which she won by nearly 3 million ballots, was a result of millions of people who voted illegally. Mr. Kobach is notorious for erecting impediments to the ballot box specifically, ones that would disproportionately discourage and deter minority and other Democratic-leaning voters. His presence as the commissions vice chair Mr. Pences other responsibilities make it likely that Mr. Kobach will be the panels driving force makes a farce of the idea that the commissions work will be dispassionate, fair and clear-eyed. More likely, given Mr. Kobachs record, is that it will endeavor to create further pretexts for GOP-dominated state legislatures determined to throw up barriers to minority turnout with laws such as North Carolinas, which was struck down by a federal appeals court as an unconstitutional effort to target African Americans with almost surgical precision. The Supreme Court, citing a dispute over who represents the state, on Monday declined to review that decision, but its conservative majority may not block future such legislation. The fix was in from the moment Mr. Trump promised, in January, that he would establish a commission on fraudulent voting, a nonissue that has been almost entirely conjured from thin air by Republicans seeking to enhance their electoral chances. Multiple studies have shown, and the overwhelming consensus of both Republican and Democratic voting officials at the state and local levels has been, that fraudulent voting, particularly of the in-person variety, is all but nonexistent in the United States. A thorough survey three years ago came up with 31 credible instances of voter impersonation that could have been prevented by ID laws, out of more than 1 billion votes cast in elections from 2000 to 2014. Republicans are quick to conflate their baseless allegations of widespread fraud with real and inconsequential instances of duplicative voter-registration rolls owing mainly to individuals who have moved from one state to another. That hardly ever translates into multiple or illegal votes cast. Among those whose names have appeared on more than one states rolls are Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist; Sean Spicer, its press secretary; Jared Kushner, Mr. Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser; and Tiffany Trump, the presidents younger daughter. None of them is believed to have voted illegally. Mr. Kobach said the 12-member commission, which will include a few Democrats , does not begin with foregone conclusions. However, his record in Kansas and elsewhere offers ample proof to groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, that regard him as the king of voter suppression . Faced with the hostility of minority and other voting blocs, Republicans would rather suppress votes than compete for them. By establishing this commission, Mr. Trump is giving them a hand. The British have a terrific expression of which theres no equivalent Im aware of in American English: Hes lost the plot. To lose the plot is to become confused and lose the ability to complete a task. Im fond of the expression because it assumes a correspondence between doing ones job and reading a book. To lose ones place in a story is the essence of failure. At the present moment, with some real or imagined debacle coming out of the White House every day, weve forgotten where we are. Or, more likely, were assuming we understand the nature of the story were in its a tragedy, right? when in fact we do not. There is no circumspection, no desire to withhold judgment, no reticence. We took a peek at the last page, were sure we know how the story ends, and now we impatiently skim the pages as we turn past them to get to the end. And so weve lost the plot. Like many of those now ready to rid the nation of its current president by means of impeachment or the 25th Amendment, I did not support Donald Trump in the primary or general election. But there is no point in rehearsing the reasons for my apprehensions because, on Nov. 8, they ceased to matter. The American electorate, via the Constitution, expressed its belief that our politics had become sufficiently stale to risk putting a high-energy fulminator in the White House. When that happened, we set out on a different kind of story, not one we had ever read before. That called for some elasticity of mind, some willingness to view this new circumstance with a measure of charity and receptivity a determination to watch and listen rather than pronounce and prognosticate. I thought the shake-up of our traditional affiliations and ideologies might benefit us more than we anticipated. Maybe, I thought, if we could take him for what he was rather than for what he never pretended to be, he could accomplish a few good things and do only minimal damage. Its not turning out that way but not, for the most part, because Trump is any better or worse than we thought. Its not turning out that way because everyone already knew how it would turn out. Every president is the victim of confirmation bias he is guilty of what we suspected he would be guilty of, even before he does it but this tendency has already swallowed the Trump administration. Thats to be expected, in some ways: Trump won the presidency by railing against the news media and the Washington bureaucracy at every opportunity; that the news media would hit back, hard and constantly, was no great surprise. Even so, the sheer visceral animosity from the media, together with the aggressively insurgent opposition by holdovers from within the government, has shocked me as much as the election itself. Take the supposition, first reported in The Post, that the president blabbed top-secret information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador. Within two hours of the story posting online, scores of journalists and commentators had already offered their self-assured interpretations of what happened. I suspect the vast majority them had never been in such a high-level meeting and had only the foggiest clue of what the intelligence in question might have been about. No one, as far as I could tell, wondered how often similar scenarios had occurred with other presidents. Had another president ever said, as a means of establishing bona fides with foreign plenipotentiaries, something his national security staff rather wished he hadnt said? Probably so, but it didnt matter. The storys anonymous sources current and former officials said Trump blabbed stupidly. So he must have done that. Because, as we all know, thats what he does. Only a day later, the New York Times published a story in which Trump, according to a memo written by former FBI head James B. Comey, asked Comey to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Now congressional Democrats and even some Republicans are openly discussing impeachment proceedings for obstruction of justice, throwing around references to Watergate a historical reference that itself demonstrates a poverty of imagination, as if were capable of anticipating only two or three outcomes, each drawn from recent history. All this despite the fact that, assuming everything Comeys memo alleges is true, the necessary component of an obstruction charge evidence of an intent to threaten simply isnt there. This, I guess, will keep happening until hes gone. Some of its his fault, for sure, the effect of undisciplined hyperactivity. But much of it will happen whatever he does. Its almost hopeless at this point. Progressive commentators sound constantly like Gloucester in Richard III Tellest thou me of ifs? Thou art a traitor: Off with his head! and their conservative counterparts simply hope the whole thing will be over soon and we can all go back to our traditional ideological quarrels. Maybe in the end, thats what will happen. But if so, we will have thumbed haphazardly through this strange story and learned nothing. Members of President Trump's staff depart from Air Force One together upon Trump's arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Wednesday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) As Donald Trump has grown increasingly angry and frustrated with his White House staff, the beleaguered targets of his ire have a quietly roiling gripe of their own their boss, the president himself. Since he fired FBI Director James B. Comey, Trump has lurched through crises of his own making from the explosive report Monday that he had revealed highly classified intelligence to Russian officials to the bombshell Tuesday that he had urged Comey to end the federal investigation into Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser. In his wake remain his exhausted aides and deputies, the frequent targets of Trumps wrath as they struggle to control an uncontrollable chief executive and labor to explain away his stumbles. Wednesday evening brought yet another challenging development for the White House, as the Justice Department announced a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Some White House staffers have turned to impeachment gallows humor. Other mid-level aides have started contacting consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close to the staffer. (Peter Stevenson,Jason Aldag,Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) [House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: I think Putin pays Trump] Trump largely thinks that his recent mishaps are not substantive but simply errors of branding and public relations, according to people close to him and the White House. As he faced a wave of criticism after the disclosure that he had leaked code word intelligence material to Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week, the president took to Twitter to say that he had the absolute right to do so. White House officials are particularly worried about the news this week that Comey wrote meticulous memos about conversations he had with Trump including one in which Comey says Trump requested that he end his investigation of Flynn, according to two people in close contact with administration officials. Aides realize that the White House has squandered its credibility and will have difficulty pushing back against the latest allegations, one of the people said. The presidents siege mentality was on display Wednesday when he delivered commencement remarks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., offering graduates a warning that life is not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, Trump said. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history and I say this with great surety has been treated worse or more unfairly. The president implored the crowd to fight, fight, fight, and added: You cant let them get you down. You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. [Things are not always fair. How an embattled president tried to inspire the Class of 2017.] (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) But his team is growing increasingly weary. Privately they say that the problem is not an incompetent communications shop, as the president sometimes gripes, or an ineffectual chief of staff, as friends and outside operatives repeatedly warn, but the man in the Oval Office, whose preferred management style is one of competing factions and organized chaos. One West Wing official recently stopped defending Trump or trying to explain away his more controversial behavior. Another characterized the operation as trudging along, with aides trying to focus their attention on Trumps upcoming foreign trip and the budget landing next week. Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, said the president has created a situation in which his team is increasingly unlikely to succeed. Its torture torture because of everything that is happening externally, but its also torture because of how divided the White House is internally, Fleischer said of the challenges that Trumps staff members face. It makes it very hard to keep your head up and do your job. He added, If you dont give people something substantive to talk about in Washington, they will be plenty happy to talk about things that are personal, political and scandal-related. For many White House staffers, impromptu support groups of friends, confidants and acquaintances have materialized, calling and texting to check in, inquiring about their mental state and urging them to take care of themselves. One Republican operative in frequent contact with White House officials described them as going through the stages of grief. Another said some aides have moved to angry, frustrated with a president who demands absolute loyalty but in recent days has publicly tarnished the credibility of his team by sending them out with one message only to personally undercut it later with a contradictory tweet or public comment. [Turmoil over recent Trump controversies triggers big Dow losses] And a third said that others are sticking around purely for self-interest, hoping to juice their future earning potential. This Republican added that any savvy White House staffer should be keeping a diary. The real question is, how long do you put up with it? this person said. Every one of those people could get a better-paying job and work less hours. The Trump White House has always been full of leaks to the news media. But the latest waves of anonymous griping have subtly shifted from warring aides bickering among themselves to staffers training their frustrations on the president, as well. Those who remain fully loyal to Trump report a growing sense of isolation. The president has grown increasingly willing to shake up his staff, although aides say any major changes are likely to come after a nine-day foreign trip starting Friday that many hope will provide a stabilizing reboot. If and when Trump does overhaul his team, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, is expected to play a key role in rethinking the structure and personnel within the West Wing. The president has groused about his communications operation, most notably its director, Mike Dubke, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer. But Spicer has also received assurances that his job is secure and was asked to accompany Trump on his trip to the Coast Guard Academy, largely to help manage the tornado of news. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has been a particular target of mockery, both inside and outside the administration. Chris Whipple, author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, said the most important duty of a chief of staff is to prevent end runs including the situation in which Trump allegedly asked to meet privately with the head of the FBI, which is investigating his campaign. The White House staff system is completely broken, maybe beyond repair. It is inconceivable that something like that could have happened on James Baker or Leon Panettas watch, Whipple said, referring to chiefs of staff under previous presidents. The problem with this White House is that there is no one, including Priebus, who is able to tell the president what he doesnt want to hear and until there is, this White House will be broken, will be dysfunctional and so will Trumps presidency. [DOJ appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election] The president has not signaled whether Priebus will suffer in a staff change. But a handful of familiar names are circulating as potential replacements, including Tom Barrack, a real estate investor and longtime Trump confidant; Republican lobbyist Wayne Berman; former Trump adviser and Republican strategist David Urban; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross; and perhaps implausibly, businessman and casino magnate Phil Ruffin. On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, some of Trumps top advisers worked Wednesday to stabilize his policy agenda, which has been sidetracked by two weeks of snowballing controversies. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn met behind closed doors with Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, trying to solicit input on the White Houses recent one-page proposal to overhaul the tax code. The White House wouldnt commit to new details of the tax plan, however, and said it wanted more time to negotiate and talk. As Democrats streamed out of the meeting, they expressed skepticism that the White House would be able to focus on something as policy-intensive as an overhaul of the tax code when it seems to be engulfed in constant crisis. How are they going to do any of this tax policy, infrastructure, health care when all this is distraction? said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Damian Paletta contributed to this report. Congressional Republicans and Democrats praised the Justice Departments decision to appoint Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia in the 2016 campaign sparking a rare moment of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill over a politically charged issue. Nevertheless, the Senate and House committees conducting their own inquiries pledged to move forward, setting up a complex landscape of potentially conflicting investigations and competing goals. Democrats have accused Republicans of making a show of investigating the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Several of them, along with some Republicans, said Wednesday that the news of a special counsel investigation should not slow down Congresss work and Republican leaders pledged that it wouldnt. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), whose panel is conducting one of five congressional probes that are directly or indirectly looking into Russian activity, was among those who hailed the news while also declaring that our task hasnt changed. By having someone like Bob Mueller head the investigation assures the American people that theres no undue influence, be it here or be it at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, or within the Justice Department or FBI, Burr said. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was more forceful. The appointment of a special counsel is not a substitute for a vigorous investigation in Congress and the House Intelligence Committee will take steps to make sure our investigations do not conflict and ensure the success of both efforts, he said. We will also want to make certain that the special counsel has all the resources it needs to undertake this important task. (Victoria Walker,Jayne Orenstein,Dalton Bennett,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The announcement came toward the end of a day in which a growing number of congressional Republicans expressed fresh concerns about the news that President Trump had divulged highly classified information to Russian officials and the report that he had urged former FBI director James B. Comey to drop his investigation into former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynns ties to Russia. Throughout the day, lawmakers sounded some of their most aggressive notes toward Trump since he took office. Some GOP lawmakers drew parallels to Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate scandal that sank his presidency, while others raised the possibility of impeachment if Trumps conversation with Comey is determined to have been an obstruction of justice. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who has often clashed with Trump and other GOP leaders, replied yes when a reporter asked whether there could be grounds for impeaching Trump, if Trumps request of Comey was confirmed. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees asked the FBI for documents related to Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian interference in the election before Trump fired him last week. The widespread approval of Muellers appointment followed several weeks during which many congressional Republicans, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), declined to call for one. Before Wednesday, many of them touted the congressional investigations as sufficiently independent entities. But in the hours after Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein announced the move, Republicans spoke mostly about it positive tones. My priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead, Ryan said in a statement. That is what weve been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. By Wednesday evening, McConnell had not commented on Muellers appointment. Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.), who is leading the House Intelligence Committees investigation into Russian meddling, said his panels investigation will continue. If we find criminal things well definitely refer those to Justice, he said. But the importance of our investigation I dont think is diminished in the least. That sentiment was echoed by many lawmakers already participating in ongoing investigations. This effort should in no way be allowed to impede the ability of the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct and conclude its investigation into the same subject, said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). It is my hope that these investigations will now move expeditiously. Lawmakers also heaped praise on Muellers credentials. Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted, tweeted House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), one of his partys most imperiled lawmakers in next years elections, said Mueller has got a good background in terms of not being partisan and I hope he gets down to the bottom of what really is a growing list of allegations. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), another embattled incumbent, tweeted that appointing Mueller was the Right thing to do and the right choice. But senior Democrats cautioned that Mueller should be permitted a wide berth as his investigation commences. A special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. She reiterated her caucuss support for an independent commission to also probe the matter, saying that Mueller does not negate the need for vigorous congressional investigations. Pelosi called on the Justice Department to allow Mueller to review Trumps attempt to intervene on behalf of Flynn. Similarly, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said Muellers probe should extend to the circumstances that led to the presidents abrupt dismissal of James B. Comey, and to other critical matters that arise. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the generally pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, was one of the few lawmakers to offer some caution about Muellers appointment. Although Meadows called the appointment a prudent move, he also suggested that Mueller comes with more credibility on the Democrat side than on the Republican side, a remark he said was based on sworn testimony that hes given here on Capitol Hill since Ive been here. Earlier in the day, Republicans were leveling serious criticism against Trump over his controversies and edging closer to acquiescing to the long-standing Democratic demands for an independent investigator. Still, many rank-and-file GOP members said Wednesday that they were not alarmed by the explosive reports about the presidents conversations with Comey and Russian officials. Ryan and McConnell spent much of the day trying to direct public attention beyond the firestorm. Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.) was among the lawmakers who claimed to be untroubled by the developments. Its very clear there are a lot of people who want to see the president distracted, said Aderholt, adding that back in Alabama, there is a lot of frustration that theyre not allowing him to do his job. The uneven response has fueled widespread anxiety on Capitol Hill about the future of the ambitious agenda Republicans embarked on after assuming control of Congress and the White House in January. Republicans recognize that if they turn fully against Trump, they will lose their most critical legislative partner. But they are also showing increasing worry that standing firmly with a president blanketed in controversy is no longer tenable. It is a serious issue the way other scandals have been serious issues, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who the previous evening had compared the current imbroglio to the Watergate saga. What I was saying was that these scandals need to be completely all the information needs to get out as quickly as possible so we can resolve the issue and move forward, said McCain. The revelation that Comey had written in a memo that Trump pressured him to drop an investigation into Flynn compounded earlier worries about Trumps decisions to share highly classified material with Russia and abruptly oust his FBI chief. Asked if the allegations facing Trump concern potentially impeachable offenses, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said, I dont want to go there. I dont know yet. But the beginnings of the scandal that ultimately prompted Nixons resignation, Simpson said, was a lot similar to what was going on now: Ah, fake news, bad reports, that didnt happen, etc., etc., etc. Well, yeah, this did happen, and then the next day something else happens, and pretty soon youve got an avalanche of stuff. Asked about GOP lawmakers making comparisons to the Watergate scandal, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was focused on his visit Thursday with the Colombian president and preparing for his trip to the Middle East and Europe that begins on Friday. Paul Kane, David Weigel, Karoun Demirjian, Kelsey Snell and Amber Phillips contributed to this report. No Democrat was in more demand Wednesday than Rep. Al Green (Tex.) the seven-term Democrat from Houston who held a hometown news conference two days before calling for the impeachment of President Trump. Then came allegations that Trump had pressured the FBI director to beg off a criminal investigation of his then-national security adviser and then came the media. Green delivered a morning floor speech on impeachment (with a heavy heart, with a sense of duty), then spent nearly an hour just outside the House chamber, walking from camera to camera near the Capitols statue of Will Rogers, where TV networks set up their satellite links. Its about the fact that the president has committed obstruction of justice, Green, a former trial lawyer, said in an interview. It is indisputable that he fired the FBI director. It is indisputable that he said he considered the investigation that was taking place of the president when he fired him. And its indisputable that he went on to tweet what might be considered intimidation, words that are intimidating. For much of a frenzied day, Democrats and Republicans were asked not just whether there needed to be further investigations of the president, but whether impeachment, a power Congress has used against just three of its 45 presidents, was on their minds. It was unclear how the Justice Departments decision to appoint Robert S. Mueller III as a special counsel to oversee allegations of Russian meddling in the election would affect such talk. As of earlier Wednesday, neither partys leaders wanted to talk about impeachment. But neither party could seem to avoid it. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) I think that we ought to keep our focus on finding out the facts, said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, at a morning news conference meant to tout the Democrats campaign to form an independent commission on the FBI scandal. No one ought to, in my view, rush to embrace the most extraordinary remedy that involves the removal of the president from office. The impeachment talk had already begun at the fringes of the Democratic Party before this week Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was leading the charge. But despite the Mueller announcement, the noise grew louder after news that ousted FBI Director James B. Comey took notes of his conversation with Trump, during which the president asked Comey to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to Comeys associates. [Auntie Maxine and the quest for impeachment] As with so much of Congresss agenda, whether to talk impeachment seems to have been a choice that outside forces had already made for lawmakers. At a Monday night town hall sponsored by CNN, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was prodded on the impeachment question, and she stayed with the partys message: an investigation would uncover facts, and impeachment made no sense without it. If you are talking about impeachment, you are talking about, What are the facts? she said. What are the facts that you would make a case on? What are the rules that he may have violated? If you dont have that case, you are just participating in more hearsay. For that, Pelosi was flayed on Twitter by left-wing accounts. And by midweek, the progressive group MoveOn.org was texting members, urging them to ask their representatives to start an independent investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice and begin impeachment if he did. Democratic candidates for other offices, like Illinois gubernatorial hopeful J.B. Pritzker, were flashing their progressive bona fides by calling for impeachment. Calling for impeachment is not something done lightly, but I believe its necessary to protect our countrys national security and democracy, Pritzker wrote on Twitter. There are credible reports that Donald Trump has obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy. Pelosi, who led her party to control of the House from 2007 to 2011, had heard the impeachment drumbeat before. The 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, which led to a failed removal vote in the Senate, left Democrats with bitter memories. Throughout George W. Bushs presidency, activists called for his impeachment. In 2006, Pelosi repeatedly said that impeachment was off the table, and in the end, all activists got from the campaign was a day-long hearing during which one witness suggested that rather than face impeachment, Bush should be tried for murder. But the I-word, as Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) called it Wednesday, remains the gold standard when presidents tumble into scandal. Maybe its the shock value, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a progressive who spent part of the day batting back impeachment questions. Most people calling our offices are asking for a special prosecutor, said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chair of a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which next year has to defend 10 senators from states that Trump won. Republicans, who egged on impeachment talk in the Bush years, are cautiously sounding the same notes now. In an email to donors, headlined Sabotage, the Trump reelection campaign warned conservatives of a campaign to bring down his presidency. You already knew the media was out to get us, the email read. But sadly its not just the fake news . . . There are people within our own unelected bureaucracy that want to sabotage President Trump and our entire America First movement. In conservative media, coverage of Greens speech was sometimes apocalyptic. On Fox News, the story was Dems, Media Bring Up Impeachment. At the other end of the pro-Trump spectrum, the fringe site Infowars informed readers that Impeachment of Trump Could Lead to Mass Riots This Summer. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) who co-sponsored impeachment resolutions against Bush and against former vice president Richard B. Cheney, said that the politics and realities of 2017 were completely different. Trump struggled to win over Republican leaders up until he won the presidency and she thought a botched lunge at his presidency would firm up Republican support in a more partisan media environment than Bill Clinton or even Richard Nixon ever faced. Theyre saying, oh, this whole thing is proof that Democrats lost the election, and they want to find another way to get rid of Trump, Schakowsky said. What we need is a bipartisan or nonpartisan look at this, so theres a consensus about where we go. Maybe impeachment is where it ends up. But transparency and independence is where to focus right now. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who said that nobody in his district was asking for an impeachment, was just as wary about the media dynamic. There are a lot of Republicans that think that no matter what this person does he ought to be allowed to do what he wants to do, that he has the authority to hire and fire, he said. I think that we ought to wait to see where the facts will lead us. Still, the impeachment question made news whenever it was asked. On Wednesday, after a meeting of the House GOP Conference, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) raced up the stairs of the Cannon House Office Building, fielding questions from a stubborn pack of reporters. He was just one of two Republicans open to a special probe of the fallout from alleged Russian meddling, and reporters tested how much further he could go. If the allegations are true, would they be grounds for impeachment? asked one reporter. If the allegations are true, yes, said Amash. But everybody in this country gets a fair trial, including the president, or anyone else. For the rest of Wednesday, Amash an iconoclast who wrote in the name of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for president was famous. The Hill ran a news alert: First Republican raises impeachment for Trump. A video of Amash answering the question bounced over Twitter. Meanwhile, Mother Jones reported to its progressive audience that Amash was the first Republican to suggest that Trump may have committed [an] impeachable offense. The magazine updated its item after a spokesman for Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said that he, not Amash, was the first to mull over impeachment after a reporter asked about it. Read more at PowerPost Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday that he will leave Congress on June 30, citing big changes in his life in a public letter to constituents. Julie and I are facing the reality of being empty nesters, he wrote. All of us, it appears, are ready to begin a new chapter. Chaffetzs departure opens up one of the most powerful and closely scrutinized posts on Capitol Hill the House majoritys chief inquisitor amid serious questions about wrongdoing at the highest levels of the Trump administration. An early favorite for the post emerged Thursday: Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who led the contentious House investigation into the 2012 terrorist attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya though it was unclear whether Gowdy would accept the job. Chaffetz (R-Utah) announced last month that he had made a personal decision to return to the private sector and would not seek reelection or run for any other political office in 2018. He has not ruled out a run for Utah governor in 2020. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) had earlier said he would not seek reelection or run for any other political office in 2018. (Kim Raff for The Washington post) The decision comes days after Chaffetz took an aggressive posture after reports emerged that former FBI director James B. Comey alleged in private memos that he had been pressured by President Trump to end an investigation into Michael Flynn, Trumps national security adviser at the time. [Analysis: Why Michael Flynn will keep haunting the Trump administration] Chaffetz requested those memos and other records from the FBI on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he scheduled a hearing for next week in anticipation that Comey might testify. But the probe is certain to continue under a new chairman. The internal jockeying among House Republicans to succeed Chaffetz in that high-profile role kicked off Thursday, with at least three Oversight Committee members phoning members of the House Republican Steering Committee, which will select his successor. Multiple Steering Committee members said they had been contacted by Gowdy, Dennis A. Ross (Fla.) and Steve Russell (R-Okla.) about their interest in the post. It is Gowdy, several leading House Republicans said Thursday, who has a clear leg up in the contest. He is a former state and federal prosecutor who led the high-profile, two-year Benghazi investigation, and he is well liked inside the House GOP. If he wants it, its his, no question, said one Steering Committee member who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment frankly about the pending race. I think he would have a pretty good shot at it, said Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.), the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference. Gowdy did not answer questions Thursday about his interest in the position, and his spokeswoman acknowledged discussions but would not say he is actively seeking the post. Representative Gowdy is talking to members in the conference about the qualities they believe are most important for the next chairman to possess, said the spokeswoman, Amanda Gonzalez. There are complications should Gowdy choose to seek the Oversight Committee chairmanship: Another member of the panel, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has more seniority than Gowdy and strong support among the handful of hard-line conservatives who serve on the panel. But his role as a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus has made him less appealing to the mainstream conservatives who make up the bulk of the Steering Committee. Jordan previously fell short in a 2014 bid for the Oversight Committee gavel. A spokesman, Darin Miller, said Jordan had not decided whether to seek it again. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, acknowledged a huge push for Gowdy in some GOP circles Thursday but said choosing him would be a punch in the nose to Jordan. My personal feeling is that Trey Gowdy will not take a chairmanship gavel, because of his friendship and respect for Jim Jordan, who is ahead of him in both seniority and based on merits, he said. If Jordan gets jumped over at this point, we can say that its not based on merit. The question that must be asked is, whats it based on? Ross said Thursday that he was interested in the post only if Gowdy decides not to accept it. Id like to see Trey do it, he said. I think hed be very good at it, but if he doesnt, Ill consider it then. Gabriel M. Bastomski, a spokesman for Russell, confirmed Russell was seeking the chairmanship regardless of Gowdys intentions. He has spoken to Mr. Gowdy about running and was encouraged by Mr. Gowdy to stay in the race, he said. As the head of the Houses main investigative committee since 2015, Chaffetz became a prime critic of President Barack Obamas administration and, crucially, former secretary of state and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But until his decisive moves this week, critics suggested that he had been less interested in probing potential wrongdoing inside the Trump administration. Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes told the Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday that Chaffetz was expected to resign within a few days. Politico first reported news of an impending announcement Thursday. David Weigel contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Then-FBI Director James B. Comey speaks to the Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in Washington on May 8. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press) House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the many layers of controversy facing President Trump will not impede House Republicans from pursuing their agenda, the day after the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Trump associates and Russian officials. Ryan sought to project an aura of calm while speaking with reporters Thursday as a growing sense of scandal engulfs the White House. Its always nice to have less drama, he acknowledged during a news conference. I realize theres a lot in the media these days. That doesnt seize up Congress. That doesnt stop us from doing our jobs. He cited tax reform, a major GOP priority, as an example, vowing it would not slip into next year. Drama is not helpful in getting things done, Ryan said, but were still getting things done. . . . I feel very comfortable well meet this goal. [Analysis: Woe is Paul Ryan] The comments came amid a second chaotic week on Capitol Hill in the wake of Trumps dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey. New revelations about Trump including his disclosure of highly classified information to Russian officials and his attempt to pressure Comey to drop an investigation of Trumps former White House national security adviser have left Republicans reeling and increasingly frustrated by the presidents behavior. Asked about private chatter among some Republicans that Vice President Pence would be a better chief executive than Trump, Ryan projected disgust. Im not going to give credence to that, he said. Im not even going to comment on that. Theres not even a point making a comment on that. Attention on Capitol Hill quickly returned Thursday to Comeys firing, as committees awaited a response to invitations for him to testify and senators prepared to receive a briefing from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. [Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will brief the full Senate in a closed session] Mr. Comey was central to the events of the past few weeks, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday morning on the Senate floor. We still need to hear from him. Comey has received invitations to testify from the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He has not stated publicly whether he will appear. Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee announced that former CIA director John O. Brennan will testify Tuesday in both open and closed sessions about Russias election interference. The appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel took the pressure off many lawmakers, who felt increasingly pressed in the past month to support an independent commission or a special prosecutor to look into the Russia matter. Still, Muellers appointment will not end the investigations already taking place on Capitol Hill, and lawmakers expressed a firm commitment to continuing their efforts. The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday became the latest panel to request documents from the Justice Department about the Russia investigation and Comeys conversations with Trump. The Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have already made similar requests. [How dangerous are the cracks emerging in Trumps wall of support?] Were going to keep doing our jobs keep our Russia investigations going, said Ryan, who had rejected calls for a special counsel. Those efforts are taking place against a continually shifting backdrop of news and controversy involving the Trump White House. Earlier this week, The Washington Post revealed that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian officials during a meeting in the Oval Office. A day later, the New York Times reported that Trump had pressured Comey to drop an investigation of former White House national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, based on a memo Comey wrote summarizing their meeting. [Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador] The Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena last week to force Flynn to turn over documents relevant to its Russia investigation. Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Thursday that Flynns attorneys had not yet indicated their intentions, but he expressed hope that they will cooperate. Michael Flynn has not cooperated with the committee up to this point, Burr told reporters on Capitol Hill. We have not gotten the definitive answer. Congressional committees have sent multiple requests to the FBI and the White House to obtain any records of Trumps conversations with Comey, as well as other Russia-related documents. Among them was the House Oversight Committee, whose chairman appeared on television Wednesday night and disputed whether the Comey memo actually exists. Im not even sure these memos exist, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in an interview with Fox News Channel. Im not even sure theyre real. I just dont know. . . . I do think its worthy of investigation. I think they should pursue it. [Why is Jason Chaffetz, who is about to quit Congress, suddenly the face of its investigation into Trump?] Partisan differences also began to emerge on the matter of the special counsel. While praising Mueller for being as good as it gets, Chaffetz said he ultimately disagreed with the Justice Departments decision. They shouldnt have actually appointed somebody, he told Fox News. Theyre feeling the political heat. Maybe theyre watching a little too much television and reading too many newspapers and whatnot. He added that he had not seen any evidence of actual collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government. Where is the actual crime they think they need a special prosecutor to investigate? Chaffetz said. I havent seen that. In a separate Fox News interview, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) cast doubt on the report that Trump had disclosed classified information to Russian officials, saying he spoke with someone who was in the meeting who had denied it. They vehemently and repeatedly denied that the president said or did anything that would have compromised U.S. intelligence, its sources, its methods or our intelligence relationships around the world, Rubio said on Fox & Friends. Before we form opinions . . . we need to know what the facts are, he said. The Senate and House intelligence committees are the primary centers of investigation on Capitol Hill of the Russia matter, and Chaffetz has been criticized for not using his power to investigative Trump. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the oversight panel, called on Chaffetz to subpoena documents from the White House after the New York Times reported that Trumps presidential transition team was aware of investigations of Flynn before naming him national security adviser. There is no longer any excuse to allow the White House to continue stonewalling, Cummings said Thursday in a statement. The Chairman either needs to subpoena the White House or let the Committee take a vote. Cummings elaborated in an interview on MSNBCs Morning Joe. We need to look at the vetting process and how it takes place in the new administrations, whether theyre Democratic or Republican, he said. Im hoping Chairman Chaffetz and I can work together to get some things done. Outside of the issue of Congresss investigations, Democrats are expressing concerns about the possibility of improper influence by the Trump administration on Muellers investigation. Several members of the party, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), said Muellers appointment must be followed by an independent commission to oversee its own Russia inquiry. [Joe Lieberman, three others will meet with Trump about FBI director job] A special prosecutor cannot take the place of a truly independent commission, she said. Theres reason to believe that the president was engaged in some very inappropriate activities. Asked if U.S. allies should be nervous about information being leaked by the president, Pelosi said the answer is obvious. Wouldnt you? Wouldnt you be nervous? she said. Democrats other pressing concern is the search for Comeys replacement. The next FBI director must be someone who is nonpartisan, independent, fearless and unimpeachable, Schumer said Thursday, ruling out a politician for the role. Anyone who suggests a lack of impartiality should not be considered. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not mention any of these issues during his morning remarks on the Senate floor, focusing instead on health care. The entire Senate Republican conference has been at work debating ideas and making progress, McConnell said. I hope our friends on the other side of the aisle will join us in bringing some relief to all these families who desperately need it. Karoun Demirjian, Sean Sullivan and David Weigel contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost The race is on to see which congressional committee can land the first public appearance of James B. Comey, the ousted FBI director who has stayed out of the spotlight since President Trump fired him May 9. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, operating the highest-profile investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential campaign, are trying to reschedule a hearing with Comey after he declined their request to appear in private Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a formal request for Comey to come before the panel to discuss the FBI investigations into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia and Hillary Clintons handling of classified material while secretary of state, and how those played into Comeys dismissal. Not to be outdone, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the outgoing chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced on Twitter that he had scheduled a hearing for Comey next week before he had made contact with the former FBI director. Who will go first? Thats a very good question, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Thursday. (Jason Aldag,Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Then Collins wondered whether the Justice Departments appointment of Robert S. Mueller III to serve as the special counsel overseeing the criminal and counterintelligence investigation on Russia might prompt a request for all congressional committees to stand down. Thats the one thing that brings unanimity from committee leaders, because every panel believes Comey should still testify. Each panel is operating under the auspices of conducting forthright oversight of a critical investigation, but lawmakers can barely hide their ambition at landing what would be a grand media spectacle. Its a lot like Barbara Walters and other TV personalities fighting over the first interview with a Hollywood starlet beset by scandal. If youre on the Intelligence Committee, you think Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark R. Warner (Va.), the chairman and ranking Democrat of that panel, should decide the order of appearances by Comey. That sounds like a Burr-Warner responsibility to figure out how to set a standard of which committee should get the first crack at these witnesses, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of the intelligence panel, said Thursday. Other committees think they have just as much a right at the first hearing. This is not exclusive. They have one part of this, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), ranking Democrat of the Judiciary Committee, said of the Intelligence Committee. She suggested her panel is a more traditional landing spot for Comey: We are the oversight for the FBI. (The Washington Post) Its understandable why Comey is in such demand. He is the man of the moment, whose allies leaked word that he kept meticulous memos of all his interactions with Trump. But he also has an unmistakable flare in his appearances that makes for great storytelling. Trump mocked Comey as a showboat and a grandstander in an interview last week with NBC News, admitting that Comeys handling of the Russia thing played a role in his dismissal. What Trump might see as a negative, however, lawmakers see as made-for-TV moments from which they get to reflect in the attention that he draws. A native of Yonkers, north of New York City, the 6-foot-8-inch Comey has an authoritative voice and is a more appealing figure for daytime cable television than another five-person roundtable chewing on current events. He unwinds stories from the witness table with the timing and style of an Irish writer, slicing through moment-by-moment narrative. [James B. Comey and the most riveting 20 minutes of congressional testimony] His most famous appearance, as a civilian, came 10 years ago this week, when the Senate Judiciary Committee was conducting an investigation into the Bush White Houses dismissal of U.S. attorneys in 2005. Comey had been deputy attorney general in 2003 and 2004, overseeing those federal prosecutors, but that day he unfurled a story only indirectly related to the inquiry at hand: the moment in 2004 he rushed to the hospital bedside of John Ashcroft, the attorney general, to prevent President George W. Bushs top advisers from getting Ashcroft to overrule his deputys decision on a surveillance program. Asked a key question at the hearing, he paused for six seconds and stammered for another 10 seconds, before finally saying: Ive actually thought quite a bit over the last three years about how I would answer that question if it was ever asked, because I assumed that at some point I would have to testify about it. He then delivered a spellbinding account, punctuated by the first public admission that he and Mueller, then the FBI director, were willing to lead a mass resignation of Justice and FBI officials if they were overruled. After succeeding Mueller as FBI director, Comey continued to command the hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. On March 20, appearing before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey explained that the Justice Department and FBI never acknowledge a criminal investigation is happening unless it is in the public interest. He then delivered the gut punch that would be played over and over again, confirming the investigation into any links from the Trump campaign to Russian operatives and pausing at just the right moment for effect. This is one of those circumstances, Comey said. I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm [pause] that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating [pause] the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Thats why congressional committees are jostling to get the first crack at Comey. Collins said that she believes that, even if Mueller wants to wall him off as a fact witness in his investigation, Comey should at least be permitted to come testify about the memo he wrote about a mid-February meeting with Trump in which the president appeared to ask him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. First reported by the New York Times and confirmed by The Washington Post and other outlets, that memo is out in the public, Collins said, and his discussion of it would not tip off a witness. With so much demand, for Comey and other witnesses in the multiplying investigations, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) was pressed on whether he would referee the disputes. Ill leave it up to the committees to determine that, he said. Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. GOP Congressman from Utah Jason Chaffetz, right and Democratic Congressman from Maryland Elijah Cummings announce in April that Michael Flynn did not disclose payments from Russia for a 2015 speech. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA) The chairman of the House Oversight Committee knows some Democrats dont trust his motives in launching an inquiry into President Trumps meeting with his administrations top cop. But Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in an interview Wednesday that he simply wants to get to the facts behind claims that the president pushed his FBI director to shut down an investigation of Michael Flynn, a close aide. If the records and facts lead to impeachment proceedings against President Trump, so be it, Chaffetz said. But, the Utah Republican cautioned, his Oversight committee has a long way to go before that. Chaffetz said that when he first heard the reported allegation on his home television Tuesday evening, he was gobsmacked. I thought `Holy crap. This could get really ugly, Chaffetz said. How ugly it gets, I just dont know yet. (Peter Stevenson,Jason Aldag,Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) Chaffetz applauded the selection of Robert Mueller Wednesday as a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials seeking to meddle in last years election. He called Mueller a fair and impartial investigator with impeccable credentials. But he said he would continue with his Oversight probe, and noted that Comey and Mueller had a previous working relationship. Were still moving full steam ahead, Chaffetz said. People on both sides of the aisle should take comfort in his objectivity, Chaffetz said of Mueller. But Comey used to work for Mueller. So we will still want to see the memos and Im still waiting to hear from director and confirm his appearance at the hearing. Chaffetz said he wants to hear both sides of this January meeting at the White House, which is why he asked the Justice Department late Tuesday evening for copies of any documents or memos pertaining to the conversation between then-FBI Director James B. Comey and the president. According to close associates, Comey memorialized the meeting in a memo and recounted that the president said he hoped Comey could drop his investigation of Flynns contact with the Russians. Comeys memo, close aides said, also noted that the president asked the vice president and attorney general to leave the room before having a private chat with Comey. Chaffetz has also called for a hearing, likely next week, where he wants Comey to appear and answer questions. The chairman said he has been trying since Tuesday night to reach Comey on a cellphone number he had for the director. He said he has gotten no answer so far, but has passed the message along through Comeys contacts. I dont think this is just going to fade away, Chaffetz said of the reason to address whether the president obstructed a criminal probe. There have been a series of missteps and self-inflicted wounds. There is a propensity and pattern of him doing this. (Victoria Walker,Jayne Orenstein,Dalton Bennett,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The Oversight chairman said its possible Comey will say he did not feel pressure to close the probe. Perhaps the White House can document that Trump made no such request. Perhaps Trump was simply relaying that Flynn was a nice guy and felt sorry for him. The events that followed that January meeting are important. The two men met immediately after Department of Justice officials warned Trump that Flynn had lied about his contacts with Russian officials. The FBI continued its Russian investigation after that meeting. Trump fired Comey with no warning May 9. The president acknowledged in a television interview that the FBIs fake Russian investigation was part of the reason. Were going to let the facts take us wherever they go, Chaffetz said, acknowledging it will involve some weighty decisions by the Oversight panel. We need to move cautiously. We need to hear the other side of the story, too. Chaffetz said he consulted with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) Tuesday evening before launching and got a thumbs up. He tweeted his plans to the press, and then he quickly texted White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to give him a heads up. In the hours after, several Republicans privately texted Chaffetz, thanking him for taking on the subject. Most are from competitive districts and fear how Trumps actions may play in the midterm elections, he said. I had a number of members send me a personal text saying, `Thank you, good job, keep it up. Glad were out there, not ducking this, he said. Some Democrats argued his effort was a smokescreen, aimed at looking tough but signifying little. But Chaffetz called himself the Democrats best shot. A thorough probe is good for the Republican Party, too, he argued. The public is really good at sensing authenticity. If we fall anywhere short of being thorough, responsible and complete in our investigation, the public will get it and theyll get rid of us, he said. Chaffetz likely wont be around to see the results of the probe he began Tuesday evening. He has already announced he may leave office before his term ends in December; on Thursday, he plans to discuss the timing of his departure. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), one of Chaffetzs closest friends on the Hill, is considered a top contender for the chairmanship. At the minimum, Chaffetz said he hopes this work can cast a spotlight on a troubling pattern in the Trump White House. Trump and his aides are not making use of time-honored White House protocols or operating procedures for how a president should announce decisions and communicate with aides, foreign governments and others. I get the sense that the president just does his thing. He wants to move fast. This president doesnt sit still well . and its hurting him, Chaffetz said. I hope this is one of the realizations that happens in TrumpWorld: Lets think this through before we just do it. Read more at PowerPost "Pulse of Europe" supporters hold European Union flags in Berlin before a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on May 15. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters) Washingtons closest allies in Europe are increasingly worried that rising political chaos in the United States is undermining the strength of the most powerful nation in the world. In conversations with more than two dozen current and former European ministers, lawmakers, diplomats, intelligence officials and military officers in recent days, there was a common theme: After nearly four months of the Trump administration, many fear that mounting domestic scandals could sap Washingtons ability to respond to challenges ranging from Russia to terrorism to North Korea. And one senior European intelligence officer said if his agency ever came into possession of information that was incriminating to Trump or his circle, it would hold back from sharing with the United States for fear the U.S. president would seek revenge. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was concerned about provoking Trumps reaction. The officials paint a continent on edge ahead of Trumps first foreign trip, a nine-day voyage that in Europe includes a visit to NATO in Brussels, an audience with the pope and meetings with European leaders. With the White House under siege, some officials said that they were still searching for ways to work with Trump even as they were deeply concerned about the future. [As Europe braces for the Trump era, a showdown looms over values ] Its disturbing, said Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the European Parliament who works on U.S. affairs. The vacuum may encourage people all over the world to seize the moment of an absent United States, she said, pointing to political turmoil in the Western Balkans and Syrian President Bashar al-Assads use of chemical weapons in Syria as first examples. Many officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they worried about jeopardizing their standing with an unpredictable U.S. president who, they say, may be quick to lash out at their nations if he is criticized. Mixed with the worry is a thread of relief: Many of Trumps most radical foreign policy promises during the campaign have been toned down now that he is in the White House. He has reversed himself on NATO, which he called obsolete shortly before his inauguration. His defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, are both respected here. He appears resigned to following the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, which was negotiated alongside European powers. Even his criticism of the 28-nation European Union has been toned down for a few weeks, one senior E.U. official said. And few said that they were worried about a decline of U.S. democratic institutions, at least not yet, saying that for all the chaos, American checks and balances still appear to be working. I have faith in the U.S., said Michael Aastrup Jensen, a Danish lawmaker who is the foreign policy spokesman for Denmarks ruling center-right Liberal Party. I know a lot of moderate senators and congressmen. They will do whatever they can to keep the U.S. system we believe strongly in, in line. [Will Donald Trump abandon Europe?] While many officials say that Trumps first months in office have been calmer for international security than they expected, they have also watched Washingtons swirling dramas with growing concern. Im getting increasingly worried that this internal chaos in the United States is growing to an unimaginable scale, one European minister said. And that may grow into security and defense policy. If you are only fighting about tweets, if you dont have time to follow whats happening in the world, thats really disturbing. The minister described waking up in the morning and tuning to CNN to see nothing but wall-to-wall coverage of Washington chaos. To regain a kind of moral leadership will be extremely difficult. Because now every guy around the world will point their fingers and say, look at your own history. This will take a long time, the minister said. Officials also said that even if they welcomed the White Houses about-faces on issues like NATO, there was little trust that the newest position was the one that would stick. To say that NATO is obsolete and then to say that it is not, or to support the populist movements in Europe and then to say, once they have lost, that you dont support them, does not create major relief, said Pierre Vimont, a former senior French diplomat who is now at Carnegie Europe, a think tank. The statements that were saying exactly the contrary have created some sort of uncertainty, unpredictability, that takes time to disappear. [E.U., U.S. officials meet to discuss possible carry-on laptop ban that has raised fears of air traffic disruption] This weeks revelation in The Washington Post that Trump shared highly sensitive intelligence about terrorist threats with the Kremlin was seen not only with surprise in Europe because Russia is a NATO adversary, officials said. It was especially galling because U.S. allies had not received any briefings about the threat even as the Homeland Security Department considers a ban on the key security concern, laptops from U.S.-bound flights from Europe. European officials finally received a classified briefing in Brussels on Wednesday a week after Trump ushered Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov into the Oval Office. The spilling of secrets by the president is getting worse every day, a Western European diplomat said. Many European officials have been reassured to see that much of Trumps foreign policy seems to be administered by his more conventional subordinates. But they said even if daily policy decisions were in the hands of seasoned professionals, they were fearful of Trumps reflexes during inevitable international eruptions. Were facing it day by day. But Im scared of what happens when theres a crisis, said a senior NATO diplomat, who for months after the November election cheerfully shrugged off worries that Trump could threaten Europe. His assessment changed after watching Trumps temperament in office, the diplomat said. [Other countries are still trying to figure out what Trump means to them] The sense of concern has helped spur European discussions about a future with a diminished or antagonistic U.S. partner. One major focus has been increased defense cooperation separate from NATO, in which Washington is the dominant partner. We will . . . improve our capacity to act autonomously, whenever and wherever necessary, E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday after a meeting of E.U. defense ministers devoted to forming deployable European military units. Searching for a positive side of the turmoil, officials say they have been shaken out of a post-Cold War complacency that the United States would unquestioningly be there for Europe. Trump has managed to provoke a healthy European debate on the transatlantic relationship, said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO secretary general. In the past we took it for granted. For now, many European lawmakers say they have little choice but to adapt to the new circumstances, given Washingtons decisive international power. Our thinking is that the personality of the president is not very much likely to get changed, said Norbert Rottgen, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Germanys parliament and a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Uncertainty over U.S. foreign policy creates a void, he said. But the U.S. remains the United States, the most powerful, decisive nation on earth and in our alliance system, and we are determined to work together. Annabell Van den Berghe contributed to this report. Read more Trumps calls for Europe to increase defense spending could force other upheaval Europes leaders gather amid fears Trump is campaigning for their breakup Even as Trump seeks warmer ties with Russia, U.S. deploys troops across Eastern Europe Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A 16-year-old HIV-positive Kenyan girl whose mother died from AIDS-related complications recounts her experiences Feb. 16, 2015, at a center run by a Kenyan nongovernmental organization in the Korogocho slum neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya. (Ben Curtis/AP) A Trump administration order took effect this week barring U.S. aid for global health organizations that discuss or provide referrals for abortion. But the new policy put another program in the crosshairs: Americas global HIV/AIDS effort. Since 2003, the U.S. government has spent more than $70 billion to combat the global epidemic, with tremendous results. The annual number of AIDS-related deaths has fallen by more than 40 percent. Under President Trumps expansion of the so-called global gag rule, however, many HIV/AIDS organizations funded by the United States stand to lose their funding, putting at risk the possibility of eliminating the epidemic by 2030, a commitment established at the U.N. General Assembly last year. About $6 billion in U.S. HIV/AIDS funding could be affected. Reaching those ambitious targets could now be placed in real jeopardy, said Divya Bajpai, the director of programs at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. HIV/AIDS organizations could lose their U.S. funding not because they provide abortions, but because they offer counseling that includes the mention of abortion, or a referral to an abortion provider. The health organizations most of which are in Africa, the region most affected by AIDS will be able to keep their U.S. assistance only if they agree not to mention abortion services to their patients. Past Republican presidents implemented versions of the global gag rule, but they affected only about $600 million in family-planning funds and did not apply to groups fighting HIV/AIDS. President George W. Bush, whose administration launched the multibillion-dollar Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is credited across much of Africa for his role in tackling the epidemic. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, which consists of 32 local organizations, offers a window into how the new policy will play out. The alliance receives a total of $130 million in annual funding 20 percent of which comes from the United States. Each of the alliances members will now have to decide whether to keep its U.S. assistance by cutting any mention of abortion from its services. This is going to drive girls and young women away from treatment, said Bajpai. Thanks in large part to U.S. funding, hundreds of community health organizations treating HIV/AIDS have emerged across the developing world. Many of them, such as Family Health Options Kenya, offer a range of services, from antiretroviral treatment to contraceptive distribution and abortion counseling. With 17 locations, Family Health Options Kenya treats hundreds of HIV-positive women in some of the most remote parts of the country. But nearly half of its $400,000 budget comes from the United States. Already, the organization is trying to decide which services to cut and which locations to close. We are being forced to reduce our operations, said Amos Simpano, the executive director for clinical services. That means women wont have access to services. And for those on antiretrovirals, what will happen to them? Will they die? Simpano says the organization has tried to look for a new funding stream, but without success. Theres a lot of pressure on us now, he said. Experts say Trumps policy could especially affect girls and young women, who are now the most likely people to contract the disease. Girls and young women account for 74 percent of new HIV infections among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, according to PEPFARs fact sheet. Some of those girls and young women contract the disease after a violent sexual encounter, which in some cases also results in an unwanted pregnancy. A recent United Nations study said that in some regions, women who had experienced physical or sexual abuse by their partners were 1.5 times more likely to acquire the disease than those who had not. The Trump administration has said that the new policy does not ban referrals for ending a pregnancy caused by rape or incest. The Trump administration is dead set on denying women the benefit of scientific evidence that shows for highest impact, HIV treatment and prevention should be delivered alongside sexual and reproductive health services, said Asia Russell, the executive director of Health GAP, a group that campaigns for access to HIV/AIDS treatment. The administration has named the expanded policy Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance. Officials said they dont expect the overall amount of health assistance to decline but that funding would be redirected to other organizations offering similar health services. This executive order does not cut a single penny from U.S. aid; rather, it simply ensures our hard-earned tax dollars are used by other health-care entities that act consistently to save lives, rather than promoting and performing abortion. Abortion is not health care, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which backs politicians who oppose abortion. But given the rural environments in which many health organizations operate in Africa where there is often only one HIV/AIDS treatment provider in a particular place its unclear how existing providers would be easily replaced. Read more: How teen moms in Nigeria could wind up hurt by Trumps U.N. cuts Tanzania suspends U.S.-funded AIDS programs in a new crackdown on gays The mythology of how the AIDS virus traveled to the U.S. is all wrong Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news FBI Director James B. Comey prepared extensively for his discussions with President Trump, out of concern that the president was unlikely to respect the legal and ethical boundaries governing their respective roles, according to associates of the now-fired FBI chief. The associates recounted how worried Comey was about meeting with Trump and recalled conversations in which they brainstormed how to handle moments in which the president asked for details of an investigation. One associate referred to Comeys preparation as a kind of murder board a phrase used to describe a committee of questioners that hurls tough questions at someone as practice for a difficult oral examination. He was pretty insistent that he would have to find a way to politically not answer it, one associate recalled. He was confident that he was not going to sacrifice the independence of the investigation, or his own moral compass, but at the same time, he would not try to purposely inflame his commander in chief. The president abruptly fired Comey on May 9, raising questions about whether he was attempting to interfere in the ongoing FBI probe into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian operatives seeking to meddle in last years presidential election. (The Washington Post) Comey was very apprehensive heading into a dinner with the president in late January, because of his previous encounters with Trump during the transition and immediately after the inauguration, according to one associate. Comey felt as if Trump did not understand or did not like the FBI directors independence and was trying to get Comey to bend the rules for him, the associate said. White House officials have disputed the accuracy of a memo Comey wrote describing what was said at the January dinner. In it, associates said, Comey described an effort by the president to get him to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. [Notes made by FBI Director Comey say Trump pressured him to end Flynn probe] In his preparation for meeting Trump, Comey made clear to associates that he wanted to be responsive to the presidents questions while declining to discuss sensitive subjects in a manner that did not come across as a slap in the face, said the associate, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The FBI declined to comment, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Before going to the dinner, Comey practiced Trumps likely questions and his answers with a small group of his most trusted confidants, the associates said, in part to ensure he did not give Trump any ammunition to use against him later. The director did not take notes during the dinner with the president, but there were times, one associate recalled, when after meeting with Trump, Comey started writing notes as soon as he got into a car, to make sure he could accurately record what was said. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Another associate said the notes of the January dinner conversation contained very nuanced quotes from the president and a high level of detail. Read more: Trump said he was thinking of Russia controversy when he decided to fire Comey Comey associates dispute Trumps account of conversations The events leading up to Comeys firing Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will serve as the special counsel leading the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Molly Riley/Reuters) Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein on Wednesday appointed former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III to serve as the special counsel overseeing the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats and some Republicans had long called for such an appointment, particularly after President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey. But what is a special counsel, and how will his investigation work? Here are answers to questions you might have. [Heres how an independent investigation into Trump and Russia would happen] Q: What is a special counsel? A: A special counsel is a person appointed by the attorney general or, in this case, the deputy attorney general, because Attorney General Jeff Sessions is recused from the Russia case to oversee a criminal probe. Such an appointment is made when the Justice Department has a conflict of interest or it is otherwise in the public interest to do so. The special counsel oversees investigators and ultimately decides whether criminal charges are warranted. If so, the special counsel can prosecute the case. (Peter Stevenson,Jason Aldag,Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) Q: Does this mean Trump or his associates committed a crime? A: Not necessarily. Mueller could bring charges, but he could also decline to do so. In a statement announcing the appointment, Rosenstein stressed that his decision was not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. He said that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command. Q: What can the special counsel investigate? A: In this case, Mueller was tasked with investigating any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, according to Rosensteins order. He also has authority to investigate any matters that arose or may directly arise from that investigation. That would seem to include possible efforts to impede the investigation, including Trumps alleged request to shut down a probe related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The law also allows the special counsel to investigate efforts to impede his own work. Q: Where do the special counsels money and people come from? A: Resources come from the Justice Department. Within 60 days, Mueller will have to come up with a proposed budget, which Rosenstein will have to review and approve. Mueller can request that Justice assign employees to work for him, or he could ask that outsiders be brought in. It is possible even likely, given the probes sensitive counterintelligence nature that Mueller would work with the current FBI agents on the case, though he would be the ultimate decider. Q: To whom does the special counsel answer? A: The special counsel is not subject to the day-to-day supervision of any Justice employee, but the buck does not necessarily stop with him. The attorney general or, in this case, Rosenstein can request that the Special Counsel provide an explanation for any investigative or prosecutorial step, and may after review conclude that the action is so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued, according to the law on the topic. The attorney general, though, must give great weight to the special counsels views, and, if he intervenes, must notify the chairman and ranking members of the congressional judiciary committees with an explanation for his actions. Q: Is this the same thing as an independent counsel? A: Its not, but its close. The independent counsel was a position established by a law that has expired, in part because of dissatisfaction over the independent investigations of Bill Clinton. Unlike the special counsel, the independent counsel was formally appointed by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and those judges oversaw the independent counsels work. Q: Whats the precedent for this? A: Special counsels like this are rare, and there is only one good precedent. Attorney General Janet Reno named former senator John C. (Jack) Danforth to review the events surrounding the law enforcement assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Tex., in 1993. Reno also appointed Robert B. Fiske Jr. to investigate the Whitewater scandal in the Clinton administration, though he was later replaced by an independent counsel. In 2003, then-Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald as a sort-of special counsel to investigate whether George W. Bush administration officials leaked the name of a CIA operative, but Fitzgerald at the time was the U.S. attorney in Chicago, meaning he was not totally outside of Justice. Q: Will the special counsels work be public? A: Not necessarily. The law says that at the end of the probe, the special counsel has to give to the attorney general a confidential report explaining his decision to prosecute or not. The attorney general may determine that the public release of the report would be in the public interest, but that is not required. President Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia the first stop on his first overseas trip, beginning Friday is designed to solidify what the administration envisions as its premier partnership in the Arab and Muslim world, effectively anointing the kingdom as Islams political as well as religious leader. During two full days in Riyadh, Trump plans to sign bilateral military, economic and counterterrorism agreements with the Saudis, signaling an end to what both Riyadh and Washington have called the estrangement of the Obama years. Given the turmoil in Washington, the journey may offer a welcome break for the besieged administration. Nearly every senior White House adviser will be aboard Air Force One on Friday afternoon for the more-than 12-hour flight to Riyadh. But after touting the tour as an opportunity for what aides call Trumps disruptive style to shake up the world in a positive way, the ongoing news from home may end up being a major distraction to Trump and his hosts. Over two days at the top of a grueling schedule, the president will hold bilateral meetings and a summit with the six Persian Gulf states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. At a lunch with leaders of more than 50 majority-Muslim countries from around the world chosen and invited by Saudi Arabia Trump will deliver what White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster called an inspiring, yet direct speech on his vision for confronting radical ideology, spreading peace and sharing the burdens of achieving both. Nayef al-Hayzan, 28, speaking in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on May 15, 2017, said: I expect that Trumps visit will have a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and discussions are expected to tackle the problems in Syria and [energy giant] Aramcos privatization in international markets and U.S. markets in particular." (Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters) Overnight stops in Jerusalem and the Vatican will follow, completing a tour of the Muslim world, the Jewish world and the Catholic world, all in about four days a senior administration official said, with a historic message of religious tolerance. The nine-day trip ends with visits to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union, both in Brussels, and attendance at a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Sicily. Trump returns home on May 27. But the main focus from the beginning has been on the Saudi stop. Planning began last fall shortly after Trumps election, according to the senior official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the agenda, when the kingdom made contact with Trumps adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to say, We really want to work with this administration. They came back to us with several proposals, we shared them with the president, and Trump approved, the official said. Since then, although Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have long experience with the kingdom, Kushner has been the point man on Saudi Arabia and has held discussions with 31-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. MBS, as he is known, is the architect and prime force behind a plan to move the kingdoms culture and economy into the 21st century; he visited Trump in the Oval Office in March. Numerous Saudi watchers have expressed concern that Kushners affinity for MBS inserts the United States into the kingdoms fraught succession competition, in which MBS is second in line behind Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. Others, including a number of U.S. officials who work on the Middle East, are worried that the administrations effusive public embrace of the Saudis effectively declares Sunni Muslims to be the leaders of the Islamic world, although many majority-Muslim countries have differences with the kingdom and about 15 percent of the worlds Muslims are Shiite. Images of President Trump and Saudi King Salman are displayed on billboards in Riyadh ahead of Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia beginning on May 19, 2017. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Derek Chollet, who handled the Saudi account for the Pentagon as assistant defense secretary for international security affairs in President Barack Obamas second term, suggested that Kushner and MBS are naturally drawn to each other. Both are scions of wealthy families in Kushners case both his own and Trumps and both have enormous power inversely proportionate to their young ages and levels of experience. Overall, Chollet said, theres a natural affinity between the Saudis and the Trumps. They operate similarly, with family members being close advisers, a mix of public and private interests, and not a lot of talk about human rights. Trump, he said, has an affinity for palm-lined palaces. Im not joking. This feels more natural to the Saudis than any other U.S. administration. . . . The House of Trump and the House of Saud. Among bilateral agreements expected to be inked on the trip is a major U.S.-Saudi arms deal, providing for the kingdoms purchase of new ships for its eastern navy, a possible Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic-missile system, helicopters, and battle tanks. Negotiations on virtually all of the purchases were begun under the Obama administration, in some cases years ago. Congress was notified in 2015 of the agreement for at least four littoral combat ships, at a price of $11.5 billion. The gulf states are expected to state their intention to develop a mutual defense agreement described as an Arab NATO, building on a broader, Saudi-led military alliance of Muslim countries announced two years ago that has never gotten off the ground. Both Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush pursued efforts to unite the gulf states in a military pact that would make their systems interoperable and see them carry more of their own defense costs. That idea has made little progress. Against this difficult history, Trump will try again. Trump also expects to receive a major new financial contribution from the gulf states to what the United States considers its costly defense of these countries and the fight against the Islamic State. With Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar already hosting U.S. military bases, several of the countries think they are contributing enough. Others, including Saudi Arabia, find themselves cash-strapped as the result of the downturn in oil prices. The Saudis welcome Trumps apparent lack of concern about their limits on free expression and other human rights problems, and are looking for help in quashing last years U.S. legislation that could hold them liable for legal damages related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which 15 of the 19 perpetrators were Saudi citizens. Both the United States and Saudi Arabia which has recently signed deals with Russia to reduce oil production in a slow market are expecting new trade and investment agreements with each other. Saudi leaders have declared themselves unperturbed by Trumps comments before and during the campaign. Tell Saudi Arabia and others that we want (demand!) free oil for the next ten years or we will not protect their private Boeing 747s. Pay up! Trump tweeted in September 2014. As a presidential candidate, Trump described the kingdom as run by a despotic regime that would eventually be overthrown. On the other hand, according to financial disclosure forms filed by his campaign, the Trump Organization created eight companies named after Jiddah, Saudi Arabias summer capital. The companies, whose creation suggested hotel deals but whose purpose was never specified, were dissolved after the election. Four of them, according to his financial disclosure filing last May, were established on the same day in August that Trump told an Alabama rally crowd: Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much. In the kingdoms view, recognition of its leading role is long overdue. Trumps visit is a historic trip by every measure, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said during a visit to Washington last week. But then keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam. Its the custodian of the two holy mosques. We are your closest partner in the war against terrorism and extremism. . . . We are the country that offered the Arab peace initiative to resolve the Palestinian conflict, Jubeir said. Saudi Arabia is a huge investor in the U.S. economy and a huge trading partner of the United States, and were the largest exporter of oil in the world. To achieve the objectives that the president set out whether in restoring Americas role, whether in defeating [the Islamic State] . . . containing Iran . . . promoting peace . . . investment . . . trade and prosperity, Saudi Arabia is key. The kingdoms position at the top of Trumps travel list, Jubeir said, is not surprising. Drew Harwell and Steven Mufson contributed to this report. Residents walk through damaged streets at the mountain resort town of Zabadani in the Damascus countryside, in Syria, May 18. (Hassan Ammar/AP) American aircraft struck a convoy of troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, in a rare direct assault by the United States on forces affiliated with the Syrian government. Assads government had no immediate response to the incident, which occurred in far southern Syria near an area where American Special Operations forces are working with local fighters. A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an overseas operation, said that U.S. aircraft struck a convoy of several dozen vehicles, including a small number of tanks, that were advancing toward a U.S.-occupied garrison in Tanf, along the Syria-Iraq border. This action was taken after apparent Russian attempts to dissuade Syrian pro-regime movement south towards [Tanf] were unsuccessful, a Pentagon statement said. U.S. officials said the vehicles were slowly advancing within a 30-mile ground and air exclusion zone that the United States has established around Tanf. U.S. forces pictured in in central Syria. (Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images) Before the attack, the aircraft conducted a show of force by flying by the convoy and fired warning shots, the official said. The Syrian fighters did not choose to turn away, the official said. The strike destroyed four to five vehicles, including several construction vehicles and at least one tank, and appeared to have killed those inside, the official said. U.S. officials said they were unsure whether the forces in the convoy were Syrian army troops or members of militia groups who fight on the governments behalf. Salim Zahran, an analyst close to the Syrian government, said that U.S. planes targeted a Syrian army battalion in the Shahma area, 40 miles from the Tanf border area. He said the strike, which destroyed tanks and four-wheel-drive vehicles, killed eight soldiers from the 13th Battalion. Zahran suggested reports that foreign militiamen were among the dead were incorrect. The attack takes place as pro-government forces advance on U.S.-backed rebels in southern Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent them from expanding their foothold there. It underscores the risks the United States faces as it continues its campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, where the government has been bolstered by Russian and Iranian combat power. The Trump administration has embraced escalation of U.S. military action in Syria, as it did in April when it launched missile strikes on a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack on civilians. While the Pentagon hopes that allied Syrian forces will launch an operation against the city of Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital, in coming weeks, Thursdays attack, and the April air base assault, mark rare deviations from U.S. efforts to avoid plunging directly into the civil war that has consumed Syria since 2011. Asked about the Tanf episode Thursday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the strike would not draw the United States further into the war. We are not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war, but we will defend our troops, he said during a visit of Swedens defense minister to the Pentagon. And that is a coalition element made up of more than just U.S. troops, and so we will defend ourselves [if] people take aggressive steps against us. U.S. officials said they had used a communications channel that seeks to avoid in-air mishaps between U.S. and Russian aircraft to ask Russia, one of Assads chief backers, to notify the members of the convoy to retreat. But they said it was unclear whether that message had been delivered. Louisa Loveluck and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut and Kareem Fahim in Istanbul contributed to this report. The Treasury Department sanctioned eight judges on Venezuelas supreme court Thursday, shortly after President Trump said the constitutional and economic crisis in the country was a disgrace to humanity. The sanctions were imposed for a high court ruling earlier this year that stripped power from Venezuelas opposition-controlled congress. The decision, which the United States called a serious setback for democracy, brought international condemnation and led the court to partially reverse it. The judges who are punished include the supreme courts president, Maikel Moreno, and the seven principal judges on the courts constitutional chamber: Juan Jose Mendoza, Arcadio de Jesus Delgado, Gladys Gutierrez, Carmen Zuleta de Merchan, Luis Fernando Damiani Bustillos, Lourdes Benicia Suarez Anderson and Calixto Ortega. Under the sanctions, any money they have in U.S. banks is frozen, and it is illegal for U.S. citizens to conduct any transactions with them. They also are prohibited from getting visas to travel to the United States. The sanctions aim to change the behavior of the officials in the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The collapse of the economy in the oil-rich country has brought escalating rounds of large protests by Venezuelans who dont have money to buy food. More than 40 people have died in the past six weeks. [As poor join protests, Venezuela may be nearing a tipping point] Trump, in remarks to reporters after he met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the White House on Thursday afternoon, mentioned the situation in Venezuela several times. People dont have enough to eat. People have no food. Theres great violence, Trump said, noting Venezuelas potential wealth because of its vast oil reserves. But its been unbelievably poorly run for a long period of time, he continued. And hopefully that will change, and they can use those assets for the good, and to take care of their people, because right now, whats happening is really a a disgrace to humanity. Administration officials, talking anonymously to reporters under White House rules, said Venezuelas supreme court, a bastion of Maduro support, had been a major player in violating democratic norms and creating human suffering. Venezuela is a disaster, one official said. Its become an autocracy. People are suffering because of bad leadership, and bad leadership alone. The officials called for Maduro to respect the Venezuelan constitution, hold national elections and stop using violence against the protesters. The sanctions were imposed the same day that one of Maduros main opponents, Henrique Capriles, said he was prevented from boarding a plane to fly to the United Nations and denounce the governments human rights violations. A local governor, Capriles was considered a potential candidate for president, but he has been banned from holding office for 15 years. Brazilian President Michel Temer defied calls for his resignation Thursday, a day after a bombshell report alleged that he had been secretly recorded discussing bribe payments during an investigation into a sprawling corruption probe that has shredded the countrys political class. Speculation that Temer would step down intensified throughout the day, with Brazils highest court ordering an investigation and two members of Temers cabinet abruptly quitting. Prominent leaders of Temers centrist PMDB party also distanced themselves from him, leaving the unpopular leader looking more and more isolated. But Temer refused to fold. Speaking on national television, he insisted that he had done nothing wrong and would not step down. In no moment did I authorize a payment to anyone for their silence, he said. I have nothing to hide. In a brief statement, Temer said his government had just started pulling Brazil out of its prolonged economic slump, the worst in 80 years. We cannot throw so much progress into the bin of history, he said. But with Temer girding for a fight and the possibility that explosive new allegations could surface at any time, the chances of a return to economic and political stability looked even more remote for South Americas largest nation, which was rocked less than a year ago by the impeachment of the previous president in a different scandal. President Michel Temer delivers a statement on May 18, 2017 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Igo Estrela/Getty Images) Brazil's financial markets plunged Thursday amid concerns that the political crisis would derail economic reforms that Temer had championed to boost the economy. The countrys currency, the real, closed down 8 percent, erasing its gains this year, and the Brazilian stock market fell 9 percent, its worst daily loss in nine years. State-controlled companies lost about 20 percent of their value. [How Brazils political class came undone] I dont see how Temer survives more than a few weeks, said Brian Winter, a Brazil expert and the editor of the New York-based Americas Quarterly journal, adding that Temer appears to be in denial, given the evidence against him and his evaporating political support. Over the past several years, dozens of former executives and politicians have been arrested in the graft investigation known as Car Wash that has exposed billions in bribes and tarnished nearly every prominent member of Brazils establishment. Through plea bargains, in which defendants provided prosecutors with information in exchange for more-lenient sentences, authorities have been able to trace a major kickback scheme from a Brasilia carwash to the highest echelons of the government. Temer had managed to mostly avoid being tainted by the probe. But the spotlight fell on him Wednesday, after Brazils O Globo reported that Temer had been the target of a police sting operation in which he was allegedly recorded condoning a hush-money payment by a Brazilian business tycoon to the jailed former leader of congress, Eduardo Cuhna, who is serving a 15-year term for negotiating millions in bribes. Cunha had been one of the countrys most powerful men, and is believed to have compromising information on several top politicians who have not been formally accused. When the executive told Temer that he was paying the former politician a monthly stipend to keep him quiet, the president allegedly said, You need to keep that up, okay? according to the newspaper, citing the recording. The recording was made public by O Globo late Thursday. Temer has acknowledged meeting with the executive who is the alleged source of the recordings, meatpacking tycoon Joesley Batista. But the president insisted Thursday he hadnt broken the law and the investigation would exonerate him. [Brazil swings to the right, setting the stage for a Trump-like leader] Opposition lawmakers attempted Thursday to open impeachment proceedings against Temer, which may increase pressure on authorities to release the allegedly incriminating tapes. A new impeachment push would come less than a year after the last president, Dilma Rousseff, was forced out on charges of violating budget laws, bringing Temer to power through a process that many Brazilians view as politicized. Temers ministers of culture and city planning resigned Thursday, but the president was reportedly encouraged to hold onto power by his closest allies and key members of his inner circle. The news report late Wednesday, however, put in jeopardy the measures that Temer had championed to rescue the ailing economy and raised questions about how long he could stay in power. Because he is so unpopular with ordinary Brazilians, Temers legitimacy has rested on his ability to unite the countrys three dozen political parties. But with his political base divided, many questioned his ability to govern. Temers opponents may have another route to kick him out of office. Rousseff and Temer are on trial in a case separate from the Car Wash investigation, for allegedly accepting illegal donations as part of their 2014 campaign. They deny the charges. If convicted by the electoral court, the pair could see their victory invalidated, and Temer would have to step down. In coming days, youll see his remaining friends and allies trying to talk him down, Winter said. If they fail, that leaves impeachment or the electoral court. It all ends in the same place. Read more Two possible paths for Brazils most beloved ex-leader: prison or the presidency Brazils new hero is a nerdy judge who is tough on corruption Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham held a news conference May 17 to discuss the attack on protesters outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in Washington the day before. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Turkeys foreign minister on Thursday called on the Trump administration to replace its envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition the latest sign of Turkish frustration with the U.S. war strategy in Syria amid mounting tensions between the two NATO allies. Turkey has forcefully protested the Trump administrations decision to arm a Syrian Kurdish force for an assault on the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa. Turkey regards the force as an arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which Ankara and Washington have both listed as a terrorist group. In an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused U.S. envoy Brett McGurk of providing support for the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish force, known as the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG. It would be beneficial for this person to change, Cavusoglu said, referring to McGurk, adding that Turkey would not meddle in the domestic issues of another country. [Turkeys Erdogan arrives at White House] The unusually pointed Turkish attack on an American official came days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a trip to Washington that was dominated by issues dividing the two countries and that delivered mixed dividends, at best, for the Turkish leader. While President Trumps invitation to Erdogan and his lavish praise for Turkey during the visit were widely seen as having enhanced Erdogans stature at home, the U.S. administration did not appear to budge on any of Erdogans most pressing requests, including the demand not to arm the YPG. The visit was also marred by a violent coda an attack on protesters outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in Washington on Tuesday that U.S. officials said was carried out by Erdogans presidential guards. Footage of the assault showing protesters being kicked, choked and stomped drew widespread outrage as it was circulated on social media. A video released by Voice of America showed Erdogan watching the protesters being attacked. A State Department official said Thursday that two members of Erdogans security detail were arrested and released. Under international law, foreign officials and their traveling detail cannot be detained. The incident was considered serious enough that Turkeys ambassador to the United States was summoned to the State Department on Wednesday to discuss it with Undersecretary Tom Shannon, the official said. [Erdogans guards clash with protesters outside Turkish ambassadors D.C. residence] The Turkish Embassy released a statement Wednesday that made no mention of any role played by the presidential guards but said that a group of Turkish American citizens who had gathered to greet Erdogan responded in self-defense to a provocative demonstration. On Thursday, in response to the clash outside the residence, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called for the expulsion of Turkeys ambassador to the United States. This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically, the senator said in an interview with MSNBC. We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) joined in on Twitter, calling the violence unacceptable and echoing McCains demand that the ambassador be sent back to Turkey. They were assaulting these people on US soil, McCaskill tweeted. In Turkeys vigorous but so far faltering attempts to shift U.S. policy, the government has increasingly taken to blaming disagreements with the Trump administration over Syria on President Barack Obama and, specifically, holdovers from the Obama administration, including McGurk, who has served as envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition since November 2015. [Why Michael Flynn will keep haunting the Trump administration] A State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said in a statement Thursday that McGurk had the full support and backing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the White House. Turkey is a key NATO ally that faces legitimate domestic security concerns emanating from ISIS, PKK, and other designated terrorist organizations, Nauert said. We respect those concerns, and continue regular consultations with our NATO ally on this and other topics of mutual importance. ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State. U.S. military officials in the Trump and Obama administrations have concluded that there is no effective alternative to the military plan that relies on the Kurdish fighters despite Turkeys insistence that it could muster an equally effective force with Syrian Arab fighters. Last week, the Trump administration announced that it would arm the YPG as a delegation of high-level Turkish military and intelligence officials were visiting Washington in advance of Erdogans meeting with Trump. In response, Turkish officials told their U.S. counterparts that they reserved the right to step up military action against the YPG in Syria. On Thursday, Erdogan, speaking in Istanbul, reiterated the warning, saying that we wont discuss it or consult with anyone, according to the Associated Press. Cavusoglu said Thursday that the Trump administration did not show any reaction to the Turkish warning. They welcomed it with understanding, he said. Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives, as well as ingredient in manufacturing of gunpowder. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company operates in Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Imperial Oil Limited engages in exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores for, and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic oil, and bitumen. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had 386 million oil-equivalent barrels of proved undeveloped reserves. The Downstream segment is involved in the transportation and refining of crude oil, blending of refined products and the distribution, and marketing of refined products. It also transports crude oil to refineries by contracted pipelines, common carrier pipelines, and rail; maintains a distribution system to move petroleum products to market by pipeline, tanker, rail, and road transport; and owns and operates fuel terminals, natural gas liquids, and products pipelines in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. In addition, this segment markets and supplies petroleum products to motoring public through approximately 2,400 Esso and Mobil-branded sites. Further, it sells petroleum products, including fuel, asphalt, and lubricants for industrial and transportation customers, independent marketers, and resellers, as well as other refiners serving the agriculture, residential heating, and commercial markets through branded fuel and lubricant resellers. The Chemical segment manufactures and markets various petrochemicals, benzene, aromatic and aliphatic solvents, plasticizer intermediates, and polyethylene resin. Imperial Oil Limited has a strategic agreement with E3 Metals Corp. to advance a lithium-extraction pilot in Alberta. The company was incorporated in 1880 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Imperial Oil Limited is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation. Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. It produces conventional, premium, and reformulated gasolines; gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB); diesel fuels, and low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels; CARB diesel; other distillates; jet fuels; blendstocks; and asphalts, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined petroleum products, as well as sells lube oils and natural gas liquids. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day; and 12 ethanol plants with a combined ethanol production capacity of approximately 1.6 billion gallons per year. It sells its refined products through wholesale rack and bulk markets; and through approximately 7,000 outlets under the Valero, Beacon, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, and Texaco brands. The company also produces and sells ethanol, dry distiller grains, syrup, and inedible corn oil primarily to animal feed customers. In addition, it owns and operates crude oil and refined petroleum products pipelines, terminals, tanks, marine docks, truck rack bays, and other logistics assets; and owns and operates a plant that processes animal fats, used cooking oils, and inedible distillers corn oils into renewable diesel. The company was formerly known as Valero Refining and Marketing Company and changed its name to Valero Energy Corporation in August 1997. Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Bethesda LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Northern Louisiana LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of Lutz LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital LLC, Ascension Saint Thomas Lebanon Surgery Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Braselton Endoscopy Center LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, Brookwood Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brownsville Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH GP Inc., CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central Carolina Physicians Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chico Surgery Center L.P., Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Asheville LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Odessa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Raleigh LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of St. Petersburg LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Tampa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Waco LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Winston-Salem LLC, Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 2 LLC, Coral Ridge Outpatient Center LLC, Corpus Christi Surgicare Ltd., Covenant/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CreAtiv Management Company Inc., Creekwood Surgery Center L.P., Crown Point Surgery Center LLC, DH/USP SJOSC Investment Company L.L.C., DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Education & Research, DMC Harper University Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, DMC Imaging L.L.C., DeTar/USP Surgery Center LLC, Delray Beach ASC LLC, Delray Medical Center Inc., Delray Medical Physician Services L.L.C., Denville Surgery Center LLC, Des Peres Physician Network LLC, Desert Regional Medical Center Inc., Desert Ridge Outpatient Surgery LLC, Desoto Surgicare Partners Ltd., Destin Surgery Center LLC, Detroit Education & Research, DigitalMed Inc., Dignity/Abrazo Health Network LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers II LLC, Doctors Hospital of Manteca Inc., Doctors Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerus BHS/SA NW Military LLC, Emerus BHS/SA Southside LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Hausman LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Kelly LLC, Emerus/BHS SA LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Overlook Parkway LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Schertz LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Thousand Oaks LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Westover Hills LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, Enterprise Research Solutions LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GAB Endoscopy Center LLC, GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, GIA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy ASC LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Graystone Family Healthcare Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HC Hialeah Holdings Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN EP Horizon City LLC, HCN EP Lee Trevino LLC, HCN EP Northeast LLC, HCN EP Sunland Park LLC, HCN Emerus El Paso LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HKRI Holdings LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Harbor Heights Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare SMG I L.L.C., Healthcare SMG II L.L.C., Healthcare SMG IV L.L.C., Healthcare UC Holdings Inc., Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network Georgia L.L.C., Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Intracoastal Surgery Center LLC, JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Miami Surgical Suites LLC, Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter of Delray LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NS Medical Billing Center L.L.C., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NSMC Holdings Inc., NSN Revenue Resources LLC, NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Oxford Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Porter Musculoskeletal Surgery Center LLC, Potomac View Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Red Cedar Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, Riva Road Surgery Center LLC, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockville Surgical Suites LLC, Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scottsdale Endoscopy ASC LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers 2 LLC, Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Sierra Vista Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services LLC, South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., South Plains Endoscopy Associates LLC, SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Clearwater LLC, SurgCenter Development, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Dallas LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Jacksonville LLC, SurgCenter of Northern Baltimore LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Pine Ridge LLC, SurgCenter of Silver Spring LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, SurgCenter of the Potomac LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Center Development #3 LLC, Surgical Center Development #4 LLC, Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., T1 Security LLC, TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TOSCA ASC Holdings LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tampa Bay Joint and Spine LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Old Bridge Surgery Center LLC, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Springs ASC LLC, Timonium Surgery Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trinity Health of New England/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jacksonville Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation , USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Windsor Mill Surgery Center LLC, Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, and Wymark Surgery Center LLC. Read More Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group Public: 360 Connect S.A., 3@ Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U. Portugal Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Spain SLU, Vodafone Enterprise Sweden AB, Vodafone Enterprise Switzerland AG, Vodafone Erste Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vodafone Espana S.A.U., Vodafone Euro Hedging Limited, Vodafone Euro Hedging Two, Vodafone Europe B.V., Vodafone Europe UK, Vodafone European Investments, Vodafone European Portal Limited, Vodafone Finance Limited, Vodafone Finance Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Finance Sweden, Vodafone Finance UK Limited, Vodafone Financial Operations, Vodafone Financial Services B.V., Vodafone Fixed Ltd, Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Foundation Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Gestioni S.p.A, Vodafone Ghana Mobile Financial Services Limited, Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Italy) S.R.L., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Japan) K.K., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Russia LLC, Vodafone Global Enterprise Taiwan Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Telecommunications (Hellas) A.E., Vodafone Global Network Limited, Vodafone Global Network Limited Slovakia Branch, Vodafone Global Services Private Limited, Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Group (Directors) Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Pension Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Services GmbH, Vodafone Group Services Ireland Limited, Vodafone Group Services Limited, Vodafone Group Services No.2 Limited, Vodafone Group Share Trustee Limited, Vodafone Hire Limited, Vodafone Holding A.S., Vodafone Holdings (Jersey) Limited, Vodafone Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Holdings Europe S.L.U., Vodafone Holdings Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Finance Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Receivables Pty Limited, Vodafone IP Licensing Limited, Vodafone India Digital Limited, Vodafone India Limited, Vodafone India Services Private Limited, Vodafone India Ventures Limited, Vodafone Institut fur Gesellschaft und Kommunikation GmbH, Vodafone Intermediate Enterprises Limited, Vodafone International 1 S.a.r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone International 1 S.a r.l., Vodafone International 2 Limited, Vodafone International Holdings B.V., Vodafone International Holdings Limited, Vodafone International M S.a r.l., Vodafone International Operations Limited, Vodafone International Services LLC, Vodafone Investment UK, Vodafone Investments (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Investments Australia Limited, Vodafone Investments Limited, Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Ireland Distribution Limited, Vodafone Ireland Ltd., Vodafone Ireland Marketing Limited, Vodafone Ireland Property Holdings Limited, Vodafone Ireland Retail Limited, Vodafone Italia S.p.A., Vodafone Jersey Dollar Holdings Limited, Vodafone Jersey Finance, Vodafone Jersey Yen Holdings Unlimited, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Field Services GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH, Vodafone Kenya Limited, Vodafone Leasing Limited, Vodafone Libertel B.V., Vodafone Limited, Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone M-PESA SH.P.K., Vodafone M-Pesa S.A, Vodafone M.C. Mobile Services Limited , Vodafone Magyarorszag Mobile Tavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Marketing UK , Vodafone Maroc SARL, Vodafone Mauritius Ltd., Vodafone Mobile Commerce Limited, Vodafone Mobile Communications Limited, Vodafone Mobile Enterprises Limited, Vodafone Mobile NZ Limited, Vodafone Mobile Network Limited, Vodafone Mobile Operations Limited, Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, Vodafone Multimedia Limited, Vodafone Nederland Holding I B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding II B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding III B.V., Vodafone Net Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Network Pty Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Foundation Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Limited, Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited, Vodafone Nominees Limited1, Vodafone ONO S.A.U., Vodafone Oceania Limited, Vodafone Old Show Ground Site Management Limited, Vodafone Overseas Finance Limited, Vodafone Overseas Holdings Limited, Vodafone Panafon International Holdings B.V., Vodafone Panafon UK, Vodafone Partner Services Limited, Vodafone Payment Solutions S.a r.l., Vodafone Portugal Comunicacoes Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Procurement Company S.a r.l., Vodafone Property Investments Limited, Vodafone Pty Limited, Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., Vodafone Retail (Holdings) Limited , Vodafone Retail Limited, Vodafone Roaming Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Romania S.A, Vodafone Romania M - Payments SRL, Vodafone Romania Technologies SRL, Vodafone Sales & Services Limited, Vodafone Satellite Services Limited, Vodafone Servicios SL.U, Vodafone Servizi E Tecnologie S.R.L, Vodafone Servicos Empresariais Brasil Ltda., Vodafone Shared Services Romania SRL, Vodafone Specialist Communications Limited, Vodafone Stiftung Deutschland Gemeinnutzige GmbH, Vodafone Technology Solutions Limited, Vodafone Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings Limited, Vodafone Telecel-Comunicates Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S, Vodafone Towers Limited, Vodafone UK Content Services Limited, Vodafone UK Investments Limited , Vodafone UK Limited1 , Vodafone US Inc, Vodafone Ventures Limited1 , Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, Vodafone Worldwide Holdings Limited, Vodafone Yen Finance Limited , Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Vodafone-Central Limited Vodaphone Limited, Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A., VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V, Vodata Limited , Vouchercloud SA (Pty) Ltd, Wataneya Telecommunications S.A.E, Waterberg Lodge (Proprietary) Limited, Wayfinder, Wheatfields Investments 276 (Proprietary) Limited, Wireless Interactions & NFC Accelerator 2013 B.V., Woodend Cellular Limited, Woodend Communications Limited, Woodend Group Limited, Woodend Holdings Limited, XB Facilities B.V, XLink Communications (Proprietary) Limited, Your Communications Group Limited, ZUM B.V., ZYB, Zelitron S.A., Zesko B.V., Ziggo B.V., Ziggo Bond Company B.V., Ziggo Deelnemingen B.V., Ziggo Finance 2 B.V., Ziggo Financing Partnership, Ziggo Holding B.V., Ziggo Netwerk B.V., Ziggo Netwerk II B.V., Ziggo Services B.V., Ziggo Services Employment B.V., Ziggo Services Netwerk 2 B.V., Ziggo Zakelijk Services B.V., and Zoranet Connectivity Services B.V.. Read More Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the hospitality industry. The companys portfolio is concentrated in upper upscale, full-service hotels across the US. The portfolio strategy seeks to optimize total returns by maximizing the value of new acquisitions while paying dividends over time. The company boasts a geographically diversified portfolio of dominant branded full-service hotels. Ashford Inc externally advises Ashford Hospitality Trust. Ashford Hospitality Trust is the culmination of decades of real estate experience dating back to the 1960s. Now based in Dallas, TX, the company was founded and went public in 2003. The company is geared to withstand the ups and downs of the hospitality and hotel cycles. The company is committed to disciplined capital market activities, has a successful transaction track record, and brings value-added asset management to the table. Ashford Hospitality Trust is guided by five principles that best describe the company. These are Ethical, Innovative, Profitable, Engaging, and Tenacious and all key components of its reputation for integrity. The companys portfolio is well-diversified across brands and includes but is not limited to Courtyard, Crown Plaza, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Marriot, Ritz-Carlton, and Sheraton. Properties are located in 25 of the 50 US states and Washington, D.C. targeting the top 25 markets in the nation. The company also owns a number of private and boutique names as well. Ashford Hospitality Trust was founded by Monty J. Bennet who is the Chairman of the Board as well as Chairman, CEO, and President of Ashford, Inc which also trades on the NYSE. Mr. Bennet has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry including owning and operating major hotels. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, named May 15 by newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron, made public his cabinet choices yesterday. It is a government in which all the dominant factions of the political establishment, particularly the so-called moderate wings of the Socialist Party (PS) and The Republicans (LR), come together to prepare a social counterrevolution. The presentation of the cabinet had been delayed 24 hours to make certain that none of the nominations would embarrass Macron, who has pledged to moralise public life and end tax evasion by officials. He wants to give a veneer of legitimacy to his policies, which continue and intensify those of his discredited Socialist Party predecessor, Francois Hollande: austerity, war and attacks on democratic rights. The strategic ministries (the interior, foreign affairs, defence, justice and economy) will be occupied by longstanding pillars of the political establishment and proponents of the policies implemented in France under right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy of LR or Hollande and the PS. In the second round of the presidential elections, a race between Macron and neo-fascist Marine Le Pen, the Parti de legalite socialiste (PES) stressed that workers could not stop the rise of militarism and police state rule by voting for Macron, whose programme was profoundly reactionary. The PES proposed instead an active boycott to arm workers with an independent, revolutionary and socialist perspective for the struggles against Macron that were to come. The team presented by Macron and Philippe confirms this analysis of Macrons presidency against all those, like Jean-Luc Melenchon or the New Anti-capitalist Party, who signaled their sympathy for arguments that voters should pick Macron to block Le Pen. The new government is preparing imperialist war abroad and class war against the workers at home. At the beginning of the week, Macron announced that Patrice Strzoda, the former chief of staff of PS Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, would be his own chief of staff. Strzoda organised the brutal police repression of protests against Hollande, including the systematic and deadly use of flash-ball rubber bullets. As prefect in Brittany from 2013 to 2016, he oversaw the police operations and the use of assault grenades that in 2014 cost the life of ecological protester Remi Fraisse. His nomination is a sign that Macron and Philippe will stop at nothing to repress the explosive opposition that their policies will provoke. Jean-Yves Le Drian (PS) is Frances new minister of foreign affairs. As defence minister under Hollande, he played a critical role in French imperialisms aggressive policy in Syria and Africa, and against Russia as part of the NATO alliance. He also supervised the deployment of the army on French soil in the context of the prolonged state of emergency, which suspends basic democratic rights. According to press reports, Le Drian worked closely with Hollande to identify and approve targets of the PSs homicide operations. These extra-judicial murders, targeted assassinations, including of citizens, were carried out by the French state abroad in flagrant violation of the French constitution, which forbids the death penalty. His chief role in a new government will be to carry out the reorganisation and remilitarisation of European foreign policy, carried out in close collaboration with Berlin. Gerard Collomb, the PS mayor of Lyon, is now interior minister. He is a founding member of the PS. According to Luc Rosenzweig, a former journalist at Le Monde and Liberation, Lyon under Collombdue to the close collaboration between the PS and business circleswas a laboratory of Macronism even before Macron tried to play in the big leagues of the political arena. After the November 13, 2015, attacks in Paris, Collomb decreed the arming of Lyons municipal police. Another pillar of the political establishment, right-wing politician Francois Bayrou of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), is now justice minister. Bayrou has regularly been a minister of reactionary governments since the 1980s. A practising Catholic, he tried as education minister to introduce a law that would allow stepped-up financing of private schools. In 1994, nearly a million protesters marched to oppose this plan. He will be tasked with implementing Macrons zero tolerance plan, which includes 15,000 more prison berths, increasing the number of youth detention centres and toughening sentences for petty crime, including with the introduction of so-called immediate fines levied by police. The defence ministry has been given to Sylvie Goulard of Bayrous MoDem, who has close ties to the European Union after advising European Commission chief Romano Prodi between 2001 and 2004. She is charged with implementing Macrons militarist programme, including increasing military spending to 2 percent of GDP and reintroducing the draft. Macron has done everything to indicate that preparing for war and supporting the army are among his highest priorities, traveling down the Champs-Elysees on his inauguration day on a military vehicle. He will participate in the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25 and visit, either today or tomorrow, French troops deployed in Mali and the broader Sahel zone in Africa. The new labour minister, Muriel Penicaud, is close to Macron. She was the CEO of many major public and private French enterprises. The Voix du Nord daily called her the salesman of France to foreign investment. She has the job of coordinating Macrons attempts to attract foreign investment via historic attacks on wages, employment and social spending based on massive deregulation. Penicaud will supervise the destruction of the Labour Code announced by Macron, based on Hollandes deeply unpopular labour law, imposed without a vote in parliament and after the harsh repression of protests against it. A car careened into pedestrians in Times Square on Thursday afternoon, killing one woman and injuring over 20 people on the sidewalks in the crowded tourist destination, officials said. Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old tourist from Portage, Michigan, was visiting New York City with her family when 26-year-old Richard Rojas allegedly crashed into the crowd, according to The New York Post. Twenty-two people were injured in the incident, the FDNY said on Twitter, after the driver drove at a high rate of speed through the crowd before coming to a halt at a metal pole. Read: 13 People Dead and 31 Injured in One of California's Deadliest Highway Crashes A police source told InsideEdition.com that the NYPD requested the bomb squad to sweep under the car as a precaution. The driver appeared to have been either drunk or on drugs and has a history of DWI arrests, a law enforcement official told The New York Times. Police named the suspect as Richard Rojas, a former member of armed forces with US Navy who has two DWI prior arrests. He was taken into custody at the scene, officials said. Photos and web cam footage from the scene showed a maroon Honda sedan crashed onto a sidewalk, balancing on just two wheels on the northwest corner of 45th Street and Broadway. The vehicle appeared to catch fire following the crash. "There no indication that this was an act of terrorism," Mayor Bill De Blasio said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was also at the scene. "Todays events at Times Square were nothing short of horrific. I was briefed at the scene by Commissioner O'Neill and saw firsthand the professionalism and diligence of New Yorks first responders. As facts continue to emerge, my heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, as well as their families," Cuomo said. Watch: Motorcyclist Miraculously Survives After Truck Explodes In Crash Often called The Crossroads of the World, Times Square is one of the most popular tourist spots on earth with hundreds of thousands of visitors each day. Story continues Four were critically injured Thursday after suffering open fractures and multiple other traumas. Officials said they are very hopeful for the survival of these victims. Three other victims suffered serious injuries and 15 people had less serious injuries, according to authorities. Watch: Does Eerie Photo From Scene of Deadly Crash Show Stairway to Heaven? Related Articles: Allegations that President Trump asked fired FBI Director James Comey to quash an investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn have caused some political analysts to resurrect a mechanism for the presidents removal from office: the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Conservative columnist Ross Douthat made waves Wednesday morning with a column in the New York Times advocating the use of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment rather than impeachment to remove Trump from office. And this isnt the first time its been suggested. Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen made a similar argument in January. As amendments go, the 25th is relatively exciting because it deals with the presidential line of succession. It has been referenced in Hollywood movies like Air Force One and popular television shows like 24. And though its been invoked as means for ousting Trump, its not entirely clear that this would be possible. What is the 25th Amendment? Briefly, the 25th Amendment is intended to clarify what happens in the event of the president or vice presidents death, resignation or removal from office. It also outlines how an Oval Office vacancy should be filled if the president becomes disabled and cannot fulfill his or her duties. There are four separate sections to the amendment. Section 4, which concerns presidential disability, has gotten the most attention from Trump critics. Why was it created? In an interview with Yahoo News, Brian C. Kalt, a professor of law at Michigan State University, explained that the original U.S. Constitution had some small gaps concerning the presidential line of succession. Over the years, these concerns have been largely hypothetical and havent led to significant problems. But a consensus for the need to account for those problems intensified after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Congress passed the 25th Amendment on July 6, 1965, and was ratified on February 10, 1967. Story continues What is Section 1? The amendments first part states that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president will then become president. That might seem obvious but it was actually a matter of quite a bit of controversy the first time it happened, when William Henry Harrison died in 1841, Kalt said. Vice President Tyler said that he was now president and other people looking at the Constitution said, No, we think youre just acting president. What is Section 2? Section 2 details the process for filling a vice presidential vacancy. If there is no vice president, the president shall nominate someone to fill that vacancy. He or she will take office following confirmation by a simple majority from the House of Representatives and the Senate. This section has twice been used since the amendment passed. When Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973, then President Richard Nixon appointed Gerald Ford to be the new vice president. The following year, when Ford became president upon Nixons resignation, he appointed Nelson Rockefeller to take his place. What is Section 3? Section 3 states that should the president inform Congress that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice president will become acting president until the president is once again capable. This has been used most often in situations in which the president is under sedation for a colonoscopy or a similar medical procedure. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both invoked the amendment in this way. What is Section 4? This is where things get a bit more complicated. Section 4 outlines what should happen in circumstances when the president is disabled but cannot or will not declare this fact. This might be the situation if the president is in a coma or his plane crashed, he is missing, the administration cannot communicate with him and no one knows whether hes alive or dead. In a situation like that, Kalt said, they thought it was important to have a process. According to Section 4, if the vice president and a majority of his cabinet say that the president is disabled and cannot discharge the powers and duties of his office, then the vice president becomes president. Could Section 4 be used to oust Trump? In his New York Times column, Douthat argues that Trumps situation is not what the Cold War-era designers were envisioning but that the presidents inability to really govern is testified to on a daily basis by his Cabinet. Read the things that these people, members of his inner circle, his personally selected appointees, say daily through anonymous quotations to the press. (And I assure you they say worse off the record.) They have no respect for him, indeed they seem to palpate with contempt for him, and to regard their mission as equivalent to being stewards for a syphilitic emperor, Douthat wrote. Kalt, who earned his juris doctor from Yale Law School and researches structural constitutional law and juries, argues, however, that using Section 4 in the case of Trump would be a really bad idea. He believes that commentators like Douthat and Cohen might think Trump is nuts and unfit for the office, but says that the fact that hes still lucid and able to communicate would make problematic the use of Section 4 as a means for removing him from office. If Vice President Mike Pence and the majority of Trumps Cabinet were to declare that Trump is disabled, Pence would temporarily assume the role of commander in chief, but then Trump could easily come back and declare that he is just fine. In this situation, Pence and the cabinet would then have four days to reiterate their declaration that he is disabled. If they failed to do this, Trump would have his power back. If they did reiterate their claim, then Congress would assemble within 48 hours and vote on whether they think Trump is able to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Pence would stay on as president if he could secure a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate that Trump is unable to be president. If the president loses that vote he can always keep coming back and say, Well, now Im OK, and again Congress would have to vote, Kalt said. Section 4, it bears pointing out, has never been used. The importance of the four-day period Kalt discusses the 25th Amendment in great detail in Chapter 3 of his book Constitutional Cliffhangers. He said that commentators often get a very important aspect of Section 4 wrong. According to his reading of the amendment, if the president were to say he is not disabled, he would not retake power immediately because of the four-day waiting period. The law scholar said it would be very dangerous if the president were to regain his power right away. If he took power back immediately, he would fire the Cabinet and they wouldnt be able to say that he was disabled, and thats not the right reading. They would say, Well, you cant fire us. The acting president would say that hes president and the president would say hes in charge. There would be two sets of people saying they are the Cabinet. Here is the complete text of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment Aaron Hernandez's fiancee Shayanna Jenkins appeared for an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, with episodes aired in two parts -- Monday and Tuesday -- to open up about the ex-NFL player's suicide death last month. Jenkins, who has a child with Hernandez, made some shocking claims during the interview, including raising doubts over her fiance's death in his prison cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, on April 19. Here are some of the highlights from the Jenkins interview. 1. Jenkins said during her appearance on the Dr. Phil show that she doesn't think Hernandez's death was a suicide. She hinted at foul play despite authorities confirming the cause of death, adding that Hernandez "was very positive." I spoke to him the night before and he was so, you know, Daddys going to be home, and I cant wait to sleep in bed with you guys, and I cant wait to just hold you and love you. I just know the feedback that I was getting from our last talk had nothing to do with suicidal thoughts. 2. Jenkins also raised doubts about the investigation into Hernandez's death, saying the findings didn't seem "believable." Jenkins said she believed the letter left behind by Hernandez "was a note of love," but the way he addressed her in his final letter was unusual. When asked if the handwriting on the note belonged to Hernandez, Jenkins said: "(It) was similar, but I feel like, again, you have nothing but time in there so I feel like it's easily duplicated or could be." I did see that it was addressed to Shay instead of you know babe or bae, the way he would refer me as - that was a little odd to me. But as far as the content, he seemed to be his loving self. 3. Jenkins denied claims that Hernandez had intimate relationships with other men before his April suicide. Hernandez and Jenkins discussed the rumors but the former New England Patriots tight end denied the gay rumors. Reports about Hernandez being gay resurfaced after his suicide when reports claimed that one of the three suicide notes the 27-year-old left behind was for his gay prison lover. However, it was later revealed that the letter was for his lawyer Jose Baez. Story continues I had no indication or any feeling that he was such. ... He was very much a man to me. I don't know where this came from. It's embarrassing, in a sense. It's hurtful, regardless if it's true or not. It's just not something that I saw. It's not something that I believe. It's just not him. 4. McGraw asked Jenkins about Hernandez's financial conditions and the possibility of him receiving an estimated $6.5 million from the New England Patriots. While talking about who should be getting Hernandez's money, McGraw asked if it should be his daughter Avielle Janelle Jenkins-Hernandez. She also responded to McGraw's question about her being the trustee of the estate. I dont think theres anyone better. 5. Jenkins said she is glad she never looked inside a package that prosecutors said most likely contained the gun that killed Odin Lloyd. Hernandez was facing life in prison without parole for the 2013 murder of Lloyd. However, a little-known legal provision cleared him of the charges following his suicide. I don't want to know anything that can haunt me, in a sense. I'd rather be in the dark with a situation like that. Related Articles Right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones says he has settled a lawsuit filed by Greek yoghurt giant Chobani, despite previous claims that he would never back down in the defamation case. Mr Jones read a brief statement at the end of his radio show on Wednesday saying he had retracted previous stories and tweets about Chobani. Chobani had argued in its lawsuit that Mr Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories earlier this month that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children. Read more Turmoil around Trump continues to roil global financial markets The company filed the lawsuit in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yoghurt plant in the world. Mr Jones added that he regretted mischaracterising Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls. This year Mr Ulukaya received an Ellis Island Medal of Honour, bestowed by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organisations for people who "have distinguished themselves within their own ethnic groups". During recent child custody proceedings Mr Jones's lawyer said his on-air persona was "a character". "He is a performance artist," Randall Wilhite said. He added that using Mr Jones on-air persona to judge him as a father would be like judging Jack Nicholson in a custody dispute based on his performance as the Joker in Batman. Mr Jones, however, later rejected any suggestion he was "playing a trick on the public". He said: "I believe in the overall political programme I am promoting of Americana and freedom." Additional reporting by agencies White House statement welcomed ex-FBI directors appointment to oversee the Trump-Russia investigation, while the US president lashed out on Twitter The appointment of Robert Mueller comes in the wake of Donald Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey, who was leading the investigation. Photograph: ddp USA/Rex/Shutterstock Donald Trump on Thursday said he was the target of the greatest witch hunt in US political history after a decision by the Department of Justice to appoint special counsel to investigate ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. The morning after FBI director Robert Mueller accepted the appointment to lead the departments investigation into Russian intervention in the US election, Trump lashed out in a pair of tweets. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and Obama administration, there was never a special councel [sic] appointed! he wrote in the first tweet. He later corrected the spelling of counsel. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Later in the day, Trump said the appointment of a special counsel was a very negative thing that hurts our country terribly because it shows were a divided, mixed-up, not unified country. It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats, having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the electoral college being slanted so much in their way thats all this is, Trump told television news anchors during a briefing on Thursday afternoon, according to transcripts posted by several attendees. I think it shows division, and it shows that were not together as a country. The commentary marked a shift from the White House statement released after the announcement, which welcomed Muellers appointment as an opportunity to resolve the questions raised by his campaigns ties to Russia. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, the Wednesday night statement said. The decision by the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, to appoint Mueller came after a week of stunning developments, including Trumps abrupt dismissal of FBI director James Comey, who was leading the agencys Russia investigation. Story continues It also followed reports that Trump had asked Comey to shut down an investigation into his national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned in February after misleading the vice-president about his contacts with Russian officials. As the White House scrambled to contain the fallout from a week of damaging developments, a fresh series of reports on Wednesday and Thursday raised more questions about the ties between Trump and Russia. A report from the New York Times alleged that Flynn had told the presidents transition team weeks before being appointed that he was under federal investigation for working, in secret, as a paid lobbyist for Turkey. Asked about that on Thursday, spokespeople for Mike Pences office issued a statement that read: The vice-president stands by his comments in March upon first hearing the news regarding General Flynns ties to Turkey, and fully supports the presidents decision to ask for General Flynns resignation. In March, Pence said about Flynns work for Turkey: Hearing that story today was the first I heard of it. McClatchy on Wednesday reported that Flynn had intervened to stop a military plan to retake Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital, with Syrian Kurdish forces a move consistent with the wishes of Turkey. On Thursday, Reuters reported that the Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russian operatives, several more than previously reported. Rosenstein will be on Capitol Hill this week to brief members of Congress on the circumstances of Comeys firing. Trump initially presented a letter from Rosenstein as a central factor in the presidents decision to fire Comey. Trump then undermined that explanation by saying he had already decided to dismiss the FBI chief before hearing from Rosenstein. Rosenstein will brief the Senate on Thursday in a private meeting, and return to the Hill on Friday to brief the House. A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers have also called on Comey to testify publicly in the wake of the report that Trump had pressured him to stop the investigation into Flynn, a request that Comey reportedly noted in a memo circulated with senior staff. The Senate intelligence committee, one of two congressional committees investigating Russian interference, has asked Comey to testify before the committee in both public and private sessions. The committee has also sent a request to acting FBI director Andrew McCabe seeking any notes or memorandum prepared by the former director regarding any communications he may have had with senior White House and Department of Justice officials related to investigations into Russias efforts. Many are calling for former FBI director James Comey to testify publicly in the wake of reports Trump pressured him to drop the Russia investigation. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and the vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, remarked dryly that lawmakers were certainly not lacking for questions. Weve got questions about the presidents comments about tapes secret tapes we have question about transcripts from the meetings with the Russians, and we have questions about obtaining former director Comeys memo and thats just Wednesday, he said. Special counsel is a position that exists under a statute that allows the attorney general or a deputy, if the attorney general is recused, to mount an independent investigation. This particular provision has been invoked only once before, in the Bill Clinton administration, when former Senator John Danforth was to investigate the Branch Davidian siege outside Waco, Texas. The position is different from an independent counsel, the role in which Ken Starr investigated Bill Clinton throughout the 1990s. The law authorising that position expired in 1999. As special counsel, Mueller will command broad powers, including the power to subpoena documents and prosecute any crimes, independent of Congress. Calls on Capitol Hill for a special prosecutor in the investigation have percolated for months, but spiked after the firing of Comey, who was leading an FBI investigation into the matter. The independence of the investigation fell into question after the firing. Democrats, who had called for a special counsel, welcomed Muellers appointment, along with a number of Republicans who have come to view the near daily revelations as an obstacle to their legislative agenda. But some in the GOP expressed concern that the appointment conveyed the wrong message. There should be the most special circumstances when you have an independent prosecutor you should have evidence for a crime, said New York representative Peter King, a Republican, who argued the appointment was unnecessary. Theres no evidence of collusion at all, King added said. Just a rabid press corps and a very intense Democratic Party. On a day of fast-moving developments, Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said a lawyer for Flynn had told the intelligence committee that his client would not comply with the panels subpoena for personal documents related to the committees own probe. Flynn, through his lawyer, had earlier asked for immunity from unfair prosecution in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with the committee. But the committee later seemed to correct Burrs comments, saying it had not yet received a response from Flynns lawyer. If Flynn were to refuse to honor the subpoena, that could leave him in contempt of Congress, but the Republicans on the Senate intelligence committee would decide how far to push Flynn to get him to comply. If hes really saying the equivalent of nuh-uh, its really hard to see how Burr can justify not treating that as contempt, said Josh Chafetz, a Cornell University law professor and expert on congressional investigations. That would be saying that, Every subpoena we issue is completely optional. Subpoenas arent optional, so its contempt of Congress, he added. Contempt of Congress has been a federal crime since the 19th century, Chafetz said. Before the committee finds someone in contempt, usually, theres an attempt to negotiate and come to some sort of settlement, said Chafetz. Additional reporting by Tom McCarthy, Jon Swaine and Ben Jacobs Alien (Photo: 20th Century Fox/Alamy) The summer movie season is about to get considerably more horrifying with this Fridays release of Alien: Covenant. A direct follow-up to 2012s Prometheus, Covenant is Ridley Scotts second prequel to his seminal 1979 original Alien. Unlike its immediate predecessor, which many felt waited too long to feature its signature creature, Scotts latest delivers the intergalactic monster-movie goods. Its a fitting and thrilling continuation of the franchise, which has terrified audiences for nearly four decades and which wouldnt have survived, much less thrived, without the vital contributions of the late Swiss artist H.R. Giger. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Giger rose to prominence in Zurich with a series of posters and paintings that intertwined imagery of birth, sex, and death in frightening, entrancing ways. His work melded human and animal figures with technological forms, creating dark, foreboding tableaus that seemed to spring from the black recesses of his subconscious. A surrealist of a distinctly ominous sort think Hieronymus Bosch or Salvador Dali as reimagined by Clive Barker Giger fashioned large-canvas vistas of female bodies, faces, spines, and wombs tangled up in machine-like structures, producing some of the 20th centurys most original and unforgettable sights. It would be the first compendium of his work, 1977s Necronomicon, that would forever change Gigers life and legacy. Courtesy of screenwriter Dan OBannon, the book found its way into the hands of director Ridley Scott as he was prepping Alien. Entranced by its images in particular, Necronomicon IV and V Scott hired Giger to help craft his horror films extraterrestrial beast, as well as the facehugger and its eggs, and the interiors of the alien ship. Giger would enthusiastically accomplish those tasks on the set, sculpting and painting his designs himself. Painting that inspired Alien. (Photo: H.R. Giger) As Scott later wrote in the introduction to H.R. Giger Film Design: Initially, Giger wanted to design the creature form scratch. However, I was so impressed with his Necronom IV and V paintings from the Necronomicon book, that I insisted he follow their form. I had never been so sure of anything in my life. They were quite specific to what I envisioned for the film, particularly in the unique manner in which they conveyed both horror and beauty. Story continues Watch a clip of Giger on set: Giger won a 1980 Best Visual Effects Oscar for his work on Alien. Many behind-the-scenes glimpses of him collaborating with Scott during production can be seen in the supplemental material included on the Alien: Quadrilogy Blu-ray box set, as well as in the 2014 documentary Dark Star: H.R. Gigers World (as well as via the clip above). However, when James Cameron assumed directing duties for the 1986 sequel Aliens, he and 20th Century Fox opted not to enlist the artists aid. It was a puzzling (and, frankly, unwise) decision on their part, although Cameron later apologized to the artist via this letter. Things didnt go more smoothly on 1992s Alien 3. Giger was hired by both original director Vincent Ward and his replacement, David Fincher, to concoct new variations of the alien. His updated designs gave the beast a more feral quality (since its birthed from the carcass of an animal) and protruding claws from between its fingers, a la Wolverine. H.R. Giger Alas, after initially collaborating with Fincher, the production soon hired Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis to head up the creature effects department, and as Giger later opined, When Id heard that Woodruff and Gillis have their own version of the Alien, I began to think that they didnt appreciate mine and that they probably had already sold Fincher on their ideas. But it just seemed my role in the movies never got to the right people. In the end, they kept some of my ideas, but what is shown in the film is very much changed from my first design. At least those involved with Alien 3 spoke to Giger; for Jean-Pierre Jeunets 1997 Alien: Resurrection, Giger wasnt even credited, leading him to write an angry letter to Fox that read, in part: What would it look like without my Alien life-forms? In all likelihood, all the sequels to ALIEN would not even exist! Unsurprisingly, when Scott returned to the franchise in 2012 with Prometheus, the director made sure to bring Giger into the fold, telling Filmophilia (via Slashfilm), I showed him what we were doing, showed him the story, and he liked it a lot. So hes doing a little bit of work for me. Hes been doing some murals, big murals, which well see in almost one of the first chambers we encounter when we land where were gonna go. Scotts team also went out of their way to pay proper respect to the artist. While the prequel technically took place before Alien (and thus required slightly more primitive variations of its style), creature designer Carlos Huante told io9 that he formulated a design aesthetic [that] I felt would complement the beautiful Giger style that saturated the first film. And concept artist Stephen Messing admitted that, as an Easter egg, they even included an altar in the Head Room that specifically pays homage to his work: Prometheus mural. (Photo: 20th Century Fox) Another set that I worked on was known as the Head Room. This was a ceremonial room that contained hundreds of ampules beneath a giant sculpture of an Engineers head I also sculpted an altar area for this set that paid homage to Giger it is a relief sculpture hanging from the wall and has the impression of an alien form with flowing structures surrounding it. There are a lot of Easter eggs in this sculpture including several hidden Giger motifs that were not used in the original film. Gigers designs would continue to be used in 2004s AVP: Alien vs. Predator and its 2007 sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. The artist died in May 2014 at the age of 74, but his influence is everywhere in the franchises latest installment. The artist who conceived some of the most gorgeously nightmarish images to ever grace the big screen, Giger remains one of cinemas most unique visionaries, and the man who arguably more than anyone else is responsible for the monstrous power of the Alien series. Read more from Yahoo Movies: Bill Cosby agreed with his daughter Ensa Cosbys recent assertion that racism played a major role in the sexual assault case filed against him. The 79-year-old is scheduled to go to trial June 5 on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his Pennsylvania mansion in January 2004. Over 50 other women have made similar allegations against him in the past two years. Cosby, however, has pleaded not guilty and denied all claims. The jury selection for the upcoming trial of his case is set to begin in Pittsburgh on May 22. In his first public interview in over two years, Cosby blamed racism and also slammed the accusers for piling on charges against him in order to draw public attention. Could be, could be, Cosby said about racism being a factor in the case while speaking to SiriusXM (U.S. broadcasting company) host Michael Smerconish for a segment which is set to air Tuesday. I cant say anything, but there are certain things that I look at and I apply to the situation and there are so many tentacles. So many different nefarious is a great word. And I just truly believe that some of it may very well be that. Read: Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Pretrial Begins With Shouting Match, Inappropriate Jokes When Smerconish pointed out that Cosbys accusers are both black and white, the comedian replied, Let me put it to you this way: When you look at the power structure and when you look at individuals, there are some people who can very well be motivated by whether or not theyre going to work. Or whether or not they might be able to get back at someone. So if its in terms of whatever the choice is, I think that you can also examine individuals and situations and they will come out differently. So its not all, not every, but I do think that theres some. In a Twitter post Monday, Cosby expressed his love for his family and seemingly urged his slain son Ennis, who died in January 1997 after he was fatally shot during an attempted carjacking, to keep fighting. Story continues Expressing support for her father, Ensa said in an audio statement Monday on popular radio show, The Breakfast Club, "I strongly believe my father is innocent of the crimes alleged against him and I believe that racism has played a big role in all aspects of this scandal. How my father is being punished by a society that still believes black men rape white women; but pass off 'boys will be boys' when white men are accused and how the politics of our country prove my disgust. My father has been publicly lynched in the media, she further added. In April, Cosbys youngest daughter, Evin, defended her father in an online essay, stating that he loves and respects women. She further wrote: He is not abusive, violent or a rapist. Sure, like many celebrities tempted by opportunity, he had his affairs, but that was between him and my mother. They have worked through it and moved on, and I am glad they did for them and for our family. Related Articles Police in Colorado released body camera footage Wednesday from an officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday. Video from the Littleton Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriffs Office showed a deputy being attacked by a driver after he attempted to offer assistance to the car parked on the side of the road. The driver attacked Deputy Brad Proulx with the butt of a gun after the officer went to help him. The body camera recording showed Proulx approaching the vehicle on the passenger side first before moving toward the drivers side when the driver got out of the car wielding a rifle. Proulx shot his own gun twice. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Deyon Marcus Rivas-Maestas, was hit once in the arm. Read: Texas Police Officer Fatally Shoots 15-Year-Old Boy Leaving Party It certainly could have cost the deputy his life, Littleton Police Cmdr. Trent Cooper said following the shooting. You know, it just goes to show how unpredictable, how the situations are where this deputy thought he was making a courtesy traffic stop and helping a motorist in need and a short time later, hes involved in an officer-involved shooting. Investigators said during a press conference Wednesday that the deputy gave the subject verbal commands and that he feared for his life. The result of this shooting is a testament to the training each of our deputies are provided, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said in a Facebook post Wednesday. This just shows how necessary it is for deputies to be able to make split-second decisions, not only for their own protection but for the protection of the community. The driver of the car was released from the hospital after undergoing surgery and was being held at the Douglas County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. The Littleton Police Department launched an investigation into the shooting. The footage appeared to be captured by an Axon body camera, according to credit provided in the upper right of the video. The company that invented the Taser for police officers rebranded itself as Axon in April and launched a year-long program to equip all officers with body camera technology. Story continues We want officers to have the tech that they need to keep themselves and their communities safe, Axon founder and CEO Rick Smith said in a video announcement in April. Read: Police Suicide Rate In Chicago 60 Percent Higher Than National Average Smith said he hoped it would usher in a new kind of police report in which data would be collected from officers who were wearing cameras on the job. Such a move would allow officers to spend less time on paperwork and reporting and more time assisting the public. Its time for a change, said Smith in the statement. Our goal is to triple the time officers can spend serving their communities by automating the burden of paperwork. Sound impossible? Good. We love proving doubters wrong. Body cam Footage Photo: Douglas County Sheriff's Office/Facebook Related Articles Archaeologists have found the skeletons of two human sacrifices made in a Moon Castle centuries ago, the first to be found at a Korean site. Agence France-Presse reported the pair was killed in the fifth century to ensure the success of ancient construction projects. Their bones were discovered in South Korea at the foundation of the ancient palace Wolseong, which translates to Moon Castle, in what was once the capital of the Silla kingdom. That kingdom ruled the area for hundreds of years, and was known for unifying with the two others reigning in Korea. Read: Scientists Use Bones to Recreate Ancient Womans Face Scientists are still working to find out how the two sacrificed people died, but they were buried while they were unconscious or already dead because there are no signs of a struggle. People who were buried with dead kings, on the other hand, to serve them in the afterlife were buried alive. They are also analyzing DNA and the bones themselves to find out more about the two peoples lives before they were killed. This is the first archaeological evidence that folklore about humans being sacrificed for the foundations of buildings, dams or walls were true stories, Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage spokeswoman Choi Moon-Jung told AFP. gyeongju Photo: REUTERS/Truth Leem The news service described the victims as being found with one facing upward, the other turning its face and arms slightly towards the first. Folklore indicates humans were sacrificed to appease gods and plead with them to ensure the structures being built lasted a long time, senior researcher Park Yoon-Jung told AFP. Read: There Are 17 New Mummies in Egypt The ancient Koreans are not the only culture that has practiced human sacrifice. The Aztecs are particularly well-known for killing thousands of people every year in ancient Mexico to be sacrificed to the sun. There have been others, but Encyclopaedia Britannica notes accusations of human sacrifice in ancient and modern times have been far more widespread than the ritual practice ever was. The practice of burying servants and slaves dead or alive with the deceased was more common, however, with connections to ancient societies throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Not all of these incidents were in ancient times though as some Chinese emperors were buried with their servants until the 1600s. Story continues The Wolseong palace ruins are part of the Gyeongju Historic Areas that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Korean peninsula was ruled for almost 1,000 years [57 B.C.935 AD] by the Silla dynasty, and the sites and monuments in and around Gyeongju bear outstanding testimony to its cultural achievements, UNESCO said. These monuments are of exceptional significance in the development of Buddhist and secular architecture in Korea. Also part of those historic areas are a number of tombs, temples and other structures. Related Articles Washington (AFP) - Chelsea Manning was a meek, geeky army private who stunned the world in 2010 by leaking a massive trove of secret US diplomatic records, hoping to spark debate over the country's role in wars. But she exited military prison Wednesday after serving seven years for her crime equally known for a heartbreaking, ultimately triumphant struggle with her gender during her time in jail. The former Private Bradley Manning, 29, survived two suicide attempts and the US military's conservative views on gender while serving a 35-year sentence for espionage for handing over hundreds of thousands of pages of US diplomatic communications and other records to WikiLeaks in 2010. She maintained that she never intended to hurt US interests, and her sentence was commuted by outgoing President Barack Obama in January, who called the punishment "very disproportionate" to the crime. Born a male in a small rural Oklahoma town, Manning grew up in Wales after her parents divorced; Manning's father kicked her out of the house when he learned of his child's sexual orientation. She developed a talent in computing, and after finishing school, joined the US Army in 2007. She has said she thought of herself as female since she was young, and struggled in the macho environment of the military. At the time, she was subject to the military's ban on openly gay troops, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." - Prison gender change - After basic training she was assigned to an intelligence unit and in 2009 was sent to Iraq, deploying to a base near Baghdad where she was given access to a broad set of US intelligence on the military's classified computer network. She began downloading files, including an explosive video of a US helicopter gunship mowing down Iraqi civilians two years earlier, documents on US treatment of detainees in the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, and more secret documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Story continues Detained in May 2010 over the initial leaks, she later admitted to downloading some 700,000 sensitive files and turning them over to WikiLeaks. "I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public," she confided in online chats with a former hacker who reported her to authorities. But Manning's trial and imprisonment brought out the dramatic struggle she had over her gender. After she was convicted and sentenced in 2013, she announced she was a female and requested medical treatment -- including hormone therapy -- to enable her to become a woman. In a path-breaking legal battle in military courts, she won the support of judges to be referred to as a woman, and to receive therapy for so-called gender "reassignment." But rules at the Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas military prison were still tough. Though permitted to wear women's undergarments, she was forbidden to grow her hair long. And in court she was still referred to as "he" with regard to any proceedings prior to her official name change. "I am torn up," she said in a 2015 interview with Cosmopolitan magazine. "I get through each day OK, but at night, when I'm alone in my room, I finally burn out and crash." But she also said she found support in letters from transgender people around the world. Her stress over the gender shift led to two suicide attempts in 2016. In September, Manning began a hunger strike to protest what she said was the military's refusal to treat her gender dysphoria. - 'First steps to freedom' - While her leaking secret documents to WikiLeaks still garners tough criticism in US military and intelligence circles, Obama said on January 18 that justice had been adequately served by her seven years behind bars. "It has been my view that given she went to trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received, and that she had served a significant amount of time, that it made sense to commute and not pardon her sentence," he said. Newly free, in her first public act Wednesday Manning posted a photograph on social media of her feet in brand-new black Converse All-Stars, saying: "First Steps of Freedom". Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after being convicted of passing classified information to WikiLeaks. Ms Manning served seven years of her 35-year sentence, which was commuted by Barack Obama as one of his final acts as President. Donald Trump called the former intelligence analyst an ungrateful traitor following the decision, claiming she should never have been released from prison. I appreciate the wonderful support that I have received from so many people across the world over these past years, Ms Manning told ABC News. As I rebuild my life, I remind myself not to relive the past. The past will always affect me and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point not my final destination. A spokesperson for the US Army confirmed to the BBC that Ms Manning had left Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas on Wednesday. In her final tweet before leaving jail, Ms Manning said she was looking forward to the freedom of civilian life, before taking a swipe at Donald Trumps healthcare policy. Video not available for syndication Obama uses final news conference to defend Chelsea Manning decision The nightmare will end, soon, Ms Manning added, previously saying she planned to move to Maryland. After being arrested in 2010, she filed a transgender rights case in prison and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers. They refused to give details of how she would be freed over security concerns for the transgender soldier, who was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning in prison. She was convicted in 2013 of 20 charges, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud, but was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. The diplomatic cables and military files she passed to WikiLeaks, gained on assignment as an Army intelligence analyst, exposed abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan by the American military and provoked global outrage. Story continues They included secret documents on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, killings by military contractors in Iraq, civilian deaths in Afghanistan and individual incidents including the killing of two Reuters war correspondents in Baghdad. Ms Manning said she wanted to expose the US military's alleged disregard of the effects of war on civilians and chose to release information that she believed would not harm the US. julian-assange.jpg Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy (PA) Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation's most-sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to move to protect their safety. Several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures. Mr Obama's decision to commute Ms Manning's sentence to about seven years, including the time she spent in custody before being convicted, drew strong criticism from some American politicians including Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, who called the move outrageous. The Obama administration argued the case was fundamentally different to that of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who fled to Russia after leaking documents on its secretive spying programme. It has been my view that given she went to trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate relative to other leakers, Mr Obama said at the time, stressing that he was not pardoning Ms Manning but believed justice has been served. In a statement last week, Ms Manning thanked that former President and said that letters of support from veterans and fellow transgender people inspired her to work toward making life better for others. For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea, she said. manning-prison.jpg Ms Manning was imprisoned at the US Army's Fort Leavenworth base in Kansas. (EPA) I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Ms Mannings representatives said she was subjected to violence in prison and argued the military mistreated her by requiring her to serve her sentence in an all-male prison, restricting her physical and mental health care and not allowing her to keep a feminine haircut. The conditions in my cell were far beyond what is normally associated with solitary confinement. I needed permission to do anything in my cell. I was not allowed to move around the cell to exercise. I was not allowed to sit down with my back against the wall, said a testimony last year. Amnesty International, which is among the groups campaigning for Ms Mannings release, called for protections to be put in place to ensure other whistleblowers are never again subjected to excessive and cruel treatment. Pointing out that her original sentence was longer than those handed down to military personnel convicted of murder, rape and war crimes, the group attacked antiquated legislation that denied the opportunity for a public interest defence. Chelseas treatment is especially galling given that nobody has been held accountable for the alleged crimes that she brought to light, said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. The US authorities vindictive treatment of Chelsea Manning after she exposed potential military wrongdoing is a sad reflection of the extremes those in power often go to in order to deter others from speaking out. The Army said she would remain on active duty in a special, unpaid status of excess leave that will legally entitle her to military medical care along with commissary privileges, while her court-martial conviction is under review. Additional reporting by agencies By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A 24-year-old man was formally charged on Thursday with murder in the fatal shooting of three people found slain last month in a Colorado mountain home filled with marijuana plants being grown inside the dwelling, prosecutors said. Garrett Coughlin appeared in Boulder County District Court to face three counts each of first-degree murder and felony murder, as well as aggravated robbery, presented in a criminal complaint, though he has yet to enter a plea in the case. He is accused of killing Emory Fraker, 39, Wallace White, 54, and White's 56-year-old wife, Kelly Sloat-White, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Stan Garnett told Reuters. Their bodies were found on April 15 inside a house in Coal Creek Canyon, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, by police who paid a visit to the home to check on them when someone reported not hearing from the Whites for several days. All three died from gunshot wounds. Investigators found more than 100 marijuana plants in the house and learned that cash in large amounts was typically kept there, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Boulder County Sheriffs Office. Police said the house was essentially being used as "an illegal grow operation" for cannabis. While pot cultivation for private use is allowed in limited quantities in Colorado, large-scale production requires a state license. Coughlin, a resident of suburban Denver, is represented by the Public Defender's Office, which declined comment. Police said he became a suspect after he surfaced as an acquaintance of the Whites, and he was reported to be engaging in activities that seemed out of character. "Two days after the homicide, witnesses saw Garrett with large quantities of marijuana packaged consistent with the victims' and cash, which was unusual for Garrett," the affidavit said. The state crime lab also matched a slug removed from one of the victims to a handgun linked to Coughlin, the report said. Story continues Police said Coughlin "never denied involvement" in the killings during questioning by detectives earlier this week. When confronted with the ballistics evidence, he asked for a lawyer, the interview ended and he was arrested, according to the affidavit. Police Commander Mike Wagner said the investigation was ongoing and that further arrests were possible. Coughlin, who remains held without bond, is due back in court on Sept. 7. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory prison sentence of life without parole. (Editing by Steve Gorman, G Crosse) Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey. (Photo: Cliff Owen/AP) WASHINGTON On Wednesday morning, as the grave and unpleasant topic of impeachment entered the American political conversation, the leading conservative legal group convened its annual daylong meeting just blocks from the White House. The Federalist Society handed out media packets to reporters that included a 2014 news article about how the group was at that time discussing the possible impeachment of President Barack Obama for constitutional excesses. But when it came to the current White House occupant and the debate over possible obstruction of justice related to the FBIs investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, one of the Federalist Societys founding members was unequivocal in his support of President Donald Trump. President Trump acted appropriately if he gave guidance to Director Comey on an investigation. It is important for us to step back and remember that under the Constitution, the president has the authority and power to enforce the laws, said David McIntosh, who is also the head of the Club for Growth, a pro-business conservative advocacy group. McIntosh defended Trumps reported request of former FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into Russian contacts with Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Presidents have wisely chosen to insulate the FBI from political interference, McIntosh said, but the president still has the power and authority to direct the FBI how to do their job. A little later, another panelist at the Federalist Society meeting former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey at first echoed McIntoshs line of argument. The president has power to direct that an investigation cease, Mukasey said. But Mukasey, who served under Republican President George W. Bush, then went on to make a series of comments that were severely disapproving of Trumps reported conduct. First, Mukasey said he was not sure Trump understood the implications of what he was doing. Story continues As the story is told its kind of informal: Hey, would you cut this guy some slack? Hes a nice guy. And that kind of conversation about an ongoing proceeding, conducted in a manner that is extraordinarily informal suggests complete unconsciousness of what it is thats actually happening, Mukasey said. He continued: That conversation might be appropriate to a minor disciplinary matter at a big corporation. Its not appropriate to a criminal investigation. The inability to distinguish the one from the other, I think, is extraordinary. The implication in Mukaseys comments seemed to be that President Trump does not understand the job he now holds. Its a concern that was echoed by Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel to President Obama. The missing piece here, alarmingly, is a conception of the presidency. He seems to be imagining that he is running one of his companies, Bauer wrote Wednesday. Where [former President Richard] Nixon put the government at risk with a misbegotten political morality, Trump is failing, badly, because he is vainly running on a certain marketplace morality, compatible with his temperament, that once won him money and attention. One observer in the room at the Federalist Society meeting said he was surprised by the strength of Mukaseys condemnation. And sources with expertise in the matter of presidential power said that Mukaseys comment about the presidents legal authority to end an investigation is true as a technical matter but does not obviate the issue of obstruction of justice. A president can intervene in a situation where he or she believes there has been bad judgment on the part of prosecutors, legal experts said. But when a presidents personal interests or behavior are in question, and he involves himself, it raises the issue of obstruction. If its obstruction of justice then he cant do it, one legal expert said, who asked not to be quoted by name given the sensitivity of the discussion. McIntosh, however, disagreed with that interpretation when interviewed by Yahoo News later in the day. When the president has the authority to say what he said, it cant possibly be obstruction of justice, McIntosh said. The president can direct any investigator, any legal authority how to do their job. If he does it in a way that the public feels is inappropriate, the remedy is the next election. Thats an extreme view of how far executive power goes thats unlikely to be widely adopted, but for any congressional Republicans looking for a rationale to cling to, it might suffice. McIntosh said Republicans in Congress should stop trying to worry about what the press is doing, pass legislation, and dont try to interfere with the president doing his job. Yet in addition to concerns about obstruction of justice, there are also the norms that govern a presidents behavior when it comes to ongoing investigations, created and upheld to bolster confidence in the impartiality of the law. And in this matter both Mukasey and another former White House lawyer agreed that what Trump did in urging Comey to drop the Flynn matter was highly unusual and potentially damaging to the country. Mukasey said that never in his 15 months as attorney general did he see President Bush or anyone from the Bush White House involve themselves in any ongoing criminal investigation. The norm was observed, Mukasey said. Former White House counsel Neil W. Eggleston, who served under President Barack Obama for the last two and a half years of his second term, was on the panel with Mukasey. He stressed that Obama observed the same rule, and also steered clear of any prejudicial comments when responding to national tragedies such as violent mass shootings. A really important norm that I spent an enormous amount of time policing when I was at the White House was that the White House stays out of criminal investigations, full stop. Full stop. Never did it. Full stop, Eggleston said. I would have him talk about the tragedy of the shooting but he would not conclude whether the shooter was guilty of something. Even Dylann Roof, he didnt condemn Dylann Roof and say he should be punished for anything, Eggleston said, referring to the convicted murderer who in 2015 shot and killed nine people in a Charleston, S.C., church. [Obama] was empathetic to the families of the people who had been killed but he stayed out of ascribing guilt, Eggleston said. It was my view that the president of the United States absolutely had to stay out of any criminal matter whatsoever. I think thats a critical norm, Eggleston said. If people think its based on anything other than career prosecutors, then our society is in a difficult state. Mukasey pushed back, reminding Eggleston that Obama had spoken out in October 2015 about Hillary Clintons use of private e-mail server when she was Secretary of State. This is not a situation in which Americas national security was endangered, Obama said then, even though the FBI was actively investigating the matter. News reports at that time noted that Obamas comments angered the FBI, and on Wednesday, Eggleston confided that he had weighed in disapprovingly in a conversation with the president. He [Obama] was talked to by the White House counsel after that, Eggleston said. Obama also in 2012 weighed in on a similar matter involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, who was being investigated by the FBI for providing highly classified information to his biographer, also his mistress, and then lying to FBI investigators about it. Comeys FBI recommended to Obamas attorney general, Eric Holder, that Petraeus face felony charges and possible jail time, but the administration allowed the four-star general and adviser to Obama to plead guilty to a lesser charge that did not require him to serve a prison sentence. And there are other precedents. George W. Bush, before Mukaseys time at the head of the Justice Department, said in 2005 that he believed former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was innocent of money-laundering charges before his trial began. DeLay was convicted, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Read more from Yahoo News: A Democratic congressman has become the first to call for Donald Trumps impeachment from the floor of the House. Al Green, of Texas, told fellow representatives in Congress: "This is where I stand. I will not be moved. The President must be impeached," he said. "The American people do not participate in democracy just on election day. I'm speaking to the American people. It's time to tell us where you stand. It's time to let us know." Read more Paul Ryan says 'we need the facts' on explosive Comey memo It signals mounting pressure on the President, following revelations he had pressured James Comey, then the director of the FBI, to drop the investigation into General Mike Flynn. Mr Flynn, formerly the national security adviser, resigned over undisclosed contact with a Russian diplomat. Detail of Mr Trump's intervention came in a memo, written by Mr Comey and read by the New York Times, in which he said the President had also suggested he try to imprison journalists who published classified information. During a news conference on Monday afternoon, Mr Green accused the President of obstructing the ongoing investigation into his campaigns ties to Russia and said "the mantra should be ITN: impeach Trump now". The congressman initially said he would wait a few weeks before starting the impeachment process. "Its not the political expedient thing to do, this is what we must do to maintain our democracy," Mr Green said. Earlier on Wednesday a former adviser to three presidents said Mr Trump was in "impeachment territory". David Gergen, who advised presidents Clinton, Reagan and Nixon, told CNN: "After watching the Clinton impeachment, I thought I would never see another one. But I think were in impeachment territory for the first time. I think that the obstruction of justice was the number one charge against Nixon that brought him down. "I'm a lapsed lawyer, I can not tell you if it meets all of the legal definitions, but I can tell you from a lay point of view, it looks like [Mr Trump] was trying to impede the investigation, he was using his power to do that, and when James Comey didn't go along with him, he wasn't his boy, he fired him, which I think is also relevant to the question of what he was trying to do. Story continues "So, from my point of view, this is of enormous consequence for his presidency." Meanwhile, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's campaign manager and former adviser, tweeted: "I've been resistant to impeachment talk until now, but if Comey memo is true - and Comey is very credible - we are into a whole new deal here." The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee is requesting the FBI turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Mr Comey and President Trump. Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican-Utah, says in a letter to the FBI that he's making the request to determine whether the president attempted to influence or impede the bureau's investigation into Mr Flynn. Mr Chaffetz's letter came just hours after the disclosure of Mr Comey's memo. His letter to acting FBI director Andrew McCabe requests all memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings that relate to any communications between Mr Comey and the President. The letter gave the FBI a week to produce the records. cameronabadi Amid a firestorm of criticism over President Donald Trumps disclosure of classified information to senior Russian officials and allegations that he attempted to quash the FBIs investigation of his former national security adviser, his Republican allies on Capitol Hill reacted nervously on Wednesday to the presidents latest self-inflicted wounds. But senior Republicans whod started the week deflecting concerns about Trumps mishandling of intelligence sought a sober reaction to the latest revelation that Trump allegedly attempted to kill the investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Now is the time to gather all the pertinent information, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the speaker of the House, told reporters Wednesday. Our job is to be responsible, sober and focus only on gathering the facts. Trump reportedly urged then-FBI Director James Comey at a private White House meeting in February to halt the investigation into his disgraced national security adviser, and focus on jailing journalists instead, according to reports of the FBI directors hand-written memos. Those revelations have moved some GOP legislators to abandon Trump, with at least three Republican lawmakers openly mulling the prospects for impeachment on Wednesday. Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) have all said Trumps attempt to quash the Flynn investigation may constitute an impeachable offense. Curbelo even demanded a correction from Mother Jones after the magazine reported that Amash had been the first to call for Trumps impeachment. But so far, those defections seem to represent isolated occurrences, and the broader Republican caucus has for the most part simply expressed concern over Trumps behavior. Still, with each new revelation, once unflappable lawmakers are starting to tsk-tsk at a White House that has struggled to contain the fallout from any of its self-inflicted crises. Whats more, many worry that the dumpster fire will suck oxygen out of Congress ambitious legislative agenda. Story continues Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called for less drama from the White House. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the powerful chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has described the Trump administration as in a downward spiral. In coming days, Congress will play host to the latest high-profile drama of the Trump era. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he had scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday, May 24 with Comey. Chaffetz quipped on Twitter that he hadnt yet confirmed the details, since he only had the directors government-issued phone number. I still need to speak with himevidently has a new #. Comeys much-anticipated return to Capitol Hill after his firing last week will provide a venue for the former prosecutor to describe the events leading up to his firing. In particular, lawmakers are expected to press Comey on what exactly Trump told him in asking him to back off the Flynn investigation. The Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees have requested copies of Comeys memos detailing conversations with Trump, and the intelligence panel on Wednesday invited Comey to testify both behind closed doors and in a public session. Committee aides remained tight-lipped about when Comey might appear. Congressional investigators have for the most part declined to use one of their most forceful tools the power of subpoena to request documents from the White House. Prior to the allegations about Trump trying to quash the Flynn probe, the president said on Twitter he had tapes of Oval Office conversations with the the FBI chief. Congressional oversight committees have requested those tapes but have so far not utilized the power of the subpoena. Nevertheless, at least a few Republicans on Capitol Hill appear to be losing patience with Trump. A growing list of GOP lawmakers including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) joined Democratic colleagues in calling for an independent investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump camp. But such statements, like the handful of House GOP calls for impeachment, represent hairline cracks in Republican party unity rather than any apparent breach that would be required to start proceedings to remove Trump from office. Republicans emphasize that the sprawling FBI and congressional investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin during the election have yet to produce any hard evidence. For now, Republicans appear content to let the investigation led by the House and Senate intelligence committees run their course. Meanwhile, they are happy to parrot Trumps talking points that the self-inflicted scandals somehow represent a media conspiracy. It is obvious that there are some people out there that want to harm the president, Ryan said Wednesday. As Republicans continue to play for time, Democrats keep hammering away at the administration. A letter from eight Democratic Senators on Wednesday demanded that the Justice Department inspector general examine whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions violated his pledge to recuse himself from the Russia investigation by involving himself in the decision to fire Comey and in the search for his successor. In the House, Democratic lawmakers attempted on Wednesday to force a vote on a bill to create an independent commission to investigate the Russian meddling and possible links to the Trump camp. But even as Democrats continue to attack the Trump White House, the party is not yet ready to put impeachment on the table. Such a move would represent a wrenching development for the country, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Wednesday. The country would have to have come to the point where they think the presidents conduct is so disqualifying he can be removed from office, Schiff told ABC. I dont think we should rush to that conclusion. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images Pvt. Chelsea Manning was released from a military prison in Kansas Wednesday after serving seven years for providing classified government information to WikiLeaks. Manning was convicted and sentenced to a 35-year prison term, the longest such sentence ever given in any leak case. She was freed with 28 years remainingstill making her sentence double the next longest amount of time servedbecause President Obama commuted her remaining sentence as one of his final acts. Read: Chelsea Manning To Resume Active Duty In Army, Fight For Transgender Causes After Release "After another anxious four months of waiting, the day has finally arrived," Manning said in a statement provided by the American Civil Liberties Union. "I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past. I'm figuring things out right now which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me." Chelsea Manning Release: What Did She Give WikiLeaks? Manning provided more than 750,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, which included military and diplomatic dispatches. The leak, which Manning said she provided "to show the true cost of war," is considered to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history. Among the most notable of the records Manning provided to WikiLeaks was a video taken in 2007 that showed an American helicopter attack carried out in the Amin District of Baghdad, Iraq. In the video, two American helicopters fired upon a group of 10 men. Two of the men were Reuters photographers there to take photos. A van that stopped to help wounded members of the first targeted group was also fired upon. Two children inside the van were injured and their father was killed in the attack. Read: What Will Chelsea Manning Do After Former Whistle-Blower Is Released Today? A significant cache of documents, 91,731 in total, leaked by Manning were published by WikiLeaks and news outlets including the New York Times, the Guardian and German newspaper Der Spiegel. Those documents became known as the Afghan War logs. Story continues Another 391,832 classified military reports dated from January 2004 to December 2009 were also published and were known as the Iraq War logs. Mannings leak also led to Cablegate, in which 251,287 diplomatic cables set by the U.S. State Department were published. The cache contained cables written by 271 American embassies and consulates in 180 countries. The files dated as far back as December 1966 and included cables as recent as February 2010. While many of the cables were published with the names of sources removed, WikiLeaks eventually published a portion of the documents without redactions. The leak also led to the inadvertent publishing of a passphrase for a file that was still online at the time. In the wake of the leak, an Ethiopian journalist was forced to leave his country and the U.S. government relocated several potentially compromised sources. Manning was arrested by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division on May 27, 2010 and accused of 22 charges, including violating articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Espionage Act. The most serious charge brought against Manning was aiding the enemy. The charge is a capital offense, though prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against Manning. She was eventually cleared of aiding the enemy, but convicted of 17 of the 22 charges brought against her after she pled guilty to 10. She was given a 35-year sentence of a possible maximum sentence of 90 years. Related Articles Donald Trump will use his upcoming Saudi Arabia trip to announce one of the largest arms sales deals in US history - somewhere in the neighbouhood of $98bn to $128bn worth of arms. That could add up to $350bn over ten years. The deal will be what the Washington Post said is a cornerstone of the proposal encouraging the Gulf states to form its own alliance like the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) military alliance, dubbed Arab Nato." Nato is comprised of 28 countries including the US. Mr Trump been an outspoken critic of the organisation but after a face-to-face meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stollenberg, he said the alliance was "no longer obsolete." The White House said the president will propose it as a template for an alliance that will fight terrorism and keep Iran in check. Read more Nato 'will put time limit on talks to keep Donald Trump's attention' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began negotiations on this deal shortly after the 2016 US election when he sent a delegation to Trump Tower to meet with the presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is serving as a senior advisor of sorts to Mr Trump. The idea of an Arab Nato is not new. There was talk in 2015 of a response force in Egypt, comprised of approximately 40,000 troops from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and a few other Gulf nations. The response force would have had a Nato-like command structure, with soldiers paid for by their own countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council made up of wealthy oil economies finance operations and management of the force. However, intra-regional tensions and centuries-old disputes prevented it from ever being established. The Trump administration has not addressed that problem as yet, but the America First doctrine seems to be driving the arms deal and proposal. More American involvement, a more entrenched Nato-like military structure, and increased professional capability to match Nato forces may come about in the new Arab Nato alliance in part due to the motivation of Saudi Arabia. Story continues President Barack Obama's administration brokered more arms sales than any US administration since World War II - estimated at $200bn. They sold Saudi Arabia alone $60bn in arms, which sparked criticism by Democrats concerned with Saudi Arabia's alleged human rights violations. Mr Trump benefits by bringing about a more fair deal; he has claimed several times that Nato is unfair to the US because of the amount of contributions and support provided by the US compared to countries like Germany. If Arab Nato succeeds, the White House official said the US could shift the responsibility for security to those in the region and create jobs at home through the arms sales. Mr Trump is set to arrive in Riyadh on 20 May after which he will travel to Israel, the Vatican, and Italy for the group of seven meeting. The classified information that Donald Trump is said to have given to Russian officials is reportedly so secret that American news outlets have been asked not to reveal the details of it. The US President is thought have "spontaneously" revealed details about Isis plot to blow up a passenger jet on the way to the US by using a bomb hidden inside a laptop computer, in a White house meeting Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and its US ambassador, Sergei Kislyak. The terror group is believed to have used stolen airport security equipment to test the device. Mr Trump allegedly revealed the name of an Isis-held city in Syria where and Israel agent who has infiltrated the group, sent the information from. Read more Trump sharing intelligence with Russia confirms Israeli officia Intelligence officials have reportedly asked NBC News and other media organisations not to disclose the type of equipment, where it was stolen or the name of the city where the intelligence came from, saying it could threaten US national security if the information is published. The request for the details to be withheld from publication appears to contradict Mr Trumps insistence that he had done nothing wrong in sharing the information. The Republican claimed on Twitter that he had the absolute right to share the facts with Russia and did so for humanitarian reasons. His national security adviser, HR McMaster, later said it was wholly appropriate for the intelligence to be shared. In the context of that discussion, what the president discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom hes engaged, he said. The breach was reportedly discovered when Mr Trumps counterterrorism adviser, Tom Bossert, read notes of the Presidents meeting with the Russian officials and realised that classified information had been disclosed. Story continues He is said to have immediately called the CIA and National Security Agency to report his concerns. Fears of the Isis plot earlier this year led Mr Trump to introduce a ban on electronic devices being carried on flights to the US from eight Middle Eastern and North African countries. More than one million people have signed a petition to impeach Donald Trump as scandals continue to befall the White House. Petition organiser John Bonifaz, a Massachusetts-based lawyer, has been heading one of the campaigns to impeach Mr Trump for allegedly violating the US Constitution's foreign and domestic emoluments clause and other federal laws, according to publication MassLive. The Emoluments Clause says that the president should not accept, without the consent of Congress, any present or payment from any king, prince or foreign state. Read more When Clinton Was Impeached, Markets Gained; With Trump, It Might Be Different Mr Bonifaz, a Massachusetts-based attorney, is the co-founder and president of Free Speech for People, formed in 2010 to advocate for limits on campaign spending. He told MassLive that the number of signers demonstrates all across the country that people want to see our constitution defended at this critical moment in history. The recent news about Mr Trump has intensified concerns, Mr Bonifaz suggested, drawing more people to sign the petition. On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the president revealed highly sensitive information about an Isis terrorist plot to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a White House meeting last week. Mr Trump tweeted in response that he has the right to share facts pertaining to terrorism. Then on Tuesday, news accounts said Mr Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, according to a memo reportedly written by Mr Comey. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. The White House maintains that the memo is not an accurate portrayal of the conversation between Mr Trump and Mr Comey. Private citizens are not the only ones calling for an impeachment of Mr Trump. A vocal group of congressional Democrats are also suggesting the idea, and several members of both parties are beginning to grapple with the possibility that impeachment proceedings may loom in the not-too-distant future. Donald Trump Jr has implied his father asked then-FBI Director James Comey to cut former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "some slack". Mr Trump Jr retweeted a post arguing it was not an obstruction of justice for Donald Trump to ask Mr Comey to let go of the investigation because Mr Flynn is a "good man". "News Flash, Donald Trump hoping James Comey cuts Michael Flynn some slack because he is a 'good man' is not close to #Obstruction," attorney Geraldo Rivera tweeted. Mr Trump Jr captioned the tweet with one word: "Truth." News Flash, @realDonaldTrump hoping @JamesComeyFBI cuts @MikeFlynn some slack because he is a 'good man' is not close to #Obstruction Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 17, 2017 The revelations came to light after the New York Times reported Mr Trump asked Mr Comey to end the investigation into Mr Flynn, citing a memo written by Mr Comey himself. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," the President said to Mr Comey during that meeting, according to the memo. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." But Mr Trump Jr later backtracked on the interpretation he had given any implication the contents of Mr Comey's memo are true. @DonaldJTrumpJr So... are you confirming that @realDonaldTrump did, in fact, ask to cut Flynn some slack? Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR) May 17, 2017 Give me a break. Me agreeing with someone's interpretation of a theory does nothing of the sort. You're trying way to hard. https://t.co/znVhc5FhWd Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 17, 2017 Asked by NPR's Demenico Montanaro if his tweet meant he was confirming Mr Rivera's description of his father's actions, Mr Trump Jr said: Give me a break. Story continues "Me agreeing with someone's interpretation of a theory does nothing of the sort. You're trying way to hard." The White House had denied the memo's description of the meeting was accurate. "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn, the White House said. The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Donald Trump can only stay focused on intelligence reports if his name is in them, according to officials close to him. Staff members are being forced to strategically include the President's name in the reports to ensure that he keeps reading and doesn't get distracted, they said. National Security Council officials make sure "as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he's mentioned", they told Reuters. The trick is part of a range of techniques developed by officials to keep Mr Trump's infamously short attention span focused on important information. http://players.brightcove.net/624246174001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5437795351001 Will Donald Trump be impeached? Officials have also learnt to keep all reports to a single page, and to include as many pictures, maps, charts and graphs as possible. The President also likes to look at a map of wherever he is reading about, officials said. "He likes to visualize things," said a senior administration official. "The guy's a builder. He has spent his whole life looking at architectural renderings and floor plans." Read more McCain says Trump's scandals reaching 'Watergate size and scale' The details emerged as people close to the President worried that he may not be able to stick to the script and avoid more problems as he heads out on his first foreign trip. Officials are worried that Mr Trump's lack of focus and attention to detail could cause problems as he visits Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Israel and the West Bank, the pope at the Vatican, NATO leaders in Brussels and G7 counterparts in Sicily. One Republican official, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, said after meeting Trump recently he did not think the president had a firm enough grasp on the nuances of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I don't think he understands it," said the official, adding that Mr Trump needed more detailed briefings before leaving on Friday. "I think it's a very difficult challenge and I hope he's going to talk to a lot of smart people." Story continues Mr Trump's supporters hope that trip could be an opportunity to put scandals like the firing of James Comey behind him and to launch new diplomatic relationships. The President's trip will see him visit the birthplace of Islam a gesture apparently meant to show that he doesn't consider the religion to be an enemy of America, as some of his campagn rhetoric had suggested. But officials were worried that he may slip up during the meetings. Aides are worried that Mr Trump could end up speaking off-the-cuff and ruin the meetings, said one official. "It can backfire, I mean it can seriously backfire," the official said. Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to Bush, said that since the trip would be Trump's first overseas, the stakes were higher. "The meaning and importance of his first trip abroad will be exaggerated, but it gives him a chance to get bipartisan accolades, or a chance to fail badly and have the failure exaggerated," Fleischer said. Additional reporting by Reuters President Donald Trump welcomed his honored guest, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House recently, but forgot one important thing: how to pronounce his visitor's name. In a joint press conference with the Turkish president, Mr Trump repeatedly mispronounced Mr Erdogans name, saying it with a hard g instead of the soft w sound used in many Turkish words. Reporters covering the press conference quickly took note. Read more Erdogan and Trump clash over role of Kurds in fight against Isis Has no one told POTUS how to pronounce Erdogan? tweeted NBCs Katy Turr. Someone should have told @realDonaldTrump that Erdogan is pronounced Er-do-wan, not Air-da-gahn, said Boston Globe reporter Kimberly Atkins. The meeting was controversial for other, more substantial reasons, however. Mr Erdogan is seen by many as an increasingly authoritarian ruler, extending his control over Turkey past the bounds of their democratic system. Former President Barack Obama maintained a strained relationship with the Turkish leader, which further deteriorated after the failure of a violent coup attempt last summer. Mr Edogan recently lead a country-wide referendum to cement his rule and consolidate much of the governments power under his office. Mr Trump called to congratulate him on the referendums passage last month, even as independent experts disputed the votes authenticity. However, the US president also drew Turkey's ire by election to arm Kurdish militias in Syria in order to push Isis out. Mr Erdogan's government sees the Kurdish forces as terrorists. The day of Mr Erdogans visit, nine people were injured in protests outside the Turkish embassy in Washington, DC. They were said to be protesting Mr Erdogan's policies in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Neither leader mentioned these issues in their joint press conference. Instead, both stuck mainly to comments about terrorism and the fight against Isis. I look forward to working together with President Erdogan on achieving peace and security in the Middle East, on confronting the shared threats, and on working toward a future of dignity and safety for all of our people, Mr Trump said. Donald Trump has said that no politician in history...has been treated worse or more unfairly than him. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, the US President told cadets graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down. He added that the graduates should never ever, ever give up, before telling them: Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Mr Trump gave his speech amid fallout from news reports alleging that he asked former FBI Director James Comey to drop an inquiry into ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Mr Trump is also alleged to have spontaneously disclosed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Mr Kislyak during a meeting at the White House last week. Both issues continue to consume Washington, with several Democrats calling for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Moscow. The president has also been heavily criticised by members of his own Republican Party. Mr Trump, who has personally not made any public comments regarding the Comey memo, did not address either scandal in his speech to cadets. But he did tell them that the the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face. Mr Trump went on to list what he claims to have accomplished during his short time as president, such as job growth, historic investment in our military, and the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch. Jill and Derick Dillard have continually spoken about the dangers of living and working in Central America as missionaries on TLCs Counting On and she recently touched on the issue again in a blog post. Jill revealed on her blog that one of their friends was murdered on Sunday. The reality star wrote that she received a phone call from a friend the following day informing them of the fellow Christians death. His family has found his body down by the river earlier that morning, she wrote. We talked about these friends of ours who wed had the opportunity to invite into the hospitality house for a meal recently as they have been going through a really tough time after the death of his grandmother and murder of his 20 year old cousin and then the stroke his daughter had when she received the news. Now they have been spending most of the time in their home for fear of being kidnapped or killed as violence has escalated in their area, she continued. READ: Jana Duggars friends speak out about courtship rumors duggar family Photo: TLC Even though we had spoke with our friend and his family about the realities of the dangers here, and especially in their area right now, we were shocked when we learned of his kidnap and murder. Weve had them into our home three times in the past couple weeks! In an April mission update, Jill wrote that the very friend who was murdered and his wife continue to live in fear of being kidnapped or killed and now seldom leave their home. Derick, Jill said, was able to go to the funeral service for their late friend. She and her their son Israel, 2, did not attend. Typically funerals are held in a family members home and last several hours into the night. Our friends funeral was held in their area and Derick and some men from church were able to share some words of encouragement with the family and guests. We have cried and continue to grieve the loss of our dear friend, Jill wrote. Story continues Jill concluded her message by revealing she would soon be returning to the U.S. ahead of the birth of her and Dericks second child. Jill and Derick are due to welcome baby boy No. 2 in July. Since Jills blog post, her family has also addressed the tragedy. On Wednesday, Michelle Duggar asked for prayers for her daughters friends on Facebook. Please pray for this family near Derick, Jill, and Israel, she wrote. They have suffered so much. While Derick did not directly respond to their friends death on the blog, he did post a special message for his wife on the site Wednesday. In celebration of Jills 26th birthday, he wrote a message stating how thankful he is to have his helpmate in life. You are a radiant example of the love of Christ. Walking through life with you has been one of the greatest joys I have ever experienced, he gushed. I have seen the love and care you have shown your family, Israel, and they people we are working with every day. You make me a better person every day. I love you with all that I am and it is such an honor to be your husband! Jill, Derrick and their son Israel have been doing missionary work in Central America on and off since 2015. The family of three first left in July of that year and have returned several times to the U.S. since for various family gatherings and vacations. The Duggar family will continue their TV journey in June with the premiere of the back half of Counting On Season 2 on TLC. The trailer for the new episodes shows Jill at home in Arkansas questioning her sister Jinger Vuolo on her suspected pregnancy and Jills comments about returning to the mission field. Related Articles What Were Following Special Counsel Appointed: The Justice Department appointed the former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation of Russias alleged interference with the presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign. An independent commission would be able to answer broader questions. But the appointment escalates the seriousness of the investigation. Here's what that means for President Trump. Comey Memo Fallout: Speaker Paul Ryan announced that the House will investigate whether Trump asked James Comey to drop the FBI investigation into Michael Flynn. If he did, that might constitute obstruction of justicethough legal scholars say more information is needed. As GOP support for Trump begins to shift, and scandals continue to emerge, could this spell the end of Trumps presidency? Heres a timeline of the crisis, and how its growing. Elsewhere in Government: Two sources within the National Institutes of Health told The Atlantic that the Trump administration is considering a cap on overhead costs for medical researchwhich could be devastating for many institutions. Meanwhile, the Department of Defensethe worlds largest employeris preparing for its very first financial audit, as the White House calls for an increase in military spending. Recommended: My Familys Slave Snapshot The Dead Sea shoreline near Ein Gedi, Israel, on February 8, 2014. More photos from the Dead Sea here. (Thomas Coex / AFP / Getty) Evening Read Shervin Malekzadeh on Irans upcoming presidential election: As Iran nears the end of another election season, its 12th for president and the 35th overall since 1979, dozens of analysts are already explaining why elections in Iran do not really matter or, should [incumbent president Hassan] Rouhani lose, why they do. Almost none of these analysts will say much, if anything, about the nearly 40 million citizens who are expected to turn up to vote of their own accord on May 19, or why they bother. Voting in Iran, one is left to imagine, is only for the true believers or for the easily duped, participants in a collective act of dissembling that adds up to nothing. In fact, however, many Iranians vote because they do not believe in their system; they vote precisely out of a lack of faith. Story continues Keep reading here. Related: Heres how technology could help fix the flaws in democracys design. Recommended: When Your Child Is a Psychopath What Do You Know? 1. About ____________ percent of traditionally aged college students get their bachelors degree within six years. Scroll down for the answer, or find it here. 2. Every year, the Grand Canyon hosts ____________ research projects. Scroll down for the answer, or find it here. 3. It is less safe for dogs with ____________ to jog with their owners than it is for other canine breeds. Scroll down for the answer, or find it here. Look Back Today marks 63 years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision on Brown v. Board of Education. In our July 1954 issue, Arthur E. Sutherland wrote: It was a great dayMonday, the 17th of May, 1954. On that day the Supreme Court decided that the Constitution proscribes, anywhere in the United States, public schools in which Negro children and white children are kept separate because of their race. On that day the Court did justice to more than the children before it; the judgment will benefit all the people of the nation alike in the states where segregation has long since been given up, and in those where, at least to some, the Court's word was unwelcome. To think of these school segregation decisions as marking a sudden unexpected turn would be a mistake. The trouble was old, and a change for the better has been long coming. Read more of Sutherlands piece here. Reader Response Weve received hundreds of emails responding to the late Alex Tizons cover story about Lola, the woman who raised him and whom his family enslaved. San Di writes: I myself had an aunt in a similar situation, though I believe she was well treated in the family where she was nannying. They brought her to America with them during the revolution in South Vietnam during April 1975, and weve lost contact with her ever since. My family and I did look for her. I wrote to the family she worked for when I got help from the UNHCR and was in a refugee camp. I even met a relative of that family in the camp and he confirmed the address. I never heard anything back from that family. I cried reading the article, realizing how much I miss my aunt even now. My thanks to Alex and condolences to his family. If Alex and Lolas story resonates with your familys experience, or if you have other thoughts on the story to share, please send us a note: hello@theatlantic.com. Recommended: The Trump Presidency Falls Apart Time of Your Life Happy birthday to Jeanette (a year younger than microwaves), who marks her own milestone: In January of the year I turned 10, Alaska, my birthplace, became a state. From Barbara, a happy birthday to her mom (a year younger than T-shirts) whos celebrating another year of her life after surviving a stroke. Happy birthday to Joan (twice the age of MTV) from her husband Rich, whos youngerby two weeks. Happy birthday to Jeff (the same age as Kermit the Frog) from his wife Katie. Happy birthday to Len from his dad, Roger: At 1 year old, you began learning about the world just as we were reaching the outer solar system. And happy 21st birthday to Griffin from his grandma, Patricia: His timeline revealed the curious mix of terrorism, activism, and fantasy, which shaped a stoic but optimistic young man. Do you or a loved one have a birthday coming up? Sign up for a shout-out hereand click here to explore the Timeline feature for yourself. Verbs Trees migrate, Twin Peaks revisited, Dear White People dissected, impeachment process explained. The Atlantic Daily is written by Rosa Inocencio Smith. To contact us, email hello@theatlantic.com. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for former New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam on Thursday urged a U.S. appeals court to overturn the two men's corruption convictions in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. Alexandra Shapiro, arguing on behalf of the elder Skelos before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, said the jury in the case was given a definition of political corruption that the Supreme Court rejected when it overturned the conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. In McDonnell's case, the Supreme Court ruled last June that routine political activities like arranging meetings generally were not "official acts" that could give rise to a corruption conviction. Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos were sentenced in May 2016 to five and 6-1/2 years in prison, respectively, following their convictions on fraud and bribery charges. Prosecutors had accused Dean Skelos, a Republican, of using his position as Senate majority leader to pressure three companies that wanted his support in the state legislature into paying favors to his son, including a lucrative "no-show" job. In exchange, Dean Skelos pushed through legislation, including a rent control bill, to benefit the companies, prosecutors said. Shapiro argued on Thursday that the conviction had to be overturned because there was no way to know whether the jury reached its verdict based on Skelos' support for legislation, or simply on his meetings with the companies, which would not be enough to convict after last year's Supreme Court ruling. "This is at the heart of whether the jury was given the proper tools," she said. Circuit Judge Reena Raggi peppered her with questions, at one point suggesting that it was "inconceivable" that a jury would reach a verdict solely based on meetings Skelos had, and not legislation he helped pass. Robert Culp, a lawyer for Adam Skelos, argued that there was no proof Adam knew he was benefiting from a bribery scheme. Story continues That argument provoked skepticism from U.S. District Judge Hellerstein, a visiting judge from Manhattan's federal district court. "What do you think was in his mind when he said, 'Dad, get me a job?'" Hellerstein asked. Thomas McKay, a lawyer for the government, conceded that the jury was instructed according to a now-outdated definition of corruption. But, he said, that could not have changed the outcome. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler) Heres a look at some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today. Dow component Cisco Systems (CSCO) put some pressure on the Blue Chip Index this morning as shares tumble in early trading. The networking equipment maker gave a disappointing outlook for the current quarter as it continues to struggle with declining revenue. Cisco also said it would lay off an additional 1,100 workers. Thats on top of the 5,500 job cuts it announced last August. Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) shares headed in reverse following news that the US Justice Department is preparing to sue the automaker over excess diesel emissions. This comes after the EPA accused Fiat in January of using software to allow more than the legally allowed amount of emissions in some of its vehicles. Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) stock plunged in early trading. The parent company of Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other brands slashed its profit and revenue guidance for the current quarter and the full year. The company said it no longer expects traffic to stabilize and that market conditions are likely to remain challenging for the next one to two years. Pandora (P) stock surged in early trading after the New York Post reported that Sirius XM (SIRI) is in active discussions with banks to make a bid for the struggling online radio company. Facebook (FB) is grabbing headlines this morning after the social media giant got slapped with a $122 million fine by the European Commission for allegedly giving misleading information during its 2014 takeover of WhatsApp. At the time, Facebook told the commission it would not be able to match user accounts on both platforms, but went on to do exactly that. Facebook says the error was unintentional and that the fine brings this matter to a close. Andy Yu as Meemo, Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz, and Goran Bogdan as Yuri in FXs Fargo. (Photo: FX) Warning: This recap for the The House of Special Purpose episode of Fargo contains storyline and character spoilers. In which a sex tape, a coffee mug, and a man named Dollars wreak all kinds of havoc on the Stussy contingent. 20 things we learn in The House of Special Purpose: 1. Stella Stussy (a name second only to Nikki Swango in its deliciousness) returns home from the grocery store to find a padded envelope on her front landing. Its marked EMMIT STUSSY (YOUR EYES ONLY), and she does resist the temptation to open it until she puts the groceries in the pantry. The next thing we know, shes reading a ransom note and watching a sex tape (DVD actually) that appears to show Stellas beloved husband Emmit having sex with someone who is definitely not Stella. 2. Yep, definitely not Stella or Emmit. The sex tape is the handiwork of Nikki and Ray, who filmed themselves both wearing wigs having sex, and are using the video to blackmail Emmit. P.S. Yes, of course the ransom note was created with cut out magazine letters. 3. Ray is not thrilled with the blackmail plan. But he and the Swango need cash, fast, since hes sans job, and since his need to drown his sorrows about that fact, in sidecars, at a bar, instead of showing up for the big meeting with bridge sponsor Burt Lurdsman, means he and Nikki are broke and without any other immediate prospects. Sweetly, she doesnt blame him or allow him to beat himself up for the imbibing. You deprive a man of his career and endanger his female, she tells Ray, and thats what hes gonna do. 4. The affection continues to be mutual, which is why, in the middle of the production of their blackmail sex tape, Ray gets down on one knee and proposes to Nikki. Babe, youre my everything, he says. I want we should spend the rest of our lives together. For Petes sake, Im wearing a hooker wig! she tells him, but then accepts his proposal after reminding him that he has to actually ask her. Story continues Nikki Swango, will you marry me? Yes, Raymond Stussy, I will marry you you have made me the happiest woman ever. [Puts her red wig back on.] Now, lets make a sex tape. 5. Emmit is driving along when he gets a call from Stella, whos sobbing and ranting and so upset he cant totally understand what shes saying. He speeds home, but arrives only in time to see his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and mother loading into a van. He pleads with her that he didnt, wouldnt, do anything, but she and the family leave him standing in front of the Stussy manse all alone, shouting Stella! (Stanley Kowalski-style). He goes inside and watches the video himself, immediately knowing who sent it. 6. At Stussy parking lots HQ, Sy arrives to find Varga in Sys office, with his feet up on the desk. Sys ticked and even moreso when he rushes into the office, and Varga, holding a framed photo of Mrs. Sy, says, You have a fat wife. A fat woman is inherently untrustworthy as she is a sensualist who sees no real difference between a pastrami sandwich and a dick in the mouth. Sy gets angrier, but Meemo and Yuri surround him. As V.M. continues to insult Sys wife, he picks up the Worlds Best Dad! mug from his desk, unzips his trousers, and begins to urinate in it. In the mug. He pees into Sys mug! But wait theres more. And worse. 7. Yuri and Meemo force Sy to drink the mugs contents! And not just a sip. They force him to drink all of it, the whole mugful, as its contents drip from his mug and that thick moustache. 8. Sufficiently humiliated, Sy then defends himself as Varga tells him he knows Sy talked to the police. Sy says the cop talk was only about a fender bender involving a company car, and Varga warns him about retaliating for the mug incident. You may have, during the course of the day, a strong impulse to act. Its perfectly normal, a man of your station being forced to play the cuckold, but remember, its all a matter of perspective. Whats happening here is good, you and I are partners now contracts have been signed by the major domo himself. As Meemo and Yuri usher Sy from his office, former office, Varga turns the knife one more rotation and reminds Sy to take his mug with him. Sy does, picking it up with two fingers, touching as little of it as possible, since urine continues to spill from it. Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz and Mary McDonnell as Widow Goldfarb in FXs Fargo (Photo: FX) 9. After the mug trauma, Sy heads out for a meeting with Mrs. Goldfarb, a woman whos already wealthy from the cash she and her late husband made in the mortuary and self-storage games. They both provide a place to put the things you never use again, she tells Sy, explaining what the two businesses have in common. She also reveals she wants to buy the Stussy company, as parking lots are the final piece to the storage triptych. Sy says he knows Emmit is interested in selling it because he has decided to dedicate himself in toto to good works, like preschools in Mumbai, clinics in Inner Mongolia, better access to veterinary care. Just then, he gets a text from Emmit, summoning him to the Stussy home, so he excuses himself, which Mrs. Goldfarb takes as him playing hard to get re: selling the company. 10. Even after the mug event, Sy underestimates just how frightened of the Varga contingent he should be, as hes completely clueless that Meemo and Yuri are waiting in the Bears Den restaurant parking lot, and follow him as he leaves it. Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz in FXs Fargo (Photo: FX) 11. Sy arrives at Casa de Stussy to find Emmit sitting on the floor, sobbing as his face is buried in Stellas clothing. Sys angry at Emmit for signing Vargas contracts, and for the mug incident, of course. He put his schvonce in the mug Esther gave me! he tells Emmit. Emmit turns it around on him, telling him he was supposed to stop Ray and Nikki. Sy says hes tired of hearing about his dumb brother, especially now that the enemy is inside the gates. But Emmit continues. What is the point of you? he asks Sy. Youre supposed to be a fixer everything is broke. He tells Sy about the sex tape, which could have been avoided if hed cut Ray and Nikki off like he was supposed to. Sy says he couldnt because Emmit wouldnt give him carte blanche in dealing with Ray. Emmit tells him, now, fix it, whatever it takes. Shackles off? Sy asks. Emmit: And throw away the key. 12. At the Eden Valley Public Library/Police Department (the EVPL and the EVPD), Gloria and Winnie try to explain the complicated Maurice/Ray Stussy/Emmit Stussy/Ennis Stussy crime tree to Donny. What ensues is the Minnesota Nice version of Whos on First? Gloria and Winnie are going to continue pursuing the case, though Donny warns that Chief Dammik will not approve. 13. Nikki and Ray go wedding tux shopping. He can button the 42, but she suggests he get the size 44, so he can breathe. She is demanding $100,000 for the sex tape, but Ray isnt sure they should ask for that much. What makes him rich and us not? Nikki asks. Larceny. Shes going for it, and while Rays in the dressing room, she gets a call from Sy. He tells her Stella saw the video, so they have no blackmail leverage anymore. Not too fast, Swango says. They can convince Stella that isnt Emmit in the video, and that should be worth $200,000. Sy tells her to meet him at Stussy lot 350 to discuss. 14. Nikki tells Ray shes gotta do a girl thing, and heads off to lot 350 alone. Ray takes the bus home, carrying his newly-purchased tux. He gets a call from Emmit, who tells him Stella left him because of the sex video. Ray feels bad, but still tells Emmit you reap what you sow, which kicks off an F-bomb laden shouting match, with Rays loud side of it heard by all his fellow bus passengers. Theyre staring at him when he hangs up. My mom, he tells them. Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle, Olivia Sandoval as Winnie Lopez, and Ewan McGregor as Ray Stussy in FXs Fargo (Photo: Chris Large/FX) 15. Gloria and Winnie meet Ray outside his house. They want him to go to the station to discuss Emmit and Maurice and Sy and the fender bender, and their intersection of interest in those topics. He agrees to go, as long as hes back by 6 p.m. He has an appointment at that time, he tells them. At the station, Gloria and Winnie pepper him with questions and are confusing him to the point that he begins to admit things, like confirming that it was Sy who was driving the Stussy-registered auto that hit his car. But just as the women are really getting somewhere, Chief Dammik arrives and puts the kibosh on the grilling, saying the whole Stussy/Stussy/Stussy/Maurice affair is a big coincidence. Shea Whigham as Sheriff Moe Dammik and Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle in FXs Fargo (Photo: Chris Large/FX) 16. Varga tries to plant doubt in Emmits head about whether or not he can trust Sy. Possibly your consigliere is making a move, he suggests. Maybe Sy is actually working with Ray to take the company from Emmit. After all, the company signage doesnt specify which Stussy is in charge, Varga tells Emmit. He compares their new partnership to a classic dessert. Look, we are making a souffle here lines of credit, capital, acquisition, increased valuation its how you turn a small business into a big business. And it is fluffy, and it is delicious, but you cant agitate while it rises, otherwise poof! Emmit continues to defend Sys loyalty, saying Sy is just trying to protect him. Varga: From success? 17. Varga and Emmit go inside Stussy HQ, and Emmit finds an IRS agent is waiting for him. Because of that $10,000 withdraw he made, er, Ray made, the IRS was notified, and now they want to take a quick look at his financials. A minimally invasive review, the agent says day surgery versus, say, having your colon removed, the agent explains, sharing a little IRS humor. Emmit is panicked, but Varga has been observing the meeting from Sys old office/Vargas new office next door. He tells Emmit not to worry about the books the agent wants to review. Theyll give him the fake ones (fake ones Emmit did not know existed). 18. The IRS agents name: Larue Dollars. Dollars, an IRS agent! Dammik has a point about coincidences. 19. Nikki and Sy meet at lot 350, and just after they get out of their cars, Meemo and Yuri pull in. Nikki asks who they are, but Sy tells her theyre there about something else. She starts getting nervous after Yuri tells a story about millions of people in his homeland dying, but even Sy is shocked when Vargas minions drag Nikki in front of her car and begin beating her. We, like Sy, dont see the beating, but the sounds are horrific. Sy tells them they dont need to do that, but by the time the vicious sounds are over, it appears Nikki is probably dead. Meemo and Yuri get in their car and drive off, leaving Nikkis body there. Sy does the same, without even checking on her. 20. Do not underestimate the Swango! After all the men are gone, she slowly begins pulling herself to the drivers side of her car. She cant stand, but she pulls herself along, holding on to various parts of the car until she gets to the door and pulls herself into the drivers seat. Back at her house that evening, Ray returns from the police station and starts calling for her. He finds Nikki, laying in the bathtub, clothed, but barely conscious. He lifts up her shirt to see shes been badly beaten, and that her body, the parts not visible under her clothing, is covered with giant bruises. Dontcha Know: * Extra excellent music choices in The House of Special Purpose: Mac Daviss tongue-in-cheek ditty Its Hard to Be Humble could really be the Emmit Stussy theme song, so it was the perfect soundtrack for his drive (before it was interrupted by the sex tape fallout); and World Partys Ship of Fools could be the soundtrack for nearly any of the characters storylines read the lyrics. Any one of the Fargo-ites could be the person singing about being saved from tomorrow and the ship of fools. * Nikki directs Ray to keep his shirt on during the production of the fake Emmit sex tape, for the purpose of hiding your difference. * Nikki also decides the video will focus on cowgirl or doggie scenario[s] favorin our rears, in other words, keeping our faces slightly absurd. Obscured, Ray corrects. * That mug scene most disturbing urine-related scene since Dumb & Dumber. * Sys summation of the mug meeting later: To be honest, I feel as if Ive left the known world. * IRS agent Dollars isnt choosy about where Emmit seats him when he returns to conduct his investigation. I spent three months in the mailroom of a novelty store once, surrounded by plastic poop and rubber vomit, he says. So, yeah, hes been worse places than the Parking Lot King of Minnesotas conference room. Fargo airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX. Read more from Yahoo TV: Former CIA Director John Brennan speaking at the SALT conference in Las Vegas on May 18, 2017. Credit: Reuters President Trump complains repeatedly about leaks in Washington. Hes got a bit of distinguished company. What I have found appalling is the number of leaks that have taken place over the last several months, former CIA Director John Brennan said at the SALT conference in Las Vegas, the annual gathering of hedge-fund managers and other financiers. This needs to be stopped. Brennan was CIA director during President Obamas second term, stepping down in January, when Mike Pompeo replaced him. Brennan said Trump made a serious mistake when he reportedly shared sensitive intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in an Oval Office meeting in early May. But this mistake wasnt sharing intelligence; it was violating the protocol for doing so. I shared intelligence with the Russians when I was the director of the CIA, Brennan said. But you share that through intelligence channels, and you make sure you word it in such as way as to not reveal sources and methods. President Trump didnt do that. Brennan said the press coverage of Trumps impromptu intelligence reveal was hyperbolic and possibly more damaging than anything Trump revealed. The damage that was done is what was leaked in the aftermath, what was put in the media. The real damage to national security is the leaks. He suggested, without saying so explicitly, that news accounts revealed more sensitive information than Trump did. The real damage to national security is the leaks, Brennan said. These individuals who still stay within the government and are leaking this stuff to the press need to be brought to task. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com Read more: A rolling update from the SALT conference Scaramucci: Trump could still be one of our best presidents in the modern era Big money pros predict next big trade Trump is the wrong kind of businessperson to be president Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Fox News was apparently unable to find a single Republican willing to go on camera to speak up for President Donald Trump in the wake of reports that he asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation into the former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. According to the New York Times, Mr Comey wrote in a memo that the President told him: I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. The existence of the memo, which was reportedly written by Mr Comey himself, suggests that Mr Trump had attempted to influence investigations into his associates and Russia. There is a broader probe into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as a separate investigation into Mr Flynn. Read more FBI told to hand over all communications between Trump and Comey The release of details about the memo appears to have made it difficult for Fox to book interviews with Republican politicians. Weve tried tonight to get Republicans to come out and talk to us, and there are not Republicans willing to go on camera tonight as of yet, and we'll see if that changes said Bret Baier, host of Special Report. Columnist Charles Krauthammer appeared on Special Report, confirming Mr Baiers claim. What I think is really stunning is that nobody, not even from the White House, has come out under their own name in defence of the President here, Mr Krauthammer said. We dont see any Republicans on camera, he added. And that is totally understandable. Theyve just watched over the last 10 days, people who went out on a limb on the Comey firing, and said it was the result of the memo from the deputy Attorney General, and had their limb sawn off by Donald Trump himself without a flinch. Last week, Mr Trump abruptly dismissed FBI Director James Comey, and then contradicted his press team and Vice President Mike Pence when explaining the reasoning behind the firing. Mr Trump said he would have fired Mr Comey regardless of recommendation from the Justice Department. But the White House had first reported that the President acted on the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Montreal (AFP) - Greenpeace launched a campaign Tuesday to denounce a major Canadian forestry company's lawsuit against the group -- the latest shot in a longstanding dispute between them. The multimillion dollar lawsuit that Resolute Forest Products filed against Greenpeace last year is "aimed at muzzling civil society" and "intimidating critics," the environmental activist group said. As part of its campaign Greenpeace appealed to publishers to honor their commitments not to buy paper sourced from old, endangered boreal forests in Canada. In a report it said Resolute does not meet that criteria but publishers such as Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster continue to buy from them. Germany's Axel Springer, stopped buying paper from Resolute in 2015, saying at the time that it no longer felt comfortable supporting a forestry firm that was battling aboriginals and environmental activists. "Our campaign does not call for a termination of contracts" to buy paper from Resolute, explained a Greenpeace spokesperson. But the publishing houses should by their purchasing choices show "support for defenders of freedom of expression throughout the world." Resolute is seeking Can$300 million (US$220 million) in damages from Greenpeace for alleged defamation, intimidation of customers, and related harms. Greenpeace warned that a Resolute victory would "create a dangerous precedent" that could "encourage other companies around the world to use similar tactics against their detractors." Forestry is one of Canada's largest industries. In a statement to AFP Tuesday, Resolute said it is holding Greenpeace accountable for what it called a campaign of misinformation. "Real peoples' lives have been impacted," said spokesman Seth Kursman. "People have lost their jobs and the socio-economic repercussions in communities has been significant." Story continues The lawsuit is hardly the first launched by Resolute in a longstanding row with environmental activists and indigenous peoples. In 2014 it sued the Rainforest Alliance after the group issued a negative audit of Resolute's logging practices, and urged that the certificate stating that it adheres to best forestry practices be suspended. Resolute's troubles intensified the following year with the Forest Stewardship Council, an international non-profit that promotes responsible forestry management. The FSC denounced Resolute's condemnation of activists that accused the company of being a "forest destroyer" responsible for a "caribou death spiral and extinction." Jessica Capshaw (Photo: Getty Images) Jessica Capshaw, who plays doctor Arizona Robbins at the fictional Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, says starring on Greys Anatomy has changed her life. Shes loved playing a lesbian onscreen but had no idea what her story arc would be when she first signed on as a guest star. [Shonda Rhimes] called me into her office and she was really direct. She was like, I want you to stay for another episode, and in the next episode, youre going to kiss Callie, Capshaw tells Yahoo Style, referring to her former onscreen partner played by Sara Ramirez. Im game to try stuff. So I was like, Yeah. OK!' Eight seasons later, the actress is a mainstay on the medical drama. Her go with the flow attitude has taken her character through all sorts of crazy plotlines including the loss of a leg and a recent divorce, which has opened the door for Rhimes to toss another curveball Capshaws way: having her heat things up onscreen with her real-life friend Marika Dominczyk. It was definitely one of those moments when you were like, Im going to kiss my friend. Thats going to happen, she says, with a laugh. When shes not saving infants onscreen, Capshaw is busy parenting her tribe of four. And while she, like many working moms, is juggling a career, family, and personal life, she is quick to proclaim that the idea of work-life balance is a fantasy. Heres more from this outspoken actress. What do you love about playing Arizona? Theres a lot of loss that transcends in themes with Arizona but I think this season gets to be more about finding what she loves and getting to be in a relationship thats a little irreverent, to get to be chased by someone. She gets to feel the newness of being in a relationship that is physical that is not her ex. And thats been really fun to play this season. Its been nice and new and fresh. Arizona was with Callie for so long. Is it fun to get to play the field now? It is! This year, my love interest is played by Marika Dominczyk. Ive known her for quite a while, and shes a good friend of mine and married to Scott Foley, who is also a friend of mine. Its a very interesting negotiation, but we had fun. We laughed a lot. And our husbands have definitely had a laugh or two over it. Story continues Do you feel honored to be able to help fight for equality by portraying this character on a weekly basis? And to eventually teach that lesson to your kids? I never would have imagined that I would be able to play a character that would feel like it does so much good, whether its people who feel like the character resonates with them and it makes their day a little easier to see themselves represented. Or if its someone watching it who has someone in their life who is gay and they might have not understood it before and all of a sudden, they have another person or another thing to point to and say, Oh thats a different context. Being able to play a lesbian as a series regular on television has been enormously rewarding. My daughter goes to preschool, and the preschool has all kinds of families. And I guess one of the kids said, You have to have a mom and a dad to have a baby. And my daughter said, No. No you dont. And this was all overheard and told to me later. She said, in a very kind and patient way to that child, There can be a mom and a mom and a dad and a mom and there can be a dad and a dad. I am so grateful that she will never know any different, and it will only be if she is in the presence of people who are on the wrong side of history or small-minded that she will hear anything other than that. I feel grateful to have her living in a family that will put her out into the world as someone who understands the world a little bit. You work long hours on the show but have four kids and a husband at home. How do you do it all? My schedule is incredibly all over the place. A lot of people, especially who are working moms, say its all about balance and trying to create a balance, and I respectfully disagree. I dont know that any part of my day is ever balanced. I dont spend equal parts being mom or being a worker, being a wife, being an advocate, being a humanitarian, whatever it is that I am endeavoring to be. I constantly have to make sacrifices. With four kids, there are going to be that many holiday performances and there are going to be spring performances and field trips and muffin mom. So there is tons of stuff that is there for the doing, and I pick and choose what I can. I find in my own life as a mom, that I always try to pick the things that I actually enjoy because I think my kids see that in me. I have a crazy schedule, and sometimes it works for me to be able to do the thing that I said I was going to do, and sometimes it doesnt. So you sacrifice sometimes being able to go to the thing or pick up the child. I had much more stringent and very inflexible ideas of what I thought it meant to be a great mom when I first started. I remember thinking that there was just no way in the world that my kid would ever have a doctors appointment that I wouldnt be there for. But when youre just starting out, you think things should be one way and youre humbled that it takes a village. And there will be times when your kid is sick and they need to go to the doctor and youre not going to be there. But thank God they are still going to the doctor. Its just so unrealistic to think that we can do it all. Jessica Capshaw in character. (Photo: Getty Images) Your youngest is 1. Has it been exciting to return to your prepregnancy style? I never wore maternity clothes, except for a couple of pairs of yes, its true jean shorts that I wore where I swear the inseam was like half an inch. It was embarrassing. I like myself a pair of jean shorts. I just did a recent purging of my closet, and Im not gonna lie, there were probably five to six one-inch if not half-inch inseam denim shorts that had to go. I really felt like maybe it was time. Maybe they have just run their course in my life. Once I had kids, I definitely did start to realize how Id like to dress that feels comfortable and at the same time it feels current and it feels stylish and you feel like it has an attitude or an opinion. And sometimes you are in your workout clothes until 4 in the afternoon. Fashion-wise, what are you into these days? I find that for me, in the summer especially, its all about dresses. Its one stop. You put on your great dress and some sandals. I love almost the entire Ulla Johnson line. They are great dresses; they are easy to put on. I also love finding sandals that go with everything and then finding a pair that have a ton of color that Im excited to pair with something. I stick with blues quite a lot light blue, dark blue. Besides blue as a color, I tend to say in the neutrals and the nudes, the creams, and the whites and the golds. I love a button-down shirt. I love a great pair of jeans. And I love a heel. I loved when the block heels came back in. It was so great because they are so much more comfortable, especially when you have four kids. I have some fellow-mom fashionistas. My friend Marliene Rentmeester has a blog called Le Catch. I get the little newsletter every day, and its always got something fun in it at every price point. Unless its very ephemeral and very inexpensive, I think at this point in my life, Im all about the classics. What do you love that youre going to love for a very long time? Jessica Capshaw on Greys Anatomy. (Photo: Richard Cartwright/ABC via Getty Images) Whats your stance on scrubs? I count myself among the lucky that I get to go to work in my pajamas. It takes me like 14 seconds to get into my outfit. Has it been fun dressing your kids? I kind of live for it. I have a little bit of a problem! And on any given day, probably any of my children are dressed better than I am. They go through their clothes so fast, but I do have to say, I stretch it out. How did they hide your baby bumps on set? During the tenure of my time on the show, we went from having real x-rays and real clipboards to having iPads. I used to carry the pads and the x-rays and it would be right in front of my stomach, or I would stand behind desks and that kind of worked. Then the Microsoft pads came out and I was like, I have less room to hide! So they had to play with camera angles. But I think if anybody looks at the past couple of seasons, youll definitely see when Im pregnant and when Im not! Debbie Allen directed an episode one time where she actually used an entire ambulance to hide my pregnant body. Everyone got a very good chuckle out of the fact that it took and entire ambulance to cover me. I was like, Guys Im not that big! Ive heard that Shonda Rhimes is a huge advocate for working moms. She is amazing. She understands that every mom is going to need something different. And what shes been so great about is she goes to the person and says, What do you want? What do you need? What would make this transition and being a mom good for you in this way? Shes a godsend, and shes in the earned position where she has quite a bit of power and she commands attention and understanding from people. And shes able to say This needs to be looked at to the powers that be that might not have been keen on expanding options for maternity leave and childcare. And I think thats an incredible thing. Do your kids visit you on set? I do believe that sets are a workplace and you have a ton of adults, you have a ton of equipment, you have a lot of dust. You have people that are frustrated, people that are joyful. And Im the worst, by the way. I dont know how its possible but I never cuss at home. I get to work and I cuss like a sailor. And youve got words going around. So I am always like, The set it not a place for kids. But we all have kids come and visit in our trailer, and I feel like when we are on location, kids always come visit because its a park or a building and thats fun. Jessica Capshaw, pregnant with her fourth child. (Photo: Getty Images) Do your kids realize their mom is a big TV star? People come up and theyll say something or theyll ask for a picture and my kids think its the funniest thing theyve ever seen. They just think its hysterical! They dont understand it. Your mom was an actress. What did she teach you about navigating Hollywood as a woman? I think the greatest gift that my mom gave me was that I never saw myself as less than because I was a woman. I never thought and naively so that Id have to give up more or I couldnt do as much or I couldnt get as much. She has such a strong character and incredible conviction, and shes done so much and shes accomplished so much and shes just traveled so far. I think you have to take it one step at a time. If you find out there is a guy getting paid more than you and you do the same job, then you pick that fight. But it cant be about everything all the time, at least not in that moment. I think then people get overwhelmed and they lose sight of what they are actually fighting for. I think its very important to be organized in your call to action in order to understand what it is that you want to accomplish before you go out there with arms swinging. Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Joseph Fiennes as Fred Waterford in The Handmaids Tale. (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu) Warning: This post contains spoilers for the A Womans Place episode of The Handmaids Tale. He looks like a Midwestern bank president, Offred remarks of the commander in Chapter 15 of The Handmaids Tale, as he prepares to deliver the benediction that begins the monthly breeding ceremony. The Handmaid goes on to mention other details about the seemingly benign man who will soon use the authority vested in him by the Republic of Gilead to rape her, noting his neatly brushed silver hair, stooped shoulders, silver mustache, blue eyes, and large hands with thick fingers. None of those identifying markers accurately describe Joseph Fiennes, the actor who portrays Commander Fred Waterford in Hulus version of The Handmaids Tale. Svelte where the novels commander is beefy and boyishly handsome compared with his much older counterpart, Fienness Waterford more closely resembles a strapping 40-year-old New York lawyer or Silicon Valley tech tycoon than a retirement-age Kansas banker. Speaking with Yahoo TV, Fiennes cheerfully violates a standard Hollywood rule by insisting hes actually older than he appears in the series. Im knocking on 50, the British-born actor says, laughing. So I feel pretty middle-aged. Im much older than Yvonne [Strahovski] and Lizzie [Moss]. But youre right, Im not 65. (For the record, Fiennes will turn 46 later this month, making him 12 years older than both of his 34-year-old female co-stars.) Whether Fred looks like hes 45 or 65, though, Fiennes feels strongly that his appearance doesnt alter the characters fundamental menace. Its a rape culture, he says of Gilead. For me, its spitting hairs as to the age of the monster. Its abhorrent whatever way you look at it. Beyond physical appearance, Fienness performance parts ways with the character in the novel in another key change that could also be chalked up to age. Margaret Atwoods version of the commander is relatively secure in his authority over the household and the women in it, a self-confidence that perhaps stems from the respect the young are expected to give their elders. The Waterford weve watched throughout the series to date exudes less comfort with the power that being an architect of Gilead has conferred upon him. His uneasiness in his role as master of the house is on full display in the shows sixth hour, A Womans Place, not just in the present-day sequences, but also in the flashbacks to the pre-Gilead America. Those sequences reveal that Serena Joy was once the alpha in their relationship and, as the author of the bestselling book that gives the episode its title, a willing accomplice in making their once-theoretical theocratic state a reality. Story continues Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy in The Handmaids Tale. (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu) Its Serena, for example, who insists that Fred keep the faith when his resolve seems to waver once the marching orders to overthrow the U.S. government are issued. Theres pain now so much of it, she whispers to him in a darkened movie theater after he voices concern about the hurt their actions will cause. Shes equally assertive when it comes to their sex life. In a flashback seen earlier in the episode, a between-meetings Serena races Fred upstairs for their latest attempt at a babymaking session. Im not your boytoy, I need to be romanced, Fred semi-jokingly says as his wife tears at his clothes, trying to slow her down long enough to deliver a prayer blessing their union. Thats a little tongue in cheek, Fiennes says of Waterfords boytoy reference. Its young love, and theyre in the throes of passion. Thats their tragedy: They came from a position of boundless love and are set in traditional values, but they lose each other. In fact, A Womans Place depicts the exact moment where the Waterfords go their separate emotional ways. Emerging from a meeting with the future rulers of Gilead, Fred tells Serena Joy who has been patiently waiting in the hallway to address the group that the all-male room isnt interested in hearing her speak. I wont give up trying, he vows, as she makes her way to the exit doors promising to see him at home. As soon as shes gone, one of Freds collaborators enters the hallway and emphasizes that Serena Joys educated voice wont be welcome going forward: This is our fault; we gave them more than they could handle. They put so much focus on academic pursuits and professional ambition, we let them forget their real purpose. We wont let that happen again. In the span of two sentences, Serena Joy has been reclassified from the collective we to the external they, and Fred allows it to happen without any argument. Without her knowledge or consent, Serena Joy is excommunicated from the Gilead inner circle. (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu) Serena Joy was this extraordinarily powerful voice in the room, Fiennes says. That was his big attraction to her. She had the ideas. But as Gilead came into fruition, she and Fred became the architects of their own unhappiness, Fiennes says. Fred recognizes that, and as he ascends through Gilead authority, he doesnt support his wife. He doesnt deny his authority in order to stand by her. He goes with it, because hes ambitious. Its a real tragic story, I think, Fred and Serena. And yet, Freds willing betrayal of his wife is clearly eating away at him. Thats why his attempts at asserting his husbandly authority often come across as petty rather than powerful. When she tries to engage him in a discussion about an upcoming event, he simply brushes her off. Im sure youll make it all look perfect, he says, condescendingly, and consciously putting her in the place she designated for herself in her book. Freds discomfort in Serena Joys presence also explains his willingness to invite Offred into the private world of his study. While his wife knows his past all too well, this Handmaid is a blank slate. Furthermore, as his employee more than that, his property hes already approaching her from a position of power. (For his part, Fiennes points out that the suicide of Offreds predecessor deeply unsettled Fred, causing him to question his control over his household and resurrecting the doubts he once expressed to Serena Joy and has since tried to suppress.) Offred isnt blind to Freds insecurities, most notably other peoples perceptions of him and the society hes helping to build. In a pivotal encounter midway though A Womans Place, Fred upbraids her for paying insufficient attention to his complaints and dismisses her from the study. Pausing at the door, she summons her courage and swallows her pride and turns around with a seductive expression plastered on her face. Im sorry, she says, pitching her voice at Marilyn Monroe-levels of breathiness. Can I stay here with you? Please? Its obviously an act she knows it, and he knows it as well. But its the kind of pantomime of sultriness that Fred also knows hes meant to respond to as a red-blooded male. Summoning her over to his desk, he allows his hands to linger on her body as he moves his face in close to hers. Kiss me, he half-asks and half-orders, and when Offreds first kiss fails to maintain the illusion, he forces her to do it once more, with feeling. Fiennes remembers performing multiple variations on that scene with Moss, and says that their performances changed as they observed the way the power dynamics in the room kept shifting from Fred to Offred and back again. There were different nuances to it, because we were studying each other and enjoying the play on power on losing control, the actor says, revealing that the scene was originally scripted to be part of the fourth episode, but showrunner Bruce Miller decided to delay it for A Womans Place. Fred has been corrupted on power; hes drunk on authority to a degree, Fiennes says. He feels empowered, probably because he doesnt have power in the bedroom he cant get it up with Serena and hes finding his sense of control through the Gilead architecture and uniform. Ive really thought of this series as a study in the corrosive effects of power. Sure enough, Fred chooses the cruelest possible power move to end his encounter with Offred. After savoring her second kiss, he looks down at her with a smile thats equal parts affection and disdain, and banishes her again, saying, Sweet girl. Big day tomorrow get some sleep. Gileads Handmaids are put on show for a visiting trade delegation from Mexico. (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu) The big day that hes referring to is an elaborately choreographed dinner overseen by the Waterfords in honor of a visiting trade delegation from Mexico. This state visit is yet another reason why Fred is struggling to solidify his authority, this time within the larger republic rather than just inside his home. After all, if the visiting diplomats arent impressed with what they see, Gileads new government faces economic ruin just as they are trying to consolidate power. This is all narrative territory that Margaret Atwood was only able to hint at in her novel, as Offreds point of view didnt extend to Gileads diplomatic policy. And, in a chilling development, we learn exactly what the government intends to use as barter for trade with Mexico: Handmaids. Its an economic model that deliberately recalls the shameful centuries-old days of the American slave trade, and, like many self-professed men of faith at that time, Fred has been able to sublimate his religious beliefs to the gods of capitalism. Or, as Fiennes puts it, hes learned to compartmentalize. Hes able to detach himself from the realities of whats going on. Weve already seen him involved in this thinly veiled excuse for procreation thats nothing short of rape, he says. Hes fully cognizant of the fallout, but in his mind, hes reaching for the greater good. And the Handmaids are already so low on the social-class structure that they are nothing more than walking wounds. For all his failings, Fred ends A Womans Place on a pair of triumphs one political and the other personal. First, the Waterford-hosted dinner bash is a resounding success, ensuring a Mexico/Gilead alliance. Later on, back at home, Fred and Serena Joy enjoy their first intimate coupling in months, if not years. And why shouldnt they celebrate? Like the old days, theyve just teamed up to execute a masterful feat of stagecraft, one capped off with an appearance by the only currency that matters in a fertility-challenged world children. At the height of the dinner, Gileads population of young boys and girls are led inside, brightening the room with their shining faces. And theres Fred amidst the gaggle, beaming proudly as if hes the father of these children, which, in a sense, he is. He may not have anyone to call him Papa in the childless house he shares with Serena Joy and Offred, but hes helped birth the new society these kids will inherit. The Waterfords overseeing their successful dinner party. (Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu) At the same time, watching Fred enjoy that victorious moment inspires a potent psychological question, one that eludes Offred in the book. Having a baby is Waterfords duty, both as a man of faith and a leading citizen of Gilead. But how much does he actually want to be a father? As a man who is already demonstrably insecure in his own authority, does he have the capacity to love and raise a child? Asked that question, theres a momentary pause on Fienness end of the line as the actor who has two children in real life contemplates his alter egos state of mind. Ive always felt, in a weird way, that theres maybe an undercurrent of blame towards Serena, he eventually replies. And the great joke is that its not her fault! That sense that they tried for so many years, and that she let him down because shes supposedly barren. Maybe way, way back in the mind, theres the thought that he could be sterile I dont think Fred has worked that one out. Hes past that point [of fatherhood]; I think he would love to have [a child] as a marker of his prestige, his authority, and his masculinity. But I dont see him as a loving father figure to a child. It would just be another badge for him to wear. New episodes of The Handmaids Tale premiere Wednesdays on Hulu. Read more from Yahoo TV: The Bachelorette: See Rachels Men and Meet the 5 Guys to Watch Fargo Postmortem: Michael Stuhlbarg on That Mug Scene and Sys Mustache and Humvee Mom Team Skipping Emmy Campaign, Donating $250K to Planned Parenthood Instead House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., right, speaks with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in 2016, following a House Republican leadership meeting. (Photo: Cliff Owen/AP) As Donald Trump was laying waste to a field of 18 Republican challengers en route to claiming his partys presidential nomination, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was caught making a quip about Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump, McCarthy, R-Calif., said, according to a recording of the exchange on June 15, 2016, obtained by the Washington Post. The other reference was to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who was profiled last year in Politico as Putins Favorite Congressman. In response the remark, to which several colleagues are heard responding to with laughter, House Speaker Paul Ryan is heard interjecting a warning to keep the conversation from leaving Capitol Hill. No leaksThis is how we know were a real family here, Ryan said, according to the Post. The timing of the release of the exchange is awkward for the Republican leadership who are under mounting pressure to investigate the Trump campaigns alleged ties to Russia during the 2016 election. On Wednesday, one day after the New York Times reported that President Trump pressured former FBI Director James Comey to quash an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns ties with Moscow, Ryan was asked whether he still had confidence in the president. I do, Ryan responded. When asked to comment about the 2016 exchange about Trump and Putin, spokespeople for both Ryan and McCarthy denied the encounter took place, the Post reported. When the newspaper informed them that it had a recording of the comments, the spokespersons portrayed the comments as a joke. Historical evidence collected over time and data gathered through recent surveys both point to a curious fact: intelligent people tend to be atheists. And since this is not a new phenomenon, social scientists have long tried to explain the link between intelligence and disbelief in god. A research paper, published online Tuesday in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science, attempts to explain the link. In the paper, Edward Dutton of Ulster Institute for Social Research in the United Kingdom and Dimitri Van der Linden of the Rotterdam University in the Netherlands suggest: The link between intelligence and religion can be explained if religion is considered an instinct, and intelligence the ability to rise above ones instincts. Read: Pope Says Atheism Is Better Than Being An Immoral Christian The two researchers proposed a new model called the Intelligence-Mismatch Association Model which tried to explain why more intelligent people tended toward atheism since the time of Greeks and Romans. To arrive at their model, the papers authors first considered three existing models that sought to provide a reason for the negative association between being smart and theism. They rejected two of the models Irrationality of Religion Model and Cultural Mediation Hypothesis as being problematic and suggested a substantial revision of the third. Called the Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis, this third model was the brainchild of evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa and was based on the premise that human behavior will always be somehow anchored in the environment in which their ancestors developed, according to a statement on the website of Springer, publisher of the journal. AtheismPoster Photo: Reuters Story continues Calling religion an instinct and intelligence the ability to rise above it, the model proposed by Dutton and van der Linden says an inclination toward the non-instinctive will thus be an aspect of intelligence because it will help us to solve problems. Thus, intelligence will involve being attracted to evolutionary mismatch, to that which we would not be instinctively evolved to be attracted to. It is this, we argue, that is behind the negative religion-intelligence nexus. In the statement, Dutton explained: If religion is an evolved domain then it is an instinct, and intelligence in rationally solving problems can be understood as involving overcoming instinct and being intellectually curious and thus open to non-instinctive possibilities. Read: Author Claims Atheism Will Replace Religion By 2041 While working on Intelligence-Mismatch Association Model, researchers also examined the association between instinct and stress. If religion is indeed an evolved domain an instinct then it will become heightened at times of stress when people are inclined to act instinctively, and there is clear evidence for this, says Dutton. It also means that intelligence allows us to able to pause and reason through the situation and the possible consequences of our actions. This ability to pause and reason is what allows for better problem solving, one of the markers of intelligence. This is important because, in a changing ecology, the ability to solve problems will become associated with rising above our instincts, rendering us attracted to evolutionary mismatches, van der Linden said. Related Articles By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants are planting bombs near front doors in Mosul to prevent civilians leaving, a federal police commander and witnesses said on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces make their final push against the jihadists after seven months of fighting. Trapped in a shrinking area of the city, the militants are increasingly using the several hundred thousand civilians under their control as human shields to avoid being targeted or perhaps tarnish what Iraqi leaders describe as imminent victory. Backed by a U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces have made rapid gains since opening a new front in northwest Mosul this month and have now dislodged Islamic State from all but about 12 square km (5 square miles) of the city. The militants, however, still control the Old City, where they are expected to make their last stand in the densely populated, narrow streets that are impassible for armored vehicles, forcing Iraqi forces to advance on foot. The Iraqi government is pushing to declare victory by the holy month of Ramadan - expected to begin on May 27 - even if pockets of resistance remain in the Old City, according to military commanders. Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi told state TV his elite Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) were advancing steadily in the Rifaie and Najjar districts, aiming to reach the western bank of Tigris river and complete the Old City's encirclement. "God willing the coming hours we will complete our assigned task," he said on Wednesday. The militants had deployed 30 suicide car bombs against his troops in Mosul over the past two days, he said. In the Siha district, Assadi said, Islamic State had chained civilians by the hands and used them as human shields to move around. "We saw them moving with their weapons in the midst of the civilians but we did not strike them," he said. The civilians were unchained and released once the militants reached cover, Assadi said. Hundreds if not more civilians have been killed under bombardment by the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi airforce during the Mosul campaign and the rest are eating weeds and boiled wheat grain to survive as food runs out. Fearful of triggering bombs if they open the front door, civilians are fleeing through the same holes Islamic State knocked through interior walls to move around the city without being targeted from the sky. The number of people fleeing Mosul has surged since the re-intensification of hostilities this month. Nearly 10,000 people were displaced from the city on Tuesday, according to Iraqi government figures, joining an exodus of nearly 700,000 who have left Mosul since the start of the campaign last October. Two civilians were killed when they returned to the Islah al-Ziraei district days after it was retaken by Iraqi forces when they accidentally triggered a bomb that Islamic State had planted to prevent them leaving their home. (Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Louise Ireland) Eli Sabti/Facebook Controversy at the Cannes Film Festival usually has to do with the audience booing an experimental film, a director saying something outrageous, or a movie pulling a ridiculous publicity stunt. On opening night this year, there was something new grabbing attention away from the movie stars and movies. Israels Minister of Culture and Sports, Miri Regev, stepped onto the red carpet in a ball gown featuring a landscape of Jerusalem. Swedish-based Israeli costume designer Aviad Arik Herman designed the dress on commission. The long-sleeve gold top appears rather conservative mesh fabric with crystal and lace embroidery. Its not until you reach the bottom of the white A-line skirt that the controversy occurs. Skimming the floor is a city skyline that includes the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Tower of David. #cannesfilmfestival 2017 . Honored to design for Israel's Culture Minster , Mrs Miri Regev ???????????????????????? A post shared by Aviad Arik Herman (@aviadarikherman) on May 17, 2017 at 6:06pm PDT This year we are celebrating 50 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem, Regev said in a statement, according to the Guardian. I am proud to celebrate this historic date through art and fashion, and I am happy that this work by Israeli designer Aviad Herman is so moving and honors the beautiful status of our eternal capital Jerusalem. Thats not exactly a neutral statement of patriotism. Though Israel declared Jerusalem reunified after the Six-Day War in 1967, Palestinians and the United Nations call the eastern part of the city occupied. Regev, who is part of the right-wing Likud Party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was there as a guest of the Israel Pavilion at the festival. After her appearance on the red carpet, many criticized her for turning a celebration of arts into a political statement. Her efforts to convey a political message on the backs of the attending artists, whom she abuses at every opportunity was an aggressive, cynical and opportunistic act, left-leaning newspaper Haaretz wrote in an opinion piece titled Miri Regevs Cannes Dress: Tasteless, Aggressive, and Colonialist. Story continues Many were critical on social media too. Others took a more amusing approach to criticizing Regev, using all that white material for space on which to Photoshop other designs on the skirt. They added images of explosions, a photo of a diner, an ad for a metal bands upcoming show, and an illustration of an imposing West Bank fence. Herman didnt shy away from the publicity. He posted several photos of himself with Regev on the carpet, thanking his mother and a graphic designer for their help with the project. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Ivanka Trump speaks during a meeting on human trafficking with congressional leaders. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP) Ivanka Trump revved up her White House role by leading a meeting in her fathers absence. While President Trump delivered a commencement address to graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., on Wednesday, Ivanka led Congress in a bipartisan roundtable discussion about global human trafficking in the Roosevelt Room. We have been conducting interagency meetings to understand the scope of the issue [of human trafficking], as well as gathering recommendations from the academic, public, and private sector, said Ivanka, according to CNN. Today, we bring an additional and critical group to the table, legislative leaders, to discuss concrete steps through legislation. Ivanka reportedly spoke for two minutes and said in part that combating human trafficking was a moral and strategic interest domestically and abroad. The meeting was another indication of the first daughters influence in government. As an unpaid adviser to the president, Ivanka has sat in on meetings with world leaders and represented the U.S. at the W20 summit in Germany, which focused on gender equality. Ivanka was also rumored to have influenced her fathers decision to launch a missile strike in Syria in April and his stance on issues such as family leave. In March she admitted that her role was unprecedented. On Wednesday Ivanka came under fire for her ties to a Chinese factory that produces her namesake merchandise. According to Bloomberg, a letter the nonprofit group China Labor Watch sent Ivanka reports it found that factory employees are forced to work more than 12 hours per day, six days a week, for little pay. Although the letter didnt provide evidence for the claims, Ivanka was the subject of criticism on Twitter. @SenBobCorker @WhiteHouse @IvankaTrump Her extensive experience with exploiting Chinese sweat shop laborers should make her an expert on modern slavery. Basement Web Troll (@BayAreaWebTroll) May 17, 2017 @CNNPolitics Fantastictoday we find out Chinese factories making Ivanka Trump goods are paying about $1/hour. Guess it isn't slavery if they get paid? Univrsle (@univrsle) May 17, 2017 Chinese factories that make Ivanka Trump goods reportedly pay workers about $1.00 an hour https://t.co/WVOfU6nJn5 https://t.co/tEi5899Mdx Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) May 17, 2017 Meanwhile, the president was more vocal about any backlash toward the first family, telling U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduates, Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly. Story continues Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, will wed a former college classmate, Japanese media reported, heating up debate on the ever-shrinking royal family since she must become a commoner after marriage. Japan's cabinet is expected to approve a bill on Friday to allow Akihito, 83, to step down, the first abdication by a Japanese emperor in nearly two centuries, after he said last August he feared age would make it hard to fulfill his duties. But the legislation will make no reference to the controversial topics of whether to revise a males-only succession law or to allow women to stay in the imperial family after marriage, a move conservatives fear would be a first step to letting females inherit the throne. Asked about the problem of the shortage in royals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Wednesday: "There is no change in our view to proceed with consideration of steps to ensure stable imperial succession." The 25-year-old Mako's unofficial fiance, Kei Komuro, appeared before media cameras on Wednesday outside the Tokyo law office where he works, a day after the news of their engagement broke. The Imperial Household Agency declined to comment. "Now is not the time for me to comment, but I want to speak at the right time," Komuro, 25, repeatedly told reporters. Komuro, who media said once served as a "Prince of the Sea" to promote tourism in a locality near Tokyo, did say he'd had a brief phone conversation with Mako on Tuesday. There are only four heirs to the throne - Akihito's two middle-aged sons, whose wives are in their early 50s, Akihito's octogenarian brother, and Prince Hisahito, the ten-year-old son of Akihito's younger son. Akihito has only four grandchildren, the other three of whom are female - Mako, her younger sister, Kako, and Crown Prince Naruhito's daughter, Aiko. The shrinking royal population - which mirrors the broader trend of Japanese society - has raised concerns that the youngest prince may also be the last. "Under the present system, there is the risk that Hisahito will be the only one left in the imperial family," Keio University Professor Hidehiko Kasahara was quoted by media as telling an experts panel that studied the abdication issue. Mako, who like her groom-to-be graduated from International Christian University, has a master's degree from the University of Leicester and has been working as a researcher at a museum. (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Nick Macfie) Joe Lieberman leaves the White House after meeting with President Trump on Wednesday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) President Trump is expected to announce his pick to replace fired FBI Director James Comey as early as this week. According to multiple reports, former Sen. Joseph Lieberman has emerged as the leading candidate for the position. Here are five quick things to know about the 75-year-old former senator from Connecticut. 1. He served three terms in the U.S. Senate Lieberman, a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988 as a reform Democrat after serving as the majority leader of the Connecticut state senate and, later, that state attorney general. Lieberman was subsequently reelected to the U.S. Senate in 1994, 2000 and 2006. In the 2006 Senate race, Lieberman lost the Democratic primary but won reelection as a third-party candidate. He retired from the Senate in 2013. 2. He was Al Gores running mate Lieberman was selected by Al Gore to be the 2000 vice presidential nominee, becoming the first Jewish candidate on a major American political party presidential ticket. Gore and Lieberman won the popular vote in the 2000 election but ultimately lost the Electoral College vote to George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney. 3. He ran for president in 2004 Liebermans bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination fell well short, with the former senator and one-time vice presidential nominee bowing out of the race early. Lieberman subsequently endorsed the eventually nominee, John Kerry. 4. He endorsed Hillary Clinton over Trump Following his 2004 failed presidential bid, Lieberman moved to the right, endorsing his former Republican colleague, Sen. John McCain, at the 2008 Republican National Convention. (Lieberman was even mentioned as a possible running mate for McCain.) As a result, his relationship with Democratic party leaders was strained. But in 2016, Lieberman pivoted back, endorsing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president over Trump. 5. He could have a conflict of interest After leaving the Senate, Lieberman took a job as senior counsel at Kasowitz Benson Torres Friedman a New York City-based law firm that has represented Trump in numerous lawsuits. Story continues I would be surprised if theres no conflict of interest here, David Rosen, an attorney and Yale Law School lecturer, told the New Haven Independent this week. Trumps doings are on the FBIs plate right now. To have one of his lawyers heading the FBI creates problems that its hard to see how to untangle. Lieberman met with Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the FBI director post. Trump said he may announce his choice before he leaves Friday for an eight-day trip abroad, his first foreign trip as president. Read more from Yahoo News: Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, will investigate alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Heres how it works The position of special counsel exists under a statute that allows the attorney general to mount an independent investigation. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP On Wednesday night, the justice department announced the appointment of Robert Mueller, the former FBI director under presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama, as a special counsel to investigate alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The position of special counsel exists under a statute that allows the attorney general to mount an independent investigation. This particular provision has been invoked only once before, in the Bill Clinton administration, when former senator John Danforth was to investigate the Branch Davidian siege outside Waco, Texas. Special counsel is different from an independent counsel, the role in which Ken Starr investigated Bill Clinton throughout the 1990s. The law provided for that position expired in 1999. Is a special counsel truly independent? Theres a degree of independence but its far from complete. The special counsel is appointed by the attorney general or, in this case, because attorney general Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any Russia inquiries after revelations that he held two undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassadors last year, by the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. According to federal regulations, the special counsel has day-to-day independence, including to exercise discretion over how to organize an investigation and to decide whether charges should be brought. But the deputy attorney general, in this case, still has ultimate responsibility for how the matter is handled. The special counsel can only be removed by the attorney general for good cause. But the area the counsel can investigate is limited. If new issues come to light in the course of an investigation that the special prosecutor wants to dig into, he or she has to consult the attorney general, who then gets to decide whether to allow that expanded focus. Story continues Does the appointment of a special counsel mean that congressional Democrats got what they wanted? Mostly. Democrats have been calling for the appointment of a special counsel for months, and just a week ago, that still looked like a long shot. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, made clear he did not support Democrats demands for a special prosecutor. McConnell told the Senate that such an appointment would only serve to impede the current work being done. That was before bombshell news reports that Donald Trump had asked his former FBI director in a private meeting to drop an investigation into Trumps former national security adviser, reportedly saying, I hope you can let this go. Rosensteins choice to appoint a special counsel is a victory for Democrats. But after Trump abruptly fired FBI director James Comey, and used a memo written by Rosenstein to justify the firing, some Democrats argued that Rosenstein was no longer independent enough to appoint a special prosecutor himself, and that a high-ranking career civil servant should be given that responsibility. Other Democrats, including former acting attorney general Sally Yates, had previously said they trusted Rosensteins judgement. Former assistant attorney general Laurie Robinson also expressed confidence in Rosensteins judgement even after Comeys firing last week. Why isnt the counsel fully independent? There used to be a process for the appointment of a much more empowered independent counsel but Congress allowed that legislation to lapse in 1999. That weakened the independence of this kind of outside counsel considerably. The previous system to appoint a fully independent counsel was created through federal legislation in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The law allowed the attorney general to request a panel of three judges to appoint a special counsel, and then allowed that special counsel the ability to continue any investigation until they deemed it complete. This was introduced in part to prevent a future president from sacking a special prosecutor, as Richard Nixon had done in 1973. Why did Congress let the independent counsel law expire? According to the Congressional Research Service, by 1999, truly independent counsels had aggravated presidential administrations both political parties: Republicans fumed at the investigation of Iran Contra, Democrats at the investigation of the Clintons and Whitewater. With a special counsel, rather than an independent counsel, there is a major shift of discretion and ultimate authority back to the Attorney General, even in investigations and prosecutions which could be directed at the President, Vice President, or high-ranking colleagues of the Attorney General in the Presidents Administration, according to the Congressional Research Service. By Karen Dillon LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Reuters) - Chelsea Manning walked out of a U.S. military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in U.S. history. Manning, 29, was released from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at about 2 a.m., the U.S. Army said in a brief statement. "First steps of freedom!!" Manning wrote alongside a photograph of sneaker-clad feet that she published on social media. Manning was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for furnishing more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks, an international organization that publishes such information from anonymous sources, while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a target of criminal investigations in Sweden and the United States, had promised to accept extradition if Manning was freed. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that the arrest of Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, was a priority. Former U.S. President Barack Obama, in his final days in office, commuted the final 28 years of Manning's 35-year sentence, effective four months later. That decision angered national security experts, who say Manning put American lives at risk, but it won praise from free-speech activists, critics of U.S. war policy and transgender advocates who have embraced her transition to a female gender identity. Once known as Private First Class Bradley Manning, she is likely to become a high-profile proponent for the transgender community, said Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who has represented her. Manning announced her gender transition while the U.S. Army was keeping her in the men's prison and forcing her to wear a male haircut. She twice tried to commit suicide and faced long stretches of solitary confinement as well as denial of proper healthcare, Strangio said. Last year, the U.S. Defense Department lifted a long-standing ban against transgender men and women serving openly in the military. The Pentagon estimated it affected 7,000 active-duty and reserve personnel. Although transgender people still complain of widespread discrimination in education, employment and medical care, awareness of the issue has exploded since Manning went to prison. Transgender celebrities such as Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox have become part of the mainstream. "LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY" In a statement to ABC News, Manning said she appreciated the support she had received from people all over the world. "The past will always affect me, and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point not my final destination," the statement said. Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq "out of a love for my country." In nearby Kansas City, Missouri, some 15 members of a local group called PeaceWorks demonstrated in support of Manning on Wednesday, crediting her with exposing war crimes. "This is the kind of information we the people should have in order to make decisions about our leaders and who should be in office," said Henry Stoever, 68, a retired lawyer and leader of the group. Among the material Manning leaked was a 2007 gunsight video of a U.S. Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staffers. WikiLeaks began revealing secrets from anonymous sources in 2007 and then burst onto the wider public consciousness with a series of releases throughout 2010. More recently, WikiLeaks published Democratic National Committee emails in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the email accounts were hacked by Russian intelligence as part of a campaign by Moscow to influence the election. (Additional reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City and Daniel Trotta and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Bill Trott and Leslie Adler) A math question apparently meant for seven-year-olds has left adults befuddled. The bonus math question which allegedly appeared on a first-grade level exam paper in Singapore has been making the rounds on social media. SEE ALSO: A math problem for 14-year-olds is stumping the world The question shows a circular puzzle with five numbers in it. There are four corresponding blanks that are meant to be filled in, but no further information is given on how to solve it. Image: almondshell/hardwarezone Adults have been unable to solve it. "Now that I can't solve this, I feel super uncomfortable," said user Kenny Eng on Facebook. "Maybe Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory could have done this when he was seven," said Facebook user Mingli Lin. "I just finished my course on advanced applied math and I can't solve this. Whoever set this is sick," said user Jacky Wu. Where did the math question originally come from? The question first surfaced on an online forum, posted by a user who claims that it was a bonus question taken from a Primary One, or first grade, examination paper. But Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) couldn't confirm this. "From the image, we are unable to ascertain if the question was from a schools Primary 1 examination paper," an MOE spokesperson told Mashable in a statement. However, the question bears a striking resemblance to one that has previously appeared on a math blog by Gordon Burgin, who calls himself an author of Maths Puzzles. (Mashable has reached out to Burgin for comment). The two questions are almost identical, with only one difference. The bottom-left number in Mr Burgin's puzzle is 20 instead of 2. Image: gordon burgin According to Burgin, the way to solve his puzzle is this: Image: gordon burgin It's not the first time an exam question has left people stumped In 2015, people in Singapore were similarly unable to solve a math question nicknamed "Cheryl's birthday." Story continues The question was first reported to be a fifth-grade level question, but was late revealed to be a ninth-grade Maths Olympiad question. So what is the answer to the original math question you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Sen. John McCain speaks with reporters outside the Senate chamber in March. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) After President Trump complained yet again of being treated unfairly, particularly by the press, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., jabbed him in an interview Thursday. Well, first of all, Ive been worse treated than President Trump has, lets make sure that we know about that, McCain said lightly during an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe. The senator was referring to his five-year-plus ordeal as a prisoner of war. Memorably, Trump questioned McCains heroism during the campaign when he declared, I like people who werent captured. While delivering Wednesdays commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Trump took the opportunity to remind the graduates of his plight as the leader of the free world. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, Trump said. No politician in history and I say this with great surety has been treated worse or more unfairly. McCains rejoinder was reminiscent of the flood of responses to Trump on social media, many of which were quick to point to politicians who were assassinated as examples of those had been treated worse or more unfairly. Trumps complaints of unfair treatment, particularly lamenting press coverage of him, were a prevailing theme of his presidential campaign, and those gripes have not slowed in his first months in office, which have been mired in chaos. After Robert Mueller was announced as the special counsel appointed to investigate Russias interference in the presidential election, including whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin, Trump tweeted Thursday, This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! McCain spoke glowingly of Mueller, who previously served as the FBI director under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I think thats a nonstarter, McCain said of the possibility of Trump sparring with Mueller in the future. Robert Mueller has a reputation going back to service in the Vietnam conflict. I know of no one who doesnt have the highest regard for Robert Mueller. Read more from Yahoo News: Associated Press There has already been two coaching changes halfway through the NFL season with Indianapolis firing Frank Reich this week four weeks after Carolina did the same to Matt Rhule. The NFL had a record-tying 10 coaching changes last offseason and three-quarters of the teams have changed head coaches at least once in the past five years. Here's a look at some coaches who figure to be on the hot seat if things don't turn around in the second half of the season and some assistants who could be in line for head coaching jobs. David Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, announced on Wednesday he will be taking up the position of assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, starting June. While criticism of his appointment began pouring in on social media, the DHS clarified it had made no such announcement yet. "I'm both honored and humbled to be appointed to this position by Secretary [John F.] Kelly, working for the Trump administration," Clarke told WISN-AM. While his statement could be seen as a confirmation of the fact that he has a job at Homeland Security, that is not the case. The department recognized the fact that a Senate confirmation is not mandatory for that particular position, but it also explicitly stated: No such announcement with regard to the office of public engagement has been made." Read: World War 3 Predictions: CPAC Panel With Sheriff David Clarke Suggests Fight Has Already Begun If Clarkes appointment becomes official, he will work with state, local and tribal law enforcement in the DHS Office of Partnership and Engagement, starting June. Clarke rose to prominence during President Donald Trumps election campaign when he became well-known as a high-profile supporter of the Republican candidate. His recognition led to him being one of the very few African-American speakers at the Republican National Convention. He continues to defend the POTUS post-election as a cable news surrogate. However, Clarkes rhetoric and actions have raised quite a few eyebrows in the past. He called the Black Lives Matter movement anarchy and also equated his hatred toward the movement with his anti-Islamic sentiments. [The Black Lives Matter movement] will join forces with [the Islamic State] to bring down our legal constituted republic. You heard it here first," he said in November 2015, UPI reported. Story continues David Clarke Photo: Getty Images/Scott Olson Despite being African-American himself, Clarke has indulged in name-calling and racial slurs against his own community. He once called a CNN reporter, who is black, a jigaboo. He went on to make comments like: Let me tell you why blacks sell drugs and involve themselves in criminal behavior instead of a more socially acceptable lifestyle because theyre uneducated, theyre lazy, and theyre morally bankrupt. Clarke has also been accused of badly managing a prison that he was supposed to be in charge of. People in Wisconsin called for his resignation when his lack of supervision led to the death of a mentally-ill inmate due to dehydration, whose water supply was cut off by the jailors for a week, Vox reported. Three more deaths followed in the same jail between April and December 2016, which included an infant. Clarke wrote off the deaths as fake news, according to the UPI report. His tough on crime policy includes supporting the stop and frisk program, calling for longer jail sentences for low-level drug offenders and tweeting stories about the crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Incidentally, if his appointment to the DHS is confirmed, he will be in the center of guiding and advising policy for one of Trumps key agendas tracking down and deporting unauthorized immigration in the United States. People were quick to send out their less-than-happy reactions to the Clarke's statement. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said: "Our country deserves better. He heavily criticized Clarkes "gratuitous name calling, insults of other public officials, questioning judges' sentences," UPI reported. California Sen. Kamala Harris had a similar reaction. In the wake of Trumps campaign members being investigated by the FBI for possible collusion with the Russians, people were also quick to point out that Clarke visited Moscow in December 2015, and met a Russian officer. The evidence of this fact is a picture of the two together that was tweeted by Clarke. Related Articles A New York City CEO, her two young sons and a second adult are feared dead after the plane they were flying through the Bermuda Triangle Monday mysteriously disappeared. Jennifer Blumin, her sons, ages 3 and 4, and 52-year-old Nathan Ulrich of New Hampshire, were en route from Puerto Rico but never arrived to their destination in Central Florida. Read: Brazilian Goalkeeper Made Final Phone Call to His Wife Before Dying of Plane Crash Injuries Air traffic controllers in Miami lost radio contact with the MU-2B aircraft three hours into the flight, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Even more troubling, a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew located a debris field 15 miles east of Eleuthera, Bahamas, on Tuesday The helicopter crew was able to lower a rescue swimmer and retrieve some of the debris to transfer ashore for identification. "There's no indication of significant adverse weather at the time," Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly told The Associated Press. Blumin heads up the New York City event planning firm Skylight Group. Nathan Ulrich is the ex-husband of Rae Dawn Chong, the daughter of "Cheech and Chong" actor Tommy Chong. "My ex-hubby's (Nathan Ulrich) plane is missing over the Bermuda Triangle. I am sad and in shock. So send prayers to his family. Thanks." Ms. Chong posted on Twitter after the news broke. Watch: Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Your Chances of Surviving a Plane Crash A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is monitoring the case and coordinating with the Coast Guard and Civil Air Patrol. The Customs and Border Patrol and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force are also assisting in the investigation. Watch: Harrison Ford's Plane Narrowly Misses Jetliner With 116 People Aboard Related Articles: New York (AFP) - A US Navy veteran with a criminal past -- but no apparent terror motive -- rammed a car into a crowd of people in New York's Times Square on Thursday, killing a young woman and injuring 22 other people. The midday incident sparked fear in the heart of America's most populous city after deadly car-ramming attacks in London, Berlin and the French city of Nice, but authorities said there was no evidence the crash was terror-related. Times Square, next to the famed Broadway theater district, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US financial capital and where police stepped up patrols in recent years after a car bomb was planted in 2010. "Based on the information we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the scene. "That being said, we are reinforcing key locations around the city with our anti-terror units of the NYPD so out of an abundance of caution, major sites in the city will get additional police coverage," he added. Richard Rojas, a 26-year-old from the Bronx stopped twice in the past for drunk driving, drove his Honda onto the sidewalk at 11:55 am (1555 GMT), smashing into pedestrians for three blocks at high speed, police said. The vehicle collided with a metal pole and came to a stop at 45th Street and Broadway, police said. The vehicle flipped onto its side, smoke and flames spewing out of the hood as the injured littered the ground. An 18-year-old woman was killed and 22 other victims were injured, including the woman's 13-year-old sister, officials said. Four were in critical condition. Witnesses spoke of fear and panic as the car hurtled through the crowd at the start of the lunch hour as people enjoyed one of the first warm days of summer in an area typically packed with tourists and office workers. "There was a maroon car just careening at high speed. It seemed like it was trying to hit everybody," witness Annie Donahey told AFP. Story continues - 'Happened so quickly' - "There were people on top of the hood that were being flown over the sides and the girl who had been walking next to me... was in a heap on the ground, and she was clearly dead, and it just happened so quickly," she added. Rojas was arrested and will be tested for drugs and alcohol, police said. "The perpetrator is in custody. He's a United States citizen and a former member of the armed forces with the United States Navy," de Blasio told reporters. New York police said Rojas was arrested for driving under the influence in 2008 and 2015, and detained earlier this month for menacing. The US Navy said he served from September 2011 to May 2014, reaching the rank of electrician's mate fireman apprentice. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, and had been based in Florida, Illinois and South Carolina. Broadway announced that shows would run as scheduled Thursday but urged theatergoers to allow extra time to arrive "due to an active investigation" in the Times Square area and road closures. A pipe bomb exploded last September in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, lightly wounding 31 people in the last terror-related incident in New York. An American of Afghan descent, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, was charged. Times Square was the scene of the most serious security alert in New since the September 11, 2001 attacks when Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant, planted a car bomb at the intersection on May 1, 2010. His explosive device failed to detonate and he was arrested shortly after boarding a flight to the Middle East. He pleaded guilty and said he was aiming to avenge deaths from US missiles fired from drones operating over Pakistan. He was sentenced to life behind bars. NASA is set to launch an Indian teenagers tiny satellite next month after the space enthusiast designed what he is calling the most lightweight one around. According to a report in the BBC, 18-year-old Rifath Sharooks device is just 0.14 pounds and was 3D printed from a carbon fiber material. It was selected for NASAs mission in a youth design competition called Cubes in Space in April. Read: Watch NASA Satellites Orbit Earth In Mesmerizing Loops On June 22, it will launch from a NASA facility in Virginia and take a suborbital flight lasting a few hours, during which time it will operate for several minutes to see how well it works under those microgravity conditions. While the small satellite will enter space during the flight, it will not orbit the Earth, Quartz reported. Sharook told the Business Standard that the satellite was made from scratch with a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation and the magnetosphere of the Earth. The satellite is called KalamSat, named for the former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a famous rocket scientist who died a couple of years ago. Sharook is from the Tamil Nadu state in India. The BBC reported that works in a city there called Chennai, as a lead scientists at the science education organization Space Kidz India. Read: Elon Musks SpaceX Wants to Launch Thousands of High-Speed Internet Satellites In an interview with the Indian publication Student Stories, Sharook was quoted as saying that he grew up talking about space with his scientist father, who died in 2008. I used to tell him that one day I will launch a real satellite, the teen said. Now thats coming true but he is no more with me. According to Sharook, his goal in life is to start a private space company like SpaceX in his home country. When asked about his role models, he said he didnt have any: I want to be the first Rifath, not second Edison or anyone else. Story continues He also told other students to aim high and not to give up on their goals. People say even sky is not the limit, he said. But for us, sky is just the beginning. Related Articles Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's government on Thursday retracted its announcement that another Chibok girl was free, saying she was not one of the 219 whose kidnapping more than three years ago caused global outrage. The presidency said on Wednesday evening that the teenager was picked up by the military after fleeing from Boko Haram jihadists. But Laolu Akande, spokesman for Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, later tweeted that the girl was a junior secondary school "student from Chibok community". In a text message to AFP on Thursday, he said the 15-year-old was "not part of the 219". Osinbajo is currently deputising for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is in London on medical leave. In the Nigerian education system, junior secondary school is for pupils aged between 10 and 15. The 219 Chibok girls were in their final year of senior secondary school (SSS3). The #BringBackOurGirls group, which has been campaigning for the release of the Chibok girls, also said the girl's name was not in their records. "We've perused our list but can't find the name of the returnee said to be 1 of our #ChibokGirls," it said on its Twitter account. "Whether 1 of our missing #ChibokGirls or not, we are excited over everyone who regains their freedom & we look forward to all returning." Boko Haram kidnapped 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote town in Borno state on the evening of April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven escaped in the hours that followed but 219 were not so lucky. Since then, 106 girls have been found, rescued or released, including 82 who were freed earlier this month in a prisoner swap deal for a number of Boko Haram suspects in custody. In May 2016, just hours after the first Chibok girl was found, the military said a second had been rescued. The girl later turned out to be a younger student at the same school, who was also kidnapped but not part of the 219. Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of young women and girls during its eight-year insurgency to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Young men and boys have also been forcibly recruited to fight in the jihadists' ranks. The white police officer who fatally shot Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man whose car stalled in the middle of the road in Tulsa, Oklahoma last year, was found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday evening. Jurors deliberated for nine hours before acquitting the officer, 42-year-old Betty Shelby. Shelby was responding to an unrelated call on Sept. 16, 2016, when she approached Crutchers vehicle. According to CNN, Shelby said she fired at Crutcher, 40, because he reached into his car. On Monday, she told the court that she feared for her life. The Tulsa Police Department claimed that Crutcher failed to comply with orders from Shelby and the other officers who were on the scene. Videos of the incident, which captured several angles of the shooting, showed police with their guns pointed at Crutcher as he calmly walked toward his car with his hands above his head. Moments later, he was shot. After the fatal shooting, Shelby was charged with felony manslaughter. Her attorneys claimed she feared Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a hallucinogenic drug. Police found PCP in Crutchers car, and an autopsy report later revealed that Crutcher had the drug in his system at the time of his death. Crutchers family, who maintain that the shooting was unjustified, accused the police of using the drug possession to deflect attention from the fact that Crutcher was unarmed when police shot him, The Associated Press reported. Crutchers twin sister Tiffany told reporters after the shooting that he was a father who was just trying to make his family proud. Story continues That big bad dude was a father. That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, Tiffany Crutcher said. She added that Crutcher loved God and would sing at church every week. Friends of Crutcher described him to The Associated Press as a friendly and generous person who went to church and was trying to turn his life around. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Shelby overreacted, and pointed out that Crutcher was not acting combative when he was confronted by police, per ABC News. Crutchers family said they were disappointed by the verdict, NBC News reported, and called the Tulsa Police Department corrupt. At a press conference, Tiffany Crutcher accused police of a cover-up. All the elements of manslaughter was there, she said. Terences hands were up. Terence did not attack her, Terence did not charge her. Terence was not the aggressor, Betty Shelby was the aggressor. About 100 protestors who gathered outside of the courthouse yelled Hands up! Dont shoot! after the verdict was handed down, the Tulsa World reported. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) then asked residents and protestors to respect the verdict and remain calm. Those who disagree with the verdict have the right to express their opinions, Fallin said in an official statement. I just ask that they do so in a peaceful manner. Hours later, peaceful demonstrators collected outside of the Mayo Hotel in downtown Tulsa, where Shelby is believed to be staying, per Fox 23 News. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. #BettyShelby was allegedly spotted at the Mayo Hotel in downtown #Tulsa Hotel workers cover glass pic.twitter.com/9ap7mIkhY3 Honey Caranzo (@HoneyCaranzo) May 18, 2017 A pastor is trying to reason with the crowd of protesters at the Mayo Hotel. #bettyshelby #TerenceCrutcher pic.twitter.com/uyeumaJztY Andrea Eger (@AndreaEger) May 18, 2017 CORRECTION: This article initially misstated that Shelby was found not guilty of first-degree murder; she was charged, rather, with manslaughter, as indicated in the headline. Also on HuffPost Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza before a march to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. A protester stands in Freedom Plaza before the march against police violence. Young protesters hold signs in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. A protester in Freedom Plaza that Saturday. Protesters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza for the march to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Protesters in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol. Protesters pose for a photo in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol. Protesters head toward the U.S. Capitol. Protesters rally in the nation's capital on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters in Washington on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters rally in Washington on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters in Freedom Plaza on Dec, 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. Georgetown Law students protest at Freedom Plaza that Saturday. Protesters in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. Protesters gather in Freedom Plaza before marching to the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. Al Sharpton speaks to protesters gathered in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, speaks to people gathered in Freedom Plaza on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march toward the U.S. Capitol. Filmmaker Spike Lee participates in a march on the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2014. Protesters march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Photo credit: JENNIFER MCMAHON AT JENNIFER ARIEL PHOTOGRAPHY From Redbook Most husbands would do anything to support their wife throughout her pregnancy, but what about when a husband's job has him stationed thousands of miles away? That was the case for Veronica and Brandon Phillips when Phillip found himself deployed overseas in the Air Force while Veronica was pregnant with the couple's first child back home in Miami. When Veronica decided to do a maternity shoot, she wanted to include Brandon in the experience and shine a light on the reality of pregnancy for so many military families. With the help of photographer Jennifer McMahon, she was able to find a creative way to make Brandon a part of the shoot even while he was overseas. Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography McMahon employed photoshop to combine two photos, one from Veronica's maternity shoot and one of Brandon posing in his Air Force uniform with a desert landscape in the background. In the emotional collage, he seems to be reaching across into her side of the photo to put his hand on her belly. "I had seen many photos where people were Photoshopped in, and I have Photoshopped siblings together before to look like one seamless photo," McMahon told The Huffington Post. "After playing around with several edits for a few days and many hours of editing, I posted the one I thought told the best story and would evoke emotion in all who saw it." She ended up picking the right one. After she shared the photo on Facebook and Instagram, it touched the hearts of thousands on social media. "I am so honored that my photo could do that," she said. "I know it's not even the best photo, but it's the story that it tells that means so much to people." Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography The Phillips' really touched McMahon. "It broke my heart when Veronica told me her story. I couldn't imagine. And to think it's a regular occurrence. This is what it means to serve our country," she said. And according to McMahon, Brandon was happy to have this common experience shared so beautifully. "Brandon said he was 'happy my wife gives military women a voice through pictures,'" she said. Even if he wasn't physically there for the process, the picture shows both of their commitment to their unique family unit. Story continues Check out more photos from Veronica's shoot below: Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography Photo credit: Jennifer McMahon at Jennifer Ariel Photography [h/t The Huffington Post] Follow Redbook on Facebook. You Might Also Like cameronabadi Having previously promised to get the United States out of the nation-building business, President Trump is contemplating sending 3,000 to 5,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Its a move that is said to be strongly backed by White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster (reportedly leading some in the White House to dub it McMasters War). It is also reminiscent of the situation Barack Obama faced back in 2009. Military officials pushed hard for an even bigger troop increase then, and a neophyte president bowed to the pressure despite his clear misgivings. Obamas surge ultimately accomplished nothing as some of us warned at the time and this new effort to kick the can down the road is likely to suffer a similar fate. I dont really think Trump understands any of the underlying issues, but McMaster who served for several years in Afghanistan and has the reputation of being an independent thinker should. Here are five questions someone should ask McMaster about this new policy, along with some background to each one. Question No. 1: What is the strategic purpose behind this move, and how does it advance U.S. national interests? Background: The United States has been fighting in Afghanistan for so long that it is easy to forget why were there. In fact, Im not sure I know anymore. We originally went there to oust the Taliban, after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. But in a textbook illustration of mission creep, that original purpose soon morphed into a broad and open-ended and largely unsuccessful effort to support Afghanistans democratic transformation. Back in 2009, Barack Obama justified his decision to send thousands of additional U.S. troops by saying the United States had to keep Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda. But this rationale was always questionable, because al Qaeda already had better safe havens elsewhere and denying them access to Afghan territory would not reduce their capabilities very much if at all. Story continues Nor is it clear that sending more soldiers to Central Asia today will make Americans safer back home. It wont destroy the Taliban, al Qaeda, the Islamic State, or other radicals, and more likely may aid their recruiting, just as U.S. interference has in the past. Moreover, the actual danger Americans face from terrorism is in fact quite modest (though not zero), and best addressed by improved homeland security measures rather than by costly and endless nation-building efforts far from home. I suspect the proposed reinforcement is designed to show were serious, halt the Talibans current momentum, and force it to the bargaining table. Thats an appealing notion, except the Trump team doesnt have a diplomatic strategy in place and 5,000 more troops wont be enough to turn the tide and convince our opponents to concede. My fear, of course, is that the real purpose of this new move is simply to delay the admission of defeat, so that the top brass doesnt have to admit it failed and a president who portrays himself as a winner wont have to watch Afghanistan collapse on his watch. But thats a pretty poor reason to demand more money from American taxpayers and additional sacrifices from U.S. troops. Question No. 2: What is the United States going to do about the Talibans cross-border sanctuaries? Background: The Taliban has long relied on sanctuaries in Pakistan and backing from Pakistani intelligence agencies. If Pakistan continues to tolerate the Talibans presence and provide some level of active support and it almost certainly will it will be nearly impossible for the United States or the Afghan army to defeat them on the ground. Why? Because they can slip across the border to safety whenever they are outgunned and live to fight another day. Heres the issue: Will this latest U.S. force increase do anything to alter this situation? If not, why expect it to succeed when past U.S. efforts failed? After all, the United States and the rest of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could not defeat the Taliban when there were more than 100,000 foreign troops in-country; how will raising the present number from roughly 13,000 to 18,000 make a difference without a fundamental change of heart in Islamabad? Question No. 3: Will Kabul ever get its act together? Background: A prerequisite for a successful counterinsurgency campaign is a capable and legitimate local partner. This condition has been sorely lacking in Afghanistan, whose government is deeply corrupt and politically divided and whose security forces remain fragile and unreliable despite receiving billions of dollars of outside aid and countless hours of training by the U.S. and other militaries. This sorry situation helps explain why the governments forces keep losing to their less well-armed and less lavishly supported rivals and why the governments troops must still be propped up by an outside presence. So how will sending a few thousand more U.S. troops address the endemic problems of the Afghan central government? Isnt business-as-usual far more likely, especially when local officials realize Uncle Sucker is still willing to back them no matter what and still pouring in money that just fuels more corruption? Why should we expect this new effort to succeed when past efforts have foundered? Question No. 4: What is your definition of victory, and whats the anticipated timeline? Background: Back in 2009, Barack Obama erred by setting a public deadline for his so-called surge. He did so to assuage public concerns about an open-ended commitment (and possibly to signal to the military that he couldnt be rolled completely), but this misstep told our opponents just how long they had to wait before the United States began to leave and reduced their incentive to bargain. Not surprisingly, the deadline passed, the Afghan army wasnt ready to take over, and the United States was still fighting in Afghanistan when Obama left office. Trump may avoid this particular mistake, but he should have some idea of what success would look like and how long it will take to achieve. At what point could the United States declare victory and really mean it? Is it when there isnt a single violent extremist left anywhere in Afghanistan? That is clearly an impossible task. Is it when the Taliban formally agrees to lay down all of its weapons and IEDs and transform themselves into a normal political party? Thats slightly more realistic, but wont happen any time soon, if ever. Is it when the various warring parties strike a power-sharing deal that aims to end the fighting once and for all? Maybe, but whats to stop the war from resuming afterwards? I ask all these questions because U.S. policy in Afghanistan seems to have no clear direction or destination. Our troops and political advisors no doubt have plenty of goals and checklists and missions to perform and metrics with which to measure progress, but we seem to have lost sight of what genuine success would be and whether it is achievable in our lifetimes. I would love to know what McMaster thinks victory would be in this context. Question No. 5: You first gained fame as the author of Dereliction of Duty, a courageous and insightful critique of military leadership during the Vietnam War. The book is a damning indictment of both civilian and military leadership during that war, and you criticized senior military leaders for not confronting President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara more effectively over their handling of the war. Are you concerned the same thing might be happening today, and that you and your colleagues might be making a similar mistake? Background: Upward of 20 different generals have commanded the U.S. or ISAF effort in Afghanistan, going all the way back to 2001. None of them succeeded. The original attempt to capture bin Laden was bungled and today the Taliban control more territory than at any time since they were toppled in 2001. Yet over the past decade, a parade of U.S. commanders have offered Congress and the American people guarded but upbeat reports of our progress and assured them success was still achievable if we stayed the course. All it will take is more drone strikes, a few thousand more troops, a few billion dollars more each year, and more time. Does this situation sound familiar? Dont get me wrong: We expect our military to win when it is committed to battle, and we certainly dont want commanders who are eager to cut their losses at the first sign of adversity. Even when the ultimate decision to fight rests with civilians, no military organization likes to admit it cannot accomplish the missions that politicians and the public expect of them (even if those missions are unrealistic). But these otherwise admirable qualities are a liability if they discourage military leaders from giving their civilian masters a brutally honest assessment of what the use of force can and cannot do, and a candid assessment of our prospects for success. Sean Spicer never sent me my complimentary White House press pass, so Im unlikely to get a chance to ask Gen. McMaster these questions directly. But maybe somebody else will. Ideally, Trump, as commander in chief, would ask them himself. But for some reason I dont think thats likely. Photo credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North Koreas missile test on May 14 sparked condemnation and concern. But one world leader spoke up for Pyongyang, warning the international community to exercise caution and patience and stop intimidating the state and its ruler. That man was Russian president Vladimir Putin. One might think that Moscow would be extremely concerned about North Koreas missile tests. Russia, after all, is one of only three countries to have a land border with North Korea (measuring all of 17km). Its territory in the east is incomparably more vulnerable to a strike from North Korea than the US is. The Kremlin is also interested in preserving the exclusivity of nuclear club membership. Yet President Putins reaction to North Koreas latest test (the missile even landed in Russian economic waters) was surprisingly sanguine. So what is Russias game plan here? In simple terms, North Korea is just not at the top of Russias list of security concerns. This is instead dominated by Ukraine, Syria, relations with NATO and the terrorist threat from radical Islamic groups. So, while its priorities are engaged elsewhere, the Kremlin is happy to let Beijing take the lead over North Korea. Their core interests coincide in not allowing the US a greater military presence in Korea, while China has a much deeper strategic interest in the fate of North Korea. At the same time, Moscow sees itself as potentially playing a useful diplomatic role between different parties over Korea, gaining in its overall international standing. The political elite in Russia also understands the logic of having nuclear weapons as the only firm guarantee against regime change. In the 1990s it resorted to nuclear sabre rattling in the face of Western criticism of its war in Chechnya. Boris Yeltsin, on his last foreign trip as Russian president in 1999, reminded Bill Clinton that Russia as a nuclear power wont let the US determine the rules for the rest of the world. So, unlike many in the West, the Kremlin doesnt see the regime in Pyongyang as crazy or irrational. In fact, from Russias perspective, Western interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, and support for Maidan protesters in Ukraine are far more dangerous to Russia than North Koreas quest for nuclear weapons. Story continues Yet, ironically, Russia is perhaps the only country in the region which genuinely wouldnt mind if the tensions between North and South Korea were resolved, and the countries reunited. South Korea, for example, would be apprehensive about the huge costs and potential instability a reunification with the North could bring particularly given the enormous gap in development and living standards between the two Koreas. And while it would welcome the end of the most immediate security threat to itself, Japan might have concerns about a potential rival in a unified Korea which would nearly match it in terms of size and population. Relations between the two countries are still tense after World War Two and other post-colonial legacies from the Japanese rule in the Korean peninsula. Russian reasoning Most importantly of all, for China, the continuing existence of North Korea, though annoying to the Chinese leadership, still serves as an indispensable strategic buffer against the threat of a land invasion. The US maintains a sizeable military presence in South Korea, but its presence on the Chinese border, which would be possible if the Kim regime simply collapsed, is something that Beijing will never accept. Likewise, for the US, the continuing threat from North Korea is the best excuse to maintain its military presence in the region ostensibly to counter Pyongyang, but in the long run also to contain China. Against those concerns, Russia doesnt have much to lose from the disappearance of the Pyongyang regime. It does though have plenty to gain in terms of potential new economic projects with a unified Korea, such as a gas pipeline (Russias favourite foreign trade undertaking) or new rail links. Plus, if unification also meant the removal of the US presence (as Chinese would surely insist on), then the end of the division in the Korean peninsula would mean a more favourable balance of power in East Asia, as well as a new economic partner. So for now, Russia is happy with the status quo and does not wish the conflict to escalate to unacceptably dangerous levels. But while Putin calls for calm, its also clear that Moscow will never see the North Korean problem through the Western lens. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The Conversation Alexander Titov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above. Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow could provide a recording of the exchange between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US President Donald Trump, but his aide later suggested he had meant a written transcript. "If the US administration finds it possible, we are ready to provide a recording of the conversation between Lavrov and Trump to the US Congress and Senate," Putin said during a press conference. He mocked the idea that Trump went off-script to share secrets with the Russians, saying he could issue a "reprimand" to Lavrov since he hasn't passed on the information. "(Lavrov) didn't share these secrets with us -- neither with me nor with the representatives of the Russian security services. That is very bad of him," Putin said to sniggers from the audience as he answered questions after talks with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the southern Russian city of Sochi. Although Putin used the Russian word for audio recording at the press conference, his foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that "audio is not made." "There is a recording kept by a special person present at conversations," Ushakov told Russian news agencies. Citing unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported that Trump had shared intelligence with Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on airplanes. According to sources cited in the report, that intelligence came from a US ally who had not authorised Washington to pass it on to Moscow. Putin slammed critics who spread allegations about Trump's ties with Russia. "What else will the people generating such drivel and nonsense think of next?" he said. "They are shaking up their internal politics while using anti-Russian slogans." "They either don't understand that they are hurting their own country, and then they are simply dumb, or they understand everything and then they are dangerous and corrupt," Putin added. Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail has clashed with pro-Syrian Kurdish protesters resulting in hospital admissions and arrests during the Turkish presidents visit to Washington DC. Dozens of protesters carrying flags associated with the Syrian Kurdish PYD party and anti-Turkey protest signs gathered outside the Turkish ambassadors residence on Tuesday during Mr Erdogans visit to the building. Shocking video filmed by eyewitnesses show several men in dark suits - later identified as members of the visiting Turkish delegation - rushing at the protesters, punching and knocking several of them to the ground. trump-dismiss.jpg At an appearance Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan Mr Trump said he was fighting terrorism (AP) An elderly man holding a megaphone was kicked in the face, and several women were also hit. Police officers can be seen attempting to hold some of the aggressors back, dragging them to the other side of the road, in footage distributed by Voice of America. All of the sudden they just ran towards us, demonstrator Lucy Usoyan told ABC News. Someone was beating me in the head nonstop, and I thought, Okay, Im on the ground already, what is the purpose to beat me? The violence led to nine hospital admissions and two arrests, a police department spokesperson said, without elaborating on the nature of the incident. President Erdogan met with US President Donald Trump earlier on Tuesday. While both leaders reiterated the strong ties between the two Nato countries and a united desire to fight terrorism, the visit comes amid strained relations thanks to the US decision last week to publicly fund and arm Kurdish militias in Syria fighting Isis. Turkey views the separatist Kurdistan Peoples Party (PKK) and its affiliates in Syria, the PYD, as terrorist organisations - but the US sees Kurdish militias as the most effective ground forces against the extremist organisation. Tuesdays protest was organised by Kurds, Yazidis and Armenians whom are critical of Turkeys intervention in the Syrian civil war and President Erdogans human rights record. Robin Wright (Photo: Getty Images) Robin Wright may be advocating for equality in the film business, but she has no problem discussing red carpet fashion. Youre a woman, you wear a dress, and people say, Why wont they ask about the men and their tuxedoes and suits? Because theyre all wearing the same thing, Wright said at a talk for Women in Motion in Cannes on Thursday morning. Wright, in town to promote her short film The Dark of Night, walked the red carpet at the Palais de Festival the night before for the opening ceremony. While most other ladies wore gowns, Wright showed leg in a super-sexy Saint Laurent fall 2017 crystal-embellished mini. That red carpet, its always going to be about the fashion. Thats why its there, thats why people are stopped on that red carpet because theyre wearing a designers piece. And youre there to sell, youre doing them a favor. And they are doing you a favor by giving you publicity. Its a give-and-take. The House of Cards first lady, who joked that Donald Trump has stolen all their ideas for Season 6, revealed she has not modeled Claire Underwood after a real-life politician. She does, however, have wishes for who the first female president should be. I was thinking about the year 2024 I want to keep this vision of, I want Michele Obama up there. Shed be a great female candidate. It does take time to break the mold. Robin Wright in Saint Laurent. (Photo: Getty Images) In regards to inequality in film, Wright believes change will come. I think its just a matter of time and breaking an old school of thought, opening up perspective. What she doesnt like is how the word feminism is regarded. Feminism, today, has become such a derogatory, diva-like word. Feminism means equality. Equal work, equal pay. The most sexist thing thats ever happened to Wright is a doozy. I was 17 and in Paris, and I went in for a go-see. The director said, I liked the other ones [breasts] better. That was during the audition. I didnt get the job. Her advice for women: You dont have to yell. You can just stand your ground, speak your truth, and amplify your voice in that way. We dont want to be treated with more disparity, just join forces. Story continues Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Greetings from Las Vegas, where Im attending the annual hedge-fund conference run by investing firm Skybridge Capital, known as the SALT Conference. Here are a few of the notable moments from Day 2 of the conference: UPDATE, 10:45 pm ET, May 17, 2017 Billionaire investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management riffed on how Donald Trump can save his presidency. Julia LaRoche captured it nicely. Ackman also discussed his big investment in Chipotle, saying he started buying when the stock was around $380. Its now at about $485. Why does he like Chipotle? Its the highest quality food you can buy at the lowest price. He eats there sometimes. Ackman thinks the recently troubled fresh casual chain has lots of room to grow, because it still doesnt offer breakfast or deserts or late hours, unlike, say, McDonalds, which is trying to everything to eke out growth. Finally, Ackman discussed his failed investment in Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which cost him a reported $4 billion or so, most likely his biggest loss ever. Our biggest mistake on Valeant was that we were incredibly dependent on management, he said. Selling Valeant [at a huge loss] was one of the best things we did. It got the organization totally focused on what was core to us. The result, he said, was one big trade Pershing Square is executing now, and might publicize in a couple of months, and another big move its getting ready to execute. UPDATE, 5:15 pm ET, May 18, 2017 Famed investor Jim Chanos, president of Kynikos Associates, unloaded on two of his favorite targets: Tesla and Donald Trump. Chanos, who is short Tesla, criticized Wall Street analysts who base high valuations of the stock on earnings projections for 2020 or 2025, even as the company bleeds money today. In a low interest rate environment, when its a company with a visionary CEO, investors are willing to forget about current losses, Chanos told reporters on the sidelines of the SALT conference. People are valuing this on 2025 earnings while the analysts cant predict whats going to happen next quarter. Story continues Tesla shares have soared since last fall, in part because of anticipation that the firms forthcoming Model 3 will be a hit. But Chanos isnt buying it. Its a capital-intensive business with negative cash flow, huge debts, and a management team with a cavalier regard for the truth, he said. If you wouldnt be short this, what would you be short? Chanos, a Democrat, also took aim at President Trump, pointing out that Richard Nixons approval ratings were higher on the day he resigned than Trumps are now. This administration is dysfunctional, he said. I I think markets are hoping for VP Pence being president. Chanos, who lectures at the Yale School of Management, said hes teaching a course on the history of financial market fraud that involves a segment on the hotels and casinos Trump has owned, including the four casino bankruptcies Trump has been involved with. Asked if he feels Trumps business dealings were fraudulent or just unfortunate, Chanos said, the course focuses on fraud. If you look at SEC filings, he got caught a few times manipulating his earnings. His operating acumen was not very good. Earlier, Chanos gave a presentation on a new strategy to short Express Scripts and Malinckrodt on account of high drug prices, which Julia LaRoche wrote about. ORIGINAL POST, 12:30 pm ET, May 18, 2017 John Brennan, former CIA Director, said that like President Trump, he was troubled by all the leaks coming from intelligence sources in Washington. The real damage to US national security is the leaks, he said. I wrote a separate story about this, which you can read here. Brennan also said one of his biggest regrets as CIA Director under President Obama, from 2013 to 2017, was the failure to halt the Syrian Civil War: One of my biggest regrets is seeing a beautiful country like Syria undergo many years of destruction and genocide. He seems to believe a lot more turmoil lies ahead in the Middle East: The Arab spring was just a preview of what will be coming in some years in some countries. And he seems to hope for a coup in North Korea, with senior officials there concluding at some point that they must get rid of dictator Kim Jong Un on their own: Maybe there are people around Kim Jong Un who are going to say enough is enough. [See Updates on day 1 of the SALT Conference] There was a discussion on politics involving Republicans Karl Rove and David Bossie, and Democrats Donna Brazile and Josh Earnest. A lot of this was backward-looking, including discussion about the 2016 election, but there were a couple of interesting comments. Karl Rove said that Trumps presidency is not over. Hes got troubles. Big troubles. The appointment of Bob Mueller is good for President Trump. Hes not gonna go in there and say Ive gotta have a scalp. At the end of it the American people will have confidence in the outcome. Donna Brazile, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the Democratic party is in the wilderness. We cannot survive simply by being an anti-Trump party. David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, gave a primer on what kind of legislation is likely to come out of the Trump administration. Rubenstein is an old Washington hand who worked in the Carter administration before founding Carlyle, and interacts regularly with dozens of members of Congress. His message: Dont expect much. If youre in the investment world and looking for relief from Congress, you should look elsewhere, he said. Rubenstein thinks at best, the corporate tax rate might come down from 35% to 25%. There could be some small tax cuts, without offsetting revenue gains, which means the deficit will go up. The reason: Congress is as divided today as it was under President Obama. Rubenstein also encouraged the wealthy financiers in the audience to be generous with their money and do more to give back to society. If you can afford to come here, you are no doubt in the one-tenth of 1%, he said. Ive enjoyed making a lot of money, but Ive enjoyed giving it away more. Investor Dan Loeb of Third Point Capital spent 30 minutes on stage, sharing his thoughts on the economy and the investing climate. But it was off-the-record, even though several hundred people were in attendance. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com Read more from the SALT Conference: Elite investors are souring on Trump A rolling update from the SALT conference, Day 1 Scaramucci: Trump could still be one of our best presidents in the modern era Big money pros predict next big trade Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. By Sarah B. Boxer These days, with news surrounding the White House and its relationship to Russia at a fever pitch, and the number of probes adding up by the day, all eyes are on the man leading the congressional investigation: Rep. Adam Schiff. The California congressman has been in office since 2001, and has never shied away from cameras. But his role as ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has sent his name recognition skyrocketing. I was a pretty visible spokesperson on national security issues, he tells Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric. But over the last few weeks, it obviously has reached a completely different level. It has its amusing aspects. My kids have found new reasons to mock their father which they enjoy endlessly. The father of two hails from the Boston suburbs and grew up in a bipartisan home his mother a Republican and his father a democrat. Schiff says that it was another Massachusetts family, however, that ultimately made him lean left. You know, it may have had something to do with growing up in Boston in, sort of, the shadow of the Kennedy administration. The Kennedy ethic of service in the public interest was in the air. I think you cant help but breathe it in, growing up in that environment, he says. After Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Schiff served as a federal prosecutor in California. In the late 1980s, he prosecuted an FBI agent Richard Miller who passed secrets to the Soviets after being lured by a Russian spy named Svetlana. (Theyre always named Svetlana, he jokes to Couric.) Miller became the first FBI agent to be indicted for espionage. Schiff tells Couric the lessons from the case feel full circle in his dealings today. I learned a lot in the case about Russian tradecraft how they do what they do, who they target, how they identify people that would be, you know, likely to be turned, what theyre interested in, what kind of classified information. Story continues Schiffs knowledge of Russian dealings might make him the right man at the right time. But he acknowledges that his position of power is fraught with controversy (particularly when he successfully called for his committee co-chair, Devin Nunes, to recuse himself from the Russia investigation) and laments the inability of Congress to move the needle these days. Its Groundhog Day here 365 days a year, he said. Its just going over and over and over. And the real challenge to the country right now is weve had a dysfunctional Congress for some time. We now also have a dysfunctional presidency. And we havent faced that before. At least one body or the other had been functional and could act as a check on the excesses or impulses or dysfunctionality of the other. We now have both dysfunctional bodies. This is as true a test as of our democracy as weve had, he added. I think were gonna pass the test notwithstanding ourselves, in a way because I have that much faith in our democracy. But it is surely straining the foundation right now. Schiff tells Couric that he might seek higher statewide office in California at some point, but repeatedly told her he has no intentions of running for president. Absolutely no? she pressed. But Schiff remains demure about the notion. Whenever youre suddenly in the spotlight, theres a great risk of it going to your head, he said. And Im doing everything I can to make sure that none of this goes to my head. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he is ready to provide Congress a transcript of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin's press conference came amid controversy surrounding Trump's alleged disclosure of classified information to Russian officials last week. Putin said the transcript could be provided, "if the US administration finds it appropriate," CNN reported. Read: Trump Denies Sharing Classified Intel To Russians In A Series Of Tweets Just a day after the Washington Post claimed Trump disclosed classified intel in a White House meeting about a planned Islamic State group (ISIS) operation, the New York Times claimed the information allegedly discussed came from Israel. On Tuesday, Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke over a phone call for over 20 minutes. However, officials claimed that there was no discussion of classified information during the call. Senior officials told Haaretz Tuesday night that Trump and Netanyahu talked about the upcoming Israel visit of the U.S. president. Trump made the phone call to Netanyahu soon after talking with Jordan's King Abdullah II, after which the White House had released a statement. However, the call with Netanyahu was not publicized either by the White House or the Prime Minister's Office. Haaretz reported that Netanyahu's office confirmed the phone call took place. "The conversation dealt with a few issues that needed to be concluded regarding President Trump's visit to Israel," Haaretz quoted an anonymous source. Regarding the allegations in the New York Times report, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer said in an e-mailed statement: "Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump." Story continues White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, refused to comment on whether Israel is the source of the classified information Trump is alleged to have shared with the Russian officials. However, he offered appreciation at the ambassador's comment on the U.S.-Israeli relationship. Spicer said during the press conference: "We appreciate the strong relationship that we have with Israel with respect to intelligence-sharing, and hope to continue to grow that bond. But I'm not going to comment on specifically where it came from." On Tuesday, Trump defended himself over the alleged disclosure of classified intel saying that he shared information related to "terrorism" and "airline flight safety." On Monday, the Washington Post reported Trump did not disclose the exact source used for the intel, but he provided code-word information, apparently connected to an ISIS plot related to the use of laptops on board passenger aircrafts. Following the Post's report, the White House rejected the claims, with H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser, saying the president and Russian foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation. "The story that came out tonight as reported is false," McMaster told reporters at the White House Monday. "At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. I was in the room. It didn't happen." Meanwhile, Trump drew strong condemnation from Democrats as well as some Republican lawmakers. "The disclosure of highly classified information has the potential to jeopardize sources and to discourage our allies from sharing future information vital to our security," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. The president and the White House continue to deny the allegations. Related Articles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan tried to tamp down the furor on Wednesday over reports that President Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to quash part of his Russia investigation, saying "we need the facts" and adding he has confidence in the president. "I'm sure we're going to want to hear from Mr. Comey if this happens as he allegedly describes; why didn't he take action at the time? So there are a lot of unanswered questions," Ryan told reporters. "What I told our members is: now is the time to gather all the pertinent information." Asked if he had confidence in Trump, Ryan said, "I do." (Reporting by Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by W Simon) Darby Stanchfield (Photo: Getty Images) Darby Stanchfield goes the distance for her art. Even when it calls for getting dirty. I couldnt wash my hair for six days. I could have, but I was on camera the whole time and it was so muggy there that my hair couldnt dry in time. By the end, I was a little itchy to get back to washing my hair, she tells Yahoo Style. No, shes not referring to her day job, on ABCs Thursday stalwart Scandal, as the outspoken, opinionated Abby Whelan, a former member of Olivia Popes crisis management firm (aka a Gladiator) and now a powerful and powerfully shady chief of staff. Stanchfield shed her D.C. suits and explored a very different side of herself while heading to Indonesia to film a documentary about the making of Pure Leaf teas, shot at a remote tea estate. For the actress, who was born in Alaska and grew up on her dads fishing boat, it was almost like being back home almost. Im a crazy outdoors person. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in a fishing town. So when Pure Leaf came to me, it felt like a good fit. We ended up spending most of our time in this isolated, tiny tea estate in the middle of nowhere, says Stanchfield. Darby Stanchfield picking tea leaves. (Photo: Pure Leaf) She got to forget that back in Los Angeles, shes a celebrity. At the Dewata Tea Estate, I felt right at home. It was like a fishing village. We drove around in the back of a Jeep. It was like being on a fishing boat. I had the wellies, the raincoat, no makeup. I changed in the back of the van, she says. It felt like a combination of camping and documentary film. It felt like play. For her, the experience was humbling: It was really nice to not look in the mirror for a long time. It felt great. It was like being at one with nature. In my crazy Hollywood life, which I love, youre always in hair and makeup touchups. You see yourself on TV. Stanchfield, born and raised in Kodiak, is the daughter of a commercial fisherman; she graduated from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Between shooting the documentary in remote Indonesia and playing a forthright, candid politician on one of primetimes most talked-about shows, Stanchfield doesnt question her own worth. Story continues Its having a sense of your value and your self in the world, male or female. Why should it be different? Its not something Ive thought about because Ive always done it. My parents raised me to do whatever I want I was told that my whole life, she says. As for Scandal, its ending after seven seasons. And, yes, Stanchfield will no doubt miss Abby Whelan. Were both real straight-shooters and say it like it is. I like her direct nature and identify with that immensely, she says about her character. Given that her character has been the shows moral compass, Stanchfield has no trouble pinpointing Scandals most shocking moment, at least to her: When Abby was the mole. It was completely shocking. We found this out at the table read. I didnt sleep that night. Then we find out shes been blackmailed and manipulated. Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, remains bullish on President Donald Trump. In a conversation with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday at the SALT Conference, Scaramucci said he has spoken with President Trump lately, though he didnt go into the details of those conversations. Heres the number one thing in my conversations with him: we started out as friends, and were still friends, he said. And so, for me, Id like to see him be a phenomenal president. I do believe that he has the skill set and the capability to be one of our best presidents in the modern era. Scaramucci added that Americans should give Trump time to adapt to the role. He also noted that Washington D.C. is way more vicious and way more ruthless than Wall Street. And I think what you have to understand is that if you cant get the interests aligned for people, they start attacking each other, and thats unfortunate because what youd like is a more sublime thing going where people subordinate their egos for the greater good of the country or even subordinate their ideology for the greater good of the country. I think the president can do that, but these other guys cant. Scaramucci didnt expect to be at this years SALT Conference, the marquee hedge fund event that he started nine years ago. The reason I said that I sort of thought I was going to end of up in the [Trump] administration, he said. Now, that could happen in the future. You never know. Im very loyal to the president. Reuters/ Richard Brian Scaramucci, or The Mooch as hes affectionately known, raised money for Trump during the campaign and then served on the transition team. In January, Scaramucci sold SkyBridge to Chinese conglomerate HNA Capital on the expectation that he would take a job in the White House. That didnt happen. When asked about what sort of role he would take if given the opportunity, Scaramucci listed some skills that he thinks he could bring to the table. I think Im a reasonably good communicator. I think I understand the policies reasonably well. Im a trained economist, entrepreneur. I went to law school at Harvard Im not bragging, I just think I have an interesting enough skill set, he said. Story continues I also came from a middle-class family and so I have identification for the struggle, so I think theres a number of ways I could serve, he added. But like I said its a call to service. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Read more: U.S. senators Wednesday wrote a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, urging members not to cut NASAs Office of Education, which works to educate students nationwide to pursue careers in technology, science, engineering and math (STEM). The call was led by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Hillary Clinton 2016 running mate, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who co-chair the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, along with 32 other senators. The politicians urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to support the space agencys Office of Education in the coming fiscal year. Read: Tiny Satellite Launch: NASA To Send Teen Scientists 3D Printed Cube Into Space President Donald Trumps budget proposal didnt slash NASAs budget as much as it did the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Nonetheless, the presidents blueprint calls for the elimination of NASAs Office of Education and some Earth science missions, and also reduces funding for Earth science research grants. The White House said the reason why it was cutting the Office of Education was because it has experienced significant challenges in implementing a NASA-wide education strategy and is performing functions that are duplicative of other parts of the agency. The senators said in the letter the elimination of NASAs Office of Education will hurt the nations workforce. We recognize that you face significant budget constraints, but we urge you to support the NASA Office of Education because its mission is critical to boosting the nations workforce competitiveness, the senators wrote. The Office of Education includes the Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, a competitive, state-federal partnership that functions through consortia in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, that has nearly 1,000 partner institutions. The Office of Education also supports the Minority University Research and Education Project. The Office of Education has a good track record too, with an estimated 90 percent of students who participate in Space Grant-funded activities moving on to either a STEM job in industry, NASA or academia, or enrolling in a STEM graduate program, NASA program data show. Story continues At a time when talent is desperately needed for STEM jobs across the country, we should be enabling and encouraging minority students to pursue careers in STEM fields, not shuttering the programs that open pathways for underrepresented populations to the STEM pipeline, the senators wrote. Read: NASA Will Launch Telescope To Search For Alien Life In Other Solar Systems The senators also cited NASAs historic year for its educational programs with the release of 'Hidden Figures,' the film that featured Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Kevin Costner. It was nominated for Academy Awards. As we learned through the stories of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson in 'Hidden Figures,' opening doors to STEM careers for young, talented people will ultimately enable the whole nation to reach new heights, the letter said. Leland Melvin, astronaut and former NASA associate administrator for education, also weighed in against cutting the program. A skinny black kid from a small southern town, who never imagined working in the space industry, was given an opportunity to do so because of NASA Education, he said. My career was only possible because of the programs committed to providing opportunity to anyone willing to pursue their dreams. It is imperative that we inspire the next generation of STEM explorers by continuing to fund NASA education. Related Articles cameronabadi With Adam Rawnsley Have another. You thought you might actually make it through a day without a fresh revelation concerning the Trump team, didnt you? We almost made it, but the New York Times reported Wednesday night that the presidents transition team knew weeks before the inauguration that Michael Flynn was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign. Flynn reportedly told current White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II about the investigation on Jan. 4, and despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies. And dont forget. While he was advising then-candidate Trump during the presidential campaign, Flynn was also being paid $500,000 by a businessman with close ties to the Turkish government to represent Turkish interests in Washington. But Flynn neglected to register as a foreign agent until March of this year, a month after he was fired by president Trump for lying to VP Mike Pence over his conversations with the Russian ambassador before the inauguration. Just before Trumps swearing-in, Obamas national security advisor Susan Rice briefed Flynn on a plan to arm Kurdish YPG fighters in northern Syria in preparation for their assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. The move was certain to enrage the Turks, who consider the YPG a terrorist group. Flynn told Rice to hold off on the plan, and Trump would make the call. Its unclear if Flynns lobbying relationship had any influence over his decision-making. Just this month, the Trump administration decided to go with the Obama plan, after all, as FP reported first. More more more. And on Thursday morning, Reuters dropped a report that Flynn and other Trump advisers were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race. The interactions which are not in themselves illegal are being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators looking into Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trumps campaign and Russia. Of note, however: six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Sergei Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the United States, and Trump advisers, including Flynn. The report notes that the frequency of the contacts were what has raised red flags. Story continues Naming names. On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation into whether there was any coordination between the Trump administration and Russian government officials. The White House was informed of the decision just 30 minutes before the public announcement was made, when Rosenstein called White House Counsel Donald McGahn at 5:30 p.m. Ankara still unhappy. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday he wanted Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, to be kicked to the curb. McGurk, is definitely and clearly giving support to the PKK and YPG, he said. The U.S. sides with Turkey in labeling the Kurdish PKK a terrorist group, but disagrees with the Turkish view that the YPG should also be slapped with the label. It would be beneficial if this person is changed, Cavusoglu said. McGurk was appointed by president Obama to lead the diplomatic side of the fight against ISIS, and was kept on by the Trump administration. Trump keeps Iran deal alive. The Trump administration said Wednesday it will renew sanctions relief for Iran promised under a 2015 nuclear deal but also announced new punitive measures against Iranian officials over the countrys ballistic missile program. The moves indicated that while President Donald Trump was not ready to openly jettison the international nuclear agreement with Iran, he was keen to display a tougher line over Tehrans actions across the region, FPs Dan De Luce reports. The sanctions include two Iranian defense officials and a China-based network the U.S. says has supported Irans ballistic missile program, the Wall Street Journal reports. A U.S.official said the U.S. had notified China of the pending sanctions. More from the Journal: One Iranian defense official who is sanctioned facilitated the sale of explosives and provided other support to Syria, the official said. Another is the director of an Iranian organization that is responsible for the Iranian regimes ballistic missile program. Road warrior. Trump leaves Friday for an eight-day international swing that few including the president and his advisors appear to be looking forward to. In private, Mr. Trumps advisers acknowledge that they are concerned about his off-script eruptions, his tendency to be swayed by flattery and the possibility that foreign leaders may present him with situations he doesnt know how to handle. They worry he will accidentally commit the United States to something unexpected, and they have tried to caution him about various scenarios, the New York Times reports. Trump has been intermittently meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, deputy national security adviser Dina Powell and senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to prep. But its sometimes hard to retain his attention, according to multiple reports. The president skims reports quickly, and according to Reuters, National Security Council officials have strategically included Trumps name in as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if hes mentioned, according to one official. Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley. Tapes. The Washington Post has access to a secret recording of House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from June of 2016 telling House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republican Congressmen that he thinks then candidate Donald Trump is one of two Republican Congressmen paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ryan swore the assembled representatives to secrecy following McCarthys statement, saying No leaksThis is how we know were a real family here, according to a transcript of the conversation. Ryans spokesman Brendan Buck initially denied to the Post that the conversation had taken place, but then said that the McCarthys comments about Trump had been made in jest once the paper informed him it had access to an audio recording. WiFi. Be careful what you send over the WiFi at Trumps private club in Florida. Intrepid reporters at ProPublica decided to test the security of the network at Mar-a-Lago by renting a boat, packing up a long range antenna, and loitering just in range of President Trumps Florida club, and checking to see what kind of encryption the WiFi network offers. Turns out that the club which Trump likes to call the Southern White House employs a weak encryption option which hackers can crack with basic, off-the-shelf free tools. Violence. The U.S. is condemning the brawl that took place outside the Turkish ambassadors residence, expressing its concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms, according to Reuters. Turkish security officials and supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke through Washington, D.C. police lines, beating anti-Erdogan protesters assembled outside the ambassadors residence on Embassy Row. D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham called the incident a brutal attack on protesters and that his department was working to identify assailants. Towards that end, Bellingcat, the open source investigative news outlet, has a breakdown of imagery from the incident identifying individual officials involved in carrying out the violence. Were from the U.S. government, and were here to help. In a move that almost perfectly encapsulates the American Way of War, the Pentagon is preparing to send 159 Black Hawk helicopters to the Afghan armed forces, despite the fact that the Afghans dont know how to fly them, dont have the capacity to repair or maintain them, and the birds might not be the best fit for the hot, high-altitude environment. The Military Times tell us. Even better: the choppers slated to replace the aging Russian helicopters the Afghans currently fly might not even arrive for another two years. Talks. The Taliban is ruling out the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the war in Afghanistan, RFE/RL reports. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that a peace deal with the Afghan government is contrary to the national aspirations of millions of martyrs, and against Islam. Mujahid also pushed back on reports that officials from warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Hezb-i-Islami faction, which recently signed a peace deal of its own with the government in Kabul, were in talks with Taliban members amenable to a settlement. Photo Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images On Wednesdays Hollywood Darlings, Christine Lakin tried to get the cast of Step by Step to agree to a reboot. But as with coordinating any major reunion, she ran into a few complications. While pitching the reboot to Patrick Duffy, who played the dad on the show, Lakin seemed to have some success. While Duffy agreed to join the reboot, he said that he would sign on only if Staci Keanan was involved. And when Lakin went to pitch the reboot to Keanan, she had the same request of Duffy. In hopes of getting both actors to agree to work with each other, Lakin invited them to a luncheon for an airing of grievances. While there, Keanan explained the reason for the tiff, saying, He made me think I had a relationship with Luke Perry, who I had a huge crush on. It turned out that it was actually Lakin who pretended to be Luke Perry. When Lakin confessed to the prank, Duffy and Keanan decided to move forward with the reboot, but without Lakin. Hollywood Darlings airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Pop. Watch: Step by Step takes on breastfeeding shamers Read more from Yahoo TV: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Photo credit: Getty Images From Woman's Day Steve Irwin's wife, Terri, has worked hard with her two children to celebrate the Crocodile Hunter's legacyand he was recently honored with a Google Doodle for his 57th birthday. But that hasn't stopped Australian tabloids from spreading gossip that the widow dated Australian actor Russell Crowe. Terri put those rumors to rest two years ago by clarifying a few things about her dating life. Thank you so much, @Google for honouring dad with his own #GoogleDoodle all over the world. A perfect way to celebrate his birthday, sharing everything he did to make the world a better place. pic.twitter.com/MrKdzTqZke Robert Irwin (@RobertIrwin) February 21, 2019 The conservationist officially denied that she dated the Gladiator actor in an interview with Access Hollywood two years ago. Joined by her daughter, Bindi, Terri said that Russell has been a fierce ally in protecting the family's wildlife preserve in Australia, and that they are just friends. In fact, she hasn't dated anyone since her husband Steve passed away in 2006, though according to reports, Crowe was one of the first people to support her when she recently broke down on TV. "He's a great guy but absolutely just a dear friend," Terri told Access Hollywood in 2017. "The saying goes, when it comes to friends I'd rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies... and he's definitely a quarter." Photo credit: Getty Images The mother also explained why she hasn't been romantically involved with anyone since Steve's death. "I feel a connection still with Steve," she told Access Hollywood. "You know when you take those vows, and say 'we'll be together as long as we both shall live,' I really don't think I would've married if I hadn't met Steve. And he's very special to me and continues to be." She even Tweeted a beautiful photo of them together to commemorate what would have been their 25th anniversary. Story continues When asked by Access Hollywood if she wanted her mother to date, Bindi said she just wants her mom to be happy. "Honestly, all I want in life in mom's happiness," said the 18-year-old. "What people sometimes forget is that when you find your soulmate, if you've found that soulmate you really don't want to move on. So mom had her soulmate and mom and dad will always be married and will always be together. I think that's a beautiful thing." Terri Irwin now works as the owner of the Australia Zoo, where she continues to preserve the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve and cherish Steve's memory. "And I've got beautiful kids and a lot of wonderful conservation work," she added. "So, I'm lonely for Steve but I'm not a lonely person." (h/t The Huffington Post) Follow Woman's Day on Instagram. You Might Also Like Ain Issa (Syria) (AFP) - The main section of a camp for the displaced in the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa is full, but civilians fleeing the Islamic State group keep on arriving. The camp is a stark affair, with dusty tents flapping in the wind atop white gravel that covers inhabitants in a fine white dust. People have been arriving at the camp for months, but the pace has picked up as the Syrian Democratic Forces militia presses its offensive against IS. The US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is pushing towards Raqa city, IS's most important remaining bastion in Syria. The newest arrivals at the central camp are forced to take refuge beyond the bounds of the established tented area, even setting up along the side of the nearby road. "There are more than 20,000 people in the camp now, and the numbers are growing by the hour," camp director Jalal al-Ayyaf told AFP. "Since the beginning of the battle of Raqa six months ago, more than 100,000 people have arrived at the camp, some of whom have now gone back to their villages and others have gone to stay with relatives in other areas," he added. He urged international aid groups to "increase assistance for the displaced, whose numbers have exceeded the capacity of the city's local council". Hundreds of men and women crowded round a truck distributing rations, with one woman carrying away a box of World Food Programme items on her head. - Far from the horror - Elsewhere, women gathered at a red water tank to wash clothes, and two young boys struggled to carry a jerrycan of water together. Children throng the camp, among them a toddler sitting in the gravel and chewing a piece of plastic, seemingly oblivious to the white dust coating his red trousers. Nearby, two boys played on a makeshift swing, sitting on loops of yellow rope tied to a metal frame. And in a tent, a family tried to use a pink pacifier to settle a baby crying inside a bundle of blankets stuffed into a wire rocking crib. Story continues But despite all the hardships, the camp is safe, and far from the horrors residents say they endured under IS control and during their escape. New arrival Abu Ahmed, 47, fled from the Al-Rashid Farms area north of Raqa city and described a harrowing journey. "They fired on our vehicles and set fire to our tents while we were fleeing," he said. "They mined the bridges, and mined areas before they withdrew from them," he told AFP. Khalid, a resident of Al-Sabahiya district in Raqa, arrived at the camp two days earlier and still looked exhausted. "We couldn't believe that we had arrived here," he said. "Daesh prevents those who want to come here -- it damages their vehicles to stop them escaping," he added, using the Arabic acronym for IS. - 'Looking for safety' - "They executed several people who tried to escape a few days ago." Another Raqa resident, Talal, said IS fighters were keeping an eye out for people with tents that could be used to camp along an escape route. "The situation is very bad," the 36-year-old said. "Everyone in the city is looking for safety." SDF fighters are just a few kilometres (miles) from Raqa city to the north and east, but are still working to encircle it from the west and south. They have said a final assault could begin next month, and Washington has pledged additional support to bolster the militia ahead of time. Hamza al-Hussein, a resident of Raqa's Al-Daraiya neighbourhood, said IS fighters were hunkering down for a battle. "They've surrounded the area with mines and put up wooden frames they brought from Iraq," he said. The frames are erected over streets and covered with cloth to block the view of US-led coalition aircraft overhead. "They've even blocked off streets with berms of earth and cement," he added. He said his nephew was killed by a mine blast as they escaped the city. "We brought him with us and buried him here." Khalid said there was no more local support for IS, and residents were waiting for the city to be liberated. "No one can stand them any more," he said. "Everyone is looking for a way to be rid of them." A member of the public has told how he ran after the man suspected of driving into a crowd of people in Times Square, helped wrestle him to the floor and held him until police arrived. The passer-by, who gave his name as Landry, said he had seen the man running away from the scene of the incident at New Yorks iconic landmark, and decided to chase after him. One person, an 18-year-old woman, was killed and more than 20 injured. We just grabbed him until the police came, he told The Independent. When he came out of the car, he started running towards 45th St. A guy grabbed him, and then I was there. Video not available for syndication Man shown being arrested in Times Square Asked if the man had said anything, he said: He was just screaming. Like, ahhhh. Landry said he did not consider himself a hero. What I can say, is that if you are there and you are able to see somebody, then you have to give a hand and try to help, he said. Police said they had detained a former US Navy veteran who appeared intoxicated and who allegedly drove his car the wrong way up a street, hitting pedestrians on the pavement. After the incident happened, panic swept through the crowds. Times Square is always packed with tourists from across America and around the world. times-square-new-york-richard-rojas.jpg A victim being treated at the scene (AFP/Getty Images) "Hes just mowing down people, Asa Lowe, of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming, told the Associated Press. He didnt stop. He just kept going. Video posted online showed steam or smoke pouring from the car for a few moments after it stopped moving. After the car struck a barricade and stopped, the driver climbed out of his vehicle and then ran. Police named the driver as 26-year-old Richard Rojas, and said he was taken into custody where he was undergoing tests for alcohol and drugs. Police Commissioner James ONeill said Mr Rojas had been arrested at least twice previously for driving while intoxicated, once in 2008 and once in 2015. Story continues They said he had driven along the pavement for three streets, passing institutions such as the Hard Rock Cafe and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant. Lourdes Gomez and Marcello Mirzellis, from Miami, had been entering the Skechers shoe store when they heard the crash. Ms Gomez said she could see one woman lying injured. She appeared naked and her body was covered in cut marks. She seemed to have a broken leg. I thought she was unconscious, but then the paramedics came. At the time we did not know what had happened, she said. Then a police officer told us that someone had run into people in a car. Mr Mirzellis said they felt lucky that they were walking towards the store, as otherwise they may have been hit themselves. When we got outside we saw the bumper of the car, he said. Police have said they do not believe the incident was terror related, something that many initially suspected. This is New York, this is Times Square, thats what I thought it was, said one woman. Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump declared himself the victim of the "greatest witch hunt" in American political history Thursday, lashing out after a probe into his campaign ties with Russia was significantly strengthened. On Wednesday, a high-powered special counsel was appointed to investigate events around the 2016 election -- a move that left the Republican billionaire seething, and sent world stock markets tumbling. Hours after former FBI director Robert Mueller was tapped to take over the investigation, Trump took to Twitter in the early morning to scrub the White House's earlier, more measured, response. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Trump wrote, his anger bubbling over. "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!" he said, without providing evidence for those claims. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, amid accusations from US intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated a sweeping campaign to tilt the vote in the Republican's favor. At the center of the political firestorm are Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn and his one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort, and their multiple undisclosed contacts with Russian officials during and after the vote. So far, no evidence of collusion has been presented, but the question has consumed the first four months of Trump's presidency and spurred multiple crises that have left the White House shell-shocked. - Crisis after crisis - Trump sent shockwaves across Washington last week by unceremoniously sacking his FBI director -- a virtually unprecedented move that came as James Comey was heading an investigation into Team Trump's links to Russia. It later emerged that Comey had made notes of his meetings with Trump, who reportedly asked him to quash an investigation into Flynn's contacts with foreign governments. Story continues Trump was then accused of divulging highly sensitive classified information gleaned by Israeli spies to visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The triple whammy has left Trump aides dazed and wondering about the future of his young presidency. With Trump only eight percent of the way through its term, his advisors spend their days swapping rumors of mass White House firings. Others are already considering leaving, and allies due to join the administration say they are holding off. The appointment of Mueller as special counsel will raise the intensity of the investigation and make it less vulnerable to political interference. Fighting back has consumed much of the political oxygen inside the White House, leaving Trump's agenda in doubt. But the president's most powerful ally on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Paul Ryan, on Thursday said the work of government would continue regardless. "It's always nice to have less drama," he said. "That doesn't seize up Congress. That doesn't stop us from doing our jobs to work on people's problems." Some of Trump's Republican allies, like Congressman Jason Amash, have begun cautiously suggesting impeachment is no longer impossible. With the 2018 Congressional mid-term elections fast approaching, maybe of Trump's erstwhile allies face a difficult campaign dominated by questions about the president's conduct and with few legislative victories to fall back on. A Gallup tracking poll put Trump's approval rating at a historically low 38 percent, even before the latest wave of scandals. President Trump reportedly took the news of former FBI Director Robert Muellers appointment as a special counsel to independently investigate his campaigns ties to Russia well on Wednesday night. Then came the morning. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump tweeted early Thursday. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! The tweets came a day after Muellers appointment to oversee the FBIs ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 According to Politico, Trump learned of the Justice Departments decision to tap Mueller after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein informed White House counsel Don McGahn, who in turn told Trump. Trump handled it better than anyone expected, Politico reported, citing a source in the room. His reaction was extremely measured, another said. He didnt yell or scream. He told the assembled crowd they had nothing to hide. In a subsequent statement, Trump said he was confident he would be cleared in the probe. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, Trump said in a statement released by the White House. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. Story continues Rosenstein who did not consult with the White House nor Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the choice of Mueller is due on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon to brief senators regarding Trumps decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. President Trump, joined by Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer and then-national security adviser Michael Flynn, speaks by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Earlier Wednesday while delivering the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., Trump complained that the press has treated him more unfairly than any other politician in history. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, Trump said. No politician in history and I say this with great surety has been treated worse or more unfairly. The comments were the presidents first public statements since the New York Times bombshell report alleging that Trump had asked Comey to drop the bureaus investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynns ties to Russia. You cant let them get you down. You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams, Trump told the graduates, drawing applause. I guess thats why I won. Early Thursday morning, Eric Trump, the second of the presidents three sons, also lashed out on Twitter. This entire thing is a witch hunt propagated by a failed political campaign, he tweeted. Read more from Yahoo News: President Trump said the U.S. will be hurt by the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to look into Russian influence in the 2016 election. I believe it hurts our country terribly, said Trump in a quote provided by NBC News Savannah Guthrie, because it shows were a divided, mixed-up, not unified country. And we have very important things to be doing right now whether its trade deals, whether its military, whether its stopping nuclear all of the things that we discussed today. And I think this shows a very divided country. [ Related: 10 things to know about Robert Mueller ] Guthrie was one of a group of news anchors who met with Trump at the White House Thursday. Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Wednesday that Mueller would lead an independent investigation into the election and reported contacts between Russian officials and members of the Trump campaign, including fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Earlier Thursday, Trump said he was the victim of the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history. President Trump pumps his fist as he addresses the graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy during commencement ceremonies in New London, Conn., on May 17, 2017. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) According to Guthries transcript, Trump said the special prosecutor was appointed because Democrats were still upset about losing. It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way, said Trump. Thats all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that were not together as a country. And I think its a very, very negative thing. And hopefully, this can go quickly, because we have to show unity if were going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world. In the last two weeks, Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey and given previously classified information to Russian officials during a White House meeting. Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that during a private meeting in February, Trump asked Comey to stop looking into Flynns ties to Russia. Read more from Yahoo News: cameronabadi American aircraft bombed a military convoy flying Syrian flags in the countrys southeast on Friday, marking the first time the U.S. military has targeted regime forces in Syrias six-year civil war, according to U.S. Defense officials. The U.S. strikes came after the military convoy came too close to a U.S commando base and failed to respond to multiple warnings, according the officials. The strike showed American commanders are willing to use force to maintain de facto safe zones in the countrys east, where U.S. forces are training local militias to battle the Islamic State and provide security in liberated regions. U.S. forces spotted a convoy of vehicles, bulldozers and tanks moving toward the garrison at al-Tanf near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders early Friday, and watched as the group stopped within 20 miles of the outpost and began digging defensive positions. The Americans first alerted their Russian colleagues using a special hotline the two sides set up to ensure their aircraft dont operate in the same airspace. The Russians were unsuccessful in reaching the regime or convincing the group to turn around, after which U.S. aircraft buzzed the encampment to warn the forces off, according to the officials. Warning shots were then fired, followed by airstrikes that destroyed the ground positions, along with one tank and several vehicles. Officials would not comment on any casualties. The strikes were taken on the order of American military commanders in the region under the authorities granted by the Trump administration allowing the military greater leeway to strike targets they deem necessary. The U.S. forces on the ground were in no danger, but the strikes were deemed to be in self defense because the Syrian regime forces were within about 20 miles of the U.S. position, one military official said. In a separate incident, a Syrian SU-22 fighter entered the deconfliction zone and was intercepted by a pair of American F-22 fighter aircraft. The Syrian plane quickly left the area that had been agreed to by American and Russian officials as a no-go zone for aircraft from either side. Story continues There have been reports in recent days of Syrian forces and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters moving south and east from regime strongholds in the direction of al-Tanf, but this was the closest the two sides have come to date. The reports suggest the movement is meant to block the U.S.-backed rebels from moving north toward Deir Ez-Zor, an Islamic State-held area where U.S. commanders expect to take the fight after Raqqa eventually falls. The strike comes on the heels of another operation in April, when president Trump ordered dozens of Tomahawk missiles launched against a joint Syria/Russian air base near the city of Homs. Russian officials were given prior notice of the strike, which came in retaliation for a brutal chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces that killed over one hundred civilians. No Syrian or Russian troops were killed. American officials have said that the strike was not meant to destroy the airfield or kill Syrian soldiers, but as a show of force and to disable some logistical capabilities of the Syrian air force. In September, however, waves of U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out a series of air strikes against the Syrian army positions near the Deir ez-Zor airport, killing 62 soldiers and wounding approximately one hundred others in what American commanders said was a case of mistaken identity. The base at al-Tanf has been the scene of multiple attacks over the past year. In April, Islamic State fighters lunged at the base, and U.S. Special Operations Forces helped repel the assault, which included a suicide car bomb attack. After the initial assault was pushed back, coalition jets destroyed the remaining ISIS fighters. Last June, Russian aircraft also struck the base twice within several hours, the second time after being warned by the U.S. that it was a base used by coalition forces. The strikes narrowly missed a team of British special forces soldiers who had left the base just hours before. U.S. officials said four rebels were killed in the strikes. Photo Credit: GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images By Yasmeen Abutaleb (Reuters) - A group of about a dozen Republican governors is pushing for its own set of national healthcare reforms, flexing its considerable muscle in the national debate over the future of Obamacare as the U.S. Senate begins writing its bill. Led by Governor John Kasich of Ohio, the governors are using a nine-page proposal they crafted in February as the platform to shape what they think a critical portion of an Obamacare replacement law should look like, according to a half dozen people who helped write the plan. Among the group's recommendations for the Senate include maintaining the expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, while also limiting federal spending for certain populations, according to a copy of the proposal. Members of the group, which include governors from Utah, Tennessee and Michigan, are also now looking to form a bipartisan coalition of states to propose reforms for the individual insurance market, according to one source, that they hope the Senate will also use. To see a graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2qOZScv They have not yet met or decided on specific reforms about the individual insurance market, but the goal is to address issues such as how to make insurance more affordable and stabilize the markets. The House of Representatives narrowly passed its national healthcare bill earlier this month, called the American Health Care Act, which would slash federal Medicaid funding by more than $800 billion over the next decade. It has prompted fierce criticism from both Republican and Democratic governors. Kasich recently called the bill "inadequate," and said it would leave millions of people without affordable coverage and "living in the emergency rooms again." Pressure is building from their constituents. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which has been tracking public opinion on health care issues for the past several years, has found that Republicans are more supportive than they were in 2013 of benefits including expanded Medicaid and insurance subsidies for low-income families and a government requirement that small businesses provide insurance for their employees. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English across the United States and gathered responses from 2,126 adults, including 887 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2 percentage points for the entire group and 4 percentage points for Republicans. The governors group is looking to the Senate for massive changes as they begin writing their own bill. Several groups, from insurers and hospitals to medical groups and patient advocates, are trying to influence the Senate. But the governors carry extra weight because they will ultimately be responsible for implementing whatever healthcare overhaul is signed into law, and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly spoken about the need to have fewer federal regulations apply to Medicaid and commercial insurance. Under Obamacare, more than 30 states, including about a dozen Republican-led states, expanded Medicaid. One of the thorniest issues Republicans have grappled with is treating both expansion and non-expansion states equally. Governors from both types of states united to craft Medicaid proposals in the hope that their voice would carry added weight and provide a surer path for lawmakers. The governors are also in the same boat politically as U.S. senators because both are elected statewide, rather than in smaller districts as House representatives are. So many governors and their senators have been better aligned on what healthcare reform should look like, several of the sources said. Several governors and their staff said they have been in regular contact with their senators, and will be pushing for the Senate to use the governors' set of reforms as a framework in writing its bill. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio wrote in an op-ed Monday that he and other senators tasked with writing a healthcare bill have continued to engage with governors, "many of who share my concerns about Medicaid but who also want more flexibility to ensure they can design health care programs that meet the individual needs of their states." He added that the Senate will continue to work with governors on healthcare reform. "They are definitely hearing our concerns and questions. They have been very attentive to our interests," said Nathan Checketts, deputy director of the Utah Department of Health. UNIFIED VOICE The group of Republican governors has worked to have a unified voice to reconcile needs among a diverse set of states, including Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Nevada. Its leaders, which also include Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan and Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona, deliberately chose some participants from states with influential Republican senators who would become key players in a federal healthcare overhaul. A 13-member Senate panel has been tasked with writing a healthcare bill, and at least five of its senators are from states from the Republican governors' group, including Portman, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Mike Lee of Utah and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Other Republican senators with governors in the group - including Dean Heller of Nevada and Jeff Flake of Arizona - are up for reelection in 2018. As Senate Republicans take up the bill, one of the most complicated policy and political issues they must grapple with is Medicaid reform. States that expanded Medicaid, such as Ohio and Michigan, have said a healthcare overhaul must protect those who gained coverage under Obamacare. Non-expansion states, meanwhile, have said they do not want to be penalized with less federal funding because they did not expand and therefore cover fewer people. The governors' proposal recommends maintaining Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and giving other states the opportunity to expand, but capping federal spending on certain populations through either block grants or per capita caps. It would provide states the option to phase in other groups, such as parents and children, to per capita caps or block grants, and it recommends reducing federal regulations on states and their Medicaid programs. (Additional reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Caroline Humer and Edward Tobin) By Dan Levine (Reuters) - A U.S. judge issued an order on Wednesday blocking the Department of Justice from taking actions that immigration lawyers say would severely limit their ability to provide services for people facing deportation. Unlike criminal court, people fighting deportation in U.S. immigration courts are not guaranteed the right to an attorney. Nonprofits across the country often provide legal services for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. President Donald Trump's administration has made tougher immigration enforcement a key priority. The government had told the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a nonprofit in Washington state, that it could not advise people in immigration court without formally representing them. The project argued that it did not have resources to formally represent everyone it advises, and much of the work involves informally guiding people how to file legal documents on their own behalf. It filed a lawsuit against the government earlier this month in Seattle federal court. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones, a George W. Bush appointee, on Wednesday granted the nonprofit group's request for a temporary restraining order, according to a court docket entry. Jones's order prevents the Justice Department from enforcing the formal representation rule against legal nonprofits across the country, said Glenda Aldana Madrid, a staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. The government's move attracted opposition from several legal nonprofits, which argued in court filings that it could have widespread impact. At a hearing on Wednesday, a Justice Department attorney said the government was not aware of any other groups being similarly targeted, Madrid said. The judge's restraining order will remain in place while both sides litigate over a pretrial injunction, she said. (Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang) Washington (AFP) - The city of Washington on Wednesday condemned a "brutal attack on peaceful protesters" after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bodyguards clashed with pro-Kurdish demonstrators. Two people were arrested and 11 were injured, including a police officer, amid demonstrations Tuesday as Erdogan held meetings in the US capital after visiting President Donald Trump. Witnesses told AFP that members of Erdogan's security detail pushed past Washington police outside the ambassador's residence and attacked a group of supporters of a Kurdish group. Video footage uploaded to social media shows a group of men in suits punching and kicking the protesters, including a prone woman, as police struggle to contain the clash. "Yesterday afternoon we witnessed what appeared to be a brutal attack on peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence," a police spokesman said. "The actions seen outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC stand in contract to the First Amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect every single day," a police statement said. The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right of free expression. The Metropolitan Police Department said it had arrested two people for assault and identified them as US residents, 49-year-old Ayten Necmi of New York and 42-year-old Jalal Kheirabadi of Virginia. Social media posts by the two suspects suggest that Necmi is a supporter of Erdogan who came to Washington to celebrate his visit whereas Kheirabadi is a supporter of Kurdish causes. But the police said they are also working with the US State Department and Secret Service "to identify and hold all suspects" -- suggesting that they are seeking to interview Erdogan's security detail. The State Department did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry about the incident and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ignored a question about it at a media photo opportunity. The incident was very similar to another in Washington last year when Erdogan's guards roughed up Kurdish protesters outside the Brookings Institution think tank just before the president arrived to speak. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday waded into a growing scandal engulfing President Donald Trump and said it was "time for evidence" to shed light on allegations he asked the FBI chief to drop a probe of a top adviser's links to Moscow. Haley was asked about claims that Trump pressed recently-fired FBI boss James Comey to drop a probe into ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn, who was forced out of his post after making inaccurate statements about his contacts with Russian officials. "Honestly, what I have seen is just a lot of hearsay and I am waiting to see evidence and proof and I think that's what everyone wants to see - if there is something there, show it," Haley told reporters. "None of us were there, none of us were in the room, none of us knows what's real and what's not real and so I think now is the time for evidence." "And then decisions can happen after that," she said, without specifying. Haley, a rising star in Trump's administration, said the allegations amounted to "swirling rumors" and that it was "hard to decipher what's real and what's not." Trump's shock dismissal of the FBI chief last week triggered accusations that the president was trying to obstruct the FBI's probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to tilt the November election his way. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Comey met Trump in the White House on February 14 and urged him to back away from an investigation into Flynn's ties with the Russians. The conversation is alleged to have taken place the day after Flynn resigned. The White House has denied the report. A senior administration official denied that Trump pressed Comey to drop the Flynn probe. "The president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," the official said. By Anggy Polanco SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela said it was sending 2,000 soldiers on Wednesday to a border state that is a hotspot of anti-government radicalism after looting that killed a 15-year-old in the latest unrest roiling the nation. Most shops and businesses in San Cristobal, capital of Tachira state on the Colombian border, were closed and guarded by soldiers on Wednesday, though looting continued in some poorer sectors, residents said. People made off with items including coffee, diapers, and cooking oil in the OPEC nation where a brutal economic crisis has made basic foods and medicine disappear from shelves. Barricades of trash, car tires, and sand littered the streets, as daily life broke down in the city that was also a hotspot during the 2014 wave of unrest against leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Hundreds of thousands of people have come onto the streets across Venezuela since early April to demand elections, freedom for jailed activists, foreign aid and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature. Maduro's government accuses them of seeking a violent coup and says many of the protesters are no more than "terrorists." State oil company PDVSA also blamed roadblocks for pockets of gasoline shortages in the country on Wednesday. In Tachira, teenager Jose Francisco Guerrero was shot dead during the spate of looting, his relatives said. "My mom sent my brother yesterday to buy flour for dinner and a little while later, we received a call saying he'd been injured by a bullet," said his sister Maria Contreras, waiting for his body to be brought to a San Cristobal morgue. The state prosecutor's office confirmed his death, which pushed the death toll in six weeks of unrest to at least 43, equal to that of the 2014 protests. '21ST CENTURY JEWS' With international pressure against Venezuela's government mounting, the United Nations Security Council turned its attention to the country's crisis for the first time on Wednesday. "The intent of this briefing was to make sure everyone is aware of the situation ... we're not looking for Security Council action," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told reporters after the session. "The international community needs to say, 'Respect the human rights of your people or this is going to go in the direction we've seen so many others go' ... We have been down this road with Syria, with North Korea, with South Sudan, with Burundi, with Burma." Venezuela's U.N. envoy Rafael Ramirez in turn accused the United States of seeking to topple the Maduro government. "The U.S. meddling stimulates the action of violent groups in Venezuela," he said, showing photos of vandalism and violence he said was caused by opposition supporters. Venezuelans living abroad, many of whom fled the country's economic chaos, have in recent weeks accosted visiting state officials and their family members. Maduro on Tuesday likened that harassment to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust under the Nazis. "We are the new Jews of the 21st century that Hitler pursued," Maduro said during the cabinet meeting. "We don't carry the yellow star of David ... we carry red hearts that are filled with desire to fight for human dignity. And we are going to defeat them, these 21st century Nazis." Venezuela's main Jewish group, the Confederation of Israeli Associations in Venezuela, responded with a statement expressing its "absolute rejection" of "banal" comparisons with the Holocaust that killed six million Jews. Social media has for weeks buzzed with videos of Venezuelan emigres in countries from Australia to the United States shouting insults at public officials and in some cases family members in public places. Maduro's critics say it is outrageous for officials to spend money on foreign travel when people are struggling to obtain food and children are dying for lack of basic medicines. But some opposition sympathizers say such mob-like harassment is the wrong way to confront the government. As night fell on Wednesday, thousands of opposition supporters poured onto the streets of different cities for rallies and vigils in honor of the fatalities during protests. Many carried flags and candles. "We've been in the street for more than 40 days because this government has broken every law, every human right, and we cannot bear it anymore," said one demonstrator, Eugenia, who asked that her last name not be used. "This rally is important because we have to retake the streets, we have been scared for too long," she added, referring to the rampant violent crime that normally stops people from going out after dark. For a graphic on Venezuela's economic woes click https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tmsnrt.rs_2pPJdRb&d=D (Reporting by Anggy Polanco, additional reporting by Eyanir Chinea, Brian Ellsworth, Girish Gupta, Euridice Bandres and Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas, Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations in New York; Writing by Girish Gupta and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Hay) Headlines have been dominated by reports of DC scandals. Most recently, the story has been about how President Trump reportedly asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and any ties he may have had with Russia. The New York Times reported on a relevant memo written by then-FBI Director James Comey, which followed a Washington Post report earlier this week that Trump leaked classified information to Russias top diplomat. In an interview Tuesday morning, Yahoo Finance asked Senator Elizabeth Warren to quantify the amount of time senators are spending responding to these headlines versus working on policy issues. People are spending 110% of their time working through what it is that Donald Trump has done, she said. And its not just reports. Donald Trump himself says Yeah, I fired Comey, and Yeah, one of the things I was thinking about was this Russian investigation and then he admitted that he handed over classified information to the Russians. This is one of those moments in historyone of those turning-point moments, Warren said. Warren said she is calling for an independent special prosecutor to run a transparent investigation. She says she wants someone who has the authority and resources to get to the bottom of the storyand cant be fired. President Donald Trump, Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and Former FBI Director James Comey (REUTERS/Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool, Carlos Barria, Gary Cameron) Warren added that Trump must face consequences for his actions. I think thats what people around here are struggling with: What to do with a president who really sets himself above the law and say,s I get to do what I want cause Im president of the United States,' she said. The answer in America is, Actually, no Buddy, you dont. In America, the way we run it is that everyone is subject to the law. So if theres an ongoing investigation, we dont believe our elected officials ought to be able to fire the person investigating it In the United States, everyone is subject to the law, even the president of the United States. Story continues Its not just Warrens side of the aisle thats found this distracting. Trumps economic agenda has gotten bogged down too. The administration originally promised tax reform by August, a date that was later pushed back to the end of 2017. Now, Wall Street seems to have given up entirely on any push this year. Meanwhile, repealing and replacing Obamacare, something Trump said he would do on the first day of his presidency, still is a long way off with the bill having narrowly passed in the House (after initially being shot down), and faces a long road ahead in the Senate, even to just get a simple majority. Meanwhile, a reform to roll back regulatory reform may also be put on the back-burner given distractions. Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Please also see: Senator Warren: Republicans have locked us out of health care reform talks Elizabeth Warren finds it ironic that Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein complain about regulation Senator Warren: The corporate tax rate is not too high cameronabadi Ask anyone who has previously worked in the White House and he or she will tell you: Overseas presidential trips are hard. The preparations take weeks and involve hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Every item on the schedule is intricately planned. Advance staff must take into account demands of the host governments and cultural sensitivities, along with logistical and security constraints. Its not for the faint of heart. These trips can be double-edged swords. Nothing looks more presidential than Air Force One, the foreign leaders greetings, the soaring speeches at iconic sites, and the cheering crowds. A trip can provide a morale lift and a needed change of subject, as was the case when Richard Nixon toured the Middle East in 1974 only two months before Watergate forced his resignation. But a poorly managed trip can magnify the sense of a White House in chaos. And even a well-run trip can put the traveling staff in a bubble, where they lose sight of how badly things are going back home, which happened to President Bill Clintons team in Ireland in 1998 as Congressional Democrats reactions to the Monica Lewinsky scandal hardened. Into this minefield steps President Donald Trump and his dysfunctional White House staff. They lurch from crisis to crisis. They are internally divided. They are inexperienced in government. And their boss is notoriously unpredictable. So why not visit Israel, where every word, step, and gesture is minutely scrutinized? What could possibly go wrong? I dont envy the White House staff that has been entrusted with this challenge. When I was U.S. ambassador to Israel, we took six weeks to prepare for President Barack Obamas visit to the country in 2013. Trumps staffers have had about half as long. We had four years of experience with presidential travel under our belts. They are making their foreign debut. We had a president whose nickname was No Drama. They, well enough said. Already there have been glitches in the planning process. The Israelis raised their eyebrows at the White Houses somewhat odd choice of the ancient desert fortress of Masada as the site for Trumps speech, only to have the Americans pull the request with days to spare. Questions were raised about whether Trump would visit Yad Vashem, Israels Holocaust memorial, usually a mandatory stop for visiting heads of state. (In the end, he will go.) The two sides tussled over whether Israeli officials would accompany Trump on his visit to the Western Wall, a first by any sitting president, given the disputed status of Jerusalems Old City (he will go alone), and these opposing views on Jerusalem spilled out in a public exchange. And then came the shocking revelation that Trump exposed intelligence of Israeli origin, without Israels permission, to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in their Oval Office meeting last week. Story continues The trip could be shaping up to be a bumpy ride. But despite the sense of crisis, everyone on both sides wants the visit to succeed. So how does Trump define success? On his 2013 visit, Obamas successes included the positive dynamics of a reset with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as both of them began their new terms; Obamas effective connection with a skeptical Israeli public, including a well-received speech; the re-launch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, led by Secretary of State John Kerry; effective coordination on Iran and Syria (this was before later disagreements over the Iran nuclear deal); the launch of negotiations on a new 10-year military assistance package; and the coordination of a phone call between Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that opened the door to Israeli-Turkish reconciliation. It is too early in Trumps term to expect significant policy wins, even if his was a normal administration. Indeed, the chronic understaffing of the administration has slowed the conduct of routine business with allies like Israel. But simply being well received by the Israeli public, many members of which soured on Obama, and projecting a warm working relationship with Netanyahu, are not insignificant goals. In light of the intelligence and Jerusalem snafus, the question is whether these goals are even achievable. The big win that Trump wants, of course, is a re-launch of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, supported by Sunni Arab states. That also accounts, in part, for his preceding stop in Saudi Arabia, and his respectful visit with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House earlier this month. And with Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab states all seeking to establish the best possible relationships with the mercurial Trump, he has leverage to get all of them to take difficult steps, if he knows how to use it. The difficulty, of course, is that virtually no Israeli or Palestinian believes such talks can succeed. Weighed down by the failures of previous negotiations, hardly anyone on either side would have recommended that Trump take on the Sisyphean task of pursuing a final agreement what he calls the ultimate deal. The mistrust between the leaders and societies on both sides, the recent waves of Palestinian terror, the expansion of Israeli West Bank settlements, and the domestic constraints on both Netanyahu and Abbas all suggest that the moment is not right. If forced back to the table to appease Trump, most expect the talks to crash and fail, possibly punctuated by a new round of violence. That would be a dispiriting legacy of Trumps initial foreign venture. But he could hardly be blamed for failing to make Israeli-Palestinian peace, like every one of his predecessors. Indeed, the bigger question that hangs over his peace initiative is whether the goal is still relevant at all. As Israelis and Palestinians mark, in different ways, fifty years since the Six Day War, there are fewer and fewer believers that the conventional approach to resolving the conflict is still relevant, and more and more who see us approaching (or already past) a tipping point. The two-state solution may not be dead and indeed, strong leadership could give it new life but its likelihood is so low that there is a crying need to start to consider alternatives. Thats nearly impossible for the U.S. government to do at the same time it is trying to lead negotiations, so the task may fall to outsiders. All of the known alternatives are suboptimal, to say the least. But in each of them, the United States would need a strategy to defend its interests and uphold its commitments. I dont expect any such discussion during Trumps visit next week, focused as it is on launching talks. But by the end of his term, we might find ourselves having a very different kind of conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian future. Is Trump able to grasp these complexities? Can his team emerge from the chaos able to think strategically about them? Wait dont answer that question. Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images President Donald Trump defended himself in a series of tweets early Tuesday after reports surfaced saying he disclosed highly classified information last week to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in a White House meeting about a planned Islamic State group (ISIS) operation. On Monday, the Washington Post reported Trump did not disclose the exact source used for the intel, but he provided code-word information, apparently connected to an ISIS plot related to the use of laptops on board passenger aircraft. Top administration officials however, who attended the meeting, responded to allegations Monday, saying Trumps meeting with Lavrov consisted only of broad discussions surrounding counter-terrorism. During President Trumps meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov, a broad range of subjects were discussed, among which were common efforts and threats regarding counter-terrorism, Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, said. During that exchange, the nature of specific threats were discussed, but they did not discuss sources, methods or military operations. Read: Can A President Disclose Classified Intel? The White House also rejected the claims about Trump revealing classified information to Russian officials. H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser, said the president and Russian foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organisations to include threats to aviation. "The story that came out tonight as reported is false," Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters at the White House Monday. "At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. I was in the room. It didn't happen." Story continues On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Russias foreign ministry denounced the reports as " yet another fake" story, adding the U.S. media was not only harmful, but dangerous and claimed the story was a planned hit against Russia, according to the Associated Press. Trump drew strong condemnation from Democrats following the Washington Post report while some Republican lawmakers also slammed the president. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the report, if true, was very disturbing, while Senate's second-highest ranked Democrat, Dick Durbin, said Trump's actions appeared to be "dangerous" and reckless." Bob Corker, the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also called the allegations "very, very troubling" if true. Obviously, theyre in a downward spiral right now and theyve got to come to grips with all thats happening," he said of the White House. According to Reuters, one senior NATO diplomat responded to the Washington Post report saying: "If true, this is not going to instil confidence in allies already wary of sharing the most sensitive information." A spokesman for Paul Ryan, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said: "We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation's secrets is paramount. ... The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration." The latest controversy came as Trump's administration continues to recover from backlash over the abrupt removal of former FBI Director James Comey, who was carrying out an investigation into Russians' meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Related Articles Donald Trump has decided not to announce a plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during his visit to the country, though that reportedly remains his ultimate goal. During the election campaign, Mr Trump vowed to switch the embassys location, something that pleased conservatives and supporters of Israel. The vast majority of countries, including the US, locate their embassies in Tel Aviv, out of respect of the disputed status of Jerusalem. Many had expected Mr Trump would make the announcement when he visits Israel, one of five countries he is taking in during his upcoming first foreign trip as president. @CBJOHNSON143 Voted for Trump bc he said he'd move the us embassy to Jerusalem. Going back on that. He now wants to make an "Arab nato" WTF?! katelyn (@kaytuhlin) May 17, 2017 But the White House said that a decision had been taken to postpone the announcement, out of concern the move could drive Palestinians away from peace talks. Bloomberg News said a White House official said the administration considers its discussions with both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to be promising, with the Palestinians in particular agreeing to talk without preconditions. Mr Trump recently hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House and talked of his optimism of securing a peace deal, a task to which he has entrusted his son-in-law, Jared Kuchner. The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship and thrive and prosper in peace, Mr Trump said. Video not available for syndication Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets Theresa May And I will do whatever is necessary to facilitate the agreement, to mediate, to arbitrate anything theyd like to do, but I would be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator. Story continues Mr Trump said in a speech to the American Israeli Political Action Committee conference in March 2016, that he would move the embassy to Jerusalem, calling it the eternal capital of the Jewish people. The city is claimed as a capital by both Jews and Palestinians, however, and relocating the US embassy - a move that would in effect declaring Jerusalem to be Israeli territory - would raise tensions. Earlier this week, White House spokesman Sean Spicer refused to declare it such. We dont think it would be wise to do it at this time, the official said. Weve been very clear what our position is and what we would like to see done, but were not looking to provoke anyone when everyones playing really nice. As president, Mr Trump has said brokering a deal between Israel and the Palestinians would be the the ultimate deal. He sent an envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to the region in March to open talks. Mr Trump has also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he would be open to taking over Alec Baldwins role as Saturday Night Lives de facto President Trump. Depp showcased his Trump impression by saying, Nobody can be more presidential. Its fabulous. He is no stranger to a Trump impression as he starred in Funny or Dies film Donald Trumps the Art of the Deal: The Movie. Though Alec Baldwins impression has received great reviews, the actor has told Extra and other outlets that he may not play Trump for the entirety of his presidential term. The move would not be difficult, as Johnny Depp told DeGeneres, Basically, Alecs done all the work, I can just copy him. Watch: Stephen Colbert on Trumps Leak to Russia: I Completely Agree with Donald Trump Read more from Yahoo TV: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. When Tamika first visited The Doctors, she was eating two to three clay pots a day. Has she beaten the bizarre habit? Obviously, its not healthy, she confesses. I have to stop. I could die if I dont stop. Gastroenterologist Pradnya Mitroo points out that there could be lead or other toxins in commercial planting pots they arent safe for human consumption! Blood tests show that Tamika does not have elevated levels of lead or mercury, but she does have a severe iron deficiency. Psychotherapist Dr. Mike Dow offers free therapy to help Tamika beat her compulsion. But did it work? Watch: I'm Addicted to Eating Clay Pots! Im glad to say that I havent eaten any clay pots since I left! Tamika announces to The Doctors. She says that Dr. Dow has given her coping mechanisms she uses when she gets a craving. Dr. Dow says Tamika really opened up to him and revealed things shed never told anyone else. At the end of that session, you told me that it felt like a 1,000-lb weight had been taken off your shoulders, he says to Tamika. I love that. Because I saw in you that this was so much more. Although Tamikas low iron level was contributing to her craving, he says, It was also an emotional transformation for you. Watch: Help for Woman Addicted to Eating Clay Pots Tamikas husband says, Im extremely proud of her! Shes transformed herself completely. He notes that shes making healthier food choices. Now shes addicted to eating healthy! ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork explains that pica the craving to eat non-food substances can often indicate a nutritional deficiency. If you feel the urge to eat clay, dirt, or chalk, see your doctor to make sure theres not an underlying health problem. But now, The Doctors have a surprise to help Tamika and her family celebrate her transformation! Pechanga Resort and Casino in the Southern California wine country is offering them a three-night family stay in a luxury suite, a $500 restaurant credit, and a couples massage! Apple has issued another software update for its Mac devices. The new macOS 10.12.5 update addresses certain bugs found in the previous version of the operating system and lays the groundwork for future updates that the Cupertino giant is rolling out in the coming months. The release notes that came with macOS 10.12.5 is rather short, but the software update actually comes with very practical changes. For instance, the new update enables media-free installation of Windows 10 Creators Update using Boot Camp. Previously, Mac devices did not have support for clean installs of the Creators Update, which Microsoft released last month. Thus, Mac owners had to manually install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update first before they could upgrade to the Creators Update, as per Neowin. The media-free installation mentioned in the release notes refers to the fact that users do not need to create installation media like a USB disk image before installing the Windows 10 Creators Update anymore. Apple has since made changes to its support page to indicate that Microsofts Creators Update is only available on supported Mac models that have macOS Sierra or later versions of the OS. The updated support page also states that if you have an earlier release of Windows 10, you can install it on a Mac with OS X Yosemite or later. READ: Apple rolls out iOS 10.3.2 for iPhones, iPads While there were no additions, bug fixes and changes discovered during the beta testing of macOS Sierra 10.12.5, the final version came with bug fixes and enhancements, as pointed out by MacRumors. The new update fixes the audio problem that persisted when Mac owners used USB headphones with their computers. Another entry in the release notes mentions the improved compatibility of the Mac App Store with the upcoming software updates. The tech giant did not indicate what this enhanced compatibility comes with, but it is expected to lay the groundwork for the new version of macOS that will be launched during Apples Worldwide Developers Conference this June. Story continues Check out the full release notes below: Fixes an issue where audio may stutter when played through USB headphones Enhances compatibility of the Mac App Store with future software updates Adds support for media-free installation of Windows 10 Creators Update using Boot Camp Adds support for more digital camera RAW formats. Resolves an issue, affecting some enterprise and education customers, that may cause the system date to be set to the year 2040. Prevents a potential kernel panic when starting up from a NetInstall image. This fix is available when starting up from a NetInstall image created from the macOS 10.12.5 installer. READ: Apple developing AR Glasses and wireless charging technology This weeks macOS 10.12.5 update is the fifth major update that Tim Cooks company released since the Sierra OS was formally introduced in September last year. It is now available for download from the Mac App Store, and it is expected to show up on the macOS downloads page anytime soon. Meanwhile, Apple has also rolled out update 2017-002 for older macOS versions Yosemite and El Capitan, Ars Technica has learned. Apple Photo: Reuters/Yuya Shino Related Articles Google Assistant can now pop up on your iPhone, and it's bringing new powers with it. And pretty soon, the artificial intelligence-powered assistant could find its way onto a number of devices. At its I/O Developer Conference, Google vice president of engineering Scott Huffman announced that Google Assistant would be available as an app for iOS devices starting today (May 17). While Google didn't share many details as to how the app will work presumably, you'll have to launch the app to use it instead of triggering it with your voice like you would on a Pixel the move to the iPhone expands Google Assistant beyond the 100 million Android devices that currently support it. MORE: 10 Siri Tips and Tricks Every iPhone User Should Know If Google has its way, you'll soon be interacting with its Assistant on devices other than the iPhone, Android devices and the Google Home speaker. Google is releasing a new Assistant SDK that will let device makers put the assistant on "speakers, toys, drink-mixing robots, whatever crazy device you can think of," Huffman said. Assistant is also gaining some new skills. The most impressive one will be integration with the newly unveiled Google Lens feature, which uses the camera on your phone to identify objects. That sounds a lot like the Bixby Vision feature Samsung is adding to its Galaxy S8 phone, but Google's adding its own twist on the feature, letting you act on Assistant's visual recognition prowess. In a demo, Huffman talked about how Google Lens will let you point at the marquee of a theater hosting an upcoming concert. Google Assistant will be able to recognize the name of the band, and with a tap, you can perform actions like call up songs from that band, order tickets or add the concert to your calendar. Other features in Google Lens touted by CEO Sundar Pichai include the ability to pull up restaurant reviews by pointing your camera at an eatery or adding Wi-Fi login information via the camera. While Google Assistant is primarily voice-powered, the phone version of the assistant will gain another input method. You'll be able to type queries for those times when you're out in public and don't want to speak your Google Assistant requests out loud. Google plans to add support for more languages to Google Assistant. French, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese are rolling out this summer. Italian, Spanish and Korean will arrive by the end of the year. Google Assistant on the phone will also add support for Google Actions, which will let third parties integrate services into the assistant. To demo the feature, a Google rep used the Google Assistant to order food from Panera, using her voice to place the order and paying for it with a fingerprint through Google Pay. Story continues See also : 32 Best Things Google Assistant Can Do The biggest buzzword in Silicon Valley these days? AI, or artificial intelligence. The nascent technology is taking off in a big way. Big corporations including Amazon (AMZN) and Facebook (FB) are using AI to significantly improve the user experience, while countless early-stage startups are working on AI-based services to transform areas like agriculture and healthcare. Thats a big boon for Nvidia (NVDA), Yahoo Finances Company of the Year in 2016. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based business, which has seen its stock price triple over the last 12 months, makes the data-crunching parts necessary to process complex AI algorithms. People have a lot of views of what AI is and how it shows up in your daily life, Nvidia Vice President of Marketing Greg Estes told Yahoo Finance at the companys annual GPU Technology Conference last week. But its really sort of the modern way to create new applications and to do new things. Its about allowing the computer to learn on its own without having to program every single line of code for all possibilities. The computer learns for itself. Indeed, its because of AI that newer developments like self-driving cars are possible. Toyota (TM), for instance, joined the ranks of Mercedes-Benz and Audi last week when it announced it would use Nvidia components in its autonomous driving systems for cars by 2020. Another AI-powered project, Horus, is tackling an entirely different space with a wearable device for the blind and visually impaired due out later this year. Horus employs AI to analyze data captured by cameras and other sensors to give blind and visually impaired people audio instructions on-the-fly for navigating their surroundings more easily. Were almost taking it [AI] for granted now, Estes said. Youre not necessarily thinking youre engaging with artificial intelligence if youre engaging with Siri or youre talking to Alexa. Just how things have moved from five years ago, where you first started to see the research come out on AI to now, where its showing up in your kitchen. Story continues All those innovations, however, could come at a steep price. In January 2016, the World Economic Forum released a report predicting AI, machine learning, and other nascent technologies will spur a so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution that replaces 5.1 million jobs by 2020. According to the report, jobs across every industry and every geographical region in 15 of the worlds largest economies Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, the UK and the US, among others will be affected. I dont think youre going to see taking somebody who has a job where youre pulling them off a tractor and turning them into a data scientist overnight, he explained. But just like the industrial revolution or any revolution like that, youre going to see a transfer of jobs in one area to a transfer of jobs in another. Making the transition a successful one, however, means businesses and institutions must play an active role in helping displaced workers find new careers, Estes added. JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. More from JP: Heres how much Nvidia will make off the Nintendo Switch Apple might buy a big company but not the ones you think Microsoft exec: Why Im not worried about robots taking peoples jobs LEAKED PHOTOS: Fitbits new headphones and troubled smartwatch As chaotic as the first one hundred days of Trumps presidency were, revelations of wrongdoing and misconduct have been coming out at a breakneck speed over the past two weeks. We can hardly go an hour without another baffling admission from the Trump administration or a bombshell report from the media, which is why we cant blame you if youve given up on trying to keep up with it all. But for those of you who dont want to be out of the loop, weve rounded up every Trump, Flynn, Russia and Comey story from the last 12 hours or so below, just so you dont have to go searching for them all. Don't Miss: Exclusive: The worlds first look at Apples final iPhone 8 design in real life Michael Flynn advised on military decisions while accepting money from Turkey Donald Trump made plenty of promises while on the campaign trail, but few were made more emphatically than his guarantee to wipe out ISIS and protect the American people. As difficult of a task as that is, its even more difficult when your national security adviser is helping you make decisions while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign governments [via McClatchy]: The decision came 10 days before Donald Trump had been sworn in as president, in a conversation with President Barack Obamas national security adviser, Susan Rice, who had explained the Pentagons plan to retake the Islamic States de facto capital of Raqqa with Syrian Kurdish forces whom the Pentagon considered the U.S.s most effective military partners. Obamas national security team had decided to ask for Trumps sign-off, since the plan would all but certainly be executed after Trump had become president. Flynn didnt hesitate. According to timelines distributed by members of Congress in the weeks since, Flynn told Rice to hold off, a move that would delay the military operation for months. If Flynn explained his answer, thats not recorded, and its not known whether he consulted anyone else on the transition team before rendering his verdict. But his position was consistent with the wishes of Turkey, which had long opposed the United States partnering with the Kurdish forces and which was his undeclared client. Story continues Trumps transition team knew Flynn was under investigation in January What did they know, and when did they know it? Those are the questions that we keep asking about the Trump administration on a variety of topics, but the answers seem to change on a weekly basis. According to the New York Times, Flynns lawyer told the Trump team that his client was under federal investigation on January 1st weeks before the inauguration. This was also weeks before acting attorney general Sally Yates warned the White House that Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail due to him misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with Russia: Mr. Flynns disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition teams chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynns lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported. Trump advisers contacted Russian officials at least 18 times In an exclusive report on Thursday morning, Reuters cited former and current US officials who claim that Flynn and other Trump campaign advisers were in contact with Russian officials in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race. Six of the undisclosed contacts were phone calls between Russias US ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trumps advisers. The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election. Kushner wanted Trump to fight back against the special counsel On Wednesday evening, amid mounting pressure from the American public, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the Justice Departments investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. A New York Times report reveals that Trump was calm but defiant when he heard the news, wanting to know how he could fight back. He called on his staff to help him make a decision, and while most told him to release a statement accepting the decision, Jared Kushner apparently had other ideas: Mr. Kushner who had urged Mr. Trump to fire James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director was one of the few dissenting voices, urging the president to counterattack, according to two senior administration officials. After a brief discussion, however, calmer heads prevailed, and Mr. Trumps staff huddled over a computer just outside the Oval Office to draft the statement that was ultimately released, asserting the presidents innocence and determination to move on. GOP House Majority Leader thinks Putin is paying Donald Trump Of all the stories to come out last night, this was perhaps the strangest. The Washington Post was made privy to a recording of a private conversation from June 15th, 2016 between GOP leaders in which House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy asserted that Donald Trump was on the Kremlin payroll. Paul Ryan immediately interjected and told everyone present to keep the conversation private: The conversation provides a glimpse at the internal views of GOP leaders who now find themselves under mounting pressure over the conduct of President Trump. The exchange shows that the Republican leadership in the House privately discussed Russias involvement in the 2016 election and Trumps relationship to Putin, but wanted to keep their concerns secret. It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Amy Oberlin coaxes bees into her new hive using a hive tool. To see video of a 3-pound box of bees getting dumped into a hive, with the queen placed in first in her separate cage, go to kpcmedia.com. PHOTO BY BILL BOLIN No Yes, a light case Yes, two or more light cases One serious case Two or more serious bouts Vote View Results Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Mainly clear. Low 49F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 49F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Bunad is the name given to Norwegian folk costumes and traditional national clothing. Both men and women wear bunads, but men wear knickers and women wear long skirts. Through the years I have seen many bunads and have always admire the Hardanger stitching on the apron or the colorful embroidery on the skirt, but there are very strict rules as to what is accepted as an authentic bunad design. Bunads are very structured national costumes. Colors, designs, adornments, even fabrics, follow certain constraints. Traditionally, fabrics are brushed or smooth wools, cotton and linen. Designs are particular to areas, counties or even parishes of Norway. It is considered disrespectful to the area and the history of the costume to co-mingle parts. Which means you should not wear a Hardanger apron, with an embroidery pattern of Gudbrandsdal on the same bunad. In fact, there is actually a National Bunad Council in Norway that reviews new designs to be sure they can be classified as bunads. Bunads can be traditional festive clothing and are worn for formal and special events. These bunads are usually made with more expensive materials so that they can be worn for a lifetime. It is very common for both boys and girls to receive a festive bunad at confirmation or maybe high school graduation. Seams hold several extra inches of fabric so that the bunad may be adjusted as needed over time. A second type of acceptable bunad is the everyday or working bunad. This one is usually made of a lighter weight wool or cotton and is considerably less expensive. It is a good option when cooking or serving food at an event. Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator at Vesterheim provided the folllowing information about bunads. Female Bunads Gilbertson said for women, there is always a blouse, most often white, that may have some needlework design such as Hardanger or tatting on the collar and cuffs and the sleeves usually need cufflinks. The outfit also includes a vest, sometimes with a beaded breastplate, or tooled silver closures on the front. A long skirt, black, navy, medium blue, maybe even green in color, or plaid, might be covered with an apron. The apron may be adorned with more needlework, usually white stitching on white fabric for the festive bunad, or plaid or striped fabric for the working bunad. The skirts might have a crewel embroidery pattern on the bottom third or just plain. The combinations of designs and patterns for the female bunad is very specific to the counties. If you do an internet search for Hardanger , Telemark and Gudbrandsdal bunads, you will be able to see the differences in the design, fabric and artwork that make up each costume. When selecting a bunad the genealogical region of your family is typically a determining factor. The majority of immigrants came to Vernon County from the Gudbrandsdal Valley area of Norway, which is why you typically see Gudbrandsdal bunads at Westbys Syttende Mai. Bunad Accessories Jewelry is another important part of a complete bunad costume. Silver is the traditional material that is used to make the cufflinks, belts, decorative shoe buckles and brooches, or solje (soul-yeah) pins worn with bunads. Past generations lbelieved that silver protected against storms and sickness, and purified water and the trolls were the best silversmiths. The pins are commonly designed of circles with small discs, or spoons, hanging around the base circle; these spoons are sometimes gold-plated. In different parts of Norway, the spoons may be more tear shaped, diamond, flat or attached. The dangling spoons reflect more light and make a tinkling noise, both of which attract attention. Years ago, a farmers wealth was often shown in the size and value of the solje worn by his wife and daughters. Earrings are not usually an important part of the costume, and hair and make-up are traditionally very conservative when wearing a bunad. Shoes are practical, low or no heeled, with a simple buckle on the top. Belts made of silver are usually only worn by married women. Hundreds of years ago, silversmiths developed regional designs that are still used for each area. These pieces of jewelry can be quite expensive and are often passed down from generation to generation. In Norway, it is very appropriate to honor your ancestral and spiritual connection by wearing an inherited piece of jewelry with your bunad; regardless if it matches the costume regional design. Straight from Norway Liv Marit Haakenstad, a resident of Hamar, Norway and Kathys cousin, explained that bunads are worn for numerous events in Norway yet today including, weddings, baptisms, Syttende Mai, family reunions, Christmas, cultural events and other special occasions. If a bride wears a bunad, she often accessorizes it with a crown headpiece that can be purchased, but to save money, the headpiece can also be rented from a store, museum even a local parish. Bunads are custom-made clothing and it is rare to find used ones to purchase. Handcraft stores called Husfliden are located in almost every county in Norway and have a bunad department within each store. The stores in Oslo and Bergen stock almost every pattern available, while other outlets carry only the materials specific to their region. Liv said a seamstresses in Norway can earn a very nice living by simply making bunads, which are handmade from start to finish and a very time-consuming process. Bunads prices range from $1,000 for just simple materials, to $10,000 or more for a high quality costume with elaborate designs. Study all the design elements and choose the one you like best out of the regions your family originated. A good bunad is an expensive investment and should last for many years. You want something that you will enjoy wearing as much the last day as the first,Liv said. next year Westby will celebrate its 50th Syttende Mai and if you start now, you can have your own bunad ready for May 2018. My favorite time of year at the library has nothing to do with the time of year, our programming calendar or even specific services; or rather, I guess it has to do with all of that and more. For the last 12 years, the La Crosse County Library Board has taken the time to honor library patrons, volunteers, educators, partners and organizations that have truly made an impact on our daily working lives. One of the year-end tasks for county library staff is submitting nominations to recognize their favorites. Fortunately for me, they never let us down with amazing nominations of spectacular people. Although weve shifted the recognition event around each year, the Library Board never lets us forget the celebration. Following the May 10 La Crosse County Library Board meeting, the board, under the leadership of President Barbara Manthei of West Salem, took time to honor our 2016 nominees. The awards come with little fanfare, but we are continually touched by how much this small recognition means to our recipients. Our celebration of them comes with our deepest gratitude and the addition of a book for each recipient to our collection in their honor. On top of that, our ever-famous Library Dog shares in the event, joining us for the celebration and special photos to commemorate the event. I cant help but take this opportunity to honor in one more fashion with our amazing recipients. Ill begin with our tireless volunteers who take care of so much behind the scenes so we can keep things going on the front lines. The Campbell Fire Department has long supported our smallest library location, and last year they enhanced that support by including in their annual calendar distributed to every resident on French Island our events. Terry Pohja was honored in Holmen along with Jackie Bartz and Tamra Hull in Onalaska, as well as Sally Snyder in West Salem for the hundreds of hours they donate. They all work almost weekly throughout the year on the tasks that we are not always able to give enough attention to. I dont know that any other collaboration makes more sense than public libraries and schools. Without the support of our area schools, much of our programming would be dismal. Our partners in education are also never-ending advocates for libraries and make it their missions to get a public library card in the hands of all their students and share with them how libraries can enhance their lives. In our private school category, we honored Gwen Manke of Bangors St. Pauls Lutheran School and Tom Leis of Onalaskas St. Patricks School. Our public educator honorees included Susan Sanders, Holmen School District elementary reading together facilitator, Kari Schultz from West Salem Middle School and Nick Slusser, Holmen High School special educator. There are a number of organizations that honor us each year with support and advocacy. We are grateful to recognize our nonprofit partner of the year, the Coulee Region Humane Society and Erin Olson, who provides us added story time sessions twice a year at all five of our locations. It is remarkable how some vendors go above and beyond their basic services to help us, and Dana Erickson with Commercial AV of Onalaska is one of them. He continually services our Onalaska meeting room AV system and ensures we have equipment and can enhance our programming with technology. We are delighted to work closely with Denise Dowling and her staff at the Onalaska Toppers Pizza for their ongoing support of our teen programming. Finally, but certainly by no means last, our patron and family of the year recipients are always so much fun to honor. Most dont even realize what an impact they make with each of their visits. Although these are 2016 recognitions, their support of began long before, and we know it will continue. We are delighted to recognize Steve, Kathy and Heidi Anderson, who use our Bangor location; Peg Felch in Campbell; the Kotnour Family of Holmen with Linn, Mark, Maria, Katharine and Nicholas; in Onalaska Katie and Michael Kabat and their children McKinley, Aurora, Juniper and Huxley; and Krystal Gander of West Salem. The honor is truly ours to let just a few people know how much they mean to us and what we do. For more information about the La Crosse County Library, visit www.lacrossecountylibrary.org or follow us on Facebook. During her nearly 20-year tenure at West Salem Elementary School, Angie Hemker has been an active leader within the art department. The teacher was named art educator of the month for May by the Wisconsin Art Education Association for her contributions to the district. I was happily surprised, she said after receiving the award early last week. I think it says that I am committed. Influenced by her grandparents, Hemker grew to love art from an early age. Her first drawing was in ballpoint pen on her grandmothers white leather purse. Hemker chose art education over pursuing a career as an artist after discovering a passion in high school for working with children. I always loved kiddos too, she said. I volunteered through high school and my church. In 1997, after graduating from Viterbo University in La Crosse, she began teaching at Northern Hills Elementary in Onalaska. The next year, she took a position in the West Salem School District. High school art teacher Quenten Brown, who nominated Hemker for the honor, said soon after coming to West Salem she became a pillar of the art department. She has kind of been the de facto leader of the department, he said. She is extremely committed to her students and watching them grow after they leave the elementary (school). Hemker was instrumental in launching an after-school art program for fourth- and fifth-graders, has served as an adviser for West Salem Odyssey of the Mind teams and has been an active member of the WAEA for years. Her programs have been so rock steady for so many years, Brown said, adding they are often taken for granted. WAEA President Tiffany Beltz said the organization recognizes one Wisconsin art teacher every month from September through May for their contributions to art education. Educators like Hemker who receive the monthly honor are entered into the running to win art educator of the year in October. The Bangor School District is considering alternative health insurance providers this week after administrators became aware the districts current provider, WEA Trust, no longer covers lab work submitted by the Neighborhood Family Clinic. Superintendent Dave Laehn warned staff in an email last week that they may be charged for lab work conducted by the clinic as a result of policy change on the side of WEA, which has provided coverage for the Bangor School District for the last five years. Laehn said the district became aware of the change in coverage after a district employee was asked to pay for lab services up front. Previously, when district employees or their families received care or lab work at the clinic, they were not charged for the services, and WEA was billed directly. Laehn said WEA changed its policy last year, but did not begin enforcing the change until recently. In his email to staff, he wrote that WEA was considering requiring employees to pay a deductible for services received at the clinic, which was previously not the case. This may not be the case for long. For now, visits to the clinic are covered by WEA at no cost to district employees but lab services must be paid up front. Laehn said the agreement between the Neighborhood Family Clinic and WEA was one of the insurance plans most attractive features, and because of the change the district is strongly considering a change to another provider. The district puts its health insurance out to bid every spring in an effort to provide the most cost-effective solution to its employees. He said the district is now considering a policy with the Wisconsin County Association, which would provide comparable coverage and access to the Neighborhood Family Clinic at no cost to policyholders. They are very comparable, he said. Laehn said the WEA is still in negotiations with the Neighborhood Family Clinic to determine what services it will and will not cover. The WEA and the clinic have until July 1, to reach an agreement before the district will make its decision whether or not to seek coverage elsewhere. The Bangor School Board discussed a switch in health care providers at the Wednesday, May 17, meeting; however, the outcome of the discussion wasnt available by deadline. University of Minnesota Extension is hosting a two-day educational event for local sheep producers and 4-H sheep exhibitors. UMN Extension sheep specialist Travis Hoffman will lead a discussion June 16 that will cover topics that range from lamb marketing to production management and economics at a producer meeting hosted by the Fillmore County Extension. The $15 program, which will also feature other speakers from the University of Minnesota, will be 2-5 p.m. at The Creamery, 407 S. Mill St., Rushford, and include a pizza supper. Call the Houston County Extension office at 507-725-5807 or the Fillmore County Extension at 507-765-3896 for more information. Visit z.umn.edu/1f32 to register. Cash or check payment will be accepted at the door. On June 17, Fillmore County 4-H will teach local 4-H members about many sheep-related topics including nutrition, rate of gain, products and general animal health. Hoffman will lead sessions on showmanship, sharing his expertise from his time as a state sheep judge. Participants are encouraged to bring one 4-H registered lamb to the event, which will run from 8 a.m. to noon at the Fillmore County Fairgrounds in Preston, so they can practice their showmanship skills with their own animal. Registration is required, and space is limited to 50 4-H participants. Until June 1, registration is limited to Fillmore County 4-H members. After June 1, registration will open to 4-H members in other communities. To register for the 4-H event call Jason at Fillmore County Extension. ONTARIO Bertren M. Downing, 74, of Ontario died Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Prayer services will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, at Torkelson Funeral Home in Ontario. Family and friends may visit from 4 p.m. to time of services. Torkelson Funeral Home of Ontario is assisting the family with arrangements. There is really only one issue in American politics at this moment: Will we accelerate our way to the end of the Trump story, or will our government remain mired in scandal, misdirection and paralysis for many more months or even years? There is a large irony in the politics behind this question. The Democrats narrow interest lies in having President Trump hang around as close to the 2018 midterm elections as possible. Yet they are urging steps that could get this resolved sooner rather than later. Republicans would likely be better off if Trump were pushed off the stage. Yet up to now, they have been dragging their feet. The reports that Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop his investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn may finally be concentrating Republican minds. They certainly focused the decision-making of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who announced late Wednesday afternoon that he was naming former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trumps 2016 campaign and Russian interference in the election. Speaker Paul Ryan signaled the changed mood earlier in the day not by what he said but by what he didnt. Ryan has been embarrassingly eager to defend Trump, but he did not rush to his support this time. Instead, Ryan called for a sober and dispassionate response, warned against rushing to judgment, and insisted that our job is to get the facts. When word got out (probably from Comey or his sympathizers) of what Trump had said to the FBI director about Flynn, Republicans (like Rosenstein) were left with no choice but to pursue the matter further. The speaker only expressed faith in Trump when prompted by a shouted question at the end of his news conference. After some thought, he replied with a soft I do when asked if he had full confidence in the president. Nothing could be worse than slow-walking the Trump inquiries. The evidence is already overwhelming that he is temperamentally and intellectually incapable of doing the job he holds. He is indifferent to acquiring the knowledge the presidency demands and apparently of the belief that he can improvise hour to hour. He will violate norms whenever it suits him and cross ethical lines whenever he feels like it. He also lies a lot, and has been perfectly happy to burn the credibility of anyone who works for him. White House statements are about as believable as those issued regularly by the Kremlin. And Trumps friend Vladimir Putin could not resist interfering yet again in our politics. Putin offered to provide Congress with a record of our presidents meeting with top Russian diplomats to shed light on exactly what highly classified intelligence information Trump shared with them. Adding to the insult, the Russian leader spoke of a political schizophrenia taking hold in the United States that was eliciting concern in his country. Perhaps Putins taunt will elicit increasing concern among Republicans that our nation cannot endure much more of this. The surest sign that the bottom is falling out from under Trump was a Wall Street Journal editorial that declared flatly: Presidencies can withstand only so much turbulence before they come apart. The Journal warned that Trump was on the verge of betraying his supporters, as his presidency sinks before his eyes. Any GOP leader losing the support of the semi-official organ of Republican conservatism should know that his partisans are headed to the exit ramps. But how can we speed our nations escape from the catastrophe Trump has created? The Senate Intelligence Committee took an important step by announcing a bipartisan invitation to Comey to testify. The sooner he tells his story, the better. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed that both parties demand that Congress get any memos, tapes and transcripts shedding light on Trumps meetings with the Russian diplomats and with Comey. The naming of an independent counsel cannot become an excuse to pull back on Congressional fact-finding. The country needs to know if there was collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia whether or not a crime was committed. And Democrats should ask Republicans to join them in pledging opposition to any appointee to head the FBI who is not universally seen as immune to Trumps influence. It shows how far along we are that fears are already being voiced of a political backlash from his supporters if Trump is railroaded out of office. But delaying the process of getting to the truth will harm our country far more. And Republicans who throw up roadblocks will be hurt most of all. The legislatures Joint Finance Committee, on which I serve, has begun our process of executive sessions, during which we make changes or additions to the governors budget proposal. I have touched on this process in a previous column. Read it here. Over the next several weeks, I will be writing a brief bulletin to share the highlights of these sessions to give you an inside view of our work on your behalf. For a full view of our proceedings, follow this link: docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/committees/joint/1680 The highlights from this week include work on the 911 system, broadband expansion grants, FabLab grants and a study of occupational licenses. 911 system This week, we took an important first step to improve and modernize the statewide 911 system. The current 911 system is based on an analog system and is out of date. We recommitted some of the revenue collected by the Police and Fire Protection Fund to support the system. The Police and Fire Protection Fund is a line-item on every phone bill that was originally meant to fund modernization of the 911 system. Unfortunately, since its creation during a previous administration, it has always been raided and used for other purposes. This budget dedicates some revenue to 911 services. We created a 911 Council made up of stakeholders from law enforcement, emergency medicine and emergency medical services to provide expert input and direction for the future of the 911 system. We also required the state to seek bids to update Wisconsins archaic analog 911 network with an all-digital, fiber network. The new system must be able to transmit voice calls, text messages, photos and video files. Broadband expansion grants As you may know, I have been working on rural broadband expansion for the better part of two years. Expanding broadband to the rural parts of our state is one of my top priorities. This session, I authored a bill to devote $11 million more to the rural broadband expansion grant program and to revise the criteria to incorporate recommendations made by the Rural Broadband Study Committee. This bi-partisan bill was good policy and widely supported. Unfortunately, political games have killed this bill on the Senate floor twice. Some Democrat legislators decided to tack an unrelated initiative onto a popular bill. As a result, the bill died. I am disappointed that we were not able to deploy these funds quickly, as we had hoped to do, but I am proud to report that we have successfully added the funding and criteria changes into the state budget proposal. While these political games have set us back several months, I am confident the funding and expansion will happen. We have also added structure for future funding for rural broadband expansion grants. I know there are communities poised to apply, and I appreciate their patience as we continue to work past silly political obstacles. It is frustrating and disappointing. FabLab grants We invested $400,000 more for Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) technical assistance grants over the next two years. FabLabs are high-tech workshops in high schools where students learn how to manufacture with computers. The 17th Senate District has several high schools that have already built FabLabs and they have been very successful. Students are learning high-tech skills that translate directly into the workplace. We are challenging them to innovate and experiment with technology and equipment that is cutting-edge. FabLabs are part of our effort to grow an engaged, high-tech workforce for tomorrow. Occupational license study We directed the Department of Safety and Professional Services to study occupational licensure and permitting in Wisconsin. There have been several proposals to change licensing and permitting for several occupations this session. Rather than take a piecemeal approach to licensing and permitting, we asked the department to look at every occupation and make a recommendation. Overall, it has been a productive week, and we are preparing to work on several major topics next week. To view our agenda for the next week, please visit our committee schedule. committeeschedule.legis.wisconsin.gov/?committeeID=1680&viewType=List&filter=Upcoming. For more information and to connect with me, visit my website legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/17/marklein and subscribe to my weekly E-Update by sending an email to Sen.Marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov. Do not hesitate to call 800-978-8008 if you have input, ideas or need assistance with any state-related matters. Republican Howard Marklein, Spring Green, represents the 17th state Senate District. 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12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 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(4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (5) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (2) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 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27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) 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Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) 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Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Lagence de communication marocaine PR Media a recu un Diamond Sabre Award, quatre Gold Sabre Awards et deux Certificates of excellence lors des Sabre Awards Africa, organises le 11 mai 2017 a Casablanca. Lagence a ete recompensee pour ses campagnes pour Mawazine, Credit du Maroc, Ford et Kasperksy. Pour Ford, PR Media a recu deux Sabre Awards: un Diamond Sabre Award dans la categorie Brand Building et un Gold Sabre Award dans la categorie Marketing to consumer new product , pour la campagne du programme Ford Innovative Challenge Mobility, un challenge mondial de creation dapplications dediees au developpement de la mobilite urbaine. Pour Mawazine, lagence a recu deux Gold Sabre Awards dans les categories NLagence conseil en communication dinfluence a recu un Diamond SABRE Award, quatre Gold SABRE Awards et deux Certificates of Excellence en recompense de ses campagnes pour Mawazine-Rythmes du Monde, Credit du Maroc, Ford et Kasperksy. Remis par un jury international, ces prix positionnent PR MEDIA comme une reference aupres des professionnels des relations publiques en Afrique et dans le monde. Pour Credit du Maroc, elle a recu deux Sabre Awards: un Gold Sabre Award dans la categorie Financial Communications pour la campagne #Maymkench et un Certificate of excellence dans la categorie Reputation management du Diamond Sabre Award. Pour Kaspersky, PR Media a obtenu un Certificate of excellence dans la categorie Brand building du Diamond Sabre Award pour la campagne de sensibilisation a limportance de la cybersecurite. Decernes chaque annee par le groupe americain Holmes, les Sabre Awards (Superior achievement in branding and reputation) sont consideres comme les prix les plus prestigieux dans lindustrie des RP et du digital. Thursday, May 18, 2017 From Scene & Heard (hat tip Ohio Supreme Court web page) ProgressOhio filed a formal ethics complaint over Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy's recent pro-life messaging, joining newspaper editorial boards around the state in urging her to recuse herself from an upcoming abortion clinic case. The crux of the matter is a March 17 fundraising event for Greater Toledo Right to Life. Kennedy spoke at the event and helped generate revenue for the organization. Greater Toledo Right to Life has historically used part of its budget to lobby the Statehouse to legislate abortion restrictions and, ultimately, to shut down abortion clinics. Kennedy, based on past campaign literature, is opposed to abortion practices. Days prior to the event, Capital Care Network of Toledo landed in the cross-hairs of the Ohio Supreme Court. At issue is the constitutionality of an Ohio law that mandates transfer agreements between private hospitals and abortion clinics. A Lucas County judge and a state appeals court ruled that the law is unconstitutional. (Capital Care Network of Toledo has a transfer agreement with a hospital at the University of Michigan, but not with a private hospital in Ohio.) The case was kicked up to the Ohio Supreme Court, which on March 15 agreed to hear it. "Justice Kennedy had the option of cancelling her speech to Right to Life or recusing herself from hearing the case," ProgressOhio staffers write in the group's ethics complaint. (Greater Toledo Right to Life played a supportive role in the transfer agreement legislation.) To date, she has not recused herself. Kennedy responded: For the past 6 years, I have appeared at numerous civic organizations to speak about the founding of this republic, the Constitution, and the separation of powers. In December 2016, an individual who had heard me speak at two previous events invited me to speak to a civic organization he was affiliated with for breakfast. I treated that request in the same manner as I would treat any request. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/from-scene-and-heard-hat-tip-ohio-supreme-court-web-page-progressohio-filed-a-formal-ethics-complaint-over-ohio-supreme-co.html As reported here by the Baltimore Sun, Maryland's Governor "Larry Hogan on Thursday ordered a study of whether minorities face a disadvantage when seeking to participate in the state's nascent medical marijuana industry." Here is the context and particulars surround what I think will be the first-of-its-kind state study: Black-owned businesses were shut out in the first round of 15 preliminary license awards to grow cannabis plants, despite a state law requiring the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission to "actively seek to achieve" racial diversity among license winners. The commission said it didn't consider racial diversity because the Maryland Attorney General's Office advised the panel it could not constitutionally consider applicants' ethnicity without a disparity study. Since then, the General Assembly's Legislative Black Caucus has demanded that African-American-controlled businesses be involved in the potentially lucrative industry. The caucus' desire for a legal fix was frustrated this month when legislation failed on the last night of the Assembly's annual 90-day session. That failure, the result of disagreement between the Senate and House of Delegates, has prompted the caucus to call for a special session. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said the governor's order does not indicate that a special session will be called. He said that is still up to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch. The governor can order a special session, but has said he would do so only if Miller and Busch agree on how to change Maryland's medical marijuana law. Busch and Miller had previously called on Hogan to order the disparity study. Such a study would have been required by the legislation that failed. Alexandra Hughes, a spokeswoman for Busch, said the speaker is pleased the governor is moving forward with the study so the legislature can consider all of the available information. She noted that Busch supported two bills passed by the House that would have encouraged minority participation in the medical marijuana industry.... Mayer said the governor's order to complete the study was prompted both by his and the black caucus' concerns. Del. Cheryl Glenn, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the caucus, could not be reached for comment. She said this week she is circulating a petition among senators and delegates asking Hogan to call a special session beginning June 15. The study will be coordinated by the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs and the Maryland Department of Transportation, with help from the state cannabis commission. The Department of Transportation handles the certification of minority business enterprises in Maryland. Hogan did not set a timetable for the completion of the study, but directed Jimmy H. Rhee, the special secretary of minority affairs, to make sure the study is completed "as expeditiously as possible." Thursday, May 11, 2017 As reported via this local piece, headlined "Feds hope pot-by-numbers effort helps extinguish illegal marijuana trade," it appears the folks to our north are deeply and wisely committed to collecting and analyzing lots of data as marijuana reform efforts unfold. Here are some of the details: The federal government is hoping to find strength in numbers as it tries to stamp out the illicit marijuana market. Government officials are collecting data everything from the street price of pot to how often people light up to arm themselves in the fight against organized crime's presence in the trade, internal Public Safety Canada documents reveal. The Liberal government has tabled legislation to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use, with the aim of keeping pot out of the hands of children while denying criminals the hefty profits. Officials had already identified 45 specific categories of information they would need to gauge the success of the new policy. Of these, Canada collected data to calculate about seven, some partial information on a further 17 and little to no figures on the remaining 21 categories. The wide variety of missing data includes a measure of the fire hazard posed by grow-ops, overdose statistics, the scope of crop-eradication efforts and effects of marijuana use on school performance. The government plans to monitor patterns related to cannabis use, especially among young people, on an annual basis through the Canadian Cannabis Survey. In March, Health Canada began the two-month survey, involving some 10,000 Canadians, said a department spokeswoman. The planned questions most relevant to organized crime were related to the type, quantity and frequency of pot consumed, where it is being obtained, the purchase price and contact between users and police, say March notes released by Public Safety through the Access to Information Act. "In a regime of legal recreational cannabis, price data in the illicit market is still important," say the notes. "This is because the behaviour of consumers of cannabis, such as switching between markets, will be influenced by price." Some research results are already trickling in. A study commissioned by the department pegged the cost of high-quality black-market cannabis in the 2011 to 2015 period at $7.69 a gram. Research also found that a 10-per-cent drop in the price of pot could cause a four-to-six per cent increase in the amount consumed. Officials want accurate figures on the sheer amount of marijuana Canadians use to help with basic supply-and-demand modelling that will paint a fuller picture. They note such data exists in studies of legal and contraband tobacco, allowing criminologists and economists to build solid models. Another key to understanding the price of pot is information about law-enforcement efforts, the notes say. "For example, if more resources are dedicated to combatting grow-ops in one particular area, it would be expected that the enforcement would affect the price of marijuana in that area, as well as the areas surrounding it." Notably and encouragingly, last year Public Safety Canada produced this very effective document about marijuana reform and data issues titled "Cannabis Performance Metrics for Policy Consideration What Do We Need to Measure?". This news article and that prior document suggests the folks up north are asking all the right kinds of questions and will be collecting all the right kinds of data for effectively analyzing the impacts of marijuana reform in Canada. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/marijuana_law/2017/05/in-praise-of-canadas-commitment-to-data-concerns-and-collection-in-marijuana-reform-efforts.html This lengthy new BuzzFeed News article, headlined ""Can Cannabis And Christ Coexist? These Devout Southern Christians Think So," provides am interesting and effectively review of some issues that arise at the intersection of marijuana reform and religion. I recommend the piece in full, and here are some extended excerpts: Lydia Decker couldnt miss the man in the motorized wheelchair as he whirred down the aisles of a West Texas grocery store. As someone with lung problems herself, she noticed his oxygen tank and wondered about his illness and his meds. They got talking, and Decker mentioned Genesis 1:29, the organization she heads that uses religion to preach the value of medical cannabis. This was one conversion that wasn't going to happen. Oh, that trash! Decker remembered the man saying as she tried to reason with him in the pharmacy aisle. The nurse with the man politely asked Decker, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to leave. She did, but not before handing the nurse a Genesis 1:29 business card, which features a map of Texas covered with a large cannabis leaf and the words One Mission End Prohibition!... Decker, 49, tells anyone in Texas who will listen why cannabis is, in fact, a permitted therapy for Christians not a sin. She hopes her openness will help generate support for medical cannabis among state lawmakers, and in April she submitted passionate testimony in hopes of swaying them. She described being rushed to the ER, gasping for air on New Years Day in 2014, when her COPD was first diagnosed, and the blur of medications and treatments she's endured since then. I live 80 miles from a legal state line, Decker wrote, referring to New Mexico, where medical cannabis is permitted. She questioned why such treatment should be off-limits to her, just because I choose to live and work in Texas, where I was born? Genesis 1:29, which Decker formed in 2010, is named after a Bible verse thats oft-repeated by Christians in favor of medical marijuana: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. To Decker, a nondenominational Christian who follows the Bibles verses in a literal way, it means that cannabis is meant to be eaten, whether in oil, whether in an edible, she said. Obviously, not everyone in Texas is receptive to Deckers interpretation of the Bible none of the laws covering medical or recreational cannabis were likely to pass before the legislative session ends in late May. People in the Bible Belt say, Youre using the Bible to promote drugs,' she said, drawing out the word drugs for emphasis. Decker disagrees. Were using the Bible to promote what God gave us. We say that God made the perfect medicine. Man is the one that made it illegal. The South is the last frontier for cannabis law reform. And it is no coincidence that it is also the most religious region in the country, according to Pew Research. Its a place where interpretations of Gods word can be as powerful as law, and where preachers have long proclaimed the evils of marijuana. So as pot takes hold for medical use in more than half the country, and for recreational use in eight states and Washington, DC, both are nonstarters in much of the South. Only Arkansas, Florida, and West Virginia have full medical marijuana programs, and recreational use is not even on the horizon. The president of the organization that represents the largest evangelical group in the US wont budge on calling marijuana a sin. The scripture speaks against drunkenness, and marijuana is a mind-altering substance with the purpose of achieving, essentially, what the Bible would describe as drunkenness, said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. To get the votes they need, pro-legalization groups can't just preach to nonbelievers; they also need to court people of faith, says Morgan Fox of Marijuana Policy Project, a lobbying group that is behind most of the cannabis laws in the country. Support from religious groups has become as key as support from law enforcement groups, addiction specialists, and parent groups. I know that most of the major policy reform organizations are working on that right now trying to build coalitions with faith-based groups, Fox said. After all, marijuana has never been more popular with young people recent polls show the 1834 crowd overwhelmingly in support of legalization. At the same time, young peoples church attendance is dropping. As much as pro-pot groups need religious support, religious leaders need to hold onto their flocks, and sometimes that means loosening opinions on controversial issues. In Utah last year, the Church of Latter-day Saints weighed in on competing medical cannabis bills and made the unprecedented move of expressing support for one, albeit by backing the stricter of two pieces of legislation. And a group of Muslim undergraduate students at the University of South Florida, where medical marijuana was on the state ballot, tackled the question of whether cannabis use is haram last year during an event called "Contemporary Issues in Islam: A Discussion on Medical Marijuana. Some faiths have expressed varying degrees of support for medical marijuana, including the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Unitarian churches. In New York, one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries had the cannabis blessed by a rabbi. And globally, to respect the traditional use of cannabis by Rastafarians, Jamaica legalized cannabis for religious use in 2015. But to bring cannabis to the region of the US where states are deeply red and religious and where pot is both a social taboo and a ticket to jail, Decker and others are harnessing their devotion to their faiths to evangelize for it.... Still, religious opposition continues to influence drug policy throughout the region. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention spoke out against the nine legalization initiatives put before voters in November. I think when it comes to marijuana Im, of course, for criminal penalties for marijuana use and for continuing criminalization of marijuana, Moore told BuzzFeed News, specifying, though, that he is not in favor of the incoherent mass incarceration that weve had as a result of the drug war. The Catholic Church has also come out against legalization; in 2014, Pope Francis remarked that "drug addiction is an evil and attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called 'recreational drugs,' are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects. The Catholic diocese in Arizona and Massachusetts came out against legalization in fall 2016. While this didnt swing the pendulum in Massachusetts, where legalization squeaked through in November, it very well could have in Arizona, where legalization failed, Fox said. As reported in this Bloomberg piece, headlined "Trump Spurns Congress as He Signals Medical Marijuana Fight," the President made a significant statement on a number of topics, including marijuana enforcement, while signing the latest spending bill. Here are the details: President Donald Trump signaled he may ignore a congressional ban on interfering with state medical marijuana laws, arguing in a lengthy statement that he isnt legally bound by a series of limits lawmakers imposed on him. Trump issued the signing statement Friday after he signed a measure funding the government for the remainder of the federal fiscal year, reprising a controversial tactic former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama used while in office. Trump also suggested he may ignore gender and racial preferences in some government programs as well as congressional requirements for advance notice before taking a range of foreign policy and military actions.... In the signing statement, Trump singled out a provision in the spending bill that says funds cannot be used to block states from implementing medical marijuana laws. I will treat this provision consistently with my constitutional responsibility to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, he said. Obama also occasionally released signing statements objecting to congressional restrictions on his authority. The White House described Trumps signing statement as routine, but did not indicate whether the president planned to take action to defy Congressional restrictions.... Tim Shaw, a senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said that the president is bound by the language in the spending bill that now bears his signature. Part of the argument here in this signing statement is that he has the constitutional requirement to execute the law, Shaw said in an interview. But this is one of those laws, and Congress has the ultimate authority over funds getting spent. The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Forbes article. Here are excerpts: Retail sales for legal marijuana are growing so big and so fast that the industry is having to super size their operations. Growing and producing marijuana products is now happening on an industrial scale. Retail sales in the U.S. from 20 jurisdictions were $6.5 billion, but according to Greenwave Advisors that number is projected to grow to $30 billion by 2021. In order to meet the demand for customers, the growers and makers of infused products are having to scale up their operations. More automation, more square footage and the ability to manage this fast growth is separating the mom & pops from corporate cannabis. Berto Torres, Chief Operations Officer at GFarmaLabs in California has been with the company since it started with four grow lights and had a canopy of 3,000 square feet. They now have 700,000 square feet under management. Torres said the company's growth boomed after they made the jump to branded products and specifically after they won a Cannabis Cup award for chocolate truffles in 2014. It created so much demand, we had to scale up, he said, We needed to organize ourselves and run and function like a normal corporate company.... Of course success in the cannabis industry immediately comes with accusations of going corporate. We were accused of selling out by having a consistent product, said Torres. I think we're one of the few companies that's been able to create a successful blending of both worlds. One of the companies that is helping the cannabis industry scale up in volume is Convectium. While some industrial equipment companies refuse to work with the cannabis industry, Convectium has jumped at the opportunity. If this was a stagnant industry, slow growth would be okay. Cannabis is growing so fast, you get passed by if you don't automate, said Danny Davis, a Managing Partner at Convectium. He added that a laid back chill attitude in this business won't work. Aggressive is a solid attitude to have in cannabis. For example, when it comes to filling a cannabis oil cartridges for vaping some small companies fill them by hand using a syringe. Davis said it takes a company an hour to fill 100 cartridges in that manner. His machine can fill 100 vape cartridges in 30 seconds. The demand for machines is 5 times what it was from one year ago, he said. We truly believe that the only way to scale is to add technology and standardization. Like the people that criticize G Farma for going corporate, Davis said there are many operations that are resistant to change. They don't trust technology, he said. Many of the companies out there are primitive, even the big ones, but they will learn they had better scale quickly. Kiva Confections is one of the biggest infused edible companies in California that has successfully grown. Co-founders Kristi Knoblich and Scott Palmer started with a couple of workers and now Kiva employs 85 people, with products in 1,000 dispensaries. The business began in their kitchen, but the fast growth has them moving to a 30,000 square foot facility. We're looking at large scale equipment to prepare for the recreational market. said Palmer. Kiva is also in Nevada and Arizona and has plans to expand to Colorado, Illinois and Hawaii.... The days of local growers selling out of backpacks to dispensaries wasn't that long ago, but it is definitely over. Growers must produce large volumes of consistent flower. Producers must be able to sell branded product that is the same from state to state and meet the demand of hundreds of dispensaries. Scaling up will be the new challenge for the biggest players in the marijuana industry. The U.S. Justice Department has named a special counsel to investigate whether Russia and Donald Trumps campaign worked together to influence the 2016 presidential election. The Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday that former FBI Director Robert Mueller will oversee the investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 election and related matters. Trump said Wednesday the independent investigation will show, in his words, there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the appointment. He said, "I have determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome" of the investigation. Mueller served as FBI director under both Republican and Democratic presidents. He led the agency from 2001 to 2013, before ousted director James Comey. President Trump fired Comey last week. A small but growing number of Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in calling for an independent investigation into possible ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Reaction from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers about Mueller's appointment was positive. Muellers investigation would be separate from the ongoing investigations by the FBI and several Congressional committees. The calls for an independent and non-political appointment have grown following Comeys dismissal. And news reports Tuesday said that Comey wrote a memo describing a meeting he had with President Trump in February. In the memo, Comey reportedly wrote that Trump asked him to stop the investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns ties to Russia. Three Republican-led congressional committees have said they want Comey to answer questions about the memo. Lawmakers also want the FBI to hand over any notes that Comey left about discussions he had with White House officials on the Russia investigation. Congressional investigators are also asking for documents from the Justice Department related to the firing. Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street Wednesday, as investors worried about how the latest problems in Washington could affect Trumps plans for the economy. Im Anne Ball. Anne Ball wrote this story, based on reporting from the Associated Press and VOA News. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ______________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story counsel - n. a lawyer who represents a person or group in a court of law collusion - n. secret cooperation for an illegal or dishonest purpose entity - n. something that exists by itself outcome - n. something that happens as a result of an activity or process memo - n. a usually brief written message from one person or department in an organization, company, etc., to another 1 This composite image of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant, was assembled by combining data from five telescopes spanning nearly the entire breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum: the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, the XMM-Newton Observatory, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Not so long ago, the worlds oceans were filled with different types of fish. Now, a large increase in global overfishing has threatened that supply. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 90 percent of the worlds fisheries are either being fully exploited, or are at risk of collapsing. With fish supplies running out closer to home, fishermen are traveling further and further to find their catch. Frequently, fishermen are crossing over into other countries territories, creating both political and environmental conflict. Border dispute in the South China Sea Overfishing can be found everywhere, from Mexican fishing boats off the U.S. coast of Florida to Russian crabbing boats in the western Bering Sea. However, the impact is felt the strongest in the South China Sea, where many countries have territorial claims. Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and China all consider parts of the sea as their territory. China makes the largest territorial claim and also has the largest presence in the area. As fish supplies closer to its shores are depleted, the Chinese government is now helping fishermen crossing borders to find fish. According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Chinese Coast Guard boats have been patrolling near Luconia Shoals, off the coast of Malaysia, since 2013. The vessels were there to protect as many as 100 fishing boats from China. Fishermen from Vietnam and the Philippines have accused China of preventing their fishing boats from entering the disputed waters. Some say they even try to ram their boats, or even come on board and take their equipment. The Philippines has been in dispute with China over Scarborough Shoal and the surrounding waters. China has used its navy to keep Filipino fishermen out and encouraged its fishermen to catch in these waters. An international court ruled for the Philippines last July in the territorial dispute but China rejected the ruling. Both countries, however, are expected to sign an agreement later this month on a joint use of these waters. Further south, Indonesia has also seized and destroyed over 300 fishing vessels, from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, for illegal fishing in its waters the past three years. Shrinking industry in West Africa Overfishing does not stop in East Asia either. On the other side of the world, West Africa is now seeing damaging effects of overfishing. For coastal African countries, such as Senegal, the fishing industry is a large part of the national economy. The World Bank reports nearly 20 percent of the Senegalese are working in the fishing industry. Rashid Sumaila is the Director of Fisheries Economic Research at the University of British Columbia. He says communities that depend on fish for income and food, like Senegal, are now at risk. According to Sumaila, China is not the only country to increase fishing off the African coast. Europeans have been fishing in these waters for a long time, too. Recently the European Union has been supporting European vessels to come over and fish," Sumaila said. For many Senegalese, Sumaila says fishing is the only thing they can do, because of the lack of education and skills to work in other sectors. About 260 million people draw some income from fisheries worldwide and most of these jobs are in developing countries. Sumaila adds that if these jobs go away, and young people dont have any other work to turn to, the chance for frustration and social unrest grows. And some are forced to immigrate to other countries to find work. Impact on the environment Overfishing eliminates many of the big, high-value fish and removes a food source for other fish and animals. If left alone, Sumaila says, nature knows how to balance this. But as more fish are caught more frequently, it doesnt leave time for the population to stabilize. Another concern is habitat destruction. Bottom trawler boats, which drag nets along the ocean floor, are damaging coral reefs, which are important habitats for fish. In the South China Sea, China is also building man-made islands to claim territories in disputed waters. The construction of these islands has been very harmful to the coral reefs. John McManus is a marine ecologist and reef expert at the University of Miami. He says, When youre in a situation where youre overfished and on the verge of fishery collapse, you dont want to go destroying fish generating machines, and thats what coral reefs can be seen as. Sumaila compares the action to taking away the home and the living space for fish in the ocean. Im Phil Dierking. Phil Dierking reported this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. How much do you depend on fish or the fishing industry? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story exploit - v. to get value or use from man-made - adj. made by people rather than by nature habitat - n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows stabilize - v. to stop quickly changing, increasing, getting worse, etc. The United States is expressing concern over a clash involving protesters and supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The clash happened Tuesday in Washington, D.C., near the home of Turkeys ambassador. Erdogan had met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier in the day. Parts of the clash were caught on video by VOAs Turkish Service. State Department official Heather Nauert said in a statement the U.S. concerns would be communicated to the Turkish government "in the strongest possible way. Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest, the statement said. VOAs Turkish Service said the protesters were supporters of Selahattin Demirtas, a jailed pro-Kurdish lawmaker. Turkish officials arrested him in November on terrorism-related charges. Rights groups condemned his arrest as part of a government crackdown on dissent. The protesters said they were demonstrating peacefully until Erdogans guards and supporters suddenly moved toward them. Video shows men wearing dark suits and others hitting and kicking protesters. Police appeared to struggle to keep the two groups separated. At least 11 people were injured in the violence. Two arrests were made and Washington, D.C. police said other suspects were being sought. Police said they were checking reports that some of the attackers worked as bodyguards for the Turkish president. Turkeys embassy blamed the violence on groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a group fighting the government. An embassy statement said the group had aggressively provoked Turkish-American citizens who had gathered to greet Erdogan. Washingtons police chief, mayor and several U.S. lawmakers condemned the violence. Senator John McCain, a Republican, urged the Trump administration to expel the Turkish ambassador over the incident. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn adapted this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story appropriate adj. suitable or right for a particular situation suit n. clothing consisting of pants and a jacket dissent n. public disagreement with an official opinion provoke v. cause someone to become angry or violent It has been a busy two weeks in political news from the United States. President Donald Trump dismissed James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comey was leading an investigation into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russian interference with the November presidential election. The dismissal happened last week. This week, The Washington Post reported that Trump shared classified information during his meeting with Russian officials. And The New York Times reported about a memo that James Comey reportedly wrote. It said Trump had asked him to end a federal investigation into a former top Trump administration official. And on Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named a special counsel to take over the governments Russia investigation. He appointed Robert Mueller, who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013. Things are happening so fast that it is difficult to keep up. Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Everyone I know in the political system, on all sides and in all professions, is exhausted, he said. There's never a break. Alison Howard is a therapist in Washington, D.C. Almost everyday, she hears from patients who are stressed out about what they have watched or read in the news about politics. Howard told VOA that people seem to deal with this stress in different ways. Some try to avoid reading or watching as much news as they have in the past. Howard said, Others take comfort in signing into social media and finding that other people feel the same way that they do. Lyle Cope, a Republican voter in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, said he is feeling the stress of the regular breaking news reports on cable news networks. Pretty much anybody who is paying attention is stressed out by the constant flow of things coming from this administration, he said. Cope is retired after helping run centers for the mentally disabled. Cope voted for the losing Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, rather than Trump, a fellow Republican. I think my decision not to vote for Trump has been borne out, Cope said. He criticizes Trump for supporting a health care bill that will stop coverage for millions of Americans, and reports that he shared secret information with Russian officials. Frightening, Cope said. Stephen Gele is a lawyer in Louisiana and a Republican who voted for Trump and continues to support the president. He said Trumps flamboyant personality is a big change. His style is very different than most presidents people have known, Gele said. And I think that takes people aback. Gele praises Trump for carrying out campaign promises to improve enforcement of immigration laws and increase jobs through reduced regulations and tax cuts. Responding to news about Robert Mueller as special counsel, Trump was measured at first. He predicted the investigation will clear him and his political campaign. But hours later on Twitter, he was direct in expressing unhappiness. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! he wrote. Starting this weekend, Trump again will be in the news, as he begins his first international trip as president. I'm Caty Weaver. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by VOA News, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. Do you ever get stressed out by what you read or hear about world events? ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story classified - adj. kept secret from all but a few people in the government special counsel - n. an attorney given authority to investigate an issue, independent of other government officials or organizations exhausted - n. very tired stressed - v. a state of being nervous, upset, about something going on in your life or the world comfort - n. a state or feeling of being less worried, upset, frightened, during a time of trouble or emotional pain constant flow - phrase, things that keep happening borne out - v. having your position supported by what eventually happened flamboyant - adj. doing things in a strong way that draws attention respond - v. to say or write something as an answer to a question or an event or decision Syria is denying claims by the United States that the Syrian government kills many prisoners every day. The U.S. government accuses Syria of burning the bodies of those it has executed in a large crematorium near the capital, Damascus. Syrias foreign ministry called the U.S. accusation a Hollywood story detached from reality. The state-operated SANA news agency reported the statement. On Monday, the U.S. State Department said that as many as 50 prisoners are being hanged every day at the Saydnaya prison. It said the government of President Bashar al-Assad then uses the crematorium to destroy the bodies. It accused the government of seeking to hide evidence of the extent of the killings. Stuart Jones is the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East. He said the government of Syrian President Assad has sunk to a new level of depravity. Jones criticized Russia and Iran for providing military assistance to the Assad regime. Those countries have supported the regime's six-year-long fight against rebel groups attempting to overthrow it. About 400,000 people have been killed in the fighting. Jones said the State Department had yet to present evidence of the mass killings to Russian officials. But he said the United States has had, in his words, an ongoing conversation with the Russians, talking about the problem that their failure to condemn Syrian atrocities -- and their apparent tolerance of Syrian atrocities -- has created. And we have urged the regime -- we urged the Russian government to hold the regime responsible for these atrocities. Last month, President Donald Trump ordered a missile attack on Syria after the governments suspected chemical weapons attack on civilians. Jones said that the Assad government, in his words, "has treated opposition forces and unarmed civilians as one and the same -- committing widespread violations of international law, including the law of armed conflict and human rights law. Although the regimes many atrocities are well documented, we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of the mass murders taking place in Saydnaya. He said the American claim about the crematorium is based on information from the U.S. intelligence community and humanitarian groups. Jones did not give an official estimate about how many people have been killed at Saydnaya. But he noted that Amnesty International reported that between 5,000 and 11,000 people had died at the prison between 2011 and 2015. He said the Syrian government had detained between 65,000 and 117,000 people over the same four-year period. The State Department released newly declassified satellite photographs of what it said is a building at the prison used as a crematorium. The latest photo was from January 2015. It was not immediately clear why the United States waited to declassify the evidence. I'm Caty Weaver. VOAs Ken Bredemeier and Nike Ching wrote this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story crematorium n. a place where the bodies of dead people are burned detached adj. not connected extent n. used to explain the level or degree to which something exists, happens or is true depravity n. a very evil quality or way of behaving regime n. a form of government atrocity n. a very cruel or terrible act or action tolerance n. willingness to accept feelings or beliefs that are different from your own declassify v. to let the public see or learn about (something that has been a secret) Last Friday, the largest cyberattack ever affected more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries. The attack used a virus that locked the computers' data. The attackers demanded payment to unlock the computers. The virus, called WannaCry, infected computers in organizations including the British healthcare system, the American company FedEx and Russias Interior Ministry. Our story, 'Ransomware' Affects Computers Worldwide explains more about the virus. Although Friday's cyberattack was stopped, the virus may soon return in a different form. It is important to learn about the virus and the steps you should take now to protect your data from future versions of WannaCry. How the virus locked computers WannaCry attacked computers that were connected to the Internet and used Windows operating systems. The systems affected had not yet been updated with a security patch that Microsoft released in March. How WannaCry was blocked A developer accidentally discovered a way to prevent WannaCry from spreading. He looked at the computer code and noticed that the virus was directing computers to a domain name. He checked on the domain name and discovered that it was available, so he bought it for less than $11. That simple move enabled a "kill switch" that prevented WannaCry from spreading further. Unfortunately, the kill switch does not unlock computers that were already infected by the virus. The developer has chosen to remain nameless but uses the Twitter account @malwaretechblog. He wrote a blog post that explains in detail how he happened to discover the kill switch for WannaCry. The post is called How to Accidentally Stop a Global Cyber Attacks. But we are not safe yet This cyberattack used a security hole that still exists for computers running older versions of Windows. Computers running Windows 10 that have not yet installed the update are also at risk. The virus may attack again. All the hackers have to do to launch a new cyberattack is to change the domain name in WannaCry, then release the updated virus. How to protect your data against future cyberattacks You can protect yourself against future cyberattacks. Make sure to download the latest Windows security patch to your computer. Microsoft, the maker of Windows, has now released security patches for older versions of Windows that give protection against WannaCry. For help, visit Microsofts page called How to Keep Your Windows Computer Up-to-date. Permit automatic Windows updates if you do not want to worry about keeping your computer updated. Also, make sure that you save, or back up, your data. Do regular backups of your data, both locally with an external drive and in the Cloud. That way you can protect your data when another cyberattack takes place. Be sure not to click on links or download attachments in emails unless you are sure that they are not "phishing" emails from hackers. Although the WannaCry virus attack did not happen this way, others have happened this way in the past. Im Caty Weaver. Carolyn Nicander Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. Catherine Kelly Weaver was the editor. Had you heard about the cyberattack last week? Were you affected by WannaCry? Have you updated your computer and downloaded the latest version of Windows (or MacOS if you use an Apple computer)? Do you backup your data regularly? Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story cyberattack - n. an attempt by hackers to damage or destroy a computer network or system virus - n. a program that is designed to harm a computer by deleting data, ruining files, etc., and that can be spread secretly from one computer to another security patch - n. a software or operating-system update that is intended to correct an issue that could lead to hacking or viral infection domain name - n. the part of a network address that identifies one or more web addresses automatic - adj. having controls that allow something to work or happen without being directly controlled by a person phishing - n. the practice of sending fake emails that appear to be from actual companies in order to get individuals to share personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers The Bank of China Macau Branch reported a profit of MOP1.305 billion in the first quarter of 2017, according to the balance sheet recently published in the Official Gazette. The result was the outcome of MOP2.359 billion of total costs and revenues of MOP3.664 billion. In the same period of 2016, the bank reported a profit of MOP1.348 billion, due to costs of MOP2.685 billion and revenues of MOP4.034 billion, meaning that this years result reflected a decrease of 3.2 percent. The Bank of China Macau Branch, which is an issuing bank in the MSAR along with Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU), reported a profit of MOP580.69 million in 2016. PSC industrial park launched in Guangxi The first stone of the industrial park Beihai-Macau of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (PSC) was launched in Beihai, Guangxi province, on Monday. The park occupies a total area of 600 acres. During the first construction period, 100,000 square meters of new facilities will be completed, mainly for importing and developing high-end furniture, processing mineral resources, sea products, alcohol and fruit, among others. The park is expected to reach an accumulated trade value of RMB20 billion by 2020. It will also try to obtain three to five symbolic commercial projects from Portuguese-Speaking Countries within this year. Zhuhai to conduct first sea economy investigation The city of Zhuhai will launch its first sea economy investigation this year, according to a report by Jornal Va Kio. The investigation will focus on three aspects, including a complete examination of government departments and industries related to the sea. Companies and fishermen will be the target of the investigation. Currently, the sea industry in Zhuhai comprises 7,483 companies. Furthermore, a total of 11,510 companies conduct businesses related to the sea in Zhuhai. By the end of October, the city will have finished collecting all information necessary for the investigation. Qualified helmets without labels can be used Motorbike helmets without an information label will not lead to punishment of the owners as long as helmets meet the governments requirements. A previous report by Macao Daily News informed that drivers could be fined if their helmets did not have labels. Yesterday, Chan Io Fai, department head from the Transport Bureau (DSAT), said that drivers can refer to the DSAT webpage to confirm whether their helmets are qualified. Chan also said that if someone is prosecuted for not having a helmet label on, he or she can refer to DSAT and the relevant department will receive a notice to cancel the prosecution. These new regulations on helmets for motorbike drivers will come into effect on June 30. High technician test sees 90 pct approval rate Ninety percent of the people who attended the government exams for public departments passed the tests, according to a report released by TDM yesterday. The exam was aimed at recruiting high technicians for a total of 183 job vacancies in different public government departments. In total, 17,040 people took the exam, with 15,433 passing it. The Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) informed that it will subsequently issue a notice regarding the evaluation process of professional career abilities. Those who wish to attend the professional ability test should apply to the interested departments within ten days after the notice is issued. Mainland-Macau trade decreased 16 percent quarterly The recent statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China show that trade between the mainland and Macau decreased 10.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. The trade value amounted to USD615 million. The mainlands imports from Macau decreased 33 percent, recording a total value of USD10 million. In the same period, 156 Macau business investment projects were approved and can now commence in the mainland, which corresponds to an increase of 10 percent year-on-year. The actual amount of Macaus capital in the mainland was USD309 million, which corresponds to a 67 percent increase year-on-year. MGM Macau is presenting the first-time exhibition A Golden Way of Life TresOrs at MGM Art Space from now until September 3, 2017. As part of the Le French May Silver Jubilee Celebrations, the exhibition invites the public to embark on an exploration of a collection of over 250 exquisite gold creations and artifacts, including classic and contemporary art works, religious artifacts, vintage furniture pieces, fashion and accessories, watches and jewelry, and objects from everyday life, all made between the 17th century and the modern day. An opening ceremony was held at MGM Art Space yesterday. The ceremony was officiated by Alexis Tam, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Eric Berti, Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, Pansy Ho, Co-Chairperson and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Limited, and Grant Bowie, the Chief Executive officer and Executive Director of MGM. In the past ten golden years, MGM Macau has been a contributor to the citys cultural and economic development. Through an array of art and cultural events, MGM has been bringing the world to Macau with world-class art experience, and bringing Macau to the world with MGM Art Space and its innovative programs, said Pansy Ho. With the opening of MGM Cotai, we will continue to pursue widespread art and cultural magnificence, connecting East and West and blending tradition with innovation. Eric Berti, said at the ceremony: This exhibition brought over 250 works together for the first time, from French museums and private collections, among them remarkable pieces from Musee Notre-Dame de Fourvieere in Lyon, a 1930s Zadkine sculpture, jewels from the Bouncheron collection, and vintage pieces by Yves Saint Laurent. This exhibition celebrates in a very unique way, the French creators and the savoir faire a la francaise and I am very happy to present it in Macau. MGM Art Space will open to all members of the public free of admission until September 3, 2017. The art space is open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday, and will be closed on Mondays and public holidays. Britains first astronaut, 27-year-old Helen Sharman from Sheffield, has blasted into orbit. The Soviet Soyuz TM-12 space capsule made a textbook launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan at 1350 BST carrying Miss Sharman and fellow cosmonauts Anatoly Artebartsky and Sergei Krikalyov. Her parents and sister watched from a viewing stand one kilometre away and saw their daughter smile and wave to the onboard camera. She carries with her a photograph of the Queen, a butterfly brooch given to her by her father and a space passport in case her spacecraft is forced to land outside the Soviet Union. Miss Sharman, a former chemist for the Mars chocolate company, had won her place in space in 1989 after answering an advertisement she heard on the car radio Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary. She was eventually selected from over 13,000 applicants to be the British member of the Russian scientific space mission, Project Juno. The USSR has already taken a Mongolian, an Afghan, a Cuban, a Syrian and a Japanese journalist to space. She spent 18 gruelling months training in Star City, 30km north-east of Moscow and now speaks fluent Russian. She has become known among her comrades for her remarkably calm and unruffled nature. She has trained alongside her British back-up Major Tim Mace. Tomorrow, the Soyuz is due to dock with the Mir space station which has been occupied by two crew members for the last six months. The British element of the Juno project has had trouble raising funds and the only sponsors to come forward are Interflora, a watch manufacturer and a cassette tape company. During her eight days in space, Miss Sharman will carry out a series of medical and agricultural experiments. She will also take part in a radio-ham test with British schools, take photos of the British Isles and see how pansies grow in weightless conditions. Courtesy BBC News In context Seven days later, Helen Sharman came back to Earth in her Soyuz TM11 capsule which parachuted into Kazakhstan. With her was Commander Musa Manarov who held the record for the longest time in space at 541 days. When she emerged from the capsule she said: The air is very fresh. Smell the flowers, they are wonderful. She was awarded an OBE in 1993. She has since become a lecturer and broadcaster on science education. After 15 years in space, the Mir space station was decommissioned and disintegrated in the Earths atmosphere on 23 March 2001. The Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) announced yesterday that it has received three applications for legal status from nomination committees and consequently found two cases of individuals signing the nomination papers of more than one nomination committee. The CAEAL chairman, Tong Hio Fong, said that the Public Security Police Force will be notified of the two cases for further investigation. Voters who endorse the nomination of several candidates may face fines. The duplicated nominations will be excluded from the nomination committees concerned, Tong told reporters after yesterdays commission meeting. During yesterdays meeting, the commission made a final decision to operate polling stations at 35 venues, with one of the venues containing two polling stations, thus making available a total of 36 for this years direct elections to the Legislative Assembly. There will be five more stations for Septembers election than the number of polling stations in 2013. Following the increase in the number of polling stations, each station is expected to serve approximately 11,000 voters, compared to 14,000 voters per polling station at the previous election, said Tong. The CAEAL also disclosed that the commission plans to hold a meeting with representatives of Macau gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires, to explain the Legislative Assembly Election Law and electoral rules applied to gaming operators. The 2017 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Film Production Investment and Trade Fair, which will be held this year in July, is now calling for the submission of Macau film projects, according to one of its co-organizers, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). Submissions from the film industry will be accepted until the deadline on June 8. The fair, which has the aim of providing an exchange platform for film producers and investors from Guangdong Province, Macau and Hong Kong, is co-organized by the IC, the Guangdong Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Hong Kong Film Development Council. Held in the MSAR since 2014, organizers say they intend for the fair to help cultivate film professionals and promote the development of the industry in the three regions. According to the IC, previous editions of the fair have attracted as many as 85 film projects from southern China and approximately 130 representatives of investors. The meetings have resulted in several contracts between filmmakers and production companies, as well as agreements for financial support for overseas film production. Applicants of Macau film projects to the fair must be 18 years old or above and must be the holder of a valid Macau SAR Resident Identity Card. Each applicant may submit one unfinished film only that has been directed by the applicant, is over 20 minutes in length and has been previously screened to the public. The adjudicating panel will select a maximum of ten film projects based on criteria such as the creativity of the story, the experience of the applicant and executive production company, and budget rationality. Henderson Land Development Co. outbid eight other developers and will pay a record HKD23.3 billion (USD3 billion) for the first commercial land to be sold by Hong Kongs government in the Central district since 1996. The Hong Kong companys shares fell the most in the Hang Seng Properties Index yesterday, sliding as much as 2.9 percent. Henderson Land beat local rivals including units of Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. and Wharf Holdings Ltd., the Lands Department said on Tuesday. The firm will build an office tower on the site. The record price for the property, currently used as a car park, underscores strong demand for office space in Central. Since MTR Corp. sold a waterfront site for the landmark International Finance Centre in 1996, no new supply has come on stream. The areas vacancy rate was only about 1.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to CBRE Group Inc. The price surprises on the high side, said Alfred Lau, an analyst at Bocom International Holdings Co. However, the market may not share such a bullish outlook, Lau said, adding that Henderson Land should consider introducing a partner to share the risk. Office space in Central is the worlds most expensive, according to a CBRE survey released in March, which ranked the rents ahead of those in Beijing districts, Hong Kongs West Kowloon, Londons West End, midtown Manhattan and Tokyo. The price per square foot for the deal is about HKD50,000, according to Bloomberg calculations based on a maximum gross floor area of 465,000 square feet. That compares with HKD36,200 per square foot when China Evergrande Group paid a record for a commercial building in 2015 HKD39,700 per square foot in March for units in 9 Queens Road Central that are the citys most expensive office space, according to the Apple Daily newspaper. Only one of the nine bidders was a mainland company, indicating a cooling of interest from Chinese buyers after three recent residential land auctions where at least a third of the bids were from mainland businesses. Previously, Chinese bidders such as HNA Group Co. have snapped up Hong Kong sites. The car park building is in the heart of Central, near the iconic Bank of China skyscraper and billionaire Li Ka-shings Cheung Kong Center. Last year, Colliers International estimated that the property was worth HKD15.8 billion to HKD17 billion. Henderson Land will finance the acquisition through its internal resources and bank funding, and plans to complete an office building, with some retail facilities, by 2022, the company said in a statement. Aggressive bidding for the commercial site echoes brisk developer demand for residential plots amid record home prices in the worlds least affordable housing market. Moxy Ying, Bloomberg Macau is set to host the 47th Skal Asian Area Congress in 2018, an announcement that was made at the recent 13th China Expo Forum for International Co-operation (CEFCO 2017). Following the previous events held in 1996 and 2007, this is the third time that the region will be hosting the event. Skal Asian Area Congress is an event recognized by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Executive director of the Macau Trade and Promotion Investment Institute (IPIM), Irene Va, together with the deputy director of the Macau Government Tourism Office, Cheng Wai Tong, and the president of Skal International Macau, Joao Manuel Costa Antunes attended the 46th Asian Area Congress, held in Bahrain, on May 13 and 14. During the event, Lau briefed the guests on the strengths and development of Macaus MICE industry. According to a statement issued by IPIM, Antunes noted that the organizer has selected Macau as the venue for their next event because the MSAR is presently committed to building One Centre (World Tourism and Leisure Centre) and One Platform (Services Platform for Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries). He stressed that the territory has unique tourism resources, and that the hosting of international conventions will help to enhance the international visibility of the regions tourism, and convention and exhibition industries. At the same time, Macau has been promoting itself as a MICE destination and relevant hardware and software facilities have been developed quickly, bringing to the city an increasing number of merchants from Asia and other parts of the world. Skal International, headquartered in Spain, is an international organization that brings together people from all sectors of the tourism industry. Its objective is to promote tourism, enhance business contacts and foster relationships among the tourism sector. A rap group backed by Chinas government is warning South Korea in a music video that youre going too far with the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, as Beijing seeks to bring its state-supported cultural forces to bear in the international dispute. A member of the group CD REV said government officials worked with them on the video and helped to promote it on foreign websites, many of which are blocked in China by official censors emboldened by the ruling Communist Partys warnings against foreign cultural infiltration. In the song, group members chant that about THAAD we say no, no, no, a reference to the U.S. Armys missile defense system formally known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. Later in the song, they refer to South Korea, saying, this time, kid, youre going too far and your big brothers annoyed, a nod to Chinas view of itself as the pre-eminent political and economic power in northeast Asia. Beijing vehemently opposes the missile shield, saying its powerful radar will allow it to monitor missile launches, aircraft flights and other sensitive activities in northeastern China. South Korea and the U.S. say it is necessary to guard against North Koreas missile and nuclear weapons activities that threaten South Korea, Japan, U.S. territories and possibly even the continental United States. CD REVs Wang Zixin told The Associated Press that the group hopes to rally Chinese worldwide against the deployment of THAAD and demonstrate Chinas tough stance on the issue. We would see government reports and comments, but at the same time, we see the whole event from the position of Chinese, Wang said. In the video, the group also takes shots at what Wang referred to as vulgar behavior within China, such as vandalism against South Korean-made Hyundai vehicles. The video viewed by yesterday more than 300,000 times on Facebook and Twitter and almost 2.7 million times on the Chinese video-posting site Maiopai represents the latest example of Chinas use of non-diplomatic channels to broadcast its displeasure with South Korea. Last year, there were reports that China had stopped giving approval to performers of Korean pop music, or K-pop, to play shows in China, on the heels of Seoul signing the agreement to host THAAD. In March, South Korean officials voiced concerns that Beijing was limiting tourism to their country as an unofficial sanction. South Korean retailer Lotte, which provided the land for the THAAD deployment, has also been boycotted by Chinese customers and seen construction halted on an amusement park it was building in northeastern China. Such moves underscore a willingness on the part of Chinas Communist Party leaders to fan the flames of anti-South Korea sentiment, said Korea expert Sung-Yoon Lee of Tufts University in Massachusetts. THAAD retaliation is a Chinese government- engineered project, Lee said. It can be controlled and reversed by Beijing. [] The Chinese public has no interest in the complexities of missile defense systems. South Koreas foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the song, and the video did not appear to garner much attention on the countrys social media platforms. During a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, South Koreas new president, Moon Jae-in, said he was aware of Chinese worries about THAAD and asked Xi to help resolve difficulties facing South Korean businesses operating in China. A special envoy representing Moon is due to visit China on today for talks on THAAD and the overall bilateral relationship. Matthew Brown, Beijing, AP The Secretary for Transports and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, said yesterday that it is up to CTM customers to assess if the discount announced by the telecommunications company to compensate customers for the lack of service during the latest blackout was sufficient. It is always very subjective to say that is enough or not. It was an effort that CTM did [to compensate the customers] now it is up to the customers to say if is enough or not. Rosario was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the ceremony commemorating the telecom day held at the Macau Tower. CTM announced that around 55,000 customers would be compensated in their June internet bill with a discount of 15 percent. It was estimated that the blackout that occurred on April 18 affected a total of around 30,000 internet clients from the company. Director of the Macau Post, Derby Lau, updated journalists on the status of the investigation initiated by the telecom regulator to monitor the companys responsibility in relation to the case. An enquiry is ongoing at the moment with a conclusion expected for the end of this month [May], she said, adding, and then [according to the results of the enquiry] we will have a final decision on the matter. Yesterday, Raimundo do Rosario decided to postpone his replies on cases related to the other departments he supervises until the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) that he will attend next week. Roasario was called to comment on the latest information provided by the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan; Chan acknowledged this week at the AL that the problems encountered in the hiring of staff for the Cultural Affairs Bureau do not happen in all government secretaries. Today is the telecom day and I would appreciate if you could ask questions on the telecom topic. Furthermore next week I will go to the [Legislative] Assembly as I have spoken enquiries [to reply to], so next week we will have the opportunity to talk on other topics, he said when questioned about the topic of the hiring of staff under the Secretary of Transports and Public Works. Telecom Day celebrated under the motto Big Data for mega impact To celebrate the Telecom Day 2017, the Macau Post (DSC) held a ceremony to announce that this year the topic will be Big Data for mega impact. This is defined by the International Telecommunication Union as the purpose to advance and inform people on how the implementation of Big Data and use of this resource can be the engine of development, said the director of the DSC, Derby Lau, during the opening speech. Lau highlighted the capabilities of such data to enhance quality of life through raising the capacity of the government and companies in taking decisions, perfecting procedures, as well as future opportunities perception. The DSC has invited a panel of specialists from Hong Kong and Macau to address the topic, clarify areas of uncertainty and improve the exchange of information, especially between the two regions. Tencent Holdings Ltd.s investments in blockbuster video and gaming content are paying off big-time. Chinas largest internet company posted record quarterly sales and profit that topped all analysts estimates as blockbuster titles including Honour of Kings drove a billion-plus users on WeChat and QQ to spend on game items. Chairman Pony Mas strategy of stockpiling rights to hit anime and novels and developing shows in-house is transforming the company into a hybrid Marvel Studios-Netflix style content factory. Soaring growth at Tencents mobile gaming and advertisement units is buying the company time to develop new channels of revenue in finance and cloud, and bankrolling a foray into Hollywood. After backing Kong: Skull Island, the company is helping finance the upcoming summer tent-pole Wonder Woman. A market value that now surpasses USD300 billion underscores how Chinas online titans, including Alibaba Group, are outstripping traditional state sectors and defying a slowdown in the worlds second-largest economy. It was a strong set of results, said Li Yujie, an analyst at RHB Research Institute Sdn in Hong Kong. Tencents mobile gaming business was the main contributor, especially Honour of Kings, which is probably generating 2-3 billion yuan of revenue a month. Revenue climbed to 49.6 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) in the three months ended March, the Shenzhen-based company said yesterday, surpassing the 46.4 billion yuan analysts projected on average. Net income climbed to 14.5 billion yuan, compared with the 13 billion yuan projected. The results included net other gains of 3.2 billion yuan, six times a year earlier, which was mainly from disposals and dividend income, it said. Shifting from its old strategy of relying on third-party content, Tencent has poured money into developing its own videos, a strategy that has propelled Netflix. Its Chinese TV drama Candle in the Tomb grossed about 2.5 billion views as of January before the shows finale, according to Tencents news portal QQ.com. In games, Tencent rode a strong showing from Honour of Kings. Self-developed, the hit battle title is in the same vein as the worlds most popular desktop title League of Legends also owned by Tencent. It topped both revenue and downloads in Apple Inc.s iOS store in March, according to App Annie. Monthly active users reached 167.7 million in the quarter, Alan Hellawell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, estimates. The Chinese companys pipeline looked full for this quarter as well. It unveiled another 19 mobile titles in April including the much-anticipated JX Online III, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Alex Yao. A majority of those were adapted from hit novels, shows or anime in hopes of appealing to an established fan base. Honour of Kings specifically drove Tencent mobile games in March, Hellawell wrote before the earnings. He expects Tencent to further maintain its leading position in the gaming sector in the long run. The companys now also backing Twitch-like streaming sites including Wuhan Douyu Network Technology Co. and accelerating investments in Hollywood films. While Tencent remains largely reliant on in-game spending, its been growing an online ad business on the back of Chinas largest pool of social media users. Revenue from that business increased 47 percent to 6.9 billion yuan in the first quarter. Shares of Tencent gained 37 percent this year, compared with a 41 percent rise for New York-listed rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Naspers Ltd., which owns a significant stake in Tencent, was up 2.2 percent in early trade in Johannesburg. WeChat had 937.8 million monthly active users and the mobile version of QQ had 678 million users at the end of the quarter. Revenue from Value Added Services, which includes online games and messaging, soared 41 percent to 35.1 billion yuan. Of that total, online game revenue grew 34 percent to 22.8 billion yuan. From January, WeChats mini programs began letting users access third-party services such as bike-sharing without the need to download full versions of individual apps. While nascent, that platform has the potential to side-step Apple or Android app stores and signals Tencents longer-term ambition to keep users within its own mobile environment. WeChat could eventually integrate mini-programs into a fuller-fledged app store that sits on top of native operating systems such as iOS or Android, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Grace Chen. Bloomberg U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley accused North Korea yesterday [Macau time] of intimidating the entire international community with its nuclear program, military ability and cyberattacks, and said any country that doesnt implement U.N. sanctions is supporting Pyongyangs actions. No one is immune to the threat of North Korea, she told reporters before emergency closed-door consultations by the U.N. Security Council on the Norths weekend ballistic missile launch, which experts said demonstrated a significant technological jump with the rocket flying higher and for a longer period of time. Were not going to continue to just say go ahead and test as often as you want, Haley said, flanked by the South Korean and Japanese ambassadors. This is a true threat to every country in the world. [] Were going to make sure we put the pressure on them economically, diplomatically, politically and internationally. Haley said the U.S. and China have been working on a unified plan on how to approach North Korea that would include stronger implementation of existing sanctions and tougher new sanctions. She indicated Washington and Beijing had agreed they would take action if a new test looked to be long range and leaning toward an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the United States. The latest launch appeared to fulfill both criteria, Haley said, so I believe that China will stay true to that, and that well come together on how were going to do that. The Security Council, which has imposed six rounds of sanctions on the North, discussed possible further action at the meeting. Haley previously indicated that new sanctions could target oil, a critical import for North Korea mainly from China, and she said the U.S. also wants sanctions on organizations and businesses in third countries that are helping Pyongyang. Uruguayan Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, the current council president, said after the meeting that members are united in condemning the latest missile launch as a serious threat to international peace. He said the council is exploring many different avenues to proceed and clearly sanctions are a way to go, but also diplomacy. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations were private, said China never mentioned working with the U.S. on a new sanctions resolution, and both China and Russia said they support a negotiated solution through dialogue. Haley was asked about comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Monday who called North Koreas nuclear and missile tests unacceptable but also said the United States should stop intimidating Pyongyang. We need to return to dialogue with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, stop intimidating it and find ways to solve these problems peacefully, Putin was quoted as saying, using North Koreas official name. Is it possible or not? I think it is possible. Haley answered Putin and others who have made similar comments about the United States: What about North Korea intimidating us? Theyre intimidating the entire international community. Theyre trying to strengthen their muscle with no cause. There is no reason for North Korea to be having these actions outside of the fact they just choose to do so. Haley noted that this weekends missile came within 60 miles of Russias border and said Russia is all wrong. Edith M. Lederer, United Nations, AP The danger from a global cyberattack that spread to some 150 nations continues to fade, and thats only some of the good news. After two security researchers greatly slowed down that attack, which effectively held peoples documents, photos and other digital files hostage, hard-hit organizations such as the U.K.s National Health Service seem to be bouncing back. While its a crude measure of the impact, it also appears that relatively few of those affected were desperate enough to actually pay the ransom demanded by the attackers. On the other hand, the attack has served as a live demonstration of a new type of global threat, one that could encourage future hackers. Heres what we currently know about the ransomware known as WannaCry, which locked up digital photos, documents and other files to hold them for ransom. WHERE IT CAME FROM Researchers are still puzzling out how WannaCry got started. Figuring that out could yield important clues to the identity of its authors. The malware spread rapidly inside computer networks by taking advantage of vulnerabilities in mostly older versions of Microsoft Windows. That weakness was purportedly identified and stockpiled for use by the U.S. National Security Agency; it was subsequently stolen and published on the internet. But it remains unclear how WannaCry got onto computers in the first place. Experts said its rapid global spread suggests it did not rely on phishing, in which fake emails tempt the unwary to click on infected documents or links. Analysts at the European Union cybersecurity agency said the hackers likely scanned the internet for systems that were vulnerable to infection and exploited those computers remotely. Once established, WannaCry encrypted computer files and displayed a message demanding USD300 to $600 worth of the digital currency bitcoin to release them. Failure to pay would leave the data scrambled and likely beyond repair unless users had unaffected backup copies. RANSOM PAYMENTS Investigators are closely watching three bitcoin accounts associated with WannaCry, where its victims were directed to send ransom payments. The digital currency is anonymized, but its possible to track funds as they move from place to place until they end up with an identifiable person. So far, there have been no withdrawals from those accounts. Given the scope of the attack, relatively few people appear to have actually paid the ransom. According to a Twitter account that monitors those accounts , theyve received only about 250 payments worth a total of slightly more than $72,000. NORTH KOREA Several sets of investigators have now reported tentative findings that suggest hackers linked to North Korea might have been involved with WannaCry. But they could all be drawing conclusions from a very small set of clues. On Monday, the Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab said portions of the WannaCry program use the same code as malware previously distributed by the Lazarus Group, a hacker collective behind the 2014 Sony hack. Another security company, Symantec, related the same findings, which it characterized as intriguing but weak associations, since the code could have been copied from the Lazarus malware. Two law enforcement officials likewise said U.S. investigators suspect North Korea based on code similarities; the officials called that finding preliminary. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they arent authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. But WannaCry remains a puzzle, in part because some of its elements seemed amateurish. Salim Neino, CEO of the Los Angeles-based security firm Kryptos Logic, said the WannaCry worm was poorly designed patched together and consisting of a sum of different parts with an unsophisticated payment system. Typical ransomware also generates a unique bitcoin account for each payment to make tracing difficult. That wasnt done here. DIGGING OUT One of the organizations hardest hit by WannaCry the U.K.s National Health Service appears to be recovering. On Friday, many NHS hospitals had to turn away patients after WannaCry locked up computers, forcing the closure of wards and emergency rooms. NHS Digital, the body that oversees cybersecurity in Britains health system, said that as of now, it has no evidence that patient data has been compromised. The agency told hospitals to disconnect all infected computers, apply a Microsoft patch that closes the vulnerability, then roll back the infected computers and restore them from backed-up files. U.K. hospitals are supposed to back up data frequently and at multiple locations. Its possible that some data that wasnt backed up could be lost. SIGN OF HACKS TO COME WannaCry could also serve as a kind of template for future cyberattacks. Neino of Kryptos Logic, for instance, said the leak of the NSA hacking tools have significantly narrowed the gap between nations and individuals or cyber gangs. The concern has always been, when are the real bad guys, the ones that dont care about rules of engagement, the ones who are really out to hurt us, will they become cyber-capable? he said in an interview Monday night with The Associated Press. I think today we found out that those who really want to hurt us have begun to, because they became cyber-capable the moment that the NSA cybertools were released. Anick Jesdanun, New York, AP Surfer worked from bedroom to beat malware As a vast ransomware attack raced from computer to computer, infecting tens of thousands around the world, a young tech expert worked from his bedroom in England to bring the rampage to a halt. But Marcus Hutchins doesnt consider himself a hero. The 22-year-old credited with cracking the WannaCry cyberattack told The Associated Press he fights malware because its the right thing to do. In his first face-to-face interview, Hutchins, who works for Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic, said late Monday that hundreds of computer experts worked throughout the weekend to fight the virus, which paralyzed computers in some 150 countries. Im definitely not a hero, he said. Im just someone doing my bit to stop botnets. In the first hours after the virus struck Friday, the computer whiz and surfing enthusiast who lives with his family in a small seaside town in southwest England discovered a so-called kill switch that slowed the unprecedented outbreak. He then spent the next three days fighting the worm that crippled Britains hospital network as well as factories, government agencies, banks and other businesses around the world. Hutchins said he came across the solution when he was analyzing a sample of the malicious code and noticed it was linked to an unregistered web address. He promptly registered the domain, something he regularly does to discover ways to track or stop cyber threats, and found that stopped the worm from spreading. Kryptos Logic chief executive Salim Neino said Hutchins quick work allowed him to slow the virus on Friday afternoon European time, before it could fully affect the United States. Marcus, with the program he runs at Kryptos Logic, not only saved the United States but also prevented further damage to the rest of the world, Neino said in an interview from Venice, Italy. Within a few moments, we were able to validate that there was indeed a kill switch. It was a very exciting moment. Neino said the worm was poorly designed patched together and a sum of different parts with an unsophisticated payment system. Kryptos Logic is one of hundreds of companies working to combat online threats for companies, government agencies and individuals around the world. Hutchins himself is part of a global community that constantly watches for attacks and works to thwart them, often sharing information on Twitter. Its not uncommon for members to use aliases, to protect from retaliatory attacks and ensure privacy, and Hutchins has long tweeted under the handle MalwareTech, which features a profile photo of a pouty-faced cat wearing enormous sunglasses. But he realizes his newfound fame will mean an end to the anonymity. I dont think Im ever going back to the MalwareTech that everyone knew, said the curly-haired young man, shrugging and flashing a winning smile. AP China appears to be laying the groundwork for the mass collection of DNA samples from residents of a restive, largely Muslim region thats been under a security crackdown, rights observers and independent experts said. Police in western Chinas Xinjiang region confirmed to The Associated Press that they are in the process of purchasing at least USD8.7 million in equipment to analyze DNA samples. Observers from Human Rights Watch said theyve seen evidence of almost $3 million in additional purchases related to DNA testing. They warned such a collection program could be used as a way for authorities to beef up their political control. The move comes after Chinese authorities last year reportedly required Xinjiang residents to submit DNA samples, fingerprints and voice records to obtain passports or travel abroad. Xinjiang borders several unstable Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan. Its experienced numerous bombings and vehicle and knife attacks blamed on ethnic separatists from the native Uighur Islamic minority. In one of the most recent attacks, eight people, including three assailants, were killed in a February knife attack in southern Xinjiangs Pishan County, which borders Pakistan. Chinese authorities seeking to counter religious extremism among the Uighurs have taken increasingly aggressive steps to quell the unrest. Those have included mandatory satellite tracking systems for vehicles in some areas, rewards for terror-related tips and prohibitions against women wearing veils and men growing beards. The purchases of DNA testing equipment in Xinjiang were confirmed by an official at the regional Public Security Bureau. The official, who gave only her surname, Huang, said a supplier already had been found. In Xinjiangs Sheche County, suppliers were being sought for voiceprint collection systems and 3-D portrait systems, according to a security official surnamed Yin, who declined to give further details. If used at full capacity, the new equipment could be used to profile up to 10,000 DNA samples a day and several million a year, said Yves Moreau, a computational biologist specializing in genome analysis and DNA privacy at the University of Leuven in Belgium. The scale of the purchases raises a legitimate concern that Chinese authorities could be planning to DNA profile a large fraction, or even all of the Uighur people in Xinjiang, Moreau said. Since it started collecting DNA profiles in 1989, China has amassed the unique genetic information on more than 40 million people, constituting the worlds largest DNA database, according to a study last year by forensic researchers at the China Ministry of Public Security. Unlike many other countries, China lacks legal protections to guard peoples privacy and prevent their genetic information from being misused, said Helen Wallace, founder of the British group GeneWatch. Xinjiang is already an oppressive region with a high level of surveillance, said Human Rights Watch researcher Maya Wang. To collect even more information on a mass scale unrelated to criminal investigation opens the door for an even greater level of surveillance and control. Government-sponsored DNA databases compile the genetic markers present in each individual, typically from blood, saliva or hair samples. Theyre used by law enforcement agencies around the globe as evidence in criminal prosecutions and to monitor prior offenders. In the United States, where laws generally limit DNA collection to people who have been arrested, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has 12.8 million offenders in its DNA database, according to the agency. Thats almost 4 percent of the total U.S. population. The United Kingdom has 5.2 million people in its database, or about 8 percent of its population, according the British government. Chinas database now covers about 3 percent of its population. Its been used by authorities to reunite abducted children with their parents. It was also used in a highly publicized case last year to help track down a serial killer who authorities said admitted to the murders of 11 women and girls over a 14-year period. Its clear theres a fairly large infrastructure being built for DNA collection and theyre planning to expand that further, Wallace said. I would like to see China put their legal database on clear legal footing. That includes the kinds of safeguards we see in other countries. Matthew Brown, Beijing, AP (The post was meant to be published yesterday night, so apologies if some comments might sounds outdated already) Here at the Jack Burton School of TradingTM we are wondering if the market is missing a piece of information or if is, at least, underestimating a risk. Looking at the Treasuries yield going lower? Or maybe the Bund? What if the recent price action (today in particular) is not driven by US "political" battles, but by China? I have a very positive attitude about this: common feeling among many market participants. Most of the Street is looking at China as not much of a problem, at least until fall. What we fear is that China is slowing down (as some data is showing) and the slowdown is already enough to create problems for the rest of the world, especially where the effect of the wall of liquidity/credit impulse/investments coming out of China has been stronger. What have you been drinking?? Let`s try to put pieces together (apart from the obvious ones such as Chinese stocks), to name a few: Commodities, Canadian real estate, Australian real estate. We see them as some sort of canary in a coal mine (We can`t really count on Japanese stocks as BOJ has been buying them like crazy). To confirm that China is indeed the problem we would monitor price action in European assets . If they start (or keep) under-performing US assets, we think what looks like a potential fade now, will have the capability to transform itself into something bigger. Source: Cornerstone Macro Given how European risky assets have performed since the beginning of the year and how consensus that view is now, we think European equities could be in for a bad surprise and another consensus trade, Italian BTPs, could become a bitter pill to swallow for those who recently closed their shorts after the French elections (if we are looking in the right direction=East). Europe's growth is heavily dependent on China (exports to China & HK % GDP (20163Q): Germany 2.5%, Europe 1.3%, not to mention investments) and if something is truly happening there we will feel it in this part of the Old World. BTP could still go up at the beginning as Rates are bid and the market might discount a more dovish ECB, but we don't believe it could go up much more from here. In our humble opinion the ECB would step in only after a proper risk off move, which at a certain point (as in February 2016) would drive BTP lower. Moreover, the market is not pricing anymore the risk of early elections in Italy (look this space..and don`t forget the banking system!). So, in the end, if we just focus on the US noise this move could potentially transform itself into a juicy dip for risky assets. But what if the market is looking in the wrong direction? This will probably all transform into another dip meant to be bought, but in case is not remember: It`s all in the reflexes. Waterfalls in eastern Idaho may not be the tallest or grandest in the world, but they are still amazing. And the surrounding area is particularly blessed with waterfalls; now is the time to see them. This year, Shoshone Falls should top everyones list of must-see waterfalls. It is 210 feet tall (taller than Niagara) and 900 feet wide when running full, making it one of the biggest waterfalls in the nation. On May 3 it was running at 13,700 cubic feet per second or nearly 103,000 gallons per second. A week later it had slowed to 12,000 cfs, so the show is starting to fade. Shoshone Falls will diminish rapidly down to a comparative trickle once the irrigation season is in full swing, so dont delay this trip (there is a fee of $3 per carload). While in the Twin Falls area dont miss Thousand Springs State Park and Niagara Springs. Water that sinks into the ground in the Upper Snake region travels through an underground aquifer. It eventually erupts from its underground prison high up on the steep basalt walls of the Snake River south of Wendell. This can be a spectacular display as the water spills down the canyon walls. The Henrys Fork of the Snake River has three significant falls as the river drops off the caldera plateau: Sheep, Upper Mesa and Lower Mesa falls. These are all spectacular, and you can drive to overlooks for both Upper and Lower Mesa Falls (there is a fee at Upper Mesa). Sheep Falls requires a walk off the rim from the 151 road on the north or the Sheep Falls road on the south. The South Fork of the Snake River has two significant falls. One is the beautiful Fall Creek Falls that enters the river just 1.3 miles up the river road from the Swan Valley Bridge. You can see this falls from an overlook on top but be warned, this is a dangerous place for kids, so keep them very close. The Fall Creek Falls is best viewed from river level, which will require a boat. The other falls is in Waterfall Canyon, a strenuous hike of 9.5 miles (one way) up Palisades Creek and past Upper Palisades Lake. The falls is tall and narrow and dives off the east face near the top of the canyon. Wikipedia lists 57 waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park and admits that it is an incomplete list. Popular and easily accessible ones include Upper and Lower falls of the Yellowstone River (Lower Falls is 308 feet tall, the tallest in the park), Gibbon Falls, Lewis River Falls and Tower Falls. There are many falls in the southwest corner of the park that are worth visiting. The Bechler River system is loaded with waterfalls. The easiest one to see is Bechler Falls, a quick hike up from Cave Falls on the Fall River. The other falls on the Bechler River, including Dunada (on the Boundary Creek arm), Colonnade, Iris and Albright, are increasingly difficult to get to. There is a good trail but it gets long and includes several river fords. Fall River is aptly named, and high up in the drainage is Union Falls. At 260 feet tall, it is the second highest in the park. Like Bechler River, most of these falls are available only to serious hikers. Union Falls is over 10 miles one way. However, Cave Falls is reached via a paved road. Terraced Falls is accessed by a reasonable hike from the Cascade Creek trailhead off the Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road (aka the Reclamation or Grassy Lake Road). The last falls on Fall River is another Sheep Falls and is actually in Idaho. Turn off the Cave Falls road onto the 124 road. When the road starts to really head downhill, I advise parking and walking the last mile to the river and falls. Choose to visit one or commit to visit all, it doesnt matter. Each falls you visit will inspire and impress and leave you wanting more. Volunteers Interlink Volunteer Caregivers, a nonprofit organization, provides volunteers to elderly, disabled and chronically ill people, assisting with routine tasks so they can remain independent at home. Volunteers are needed in all eight counties of the Magic Valley to help with light housekeeping and also in the Wendell and Gooding area with transportation. Volunteers are reimbursed for mileage monthly and covered with excess auto liability insurance. Commitment is flexible with no minimum hours required. Information: Edie, 208-733-6333 or email ivcofmv@gmail.com. Drivers The Twin Falls Senior Center needs drivers to deliver meals to homebound seniors in Twin Falls Monday through Friday. The routes take an hour or less to complete. Commitment is based on your availability. Volunteers must be 18 years of age with their own car, and have proof of liability insurance and a background check. Drivers receive 53.5 cents a mile fuel reimbursement. Information: 208-734-5084. Drivers The American Cancer Societys Road to Recovery program provides free transportation for people with cancer who do not have a ride or are unable to drive themselves. Volunteer drivers are needed for the Road to Recovery program to drive cancer patients to and from medical treatment facilities, especially for appointments in Twin Falls. The Cancer Society trains volunteer drivers and schedules rides for patients for free. Drivers must have a current and valid drivers license, a good driving record, a safe and reliable car, and proof of car insurance. Volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles. There are several volunteer drivers in the Mini-Cassia area to provide rides so patients can receive treatments they need. For information about volunteering or for those needing a ride for treatments, call 1-800-227-2345. Volunteers Idaho Home Health and Hospice needs volunteers who will bring compassion, support and dignity to those facing a serious, life-limiting illness and their families. Volunteers can choose between offering respite to family caregivers or provide support with administrative tasks. Information: Heidi Walker, 208-734-4064 or Heidi.Walker@LHCgroup.com. Volunteers Hospice Visions Inc. is looking for volunteers to visit with patients and their families, and volunteers to provide handyman services, play the piano at assisted living centers, and help with art projects for patients at assisted living centers. If you have a special talent to share with others, contact Nora Wells at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org. Volunteers Hospice Visions Inc is looking for men and women to serve as Veteran-to-Veteran volunteers for their veteran patients. All ages of veterans from all branches of service are welcome to join Hospice Visions volunteer forces as part of the We Honor Veterans program. Information: Nora Wells, volunteer coordinator at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org. Volunteers Horizon Home Health and Hospice is looking for volunteers to join their team to provide quality compassionate care to patients through the following activities: companionship, socialization, respite, and support for patients and families and much more. Information: Cynthia Nixon, 208-800-8085 or cnixon@horizonhh.com. Volunteers St Lukes Home Health and Hospice is looking for new volunteers to join its team to share compassion and care and increase the quality of life for patients and their families. This program is designed to offer companionship and socialization to the patients as well as respite and support for the caregivers. Information: Marie Sharp, 208-814-7603 or sharpm@slhs.org. Volunteers The Twin Falls Senior Center has a ladies group (The Crazy Quilters), who are looking for individuals to put finishing touches on quilts as a group while socializing. The group meets from 9 a.m. to noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All quilt project proceeds are given to the Twin Falls Senior Center. Information: 208-734-5084. Volunteers St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center has opened some new areas to volunteer. The new Cuddler and Patient Comfort programs need volunteers immediately. St. Lukes has several other volunteer positions with opportunities to serve others and meet new people. By being a volunteer at St. Lukes Magic Valley, you are also a part of the auxiliary. For an application packet or information: Kim Patterson, 208-814-0861. TWIN FALLS When James Howard Arthurs was detained Sept. 7, police suspected he had only broken into a Twin Falls Dairy Queen earlier that day. But during an interview, Arthurs also confessed to a long list of other break-ins, burglaries and thefts that he committed with his wife and two others. Their crime spree started in early August, targeted mostly small businesses and mom and pop stores from Rogerson in the south to Ketchum in the north and led to investigations by about a half dozen police agencies across the Magic Valley. On Monday, the last of the four suspects in the case admitted her guilt when 22-year-old Alishia Elaine Bullock, of Twin Falls, pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and abetting burglary and one count of aiding and abetting grand theft. As part of her plea agreement, Bullock will likely be sentenced to three to six years in prison, but the court will retain jurisdiction and send her to an educational and therapeutic Rider program directed by the Idaho Department of Correction. If she successfully completes the Rider, she can avoid going to prison. Those who already pleaded guilty and were sentenced: Bullocks then-boyfriend, Spencer Willson Wells, 23, pleaded guilty to four felonies. He was sentenced to four to eight years in prison, though hes currently serving a year-long retained jurisdiction sentence. Wells sister, Brezzy Ray Lemon, 39, pleaded guilty to four felonies, including a drug charge, and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Shes eligible for parole in September 2026. Lemons husband, Arthurs, 35, pleaded guilty to four felonies and was sentenced to 10-year concurrent prison terms on each. Hes not eligible for parole and will also be released from prison in 2026. Bullock told District Judge Richard Bevan that she drove Wells and Arthurs on Aug. 8 to the South Hills Saloon in Hansen, where the men broke in, stole an ATM and loaded it into Bullocks car. She also admitted to driving them to burglaries later that month at Main Street Mocha and King of Hearts Bar in Castleford. Bullock, Wells and Arthurs each also pleaded guilty to burglary charges in Blaine County stemming from the same crime-spree. Blaine County is seeking a probation sentence against Bullock, she told Bevan on Monday, while her retained jurisdiction sentence from Twin Falls County could become tricky: Shes seven-weeks pregnant, she told the judge, due on New Years Eve, though Bevan said IDOC can accommodate her pregnancy. Bullock is scheduled to be sentenced June 6 in Blaine County and June 12 in Twin Falls. TWIN FALLS Negotiations over Twin Falls School District teacher contracts wrapped up this week after just three bargaining sessions much faster than usual. Members of the Twin Falls Education Association approved a collective bargaining agreement Tuesday night. Then, the school board gave its approval Wednesday. Each spring, teachers union and school district leaders across south-central Idaho bargain over topics such as pay and health insurance. It affects contracts for hundreds of certified employees such as teachers and school counselors for the upcoming school year. Negotiations went exceptionally well this year, said Wiley Dobbs, superintendent of the Twin Falls School District. One of the things that I believe this shows is that theres quite a bit of confidence in the new superintendent, he said. Brady Dickinson, currently the districts operations director, starts July 1 as superintendent. Another factor behind the speedy end to negotiations: You can accomplish a lot when you come to the table with the idea that you do whats best for kids, Dobbs said. Negotiations this year wrapped up the fastest Peggy Hoy has ever seen. Hoy, a middle school math teacher and co-president of the Twin Falls Education Association, has been on the union negotiation team for four years and has been a union member for 26 years. Across south-central Idaho, some negotiation teams meet only once a year. But in Twin Falls, district officials and union representatives gather for monthly breakfast meetings to talk about issues as they arise. As a result, subcommittees looked closer at some teacher concerns, such as clarifying contract language about evaluations and the grievance policy, during the school year. A lot of the stuff that has taken time during the sessions, we basically had recommendations, Hoy said. We did a lot of groundwork through our monthly breakfast meetings. One of the biggest outcomes of this years negotiations: employees will get at least a 3 percent salary increase. That was a pretty big deal, Hoy said. In past years, health insurance cost increases were a big topic, but that wasnt the case this year. Our health insurance increase was minimal this year and the district is taking care of that and picking up the cost, Hoy said. The district will see a 2.4 percent cost increase. The district is switching its dental insurance provider for next year to Delta Dental, cutting a projected cost increase from 29 to 14 percent. The dental deductible and co-pay for employees wont change. Employees will still have the option to use Willamette Dental Group if they pay for added benefits, such as orthodontics. As for teacher pay, the salary for the most experienced teachers was the number one concern among employees who werent satisfied with the outcome of negotiations, Hoy said. The state legislature is doing a good job allocating for education, Hoy said. They are making it a priority. However, theyre really focused on teachers at the beginning of their profession. Weve got to do something for teachers at the end of their profession. The law took effect statewide in July 2015. Its boosting pay over five years with the goal of better attracting and retaining teachers. State legislators approved a public education budget for next year that includes an additional $62 million for the next step of the career ladder. The funding is especially helping us at the front end of the salary schedule, where our newer and younger teachers are being bumped up quite well, Dobbs said. But more experienced teachers arent able to advance as much, he said. That worries me a bit. A couple of years from now, though, the state will offer master teacher premiums geared toward veteran teachers, Dobbs said. Some teachers are already preparing portfolios and collecting evidence seeking to qualify for better pay. 1929 2017 TWIN FALLS Earl A. Kelly flew on to his next adventure on May 15, 2017. He was born in 1929 in Muskogee, Oklahoma to Otis Lloyd Kelly and Pearl Elfrida Bluer Kelly (later Langwith). He was named after his uncle, Earl Bluer. He and his brother, Larry, grew up in the Midwest under the care of his mother and stepfather, Edward Langwith of Davenport, Iowa. He married Margaret Mib Brown on March 7, 1966 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum, Idaho. They had three daughters (Traci, Kenleigh, and Shannon), divorcing in 1999. His schooling was completed in Rock Island, Illinois, graduating in 1947. He served in the Marines from 1947-1952 and then served in the Air Force from 1954-1970, retiring as a Major. As a career pilot, his military service was the cornerstone of his identity. He experienced so many adventures that its hard to begin to catalog them all. He could remember almost every single commander and co-pilot that he ever flew with by name and rank. After his retirement from military in 1970, the family lived briefly in Redmond, Oregon and then they moved to Gooding, Idaho where he managed the airport in the 1970s. The family later moved to Twin Falls, where he has resided for the past 40+ years. During his time in Twin Falls, he worked as a Snap-On Tools sales rep and then flew helicopters seasonally for the US Geological Service, for private companies in Alaska, for firefighting in the southwest, and locally in and around Twin Falls. Earl, or Mike as some called him, was a fixture around town. He was known for spending many hours at the downtown library reading the papers, books, and taking the occasional nap. He was a regular at the Depot Grill where he would either order pie or a cookie to go. He spent many an hour at Barnes and Noble perusing the books on history, war, military, and politics. Due to his love of reading, watching documentaries, and his own experiences, he was deeply knowledgeable about military history, military aircraft, military firearms, and antique automobiles and aircraft. Because of his service in the armed forces, he had a heart for all those who served and supported them through the Wounded Warrior Project and other veteran-related organizations. He is survived by his three daughters who loved him dearly (Traci Nathans-Kelly, Kenleigh Kelly, and Shannon Kelly), their spouses, three grandsons who were the light of his life (Henry Nathans-Kelly, Cole Tucker Kelly Stine, and Malcolm Ferguson-Kelly), his ex-wife Margaret Mib Kelly, his brother Larry Kelly, nephews and a niece. A simple service will be held at Ascension Episcopal Church in Twin Falls on Saturday May 20, 2017 at 10am, presided by Fr. Fred Elwood. There will be a reception immediately following at the church. Celebrate his life with us, as we will be telling stories and remembering his many adventures. He will be buried with military honors later this summer in the Veterans Cemetery in Boise, ID next to his fellow soldiers. In lieu of flowers, please send any remembrances to the Wounded Warrior Project at https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/ . Funeral arrangements under the direction of White Mortuary Chapel by the Park www.whitemortuary.com. Sen. James Risch hasnt exactly been Speedy Gonzales in crafting legislation benefiting Idahoans or Americans in general. And he rarely shows his face in Idaho to engage constituents in person regarding what he has or hasnt done while ensconced in his fortress on the Potomac. But Sen. Risch weighed in nearly instantaneously this week with his assessment that the president has a right to do something monumentally imprudent (I struggled with the word choice there) with highly sensitive intel whenever he fancies. According to The Atlantic on Monday, regarding President Trumps disclosure of classified Intel to Russia, Risch opined Its no longer classified the minute he utters it. Wow, thats some real world-class inductive reasoning. Risch further maintained that the president has the ability to declassify anything at any time without any process. He failed to consider the difference between can and should. A spy has the de facto ability to declassify anything without any process. Also, an incompetent has the de facto ability to inadvertently declassify anything without any process. Thats why in a sober, prudent, well-functioning government presidents eagerly seek professional advice before declassifying intel. Make no bones; what President Trump did was not just imprudent politically. It was disastrous to Americas relationship with its security and intel partners around the world. It also potentially endangers all Americans (i.e. including Idahoans) and anyone else who depends on our well-guarded secrets to keep them safe from terrorist attacks etc. Since Mr. Trumps leak has likely compromised covert operatives, and/or the secret cooperation of a nation walking a tightrope among global allies and adversaries of the United States, he has also endangered our strategic and tactical capacities. That blunder could easily also put our armed forces unnecessarily at greater risk at some point in the future. Its not just me saying this. News analysists and security experts around the world have weighed in on this latest Trumpian indiscretion in droves. Just take a peek on Google News. Sure, Mr. Trumps the president. But a competent president consults with professional security analysts in the CIA, DIA, NSA, TSA, DHS and DOS before casually blabbing inside-information to our most potent geopolitical adversary one that readily invades neighbor nations to test our resolve, buzzes our military aircraft, hacked our election, and that militarily supports the Syrian regime that willing gassed its own population. Americas own intelligence services have let it be known they are wary of sharing sensitive information with Mr. Trump because of his unrelenting unrepentant flamboyant capacity for thoughtless indiscretions. This latest misstep wont help that already severely wounded relationship. Mr. Trumps monumental improvidence in this matter will undoubtedly further chill the desire of reliable international intelligence collaborators to share with us. He has already put the stink on our relationship with Great Britains intelligence community. This latest incident will be an I told you so to anyone else in the world that was extending us any benefit of the doubt. The magnitude of chaos in our government stemming from the broad-stroked incompetence of the Trump administration and unabashed disregard for accuracy, adherence to documented reality (of almost any nature), and simple truth is mushrooming almost hourly. As I finish writing this editorial late Tuesday, world news and the internet are alight with the latest revelations of Mr. Comeys notes from a meeting with the president, further pointing to his ham-handed attempt to obstruct justice surrounding the investigation of Gen. Flynns compromise by his Russian entanglements. So why did I begin by expressing frustration with Sen. Rischs trivialization of the Trump security gaffe, his knee-jerk defense of this latest display of ineptitude and disingenuousness by the entire Trump administration and his legion of surrogates in both houses of congress and the punditsphere? Pretty simple, really. Sen. Risch is one of the two highest ranking Republicans representing Idaho in the federal government. He is also supposed to be one of Idahos two federal senior statesmen; the other is Idahos senior senator, Mike Crapo. Sen. Crapo, has been relatively subdued in response to the current imbroglio. The Spokesman Review reported Crapos spokesman as saying blandly Senator Crapo has said he is looking forward to getting to the facts with the three investigations we now have underway with the House and Senate committees and by the FBI. The Spokesman Review further reported that Raul Labrador in his typical vacuous and utterly partisan fashion merely doubled down on his support of Trump in a KBOI interview, asserting that Trump is doing a terrific job and the hullabaloo is just Democrats whining about the election. I cant help wondering if Labrador meant terrifying job. But Sen. Risch, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as its Foreign Relations Committee, in a remarkable display of blame deflection, told CNN Theres a weasel here and the weasel is not the president of the United States. Its the traitor who disclosed these facts to the Washington Post. I wish youd go out and interview the Washington Post and ask them to disclose who that is. Traitor, Senator Risch? Alerting Americans that their petulant presidential dilettante, without consulting intelligence experts, blurted sensitive international security intel to our most persistent and pervasive foreign adversary is traitorous? I beg to differ. There is perfidy in this story, but not at unknown hands. How the Republican Party and Sen. Risch can continue to refrain from calling for an independent commission to investigate Russian entanglements within the Trump administration, and the presidents own obstruction of justice is beyond comprehension. Furthermore, the Republican Partys lockstep apologies for this administration and hindrance of forthright investigation of its numerous ethical and Constitutional violations is unconscionable and an insult to their oaths of office. If President Donald Trump asked FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and his ties to Russia, that's obstruction of justice. But let's be clear: It's the impeachable offense of obstruction. It's probably not the criminal version of that act. With the evidence now available, it's extremely unlikely that an ordinary prosecutor could convict Trump. This is an outstanding example of a crucial distinction that Americans badly need to keep in mind. High crimes and misdemeanors, to use the Constitution's phrase, aren't the same as ordinary crimes. What makes them "high" is their political character. High crimes and misdemeanors are corruption, abuse of power, and undermining the rule of law and democracy. They don't have to satisfy all the technical aspects of an ordinary crime. And this act of Trump's, as described in a memo written by Comey first reported Tuesday by the New York Times, probably doesn't. Start with the federal obstruction statute, 18 U.S.C. Section 1503. We can ignore the first part of the law, which has to do with trying to influence jurors in a trial. The second part punishes anyone who "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice." On a close reading, this isn't a great fit with the president asking the director of the FBI if he can let a probe go because the target is "a good guy." Remember, as a constitutional matter, the director of the FBI, like the attorney general and the rest of the machine of federal law enforcement, works for the president. Although there has been a strong tradition of separating investigation and prosecution from the president -- a tradition grossly violated by Trump's request -- it's still just a tradition, not a legal requirement. Thus, as a constitutional matter, Trump has the authority to propose ending an investigation. If he wanted to, Trump could just order the investigation to be brought to an end. He wouldn't even have to exercise his pardon power, another way to put a preemptive stop to investigations. He could just direct his subordinates to cease. To be sure, Comey probably would have resigned had this order been given. The point is that Trump could have given it, legally speaking. Given Trump's inherent constitutional authority to end the Flynn investigation himself, it's pretty hard to say that he was "corruptly" obstructing or impeding "the due administration of justice." It's within prosecutorial discretion to decide not to go after someone because he's a good guy. The target's character and career of public service are legitimate factors to consider in the course of the investigation and decision of whether to bring charges. It's not that the president can never be guilty of the crime of obstruction. He can. It would be a federal obstruction crime for the president to lie to or mislead investigators, or to hide evidence of a crime. But those examples are fairly different from the president exercising authority over investigations. The one credible legal argument that could be made by a prosecutor seeking to charge Trump would be that he was indeed acting "corruptly" if his true intent was to protect himself and his administration, not just to give Flynn a break. Suppose a president owed a favor to an organized crime leader and asked the FBI director to drop the investigation. That would presumably count as a corrupt act, and would count as obstruction. It's not at all clear how you could prove Trump's intent here, except maybe by taped conversations in which he says he wants to protect Flynn to protect himself. Nor is it at all clear that acting "corruptly" under the statute would include saving himself from embarrassment. The upshot is that I don't think Trump could be prosecuted for a crime on the basis of this report, and I am not at all sure that he actually committed a federal crime, legally speaking. Impeachment is another matter. Using the presidential office to try to shut down the investigation of a senior executive official who was also a major player in the president's campaign is an obvious and egregious abuse of power. It's also a gross example of undermining the rule of law. This act is exactly the kind that the Founding Fathers would have considered a "high crime." And it's a high crime the president could perform only by virtue of holding his office. Practically, it still seems unlikely that a Republican House would impeach the president, much less that two-thirds of the Senate would vote to convict and remove him from office. But a Democratic House would have more than enough material now to start the impeachment process -- including the revelation of the request to Comey. And the House could choose to impeach even if it calculated that the Senate probably wouldn't convict. The act of impeachment would have tremendous symbolic ramifications. And it would include the detailed investigative oversight that so far has been lacking in Washington. Trump's firing of Comey now looks pretty different in the light of this news. Right around now, the president is probably asking himself whether firing the FBI director was the right decision. And if he isn't, he should be. Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday it was launching the countrys largest defense company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), which will be producing defense equipment. SAMI is the product of the powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also serves as Defense Minister, and is part of the kingdoms Vision 2030 seeking to reduce the states spending on foreign weaponry and dependence on oil. Saudi Arabia is one of global top arms buyers and is about to conclude $100bn arm-deal with the US. The dealn which could cover a decade will amount to over $300bn, an unidentified US official at the White House told Reuters. SAMI will, according to Saudi media, produce products and provide services across four business units: Air Systems, which includes maintenance and repair of fixed-wing aircraft as well as manufacturing and repair of unmanned air vehicles; Land Systems, which includes manufacturing and repair of military vehicles; Weapons and Missiles, including ammunition; and Defense Electronics, which includes radars and sensors as well as communication systems and electronic warfare. The Saudi rulers project to make of SAMI one of the worlds top 25 defense companies by 2030. They also seek to reduce the kingdoms foreign spending on arms. While the Kingdom is one of the worlds top five spenders on security and defense overall, only around 2 percent of our military procurement is domestic, said the Deputy Crown Prince. The Prince noted that SAMI will ensure that 50 percent of Saudi Arabias military procurement spending will be localized. The Company for Military Industries will contribute toward attracting foreign investment to the kingdom the company will enter into joint ventures with major military industrial companies, the Prince was quotes as saying. SAMIs contribution to the kingdoms gross domestic product is expected to reach more than $3.7 billion by 2030. The company is also expected to create more than 40,000 direct local jobs by 2030. Saudi Arabias national oil company Aramco, weighing billions of dollars, will open a tourism training centre to meet the kingdoms plans to diversify its oil-based economy. The future centre will receive 5,000 Saudi males and females who will undergo a four-year training, Reuters reports citing the oil giant. The company agreed with a state-controlled vocational education body and the kingdoms tourism commission to train young Saudis for the tourism and hotel sectors, as well as in the management of other public and private facilities, Reuters says. The company is the kingdoms biggest venture endowed with billions of dollars. It mainly focuses on the sectors of oil, gas and petrochemicals, but invests in various other governmental projects. According to Reuters, the company plans an initial public offer of its shares to local and foreign investors next year, and unveiled plans last year to build a $5 billion shipbuilding complex. In December, it opened an $800 million cultural centre in Dhahran. Saudi Arabia, which suffered from the collapse of oil prices, has engaged in multiplying its budge sources and the tourism sector is one of the key areas identified. Saudi Arabias tourism revenue rose from SR57.3 billion ($15.3 billion) in 2004 to SR166.8 billion at the end of 2016 while the number of licensed tourist facilities increased from 1,402 in 2009 to 6,454 at the end of 2016, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz; president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) disclosed last week. Prince Sultan also noted that the number of international companies operating hotels rose from eight in 2002 to 25 at the end of 2016; the number of workers in the sector rose from 333,000 in 2004 to more than 936,000 in 2016; and the number of job opportunities is expected to increase to 1.2 million by 2020. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. The opposition in Angola on Wednesday called for an official communication on the health status of President Jose Eduardo dos Santoss to quash death rumors in the oil-rich nation. The 74-year-old Dos Santos, Africas second-longest serving ruler, travelled to Barcelona for a private visit on May 1, Angolas state-owned news agency Angop reported. Since then, there is no official communication about the president. His daughter Isabel said on her Instagram account that reports that her father had died were fake and aimed at causing turmoil in Angolan politics. Someone has gone so low as to invent information about the death of a man in order to create confusion and turmoil in Angolan politics, she wrote on her Instagram account. We are all concerned about the lack of official information on the health of the president, a senior opposition leader, Rafael Savimbi, told AFP. Dos Santos, in power since 1979, has said he would not run as the ruling partys candidate in elections this year. His reign has seen the end of civil war and an investment boom, but has also been criticized as secretive and corrupt with Angolas citizens suffering grim poverty. The ruling MPLA party, which is widely expected to win next years election, has appointed Joao Lourenco, defense minister, as its candidate to succeed the president The Kenyan government is seeking additional $3.5 billion loan from China Eximbank for the construction of the Nairobi-Mombasa railway line, local media reported. This additional loan from China Eximbank will help the East African nation to finance the construction of the third phase of the Nairobi-Mombasa railway project. The Nairobi-Mombasa 270km railway is the first leg of a line intended to go all the way to Kampala in Uganda and, eventually, to Rwanda. Passenger trains will travel at 120km/h, and freight trains will be able to carry 25 million tons per year, according to the International Railway Journal. It is the centrepiece of an infrastructure splurge by incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces re-election next August. The railway is being built by state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, which will operate it for the first five years, and financed by Chinas Eximbank. This financial support will bring the total funding granted by China Eximbank to this railway project to about $8 billion (847 billion Kenyan shillings). According to Xinhua, China has been investing in other projects in Africa, including a mega port in Lamu, Kenya, and a manufacturing zone in Ethiopia. Azerbaijan invests over $284M in UAE Mustafayev made the remarks during his meeting with the UAE Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammed Ahmed Hamel Al Qubaisi in Baku on May 9, Trend reports.During the meeting, issues of economic relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE, as well as the process of implementing the points of the protocol signed following the sixth meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation were discussed, according to Azerbaijans Economy Ministry.Mustafayev noted that to date, about 40 documents have been signed between Azerbaijan and the UAE, six meetings of the intergovernmental commission have been held, and the first foreign representation of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been opened in Baku.Investments in the Azerbaijani economy by the UAE total $778.1 million, while Azerbaijan invested $284.4 million in the UAE, noted the minister adding that 225 companies from the UAE have been registered in Azerbaijan.An export mission was sent to the UAE to promote Azerbaijani goods, and a stand dedicated to Azerbaijani products was also presented, and goods exports have already begun under a number of contracts, added Mustafayev.Currently, there are successful relations in the fields of agriculture, ICT, energy, trade, investment and education, said the minister.During the meeting, the two sides also discussed such issues as the activity of the Azerbaijan-UAE Business Council, exchange of trade information, expansion of trade relations, as well as the export of Azerbaijani goods to the UAE, opportunities of Arab businessmen to invest in the industrial parks and zones being created in Azerbaijan. The News in Brief Georgian opposition calls for former Moscow mayor to be punished An otherwise uneventful tourist visit to Georgia by the former mayor of Moscow was interrupted by opposition calls for him to be punished. Word spread of Yuri Luzhkovs visit to Georgia after priest Serafim Bit-Kharibi posted photos of the former Moscow mayor on his Facebook page. Luzhkov is known as a staunch supporter of the independence of Georgias breakaway republics and has visited Abkhazia and South Ossetia on several occasions. Two opposition parties claimed he was thereby violating a law passed after the 2008 August War which prohibits entry to the regions without passing through certain checkpoints, and called for him to be punished, Imedi TV reported. In the photos, the ex-mayor is accompanied by his wife, billionaire businesswoman Elena Baturina, as well as friends and relatives. He arrived in Tbilisi on Sunday and told journalists that he would be departing Monday evening on his own private plane. The largest opposition party National Movement called for the Luzhkov to be punished, while another opposition party, European Georgia, also called on the authorities to take action. A petition calling for Georgian authorities to immediately react to the ex-mayors alleged violation had gathered over 700 signatures Monday night. Responding to the political furor his trip caused, he told Imedi TV that he didnt know he had violated any law, but if so, he was sorry. While he was mayor he had had no opportunities to enjoy Georgia, he added, and the purpose of this trip was purely tourism. The trip took him to go to Kanda, a village 40km west of Tbilisi inhabited by mostly ethnic Assyrians, and the Temple of The Thirteen Assyrian Fathers, where the travelers listened to Father Serafims chant in Aramaic (also performed for Pope Francis last October). The group also visit other of Georgias landmarks. Violators of the Law on the Occupied Territories may be held to account next time they enter Georgia. This is a relatively rare occurrence, though. In most cases, authorities look the other way. Violations of the law on the occupied territories, which prohibits visits to Abkhazia and South Ossetia without formal consent from Tbilisi, has only been partly enforced during its nine years of existence: 51 persons have been jailed for violating the law; a criminal offense. I think Georgian authorities should be more responsible in defending the countrys interests and protecting its sovereignty. Luzhkov was in the vanguard among those who stood up for the recognition of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, who visited the territories many times, thus violating our laws, said Sergi Kapanadze, a member of parliament for European Georgia. But border officials had no formal cause to either stop or prosecute Yuri Luzhkov, a government spokesperson countered. [Luzhkov] arrived with a valid document, which didnt contain any information about violating the law on the occupied territories, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Shalva Khutsishvili said. During his tenure as Moscow mayor, Yuri Luzhkov was associated with a rapid growth and several large-scale construction projects. He was also famous for his hard line conservative views. (DF watch) State Agency of Oil and Gas Makes an Announcement The State Agency of Oil and Gas acting in accordance with the Georgian Law on Oil and Gas company announced an open international tender on free license blocks. The tender started on April 3 2017 and will end on May 22, at which time all bids will be opened. The State Agency is pleased to announce that despite the steep downturn in oil and gas prices, the worldwide response has been very positive and demonstrates the attractiveness of Georgias investment climate and the countrys potential as an energy producer. Indeed, numerous international companies have expressed interest in receiving the tender package, including two companies which are already investors in the Georgian energy sector, Vectra Petroleum Limited, a Hong Kong company, as well as Frontera Resources, a Cayman Islands company. Vectra Petroleum and NauticAWT Energy Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company, recently agreed to invest USD 30 million during the first three years of their operations. They expect to increase production in the Guria and Adjara regions by drilling new wells and employing ultra-modern technologies. Frontera was an early investor in Georgian energy as it entered into a production sharing agreement already in 1997. In a press release on April 11 2017, Frontera announced commercial production associated with the is feasible although technical work in order to establish feasibility of commercial production must continue. The State Agency, as well as the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, a party to the 1997 agreement, expect to receive additional information from the company. Against this background, a Schlumberger group company signed on May 8, 2017 a farm-in agreement, with Jindal group company from India, with respect to exploration and production operations in Georgian License Blocks IX, X and XIB. A prominent American oil and gas exploration and production company also made inquiries to the State Agency in respect to offshore prospects in Georgia, further underscoring the positive growth of and interest by international companies in the countrys energy sector. (ipn) Addressing educational needs By Messenger Staff A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the Government of Estonia, UNICEF and Foundation INNOVE to launch a three year partnership aiming to transform pre-school and general education in Georgia.The Estonian Ministry of Education and Foundation INNOVE, in partnership with UNICEF Georgia, will support the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia in applying approved national curricula in the primary grades in selected schools and in introducing full-fledged (BA and MA level) programmes in the state universities of Georgia for pre-service training of preschool and general education teachers. This cooperation will consist of technical support, capacity development and experience sharing.To further benefit from the experience of the Estonian education system - which proved to be exemplary in the opinion of the EU and other countries - Foundation INNOVE will bring curriculum experts and academics from Estonian universities to provide support to the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia and national universities.The partnership also includes a study tour of Georgia school directors and teachers from the selected schools to Estonia to learn about Estonian practices and policies related to the school curricula, monitoring and quality control.Other areas of cooperation will cover support in social and education policies and strategies to attract bright students into the teaching profession; mechanisms for effective teacher support including formative assessment; the creation of a conducive teaching and learning environment; and helping low-performing students.The new partnership will contribute to Georgias ongoing process of alignment with the relevant European Union standards and best practices as per the EU - Georgia Association Agreement. The program is supported by Development Cooperation Fund of Estonia.Education is the field that is the foundation of the development of any country.Unfortunately, Georgias education system requires systemic reform that must take place in all the directions, starting from preschool education to higher and vocational education.Those who actively support better education in Georgia do a valuable job, as they assist state development in the long term perspective.Georgia vitally needs to share the best educational experiences and fit them to Georgian educational needs, as the sector is currently suffering from a period of stagnation. The News in Brief Former Georgian Serviceman Killed Fighting for Ukraine A Georgian citizen fighting on the Ukrainian side in the east of the country was killed in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian and Georgian media sources reported. 44-year-old Davit Sikharulidze, who fought under the Aidar Battalion, died close to the village of Novolugansk on May 11. The Georgian Ministry of Defense expressed condolences over the death and said in a statement that Davit Sikharulidze served at the Krtsanisi National Training Center from 2010 to 2014, before voluntarily leaving for Ukraine. (Civil.ge) Six former prison guards in Georgia will face trial for torture Six former guards at the notorious Penitentiary No 8 in Tbilisi have been detained for the alleged torture of prisoners during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili. Legal proceedings have been launched against the former head of the Legal Regimen of the same facility, Oleg Patsatsia, who is currently under arrest on the same charges. The Prosecutors Office of Georgia released a statement on Thursday listing the grave accusations that Oleg Patsatsia and his subordinates engaged in torture, rape and degrading treatment of inmates in 2010 and 2011. Penitentiary No 8 is located in Gldani on the outskirts of Tbilisi, and it usually referred to as Gldani Prison. In the media, which at the time was supportive of Saakashvili, it was held forth as an example of humane prisoner treatment, but among the population it was notorious for the outrageous treatment of inmates. As such, Gldani Prison became emblematic of the way reforms were used as a facade to hide serious problems. In September 2012, just a month before the landmark parliamentary elections, videotapes were leaked depicting the torture of inmates, including minors. These videos, shown by several TV channels and circulated by social media, triggered a massive of popular outcry and, as many commentators argue, swayed public opinion against Mikheil Saakashvilis United National Movement, which then lost the elections. A number of penitentiary officials and guards have been tried for torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners since then, including Oleg Patsatsia. According to the prosecutors, the seven accused indiscriminately and violently mistreated the prisoners, verbally and physically abused them upon their arrival at Penitentiary No 8, and during the following period, these prisoners were repeatedly abused in order to achieve their unconditional obedience. The investigation also established that the defendants would often take prisoners out of their cells arbitrarily and move them to a bath situated in the building of the facility, where they would physically abuse them by using bludgeons and other objects. Moreover, to cause the moral anguish of the inmates, they were placed in the penitentiary morgue with deceased persons and left there locked up for a certain period, the POG stated. The POG states that up to 600 former and current inmates have been interrogated and the vast majority of them claimed to be victims of abuse. Oleg Patsatsias involvement in the abuse has been confirmed by 200 inmates, and another detainee, Malkhaz Ghviniashvili, a.k.a. the Fascist was indicated by over 100 inmates, while the other three were accused by tens of witnesses. If convicted, the detainees may be sentenced to up to six years in prison. (DF watch) Wrestler Zurab Datunashvili wounded at night club Wrestler Zurab Datunashvili has been wounded at the night club. According to Sportall.ge, Georgian wrestler and two-time European champion Zurab Datunashvili is now being treated at hospital. According to the information, Datunashvili had been arguing with unknown people two days ago in one of the city's night clubs, after which he was wounded with a knife. As InterPressNews was told by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigation is underway according to the Article 117 of the Criminal Code of Georgia that pertains to the infliction of intentional serious damage to health. (IPN) @ByKristenMClark Miami Democratic Rep. Roy Hardemon had an unlikely and influential ally showering him with praise in his legislative district Wednesday: House Speaker Richard Corcoran. [Hardemon] doesnt care whos got power. He doesnt care what the status quo is. He doesnt care whether he gets elected, Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, said in brief remarks on stage for the groundbreaking of the Liberty Square redevelopment project, with Hardemon at his side. Hardemon, a freshman lawmaker, secured himself in Corcorans good graces last week, when he broke from the House Democratic caucus to support a controversial $419 million K-12 public schools bill that Corcoran and House Republicans unveiled and successfully pushed through in the final days of session. Hardemon was the only Democrat in either the House or Senate to vote in favor of HB 7069. He doesnt fear. What he cares about is his community, Corcoran said, before touting a key provision of HB 7069 thats meant to help neighborhoods like Liberty City. Full story here. Photo credit: Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, left, R-Land OLakes, sits with Rep. Roy Hardemon, D-Miami, while they attend the groundbreaking ceremony to for the Liberty Square Rising project in Liberty City on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Matias J. Ocner / For the Miami Herald @NewsbySmiley In the wake of a constitutional amendment creating an expanded medical marijuana market in Florida, cities around the state are preparing for the expansion of cannabis retail outlets. Miami not so much. Even though there's already a so-called pot shop just outside its borders, South Florida's largest city doesn't appear to be in much of a rush to craft legislation regulating marijuana dispensaries. In fact, the mere thought of doing so seems taboo in City Hall. Adam Gersten learned as much Wednesday night when, during a meeting of Miami's Planning Zoning and Appeals Board, he tried to prompt a discussion about zoning regulations for medical marijuana retail outlets. Im happy to make it very easy. Its not allowed, Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min responded. When pressed further by Gersten, an attorney whod asked city staffers to research zoning rules in states with medical marijuana programs, Min offered what he prefaced as a very poor example to illustrate the legal issue with allowing pot shops. If the city of Miami for some infinite, god-forbidden reason thought having sex with a child was a great way to recover from some issue and so we wrote that into our city code, just because the city says thats legal doesnt mean its legal, he said. To read the rest click here. via @Jacquiecharles As Haitians across the United States worry they may lose protection from deportation, supporters and activists stepped up calls Wednesday for the Trump administration to extend protection for another 18 months. The rising urgency comes as the community faces an imminent deadline. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has until Tuesday to decide whether he will extend the Temporary Protected Status program as a broad group of organizations have asked for Haitians or end the program as his top immigration official recommended last month in a memo. Not extending TPS would be devastating to hundreds of thousands of Haitians, and it would set back recovery and rebuilding efforts [in Haiti] for years to come, said Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton. Its a humanitarian decision and should not be part of some broader debate about immigration policy at this moment in time. Many fear that the Trump administrations decision to extend or terminate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti will be determined more by immigration reform than considering whether the 58,000 Haitians in the program continue to need protection because conditions in Haiti remain grim. More here. Photo credit: Al Diaz, Miami Herald staff @PatriciaMazzei The Justice Department's appointment Wednesday of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election was met with praise from Florida lawmakers. Republicans in particular have spent the past two days fielding question after question about the White House's handling not only of former FBI Director James Comey's firing, but also of classified information President Donald Trump shared with the Russians. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida: "Bob Mueller has the experience to conduct a thorough investigation. Now, the administration must provide him the resources and independent authority he needs to follow the facts wherever they lead." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida: "Mr. Mueller is widely respected for his independence and professionalism. I have confidence that he will conduct a fair and thorough investigation. For the sake of the country, all parties must fully cooperate with his efforts that are focused on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This effort should in no way be allowed to impede the ability of the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct and conclude its investigation into the same subject. It is my hope that these investigations will now move expeditiously." Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Miami: "This is a very positive development, it is evidence that this Administration is taking this Russia probe seriously, that this is going to be a probe that is independent," Curbelo told MSNBC. (Earlier, he had maintained to the Washington Post that a select committee appointed by Congress would be best.) Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami: After leading the FBI for 12 years through two presidencies, I expect Mr. Mueller will bring a high level of professionalism. pic.twitter.com/dSZRFlUIcQ Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) May 18, 2017 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami: I applaud the appointment of no-nonsense Mueller to lead the investigation of the negative interference of Russia in our democratic process. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) May 18, 2017 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston: Im encouraged by the Justice Departments decision to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump-Russia connection, and I have a deep respect for former FBI Director Mueller. Assuming he is given true independence, this appointment will remove some of the clouds that have hung over our system of justice during this deeply troubling situation. Its certainly overdue. However, the investigation must include Russias meddling in the 2016 election, the Kremlins possible ties to the Trump campaign, and the Presidents alleged interference in the Michael Flynn investigation. This is a positive step, but more still needs to be done to ensure that we provide the whole truth to the American people. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens: ="The appointment of Robert Mueller to investigate possible ties between President Trumps campaign and the Russian government is a long-awaited step in the right direction. After a week of constant controversy, Americans faith in government may begin to be restored. "I applaud Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for having the courage to name a special counselor, a decision that Mr. Trump has denounced as a witch hunt. My view is that if there is no connection between the president or his campaign and Russia, he should have nothing to worry about. But the news that the presidents team knew that General Michael Flynn was under investigation and hired him anyway, underscores the need for the Russia probe. "Mr. Mueller is widely viewed as a man of the highest integrity who can be counted on to maintain that standard. I hope he will have all of the authority and resources necessary to conduct a thorough investigation, no matter where it may lead him, without any interference by the White House." Photo credit: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press file @MichaelAuslen While neither legislative leadership nor Gov. Rick Scott have convened a special session on medical marijuana, Sen. Darryl Rouson on Wednesday asked lawmakers to call for one themselves. Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, joins a chorus of lawmakers who have publicly called for a special session. But he's taking it one step further, asking his colleagues in the Legislature to call a special session themselves, something that hasn't happened in recent memory. "Every day that passes, we are letting down the 71% of statewide voters and 78% of Senate District 19 voters that supported the medicinal use of marijuana in our state," Rouson wrote in a Wednesday afternoon memo addressed to all 159 state legislators. We must take action as a legislative body and reach a compromise for the people of Florida." A special session is necessary, many lawmakers have argued, because the Legislature failed to pass a bill implementing medical marijuana during its regular session. This leaves Amendment 2, approved by 71 percent of voters, entirely in the hands of the Florida Department of Health. Normally, special sessions are called by the governor or by agreement of the House speaker and Senate president. Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, has publicly called for a special session, and President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, is mulling one. Scott has so far been mum about calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee. But the rank-and-file members of the Legislature can do so too. Here's how it works: If 32 of them write letters asking for one, the Department of State is required to poll the whole Legislature. If three-fifths of each chamber (24 senators and 72 representatives) agree, a call for special session is issued. The odds of that happening are slim. The last attempt at doing so was last summer, over gun control in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting. It failed to hit the three-fifths threshold. As of Wednesday evening, the Department of State had received no letters from lawmakers calling for a special session on Amendment 2, spokeswoman Sarah Revell said. Still, at least 14 lawmakers have publicly called for a special session, either on social media or in interviews with the Times/Herald. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, joined the calls Tuesday. Here's our running list of who has expressed interest in a special session. Note this does not mean they have written it down in a letter to the Department of State, as Rouson has requested: Corcoran, in an interview: "I think there should be a special session on medical marijuana." House Majority Leader and medical marijuana bill sponsor Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, in an interview: "I obviously support a special session. This is something that's best done by the Legislature rather than leaving it to the Department of Health." Medical marijuana bill sponsor Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, on Twitter: "It's 95 percent done. Let's finish the job!" Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, in a letter to Negron: "The Senate should agree that the drive of implementation language must be patient focused, not the interests of existing license holders." Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, in line to be Senate president in 2018-20, on Twitter: "I agree with (Richard Corcoran). I support a special session to address medical marijuana implementation." Rep. Shawn Harrison, R-Tampa, on Twitter: "I didn't support amendment 2 but we owe it to Floridians to implement it. Let's get it done." Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, on Twitter: "The FL Legislature should go back for a special session to deal with medical marijuana. I am ready and willing." Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, on Twitter: "I stand with (Richard Corcoran)! Call the special session, and let's do what 71% of Floridans asked us to do back in November." Lee, on Twitter: "You can add me to the list. As much as I like being home... I think we had an obligation to get this done and should do so ASAP!" Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, on Twitter: "Over 70(!)% of my district voted in favor of med marijuana. I agree with (Speaker Richard Corcoran) needs to be addressed #ASAP." Rouson, in a memo to lawmakers: "Let us not forgo our duties to our constituents and the Constitution of Florida." Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, on Twitter: "We need a special session for medical cannabis to respect and implement the will of 71% of FL voters!" Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, in line to be House speaker in 2020-22, in an interview: "I hope that we can reconvene in a special session, which should include ample time for public input, to implement the will of the voters, so that patients and entrepreneurs alike may access the marketplace." Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa, on Twitter: "Agree 100%. Our constituents voted for access to medical marijuana and it is our duty to go back to Tallahassee and work until it's done." Photo: Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg (Scott Keeler | Tampa Bay Times) @PatriciaMazzei @ngameztorres The Trump administration sanctioned eight Venezuelan Supreme Court judges Thursday, freezing their assets and banning them from travel to the U.S. as punishment for stripping the Venezuelan Congress of all powers earlier this year, a decision the court later reversed amid widespread international outcry. The sanctions are the first unrelated to drug trafficking imposed by the Trump administration against high-ranking members of the Venezuelan government. They are intended to continue to isolate the embattled administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which has been besieged by weeks of escalating protests following an economic collapse that has left Venezuelans tired, poor and hungry. The United States is not going to allow those who impede democracy or violate human rights to go unpunished, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who pushed for the sanctions, told the Miami Herald. He decried some of the judges by name Wednesday on the Senate floor, calling them puppets who do [Maduros] bidding. The court, stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared in March it would assume all legislative functions from the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which had been deemed illegitimate after being held in contempt of previous court rulings. Denounced by the opposition and international community as an undemocratic power grab, the courts decision was undone days later by the judges themselves, under apparent pressure from Maduro. Even if reversed, the decision was only the latest in a series of rulings that undermined the legislative branchs authority, senior Trump administration officials told reporters Thursday. One of them referred to the rupture of democratic norms. They have made a mockery of the separation of powers, and they have denied the Venezuelan people the right to shape their future, the official said. More here. Photo credit: Fernando Llano, Associated Press For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival comes but once a year, but the organizers curate movies year-round. Their next (free) screening is "Tokyo Idols," which they describe as "a nuanced look at the obsession with young female sexuality within the Japanese pop music Industry, told through the perspective of the performers and their diehard fans." The movie premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Nick Allen, writing for RogerEbert.com, called it "a fascinating piece of journalism about a billion-dollar Japanese fantasy industry, a heaven for some that may constitute a type of hell to everyone else. In a manner even more extreme than Americas cultivation of young superstars in order to follow their every move, Japan has 'idols,' who are young women of a certain age that wear cutesy outfits and sing pop metal songs for audiences of mostly middle-aged men." The film is the latest from Montreal documentary collective EyeSteel Film, which was the subject of a sprawling retrospective at the Big Sky festival in February. The screening is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts on East Broadway. Director Kyoko Miyake and producer Felix Matschke will attend, with a filmmaker reception afterwards at the Union Hall. The 88-minute movie is unrated. Sarah Adina Smith is reluctant to explain the mysteries in her latest film, "Buster's Mal Heart," a puzzle-box thriller with metaphysical overtones that could sit comfortably next to indie cult movies like "Primer" and "Memento." "I think it does a disservice to the audience if we say too much about our own feelings about it," she said in a phone interview. "I think the point is to leave room for their own interpretation and I don't want mine to get in the way of anyone else's." "We very carefully laid out the breadcrumbs, where if someone wants to go deeper into the film, that's available so upon multiple viewings you may get certain clues you didn't get before," she said. But answers are what you'll want from her feature, shot in the Kalispell and Whitefish area in late October and early November of 2015. Producer Jonako Donley said "it's a film you have to have on for a while and think through." It features Rami Malek, star of the TV series "Mr. Robot," in multiple roles who may or may not be the same person. In one thread, a hirsute mountain man nicknamed "Buster" by the local media breaks into the vacation homes of rich people to steal their food and use their facilities. In another, an unnamed figure is adrift at sea in a small boat with no food or water, howling at his maker. In the final layer, Malek portrays Jonah, a night-shift concierge struggling with the late hours and financial constraints. While alluding to a troubled past, he's also turned his life around and has a Christian wife and a young daughter. However, he appears to be reaching his breaking point working nights, Smith said, and frustrated by dreams of buying his own property and achieving a self-sustaining life for his family. Malek delivers a characteristically quiet and intense performance that he's known for on the lauded "Mr. Robot." Smith said he's "brilliant at keeping all this stuff brewing beneath the surface when he approaches his craft." That particularly suits the somewhat mysterious Jonah, whose struggles are sympathetic but elusive in context of the film's many layers. "Even though it's somewhat simple what's going on with him on the surface, he's got a whole war brewing in his heart that I think really comes through," she said. Smith said Malek is "all-in" with his commitment to his craft. Because of constraints on time and daylight, they'd often only have the opportunity for one or two takes of a given scene. Malek was cast just as "Mr. Robot" came out and made him a star they had only just submitted their offer when billboards of his face started appearing around L.A. "We thought we had just missed the boat, luckily he still read the script and we got in in the nick of time and were able to convince him to come do this crazy indie film," Smith said. *** Jonah's arc takes a dark turn when he meets a mysterious computer programmer who enters the hotel late at night. He only carries cash and refuses to divulge his name. The man, played by DJ Qualls (TV's "The Man in the High Castle," "Hustle & Flow") begins entrancing and/or hustling Jonah with free-will speeches that align with the hotel clerk's own views, informed by late-night TV cosmological theories about "The Inversion," a Rapture-like event that's approaching on the brink of Y2K hysteria. The simmering psychological tension, which reflects Smith's love of David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick, builds as these storylines are intercut and build toward a Mobius strip-ending. It's a lot to unpack, but critics have responded to its original structure and voice. It played at Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier this year. An L.A. Times review complimented the "confident weirdness that 'Busters Mal Heart' boasts as it dissects a damaged soul for signs of whats eternal and whats triggered when a man breaks in two." *** Smith, a Colorado native, originally set her script in her home state where she would have the benefit of family, friends and resources. "I went there to scout and wasn't quite feeling the spirit of the movie, which is very much about a man retreating into solitude to confront his maker or confront the cosmos," she said. She had visited Montana several years before and "had this feeling that Montana is a place where people go to get lost." There were better incentives to shoot in Alberta, Canada, but they "felt really strongly that this is an American story and we wanted to be true to that." They found the right landscapes for those overtones in Kalispell and Whitefish. The former Outlaw Inn, meanwhile, served as Jonah's workplace. They brought along perhaps seven or eight cast members and used Montanans to fill out the rest of the roles. Lily Gladstone ("Certain Women") has a small part as a fellow hotel employee, and Missoula actor Chris Torma plays a detective. Since the film is set in 1999, it's a period piece, and the look of some of the Montana locations were a better fit. "I think you find more places in Montana that haven't been updated, and that's so important and amazing for filmmakers to have access to those kinds of locations. Especially for a film like ours where we can't build our own sets," she said. Smith, who was 18 as New Year's Eve 1999 approached, was immersed in the cultural mood and its attendant conspiracy theories. "I was very much the teenager, the world revolves around you. I felt very sure the world was going to end when the clock struck midnight in Colorado," she said. *** "Buster" is Smith's second full-length feature after 2015's "The Midnight Swim." She was initially inspired by news articles about real-life burglar-hermits like Buster. "I just thought there was something really charming about that idea of a mountain man who's not very good at being a mountain man who wants so desperately to be free but doesn't really even know what to do with that freedom and keeps coming indoors for shelter and food," she said. Around the same time, an El Salvadoran fisherman was found after 14 months lost at sea, leaving some to question how he survived and if his story was true. "It occurred to me, what if this mountain man and this fisherman were the same person, and explore that notion of solitude and the cosmos from two extremes of the soul?" Smith said. Viewed through the stories of the fisherman adrift and the hotel clerk's burdens, the film could be viewed as a retelling of the biblical story of Jonah and the whale, she said. However, instead of accepting God's will, her protagonist continues to question him. Jonah's struggles with a rigged economic system share themes with Smith's follow-up film. It's too early for Smith to talk at length about her follow-up film, but she plans to shoot in 2018 in India. "It's a parable about economic injustice, about the haves and have-nots and what happens when the walls between them can't hold up to the mounting pressure when resources are scarce," she said. Montanas opening day of fishing officially kicks off Saturday, May 20. The fact that Montana has a opening fishing day at all might sound a little strange to the casual angler. After all, most of us have been fishing on Montana lakes, rivers and reservoirs all year long. The opener of fishing in Montana has more to do with the streams and tributaries that have been closed since last Dec. 1 up until this Saturday. Since warm days or rain can affect the clarity of those streams, fishing in those streams is always anybodys guess in May. I am sure some anglers have their favorite fishing hole that they go to during the opening weekend. Other anglers are more interested in what the main river conditions are for this time of the year. Carolyn Persico from Rock Creek Fisherman Mercantile reports that she and other anglers are now on the watch for salmon flies on the creek. This is the latest report from their website, rcmerc.com, as of Monday: I would recommend not wading at all, but simply fishing the shorelines where the fish are likely holding. There was a big hatch of Mother's Day caddis around 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, so if you can find a spot where the river isn't raging and perhaps has some clarity, fish those bugs or a large nymph like the Big Hole Crawler. For the best odds, head up to the top of the Creek near Philipsburg or try the West Fork in the same area." The river flow on Rock Creek near Clinton on Monday was 2,220 cubic feet per second. The creeks median flow for this time of the year is 1,360 cfs, so it is running quite a bit faster with less clarity. But Persico knows river conditions can change fast: Things will improve quickly, and big bugs are right around the corner, so stay tuned, friends!" This report on Rock Creek came from the Kingfisher fly shop's website: Rock Creek is high and dirty and much more of a boater's game right now. Every year the river changes, so if you are going to float, use extreme caution. The upper end will be your best shot for wade fishing. The Missouri, Browns Lake, Harpers Lake, Beavertail Pond, Warm Springs and Frenchtown Pond are some of your other options. Georgetown Lake is one lake that has been closed, but it opens Saturday except for the south and east shoreline area. That area includes all waters from the shore or within 100 yards of shore in the area extending from a point 200 yards west of Dentons Point Marina to point 200 yards north from the mouth of North Fork Flint Creek. Lake Mary Ronan is open to kokanee salmon fishing, but as of Monday there has not been very many good reports. If you are looking to kokanee fish, you might try Georgetown Lake or Placid Lake, which now has a 20-day limit and 40 in possession on kokanee salmon. The lake trout fishing on Flathead Lake is still going good. Spring Mack Days concluded last Sunday with 37,195 fish turned in by 226 of the 633 anglers that entered this springs contest. That is the second-highest fish total in the history of Spring and Fall Mack Days. So, considering the current high water in western Montana rivers, your best bet might just be fishing Montanas fishing opener this year in lakes and reservoirs that have been open all year long. A Missoula photographer has filed a lawsuit against the Republican National Committee after she says the organization used one of her photos without her permission in a mailing attacking Democratic congressional candidate Rob Quist. Quist is running against Republican Greg Gianforte in a March 25 special election to fill Montanas sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which was vacated when Ryan Zinke became President Donald Trumps Secretary of the Interior. In a complaint filed in federal court Tuesday, Erika Peterman claims the use of her photo constitutes copyright infringement, and requests damages and an injunction barring further use of the photo. Peterman said she took the picture after being contracted by the Montana Democratic Party to photograph the annual Mansfield Metcalf Celebration in March. After the event, she sent the party a selection of the photos and gave both it and Quists campaign limited license to use them, the lawsuit says. Earlier this month, Peterman was alerted to the RNC mailer by a friend, who recognized the photo on one side featuring the back of Quists head wearing his trademark cowboy hat as one of Petermans. A spokesperson for the RNC previously told the Missoulian that the three images of Quist included in the mailing came from the Quist campaigns Facebook page. All visitation at the Montana State Prison has been canceled until further notice while the facility deals with an outbreak of influenza. The prison made the announcement Thursday, saying the move to eliminate visitation was done to minimize exposure to the public. Sandy Jacke, executive assistant to Montana Department of Corrections Director Reginald Michael, said the prison has nine inmates with confirmed cases of the flu, and staff are taking precautions to prevent the illness from further spreading. Two inmates at the prison have died this month. William Cameron Sr., 66, died May 15 at Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula following what the prison termed an extended illness. Odyssey Ardene, 28, also died at the Missoula hospital on May 10. No immediate cause of death was listed in a news release about his passing. Jacke said the prison is awaiting autopsy results on both Ardene and Cameron before being able to determine a specific cause of death. In April, the prison placed new temporary limits on visitation, reducing the number of days from four to two days per week. Earlier this month, prison warden Michael Fletcher announced that the visitation schedule would return to normal on June 15. Not many public places can match Milltown State Parks multifaceted worth. I dont know if folks are aware how historic that place is, park manager Mike Kustudia said. Most places are usually focused on specific events like Rosebud Battlefield or Travelers Rest. Theyre heritage sites for a particular piece of history. But the story of Milltown State Park is almost the story of the American West. Kustudia backs up his claim with a new educational website released last week in advance of major construction efforts at the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers between Bonner and Milltown. The site ranges from the recently completed Superfund restoration of the old river floodplain, the ecological function of a complex river network and the cultural traditions of area Indian tribes who used its features as natural signposts when navigating through the mountains. A map developed by the late Salish-Pend dOreille Cultural Council elder Mike Durglo Sr. illustrates that difference. While modern-day Missoulians know Bonner lies east of Milltown by looking at a roadmap, Salish hunting parties called it Naayccstm, The Place of the Big Bull Trout, which signified one end of a route over the Continental Divide to the buffalo plains. That was someplace very different than The Place of the Small Bull Trout a few miles west at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Rattlesnake Creek, which was important as a place for gathering bitterroot in the spring. Just as (Place of the Small Bull Trout) was named for immature bull trout and was an important fishing place, so Naayccstm was named for the mature bull trout and was a key place for harvesting these large fish, the Selis-Qlispe Culture Committees Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition book recounts. Agnes Pokerjim Paul remembers camping along the river during fall hunting trips just upstream from Bonner. The men would fish along the Clarks Fork just upstream from Naayccstm. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently accepted a bid to begin construction on the $1.9 million public facility at the confluence. After several years of haggling over how to get effective access to the confluence, the work will complete a road and parking area to the park, as well as a walk-in river access and interpretative plaza for displaying the sites history and cultural connections. The Confluence of Stories website also provides photographs depicting the industrial transformation of the river confluence, from early construction of Milltown Dam through the restoration of its floodplain a century later. It looks at how peregrine falcons, blue herons and western painted turtles share the riverbanks while bighorn sheep and moose roam the hillsides. Ideally there will be other websites that tier off each of these stories, Kustudia said. Things like the Salish-Pend dOreille presence and the Superfund cleanup all could have their own storymap atlas someday. Meriwether Lewis passed through here in 1806 and wrote a description of the confluence. Its got the westward expansion, the industrialization of the West, and the Superfund consequences. All these stories play out across the western landscape in a lot of ways. And its all wrapped up in this one spot. Thats the beauty of it. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy The day before thousands of Americans marched on Washington and hundreds of Missoulians marched down Higgins Avenue in support of climate action, the Trump administration quietly deleted a decades-old climate change information hub from the Environmental Protection Agencys website. This kind of censorship isnt just a denial of sound science. It also denies the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Americans. Recent polling found that 61 percent of voters nationwide disapprove of Donald Trumps handling of the environment more than twice the number of voters who approve. And 60 percent of Americans opposed President Trumps extreme attempts to slash EPAs funding. Since the majority of Greg Gianfortes campaign ads are spent on gloating about all of his high-wage jobs that he claims he brought to Montana, it may be helpful to divulge a few facts about RightNow Technologies. He states that he created over 500 high-wage jobs which averaged just over $50,000 per year at its peak employment in 2002. Good for him. He was a successful businessman. What is not being told is that Gianforte outsourced over half of his employees to five different foreign countries. In an interview with CRM Buyer on March 1, 2004, Gianforte stated, We have deep relationships with many of the top outsourcers. In fact, we just announced what we believe to be the biggest deal ever done by an on-demand company with CONVERGYS. We have over 2,000 seats deployed at CONVERGYS. And what about the impact of those jobs? The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Montana had 471,000 workers in the labor force in 2011, the year Gianforte cashed out to Oracle. RightNow, then, represented less that 1/1000 of all jobs in the state, hardly a major player in Montanas work force. At the time of the sale to Oracle, RightNow had peaked and Gianforte took his huge stock option buyout and ran with the money. So did many of his top executives. But little was left for the worker bees. A Missoulian article on Aug. 20, 2014, stated, Some RightNow executives who walked away with millions ... cashed out well. Yet whether the big buyout benefited a wider swath of RightNow employees is questioned by some, who allege stock options for average employees were less that generous and that top executives and investors took home the lions share of the payoff. When he sold in 2011, Hedged Value summarized RightNows outlook on Sept. 1, 2011 this way: Cash flows are enemic compared to peer-sized companies in the 2011 proxy statement. Operating cash flows have been lackluster. They concluded this about RightNow: Mix a mediocre business, a fancy price, and management incentives rife with conflicts of interest and the result may be an interesting short investment. Nevertheless, Gianforte dumped his vaunted company to his competitors, world giant Oracle, for $1.5 billion. Oracle merely bought one of their small-time competitors out here in Montana and folded them into the corporate stew of over 187 affiliated companies in its portfolio. Gianforte was only happy to walk away with the cash. Shortly thereafter, Oracle moved over 100 of Bozemans RightNow Technologies' high-wage jobs to Texas for cheaper labor. One RightNow employee described the debacle to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle this way: As soon as we walked in, they told us to shut off our cell phones. None of our management was there. There were these three gentlemen in suits we had never seen before who had flown up from San Antonio. So much for caring about the working class folks in Montana, Gianforte. You sold them out. It gets worse. Oracle, according to www.glassdoor.com, created a workforce climate in Bozeman that was a corporate hell. More interesting, from a campaign point of view, is the claim that Gianforte is against gun registry. With a full measure of hypocrisy and irony, Oracle designs gun registry profiles embedded in its software and sells them to government agencies. Gianforte, meanwhile, still receives money from Oracle and numerous Oracle executives have contributed to Gianfortes campaign more hypocrisy. Montana voters should take note. Havent we had about of enough of this? Greg Gianforte represents no Montanan. I am asking your readers to ask legislators to vote to overturn the veto of House Bill 100. Legislative Council requested HB 100. Legislative Council is an administrative committee with a mission to preserve the integrity of the legislative branch as an equal branch of government. HB 100 provides 180 days for legislators to object to a recently adopted rule because it is inconsistent with statute. HB 100 passed with a unanimous vote in the Senate and 67 to 32 in the House. The majority whip notified me of intent to vote to override veto of HB 100. My personal example illustrating the need for HB 100 is as follows: Hearing was held on Administrative Rule of Montana (ARM) proposed to implement new legislation. Legislative attorney sent an e-mail expressing concern that ARM was inconsistent with legislation. Agency changed the proposed ARM. Final proposed ARM remained inconsistent with legislation. Final proposed ARM was adopted in relatively short time and without an additional hearing. Legislative attorney notified legislators that it was too late to object to ARM since it had been adopted and objections were only allowed on proposed rules. James C. Wangerin, Deer Lodge Commissioners voted Wednesday night to spare the long-vacant and badly damaged Basin Creek caretakers house south of town from demolition and instead consider more ways to renovate it. Commissioner Jim Fisher had asked the council the make a final decision on the house, which was given a temporary reprieve three years ago when county officials at the time wanted to tear it down. The stay of demolition is still in place. Commissioner Dan Foley said there are other pressing priorities and it is time to demolish the house 10 miles south of town and move on. But the council voted 7-3 instead to refer it to a committee for more discussions. Fisher, Foley and John Morgan voted against doing that, but it was backed by Sheryl Ralph, Bud Walker, Bill Andersen, Dan Callahan, Brendan McDonough, Dan Olsen and John Sorich. Cindi Shaw and Cindy Perdue-Dolan were absent. The county-owned house in Basin Creek Park has been vacant for years. It has been vandalized badly and needs $140,000 in repairs. The Public Works Committee will consider the issue now, including a new proposal by Chief Executive Dave Palmer to sell another county-owned house at Basin Creek and put the proceeds into fixing up the century-old caretakers house. The fate of the house stirred more controversy just hours before the council meeting. Fisher had formally asked the council to decide the issue once and for all, but he said Palmer and other county officials met earlier Wednesday to discuss ways of saving it. Fisher said he wasnt invited and was only told about the meeting afterward by Ed Randall, the countys community enrichment director. I find this to be a slap in the face to me for not inviting me to this meeting for it was me Jim Fisher who submitted the communication they were meeting to discuss, Fisher wrote in a late-afternoon email to Palmer, fellow commissioners and other county officials. He said later at the council meeting that he still felt jilted. Palmer said late Wednesday that he called Fisher and apologized for not inviting him, but he held the meeting to discuss options for saving the house. Fisher was asking for a final decision on the house, with demolition an option, so Palmer said he wanted to be ready with alternatives. Fisher had made it pretty clear, Palmer said, that he wanted the county to get rid of the house. Palmer said they settled on a proposal to sell another house near the Basin Creek Reservoir that a county employee lives in so he can monitor the area. Money from that sale would be coupled with other resources to fix up the caretakers house, where a county employee could keep a better watch on the reservoir once it is opened up for public recreation next year, Palmer said. I feel it is necessary, when we open up the reservoir to the public, to protect the park and all its assets, Palmer told The Montana Standard before the council meeting. I think it can be fixed up. Fisher said that according to Randall, those at the meeting included Palmer, Historic Preservation Officer Mary McCormick, Public Works Director Dave Schultz, Commissioners Dan Callahan and Dan Olsen, Randall and possibly others. Fisher said they may have been conspiring to gather support for a proposal to save the house, even though his request to the council did not mention demolition. Fisher says he is OK with the county selling the caretakers house, with the buyer free to spend money fixing it up or moving it. But he opposes the county putting more money into it and is against a county employee living there, and if a buyer cant be found, it should be demolished. In his email, Fisher said the private meeting was called prior to Wednesdays council meeting when he planned to share his thoughts. Then to have Mr. Randall call me to meet seemed rather strange for he has little involvement in this issue, Fisher wrote. I feel this is an issue that should be addressed in Council Chambers, not in a closed door meeting with a select group of elected and executive appointees. Palmer said they were not conspiring against Fisher, a statement he repeated at the council meeting. He also apologized again. Officials told commissioners a month ago that it would cost nearly $140,000 to repair the house but the countys insurance carrier would pay about $47,000 of that tab for past vandalism. Grants, private contributions and material donations might cover other costs, they said. Foley said the employee at the other county-owned house should monitor the area and it made no sense to sell one house to save another. And there were too many other funding priorities to address instead of adding more dollars into a house that is falling apart, he said. But a majority felt otherwise and sent the issue to committee, which could take up the matter next week. A message for Greg Gianforte and Donald Trump Jr. How dare you. How dare you come to Butte and tell us about mining? This is Butte, America. This is the Mining City. And we are proud to have helped make America great we electrified this nation. Miners toiled and died in the mines to help win two world wars. Rather than listen and learn from a town that knows mining, you came to Butte preaching your one size fits all philosophy get rid of burdensome regulations and allow corporations to lead us to the land of milk and honey. But we are a town with a history of dealing with an underregulated corporation that took its wealth elsewhere, leaving little behind but environmental destruction. Our graveyards are full of miners taken in their prime who left behind widows and struggling families. Butte is a town with an epic tale of workers organizing to force the Anaconda Company to have safer working conditions, livable wages and support for miners widows and orphans. It is one hundred years since the Granite Mountain-Speculator fire killed 168 miners and touched off decades of labor strife. On August 1, it will be one hundred years to the day that Anaconda Company goons abducted labor agitator Frank Little from his boarding house in the middle of the night, dragged him through the streets of Butte behind an automobile, then lynched him from a railroad trestle. Frank Little sacrificed his life to make working conditions safer. His only profit a better life for miners and their families. In more recent history, Butte was again betrayed by oil giant Atlantic Richfield. ARCO bought the failing Anaconda Company to hide their own obscene oil production profits from the windfall profits tax. After only five years of trying to operate the Berkeley Pit, ARCO executives realized that mining was too difficult with too little profit margin and turned off the pumps that dewatered 10,000 miles of underground workings and the Berkeley Pit. With that simple turn of a switch, they forever cut off access to a still rich ore body (two thirds of the original copper in the ore body is still in the ground), drowning it under 80 billion gallons of water leaving Butte with the giant Berkeley Pit Lake largest toxic lake in the nation. Hows that for corporate responsibility to a mining town that had already sacrificed so much? And to a strategic resource for this nation? We now rely on strong environmental regulation to make us whole. Without federal regulation, without Superfund law, Butte and the State of Montana alone would be left dealing with gargantuan environmental devastation. Because the Natural Resource Damage provisions of Superfund allowed the State to sue ARCO, we now have safe drinking water. So far, Montanas Natural Resource Damage Program has invested roughly $70 million in Buttes drinking water infrastructure. So, Greg and Donald, next time either of you are in Butte please visit the Miners Memorial at the World Museum of Mining and say a prayer for all those men who sacrificed their lives to make America great. And Donald Junior please take this message back to Washington make Butte America great again by investing in the restoration economy. It is no secret that Montana has long been a wild playground for the rich and famous. Many of them are great neighbors, respecting easements across their land and even enrolling it in the Block Management Program. Others like James Cox Kennedy, Greg Gianforte, and Huey Lewis have never understood what our state is all about and use their resources to try to block roads and access. Until recently, they have all steered clear of running for office in Montana because they knew well the beating they would take at the polls. Gianforte had the opportunity to learn that lesson last fall. After spending $5 million of his own money trying to buy the governorship, he lost handily in a year that Republicans gained seats across the state. Ever the opportunist, he has since spent another $1 million of his own money trying to buy himself a seat in Congress. Shortly after it was announced that Representative Zinke would become the first Montanan to ever serve in a cabinet position, Republicans across the state began testing the waters to potentially fill the vacancy. Many of these folks were solid men and women who have served their state and country with distinction. They would have made quite capable candidates and respectable Representatives. Unfortunately, like a fisherman trying to access the Gallatin, these Montanans found their road blocked by Gregs money. Before they even had a chance to make their case to their fellow Republicans, he was running ads statewide with his own funds. As a result, better candidates were closed out of the process and the richer, but much weaker candidate bought himself the nomination. Like those first strands of barbed wire across the river, or that locked gate across a Forest Service Road, this election is a test to see what we will put up with. Republican or Democrat, every Montanan now living enjoys our great state because our grandmothers and fathers passed that test. They believed that the Butte mucker and the Plentywood farmer had just as much right to be on our lands, and in our elections, as any big shot. Emboldened each time a new gate goes up, and lawsuit gets filed, people like Greg Gianforte have tried their best to bully us out of the hills and off the rivers. We cant let them close off our elections, too. Bob Brock, Butte ABC/Image Group LA Right now, priority #1 for Cam is working on the follow-up to her Untamed album, which brought us her breakthrough hit, Burning House. But shes also taking a little time to decorate her new house. You can check out the progress shes made after partnering with Wayfair, in a new spread on the popular home website. The artist whos become known for her fondness for yellow admits its definitely part of her decorating equation. Yellow is just a positive, friendly color, Cam says. I find that I feel happier and am in a better mood when Im wearing yellow, but also that people are nicer to me when Im wearing yellow. So Im just drawn to it. Also, Im from California, she adds, so yellow for me is like me getting to have a little bit of California sunshine wherever I am. If you dig Cams choices, you can snag the same items on Wayfairs website, of course. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. MISSOULA All visitation at the Montana State Prison has been canceled until further notice while the facility deals with an outbreak of influenza. The prison made the announcement Thursday, saying the move to eliminate visitation was done to minimize exposure to the public. Sandy Jacke, executive assistant to Montana Department of Corrections Director Reginald Michael, said the prison has nine inmates with confirmed cases of the flu, and staff are taking precautions to prevent the illness from further spreading. Two inmates at the prison have died this month. William Cameron Sr., 66, died May 15 at Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula following what the prison termed an extended illness. Odyssey Ardene, 28, also died at the Missoula hospital on May 10. No immediate cause of death was listed in a news release about his passing. Jacke said the prison is awaiting autopsy results on both Ardene and Cameron before being able to determine a specific cause of death. In April, the prison placed new temporary limits on visitation, reducing the number of days from four to two days per week. Earlier this month, prison warden Michael Fletcher announced that the visitation schedule would return to normal on June 15. TULSA, Okla. -- Bernard H. Duffe was born on Oct. 17, 1920, in Moscow, Iowa, and passed away May 12, 2017, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Christine. He is survived by his wife, Maxine (nee Jackson) from Muscatine, sons Bruce and Clark, and five grandchildren. He graduated from Wilton Junction High School and then the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. During World War II, he served in the Pacific with the 31st Construction Battalion of the U.S. Navy SeaBees. He ended his work career at the Williams Brothers Pipeline Company in Tulsa. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of your choice. Services will be held on June 10, 2017, at John Knox Presbyterian Church, in Tulsa. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Residents of Ruarakas Laundry Slums, Nairobi were left in horror and shock Tuesday after a man killed his wife in cold blood over ugali as their two children watched. The man, Patrick Adera, is said to have complained and picked up a quarrel with Viola Awuor Odhiambo, 23, after he was served with a small portion of ugali. They then went to sleep but the victim chose to sleep with the children on a mattress on the floor. When Adera called her to bed, they continued quarreling before things turned bloody. The suspect then went outside saying he had gone to relieve himself only to return with a knife on his waist. Viola had locked the door from inside and fallen asleep, but one of the children opened the door for Adera. When he entered the house, he started stabbing the wife. She called on one of the children to grab the knife from his father, but the knife fell down. When the child went to pick it up, the man kicked him. The child sustained an injury on his elbow, said Lucy Wambui, a neighbour who was woken up by the children screaming. He took the knife, finished her and escaped, she said. The children stepped out of the house at 3am (Tuesday) screaming that their mother had been stabbed with a knife by their father, said Wambui as quoted by Standard. She said that she accompanied the children back to the house and saw the man running away from the house. She found the woman lying on the floor with stab wounds on the face, neck and back. The knife was still on the bloodied bed. She alerted the other neighbours and called in the police who came, photographed the scene and took the body to the mortuary. Additional Reporting by Standard Here are some of the stories making global headlines today. This is What Happened When Ruto Met Kabogo in the Corridors of Royal Media Studios Well, nothing. They shaked hands, posed for the camera and exchanged a few words. The Kiambu governor has come just short of blaming Deputy President William Ruto for rigging him out of the Kiambu gubernatorial race. In his famous concession speech on nomination night, Kabogo blamed top p Abrupt End for Unga Revolution as Government Subsidizes Flour to Sh90 The price of basic commodities, most importantly unga, has dominated presidential campaigns and was surely set to feature highly in the next 2 and a half months. In recent weeks, the price of a 2kg packet of maize flour has been retailing at upwards of Sh150 an all time high. LoL! KDF Hopeful Alters KCSE Result Slip with Biro During Recruitment Exercise (PHOTOS) A desperate KDF hopeful has been arrested by military police with a forged KCSE result slip at Mweiga Stadium in Nyeri. Dennis Kimotho Njaramba, 23, had altered the grades on all eight subjects of his KCSE results slip with a pen. Russia claims to have transcript of Trump meeting with Lavrov Speaking at a press conference, Putin said the transcript could be provided if the US administration finds it appropriate. The Trump administration has come under fire over a meeting at the Oval Office with Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last week, in which he shared security information that two sources described to CNN as classified. Chelsea Manning released from prison She was released from United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas around 3 a.m. ET, Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson told CNN. Amnesty International, which had campaigned for Mannings release, was quick to applaud the decision. Watergate scandal: The crisis that changed US politics What became known as the Watergate scandal uncovered an intricate trail of wrongdoing, one that went all the way to the White House. The burglary and ensuing scandal led to the only resignation of a US president, changed American politics forever and became a synonym for government corruption. Republicans demand answers after latest Trump Russia explosion The answer, they found Tuesday evening, was demanding former FBI Director James Comey give up the goods. @GOPoversight is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz tweeted Tuesday night. Japanese princess set to marry Prince of the Sea Japans Princess Mako is giving up her royal status, all in the name of love. Plans are underway for the 25-year-old to become engaged to Kei Komuro, a law firm worker and graduate student who once starred in a tourism campaign as Prince of the Sea. The James Comey memo is an existential threat to Donald Trumps presidency The reporting coming out of The New York Times and CNN is explosive: Deposed FBI Director James Comey wrote a memo following a February 14 meeting with Donald Trump in which he says the President told him I hope you can let this go in regard to fired aide Michael Flynns role in the ongoing investigation into Russias efforts to influence the 2016 campaign. Ellen forgets Katy Perry was married to Russell Brand, awkwardness ensues Katy Perry may be single at the moment, but do you remember her two-year marriage to Russell Brand back in 2010? Ellen clearly doesnt. Perry appeared on her show on Tuesday to promote her new album, and the two played a game called Will You Perry Me? Instagram is going after the best part of Snapchat in the worst way Instagram is compiling Instagram posts based on location. Sounds like its copying Snapchat Our Stories, right? Well, it would be, if it were putting any editorial judgment into whats being created and if the content shared on Instagram was actually enjoyable to watch. Watch a bunch of teens willingly get pepper sprayed for class A group of teens willingly stood against a wall and got a dose of pepper spray to the face as a part of a criminal technology course at Barberton High School in Ohio. Stop resisting, please comply, the instructor can be heard saying before spraying each teen directly in the face. British students create memes to vent about a ridiculous biology exam question Weve all experienced the fresh hell that is standardized testing revising for hours on end in the hopes that what youve studied will come up on the exam. This week, UK students have taken to Twitter to vent about one specific question that appeared in their AQA biology exam. This math question meant for 7-year-olds has everyone stumped A math question apparently meant for seven-year-olds has left adults befuddled. The bonus math question which allegedly appeared on a first-grade level exam paper in Singapore has been making the rounds on social media. The question shows a circular puzzle with five numbers in it. If you own a drone in this country, youll have to register with the government If you pilot a drone heavier than 250 grams (0.55 pound) in China, youll have to register with authorities. Thats due to a new registration policy that aims to address a recent spate of drone intrusions by amateur pilots. Artists amazingly intricate cardboard creations will definitely make you smile These figurines are a far cry from your usual cardboard cut-outs. Monami Ohno, a Japanese artist, transforms plain brown cardboard into incredible objects. From Star Wars to Super Mario, theres nothing she hasnt done. I mean, take a look at this level of detail: But if youre looking for something a bit more wearable, shes got that covered too. Australias prime minister definitely doesnt know what Netflix and chill means So, umm, this is awkward. Someone needs to quietly tell the prime minister of Australia the real meaning of Netflix and chill or at least point him in the direction of Urban Dictionary. Malcolm Turnbull was having an innocent old chat with radio station, 97.3FM, on Wednesday when he decided to drop the NSFW bombshell. Putin Denies Trump Revealed Classified Information In Meeting With Russian Officials SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not passed on any secrets to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he could prove it. Donald Trump Reportedly Asked James Comey To Stop Michael Flynn Investigation President Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to end his agencys investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, The New York Times reported Tuesday. According to the bombshell report, Trump made the request of Comey during a February meeting in the Oval Office. John McCain: Trump Scandals Reaching Watergate Size And Scale Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) just used the W word when talking about the growing scandals surrounding President Donald Trump. Weve seen this movie before. Its reaching Watergate size and scale, he said at a Republican event on Tuesday night, according to GOP strategist Ana Navarro. This is not good for the country. Michael Moore Vows To Defeat Donald Trump With New Documentary Michael Moore pledged Tuesday that his newly revealed documentary about Donald Trump will finally defeat the president. Production of Fahrenheit 11/9 named for the date Trump was declared the president-elect has already begun in a cloak of secrecy, according to a news release reported by Deadline and other outlets. This is not the first time Vivo Energy MD Polycarp Igathe is being rumoured to be son to businessman Chris Kirubi. Such claims have been made by many individuals, among them Robert Alai. When Sonko settled on Polycarp as his running mate this week, the rumours and speculations would naturally increase. But is there any truth in these claims? It happened that Chris Kirubi was hosted on Jeff Koinange Live last night. A few minutes into the show, Jeff posed the question to him. I would love to have an efficient son, so Ill never deny him, he said before proceeding to lavish him with praises. I would have loved Jeff to ask him whether he is the biological father, but that didnt happen. Kirubis answer may have been ambiguous, but Igathe himself does not like beating around the bush. [showad block=6] In a interview with Business Daily some time back, he stated categorically that Chris Kirubi is NOT his father. But he did work for him at HACO Industries. When asked what is the greatest misconception people have about him, he said, That Im rich. And that Im Chris Kirubis son. (Laughs).. Kenyans think that if you work in a company diligently for long, a company owned by someone else, you can only be their son. But you know, I love it. I get bought a lot of drinks as a result. When I run into people who want to associate with me because of that myth, oh I take advantage of it and just order a very expensive whisky. You know how Kenyans like to hang out with the who-is-who. Im born and raised in Ruiru 145. Those are my matatus. Thats home. And there, simplicity is key. he added. Here are 10 other things you may not know about Polycarp Igathe. 1. He was born and raised in Ruiru and boasts of a humble upbringing. 2 He is married to Catherine Igathe and together they have 3 children. 3. His wife Catherine is the Managing Director of AIG Kenya. 4. He graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1995. 5. His first job was as a finance officer for Queensland Health in Australia. 6. He has also worked in senior managerial positions for Coca Cola, AfricaOnline and Kenya Breweries. 7. Before joining Vivo Energy, Igathe was Managing Director at HACO Industries for 10 years. 8. He would rather go for a run than the gym. 9. He is a morning person and hates late night meetings. 10 Travelling is his hobby, with Nanyuki his favourite destination. Two drug-trafficking suspects were arrested Tuesday with seven kilogrammes of cocaine valued at Sh30 million in Utawala. Bradley Juma alias Timmy and Peter Okoth Odongo alias Black were nabbed in a sting operation following a tip-off on their deals. Bradley Juma was first arrested last Friday night on a bus headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was found ferrying narcotics concealed in a suitcase. Police said Juma provided information that led to the arrest of Okoth at his residence in Utawala. At Okoths residence, police recovered more drugs. Police added that the suspects would be arraigned in court on Wednesday. Rabobank recently named Monica Parker vice president and branch manager for its Napa location at 700 Trancas St. In her new role, Parker is responsible for new business development and community outreach as well as managing daily operations within the branch. Parker brings more than 15 years of financial services experience to the position. Prior to joining Rabobank, she was a business relationship manager with JPMorgan Chase in Napa. Parker completed her bachelor of science in business administration at the University of the Pacific. The Napa Valley Unified School District will host a site for the U.S. Department of Agricultures Summer Food program, which provides free meals for children up to age 18 who might not know where there next meal will come from during the summer. The site will be Phillips Elementary School, 1210 Shetler Ave., in Napa. The program starts Tuesday, June 13, and runs through Friday, July 14, with no service on July 3 and 4. The meal is served as an early lunch, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and includes a sandwich, milk and fresh fruit and/or vegetable. Adults can pay $3.80 to get the same meal without the milk. Because funding for the program is provided by USDA, the program does not impact NVUSDs budget in a significant way. All children are welcome during the posted serving time, and all meals must be eaten on site. No pre-registration or documentation is required. After attending the Napa Unified School Board meeting of May 9, I feel I should make a few comments regarding the proceedings concerning the Napa High School mascot. First, I would like to thank the board for having the additional meeting to allow many of us to express our opinion. Second, I would like to commend Board Chairman Hurtado for conducting a professional meeting that was fair to both parties. Even though I vehemently disagree with his stance on eliminating the mascot, I do feel that he should be recognized for how he conducted this meeting. At this meeting, it appeared that some of those who want to eliminate the mascot made some comments that were definitely inappropriate. Chairman Hurtado had to admonish those people several times to be quiet. At one point, he had to threaten them with expulsion from the meeting. It's obvious that the immature behavior of these people tells a lot about who they really are and who they represent. Everyone was limited to a three-minute speech and most adhered to that rule. The highlight of the night was when a woman who wants the mascot removed started blaming Trump for a variety of ills that she sees as problems. She was definitely off topic. To my knowledge, everyone who submitted a card before the meeting had a chance to speak. Speakers were rotated so that there was pro and con on the issue. Now here is what the school board did not see take place. As the meeting ended, we all filed out slowly from the auditorium. Some of us took a little longer as we chatted with friends. Once outside in the hallway, we could hear some Indian chants and singing. What we saw was a group standing around the mascot/logo that is embedded in the floor at the entry to the building. In this area, we also spotted two Napa Police officers. Now we notice that some of these same people are standing on top of our beloved Indian. These immature individuals were obviously trying to provoke a confrontation with those of us that support keeping the mascot. As grownups with good common sense, no one took the bait. I will tell you that many of us did have an uptick in our blood pressure. What's interesting is these same people chastise us for not respecting the Indian heritage, yet they disrespect the Indian mascot by standing on it. In conclusion, this school district has a lot of issues that really need to be addressed and if they practiced management by priority, this mascot issue should be at the bottom of the pile in the in-basket. I'm also curious if this Board and Superintendent have talked with our local Native Americans like Scott Gabaldon of the Mishewal Wappo tribe instead of listening to those who don't live here. Would they get a different perspective? As I said at the meeting, there is no law on the books that requires this district to change the mascot. I suggest they leave it alone, save us millions of dollars, and move on to the more important items. There are certainly plenty of them to solve. Tom Johnston (Class of 62) Napa As Auction Napa Valley approaches June 1-4, Robin Daniel Lail can look back with many memories, but probably few are more rewarding than her part in launching what was then called the Napa Valley Wine Auction. Although the auction was conceived by Margrit and Robert Mondavi, Lail was Bobs assistant and the details of making the auction happen fell largely to her. Since then, the auction has raised, and donated, more than $170 million to local causes. But thats only one part of a life so significant that James Conaway used it as a thread throughout his seminal 1990 book, Napa: The Story of an American Eden. Robin Lails great-granduncle was Gustav Niebaum, the Finnish sea captain and adventurer who founded Inglenook Vineyards in 1879. When he died, his nephew and Robins grandfather, John Daniel, inherited the property with its stone winery and Victorian mansion, and that was Robin Daniels home. Her mother was a Mormon who was not close to her two daughters and discouraged Robin from having anything to do with wine or the winery. Her father, John Daniel Jr., inherited Inglenook in 1936. He was driven to make great wine but he didnt raise his two daughters to work in wine business. As a young girl, however, Robin stopped at the winery for water on the walk home from school, and she got to explore its mysterious niches and play in the vineyards. She also remembers her fathers pickup truck and her treehouse perched over an Indian mound where she looked for artifacts. She remembers the golden mustard that filled the valley on the ground and looking for shapes in the clouds and she recalls riding her pony and horse. In 1964, her father sold the Inglenook property to liquor maker Heublein, which also bought Beaulieu. Lail hadnt had anything to do with the wine business, and by then, she was working in San Francisco for the Bank of America. Nevertheless, she now recalls, I had an immense sense of loss. Her father died in 1970. Rekindling an interest in wine Losing the family home and business had an unexpected effect on Lail. It rekindled her interest in wine and the Napa Valley. She and her husband, Jon, belonged to a wine tasting club and their interest grew. In 1972, they moved to Napa Valley, where Jon Lail, an architect but not practicing, ran Oakville Vineyards (now Napa Wine Company). In 1974, Lail became executive director of the Volunteer Center of Napa County; then she started working as executive assistant to Bob Mondavi in 1977. As Mondavis assistant, she learned everything about how a winery runs from the top down, from attending board meetings as an observer to working with growers and entertaining visiting guests. Mondavi was full of ideas, but, she noted, not a detail person, so much fell to her, including the Wine Auction. Mondavi later admitted that he hired her to motivate her to get back into the family business. I wanted nothing to do with it at first, she said. After five years, she left Mondavi, and she and her sister Marky co-founded Dominus with Christian Moueix of Petrus in Bordeaux in 1982 with part of Napanook Vineyards, a family legacy. In 1983, while working with developer Bill Harlan, she helped found Merryvale Vineyards, holding the title of president. In 1995, she left Merryvale and sold out of her partnership in Dominus to finally start Lail Vineyards and restore her familys legacy. That was a tough year to buy grapes but they used merlot grapes from the remaining two and a half acres of their Napanook Vineyard on the east side of Highway 29 north of Yountville and bought cabernet from Bob Phillips. She and Jon bought 20 acres on Howell Mountain in 1996 and built a home and later planted a small vineyard; by then he was practicing as an architect. She sold her partnership in Merryvale in 1997. A different approach to daughters Robin and Jon Lail have two daughters, Shannon and Erin, both partners in Lail Vineyards. Recalling her childhood, Lail granted her two daughters the wine exposure she was denied. Both were cellar rats at Merryvale during high school, and Shannon also worked in its shop. Erin Lail started her professional career in San Francisco after graduating from college, working for a private investment company but joined her mother to launch Lail Vineyards. In 2006, she founded Honeydew Napa Valley providing luxury estate management and concierge service. Erin has two children, Georgia and Henry, who attend St. Helena public schools. They have been present for harvest since they were old enough to help, and are interested in carrying on the family tradition. Shannon attended Duke University in North Carolina, then she returned to Northern California to work for Francis Coppolas film company, American Zoetrope. She spent 10 years under Coppolas tutelage learning the film business from the perspective of a writer, director and producer. She collaborated with Coppola on more than 30 projects, helped launch the companys first distribution division as well as the short fiction and art quarterly, Zoetrope: All-Story. Although her work took her all over the country, she felt most at home at Coppolas wine estate where her mother and grandfather lived when it was Inglenook. Lail also worked a bit with Francis Ford Coppola, and considers him a friend. Shannon left Zoetrope in 2004 to work with Stephen Gaghan and Steven Soderberghs Section 8 as a co-producer on Syriana. Afterwards, she transitioned to independent film so she could return to the Napa Valley to raise her children, Wells and Lail. Her last film project, Goats, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Both daughters have been through the U.C. Davis Executive Wine Program. Like Erin, Shannon is involved with Lail Vineyards, handling its social media. Philippe Melka is the winemaker. Lail Vineyards was his first consulting client and hes made wine for them for almost 20 years. They make the wines at nearby Arkenstone Winery. The Lails have a permit to build a winery but have not yet built it. We have 57 winery plans, Robin jokes. Pete Richmond tends the vines. Two premium vineyards The Lails own two vineyards. Mole Hill, on the Lails 20-acre Howell Mountain property, is named after a mound on the original Daniels property. It contains three acres of cabernet sauvignon planted in 1993 and 1994 and is nestled on Howell Mountain at 1,600 feet with a western exposure. The 2 1/2-acre Totem Vineyard in Yountville is part of the original Inglenook Vineyards. In 2006 and 2007, merlot vines planted in 1988 were t-budded to sauvignon blanc used for Georgia sauvignon blanc. Lail Vineyards wines Lail Vineyards makes about 3,000 cases of five wines. The J. Daniel Cuvee cabernet sauvignon honors her father. Its made from vineyards in Calistoga, Oakville and Howell Mountain. They produce 400-800 cases at $250 per bottle. About 125 cases of Mole Hill cabernet sauvignon from the estate vineyard on Howell Mountain are made in some years. It sells for $300 per bottle. The Georgia sauvignon blanc is fermented in new French oak. They produce 150 cases; it sells for $135 per bottle. The Blueprint wines pay homage to Lails husband, Jon, and are aimed at younger people, She said. Blueprint cabernet sauvignon (1,500 cases) is $80, and Blueprint sauvignon blanc (1,000 cases) is $40. The wines are sold in 35 states and 12 countries, and Lail wants to maintain a combination of distribution and direct sales. They could be better known, she admitted, noting that theyve hired a publicist to help that happen. The winery also has an active direct-to-consumer program and formerly had the wines at the Ma(i)sonry tasting collective in Yountville. Currently, it doesnt have a tasting room presence. For the future, Shannon and Erin have made a long-term commitment to the with Lail Vineyards. Its extremely important to me that theyre involved, said Lail. This is part of their legacy going back 135 years, a legacy of years of people seeking excellence and driven by passion. Lail admits that its taken a long time to establish the brand, but vowed, This is not a dilettante deal. We are building an international brand that we want to be one of the best in the world. The work seems to be paying off. The wines get excellent reviews from top critics like a 100 from Robert Parker for the J, Daniel Cuvee in 2014. Ready to go from zero Read more [...] 11:00: Press conference by the NATO Secretary General Location: NATO Headquarters, Brussels (Luns Press Theatre) Access to NATO premises as of 9:00 Note: The press conference will be available live on the NATO website and on WORLDFEED via Eurovision Geneva. This material is free of rights and free of charge worldwide. Technical availability in Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EU7B or EU10A), the Americas (NS806 or IS34) and Asia (Asiasat5). Technical parameters of this transmission are available at www.eurovision.net / Synopsis. Photos, video and audio files from NATO will be available after the event on the NATO website and via the NATO Channel. Language feeds on the website: The press conference will be available in original sound, in English, French and Russian on satellite. It will be available in English, French and Russian during the live webstreaming, and in original sound, English, French and Russian after the event. Accreditation and access The access to this event will be open for all media representatives accredited for the Meeting of Heads of State and Governments on 25 May. Journalists will have access via the Z entrance, avenue du Bourget 140, 1130 Brussels (vicinity of STIB/tram station Eurocontrol). Access will be possible for both pedestrians and cars; parking space will be available. Journalists holding a 2017 NATO media pass will have access to the press conference as usual, at the NATO main entrance, upon presentation of their pass. Media representatives not accredited for the Meeting of Heads of State and Governments on 25 May and not holding a NATO 2017 badge are invited to request accreditation directly at the main entrance of the NATO Headquarters on 24 May 2017, starting from 9:00. They will have to present an ID and a valid press card (provided by a recognised national professional body of a NATO country i.e. government, professional association or union, etc.). Those media representatives not having a valid press card (as listed previously) are invited to send a signed letter from their editor to NATO Press & Media Service, not later than 16h00 on Monday 22 May 2017 (Fax: +32.2.707.1399, email: natoaccreditations@hq.nato.int). A security check will take place, and security personnel will examine equipments and personal effects carried onto the site. Media are advised to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks. Points of contact Press arrangements / accreditation Alina Coca Tel: +32 (0)2 707 1465 General Queries Front Office Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 41 TV/Radio issues Mr. Henk Dekens Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 51 Post-event Video distribution content@natochannel.tv +32 (0)2 707 12 27 Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg) (As delivered) Good afternoon, Im looking forward to meet the EU Defence ministers again. I met them last month in Valletta and now I will meet them again today. And we are now really taking the NATO-EU cooperation to new levels. We have transformed the cooperation and we are delivering a lot of concrete results. Last December we agreed on 42 concrete measures, and we are now implementing those measures. And High-Representative Federica Mogherini and I, we will issue a report next month on the progress we are making in implementing the measures strengthening NATO-EU cooperation. And just to mention one example of how important this cooperation is, I will mention cyber. Because cyber threats is something we have to take very seriously and last year NATO experienced 500 cyber incidents on average every month and thats a 60% increase compared to the previous year, and last Friday, NATO issued a warning to all Allies after the ransomware attack we saw. And we also shared that warning with the European Union and the European Union shared their information with NATO. We have also recently granted the European hub for cyber security access to NATOs malware information sharing platform so now NATO and the European Union are able to share information in real time on cyber attacks, as the attack we saw last weekend. So this is just one example of how we are making progress, step by step, in many different areas, to strengthen the practical cooperation between NATO and the European Union. Cooperation between NATO and the European Union will also be an important issue we will highlight when NATO leaders meet exactly in one week from now in Brussels. That will be a short meeting but it will be an important meeting because it will be the first meeting where the new US president and the new French president meet all the other Allied leaders here in Brussels. Im looking forward to the meeting, we will address especially two topics: transatlantic bond and burden sharing, and NATOs efforts to step up our contribution to the fight against terrorism. So Im looking forward to welcoming all the leaders to Brussels, to the NATO leaders meeting here next week. (Natural News) An absolute bombshell report was published Tuesday that refutes completely the discredited mainstream media and Democratic Party lie that Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committees email in the months leading up to the November election. Fox News Malia Zimmerman writes that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was in contact with whistleblower website WikiLeaks and turned over thousands of emails to the site pertaining to the corrupt inner workings of the organization: The Democratic National Committee staffer who was gunned down on July 10 on a Washington, D.C., street just steps from his home had leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks, investigative sources told Fox News. A federal investigator who reviewed an FBI forensic report generated within 96 hours after DNC staffer Seth Richs murder detailing the contents Richs computer said he made contact with WikiLeaks through Gavin MacFadyen, a now-deceased American investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker, and director of WikiLeaks who was living in London at the time. The federal investigator told the news site: I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks, confirming that MacFadyen was genuine. These claims are in line with details unearthed by Rod Wheeler, a former Washington Metropolitan Police homicide detective and contributor to Fox News. His private detective firm was hired by the Rich family to get to the bottom of his murder. You may recall that Rich was shot very early in the morning walking home from a bar in D.C. He was very close to his home when he was gunned down. More intriguing is though D.C. police have labeled the murder a botched robbery, not a thing was stolen from Rich, though the shooter appeared to have plenty of time. Also, as Fox News noted, D.C. Metro PD isnt being cooperative; they wont talk to the press and they wont release video footage of the murder, which is standard procedure when cops are actually trying to find out whodunit. The federal investigator said that Rich sent MacFadyen 44,053 emails which contained 17,761 attachments from January 2015 through May 2016. Fox News noted further: On July 22, just 12 days after Rich was killed, WikiLeaks published internal DNC emails that appeared to show top party officials conspired to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont from becoming the partys presidential nominee. That controversy resulted in Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning as DNC chairperson. A number of Sanders supporters refused to back party nominee Hillary Clinton, and some subsequently formed groups to work against Clinton and the party. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has repeatedly claimed that Russia was not the source of the documents. That claim was echoed by former Trump campaign chief Roger Stone just last week. Whats more, as Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reported in December, citing an exclusive from the UKs Daily Mail, the DNC wasnt hacked at all, but that documents provided to WikiLeaks were done the old-fashioned way they were leaked by someone upset at the way the DNC was treating Sanders: After days of witnessing the left-wing media hyperventilate over completely fabricated claims that the Russians hacked the DNC emails and turned them over to Wikileaks, it turns out the emails were actually leaked by a DNC insider who was angry about the orchestrated elimination of Bernie Sanders by Clinton operatives. The UK Daily Mail is now reporting that Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, personally met the email leaker who handed him the emails files later released by Wikileaks. The email leaker, a Bernie Sanders insider, was reportedly motivated by disgust at the corruption of the Clinton Foundation and the tilting of the primary election playing field against Bernie Sanders, reports the Daily Mail. The hand-off took place in Washington D.C. in a wooded area near American University, Murray explained. As Julian Assange has made crystal clear, the leaks did not come from the Russians, writes Murray on his website. As I have explained countless times, they are not hacks, they are insider leaks there is a major difference between the two. And it should be said again and again, that if Hillary Clinton had not connived with the DNC to fix the primary schedule to disadvantage Bernie, if she had not received advance notice of live debate questions to use against Bernie, if she had not accepted massive donations to the Clinton foundation and family members in return for foreign policy influence, if she had not failed to distance herself from some very weird and troubling people, then none of this would have happened. The continued ability of the mainstream media to claim the leaks lost Clinton the election because of Russia, while still never acknowledging the truths the leaks reveal, is Kafkaesque. But still, the disgusting #NeverTrump Washington media has continued to echo the lie that the DNC was hacked, and this despite the fact that the organization refused to give the FBI permission to examine their email system in order to confirm it. As we have said early and often, this entire Russia-Trump-collusion-hacking-steal the election narrative is a massive hoax committed against the American people by the Washington establishment and Deep State. This latest report by Fox News which, frankly, should be the No. 1 story of the day if not the entire election proves that the Russians are being blamed for something Moscow did not do. (RELATED: Bombshell: Murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich leaked thousands of emails to WikiLeaks) This isnt to say that the Kremlin has not attempted to interfere in U.S. elections; Russias been trying to do that since the days of the Cold War (and vice versa for the United States). But to blame them for something that they obviously did not do is irresponsible and conspiratorial. Democrats and Deep State operatives have been claiming that Russia was trying to undermine confidence in our electoral system. The truth is, the Democratic Party is trying to do that. People should be going to jail for this. Stay up to date on whats real and what isnt at Rigged.news and Hoax.news. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources: FoxNews.com NaturalNews.com TheNationalSentinel.com DailyMail.co.uk RedState.com (Natural News) It would seem that Swedens Parliament truly cares about doing what is best for its people. Rather than bowing to pressure by pharmaceutical companies or the scare-tactics of the mainstream media, the Swedish government recently adopted a decision to refuse to enforce the compulsory or mandatory vaccination of its citizens. Such a mandate, they noted, would violate the countrys Constitution. Other factors also influenced the decision. For one thing, many people had called politicians or the Parliament directly to express their outrage at the concept of forced vaccinations. The text of one of the motions related to the decision noted that Parliamentary politicians had observed massive resistance to all forms of coercion with regard to vaccination. The politicians also cited data from NHF Sweden which revealed frequent and serious adverse reactions to the MMR vaccine, and noted that such reactions are warned about in the vaccine package inserts. The politicians noted that since children would be expected to receive two doses of this vaccination, these considerable risks would be doubled. They also stressed that such risks were not limited to the MMR vaccine, but that other vaccines caused similar adverse reactions. The Parliamentarians also referenced the additives found in these vaccines, which in their words, are not health food and certainly [do] not belong in babies or children. And how right they are! Natural News previously reported on some of these unhealthy and downright disgusting ingredients: Bovine cow serum Sorbitol Gelatin Sodium chloride Thimerosal Human albumin Other nasty ingredients like formaldehyde (yep, thats embalming fluid), aluminum phosphate and MSG not to mention fibroblast cells from aborted human fetuses, and African Green Monkey kidney cells! But we need vaccinations or well all die of diseases like measles, right? All those unvaccinated people are putting the herd immunity of the community as a whole at risk, arent they? Well, in researching this article I found two very interesting sources of information from the mainstream media, which when looked at collectively, provide some real insight into the way our thinking is being manipulated on this issue. Lets first consider an article by NBC News entitled 7 Vaccine Myths Debunked by Doctors. One of the myths they supposedly debunk is the idea that more people die from the vaccine than from measles. They claim that while measles kills 140,000 people around the world each year, only 57 claims of death from the measles vaccine have ever been filed with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Now, its interesting to note that this article looks at deaths worldwide, but only cites vaccine death rates for the United States, where the VICP was established in 1986. Lets move on to the second article talking about the evils of measles. This article by Very Well actually does give the number of people who died from measles in the U.S.A. The article only gives figures as far back as 2000, but angrily proclaims that there have been 11 measles deaths since that year. So, the one article tells us that 57 measles vaccine death claims have been filed with VICP (presumably since 1986), while the other tells us that a grand total of 11 people died from the disease itself between 2000 and 2015. Even if we were to double that number to account for the years between 1986 and 2000 (taking it from 11 to 22), that would still mean that more than twice as many people died from the measles vaccine than from actual measles! And yet Big Pharma and the self-righteous mainstream media continue to bully us into vaccinating our children for the greater good! Fortunately, more and more people are becoming informed about the very real dangers of vaccination, and are weighing those dangers against the comparatively smaller risks associated with contracting diseases like measles. And, hopefully other countries will follow Swedens example and refuse to force their citizens to vaccinate their children. Follow more news on health freedom at HealthFreedom.news. Sources: ActivistPost.com VeryWell.com NBCNews.com NaturalNews.com Not her fault for openly advocating for the violent, humiliating and torturous deaths of US citizens for the crime of talking about corruption. So it was THEIR fault that people were angry with her for calling for the lynching of people whose loved ones, or who themselves, had been harmed by vaccines. Specifically for one of their members who was the individual addressing the Somali families at the event in question. Ms. Cohen declined the invitation. Her reasoning? That she had received angry and harassing messages from the public for calling for the deaths of vaccine injury parents, and that it was Health Choice MAs fault. Health Choice Massachusetts, of which Boston resident Mark Blaxill is a member, formally reached out to Ms. Cohen and requested a meeting, so that the upsetting and incorrect column could be addressed properly. These are the facts: Vaccines dont cause autism. Measles can kill. And lying to vulnerable people about the health and safety of their children ought to be a hanging offense. Editorial: Preying on parents fear, Boston Herald editorial staff Monday, May 08, 2017 ( Natural News ) Last week in the Boston Herald, Rachelle Cohen wrote about the presentation on vaccine information by Mark Blaxill and the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota given to the Minneapolis Somali community, errantly reporting that they had given false information to those in attendance, and expressing her opinion that they should be killed for holding the event. Because apparently a large percentage of the public would have been just fine with Ms. Cohen targeting them for assassination, if only Health Choice MA had not organized a protest of said shout out for mass termination? I guess?Health Choice Massachusetts has allowed me to share their exchange with her here: Cohen to hundreds of thousands of innocent people: You should be killed. Angry people who dont want to be killed: No, YOU should be killed. Cohen: How DARE you say that to me! HATERS! Emphasizing again this woman is a newspaper editor. I dont even allow this kind of behavior in the comments on my facebook page, but she is making plublic calls for mass murder of disability parents in the name of a newspaper. Also congratulations to Health Choice Massachusetts for being so powerful that they can control the entire publics reaction to Ms. Cohens plea to extinguish the lives of vaccine injury moms and dads. Who knew they had so much influence! I must know the secret of their mind control. Dear Ms. Cohen, It is not ok for you to call for the murder of people for saying things you dont want to hear. Also, humans have this thing called, The Will To Live, and when their lives are threatened, they tend to display this knee jerk reaction to hate the people who are calling for their murder, and do a thing called, fighting back. Look up the phrase, self-defense, if you want to learn more. And here is the thing either your call for their extermination is morally acceptable, in which case their calls for you to die are in bounds as well; or their calls for your demise are both morally reprehensible and wrong, which means your call for their slaughter was evil, and you owe thousands of families in the country an apology and a retraction. Please consider picking a moral standard, sticking to it, and taking responsibility for your words and actions. Sincerely, Ginger Taylor An autism mother whose public execution you have prescribed Of course there is an irony in all this. We aint the ones who are lying. From where we sit, we know that when Cohen states that, lying to vulnerable people about the health and safety of their children ought to be a hanging offense, she is actually condemning Offit, DeStefano, Boyle, Yeargen-Alsopp, Thorsen, Verstraeten and Gerberging to death. Their decades of lies and deceit and corruption and fraud have decimated child health in our country. And beyond. God sees it all. He is the judge. A reminder that a peaceful protest against the Boston Herald, by the people whom the newspaper wants to swing from the gallows, will be held on Thursday, May 18th, at 11am, at 70 Fargo St, Boston, MA. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1941790046105098/ Read more at: AgeOfAutism.com (Natural News) Man-made climate change has become a quintessential symbol of hot-button American politics the divide-and-conquer issue of our day that never fails to rile up folks on both sides of the debate. But when the argument over whether or not its actually a serious problem deteriorates into calls for those on the opposing side to commit suicide, which is what Democratic congressional contender Rob Quist from Montana recently did during a televised debate, thats when you know things have gone a bit too far. Hoping to fill the vacated congressional seat left behind by now-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Quist says his campaign platform embodies the values of rural Montana, which has already been a hard sell due to word getting out about his unusual side gig as a musical entertainer at Montanas elderly nudist resorts. But his recent statements about what skeptics of man-made climate change should do to themselves to support his cause is likely to put the final nail in his political coffin. During the recent Montana House Debate in a segment dealing with clean power and climate change, Quist didnt beat around the bush about his personal beliefs on the subject. Speaking about the shuttering of fossil fuel energy plants that he says are contributing to global warming, Quist laid out his globalist position on how energy production needs to be forcibly transitioned to clean technologies, even if not everyone is supportive of it. This is something that the entire world needs to address, Quist quipped during the live debate, a short clip of which has since been posted to YouTube. If any of those of you that feel like this is not a problem, I challenge you to go into your car in your garage, start your car, and see what happens there. Quist doesnt even know the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide The inference here is that, if you dont agree with Quist and has fascist acolytes on their dogmatic positions pertaining to climate change issues, then you should just burrow up in your car and die from carbon monoxide fumes. Pretty classy, right? Such an extreme view might be accepted at an Antifa rally in San Francisco, but its hardly the type of thing that rural Montanans are likely to vote into political office. Whats perhaps even more concerning about Quists views is that he apparently doesnt even know the difference between carbon monoxide, which is whats emitted from car exhaust, and carbon dioxide, the natural gas substance that climate change fanatics insist is destroying the planet. It must be the word carbon that triggered Quist into correlating the two, or perhaps Quist is under the impression that carbon monoxide, which is generally known to be deadly to humans, is the same thing as carbon dioxide, which our planet needs to live. While its amazing that anyone could support someone like Quist, the good news is that hes hardly leading in the polls. The latest data released by Emerson University back in late April shows that fellow contender Greg Gianforte, a Republican, is leading Quest by at least 15 percentage points, suggesting that he has no chance of taking office. [C]arbon dioxide is essential to life on earth, points out Onan Coca for Constitution.com. In fact, the more carbon dioxide, the healthier our planet becomes and while yes, it could technically warm the earth that warming could actually solve more problems for our planet than it creates. (RELATED: Man-made climate change is a HOAX. Learn more at ClimateScienceNews.com) Sources: LidBlog.com Constitution.com Tom Seaton, of Sun Prairie, Wis., holds his mothers old camera while his modern photography equipment sits behind him. (Photo provided) Wisconsin photographer gets second shot at eclipse by Tim Crosby CARBONDALE, Ill. The great eclipse this summer means many things to many people. For Tom Seaton, it will be a chance to right an old wrong and achieve a goal long delayed by time and circumstance. Seaton, a long-time telecommunications professional from Wisconsin, plans to be at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Aug. 21 when a total solar eclipse sweeps through the area, potentially bringing 50,000 people with it. Seaton will come well stocked with photography equipment and plans to take many pictures as the event unfolds. Seaton, 52, was just a young teenager in 1979 when a major solar eclipse visible in the United States provided his first chance to document such an event. He had become deeply interested in space and astronomy a few years before, in the sixth grade, when a science teacher turned him on to the wonders of the sky and beyond. I had the best science teacher. Ever, Seaton recalled. He really made science fun. He was the person who introduced me to the upcoming solar eclipse, which was just three years away then. Unfortunately I was in a different school by the time it rolled around, but still had the knowledge he taught me and that is why I decided to photograph the 1979 eclipse. So with a camera loaned to him by his mother, Seaton set out for his junior high school in Elm Grove, Wis., that February day. He had spent his entire allowance on a solar filter and film a necessary item in those pre-digital photography days. Seaton was determined, and he had done the leg work, securing permission from the school to spend the day outside in return for a photo for the school newspaper. Hed carefully set up his equipment in the park next to the school. His activities drew a crowd, and he began explaining to different groups of people what he was trying to accomplish. The eclipse began and Seaton snapped away, capturing honest images of one of our solar systems most transcendent moments. And then, disaster. Someone tripped on my tripod, Seaton said. Like slow motion, I watched the camera fall to the ground. I didn't realize it at the time, but a couple days later, after developing, I found the film was ruined. Not a single picture turned out, none. I ended up with no pictures of the eclipse. Devastated, but buoyed by his interest in photography winning him a spot on the school news team, Seaton tucked his disappointment away and went on to a long career in telecommunications, a camera never far from his reach. I have always been a photographer on the side, and everyone knows me as the guy with the camera, Seaton said. I have had the pleasure of documenting many exciting events over the years, including a Super Bowl and many concerts and music festivals, along with somber times like the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Often he would travel to remote places with little nighttime light pollution, where the stars and planets shine forth like nowhere else on Earth. Being out in dark, remote locations all night long, it gives the eyes time to really adjust to night vision and looking up with either naked eye or using binoculars is great, he said. Having a telescope may make the view closer, but not always better because of the time and effort of the extra stuff, with limited field of view. Now living in Sun Prairie, Wis., near his octogenarian parents, the tug of space and the wonders of the universe have stayed with him all along. I am fascinated by the vastness of space, the thought that Earth is not alone, Seaton said. The beauty of the stars is amazing. Just looking up at night, seeing all the different formations, colors and being able to see something new every time. Other eclipses have come and gone, some being just partial and others happening too far away for Seaton to go. But upon learning of the upcoming total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, with its point of longest duration near SIU, Seaton became determined to accomplish what fate and a strangers errant foot had prevented all those years ago. First off, I am glad that I am getting the chance to re-live that exciting point in time: I am going to view a full solar eclipse, at a school surrounded by crowds of people, Seaton said. Part of watching an eclipse is seeing the reactions of others. It would not be the same to be standing alone in some remote location. This time it is nearby and I have even more anticipation, more knowledge and more equipment, he said. As the time grows near at getting a second chance to catch the eclipse, Ive had time to plan ahead. And hes learned a few things in the 38 years since that fateful day in 1979. I am going to take more precautions to keep my cameras safe. I plan on using a minimum of two cameras, perhaps more, he said. I'd like two just for the eclipse and one more to document the atmosphere with the reactions of the people around me. Seaton said he specifically chose to come to SIU for the event for several reasons. Its a school, its in the path of totality and its close enough to travel to easily, he said. He also will be helping with a project called MegaMovie Photo Team, a project put together by Google and others, which will use the work of 1,000 or so amateur photographers to create a movie of the eclipse. Seaton said hes glad his mother, who loaned him the camera in 1979, is still here to witness his excitement. Much of the equipment he plans to bring will be modern, high-tech cameras and lenses, but not all of it. During my recent move, I came across the original camera I used in 1979. It had since been repaired and will be coming with me. Hopefully I can find a roll of film for it. This would be Jaitley's first visit to the state after he took over the additional charge from Manohar Parrikar. The Defence Minister advanced his visit by a day since he was otherwise scheduled to chair the two-day long Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meeting beginning here on Thursday. During his visit to the LoC, Jaitley would meet the field commanders. He will be briefed on the overall preparedness of the army to meet challenges of ceasefire violations by Pakistan and the heightened risk of infiltration as the snow starts to thaw on the mountains. Sources here said the ongoing students' unrest fanning separatist sentiments in the valley would also remain in focus. "The impact of an unrest on the overall security situation cannot be wished away. Therefore, the visit will also focus on ways and means to help the civil administration bring the situation under control," a top official told IANS. --IANS sq/in/mr ( 203 Words) 2017-05-17-08:42:09 (IANS) The two men, Hassan Khanzada and Syed Munir Shah, were at a market when they were picked up by NDS members and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassy's official vehicle, Dawn online reported. Khanzada serves as a visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah is a staff driver. The embassy approached the Afghan Foreign Ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, reports Dawn online. On Wednesday, Afghan deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams was summoned to the Foreign Office over the detention of the embassy staffers. "The Afghan deputy head of mission was summoned to the Foreign Office today to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the incident in which two diplomatic officials in Kabul were detained, reportedly by Afghan security agencies," the Foreign Office said. Pakistan accused Afghanistan of violating Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961). "It was emphasised that such incidents undermined the constructive engagement which the two countries envisaged for strengthening of bilateral ties," it said. --IANS ksk/vm ( 219 Words) 2017-05-18-11:18:15 (IANS) Hassan Khanzada and Syed Munir Shah were at a Kabul market on Wednesday when they were picked up by members of the National Directorate of Security, the intelligence agency of Afghanistan, media reports said. They were taken to a detention centre along with the embassy's official vehicle, Dawn reported. Khanzada, a visa assistant at the embassy, was "manhandled", it said. Shah is a staff driver at the embassy. The Pakistan embassy approached the Afghan Foreign Ministry and sought their immediate release. On Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign Office summoned the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission, Zardasht Shams, and lodged a protest over the incident. Dawn said the incident had dealt another blow to the already fraught ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The incident took place amid efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Islamabad and Kabul in the aftermath of border clashes in which about a dozen lives were lost. Dawn said there were serious concerns about the safety and security of Pakistani diplomats and embassy staff in Kabul. --IANS mr-ksk/ ( 211 Words) 2017-05-18-14:34:11 (IANS) The executed terrorists were involved in killing innocent civilians, destruction of communication infrastructure and educational institutes. They had also attacked armed forces personnel and law enforcement agencies, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The terrorists were members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). On Wednesday too, four TTP terrorists convicted by military courts were hanged in a jail in KP. --IANS nikhil/rn ( 90 Words) 2017-05-18-14:44:10 (IANS) Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, reading out the court verdict also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. India on Monday had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. --IANS hs/rn ( 104 Words) 2017-05-18-16:00:16 (IANS) The head of Pakistan's delegation at the International Court of Justice on Thursday termed its order staying the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "basic ruling" and said the UN court had not mentioned anything about maintainability of the order. Asked by reporters outside the ICJ if Pakistan will stay Jadhav's execution as ordered by the court, Moazzam Ahmad Khan initially did not reply. He then said that the ruling was "basic". He did not comment on the merits of the case. "This is a very basic judgment. What the court has done is that it has given a ruling on provisional measures," Khan told reporters. "It did not say anything on the merit of maintainability of the order," he said. In major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav till a final decision is taken. Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. India had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, held at an unknown prison in Pakist --IANS ao/rn ( 258 Words) 2017-05-18-17:04:11 (IANS) Pakistan on Monday said it was determined to take to its "logical end" the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav whose death sentencing was put on hold by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Indicating that it would abide by the world court's order on "provisional measures", staying the execution of Jadhav, Pakistan Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's office said the interim order had "no bearing, whatsoever, on the final decision" of the ICJ. "The ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case," the statement said. It said the provisional measures were "a procedural process" that would "enable the court to have full consideration at a later hearing". "(The) decision has not changed the status of Jadhav's case in any manner. We are confident that India would not be able to hide the subversive activities it is trying to carry out through its agents like Jadhav...India has no substance in the case," the statement said. India on May 8 sought the international court's intervention to annul the death sentence given by a Pakistan military court to Jadhav who Islamabad says was arrested in Balochistan on charges of spying, sabotage and terrorism. New Delhi maintains that Jadhav was abducted from Iran and taken to Balochistan. The army court had sentenced him to death on a "confessional" statement he had made in military custody. Pakistan has been accused of violating the Vienna Convention by denying consular access to Jadhav and pronouncing him guilty of espionage in a "farcical trial". --IANS sar/rn ( 298 Words) 2017-05-18-18:06:13 (IANS) In his weekly press briefing, hours after the ICJ asked Islamabad not to execute Jadhav till a final order is passed, Zakaria said the international court does not reserve any jurisdiction to hear a case that involves the national stability of Pakistan. In response to a question, he also termed India's move requiring the Advisor on Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Sartaj Aziz to write a recommendatory letter to Indian External Affairs Minister for every medical visa case as "unprecedented in inter-state relations". The spokesperson said Aziz has written to the UN inviting its attention towards the "demographic changes" being engineered by India in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. He said the human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir is deteriorating. Zakaria said that India as the "fastest growing nuclear programme in the world" has serious implications for strategic stability in South Asia and the national security of Pakistan, reported Dunya news. --IANS rn/bg ( 199 Words) 2017-05-18-18:38:10 (IANS) In a diplomatic and legal victory for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, dismissing Pakistan's contention that it had no jurisdiction to go into the matter. In a unanimous and binding decision, the UN's top court said the status quo should be maintained pending final decision to be taken in the case that has brought ties between the two rival neighbours to a new low. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said, reading out the order in the open court. "The court also decides that until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order," said the court which consists of 10 judges, including Justice Dalveer Bhandari of India, besides President Abraham. Jadhav was allegedly arrested from Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016. Pakistan claimed that the former Indian Navy officer confessed in a video that he was involved in spying and terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rejected by India. He was convicted in April by a Pakistani military court and sentenced to death. India has maintained that Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he was pursuing his business, and passed off as a spy. India approached the international court on May 8 against Pakistan, accusing it of violating the Vienna Convention as Islamabad had rejected 16 requests by New Delhi seeking consular access. Pakistan was also accused of denying Jadhav a fair trial in violation of international human rights laws. In a declaration appended to the judgment, Justice Bhandari concurred with the court on its interim order, saying: "...this is a case in which it regrettably appears, on a preliminary examination of the facts, that the basic human rights of Jadhav have been violated by not allowing India to have consular access to him after his arrest and during the pendency of the criminal proceedings against him in Pakistan." The decision brought relief to India, with the Ministry of External Affairs calling the ruling "unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous". But Pakistan said it did not accept the UN court's jurisdiction in matters related to its national security. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the ruling. She said the court order was "a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India". "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav," she said in tweets. Modi backed the Minister's statement, retweeting Sushma Swaraj's tweet from his personal account. Foreign Affairs Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz, said the ICJ did not order Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav but has merely put forward an opinion. He said a decision to provide consular access to Jadhav is yet to be made. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria hit out at India for "trying to hide its real face" by taking the Jadhav case to the world court. However, Pakistan Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's office in a statement indicated it would abide by the court's ruling while saying the interim order had "no bearing, whatsoever, on the final decision" related to the case. "The ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case." The statement said Pakistan would take the case to the "logical end" and that India had no substance in the case. In the two-page order, Justice Abraham also dismissed Pakistan's contention that the court had no jurisdiction over the case. It said Pakistan's alleged failure to provide consular access to Jadhav appeared to be falling within the scope of the Vienna Convention. "In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under article I of the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral agreement between the parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction," it said. Justice Abraham said Pakistan had also failed to give any assurance that Jadhav would not be executed before the court delivered its final decision. "The mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. In those circumstances, the court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case." --IANS sar/vsc/rn ( 825 Words) 2017-05-18-20:22:10 (IANS) "Haryana has started releasing water. Production likely to be normal by tommorow (Thursday) morning and distribution by tomorrow (Thursday) evening. We are constantly monitoring the situation," Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday. Water supply in the national capital was hit after Haryana on Monday evening reduced water supply to the city. On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government asked Delhi's Lt. Governor Anil Baijal to request Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to intervene on the water-release issue. The national capital faces shortage of water every summer and engages in a tussle with Haryana. --IANS aks/pgh/dg ( 133 Words) 2017-05-17-22:24:18 (IANS) Blaming Microsoft for not providing free custom support to its customers who were using old Windows software that may have slowed down "WannaCrypt" attack, a media report has said the tech giant charged a fortune for the custom support for older versions, including Windows XP that was discontinued in 2014. According to a report in Financial Times on Thursday, issuing a free custom support would have protected the computers from the ransomware attack. "But users of older software, such as Windows XP, have to pay hefty fees for so-called 'custom' support. The cost went from $200 per device in 2014, when regular support for XP ended, to $400 the following year. It jumped to $1,000 after that," the report said. While Microsoft offered deals for government agencies during the first year after the support for Windows XP was over, it charged the customers, including Britain's National Health Service (NHS), for the custom support. NHS, however, abandoned the custom support for unknown reasons in 2015 which exposed it to last week's ransomeware attack. Microsoft, however, immediately issued a "free" patch for old software, including Windows XP, on Friday midnight when the ransomware attack began spreading. According to the report, "the high price highlights the quandary the world's biggest software company faces as it tries to force customers to move to newer and more secure software, while at the same time earning a profit from the army of engineers it employs on security issues". The vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows software -- exploited by "WannaCrypt" -- crippled computers across 150 countries, with hackers demanding hundreds of dollars from the users for them to regain control over their data. Microsoft has now provided security updates for all customers using Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003, anticipating further attacks on these earlier platforms being used by millions. According to the company, "customers who are running supported versions of the operating system (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016) will have received the security update MS17-010 in March. "If customers have automatic updates enabled or have installed the update, they are protected. For other customers, we encourage them to install the update as soon as possible," said Phillip Misner, Principal Security Group Manager, Microsoft Security Response Centre. --IANS sku/na/mr ( 402 Words) 2017-05-18-12:52:13 (IANS) Automobile manufacturer General Motors India on Thursday said it will cease domestic sales by the end of 2017 and thereafter only focus on exporting its products from India. According to the company, it will cease domestic sales on December 31, 2017. It will, however, continue to manufacture vehicles at its Talegaon plant, in Maharashtra, which will be exported. The automobile manufacturer said the decision to cease domestic sales follows a comprehensive review of future product plans for GM India, and is part of a series of actions taken by the company to address the performance of its worldwide operations. "We explored many options, but determined the increased investment originally planned for India would not deliver the returns of other significant global opportunities," said Stefan Jacoby, GM's Executive Vice President and President of GM International. "It would also not help us achieve a leadership position or compelling, long-term profitability in the domestic market. Difficult as it has been to reach this decision, it is the right outcome to support our global strategy and deliver appropriate returns for our shareholders." Kaher Kazem, GM India President and Managing Director said the focus for the GM India manufacturing base at Talegaon will be export markets. "GM India's export business has tripled over the past year," Kazem said. "Exports will remain our focus going forward as we continue to leverage India's strong supply base. We recently launched the new Chevrolet Beat hatchback for export to Mexico and Central and South American markets and will launch the Chevrolet Beat sedan later this year for those markets." Last year, the automobile manufacturer had said that it will increase exports to 50,000 units in 2016 from 21,000 Chevrolet vehicles which were shipped out during the previous year to 40 countries. GM India exports the left-hand drive Beat to countries including Mexico, Chile, Peru, Central American and Caribbean Countries (CAC), Uruguay and Argentina. The company said its customer support centre will remain open and all warranties and service agreements, as well as ongoing service and parts requirements for all vehicles, will continue to be honoured. "We will support our affected customers, employees, dealers and suppliers. Chevrolet owners can be assured that we will continue to honour all warranties and provide comprehensive aftersales support," Kazem said. The company added that GM Technical Centre-India (GMTC-I) in Bengaluru will not be impacted by this announcement. It houses the design studio and the engineering centre. GM India started its Indian journey in 1996 and currently offers products under the Chevrolet brand in the country. Its flagship brand, Chevrolet, was introduced in India in 2003. Chevrolet portfolio in India includes Beat and Cruze. The following is the time line of the company's activities in India -- Founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Gurgaon -- Began production at its Halol, Gujarat, facility in 1996 -- Introduced the Chevrolet brand in 2003 -- Opened the GMTC-I in 2003 -- Began production at its Talegaon facility, in Maharashtra, in 2008 -- Began exports of the Chevrolet Beat to Chile in 2014 --IANS rv/dg ( 516 Words) 2017-05-18-18:32:10 (IANS) Priyanka on Thursday shared the sketch on Instagram and captioned it: "Thank you Ralph Lauren Kimball, Andreas, and everyone on the RL team. This original sketch is such an awesome memory!" The "Bajirao Mastani" actress also shared a photograph of a note which reads: "Dear Priyanka, Than you for representing Ralph Lauren so beautifully at the Met Gala. We were honoured to have you as our guest...Looking forward to the next opportunity." The 34-year-old sported a khaki-coloured trench coat gown with a 20 feet long train at the Met Gala 2017 in New York. Priyanka chose a customised Ralph Lauren for her debut at the fashion fiesta Met Gala, where even actress Deepika Padukone walked the red carpet in a Tommy Hilfiger creation. On the silver screen, Priyanka will be seen in the Hollywood film "Baywatch". The film, which is adapted by the popular 1990's TV series of the same name, also stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. --IANS dc/nv/vm ( 200 Words) 2017-05-18-11:16:10 (IANS) "'Sarkar 3' a film that has arrived and made me rise to my art. It did border disappointment to many cinegoers nevertheless it gathered appreciation for the skilled craft in a few segments," Amit tweeted on Wednesday night. The actor, who played Shivaji Nagre in the Ram Gopal Varma's directorial, understands that happiness and sadness work in tandem. "I feel the parallels of life; happiness and sadness work in tandem. I humbly hold gratitude for the tireless effort of all those who put this film through, from its inception and till after, to even today, to make it happen," he added. The 33-year-old actor says he can "only strive to better my stride and walk ahead. Thank you for the love and appreciation." "Sarkar 3" is a political crime thriller film. This is the third installment of the "Sarkar" franchise which stars megastar Amitabh Bachchan again in the lead role along with Ronit Roy, Jackie Shroff, Manoj Bajpayee and Yami Gautam. --IANS dc/nv/vm ( 203 Words) 2017-05-18-11:18:11 (IANS) The 'Concussion' star addressed one of the most burning topics of this year - Netflix's place at the world's most prestigious film festival. As reported by People Magazine, the 48-year-old-actor spoke out in support of the online streaming giant and shared that Netflix brings a great connectivity. He noted, "In my house, Netflix has been nothing but an absolute benefit," he said, according to ABC News. "[My children] get to see films they absolutely wouldn't have seen. Netflix brings a great connectivity. There are movies that are not on a screen within 8,000 miles of them. They get to find those artists." For the unversed, the organisers were forced to change their rules after the streaming giant refused to screen its two films in the running for this year's Palme d'Or top prize in French cinemas. For the first time, Cannes has selected two Netflix releases - Bong Joon-ho's 'Okja' and Noah Baumbach's 'The Meyerowitz Stories' - for its Palme d'Or competition. The 'Suicide Squad' star looked dashing in a black tux. On a related note, Will Smith, also joked about his hometown to a group of festival goers saying, "West Philadelphia is a long way from Cannes." (ANI) During her life span of 59 years, Lagoo proved her acting skills on stage, big and small screens, portraying every possible shade of a character. Born as Nayan Bhadbhade in 1958, Lagoo inherited her acting skills from her mother Mandakini Bhadbhade, a famous Marathi stage artist. Like her mother, Reema also forayed into Marathi theater and remained a part of it for almost four decades. Starting her acting career with Marathi film 'Simhasan' in 1979, she shot into national prominence with Hindi serials 'Shriman Shrimati' and 'Tu Tu Main Main.' Soon Lagoo became household name, after her Kokiji character from 'Shriman Shrimati' serial. Her role as Juhi Chawla's mother in the 1988 iconic Hindi movie 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' got her accolades. Salman Khan's mother's role in blockbuster 'Maine Pyar Kiya' in 1999 established Reema as favourite choice of producers and directors for the 'mother character'. Lagoo portrayed memorable mothers in movies like 'Aashiqui,' 'Saajan,' 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun,' 'Rangeela,' 'Vaastav: The Reality,' 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,' 'Kal Ho Naa Ho' and 'Hum Saath-Saath Hain.' Reema also played a controversial role in Aruna Raje's 'Rihaee' in 1988, a dancer in 1980-flick 'Aakrosh' and a cold-hearted businesswoman in 'Yeh Dillagi' in 1994. Presently, she was portraying an antagonist in daily soap 'Namkaran,' named Dayawanti Mehta, which brought a completely different side of her acting prowess before the world. Reema married actor Vivek Lagoo, but they broke up a few years later. Their daughter Mrunmayee also chose to follow her parents' footstep and is now a stage and film actress. She may have left for her heavenly abode, but her presence in the reel world will keep her alive! (ANI) Dubbing it as a "misrepresentation" of facts, the Chief Minister dismissed the reports of joining the BJP. He further said that though he wanted to launch his own party due to differences with the Congress leadership, the thought of joining the BJP never crossed his mind. Captain Amarinder, who led the Congress to victory in Punjab Assembly polls after a decade, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister on March 16.(ANI) The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry jointly with the World Bank Group organised the workshop at the Pragna Bhavan. Various issues related to ease of business and investment, including single window system, successful implementation of reforms, commercial dispute resolution enablers and paper less courts, were discussed. Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2017 for implementation by the states and the union territories was also released during the workshop. The BRAP includes 405 recommendations for reforms on regulatory processes, policies, practices and procedures spread across 12 reform areas and include two new sectors - healthcare and hospitality. The objective of the action plan is targeted at increasing transparency and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of various government regulatory functions and services for business in India. During the workshop, representatives from government of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand made presentation on successful implementation of reforms.(ANI) The day is regarded by Sri Lankan Tamils as a remembrance for those, who died in the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Earlier in March, Rajini called off his proposed visit to Sri Lanka to inaugurate a housing scheme following opposition from Tamil fringe groups. "VCK chief Thirumavalavan and MDMK chief Vaiko urged me not to visit Sri Lanka. I accepted their request because of cordial relationship," Rajinikanth said. The decision came after he met with opposition from pro-Tamil outfits in his state. Rajinikanth was to participate in a charity event, slated to take place on April 9. He was scheduled to formally present keys to 150 homes built by Gnanam Foundation for the internally displaced Tamils in the island nation. However, the visit was opposed by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Marumarlarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK). Gnanam Foundation has been focussing on re-building infrastructure in the key areas of Sri Lanka, which were badly affected in the civil war that took place around three decades ago. (ANI) The members also condoled the death of former Grama Rakhi of Odisha Police Jagarao Gomparay who has laid down his life in the service of the state. Moving the obituary reference to mourn the deaths, leader of the House Naveen Patnaik expressed his pro found grief over the deaths and requested the Speaker to convey the sympathies of the house to the bereaved family members. Later Speaker P K Amat, leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra and BJP legislature party leader K V Singh Deo joined the leader of the house in condoling the death of the former members and the Gram Rakhi and expressed their deep sorrow over the deaths. The House observed one minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls. UNI BD-DP AKM 1356 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-898608.Xml Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, a committed environmentalist who had worked on green projects including conservation of the Narmada river, died here on Thursday morning following cardiac arrest. He was 61 and was a bachelor. Meena Agarwal, the wife of Dave's family physician Bharat Agarwal, told IANS that his family tried to wake him up in the morning but he appeared unconscious. He was rushed to the AIIMS at 9 a.m. "in a stage of cardiac arrest", a hospital statement said. "All possible measures were taken immediately at AIIMS, but he could not survive and (was) declared dead around 9.45 a.m.," the AIIMS statement said. Dave hailed from Madhya Pradesh where he had done a stint as Minister of Environment. He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on July 6, 2016 as Minister of State for Environment with independent charge. He had worked on conservation projects including of the Narmada river and founded "Narmada Samagra" for the purpose. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in mourning the loss of Dave whom he had met only on Wednesday evening. They expressed shock over the sudden death. "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend and a very respected colleague, Daveji. My condolences," Modi said in a condolence message. The Prime Minister said Dave would be remembered as a "devoted public servant who "was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment". "I was with Daveji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," Modi said. One of those who attended that meeting recalled that Dave was looking "pale and weak but sat through the long meeting with the Prime Minister". Mukherjee said Dave's tenure as the minister was "distinguished by extensive efforts to conserve nature and protect environment". BJP President Amit Shah, senior leader L. K. Advani, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and a host of ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu, condoled Dave's death. They hailed him as a committed environmentalist. Congress President Sonia Gandhi said Dave would be remembered for his humble personality. Dave had not been well since January when he was diagnosed with pneumonia and had been feeling "badly weak" in the past few days, family sources said. Dave, who began his political career during his college days in his home state of Madhya Pradesh, was a Rajya Sabha member since 2009. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh after completing his post-graduation in commerce from Gujarati College in Indore. His father Dadasaheb Dave had been a long time RSS activist. The government announced national mourning and "as a mark of respect" in his memory the National Flag will fly at half-mast across the country. His portfolio has been given to Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan as additional charge. --IANS sar-vsc/bg ( 486 Words) 2017-05-18-14:54:10 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad today expressed his heartfelt condolences at the sudden demise of Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave."Shri Anil Madhav Dave was an able fellow Parliamentarian and a popular leader. I remember him as a very soft spoken and honest person. He was an accomplished writer both in Hindi and English language," said Mr Azad in his condolence message.Mr Azad also prayed to the Almighty to give strength and courage to the near and dear ones of Dave in this moment of grief and also prayed that his departed soul may rest in peace.UNI AR AE 1413 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-898612.Xml Nagaland BJP president Visasolie Lhoungu has asked the party workers in Mon district to have faith in the BJP's integrity and promise of rapid development and prosperity and support the party's efforts. According to a party release today, addressing the 5th BJP Mon district executive meeting on Tusday at Mon town, Lhoungu said "The people should not be deterred by false accusers and rumour mongers who want to slime the secular image of the party so that they could continue to be corrupt and deny development to the people." The BJP chief stated that the people should update on what the Prime Minister is doing for the nation and "how much concern the BJP government has for the people of the North East who had been ignored totally by the previous governments." With the State election round the corner, Lhoungu also asked every party worker to work hard and ensure the party's victory. BJP Mon district president Nyawang Wangsha in his address highlighted the activities of the Mon district party workers since the last meeting and the challenges that lie ahead for the party. He lamented the poor infrastructure of the district and expressed happiness of the presence of State leaders to experience the deplorable conditions and assist the district by addressing the matter to the Central authorities, informed the release. UNI AS AKM 1531 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-898792.Xml Nagaland Chief Minister Dr Shrhozelie Liezietsu, accompanied by MP Rajya Sabha K G Kenye called on Union Minister of State (IC) for Tourism and Cultural Ministry Dr Mahesh Sharma yesterday. According to official sources, during the meeting Dr Shurhozelie raised the issue of shortage of accommodation facilities for tourists in the State and considering the growing global popularity of the annual Hornbill Festival and the increasing number of tourists every year to the State and asked the Union Minister to assist the State. Dr Sharma, acknowledging the points and necessities stated by the Chief Minister and assured all assistance as requested to make Nagaland a tourist destination throughout the year and not only during Hornbill Festival, the release said. UNI AS AKM 1548 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-898828.Xml ABC/Tim OgierThree of Nickelback's biggest albums are receiving the vinyl treatment. 2001's Silver Side Up, 2003's The Long Road and 2005's All the Right Reasons will be reissued as 140-gram records on July 7. Guitarist Ryan Peake, a self-described "vinyl collector," is "elated" that the albums are coming to vinyl. "Each of these albums were pivotal for us in so many different ways and to be able to share them in this format, with our supporters, is humbling," Peake says in statement. The vinyl reissues will arrive a few weeks after Nickelback's new album, Feed the Machine, is released on June 16. They'll kick off a North America tour in support of the album on June 23 in Noblesville, Indiana. Meanwhile, Nickelback has revealed the track list for Feed the Machine. While the album was originally supposed to contain 10 tracks, it now has 11, including the singles "Feed the Machine" and "Song on Fire." Here's the track list: "Feed the Machine" "Coin for the Ferryman" "Song on Fire" "Must Be Nice" "After the Rain" "For the River" "Home" "The Betrayal (Act III)" "Silent Majority" "Every Time We're Together" "The Betrayal (Act I)" Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Congress today welcomed the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), staying the execution of former Indian Naval official Kulbhushan Jadhav and called on the United Nations and the international community to put pressure on Pakistan to respect the verdict.Talking to reporters here, AICC senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said, ''We are relieved that the International Court of Justice has taken a correct decision in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav. Pakistan has been indulging in a brazen violation of the Vienna Convention and we do hope that it will take the correct lesson and will not remain intransigent and disrespectful of the ICJ.''''It is also important that the international community and the United Nations bring enough pressure on Pakistan to respect this judgement/interim order. There is no reason to deny consular access in the first place and also take this case to the military court. That's what the Central Government must firmly convey.''Reacting to the order, AICC spokesperson and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said, ''I welcome the order of the ICJ. Pakistan is a rogue State. It has violated the Vienna Convention. Now it must respect the interim order of the ICJ.''Noting that the Indian Government has the option to appeal the final order of the ICJ, Mr Sibal offered his services to the family of Mr Jadhav.''The Government has the option for appeal after the final order of the ICJ. On a personal level, I am ready to offer my services to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav,'' Mr Sibal said.Earlier, welcoming the order of the ICJ, AICC spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia said,''welcome the verdict by ICJ to stay execution of #KulbhushanJadhav. Hope case reaches logical end.''Welcoming the ICJ verdict, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the ICJ verdict was unanimous on nine issues, including the fact that the jurisdiction of the court exists. He said provision measures had been ordered by the ICJ in the case.In a major diplomatic win for India, the International Court of Justice at The Hague today stayed the death sentence of former Naval official Kulbhushan Jadhav, given by a Pakistani military court.The Court ordered that "Pakistan shall take all measures" to ensure that Mr Jadhav was not executed till the final disposal of the case by it.Upholding India's plea, grounded in the Vienna Convention, to stay the death sentence, the Court further said the 2008 bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan did not bar the rights of the international court to decide on the case.UNI AR AE SNU 1859 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-899234.Xml The attack came even as Defence Minister Arun Jaitley reviewed the overall security situation in the Kashmir Valley with Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and other senior army officers. The Defence Minister was apprised of various measures to strengthen the robust counter infiltration grid along the Line Control. He was also briefed on the close coordination amongst all government agencies towards restoring normalcy in the region. He urged all defence personnel to continue their good job and ensure safety of the innocent people while dealing firmly with inimical elements. He also directed the commanders to maintain a strict vigil along the Line of Control and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across the border following the ceasefire violation earlier on Tuesday by the Pakistan Army in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan Army, earlier on Sunday, instigated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Chiti Bakri area of Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army also retaliated to the unprovoked act strongly and effectively. At least two civilians including a minor girl were killed and nine people, including four soldiers were injured in the unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Rajouri district. (ANI) Welcoming the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the death sentence of former Naval official Kulbushan Jadhav, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and other Cabinet Ministers today congratulated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, former Solicitor-General of India Harish Salve and the entire The Hague team for their efforts.In a series of tweets, the Union Home Minister said Ms Swaraj has done a commendable job. ''The govt led by PM Shri @narendramodi will go to any extent to save #kulbhushanjadhav,'' Mr Singh tweeted."The ICJ's decision to stay the execution of Shri Kulbhushan Jadhav gives the people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief,'' he said.Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said the verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan.In a series of tweets, Mr Jaitley congratulated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Salve, who argued India's case, and The Hague team for their efforts.''Congratulations to EAM Sushma Swaraj and the entire Hague team. Well done! #HarishSalve - you have done India Proud,'' Mr Jaitley tweeted."Relief and satisfaction as the #ICJ order has come- Rule of Law has won,'' Mr Jaitley added.Union Food And Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan termed the ICJ's decision a major victory for the country. ''ICJ decision upholds India's right to consular access,puts stay on death execution: A major victory for India in #KulbhushanJadhav case,'' Mr Paswan tweeted. Union Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted: ''I heartily welcome the ruling of the ICJ, which stays the hanging of #KulbhushanJadhav and grants us consular access to him. This is a victory of our diplomatic efforts and deft argument at ICJ. Pakistan's violation of international laws stands exposed.'' Law and Justice, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in his tweet said, ''Under the leadership of @PMOIndia the pro-active measures taken by the @MEAIndia in the matter of #KulbhushanJadhav deserve appreciations.'' He termed the ICJ's decision ''Great victory for India at International Court of Justice''. "Congratulations to entire team; specially Harish Salve for arguing the case,'' Mr Prasad tweeted. ''India will do all to ensure justice to Jadhav,'' Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said. In a major diplomatic win for India, the ICJ at The Hague today stayed the death sentence of Jadhav, given by a Pakistani military court. The Court ordered that "Pakistan shall take all measures" to ensure that Mr Jadhav was not executed till the final disposal of the case by it.UNI NY-RBE AE SNU 1922 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-899310.Xml The police successfully seized all the explosive material. It is believed that the Naxals were planning to do something big with these explosive materials. During a press conference in the local police control room, Bastar Superintendent of Police Arif H. Sheikh said that on the instructions of an informant it was revealed that two or three unknown persons have been seen in suspected conditions near Tekri's Jiram Valley. After seeing the police, they tried to flee from the place. The arrested accused, Dawood, said that the explosive materials were bought from Rahgiri, a resident of Mahbubnagar in Telangana state. According to the Bastar Police, the explosives could be used to execute some unwelcomed incident, which is now destroyed by the police. Earlier in the day, the police arrested 10 Naxals during a search operation in Sukma. (ANI) Sixteen tourists, including four children and six doctors were injured, when their tourist van plunged into a 70-foot-deep gorge on Kodaikanal-Palani Ghat Road near Saverikadu in this southern district, today. Police said the injured, including Prasanth Agarwal, (44), Manthra Agarwal (42), Manthra Ramkumar Heda (40), Megha Heda, (11), Sriyas Manthri (10), Sakshi (10), Sathyan Mantri (45), Robali Manthri (42), Thamish Agarwal (13), Rish Agarwal (7), Anna Reddy (9), and Anubha (45), all hailing from Akola district in Maharashtra, were going to Palani after an excursion to the hill station of Kodaikkanal. The condition of one of the injured, R Jai (14) was stated to be very critical. After first aid, he was admitted to a private hospital for advanced medical care. The injured were admitted to Palani Government Hospital and a private hospital. When the van approached a deep curve on Palani-Kodaikanal Ghat Road, it skidded off the road, owing to brake failure, broke the parapet and nosedived into the deep gorge. Two of the occupants of the van managed to come out of the vehicle, climbed up the slope to reach the road and sought the help of tourists crossing the spot to rescue the others. The passers-by pulled the other injured from the van. Later, Fire and Rescue Services personnel brought them to the road and sent them to Palani hospital in an ambulance. UNI GSM RJ 2152 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-899611.Xml BJP Assembly Floor Leader G Kishan Reddy today alleged that some political leaders are supporting the illegal migrants staying in the state capital. Nearly 10,000 illegal migrants from Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh are staying in Hyderabad and getting due support from the political leaders, Mr Reddy alleged in a press conference here. The BJP leader alleged that MIM is giving financial assistance to the illegal migrants, apart from providing them shelter. Calling Hyderabad a 'shelter zone' for the terrorists, Mr Reddy said the illegal migrants were taking all sort of facilities from the government and becoming traitors. Over the Dharna Chowk issue, he criticised the ruling party for using police forces like as their own army. Mr Reddy demanded action against the big wigs of the government for insisting the Circle Inspector to sit at Dharna Chowk, posing as an agitator. Taking action against the constable is nothing, but deviating the case, he added.UNI KNR RJ 2222 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-899632.Xml The Trump administration has signaled that it would continue the Iran nuclear deal made under the Barack Obama administration for the meantime as the U.S. is still forming a new comprehensive Iran policy. However, it will also impose some new sanctions against several Iranian individuals and four other organizations, including a China-based network that supplied missile-related items to a key Iranian defense entity, reports the Hill. "The U.S. and its partners will continue to apply pressure on Iran to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone in Iran," said Stuart Jones, the acting assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, who will be traveling with President Donald Trump to the Middle East at the end of the week. The development shows that Trump's softened stance on the Iran Nuclear deal and comes ahead of the President's five-country which includes stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel. Also, some of the waivers were set to expire this week unless they were extended by President Trump. The National Iranian American Council welcomed the decision, but voiced concern about the administration's commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement with Iran. "In renewing waivers of U.S. sanctions, the Trump administration has once again grudgingly acknowledged that Iran continues to abide by its obligations under the agreement. Yet, the administration continues to stand in the way of what is legitimate trade with Iran, which the agreement obligates the United States not to do," said Trita Parsi , President of the organization. (ANI) "The Afghan Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) was summoned to the Foreign Office today to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the incident in which two diplomatic officials in Kabul were detained, reportedly by Afghan security agencies," said a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The statement said that the Afghan DHM was conveyed that the incident was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961) and against the spirit of relations between the two countries. It added that the Afghan Government was urged to take immediate steps to ensure the security and safety of Pakistani diplomatic personnel and premises as well as to ensure that such incident do not take place in future. (ANI) Approved by a simple voice vote, the measure slaps the new sanctions on people who have financial relationships with the Syrian government or businesses controlled by the Bashar al-Assad regime, reports the Hill. "Assad's crimes against humanity cannot go unanswered. With these new sanctions, we will continue to tighten the screws on the Syrian regime and its most prominent backers, including Iran and Russia," Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. President Donald Trump would be authorized to waive sanctions on a case-by-case basis if warranted or if peace negotiations are underway, with no more civilian violence. The bill also directs the president to submit a report to Congress on the potential effectiveness of a no-fly zone over part or all of Syria. Similar legislation passed in the House last November, but it never came up for a vote in the Senate. The latest legislation comes as last week the United States acussed Syria of carrying out mass killings of prisoners in its Sednaya military prison. Earlier President Trump had also authorized a military strike against a Syrian government airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians. Before Wednesday's vote, the Treasury Department announced this week it had frozen the assets of several Syrian individuals and companies that provided support to the Syrian government. Americans will also be barred from any transactions with the sanctioned entities. (ANI) The United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) hosted a conference in Brussels to expose attempts by Pakistan to designate Gilgit Baltistan as the fifth province of the country, thereby illegally annexing what was originally a part of undivided Jammu and Kashmir. The conference was chaired by Sikander Abbas, former President of the UKPNP, while Amjad Yousaf, Vice Chairman Jammu Kashmir National Independent Alliance (JKNIA) and Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of the UKPNP, were among the speakers. The conference was well-attended and included leaders of other ethnic groups of Pakistan, viz., Riaz Pir Representative Pushtoonistan Freedom Movement, Malik Bazai, Pushtoon political activist, Shafi Muhammad Burfat, Chairman Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, Shan Shinwari, Director Bacha Khan Trust, Munir Mengal, President Baloch Voice Association and human rights activist and lawyer Claudia Heidelberg. Speaking on the occasion, Shaukat Kashmiri held Pakistan responsible for the current backwardness of the areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) including Gilgit Baltistan. He blamed Pakistan for invading Jammu and Kashmir in 1948, creating chaos and confusion with regard to the UN resolutions, and over the years failing to vacate its private militias and regular troops from occupied Kashmir, thereby failing to comply with the recommendations of the UNSC resolution. Kashmiri leaders added that Pakistan was now trying to annex Gilgit Baltistan, an area over which it has no constitutional mandate as per the Pakistan Constitution. Hinting at China's role behind Pakistan's move to annex Gilgit Baltistan, he stated that China should realise that the Kashmir dispute was not just a regional issue, but an international problem. Mahmood Kashmiri, chairman of the JKNIA, in his speech, highlighted how Pakistan was exploiting the natural resources of the so-called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. Leaders of other Pakistani ethnic groups threw light on the State-supported human rights violations in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A resolution was adopted at the conclusion of the conference, wherein all participants unanimously agreed to declare J-K as one political entity comprising areas of Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. They strongly condemned Pakistan's attempts to declare GB as a fifth province, expressed serious concerns about the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other mega projects that would result in the exploitation of the national resources of Gilgit Baltistan. The resolution stated that the CPEC had hidden military and strategic agenda and therefore would have a negative impact on the Kashmir dispute. It called on the Pakistan government to stop using J-K's territory for fanning terrorism and to restore basic human rights in the region. Meanwhile, Germany-based Sindhi leader Shafi Muhammad Burfat, chairman Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz has given a call to various Pakistani oppressed groups to form a strategic alliance or united front to oppose the Pakistani State. The first meeting to discuss this alliance was held on May 9 in Brussels. The ethnic groups that have shown an interest in joining the alliance include Sindhis, Kashmiris, Baloch and Pashtuns. The second meeting to discuss the nature, aims and objectives of this alliance is expected to be held in June and will be hosted by the Jiyea Sindh Muttahida Mahaz. It is likely that groups like the UKPNP, Jammu Kashmir National Independent Alliance, Pushtoonistan Freedom Movement, Baloch Voice Association, World Sindhi Congress etc. will attend this meeting. (ANI) US President Donald Trump is looking forward to working closely with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and is willing to make peace with North Korea through engagement if the conditions are right, according to a top Seoul envoy. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday during a 15-minute meeting with special envoy Hong Seok-hyun in Washington, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. "(President Trump) talked about sanctions on North Korea and cooperative relations with China. And he said he looks forward to cooperating closely with President Moon in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue so as to produce an outcome," Hong said. "Though we're now at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he said he has a willingness to make peace through the so-called engagement if certain conditions are right. He said, however, that what he's willing to do is not talk for talk's sake but for talks that produce an outcome," the envoy said. Also in attendance at the meeting were Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. Hong said he handed Moon's letter to Trump and expressed thanks for supporting South Korea's security and inviting the South Korean leader to visit Washington next month. The two countries agreed earlier this week to hold a summit between Moon and Trump in Washington in late June. It was the first time Trump has met with a South Korean official since taking office. The meeting came after North Korea successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday. --IANS ksk ( 269 Words) 2017-05-18-09:48:10 (IANS) The initiative called McDelivery, aims at winning back young customers who are willing to pay for food brought to their doors. According to UberEATS fees, food delivery charge is $5, Xinhua news agency reported. "Through the ease of the UberEATS app, our customers can enjoy their favourite McDonald's foods delivered right to them enjoying greater choice, control and personalisation than ever before," McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a press release on Wednesday. Jason Droegof Uber said the company is "thrilled to expand partnership with McDonald's in the US to bring the ease and reliability of Uber's technology to deliver customer's favourite menu items." McDonald's started testing delivery in several Florida cities in January, and customers have been pleased with the quality of food and services, the company added. --IANS ksk ( 166 Words) 2017-05-18-10:10:11 (IANS) "There will be some who've been found not be refugees...They are economic migrants essentially, not refugees by any stretch of the imagination, they have to go back home. They have to go back to their country of origin," The Australian daily quoted Dutton as saying. Papua New Guinea and Australian governments are preparing to close the Manus Island detention centre that houses about 2,000 by October 31, with the decommissioning of parts of the facility to begin within weeks. Of the 2,000 people who remain on the island, 850 are men, but only 400 of those are deemed to be legitimate refugees. Dutton added that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's upcoming trip to the US where she will meet Washington's UN Representative Nikki Haley would help the smooth passage of the deal. --IANS ksk ( 169 Words) 2017-05-18-12:44:14 (IANS) Kazakhstan, after hosting the fourth international high-level meeting on settlement in Syria, is now getting ready for the next round of Syria talks scheduled to be held in mid-July. Pointing out that the previous rounds of talks ended with agreement on de-escalation zones, Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said that the country would work actively with the guarantor countries, Russia, Turkey and Iran, to implement the Astana process memorandum signed in May. "This schedule is observed. We are actively preparing for the next round to make sure that we can make a specific contribution to the implementation of the above-mentioned memorandum, which envisages the establishment of four de-escalation zones in Syria and further consolidation and expansion of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities in Syria," Tass news agency quoted Abdrakhmanov as saying. Another expert-level meeting on Syria is scheduled to take place in the Turkish capital of Ankara prior to Astana. (ANI) President Donald Trump lashed out today over his Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, calling it "the single greatest witch hunt" in US history.Trump's Twitter comments stood in contrast to his measured statement yesterday night after former FBI chief Robert Mueller was named as special counsel, in which he said "a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity."Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller after a succession of jarring developments that brought questions over Russia's alleged meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign to a boil.They included Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, reports that Trump had previously pressured Comey to end a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Trump discussing sensitive information on Islamic State with the Russian foreign minister.In two Twitter postings, the Republican president assailed the latest development to roil his four-month-old administration."With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!" Trump wrote, misspelling the word counsel as he referred to Democratic former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton."This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" added Trump, who said in a speech on Wednesday that "no politician in history" had been treated worse or more unfairly than he has.Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar responded, "This is a truth hunt."US stocks rose as upbeat economic data emboldened investors to return to the market on Thursday, a day after Wall Street saw its worst selloff in eight months on worries that the political turmoil could sideline Trump initiatives such as tax cuts that investors see as favoring economic growth.Rosenstein, the No 2 Justice Department official, named Mueller amid mounting pressure in Congress for an independent investigation beyond existing FBI and congressional probes into the Russia issue.Mueller's appointment was not expected to affect the FBI or congressional investigations.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Comey should still appear before congressional committees that have invited him to testify.A key issue Mueller may have to tackle is whether Trump has committed obstruction of justice, an offense that could be used in any effort in Congress to impeach him and remove him from office.Trump cited displeasure with the FBI's Russia probe as a factor in dismissing Comey. In addition, Comey wrote a memo detailing Trump's comments to him in February saying "I hope you can let this go," referring to the Flynn probe, a source who saw the memo said on Tuesday.Asked about the potential that there had been obstruction of justice, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters the special counsel will "follow the facts where ever they may lead" and that "it is premature to prejudge anything at this point."Flynn's contacts with Russians during the presidential campaign, as well as his work for the Turkish government, are under investigation. He was fired as national security adviser in February after it emerged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington in December.FLYNN CONTACTSFlynn and other advisers to Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the presidential race, Reuters reported on Thursday.Republican Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Flynn's lawyer told the committee he would not honor the panel's subpoena seeking relevant documents.Russia has denied US intelligence agencies' conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump's favour. Trump has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his November election victory.In the Russian city of Sochi, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mueller's appointment, calling it an "internal matter" for the United States.Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans widely praised the appointment of a special counsel to take over the Russia probe.Rosenstein was due to brief US senators later today. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Rosenstein would be questioned about a letter he wrote accusing Comey of missteps as FBI director, including his handling of an election-year probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.The White House initially said that letter prompted Trump to fire Comey, but Trump later said he had already decided to dismiss him and was thinking of "this Russia thing."The Russia matter has consumed Washington and overshadowed Republican legislative priorities including a planned healthcare overhaul and sweeping tax cuts, something the party had hoped to make rapid progress on given its control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.REUTERS RJ 2218 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-899615.Xml Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 02:25:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close By Burak Akinci ANKARA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump met for the first time on Tuesday at the White House amid frictions on how to fight the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. During a joint press conference, Trump brushed aside tensions between the two NATO allies and praised Turkey's fight against terrorism. He was particularly keen on supporting Ankara's long-time struggle against the military insurgency inside Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), without mentioning the Syrian Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG). The Trump administration has decided recently to supply arms to YPG fighters against the IS, causing tensions with Turkey, which says the Syrian Kurds are allied with the PKK, considered as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU. Turkey is also staunchly seeking, without any tangible success, the extradition of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen living in Pennsylvania, who is accused by Turkey of masterminding a failed coup last summer. None of these thorny issues were mentioned during the press conference. Erdogan praised the American president for his "legendary triumph" in the election but also warned his administration not to make "any discrimination whatsoever" between terrorist groups, in a clear message vis-a-vis the YPG which Turkey considers as one terror group. He also called on the Trump administration not to repeat "errors of the past concerning the fight against terrorist groups." The Turkish leader has expressed readiness to open a "new chapter" with the new U.S. administration after severe difficulties with the previous one led by President Barack Obama. Turkish officials including Erdogan himself qualified as "unacceptable" U.S. weapon supply to Kurdish units in Syria, fearing that those arms will fall into PKK rebels hands. The Pentagon on the other hand said the YPG, a key factor of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is the only force on the ground that can successfully seize the IS stronghold Raqqa in the near future. Despite no apparent agreements, experts think that is nevertheless a "good start" for mending ailing ties between the two allies, on the brink of a potential breakdown. "Yes, the two leaders are still divided on the YPG issue but the fact that they exchanged warm messages towards each other and on the importance of the partnership is still somewhat of a good start," commented journalist Serkan Demirtas. "The framework of a sound partnership has been established during this visit event if it is not at the level that Ankara was expecting. There is a lot at stake in Syria and both parties are aware of that," he said. Erdogan's tone was different and uncompromising before heading towards Washington that "we are either strategic allies and decide together, or we are not, and then we have to go our separate ways." A source from his entourage told Xinhua that "this is a beginning and we have to wait and see how things evolve. We have explained them our grievances," adding that for the moment there was no development on Gulen's extradition to Turkey where he is facing lifetime imprisonment. Briefly after leaving the White House, Erdogan tweeted and thanked Trump for his hospitality as" I believe today's meeting will strengthen our long-standing alliance and strategic partnership." The tweet marked the first time the Turkish side underlined in such strong words the nature of the U.S.-Turkish partnership. Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish presidential spokesman, said in a communique that the issue, crucial and a priority for the Erdogan administration who recently won a referendum on granting executive powers to the president, has been mentioned during a working dinner at the White House. Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish program at the Washington Institute, told Xinhua that "Erdogan got half of what he wanted already, which was to be invited to Washington" after his narrow and contested referendum win. "Erdogan was aching to get a western leader who would invite to affirm his victory" in the aftermath of the April 16 referendum that transformed Turkey from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, argued the analyst. Some 49 percent of Turks voted against the constitutional changes while 51 percent in favor in a divisive electoral process. According to Cagaptay, the Turkish president might have also got "some concessions" from the Trump administration on the Kurdish issue. "I think that the deal President Trump offered to President Erdogan is that the U.S. wants Turkey to look the other way as Washington arms the Syria Kurds to take Raqqa from IS, in return Washington is willing to look the other way as Turkey fights the PKK in Iraq and elsewhere where it has strongholds" , added Cagapatay. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 03:26:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is concerned by reports of flooding in the western part of Raqqa city in northern Syria, a UN spokesman said here on Wednesday. "The flooding has resulted in an estimated 120 families fleeing their homes towards the western countryside of Raqqa," reported as the "de facto capital" of the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a daily news briefing. "While the UN does not have access to the city, the flooding compounds an already extremely difficult humanitarian situation for people in the city under the control of Da'esh," or the IS, he said. "Overall, an estimated 400,000 people in Raqqa are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection as military operations in populated areas continue." "The UN, through local partners, continues to deliver assistance to those in need in areas of Raqqa that are accessible and where security conditions permit," he said. Meanwhile, some 2,400 people were reportedly evacuated from the Wa'er neighborhood in Homs city to Idleb governorate on Tuesday, he said, adding that this brings the total number of evacuees from Wa'er to over 17,000 people since the Al Wa'er agreement was signed in mid-March. An estimated 35,000 people remain in Al Wa'er and further evacuations are expected, the spokesman said. Raqqa is located on the northeast bank of Euphrates River, about 160 kilometers east of Aleppo, and 40 kilometers east of the Tabqa Dam, the largest dam in Syria. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 03:51:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Moscow, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia will provide Guinea with over 1,000 doses of the vaccine against the Ebola virus within one month and half, Russian Health Ministry said Wednesday. "Gamaleya Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the developer of the Russian vaccine against the Ebola virus, has produced the full amount of the vaccine, which will be handed over to the Republic of Guinea as assistance in prevention of outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever," the ministry's press service said in a statement. Agreements on the delivery of the vaccine (named Gam-Evak-Kombi) were previously reached by the Russian and Guinean sides, according to the center. Simultaneously with the introduction of the vaccine in Guinea, Russian and Guinean scientists will begin to analyze the progress of the vaccine's use, the document added. The Gam-Evac Combi vaccine is the world' s first officially authorized and approved for clinical use vaccine against diseases caused by the Ebola virus, and it surpasses existing foreign analogues in a range of parameters, the press service said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner delivers a speech at the 2nd U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston, the United States, on May 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) HOUSTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States are highly complementary with great potential for deepening cooperation in the field of technology innovation, government officials and entrepreneurs said here on Tuesday. The 2nd U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit (UCIS) kicked off in Houston on Tuesday with the participation of senior officials and entrepreneurs from the two countries. Li Qiangmin, the Chinese consul general in Houston, said at the summit that innovation has become a new engine for the cooperation between China and the United States. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said "we have about 18 billion dollars worth of business with China, and that is between the city of Houston and China on the annual basis. It is my hope that I am going to do everything I can to increase that relationship between the two." U.S.-China Innovation Alliance President Bernard Harris told Xinhua that the summit is important for the companies in the two countries. "I think everything is important in this conference, and it provides a platform where U.S and Chinese companies can come together," he said. In a congratulatory letter to the summit, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said decades of relations between Texas and China have brought advantages to both, in the forms of mutually beneficial trade and valuable cultural exchange. "In the decades to come, this relationship will continue to be one of the world's most significant as the United States and China work toward common goals of prosperity, strength and peace," he said. According to Chen Hongsheng, the consul at the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, the UCIS, which was jointly organized by China Science and Technology Exchange Center and U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, provides a unique opportunity for U.S.-based technology companies to connect with investors, strategic partners, leading incubators/accelerators, and professional services firms from China. "It is an excellent platform for companies to leverage significant resources from China to accelerate their growth and to expand their market potential," he said. The UCIS aims to facilitate collaboration between innovative technology companies, venture capitalists, private equity, startup accelerators and incubators. It is also expected to help Chinese investors access and invest in the best-in-class technologies and products located in the U.S., as well as help U.S.-based technology companies source investors and partners who can help them to access the Chinese market. This year's summit brought together more than 500 participants, including about 150 representatives of technology companies, 200 investors from China, and 150 representatives of innovative technologies companies from the U.S., who are seeking cross-border opportunities across a range of focused industries. TRIPOLI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Staff of Egyptian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Mahmoud Hijazi, on Wednesday arrived in the Libyan eastern city of Benghazi for talks over cooperation and fighting against terrorism. "With a high-level military delegation, Hijazi was received by the Libyan Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army, Abdul-Razzaq Al-Nadori, at Benina International Airport, officially opened after three years of closure due to military operations against terrorists in Benghazi," a source in the Libyan Armed Forces Information Office told Xinhua. Hijazi will go to the headquarters of the army's General Directorate in Marj city to meet the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Army, Major General Khalifa Hafer, to discuss military cooperation between the two countries and to confirm Cairo's support for the Libyan army in its fight against terrorism, the source added. This is the first visit by an Arab or western military official to Benghazi since the launch of the army's military campaign on extremist groups in the city three years ago. The Egyptian authorities appointed Hijazi in August 2016 in a committee to follow up the Libyan file, aimed to conduct contacts between the crisis teams, and to bring them closer together in support of the political agreement. The committee invited Fayez Sarraj, UN-backed Prime Minister, and General Khalifa Haftar to visit Cairo on several occasions, to discuss means to solve the dispute between the two officials. The unannounced visit comes one day after the third anniversary of the military operation called "Dignity" which was launched by Haftar on May 2014 against extremist groups in Benghazi. Hafter, who was appointed by the eastern-based Libyan parliament as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, gained control of all the eastern cities of the country months after the launch of the military campaign, except for the city of Derna and small areas of Benghazi. "The armed forces will not leave Tripoli as a haven for terrorists," Haftar said on the occasion of the third anniversary of the his military campaign. STRASBOURG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed the European Parliament during its plenary session Wednesday in Strasbourg, affirming that the success of the European project and the destiny of the United Nations are closely intertwined. "A strong and united Europe is an absolutely fundamental pillar of a strong and effective United Nations," Guterres told Members of European Parliament (MEPs) in the Alsatian capital. The Portuguese UN Secretary General, the first European head of the international organization since Austria's Kurt Waldheim helmed it in the early 1980s, listed an array of global challenges that required the EU and the UN to work together. Guterres listed the multiplication of conflicts and their changing nature; human rights violations, especially in the context of major human displacements due to war and economic fragility; climate change, and its consequences; and the situation of those who have missed out on the benefits of globalization as areas which needed partnership from the two international bodies in order to be tackled. Strong cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations was the theme of a bilateral meeting before the speech between Antonio Guterres and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani. Opening the parliamentary session with the UN Secretary General, Tajani stressed that "More than ever, we must work together to give our citizens concrete responses on conflict terrorism, radicalization, managing migratory flows, climate change, poverty and unemployment." "The United Nations and the European Union rose from the ashes of global conflict, they share the same values and the same objective: to promote peace and prosperity through multilateral cooperation," the European Parliament president declared. For his part, Guterres praised the European contribution to development cooperation and humanitarian aid: "The European Union is clearly the most successful project of peace sustainability in the world since the beginning of history." The UN chief also met with Thorbjorn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights organization headquartered in Strasbourg. According to a press release, the meeting covered migration, conflict prevention, combatting corruption and the fight against terrorism, among other subjects. File photo taken on Feb. 15, 2017 shows U.S. President DonaldTrump (R) and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to break a campaign promise by not moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, local media reports said. Citing a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the White House believed that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital "would not be wise at this time." "We've been very clear what our position is and what we would like to see done, but we're not looking to provoke anyone when everyone's playing really nice," Bloomberg cited the official as saying. During the presidential campaign, Trump pledged to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel to Jerusalem, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said early this month that Trump was "giving serious consideration into" the relocation. Despite the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by the U.S. Congress, which required the relocation of U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, former U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, consistently renewed a presidential waiver to delay the relocation on national security interests. The status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So far, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and not a single foreign country bases their embassies in the city. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 07:58:39|Editor: xuxin People take part in a rally in memory of the people who died during protests in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 17, 2017. Venezuela's prosecutor-general confirmed on Wednesday the death of a 15-year-old, bringing the total death toll during protests in the country to 43 since April 1. (Xinhua/Boris Vergara) CARACAS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's prosecutor-general confirmed on Wednesday the death of a 15-year-old, bringing the total death toll during protests in the country to 43 since April 1. The government has ordered an investigation into the death of Jose Francisco Guerrero, who is thought to have been shot in the back, during a protest in the western state of Tachira. The country's Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, ordered on Wednesday the deployment of 600 special troops, backed up 2,000 regular soldiers, to Tachira in order to halt violence in the state, where army and police forces have come under attack. According to reports, Guerrero was not participating in the protest on Tuesday afternoon but was going shopping when he was caught in the middle of clashes between protesters and the Bolivarian National Guard. His death brings to 43 the total death toll since a ramping up in protests was called by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) in response to what it sees as abuse of power by the government. Over 600 people have been injured and over 1,000 arrested since April 1. This week, protests have focused largely on the states of Tachira and Miranda, as well as in Carabobo, where a police officer was reported shot dead on Monday. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has accused the opposition of "financing" paramilitary groups who seek to spread the violence, while the MUD accuses the police and army of brutal suppression tactics. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 08:43:53|Editor: ying Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia is one of the "world leaders" for citizen life expectancy, ranked only behind Japan, Singapore and Switzerland, according to the results of the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest world health check. Clean, pollution-free cities and a low smoking rate are contributing factors in Australia's exceptional life expectancy. But spokesperson for the WHO Dr Colin Mathers told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the world's overall life expectancy was also increasing. The data was taken from 194 WHO members. Although there are some very big health issues in Australia and lots of preventable causes of ill health, Australia is one of the world leaders (in life expectancy), Mathers said on Thursday. " It's an optimistic report. The world's overall health is improving. Obviously there are issues and problems and areas and topics where things are going backwards, but in the big picture global life expectancy increased by five years from 2000 to 2015." Mathers said Australia is also a leader in a number of key areas. The death rate of women after pregnancy was among the lowest in the world, smoking rates were in the bottom eight in the world with just 16.7 percent of men being smokers, while Australian cities are ranked among the cleanest in terms of fine particle pollution in urban areas. Despite the positives, Australia's suicide rate was higher than the world's average (at 11.8 deaths per 100,000 people), while deaths from domestic violence and road accidents were not in decline. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 08:53:55|Editor: ying Video Player Close SYDNEY, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Terminally ill Victorians within two years of dying will be able to ask for assisted suicide under legislation that will legalize euthanasia in the state, reports said Thursday. A ministerial advisory panel is currently drafting the historic legislation which will make assisted death available to those suffering from terminal illnesses. The panel was arranged after a parliamentary inquiry in 2016 recommended legalizing euthanasia in Victoria for adults of sound mind in the final weeks of life. Despite the inquiry's recommendation, the panel is considering defining a patient's "end of life" timeframe as six, 12, 18 or 24 months. The panel has received more than 300 submissions from around the state in order to develop the framework around who would qualify for assisted suicide. "There was strong consensus that 'enduring and unbearable suffering' be determined according to the person's own perception, not by anyone else," Brian Owler, the chairman of the panel, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Patients suffering from dementia would not be able to request an assisted death due to not having a capacity to make decisions but those with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson's Disease or Multiple Sclerosis (MS) could be eligible. Under the committee's proposal, the request for assisted death would have to come from the patients themselves and must be repeated three times, one of which would be a formal written request. Two independent doctors with specialist training and at least five years' experience would have to approve the request before it could be approved. Jill Hennessy, Victoria's Health Minister, said the bill would be put to a conscience vote in parliament later in 2017. It is my view that if Victoria is to have an assisted dying model it needs to be a relatively conservative one," Hennessy said. "It needs to be able to align with other practices within the healthcare system. "There are many neurological conditions that may require us to look at a timeframe that reflects the very sometimes cruel trajectory of those illnesses." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 09:39:08|Editor: ying Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela rejected the intention of the United States to put the political crisis in Venezuela on the agenda of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, said a diplomat on Wednesday. "We are out of the Security Council agenda because we never will be a threat to peace and security at (either) international or regional level," Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN Rafael Ramirez told reporters after a closed-door briefing held by the Security Council on the country's crisis. Clashes have erupted in Venezuela between right-wing anti-government protesters and government supporters since early April, which have killed at least 43 people and left more than 600 injured. Calling the crisis a "domestic issue," Ramirez said: "We are responsible for our own people, and we solve our own problem inside our legal framework." The 15-member council held the informal meeting at the request of U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who believes that the Security Council needs to be watching the situation in Venezuela, which is "on the verge of a humanitarian crisis." Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been calling for a new constitution to overcome the country's political crisis. The government is in the process of forming a constituent assembly to draft the document. However, the opposition coalition, which asks the government to hold early elections, has rebuffed the move as a delay tactic. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been following closely the political and economic situation in Venezuela, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, told a daily briefing. Guterres has been on the phone to bring together different mediators to facilitate the process that seeks a solution to Venezuela's political crisis as well as social and economic challenges, according to Dujarri. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 10:09:29|Editor: ying Video Player Close BOGOTA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least six people died and 23 others were injured in an explosion on Wednesday at a shipyard in Colombia's northern city of Cartagena, authorities announced. The explosion took place on a tanker at the shipyard of Cotecmar, a state-owned facility. Three people were killed on site and three others died in hospital. The injured, mostly burn victims, have been taken to medical centers for treatment. One firefighter was among the injured. Cotecmar President Jorge Enrique Carreno told reporters that the explosion happened on a ship that was under maintenance. Photo taken on July 2, 2016, shows a view of Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan. (Xinhua file/Ahmad Kamal) HONG KONG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a core component of Belt and Road Initiative, and Pakistan strongly favors synergizing energies in the region to support this project, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said here Wednesday. Sharif made the comment at the Pakistan Investment Forum during his three-day visit in Hong Kong starting from Tuesday. The forum was organized by China Innovative Finance Group Limited and Consulate General of Pakistan. Sharif said the CPEC was a key regional initiative for connectivity and shared prosperity of nations, adding it also had the potential of bringing improvement in the lives of people, with projects related to energy, road and rail infrastructure, industrial parks and economic zones. He said the Corridor would connect the port of Gwadar to Kashghar and would also link the resource-rich Central Asia, oil-rich Gulf states and Europe. In addition, Sharif said Hong Kong was among the major drivers of world economy and contributed to development of China, for which it could always be proud of. He invited businessmen of Hong Kong to invest in Pakistan and take advantage of the country's strategic location, rich human and material resources, political stability and attractive investment policy. The consumer market in Pakistan was growing at a very fast pace, he said, adding the consumer demand for automobiles, housing and electronics was thriving, while the services industries particularly in telecommunications, hospitality and online-retail were also attractive for investment. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 10:44:39|Editor: ying Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a federal investigation into his campaign's relations with Russia will find "no collusion," in quick response to the Justice Department appointment of former FBI head Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the probe. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," Trump said in a statement which made no specific mention of Mueller's appointment. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump added. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement earlier on Wednesday: "Considering the unique circumstance of this matter, however, I determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome." "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted," said Rosenstein, who had been overseeing the Russia probe following the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions due to his failure to disclose a meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Democratic lawmakers have been clamoring for Rosenstein to appoint a special prosecutor in the wake of Tuesday reports that fired FBI Director James Comey penned a memo documenting a request from Trump that he "let go" of the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. According to an appointment order released by the Justice Department, Mueller, who served as FBI director between September 2001 and September 2013, will have the authority to investigate whether the Russian government colluded with individuals associated with Trump's campaign and to prosecute federal crimes uncovered in the probe. Also on Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued requests to both the White House and the FBI for all the records about the conversations between Comey and Trump. Trump had previously suggested that there may be tapes of his talks with Comey in the White House one day after Flynn resigned over a Russia-related scandal in February. Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee set a hearing date for May 24 over Comey's memo, asking him to testify. The Senate Intelligence Committee also sent a request on Wednesday to Comey, asking him to testify in a public hearing and to meet with its members in a closed-door briefing. Moreover, the Senate panel sent a letter to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe requesting "any notes or memorandum" prepared by Comey tied to talks he had with White House or Justice Department officials about the FBI's probe into Flynn's ties with Russia. Republican Senator John McCain likened the unfolding scandal around Comey's memo to Watergate which led to the impeachment of President Richard Nixon in 1974, while House Speaker Paul Ryan called for patience, noting that lawmakers "need the facts" before drawing any conclusions. Despite the White House denial, the latest allegation feeds the flames that have been grilling Trump since his abrupt firing of Comey last week, distracting his agenda while plunging his administration into a fast accumulating credibility crisis. Enditem An Afghan security force member inspects the site of an attack in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, May 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Rahman Safi) JALALABAD, Afghanistan, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least four people including three attackers were killed and 16 others injured as militants attacked the state-owned national television station in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar's provincial capital Jalalabad city on Wednesday. "Four people including three attackers and an employee of the television station have been confirmed dead and 16 others injured," spokesman for the provincial governor Attaullah Khogiani told reporters here. The bloody incident occurred at 10:30 a.m. local time after three militants equipped with light arms and suicide vests stormed the compound of the TV station, triggering a gun battle. A total of 16 people including a security personnel and some employees of the TV station sustained injuries in the incident, Khogiani said, adding that the fighting is over and the situation is under control. However, some eye-witnesses on condition of anonymity, said the number of casualties is higher than reported. Earlier, local media reported that a group of suicide bombers targeted government offices including the governor house, a police station and the TV station. However, the official said the target was the television station and all the attackers had been killed. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the multiple attacks. Police cordoned off the area and did not allow journalists to get access to the site of the incident. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 11:09:44|Editor: ying Video Player Close SEOUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump told South Korea's presidential envoy that he was willing to make peace through engagement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) if conditions are right, South Korean media reported on Thursday. "Though we're now at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he said he has a willingness to make peace through the so-called engagement if certain conditions are right," Yonhap news agency cited new South Korean President Moon Jae-in's special envoy Hong Seok-hyun as saying after Hong's 15-minute meeting with Trump. "He said, however, that what he's willing to do is not talk for talk's sake but for talks that produce an outcome," Hong added. Tension has remained high on the Korean Peninsula over the past months between the United States and the DPRK over the U.S. threat to stage military attacks against Pyongyang in response to its nuclear and missile programs. The United States and South Korea also held their largest-ever joint military exercises in the past two months. At the end of April, the USS Carl Vinson nuclear aircraft carrier task group arrived in the waters off the Korean Peninsula for a separate joint naval exercise with South Korea. However, a joint statement by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said last month that Trump aims to use economic sanctions and diplomatic measures to pressure the DPRK to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs. The statement also said that the United States remained "open to negotiations" toward peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while staying "prepared to defend ourselves and our allies." China Railway No.8 Engineering Group's China-Laos railway construction team build concrete mixing station in Luang Prabang, Laos on April 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua) by Zhang Jianhua VIENTIANE, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Enjoying a bright sunset while standing in his own landmark five-star hotel and watching the Mekong River with Thailand on the other side, Yao Bin was thinking about the China-Laos railway that he had been waiting for for more than 10 years which is currently under construction. Having made a name for himself in industry over the past 10 years, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Laos and Chairman of Kritaphong Group Co., Ltd., Yao Bin has led the Kritaphong Group through the early stages of promoting the prospects including the socio-economic benefits of the China-Laos railway project. "We were very excited when we heard that the two countries wanted to build a railway," Yao told Xinhua in an exclusive interview in Vientiane. "Being overseas Chinese residents, we are the 'bridges' that help link the friendship between the two countries," he said, adding that in over 10 years of all-out efforts for the bilateral friendship between China and Laos, overseas Chinese residents like him have always been maximizing long-term exchanges between the two governments, to promote the early implementation of the China-Laos railway project. Having worked in Laos since the early 1990s, Yao has witnessed the increased development of economic cooperation between China and Laos. From his first success of trading in Laos in 1990, Yao has expanded his business to include construction and engineering. According to Yao, the China-Laos railway is a very important project for Laos, as to some extent it will contribute to turning Laos from a "land-locked" to "land-linked" country. It will also boost the development of the southwest area of China and connect China with Thailand, thus establishing a large export platform. The China-Laos railway is also very good news for business people and Chinese people who have been staying long-term in Laos. "As for Laos, the country is in need of large amounts of such kinds of investment. I think overseas Chinese people can be a new kind of 'bridge' to connect the Chinese resources with outside needs," Yao said. The completion of the China-Laos railway will bring new roles for overseas Chinese and their roles as bridges will be raised to become "two-way bridges," he said. The China-Laos railway has a total length of 414.332 km with over 62.7 percent of bridges and tunnels, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 12:10:00|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Xinhua Writers Wang Wen, Xu Jing NEW YORK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- For Rachel McGaw, an office manager who lives in a U.S. rust-belt town of Illinois, working for a Chinese company is more rewarding than a U.S. one. "I enjoy working here. I like my salary, I like my hours. I feel more valued because the company takes me and my feeling and my family into consideration," said the employee at Wanxiang New Energy, the solar division of Wanxiang America Corporation. MORE INVESTMENT MORE JOBS McGaw is just one of thousands of local workers employed at Wanxiang who would otherwise be jobless. The corporation entered the U.S. market in 1994, the year General Motors went to China to start their operations in China. It now has 28-plus plants, runs in more than 20 sates in the United States, and employs more than 18,000 people. Only about 10 employees are dispatched from China, and the rest are all local. Over the years, Wanxiang has acquired many firms on the brink of bankruptcy, Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America, said, "we saved a lot of jobs." While China and job losses are discussed as one and the same by certain parties on Capitol Hill, the reality could not be more different. Chinese companies are opening new plants and hiring people in America -- a scenario largely absent from the rhetoric of some U.S. politicians. Chinese companies now employ more than 140,000 Americans, according to the latest report released by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) and Rhodium Group. Already on a steep growth trajectory for the past five years, Chinese investment in the United States jumped to 46 billion U.S. dollars last year, a 200-percent increase from the previous record of 15 billion dollars set in 2015, the newly updated report on China's U.S. investments showed. In addition, the report named "New Neighbors 2017" showed that by the end of 2016, 425 out of 435 Congressional Districts hosted Chinese-owned companies. In 2016, Chinese investors further expanded and deepened their footprint in the United Sates, according to a separate report released on Wednesday by NCUSCR and Rhodium Group. U.S. coastal states, such as New York and California were still the major beneficiaries of Chinese investment, while South and Midwest states also received significant Chinese investment last year. In New York, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge that crosses the Harlem river has gone through a major widening and rehabilitating project done by China Construction America. The 550-foot-long steel arch main bridge now carries 10 lanes of traffic instead of eight, with its support piers and foundations reinforced and new drainage installed. The Chinese construction company started its business in the United States in 2000 with only 12 employees and less than 10 million dollars of annual revenue. In 2016, it employed around 2,000 workers, 98 percent of whom are Americans. Its revenue jumped to 2 billion dollars. In Moraine, Ohio, more than 2,000 people are working at a nearly 470,000-square-meter glass fabrication factory housed in General Motors' former assembly plant. The plant used to employ thousands of people making SUVs and trucks, but was closed in 2008 as a financial crisis wiped out jobs across the industry. Fuyao is one of the world's largest auto glass makers and has a 22-percent market share in the United States. Its investment in Moraine is the largest Chinese investment in Ohio history and the eighth-largest direct foreign investment in the United States over the last decade. As it expands its market in the country, it will create more manufacturing jobs. And these jobs are certainly needed in the Midwest. REBIRTH OF COMMUNITY Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.- China Relations, was quite emotional when recalling the factory's grand opening. He said it signaled the rebirth of a community and at the moment he knew he had glimpsed "the promised land of a constructive U.S. -China relations." Chinese companies in the United States are bridging bilateral economic ties and cultural exchanges in their own ways. In addition to creating job opportunities for local Americans, Wanxiang also makes sure that every penny the company makes in the United Sates will be invested into local community. "In our company there are four stakeholders, shareholder, employee, customer and local community," said Ni. He said Wanxiang has always embraced globalization and that the company has contributed immensely to prosperity of local communities. Drawing on Wanxiang's experience, Ni said globalization brings more opportunities for growth and development in local communities, rather than damaging local economy as some have feared. Fuyao, on the other hand, pair Chinese employees with American employees for them to learn languages and exchange ideas and techniques. The company also invited American employees to visit its plants in China. "Bilateral investment is a cultural as well as economic bridge between countries because it makes commerce a platform for the exchange of ideas," said Orlins on Wednesday at an event for the release of the report named "Two-Way Street: 2017 Update U.S. - China direct Investment Trends." "What used to be a one-way street -- with money flowing predominantly from the United States to China -- is now a two-way highway with tens of billions of dollars in annual FDI flowing in each direction," said the report. According to the report, the cumulative value of U.S. FDI transactions in China reached over 240 billion dollars by the end of 2016, while the cumulative Chinese FDI in the U.S. totaled 110 billion dollars in the same period. (Xinhua correspondents Yang Shilong, Wang Naishui, and Huang Heng contributed to the story.) Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 13:15:13|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close HOHHOT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,600 people, including forest police, are battling a forest fire in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, authorities said Thursday. The fire broke out Wednesday in a forest in Chenbaerhu Banner in the city of Hulunbuir and had burned through around 5,000 hectares as of Thursday noon, according to local fire authorities. Eight aircraft and six armored vehicles have joined the firefighting team to extinguish the blaze, it said. More than 1,700 forest police are ready to join the efforts if required. This spring, temperatures in Inner Mongolia are higher than average,with dry vegetation increasing fire risks. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 13:20:17|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close MANILA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the move to refuse grants from the European Union (EU) if the grants make a provision for EU to interfere with Philippine internal affairs. In a news conference held at the Malacanang presidential palace on Thursday, Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said it was Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez who recommended the move. "These grants pertain to particular projects or programs that have the potential of affecting the autonomy of the country," Abella said. Abella added that "the Philippines deserves the right to accept loans and grants that help attain its objectives of promoting economic development, inclusiveness and reducing poverty, attaining peace within its borders and with its neighbors, and fostering a law-abiding society." He said the Philippines also reserves the right to respectfully decline offers "that do not achieve these goals and offers that allow foreigners to interfere with the conduct of its internal affairs." EU has been critical with Duterte's hardline anti-narcotics campaign, claiming there exists "extrajudicial killings" that violate "human rights." Abella said there are "items" in grants that the Philippines find "objectionable" or the government finds "something that we do not totally agree with." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 13:25:20|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Asylum-seekers in Australia's Manus Island detention center who are not genuine refugees will be sent back to their country of origin this year, Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed on Thursday. The controversial detention center is set for closure by October 31, but as 2,000 people are still being held at the facility. Dutton has said any non-genuine refugees would be sent back to their homeland, in a major crackdown set to affect hundreds of asylum-seekers who illegally fled their countries in the hope of settling in Australia. Earlier this year, the Australian government struck a deal with the then-Obama U.S. administration to take some of the legitimate Manus Island refugees before the center closes, but any illegal asylum-seekers will be returned to their country of origin. "There will be some who've been found to not be refugees," Dutton told local radio station. "They are economic migrants essentially, not refugees by any stretch of the imagination, they have to go back home. They have to go back to their country of origin." Of the 2,000 people who remain on the island, 850 are men, but only 400 of those are deemed to be legitimate refugees. Under the deal with the U.S., some of the eligible refugees will be taken by the U.S., while other legitimate refugees who are not selected will be allowed to stay in Papua New Guinea (PNG) - which was agreed to by the PNG government after consultation with Australia's previous Labor government. "(But) for a lot of refugees, we're hoping they will be eligible for the arrangement to go the U.S., but that's up to the U.S.," Dutton said. VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The third Pacific Tourist Forum opened Thursday in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, attended by 40 experts from Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and other countries. The forum is focused on development of cross-border tourism routes between countries of Northeast Asia and Russia's Far East and Siberia. It takes place on May 18-21 at the Far Eastern Federal University. Among routine events during the forum are the business part of an international forum of Northeast Asia, an annual Pacific international tourism expo, the Vladivostok boat show, and the activity of "Day of a Traveller." Discussions on various topics such as how to improve service for Chinese tourists will be held at different sessions during the forum, an annual event in Russia's Far East since 2015. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 14:20:33|Editor: ying Video Player Close HANOI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Scrapping its first nuclear power plant project, Vietnam is strengthening applications of nuclear energy and technologies in various spheres, especially healthcare, agriculture and industry, a local official said here on Thursday. "Vietnam and Russia are focusing on building a Center for Nuclear Energy Science and Technology (CNEST), with its main component in southern Dong Nai province, and another component in Hanoi capital city," Dr. Nguyen Hao Quang, vice president of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology, told Xinhua on the sidelines of a nuclear workshop at the Hanoi University of Technology. The CNEST's key facility will be located in Dong Nai, instead of in central highlands Da Lat city as earlier planned, because the southern province houses many economic establishments which will benefit from nuclear applications, he explained, noting that Vietnam has well applied in the three fields of healthcare, agriculture and industry. "With nuclear applications, we have succeeded in creating super strains of rice which have high yields and quality and sweet flavor, and resist to diseases. We have also produced substances for early cancer diagnosis, and used some 1,300 radioactive sources in the industrial sector," Quang said. At the workshop, Vietnamese and foreign experts made presentations about nuclear power and nuclear technology applications in socioeconomic development. Last year, Vietnam's top legislature decided to scrap its first nuclear power plant project that would have had a capacity of 4,000 megawatts and cost nearly 9 billion U.S. dollars in central Ninh Thuan province. This was not because of technology or safety reasons, but due to the country's current economic situation. When Vietnam was making preparations for building the plant, also the first in Southeast Asia, which was scheduled to become operational by 2028, its cost was estimated to double to around 18 billion dollars compared to the time when the plan was first tabled. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 14:51:24|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter Thursday to the opening ceremony of the First China International Tea Expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, east China. Tea has become an important part of Chinese people's lives and a cherished symbol of Chinese culture, Xi said. From the ancient Silk Road and other trade routes that saw the flow of tea on horses and ships to today's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, "tea has transcended time and crossed borders to win the affection of people from across the world," he added. Xi hopes the expo will give exposure to Chinese tea culture and grow into an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world, according to the letter. The expo should promote the development of the world's tea industry and start a new chapter for the tea industry and tea culture, said the letter. Xi also conveyed his wishes for the success of the expo, which will be held from May 18 to 21. A child eats food at Misan Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, on Feb. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei) MOGADISHU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia has increased to 6.7 million, more than half the population of the country, the UN said on Wednesday. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate despite the rains, which are below average in all areas. The OCHA said in its latest report on drought situation in Somalia that the ongoing drought also increases risk of famine-induced displacement in the region. Since November 2016, more than 683,000 people in Somalia have been internally displaced by drought, including more than 377,000 displaced during the first quarter of 2017. "The humanitarian situation in Somalia has deteriorated further and an elevated risk of famine in 2017 persists in some parts. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased to 6.7 million people, up from 6.2 million," said the UN agency. According to the OCHA, a total of 3.2 million people are expected to face "crisis and emergency levels" of food insecurity through June. The prolonged drought has led to a lack of water and the largest outbreak of cholera Somalia has seen in the last five years with nearly 38,000 cases and almost 683 deaths so far in 2017, according to World Health Organization (WHO). "With the beginning of the rainy season and projected flooding, these numbers are expected to increase to 50,000 cases by the end of June," said the OCHA. Cases of measles are also on the rise with over 7,600 cases reported this year, 65 percent of them affecting children under five. The Gu rainfall started two weeks later than normal this year and has been below average in all areas, except in the northeast where rainfall totals have been near average. To respond to the growing needs, humanitarian partners in Somalia have revised the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2017. The revised HRP presented at the London Somalia Conference on May 11 seeks 1.5 billion U.S. dollars to reach 5.5 million people with life-saving assistance in 2017. In response to the early alarm that Somalia is at risk of famine at the beginning of the year, donors at the London conference provided 634 million dollars since the beginning of the year. The remaining gap is of 875 million dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 15:11:57|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were injured and several trapped when a five storeyed building collapsed in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Thursday, police said. The building, located in Wellawatta, was under construction. The injured were sent to the Kalubowila and Colombo National Hospitals by rescue teams who rushed to the scene immediately after the tragedy. Police said search operations were continuing to save any people trapped underneath the rubble. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 15:12:00|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close by Will Koulouris SYDNEY, May 18 (Xinhua) -- One of China's hottest up-and-coming fashion labels, VMAJOR, stole the show at Australia's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Thursday in Sydney. The 2014 winner of the International Woolmark Prize for Asia in fashion, VMAJOR hails from the city of Shenzhen, and is led by its innovative yet brilliant designer Victor Zhu, who stunned the crowd with his "urban gypsy" collection. Zhu said he is proud to be a young fashion pioneer from China when he gave an exclusive interview to Xinhua backstage at the event, hoping more Chinese designers continue to thrive in a more "cosmopolitan, globalized world." "People are more open. The younger generation can go abroad to study and then come back and can express something new to represent China," Zhu said. The designer said he is excited about the direction the Chinese fashion industry is now taking, as experimentation and self expression take precedence over trends and fast fashion. "The 90's generation, or younger generation embrace different cultures and create their own identity," Zhu said. Zhu first entered the fashion scene as an intern at the global fashion house Vivienne Westwood, and graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2008, before returning to China's manufacturing capital, Shenzhen, to launch his label VMAJOR in 2012. Over the past three years, VMAJOR has gone from strength to strength, and has served as one of the best examples of China's emerging fashion industry that is being wholly created and developed by homegrown talent. His latest collection on show at Fashion Week featured his latest foray into experimentation, which he calls the "urban gypsy" look, and the people who packed the hall at Carriageworks in Sydney to watch the event, were similarly impressed by the designs. "Gypsies you know, they don't have their own home, they go to different worlds," Zhu said. "It represents us right now as global citizens, we go to different places. That's what I've thought about this, and I express that through my creations." Zhu was thrilled at being able to represent China at the prestigious fashion event, and said that this was the "most enjoyable show I've done so far," and is looking forward to getting a chance to explore Australia for the first time. "I haven't been to that many places yet, but I want to go to Bondi Beach and the Opera House," Zhu said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 15:16:22|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close YANGON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Patron of Myanmar's ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD), U Tin Oo, has been hospitalized since near midnight Wednesday after he fell unconscious in the bathroom due to slip. U Tin Oo was sent to Yangon General Hospital at about 11 p.m. local time Wednesday, where he has been under urgent medical treatment, Myanmar media reported Thursday. His conditions improved during the night but he is still unable to speak and open his eyes on Thursday, according to the hospital. U Tin Oo was once vice chairman of the NLD since its establishment in late 1988. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 16:07:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 212,394 tons of milled rice in the first four months of 2017, a 5-percent rise compared to the same period last year, according to the latest report on Thursday. The Southeast Asian country exported its rice to 55 countries and regions around the world, said the report compiled by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export. Three top buyers are China, France and Poland, it said, adding that China imported 81,432 tons of milled rice from Cambodia during the January-April period this year, France imported 27,848 tons, and Poland purchased 16,703 tons. China has agreed to increase its import quota for Cambodian milled rice to 300,000 tons in 2018, up from 200,000 tons in 2017, Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday after returning from a four-day trip to China. Cambodia produced over 9 million tons of paddy rice a year. With this amount, it has more than 3 million tons of milled rice left over for annual export, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Kenyan workers take selfie during the unloading of the first batch of locomotives for the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway in Mombasa, Kenya, on Jan. 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) NAIROBI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Kennedy Ntara was determined to dodge the agony of joblessness after college and made good use of influential relatives and friends who alerted him on opportunities that were up for grabs. The 25-year-old procurement and logistics major is currently working at Twyford Ceramics, a Chinese company that has employed hundreds of Kenyan youth in its tiles manufacturing plant located 65 kilometers south west of the capital, Nairobi. During a recent interview with Xinhua, Ntara said he yearned for an opportunity to work for a Chinese firm since the university days aware of their potential to transform lives of the youth. "Soon after graduating from the university, I worked for several local companies and when an opportunity to work for Twyford ceramics knocked, I did not hesitate to grab it," said Ntara. He was recruited by Twyford Ceramics in November last year and was deployed to the warehouse and supply sections where he is applying skills taught in the university. He belongs to a growing army of Kenyan youth who have secured employment from Chinese firms that have invested in the East African nation. Twyford Ceramics, a leading manufacturer of high-end tiles, is among the Chinese firms that create jobs into Kenyan youth who often endure agony of joblessness after finishing college. Li Ruiqin, the Managing Director of Twyford Ceramics said plans are in the pipeline to increase production in order to meet a high demand for tiles in Kenya and across the Eastern Africa region. "We intend to establish an additional production line to churn out large volume of tiles for the local and external market. In the process, we anticipate 1500 local jobs will be created," said Li. Twyford Ceramics and dozens of Chinese firms operating in Kenya have rallied behind the Belt and Road Initiative championed by Beijing to promote economic and industrial partnership with allies in Africa and other parts of the globe. The company has invested 70 million dollars in the plant that produces 25,000 square meters of tiles daily and commands 60 percent of market share in Kenya. Ntara lauded the Belt and Road Initiative, saying it should focus more on industrial development and skills transfer to help address youth unemployment in Kenya. "I hope our country will remain an attractive destination for Chinese investors not just in infrastructure sector but also in manufacturing and skills development," Ntara remarked. His sentiments were echoed by Mark Otieno,a 23-year-old high school graduate and a casual laborer at Twyford ceramics since June last year. Otieno hailed the transformation of Kenya's manufacturing sector thanks to Chinese technology. "I am always amazed by efficient and environmentally friendly production systems in this factory. Even unskilled employees do not strain while on duty," said Otieno. He intends to save enough money to cater for college education in the near future. Kenyans from all walks of life are optimistic that economic partnership with China will be elevated to new levels thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China to revive ancient trade routes spanning Asia, Africa and Europe and to spur investment and infrastructure building along the routes. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that he expected African countries to benefit from improved ties with China across diverse fields like technology, culture, trade and infrastructure development. Kenyan citizens who are already working for Chinese firms agree with their leaders that Beijing has championed mutually beneficial engagement with foreign allies. Alan Ogeta, a supervisor at Twyford Ceramics, said that Kenya stands to gain immensely from industrial cooperation with China. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 16:27:05|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KHARTOUM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in Sudan's White Nile State said on Thursday that the number of South Sudanese refugees in the state has amounted to 140,000, according to the latest statistics by Sudan's Commission of Refugees. "The White Nile State has established eight camps to accommodate the continuing influxes of refugees from South Sudan," Mohamed Idriss Al-Sheikh, HAC commissioner in White Nile State, told journalists visiting the state. He reiterated that local authorities are providing all services, including food, education, health and water, to the refugees. The official also said there were no security problems inside the refugee camps in White Nile, denying previous reports about spread of diseases such as watery diarrhoea because of the intensive presence of refugees. The White Nile State has been witnessing continued influxes of refugees fleeing the war and famine in South Sudan. Al-Alagaiya refugee camp of al-Jabalain locality, some 110 km south of Rabak, the capital city of White Nile State, is accommodating some 15,000 South Sudanese refugees. "About 5,000 South Sudanese families live in the camp making a total of around 15,000 refugees," Abbasher Al-Nour, deputy chairman of Al-Alagaiya refugee camp, told Xinhua. "The HAC provides all necessary services for the population in the camp, where until now, matters are progressing well without any security problems. There is a high level of coordination between all the security bodies, the HAC authorities, the commission of refugees, the UN and national organizations," he noted. Meanwhile, Martha Simon, a South Sudanese refugee living in Al-Alagaiya camp, told Xinhua that her family are feeling at home at the camp. "We have been living in this camp for about three years. Everything is good and we do not feel like strangers because we were part of Sudan and we still feel like we are home," she said. Adam Joub, another South Sudanese refugee, also expressed contentment. "We headed to Sudan which received us without any complications. We receive all the necessary services and security is available. Our children receive proper education. We thank the Government of Sudan for this generosity," he said. Earlier this week, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said around 20,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan's border areas within one week to flee the violence at the Upper Nile area near Sudan's White Nile state. "Nearly 20,000 South Sudanese refugees reportedly arrived in White Nile and South Kordofan states between April 29 and May 6," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its most recent report citing latest refugee figures by UNHCR. About 1,300 refugees arrive daily in White Nile from Shilluk area through Joda and Migainis areas in Upper Nile, according to the report. OCHA expected arrival of 180,000 new refugees in Sudan by the end of 2017. Sudanese authorities put the number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan at about 600,000 and expect continued influxes from its violence-plagued neighboring country. Refugees from South Sudan rest at a refugee camp in Sudan's White Nile state near the border with South Sudan on May 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Mohamed Babiker) KHARTOUM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in Sudan's White Nile State said on Thursday that the number of South Sudanese refugees in the state has amounted to 140,000, according to the latest statistics by Sudan's Commission of Refugees. "The White Nile State has established eight camps to accommodate the continuing influxes of refugees from South Sudan," Mohamed Idriss Al-Sheikh, HAC commissioner in White Nile State, told journalists visiting the state. He reiterated that local authorities are providing all services, including food, education, health and water, to the refugees. The official also said there were no security problems inside the refugee camps in White Nile, denying previous reports about spread of diseases such as watery diarrhoea because of the intensive presence of refugees. The White Nile State has been witnessing continued influxes of refugees fleeing the war and famine in South Sudan. Al-Alagaiya refugee camp of al-Jabalain locality, some 110 km south of Rabak, the capital city of White Nile State, is accommodating some 15,000 South Sudanese refugees. "About 5,000 South Sudanese families live in the camp making a total of around 15,000 refugees," Abbasher Al-Nour, deputy chairman of Al-Alagaiya refugee camp, told Xinhua. "The HAC provides all necessary services for the population in the camp, where until now, matters are progressing well without any security problems. There is a high level of coordination between all the security bodies, the HAC authorities, the commission of refugees, the UN and national organizations," he noted. Meanwhile, Martha Simon, a South Sudanese refugee living in Al-Alagaiya camp, told Xinhua that her family are feeling at home at the camp. "We have been living in this camp for about three years. Everything is good and we do not feel like strangers because we were part of Sudan and we still feel like we are home," she said. Adam Joub, another South Sudanese refugee, also expressed contentment. "We headed to Sudan which received us without any complications. We receive all the necessary services and security is available. Our children receive proper education. We thank the Government of Sudan for this generosity," he said. Earlier this week, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said around 20,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan's border areas within one week to flee the violence at the Upper Nile area near Sudan's White Nile state. "Nearly 20,000 South Sudanese refugees reportedly arrived in White Nile and South Kordofan states between April 29 and May 6," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its most recent report citing latest refugee figures by UNHCR. About 1,300 refugees arrive daily in White Nile from Shilluk area through Joda and Migainis areas in Upper Nile, according to the report. OCHA expected arrival of 180,000 new refugees in Sudan by the end of 2017. Sudanese authorities put the number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan at about 600,000 and expect continued influxes from its violence-plagued neighboring country. The photo shows Dutch King Willem-Alexander at "100 years of Schiphol airport" event on September 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Sylvia Lederer) THE HAGUE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Dutch King Willem-Alexander has been flying as a guest pilot with KLM for 21 years, according to an exclusive interview with the king published by Dutch daily De Telegraaf on Wednesday. "Twice a month he carried passengers who have no idea that the king is in the cockpit," said the paper. "I find flying simply fantastic," the king told the paper. "You can completely switch off and focus on something else." Tuesday was the last time King Willem-Alexander flew as co-pilot in the KLM Cityhopper which currently operates flights by members of the Dutch government. The Dutch king had flown Fokker 70 aircraft for both the government and KLM Cityhopper service, according to the Dutch government. Fokker 70 was being replaced this year with a Boeing 737. The king intends to carry on as co-pilot but will spend the summer learning how to fly Boeing 737. "Before Sept. 11, the cockpit door was simply open and people regularly peeked in. People found it fun or amazing to see me sitting there. After Sept. 11, the cockpit door is closed and there is much less contact between the cabin and the cockpit. But yes, some people recognize my voice during the flight," said the king in the interview. While making announcements, the king does not always say his name. "I can always say that I warmly welcome the passengers on behalf of the captain and crew. Then I don't have to say my own name. But most people don't listen in any case." KLM pilot Maarten Putman, who regularly flies with the king, was also present during the interview. He called Willem-Alexander an excellent co-pilot. "For the relatively few flying hours the king makes, he is always very sharp. He knows the procedures well. Very well." Dutch television NOS interviewed several stewardess who had flown with their king in the late 1990s. When asked how it felt to fly with a prince (Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother as monarch on April 30, 2013), they described him as "a very spontaneous guy, very down to earth, super gallant." In the 1980s, Willem-Alexander obtained private, commercial and military pilot's licences, which enabled him to fly as a volunteer in Kenya, first for the medical aid organization and wildlife service organs. In 2001, he earned his airline transport pilot licence. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:12:18|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a special envoy of South Korea's newly-elected President Moon Jae-in agreed in talks Thursday to resume the shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of both countries. The shuttle diplomacy formerly saw the leaders visit each other's countries about once a year, but the dialogue has been suspended since the end of 2011 under the then administration of President Lee Myung Bak. At the talks held in Tokyo on Thursday, Abe and Moon Hee-sang, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party in South Korea, reaffirmed an agreement made between Abe and Moon Jae-in by telephone after the latter was sworn in as president recently, to build a future-oriented bilateral relationship. Abe and the South Korean envoy also restated in the talks at the prime minister's office that Tokyo and Seoul are important regional neighbors and share strategic interests. The envoy handed Abe a letter from President Moon stating that he hoped to meet Abe in the near future and restart the shuttle diplomacy. The two leaders have provisionally agreed to hold talks as soon as possible, with the sidelines of a summit of Group of 20 major economies in Germany in July being earmarked as a possible opportunity for this to happen. Abe said the early dispatch to Tokyo from Seoul of the special envoy after President Moon established his administration was a sign of cordial relations between both countries. Moon Hee-sang said that both countries share a practical interest in dealing with issues pertaining to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Ahead of his meeting with Abe, the South Korean envoy met with Japan's top government spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Suga and Moon Hee-sang said they would work closely together on issues connected to the Korean Peninsular and would lay the groundwork for a Japan-South Korea summit to be held at an early juncture. Suga told a press briefing after the meeting that there remained difficult issues, however, to be settled between the two countries. Japan is still at odds with South Korea over "comfort women" statues erected to memorialize the women coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during Word War II. Japan believes that a 2015 accord inked between Tokyo and Seoul and the paying of 1 billion yen (8.98 million U.S. dollars) last year to a South Korean fund to help former comfort women and their families as part of the deal would settle the matter. But a South Korean civic group erecting a "comfort women" statue outside the Japanese Consulate General in the port city of Busan last December led to Japan recalling its ambassador to South Korea for three months by way of protest. Prior to that, a "comfort women" statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, which also irked Tokyo. Abe said the 2015 pact should be "properly managed," according to Suga on Thursday. Suga said that he and the envoy had confirmed both sides would carry out their respective responsibilities regarding the accord. Moon, for his part, in the run up to him winning the presidential election in South Korea said he would look to renegotiate and revise the 2015 agreement inked between both countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:22:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WELLINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Attending Dubai 2020 will provide significant economic and entrepreneurial benefits that Kiwi businesses should take advantage of, said New Zealand Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee on Thursday. Meanwhile, Brownlee released the Cabinet paper and Indicative Business Case (IBC) supporting New Zealand's attendance at the World Expo, to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020. Through Budget 2017, the government is committing 53.3 million NZ dollars (36.93 million U.S. dollars) over the next four years to design, construct, operate and promote a New Zealand Pavilion that will allow Kiwi businesses to highlight their innovative products and services and open doors to new export markets, Brownlee said. "Our 53.3 million NZ dollars is about 0.5 percent of current New Zealand exports to the Gulf States," he said. Brownlee noted that since New Zealand's participation in the Shanghai Expo in 2010, with a free trade agreement with China in place, exports have grown 300 percent -- from just over 2 billion to more than 6 billion NZ dollars. "It is an expansion of this magnitude that Dubai 2020 presents," he said, adding that it will allow New Zealand to challenge perceptions beyond agricultural commodities and tourism to broader high-growth sectors in IT, health, infrastructure, and education. Brownlee said attendance at this Expo will build on New Zealand's already strong relations with the UAE and other Gulf countries, and strong relations in this region will ultimately lead to a range of positive outcomes, including greater bilateral trade and investment. Brownlee's counterpart Sheikh Abdullah has expressed his gratitude about New Zealand's announcement on participation at Dubai 2020, according to Brownlee. In order to be clear on the value New Zealand could get in return, business benefits have been assessed, and the IBC calculates that New Zealand will have comfortably recouped the investment by 2025, despite adopting a pessimistic model and using conservative figures. The 10 key benefits identified in the IBC include providing opportunities to increased inbound investment and increased exports to both existing and new markets to attracting more international students to New Zealand and improving the country's global business connections. The government release also said that the UAE is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are "extremely wealthy and, over the last decade, the region has been one of New Zealand's fastest-growing markets outside China." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:22:27|Editor: xuxin YINCHUAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China, have discovered 13 sites that have hundreds of Neolithic artifacts, Xinhua was told Thursday. The 13 sites, in the city of Guyuan, include tombs, kilns and cave dwellings, human bones, and pottery utensils and fragments of red and black pottery. "The sites have been linked to the Qijia culture, around 4,000 years ago, which was a transitional period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age," said Ma Qiang with the Ningxia Regional Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. "The discoveries at the sites will be used to inform research into the Qijia Culture," he said. The sites were found during a month-long project. Archaeologists also discovered 10 sites containing artifacts and tombs from the Zhou Dynasty (1046-221 BC), which could be used by researchers concerned with the relationship between ethnic minorities and the Great Wall. Ma told Xinhua that the team had applied for an excavation license. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:28:09|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ANKARA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday Brett McGurk, the U.S. special presidential envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, should be replaced, claiming McGurk supported Kurdish militants. "Replacing McGurk would be beneficial," Cavusoglu told private broadcaster NTV in an interview on Thursday, after just returning from a visit with President Erdogan to Washington where they met President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The minister's words came on the same day as McGurk was seen in a picture taken in northern Syria with a number of Kurdish militants currently being sought by Turkey through Interpol, local media reported. Ankara regards the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG military as offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group. McGurk was appointed by former U.S. President Obama and continue in his position in Trump's administration. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:28:11|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's valuable experience in community health worker programs has demonstrated that these workers can "provide an essential link between communities and health service," said Michel Sidibe, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. The UN senior official gave such comments when being asked recently by Xinhua about the UN body's "2 million community health workers" program in Africa. "It is the hope of UNAIDS that China and other countries with robust experience in community health worker programs will play a key role in building the capacity of low-and-middle income countries to implement community health worker programs," said Sidibe, adding "China has decades-long experience in leveraging diverse cadres of health workers to expend health care access." UNAIDS plans to recruit 2 million paid community health workers in Africa by 2020, hoping to enable Africa to withstand the coming demographic wave and to drive economic and social development. Commenting on China's "bare-foot doctors," workers trained as a medical auxiliary in rural areas, the UN official said China's own experience demonstrates that community health workers can complement doctors, nurses and other trained health professionals. "Especially in rural areas where few trained health professional practice, China's experience has demonstrated that community health workers can provide an essential link between communities and health services," said Sidibe. In an early interview with Xinhua in 2015, Sidibe also gave positive comments about China's experience of community health workers, considering China's practice "success stories" in global fight against HIV/AIDS. "China can also be transferring their knowledge on 'bare-foot doctors' to Africa because what we need is to invest on millions of community workers to be able to reach communities with knowledge so they can stop emerging epidemic," Sidibe said in the interview. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:38:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NANNING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A man was sentenced to a five-year prison term Wednesday for trading endangered wildlife, according to a court in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China. The man, who has been identified by his surname Wei, had managed pet stores on social media platforms that sold animals including otters, boa constrictors and toucans since 2015, the people's court of Dongxing city said. In May 2016, Dongxing forest police seized six toucans, four otters and 20 boa constrictors from his home. All the animals are under state protection, according to the court. Wei was also fined 30,000 yuan (4,000 U.S. dollars), the court said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:47:48|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close YANGON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Patron of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) U Tin Oo, who was hospitalized due to a fall out of slip Wednesday mid-night, has not yet regained well consciousness until Thursday noon, the hospital told Xinhua. Great care and strict treatment are being given to U Tin Oo as the blood vessels with his brain are likely blocked, which may be the reason for him being unable to rapidly regain full consciousness, Dr. Aye Ko Ko, head of the Yangon General Hospital said. Suffering from hypertension and heart disease, the 91-year-old U Tin Oo will have to take some time for the recovery, Aye Ko Ko added. U Tin Oo was brought to the hospital Wednesday midnight for urgent treatment after he fell unconscious in the bathroom due to slip. U Tin Oo was once vice chairman of the NLD since its establishment in late 1988. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:57:51|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Dongfang Electric Corporation will build a 120-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Ethiopia's Somali regional state, an Ethiopian official said Thursday. In a statement sent to Xinhua, Bizuneh Tolcha, Public Relation and Communication Director at the Ethiopia Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE), said the Ethiopian government expects the project to be started by July. "The wind farm project is expected to need 18 months to finish, cost about 257 million dollars to construct with 85 percent of the funding coming from the China's Export-Import Bank and the rest from the Ethiopian government," he said. According to the ministry, pre-construction work is already undergoing at the site of wind farm, which when completed will be the fourth wind farm in the East African nation. The three other wind projects -- the 120-MW Ashegoda wind farm located in northern Ethiopia, the 51-MW Adama I and 153-MW Adama II wind farm projects both in central Ethiopia -- have been previously commissioned. The Ethiopian government plans to increase its electricity generation capacity from the current 4,200 MW to about 17,300 MW by 2020 using hydro, wind, geothermal, biomass and solar energy. Earlier this month, Ethiopia said its Genale Dawa III hydropower project is expected to start generating electricity in September. The 254-MW project is being built by China Gezhouba Group Company. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 17:57:54|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- International Museum Day is an occasion to raise awareness of the importance of museums for the development of society. Coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the global event has been celebrated worldwide around May 18 every year since 1977 and highlights a specific theme that is of interest to the world museum community. This year, the event will celebrate the theme "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums." "By focusing on the role of museums as hubs for promoting peaceful relationships between people, this theme highlights how the acceptance of a contested history is the first step in envisioning a shared future under the banner of reconciliation," the ICOM said. Museums record history and allow us to remember important things in the past and to make better decisions for the future. It is also about education, showcasing culture and bringing people together. Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Monday invited the partners of leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to tour the Palace Museum in Beijing, which is a solid example of cultural exchange. Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday visited the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in east China's Jiangsu Province, which commemorates the more than 300,000 Chinese lives taken by Japanese invaders when they occupied the city from Dec. 13, 1937. "Museum collections offer reflections of memories and representations of history. This day will therefore provide an opportunity to show how museums display and depict traumatic memories to encourage visitors to think beyond their own individual experiences," the ICOM said. "History is a vital tool for defining a given people's identity, and each of us defines ourselves through important and fundamental historic events," the ICOM added. Since its creation by the ICOM in 1977, International Museum Day has been steadily gaining attention and popularity around the world. In 2016, the International Museum Day garnered record-breaking participation with more than 35,000 museums hosting events in some 145 countries, according to the ICOM. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY Before officially creating International Museum Day, the ICOM gathered the international museum community for a meeting called Crusade for Museums in 1951 to discuss the theme "Museums and Education." The idea for International Museum Day was inspired by the framework for museum accessibility that was developed at this meeting. International Museum Day was officially established in 1977 with the adoption of a resolution during the ICOM General Assembly in Moscow, Russia to create an annual event "with the aim of further unifying the creative aspirations and efforts of museums and drawing the attention of the world public to their activity," according to the ICOM. International Museum Day was meant to convey the message that "museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples," it added. This year, International Museum Day is celebrated in various forms and with special activities around the world, such as guided tours, museum walks, workshops seminars, film screenings and treasure hunts, among others. To attract more visitors, a lot of museums are offering free admission during this special event to allow more people to enjoy, explore and become involved in art, history and culture. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:28:55|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Cheng Lu and Jiang Chenrong BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- As a nursing mother Liang Juan must pump and freeze her extra breast milk, as she often has too much for her seven-month-old infant. As the milk can only be stored for a maximum of six months, the second-time mother uses the extra to make soap or as a fertilizer for flowers. For mothers like Liang, there is now another way for them to ensure their unwanted milk does not go to waste, one that helps premature and underweight babies. The "breast-milk bank" in Xi'an, run by Shaanxi Provincial No. 4 People's Hospital, is one of 17 such facilities across the Chinese mainland. The donated milk is distributed to infants deemed high risk, giving them a higher chance of survival. "Donation is better than wasting this precious resource," said Liang, 33. Liang said the process to becoming a milk donor was not straight forward. First she had to submit a full medical history, and undergo a blood test to check for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. Once she got the green light, her milk then had to be processed so that it could be despatched across the country to children in need. The process included the milk being heated to 62.5 degrees Celsius for half an hour to pasteurize it. The milk is then stored at minus 25 degrees Celsius until it is used. One abandoned infant who gained from the milk bank was an intersex child nicknamed "Nannan." Nannan was born at 23/24 weeks gestation with severe pulmonary infection, and even worse, Nannan was allergic to milk powder. After a month of treatment and consumption of donated breast milk, the baby now weighs 1,900 grams, increased by 400 grams. "Nannan has ceased vomiting and over all, Nannan's condition has improved," said Zheng Fengying, a doctor with the neonatology department and one of the founders of the milk bank. Since its establishment in May 2015, more than 360 mothers have donated around 260 liters of breast milk to the hospital's milk bank as of last year, which was given to over 700 infants including 400 premature babies. "Breast milk is not just a food but also has medicinal properties for vulnerable babies in some cases, providing protection against bacteria and viruses," Liu Li, from the Chinese Committee on Children Health, said before National Breastfeeding Day on May 20. The first breast milk bank in the world was founded in Vienna in 1909. Fast forward, and just over a century later there are now hundreds of milk banks in Europe and North America. The Chinese mainland set up its first breast milk bank in Guangzhou in 2013. Other cities followed suit, including Shanghai, Chongqing, Nanjing and Beijing. However, owing to donor and fund shortages, many are uncertain about their future. TO PUMP OR NOT Hong Jiangmiao rings a free number, and soon after a hospital car is on its way to her home, with a driver, nurse and the special equipment needed to collect her breast milk. Hong has made more than twenty deposits to Beijing's first nonprofit breast milk bank, which was established in March 2016 by Taihe Maternity Hospital. Taihe offers a home-visit service and rewards frequent donators with free baby swimming class. "Many people don't donate because they don't know there is such a program," said Hong, 27. Even Hong, herself, only recently heard about milk donation. She gave birth to her child in Taihe two months ago and was encouraged by nurses to donate her extra milk. "We don't accept frozen milk, and we are aware that it is inconvenient to travel to the bank and undergo the complicated screening process," Wu Wenyi, who is in charge of the breast milk bank in Taihe, explained. Despite strict screening, Wu said people are still concerned as, at the current time, there are no regulations managing breast milk banks in China. "Making the system safer and ensuring that the sickest babies are given priority is also a major concern of many donors," Hong said. Since its establishment, the Taihe non-profit milk bank has attracted 150 donors and collected around 50 liters of breast milk. Official data showed that around seven percent of newborns in China are born premature every year. However, as Wu explained: "all banks in China face the same problem: the supply lags far behind demand." IT REALLY COSTS Unlike organizations abroad, which are largely philanthropic endeavors or charge for the donated milk, most Chinese breast milk banks are run by hospitals. The cost of running a nonprofit breast milk bank is a huge outlay for public hospitals. Sometimes, they avoid encouraging eager mothers to donate at all, Zheng Fengying said. In Taihe, a bottle of 150 ml bottle of breast milk costs the hospital 1,200 yuan (around 174 U.S. dollars) each. This price covers disposable breast pump, blood test, bacterial culture, pasteurization, storage and wages for staff. According to Guo Jiazhong, president of Taihe, the private hospital has spent around 300,000 yuan on equipment and pays out an annual management fee of more than 300,000 yuan to keep the bank afloat. "We will not close it, nor will we charge any fees," said Guo. "Breast milk banks must be nonprofit and continue to help these babies." In 2008, only 27.6 percent of Chinese babies were breast-fed in their first six months. This had risen to 58.5 percent in 2013. Away from these national figures, Liang Juan is more concerned about the abandoned baby Nannan. "This poor baby is now getting the nutrients it needs from the donated breast milk. I just hope Nannan will recover soon," said Liang. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:33:58|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people were killed when the Islamic State (IS) group attacked a village in the central province of Hama on Thursday morning, state news agency SANA reported. The IS militants attacked the village of Akairbat in the countryside of Hama earlier on Thursday, prompting the Syrian forces to respond to the attack which was focused on the center of the village, said the report. The village is located near the city of Salamiyeh, which witnessed several infiltration attempts by IS. SANA said the army foiled the attack on Thursday. The pro-government Sham FM radio placed the death toll of the attack on Akairbat at 30. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian warplanes struck IS positions in central Syria, following the attack. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:39:01|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TIRANA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- After several hours of talks, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama and head of Albanian opposition Lulzim Basha reached an agreement in the early hours of Thursday to end the political crisis here. The much-awaited agreement was put on the table as the way out by U.S. State Department official Hoyt Yee as an attempt to persuade the opposition to take part in elections. The Albanian opposition, led by the Democratic Party, had been protesting and boycotting the parliamentary works since Feb. 18. After the long hour meeting between two main political leaders at parliament's presidency, both Rama and Basha told reporters that the details of the agreement they reached would be disclosed within 24 hours. Albania was scheduled to hold general elections on June 18 but the opposition parties had refused to register and take part in these elections. Although none of them gave any details, unofficial sources told media here that Basha and Rama agreed on ending the crisis based on a European-U.S. plan, which includes the voting of the vetting process as part justice reform, the postponement of the parliamentary election which was scheduled to take place on June 18 and several minister posts approved by the opposition. After shaking hands with his opponent, Basha went to the tent where his supporters were and informed them about the agreement. "Everything we stood for these three months is accomplished. The agreement opens the way to free and fair elections. I thank you all to your resistance," the DP leader told supporters. However, he stressed that the tent would remain open until the agreement reached is detailed. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:44:04|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BUJUMBURA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and three others injured in a grenade explosion on Wednesday night in the south of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, the Burundian police said Thursday. Burundian Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said an unidentified person exploded a grenade in a household at Gikoto in Musaga neighborhood around 8:00 p.m. Three young men believed to be members of the Burundian ruling party youth's league Imbonerakure died on the spot and three others were injured, according to Nkurikiye. He indicated that the head of the Imbonerakure youth's league in Musaga, Audifax Ndayizeye, was among the three killed. According to him, the injured people include a woman, her child and another man. Nkurikiye added that injured had been rushed to hospital immediately after the blast. Four suspects were arrested right after the attack, the fifth suspect, a Rwandan national, was arrested on Thursday morning. Displaced Iraqis evacuate from western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on May 13, 2017 during the government forces' military offensive to retake the area from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (AFP photo) BAGHDAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Thursday said that up to 200,000 more people could flee Mosul as fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants intensified in the western side of Iraq's northern city of Mosul. "The numbers of people who are moving is now so large, it's becoming more and more difficult to ensure civilians receiving the assistance and protection they need. As military operations intensify and move closer to Mosul's old city area, we expect that up to 200,000 more people will flee," Lise Grande, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq said in a statement. "We are talking about very large numbers of families who are leaving everything behind. They are fleeing under very difficult circumstances," Grande said, adding food, safe drinking water and medicines have not been secured for many of them for weeks or months. Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced from their homes in and near Mosul since the launch of an offensive to dislodge IS militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq, including over 500,000 people who have been forced to flee from the western neighbourhoods of Mosul city alone, the statement said. The UN Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in 2017 requested 985 million U.S. dollars for Iraq, but as of Thursday, only 28 percent of the plan is funded. Under the HRP, approximately 331 million dollars is being sought for Mosul operation, according to the statement. "The military battle in Mosul isn't over yet and even when it is, the emergency will continue for months. We have no choice, we have to redouble our efforts to mobilize more resources and get assistance to the people who need it the most," Grande concluded. Iraqi forces, backed by international coalition, have been fighting to drive out IS militants from the western side of Mosul, but about 12 square km remained under the control of the extremist militants, including the heavily populated old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule. The troops are now pushing to defeat IS militants in the remaining neighborhoods in Mosul's western side and are seeking to claim victory before the holy month of Ramadan late in May. Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:49:08|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Up to 10 militants including a group commander have been confirmed dead after Afghan security forces aircrafts targeted a Taliban hideout in Qala-e-Zal district of the northern Kunduz province early Thursday, district governor Mahboubullah Sayedi said. The government forces aircrafts, according to the official, targeted Taliban hideout in Chargul Tapa locality Thursday morning, killing 10 insurgent including Taliban group commander Qari Nematullah on the spot and injuring several others. Government forces after recapturing Qala-e-Zal district couple of days ago have launched cleanup operations to restore peace and security there. Taliban militants who have increased activities since launching their so-called spring offensive late April are yet to make comment on the situation in the troubled district. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:59:11|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close HANGZHOU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Shaolin, a former provincial-level official in east China's Jiangsu Province, was sentenced by a court in Zhejiang Province to four years in prison Thursday for graft and illegally purchasing foreign exchange. Zhao, a former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Jiangsu provincial committee and secretary-general of the provincial Party committee, was also fined 15 million yuan (2.18 million U.S. dollars), according to a statement from Ningbo City Intermediate People's Court. Zhao was found guilty of seeking benefits for his son Zhao Jin's real estate business, and offered bribes totalling almost 4.45 million yuan to others together with his son from 2007 to 2014. In addition, Zhao also helped his son purchase more than 41.7 million U.S. dollars by falsifying official foreign trade contracts and approval documents. The court issued a lesser punishment because Zhao was an accessary to the crime of purchasing foreign exchange through deception, moreover, he confessed to his crimes, cooperated with the authorities to recover his illicit gains, and informed on other major offenders. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 19:59:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RAMALLAH, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara said on Thursday that he met with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday to discuss unsettled financial matters. The Ministry of Finance said in a press statement that the meeting was part of ordinary joint meetings that serve "to resolve financial matters in line with the Palestinian interest." According to the statement, the meeting "came as part of an follow-up to the international donors meeting" held in Brussels in April. Bishara said the meeting discussed issues related to "missing clearance bills not received by Palestinians and the money held by Israel that should be transferred to the Palestinian treasury." The meeting also tackled the issue of keeping the only West Bank border crossing, known as Al-Karama by Palestinians, Allenby by Israelis and King Hussein by Jordanians, open around the clock in order to facilitate the movement and travel of Palestinians into and out of the West Bank. Bishara stressed the importance of continuing work by clearance (tax revenues collected by Israel) between Palestinian and Israeli banks. The statement said the two parties reviewed accounting and auditing and the provision of accurate information to the Palestinian side. Israel has cut off nearly three percent of overall transferred taxes and other costs for supplying electricity, oil and other services to the Palestinians. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 20:24:30|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A suspect was returned to China from Greece Thursday as a campaign to capture economic fugitives continues, according to the Ministry of Public Security. This was the second suspect that Chinese police have brought back from Greece since April 2015 during the "Fox Hunt" campaign, the ministry said. The suspect, surnamed Ma, fled with more than 20 million yuan (over 2.9 million U.S. dollars), which was allegedly illegally obtained from members of the public from 2004 to 2006, according to police. He fled overseas after the Municipal People's Procuratorate of Taiyuan approved his arrest on charges of illegal fundraising in June 2007. In October 2007, Ma was listed on an Interpol red notice. China requested the extradition of Ma via diplomatic channels after he was detained by Greek police. Greece approved the request in April, according to the ministry. The Fox Hunt campaign targets economic suspects and corrupt Party members and government officials who have fled overseas. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 20:44:43|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland retreated mildly from a year ago in April, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday. The FDI was 4.3 percent lower than the same period in 2016 at 59.91 billion yuan (8.73 billion U.S. dollars), in contrast with a 6.7-percent increase in March, according to a statement posted on the MOC's website. During the period, 3,343 new foreign-funded enterprises were established on the mainland, up 42.7 percent year on year. The MOC said the situation has remained "generally stable." Total FDI in the first four months of the year edged down 0.1 percent year on year to 286.41 billion yuan. Nearly two-thirds of investment went to the service sector, which saw its FDI expand 5.5 percent year on year in the first four months. Investment in the construction sector soared 146.3 percent, followed by a nearly 40-percent rise in transport services and a 6.4-percent increase in the information and consulting industry. The MOC highlighted rapid FDI growth in the high-tech service industry, citing services in environmental monitoring and improvements. Capital pumped into the manufacturing sector accounted for around 25 percent of the total FDI. Investment from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the European Union grew 15.7 percent, 52 percent and 9.3 percent in the January-April period, respectively. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 20:49:47|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close HOHHOT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A forest fire that broke out Wednesday in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been contained thanks to a team of 4,000 fire fighters, authorities said Thursday. The fire has been extinguished in the northeastern part of the region, although flames and smoke were still seen in southern and eastern parts, where fire fighters were still working to put out it, said the local fire authority. The fire broke out Wednesday in a forest in Chenbaerhu Banner, Hulunbuir City, and spread across some 5,000 hectares as of Thursday afternoon. Eight aircraft and six armored vehicles have been despatched to help extinguish the fire, it said. This spring, temperatures in Inner Mongolia are higher than average,increasing the risk of fires. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 20:59:50|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A slew of events, including new projects and exhibitions aimed at appealing to visitors, were launched by various Chinese museums on International Museum Day Thursday. Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in northwest China's Shaanxi Province and Internet giant Baidu jointly announced a plan to digitalize the museum's world-famous Terracotta Warriors, the life-sized clay soldiers buried with the emperor in the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. They unveiled two new products available for viewing via mobile phone. The first is an ultra-high-definition 3-D display of the No. 1 and No. 3 excavation pits. The panoramic image was based on 1,000 pictures. The second allows visitors to see 3-D images of warriors and horses in the No. 2 pit. In the future, the company will use AI to reproduce higher quality scenes of the pits, according to the cooperation agreement. In Beijing, a national exhibition on archaeological discoveries, the first in China in the past two decades, opened at the Capital Museum Thursday. Nearly 400 artifacts from research institutes and museums across the country are on display, and many of which have never been seen outside of their discovery sites. The exhibits, ranging from the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), include jade, porcelain, gold and silver, stone carvings and frescoes, which were mainly discovered in the recent 20 years. They were found in the city ruins, tombs, buried palaces and sunken ships. Asia's largest insect museum, the Insect Museum of West China in the city of Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, hosted a spider show. It was the first time spider fossils discovered in China have been displayed in a museum and also the first time live spiders have been shown in a domestic museum, according to curator Zhao Li. Zhao said the show integrates the theme of this year's International Museum Day: "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums." "Spiders are just a controversial species," he said, explaining that while they are generally feared or disliked by humans, they do eat pests and have pharmacological uses. Spider fossils are very rare, because their soft bodies usually rot before fossilization occurs. The two fossils on display, found in volcanic sediment, are believed to have lived about 165 million years ago in what is now Inner Mongolia. About 50 live spiders are also on display. "We hope the live spiders, specimens, fossils and artworks we exhibit will help visitors learn to like, or at least stop hating or fearing, spiders," Li said. In addition to shows, academic exchanges on the development of museums were also held. The newly-opened World Expo Museum launched its first WeTalk Conference Thursday, focusing on the values museums champion and their role in social education. Dimitri Kerkentzes, deputy secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions, said when addressing the conference, "Museums are more than repositories of history and culture. They provide evidence to the existence of different cultures, realities and histories in ways that cannot always be communicated in writing or in spoken word." The museum is the first entirely dedicated to World Expos, showcasing the history, creation, and themes of International Expos since 1851. Located on the former site of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, it opened on May 1. With eight permanent exhibition halls, the museum covers a total of 9,000 square meters, exhibiting more than 3,000 collections from around the world. Chinese museums hold a total of 30,000 exhibitions each year, receiving 900 million visitors, according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH). There were 4,873 registered museums in China as of the end of 2016, of which 4,246, or 87.1 percent, are open to the public free of charge, said Liu Yuzhu, director of SACH. The International Council of Museums established International Museum Day in 1977 to raise public awareness of museums' roles in the development of society. In 2016, more than 35,000 museums in some 145 countries and regions participated in the event. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 21:29:53|Editor: Song Lifang Photo taken on May 17, 2017 shows the cliff corridor in Guoliang Village, Huixian, central China's Henan Province. The Guoliang cliff corridor is a 1,250-meter-long road built along the cliff. The construction of this miraculous road lasted five years from 1972 to 1977, and was built purely by hand by villagers of Guoliang Village. Thanks to this road, villagers here cast off poverty. (Xinhua/Li Bo) Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 21:35:07|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close LONDON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Teenage students in a British region have been tasked with designing a school of the future, with those coming up with the best ideas winning a 10-day trip to China. A lucky dozen high-school age students from the English county of Staffordshire will be chosen to make the journey of a lifetime later this year. During their trip to China, they will visit some of China's major cities and gain first-hand experience of Chinese schools and culture. As part of a new cultural exchange program, young people from China head to Staffordshire, in mid-Britain, to experience life in Britain. The latest event is part of the surging people-to-people exchange activities between China and Britain, the two countries committed to a golden era in the bilateral relations. The competition for students in Staffordshire was launched Thursday at the newly established international Beaconwood College which is scheduled to open next year in Stafford. Students currently in Years 10, 11 and 12 at schools in the Staffordshire local education authority area can take part in the competition by presenting their vision of what the school of the future will look like. They need to submit a presentation of between three and five minutes to outline their ideas. Dr. Kai Liu, CEO of the New Beacon Group which is opening the college, said: "We're creating a global education hub for local students and international students in Stafford." The competition runs from May 20 until June 30, with the names of the 12 winners announced in July. They will travel to China on Oct. 20 and return on Oct. 29. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 21:40:10|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISTANBUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- As the Iraqi Kurds are preparing for a referendum on independence, Turkey should not support Kurdish separation as such an eventuality would not only risk bringing further chaos into the region, but also threaten Turkey's own integrity, analysts told Xinhua. "It's obvious that an independent Kurdistan in Iraq would pose a threat to Turkey's territorial integrity," said Cahit Armagan Dilek, director of the 21st Century Turkey Institute think tank. It has been circulating in recent years that the Turkish government may be hoping to unite with the Iraqi Kurds under a sort of federal structure after the Kurds break away from Baghdad. Many feel, however, such a scenario may well pose an existential threat to Turkey as it could also set the stage for the country's eventual disintegration. Referring to the fact that Turkey is fighting a Kurdish separatism at home as well, Dilek said "a unification with the Kurds would later risk dismemberment of Turkey in favor of the emergence of a greater Kurdistan." According to recent reports citing Iraqi Kurdish officials, the referendum for independence from Baghdad may be held in August or in the fall. Massoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), announced at the end of March that the plebiscite would be held "in the near future." The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been waging an insurgency against Turkey for over 30 years for an autonomous if not an independent state in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast. Dilek, a former staff officer in the Turkish military, feels unification with the energy-rich Iraqi Kurdish region is a carrot Turkey should not fall for. According to an oft-voiced thesis based on such a scenario, Turkey would simply serve as an instrument for the birth of a Kurdish state as Turkish and Iraqi Kurds would later, supported by Western powers, move to break with Ankara. Turkey should realize that major powers would not allow it to have Iraq's Kurdish region just as they did not following the First World War, stated Dilek. The last parliament of the Ottoman State, of which Turkey is the heir, declared in 1920 that the Mosul province in Iraq must remain part of the nation and not be handed over to foreign powers. Ottoman's Mosul province included, other than the city of Mosul itself, cities such as Sinjar, Sulaymaniyah and oil-rich Kirkuk. The Great Britain, the superpower of the time, occupied the area following the conclusion of an armistice with the Ottomans and refused to return it to Turkey during the Lausanne negotiations. The countries in the region, including Turkey, should discourage Kurdish independence as such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, said Faruk Logoglu, a former diplomat who assumed top posts in the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Logoglu fears that such a move would cause further bloodshed in a region already in turmoil by "dragging the region into a protracted new conflagration along ethnic lines." The Iraqi Kurds, with a population of around five million, have been more assertive in seeking independence since the collapse of the Iraqi regime following the U.S. occupation in 2003. KRG President Barzani said, in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro early this month, that it was time for the creation of a Kurdish state. The autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq officially covers a significant portion of the country's northern part which borders Turkey. The KRG has, however, de facto extended its control over much of northern Iraq as well as oil-rich Kirkuk during the past several years in its fight against the Islamic State (IS). The landlocked Kurdish region has large reserves of oil and natural gas. Logoglu argued that the Kurds in particular would lose in such a scenario of independence, as would those countries with a Kurdish minority in the region. "A region still facing the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict and currently suffering the ravages of an ongoing sectarian warfare cannot possibly cope with an added layer of ethnic conflict," he cautioned. Other than Iraq and Turkey, Iran and Syria have a sizable Kurdish minority on their soils. The Kurdish militia in Syria, which Turkey sees as the PKK's Syrian offshoot, has also carved out for themselves three autonomous cantons along the Turkish border during Syria's civil war. When the Iraqi Kurds once again raised the issue of an independence referendum in March, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin stated that it would be a wrong step. Noting the effects of ethnic and sectarian-based steps would be felt as well beyond Iraq, he stressed "everybody would pay the price for that." No comment has come so far from the Turkish government following statements about independence vote by several Kurdish figures this month. Ozturk Yilmaz, a deputy chairman of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, called on the Turkish government last week to clarify its position on the Kurds' independence bid and whether it sincerely supports Iraq's territorial integrity. Strongly suggesting that the government's current attitude is not supportive of Iraq's territorial integrity, Yilmaz said "if it does not support it, it's time to talk frankly about that." The Iraqi Kurds are waiting for the battle against the IS in Iraq to successfully come to an end to hold the referendum. The extremist group is also expected to be largely eliminated this summer in Syria, which neighbors both Iraq and Turkey. Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has built strong economic and political ties with the KRG in the past ten years or so. Ankara had a spat with the Iraqi central government in the past for allowing the Kurds to sell oil through Turkey without Baghdad's approval. As the biggest investor in business in northern Iraq, Turkey is widely seen as the regional patron of the Iraqi Kurds, while the U.S. emerges as the main sponsor. The analysts agree that the Kurds would not dare to go independent without the U.S. support. The U.S. is known to have several military bases in the Iraqi Kurdish region. It has also built several military bases in the Kurdish cantons in Syria and provided the Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units, with heavy weapons in the fight against the IS. It is widely argued that the oil the Kurds have been selling through Turkey for years has paved the way for Kurdish independence. The Iraqi Kurdish economy is heavily dependent on oil revenues. As opposed to Turkey's traditional stance, the ruling AKP has long pursued a policy of lending support to Kurdish independence in Iraq, remarked Dilek. "It is commonly believed that this (policy) is more a result of the special relations of unknown content the AKP entertains with the Barzani administration than of being based on Turkey's interests," he said. In contrast to presidential spokesman Kalin's remarks, a leading KRG figure revealed on Tuesday that Turkey does not oppose the Iraqi Kurds' independence. An Iraqi Kurdish news portal, basnews.com, quoted Masrour Barzani, head of the KRG intelligence and security services and son of President Barzani, as saying during a visit in Washington D.C. that neither the U.S. nor Turkey has objected so far to the independence initiative. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said back in 2015 that a potential breakup of the Iraqi Kurds with Bagdad is Iraq's domestic issue that Turkey would not meddle in. "That's none of our business," Erdogan said during a live television interview then, indicating Turkey would not oppose such a move. Over the years, there have been quite a few reports and columns in Turkish media that talked about the AKP's vision of enlarging Turkey's territory. Back in October, when Erdogan's emphasis on Turkey's involuntary acceptance of the Treaty of Lausanne was a hot topic of discussion, a columnist in the pro-government Yeni Safak daily maintained that Erdogan aimed to make Turkey bigger. Mehmet Acet, the columnist who based his claim on an anonymous cabinet minister, quoted Erdogan as saying at a National Security Council meeting at the presidential palace in early October, "Turkey can no longer remain at this point. The status quo will change in some way or other. We will either win by making a move forward or we will be destined to get smaller. Personally, I'm determined to make moves forward." Following the quote, Acet said a new status quo would emerge in Turkey's southern neighbors in the years to come, based on the developments in the area stretching from Syria's Aleppo to Mosul. Erdogan's oft-repeated reference last fall to Turkey's historical rights over the Mosul region in northern Iraq, together with his criticism of the Treaty of Lausanne, also reinforced doubts that Turkey may be planning to unite with the Iraqi Kurds. In a speech back in November, Erdogan underlined that the Treaty of Lausanne is not an unquestionable text and that Turkey would make efforts to enhance it. Noting that the balance of power that was in place during the Cold War is getting shattered one by one, he said "despite that, they still try to keep us confined to (the treaty of) Lausanne." Following a successful war of independence, the newly-founded Turkish Republic signed the treaty in 1923 with the Allied Powers in the First World War. Hasan Koni, head of the Department of Public International Law with Istanbul's Kultur University, feels Turkey's unification with the Iraqi Kurds is unlikely. The major powers in the world would not like Turkey to get bigger while controlling at the same time substantial reserves of oil and natural gas, he said. It is widely argued that the Iraqi Kurds can not seek independence without first having won the support of at least one neighboring country, as it is landlocked and can not survive if all its neighbors are hostile. "Looking at the current picture, Turkey is the country in the region which is behind the Kurds," said Dilek. Iran, an ally of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, is against the Kurdish bid for independence. According to Iraqi media reports last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will not interfere with the Kurdish referendum. The Iraqi Kurds seek an amicable divorce from Baghdad, which has been militarily weakened by years of civil war and the ongoing battle against the Islamic State. Many believe the process would no be smooth as the Kurds hope. To make things worse, the Kurds also claim for themselves some territories, including Kirkuk, that are designated as disputed by the Iraqi Constitution. Iraqi Turkmens as well as Arabs strongly oppose the Kurds' seizure of Kirkuk. Turkmens in Iraq, with an estimated population of two million, are the third biggest ethnic minority after Arabs and Kurds. "History and politics will not permit a velvet divorce. The Arabs would oppose it. The Iranians will not support it," stated Logoglu. In the view of Koni, Turkey would risk dismemberment in future should a unification with the Kurds take place as the country would, more than today, be composed of two major ethnic identities, namely Turks and Kurds. Noting ethnic identities have now become very prominent in the world, he said separatism based on ethnic identity continues to be a problem, even for some rich Western countries. The Western powers are known to have plans since the fall of the Ottoman State to create a greater Kurdistan that would extend to several countries in the region. The Treaty of Sevres the Ottoman State was forced to sign following the First World War had opened the way for an independent Kurdistan in Turkey's southeastern region, but the project was ruined by Turkey's successful independence war. The U.S. aspiration to have a Kurdish state in the Middle East was revealed in May 2015 by a KRG minister during a live broadcast on Iraqi Kurdistan's Rudaw TV. According to press reports in Turkey at the time, Derbaz Kosret Resul, the cabinet minister, said then U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden told KRG President Massoud Barzani during his visit to the U.S. that both of them would see the establishment of a Kurdish state in their life times. There have been other signs about Washington's being after an independent Kurdistan. In an article published in June 2006 in the U.S. Armed Forces Journal, Ralph Peters, a retired officer, wrote that Turkey's eastern part should be seen as an occupied territory that really belonged to Kurds. In his article titled "How a better Middle East would look," Peters wrote "as for the Kurds of Syria and Iran, they, too, would rush to join an independent Kurdistan if they could ... A Free Kurdistan, stretching from Diyarbakir through Tabriz, would be the most pro-Western state between Bulgaria and Japan." According to Logoglu, Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran must come together to defend the existing borders of their countries to avoid a potential disaster, while the Kurds must seek to be recognized as a distinct ethnic community in the countries they live in. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:00:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BONN, Germany, May 18 (Xinhua) -- United Nations top climate officials have called for the commitment of contracting parties to the Paris Agreement on Thursday. A new round of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiation conferences kicked off on May 8, focusing on concrete implementation of the Paris Agreement and preparation for the 23rd UN Climate Change Conference scheduled to be held in Bonn in November this year. Considering that Donald Trump administration will soon make the ultimate decision on whether to stay within the Paris Agreement, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa called on all parties to adhere to the commitment to the Paris Agreement. Espinosa praised the efforts of Chinese delegation over the past few days, saying they have "supported the Secretariat of the UNFCCC and the negotiation process with very constructive attitude." She mentioned specifically the speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, in which Xi called on all signatories to stick to the Paris Agreement instead of walking away. She welcomed the speech, saying "China has very clearly expressed its commitment to the Paris Agreement, along with other emerging economies and developed countries." "I want to underline that China is our very strategic and important partner," she said. The Paris Agreement was agreed by the 195 member economies which attended the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. It went into effect last November. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:05:22|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China said Thursday the Japan-New Zealand prime ministers' meeting regarding the South China Sea issue was "inappropriate." A joint press release by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his New Zealand counterpart Bill English, called on parties to settle their territorial disputes in the South China Sea in light of a 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal, according to Japan's Kyoto News. "With joint efforts by involved parties, including China, the South China Sea situation has stabilized and improved," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying. Japan has used this situation to make trouble, play up non-existent tensions and redirect attention to the so-called arbitral tribunal, while involved parties have already turned a page, Hua told a routine press briefing. "We have to ask, what does Japan truly care about? Is it concerned about the stability of the South China Sea, or is it afraid of China-Philippines and China-ASEAN relations developing as the situation stabilizes," Hua said. She said Japan should focus on building trust among regional countries and promoting peace and stability. Hua also called on Japan to turn its commitment to improving relations with China into concrete policies and actions. "We hope countries outside the region will correctly comprehend the situation, treat the South China Sea issue objectively and rationally, not allow themselves to be taken advantage by other countries, and contribute to regional peace and stability," Hua said. During the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held in Beijing on May 14-15, leaders of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam expressed willingness to enhance cooperation with China and maintain regional peace and stability, according to the spokesperson. China and ASEAN officials will meet on Thursday and Friday in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, to discuss the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Moreover, China and the Philippines will convene the first meeting of the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea issue in Guiyang on Friday, Hua said. "Both sides expect to overcome their differences through dialogue, boost maritime cooperation, and continue to create conditions for resolving disputes," she added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:05:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MANILA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order that bans smoking in all public places in the Philippines, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said on Thursday. Ubial said Duterte signed the executive order on Tuesday, which sets strict guidelines on designated areas where smoking is prohibited or may be allowed, with breaches attracting a maximum penalty of four months in jail and a fine up to 5,000 pesos (100 U.S. dollars). The executive order specifically bans smoking in all public places including schools, workplaces, government facilities, establishment that provides food and drinks, accommodations and professional services, among others. The executive order also states that buildings are not allowed to have more than one designated smoking areas (DSAs) and that minors should not be allowed in the DSAs. The executive order also reaffirms the ban on the sale of tobacco to those below 18 years old. The ban becomes effective 60 days after publication from a newspaper of general circulation. In signing the executive order, Duterte said the move is in pursuit of the government policy to guarantee the enjoyment of the right of every person to breathe clean air as stated under the Philippine Clear Air Act of 1999. Ubial said a number of tobacco control interventions, particularly tobaccos taxation, have led to a significant drop in current smokers from 17 million in 2009 to 15.9 million in 2015. In October last year, Duterte said the nationwide executive order is patterned after the smoking ban that he imposed when he was mayor of Davao City, his home city in the southern Philippines. "If you want to smoke, find a place where it is allowed. Now, I've always been against even building a structure inside just to accommodate smokers. That ain't the way," Duterte said at the time, saying that smoking can lead to diseases like cancer. "The stats will show, there is no debate on that. They will die of cancer if they continue to mess up with nicotine," Duterte said. by Xinhua Writer Zhong Ya BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A famous saying by English poet George Herbert goes "One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters." In the case of Ding Zheng, who was born with cerebral palsy in China's Hubei Province and is studying law at Harvard University, his mother Zou Hongyan is worth a thousand schoolmasters and more. Zou Hongyan and Ding Zheng at home. (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) SAVING HER SON FROM DEATH AT THE COST OF DIVORCE "There is little value in rescuing the baby. He will become mentally disabled or paralyzed. I suggest you give up," a doctor at Jingzhou District Hospital told Zou and her family on July 21, 1988. Zou was shocked. "We shall give up the baby. He will make our whole life miserable," her husband said. His "rational" words hurt Zou deeply. On the fourth day after giving birth, Zou managed to go to the intensive care unit where her baby was, only to find him especially "quiet," neither crying nor even frowning after a nurse gave him injections of medicine. The 25-year-old mother had suffered enough to give birth to the child. She had been carried home several times by her students after fainting during her pregnancy while teaching; she had forced herself out of the habit of sleeping late, and into one of reading poems for antenatal training in the early mornings; she had walked a long way to the market to buy fresh vegetables to provide better nutrition for the child in her womb, and she had forced herself to eat even while suffering from severe morning sickness. But her child was in a life-threatening situation after suffering intrauterine hypoxia due to the medical negligence in Jingzhou City of Hubei Province on July 18, 1988, leaving her with the choices of either taking the baby off life support or keeping him on it, but probably ending up living a difficult life taking care of the physically-handicapped or even paralyzed boy. Zou Hongyan and Ding Zheng at home. (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) "No! I shall not let my boy die! I felt so happy when his little feet gently kicked my abdomen, and his heart beat together with mine, like dancing a ballroom dance," Zou said. "You are just too stubborn to listen to the doctor's advice. You will be the one to take care of the baby," said Zou's husband. Yet Zou did not change her mind and started the long journey of rehabilitation training for Ding. Zou divorced her husband when Ding turned 10 due to their differences over whether to raise Ding. SHOULDERING THE FAMILY'S BURDEN "Of all the disabilities, I was most afraid that Ding Zheng would be mentally disabled," Zou recalled. She started to take Ding to Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to check his intelligence when he was less than 100 days old. With continuous treatment, the day finally came when the doctor said Ding's intelligence level was normal after the boy turned one year of age. "Nothing was more soothing than the news that my precious boy has normal intelligence," Zou told Xinhua. However, due to damaged motor neurons in the cerebellum, Ding had great difficulties in sports: He could not hold things until the age of one; he learnt to stand at the age of two, walk at three and jump at six. Zou instilled perseverance into her son and never let him give up. Ding needed massage treatment three times a week, costing five yuan (about 0.7 U.S. dollars) for each session. But Zou's salary as a teacher was just over 100 yuan (about 14.5 dollars) in the 1990s. There was no insurance covering Ding's rehabilitation. The family was packed together into a room of less than 20 square meters. Whenever there was rain, basins and buckets were put on the bed to collect the rain drops. In order to make a living and treat Ding's illness, Zou did many part-time jobs, including selling insurance after work for five years. On June 5, 2008, Doctor Xiao Daiqi of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine filed a medical certificate in Chinese, which reads that "The patient Ding Zheng, born on July 18, 1988, suffered intrauterine hypoxia at birth, and was rescued by inserting intubation into his weasands to provide oxygen. He had convulsions the second day after birth. He received treatment at our hospital before the age of ten. He has dyskinesia, with abnormal left foot and incoordinated walk gesture. But his intelligence is normal." (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) "I started to treat Ding Zheng when he was under one year old and was suffering from severe cerebral palsy. It was because his mother paid special attention to his illness, took him to our hospital for treatment at a very early age and continued his treatment non-stop for over ten years that he could recover to such a great extent. Early and continuous treatment for cerebral palsy patients is crucial," said 75-year-old Xiao Daiqi, who was a doctor at the department of pediatrics in Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. "Many hypoxic brain damage patients have low intelligence. I think, in Ding Zheng's case, his mother's unwavering support for early and continuous treatment for him played a key role in his recovery," the doctor told Xinhua. "My mom has undergone huge hardships to bring me up. When I was young, once we encountered heavy snow when she carried me by bike to the hospital for massage treatment. Suddenly, the bike fell over into the mud. When my mom helped me up, the bike fell down; when she lifted the bike, I fell down. The moment we reached the hospital, both of us were covered with mud," said Ding, adding that even the doctor was moved by Zou's persistence. Ding Zheng was receiving Chinese massage treatment at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) "If I took a day off in bad weather, what would happen if Ding Zheng or I got sick? Since I chose to rescue him 29 years ago, I tried my best to cure him of the illness," Zou said. "The moments when my child stood up, walked and called me 'mommy' for the first time are the happiest in my life; it's like receiving a gift from heaven. I feel I'm a lucky mom," Zou said. STRICT WITH HER SON Some may say Zou shows her son a lot of "tough love." Using chopsticks, a skill that comes naturally to most Chinese children, is a tremendously difficult task for Ding because of his illness. Many friends and neighbors persuaded Zou to allow Ding to quit. "Using chopsticks is a must-do for Chinese people. If he is the only one who does not use chopsticks at the table, people will get curious. And then he has to explain to everybody that he has cerebral palsy, which will surely hurt his self-esteem," said Zou, under whose strict guidance for over a year, Ding finally learnt how to use chopsticks. Zou tried everything she could to help Ding to overcome any obstacles his handicap had created. "I don't want him to feel ashamed about his illness......I ask him to work harder than others and have higher requirements of him," said Zou. Zou Hongyan taught Ding Zheng to use pen. (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) Ding had difficulty holding a pen. So, Zou taught him to draw some shapes with thick-bodied pens by holding his hand, and then gradually changing to thin pens. Even though Ding was weak in his physical movements, he started learning how to read from his mother at the tender age of one, and he knew more than 100 Chinese characters before he was two years old. But Zou neither helped Ding with his homework nor forced him to participate in training courses. "My mom's catch-phrase is 'Don't ask me questions about your homework, I'm illiterate,' which I think is also a kind of educational concept," said Ding, adding that his mother was focusing on instilling good habits into him instead of helping him solve concrete difficulties. MOM AS A MENTOR Thanks to his mother's intense nurturing, Ding graduated from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University, and then enrolled in the Law School of Peking University in the same year. Zou attended Ding Zheng's graduation ceremony at Peking University. (Courtesy of Zou Hongyan) In March 2016, Ding was admitted by the Law School of Harvard University after working as a lawyer for a year. "I've never dared to apply for Harvard University, but my mom always encouraged me to give it a try. Whenever I hesitate, she is always there guiding me," said Ding. In terms of educating children, Zou thinks parents should respect their children while at the same time being prepared to learn new things themselves. Zou has always treated Ding as an equal and likes to discuss important decisions with him. Ding acknowledges that their treating each other as equals is the foundation of their healthy relationship. "A lot of parents show strong ability and eloquence at work, while they turn bewildered when it comes to educating children, either spoiling the kids or lacking patience, failing to discuss with their kids in an equal and earnest way. My mom convinces me with arguments and stories when we have different opinions," said Ding. Ding Zheng's admission letter from Harvard Law School. (Courtesy of Ding Zheng) "Ding Zheng's mother is one of the most patient parents I've ever seen, with so many methods to communicate with and enlighten her son. The boy showed a little bit of a strong personality and tended to stick to his own ideas. There were several small disagreements between us, and Zou would always help her son open up to me," Xie Yingshui, Ding's head teacher at Hubei Wuchang Experimental High School, told Xinhua. In Ding's opinion, Zou is his mentor, while Zou regards herself as her son's sincere friend. "I've never thought of myself as a great mother. I'm just a mother who would like to achieve continuous progress for her son," said Zou, adding that she would read books and prepare for any difficulties Ding might encounter whenever he entered a new school. Even though Harvard University has provided financial aid accounting for three quarters of Ding's tuition fee, the remaining quarter poses a huge burden for this single-parent family. "When I was a kid, I had been expecting to achieve some success when turning 30. Now, I'm 29, still financially relying on my mom. I want to work harder and make enough money to guarantee my mother a better life," Ding told Xinhua. (Ren Weidong, Dong Yue, Li Changzheng and Liao Jun also contributed to the report.) Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:20:31|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close Senior officials from China and ASEAN countries attend the 14th senior officials' meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Xu) GUIYANG, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from China and ASEAN countries Thursday agreed on a framework for the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. The consensus came during the 14th senior officials' meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The meeting, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Singapore's Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Chee Wee Kiong, was held ahead of the upcoming China-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in July. The approval of the framework was reached earlier than scheduled, Liu told the press after the meeting, adding that according to the work plan, China and ASEAN countries were expected to finish consultation on the draft framework for the COC by the first half of this year. The framework, which represents a crucial phased result in the entire COC negotiation process, has laid a solid foundation for further negotiations, Liu stressed. Liu said all parties have vowed to continue to constructively advance the negotiations toward the early conclusion of the COC. During the meeting, all parties also agreed to continue to implement the DOC and reaffirmed plans to solve disputes via negotiation, manage differences with a regional framework of regulations, deepen maritime cooperation, and move forward COC negotiation to safeguard peace and stability of the region. The meeting approved a paper on the establishment of three technological committees, agreed on outcomes of the trial application of the China-ASEAN senior diplomats' hotline platform, and updated the 2016-2018 work plan. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the signing of the DOC. All parties pledged to implement the DOC to build a South China Sea environment of peace, friendship and cooperation Prior to the meeting, the 21st Joint Working Group meeting on the Implementation of the DOC was held. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:25:35|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Any attempts to establish "two Chinas," "one China, one Taiwan," or "Taiwan independence" is doomed to fail, a spokesperson from the Chinese mainland said Thursday. An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to the name change of a Taiwan organization responsible for handling ties with Japan. A ceremony was held in Taiwan Wednesday announcing the change of name from the Association of East Asian Relations to Taiwan-Japan Relations Association. An said the Foreign Ministry has already made its stance clear on this issue. "I want to stress that any attempts to create disturbances in the international arena or establish 'two Chinas,' 'one China, one Taiwan,' or 'Taiwan independence' will be in vain and doomed to fail," An said. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Wednesday denounced the name change of the Taiwan organization, urging Japan to abide by the one-China policy and not to disturb China-Japan ties. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:25:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANGKOK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A rear-ended collision in central Thailand killed a pickup truck driver and four Cambodian workers on Wednesday, local media reported. The crash happened at about 2 p.m. local time in Chachengsao province when a pickup truck carrying Cambodian workers collided into an 18-wheel truck, according to Daily News. Local reports said the driver, 28, together with four Cambodian workers died at the scene. Three other Cambodian passengers including a two-year-old boy were seriously injured and hospitalized. Initial investigations showed that the area where the accident occurred was hit by torrential rains. The crash is under investigation. Thailand's roads are currently ranked the second most lethal in the world after Libya's by the World Health Organization. The government has made efforts to reduce fatalities on Thailand's notoriously dangerous roads, exhorting Thais not to speed, or drink and drive. BUCHAREST, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Romania is ready to start accession talks with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as soon as possible, said on Thursday Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu. "OECD membership will reconfirm the economic progress and development levels attained by Romania," Grindeanu a conference. "We strongly believe that this can happen quite soon," said the head of government, adding: "We are aware of the process difficulty and we are ready to do our best in the process," and Romania will need support from external partners that are OECD member states. According to the prime minister, Romania has recorded constant progress that sped up over the past years to assimilate the OECD instruments, while at the same time taking part in the global working structures of the organization. "We are getting actively consulted and we are interested in even closer cooperation with the OECD in many key areas, such as macroeconomic policies, corporate governance, liberalization of capital flows, migration and many other areas," Grindeanu added. According to him, the OECD accession will mean a more efficient public administration that is more attuned to the demands of a global world and the Romanian government must conduct vital reforms by assimilating the best existing practices and standards. OECD is an intergovernmental economic organization with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:50:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Yuan Quan and Guo Ying BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- On the east side of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the National Museum of China draws crowds with its rich cultural relics and artworks. But the world's largest museum also boasts a "living treasure" - Zhang Peng, China's most famous museum interpreter. After 15 years as a volunteer interpreter, Zhang has a large following in the museum and on social media. People ask for his duty roster in order to catch his tours. His book on the Forbidden City has sold out in downtown bookstores. Running children keep quiet when he starts speaking. They address the 34-year-old as "Brother". Zhang started volunteering in 2003, when he was a law student at university. Unlike his schoolmates who looked for internships, he spent his time in museums. Born in Shaanxi Province, home of relics such as the terracotta army, Zhang loved learning about culture and history. He recalls being mesmerized by treasures he had seen only in textbooks on his first visit to the National Museum. Zhang learned his guide was a volunteer and he immediately delivered his resume. Two months later, he had a volunteer job. Every weekend, he would rise early, and take a two-hour bus trip from his campus to the museum. He would interpret for four or five hours, and head home after dark. "I like being close to these precious relics. It's fantastic," he says, "and it is free." Sometimes he also volunteers in other museums including the Forbidden City and the China Millennium Monument. He continued volunteering after starting a paid job. In 2009, he won a national museum interpreter competition, which brought him national acclaim and accolades such as "Beijing May Fourth Medal", the highest honor for young Beijingers. Chinese museum interpreters have long been stereotyped as guides who stand firm, recite their scripts monotonously, and have little personal interaction with their audience. However, Zhang believes he has a responsibility to show that a museum interpreter can be a good speaker and inspire people with a desire to learn. Zhang asks questions to involve his audience and enriches official scripts with interesting stories or academic arguments, encouraging audiences to think. He kneels to eye level with children and speaks simply so they can understand. Many primary schools now invite him to give lessons on cultural relics. "I have two cupboards of gifts made by my little audiences, including a girl's note saying 'Marry me'", says Zhang with a blush. Since 2008, many Chinese museums have opened for free. Museum, exhibition and visitor numbers have grown rapidly. By 2016, China had 4,873 museums and more than 30,000 exhibitions were held annually, drawing 900 million visitors. Pictures of sensational exhibitions and rare treasures sweep social media, while books and documentaries are made into period dramas. "Well-known interpreters are gaining followers. They are one of the most enchanting features of China's museums," Pan Shouyong, Professor of Anthropology and Museology at Minzu University of China, told Xinhua on Thursday, the annual International Museum Day. Museums are adapting to the new environment. "In the past, Chinese museums considered collections and research their priorities, but now they focus on the public," says Pan. In 2014, Zhang resigned his post at a state-owned enterprise and started a business educating teenagers about museums. He offers online and offline courses on exhibitions, sells books and organizes study trips abroad. It was difficult at first, but Zhang has confidence, as the government called for social forces to participate in public culture services earlier this year. He still volunteers in museums. "I want to help young people develop an interest in museums, which are wonderful places to visit again and again," says Zhang. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 22:55:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSUL, Iraq, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units retook control of a small military airbase and eight villages from Islamic State (IS) militants on Thursday, a week after the units launched an operation aiming to dislodge the extremist militants from areas beside the Iraqi-Syrian border in western Mosul, the Iraqi military said. The predominantly Shiite Hashd Shaabi units, backed by army helicopters, freed the airbase in south of the town of al-Qairwan, which located in the rugged sprawling area south of Sinjar, about 100 km west of Mosul, said the Hashd Shaabi units in a statement. The paramilitary units also freed eight villages after sporadic heavy clashes with IS militants in north of IS-held al-Qairwan, the statement said. The clashes resulted in the killing of 54 IS militants and the destroying an IS headquarters and many of their posts, along with detonating a booby-trapped car, the statement added. Meanwhile, Mahir Abdul-Hussein Attya, a cameraman for the Hashd Shaabi, was killed in the clashes near the town of al-Qairwan during the day, while Ahmed Ghanim, a broadcast engineer, was wounded when his TV broadcast car was hit by a mortar round in a separate incident, the Hashd Shaabi said in another statement. The units currently surround the town from three sides, cutting off IS supply routes along the main roads between the IS-held towns of Tal Afar and Sinjar. The units are preparing to free al-Qairwan town from IS militants in order to advance further to the west to liberate the other militants-seized town of Baaj, 25 km west of al-Qairwan. The operation enabled the Hashd Shaabi units to secure the border areas between Iraq and neighboring Syria and cut off the IS's supply routes between Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa, the capital of the IS's self-declared caliphate. Furthermore, the operation came as Iraqi security forces, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, were simultaneously conducting a major offensive to dislodge IS militants from their major stronghold in western Mosul. Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to control parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 23:05:59|Editor: MJ Sadeq Zibakalam, professor of political science of Tehran University, receives an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Tehran, capital of Iran, on May 18, 2017. Mass participation of the Iranians in Friday's presidential vote will bring victory for incumbent President Hassan Rouhani and his reformist supporters, an Iranian political expert told Xinhua on Thursday. (Xinhua/Meng Tao) TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Mass participation of the Iranians in Friday's presidential vote will bring victory for incumbent President Hassan Rouhani and his reformist supporters, an Iranian political expert told Xinhua on Thursday. According to the official figures, nearly 56 million Iranians are eligible voters. "It is estimated that the hardliners vote will be around 10 million, and that of the reformists will be about 15 million. So, 25 million will determinedly take part in the election as they do not need any persuasion," Sadeq Zibakalam, professor of political science of Tehran University, told Xinhua. Yet nearly 30 million voters do not incline to participate in the election for various reasons, or are still undecided, Zibakalam said, adding that Iran's election history shows most of the undecided voted for reformist candidates at the last moment. "It means that if President Rouhani can persuade the undecided, he will have a huge success, because at this moment he has at least 15 million votes, and if he can persuade 20 percent, or if he manages to attract a third of them, his vote can easily jump above 20 million," he estimated. "What I am really trying to say is that the result of tomorrow's election would not be decided by Rouhani's supporters or those of the hardliners; it would be decided by the people who are undecided and will go to the polling stations at the last minute," the professor noted. In recent days, Iran's political landscape has been dramatically polarized over the bitter rhetoric of rival candidates ahead of the Friday presidential race. The conservative camp, led by the cleric Ebrahim Raisi, criticizes Rouhani's "inefficient" economic policies over the past four years, while Rouhani and his reformist fans accuse the conservatives of "retarding country's political and social development" and bringing hardships back on Iranians. Iranian reformist leaders, including former president Mohammad Khatami, have unanimously voiced their support for Rouhani. Earlier, Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope parliamentary group, also announced that the policy-making council of the reformist movement would support Rouhani. In his recent campaigns, Rouhani has persistently called on his supporters to persuade whoever they know to go to the ballot boxes on Friday. Mass turnout in the election will disappoint his rivals and secure victory for him, Rouhani has said. It is why Rouhani's slogans have been radicalized recently during his campaign, as the Iranians can see more of reform-oriented slogans and of praises for the reformist leaders, according to Zibakalam. "Rouhani is hopeful to attract the undecided because they are not basically very religious, they are not very much the supporters of the Islamic establishment; otherwise they need no persuasion," he said. "Therefore, if anyone can offer attractive slogans on human rights, women equality, more press freedom and social freedom, he can attract the undecided and their support. That's what President Rouhani is doing now," the professor pointed out. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 23:11:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Respondents in a survey were divided over college students seeking part-time jobs as couriers, according to an article published in Thursday's edition of the China Youth Daily. The survey, which polled 2,008 people, found that more than 40 percent of people believed that being a courier may be a waste of the college students' talent, while over 30 percent did not agree. Moreover, 50.6 percent of respondents said all careers should be viewed equally. In the survey, about 48.9 percent of the people expressed concerns that being a part-time courier may disturb the students' study. Others worried that being a courier would not bring the students much personal development. The newspaper article quoted college graduate Ma Hairui as saying that he believes his past experience as a part-time courier was worthwhile as he has improved his communication skills and his understanding of the delivery industry. Over 58 percent of the survey respondents also agreed that being a part-time courier could help college students better understand society. Xia Rui, a teacher with Lanzhou University, told the newspaper that working part-time, including as a courier, may give students a chance to experience and understand another profession outside their own majors. People in the survey also noted that the students' own interests, ideals, persistence and flexibility are important in their career paths. The express delivery industry has been booming in China. Statistics released by the State Post Bureau last month revealed that the sector's business revenues in the first quarter this year have topped 98 billion yuan (14.2 billion U.S. dollars), registering year-on-year growth of 27.4 percent. Express delivery businesses nationwide have handled about 7.6 billion parcels during this period, according to the bureau. HELSINKI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini on Thursday underlined the importance of the Arctic Council remaining outside international political tensions. Soini made the remarks when addressing the official launch ceremony of the Finnish chairmanship of the council in Helsinki, Finland's capital. Soini said the concept of security was understood somewhat differently in various countries, adding the discussion amongst foreign ministers at the meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska in the United States had been "colorful", but no one had intentions to militarize the area. "But there is more under the polar ice than just fish," he said. Soini said the increased international tension had not yet impacted the practical work of the Arctic Council. He said Finland wanted to concentrate on practical solutions. The Finnish foreign minister said it was important that the Paris climate agreement and the goals of sustainable development were included in the declaration given in Fairbanks, but noted the United States was still defining its climate policy. Soini also highlighted the work of the Arctic Economic Council, which is now headed by Tero Vauraste, the CEO of Arctia, a Finnish company that provides icebreaking and other maritime services. The Arctic Economic Council is an independent body that gives business advice to the Arctic Council. At the opening on Thursday, a warning was issued against excessive economic utilization of the Arctic. Tiina Sanila-Aikio, chair of the Saami Parliament representing the original peoples of northern Finland, used a panel discussion to express opposition to a planned arctic railroad across Finland. She said the improved transport with rail connection would enhance mining and other resources in the region. She said the ownership rights to the natural resources in the far north still remained unresolved. The Arctic Council comprises the five Nordic countries: Finland, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Iceland and Russia. Six representative bodies of indigenous peoples are also represented. There are 13 observers. The Arctic Council is also now beginning cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization. WINDHOEK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Health facilities in Namibia's Kavango West and East regions are using technology to boost health in the northern area, in efforts improve service delivery and promote the well-being of patients for sustainable development. Senior Medical Officer at the Kavango region health facility, Godwin Chinweze, said that, a first, in May this year, they introduced 39 short message service printers that reduce the time it takes nurses and doctors to get several test results of patients. "The use of printers improve service delivery by reducing time it takes of blood including tests related to HIV to get back to the patient," he said on Thursday. The printers were procured through a partnership between Namibia Institute of Pathology, Ministry of Health and Social Services as well as PEPFAR and is supported by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. According to Chinweze, over the past years, it would take weeks or even up to a month for patients to get their results. Now, with the new modern printers, the pathology institute, sends the results directly to the health facility. "In the past, it would take weeks to get results. Now things have changed. With the short message printers, within 24 hours our nurses are now able to assess the results. It thus helps me as a medical official to make an informed decision and assist the patient and simultaneously promote healthy lives in the community," he added. Rachel Comer, Deputy Director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that the efforts are a commitment towards sustainable development, which calls for improved health and promotion of well-being of all citizens. "The technology ensures that people get their results on time. Which in return motivates the patients as they know that there is efficiency at the clinic and would rely on the health facilities," Comer said. TALLINN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A Beijing educational delegation of 16 universities and schools Thursday attracted about 100 local students and participants who want to know more about the education sector in the China's capital city. The educational introduction event came as the first educational delegation sent abroad by the Beijing Municipal government after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was successfully held in Beijing on May 14-15, said the event organizer. The exhibition platforms were crowded with local students, arousing high interest in studying in Beijing. Three school students in Tallinn told Xinhua that they are expecting to study in Chinese universities with scholarship or on self expense for the majors of science of chemical, business and philosophy. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Huang Kan, Deputy head of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, said that there were a total of 120,000 foreign students from 193 countries and regions studying at Beijing universities and schools in 2016, expecting the event to promote educational exchange and cooperation between China and Estonia to bring the two peoples closer. Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Qu Zhe said that the cultural and educational exchange between the two countries is increasing, so is the interest of Estonian students to understand China, wishing a great success to the event to familiarize the participants with Beijing education. Andres Pajula, head of Tallinn City Education Department of City Administration, welcomed the arrival of the delegation, hailing the educational introduction event as helpful for the local students to know more about China. After Tallinn, the delegation was scheduled to visit Latvia and Lithuania. A drone sprays pesticide in a field in Duchang County of Jiujiang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 2, 2015. (Xinhua/Fu Jianbin) LONDON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Two men who used drones to fly drugs into prisons in London and Hertfordshire, have been jailed for a total of more than ten years, London's Metropolitan Police said Tuesday. Tomas Natalevicius, 35, was given seven years and eight months in prison for conspiracy to supply prohibited items into London's Pentonville Prison and conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis into a prison in Hertfordshire. Dalius Zilinskas, 33, was given two years and eight months in prison' imprisonment for conspiracy to supply illegal drugs to the prison in Hertfordshire. The Met said their police officers were patrolling around Pentonville Prison looking for offenders trying to smuggle illegal items into the prison. They spotted a drone carrying a package towards the prison, but it crash landed, and a car was seen escaping at speed. DNA testing led to Natalevicius being arrested as a suspect. Police in Hertfordshire spotted another drone flying into The Mount prison, and they arrested Natalevicius and Zilinskas after they were found with a drone control unit. Prison officers carried out a search of cells at the prison and found drugs and cell phones. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Heatley from the Met said: "The drones carried a substantial amount of drugs and a large quantity of mobile phones into prisons, which we were able to intercept, thanks to the vigilance of officers and the public. "The message is clear, if you commit a criminal offence such as this you will be caught and prosecuted," Heatley said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-18 23:57:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday signed a loan of 95 million U.S. dollars with a Chinese agricultural firm to develop inclusive and sustainable livestock farming in China, the bank said in an online statement. The loan to Jiangsu Lihua Animal Husbandry Stock Company (Lihua)included a direct loan in yuan equivalent to 62.5 million U.S. dollars and a complementary yuan loan worth 32.5 million U.S. dollars through commercial banks, with ADB acting as the lender of record. "Lihua has shown that it is a proven leader in the modernization of China's agriculture industry, which is critical for the country's food security and economic growth," said Martin Lemoine, Agribusiness Investment Unit Head in ADB's Private Sector Operations Department. "ADB's assistance will help the company expand its inclusive and sustainable business model, with smallholder farmers at the core of the production process," he said. ADB's financing is expected to support Lihua to expand its livestock breeding farms as well as contract farming in rural areas, while helping the company increase capital expenditure in environmental protection, animal health, and food safety, according to the statement. The project marked ADB's first commercial non-sovereign assistance to an agricultural project in China. The loan is expected to help Lihua increase the number of contract farming households by 24 percent to at least 5,600 and double farmer's annual income by 2020, the statement said. JAKARTA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian police and quarantine officials have arrested a Japanese man for illegally attempting to bring more than 250 reptiles out of the country, conservationist said here on Thursday. The man tried to smuggle 181 lizards, 65 snakes and seven turtles from provincial capital of North Sumatra of Medan to Haneda of Japan, said Tisna Nando, a conservationist at Wildlife Conservation Society Indonesia. Nando said that some of the reptiles are classified as endangered species. "The officials found something strange in a luggage during X-ray check, when it was opened, there were reptiles inside," the conservationist told local media of Kompas.com. Ruchyana, vice director of Angkasa Pura II, operator of the airport, said that the arrested man is a major player in illegal wildlife trade. He attempted to smuggle reptiles which are protected by the Indonesian government and the international communities, said Ruchyana. Naito could be charged under Indonesian animal quarantine law which leads him to undergo up to three years in prison. Indonesia, an archipelago country with over 17,500 islands, is home to numerous of reptiles, and some of them are on the brink of extinction due to poaching. BISHKEK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has amended Kyrgyzstan's anti-terrorism laws, which now call for the official publication of a list of terrorist organizations, the president's press service reported on Thursday. Under the amendments, those in charge of ensuring national security are obliged to make a single list of organizations recognized as terrorists and publish it annually in print media and on official government websites. The purpose is to counteract the influence of radical extremist ideology on young people and timely inform the public about the terrorist organizations recognized by the courts of Kyrgyzstan. On April 5 this year, members of the Kyrgyz Parliament, while discussing amendments to anti-terrorism laws, proposed to publish an updated list of terrorist organizations annually. There are 20 such organizations in Kyrgyzstan. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 00:12:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) turnover went down 36 percent Thursday to 8.2 million U.S. dollars from 33 million shares, a decline from 48 million worth 12 million dollars in the previous session. But despite the decline, a number of large stocks led by Safaricom, Cooperative Bank and Kenya Commercial Banks recorded significant gains in their prices. At least prices of 10 stocks went up, with Equity Bank and East African Breweries recording the highest gains of between 3.5 and 4.5 percent. Safaricom, Kenya's leading telecom, remained the top traded stock after moving 20.1 million shares at 0.20 dollars, an increase of 1.3 percent. Wednesday, the telecom moved 12 million shares. Cooperative Bank was the second top traded stock, after moving 3.1 million shares at 0.16 dollars, a 0.4 percent high. KCB, on the other hand, sustained an upward trend trading 2 million shares at a new high of 0.38 dollars, a 3.4 percent surge. At number four was retail outlet Uchumi, which moved 1.5 million at 0.02 dollars while KenyaRe came fifth with 1.2 million shares. Following the surge in share prices of top stocks, the NSE 20 Share Index closed the day at a new high. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 00:22:34|Editor: MJ Refugees from South Sudan wait to be settled outside the Khour Al-Waral refugee camp in Al-Salam locality, some 69-kilometers south of Rebek, capital of White Nile State, Sudan, May 18, 2017. The Khour Al-Waral refugee camp accommodated 50,000 refugees. The majority of them are from Upper Nile State of South Sudan on the border with Sudan. (Xinhua/Mohamed Babiker) AL-SALAM, SUDAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- As the rainy season is approaching, the suffering of around 50,000 South Sudanese refugees in a camp in Sudan's White Nile State is likely to worsen. Khour Al-Waral refugee camp in Al-Salam locality, some 69 km south of Rebek, the capital city of White Nile State, is accommodating 50,000 refugees. The majority of them are from Upper Nile State of South Sudan on the border with Sudan. Despite the efforts made by the Sudanese authorities to provide humanitarian needs for thousands of refugees, the situation is worsening with the increasing influx of refugees fleeing the war and famine in South Sudan. During a tour for a team of journalists visiting Khour Al-Waral camp, a Xinhua correspondent saw several arrivals of new refugees to the camp. The increasing number of refugees amounts to a big burden to Sudan, which is so far hosting over 600,000 South Sudanese refugees. The World Food Programme (WFP) is tasked with the distribution of some food materials at the camp, which includes only corn, lentils, oil and salt. Around 26,800 refugees inside Khour Al-Waral camp benefit from the food ration provided by the WFP weekly. The daily individual ration in the camp amounts to 475 grams of corn, 60 grams of lentils, 30 grams of oil and 10 grams of salt. "These food materials provided to us are not enough as they do not include basic items such as onion, sugar and milk," Adot Gai, a South Sudanese refugee, told Xinhua. "We do not have cooking supplies. Coal is not available and firewood is hard to obtain. Gas is totally unavailable," he noted. Omdah Gabriel Zak, another refugee at the camp, complained about the scarcity of water inside the camp. "Drinking water is not enough. We appeal to the international organizations to work to resolve the water issue," he told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Mohamed Abdou Taha, Director of Khour Al-Waral refugee camp, acknowledged difficulties facing the refugee camp. "This camp is set to shelter 25,000 refugees, but now it is accommodating 50, 000," Taha said. "This situation is beyond our ability, but the daily influx of refugees is still increasing. We need greater effort by international organizations and donors," he noted. Due to the security crisis in South Sudan and the famine which affects large areas in the new-born state, around 180,000 new South Sudanese refugees are expected to arrive in Sudan. Sudan hosts the South Sudanese refugees in many camps distributed in four states including the White Nile, South Kordofan, East Darfur and Khartoum states. The White Nile State is Sudan's biggest state hosting South Sudanese refugees. ABUJA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 4,000 people in terror group Boko Haram's captivity have so far been rescued by Nigerian government forces, the country's minister of defense said on Thursday. Mansur Dan-Ali, while addressing a summit in the Nigerian city of Jos, said those freed included 106 of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok community of the northeastern state of Borno in 2014. The freed hostages mostly included women and children, he noted. According to Dan-Ali, the combined efforts of the armed forces had successfully degraded the Boko Haram fighters, making it difficult for them to regroup and carry out organized attacks in the volatile northeast region. Boko Haram is blamed for thousands of deaths and displacement of 2.3 million people since 2009. Troops dislodged the terror group members from Sambisa Forest, their largest training camp in the northern Borno State, last December. The government forces are intensifying aerial and ground patrols in the country's northeast. Some of the rescued hostages by the Nigerian troop are seen at camp in Sambisa forest, North-Eastern Nigeria, April 30, 2015. (Xinhua/Dare) ABUJA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 4,000 people in terror group Boko Haram's captivity have so far been rescued by Nigerian government forces, the country's minister of defense said on Thursday. Mansur Dan-Ali, while addressing a summit in the Nigerian city of Jos, said those freed included 106 of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok community of the northeastern state of Borno in 2014. The freed hostages mostly included women and children, he noted. According to Dan-Ali, the combined efforts of the armed forces had successfully degraded the Boko Haram fighters, making it difficult for them to regroup and carry out organized attacks in the volatile northeast region. Boko Haram is blamed for thousands of deaths and displacement of 2.3 million people since 2009. Troops dislodged the terror group members from Sambisa Forest, their largest training camp in the northern Borno State, last December. The government forces are intensifying aerial and ground patrols in the country's northeast. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 00:57:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VILNIUS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania plans to introduce a monthly handout to all children less than 18, which would amount to 30-50 euros (33 to 55 U.S. dollars), Lithuania's Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Thursday. "Our government will achieve this and 'childrens' money' will be introduced as of January 1st, 2018, however, the size of the benefits must be real and reflect the state's capabilities," Skvernelis said in an interview with local broadcaster Ziniu radijas. "We can speak about 30-50 euros monthly to every child, if the benefits are given to all children, regardless their social status," he added. Skvernelis also said that additional payments for the third and subsequent children in families are to be introduced. According to the prime minister, in order to stimulate the birth rate in Lithuania, the government is considering measures aimed at helping mothers to return to the labor market, as well as developing child care infrastructure and addressing the problem of availability of kindergartens and schools in major cities. "In terms of real estate developers, we need to see what is the demand (for child care) when new apartment buildings blocks are being built," Skvernelis said. Viktoras Pranckietis, speaker of Lithuanian parliament (Seimas), said earlier this week that introduction of child benefits would help solve the issue of low birth rate and improve the financial situation of families. The speaker of the Seimas justified the proposal by providing Poland as an example. According to Pranckietis, when a new child benefit program was introduced in Poland, the number of births increased by 18 percent and people started to wed earlier, at the age of 22-24 without waiting to be in their 30s. Enditem VILNIUS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said on Thursday the country is ready to support Ukraine's reforms in defense and security. Linkevicius met with visiting Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak who started a two-day visit to the Baltic country on Thursday. According to an announcement from Lithuanian foreign ministry, both ministers discussed the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the country's defense reform, and training assistance to the Ukrainian military. Linkevicius assured that Lithuania will continue supporting Ukraine in defense. "We wish to continue to train Ukrainian soldiers and benefit from their invaluable experience, to provide military assistance, to treat injured soldiers and, along with NATO partners, to participate in multilateral projects aimed at helping to implement the Ukrainian military reform," Linkevicius was quoted as saying in the announcement. The Ukrainian defense minister is also set to meet with his Lithuanian counterpart Raimundas Karoblis. Poltorak also met with Lithuanian parliament's leaders and parliamentary national security and defense committee to discuss security. According to the Lithuanian defense ministry, the Lithuanian army has been participating in Ukraine soldiers' training programs since 2015. More than 200 Lithuanian instructors were sent to Ukraine during 2016. Lithuania intensified its assistance to Ukraine following tensions in the region that erupted with conflicts in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 01:53:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIRUT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano vowed Thursday that his country would continue to support Lebanon's economy and army. According to the National News Agency, Alfono met with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil and stressed in a joint press conference that "Lebanon is a module for democracy and pluralism in the Middle East and plays a key role in maintaining the region's stability." "Our aid to Lebanon is to preserve it," he added. "Italy is present in Lebanon through its United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers," Alfano said. The visiting minister also praised Lebanon's efforts in hosting a large number of Syrians on its territories. According to the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrians, while the Lebanese government puts the number around 1.5 million. Bassil for his part said "We thank Italy's involvement in Lebanon with UNIFIL," adding that "We hail UNIFIL's role in maintaining Lebanon's stability despite constant Israeli violations." On Syrian refugees, Bassil said that "Lebanon has reached a breaking point due to the economic, living and security burdens imposed by the presence of heavy Syrian refugees." On trade ties, the Lebanese FM encouraged Italian companies to be involved in Lebanon's fledgling oil and gas sector. He also voiced hope that Italy could continue to build strong economic relations with Lebanon. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 02:18:33|Editor: Hou Qiang Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus Huang Xingyuan addresses a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Nicosia May 18, 2017. China's Belt and Road Initiative can bring mutual benefits to China and Cyprus, Huang Xingyuan said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Zhang Zhang) NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative can lead to mutual benefit for China and Cyprus, Chinese ambassador to Cyprus Huang Xingyuan said on Thursday. "The initiative is about connecting China with Europe and Cyprus is at a strategic point between Asia, Europe and Africa. So it can play an important role in promoting this Initiative as it has a developed shipping sector and a lively services sector," he said. "This is just an example of how the Belt and Road Initiative could bring benefits to the countries involved," he added. Huang was speaking at a press conference attended by main Cypriot media, during which he presented the outcome of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing and also talked extensively about China-Cyprus relations in all sectors. The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. He said the two countries could be an example to other countries having developed excellent relations in the commercial, political and cultural sectors despite having different ideological and cultural backgrounds. Answering a question about commercial relations,Huang said that the two-way commerce stands at about 600 million dollars, noting that this is not a desired point. "There is room for improvement and my goal is to work to double the commercial exchanges by the end of my term in Cyprus," he said. He added that Cyprus has many products which could be exported to China, making special mention of its wine which is known worldwide, and a local white cheese known as "halloumi", which Cyprus is promoting as a product with protected designation of origin in the European Union. "And of course there are many opportunities for investment by Chinese entrepreneurs and also for tourism," the ambassador noted. He further said that China can provide advanced systems for producing renewable energy that would increase the volume of trade. He mentioned solar panels, urging Cyprus to help within the European Union to solve existing problems. Huang said Chinese people love Cyprus, its culture, even the fact that it is a place to fly a kite, but he conceded that visa requirements are an impediment for Chinese to visit Cyprus. He added that the embassies of the two countries are working hard on ways to minimize this problem. He further said that having direct flights between China and Cyprus would be a desirable development, but this requires enough passengers to fill the planes and also solving the visa issue. Huang also spoke about direct contacts between peoples as an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative and announced a series of cultural events called "Heart to Heart" that will help bring together Chinese and Cypriots. These include the first Chinese cinema festival, a seminar with the participation of politicians, academics and businessmen, a Chinese food festival and a Chinese Cultural Night. The ambassador also said that political relations between China and Cyprus are excellent. "China and Cyprus are faced with treats to their territorial integrity and this has brought the two countries closer together," he said, adding that the two countries share the same understanding on the need for peaceful solutions. He spoke about the difficulties in current efforts to solve the long standing Cyprus problem that would end the partition of the island, and quoted a Chinese saying that "there are always difficulties before a good end". Huang said he was confident that the people of Cyprus are prudent enough and its leaders are driven by the political will to overcome the present difficulties and find a solution of the basis of United Nations resolutions. The ambassador added that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will play a positive role to help find a solution and will support the efforts for reconstruction after the reunification of Cyprus. MADRID, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister has asked to be allowed to make his testimony in the ongoing "Gurtel" corruption scandal by videoconference on either July 26 or 27, the Spanish press reported. Rajoy has been called to appear as a witness in the trial, which is investigating "cash-for-favors" deals involving construction and event organization deals and which is linked to the illegal financing of his right wing Peoples Party (PP). The secretary general to the Prime Minister's Office, Maria Rosario Pablos, has written to the Spanish High Court signaling the 26th and 27th of July as the "most appropriate dates" bearing in mind the Prime Minister's agenda. Spanish law allows Rajoy to give his evidence by videoconference rather than in person because of "reasons of utility, security and public order," The Prime Minister's office believes it is better for Rajoy to give his evidence over a TV screen rather than in person in the courtroom in San Fernando de Henares (on the outskirts of Madrid) as Rajoy's travelling to the courtroom would "imply an important displacement of public resources." The news comes out on the same day that an investigation by the Spanish Civil Guard into another corruption scandal known as "Operation Punica" concluded that the Madrid branch of the PP covered some of the expenses of Rajoy's 2008 general election campaign with public money through the production of false bills for training courses which were never held. ABC/Image Group LA Brad Paisleys currently having a Last Time for Everything contest to give one group of 2017 graduates a concert theyll never forget, and Wednesday night in New York state, he got in a practice run. The West Virginia native invited the seniors from Saratoga Springs High and Averill Park High to be his test audience as he rehearsed for this 2017 Weekend Warrior World Tour. Along the way, he also doled out a little advice. This is the Last Time for Everything for all of you, he said, referencing his current single. High school graduation is one of those moments where you look around and its like Were going to be friends forever. No, some of them you might see at a reunion, he joked. You can check out all the details for Brads contest online. After his Thursday kickoff in Saratoga Springs, Brad and Dustin Lynch, Chase Bryant and Lindsey Ell roll through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. MOSCOW, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron expressed readiness to further promote bilateral relations during a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Kremlin press service said. "The two presidents expressed a mutual desire to develop the traditionally friendly ties between the two countries in politics, trade, economy, cultural, humanitarian and other sectors," the Kremlin said in a statement. They also pledged to work together on current international and regional issues, especially underlining the importance of their continued cooperation on resolving Ukraine's internal conflict, it said. Macron was sworn in as the new French president on Sunday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 02:33:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to import 50,000 metric tons of maize from Ethiopia to ease the ongoing shortage of the staple food, a government official said on Thursday. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Principal Secretary Dr Richard Lesiyampe told a media briefing in Nairobi that the maize shipment will arrive at Moyale town on the Kenya-Ethiopia border on Saturday. "The maize is part of the government subsidy program to provide cheap maize to consumers," Lesiyampe said after meeting with Kenya's small grain millers. He noted that the government will also import maize from Zambia in the next few weeks. Kenya introduced the subsidize program early this week to sell a two kilogram packet of maize at 0.90 U.S. dollars that was previously selling at 1.80 dollars. Under the program, Kenya will buy the maize at 36 dollars per 90 kg and sell it to millers at 23 dollars. Kenya has set aside 60 million dollars to finance the program. On April 13, Kenya waived import duty on maize to encourage importers to bridge the production deficit so as to put downward pressure on the price of the staple food. Lesiyampe said that small millers supply 60 percent of all the maize flour sold in the country. "So we have to include the small millers for the subsidy program to be successful," he added. The PS said that as from Friday, the government cereals body will provide 200,000 bags of subsidized maize to the small millers. "We will even provide logistics support to the millers in order to reduce their operations costs so that they forward the benefits to consumers," he added. According to the agriculture ministry, the subsidy program will continue until October when Kenyan farmers will have harvested their maize crop. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 02:33:46|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close By Alexia Vlachou ATHENS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Greece will claim an important share of China's investment program as part of the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, a senior Greek official said Thursday. Greek deputy Economy Minister Stergios Pitsiorlas made the remarks at a press conference in Athens, after his return from the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing during May 14-15. Transport, telecommunications and energy are the three main sectors that the two countries are going to cooperate, according to the three-year action plan signed between the Greek and Chinese governments during the Forum. The Greek delegation was led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. China has shown that Greece could play an important role in its plan for more economic cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road routes, Pitsiorlas said. After the presence of COSCO SHIPPING in Piraeus port and the participation of China's State Grid as a strategic investor in Greek power grid operator ADMIE, Pitsiorlas highlighted that there was a keen interest from more Chinese companies to invest in Greece. "During our visit in Beijing, we met with companies in the fields of energy, infrastructure, networks and construction, as well as tourism and the financial sector," he said. During Tsipras' visit in Beijing, two major agreements were signed. The first was the cooperation between the Greek infrastructure development group Copelouzos and Shenhua Group, with a total investment of 3.38 billion U.S. dollars in the energy sector. The second was FORTHNet with ZTE for the development of a fiber optic network, a total investment of 556 million U.S. dollars. For Pitsiorlas, there is a double opportunity for the country with an upgraded role. Greek companies can participate in the investment program. In addition, as a hard core country of the EU, Greece can take the initiative to seek convergence between the objectives of Europe's development strategy and the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative. Regarding obstacles raised by the EU's political or legislative environment, Pitsiorlas stated that there are also other European countries that have expressed their interest and potential partnerships with China. "Good will synergies can overcome such obstacles," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 02:54:12|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close Students perform the poetry recitation during the 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, on May 18, 2017. The 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa opened here on Thursday with the Zambian government underscoring the importance of the institutes to foster cultural cooperation between China and Africa. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) LUSAKA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa opened here on Thursday with the Zambian government underscoring the importance of the institutes to foster cultural cooperation between China and Africa. Zambian Vice-President Inonge Wina said the new chapter of cooperation between China and Africa lies in the ability of Confucius Institutes to bring peoples together through the promotion of language and culture. "We can make Confucius Institutes places of great cultural exchanges for the good of our peoples. Confucius Institutes have brought us closer. They have highlighted the beauty that lies behind our diversity," she said in a speech read on her behalf by Minister of General Education Dennis Wanchinga at the start of the two-day conference in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. According to her, globalization has reduced the barriers to interaction among nations, adding that Confucius Institutes could be true platforms of a win-win cooperation between China and Africa. The Zambian vice-president further expressed gratitude that the Confucius Institute headquarters in China has built a language and cultural museum at the Confucius Institute in Zambia to host both Chinese and Zambia language and culture. She said her government was committed to ensuring that the relations with China continue growing, adding that the government has since chosen Chinese as one of the three foreign languages being taught in schools while the Chinese language has been incorporated into syllabuses for junior and senior secondary schools. Zambia, she said, was committed to ensuring the continued growth of the relations with China, adding that China has been an "all-weather" friend not only to Zambia by the African continent as a whole. Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming advised the Confucius Institute to cater for the actual learning demand of people in different countries and also to take into consideration unique conditions of each country. He hoped that Confucius Institutes will give play a fair play and promote both the Chinese and African culture. The Chinese envoy said it was obvious that Confucius Institutes have become platforms of cultural exchanges between China an African countries and expressed gratitude at the uptake of the Chinese language in Zambia. According to him, since its establishment seven years ago, the Confucius Institute has developed significantly in Zambia with one institute, two classrooms and 17 Chinese language teaching points, with more than 8,000 students. The two-day conference has attracted directors of Confucius Institutes from various African countries as well as representatives of Chinese enterprises in Africa. Apart from an exhibition of Confucius Institutes in Africa, the conference will have various presentations on the promotion of people-to-people exchanges, how political mutual trust and economic and trade cooperation could promote the development of Sino-China relations as well as vocational and technical training. The conference will also tackle cooperation between Confucius Institutes and Chinese-funded agencies. According to figures, there are 48 Confucius Institutes in 37 African countries as well as 27 Confucius Institutes classrooms and more than 400 teaching centers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 02:54:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday launched anti-dumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations against imports of large civil aircrafts from Canada. The investigations were initiated following a petition filed by the Boeing Company seeking relief of planned imports of Canadian civil aircraft, the Commerce Department said in a statement. The estimated dumping margin alleged by the petitioner for Canadian civil aircraft is 79.82 percent and the unfair subsidies are estimated to be 79.41 percent, according to the Commerce Department. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), another U.S. trade authority, is scheduled to make its preliminary inquiry determinations around June 12. The probe will continue if the ITC determines that there is a threat of injury to the U.S. industries and its workforce by such imports. While Canadian civil aircrafts subject to these investigations have not yet been imported into the U.S., a press release in April last year valued the order by a U.S. airline to be over 5 billion U.S. dollars, the Commerce Department said. The probe comes after the Commerce Department decided last month to levy a 20 percent tariff on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. It is expected to escalate trade tensions between the United States and Canada, as they prepare for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the next few months. The Trump administration on Thursday formally notified U.S. Congress of its intent to renegotiate the NAFTA, triggering a 90-day consultation period before the renegotiation can start. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., on March 14, 2017.(Xinhua/Reuter photo) RIYADH, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia confirmed on Thursday that it will sign commercial and political deals with the United States during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh next week, Al Arabiya local news reported. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir told a press conference that Arab-Islamic-American Summit, which will be attended by 37 leaders, will focus on combating terrorism, bolstering trade, investment, youth and technology. Jubeir also said this summit with U.S. is going to "open a new page" in terms of western countries' dialogue with Muslim countries. He also said that Saudi Arabia wants to send a message to the West that the Muslim countries are "not enemies," adding that the Riyadh comes second after the United States in the fight against IS militant group. At end of the summit, leaders are going to launch global counter-extremism center in Riyadh, which will fight an "ideological battle," he added. "We will work with our allies, particularly U.S., to see that Iran is made to act like a normal country," Jubeir said. "As long as Iran threatens with terrorism, it is impossible to have normal relations with them." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 03:09:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Hassan Rouhvand TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iranians will decide on their country's international relations and foreign policy by their vote on the presidential election on Friday, an Iranian political expert said on Thursday. "Obviously, if President Rouhani is reelected, it would be very much the same (foreign) policies that we have observed during the past three and half years," Sadeq Zibakalam, professor of political science of Tehran University, told Xinhua. "However, if the radical contestant of him, Mr. Raisi, wins, it would be a step backward," said Zibakalam. "Since his (Raisi's) power base comes from the hardliners, it will be projected in his foreign policies," he said. Iran's political landscape has been dramatically polarized over the country's key issues raised in the recent debates between the two major presidential hopefuls, namely the incumbent moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his conservative rival Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani believes in detente with the West and even with the United States, and he has, to some extent, achieved this, Zibakalam said, adding that "he will try to maintain good and warm relations with many other countries if he is reelected." "If the hardliners win, then they will put the clock back. They will forget about friendly approach with regard to some countries. They will even go back to anti-U.S. slogans, calling for the destruction of Israel," said Zibakalam. Besides, "it is very likely that nuclear deal would be damaged," he warned. "At the moment, we know that (the U.S. President Donald) Trump wants to get rid of it, but he cannot, because Iran has not violated the deal ... and it has done all its obligations," the expert said. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal, calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated." Iran and six world powers, including Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that put it on the path of sanctions relief, but with more strict limits on nuclear program. "Presently, if the United States wants to derail the deal, other parties of the deal will not follow it," said Zibakalam. However, if Raisi is chosen, because of "his anti-Americanism, because of his anti-westernism, the ties with the United States will further suffer" and Iran may even lose the support of other parties involved in the deal, the expert said. In the TV debate on May 2, Raisi said that all the parties involved in the nuclear deal should respect it. However, he criticized President Rouhani for what he called "failure in making the West to remove all anti-Iran sanctions after the implementation of the deal." He said that Rouhani has also failed to end Iran's economic recession and remove all banking sanctions. As for Iran's regional policies, the Iranian expert said that "Raisi won't do much about the normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia, and at least will not create a condition that the animosity between Riyadh and Tehran not to increase." Iran and Saudi Arabia are at loggerheads over their expansion of influence in Iraq, Syria, Yeman and Bahrain. The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the Islamic republic does not seek any "tension" with Saudi Arabia. However, "we will see more Iranian involvement in Yemen, and more Iranian involvement in Syria issues, if Mr. Rraisi is elected," Zibakalam concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 03:09:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that he does not support breaking up the nation's biggest banks. "We do not support a separation of banks from investment banks, we think that would have a very significant problem on the financial markets, on the economy, on liquidity," Mnuchin said at a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. While the Trump administration has expressed support for a modernized version of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, breaking up the nation's biggest banks would be a "huge mistake," he said. The original Glass-Steagall Act was put in place to divide commercial banks and investment banks before it was repealed in 1999 due to financial deregulation. Many people have blamed the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act for contributing to the financial crisis in 2008. During the campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a "21st century" version of the Glass-Steagall Act, but didn't offer any policy details. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said earlier this month that the Trump administration would not release any proposals about the modernized Glass-Steagall Act soon. "We're not at a point where we're ready to roll out details of that yet," Spicer said. "There are aspects of Glass-Steagall that you support but not breaking up the banks and separating commercial banking from investment banking? What do you think Glass-Steagall was if that's not right at the heart of it?" Senator Elizabeth Warren said Thursday at the hearing, expressing confusion and doubt over the administration's stance on the issue. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 03:24:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MANAMA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran continues to support terror cells in Bahrain and provides them with ammunition and explosives smuggled through borders to cause chaos in the country, said Public Security Major-General Tariq Al Hassan on Thursday. Al Hassan made the remarks when delivering a speech at a meeting on the threats of Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs) attend by experts of the Gulf Cooperation Council. "Bahrain has been suffering terrorism backed by Iran for decades," Al Hassan said, highlighting the involvement of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in recruiting, financing and training terror cells in Bahrain and providing them with logistic operations. Meanwhile, Al Hassan said that the security authorities have succeeded in dismantling a number of terrorist cells and foiling terrorist plots of blasts and assassinations. In Jan. 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Iran after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Tehran amid outrage over the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric. KIEV, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) signed a deal with the Ukrainian government here on Thursday to upgrade the Black Sea port of Yuzhny in Ukraine's southern Odessa region. The agreement was inked by the Vice President of the CHEC Yun Liang and the head of the Yuzhny port administration Maksym Shyrokov. Under the deal, the Chinese company will carry out dredging works at the Yuzhny port to increase the depth of its approach channel from 16 meters to 19 meters. Besides, the CHEC will create a 16-meter-deep operational area near the three berths of the port. The dredging project is expected to improve the maritime access to the port, boosting its cargo handling capabilities. While addressing the signing ceremony, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said the project is highly important for the country. "This is a very large-scale project for Ukraine. It will increase the capabilities of our port of Yuzhny and creates additional opportunities for the development of the national economy," Groysman said. The Ukrainian government has estimated that the implementation of the Yuzhny port dredging project will create about 350 new jobs and generate additional 16 million U.S. dollars annually for the state and regional budgets. It is also expected to boost the revenues of the port by about 9.2 million dollars per year. According to the Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei, the project will also pave the way for deepening cooperation between China and Ukraine in the infrastructure sector. Meanwhile, Rayvis Veckagans, the head of Ukrainian State Seaports Authority, described the project, which is set to be completed within 38 months, as Ukraine's step towards joining China's Belt and Road Initiative. "We have to become a part of this initiative. That's why our government and our companies working in the railway and automobile road sector must offer a comprehensive solution to make a transit corridor through Ukraine more competitive," Veckagans told Xinhua after the signing ceremony. The Yuzhny port was ranked the largest Ukrainian port in the terms of cargo turnover in 2016, having reloaded 39 million tons of commodities. The CHEC won the contract on upgrading the port worth 38 million U.S. dollars in mid-April, getting ahead of four leading dredging and marine services companies from Europe. CAPE TOWN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has not reached any secret nuclear deal with foreign countries, a senior official at the state-run power utility Eskom said on Thursday. David Nicholls, Eskom's Chief Nuclear Officer, brushed aside claims that there are secrets and corruption in a possible nuclear deal. He was speaking at the Nuclear Power Africa conference on the sidelines of the 17th annual African Utility Week (AUW) in Cape Town. "I don't know of a secret plan" in relation to the South African nuclear program, Nicholls told delegates. The South African nuclear program, which has met with strong opposition, was one of the highlights at the AUW. On April 26, the High Court in the Western Cape ruled that the South African government's nuclear program is "unconstitutional and unlawful." The court ordered the government to set aside the deal which would see the procurement of 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy. The deal is expected to cost 1 trillion rand (about 77.5 billion U.S. dollars). The SA cabinet approved the deal in December 2015. Preparations have been already underway for the bidding. Russia and the United States are believed to be front runners to win the bid. The SA government reportedly has signed an agreement with the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom, to develop nuclear energy. The SA government has been pursuing the nuclear program to make up power shortage which is expected to stall growth in gross domestic product (GDP). In response to the court ruling, Nicholls reaffirmed Eskom's position that nuclear energy is not just the most viable option on the table for South Africa's future energy needs, but it is also affordable. He said however that there has been no procurement process underway. "We are asked to show the nuclear plans we've signed with the Russians and I say I can't do that. I don't have one. I don't know of a secret plan," he said. The process has been transparent, yet it is presumed that behind this there is something else, Nicholls said. Responding to questions on corruption claims with the nuclear deal, he said corruption on the nuclear deal "could be quite challenging in the sense that it is a state to state deal." "Now if you have multiple deals with small little contracts you tend to get lots of opportunities for corruption," he added. According to Nicholls, concerns over corruption arise with lots of small deals and when procurement is compartmentalized. In this case involving Eskom and overseas state organizations with a government to government loan system, opportunities for corruptions would be minimized, Nicholls said. At the AUW which started on Tuesday, over 7,000 decision makers from over 80 countries were discussing the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in the power and water sectors in Africa. Over 300 experts were seeking innovative solutions to the continent's energy and water challenges and the exciting opportunities for utilities and industry players. The conference ended on Thursday. A supporter holds a poster of Iranian President and presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani during a street campaign in Tehran, Iran, May 18, 2017.(Xinhua photo) TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iranians will decide on their country's international relations and foreign policy by their vote on the presidential election on Friday, an Iranian political expert said on Thursday. "Obviously, if President Rouhani is reelected, it would be very much the same (foreign) policies that we have observed during the past three and half years," Sadeq Zibakalam, professor of political science of Tehran University, told Xinhua. "However, if the radical contestant of him, Mr. Raisi, wins, it would be a step backward," said Zibakalam. "Since his (Raisi's) power base comes from the hardliners, it will be projected in his foreign policies," he said. Iran's political landscape has been dramatically polarized over the country's key issues raised in the recent debates between the two major presidential hopefuls, namely the incumbent moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his conservative rival Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani believes in detente with the West and even with the United States, and he has, to some extent, achieved this, Zibakalam said, adding that "he will try to maintain good and warm relations with many other countries if he is reelected." "If the hardliners win, then they will put the clock back. They will forget about friendly approach with regard to some countries. They will even go back to anti-U.S. slogans, calling for the destruction of Israel," said Zibakalam. Besides, "it is very likely that nuclear deal would be damaged," he warned. "At the moment, we know that (the U.S. President Donald) Trump wants to get rid of it, but he cannot, because Iran has not violated the deal ... and it has done all its obligations," the expert said. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal, calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated." Iran and six world powers, including Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that put it on the path of sanctions relief, but with more strict limits on nuclear program. "Presently, if the United States wants to derail the deal, other parties of the deal will not follow it," said Zibakalam. However, if Raisi is chosen, because of "his anti-Americanism, because of his anti-westernism, the ties with the United States will further suffer" and Iran may even lose the support of other parties involved in the deal, the expert said. In the TV debate on May 2, Raisi said that all the parties involved in the nuclear deal should respect it. However, he criticized President Rouhani for what he called "failure in making the West to remove all anti-Iran sanctions after the implementation of the deal." He said that Rouhani has also failed to end Iran's economic recession and remove all banking sanctions. As for Iran's regional policies, the Iranian expert said that "Raisi won't do much about the normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia, and at least will not create a condition that the animosity between Riyadh and Tehran not to increase." Iran and Saudi Arabia are at loggerheads over their expansion of influence in Iraq, Syria, Yeman and Bahrain. The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the Islamic republic does not seek any "tension" with Saudi Arabia. However, "we will see more Iranian involvement in Yemen, and more Iranian involvement in Syria issues, if Mr. Rraisi is elected," Zibakalam concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 03:44:51|Editor: ZD U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 12, 2017. U.S. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed on Thursday U.S. press reports that President Donald Trump passed classified information to him when they met recently in the White House. During a working visit to Cyprus, Lavrov said that what Trump actually told him was that Islamic State (IS) terrorists were capable of staffing untraceable explosives in laptops. "As far as I can recall, maybe one month or two months before, the Trump administration had an official ban on laptops on airlines from seven Middle Eastern countries ... So if you are talking about that, I see no secret here," Lavrov told reporters in Nicosia during a joint news conference with Cypriot foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides. Lavrov's comments on the issue were the first since his meeting with Trump and after allegations were made by two U.S. officials on May 15 that the U.S. President had divulged secrets to Lavrov about planned IS operations. Lavrov arrived in Nicosia on Thursday to attend a foreign ministers' meeting of the Council of Europe at the end of Cyprus's presidency this month. At the press conference, Lavrov also said Russia would like to improve its relations with the European Union (EU). "The current state of relations is beneficial to neither side," he said, expressing hope for a re-evaluation of the situation that would lead to a "mutually-beneficial re-engagement". He said the relationship must be based on mutual respect and chided Brussels for playing "a one-way street game" on the issue. Speaking about Ukraine, the issue that brought EU sanctions on Russia, Lavrov said he was in favor of fully implementing the Minsk agreement, blaming Kiev for not applying the accord. "Recent action by the Ukrainian authorities shows that it is either not willing or incapable of doing so," Lavrov added. NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) was unable to restart the stalled Cyprus reunification negotiations despite day-long consultations with the island's leaders, a UN official said on Thursday. "No white smoke came out of my meetings," the UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said after separate meetings with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. The two leaders had a five-hour meeting on Wednesday which ended in disarray after they failed to agree on the terms for the continuation of their negotiations. Eide, a former foreign minister of Norway, said his meetings with Anastasiades and Akinci were inconclusive, but added that he would continue his intensive go-between effort until common ground was found. "There is no indication of how long it will take," Eide said, adding that his round of consultations may last through next week. The disagreement between the two sides seems to focus on the agenda of an international conference on Cyprus. Akinci said that at Wednesday's meeting he suggested a resumption of the Geneva conference to discuss all remaining pending issues as a package. But he also demanded that the Greek Cypriot side, which runs the internationally-recognized government, must abandon plans to start exploratory drilling in July for the discovery of natural gas in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, demarcated under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Anastasiades was reported by Turkish Cypriot media to have made a proposal for the resumption of the Geneva conference, but with a different agenda. However, Akinci dismissed the proposal saying the agenda amounted to preconditions by Anastasiades. Eide said that the United Nations was ready to reconvene the Geneva conference once this had been decided by the two Cypriot leaders. "There are some issues of crucial importance that have to be agreed upon by the leaders themselves," said Eide. STRASBOURG, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have condemned a lack of action from European Union (EU) member states in relocation of 160,000 refugees in a resolution adopted Thursday in Strasbourg. Adopted by 398 votes in favor to 134 against, with 41 abstentions, the resolution strongly denounces that, despite having committed to moving the refugees from Greece and Italy by September 2017, EU member states have only relocated 11 percent of agreed upon number (18,770 as of May 16). The summer of 2015's unexpected spike in arrivals of asylum seekers saw the EU adopt emergency measures to relocate 160,000 migrants from the two front-line nations, but European unity has not been forthcoming since the agreement. In their non-binding resolution, MEPs shared their disappointment in the lack of solidarity and responsibility-sharing. They also urged EU nations to honor their commitments and prioritize the relocation of unaccompanied children, often the most vulnerable members of the refugee population. The text points out that "only one unaccompanied minor was relocated so far." A number of states were criticized by MEPs for "very restrictive and discriminatory preferences, such as granting relocation only to single mothers or excluding applicants from specific nationalities, such as Eritreans, and applying extensive security checks." As of Thursday, only two EU countries are on track to meet their relocation targets, Malta and Finland. Meanwhile, four countries have only been relocating refugees on an extremely limited basis, and two countries have not been participating at all. In a Tuesday debate that proceeded the adoption of the resolution, MEPs condemned the lack of political willpower that has led to the current situation. Jeroen Lenaers (European People's Party, Netherlands) said that he had "never been in favour of compulsory quotas but over the past one and a half years we have seen that the voluntary system is not working." Angelika Mlinar (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Austria) said: "It is not a question of ability, but of willpower. It's high time for member states to follow through on the commitments they entered into." She compared the efforts made by the EU with those of countries such Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey where millions of refugees have been accommodated. "It is not an issue of capacity, it is purely down to a scandalous lack of political will," said Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany), welcoming news from European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avrampopoulos, present for the debate, that countries who did not increase their relocation efforts soon would face infringement procedures from the European Commission. "We're talking about people who are fleeing from war and persecution, and unaccompanied children who are being left alone in overcrowded camps," Keller said. Last year, 63,300 unaccompanied minors applied for international protection in the EU, with 57 percent of all applications registered in Germany alone. Helga Stevens (European Conservatives and Reformers, Belgium) said it was unfair to criticize northern European countries alone: "Greece and Italy are not managing to organize the inflow of refugees." She also noted that the Dublin rules, which determine what EU country is responsible for processing asylum applications, are not being respected. Barbara Spinelli (European United Left/Nordic Green Left, Italy) also criticized the Dublin rules, saying: "As far as Italy is concerned, in 2015 and 2016, there were 5,049 Dublin transfers and 3,936 relocations. In other words, more people were actually sent back to Italy than were transferred elsewhere." Ska Keller said that "a good Dublin system, common rules and legal pathways are also needed", while Cecile Kyenge said: "We need a policy to allow safe and legal migration channels, as well as integration policies in the host countries." Angelika Mlinar also lamented the lack of "a proper EU asylum system." Commissioner Avramopolous closed the debate with a call for solidarity and human consideration in the crisis: "Relocation is often reduced to numbers, but we shouldn't forget we are talking about people in need of protection. It is our shared moral and political duty to ensure that they get this protection as soon as possible and in a manageable way for the EU." SKOPJE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia will have its new government within ten days, head of the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) Zoran Zaev told reporters Thursday, one day after being mandated by President Gjorge Ivanov to form a government. Zaev started talks with political parties early Thursday, saying that in order for the country to have a stable majority, it would be best if all three Albanian parties, BDI, Alliance for Albanians and Besa Movement were part of the coalition. "First we will launch talks with BDI and then with BESA, and in the end, with the Alliance for Albanians. We're doing this to harmonize our stances," Zaev told media. Macedonia hasn't had a new government formed since the Dec. 11 election. President Ivanov had refused to mandate Zaev, arguing that his platform threatened the country's sovereignty. But on Wednesday, he changed stance, saying that the obstacles in giving the mandate for the creation of the government had been overcome, so he mandated the SDSM leader to form the new government. According to the president, Zaev has submitted all the necessary guarantees that the unitary character of the country will be preserved. BUJUMBURA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Burundian First Vice-President Gaston Sindimwo on Thursday described the east African country's fuel crisis as a "national" concern. "The fuel crisis hitting Burundi is not only a citizens' problem, but it is also a national concern. We (the Burundian government) are doing all our best so that in few days, the fuel crisis will be over," Sindimwo said. For about a month, the east African nation has been facing acute shortages of gasoline and gasoil at petrol stations countrywide, paralyzing transport of persons and that of goods. The country's fuel crisis has also caused the hike of food items at marketplaces. In April, Burundian Energy Minister Come Manirakiza told lawmakers at the National Assembly -- the country's parliament lower chamber -- that the oil shortage was due to the "failure" by the Burundian government to "have enough" hard currency. Meanwhile, earlier this week, the energy ministry announced that petrol stations should only open during daytime, between 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. to avoid "possible" fraud. The ministry also designated petrol stations that will serve vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles transporting people and those transporting goods. The ministry also set quantities of fuel that are to be distributed to those vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles, awaiting the end of the fuel crisis. The Burundi Consumers' Association (ABUCO) has called on the east African country's government to quickly solve the oil crisis hitting the country. "Urging petrol stations to open during daytime hours is not a solution to the fuel crisis. Urgent solutions to this (fuel) crisis need to be found by the government," the ABUCO said. It further warned that Burundi's economy will face a "terrible decline" if the oil crisis continues to deepen. Burundi has been facing a political and economic crisis following the controversial third term bid of President Pierre Nkurunziza in April 2015. Several partners of Burundi including the European Union (EU) have frozen their financial aid towards the east African country's government. RABAT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An African meeting on sustainable human development has kicked off in the Moroccan city of Fez. Under the theme "exchange of successful experiences to serve sustainable human development in Africa," the participants will share their countries' experiences on how to achieve sustainable human development goals, highlighting successful African models. The event will also showcase the achievements of the Moroccan National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), which has been launched 12 years ago. Over 500 participants, including African officials and experts, will participate in this two-day event. BRUSSELS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that the NATO-EU cooperation has reached a new level, according to a press release from NATO. Stoltenberg stressed the progress being made in closer cooperation between the alliance and the European Union in a meeting with the EU defense ministers. He noted cyber defense as an example of tangible progress, adding that NATO exchanged information with the EU during the recent ransomware attacks. The EU's cyber security hub has been granted access to NATO's malware information sharing platform. "Now NATO and the EU are able to share information in real time on cyber attacks," Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will report on the progress of NATO-EU cooperation to the councils of both organizations next month, said the release. NATO-EU cooperation will also be on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on May 25. File photo taken on June 8, 2015 shows an American employee works in Wanxiang America Corporation in Elgin, Illinois, the United States. (Xinhua/He Xianfeng) by Xinhua Writers Wang Wen, Xu Jing NEW YORK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- For Rachel McGaw, an office manager who lives in a U.S. rust-belt town of Illinois, working for a Chinese company is more rewarding than a U.S. one. "I enjoy working here. I like my salary, I like my hours. I feel more valued because the company takes me and my feeling and my family into consideration," said the employee at Wanxiang New Energy, the solar division of Wanxiang America Corporation. Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America Corporation, speaks in an interview with Xinhua in Elgin, Illinois, the United States on May 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) MORE INVESTMENT MORE JOBS McGaw is just one of thousands of local workers employed at Wanxiang who would otherwise be jobless. The corporation entered the U.S. market in 1994, the year General Motors went to China to start their operations in China. It now has 28-plus plants, runs in more than 20 sates in the United States, and employs more than 18,000 people. Only about 10 employees are dispatched from China, and the rest are all local. Over the years, Wanxiang has acquired many firms on the brink of bankruptcy, Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America, said, "we saved a lot of jobs." While China and job losses are discussed as one and the same by certain parties on Capitol Hill, the reality could not be more different. Chinese companies are opening new plants and hiring people in America -- a scenario largely absent from the rhetoric of some U.S. politicians. Chinese companies now employ more than 140,000 Americans, according to the latest report released by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) and Rhodium Group. Already on a steep growth trajectory for the past five years, Chinese investment in the United States jumped to 46 billion U.S. dollars last year, a 200-percent increase from the previous record of 15 billion dollars set in 2015, the newly updated report on China's U.S. investments showed. In addition, the report named "New Neighbors 2017" showed that by the end of 2016, 425 out of 435 Congressional Districts hosted Chinese-owned companies. In 2016, Chinese investors further expanded and deepened their footprint in the United Sates, according to a separate report released on Wednesday by NCUSCR and Rhodium Group. U.S. coastal states, such as New York and California were still the major beneficiaries of Chinese investment, while South and Midwest states also received significant Chinese investment last year. In New York, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge that crosses the Harlem river has gone through a major widening and rehabilitating project done by China Construction America. The 550-foot-long steel arch main bridge now carries 10 lanes of traffic instead of eight, with its support piers and foundations reinforced and new drainage installed. The Chinese construction company started its business in the United States in 2000 with only 12 employees and less than 10 million dollars of annual revenue. In 2016, it employed around 2,000 workers, 98 percent of whom are Americans. Its revenue jumped to 2 billion dollars. In Moraine, Ohio, more than 2,000 people are working at a nearly 470,000-square-meter glass fabrication factory housed in General Motors' former assembly plant. The plant used to employ thousands of people making SUVs and trucks, but was closed in 2008 as a financial crisis wiped out jobs across the industry. Fuyao is one of the world's largest auto glass makers and has a 22-percent market share in the United States. Its investment in Moraine is the largest Chinese investment in Ohio history and the eighth-largest direct foreign investment in the United States over the last decade. As it expands its market in the country, it will create more manufacturing jobs. And these jobs are certainly needed in the Midwest. Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, speaks at an event for the joint release of a report on U.S.-China Direct Investment trends in Washington D.C. on May 17, 2017.(Xinhua/Gao Pan) REBIRTH OF COMMUNITY Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.- China Relations, was quite emotional when recalling the factory's grand opening. He said it signaled the rebirth of a community and at the moment he knew he had glimpsed "the promised land of a constructive U.S. -China relations." Chinese companies in the United States are bridging bilateral economic ties and cultural exchanges in their own ways. In addition to creating job opportunities for local Americans, Wanxiang also makes sure that every penny the company makes in the United Sates will be invested into local community. "In our company there are four stakeholders, shareholder, employee, customer and local community," said Ni. He said Wanxiang has always embraced globalization and that the company has contributed immensely to prosperity of local communities. Drawing on Wanxiang's experience, Ni said globalization brings more opportunities for growth and development in local communities, rather than damaging local economy as some have feared. Fuyao, on the other hand, pair Chinese employees with American employees for them to learn languages and exchange ideas and techniques. The company also invited American employees to visit its plants in China. "Bilateral investment is a cultural as well as economic bridge between countries because it makes commerce a platform for the exchange of ideas," said Orlins on Wednesday at an event for the release of the report named "Two-Way Street: 2017 Update U.S. - China direct Investment Trends." "What used to be a one-way street -- with money flowing predominantly from the United States to China -- is now a two-way highway with tens of billions of dollars in annual FDI flowing in each direction," said the report. According to the report, the cumulative value of U.S. FDI transactions in China reached over 240 billion dollars by the end of 2016, while the cumulative Chinese FDI in the U.S. totaled 110 billion dollars in the same period. (Xinhua correspondents Yang Shilong, Wang Naishui, and Huang Heng contributed to the story.) NAIROBI May 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is in the process of embracing research and technology as part of its strategy towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a UN-backed set of goals to end poverty, an official said on Thursday. Director General of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) Moses Rugut said that the adverse climate changes that the country is going through currently can only be tacked through science. "We are putting science based measures in place to help transform the country by find lasting solution to perennial drought, floods and water problems," Rugut told journalists in Nairobi. He said that the commission is looking into possibilities of growing food crops with little or no rain in all parts of Kenya to help solve food insecurity. Rugut observed that a recent declaration of drought as a national disaster in the country is proof that scientists' expertise is required urgently to help stabilize the situation that is already posing a major risk to people, livestock and wildlife. National Research Fund (RUF) Acting Chief Executive Officer Jemimah Onsare said that the organization plans to promote dissemination of research findings in all parts of the country. "We have earmarked large portion of a recent national research budget of 30 million U.S. dollars to research on climate change," Onsare said. Rugut announced that Kenya will next week host the 6th National Science Week that will be attended by regional and international delegates. The meeting, which will be held in Nairobi, is organized by the government. The theme of the exhibition is Research, Science, Technology and Innovation to address Climate Change. "One of the objectives of the event will be to show-case Kenya's achievements and breakthroughs in Science, Technology and Innovation," he noted. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-19 05:35:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ankara and Berlin are again in war of words over access to an air base in the south of Turkey, a dispute triggered due to Turkish soldiers seeking asylum in Germany. Germany considers withdrawing its military installations in Incirlik Airbase, which was deployed for efforts against Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, after a delegation of German lawmakers were blocked from visiting the country's soldiers stationed at the base. German government is mulling to transfer six Tornado reconnaissance planes, a refueling plane and 250 troops stationed in Turkey to Jordan. Turkey's reaction comes after several Turkish soldiers and their families, all stationed at NATO facilities in Germany and feared persecution for alleged involvement in failed July 15 coup attempt, have been reportedly granted asylum in a preliminary decision. Ankara assumes soldiers being suspected followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government accuses of orchestrating the failed coup attempt. The visit of German lawmakers is not appropriate at the time, a Turkish official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The Bundestag will likely vote for withdrawal of troops in the Incirlik Air Base within a fortnight if Turkey persists in denying German lawmakers access to the site, Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Wednesday. "I can only hope that the Turkish government changes its mind in the coming days. Otherwise, the German parliament will certainly not leave the soldiers in Turkey," the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung quoted Gabrial as saying. "The German parliament is to be blackmailed, then the limit of tolerance has been reached," he said. The German government had been evaluating possible alternatives to Incirlik air base or some time and was considering moving the troops to Jordan, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. Yet, Ankara has not taken a step back over the dispute as the Turkish Foreign Minister said Germany was free to withdraw its troops in the airbase. "We are not going to beg. They were the ones who wanted to come and we helped. We gave a place to them as part of coalition against Daesh (Arabic acronym of Islamic State). If they want to go, we would say 'Goodbye'," Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday in a televised interview. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that Germany has to make a choice between granting asylum to Turkish NATO officials and developing relations with the Turkish government. "Germany has to decide. If it wants to develop relations with Turkey then it should turn to the Republic of Turkey, not to separatists," the prime minister said. These flare-up statements are the latest series of quarrel between the two countries. Relations between Turkey and Germany are complex, with some 3 million people with a Turkish background living in the country. Several Turkish ministers were barred from demonstrating rallies to German Turks during a campaigning for constitutional amendment referendum on April 16. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comparison of Angela Merkel's Germany with the Nazi practices was met with shock and anger. "When we call them fascists, Nazis, they in Europe get uncomfortable. They rally together in solidarity. Especially Merkel...But you are right now employing Nazi measures," Erdogan said in March. Chancellor Angela Merkel is under increased pressure from the opposition and the press especially after a reporter of the prominent newspaper Die Welt, Deniz Yucel, became the first German citizen to be arrested in February for what was described as "terrorist propaganda" by the Turkish government. Tensions between Germany and Turkey are in ups and downs since a couple of years. In 2016, Turkey had banned German lawmakers from visiting the base in response to a parliamentary resolution declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a "genocide," but later paved the way for their visit after a statement by German FM hinting that the resolution was not binding. HARARE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday commissioned the dualization of one of Southern Africa's main trunk roads - the 900 km Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place at Chaka Business Center - 222 km from Harare on the Masvingo highway and near the site where 31 people died after the bus they were travelling in side-swiped with a haulage truck and caught fire in April. Initial work will be done on the Beitbridge-Harare component of the road while an announcement would be made in due course on when work on the Harare-Chirundu highway would begin. China domiciled Austrian firm Geiger International will upgrade the Beitbridge-Harare segment at a cost of 998 million U.S. dollars under a 25 year Build, Operate and Transfer model. The project will be done over three years and will have at least 37 new two lane bridges and eight tollgates. The Harare-Chirundu segment - including the Harare Drive ring road - will be done under a loan financing model and private sector investment contributed by China Harbour Engineering Company. The highway starts in Beitbridge in the south on the border with South Africa, passes through Masvingo (290 km) and Harare (290 km), and extends to Chirundu to the north on the border with Zambia (352 km). Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, President Robert Mugabe hailed the project and said it would act as a springboard for economic development in the country, the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation quoted him as saying. Mugabe urged high quality work that meets international standards, noting that the highway is the busiest in the country and links South Africa and other countries in the SADC region, East and Central Africa. The president blamed economic sanctions imposed on the country by Britain and her allies for stalling major infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe, and called on Zimbabweans to remain resilient, united in the development of the country. He warned local suppliers against overcharging so that they can be considered for future projects. Eric Geiger, the vice chairman of Geiger International said the company was happy to undertake the project after six years of negotiations. He said 40 percent of the work will be undertaken by Zimbabweans to give jobs to local companies. File photo taken on Aug. 31, 2016 shows that the then U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) addresses a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (L) in Mexico City, capital of Mexico. (Xinhua/Stringer) WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration on Thursday formally notified U.S. Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), triggering a 90-day consultation period before the renegotiation can start. "I am pleased to notify the Congress that the President intends to initiate negotiations with Canada and Mexico regarding modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)," United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in a letter to congressional leaders. "We intend to initiate negotiations with Canada and Mexico as soon as possible, but no earlier than 90 days from the date of this notice," he said. Noting that the NAFTA was negotiated 25 years ago, Lighthizer said many chapters of the trilateral agreement are "outdated" and do not reflect modern standards. For example, "digital trade was in its infancy when NAFTA was enacted", he said. Lighthizer said the Trump administration aims to modernize the NAFTA by including new provisions to address intellectual property rights, regulatory practices, state-owned enterprises, services, labor, environment, and small and medium enterprises. "Moreover, establishing effective implementation and aggressive enforcement of the commitments made by our trading partners under our trade agreements is vital to the success of those agreements and should be improved in the context of NAFTA," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump has called NAFTA a "disaster" and blamed it for the hollowing out of the U.S. manufacturing sector. He has also threatened to quit NAFTA so as to ramp up pressure on Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the trade agreement. During phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada last month, Trump said he agreed not to terminate the NAFTA "at this time" but would proceed swiftly to renegotiate it with the other two countries. CAPE TOWN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday voiced grave concern over the surge of killing of women and children in South Africa. It is with grave concern that the ANC has noted the increase in reports of mostly young women dying gruesome deaths at the hands of their intimate partners, the party said in a statement. "These senseless and barbaric acts must be condemned by all in society and are an affront to our collective commitment to build a society where all people are and feel safe," the party said. The ANC called on the South African Police Service to leave no stone unturned to find and bring to book the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. "Society has a responsibility to ensure that the most vulnerable amongst us are protected at all times. We call on men in particular to reject and actively organize against this scourge which robs us of our mothers and sisters; our nation's pride," ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said. Also on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma visited the family of three-year-old Courtney Pieters, who was raped and murdered by a family friend in Cape Town earlier this month. "I have personally conveyed on behalf of government our deepest condolence to the Pieters family," said Zuma. He expressed his shock and condemnation of the criminal elements in society who commit atrocious acts of violence and murder of women and children. The murder of Pieters "is pointing to something fundamentally wrong in society that someone can do this to a child", Zuma said. Zuma visited Pieters' family to provide support and also to further raise awareness of the need to end the scourge of the attacks on women and children, presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said. Just before Pieters was murdered, the killing of Karabo Mokoena, a teenage girl, had already shocked the nation. Mokoena was murdered by her boyfriend in Johannesburg in April after a heated argument. South Africa has among the highest rates in the world for the rape and murder of women. Statistics show that a woman is killed every eight hours in South Africa. More than 1,000 women are killed by an intimate partner each year. Intimate partner femicide, which is the most serious form of domestic violence, is the leading cause of the murder of women in South Africa. A study by the SA Medical Research Council showed that the vast majority of female homicides went unpunished, with less than 38 percent of intimate-partner femicides leading to conviction in less than two years. ROME, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Transportation Minister Graziano Delrio said Thursday the government expects several offers will be made for troubled carrier Alitalia, which was placed under state control earlier this month. The company's three government-appointed official receivers on Wednesday posted a call for expressions of interest from prospective buyers on the Alitalia corporate website. Bids can be made beginning on June 5. Investors can offer to buy the whole company, restructure it, or purchase bits and pieces of it. The latter option would lead to the flaghship airline founded in 1947 to be dismembered. "We expect non-binding offers to be made by this summer," Italian news agency Ansa quoted Delrio as saying. However, Industry Minister Carlo Calenda cautioned that there's no point in talking about offers before any have been made. "Alitalia is and has been a very painful saga, especially for Italian taxpayers, who between one thing and another, have put almost 8 billion euros into it over the years," Calenda told Corriere TV in an interview Thursday. "It will be a very long and complex process -- let's see what materializes from June 5 onwards." The Italian government appointed Luigi Gubitosi, Stefano Paleari and Enrico Laghi as official receivers after a court declared Alitalia insolvent on May 11. It also extended the airline a 600-million-euro bridge loan to keep Alitalia flying for six months, by which time it must find a buyer. In April, over 60 percent of Alitalia employees voted against the former management's turnaround plan, prompting government to warn it would not step in to nationalize the chronically loss-making carrier. Alitalia has an operating fleet of 122 planes and employs just over 12,000 people worldwide, including flight, ground crews and administrative staff. The Italian carrier flies to 26 domestic and 68 international destinations, with 4,200 weekly flights and 144 routes, according to its website. It was rescued in 2015 by United Arab Emirates carrier Etihad, which bought a stake of 49 percent. Italian shareholders led by UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo banks hold the remaining 51 percent. TRIPOLI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Libya officially asked Italy on Thursday to arm Libyan naval boats of anti-migrant smuggling in the Mediterranean. "These vessels are not armed and we are unable to use them for patrols as smugglers are increasingly armed," Abdullah Tomia, head of a Libyan-Italian anti-migrant smuggling committee, said at a news conference in Tripoli. "We were dealing with unarmed smugglers before the uprising. But now, we are facing fierce, armed gangs," Tomia added. Italian Interior Minister, Marco Minniti, visited Tripoli on Monday and met with the UN-backed prime minister, Fayez Serraj. The two officials discussed mutual cooperation and the fight against illegal immigration. The Libyan coastguard received four patrol boats this week repaired in Italy as part of a cooperation agreement against migrant traffickers. The Italian-Libyan joint committee also held a meeting last week to discuss illegal immigration and southern Libyan border security. Due to the state of insecurity and chaos, Libya is a preferred point of departure for thousands of immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, many of whom drown on the way. TRIPOLI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces, the Coast Guard and the Port Security Authority held a press conference on Thursday at the headquarters of the Protocol Directorate at the Tripoli Maritime Base of Abu Sitta. The conference was attended by the head of the Libyan-Italian Joint Committee for the fight against illegal immigration, Ali Al-Toumi, the head of the legal office of the Coast Guard, Abdul-Razaq Habarat, the second formation commander, Abu-Ajila Abdel-Bari, and the legal consultant of the coast guards, Mohamed Zariba. "The objective of this conference is to clarify the role of the Libyan navy and the Coast Guard in fighting illegal immigration and to respond to some accusations by some European organizations to the Libyan Coast Guard in their reports," said Libyan navy and coast guards spokesman, Ayob Qassem. "This conference also aims to respond to what the European media is discussing and to some diplomatic statements of some politicians, which make Libya a gathering area for immigrants in order to put pressure on it," said the spokesman. "The most recent incident occurred with one of the organizations, Sea Watch, which tried to exploit it in a negative way, while it broke the Libyan sovereignty and did not respect the treatment of Libyan Coast Guard," Qassem added. "These organizations are trying to thwart even the Coast Guard exercises on the grounds that they will obstruct their work. This is a clear indication that they do not really want to help the migrants," Ayoub said, noting that Libyan naval forces and coast guards, despite their limited capabilities, "will not give up Libyan sovereignty." BANJUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A lower court in the Gambian capital city Banjul on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the alleged killers of the veteran journalist Deyda Hydara. Hydara was murdered on 16 December, 2004 and the suspects were believed to be former army commander Kawsu Camara and soldier Sanna Manjang, who belong to an assassin team called "jungular", known for carrying out many heinous atrocities. The court ruling came after the police alleged that the suspects conspired in 2004 to murder the journalist. "It is further alleged that the duo unlawfully caused the death of journalist Deyda Hydara by shooting him with a gun on his forehead," said the magistrate. The suspects are currently out of the country, but the police want them to be arrested and extradited to face justice in the Gambia. Nobody buying Republic Bank Imbert said an allegation by Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge, that HSBC was going to purchase 20 percent of Republic Bank, is preposterous, wrong and false. He told senators, One must understand the shareholding of Republic Bank. Imbert said 25 percent of the banks shares are held by the Clico Trust Corporation, which is the collateral for the Clico Investment Fund (CIF), which trades on the Stock Exchange. These are, the units given to policyholders who sold their policies for years 11 to 20. Imbert said instead of receiving cash, these policyholders received units in the CIF, the bulk of which was financed by Republic Bank shares. So in order to sell those Republic Bank shares, one would somehow have to pay all of these unit holders, somewhere in the vicinity of about $10 billion, Imbert said, and money would have to be found, in order to clear off all these units and monetise all of these units which are trading on the Stock Exchange. He added that Clico Investment Bank (CIB) is in the hands of a liquidator, the Deposit Insurance Corporation.Imbert said the 18 percent shares of Republic Bank held by CIB cannot be disposed of, because there is a dispute as to the ownership of these shares which has to be settled by the court. He also said Clico itself owns seven per cent of Republic Bank, and the ownership of these shares is tied up in a claim...a counter-claim coming from CIB. The only entity which could sell any part of Republic Bank was CL Financial, which was not the Government of TT, he said, adding, That is owned by the Duprey family and other shareholders of CL Financial. NGL eyes possible acquisitions This was announced by TTNGL chairman, Gerry Brooks, during TTNGLs Annual General Meeting on April 25, at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain. The management outlined a host of initiatives product trading, commodity trading, marketing initiatives, and were also looking at a couple possible acquisitions as well, which would only further enhance the performance of the organisation, having taken TT$161 million of costs out of the organisation. Brooks told reporters now that the organisation is operating in a low-cost environment, as prices come back and as the market comes back, all of that will flow to the bottom line and provide an improved yield, both for Phoenix Park and for TTNGL. During the formal proceedings, TTNGL shareholders heard that these growth initiatives are designed to maximise value and growth to ensure a consistent future healthy earnings stream for the investors. In a statement issued on May 5, TTNGL explained that, More specifically, PPGPL is at an important stage in evaluating these options to enable the processing of natural gas that will be supplied to the consumers at Union Industrial Estate at La Brea. The company is also exploring the option of maximisation of spare fractionation, storage and terminal capacity. Additionally, the benefits of importing product to address the issue of gas curtailment by supplying propane directly to the downstream companies as fuel gas, are being examined, as is the possibility of product trading. Other targeted areas include the creation of a commodity trading desk, cost saving initiatives and expanding into other regions such as Africa, TTNGL stated. Following the AGM, Business Day asked Brooks whether these proposed acquisitions would be local, regional or international. For Phoenix Park, the acquisitions will be regional and international because we are the largest player regionally and therefore our outlook has to be hemispheric and international. Theyre going to be very selected jurisdictions that were looking at, where we run our (due) diligence. Once theres a good strategic fit, well proceed with it. Regarding TTNGLs performance in 2016, Brooks said the board and management were very, very encouraged. For the year ended December 31, 2016, TTNGL recorded total comprehensive income of TT$344.8 million. Earnings per share was TT$1.16 for 2016, while TTNGLs share of profits from its 39 percent shareholding in PPGPL improved operationally by 20.3 percent from TT$136.3 million in 2015 to TT$164.0 million in 2016. This improved performance at PPGPL was directly linked to the deliberate efforts of the company to rationalise expenses in the face of lowered Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) production caused by continued gas supply challenges and lowered product prices. The board approved a final dividend of TT $1.00 per share (2015: TT $1.00) bringing the total dividend for 2016 to TT $1.50. Brooks said this is consistent with the dividend payout for 2015 and represents a dividend yield of 7.14 percent at the end of 2016. It is the highest dividend yield on the TTSE. The final dividend will be paid on April 12, 2017 to shareholders on the Register as at March 28, 2017, Brooks stated. At the AGM, shareholders voted in favour of a resolution to receive dividend payments in either TT or US currency. However, US dollar dividend payments completion of, a number of steps first, including getting necessary approvals from the TT Stock Exchange and the TT Securities and Exchange Commission. Brooks said, Its also going to be extremely important that shareholders establish a US dollar account because if they do not have (one), theres no basis on which to pay. We want to work through those steps very carefully first and then, of course, wed want to have a conversation with Government; in terms of a policy, but its an important step. TTNGL and PPGPL are subsidiaries of the National Gas Company (NGC) Group of Companies, which Brooks also chairs. Asked about NGCs involvement in Guyana, Brooks said this is taking place on several different levels. Weve had National Energy go across to Guyana, weve had Professor (Andrew) Jupiter go across to Guyana. Weve also had Phoenix Park go across to Guyana. Guyana is extremely important because were talking about 1.3 million barrels of oil that could play directly into Petrotrin in terms of refining capacity, but you also have some other potential from an NGC standpoint as well, in terms of ship to shore services. How do we use Brighton (port at LABIDCO, La Brea)? Our phase one development of Brighton is very important in that regard as well as the exchange of technical capability and technical skill. Here, the NGC, as a group, is trying to lift the entire energy service sector because TT has a service sector that has over 100 years of energy experience, and that technical expertise, that energy expertise has to be made available to the people of Guyana in the context of the CARICOM agreement that we have, in the context of some bilaterals. The Prime Minister himself visited, there is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in play. Were looking to deepen that from an NGC standpoint, from a National Energy standpoint and our sister company, Petrotrin, is also looking to do the same as well. So those discussions are going well and we want to progress them, Brooks stated. Womans throat slit The shocking discovery was made at midday by Mohammeds husband, self-employed businessman Sadiq Mohammed, 40, when he returned home from a visit to the bank. On seeing his wife almost decapitated, Mohammed is said to have collapsed and had to be rushed to the Gasparillo Health Centre for treatment. Mohammed later told police he left home at 10 am to go to the bank. Robbery has been ruled out as investigators reported nothing was stolen and the house was not ransacked. Weeping relatives gathered outside the scene while police were in the bedroom where Mohammeds body was found on a bed. The couple, married for 14 years, had no children. Savitri who worked for years in the cosmetic industry was well known for her flamboyant hair colours and heavy make up. Her brother Glen Caran said the couple lived a lived a, nice and quiet life and looked out for each other. They were a good couple who looked out for each other and supported each other, he said. I always say every murder has a reason, but now that it has reached home to me I have a different view because I cant find a reason why someone would kill my sister. I hope we get justice and that the police find the person who did this. She was such a warm and loving person, Caran said. Older sister Evelyn Sookram, 61 said she and Savitri shared a close relationship and remains baffled as to why someone would want her dead. Its a gruesome murder and I still cant understand why it happened, said sister-in-law Farida Mohammed, adding she got the news while in church. Police said that neighbours indicated hearing no scream, or shout for help that could have alerted them to something taking place in Mohammeds house. 20 held as army kits, drugs, ammo seized Suspects were held for shootings in the Port-of-Spain area as well as armed robberies and drug trafficking. Officers also seized two army camouflage kits and 103 rounds of assorted ammunition. Residents of East Port-of-Spain welcomed the joint operation and told Newsday th presence of the police and soldiers gave them a sense of security. The detained suspects will be placed on several ID parades as their continue police in their investigations into seveal cases. Calls for police post in Laventille Newsday spoke to several residents who said that they were living in fear following the murders. One resident who gave his name as Shurland claimed that many of the criminal elements in Laventille are outsiders fleeing arrest from other parts of the country. Laventille was quiet up until a few weeks ago. A lot of these people doing the killings are coming from outside the community and are making it a living nightmare for us who have lived here for years. We really need the intervention of the police at this point, he said. Speaking at the TTPS weekly media briefing yesterday, Ag ASP Michael Pierre said that while he was aware of the plight of Laventille residents, there were no immediate plans for a permanent police post. He revealed that the Police Service intends to intensifying patrols and exercises in the Laventille area as evidenced by a pre-dawn raid yesterday in East Port-of-Spain which resulted in the arrest of 20 people. There is an Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) base in the Laventille area already and on Duncan street. There are also constant around the clock patrols, even now there is a large police exercise ongoing in that area. We have already intensified our patrol system in Laventille and we will continue that way. Body in car identified She learned of the death via the media and when Jacob did not return home, she went to the Centre to identify the body. Police said that shortly before 8 am on Tuesday, residents of Bachan Trace observed the then unidentified man slumped in the backseat of a Nissan B14 car parked along the roadside. Blood was seeping from a bullet wound to the forehead. Residents contacted police who visited the scene and a District Medical Officer subsequently ordered its removal to the centre. Residents said that they first observed the unknown car on Monday night but paid no mind. It was only the following morning when they recognised that the vehicle remained in the same location that a resident decided to check and made the discovery. Investigations are ongoing. Men ordered to pay fines, compensation Jairam Anangoo, 34, and Anil Chatoor, 39, stood before Mag- istrate Cherril-Anne Antoine charged with stealing items from Rising Star Restaurant Grill and Lounge in San Fernando. Anangoo and Chatoor pleaded guilty in the First Court. Court prosecutor Cleydon Seedan said the items were stolen on April 21, 24 and 27 as well as May 11, from the businessplace at Hilda Lazzari Street in San Fernando. On realising the items missing, Persad reported the matter to the Mon Repos Police and PC Shaun Mohammed led investigations. Mohammed charged Anangoo with three counts of larceny. He also jointly charged Anangoo and Chatoor with one count of larceny. Attorney Ainsley Lucky summed up the incident as, a telling indictment of employment exploitation. Their actions, Lucky added, were the result of economic necessity. Anangoo was fined $1,900 for each of the four charges while Chatoor was fined $1,900 on the one charge. Anangoo was ordered to pay compensation in the sum of $31,960.14, while Chatoor must pay $2,682 in compensation. Both were given two months or in default, each serve four months imprisonment with hard labour for the fines and six-weeks simple imprisonment for the compensation Businessman on $15,000 bail Lawrence, owner of an auto rental business, was charged by PC Poolchan and Antoine of the Task Force with assaulting PC Antoine, behaving disorderly and resisting arrest. Lawrence, a father of three, stood before Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the First Court and initially entered guilty pleas to all three charges. Court prosecutor Cleydon Seedan said that on Tuesday at about 4.40 pm, Task Force saw a man riding a motorcycle along Charles Street in La Romaine, without any registration plates. Police pursued the motorcyclist who came to a halt at Lilian Street. The court heard that a group of about 20 passers-by gathered. The charges, Seedan said, arose when Lawrence who was among a crowd of 20 people watching the officers question the cyclist, shouted at the officers. Officers warned persons in the crowd about their conduct. Lawrence was later arrested. When Seedan said that the Task Force claimed Lawrence told them he would throw hand grenades into the Task Force office, the accused through his attorney Natalie Sanchez- Andrews objected. Lawrence denied ever threatening anyone and, as Sanchez- Andrews said, he (the accused) sustained injuries while being arrested. On hearing the attorneys objection, Magistrate Antoine changed Lawrences plea to notguilty on all the charges, set bail at $15,000 and adjourned the case to June 14. Cousoumeh in Siparia ...top class jazz expected For the Deltones Institute of Steel Drums and Music, host of the event, Cousoumeh represents the hard work of a number of talented, home-grown musicians who themselves have been influenced by diverse social and economic histories that come out in their music played on pan. At the Cousoumeh Festival tonight attendees can look forward to designs by Lauren from Siparia, hand-made craft and visuals from the Siparia Art Society and produce from Wild Farm TT, in keeping with this years theme, The rebirth of a village. Showtime is 8 pm. Project assistant Amanda Barnett said it is all about a re-branding of Siparia to accentuate the various talents and opportunities for wealth creation via the creative arts, especially music. To that end, the night will see a top-class jazz session featuring Quinam Road, Siparia-born Akinola Sennon, now executive and musical director of Siparia Deltones. The birth of the festival coincided with the launch of Sennons album Cousoumeh last year, and this year he will be playing in his own band of the same name, together with the Siparia Deltones. International musicians Shane Dahler (drummer), Chris McCarthy (pianist and composer) and Alonzo Demetrius (trumpet player and composer) who featured on the album will also be performing with the Cousoumeh band on the night. Also, the set will feature Alicia Jaggasar and Lady Adanna. The other star billing performance is expected to come from arranger Carlton Zanda Alexander and his Coal Pot Band, whose set will include the reliving of some 45 years of kaiso blues jazz, and he will have on stage with him, a hand-picked team of 12 musicians from Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, most of whom have been flying the TT flag all over the world. The Coal Pot Band is a kaiso/ jazz fusion ensemble with horns, vocals, piano, bass guitar and pan. The band has appeared at all the leading jazz and fusion shows throughout the nation, including Tobago Jazz Festival, San Fernando Jazz Festival, Sanch Apri Carnival, Siparia Jazz Festival, Point Jazz Festival and many more. Barnett beamed: It is a festival which we feel greatly embodies the spirit of Siparia by way of location, history and culture. It was in 2013 when Deltones attracted world famous jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, resulting in a recorded album between them entitled: From Siparia to Soweto. Sennon was project co-ordinator and steelpan soloist on the album, but as recent as earlier this year, Sennon travelled to Netherlands to participate in the Amsterdam Conservatorium Van Summer Jazz Workshop, a first for a pan player. Cousoumeh is part of the Siparia Festival 2017, which continues with a pan parade, Steel in Motion, on High Street, Siparia. This event is free to the public and begins at 6 pm. Some ten single pan bands and one conventional band will take part. The single pan bands are Trinidad East Side, TT Fire Services, San Juan All Stars, Brimblers, Arima All Stars, Gonzales Sheikers, Unistars, Scrunters Pan Groove, Pan Stereonettes and La Romaine Super Vibes, while Supernovas will entertain at the end of the parade at Harrys car park. Spokesman for the parade, Keith Byer said the parade starts at Daisy Voisin Hub, and there will be three competitions. The first one is at the Siparia Regional Corporation where each band has to play a religious song, another at Harrys car park, where each band must play a song by Black Stalin who will be honoured this year. The third competition will see each band judged for best repertoire played on the streets, with a prize also for best flag waver. Then on Sunday, the Siparia Festival closes with the Talent Quest Finals at 4 pm, followed by Big Fete Sunday at Irwin Park. This event, that is also free to the public will feature live performances by Nishad M, Neval Chaitlal, Sally Sagram Johann Chuckaree and Papa Steve. Showtime is 7 pm. Daly, Dumas concerned about Quinlan In a joint statement yesterday, the two said they are deeply troubled by recent press reports of the contents of a recording of what took place at a bail hearing before Quinlan-Williams as a Magistrate in 2009, and what she is reported to have testified at disciplinary proceedings against her arising out of her conduct of that bail hearing. This former magistrate has very recently been appointed a High Court judge and we are absolutely satisfied that the public interest requires that the determination of the disciplinary tribunal be released so that the public can be assured of the propriety of the appointment of Mrs Quinlan-Williams to the office of High Court judge, Daly and Dumas said. We are aware that the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) reportedly sent Mrs Quinlan- Williams a letter stating that she was exonerated nine months after the determination of the charge. We do not need to dwell on the current controversies surrounding recent judicial appointments and why, as a result, very many citizens will not accept an assurance from the JLSC as being the end of any matter, the two said. In any event a separate and independent tribunals determination concerning the charge against Mrs Quinlan-Williams is apparently available. The release of this tribunals determination has been previously refused on what appears to be a specious ground, uncaring of the public interest and the repugnancy of closed-door justice, they added in the statement. Both men also noted that President Anthony Carmona who presided over Quinlan-Williams tribunal, while as a senior high court judge, was reported to have penned his report, perilously close to his elevation to President Designate. Any further delay in releasing his determination runs the clear risk of bringing his office into an unseemly fray. This would be in addition to increasing the ongoing reputational damage to which recent blunderings of the JLSC have exposed the Judiciary. We call on the JLSC to release forthwith the tribunals determination of the charge and/or charges against Mrs. Quinlan-Williams along with any written reasons or report related to it, the two demanded. Bangladeshi Ambassador presents credentials Accepting letters of credence from Bangladeshs newly accredited non-resident High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago Mizanur Rahman on Tuesday, at the Office of the President in St Anns, Carmona said Bangladesh has sent through the United Nations, peacekeeping troops worldwide to help restore order where there was international disorder or natural disasters. Rahman, who has been a public servant for 30 years, is based in Canada. Thanking Bangladesh for the peacekeeping role it has played in the Caribbean region by sending troops to Haiti, Carmona said, they have helped in restoring democracy and the rule of law in the country and by extension the region. Bangladesh, formerly a part of Pakistan and known as East Pakistan, came into being in 1971, after a split and bitter war with Pakistan. It was important, Carmona said, to stress the importance of being a global villager in a world of globalisation when the concept of globalisation was beginning to shift and where unilateralism was engaging the major countries of the world. Using the experience of the United Kingdom exiting the European Union, he said, You see what is happening in the United States of America. He continued, Sometimes you wonder if we are reverting to the law of the jungle. Each man to himself. But I hope not, because as a global villager, you have a responsibility to be concerned with the business of other countries. He commended the President and Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the key role of women in the governance of their society. He noted that Bangladesh has been governed by women prime ministers with the current woman prime minister serving a third term. That countrys governance structure, which allows for 70 women at the minimum to hold seats in the countrys 300-seat parliament, he said, should be emulated in TT and the wider Caribbean. Both Carmona and Rahman said that Bangladesh and TT have much to offer each other in many fields, but particularly in energy, sports, culture and the arts. Sewer problems at Preysal Government Parents have vowed to keep their children away from the unsafe environment until the problem is resolved. This although officials from both the Education Ministry and Education Facilities Company Ltd, toured the facility. According to officials, the objective of the tour was to do assessment and they are hoping to resolve the problem as soon as possible. A scope of work will be done and we are hoping to fix problems by this week or as soon as possible, said an official. He added that the EFCL has done work on the schools fencing as well as on the sewer system last year. The school located at Mission Road and houses 362 students. Construction for the new school, located next door, started under the previous administration. However, work came to a halt in August 2015, a month before the present government was elected, parents said. Member of Parliament for Caroni Central Dr Bhoe Tewarie, in a press release yesterday, stated that parents are fed-up and the principal, teachers and staff have reached the limit of their patience. A new school, about 60 percent complete, and untouched for the last 20 months is now overgrown with bushes next to the old, dilapidated school in which classes are held putting students and teachers at risk, Tewarie said. The MP stated that Parliament in the 2017 budget allocated funding for the continuation of construction works of the new school. Education Minister Anthony Garcia gave him the assurance that work would resume before the end of fiscal 2017. Garcia, he added, subsequently informed the House of Representatives that construction work was no longer scheduled for 2017 fiscal and would probably take place in 2018 instead. Dr Tewarie accused the mister of being insensitive to the formidable challenges of students, parents and teachers. Saying that the school is a good performer one, Tewarie added that students are missing classes when they should be learning and enjoying school days with their peers. Tewarie stated that he is currently arranging to meet next week with the Parent- Teachers Association to determine a course of action. The purpose of the meeting is also to ensure schooling for the children and to take action for the completion of the new school. Ramlogan: A knee jerk reaction I am very pleased that Carmona has seen the wisdom and merit in the pre-action protocol letter I sent to his office last week. (This) does not in any way address the fundamental systemic issues that plague the administration of justice, Ramlogan SC said. Ramlogan had stated he intended to launch a constitutional motion against the State, to challenge the composition and jurisdiction of the JLSC on the ground that it did not comply with requirements in Section 110 of the Constitution. The legal threat followed the appointment of the then Chief Magistrate at Portof- Spain Magistrates Court Marcia Ayers-Caesar, to the High Court on April 12. Referring to the pre-action protocol letter sent to Carmona, Ramlogan yesterday said, I indicated the JLSC was not properly constituted with four members, as the Constitution clearly requires a minimum of five. There was no member from the Bar, that is to say, a senior and respected attorney who was no longer in active practice and hence, an important consideration was ignored. The JLSC had asked for until May 19, to respond to Ramlogans legal letter. Ramlogan also questioned the legality of retired judges Roger Hamel-Smith and Humphrey Stollmeyer sitting on the JLSC, as both are retired and over the age of 65. In an apparent reference to Koylass swearing-in, Ramlogan yesterday declared, This is a victory for the people, the Constitution and democracy. There is a motion of no confidence in Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the JLSC scheduled to be debated by the Law Association on June 1. Although the JLSC now has a full quorum, Ramlogan said he remains concerned that, this glaring omission could have occurred. Bulldozing was Commissioners directive After over 20 houses were destroyed at Culture Road, residents expressed their outrage by burning debris across the Valencia stretch, causing a major traffic build up. Valencia Police were called out to ensure law and order. This did not stop the residents from protesting again on Tuesday by burning debris after their call for justice was ignored. At first, the Land Settlement Agency (LSA) was blamed for the bulldozing of the houses. However, when contacted for comment, Housing and Urban Development Minister Randall Mitchell, under whose purview the LSA falls, said his ministry was not responsible for the exercise. He said his ministry was not empowered to carry out such an exercise and said the exercise was carried out by Commissioner of State Lands Paula Drakes, who is empowered to demolish all structures deemed to be unlawfully constructed on state land. Contacted yesterday, Al Rawi said Drakes had very definite and certain responsibilities in law. I was informed that the bulldozing occurred on the direction of the Commissioner of State Lands. I have been calling on her to meet with me, calling on a constant basis. I wrote again today asking that she come and have a meeting with me and was told she was not available. I am hoping she would be available some time soon I appreciate that she has a very large workload, but I too have a very large workload and have been making myself available as best as I can, Al Rawi said. The AG said he is aware that the commissioners office has a huge backlog, but there are things to be sorted out and he would continue to make efforts to meet with her. Al Rawi noted that it was defined in law that the Commissioner of State Lands is a public office and not a Cabinet appointee. The Commissioner is appointed by the head of the Public Service Commission (PSC). All attempts by Newsday to contact Commissioner Drakes and PSC officials for comment yesterday were unsuccessful. Suicide prevention plan coming Responding to questions from JSC chairman Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir, Hutchinson said there is no publicly run suicide hotline in TT. He added there is one run by non-governmental organisation Lifeline. Hutchinson said, As part of the suicide prevention plan that is being developed and will be implemented soon, is a proposal to either work alongside Lifeline supplementing their service or or setting up an alternative hotline which the ministry could fund and support. Hutchinson said Lifeline has been experiencing problems with getting volunteers for its service. Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Vishwanath Partapsingh said this was an element of a wider suicide surveillance system which will supplement existing health sector protocols to treat with people who may be contemplating suicide. Hutchinson explained that self harm and suicide can be a feature of several different types of mental illnesses. He also said stress is something would could result in people becoming mentally ill. Hutchinson said people who were sexually abused as children, are likely to develop mental health problems when faced with situations such as unemployment or relationship problems. Responding to a question from Cumuto/ Manzanilla MP Christine Newallo Hosein, Hutchinson said, In situations where there is increased social stress, you do see more mental illness. However he added that some people are more resilient in dealing with stress than others. St Anns Hospital Medical Chief of Staff, Dr Hazel Ann Othello, said some drugs used to treat mental illnesses are available on the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP). Use your time to develop yourself Asked about the protest staged on Tuesday, after he spoke at the Fifth National Climate Outlook forum at the TT chamber of Industry and Commerce in Westmoorings yesterday, Hinds said, I want to say today to the young people in Morvant/Laventille, there are so many opportunities for young people in Trinidad and Tobago and in the world. If you will only assume a life of discipline whether it is in the media, in the police service, whether it is in any profession of your choice with the support of the State. There are free primary, secondary and tertiary education, technology skills training in the vocational training, all these institutions are making it all available. He said there is no citizen who does not have at his or her finger tips access to training, self growth and self improvement. Hinds indicated that there are opportunities available to the young people even if they did not do well, and finished their schooling at the primary and secondary school level. He said young people should use their time wisely and seriously consider how they can make something of their life. Even if it is as a tailor, a barber, as small business owner, whatever you do. I heard them calling for jobs in their area and you see those words in their area, it troubled me because the jobs are not only available there, the jobs are available across TT. Hinds said if young people of Laventille/Morvant including those who protested on Tuesday, would spend 40 or 50 percent of that time in self development, supporting and encouraging and making safe each rather than being a threat, TT will be better off. Speaking to Morvant and Laventille residents, the Laventille West MP said, You are free to protest, but really where are we going? Where are you going? What do you plan to do tomorrow? How do you intend to earn your keep? What skills do you have? You want jobs? If someone came into the community and said they want six doctors today, could you put up your hand and say you can apply? Can you say you have the skill? That is the question. Hinds said he was very concerned because for the past 20 years as a MP, he has spent time in these same communities encouraging young people, but a minority chooses to hang around, become dangerous and be used by others to do wrong. TT must be prepared for storms Speaking yeesterday at the 2017 Wet Season fifth National Climate Outlook Forum (NCOF) at the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Westmoorings, Dillon said the theme, Engaging Communities and Disaster Mangers for Disaster Risk Reduction, was timely and relevant. Even as we prepare for the rainy season in Trinidad and Tobago, and when we do prepare not only for Trinidad and Tobago but also in the region, there are some concerns. Severe climate events said to become more intense and frequent due to the increase of climate variability, and long term change. He said Global statistics have also shown that on an annual basis floods affect more people in any other natural hazards and contributes enormously in economic losses and the lost of livelihood, access to education, to water, to food and health services. The understanding that these challenges also manifest in Trinidad and Tobago preparedness is imperative and important when it comes to saving lives and property. We cannot underestimate preparedness because if we are not prepared then we can never succeed, in war or in peace. Public Utilities Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said climate is a critical factor in the lives and livelihood of all people, both as a resource, and in some unfortunate cases, a hazard. Climate and its related weather patterns have a significant socio- economic impact around the world. He continued, As such, climate extremes which occur on a seasonal basis are a cause for concern and strategic action, particularly in developing regions like the Caribbean and island- states like our own. The necessity for strategic and coordinated action becomes even more of a priority in light of climate change and its attendant effects. Imbert, Sinanan: Tobago not neglected As he concluded debate on the bill, Imbert said Moores statements reflected a lack of understanding of the established budgetary process in TT and how Tobagos appropriation is determined. Moore, who is the Tobago Forwards party leader, is also a former justice minister in the former Peoples Partnership (PP) government. The arrangements for appropriation to Tobago are fixed in law, Imbert reminded senators. He said there have been occasions in the past where even though the actual budget expenditure is reduced, the appropriation to Tobago is unaffected. As he reiterated that expenditure in the 2016/2017 budget could be less that the $53 billion that was projected, Imbert said, Tobago gets its original allocation as if the actual expenditure was the original $53 billion. Earlier in the debate, Sinanan observed that Moore never asked the PP why proper arrangements were never put in place for the Super Fast Galicia to operate on the domestic seabridge. Why not question your government? Why six months, not for a year? he asked her. Government senators thumped their desks as Sinanan declared there have been no corruption allegations against any government minister in the 19 months that the PNM has been in office. However he observed that in the PPs first 19 months, You could write a book on allegations. Sinanan reminded senators that the new drivers permit was launched in Tobago. He said when he assumed office last November, he discovered plans for a Sea Lots walkover which were made in 2013 but never implemented, though the PP was in government from May 2010 to September 2015. Nobody saw it fit to build the overpass, he lamented. Recalling that the Curepe Interchange brought down the PP, Sinanan said Government was doing the project properly and the tenders would close on June 7. He also said the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project will be restarted and will not stop until it reaches Point Fortin. Work is also continuing apace on designs for the Valencia to Toco Highway and consultations on the Toco fast ferry port are ongoing, he said, promising all of these projects will be done without any corruption. Nick Herringer claps along with a metronome. He draws lines on a big screen, repeating patterns drawn by the computer. He identifies icons of cars when they flash before his eyes. This is the 22-year-olds speech and cognitive therapy, which he has been doing at least twice a week. Every wee The US State Department has denounced the brutality of the security personnel accompanying the Turkish President after they roughed anti-Erdogan protesters Tuesday in Washington. Footages of a brawl between a small group of protesters believed to be pro-Kurdish and some men dressed in black suits, identified as Erdogans security agents, went viral on social media. The footages recorded in the street on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., showed members of the Turkish security personnel pushing past US police and assaulting the protesters as Erdogan was due to arrive in the Turkish ambassadors residence. Eleven people, including a US officer were hurt in the brawl. Two men identified as 49-year-old Ayten Necmi of New York and 42-year-old Jalal Kheirabadi of Virginia, all US residents were arrested as main suspects. Necmi is a supporter of Erdogan whereas Kheirabadi is a supporter of Kurdish causes. The US State Department condemned the Turkish officials behavior. Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms. Edward Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged in a letter US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to address the issue with Ankara. Alarmingly, this behavior is indicative of the broad crackdowns on political activists, journalists and religious freedom in Turkey that have greatly harmed Turkish democracy in recent years, Royce wrote. I ask that you immediately look into this matter and bring all appropriate charges before these individuals leave the United States. The incident, which took place the same day Erdogan met with President Trump at the White House, is said to have stained the diplomatic visit of the Turkish President who received assurance from Washington that the US position on Kurdish issue will not cloud relations between the two NATO allies. Costa del Sol and Morocco are planning to launch a joint tourist offer under the theme a holiday in two continents, said the Spanish Malaga Hoy magazine. The publication said that meetings have been taken place between officials in the two countries to finalize the teaming up to offer an unprecedented tourist offer. In this respect, the same source said that representatives of Moroccan authorities and their counterparts in Marbella and Ojen are forging partnerships to market the new offer. Malaga Hoy highlighted the pertinence of the idea and its potential to lure more tourists in light of the shared history between the two countries and their diverse tourist assets enriched by time-honored culinary traditions and cultural attractions. The magazine recalled that approximately 190,000 Moroccans live in Costa del Sol, of whom 15,000 are residents including 1,900 in Velez and Malaga. Kevin McCarthy. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Shortly after Russian hackers broke into the Democratic National Committees computer network last year, members of the House GOP leadership discussed Vladimir Putins geopolitical ambitions. During that private conversation, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested that the partys likely nominee was on the Kremlins payroll. Paul Ryan, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Steve Scalise laughed. McCarthy said, Swear to God. Ryan swore all present to secrecy. All would go on to endorse Trump. McCarthy would offer the president such dogged support, Trump would come to refer to the majority leader as my Kevin. And, nearly a year later, someone would hand a tape of that conversation to the Washington Post. On Wednesday, the paper published a partial transcript of the chat: Ill guarantee you thats what it is The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump, McCarthy said with a laugh. Ryan asked who the Russians delivered the opposition research to. Theres theres two people, I think, Putin pays: [California Republican Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump, McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. Swear to God, McCarthy added. This is an off the record, Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that. No leaks, alright?, Ryan said, adding: This is how we know were a real family here. Thats how you know that were tight, Scalise said. Whats said in the family stays in the family, Ryan added. The Post asked the House Speakers spokesman for a comment Wednesday. The ensuing exchange could have gone better for Ryans flack. When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: That never happened, and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false. After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. On the one hand, there is a lot of laughing in that transcript. On the other, McCarthy laughed when he said that the Russians had hacked the DNC and scooped up opposition research on Trump a claim that appears to be more factual than humorous. Flynn. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Michael Flynn is playing hard to get. Trumps former national security adviser will not honor a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to that panels top senator. The subpoena compelled Flynn to turn over private documents related to his relationships to foreign governments. Thats not a surprise to the committee, the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr told NBC News of Flynns defiance. Well figure out on General Flynn what the next step, if any, is. Burr subsequently qualified his claim, the Huffington Posts Laura Barron-Lopez reports. Burr says he may have spoke too soon and that "definitive answer" from Flynn's lawyers hasn't been received yet. Laura Barron-Lopez (@lbarronlopez) May 18, 2017 Here's transcript of what Sen. Burr told reporters after initial comments on Flynn lawyers/docs pic.twitter.com/uT4pQzw4tv Laura Barron-Lopez (@lbarronlopez) May 18, 2017 Flynns tenure in the White House was cut short by revelations that he had misled Vice-President Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Weeks after his departure, Flynn acknowledged that he had been on the payroll of the Turkish government while serving as a top surrogate and adviser to Trumps campaign even as the GOP standard-bearer accused his rival of making pay-to-play arrangements with foreign governments. Weeks after that, news broke that Flynn had neglected to list three Russia-linked sources of income including $45,000 in speaking fees from the Kremlin-backed RT news network in his legally required White House ethics forms. Last month, the top Democratic and Republican members of the House Oversight Committee announced that Flynns failure to disclose the payments he received from foreign governments likely constituted a violation of U.S. law. That same day, Flynn told friends, I just got a message from the president to stay strong, Yahoo News reports. White House lawyers had repeatedly warned Trump not to contact Flynn. The Oversight Committee had asked the White House to provide it with Flynns security clearance paperwork, receipts from payments he received from foreign governments, and other documents related to the hiring and firing of the former national security adviser. The Trump administration refused to honor a single one of those requests. Sean Spicer says the darndest things. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Sean Spicers Daily White House Press Briefings, a half-hour comedy about an anxious, anthropomorphic marshmallow who must defend the actions of an indefensible president on pain of being melted into smores, is on the brink of cancellation. The program had garnered sky-high ratings, thanks to Spicers talent for physical comedy and his characters signature malapropisms. WATCH: Sean Spicer compares the size of the Obamacare bill to the new replacement bill. #Trumpcare pic.twitter.com/UBAnTYzRuX William Z. Nardi (@williamznardi) March 7, 2017 In one memorable episode, the man-shaped mass of sugar and gelatin set out to condemn a Syrian dictator for using chemical weapons against his own people and ended up praising the restraint Adolf Hitler showed in never using poison gas on his own people, (the press secretary assured reporters that he was aware of what the Nazis did at their Holocaust centers). In another installment, he nearly caused a market panic by misrepresenting the presidents tax plan. But ratings arent everything and Spicers antics have undermined his employers broader interests, as Politico reports: President Donald Trump is considering scaling back White House press secretary Sean Spicers public role, according to several officials familiar with the presidents thinking, as Trump also weighs a broader shakeup of his communications shop in the wake of several scandals He is no longer expected to do a daily, on-camera briefing after Trumps foreign trip, which begins Friday, the officials said Plagued by crises that are engulfing his administration, Trump, in recent weeks, has been increasingly pointing his finger at the communications department to explain the administrations failings. In all seriousness: Sean Spicer is bad at his job. But his job is impossible. And the fact that Trump blames anyone but himself for the communications failures of the past week is a testament to his extraordinary capacity for self-delusion. The president gave his communications team just one hours notice before firing the FBI director investigating his campaign. Then, after every White House surrogate including the president himself lined up behind a story that pinned responsibility for the decision on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Trump went on national television and said Rosenstein was irrelevant. The president proceeded to admit that he was thinking about how much he resented the investigation into his campaign when he decided to fire Comey, a statement that (arguably constituted) a confession to obstruction of justice. Next, Trump tried to intimidate his former FBI director into silence by threatening to release secret recordings of their conversations a claim that his surrogates had no legally sound means of publicly defending. Nevertheless, the president remains convinced that he is own best surrogate. We dont have press conferences, Trump suggested, in an interview with Fox Newss Jeanine Pirro last week. We just dont have them. Unless I have them every two weeks and do it myself. Trump isnt actually prepared to go that far, according to Politico. Instead, the White House will likely give Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders more time at the podium. But even if this were the end of Spicers run, his finest episodes would still live on, through the internets infinite syndication. Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy want to keep Trumps Russia ties in the family. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Last night, the Washington Post reported on a 2016 conversation, between members of the House Republican leadership team, concerning Donald Trumps shady ties to Russia. Theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump, said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. No leaks This is how we know were a real family here, replied House Speaker Paul Ryan. It is possible, as the Post acknowledges, that the comments were made in jest. The transcript records laughter all around. But there are several reasons to suspect that McCarthy and Ryan were speaking honestly about their suspicion that Trump received money from Putin. First, spokesmen for Ryan and McCarthy insisted the comments were a joke only after they forcefully denied the conversation ever took place at all and then were told a recording existed. The fallback explanation has less presumptive credibility when the initial explanation has been debunked. Second, while it is true that McCarthy and Ryan laughed during their conversation, people laugh all the time at statements they recognize as completely true. One of those times is when youre acknowledging that reality is bizarre. (The single most common object of this kind of uncomfortable, incredulous laughter in my experience has been Donald Trump.) Just before sharing his suspicion Trump gets money from Russia, the transcript shows that McCarthy mentioned the Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee: McCarthy: The Russians hacked the DNC and got the oppo research they had on Trump. [laughs] McCarthy wasnt laughing because he made up a funny joke about Russian hacking. He was describing an actual event that was true but so strange it was funny. Third, the highly relevant context of the comments is that McCarthy grouped the possibility Trump got money from Russia along with the possibility that California Republican Dana Rohrabacher did so. Theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump [laughter] Swear to God. The inclusion of Rohrabacher is significant. Rohrabacher is known in Congress for his fervent defenses of Putin and Putins interests. This long Politico story from November describes some of Rohrabachers positions, meetings with some of the shadiest members of Putins inner circle, and, in particular, his dogged pursuit of one item of special priority to Putin. (Rohrabacher worked to remove the name of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed after exposing massive corruption by Putin, from a global anti-corruption law.) The subtext of the article indeed, the only way to make sense of it is that everybody on all sides believed Rohrabacher was getting money from Russia in some form or fashion. No other coherent explanation could be found for his dogged insistence on a cause that had no merit whatsoever from the perspective of the United States. Fourth, while the evidence that Trump gets money from Russia is less clear than in the Rohrabacher case, there is plenty of evidence for it. Trump has all kinds of financial connections to Russia and the Putin regime. Numerous reporters have found that, after Trumps bankruptcies and other risky behavior made him untouchable for most standard lenders, he became dependent on Russia for capital. Just yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported a new example: VEB, a Russian bank essentially controlled by Putin, financed Trumps hotel in Toronto. And fifth, Trump, Ryan, and McCarthy are all cooperating to hide Trumps financial information. House Democrats have introduced bills to require the president to disclose his tax returns, which could reveal his financial relationship with Moscow. Ryan and McCarthy could approve those if they wanted to. Instead, they are supporting Trump by quashing them. Whether and to what extent Trump has gotten income from Putin cannot be known because Ryan and McCarthy want it not to be known. No leaks, all right? Ryan says to his fellow Republicans in the recording. This is how we know were a real family here Whats said in the family stays in the family. Was that statement a joke? It is hard to know for sure. What we do know is that, on the matter of Trumps financial ties to Russia, this is Ryans actual position. Stewarts embrace of the Lost Cause not proving to be an electoral winner. With all the recent controversy about Confederate memorials being pulled down, you might think Republican gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart was being shrewd by exploiting old-white-vote resentment over the issue in Civil Wardrenched Virginia. But at present, it doesnt seem to be doing much for the exurban local-government figure whos tried to make himself into a Trump-like vehicle for protests against a GOP Establishment that is fully behind his opponent Ed Gillespie. According to a new Washington Post/George Mason poll, Stewart is trailing Gillespie by 20 points (3818, with 15 percent going to State Senator Frank Wagner), and does not have a lot of money to catch up before the June 13 primary. Virginia does not require receiving a majority of the primary vote to win a nomination, so Stewart cant count on a second chance if Gillespie beats him but falls short of 50 percent. He must be given credit for persistence, though. Stewart has pursued his argument that taking down Confederate memorials reflects the kind of p.c. culture that Trump opposes up to and beyond the gates of political prudence, as Politico noted: No Robert E. Lee monument should come down. That man is a hero & an honorable man. It is shameful what they are doing with these monuments, he wrote in one Twitter missive, following up a few hours later: After they tear down Lee & Beauregard, they are coming for Washington & Jefferson. He added the hashtag #HistoricalVandalism. When he hasnt lamented the shoddy treatment of Southern heritage, he has compared the politicians who support removing statues to ISIS, the murderous Islamic extremists who have destroyed historic artifacts and religious sites throughout Syria. Or suggested that George Soros needs to be tried for sedition, stripped of his citizenship or deported. Or labeling his main opponent a cuckservative, the disdainful epithet of choice among the alt-right. His particular focus on the City of Charlottesvilles decision to remove a Lee memorial has brought Stewart into uncomfortably close proximity to white supremacists, as became apparent when Richard Spencer led a torchlit march to the memorial last weekend. Virtually every political figure in Virginia, including Gillespie and Wagner, condemned the marchers except for Stewart, who remained silent. He then announced a Facebook Live event for Monday during which, after speculation that he might be dropping out of the race, he instead attacked his enemies and rivals again: During the brief video stream from a tea party event in Northern Virginia, Stewart blasted fake news, GOP rival Ed Gillespie, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Dominion Energy and sanctuary cities. The videos title was Its Time to Denounce. That is certainly something Stewart is ever-ready to do. But his Trump-Heavy campaign does not seem to be working at all. The WaPo/GMU poll shows him only winning 15 percent of the likely GOP primary voters who strongly approve of Trumps job performance. It isnt clear how many Republicans are aware that Stewart was fired as the moguls Virginia campaign manager last October after he held an unauthorized rally at the RNC headquarters, in Washington, based on fears the national party might abandon its presidential nominee. They may have noticed, though, that Stewarts campaign isnt exactly getting any help from the White House or its political operatives. Assuming Gillespie wins on June 13, Stewarts campaign may be remembered as showing the limits of race-tinged attacks on political correctness, even among a very conservative electorate. Racist dog whistles are one thing. Howling at the moon while defending the Lost Cause is another thing altogether. Michael Flynn, the Trump administrations Whitewater. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images A day after the election, President Obama told Donald Trump that Michael Flynn, whom hed fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, was not fit for a role in his administration. Trump ignored this warning, making Flynn his national security adviser. Less than a week after the inauguration, acting Attorney General Sally Yates told White House counsel Donald McGahn that Flynn was lying about his calls with the Russian ambassador, and could be vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians. The Trump administration kept Flynn on for another 18 days, then fired him, ostensibly because hed misled Vice-President Mike Pence. Trumps bizarre loyalty to Flynn has been a recurring theme in a number of scandals most recently former FBI director James Comeys claim that Trump urged him shut down the federal probe into Flynn a day after the national security adviser resigned. A report on Wednesday night made Trumps decision to hire Flynn even more baffling. According to the New York Times, on January 4 weeks before the inauguration Flynn told the Trump transition team that he was under federal investigation over secretly lobbying for Turkish interests during the campaign. Flynn only registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent in early March, saying he was paid $530,000 last year for work that could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey. In early August, Flynn signed a 90-day contract with Inovo BV, a Dutch company owned by the Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, who is close to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Flynn was reportedly tasked with discrediting Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, who Erdogan accused of orchestrating Turkeys failed coup attempt last summer. On Election Day, the Hill ran an op-ed penned by Flynn in which he said Turkey needs our support and compared Gulen to Osama bin Laden. The op-ed raised concerns that Flynn was working as an unregistered foreign agent, and on November 30 the Justice Department informed Flynn that they were looking into the matter. According to the Times, Flynn alerted the Trump transition about a month later: Mr. Flynns disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition teams chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynns lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported. Nevertheless, Trump decided to go ahead with plans to make Flynn his national security adviser, giving him access to highly classified intelligence and making him privy to most of the presidents interactions with foreign leaders. McClatchy reported on Wednesday night that a potential conflict arose even before Flynn was sworn in. Ten days before Trumps inauguration, the Obama administration asked Flynn to sign off on a plan to arm Syrian Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS, which had been in the works for seven months. Flynn said to hold off, which delayed the operation for months. Its unclear why Flynn gave the order, but Turkey happens to oppose the move, arguing that the Kurdish forces have ties to a terrorist group. Trump eventually approved the plan, weeks after Flynn was fired. The revelation raised extremely serious questions about foreign policy decisions Flynn made during his brief tenure as national security adviser. Per McClatchy: Some members of Congress, in private conversations, have even used the word treason to describe Flynns intervention, though experts doubt that his actions qualify. Coupled with the Times report, it also added fuel to an old Flynn-related scandal. After Flynn registered as a foreign agent in March, the White House said President Trump was not aware of his lobbying for Turkey, though it was widely reported before his hiring. And when asked about Flynn registering as a foreign agent in a Fox News interview, Pence said twice, unprompted, hearing that story today was the first Id heard of it. Pence was the head of the Trump transition team. In November, Elijah Cummings, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, sent Pence a letter raising concerns about Flynn being paid by Russian and Turkish interests. In March, the Associated Press reported that prior to the inauguration, Flynns lawyer told Trumps attorneys that he may need to register as a foreign agent. Now the Times reports that Flynn informed the Trump team that he was under investigation as well. Is what Pence told Fox News false, or are many, many more Trump officials about to lose their jobs for lying to the vice-president? The U.S. Embassy to Israel is staying right where it is, in Tel Aviv, despite Trumps pledge to move it. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images If you are looking for an indication that Donald Trump still thinks he has great presidential things to accomplish, and is not instead hunkering down defensively, this news from Bloomberg immediately before his trip to the Middle East may do the trick: President Donald Trump has decided not to immediately move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a senior White House official said, violating a campaign promise but avoiding a provocation that could drive Palestinians away from peace talks. Trump conspicuously promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem at an AIPAC event in March of 2016. He reiterated the pledge on the eve of his inauguration, adding that, You know Im not a person who breaks promises. And at the 2017 AIPAC gathering a few weeks ago, Vice-President Mike Pence backed off some but managed to raise expectations again. After decades of simply talking about it, the president of the United States is giving serious consideration to moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Pence said. Well, not anymore, or at least not imminently. Trumps hopes of brokering some sort of Israeli-Palestinian peace deal are apparently alive, and he plans to meet with Palestinian National Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem next week. Putting the embassy move on hold is essential to any diplomacy with the Palestinians. So Trump, like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before him, promised to move the embassy in the heat of a presidential campaign and then reneged when things got real. Perhaps this shows that he is not yet in a political bunker where the only thing that matters is satisfying influential donors like Sheldon Adelson or base supporters like the conservative evangelicals who favor defiance of Palestinians on Jerusalem out of Islamophobia or end-times prophecy. That would be reassuringly normal. Stay strong. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images At a dinner in late April with a handful of friends, former national security adviser Michael Flynn said that he and President Trump are still in communication, according to Yahoo News. Flynn reportedly made it clear to those at the table that he still supports Trump, despite getting fired, and that the feelings of loyalty are mutual. I just got a message from the president to stay strong, Flynn said after the meal was over, according to two sources who are close to Flynn and are familiar with the conversation, which took place on April 25. The Yahoo News report does not reveal how Trump communicated the message to Flynn, but the fact that theyre talking at all could be trouble for Trump. Last week, the Daily Beast published a report that said White House lawyers have told him several times not to reach out to Flynn. Why? If Trump spoke directly with Flynn amid ongoing investigations, it could be portrayed as witness tampering. Such conversations would create HUGE issues, according to national security attorney Brad Moss. Talking with witnesses got Nixon in trouble. The last thing they would want is an allegation of conspiracy, witness tampering or coordination, said Mark Zaid, Mosss partner, in an email. If Flynn is going to be indicted, or certainly under investigation, then I would want the president to be as far away from him as possible. But no lawyer is going to stop Trump from doing he what he wants, and he clearly wants to protect Flynn. The Yahoo News story provides some insight as to why Trump continues to stand by Flynn despite his track record of lying to campaign officials and deceiving the public. These are two men who bonded on the campaign trail, a Flynn friend told Yahoo News. Flynn always believed that Trump would win. They were together so much during the campaign that Flynn became family. There has been zero sign of anything but supreme loyalty. U.S. fighter jets. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images The U.S. bombed a convoy of pro-Assad fighters Thursday as they advanced on U.S. partner forces, according to the coalitions official Twitter account. May 18 #Coalition struck #Syrian pro-regime forces advancing in a de-confliction zone near At Tanf posing a threat to #US partner forces1/3 Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) May 18, 2017 Another tweet added that the strike came only after several attempts to warn the convoy from advancing any further. This was despite #Russian attempts to dissuade pro-regime movement towards At Tanf, #Coalition aircraft show of force, & warning shots2/3 Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) May 18, 2017 The al-Tanf area referenced is home to a base where U.S. special forces train anti-ISIS fighters. Its surrounded by a deconfliction zone. The pro-Assad forces got too close to that zone, USA Today reports, adding that the airstrike targeted a tank and two earth movers that were building fighting positions within the defensive zone. U.S. military is not yet certain if those bombed were Syrian army or pro-Assad militia, USA Today notes. BuzzFeed says the convoy included regime-allied militia mixed with Syrian government forces. And a leader from a Pentagon-backed rebel group told Reuters that the forces were made up of the Syrian army and Iranians. A strike on pro-Assad forces, be they militia troops or members of the Syrian army, marks a turn from the reason the U.S. is in Syria to fight ISIS. This is only the second time the U.S. has bombed pro-Assad targets after last months strikes on an airfield in retaliation for a chemical attack. Fighting Assad and ISIS at the same time is not only madness and idiocy, as Trump said last year, its potentially illegal given the lack of Congressional authorization to strike regime targets. Thats a point one Democratic lawmaker is already making. If true, this is FRICKIN ILLEGAL. Trump does not have Congressional authorization to attack Syria, a country that has not attacked US. https://t.co/5cf7gBVwC7 Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 18, 2017 stockce/iStock/Thinkstock(ARLINGTON, TN) -- A handful of adults in the audience of a high school graduation in Tennessee temporarily stole the spotlight from the students on Tuesday. Graduating seniors from Arlington High School near Memphis were walking in their caps and gowns at Bellevue Baptist Church when two women appeared to start lunging and hitting each other as several others attempt to restrain them. One of the videos, posted to Instagram, was taken by Kasidy Landry, who was there to watch her sister, Tayler Landry, graduate. It is unclear what prompted the fight. In a statement, Arlington County Community Schools Chief of Staff Jeffery Mayo said it was "unfortunate that a couple of adults in the audience exhibited the behavior they did" and "caused a distraction" from celebrating the departing class. "It is our hope that the focus will shift to our students and their accomplishments instead of the poor decisions by adults in attendance." The incident happened before the ceremony began and did not affect it, Mayo said. The 500 students who graduated earned some $30.6 million in college scholarships, he added. According to the Shelby County Sheriff's office, the incident was handled by church security. A spokesperson for the Bellevue Baptist Church did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Four Planned Parenthood clinics will close in Iowa. Photo: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images On Thursday, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland announced that it would close four clinics in Iowa after Governor Terry Branstad signed a budget bill that blocks state funds from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions. Clinics in Burlington, Keokuk, and Sioux City will shut down June 30. A fourth clinic will continue to offer limited telemedecine services after the 30th, but eventually it will close, too. The closures will leave more than 14,600 women without a primary health-care provider, according to a Planned Parenthood press release. And its not like they have a ton of alternatives a Des Moines news station found that, of a list of several clinics a state senator recommended, one listed at Scavo Alternative High School is the schools nurses office. Another clinic listed at 12th St. and University Ave. is a dentists office. A third clinic listed is the Central Iowa Shelter and Services, which is a homeless shelter. Of those three clinics, none provide reproductive medical care and screenings for women. Suzanna de Baca, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, told the Des Moines Register that the closures will be particularly hard on young people, poor people, people of color, and rural residents. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood representatives say the bill is similar to the one thats currently moving through Congress. What is happening in Iowa is what we could see across the country if Congress passes this dangerous law to defund Planned Parenthood, said Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Iowas majority-Republican congress voted in favor of the bill, despite the fact that most Iowans are in favor of continued public funding for Planned Parenthood. If the American Health Care Act maintains its current form, the U.S. Congress could do the same. Toby Keith. Prior to this morning, I thought that the funniest thing happening this weekend in Saudi Arabia was going to be Donald Trump fumbling his way through a big speech about Islam. I was wrong, because it will absolutely be the all-male concert Toby Keith is playing in Riyadh, which will also include a performance by an Arabian lute player. Per the Associated Press, Saturday nights concert is free, however, women are not permitted to attend. (Being banned from attending a Toby Keith concert is, coincidentally, the one and only perk of being a woman in Saudi Arabia.) Its unclear what the set list will look like, as his oeuvre contains several decidedly haram songs such as as Red Solo Cup, Beers Ago, Beer for My Horses, Drunk Americans, Whisky Girl, and I Like Girls That Drink Beer. Take out Ryan and Pence too please. Reply Thread Link Biiiiiiitch Reply Parent Thread Link i'm like salivating at the thought of paul ryan possibly going down with this ship too Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao bring me a resignation from this moron Reply Parent Thread Link I think, if this is done right (which is won't be, cause 'Murica) we could eliminate half the Republicans over this shit Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'd like to see Mitch McConnell dragged out by his turkle wattle chin. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes! He has the power to investigate them all, he can follow the leads wherever they take him. This could potentially be the end for Trump, Pence, Ryan, Session, McConnell, etc. Like dominoes, if one falls, it may take them all down. If not in on the initial crime, they could be part of the cover up. Reply Parent Thread Link I AM LOVING THIS THO. I'm not going to hold my breath, but still...I'm loving it! Fox and OSP blind supports still:I AM LOVING THIS THO. I'm not going to hold my breath, but still...I'm loving it! Reply Thread Link I LOVE YOU AND BUTTERY MALES OUT THERE! Reply Parent Thread Link LOL Reply Parent Thread Link I'm not optimistic nor pessimistic. Anything could happen, that's what November 2016 taught me. At least I can smile knowing that this is a blow to Trump's ego. Reply Parent Thread Link That's how I feel. I'm trying to find out more about this guy. He doesn't seem evil from what I'm finding, but who knows? Reply Parent Thread Link It took like, two years to bring down Nixon. We're technically not even at 4 months of a Trump presidency yet. It feels slow, but this moving at warp speed. Reply Parent Thread Link huh I thought it was Kevin McCarthy who said that? (goes back to read) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Literally the best I've felt since Jan 20, 2017. Reply Thread Link Me: hi Congressman have you seen this NYT story GOP member: no Me: ok I'll summarize it GOP member: [frantically pushes elevator button] Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) May 16, 2017 Edited at 2017-05-17 11:04 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link Lmaoooo Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah not getting my hopes up again. Also, I need to hear this Paul Ryan tape lol Reply Thread Link BREAKING: Ryan's office said "That never happened" -- until being told WaPo has a recording. https://t.co/ahq95EhBCy Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) May 17, 2017 Reply Thread Link lmaooo Reply Parent Thread Link Thank you for your usage of Emma Watson! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link this gif usage is amazing Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao, I am loving this!!!!!! Reply Parent Thread Link LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS ASSHOLE Reply Parent Thread Link lmao i'm loving nyt/wapo's mo. ask them a question and get them to deny it then release proof that refutes their denial Reply Parent Thread Expand Link LOL YES! This is the second time the press have asked someone in the WH if something was true, waited for them to deny it, and then threw out receipts. Keep doing it! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link DIE JERK Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This story gets crazier by the minute. Reply Parent Thread Link Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: No leaks...This is how we know were a real family here. this is some mafia rhetoric if I ever heard it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This shithole would Reply Parent Thread Link oh paul ryan Reply Parent Thread Link Did wapo release the recording? Where can I listen to it? I just wanna relish the beginning of his downfall lol. Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO Reply Parent Thread Link lmao. this piece of shit. draggggg it. Reply Parent Thread Link I like the part when confronted with this story, the Ryan spokesperson denied it. 'Totally not true!!1!' Then the reporters were like 'there's an audio of it.' Then the Ryan camp was all, 'uhhh it was a joke!' Well I'm laughing. So fair point. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link What a dumb ass Reply Parent Thread Link not even going to get my hopes up. i want to but i can't :/ Reply Thread Link same Reply Parent Thread Link This is me Im not going ot get excited because the minute I get my hopes up im gonna get pulled back down. Reply Parent Thread Link me too. everyone one in congress, regardless of party, has proved that they're spineless to me tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link I need an Elmo fire gif of comey Reply Thread Link I KNOW! SOMEBODY DO THIS! COMEY MY HOMIE GETTING REDEEMED. Reply Parent Thread Link screaming @ comey my homie Reply Parent Thread Link comey my homie omfg Reply Parent Thread Link Edited at 2017-05-18 12:42 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm trying not to get my hopes up purely because just when I think things can't get worse, they do. But this is really good news! Reply Thread Link don't get too excited, somehow I see him probably eventually being like i have seen too much shit thrown under the rug to believe this will make any difference don't get too excited, somehow I see him probably eventually being likei have seen too much shit thrown under the rug to believe this will make any difference Reply Thread Link This year's group of 31 guys competing for the heart of Rachel, the attorney from Dallas, has been revealed. This cast is more diverse and supposedly more successful than any other cast but the men only seem slightly less awful than last seasons men.A sampling of the men Rachel has to choose from:Alex - 28 - Information Systems SupervisorAte a live salamanderColdplay, Beatles Can't really think of a third one. Music isn't a big part of my life.The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)Bryan - 37 - ChiropractorIf yes, how many and why? Yes, 2 -3 kids, preferably two boys, one girl. A boy needs a little brother and they both can protect their sister.Bryce - 30 - FirefighterA fresh drink of water with a jolt of lightning.The chick is actually a dude.Professional Instagrammer? How cool would it be to travel the world going on adventures and helping people solely funded through pictures you post of living your dream life!DeMario - 30 - Executive Recruiter100% the party starter always blowing my whistle and making NOISE!!! Let's fire it up, put on some Prince and party like it's 1999!!!!No pets but when I'm married with children I will own a pet lion and name him, "Denzel, the lion."I won't lie, I love attention not like '07 B. Spears attention or 2011 Sheen. Natural attention like when Justin and Brit wore those incredible denim outfits.Jamey - 32 - Sales Account ExecutiveI am trying to not make plans in life.EDM/Hip-hopA modelI do not have female friends.Lucas - 30 - "Whaboom"Dead: Bruce Jenner, Alive: Caitlyn Jenner . Would be a very interesting convo.1. Waterproof lighter 2. Spear gun 3. Cast of The View. Couldn't tolerate The Situation from Jersey Shore.Milton - 31 - Hotel Recreation SupervisorMiltonReal answer? Discovered. Everyone tells me I'm made for TV/movies. Doesn't mean I'm out here hoping for that, but I would like to break into writing or acting. Also, Time's new cover is brutal and is gonna piss off Trump so much :). Devastating. pic.twitter.com/IQVHtmbaKX Rob Bennett (@rob_bennett) May 18, 2017 Just woke and I see Ailes is dead and Trump is tweeting nonsense. Cool, cool.Also, Time's new cover is brutal and is gonna piss off Trump so much :). Reply Thread Link I want to buy this simply for the cover Reply Parent Thread Link same Reply Parent Thread Link Same here, bb. Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link Same, also I've wanted to see St Basil's irl for years and legit think it's gorgeous. Reply Parent Thread Link same Reply Parent Thread Link Oh, wow. I feel like I'm looking at promo image from The Americans. Edited at 2017-05-18 04:04 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ailes died?! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link @ericbeetner added the Exorcist theme pic.twitter.com/3bAfNmn4Ic Andy Cole (@AndyCole84) May 18, 2017 Why is my embed not working goddammit Edited at 2017-05-18 04:20 pm (UTC) Not a cover, but I am loving this oneWhy is my embed not workinggoddammit Reply Parent Thread Link oh damn! Reply Parent Thread Link Love it. Reply Parent Thread Link I think I might buy this, it is a moment that will be in the history books! I can't believe we are living in such crazy times, this cover looks like it is for a James Bond movie, not real life. Reply Parent Thread Link Goddamn at that cover. He's going to throw a chair. Reply Parent Thread Link oh shit. I'll be getting this in the mail soon. I fucking love the Times. can't wait for this cover and article. Reply Parent Thread Link I need to buy this. Reply Parent Thread Link The way he's going, he's prob going to start trying to have the illustrator of that cover jailed. Reply Parent Thread Link http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/18/chaffetz-to-announce-early-departure-from-congress-238550 and chaffetz is announcing his early flouncing from congress lmao Reply Thread Link Who is going to take over for him? Reply Parent Thread Link it'll have to be a special election Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Special election, I believe. And there is a female Dem who has said she would run against him - hopefully she still plans to do it even if she's running against a different Republican. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Joining Fox apparently. I guess he sees becoming a TV personality as the route to the presidency. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Please let there be dirt please let there be dirt. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This POS Reply Parent Thread Link Very suspicious Reply Parent Thread Link It's not councel. It's counsel. The position is special counsel. Reply Parent Thread Link no, bb. i was quoting trump. lol. he tweeted "councel" this morning. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link That's how President Shit for Brains spelled it on twatter Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Maxine Waters was on Morning Joe! Reply Thread Link also, this is a good primer on why other dems are taking a different strategy with calling or not calling for impeachment: killing it. she used to be my rep also, this is a good primer on why other dems are taking a different strategy with calling or not calling for impeachment: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_591cbbe4e4b094cdba50d952?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009 Reply Parent Thread Link The Latest: Lawyer says fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will not answer subpoena for documents. https://t.co/feUpZeZ1fL The Associated Press (@AP) May 18, 2017 Uhh... some how I don't think this is going to go well for you. Reply Thread Link He's so stupid. If anything he should be cooperating bc he's in deep Reply Parent Thread Link he's probably going to flee lbr Reply Parent Thread Link hahahahaha this is perfect Reply Parent Thread Link Lock him up Reply Parent Thread Link Uh, this is not a sound strategy I don't think Reply Parent Thread Link LOCK HA UP Reply Parent Thread Link He's going to die in prison. Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao, guess we know why he was asking for immunity last month (or whenever it was, holy fuck this whole thing has caused my perception of time to be completely fucked) Reply Parent Thread Link If I ignore it, it'll go away! Reply Parent Thread Link He's royally screwed. Reply Parent Thread Link My bet is he's planning on fleeing if he refuses to cooperate. Reply Parent Thread Link Trump was still in contact with flynn up until last month Reply Thread Link and told him to "stay strong" and now he won't answer to the subpoena Reply Parent Thread Link Lol dummy Reply Parent Thread Link Shouldn't that be worth jail time in and of itself?? Reply Parent Thread Link lmao of all people telling me to stay strong I wouldn't find strength in Trumplethinskin Reply Parent Thread Link This is just going to be my bald-guy-with-glowsticks-in-Katie-Holmes-p osts now. This is just going to be my bald-guy-with-glowsticks-in-Katie-Holmes-posts now. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Trump is such a fucking dumbass. At least Nixon had some brains. Reply Parent Thread Link I had a dream I had shit to leak to the press that could bring down Trump, like memos and recordings and stuff that I'd found cleaning my apartment. Damning evidence is coming from everywhere, including my subconscious!! Reply Thread Link get em, chomsky! Reply Parent Thread Link Hahaha I love this! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Flynn must be hiding something massive if he's not going to honor the subpoena and possibly contempt. Trump sending him the message to "stay strong" and then he does this? To me that is Trump once again trying to obstruct justice. "Stay strong" seems like it really means "stay silent." Reply Thread Link Did y'all hear that trumplethinskin is gonna cut back on live pressers?? Smh Reply Thread Link That means we don't even get Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Reply Parent Thread Link Thank god! Reply Parent Thread Link lmao he's going to make it SO MUCH WORSE for himself Reply Parent Thread Link would love if he did this, just keep burying himself w/ his stupidity and his mouth Reply Parent Thread Link I also heard there will be less televised pressers tho :\ Reply Parent Thread Link He'll do about three before he takes his ball and goes home because the mean old reporters wouldn't stop asking him hard questions. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link cool, then we could have a live "implication count" that dings every time he steps in his own shit Reply Parent Thread Link Everything happens so much Horse ebooks (@Horse_ebooks) June 28, 2012 mood mood Reply Thread Link This and hostile goose were too good for this world Reply Parent Thread Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link Do we need to have a politics post around 1700-1800 EST? Just need to ask. Reply Thread Link with how the news is happening recently, probably Reply Parent Thread Link we might need to strategize for celeb tweets. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Usually it's a "celebs react" to whatever the 6pET bombshell reporting is that day. Edited at 2017-05-18 04:04 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link lets just see if something new drops Reply Parent Thread Link judging from this past week, we need a new political post approximately every 3 hours. Reply Parent Thread Link only if everyone goes to dinner / spin class / commutes home from work tbh Reply Parent Thread Link I can't wait to see Paul Ryan's career burst into flames Reply Thread Link mte he's the person I hate the most in all of this lol Reply Parent Thread Link I can't stand him. I want to throw a dumbbell at his head. Reply Parent Thread Link The description of him I like best is "zombie eyed granny starver". Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Saaaame. I would almost be ok with dealing with Trump till 2018 so long as that spineless granny starving shitweasel Ryan suffered horribly. Reply Parent Thread Link Him and Mitch McConnell. I literally want to see them tarred and feathered. Reply Parent Thread Link I would be okay with seeing him cry. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Honestly my biggest fear if Trump is impeached, is that Ryan becomes president because Pence has been implicated in a lot of this shit too. Reply Parent Thread Link Oh, he's every bit as complicit in this shit as the rest of them. He's going down. Reply Parent Thread Link 1. Turkey pays Flynn $500k+ to act as a foreign agent 2. US plans to retake Raqqa w/ Kurdish forces (Turkey is opposed) 3. Flynn blocks it pic.twitter.com/ONwHQca9n7 Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 18, 2017 Reply Thread Link Motherfucker literally helped ISIS. Traitor. Reply Parent Thread Link Whooooa.....this is insane. Reply Parent Thread Link Aww this made me tear up tbh <3 @ Trump please die Reply Thread Link The directors usually retain custody of the statuettes on their country's behalf, as I understand it. I know Almodovar still has the one he got for Spain. Reply Thread Link Oh really? In Canada ours is at TIFF I thought other countries had similar arrangements. ETA: googling has revealed that Almodovar won for Best Writing so I think that's just his personal Oscar. Edited at 2017-05-18 10:49 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link No, I believe he has both. There was a photo or video of his house a while ago that showed both of them on the mantle. Certainly some of them do end up on display somewhere. Reply Parent Thread Link That's cool! I always thought it was a little mean that certain directors don't get to keep theirs. I remember reading an interview with one director, I forget who it was, but I remember she was a little pissed about it. I would be too! Reply Parent Thread Link I think that's just his Oscar for Talk to Her, but 3 years earlier Spain did win for All About My Mother Edited at 2017-05-18 10:51 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link congrats to him. did he announce a new project yet? Reply Thread Link He's supposed to be filming something with Cruz and Bardem next I think? Reply Parent Thread Link just googled and yup "about a family of winemakers living in rural Spain" and "psychological thriller with a dash of agatha christie" Reply Parent Thread Link that is such a strange rule. curious why they dont change it. they should give it to the director(s) and writer(s). or i guess producers like best picture does. Edited at 2017-05-18 10:53 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link or just make two, one for the filmmaker and one for the country. if i earned that statue you best believe i'd want to show it off. Reply Parent Thread Link aww yay :D Reply Thread Link finally Reply Thread Link oh i had no idea they didn't get to keep it, ngl if it was me i'd be a little salty lmfao Reply Thread Link The Salesman was great, but Toni Erdmann still should have won. Reply Thread Link YAY! :) I was def rooting for him. The Salesman kept me captivated the entire way through. he has such a knack of creating tension out of every little moment. Edited at 2017-05-18 11:19 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link hooray! (i still havent seen this smh) Reply Thread Link aw, this is cute. Reply Thread Link I have yet to watch a salesman or a separation. My aunt who is the pickiest person on the planet said both were really good (she's preferred a salesman). Granted, I wonder if she has some bias since we're Persian. Reply Thread Link they're both really intense and great in my (also persian) opinion Reply Parent Thread Link Aww I'm happy for him! <3 Reply Thread Link He's one of my favorite directors. I can't wait until Amazon releases The Salesman so I can finally see it! I really like Iranian cinema. Reply Thread Link aww finally Reply Thread Link yaaasss king Reply Thread Link Props to him Reply Thread Link The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia has set up a defense business as part of its efforts to reduce the Kingdoms dependence on crude oil for budget revenues laid out in the Vision 2030 plan. The plan was devised by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed in a bid to diversify the Saudi economy in the wake of the 2014 oil price crash, and also involves nuclear, solar, and wind energy projects. The company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), will produce land and air systems, weapons, and missiles, with a view to Saudi Arabia producing half the weapons and systems it needs locally by 2030. This raises the question, how much military equipment the Kingdom will need in the coming years, as media have reported U.S. President Trump is about to announce an arms export deal with Riyadh worth US$350 billion. In a statement issued to announce the setting up of SAMI, Prince Mohammed said While the Kingdom is one of the worlds top five spenders on security and defense overall, only around two percent of our military procurement is domestic. The new company, 100-percent state-owned, is expected to contribute some US$3.7 billion to the countrys GDP by 2030, spending over US$1.6 billion (6 billion riyals) on research and development. Related: OPEC Expects U.S. Driving Season To Save Oil Prices The Saudi sovereign wealth fund had assets of about US$190 billion at the beginning of this year. In January, one banking industry insider told the Financial Times that these could rise to US$500 billion before the initial public offering of Aramco, which will bring in another US$100 billion, according to estimates. Renewable energy is a big part of Prince Mohammeds Vision 2030 program as well. Plans are to produce a tenth of the energy that the Kingdom needs from renewable sources by 2023. Until that period, new generating capacity of 9.5 GW from 30 solar and wind power projects needs to be built. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih estimated the investments necessary for these projects at between US$30 and US$50 billion. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Last week, the LNG world was a buzz with news that the U.S. had finally agreed to export LNG to China based on the May 11, 2017 announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department of a U.S.-China 100-Day Action Plan. Is this a big deal or not? China is the Largest LNG Growth Market Theres no question that the Chinese energy market is a very big deal overall and that China is the largest LNG growth market. According to the U.S. EIA, five Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Taiwan) accounted for 68 percent of global LNG imports in 2015. In 2016, higher imports into China and India more than offset declines in LNG consumption in the established markets of Japan and South Korea. In the coming years, it is expected that more U.S. LNG will find its way to Asia via the expanded Panama Canal, which reduces shipping costs and travel time between the Atlantic and Pacific basins. (Click to enlarge) Leading energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie is also bullish on Chinese LNG demand, noting, By 2030, we expect Chinese LNG demand to reach 75 mmtpa, triple 2016 imports. This is equivalent to $26bn a year at todays prices ($7/mmBtu), and the U.S. is keen for a slice of the pie. (Click to enlarge) Image: Twitter @kerryanneshanks, Wood Mackenzie Head of Gas & LNG Research Asia Does the U.S.-China 100-day Action Plan Change U.S. LNG Export Law? Whats less of a big deal is the actual impact of the Commerce Departments statement, which reads: 4. The United States welcomes China, as well as any of our trading partners, to receive imports of LNG from the United States. The United States treats China no less favorably than other non-FTA trade partners with regard to LNG export authorizations. Companies from China may proceed at any time to negotiate all types of contractual arrangement with U.S. LNG exporters, including long-term contracts, subject to the commercial considerations of the parties. As of April 25, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy had authorized 19.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas exports to non-FTA countries. Related: Irans Elections Could Disrupt Oil Markets This statement merely reiterates current U.S. law, which allows LNG exports to countries with whom the U.S. does NOT have a free trade agreement (so called non-FTA), countries on a non-discriminatory basis, subject to a public interest analysis and approval by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Since the U.S. does not have an FTA with China, China is a non-FTA country and is free to negotiate LNG export deals with U.S. LNG exporters no less favorably than other non-FTA trade partners. A Policy Shift In Favor of U.S. LNG Exports While the 100-Day Action Plan statement does not reflect any change in law that would make it easier to export U.S. LNG to China, it does reflect a change in U.S. policy to actively promote U.S. LNG exports to any country, including China, that wants to buy U.S. LNG. Under President Obama, U.S. LNG export policy was less clear as the Obama administration struggled to weigh the impact U.S. LNG exports could have on domestic natural gas prices. While there was not an official policy against U.S. exports to China, there were rumors that the Obama Administration had discouraged U.S. LNG exporters from signing deals to China for political reasons. According to Freeport LNG, when U.S. LNG exports were first proposed, there was interest from Chinese companies but the DOE cautioned Freeport that dealing with Chinese investors could create a political issue. Whether for political or commercial reasons, Chinese counterparties are not offtakers of any U.S. LNG export project under construction. Regardless of past U.S. policy, it is now clear that Chinese buyers are welcome to sign deals with current or future U.S. LNG exporters. It also appears that concerns about the impact U.S. LNG exports would have on the domestic price of natural gas have been abated with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross indicating that officials from Dow Chemical gave assurances that increasing exports of natural gas wouldnt harm the U.S. industry or consumers if sales remained less than 30 percent of total output." The U.S. Has Already Exported LNG to China It should be noted that the lack of direct offtake agreements has not limited Chinas ability to get U.S. LNG. In August 2016, Cheniere shipped a U.S. LNG cargo to China via Royal Dutch Shells Maran Gas Apollonia. This was noteworthy since it was the first LNG tanker to transit the expanded Panama Canal, which will ease access to Asian markets for U.S. LNG exporters. According to the most recent LNG export report from the U.S. DOE, as of March 2017, Cheniere has shipped 10 LNG cargoes to China. In a recent presentation, Cheniere reported that since 2016, it has shipped more than 100 cargoes to 20 countries. (Click to enlarge) Related: Venezuelas Oil Production On The Brink Of Collapse Cheniere Is In Talks to Boost LNG Exports to China Recent reports indicate that Cheniere is looking to line up new LNG export deals with Reuters reporting that Cheniere has had extensive negotiations with China over the past month. In comments to the Wall Street Journal, Cheniere CEO, Jack Fusco voiced support for the 100-Day Action Plan noting, The Chinese have had concerns about the U.S. honoring long-term contracts with a Chinese counterparty, so were really pleased with the language that came out. My aim is to try to finance our next round of growth and I would love to do it with a Chinese counterparty." U..S LNG Exports to China A Big Deal or Not? So far, Chenieres Sabine Pass LNG terminal is the only terminal exporting U.S. LNG. In the next few years, several more U.S. LNG export projects will come online with many more projects proposed and at various stages of development. (Click to enlarge) The next wave of U.S. LNG export projects will need firm offtake commitments in order to advance. While U.S. LNG exporters like Cheniere seem eager to embrace Chinese counterparties, market forces in the rapidly evolving global gas and LNG markets will ultimately determine the volume of exports that go to China. U.S. LNG will need to be competitive with other suppliers, most notably Qatar and Australia, and will also depend on whether Chinese buyers want exposure to U.S. gas prices. Another wildcard is whether Americans will embrace the idea of U.S. LNG exports to China, or will this become a political issue again as more and more natural gas leaves American shores? Regardless of the outcome, U.S. LNG exports to China could indeed be a very big deal. By Susan Sakmar for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil prices erased early losses to rise on Thursday afternoon after Algerias Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa said that most OPEC producers are supporting the Saudi-Russian proposal for an extension of the production cuts until March 2018. As of 2:17pm EDT on Thursday, WTI Crude was up 0.73 percent at US$49.43, while Brent Crude was trading up 0.82 percent at US$52.64, after earlier in the day the price of oil was down as investors enthusiasm waned over yesterdays Energy Information Administration (EIA) draw. Yesterday, oil prices were boosted by the EIA reporting a fresh draw in crude oil inventories for the week to May 12, at 1.8 million barrels. This afternoon, whiplashed investors are once again sharing optimism as the time for the cut extension draws nearer. According to Algerias Boutarfa, most OPEC countries back the Saudi-Russian idea to roll over the cuts for another nine months in a bid to draw down persistently high oversupply and lift oil prices. Most of the countries support the proposition of Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend, Boutarfa said in Moscow after talks with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, as quoted by Bloomberg. Algeria is also backing the proposal and is optimistic that a deal could be reached, Boutarfa noted. Although a small producer within OPEC, Algeria played an important role in bringing together the diverse group of the cartels members to talk and finally reach the initial deal to collectively curb production. Related: From Oil To Arms: Saudis Move Away From Crude Commenting on the upcoming meeting in Vienna, Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC in Austin, Texas, told Bloomberg: Not many people will want to be bearish as the meeting approached. Theres sure to be a decision that will be designed to boost prices. Within OPEC, so far Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Venezuela, and Algeria have said they would support some kind of extension, or would support a rollover of the cuts if others do. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Iran is gearing up for the May 19 presidential election, a critical vote that could reverberate around the world, affecting not just Iran, but also its relationship with the West, and ultimately, crude oil prices. Incumbent President Hassan Rouhani won in 2013 on a platform of moderation and promoting dialogue with the West. Ultimately, that controversial gamble paid off, with the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 nations (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the U.S. plus Germany). The deal put restrictions on Irans nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. Crucially, the deal led to a thaw in relations between Iran and the international community, and it also led to a revival in Irans oil industry. Iran had more than 40 million barrels of oil stored in tankers in the Persian Gulf, which were blocked from export. After the deal, Iran slowly whittled away at that stockpile, allowing it to boost exports throughout 2016. Iran also began the process of courting international oil companies for new investment in some very attractive oil and gas fields. However, the nuclear deal has never looked more fragile than it does right now. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized it, previously calling it the worst deal ever negotiated. In April, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Iran is so-far in compliance with the deal, but that the U.S. would still conduct a review to see whether or not it should withdraw from the accord over Irans ongoing support of terrorism. Related: Iraq Agrees With Deal Extension, But Boosts Oil Exports To Record Levels So, on the one hand, the U.S. is not sure it wants the deal to survive, while in Tehran the deal is also looking shaky. President Rouhani is facing growing competition from hardliners, particularly from conservative cleric Ibrahim Raisi, who appears to be the leading opposition candidate ahead of Fridays vote. Raisi has not said that Iran would back out of the deal if elected, but confrontation with the U.S. would be much more likely if he prevailed, ultimately putting the nuclear deal in danger. "Raisi would likely support the provocative military and regional policies that are already imperiling the nuclear agreement and are leading to increasing calls in Washington to reinstate extra-territorial sanctions," Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note on Monday. Even if Iran does not unilaterally withdraw from the deal, heightened tension with the U.S. could provoke the tempestuous U.S. President to scrap the accord. The election is set for May 19, but the top two candidates will head to a runoff a week later if nobody receives 50 percent of the vote. Any fallout from the nuclear deal would have knock-on effects on the crude oil market. If the deal is thrown away, geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran will rise. The threat of new U.S. sanctions would then be very real, and new restrictions on Iran could hamper oil production. "We reiterate our call that Iran remains one of the most underappreciated political risks in the oil market. Moreover, we contend that the real risk is not of additional Iranian barrels coming online, but rather of a drop-off due to geopolitical developments," RBC's Helima Croft concluded. Related: Russia Reemerges As Chinas Top Crude Supplier The lifting of sanctions has been a boon for Iran, who ramped up oil production from 2.8 million barrels per day in 2015 to 3.76 mb/d as of April 2017. But the low-hanging fruit for Iran has largely been plucked. Going forward, more production gains will likely need to come from new projects and new investment, probably requiring the help of international oil companies. Iran hopes to ramp up production to 5 mb/d by 2021. U.S. oil companies like Exxon and Chevron are still barred from Iran because of lingering sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department. But other majors such as Royal Dutch Shell and French oil giant Total inked some preliminary agreements with Iran at the end of 2016. Shell is looking at evaluating oil fields along Irans border with Iraq while Total has a non-binding agreement to develop a natural gas field. But those projects, and Irans future oil production target, will remain elusive if Irans conflict with the U.S. flares up again, which will surely deter western oil firms from jumping back into the Persian Gulf. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Low oil revenues are prompting the government of Oman to sell $2 billion in Islamic bonds to raise funds for the national budget, according to a new report by Bloomberg. We are confident that our economy is heading in the right direction because the government has taken several measures for economic and fiscal reform, Finance Minister Darwish Al Balushi said in Saudi Arabia. These measures led to improvement in the fiscal situation and the government will continue to take more measures. The hole in Omans national budget will measure 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, though forecasts predict the shortfall will decrease in coming years. Last year, the gap stood at a whopping 21 percent. Muscat is also considering forging public-private partnerships to balance the cost burdens of nationalized industries hit by the 2.5-year oil price crisis. Oman plans to pump one million barrels per day on average this year. The country said earlier this year that it would sell stakes in state-owned oil and gas downstream companies to prop up government finances, but these plans have been in the making for a few years now without concrete action, to the chagrin of international financial observers. S&P Global Ratings lowered the monarchys credit rating from BBB- to BB+ last week, to which the finance minister had prepared a response. We respect the opinion of S&P as a professional entity, but at the same time we are confident of the strength of our economy and we trust that the international financial market has a lot of confidence in our economy," Al Balushi said. Its true that in the past two years part of our reserves was used to cover the deficit, however, our reserves are still in a comfortable position. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Brazils state energy major Petrobras last distributed a dividend in April 2014. This year could mark the return of the payouts as the company eyes to end 2017 in the black. Chief executive Pedro Parente said, as quoted by Reuters, that We really are keen to start paying dividends as fast as we can. Troubled Petrobras reported a net profit of US$1.417 billion for the first quarter of this year, up from a net loss of US$318 million for the year-earlier period. The company attributed the positive performance to 72-percent higher exports, at 782,000 bpd, at higher prices, as well as to lower oil and gas import costs. The latter were a result of higher production of oil and gas at home, which led to a 40-percent decline in imports. Domestic oil production rose 10 percent on the year to 2.182 million bpd, and overall output went up 9 percent to 2.248 million bpd. Asset sales also contributed to the results but they also accounted for a reduction in income from international operations, notably the sale of Petrobras Argentine and Chilean operations. A resuming of the dividend payout will go a long way towards instilling some semblance of confidence in Petrobras shareholders after two years of low oil prices, subsidies eating into the companys revenues, and a graft investigation that toppled Brazils previous government. Over that period, Petrobras debt swelled to around US$130 billion, becoming the largest in the global oil industry. Now, Parentes top priority is to reduce this huge burden on the company and thanks to the positive Q1 performance, there is a chance that the company will be able to do it ahead of schedule, cutting its debt to EBITDA ration to 2.5x from 5.1x attend-2015. At the end of March 2017, debt was 3.24 times the companys EBITDA. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: If the Democrats have their way, the 2018 election here in Oregon will be a referendum on President Donald Trump. Oregonians have very strong feelings about the President, so lets dig into the numbers and see what parts of Oregon are still on the Trump Train and which parts seem to be in the firm grip of The Resistance. In other words, where does Trump have coattails that 2018 Republicans could ride and where is the President likely to be an anchor on local candidates. Tri-County Area: Anchor Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties are not fans of President Trump. In Clackamas the Trump/Pence ticket received 88,392 votes or 41.30% of the vote. Compare that to Bud Pierce, who won Clackamas County with 100,882 votes or 48.35% of the vote and Dennis Richardson who won with 105,801 votes or 52.31%. Those are some pretty stark differences in one of our biggest battleground counties. Given these numbers it is very likely that Democrats will attempt to tie Republican candidates to the President as much as possible in Clackamas. The numbers show that the residents of Clackamas county are open to voting for the right Republican, but the President may weigh down candidates who fail to establish their own brand. No surprise here, but Multnomah County, heart of The Resistance, doesnt like President Trump. The President received only 17.03% or 67,954 votes in Oregons most populated county. Comparatively Dennis Richardson received 27.90% or 103,088 votes from Multnomah residents, an extremely impressive showing for an Oregon Republican. The real heart-breaker is Washington County. Not only did Hillary Clinton defeat President Trump 56.92% to 30.90%, but even Brad Avakian was able to defeat Dennis Richardson 47.03% to 44.00% in Washington county. There is a strategy for Republicans to achieve a degree of success in the Tri-County area, especially in Clackamas, but following closely in footsteps of President Trump is not that strategy. Eastern Oregon: Coattails If you cross over the Cascade range and get out in Gods County, you are sure to find your share of Trump supporters. Trump/Pence had solid victories out in Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler Counties. Trump performed in line with Richardson and Pierce in most of these counties and slightly better in some of them, Baker, Grant, and Malheur to name a few. Republicans continue to perform well east of the mountains, the President included. Candidates in those areas should be able to lend their support to President Trump without facing too much of an electoral backlash, even though they could take heat from the mobilized left at public events. Central Oregon: Mixed Bag Central Oregon is a bit of a toss up when it comes to President Trump. Crook County went for the President by 69.92% and Trump even won Deschutes County 46.36% to Clintons 43.07%. But when you dig a little deeper you see differences between folks in the heart of Bend and the rest of Deschutes County. House District 54, Knute Buehlers district went pretty heavily for Hillary Clinton. President Trump received a little less than 35% of the vote in that area. Buehler had to outperform the President by more than 5,500 votes in order to hold on to his seat. So while Bend may not be on the Trump Train, it seems like the rest of Central Oregon is all aboard. Willamette Valley: Mixed Bag So the Valley is another mixed bag for Trump. Benton County, home of the Oregon State Beavers, rejected Trump pretty firmly in the 2016 election, giving Hillary Clinton 59.88% of the vote to Trumps 27.58%. Yamhill, Polk, Linn, and Marion Counties all went for Trump in 2016, not in overwhelming numbers, but with definite success in the more rural areas for Trump. As to be expected the more populated areas of Salem were not as Trump friendly as the surrounding areas. If we look at House District 20, represented by Democrat Paul Evans, made up of parts of Marion and Polk counties, we see a district where voter registration leans slightly Democratic, but both Bud Pierce and Dennis Richardson were able to get wins, both taking about 50% of the vote in the district. Donald Trump however lost to Hillary Clinton in the exact same area by around 7%. Much like Clackamas, this seems like an area where a Republican could be successful, but not one in the vein of President Trump. Southern Oregon: Mixed Bag By this point you are probably noticing a serious Urban/Rural divide in these numbers, and that holds up in Southern Oregon as well. Lane County, primarily driven by Eugene residents firmly voted against Donald Trump, his ticket only receiving 34.98% of the vote in Lane. The more rural counties of Klamath and Josephine went for Trump with 66.98% and 60.42% respectively. Jackson County is the interesting one, the county itself voting for Trump/Pence with 49.27% compared to Clintons 40.66%. Ashland of course remains a Democratic stronghold in Southern Oregon. Because of the way Jackson County reports their precinct election results, I cant get exact numbers, but from what I can tell President Trump got a little over 50% of the vote in House District 6, where Sal Esquivel serves as State Representative, and somewhere in the 35% ballpark for House District 5, Peter Buckleys former seat, now held by Representative Pam Marsh. The Coast: Coattails Here is where things get the most interesting. Currently Democrats hold the majority of state legislative seats from the coast, but parts of the Oregon Coast love Trump. Trump won Curry County with 57.19%, Coos County with 57.05%, and Tillamook with 47.37%, although he did take loses in Clatsop and Lincoln counties. Trump won House District 9, currently held by Democrat Caddy McKeown by almost 10 points. If there are any opportunities for Republicans to get pick ups in 2018, I would look to the coast. Every Republican candidate running in 2018 will have to make a choice regarding their support for President Trump and his agenda. Some will choose to fully embrace the President, some with distances themselves and openly criticize President Trump, some will call balls and strikes giving the President credit when he does something they like, and calling him out when he does something they dont, and yet others will pivot to local issues whenever the Presidents name is mentioned. My advice would be the same for almost any other political issue: be honest, but know your district. Jacob Vandever is political activist, lifelong Oregonian, and proud Oregon State graduate. Jacob is the Editor of the Oregon Upstart Blog. Vistas de pagina en total Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript. 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! For Immediate Release Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today launched a pledge for health professionals across the United States to stand together in their rejection of torture, voicing the consensus that torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment are absolutely prohibited in all circumstances. Already the list of signers includes Nobel laureates in medicine, former surgeons general, prison physicians, leaders of health professional organizations, and medical ethicists who pledge never to collude in torture under any circumstances, in keeping with the ethical codes of their professions. At a time when human rights are increasingly under threat, weve launched this pledge to marshal the powerful voices of health professionals across the United States and reaffirm their ethical duties to honor human dignity, said PHRs executive director, Donna McKay. After 9/11, health professionals were enlisted in carrying out and providing legal cover for torture, practices which President Trump has repeatedly expressed an openness to reintroducing as U.S. policy. This pledge is an opportunity for all health professionals to rally together and say we will never go back to those shameful times. For more than a decade, PHR and its network of partners have led efforts advocating against torture, documented the devastating long-term health consequences of torture, and called attention to the complicity of some health professionals in the post-9/11 U.S. torture program. The online pledge commits health professionals to never support or participate in torture, to demand that the U.S. government uphold the absolute legal prohibition against torture, and to urge their respective professional organizations to enforce ethical standards and investigate allegations of abuse. The pledge also serves as a declaration of support for health professionals who resist orders to torture or inflict harm. After 9/11, some health professionals worked with U.S. intelligence and military officials to design and even carry out the systematic torture and abuse of national security detainees, a gross breach of ethics and morality, said PHRs director of programs, Dr. Homer Venters. Health professionals are ethically bound to promote healing and prevent suffering. Torture is antithetical to the role of health professionals. It degrades the health and dignity of human beings and inflicts profound harm not only on victims, families, and communities, but also on perpetrators, institutions, and broader society. Health professionals have the opportunity to form a critical line of defense against such abominable practices and prevent the United States from backsliding into the moral and legal morass that defined the torture program. The public pledge is now open for all U.S. health professionals to sign online, and already many of the countrys leading voices on medicine, ethics, health, and national security have added their names. The current list of signatories includes former U.S. surgeons general David Satcher and Boris Lushniak, President of the American Nurses Association Pamela F. Cipriano, bioethicist Arthur Caplan, Dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Michael J. Klag, CEO of the American Nurses Association Enterprise Marla J. Weston, Nobel Laureate Peter Agre, psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton, as well as other health professionals, bioethicists, and clinicians committed to ending torture once and for all. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here. - Why did more than 10 million people vote for the National Front? Because they do not want suicidal politics that prioritise finances above people, that create inequalities and injustices affecting the most vulnerable and also threaten our national identity. And without a shameless campaign dominated by defamation and demonization we would have received more votes. - Are all your voters racists, xenophobes or from the extreme right as regularly quoted in the media? It is a shame that they say this. Our voters are united by their identity, their traditions and their history. And in France they want to prioritise solidarity. Nothing else. All the other comments are digressions and slander from the left and false right. - Why did you get such good results in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, which we call North Catalonia? Due to the fact that immigration is reaching worrying proportions, that communitarianism is in vogue, and our national identity and our local cultures are disappearing little by little. Because the economic and social situation is dramatic and the political parties both on the left and the right have failed. Finally, because of more or less visible friends at the moment, we are able to replace and reincarnate the future of a political class which is resigned and weak. - In any case, Marcon is the new president of the French Republic. What is going to happen now? Nothing. Nothing more than we have had in the past given that he will follow the same politics, that of the UMPS. - Do you have possibilities in the parliamentary elections in June? It will depend what the electorate say. But we could have representation in the 66 departments. - Is the French electoral system difficult for you? It has been created to thwart us, to prevent us from being elected. But this will not be for much longer because politics will shortly lead us into an economic and social catastrophe. We will then embody the national flag, national solidarity and French fraternity. - Where is France heading? For now towards a brick wall. Until our citizens recognise that they were deceived little by little they will realise as the ambiguities and the truth prevail. - What should we do with the European Union? It has to be renewed, transformed and reoriented, however, a future Europe has to be based on nations and cooperation. - I think that the French want the Euro For the time being they dont have any other option. But the economic signs of massive debt and the dominance of the financial sector will end up destroying this system. - Has Marine Le Pen provided strong leadership for the National Front? Without her there is no National Front. But she will have to modernize everything and has a big reconstruction job to do. - Macron is the new Zapatero? He is more like Matteo Renzi ... subordinate in the Europe of Brussels and global technocracy. - Has Manuel Valls just made a mistake? Arrogant and impotent he is useless and has managed to weaken France and damage the image of the Prime Minister. - Let me ask you a couple of questions about Catalonia: Do you think Catalonia will become independent? Its a Spanish-Catalan issue. I am not going to take sides on this one. However, I am going to ensure that the pro-independent campaign groups do not disturb democracy in France and the Pyrenees-Orientales. Also, I would make sure there is transparency in the corruption cases that affect Catalonia and that appear to have ramifications in Perpignan. A French investigation would have to take place. - Do you know Mr Joan-Daniel Bezsonoff? He is a French writer who writes in Catalan. He asked me to ask you the following question: What status should Catalan have in France? A strongly rooted mark of identity that is able to be preserved and passed on despite a globalised system which depreciates people and their cultures and only considers the population as consumers. But I consider Catalan in France to have developed its own identity in the heart of our nation. - Last question: I have just come from Torcatis bookshop in Perpignan. I dont know if you like history, but let me ask you one last question: Napoleon o Madame de Stael? Both are significant figures in our history. Napoleon made a synthesis of two histories and his influence is still felt today. / An interview by Xavier Rius CORINTH The Corinth Village Board deadlocked 2-2, on a re-vote Wednesday night, meaning the contract with the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office for a dedicated officer in the village will end May 31. The decision came in front of a sometimes-contentious crowd of more than 100 people at the Corinth Volunteer Fire Department, nearly all supporting renewing the contract. They did this for the wrong reasons, Fire Chief Andrew Kelley said after the meeting. They need to keep public safety in mind. The board had voted to end the contract at its last meeting. Mayor Dennis Morreale said the contract cost close to $350,000 last year and was set to increase to $356,000 in 2016-17. After seven members of the crowd spoke strongly in favor of renewing the contract, Trustee Melanie Denno proposed renewing it for another year, with several caveats. Deputy Mayor Timothy Halliday seconded and voted with Denno, but Morreale and Trustee Maureen Kelly voted no. Trustee Julius Enekes, who had voted against the contract at the previous meeting, was away on business and unable to attend, so the 2-2 vote meant the contract will not be renewed. Denno said she thinks the board should re-visit the issue at its next meeting, even though the contract will have expired. Morreale remained convinced ending the contract was the right thing to do. The main reason I felt we had to do this is because our water and sewer rates are going to go up substantially over the next several years, said Morreale, who spent more than 20 minutes after the meeting listening to unhappy residents. The rates were around $400 three or four years ago, and they will be up to $1,200 in three or four years, and we are a low-income community. With the Sheriffs Offices regional substation in Corinth Town Hall, in the village, and State Police agreeing to include the village more often in its patrols with knowledge that a sheriffs patrol would not be assigned there full-time, Morreale said safety would not be impacted. The mayor said that with the rising water and sewer rates, many residents, especially senior citizens, cant afford the tax increase that would occur without cuts, Morreale said. The contract with the Sheriffs Office dates back to 2007, after the village did away with its police force. Denno was on that board, and she said the decision to eliminate the village department was made easier by the professionalism of the Sheriffs Office. Wednesday, she made a motion to keep the contract for one more year as long as the Village Board held a public meeting with the Town Board to ask for financial help from the town for the contract, have a thorough study of calls and response times going back a number of years and have monthly meetings with the Sheriffs Office. The idea was to have that work complete before Jan. 1, which is the beginning of the towns budget year. There is so little support to let this contract go that I do not know what the board is thinking, Denno said. Our job is to protect our constituents. Thats what the board is for. Halliday supported the additional year as well. When we made this decision, I did not realize this was such a contentious issue, he said, adding that he felt the town should help keep the dedicated patrol officer there. This is a community. Its a village inside the town. My feeling is that the contract should stay for one year. I want that little bit of time we need. Then we can sit down with the town and the school. Morreale said he approached Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo about a three-month extension. He said he would need to talk to his county administrator, and he came back to me and said they could not do that, Morreale said. QUEENSBURY Two Albany residents who police said stole dozens of pieces of electronics used in a "virtual reality" ride at The Great Escape last summer have pleaded guilty to felony charges. Tatiana Gonzalez, 21, pleaded guilty last week to fourth-degree grand larceny for the theft of more than $1,000 worth of Samsung cellphones that were used by riders on the Steamin' Demon. Eisaiah Davis, 22, pleaded guilty to the same charge in April. Gonzalez and Davis were arrested last August after park management determined 13 cellphones and 11 virtual reality masks were stolen during a two-day period. The Warren County Sheriff's Office arrested the two in October,and the stolen items were not recovered. Warren County Judge John Hall put Gonzalez on interim probation for a year. If she does well, she will avoid a jail term and be sentenced to a longer term on probation. If not, she faces a jail or prison sentence. Davis is to be sentenced May 31. FORT EDWARD Matthew Slocum, the White Creek man accused of murdering his mother, stepfather and stepbrother, will not face retrial on several lesser felony charges that had been filed against him. Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan determined that charges that were dismissed during Slocums 2012 trial cannot be resubmitted for consideration at a second trial, which is scheduled to start in three weeks. The charges are counts that related to the theft of items from the victims home. While they are far less serious than the murder and arson counts he faces, they were part of a 10-count indictment that alleged Slocum stole from his family after he shot them and before he set their house ablaze. Slocum is to stand trial starting June 8 for the shotgun shootings of his mother, Lisa Harrington, 44; her husband, Dan Harrington, 41; and Dan Harringtons son, Joshua OBrien, 24, in their Eagle Bridge home. He allegedly set the familys Turnpike Road house, where he had been living, on fire after shooting them, then fled the area. Slocums lawyer, Washington County Public Defender Michael Mercure, said there have been no recent plea talks in the case, and he did not anticipate any. Slocum, 29, is to stand trial in June for the July 2011 shotgun killings of his mother, stepfather and stepbrother in their Eagle Bridge home, which he was accused of torching after the shootings. He was convicted of murder and arson in 2012 and sentenced to 88 years to life, but the convictions were overturned on appeal after appeals courts found that he was improperly denied access to a lawyer as police questioned him. Slocum and his then-girlfriend, Loretta Colegrove, fled with their infant son the day of the killings, and they were arrested later the next day in New Hampshire. Colegrove was not charged and testified against Slocum, and is expected to testify at the second trial as well. Documents filed by the special prosecutor, the Albany County District Attorneys Office, in recent weeks indicate that Colegrove is being considered an accomplice of Slocum. She was granted immunity by prosecutors in 2011 after Slocum was arrested, and the defense blamed Colegrove for the killings during the first trial. The case was prosecuted by the Washington County District Attorneys Office in 2012, but a change in district attorneys and hiring of a former assistant public defender by the Washington County prosecutors office led to a new prosecutor being assigned. Slocum is due back in court on May 25 for a pretrial appearance to iron out evidentiary issues before jury selection begins June 8 and opening arguments June 12. He is being held in Washington County Jail without bail. A law change that takes effect this fall will allow many people convicted of crimes to have those offenses wiped from their criminal records, a move that many believe will help those with limited criminal histories get back into the workforce. The change to state Penal Law, part of the states 2017-18 budget, will allow judges to seal court files so that they will not show up on civil background checks. The new program will create a process in which those with criminal convictions can have up to two nonviolent and/or lower level offenses cleared from their record, after waiting 10 years. The convictions and records related to them will still be accessible by law enforcement, however. The goal is to get people re-engaged in the workforce who are otherwise barred from employment, Queensbury lawyer Tucker Stanclift said. I envision a lot of clients who are going to want this done. Lawyers said the change will help thousands of people dogged by old convictions. Queensbury lawyer Gregory Canale said he has heard from clients who tell of trying to fill out online job applications, only to have them close when they click a box indicating they have a criminal conviction. Its virtually impossible to compete in the job market with a criminal record, Canale said. Violent felonies, sex crimes and multiple felony convictions will not be eligible for the sealing orders, and the sealing of the file wont be automatic once the 10-year mark has passed. Judges from the courts where the persons convictions originated will have the final say, with prosecutors weighing in as well. You have to show that you are a person of good moral character and that you are worthy, Canale said. The change will create another layer of work for many in the criminal justice system, including prosecutors who review applications and judges who will ultimately decide whether to grant them. Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said the state District Attorneys Association was involved in the process of creating the change, and believe it balances concerns about recidivism with the ability to help those who have changed their ways get past a mistake from years earlier. We dont want folks relying on government assistance and we want to help get them back in the workforce, he said. Some do have concerns about concealing finance- or money-related convictions that could give potential employers insight about whether to put a person in a position where money is handled, he said. Moreau Town Justice Jeff McCabe, president of the Saratoga County Magistrates Association, said he believes judges and their court staffs will be inundated with requests as word spreads about the change in law. He said many aspects of the law remain unclear, but the process will likely be similar to that used for a certificate of relief from civil disabilities that convicted criminals can get to have some rights restored after conviction. He said he favors giving those who deserve a break a chance to get past a mistake made early in life. There are a lot of good people who did dumb things when they were young, said McCabe, a retired South Glens Falls Police officer. What I did as a 19-year-old is not the same as what I did as a 35-year-old. For more information, click on to newyorksealinglaw.com/finally-new-criminal-record-sealing-law-in-new-york/. Seven state troopers based in Washington County were honored by the State Police on Thursday for their efforts to rescue two boys who were buried last winter in a snowbank in Greenwich. State Police Senior investigators Bob Stampfli and Joe Bearor, investigators David Mosher and Chris Lapham, Sgt. Josh Logan and troopers Jared Bowman and Eric VanBramer received the Superintendents Commendation Award as part of the annual State Police awards ceremony at the State Police Academy in Albany. They were recognized for their efforts assisting Cambridge-Greenwich Police officers in the search for the boys, who were reported missing the night of Dec. 13. The officers took part in a search that led them to a snowbank on Rock Street where they determined the boys had been accidentally buried by a public works crew dumping snow there. The officers frantically dug with their bare hands and whatever implements they could find to get the boys out of the icy pile. One of the boys, Joshua Demarest, 13, did not survive, while the other, Tyler Day, 12, made it through with minor injuries. The boys were sledding on a pile of snow more than 8 feet tall, and dug snow forts into the embankment before they were buried by snow being dumped there after it was removed from village streets. The boys had dug into the back of the snowbank, so the Greenwich Village Department of Public Works worker or workers involved did not realize they were playing there. Stampfli said an award under the circumstances was bittersweet, and he pointed out the rescue was a team effort, involving Cambridge-Greenwich Police and DPW workers. Although its nice to be recognized, we wish the outcome could have been good for both families. Our thoughts and prayers are still with the family of Josh, Stampfli said. Parents of both boys have filed notices of claims, indicating they plan to sue the village of Greenwich over the incident if a settlement is not reached. LAKE GEORGE More than 500 people are expected for Sundays Codys Climb Hike for Hope at Prospect Mountain, according to Laura Marx, the regional director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Weve got 325 preregistered, and if the weather forecast holds, we will get 200 or 300 people the day of the hike, Marx said. We usually get a lot of people the day of the event if the weather is good. Marx said her office has been monitoring the response to the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, which follows a teenage girl who eventually dies by suicide. We are hoping this will get people talking, and there will be more discussion, she said. The climb, 3 miles long, all uphill, has a goal of raising $30,000 for suicide prevention and was started by the parents of Queensbury High School student Cody Miller, who died by suicide in 2007. Marx said some slight changes have been made in the hike this year. Usually we do a lot of speeches before the walk, at the first overlook, but this year, we are going to have a short ceremony at the lot, walk to the summit, then have the speeches and awards, she said. Check-in will still at 8:30 a.m., and the gate at the base of the mountain will be locked at 9:30 a.m. The change in the events before the hike means hikers will start up the access road at 10:15, instead of the usual time of 10:45. The short welcoming ceremony at the first overlook will start at 10 a.m. Marx said the money raised is used by the local suicide prevention chapter for community presentations, supporting people who have lost a loved one, training 250 people in suicide-prevention programs and providing information at 15 health fairs or other events. EASTON Part of Route 29 near the Washington County Fairgrounds has been closed by a crash involving a tractor-trailer. The crash was reported near Wilbur Avenuearound 11:30 a.m., and the truck took down utility poles and utility lines, and the lines started a brush fire in the area. No serious injuries were reported. National Grids website showed more than 2,100 customers in Easton and Greenwich without power at the peak of an outage that resulted from the crash. As of 3 p.m. outages were reduced to about 10 customers. Greenwich schools closed at 1 p.m. because of the power outage. A detour has been set up at the intersection with Old Schuylerville Road. Washington County Sheriffs Office, Middle Falls Fire Department, Greenwich Fire Department and Schuylerville Hose Co. were assisting with traffic detours as Verizon and National Grid crews make repairs. Easton-Greenwich EMS also responded to the scene. The Washington County Sheriffs Office is investigating. Up the Strait Coastal BC Stories Jump in the boat and head up the Strait of Georgia to magnificent anchorages and exciting adventures. Go to www.PowellRiverBooks.com for ordering information. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Mueller's appointment was hailed by Democrats and Republicans alike, as well as those in the national security community. "Mueller is experienced, knowledgeable, capable," David Kris, a former assistant attorney general for national security, wrote on Lawfare. "He is utterly incorruptible. He cannot be intimidated," Kris said, adding that Mueller was "ramrod straight in his integrity." Kris and Mueller worked closely together. "Rod Rosenstein has taken serious lumps this week (everyone one of them deserved). Can't erase history but tonight he deserves our thanks," tweeted Susan Hennessey, a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Lawfare contributor, when it emerged that Mueller had been appointed special prosecutor. Mueller rose to public prominence along with James Comey in 2004, when he and Comey threatened to resign if the Bush administration revived the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program without making changes to it. At the time, Mueller was FBI director and Comey, whom Trump fired as FBI director last week, was the deputy attorney general. The White House eventually backed off. During his time at the FBI, Mueller, who was sworn in as director shortly before the September 11 terrorist attacks, largely presided over the bureau's shift to counterterrorism operations that now dominate a significant portion of its caseload. Most recently, Mueller was a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, which represents numerous associates of Trump including his daughter Ivanka, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort. Upon being appointed as special prosecutor in the Russia investigation, Mueller resigned from his position at the firm to avoid any conflicts of interest. Robert Novick, a comanaging partner at WilmerHale, told Lawfare that Mueller "had nothing to do with these representations" and was not privy to any information related to Ivanka Trump, Kushner, or Manafort. National security experts noted that along with their 2004 showdown with the Bush administration over the NSA's program, Mueller and Comey also share another trait that may prove useful in the Russia investigation: Both men have "significant prosecutorial experience and have run a major investigative force." Comey was the US attorney for the Southern District of New York before eventually becoming FBI director. Mueller was the US attorney for the Northern District of California and the assistant US attorney in the District of Massachusetts before becoming FBI director. He also used to spearhead the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. Intelligence officials say Mueller, like Comey, is known for his independence. He also has not been afraid to push back against the White House in the past, as he did in 2004. "He doesn't sway under political pressure," Thomas J. Pickard, who served as deputy director of the FBI under Mueller, told The Washington Post. Mueller has served under Democratic and Republican presidents he helmed the FBI under George W. Bush and Barack Obama from 2001 to 2013. "For 12 years, he kept the FBI out of politics," Pickard said. Trump may have gone from the frying pan into the fire Experts say Mueller's appointment as special prosecutor in the Russia investigation will also ensure that it proceeds smoothly after a rocky start. "I have enormous respect for Bob. We worked together when I was at the NSA," Robert Deitz, a former top counsel for the NSA and the CIA who worked with Mueller when he headed the FBI, told Business Insider. "The Russia investigation will continue apace with no loss of momentum," Deitz said. And if more evidence of Trump's or his associates' ties to Russia emerges, he said, Mueller's appointment means "the president may have gone from the frying pan into the fire." Mueller's independence also suggests he would most likely be just as hard on those who leak classified information as on those who may have broken the law and colluded with a foreign power. "I have no doubt that he will be even-handed including going hammer and tong after anyone who is leaking investigative or classified information," George J. Terwilliger III, who worked with Mueller when they were assistant US attorneys, told The Washington Post. The Trump-Russia narrative has picked up steam over the past week, as the White House became embroiled in multiple controversies that raised questions about Trump and his associates' ties to Russian officials. Last Tuesday, Trump abruptly fired Comey, who was spearheading the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. The next day, Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. American reporters were not allowed into the room, but a Russian photographer was. Over the next few days, the president acknowledged "this Russia thing" was a factor in his decision to fire Comey, telling NBC's Lester Holt that Comey was a "showboat" and a "grandstander." On Friday, Trump seemed to threaten Comey with "tapes" of their conversations if Comey leaked sensitive information to the press. This past Monday, The Washington Post, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Lavrov and Kislyak during their Oval Office meeting. The New York Times later reported that the intelligence in question had come from Israel, a key US ally that is also an adversary of Iran, a key Russian ally. The next day, The New York Times broke news of a memo that officials said Comey wrote about a February meeting he had with Trump in the Oval Office. According to the memo, Trump asked Comey to drop the FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Comey recalled Trump telling him, according to The Times. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." The meeting took place one day after Flynn was forced to resign from his position after it emerged that he had lied about contacts he had with Kislyak. The White House pushed back on the memo. "The president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," a statement released by an unnamed administration official said. "The president has the utmost respect for our law-enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey." On Wednesday, The Times reported that Flynn had informed the Trump transition team that he was under FBI investigation on January 4. According to The Times, Flynn told transition team member Don McGahn, who now serves as White House counsel, about the investigation. The Times' report seems to contradict the Trump administration's claim that it was not aware Flynn was under investigation before former Sally Yates, then the acting attorney general, mentioned it later in January. The White House did not dismiss Flynn until 18 days after Yates warned that he may be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. The steady drip of new details about Trump and his associates' ties to Russia necessitated the need for a special prosecutor, Glenn Carle, a former CIA clandestine-services officer, told Business Insider. Carle called Mueller "solid," "impartial," and "professional," and also added that Mueller's appointment may temporarily stall the Russia investigation. "Things will slow down because Mueller will be deliberate and thorough," Carle said. While he said the investigation's likely slowed pace may reduce the day-to-day tumult that has rocked the White House over the past few days, Carle added that it was likely Trump would try to "divert attention by having surrogates attack Mueller's independence and integrity." The luxury carmaker announced on Thursday it would partner with Vivint Solar to sell a smart solar ecosystem to California residents, aiming to challenge Tesla's new solar-roof rollout on its turf. As part of the partnership, Mercedes will introduce its at-home battery to the US market for the first time, while Vivint will provide solar-panel installation. The solar installer also is expected to provide a smart-home experience Vivint Solar announced a partnership with Vivint Smart Home at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that would allow the company to use sensors and artificial intelligence to manage energy loads automatically. The move is the latest in the solar industry's progression, started by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, of rolling battery and solar installations into one process. Rechargeable batteries are necessary for storing the electricity generated by solar panels that can be used during peak grid times. But before Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity in November, battery and solar installations were separate processes. "We see this as an evolving appetite that consumers are asking us to bring to them," Vivint Solar CEO David Bywater told Business Insider. Mercedes bet over Tesla Mercedes introduced its standing battery in Germany in April 2016, but it has since expanded to the United Kingdom and South Africa. The device, manufactured at the Mercedes subsidiary Deutsche ACCUmotive, can store 2.5 kilowatt-hours of energy but could be combined to store up to 20 kWh. The full cost, with installation, would range from under $5,000 to $13,000 for a 20 kWh system. That does compete with the price of Tesla's battery, but there's a catch. Tesla's Powerwall 2, which stores 14 kWh of energy, can cost as much as $11,450 including installation. Although it stores slightly less energy than Mercedes' full system, you would need only one Powerwall unit instead of several Mercedes batteries. Those looking to save space may opt for the Powerwall 2, which can be mounted on a wall. For reference, a US residential home used 901 kWh of electricity a month on average in 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration. But Boris von Bormann, CEO of Mercedes' energy division, said there was plenty of room in the market for multiple players and that Mercedes has an edge when it comes to quality. Mercedes is "not a startup. It's not a stock-value-driven company with some velocity behind it that can go one way or another," von Bormann said. "It's really a mature company that will be there and will be there for the foreseeable future. That way, you feel trusted and have a quality brand where you get support whenever you need it." Tesla is looking to improve solar adoption by offering more aesthetically appealing solar shingles, which the company began selling this month. Both Tesla and Mercedes see at-home batteries as an extension of their electric-car plans. Musk made that much clear at his initial solar-roof unveiling, where he discussed how a solar push would allow for the full integration of Tesla products: a Powerwall that both stores solar energy and juices up your Tesla electric car. "We're not just looking at energy storage as a pure storage play, but looking strongly at it from an electric-vehicle perspective, as well with the expansion of Daimler into EVs," von Bormann said. This is forms part of other appointments he has already made without looking beyond friends and family. Last week as the President was introducing his cousin, Sophia Akuffo to Ghanaians as the incoming Justice Chief. Daniel Akuffo, junior brother of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Gloria Akuffo, was also being endorsed to join the government as the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Shai-Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region. Both Daniel and Gloria, are first cousins of President Akufo-Addo, from Akropong-Akuapim in the Eastern Region. Daniels appointment, has angered many people in the Shai-Osudoku area. They preferred Stephen Nene Oyortey as their DCE. Ahead of the nomination of Daniel Akuffo, the youth in the Shai-Osudoku District, had appealed to President Akufo-Addo to consider appointing Stephen Nene Oyortey as the DCE. The list of family members of President Akufo-Addo in his government, keeps bloating by the day. The incoming Chief Justice, President Akufo-Addo and Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Gloria Akuffo, are cousins. Others are Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, Works and Housing Minister, Atta Akyea, the Minister for Roads and Highways Kwesi Amoako Atta, Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo. Nine students who studied Master of Arts in International Relations, Bachelor of Arts in Management, Master of Arts in Business and Management, and Master of Business Administration programmes were presented with honors. READ MORE: Takoradi Technical University suspends 17 students Webster University is touted as the only Tier 1, private, non-profit U.S. university that provides network of international residential campuses with robust online learning program. Although the university has been operating in Ghana for less than three years it can boast of three successful graduations for the Ghana campus. Campus Director, Christa Sanders in her speech reminded the graduates that they have become part of an elite network of Webster University alumni from around the world. "We believe that our graduates are the next generation of global leaders and change makers who will not only make true impact in society but are well equipped to meet the demands of an ever-complex world," she added. She expressed optimism that the graduates had not only gained an invaluable educational experience, but had become true global citizens, ready to contribute to the betterment of the world. Public Affairs Counsellor at US Embassy, Daniel Fennel, also urged the graduates to use the skills acquired to impact society and the world at large. Abayomi Bello, a business man, who was brought to the court by the Prosecution Counsel, Mrs Adenike Emma said armed robbers invaded his house on June 18, 2015 at 4:00 a.m. He said that this happened after he rounded off the celebration party of his wifes birthday. He said that his wife celebrated her birthday on June 17, 2015 and he decided to hold a party for her, which extended to early hours of the day. He said that it was after the last guest left at 3:00 a.m. that the armed robbers came and invaded the house. Bello said that as soon as he heard the barking of his dogs, he became curious to know what was happening and moved closer only for one of the robbers to slap him from behind. He said that one of the robbers, who held a gun pointed it at him, adding that while trying to wrestle with him, the 3 defendant, who was not in court, appeared with machete and he was beaten to a pulp. According to him, my wife got up to rescue me from the robbers, but was also held and asked to kneel down, in spite of the fact that she was pregnant and was due to deliver. They threatened to shoot my wife if I do not bring the money I have in the house, then I showed them where the money was. Bello said that the armed robbers carted away his 14, 000 dollars, five wristwatches, two Ipads, two iPhones and other valuables. I allowed them to make away with everything because I was much concerned about my wife and daughter and after they had collected all they wanted, they locked us up in the toilet. He said that he immediately contacted the Gwarinpa Divisional Police Officer (DPO), where the police were deployed to comb the entire environment in search of the robbers. According to him, when I got to the police station, I saw Obi, who was already making conventional statement about how his car was used for the robbery. Obi told the police in his statement that he was the one that drove the robbers after the operation, and then, I also made my statement and listed all stolen items. Mr Mazi Osigwe, the Counsel to the 1 defendant however said that Bellos statement at the DPOs office was made after the 1defendant had made his. He said that all Bello said concerning the 1 defendant was what the DPO told him when he got to the police station. Mrs Bamidele George-Akinseye, the Counsel to the 2 defendant queried how the witness knew the identity of the alleged robbers, adding that since the police did not conduct an identification parade. He said that the witness was not also around the day the 2defendant was arrested, but that Bello only visited the police station after the arrest. Justice Angela Otaluka of the FCT High Court, Lugbe, after listening to parties for cross examination, asked the witness to take his leave. That is what a growing number of "sologamists" are doing. They are part of a growing relationship trend, where they tie the knot to themselves. Erika Anderson is one of them. I would describe it as women saying yes to themselves, Anderson said. It means that we are enough, even if we are not partnered with someone else. The 37-year-old bride in a white dress and bouquet looked like any other on her wedding day. The only difference is that when she walked down the aisle, she had no one waiting for her. Anderson said that is exactly the way she wanted it because she was just tired of people asking why she was still single. She, therefore, took the decision to marry herself in the presence of family and friends. Marry Yourself in Canada provides consulting and wedding photography. There is also IMarriedMe.com, launched by San Francisco man Jeffrey Levin, wusa9.com reports. His site offers sologamy ceremony kits, which includes a wedding band, daily affirmation cards, and vows. I think its increased over the years, and its something thats becoming more understood and more accepted, Levin said. It is expected to provide expanded access and quality healthcare to over six million people across its catchment area and the entire country. At the ceremony, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, said the government would soon begin the process of securing funding to start the construction of the second phase of the project. He expressed gratitude to Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama for their contributions towards providing Accra with a modern referral regional hospital. This journey of modernising the Ridge Hospital started with the construction of the main OPD Block in 2000 by former President J.J. Rawlings. The former governments of President Mills and President Mahama initiated the construction of the first phase of the hospital which we are operationalising today. The nation is indeed grateful for their efforts, he said. He was also grateful to partners such as Exim Bank, HSBC Bank, Booygues Construction Ghana and General Electric West and Central Africa for their contributions towards the project. The Minister also expressed appreciation to the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert P. Jackson and the French Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Francois Pujolas, who were present at the ceremony, for their commitment towards the construction of the facility. The Greater Accra Regional Hospital has a comprehensive Diagnostic and Treatment Block, providing a 24-hour surgery, an Imaging Department, Delivery Unit, Accident and Emergency, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), an Emergency ICU, Burns, as well as a Delivery High Dependency Unit (HDU). Jerry Akwetey, the lawyer for Huang and four other Chinese national prayed the court to grant his clients bail pending a May 23 hearing of the substantive matter. However, the Chief State Attorney Mercy Arthur opposed the bail application and asked for more time to study the reasons for the bail application as well as a docket she received from the Immigration Service, which arrested the suspects. READ ALSO: BNI report names top galamsey kingpins The presiding judge Mr Justice Charles Ekow Baiden adjourned hearing to May 23, during which he intends to rule on the bail application. The four, Gao Jin Cheng, 45; Lu Qi Jun, 39; Haibin Gao, 26; Zhang Pen, 23, named Asia Huang as the one who contracted them to engage in the illegal activity. Asia Huang is believed to have a strong influence, links and network in the security services as well as the officials of the past and current administrations. A Kumasi Circuit court presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons who allegedly aided the escape of 13 of their colleagues standing trial for assaulting the presidents Security Coordinator for the Ashanti region. Explaining the decision the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, said there was not enough evidence to support the charges levelled against the accused persons. He added that he had orders from the Attorney General Gloria Akufo to drop the charges against them. But many Ghanaians have expressed anger with the development, with the Minority Leader of parliament Haruna Iddrisu describing the move as a travesty of justice. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice subsequently said that it is not privy to the decision to drop charges against the eight members of a pro-NPP vigilante group. This was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information. The statement argued that that the Principal State Attorney in the case did not consult the Attorney General before dropping the charges against the accused. But speaking to Accra-based Starr FM, Lawyer Appiah said he does not believe that the Attorney General had no knowledge that the case has been dropped. He, however, said that we will wait for the Attorney General herself to come out because the law is that the chief State Attorney in the Ashanti region is a representative of the Attorney General in Accra. And the Chief State Attorney takes decisions on behalf of the Attorney General in Accra and that decision is binding on the Attorney General. So nobody can sit anywhere and take a decision that they are going to conduct any fresh investigations. As far as we are concerned this is conclusive and the advice has come. If there is any such thingthe Attorney General should come out and say that she has not authorized it. In her reply to a letter from the prosecutor for her legal opinion on the case, Marie Louise-Simmons said the two police officers who were present during the incident paid attention to the safety of other people present. As it stands now, there was not even a single witness who can aid the prosecution to identify any of the suspects. There is also no other piece of evidence that links of the suspects to the offence they have been charged with. Despite the unfortunate and despicable incident that occurred the manner in which it occurred, the investigations conducted and the evidence available makes it extremely impossible to successfully prosecute any of the suspects herein, she added. A Kumasi Circuit court presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons and dismissed the case of the Delta Force members. Explaining their decision the prosecutor, said they did not have enough evidence to support the charges levelled against the accused persons. He added that he had orders from the Attorney General Gloria Akufo to drop the charges against them. READ ALSO: AG not aware of discontinuation of Delta 8 case However, the Ministry of Information said the prosecutor took the decision on his own. The eight members of Delta Force were standing trial after they besieged the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed their members who were facing charges for attacking the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei. Read her opinion on the evidence provided below: From the docket, the incident occurred inside the KMA Circuit Court room. The evidence suggests that it was a very busy Court that day. However, only two (2) Policemen being the (CWO) in the Court were made to volunteer witness statements. The complainant, volunteered a statement, however, his statement does not suggest that he was a witness to the incident. The statement of the two (2) Policemen clearly indicate that they could not identify any of the persons that forcibly entered the Courtroom that day in disregard of the judges orders and aided the escape. Sgt. Asagre stated clearly that he could not identify any of the said criminals. Sgt. Evans Kugbeadzor also stated that his attention was on the safety of the judge and after ushering the judge into her chambers; he returned and realized that all the 13 accused persons and their supporters had left the court. There is no justification from the diary of action that the police got any confidential information about the identity of the action persons that aided the escape. Again, after the arrest of the suspect, there is no indication that an identification parade was conducted for any of the possible witness to have identified any of the suspects. All suspects have also denied in their statements that they committed any offence, Infact, none of them admitted that they entered the court room that day, though of them admitted being outside the court room that day. It is basic principle in criminal prosecution that there can be no better identification of an accused than the evidence of a witness who swears to have seen the accused committing the offence. As it stands now, there was not even a single witness who can aid the prosecution to identify any of the suspects. There is also no other piece of evidence that links of the suspects to the offence they have been charged with. Despite the unfortunate and despicable incident that occurred the manner in which it occurred, the investigations conducted and the evidence available makes it extremely impossible to successfully prosecute any of the suspects here in. A Kumasi Circuit court presided over by Her Honour, Patricia Amponsah was forced to discharge the accused persons and dismissed the case of the Delta Force members. Explaining the decision the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, said there was not enough evidence to support the charges levelled against the accused persons. He added that he had orders from the Attorney General Gloria Akufo to drop the charges against them. But many Ghanaians have expressed anger with the development, with the Minority Leader of parliament Haruna Iddrisu describing the move as travesty of justice. But speaking on Accra-based Starr FM, Emile Short said said even though the conduct of the eight was an assault on the dignitary of the court the judicial process had to be followed. So I think we have to wait until the investigations are completed and the report is published and then a decision is taken. It is important to point out that they were not acquitted and discharged. They were just discharged which means they can be re-arrested. Therefore I think at this stage it is premature to start passing judgement and we should wait for the report on the investigations which has been ordered by the attorney Generals office, he said. Meanwhile, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has said that it is not privy to the decision to drop charges against the eight members of a pro-NPP vigilante group. This was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information. This forms part of a comprehensive national policy aimed at bringing an end to gas explosions at gas filling outlets. The policy, which will be rolled out by the Ministry of Energy, requires cylinders to be filled at cylinder bottling plants for onward delivery to retail outlets. This implies that individuals, who use cylinders will now go to LPG retail outlets with their empty cylinders, pick up filled ones and pay for them upfront. The acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Hassan Tampuli told the Daily Graphic that the cylinder bottling companies would be solely responsible for the cylinders that would be given to the public. They will be in charge of safety and quality checks. This will go a long way to save the lives of innocent Ghanaians, he said. Mr Tampuli added that The issue of gas explosions is of grave concern to the government, adding that it is the hope of the Ministry, the NPA and stakeholders to bring an end to the problem. Scores of Ghanaians have so far lost their lives in recent gas explosions with several others getting injured. The United States of America Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P Jackson, has said revealed that 100 Ghanaians have so far been deported. Mr Jackson in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM said "I would say roughly 100 have returned so far this year. More will be returning it is a constant process. There will probably be a charter aircraft coming with some Ghanaians in the next few weeks. Almost every week we see a few leave voluntarily so it is a process that is ongoing." He said "A few are in jail. Most of them are at liberty but they have been informed by the immigration service that they must leave the United States." READ ALSO: Court adjourns 13 Delta Force members trial to June 15 Robert P Jackson has revealed that about 7000 Ghanaians are being processed for deportation. Mr. Jackson told the media in the Brong Ahafo Region on Thursday, April 27 that they are on the process and do not feel sorry about that. "In fact, about 7,000 of them are currently at different stages of the deportation process. And we are not apologetic about that," he said. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! One of workers at the company said because of the contract their salaries are being hugely deducted. I have been working for six months, getting to seven months, and up till now, I have not seen anything reflecting in my salary," he said. Others said even though they were promised GHc 850 as salaries, they ended up being given GHc 500. The Ghana News Agency reported that the young boys wash and chew the root of the grass popular known as juice which is said to be given to rabbits to boost their sexuality and reproduction. Those using it easily get access to the plant which can be found in any bush therefore no authority could restrict its usage among them. Dr John Yabani, Tema Metropolitan Health Director, told the GNA that the usage of the grass among the youth has come to his knowledge and was working on educating them against the act. Dr Yabani reminded the youth that the size of their manhood would increase as they grow therefore the need to desist from drinking and chewing unapproved items in a bid to enlarge them. He added that depending on the intake of such items could also have serious health implications for them. He revealed that some of the youth have also started smoking fruity scented cigarettes to outwit their parents and teachers. READ ALSO: Court remands 2 brothers for alleged rape The said cigarette which comes in different flavours including strawberries, cherry, apple and mint is thinner and longer than the ordinary ones. Dr Yabani explained that the flavours were at the filter end of the cigarette so by the time they finished smoking the piece, the fruity scent overshadows the tobacco making it difficult for people to associate them to cigarette smoking. He cautioned the youth against smoking of cigarette irrespective of its flavour as they stood the risk of contracting respiratory and other health problems. The Metropolitan Health Director also urged parents and teachers to be vigilant in monitoring their children as they guide them into responsible adulthood. The suspect, named Samuel Amoah allegedly took poison to end his life after the act. According to reports by the Ghana News Agency, a quarrel ensued between the couple and turned bad with the husband allegedly burning the belongings of the family. According to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Olivia Adieu, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), the wife of Amoah returned home from a funeral late which resulted in a misunderstanding between her and the husband. She said the suspect issued death threat to his wife and the children. Olivia Adieu added that whiles the wife of the suspect was asleep with her children, she [woman] was awakened by some residents who detected that one of their rooms was on fire where she had kept her personal belonging. She said they had the misunderstanding at about 10:30 p.m. She added that efforts to extinguish the fire proved futile with the woman's belongings and that of the children valued at GH 1,200.00 got burnt. The PRO said a complaint was lodged to the police who moved to the scene only to find the suspect Samuel Amoah unconscious. The Attorney Generals Department has indicated it needs time to study the document, according to the court. The 13 earlier pleaded guilty to the offence of escaping from lawful custody, and were fined GH2,400 each by the Kumasi Circuit Court. READ MORE:Parliament condemns Kumasi Court attack The court presided over by Mrs Mary Nsenkyire granted a request by the prosecution to allow the Attorney General's Department to have a copy of the docket. READ MORE: Court grants 13 Delta Force members bail The prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko said the AG's Department requested a duplicate of the docket to study it for necessary advice. Lawyers for the accused persons have said the prosecution has no evidence against their clients but will, however, wait patiently for the AG. Each of the 13 is to execute a bail bond of GH10,000 with two sureties each to be justified. Background Some members of Delta Force, a vigilante group associated with the governing New Patriotic Party, besieged the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed the 13 members who were facing charges for attacking the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator. The group nearly assaulted the Judge, Mary Senkyire and also destroyed some court properties. Thirteen (13) members of the group were detained after the group assaulted the newly appointed Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei. The 13 members faced charges of a conspiracy to commit crime, assault on a public officer, causing unlawful damage. READ MORE:Pentecostal Council condemns Ken Agyapong for supporting Delta Force The 13 are Kojo Fosu Bamba aka Kojo Bamba, Awal Sadat Abubakar, Abubakar Sadiq Abuhammed, Jamil Issa, Hamza Mohammed, Salu Issahak, Akwasi Owusu, Kwabena Owusu, Kofi Kyei, Eggya Boadi, Salu Yussif, Yussif Salu and Kwaku Awortwe. Meanwhile, On Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the Attorney General has dropped charges against the eight members of vigilante group Delta Force. The eight accused persons were suspected to have aided the escape of 13 of their members who were standing trial for hooliganism. The court took decision after the prosecution told the court the court it had dropped the charges against the eight. WPVI-TV(LANCASTER, Pa.) -- Police near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are searching for a driver who authorities say set in motion a crash that tipped a school bus on its side, sending 16 people to the hospital and leaving a 6-year-old boy "struggling for his life." Police said four vehicles were involved in the Wednesday morning crash: a tractor trailer, an escort vehicle for the tractor trailer, the missing car and the school bus. Police said the unknown driver hit the back of the escort vehicle in East Lampeter Township, about 65 miles west of Philadelphia. The escort vehicle was then pushed into another lane, side-swiping the school bus. The collision tipped the bus on to its side and trapped one student underneath; the student was transported to the hospital via helicopter, police said. Fourteen students, the school bus driver and the driver of the escort vehicle were hospitalized, a Lancaster General Hospital spokesperson said. Both adults and 12 of the students have since been released, a hospital spokesperson said Thursday. The remaining two students have been transferred to other hospitals for further treatment. A 6-year-old boy is considered a critical patient with serious injuries, officials said. While the patient had "some improvement," Lancaster County District Attorney's Office spokesman Brett Hambright said Thursday morning the boy is still "struggling for his life." A 16-year-old boy is expected to be released from the hospital Thursday, officials added. Police are looking for the missing driver who "essentially set this crash into motion," Hambright said. The missing car appears to be a light-colored sedan, possibly a white Chevrolet Malibu, Hambright said. The front of the vehicle could be damaged, he noted, adding that the car may also have driver's side damage. Surveillance video from a business captured an image of what is believed to be the wanted car. Hambright said authorities want to speak with the driver. "That side of the story is very important to us," East Lampeter Township Police Chief John Bowman said. "It's pretty much all hands on deck to locate the vehicle and hopefully have a conversation with the driver." Bowman said the police department has received a large number of tips and he encouraged anyone with information to come forward. The students involved in the crash were from the Lancaster Mennonite School, police said. The Lancaster Mennonite School said in a statement on Facebook Thursday morning, "Thank you for your prayers as our school community continues to heal, physically and emotionally, from Wednesdays bus accident." "Several pastors are at the Locust Grove Campus today having prayer with the students," the school said. "School is operating normally, although prayer and support will be infused throughout the day. School counselors are available, as always, to help in times of crisis." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the accused persons should be re-arrested and re-arraigned before the court. He said the President must immediately show leadership on the release of the vigilante group. He said the decision to discontinue the case for want of evidence is "an abuse of discretion, it is capricious." On Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the Attorney General has dropped charges against the eight members of vigilante group Delta Force. The eight accused persons were suspected to have aided the escape of 13 of their members who were standing trial for hooliganism. The court took decision after the prosecution told the court the court it had dropped the charges against the eight. Explaining their decision, the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, said after investigations, they did not have enough evidence to support the charges levelled against the accused persons. The Minority addressing the press on their release said it was obvious from the court's ruling that it was done for narrow political expediency because the men belong to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). READ MORE: Attorney General drops case against eight Delta Force members This was the ordeal millions in some parts of Cameroon, in West Africa, had to deal with at the start of the year. It was not because they couldnt afford internet, but because the government blocked access to it. This left many in the west of Cameroon cut out from the rest of the world while fearing for their lives. Why? The government forced telecom providers in the country to cut access to internet in that part of Cameroon because it considered it a threat to national security. However, what really necessitated the shutdown was that activists were using the internet to organise meetups and protest against the government. The protests followed the agitations from people in North West and South West Cameroon, who are mainly English-speaking, that they were being discriminated against by the majority French-speaking population who wield topmost political power in the country. In Cameroon, English and French are the official languages; a legacy colonialism, that ended in the 1960s. The system is supposed to be similar to that in Canada but it has not gone according to plan. For years, many in the English-speaking parts of the country, who are a minority, have expressed concern about the dominance of French-speakers in the government. Recent protests followed the use of French in schools as the language of instruction and the replacement of English common law with the French system in the Anglophone regions. A weakened strive for secession has been resurrected in the Anglophone regions following the unrest. It was the most shocking experience I have had for the short time that I have walked the earth. It never even occurred to me that it was possible for the government to even conceive taking away a method of communication from its own people and for what? Just to stop them from talking to the rest of the world about their problems?, John (not his real name) a young doctor based in North-West Cameroon laments. Due to the Cameroonian governments history of human right abuses, we have decided to use a pseudonym to protect his identity and that of his family. Traveling to checking an email A day without internet is like an entire week without electricity. My experience within the past weeks in one word is hell! Misery! Like living in the dark ages. Just imagine if you have to travel to a francophone region each time you need to reply to an email, to download something or even read articles; such a horrible experience. Words cannot express how difficult it has been for me, John reminisces on the five-hour journeys he made just to check his email. Before the blockade, John used the internet to read medical articles, watch surgical procedures on YouTube and chat with friends and family on social media. All that ceased because of the blackout. At some point, it got so bad that I had to give my password to some friends on the Francophone side to check especially my emails for me. It was one of the craziest things I have ever done. Granting someone access to [something as personal as my email meant that I] actually lost my privacy, says John. Counting the costs Travelling back and forth across the country to check emails and social media and renting a hotel to pass the night if the work had to take bit longer was a major strain on the young doctors personal finances. According to the campaign group, Access Now, the Cameroonian economy lost 4.5 million dollars because of the 94-day ban in lost hours, wages and productivity. Aside finances, the ban affected healthcare delivery in those parts. The internet blackout affected me and my patients in more ways than one. For instance, in order to use the internet most often I need to be absent from work especially when it is urgent. Secondly, seeking second opinion from my colleague doctors [or referring a patient to a particular doctor] elsewhere had all of a sudden become impossible because of poor communication. I could no longer read recent medical updates nor refer online to something in order to properly help my patients when the need arose. READ ALSO: Why this 64 year old still wants to serve your meals Human rights in Cameroon In its 2016/2017 report, the human rights group, Amnesty International, lists a myriad of human rights violations in Cameroon. Freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly continued to be restricted. Demonstrations in Anglophone regions from late October were violently repressed by the security forces. Journalists, students, human rights defenders and members of opposition parties were arrested and some faced trial before military courts. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people faced discrimination, intimidation and harassment, although the number of arrests and prosecutions continued to fall. If President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 34 years, was reading this, what message would John say to him? Organised on and around May 18 each year International Museum Day is celebrated because Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. This year's International Museum Day theme, Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museum, highlights the essential role of museums as promoters of the free flow of ideas and knowledge, contributing to a more informed society. Today, through the use of new technologies, museums play an essential role in providing access to culture and offer reflections of memories and representations of history. Here are some of the museums around Nigeria that you can visit and appreciate in celebration of the International museum day. 1. Nigeria National Museum, Lagos ALSO READ: 7 weirdest museums you never knew existed The Nigerian National Museum was founded in 1957 and it houses some remarkable collections of the countrys sculptures, arts, ethnographic and archaeological displays. So, if you're in search of where you to find some historical statues and carvings and monuments, the Nigeria National Museum is a place to visit. 2. Esie Museum, Kwara state Opened in 1945, Esie museum is adjudged to be the first museum in Nigeria. It is reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world. Currently, the Esie museum is being used for religious activities and it hosts a festival annually. 3. Benin City National Museum, Edo state Located in Benin city (the city centre on Kings square), is a museum that houses quite a number of important and ancient artefacts related to the Benin Empire such as terracotta, cast iron samples and bronze pieces. 4. National Museum, Jos Located somewhere close to the Jos Zoo in the heart of the city is the Jos Museum, founded in 1952. The museum offers collections such as Nok terracotta heads sculptures dating as far back as 500 B. C and offers a whole lot on the prehistoric culture of Nigeria. Finely crafted pottery in the Pottery Hall and other collections used for mining in the olden days are some of the things you'll find in here. 5. Owo Museum, Ondo state Owo Museum was founded in 1968 and it houses royal artefacts, cultural artworks and old pieces. Due to its proximity to Ife and Benin, it houses lovely artefacts from both traditions. 6. Gidan Makama Museum, Kano state This museum has 11 galleries that display several traditional Kanawa artefacts, musical instruments, pictures and materials. Gidan Makama Museum served as a palace and was built in the 15th century. The galleries were the rooms and courtyards of the old Makamas (Royal Lords) and depict the style of a traditional residence of a Kano aristocrat. 7. National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos state Located in the National Art Theater at Iganmu, Lagos is a museum that personifies everything Nigerian. It showcases pictures of past Head of States of Nigeria, pictures of literary giants, contemporary arts, bronze works, modern sculpture, ceramics, glass painting and textile arts. 8. National War Museum, Umuahia The National War Museum in Umuahia houses some of the mind-blowing relics of the country. Called a war museum because it has on display many of the equipment and craft that was used during the Nigerian Civil War. The relics of Enugu Coal Miner Riots and Aba Women Riot, The Ojukwu bunker as well as the famous local bombs called Ogbungwe. 9. Badagry Heritage Museum This museum is made up of 8 galleries and is a home of different artefacts, records and culture of the Badagry people. The galleries are named after different periods of the slave era and contain items and records that date back to the pre-slave era, the slave era and the post-slave era. 10. National Museum, Kaduna National Museum Kaduna houses the terracotta statutes, Benin bronzes and other ethnographic and archaeological artefacts too. There is also a traditional craft village that is also around this premise. 11. National Museum Abeokuta US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said via a letter to US lawmakers that he triggered a 90-day consultation period with Congress and the American public that would allow talks to begin after August 16. In the letter, Lighthizer said NAFTA needed modernization for digital trade; intellectual-property rights; labor, environmental, and food-safety standards; and rules for state-owned enterprises. President Donald Trump made the debate over free trade one of the central topics of his campaign. He said he would rip up trade deals, that NAFTA was "the worst trade deal in the history of the country," and that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, was "a rape of our country." With the trade agreement now up in the air, we put together a guide to everything NAFTA past, present, and future. What is NAFTA? NAFTA is a trade deal among the US, Mexico, and Canada. It was negotiated under President George H. W. Bush and implemented under President Bill Clinton in 1994 after heated debate in Congress. NAFTA eliminated most tariffs on imports, exports, and traded goods among the three nations. It put in place processes to get rid of other trade barriers, too. The agreement followed the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, which was implemented in 1989 and aimed to eliminate trade barriers between the two nations. NAFTA and other trade agreements should not be conflated with trade in general, the exchange of goods or services between entities. Trade agreements like NAFTA establish legal frameworks to ease the flow of goods and services across national borders, which has positive and negative consequences. What was NAFTA intended to do? Trade between countries theoretically improves economic efficiency and makes everyone wealthier by allowing countries to specialize in what they're good at. For example, if the US can grow corn more efficiently than Mexico, and Mexico can build cars more efficiently than the US, it makes more sense for the US to grow corn and Mexico to build cars to trade with each other rather than for each to do both things less efficiently. More concretely, one effect of increased economic integration would be for US firms to move production to Mexico, where labor is cheaper than in the US or Canada for example, with the auto industry. Ahead of the deal's implementation, Clinton argued that in the long term, NAFTA was also about the US adapting to the changing technological and economic landscape. "In a fundamental sense, this debate about NAFTA is a debate about whether we will embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow, or try to resist these changes, hoping we can preserve the economic structures of yesterday," he said at the signing ceremony for the supplemental agreements to NAFTA on September 14, 1993. He continued: "I tell you, my fellow Americans, that if we learned anything from the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the governments in Eastern Europe, even a totally controlled society cannot resist the winds of change that economics and technology and information flow have imposed in this world of ours. That is not an option. Our only realistic option is to embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow. ... "Together, the efforts of two administrations now have created a trade agreement that moves beyond the traditional notions of free trade, seeking to ensure trade that pulls everybody up instead of dragging some down while others go up. ... This agreement will create jobs, thanks to trade with our neighbors. That's reason enough to support it." It's notable that Clinton's proposed solution to the changes happening in economics and technology in the early 1990s was virtually the opposite of Trump's proposed solution to economic and technological challenges of 2016 to "Make America Great Again" by going back to old-school manufacturing jobs. Is there any point to NAFTA aside from the economic and job angles? At least to some degree, free-trade deals are not just about the economic benefits for your country, but about fostering positive relations with the other country. As some economics professors like to say, "When goods don't pass international borders, soldiers will." The Wall Street Journal explained NAFTA as such: "NAFTA advocates say the economic debate misses the bigger point of the deal, which has been to ameliorate longstanding tensions across the border and turn Mexico into a more steadfast US ally. By that standard, they say, the pact has been a great success, fostering more bilateral cooperation on issues from crime to the environment and keeping Mexico from following the path of left-wing Latin American countries or drifting closer to American rivals like China." On a related note, analysts had argued that TPP was largely about geopolitical benefits namely, the US's position in Asia. What happened to American workers after NAFTA was signed? Some believe NAFTA has hurt US workers, and there is empirical evidence to back up these grievances. In 2016, the economists Shushanik Hakobyan and John McLaren explored NAFTA's effect on the US labor market by looking at wage growth among employed workers and comparing census data from 1990 to 2000 the census before NAFTA took effect and the one after. They found mixed effects on the US labor force. There wasn't too much of a difference for most workers, but a concentrated minority saw a significant decrease in wage growth that could correlate with NAFTA. Blue-collar workers were more likely to be affected, college-educated workers were less so, and executives saw some benefits. "The most affected workers were high school dropouts working in industries that depended heavily on tariff protections in place prior to NAFTA," McLaren told UVA Today. "These workers saw wage growth drop by as much as 17 percentage points relative to wage growth in unaffected industries. "If you are a blue-collar worker at the end of the '90s and your wages are 17% lower than they could have been, that could be a disaster for your family." McLaren said it wasn't just the industries that were affected, but entire towns that depended on them. Factory towns have grocery stores, bowling alleys, and public schools that all rely on industrial workers as customers. McLaren gave an example: "A waitress working in a town that depends heavily on apparel manufacturing might miss out on wage growth even though she does not work in an industry directly affected by trade." He said there ultimately was evidence that NAFTA hurt some American workers' wages but that these figures should not be exaggerated. "I think it is important to get the information on the table and to show that there do appear to be blue-collar workers whose incomes have been reduced by this trade agreement," he told UVA Today. "At the same time, I think it is important to use data to prevent those claims from being exaggerated. Some commentators throw around claims that millions of jobs were destroyed by NAFTA, which I don't think are supported by the evidence." Did manufacturing employment start falling only after NAFTA? No. The decline in American manufacturing employment predates NAFTA, as you can see in the annotated chart below. In other words, NAFTA alone is not responsible for the loss of US manufacturing jobs. It's notable that a big drop-off in manufacturing jobs correlates with the economic shock of China joining the World Trade Organization in 2001. And the steepest decline occurs after the financial and housing crisis in 2007-08. There's some evidence that China's emergence affected US wages and jobs, too. In January 2016, the economists David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson published a paper that showed that: Although Trump has fixated on the US's trade deficit with Mexico, it is far smaller than the US's trade deficit with China. Both deficits are highlighted in red below: Has trade been the only factor correlated with manufacturing job losses? No. Automation has also played a role. In a note to clients a couple of months ago, Capital Economics' Andrew Hunter shared a chart comparing manufacturing output (purple line) with manufacturing employment (black line). Although manufacturing employment has been trickling downward since the mid-1980s, manufacturing output has been increasing and is now near its pre-financial-crisis high. In other words, firms have been able to increase output overall with fewer workers over the years, which is likely at least partially because of automation. "It's true that many of the manufacturing sectors that account for the bulk of the jobs lost over the past 15 years are also the ones subjected to the most competition from Chinese exports," Hunter wrote. "But US manufacturing has also experienced high productivity growth, with the computers and electronics industry, which has lost the most jobs, seeing the fastest productivity growth of all." Moreover, manufacturing as a share of nonfarm employees has been declining since the 1970s before NAFTA, China joining the WTO, and the Great Recession. The takeaway here is that reversing the downward trend in manufacturing jobs would be incredibly difficult. What were the positives of NAFTA for the US? Trade among the NAFTA partners increased from about $290 billion in 1993 to over $1 trillion in 2016, according to data cited by the Council on Foreign Relations. Moreover, Canada and Mexico are the two largest destinations for US exports, making up over a third of the total. NAFTA has also been credited with helping the US auto sector become globally competitive because of the cross-border supply chains. And American farmers have benefitted from NAFTA: Since the agreement's implementation, US agricultural exports to Mexico have nearly doubled, and those to Canada have increased by about 44%, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. How did American voters feel about trade deals leading up to the US election? A Pew Research Center survey published in March 2016 found that Democratic and Democratic-leaning respondents had a more positive view of free-trade agreements (60% said it was a good thing versus 30% who said it was bad) while Republican and Republican-leaning respondents had a more negative view (40% versus 52%). More striking, however, was the data within the bloc of Republican voters. From Pew: "Sixty-seven percent of Trump supporters say free-trade agreements have been a bad thing for the US, while just 27% say they have been a good thing. Republican supporters of Ted Cruz (48% good thing vs. 40% bad thing) and John Kasich (44% good thing vs. 46% bad thing) hold more mixed views. ... "Criticism of trade deals in general is particularly strong among Republican and Republican-leaning supporters of GOP presidential contender Donald Trump who are registered voters. Americans ages 65 and older and men, especially white men, stand out among this group." "Given persistent trade deficits that have contributed to long-term wage stagnation, along with corporate capture and the absence of consumer, labor, and environmental voices at the trade-negotiating table, perhaps it's not so crazy that these trade deals have become code for a lot of other stuff that's gone wrong for many in the working class," said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who was a chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. Bernstein also emphasized that trade deals should not be conflated with trade in general, as voters and politicians often do. "From a political perspective, I don't think the focus on trade is misplaced. It's effective because it has an 'other.' It has a competitor or an enemy. People can picture this," Alexander Kazan, a strategist at Eurasia Group, said in a video for the Eurasia Group Foundation. "When you talk about technology, it's much more amorphous. It's this sense that we all lose. So I think politically, it's less effective." Will NAFTA be torn apart? The White House website says Trump is "committed to renegotiating NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the president will give notice of the United States' intent to withdraw from NAFTA." But NAFTA has "created a complex integration between Mexico and the US that would be difficult and costly to break," Barclays' Marco Oviedo and Nestor Rodriguez wrote in a note to clients in January. They continued (emphasis added): "After 22 years of this free-trade agreement, the Mexico-US trade relationship, particularly in manufacturing, has become very integrated. In fact, it is estimated that Mexico's exports to the US comprise 40% of US value added, the largest fraction among similar economies (China is 4.2%, Canada, 25%). In that sense, separating both manufacturing sectors seems highly costly and as difficult as trying to separate the yolk from a scrambled egg. "If the US were to leave NAFTA, Mexican exports to the US would face the tariffs set by the WTO, which are rather low (2.5%). However, tariffs applied to exports from the US and Canada would be higher (close to 10%). In this scenario, Mexico could choose unilaterally to reduce tariffs on its imports of US goods to avoid a disruption in trade, given its low labor costs and access to other markets." Oviedo and Rodriguez said the agreement more likely would be renegotiated. "It is unclear what aspects can be modernized or if the administration plans to impose technical restrictions, differentiated tariffs or other forms of protectionism," the duo added in their note. "Any negotiations would likely be long and could take up Donald Trump's entire term in office (the NAFTA negotiations took five years)." What if NAFTA The trade deficit with Mexico is primarily driven by transportation equipment, followed by computer and electronic products, according to figures from 2015, which you can see below. Tariffs or other measures to restrict trade within the NAFTA countries could adversely affect US firms in these sectors, according to Hunter. "The foreign subsidiaries of US automakers have more than $15 billion of plant, property, and equipment in the two countries," he wrote in a note to clients. "Efforts by Trump to force companies to shift production back to the US, where labor costs are higher ... could seriously damage their competitiveness relative to foreign producers." What does NAFTA mean for stocks? On January 27, Trump tweeted: "Mexico has taken advantage of the US for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!" "Mexico may run a large trade surplus with the US, but the idea that it has 'taken advantage' of its large neighbor ... is surely wide off the mark," Capital Economics' John Higgins wrote in a note to clients. "Arguably, the opposite is true, which is why his policies pose a serious threat to the earnings of the companies that dominate the S&P 500." US multinationals, which make up a big chunk of the S&P 500, have moved operations into Mexico since the implementation of NAFTA at least in part to keep production costs down via cheaper labor costs to stay competitive in the global market. Lower labor costs have then boosted profitability, after which share prices have risen. "Unwinding this process whether in Mexico or elsewhere might bring back some jobs to the US. But goods would be more expensive to produce with US labor than with foreign labor. And the cost of labor in the US would probably rise, given that there is no longer much unemployment in the economy," Higgins wrote. "The pain for US [multinational enterprises] could conceivably be eased by tax cuts, but at the expense of a bigger fiscal deficit. LONDON The fight for the capital's most marginal seat Croydon Central will not be as straightforward as Labour might have expected. On paper, Croydon Central looks like an easy target for them. In the 2015 general election Conservative MP and housing minister Gavin Barwell won his seat by just 165 votes. He received 22,753 votes while Labour's Sarah Jones got 22,588. But the state of the national polls means Labour cannot be complacent. And although the same polls show the Tories on course for a landslide victory, the Tories are not complacent either. "We won Croydon Central with just 165 votes last time so whilst we absolutely we need to fight, we definitely need to make sure Chris [Philp] is back and I am confident we will achieve both those things," said Barwell at a Conservative conference in East Croydon last weekend. Michael Gove, the prominent Tory MP and a key campaigner for Brexit who at one point vied for the Conservative party leadership, was also there to support Barwell. He helped him campaign in the 2015 general election and he intends to do again. "Not one of us can be complacent. We can never be complacent and we must not give the impression that we are taking anyone for granted," said Gove, MP for Surrey Heath since 2005 and formerly the secretary of state of education from 2010 to 2014 and the secretary of state for justice from 2015 to 2016. "And given how catastrophic a Jeremy Corbyn premiership would be we can't even take a scintilla, even an iota of risk that Jeremy Corbyn gets anywhere near the doors of number 10 Downing street. It would be catastrophic for our country." Croydon Central is up for grabs but a lot has changed since 2015 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn started his campaign in Croydon on Wednesday, saying "this election is going to be fought on the streets of this country, up and down, in town halls. in streets, on beaches, on seafronts we are taking that message of the kind of country and the kind of society we want to be." "I'm delighted to start the campaign in London, right here in Croydon. I'll be back in Croydon Central when we have a Labour MP to deliver to the people of Croydon." Sarah Jones, the former Labour candidate for Croydon Central told the Croydon Advertiser, "we got Gavin's majority down from several thousand to just 165 votes last time, so there's no reason why we can't now [win the seat]." But a lot has changed in two years: Brexit infighting coups Tory support is at historical highs style of terrorist attack that had only been previously seen in France and Germany So Croydon Central, being such a hotly contested seat, is going to be a real litmus test for how much support the Conservatives have really gathered. Barwell and his constituents have already laid out a battle plan. On Sunday, over 100 people delivered new election leaflets: Meanwhile, Labour has not even fielded a candidate yet and thousands of Labour election leaflets were allegedly pulped after being printed with the wrong date. Its about getting a good Brexit that works for everyone in the country Brexit is happening no matter what and this is where it could get sticky for the Tories in marginal seats. The party itself was torn between those who campaigned for Remain and those for Leave. Prime Minister Theresa May campaigned for Remain but will take the country out of the EU by March 29, 2019. The Tories seem laser-focused on unity. Barwell and Philp both voted 'Remain' but accept that Brexit is going ahead, so now it is more about getting a deal that would hopefully satisfy both sides. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn eventually ruled out a second EU referendum even though his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, previously This does not bode well for Labour. "We've done a number of canvas sessions already and my reading ... is that the Labour vote is well down and very soft, the UKIP vote has all but disappeared "What we do have an issue with is capturing Conservatives that were strong Remain supporters they're still Conservatives, they like me as their MP, but if they perceive that the election is another referendum, they will feel uncomfortable if they are asked to vote for Brexit [again]. "The argument we need to make to them is that Brexit is happening, this election is about getting a good deal that both addresses concerns that led people to vote for Leave and ensures those who wanted to Remain that we'll continue to trade with Europe and will work together on issues like organised crime, counter-terrorism and all those things they feel are important and it's about getting a good Brexit that works for everyone in the country." How hard Brexit affects Croydon workers most work in the City If the passport is taken away, London could cease to be the most important financial centre in Europe, costing the UK thousands of jobs and billions in revenue. Around 5,500 firms registered in the UK rely on the European Unions passporting rights, and they turn over about 9 billion in revenue. Lots of Croydon locals work in the City, so while a Brexit deal will shape the whole country, it will more acutely impact constituents who work in central London. It is not just a question of whether people voted Remain or Leave it is all about the deal. Those who voted for Brexit may not have known everything that a "hard Brexit" entails. Gove told Business Insider that this is why you need those with influence inside the government to help shape the deal. "If you do want to influence the shape of Brexit there is no one better placed than a minister like Gavin [Barwell] who is respected across the party, who has Theresa's complete confidence, who will be able in private but clearly, to influence the shape of the eventual deal we will get in the interests of people in this constituency," he said. Other major issues that affect Croydon include the Southern Rail strikes and the NHS. The Southern Rail issue is a huge one. Croydon is a commuter borough into the City and central London. While West Croydon now has the Overground line, which is effectively part of the Tube network, many still rely on the Southern Rail. It is not an understatement to say the Southern Rail network has been in chaos over the last year. Half a million Southern Rail passengers were hit by a total shutdown of the service in the worst train strike since the 1990s, in December. It was just one in a line of strikes that prevented people from getting to work. The strikes shut down entire lines in some cases. Barwell and Philp have both been very active on the issue. "Chris and I have lobbied very hard with the secretary of state for transport and the PM [about Southern Rail issues]," said Barwell. Back in December Philp was pushing for a change to union laws because "disproportionate" strikes were bringing London's infrastructure to a standstill. "There are two things we should do. It should be a legal requirement for public sector strikes to go before a High Court judge, who would determine whether the strike was unreasonable and disproportionate for it to continue," said Philp in December. "The second point should be that we follow what Canada, Italy, and Spain do by making sure that even if there are public sector strikes, 50% of the services should still be running." "I understand that there may be grievances from unions but they always have to be reasonable and proportionate. The judge should balance up the injury suffered from workers versus injuries suffered by the general public [to determine this]. And if unions had a problem with this, they are effectively asking for the legal right to strike disproportionately and unreasonably." They said if you elect a Tory government, the NHS won't be here in five years and it's still here Labour leader Corbyn said on Monday, that Labour "will never, ever apologise for the closeness of our relationship with the trade union movement. You are family." "Labour always run on the NHS during the elections for as long as I can remember. They said if you elect a Tory government, the NHS won't be here in five years and it's still here," he said. "But on the NHS, I had cancer when I was 7 years old, the NHS saved my life, my wife works for the NHS, and I have been crucial in lobbying for the 21 million into the state of the art NHS A&E department in our local hospital." Clarkson is a hugely popular global star whose car-testing show generates tens of millions in revenue for the BBC. But in the UK, where Clarkson appears in the media in some capacity on most days of the week, familiarity has begun to breed contempt. While car fans across the world will be disappointed, many Britons will smile at the idea of Clarkson's career possibly being cut short. Over his decades-long career, in fact, Clarkson has managed to annoy loads of people, from ethnic minorities to politicians to entire counties. Many would remember him for punching journalist and media personality Piers Morgan at a press event in 2004. (Morgan enjoys a similar level of respect as Clarkson in the UK, thus many Brits regard this incident as a victimless crime.) Back in 1998, Hyundai officially complained about the BBC presenter for his "bigoted and racist" comments at a motor show in Birmingham. On that occasion, he allegedly said the Hyundai employees at the show had eaten dogs, suggesting that one of the firm's designers had probably eaten a spaniel, according to the BBC. Hyundai pointed out that "when he drives a French car it is not as if he says that the French eat horses and frogs." Clarkson might not offend the French, but when testing a BMW Mini he managed to enrage the Germans, performing a Nazi-style salute while driving on Top Gear. Indians have also been mocked, in 2012 he took his trousers off in public to show a couple of Indian dignitaries how to use a trouser press. Indians are the largest ethnic minority in the UK. Amid his long list of controversies, Clarkson has rarely apologised, and the BBC has often let the controversies die out on their own rather than disciplining its presenter. In 2009 he set his eyes on then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom he called "a silly c---" in comments that were not intended for broadcast while recording for "Top Gear." Clarkson was not publicly disciplined after the incident, something decried by politicians on both sides. "Many people will find that word in particular very offensive; I am surprised he felt it appropriate to use it," said John Whittingale, an MP for the Conservatives and a political rival to Brown. After calling Norfolk a "flat and featureless" county in which people were surprised to see a car, Norfolk promptly set up a "We hate Jeremy Clarkson" club. People take Clarkson seriously because he is an enormous figure in the British media scene. average of 350 million people worldwide watch it every week Clarkson also writes regularly for two of the country's most famous newspapers, the Sun and The Sunday Times, and he has a loyal group of fans: In 2008, a Facebook group suggested he should run for prime minister. His most recent incident before Tuesday came in October, when he drove through Argentina sporting a license plate that appeared to refer to the Falklands War, between the UK and Argentina in 1982. On that occasion, he had to flee the country among protests. The BBC did not discipline him and called the license panel "a very unfortunate coincidence." The same year he was filmed using the n-word in footage that did not air on "Top Gear," and yet he kept his job. The Brits understand that Clarkson is a media clown, an entertainer who cannot be taken seriously. But the act is getting stale. And this time, it looks as if even the BBC is bored of it. The Commission said Facebook provided misleading information over its $22 billion (17 billion) purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. At the time of the acquisition, the social media giant claimed that it could not automatically match user accounts on its platform and WhatsApp. However, two years later, in August 2016, it launched a service that did exactly that Facebook essentially updated its privacy policy to allow linking between WhatsApp users' phone numbers and Facebook users' identities. The Commission claims that the "technical possibility" of matching user accounts existed back in 2014 and that Facebook staff knew this but decided not to mention it. Why? Possibly because the company knew that competition regulators like the European Commission would kick up a fuss. Generally speaking, the Commission doesn't like it when one large company rules the roost be it in terms of market share, data access, or user numbers. The organisation is also investigating Google for its search engine dominance and Apple for its tax affairs in Ireland. "And it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook," she said. "The Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts." The fine is the largest of its kind and one of the biggest penalties Facebook has ever faced. While it is unlikely to dent Facebook's coffers too much (the company has a market cap of $130 billion), it is still significant and a sign that Silicon Valley can't afford to take Vestager lightly. Facebook said in a statement that the errors were not intentional. Truecaller was launched in 2009 by the True Software Scandinavia AB, Stockholm, Sweden in 2009, and has over 250 million users worldwide relying on its services to help identify unknown incoming calls, and also warns against spam calls. Ted Nelson, Chief Commercial Officer of Truecaller noted that "we are very excited to start rolling out our highly anticipated mobile ad platform in Africa. In today's digital era where consumers spend a considerable amount of their time on their mobile devices, it's time to engage with consumers in the most concerted manner for the mobile-first community, Ted said. The company noted that its key growth markets in Africa are Nigeria and Egypt, which give the company more 20 million impressions per day. We are confident that our unique and innovative ad solutions will deliver excellent results and awareness for Brands in Africa as it already successfully has in other areas," said Nelson. The CEO of Cars45, Etop Ikpe, noted that the partnership would assist the company effective target its niche in the African automotive industry. Dr Mudashiru Olaitan, the Director, Development Finance, CBN, made this known at the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Association of Non-Bank Micro Finance Institutions (ANMFIN) in Abuja on Thursday. Olaitan stated that the apex bank is in the process of overhauling the disbursement process to make it more efficient. I quite agree that there have been some delays; there is no doubt about that. But we are trying to overhaul the system to make it much more efficient and effective. Nevertheless, while we are reviewing the process, I think there have been some disbursements (we have made); we have disbursed about 500million to about 60MFIs We are not resting, we are going to continue. In fact that was one of the reasons why I came here to come and appeal to you to exercise a little patience, because very soon all the issues will be addressed. As part of its developmental role and mandate of promoting a sound financial system, the CBN launched the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund on Aug. 15, 2013. This was in recognition of the significant contributions of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sub-sector to the economy. The sub-sector is characterised by huge financing gap which hinders the development of MSMEs. The fund prescribes 50:50 ratio for on-lending to micro enterprises and SMEs respectively by Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) On the duration of the loans disbursed to ANMFIN members, Olaitan said: The loans are supposed to last for 12 months after which the borrower is expected to pay back, although, for those going into productive activities, the loan tenure can last for as much as three years. According to him, the apex bank is still collaborating with the RUFIN and that members can continue to apply for loans through the RUFIN/NIRSAL platform or apply directly to the bank. He stated that other than MSMEDF, the CBN has other programmes such as the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which is also geared toward empowering farmers across the country. In Imo and Anambra states, we are working with farmers and now we have almost 50,000 farmers that we have empowered. In addition to that, we also have the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme which was initiated by this administration. I want to assure you that the CBN has the interest of the grassroots at heart and that was the reason he initiated these programmes. The President of ANMFIN, Mr Hamid Afolabi, had earlier expressed pleasure at the feat achieved by the association. Afolabi stated that ANMFIN is currently the largest microfinance network in Africa. He said that in spite of the economic situation in the country ANMFIN had continued to make giant strides which could be reflected in its 2016 performance. We have gained relevance among stakeholders especially in the areas of financial inclusion and poverty eradication in Nigeria. As you are aware, capacity building is one of our cardinal objectives, in 2016, we were able to train about 1000 microfinance institutions staff. Financial linkage is another area the association excelled in 2016.In spite of the challenges we faced with the CBN MSMEDF, we were able to access about N500million for our MFIs through the fund, he said. Afolabi stated that the MSMEDF was playing an important role in improving financial inclusion in the country and further delay in its disbursement would course market distortion and undermine financial inclusion. ALSO READ: Celebrity couple unfollow each other on Instagram "Happy Birthday Mama!!! @adedamee Today is your special day. May you be showered with health, wealth and prosperity throughout your life and may your special day and every day be full of love and joyful moments! Have a blast today with many more years ahead." This comes a day after Damilola gave him a lovely shout out on social media. Sharing her take on love and how it endures all, she shared the photo above writing, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Happy birthday Nii.. I love you." In a recent interview with Hitz FM, Attoh said that his wife is wonderful, and she is currently in London. She just launched her Alpha Woman project, which helps to empower women. When asked about the separation rumours, he said, I dont hear them, I dont read them. Im too focused, I cant be too bothered with all these what is important is in front of me. In an interview with Broadway Africa TV published on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, Empress Njamah stated that women cause domestic violence in relationships. "A man hits a woman is domestic violence. A woman hits a man what is it called?" asked the actress, "we are always all about domestic violence and its all about the woman. Do you know that there are men who are more beaten up mentally than the women they beat physically." She further went on to say "I am not saying its advisable but the truth of the matter is that sometimes some women are head strong and they can actually traumatize their partner mentally, that can actually make them run mad. And they probably do not know when they just hit...a lot of things happen in marriages. A marriage is not a bed of roses. "I am not saying it is good but sometimes you need to work together to help the man. If the man is naturally a wife beater or woman beater, you can actually help the man out of it. ALSO READ: Domestic violence is a black eye on the face of Nigerian entertainment "He probably must have experienced a lot of things growing up. And in this time and age, growing up he must have seen one or two things and inculcate but sometimes let us not just put it on the man alone." There have been a lot of reactions to Empress Njamah's views on domestic violence. Ghanaian actress Juliet Ibrahim has reacted to Empress Njamah's interview on her Instagram page today, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Read what Juliet Ibrahim wrote below; "KARMA IS A B*TCH! When it comes barking up your own tree or in ur family ; please preach ur wisdom that time... #whatApity and we call ourselves celebrities! When people decide to sit and form advisers they should think twice before talking honestly. What's the meaning of "a man hits a woman it's called domestic violence and when a woman hits a man it's called what?" MADAM, it's the same domestic violence either ways and what we have been preaching since day one is the fact that no one should get to the point of hitting another being in the name of anger or rage! Violence is WRONG! There is no excuse! Violence should NEVER EVER BE THE OPTION OR CHOICE!!! there is NO REASON IN THE WORLD FOR A MAN OR WOMAN TO GET PHYSICAL ON ANOTHER Person! Domestic Violence which is an abuse comes in several forms could be emotional or physical as well; sadly we do NOT SEE THE EMOTIONAL ABUSE ON MOST; what most people are preaching against lately is the fact that people can't SEEM TO CONTROL ANGER AND GET OUT OF VIOLENT RELATIONSHIPS! No one is sitting around happy about victims ( both male and female) being attacked and killed brutally ; what we are standing firm against is the fact that We as humans need to see the signs and exit the relationship immediately we notice the signs or speak to the rightful authorities before it is Too Late! How dare you try to justify why another person will get physically violent on another till it leads to death or getting burnt! Are you even aware that RAPE IS also a form of violence ? Would you sit in ur seat and preach that ladies that get raped are the ones bringing it upon themselves? Is that ur mindset? YOU WOULD BLAME A LADY FOR GETTING RAPED ? Shouldn't you be preaching against rape and violence in general rather than justifying the Act? Haven't you seen photos of women who were murdered after being raped? Is it the woman's fault that some guy couldn't control his urge???? Would you also sit and advise that every one should pick up guns and go to war because they were offended by another country??? #sayNotodomesticviolence against women or men! We preach against it! VIOLENCE SHOULD NEVER BE THE END RESULT!" In 2016, Empress Njamah denied rumours that she had undergone body enhancing surgery. "I did not enhance my buttocks. I have always had big buttocks. Whoever says I tampered with my bottom is a learner. I actually reduced my buttocks because I used to like to wear a particular design and size. As a result, I had to lose weight to fit into it. My bottom reduced when I lost some weight." It was earlier reported that the actress had died of cardiac arrest. According to a report by NET, Moji Olaiya's health became worse after the birth of her second child. Mrs Keji, the late actress' housekeeper said Moji Olaiya complained of 'being uncomfortable' after giving birth. "Her baby was born premature- her EDD was for May 2017 but complications arose that necessitated that she be induced to save the babys life as well as hers. But since the delivery in March, her health had not been exactly perfect" she told NET. By 3 am Nigerian time yesterday it was reported that Olaiya's health condition had worsened. "Her blood pressure shot up and she got unconscious. An ambulance was called to transport her to the hospital. But her case worsened and she gave up the ghost before the could make it to the hospital" she revealed. Moji Olaiya's older brother, Otunba Olaiya, however, said that his sister did not complain about her health before her unexpected death. "When I spoke to her a few days ago, she did not give signs of death. She never complained about anything. This is really heartbreaking" he said. Moji Olaiya is survived by two daughters. Her first daughter Adunola who attends Babcock University is said to be currently mourning the loss of her mum. Her two-month-old baby is in care with her friend in Canada. According to the report, Moji Olaiya's father, Sir Victor Olaiya has not been made aware of his daughter's death. Justice Sunday Otu, who handed down the sentence upon conviction in Lokoja on Friday, said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt by cogent, credible, compelling and positive evidence. Otu said the convicts were young men who ordinarily should be going about their legitimate businesses to make it in life but decided to go against the law to acquire wealth through criminal means. He said that the court in reaching its decision saw the need to send a very strong warning to the society and at the same time considered their age. The judge, also, sentenced them to eight years for criminal conspiracy under section 97(1); another eight years for armed robbery under section 298(2) of the Penal Code. Otu also sentenced the convicts to seven years for illegal possession of firearms under Section 3 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act CAP R11 LFN 2004. He said that the sentences would run concurrently taking cognizance of the period they had spent in detention awaiting trial. The prosecuting counsel, Mohammed Abaji, said the convicts with others now at large, on April 25, 2015 attacked and robbed an SSS officer, Salihu Zuberu, on duty at Save House, GRA, Lokoja. Abaji said the convicts who robbed Zuberu at gun point, carted away his Nokia 607 I-phone, a tecno, a HP Laptop, mini-Uzi machine gun and N27,000 cash. He said the report by the security officer led to the investigation of the matter resulting in the recovery of the mini-uzi machine gun and some of the looted items. The convicts had raised alibis saying that they were not at the scene of the alleged robbery but other victims who they had earlier robbed came to testify against them. This senator is notorious for his antics than his political contributions. To be fair to him his contemporaries are not any better. While they have found the money to lavish on photocopying machines, they can't come up with a good way to provide healthcare. Back to the senator from Kogi state. Melaye is a joker among a bunch of greedy and most likely corrupt politicians. Most senators distance themselves from the Nigerian people. Melaye trolls them. Dino Melaye has constantly shown that he is skilled at mocking the average Nigerian by grabbing attention in the most shameful manner possible. He will stroll on Bourdillon road to taunt Bola Ahmed Tinubu after he insulted his wife. This is a man that would release a jingle as a response to claims that he did not go the university. ALSO READ: His latest stunt is the worst of them all. On Monday, May 15, 2017, Dino Melaye launched a book titled 'Antidote for Corruption'. The Senate President, Bukola Saraki wrote the foreword. If that wasn't odd enough, the grand old lady herself Patience Jonathan attended the launching. If you do not understand the joke here then you are on your own. It's not from me that you will hear the king's wife is a witch. Dino Melaye understands two things- Nigerians don't care and the ones who do only grumble in their homes or on Twitter, the venting capital of young Nigerians. Eyewitness News reports that the memorial service which held in her hometown in Diepkloof, Soweto, was attended by her family members, friends from school and human rights activists who all condemned the killer for sending such a bright young woman to her early grave. Mokoena's death by her boyfriend who has since been arrested and arraigned in the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court, had sparked outrage on social media recently with the hashtag #MenAreTrash causing debate. One of her former school mate, Yolanda Slamadien who spoke at the memorial, said the deceased was a supportive friend and she will miss her smile. Im going to miss how she always motivated us and always told us to push the hustle and always strive to be someone. She was into women awareness and against women abuse. The service was attended by hundreds of people who had come to show their support for the relatives of Mokoena and to hear the tributes which were paid to the University of Johannesburg student. Mokoena was said to have been ambitious, goal driven, spiritual and full of life with lots of potentials but her life was cut short before she could fully realize it. Her funeral will be held on Friday, May 19, 2017, at the Diepkloof Hall at 8 am. Ndimele, whose address was not disclosed in court, is facing a charge of stealing. The prosecutor, Insp. Akpan Ikem, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Nov. 17, 2016 at Ojo road, Ajangbadi, Lagos. Ikem said the complainant gave the accused the money to buy her a sewing machine. The accused didnt buy the sewing machine but spent the money and disappeared." He was caught while trying to sneak out of the area after reappearing, he said. The accused pleaded his innocence to the offence. Chief Magistrate Jimoh Adefioye granted the accused N50,000 bail and two sureties who must provide evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government. He said that two of the students were from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, and one from the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, both in Edo. Kyari told NAN that the suspects also posed on some other social media as customs officers auctioning cars. After several complaints to the I-G about activities of some fraudsters posing as Nigeria Customs officers on social media and defrauding millions of naira from innocent Nigerians in the guise of auctioning cars, I-G Ibrahim Idris directed the IRT to trace and arrest the criminals." After analysis of intelligence on ground, two IRT teams were deployed to Edo, and eventually, four suspects were arrested in Ekpoma." All the suspects confessed to the crimes and stated how they swindled millions of naira from innocent Nigerians while posing as customs officers auctioning cars." The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused was charged with N3 million fraud. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Y.O. Aje-Afunwa, granted Adanlawo bail with two sureties in like sum. Aje-Afunwa directed that the sureties must show evidence of payment of three years tax to the Lagos State Government and adjourned the case till July 12. The accused, who resides at Pasede Village, Awoyaya, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of stealing and fraud. Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Peter Nwangwu, had told the court that Adanlawo committed the offences in 2008 at Ayeteju Town, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos. Nwangwu said that Adanlawo fraudulently obtained N3million from one Jacob Oluwole on the pretext of selling four plots of land to him at Ibeju Lekki in Lagos State. The prosecutor said that the complainant later discovered that the accused had duped him of his hard earned money. The accused converted the money to his personal use and absconded to an unknown place and all efforts to recover the said money proved abortive, Nwangwu said. He also said that the accused threatened Oluwole on the few occasions he was able to reach him on phone, forcing the matter to be reported to the police. The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 285 and 312 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Asekun, who allegedly defiled his neighbours daughter, was on Wednesday brought before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates Court. The accused, who resides at 1, Ajano Close, Bamako Estate, Ojodu, a suburb of Lagos, is being tried for defilement. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Raphael Donny, told the court that Asekun committed the offence on May 11 at his residence. Donny said the accused called the 10-year-old girl to his room on the pretext of sending her on an errand. The accused shut the door behind the girl and defiled her, he said. The prosecutor said that the girl told her mother and the case was reported at the nearby police station. The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 137 provides that any person who has unlawful sexual intercourse of a child, is guilty of felony and is liable to imprisonment for life. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Justice Eni Esan held that the evidence before the court proved that Nasiru was guilty of murder. The accused is an evil man that deserves no mercy for terminating the life of a six-year-old girl; he deserves the full wrath of the law. He is hereby sentenced to death by hanging until he dies, Esan said. Olawale had earlier told the court that Nasiru committed the offence on March 12, 2014, at Isale Awero, Moniya area of Ibadan. He said Nasiru had picked up the victim from a road close to her school and killed her. After the accused killed her, he cut her body into several pieces and put them in a sack. The remains of the body were discovered after three days in the house of the accused in Moniya area of Ibadan after his neighbour noticed that a bad odour was oozing from his house, he said. Olawale said the accused ran away when he discovered that his neighbour had reported the matter to the police and was later arrested in Sokoto State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict, who was represented by Adewale Adesanya, was arraigned on a one-count charge of murder for contravening the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol II, Laws of Oyo State 2000. He, however, denied the charges. The Prosecutor, Insp. Philip Osijiale, told court that the accused committed the offences on March 1 at about 12:00 p.m. at Obun-Eko on Lagos Island. He said that the accused put some N286, 600 sent by two of his customers, Chukwumeka Okafor and Paul Ekene to help them buy goods into the Ponzi scheme. Osijiale explained that Okafor sent N152, 000 while Ekene sent N134, 600 to the accused. He said that Ezengwu put the money to his personal use and refused to refund the duo, having staked the money into MMM. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Section 287 prescribes three years imprisonment for theft while Section 314 carries 15 years imprisonment for fraud. The Magistrate, Mr Kazeem Omolaja, granted Ezengwu bail in the sum of 250,000 with two sureties in like sum. He said that one of the sureties must be either his father or mother while the other must be a gainfully employed person. The Magistrate, Mrs A.S. Okubule, who gave the order, said Idris should be kept behind bars pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The prosecutor, Insp. Chinalu Uwadione told the court that the offences were committed on April 29 at about 9.00 p.m. at under the bridge at Nigerian Breweries, Iganmu near Costain Roundabout. He alleged that Idris with another man still at large, stabbed the complainant, Musa Umoru and snatched his motorcycle. The accused and his accomplice had mounted Umorus motorcycle and when they got to Breweries , Idris brought out a two double- edged knife which he used to stab Umoru. Umoru was able to hold Idris and shouted for help while his accomplice zoomed off with the motorcycle, Uwadione said. The offences contravened Sections 230, 297 and 299 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised). Described as being like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia rolled into one fatal cocktail, Huntington's (HD) has been associated for centuries with stigmas that have led to social exclusion and hampered efforts to contain the disease. Campaigners were delighted that Francis agreed to meet with hundreds of families afflicted by a disease so distressing it is often cited as evidence against the existence of a benevolent God. But scientists and doctors present at the audience disagree fundamentally with the pope's insistence that creating embryos to generate the cells needed for their research should be banned. He said the use of human embryos to generate cells reflected a "throw-away culture" in science. "We know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos." The stem cell issue is one of several questions that Huntington's, an uncurable neuro-degenerative condition, raises for Catholic teaching. The Church's objections to artificial contraception and the use of IVF combined with genetic screening are obstacles to measures which could reduce the incidence of a disease most prevalent in strongly Catholic South America. But Francis's involvement was nonetheless welcomed as a landmark day for hundreds of thousands of sufferers worldwide. As the pontiff embraced some of those who had travelled to the Vatican, many were overcome by emotion. Heart of Darkness "In many cases the sick and their families have experienced the tragedy of shame, isolation and abandonment," Francis told them. "Hidden no more - it is not simply a slogan, it's a commitment that we all must foster." Charles Sabine, a former NBC war correspondent who helped organise the event, said Francis's words were hugely significant. "No pope, in fact no leader of any significance has ever mentioned Huntington's, let alone publicly met with members of families living with the disease," he said. "That speaks volume about the shame and stigma that surrounds it." Sabine tested positive for the HD gene 12 years ago and has since dedicated his life to advocacy for sufferers. "I know I am living on borrowed time," he told AFPTV. "And the worst thing about it is that most of us who suffer it have seen it in our relatives. "We have watched the future unfold as I did with my father, my half-brother and now my full brother who is in the last stages." Nearly one in 10 HD sufferers commit suicide before it kills them. Little understood until the gene that causes it was identified in 1993, the disease induces physical ticks, uncontrolled movements and personality changes before eventually destroying all cerebral function. It was historically associated with possession and witchcraft, its genetic nature creating notions that afflicted families were cursed. Such attitudes persist today in South America, where poor sufferers find themselves banished to the margins of society. In parts of Venezuela, where the gene was identified, as many as one in 10 people are carriers. "I call it the Huntingdon heart of darkness," says Sabine. Can't afford grave plots Italian biologist Elena Cattaneo, who is involved in stem cell research on HD, said Thursday's gathering was born of a sense of solidarity with those sufferers. "The gene was discovered literally thanks to the blood of Venezuelans. Now we in the West have all the advantages of this: genetic testing, recognition of the disease and drugs to treat symptoms -- but they have nothing." Among the carers Francis met was 79-year-old Colombian, Dilia. Huntington's took Dilia's husband from her and it is eating its way through the rest of her family so voraciously she cannot afford grave plots for all of them. The remains of three of the four children she has buried had to be exhumed and reinterred with those of of her husband. Dilia has seven other children, four now in the final stages of the disease. One grandchild is dead and five more will likely predecease the family matriarch. Mrs Philomena Irene, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Bauchi Zone, disclosed this at a media dialogue held on Wednesday in Yola with the theme Investing in Childs Malnutrition for the Future. Irene noted that the treatment of a malnourished child with Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) would span through eight to 12 weeks, depending on the severity of the condition. According to her, not less than 71 U.S. dollars will adequately treat a severely acute malnourished child. She said that out of the 2.5 million malnourished children recorded in the country only 500,000 have so far been treated. The specialist said that the interventions provided by UNICEF include prevention and treatment. According to her, the collaborative efforts of government agencies will go a long way to address the existing nutrition gap of two million children in dire need of special interventions including RUTF. Malnutrition is an emergency that required multi-sectoral approach and collaborative efforts of government and donor agencies, among others. No child should be left to die and government at all levels should act by setting aside budget line geared toward the purchase of RUTF and other nutrition interventions. There should be specific budget line at the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Education, Budget and National Planning, among others, and timely releases of such funds. With these efforts the burden would be reduced drastically, she said. Irene decried the burden of malnutrition in the country in spite of abundance of resources, blaming this on misplacement of priority, lack of commitment and ignorance of the care-givers. Earlier, the Zonal UNICEF Communication Officer, Mr Sam Kaalu, identified the objectives of the meeting to include sensitising the media about nutrition crisis in the country and issues of childrens well-being and survival. In a point of order on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, Senator Dino Melaye accused President Muhammadu Buhari of executive rascality and violation of the rule of law. Melaye noted that Ekpe was selected by the executive as Director General of the NLRC without the approval of the Senate. But speaking at plenary on Thursday, May 18, deputy Senate leader, Bala NaAllah said Ekpe was wrongly advised by some individuals. I think he was misadvised and therefore assumed office without going through the stipulated process, NaAllah said. The lawmaker said after due consultation with relevant stakeholders, the acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) apologized for the oversight and pleaded for leniency. The acting SGF assured the Senate that such mistake would not repeat itself. Yesterday, the Senate by way of resolution mandated me to investigate an issue, a case of a nominee who is yet to be screened and confirmed by the Senate and who is yet to receive an appointment letter from the office of the secretary to the government of the federation but that nominee assumed office, Na'Allah said. I investigated the issue very thoroughly yesterday and I stand here to report what actually happened. The nominee for the office the director-general of the national lottery commission actually assumed office. I spoke with all those who should know better including the acting secretary to the government of the federation and the conclusion is that he erred because probably he did not get the correct briefing that he should have waited until the due process and diligence were completed. I believe that was an error and there was a genuine appeal from the executive that no such thing would ever happen again. I advised the SGF that the nominee should not be seen within the vicinity of the office of the DG until he is confirmed and an appointment letter is given to him. I also want to use this opportunity to advise the executive that such a thing must not be allowed to repeat itself again and also for nominees who maybe so eager to start work that they should tarry a while until due diligence is followed to its logical conclusion, the lawmaker added. Senate President Bukola Saraki noted that despite Ekpes zeal to work, the nominee should have awaited the confirmation of the Senate before resuming office. Anne-Marie, whose father, Chris, an EdoState indigene, will be honoured for her services to young women with specialty in Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). An MBE is an award given by the Queen to an individual for outstanding service to the community or local hands on service. Part of her contributions include founding Stemettes, a social enterprise which inspires the next generation of women into pursuing careers in STEM in 2013. The enterprise which has attracted over 7000 young women from across the UK, Ireland and Europe has the objective to break barriers women who pursue a career in the field face. Stemettes which also grants awards to young women, have programs workshops and events designed to introduce young women to STEM careers, concepts, and role models. Anne-Marie holds the record of being the youngest girl to ever pass two GCSE examinations for Mathematics and Information Technology and A-level computing at the age of 11 in Britain. Due to her high exceptional brilliance, she received a British Scholarship to study Mathematics at John Hopkins University at the age of 13 in 2003. At 15, in 2005, she started a degree program at the University of Oxford. At 17, she started a masters degree at Oxford University graduating at 19 in June 2010. Imafidon who became the youngest ever graduate with a masters degree speaks six languages and has worked with Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard, Deutsche Bank, and Lehman Brothers. She is the older of the Imafidon children who have been dubbed the smartest family in Britain as her younger siblings have equally broken records in Mathematics and sports. She was named on Evening Standards list of 25 under 25s and a Guardian Top 10 women in tech you need to know. She was also the UK IT Industry & British Computer Societys Young IT Professional of the Year in 2013. Imafidon will be honoured alongside three other Nigerians including Chris Ofili, an artist who gets a CBE for his services to arts. Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, a Professor of Nursing, will also get an OBE for her services in nursing and the Mary Seacole statue appeal. The man who facilitated the release of the girls is Zannah Mustapha, a 57-year-old lawyer. A BBC report detailed how the 82 girls, after three years in captivity, were handed over to Mustapha by the Boko Haram sect. Upon the lawyer's arrival for the handing over of the girls, one of the members of the sect reportedly read out the girls' names from a list. The girls, who were said to be covered from head to ankle in a dark-coloured hijab, filed out one by one. "I went ahead of the Red Cross. They [the militants] brought the girls to me," Mustapha was quoted as saying. The release exercise was said to have taken place along the outskirts of a forest near Kumshe town, on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Mustapha was said to have been mediating between the government and the militants for the release of the girls and for an end to the Boko Haram insurgency. More than 200 of the Chibok girls were abducted in April 2014, from the north-eastern town of Chibok, sparking global outrage. The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had in 2015 said it was ready to negotiate with "credible" leaders of Boko Haram to secure the girls' release. In response to the call, different groups came forward, with each claiming to be Boko Haram representatives. The report said it was Mustapha who succeeded in convincing the Federal Government that this particular group should be taken seriously. "He (Mustapha) had dealt with them (Boko Haram) in the past and they keep to their word,"Garba Shehu, Buhari's spokesman told novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. Nwaubani profiled Mustapha in the BBC report. ALSO READ: Boko Haram suicide bombers attack Borno, kill 2 Mustapha's role as a mediator, she wrote, dates back to his founding the Future Prowess Islamic Foundation School in 2007. He was said to have founded the group to provide free Islamic-based education to orphans and the poor. When the Boko Haram insurgency erupted in 2009, the school offered admission to the children of soldiers and government officials killed by the militants, as well as those of militants killed by the state. Mustapha then sought the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which began providing free meals to the pupils, Nwaubani said. Mustapha also encouraged parents to form an association which would reach out to other widows and convince them to send their children to his school. The ICRC soon extended its humanitarian services to the mothers, providing them free food and other items every month. Buhari left the country on Sunday, May 7 for an indefinite medical vacation in London after months of ill health. Fani-Kayode also said some Northern forces are waiting for Buhari to die so they can force acting president, Yemi Osinbajo to resign. He made the comments via an article titled: The ringing of coup bells and cause for deep concern. Read the article below: I am very worried now. Ever since 1966 the northern ruling class has ALWAYS effected a coup detat whenever they feel sufficiently threatened with the loss of power. The only time that they failed to do this, to their eternal regret, was when President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded President Umaru YarAdua after the latters death in 2010. Up until today they blame my friend and brother Lt. Abdulrahman General Dambazau for that failure and they felt he was weak and cowardly. This is because he was the Chief of Army Staff at the time and he did not strike. He paid a heavy price for his weakness and for not doing their bidding a few years later because when Buhari came to power in 2015 instead of appointing him Minister of Defence or National Security Advisor, which is what he had originally been penned down for, he appointed him as Minister of Interior which is far less strategic and important. As a consequence of his failure to strike they had to endure Jonathan for 5 long years and their response was to covertly support and encourage Boko Haram to make parts of the country ungovernable and to organize the whole Chibok girls affair, in collusion with a notable foreign intelligence agency and foreign Government, to get him out by 2015. President Muhammadu Buhari was elected into office that year and now his fate is similar to YarAduas. He is chronically ill and he is NOT coming back to lead and rule as he once did because he will NEVER be the same again. Once he dies the northern ruling class have already decided on what to do. They will give Vice President Yemi Osinbajo an ultimatum and they will threaten him and ask him to resign. They have resolved that they will not allow power to go to the south and they will encourage their senior officers in the military to effect a coup. In doing so they are only doing what they have ALWAYS done when they feel sufficiently threatened with the loss of power. That is their way. And that is the measure of their ruthlessness and determination to hold on to power. They would rather have a core northern military dictator in power than a southern leader or President. And they are prepared to kill anyone, no matter how highly placed, who stands in their way or who attempts to oppose or stop them. The only options that exist if they are to be stopped is, firstly, if someone beats them to it by effecting a progressive Rawlings, Orkar or Nzeogwu-type coup of junior southern and Middle Belt officers. This would lead to massive loss of life and to civil war and it is therefore unacceptable. The other option is for the southern and Middle Belt civilian population to come together and march the streets in an attempt to resist military insurrection and mutiny in the name of fighting for and attempting to preserve democracy. That would be the best option but sadly we do not have a very good track record when it comes to protesting against injustice and the truncation of democracy and this is especially so because the core north will openly support the coup and hail it. However one thing is clear this time around: if a coup led and inspired by the core north and the FN takes place simply to keep a southerner out of power it will signal the end of Nigeria as a united country. Such is the anger and frustration in the south and Middle Belt today about the excesses, abuses of power, wickedness, bondage and arrogance of the north that there is likely to be a very violent reaction to any northern coup. This may well lead to the disintegration of the Federation and when it gets to that point even the army will be hard pressed to keep us together as one nation. The likelihood is that it would lead to a second civil war because even the army would be split down the middle along regional, ethnic and religious lines. That is the catastrophe, madness, chaos and carnage that the northern ruling class are now leading us to and toying with in their insane quest to hold on to power. That is where they are pushing us to with their obsessive and insatiable appetite and lust for that power. It is for this reason that the plan by the cabal in Buharis government and the northern ruling elite to effect a coup in order to keep power for themselves and their people and to stop a southerner from enjoying it must be condemned and resisted by ALL men and women of goodwill. And as we condemn it we must prepare for a very strong reaction to it (and not just with loud and empty words) when they strike. We must be ready to put our money where our mouth is. We must be prepared to risk our lives. We must be prepared to fight back and resist them with guns and bullets and every fibre of our being. According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered over $44m. Emefiele, in a letter, told the lawmakers that it will be a breach of the National Security Agencies Act to appear before them. The CBN Governor also told the lawmakers that he is not allowed by the Act to discuss security issues publicly. The chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Aminu Sani-Jaji said This CBN governor doesnt even know that there is something called separation of powers. Members of the committee also expressed their displeasure at the refusal of the CBN Governor to honour their invitation. Okowa made the call when the Chairman of NDDC, Sen.Victor Ndoma Egba, lead the management of the commission on a visit to the governor in Asaba. Okowa said that the siting of meaningful projects in the region could only be achieved when the actual needs of the people of the area were considered. I want to welcome the spirit of partnership and we are ready to cooperate with you on the development of the Niger Delta." The state and your Agency need this cooperation to help our people; we need to create room for the contribution of the people in project planning and execution." l agree with you that we need projects that will impact more on the lives of the people." l want to call for proper monitoring of projects, especially road projects, and the need to strengthen and fund the department for quality delivery; because this is important in the execution of projects, he said. He said that the state government would partner with NDDC on the proposed construction of the Bomadi-Escravos Okenrenkoko road. This is an important road that crisscrosses two major oil producing nationalities in the state. He, however, advised the agency to collaborate with the Senate Committee on Niger Delta on the funding of NDDC projects. The governor restated his support for the calls on the Federal Government to re-constitute the Advisory and Project monitoring committees of the commission. He said that it would deepen the partnership between the state and NDDC in meeting the needs of the people. Okowa said that it would also create room for the people of the area to contribute to developmental projects, planning and execution. Earlier, Ndoma Egba, said that the commission was ready to embark on joint venture projects with member states in the spirit of partnership. He said that the delegation was in the state to solicit the support and partnership of the state government on reforms of the NDDC. Ndoma-Egba urged the Federal Government to re-constitute the Advisory and Project Monitoring Committees of the commission to improve accountability, transparency, cooperation and partnership. The chairman said that the commission would soon construct a fiber optic network in the region to deepen internet penetration and speed. She subsequently detonated an explosive which was strapped to her body injuring two soldiers in the process. The female suicide bomber came and was laughing and playing that she likes one of the soldiers, she requested for the GSM no of the soldiers trying to get closer when the IEDs on her body exploded, a source told The Nation. The soldier did not know what she was up to. She was chatting with him and before he knew it she had detonated her explosive, another source told The Cable. Earlier reports had it that the soldiers were killed in the explosion but Borno police spokesman, Victor Isuku denied the claims saying only the suicide bomber died. The attack comes just days after a 14-year-old suicide bomber revealed that she had been forced to carry out the mission by Boko Haram terrorists. The teenager told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday, May 14, that she was sent on the mission to detonate the device because she refused marriage proposals from three terrorists. I have spent three years in the hands of Boko Haram. Three different Boko Haram (terrorists) had proposed to marry me and I refused. Two among them were commanders (amir). When I refused for the third time, one of the commanders became furious and threatened to kill me and my father. I told him I would rather die than marry a Boko Haram (terrorist). So, after one week, they said since I have refused to get married, I should be taken to Maiduguri for a suicide mission," she added. ALSO READ: 3 Suicide bombers target UNIMAID, 4 killed Adeleke, senator who represented Osun west in the 8th assembly, was declared dead on Sunday, April 23, 2017. The nurse, Alfred Aderibigbe, was accused of giving the late politician an overdose of banned drugs. But speaking when he appeared before a coroner inquest on Thursday, May 18, Aderibigbe said all the drugs he administered to Adeleke were in normal dosage. He told the chief magistrate, Olusegun Ayilara, that he had been treating Adeleke in the last 15 years. He added that the late politician brought the drugs he administered to him from Lagos. He said, "The senator gave me his drugs which he brought from Lagos to keep on the evening of Monday, April 17, with the understanding that when he wants to take them, he will call me to bring them. "On Sunday, April 23, at about 4am, I was, however, woken up by two men from the senator who banged on my gate and later informed me that the senator had been calling my phone and that I was not picking my calls. "They said the senator needed me to come and treat him and that I should bring his drugs along. "I later went inside to get them and also found the calls I missed on my phone. "I called the senator but his friend, one Dipo Fagborode, picked his call. "As he was explaining what was going on, the senator himself collected the phone and asked me to come quickly that he was having serious knee pains. "When I got to the senators house, he asked for his drugs and gave me his prescription which contained the dose I was to administer on him. "The drugs which the senator kept with me that was to be administered on him were Analgin injection, Diazepam injection, photroine injection and hydrocortisone. "But the senator said I should not give him hydrocortisone because when he took it in Lagos, he had headache and was also vomiting. "So the other drugs was what I gave him and they were in the right dosage. "Even when the prescription said he should be given 20mg of diazepam, I had to limit it to 10mg because I discovered he had taken some oral pain painkillers. "The two other injections I gave him were in the right proportion too 50mg of Analgin and 1mg of photroine. "I waited for him to sleep and finish the drip/water I had already placed him on before I took my leave around 7:30 am. "The reason I took my leave was to inform my church because the day was a Sunday and I would not be able to teach the Sunday class. "I returned back to the Adeleke residence by 9:30 am. "Before I left, I had told the senators friend, who was with me throughout the treatment, to watch over him. "When I returned, I found the senator in the sleeping position I left him, and on closer observation, his heart rate had dropped and his pulse was faint. "I quickly gave him cardiac massage and called on his friend, Dipo, to assist me and when the situation was beyond my control, I raised an alarm and he was quickly rushed to Biket hospital. "By the time we got him to Biket hospital, the CMD, Dr Adebisi Adenle, examined his body and pronounced him "Brought in Dead." "He asked his friend what happen and he was told that the deceased complained of knee joint pain (gout) and that I gave him some treatment. "The doctor now asked me what drugs I administered on the deceased and I told him. "He then said it was the normal drug treatment for gout. "But as the empty containers and the previous drugs the deceased had taken were brought to the hospital on the doctors request, lies broke out that he died of overdose. "The lies were generated by the crowd that had gathered at the hospital because Sen. Adelekes campaign bus and his Escalade were used to convey him to the hospital. "As they drove against traffic, people got the hint that he was in trouble and gathered to find out more." Aderibigbe said he was arrested after the incident by the police and detained till May 2 before he was granted bail. He said since he was granted bail, he has not returned to work or his house in Ede because he was placed under protective custody. Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Akeem Lasisi, said Adeleke died of drug overdose. The consultant pathologist, who carried out the autopsy on Adelekes corpse, Taiwo Sholaja, also claimed that he died of drug overdose. The coroner's sitting was later adjourned till Friday, May 19. The President of MAN, Dr Frank Jacobs made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a National Press Launch of the Campaign for Patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products. Jacobs, who was represented by Mr Olu Odum-Emesalu, the Chairman of Interior Woodwork Limited, said that the policy would bring about cultural re-orientation and compel Nigerians to buy locally made fabrics. He argued that local attires are more fashionable and more convenient to wear than foreign suits. The MAN President commended the Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration for keying into the project of buy made in Nigeria goods. This has been the long time desire of the MAN and we are delighted that this time around, it has gone beyond lips service, he said. He requested the government to go beyond the launch of the campaign by putting in place enforceable policies that would encourage government establishments to make it their priority. The Artistic Director of National Theatre and National Troupe, Tar Ukoh, in a message said for the campaign to be successful, government officials must lead by examples. Most of the times, the elite is the problem because if we want people to dress Nigeria, the leaders must dress Nigeria. The former President of Ghana, Late Dr Kwame Nkrumah taught us this; he was from the smallest ethnic group of that country but he adopted the Ghanaian Kente cloth. Kente at that time became the national symbol of not only Ghana but Africa. Kente became so popular that every black in the world, in Europe and America were happy to wear the dress to look African, he said. Ukoh, who is known to always dress in traditional wrapper and large beret made of Ange cloth of Tiv tribe and Achi cloth of Idoma tribe both of Benue, said he was always treated as a King from Africa anytime he travelled out of the country. When they see me with this peculiar dress, they give me special attention, recognition and respect as an African King, he said. Mr Hussaini Moriki, the Chairman of House Committee on Industry, Trade and Investment said there was urgent need to revive the textile sector of the nations economy to bring its lost glories. ALSO READ: Textile industry on verge of extinction, says manufacturers In line with this, he said a Bill for an Act to establish the National Cotton, Textile and Garment Agency sponsored by him was pending before the National Assembly. He said when it is passed, the Agency to be established would galvanise all government intervention and policies to promote the sector and make it viable. Moriki assured that the National Assembly would support the programmes, events and campaigns for patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products. Ace actor, Kenneth Okonkwo also stressed the importance of promoting made in Nigeria products for the nation to become economically viable. Okonkwo identified political stability, economic viability and a strong military base as the three indices of a super power nation. Osinbajos spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a tweet, said Just so we are clear: when the time comes, everything is set, and he is satisfied, Ag. President Yemi Osinbajo will assent to the 2017 Budget. According to Premium Times, the spokesmans statement is in reaction to a comment attributed to the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed. Mohammed reportedly said that the cabinet was not sure of who will sign the 2017 budget. Some political commentators allege that the ministers comment is a fall out of the wording of the latter which President Buhari sent to the Senate before he travelled to London. ALSO READ:Presidency says acting President is reviewing the 2017 budget Buhari, in his letter, told the Senate that Yemi Osinbajo will coordinate the activities of government in his absence. A statement issued by the spokesman for the Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said the move will "significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country forthwith." Before the signing, Osinbajo was said to have held an interactive session at the old Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa with all relevant government officials. The officials included ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of departments and agencies among others. ALSO READ: Osinbajo says he will sign the 2017 budget when he is satisfied with its content According to the statement, the session was meant to directly engage government officials who would be implementing the orders and the new instructions. It added, "specifically, Prof. Osinbajo signed three executive orders giving specific instructions on a number of policy issues affecting: i. The promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country, ii. Timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government. iii. Support for local contents in public procurement by the Federal Government." Dasuki was accused of allegedly diverting funds meant for the prosecution of the war against the dreaded Boko Haram sect. The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, Abuja adjourned sitting to Wednesday, May 17, 2017, because of the DSS inability to produce the ex-NSA. According to Punch, Dasuki was still not present in court on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, leading to another adjournment. Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, while speaking on the development, said I only want to say that the proceedings of the court should not be taken lightly. Extraneous considerations must not be allowed to interfere with the course of justice. In his response, EFCCs counsel, Rotimi c (SAN) told the Judge that Dasukis initial absence was an oversight. Jacobs said I contacted the Director of Legal, DSS, to explain the absence of the first defendant in court yesterday (Tuesday). He (the Director of Legal) told me it was an oversight and that the first defendant would be produced this morning (Wednesday). I made a series of efforts when I discovered he was not yet in court this morning, but I was unable to contact the DSS. I immediately contacted my client, the EFCC, for them to approach the DSS. My client later told me that the first defendant said he was indisposed and would not come to court. On account of that, I will be asking for an adjournment. In his reaction a defence lawyer, Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN) said I also want to put it on record that we have been coming to court ready for trial; it is the prosecution that has not been allowing the trial to proceed. My Lord, quite honestly, I find it irritating that somebody said their failure to produce the first defendant in court was an oversight. If they elected to keep him, they have the duty to ensure that they keep track of the dates of trial in court and they cannot say their failure to produce him was an oversight without any apology tendered to the court. I find myself in a position that I cannot oppose the application for an adjournment. But I pray your lordship to direct that those keeping the first defendant in custody should be alive to their responsibility by producing the first defendant in court at the next date. The former NSAs counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN) also told the court that he will not object to an adjournment. Dasuki has been granted bail severally, but the Federal Government has refused to obey the rulings. Wike gave the advice on Wednesday at Oyigbo, Rivers State, when he flagged off construction work on the old Aba road by Mbano junction. It is undemocratic to attach soldiers to politicians because that could be counter-productive and pose a threat to national security. In a democratic setting, soldiers attached to politicians can be used for undemocratic activities, he said. Wike noted that only the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces had the privilege to have soldiers posted to guard him, and advised that such privilege should not be extended to other politicians. He assured the people of Oyigbo Local Government Area that the project would be completed on schedule, adding that a contract for the construction of the Old Market Road to Afam in Oyigbo, would soon be awarded. Wike promised to provide more routes to ease movement of goods and services and lubricate the Rivers economy. In his remarks, the Commissioner for Works, Mr Iheanyichuwu Bathuel, said that the Old Aba Road by Mbano junction was critical to Rivers economy being its major link to other states. ALSO READ: 5 times Ali Modu Sheriff attacked Gov Wike of Rivers state The PDP faction believed to be loyal to the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, said Fayose will not even be missed. The Governor has repeatedly threatened to leave the party if the Supreme Court judgement on the party's leadership tussle favours Sheriff. In a statement issued to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, May 18, the faction said Fayose is worried because he has lost his grip over the party in the state. Olasunkanmi Ogunbiyi, the party's Deputy Chairman in the state; and secretary, Ilesanmi Obe signed the statement. The faction said "the exit of Fayose from PDP will not adversely affect the fortunes of the party. "All the ward, local government and state executives as well as the state's leadership caucus remain intact. "Most of the elected and appointed officials at all levels of government have resolved to remain in PDP and are not following Fayose if he eventually defects again. "All the 177 wards and 16 local governments still believe in the PDP as the party that delivered and performed best so far since the creation of Ekiti State. "The incontrovertible fact is that on the two occasions he won the governorship elections, it was the PDP that provided the platform and opportunities for him." The statement said Fayose failed when he tried his popularity by contesting for the Central Senatorial seat while in Labour Party. "If he decides to leave PDP again, we shall not miss him, as the party remains strong and in fact under the able leadership of Chief Clement Awoyelu, the first state chairman of the party. We are not politicians that when anything is wrong, they sing different song. Rivers State is a different place. When we believe in you, we believe in you. We are different from other Niger Delta states. We can say it with all authority, Wike said according to Punch. We cannot come out in the public and begin to castigate our own. Those of them who do that should have a rethink. For us, it doesnt matter the blackmail against Jonathan, we will continue to back him. Those who think that they have promises from those who think they own Nigeria should be careful. They will use you and dump you at the appropriate time, he added. According to the reports, the number is an improvement over the 32 prison inmates that sat for the examinations in 2016. Mr. Idris Ibikunle, the Principal of the Ikoyi Prison school, said that the candidates were better prepared this year than they had been last year and that he is expecting a better performance. More inmates registered for the examination this year because they saw the urge to secure their future and prepare for reintegration after their prison terms. Many of them have realized that they ought not to be in prison if they were educated. It is because of lack of education and lack of awareness that pushed some of them into getting involved in dirty habit and anti-social behavior which landed them in prison. Some of them, because of lack of education, were cajoled into participating in criminal activities, Ibikunle said. He added that the prison authority supported the inmates in their preparations for the examination. The Deputy Controller of Prisons, Mr. Julius Ezeugwu, revealed that the examination was conducted without any hitches and that he was optimistic that the candidates would perform very well. He also explained that the examination was done in batches, allowing for those who had court appearances to do so. The JAMBs Director of Psychometrics, Mr. Kunmi Popoola, who supervised the center, said that the board provided the Prisons School center with 60 new computers as well as accessories for the examinations. Popoola commended the enthusiasm of some of the inmates towards education as they conducted themselves admirably during the examination. I am happy with the conduct of the examination for the inmates, it was orderly and smooth. The examination is a reformative step and not punitive. Those who are about completing their jail terms, are getting ready to be re-integrated into the larger society, Popoola said. Poland is among the Eastern European countries to have opposed a European Union plan adopted in 2015 to take in 160,000 Syrian, Eritrean and Iraq asylum seekers from overstretched Greece and Italy. On Tuesday, the EU set a June deadline for Poland and Hungary to start admitting their share of migrants or risk sanctions. "With the help of Europe do we want to resolve the immigration problems, namely defend borders but also help the states who are welcoming too many refugees? Or instead do we harshly reject European solidarity and not welcome them, as the (Polish) government proposes today?" Tusk asked reporters in Strasbourg. The former liberal Polish premier said he was "able to understand" some of Warsaw's arguments but warned that its stance "would inevitably have certain consequences. Those are Europe's principles." Tusk has strained relations with governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland, which was the only member state to oppose his reelection as EU president in March. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has also accused him of "moral responsibility" for the death of his twin brother, the late president Lech Kaczynski, in a 2010 air crash in Russia that also killed 95 others. Tusk was prime minister at the time. Polish and Russian investigators had found that pilot error, bad weather and poor air-traffic control were to blame for the crash in Smolensk, Russia. He will address French soldiers stationed in the city of Gao in Mali's deeply troubled north. The French base there has 1,600 soldiers -- the biggest outside the country. The troops are part of Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror operation whose mission is to target jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert. Set up in 2014, the operation comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed across five countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso. It operates Mirage 2000 fighter jets and drones for gathering intelligence. Macron will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of Armed Services Sylvie Goulard, as well as the head of the French development agency (AFD) Remy Rioux. Macron will hold talks with Malian counterpart Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on the fight against terrorism and the west African country's rocky path to normality since a 2015 peace deal. Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in March 2012, and these forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year. But jihadists continue to roam the country's north and centre, mounting attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces still stationed there. Germany is the biggest contributor to the UN force in Mali, or MINUSMA, which has been stationed there since July 2013 and has just over 12,000 military and police personnel on what is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. Sources in his entourage said 39-year-old Macron would seek to emphasise the need for closer European cooperation in the fight against jihadists, especially with EU heavyweight Germany. France wants a "new Franco-German impetus so that Europe plays a greater role in defence and security matters, especially in Africa and the Sahel," a source said. Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav must not be executed by Islamabad until they have had time to pass final judgement in the case. Jadhav was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistani officials claim he has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services. He was convicted last month by a military court and sentenced to death. But India has maintained he is not a spy, and lodged a case against Pakistan earlier this month, accusing Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking international human rights law. New Delhi also appealed for the court to impose emergency measures to suspend Jadhav's execution until the legal battle in The Hague has concluded. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," said the court's president Ronny Abraham. He also ordered Pakistan to inform the tribunal that it has implemented the decision, and stressed that ICJ decisions are binding on all member states. Indian relief Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the ruling and said in a Tweet that it was "a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India". "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav," he said in another Tweet. Outlining the reasons for its decision, Abraham said Pakistan had "given no assurance" Jadhav would not be executed before the court delivered its final decision. "The mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India," he added. Therefore the court was "satisfied" of the "urgency" of the case. The case -- a rare foray for the two South Asian nations into the international courts -- has highlighted the recent sharp upsurge in tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The ICJ was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between nations in accordance with international law. The tribunal has not yet decided whether it has jurisdiction to hear India's case, and a final ruling could take months, if not years. Outside his former home in Mumbai, a group of friends let off firecrackers in celebration as the decision was made public. "We are very happy with the world court's verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case. Justice has been served and it is proven that Pakistan's courts are mere kangaroo courts and nothing else," one friend Sachin Kale told AFP. Jadhav reportedly joined India's prestigious National Defence Academy in 1987 and was commissioned as an engineer in the Indian Navy in 1991. The son of a retired police office, his neighbours in Mumbai where he lived with his wife and two children, remember him as a shy but helpful man who was good at sport and academic, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. 'Terror mission' Indian lawyer Deepak Mittal had told the ICJ in a day-long emergency hearing on Monday that Jadhav was "an innocent Indian national" who had been held incommunicado "for more than a year on concocted charges". But Pakistani representatives accused New Delhi of "political grandstanding" and told the court Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan". In a case that caused widespread revulsion, the bodies of the 59 men, eight women and four children were already in an advanced state of decomposition when they were found. The defendants are allegedly members of a human-trafficking gang which smuggled more than 1,200 people into western Europe at the height of the continent's 2015 migrant crisis. According to prosecutors, migrants were "often carried in closed, dark and airless vans unsuitable for passenger transport, in crowded, inhuman, excruciating conditions". In the fateful transport of August 26, 2015, the migrants banged and shouted that there was no air inside the refrigerated poultry truck they had been crammed into. But the Afghan gang leader told the two drivers by phone "to ignore the people suffocating and to reach western Europe as soon as possible," according to the charge sheet. The Afghan, a Bulgarian ringleader and the two drivers, both Bulgarians, were charged this month with homicide "with particularly cruelty" and face life imprisonment. Seven others face lesser charges and jail. Nine of the suspects -- including the main four -- are in custody in Hungary and one is in Bulgaria, while the 11th is at large. The migrants were deemed to have suffocated before the vehicle crossed into Austria, so the trial is being held in Hungary. "Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted," tweeted Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee. The New York-born Mueller boasts "determination and independence of mind," added Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of Trump's loudest critics. "I think that Bob Mueller is the kind of prosecutor and investigator we need here," Blumenthal added. Trump's opponents are suggesting the president may have committed obstruction of justice -- an impeachable offense -- by allegedly asking FBI director James Comey in February to drop an investigation related to the Russia probe before sacking him last week. Mueller, 72, is known for a no-nonsense management style developed during a tenure that began with him firmly in the hot seat: he took up the FBI post just a week before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Much of his work then centered on saving and reforming the Federal Bureau of Investigation amid calls for its dismantling after the agency missed clues that pointed to a massive attack against America being in the making. Under Mueller, the FBI was rebooted into an agency with the new task of countering terror threats, and became a key part of the American national security apparatus. Showdown with a president One of Mueller's many accomplishments was the foiling of an Al-Qaeda attack on a commercial airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. Mueller proved his mettle famously in a dramatic 2004 showdown in which he threatened to resign rather than go along with reauthorization of a post-9/11 domestic spying program under then president George W. Bush. The Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, had determined that it was illegal. Mueller and his eventual successor -- Comey, then deputy attorney general -- backed down when the Bush administration agreed to make changes to the program, which was eventually disclosed to the public in 2005 by the New York Times. Saba news agency, which is controlled by the Iran-backed rebels, said a vehicle carrying civilians in the town of Mawzaa, southwest of third city Taez, was hit in the raid. It said 23 civilians, including six children and women, were killed in a suspected raid by the Arab coalition led by regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia and that six bodies were burned beyond recognition. A military source with loyalist forces confirmed the strike, saying 20 civilians had died in what appeared to have been the result of a "mistake". The air raid targeted an area held by the Huthi rebels, said the source who confirmed that a vehicle had been struck. The passengers were heading back to Mawzaa after a shopping trip to the nearby town of Barah, the military source said, adding several bodies had been torn to pieces. There was no immediate reaction from the Saudi-led coalition, which has been battling the Huthis opposed to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The raid comes days before US President Donald Trump is to arrive Saturday in Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip since taking office in January. Washington provides intelligence as well as aerial refuelling to coalition warplanes conducting air strikes in Yemen with American-supplied weapons. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis warned during an April visit to Saudi Arabia of Iranian efforts to create a Yemeni militia "in the image" of Lebanon's powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah. Mattis stressed the need to overcome Iran's efforts "in destabilising yet another country and create another militia in the image" of Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside government forces in Syria. He said it was in Washington's "interest to see a strong Saudi Arabia", adding however that the United States wanted a return as "quickly as possible" to UN-backed Yemen peace talks. Repeated criticism The conflict in Yemen has killed more than 8,000 people and wounded around 40,000, according to the UN's World Health Organization. Seven ceasefires alongside UN-brokered peace efforts have so far failed to stop the fighting. The Saudi-led coalition, which intervened on the side of the Hadi government two years ago, has come under repeated criticism over civilian casualties in Yemen. It has acknowledged responsibility in some cases, including for an air strike in October 2016 that killed 140 people and wounded 525 others at a funeral in Sanaa. But the coalition denied responsibility for a September 2015 air strike that hit a wedding hall in southwestern Mokha, killing 131 people. Coalition planes have dropped banned cluster munitions and killed two times more civilians than other forces, according to the UN. Trump's Yemen focus has so far been on a major escalation of attacks against jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, which has taken advantage of the chaos in the impoverished country. Saudi leaders worry about Iran interfering in Arab countries by using local Shiite communities, as in Bahrain, Lebanon and Yemen. They have found a more favourable ear in Washington under Trump, who has denounced Iran's "harmful influence" in the Middle East. Joshua French, 35, was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for the murder of his cellmate and fellow Norwegian Tjostolv Moland in a Kinshasa prison, although forensic evidence concluded the cause of death was suicide. "There's been great pressure on French and his family," Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference in Oslo. "I'm happy we've found a solution," Solberg said, adding his release was a "demanding issue" for Norway and Congo. She said French was placed under medical supervision after he arrived. French and Moland were former soldiers who launched a security company in Uganda after leaving the Norwegian army, public broadcaster NRK said. A Congolese military court had initially sentenced them to death in 2009 for espionage, illegal possession of weapons, armed robbery, conspiracy and attempted murder. Only Moland was found guilty of the murder of their driver, who they claimed was killed in an attack by gunmen in Kisangani. NRK quoted Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende as saying that French was transferred to Norway for "humanitarian" reasons. The need for food banks has increased significantly over the last year. At River Bend Food Bank in Davenport, that has translated to an increase by an estimated 1 million meals--prompting both problems - and action - from the food bank and its partners at area high schools. MUSCATINE A hearing in Muscatine District Court has been set for May 24 to determine if Diana Broderson can remain in the office of mayor while her appeal works through the courts. Broderson filed a motion Tuesday that would stay the Muscatine City Council's vote to remove her from office. The petition ultimately asks the court to overturn the City Council's removal of the mayor. Broderson said she will argue her case for staying in office at the hearing next Wednesday. "It is very awkward because this is unprecedented what they have done," Broderson said. "I think that it's best for me to stay in office while this action is being looked at in court because its the will of the people." Broderson said if she is not allowed to stay in office, the council "will never make things right." "I was voted in by the people of Muscatine to be their mayor, and to take away their voice and their power is a travesty," she said. "If I'm not allowed to stay in office and the judge overturns this, how could [voters] ever be made whole again? How could I ever be made whole again?" Broderson said even if the impeachment is overturned, it will likely not be decided until after the election in November. Asked Broderson, "how could that time ever be paid back?" In the Motion for Stay, Broderson's lawyer William Sueppel wrote "due to the timing of the hearings, the judicial court calendar, the nature of legal proceedings and the timing of the next election, a Stay is the only way to ensure" rights of Muscatine residents are protected. He argued the City Council acted "illegally and in excess of their jurisdiction" and violated Broderson's due process rights. He said the council acted as "investigator, initiated the prosecution...and were involved throughout the prosecution case." Sueppel said council members should not have acted as both judge and jury, and also claimed City Attorney Matt Brick "intermingled various functions" by advising the council, and "did not fully rescue himself or his firm from proceedings." Sueppel also said the manner in which the council removed the mayor was illegal under Iowa law, as the evidence did not meet the standards for removal. Alderman Santos Saucedo, At-Large Representative, said he believes Broderson was given a fair trial. "I don't know how the judge will rule in this moving forward but I feel we've done due process and that it was done fairly," Saucedo said. "We know that the mayor did have a fair hearing, in my opinion, because everything we went through was included in the information we were provided with." Saucedo said he cannot speak for the entire City Council, but he personally feels frustrated by misinformation surrounding in the case. He added he knows it has been a difficult time for Muscatine residents, and hopes the Council will be able to move forward quickly and focus on new projects. "I want to see the city continue to grow and thrive," he said. "It's something I'm hopeful that will happen in the next six months as we move through the process." Wednesday morning City Administrator Gregg Mandsager said he has not yet received a copy of the appeal and "the City has not been served to date." Sueppel said the only precedent in Iowa to support Broderson's right to stay in office can be found in Burke v. City Council of City of Lansing, in which the Lansing City Council voted to remove Alderman William Burke. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled this year "a City Council that is involved in prosecuting, investigating, and deciding a removal case is an example of a clear intermingling of functions" and amounts to a violation under due process laws. The ruling was made after the district court in Lansing denied Burke's petition, in which he challenged his removal from the Lansing City Council. Because Broderson's case has not been heard in a court, Sueppel said the "only available remedy is through Writ of Certiorari proceedings." Broderson will appear at the Muscatine County Courthouse on May 24 at 3:30 p.m. Davenport Rotarian William D. (Bill) Ashton was honored with the International Service Award for a Polio-Free World by the Rotary Foundation. Given to only 10 recipients in the world, the award recognizes his significant contributions to the effort to eradicate polio. Ashton led the first district only National Immunization Day team to India for 12 adults and two high school students to immunize thousands of young children against polio in 2000. The two-week mission included delivering immunizations to underserved remote villages where the team could also learn of other needs that could be addressed by partner Rotary clubs in India. As a result of the needs identified by the team in India, District 6000 became the first district to develop matching grants with partner Rotary District 3060 in India to directly support polio immunization and complementary projects. Over 10 years, the Rotary Club of Davenport partnered with 29 different Indian Rotary clubs on grant projects and sponsored 61 humanitarian service projects in total in developing countries on four continents. Ashton also presented dozens of programs and organized a plan to collect PolioPlus contributions. He also contributed thousands of promotional containers to collect individual contributions to Help Fulfill Rotarys Promise to eliminate polio. Emotions ran high in a Rapid City courtroom on Thursday as U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced James Shangreaux to 10 years in federal prison for the role he played in the violent death of his toddler son. Though he faced a maximum of 15 years, Shangreauxs decade-long sentence was needed to send a signal to end what Viken described as the scourge of child abuse and neglect in western South Dakota. The message needs to be sent, Viken said. Shangreaux, 34, waived his right to a jury trial when he pleaded guilty in January to the felony charge of child abuse and neglect for his involvement in the death of his 20-month-old son of the same name. His original charges of first-degree murder, punishable by life in prison, and felony child abuse with aggravated battery of an infant, were dismissed as part of his plea agreement. Shangreauxs son died in March 2015 after being severely beaten during a fight between the childs mother, Emmy Rouillard, and her boyfriend, Robert Red Shirt. Rouillard was sentenced to more than two years in prison and Red Shirt was sentenced to four. Several of Shangreauxs family members wiped tears from their eyes as they listened to him speak often in a voice wracked with emotion during his sentencing hearing on Thursday. In no way, shape or form did I ever abuse my son, baby James, nor did I kill him, Shangreaux read from a prepared statement. However, I will admit that were I there for him as a father, had I been there for him since the day he was born, I know he would still be alive. In a previous written statement, Shangreaux has said that he raised his son in an injurious environment and failed to provide the boy with emotional, financial and physical care. Shangreauxs charging documents said he inflicted head and abdominal injuries on the toddler in March 2015, causing brain damage and internal bleeding. The tearful grandmother of the deceased child also spoke, saying if Shangreaux had left her grandson in her care, he might still be alive. There is no such thing as a life for a life, she said, looking directly at Shangreaux. Because you cant bring my baby back. The grandmother left the courtroom abruptly after the sentence was delivered. Later, prosecutor Sarah Collins responded to Shangreauxs spoken statement to the court, prompting a reaction from Viken. Im just going to say that James Shangreaux killed (his son), Collins said. Do not say that, Viken interjected. He did not plead to it. A number of adults had a hand in this childs neglect and death. I simply cant accept that as part of the record. Its on the record, but in terms of my approach to a 10-year sentence for abuse and neglect, its not proven that hes the one that killed this child. Viken opted for the maximum of three years of supervision upon Shangreauxs release from his 10-year term. Noting Shangreauxs lack of resources, Viken deferred his payment of financial restitution to the victims family for 90 days. However, a $100 contribution to the Crime Victims Compensation fund was to be paid immediately, Viken ruled. Moscow City Court refuses to release Ukrainian journalist charged with spying MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) The Moscow City Court has dismissed an appeal filed by legal defense of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who stands charged with espionage, against extension of his detention until June 30, RAPSI learnt from the courts press service on Thursday. According to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ukrainian citizen "purposively collected classified information about the Armed Forces and National Guard of Russia." Leak of data abroad could cause damage to the national defense capability, the FSB claimed earlier. On October 7, charges were brought against Sushchenko. He could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. Ukrinform news agency earlier confirmed that Sushchenko has been acting as its reporter since 2002. Since 2010, he has been working as Ukrinforms personal correspondent in France. According to the agency, Sushchenko arrived in Moscow on private business during his vacation and was arrested immediately upon his arrival. Ukrinform repelled accusations against Sushchenko calling him "a journalist with years of unblemished professional reputation". Charges brought against one more defendant in St. Petersburg terror attack case MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) Investigators have charged Mukhamadyusup Ermatov, one of the defendants in the St. Petersburg metro blast case, with terrorism and illegal trafficking of explosives, the Investigative Committee announced on Thursday. Ermatov, was arrested on May 11 and later put in detention. Investigators believe that he was related to alleged suicide bomber Akbarzhon Dzhalilov. The man has pleaded guilty in part. Earlier, charges have been brought against six other defendants in the case. In total, eleven people have been arrested and put in jail in St. Petersburg and Moscow on suspicion of involvement in organizing the terror attack. On April 3, an unknown device exploded in a train between St. Petersburg metro stations Technological Institute and Sennaya Ploshchad. According to the most recent information, 16 people died in the blast including a suicide bomber, over 50 were wounded. State Duma Committee backs Roskomnadzors duty to report cases of calls to suicide MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI) The State Duma Committee on Family Affairs, Women and Children has recommended that the lower house adopt in the second reading a bill obliging Russias communications regulator Roskomnadzor to report to the police cases of distributing banned information online including calls to suicide. The relevant statement has been issued on the website of the United Russia political party. The initiative enters to a package of bills on punishment for creating so-called Groups of Death which push minors for committing suicide via the Internet. These amendments are proposed to the law On Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information. Current legislation envisages blacklisting of websites disseminating information prohibited in Russia including promotion of drug use, suicide and child pornography. However, immediately after adding a resource to the blacklist, new websites with a similar banned content appear on the Internet, according to the bills authors. A procedure on finding, suppression and punishment of persons distributing prohibited information must be introduced along with blocking of criminal content, the initiatives authors believe. The bill stipulates that Roskomnadzor must inform law enforcement authorities within 24 hours about detection of resources with banned content for prompt response and carrying out of a procedural check. State Duma Committee backs bill on supervision over convicted drug traffickers MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI) The State Duma Committee on security and counteracting corruption has supported a bill establishing administrative supervision over criminals repeatedly responsible for illegal drug trafficking, the statement of the lower house of parliament reads on Thursday. Administrative supervision over persons released from penitentiary facilities and having an unspent conviction may only be established by a court ruling and set in a period from one to three years. This supervision will limit the right to visit public events, leaving a defined territory and visits to a number of public areas. According to the head of the Committee Vasily Piskarev, this measure is required for prevention of drug addiction and repeated crimes in this sphere. The government is achieving two tasks: aiding those who made a wrong turn in life to find a way to rehabilitation and ensuring a more effective level of public safety and order for citizens, Piskarev said. He added that persons convicted of drug consumption often become drug traffickers - a very dangerous situation for the society. Thats why persons released from penitentiary facilities should stay under law enforcement supervision. Russian authorities conduct searches in major real estate developers office MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI) Russian investigators have conducted searches at the office of PIK Group real estate developer in relation to actions of unidentified managers of the Dinamo sport society, charged with abuse of office, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday citing the developers press-service. According to press service of PIK Group, suspects are allegedly involved in causing damage to the sport society. The developer companys representative noted that PIK Group had cooperated with investigators and provided them with all required documents. A criminal case over damaging of property belonging to the Moscow city branch of the Dinamo sport society was launched on February 13. PIK Group founded in 1994 is one of the leading Russian real estate developers responsible for construction of 16 million square meters of housing (more than 270,000 apartments). In 2017, PIK Group plans to bring additional 2 million to the market and sell 2.5 million. The company is on the list of strategic enterprises of the Russian economy, PIK Groups website reads. MISSOULA Congressional candidate Greg Gianforte is one of several prominent Montana Republicans who contributed money or support to the 2016 legislative campaign of a Columbia Falls man described by watchdog groups as a white nationalist. I was unaware of some of his views and we supported him because we supported all (Republican) candidates in the last election, Gianforte said Wednesday. Taylor Rose of Columbia Falls had worked as a regional field rep for the Montana Republican Party during U.S. Sen. Steve Daines' first Senate run in 2014 and served in 2015 as an aide to the GOP in the Montana Senate before running for a Montana House seat this past fall, losing to Democrat Zac Perry. Rose has not held any Republican Party jobs since, even as the GOP and newly elected officials scrambled to find enough party loyalists to fill posts. Organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, which monitor hate groups, have posted a handful of summaries about their research on Rose since 2010, calling him one of several young white nationalists avoiding discussion of their most controversial views during bids for public office around the country. Those analyses highlighted Roses affiliation with groups that promote a return to traditional European values and a revival of western civilization that the watchdogs consider feeder organizations offering sanitized versions of white nationalist and racist philosophies. Rose has repeatedly denied those claims, arguing his views are based on political and religious histories, not race. I am not affiliated with white supremacist groups or leaders, Rose told the Flathead Beacon in October. To say otherwise is slanderous. Youth for Western Civilization was a cultural group, not a racist group. We defined Western civilization by the classic definition of ancient Greeks and Romans, and we were pro-Christian. We did not say it was exclusively white. We were also very critical of Islam, but that is an ideological issue, not a racial issue. I can promise you that Liberty University would not have tolerated a white power group on its campus. *** During the 2016 campaigns of Rose and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, the watchdog group reports fueled critiques by liberal-leaning blogs like MT Cowgirl and Intelligent Discontent. A joint mailer featured Rose on one side and Zinke, now U.S. Interior Secretary, on the other. Those blogs have again highlighted the watchdog reports on social media, but this time to criticize Gianforte. They also have highlighted 2016 reports by the Billings Gazette about another Republican legislative candidate, Robert Saunders, who came under fire for past comments seen by some as racist or insensitive. Former classmates at Patrick Henry College recalled Saunders telling a black peer that earlier in America's history he would have owned her and that he once said President Barack Obama and his family should be sent back to the fields to pick cotton," claims he both denied to the Gazette. Saunders later apologized for a Facebook post in which he said vandals during the Ferguson protests and riots should have been shot with "two rounds through the brain" because "elimination of those people in self-defense would probably have cut Missouris welfare handouts and long-term crime rate considerably. Saunders also received campaign support from Gianforte and has since contributed the maximum $2,700 to his congressional bid. Back in 2015 and 2016 when Gianforte was trying to buy the Montana Legislature he and his wife donated to Flathead-area white supremacist Taylor Rose and Billings-area white supremacist Robert Saunders. While both lost their bids to bring their retrograde values to the Legislature, its troubling that Mr. Gianforte would financially support men like this and astonishing that the statewide press hasnt pressed him to explain his donations, Helena High School English teacher Don Pogreba recently wrote on his blog Intelligent Discontent. In a letter to the Missoulian, Laurie Franklin, the spiritual leader of Har Shalom Synagogue, wrote about Rose and Saunders, as well as Idaho's Doug Wilson, whom some have called a neo-Confederate after he wrote in 1996 that black families might have been their strongest during slavery. He founded the Association of Classical & Christian Schools. Gianforte once sat the group's board because of his leadership of a private Christian school in Bozeman that his children attended. Mr. Gianforte never spoke against these two men to whom he had donated money, never denounced their racist words and actions, Franklin wrote. Its not normal to support white supremacists. White supremacy is not a Montana value. *** Gianforte has previously distanced himself from Wilson, telling The Huffington Post through a campaign spokesman last fall that he was unfamiliar with Mr. Wilsons writings outside of their mutual involvement in the Christian school organization that reports more than 200 members. Asked twice Wednesday if he would have contributed to Roses campaign if he had known as much about his views as he does now, Gianforte would not say, but did denounce racism and discrimination generally. I will say clearly that hatred is wrong and it has no place in politics or government. I completely reject it, he said. Gianforte said his contribution to Roses campaign was simply one of several such donations to Republican races across the state. Since 2000, he and his wife have made more than 500 contributions in Montana elections. Of those, 134 were made to support 114 Republicans on the November 2016 ballot. A $170 contribution from Gianforte and a matching one from his wife are among about a dozen such personal donations from Republican leaders or state legislators to Roses failed legislative bid. State campaign finance records show most of that money came to the Rose campaign after the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League reports gained traction on social media in Montana. Rose received strategic support from the GOP legislative campaign committee along with 20 other Republicans, most of whom were also new to the party or running in swing districts. It is not clear why, but after four strategic planning calls in July the committee stopped assisting Roses campaign, at least in a way that appears on public disclosure forms, even as they continued to support other candidates. Two Flathead County GOP groups contributed a total of $700 in August and then Rose reported no more contributions until almost two dozen fellow Republicans donated in October, most in the days after the first report about his potential ties to white nationalists appeared in a local newspaper. Although Rose has since deleted many of his social media accounts, they once featured photos with Gianforte and other top Republicans at party events and elsewhere around the state. *** Some Republicans defended Rose publicly. Others quietly distanced themselves. From the start of his legislative campaign, Rose had been viewed as an odd Republican; it is unusual, for instance, for any Flathead-area conservative to campaign on a pro-union platform. But some Republicans refused to believe Rose was racist, saying in mostly private conversations that the claims made by SPLC and ADL were false or at least misleading. In particular, some sympathized with Roses writings that are critical of Islam and speak to fears about immigration from Muslim countries. The watchdog organizations are seen by some as being sympathetic to Democrats, especially when their research on hate groups is picked up as campaign attacks by liberal blogs. Former Bozeman legislator Matthew Monforton said as much when asked about Rose being a white nationalist during a Face the State television panel a year ago. Uh, yeah, according to your phony Cowgirl blog, yes, but the rest of us think of him as a good conservative. Montana Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, a Culbertson Republican who also chairs the Republican partys legislative campaign committee, said Tuesday: Frankly, I have a really hard time taking SPLC very seriously on anything. He did not remember much about Roses comments or how the committee reacted to learning about them fairly late into the campaign, directing questions to the groups senior adviser, Jake Eaton. Eaton, a Republican consultant and former director of the Montana GOP, likewise said he didnt remember much, aside from a vague recollection of a local newspaper story. He said it might have been one published in October by the Flathead Beacon. All in all, he said whatever the discussion was during the campaign it wasnt viewed as serious enough to warrant any response from the partys leaders or its legislative campaign committee. To be honest with you, I dont even remember it being a topic of conversation. I dont think it was anything anybody was super aware of. It was one story in one legislative race, Eaton said. I feel like Ive certainly seen a few stories at this point that definitely, if true, would be a little bit troubling. He said if the information had come out sooner in the campaign or drawn more attention from GOP leaders, party officials likely would have talked to Rose to see what he actually thinks and believes and to decide if thats an issue or not. As far as he knows, that never happened. GOP Chairman Jeff Essmann did not return multiple calls seeking comment. To suggest, like, that we recruited or groomed him or something would be a total mischaracterization. Its somebody who paid $15 and ran as a Republican, ran as our candidate. Thats the process, Eaton said, noting the legislative campaign committee does not vet candidates who advance from the primaries. Rose had no Republican challenger. Is this really a story? Eaton asked. That because Greg Gianforte wrote a check to a legislative candidate, when he wrote one to every candidate, thats a thing? It seems pretty thin to me. Five years in the making, an exhibit exploring the culture of the Nez Perce will open with a flourish Friday and Saturday at the Ravalli County Museum. Drummers and dancers, traditional foods and a Salish welcome of the Nez Perce to the Bitterroot will start the celebration at Friday nights opening reception for the exhibit The Journey of the Resilient Nez Perce People. On Saturday, the Nez Perce will proudly parade their appaloosa horses to the weekly Hamilton Farmers Market, which will kick off another opportunity for folks to watch traditional dancing, drumming and song on the museum lawn. During both days, museum officials hope that people will take time to climb the steps to the museums second floor to view the new, 16-panel exhibit that will eventually travel along the 1,100-mile route the tribe followed in its attempt to find sanctuary in Canada in 1877. Its a heartbreaking, yet compelling story, said Ravalli County Museum Director Tamar Stanley. While most people remember the Nez Perce for their historic flight, the exhibit offers insights into the Tribes culture both past and present. From the beginning, Stanley said the tribal elders were adamant that the exhibit needed to include all aspects of the Nez Perce journey that continues to the present day. Those traditions and ceremonies that have been nurtured over the last 2,000 years needed be part of the story that was told, Stanley said. We wanted to be able to show as much of that as we could. To make that happen, there had to be consultation with the tribe, and that took time. Kris Komar of the Bitterroot Heritage Cultural Trust helped write the initial cost-share grant with the U.S. Forest Service about five years ago. It helped pay for the exhibit, which provides insights into the tribes initial interactions with European explorers, missionaries and settlers that eventually brought changes leading to the 1877 War and Flight of the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce National Historic Trail travels right through the heart of the Bitterroot Valley. It is one of 19 National Historic Trails in the United States. A commemoration began this month of the 140th year since the Nez Perce War and Flight of 1877. Komar said tribal elders agreed the trail was an important piece of the Nez Perce history that needed to be remembered, but it only tells the story of a very short period of the Nez Perce history. The exhibit offers a much bigger picture. It was a huge gift to me to be able to work with the Nez Perce and to learn about their culture, she said. Its so different for ours. Its important that people have this opportunity to learn about it. The plans call for the travelling exhibit to remain in Hamilton through October. From there, it will be carefully packed and sent to small communities, schools and other display points along the trail so others can learn about the life the Nez Perce. Most of these rural communities where it will be displayed wouldnt have the resources to put together something like this, Stanley said. Its going to be a nice opportunity for them to have this in their own communities. The exhibit officially opens at the Ravalli County Museum from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday night with a traditional Salish welcome to the Bitterroot Valley. The Hamilton Middle School choir will sing Who Will Fight No More Forever under the direction of the schools choral director, Peggy Bucheit. Mike Penny will lead the Nez Perce Drum Wapqukhan. There will also be some traditional food to sample, including siis, which is buffalo stew, fry bread and a garbanzo bean dish. On Saturday at about 10 a.m., the Nez Perce will parade their horses in full regalia before continuing singing and dancing and other cultural presentations, including a childrens program. Saturdays event will end about noon. The museums exhibit also includes a segment on the sod forts and other interesting information on how the homesteaders responded to the 1877 war. iStock/Thinkstock(TULSA, Okla.) -- A white police officer was found not guilty on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 2016 shooting death of an unarmed black man. Dozens of demonstrators gathered near the courthouse where a jury acquitted Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby of first-degree manslaughter charges in the 2016 shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. After the decision was announced, peaceful but defiant protesters briefly blocked an intersection in downtown Tulsa, prompting authorities to threaten the use of tear gas and arrest. The crowd eventually dispersed overnight. Demonstrators chanted, "No Justice, No Peace" and "Hands up, don't shoot!" in the streets. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin called for peace after the verdict came down. "Those who disagree with the verdict have the right to express their opinions; I just ask that they do so in a peaceful manner," Fallin said in a statement. "I appeal to Tulsans and others to remain calm." The nine-person jury took about nine hours to deliberate. The trial, which lasted eight days, focused on whether Shelby was justified in using deadly force against Crutcher, or if her actions were based on fear. Shelby testified for more than two hours on Monday about her training as a Tulsa police officer and how she believed Crutcher was reaching for a gun inside his SUV when she fired, according to ABCs Tulsa affiliate KTUL-TV. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a civil and human rights law organization, said it was "deeply disappointed" by the verdict. The organization said it is now awaiting the result of a separate Department of Justice probe. "We are deeply disappointed that yet another police officer has eluded conviction for killing an unarmed African American," NAACP LDEF President Sherrilyn Ifill said in a statement Wednesday. "We eagerly await the findings of the Department of Justice's investigation, and hope that federal charges will be filed given the egregious misconduct." The shooting was among a string of highly publicized officer-involved shooting deaths of African American across the U.S. in recent years. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. BUTTE A Butte man who shot himself in the face after trying to break into an apartment earlier this month was arrested and charged with attempted homicide Wednesday after his release from a Missoula hospital. Police say Kyle Robert Sholey, 24, was charged with attempted deliberate homicide and felony assault with a weapon in connection with the May 1 incident at an apartment complex in the 900 block of Evans Street. He was being held at the Butte-Silver Bow Detention Center Thursday with bond set at $100,000. According to police, Sholey was armed with a .22-caliber pistol when he tried to break into the apartment of a woman acquaintance around 7 p.m. on May 1. The woman opened the door but she and her boyfriend were able to keep Sholey from getting inside. But Sholey managed to get his arm and the pistol inside the doorway at first. He pulled the trigger several times but the gun did not go off, police said. While police were investigating the attempted break-in, dispatch received a call from a citizen saying that a man in a vehicle had been shot on Dewey Boulevard just west of Rowe Road. When police arrived they found Sholey lying in the street outside his car, but he was conscious and speaking. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance but his injuries were not considered life-threatening. At the time, Sheriff Ed Lester said he believed the shooting was an attempted suicide. Sholey was later transferred to a hospital in Missoula and was arrested after his release Wednesday and returned to Butte, police said. He was charged with attempted deliberate homicide for bringing a handgun and stun gun to the apartment and attempting to fire the pistol at the woman, according to court documents. The assault charge is for causing reasonable apprehension of serious bodily injury by the use of a handgun. 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There have no report of any casualty in the explosion. According to the reports, a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) wasexploded at Kut ground near Moreh Youth Club in ward number 2 in Moreh town along the Indo-Myanmar border. Following the explosion, top army and police officials had rushed the bordering area and started investigation. Meanwhile, a top official of Manipur police said that, suspected militants are behind the explosion. On May 8, an army jawan was killed and three others including a Junior Commanding Officer ( JCO) were injured in a powerful IED blast triggered by suspected militants at Moreh in Manipur along the Indo-Myanmar border. The blast took place very close to International border with Myanmar hit the vehicle, where the army personnel of the 165 Territorial Army were traveling. The blast was triggered by the suspected militants using remote control when the army vehicle passing on the NH-102 at the area. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Kathmandu, Nepal: The successful conduction of the first phase of local elections, held on 281 local units of 34 districts in provinces 3, 4 and 6 after a long hex of uncertainty, has paved the way for the second round polls scheduled on June 14 and the remaining two tiers of elections too even by taking into confidence the agitating Madhes-based parties. Except for sporadic incidents of violence in some polling centers, the first round of elections remained peaceful and enthusiastic with a massive level of voter participation. Not only the younger generation but also the elderly people, people with disability and those mourning the deaths of their family members had actively participated in the elections to cast their vote to elect their own representatives to run their local units. Voter turnout was also remained encouraging. According to the officials at the Election Commission (EC) voter turnout percent was about 73 percent, which was out of the expectations for the EC. There were a total of 4,956,925 registered voters for the first phase of local level elections out of the 14,054,482 eligible voters across the country. The highest at 82 percent was in Rasuwa district. Similarly, Bhaktapur, Gorkha and Dolpa districts are the other districts where the percentage of the ballots cast was over 80 percent. Ramechhap was the only district that saw the lowest participation of voters but there was no district that saw less than 60 percent turnout. Some sporadic incidents of violence had forced the EC to postpone the vote in three polling centers-- Namobuddha Municipality-4 of Kavrepalanchok district, the Balachaur School-based polling centre at Kalika Village Council of Kalikot district and the Satyaswori Secondary School-based polling centre at Melung Village Council in Dolakha district. A person was killed in police firing at Melung. The incident had happened when a group of people vandalized the polling booth and attempted to loot ballot papers and boxes, claims the EC officials. Though the sporadic incidents of violence were itself obnoxious, it is not astonishing one compare to the previous elections. Following the success of the first phase of elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav seems optimistic for the success of the second phase of local elections which is going to take place in the local federal units of 41 districts in provinces 1, 2, 5 and 7 on June 14. The active participation of people in the first phase of elections will encourage voters for the second phase of elections, CEC Yadav had said in the press conference after the completion of the first phase of elections on Sunday. Not only the CEC Yadav and the people in general seem optimistic for the success of the remaining elections but those who were spreading rumors against of the elections have begun to present positively in favor of the future elections. Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), a newly formed unified force of six Madhes-based parties, which earlier vehemently objected to local polls and announced to disrupt them, has now hinted to participate in June 14 polls. As neighboring India seems to have changed the track in favor of the elections, the RJPN has also shown its positive gesture to participate in the second phase of elections even though the party has yet to take a formal decision to the effect. During a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday, the RJPN leaders had shown positive gesture to participate in the second phase of elections. According to a reliable source, India is encouraging the political parties particularly the Madhes-based parties to soften the stances on constitution amendment and polls. During the meeting with RJPN leaders, Prime Minister Dahal had assured that he will take the constitution amendment bill forward before stepping down from the government. As India had for long been maintaining that there should be broader acceptance of the constitution for which the demands of the Madhesi and other marginalized groups need to be addressed, the Madhes based parties were up in arms against of the constitution and lately the local level elections. Though Madhes-based parties have still been hesitating to come up openly in favor of the elections they would not miss chance of participating in the second phase of local level elections even if the constitution was not amended immediately as per their demands, claims a source close to the agitating Madhes based parties. You have permission to edit this youtube. Edit Close You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close " " A Viet Cong detachment going into battle during the Vietnam War, January 1967. In the foreground is the body of a dead American soldier. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Imagine you're a Viet Cong soldier and you start to hear eerie sounds of voices wailing in the jungle. You see no one, just hear these disembodied voices. What do you think? These sounds were one of the more creative methods the United States military used during the Vietnam War to depress enemy morale and get them to give up. Known as "Operation Wandering Soul," the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (6th PSYOP) of the U.S. Army, with help from the U.S. Navy, broadcast spooky sounds fit for a modern horror movie and called it "Ghost Tape Number 10" (listen to the audio here). Advertisement The ruse had its genesis in "Ghost Army" recordings made during World War II to trick the Germans into thinking the Allies had way more Sherman tanks coming their way than they did. But the Vietnam version also capitalized on the strongly held Buddhist beliefs of the region, specifically that the spirits of the dead are doomed to walk the earth in their own personal hell if their bodies are not found and buried appropriately. Vietnamese legends also held that lost souls could communicate on the anniversary of death. What better way to scare the North Vietnamese soldiers than to let them hear from their tormented fallen comrades-in-arms? With the help of South Vietnamese participants, the U.S. Army created these hair-raising messages. Accompanied by shrieks, screams and moans, an alleged deceased Viet Cong soldier pleads with his comrades, saying things like, "My friends, I have come back to let you know that I am dead ... I am dead!" and "Don't end up like me. Go home, friends, before it's too late!" Helicopters, as well as strategically placed soldiers, carried loud speakers to make it appear the sounds were coming from all over the jungle. Some enemy soldiers realized it was a setup and started shooting immediately in the direction of speaker-laden helicopters; others were definitely spooked. "Even if the Viet Cong didn't believe there were in fact ghosts in the jungle with them, that this was just a supernatural horror show being put on by the Americans, just the sounds and the message were more than a little eerie," says Nathan Mallett, editor and founder of MilitaryHistoryNow.com, in an interview with The Stuff of Life podcast, for an episode titled "Haunted." The ruse was expanded when a South Vietnamese ally intentionally spread a rumor that a tiger was attacking the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops. So, the 6th PSYOP added recordings of tiger growls. Allegedly, 150 men fled the mountain on which it was played. To this day, paranormal activity fascinates people, and we even seek it out by way of books, television, movies, and haunted houses. Check out the Stuff of Life podcast "Haunted" for more details on Ghost Tape No. 10, haunted attractions and something called Doomocracy. Now That's Creative American troops repeatedly created a "Ghost Army" during World War II to fool Hitler with inflatable tanks and fake camps, as well as blared recordings of infantry and armored units from trucks. Many of the artists involved in these deceptions found later success in fashion, art or design careers including fashion designer Bill Blass. " " Do fashion mannequins convey false ideals of body size and shape? A new study investigated. Blendimages-Picturenet/Getty Images Have you ever, like just for funsies, walked up to a table and compared the circumference of its leg to that of your own human leg? If not, that's fine. Honestly, we're not in the habit of critically comparing our bodies to most types of furniture, with one notable exception: department store mannequins. Mannequins are made to look like humans, but they're really just furniture for stores to display clothes on. However, because they are human-shaped, there's a little part of each of us that looks at a mannequin and says, "Oh, that's what I'm supposed to look like in those jeans!" The problem is, reports a new study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, that the average female mannequin represents a body type that's not just underweight, but severely, dangerously thin. On the other hand, only about 8 percent of male mannequins represent an underweight body size. Advertisement The researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Liverpool assessed the sizes of 32 female mannequins and 26 male mannequins from 17 fashion retailers in Liverpool and Coventry, U.K., and found that 100 percent of female mannequins were underweight, while only 8 percent of male mannequins represented an underweight person. "The problem with mannequins is that they inherently represent how we should look, when to look like that would mean becoming unhealthy," says co-author Dr. Paul Aveyard, Professor of behavioral medicine at Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. Fantastically unrealistic standards of thinness are everywhere in mass media, and its ubiquity has been linked to women feeling dissatisfied with their body size, and the desire for an ultrathin physique has been shown to lead to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. According to co-author Dr. Eric Robinson, of the University of Liverpool, women are far more likely than men to develop eating disorders, which makes sense because they are also far more heavily targeted with the message that extreme thinness is the ideal. " " Numerous studies have examined the impact unrealistic mannequins have on the human psyche. Richard I'Anson/Getty Images "Not everyone will develop an eating disorder from having the ultrathin ideal pushed upon them, and it is difficult to say why some people develop them and others don't," says Robinson in an article explaining his research published on The Conversation. "However, the academic community is pretty convinced that promotion of ultrathinness is a major player in eating problems, and that it is responsible for the propagation of body image problems in young women." And yes, it's a shame that even the furniture in most retail clothing stores reinforces this, but it turns out that "No Fat Chicks" isn't exactly a new message at least not when it comes to mannequins. In 1992, Finnish researchers examined six female mannequins made in Italy, Japan and Malaysia between the 1920s and 1960s, and found that if real women had the body dimensions of these dummies, they would be unable to menstruate. Eighty years later, here we are. " " In a new study, researchers found that female mannequins were significantly more likely to represent underweight bodies than were male mannequins. Amos Chapple/Getty Images But the silver lining to all of this is that, here in the 21st century, people are taking notice and some things are changing. Just this month, a French law banning the use of ultrathin fashion models (and requiring labelling on photos where the model's body has been digitally retouched) has come into effect. And according to Aveyard, over the past few years, some shops in the U.K., like Debenhams, have rolled out U.K. size 16 (U.S. size 12) mannequins. "Of course, these body shapes are also unrealistic they have flat stomachs," says Aveyard. "Most women do not have flat stomachs, even slim women. So this is good, but we should all put pressure on shops not to present unrealistic shapes to us." The process of representing women's bodies in realistic ways everywhere, from magazines to department store dressing rooms, is proving to be a slow one, but Robinson and Aveyard would argue it's worthwhile: "The point about any one aspect of society is that it contributes a little by itself to the overall effect that we call 'culture,'" says Aveyard. "Removing ultrathin mannequins would not by itself make much of a difference, but we should try to remove unrealistic ideals from our society with the hope that it would make us all happier and healthier." Now That's Interesting In the U.S., women's clothing sizes weren't standardized until the 1940s. Before that, sizes for teenagers and kids were based on their age a size 8 would fit an 8-year-old girl, for instance and women's sizes were based on bust size. " " Lady Gaga stunned in this blue Valentino gown at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images The popularity of award-show fashion has practically eclipsed the award shows themselves. For the 2017 Oscars, the E! Network devoted an entire broadcast day to the red carpet, starting with a morning "pre-pre-show" called "Countdown to the Red Carpet" followed by the hours-long "Live from the Red Carpet" with Ryan Seacrest. For designers, the red carpet is one of the most visible and buzzed-about ways to promote their brands. In fact, some top designers will pay A-list actresses and musicians big bucks to wear their dress or jewelry between $100,000 and $250,000 depending on the star power of the celebrity. Advertisement " " Nicole Kidman arrives at the 2011 Oscars in a dress by John Galliano. Dan MacMedan/WireImage/Getty Images Other celebrities are allowed to "borrow" a designer dress, handbag or diamond-studded necklace for the night for free of course in order to get the designer's name in the highly clickable red carpet photo slideshows. But what happens to that very expensive dress when the red carpet is rolled up and the TV cameras move on to the next event? Is the gown stuffed into a closet never to be worn again, or does the designer take it down to the dry cleaner and try to sell it on Craigslist? We reached out to Ariana Weisner, a Hollywood stylist, for some answers. Weisner, who dresses celebrities for award shows, press tours and magazine spreads, says that 100 percent of the dresses loaned out for award shows go right back to the designer. OK, 99.99 percent. " " Jennifer Lopez attends the 2000 Grammy Awards in her iconic green Versace dress, accompanied by Sean 'Puffy' Combs. Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images "On rare occasions, the designer will gift the celebrity the gown," says Weisner, the most famous example being the plunging green Versace dress that Jennifer Lopez wore to the 2000 Grammys. "Versace gifted her the dress, because it was such an iconic moment." According to Glamour magazine, the barely there dress is still in JLo's closet. The really big design houses like Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel will take back a red-carpet dress and keep it in their archives, says Weisner. You won't see a "statement" gown from the Oscars resold to the public, dry-cleaned or not. But that's not the case for lower-tier designers. Weisner cites the rise of fashion rental companies in Los Angeles and New York for this trend. Less conspicuous red-carpet dresses from "whatever designers" (Weisner's term) could very well end up on the racks of shops like Armarium or Rent the Runway a few years after a big event. Sample sales are another place where you might stumble upon a dress that a celebrity wore for one big night. When a designer's warehouse becomes overstuffed with leftovers from last year's line, and sample-sized dresses that were tried on repeatedly in the store, they hold a sample sale. "Sometimes you can get a dress from a sample sale that a celebrity has worn in the past," says Weisner. "They're usually pretty cheap, too, because it's already been used." Even if you can't get the very same dress that a celeb wore on the red carpet, you might be able to buy an exact replica. Every once in a while, says Weisner, a dress that really pops at an award show is picked up for mass production. One example is a silver stunner that Kate Hudson wore to the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscars post-party. The designer sells the same dress online for "only" $3,325. " " Actress Kate Hudson arrives at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. The dress's designer made a version of it for sale to the public. John Shearer/Getty Images Really luxurious dresses not only grab the attention of E! viewers, but also thieves. At the 2015 Oscars, actress Lupita Nyong'o wore a white gown by Calvin Klein studded with 6,000 pearls worth an estimated $150,000. The gown was reported stolen from Nyong'o's Los Angeles hotel the day after the Oscars, but was then mysteriously "returned" by the thief. According to TMZ, after the dress burglar snatched the gown, he removed two pearls and took them down to the garment district. They were fakes! The thief dumped the "worthless" dress in a bathroom back at Nyong'o's hotel and tipped off TMZ to its location. Now That's Wild According to a blog post by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Jennifer Lopez's revealing Grammy dress was the direct inspiration for creating Google Image search. Sofia Coppola's new version of The Beguiled will debut at the Cannes Film Festival next week, ahead of its theatrical release in the U.S. on June 23, which makes this is an opportune time to consider Don Siegel's 1971 version starring Clint Eastwood. Both movies are based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan, first published in 1966, that follows a badly wounded Union soldier who is given refuge in a Southern girls' academy, where "his presence sets in motion a tragedy of jealousy, hate and lust." (At least, according to Goodreads). As adapted by Albert Maltz and Irene Kamp (writing under their pseudonyms John B. Sherry and Grimes Grice), the film dramatizes that premise. Clint Eastwood portrays John McBurney, the aforementioned Union soldier who is stumbled upon by Amy (Pamelyn Ferdin), the youngest of eight girls enrolled at an Academy owned by Martha (Geraldine Page) during the Civil War. Nearly unconscious and unable to walk on his own power, McBurney is carried into the large, plantation-style residence, where he is treated under watchful eyes by Martha, her slave Hallie (Mae Mercer), and Edwina (Elizabeth Hartman), the 21-year-old teacher. As the story begins, the tide is obviously turning against the Confederacy. Still, McBurney is an enemy combatant and should be handed over immediately to the Confederate soldiers who patrol the area. Martha hesitates, though, and that leads to big trouble ahead. In the early 1960s, TV veteran Clint Eastwood had to go to Europe to break out big in Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns. When he returned, he teamed with Don Siegel to make Coogan's Bluff, in which a deputy sheriff from Arizona goes to New York in search of a killer. Siegel's riveting, mid-tempo style of action suited Eastwood well, and they paired up again on Two Mules for Sister Sara, also starring Shirley MacLaine in a Western that was anything but traditional. I first saw both those films, plus The Beguiled, when they were broadcast on network television, edited for time and censored for content, in the mid-1970s. Of those three, Coogan's Bluff was the only one that met my expectations of Eastwood as a larger-than-life hero. Watching The Beguiled again recently on HBO, uncut and uninterrupted by ads, was a much more satisfactory experience, especially from a visual perspective. Bruce Surtees, who'd been a camera operator on both Coogan's Bluff and Two Mules for Sister Sara, made his debut as director of photography and did a beautiful job. Candles are the only apparent source of light in the nighttime interior scenes, which reinforces the period setting and lends those sequences an air of mystery. The outdoor sequences, shot on location in Louisiana, reek of thick moss, contributing to the trapped circumstances of the characters. The supporting performances hit their marks accurately, from Ferdin as the young, devoted Amy to Darleen Carr as the more conservative Doris to Jo Ann Harris, my personal favorite, as the over-heated Carol. Mae Mercer cuts a strong figure as Hallie, a slave who is growing tired of containing her rage. Geraldine Page is very, very good as Martha, a woman haunted by her past but determined to control her future. Elizabeth Hartman does her very best with a role that is underwritten and ultimately frustrating; it's difficult to ferret out her true motivations after everything she's seen. As for Eastwood ... well, it's a tougher proposition. In the time period in which it was made, Eastwood was still developing as a dramatic actor and could not hit every note for which he reached. The script was also confused on his character, and perhaps director Siegel was as well. McBurney is meant to be a hero, I think, and he doesn't always tell the truth because a prisoner of war's first obligation is to escape. So, from that perspective, McBurney's lies and deceptions are understandable and well motivated, no matter that the women are easily persuaded and (mostly) gullible. (The title proves to be quite accurate.) That introduces another uncomfortable factor that runs throughout: a queasy current of dawning sexuality. Martha and Hallie have been separated from their male partners for some time, while the younger women are, appropriate to the era, all virgins and thus susceptible (?!) to McBurney's roguish charms (???!!!). If that assumption is not sufficiently risible, things get even more hazy is in the second half of the story, where the motivations of nearly everyone come into question. In other words, The Beguiled is more layered, even more problematic -- and open to interpretation and later repudiation -- than I had anticipated, so I am very much looking forward to Sofia Coppola's reading and presentation of the material. Eastwood and Siegel followed this up with their reactionary smash hit Dirty Harry, which changed quite a few things on the cinema landscape. They worked together for their fifth and final time on the tight, terrific thriller Escape From Alcatraz. Eastwood also made his directorial debut in 1971 with Play Misty for Me, which opened another creative door for him that is still paying dividends today. Geraldine Page eventually earned an Academy Award for her performance in The Trip to Bountiful shortly before she passed away in 1987. Nominated for an Oscar for her debut role in 1965's A Patch of Blue, Elizabeth Hartman left the business in 1983 and took her own life four years later. I wouldn't call The Beguiled a must-see movie, necessarily, but it's wormed its way into my subconscious and is certainly a fascinating, weird experiment in the Southern Gothic cinema sub-genre. 70s Rewind allows the writer to ruminate on his favorite film decade. Fist 2 Fist 2: Weapon of Choice takes one of the most popular plot lines in cinematic history and liven it up. The film opens up with a fight scene with the protagonist, Jack Lee played by the indispensable Jino Kang (Fist 2 Fist, Blade Warrior), against more than five armed men, and sets the pace for the rest of the movie. The film jumps several years forward to Jack Lee living with his assumed daughter Jamie (Kelly Lou Dennis, Vampariah, Gold Mountain) in a nice suburban home. She is abducted by masked men, although Lee takes down some of them in some impressive close-quarters combat. Needless to say, the men get away with the kidnapping. Lee finds a cell phone on one of the bodies and it rings. Lee then discovers that his old boss, Michael Banducci who is portrayed by the inscrutable Douglas Olsson (Criminal Minds, NCIS, Scandal), ordered the snatch due to a deal they had made that recently had fallen through. Watch the movie for more details. We then get introduced to the heroine of the story, Detective Ashlie (Ash) Jordan, played by the beautiful Katherine Celio (The Yellow Wallpaper, Malaise, Till Death). Lee is apprehended right outside where Jaime is kept by the San Francisco police department. He is brought to the precinct where the FBI questions him. It is deemed safer to move Lee to a safe house. Ash is at the safe house and tries to talk to Lee when a gunfight breaks out against unseen attackers. Lee and Ash are the only ones to escape, although Lee is wounded. Ash takes him to a secret spot where he is allowed to recuperate from his wound. The two form a passionate relationship and team up to take down Banducci and rescue Jaime. The final fight is in a warehouse where Lee takes on a myriad of bad guys, as Ash attempts to rescue Jaime. At the end, Lee faces off with Banducci who is holding his brother-in-law, and Jaimes true father, hostage. Lees brother-in-law then sacrifices himself so Lee can conquer Banducci. All-in-all, this was a solid action flick with humorous scenes intermixed into it, and had an interesting protagonist as an antihero, a hitman with a heart. Kang proves to be a master of his surroundings as the writer, main actor, fight choreographer, and co-director. The fight scenes are flawless as Kang applies his years of martial arts experience to each conflict. With a great supporting cast who portray memorable characters, and an ending that promises a sequel, this movie is one of the best low budget action films out there today. It will be sure to please the earnest action movie flick viewer. Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo made a small dent in the world of genre cinema with his amazing 2014 film White God. Just a small one. Heh. Well, Mundruczo is back with his new film Jupiter's Moon in competition at Cannes this week and the trailer dropped yesterday and is well worth a moment of your time. Have a look below. A young immigrant is shot down while illegally crossing the border. Terrified and in shock, wounded Aryan can now mysteriously levitate at will. Thrown into a refugee camp, he is smuggled out by Dr Stern, intent on exploiting his extraordinary secret. Pursued by enraged camp director Laszlo, the fugitives remain on the move in search of safety and money. Inspired by Aryan's amazing powers, Stern takes a leap of faith in a world where miracles are trafficked for small change. (There are domain restrictions on the Vimeo link so we have included a second link. Just in case) The first full trailer is out for Bong Joon-ho's upcoming Okja, starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and many more. The film is having its world premiere Cannes then will stream globally on Netflix on June 28th. But keep an eye out for some markets to have theatrical releases as well. I believe that this is where something like Okja should be seen because it just looks grand. Okja, the hipp with elephant ears is endearing. An Seo-hyun as Mija looks to be a strong and fierce inspiration for young girls around the world. And there is no arguing that the rest of the supporting cast is not terrific. This looks great. Two titans of Indian cinema battle it out in Imaikaa Nodigal, the latest film from R. Ajay Gnanamuthu. In the new film, Tamil actress Nayanthara plays a cop chasing down a possible serial killer played by Gangs of Wasseypur director, Anurag Kashyap. While it's probably going to be the presense of Kashyap in front of the camera that grabs headlines outside of Tamil Nadu, Nayanthara is no slouch. The veteran actress is one of a very few women able of opening films solo in Tamil Nadu. Nayanthara recently starred in a pair of horror films - Maya and Dora - that were very well received in Tamil Nadu, and her genre bonafides are definitely solid at this point. Kashyap makes his Kollywood acting debut in Imaikaa Nodigal (In These Vanishing Seconds) after a mixed Bollywood debut in AR Murugadoss' Naam Hai Akira. Kashyap had appeared in many films before Akira, but this was his debut in a substantial role as villain. The movie was awful, but his mustache twirling baddie in Akira was very fun and definitely hinted at some untapped talent for on-screen villainy. We only get a brief look at Kashyap's unnamed character in this first trailer, but I am hopeful that he will deliver. Imaikaa Nodigal marks Gnanamuthu's second feature after the very well received horror film Demonte Colony from 2015. Even though it's only his sophomore try, Gnanamuthu is no rookie behind the camera, having worked on a slew of excellent new wave thrillers and gangster films in Tamil over the last decade. The trailer looks solid, apart from a few of the overly flashy visual tics that annoy me about south Indian films, and I'm definitely looking forward to digging in once the film hits cinemas around the world. Check out the trailer below, and stay to the last minute to catch your first glimpse of Kashyap. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). "Deterrence and the Optimal Use of Prison, Parole, and Probation" | Main | Highlighting sentencing reform's momentum in the states despite prosecutorial change of course by US Attorney General With thanks to commenter Daniel for the tip, I just saw this notable local article from New Mexico providing a notable local perspective on the potential impact of the new Sessions federal charging/sentencing memo. The article is headlined "Two Steps Back: How Jeff Sessions memo on federal prosecutions could take New Mexico back to a harsher era," and here are excerpts: A directive from newly appointed US Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructing prosecutors to seek the most severe charges available threatens to stunt recent progress toward less federal prison time for low-level drug offenders in New Mexico, defense lawyers and drug policy reform advocates tell SFR. Drug mule cases make up many of the drug crimes prosecuted in federal court in New Mexico, federal public defender John Butcher says. Some low-level drug runners who get caught mid-shipment are apprehended in Albuquerque, the first overnight stop on Amtraks Southwest Chief train from Los Angeles to Chicago. Others are picked up throughout the federally designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which runs east from Farmington down to Santa Fe and into Albuquerque before blanketing most of the southern border from Roswell on. The vast majority of federal drug charges in the state are for trafficking. Possession and brokering drug deals comprise a smaller percentage of crimes. Drug mule cases, most often involving nonviolent and low-level drug offenders, were among those singled out in a memo issued by former attorney general Eric Holder in August 2013. It encouraged prosecutors not to charge such people with crimes that could trigger stiffer mandatory minimum sentences, which prevent judges from sentencing defendants to prison for fewer than a predetermined number of years. For example, since 1986, federal law has mandated that a person convicted of holding five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison for a first offense. Holder asked prosecutors to back off. If somebody was arrested with five kilograms of cocaine, but was not an organizer, did not have deep ties to criminal groups and wasnt carrying a gun or another indicator of violent intent, prosecutors were asked not to charge that person with the quantity that would have triggered the 10 years. Data from the US Sentencing Commission suggests that some federal prosecutors in New Mexico may have heeded Holders directive. It shows that the percentage of sentenced federal drug offenders who received mandatory minimums immediately dropped from 42 percent in 2013 to 25 percent in 2014, and even fell to 20 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which information is available. Thats about half the figure from 2006, the first year the commission began tracking this data. The decrease came even as the number of people prosecuted for trafficking rose from an average of 586 between 2010 and 2012before the Holder directiveand 646 between 2014 and 2016. But Sessions has now directed prosecutors to reverse course. The new attorney general wants federal prosecutors to seek the most serious and readily provable charge against all defendantsregardless of circumstance. This is going to go after the low-level minimum participants with minor records, because theyre the ones who were getting breaks [under Holder], Butcher tells SFR. Breaks didnt mean that low-level runners werent being charged or sentenced to prison after 2013, he says. But in some cases, they werent getting the book thrown at them. Butcher suggests the new policy will have an outsized effect in New Mexico, with its relatively higher number of trafficking cases involving nonviolent offenders.... Since 2013, Santa Fes Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, wherein police work with case managers and the local district attorney to enroll low-level offenders in treatment programs, has served as a national example for non-punitive approaches to drug use. District Attorney Marco Serna doesnt think theres much overlap between those who would qualify for LEAD and those who could be charged with a federal drug crime, but he acknowledges that the citys approach stands in contrast to Sessions hardline. For nonviolent crimes, we have our own state and local statutes, and luckily I get to influence how we handle it in the first district, Serna says. And we wont be taking that approach. Highlighting how the Sessions Memo may have particular impact for drug trafficking cases in certain districts | Main | "An Empirical Assessment of Georgia's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Standard to Determine Intellectual Disability in Capital Cases" The New York Times has this extended new article detailing recent state sentencing reform realities that stand in contrast to the decision last week by Attorney General Sessions to promulgate tougher charging and sentencing guidelines. The article is headlined "States Trim Penalties and Prison Rolls, Even as Sessions Gets Tough," and here are excerpts: Louisiana has the nations highest incarceration rate. But this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards struck a deal to reduce sentences and the prison population, saving millions annually. If lawmakers approve the changes, Louisiana will be following more than 30 states, including Georgia, Texas and South Carolina, that have already limited sentences, expanded alternatives to incarceration such as drug treatment, or otherwise reduced the reach and cost of the criminal justice system. Many of those states say they have saved money while crime rates have stayed low. In Washington, though, the nations top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has charted the opposite course. He announced last week that federal prosecutors should aim to put more people in prison for longer periods, adopting the sort of mass-incarceration strategy that helped flood prisons during the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. His move which he said would promote consistency and respect for the law alarmed critics who feared that the Trump administration was embracing failed, even racist, policies. Even more, Mr. Sessionss approach conflicted with one of the few major points of bipartisan national agreement over the past decade, that criminal justice could be more effective by becoming less punitive to low-level offenders, treating root causes of crime like drug addiction, and reserving more resources to go after serious, violent criminals. But if Mr. Sessionss appointment has dampened the hopes of those wishing for congressional action to reduce incarceration, advocates say it has had little effect on state efforts. There was a lot of speculation that with the rhetoric from the presidential campaign, there would be a drop in momentum, but we havent seen that, said Marc A. Levin, the policy director for Right on Crime, a group at the fore of conservative efforts to reduce incarceration rates. There have been so many successes in the last several years, particularly in conservative states, that it continues to fuel other states to act, Mr. Levin said. The consensus began with a cold, objective judgment that taxpayers were not getting a good return on investment for money spent on prisons. Bloated corrections budgets took money that could be spent on schools, roads or tax breaks, while many of those who went through the prison system went on to offend again. Among Republicans and Democrats alike, concern also grew that too many nonviolent criminals who were no threat to society were being imprisoned and given little chance to reform and re-enter mainstream society.... It has not hurt that early adopters included tough-on-crime red states like Texas, which began passing major criminal justice revisions in 2003. It was a Nixon-goes-to-China thing, and was really helpful in letting other states know, The water is warm; you can do this, Mr. Ring said. In contrast, he added, Mr. Sessionss directive flies in the face of state-level successes. Were going to double down on an approach everybody else has walked away from, is how Mr. Ring characterized it. So far this year, Michigan and Georgia, which previously rewrote their criminal justice laws, have already approved a new round of changes. In Oklahoma, where Mr. Trump handily carried every county in November, another vote was also popular: Residents approved by a 16 percentage point margin a ballot proposal calling on legislators to curb prison rolls and downgrade numerous drug and property crimes to misdemeanors from felonies. Basically, in Oklahoma were just warehousing people in prison, and were not trying to rehabilitate anybody because of budget constraints, said Bobby Cleveland, a Republican state representative who is chairman of the Public Safety Committee. Oklahoma has the nations No. 2 incarceration rate. The state is now considering how to heed the voters advice, including debating major criminal justice changes. The effort faces opposition from district attorneys who have slowed some pieces of legislation, but the proposals have the firm backing of Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican. Supporters acknowledge that it may take a few tries to succeed. Texas didnt do it in one year, either, Representative Cleveland said. Louisiana is also moving toward change. On Tuesday, Governor Edwards, a Democrat who has made reducing the prison population a centerpiece of his administration, announced that he had reached an agreement with the states politically powerful district attorneys to revise criminal justice laws. The deal, which still faces a vote in the Legislature, would reduce penalties for minor drug possession, give judges more power to sentence people to probation instead of prison, limit how many theft crimes qualify as felonies, and reduce mandatory minimum sentences for a number of crimes. Last year, it also seemed there was a fair chance that even Congress would get in on the action with a bipartisan bill to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for some drug crimes. The bill never got a vote on the floor, and some feared that the appointment of Mr. Sessions, who opposed the legislation as a senator, was a sign that President Trump would never support it. But in March, Mr. Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, met with pro-reform senators, including Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, signaling he considered the issue a priority.... While Mr. Sessions has warned of what he says is a coming surge in crime, advocates for reducing incarceration say they are frustrated by how their goals are often cast as adverse to public safety. The states that have most significantly reduced their prison population have also seen the biggest drops in their crime and recidivism rates, said Holly Harris, a former general counsel of the Kentucky Republican Party who is now executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network. Reform makes us safer, Ms. Harris said. Theres a misperception with prosecutors that somehow reform is anti-law enforcement, and that couldnt be further from the truth. You know that ridiculous ad we saw last week paid for by a Republican political group depicting goofy San Franciscans, all in the service of defeating a Democratic challenger in a Georgia House race? Well now the SFMTA has come out swinging, sending the PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a cease-and-desist letter over the unauthorized image of a Powell-Hyde cable car in the ad. The end of the ad features the image of the cable car with a Jon Ossoff banner Photoshopped onto it complete with peace sign the point of the ad being that non-Georgians, and heathen San Franciscans, are funding this particular Democratic candidate. The irony of course is that the Congressional Leadership Fund isn't based in Georgia either, and there very well could be California donors helping pay for this ad slamming Californians as well. SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose tells the Chronicle that the ad is "a misrepresentation," and that the SFMTA has a specific policy against political ads of any kind, and that this would not have been an allowable use had the PAC done the proper work to request use of the cable car image. "The cable car is an iconic landmark that attracts people and attention from all over the world, Rose tells the paper. And I think we can all agree that it is best left un-Photoshopped. Rose says that an agency working for the PAC filed the request paperwork for use of the image one day before the ad aired, and it didn't land on Rose's desk until Monday of this week, a week later. While the SF Film Commission has granted such retroactive permissions before, the commission's executive director Susannah Greason Robbins tells the Chronicle shes unsure whether MTA would sign off in this case. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution got a quote from a rep for the PAC who says they followed all guidelines and worked with the San Francisco Film Commission to obtain proper permits and submit paperwork to use the image. They apparently already wrote the $623 check to the MTA for use of the image, but Rose says he hasn't received it. The GOP super PAC, which has ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan, sees this Georgia race as a must-win, and is spending $6.5 million on the campaign to defeat Ossoff. Previously: Dumb Commercial For Georgia House Race Gets San Francisco All Wrong Your nose knows that a rotten egg smell reeked up San Francisco and the greater Bay Area for two days in late December of 2016, and that the prime suspect was the Chevron refinery in Richmond who engaged in some flaring, or burning off of unrefined fuels to relieve pressure on gas lines. Chevron initially did not report the flaring incident, then admitted to the flaring but insisted that it had nothing to do with the outbreak of a sulphur-like smell. But a regional air board has investigated the matter and determined that it was definitely Chevron who cut the cheese. KQED reports that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has completed their investigation into the odiferous outbreak, and has concluded that the Chevron refinery was indeed the culprit. According to KRON 4, there were at least 69 (heh!) reports of the rotten egg smell submitted to PG&E on December 28 and 29. The Air Quality Management District Issued four violations to the Chevron refinery on Tuesday. ABC 7 describes two of the violations as excess levels of hydrogen sulfide detected by ground-level monitoring equipment, whereas the other two violations are for creating a public nuisance. The districts findings are based on analysis of air quality monitors, data from a wastewater plant near the refinery. and weather patterns from the dates in question. We will be seeking the maximum penalties available to us for this incident," the districts CEO Jack Broadbent said in a statement. In addition to being cited for this incident, Chevron will be required to make changes to their operations to ensure it doesnt happen again. But hold on to the clothespin on your nose Chevron disputes these findings and continues to basically deny guilt. This is a complex issue, Chevron spokesperson Leah Casey said in an email to KQED. But given the small amount of H2S (hydrogen sulfide) released, the 11-mile distance across the Bay, and the wide geography of the odor complaints, we believe it is unlikely that the flaring was the source of the odors. Keep in mind that a separate KQED report from early January found that during the late December dates in question, toxic gas levels near the Chevron refinery exceeded local air regulation restrictions and were so intense in one instance that it maxed out the companys pollution monitoring equipment." This issuing of citations is not the final step in the smell-shaming process. While district officials insist they will seek the maximum possible fine, that fine will actually be determined through a settlement process with Chevron. The Chronicle reports that the violations come with hefty fines which can run thousands of dollars for severe violations, though thousands of dollars does not sound particularly hefty to a multinational energy corporation whose current market capitalization is about $199 billion. Related: San Francisco Beset By Mystery Stench A California legislator introduced a resolution Wednesday, obviously symbolic, calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings for President Donald Trump. Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), and as CBS 5 reports, it actually calls on Trump to resign, and then calls on Congress to impeach him if he refuses. Low tells CBS 5, "When taking a look at this issue and focusing on precedent there is theres historical context to this. We cannot wait any longer for an additional shoe to drop so we need to take affirmative action." Low's measure follows on similar symbolic resolutions already passed by the cities of Berkeley, Richmond, and Alameda. Those resolutions were all sent to House Rep. Barbara Lee in March, and as Alameda Vice Mayor Malia Vella told CBS 5 at the time, "We want to make sure we are on the right side of history." The city council of Los Angeles has passed a similar resolution, as has the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been appointed as the special counsel to investigate any Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election and any possible ties to the Trump campaign. This is a big deal because according to ABC 7, just about everyone likes Mueller and thinks he's totally legit, and according to the New York Times, his special counsel status gives Mueller more independence in an investigation than allowed to federal prosecutors. President Trump took to Twitter to express his frustration with the investigation. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 Mueller's past might be of special interest to Bay Area residents. The 72-year-old native New Yorker and former Marine worked as a litigator for Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro in San Francisco from 1973 until 1976. He then went to work for U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California in San Francisco where he eventually headed the criminal division. Then Bob left us for awhile. He returned in 1998 when he was named U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, a post he held until 2001 when he became the head of the FBI on September 4, 2001. (Right?) NPR just put together a quick review of his tenure there and the mostly glowing praise it received. After his stint running the FBI, Mueller came back and spent a year (from 2013 to 2014) as a professor and lecturer at Stanford University focused primarily on cyber-security. And now, Mueller is back in Washington DC to investigate "any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." This will likely include Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey, who may or may not have been let go because of his investigation into Trump's ties with Russia. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 "Bob was a fine U.S. attorney, a great FBI director and there's no better person who could be asked to perform this function. He is respected, he is talented and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing," California Senator and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein told USA Today. Related: Local Politicos React To Trump's Firing Of James Comey The Milwaukee School of Engineerings Grohmann Museum (1000 N. Broadway) houses more than 1,300 paintings and sculptures dating back to 1580, all of which pertain to the history of human work. This uniquely themed collection spans 20th-century American art such as Norman Rockwells Bookworm and 17th-century Dutch painters like Pieter Brueghel the Youngers The Peasant Lawyer . Hanging amid these masters are contemporary works that have been created specifically for the Grohmanns walls, as in the case with a new exhibition, Artists At Work: The Cedarburg Artists Guild." Cedarburg has long appealed to artists for its bucolic charm and laid-back pace of life. Some 30 years ago, a generation of these painters, poets and other creatives founded the Cedarburg Artists Guild with the mission of encouraging creativity and promoting fine arts and crafts in Ozaukee and Washington Counties." Fourteen of the Guilds artists have created 42 new works pertaining to labor or industry for Artists At Work: The Cedarburg Artists Guild," May 19 through Aug. 20. Suzanne and Sarah Rosenblatt Poetry Reading Woodland Pattern Books 720 E. Locust St. Esteemed Milwaukee sculptor and emeritus professor at UW-Milwaukees Peck School of the Arts Adolph Rosenblatt died this past February. On Sunday, May 21 at 2 p.m., Suzanne and Sarah Rosenblatt will give readings that reflect on life in these tumultuous times without their respective husband and father. Writes Suzanne, When someone loses a limb, the nerves are still there / So it feels as if the limb is / It sounds similar to losing your other half / After 57 years of living together, I keep feeling as if Adolphs still here." Stay on top of the news of the day Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays. SIGN UP Culture Work Mural Block Party and Celebration Butters Fetting Company 1669 S. First St. In early 2016, artist Raoul Deal, urban historian Michael Carriere and students from the Community Arts program at UW-Milwaukee began work on an immense mural celebrating the 50-year history of United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS). On Saturday, May 20 from 2-5 p.m., the mural will at long last be unveiled in its new home on the Butters-Fetting Company building between First and Second streets. Latino Arts Strings will provide music and Transfer Pizzeria and Cafe will furnish food. ORANGE CITY, Iowa | Theres a lot of local culture in the Orange City Tulip Festivals production of Shrek the Musical. Poffertjes, wooden shoes, local landmarks and, yes, tulips turn up in the communitys annual night show. The tweaks are cute and entirely in keeping with the shows message of inclusion. Based on the hit film, this musical tells how Shrek , the green ogre, met Donkey, Fiona and that evil Lord Farquaad. Theres a lot of ground to cover (including those veers to the Tulip Festival) and more characters than you can fit in a fairy tale collection but directors Gail Marincovich and Todd McDonald manage to do so with great style and economy. Perhaps their greatest offering is making Shreks costume relatively simple. Instead of swaddling an actor in mounds of prosthetics and padding, they give Brandon Miller a simple stocking cap with ears and paint his face green. Its a great innovation, largely because it allows Miller to let his big, bold voice fill the theater. Hes the shows best performer, an amiable tour guide through the world of swamps, dragons and that Disney-like kingdom of Duloc. There, too, Marincovich and McDonald have provided local flourishes. A group of dancers step out in Dutch costumes and put their own twist on Whats Up Duloc. Like a herd of dolls in Its a Small World, they whir and gig with the best of them, creating the kind of goofy atmosphere a show like this needs. The real fun part, though, is when the evil Lord Farquaad (John Hubers) shows up. Half the size of most citizens, hes a little man with a big ego. Hubers makes much of the elaborate costume hes given (guess how he looks so short) and gets every laugh he desires. Hes a dream despot who adds to the goofiness of the show. While Shreks intended, Fiona (Corrie Hayes), is absent for much of the first act, she makes a big impression in the second, revealing just how ogre-ish she really is. The two play nicely off each other with I Got You Beat before rocking out on the encore Im a Believer. Hayes has just enough edge to complement Millers gruff exterior. Theyre joined on their journey by Donkey (Daniel Tolsma), a sassy, well, donkey who isnt afraid to drink in the local culture, fall in love with a dragon or tell Shrek what he doesnt want to hear. While Tolsma gets plenty of stage time, he tries too hard to re-create the voice Eddie Murphy gave Donkey in the film version. Similarly, Andy Kellers Pinocchio is difficult to hear, largely because hes working with a high-pitched voice that can get lost. Pinocchio is leader of the fairy tale characters who have been banished from Duloc. They bemoan their loss, appeal to Shrek and, ultimately, learn how to let their Freak Flag fly. The characters get two great scenes and a whole lot of opportunity to camp things up. While the shows writers have included two other versions of Fiona, they dont take advantage of the actresses at hand. Elena Vazquez and Tessa Burg join Hayes on I Know Its Today, a touching song, but theyre quickly dispensed with. A conceit like this deserves an encore, but theyre not given one. Because Shrek is such an ambitious show (its stuffed with locations, impossible costumes and technical conundrums), other stagers ignore certain special effects. Not the folks in Orange City. Using a large rear screen, the directors have managed to handle some of those awkward scenes with film and clever drawings. The Orange City water tower makes an appearance here, too, and, again, its fitting. Blessed with a strong orchestra, the show has moments that should send chills, particularly when Miller sings. He has a way of filling the big bright beautiful world with heavenly sounds. And "Shrek" proves all can be right with the world, no matter how troubling some people can make it seem. Shrek the Musical runs through Saturday as part of the Tulip Festival. Its staged at 8 p.m. at the Unity Christian Knight Center at Unity Christian High School, 216 Michigan Ave. SW in Orange City, Iowa. Call (712) 707-4510 for tickets. SIOUX CITY | Sioux City would allow residents to discharge fireworks from June 25 to July 4 and again on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, under a proposed change to its fireworks ordinance. The City Council came to a general consensus on those dates Wednesday evening during a goal-setting retreat held by the City Council and city manager at the Sioux City Public Museum. Under the proposed change, residents could shoot off fireworks between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. during those dates, with an extension until 11 p.m. on July 4. These dates are among a handful of amendments to a new drafted ordinance distributed to council members and local media Monday. The changes were based on council member feedback. Council members on Wednesday agreed on the shorter time period with safety in mind. "To me the reason the state has started out with such a big range of time, it's all about the money," said Councilwoman Rhonda Capron. "To me, it's about safety." The council is modifying its ordinance to comply with the new Iowa law passed last week legalizing fireworks sales during a window of time around July 4 and New Year's Day. The City Council had received a draft of the new fireworks ordinance Monday, along with recommendations from Sioux City Fire Rescue to prohibit the shooting off of fireworks and -- if possible -- to limit or completely prohibit their sale within the city limits. However, current interpretation of the new fireworks law requires cities to allow their sales within city limits. Sioux City Fire Rescue fire marshal Mark Aesoph, who along with Chief Tom Everett, again on Wednesday recommended the council ban the discharge of fireworks entirely within the city limits. He said several Iowa cities, including Council Bluffs, Cedar Rapids and West Des Moines, are either prohibiting fireworks or leaning toward that decision. Council members agreed the window would allow a time for residents to use the fireworks they will likely purchase legally. "This is the best way to get some semblance of order or structure to what they can and cannot do," said Councilman Pete Groetken. Under other changes, the city will prohibit discharge in a public park, on city-owned property or in a public roadway. City officials will also be able to completely prohibit discharge in the event of dry conditions, similar to the issuance of a burn ban. The city will release an updated draft of the ordinance Thursday afternoon as part of its agenda for Monday's meeting, at which time the council will take its first vote on the new ordinance. The public will also be able to speak on its views of the new ordinance. SIOUX CITY | In recent years, plans to switch some of Sioux City's downtown streets from one-way to two-way have been discussed but haven't come to fruition. The proposition came before the City Council again during a goal-setting meeting Wednesday, as staff discussed how turning Fifth and Sixth streets to two-way could benefit a planned remodel at Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City that will put important access points on both streets. City staff agreed to look further into what it would cost in order to complete such a project, which was estimated at $8.5 million during a study completed three years ago. "Right now you see the $8.5 million number and it's kind of outrageous," city manager Bob Padmore told the council. "We need to take a look at what's the most cost-effective way we can do it and come up with a safe product?" Sioux City economic development director Marty Dougherty told the council Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City is in the planning stages of substantial renovations to the downtown hospital. Many details of the project, which has yet to be approved by the hospital's board, are still confidential, but Dougherty said the hospital has had contact with city staff about the "significant" remodel. Under the proposal, approximately 90 percent of the patients entering the hospital will enter from Fifth Street, a current one-way street, he said. Dougherty said the emergency room entrance would also be in a new location along Sixth Street. One-way access for a hospital is not ideal when time is an issue, he said. "They see that as somewhat problematic to access to the hospital and the movement of patients," Dougherty said. Nebraska, Pierce, Fifth and Sixth streets have been one-way in downtown Sioux City for more than half a century. Dougherty said the move to two-way downtown has also for years been seen by many consultants and representatives of downtown businesses as economically beneficial because it would slow down traffic passing through the downtown area. Public Works Director Dave Carney discussed a report done in 2014 by Olsson and Associates that recommended turning Sixth Street into a two-lane street with a center left-turn lane, and a two-way road with possible bike lane on Fifth Street. The cost was an estimated $8.5 million, of which $2.7 was streetscape elements that could possibly be whittled down or dropped, he said. Carney said after the meeting that staff will continue to explore possibilities to trim costs on the project. SIOUX CITY -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland will be hosting its second annual "Over the Edge" fundraiser, where people pay to rappel down a 12-story hotel downtown. The organization has a goal of tossing 75 people off the Howard Johnson, 707 Fourth St., on June 14. This year, the Siouxland and South Sioux City chambers of commerce will engage in a challenge to see which organization raises the most money. Jim Steele, South Sioux City Chamber of Commerce president, and Joe Kruse, a board member with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and owner of Kruse Financial Group, will take turns climbing down the building. Last year, Over the Edge proved to be the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland's largest fundraiser ever with each participant, or edger, raising $1,000 to secure their spot. The funds are used to help recruit, train and match carefully screened adults with local children. Participants can register online for this year's event at BigBrothersBigSisters.com/edge. For more information about the event or the youth mentoring program, call 712-239-9890 or visit its website BigBrothersBigSisters.com. SIOUX CITY | Todd Prichard, a Democratic state representative from Charles City, will make a stop in Sioux City as he tours the state to begin his candidacy for the Iowa governor position. Prichard will hold a town hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Aalfs Public Library, 529 Pierce St. His campaign kickoff swing runs Thursday through Tuesday, wrapping up in Council Bluffs. Prichard, 42, is an attorney and military veteran. He is in his third two-year term after first being elected in 2012. The lengthy list of Democrats who are running or considering a campaign for governor includes former state party chairwoman Andy McGuire, state legislators Nate Boulton and Chris Hall, of Sioux City, John Norris, Rich Leopold and Jonathan Neiderbach. Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will ascend to the governorship once Gov. Terry Branstad becomes U.S. ambassador to China, is expected to seek her own four-year term in 2018. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett also is expected to vie for the Republican nomination. SIOUX CITY -- The Food Bank of Siouxland has a new date and theme for its seventh annual Leader of the Pack event. Historically scheduled in September, the events new date is June 24. In addition to the standard 5K Run/Walk, participants can also participate in a 15K Bike Ride, a 1K Kids Fun Run/Bike, and Hunger Games -- (lawn games). Leader of the Pack: Hunger Games Edition will take place at the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve in McCook Lake, South Dakota, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with opening ceremonies, followed by the 1K at 8:45 a.m. and the race/ride at 9 a.m. Proceeds from the event support the BackPack Program: Food for Kids and will be dedicated to help acquire the food needed to send home about 1,800 food sacks each week with children identified as being at risk for weekend hunger. Register online at www.GetMeRegistered.com/LeaderOfThePack or download and submit your application by visiting www.siouxlandfoodbank.org/events/Leader-Of-The-Pack or calling the Food Bank of Siouxland at 712-255-9741. Registration fees increase after June 5. SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man has pleaded guilty to threatening a pastor with a pellet gun during church services. David Flores-Marroquin, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday in Woodbury County District Court to intimidation with a dangerous weapon. In a separate case, he pleaded guilty to eluding and second-offense operating while intoxicated. Following terms of a plea agreement, District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer suspended a five-year prison sentence and placed Flores-Marroquin on probation for five years. He must serve a mandatory minimum of seven days in jail on the OWI charge and pay a $1,875 fine. On June 12, Flores-Marroquin entered the Community Bible Chapel, 1000 Virginia St., during services and began shouting at the pastor before sitting down, pulling out out a realistic-looking BB gun and pointing it at the pastor and threatening him. On Jan. 6, 2016, an intoxicated Flores-Marroquin led police on a short chase in Morningside after refusing to pull over for an officer. During Thursday's hearing, Flores-Marroquin said the incidents were the result of a mental health condition for which his is now receiving treatment and taking medication. SIOUX CITY | Planned Parenthood of the Heartland will close its Sioux City clinic at the end of June, affecting more than 5,000 people in the region, the women's health provider said Thursday. Planned Parenthood which operates 12 clinics in Iowa also will shutter clinics in Burlington, Keokuk and the Quad Cities-Bettendorf. The closures come after the states Republican legislators worked to redirect Medicaid family planning dollars away from abortion providers starting July 1. All services will stop immediately starting June 30 at the Sioux City, Burlington and Keokuk health centers, while telemedicine abortion services will continue at the Quad Cities health center until the building is sold, the organization said. The decision comes after Gov. Terry Branstad this past Friday approved the portion of the Health and Human Services Budget that allocates $3.3 million in state funding for family planning services but excludes facilities that provide abortions from receiving the funds. The budget discontinues a federal Medicaid waiver that, since its creation in 2006, has helped more than 80,000 Iowa women receive Pap smears, birth control and cancer screenings through the Iowa Family Planning Network, including more than 12,000 last year. The waiver helps extend these important reproductive health services to men and women who often fall in the gap between private insurance and Medicaid eligibility. Planned Parenthood which received nearly $1 million in funding through the Family Planning Network in fiscal year 2016 administered services to more than 30,000 people last year, with nearly 50 percent of its patients at or below the federal poverty level. Abortions comprise only three percent of its total services. No state or federal dollars are used to fund abortions. Planned Parenthood had Sioux City clinic at 4409 Stone Ave. stopped offering surgical abortions in 2014. Anti-abortion opponents had often protested outside the clinic. Republican legislators have argued the move will expand family planning services by freeing up funds and encouraging existing Medicaid providers to participate in the program. But Planned Parenthood and other supporters argue that those providers dont offer the same specialized care that can accommodate its high-volume of patients. Obviously, throughout the whole debate of this bill, we talked about what we saw as the potential impact, which is far less access for clients, said Jodi Tomlonovic at the Family Planning Council. I understand how they have to make those kinds of decisions. But our concern is just the completely negative impact on access to family planning services in Iowa. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based reproductive health research organization, Planned Parenthood provided 80 to 96 percent of family planning services for patients accessing care at a publicly funded provider in 2015 in Sioux City, Burlington and Keokuk. Its just not a good thing for the state, Tomlonovic said. And its not a good thing for Iowans who want and need family planning services. Its going to have a real ramification in a number of ways not just increased abortions, but increased STD rates. In a joint statement, Sioux City Democratic Reps. Chris Hall and Rep. Tim Kacena called the closing of the Sioux City clinic "troubling," saying it means nearly 5,000 women in the area will "lose access to critical health care services like cancer screenings and birth control." "Republican politicians in Des Moines don't know what's best for women and families in this community," the Sioux City legislators said in the statement. "Every family deserves access to health care without interference from politicians. Women are not second class citizens." Other Democratic legislators also were quick to voice their displeasure with Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican legislators, saying politicians should stay out of womens health care. We warned Republicans over and over again last session that their reckless actions to put ideology ahead of common sense would have a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of Iowa women and today those warnings have become reality, said Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames. Im sure that Gov. Branstad, Lt. Governor (Kim) Reynolds and legislative Republicans are celebrating the closing of these clinics, said Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines. Somehow, I doubt that Branstad, Reynolds and legislative Republicans will personally help the more than 14,000 Iowans affected by these closures find a better place to get their family planning services. We must change course and make health care more accessible to more Iowans again. Starting in 2011, Texas took steps to bar abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from participating in a program aimed at giving low-income women family planning services. Its a move that, in the years following, research has shown hurt the states family planning safety net. The funding changes forced dozens of Planned Parenthood clinics there to close in 2012, according to researchers at the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, which studies the effects of family planning funding cuts and restrictions. Those that have remained open have reduced their hours, patient loads and available services. Research by the Guttmacher Institute shows that Texass family planning program in 2013 served less than one-quarter of the women it helped in 2011. And that care became more expensive when you take knowledgeable providers out of the network the cost to the state to provide family planning care jumped from $206 per client to $240. SANBORN, Iowa | The owners of Solsmas Punkin Patch in rural O'Brien County hope a new offering leads to a boom in business. Located just outside of Sanborn, Iowa, the popular fall destination plans to start selling fireworks on June 1, the day the states 80-year ban on the combustible product comes to an end. Fireworks will be available at the business, 6190 320th St., from June 1 to July 8 and from Dec. 10 to Jan. 3. To support the new endeavor, owners Jay and Amy Solsma are building a 2,400-square-foot storefront, which is expected to be completed by the middle of June, according to Sanborn city manager Jim Zeutenhorst. Besides fireworks, the new retail space will sell their homegrown Ruby Red popcorn, drug-free Hereford beef, pumpkins, gourds and squash, and other locally sourced items. The project was supported by revolving fund loans (RFL) from the OBrien County Economic Development Corporation and the Sanborn Electric and Telecommunications Utility. RFLs are used to attract, retain or expand business and industry, and may be used for land purchases, building purchases, building construction, equipment or machinery purchases or any other uses deemed appropriate by an oversight committee. Amy and Jay Solsma are yet another example of entrepreneurship in action, having turned a hobby into a thriving business, Kiana Johnson, executive director of OBrien County Economic Development Corporation, said in a statement. Both the Sanborn and the OBrien County RLF Committees are delighted to assist Amy and Jay in growing their business in OBrien County. Solsmas Punkin Patch was started in 1999 by Amy and Jay Solsma as a way to raise money for their childrens college fund, according to its website. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday requested that the FBI turn over memos written by fired FBI Director James Comey relating to conversations he had with President Trump, as well as any memos pertaining to former President Obama. The committee, which is chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also asked the White House to provide any recordings, if they exist, detailing interactions with Comey that relate to the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election or the Clinton email scandal. Grassley and the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, along with two other senators on the committee, made the requests in separate letters to the FBI and the White House. The letters come on the heels of a New York Times report that Comey had written a memo detailing a conversation with the president in which Trump allegedly asked him to stop the inquiry into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn was later fired by the president after it was disclosed that he had contacts with Russian officials and then misled others about them. Some Trump critics say the conversation with Comey was tantamount to obstruction of the FBI's investigation. In a conference call with Iowa reporters on Wednesday, Grassley said he plans to exercise the committee's oversight responsibilities. "And as Ive said so often, we need to get the facts out in the open. We cant just rely upon selective leaks and reports." Grassley also said, if there was interference, "then it seems to me Comey should have taken action on that interference. Other Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Rayn, have questioned why Comey did not act on the issue. Grassley added it was likely the Judiciary Committee would hold a hearing on the matter. In addition to asking for evidence relating to Comey's interactions with the two presidents, the committee also asked for information on contacts with Justice Department officials in both administrations. Democrats have seized on the revelations about Trump in the aftermath of his firing of Comey, with one Democratic congressman from Texas calling for his impeachment on Tuesday. Republicans, meanwhile, have continued asking questions about the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server last year. The Senate Intelligence Committee had already requested the Comey memos. The Judiciary Committee letter to the White House mentioned the Times article, saying "the article alleged that Mr. Comey had memorialized a conversation with the President in which the President made statements that have been interpreted as asking the FBI to clear Mr. Flynn of alleged wrongdoing. The article noted that Mr. Comey was known among his closet advisers to document conversations that he believed would later be called into question. Last week, the President tweeted a message implying that the White House may have audio recordings of interactions with Mr. Comey." Ever since the tweet, Democrats and members of the news media have asking about the existence of such recordings, but the White House has not confirmed they exist. Grassley and Feinstein asked for the information by next Wednesday. They were joined in the letters by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, who lead Judiciary's subcommittee on crime and terrorism. CEDAR RAPIDS Payment disputes have pushed Physicians Clinic of Iowa to threaten to terminate contracts with two of the states three private Medicaid insurers if the concerns are not soon corrected. In letters sent to Amerigroup Iowa and AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, PCI one of the states largest private physician groups told the insurers that failure to consistently pay provider claims properly or in a timely manner have led the medical provider to send a notice of breach of contract. PCI told Amerigroup it must correct issues within 30 days and AmeriHealth it must fix issues within 60 days or the provider no longer will see patients of either insurer starting on Sept. 1. It is not our intent to terminate relationships or reduce access, said Eric Dalton, chief financial officer of PCI. But we wanted to bring attention to these issues through filing a breach of contract because we have exhausted all other efforts. About six percent of PCIs patient base is on Medicaid, Dalton said, with about 5,500 patients receiving procedures in the past 13 months through Amerigroup or AmeriHealth. The medical provider is owed several hundred thousand dollars, he added. Whats more, the time and energy our staff spends chasing these problems they are not issues we face with any other payer, including UnitedHealthcare, Iowas third Medicaid insurer, Dalton said The state handed over its nearly $5 billion Medicaid program to the three managed-care organizations more than one year ago. But payment problems have continued to plague providers across the state, who have complained of late and inaccurate payments. PCI is not the first large-scale provider to threaten to terminate contracts with the insurers. The Des Moines Register reported in March that Mercy Health Network, which has 13 hospitals across the state and more than 200 clinics, would end its contract with AmeriHealth if payment disputes were not corrected. Amy McCoy, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, said the state agency is continuing to monitor the states provider network. AmeriHealth did not respond to The Gazettes request for comment. Amerigroup said it could not comment on the specific issue as it has not received the letter yet. All three insurers have reported losses in excess of $100 million during their first year of operation in Iowa, with AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa suffering the greatest loss of nearly $300 million. Amerigroup Iowa reported a loss of $133 million, and UnitedHealthcare of the River Valley said it lost more than $100 million. It was revealed in March that the state would establish a risk corridor for the Medicaid expansion population and the long-term services and supports population, one of the most costly groups of Medicaid beneficiaries. In a risk corridor, the government would step in to help protect insurers from unexpectedly high losses by paying the difference if an insurer spends more in medical care than it collects in revenue. SIOUX CITY | After two consecutive days of thunderstorms, high winds and heavy rain, today is looking to be a relatively dry and tranquil reprieve. But more wet weather will set in tonight and continue through Saturday, bringing an inch to 1 1/2 inches of rain to Sioux City during the two-day period. Temperatures will also dip into the low 50s on Friday and Saturday, more than 20 degrees below normal for mid-May. According to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, today will be mostly cloudy with a high of 60 degrees and a possibility for a few sprinkles. Tonight's low will be 44 degrees, with a 90 percent chance of rain moving in after midnight. A 60 percent chance of showers will continue throughout the day Friday, with an expected high of 51 degrees. A 50 percent chance of rain will continue Saturday. "We're going to have some of the coolest days we've had in weeks," said Alex Ferguson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. "The normal high is 74." Ferguson said the weather system over the next three days should not bring any storms with high risks of severe weather. As rains continue, so do flood warnings at low-lying areas near Big Sioux and Little Sioux rivers due to the heavy rainfall. According to the National Weather Service, upper portions of the Little Sioux River, from about Spencer to almost near Cherokee, will also flood this weekend. "Nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing." Sylvia Plath The recent Diversity Honors gala is the South Florida communitys best evidence of our beautiful humanity. On May 6, 2017, the South Florida LGBT community gathered to celebrate and acknowledge the good that our community does - both from the inside and the outside. We honored the full spectrum of our humanity from the young Isaiah Henderson, Pulse survivor, to elder Irish statesman Senator David Norris, from the gay to the straight, from the transgender to the cisgender, and yes, from the Blue to the Red. The recent focus on this last group is very disconcerting. The message of both the Harvey Milk Foundation and The Pride Center is inclusion. That some in our community would attempt to co-opt this beautiful event and turn it partisan is shameful. To go so far as to describe the decor as purposefully red is ludicrous. The tasteful decor was the selection of the amazingly supportive Seminole Hard Rock staff and their intention was to create an ambiance that was first class - and they truly succeeded. And the focus on, and disruptive characterization of, the event going red is so very misplaced. To minimalize and marginalize those who support us just because they may have other ideologies that we do not agree with is the antithesis of what we stand for. If we are to succeed and move society forward to a more accepting place, we need to start with accepting all - including the Republicans who have so clearly and vocally supported us. Ambassador Nancy Brinker has a very long history of solid support for the LGBT community. She has written about her support and acceptance of her openly gay son and has put her money were her mouth is. She has hosted events with the Harvey Milk Foundation in Hungary - at the highest diplomatic levels - and Hungary is not an easy place to be gay. She has written beautiful and moving pieces in the Huffington Post and is a very active member of the Advisory Board of the Harvey Milk Foundation. In this way she emulates Harvey who worked hand-in-hand with Republican California Senator Milton Marks, who was a fierce conservative yet open to LGBT inclusion. Harvey set the tone when he joined with Marks and made history by showing that we can work across the aisle and make progress. That some in our community prefer to distort the truth and taint a fiercely pro-LGBT advocates record by misquoting her on an unrelated issue is disingenuous to the SFGN readers and is a testament to the work that still needs to be done both within and outside of our community. The Harvey Milk Foundation has never subscribed to the name and shame philosophy of some in our community. We believe in acceptance - not just of the LGBT community but acceptance of all who are like minded in the belief that we are one human family and are equally deserving of respect. The Foundation works tirelessly around the globe to move the world to a place where everyone can be their authentic selves - without shame and without fear. But most importantly with hope - as Harvey said so many years ago: Hope will never be silent. I would like to think that we, as a community, will never silence the hope that is expressed by those who, while they may differ from us, agree that we are all human. Miriam Richter, Education Director & Counsel, Harvey Milk Foundation Before Wilton Manors large influx of gay and lesbian residents, there were no gay or straight bars only bars. But as more and more bars started opening to cater to LGBT clientele, the citys other watering holes became de facto straight bars. One by one, they closed or moved. Now, theres only one left Red's Bar & Package at Five Points on Dixie Highway. But while Reds and the citys gay bars cater to different clientele, all are welcoming, regardless of who wants to order a drink. Owner King Wilkinson only has two rules: pay your tab and behave yourself. Thats all that matters, said Wilkinson, who was mayor here in the 1990s and can often be found at Reds wearing his white Stetson. Everyones treated equally here. Betty Taylor said she and her wife regularly pull up barstools at Reds and Taylor has been coming for 12 years. Everyones welcome. Even lesbians. We have a lot of gays that come here, said Taylor, who added that she feels more at home at Reds than at the citys gay and lesbian bars. These people are my family. Everybody just loves everybody here. No ones ever been a stranger. Manager Velia Velazquez said Reds is a redneck and family bar. You can hear it in the string of country and class rock songs that get played regularly. But the jukebox also has plenty of new hits for those with updated tastes. We get a little bit of everything here, said manager Velia Velazquez. The employees and the customers are like a family. Theyre actual friends. Velazquez and bartender Diane Avery have been with Wilkinson since the beginning. Its so cheerful. Everybody has such a good time. They dont want to leave. Its a lively group of people, Avery said. Built in 1949 out of two Navy barracks by Irwin Red Barnwell, Reds is also the oldest bar in the city and one of the oldest in Broward County. Wilkinson bought it in 2005. Were proud of our faithful customers who come back every day. He said he keeps them coming back with cheap drinks, free hors d'oeuvres, and courteous service. Its a lot hard work to please our customers. But its satisfying, Velazquez said. Retired firefighter Kevin Kenney has been coming to Reds for 42 years, ever since he was 15. The barmaids know me. If I say I dont want a Bud Light, they know to get me a gin and tonic. Kenney first came to Reds for what wasnt there questions about his age at a time when the minimum drinking age in Florida was only 18. Kenney keeps coming back because of the people, the memories, and the good, cheap drinks. Everyone knows Reds Bar. My father came here. My two brothers came here. Every vehicle Ive ever owned has been parked behind Reds. At Reds, Kenney got married, celebrated his 20th birthday, and got into his first fight last St. Patricks Day. Its definitely a real, blue collar bar. Its a firefighters bar, said Kenney as he pointed to the fire helmets, donated mostly by retired firefighters, hanging around the bar. Some of the helmets are from active firefighters who were promoted to captain and donated their lieutenant helmets. Theres probably 200 years plus of fire experience. Three of the helmets belonged to him, one of his brothers, and his father. Kenney said he was heartbroken when Reds closed before Wilkinson bought it. It was my neighborhood bar. Now, hes thinking about the future and hopes that, whenever Wilkinson decides to retire, he passes Reds on to somebody to keep it going. As soon as Joelle Lee Silcox leaves Novel Tea, shes already planning her next visit and the next thing she wants to order from the menu. In the midst of busy and bustling Fort Lauderdale, Novel Tea stands out as a place to gather your thoughts, grab a quick delicious bite, and receive the best service in South Florida! Not only will you have a difficult time deciding which delectable to try, but once you taste the first bite of whatever you have painstakingly chosen, you will transcend into sheer bliss, she wrote on Novel Teas Facebook page. Opened in August of 2015 by Ray Delgado and Todd Bowe, Novel Tea, 2043 Wilton Drive, feels much like a traditional independent coffee shop. There are sacks of coffee beans on the floor, comfortable couches and seats, local art on the walls, and plenty of books on shelves and stacked on the floor, which can be read or borrowed. Some of the books are even used to prop up one of the couches, in lieu of its lost leg those are probably the only books customers cant borrow. Its a very odd couch, said Bowe with a laugh. The leg came off one day when the couch was being moved for a special event. We got a couple books [under it] and called it a day, said Delgado. Novel Tea serves craft beer, wine, if you need to get your drink on, said Bowe and coffee, including a special Cuban-style cafe con leche made by true Cuban Delgado. But, unlike a coffee house, tea is what Delgado and Bowe specialize in. The married partners, who live in FAT Village in Fort Lauderdale, serve 40 different kinds of loose leaf teas greens, blacks, reds, herbal, boba tea, and bubble tea. On Yelps Best Bubble Tea in Fort Lauderdale review, Novel Tea was the only business to get a full five stars. It also got five stars for Best Tea in Fort Lauderdale and Best Boba Tea in Fort Lauderdale. If reds makes the tea sound a little like varietals of wine, Delgado said theres a whole culture of tea lovers who take their passion just as seriously as wine lovers do. The origin of the tea leaves includes Brazil, Kenya, and Costa Rica. Our organic tea is certified in New York. The coffee beans come from Argyle Coffee Roasters in Flagler Village. Youre always getting the freshest roast, Delgado said. To avoid the impurities of city water, Novel Tea uses bottled water in the brewing process. Even the ice is filtered. We try to keep it as pure as we can, Bowe said. We try to get as much organic as we can. Our organic teas are certified in New York, he added. Customers looking for a bite to go with their tea or coffee, can order breads, cookies, muffins, tarts, empanadas, quiches, scones, a hummus pizza, and other menu items all made by a pastry chef. Items you wont find [served] by our neighbors, Bowe said. He added that Novel Tea wont sell the same items as the other businesses in the same shopping center because theres a sense of cooperation and goodwill that he and Delgado want to foster and be a part of. They also want to be a part of the charitable giving many Wilton Manors business owners take part in. The two say charitable events are held regularly at their business. Last month, they partnered with Hunters Nightclub to raise $720 each for Wilton Manors Elementary School. Novel Tea raises the money through a tip jug they put on the counter. We call this our growler, said Delgado as he grabs one of the jugs. Theyve also donated to SunServe, Kids In Distress, Women In Distress, Everglades Angels, a dog rescue organization, and others. Novel Tea is also host to regular special events, including local musicians performing. Delgado and Bowe were inspired to start Novel Tea to spend more time together and to work closer to home. We said do we really want to be in our 80s and regret not doing this? Bowe said. Originally, opening in FAT Village was the plan but no space that was appropriate opened-up. Inspired by their shared love of photography, Bowe and Delgado also wanted to create a photography studio/tea shop, but decided it was better to focus on the tea. As a nod to their previous plans, the works of local artists are featured on the walls. Its also part of the feeling of home the two wanted to create for customers. You get the same service here as if you were in our home, Delgado said. So, dont be afraid to put your feet up and get comfortable. This is a place of love and karma. There are no TVs. This is a little respite from all that, Bowe said. tupungato/iStock/ThinkstockThe news that the Department of Justice has appointed a special counsel to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election came as a bombshell in Washington. The White House was informed of the decision less than an hour before the news was publicly announced, and many in the FBI had no notice at all, sources told ABC News. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," President Donald Trump said in a statement. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." On the Hill, a number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle praised the selection of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who also served as a U.S. attorney. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah -- who earlier today invited ousted FBI Director James Comey to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on issues related to the "FBI's independence" -- lauded Mueller's "impeccable credentials" and said he "should be widely accepted." Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted. Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) May 17, 2017 One of the first congressional Republicans to call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to address Russia's alleged election meddling, California Rep. Darrell Issa said today, "It's time to get to the bottom of this." "I've been pressing the DOJ to take this step for nearly 3 months because Americans deserve nothing less than the truth," he added in a statement. "I have faith that Robert Mueller will provide the independence necessary to be sure this investigation is conducted with the trust and confidence of the American people." Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that is currently investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign said in a statement the announcement was "a good first step to get to the bottom of the many questions we have had about Russian interference in our election and possible ties to the president." "Bob ... is respected, he is talented and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing," Feinstein said. Her Republican counterpart on the Judiciary Committee, chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, praised the Justice Department's decision. "I have a great deal of confidence Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and I respect his decision," Grassley said. Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions previously recused himself from the investigation, it was Rosenstein, not Sessions, who announced the special counsel. "At the end of the day, we need a public accounting of what went on to restore faith in government," Grassley added. The chair and vice chair of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, which is also investigating the Trump/Russia issue, came together for a joint statement: The appointment of former FBI Director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," Sens. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said in their statement, noting their committee would continue its own investigation. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016, called the appointment "a good move" on Twitter. "Now let's get some answers," he added. Clinton's former spokesperson, Brian Fallon, also weighed in, saying Mueller "has Jim Comey's independent streak, minus Comey's lust for the spotlight." During the campaign, Fallon blasted Comey's decision to publicly announce the FBI was reopening the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. It does not get more legit than this selection. https://t.co/L69gJmo8Cq Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 17, 2017 Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, called Mueller's appointment "a victory for all Americans who believe in the integrity of the rule of law" and insisted the investigation "must be given the full resources and independence it needs to succeed." This is a victory for all Americans who believe in the integrity of the rule of law. https://t.co/WZhuWDBKF2 Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) May 17, 2017 Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis. -- who stood by President Trump on Wednesday even as talk of Comey's memos about possibly inappropriate conversations swirled -- said he welcomed Mueller's appointment. "My priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. That is what weve been doing here in the House," Ryan said in a statement. "The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue." Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, noted she was "pleased" by the Justice Department's designation of Mueller, but said the appointment "is the first step, but it cannot be the last. Director Mueller will still be in the chain of command under the Trump-appointed leadership of the Justice Department. He cannot take the place of a truly independent, outside commission." "This takes the politics out of it, hopefully. This has gotten too political," Rep. Adam Kitzinger, R-Illinois, told reporters. "I think it's a good move and hopefully something that will give the American people some peace that we'll get to the bottom of this." According to the Justice Department, Mueller -- who is resigning from his law firm to avoid any conflicts of interest -- will have all of the authorities of a U.S. attorney, including the ability to take the matter before a grand jury and the ability to issue subpoenas. Although he has wide latitude to hire his team, Mueller's budget will be subject to approval by Roseinstein. Today's news comes on the heels of a series of startling revelations this month: First, Trump's announcement he had fired FBI director James Comey, who was leading the Russia probe, then the news that Trump disclosed classified intelligence to Russian officials, and finally, reports that Trump asked Comey to ease up on the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was fired after he mislead the vice president about the nature of his discussions with Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. President Trump has labeled allegations of collusion with Russia "a total hoax." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. (SS) Wilton Manors police fired an officer after seven months on the job and the department said it is investigating him for possible criminal activity. Douglas John Dickinson, 28, joined the department on Sept. 23, and earned $52,042. He was dismissed April 27. Mr. Dickinson has been terminated while a probationary employee for not meeting department standards, Wilton Manors Police Chief Paul OConnell said. After his termination, our department opened a criminal investigation in which Mr. Dickinson is the subject. Citing the criminal investigation, OConnell said he could not comment further. Dickinson previously worked for Camden County Police in New Jersey. In October, a month into working his new job in South Florida, he pleaded guilty to a charge of simple assault, according to the Camden County prosecutors office. When asked about his departure from Wilton Manors police, its investigation and his approximately two-year employment with Camden County police, Dickinson said by phone Monday, I have no comment on any of that. He declined to identify an attorney who may be representing him in either situation. A federal court lawsuit accuses Dickinson of violating the civil rights of Quinzelle Bethea, a man he arrested in Camden County in 2015 on suspicion of resisting arrest, obstructing justice and assault on a police officer. Bethea spent three weeks in a Camden County jail because he couldnt pay $15,000 bail. Betheas complaint alleges that surveillance video of the arrest showed Dickinson had assaulted Bethea, who required a visit to a hospital for injuries to his arms and shoulders and abrasions to his right eye, nose, knees and elbows and bruises on the back of his head. Charges against Bethea were dismissed in April 2016. Bethea is seeking a jury trial and damages, alleging unnecessary and excessive force, illegal search, false arrest and malicious prosecution, according to the complaint. A spokesman for Camden County Police could not be reached. Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo charged Dickinson with filing false police reports in two cases and one count of simple assault, according to a June 2016 news release from that office. Those alleged offenses prompted Colalillo to dismiss at least 18 cases, mostly related to drug distribution, because Dickinson was the sole officer who would have been called to testify, she said then. In October, Dickinson pleaded guilty to simple assault in the Camden prosecutors case, said Alexandra McVeigh, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office. The number of cases Dickinson was involved with rose to more than 35, she said. OConnell said all applicants to Wilton Manors police undergo background checks. There have been no complaints from city of Wilton Manors residents for any police abuse [related to Dickinson], OConnell said. Starfish Prime LANL Our Cold War history is now offering scientists a chance to better understand the complex space system that surrounds us. Space weather. This can include changes in Earths magnetic environment are usually triggered by the suns activity, but recently declassified data on high-altitude nuclear explosion tests have provided a new look at the mechansisms that set off perturbations in that magnetic system. Such information can help support NASAs efforts to protect satellites and astronauts from the natural radiation inherent in space. From 1958 to 1962, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. ran high-altitude tests with exotic code names like Starfish, Argus and Teak. The tests have long since ended, and the goals at the time were military. Today, however, they can provide crucial information on how humans can affect space. The tests, and other human-induced space weather, are the focus of a comprehensive new study published in Space Science Reviews. The tests were a human-generated and extreme example of some of the space weather effects frequently caused by the sun, said Phil Erickson, assistant director at MITs Haystack Observatory, Westford, Massachusetts, and co-author on the paper. If we understand what happened in the somewhat controlled and extreme event that was caused by one of these man-made events, we can more easily understand the natural variation in the near-space environment. By and large, space weather? which affects the region of near-Earth space where astronauts and satellites travel ? is typically driven by external factors. The sun sends out millions of high-energy particles, the solar wind, which races out across the solar system before encountering Earth and its magnetosphere, a protective magnetic field surrounding the planet. Most of the charged particles are deflected, but some make their way into near-Earth space and can impact our satellites by damaging onboard electronics and disrupting communications or navigation signals. These particles, along with electromagnetic energy that accompanies them, can also cause auroras, while changes in the magnetic field can induce currents that damage power grids. The Cold War tests, which detonated explosives at heights from 16 to 250 miles above the surface, mimicked some of these natural effects. Upon detonation, a first blast wave expelled an expanding fireball of plasma, a hot gas of electrically charged particles. This created a geomagnetic disturbance, which distorted Earths magnetic field lines and induced an electric field on the surface. Some of the tests even created artificial radiation belts, akin to the natural Van Allen radiation belts, a layer of charged particles held in place by Earths magnetic fields. The artificially trapped charged particles remained in significant numbers for weeks, and in one case, years. These particles, natural and artificial, can affect electronics on high-flying satellites in fact some failed as a result of the tests. Although the induced radiation belts were physically similar to Earths natural radiation belts, their trapped particles had different energies. By comparing the energies of the particles, it is possible to distinguish the fission-generated particles and those naturally occurring in the Van Allen belts. Other tests mimicked other natural phenomena we see in space. The Teak test, which took place on Aug. 1, 1958, was notable for the artificial aurora that resulted. The test was conducted over Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. On the same day, the Apia Observatory in Western Samoa observed a highly unusual aurora, which are typically only observed in at the poles. The energetic particles released by the test likely followed Earths magnetic field lines to the Polynesian island nation, inducing the aurora. Observing how the tests caused aurora, can provide insight into what the natural auroral mechanisms are too. Later that same year, when the Argus tests were conducted, effects were seen around the world. These tests were conducted at higher altitudes than previous tests, allowing the particles to travel farther around Earth. Sudden geomagnetic storms were observed from Sweden to Arizona and scientists used the observed time of the events to determine the speed at which the particles from the explosion traveled. They observed two high-speed waves: the first travelled at 1,860 miles per second and the second, less than a fourth that speed. Unlike the artificial radiation belts, these geomagnetic effects were short-lived, lasting only seconds. Atmospheric nuclear testing has long since stopped, and the present space environment remains dominated by natural phenomena. However, considering such historical events allows scientists and engineers to understand the effects of space weather on our infrastructure and technical systems. Such information adds to a larger body of heliophysics research, which studies our near-Earth space environment in order to better understand the natural causes of space weather. NASA missions such as Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Van Allen Probes and Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) study Earths magnetosphere and the causes of space weather. Other NASA missions, like STEREO, constantly survey the sun to look for activity that could trigger space weather. These missions help inform scientists about the complex system we live in, and how to protect the satellites we utilize for communication and navigation on a daily basis. On Wednesday, May 10th, Minneapolis-based green coffee importing company Cafe Imports kicked off their 2017 Legendary Coffee Tour with a stop in Toronto at Boxcar Socials Harbourfront location. The event, hosted by Cafe Imports very own Adrienne Blasky and Sally Rivera, began in the afternoon with a cupping and rolled into the early evening with an engaging panel discussion called Stump the Roaster featuring six Ontario-based coffee roasters. The cupping attracted a solid crowd of industry professionals and local coffee enthusiasts. In total there were 10 coffees to taste on the tableall of which were roasted in the Cafe Imports lab. The first few passes of the cupping were blind and left the coffee tasters in anticipation for the big reveal of coffee origin as well as processing method. In true Cafe Imports fashion, the format of Stump the Roaster panel had a creative structure that paralleled the phases of coffee roasting. The so-called First Crack consisted of panelist introductions and questions from emcee Blasky. During the Second Crack the audience was invited to ask the roasters questions. The panel then wrapped up with The Dropor a round of rapid fire questions from Blasky. Afterwards, Cafe Imports invited everyone to stay for conversation as well as refreshments and food, which were sponsored by Mill City Roasters and La Marzocco, respectively. This part of the event was referred to as the Cool Down. The Stump the Roaster panel of guests included Jonathan Cox of Propeller Coffee Company, Anna Porretta of Bona Fide Bean Coffee Company, Lee Knuttila of Cut Coffee, Cliff Hansen of Cut Coffee, Geoff Woodley of Detour Coffee Inc., and Steven Souphanthong of Social Coffee Co. These roasters had anywhere from under three years to over seven years experience and used roasters ranging from a 3-kilo Diedrich to a 60-kilo Probat. As you can see weve got a lot of variety on roast experience, current roast times, and sizes of roaster, so I think weve got a really good panel to answer your questions, said Blasky. During First Crack the conversation covered the challenges experienced when starting out as a roaster as well as some useful coffee roasting resources. Blasky also asked the roasters about how they calibrate and collaborate. Overall the consensus seemed to be that tasting a lot of coffee in collaboration with a large variety of people was the best way for these roasters to calibrate. For me personally, I have a Q Grader licenseand I have to renew that every three yearsjust to ensure my sensory acuity or my coffee knowledge is up to par, said Anna Porretta, who roasts in Vaughan, Ontario for Bona Fide Bean Coffee. Cliff Hansen of Bridgehead also added, Even if you dont roast you can still taste. Ive got tons of friends in coffee and I always ask them, What does this taste like to you? What are you getting out of this? Bridgehead is a coffee company with twenty retail locations in and around Ottawa. Second crack inspired mostly technical questions from the audience. One guest asked the roasters specifically how they roast for acidity, which prompted some insightful responses from the panel. Roasting for sweetness unlocks the window into origin all fruit notes usually have aciditya really sweet peach, cherry, grapes. If you roast for sweetness acidity will be therenot eliminatedand will actually be showcased, said Lee Knuttila of Torontos Cut Coffee. Geoff Woodley from Hamilton-based Detour Coffee agreed. We have to roast for the water most of our customers are using so that really affects how we roast for acidity as well, said Woodley. Acidity is so influenced by the brewing water its amazing. Cafe Imports has been doing business in Canada for roughly a decade and this isnt the first time they have put a Canadian stop on their tour schedule. Back in 2015 the Legendary Cupping Tour visited Vancouver at Elysian Coffee Roasters. Still, we had to ask the Cafe Imports teamwhy did they choose to bring their 2017 Legendary Coffee Tour to Toronto? A major goal of the tour is to reach places we wouldnt normally be traveling to for industry related events. We have a number of customers in Toronto, so using them as a barometer we knew it would be a great place to put on such an event. We wanted to give some coffee love to Toronto, said Cafe Imports creative director, Andy Reiland. Indeed, the Legendary Coffee Tour was just the kind of eventand coffee loveour local coffee community needs. The Legendary Coffee Tour continues May 17th in Tampa, May 18th in Miami, Indianapolis on May 25th, and June 2nd in Denver. Complete details via Cafe Imports official website. Ashley Tomlinson is the founder of The Little Black Coffee Cup, a digital coffee publication based in Toronto. Read more Ashley Tomlinson on Sprudge. Long Island City, a neighborhood once considered the dominion of taxi garages and film studios, is at last so up and coming that outsiders now realize its actually in Queens. As the area sees wave after wave of condo booms, coffee will inevitably follow. Tobys Estate, a roaster with US operations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and soon Seattle, recently crossed the Pulaski Bridge from Brooklyn toward opportunity. The company, which originated in Australia, opened its fifth New York City cafe earlier this year within a turn-of-the-century brick building in Long Island City, gutted from the ground straight through to its third-story top for a dramatic cathedral effect, bringing the sun right in. The cafe space has the characteristic Tobys polishthe shops always feel rather adultbut with an extra touch of warmth. As you step insideand off the chaotic thoroughfare of Jackson Avenueyoure guided toward the bar alongside a long, sleek, serpentine wood bench. The cafes tasteful doses of walnut veneer, marble countertop, and just enough fancy floor tile all work together to invite you inand back, toward the promising courtyard. The space is the collective effort of co-owner Adam Boyd in partnership with Studio Vural, says Boyds partner, Amber Jacobsen. All the tile and the beautiful bench seats were all designed by Adam, she says. He sources all the wood, hes into all of that, and then I come in and go, Wouldnt it be nice to have a fake taxidermy papier-mache walrus? Tobys Long Island City is going to be a fantastic cafe for us, especially in the summer, says Jacobsen. The pair envisions a back courtyard filled with patrons happily sipping afternoon coffeesand hopefully a grill, working up breakfast rolls and fancy sausages. A beer and wine license may emerge as well. The only disappointing thing is you cant bring your dogs, Jacobsen adds. Despite the courtyards inarguable appeal, this cafes location may at first surprise fans of the brand, which is known for prime locations such as Northside Williamsburg and Manhattans Fifth Avenuebut its all part of a long-term plan, according to Boyd. The developers working along this stretch of Jackson are trying hard to ensure a bit of authenticity to the areas rapid growthnever mind the Chipotle across the street. Despite the newness of this areas urban vertical expansion, youll see independents moving in alongside Tobys LIC, Boyd promises. Look for Luzzos pizza and even a bookstore to fill out adjacent street-level shops. And of course, inside, the appeal to the areas swelling residential community is obvious. Alongside Tobys own coffee, roasted for now at its Williamsburg location, the cafe offers small breakfast plates (Kossars bagels, avocado toast), a few wee packaged snacks (Good Batch cookies, McClures chips), and a variety of ice cream and coffee concoctions made with Van Leeuwen ice cream. Atop the bar youll see a La Marzocco Strada for espresso and a Nuova Simonelli Mythos One grinder, as well as a Hario V60 pour-over bar, and three cold-brew drafts on tap. (The tempting background players include a smattering of Mazzer grinders, a FETCO for batch-brewed filter coffee, a Marco Ecosmart PB10, a Hamilton Beach shake machine for those ice cream drinks, and a Soda Stream). Jacobsen says the roasters expansion north is not part of a strong desire to fill each borough with Tobys Estate cafes. We really see ourselves as wholesalers, she says. We really want to source great coffee and sell it to our partners. The retail stores are almost happenstance when we see a great opportunity and see a wonderful space. Looking beyond this particular happenstance, Boyd and Jacobsen have their eyes on expanding roasting operations and adding larger laboratory and education space along with that. Were sort of outgrowing our Williamsburg space, which is a bit annoying, says Jacobsen. Planning out the new roastery, as well as a residence in May at the KEXP-La Marzocco Cafe in Seattle, and the opening of a permanent Tobys Estate cafe in downtown Seattle, are next on their agenda. Wellthose things, and getting that back courtyard grill installed in Long Island City in time for summer. Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge. In the 250th Anniversary year of Horse Racing in Canada, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Legends Committee unanimously named a mare called Modesty, who won the first advertised and reported horse race on Canadian soil, as the 2017 Legend Honouree. The official unveiling of the display panel for Modesty, who won the historic race held on the Plains of Abraham on July 1, 1767, took place at a reception on Wednesday evening (May 17) in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. "Only the highest echelon of horses and people are inducted into the Hall of Fame for the greatest honour in horse racing," said Jamie Martin, Vice President of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, at the Wednesday evening ceremony. "Today, we are inducting the oldest honouree in the Hall of Fame. The 2017 Hall of Fame has selected and honoured a horse today that truly represents the beginning of horse racing in this country." Jamie Martin, Vice President of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, speaking at the 2017 Legends honouree unveiling ceremony on May 17. (SC Photo) An advertisement in the June 25, 1767 issue of the Quebec Gazette called for entries for a horse race scheduled to take place July 1 for a purse of $40 at Five Oclock in the afternoon Precisely: The best of three heats, once around the course each heat. Results of the race were announced in the July 9 issue of the same publication as follows: The purse of $40 was won with greatest ease by Captain Prescotts Mare Modesty." It was termed an upset, much to the discomfiture of those, who purporting to know about such things, had wagered against her and were thereby parted from their money. The contest did afford much pleasure and there were no accidents save that some few riders were thrown from their mounts, from which circumstance it appeared that they suffered more fright than injury. More complete information about that initial horse race can be found here. It is from this race, held 100 years to the day before Canadas Confederation, that all horse racing in Canada has evolved, bringing us to this tremendous 250th anniversary and celebration in 2017. "This milestone gives this industry an opportunity to speak with one voice," said Linda Rainey, the Hall of Fame's Managing Director. "Take the opportunity in 2017 to tell our Canadian horse racing story and celebrate our rich history." The crowd on hand for the 2017 Legends honouree unveiling ceremony on May 17. (SC Photo) The Legends category in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was originally established in 2000 as a millennium project, created to honour the early pioneers of horse racing in Canada. It has been carried on to help bring attention to those horses and people dating back at least 50 years before the year of recognition. "This legend is at the heart of our sport and history," noted Jim Bannon, Hall of Fame Director and inductee. Hall of Fame member Lou Cauz unveils the Legends panel honouring Modesty on May 17. (SC Photo) A close up view of Modesty's Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame panel. (SC Photo) In addition to the announcement of the 2017 Legend honouree, the reception also included the unveiling of display panels belonging to those inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2016 and the public introduction of the 2017 inductees, announced earlier. The Hall of Fame Class of 2017 includes Standardbred horses Mach Three, Happy Lady and Elegantimage, as well as trainer/driver Blair Burgess, and builder Dr. Gordon Gilbertson. Thoroughbred honourees include Quiet Resolve and South Ocean along with builder Eugene Melnyk, trainer Harold Barroby and communicator Curtis Stock. Induction ceremonies of the 2017 inductees will be held at a Gala scheduled to take place Wednesday, Aug. 9 at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Tickets can be ordered by contacting 416-417-9404. (With files from Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame) Friday, May 19 marks the start of the New Jersey Sire Stakes. A total of six $20,000 divisions for sophomore trotters and pacers will take place at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Trotting fillies will open the card with Glitzey Gal the slight 2-1 early choice in a competitive field of seven. She accomplished little last season in a handful of starts, but has returned stronger and faster, winning in 1:56 in her most recent outing for trainer Nifty Norman. David Miller has the drive in Friday's race for owners David McDuffee, Mel Hartman and Little E, LLC. Last year's NJSS final and Dan Patch award winner Ariana G banked nearly three-quarters of a million dollars while winning all the majors for the Jimmy Takter barn. She's had a pair of qualifiers to prepare for her 2017 debut as the heavy early favourite in the second division (Race 5). Yannick Gingras drives the homebred lass for Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld. The colts will battle it out in Races 3 and 8, with Deacon Tony given the 9-5 early edge in the first and considerably easier split. He's off to a good start on the campaign with a pair of wins thus far for trainer Ron Burke and owners Our Horse Cents, Deo Volente, TLP Stable and Silva Burroughs Stable. Gingras has the drive on Deacon Tony. The second division contains the defending NJSS champ and Peter Haughton final winner in What The Hill. The Burke trainee was a 1:55.3 winner in his first start at age three for owners Burke Racing, Our Horse Cents, J&T Silva Stable and Deo Volente. David Miller is the driver. Last year's top New Jersey freshman pacer Every Way Out is the prohibitive choice in the single division of the colt pace. He makes his seasonal debut on Friday for owners Taylor, Basen, Gold and Lazzaro. Dylan Davis is the trainer and Tim Tetrick the driver for Every Way Out. Designated Drinker won the 2016 NJSS filly pace final for owner (in partnership with Triple C Stable), trainer and driver Chris Lems last year but is a 10-1 outsider in Race 10. The favourite's role falls to John Cancelliere's homebred Colorful Jasmine. She got a late start to her freshman campaign and missed last year's NJSS but has quickly caught up to the field and flashed god speed in her 2017 debut with an easy 1:54.1 score at Harrah's. Tom Cancelliere trains and Corey Callahan will drive Colorful Jasmine. The menu in Pink features a Portuguese theme this Friday for $29.95. Saturday is Preakness Day, the middle jewel of Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. The gates open at 9:30 a.m. Friday's post time is 7:15 p.m. (Meadowlands Racetrack) Successful Entrepreneur Shares Keys to Wealth with College Graduates A Graduate's Guide to Life by Frank J. Hanna is a roadmap to authentic success that offers a new perspective on wealth. "One of the critical points I want to make here, as someone who lives and breathes every day in the world of finance, is that material wealth is inherently a function of hope." Frank J. Hanna Contact: Kristen Whalen, 888-618-5253 ext 14 NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla., May 18, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Many students are told that college will be "the best four years of your life." A Graduate's Guide to Life reassures new college graduates that their best years are still ahead if they have a strategy that goes beyond what was learned in school. Author Frank J. Hanna proposes a radically different approach to wealth and success. Hanna has been engaged in private equity and venture capital for over twenty-five years and is featured in the PBS documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur. He has advised and served on the boards of numerous think tanks and speaks frequently about macroeconomics, education, and philanthropy. Hannah's direct involvement in education reform for the last thirty years has motivated him to share fundamental life principles he believes new graduates are not exposed to in the classroom, such as: Wealth is not merely money. Competition has a higher purpose than simply getting ahead. A life of happiness is simpler to attain than we imagine. Hanna's simple message, conveyed with clarity and insight, will change your views of wealth and success. This brief read is conversational, lighthearted, and inspirational sure to resonate with new graduates who are receptive to themes of self-awareness, hope, and community. Beacon Publishing Beacon Publishing was founded in 1999 and is located in North Palm Beach, Florida. Beacon is committed to publishing world-class resources that inspire people to become the best-version-of-themselves. Available on Amazon and online at: beaconpublishinginc.com/product/graduates-guide Title: A Graduate's Guide to Life: Three Things They Don't Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference Author: Frank J. Hanna Publisher: Beacon Publishing Pub date: April 26, 2017 ISBN: 978-1-942611-27-2 (hardcover) Price: $14.95 Thousands Support Catholic Teacher Punished for Quoting Saint on Islam Contact: John Ritchie, TFP Student Action, 717-225-7147 ext 229 HANOVER, Penn., May 18, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Sixth-grade teacher Mark Smythe was reportedly threatened with dismissal after he used a catechetical text about Islam written by Saint John Bosco at Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Ocala, Florida. Dr. Jacquelyn Flanigan, Associate Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Orlando instead of standing by Mark Smythe reportedly reprimanded him for "disrespect" to Islam, claiming that his action was "not consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church." Many Catholics are perplexed however. "I don't understand why a Catholic instructor at a Catholic school is being punished for quoting a Catholic saint," said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. "This is not only troublesome, but also unjust." So far more than 16,559 people have signed a petition in support of the teacher, urging the Catholic Superintendant of Schools for the Diocese of Orlando to respect Mr. Smythe's academic freedom. Read and sign the petition here: www.tfpstudentaction.org/petitions/urge-catholic-school-not-to-sack-teacher-for-quoting-saint-john-bosco-on-islam The petition poses a series of questions: "If Mark is threatened with dismissal for quoting Saint John Bosco, what other Catholic saints will be next? Saint Thomas Aquinas? Blessed Urban II who convoked the Crusades? Saint Pius V who celebrated the victory of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Catholic fleet over Islam at Lepanto? Saint Francis of Assisi who tried to convince sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt of the errors of Islam and bring him to the truth of the Catholic faith?" Those who signed the petition are calling on school officials to serve "justice and truth by retaining Mr. Smythe as a teacher." Measures to allow such shops in El Segundo, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach are all on their way to failing, based on semi-official election results A Kelso man was arrested Tuesday morning after he made threatening statements, referenced the Columbine High School shooting and refused to leave a West Longview child care facility, according to Longview police. John Michael Goulding-Booth, 36, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and a felony drug offense. Police were called around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to the Faith Family Christian Center on 38th Avenue about a man who had entered the school and was making threatening statements. He made references to the 1999 Columbine shooting, in which 12 students and one teacher were gunned down by two fellow students who later killed themselves. Goulding-Booth made other statements about a penitentiary, the Illuminati, used foul language and threatened to kick in the entry doors, according to Chris Blanchard, a Longview police spokesperson. Goulding-Booth refused to comply with staff and police requests to leave. Goulding-Booth was arrested and when officers searched him they found what appeared to be drugs in his pocket, Blanchard said. The drugs preliminarily tested positive for amphetamines, Blanchard said. There were no injuries, Blanchard said. A Longview man who is a convicted sex offender made his first court appearance Tuesday on new, multiple child molestation charges. Cowlitz Superior Court Judge Michael Evans found probable cause to charge Michael Jay Conder, 33, with four counts of first-degree child molestation. Evans set bail at $200,000. Conder will be arraigned at 1 p.m. May 30. On Monday, a Longview police investigator received a phone call from a detective with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in California. The call was in reference to sexually explicit images of a minor female child living in Longview. The images were sent over a video-sharing app and the child was identified as an 11-year-old girl, according to court records. The Longview investigator and a school counselor interviewed the girl at school. The girl told them a male known to her had been making her touch him at night, according to court records. That male was later identified as Conder. During a follow-up interview, the girl told the investigator that on more than five occasions while she slept, Conder would take her hand and use it for sexual contact. She told investigators she pretended to be asleep the whole time, according to court records. Conder admitted to police that he engaged in sexual conduct with the 11-year-old girl on three to five occasions, according to court records. Conder also admitted to engaging in the same actions with another 13-year-old female known to him, the documents show. Conder has previous felony convictions for burglary and failure to register as a sex offender. Conder also has juvenile convictions for child molestation. Longview police are searching for an armed robber who struck a convenience store Tuesday night. Around 9:45 p.m., police responded to the call at The Hemlock Store, located at 2952 Hemlock St. A clerk and customer were inside when a man with a bandana over his face entered and pointed what appeared to be a pistol at the clerk, said Chris Blanchard, spokesperson for Longview police. The man demanded money from the register and told the clerk to get on the ground, Blanchard said. Police are withholding the amount of cash taken at this time for investigative reasons, Blanchard said. The Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office police dog participated in an unsuccessful search for the robber. Police have no leads, Blanchard said. No injuries were reported. The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic male, approximately 5-foot-7 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. He was wearing a black hoodie, khaki pants and a bandana over his face. He is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Longview police at (360)-442-5800. Some of Longviews top administrative and non-union officials would get raises ranging from 2 percent to 28 percent under salary recommendations that city staff will present to the City Council on Thursday night. The citys human resources department compared the salaries of 59 professional, technical and administrative (PTA) positions with those in 13 cities across Washington of similar population and property values. The survey found that Longview salaries on average were almost 6 percent below the other cities. In particular, Longview executives and department heads make about 9 percent less. City officials are proposing to increase the salaries of 26 positions. The biggest increase is 27.8 percent for the city clerk. Most hikes would be in the 5 percent to 8 percent range. Some would take effect in June or July, with the remaining raises starting in January, according to City Manager David Campbell. Its been forever since weve done something like this with respect to our non-union employees, Campbell said. Through the course of negotiating contracts with represented employees we go through a similar process every two years, but weve not done the same thing with non-represented employees. Campbell, who is not slated for a raise under the proposal, said Longview needs to keep wages for its employees competitive so it can attract and retain talented workers. The proposed plan would bring the average salaries of PTA employees to 1.04 percent below their peers. Fire Chief Phil Jurmu, Police Chief Jim Duscha and Public Works Director Jeff Cameron would all get a 6.3 percent raise. Their pay currently ranges between $117,000 and $126,000. City Finance Director Kurt Sacha, who now makes $131,000, would get a 7.2 percent raise. The pay raises would cost $260,000 over the next year and a half. Thats more than the cost of employing two police officers. The city had not budgeted for the pay raises, but the citys salary expenses have fallen short of the amount budgeted every year since 2010. And annual salary costs fell $500,000 short of the budget between 2013 and 2015, according to city briefing documents. The city conducted a similar study in 2008 which resulted in changes to how positions were classified, but budget restrictions and the economic downturn at the time prevented the city from following through on salary adjustment, according to Campbell. A committee of council members Mary Jane Melink, Scott Vydra and Chet Makinster worked with city officials and approved the findings of the survey. The full City Council will hear these proposals at the workshop meeting Thursday night, and Campbell said he is optimistic. Were hoping that (the committees) concurrence with the recommendation will carry forth to the rest of the council, Campbell said. But we dont have the feedback yet until we have the meeting with the full council tomorrow. No final decisions will be made Thursday, but further research may be requested. The public will have a chance to ask questions and voice opinions at the regular council meeting on May 25. The salary survey compared Longview pay to those in Bonney Lake, Camas, Kenmore, Maple Valley, Mountlake Terrace, Oak Harbor, University Place, Bremerton, Des Moines, Lake Stevens, Mount Vernon, Mukilteo and Tumwater. IANS In a bid to gain foothold in the fast-growing Indian smartphone market, Apple on Wednesday announced commencement of initial production of its popular iPhone SE model at its Bengaluru facility. "We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SE in Bengaluru. iPhone SE is the most popular and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world and we'll begin shipping to domestic customers this month," Apple told IANS in an email. IANS also learnt that to begin with, it will be a trial run with small quantities of iPhone SE units being assembled at the facility. Apple has begun assembling iPhone SE models with Wistron Corporation, its Taiwanese manufacturing partner. In February, Karnataka's Minister of State for IT Priyank Kharge had said that Apple plans to make its iPhones in Bengaluru. "An Apple team discussed with us its proposal to set up a plant in Bengaluru to make iPhones for the Indian and global markets," said Kharge. The Apple team, led by iPhone Operations Vice-President Priya Balasubramaniam, Government Affairs Head Ali Khanafer, iPhone Operations Director Dheeraj Chugh and Country Counsel Priyesh Povanna had discussed the proposals with the state officials in the presence of the minister. According to latest data from consumer knowledge and insights firm Kantar Worldpanel, India is a key country for Apple moving forward. "Apple accounted for 3 percent of sales in the most recent period but has recently made several strategic moves in India, including teaming up with Reliance Jio to offer free 4G service for one year to purchasers of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple is also planning to manufacture iPhones in India in the near future to deflect some of the high import taxes that make iPhones inaccessible to many Indian buyers," the report stated. Apple iPhone 5S has also emerged as the top premium smartphone in seven states while other versions of iOS-driven devices occupy the top five premium spots in non-metro states. Apple has been eyeing India for a greater pie of its growing smartphones market. According to the latest data from IDC, Samsung leads in the market with a 28.1 percent share, followed by Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi, Vivo, Lenovo and Oppo. Sheldon Pinto While a recent report from The Economic Times points to a noticeable drop in prices for both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone SE models, there could be a well-planned reason for this. While the price drop has yet to take place, the idea behind it, as pointed out by the report, hints that Apple indeed wants a bigger slice of India's smartphone market, one that is currently being dominated by Chinese brands like Oppo, Vivo and Korea's Samsung. The rumour Today, there's news coming straight from Apple in a statement sent to The Indo Asian News service that the Cuperatino giant has some concrete plans to set up manufacturing of iPhones in India. In particular Apple told the news network that it plans to manufacture the iPhone SE model in India. While the report pointed out that the same would be manufactured by Wistron, Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner, a Wistron spokesperson told tech2 that it "did not comment on rumors about its business." Wistron told Reuters that it plans to start manufacturing smartphones in India by mid-2017, but did not specify for whom. Oddly, an unnamed source told Reuters that there is currently no agreement or memorandum of understanding that has been finalised with the Karnataka government. Going by the IANS report, the first iPhone models to be manufactured in India would be Apple's iPhone SE, a device that is currently being offered as the "affordable iPhone" despite its mid-range Rs 25,000 price tag. With the iPhone SE production taking place locally, we can expect that price to drop down to the lower twenties (Rs 20,000) so indeed, the manufacturing at Bengaluru, despite being a trial run, will benefit Apple's India operations in some way. The broader picture There is, however, a broader picture to this scenario. It is one that allows Apple some major benefits, ones that it has been craving for more than a year now. Apple has been hard at work for the past year trying get its way with tax and sourcing concessions. These would definitely help Apple bring down the price of its products in India, which in turn would also give it greater market share, which has seen a sea change of sorts this year. BBK Electronics owned Oppo and Vivo have been fiercely competitive with marketing and offline sales, leaving long-standing international brands like Samsung in the dust. Recent reports point to Oppo and Vivo increasing their market share from a mere 2 percent to a whopping 18 percent, which is a problem for Apple as well. Oddly this has Apple's name all over it as the Cupertino giant has recently been struggling with sales in China. In what continues to be a downward trend, Apple slipped to fifth spot in China, according to market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC). According to the IDCs Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report, Apple dropped from 58.4 million iPhones in 2015 to 44.9 million iPhones in 2016 while Xiaomi from 64 million Mi phones to 41.5 million, drops of 23 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively. In contrast, Oppo shipped 78.4 million phones more than double the 35.4 million it shipped in 2015. Huawei came in at second, shipping 76 million phones, while Vivo managed to almost double its shipments, going from 35 million in 2015 to 69 million last year. According to IDC analyst Navkendar Singh, Oppo is using its money wisely, "The duty differential offered when mobile phones are manufactured in India versus imported offer savings which can and have been used by these China-based vendors, including Oppo, to invest in marketing, channel development and distribution." "This is a fairly straight forward and obvious reason to set up and expand the manufacturing base in India" he added. Singh also said that India is an attractive place to manufacture, thanks to a lower labour cost ,even in comparison to China. What Apple loses out in China, it probably looks to regain from India, the next big market for smartphones. But with the Chinese invasion from brands like Oppo and Vivo spending big on advertising and manufacturing, is Apple a bit too late? Not exactly, says Singh "Given that China market is not expected to grow as rapidly as India in next few years, India presents itself as the next big fast growing market. Moreover, India offers a huge potential smartphone replacement users, along with Feature to Smartphone migrants in next few years." Even right now, Singh claims that Apples manufacturing is critical if viewed from the aspect that this will give savings to Apple. "Apple can decide to pass it on to the consumer (unlikely as of now) but also increase its spends on expanding distribution, channel margins, retail marketing spends and ensure placement in smaller towns and cities, where the consumer is highly aspirational and strives for a premium brand like Apple." hidden Chinese authorities warned computer users of the risk of a new cyber attack by a virus similar to WannaCry ransomware that has affected over 150 countries since it was detected last week, causing widespread panic. The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (CVERC) and software company AsiaInfo on Wednesday detected the "UIWIX" virus, which is spreading in a similar way like the "WannaCry" ransomware, Xinhua news agency reported. Both viruses use security holes in the Microsoft Windows operating systems to rename files and encrypt them in order to limit users from accessing the computer or files unless they pay a ransom, CVERC deputy head Chen Jianmin said. The virus usually renames files with the extension ".UIWIX", and although no infections have been reported in China as yet, the CVERC was on alert. Meanwhile, Windows released a security update to protect computers against the virus. Beijing authorities earlier this week announced the discovery of another mutation of WannaCry, the "WannaCry 2.0." Chinese newspaper Global Times said WannaCry is based on EternalBlue, an application developed by US' National Security Agency to attack computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system. Qin An, director of the China Institute of Cyberspace Strategy, said the attack "again reminds the world of the great harm the US' network hegemony and its network weapons can bring about". Among the over 30,000 companies affected by the WannaCry ransomware attack in China included hospitals, train stations, universities, government offices, post offices and gas stations. One of the worst hit by the ransomware was the powerful state-controlled oil company CNPC, the fourth largest company in the world in terms of revenue, which was forced to disconnect the servers of more than 20,000 service stations and temporarily stop accepting online payments. IANS Nimish Sawant The landscape of financial transactions has undergone a sea change over the last couple of years. What was done inside the protective environs of a bank, is now being done by the customer in his or her palm on their smartphones. Online transactions, added with the after-effects of demonetisation has ensured that a lot more people are conducting financial transactions at their own convenience. With so many people suddenly jumping on the online transactions bandwagon, it has also made this field a honeypot for fraudsters who have become more intelligent in their ways of committing frauds. Gone are the days of the 619 scam. Enter scams such as smishing, vishing, first party frauds and much more. Recently the WannaCry ransomware sent shivers down everyones spines when it was learnt that ATMs may have been infected as well. We spoke to Jay Floyd, principal fraud strategy consultant for ACI Worldwide and Mahesh Patel, President and Group CTO, AGS Transact Technologies on the concerns that surround financial fraud. Floyd, who comes from a banking background, has looked at financial fraud cases for close to 18 years now. Here are the insights from the interaction. On the WannaCry ransomware attacks affecting bank customers Banks or any financial institution should already be fully prepared to take care of this type of attack or similar style attacks (e.g. DDoS). They should be ensuring their systems are fully protected and have up to date software and security measures in place. That said, there are reports that Russian Bank(s) have been affected. Typically, this type of attack can occur when the resources are thin on the ground (early hours/holiday periods/weekends). The danger now is that institutions may have their attention in the wrong place. An attack on the scale of WannaCrypt (or WannaCry) is a wake-up call for all countries including India, which is on the cusp of digital revolution. It brings to the fore the collective need for Indian companies to be more vigilant and treat cybersecurity as one of their highest priorities. For end customers, we recommend that they undertake simple precautions like avoid opening emails or attachments from unknown sources as well as be wary of clicking unknown links and downloading or installing unknown software. We also highly recommend updating an Antivirus software on all systems and performing regular backups of critical data in separate devices. How has the landscape of financial fraud changed over the years? Financial fraud comprises a huge, extensive list that we can talk about all day. We will, however, focus on some of the major global trends. One thing that is picking up in Europe and just about starting to hit India is vishing or voice phishing. This is pretty much in the digital space. What happens is that there are huge fraud gangs that operate their own call centres and pose as bank customer staff. A customer would think that the call is coming from his or her bank, but it is the fraudster who is calling. So they will identify themselves as bank staff and ask to check some financial transactions that you conducted in the recent past. They have good information on you and they use that to dupe the customers into sharing their online banking details. This makes use of social engineering. Smishing is text based SMS phishing, which works with the same modus operandi. Something that has not hit India yet is the SIM swap scam. In this case, fraudsters call up your mobile carrier and using some high-level information on you, convince the carrier that you need a SIM change. Once they get the new SIM, which is tied to your mobile number, they effectively own your mobile number. They then use that to commit fraud. Now, especially, with the digital payments boom kicking off in India, that does leave an opportunity for scamsters, and hence security needs to be looked at there. It is quite huge in certain parts of Europe, Middle-East, and Africa regions. ATM fraud and card fraud is still big and it continues to rise globally. Skimming is still very prevalent. What we are now seeing are more sophisticated attacks on ATMs, where it is infected with malware. The darknet has a lot of fraud forums, and you can actually buy fraud solutions by scamsters. Are frauds specific to geographies? Or do they follow patterns and are region-agnostic? There have been times when fraud attack patterns follow from one region to another. I have seen it happen from Australia to South Africa, for one bank I was consulting for. So you do see fraud migration patterns globally. Gangs will target a country, they will cause as much damage as they can and then move to another country. How prepared do you think India is for these kinds of frauds, considering there is a concerted push towards a digital economy? I think the fraud in India has been quite typical over the last few years. But as you put it, India is going into mobile and digital wallets. So ACI works with a lot of banks in India to ensure safety. We are working with AGS to bring solutions to the market. We want to bring the right technology and the right expertise to the market. But there are times when the customer is the culprit In a wallet situation where it is a closed loop and there is no OTP between the issuer and the acquirer as in most cases, both happens to be the same wallet provider. So there can be a lot of disputes that could arise due to that. As a lot of people use wallets for shared services, and they might keep disputing that the transactions were sanctioned by them. Its alright if this is a one-off case, but if it is chronic then there has to be an ability to shut off these guys. In Europe, we have this thing called First-party fraud, where the customer is lying and is complicit in this fraud. A classic example is ATM fraud. So say, for instance, the customer withdrew Rs 500 from his ATM, and then quickly goes to another ATM some distance away and withdrew Rs 5,000. While the customer is conducting the second transaction, he will make a call to the bank saying that his card was stolen and that he wants to block it. The bank will then confirm his last transaction (which the customer may say was the withdrawal of Rs 500) and he has no idea how the Rs 5,000 was withdrawn. Of course, there can be genuine cases where a customer may be robbed and the fraudster may have seen the PIN number while looking over the customer's shoulder. But the scary thing is that a lot of genuine customers have become wiser to this scam and are exploiting this loophole to commit fraud. Yes, there is video footage, but one can fox that easily. It is popular in Europe, but not so much in India. In India, a lot of people used to take advantage of the loophole where only some notes out of an entire bundle would be taken and then customers would wait for the ATM to retract the remaining notes. They would then complain to the bank that they did not withdraw any money. Since then, the regulator has passed a resolution that notes once dispensed will not be retracted. So that fraud has stopped. On behavioural profiling of customers One way to take care of fraud is by profiling a customer. We profile customer behaviour for two reasons. One is to ensure that we do not interfere with the customer's transactions. So that the transactions go smoothly because we know the customer behaviour and that matches with our database. The other side of profiling is to look for any change in behaviour, to notice anomalies. So profiling is about keeping statistics, recording events about the customer to look for changes in behaviour. So say for instance I am a customer who does regular financial transactions using an ATM card in London, my location will be around London, the ATM locations will be pretty much the ones I regularly visit and so on. But if there is a request to withdraw money from say, Sydney, then we look at other profiling data if the customer a business traveller, does he or she often use their ATMs abroad and so on. We do these and many more behavioural profiling in the background, and that helps us notice anomalies quickly so as to prevent fraud. This is a major part of our system. But it is also pertinent to ensure that the customer does not face any problems due to this profiling feature. Another feature called cross-channel profiling strategy looks at behaviour across mediums. So say, for instance, you withdraw money from an ATM in Mumbai at 8 PM tonight, so we have your transaction details and the location of the ATM lodged in our systems. But if we notice that another mobile wallet app is using these same banking details from a location in Chennai at 8:30 PM, then we are looking at two completely different channels. But when we look at it together, through correlation and our cross-channel strategy, then we notice an anomaly. One of these transactions is definitely a fraud one as the customer cannot be at two locations which are so far away, simultaneously. Without fraud-monitoring measures, there are only hard rules such as if a customer does a transaction over Rs 50,000, then decline it or if a customer transacts from outside India, decline it and so on. These brute force rules create a lot of customer dissatisfaction. Constant fraud monitoring helps in minimising the false positives. You dont want 100 customer transactions declined to catch one fraud transaction. How important is artificial intelligence in detecting fraud? Is it becoming mainstream or does one still need human intervention when it comes to financial transactions? Analytics and Rules, both have their places. We do use the client profiling techniques that I mentioned earlier and have rules-based systems, but we also use analytics capabilities which let us bring in fraud scores, machine learning models and so on. The artificial intelligence bit is still a growing field. It is still early days for fraud detection though. We do have machine learning capabilities where a bank might be looking at continually updating their fraud detection techniques. We would call that continual machine learning, not necessarily artificial intelligence. Have the fraudsters reached a stage where they can preempt all the behavioural profiling techniques that may be fed into a machine learning algorithm? Is there a way to game the ML algorithm? Yes, fraudsters could get savvy to determine what can get declined and what can get approved. This is where the dangers of the darknet come in, as there are a lot of fraud forums out there which discuss these cases and exchange information to fox the systems. Of course, this information is not available in the public space, it goes on the deep web. It happens, but it is not a global pandemic according to me. What a fraudster does not know is the customers historical behaviour. That's where we have an advantage. AGS are in a fine position, because of the collaboration with ACI. So lets say you have several banks processing through AGS. Now, these banks may have the expertise. But with AGS, they can identify an issue with one bank such as ATM fraud, false geo-locations and so on, and then they can anonymously share that information with other banks to prevent frauds at their ends. So this collaboration may help Bank B, C, D, E learn from the issues observed in Bank A for instance. But how prepared do you think Indian banks are? Is the fraud detected instantly or it takes a while before it is brought to the banks notice and corrective measures are taken. There will always be some banks which are great with pre-empting fraud and others which arent that good. So it would be unfair to make a blanket statement in this regard. But the way a bank reacts to the fraud shows its maturity. For instance, in the Hitachi data centre fraud story, the reaction showed a lot of immaturities. It was slow and the bank has to have a checklist and policy in place to define what needs to be done once the fraud has been detected. Building a risk policy, updating it constantly, implementing the policy on a real-time basis. It is not just software skill sets but also a lot of expertise that will be needed to guide this. What are the partnerships that ACI has with AGS Transact? ACI is quite aware of this whole digital transformation that is happening in India at the moment. At AGS, we want to ensure that the software assets we have are not only used in payment systems but also want to participate in implementing the new use cases that will emerge out of the huge stack of infrastructure that is being laid out in the country. This can be Aadhaar, IMPS, UPI and even problems like payments at toll booths, at the metro stations and so on. The ability to execute something on this scale is critical. AGS can bring in the underlying software assets, the ability to tailor that to ensure that it is relevant to the Indian marketplace is what AGS will bring to the table. The ability to execute these use-cases is relevant and that is where the partnership with ACI comes in. As a partnership, we want to ensure that the market gets it as a cloud offering, so investments are minimal. tech2 News Staff Google announced a number of new things in the keynote presentation on the first day of Google I/O 2017. These announcements ranged from machine learning, neural network, the next version of Android and a different configuration of Android for devices with low specifications. Howver, a sizeable chunk of the presentation and announcements were dedicated to Google Assistant. Google Assistant, the digital assistant by Google will get a number of capabilities in coming months. We have already covered Google Assistant coming to Apple iPhone but there are a number of other things that need emphasis. These feature additions are important and will see a new form factor of devices to hit the market. New ways of interaction Google claimed that about 70 percent of the queries on Google Assistant are done in natural language instead of the keywords based search that is used in search engines. The company details some of the specifics about the new functions in a blog post posted after the event. It is working on new ways of interaction so that users can use multiple ways to enter the search query. The company has added the ability for users to type the search query to increase privacy if you dont want to speak the query out loud. It is also adding Google Lens to the assistant which will help the assistant to see the world around the user. You can use your smartphone camera to get information about the environment. Since the assistant already knows your location, it will use machine learning and the comprehensive search data to display information about places around you. This is not limited to location only. Google Lens allows you to identify a yummy dish or that beautiful flower. This means that the company is taking the power of the neural network to help you identify anything around you and give you information about it in an instant. The assistant continues to provide relevant actions or suggestions depending on where you are pointing it at. Google Assistant can also translate the words seen in the photo or on a street sign without any need to launch Google Translate. Google will introduce a revamped launcher for Android TV to bring Google Assitant on the home screen for Android TV users. Last but not the least, the company has opened Actions of Google for Android and iPhones. Actions of Google will also support transactions. The transactions will support payments, identity, receipts, and account creation. This is particularly interesting as now developers can integrate their services with Google Assistant so that users can order at any restaurant from selecting your order with customizations to the payment, all using Google Assistant without the need to install any other app. Assistant is expanding to new countries Google as announced that the Assistant will add support to French, German, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Japanese. Assistant will also support Italian, Spanish, and Korean by the end of the year. The expansion to new devices Google assistant is working on bringing Assistant to the two billion active Android devices in the market. The company has plans of bringing the assistant to smartphones, computers, connected IoT devices like Google Home, cars using Google Auto and even wearables. The company announced a new Google Assistant SDK for developers and device manufacturers to easily integrate Google Assistant into their device. It has not put any limitation on the device type and gave an example of speakers, toys, and others. The company is working with Sony, JBL, Panasonic, LG, Anker, Intel, Qualcomm, and others to help them integrate Google Assistant in their devices. tech2 News Staff Google I/O, the search giants annual developer conference was kicked off with the announcement of a fundamental shift in the companys focus. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company will now move from a mobile first approach to an AI first one. Artificial Intelligence or AI is already the corner stone of many of the most incredible updates to everyday technology thats redefining the way we interact with our devices. Pichais announcement is, in a way, only stating the obvious. A technology company in 2017 that doesnt focus on AI and machine learning (ML) in 2017 is headed nowhere. Weve been focussed ever more on our core mission of organising the worlds information, said Pichai. He adds, We approach it by applying deep computer science and technical insights to solve problems at scale. Pichai points out that a mobile first approach fundamentally redefined Googles approach to products because interaction had to be reimagined; factors like multi-touch, location, identity, etc., had to be taken into account. With AI, Pichai believes that the same thing is happening again. In an AI first world, were rethinking all our products, and applying machine learning to solving user problems, says Pichai. In the course of the keynote, Google gives us examples of how AI is fundamentally changing the way we interact with technology. Before mobile devices, we interacted with computers using a keyboard and mouse. Mobile devices brought touch input. Today, voice and vision are fast replacing even touch. If you think about it, our interactions with computers are actually getting more natural and immersive. This is, of course, impossible to achieve without machine learning. A conversational interface, for example, is not possible without an underlying system (AI) that can actually interpret and respond conversationally. Speaking on the progress that Google has made in the fields of vision and voice recognition, Pichai indicates that Googles image recognition algorithms are now more reliable than humans and that errors in speech recognition have fallen dramatically. All of Googles products are being updated with support for these new modes of interaction, and these are in turn powered by AI. In the course of the keynote, Google unveiled a number of products that thoughtfully meld machine learning with voice input and image recognition. Some of these updates include Google Lens, a platform that will use AI to bring augmented reality (AR) and advanced image recognition capabilities to over two billion Android devices, updates to the way Google Photos organises and shares images, Smart Replies in Gmail, updates to Google Home and a lot more besides. The future of Google is AI, and I/O 2017 will show us how the foundation for that is being laid. Stay tuned for more information on Google I/O 2017 and all that was unveiled at the event. IANS The Ministry of Communications has set up an inter-ministerial group (IMG) to look at the "stressed balance sheets" of various telecom companies and suggest solutions. According to an office memorandum circulated on Tuesday, a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) from the Department of Telecom (DoT) in the ministry had discussed the issue relating to 'Stress in balance sheet in select sector' at its meeting on March 29. Following the meeting, the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) approved the constitution of the group of officials from DoT and the Ministry of Finance. The telecom sector is reeling under debt of nearly Rs 800,000 crore, according to industry sources. The annual interest payment of telecom companies is around Rs 78,000 crore. Sources attributed the cause behind the bleeding balance sheets of the telecom companies to the high-priced spectrum auctions which took place in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India also expressed its concern over stressed assets in the telecom sector. The main tasks of the IMG will be to examine systemic issues affecting viability and repayment capacity in telecom sector and furnish recommendations for resolution of stressed assets at the earliest. It was also called upon to suggest policy reforms and strategic intervention for the telecom sector. The IMG is authorised to invite nominees from telecom sector and financial institutions and co-opt any other member. The group has been asked to submit its recommendations within three months. hidden Bettors on both sides of the Atlantic are ramping up wagers in niche online markets over whether Donald Trump will serve out a full term as U.S. president in the wake of controversies surrounding the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. Some, such as the online political stock market PredictIt, have seen record volume during the last two days on contracts focussed on whether Trump will be impeached. Others based in the United Kingdom are drawing bets on the less-specific question of whether Trump remains in office until his term expires in January 2021. The contract on PredictIt titled "Will Donald Trump be impeached in 2017?" saw volume of more than 100,000 contracts in the last 24 hours after reports of a memo written by Comey that said Trump had asked him to end the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. At one point early on Wednesday, the price of a "yes" contract on the impeachment question jumped to a record 33 cents, implying a 33 percent probability that Trump would be impeached. That compares with only 7 percent just over a week ago. By late in the day, however, the price had slid back to 27 percent, just above where it ended late Tuesday at 24 percent. PredictIt is jointly run by Washington political consultancy Aristotle and Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. All of its users are registered U.S. voters. The bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair said bettors there had laid out more than 5,000 pounds ($6,470) on an early departure for Trump in the hours after it was reported Trump had asked Comey to shut down the FBI's investigation of Russia ties. In all, the question of whether Trump will make an early exit has drawn more than $270,000 in wagers, while a related question on whether Trump will leave in 2017, 2018, 2019 or 2020 or later has garnered more than $480,000. British betting firm Ladbrokes cut the price of a Trump impeachment to odds-on at 4-5 from 11-10, equivalent to about 56 percent probability that Trump will be removed from office. "Political punters are wondering how many more scandals can Trump overcome," said Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge. "And despite the short price on offer, money has poured in for the president to be impeached, leaving us with little option but to cut the odds." Reuters tech2 News Staff The dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the licensed use of Qualcomm technologies in Apple products has escalated further, with Qualcomm now directly filing a complaint against Apple manufacturers. Qualcomm has registered a complaint against FIH Mobile Ltd, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, which are together known as Foxconn, as well as other contract manufacturers Pegatron Corporation, Wistron Corporation and Compal Electronics. Together, the four companies produce all the iPhones and iPads sold worldwide. The complaint has been registered at the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Qualcomm alleges that the manufactures are not paying Qualcomm for the use of Qualcomm technologies because of instructions from Apple. Qualcomm contends that the agreements drawn out for these manufacturers to pay Qualcomm for the use of its licensed technologies was in place before Apple even introduced the iPhone. Additionally, all four manufacturers continue to pay Qualcomm for its licensed technologies on producing devices for companies other than Apple. Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, said "It is unfortunate that we must take this action against these long-time licensees to enforce our agreements, but we cannot allow these manufacturers and Apple to use our valuable intellectual property without paying the fair and reasonable royalties to which they have agreed. As Apple continues to collect billions of dollars from consumer sales of its Qualcomm-enabled products, it is using its market power as the wealthiest company in the world to try to coerce unfair and unreasonable license terms from Qualcomm in its global attack on the company." Rosenberg goes on to point out that the agreements drawn up with the manufacturers of Apple remain valid and legally enforceable. "The manufacturers must continue to live up to their obligations under these agreements and Apple should immediately cease its tortious interference," he said. In January 2017, Apple slapped a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm, asserting that the chipmaker was using its market dominance to extract an unfair price for providing key semiconductors for smartphones. Qualcomm countersued in April 2017, alleging that Apple had breached agreements, misrepresented its contracts, and was interfering with the manufacturing partners of Qualcomm. Qualcomm continues to supply to Apple despite the lawsuit, but its revenues have taken a hit. IANS Amid reports of several ATMs remaining shut due to a possible virus attack by WannaCry ransomware, the largest public lender of the country State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said that it has not been affected at all by the malware and all its ATMs were fully functional. "We have not been impacted at all. None of our ATMs have been asked to shut down," SBI Chief Information Officer Mrutyunjay Mahapatra told IANS. SBI has close to 59,000 ATMs out of over two lakh ATMs in the country. Mahapatra said that 80-90 per cent of the old ATMs have already got the security patch, and the remaining are being updated, but none of the ATMs have been shut down as SBI has a secure closed loop network and robust firewalls. "80-90 per cent of the old ATMs have already got the security patch. Wherever remaining, our engineers are updating. We are doing a review, and putting additional security patch if needed," he said. "Ours is a close-looped network, where all servers end to end are ours. We are dealing with public trust and public money, so we are very careful about it. Our security network is very high and we have very robust firewalls. We run anti-malware quite often," Mahapatra told IANS. The ransomware is said to affect the ATMs which were installed 5-7 years back and are running on the Windows XP software. The newer ATMs which run on Windows 10 are said to be safe from the malware attack. "Roughly our 50 per cent ATMs are running on Windows XP. ATMs installed 5-7 years back have Windows XP, but they are not greatly vulnerable. Malware files are large in size and cannot travel through firewall. However, for Windows XP, new security patch has been updated," he said. Mahapatra claimed that the ransomware attack was aimed at harming the economy but the banking sector has not been affected by it. "Malware attack means they want to bring down the system. Their idea is to bring down the economy. This is more mischief than reality. As the CIO of SBI, to my knowledge no such thing has come to my notice. To my knowledge other banks are also not affected," he said. "There is no need to panic. Taking advantage of this situation, miscreants may send mails to reveal their old password, that should be avoided," he added. ATM manufacturer AGS Transact Technologies, which has an installed base of 60,000 ATMs in the country, said they were working with the partner banks to secure their network and updating of the security patch. "We ensure regular updates of the security patches on the servers to protect all ATMs in our network from such attacks. Additionally, we are working closely with our partner banks to secure their network and eliminate chances of any vulnerability," Mahesh Patel, President and Group Chief Technology Officer, AGS Transact Technologies, told IANS. "The WannaCry attack is a wake-up call for all countries including India, which is at the cusp of digital revolution. It brings to the fore the collective need for Indian companies to be more vigilant and treat cyber-security as one of their highest priorities," he said. King Willem-Alexander took the throne in the Netherlands back in 2013, but as king he wanted to continue pursuing his passion for flying. On Wednesday, he revealed that he has been a co-pilot on commercial Dutch flights, even though passengers have been completely in the dark that the king is in the cockpit. I find flying simply fantastic, Willem-Alexander told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. Now he is learning to fly Boeing 737s so he can continue to fly for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which is phasing out the Fokker 70 aircraft for which he is trained. By flying these commercial flights twice a month, he can complete his 150 hour per year requirement to retain his license. According to BBC News, King Willem-Alexander is not the only royal figure who enjoys flying: The Dutch kings appetite for flying was apparently encouraged by his mother, Beatrix, who abdicated as queen in 2013. And he is on a long list of royal pilots: The Sultan of Brunei is known to fly his own Boeing 747 Prince Charles is a qualified pilot as are both his sons Prince William gives up his role as RAF air ambulance helicopter pilot this year Prince Harry served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter co-pilot Jordans King Abdullah is a trained pilot Some people recognize the kings voice when he addresses passengers, but heres how Willem-Alexander responds to that, as translated by DutchNews.NL: The advantage is that I can always say I am speaking on behalf of the captain and crew to welcome them on board, he laughs. So I dont have to say my name. But then, most people dont listen anyway. [De Telegraaf] Hackers threaten to leak Pirates of Carribean 5 unless Disney pays ransom Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed that hackers have threatened to leak one of their upcoming films unless a ransom is paid. Though Iger did not reveal the name of the film it is believed to be Disney's latest Pirates filmDea d Men Tell No Tales. Iger said Disney is working with the FBI, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Iger reportedly made these comments during the town hall meeting with ABC employees in New York City, THR said citing multiple sources. The hackers have demanded an enormous amount of money via online currency Bitcoin. They have threatened to release five minutes of the film at first, and then in 20-minute chunks until their financial demands are met. Hacking of unreleased content is the latest problem that the showbiz industry, which has long struggled with online piracy, is facing. The ransom demand for the Disney movie is not an isolated case as Netflix recently faced a similar situation when their popular show Orange Is The New Black was leaked online. The hackers had demanded money and when Netflix refused to pay, they released the episodes weeks before its official launch.The fifth instalment of the highly-profitable Pirates franchise stars Javier Bardem as the villain opposite Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. Other Pirates favourites set to return include Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swann and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa. BEPZA to set up economic zone at Mirsarai Economic Reporter : Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to set up an economic zone on 1150 acres of land at Mirsarai, Chittagong. BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury and BEPZA Executive Chairman Major General Mohammad Habibur Rahman Khan signed the MoU at a ceremony held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here, said a media release. Abul Kalam Azad, chief coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs in the PMO, was present in the MoU signing ceremony. The first annual report 2016 and the investment guide of BEZA was handed over to Azad during the programme. BEZA has taken a plan to build an industrial city on 30,000 acres of land at Mirsarai. The economic zone at Mirsarai is expected to create jobs for one million people in the next 10 years. It will also create a scope to export goods worth US$2.0 billion. BEZA has been working to set up 100 special economic zones in the next 15 years which will create jobs for one crore people. It is also expected that exports from these zones would reach US$40 billion by 2030. In the signing ceremony, Abul Kalam Azad, Chief Co-coordinator (SDG Affairs) said, 'BEPZA is marching ahead successfully and set a unique example in attracting investment in the country for others to emulate. Now BEPZA is a brand to foreign investors. This brand image of BEPZA will play an important role for flourishing investment in Economic Zone. He also added, the success of BEPZA inspired government to establish Economic Zone. The government wants to utilize the expertise of BEPZA to bring success for the Economic Zone since BEPZA has been achieved a good reputation in setting up industrial zone, development and operation. He hoped that BEPZA Economic Zone would be ready for investment within very short time and BEPZA will be able to prove its efficiency and reputation in home and abroad. BEPZA Executive Chairman Major General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, ndc, psc said, a decision was taken at the 33rd meeting of BEPZA Board of Governors on February 04, 2015 quoting 'BEPZA and BEZA will jointly study and proceed in accordance with the law whether BEPZA should given responsibility to develop Two Economic Zones or not'. He informed that in this perspective, BEPZA & BEZA fixed the land area and finalize the financial proposal after jointly examining the proposed project. As per the final proposal, BEZA allocated 1150 acres of land to BEPZA for setting up economic zone. The two organizations formally signed MoU today which was already been approved by the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Many nations pin climate hopes on India, China as hopes for Trump fade Reuters, Bonn : Many countries are pinning their hopes on India and China to lead efforts to slow climate change amid a growing sense of resignation that US President Donald Trump will either withdraw from a global pact or stay and play a minimal role. Delegates at the May 8-18 negotiations in Bonn on a detailed "rule book" for the 2015 Paris Agreement, the first UN talks since Trump took office, say there is less foreboding than when Washington last broke with global climate efforts in 2001. Trump doubts global warming has a human cause and says he will decide on a campaign threat to "cancel" the Paris Agreement, the first to bind all nations to set goals to curb emissions, after a group of Seven summit in Italy on May 26-27. "The time when one big player could affect the whole game is past," said Ronald Jumeau, climate ambassador for the Seychelles. "There would be a void without the US, but China and India seem to be increasing their effort." Big emitters led by China, the European Union and India have reaffirmed their commitment to Paris, which seeks to phase out greenhouse gas emissions this century by shifting to clean energies. By contrast, Trump wants to favour US coal. Many delegates note that the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a forerunner to the Paris Agreement which obliged only rich nations to cut emissions, survived after ex-President George W. Bush decided in 2001 against taking part, albeit in a weakened form. Strengthening Comprehensive Village Development Societies Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder and Dr.Md. Shairul Mashreque : In 1989 LGRD approved CVDP project for two years to continue experimentation with total village development with an apparently new philosophy. It was included in the ADP (1988-89). The first phase of the project continued upto June 1991. The second phase of the project commenced under the fourth five year plan. BARD and RDA (Bogra) have been implementing CVDP. RDA started implementing the project from the second year of the fourth five year plan. Its area of operation in cludes Rajshahi and Khulna divisions. BARD has been experimenting with the new philosophy in 40 villages of Dhaka and Chittagong divisions (Ahmed 1993'To ameliorate socio-economic conditions of the villagers and to improve the quality of life of all groups of people in that villages through a common institutional framework' (Ahmed 1993 and Karim and Sharifullah 199 The specific obiectives as embodied in the fourth five year plan were (Ahmed 1993, Karim and Shraifullah 1998 and Obidullah 1996): 1. To develop a broad -based co-operative society called Comprehensive Village Development Society (CVDS) involving villagers of all classes and professions irrespective of age and sex for poverty alleviation, multidimensional development and welfare of the rural community. 2. To develop common village facilities and make available at the rural level a varity of socio-economic services including literacy, education, family and population control, minimum health care and nutrition, income generation and so forth. 3. To increase production in both agricultural and off holding activities, productive employment and household income utilizing all available resources maximally. 4. To encourage capital formation in co-operative institutions and mobilize human resources for development activities. 5. To ensure equitable distribution of benefits to all villagers. 6. To use the village institution as the receiving point for all kinds of services and supplies from the line agencies. 7. To improve production and home management skill, education and social status of women through appropriate education and training. During its third phase (1996-1999) the CVDP was under implementation in 40 villages of Comilla kotwali thana, Burichang thanas of Comilla district, Sylhet Sadar thana and Sonargaom thana of Narayanganj district Successful implementation of any project depends inter alia on the elements like sound plans of action, allocation of responsibilities, job description, co-ordination, efficient financial operation, optimal resource use and integrity of purpose. The project management serves to manage implementational aspects of the project taking these elements into cognizance. So, there must be a management structure that is at the helm of affairs at the operational level albeit with dynamic action. This is shown in Fig I. At the apex of the project management lies the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) headed by Director General, the chief Executive of BARD. The personnel working under him included project Director as the member secretary of the committee and district level officers as its members. The main responsibility of the PAC was to help out the project implementation team with logistics whenever necessary. The DG of BARD, being a supremo, taking policy lead and giving a sense of direction, was to maintain lia son with high ups in centralized public administration. At the level of project implementation DG was assisted by the project implementation committee (PIC) with the Directors project as the chairman, Deputy project Director (CVDP) as the member secretary, officers of CVDP, heads of the four Academic Divisions of BARD and the Director of Field services of the local central co-operative Association as the members of the PIC. There used to be a sub project Advisory committee (SPAC) headed by director, project with the personnel in charge of the sub-project as the member secretary. The Assistant project Directors were supposed to implement the project at the field levels under the guidance of the project Director and Deputy project Director. For implementational purposes, linkage with the relevant nation building departments was thought be essential and was maintained. In each village, there will be a village-based cooperative called the Comprehensive Village Development Co-operative Society (CVDCS)'. It will cover all the villagers under the broad categorisation of adult male, adult female and children. i) The CVDCS plan and implement all of their activities to become an economically viable and self-reliant institution by means of resource mobilisation, regular weekly savings and by undertaking various productive and commercial / business activities within the existing cooperative discipline. ii) The CVDCS will establish their linkage with thana central cooperative associations. The other linkage of CVDCS will be with local government bodies at different tiers and thana level nation building departments, the purpose of which will be to develop common village facilities and services (physical, social and economic) and obtaining support services available at the union, thana and districts. iii) The CVDCS prepare a household resource book for each household in the village. It contains an inventory of household resources to serve as a guide to identify the gap between the available household resources and those required for the improvement of social and economic condition of the household on the basis of its felt needs. iv) The society is required to prepare and maintain a Comprehensive Village Resource Book which contains the data base of the household resources as well common village resources and facilities. This data base will be used as the basis for the formulation of a Comprehensive Village Development Plan by the society. v) Each group or individual member of the society will prepare an Economic Plan which will be consolidated at the society level by CVDCS. Similarly, the Managing Committee of the society will also prepare an investment and social development plan for the society. The two plans after discussion and approval in the general meeting of the society will be consolidated for implementation by society as annual development plan. The elected representative of local bodies, thana level officers and their village level functionaries are involved at different level of plan preparation and implementation with a view to developing participatory planning and development at local level. vi) The social and economic development plan prepared by the CVDCS are implemented with their own resources, loan from bank and other relevant agencies. Input support and other services are mobilised from central society/association , local government institutions at different tiers and nation building departments at union and thana level. Of late Integrated Community develoment has been introduced to empower comprehensive development co-operative. There must be a precise co-ordination between the concept of Integrated Community develoment and that of CVD co-operative. Community develoment encompasses a range of approaches and activities that aim to ameliorate the conditions of people living in the communuty at large. . Development as such at thecommunity level pays attention to community issues and organizing the community of people for bringing about their own welfare. "Community development is a structured intervention that gives communities greater control over the conditions that affect their lives. This does not solve all the problems faced by a local community, but it does build up confidence to tackle such problems as effectively as any local action can. Community development works at the level of local groups and organisations rather than with individuals or families. The range of local groups and organisations representing communities at local level constitutes the community sector."Community development is a skilled process and part of its approach is the belief that communities cannot be helped unless they themselves agree to this process. Community development has to look both ways: not only at how the community is working at the grass roots, but also at how responsive key institutions are to the needs of local communities". In fact Community Development. Is: Community Development is crucially concerned with the issues of powerlessness and disadvantage: as such it should involve all members of society, and offers a practice that is part of a process of social change. Community Development is about the active involvement of people in the issues which affect their lives. it is a process based on the sharing of power, skills, knowledge and experience. Community Development takes place both in neighbourhoods and within communities of interest, as people identify what is relevant to them. The Community Development process is collective, but the experience of the process enhances the integrity, skills, knowledge and experience, as well as equality of power, for each individual who is involved. Community Development seeks to enable individuals and communities to grow and change according to their own needs and priorities, and at their own pace, provided this does not oppress other groups and communities, or damage the environment. Where Community Development takes place, there are certain principles central to it. The first priority of the Community Development process is the empowering and enabling of those who are traditionally deprived of power and control over their common affairs. It claims as important the ability of people to act together to influence the social, economic, political and environmental issues which affect them. Community Development aims to encourage sharing, and to create structures which give genuine participation and involvement. Community Development is about developing the power, skills, knowledge and experience of people as individuals and in groups, thus enabling them to undertake initiatives of their own to combat social, economic, political and environmental problems, and enabling them to fully participate in a truly democratic process. Community Development must take the a lead in confronting the attitudes of individuals and the practices of institutions and society as a whole which discriminates unfairly against black people, women, people with disabilities and different abilities, religious groups, elderly people, lesbians and gay men, and other groups who are disadvantaged by society. It also must take a lead in countering the destruction of the natural environment on which we all depend. Community Development is well placed to involve people equally on these issues which affect all of us. Community Development should seek to develop structures which enable the active involvement of people from disadvantaged groups, and in particular people from Black and Minority Ethnic groups. It does seem that Community Development seeks to empoer the poor now incorporated in comprehensive rural development. The project is capable of replication to ensure conspicuous partocipation of the poor in production and income generating activities. (Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder, member PSC and Dr.Md. Shairul Mashreque, Public Administration Chittagong University) Better climate for foreign investment HIGH land prices, unavailability of land at suitable location and ransom taking are some of the major factors driving away prospective foreign investors as well as discouraging others to come and set up industries. This is a common allegation by foreign and local investors as we see hindering expansion of new business and particularly export industry when much of Bangladesh's development potentials remained underutilized to achieve faster growth. Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Ma Mingqiang on Wednesday dwelt with the issue, particularly the difficulty in getting undisputed land by foreign investors. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at a city hotel, he highlighted huge opportunities for investment here but there are difficulties as well, he said calling for improving investment climate and removing other barriers confronting foreign investors. He pointed out that China is mainly interested in Bangladesh's infrastructure and export-oriented manufacturing sectors but high land price and ransom taking on land by local goons and influential groups are working as major impediment. We must say this is definitely a law and order issue when all such people are operating under the political shelter of the party in power - be it now or in the past. So the government must seriously weigh in the risk of losing foreign investment and business development when such people are exploiting the situation. In fact major investors from Japan and other countries are facing similar setback and the Chinese envoy is right when he said low labour cost is the main attraction for foreign investors here, but one should not also forget that labour cost in Africa is much lower. China is set to become top investors in the country but in his view much of it depends on creating the investment climate. There is no doubt, as we see political uncertainty is still overshadowing the horizon as the country is facing new Parliamentary Election in early 2019 without much change to earlier cause of political crisis. There is also infrastructure setback -- roads and highways must be improved, expansion of modern ports to be quick and supply of adequate gas and electricity must at hands to allow new mills and factories to go into production. The Chinese envoy has rightly echoed the sentiment of others when he said any delay in creating the right environment might force many investors to shift to other markets. Bangladesh is setting up many economic zones for investors from home and abroad where they are expected to get land at reasonable cost. Moreover, many state-owned industries have vast unexploited land in their premises, which they can surrender to create new industrial estates. The government knows about it and yet vested interest groups within the government are blocking such move. We must say time is running out and the government must act quickly to remove bottleneck to local and foreign investments. Only 1pc rape victims seek justice 13194 women raped since 2010: 1301 girls in 5 yrs Md Joynal Abedin Khan : The number of rape incidents has reportedly been increased throughout the country, although only one per cent rape victims allege the violation for seeking justice, experts said. They added even the falling in rape of the under-aged girls has raised sharply in the city and other parts of the country that already have created panic among the people. The reports of committing rapes are spreading in the social, print and electronic media after the incident held at a Banani hotel in the city recently, they added. Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, Executive Director of Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), said the percentage of rape cases has gone higher this year compared to that of the same period in 2016. "But, the problem is that only one percent victim goes to the police seeking legal action," said Mustafa K Mujeri. In last 18 days, at least 35 women, including 16 under-aged girls (five to sixteen) were reportedly raped in Dhaka and some other districts, say media reports. At least 258 women and teenaged girls were raped from January to April this year. Even 49 women were raped in April and of the victims, 32 were baby girls, said a data of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad. According to a nationwide data of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), prepared based on newspaper reports, at least 51 girls, aged below 18, were raped between January and March this year. The number of gang-rape and attempted rape victims over the same period in last year was 12 and 13 respectively. Statistics of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) shows that a total of 1,301 children were raped in between 2012 and September 2016. The number was highest last year with 521 child rapes. The number of incidents was 199 in 2014, 170 in 2013 and 86 in 2012. According to Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, more than 13,194 women and girl children were raped between 2010 and 2016. Of them, 4,776 have been raped, 1153 gang raped and 590 killed after violations respectively. Professor Zia Rahman, Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said, "Due to a deep-rooted patriarchal thought process, boys and men alike are learning not to respect women. Institutions that work on sex education have also failed to emit adequate knowledge and raise awareness." Why are children increasingly becoming victims of rape? Prof Zia said this is happening because children are more vulnerable than adult women. "Security of girl children in the country's slums is under a great threat. The special provision of the Child Marriage Restraint Act has intensified the danger, causing rape incidents to increase," said Sheepa Hafiza, Executive Director of the Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). Director of BSAF Abdus Shahid Mahmud said that the complaints of rape incident are very poor comparing to real violation incidents as many victims and their families keep silent to consider the social status and marriage related issue. "Most of the victims are from poor families and cannot get justice as the criminals are above the status of the victims, they either settle the issue in exchange for money or frighten them away with their muscle power," he said. Rabiul Islam Robi, a Supreme Court practitioner said: "Rape victims' statements are not recorded in open courts. They usually testify one-to-one with the Judge inside a special room in front of a camera. This is known as camera trials." Psychologist Ashoke Kumar Saha said, "Rape is a traumatic experience for any victims. Therefore, it is nothing abnormal if a victim does not want to recount the trauma, even before a court. There is also the social stigma associated with being raped in our society. Women do not want to talk openly about this." Asked what police have been doing to reduce rape incidents, Abdullah Al-Mamun, a Deputy Inspector General of Police, said: "Investigation of rape cases gets top priority from us." Rape charge credible: Police Nayeem on seven-day ramand Staff Reporter : All the five accused in Raintree hotel rape case admitted their involvement with the violation of the two private university students in the birthday party in the city recently. Of them, Regnum Group Director Shadman Sakif and Shafat Ahmed gave the confessional statements in a Dhaka court on Thursday while, Safat's driver Billal Hossain and bodyguard Rahmat Ali confessed their connection with the rape. Nayeem Ashraf aka Halim admitted his link with the rape in preliminary grilling after arrest from Munshiganj on Wednesday night. Sadman and Shafat' confessional statements were recorded under section 164 of the Penal Code. They told the court that they had raped two female university students at Banani's Raintree Hotel on March 28. The duo confessed to their crimes before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrates Ahsan Habib and Sabbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury on Thursday afternoon.Earlier in the day, police said another accused Nayeem Ashraf had confessed his involvement in the rape. Shafat and Shadman were apprehended in Sylhet on May 12 and Shafat's bodyguard Rahmat and driver Billal were caught from city on Monday night. Meanwhile, Police after questioning five suspects in the Dhaka hotel rape case have found the accusations to be 'credible'. Rape allegations against Shafat and Shadman are true, say police after primary interrogation. "The accusations were found to be credible. He (Nayeem) will face further questioning," Monirul Islam, Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told the reporters in a press briefing at DMP media center on Thursday. The four under police custody have "admitted to committing a lot of what they were accused of", said Monirul Islam. "We are verifying the information they gave us." The police had primary information of the crime which was consistent with rape as defined in law, he said. The remand period granted to police for the four suspects are not yet over and the fifth suspect has just been caught, he said. "It will not be appropriate to comment now." "We have just started questioning the main accused. We have learned that there was sexual intercourse. We'll know what happened after we have finished our interrogation," the police official said. The case involves very wealthy suspects and the hotel where the rape incidents took place is owned by the children of ruling Awami League MP Bazlul Haque Haroon. The alleged victims mentioned of threats meted out to them by the suspects which caused them to delay notifying the authorities by more than a month. A probe committee has been formed to investigate their allegations that police initially refused to book their case. "The law does not recognise powerful men. A criminal is simply a criminal. We'll take action against anyone else related to this incident," said Monirul Islam. On the other hand, Nayeem Ashraf has been sent to serve a seven-day remand in police custody. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate SM Masud Zaman passed the order after investigation officer Ismat Ara Ame produced Nayeem and moved a remand plea for 10 days. Four other accused in the case, Ahmed Shafat, his accomplice Shadman Sakif, his bodyguard Rahmat and driver Billal have already been remanded. The Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, on Thursday assured that irrespective of social, identity, the offenders involved in the recent Banani hotel rape case will be brought to justice. After inaugurating a Women's Holiday Market of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) at Mohakhali Kitchen Market, the minister said that the investigation was underway. Those found to have helped the accused with the matter will also face justice, he said, adding "no matter which influential class he belongs to." The organisation "For The Women, By The Women" arranged the programme in association with DNCC with Mayor Annisul Huq presiding over it. Two university students accused five men of raping them and filed a case with Banani Police station on May 6. The victims said that Shafat Ahmed and his friend Nayeem Ashraf forced them into a room and raped them at gunpoint during his birthday party at Raintree Hotel on March 28. Shahbagh turns into battlefield Cops clash with MATS students, 30 injured: Huge traffic jam created: Commuters face immense sufferings Police lob teargas shells, use water cannon on students of Medical Assistant Training School (MATS) in the city\'s Shahbagh area on Thursday to disperse them while they were staging demonstrations to realize their demands. Staff Reporter : A series of clashes between the students of Medical Assistance Training School (MATS) and Cops left at least 30 people injured in the city's Shahbagh area on Thursday. Besides, the Cops also clashed with the activists of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front there. When MATS' students also joined with the activists of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and looked in the clash with Cops the whole Shahbagh area turned into a battlefield. As a result, a severe traffic jam was created from Matshya Bhaban to Farmgate inflicting immense sufferings to the commuters. When the MATS students started marching toward Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to submit a memorandum to press home their four-point demands, police obstructed them at Shahbagh intersection, triggering a chase and counter-chase between them yesterday noon. At one stage police swooped on them and started clubbing the agitating students. The students became furious and also started pelting stones targeting the Cops. The MATS students also vandalized several vehicles at the time. Police resorted to baton charge on the students and lobbed tear-gas shells to disperse the protesters. At least 30 students were injured in the police action, the agitating students said, adding the police also detained about 100 students from the spot. They also threatened to start a hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar if the Prime Minister does not agree with their four-point charter of demands. When the situation became normal after one and a half hours long clashes, activists of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front were also marching towards the University Grants Commission (UGC) from the Dhaka University campus protesting tuition fee hike of public universities and medical colleges around 1:00 pm but police obstructed them. Being barred when the activists of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front tried to break the police barricade, police also swooped on them and started clubbing them indiscriminately. The Chhatra Front activists also threw brickbats towards police, leading to a clash between them. The MATS's students were staging demonstration there after failing to submit their memorandum. Samajtrantik Chhatra Front activists also joined their demonstration. Later, the two groups launched attack on the Cops with brickbats and sticks. Additional Cops rushed to spot and they also chased the protesters. At one stage police again swooped on them and resorted to baton charge. When police used water cannon to disperse them, the whole area turned into a battlefield. Maruf Hossain Sardar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Ramna Zone) said several policemen were also injured. "Police have detained some protesters for interrogating them," he said, adding their intention was to march towards the PMO or start a sit-in at the Shahbagh intersection, Sardar said. "There are two big hospitals here. Both patients and commuters will suffer if they start a sit-in. They can send representatives to the PMO," Maruf Hossain said. Meanwhile, following the clash a severe traffic jam was created as chase and counter chase took place between the students and Cops at Shahbagh intersection and its adjoining areas. Many people were seen standing still at different points of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue and on other roads stretching from Shahbagh to Farm gate. BD to stand beside KSA with military support if needed PM leaves for Riyadh Saturday: Arab-Islamic-American Summit begins May 21 Bangladesh will stand beside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with its military support to protect the two holy mosques -- Al Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina -- if needed. "Bangladesh will send soldiers if there is any threat on Makkah and Medina. The government will take the stance considering the sentiments of the country's majority people and showing respect to the holy places," said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Thursday. The Foreign Minister was clarifying the stance of Bangladesh at a press briefing ahead of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's four-day visit to the KSA. The PM will leave Dhaka for Riyadh on Saturday to attend the Arab-Islamic-American Summit starting on May 21 where she is expected to put forward a number of proposals. Significantly, the statement of Foreign Minister came at a time when there is a widespread speculation that Dhaka could join the "Arab-Islamic-American Alliance" [a military coalition]. Mahmood Ali, however, said that the 'coalition' has yet not turned into such a platform. "There are no written documents of such a military alliance. It is at a premature stage. It is still in the discussion stage." Against this backdrop, the PM will visit KSA from May 20-23 at the invitation of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. "The main objective of the summit is to establish new partnership to face the challenges of global terrorism and militancy, expand values of tolerance and coexistence and strengthen efforts for ensuring peace and stability," the Foreign Minister said. According to the international media, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz had taken initiative to form an Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism and militancy while a centre would be established in Riyadh to coordinate the Saudi Arabia-led 34-state coalition. Earlier, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir made a request to his Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali to join the centre as a founding member. However, Bangladesh rejected a US request to join its anti-Islamic State military campaign last year. Mahmood Ali had then said Bangladesh will join any UN-led humanitarian initiative in the region.Meanwhile, replying to a query, the Foreign Minister said journalists will not face any obstacle during their travel abroad and performing professional duties there. "But it is necessary to monitor whether anybody is doing anything while travelling abroad that goes against the country's image and interest," he said. Elaborating the government's step, he further said monitoring is not only for journalists but also for all citizens and that is in the interest of the country. The Bangladesh Missions abroad have been asked by authorities concerned to monitor Bangladeshi journalists travelling abroad to check their activities that might go against Bangladesh's interest and image. "I'm not aware of it. I will see it. The journalists will not face any obstacle. Inform me, if anybody faces any obstacles," the Minister assured. According to a Foreign Ministry circular issued on Wednesday, the Foreign Missions will have to monitor the activities of the journalists and report back to Dhaka but it did not clarify the mechanism of surveillance. The External Publicity Wing of the Foreign Ministry sent the instruction to media. A report carried by the Reuters said the Saudi announcement cited "a duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organizations -- whatever their sect and name -- which wreak death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorize the innocent." Shia Muslim Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's archrival for influence in the Arab world, was absent from the states named as participants, as proxy conflicts between the two regional powers rage from Syria to Yemen. The probable participating countries in the alliance along with the KSA are: Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Yemen, Reuters added. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. CAIRO Illinois U.S. senators sent a letter Wednesday to the head of Housing and Urban Developments investigatory arm once again urging his office to complete its probe into the Alexander County Housing Authoritys past management practices and publicly release the findings. The letter from Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth urges Inspector General David A. Montoya to complete the investigation and publicly release the results of his office's findings without delay. They ask for a response back from him by June 5. While providing safe and affordable housing is the priority, it is unacceptable that no one has yet been held responsible for the actions that lead to this dire situation, reads the letter to the head of HUDs Office of Inspector General. HUDs Office of Inspector General is charged with reviewing matters involving alleged misspending of federal dollars or mismanagement of HUD programs. Any alleged criminal findings would be forwarded to the Department of Justice for potential action through the court system. Though, regardless of whether any people are criminally charged, Durbin will urge the office to publicly release its findings, according to an aide to Durbin. The letter Durbin and Duckworth sent this week follows a similar one they provided to Montoya about a month ago. The letter acknowledges that Montoyas staff did brief Durbin and Duckworths staff on the status and scope of the investigation, and thanked them for doing so. Still, the two wrote that with the situation growing more serious in Cairo with HUDs announcement it plans to relocate close to 190 families from two large housing developments that have fallen into disrepair, the time to let people know what went wrong is now. The ACHA has been under HUD administrative federal receivership since Feb. 22, 2016. It is one of four housing authorities that HUD is operating under receivership. The others are in East St. Louis; Wellston, Missouri; and Gary, Indiana. In stressing their desire for federal investigators to wrap up their probe, Durbin and Duckworth cite a letter that HUD Secretary Ben Carson wrote to Andrea Evers, the superintendent of Cairo Unit School District 1, after sixth-grade students waged a recent letter-writing campaign directed at Carson to save their community and school. They note that Carson wrote that rebuilding the housing developments in Cairo is extremely difficult, if not impossible, due in part to generous employment and benefit agreements as Carson put it negotiated by and on behalf of former ACHA officials and employees. Carsons letter also stated that the ACHA is nearly bankrupt, and Durbin and Duckworth note that because of that, HUD officials have said that the housing authority is unable to pay its bills in the ordinary course of business. These revelations have further compounded the outrage and despair of the residents who have been patiently waiting for relief from their third world housing conditions and for justice to be served Given the life-altering impact this case has had on the residents of ACHA, we request that you publicly release the findings upon completion of the investigation so the residents and the public can understand what went wrong and residents can begin to heal and rebuild their lives. HUDs planned relocation of about 400 residents close to half of them children from Elmwood and McBride complexes is expected to begin later this month with the issuance of Tenant Protection Vouchers that residents can take to anywhere in the country where a housing authority is operating a voucher program. HUD has promised to assist with moving expenses, and through a contractor, relocation counseling and services. At this point, no deadline has been set by which people must move, and HUD officials have said that though everyone does have to relocate eventually, they intend to be as flexible as possible in working with people. Many residents have expressed a desire to remain in Cairo, but the difficulty is that there are limited affordable housing options available and HUD has said the existing buildings are beyond repair, and that they do not intend to build new habitats. That said, in the roughly five weeks since HUD announced its relocation decision, progress has been made by city leaders, federal and state housing officials, the citys utility company and private landlords as it relates to efforts to increase the housing options available. The housing crisis also is increasingly gaining national attention. The sixth-grade children who wrote to Carson were recently featured on CNN, and this week, the New York Times published a story about the plight of people living in Cairo. SPRINGFIELD Illinois politics is a rough-and-tumble sport and freshman Rep. Dave Severin is getting bruised up a bit for his decision to walk out of the House in early April to avoid voting on a bill that aimed to reverse an earlier decision of the governors administration to lay off 124 prison nurses. In doing so, he also missed a vote on a lifeline budget for higher education and social services on April 6 that included funding for cash-strapped Southern Illinois University. But despite the heat hes been taking, Severin, R-Benton, said Wednesday that he still stands behind his decision to leave Springfield that day and brushed off a call from the Williamson County Democratic Party chairman that Severin resign if he is "too much of a coward to stand up for what's right." In November, Severin narrowly bested former Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, who was appointed to the seat in 2003 and served in the House leadership. During the campaign, Severin accused Bradley of prioritizing his loyalty to House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, over the interests of Southern Illinois' citizens. Now, the tables have turned, and his opponents are accusing him of bowing to the pressure of the Republican Party, presumably House Republican leaders and Gov. Bruce Rauner. On Tuesday, Williamson County Democratic Party Chairman Cody Moake, citing Severin's comments in the newspaper about his decision to leave town prior to a vote being called on Senate Bill 19, issued a statement saying that it seems the job is "too much for him to handle." Moake noted that in the article Severin said he left because he was facing pressure from the Republican Party not to support the bill, but he did not want to vote against the interests of the IDOC nurses facing potential job loss. The reality of the situation is that Severin was elected by his constituents, not House leadership. If he cannot in good faith complete the job he was elected to do he should step down If he is not willing to stand up for these nurses, I want someone there that will at least take a stance, not run away, Moake said, in the statement. Of the call for his resignation, Severin said I have no idea where that came from. My response is I dont even have one. Thats my response. For perspective, it should be noted that Severin is far from the first lawmaker to decline to take an up or down vote on a tough, controversial or overtly political piece of legislation. Locally, Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, was criticized by her opponent in this past years election for declining to weigh in affirmatively on several bills and instead casting 'present' votes. Her opponent, Marsha Griffin, a Jonesboro school teacher who ran on the Democratic ticket, accused Bryant of failing to do the job she was sent to Springfield for: to vote. Bryant has said she voted 'present' on some legislation that was intentionally repetitive and called by the speaker, as she saw it, with the intent of creating negative campaign ads, not passing real policy. Even former President Barack Obama was criticized during a Democratic primary debate for president for his present votes 129 of them to be exact, according to a 2008 NPR report during the eight years he served in the Illinois Senate. While its not unusual for lawmakers to sit out a vote which a 'present' vote is for all intents and purposes, as is a walk out its also not unusual for them to be criticized for doing so. In the Illinois State Senate, Senator Obama voted 130 times present," former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was challenging Obama, said during the debate referenced in the NPR report. Thats not yes. Thats not no. Thats maybe." Severin said he thought that leaving town made a louder statement than voting present and he also said he surmised more people would ask him why he did it, giving him a chance to explain his predicament. Severin also said that when he left town, he had a private commitment from an aide to Rauner's administration that the Illinois Department of Corrections intended to rescind its layoff notice in an effort to continue talks with the Illinois Nurses Association, which it has since done. Severin said he wasn't allowed to say that at the time, because it had not been communicated to the INA. That decision was made, according to Severin, "thanks to the urging of a number of my colleagues and me." "Knowing that fact ahead of time gave me the peace of mind I needed to know that the bill would not be necessary and was in fact yet another attempt by Speaker Madigan to drive a wedge between myself and my constituents for political purposes." Of note, during the campaign, Severin called a press conference at which he signed a blown up "Fire Madigan" pledge. The INA, despite the rescinding of the layoff notice, has expressed its desire that the legislation proceed regardless, because there's no certainty about what the administration will do with regards to privatizing the positions in the future, which was the plan IDOC announced in late March. The bill would require IDOC to maintain nursing staff levels as they were in January 2016. Severin said he's not ready to say what he will do if Rauner vetoes the bill and its called for an override vote in the House. Newspaper ads purchased by the INA in recent weeks have asked Severin and other lawmakers to reconsider their positions. Though Severin only briefly brushed off the call for his resignation, a campaign aide emailed the following statement he said was attributable to Severin: Williamson County Democrats are still trying to adjust to life without a Madigan enabler in office so I can understand their frustration. With that said, their calls for my resignation are bizarre, at best. And despite the criticism suggesting that he left town because he lacked the backbone to buck his own party's leadership, Severin maintains that's just not the case. When I walked off the floor I walked off for my people, he said. Last week, I walked through the Hall of Governors in the Illinois State Capitol, looking at the official portraits of the governors who have led our state over the past two centuries. Some are inspirational. John P. Altgeld, an immigrant farm boy, served as governor from 1893 to 1897, standing up for working people and passing the nations most strict child labor and workplace safety laws. Self-educated, Altgeld saw higher education as the cornerstone of our democracy, and he successfully led dramatic increases in funding that brought Illinois public universities into the highest ranks. Other portraits offer cautionary tales: Shadrach Bond, our first governor, tried to bring slavery to Illinois. And Lennington Small was arrested while in office in 1921, on charges that he embezzled more than $1 million in state funds. As I watched my official portrait take its place in this gallery of governors, both good and bad, I started thinking about portraits about what they mean, and what we can (and should) learn from looking our history in the face. With my own portrait, we wanted to do more than create a formal memorial of one persons tenure in office. We wanted to create a lasting reminder that, in a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen. So the portraits background features dozens of found items that symbolize people, issues and events that have been important to our state. To make the portrait a more powerful tool for civics education, we created a new website, GovernorQuinnPortrait.org, where visitors can click on the items and follow links to historical documents, videos and other information about the issues the items represent. Among these found items is a photograph of the bill signing that put an advisory referendum on the November 2014 ballot, asking voters whether the states minimum wage should be increased to $10 an hour. The photo shows the committed, diverse group of supporters who came together for the signing a portrait within a portrait that depicts the first images of people of color ever included in the Hall of Governors. That photo is more than a prized memento from my past. Its a reminder to everyone who walks through the Hall of Governors that, when we look at the faces of all these men who were elected to lead the State of Illinois, we should remember all the women and men whose votes brought them into office. Importantly, the portraits background also includes a clipboard. Because in a democracy, a clipboard can be used as a crowbar by people who need leverage against public servants who have lost their way. As President Obama said in his farewell address, If youre disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures. I learned the power of the clipboard years ago, when my fellow volunteers and I launched the biggest petition drive in Illinois history, collecting 635,158 signatures in support of the Political Honesty Initiative. Our efforts ended a century-old practice that allowed Illinois legislators to collect their entire years pay in advance on their first day in office. Since then, Ive been a constant advocate for direct democracy giving people the power to shape their laws through citizen initiatives, which give legislative authority to any group of everyday people who are willing to pick up their clipboards and gather the necessary number of signatures to put a binding referendum on the ballot. This idea that citizens should have the power to write their own laws has a long, honorable history in Illinois. The Hall of Governors includes a portrait of Edward Dunne, who was elected to office in 1912 on a platform that called for an Initiative and Referendum amendment to our state Constitution. Although the legislature refused to follow his lead on direct democracy, Dunne went on to become a progressive hero, signing a bill to give Illinois women the vote in 1913 and creating a commission to protect Illinois consumers from unscrupulous utility companies. Today, the Hall of Governors serves to remind us of Governor Dunne, Governor Altgeld, and many other governors who have served our state with honor and distinction. I hope this latest addition to the Hall will build on that legacy, teaching the fundamentals of civics and providing new insights into the power of direct democracy. Most of all, I hope this portrait will inspire the people of Illinois to demand an amendment to our state Constitution that will empower us to make our voices heard directly, through ballot initiatives with the power to rewrite our laws and reshape our government. Because I believe that every person in the Land of Lincoln has the right and the responsibility to stand up, speak out, and start taking action to improve our government and make the will of the people the law of the land. Friday night, as I stood next to the guest bed where I sleep when I visit my parents, I looked down toward the nightstand, and spotted a copy of Voices of Feminism Volume 4: The Matriarchate, or Mother-age, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, sitting on top of an off-white lace doily. I smiled. Of course my mom, the first feminist I ever met, left this here, on Mothers Day weekend. It felt like a two-fold reminder: One, to be grateful for the strong, spunky woman snoozing in the next room; and two, to show that gratitude here on Mother's Day. I realized halfway through Saturday morning breakfast that I had left my my moms Mothers Day gift back in Carbondale, wrapped in purple tissue paper inside a brown paper bag, sitting next to my front door so it wouldnt be forgotten. So much for that. Itll have to wait until the next time I come back to town. On Saturday afternoon, I headed west to Columbia, Missouri, my college town, to visit my friend whos a soon-to-be-mother. We spent the afternoon in her backyard. We talked about those big life ideas: Marriage. Breast-feeding. Parenthood. Careers. The future. The past. She touched her seven-month belly serenely while her dogs rolled around in the grass. She humored her husband and me with a game of darts at their local watering hole after dinner (she kicked our butts), and a drunk man with a ponytail, who was celebrating his 60-something-ish birthday, cornered her to talk about the joy of giving life (and to ask what hospital she was giving birth in). Even before she was pregnant, she has always been the kind of person to attract odd people in public. Before we were old enough to get into bars, wed post up outside our favorite coffee house on the downtown drag that led to campus, and the strangest people would plop down for a chat, like the man with a (probably fake) Scottish accent, who called himself the Cardboard King. So of course a drunk man with a ponytail had to stop and tell her what a beautiful thing it is that shes carrying life. And he wasnt even the first stranger who'd asked her the hospital where shed be ushering that life into the world. It seems people, sometimes, treat pregnant women as if the entire future of the human race is resting inside that belly. In a way, I guess it is. Back to moms for a pit stop on Sunday, where she sent me off with a snack bag of Jordan almonds, an outfit shed bought me weeks ago because she thought Id like it (I do), and 10 fragile impatiens she had grown from seed that want to be planted. (Im sorry, mom, I still havent planted them. But I will soon.) I thought about her gift, in the purple tissue paper, on a shelf in my house 100 miles away. It wasnt really enough, anyway a trinket and a card, in exchange for wearing me in public for months, for carrying the fate of the human race inside that belly in the worlds eyes; for finishing graduate school while I was still a little kid, studying inside while she could hear through her open window my dad and I playing in the yard; for permanently lending me her copy of "The Second Sex;" for her anger at seeing my first tattoo; for her constant coaxing to quit smoking. But I'll dutifully come back, next time, with gift in hand. ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump is responding to the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election, calling the Russia probe the "single greatest witch hunt." This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 Trump also suggested Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Obama administration had committed "illegal acts" and there was "never a special counsel appointed!" With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 It was announced Wednesday that former FBI Director Robert Mueller would be the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in last year's election and any possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia. The appointment of a special counsel comes during a tumultuous period for the White House: the sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey and a memo reportedly written by Comey detailing a request Trump allegedly made to Comey to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn. The special counsel announcement was made by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who the White House initially credited for Trump's firing of Comey. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any existing or future investigations related to Russia. The White House had "absolutely no indication" the appointment was coming and was given a heads up less than an hour before it was publicly announced, according to a senior White House official. In a statement released Wednesday night, Trump shot down allegations that his campaign had ties to "any foreign entity" and said that he looks forward to "this matter concluding quickly." "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," the statement read. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Orangeburg Countys efforts to draw jobs and businesses are paying off, Central SC Alliance representatives say. All the economic indicators are going in the right direction for this county and that is a result of what you have done to prepare this county for success, Mike Briggs told Orangeburg County Council on Monday. Briggs is president and CEO of the Central SC Alliance. Briggs noted that unemployment in county was at 15 percent in 2010. In 2015, it had gone down to 10.7 percent and by March, the unemployment rate was at 6.7 percent. In the same timeframe, per capita income has risen from just under $27,000 to just under $31,000, he added. Orangeburg County joined the alliance in 2004 and has since, been blessed with $1.1 billion in announced capital investment and 2,200 jobs, Briggs said. From 2016 to the present, the county has seen $248.9 million in announced capital investments and 108 announced new jobs. Briggs said part of the countys success in recent years has been due to the countys investments. He said the county, is as busy as I have seen it in the 20 years Ive been doing this. There are 16 active projects which are all new. None are expansions. The total value of all the projects if the county lands them, which Briggs said is highly unlikely, would be worth $1.4 billion and roughly 3,300 jobs. Over the past year, there have been 24 project announcements. Fourteen are new projects and 10 are expansions. Briggs said foreign companies are looking at South Carolina specifically. Europe is coming, he said. They want to be in this marketplace. He noted Interstate 26 is particularly attractive to potential businesses. The interstate connects to Charleston, the new Volvo plant, the Mercedes plant and BMW. Briggs said along with the U.S., the alliance has made presentations to potential industries in Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Our nine counties, that partnership represents about 20 percent of the state of South Carolina, he said. Wherever we are, Orangeburg County is there. In the next few years, the alliance plans to target automotive and aerospace suppliers such as Volvo, Mercedes, BMW and Boeing. We are in a perfect position to generate business with those folks, Briggs said. Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith thanked Briggs for the alliances hard work and showing that the council is not just sitting on our laurels. We are working very hard to bring jobs to this county, she said. In other business: Council passed third and final reading of an ordinance rezoning property at 7656 Old Number Six Highway in Santee from Forest and Agriculture to Commercial General as requested by James and Donna Beck. The property is already in use as an auto repair shop and is located next door to a cement shop. Council gave first reading by title only to two ordinances dealing with the county budget for the next fiscal year. Thats just the first part of the budget process, County Administrator Harold Young said. Council read a resolution honoring SI Group as Industry of the Year. Council read a resolution honoring SI Group Senior Director of Southeast Operations Jeff Prickett as Ambassador of the Year for 2017-2018. Procurement requests were approved for two items. Council approved $189,176 for ATI Systems for an emergency indoor warning system which will give warnings based on weather or any other emergency. The payment is a match that goes with a grant from the Hazard Mitigation Program. The system will work in the courthouse, magistrates building and the administrative building. There are no service fees such as monthly recurring charges. Council also approved working with Low Country Billing for EMS collections and billing services. Young said they use the same type of software and equipment so there will be no need to purchase any new items. Council went into closed, executive session to discuss economic development updates for projects currently operating anonymously under the names Project Halo and Project Columbus. They also discussed contractual matters for broadband. The Regional Medical Centers Blood Assurance Program is asking community members to donate blood at the RMC Blood Donor Center while the bloodmobile is in the shop for repair. The need for blood never takes a day off, so we strongly encourage anyone who can donate to visit the Blood Donor Center, Blood Assurance Coordinator Jessica Meier said. Summertime is the hardest for any blood centers, so the need for donors at the Blood Donor Center is even more important during this downtime, she said. Community members can visit the Blood Donor Center on the first floor of the Regional Medical Center between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are strongly encouraged. To set up an appointment to donate blood or for any other information, call 803-395-2419 or toll free in S.C. 800-476-3377, ext. 2419. The Regional Medical Centers Blood Assurance Program is one of two independent, community-based blood donor programs in South Carolina. All blood collected at the RMC Blood Donor Center and on the RMC Bloodmobile stays in the community. The South Carolina Department of Transportation has scheduled a public information meeting for the proposed widening of Interstate 26 in Lexington, Richland and Newberry counties. The proposed interstate widening would be for approximately 16 miles and would extend from approximately 1.6 miles west of the Exit 85 interchange to approximately .4 miles west of the Exit 101 interchange. The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at Chapin High School, 300 Columbia Ave., Chapin. The meeting will have a drop-in format with displays for viewing, informational handouts and comment forms. Project information, including meeting materials and comment forms, will also be available on the SCDOT website: www.dot.state.sc.us/inside/i26_wide_85-101/i26_85-101.aspx. For more information, contact SCDOT Program Manager Michael Hood at 803-737-3485. As many of you know, the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation has proposed that the three current school districts be consolidated into one. There have been several vague reasons for consolidation given by different members of the delegation, but all of them have said that they believe it is best for all children. The problem is, no one has explained exactly how it will be best for children, especially in comparison to the current district's structure. We believe several points need to be publicized about the impact on OCSD4 families. 1. Will it save money? Several members of the delegation have said that combining district operations will save money. a. Many studies have been written about consolidation in this state, as well as other states (Syracuse University-New York, Dartmouth College-New Hampshire, Federal Reserve Bank-St. Louis and Colorado). All of the studies conclude that consolidation only benefits smaller districts (less than 1,000 students) when they merge with a more affluent district. In Orangeburg County's case, we have three poor districts with 3,000 -7,000 students. b. Cost savings are typically negated by an additional layer of administration necessary to run a larger district, as well as capital costs ... the consolidated district typically adds building projects that further erode any savings compared to before. 2. Higher tax implications for two out of the three districts. a. The following millage rates apply to the operations of the three school districts: OCSD3-176.5 mills; OCSD4-154.4 mills; OCSD5-194.3 mils b. The conversation has been to raise/equalize a millage around the county to OCSD5's current rate. This will create a 25.6 percent increase in real property taxes to OCSD4. 3. Another reason given is that there is no businesses wanting to locate in the western part of the county and therefore all the new businesses will be in the other districts, depriving OCSD4 of funds to run its schools. a. The three districts currently share taxes from businesses located in each of the districts, regardless of where they are located. Currently, the SC&G power plant in Cope is the largest taxpayer in the county; those taxes are shared with the other two districts. b. Any new business investment will not be paying school taxes for at least 10 to 20 years due to fee-in-lieu deals that are used to entice the business to this area. A consolidated district will not receive any money for new investments. 4. What is the overall effect on the culture and climate of our communities? a. Currently, six members of the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation are making all the decisions about how to educate our children. The people who educate our children every day are not at the table. The delegation has made it clear that it will not put this out for public vote nor entertain any input from the public that voted them into office. b. We believe this will have an overall negative impact on funding due to the reality that many people will choose to move their children to other districts or private/charter schools, taking those monies away from the public schools in Orangeburg County. Our schools will continue to shrink, along with the communities they serve. The students, employees and citizens of our communities within Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four can be assured that the board of trustees will continue to act in the best interest of our school district until such time as it is no longer empowered to do so. In the event that a member or members of our current board are elected to the proposed consolidated school district board, they will continue to serve in a manner that is representative of all involved and with the best interest of students at heart. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. President Barack Obama spoke those words on Super Tuesday 2008 in Chicago to reference his unexpected arrival as a presidential nominee. But those words have equal application for the choice of change we are facing in 2017 in Orangeburg with school district consolidation. The challenges plaguing the management of three separate school districts in Orangeburg are complex but the solution is simple -- consolidation. The legislation to create a single school district in Orangeburg was proposed by Sens. John Matthews and Brad Hutto and maintains the support of all our representatives except Rep. Jerry Govan. Why? With the implementation of some minor changes, there is consensus that a single district designed to meet the needs of all Orangeburg residents would be more effective. Regrettably the bets placed on our current educational trifecta have failed and must be immediately addressed. The burden placed upon teachers to teach more with less; the expectation of administrators to maintain morale without any means of incentivizing; and the expectation of students to perform in largely inadequate facilities is unrealistic. The need to consolidate the school districts here in Orangeburg to focus on three specific aspects. 1. It is an issue which helps to create a unified legislative agenda among the overwhelming majority of all our representative (get on board Govan). This shared vision for educational improvement could and should be a foundation for other shared priorities and improved working relationships. 2. It reflects a desire and recognition to place the needs of constituents and community before all others. Change is not always easy but it is often necessary. This effort will help renew the faith of voters. It will demonstrate that regardless of difficulty those chosen to advocate our ideas are doing just that. 3. It illustrates the recognition of education as the cornerstone of success. The ongoing efforts in Orangeburg to advance the quality of life for ALL residents, grow the local economy and attract new businesses rest solidly with our ability to improve the quality of education in our schools. It is critically important that Our Orangeburg develop a shared and consistent educational mission for all; establish a system of checks and balances to streamline the school boards processes; and establish a more equitable system of resources, facilities and educational standards. For those reasons, I support school consolidation, applaud the willingness of our legislators to embark upon this challenge and share in the desire of all who love the City of Orangeburg to create the best and brightest future for our children and this community. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 10:23AM Tripwire by ETHAN PETERSON Snatched dir. Jonathan Levine 97 minutes Roger (Christopher Meloni) is a fellow traveler Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) and her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) meet in the Colombian jungle. Just 14,000 years ago, the residents of the region farmed maize, potato, quinoa and cotton. These three hikers do not even know what is edible. When Roger takes them to a valley they must cross by swinging on a thick vine, he suggests he go first because "I am the man." Women deal with this kind of sexism all the time. It is called "casual sexism" because it is not really ill-intentioned. Snatched, an important film that also features a scene where a romantic interest inadvertently catches sight of Emily Middleton wiping her vagina with the aid of a bathroom mirror, has Roger swing manfully to his death when the rope breaks. Unfortunately and somewhat ironically, Meloni is the best actor in Snatched by far. The film is a substantial improvement on Ms. Schumer's last "comedy," in that it actually features some, but not many, jokes completely unrelated to the fictitious idea that she is unpleasant, unkempt, and unattractive. As her fervent fanbase can readily attest, none of these things are actually true. She is a lovely woman whose oversized cheeks only add to her considerable beauty. In a key scene where Emily Middleton sunbathes at a resort in Ecuador, she shows off her body, which is also quite impressive. Later, she humbly suggests that her slim physique is due to a tapeworm, which is extracted orally in an extensive and graphic scene. Emily recovers from this parasite in a native village with a disturbing patriarchal culture. She is so offended by the sexism she finds there that she destroys their way of life. These heady subjects all occupy space in the best screenplay Katie Dippold (The Heat) has ever written. Hawn is not given very much to do in Snatched. The character of Linda Middleton is an overbearing single mother; it is unclear why her relationship with the father of her children fell apart so many years ago, or why she has refused to have any sex in the years that followed. Dippold introduces this woman in a scene where she writes up a rough draft of a dating profile before deleting it in disgust. The profile says that she loves cats and Grey's Anatomy. Later on, we are informed that Linda is learning how to be a sculptor, although her daughter immediately dismisses the singular art she produces. Emily Middleton also has a brother named Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz). Barinholtz, recently the author of the Kevin Hart comedy Central Intelligence, plays an overly verbal loser in most supporting appearances. As he tries to recover his mother and sister after they are kidnapped and brought into Colombia, he makes a trip to the State Department when he cannot find anyone who will listen to him over the phone. This is a taxing and anxiety-ridden journey, since Jeffrey is substantially agoraphobic and makes his only income teaching piano lessons to young people. Dippold acquiesces to Schumer's typical self-deprecating humor, but she treats Jeffrey's illness with astonishing sensitivity. The characters of Snatched are all ill, in fact. Whatever technology permitted them to stop farming maize and potatoes, as the first humans did quite easily, has also meant an end to any intrinsic chance of happiness. Emily Middleton's boyfriend Michael (the talented Korean-American actor Randall Park) explains that he is breaking up with her because she has no direction in her life he is tired of her focus on appearances, and declines to accompany her on a trip which has the intrinsic purpose of subjectifying native cultures while having frequent, unemotional sex. In another less sensitive film, the Middletons would befriend some locals who would show their inherent aboriginality. In Snatched, these white women are outsiders to every part of the culture. They are treated with respect for the most part, and they only come to harm out of their own stupidity. Emily in particular fights back with a velocity of violence never employed by her captors. Using an arrow, she kills the young son of the man ransoming her and her mother, and caves in the skull of another man who is transporting them to nicer living quarters. "You are an excellent murderer," Linda observes of her daughter. The Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda was the first conquistador to discover Colombia. (He also gave Venezuela its name.) His expeditions were thoroughfares of rape and murder; no women and children were spared by his men. He was so ashamed by his actions that at the end of his life he died penniless and alone after ensuring that people would walk over his grave as punishment for his colonial acts of subjugation. Emily Middleton's emotional journey is remarkably similar. On her next trip, this time to Kuala Lumpur, she stays within the tourist trappings so that no one else can be hurt. Emily has not altered who she is, she has only the knowledge that her inherent destructiveness must be contained to prevent it from harming the people around her. There is something so completely non-redemptive about Snatched, a refreshing, if depressing testimony to how little of life we are even capable of living. Ethan Peterson is the reviews editor of This Recording. You can find an archive of his writing on This Recording here. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan's National Art Museum will open its doors to a new exhibition on May 18. The exhibition will honor the victims of the "Political repression in the Soviet Union in 1920-1950". The exhibition titled "The forgotten will not be forgotten" will be held as part of the International Museum Day. The theme chosen for 2017 is "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums". The guests will remember those who fell victim to state-executed repressions, such as mass deportations and imprisonment in forced labor camps. The repression left a deep mark on the fate of millions of people, who lived during the terrible Stalinist repression. More than 50,000 people were killed, and another 100,000 members of the intelligentsia, art, culture and religious figures, scientists, writers, teachers, living on the territory of Azerbaijan, were sent into exile in Siberia, Kazakhstan, etc. The forthcoming exhibition will feature works of artists, who were sent into exile - Alekper Rzakuliyev (1903-1974), Hasan Haqverdiyev (1907-1978), as well as victims of retaliation for "anti-Soviet activity" of their parents - Vidadi Narimanbekov (1926-2001), Toghrul Narimanbekov (1930-2013), Oktay Sadigzade (1921-2014), Toghrul Sadigzade (1926-1995), Tahir Salahov (1928). By Azernews By Rashid Shirinov May 18 marks the 25th anniversary of the occupation of Lachin region, beautiful and essential part of Azerbaijan, by Armenian armed forces. Mountainous Lachin, located in the southwest of Azerbaijan, was seized by the Armenian forces in 1992. The region is located between Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia, and the only road from the occupant country to Nagorno-Karabakh passed through the center of Lachin. After occupying Shusha, the pearl of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian armed forces seized settlements around Lachin and started intensive firing of the center of the region. Launching their invasion on the night of May 16 from a place called Turshsu in the occupied Shusha and the Gor region of Armenia, the enemy occupied Lachin. Most of the Armenian armed forces managed to invade the region through the Lachin corridor. As a result of the Armenian attack, more than 300 Azerbaijani military men and civilians were killed or went missing; 103 people were wounded or disabled. Armenian invaders did not spare even children 18 Azerbaijani children were killed, 225 were injured and 31 lost both of their parents. As many as 63,341 Azerbaijani citizens were expelled from their homes in Lachin as a result of the occupation. The seizure of Lachin,a region of geo-strategic significance for Azerbaijan, dealt a serious blow to the economy of the country roughly $7 billion. Armenian invaders destroyed hundreds of cultural objects, settlements, villages and historical monuments. Moreover, the enemy destroyed industrial enterprises and agricultural fields of the region. As many as 8,950 buildings, 7 industrial and construction enterprises, 471 service facilities, 154 schools and many cultural and historical monuments of Lachin remain under occupation until today. The region was rich in minerals, construction materials, gold, mountain crystal, silk, granite, mercury, limestone, harsh stone, travertine, mineral water, and healing herbs. There were rare mahogany trees, cobalt, uranium, iron, and marble of different colors. As many as 34,877 hectares of Lachins territory were covered with rare mahogany trees included in the Red Book. However, Armenians plundered all these natural resources of the region after the invasion. A quarter-century has passed since the occupation of Lachin, but Azerbaijanis still wait for the return to their homeland. Regrettably, their desire remains unnoticed by the world community Armenia keeps ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. Azerbaijan tries to resolve the conflict as soon as possible, while the aggressor Armenia does the opposite by making every effort to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh. Currently, 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories remain under Armenian occupation and over 1 million of refugees and IDPs have to live far away from their homes in hope of returning there someday. Egypt Property Show (EPS) 2017 ended its inaugural GCC edition on a successful note with leading developers clinching sales deals worth E1 billion ($55.2 million) during its three-day run. The event, which concluded yesterday (May 7) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, witnessed robust participation of Egyptian companies. EPS Dubai attracted investors who were looking for promising prospects in the Egyptian market, particularly from the countrys top developers. Participants gained valuable insights from property experts on what investments offer the best returns, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of exclusive offers only available during the exhibition. Hisham Lotfi, the chairman of Al Ahram Establishments, said: "The exhibitors were highly satisfied with the outcome of their participation as they were able to meet visitors expectations of the various real estate projects coming up in Egypt. We are even more inspired to make this event bigger in the next roadshows." Wahid Attalla, CEO, Spectrum Consultants, said: "The turnout of our launch roadshow event in Dubai only proves the strong interest among expatriate Egyptians and international investors to invest in the Egyptian property market." "Indeed, the sector is ripe to expand its offerings beyond the local market and reach out to many Egyptians abroad seeking value in their investments. The number of visitors which came during the three-day exhibition exceeded our expectations and the deals that have transpired during the event are clear indications of an untapped huge market," he noted. "We can only look forward to next years event being 50 per cent bigger than this year," he added. Hisham Shoukri, the chairman & CEO, Rooya Holding, said: "The EPS has accurately presented the Egyptian real estate market and we are confident that this event will have a huge impact on the future of investments in the Egyptian market." "The support of the Egyptian Government is also highly commendable, plus Arab investors are seriously considering the countrys real estate potentials. Egypt is undoubtedly among the worlds leading markets when it comes to real estate investments," he added. Sultan Butti bin Mijrin, the director general of Dubai Land Department, who attended the event, lauded the exhibition and the projects that were showcased by Egypts leading developers such as the Emaar, Sabbour, Madinet Nasr and Rooya Holding. The second EPS edition in Dubai will be held from April 12 to 14, 2018. Following its success, the organisers are planning to hold the next roadshow exhibition in Kuwait followed by Saudi Arabia and then London.-TradeArabia News Service Damac Properties, a leading UAE developer, has announced that it wil be entering the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) starting from June 1. The MSCI is a global index which measures the performance of large and mid-cap segments of the emerging markets including the UAE. MSCI UAE Index now consists of 10 listed companies across a range of sectors including real estate, financial, industrial and telecommunications. Amr Aboushaban, the head of investor relations, Damac Properties said: "Our inclusion in the MSCI is testament to the confidence that institutional investors have in the strength of our company, backed by robust fundamentals and track record, and its leading position in the regional real estate sector." "We are indeed proud of this achievement as it clearly exemplifies our solid financials and high growth potential and further supports our positioning as a high-yielding stock," stated Aboushaban. "This provides the opportunity for us to be accessible to a wider range of global investors and enhances our efforts to diversify our shareholder base, while improving overall our stock liquidity and unlocking value," he added.-TradeArabia News Service King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), the largest privately-funded new city in the world, said it has awarded two major construction contracts to develop 2.44 million sq m of land, including part of the infrastructure for Phase Three at The Industrial Valley. Of the 2.44 million sq m, 1.44 million will be developed by Saudi Binladin Group, at a cost of SR83.5 million ($22.2 million) , while the second contract will see the development of the remainder of the project by the Salem Saleh Al Harithi Company, at a contractual cost of SR49.4 million ($13.2 million). Both projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2017, said a statement from KAEC. Located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, KAEC covers an area of 181 sq km, approximately the size of Washington DC. Besides the Industrial Valley, it comprises King Abdullah Port, the Coastal Communities residential districts and the Haramain Railway district. It is being developed by Emaar, The Economic City, a publicly listed Saudi joint-stock company established in 2006. On the contracts, Fahd Al Rasheed, the group chief executive and managing director of KAEC, said: "The Industrial Valley is the fastest growing manufacturing and logistics hub in the region and an investment destination of choice for leading local, regional and international companies and aspires to be the largest non-oil and logistics centre in the region." "The Industrial Valley will pave the way for more businesses to grow with the city and contribute to the growth in job opportunities for Saudis, stated Al Rasheed. The Industrial Valley CEO Rayan Qutub said the development work is proceeding as scheduled in the masterplan for the city and is meeting a growing demand among investors for high calibre tracts of industrial land." The company, he stated, has already closed the sale of 1.75 million sq m of Phase Three to major corporations including Al Futtaim, Binzagr, Abbar Group, Sunbulah Group, and Naghi Group. The development has proven especially attractive to logistics services providers, remarked Qutub. The central location of Phase Three within the Industrial Valley is strategically convenient for logistics providers seeking to offer solutions not only in the Industrial Valley, but all across King Abdullah Economic City, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Middle East Consultancy Association (Meca), which was recently launched in the UAE, said it aims to play a key role in vitalising the region's cleaning and hygiene sector which is likely to grow 275 per cent in three years. It will be offering the countrys cleaning, hygiene, and facility management industry the much needed regulations and standardised best practices, said the statement from Meca. The regions facility management industry, which industry sources estimate to be worth Dh300 billion ($82 billion) by 2020, will also benefit from Meca, a first-mover when it comes to being a regulatory and compliance body, here in the region. "Meca aims to be omnipresent within the UAEs cleaning, hygiene, and facility management industries," remarked Ahmad M. Alayan, its chairman and CEO. "We have done extensive market research, taken intelligence from service providers, owners, and government officials, and the need for a regulatory body is of paramount importance," he stated. According to him, Mecas immediate plans emphasises three crucial sectors that the company states have long been overlooked when it comes to Green Clean programs and sustainability: Education, Health, and Aviation. "As the UAE and the region continues to grow, local and regional suppliers, manufacturers, service providers, cleaners, governmental bodies and others within the industry are not all primed to grow with it. This is where Meca plays a prominent role, in helping to provide a platform for the industry to thrive," he explained. "We mirror global best practices, and local cutting-edge science, benchmarked against the legacy of our primary ally, ISSA, a globally recognised industry pioneer for the past 93 years," he added. ISSA is the leading worldwide association for the cleaning industry, and leverages the strength of its global cleaning community to change the way the world views cleaning increasing the appreciation for cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment and an improved bottom line. John Barrett, the executive director for ISSA, expressed delight at the partnership with Meca for raising the levels of professionalism in the cleaning and facility management industry. "We could not be prouder to be working with Meca in this important part of the world. So, let us work together to change the way the world views cleaning in the Middle East," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced the creation of a new national military industries company, wholly owned by the government, which will form a key part of Vision 2030. Saudi Arabian Military Industries (Sami) will manufacture products and provide services across four business units: air systems - which includes maintenance and repair of fixed-wing aircraft as well as manufacturing and repair of unmanned air vehicles; land systems - which includes manufacturing and repair of military vehicles; weapons and missiles - including ammunition; and defense electronics - which includes radars and sensors as well as communication systems and electronic warfare, said a statement from PIF. Saudi Arabian Military Industries aims to become one of the world's top 25 defence companies by 2030. It will directly contribute around SR14 billion ($3.73 billion) to the kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2030, invest over SR6 billion ($1.59 billion) in research and development by 2030, and create over 40,000 jobs, many of which will be in the engineering and technical fields, it said. By partnering with universities, Sami will provide students with apprenticeships and careers in cutting edge technologies which were previously unavailable in the kingdom, it added. In line with Vision 2030, Sami will contribute to diversifying the Saudi economy for the 21st century by reducing dependence on oil, while protecting and strengthening national security. Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Crown Prince, Minister of Defense and chairman of PIF, said: While the kingdom is one of the world's top five spenders on security and defence overall, only around two per cent of our military procurement is domestic. He emphasised that Sami will be a major contributor in achieving the goals set out in Vision 2030, which states that 50 per cent of Saudi Arabia's military procurement spending will be localised, said a statement. Samis four business units closely complement the kingdom's future military requirements and build on existing local capabilities. It will establish companies through joint ventures with global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as cooperating with local military companies. Sami will consider creating new business units, to ensure the company is aligned with the latest developments in the military industries sector, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has operated its freighter aircraft from UKs Birmingham airport as part of a new bespoke service for the transportation of exclusive Jaguar Land Rover cars to Chicago, US. Emirates SkyCargo flight EK9923 departed Birmingham Airport on its way to Chicago O'Hare International, to deliver cars for further testing, said a statement from the company. Metro Shipping, the logistics service provider appointed by Jaguar Land Rover, partner to Emirates and strategic partner of Birmingham Airport was on hand to coordinate the logistics of the shipment, it said. The freighter service is part of Emirates SkyCargos specialised offering, Emirates SkyWheels - air transportation solutions for high value automobiles. The service offers the safe transportation of luxury, premium vehicles, it added. Airfreighting the cars directly from Birmingham, the location of Jaguar Land Rovers Solihull facility, to Chicago, also results in reduced handling of cars as there will no longer be a requirement for long-distance trucking of the vehicles. The Jaguar Land Rover cars were uplifted by an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 Freighter aircraft which has the capacity to carry over 100 tonnes of cargo. Large and outsized shipments can also be easily uplifted through the aircrafts wide main deck cargo doors. The aircraft is one of the most modern, technologically advanced freighters available, and has the lowest fuel burn of any comparable sized aircraft. Hiran Perera, senior vice president, cargo planning and freighters, Emirates SkyCargo, said: We have seen huge demand from customers across the globe for bespoke transportation solutions for various business verticals, which is why weve launched a number of sector-specific products as part of our offerings, such as Emirates SkyPharma, Emirates SkyWheels and more recently Emirates SkyFresh. It is a positive development that we are able to work with leading car manufacturers like Jaguar Land Rover on our Emirates SkyWheels offering. As a global facilitator of trade with a network spanning 155 destinations across six continents, we look forward to working with businesses across the Midlands and the UK to help them connect with their international counterparts, Perera added. Paul Kehoe, chief executive officer, Birmingham Airports, said: The Midlands is at the heart of UK manufacturing and the top export region outside of London and the South East, accounting for almost 20 percent of all English export goods. Air connectivity is an absolutely vital ingredient in growing this success and supporting global manufacturing brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, which produces thousands of vehicles each week from the Solihull plant, near the airport site, he said. It therefore makes absolute sense to see more exporters using Birmingham Airport as a gateway to the world and I encourage business leaders in the region to support this opportunity to even further enhance the success of Midlands Engine, he added. Lawrence Boyle, Global Test Facilities Team Leader, Jaguar Land Rover said: "This is another milestone for Jaguar Land Rover as it continues to improve productivity, saving significant time and cost in the movement of our vehicles. By working with Emirates SkyCargo and using Birmingham Airport, we have a hub much closer to the centre of our engineering and manufacturing operations, enabling us to transport our premium products more quickly and efficiently. We are proud to have played a role in making this happen and supporting sustainable, profitable growth." Tom Fernihough, automotive director, Metro Shipping, said: Metro is delighted to realise its vision of achieving global supply chain solutions through local strategic partnerships creating a truly unique, bespoke and scalable platform, with the support of Emirates SkyCargo, Jaguar Land Rover and Birmingham Airport. We have drawn on our relationships and over 35 years of experience within the automotive logistics sector to deliver benefit to all parties involved, which we will also be offering to other shippers in the region, he said. In December 2016, Emirates SkyCargo carried nearly 5,700 tonnes of cargo from the UK, up 29 per cent on the same period last year. This was the first month that Emirates SkyCargo exported a larger volume of cargo from the UK than any other airline. The total cargo volume flown by the UK arm of Emirates SkyCargo between January 2014 and December 2016 was nearly 190,000 tonnes, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Siemens, a global technology powerhouse, has launched its new gas engine E-series with a power output of two megawatts (MW). It includes both the SGE-86EM for the 50-Hz market and the SGE-100EM for the 60-Hz market. The new E-series engine has 12 cylinders and offers a large volume per cylinder, high displacement and best-in-class efficiency in the market, said a statement from the company. With the new 2-MW SGE-86EM and the SGE-100EM engines, Siemens is providing a broader spectrum of efficient products and solutions for clean, low-MW-range distributed power generation, it said. In 2015 Siemens acquired Guascor engines and generator sets as part of the Dresser-Rand product portfolio. The name of these engines now includes "SGE" for Siemens Gas Engine, it added. Legacy Guascor engines are recognised as robust and efficient machines that deliver heat and power and perform reliably in critical and demanding applications. These products are engineered and tested under rigorous conditions. With roots dating back half a century, approximately 4,700 Guascor engines are operating in more than 50 countries around the world. Siemens' expanded portfolio now ranges from 300 kW to 2 MW for the gas engines; 4 to 66 MW for industrial and aeroderivative gas turbines; and up to 425 MW for heavy-duty gas turbines. The new E-series gas engine is based on the thermodynamic Miller cycle combustion technology that ensures high reliability, minimal emissions, and longer run times between service intervals. With a mechanical efficiency of about 47 per cent and an electrical efficiency of 45.4 per cent, the engine offers a high level of performance for both prime power generation and cogeneration applications. The new engine series' capacity to deliver on-site power, heat, and cooling for a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and municipal applications translates into an excellent cost-performance ratio. With more than 3,000 operating hours and comprehensive testing at Siemens' Engine R&D Center in Minano, Spain, demonstrated a reliable, efficient engine with competitive capital and operating costs. Eva Garmendia, product line manager, said: The new E-series engine offers a more compact and efficient alternative to the 2-MW engines available in the power generation market today. We can also offer one of the shortest lead times in the industry, with just 24 weeks from concept to delivery of a complete gen-set, she said. Inaki Iruretagoiena, R&D director for engines, said: The new engine series is the result of in-depth market research that identified key product benefits. In turn, this new E-series gas engine offers our clients the best-in-class alternative on the market, highest efficiency, excellent reliability, proven technology, and the smallest footprint: 34.5 cubic meters,Iruretagoiena added. Siemens E-series engines are especially well-suited for renewable energy and waste-to-energy, industrial power generation and cogeneration, and combined heat and power (CHP) applications. By generating electricity on-site and recovering heat typically wasted in a conventional power plant, CHP technology reduces energy costs and carbon emissions. CHP is a common application used by large building complexes, like the one planned for the Siemens Campus in Erlangen, Germany. The Erlangen Campus will create a new urban district and debut as Siemens' first CO2-neutral location worldwide. In collaboration with Erlangen's municipal utility, the campus will operate on a CO2-neutral basis, thanks to state-of-the-art building and energy technology. A decentralised energy system that uses a separate cogeneration system based on four new SGE-86EM engines will provide district heating and cooling for the campus. This system will be combined with a single concept in order to adapt to the existing energy infrastructure and will eliminate expensive development or expansion of the existing infrastructure. The units are expected to be delivered to the site in 2018, it said. TradeArabia News Service Dubais new Policeman that harnesses Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Services technologies will be soon on the street. Dubai Police will leverage this months Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) and co-located Internet of Things Expo (IoTx) in Dubai to launch a worlds first public service product that is poised to transform the day-to-day lives of the emirates residents and impact its millions of tourists, a statement said. The launch at GISEC and IoTx, which will run from May 21 to 23 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, will reveal a revolutionary product that will become a common sight across the emirate in months and years to come, it said wihout giving much details of the product. Earlier, Dubai Police had announced plans to launch first robot police officer in May. Members of the public will be able to report crimes to the robot using a touchscreen on its chest, it said. This global launch aligns with Dubai Polices commitment to the Dubai Plan 2021 and our pivotal role in achieving the emirates smart city strategy, said Brigadier-General Khalid Nasser Al Razzouqi, director-general of Smart Services. This worlds first technology will not only revolutionise the emirates police force, it will also provide an engaging, interactive and informative touchpoint between Dubai Police, the general public and visitors from all over the world. Its the latest example of Dubai championing smart technology on a global level. A pioneering project that includes over 100 smart city initiatives and a plan to transform 1,000 government services across the full spectrum of public sector entities, the Dubai Plan 2021 aligns with the citys preparations for hosting Expo 2020 Dubai, which is expected to attract more than 25 million visitors from October 2020 to April 2021. Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, Exhibitions & Events Management, DWTC, said the new Dubai Police product launch signals an upsurge in closer government and public engagement for which GISEC, the Middle Easts largest dedicated cyber security, and IoTx are providing test-bed demonstration platforms. These futuristic events unite the worlds leading private sector innovators and technology providers with public sector decision-makers who are today pioneering smart city technology adoption across Dubai, the UAE and beyond, said LohMirmand. This launch is another example of the potential of both GISEC and IoTX as disruptive and transformative platforms for visionary technology solutions. The events open up tomorrows world, today. Powered by Gitex Technology Week, the regions leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) event, GISEC 2017 is open only to the security and intelligence community, including government departments, business and enterprise. - TradeArabia News Service Equate Petrochemical Company, Kuwait's first international joint-venture in this industry, was recognised by the United Nations (UN) and Kuwaits Secretariat General of the Supreme Council for Planning & Development (SCPD) in appreciation of the companys support for the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM). Equate played a critical role in the SCPD and UN driven joint programme for the support of PAM. The programme aims to develop work effectiveness, and implement mechanisms to measure performance that aims to realie accomplishments within a short-time frame, said a statement from the company. Having commenced its cooperation with PAM in 2014, Equate collaborated with the authority to develop a key performance indicators (KPIs) dashboard to establish an evaluation system, develop talents and support the human capital, it said. Speaking on this occasion, Equates president and CEO Mohammad Husain, said: Partnerships and teamwork are the main pillars of our corporate culture and we believe that human capital is the cornerstone for sustainability, innovation and successful business development. Realising the innovative potential of the human capital represents successful partnerships for us. We are very proud to have such partnerships with PAM and other organisations as Partners in Success, he said. A specialise team from Equate provided Six Sigma training to the employees of PAM with the objective of improving quality and daily business practices. Six Sigma methodology is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement to deliver the best possible results while minimising cost, time and effort. Equate is the first Kuwaiti organisation to adopt Six Sigma methodology. The companys human capital has proven their innovative capabilities, admirable dedication and global achievements. The Public Authority of Manpower is partnering with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the International Labor Organization (ILO) within the context of UNDP Country Program Document (CPD) for 2015 2018. The programme will support the achievement of national strategic objectives of economic growth for the state of Kuwait, supporting human and social development, and improving demographic policies to support development and effective government administration. PAM plans will improve the labour conditions and management system by analysing the demographic imbalance, making sound decisions based on enhanced reporting mechanisms and upgrading its services quality for all economic and social actors. This joint programme aims to support PAM in its efforts to develop its internal capacity in reporting on its own performance, on labour movement and on its compliance with international labour standards, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The Mall, the largest community shopping centre in Jumeirah area of Dubai, was officially inaugurated this week. The prestigious retail and leisure destination located on Jumeirah Beach Road, opposite The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, was inaugurated by Meadhad Rashed Meadhad Almheiri, owner of The Mall, accompanied by Rashid Meadhad Rashid Meadhad Almheiri, chairman, and Nancy Nese Ozbek, general manager, at a grand opening. The 80,756-sq-ft shopping centre spans two floors and houses over 65 stores, many of which are unique concept stores offering exclusive and original designs and items. The Mall, with an array of refreshingly unique shopping and leisure concepts, is a new meeting point for visitors, including residents, regional and international tourists, for its idyllic location and plethora of retail outlets. The food and beverage offerings come from international names and includes Arabian Tea House, Ayam El Ezz, Sahara Grill and The Hutch, amongst others. Rashid Almheiri commented: We are delighted to bring such a unique retail and leisure experience to the local population as well as visitors to the city. The Malls close proximity to some of Dubais finest five-star hotels means that our visitors represent many different cultures and backgrounds. Our aim is to provide a one-off shopping experience that is totally different to that of the bigger retail malls. Our venue boasts great aesthetics, and all our restaurants have wonderful views of the Burj Al Arab. TradeArabia News Service The 17th edition of the Airport Show, currently underway at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), witnessed a wide line-up of latest smart and innovative technologies and solutions set to transform the rapidly growing aviation industry. Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC) introduced the worlds first virtual reality applications, while Nuctech displayed the worlds first 3D scanner for airports. Among the other prominent latest technology solutions being showcased are a contactless energy and data distribution, termed as the smart future of airfield lighting by Induperm A/S, airport-oriented ICT solutions including aviation cloud, visualised airport operation solution and panoramic video surveillance solution by Huawei; intelligent baggage handling by emaratech that reduces manual handling by 99 per cent; Stor-H, an ergonomical and ecological energy storage technology; and smart baggage handling system by Siemens. Airport Show 2017 is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airlines and Group. The exhibitors said Airport Show is an ideal platform to showcase their products and services, strengthen their business presence as well as forge new business relationships. Mohammed Al-Raisi, Technology Innovation Specialist, Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC), said: For the first ever time, we have recently launched four applications, two for Muscat International Airport and two for Salalah Airport. The virtual walkthrough takes you inside the airport and shows you the passenger experience from the drop off area to the gate. As a user walks through the airport, he gets facts and figures about the airport and also a voice over narration describing what they look at. We are the first airport in the world to launch this kind of technology. He said the apps will service travellers, B2B vendors and also airlines can also see the capabilities of Muscat International and Salalah Airports in terms of providing services. We are working on our new airport trials, where we are using virtual walkthroughs to guide candidates of trials throughout the new airport, he added. Nuctech Company Limited introduced the worlds first 3D scanner for the airports at the Airport Show. The scanner works through two different systems for 3D scanning. Anwar Zhang, marketing manager of the company for West Asia region, said the new product called X-ray CT Inspection System does not compromise on the speed of belt despite its ability to do 3D scanning. The company is 21 years old and specialising in cargo and passenger scanning. Nowadays airports look for a single solution for scanning our product is one stop solution. The new scanner can do both 2D and 3D scanning very quickly such as in 0.3 metre per second. Induperm A/S has introduced a new concept in lighting technology at the Airport Show, which, it said is the smart future of airfield lighting. The companys top executive claimed that the new solution would provide up to 40 per cent savings on power and maintenance. The solution, Contactless Energy & Data Distribution, eliminates around 60 per cent to 80 per cent of airfield lighting infrastructure such as cable and duct, said Malek Hussami, Regional Sales Manager for Middle East, Induperm A/S. Hessami said there would be no need for traditional cables as its massive and expensive. The product will get regulatory approval in the first quarter of next year, he informed. Huawei is highlighting its full suite of airport-oriented ICT capabilities for the first time under the theme "Leading New ICT, The Road to Digital Aviation" at the Airport Show. Developed together with industry-leading partners such as T-Systems, SAP, TravelSky - Civil Aviation Cares of Qingdao, YITU, Terra Vision, Hydata, and SenseTime, Huawei is displaying a series of airport-oriented ICT solutions such as visualised airport operation solution, panoramic video surveillance solution and aviation cloud, which, combined, can enhance passenger experience, enable smart operations and intelligent security protection, as well as improve the ICT infrastructure to power aviation cloud platforms. To support airports in their efforts to offer a better passenger experience, Huawei and T-Systems jointly developed the Cloud Flight Information Display System and the indoor positioning Dynamic Milestone system for smart travel. Vanderlande Industries is showcasing an advanced automated passenger checkpoint, Scannojet Automated Passenger Checkpoints (APC), for screening of passengers and their hand baggage in airports or other secured areas, to facilitate effective handling of rising passenger traffic alongwith ensuring security. Nash Aqlan, senior service manager, said it increases security, improve passenger experience, increase throughput and also reduce cost. We are selling our solutions in the Middle East region. Security is the first priority for airport operators, but it is also important that the passengers experience is a pleasant one. Scannojet APC transforms the environment at security checkpoints, helping airports to meet these challenges. Explaining the latest intelligent baggage handling system by emaratech, Martin Sattrup Christensen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), BBHS Intelligent Baggage Handling, said: We are showcasing the new system for baggage handling which reduces manual handling by 99 per cent. Airport Show is an ideal platform to explore the latest technologies and showcase our latest offerings. Daniyal Qureshi, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Exhibitions Middle East, organisers of the Airport Show, said: Passenger experience and operational efficiency is the key for airports in the world especially in the Middle East where growth in passenger numbers has surpassed global growth. This has generated high demand for technology solutions in ICT, security, passenger handling and other areas. We see a lot of this technology on display at the Airport Show to meet the growing demands of Middle Easts aviation industry. - TradeArabia News service The World Economic Forum has selected Royal Jordanian (RJ) to be the official carrier of the forum participants for the ninth time since its first meeting in Jordan, held in 1995. RJ president/CEO Captain Suleiman Obeidat expressed the airlines satisfaction with being the official carrier and a WEF sponsor for the ninth time, which is testament to the forum organizers appreciation and RJ's reputation as a quality service airline that offers a wide route network and extends facilities to the hundreds of participants, including leaders from the highest echelons of the political and business worlds. As the national carrier of Jordan, Obeidat said that the RJ participation in the forum, which will be held on the Dead Sea shores between May 19 and 21, 2017, opens new chances to the airline and helps it find promising markets, at the same time, the airline takes the opportunity to present the privileges of its services, route network, modern fleet of aircraft and resort to the latest IT systems that ease travel immensely. Obeidat pointed out that the fact that WEF is held in Jordan is proof of the kingdoms stability and security. He added that the partnership between the WEF and RJ-being the official carrier - gives the participants benefits and services, in addition to the facilities extended at Queen Alia International Airport. It also involves RJ staff members who give assistance during the days of the meeting, manning sales and reservation offices at the forum. The forum will use RJ's name and logo on all the documents, printouts and brochures used at the event. RJ has always been a keen sponsor of various national and international events as part of its goal to encourage holding large-scale conferences in Jordan. - TradeArabia News Service In order to provide even more convenience and service to guests, Oman Air has enabled the pre-purchase extra luggage and extra legroom, front and exit row seats in economy and lounge services at Muscat International Airport on omanair.com. The new initiatives underline Oman Airs ongoing commitment to improving the travel experience of all the guests by removing higher baggage charges, along with other initiatives. Oman Air previously addressed their baggage policy regarding checked baggage for all reservations in January 2017, with guests travelling in Economy Class allowed one piece of baggage of up to 30kg. Guests travelling on Oman Airs Business or First Class are also allowed one piece of baggage of up to 30kg, plus one additional piece of baggage of up to 20kg. Additionally the airline launched an initiative to enable emergency exit seats and seats in the first row of Economy Class to be available for general sale. Whilst making their bookings on Omanair.com, guests can now purchase these additional services at a 20 per cent discount than the normal rates. The comfort of the guest enjoying extra legroom seats can be purchased in advance for only RO5 ($12.9) for all flights between GCC Countries, Middle East, Africa and Indian Sub-Continent and RO15 ($38.8) for flights to Europe and Asia. Guests departing from and transferring through Muscat Airport may purchase 3 hours Lounge Access to Majan Lounge for RO10 ($25.8). An additional 20kg bag can be purchased on pre-structured rates based on the guests final destination and depending on the destination of travel, the rate varies from RO20 ($51.7) to RO35 ($90.5) per 20 kg. - TradeArabia News Service An expansion of Dubai's Al Maktoum International, currently the second largest airport in the emirate, has been delayed by a year to 2018, said a report citing the airport's operator. On completion of the work next year, the airport will boast an annual capacity of 26 million passengers, reported Reuters. The Dubai government had recently announced that it had secured $3 billion in long-term financing for expansion of its airports, which are forecast to serve 146.3 million passengers by 2025, said the report. Al Maktoum International is being gradually ramped up to take over from Dubai International Airport, currently the world's busiest and home to Dubai carrier Emirates. Clustered in Wyomings northeast and southwest corners are more than a dozen green ponds filled with brackish wastewater from oil and gas operations. The necessary ponds arent unique industry uses them across the state but one landowner group worries cleanup of these particular ponds could fall through the cracks. Built in the early 80s, the ponds were grandfathered in before a decades-old rule required companies to post money guaranteeing their reclamation. The strength of Wyomings environmental cleanup laws has been a controversial topic over the last few years. Much of the publics interest recently has surrounded large coal companies that for decades were operating with self-bonds assurances of cleanup based on the companies financial health. When the coal industry recently fell into a historic downturn, environmental groups pushed for stronger financial assurances, and by and large coal companies in Wyoming have moved away from the practice. The Powder River Basin Resource Council, one of the most vocal opponents during the self-bonding controversy, is now prodding state regulators to deal with the wastewater ponds in Wyoming that are not currently bonded. The Department of Environmental Quality is considering whether it should require those companies to procure bonds, how it would go about that and how much the cleanup could cost operators. Companies, for their part, say they do and will continue to comply with any state rules. *** Wyoming produces billions of barrels of wastewater from oil and gas operations every year, and various regulators, from the DEQ to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, monitor company facilities to make sure they are operating safely and disposing of wastewater according to regulations. Though the 12 wastewater facilities are in good standing under the current rules, the Powder River Basin Resource Council recently sent the state a letter asking for a public update on the facilities, providing a plan to address the issue and requesting that DEQ move forward on securing bonding from the various owners. In 2014, Wyomings DEQ commissioned a report on each of the facilities, estimating how much it would cost to reclaim them when shut down. For a facility about 20 miles northeast of Wright, the process of removing sludge, evaporating pond water and restoring the land would cost upward of $1.7 million, according to a state report. And thats just one of the 12 built before the 1989 rule for bonding was in place. The state is working on a number of rule updates at the behest of Gov. Matt Mead, but regulators say they have not yet begun a draft potentially updating the rules that would address bonding of the 12 facilities. Weve been doing rule changes throughout our agency, and it takes time to get through each one, said Keith Guille, spokesman for the DEQ. Certainly this is in the queue. This year is the year we actually started looking at modification of (bonding rules). Regulators are also looking at operations and construction updates for these facilities. Any modification will go through a draft process, including public comment periods, he said. *** Owners of some of the facilities say they intend to follow whatever rules Wyoming creates. Wexpro/Questar Corp. owns and operates the only two facilities on the list located on federal land. Though Wexpro does not have site-specific bonds with the state, it does have blanket bonds posted with the Bureau of Land Management and is in compliance with other state rules and regulations, said Darren Shepherd, a spokesman for the company. It comes down to the law and the federal and local requirements that exist. We follow them to the T, he said. If they want to change the law, then we will do the bonding according to the way the requirement is laid out. If it is not there, we will continue to operate as we operate. Like any older facility, the ponds require upkeep and maintenance, but the Wexpro facilities are not set to be shut down any time soon, said Paul Jibson, manager of joint operations and regulatory affairs for Wexpro. If there is capacity in these ponds to evaporate that produced water, they are functioning, he said. Its not like a well, where once you deplete the reservoir that well is done. As long as we are doing oil and gas operations in these areas, we are going to need to dispose of produced water. The state regulatory agency could potentially ask facility owners like Wexpro to post millions in insurance, but the state is not there yet, said Guille, the spokesman for the DEQ. State regulators do not believe the old facilities are currently a hazard, nor are they considered a liability in the near future, he said. DEQ will work with stakeholders, from the companies that own the facilities to concerned landowners like the Powder River Basin Resource Council, before it pens a draft rule update, said Guille, the DEQ spokesman. Environmentalists say the state appears to be dragging its feet. The facilities were first bonded in what Bob LeResche, of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, called the Wild West of environmental protections. They need to be brought up to current expectations, he said. The contents of these pits are perilous, LeResche said, contaminated by traces of volatile organic compounds, petroleum and unknown chemicals from fracking operations. The main reasons for the bonding is that when they get shut down, they are going to have to be sealed up and cleaned up and restored so they are not dangerous forever, LeResche said. The bond secures the money for doing that. Though bonding is a necessity, LeResche suspects securing it will be a large hurdle for the state to clear. I would hate to be the bureaucrat that is trying to get it through, he said. Enrollment at the University of Wyoming could increase this fall by nearly 200 freshmen, officials said, creating the largest incoming class in the schools 130-year history. The projections, presented to the universitys board of trustees last week, reverse a drop of nearly 150 freshmen at a time when the school is implementing cuts, layoffs and reorganizations across campus. The school also expects the number of transfer students to increase by about 100. Mary Aguayo, the interim associate vice president for enrollment management, attributed the boost to university outreach. Staff members were in three-quarters of the states high schools on May 1 on signing day, when students officially committed to attending UW. The school has also worked to release scholarship notices faster and put faculty in touch with admitted or interested students. We really have been working hard to be really engaged with the students in a newer and different way, she said. UW wants to increase its freshman enrollment by 2 percent each year and its transfer enrollment, which include a large share from Wyoming community colleges, by 5 percent annually. University leaders have been talking about the importance of enrollment increases for months. In December, UW President Laurie Nichols told lawmakers that it was the schools top priority. Gov. Matt Mead attempted to set aside $475,000 in one-time funds for the school to boost its enrollment, but the money was ultimately not approved by lawmakers. UW hired a Chicago-based consultant group to work with administrators and build a five-year strategic enrollment management plan, which identified short-, middle- and long-term objectives for the university. Among other things, it calls for strengthening ties with community colleges, expanding the time of day when courses are offered and increasing financial aid communications. Notably, the university announced earlier this year that it was dismantling its Outreach School, which, among other things, handles UWs partnerships with community colleges and the universitys distance education. Officials have said that reorganization is partly geared at making it easier for students to transfer to the main campus. Asked whether the Outreach Schools elimination will hinder UWs enrollment efforts, Aguayo said there will be a continued commitment to the university. She added that a goal of the reorganization is to meet the needs of students, wherever they may be. Still, though the incoming numbers appear to be strong, Aguayo pointed out that declines in the past meant that the influx of students would essentially leave the universitys overall enrollment flat. Fewer students are already on the universitys books, and this new wave will serve to bump the student population into more familiar territory. A sample of DNA collected from a 5-year-old was consistent with the DNA of the man accused of molesting him, an analyst testified during the mans trial Wednesday. The third day of Joshua Winters trial focused on evidence collected in the case and allegations that he molested children in the past. Prosecutors charged Winters, 34, with aggravated kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in July for allegedly leading a 5-year-old boy from the El Mark-O bowling alley to the banks of the North Platte River and molesting him there. During the investigation, authorities collected biological samples from Winters body, a hat believed to belong to the defendant and the boys body. The Wyoming Medical Center nurse who completed the sexual assault exam on the boy said in court Wednesday that she found no injuries to the child besides minor scratches and a bruise on his hip. But she said that sexual assault victims often dont have any noticeable injuries. She said she asked the boy if he knew why he was at the hospital and that he said no. She asked him if he was hurting, and he said no. But when she asked him if anybody had hurt him, the boy didnt answer. Kathryn Normington, the analyst from the State Crime Lab who examined the biological samples, said she found DNA from a swab of the boy that was consistent with samples taken from Winters mouth. She said that there was a one in 1.37 septillion chance of picking a random individual who matched that specific of a DNA profile. Earlier in her testimony, Normington said that it would be highly improbable that DNA would pass through clothing or would be transferred via river water. Allegations from the past Some of the memories of the abuse are unclear now that almost 20 years have passed, a 24-year-old man said in court Wednesday while recounting earlier abuse by Winters. But one remains vivid. As a child, the man was often at the home of his grandparents, who had adopted Joshua Winters as their son. We were always together, the 24-year-old man said in court Wednesday. Pretty happy. We got along, not a lot of fighting. The man distinctly remembers being in the basement of an abandoned home in the quiet Rhode Island neighborhood where he and Winters lived in 1998. At the time, Winters was 15 years old and the man was a child of 5. In the basement, Winters molested the boy, the man testified in court. While he knew other assaults happened, he doesnt remember them as clearly, he said. Nobody in his family knew until he made a comment to his mother that he and Winters had been making babies. According to the letter, Winters admitted to investigators in 1998 that he touched the boy on multiple occasions. He also admitted to sexually abusing his 11-year-old adoptive sister on multiple occasions over a period of about six weeks. Winters was never charged with a crime in either incident and the matter was settled in a Rhode Island family court. Motion to dismiss kidnapping charge After the jury was dismissed for the day, public defender Rob Oldham requested that the judge acquit Winters of the kidnapping charge. Winters is charged with aggravated kidnapping, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. To meet the statutes definition of the crime, the prosecution must show that Winters did not release the child substantially unharmed or in a safe place. Oldham argued Wednesday that the prosecution has failed to produce evidence that showed the boy was harmed. I dont recall any evidence so far that (the boy) was substantially harmed when my client released him on Fairside Road, Oldham said. Judge Sullins disputed that analysis and said that if the boy was indeed sexually assaulted then that itself could count as substantial harm. Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson noted that the statute does not require physical harm and that the trauma of sexual assault sometimes does not surface for a long period of time. He also said that if Winters did indeed leave the boy alone on the side of Fairside Road at dusk that the location would not count as a safe place. Sullins denied the request to acquit Winters of the charge and said that there was a good argument to show Winters left the boy in an unsafe location. The prosecution finished presenting its evidence Wednesday afternoon. Winters is expected to take the stand on Thursday. In his interviews with police, Winters said that he followed the boy to the river while looking for money that he believed the boys brother had stolen. He said the boy then fell in the river and he jumped in after to save him. After successfully getting himself and the boy back to the riverbank, Winters said he fell asleep and never saw the boy again. After four days of trial and nearly three hours of deliberation, a jury Thursday found Joshua Winters guilty of aggravated kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor for taking a 5-year-old boy from El Mark-O bowling alley and molesting him last year. The 12 members of the jury returned to the courtroom just before 7 p.m. with their decision. The boys loved ones leaned forward in their seats as the clerk read the beginning of the decision. After the clerk announced the first guilty verdict, the family responded with tears and muted celebrations. Winters did not appear to react. Winters will be sentenced later and faces up to life imprisonment on the kidnapping charge and a maximum total of 70 years on the sexual abuse charges. He will be held without bond pending that hearing. Authorities who investigated the case, the victim and his family, a DNA analyst and a past victim of abuse by Winters were among those who testified throughout the four days of trial. Winters himself also took the stand. Closing arguments In his closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson argued that there was no adult to coach the boy to make the allegations to the first police officer he encountered. He also noted that there was no reason for the boy to lie. How does a 5-year-old make this up? he asked. Why? He doesnt know him, he doesnt have any feelings of revenge. Johnson also said that it seemed awfully convenient that Winters couldnt remember everything that happened that day and pointed out the many variations of stories that the defendant told about the events. Winters testified that he was drunk that afternoon and couldnt remember some details. Winters attorney, Rob Oldham, criticized the prosecution for dragging past allegations against Winters into the present. He noted that Winters had also suffered sexual abuse as a child. No matter what you want to say about this young man, he was a victim, too, Oldham said, pointing to Winters seated behind him. He also criticized the police investigation into the matter and said there were too many mistakes, specifically noting that officers did not take a blood sample to determine Winters blood alcohol content until hours later. He also said that the amount of DNA collected from the boy was small and insinuated that perhaps the boy transferred the DNA to the area by himself. Finally, he asked the jury to consider whether the state proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and to make their decision on the facts presented instead of their gut feelings. He finished his argument by quoting Benjamin Franklin: It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. Winters testifies After three days of testimony from others, Winters took the stand on the morning of the trials final day and tearfully outlined his own history of being abused as a child. Winters testified that his father had raped him as an infant and that he had been sexually assaulted by two others. His thin frame shook with sobs as he sat at the witness stand, his dark hair grown past the collar of his blue plaid shirt. I didnt like what happened to me, and I wouldnt want someone to go through the same thing, he said. But he also confirmed earlier testimony that almost 20 years ago he had molested two relatives a 5-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl when he was a teen. I was very confused about what was going on with me and wasnt sure about my sexuality, he said, before breaking down in sobs. Winters, now 34, said he received treatment and counseling after those assaults and said he learned that what he did was wrong. Winters has been on trial since Monday. Over the past three days, prosecutors have attempted to prove that he took a 5-year-old boy from the El Mark-O bowling alley in July and molested him near the North Platte River. The boy testified earlier in the week about what happened that day, and a DNA analyst said Wednesday that DNA taken from the boy was consistent with Winters samples. During his testimony Thursday, Winters denied touching the boy in a sexual manner and denied forcing or coercing the boy to leave the bowling alley with him. Did you ever force (the boy) to go to the river with you? his attorney, Oldham, asked. No, Winters responded. Did you ever physically force him? No. Did you ever try to coerce him with words? No, Winters responded definitively. Winters did mention that he was drunk that afternoon and that many of the details of what happened are hazy. According to Winters, he arrived at Galloways Irish Pub, which is connected to the bowling alley, at about noon on July 18. He said he was waiting for a ride to Denver, where he was scheduled to board a bus bound for Ohio the next day. After drinking and bowling, Winters said he met a group of children and paid for them to play a few video games. At some point in the afternoon, Winters said he noticed that about $100 in cash was missing from his wallet. The kids helped him look for the money, then left briefly before returning. Winters said one boy said that his brother had taken the money and was now down by the river. Winters said he left the bowling alley and that one of the boys was helping direct him to the river. Once at the river, the boy slipped or fell into the water, and Winters said he jumped in to help the boy but hit his head. Eventually, the pair reached one of the banks, and Winters told the boy to keep walking while he went to relieve himself in the nearby shrubs. Winters said that he passed out for less than a minute while attempting to urinate but later caught up with the boy. He said he left the boy by Depend A Pawn and told him to stay there while he looked for his bags, which he had placed nearby. The boy was gone when he returned. He said he planned to take the boy back to the bowling alley. Instead, he went somewhere to sleep, and when he woke up he had a text message saying the police were looking for him. When Oldham asked him why he didnt just leave, Winters replied: I didnt have anything to hide. That account is different than what Winters originally told detectives after his arrest and different than the stories he told people in phone calls from jail, which Johnson played for the jury Thursday. In one phone call, Winters said that the boy followed him from the bowling alley without him noticing and that he didnt realize the boy was with him until he allegedly fell into the river. Winters chalked up the differing stories to being drunk that day and during his interviews with police. Johnson called his final witness just before noon Thursday: the bartender who was working at Galloways that day. The bartender said that she saw no indication that Winters was significantly intoxicated. At no point did I get any indications I should cut him off, she said. In response to questions from his attorney, Oldham, Winters outlined his work history. He said he was adopted from an abusive home when he was 18 months old. After graduating from college with a degree in business administration, he worked around the country as a flight attendant, a worker on a cruise line and a manager for a rental car company. Several social service agencies are combining efforts to help people in the northern Natrona County communities of Midwest and Edgerton on Monday. From 5 to 8 p.m. at the Midwest Rec Center, families will be able to receive food boxes and free clothing and enjoy a free dinner and family activities such as face painting and bingo. This is as a result of us learning that people in Midwest were struggling with food and their ability to pay rent or mortgages, etc., because they had been coming here to Community Action Partnership for help, said Marilyn Dymond Wagner, operations manager for CAP. This is the second one in Midwest, but it is much more involved than the first time we were up there. Food boxes will be provided by Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies, and will include protein in addition to nonperishable staples. We let them know we wanted heavy protein, especially for families with children. We are not getting them adequate amounts of protein, Dymond Wagner said. Both the food boxes and the free dinner are planned for 90 to 100 people, organizers say. Anyone in need is welcome to participate. Brenda Eickhoff, executive director of Community Action Partnership, said participating agencies will offer an explanation of services available to the residents of Midwest and Edgerton. Agencies in attendance will include the Department of Workforce Services; Cent$ible Nutrition, a program of the University of Wyoming Extension Office, which can help with maximizing food dollars and preparing healthy meals; and Senior Citizens Inc., among others. The Retired Senior Volunteer Program will be there to assess future needs. They are coming so we can ascertain if there is a strong need for us to be there on a more regular basis, Dymond Wagner said. Transportation is incredibly difficult for residents up there. The only grocery availability they have is convenience store-type, so transportation is a big, big issue. Also planning to attend are representatives from Wyoming Housing Network and Wyoming Independent Living. Joshuas Storehouse, a local food pantry in Casper, will provide the clothing for the giveaway, having received two pallets of brand-new clothing as part of a nationwide initiative. General sponsors of the event are CAP, Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies and United Way. A Casper man charged with holding a hostage at knifepoint last August will undergo a second mental evaluation after a judge expressed concern about his competency to stand trial. Natrona County District Judge Daniel Forgey on Wednesday put the criminal case against David Chavis on hold until the evaluation is completed. Based on my review of the file at this time, I believe theres cause to believe the defendant has a mental illness, Forgey said. Chavis is accused of holding a Casper office worker hostage for nearly four hours on Aug. 5 while trying to obtain government files that he believed pertained to him. Authorities freed the hostage and arrested Chavis without anyone being injured. Chavis underwent his first evaluation after telling a judge that he suffered from a mental illness. The results were not discussed in Wednesdays court hearing, but in a May 2 letter to the judge, defense attorney Kerri Johnson wrote that she did not believe her client was competent to enter a plea. Mr. Chavis has an ongoing persistent delusional belief regarding what should happen in this case and cannot rationally assist me in his defense, she wrote. During the hearing, Johnson explained that her client wanted the case to be handled by a federal judge. Chavis believes agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation were unlawfully surveilling him and he wanted the federal judge to tell them to stop, she said. Chavis also sought a box of information about him that he saw on the day of his arrest. He believes this is vital in his defense, Johnson told the court. District Attorney Michael Blonigen responded by noting that Forgey did not have the power to grant Chavis request to move the case to federal court. Moreover, the prosecutor said the box was merely a ruse used to lure Chavis away from the victim. I know, Blonigen said. I was there that day. Chavis himself didnt want another evaluation. He tried repeatedly to speak directly with Forgey, who reminded him that he needed to make requests through his attorney. Two Natrona County sheriffs deputies closely guarded Chavis during the hearing. Several more were in the room. Chavis is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault and possession of a deadly weapon. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Gillette woman pleads guilty to killing husband for nagging her GILLETTE A 54-year-old Wyoming woman has pleaded guilty to killing her husband who she said nagged too much. Deborah L. Johnson, of Gillette, agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Johnson was originally charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 3, 2016, death of her 48-year-old husband, Brian P. Johnson. He was shot in the chest as he sat on the couch watching TV. Prosecutors will recommend a 25- to 37-year prison sentence. District Judge John R. Perry set sentencing for Aug. 1 and ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Johnson remains in Campbell County jail. When Johnson was arrested in 2016, she told police that she killed her husband to prevent him from further nagging, nagging, nagging. Colorado officials propose changes to ski lift systems DENVER Colorado officials are recommending safety changes to ski lift systems statewide following the death of a woman. Colorados chief chairlift inspector Larry Smith said Monday that the upcoming changes to chairlifts will be small, but will improve safety. The move follows the death of Texas mother who died last December after falling from a chairlift. Kelly Huber and her two daughters fell from the chair after they hit a tower. Officials are looking to implement a system that would create a delay between when lift operators slow and accelerate a chairlifts speed. They believe the change will reduce the chairs movement. The Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board is considering making the delay system a requirement. Utah news anchor offers apology after recent arrest SALT LAKE CITY A Utah news anchor has issued a tearful apology after being arrested recently for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. KUTV anchor Shauna Lake Marshall said on the air Tuesday that she is ashamed she got in her car after drinking alcohol and called it a serious lapse in judgment. The Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office released booking information that states that on May 10, a highway patrol official pulled Marshalls car over after noticing she was driving under the speed limit. The officer reported smelling alcohol inside the car and finding a plastic cup that had liquid in it that smelled like alcohol. A message left for Marshall was not returned. Marshall has been an anchor for KUTV for more than two decades. Inmate missing from Rapid City apprehended across the state SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Authorities have captured a state prison inmate who was placed on escape status after leaving a minimum-security facility in Rapid City without authorization earlier this month, but another inmate remains on the loose. Corrections officials say Calvin McCloskey and Dylan Fast Horse went missing from the Rapid City Community Work Center on May 7. McCloskey was apprehended in Minnehaha County on Tuesday, but Fast Horse remains at large. Separately, the American News reports that the Brown County Sheriffs Office also is looking for an inmate. Joseph Pahl, 20, didnt return from a treatment program Monday evening. Veterans Affairs center says it has improved care A spokesman for a Wyoming Veterans Affairs says the care at a Cheyenne center has improved. Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center spokesman Sam House said recently that veterans coming into the center can get a same-day appointment with a doctor or medical professional. The center has also implemented a review of operations to ensure improved care. The changes follow a 2016 report that found that some Cheyenne center staff had manipulated a number of veterans appointments. House says the employees involved have been fired. House invites veterans and families to give the center feedback. U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney deleted a social media post Wednesday that praised the termination letter that President Donald Trump sent to former FBI Director James Comey. Best. Termination. Letter. Ever., the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney wrote on Twitter, with a copy of Trumps message. The original post was up for a week. It was removed Wednesday, according to Politwoops, a project of ProPublica that tracks public officials social media. The White House said Trump lost confidence in Comey, especially after his handling of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons email investigation. However, critics suspect Trump was trying to halt an investigation into whether the presidents advisers colluded with Russia. For evidence, they point to a memo Comey wrote that said Trump asked him to end the FBIs probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Some Republicans, such as U.S. Sen. John McCain, are comparing Trumps actions to Nixons during Watergate. Cheney, nevertheless, stands by the firing, even if she deleted the tweet. Her spokesman, Joe Jackson, sent a statement that echoed a quote given to the Star-Tribune last week, when Comey was fired. Director Comey had usurped the power of the Attorney General and lost the ability to run the FBI with credibility and objectivity, Jackson said in the Thursday email. Congressman Cheney believes President Trump was right to seek a replacement and hopes the Administration moves quickly to appoint a new Director. The newspaper asked Jackson why Cheneys tweet was deleted. He did not reply. Southern Arizona technology investors and some of the states biggest high-tech companies got what they wished for in the waning hours of the Arizona legislative session last week. But lawmakers rejected proposals to add funding to the states high school Joint Technical Education Districts. Two bills aimed at spurring technology investment in the state passed and were sent to the Gov. Doug Ducey last week, just before final adjournment and after stalling earlier and getting new life as strike-everything amendments. Its unclear whether Ducey will sign the bills, and a gubernatorial spokesman declined to comment on his stand on the legislation. ANGEL INVESTORS One successful bill allows the Arizona Commerce Authority to authorize an additional $10 million in tax credits against certain investments made in qualified small businesses through fiscal year 2021. The tax credits are used by angel investors individuals who are qualified to make private-equity investments by virtue of their high net worths or income. An initial $20 million in angel credits was used up by mid-2015, and angel investments have fallen as a result, backers say. Curtis Gunn, chairman of the Tucson-based Desert Angels investors group, said the measure is an important economic driver, noting that since the programs inception, the $20 million in angel credits has produced more than $44 million in tax revenue, more than $340 million in follow-on investment and all told, an estimated $1.4 billion of economic output. I am confident that the recapitalization of the program will continue to show outsized results and will spur significantly more investment in Arizona companies, Gunn said. JOBS AND RESEARCH The Legislature also passed a measure that benefits major Arizona tech employers including Raytheon Missile Systems and Intel, which both plan to expand their workforces in the next few years. The legislation, SB1416, continues a state incentive program for companies that create well-paying jobs, keeps state research and development tax credits at current rates and allows manufacturers to take additional tax depreciation on their properties. The bill maintains through 2022 the current R&D tax credit rate of 24 percent for the first $2.5 million of investment and 15 percent for investments beyond that level. The credit rate was scheduled to drop to 20 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in the 2018 tax year. However, lawmakers balked at a provision in the original bill that wold have allowed companies to get refunds for unused tax credits. The idea of the state writing checks to refund the tax credits led to the bills initial defeat in the House in March before it was revived and substituted for an unrelated bill. The Arizona Technology Council, the states biggest technology industry group, had lobbied to extend the R&D credit and allow carryover credits to be refundable. The jobs incentive program, the Quality Jobs Tax credit, has been offered to employers who make a $5 million investment in urban areas and create a minimum of 25 jobs paying at least the county median, or $1 million in rural areas to create at least five qualifying jobs. Lawmakers extended the program through fiscal 2025, while creating a tiered eligibility model that allows companies with smaller capital investments to reap the credits if their new jobs are higher-paying. For example, a company could qualify for the credits with a capital investment of as little as $500,000 at an urban site if the jobs paid twice the county median, or as little as $100,000 at a rural site with the new jobs paying at least 150 percent of the county median. The job credits could benefit Raytheon, which last year announced an expansion that could add about 1,900 jobs in Tucson in coming years and Intel, which plans to spend $7 billion to complete an advanced computer chipmaking plant in Chandler that was mothballed before it opened. Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato wouldnt comment on the governors position on the tax-incentive bills, noting that Ducey is scheduled to return from travel Thursday. JTED NOT SO MUCH While investors and major employers won tax breaks, backers of the states Joint Technical Education Districts were unsuccessful at getting more funding for the programs. The Legislature and Ducey have ignored pleas to restore funding for ninth-grade students to participate in JTED programs, which range from auto repair to cosmetology to precision machining. Approving the governors JTED budget line, lawmakers also cut $1.8 million in funding for JTED participants to stay in the program after they graduate from high school, though $1 million was set aside for scholarships for those students. JTED is strongly supported by local tech manufacturers in Tucson, where a cadre of small fabrication shops support aerospace and other local industries. Saying they couldnt find enough skilled workers a few years ago, local machine shops formed the Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partnership, which supports JTED and Pima Community College internships. JTED officials and industry partners say starting students in technical programs as ninth-graders is important to give them exposure to more career choices and more time to complete programs that will give them a marketable skill by the time they graduate. Tina Norton, assistant superintendent of the Pima County JTED, said the decision not to restore freshman JTED funding, though disappointing, was not unexpected. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some May 18 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages. An investigation by federal OSHA officials has found the Industrial Commission of Arizonas practice of arbitrarily reducing employers penalties for safety violations is undermining the deterrent power of those penalties and is not permitted under existing policies. The investigation also determined the governor-appointed commission has been operating outside of its legal authority by reclassifying the severity level of safety violations recommended by inspectors at the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or ADOSH. The big question is what the implication of this will be, in terms of the follow-up the state does to address these concerns, said Peter Dooley, a Tucson-based workplace safety consultant with the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA officials said last year that the agencys investigation into the Industrial Commission was prompted by a number of complaints from the public, including one filed in December by Dooley. Last year, a Star investigation found the Industrial Commission which oversees ADOSH and reviews its recommended penalties over $2,500 routinely reduces those penalties and reclassifies violations, often without clear justification. The cuts sometimes occur after the employer attends the commissions public meetings and requests a penalty reduction. Dooley said scrutiny from the Star over the course of six months in 2016, and the resulting December 2016 Star article on the commissions practices, helped drive federal OSHAs investigation. That certainly brought attention to the issue, he said. Theres no question that played a role. Industrial Commission chairman Dale Schultz strongly defended the commissions practices in a February letter to federal OSHA officials, calling out the federal agency for its recent adversarial approach. Federal OSHAs actions in pursuing this (complaint) serve only to discourage state innovation by attempting to force Arizona to become a monolithic superimposed federal system, Schultz wrote in the letter, provided to the Star in response to a public records request. The Stars 2016 analysis of Industrial Commission meeting minutes found the 139 penalty proposals the commission reviewed between January 2016 and the end of November 2016 got reduced by a total of more than $186,000. Commissioners voted to reduce ADOSHs recommended penalties in more than half of the cases they reviewed in that period, the Star analysis showed. Schultz has said the commissioners are focused on improving workplace safety and collaborating with employers and employees not necessarily issuing the highest penalties. Arizona is one of 26 states with a state-level occupational safety and health enforcement program. The program must be at least as effective as federal OSHA, or it risks being taken over by the feds. The commissions round of cuts which happen before the penalties are formally issued to employers is unique among OSHA programs across the country, experts said. Under Arizonas agreement with federal OSHA, which created Arizonas state-level OSHA plan, the ICA is permitted to review recommended penalties and to ensure any penalty reductions have been correctly applied using pre-defined criteria, such as employer size and safety history. Those criteria are outlined in ADOSHs field operations manual, or FOM. The OSHA investigation found commissioners gave additional reductions after those formula-based cuts had already been calculated and applied by ADOSH. OSHA finds that the ICA is currently reducing penalties in a seemingly arbitrary manner, without regard for the factors in the FOM, said a May 4 letter from Zachary Barnett, area director for federal OSHA in Arizona. The letter obtained by the Star explained OSHAs findings to complainants whose concerns prompted the investigation. This practice reduces the deterrent effect of higher penalties and fails to ensure that employers within the state are treated equally. Industrial Commission spokesman Bob Charles said the commission is reviewing federal OSHAs findings. Declining workplace injury rates in Arizona show the commissions strategy is effective, Charles said in an email. To paint ADOSH or the commission as being anti-safety would be inaccurate and would overlook the extensive amount of work and outreach the agency, commissioners and ADOSH are doing, he said. ORIGINAL COMPLAINT On Dec. 9, federal OSHA sent a formal Complaint Against State Program Administration, known as a CASPA, to Industrial Commission director James Ashley. The document cites 10 cases in which Industrial Commission members voted to reduce penalties for workplace safety violations, or to downgrade the severity level of violations. In one example from a commission meeting in December, commissioners voted to reclassify a roofing companys serious violations as non-serious and to reduce penalties for serious and repeat violations from $18,500 to $4,750 after a discussion with the employer. In its letter, federal OSHA asked for an explanation of the criteria used to determine those reductions. In his February response, ICA chairman Schultz did not directly address any of those specific cases. But he gave a detailed defense of the commissions philosophy, which he said is rooted in the factors included in the states field operations manual, and he cited Arizona statute that gives broad authority to the commission to assess all civil penalties. With all due respect, he wrote, rather than suggesting to the media that the commission should operate as a rubber stamp on ADOSH citations and penalties, Arizonas state plan would be better served if you would support the long-standing statutory role of the commission. The Industrial Commission has 30 days from the issuance of the May 4 letter to provide a written response. Federal OSHA recommended the state propose changes to its state OSHA plan to define the role of the Industrial Commission and explain the criteria it uses to approve and adjust proposed citations. Those changes would have to be submitted to federal OSHA for approval. The letter also directs the commission to stop reclassifying the violations cited by ADOSH. Workplace-safety advocates say that high penalties for violations are a crucial deterrent for employers who might look to save money by cutting corners on safety practices and equipment. Like many states, ADOSH doesnt have enough inspectors to visit workplaces regularly, meaning hefty penalties for violations is even more necessary to keep workers safe, Dooley said. Arizonas ADOSH field workers would need 122 years to inspect each workplace in the state once, according to AFL-CIOs most recent report on workplace fatalities. Stiff penalties for violations, such as failure to use fall-prevention equipment, sends a message to every employer in the state about how important it is to be following the regulations, Dooley said. If that company gets their fine reduced, that sends a message that compliance is a lot less important. A man fired on Border Patrol agents who returned fire, striking and wounding him Wednesday, May 17, federal authorities said. No agents were injured in the incident at a checkpoint north of Tombstone. Shortly before 4 p.m., the man was driving a vehicle north on Arizona 80 into the immigration checkpoint, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in a tweet. At the intersection of Arizona 80 and 82, the vehicle collided with traffic barriers at the checkpoint. The checkpoint was closed because of wind conditions, said officials. The man began shooting at agents at the checkpoint, and agents returned fire and struck the man, said officials. Authorities gave aid to the wounded man and he was flown by helicopter to a Tucson hospital, officials said. The FBI, Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility and the Tombstone Marshal's Office are investigating the shooting. A Tucson podiatrist pleaded guilty in Pima County Superior Court to forging oxycodone prescriptions, state officials said. Loren Scott Wessel is facing up to 3 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 14 for forgery, according to a news release from the Arizona Attorney General's Office. According to the AG, a veterinary supply company contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration after Wessel made a purchase of more than 5,000 oxycodone tablets. Investigators learned Wessel was filling forged prescriptions for narcotics at a Tucson pharmacy, the release said. DEA and AG agents determined Wessel forged the prescriptions by using the name of a doctor. Investigators believe Wessel was not providing the oxycodone to others but was writing the fake prescriptions to obtain the drugs for personal use, the news release said. In September 2016, Wessel was indicted by a state grand jury on charges of fraudulent schemes and artifices, acquisition of a narcotic by fraud, and forgery. As a condition of his plea, Wessel will give up his DEA license to prescribe narcotics, the AG said. PHOENIX The Tohono Oodham Nation will finally be able to conduct full-scale gaming at its new casino in Glendale. In an agreement announced Wednesday, the state will give up on its contention that the tribe acted illegally in building a casino in the Phoenix area. That has resulted in the state Department of Gaming refusing to provide the necessary certification for operation of a full-blown casino. The facility has been open since last year. But while the devices available to customers look like slot machines, they essentially are a form of interlinked bingo, something considered Class II gaming that federal law blocks the state from controlling. True slot machines and table games like blackjack and poker, all forms of Class III gaming, have until now been prohibited because of the states inaction. In exchange, the tribe agreed it will not attempt to open any more casinos in the Phoenix area, at least in the immediate future. The wording of the deal goes through the end of the gaming compacts between the state and the tribe in 2026, plus at least 15 years or however long the next gaming compact lasts, which could be another 20 years beyond 2026. That provision is important to the state because there is some legal question about whether a 1986 federal law allowing the tribe to expand its reservation would actually allow for more gaming sites. The deal also requires the director of the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control to withdraw his objection to the tribes application for a liquor license for the facility. Tribal officials have said the state agency has been dragging its feet as Gov. Doug Ducey and predecessor Jan Brewer have fought since 2009 to keep the casino from operating. Tribal Chairman Edward Manuel praised the deal. It establishes an agreement concerning the nations right to conduct Class III gaming on its West Valley land and it brings to an end the final dispute that was constraining this important project, he said in a written statement. That includes not just building a real casino the current one is operating in what eventually would be a warehouse but also plans for a hotel and resort to anchor the $550 million complex. Ducey said he was glad to finally extinguish the years of litigation between the state and the tribe. While the state never wanted a casino in Glendale there were legal efforts to block it and charges by the states attorney that the tribe had defrauded voters the governor said Wednesday that at this point his key concern was making sure that situation was not replicated elsewhere. This agreement ... ensures that there are meaningful restrictions on additional casinos in the greater Phoenix metro area, Ducey said. The next step is for the Department of Gaming to act on the tribes request to certify the facility and its employees. How quickly that can be done remains unclear. At that point, the tribe will be able to replace the linked-bingo machines with full-blown slot machines that can have various themes and be programmed for different kinds of payouts. Poker and blackjack players, however, may have to wait until the new casino is actually built. Tribal officials did not immediately release a timeline for that. The battle traces its roots to the 1960 construction by the federal government of the Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River, near what had been the San Lucy District of the Tohono Oodham Reservation. Flooding from the dam made the nearly 10,000 acres of the community economically unusable. In 1986, Congress gave the tribe $30 million to buy replacement land in unincorporated areas of Pima, Pinal or Maricopa counties, with the option of having it become part of the reservation. Then, in 2002, voters approved Proposition 202, an initiative giving tribes the exclusive right to operate casino gaming in Arizona in exchange for a share of the profits. Voters were told that gaming would be limited to existing reservations. The following year, the Tohono Oodham Nation, using a corporate alias, bought a parcel of land on the edge of Glendale. Its true ownership did not become known until 2009, when the tribe asked the U.S. Department of Interior to make it part of the reservation, a necessary precursor to gaming. That resulted in a series of lawsuits by the state and other tribes who contended that land purchased after the 2002 initiative cannot legally have gaming under the terms voters had approved. But U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell pointed out that the voter-approved compact actually entitles the tribe to do what it is doing. The remaining legal fight in front of Campbell involves claims the tribe defrauded the state and purposely misled voters in 2002. The deal has the apparent blessing of the Gila River Indian Community, which has the closest casino to the Glendale site and stands to lose the most business. But in a prepared statement, tribal Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said the bar on future casinos in the area represent a victory for every Arizona tribe concerned about protecting what gaming means to our people and our economies. Still, Lewis felt compelled to take a last slap at the Tohono Oodham Nation, calling it special interests who had sought to further expand gaming in metro Phoenix. The deal also puts an end to efforts by some members of the states congressional delegation to retroactively amend the 1986 law to bar the tribe from operating a casino on the lands it acquired with federal dollars. I continue to oppose the air-dropping of Indian casinos on land that is not contiguous to an existing reservation, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who sponsored one of those measures, said in a prepared statement. But he said the deal not only ends years of litigation but eliminates the need for federal legislation. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, who opposed that federal legislation, cheered the deal, saying it was time to finally move on after $10 million in legal fees spent by all sides on the battle. Pima Community College is preparing to celebrate a new crop of graduates. The colleges spring commencement takes place Thursday, May 18, in the Tucson Convention Center arena. The event starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. The class of 2017 includes more than 1,700 associates degree candidates, 150 of whom will graduate with highest honors, having achieved grade point averages of at least 3.9 percent. The most popular degree programs among this years graduates are liberal arts, general studies, science, business administration and nursing, a college news release said. Another 1,800 or so graduates will receive certificates in various fields. The eldest graduate this year is Roger Christner, 76, who is due to receive an associates degree in social services substance use disorders. Its the second time Christner has earned that distinction: The first was last year when he received a certificate in the same field. The youngest graduate is 15-year-old Sage Cutler, a candidate for an associates degree in liberal arts and an Arizona general education curriculum-arts certificate. In keeping with past practice, the college chose a graduating student to give the commencement address. This years address will be given by Daniel McLean, a candidate for two associates degrees who hopes to go on to a university to earn a law degree. McLean will receive an Arizona general education curriculum-arts degree and an associates degree in liberal arts. Student Services Centers at each PCC campus will close at 5 p.m. on May 18 for graduation. PHOENIX For the second time in three years, a federal appeals court has declared illegal the methods used by state prison officials to check mail inmates send to their attorneys. In a unanimous decision Thursday, judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said corrections officials do have the right to inspect outgoing mail, even to attorneys, to ensure that it does not contain contraband. That would include things like a map of the prison yard, timing of shift changes for guards or actual forbidden items. Conversely, they said it is settled law that prison staffers may not read incoming or outgoing legal mail. Judge Milan Smith, writing for the three-judge panel, said staffers at the Arizona Department of Corrections are crossing the line because they are actually scanning the letters and reading some of the words to ensure that the contents qualify as legal matters. Department spokesman Andrew Wilder said his agency and its attorneys were reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment. The case involves Scott Nordstrom, who is on death row following two 1996 Tucson robberies in which six people were murdered. He claims that when he sought to mail a confidential letter addressed to his attorney, the officer on duty actually read the letter rather than merely scanning or inspecting it. Nordstrom said that when he objected after about 15 seconds, the officer told him he was authorized to search legal mail for contraband as well as scan the content of the material to ensure it is of legal subject matter. In its first ruling in 2014, the appellate court spelled out that while prison officials may inspect outgoing legal mail in an inmates presence, they cannot read it. That sent the case back to a trial judge who said the practices in Arizona did not violate Nordstroms constitutional rights. This appeal followed. In Thursdays ruling, the judges rejected contentions of attorneys for the state that they need to do more than a quick scan because outgoing legal mail could, in theory, be used to facilitate criminal activity. The Arizona Department of Corrections did not present any evidence that this has ever happened, or that it is likely to happen, Judge Smith wrote. Nor was there evidence that any Arizona inmate has ever abused the system when sending legal mail to an attorney. There was evidence that some inmates have attempted to get around mail screening by sending mail disguised as legal affairs to people who are not lawyers, and that gang members have tried to send mail to inmates by disguising it as legal mail. Smith said there also was evidence that three attorneys have assisted inmates by smuggling contraband into a prison and by facilitating communication among gang members. None of these instances involving actual attorneys involved abuse of outgoing legal mail, the judge said. With no evidence that such mail has ever posed a threat, a policy requiring a page-by-page inspection to determine if the contents actually concern legal matter is unduly intrusive, Smith wrote. The judge pointed out that a department mail supervisor testified he checks the website of the Arizona Bar Association every single day to determine whether the intended recipient is really an attorney. Confidential legal correspondence, free from unreasonable censorship and the chilling effect of excessive monitoring, remains an important avenue of communication for inmates, Smith said. Run for the Wall Some 375 motorcyclists ride in formation along Interstate 10 as part of the Run for the Wall after making a fuel and rest stop in Marana. The group, who are on their way to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, are one of three groups traveling east. There are three routes in total: a southern, central and midway route. They are mostly made up of military veterans from all branches of the service. They all began their 10-day journey from Ontario, Calif. President Xi Jinping called on the country's scholars and researchers on Wednesday to make more contributions to improving the global influence of China's philosophy and social sciences. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark in a congratulatory message on the 40th anniversary of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which was founded in May, 1977. In the message, Xi extended good wishes to the people who work on philosophy and social sciences nationwide. In the past four decades, CASS has played the role of a think tank to provide services for the decision-making process of the Party and the government, Xi said. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, CASS has been dedicated to the establishment of a bastion for Marxist theory, Xi said, adding that CASS has kept up with the times. The president spoke highly of the contribution CASS has made to push forward the Sinicization of Marxism and the development of the country's philosophy and social sciences. The philosophy and social sciences workers should focus on the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold the guidance of Marxism, and do research for the benefit of the people, Xi said. Studies on the country's reforms, development and stability should be the main direction for the researchers, Xi said, encouraging them to develop China's theory on philosophy and social sciences. Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at a ceremony marking the anniversary that the country's scholars and researchers must follow the spirit of Xi's message to develop philosophy and social sciences. Social sciences research should stick to the guidance of Marxism and focus on the studies of important theories and practical problems, Liu said. On Tuesday, the CPC Central Committee issued a guidance document in which the committee pledged to enhance its leadership in developing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. Noting that Marxism will remain the guiding theory in philosophy and social sciences in China, it called for more efforts in pushing for the Sinicization, modernization and popularization of Marxism, and developing a Marxism that works in the 21st century and contemporary China. Help India! By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net Prime Minister Narendra Modi once called Lord Ganesha as the pioneer case of Cosmetic Surgery, and the Hindu right-wing is overwhelmingly trying to present Naarad as the first journalist of human history. Is it surprising, then, what the most well-known institute of journalism in the country is following the same path? Support TwoCircles Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi is organising a media discussion and seminar on Nationalistic Journalism in Current Perspective and more importantly a Yagna, which will be held at the start of the event on May 20. The event, which is being organised in collaboration with IIMC and an organization called Media Scan, has not just included Yagna in the program which could disturb the media personnel countrywide, but it has also called Ex-IG of Bastar SRP Kalluri as part of the program. The same Kalluri who has been accused of flaunting stars on his shoulders which he got with the alleged murder of tribals, accusing them as Maoists. Kalluri had made his way into headlines in January this year, with his sexist remarks like, the drama has just begun dear, stop bitching, f u, if you come in front of me, I will chappal you, idiot, and, Yes, very soon Maoists and their dogs will be thrown out of Bastar. We will take strong action. Such messages were sent to activists who were trying to reach him to get security to activist Bela Bhatia. The event will end with a discussion on Kashmir insurgency. But there is a glitch that makes this dramatic media discussion even more confusing. The right-wing organisation Media Scan, which is co-organising the event, has published four different sets of invitation, and the name of Kalluri is mentioned in just one. Moreover, the Yagna is also matter of surprise for many. IIMC officials are denying any knowledge of the Yagna, and Media Scan is also not very vocal about the same. But when journalist and IIMC alumni Arvind Das called the organisers, he was told, There is no such thing like two-and-half-hour long Yagna. But the other side also told Arvind, Yagna can be of of whole day or just for ten minutes. It depends. The current students of the IIMC are also not much familiar with the format of the program. To get clarity of the situation, we called Ashish Kumar Anshu of Media Scan, who was not very forthcoming in discussing the topic. He said, The event is so big for us that the whole event can be termed as a Yagna. But when we asked him specifically about the same, Ashish said, Yes, it is planned, but we dont know yet if that is going to materialize on the day. Ashish said, Most people think this should not happen or that should happen. Who are these people? Do they have any name? Who is going to decide if Yagna will happen or not? We replied, You, the organizer will decide. He said, albeit hesitatingly, Yes, and Im of the opinion that it should happen. The event, in its all perspective and confusions, has gathered sharp criticism from the students, alumni as well as the journalists working in various mediums, but that bothers Anshu the least. He asks, Isnt that intolerance now? Not allowing something which a large group favours? The lack of communication is also visible between IIMC and chief organiser of the event Media Scan. While talking to Hindustan Times, Director General of IIMC KG Suresh denied IIMCs involvement in the event as organiser. But Suresh told TwoCircles.net about his stand on the involvement. He said, We gave space to Media Scan for no cost. But What we would show in our audits? So we agreed to be a partner in the same. But that is the limit of our partnership. Now, whether they do Yagna or Namaz on the day, I do not have any issues. That is the matter of faith. Whatever explanation KG Suresh may give, his actions during the current government have always been a matter of concern for liberal students of the institute, such as appointing three public information officers back to back within ten days. With four different sets of invitations and brochures, the organisers have tried to hide the presence of Kalluri in the event, may be to minimise the possible protest. But Ashish Anshu of Media Scan accepted the invitation to Kalluri and said that his attendance is not confirm yet. Still, organisers have the name of Kalluri on the invitation with no possible explanation. Journalist and IIMC alumni Abhishek Srivastava wrote in National Herald on Kalluris presence, The gentleman also went on record to say that in 2017 he would go after white-collar Naxalites. On Saturday this week, he will finally get a podium to expound his views..With barely three days to go for the event, there is hardly a murmur of protest at the blatant attempt to accord legitimacy to the man in uniform. Barely months ago, Kalluri was instrumental in framing a false case of murder against eminent sociologist Nandini Sundar and a JNU faculty member, Archana Prasad. Journalism worldwide has gave out a notion where it should get free from any kind of rituals or conservative approaches, but it seems that IIMC has all set to start a new trend in Media. Alumni Arvind Das raises a basic yet important question on the matter, If my good or new works start with sacrificing of an animal, which it does in the region where I come from, will IIMC allow that in the premises? KG Suresh called it as ridiculous argument, but said, It is Hawan, you know. Why do such holy things bother people? Help India! By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net New Delhi: A survey conducted by Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP) has found that incidents of triple talaq among Muslims in India are rare and the government, selected political parties and media are sensationalising the matter in ways that looks as if the practice is widespread. Support TwoCircles The CRDDP had launched its online survey between March and May 2017, in which a total of 20671 individuals (16,860 men and 3,811 women) took part. CRDDP found 331 reported talaqs from both women and men respondents, out of which only one case was that of oral instant triple talaq. A quarter of the divorces occurred through the intervention of religious institutions such as the quazi and darul kaza; 16.9% cases occurred in presence of NGOs, or authorities from the Police Station and Panchayats; 36.2% occurred in the presence of elders and family when the man pronounced Talaq once a month over three months and 21.1% occurred through courts and notices. The questionnaire was made available in English, Hindi, Urdu and roman Urdu language whose sets were organized based on gender and marital status. The respondents were asked to select the options from multiple choice questions displayed. About 83% of the respondents took this survey in English followed by 12%t in Roman Urdu. The study has found out that of 331 instances of divorce, the husband initiated talaq in 134 instances and woman herself has sought khula (divorce initiated by wife) in 126 instances. In 54 cases, other talaqs (divorce initiated by husband) the parents of the women initiated and accomplished womans khula or talaq. Out of 331 talaqs only one instance has been reported as a clear case of triple talaq reported by a female respondent. The study further notes that the percentage of women staying in marriage is highest amongst Muslims (87.8%) compared to Hindus (86.2%), Christians (83.7%) and other religious minorities (85.8%). The percentage of widowed woman is least amongst Muslims (11.1%) compared to Hindus (12.9%), Christians (14.6%) and other religious Minorities (13.3%). It is likely that the culture of widow remarriages provides higher level family protection to Muslim women compared to women from other religious communities. The percentage of separated and abandoned women is also least amongst the Muslims (0.67%) compared to Hindus (0.69%), Christians (1.19%) and other religious Minorities (0.68%), reads the report. The researchers also consulted four Qazis from Darul Quaza (family court) having expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and authorised to effect Khula or Talaq in the city of Hyderabad. While Nikah can be performed by many Qazis spread all over the city.Khula and Talaq can be settled only by these four Qazis. It is learned from a Qazi that during last seven years, he came across only two triple talaqs cases. Another Qazi who has been practicing last 15 years has settled 160 divorce cases of which 130 are khula, 21 are regular talaq and only 9 were classified as triple talaq, the study says. The study has noted that the cases of triple talaq are rare and in cases where they have occurred, the community by and large has strongly stood by the side of the victim and tried to rehabilitate her. It has also expressed concern over projecting miniscule victims of triple talaq as the major issue to be confronted to empower the Muslim community is questionable and have asked social policy strategist to be concerned about 43 million widowed women belonging to all part of the society; provide them incentives for remarriage and/or provide programmatic financial support for sustaining a living. Reacting to the study, Navaid Hamid , President, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat said that the study exposes the real agenda of people behind the triple talaq, The issue of triple talaq is about cornering Muslim community on gender justice but the real motive is not the gender justice, but to humiliate Muslims and create an atmosphere of hate. It is aimed to create animosity against Muslims of India.The target isnt the community only but their faith also and the study has factually come out with the data which clearly exposes widespread practice of triple talaq as claimed by BJP and its subsidiaries, he told TwoCircles.net. The Supreme Court has started discussions on triple talaq from Thursday, May 11. Help India! By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net The ICSE, ISC, CBSE, Hindi and other medium schools in West Bengal are likely to introduce Bengali as a compulsory language subject in their academic curriculum from class 1 after a recent announcement by the state government. Following Kerala, Bengal is the second state to make a state language mandatory after the Centres decision to introduce Hindi as a compulsory language in national schools. Support TwoCircles This has created fuss among students and parents, who are seeing at as an extra burden for people whose mother tongue is not Bengali. It is important to point out that students have the freedom to take choose their first, second and third language among English , Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Gurumuki ,Olchikhi etc. Making the announcement, state education minister Partha Chatterjee was quoted in the Hindu as saying, From now on, it will be compulsory for students to learn Bengali in schools. English medium schools will have to make Bengali an optional subject from Class I so that the students can study it either as a second or third language. Conventionally, students from boards other than WBBSE or West Bengal-approved boards used to learn Bengali for three years. Some boards offered Bengali for three years starting from class six to eight, while others offered Bengali as a second or third language from class two to six. This new declaration is heart fully welcomed by the Bengali speaking, even many non-Bengali citizens. Dr. Saifulla, the associate professor of Bengali, Aliah University, said, The decision is an effective step by the government if we are responsible towards our nationality, especially at a time when Bengalis feel pride in not being able to read or write Bengali. Farah Anwar, a school teacher of Shibpur Muslims Girls High School and also an Urdu speaker, said,It is a privilege to all non-Bengali students to learn Bengali to communicate with them as they are living here.Some students of Urdu speaking background also praised the initiative. The decision is a good one. It will help Urdu-speaking children learn the language of the state in which they are living, said Farah Wasi, a resident of Ripon Street. However, Professor Amrit Sen of Viswa Bharati University, department of English, has another take on this decision. Merely imposing an extra language to young non-Bengali students means widening their burden. Can the government ensure that the faculty, facilities would be enough to provide a quality teaching to a third language class?He added, Love for nation or ones own ethnicity comes from within, not by imposing it and any attempt to promote this strategy is to sink them in utter stress. Naurina Shamsi, who resides in Mallick bazaar, Park Circus, and an Urdu speaker, opined, Though the decision is good for communicating with people with whom we are living, at the same time it is likely to increase the expenditure of guardians, especially for economically less privileged families. People have also pointed out the issues regarding practical implementation of such an order. Heba Ahmed, a student at Jawahar Lal University, Delhi, said, Most of the Urdu textbooks that are used for different subjects are terribly written and insufficient for any clarity of understanding. And so, teachers using these textbooks are unable to prepare students for competitive college entrances after school. Secondly, when it comes to teaching even second language English, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been a terrible failure in schools like that. Teaching a language should ensure a students skill development in that language. But this is far from the case. How will the SSA implement teaching a third language Bengali? Besides, the girls in such ( Shibpur Muslim Girls High School, Howrah) schools are burdened with broken families, housework, even making a living for themselves from a very young age. They are hard-pressed for time even for the already existing subjects. Imposing a third language on them from classes 1 to 10 is going to be a terrible burden. Does any of this occur to education policy makers? Or are they simply engaged in battling it out with rival linguistic nationalisms? Enda Kenny finally did what his party colleagues had wanted him to for a long time. After returning his party to government in 2016, Kenny had hinted at his intention to step down within the lifetime of this government, sparking a level of unrest in his own party. Time and time again, he had been urged by his party colleagues to outline his intentions, with several party members eager to take the reins of Fine Gael. On Tuesday, he finally stepped down, in what many described as "an emotional party meeting". Indeed Kenny was the only Fine Gael leader ever to return his party to government after an election. While many may initially have underestimated his political tenacity and staying power, there is no doubt that Kenny has been a deeply committed, strong leader who guided Ireland through perhaps the worst economic turmoil ever experienced. Kenny published his letter of resignation on Twitter, thanking his family, supporters, and party colleagues. Enda Kenny's legacy After a political career spanning more than 40 years, Enda Kenny's achievements are likely to outdo his failings. Credited for having rebuilt Fine Gael after a dismal performance at the 2002 election, Kenny took over as Prime Minister shortly after the 80 billion IMF bailout in 2011. While many of his critics had urged him to seek better terms for Ireland from the European Central Bank, his supporters have applauded the manner in which he steered Ireland through the subsequent years of austerity and finally oversaw the Ireland's departure from the Troika programme. Kenny had had the difficult task of running the country on an incredibly tight budget to adhere to the what many believe were unfair terms set by the IMF, ECB, and EU. Political opponents to this day criticise Kenny for having dished out austerity to his own people rather than stood up to the Troika. But as Ireland's recovery continued and unemployment figures continued to fall, Kenny's standing grew in strength and ultimately led to his re-election as Taoiseach in 2016. As promised at that time, Kenny has now made way for a new party leader who will also become the new Irish Prime Minister. Who will succeed Enda Kenny? The leadership contest is already in full swing with Leo Varadkar, the Minister for Social Protection, and Simon Coveney, the Minister for Defense, both seeking to succeed Kenny. Both men have been building their profile over the last few months in expectation of a leadership contest. The new leader will be elected in an electoral college-type contest with the Fine Gael parliamentary party making up 65% of the vote, general members 25%, and local councilors 10 %. Brexit fallout main task for new leader Dealing with the effects of Brexit for Ireland will be the most arduous task for the new leader. Commentators, on the whole, agree that Brexit will have a negative impact on the Irish economy, and issues such as the border with Northern Ireland will need intelligent handling and a strong leadership. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has promised to issue a second EU referendum if his party is elected during this year's General Election. He warned that the impact of a hard Brexit will disadvantage future generations to come. His party's manifesto says should the Liberal Democrats be fortunate enough to form the next government of the United Kingdom, the public will be provided with a final say over the EU deal. 'A ticking time bomb' Mr. Farron warned voters leaving the EU's Single Market will have a devastating effect on schools and hospitals, comparing it to a ticking time bomb. He promised party supporters only the Liberal Democrats will do everything in their power to oppose a hard Brexit. The Liberal Democrat leader said there would be an option of remaining in the EU on the ballot paper should a second referendum become a reality. He fought back against allegations from his opponents that he has failed to accept last year's result on June 23rd, saying it is better for Britain to remain in the EU. Mr. Farron urged the public to help fight for Britain's future in Europe. He said he does not blame people who opted to leave the EU for the Conservatives' pursuit of a hard Brexit whilst arguing Labour is split over the issue. He also blamed Theresa May for alienating other European nations since she came to power. Mr. Farron urged voters to not feel obliged to opt for one of the two main parties, and instead said having more Liberal Democrat MPs in Parliament will ensure Britain gets a good EU deal. 'A bid to end austerity' Other measures included pouring billions of pounds into the NHS by increasing income tax by 1p in the pound, restoring the 20% corporation tax rate, ending the married couples' allowance and cutting the lower rate of inheritance tax. In a bid to end austerity in the UK, this position stands in stark contrast to that of Nick Clegg's, who supported the Conservatives' economic plans whilst serving as deputy prime minister. The Conservatives said there is little difference between Labour and the Liberal Democrats over increasing taxes. Mr. Farron said he intends to strike a balance between public spending and paying off the national debt. On Brexit, the Liberal Democrat leader is not optimistic Britain will achieve better trade deals than the one the EU currently offers all member states. He said this is a once-in-a-lifetime battle to save this country's future. After losing 50 seats in the 2015 General Election, Mr. Farron hopes he can claw back seats by positioning themselves as the anti-EU party to people anxious about Brexit. This strategy worked in the Richmond by-election last year when Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney defeated the then incumbent Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, who resigned in opposition to the Government's plans for Heathrow expansion. They also did the same in the Witney by-election after David Cameron resigned as the MP there in opposition to Theresa May's plans to reintroduce grammar schools. Conservative MP Robert Courts won the seat, but the Liberal Democrats cut Mr. Cameron's majority of 25,155 down to 5,702. 'No coalitions' Mr. Farron has said there will be no coalitions with the Conservatives or Labour in a bid to avoid repeating the Liberal Democrats' share of the vote collapse, as it did in 2015. The pro-Brexit group Leave Means Leave said the Liberal Democrats' Brexit position was unpatriotic and anti-democratic. The SNP said their position is contradictory as Scotland cannot stay in the EU whilst remaining a member of the United Kingdom. This is not the first attack against the Conservatives' EU policy from their former coalition partners. The Liberal Democrats' Brexit spokesman, Nick Clegg, has recently said the Prime Minister is robotic and brittle. He added she will fail in upcoming EU negotiations. Mr. Clegg accused his former Coalition colleague of 'Nixonian paranoia' over the EU's negotiating strategy. He said there was little difference between the Tories and UKIP in this general election. It's become routine for Donald Trump to lash out on social media and voice his frustrations to the millions of people who follow him. In yet another early morning tweet-storm, the president has a lot to get off his chest. Trump on Twitter After Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president close to two years ago, it became clear that he wasn't going to be on the same page as the majority of the mainstream news media. When Trump referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers," the press jumped on the former host of "The Apprentice," and the feud between both sides was underway and hasn't looked back. Trump quickly realized that using social media to push his agenda and reach his supporters and potential voters was the best avenue to go down, as he was able to craft his own message in the process. Trump has only increased his war of words against the media, often labeling journalists as "terrible" and the "most dishonest" group of individuals that he's ever met. That tension has increased since taking office, with Trump using Twitter to bash the press, as well as his political opponents. As seen on his Twitter account April 18, Trump is voicing his frustration with the Democratic Party. The weak illegal immigration policies of the Obama Admin. allowed bad MS 13 gangs to form in cities across U.S. We are removing them fast! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2017 Taking to his Twitter account on April 18, Donald Trump didn't hold back his anger with former President Barack Obama and his immigration policies. "The weak illegal immigration policies of the Obama Admin. allowed bad MS 13 gangs to form in cities across U.S. We are removing them fast!" Trump tweeted out early Tuesday morning. Trump on Georgia In a follow-up series of Twitter messages, Donald Trump focused on the special election in George that will fill a vacant seat in Congress that was left after Tom Price was tapped to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human services. The billionaire real estate mogul shifted his focus on bashing the Democrat in the race, Jon Ossoff. "Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes," Trump tweeted, before adding, "Say NO" Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2017 Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2017 Not stopping there, Donald Trump continued to push back against Jon Ossoff, as he does his best to ensure that a Republican holds onto the seat. "Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win!" Trump wrote, while noting, "Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A." Despite Trump's promotion, 18 candidates will be on the ballot with Ossoff polling far ahead of the competition. Heading into Election Day, Donald Trump was facing an approval rating in the mid-40s, which was why his victory came as such a surprise. In the months that have followed, the president's numbers have sunk even lower, despite the spin he attempts to put on his popularity. Trump on Twitter When Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States, it sent shock-waves throughout the world and has gone down as one of the biggest upsets in political history. Since the former host of "The Apprentice" was sworn into office last January, he's been forced to deal with non-stop controversy that has marred his administration. From the growing Russian scandal, to in-fighting in the White House, most notably between Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as bickering between himself and his own Republican Party over health care reform, Trump's watched him approval rating take a nose dive as millions of Americans continue to question his leadership. As Easter weekend comes to a close, ending on the nearly botched White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump took to Twitter on April 17 to gloat about his popularity, but it didn't go as planned. TRUMP APPROVAL HITS 50%https://t.co/vjZkGTyQb9 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017 Taking to his Twitter account on Monday night, Donald Trump decided to cite a conservative-leaning poll in an attempt to gloat about his approval rating. "TRUMP APPROVAL HITS 50%," Trump tweeted out in all caps, before attaching a link to the latest Rasmussen polls. While Rasmussen somehow has Trump at a 50 percent approval, most other polls don't see it that way. Negative reaction The most recent Gallup daily tracking poll shows Donald Trump with just a 41 percent approval, nearly a 10-point difference from what the president tweeted out. In response to Trump's tweet, Twitter users were quick to mock the billionaire real estate mogul. @realDonaldTrump That's a failing grade Arnold Schwarzenegger got fired from The Apprentice for having higher ratings. William LeGate (@williamlegate) April 18, 2017 @realDonaldTrump Why the need to constantly massage ones own ego I will never understand pic.twitter.com/JOUOKcrPMO AJ Joshi (@AJ) April 17, 2017 "Why the need to constantly massage ones own ego I will never understand," AJ Joshi tweeted out. "FAKE NEWS," author Joe Papp wrote in all caps in his Twitter account. "That's a failing grade Arnold Schwarzenegger got fired from The Apprentice for having higher ratings," entrepreneur William LeGate tweeted out. @realDonaldTrump This is FAKE NEWS. Your administration is losing so big. Tremendous defeats in court and really bad, really low approval ratings. So SAD! Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) April 17, 2017 @realDonaldTrump AKA - Half of America still hates you. Erich McElroy (@erichmcelroy) April 17, 2017 "AKA - Half of America still hates you," comedian Erich Mclory added about Donald Trump. Writer Mike P. Williams also chimed in, not holding back his thoughts about the current president. "This is FAKE NEWS. Your administration is losing so big," Williams tweeted, before adding, "Tremendous defeats in court and really bad, really low approval ratings. So SAD!" In yet another move that has raised eyebrows, Donald Trump has brought controversial sheriff David Clarke into his administration. Within minutes of the news becoming public, social media erupted in backlash. Clarke in the White House During the entire 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump made a lot of enemies due to his blunt rhetoric that many found offensive. While Democrats and liberals pushed back against the former host of "The Apprentice" from the start, many others stood by his side in defense of his policy proposals and agenda for the country. One of the names that has been a Trump supporter from day one is David Clarke, the outspoken Milwaukee County sheriff from Wisconsin. Clarke has made a name from himself as one of the more high-profiled African-American conservatives who is often found on lashing out Fox News. Clarke has spoken out on a routine basis, blasting the Obama administration and comparing the Black Lives Matter movement to the Islamic State (ISIS). As reported by The Hill on May 17, Clarke has been hired to join the Trump administration, but the news didn't go over well on social media. According to the report in The Hill, David Clarke has accepted the position of assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending long speculation about whether or not he would take on a role with the administration. Clarke found his name in the headlines last summer after delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention in favor of the billionaire real estate mogul. Twitter reacts Responding the news of David Clarke headed to the DHS, social media users fired back with his name quickly trending on Twitter. "How can someone possibly be dumb enough to hire both Michael Flynn and David Clarke?" one tweet wondered about Donald Trump. David Clarke - a black man, yes - thinks black people are "lazy" and "morally bankrupt." https://t.co/LJBhOBcChG pic.twitter.com/WT95DjTjZo Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 17, 2017 David Clarke is legit one of the worst people in American politics, responsible for multiple deaths & who traffics in fascist rhetoric. https://t.co/oag2tMtEFt Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) May 17, 2017 That's all for now. I have a hundred more. Sheriff David Clarke should NEVER be in law enforcement & definitely not Homeland Security. Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 17, 2017 "A reminder that Sheriff Clarke thought ISIS and Black Lives Matter were forming an alliance to destroy America," Daniel Dale wrote on Twitter. "I had to watch a lot of David Clarke during my FOX-binges last fall. What a terrifying guy. He reeks of sadism, can't even fake normality," TV critic Emily Nussbaum tweeted. 4 people, including a baby, have died in a jail run by Sheriff Clarke https://t.co/1tX2pumhPy https://t.co/HaXJimYp8H Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 17, 2017 How can someone possibly be dumb enough to hire both Michael Flynn and David Clarke? A.J. Winkelspecht (@ajwink) May 17, 2017 Here's a piece by @ryanjreilly with primary docs outlining the abuses committed in @SheriffClarke's jail. Must read https://t.co/Uu0FBLeS23 Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) May 17, 2017 "45 just added David Clarke to his admin...that's like loading an elephant on the sinking titanic...can't make this stuff up," another tweet read. "David Clarke is legit one of the worst people in American politics, responsible for multiple deaths & who traffics in fascist rhetoric," political correspondent Jamell Bouie wrote. The backlash continued on Twitter, with Clarke and Donald Trump both trending for all the wrong reasons. After it was announced that an independent special counsel was hired to oversee the investigation into Russia and their potential link to Donald Trump, the president wasn't pleased. Hours after releasing a prepared statement on the issue, the president decided to lash out on social media. Trump on Twitter From the first day of his campaign for president, Donald Trump has been under fire for his potential ties to Russia. Despite denying any wrongdoing, the former host of "The Apprentice" has been linked in various ways back to the Kremlin. Speculation started early on during the 2016 presidential election when Trump refused to release his tax returns, a standard procedure when running for the White House. As time went on, Trump also raised a red flag with his praise of Vladimir Putin, a departure from his aggressive tone that was used when discussing other world leaders on the campaign trail. In addition, multiple advisers and associates of the billionaire real estate mogul have been linked back to Russia for a variety of reasons, including retired Gen. Michael Flynn who was forced to resign as National Security Advisers just weeks after taking on the job after being caught meeting with Russian officials. Over the last week, Trump has faced increased pressure with reports revealing he shared classified information with officials from the Kremlin, while the scandal involving his firing of James Comey as director of the FBI has heated up. To watch over the situation at hand, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was brought on board, which Trump addressed during an early morning tweetstorm on May 18. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 Taking to Twitter on Thursday morning to discuss the latest controversy was Donald Trump, and he was not happy about it. "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!" Trump tweeted out, misspelling the word "counsel" on the process. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 In a follow-up message on Twitter, Donald Trump argued that he was the victim of a "witch hunt." "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" he wrote. Both Democrats and Republicans praise Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel in Russia investigation: https://t.co/e1hZAoxQsE pic.twitter.com/Cu34pFu0p6 CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2017 Moving forward While Donald Trump expressed his anger and frustration over a special counsel heading the investigation into Russia and their ties to his campaign, critics of the president are rejoicing in what is taking place. While it's unknown what the end result will be, it appears as if the commander in chief is backed against the wall on a situation that could have major ramifications on the future of the United States. #Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday, claiming that he was the victim of "the single greatest #witch hunt of a politician in American history!" This combative move is indicative of the president's style of blasting out angry and incensed tweets first thing in the morning. His claim appeared on his Twitter account only 24 hours after the Justice Department selected a #special counsel to look closely into ties between Trump's presidential campaign and official #Russians acting on behalf of the Kremlin. #Robert Mueller, previously an FBI investigator, was chosen to lead the ongoing investigation between the Trump election campaign and Russian officials in 2016. This is the same investigation that FBI director #James Comey had been leading until he was fired by President Trump in a shock announcement last week. Mueller's announcement, according to the New York Times, shocked the White House. The president was apparently only informed of the measure after the Deputy Attorney General #Rod Rosenstein had put his signature to the order. Twitter rampage As Trump took to Twitter early on Thursday morning, he mentioned " all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration" and said that there had never in those instances been a special counsel chosen to lead an investigation. Trump offered no evidence of the illegal acts that Obama or Clinton had in his eyes perpetrated, and gave no background or further explanation. He also misspelt the word 'counsel' in his tweet. It's true that a special counsel is a rare appointment, as Trump asserted, but his drawing on the legacies of Clinton and Obama certainly can't help his argument. During Clinton's reign as Secretary of State, there had been quite a few congressional investigations into the Benghazi attacks that happened in Libya; these investigations focused on Clinton's role in the issue, and also took into consideration Obama's role. On Thursday the president issued a statement through the White House that read: As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. Throughout the following twenty-four hours the Oval office, according to the New York Times, held a lively debate about the matter with several senior officials claiming that the president's aides were calling for pacifying tones in order to mollify the rabid anger in the press and across the senate, Congress and indeed the country. They debated how the president should respond to Robert Mueller's appointment. A witch-hunt Trump has used the phrase 'witch hunt' before to describe the rabid interest in his campaign's possible ties to Russia. He maintained in January that the Clinton campaign were angry at his win and were focusing on Russia to discredit him and his administration. Trump has been sounding deeply dissatisfied and filled with grievances the past week with all the media's focus on his potential Russian ties and also with Comey's firing. He even delivered a commencement address to the #United States Coast Guard Academy twenty-four hours before his angry tweets, where he riffed abruptly on the unfair way that he had been treated. He told the graduates that they would find that things arent fair in the world, making a swift departure from the optimistic tone he was supposed to endorse. You will find that things are not always fair, he told the graduates, referring to the way he's been treated by the media, and claiming that no politician in history "has been treated worse or more unfairly. In the latest twist added the scandal surrounding the White House, an independent Special Counsel has been appointed to oversee the investigation into Donald Trump's reported link to Russia. Trump was defiant in his response, which promoted Twitter to quickly trend on the issue at hand. Trump's denial Since the start of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has denied that he was ever in cahoots with Russia. Despite his denial, the former host of "The Apprentice" has faced an onslaught of criticism from the Democratic Party, as well as the majority of the mainstream media. One of the first red flags to cause speculation on the issue was Trump refusing to release his tax returns, leading to many wondering what was possibly hiding in his financial records. In addition, Trump made it a habit to bad mouth many world leaders, while vowing to "Make American Great Again," but always made sure to stop short in criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin. During and after the election, various advisers and associates close to the president have been caught with ties to the Kremlin, with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn being the most high-profiled, causing him to resign from his position. Over the last two weeks, multiple reports have revealed that Trump shared "highly classified" information with two Russian officials, while also attempting to convince former FBI Director James Comey to back off the ongoing investigation into Flynn. On Wednesday, former FBI director Robert Mueller was tapped to oversee the investigation into Russian election interference, leading to a Trump response, as reported by ABC News on May 17. The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that Robert Mueller will be the head person in charge in regards to the ongoing investigation into Russia, their role in the most recent United States election, as well as what link the Kremlin might have with Donald Trump's campaign and administration. Shortly after the news broke, Trump released a statement in response. BREAKING: Robert Mueller on appointment to oversee Trump campaign/Russia investigation: "I accept this responsibility." The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2017 "As I have stated many times, a through investigation will confirm what we already know, that there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," Donald Trump wrote. The president went on to say that he looks forward to the matter being handled quickly, before vowing to "never stop fighting for the people." Twitter reacts In response to the news of a special counsel handling the Russian investigation, social media users were to the point in their views. "Robert Muellers appointment is a positive step. I am hopeful that he will help us get to the bottom of the Trump campaigns ties to Russia," Bernie Sanders tweeted out. The fat lady is warming up her vocal chords. Rob Reiner (@robreiner) May 17, 2017 Score a big one for Rod Rosenstein's reputation. He appoints Robert Mueller to run the Trump/Russia investigation. This is huge. Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 17, 2017 "Score a big one for Rod Rosenstein's reputation. He appoints Robert Mueller to run the Trump/Russia investigation. This is huge," MSNBC host Joe Scarborough wrote on his Twitter account. "The fat lady is warming up her vocal chords," actor and director Rob Reiner added. Robert Muellers appointment is a positive step. I am hopeful that he will help us get to the bottom of the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 17, 2017 haha. Saleno Zito saying Trump should do what Clinton did during special counsel. problem? Clinton was beloved. Trump is widely despised Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) May 17, 2017 Today's a good day for Democracy. Thank you DOJ for following Title 28 of Code of Fed Regs & appointing Robert Mueller as Special Counsel!!! https://t.co/EoAfwOymVs Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 17, 2017 "Haha. Saleno Zito saying Trump should do what Clinton did during special counsel. problem? Clinton was beloved. Trump is widely despised," Eric Boehlert pointed out. As the backlash continued to pour in, it appeared that those who oppose Donald Trump are pleased at what is currently taking place in Washington. After months of defending President Trump, more Republicans are reportedly starting to withdraw their support as the White House continues to get hammered by the press over endless controversies. Many Republicans were already reeling from reports that the President had leaked classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak while they were both at the White House last week before reports revealed that the President might have tried to obstruct justice. Senate Republicans reflect on White House 'drama' Blasting News reported that after President Trump fired the director of the FBI, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a statement on the Senate floor in which he attempted to hold the line of support for Trump. As the article states, while some Republicans were still supportive of Trump, many were already hesitant to fall in line. On Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), McConnell and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) all expressed their frustration for the dramas coming out of the White House. One report by The Hill points to Republicans such as Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb) who said of the chance that the President leaked classified information to Russian officials in the Oval Office, if true, was "weird". Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) who has already been critical of some of the administration's action and targeted for doing so, said that if the reports were true, then it was "deeply disturbing". The article also points to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) who said that the administration should abandon their "fantasy" of having a better relationship with Russia. House Republicans still in the weeds Paul Ryan's response is the measurement of how much abuse the Grand Old Party (GOP) will take. On Wednesday he said that Democrats should not rush to judgment over reports of Comey's memo(s) which Blasting News reported on. Thus far the House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz has requested that all documents, including Comey's memo, be turned over to them but of the many congressional bodies and government entities conducting investigations, the ones conducted by the House have already experienced their own dramas. For instance, as Blasting News reported, the House Intelligence Committee's investigation was already rife with issues when its chairman Devin Nunes breached committee protocol be receiving "intelligence" documents that were given to him by the two anonymous members of the National Security Council. The linked to the article provides more details of the incident, but in turn, it caused him to temporarily remove himself from the investigation without a formal statement of recusal. For the better part of the last six months, Alec Baldwin's satirical portrayal of Donald Trump has been one of the most popular topics in pop culture. While the president has pushed for the show to end its impersonations, Baldwin has a suggestion as to how Trump could get his wish. Baldwin on Trump Once Donald Trump stood at the podium at Trump Tower in New York City two years ago and announced his presidential campaign, it was only a matter of time before he was made the butt of a joke. The former host of "The Apprentice" has been in the national spotlight for four decades, as his background in real estate, and later in reality TV, has kept his name in the headlines. While the initial reaction to Trump's candidacy was seen as nothing more than a joke that would eventually flame out, the billionaire real estate mogul caught fire, and was able to ride that momentum to the Republican nomination last July. However, it wasn't until after his first debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in October that Alec Baldwin appeared in the role of the future president, mocking the debate along side Kate Mckinnon. For months, Trump would lash out at the show, taking to his Twitter account to rip into Baldwin and "Saturday Night Live" in the process. However, Trump has not spoken publicly about "SNL" since being sworn into office, though reports say he has privately expressed his frustration with how his administration has been portrayed. Elaborating further on the issue was Baldwin who sat down for an exclusive interview with The Atlantic on April 18. Read our latest cover story on comedy in the age of chaos, by @EnswellJones https://t.co/5xvQDrOHRj pic.twitter.com/oDUfLSIWfy The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) April 18, 2017 Nearly every Saturday night, Alec Baldwin gets into character and trolls Donald Trump over the current events that are hanging over the White House. Due to the controversial nature of the administration since Inauguration Day, Baldwin and the writers at "Saturday Night Live" are never reaching for a good source of comedy. On his actual impression itself, Baldwin explains that he motions his lips like he's "trying to suck the wallpaper off the wall," while saying the end result is for them to look like a "puckering butthole." Trump invitation During his interview with The Atlantic, Alec Baldwin went on to invite Donald Trump to appear alongside him on the show, which he believes would end the comedy skit's shelf life. "If he (Trump) was smart, he'd show up this week," Baldwin said, before noting, "It would probably be over. He could end it. If he showed up." As of press time, Trump has not responded to the apparent invitation, and it's unlikely that he will do so. Baldwin on Trump: "I really feel sorry for him" https://t.co/H1I4UNJHua pic.twitter.com/nRjE1wYMZU The Hill (@thehill) April 18, 2017 Pity party While Alec Baldwin has been known to not only mock Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live," but also express his personal political opposition to his agenda, the actor admits he kinda feels bad for the commander in chief. "I really feel sorry for him," Baldwin admits, before explaining, "He will have achieved the exact opposite of what he believed he was going to achieve when he set out to do this in the first place." Many know artist Chris Burden from his iconic masterwork, Urban Light, which consists of 202 restored cast iron antique street lamps adorning the entrance of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But unless youre a student of art, you may be unaware of how Burdens earlier works pushed the envelope of performance-based art in unusual and dangerous ways. Luckily for fans, directors Timothy Marrinan and Richard Deweys new documentary Burden presents an in-depth look at the artist from his art school days in the 1970s to his last work before his untimely death in 2014. Burdens early art student days Against the tumult of the Vietnam War, artists in the 1970s began to experiment with the medium, especially on the West Coast. Burden was an early adapter of those that mixed art and performance. From his graduate student days at the University of California Irvine and onwards, Burden immediately began to make a name for himself with works that pushed the envelope. Buzzy artworks provoke As Burden showcases through its fine use of archival video, photographs and interviews, the young artist quickly set the 1970s art scene on fire. The film examines his UC Irvine work 5-Day Locker, where Burden contorted his body to fit into a locker for five days. His buzzy, Shoot, chronicled Burden literally being shot in the arm with a rifle. And Trans-Fixed displayed Burden laying face up, arms outstretched on a VW Beetle, with his hands nailed as if crucified. It's no surprise that these works (as well as other mind-bending pieces) landed him in magazines and television interviews. A particularly fun interview clip is with a young, dumbfounded Regis Philbin discussing Shoot with the artist. Burdens sculptures and engineered works Burden notes in the film that he first wanted to be an architect, but didnt want to get stuck behind a desk designing routine pieces. And as for sculpture, one of his professors noted that professionally going into that field would be like suicide. But in his later works, Burden moved away from performance and utilized his talents in architecture, engineering and sculpture. He also bought land up Topanga Canyon and created a workshop where he would test and assemble works, many of which he created on spec. Burdens final pieces Its from his Topanga Canyon workshop that Burden often talks to the filmmakers about his life and works, including the later, Urban Light, Metropolis II, and his last piece, Ode to Santos Dumont. During the films production, the directors learned of Burdens cancer and untimely death. Thankfully, for both longtime followers and new fans of his amazing work, the insightful documentary Burden is able to further illuminate Burdens intriguing life and works. Burden is Not Rated, 90 minutes, and playing in Los Angeles at the Landmark Quart Theatre, as well as being available On Demand, through Amazon Video, and on iTunes. Several years have already passed ever since Eminem released a music album. Now, fans are reportedly thirsty for a new album from the legendary rapper. Could it be true that the copyright infringement case he filed caused the release date delay of his new album? It has been recently reported that Eminem will be releasing a new album anytime soon and he even confirmed the news in social media. The "Cleaning Out My Closet" rapper seems to know that his music followers are waiting for him to make new songs. However, the hitmaker seems to be busy with other matters at the moment including the copyright infringement he filed against the New Zealand politicians. Delay in new album's release date caused by infringement case? In the meantime, new reports are now making rounds on the internet that the delay in release might be caused by the case that Em filed against the New Zealand politicians. The said politicians used Ems song without his permission. The National Party are facing copyright complaint from the "Stan" rapper. Apparently, they used the "Lose Yourself" beat for their election advertisement back in 2014. Despite the delay in release, fans of the legendary rapper from Detroit have still not given up and they are hoping that Eminem will release the new album soon. Fans are also wondering if the release date has been affected by his case against the politicians. When will Eminem release his new album Several reports are making rounds in regards to the release date of Eminem's new album. Speculations even made rounds that he was about to release his new album last April 9, yet, it still did not happen. The news started when Paul Rosenberg, Em's manager posted a photo with the "Real Slim Shady" hitmaker as they stopped by a popular convenience store. Fans believed there was a small note on Em's hand in the picture. Some of his Twitter followers immediately thought the note states "April 9," which reportedly signified the release date of Eminem's new album. However, the date has passed and the "Lose Yourself" rapper still did not release his new album. Today, new reports are making rounds that he is targeting an August 2017 release date. The release date comes after the news broke out that Em will be touring in numerous music festivals in the United Kingdom. The rapper from Detroit is expected to perform his songs at the Reading and Leeds Festival at Glasgow Summer Sessions on August 24. Speculations are making rounds that he might finally sing new songs from his upcoming album during his live performance in the United Kingdom. However, the "Love The Way You Lie" rapper has refused to respond to the reports. As of this date, Eminem is yet to reveal the release date of his new album. Yet, fans are hoping he will release his new album in August. "Grey's Anatomy" firefighter spinoff series is coming straight on ABC. The news has been confirmed by the network during the recently concluded Upfront presentation which happened in New York City. This one-hour drama which is set in Seattle firehouse will focus on the group of heroic firefighters who will risk their lives in line with their duty and off the clock. 'Grey's Anatomy' continues to land successful ratings This newest spin-off is already the second for "Grey's Anatomy" following the first which was all about "Private Practice." To recall, the series ran from 2017 to 2013 in ABC and it followed the life of Addison Montgomery after she moved from Seattle to Los Angeles to run her private medical practice. For the past two seasons, the series has continued to make remarkable ratings and has been the pillar of ABC's schedule since it started airing in 2005. Its ratings have been a continued success even as it enters season 14 this fall. Meanwhile, Channing Dungey, the ABC President, also added that no one can surpass the jeopardy that firefighters face in the line of their duty. Hence, Shonda Rhimes' Seattle setting is absolutely the perfect backdrop for this upcoming spinoff. Further, the script will be written by Stacy McKee and he will also serve as an executive producer along with Rhimes and Betsy Beers. Episode count and launch date to be revealed "Grey's Anatomy" firefighter spinoff is the second spinoff of the series. The drama is set to focus on Seattle firefighters straight from the captain down to the lowest position. Further, the spinoff will also center on their personal and professional lives. The decision of having the spinoff comes after the show continues to become a massive performer in ABC network. For the recent season 13, it has been named as ABC's number one scripted drama and which impressively features the veteran medical drama. Additionally, the series has been recently moved its airing on Thursday nights and has served as the launchpad for ABC's Rhimes' produced shows which include "Scandal" and "How to Get Away with Murder." As of now, ABC hasn't yet revealed the actual episode count and the release date of the second spinoff. However, showrunner Rhimes will again have five shows on the ABC schedule and the spinoff is an absolute addition to the list. Rhimes also added in one of her interviews that at certain times, she comes up with a crazy idea and "Grey's Anatomy" the second spinoff is one of those. While it is unfortunate that Roger Ailes went out of Fox News and now out of life under a cloud of accusations of sexual harassment, that circumstance should not overshadow the enormity of how he changed the face of television news. No one who came of age after October 1996, the month Fox News came on the air, will understand the extent of his accomplishment. In a way, FNC has made more people mad than what Ailes is alleged to have done to female employees. TV news before Fox News Back in the 1960s and 1970s TV viewers only had three major network options for national and world news, all of them lasting for a half an hour around dinner time during the week, along with Sunday talk shows and breaking events like assassinations, elections, and Apollo moon missions. NBC, CBS, and ABC were about the same in their approach to the news, Left Of Center, relying on personalities for competitive advantage. CBS was the home of Walter Cronkite, for example, a popular, reassuring presence in his day. CNN, in the early 1980s, changed things only in the fact so that someone who had cable could look at news and commentary 24 hours a day. But, with a few exceptions (such as Crossfire), the slant was left of center. Anyone who was aggravated at liberal bias in the media just had to put up with it. FNC changed the world of TV news Everyone who is a fan of Fox News can remember the first time they watched the network. They saw people, heard opinions, and viewed stories that would never have been allowed to air anywhere else. It is not that FNC was right wing news. As many out and proud liberals like the late Alan Colmes, Geraldo Rivera, Juan Williams, and Bob Beckel have been on Fox along with Bill OReilly, Sean Hannity, and more recently Tucker Carlson. But on Fox, conservative views were given equal weight and respect. The discussion was not just between a panel of liberals and perhaps one token conservative. Indeed, on Fox, it had often been the other way around. Not much mentioned is which stories appeared on Fox and how they were reported. Bill Clintons various transgressions were examined with great seriousness, unlike other networks. Stories about the overreach of government were given full airing with as much enthusiasm as other networks would give to crimes conducted by big business. In short, FNC casts a light on a world that no other network would pay attention to. RIP Roger Ailes If diversity of opinion is a good thing, then Roger Ailes performed a great deal of good. The rest of the TV news universe no longer has a captive audience and now must compete. To the extent that other news networks have to cater to viewers who are turned off by liberal bias, though some (like MSNBC) have not gotten the message, Ailes has forced an improvement in their businesses as well. Fox News, therefore, will be a monument to his life so long as in adheres to his vision. For almost a year, the public has been following the relationship between Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle. During that year, people have seen evidence of the two young people getting closer and closer. In fact, the pair are so close that many expect that an engagement will come soon. The "Suits" actress has spent a lot of time with the prince even though they live thousands of miles apart. Either she meets him in London or he meets her in Toronto where she films her show. At times, they have met each other at a designated place. For instance, last March they met in Jamaica to attend the wedding of Harry's friend. Meghan is meeting Harry in England to attend the wedding of Pippa Middleton on May 20. She is taking a week off from her job to spend some time with Harry while she is there. Because they are not engaged yet, Meghan has been invited only to the reception in the evening instead of the actual wedding in the church during the day. Latest development One of the things that some thought would hold up the engagement was that Prince Harry needed the approval of Queen Elizabeth. The latest news is that Harry asked his grandmother for her permission to marry Meghan, and the 91-year-old queen has granted it. This means that whenever the 32-year-old prince is ready, he can propose to the 35-year-old actress with the queen's blessing. It is obvious that Meghan is getting her life ready for an engagement. She shut down her lifestyle blog, "The Tig" because royals aren't supposed to be present on social media. She stepped away from her fashion work as well. It has been leaked that this might be her last year on "Suits" when her contract is up at the end of this season. First public appearance Earlier this month, Meghan made her first public appearance as Harry's girlfriend. She cheered him on at a polo match in Berkshire. For the first time, they were photographed kissing in public. Of course, that made headlines. Some are predicting that Prince Harry and Megan will be engaged by the end of the year. It might come sooner than that. Harry is probably waiting until after Pippa's wedding so that his news won't upstage hers. The news that Harry has gotten his grandmother's permission to propose to Meghan comes just days after a spokesman for Westminster Abbey announced that if the prince did decide to marry the divorced actress, they would be allowed to get married in the same church that his brother Prince William married Kate Middleton, and his father Prince Charles married his mother, Princess Diana. The issue beforehand was over the fact that Markle is divorced. MTR Corporation Cairman Frederick Ma Si-hang (center). [Photo/en.people.cn] The chairman of Hong Kong's rail operator MTR Corporation, Frederick Ma Si-hang, said his company "was interested in partnering with China Railway" to bid for the 350-kilometer rail project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Ma made the statement while attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which convened in Beijing on May 14 and 15, South China Morning Post reported. Thepaper.cn confirmed the news, reporting that MTR insiders said the company would "provide any assistance" to the Chinese rail giant's potential bid for the multi-billion-dollar rail line. If the bid is successful, the project would be MTR's first attempt to capitalize on China's global trade and commerce strategy. It would also be MTR's first investment under the umbrella of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Ma learned from Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai that tender for the rail project was due at the end of this year, with completion expected in 2026, the newspaper reported. Once complete, the transport time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will be shortened to just 90 minutes. It will be the first high-speed rail project in Southeast Asia, and companies from China, Japan, South Korea and some Eastern European nations are all vying for the contract, according to media reports. MTR Corp and China Railway Corp signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation last December, paving the way for future partnership in more than 60 countries along the Belt and Road route. MTR manager Jin Zepei told Thepaper.cn that China Railway tops the world in manufacturing and rail project management, with a colossal 2,200 kilometers of railway laid in the course of about a decade. MTR is now ready to tap into the global market via partnership with China Railway, while also providing support in business operations, contract management and international law. In January 2017, a direct cargo train linking southeastern China's Yiwu to London was launched. The new freight network, operated by China Railway, requires just 18 days to travel over 12,000 kilometers, running through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London. China urged Japan on Wednesday "not to send wrong messages" to Taiwan and create new interference with China-Japan ties. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks after an organization set up by Taiwan changed its name from "The Association of East Asian Relations" to the "Taiwan-Japan Relations Association". A ceremony for the renaming was held on Wednesday. Mikio Numata, a representative of the "Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association", attended the event. Hua called the renaming a "plot together by the Japanese government and the Taiwan authorities" that "attempts to elevate actual ties between Japan and Taiwan". Hua urged Japan to "stick to the one-China policy and take effective measures to correct its wrong action". "There is only one China in the world. Taiwan is part of China," Hua said. "The Chinese government is resolutely opposed to countries that have set up diplomatic ties with it, maintaining official ties with Taiwan in any way." The spokeswoman asked Japan to "effectively ob-serve the principles determined by the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and promises it has made to China", and "not to send wrong messages to the Taiwan authorities and the international community". Hua also warned Taiwan authorities that any attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" will be "doomed to fail". Captain Jack Sparrow is back with the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be released in the United States, China and other parts of the world on May 26. Johnny Depp, who plays the antihero Jack Sparrow, arrived at the Shanghai Disney Resort on May 11, accompanied by other members of the cast, including Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom for the movie's global premiere in China. Many fans of the 14-year-old franchise waited outside the Walt Disney Theater at the resort to catch a glimpse of the stars. Dead Men Tell No Tales is a new story of the high seas infused with fantasy, humor and action. With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, came the dawn of Jerry Bruckheimer's most successful franchise, one of the most successful film series in the history of Disney Studios. The first film was followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). The four films have together made more than $3.7 billion so far. In the latest film, Jack Sparrow feels the heat when Captain Salazar, played by Bardem, and his ghost sailors escape Devil's Triangle in a bid to kill him and the other pirates. Jack Sparrow's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth, an astronomer, played by British actress Kaya Scodelario, and Henry, a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. Australian actor Brenton Thwaites is cast as the young sailor. The movie is directed by Norwegian filmmakers Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, both known for their epic based on real-life ocean exploration, Kon-Tiki, and for Marco Polo on Netflix. For the directors, the opportunity to be part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was a dream come true. "It's the kind of movie we grew up with and love," says Sandberg. Ronning adds: "We knew that trying to do something original with the fifth installment was going to be a challenge, but that was important to us." The movie was shot in Australia. "I guess it's been a pirate's life for all of us," says producer Bruckheimer of the franchise's years. wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn Johnny Depp greets fans at the global premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in Shanghai on May 11. Provided To China Daily (China Daily 05/18/2017 page20) Foreign investors should continue to be mindful of a Canadian investment act that can trigger national security concerns. Sandy Walker, a partner at Dentons Canada LLP, said that the Investment Canada Act (ICA) can be "very political". The topic was discussed at the Canada China Industrial Cooperation Seminar on May 12 in Toronto. A Chinese delegation led by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products participated. According to Walker, it is important early in the investing process to develop relationships with the government along with public relations strategies, particularly for high profile or politically sensitive acquisitions. In 2015, there were two national security cases involving Chinese companies. One of those involved the blocking of a Chinese state-owned enterprise from establishing a fire alarm-making business in Quebec, near the Canadian Space Agency. In the other case, a Chinese investor successfully challenged the Canadian government's rejection of its acquisition of a telecom business. "There are fewer Investment Canada Act reviews now than before, because the review (value) threshold has gone up, so most investments if they are under $800 million, they just file a notification with the federal government," Walker said. "The new Liberal government has said that it is always open to global investment in a way that respects and defends Canada's interests." Other seminar participants focused on the advantages of Sino-Canadian trade. Ontario Minister of International Trade Michael Chan said that his province has a diversified and supportive business environment and a highly skilled and well-educated labor market. He expressed hope that Canada and China would expand cooperation agreements and further promote economic exchanges and trade. Li Aihua, president of the Canada China Chamber of Commerce, believes that the combination of the two countries' advantages - Canada's advanced manufacturing industry and expertise in project management, and China's strong productivity and outstanding efficiency - can lead to more market share in the future. "Many companies in the seminar from both sides wish they had met each other earlier," Li said. "From another angle, Canadian companies used to lack the knowledge of or bear skepticism about the Belt and Road Initiative. However, with the support from the governments of the two sides, the idea will meet both interests and create a positive environment for collaboration between Chinese and Canadian companies." The Belt and Road Initiative, which refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road development plan, was created by President Xi Jinping in 2013. "We are not only selling products here, but working together to build relations with our Canadian partners," said Wang Hongqi, one of the delegates from Guangzhou Minyard Martinez Musical Instruments. renali@chinadailyusa.com (China Daily USA 05/18/2017 page2) China's GAC Motor is putting out the "help wanted'' sign for engineers, marketing and management talent in the US, and analysts in the auto industry say it may be a prelude to the company's foray into the US auto market. GAC, a unit of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, on Wednesday announced it was launching the recruitment program that would center on Boston, Detroit and Silicon Valley to attract skilled and creative people to join its international team. Because GAC is seeking talent in Detroit, the heart of the North American auto industry, along with Boston and Silicon Valley, areas that have a high concentration of technology companies and people, it prompted speculation that GAC is building a team for a run in the US market. "At January's North American International Auto Show (in Detroit), GAC made no secret of its desire to bring a model like the GS7 to market here, so that is definitely a part of the near-to medium-term agenda,"David Zoia, editorial director of WardsAuto.com, wrote in an email. The GS7 is a midsize sport utility vehicle that the company unveiled. GAC also said it would open a research and development center in Silicon Valley later this year. Stephanie Brinley, auto analyst at IHS Markit, said GAC is looking to expand its business inside and outside of China, including the US, and that the company's recruitment is likely to be more broad-based than its US sales ambitions. "Recruiting from Detroit is likely to capture talent with particular expertise or interest in the auto industry, while Boston and Silicon Valley are more likely to be rich in technology and engineering talent. As GAC's entry in the US market is still some years off, employees hired from the US may well take a role in launching the product,"she said in an email. James Zhang, provost and senior vice-president for academic affairs at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, formerly called the General Motors Institute, said technology is rapidly changing the global automotive industry, and companies have a vital need to identify talent worldwide. "If GAC is looking at being a technology-focused company in mobility and automotive, those regions allow them to access intriguing talent to build out their global talent portfolio. GAC's expansion into these markets will give the company access to some of America's most robust and technology-oriented markets in order to build their North American talent and capacity,"Zhang said in an email. Zoia said that it wasn't surprising that GAC is looking to raise its profile worldwide. paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com (China Daily USA 05/18/2017 page2) Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HA NOI The Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) has imported more than 2,000 Holstein Friesian cows from the US. The cows, believed to be the worlds high-yield diary animals that can produce 14,000 litres of milk in 305 days, were carefully selected and underwent strict quarantine and health checks before arriving in Viet Nam. They were sent to Vinamilks Tay Ninh cow farm, bringing the total number of cows at the farm to nearly 5,000. Following the import, Tay Ninh cow farm has become Vinamilks largest cow farm, covering 700ha and using high technology to raise cows. Vinamilk plans to increase the herd of cows at the Tay Ninh farm to 8,000. According to a Vinamilk representative, investing in cow farms is an important goal in the diary firms development strategy to ensure fresh milk and improve quality. From 2012, Vinamilk imported a total of 80,000 cows from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Currently, Vinamilk has more than 120,000 cows, which produce some 750 tonnes of fresh milk to produce three million glasses of milk per day. The company plans to increase its herd of cows to 160,000 in 2017 and 200,000 in 2020. Its daily fresh milk output is targeted to reach 1,500-1,800 tonnes in the next three years. Vinamilk is the largest dairy firm in Viet Nam, with a market share of more than 50 per cent, and is among the worlds top 50 milk producers by revenue. It earned export revenue of US$258 million in 2016. Its products were exported to 43 countries and territories worldwide, including the United States, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. At present, Vinamilk owns 13 plants in Viet Nam and 10 cow farms across the country, along with three plants in the United States, New Zealand and Cambodia. VNS HA NOI As many as 75 per cent of the enterprises surveyed by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) have seen the positive impact of the Government resolution on supporting and developing enterprises, according to a VCCI survey of 1,000 enterprises carried out at the end of 2016. Other enterprises answered that they had not discerned any effect of the resolution on their operations because its solution are geared for the long term and more time is needed to assess their impact. The survey was conducted as the basis for a report to the Government on the effects of Resolution 35 issued in May 2016 after the first meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the business community. The document laid out tasks for reforming administrative procedures, creating favourable conditions for start-up and innovative enterprises, and protecting their rights and interests. In terms of administrative reform, survey participants reported that many localities had done well, shortening the time it takes to establish a company to two days. Time for customs clearance of exports was reduced to below 10 days and of imports to 12 days. Notably, the northern province of Quang Ninh and the central province of Ha Tinh reported that time for export clearance was less than two days and less than four days for imports. All localities have applied the one-stop-shop mechanism to help businesses save time and costs while implementing administrative procedures. Many dialogues between local governments and business leaders were also held so that difficulties and obstacles that enterprises were facing were dealt with. However, according to enterprises, more changes were needed to create favourable conditions for enterprises to take advantages of technology in operations, ensure businesses have equal chances to access resources, as well as to help enterprises reduce costs. VCCI chairman Vu Tien Loc said that though the resolution required enterprises to be inspected once per year, in fact they still had to undergo several overlapping inspections a year. The Government should avoid interference in the market operation by using administrative orders, which could result in long-term consequences. Instead, the Government should encourage competition in the market, Loc said. Discrimination Le Van Hieu, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs Association, said since the resolution was promulgated, the biggest success is the change in mindset of Government agencies from thinking management to thinking service. But there was still discrimination between State-owned enterprises and private businesses in some legal documents. To create a level playing field, the invisible boundary must be eliminated, he stressed. Hieu also suggested the Government allow private firms to use abandoned State assets like factories to avoid wasting public resources. Vice chairman of the northern province of Vinh Phucs Enterprises Association, uong Trong Khang, said ministries and agencies should use straightforward language when drafting directive decrees or circulars to avoid misunderstanding. Information of markets and regulations needed to be regularly updated so that firms could integrate the information into their operation plans. Mac Quoc Anh, vice chairman of the Ha Noi Smalll and Medium-sized Enterprise Association, said regulations of State agencies must be more consistent. He gave an example of some documents already cancelled by customs authorities but still required by banks or tax offices, creating hurdles for import-export companies. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), a record 110,000 enterprises were founded in 2016, up 16.2 per cent compared with 2015. Since the first meeting between PM Phuc and the business community last year, more than 1,000 complaints were sent to State agencies, of which 77.4 per cent were addressed. Second meeting with business community The second conference with the business community chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is being held today in Ha Noi. The conference expects to attract 10,000 delegates of whom 2,000 will directly join the event, including Government leaders, 1,500 private businessmen, 200 representatives of foreign investors, and 100 others from State-owned Enterprises. In addition, the video-teleconference will draw 50-100 local leaders and businessmen from each of the 63 provinces and cities. The Minister of Planning and Investment will deliver a report on the implementation of Resolution 35 on enterprise development policy to 2020. Enterprises and business associations were asked to make recommendations for business development. Ministries, agencies, and localities were requested to resolve obstacles and proposals. The PM will deliver closing remarks and issue a new directive document on working together with the business community. Right after the conference, PM Phuc will meet with senior officials to discuss the business recommendations. VNS HA NOI The Government has pledged to take stronger measures to create a level playing field for businesses and to improve the competitiveness of local enterprises. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the commitment after hearing recommendations from entrepreneurs and associations at a conference in Ha Noi yesterday. The conference themed Siding with Business, the second of its kind since Phuc took office as Prime Minister, aimed to build breakthrough policies to better serve business development. Over the past year since Resolution 35 on supporting and developing businesses was issued, Viet Nam has gained some achievements, such as a record 110,000 new enterprises being established and many foreign businesses planning to expand operations in the country. However, the Government still received many complaints about complicated administration procedures, high taxes and fees, unofficial costs and difficulties in accessing credit. According to a Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry report, unofficial costs is still the most cumbersome problem for enterprises. For example, they still have to pay underground costs to be awarded production licences or pay bribes to pass inspections. After receiving feedback from businesses about overlapping inspections conducted by different State agencies, the PM requested State agencies perform one inspection per year. He said the Government promises to work to ease costs that firms are suffering such as administrative fees, logistic charges, and other payments to State agencies. Phuc said the Government would submit a draft law to the National Assembly on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and speed up the revision of tax and customs regulations, ensuring consistency among ministries and agencies to help businesses save time and costs. The Government leader agreed with the business communitys request to build fair institutions to ensure equal treatment between the State and private sector, complying with international rules. He stressed that all privileges given to State-owned enterprises will eventually be abolished, while State resources which are being used inefficiently will be redistributed to stakeholders based on their competitive capacity and ability to improve productivity. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) meets with representatives from enterprises and associations at the conference Siding with Business held yesterday in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the Government will push ahead with administrative reform to enable businesses to develop, encourage business households and individuals to form companies, and support enterprises to promote innovation, industrial modernisation, and human resources development. He urged ministries and departments to simplify business and investment regulations in accordance with the Law on Investment and Law on Enterprises. PM Phuc also urged enterprises to take advantage of new technology in production and to train high-quality human resources capable of using new technology. He called on enterprises to improve Vietnamese products image to increase their market shares abroad and to win over Vietnamese consumers. If we ignore our local market, we fail, Phuc said. The Government leader also said that he hopes enterprises will pay more attention to their social responsibilities such as environmental, integrity and accountability. Meeting with State agencies' leaders After chairing the conference with businesses, PM Phuc hosted a meeting with leaders of ministries and State agencies, requesting them to continue studying proposals made by the business community and draft an directive document to address shortcomings to better implementing the Resolution 35. He underlined 14 contents needed to be included in the document, including electronic invoices, technology application and start-ups, among others. The PM emphasised measures, including taxation, to carry out the policy on turning five million business households into the enterprise model, thus raising the number of the countrys total enterprises to 1.4 million by 2020. New instruction The same day, Minister, Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said at a press briefing that the PM had issued an official instruction on avoiding overlapping inspections carried out by inter-sectoral and competent forces such as police, customs officers and inspectors. The Instruction No 20/2017/CT-TTg is expected to change the mindset of about 4.9 million trading households which have refused to transform into businesses due to concerns about taxes, fees and inspections. The document makes it clear the responsibility of units and agencies as well as of the municipal and provincial Peoples Committees for ratifying inspection plans since the beginning of each year. Each business will be inspected or audited no more than once a year except cases where firms are found to violate laws, Dung stressed. Some opinions On cost saving, Chairman of Amcham Vietnam Jonathan Moreno pointed out Decree 181/2013/N-CP guiding implementation of the Law on Advertisement and the draft decree on automobile transport businesses are causing difficulties for companies, especially SMEs. He said the decree requires a Vietnamese entity to use locally licensed advertisement agencies, which hampers from SMEs promoting their products and services domestically and internationally when they advertise on cross border platforms like Google or Facebook. "With limited budgets for advertising and marketing, Vietnamese SMEs find these platforms the easiest, most economic and effective way to promote their products and services," he said. He added "Unlike large enterprises, these SMEs do not need and cannot afford the engagement of advertising agencies for their advertisement and marketing activities." Under a draft decree on automobile transport businesses, transport firms are required to report to the Ministry of Transport the information of every single trip they make. This onerous requirement will create new and unnecessary burdens that inconsistent with Resolution 35, Moreno said. Hiroshi Karashima, chairman of the Japan Business Association in Viet Nam, said that according to a survey conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Viet Nam was the fourth most popular destination for Japanese firms to do medium-term investment. The survey also showed that the top concern of Japanese investors is transparency and the application of legal regulations in Viet Nam. He called on the Vietnamese Government to take into account these problems to create an attractive investment environment. VNS Thai Huong, Chairwoman of TH Group: I am grateful to the Government for issuing a set of standards for school milk. However, we are still lacking a School Milk Steering Committee. Milk consumed in schools today has still not met the standards of school milk as set by the Government. I also suggest that the Government promulgate standards for milk in general, as it not only involves childrens health but also the health of all people. To date, a set of standards for fluid milk is still absent, despite the fact that the Ministry of Health have garnered opinions from enterprises and the public in this matter. For Viet Nam to become the worlds kitchen, we have to do things right in the domestic market. A set of standards for milk is essential to ensure fair competition among enterprises, business ethics and social responsibility. Nguyen Van e Nguyen Van e, Chairman of Hop Luc JSC, Chairman of Viet Nams Private Hospital Association From a private investors point of view, I think the Government should not allow building private hospitals inside the precinct of public hospitals because foreseen consequences are corruption, illicit benefit sharing, and losses of State resources. Building a private hospital inside a public one in each province will choke to death dozens of other private hospitals. We propose the Government make policy adjustments in this issue and have more policies to encourage entrepreneurs to invest in the health sector to lessen the overloading of public hospitals. Private hospitals diagnose and treat impoverished patients well. However, since the Government issued a policy to subsidise poor patients with travel and food allowance, there has been a new policy to assign the task to public hospitals only, citing the reason that it is a political task. It is irrational. Legal policies should treat private and public sector fairly. Tran Hung Viet Tran Hung Viet, CEO of Saigon Tourist Regional tourism planning and development planning of each locality lack a common voice. Local planning is incomplete; it is out of sync, and that leads to unsubstantial development. As a result, enterprises face many difficulties. There has been a surge in infrastructure development to serve tourism, whereas human resource training has not been on par. It is essential that ministries and industries pay attention to human resource planning. We also propose to increase the fund to support tourism development. The Vietnamese tourism ministry is granted a budget of US$2 million a year, while that of Thailand and Malaysia is $80 million and $61 million, respectively. Tourism promotion activities are still limited due to the tight budget. So we suggest that enterprises contribute more to the fund, alongside the State. It is also necessary to have a policy to encourage private sector to invest in developing tourism at rural and remote areas. inh Thi My Loan inh Thi My Loan, Chairwoman of Viet Nam Retailers Association Our association proposes the Government add retail industry, including all kinds of retailers, to the list of preferential investment sectors and industries as an independent industry, not inside the infrastructure sector like what is now. We also think there are some kinds of retail services--including convenience stores, grocery stores, specialised stores--that should be added to the list of services that receive preferential investment policy, besides those already being included like supermarkets or shopping malls. We propose the Government allow us to compile and submit to the Government a trade promotional programme to find markets for our products. In the meantime, we suggest that retailing enterprises, retailing households, retail-related organisations and association are also subject to on-going industrial and agricultural promotional programmes taking effect until 2020. Efforts should be spent to improve the competence and competitiveness of the industry. VNS HA NOI The Philippines is likely to import an additional 250,000 tonnes of rice from Viet Nam and Thailand. The Philippines government on Tuesday said the country would import more rice to boost its stocks ahead of the lean harvest season. The National Food Authority Council did not specify the quantity, but demand from the Philippines, one of the worlds largest rice importers, could underpin prices in Thailand and Viet Nam -- its main suppliers and major exporters. The National Food Authority had been seeking the councils approval to import 250,000 tonnes under government-to-government schemes with Viet Nam and Thailand. The committee that decides on the quantity to be imported will meet on Thursday. The NFA also announced it would shift from government-to-government importation to government-to-private importation to make the bidding more competitive, transparent and less corrupt. Rice inventory in the Philippines is running low, with government stockpiles shrinking to the least in more than three years in April, just enough to cover 10 days of the national requirement. VNS Viet Nam News reporter Ngoc Bich speaks with Dr. Frank Rijsberman, director general of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) -- a Seoul-based international organisation -- about the potential of renewable energy in Viet Nam and what the country should do to overcome challenges in the process of implementing renewable projects. What is your forecast of the future power demand of the Asian region in general and of Viet Nam in particular? What does renewable energy mean to countries economic development? Asia is moving to the centre of the global energy arena, and whether the Paris Agreement will be a success or not will be determined by how rapidly Asia can move away from coal and adopt clean and renewable energy. According to the Asian Development Bank, electricity demand in Asia and the Pacific is projected to more than double between 2010 and 2035. Viet Nams power demand is rising rapidly in line with robust economic expansion. It has grown nearly four times in the last decade and the trend is set to continue. Unfortunately, under the Business as Usual scenario, Viet Nam is shifting to coal fired power generation, creating significant green growth challenges. Currently, coal fired plants capacity nationwide accounts for 36 per cent of total power productivity but is set to increase to 56 per cent. Viet Nam, like other countries in the region, needs to move away from coal and towards renewable energy, which would help mitigate climate change, reduce air pollution, create green jobs, increase energy security through reduced reliance on energy imports, provide savings through fossil fuel subsidies removal, and take advantage of private capital to provide financing for energy production, thereby supporting the reduction in public debt. Why does Viet Nam still lag behind other regional countries in developing renewable energy projects? In which countries are the kinds of energy used the most efficiently? What can Viet Nam learn from them? Unfavourable policy environment has stalled renewable energy development in Viet Nam. Currently renewable energy accounts for 6 per cent of the energy mix, with large scale hydro accounting for 98 per cent. The Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) [payments to ordinary energy users for the renewable electricity they generate] for wind and solar have been too low for investors. The power purchase agreements are below international standard. Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) is the sole off-taker and has poor credit rating, resulting in dampened private capital investment. However, we also need to recognise the Governments willingness to turn to renewable energy. The conditions for biomass energy are economically viable, and through the recent launch of the solar FIT in April 2017, there is going to be a new net metering scheme. Further, provinces are turning away from coal. For example, Bac Lieus request to cancel a coal fired power station due to environmental concerns was accepted by the Prime Minister and the province will instead develop wind energy. The Government has shown a willingness to look into alternative policy arrangements, such as improved direct power purchase agreements, but these are still in the inception phase. Right now the renewable energy revolution is led by China and India, where the construction of renewable energy projects is speeding up very rapidly. Smaller countries in the region are on the cusp they are close, but have not yet seen a big flood of commercial projects. Countries such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Viet Nam can be next if they get their policies right, attract the right mix of capital and develop good bankable projects. Why are hydropower projects still part of GGGI works while they are opposed by people due to their consequences like flooding and deforestation? Should Viet Nam continue developing them? We do not count large hydropower dams as renewable energy, but believe there are still good opportunities for small scale hydro and micro hydro plants that have less or manageable environmental impact. Viet Nam can continue to develop hydropower plants if it does so responsibly, mitigating environmental and social impacts appropriately, and looking for smaller scale. Existing (and new) hydropower projects can combine well with other renewables like solar and wind to provide stability to the grid, until battery storage becomes commercially viable. ADB and other multilateral development banks jointly committed to support developing countries transition to green growth in Rio+20 in 2012. Since then, how has the commitment been realised? What is the role of GGGI during the progress? The Paris agreement was the strongest ever reached by both rich and poor countries as more than 190 countries submitted their national plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There are no countries left that will only take climate action if they are paid to do so. A significant number of developing countries, ranging from Thailand and Fiji to India, are committed to taking initiatives to combat the issue of climate change and move towards a green and climate resilient future. A key challenge is, first, to make climate funding available, and second, to develop a strong pipeline of bankable projects to deliver on the climate commitments. The Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have committed to significantly increasing their share of climate financing. We have seen new commitments at the ADB meeting in Yokohama such as the new Japanese fund worth $40 million -- to focus on clean energy and sustainable infrastructure. Whats critical now is to build capacity in developing countries to submit solid project proposals to attract investment. We need to help countries understand how they can access an array of finance and blend it and develop a conducive environment for investors. Therefore, a top priority for GGGI is to assist countries to develop pipelines of projects that are investment-ready. GGGI is attempting to change the direction of investment towards climate smart and green growth investments by building capacity of governments in designing bankable projects, initiating and pilot testing de-risking instruments and blended financing and helping governments to access international climate finance. Could you share with our readers GGGIs operations in Viet Nam as well as GGGIs work with the ADB in Viet Nam? Do you have any plans to further work with the ADB and other MDBs? GGGI is working with several ministries of Viet Nam on renewable energy issue. We are providing the Ministry of Planning and Investment strategic policy advice to increase green growth financing through ensuring green growth is integrated into the Governments investment appraisal process. We are also supporting Viet Nams SME Development Fund to integrate green growth into their lending operations. We help the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop provincial action plans for biomass waste-to-energy and bankable projects for implementation. This year, GGGI will complete two pre-feasibility studies for sugar companies to generate electricity from their waste biogases. In 2018, GGGI will develop more bankable projects on the back of the provincial action plans. GGGI partnered with the ADB in Viet Nam in 2016 to develop a feasibility study for a wastewater treatment facility in Ben Tre City, enabling the city to access an ADB loan of up to US$30 million. ADB is moving away from concessional loans to Viet Nam and towards ordinary capital lending with market-based rates (as is the case with the World Banks shift from International Development Assistance to International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), imposing greater financial pressure on Viet Nam to meet the financing requirements for green infrastructure. GGGI will continue to partner with ADB and other MDBs, as well as the Green Climate Fund, to combine their financial resources with those of national governments, and the private sector, to fund renewable energy projects, set up energy efficiency programmes and national green funding mechanisms. VNS Viet Nam can offer many different reasons to fall in love for tourists and expats. For American couple Dan Drage and Kimberly Drage, its the people of Viet Nam that have made their 10-year stay here so enchanting. In the US, when we go outside, we can not meet people. Most of them are in their houses or in the car. They do not talk to each other. And people do not trust each other very much. But in Viet Nam, even though the country is changing, people are sincere and everyone trusts each other and appreciates each other. They are sentimental. I enjoy it very much, said Dan Drage. A long-time love story After 10 years living in Ha Noi, the Drages can speak Vietnamese almost as fluently as locals. They relocated to Ha Noi in 2006 as Vietnamese language students, studying for two years at Ha Noi University. However, their love story with Viet Nam began much earlier. Kimberly Drage first studied Vietnamese in 1999 when she worked at the World Relief association in California to help Vietnamese immigrants coming to California to learn English. Seduced by the beauty of the language, she decided to continue to studying Vietnamese when she pursued her postgraduate degree at university in the US. After marrying Dan, she decided to go to Viet Nam with her husband. Kimberly was fascinated by Vietnamese people, the language and the culture of Viet Nam, so she wanted to come here. Together, we studied the language and discovered the Vietnamese culture. It is a very difficult language but we studied it with love and passion, said Dan Drage. In 2010, they joined the German NGO Allianz Mission, and continue to work alongside the local team to help impoverished families in northern mountainous regions of Viet Nam. Dan Drage is fortunate enough to be able to spend half his time with the NGO and half his time making art. The couple Dan Drage and Kimberly Drage pose with their two daughters at the exhibition. VNS Photo Bach Lien Exhibition of watercolour painting on silk Dan Drage wowed the public on Sunday with his original watercolour paintings on silk which are on display until May 28 at Manzi Art space, located at 14 Phan Huy Ich Street. Including a series of sculptures and silk paintings, the exhibition entitled A Sifted Gaze invites audience to see everyday objects in a new way, in the value of their form, in their repeating patterns, in the interplay between the individual objects and in the collective whole which they create. At the exhibitions opening, in fluent Vietnamese, he thanked his family for support and in particular his Vietnamese teacher Le Kim My who taught how to make watercolour paintings on silk. Graduating from Milligan College in 2001 with a degree in Visual Arts and Humanities, Dan Drage studied painting watercolours on paper. But I didnt know about the silk, so I wanted to study it in Viet Nam. I had My as my teacher for a short time and then I practiced myself, he said. He became friends with Mys daughter, artist Vu Kim Thu, who encouraged him to do this exhibition. I want to thank My and Thu for believing in me before I believed in myself, said Dan Drage. He was very talented and I only showed him some basic techniques of watercolour paintings on silk. After he practiced himself. It was a great time working with him, My said. Dan Drages father flew from the US to attend the exhibition and said he also loves Viet Nam and has come to the country five times to visit his son and to go sightseeing. The couple has two daughters and they also speak Vietnamese. Before, with my husband, we used to speak Vietnamese with each other to talk about things that we do not want our children to hear, but now we cant do it any more, as our daughters understand Vietnamese very well, Kimberly Drage said, laughing. The young woman said that she and her family enjoy life in Ha Noi, except for going to the morning market. I am afraid of having to buy things at expensive prices. I am not good at negotiating prices. If I had to go to markets every day and negotiate prices, it would be very tiring for me. So I buy things at supermarkets and ask someone else to buy things for me at the market, she said with big smile. Their family will soon relocate to Scotland for a year while Dan completes a masters degree in art and theology at the University of St Andrews. But they said they will come back to Viet Nam. We enjoy life in Viet Nam as people are kind to each other. Kimberly Drage said that she loves walking the streets of Ha Noi as she loves its colours. With the green leaves and the houses walls being yellow and mossy, and mouldy, Ha Noi is charming with its ancient and romantic beauty, she says, adding that she has also a Vietnamese name: Kim Lien (golden lotus), as it is quite similar to her actual name and because she loves lotus. VNS BRUSSELS Belgium kicked off a year of Magritte on Wednesday, marking the 50th anniversary of the Surrealist artist Rene Magrittes death with a series of events, including a major art exhibit in Brussels. Homage to the artist will however not be limited to the Magritte Museum, which counts 300,000 visiters a year. In September, some of the artists most iconic works including The Lovers -- featuring a man and a woman kissing, their faces draped in cloth -- and his self-portrait The Son of Man, will be displayed in the Belgian capitals futuristic Atomium building. Born in 1898 in the western town of Lessines in French-speaking Belgium, Magritte was a major figure of the Surrealism movement. He died in 1967. AFP Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets with retired senior Party and government officials in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung HA NOI Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has called on all retired senior Party and government officials to contribute their experience, intelligence, responsibility and enthusiasm to the national revolutionary cause. In his address at a meeting in Ha Noi yesterday, Trong reiterated the Party Secretariats appreciation of all ideas contributed by former senior Party and government officials. Trong also promised to study their ideas and embed them into Party and government policies in the course of national construction, socio-economic development and in party building. In 2016 and early 2017, though facing many difficulties and challenges, we have achieved many notable successes in the course of national construction and socio-economic development, Trong said. He attributed these successes to efforts made by the whole political system, including the contributions by former senior Party and government officials. Trong called on the participants to further contribute their experience to make sure that the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress will be successfully implemented, particularly the strategic missions of national construction and defence. In his address, Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chief of the Party Central Office, informed the participants of socio-economic development, national defence and security, party building and anti-corruption activities in the first four months of 2017. He also debriefed the participants about results of the 5th Party Central Committee Conference of the 12th tenure. The meeting featured more than 200 former Party and State leaders. They included former Party General Secretaries Nong uc Manh and Le Kha Phieu; former President Truong Tan Sang, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, former National Assembly Chairmen Nguyen Van An, Nguyen Sinh Hung and many others. VNS HCM CITY HCM City Peoples Committee has petitioned the city Peoples Council to increase salary and allowances to raise incomes for kindergarten teachers in order to encourage them to continue working as the city has seen a year-by-year increase of kindergarten teachers quitting their jobs. Under the petition, the total fund for the salary increase is estimated to be over VN251 billion (US$11 million) each year. In the 2013-2014 academic year, 706 teachers quit teaching to switch to other jobs, this figure increases to 823 in the 2014-2015 year and 885 in the 2015-2016 year. According to city authorities, kindergarten teachers work for 10 hours to 12 hours each day. The intensity of their work is also high. However, their income is too low. While the city needs 1,965 teachers for kindergarten education each year, only 1,466 are employed. Each year, nearly 5,000 students are enrolled to study kindergarten education at teachers training universities and colleges. However, only 1,000 to 2,600 of them made it to graduation. The rest study other occupations because they recognise how hard it is to be a kindergarten teacher during their internship. Of those that graduate, only about 30 per cent have the citys permanent residence status, which allows them to teach in the local public kindergarten schools. The committee also suggested the city should provide non-interest loans for students who major in kindergarten education at teachers training universities or colleges. These students will be required to work at the citys public kindergartens and repay the loan within three or five years after graduating. Peoples councils should also allow kindergartens autonomy in recruiting teachers and school tuition. In addition, the schools should be given permission to recruit teachers who do not have the permanent residence status in the city. VNS QUANG NGAI The Central Rural Power Project Management Board--in co-operation with the HCM City-based SolarBK company--will start construction of a solar power system on An Binh Islet of Ly Son Island next month. oan Yen, director of Ly Son Power sub-department, told Viet Nam News on May 15 that the solar system, with a capacity of the 96 kWp (kilowatt peak for a solar module), will supply power 24 hours a day for 400 islanders living in An Binh Islet. Yen said the renewable energy will provide enough power for islanders consumption from the third quarter of this year. He said each household will have access to clean and green power for lamps, TV sets or battery chargers within 24 hours. Yen said the renewable energy will fill the areas power void; for years, residents have only been able to use power 12 hours a day from two diesel-driven generators. The solar power system, which will be built with an investment of VN10 billion (US$442,000), will generate around 166kWh of electricity and reduce 93 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. The 1sq.km Islet, three miles off the main Ly Son Island, is home to 400 fishermen and farmers of garlic and onions. As scheduled, the solar power system will be completed this September before operation in October. According to SolarBK, the company plans to build up a solar power system for operation of the 2012-built seawater desalination station in the islet. The company also helps to build a monitoring system, SSOC (Solar System Operation Centre), that aims to monitor a combined solar power and diesel power network for better use on the An Binh Islet. SolarBK has built a lighting project for Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands and seawater desalination stations in Song Tu Island, island communes of Son Cha in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Me Island in Thanh Hoa Province and Tran Island of Quang Ninh Province. An Binh Islet, which used fresh water from a 2012-built desalination station with funding from the South Korean heavy industry group Doosan Vina, has limited operation due to a continued, years-long lack of power. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam Social Insurance (VSI) has agreed to share with the Ministry of Health (MoH) personal database of more than 24 million households. The move which was confirmed at a signing ceremony held this week with representatives of the two sides, was aimed to improve the countrys heath insurance management as well as boost the entire national health care system. The VSI agreed to hand over of 92 million personal records of such 24 million households to the MoH. The ministry will be responsible for managing, using and securing the database. Pham Luong Son, deputy director general of VSI, said the VSI was among six agencies assigned by the government to set up national databases. The VSI has built the database over the past two years and it is nearly complete, Son said. The VSI will also update it regularly to ensure it is reliable, helping implement social welfare polices more effectively. Sharing the database will help health sector to boost their insurance operation, said the official. The database will also act as a foundation for the VSI to provide a personal code for each citizen in the future, he added. Each citizen needs the code through his/her whole life when dealing with all social insurance issues, particularly health insurance, according to Son. The MoH will add database to the citizen health dossier system which can be used nationwide. With the dossiers, the health sector and the insurance agency can monitor the health of each book holder throughout their life. The dossier will have personal information about the book holder, including their health status, their weight, height, sex, blood group and more. The dossier will give health workers information on patients medical history, improving treatment and cutting costs on health checks and treatment. This also helps ensure that each citizen will enjoy the best access to health care services at the grassroots level. The database on households with health insurance is also an importance source for the VSI to work with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to issue electronic social welfare cards which combine social insurance books and and health insurance cards, Son said. Son said he hoped sharing the database would help the creation of other national databases on population, social security and others. -- VNS HCM CITY Some 15 per cent of students from primary and high schools in HCM City suffer from hypertension due to obesity, being overweight and physically inactive. The data was revealed by Pham Van Hung, head of the Non-contagious Disease Control and Nutrition Department under the citys Preventive Medicine Centre, at an event held on Wednesday to mark World Hypertension Day. Hung said young people, especially children, did not think they could suffer from hypertension because people believed only the elderly suffered from this ailment. But its not true, he said. He said owing to an unhealthy lifestyle, any person could suffer from hypertension. According to doctors, hypertension is listed as a silent killer. However, understanding about the ailment in children is still limited . Doctors have warned that hypertension in children without early intervention can adversely affect a childs health and development, and can even be life threatening because it can damage the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes. Hung said parents should often measure blood pressure of children so that they can actively prevent the ailment from occurring. Additionally, medical experts also told parents to maintain a healthy regime for their children, such as eating more vegetables and fruits and doing more exercises. Also at the event, the citys preventive medicine department said since 2016, it has run a programme called The society for strong hearts, controlling hypertension for two million locals, including 700,000 people above 40. Under the programme, stations were set up to measure blood pressure for free and services were offered to screen and timely detect hypertension. VNS HCM CITY The HCM City Market Management Department on Tuesday discovered 70 tonnes of smuggled sugar in Binh Tan District. The 2A team of the agency checked the Thanh Phat Business Establishments warehouse in Binh Tan Districts Tan Tao A Ward. The inspectors found about 70 tonnes of smuggled sugar with Thailand and Cambodia brand names in the warehouse. The inspectors also checked two trucks parked outside the warehouse and detected hundreds of sugar bags hidden by waste. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xiem, 30, from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Tien Giang, was the owner of the smuggled sugar. The sugar was smuggled from Cambodia to the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang and then brought into HCM City for sale, according to market managers. VNS SEOUL South Koreas new President Moon Jae In today vowed to restore the democratic spirit of the May 1980 pro-democracy uprising in which hundreds of protesters were killed or injured by a brutal military crackdown in the southwestern city of Gwangju. "The newly-inaugurated government of Moon Jae In is standing in the extended line of the Gwangju democratisation movement," the liberal leader said in a speech during a televised memorial ceremony at the national cemetery in the provincial city. "The new government will do its best to fully restore democracy in this land by upholding the spirit of the May 18 Democratisation Movement and the candlelight revolution," Moon said. The "candlelight revolution" referred to massive street demonstrations across the nation in recent months, during which peaceful protesters demanded the impeachment and ouster of then President Park Geun Hye -- Moons predecessor -- over a corruption scandal. Park was later arrested and currently standing trial. At todays ceremony, March for Our Beloved, a song that has come to symbolise South Koreas democratisation movement in the 1980s, were sung by attendees for the first time in nine years. Last Friday, President Moon, a former human rights lawyer, issued an order to allow the song to be sung in unison by everyone at the memorial service. The symbolic song, reflecting the emotional sentiment of the generation who led the student movement against the military dictatorship in the 1980s, had been sung by attendees from 1997 through 2008 when liberal governments were in power. But since 2009, after conservative leader Lee Myung Bak took office, it was performed only by a choir at the ceremony. The conservatives said letting the general public sing the song together is feared to disrupt national unity, as it had been used as background music for a North Korean film. Hundreds of people were killed or injured in the brutal 1980 crackdown by military paratroopers dispatched to Gwangju by military strongman Chun Doo Hwan, as they took to the streets to demand an end to military rule and seek the restoration of democracy. KYODO AMES Back in March, Benjamin Allen was years into his retirement in the St. Louis area. His biggest concern was when he next would see his grandchildren. But lifes impossible to predict. When Iowa State University President Steven Leath announced March 20 he was leaving for Auburn University, the Board of Regents asked Allen to return to ISU as interim president. He spent decades at ISU as professor, dean and provost before leaving to become president at the University of Northern Iowa from 2006-13. Today, Allen, 70, is back in Beardshear Hall. This came out of the blue, so to speak, a big surprise. (I was) honored to be asked, he said. In an interview with the Ames Tribune this week, Allen said he will keep a firm hand on the tiller until a new president takes over in the fall. Hes not open to assuming the job permanently, but in the meantime hell try to sustain the universitys fundraising momentum, keep infrastructure and administrative projects on schedule and begin the fiscal 2019 budgeting process. Its a period of uncertainty, he said. One of my main objectives here is to reassure people that well get through this. Well get the new president, and he or she will take it to that next level. The Legislature and governors budget cuts have torpedoed state universities funding over the past several months. From its original 2017 fiscal year general fund state appropriation to its fiscal 2018 appropriation, ISU has lost $11.5 million. That funding has to be replaced. On May 8, the day before his first day as the interim president, Allen was on the phone with the regents discussing what would be the second tuition increase in a year. It was not the way I wanted to start my tenure here, because I appreciate the challenges that the students and their families have in paying tuition, he said Tuesday. Allen met with student leaders in April and listened to their concerns one of which was the timing of increases. The regents approved 2017-18 tuition increases in December, and the additional proposed hike would add $216 to ISUs base tuitions. The board will vote on the increase in June. We do not want to make this a habit, Allen said. Allen will help craft the 2019 fiscal year budget before he hands it off to his successor. Hes also taken the reins of ISUs Forever True, For Iowa State campaign, for which Leath had helped raise more than $700 million. During a transition like this, donors who are especially connected to (Leath) and his vision, and he had a very strong vision, might become a little concerned about whats going to happen, Allen said. So during this transition period, one of my most important priorities is to be sure those donors are informed about whats going on and that this university is going to be a great university for many years to come. All college presidents have to be fundraisers. Allen benefits from his experience at UNI, where he helped bring in more than $100 million. He also courted donors as dean of ISUs College of Business. The key is we keep producing positive experiences for the students, and donors pick up on that, he said. And I think my main job as a fundraiser is to be sure they, the donors, remain confident that this university will stay on the path its on. Allen began at ISU as a professor in 1979 and was named a distinguished professor in business nine years later. He served as the dean of the business school from 1995-2001 before working at ISUs provost for four years. In 2006, he left to become the president at UNI. Allen said he and his wife, Pat, enjoyed seven great years in Cedar Falls, but some of his decisions are still questioned by those around UNI. In the spring of 2012, Allen decided to eliminate dozens of academic programs and close Malcolm Price Laboratory School rather than discharge UNI faculty and staff in the face of budget deficits. Students and members of the UNI community were predictably upset, and some, including the author of a newspaper column headlined Ben Allen at Iowa State: Good Luck, ISU, wondered about his new position at ISU. We made some tough decisions on some programs that people were very passionate about, Allen said. And you want people to be passionate about those programs. When you then cut those programs, it becomes a very difficult thing to manage. We tried to keep the focus on the long-term interest of the students at UNI, but people had disagreements with that, as youd expect, and wanted those programs to be maintained. The decisions drew a vote of no confidence from the UNI faculty and criticism from the American Association of University Professors. Allen retired the following spring. He said Tuesday he learns from every decision he makes, adding, We can always be more inclusive and be more considerate of all the elements. Now back in Ames, hes reuniting with old friends and seeing how the town has changed since he left 11 years ago. Hell make $525,000 in annual salary, the same as Leath, but it wont be long before he returns to St. Louis. I will stay on as long as they need me here to find the president to replace Dr. Leath, but no, Im not part of the search process. WATERLOO Pat Morrissey is seeking another four years as Waterloos Ward 3 City Council representative. Morrissey, 68, of 824 W. Third St., announced he will seek re-election Nov. 7 to the seat representing the northwestern quadrant of the city, including his home in the Church Row Neighborhood. The main things I want to work on are the issues that have to do with moving Waterloo forward, he said, adding it takes hard, thoughtful and persistent work. Morrissey won a crowded four-person race in 2013 to earn his first term in elected public office but is currently the only announced candidate for his seat this year. A nearly lifelong Waterloo resident, Morrissey graduated from Columbus High School and the University of Northern Iowa before beginning a career as a state of Iowa employee. He worked as a drug and alcohol counselor for several years before becoming a child and dependent adult abuse investigator for the Department of Human Services from 1979 until retiring in 2010. He served as a chief steward in the Iowa United Professionals labor union. Since retiring, Morrissey has volunteered in several community groups, including the Friends of the Gilbertville Depot and Cedar Valley Bicycle Collectives boards, Preserve the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, Save the Wonder Bread Building and Grow Waterloo organization. As a councilman, Morrissey has held 41 straight monthly meetings with Ward 3 residents, something hed promised in the last campaign. I want to continue doing those monthly meetings so I can bring the City Council a little closer to the people, Morrissey said. Morrissey also spearheaded ordinances making it harder for payday lenders to locate in the city and preventing victims of domestic violence from being evicted under nuisance property laws. He pushed with others for SingleSpeed Brewings redevelopment of the vacant Hostess bakery downtown. Morrissey supports efforts to find funding for a downtown Cedar River white-water course, enhance the downtown by attracting more businesses and make the Broadway Street corridor a focus for city redevelopment efforts. WATERLOO Strong storms that ripped through Northeast Iowa on Wednesday left one man dead and others injured as it knocked out power, damaged buildings and downed trees. A truck driver died when his semi flipped in Butler County as winds topped 70 mph during the height of the storm. The Butler County Sheriffs Office identified the victim as James A. Budlong, 70, of Dike. He was on Iowa Highway 57 near Sinclair around 5:38 p.m. when the winds overturned his tractor trailer, pinning him inside, according to the sheriffs office. Butler County Emergency Management Coordinator Mitch Nodmeyer, who was at the scene, said Budlong had pulled over along the road due to the storm. The trailer was empty. Nordmeyer said a machine shed collapsed north of Allison, trapping a man inside. He was rescued by Aplington fire and ambulance crews and taken to a local hospital, but no information on his condition was available. In Waterloo, one man was injured when he was struck by a falling limb on Ankeny Street. He was taken to the hospital by private vehicle, according to firefighters. A falling limb also struck a vehicle driven by a woman in the 100 block of Hawthorne Avenue. The storm damage was widespread. In Cedar Falls, there were multiple instances of trees falling on parked cars. Public Works and Park division manager Brian Heath said most streets were open by 10 p.m. Wednesday. Crews are working throughout the city clearing storm damage from city right of way. It will take a number of days to take care of this, said Mark Ripplinger, director of municipal operations and programs. In Butler County, where as much as 3 inches of rain fell in some locations, the city of Greene took a hit. The rear of Mels TV and Appliance downtown collapsed into an alley and compromised a building sharing a common wall that houses TJs Bar & Grill. Both business are closed until further notice. Its part of the original Main Street. Those buildings are well over 100 years old, Nordmeyer said. Damage also was reported in Allison and Parkersburg. Several power poles were down 10 to 12 in a row at one spot, he said. Outages continued into Thursday, and all utilities serving the county had crews working to restore power. In Waterloo, firefighters handled almost 40 calls after the storm rolled through. Most were for downed utility lines. Firefighters headed off what could have been a devastating house fire when a service line to a house at 131 Prospect Blvd. was knocked down by a tree limb. The line apparently began charging the homes siding, causing a shutoff valve on the natural gas meter to glow red with heat, said Battalion Chief Ben Petersen with Waterloo Fire Rescue. MidAmerican Energy workers disconnected the electricity before a fire ignited, Petersen said. Thursday morning, MidAmerican Energy reported about 2,000 customers were still without power. Spokeswoman Tina Potthoff said Waterloo was one of the hardest hit areas in the state. The company brought in work crews from around the state, but some people could be without power until this afternoon. At its peak, more than 7,600 MidAmerican customers were without power in Waterloo and the surrounding area, 1,400 in Waterloo alone. Cedar Falls Utilities reported about 850 customers without power at one point, all restored by 6 a.m. Thursday. Many of CFUs electrical lines are underground. Potthoff said there were 320 incidents of poles down, wires down and damaged electrical equipment. The cleanup began Thursday morning in Waterloo. City crews were inundated with calls of downed trees. West Fourth Street was closed in the Church Row area for a tree down at First Congregational Church. West Third Street was closed to one lane between Locust and Allen streets by a large tree uprooted in the front yard of a house. Waterloo Leisure Services Director Paul Huting said trees and limbs were down in many neighborhoods and several streets were at least partially blocked. Some remained closed until utility crews could untangle downed power lines. The city rented a crane to remove an uprooted tree that came to rest on the roof of a house at Euclid and Campbell avenues, said City Forester Todd Derifield. The initial focus was on removing trees from houses and clearing streets. Crews will then remove damaged trees and cut and cap splintered stumps. Itll probably be a month or better before we recover from this, Derifield said. Thats not even touching the parks. It was a fairly significant wind event, Huting said Some of the trees were actually uprooted from the combination of the rain and the wind. We have a lot of limbs down. Waterloo residents may take downed tree branches and limbs under 4 inches in diameter to the city yard waste site, 2749 Independence Ave. from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week. Larger branches must be taken to the Black Hawk County landfill. The city reminds residents such loads must be covered. Courier Staff Writer Jeff Reinitz contributed to this story. French President Emmanuel Macron wears a Paris 2024 pin and waves goodbye after a meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission at the Elysee Place in Paris, France, May 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] PARIS - The secretary-general of French President's office Alexis Kohler Wednesday announced the formation of the new government, headed by the conservative lawmaker Edouard Philippe who was appointed as Prime Minister on Monday by Emmanuel Macron. In his first cabinet line-up, the new head of state mixed profiles unknown for public with others coming from the political mainstream to end decades of right-left divide. The Socialist veteran, Gerard Collomb, mayor of Lyon was named as interior minister while centrist politician Francois Bayrou was appointed to take the charge of justice portfolio. The two men have been supporters of Macron during election's campaign. From the outgoing Socialist government, Jean-Yves le Drian, ex-defense minister and a close ally to former president Francois Hollande was the sole survivor. He took his place to lead European and foreign affairs. From the right-wing, Bruno Le Maire, a pro-European, was picked as economy minister. Nicolas Hulot, a veteran ecologist activist, was named as ecology minister. The list name, which included 18 ministers and four junior ministers, contained several female faces, a move with which the country's new top official wants to deliver on gender parity promise he had campaigned for. In the list appeared Sylvie Goulard, a centrist EU lawmaker, in charge of defense affairs, Agnes Buzyn, solidarity and health minister and Muriel Penicaud, a minister in charge of employment issue. Upset in the right, left Seeking for wide support ahead of legislative election next month, Macron attracted to his cabinet many faces from the country's traditional parties which had alternated power over six decades. His move to broaden his political base had fueled critics in the right and left camps. "The main objective of this provisional government of confusion is to blur the French's guide lines during the campaign of the parliamentary elections," said Bernard Accoyer secretary-general of the center-right "The Republicans" party. "By choosing to compose a disparate ministerial team, Emmanuel Macron continues to maintain ambiguity in the democratic debate," he added in a statement. Accoyer announced that the conservatives who joined the government were struck off the party. On his tweeter account, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, chief of the Socialist Party, wrote "a new government but not a government of renewal..." Far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who eyes to build a strong opposition in the legislative election, denounced "a right-wing government" and called nomination of environmentalist Nicolas Hulot to manage ecology ministry a "heart breaker". However, some others see the other face of the coin. "This new government is marked by new personalities who are part of a European dynamism and some of whom are familiar with the world of business," said Pierre Gattaz, head of employers' federation Medef. Gattaz expressed readiness to work with the newly-appointed government "to implement reforms that we are in need." Wednesday's cabinet could be changed depending on parliamentary election's results next month that would decide whether Macron would need to bring a coalition partners to implement his reforms. Americans had two choices in the presidential election neither good. One candidate had a heightened case of political paranoia and put a filter on any information that could fall into the hands of the media or political foes, while risking hacks of classified information. The other was a loose cannon without any filter. As the current bestseller Shattered makes clear, Hillary Clinton was so battered by investigations during her husbands presidency she strove to put all correspondence and documents out of the reach of perceived enemies while secretary of State. She defied guidelines banning use of her BlackBerry for government business and a private server, while ignoring aides repeated entreaties to archive documents. The Associated Press sued the department after Freedom of Information Act requests were denied for more than five years. Then FBI director James Comey said Clintons email practices were extremely careless, including her handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. Seven of her message chains contained information classified as top secret. President Donald Trump mocked Clintons handling of classified information during the campaign, but reportedly gave Russian diplomats a road map to sensitive intelligence last week. As a candidate, Trump was omniscient: I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me. Theres nobody bigger or better at the military than I am. He also knew more about banking, taxes, nuclear attacks, jobs, trade, the economy and visas. His claim of being all-knowing has put him at odds with the intelligence community, which has been engaged in rampant leaking about things Trump wont admit. All 17 U.S. intelligence agencies reported Russia engaged in hacking and attempting to influence the presidential election, but Trump stated it could have been Russia, China or anybody else. After Sally Yates, then acting U.S. attorney general, advised the White House that intelligence agencies had conversations from December between Michael Flynn, Trumps national security adviser, and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak illegally discussing actions on sanctions, it took 18 days to fire Flynn because he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence. Now Trump might have unwittingly provided classified information while meeting with Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He reportedly bragged, I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day, which sounds like Alec Baldwin imitating him on Saturday Night Live. The Washington Post reported Thomas Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, was so concerned some of that intelligence was classified he called the directors of the CIA and the NSA. A Bossert subordinate wanted the problematic portion of the discussion stricken from internal memos. Trump reportedly told the Russians that ISIS was turning laptops into bombs to bring down airliners, which has been previously reported. The Post stated he did not reveal the specific intelligence-gathering method, but he described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic States territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat. The concern was unmasking the source through sensitive intelligence-sharing with details withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, according to the Post. In an attempt to defuse the story, the White House subsequently admitted Israel was the source. The broader problem is Trump reportedly has insisted his written information for daily intelligence briefings be in bullet points, a possible reason for not grasping important details. A president can declassify information, as Trump tweeted, without rebutting the gist of the story. As President I wanted to share with Russia which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety, Trump tweeted. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism. Once again the issue is Russia. While Trump has very capable advisers NSA Director H.R. McMaster and Secretary of Defense James Mattis among them who dont agree with him about Russia, Trump considers it an ally. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin wages a campaign against democratic practices and opponents internally, Western democracies and NATO externally. Russia military aircraft continually taunt U.S. counterparts. And Putin is the savior of a Syrian regime building a huge crematorium to burn the remains of executed political foes, according to U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley. Leaks aside, Trumps problems are self-inflicted: Flynn, President Barack Obamas alleged (and debunked) wiretapping of Trump Tower, contradictions about the Comey firing and now this. As Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., aptly stated, the administration is in a downward spiral right now, citing a lack of discipline that creates a worrisome environment. The presidency is not a game show. Discipline is in order, if Trump is capable of it. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 17, 2017 | 10:48 AM | MAYFIELD, KY A shooting in Mayfield Wednesday led to two arrests. According to the Mayfield Police Department, officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 200 block of North 8th Street. Officers said 21-year-old Mason L. West of Mayfield, was involved in an altercation that led to him firing a weapon at another person, who police said was fleeing the scene. West was charged with attempted assault, three counts of wanton endangerment, criminal abuse - child 12 or under, trafficking in marijuana (firearm enhanced) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Officers searched Mason's apartment, which led to the arrest of his girlfriend, 20-year-old Elizabeth Bodeau. Bodeau is charged with trafficking in marijuana (firearm enhanced) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both West and Bodeau were lodged in the Graves County Jail. Police said the case is still under investigation, as to what caused the initial argument, and more charges are anticipated. AUSTIN, Texas The Texas House of Representatives passed HB3859 Wednesday, moving the state one step closer to enacting a law that, as it reads, aims to protect the rights of conscience for child welfare services providers. The bill was authored by Rep. James Frank (R) from Wichita Falls and, as he stated in a recent comment, One of our biggest challenges is a lack of adequate, quality foster homes. [] A substantial part of any answer to this problem will be found in the faith-based community. Rep. Franks comment was made after the bill was passed and directed at mainstream media, who generally began calling the bill discriminatory. Frank responded, At a time when we need all hands on deck, we face the real risk of seeing a large number of [faith-based] providers leave the field, as they are forced to make the choice between devoting a substantial amount of resources in fighting litigation and other adverse action, or using those resources on other services to fulfill the tenets of their faith. Texas has come under fire recently for not adequately protecting or providing for children placed in foster care. In March 2011, Childrens Rights, Inc, a national child advocacy group, sued the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) on behalf of children in permanent foster care, alleging that policies and standard practices exposed children to unreasonable harm. In December 2015, a federal court ruled against Texas and concluded that Texas children uniformly leave State custody more damaged than when they entered. The court cited abuse, suicide, poor supervision in institutional care, and lack of home placement options. Since that 2015 ruling, Texas has attempted to address the situation by changing which outcomes are measured, and by increasing the number of participating private organizations providing foster care placement and adoption. The outcomes being measured include placing children in a safe, home environment; not splitting up siblings; establishing respect for the childs culture, and keeping children in their own communities in order that they can maintain ties with family and friends. How does the new controversial bill fall into the states efforts to improve their child care services system? What does it say, and does it allow for discriminatory practices, as some claim? Supporters of the bill say faith-based organizations are willing to help with the foster care crisis, but they have concerns that the state would force them to act in ways that would violate their beliefs. The bill says the State of Texas will not take any punitive action against private child welfare organizations that: Place children under guardians that provide or refuse to provide children with a religious education, including private schools. Do not provide, facilitate, or refer a child for medical services they have a religious objection to such as immunizations, abortions, and contraceptives. Place or refuse to place a child under a guardian that the organization has a religious objection to. As it stands now, foster children in the state of Texas must be enrolled in public school. The bill would allow foster parents to enroll the child in any type of private school, including a religious one, as long as the foster parents or the supporting private child welfare organization pays the cost. The religion of the child does not appear to be a factor in the decision, only the religious wishes of the foster parent. Although the bill says guardians do not have to take their foster children for specifically defined medical services such as immunizations, abortions, and contraceptives, any of which might violate a sincerely held religious belief, the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) does have to ensure that someone else is available to take the child for such services. DFPS covers the cost of these medical services, plus the cost of finding an alternative person to take the child to and from any such providers. The section of the bill which has raised the most objections is the portion which allows child welfare organizations to discriminate based on religion, marital status, or sexual preference. Presently, no tax funded child welfare provider can refuse to take in a child due to religion or sexual preference, nor can they refuse to place a child with a foster family due to the religion, sexual preference, or marital status of the foster family. HB3859 would allow a tax funded, private child welfare organization to do just that. For example, a Christian foster care agency could refuse to allow a Pagan family to foster a child or may refuse to allow them to adopt the child at a later date. However, the bill also states every region in Texas must have at least one non-religious foster care agency available. The bill does not say how they will ensure this, especially in the more rural areas of the state. Should religion have any bearing on adoption or fostering? The Wild Hunt spoke with blogger John Beckett, a Druid and Unitarian Universalist living in Texas. In response to our questions, he wrote entire essay, which can be found on his blog in its entirety. Beckett said that although he understands the sentiments behind the bill, he stands in opposition, Its real world impact will be to make it harder for LGBT families, Pagan families, and other non-Christian families to adopt children. He also notes the issue is complicated. He explains: Assume, for a moment, youre working for an adoption agency. You place children with gay couples and straight couples, poly families and single people. You place them with UUs and Buddhists and Pagans, with Episcopalians and Methodists and atheists. If theyre loving and supportive and stable, orientation and religion just dont matter. And then a Southern Baptist couple walks in. Theyre happy, healthy, and stable. Theyre good people who no doubt will love a hold dearly and will do their best to give a child a good home. But you know what their child will be taught: the few will go to heaven no many will burn in Hell. The Bible is perfect and without error. Being gay is a sin. Wives are to be be submissive to their husbands. Do you still think that religion shouldnt matter? Current DFPS contracts with private child welfare organizations include explicit instructions on childrens rights, pharmacy services, behavioral health, psychotropic medications, trauma informed care, minimum standards for nutrition, minimal standards for clothing, discipline, education, immunizations, travel, religious activities of the childs choosing, facility requirements, and civil rights. However, with the states current child care services crisis, the court directives, and the need to keep children within 50 miles of their original home, Texas legislators are looking for options. The controversial bill was approved by the state House of Representatives, and has cleared the state Senate committee, but has not yet been scheduled for a vote. New Yorker magazine said, We asked you a favor, and you said no. We know that you prize this champion horse and want to breed it. You dream of the colts it might produce, making you millions. You dream you are safe in your big mansion. You dream. All your dreams are dependent upon us. We can kill your dreams. We can breach your secure home. We can and will kill all you love. We can get to you, too. You arent safe even though you think you are. You are nothing to us. Obey our wishes or accept the consequences. This is your only warning. This is an offer you cant refuse. A startup needs to test an idea quickly. For this, an MVP is created. MVP, Minimal Viable Product a test version of a product or service with a minimum set of functions (up to one or two), which allows you to see the product's value for consumers and the market. MVP is created to test hypotheses and check the viability of the intended product: is it worth developing the project further, what changes should be made? The sooner a startup brings its MVP to market and tests the idea, the better. This article will look at how no-code technology can help founders achieve their business goals. This article will try to cover everything that a founder needs to know about no-code at the initial stage of creating a startup. What is no-code? No-code, zero-code platform is a tool for creating websites, applications, chatbots, and other programs without the need for direct code writing by programmers. No-code is a valuable alternative to traditional development. No-code is confused with low-code, but there is a difference in these terms. Low-code includes no-code and the ability to "finish code", add parts of code and the functionality. A user of a no-code platform usually does not need to know layout, programming languages, or hire a team of programmers. The user of the no-code tool creates an application using a visual block constructor, which he fills with the necessary content and functions, and the no-code platform itself does the processing of requests, compiling the application and other "magic." It generates code using AI and/or contains blocks of code pre-written by programmers. No-code allows the startup founder to create an MVP himself, entrust it to his employee with basic technical literacy and understanding of the project, or hire a no-code developer. Even in the case of hiring a no-code developer, the cost of creating an MVP will be significantly lower than with classical development with programmers. For example, you can read the interview of a startup and no-code developer on our website, who initially worked as a Product Manager and was able to master no-code for his project himself. Benefits of no-code for a startup founder There are the following key advantages for a startup founder in using no-code technology: a large selection of no-code tools, platforms, and their integrations at the moment already in 2022, there are many tools and platforms for creating an MVP, a larger project, or even a finished product on no-code, but few people still know about them, and others are far from all startups and founders use their potential; cost no-code development saves the money by speeding up the development process, not hiring professional programmers or no need to maintain a developer department, monitoring functions and quick bug fixes, avoiding or reducing the growth of technical debt; speed is the main advantage over classical development no-code allows you to build a simple application in a weekend, and a more complex one can be built in a month. In this way, you can test an MVP and even several versions of an MVP very quickly; low entry threshold to master a no-code platform, you often do not need technical education at all, but only an understanding of a company's business processes or product from the inside. In the case of pro-level no-code platforms, technical education is required, but you can get used to it hundreds of times faster than with any programming language. This makes no-code available to almost everyone who wants to work with technology; ease of use no need to write hundreds of code lines just move the blocks and assign links between them. Work on a project can be entrusted to your employee without communicating with a team of third-party developers. You can speak "in your language" without the need to understand the "inner kitchen" of developers; flexibility with the help of no-code, it is easy for a startup founder to add new functionality and new features right during a project or a MVP testing without a significant increase in development costs. Possible disadvantages of no-code for a startup founder As often, any property can be, under certain conditions, both a disadvantage and an advantage. In no-code, many of the benefits with the wrong choice of tool can turn into disadvantages: no-code is not always a budget solution for a project. Sometimes in a no-code development package, you get unnecessary functions and additions (on AppMaster.io you can separately connect the frontend and pay only for the backend or only for those functions that you are using); if you do not understand the needs of your project, then you can make a mistake with the choice of a no-code tool and not be able to implement the necessary functions on it, or it will be too difficult to implement them; often, no-code tools fail to ensure proper data security and contribute to data leakage (but AppMaster.io allows you to host a finished application on any server); no-code tools often do not provide the ability to upload source code or provide uploading in an inconvenient format, which makes it difficult to move to another tool or to your development. You have to choose a no-code tool "once and forever immediately" (AppMaster. io gives you the ability to download the source code. Also, we generate human-readable code and you will not have any difficulties with its transportation); most no-code tools on the market are not suitable for creating a finished product, and there are significant difficulties with scaling the project if the MVP is successful (AppMaster.io is a professional no-code platform and our capabilities allow us to implement and support the finished product and scale it in the future). Forewarned is forearmed. Choose your no-code tool wisely and take full advantage of your choice. Types of no-code platforms Conventionally, all no-code tools can be divided into several types: no-code devices with a low entry threshold (you can create frontend and not very powerful backend on them), integrators that help connect applications and services, and professional no-code platforms (they strive to replace the code completely, provide the ability to create a robust backend and high bandwidth). The basic principle of operation of your MVP and the choice of a no-code platform depend on such a conditional division into types. For example, if you make a simple application like a diary, you can limit yourself to a no-code tool with a low entry threshold and a beautiful design. If your application has powerful potential, high bandwidth, multi-user interface, and works with large amounts of data or real-time data, it is better to choose a professional no-code platform like AppMaster.io or Direcual. If you use several services at once, link them on integrators like Integromat and Zapier. Adalo An easy-to-learn designer with a relatively user-friendly interface. The free version is helpful for learning. The free version contains Adalo watermarks and does not allow you to upload your applications to GooglePlayMarket and AppStore. Beginners often choose this no-code platform to create their first applications with simple logic. Bubble It will take more time to learn Bubble , but the platform allows you to work with the backend, databases, business processes, and layout. There are many plugins. The free plan allows you to master the tool, and you can start developing at the middle rate. The price increase is due to the rise in the number of users. Integromat It is an integrator. Experts talk about it as a simple and affordable platform for linking applications and services. Scenarios can be created personally, or you can use templates. If you need to connect an application with a service not from the Integromat database, fill out the form and connect to its API via HTTP. Zapier This is an integrator for linking applications with each other or with other external services. You can transfer data between thousands of applications. There is a script constructor (one event starts a chain of necessary actions). Directual The no-code platform positions itself for creating MVP applications (Minimal Viable Product, minimum viable product) and full-fledged applications of finished products. Scenarios are the backbone of the platform. Using scripts, you can automate the backend logic of the application, create and combine workflows. The Directual catalog includes out-of-the-box connectors, HTTP requests, webhooks, database listeners, and integration with popular services. AppMaster.io No-code next-generation platform for creating native and web applications on a real backend. Visual drag-and-drop designer, user-friendly business process designer, one-click app publishing to AppMaster Cloud, or integration with any cloud platform. Push notifications, authorization using social networks. Networks, email, and more. Connect applications to hundreds of services or programmatically access them using APIs. The ability to upload source code and documentation in a human-readable format and transfer it to your servers. Documentation auto-generation. Modern and fast language GoLang at the core. No-code perspectives for startups No-code development is gradually gaining popularity around the world. There are already more than 500 no-code tools for creating websites and various types of applications. According to the forecasts of IT world experts, no-code will develop more and more actively and capture parts of the market responsible for medicine, small online business, small business, and all niches where it is possibly necessary to optimize and automate development processes. The mass shift of businesses and their customers online and to gadgets has increased the demand for the fast and inexpensive creation of mobile applications that would work according to a single quality standard and have a simple, understandable, user-friendly interface. Conclusion No-code is visual programming in the form of a constructor without directly writing code. Usually, basic knowledge in development is enough to build applications on no-code. The logic of no-code constructors is intuitive: the application interface is assembled from blocks, icons, buttons, and text which are connected to the database. Usually, you can choose a suitable template or do everything from scratch. Speed and economy are the main advantages of no-code tools. No-code is suitable for creating an MVP, testing an idea or new features in a product, saving time for solving standard tasks. PRO level no-code platforms can provide you with a finished product, an application. If you don't have an account on AppMaster.io yet, join us. After registration, you will be given a free trial period for 14 days, in which all the basic functionality of the platform is available. It will allow you to learn the intricacies of working with a professional-level no-code platform and understand its potential. "...most amazing thing I have ever seen on stage. This play is a voice for veterans!" - Veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan, Purple Heart Recipient 2014 AUSTIN, TX, May 18, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Douglas Taurel honors veterans and their families by performing his powerful and critically acclaimed Off Broadway solo show THE AMERICAN SOLDIER at the EMMA S. BARRIENTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER in Austin, Texas on Memorial Weekend, May 25th, May 26th & May 27th, 2017. Based on factual accounts and actual letters written by veterans and their family members from the American Revolution all the way through current day Afghanistan conflict. It honors and explores the internal struggles that veterans and their families face when returning home from combat. THE AMERICAN SOLDIER performed Off Broadway, The Kennedy Center, it was nominated for an Amnesty International Award, earned 4 stars and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and will be performing at the Library of Congress in the fall. This Memorial weekend, in 55-minutes, enhanced by an interplay of sound and lights, Taurel enters into the personas of 14 veterans and their family members, telling their story of courage and sacrifice. THE AMERICAN SOLDIER exposes their flaws and their scars with both darkness and humor, and honors their incredible commitment for our freedoms. THE AMERICAN SOLDIER is a journey through the American story. Taurel explained, "This is a true work of passion and I deeply hope that audiences will go away with a deeper appreciation of the tremendous sacrifice our servicemen and servicewomen, and their families, have made for our country. I feel that the intense sacrifices that veterans and their families have made can never have enough awareness.." "Onstage Taurel commits totally to his characters...flawlessly and powerful" - The Huffington Post "Taurel gives each voice a sensitive, moving presence...he is utterly believable" - British Theatre Guide "...most amazing thing I have ever seen on stage. This play is a voice for veterans." - Marc C, Veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan, Purple Heart Recipient 2014 "I think what you have created is so wonderful and so important that it tells the story of all of our veterans from all of our conflicts. I was so overwhelmed and moved..." - Rose O, Vietnam Army Nurse, United State's Agency for International Development, 1967 - 1969 Douglas Taurel's screen credits include playing tough and edgy characters in television programs including Mr. Robot, Nurse Jackie, Damages, The Americans, Person of Interest, Blue Bloods, Believe, NYC 22, and The Following. Film credits include a supporting role in the feature film The Cobbler, directed by Oscar nominated Tom McCarthy and starring Dustin Hoffman. The play is directed by Padraic Lillis who was recently named to the Indie Theater Hall of Fame and Indie Theater Person of the Year in New York. Learn more about The American Soldier and hear audience and veterans testimonials by visiting www.TheAmericanSoldierSoloShow.com This is the TRAILER to the show: http://bit.ly/2TrailerAMS All Press & Reviews: http://bit.ly/2axrQPu Address: EMMA S. BARRIENTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER, 600 River Street | Austin, Texas 78701 Phone Number: 512-974-3772 Date & Time: May 25th @ 8pm, May 26th @ 8pm, May 27th @ 7pm. Mr. Taurel is available for interviews. To arrange interviews and press seats for review, please contact: Douglas Taurel (917) 734 4570 [email protected] Source: THE AMERICAN SOLDIER # # # May 18, 2017 | By Tess Metal 3D printing company 3D Metalforge has opened Singapores first end-to-end Metal Additive Manufacturing Center (AMC). The facility, which offers a range of metal 3D printing solutions and services, was inaugurated on May 17 in cooperation with Singapores Minister for Trade and Industry Mr. S. Iswaran. The 3D printing facility will reportedly be used to serve a range of different sectors, including the oil and gas, marine, precision engineering, and construction industries. The center is equipped with design, engineering, 3D printing, post-processing, and finishing technologies, and will be operated by a dedicated team made up of mostly local designers and engineers. According to 3D Metalforge, it has invested roughly S$2.5 million ($1.8 million) in the AMC, and is planning on putting another S$2 to S$3 million ($1.4 to $2.15 million) into the facility over the next couple years. The opening of the center, right next to 3D Metalforges facility in Science Park, marks a big step for the young companys growth. Singapores strategic location, pro-business environment, high-technology infrastructure, and its intense focus on the additive manufacturing sector to support our economic transformation to Industry 4.0 makes it a logical choice for us to set up our AMC here, explained Matthew Waterhouse, Chief Executive Officer of 3D Metalforge. Todays launch underscores 3D Metalforges commitment as a homegrown company to deliver end-to-end 3D metal printing solutions to our customers, he added. 3D Metalforge was born last year out of a collaboration between Singapore-based 3D design and printing service 3D Matters and SIMTech, otherwise known as the Agency for Science, Technology and Researchs Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology. Trade and Industry minister S. Iswaran (center) with 3D Metalforge CEO Matthew Waterhouse (far left) and stakeholders at AMC launch (Photos: 3D Metalforge) The company, which specializes in metal 3D printing services, is planning to eventually expand into nearby markets, such as Indonesia, Dubai, and Qatar. In addition to the additive manufacturing centers launch, 3D Metalforge has also signed a new partnership agreement with SIMTech to develop and commercialize LAAM, Singapores first laser-based metal 3D printing technology for large format parts. The technology, which uses a high-energy laser beam and a specialized powder blowing process, reportedly has one of the biggest build platforms for metal 3D printing and has rapid deposition rates of up to 1 kg/hour. The joint effort to bring the innovative 3D printing technology to market will be supported with funding from the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC). The LAAM technology will be a gamechanger for the industry. said Waterhouse. This means that we will be able to produce high quality, large format, cost effective metal parts with first class mechanical properties that not only meets, but exceeds the quality standards for traditionally manufactured parts at our AMC. This will allow key industries such as aerospace, precision engineering, oil and gas, marine and offshore, and automotive to capitalize on the benefits of additive manufacturing. In recent years, Singapore has been ramping up its support of 3D printing technologies, seeing the manufacturing process as a way to push the countrys economy and industries ahead. Indeed, the entire NAMIC initiative is geared towards encouraging local companies to adopt and integrate additive manufacturing. The country has also drawn interest from abroad, as American company Emerson recently launched a state-of-the-art 3D printing facility in Clementi, Singapore. Posted in 3D Printer Company Maybe you also like: Tim Smith-Laing at Literary Review: They might seem an incongruous pair at first, but historically speaking Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder are a natural duo for comparative study. When Bruegel entered the painters guild of Antwerp in 1551, Bosch, who had died in 1516, was still the most famous and imitated artist of the age. Antwerp, the centre of European art production at the time, was home to a whole mini-industry of Bosch imitation and forgery, and Bruegel himself cashed in on the continuing demand for his predecessors characteristic style. Look at the Boschian pastiches of his Seven Deadly Sins series (1558) or 1557s Big Fish Eat Little Fish, printed with the misleading inscription Hieronymus Bos inventor, and you can see why a contemporary dubbed Bruegel a second Hieronymus. Imitation is not the same as kinship, though, as Koerner is quick to note in this rich and illuminating study of the two painters. Bruegels mature style, clear-eyed, intent on the human, temporal and mundane, is a world away from Boschs fantasias of the demonic, eternal and infernal. And more fundamentally still, Koerner argues, they belong to two different ages of art history and represent two distinctive conceptions of what art was for. Bosch was a devotional Catholic painter (despite what Koerner pithily calls the rich body of delusional scholarship striving to make him a heretic or madman), and he belonged to an age in which artistic subservience to the sacred was the norm. Bruegel marks the watershed at which European painting emancipated itself from that subservience thanks in no small part to the demarches he himself made. Retrospectively at least, his genre scenes of everyday life, his prints and his landscapes seem instrumental in arts successive migrations from the church to the palace, then to the home and eventually to the museum. more here. Tom Standage in More Intelligent Life: Giant man-bats that spent their days collecting fruit and holding animated conversations; goat-like creatures with blue skin; a temple made of polished sapphire. These were the astonishing sights witnessed by John Herschel, an eminent British astronomer, when, in 1835, he pointed a powerful telescope of vast dimensions towards the Moon from an observatory in South Africa. Or that, at least, was what readers of the New York Sun were told in a series of newspaper reports. This caused a sensation. People flocked to buy each days edition of the Sun. The papers circulation shot up from 8,000 to over 19,000 copies, overtaking the Times of London to become the worlds bestselling daily newspaper. There was just one small hitch. The fantastical reports had in fact been concocted by Richard Adams Locke, the Suns editor. Herschel was conducting genuine astronomical observations in South Africa. But Locke knew it would take months for his deception to be revealed, because the only means of communication with the Cape was by letter. The whole thing was a giant hoax or, as we would say today, fake news. This classic of the genre illuminates the pros and cons of fake news as a commercial strategy and helps explain why it has re-emerged in the internet era. That fake news shifted copies had been known since the earliest days of printing. In the 16th and 17th centuries, printers would crank out pamphlets, or newsbooks, offering detailed accounts of monstrous beasts or unusual occurrences. A newsbook published in Catalonia in 1654 reports the discovery of a monster with goats legs, a human body, seven arms and seven heads; an English pamphlet from 1611 tells of a Dutch woman who lived for 14 years without eating or drinking. So what if they werent true? Printers argued, as internet giants do today, that they were merely providing a means of distribution, and were not responsible for ensuring accuracy. More here. This week in San Francisco fashion and retail news. (Courtesy of Everlane) Make for Everlane Tonight, You Guys Come on, you know you want some sweet new crews, layers, and kicks for your Memorial Day barbecues and other long-weekend shenanigans. Everlane totally understands, which is why it's holding a summer essentials shopping event at the SF Lab today (5pm8pm). You'll also find new Japanese GoWeave Slip Dresses and Form Sandals, which launched, yep, today. Made of soft Italian leather, the featherweight beauties come in slide ($98) and crossover ($118) stylesand in a range of shades. (We die for the pale rose and dark green). RSVP here. // 2170 Folsom St (Mission), everlane.com Must-Shop Trunk Show Today The coolest cool-girl shop in the Tenderloin is the place to be today. Hero Shop and its proprietrix Emily Holt (and a few of her fabulous friends) are hosting a trunk show for La Ligne, the stripe-centric NYC-based clothing label founded by Meredith Melling and Molly Howard, who will also be on hand. Shop a selection of versatile everyday essentialstees, dresses, pants, and more, and prepare for delicious cocktails and conversation. More good newsa portion of all the day's sales will benefit the Bay Area's Tipping Point Community. RSVP at heroshoptrunkshow@lalignenyc.com. // 4pm to 7pm, 982 Post St (Tenderloin), heroshopsf.com (Courtesy of R Label) R Is for Revving up Your Day Game Calling all minimalists, uniform-wearers, and women seeking a few good pieces (so, basically everyone): Meet R Label. This new line of elevated staples is filled with the pieces you'll reach for time and again. We're talking silk tees and tunics, easy dresses, and flattering pants and leggingsnot to mention the butteriest faux-leather moto we've ever seen. Meticulous details, a neutral color palette (black, cream, and gray) and affordable prices are hallmarks of the buzzy newbie. The collection is exclusively available on The Reset, a new website geared to women "who are choosing to do things differently." Both are babies of San Franciscobased founder/CEO Maria Peevey. // shopthereset.com (Courtesy of Sofrancisco) Ooh La La: New Arm Candy Alert Your accessories wardrobe will be all the chicer for welcoming Camille into the mix. The just-launched handbag collection is made by master artisans in a small town near Limoges, France. Each luxurious leather bag (clutch, crossbody, or tote) is made to order, comes in yummy pop colors, and can be monogrammed with up to nine characters. The best part: They're reasonably priced ($275$395) given their quality and craftsmanship. The bags are available online exclusively through Sofrancisco, the Silicon Valleybased maker of our go-to leather phone cases. "We don't want to sell through typical retail store channels and have the customer pay three times the price," explains French founder and CEO Charlotte Boedec. We'll drink Champagne to that. // sofrancisco.com (Courtesy of Bare Collection) Bare Collection at Saks SF (But Not for Long) Report enables readers the critical perspectives to be able to evaluate the world market for primary cells and batteries. The publication provides the market size, growth and forecasts at the global level. Report enables readers the critical perspectives to be able to evaluate the world market for primary cells and batteries. 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The major questions answered in this comprehensive publication include: What is the global market size for primary cells and batteries? What is the primary cell and battery market size in different countries around the world? Are the markets growing or decreasing? How are the markets divided into different kinds of products? How are different product groups developing? How are the markets forecast to develop in the future? Which are the most potential countries and markets? Request A Sample Copy Of This Report at: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-primary-cell-and-battery-market-to-2020-market-size-growth-and-forecasts-in-nearly-70-countries/request-sample The market information includes the total market size for primary cells and batteries as well as the market size and trends for the following kinds of products: Air-zinc primary cells and batteries Lithium primary cells and batteries Manganese dioxid primary cells and batteries Mercuric oxide primary cells and batteries Silver oxide primary cells and batteries Other primary cells and batteries Primary cell and battery parts The publication is designed for companies who want to gain a comprehensive perspective on the global primary cell and battery market. This publication makes it easy to compare across different countries and product groups to be able to find new market opportunities and make more profitable business decisions. Explore Other Reports By Radiant Insights,Inc at: Global Polycrystalline Solar Cell Market- http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-polycrystalline-solar-cell-market-professional-survey-report-2017 Asia-Pacific Thin-film Solar Cell Industry- http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/asia-pacific-thin-film-solar-cell-industry-2017 United States Li-ion Battery Industry- http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/united-states-li-ion-battery-industry-2017 About Radiant Insights,Inc Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions. Media Contact Company Name: Radiant Insights, Inc. Contact Person: Michelle Thoras, Corporate Sales Specialist USA Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Phone: (415) 349-0054, Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Address:28 2nd Street, Suite 3036 City: San Francisco State: California Country: United States Website: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-primary-cell-and-battery-market-to-2020-market-size-growth-and-forecasts-in-nearly-70-countries Market Research Reports Industry Saudi Arabia Education Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast to 2020: Radiant Insights The Saudi Arabia education sector is expected to grow exponentially on the back of a rising population, increasing private sector participation and growing demand for skilled workforce. Over 50 public and private universities are providing academic and vocational training across the Kingdom. The country is also making concrete efforts towards developing its education sector at the primary, secondary, and higher education levels in order to satiate future knowledge demand. The report Saudi Arabia Education Forecast to 2020 is available now at http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/saudi-arabia-education-forecast-to-2020 Our recent market research report, Saudi Arabia Education Forecast to 2020 provides in-depth study of Saudi Arabian education sector in terms of Kindergarten, General Education, etc. Our research is an outcome of extensive primary & secondary research, where industry trends are being identified. Additionally, we have identified some of the potential courses, which are not the preferred courses, but are anticipated to become popular mainly due to increasing demand of skilled labor and various other initiatives. Browse All Reports of This Category @ http://www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/education To provide the clear picture of the Saudi Arabian education, the report covers exhaustive analysis on the potential requirement of kindergarten, primary, intermediate, secondary, technical & vocational, and higher education segments. Thus, growth of number of school and student enrolled, number of academic and administrative staff, in each education format is forecasted till 2019-2020 in the report. The forecast is conducted on the basis of co-relation and judgmental analysis, which is carried out after carefully studying key factors including population growth, industrial growth, government initiatives, drivers and challenges. Request a Free Sample Copy of this Report @ http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/saudi-arabia-education-forecast-to-2020/request-sample Moreover, our study also finds that there has been a significant increase of private participation in education sector and the E-learning industry, with many government and private universities opting for E-learning solutions. For complete understanding of the Saudi education industry, we have identified major e-learning service providers. Besides, the report also provides E-learning industry recent developments along with the market forecast till 2020. Thus, our report provides an in-depth research and rational analysis of the current and expected status of the education system in Saudi Arabia. It provides a complete understanding of the Saudi Arabias education model. It also discusses the regulations and major drivers of the industry. Overall, the report presents optimum information and balanced research outlook on the potentials of the Saudi Arabian education sector. Read more related reports by Radiant Insights: Indian Processed Chicken Market- http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/indian-processed-chicken-market-outlook-2022 The Indian processed chicken industry has reported a significant growth in recent years, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industrys players. With cold storage infrastructure enhancement and rising awareness about packaged processed chicken products, the Indian processed chicken market is poised to scale newer acmes. Moreover, introduction of frozen snacks, entry of new players, rising investments, evolving government policies and infrastructure projects are set to further boost the markets growth. Growth in disposable income, rising urbanization, government support and schemes have also acted as a catalyst for the processed chicken sector. India Commercial Fishfeed Market- http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/india-commercial-fishfeed-market-outlook-2022 India is the second largest producer of fish, and third largest in aquaculture production. The Indian commercial fishfeed industry has reported a significant growth in recent years, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industry players. It provides an immense opportunity for fishfeed manufacturers to tap the growing demand for commercial fishfeed. Moreover, farmers shifting from traditional ways of feeding fish to commercial feeding, along with the various scheme and subsidies implemented by the government to promote fish farming, is accelerating the Indian commercial fishfeed market. Media Contact Company Name: Radiant Insights, Inc. Contact Person: Michelle Thoras, Corporate Sales Specialist USA Email: sales@radiantinsights.com Phone: (415) 349-0054, Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Address:28 2nd Street, Suite 3036 City: San Francisco State: California Country: United States Website: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/saudi-arabia-education-forecast-to-2020 Very High Lithium Brine Flow Rates at Maricunga, Chile Sydney, May 18, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Lithium Power International Limited ( ASX:LPI ) ( LTHHF:OTCMKTS ) ("LPI" or "the Company") is pleased to advise the results of a pump test completed on well P2 at the Maricunga lithium brine project in northern Chile. This pumping test demonstrated an excellent flow and brine concentration and LPI is very encouraged by the results, which as presented previously, compare very favourably to other lithium brine projects currently in production and in development within South America. - A pump test was completed on the upper 16 m of well P2 in the south of the Litio tenement, with pumping sustained at a constant 45 litres/second over 7 days - No change in the brine concentration over the pump test, with the brine concentration averaging 1,140 mg/l lithium and 8,322 mg/l potassium over the 7 days of test pumping - Pump test only extracted brine from the upper salt unit, which contains higher than average grades to potentially sustain early project production - This test confirms the high brine flows that can be achieved in the project, demonstrating that the upper salt unit supports the highest brine flow rates recorded to data on the project Maricunga Pump Test Well P2 Pump test well P2 was installed in the south of the Litio tenements to a depth of 150m (see Figure 1) in 2011 with a network of monitoring wells installed surrounding the well. Initial pump testing on the well was conducted in 2015, with the well producing from the upper salt unit and lower aquifer at 37 l/sec over 28 days (LPI announcement 13 September 2016). To provide specific information on the capacity of the upper salt unit a new pump test was conducted by the MSB joint venture. This involved isolating the filter section of the upper 16 m of the hole with a packer device located at 40 m down the hole in the solid well casing. With the lower section of the well isolated from the pumping the well was pumped at increasing rates to measure hydraulic parameters and then pumped at a continuous rate of 45 l/sec over 7 days. Over this period there was only a minor decline in the water level. The upper salt aquifer consists of salt, with some interbeds of clay, which is distinct from the lower aquifer where sand and gravel are of greater importance. Over the 7 days the brine outflow was continuously monitored for both lithium grade and flow rate. Assays averaged 1,140 mg/l lithium and showed only minor variation over the length of the test. These test results provide additional information regarding the favourable hydraulic parameters of the Maricunga aquifers. In particular, this test illustrates the potential to achieve high brine flows, at higher than average grades from shallow depths providing significant production advantage in the early years of the project. As previously noted (LPI announcement 23 February, 2017) flow rates from the Maricunga salar are amongst the highest observed at lithium projects currently in production or at an advanced stage of development. Salar Permeability Brine pump tests are important as they provide information on the permeability, lithium grade and flow rates of the different sediment units that host brine within the salar. Further, high flow rates suggest less capex requirement for future well field development, which is attractive for brine project economics. The Maricunga project has an upper aquifer comprising salt, plus a deeper aquifer with sand and gravel units, all of which are favourable for pumping of brine. Salar Porosity Porosity is a related characteristic to permeability, and refers to the percentage of pore space between grains of sediment that can host lithium brine. There are several different measures of porosity, but the most important metric for brine deposits is the "drainable porosity". This represents brine that can be extracted from an aquifer during pumping and processed for lithium production. The drainable porosity value is lower for fine grained sediments (clays and silts) and higher for coarser sediments (salt, sands and gravels). Lithium Power International's Chief Executive Officer, Martin Holland, commented: "The new Maricunga P2 pump test demonstrated extremely strong brine flow rates from the upper salt unit, in addition to very high lithium grades, both very positive characteristics of the Maricunga project. As we move towards completion of the resource estimate and undertaking engineering studies for the project we look forward to providing information on the project advances." Maricunga JV Background The Maricunga JV is 50%-owned by LPI. The project is regarded by LPI management as one of the highest quality undeveloped pre-production lithium brine project globally, with a very high lithium grade and strong flow rates. The company continues to advance towards a new JORC compliant resource estimate by the end of 2Q17, based on results of the drilling & pump testing program, with the project scoping study (Preliminary Economic Assessment) currently underway by consultants Worley Parsons for delivery in late 2017. To view tables and figures, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/89Z05XQB About Lithium Power International Ltd Lithium Power International Limited (ASX:LPI) is a pure-play lithium explorer and developer, focusing on developing and fast-tracking to production the high-grade Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile. LPI has a well-known performing technical team with the experience to take the Maricunga project all the way through the development stages to production. The regions that LPI is currently focused on are: 1. Maricunga JV (Chile) - Located within the "Lithium Triangle", Maricunga is Chile's highest grade and most advanced lithium project outside the Salar de Atacama. The project lies 170 km northeast of Copiapo and 250 km from the port of Caldera. 2. Pilbara (Western Australia) - LPI has three granted exploration tenements covering 203 km2 in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia. The largest granted exploration tenement is the Pilgangoora tenement which is 2-3 km west of the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Altura Mining (ASX:AJM) lithium deposits. 3. Greenbushes (Western Australia) - LPI has two granted exploration tenements covering 400 km2 in the Greenbushes area of southern Western Australia. The tenements are adjacent to the world's largest hard rock lithium mine owned and operated by Tianqi/Talison. 4. Centenario (Argentina) - Through its Argentinian subsidiary, Lithium Power holds a total of seven granted tenements in the Centenario lithium brine salar within the Salta province of the Puna Plateau. In total, the seven granted tenements cover an area of 68.46 km2. With the exception of the Maricunga JV, all tenements are 100% owned by LPI or LPSA (including rights to the Centenario tenements). Mineralization Down to 600m Vertical Depth Perth, May 18, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cardinal Resources Limited ( ASX:CDV ) ( CRDNF:OTCMKTS ) ("Cardinal" or "the Company") is pleased to report drill assay results which are from step-out, down-dip extension drilling. HIGHLIGHTS - Mineralization has been intersected to a vertical depth of over 600m, extending a further 250m to 350m beneath the 4Moz maiden resource. - A 200m to 300m wide mineralized corridor has been intersected over a 600m strike length and remains open - NMDD065 o Includes: -- 23m at 4.65 g/t -- 19m at 4.35 g/t -- 16m at 1.95 g/t o 150m of mineralized intersections at a weighted average grade of 2.3 g/t. - NMDD062 o Previously reported highlights: -- 25m at 2.16 g/t -- 30m at 4.27 g/t -- 37m at 2.88 g/t o 150m of mineralized intersections at a weighted average grade of 2.3 g/t. - NMDD063 o Includes: -- 25m at 1.58 g/t -- 24m at 1.17 g/t -- 17m at 1.75 g/t o 130m of mineralized intersections at a weighted average grade of 1.4 g/t. - NMDD067 o Includes: -- 22m at 1.25 g/t -- 30m at 1.48 g/t -- 34m at 3.58 g/t o 80m of mineralized intersections at a weighted average grade of 1.7 g/t. Cardinal's MD/CEO, Archie Koimtsidis said: "Down dip extension drilling continues to confirm that the wide mineralized corridor now extends a further 250m to 300m beneath the 4Moz Maiden Resource over a strike length of at least 600m, whilst maintaining its 200m to 300m width. Five rigs are currently active and more are on the way. The main objectives are to accelerate the extension programme and to initiate an infill drilling programme that will upgrade the current inventory to higher resource categories." Holes NMDD064 and NMDD066 were drilled at the known northern extent of the mineralization as currently defined. Further geological investigations including ground geophysics and drilling are to commence as soon as possible to elucidate the mineralised corridor in this area. Table 1 (see the link below) lists the drill hole intersections in previously released drill hole NMDD062 through to NMDD067, based on a reporting rule of a minimum 3 metres down hole mineralised length, a maximum of 3 metres consecutive 'sub-grade' and a lower cutoff grade of 0.5 g/t. Notes: - Grid coordinates are in WWGS84 Zone 30 North - Intervals are HQ diamond core which are sampled using quarter core every 1m - Cut-off grade for reporting of intercepts is = 0.5 g/t Au with a maximum of 3m consecutive internal dilution included within the intercept; only intercepts = 3m are reported - No top cut of individual assays prior to length weighted intersection calculation of the reported intercept has been applied - Samples are analyzed for Au (FAA505 method) which is a 50g fire assay fusion with AAS instrument finish For full details of lithologies and assay results of the reported drill holes, please refer to the Cardinal Resources website (http://www.cardinalresources.com.au) To view tables and figures, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/ZU258Y25 About Cardinal Resources Ltd Cardinal Resources Ltd (ASX:CDV) (TSE:CDV) (OTCMKTS:CRDNF) is a West African gold exploration and development Company that holds interests in tenements within Ghana, West Africa. The Company is focused on the development of the Namdini Project with a gold Ore Reserve of 5.1Moz (0.4 Moz Proved and 4.7 Moz Probable) and a soon to be completed Feasibility Study. Exploration programmes are also underway at the Company's Bolgatanga (Northern Ghana) and Subranum (Southern Ghana) Projects. Cardinal confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in its announcement of the Ore Reserve of 3 April 2019. All material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning this estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed. Web Toolbar by Wibiya US President Donald Trump is in the initial stage of his presidency, only trying fix his role in the comity of nations and in intentional politics where America always managed to play the lead role in whatever manner.President Donald Trump has years of foreign policy decisions to go before he can comprehensively restore US prestige or make USA great. There exists not enough space to enumerate the ways Obama weakened American power and made the world a distinctly more dangerous place by his own attacks on Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan and indirectly Syria. Genocides, destructions and destabilization were the hall mark of Bush-Obama foreign policy.President Trumps supporters claim that his decision to strike Syria was a strong and swift declaration of American values and the presidents rationale was refreshingly simple and clear. Last month the nascent Trump government chose to forego the now absurd red line but spoke through the US military, responding with a missile strike on Syria a mere two days after Assads latest chemical attack on civilians.Weak legacyWhen Trump took over the White House he in fact inherited a weak America which is clearly diminishing of its standing in the world owing to several reasons, mainly the Russian challenge, Iranian outmaneuvering ability and North Korean capacity to pursue its nuclear goals.Syria, Russia and Iran remains the major thrust of concerns for the US strategists and the powerful Neocon elements, dominated by hard core Jews who control US foreign policy beyond West Asia.Syrian leader Assad and has survived albeit with a great deal of destruction, genocides and destabilization thanks only to the open support extended by the Kremlin- a close military ally of Iran, the self proclaimed Shiite leader in West Asia that has taken the responsibility of protecting the Shiite regimes against the will of Sunni leader Saudi Arabia which still wants to see Persia also gets destabilized, possibly as the end process that began with the invasion and destabilization of an Islamizing Afghanistan.Russian back up had made a fast falling Assad energetic and strong, bold. A year after President Barack Obama issued Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime a red line on the use of chemical weapons, Assad manifestly crossed the line with a chemical attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians. Rather than acting decisively on his pledge, Obama first dithered and then demurred to Congress for approval of a strike on Syria. Of course, the strike never materialized, and Assads brutality went unchallenged and unpunished for years.While the European Union faced its existential crisis with the Brexit, and NATO appeared confused about its own reasons for existence, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin continued to exert Moscows influence over weaker neighbors. Latest appointment of an Armenian Armed Forces General, Yuri Khachaturov, as head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, commonly known as Putins NATO illustrated the degree of the Kremlins sway over its neighbors. A former Soviet republic, Armenia is filled with Russian military bases and weapons, and its external borders are guarded by the Russian security officers. Khachaturovs appointment proves that, even in the Moscow-dominated world of its Eurasian satellites, Armenia stands out as an ultra-loyal and dependent Russian vassal.Russia last November strategically placed its nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad, right next to Americas NATO Baltic allies, and announced plans to do the same in its annexed territory of Crimeaessentially threatening the entire Black Sea region. In addition to areas Russia controls directly, Moscow placed the Iskander in two of its regional proxies and satellites: Armenia and Syria. Apparently for Russia, the difference between the territories it formally deems its own, and the failed states it effectively controls, is very symbolic.These are a clear effort by Russia to deny military advantage to NATO forces and to assert geographic dominance. The first major test for President Trump came when Moscow-backed Assad carried out Aprils chemical attack, defying the former Obama red line. Trump responded in force. Possibly Russia-Iran-Syria trio had not foreseen that.Iran is now one of the biggest oil exporters to South Korea and has steadily increased its exports since the lifting of sanctions associated with its nuclear program in January 2016. Iran became the second largest oil exporter to South Korea in the first three months of 2017, delivering a record 18.54 million barrels. South Korea will be under pressure to import more oil and gas from the US, having ramped up Iranian imports in recent months to the displeasure of Washington.The USA has sent the first batch of its heavy armaments to the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units or YPG. Speaking to Sputnik Turkiye, former Turkish Ambassador to the US Faruk Logoglu reacted to the delivery, calling it a "diplomatic slap in the face of Turkey." The armament and armed vehicles were sent by land from the Iraqi Kurdistan and then sent to Rojava autonomous region in northern Syria, he said. It was further sent to Kobani, a city in the Aleppo Governorate and the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. This weaponry, the source said, will be used in the ongoing offensive to liberate Raqqa from DaeshSupport for Ukraine governmentMeanwhile, a bipartisan group of US senators on May 8 sent a letter to President Donald Trump encouraging him to prioritize meeting with President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 conference in July. Identifying the importance of engaging longstanding American allies as a priority for the foreign policy agenda of the new administration, the letter also recommends increased support for institutions and European governments that help preserve the international order. As your Administration continues to formulate policies to promote American national security and foreign policy interests, we are writing to strongly encourage you to engage with our traditional allies and prioritize meeting with foreign leaders representing countries with whom we share historical ties, democratic values, and mutual interests, wrote the senators. Meeting with democratically elected representatives from Ukraine would send a strong signal that the United States continues to prioritize our relationship with longstanding allies, and will continue our commitments to support Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of ongoing aggression.A meeting in Washington, D.C., between President Trump and Ukraines President, they say, would be a critical sign of support for peace in the region, as US support for Ukraine now is imperative to its survival. Russias unrelenting hybrid warfare in Ukraine is destabilizing the international world order. The massive build-up of Russian troops along Ukraines eastern border and recent escalating attacks in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk are continuously threatening Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty. The USA must take definitive action to help stabilize the transnational, trans-Atlantic security framework, which clearly serves our national interests as Americans. Without US support and a commitment to peace, the crisis in Ukraine is only likely to escalate, they noted. They argued that, As the bastion of democracy in the Free World, the United States must take the lead in promoting international norms and consolidating geo-political stability, and they urged Trump to affirm the United States commitment to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. They cited security concerns that should be highlighted by the USA.Trump to meet PutinRecently, Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov met US President Donald Trump and praised his government as problem solvers, just as the White House drew criticism over the firing of the FBI director who was leading a probe into Moscow's alleged interference in US politics. The talks with Foreign Minister were the highest-level public contact between Trump and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Republican took office on January 20. While not unprecedented, it is a rare privilege for a foreign minister to be received by a US president for a bilateral meeting in the White House.A meeting between Putin and Trump is likely to happen under the auspices of the G20 summit in Hamburg in Germany in July and that it was important that their meeting brought tangible results. Web Toolbar by Wibiya More than a week ago, US President Donald Trump commemorated his first 100 days in office, and the reactions to his rough politics and controversial declarations are uncountable. In a world influenced by mass media, what people receive through these media determines their behaviour and, in consequence, also determines their political participation. For these reasons, on 29 April, Los Angeles-based journalist Peter Sheridan published an article on famous internet blog BoingBoing.com in which he discoursed (sometimes with a touch of sarcasm) about the news that have captured the worlds attention in the past seven days. It's good to see this week's tabloids getting back to the really important news, Mr Sheridan wrote. Aliens Nuked All Life Off Of Mars! proclaims the 'National Examiner,' which also brings us the more earth-bound revelation that disgraced President Richard Nixon, while happy to meet with Elvis Presley, ordered hits on Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison, he expressed. In his opinion, the previously mentioned news distracts us from the 'National Enquirer' cover this week, which with characteristic restraint screams: World War 3 Is Coming! But fear not - the 'Enquirer' brings us a step-by-step guide to How Trump will crush our eight enemies!. The journalist sarcastically said that it's the sort of bombast we've come to expect from North Korea, but it's troubling to find such bellicosity (yet again) in the pages of a publication that boasts better connections to the White House than 'The New York Times. Our enemies? North Korea and ISIS, naturally. Syria will be nuked - that'll put Trump in the history books, if there are any that survive the ensuing global conflagration, he sarcastically commented. Mr Sheridan also severely criticised the medias superficiality. 'People' magazine devotes its cover to TV's ever-popular 'Bachelorette' series, under the headline: Life After Bachelorette. But the headline seems to be missing the question mark I would have added at the end of that sentence. The feature story tells how six former Bachelorettes found love, and are raising new babies (no doubt because it's just no fun raising old babies), he wrote. With these statements, Mr Sheridan shows how the media are manipulating peoples mind by giving them frivolous information in order to keep them in a state of submission to elites. Will this trend continue? Draw your own conclusions For further information: https://boingboing.net/2017/04/27/aliens-destroyed-life-on-mars.html Aiken City Manager John Klimm, left, looks down at the dais while Kim Abney, the City's finance director, answers a question about the proposed Aiken budget for 2017-2018. Yazidi Leader: West to Blame for Our Genocide Mirza Ismail. Mirza Ismail, a Yazidi leader and chairperson of the Yazidi Human Rights International, says that the West claims to champion human rights and the freedom of all peoples, but in reality they are not living up to these principles. Ismail claims that the way the West has reacted to the Yazidi genocide proves this point. "The U.S., UK, France, Russia and China are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. They claim responsibility for human rights and world affairs," he notes. "They know that the Yazidi genocide took place in August 2014. "They saw that they killed thousands of Yazidis and abducted 7,000 young women and girls, who were subjected to multiple rapes on a daily basis and were sold in a sex slave market, yet they did not take any action to save them. The UN and the U.S. claim responsibility for promoting human rights and freedom. If so, why does the West support the Muslim communities against the Yazidis?" According to Ismail, the U.S. also knows that Saudi Arabia is supporting ISIS. Recent Arabic language media documentation of Russian reports exposed that Saudi Arabia paid a ransom so that ISIS terrorists will be able to escape Mosul to Afghanistan via the Erbil airport in Kurdistan. According to the reports, the Kurds accepted the ransom in exchange for freeing some of their people. "Russian intelligence somehow found out the Saudi king and Turkish president met with [Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud] Barzani and the three worked together to transfer ISIS terrorists from Iraq to Afghanistan," he says. (Barzani is president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the long-standing head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.) Furthermore, the Western media has exposed that Iraqi forces have discovered stockpiles of ISIS weapons that originated in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Ismail implies that all of this proves that Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni Muslim countries are part of the problem rather than the solution. Yet, the West insists upon supporting countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey instead of the minorities. "Recently, the U.S. said they will support the Kurds. No one is interested in helping the Yazidis," he says. "What happened to the Jews, Yazidis, Christians and the other minorities?" Ismail asks rhetorically. "They used to live in Iraq thousands of years before the rise of Islam but now they are at the brink of a total annihilation. We are human beings. There is no difference between any types of human beings. "The UN says everyone should have equal rights and freedom. Where is our equal rights and freedom? In 2008, the Yazidi Human Rights Organization-International along with the Assyrian Christians sought to get support for an autonomous region for the Christians and Yazidis in Sinjar." Ismail claims that at the time, U.S. congressmen said in response to his appeal that the Kurds will offer the Yazidis protection, but as soon as ISIS arrived on Mount Sinjar, the Kurds fled the area and the Yazidis were left to their fate. "If the West put pressure on Saudi Arabia and the other Muslim countries, they could fix this problem," Ismail says. "The world was silent when six million Jews were massacred. Same thing here. The Yazidis are screaming for international help. No one in the West gives them weapons to defend themselves against the Islamic terrorists. While they are saying that they are doing their best, they support Muslim extremists against us. So it is not easy. "We are peaceful people that just want to live how God created us. If God didn't want us, he would not create us. There are many different faiths that suffered genocide by the Muslims. The Mandeans, the Zoroastrians, the Assyrians, etc. The region used to belong to them. The West knows that the Muslims came via genocidal forces. There were Jewish people in many parts of the Middle East. Where are they now? Where are the Zoroastrians? They were all killed or converted to Islam." The ones implementing these atrocities today are ISIS; they used to be Al Qaeda. However, radical Islamists have been committing atrocities against non-Muslims since the seventh century, he says. "They killed non-Muslims for they consider them infidels. They believe minorities have no religion for they are not Muslim. In the Quran, they say the people of the book are Christians and Jews, but they consider them infidels nevertheless. The rest should be slaughtered or converted by force. "The Hindus in 1971 lost more than two million. The UN did nothing. When Hitler killed millions of Jews, no one said anything. The international community is not doing what they should do and what they claim responsibility for. That is why these atrocities are continuing." Ismail says that when Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurds with chemical weapons, a no-fly zone was created for them almost immediately. However, he emphasizes that the Yazidis are facing genocide, yet the world barely mentions them. Nevertheless, he stresses that just because the world is neglecting the Yazidi issue does not mean the situation has gotten better. According to Ismail, the situation on the ground has actually gotten worse for the Yazidis. "Presently, we have thousands of refugees in Turkey, Syria, on European borders. They are screaming. Many of them have lost more than half of the family and decided they cannot go back to Iraq for they won't be safe. "No country has created a program to save those people. I hear from Yazidis in Iraq and Syria. The international aid goes to KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) but it does not get to the Yazidis. Canada says they give Iraq 300 million dollars for aid but that aid never gets to the Yazidis. "[The Yazidis] say they have no food to eat. There are many Yazidis who need surgery to save their lives. The UN, Iraq and the world is not helping them. We collected some donations with some other NGO to do one surgery for one patient, but there are hundreds of patients. No one is helping them." Ismail stresses that the West is lying to their own citizens when they say they are helping the Yazidis: "The tax dollars goes to terrorist governments like Erdogan, Syria, etc." In conclusion, Ismail says, "We are just human beings. God created us. If you are not happy with it, fight with God, not us. Only a power can give life to a human. Why don't they respect God's work? We can live together. "Sinjar is the home of the Assyrians and Yazidis for thousands of years. We have been fighting for an autonomous region. We don't want independence. We just want an autonomous zone and to be protected by the people of the region. We can survive together in harmony. "It is against our faith to be against any faith. God created whoever he wants. It does not matter what your religion is. But if a religious ideology encourages you to kill innocent people, it is different. "I don't believe God would write a book teaching to kill children. We don't believe that God created a book justifying 50-year-old men raping 8-year-old girls. I met those girls who were bleeding from ISIS. The UN is also responsible since they allowed ISIS to do this, and the media also for their silence. If the media wasn't silent, it would be different." The European Commission has updated the European Union (EU) Air Safety List, the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union. Following the update, all airlines certified in Benin and Mozambique are cleared from the list, following further improvements to the aviation safety situation in these countries. However, the airlines Med-View (Nigeria), Mustique Airways (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) were added to the list due to unaddressed safety deficiencies that were detected by the European Aviation Safety Agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation. Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: "I am glad that we are able to take all carriers from Benin and Mozambique out of the air safety list. Their reforms have paid off. "This is also a signal to the 16 countries that remain on the list. It shows that work and cooperation pays off. The Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency are ready to assist them and raise the safety standards worldwide." Following the update, a total of 181 airlines are banned from EU skies: 174 airlines certified in 16 states, due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these states. Seven individual airlines, based on safety concerns with regard to these airlines themselves: Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Iraqi Airways (Iraq) and Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Med-View Airlines (Nigeria), Mustique Airways (St Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe). An additional six airlines are subject to operational restrictions and can only fly to the EU with specific aircraft types: Afrijet and Nouvelle Air Affaires SN2AG (Gabon), Air Koryo (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (the Comoros), Iran Air (Iran) and TAAG Angola Airlines (Angola). The Commission said that it is constantly looking at ways to improve air safety. One such way is to work with aviation authorities worldwide to raise global safety standards. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is implementing technical cooperation projects with partner countries and regions. An example is the "Improving Air Transport in Central Africa" (ATA-AC) project, where EASA works with a number of African states on several aspects of aviation safety. Benin and Mozambique both benefitted from such cooperation projects, which contributed to address past safety deficiencies. Share this story May 18, 2017 On May 3, Egypt's Cabinet approved amendments to the countrys antiquities law. The changes were highly praised by decision-makers and archaeologists in a country that has been suffering a rise in antiquities thefts and illegal digging for artifacts following the 2011 revolution. The amendments include raising the maximum sentence from seven years to life imprisonment for the illegal trade in, possession of and digging of antiquities. An addition to the law also imposes fines for harassing tourists at archaeological sites; such fines range from 3,000 to 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($165 to $550). Egypt's antiquities law, which was first passed in 1983, was amended twice in 2010 to stiffen penalties. The new amendments are pending parliamentary approval. Archaeologist Sherif Fawzi told Al-Monitor that stiffening the penalty is a long-awaited and good move to preserve Egypt's heritage. "The illegal trade in and smuggling of antiquities are major crimes against our country, just like terrorism. These must be punished by the most severe penalties as a deterrent to preserve Egypt's identity and civilization," Fawzi said. There have been a number of recent cases of antiquities' violations. Last month, Egypt's administrative prosecution referred dozens of former employees of the Antiquities Ministry to trial for allowing members of a German archaeological expedition to steal samples from the Giza Pyramids. According to investigators, these employees let the German group illegally take a piece of a cartouche from a small chamber above King Khufu's burial room and also some fragments from the walls and ceiling of Khufu's tomb in the Great Pyramid. The group used sharp tools while taking the samples, so the pyramid walls were damaged. On March 9, security forces in Minya governorate arrested a farmer carrying 287 pieces of antiquities and coins dating to the Greco-Roman era while he was trying to sell them to clients in return for a large sum of money. Member of parliament Evelyn Matta praised the new amendments, especially the new penalty for harassing tourists; many people strongly pressure tourists to buy merchandise. She told local media that archaeological and touristic places in Egypt attracted 9.5 million tourists in 2015, compared with 14.7 million in 2010. "These amendments will help tourism flourish and make the world look at us and see us as more civilized, seeing that we respect everyone who comes to see our archaeological monuments," she said. The legislator appealed to authorities such as the tourism police to implement the laws and the new decisions once they are formally approved and take effect. Mohamed Khalil, a director at the Antiquities Ministry, hailed the amendments and said he hoped that they would be strongly implemented. He told Al-Monitor that the Antiquities Ministry is also working hard to raise people's awareness about their country's invaluable antiquities. "After the revolution, the ministry organized tours for Egyptians for them to see their ancestors' antiquities. To our surprise, many Egyptians have no idea about dozens of archaeological places here," Khalil said. "In most of our tours, passersby and shop owners, when they see us walking in groups, think we are demonstrating," he said. However, Khalil went on to say that when people are informed that the group is going to visit a historic place nearby, some of them join in, while others are surprised that such a place exists in their area and is open to the public. Thus, Khalil believes that it is good to stiffen the penalties but also to raise people's awareness especially of those trying to sell goods to tourists about the importance of Egypt's monuments so that they will be preserved. He said he thinks that illegal trade and digging cases will diminish. Pedro, a Spaniard who works as a Spanish teacher in Cairo, praised the new amendments, especially the one imposing fines for the harassment of tourists. "I totally agree with and am happy with these penalties," he told Al-Monitor. He said he sometimes is exposed to harassment from some sellers in the pyramids area, while saying that in general, "Egyptians are so kind." "I am always roaming the streets and love taking pictures of mosques and ancient alleys," he added. Pedro said he loves visiting Egypt's historic sites and takes Spanish friends on tours of them. May 18, 2017 Reaction to the trademark thuggery of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail continued to grow today as US Sen. John MCain, a veteran voice on foreign policy issues in Congress, called for the expulsion of Turkeys ambassador. We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America. This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically, McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview. McCain also called for legal action. District of Columbia police have teamed up with the State Department and the Secret Service to investigate the bloody fracas outside the Turkish ambassadors Sheridan Circle residence on Tuesday. At least nine people, including two women, who were chanting pro-Kurdish slogans, were injured after being brutally assaulted by pro-Erdogan demonstrators and individuals thought to be members of the Turkish leaders security detail. The Wall Street Journals Dion Nissenbaum, who was deported from Turkey earlier this year after being held incommunicado for three days over a tweet, reported that the State Department is exploring ways to block members of Erdogans security detail from re-entering the United States. Video footage of the incident suggests that some of the security guards were repeat offenders who were involved in violence outside the Brookings Institution last year while Erdogan was delivering a speech there. After analyzing footage of the melee, the online investigative journalism collective BellingCat concluded, The Turkish security officials did not just hold back or try to protect themselves from the protesters, but sought to hurt them, including multiple officials who deliberately kicked defenseless protesters on the ground. Many of the men who either started the skirmish or injured the protesters were wearing lapel pins, lanyards, and earpieces all indicating that they were security officials. The Turkish ambassador, Serdar Kilic, was summoned to the State Department on Wednesday and rebuked. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms. The Turkish government doesn't seem to be getting the message. In a breezy counterstatement, the Turkish Embassy claimed that the demonstrators had initiated the violence and gathered illegally outside the residence. On Twitter, pro-Erdogan trolls were both jubilant and combative. In a typical reaction to the attacks against the protesters, one anonymous user whose profile picture declares Israel is cold. Oh Allah burn them praised the assailants: Oh look how nicely they beat them. Health to their hands, to their legs. The Turkish news media all but ignored the affair. Front pages were instead devoted to Erdogans threats to intervene in Syria and in Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers Party and the People's Protection Units and his claims that the United States would knock on Turkeys door for help in Syria. Presidential adviser Saadet Oruc asserted in her column for the pro-government Daily Sabah, Despite endless attempts to provoke a crisis, the recent visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked an important increase in momentum for the future of Turkish-American relations. There is in fact a pretty big crisis, provoked by Erdogans own men, and it is growing. Yet the Turkish leadership and its cheerleaders in the media continue to inhabit their handmade parallel universe and feed off their own truths, showing little inclination to pull US-Turkish relations back from the precipice. May 18, 2017 Despite previously dismissing the idea of stepping aside in Iran's presidential race, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf withdrew May 15 in favor of fellow conservative candidate Ebrahim Raisi. This unexpected move has left political analysts wondering whether it will actually benefit Raisi or, conversely, the incumbent president, Hassan Rouhani, in the May 19 election. Ghalibaf, a three-time presidential candidate, had run a controversial campaign. On May 8, his campaign adviser, Mahmud Razavi, had tweeted, Poll results show that Ghalibaf now has more votes than Rouhani and thus will not under any circumstances withdraw from this race. On the same day, Ghalibaf's political adviser, Hossein Ghorbanzadeh, also editor-in-chief of the daily Hamshahri, which is run by the Tehran municipality, tweeted, If Ghalibaf withdraws, Rouhani will be elected in the first round of voting. He will not, under any circumstances, withdraw from the race. This is a rumor propagated by Rouhani supporters with the hope of inciting fear. That said, the opinion polls were not favorable for Ghalibaf, especially after the third and final presidential debate May 12. According to the US-based International Perspectives for Public Opinion (IPPO), his voter support had dropped from 26% on May 6 to 21% on May 14, and the downward trend was continuing. Moreover, most Principlist organizations had rallied behind Raisi, making the situation increasingly difficult for Ghalibaf. Notably, Galibaf's statement on May 15, four days before the election, did not use the word withdraw. It read, What is important at this point in time is preserving the interests of the people, the country, and the revolution. Considering that this great ideal can only be achieved through a change in the status quo, fundamental and crucial decisions must be made. Therefore, in order to protect this great ideal, I ask my supporters across the country to devote all their potential to supporting our dear brother Hojjat al-Islam wal-Moslemeen [clerical rank below ayatollah] Seyed Ebrahim Raisi and the success of the Government of Work and Dignity [Raisis campaign slogan]. Ghalibaf has clearly asked his backers to support Raisi, but will they listen? The Iranian media has been busy analyzing the matter. Mohammad Hashemi, brother of the late Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a former head of the state broadcaster, said in a May 15 interview, Ghalibaf did not have any votes to transfer to anyone. He had behaved very badly in the debates and had ruined himself. He withdrew because staying on would mean more scandals. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, secretary-general of the Executives of Construction Party, one of the most prominent pro-reform factions, concurred with Hashemi's analysis. In an interview with the moderate media outlet Entekhab on May 15, Karbaschi said, Not all Ghalibaf supporters will vote for Raisi. More than likely, a portion of his votes will go to Rouhani. More importantly, under the best of circumstances [had he not withdrawn], Ghalibaf would have finished third, which is why he decided to quit the race. The ideological predisposition of supporters is another reason why Ghalibaf votes may not transfer to Raisi. Traditional Principlists are supporting Raisi because certain organizations and political movements are supporting him. For these Principlists, the opinion of these organizations is the final word. Ghalibafs supporters, on the other hand, come from a different perspective. None of the Principlist organizations have supported him, and his backers are less interested in ideology, supporting him instead because of the technocratic style that Ghalibaf adopted in recent years. Moreover, a look at Raisis inner circle shows that virtually all its members were ministers under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-13). Ghalibaf, on the other hand, despite being a Principlist, was always at odds with Ahmadinejad. Therefore, it is unlikely that his supporters will agree to cast their vote for a candidate surrounded by Ahmadinejad ministers. Perhaps the most important issue to consider, however, is that Ghalibaf is not a charismatic figure. When Rafsanjani was disqualified from the 2013 presidential elections and therefore asked his supporters to vote for Rouhani, voters listened to his request without asking any questions. Ghalibaf, on the other hand, does not have a similar hold on his supporters; they will not cast their vote for Raisi simply because Ghalibaf has asked them to do so. In addition, a majority of Ghalibafs supporters are not from religious or middle- or lower-class backgrounds. Unlike the concerns of Raisis supporters, who are religious, Ghalibaf supporters are mostly concerned about technocratic issues. On the other hand, Ghalibafs call for his supporters to vote for Raisi could be beneficial to Rouhani by helping the incumbent attract silent voters. A segment of Iranian society is still doubtful about voting. Since they do not follow the campaigns, many simply believe that Rouhani will be re-elected. The recent string of Iranian presidents has been re-elected to second terms, so some voters may decide to sit out the election on the assumption that Rouhani is unlikely to become the first one-term president in decades. Ghalibafs withdrawal and forging of an alliance with Raisi could, however, cause them to perceive that the danger to the incumbent is more imminent than they had previously thought and lead them to believe that their not voting could result in Raisi's replacing Rouhani. The Principlist media outlets have supported Ghalibafs decision to withdraw. In a May 15 speech, Raisi thanked Ghalibaf for stepping aside, calling it a revolutionary act. That same day, former parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel also thanked Ghalibaf, characterizing his withdrawal as a sacrifice, and asked his supporters to vote for Raisi. Moreover, the conservative theoretician Mohammad Reza Bahonar expressed the hope that the Tehran mayors votes would be transferred to Raisi. Not all Principlists, however, agree on the matter. Also on May 15, prior to Ghalibafs official announcement, Parviz Amini, a Ghalibaf adviser, wrote on his Telegram channel, Mr. Ghalibaf, dont make the mistake of withdrawing. If you do, Rouhani will win this election. Thus, doubt remains as to whether Ghalibafs votes will go to Raisi. According to an IPPO poll published May 16, 20% of voters who had planned to cast their ballots for Ghalibaf cited Rouhani as their second choice. Meanwhile 30% of Ghalibaf supporters will vote for Raisi, and 16% will not vote for anyone. IPPO revealed Rouhanis numbers to be on the rise, and as of May 15, four days before the first round of balloting, had him winning 56% of the vote. May 18, 2017 On the eve of Iran's presidential election, a group of poor Iranian Kurds who risk their lives every day to make ends meet on the border with Iraq spoke to Al-Monitor about what matters to them in deciding which candidate they will vote for or why they plan to boycott the vote. Many hope for closer ties with the West so sanctions will be lifted and the economy will be revived. But while the economy is the main concern, almost all of the men who spoke to Al-Monitor praised the Iranian authorities for maintaining security within the countrys borders at a time when bombings and war bring chaos to neighboring countries. These men are known as "kolbar" they smuggle goods on their backs for a fee to make a living in the remote mountains between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. I have no job. That is why I am doing this. Otherwise, this load is for a mule and not a human, said Ali, a man in his mid-40s, while preparing his load of cigarettes to take back into Iran. Ali receives around $30 to carry the 24-kilogram load through the mountains for over six hours. Asked if he will vote on Friday, he pointed to his load and said, Not really. This is my situation. Rouhani did not do anything for us for the last four years. President Hassan Rouhani, who is hoping to secure another term in the May 19 vote, faces hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who is considered close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is supported by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Irans high unemployment rate and weak economy mean that he has come under attack from Raisi and other candidates during the presidential debates broadcast live on Iranian state TV. Government figures say over 3.2 million Iranians are unemployed out of a working population of around 26 million. But others dispute the data and say the real number is more than 7 million. People have no money. That is why they come here and smuggle goods, said 15-year-old Hallo, who along with his friend are each carrying 25 kilograms worth of cigarettes on their backs. There are many people with university degrees that are doing this job because they cant find anything else to do. Forty-year-old Kamal, who has a degree in computer science from Sharif University in Tehran one of the most prestigious universities in the country is sitting on a boulder watching half a dozen kolbar prepare their loads for the arduous journey ahead. It is my duty to go and vote, and even if I earn 5 million tomans [$1,538] that day from smuggling, I will abandon it and go and cast my vote, said Kamal, who is supervising the men who smuggle the goods across the border. In the last presidential election in 2013, Rouhani won the Kurdish vote by a landslide. You say these things because you are scared of the authorities, responded 27-year-old Abdullah as he prepared his cigarette load. I wont vote because they have already chosen who is going to be president. The vote is just to shut people up. Two men walk along a mountain path in Iran's Kurdish region. Kamal says that while the economy is important for him, security is far higher up on the list of his priorities given the chaos that the emergence of the Islamic State has brought upon the region. Iran is a big country, and today you can travel across it without worrying about your security, said Kamal, a father of two children. We have security and that is the most important thing. The explosions that happen in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan dont happen in Iran. Abdullah disagrees with Kamal on every point in their heated discussion but concurs with Kamal when it comes to the matter of security. Almost two years after the signing of the nuclear deal, the crippling sanctions while eased have not been lifted. The International Monetary Fund has hailed the Iranian economys turn from a recession of 5.8% in 2013 to some 7% economic growth but notes that this is largely reflecting the rebound in oil production and exports after the nuclear deal. Thus, unemployment remains high and the economy is reeling on the back of weak growth outside the oil sector. Before the sanctions, I paid 18,000 tomans [$5.5] for 10 kilograms of Pakistani rice, but now I am paying 64,000 tomans [$19.70], said Abdullah, who abandoned his studies when he was 16 to help his father make ends meet. If relations are resumed between Iran and America, the sanctions would be lifted and the economy would revive, creating more jobs. The cigarettes that Abdullah is planning to take into Iran are labeled Milano, Nano Edition American Blend with Charcoal Filter. The fact that around a thousand people cross into these mountains every day to carry goods on their backs shows that the economy in Iran is in tatters, said father-of-one Edris, a kolbar who smuggles mobile phones. I will vote to have my [identity] document stamped, but I wont vote for any of the candidates. I dont think voting has any impact. Another fundamental problem on the minds of these kolbar as they prepare their loads is the high level of corruption in the country. The security of the country is intertwined with fighting corruption, Raisi, the hard-line candidate, has thundered during campaigning, If someone is corrupt, grab his ear and kick him out. Kamal believes that both the Iranian government and the Iranian people are to blame for the current situation in the country. We are all pawns here in these mountains. The real people are the ones in Tehran who have power, money and connections, buy goods abroad, and to avoid paying tax to the government smuggle them through here, pocketing large sums of money. The smuggling of goods into Iran through its porous borders, including from Iraqi Kurdistan, is big business. Raisi has criticized the Rouhani administration for not cracking down on this illegal trade, saying, This is one of our main priorities. We believe we can reduce the $10 billion illegal trade and create 1 million jobs out of it if we completely control our entry points. For Saadi, 38, who is going to stay the night in the mountains to look after the piles of illegal goods that have been left there, the continuation of the illegal trade is existential for his family. I am OK with my life. I thank God for this [trade]. We will die of hunger if this border closes. May 18, 2017 Shortly after Donald Trump assumed the US presidency, I surmised that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would one day come to miss President Barack Obama. I must confess, however, that I had no idea how soon Netanyahu would be forced to dust off the moldy excuse that served him during the Obama administration and went something like this: I want passionately to end the conflict with the Palestinians, but sadly, my radical right-wing coalition government is hemming me in. Even a suspension of construction in Israels West Bank settlements will bring a premature end to my political career. My colleague Ben Caspit recently described the situation as Netanyahu being forced to choose between a crack in the relationship with the Trump administration and a crisis in his relations with the national-religious HaBayit HaYehudi, led by his political rival, Naftali Bennett. Netanyahu has many other, varied options, however, and has had for a long time. When Obama journeyed to Cairo in June 2009 to deliver his landmark speech A New Beginning, he beseeched his Egyptian counterpart, President Hosni Mubarak, to be considerate of Netanyahus political woes and avoid exerting heavy pressure on him over the settlement issue. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told me at the time that Mubarak had pointed out to Obama that no one had forced Netanyahu to choose right-wing government partners and that he could still pick an alternative moderate and peace-loving coalition. The Egyptian president did not fail to inform his important American visitor that Abbas, too, was constrained by domestic political considerations. Mubarak reminded Obama that Egypt and the other members of the Arab League were still awaiting Israels response to their 2002 peace initiative, which promises Israel normal ties with virtually all the Muslim states in return for an end to its occupation of Palestinian territory and a just and agreed upon solution to the lingering Palestinian refugee problem. Little has changed in the eight years since. The option of an alternative coalition government that would enable Netanyahu to suspend construction in West Bank areas outside the existing settlement blocs is alive and well. The Arab League reaffirmed its peace initiative at the end of March. In addition, The Wall Street Journal reported May 15 that the Muslim Sunni states had formulated a document offering concrete steps for normalizing relations with Israel, among them establishing direct telecommunications between Israel and several Arab states, allowing Israeli airlines to use Gulf states' air space and lifting limitations on trade with Israel. In return, the Sunni states, Israels natural allies in the struggle against Shiite Iran and Hezbollah, expect Israel to take modest steps in regard to the Palestinians, such as a partial freeze on construction in some West Bank settlements and an easing of restrictions on trade with Gaza. Leaders of the opposition Zionist Camp who recently visited Washington, led by Labor Party Chair Isaac Herzog and Hatnua Chair Tzipi Livni, made it clear to the Trump administration officials with whom they met that their faction in the Knesset would support any move that advances the big deal the president aspires to make. Zionist Camp leaders believe that if Netanyahu adopts the road map that he worked out with Herzog in 2016 before changing his mind, most of the factions Knesset members would agree to join the ruling coalition, replacing Bennett and his Knesset members. The road map, as reported by Haaretz on March 5, includes an expression of willingness for territorial compromise based on a two-state solution and a significant reining-in of construction in West Bank settlements, including a quiet freeze of construction outside the existing settlement blocs, that is, without an official resolution or public announcement. Netanyahu also reportedly agreed to enable construction and progress of Palestinian projects in Area C, West Bank land under full Israeli control, and humanitarian rehabilitation of Gaza. In addition, the Israeli government would declare its positive view of the overall spirit of the Arab Peace Initiative and of its components. The alternative government initiative ran aground after Netanyahu refused to anchor the understandings with Herzog in a signed document. Herzog knew that Netanyahu could easily talk warmly about a two-state solution on one day and on the next bash the leftists demanding such a solution. At the start of Obamas first term, when he unnerved Netanyahu with his impassioned Cairo University speech on peace, the prime minister was quick to come up with a speech of his own favoring a two-state solution, delivering it at Bar-Ilan University. Three years after Netanyahu's speech, Benny Begin, at the time a government minister, told a group of students at Hebrew University that the Bar-Ilan speech and the two-state concept were not official government policy, and that they had never been presented for debate. That Obama did not insist on Netanyahu providing him with a clear, unambiguous government decision on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict allowed Netanyahu to hold on to power and form yet another government after the 2015 elections, the most right-wing lineup in the history of the state. A relatively small majority in the current Knesset Netanyahus Likud, HaBayit HaYehudi and some of Yisrael Beitenu opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as part of a regional peace arrangement guaranteeing Israels security. If Trump is successful in putting together the deal to which he keeps referring, a solid majority could be found in the Knesset to support it. A public opinion survey conducted in December by Tel Aviv Universitys Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah found that 58% of Jewish Israelis and 57% of Palestinians support a two-state solution as part of a regional peace agreement. One can only hope that Trumps aides will tell him that if he presents Jerusalem with a deal that brings about an end to the conflict with the Palestinians draped in a regional flag, he will become a national hero of both peoples. Then he will be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize much more so than his White House predecessor. What fun it would be to see the guys from CNN reporting live from the ceremony in Oslo if, that is, Trump survives his mounting pile of scandals, and American democracy is unable to defend itself against him. May 16, 2017 Nuriye Gulmen, a research assistant at Selcuk University in Konya, was first suspended from duty and then removed from her position during the state of emergency after the attempted coup in July. She started a solo protest to get her job back on Nov. 9 on Ankaras Yuksel Street and soon was joined by Semih Ozakca, who had been dismissed from his position in an elementary school in Mardin's Mazidagi district, along with his wife. On March 9, the protest escalated into a hunger strike. Gulmen and Ozakca have been detained many times by the police, but they have carried on. This period, after 60 days of malnutrition, is the most critical stage in most hunger strikes as the protesters are at risk of developing problems like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a combination of neurological disorders caused by thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency. Psychiatrist Semih Dikkatli told Al-Monitor, The root cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is malnutrition. As the protesters take in only sugar and water, the first victims of these types of protests are the brain cells. It causes neurological and cognitive problems such as attention deficits, losses of concentration and memory. Immediate treatment is vital. Dikkatli added, The government should be more proactive in these situations. It should establish a dialogue with the protesters and not ignore the public outcry. As the protesters reject medical treatment until their expectations from the government are fulfilled, the only way to treat them is to establish a dialogue. If the government fails to do so, it may contribute to conflicts and upheavals within society. It is necessary to prevent the protesters, whose kidney, liver and heart functions are already deteriorated, from contracting more severe and chronic diseases. Turkish society expects a response and action from the government. Despite Gulmen and Ozakcas ongoing protest, the Turkish government has yet to restore their jobs and legal rights. The Turkish Constitutional Court has referred individual appeals to administrative courts. Opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) deputy Baris Yarkadas told Al-Monitor, The government was not even aware of this hunger strike until CHP chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu informed them. The government is too busy establishing one-party rule in Turkey. Yarkadas added, It is hard to imagine a government is not even aware of an ongoing protest in its capital, but this is where Turkey is right now. After the CHP spoke up, an ambulance was dispatched to Yuksel Street, but the protesters refused medical treatment. The police detain people who come from all over the country to express solidarity with Gulmen and Ozakca. Almost 20,000 Turkish academics have been dismissed under the state of emergency after the July 15 attempted coup, in a crackdown on the political opposition. According to Yarkadas, almost 110,000 public servants who oppose the governments ideology have been dismissed from their positions. Groups of artists, writers, academics and students have called for solidarity with Gulmen and Ozakca. Several solidarity protests are being carried out in various countries such as Canada, the United States, France and Germany. Renowned artist Onur Akin told Al-Monitor, These unfair and unjust dismissals of academics are not acceptable by any means. We will continue to show solidarity with Gulmen and Ozakca. All dismissed academics in Turkey should be given their rights and jobs back immediately and the rule of law should be restored. We will not allow the government to repress the public. A visibly weakened Gulmen told Al-Monitor, The police frequently detain our supporters who came here to show solidarity with us." She went on, "We do not fear and certainly will not be repressed. We will not stop until we regain our rights. We are thankful to those who show solidarity with us. Gulmen added, It is our incontestable right to reclaim our jobs and rights. The protest that we started to draw attention to our conditions will continue in the form of a hunger strike. We will not end the hunger strike until the authorities fulfill our expectations. There is nationwide support for the protest just the two of us sparked. I have experienced health problems, but I will not yield to the darkness and oppression. I have faith that I will regain my rights and job. I am incredibly happy for such support rallying around us. Gulmen and Ozakca continue their sit-in in front of the Human Rights Monument in Ankara, with human rights advocates rallying around them. There are few things in Birmingham older than Brownell Travel. Vulcan wasn't sculpted until the 1904 World Fair. The historic Lyric Theatre wasn't built until 1914, and across the street, the Alabama Theatre wouldn't be built for another 13 years after. Even Sloss Furnaces, a company largely credited with pioneering the city's development, only preceded Brownell by seven years. In fact, the city itself is only 16 years Brownell's senior. So how did America's oldest leisure travel agency find itself in Birmingham, Alabama? The story begins in 1887, when Walter A. Brownell, a professor of geology, took 10 of his friends and colleagues across the Atlantic to Europe. Well before the popularization of electricity and commercial air travel, the group journeyed to Switzerland by candlelight on a steam ship called the S.S. Devonia. The trip was successful and soon Walter found himself with more travel enthusiasts than he could plan trips for. He recruited fellow professors (usually of romance languages) and their wives to lead trips, essentially becoming the first Brownell travel consultants. At the turn of the century, Walter's son Dr. George Brownell and his wife Jennie took over the company, which has continued to send American travelers to cities across the globe for the past 130 years, even through WWI and WWII. As such, the company has quite the history, with a wealth of stories and fun facts. One of the most bizarre: George Brownell's son, George Jr., worked as a spy during WWII. He used his position with the company, as well as his fluency in Spanish and French, to fly under the radar during international travel and contribute to counterintelligence during the war. Meanwhile, George Sr.'s wife, Jennie, helped to run the business, and by 1931 she and George Jr. took over the company completely, which had since moved to Tuscaloosa where George Sr. was a professor of French and Spanish at The University of Alabama. Her help in coordinating marketing campaigns for the company started the long legacy of female talent at Brownell. Today, roughly 90 percent of their travel advisors and coordinators are women. A CUT ABOVE In the 130 years since the first unofficial Brownell trip, a lot has changed--the economy, the global climate, the way we travel, to name a few. To succeed in a world where less than 12 percent of travel agencies established before 1970 survived, the company had to adapt. To do so, Brownell's vice president of marketing and development Haisley Smith says, the company overcame three major obstacles: commission cuts from airlines, the popularity of the internet, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. To remedy the first, the company switched to a fee-based model, where travel advisors charge a rate for their services rather than work on commission. Then, to compete with the hoard of do-it-yourself travel websites (Priceline, Travelocity, and Hotels.com all launched in 1997), Brownell honed in on its services, vowing to offer only customized, one-of-a-kind trips to its clients. Finally, when people grew hesitant to travel after 9/11, the company double downed on its client-advisor relationships. "Whenever fear and uncertainly enter into the equation, you want a resource you can trust," Smith says. "We put processes into place so we weren't just a call center, so you built a relationship with your travel advisor." Revolutionizing the role of the traditional travel agent was the first step in creating travel experiences unlike any on the market--and the first step in revolutionizing the travel industry. Brownell consultants not only are experts in travel, they're experts in customer service, true professionals in the art of planning the perfect trip--in large part because they've been there. "At any given moment, we have up to 30 travel advisors somewhere in the world vetting hotels, ground operators, experiences, resorts," Smith says. In recent months, a group of advisors spent four months in undiscovered India. More just returned from Java, Indonesia. But it's not just remote islands and faraway lands that the company vets--they often revisit popularaccommodations to refresh their knowledge. "We're constantly going back to the tried and true," Smith says. "These historic operations have been around as long as Brownell and we go back to make sure they're still up to snuff." Brownell advisors undergo an extensive vetting process in order to join the elite group. Independent travel contractors can apply to join the Brownell family, but only 3 percent of applicants make the cut. Those select few complete a 12-month curriculum that includes learning the ins and outs of the company through developing a one-year marketing plan, attending vendor trainings, and completing monthly assignments and conference calls. Brownell's current group of 85 advisors includes a range of professionals from college professors and attorneys to former Fortune 500 executives and one White House press secretary. And the model is paying off. In its class of agency, Brownell ranks in the top five for revenue, with the least amount of people. Compared to the industry average of $60,000, Brownell advisors bring in well over $125,000 per year. In short, Brownell upped the ante, making sure they offered the best trips, planned by the best advisors. They already were on the industry's short list of leaders, and after merging with Abeta Travel in Mobile in 2001 and Sterling Travel in Atlanta in 2004, they dominated the southeast market. EXPERIENCE MORE Another thing that sets Brownell apart: they can take you anywhere. It's impossible to pinpoint the number of cities Brownell travelers have visited, but all seven continents are more than accounted for. Even trips into Outer Space are in play, pending Richard Branson's forthcoming Virgin Galactic commercial rocket. Brownell was tapped to sell seats on the new project back in 2006. At Brownell, there's no drop-down menu of pre-packaged trips to choose from, though their website does break destinations into categories: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Caribbean, Central and South America, Egypt and Middle East, Europe, Mexico, North America, and South Pacific and Australia. Within each of those major categories there are a dozen more individual countries and areas, each of which at least one Brownell advisor specializes in. Interest-oriented trips include adventure travel, snorkeling, ballooning, arts, food and wine, religion, train, spa, and cultural. Clients are matched with advisors based on interest and destination location, and from there, the magic begins. Every detail from flights and hotels to activities and ground transportation is taken care of. Whether the trip is a short weekend getaway or a yearlong world tour, anything is possible. Many clients who plan yearlong trips are families with school-age children, so Brownell works with the parents to arrange tutors or develop curriculums they can complete from wherever they are. Smith says though it's easy to assume one might be overscheduled and exhausted on a trip planned by a travel advisor, that couldn't be further from the reality of a Brownell trip. "In actuality, clients overschedule themselves," she says. "We have to force them not to overschedule. Instead, we create situations and scenarios where they can have exploration and discovery on their own in a safe, meaningful way." That discovery is at the helm of Brownell's trademarked Discover More process. Through it, Smith says, advisors focus on the "why" behind every trip. Why does a family want to travel to, for example, Bali? Why now? And why with this group of people? "That gets to the root and the psychographic variables that help us to plan the perfect trip," she says. One of the biggest trends in travel luxury in recent years has everything to do with the "why." Multi-generation heritage trips send families to every corner of the world. "With DNA testing now, people figure out where they're from and they want to go exactly where they're from," Smith says. "But what's at that root of that desire is traveling together as a family to create family legacies." Recently-retired baby boomers make up a large portion of heritage travelers who want customized trips. "They want the un-Googleable," Smith says. Another big client group, millennials, are similar. "They have this deep desire to explore and immerse themselves in culture, and that's what we provide--not the cookie cutter." Brownell works with thousands of ground partners in cities around the world to create authentic, insider experiences that give travelers a true taste of local culture, from cuisine to customs. But what's true of all Brownell travelers, no matter their age, Smith says, is that they remain amazed and humbled by experiencing new destinations and cultures. They're not your average country collector. They're interested in learning about and exposing their children to new cultures. And once they learn about a culture, they become invested in it--so much so that they want to help out. "People want to be able to give back, volunteer, and get involved in the local communities where they're going," Smith says. To help travelers make this desire a reality, Brownell vets philanthropic ground partners to create volunteer opportunities. One multi-generational Birmingham family wanted to help women and children in Kenyan tribes. Brownell partnered with a local charity in Kenya to supply 50 solar-charging iPads loaded with Swahili and English curriculums for teachers to use in schools there. The family even made friends with a Kenyan woman who later visited them in the States. Another Birmingham family traveling to Kenya met a local guide who told them that his village did not have access to clean water. The family ended up donating water filtration systems and wells that now provide clean drinking water to about a half dozen villages. BIRMINGHAM & BEYOND Brownell has been all over the world--and all over the city. Since moving to Birmingham in 1946, the company has been headquarted downtown, in 5 Points, in Mountain Brook, and in its current location at The Summit. Inside the chic Birmingham office, traditional trinkets from far off lands, from handmade Venetian Carnival masks to Mexican maracas, comingle with a wall of iPads displaying different Brownell travel destinations, from the ancient Egyptian pyramids to the remote tundra of Antarctica. A soldier from the Terracotta Army stands in front of a modern wall-sized photograph of a luxurious, tropical resort pool. The contrast between the two--old and new--echoes the company's balance between maintaining century-old traditions and forging into unchartered lands, both figuratively and literally. The company has a long legacy of success in Birmingham and the southeast. Because they don't prospect for new clients, often Brownell's Birmingham travelers are third and fourth generation clients from their families. Birmingham clients trust Brownell, which makes them some of the nation's most adventurous travelers. Smith says the company's other markets, even in bigger cities like Philadelphia or Charlotte, are behind Birmingham in terms of movement around the world. "Birmingham travelers are much more intrepid than the rest of the world and that makes them some of our favorite clients," she says. "They're not all young, but they're ready to go." Because of Brownell, Birmingham also has inadvertently become a hub for those in the travel industry across the globe. Every week, two to three travel suppliers visit the Birmingham office. For most of them, it's their first time in Alabama; sometimes it's their first time in the country. On a recent visit with a partner from Peru, the company's executive vice president, Meg McGriff North, had everyone over to her house for empanadas. The group had such a good time cutting up and telling stories, that they forgot to slow roast the meat, Peruvian style. To make up for their mistake, they substituted barbecue from Miss Myra's. And that's how it goes at Brownell. Sure, they have an eye for detail, but room is always left for a little out-of-the-box fun. Relationships--between advisors and clients, advisors and international partners, clients and their families--are at the core of the company. "Nobody would do this job if it weren't for the deep investment in these relationships with the clients," Smiths says. "Every trip means something to us. This is not a transactional agency; we're truly invested." As part of Brownell, each of its travelers are privy to the "Brownell touch," which means they'll always have a gift (a bottle of wine or maybe a box of chocolates) waiting for them upon arrival. Or their rooms might be decorated with framed pictures of their family members and pets. Or the soundtrack to a play they just saw might be playing in their room after the show. On a larger scale, Brownell travelers often get upgrades and free breakfast at any of Brownell's more than 10,000 hotel partners around the world. Most importantly, they get the value of having one of the country's largest travel powerhouses behind them. They get peace of mind. Over the years, Brownell has planned trips and provided security for tens of thousands of travelers. They've also tried on multiple mottos. "There and Back Since 1887." "Travel Beyond Your Expectations." "Discover More." Today, all still hold true. As do the words of George Brownell Jr. during his 1958 speech to the Birmingham Rotary Club, "We live in hectic times in a hectic world," he said. "Travel through understanding is the passport to peace." Details To plan your next trip with Brownell or learn more about the company, visit brownelltravel.com. --Photos by Major Colbert and courtesy of Brownell This story appears in Birmingham magazine's May 2017 issue. Subscribe today! When Van Sykes was all of 12 years old, his father would drop him off at their family-run barbecue joint for an all-night vigil working the pit. And that's how the boy grew up to became a barbecue man. "I know a lot of people would think, 'Good Lord, a 12-year-old in a building all night with a fire?'" the soon-to-be-62-year-old Sykes remembers. "But there again, you've got to go back to that time. It was not uncommon to expect your children to carry some of the load somewhere. And I needed to learn to do it. "And let me tell you," Sykes adds, "that's when you learn to barbecue. When it's 3:30, 4:00, 4:30 in the morning and you've been staring into that (pit) and you smell completely like it and you've got this nice, greasy sheen to you, and you've got to keep turning that meat, you've got to keep stoking that fire, and you're trying not to fall asleep. I mean, at 12 years old, I could down a pot of coffee. "But that's when you learn to become a barbecue man." Sykes has kept the fires burning at Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q ever since. This year, the venerable Bessemer barbecue institution is celebrating its 60th year in business, a milestone that goes back to when Van's parents, Bob and Maxine Sykes, opened their first restaurant, a hamburger and milkshake shop called the Ice Spot, in Birmingham's Central Park neighborhood in 1957. About that same time, Bob Sykes built his first barbecue pit. The Sykes family eventually decided to go whole hog into the barbecue business, and relocated to Bessemer, where Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q settled into its current location at 1724 Ninth Ave. North in 1977. The 60th anniversary celebration is going on throughout the year with promotions and specials, but it will be front and center this Saturday, May 20, at the eighth annual Bob Sykes BBQ & Blues Festival in DeBardeleben Park in downtown Bessemer. In addition to barbecue sandwiches and ribs, the festival features local, regional and national blues artists, as well as children's activities. (Go here for a lineup, ticket information and more details.) RELATED: A quick history of Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q "I can't believe these milestones are coming the way they are," Van Sykes says. "It went so fast from 50 (years) to 60. I still have shirts that say '50th anniversary.' That's how the decades go, I guess. "I'm just astounded every day that we've been here selling the same thing, the same way, for all these years and it still continues to thrive. So that's what I'm celebrating." The younger Sykes' father died in 1992, and his mother passed away in 2015, but Van and his nephew Jason Jewell have carried on a family tradition. "Daddy told me when I was a little boy that you have to work hard for good barbecue," he says. "And I really believe that's true. I'm not disparaging anybody. I love everybody's barbecue. I'm just simply making a comparison that we've resisted the temptation to do anything different than what Daddy taught me to do when I was 10 or 12 years old. "I feel like I'm still representing that old superhighway barbecue establishment or era or whatever you want to call it, where you would get on that (Bessemer) superhighway and you would start at Old Plantation and eventually you would find your way all of the way down to Bessemer and Bob Sykes. You would pass the Hickory Hut, you would pass Dickey Plough's, you are going to pass Monroe's, Russell's, and Lochamy's and Crumley's." RELATED: The Alabama Barbecue Hall of Fame All those places have long since closed or been sold, but Bob Sykes Bar-B-Que has kept that tradition of slow-cooked, hickory-smoked "real pit" barbecue alive. "The more I look at what we do, my observation is the way we are cooking this now has become more of a craftsman, sort of artisan kind of barbecue," Van Sykes says. "It's just a very old-school product." DETAILS What: Bob Sykes BBQ & Blues Festival, featuring the Chris Simmons Band, Albert White MusicMaker Revue, Eight O'Five Jive, Markey Blue, the Norman Jackson Band and Joe Louis Walker. When: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20 Where: DeBardeleben Park, 1623 Second Ave. North, Bessemer Website: bobskykesblues.com. LindsayWestbrook.PNG Lindsay Westbrook (Missing Pieces Network) Police in a small west Alabama town are searching for a 12-year-old girl who has been missing for more than 24 hours. Lindsay Westbrook was last seen going to bed at her family's Berry home about 10 p.m. Tuesday night, said Berry Police Chief Gerald Dedeaux. When her mother awoke about 6 a.m. Wednesday, Lindsay was gone. The chief said they are treating the case as a runaway, but said the girl does not have a previous history of running away. She left with only a small bag of clothing. Her cell phone was wiped clean of all data and left on her bed. Even though everything points toward Lindsay running away, Dedeaux said they are still obviously worried, especially because of her young age. She is described as a white female, 5-feet, 6-inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds. She has long, light brown hair, hazel eyes and has pierced ears. Dedeaux said they have brought in other law enforcement agencies to help in the search. "We're concerned,'' he said. "We're using every avenue to find her." Anyone with information on Lindsay's whereabouts is asked to call Berry police at 205-932-5312 or 911. house of representatives feb 9 2016 julie bennett.JPG ((Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)) Alabama lawmakers passed an education budget early this morning that would increase spending from the Education Trust Fund next year by $90 million, about a 1.4 percent increase. The budget, passed without a dissenting vote, provides funding for 152 additional teachers next year in grades 4-6. The budget would increase funding for prekindergarten by $13 million, to $77.5 million. Universities would receive $1.08 billion from the Education Trust Fund, the same as this year. The budget calls for spending $6.4 billion from the Education Trust Fund, the maximum amount allowed under the Rolling Reserve Act, which caps education spending based on a history of tax revenues. The budget is for the year that starts Oct. 1. The House of Representatives gave final approval to the budget early this morning after beginning the next-to-last day of the legislative session shortly after midnight. The House vote was 98-0. It was the second time in two weeks the House has passed the budget without a dissenting vote. "I think that again validates that we hit the priorities and the needs to the greatest extent that we had the fiscal capacity to do so in every corner of the state and every area of the state, rural, urban and otherwise," said Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, chairman of the House education budget committee. This morning's vote was on a bill approved by a conference committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget. The Senate had approved the conference committee bill Wednesday night by a vote of 29-0. The budget goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law. house of representatives feb 9 2016 julie bennett.JPG ((Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)) The Alabama House of Representatives worked past midnight tonight as the legislative session moved into its final two days. The Senate adjourned about 11 p.m. Lawmakers still must approve plans to draw new boundaries for many House and Senate districts because a federal court ruled in January that nine House districts and three Senate districts were racially gerrymandered. Democrats say the new plans backed by the Republican majority don't fix the problems and are expected to have the two bills read in their entirety before a vote. That would consume much of Thursday. Last week, it took 16 hours for an automated reader to read the 541-page House plan. The Senate bill is 253 pages long. house of representatives feb 9 2016 julie bennett.JPG ((Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)) A plan to redraw some Alabama state Senate districts won final approval from sharply divided lawmakers tonight. The House of Representatives approved the plan on a 71-32 party line vote. The vote came after the 253-page bill was read in its entirety by an automatic reader. The Democratic minority asked for the reading, which took about eight hours. that the Legislature had to redraw three Senate districts and nine House districts before next year's election. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Alabama Democratic Conference, the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and others. The court found that the Legislature improperly used race as the predominant factor in setting boundaries in the 12 districts. The new plans affect many other districts. The House redistricting plan is still pending in the Senate, where it is being read at length. The plans will be subject to review by the court. The redistricting legislation has caused tension and delays during the final week of the legislative session, which ends Friday. China, California's No 1 overseas tourist market, continues to contribute to the travel and tourism industry, the state's key economic driver, which expanded for the seventh consecutive year in 2016. Tourism spending in 2016 injected a record $126 billion into California's economy, a 3.1 percent increase over 2015, outpacing the nation by nearly a percentage point, according to an annual economic impact report released by Visit California this month. The tourism industry generated $10.3 billion in tax revenue and supported 1.1 million jobs in the state last year, said the report. It shows travelers in California have spent nearly $2.16 trillion, created more than 410,000 jobs and generated more than $165.3 billion in local and state tax revenues in the past 25 years. "This report shows that tourism is a powerhouse that generates community benefits and economic value for all Californians," said Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta. Spending in California by international travelers alone equals the combined value of the state's top four product exports civilian aircraft, computer parts, non-industrial diamonds, and voice/image/data equipment. However, last year saw a declining share of international travel in California due to the strength of the US dollar and decreased visitation, said the report. But Chinese visitors to California continued to outpace all other overseas markets with a record of 1.3 million visitors last year. They spent more than $2.9 billion on those visits more than the spending of the UK, France and Germany combined. The Chinese market is expected to surpass Canada as California's largest international market by the year 2020 with a projected 2 million visitors. In San Francisco, the international volume was forecast to grow at only 0.3 percent in 2017 due to strong US dollar and adverse political climate. The San Francisco Travel Association also bets big on the Chinese market. The largest overseas market to the city will continue to be China with 526,090 visitors projected for this year, a 9.58 percent increase over 2016. Amy Zhao, general manager of a Bay Area travel agency MGM Holidays, said she has been busy taking calls from China. "The peak season is coming," she said. Most of her business comes from Chinese student tours. To capitalize on the China market growth, Visit California has been heavily investing in marketing efforts. This year's China Mission took nearly 30 industry partners to four Chinese cities Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou and Shanghai last month. The cities were chosen to expand their market to China's Tier 2 cities. During the mission, travel trade appointments, agency visits and training seminars were provided to educate and engage with travel trade industry in China. The California delegation also got to share story angles and pitch their products. The growth of the Chinese market is undeniable it is the "superlative" market for California, Visit California told the California industry in the China Mission brochure. liazhu@chinadailyusa.com This is a translation of an analysis on Yemen published in cooperation with the Al Jazeera Studies Center. Yemens southern governorates are currently witnessing political and security unrest after Adens sacked governor, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, announced the formation of a transitional council for the region. This development was viewed by many analysts as a new step towards the process of separating south Yemen from its north. Such a move is not new in southern Yemen. The Southern Movement, also known as al-Hirak al-Janoubi, calls for the separation of southern Yemen. The movement has not stopped its activities toward this goal since its establishment in 2007, during the term of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Recent calls for separation have attracted the attention of several southern leaders living outside Yemen, including former president of South Yemen Ali Salim al-Beidh, who signed a unity pact with Saleh to merge the north and south in 1990. Al-Beidh views the formation of the so-called transitional governing council in southern Yemen a great step towards the liberation of southern Yemen. READ MORE: GCC rejects formation of Yemen transitional council The formation of the transitional council came as a response to Hadis decision to sack two officials close to the UAE Zubaidi and state minister Hani bin Braik. The latter leads a security group consisting of thousands of fighters. The UAE has been controlling Aden airport and seaport, considered to be one of the worlds most significant ports, since the liberation of Aden from the Houthi-Saleh forces in mid 2015. The newly formed southern transitional council consists of 26 members. It aims at managing southern Yemen inside Yemen and representing it abroad, according to a declaration by Zubaidi. The southern Yemeni separatist council has triggered debate among Yemeni and Arabian Gulf circles. It has neither been supported locally nor by the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), especially since it came as Yemen was witnessing an ongoing war between the Saudi-led Arab coalition, which backs the government of President Hadi, and the Iran-backed rebels consisting of Houthis and forces of former president Saleh. The GCC, in a statement issued following the transitional council formation, stressed its support for Hadis government and the unity of Yemen and its opposition to separation. The crisis, however, has not yet ended. The separation of southern Yemen would weaken the authority of the legitimate government in Yemen. It would also lead to the failure of the Saudi-led Arab coalitions operations and ultimately, the victory of Irans allies, represented by the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh. It is crucial for the Saudi-led Arab coalition to continue with accomplishing its goals of liberating the Yemeni state from rebels, waging war on terror and securing Saudi Arabias borders, especially as the Saudi army is engaged in a brutal war against the Houthi-Saleh forces near the countrys southern border. The separation of southern Yemen would weaken the authority of the legitimate government in Yemen. It would also lead to the failure of the Saudi-led Arab coalitions operations and ultimately the victory of Irans allies, represented by Houthis and Saleh. Since the US expressed interest in partnering with Saudi Arabia in its war on terror, and as the upcoming summit, to be attended by US President Donald Trump and Arab and Islamic leaders, calls for a new partnership to face extremism and terrorism, it has become even more crucial to maintain the stability of Yemen. It also important to encourage the Yemeni government to impose its sovereignty and build military and security bodies in order to deter the armed groups spread across southeast Yemen, particularly the al-Qaeda group in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), led by Yemeni Qassim al-Raymi following the death of its former leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi in a US air strike, as well as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. Since Houthis and their ally former president Saleh carried out a coup on September 21, 2014, these armed groups have launched a series of attacks in a number of Yemeni cities targeting Houthis, their allies, the Saudi-led Arab coalition and the Yemeni government army. Raymi recently threatened Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in a press release published by the al-Qaeda-run al-Malahem Media. He accused Hadi of being a collaborator who gives the Americans everything they want. Raymi added that the US was exploiting Hadi after it was embarrassed by the airdrop operation its forces conducted in Bayda province in late January. At least 10 civilians and a US soldier were killed in the operation, several soldiers injured, and one of the planes crashed. Raymis threat clearly indicates that armed groups and organisations like AQAP and ISIL are waiting for the right moment to seize control of the Yemeni provinces where the presence of the Yemeni state is lacking. The Yemeni state has expressed readiness to collaborate with the US in its war on terror. INTERACTIVE: Yemen conflict Who controls what The videos published by ISILs Aamaq news agency showing operations allegedly carried out by the group in Bayda province in east Yemen are another example of the escalating threat these armed groups pose. Observers believe that the weakness of Hadis government and its failure to control southern Yemen will pave way for the emergence of armed groups in these regions, provide the foundation for the growth of AQAP and ISIL and open the door for armed groups to spread disorder in the region. It will also lead to negative consequences in the security of the GCC region and the security of the entire world as these groups seek to take advantage of weak states and exploit them as launch pads from which they can carry out terrorist operations in these countries and especially in Europe and the US. Many Yemeni experts believe that Iran will be the biggest beneficiary from this situation, as it helps Irans rebel allies regain power after they were recently defeated on Yemens western coast and in other regions. It therefore becomes critical for western and Gulf states to unify their efforts to support the legitimate government, help it impose its sovereignty on the regions it has liberated from Houthi rebels and Saleh forces, thwart any moves seeking to weaken Hadis government, and curb any separatist movements that have started to emerge in the south. Any threat against Hadis government is, without a doubt, a threat against Saudi Arabia, as Yemens open borders will export terror to Saudi Arabia and its neighbouring countries. During the past few years, Saudi Arabia has waged a brutal war on terrorism. It also launched many operations during the past two years against rebels and achieved success in its operations against extremist groups, and consequently reduced the number of these operations to a great extent. The Saudi security services have also announced the success of their anti-terror operations during the past two years and placed this objective on top of their list of priorities. And this is what Riyadh is currently achieving in its neighbouring country, Yemen. Saudi Arabia is actively engaged in supporting the state and endorsing stability in Yemen in order to crack down on armed groups in the country, which is currently experiencing extreme poverty, according to the reports of humanitarian organisations. With little access to safe water in South Sudans capital, bike vendors play a crucial role by delivering it to people. Juba, South Sudan By 10am, the unforgiving morning sun begins to beat down on the dusty streets and mud huts of Hai Gabat, a neighbourhood in the east of Juba, South Sudans capital. Sam, a 45-year-old water seller from Uganda, has been up for four hours. He is busy securing the last of six jerrycans on to the rusty frame of his old, heavy bicycle. Around him women, children and men gather beneath the sprawling boughs of a leafy tree, seeking shelter from the sun and filling dozens of yellow jerrycans with running tap water. The cluster of taps is one of Jubas two UNICEF-installed water points, where water from the River Nile is treated with aluminum sulfate and chlorine before some 50,000 litres are pumped out daily for private and commercial use. This small oasis offers a source of potable water in a city where access to safe water isnt readily available. Only 15 percent of Jubas residents are able to access municipal water. Much of the population is left vulnerable to waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and the Guinea worm disease. According to the United Nations, water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the global population with 1.8 billion people worldwide drinking water that is fecally contaminated and some 1,000 children dying each day from preventable water and sanitation-related diseases. Since June 2016, South Sudan has recorded 6,774 cases of cholera, including 221 deaths. Sam, who did not want to give his last name, and his colleagues provide a vital service. They are an integral part of Jubas water system, given the job of delivering safe drinking water to some of the citys most vulnerable neighbourhoods. ALSO READ South Sudan: There are only dead bodies Dependence on mobile water vendors Jubas water vendors start getting ready for their gruelling days work as soon as the sun rises at 6.30am. After paying their daily fee of just under $1 to use the water facilities, they fuel up on a breakfast of bread, eggs and tea at a nearby restaurant. Then they begin their rounds, which continue throughout the day. They only stop when the sun sets at 7pm. South Sudan has plenty of surface and ground water potential, yet, according to an African Development Bank report, access to water supply services is among the lowest in Africa. Over the years, the state-run water services have increasingly deteriorated, with little government investment to expand the availability of water to households. People in this area depend on us, says Sam, barely audible against the roar of UN charter planes taking off from a nearby airport. The Kampala-born water vendor moved to South Sudan five years ago, drawn to Juba by the promise of better work opportunities at a time when the newborn capital appeared to be flourishing. That period was short lived. A violent civil war tore through the country just two years after its independence from Sudan. The clashes were triggered by a falling out between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar in December 2013 and were followed by a renewed surge in violence in July 2016. Last December, a member of a UN commission on human rights said that a steady process of ethnic cleansing was under way. The conflict has displaced some 3.5 million people and about two-thirds of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance. Around 4.9 million individuals are considered to be food insecure and 100,000 live in what the UN has called a man-made state of famine. There is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security, Joyce Luma, head of the World Food Programme in South Sudan, said in a statement in February. READ MORE Antonio Guterres Salva Kiir is ignoring famine The business of selling water With the countrys economic collapse and the spiralling costs of food, Sam can hardly afford to pay for his daily breakfast, let alone send money to his wife and five children in Kampala. I was a businessman in Uganda, I was buying and selling produce, Sam says. I need to eat a lot because it [delivering water] takes up a lot of energy, he says, pushing his bicycle briskly down a dirt road, his load too heavy to pedal. The number of jerrycans worth of water sold each day depends primarily on the sellers strength, Sam says. There is no limit. When you have enough energy you sell more, he laughs. The most Ive made in one day is 500 [South Sudanese] pounds. Thats equal to just under $3.50 on the black market for about 50 jerrycans of water at 10 pounds each. But with 500 you cant even eat. Saving [money] is a problem. After a short walk through the Hai Gabat neighbourhood, Sam reaches the home of his second buyer. A young woman in a blue dress greets him from behind a makeshift wall of sticks and branches. The woman is head of a family of 10 and pays just under $1 a day for clean water, which she and her family use for drinking and cooking. In order to save money, they bathe and wash their clothes with untreated water from the river. Its an alternative that does not come without its complications. While washing clothes in river water is not much of a risk provided they are sun dried and ironed, the risk of skin infections is high when one bathes in contaminated river water, says Sibonakaliso Mpala, water, sanitation and hygiene project manager for aid group World Vision. With the agility of someone who has been doing this job for a number of years and the charm of a good salesman, Sam chats cheerfully with his clients while emptying the water into a large blue plastic barrel, before saying goodbye and returning to the cluster of taps under the increasingly hostile sun. ALSO READ: There are no clear winners in South Sudans war Precarious water situation Back at the water site, vendors refill their jerrycans. Since it was installed weve had clean water and the sicknesses cannot reach our homes. I feel safe, says 21-year-old Margaret Joan. Her child was recently sick with diarrhoea. Now hes OK, she adds with a smile. One of the vendors there is 27-year-old Lawrence Moghenzi, who came to Juba in 2011 from the Rwandan capital Kigali. Like Sam, Moghenzi came to Juba after hearing about job opportunities. But Moghenzi is an electrician by trade, and soon discovered that in a country where only an estimated 1 percent of the population is connected to the national power grid, his skills were not in demand. He soon found that he could profit from the citys dire water situation and that on a good day he could make up to $6. This, he says, allows him to travel home to visit his family. Collecting water is free for private individuals, but vendors are required to pay a daily fee each morning. While UNICEF provides water purifying structures and the government subsidises chlorine, one of the two chemicals used to treat the water, the vendors fee is supposed to cover the cost of the second chemical. Some vendors struggle to pay this fee, Moghenzi says. Our first problem is the supply of aluminum sulfate, he says. Its getting harder for the vendors to earn money. According to Sam, six years ago, one jerrycan sold for less than two South Sudanese pounds, versus todays 10 pounds. People dont have the money, he says. It affects me because the money which I was getting, now Im not. The [living] conditions are very hard. The collapse of the South Sudanese pound has driven up prices, meaning more people are unable to afford to buy clean water and must increasingly rely on untreated river water. This has resulted in stagnant or dwindling incomes for the vendors and greater risk of diseases for people. Before the July 2016 crisis, more households could afford to buy treated water mainly for drinking and cooking, says Mpala of World Vision. Currently households are increasingly reliant on cheaper untreated water for domestic use including drinking and cooking. But while most of the citys residents live far from water points, the people of Hai Gabat not only have daily access to safe water, they have also made a gathering place of the site, where they can chat while waiting for the cans to fill up. A gaggle of restless children screech happily as they chase one another with filled water bottles, emptying them on each others heads. Nearby, a mother with a tiny baby strapped to her back fills up a jerrycan and swiftly balances it on top of her head before turning to walk back to her home, clutching the afternoons load of clean water. Sam readies himself for the last delivery before his one-hour lunch break, after which he will work without stopping until the sun goes down and it becomes too dangerous to stay out on Jubas streets. Analysts say the recent meeting in the UAE may only serve to validate Haftars political legitimacy. On May 3, Libyas two rival leaders, Fayez Serraj, the head of the UN- backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli and strongman General Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) keeps a tight grip on the East of the country, held a surprise meeting in the United Arab Emirates. The encounter spurred fears among Serrajs supporters that the conditions discussed in the Gulf country, a powerful sponsor of General Haftar, may disrupt a UN-brokered peace plan, known as the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), rather than help it. The UN deal was signed in 2015 but is widely considered as insufficient to reconcile internal rivalries. UAE officials hailed the meeting as a major breakthrough after 18 months of stalemate between Tripoli and Tobruk. But analysts have been left wondering if a real discussion between the two reluctant leaders took place at all and why the talks didnt produce any official documents. Rumours have been swirling around about the results of the meeting and how binding they would be. According to diplomatic sources, the talks focused on reducing the Presidential Council from nine to three members, to include the head of the Armed Forces, Khalifa Haftar, the head of the House of Representatives Aqila Saleh, and the head of the unity government, Fayez Serraj. The controversial Article 8 of the Shikrat agreement submitting the army to civil authority would be abolished. Serraj and Haftar also allegedly agreed to work on presidential and parliamentary elections in the Spring of 2018. READ MORE: Libya Will losing oil ports end Haftars power? Reactions to the Abu Dhabi talks Despite enthusiastic declarations for the results of the meeting in Abu Dhabi, behind closed doors officials involved in the talks have expressed concerns that Serraj may have conceded too much to Haftars camp, analysts said. If the terms agreed upon in Abu Dhabi are confirmed, we are facing a debacle of the UN plan. We were hoping for a more balanced outcome, said Karim Mezran, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. Mezran said the result of talks held under a diktat would be short-lived, as neither Haftar nor Serraj can offer any guarantees that their commitments would find support among the militias back home, the only ones who retain real control over the country. Any accord that would ban other relevant players or place Haftar in a prominent role without the support of local actors is wishful thinking. It wont last, Mezran said. As predicted, Islamists and militias have promptly reacted to news of the meeting in the Gulf country. Khalifa Gwell, head of the Islamic leaning Government of National Salvation, some hardline Misratan militias, followers of the Grand Mufti Sadeq Al Ghariani, have already scorned the results of the Abu Dhabi talks and vowed to wage total war if any such conditions would be put in place. Any accord that would ban other relevant players or place Haftar in a prominent role without the support of local actors is wishful thinking. It won't last. by Karim Mezran Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East Militias in Zintan who are divided over their support for Haftar and are relatively independent of the influence of the General, have said they wont back the terms discussed in Abu Dhabi. Last week, Libyas High Council of State (HCS) announced it will form a committee to discuss amendments to a UN-brokered peace deal with its Tobruk counterpart, reviving hopes that fresh negotiations may finally lead the country out of political deadlock. The decision follows a meeting in Rome between Abdelrahman Al-Sweihli, head of the HCS, and Aqila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruks House of Representatives, who in early April agreed to discuss changes to the Libyan Political Agreement. The announcement came as sponsors of the UN plan are accelerating their efforts to bring Libyas main power centres to a broader negotiating table. They fear that foes of the LPA may derail the UN plan and strike a more exclusive agreement between Tripoli and Tobruk that would ban Islamists from a final settlement. The submission of the armed forces to civilian authority and the inclusion of Islamists into a future political framework have become the main issues of contention between Serraj and Haftar. UN Envoy tweet Last Monday a tweet by the UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, seemed to clear away all doubts that Serraj and Haftar could have nailed down any accord away from the UN-brokered deal. The LPA remains (the) framework for (a) negotiated settlement. Any amendment must be Libyan led, negotiated in (an) inclusive manner. https://twitter.com/KoblerSRSG/status/861599810083844097 Koblers post seemed to indirectly confirm that the UN would not back a deal that would exclude other important factions, including Islamists, from a future settlement. A position strongly contested by Haftar and his main sponsors, the UAE, Russia and Egypt, whose common aim is to contain the surge of political Islam and Islamist movements in the region at large. The UN-envoys tweets came at the end of a ministerial meeting of Libyas neighbouring countries held in Algiers on Monday, where Tunisia and Algeria reiterated their support for a revision of the LPA and a broader political settlement that would include moderate Islamist factions. READ MORE: Can Russia resolve the conflict in Libya? Haftar a legitimate player But the meeting in Abu Dhabi was intended to steer negotiations in the opposite direction. The UAE has imposed General Haftar as a legitimate player, whom the international community will have to deal with. The ultimate message is that there is no settlement of the conflict in Libya without Haftar, said Arturo Varvelli, a Libyan analyst at the Institute of International Political Studies in Milan. This is a substantial success for Haftar and his sponsors, especially with regard to their containment policy of Islamist forces in the region. Varvelli said although there is no official confirmation on the actual content of the talks, the details leaked by UAE officials reflect the agreement that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hoped to nail down in March when Haftar refused to meet Serraj in Cairo. The conditions that most likely were imposed on Serraj in Abu Dhabi pave the way for Haftar to play a prominent role in any future settlement, but are highly unfavourable to the Tripolitania region and are unlikely to be accepted by local actors. Weakened by Tobruks stern refusal to acknowledge his Government of National Accord, Serraj has seen his frail authority progressively eroded. Unable to secure the full support of Islamist factions in Tripoli and constantly challenged by rival militias in the East and the South, he has found himself increasingly isolated not only internally, but also by the international community. A recent statement by US President Donald Trump, who declared that Libya is not a priority for his administration, delivered the final blow to Serrajs efforts to gain consensus. The US disengagement has left the camp open to Haftars sponsors, who pursue a direct and more exclusive settlement between Tobruk and Tripoli. At this stage Serraj may have been forced to give in in order to salvage whatever is left of his dwindling authority and preserve a feeble role before he becomes totally irrelevant. On the other hand, Haftars supporters, unwilling to pursue a military solution that would plunge the country into a long war, may have cornered the General into accepting to negotiate a way out of the crisis that would grant him a decisive role, more probably at the helm of a unified military. How binding the discussions held in Abu Dhabi will be, it is difficult to say. But the fact that there was no official document may signify that the two leaders hold still very distant positions, said Mezran. Adding to the uncertainty of any outcome of the talks is Haftars character. He is a nationalist and authoritarian figure, highly unpredictable and surrounded by a submissive entourage who augments his political ambitions, Mezran said. Some militias in Tripoli have shifted alliances and pledged their allegiance to Haftar, an event that has tickled his aspirations and has persuaded the General to wrongly believe he may seize control over the entire country. But that is highly unlikely. READ MORE: Egypt, Libya and the cost of retaliation Emirati leadership? The meeting in Abu Dhabi has pushed the Emirati leadership to the helm of any future negotiation on Libya. The UAE has been militarily involved in the North African country since 2014, providing key military support to Haftar in his struggle against Islamist militias and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the east of the country. However, the Emirati leadership has never put itself openly forward in a mediating role. The UAEs short term objective is to promote dialogue. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayeds ability to gather the two sides, plus Egyptian President Sisi, is an attempt to find common ground. Any movement in this direction is to be welcomed given Libyas many problems including migrant flows to Europe, said Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor at Gulf State Analytics, a geostrategic consultancy based in Washington. The Abu Dhabi talks appears to have given impetus to push for a new equation between belligerents that is still in process in many capitals including Washington, DC. The long-term Emirati objective is to have Libyans themselves decide their future but definitely not to have another Tunisia. Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 revolution that ousted and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. Irans leadership is most concerned about Syria and the relations with the US, according to a recent study. A recent study of political statements by key Iranian officials throughout 2016 and the first half of 2017 provides interesting insights into the countrys political vision and identifies future trends in its foreign policy, especially with regards to bilateral relations with the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and key issues such as the nuclear deal, Syria, and the Palestinian question. The study, conducted by Al Jazeera Studies Centre and titled Priorities of Irans Foreign Policy, analysed 1400 statements by prominent figures including Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif, the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the minister of defense and armed forces, Hossein Dehghan. While both the Supreme Leader and the IRGC leadership showcase Iran as a regional powerhouse, the more reformist Rouhani and the ministry of foreign affairs focus on Irans role in combating terrorism. This is possibly a reflection of the ideologies of the two blocs [the reformists and the conservatives], said Fatima al-Samadi, the centres senior researcher and author of the study. The more conservative Khamenei and the IRGC leadership tend to focus more on emotional references to the revolution and the mighty glory of Iran, while the reformist Rouhani and his cabinet are more pragmatic and focused on concrete issues that they can demonstrate Irans impact on. Since the signing of the nuclear deal in mid-2015, Middle East specialists have been watching closely Irans political machinations and intentions in the region. With the ongoing crises and conflicts in the region and Irans prominent regional role, many analysts agree that it became increasingly important to understand how the country views its own role in the Middle East going forward, especially in light of the upcoming presidential elections. READ MORE: The 8 most important questions about Irans elections The nuclear deal and the United States The nuclear deal and its implications for Irans future took up a lot of real estate in official statements, especially in light of its effect on Irans bilateral relations. Most of the analysed political statements communicated a hope for peaceful political settlement of all issues related to the sanctions and full implementation of the nuclear deal. by Fatima al-Samadi, author of study Opinions on the deal and possible outcomes range from predictions of extended tensions around the file to expressed hope and determination to seek a resolution based on compromise and political solutions. Most of the analysed political statements communicated a hope for peaceful political settlement of all issues related to the sanctions and full implementation of the nuclear deal, explained Samadi. The demonstrable focus on bilateral relations between the US and Iran also shows that many Iranian politicians were aware that the cultivation of relations with Washington would have a positive effect on Irans reintegration into the international community. The US featured largely in analysed statements, ranking highest among all the countries mentioned, ahead of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and other countries in the region. Most statements were critical of the US and condemned its political behaviour, while some statements combined their hostility to the US with threats. The tone of these statements escalated in the first quarter of 2017 as the Trump administration took over and expressed its own antagonism towards Iran, added Samadi. Neighbours and regional issues In terms of regional issues, Irans prominent statesmen seemed to be most concerned with the ongoing conflict in Syria which figured largest among their mentions of regional crises. This was followed by Yemen, the Palestinian issue, concerns about access to Hajj and Umrah for Iranian citizens, and the plight of Shia Muslims in Bahrain. Most officials addressing Syria spoke of a future political solution, as opposed to a minority who predicted a drawn-out period of conflict and a smaller group of statements that saw the only solution being one of a larger armed confrontation. That being said, Irans vision of a political solution remained one that excluded the majority of fighters in the armed resistance against the Assad regime, making it an unrealistic, or perhaps difficult to achieve, solution, according to Samadi. This is in contrast to attitudes towards the conflict in Yemen and Iraq and the situation in Bahrain, with most statements indicating that Irans decision-makers are expecting tension and conflict on both those fronts in the future. Another important regional file for the Iranian government is the Palestinian question, where a scant majority predicted a continuation of tension, and a sizeable number of statements spoke of the need for a strong armed confrontation to resolve the matter. The main sparring partner in a lot of the issues that concern Iran regionally is Saudi Arabia, of which most official statements were roundly critical throughout 2016. The language was toned down with the start of 2017, with Rouhani speaking of attempts to mend the relationship, but no real signs of a breakthrough can be found. Turkey is a regional neighbour with whom Iranian decision-makers seem keen on maintaining positive relations, as reflected by the official statements analysed. Most of the language referred to good relations and support to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the failed coup of last year. Russia is another important player in regional politics today. Most of the Iranian official statements maintained a positive view of and spoke of cooperation with Russia. Of course, the two countries are working most closely on the Syria crisis, and are both in agreement in their support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, said Samadi. READ MORE: How will May 19 election shape Irans foreign policy? Domestic issues Irans military did figure in a number of statements, with comments reflecting what seems to be a general consensus on the need to upgrade and strengthen the countrys military capabilities. This came up especially in the context of relations with the US, where it took second place to the nuclear file but was discussed more often than Irans efforts to combat terrorism in the region. The question of Irans independence from any reliance on other countries or outside forces also came up often, usually tied to the national imperative to keep working to strengthen military capabilities. This language comes mainly from Islamic Revolutionary Guards rhetoric that focuses on the might and power of Iran and its military capabilities. Once considered a miracle drug, few companies now make the antibiotic, and antibiotic resistance is rising as a result. Stella Ngubenkomo was 11 years old when she found out that she suffered from a lifelong heart condition and would require monthly injections of penicillin to avoid heart failure and premature death. My joints used to be very painful and I would get tired easily. Then my mum took me to the hospital and we learned about my disease. The doctor said I wouldnt live long, she recalls. For the past 16 years, the resident of Cape Town, South Africa, has gone to a local clinic once a month to receive an injection of penicillin, the only drug that can prevent further damage to her heart valves and keep her alive. But, over the past two years, a shortage of the antibiotic has impacted the delivery of treatment to patients across South Africa. At the start of 2015 we experienced shortages of benzathine penicillin G. We then switched to using ampicillin, but then we ran out of ampicillin as well, says Mark Sonderup, vice-chairman of the South African Medical Association (SAMA). Intramuscular antibiotic benzathine penicillin G is critical to control rheumatic heart disease, an illness that kills thousands of people every year and from which Stella and 33 million others worldwide suffer. Patients can develop the illness from a simple strep throat infection. Strep throat can be easily cured with a single injection of penicillin, but if left untreated, the bacteria causing the infection can infect other parts of the body, including the heart, damaging the valves and changing the lives of patients forever. Shortages of penicillin make treatment for this preventable disease harder. Clearly, stock outs are a problem. It means there is limited access to treatment and that is why rheumatic heart disease still persists, explains Bongani Mayosi, president of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR). A worldwide shortage South Africa isnt alone in its struggle. At least 18 countries, including the US, Canada, Portugal, France and Brazil, have faced shortages of benzathine penicillin G over the past three years, according to the World Health Organization. In the US, a year-long shortage of benzathine penicillin G has made treating syphilis a disease that is growing in prevalence more difficult. In Brazil, a three-year shortage of benzathine penicillin G came amid an outbreak of syphilis, a disease linked to severe malformation in babies. The antibiotic is the only drug that can kill the syphilis bacteria in the fetus. The Ministry of Health worked hard to recommend substitute drugs during the shortage, but there is no scientific basis that some of these antibiotics recommended actually pass through the placenta wall, explains Maria Luiza Bezerra Menezes, medical coordinator of hospital Cisam in Recife, the capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. Substitute medicines can also be more expensive. While a shot of benzathine penicillin G costs between $2.30 to $ 3.20 (R$7 to R$10) in Brazil, a dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone costs double. When untreated, syphilis during pregnancy can leave newborns blind and deaf and cause serious bone malformations. It is also linked to a high rate of stillbirths and infant mortality. Babies born with syphilis demand days of care, generating huge expenses. And sometimes we dont even have the right drug for treatment, says Luciane Cerqueira, a doctor at Hospital Universitario Pedro Ernesto in Rio de Janeiro and author of a recent study on syphilis in pregnant women in the city. In an attempt to tackle the shortage, Brazil last year imported an emergency stock of 2.7 million vials of benzathine penicillin G. But, despite such initiatives, doctors still struggle to source the antibiotic. The effect of this is seen in hospitals across Brazil. Debora SM, a 21-year-old resident of Recife, Brazil who asked that her full name not be disclosed, gave birth to a baby with neurosyphilis in mid-February. The young mother and her son could have been treated with one shot of penicillin, but despite making numerous visits to her local clinic, Debora had no antenatal screening tests during her pregnancy as there were no doctors in the facility to see her. Debora only found out that she and her baby had syphilis at the time of delivery. I got sad because my son was not born healthy, she says. Her baby was treated with penicillin for more than 10 days and has endured painful tests to assess the severity of his condition. Every time I see the injection I cry, she says. Over the next 18 months, both Debora and her son will need to regularly visit the health facility for tests. Only then will doctors be able to assess whether the baby has been left with any malformation and if the syphilis bacterium is no longer present in his central nervous system and brain. Why is there a shortage? Just four companies produce the active ingredient for penicillin a drug that changed modern medicine 76 years ago and because the medicine offers little profit, those companies keep production levels low. As penicillin has been used to treat diseases, such as syphilis and rheumatic heart disease, which disproportionately affect poorer countries, the extent of the demand for the drug also isnt always clearly captured. There is a market failure in the penicillin sector: there is a demand, but it comes from the poor, explains Ganesan Karthikeyan, a cardiologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. India has the highest number of deaths caused by rheumatic heart disease, with 111,000 fatal cases in 2015, according to WHO Global Health Estimates. But, despite the number of people affected, the supply of penicillin, the drug that can stop the disease, has been irregular in the country for the past 15 years. In the case of syphilis, 5.6 million people are infected around the world every year, but that is a small market from a pharmaceutical point of view, explains Andy Gray, a consultant pharmacist and senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The WHO has estimated that a shot of penicillin could have saved more than 53,000 babies from 30 countries who died from syphilis acquired in the womb in 2012. Another factor that contributes to shortages is the fragmentation of the production process. Most pharmaceutical companies source the raw materials and the core drug ingredient called API from other companies, then formulate the final medicine, package and sell it worldwide. So a disruption in one company in this chain can impact the global supply. If a manufacturer of the active pharmaceutical ingredient leaves the market, this affects the producers of the finished product, which may cause delays in production and affect countries sourcing the drug, says Maggie Savage, from the New Market Opportunities Team at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), which reviewed the global availability of benzathine penicillin G last year. Over the past decade, a few companies have left the market looking for more profitable products. There is no money in penicillin, so companies will not produce it, says New Delhi doctor Amit Sengupta, global coordinator of Peoples Health Movement, a global network of grassroots health activists, civil society organisations and academic institutions. Turning to China Countries hard hit by the shortages have turned to Chinese companies they had previously avoided buying medicines from as a way of ensuring access to this essential medicine. Last July, Brazil exempted a Chinese manufacturer, North China Pharmaceutical Group Semisyntech Co. Ltd, from a key local drug registry, intended to guarantee that drugs sold in the country are safe and efficient. The waiver benefited three Brazilian drugmakers, including Laboratorio Teuto, a local partner of Pfizer, allowing them to import the unregistered active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from the Chinese manufacturer. The exemption was granted seven months after North China Pharmaceutical Group Semisyntech Co. Ltds requests to sell benzathine penicillin G in Brazil were denied by the countrys drug agency on the grounds of non-compliance with good manufacturing standards. Prior to that, critical deficiencies were found in the Chinese plant by European authorities. During a visit by Frances drug agency in November 2014, inspectors found falsification of documents, lack of data integrity in the quality control laboratory and risk of contamination in the medicines assembled in the plant, which is located in the city of Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. The French authority recommended that the company to be prohibited from supplying penicillin to EU members. Following the inspection, the manufacturer also lost various certificates of suitability issued to drugs that meet high quality standards. Hong Kong, Ethiopia and Liberia recalled vials of penicillin made with ingredients from the plant and distributed by French drugmaker Laboratoires Panpharma, which sells antibiotics to more than 80 countries. In March, after another inspection by the EU, North China Pharmaceutical Group Semisyntech Co. Ltd received a certificate of good manufacturing practices but it was valid only for substances for veterinary use. In a statement, Brazils Ministry of Health said it has been encouraging local companies to manufacture penicillin. Neither Brazils Ministry of Health nor the countrys drug agency, Anvisa, replied to questions about the safety of the unregistered ingredients. North China Pharmaceutical Group Semisyntech Co. Ltd has not responded to requests for a comment. Penicillin production is difficult, says consultant pharmacist Gray. This is a product with no alternatives and you rely on a few huge global suppliers. Why arent more manufacturers producing penicillin? Three of the four companies that still produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient for benzathine penicillin G are located in China. These are North China Pharmaceutical Group Semisyntech Co. Ltd, CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd. and Jiangxi Dongfeng Pharmaceutical Co.. The fourth company is Austria-based Sandoz GmbH. These companies produce only 20 percent of what they could because benzathine penicillin G is off patent, offers little profit and because demand data is extremely limited, according to the WHO. The medicines cheap selling price also makes manufacturers disinclined to enter the market. With so few producers, drugmakers say they do not have many options when it comes to sourcing the drugs ingredients. Two years ago, while Portugal was struggling with a shortage of benzathine penicillin G, Portuguese drugmaker Laboratorios Atral SA turned to China after its former European supplier changed the presentation of the active substance which Atral says made it incompatible with its formulation process. Atral says none of the companies they evaluated in China had the full set of documents demanded by the the European Union, such as a certificate of suitability or the Active Substance Master File (ASMF), where a producer details its manufacturing process. But, with no other options, the European drugmaker assisted the manufacturer in bringing together a package of information in line with EU legislation. Atral says it has audited the Chinese manufacturer, whose name it hasnt disclosed, to ensure their standards. It is not easy. There are a few producers and, of those that are in the market, one is banned and the others dont have complete documentation, says Eduardo Oliveira, regulatory affairs director of Atral. The companys penicillin brand Lentocilli S is sold to at least five other countries. South Africa last year also sourced more than 242,000 vials of unregistered benzathine penicillin G from North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp (NCPC), the parenting company of Semisyntech, through an emergency scheme. Even India, a leading pharmaceutical producer, outsources almost all production of penicillin G to China, according to the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA). India became unviable as Chinas price is too low to compete with, says Ashok Kumar Madan, executive director of IDMA. Global reliance on a few manufacturers can compromise stability of supply as manufacturing delays or failure in one of these sites can affect several countries and millions of patients at once. Shortages mean sick people are sometimes treated with less efficient and more expensive drugs. According to a 2015 survey with European hospital pharmacists, half said patients were given inferior drugs during shortages. More than a third said stock outs led to medication errors. And stock outs are not rare. Hospital pharmacists in Europe will usually face difficulties in sourcing a medicine that is not immediately available in their country, notes Steve Glass, chief commercial officer of Clinigen for North America and Europe, a company that supplies hospitals with medicines. The regulators dilemma Such a small number of manufacturers also creates dilemmas for regulators, who have limited powers to restrict supply from some manufacturers, even when critical deficiencies have been found on their sites, fearing shortages of life-saving medicines. According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in the past regulators have had to leave poor-quality drugs on the market to prevent stock outs of essential medicines. Very difficult risk-benefit judgements had to be made between poor quality processes or product, or no product at all, said the agency in a 2012 report. The agency added that on occasion, the ability of regulators to take action against a manufacturing site was restricted, even when companies didnt comply with quality standards, in order to avoid shortages. Problems with manufacturing quality have intensified over recent decades as pharmaceutical companies increasingly source drug ingredients from external manufacturers, sometimes located far from where they operate. Experts warn that this practice can increase the risk of bad quality medicines and that a compliant supply chain is essential. Compliance with existing product safety regulations is clearly key to ensuring that pharmaceuticals are effective and do not harm patients health, says Natasha Hurley, campaign manager from Changing Markets Foundation, which has investigated the supply chain of drug companies over the last years. Lack of transparency is another issue. Companies rarely disclose who makes the drugs they sell, claiming the information is a matter of confidentiality. But poor visibility of the companies who actually produce drugs can make quality control more difficult. In the case of penicillin, where almost all global production is outsourced to third-party producers, the issue is even more urgent. The market itself is very fragmented. It has been a challenge to know who is really making the drug, says Rosemary Wyber, deputy director of RhEACH, a group that coordinates global actions to tackle rheumatic heart disease, who coordinated a report on the availability of benzathine penicillin G last year. The more we learn from the clinical side and the more we try understanding the manufacturing side, we realise this is not a transparent market at all. Are penicillin shortages contributing to antibiotic resistance? Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about antibiotic resistance fuelled by the use of substitute drugs that are not as effective as penicillin. Penicillin was once considered a miracle drug, but global shortages are pushing doctors towards substitute medicines such as azithromycin a drug increasingly found inefficient against certain strains of the bacterium known as Treponema pallidum, which causes syphilis. Genetic mutations that make the syphilis bacteria resistant to a family of antibiotics called macrolides, which includes drugs erythromycin and azithromycin, have been documented across the world over recent decades. The extensive use of these drugs is one of the reasons why resistant syphilis has emerged, according to researchers from the University of Zurich, authors of a paper about resistant strains of the disease. Penicillin is the first-line therapy against syphilis, but macrolides are used when penicillin is not available or in cases of penicillin allergy. While antibiotic resistance is a natural process, shortages of first-line medicines can increase the risk. If penicillin is not available, clinicians are forced to use second-line drugs, such as macrolides, says Lola Stamm, a microbiologist at University of North Carolina and author of a recent article on resistant syphilis bacteria. Azithromycin works for syphilis as long as the syphilis bacteria does not have a mutation that confers resistance to the drug. The problem now is that azithromycin-resistant Treponema pallidum has emerged and spread. While benzathine penicillin G is a narrow spectrum antibiotic that kills specific germs such as the ones that cause syphilis azithromycin is broad spectrum. This means that the drug targets multiple species of bacteria in the human body, including non-harmful ones, such as those that naturally live in the patients gut. This brings selection pressure among non-harmful bacteria and in turn these bugs develop various resistance mechanisms against broad spectrum antibiotics, explains Vikas Manchanda, assistant professor at the Maulana Azad Medical College, in New Delhi, India. This normal flora later transfers resistance to harmful bacteria and other germs in the patients own body as well as in the environment where they are shed, adds Manchanda. Broad spectrum drugs can also destroy essential bacteria naturally present in the human body, leaving a patient vulnerable to harmful germs. Shortages of benzathine penicillin G also push doctors into using antibiotics from the macrolide family to control group A strep, the germ related to rheumatic heart disease. But over the past decade, researchers have identified macrolide-resistant group A strep in countries such as Argentina, France, Canada, the US and China and the prevalence of resistant strains has been increasing. Macrolides have been used since the 1950s as an alternative therapy against these bacteria. However, azithromycins effectiveness in controlling rheumatic heart disease and avoiding further heart damage caused by group A strep is unknown and there is now evidence that the drug fails against resistant strains. Because of these, the medicine should be kept as a second-line option, but shortages of penicillin exacerbate its use. When injectable penicillin is not available, tablet antibiotics such as macrolides are used sometimes. For patients, this implies that tablets are equivalent to regular antibiotic injections. Unfortunately this is not the case tablet antibiotics are less effective and may have unintended effects on antimicrobial resistance, says Wyber of RhEACH. Macrolides in particular are concerning because they can drive resistance in group A strep themselves as well as other organisms like pneumococcus, she adds. Resistant bugs are a major public health threat worldwide. A recent report commissioned by the UK government estimated that 700,000 lives are lost annually to drug resistance. The report warns that, if not addressed now, resistant organisms will kill as many as 10 million people a year by 2050, with a loss of up to $100 trillion to the global economy. This scenario has prompted the World Health Organization to name antibiotic resistance as as one of the most important public health threats of the 21st century. No money in the market The evolution of bacteria to adapt to the drugs that are meant to kill them was documented soon after the introduction of the first antibiotics. For example, penicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, linked to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis, began to rise as penicillin became widely available after World War II. More recently, resistance has become a growing problem as the discoveries of new antibiotics have slowed down, while shortages of old and useful drugs are on the rise, limiting the options available for treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only nine new antibiotics were developed and approved in the US between 2005 and 2014 a third of the number of drugs approved in the 1980s. Fewer antibiotics are being developed because these drugs now offer lower margins than other medicines, such as those targeting rare and chronic diseases. A 2011 study from the London School of Economics estimated that the cost of developing a new drug ranges from $802 million to $1.7 billion. But while the net present value the relationship between the projected costs and revenues of a product for injectable antibiotics stood at $100 million, the forecast for drugs to treat musculoskeletal disorders, such as arthritis, was over $1 billion. Last year, of the 2,240 new drugs being developed only eight percent were from the anti-infectives family, which includes antibiotics, according to a report by QuintilesIMS Institute. On top of fewer antibiotics being made, old drugs are increasingly under shortage, because they are cheap and offer little profit. However, ensuring access to these drugs is crucial for tackling the spread of resistance, argue experts. We need new antibiotics, but we also need to preserve the existing ones because they can save us right now, says Celine Pulcini, who has coordinated a study on shortages of old antibiotics and resistance in 39 countries across North America and Europe. The researcher and her team found out that several old medicines useful against resistant germs were not available in most of the countries surveyed in 2015, mainly for economic reasons. Benzathine penicillin G, which costs as much as $2 a vial, was unavailable in 20 of the nations surveyed. When you dont have penicillin to treat syphilis you use ceftriaxone or macrolides, which are second-line drugs, and then the problem of resistance arises. That is not good for the patient in terms of efficacy and it is not good for the world because this selects more resistance, says Pulcini. Pulcini argues that the development of new drugs should be pursued together with ensuring that old medicines are available for patients. There is a very strong focus on new drugs but almost nothing much is said about existing ones. And that is basically because there is no much money in this market. The price is so low that nobody is interested. It must be a top priority for governments to solve this, she adds. We need new business models and incentives to have old antibiotics in the market, otherwise we will just lose these drugs. This project has been funded by the European Journalism Centre (EJC) via its Innovation Development Reporting Grant Programme. Indonesia has an extremism problem. On May 9, a court convicted the sitting governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, to two years in prison for blasphemy despite a startling lack of evidence. The presiding judges issued this ruling under immense pressure from hardline Islamic groups, overruling the wishes of even the prosecution, which had recommended against a prison sentence. The ruling sent shockwaves through Indonesian society, and outpourings of grief echoed across the nation. Indonesian politicians have been jailed in the past often for corruption but never has someone this prominent fallen victim to Indonesias strict blasphemy statute. And never before has the impression of a trial by mob been so stark. Only weeks earlier, Ahok had lost his bid for re-election after a campaign in which he was repeatedly targeted for his religion and ethnicity by hardline groups. As a Christian and an ethnic Chinese, Ahok is a double-minority among Indonesias majority Muslim population. His ascent to the governorship of Indonesias capital in 2014 was a milestone in the countrys efforts to strengthen its respect for diversity and tolerance. But despite this milestone, over the past several years, Indonesia has also seen an alarming rise in religious extremism and the growing popularity of hardline groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). These groups led mass protests calling for Ahok to be jailed some of which turned violent and pressured Muslim residents to vote against him because of his religion. Ahoks election loss and subsequent conviction are the latest and most striking signs that groups such as FPI may be gaining the upper hand with the help of politicians who do not mind politicising religious concerns to win elections. OPINION: Islam and politics Indonesias identity crisis There has been plenty of hand-wringing about how Indonesia can confront this rising threat, and how countries around the world can address similar challenges. But we need not reinvent the wheel. For years, Indonesia has been viewed as a model of moderate Islam, and with good reason. There have been relatively few terrorist attacks in the past two decades, and the country does not suffer from the kind of significant radicalisation that many Middle Eastern or even some European countries have experienced. Returning to Pancasila This reputation for tolerance is rooted in Indonesias founding ideology of Pancasila, literally meaning five principles, which is featured in the preamble to the Indonesian constitution dating back to independence in 1945. Pancasilas principles are: belief in God, shared humanity, national unity, democracy, and social justice. In forging a path toward progress and away from extremism, Indonesia must return to its roots and redouble its efforts to strengthen the nation's resolve behind the unifying ideology of Pancasila. by This first pillar, belief in God, is distinct from embracing any one religion. Instead, it recognises the religious diversity that has existed in Indonesia for centuries and proclaims it as an asset. In this way, it forms the basis for Indonesias historical embrace of pluralism and moderation. Under Pancasila, whether you are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu, you are a citizen of Indonesia and a valued member of society. But the other pillars are equally important to sustaining a culture of tolerance. Commitments to shared humanity, social justice and national unity form the building blocks of an inclusive society, and democracy helps to ensure that the peoples voice is heard. History has shown that respect for democratic freedoms, human rights and shared prosperity are some of the most successful tools for combating extremism in the long run. Pancasila has served Indonesia well in the past as an ideology compatible with both Islam and human rights. It also presents a model for other nations characterised by significant ethnic and religious diversity. The Indonesian government has received official religious delegations from Muslim countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt, who are eager to learn from Indonesias experience. Pancasila has also been used in crafting successful de-radicalisation programmes and strategies to counter violent extremism and terrorism. But Pancasila itself is also under attack from hard-liners today. The leader of FPI, Rizieq Shihab, for instance, has argued that the pillar about belief in God should be more important than the others, even going so far as to criticise Indonesias founding father, Sukarno, for his supposed downgrading of religion within the ideological framework he created. The argument is a clear attempt to undermine Pancasila by creating a battle over interpretation of its principles a common tool used by extremists to dilute the power of alternatives to their preferred ideology. The way forward An effort, therefore, must be made to recover this influential indigenous ideology as a critical component of Indonesias unique approach to confronting fundamentalism. Indonesian President Joko Widodo issued a decree on June 1, 2016 proclaiming the anniversary of the birth of Pancasila as a national holiday and urging the nation to reflect on the ideologys significance. This year, with Ahok consigned to a prison cell and the Indonesian public more polarised than ever, the second annual Pancasila Day should be an occasion to renew our commitment to tolerance. As Indonesias future appears increasingly uncertain, we must not give in to a narrative of us versus them. We cannot abandon our democracy, our commitment to consensus-based decision-making, or our work to enshrine human rights principles in policy and legislation. The nation already possesses the tools to confront this challenge tools rooted in our founding documents and successful past approaches. In forging a path toward progress and away from extremism, Indonesia must return to its roots and redouble its efforts to strengthen the nations resolve behind the unifying ideology of Pancasila. Eva Kusuma Sundari is a member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Vice Chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights. She is also a founding member of the Pancasila Caucus in the Indonesian Parliament, which focuses on freedom of religion or belief. Before becoming a member of Parliament in 2004, she was active in the womens movement and NGOs in Indonesia. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Authorities and aid agencies struggling with surge in displacement since start of offensive last October against ISIL. Up to 200,000 more people could flee Mosul as Iraqi forces push into the last districts held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, according to the UN. Nearly 700,000 people have fled Mosul since the start of the campaign to retake the city last October, seeking refuge either with friends and relatives or in camps. As military operations intensify and move closer to Mosuls Old City area, we expect that up to 200,000 more people will flee, Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement on Thursday, describing the figures as alarming. The numbers of the people moving are now so large, its becoming more and more difficult to ensure civilians receive the assistance and protection they need. Human Rights Watch said the Iraqi army and other local security officials had forced over 300 displaced families to return to districts of Mosul that are still at risk of attack by ISIL fighters. These families should not be forcibly returned to unsafe areas and areas that lack adequate water, food, electricity, or health facilities, said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Backed by a US-led coalition, Iraqi forces have dislodged ISIL from all but about 12 square km of the city and are seeking to claim victory before the holy month of Ramadan, which is a little more than a week away. The ISIL fighters, however, still control the Old City, where they are expected to make their last stand in the densely populated and narrow streets that are impassable for armoured vehicles. Very small area On Sunday, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasoul said the area controlled by ISIL was no more than nine percent of west Mosul, which is bisected by the River Tigris. Its a very small area, he told Reuters news agency. God willing, this is the final phase. The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service stormed the Ureibi and Rifaie districts at dawn on Sunday, according to a statement from the Joint Operations Command. At the same time, the armys ninth division and the interior ministrys elite Emergency Response Division attacked the ISIL bastion of 17 Tammouz. Supreme leader denounces heated rhetoric and calls for high voter turnout as candidates hold last rallies ahead of poll. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced the heated rhetoric of the countrys presidential election campaign, calling it unworthy, less than two days before Iranians go to the polls. With the withdrawal of other candidates, Fridays election has turned into what is seen as an unexpectedly tight race between incumbent President Hassan Rouhani of the Reformist bloc, and Ebrahim Raisi, a Principlist cleric and jurist. The two squared off last week in a fiery televised debate, the third and final such event ahead of the May 19 vote. In the election debates, some remarks were made that were unworthy of the Iranian nation. But the [wide] participation of the people will erase all of that, Khamenei told an audience on Wednesday, according to his website. READ MORE: The most important questions about Irans elections While Khamenei did not mention any candidate by name, his criticism appeared to be aimed at Rouhani, who during last weeks debate told his main opponent: Mr Raisi, you can slander me as much as you wish. As a judge of the clerical court, you can even issue an arrest order. But please dont abuse religion for power. He also said: Some security and revolutionary groups are bussing people to your campaign rallies Who finances them? Raisi, who is seen to be very close to Khamenei, had previously attacked Rouhani for failing to deliver promised improvements to the economy. Poverty has increased with this government from 23 percent to 33 percent, said Raisi. We must increase direct aid to the poor, he added, accusing Rouhanis government of boosting subsidies only at the last minute to grab votes. READ MORE: How will election shape Irans foreign policy? Under Irans ruling system, Khamenei, who has been in office since 1989, has more authority than the elected president. Yet the supreme leader is traditionally expected to remain above the fray of day-to-day politics, and Khamenei has generally limited his comments about the election to calling for strong voter turnout. On Wednesday, the last day of campaigning that was marked by rallies attended by tens of thousands of supporters of the two main candidates, Khamenei urged voters to head to the polls and send a message to Irans adversaries. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said turnout is expected to exceed 70 percent. Some 56.4 million people out of a population of 80 million are eligible to vote. Fazli said that vote counting would commence after midnight and that the results would be announced sooner than in previous elections. In past occasions, results were announced two days later. Fridays election will largely serve as a referendum on Rouhanis outreach to the West, which culminated in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Under the accord, Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. Despite the deal, Khamenei remains deeply suspicious of the United States and its intentions towards Iran. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump passed up a chance to derail the nuclear deal with Iran and capitalise on his campaign promise to rip up the agreement. OPINION: Are elections in Iran an exercise in futility? Trump had until Thursday to extend a sanctions waiver on Iran. The US state department announced a day earlier it would be signed, meaning old sanctions would not be re-imposed and the nuclear deal will continue at least for now. The department also announced the imposition of new unrelated sanctions against Iranian defence officials and an Iranian entity. It also pledged to continue reviewing the nuclear deal with withdrawal still possible. Rouhani has vowed to work towards removing the remaining non-nuclear sanctions, but Hamed Mousavi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera that the Trump presidency has made that promise unlikely. With Trump in power in the United States, that seems very doubtful, Mousavi said. The US administration, right now, doesnt even want to negotiate with Iran. So whether [Rouhani] will be able to lift the even non-nuclear sanctions is more an election promise than actual policy, he added. Al Jazeeras Jonah Hull, reporting from the capital, Tehran, said Trumps decision on Wednesday could be a boost for Rouhani. So much tracks back here to the 2015 deal that so many people placed their hopes of economic progress and re-engagement in the world, but many have found themselves disappointed, Hull said, pointing to high unemployment rates. We dont turn back Rouhanis opponents have criticised him over his economic record, saying his diplomatic efforts have done little to tackle unemployment and poverty. Unemployment is officially stuck at 12.5 percent close to 30 percent for the young and many more are under-employed or struggling to get by. Raisi has tried to pick up working-class votes by promising more financial support. Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons, reporting from the city of Qom, said those promises have played an important role in the campaign. What Raisi is depending on is a surge from those who are underprivileged, those who are poor, those who traditionally go to this camp in Iranian politics, and those assurances by Raisi, whether they can be afforded or not, of handouts to the poor, Simmons said. For his part, Rouhani, who took over in 2013, says he needs more time to rebuild an economy that had been shattered by years of sanctions and mismanagement. At the halfway point, we dont turn back, he told voters. Besides Rouhani and his challenger, Raisi, two other candidates Mostafa Hashemitaba, a pro-reform figure who previously ran for president in 2001, and Mostafa Mirsalim, a former culture minister are in the race but are widely expected to drop out before polling begins. The US coalition backing the Syrian Democratic Forces estimates that 3,000 to 4,000 ISIL fighters are holed up in Raqqa. A US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has seized 350 square kilometres over the past week in Syrias Raqqa province, tightening their noose on ISIL in an advance to isolate its base of operations, a spokesman for a US-led coalition said on Wednesday. Some 3,000 to 4,000 ISIL fighters are thought to be holed up in Raqqa city where they continue to erect defences against the anticipated assault, Colonel Ryan Dillon told the Reuters news agency in a phone interview from Iraqs capital, Baghdad. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been encircling Raqqa, ISILs self-proclaimed capital in Syria, since November. Last week, its fighters accomplished a major goal by capturing Tabqa, a previously ISIL-held town some 50km west of Raqqa, and a strategic dam nearby. In the last week, the SDF have tightened their noose around ISIL in the northern and eastern and western part of Raqqa, Dillon said. OPINION: Westerners joining the fight against ISIL are no heroes Backed by coalition air raids, SDF fighters had drawn as near as four kilometres to Raqqa at their closest point to the city. They have taken almost 350 sq km of ground from ISIL, so they continue to just encroach and tighten, and tighten and tighten that isolation ring, quite frankly largely uncontested, he said. US arms shipments The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG armed group, said last week it plans to launch the final assault on Raqqa city in early summer. YPG and SDF officials had previously given April start dates for the assault, but these slipped as the battle for Tabqa dragged on. READ MORE: Syrias war explained from the beginning Asked about the timeframe, Dillon said: We do not try to stick to a timeline. Theres a principle of war called surprise and we want to achieve that and we want our partner force to achieve that when they do decide it is the right time and place or places to start their assault. While the coalition already has armed Arab fighters in the SDF, the White House last week authorised supplying weapons for the YPG to help in the Raqqa assault. Dillon said there had been no deliveries and no specifics on the types of weapons and equipment the SDF will receive. People are starving Meanwhile, people who have returned to Tabqa have found destruction and a shortage of food in the wake of ISILs departure. People are starving and they are fighting each other for bread, Abu Mohammed, a resident of the town, told Al Jazeera. Theyre exhausted; they feel as though they are dying but thank God, we are saved and we can live again. Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Gaziantep in neighbouring Turkey, said there are reports of heavy fighting in the countryside to the north and east of [Tabqa]. But there are also growing concerns about what the UN describes as hundreds of thousands of people who are expected to flee the fighting as it intensifies in the days and weeks ahead. READ MORE: From Mosul to Raqqa Our family is still suffering The SDF recently said in a statement that Tabqa would be turned over to a civilian council once fully secured. It also said the authority that oversees the Tabqa dam would remain a national Syrian institution that will serve all the regions of Syria without exception. Officials say air attack targeted fighters near al-Tanf who posed a threat to US-backed forces near the Jordan border. The US military has carried out an air raid against a convoy of Syrian pro-government fighters who, it said, posed a threat to US-backed forces in the countrys south near the Jordan border. A US official said on Thursday the attack near the town of al-Tanf destroyed at least one tank and a bulldozer, while another official said they followed warning shots by US aircraft meant to dissuade the fighters from advancing further. We are not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war, but we will defend our troops, James Mattis, the US defence secretary, said on Thursday when asked about the attack. And that is a coalition element made up of more than just US troops, and so we will defend ourselves [if] people take aggressive steps against us. However, the al-Tanf attack raises questions about the ongoing feasibility for the US-led coalition to maintain its singular focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. Syrias civil war began in 2011 after mass protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad and has killed hundreds of thousands of people, driven half the countrys population from their homes and dragged in world powers. Reaction to US attack The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said eight non-Syrian fighters were killed in the US attack. The SOHR statement appeared to confirm a statement by an official from a US-backed Syrian rebel group who told Reuters news agency that the convoy comprised Syrian and Iranian militia members. According to Western intelligence and rebel commanders quoted by Reuters, the Syrian army is seeking to retake the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, which has been used in the past to smuggle Iranian weapons into Syria. Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syria border, said the al-Tanf attack is a worrying development. We are beginning to get some reaction from the Syrian pro-government media, according to which there were pro-government militia members in the convoy, which was made up of five T62 tanks, he said. Two of those tanks were destroyed and six people were killed and three wounded. Reporting from Geneva, where the sixth round of talks is taking place, Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoon, said: A military source said the US-led coalition will not allow the Iranian militias to reach the border between Syria and Iraq in order to have an opportunity to connect with Iranian militias on the Iraqi side. The source said that the Americans will have to protect their position because the alternative would be tantamount to a withdrawal that would leave the front line to ISIL and Iranian militias. Residents killed Earlier on Thursday, Syrian state media and SOHR said ISIL fighters attacked villages near the only useable road that links the government-controlled cities of Aleppo and Homs, killing many residents. SOHR said 52 people, civilians and fighters on both sides, were killed and dozens injured in the attacks. It said at least 15 of the victims were civilians, including five children, and three of them died in execution-style killings. State-run SANA news agency said ISIL killed 20 people in the village of Aqarib al-Safi, east of Hama city, before the army and allied militia repulsed the attack. SOHR said ISIL, also known as ISIS, seized Aqarib al-Safi and parts of the nearby village of al-Mabouja as the clashes raged. ISIL confirmed on social media that its fighters had captured Aqarib al-Safi. Tightening the noose Elsewhere in Syria, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has seized 350 square kilometres in Raqqa province over the past week, tightening the noose on ISIL in an advance to isolate its base of operations, a spokesman for a US-led coalition said on Wednesday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance has been encircling Raqqa, ISILs self-proclaimed capital in Syria, since November. Last week, its forces accomplished a major goal by capturing Tabqa, a previously ISIL-held town about 50km west of Raqqa, and a strategic dam nearby. Al Jazeeras Stratford said there are reports of heavy fighting in the countryside to the north and east of [Tabqa]. But there are also growing concerns about what the UN describes as hundreds of thousands of people who are expected to flee the fighting as it intensifies in the days and weeks ahead. US expresses concern in strongest possible terms after violence erupted outside the Turkish embassy. The United States said it voiced its strongest possible concern to Turkey over a street brawl that erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during President Recep Tayyip Erdogans visit to Washington. Police said the fighting outside the Turkish ambassadors residence on Tuesday injured 11 people, including a Washington police officer, and led to two arrests for assault. At least one of those arrested was a protester. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Wednesday. A video posted online showed men in dark suits chasing anti-government protesters and punching and kicking them as police intervened. Two men were bloodied from head wounds as bystanders assisted dazed protesters. Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham said in a news conference on Wednesday that police had a good idea of most of the assailants identities and were investigating with the Secret Service and State Department. Turkeys official Anadolu state news agency reported that protesters were chanting anti-Erdogan slogans as the president entered the residence after meeting US President Donald Trump to discuss the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters. Police did not heed Turkish demands to intervene, the news agency said, and Erdogans security team and Turkish citizens moved in and dispersed them. The Turkish Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Tens of thousands of Turks have been detained as Erdogan cracked down on the press and academia following an attempted coup in 2016. READ MORE: Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump hold talks House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, a California Republican, called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to hold individuals accountable for the attack. In a statement, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the violence an affront to DC [District of Columbia] values and our rights as Americans. Mehmet Tankan, 31, said he was one of a dozen protesters outside the ambassadors residence chanting slogans when the brawl broke out. The next time they could kill us easily. Im scared now too because I dont know how it will affect my life here in the United States, said Tankan, who lives in Arlington, Virginia. Decision to pick ex-FBI head to probe alleged Russian interference in 2016 vote condemned by Trump as witch-hunt. US President Donald Trump has denounced the appointment of a special counsel to lead the Russia investigation as the single greatest witch-hunt in American history. In the face of rising pressure from Congress, the US justice department named Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. In a pair of Twitter posts on Thursday morning, Trump made clear he was unhappy with the latest crisis to grip his four-month-old administration. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 The comments echoed in a speech by Trump on Wednesday, before Muellers appointment was announced, in which he said no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly. Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, described Mueller as someone who is very much viewed as bipartisan a vigorously independent figure and one who has much respect within the FBI itself. The decision to move to an independent investigation came a week after Trump abruptly dismissed James Comey from his post as FBI director, stirring up a political storm as the agency was in the midst of an investigation into the Russia matter. Undisclosed interactions Trump cited displeasure with the Russia inquiry as a factor in dismissing Comey. Later reports also referred to Trump allegedly asking Comey in February to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, over contacts he had had with Russia. Flynn and other advisers on Trumps campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former US officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters news agency. The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators investigating Russian interference in the US presidential election and contacts between Trumps campaign and Russia. Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Sergey Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the US, and Trump advisers, including Flynn, three current and former officials said. Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the November 8 vote as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the US national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current US officials said. In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time. UN court orders Pakistan to stay the execution of Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer, in a setback to Islamabad. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Pakistan to stay the execution of an Indian national convicted of spying. India approached the top UN court after Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month on charges of espionage and sabotage. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings, the ICJ ruled in a unanimous and binding decision on Thursday. Ronny Abraham, the Hague-based courts president, also asked Pakistan to inform the tribunal that it will implement the ruling, and stressed that ICJ decisions are binding on all state members. The ICJs rulings are final and binding. Yet, the court has no means to enforce its decisions and they have occasionally been ignored. The hearings and, final decision, could take more many months, if not years. Pakistans government accepted the decision of the court, saying that the orders do not affect the current status of Jadhavs case as his execution was not imminent, given pending appeals. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision... by ICJ order As far as Pakistan is concerned, the courts decision today has not changed the status of Commander Jadhavs case in any manner, said a statement from the Pakistani attorney general. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case. In its arguments, Pakistan had cited a 2008 bilateral agreement on consular access with India where both sides agreed that in case of arrest, detention or sentence made on political or security grounds, each side may examine the case on its merits. Pakistans lawyers argued that Jadhav was denied consular access because the issue was one of national security. The argument was rejected by the ICJ. Jadhav was arrested in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan in March 2016. Indian argument India, which denies Jadhav is a spy, had urged the UN court to declare the verdict illegal and order Pakistan to release him. India argued in a preliminary hearing at the ICJ on Monday that Islamabad violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying Jadhav access to legal assistance. Deepak Mittal, the Indian lawyer, told the tribunal that Jadhav was an innocent Indian national who had been held incommunicado for more than a year on concocted charges. But Pakistani representatives accused India of political grandstanding and told the court Jadhav has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan. The last time India and Pakistan took a dispute to the ICJ was in 1999 when Islamabad protested against the downing of a Pakistani navy plane that killed 16 people. In that case, the tribunal decided it was not competent to rule in the dispute and closed the case. The number of immigrants arrested by US authorities has soared in the first months of Donald Trumps administration, rising by nearly 40 percent, according to new official figures. Trump has emboldened immigration agents in a crackdown on people suspected of being in the country without documents. The numbers released on Wednesday by Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are seen as a snapshot of how the new president is following through on his campaign promises to make immigration enforcement a top priority. Overall, 41,300 people were arrested for deportation between January 22 and April 29, a 38 percent increase from a comparable period last year. In contradiction to Trumps past claims that immigrants with criminal convictions would be prioritised for deportation, nearly 11,000 had no criminal convictions. That is more than double the number of immigrants without criminal convictions arrested during a comparable period last year. That increase is a result of recent guidance given by Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, to implement Trumps executive orders on interior immigration enforcement and border security signed on January 25, just days after the Republican president took office. Going after the wrong people Silvia Avelar-Flores, a 31-year-old mother of three from Utah, was picked up by immigration agents enforcing an old deportation order last month while she was shopping with her eight-year-old daughter in a Salt Lake City suburb. She was released and given three months to plan her return to Mexico, a country she left as a young girl. Avelar-Flores plans to take her youngest daughter, aged two, with her and leave her 10-year-old-son and eight-year-old daughter with her husband, who has permanent US residency. I dont think its fair, Alves-Flores said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency. I understand that they want to fix everything, you know, but they are going after the wrong people. Trump said he was just going for the criminals, and thats not happening. Other examples highlighted by advocates include an Indian taxi driver in southern California recently arrested during a routine check-in with immigration authorities and a Mexican man facing deportation after nearly two decades in the US. Jose Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo, who was living in Michigan, is being held in a Louisiana detention facility while lawyers try to block his deportation. READ MORE: In the colonias of Texas, living on the edge ICEs Homan said the increase in arrests stems from stepped up immigration enforcement, adding that morale has improved among agents under Trump because they are allowed to do their job. Their job is to enforce the law, and that is exactly what theyre doing, he said. Even so, deportations were down from late January to late April compared with a year ago despite the new presidents stepped-up immigration enforcement pledge. The increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions has generated outrage across the US from Trump opponents who believe otherwise law-abiding families are being rounded up. Destroying our families The report was made public as the Trump administration seeks to promote its accomplishments despite a growing scandal over the firing of the FBI director and the sharing of intelligence with Russian officials. The president puts this out to distract from the real affairs of our country, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, told AP. It is unfortunate that he basically is using the pain and destroying our families as a way by which to give red meat to his base. Immigration arrests doubled in the Miami and Dallas metro areas. They rose by five percent in and around Los Angeles and dropped slightly in the San Francisco area. READ MORE: The undocumented immigrants deported under Trump While arrests of immigrants rose, the number of deportations fell 12 percent during the period, ICEs Homan said. He attributed the drop to a decline in arrests on the US-Mexico border where immigrants are usually sent home quickly and a lengthy backlog in US immigration courts that issue deportation orders. On Wednesday, state attorneys general from New York, California, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington, DC, issued a report laying out why they have chosen to limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents. A section of one of the presidents executive orders, which aimed to cut off federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities, has been blocked by a federal judge in California. Mutaz Bani Shamsa killed by settler during a protest for hunger-striking prisoners, Palestinian health ministry says. An Israeli settler has shot and killed a 23-year-old Palestinian during a protest in solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials. The Palestinian health ministry said the victim succumbed to his wounds on Thursday shortly after being shot at by the settler who fired live ammunition on protesters near a military checkpoint in the village of Huwwara, local Maan News Agency reported. Palestinian security sources told AFP news agency that a clash near the checkpoint erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to cross a crowd of protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire. The Palestinian killed was identified by local media and the health ministry as Mutaz Bani Shamsa, from a village near Nablus. Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 22 Palestinians, among them seven children, so far this year, according to an Al Jazeera count. Palestinian journalist Majdi Eshtayya was also wounded with live bullets shot by the settler and was transferred to Rafidia hospital where medical sources described his injuries as moderate, Maan said. Speaking to Al Jazeera by telephone, an Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that a Palestinian was shot dead near Huwwara, but she was unable to confirm the individuals name. Claiming that clashes broke out when Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli vehicles, she said: One of the Israelis whose car was damaged claimed to have fired into the air. We are aware of one [fatality] and another that was injured. Shamsas killing came just a week after Israeli forces shot dead 20-year-old Saba Nidal Obaid as he participated in a prisoner solidarity protest in the Ramallah-area village of Nabi Saleh. READ MORE: Palestinian hunger strikers had no choice Israel transferred the estimated 1,300 hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoners to three prisons with nearby hospitals late on Wednesday, according to a Palestinian official. The strike entered its 32nd day on Thursday. This step indicates the seriousness of the health conditions of the hunger strikers, said Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners Affairs, in a statement, claiming that the prisoners were concentrated in the three facilities because of their proximity to Israeli hospitals. The Israel Prison Services did not reply to Al Jazeeras inquiries. Settler attacks More than half a million Israelis live in guarded, Jewish-only settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group BTSelem. These settlements are considered illegal by the international community. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 107 settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2016, and another 46 attacks so far this year. READ MORE: Israeli settler attacks deepen fears among Palestinians Just a day before Shamsas killing, a group of settlers attacked and hospitalised a Palestinian civilian, Youssef Abu Bakr, near the Huwwara area, reported Maan. Human rights groups have often argued that Israeli settlers enjoy impunity when they commit violence targeting Palestinians or their property. Of 289 cases of ideologically-motivated offences documented by the Yesh Din rights group between 2013 and 2016, only 8.2 percent led to indictments against offenders, according to the groups March 2017 report. The Commerce Department had determined that imports of steel reinforcement bar, also known as rebar, from Turkey and Japan are being dumped on the U.S. market at unfair prices. The Commerce Department had determined that imports of steel reinforcement bar, also known as rebar, from Turkey and Japan are being dumped on the U.S. market at unfair prices. In addition, the department said the Turkish government is unfairly subsidizing these shipments. Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells its products in the United States at unfair prices, while countervailable subsidies are payments by foreign governments to domestic producers based on their export performance or use of domestic inputs over imported goods. Based on its investigations, Commerce determined that Japanese exporters have dumped rebar in the United States at 206.43 percent to 209.46 percent less than fair value, while Turkish exporters have sold the same product in the United States at 5.39 percent to 8.17 percent less than fair value and received unfair government subsidies of 16.21 percent. Steel rebar imports from Japan have increased from 23,335 metric tons worth $12.3 million in 2013 to 242,336 metric tons in 2015 worth $108.7 million. Similarly, rebar imports from Turkey have increased from 650,049 metric tons worth $381.3 million in 2013 to 1,474,457 metric tons worth $674.4 million in 2015. According to the department, imports of steel rebar from Japan in 2016 were estimated at $96.1 million, while these same imports from Turkey were $511.9 million. Commerce has now instructed Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of rebar based on these final antidumping and countervailing duty rates. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is conducting a parallel investigation to determine if the American producers have been harmed by steel rebar imports from Japan and Turkey. The ITC is scheduled to make its final determination by June 29. If the ITC does not find that U.S. producers have been harmed, then the investigations will end, and no duties will be collected. The petitioners for these investigations included Byer Steel Group of Cincinnati; Commercial Materials Co. in Irving, Texas; Gerdau Armisteel of Tampa, Fla.; Nucor Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.; and Steel Dynamics of Pittsboro, Ind. Since Jan. 20, Commerce has initiated 44 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Commerce currently maintains 390 antidumping and countervailing duty orders. Reported Israeli intelligence on plane-bomb plan came from Jordanian spies inside ISIL, officials tell Al Jazeera. Intelligence on an ISIL airliner bomb plot given by US President Donald Trump to Russian officials originated in part with Jordanian spies, not Israelis,veteran Jordanian intelligence officials told Al Jazeera. According to several US media reports, Trumps disclosure of sensitive intelligence to the Russians may have endangered an Israeli spy inside Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ABC News reported on Tuesday the life of the spy is now at risk. But several Jordanian sources who spoke on condition of anonymity doubted this assertion. They said they dont believe Israel has any high level spies inside ISIL and depends instead on intelligence sharing with Arab spy services partners. When it comes to ISIL, unlike Jordan, Israel relies on its electronic surveillance collection and its intelligence sharing-arrangement with its Arab partners, one source said. Jordan, however, relies on human intelligence spies on the ground who infiltrate armed groups. Jordanian intelligence has assets inside several fighting groups in Syria and Iraq, including ISIL, the officials said. The intelligence that Israel reportedly shared with the US came partly from Jordanian spies, the sources said. Former CIA case officer John Kiriakou told Al Jazeera he too doubted the Israelis were able to run a spy inside ISILs ranks. A senior Salafist Sheikh in Jordan said that he too doubts that Israel may have spies high-up within ISILs power structure. The sheikh who has first-hand knowledge of how groups like ISIL operate said Israel might be able to recruit spies in Gaza, because it has tight control over its lifelines, but not in Raqqa or Mosul. Israel has the most sophisticated electronic surveillance collection in the region, however, which gives it the ability to intercept communications throughout the Middle East region. The CIA declined to comment on this report. According to estimates, several thousand Jordanian citizens have joined ISIL in the past few years. Many of the Jordanian ISIL fighters are in the Raqqa region, the groups de facto capital in Syria. Many of the Jordanians assumed high-ranking positions within ISIL, and several were killed in Syria during air strikes in recent months, the sources said. The latest senior Jordanian ISIL member to be killed in Syria is Sami Muslih al Naimi. Al Naimi was known as the Emir of the Southern Sector of ISIL-controlled territory in Syria. He was killed on Wednesday. READ MORE: Was Israel behind US laptop ban on Mideast airlines? One of the most well-known is Qutaiba al-Majali and Ayed al Daajah. Majali and al Daajah appeared in a video published on YouTube last April making threats against Jordan and the United States. Last March Trump signed an executive order to ban citizens of six Muslim nations from traveling to the United States, citing security threats. Hasan Abu Haniyeh, a Jordanian security analyst, told Al Jazeera ISIL is facing a real crisis when it comes to foreign-spy infiltration into its ranks. Haniyeh pointed to the recent ISIL execution of a reported Russian FSB agent who was caught and beheaded. Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for removal of US diplomat coordinating coalition against ISIL. Turkey has called for the removal of the US diplomat coordinating an international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq, accusing him of backing Syrian Kurdish fighters. Ankara regards the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group, which has been fighting a decades-old armed campaign in southeast Turkey and is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Yet the US views the YPG, a central part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as its main ally in the battle on the ground against ISIL. Earlier in May, US President Donald Trump pledged to arm the group ahead of a planned attack on Raqqa, ISILs self-proclaimed capital in Syria. READ MORE: Turkey condemns US move to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkeys foreign minister, said on Thursday he wanted Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, removed from his post. McGurk is definitely giving support to PKK and YPG. It would be useful if this person was replaced, Cavusoglu told the private NTV television. Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Geneva where a new round of United Nations-backed Syria talks is currently under way, said Cavusoglus comments were definitely significant. He added, however, that it was still early to call this a diplomatic rupture as it was still unclear what Ankaras next moves would be. Jamjoom said that Turkish officials had been critical of McGurk in the past, accusing him of being too supportive towards the Kurds. That has angered the Turks on many occasions but this is different, he said. This is ratcheting up the rhetoric at a time that is fraught with a lot of tension and there is such a concerted effort to defeat ISIL. The question now becomes what more is Turkey prepared to do to put pressure on the US. Doruk Ergun, a security policy analyst, said Cavusoglus comments did not represent an official request from Ankara, but rather an airing of Turkish frustration. Turkey initially hoped that with the incoming administration, [ex-President Barack] Obama-era policies would be replaced, he told Al Jazeera from Istanbul. This shows that Turkey hopes were misplaced and displays Turkeys frustration with the Trump administration, which very much continues the Obama administrations policies on Syria. READ MORE: SDF tightens noose on Syrias Raqqa In an interview with Al Jazeera last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised Obama over an agreement between the two to fight what he described as terrorist groups operating in Turkey. With President Obama, we had a mutual agreement about the PKK but Obama deceived us, Erdogan said, before adding: I dont believe the Trump administration will do the same. Erdogans comments Cavusoglus remarks came just two days after Erdogan met Trump for talks on a range of issues, including Washingtons recent decision to send weapons to the YPG despite Ankaras strong opposition. Taking the YPG and [its political wing] PYD into consideration in the region will never be accepted and will go against a global agreement that we have reached, Erdogan said in a joint news conference after meeting Trump. We should never allow those groups to manipulate the religious and ethnic structure of the region making terrorism as a pretext or excuse. The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, said last week it plans to launch the final assault on Raqqa city in early summer. Its war on Raqqa has already seen the group capture large swaths of the surrounding province with help from US-led coalition air raids. According to Turkish media reports, Erdogan told Trump that the US had made its decision on the subject of the Raqqa operation and that Turkey could not participate, given YPG involvement. We told them we do not regard your cooperation with a terrorist group in Raqqa as healthy, Erdogan was cited as saying, but he said he expected a role for Turkey in Syria. I believe they will knock on our door on the subject of Syria, he said. Opposition politicians and protesters have called for the removal of Brazils President Michel Temer following reports that he recorded discussing payments to silence testimony by a potential witness in the countrys biggest-ever corruption probe. A recording of the alleged conversation was presented to prosecutors by the chairman of JBS, the worlds biggest meatpacker, as part of plea bargain negotiations, the O Globo newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to the account, Temer authorised payments of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, a former speaker of the lower house who is in prison on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes in the vast political embezzlement scandal at state oil firm Petrobras. Temers office immediately denied the report, adding that the president supported a full investigation of the allegations. President Michel Temer never solicited payments to obtain the silence of former deputy Eduardo Cunha, his office said a statement. Keep that up Cunha, once a powerful member of Temers ruling party, has previously said he had compromising information about several senior politicians linked to the sprawling Petrobras scandal According to O Globo, JBS Chairman Joesley Batista met with Temer on March 7, during which he secretly recorded himself telling the president that he was paying money to buy Cunhas silence. Temer told Batista, you need to keep that up, OK?, O Globo reported, without saying how it had obtained the alleged discussion. Temers office acknowledged the president had met with Batista, but said the conversation did not compromise his conduct as president. O Globos report, which three unidentified sources familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency that it was accurate, threatened to pull Temer into a corruption scandal that has already entangled several of his closest allies and advisers. Leading politicians and a third of Temers cabinet have already been caught up in the investigation of systematic bribery in return for political favours and contracts with state-run enterprises. But news that the president himself may have been party to a cover-up shook the scandal-weary nation. If the recordings are confirmed, Temer would have to defend his mandate in multiple fronts: public pressure for his resignation, an impeachment proceeding in Congress and an investigation by the general prosecutors office, Thomas Favaro, an associate director at consultancy firm Control Risks, told clients in note. The development thus substantially increases the risk of an un-scheduled government change in Brazil before the 2018 general elections. Temer out There were immediate demands for Temers removal following O Globos report. Congressman Alessandro Molon, from the Rede party, filed a demand for impeachment with Rodrigo Mai, the speaker of the lower house. The Workers Party also issued a statement naming five other parties that called for his resignation and snap elections. READ MORE: Brazils prisons A battleground in the drug wars Beth Sahao, a Sao Paulo state lawmaker for the Workers Party, said the report confirmed what opponents had been waiting for: Concrete evidence of corruption in the Temer government, but especially of the person of President Temer himself. Several hundred anti-Temer protesters gathered in Sao Paulo, while in the capital Brasilia motorists honked horns and yelled Temer out! Temer took office last year after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached on charges of breaking budget laws. Officials say the girl was found by Nigerian troops less than two weeks after 82 Chibok girls were freed by the group. A schoolgirl believed to have been abducted by Boko Haram three years ago has been rescued by government troops while escaping from captivity, Nigerian officials said on Wednesday. Femi Adesina, a presidential spokesman, said the girl was found less than two weeks after 82 others were released by their abductors in exchanged for five Boko Haram commanders. The details are yet to fully unravel. But in terms of is it true? Yes, it is true. I learnt she is already being brought to [the capital] Abuja but I have not seen her, Adesina told reporters. He added that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is acting president while President Muhammadu Buhari is on sick leave, informed senior ministers of the rescue at the weekly cabinet meeting. Presidential aide Bashir Ahmad also confirmed the rescue on Twitter, saying the girl was found by Nigerian troops while she was escaping from captivity. The schoolgirl is believed to have been among the 276 pupils seized by Boko Haram from a government school in the town of Chibok in April 2014. Fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath. Of the 219 who did not manage to flee, 106 have either been released or found, leaving 112 still missing. READ MORE: Nigerians demand bring back our girls years later The government has said that talks for the release of the remaining schoolgirls still missing are under way. The abduction drew international attention to the armed group, while the Nigerian governments failure to act quickly to free the girls spurred a global Bring Back Our Girls movement. About 2,000 girls and boys have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014, with many used as sex slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers, according to Amnesty International. Some 20,000 people have been killed and about 2.3 million displaced since Boko Haram started its armed campaign in 2009. Saudis say US president will seal several political and economic deals in first stop on his maiden international trip. Donald Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia will reinforce the strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the US while boosting their joint fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, the kingdoms foreign minister has said. The US presidents visit to Riyadh begins on Saturday. The trip will be the first stop on Trumps first international trip since taking office in January and will include political and commercial agreements with Saudi Arabia, Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi foreign minister, said on Thursday. It will bolster the strategic partnership between the two countries. Referring to ISIL and al-Qaeda, he said: Saudi Arabia agrees with the US administrations view in relation to the role of the US in the world and in relation to uprooting terrorism. Jubeir said Saudi Arabia and the US are currently discussing several initiatives related to arms sales, economic and security cooperation and tackling terrorism. Several agreements will be signed, including political agreements and big economic agreements, he said. Saudi Arabia backs Trumps efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also agrees with the US on confronting Irans aggressive policies and its support for terrorism, he said. Marwan Kabalan, an analyst at the Doha Institutes Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, told Al Jazeera the US and Saudi Arabia will discuss a strategic plan aimed at countering extremism as an ideological battle. READ MORE: How Donald Trump could make America great again I think both sides have high expectations of this summit, as they are expected to discuss the most pressing issues for both of them like the conflict in Yemen, the war in Syria and the war on ISIL, he said. Trump is expected to address the entire Islamic world while trying to establish this sort of a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia, particularly concerning groups like ISIL. Apart from Saudi officials, Trump will also meet leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries, including the six nations that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Longtime FBI Director Robert Mueller named as the lead investigator looking into alleged Russian ties to Trump campaign. The US Department of Justice named a former FBI head as special counsel to lead an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Donald Trumps team. The US president stands accused of seeking to stall the politically explosive probe following his shock dismissal of FBI chief James Comey, and faces allegations that he asked Comey to drop his investigation of a former aide. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Robert Mueller a widely-respected figure who headed the FBI for the decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks to take over the FBIs probe of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters on Wednesday. Based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, Rosenstein said in a statement. Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, described Mueller as someone who is very much viewed as bipartisan a vigorously independent figure and one who has much respect within the FBI itself. READ MORE: Senate wants James Comey to testify in Russia probe Capping days of political drama in Washington, the move came as pressure mounted in Congress for an independent probe into ties between Trumps campaign and Moscow, which US intelligence chiefs say interfered to tilt the election in the Republicans favour. A special counsel is empowered to conduct the investigation independent of the Justice Department hierarchy, with dedicated staff of his/her choosing. The counsel is not required to consult with or keep informed the attorney general or deputy attorney generals on the course of the probe. The special counsel is also authorised to prosecute any crimes unearthed by the investigation. Trump has consistently rejected any suggestion of collusion between his camp and Moscow as fake news and complained in a speech on Wednesday that he had been treated more unfairly than any US leader in history during his fledgeling presidency. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, Trump said in a statement. Any links Pressure to place the Russia probe in independent hands intensified this week following reports that Trump pressured Comey to reel back the Russia investigation as it pertained to Michael Flynn, the national security adviser who was fired over concerns about his Russian contacts. Trumps alleged pressure on Comey denied by the White House has exposed the president to accusations of obstructing justice. Mueller was director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, a period when he was forced to shake up a huge bureaucracy blamed for missing evidence that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. During his tenure, he served both Republican and Democratic presidents and is highly respected by both parties. READ MORE: Trump disclosed secrets to Russia: Washington Post Democratic Party leader Nancy Pelosi said, however, that other ongoing investigations are equally important. A special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last. Director Mueller will still be in the chain of command under the Trump-appointed leadership of the Justice Department. He cannot take the place of a truly independent, outside commission that is completely free from the Trump administrations meddling. A special prosecutor does not negate the need for vigorous Congressional investigations either, Pelosi said in a statement. UN special envoys proposal to form mechanism on Syrian constitution reportedly put on hold as talks continue in Geneva. The UN special envoy for Syria has temporarily withdrawn a proposal to form a consultative mechanism on the Syrian constitution, Al Jazeera has learned. Staffan de Mistura had presented the proposal during the ongoing sixth round of Syria talks that began in Geneva on Tuesday. He subsequently withdrew the proposal, and it is now on hold awaiting final feedback from the opposition, Issam Rayes, a spokesperson for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and a rebel alliance known as the Southern Front in Syria, told Al Jazeera by phone from the Swiss city on Thursday. The original proposal recommended that de Misturas office, along with legal experts nominated by the opposition and the Syrian government, oversee all legal issues during a transitional phase in the country. The Syrian opposition delegation objected to the proposal on Wednesday and demanded that changes be made. In a statement, the HNC said it had a number of concerns regarding the proposal. It requested clarification on a number of points, including the nature of the authority that the special envoys office would have over the country during the transitional phase. The HNC also requested clarification on how the proposal intended to ensure the cooperation of the Syrian government and the active participation of the Syrian people in the process. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning We [the opposition] submitted legal inquiries after discussing the proposal with legal experts. We will discuss this in the next meeting today, the HNCs Rayes told Al Jazeera. Additionally, the HNC requested clarity on how the countries or legal experts who would take part in shaping Syrias legal matters during the transitional phase would be selected. The present round of Syria negotiations is expected to focus on four separate baskets: Governance, a new constitution, elections and combating terrorism in the country. Political solution George Sabra, another spokesperson for the opposition delegation, said on Wednesday that the Syrian opposition was in Geneva to follow up on a political solution in Syria. The only people affected by any delay [in finding a political solution] are the Syrian people who are waiting for us to come up with a real and final decision to end the fighting, he said. We will not allow another criminal or murderer to make it to the ruling chair. We are here to open a door to a new Syria, a free Syria made up of people from different sects, cultures, political views and religious backgrounds. Syrias official news agency SANA reported on Thursday that the Syrian government delegation, headed by the diplomat Bashar al-Jaafari, met de Mistura in Geneva. Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Geneva, said not a lot has been achieved in the latest round, with the US appearing not to have a clear stance yet. There were a lot of promises going into this round of talks, but at this point all that is being discussed are technicality and technical issues, he said. A bigger issue hovering over these talks is what exactly is US doing here and what is its stance and policy on Syria. If the US is not really engaged in this process, there is a sense that this process is eventually going to fail. During the fifth round of the Geneva talks, which was held in March, governance, political transition, the constitution and elections and counterterrorism were discussed at the request of the Syrian government. Deadlock remains over some issues, notably the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, with the opposition insisting on Assads departure in any political transition, and the Syrian government dismissing the demand as unacceptable. A deal on de-escalation zones in Syria came into effect in the Astana talks on May 6 is one of the many efforts to reduce violence in the country. The deal, which was signed by Russia, Turkey and Iran, called for a cessation of hostilities between rebel groups and forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian government in four de-escalation zones located mainly in opposition-held areas of the country. The four zones cover areas in the provinces of Damascus, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Deraa and Quneitra. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Wednesday that a 94 percent decrease in civilian casualties in the de-escalation zones has been recorded since the agreement came into force. At least eight people were killed in the four zones since May 6, the SOHR said. As the Syrian conflict enters its seventh year, more than 465,000 people have been killed in the fighting, more than one million injured and more than 12 million half of the countrys pre-war population displaced from their homes. With additional reporting by Diana AlRifai: @D_R_23 UN says 300,000 unaccompanied child refugees is just the tip of the iceberg, as many countries do not track total. The number of unaccompanied child refugees globally has increased five-fold since 2010, according to new figures by UNICEF. In a report released late on Wednesday, the United Nations Childrens Fund counted 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children worldwide in 2015 and 2016 up from 66,000 in 2010 and 2011. Of the 300,000, some 100,000 were caught trying to cross the border from Mexico to the US, UNICEF said. Overall, 200,000 applied for asylum in around 80 countries, including 170,000 lone child refugees who applied for asylum in Europe. The number is just the tip of the iceberg, Justin Forsyth, UNICEFs deputy executive director, said, as many countries outside North America and Europe do not have data on numbers of unaccompanied child refugees. One child moving alone is too many, and yet today, there are a staggering number of children doing just that we as adults are failing to protect them, Forsyth said. The report shows that 92 percent of children and young people who reached Italy by boat between the beginning of 2016 and end of February 2017 travelled alone, compared to 75 percent in 2015. READ MORE: Unaccompanied minors risk all to reach US At a G7 Summit in Italy starting on May 26, UNICEF will encourage world leaders to commit to a six-point agenda to protect refugee and migrant children from exploitation, violence and detention, keeping families together and giving children access to education and healthcare. The agenda also calls for action on underlying causes of large-scale refugee movement and measures to combat xenophobia and discrimination in countries of transit and destination. Tales of abuse An interviewee in UNICEFs report, Mary, a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor from Nigeria, described her treatment at the hands of a smuggler turned human trafficker. Despite promising to keep her safe, she ended up stuck in Libya for more than three months. He said to me if I didnt sleep with him he would not bring me to Europe, Mary said in the report. He raped me. The International Organization for Migration recently said that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya have been bought and sold in modern-day slave markets before being held for ransom or used as forced labour or sexual exploitation. While some of the unaccompanied children are orphans, others are seeking to join relatives who already reached prosperous countries. Other times, relatives believe children would have a greater chance of being allowed to stay than adult refugees and migrants, the report said. READ MORE: Greek refugee camps Children grow sicker every day UNICEF called on the countries where children have sought refuge to provide better services, saying many languish in overcrowded shelters, end up in makeshift camps or are left exposed to the dangers of life on the streets. Unaccompanied migrant and refugee children should not be placed in adult detention facilities and ideally should be in foster care, its report said. In March, Italys parliament approved a law setting out comprehensive standards of care for unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in the country by sea. The law includes a strict prohibition on turning unaccompanied minors away at the border and guarantees them access to healthcare. It also set a 10-day window for officials to confirm migrant childrens identities, with the aim of reducing the amount of time they have to spend in preliminary welcome centers. Among those hailing its passage at the time were UNICEF and the humanitarian group Save the Children. More than 2,500 soldiers sent to Tachira state near Colombia border as teenager is shot dead amid spate of looting. Venezuela is deploying troops in a western province bordering Colombia after a teenage boy was killed in overnight looting amid a wave of anti-government protests. I have ordered the transfer of 2,000 guards and 600 special operations troops to the state of Tachira, Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez told state media on Wednesday. Authorities said looting and attacks against security installations erupted overnight in the state, where three people have died this week, including 15-year-old Jose Guerrero. The teenager was shot dead during Wednesdays spate of looting in San Cristobal, his relatives said. My mom sent my brother yesterday to buy flour for dinner and a little while later, we received a call saying hed been injured by a bullet, his sister, Maria Contreras, told the Reuters news agency. The state prosecutors office confirmed his death, which pushed the death toll in six weeks of unrest to at least 43, matching the number of people killed in the last comparable wave of unrest in 2014. OPINION: Why is Venezuela in crisis again? Violence has broken out across the country during almost daily anti-government protests in anger at President Nicolas Maduros handling of a political crisis and a worsening economic situation that has caused severe shortages of food and medicine. The protests erupted after the government-stacked Supreme Court issued a ruling March 29 nullifying the opposition-controlled National Assembly, a decision it later reversed amid a storm of domestic and international criticism. The government is also setting up a controversial body called a constituent assembly, with authority to rewrite the constitution and shake up public powers. Maduro says that is needed to bring peace to Venezuela, but opponents view it as a cynical tactic to buy time and create a biased body that could perpetuate the socialists rule. The opposition is demanding early elections, release of jailed activists and foreign aid to offset the economic crisis that has seen an unprecedented shortage of food and medicines. The president accuses protesters of seeking a violent coup, and says he is the victim of an international right-wing conspiracy that has already brought down leftist governments in Latin America in recent years. The government and the opposition have blamed each other of sending armed groups to sow violence in the protests, and deaths have occured on both sides. My world was falling in In Tachira, some 20 shops, restaurants and a school were looted on Wednesday, according to authorities. Two police stations were also set on fire and a military outpost attacked with firebombs during the previous night. Fernanda Carvalho, 53, told the AFP news agency virtually all the food was stolen from her bakery in San Cristobal. It felt like my world was falling in. There go years of work and investment, she said. OPINION: Maduro is not Chavez In the capital, Caracas, doctors and nurses protested to denounce a crisis that has left hospitals desperately undersupplied. We dont want weapons! We want medicine! they yelled. Maduro fired Health Minister Antonieta Caporale last week after her ministry released figures showing infant deaths soared 30 percent last year. The US meddling stimulates the action of violent groups in Venezuela by Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's UN ambassador Meanwhile, the US warned at the United Nations that Venezuelas crisis was worsening and could escalate into a civil conflict. Were starting to see serious instability in Venezuela, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, told reporters after a closed-door Security Council meeting on Wednesday. She had earlier warned that Venezuela was on the verge of humanitarian crisis. But Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelas UN ambassador, accused the US of encouraging violent elements within his country seeking to topple Maduros government. The US meddling stimulates the action of violent groups in Venezuela, he said, after showing photos of vandalism and violence he blamed on opposition groups. READ MORE: Venezuela crisis explained UN ambassadors from Bolivia and Uruguay joined Caracas in rebuffing US attempts to address the ongoing in Venezuela before the UN Security Council. Brazils Defence Minister Raul Jungmann told reporters on Wednesday his country was making contingency plans for a possible influx of Venezuelan migrants. As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. A teenage dancer who has logged hundreds of hours dancing in Gainesville was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: The Juilliard School. Mia Caceres-Nielsen, a professional dancer with Dance Alive National Ballet Company in Gainesville, was one of 12 women and 24 dancers in the world to be offered a spot in the 2021 class of Juilliards Dance Program in Manhattan, New York. Since she was five years old, Caceres-Nielsen has trained in ballet, jazz, tap and more. Courtesy to The Alligator Caceres-Nielsen, who was one of only 12 female dancers to be accepted into The Juilliard Schools 2021 dance program, performing at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts for Dance Alive National Ballets 2016 production of Dracula. Its a dream to be able to go to Juilliard, the 17-year-old said. Juilliard is a dream, thats the only way I can describe it. Caceres-Nielsen, who has been with Dance Alive since 2011, is an only child and was raised by her single mother, Monica Sue Nielsen, in Hypoluxo, Florida. For the past six years, at least once or twice a week, the pair has made the eight-hour commute to Gainesville and back so Caceres-Nielsen could dance. Dance Alive National Ballet, 1325 NW Second St., is a professional ballet company composed of 15 professional ballerinas from around the world who tour in select cities across the globe, said Kim Tuttle, the executive artistic director of Dance Alive. Caceres-Nielsen is the only dancer from the company to ever be accepted into the prestigious Juilliard, Tuttle said. Since Caceres-Nielsen began dancing with Dance Alive, Tuttle said she noticed the dedication and commitment matched by her mother, who has worked multiple jobs and put more than 260,000 miles on her car to support her daughters dream. The most incredible thing about her is her and her mom, Tuttle said. Her mom would sleep in the car while she rehearsed, and then she would drive back. Its a real example of what you can accomplish with parental support. Caceres-Nielsen also attributes a large portion of her acceptance into Juilliard to her mothers support throughout the years. She is willing to put aside everything in order for me to pursue my passion, Caceres-Nielsen said. Although she said shes received generous scholarships from Juilliard and her high school, there is still a substantial unmet amount needed to get her to her dream school. With an estimated cost of nearly $70,000 a year, this presents a challenge and financial burden on Caceres-Nielsens mother, her sole provider. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now The pair set up a GoFundMe page April 27 in an effort to fundraise a portion of the remaining amount. With their goal set at $22,000, Nielsen said they have raised $3,365 so far. Caceres-Nielsen has also taken initiative on her own to diminish the financial burden. She said shes continuing to apply for scholarships and will be a part of the work study program at Juilliard. The mother-daughter duo both acknowledge the sacrifices and determination in one another to work toward achieving one common goal. Shes trying to earn as much as she can, Nielsen said. Well make it happen. You just dont say no to Juilliard. Mia Caceres-Nielsen, 17, dancing at the Glorya Kaufman Dance Studio at The Juilliard School in New York City. For more than 10 years, UF has raised $1 million for local charities across Alachua County. But, the university missed the mark for the first time last year. UF raised about $980,000, which was a wake-up call for the university, said Karen Thomas, UFs community relations specialist. Thomas said nonprofit specialists involved with UFs Strategic Development Plan found that across the nation, charitable funds were decreasing because of a new mindset in the younger generation. Millennials and young employees are not wanting to just give $5 a week from their paycheck, she said. They want to have more hands-on involvement in what they're interested in. This month, UF launched Gators Volunteer, a website where people from the community can find information on approved charities, Thomas said. The site connects people with about 50 organizations such as Alachua Habitat for Humanity, Alachua County Humane Society and Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida. Each organization in Gators Volunteer has their mission, volunteer opportunities, hours of availability and contact information listed on the website. Susan Crowley, UFs assistant vice president of community relations, said volunteers have the comfort of knowing that every organization in the program has been evaluated to ensure they are doing ethical work in the community. "There are not too many problems that we have in our community that we don't have someone on the campus who has some expertise in that area and who couldnt bring all their years of study and students and graduate students to bear on that issue," Crowley said. She said the university may never reach $1 million again, but they can make sure students can connect their passion with something theyre interested in and make a difference. In the first nine days since the website went live, they have had more than 3,000 page views, Crowley said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Sherry Houston, the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House in Gainesville, was originally connected with the university through UF Campaign for Charities. The Ronald McDonald House is a place where families with children who are patients at UF Health Shands Hospital can stay. "When you volunteer, you share with these families. You hear their stories, and you begin to experience what they experience," Houston said. Alyssa Morris, a 21-year-old UF nutritional sciences senior, has volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House since March. Previously, she was a volunteer at Shands for two years. I felt like this would be something more personal, where you would get to interact with more people, and since it's not a hospital or a doctor's office, you're not so limited in what you can and can't do, Morris said. Tammy Aagard, UFs associate vice president for enrollment management, is also a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House. She has volunteered for more than a year and comes in every Wednesday night. The reason why I volunteer here is because it fills my bucket, she said. I enjoy the people here. I enjoy the families, and it just keeps me going throughout the rest of the week. We wouldnt exactly call it a surprise that President Donald Trump is a less than trustworthy commander in chief. His entire campaign leading up to his victory was filled with verbal falsehoods that spewed out of his mouth like pellets out of a revolver. Within a few months of his campaign, lying appeared to be second nature to the giant Cheeto vying for control of our country. Much to our dismay, the lying didnt stop once he was sworn into office. It only got worse. On Tuesday, news broke that Trump had asked former FBI Director James Comey in February to stop the investigation of Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Before Comey was canned, he started to keep memos of all his meetings with the president. His memos became a paper trail of evidence to help solidify the claims that Trump has attempted to influence an ongoing investigation. Comey reported that the president told him, I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go, among other encouraging statements. The White House, however, denied the series of events described in Comeys memos. At this point, we arent too shocked that yet another discrepancy has come out of the White House. It seems every scandal, or near scandal, is nothing but an overdrawn he said, she said debate. While thats fine in a high-school cafeteria, we are sick of seeing that type of problem management in the Capitol. We thus pose our dear president with this question: Mr. President, when will the lying stop? Reporters have dubbed the most recent Trump snafu to be something close to the Watergate scandal of former President Richard Nixons administration. The White House has fought back, of course, blaming the dishonest media (@ us next time?) for continuously poking at nonissues. Just as Nixons cabinet had, Trump and his colleagues are blaming the media and alleging innocence. America, however, isnt so convinced by his protective claims. We still have questions that need answers, and we cant trust that what comes out of the White House is going to be true. With this new lie surfacing, thanks to Comeys memos, we further question the validity of Trumps claims on his involvement with Russia. Vladimir Putin has even come to bat for Trump, offering up transcripts of meetings between the two in order to prove Trumps innocence. Too bad we trust Vlad about as much as we trust Donny. We hope Comeys memos are able to help us figure out what exactly Trump has going on with Russia and whether he did, in fact, leak classified information to the shirtless equestrian of the East. What we are most upset about, however, is that this is even something that needs investigation. We should be able to have full faith in our president, not have to worry about his collaborations with communist nations. He continually fires those who challenge him, and it seems every day we are alerted to yet another sketchy scandal that leaves us questioning the mental stability of our nations leader. So far, he seems to be unpredictable, erratic and overall unfit to hold so much power. We believe, to put it bluntly, the president needs to man up. He needs to stop hiding behind others: his advisers, his department heads, journalists, his daughter and his own citizens. He needs to put more thought into his actions and consider the consequences of them. He needs to start accepting blame for his mistakes and promise change for himself and for us. As he continues to ignore his mistakes and flaws, Trump further distances himself from being the president our great nation deserves. We deserve better than a president we cannot trust. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Thanks for the observant account by Romy Ellenbogen, "Controversial Princeton Holocaust historian visits UF," Alligator, online April 3, 2017, from which I quote: "As Jan Tomasz Gross addressed a crowd Sunday night, a single image was projected behind him. About 30 Polish peasants and uniformed officials stood with farm tools in a desert-like field. Near the end of his lecture, Gross drew attention to the previously unmentioned image, inviting the crowd of about 50 to look closer. Skulls laid at the feet of the Polish peasants. "He said the desert-like ground was not sand, but rather the ashes of hundreds of thousands of slaughtered Jewish residents. He said the peasants standing above were rifling through the ashes to try to find Jewish gold and jewels. 'Those involved in the crime were opportunists,' he said. 'Where the opportunity arose, they were not shy to take it.' The controversial professor made an interpretation of the photograph and followed with an accusation. This distracts from whatever merits his arguments and his book, Golden Harvest, may have, because his interpretation is questionable, and his accusation is unmoored. Historian Piotr Gontarczyk writes critically: "Soon after the publication of Golden Harvest, two investigative journalists from the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita...arrived in the Treblinka area. Their account clarified that Gross's anchor photograph depicts no 'diggers' caught by the militia, but a team of men and women cleaning up the gravesite. The version presented by [rival newspaper] Gazeta Wyborcza's writers was most likely a deliberate fabrication, they concluded. The newspaper [GW] removed the false caption under the archived photo, and Gazeta Wyborcza reporters...admitted, 'We do not know the circumstances under which that photo was taken.'" Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now To appreciate Mr. Gross's work, one must also consider his critics. The citation above is from Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold: Studies on the Wartime Fate of Poles and Jews, eds. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, Wojciech Jerzy Muszynski, and Pawel Styrna, Leopolis Press 2012, p. 73. Have the event sponsors referenced this critical work? It seems plain that we are not looking at "diggers caught by the militia," for no one seems to look "caught." One peasant woman with head bowed stands with bloused white sleeves, her hands on the handle of a shovel, the blade at her feet, posing calmly and solemnly; one could even say respectfully. The soldier holding the rifle is leaning it at rest and obviously is not interested in employing it. None of the several troopers is in any military posture. Hence the interpretation by Professor Gross fails assurance for accuracy (or, in a euphemism, it is "controversial") and thus fails the requirement for Accuracy in Instructional Materials mandated in Section 1006.35 of the Florida K-20 Education Code. Are the event sponsors and the Florida Department of Education prepared to administer a correction? Gordon Black is a part of The Polish American Congress, Northern California. Division From Tom Petty to Less Than Jake, many an artist have gone from humble Gainesville beginnings to international fame. While massive tours and sold-out crowds may be the norm for these musicians nowadays, each and every one of them got their start in the local scene, opening for larger acts within their genre and slowly but surely gaining a fanbase. For Michael Rizzo, known by his stage name Rezza, one could say hes right in the middle of that journey. The hip-hop/rap artist got his start in Gainesville years ago and just recently made the move to Orlando. Rezza has opened for everyone from Waka Flocka Flame to Curren$y at High Dive, gaining recognition from UF students and Gainesville locals over the years. This Friday, Rezza will headline his first ever show at High Dive to celebrate the release of his debut extended play, The Ville. Im excited honestly to be able to do that kind of headline show, Rezza said. In my years going to High Dive Ive always wanted to have my own thing. Rezza got his start when he was 16 while he was in high school. The now 23-year-old said he steadily began releasing remixes of popular songs every week, and the persistent rate got people knowing who he was. By his freshman year at Santa Fe College, Rezza began opening for artists at High Dive. He said that over the course of about 15 shows, people at UF started to recognize him. I would always introduce myself as an artist because thats what the majority of people knew me as, Rezza said. My senior year people started calling me Rezza. After getting his Associate of Arts degree at Santa Fe College in 2013, Rezza moved to Orlando, accepting a position with independent music collective A.M.H., which stands for All My Homies. Rezza said the group has allowed him to hone his sound while providing constant support and mentorship for him. Rezza said his debut EP, The Ville, is representative of his transition from Gainesville to Orlando. The six-song EP features an arc, with harder beats at the beginning that flow into a smoother fade-out toward the end. He said the project gives a timeline for how he came up in the local scene before moving away. Rezza said High Dive played a huge role in his development as a local artist. Pat Lavery, the facility and events manager at High Dive and owner of local promotion company Glory Days Presents, said the team at High Dive is proud of all Rezza has done throughout his music career so far. Its always incredibly satisfying to see an artist like this that you have worked with step by step along the way, who has been humble and worked hard, put in his time in the trenches, be rewarded for doing things the right way, Lavery said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now He added that often artists want to skip steps along the way and jump into fame without thinking about what it actually takes to get there. Rezza has gotten to where he is by doing it the right way and being a student of the music business, Lavery said. We are proud of his accomplishments and honored to guide him along his journey as we host his release show. Rezzas EP release show will take place at High Dive on Friday from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets are $6 in advance and will be available for $8 at the door. Royal Fam, XII, Ralph Lorenzo, Sully Geez and Big Win will open the show. Rezza said he brought these artists along to represent a diverse group of sounds, which is sure to keep the show interesting. Many of these artists have worked with Rezza in the past and are also members of A.M.H. He added that attendees of Fridays show might potentially receive exclusive content from the debut EP. The Ville will be officially released May 31 and will be available on SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play. English News Ill-drafted petition and half-cooked May, 18 order has created insurmountable legal problems for ICJ Alwihda Info | Par Hem Raj Jain - 18 Mai 2017 Sub:- (i)- Not approaching ICJ when consular access was first denied, the biggest mistake of India (ii)- Not petitioning ICJ to order consular access even now, the big drafting mistake of India (iii)- Not ordering councilor access to Jadhav before his any appeal (in SCP or with PoP) has made May, 18 ICJ order legally absurd, ludicrous and meaningless --- On May, 18 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the death sentence awarded (to former Indian Navy official-turned-businessman Kulbhushan Jadhav) by a Pakistani military court on April 10 this year. On May 8, India had approached the ICJ for immediate suspension of death sentence awarded to Jadhav. Indicating provisional measures ICJ order said that [The Court indicates to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to prevent the execution of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, pending final judgment of the Court] As per the ICJ verdict, Pakistan cannot execute Jadhav until the final decision of ICJ in the case comes, which is expected after August this year and this has created insurmountable legal problems for ICJ as given below:- (1)- Not approaching ICJ when consular access was first denied by Pakistan in April, 2016 is the biggest mistake of India and which has unnecessarily complicated the entire matter. Also not petitioning ICJ to order consular access even now (before any appeal by Jadhav against death sentence) is a big drafting mistake of India and which will further complicate the matter for ICJ too. (2)- India and ICJ never realized what will happen if Pakistan does not execute Jadhav (as per May, 18 ICJ order) but gets an appeal filed by Jadhav in appellate Court the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) and then in case death sentence is upheld by SCP the mercy appeal before President of Pakistan (PoP). This appeal can be filed on Jadhavs request or in the interest of Justice even by Jadhavs advocate who defended Jadhav in Military Court of Pakistan (which awarded death sentence to Jadhav). Once SCP (in open court proceeding) and PoP upheld the death sentence in appeal and mercy appeal respectively without consular access to Jadhav then ICJ also cannot do anything about it (while deciding the matter on merit in August, 2017). (3)- Because questioning the Military Court (which has come in existence through Legislative Act and through which many Pakistanis have been executed for terrorism) will not be that easy for ICJ especially when Pakistan is doing it in pursuance of US led global war against terrorism. As far questioning SCP and PoP as Kangaroo Court etc will simply send Pakistan on a confrontational path (against ICJ) while depending heavily and easily on China to provide veto on any anti-Pakistan resolution in UNSC in this matter. (4)- As far consular access on which India and ICJ are overly depending is not such a simple matter. Vienna convention is not about consular access but about consular relations of which consular access is only a minor part. Vienna Convention is meant for promoting friendly relations between sending State and receiving State as is evident from the following also :- --- [[PREAMBLE The States Parties to the present Convention, Having in mind the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations concerning the sovereign equality of States, the maintenance of international peace and security, and the promotion of friendly relations among nations. Believing that an international convention on consular relations, privileges and immunities would also contribute to the development of friendly relations among nations, irrespective of their differing constitutional and social systems. Realizing that the purpose of such privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient performance of functions by consular posts on behalf of their respective States. Affirming that the rules of customary international law continue to govern matters not expressly regulated by the provisions of the present Convention, Article 5 Consular functions Consular functions consist in:(b) furthering the development of commercial, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the sending State and the receiving State and otherwise promoting friendly relations between them in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention (j) transmitting judicial and extrajudicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions to take evidence for the courts of the sending State in accordance with international agreements in force or, in the absence of such international agreements, in any other manner compatible with the laws and regulations of the receiving State; Article 36 Communication and contact with nationals of the sending State 1. With a view to facilitating the exercise of consular functions relating to nationals of the sending State: (a) consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to have access to them. Nationals of the sending State shall have the same freedom with respect to communication with and access to consular officers of the sending State; (b) if he so requests, the competent authorities of the receiving State shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner. 2. The rights referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be exercised in conformity with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, subject to the proviso, however, that the said laws and regulations must enable full effect to be given to the purposes for which the rights accorded under this Article are intended]]---. (5)- The inclusion of Article 36. 2 in Vienna convention is itself a prove that consular access granted under Article 36.1 is not an absolute right rather it presuppose cooperation from sending Sate especially in serious matter of internal security of receiving State. Therefore ICJ while deciding the matter on merit in August 2017 will find it legally difficult to discard the argument of Pakistan that the sending State India did not cooperate regarding identifying and tracking of over a dozen names given by Jadhav in his confession statement about Indians who were telephonically in contact with him and were complicit with Jadhav in his alleged espionage and subversive activities in Baluchistan province of Pakistan. Here Pakistan may even quote in ICJ the speech of PM Narendra Modi from Red-fort on Independence-day who took the name of Baluchistan as a comparison to Kashmir and which may give teeth to Pakistan argument that Jadhav was only a part of the policy of Modi government to create trouble and rebellion in Baluchistan (though India has no territorial claim on Baluchistan contrary to what Pakistan has on Kashmir). (6)- Therefore India and ICJ have blundered legally by getting the Court concludes by indicating the following measures: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. (7)- In the previous paragraph before said Conclusion the Court said that [the Court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Mr. Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case]. (8)- But India (not withstanding hullaballoo being made in Indian media by jingoist Indians on so-called victory of India in said May, 18 order) by filing an ill-drafted petition in ICJ and the ICJ by giving half-cooked May, 18 order where there is no order for consular access (before any appeal or mercy appeal by Jadhav in SCP and with PoP) have created a situation where it can only invite ridicule on ICJ when it would hear Indian petition on merit in August, 2017. In May, 18 order the ICJ has legally erred on one more count. It was legally wrong on the part of ICJ to give unlimited time to India regarding execution of death sentence without asking India that why it has not gone so-far / is not going even now for appeal in SCP and with PoP (and that too when ICJ knows the non-seriousness of India which is evident from the fact that India did not approach ICJ when consular access was denied to India in the first place more than one year back by Pakistan). Regards Hem Raj Jain (Author of Betrayal of Americanism) Bengaluru, India Dans la meme rubrique : < > Yunnan dispatches sci-tech experts to South Asia, Southeast Asia, builds bridge of int'l technological cooperation China's Beidou reaches world-leading level: white paper Silk Road e-commerce promotes trade among Belt and Road countries Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) Are you aware that we are facing a political and cultural tragedy right now? The Democratic Party, one of two great parties of the USA, has been co-opted by the communist ideologues, the power-mad neo-Marxists, in our political establishment. They can call it liberalism or social justice or togetherness, but it is my considered judgment that, without exaggeration, we are facing an intent to subvert the electoral will of the American people. Based only on "unnamed sources," the Washington Post, NY Times, and CNN have accused President Donald Trump of sharing top-secret information with Russian officials. Imagine: this is "news" without any named source, without even a whistleblower ready to risk his job for the country. This is a mainstream media cause celebre, even though CNN wrote online, "The President did not directly reveal the source of the information, but intelligence officials told CNN that there is concern that Russia will be able to figure out the highly sensitive source." Without accountability, and only the most limited information, the left-wing press is lambasting Trump. This trash is being published as "news" i.e., as if it were fact. And this is being done with the tacit approval of the Democratic Party leadership. This is all part of the Democrat narrative that Trump is a Russian mole occupying the Oval Office. How did we get to this point, where the hissing vipers have come out from under their rocks to poison the body politic? While we could go back to Eugene V. Debs, the socialist candidate for president at the beginning of the 20th century, or even before him to "Big Bill" Haywood and the International Workers of the World (IWW), the modern threat began to reveal itself in the 1960s. David Horowitz, in his collection of articles in the Black Book of the American Left, Vol. 7, sees a direct line between the Henry Wallace candidacy and the politics of the 1960s. But the important understanding we need to draw is that "direct line" is a line whereby the extreme left of the Democratic Party has moved from being rejected (1948 faction led by Henry Wallace) to becoming the center of the Democratic Party. The success in drawing the Democrats leftward was the ability of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to unite youthful opposition to the Vietnam War with the urgent push for desegregation and "freedom" by the civil rights movement. While the civil rights movement was divided between the middle-class, church-going, nonviolent program of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Ralph Abernethy; and Andrew Young and the Black Power advocates like Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, who espoused violence in varying degrees, both factions were able to agree in their anti-war stance. If SDS could be characterized as the brains of this trinity of rebels, King's organization could be considered the idealists, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led by Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers, could be considered the gangster-lite aggression. Thus, intellect, idealism, and aggression or thuggery became fused to create a new neo-fascistic trend. Love of country played second fiddle to "needed change." To characterize the trend as neo-fascistic is in no way in opposition to seeing that trend as communistic. A common anti-democratic thread runs through both fascism and communism. Although fascists are hyper-nationalistic or chauvinistic in one sense, they have internationalist ambitions as shown in their urge to conquer. Economic and political imperialism is central to their modus operandi. Further, government for fascists does not exist to facilitate competition, nor even to merely regulate some of the negative fallout that inevitably occurs as business grows. Rather, fascism affirms tight political control over the economic sphere even if it does not take ownership of major industries or of all commercial dealings, as did the USSR under Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong in the PRC. Communism sees itself as expanding two ways. It is moved forward by historical necessity whereby the dialectic of history is moving towards proletarian ownership of the means of production. The historical dialectic ends in a violent revolutionary struggle where the bourgeoisie are overthrown forever. But communists are also willing to expand via military aggressions and conquest against nation-states, as we saw in Vietnam, Korea, Cuba, and Eastern Europe. Although there are nuanced differences, both fascism and communism are opposed to laissez-faire capitalism, political liberty, constitutionalism, federalism, any idea of checks and balances, competition, and religion espousing the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Love and forgiveness, humility, and righteousness as central tenets of Judeo-Christian values are rejected as stultifying or bourgeois. Thus, distinctions blur as the movement into the center of power accelerates. Fascistic communism or communistic fascism are both appropriate labels for the new thrust we have seen from the late sixties and early seventies to the present. The Democratic Party increasingly expresses this evil marriage. The virulent response to President Trump is a manifestation of the poisonous life lodging under the rocks. The vipers have emerged as the Black Lives Matter movement; so-called student riots against Trump; race and criminal riots in the streets of Ferguson, Baltimore, Dallas, and other cities; gallons of vitriol and ridicule poured out by late-night TV "comedians"; literal threats against the persons and lives of conservative pro-Trump speakers at our colleges and universities, and attacks mobilizing against Israel in a thuggish manner by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on our campuses. All of these are developments aimed at destroying our legal, social, and economic order. At the same time, the Democratic Party is sending out a message of "understanding" of the concerns that have "caused" these outrages. They will say of the rioters and provocateurs that you are not handling your grievances in the most constructive way possible, but they will, at the same time, emphasize that their destructive tendencies are oh, so understandable. The growing menace to the peace and well-being of society is consistently downplayed by Democratic Party spokesmen, from Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton to "Chuckie" Schumer to Dick Durbin to Debbie Schultz, etc., etc. Instead of reprimands and rebukes and calls for respect for our democratic institutions, we see the alliance of intellect, idealism, and aggression that was birthed in the 1960s. No longer are the street thugs and anti-Americans rioting against the Democratic Party, as they did at the 1968 Democratic Convention that nominated Hubert Humphrey to run for office. Now the goals of the rabble are manifesting with the blessing of Democrat leadership that has bought into the fascistic and communist program. Further, look at the reporting of these events on ABC, CBS, NBC, and other major outlets. When there is a fire or an explosion, the news anchors feel comfortable expressing their horror at the scene, at the thought of property destroyed and persons injured or killed. But the civil disturbances by the menacing mobs are reported matter-of-factly, without a sense of horror or outrage about property losses or personal injury or death. The anchors adopt serious facial expressions but proceed in a matter-of-fact way. This is all a part of "not taking sides," but in fact, it means taking a side against law and order, against Trump, against Israel, against capitalism, against our system of government. The press is participating in this anti-American carnage by issuing a spate of "fake news," hyperbole regarding Trump's alleged mistakes or wrongdoings, stories treated as credible against the present duly elected administration even though said stories originate from "unnamed sources," and other stories like collusion with the Russians to fix an election that was not fixed. They go on and on, pounding away at the same non-story and desirous of portraying Trump as a traitor from the outset of his candidacy. This is the daily portrayal by Democrats and the pro-Democrat media despite there being no evidence, and even no specific wrongdoing stated. The Democratic Party is not only soft on this unrest, but encouraging the unrest and the lying, hyperventilating, and false reporting. It is morally bankrupt. With its alliance against constitutional values, federalism, free markets, freedom of property and liberty for the individual, it has crossed an invisible line from supporting America to being an enemy of America. During the last eight years, the far left and their cohorts in the Democratic Party were successfully on their way to transforming our Constitutional Republic from a country of laws into a country of men. They arrogantly believed the last election was theirs to be had with Hillary Clinton at the helm to continue Obama's legacy of "leading from behind." Their mission is the "transformation of our free market, our sovereignty, and our culture to a Socialist/Communist New World Order. They didn't count on billionaire Donald Trump, who had never before held office, to throw a wrench into their radical agenda by injecting himself into our body politic, and in return they are waging a relentless coup to have him removed from office. They have termed this coup "The Resistance" and with the aid of our activist judicial system, educational institutions, Hollywood, the press, and social media; they are leading a full blown war against President Trump on various fronts. With the aid of the propaganda media establishment, akin to the old Soviet Union's Pravda, they proudly obstruct President Trump's every move. Their aim is impeachment, but to impeach they need to have grounds; thus, they have concocted a conspiracy theory of Russian collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians without a shred of evidence to support that theory. Not a day goes by without an accusation by Democrats in search of a crime. When President Trump used an Executive Order to initiate his travel ban from countries known to be hotbeds of Islamic terrorism, the Left used the courts to stop his ban from taking effect. Although President Trump had the statutory authority to execute the ban pursuant to section 1182(f) and 1185 (a) of Title 8, they succeeded in halting the ban by filing their lawsuits in Federal District Court within the far left 9th Circuit (the most overturned court in the country), dominated by Clinton and Obama appointed judges, well known for its judicial activism and disregard of Constitutional principles. Consequently, Muslim refugees who cannot be vetted for lack of documentation continue to stream onto our shores and increase the risk of terror attacks on the mainland. Currently the left is up in arms over the firing of former FBI Director, James Comey. The ACLU recently announced they will lead an investigation into the firing; yet not a word was heard from the ACLU when Bill Clinton fired FBI Director, William Sessions in 1993. It was only a few months ago when the likes of Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid called for Comey's resignation. Socialist Maxine Waters from the left leaning state of California stated just a few days ago " I don't support Trump firing Comey, I would support Hillary Clinton firing Comey." What we are witnessing is a schizophrenic narrative and a Democratic Party meltdown. And if that isn't enough, our college campuses are actively silencing those who support President Trump with physical assaults, threats, and intimidation. Institutions of learning should provide an environment for the free exchange of ideas, but instead, young Conservatives are threatened with poor grades should they express support for President Trump and his conservative agenda. There is no diversity of thought on today's college campuses. It is fascism and group think that has taken root and those who differ are singled out as outcasts to be ridiculed and shunned at best or physically and verbally assaulted at worst. President Trump is routinely mocked, insulted, and ridiculed on mainstream television by those who have made a career of bashing conservatives. His wife, Melania, his young son, and his daughter Ivanka have all been targets of insults, innuendos, and slander. Ivanka, a beautiful role model as a young wife, mother, and entrepreneur, faces a boycott of her product line being led by Shannon Coulter, a technology and media specialist based in San Francisco. As the daughter of President Trump, she is considered fair game by the haters. Consequently, a number of stores no longer carry her merchandise. What has become clear is that anyone related to President Trump or anyone who supports him publicly is at risk of being ostracized or targeted for their support of him. Bill O'Reilly's termination looks like a hit job by the far left for his support of President Trump. Yes, there were allegations of sexual impropriety, but they were allegations that took place years ago. He had the number one cable news show on Fox. There was no trial or facts presented; yet, it didn't stop Fox from terminating him. O'Reilly may be guilty, but the timing is specious. His termination was a victory celebrated by the Left. Does every Conservative commentator on national television now have a target on his or her back? Can freedom of expression survive in a climate of fear? In the future, who will be willing to risk their livelihoods and careers if fear is the methodology used to control the public sphere? This coup didn't happen in a vacuum. It is a field operation led by Barack Hussein Obama from his home in Washington, D.C. while financed by Globalist billionaire George Soros. Leading this coup with Obama is his closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett, who has moved into the Obama household. They, along with their many leftist compadres still entrenched in the hierarchy of the beltway, are at the forefront of this coup. Through leaks, false narratives, lies, and misinformation they are plotting President's Trump's demise. It is a coup against President Trump and against all of us who voted for him. Americans have a decision to make. Will we succumb or will we fight back? Shari Goodman is an educator, activist, and political commentator In his massive new biography about Barack Obama's pre-presidential years, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Garrow makes hash out of the lie that preserved Obama's candidacy in 2008. That said, he pulls back from the implications of his own revelations to protect what remains of Obama's literary reputation. In the way of background, during an April 2008 presidential primary debate on ABC, George Stephanopoulos said about Bill Ayers and pals, "They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He's never apologized for that." He then asked Obama, "Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?" "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood," said Obama dismissively of Ayers. "He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from [sic] on a regular basis." The question fueled what the L.A. Times called a "storm of criticism." The rage was directed not at Obama for his dissembling, but at Stephanopoulos for his effrontery. How dare he ask Obama about an "obscure sixties radical"? asked Michael Grunwald of Time. The media chose not to follow up. If they had, Hillary Clinton would have won the nomination. Garrow has come along nine years too late to do Clinton any good. But after ten years researching this book and interviewing a thousand people, he reveals just how strong was the relationship between Ayers and Obama and how deep was the lie that protected it. Unfortunately, there is an element of that lie Garrow himself insists on protecting. Garrow sticks to the story that state senator Alice Palmer asked Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn to host a fundraiser for state Senate candidate Obama in the fall of 1995 as if they needed to be asked. Then Garrow begins adding information. "After that gathering, Barack and Michelle began to see a great deal more of not only Bill and Bernardine but also their three closest friends, Rashid and Mona Khalidi and Carole Travis." Rashid Khalidi was a Palestinian native of radical bent then living in Chicago. According to Garrow, Obama did the following during the next eight years. He organized a panel on juvenile justice based on a new book by Ayers. He served on the Woods Fund board with Ayers. He joined Ayers for a panel discussion, "Intellectuals, Who Need Them." Up until the time of his 2004 Senate run, he and Michelle attended "the almost nightly dinners" held with Ayers, Dohrn, and the Khalidis. Ayers obviously meant a whole lot more to Obama than "a guy who lives in the neighborhood" might be expected to. But how much more? Khalidi did not shy from giving credit where it was due. He began the acknowledgment section of his 2004 book, Resurrecting Empire, with a tribute to his own literary muse: "First, chronologically and in other ways comes Bill Ayers." Khalidi had no reason to be coy about this relationship. Obama obviously did. Garrow obliges him. Although he concedes that Ayers and Obama both dated the same woman, Genevieve Cook, in New York City in 1984, he does not try to connect the dots. Nor does Garrow try to connect dots when Ayers follows Obama to Chicago and both work on educational reform with the same people during the years 1987-1988. No, Garrow specifically traces the first meeting of Ayers and Obama to a time in 1995 immediately after pre-publication galleys for Obama's book Dreams from My Father arrived in Chicago in other words, too late for Ayers to have helped at all with the book's writing. This is way too convenient. For all his research, Garrow refuses to ask what Bill Ayers saw in Obama. The answer may well be found in a 1994 essay that Ayers co-authored, whose title befits a former merchant seaman: "Navigating a restless sea: The continuing struggle to achieve a decent education for African American youngsters in Chicago." In "Navigating," Ayers and his nominal co-author, former New Communist Movement leader Michael Klonsky, offer a detailed analysis of the Chicago school system and a discussion of potential reforms. Garrow cites "Navigating" twice but chooses not to see the obvious namely, that Obama offers a nearly identical analysis in Dreams. This analysis was completed in the same year, 1994, as "Navigating." The particular value Obama brought to the relationship can be found not in the many points on which Ayers and the Obama of Dreams agree, but rather on the one point on which they at least seem to differ. First, the areas of agreement. Dreams tells us that Chicago's schools "remained in a state of perpetual crisis." In "Navigating," the situation is described as a "perpetual state of conflict, paralysis, and stagnation." Dreams describes a "bloated bureaucracy" as one source of the problem and "a teachers' union that went out on strike at least once every two years" as another. "Navigating" affirms that the "bureaucracy has grown steadily in the past decade" and confirms Dreams' math, citing a "ninth walkout in 18 years." "Self-interest" is at the heart of the bureaucratic mess described in Dreams. "Navigating" clarifies that "survivalist bureaucracies" struggle for power "to protect their narrow, self-interested positions against any common, public purpose." In Dreams, educators "defend the status quo" and blame problems on "impossible" children and their "bad parents." In "Navigating," an educator serves as "apologist for the status quo" and "place[s] the blame for school failure on children and families." Another challenge cited in Dreams is "an indifferent state legislature." Ayers cites an "unwillingness on [the legislature's] part to adequately fund Chicago schools." In Dreams, "school reform" is the only solution Obama envisions. In "Navigating," Ayers has no greater passion than "reforming Chicago's schools." In fact, in that same year this article was written, 1994, the ambitious Ayers co-authored the proposal that would win for Chicago a $49.2-million Annenberg Challenge grant. Obama would later be made its chair. In Dreams, the thoughts on educational reform are channeled through the soulful voice of two older black Americans. The first, Moran, a composite, tells Obama, "The public school system is not about educating black children. Never has been. Inner-city schools are about social control. Period." "Social control" is an Ayers obsession. "The message to Black people was that at any moment and for any reason whatsoever your life or the lives of your loved ones could be randomly snuffed out," he writes in his memoir, Fugitive Days. "The intention was social control through random intimidation and unpredictable violence." In Dreams, Moran elaborates on the fate of the black student: "From day one, what's he learning about? Someone else's history. Someone else's culture. Not only that, this culture he's supposed to learn is the same culture that's systematically rejected him, denied his humanity." Precociously Afrocentric, Ayers has been making the same case since he first got involved in education. "The public schools' idea of integration is racist," he said early in his career. "They put Negro children into school and demand that they give up their Negro culture. Negro children are forced to speak, behave, and react according to middle-class standards." The second of Obama's educational mentors is "Frank," Obama's mentor in Hawaii, the Communist Frank Marshall Davis. Frank tells the college-bound Obama, "You're not going to college to get educated. You're going there to get trained. They'll train you to forget what it is that you already know." Ayers makes the identical distinction in his 1993 book To Teach. "Education is for self-activating explorers of life, for those who would challenge fate, for doers and activists, for citizens. Training is for slaves, for loyal subjects, for tractable employees, for willing consumers, for obedient soldiers." By 1994, Ayers had been preaching educational reform for nearly thirty years, but one major force still intimidated him: Chicago's sluggish and self-interested educational bureaucracy. Over the years, this bureaucracy had morphed, as Ayers notes in "Navigating," from being a bastion of "[w]hite political patronage and racism" to being "a source of Black professional jobs, contracts, and, yes, patronage." For reasons both ideological and practical, Ayers wilted in the face of this bureaucracy. On this racially tender issue, not so strangely, Dreams tells a different story. Obama openly chides the black "teachers, principals, and district superintendents," who "knew too much" to send their own children to public school. "The biggest source of resistance was rarely talked about," Obama continues namely, that these educators "would defend the status quo with the same skill and vigor as their white counterparts of two decades before." As to the claims of these educators, affirmed in "Navigating," that "cutbacks in the bureaucracy were part of a white effort to wrest back control," the author of Dreams says, teasingly, "[N]ot so true." "Not so true"? In these three words one can anticipate Obama's potential return on Ayers's investment. Simply put, as a black American, Obama could address sensitive racial issues in ways Ayers could not. Ayers surely recognized this. To advance Obama's career, it appears, Ayers finished up Dreams, got Obama appointed chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant, and launched his state Senate run, all in 1994-1995. The political calculus behind that ambition helped shape Dreams. This was a careful book written to jump-start the career of a deeply indebted and highly malleable Chicago politician, maybe even a mayor, one who saw the world through white eyes, as Ayers did, but one who could articulate the city's real problems in words that Ayers could not. This would have worked out much better for Ayers if Obama had contented himself with Chicago. As history records, he did not. It is worth getting out of the weeds of Washington on occasion and looking at the big picture. This is one of those occasions. President Trump is going to Israel, visiting the one stable, prosperous, multiethnic, multicultural, democratic ally the United States has in a region marked by war, repression, and corruption. When he visits the Western Wall, he will be the first sitting president to do so -- Barack Obama came as a candidate, George W. Bush as governor of Texas, George H.W. Bush as vice president, and Bill Clinton both before and after his presidency. The fact that he will visit during the week of the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem is a potent symbol of American support for Israels determination to keep the city open to all religious faiths and specifically open to Jewish worship. There is no forgetting that only for the past 50 years, only under Israeli control, have Jews been able to study, visit, and pray at Judaisms holiest sites. During Jordanian occupation of the eastern side of the city, and for the 500 years of Ottoman rule before that, Jews were restricted or banned entirely from their heritage. The Presidents visit to the holiest site in the Jewish world -- accessible to Jews for less than his lifetime is an exclamation point. The reunification of Jerusalem was, of course, accomplished in the context of the Six-Day War, and the presidential visit comes in that context as well. The war was waged by Arab States unreconciled to Jewish sovereignty in any part of the historic Jewish homeland. Visiting on the eve of the commemoration of Israels defense of its place and defense of its rights, Mr. Trump has chosen a time ripe with symbolism to assert Americas longstanding -- and newly recovered -- shoulder-to-shoulder defense of Israels legitimacy and right to sovereign security. But the visit is not only about symbols; certainly security is never only about symbols. Mr. Trump was preceded in Israel by Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford. Their visits were aimed at deepening U.S.-Israeli security cooperation and reversing the previous administrations plan to enhance the role of Iran in the region and decrease American influence. Mr. Trump can be expected to praise the first and find additional ways to work with Israel to constrain Irans freedom of action in both missile and nuclear development, and in military activity in Syria, Yemen and the Persian Gulf. The President will visit with Arab leadership in the Gulf before arriving in Israel. The Sunni Arab world knows Iranian aggression and radical Islam are its fundamental security problems, not Israel. They are thrilled with the administrations harder line on Iran, and the understanding that American influence and American presence matters. They want to be on Mr. Trumps good side, and thats helpful. Responding to his interest in Israeli-Palestinian talks, a new incarnation of an Arab Peace Plan has been floated. Trying to appear reasonable, the Arabs say Israel has only to stop building settlements in the West Bank and ease trade restrictions in the Gaza Strip. In exchange, they will allow Israel access to Gulf State airspace and enable direct communications with Israel. The good news is that the plan doesnt appear to try to settle the whole problem in a grand gesture. It does get closer to reality -- the prior Arab Peace Plan in 2002 required that Israel withdraw from all the territory acquired in the 1967 war, including Jerusalem, before the Arab States would consider -- consider, mind you -- ending their state of war with Israel. As things go, this is an improvement and an affirmation of the points made by Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu made in their joint press conference in February that progress on Palestinian-Israeli accommodation might be accomplished in a regional context. The Palestinians, it appears, took the possibility that they will be sidelined to heart and went one better than the Arab States, dropping their eight-year insistence on an Israeli building freeze as a precondition to negotiations. U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman put a nail in the coffin of settlement freezes, saying, The U.S. wont dictate how you should live together, that is something you will have to decide on your own. Having lost the battle on that issue, the Palestinians will have to be content with the Presidents visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Are there glitches? Yes. There is a long way to go before the Arab States meet their UN-mandated obligation to provide Israel with termination of all states of belligerency and respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in the region. The Palestinians arent likely to do it before their political and financial masters do. And Americans David Berns and Jonathan Schrier, working in the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem -- which sees itself as an embassy to the fictitious State of Palestine -- tried to create a firestorm over an issue of sovereignty. It was more like a paper fire in a wastebasket, embarrassing the President, but doing no damage. But those are points that can be left for later. When the President of the United States arrives in Israel as Israel prepares to commemorate 50 years of the Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, Americans should be pleased and proud that President Trump chose this time and this place to cement relations with Israel -- our ally and friend. In Feb 2016, Lt. General Mike Flynn became an advisor to candidate Donald Trump. Trump was interested in his views of how to defeat radical Islam. In the summer of that year, Flynn published his book The Field of Fight: How We Can Win The Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies In it he wrote, The political and theological underpinnings of their immoral actions have to be demolished. According to Breitbart: The book identifies the main enemy to Islams ideological encouragement of supremacism, violence, and expansionism, describes Iran as a linchpin of a loose anti-American alliance of Russia, Islam, China, and North Korea, and calls for a diplomatic effort to flip Russia against Iran and radical Islam. When dealing with Islamic militants, he writes, [w]eve got to stop feeling the slightest bit guilty about calling them by name and identifying them as fanatical killers acting on behalf of a failed civilization. Even though Flynn was asked to resign in February, Trump is following his prescription to a T. Dr. Sebastian Gorka, another Trump adviser, in an interview by Jerry Gordon and Mike Bates, on Mar 4/17 said, The political and theological underpinnings of their immoral actions have to be demolished. Once in office, Trump appointed Nikki Haley as the US Ambassador to the UN instructing her to demand the UN stop treating Israel unfairly. So far she has done a great job with her assigned task. When President Assad used chemical weapons against his own citizens, Trump bombed a Syrian airbase with 49 Tomahawk missiles, something President Obama never did. He also decided to arm the Kurds without regard to the protestations of President Erdogan. Again, something the Obama was unwilling to do. President Trump seemed to change his positions on Israel related issues. During his campaign, he promised to move the US embassy to Jerusalem on day one, to allow Israel to build housing in Judea and Samaria, and to search for alternate solutions to the conflict. In this regard, he has been a disappointment to the pro-Israel community. He didnt move the embassy and he didnt allow Israel to build in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria. And he made bold moves to achieve a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This included inviting President Abbas to the White House for a couple of hours and announcing a conference for this summer which would include the regional Arab powers. From Israels point of view, Trump has no chance of succeeding. Mind you, he has been careful not to mention the creation of the state of Palestine, so one wonders what he has in mind. The White House announced that President Trump would visit Saudi Arabia starting May 20, then Israel, and then the Vatican. At a press conference on May 16/17, the National Security Advisor, General McMaster, gave details of the speeches Trump will deliver in Saudi Arabia. [Trump] will address the leaders of 50 Muslim countries including the Gulf States on the need to confront radical ideology and the presidents hopes for a peaceful vision of Islam across the globe. The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilizations and to demonstrate Americas commitment to our Muslim partners. [Trump will] participate in the inauguration of a new Center intended to fight radicalism and to promote moderation. By establishing and operating this center our Muslim friends including Saudi Arabia are taking a firm stand against extremism and those who use a perverted interpretation of religion to advance their criminal and political agendas. Accordingly, Trump remains committed to defeating the radical Islamist ideology and is requiring the Arab states join him and to reject the ideology. His demands on the Arab states are reminiscent of President Bushs speech shortly after 9/11 in which Bush said to these countries Either you are with us or you are against us. But unlike Bush, Trump will follow through. In 2009, President Obama made his first foreign trip to Egypt to deliver a ground-breaking speech to the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, and to the Muslim world in general. In describing the problem thusly, Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust. President Obama chose to identify the enemies as violent extremists, whereas Trump in his speech will unapologetically identify the enemy as radical Islamists. Obama went on to make his pitch. I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. Trump, on the other hand, will demand that the Muslim world, including the Arab states, reject the radical interpretation of Islam and those who follow it. Obamas new beginning involved embracing the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terrorist organization by many countries, and embracing Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Trump, on the other hand is making the US friendship with the Muslim world contingent on it rejecting the terrorist ideology. His upcoming speech will truly herald a new beginning. Already he is meeting with success. The Gulf states have compiled a proposal to take steps toward normalization with Israel if the Netanyahu government in turn makes gestures to the Palestinians, such as freezing settlement construction in parts of the West Bank and easing trade restrictions in the Gaza Strip. Their offer will be rejected by both Trump and PM Netanyahu. According to an Arab intelligence officer, Trump will be demanding that the Arab leaders normalize relations with Israel without preconditions. If the Arabs want to be friends with the US, they must first be friends with Israel. Secondly, he will look for an alternative solution if he cant broker a deal. Prior to Abbas being hosted in the White House in early May, Trump pushed the Palestinian leder to end the payments to convicted terrorists and their families. We dont know how this is being resolved but we do know that Senators Lindsey Graham, and Mark Kirk are seeking to cut US assistance to the PA by the amount paid to prisoners in Israeli custody and their families, according to an amendment to the Senate spending bill for State and Foreign Operations. The US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, arrived in Israel on Monday and in an interview reiterated certain positions and attitudes that Trump embraces, - next week in Israel with no specific plan or road map in mind and that there are no demands for Israel to freeze building in Judea and Samaria. - both sides should sit down at the same table with no preconditions, and talk. - The US will not dictate how you need to live together here. Thats something that only you will decide. - Trump didnt say settlements are an obstacle to peace. He didnt say he wants a freeze. He said he wants to come to an understanding with the Israeli government on how the issue will be dealt with. - In 2009, Hillary Clinton insisted on a complete freeze of all building in Judea and Samaria, but Abbas still refused to come to the negotiating table. Now, we dont have any demands that Israel freeze building, and Abbas is interested in meeting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu without any preconditions. - I dont know if Israel will ever have to make concessions. Its hard to answer that question right now. Candidate Trump said many of these things during the campaign. Ambassador Friedman is now repeating them on his behalf. One must conclude that in foreign policy itself, Trump meant what he said and said what he meant. Two men in Indonesia caught "in the act" were sentenced to 85 lashes by a sharia law court. Two men accused of having sex with each other were each sentenced on Wednesday to 85 lashes in public, the first case of people being punished for homosexuality in the Indonesian province of Aceh under a strict version of Shariah law. News reports said that vigilantes had caught the two men naked in bed, and that the two had pleaded not to be reported to the Shariah police. You have to wonder how they were caught. Do the police have roving vans equipped with "gaydar" that picked them up on sensor sweeps? Or did the police have a man "on the inside"? Homosexuality has been illegal in the highly conservative province since 2014, but this is the first time citizens have been punished for it. The maximum sentence for the crime is 100 lashes, but the court sentenced the men to 85 each after they apologized for their actions. See, sharia law has plea bargaining, just like American law! Although the timing of the sentencing appears to be a coincidence, Wednesday is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. What big words! "Transphobia" sounds like fear of vampires or people from Transylvania, and "biphobia" sounds like a fear of bipeds. But missing from the list is Islamophobia. Shouldn't gays have been fighting that as well? The two whipped men certainly must have been! According to an annual report on state-sponsored homophobia, compiled by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, homosexuality is effectively a crime in 72 countries. Intersex? I can't keep up! This article needs subtitles! In three Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen it is codified as a crime punishable by death, though executions are rare. In five other countries Afghanistan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates a death penalty for homosexuality is codified under Shariah law, but it has not been put into practice. It's ironic that the left is more incensed about the refusal of Christian bakers to bake a cake for two men claiming to marry each other than about the whipping and execution of gays in Islamic countries. I guess the left has more tolerance for some kinds of intolerance. What we are talking about here is the difference between tolerance and acceptance. No Christian bakers want to see people whipped. They tolerate people who are attracted to members of the same sex. They would be happy to sell cookies to Anderson Cooper or Shepard Smith. But what they don't want to do is be forced to approve of homosexual behavior, in this case by making a cake. That distinction is what is lost on the left. The left is more outraged by Americans' lack of approval for homosexual behavior than it is by Islam's lack of tolerance for those who engage in it. I wonder why. Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com. Leading conservative commentator Mark Levin says the Trump administration is within a few steps of "being destroyed." And no wonder, with Republicans and even members of Trump's own White House staff running from him like scalded dogs. 1) Some Republicans are starting to talk about what a Pence presidency would look like. They are already presuming that Trump will be gone soon. The scandals clouding Trump's presidency including, most recently, his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his alleged leak of classified information to Russian officials, and reports that he urged Comey to drop an investigation into a top aide have raised once more the possibility that Trump could be pushed aside and replaced by Vice President Mike Pence. "If what the [New York Times] reported is true, Pence is probably rehearsing," one House Republican who asked not to be named quipped Wednesday. "It's just like Nixon. From the standpoint that it's never the underlying issue, it is always the cover-up." Erick Erickson, a conservative pundit who was a strong Never Trumper but then pledged to give the president a chance, wrote on Wednesday that Republicans should abandon the president because they "have no need for him with Mike Pence in the wings." 2) It has just been revealed that House majority leader Kevin McCarthy alleged, in a recorded conversation, that President Trump is in the pay of Vladimir Putin. A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy's assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. 3) Even staffers in the White House are getting ready to jump ship: [M]id-level aides have started reaching out to consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close the staffer. One Republican operative in frequent contact with White House officials described them as "going through the stages of grief." Another said some aides have "moved to angry," frustrated with a president who demands absolute loyalty but in recent days has publicly tarnished the credibility of his team by sending them out with one message, only to personally undercut it later with a contradicting tweet or public comment. 4) Some Republicans are even starting to talk about impeachment: Republican congressman Justin Amash told The Hill that if reports were true about Mr Trump's pressure on Mr Comey, it would merit impeachment. In an interview with CNN, Republican representative Carlos Curbelo compared Mr Trump allegedly pressuring Mr Comey to drop the Flynn inquiry, to the obstruction of justice cases that led to impeachment proceedings for former presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. "Obstruction of justice in the case of Nixon, in the case of Clinton in the late 90s, has been considered an impeachable offence," Mr Curbelo said. Nixon was brought down when Republicans turned away from him. Republicans are already running from Trump. This is so sad! We all thought Trump would make America great again, and now he might not even be able to make it through the first year of his presidency! Is Mark Levin right? Is Trump just a few steps away from being given the boot? Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com. For decades now, the Washington Post and New York Times have been read only by left-wing minions of the Democratic Party. Both are well known propaganda machines of the far left in America. But the situation changed for the worse in 2016, when Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States. Jeffrey P. Bezos formally took over as the owner of The Washington Post in 2013, officially ending 80 years of local control of the newspaper by the Graham family. Bezos's $250-million purchase was completed as expected with the signing of sale documents. The signing transferred the newspaper and other assets from The Washington Post Co. to Nash Holdings, Bezos's private investment company. Jeff Bezos has been funding left-wing politicians and causes ever since becoming wealthy with his Amazon online retail establishment, which has been responsible for closing the doors of thousands of small independent retailers and even major national retail chains across the country. Second only to George Soros, Bezos, who owns the WaPo, The Washington Post, which is ground zero for almost every negative "fake news" attack column against President Trump since 2013 is the single largest financier of left-wing causes and the anti-Trump propaganda hitting our headlines every single day. Other left-wing "fake news" outlets pick up these stories and run with them, regardless of all facts and evidence to the contrary, quoting the WaPo as their "source" to maintain a defensible position against libel and slander suits by saying "we only reported on the WaPo reports." Bingo: The fake news spreads across news outlets like a raging prairie fire. In February 2017, after losing the presidential election with Hillary Clinton, John Podesta joined WaPo as a "contributing columnist." Since graduating Lane Tech High School in Chicago, Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois in 1971, where he had served as a volunteer for the presidential candidacy of Eugene McCarthy, and receiving his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976, Podesta has spent his entire life at the highest levels of anti-American left-wing politics with the Clintons and Obamas, among many others. Still wondering where the "fake news" headlines are coming from at WaPo? Read on: "According to an unsubstantiated article by the Washington Post, anonymous CIA officials have confirmed that the Russian government hacked the United States election to favor Donald Trump." December 2016 According to WaPo reports, they have been gaining their "fake news" information from "unnamed CIA leakers." However, we are seeing more Washington, D.C. leaks than what we'd find out of a kitchen colander. Can they all be coming from CIA operatives working against America? Almost every federal agency is full of anti-American employees who donate almost exclusively to Clinton, Obama, and every left-wing cause under George Soros's more than 200 NGOs (non-governmental agencies). These are the federal employee campaign donations for the 2016 election cycle. Source here. What the above chart shows is that 90% of federal employee union members and 83.8% of all federal employees are anti-Trump. Every last one of those could be a "leaker" working to undermine the Trump administration and the 63 million Americans who voted for him. In addition, the far left has massive boots on the ground through more than 200 NGOs and billions in funding behind them from anti-Americans like George Soros of Open Society, Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon and the Washington Post, the Clintons, and the Obamas. Furthermore, many of these NGOs enjoy tax-exempt and deductible status with the IRS and therefore are heavily funded by our tax dollars. Last but not least on this matter, Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeffrey Bezos received a $600-million federal contract with the CIA to create a "government cloud" for records storage and sharing, from which, it appears, massive anti-Trump government leaks of even classified information may be coming. So Amazon's Jeffrey Bezos owns the single largest database of consumers in America and has taken a $600-million CIA (leakers) contract to build and manage their "cloud" while owning the Washington Post (WaPo) at ground zero for all current leaked fake news stories aimed at destroying Trump and Clinton campaign manager John Podesta is now a contributing columnist. Still wondering where all the fake news stories against Trump are coming from? How? Why? Look no farther! Still plan on shopping with Amazon.com or reading the Washington Post or any of the dozens of news outlets spreading the false propaganda by quoting the WaPo? Amazing! George Soros made a big addition to his collection of district attorneys dedicated to "reshaping the justice system," code words for racialist practices that hamstring police and leave demographically favored miscreants unpunished. Even worse, officers stand down from active policing when they know that prosecutors don't have their backs. The consequences are utterly predictable in a post-Ferguson, post-Baltimore world. Soros has openly been spending his money on electing progressive D.A.s in big cities and thereby reducing the number of blacks and other minorities punished for crimes. He spent millions last year getting seven D.A.s elected in six states, including Kim Ogg in Harris County (Houston) Texas, a jurisdiction almost three times the population of Philadelphia: 4.41 million to 1.56 million. Soros leaped into the race for Philadelphia's D.A. in April: Billionaire George Soros has arrived. And he plans to spend a significant chunk of change to support one of the seven candidates, civil-rights attorney Larry Krasner. A group calling itself Philadelphia Justice and Public Safety filed a political committee registration statement Tuesday three weeks before the May 16 primary with the city's Board of Elections. His investment of $1.45 million worked. Krasner easily defeated six other candidates, with an 18-point margin over his closest rival. Money apparently talks, especially in races where the other candidates have little access to substantial donations. The normal outrage among Democrats over "money politics" is nowhere to be seen when it comes to Soros buying political offices for racialist Democrats. The Democrats' nomination ordinarily is tantamount to election in Philly, where a 7-to-1 registration margin overwhelms the hopes of the sole Republican who ran for and therefore won the GOP nod, Beth Grossman. So Soros hasn't closed the deal quite yet, but barring a live boy or a dead girl (as the colorful Southern saying goes), Soros has his man in another major city. Chris Brennan and Julia Terruso of Philly.com give us a flavor for Krasner's brand of Sorosism: Krasner, a defense attorney for three decades best known for taking on civil rights cases for Black Lives Matter and Occupy Philadelphia members, AIDS activists and protesters arrested at political conventions, has never served a day in his career as a prosecutor. That became his pitch that he was more likely to reform the District Attorney's Office because he had no ties to the institution, unlike most of the other Democrats in the race. That message appealed to several hundred people who filled the John C. Anderson Apartments community room and an outdoor courtyard in Center City on Tuesday night for Krasner's victory party. It got a little rowdy as the results rolled in. Chants of "No good cops in a racist system" and against the Fraternal Order of Police were quickly shut down by Krasner campaign staffers. If you liked what happened in Ferguson and Baltimore after cops pulled back, you are going the love the "Philadelphia effect" coming in 2018. "No good cops in a racist system" sends quite a message to Philadelphia's Finest. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has named former FBI director Robert Mueller to the position of "special counsel" to investigate the Trump administration's ties to Russia. Many media outlets are describing Mueller as a "special prosecutor." In fact, the term "special counsel" has replaced the terms "special prosecutor" and "independent counsel" to describe an investigation undertaken by the Department of Justice where there is a potential conflict of interest with the executive branch or where there are "extraordinary circumstances" that warrant an independent investigation. Both the attorney general and the president have the power to name a special counsel. (Congress can recommend the appointment of a special counsel, but DoJ is under no statutory obligation to accept that recommendation.) So what is a special counsel? And what is the difference between a special counsel, a special prosecutor, and an independent counsel? The terms are largely interchangeable to refer to someone appointed to investigate allegations that could involve a conflict of interest within the Department of Justice. But the manner in which they are appointed and why has changed over time. The president has always had the authority to name a special prosecutor. After the crisis brought on by the Watergate scandal, Congress passed a law creating an "independent counsel" who could be appointed by a three-judge panel. After the experiences of the Iran-Contra investigation and the probe into the Clinton's Whitewater land deal, there was bipartisan support to abandon that law. Now, the attorney general, in addition to the president, has the power to appoint a special counsel. The statute regarding the grounds for appointing a special counsel says the attorney general, or acting attorney general in cases where the attorney general is recused, can appoint a special counsel when a case presents a "conflict of interest" for the Justice Department, or "other extraordinary circumstances." In this case, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was able to appoint Mueller because Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself. Mueller will have broad investigative authority with very limited oversight. Basically, he can investigate anything he wants, including any tangential issues that may be unrelated to his original probe. He is a power unto himself, which is why most presidents fear people in his role. Many media outlets are using "special prosecutor" to describe the special counsel even though it really doesn't apply anymore because it's a term loaded with historical implications, bringing to mind as it does Watergate-era wrongdoing by President Nixon. It's just another way for liberals to politicize the entire process in order to bring the president down. It will be interesting to see where Mueller's Russia investigation takes him. Will he investigate Democrats with ties to the Kremlin? Not nearly as publicized as the Trump campaign's Russia connections, the Democrats have their own conflict of interest problems with the Kremlin that a good prosecutor should fully investigate. Mueller has a reputation for stubborn independence and is widely respected by both parties on the Hill. Whether you call him a "special prosecutor" or a "special counsel," the Justice Department has now set in motion the machinery of law that could either expose the hysterical opposition against the president for the rabid partisan politics it is or lead to serious charges of high crimes and misdemeanors against President Donald Trump, resulting in his impeachment. Yesterday, Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as the special counsel, with full federal attorney powers, in the investigation of Russian interference in the electoral process of 2016. At this point, Mueller has been given unlimited time and the ability to follow any related pathways regarding the scope and breadth of the Russian investigation. But, as anyone familiar with recent history may remember, any special prosecutor may venture down paths not originally contemplated, as Bill Clinton could attest. For Donald Trump, this deck of cards provides many possible outcomes. Trump, not a seasoned politician, has created many unforced errors during his four months in office. All his accomplishments have received scant coverage by the media (not willing to give him credit) as his tweets, hyperbole, and misstatements have overshadowed his agenda. His private conversation with James Comey, which led to a purported memo partially leaked to the New York Times, was the kind of error that increased the pressure upon Rosenstein to appoint Mueller. Many Democrats have urged the appointment of a special prosecutor. For those convinced that Trump's election was illegitimate, the only outcome is for Mueller is to find criminality during the private Comey meeting in February, such as obstruction of justice. They seek a bill of particulars coming before Congress to allow impeachment proceedings. Some will still want an independent commission to investigate these issues as a way of keeping the negative news out front. Leftists are convinced that Michael Flynn committed some serious violation when meeting with Russian officials. They further believe that Trump interfered in the FBI investigation into this activity. With yesterday's new report, they feel that Trump had reason to protect Flynn, since he told the transition team that he was being investigated for activity as a foreign agent prior to his appointment as national security adviser. They complain that Trump took 18 days to fire Flynn despite warnings from acting A.G. Yates that Flynn was compromised. With the report that Trump gave intelligence information to the Russian officials while the latter were visiting the Oval Office, Trump opponents further feel he is unfit for the office. With this activity and the above issues, it is not clear what laws were broken. Mueller will likely conduct a thorough but quiet investigation. This may help Trump get his agenda back on track. But it now means legal risk for the entire White House staff and transition personnel. Washington criminal lawyers will likely get new clients. Trump may well decide to seek personal counsel as the White House lawyer represents the office. He should certainly refrain from public and private discussion about these issues. This will help him focus on his agenda. Republican opponents of the president now see a way to deflect him from his agenda that includes draining the D.C. swamp. The controversy now threatens to swallow Trump and his advisers. The establishment is loath to see any systemic changes. Senators such as McCain can't refrain from nicking Trump as payback for past insults. Democrats may find that the special investigator examines the intelligence leaks as a criminal activity. The unmasking of American citizens and subsequent leaking of that information may be a lane Mueller travels. If he does, then the left will rue the day they sought a special prosecutor. The Deep State's opposition may have to contend with a more rapid replacement of Obama appointees by those from Trump as a result. The Trump administration is new and learning the ways of Washington. Administration operatives have yet to learn how to control the narrative. The disruptive forces behind Trump depend upon his skills to enact the changes they seek. Trump ultimately makes most decisions. On Friday, Trump leaves for his first foreign trip to the Middle East and Europe. While he is away, his political enemies will be laying more bombs in his path. This appointment may be one more diversion to limit his concentration. The Trump administration has imposed additional sanctions on Iran relating to certain individuals involved in that country's ballistic missile program. But the White House also maintained the waiver of major sanctions on Iran agreed to in the nuclear deal. The dual track sanctions policy shows that the major review of U.S. Iranian policy ordered by the president is not complete, and for the foreseeable future, Iran will continue to enjoy the economic benefits of sanctions relief. Reuters: "The United States continues to waive sanctions as required to continue implementing U.S. sanctions-lifting commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," the State Department said in a statement, referring to the deal by its formal name. The United States brands Iran a "state sponsor of terrorism." It says Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war, Houthi rebels in Yemen's civil war and the Hezbollah Shi'ite political party and militia in Lebanon, have helped destabilise the Middle East. Separately, the Treasury Department said it had sanctioned two senior Iranian defence officials, an Iranian company, a Chinese man and three Chinese companies for supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme. The designation of the seven Iranian and Chinese people and companies blocks any assets they might have in the United States and bars Americans and non-Americans from doing business with them, at the risk of being blacklisted by the United States. The decision on the sanctions waiver represented a major early policy choice on the nuclear deal for the Trump administration, which has said that it is engaged in a wider policy review on how to deal with Iran. Iran holds a presidential election on Friday with President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist cleric whose administration reached the nuclear deal, battling a conservative challenger and trying to convince voters he can deliver economic growth. The Iranian government and some Iranian citizens have been disappointed that U.S., European Union and United Nations sanctions relief provided so far under the nuclear deal has failed to spark an economic renaissance. The United States on Wednesday renewed a waiver of the key, and most punitive, sanctions that it imposed on Iran before the nuclear deal was ultimately struck. Under these sanctions, tucked into Section 1245 of the 2012 National Defence Authorization Act, the United States threatened to sanction the banks of Iran's main oil customers if they did not significantly reduce their purchases of Iranian crude. Under the law, these sanctions can be waived for a maximum of 120 days. The Obama administration did so in mid January, forcing the Trump administration to decide by Wednesday whether to renew them or to put the wider Iran deal at risk. Why doesn't the Trump administration reveal the secret protocols, side deals, and unpublicized details of the agreement? Here's where the idiocy of President Obama's negotiations are made obvious. As long as the deal remains in effect, the Trump administration is prevented from making the public aware of exactly what Barack Obama negotiated with the terrorists in Tehran. This secrecy was deliberately negotiated into the deal to prevent Congress and the American people from seeing the scope of Obama's betrayal. Even many Democrats would have hesitated to vote for this agreement if some of what's leaked out after Congress failed to kill the deal had been known at the time. So as long as the deal is in place, we will be kept in the dark about everything in it. In the end, it won't matter. International sanctions will not "snap back," as President Obama said they would if Iran cheated. There was never any chance of that, and for the president to sell that deal to Congress based on the lie that sanctions would be re-imposed shows the lengths to which Obama went to insure his "legacy." Technically, Iran doesn't even have to cheat. It's apparent that the Iranians have interpreted parts of the deal that differ from our understanding. In some ways as is the case with improving the quality and efficiency of centrifuge technology the two nations have an entirely different understanding of what that means. It should go without saying that the Iranian interpretation of many aspects of this deal favors their development of a nuclear weapon. I can understand why the Trump administration might want to maintain the nuclear deal until it gets all its ducks in a row on Iran. If we were to cancel the deal before a plan of action had been formulated, the Iranians could embark on a crash program to build a nuke. In a matter of a couple of months, Iran could have a workable bomb. Better to have a plan to deal with Iran in place before Trump demands changes in the agreement that would force the Iranians to either limit their nuclear program or scuttle the deal. The mainstream media and their fellow travelers in the Democratic Party are beside themselves, praising Comey for his allegedly contemporaneous memo regarding his early February meeting with Trump in which the media claim that Comey noted that Trump ostensibly suggested he should scuttle the investigation of General Flynn. As part of their effort to rehabilitate Comey as a patriotic and impartial public servant after the Hillary debacle, the media have pointed out that Comey is an inveterate note-taker and invariably does so after virtually every meeting he attends, thus making these notes above reproach and even admissible in a legal proceeding if need be. Comey, through an anonymous associate, saw fit to make the Trump memo public through a leak to New York Times, and the media claim that there are numerous notes in his files of meetings during his tenure as FBI director. This revelation enables Congress to subpoena all his memos as part of their ongoing investigations. At present, the House of Representatives is still investigating the Hillary email debacle as well as the issue of Russian interference in the recent election. Further, Congress could also demand that the FBI turn over all the notes taken after Comey's meetings with various members of Congress over the past three years. In the Trump matter, context is all-important, and the full memo should be made public. The meetings and process that resulted in Comey's exoneration of Hillary as reflected in his memos should also be made public. Further, as the Russian matter has been under investigation for nearly ten months and has become a cause celebre for the media and the Democrats as they attempt to strangle the Trump presidency in its infancy, Comey's notes concerning his meetings with not only Trump, but Obama associates prior to the election should be made public. The Republicans in Congress must follow up on all these memos and subpoena them. The time has come to turn the tables on the Democratic Party/media cabal and their never-ending leaks and anonymous sources. Ilakaka is a small town in the south west of Madagascar along Route Nationale 7, the main road linking the capital city Antananarivo to the port of Toliara. Twenty years ago, Ilakaka practically didnt exist with barely 40 residents. In less than ten years, its population soared to 60,000 as people from all over Madagascar began flocking here in search of sapphires. Sapphire was discovered in southern Madagascar in the late 1990s. Until then, Ilakaka was little more than a truck stop with a small collection of huts and a few dozen residents. When word of the discovery got out, Ilakaka swelled to tens of thousands of residents, and this sleepy hamlet became the sapphire capital of the world supplying nearly 50% of all the sapphires in the world. Photo credit: salymfayad/Flickr Despite the economic boom, Ilakaka never developed further than a shanty town where poor families dwell in tiny wooden houses. Most of the workers here had come with the intention of striking it rich and heading back to their home villages but ended up getting trapped in the system where Malagasy workers are exploited by the Thais and Sri Lankan merchants. There are large number of illegal miners operating in Ilakaka who smuggle large amounts of gems out of the country. There is little law and order despite the presence of a police force. In recent years, Ilakaka has fallen on hard times as all easily-mined sapphire fields have been picked clean, and the remaining miners often work in deep holes, climbing far underground. Photo credit: Andreas Hafenscher/Flickr Photo credit: David Denicolo/Flickr Photo credit: www.madacamp.com Photo credit: ecololo/Flickr Sources: Wild Madagascar / Slate / BBC He explained that he was approached by the president of the company, Mr Peter Halliman, around July last year. He was offering his companys services to the RPNGC. Mr Halliman is an American citizen but he was born in Bulolo in 1961 and grew up in the Lake Kopiago/Koroba area of the Hela Province. His parents were Baptist missionaries. POLICE Commissioner Baki has stated that the "Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary is currently engaged in discussions with an American based security company, Laurence Aviation & Security Group, to train an elite rapid response team for APEC 2018 and for ongoing policing into the future." I invited Laurence Aviation and Security Group to come to PNG in February this year to do a presentation for the senior police hierarchy on what they can offer to the RPNGC in terms of training, Baki said. Following the presentation I decided that the company had the necessary credentials, skills, experience and expertise to train an elite rapid response team for PNG which I intend to set up especially for APEC 2018. A team of 15 instructors from Laurence Aviation and Security Group were subsequently appointed Special Constables. Two of the members of LASG have been in the country since February, Baki revealed, and I authorised them to go on day and night patrols with teams from the NCD Command, especially the NCD Task Force to assess and appreciate their operational capabilities and shortfalls. If they are going to be training our men they need to know what our response capabilities are. Laurence Aviation and Security Group is start-up company registered only in May 2016. The two people behind it are to Americans Peter Halliman and Stephen Blovat. Who are they? Halliman is a Baptist missionary who has absolutely no background in aviation or security. His Linked-In profile states he currently manages Sovereign Grace Baptist Mission of Malawi (Africa) and Papua New Guinea. His accomplishments include being citified to wield 2 to 36 inch carbon, stainless chrome-molly pipes. His skills are operation of sawmill, cutting of timber and construction of buildings. Blovat is ex US army aviation safety officer and medevac pilot. In September 2015 he retired from the army to setup his small business in Tennessee consulting in safety training. He lists his skills as flight safety, military training and operations. So sometime between September 2015 and May 2016 Blovat, residing in the US, with Halliman, who was based in PNG, realised there was real money to made in the PNG oil and gas industry - specifically in aviation and security. So in May 2016 Blovat registered Laurence Aviation and Security Group in Tennessee in partnership with Halliman. Blovat recruited two employees, his daughter Heather-Ann Marie as human resource officer and Lori Darlin, ex US Army helicopter pilot, as director of marketing. In August 2016 company setup a Facebook page and started advertising to recruit qualified commercial helicopter pilots, including aircraft maintainers, flight medics and flight ops personnel. On 24 August 2016 Halliman registered Laurence Aviation and Security Group as an overseas company with the PNG Investment Promotion Authority. It stated the company had three directors: Peter Halliman; Charles Dawson; and Steve Blovat. Resident agent in PNG is Johnson Limbya, former agronomist at National Agriculture Research Institute and currently managing director of Hela Human Resource Ltd that claims to lease light vehicles to the PNG LNG gas project. In summary, I believe this company was set up with one primary objective secure contracts in the PNG oil and gas industry, its problem being without any real track record or capability no major oil and gas company would award it a contract. But if it came through the back door by establishing strong working relationships with PNG police and military, it would have a strategic advantage. What I am interested to know is who introduced the company to our Commissioner of Police? What if any relationship exists between them? What is the contract value? One last point. I note a comment made by Mr Blovat on the PNG elections in which he remarked, "Never a dull moment if I can have any influence on it." Growing up in PNG I recall the saying there are three types of expatriates that come here - missionaries, mercenaries and misfits. In this instance, it seems the missionaries have gone into business with the mercenaries. You can read Bryan Kramers full article here The media has an important role to play in the dissemination of information and awareness about the 3,331 candidates contesting the 89 open electorates and 22 provincial seats, said council president Alexander Rheeney. An EMTV camera crew was harassed and assaulted last Thursday in the Moresby South electorate in the National Capital District in an incident the Media Council called unacceptable and unwarranted. THE Media Council of Papua New Guinea has condemned the unacceptable harassment and violence targeting media workers covering the countrys 2017 general election campaign. Papua New Guineas four million-plus eligible voters are depending on the media for critical information on the 2017 general election, the candidates as well as political parties and their policies, Mr Rheeney said. The media should be allowed to report without fear or favour in this general election as they have in previous elections. The incident involving an EMTV camera crew and the supporters of a particular candidate is unacceptable. All candidates should accept responsibility for the conduct of their supporters so any unruly behaviour should and will be reported to the appropriate authorities. Mr Rheeney said the media industry remains united and vigilant in striving to inform and educate the public. He called on candidates or supporters who had issues with the media to take their complaints to the Media Council. EMTV reported that its crew was abused and a senior cameraman assaulted by supporters of sitting Moresby South Member of Parliament Justin Tkatchenko. Journalists Bethanie Harriman and Stanley Ove Jr were collecting generic pictures of election banners around Port Moresby with senior cameraman Konts Kara (pictured above) when the assault happened. After collecting pictures at Gerehu, the crew stopped in Moresby South, where, on Lawes Road, supporters loyal to sitting MP Justin Tkatchencko attacked senior cameraman Kara. The crowd advanced on the company vehicle banging on the windows, taking the keys off the driver, and forcing the cameraman to delete footage of the sitting MPs campaign banners, EMTV said. A senior coordinator of the ministers campaigning team accused EMTV of being biased in reports while swearing at the crew. Former state Sen. Michael Nozzolio has received another honor from his alma mater. Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences launched the Senator Michael Nozzolio Fund for Viticulture and Enology, an endowment fund that will support the school's wine and grape research. Nozzolio earned bachelor's and master degrees at Cornell in the mid-1970s. During his career as a state legislator, which spanned three decades, he was a leading advocate for research efforts at the university's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. His support for the station's research, the Institute of Food Safety and the state Food Venture Center was cited by Kathryn Boor, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Specifically, this fund will have an enduring impact on the wine and grape industry across New York, and will further enrich the Finger Lakes region that he dedicated his career to help thrive," Boor said. "The college is proud to honor the senator's legacy of leadership." Nozzolio was elected to the state Assembly in 1982. He served 10 years in the Assembly before being elected to the state Senate in 1992. He represented his Finger Lakes state Senate district, which included parts of Cayuga County, for nearly 25 years. Nozzolio announced his retirement last year after learning he would need surgery to repair failing heart valves. He underwent surgery in April 2016. After leaving the Senate, he joined Boor's advisory board at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He was also asked to serve as an adviser to the Institute of Food Safety. Nozzolio called the establishment of the fund in his name a "great honor." "This fund will assist the continued growth of the wine and grape industry, one of the most important New York agribusiness success stories that has provided a tremendous positive economic impact in the Finger Lakes region and across the entire Empire State," he said. The House of Representatives marked National Police Week with passage of a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Katko that aims to improve information sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Katko's bill, the Improving Fusion Centers' Access to Information Act, passed by voice vote Wednesday. The measure would require the Department of Homeland Security to address gaps in information sharing at fusion centers. The bill has two cosponsors U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, and U.S. Rep. William Keating, a Massachusetts Democrat. Fusion centers were created to encourage the sharing of intelligence and other data between federal agencies, such as the CIA and FBI, and state and local departments. Katko, R-Camillus, introduced the legislation based on information he received at a House Transportation and Protective Security subcommittee meeting last fall. At that meeting, he was informed that there were issues affecting information sharing between the government agencies. With his bill, the Department of Homeland Security must conduct assessments to determine if the information sharing efforts are effective. "In Congress, I remain committed to supporting policies that prioritize the safety and efficiency of our men and women in law enforcement," Katko said. "The measure that passed the House today will streamline information sharing and communication amongst law enforcement at all levels to ensure these brave men and women can continue their efforts to keep our communities safe." Katko's bill will now head to the Senate for review. Will the secretary of the U.S. Air Force visit central New York? Two members of the region's congressional delegation hope so. U.S. Reps. John Katko and Claudia Tenney sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson inviting her to visit the region. Katko's district is home to the Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing based at Hancock Field in Onondaga County. The 174th Attack Wing has played a key role in training military personnel on the operation and maintenance of unmanned aircraft. The Air Force's Research Laboratory Information Directorate is located in Rome, which is in Tenney's congressional district. Rome Lab "is a global leader in advanced cyber research and development," the representatives wrote. "To gain a more personal appreciation for the significant value these installations provide the Air Force, we would like to extend a formal invitation for you to visit," Katko, R-Camillus, and Tenney, R-New Hartford, wrote. "We understand that as Air Force installations, you certainly do not need an invitation from us to visit, but we would be honored to host you." Wilson is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and was an Air Force officer from 1982 to 1989. She was elected to Congress in 1998 and served until 2009. President Donald Trump nominated Wilson for secretary of the Air Force soon after he was sworn into office. Wilson's nomination was confirmed by the Senate May 8. Members of upstate New York's congressional delegation are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to request the Federal Emergency Management Agency's assistance for communities along Lake Ontario impacted by flooding a required step in the process for President Donald Trump to declare a federal state of emergency. The four members of Congress U.S. Reps. Chris Collins, John Katko, Elise Stefanik and Claudia Tenney sent a letter to Cuomo Thursday. Each of the representatives have counties along Lake Ontario in their districts. The governor's request is necessary under the federal Stafford Act. Once the request is made, the president may declare a state of emergency and federal assistance could be provided. Katko, R-Camillus, represents three counties Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne along Lake Ontario. He's visited Fair Haven, Oswego and Sodus, which have been dealing with flooding issues due to rising Lake Ontario water levels. New York has provided support to the affected communities. This week, the state sent a sandbagging machine and 10,000 sandbags to Fair Haven, which was beginning to run low on available sandbags. A National Guard unit was deployed to the village to assist with the sandbagging operation. "I applaud Governor Cuomo for his attention to this critical and unprecedented situation," Katko said. "Still, current water levels pose a significant burden and, left unaddressed, will continue to cause damage to shoreline communities across New York state. "That's why I've joined my colleagues to urge the governor to elevate these concerns by requesting federal assistance from FEMA so that our communities may have access to the assistance they desperately need." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has been monitoring lake levels, said the water is currently 31 inches higher than average and could rise an additional five inches in the next month. Flooding is already impacting businesses and residential properties along the lake. Shoreline erosion is also a concern. "Numerous shoreline property owners have invested in break walls surrounding their property that are now sitting far into the lake," the members of Congress wrote in their letter to Cuomo. "Homeowners and shoreline property owners are experiencing tens of thousands of dollars in damage, homes have been condemned and there is no relief in sight." Collins, R-Clarence, and Katko have blamed the rising lake levels, in part, on Plan 2014. The International Joint Commission, which is a collaboration between the United States and Canada, adopted Plan 2014 late last year. The plan manages Lake Ontario water levels. The congressmen have urged President Trump to withdraw from Plan 2014 after communities in their districts began experiencing flooding due to higher lake levels. U.S. Rep. John Katko testified at an International Trade Commission hearing Thursday in support of Nucor Steel in Auburn and warned of the impact steel rebar imports are having on the local mill. Katko's remarks come as the commission is on the verge of determining whether rebar imports from Japan Taiwan and Turkey are having a negative impact on the U.S. steel industry. In his testimony, Katko, R-Camillus, noted that the three counties have flooded the U.S. market with rebar. Over the last three years, rebar imports from Japan, Taiwan and Turkey have increased by 160 percent. Steel companies have been forced to layoff workers and cut production due to the impact of the imports. "Without relief, these conditions will continue and worsen," Katko said. The hearing was held days after the U.S. Commerce Department found that rebar imports from Japan and Turkey have been sold in the U.S. at unfair prices. The agency also singled out Turkey for importing rebar that is heavily subsidized by the country's government. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross committed to defending U.S. businesses impacted by unfair imports. "The United States can no longer sit back and watch as its essential industries like steel are destroyed by foreign companies unfairly selling their products in the U.S. markets," he said. Katko and other elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, have railed for years against the practice known as "dumping," which is when imports enter another country at a price below market value. Last year, Schumer, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the Commerce Department to crack down on rebar imports from Turkey. Katko recently visited Nucor Steel in Auburn. He held a press conference last week to rail against trade policies hurting central New York businesses. He mentioned Nucor and the effect of steel rebar imports on the company. "We cannot sit idly by and watch while foreign producers threaten much-needed jobs by taking unfair advantage of U.S. trade practices," Katko said. "We must do all that we can to hold these producers accountable and impose trade remedies when foreign producers don't play by the rules." TEL AVIV - A department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is drawing criticism from the Israeli government for its decision not to play the national anthem "Hatikva" (Hope) during its year-end ceremony, out of what it said is "consideration" for Arab students. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision "shameful" and counter to national pride, and emphasized the need for passage of a bill currently being discussed in parliament that would recognize Israel as the "nation-state" of the Jewish people. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, asked the university's president to provide an explanation and said "the national anthem is to be played at all ceremonies". The university released a statement, cited by media sources, in which it said it will not play the national anthem during the ceremony because there are no rules specifying it is required. The quinquennial Census of Agriculture will be sent to farmers this year, and state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball wants them to know about changes to this year's form. The questionnaire will include, for the first time, a question about active duty and military veteran farmers. The purpose of the question is to learn more about whether farming has been a viable career option for military servicemembers. The census will also ask farmers for more information about their marketing practices to determine the number of farms engaged in direct marketing and value of direct marketing sales. There's also an improved online questionnaire for the 2017 census. A paper form will be mailed to more than 3 million farmers in December. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service encourages farmers to complete the online form. The online questionnaire will be available on the agency's website beginning Nov. 27 ahead of when the paper forms will be mailed to farmers. "The Census of Agriculture is an extremely valuable tool for communities," Ball said. "The data it collects helps track New York's strengths in agriculture and its importance to the economy, and it helps us identify trends to capitalize on to further grow the industry. All farmers should participate in the count the results directly affect the funding of research, marketing and other programs that support our farms." The last Census of Agriculture was conducted in 2012. Farms that grow crops and raise animals worth at least $1,000 during the census year are eligible to participate. The Census of Agriculture questionnaires are due by Feb. 5, 2018. The results will be published beginning in February 2019. Only aggregate data will be provided once the results are published. That will ensure no individual farmers are identified. Blair Smith, a state statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service, said the census is the only source of impartial farming data for every county in the country. "As such census results are relied upon heavily by those who serve farmers and rural communities, including federal, state and local governments, agribusinesses, trade associations, extension educators, researchers and farmers and ranchers themselves," Smith said. Alfano meets with President Aoun and UNIFIL in Beirut Italian peacekeepers 'key contribution', economic cooperation (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MAY 18 - Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano was received on Thursday in Beirut by Lebanese president Michel Aoun. The minister conveyed an invitation from Italian president Sergio Mattarella to Aoun to visit Italy. The talks with Aoun was the first of several planned for the day in Beirut with the highest Lebanese authorities prior to the minister's travel to southern Lebanon to meet with over 1,000 Italian 'Blue Helmets' involved in the UNIFIL mission in the buffer zone along the border with Israel. ''Italy,'' Alfano said in a statement published on his blog, ''has for many years had its soldiers in Lebanon. We are in the south and it is here that we have our best forces, which contribute greatly to the training of their armed forces, which are now highly qualified.'' The foreign minister also underscored that Italian cooperation for development ''has been active for decades in Lebanon and, as part of the EU, Italy is one of the main countries providing donations to Lebanon''. He added that Italy is ''also a strategic commercial partner and we are here today also to strengthen out presence and the presence of our enterprises, many of which the state holds a share in and to the success of which in this country we are very committed to.'' ''On the issue of the refugee crisis'' Alfano said, ''we highly admire the effort that the Lebanese community has put forth and is engaged in to welcome those fleeing wars. This is an effort for which the entire international community should be grateful.'' (ANSAmed). Focus on Syria stabilization for refugee return, Italian FM To see De Mistura in coming days (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MAY 18 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Thursday in the Lebanese capital that Italy was focusing on a stabilization of Syria that will enable the return of refugees. The statement came after talks with Lebanese president Michel Aoun and other Lebanese officials that focused on this issue. Alfano added that he would be meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura in the coming days in Rome. De Mistura is currently conducting a fresh round of talks in Geneva between the Syrian regime and opposition groups. ''I hope,'' Alfano said, ''to be able to receive further information on the negotiations process and I will speak to De Mistura about the talks in Beirut.'' (ANSAmed). BEIRUT - Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano was received on Thursday in Beirut by Lebanese president Michel Aoun. The minister conveyed an invitation from Italian president Sergio Mattarella to Aoun to visit Italy. The talks with Aoun was the first of several planned for the day in Beirut with the highest Lebanese authorities prior to the minister's travel to southern Lebanon to meet with over 1,000 Italian 'Blue Helmets' involved in the UNIFIL mission in the buffer zone along the border with Israel. ''Italy,'' Alfano said in a statement published on his blog, ''has for many years had its soldiers in Lebanon. We are in the south and it is here that we have our best forces, which contribute greatly to the training of their armed forces, which are now highly qualified.'' The foreign minister also underscored that Italian cooperation for development ''has been active for decades in Lebanon and, as part of the EU, Italy is one of the main countries providing donations to Lebanon''. He added that Italy is ''also a strategic commercial partner and we are here today also to strengthen out presence and the presence of our enterprises, many of which the state holds a share in and to the success of which in this country we are very committed to.'' ''On the issue of the refugee crisis'' Alfano said, ''we highly admire the effort that the Lebanese community has put forth and is engaged in to welcome those fleeing wars. This is an effort for which the entire international community should be grateful.'' Alfano praises Italy's UN peacekeepers in Lebanon On visit to UNIFIL base in buffer zone (ANSAmed) - SHAMAA (SOUTHERN LEBANON), MAY 18 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano told Italian UN peacekeeping troops Thursday during a 24-hour visit to Lebanon that ''this is a place that makes Italy proud, thanks to your commitment''. His speech was held in the UNIFIL base in Shamaa in the southern part of the country along the border with Israel. In the morning the Italian foreign minister had met with Lebanese president Michel Aoun and other authorities in the country. In his speech, he spoke about the economic and political relations between the two countries. Italy was the top EU exporter to Lebanon in 2016 at 1.4 billion dollars. ''But the most heartfelt compliments,'' he said to the Italian troops, ''I heard about you, who with your presence guarantee the peace, security and freedom of Lebanon.'' Alfano noted that Italy has been involved in peacekeeping operations in Lebanon for decades. ''Since 1978,'' he said, ''when I was still a child. And today I am speaking to you as minister.'' Italy also has a bilateral mission in Lebanon for military training and is currently involved in training the Presidential Guard. Previously, in meeting for Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Alfano had said that ''Lebanon is the only model of democratic pluralism in the Middle East and plays a key role in the region.'' ''Thus,'' he continued, ''helping Lebanon at this very difficult time means helping not only its stability but also regional stability.'' (ANSAmed). Trapani prosecutor announces inquiry into sea rescue NGOs Possible charges of aiding clandestine migration (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 18 - Trapani prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who is investiganting against some NGOs working in the Mediterranean on possible charges of aiding and abetting clandestine migration, spoke to Italian MPs on Wednesday. The recently announced inquiry has led to polemics between Italian institutions and NGOs and is ''against specific individuals'', he said. Cartosio said that some of the people onboard the NGO vessels had been aware beforehand of where and when the migrant boats would have been. The prosecutor reiterated that no names of NGOs or details would be given until the investigation was over. Cartosio told the MPs that there was a need to clarify especially the ''state of need'', a mechanism according to which the crime is justified and not punishable if the action saves a life. ''If by state of need we indicate the fact that people are drowning at sea, this is one thing, if instead we mean even cases of individuals detained in Libya, tortured and receiving death threats in Libya, then this is a different sphere that would make the crime unpunishable,'' he said. On the issue of the NGOs' collaboration with police authorities, Cartosio said that the ''organizations have their own ethical code'' with ''an imperative of saving human lives'', and this ''inevitably leads to NGOs needing to not collaborate very willingly with police''. Even a migrant who ''during the journey decides to steer the boat is liable to charges of aiding and abetting clandestine migration'', which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. This makes it ''difficult for NGOs'', he stressed, who do not want to expose the migrants to such punishments. Migrants in Sicily ''do not come only on Coast Guard or NGO boats'', he said. ''They also come on dinghies, small boats and rafts, clandestinely'' and are not identified, which carries the risk of their becoming victims of exploitation and prostitution. ''They could be used by the mafia,'' Cartosio stressed. ''There is a need for control, otherwise we may end up giving a new 'army' to criminal organizations''. In any case, fighting against migration ''on the judicial and police levels is an illusion'', since the plan ''must be political and supranational''. (ANSAmed). Vanessa Redgrave screens her 'elegy' to migrants at Cannes 'Sea Sorrow' director compares Syrian boy to Prospero (ANSAmed) - CANNES, MAY 18 - English actress Vanessa Redgrave has, at age 80, undertaken her first directing project with a documentary titled "Sea Sorrow", which was chosen as a Special Screening at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday and will be distributed across continental Europe. "When I saw on TV the images of the little Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, who drowned together with his mother and sister and washed up on a Turkish beach, I just told myself, I have to do it - and I did it," Redgrave said. "I took the title from a verse in The Tempest, and I involved witnesses and protagonists in this planetary horror, friends and colleagues such as Emma Thompson and Ralph Fiennes, and I tried to bear witness as well. Because we Europeans forget all too easily our history and our obligations. It's not only a political act, it's a gesture of humanity that should come naturally, but instead it doesn't," she said. In making the documentary Redgrave traveled to all the Mediterranean coasts as well as to the Middle East with a small dedicated film crew and as producer her son Carlo Nero, whom she had with her Italian husband Franco Nero. "I can't forget how much my parents did during the war to help other fleeing migrants like the Jews persecuted by the Nazis. And I can't close my eyes to the insensitivity and powerlessness of single individuals, governments, and international organisations who are passively present at a horrendous genocide that is turning the sea into a large mass grave," she said. "I well know that we are talking about a situation with many faces, but I look at my work as an elegy in which immortal poetry teaches us that there's no difference between the old Prospero and the small Kurdish boy who drowned for not having had the chance for a legal escape from his warring country. Both flee on an old and dangerous boat and both were denied justice and solidarity".(ANSAmed). Hebrew University blasted for no-anthem decision Prime Minister Netanyahu called decision 'shameful' (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 18 - A department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is drawing criticism from the Israeli government for its decision not to play the national anthem "Hatikva" (Hope) during its year-end ceremony, out of what it said is "consideration" for Arab students. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision "shameful" and counter to national pride, and emphasized the need for passage of a bill currently being discussed in parliament that would recognize Israel as the "nation-state" of the Jewish people. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, asked the university's president to provide an explanation and said "the national anthem is to be played at all ceremonies". The university released a statement, cited by media sources, in which it said it will not play the national anthem during the ceremony because there are no rules specifying it is required.(ANSAmed). NAPLES - A sixth-century BC bronze relic has been stolen from a show at the Pompeii archaeological site, sources said Thursday. The piece, a door ornament, was on display at the 'Pompeii and the Greeks' exhibit at the site's Palestra Grande (large gymnasium), the sources said. The theft is thought to have taken place while the site was open to the public. Carabinieri police are investigating. Massimo Osanna, the director general of the Pompeii archaeological site, expressed dismay. "In addition to being a gesture that injures Pompeii and Italy's cultural heritage, even though it is not a priceless piece, it hits me on a personal level and it was an area where I had conducted the excavation myself," he said. The piece, which has a diameter of 7.3 centimetres, was one of four applied to a reproduction of an ancient door. It was on loan from the southern city of Potenza's Dinu Adamesteanu museum and its value for insurance purposes is 300 euros. Osanna said "the stud, like the other three, was screwed into the panel on show and covered by a transparent layer of protection, such that the removal of the piece must have required enough time to elude security controls" by the guards on duty. He said the building "is guarded during the day by ALES security firm personnel and at night covered by video-surveillance equipment, as well as being fitted with a system of alarms". The director of the Basilicata Regional Museum Hub, Marta Ragozzino, voiced "solidarity to my friend and colleague Massimo Osanna". "Above and beyond its extraordinary Lucanian context, which Osanna himself investigated and which the show on Pompeii and the Greeks has finally unveiled to the public, the stolen relic has modest value," she said. "But a gesture of this kind leaves us incredulous and pained, a gesture that attacks and wounds the cultural heritage that belongs to the community and, when brought to Pompeii, the whole world". TIRANA - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of the Socialist party and centre-right opposition leader Lulzim Basha on Thursday announced the Albanian government and political opposition have reached an agreement to end the political crisis linked to upcoming parliamentary elections, following a long face-to-face meeting last night. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Brian Yee mediated the agreement after other attempts at mediation by the international community failed. On Monday Yee presented them a proposal based on the one formulated several weeks ago by European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chair David McAllister, to which the Albanian prime minister's proposals were also added. The factor that kept the agreement held up until the last minute was the call in Yee's proposal to postpone elections initially scheduled for June 18 until at least July 16. Chief negotiator says Serbia EU accession talks unique Tanja Miscevic in Rome, says reforms to come by 2018 (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 18 - Tanja Miscevic, chief negotiator for Serbia's accession negotiations with the EU, said no other EU accession negotiations can be compared to Serbia's, "due to the particular situation we live in". She said Serbia's long-term goal is accession, but that she doesn't know when that will happen and that "no one knows". "Our plan is to completely align ourselves with the EU acquis communautaire by 2018," she said. Miscevic spoke at the International Affairs Institute (IAI) in Rome and said her visit to Rome was "not only to talk about accession to the Union, for which Italy's support has always been clear, but also to discuss the summit in Trieste on the Western Balkans". Accession talks were formally opened in 2014 and at that time Miscevic was realistic about their prospects. "Until 2021 we know what there will be no new accessions" to Europe, she said, adding that the negotiations process is, however, "the tool through which we will bring our reforms forward". About 50% of Serbians favor EU accession, and 73% favor reforms, but recognition of Kosovo remains a sticking point. "We can't negotiate the status of Kosovo, but we can talk about normalization of life," Miscevic said. She said there may be a possibility to move things forward during a working dinner scheduled in Brussels on May 24 by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini with the leaders of six Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo - to discuss the latest developments in the Western Balkans.(ANSAmed). Italian lawyers in Sousse for reopening of attack hotel At international convention beginning Thursday in Tunisia (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 18 - More than 300 Italian attorneys are going to attend a three-day international conference in the Tunisian town of Sousse to reopen the Hotel Imperial, site of a terrorist attack on June 26, 2015 in which 39 people were killed. This convention, starting on Friday, is part of the Imperial project, which received the Italian Presidential Representative Medal and will take place in the presence of several Tunisian high officials including Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. The conference's theme is "Italian Attorneys and Tunisian Attorneys in Support of Democracy and Peace". The bar associations of France and Spain also joined the initiative and will have at least 100 attorneys in attendance. The legal organizations representing Italy include the non-profits Union of Criminal Attorneys and Union of Civil Attorneys, the Italian Association of Young Attorneys, the National Bar Association, the Italian Bar Union and the Italian Observatory for Justice. On Friday, Italian Culture Undersecretary Dorina Bianchi is scheduled to attend. On Saturday the symbolic act of a "collective dive" is scheduled on the Sousse beach where the terrorist attack took place two years ago. Italian coordination for the event was provided by the Human Rights Committee of the Italian National Bar Council led by attorney Francesco Caia.(ANSAmed). Med police chiefs to meet on Lampedusa 7/6 9 countries to discuss migration, terrorism and organized crime (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 18 - Police chiefs from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia and Slovenia will be meeting June 7 on Lampedusa to discuss immigration, terrorism and organized crime. The meeting is the first of the European Relationship for Mediterranean Security (ERMES), which will be taken part in by the nine countries on the coasts of the Mediterranean for ever closer collaboration. The meeting aims to come up with new strategies to counter and manage the trends affecting the nine countries and to bring them before EU institutions. (ANSAmed). AUBURN Dr. Rick Timbs believes there are big flaws in the way New York state distributes aid to school districts. Timbs, executive director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, discussed foundation aid formula for schools at an event in Auburn Wednesday that included Neil O'Brien, superintendent of the Port Byron Central School District, and Charles Borgognoni, executive director of the Central New York School Boards Association. Timbs said that while the foundation aid formula has some good qualities, it still requires some fixes. He said one of the issues is that wealthier districts are given large amounts of money, while districts with higher needs aren't getting enough. Timbs compared the situation to a couple of workers at a company realizing they are not receiving as much as they should, while a worker being overpaid remains silent. "What we're finding out is by the time we figure out what money we're getting from the state we see that the formula is being manipulated in such a way that this is no longer than academic pursuit, it's now a political pursuit," Timbs said. "Because every legislator wants to bring home some money." Timbs discussed the difficulty in predicting how much aid a district will receive every year, among other problems. O'Brien talked about the issues his district faces and the way the funding systems affect his area. "When you talk about educating students, not all students are the same across the state. The (foundation aid) formula might want to treat all students the same, but the needs of students are different," O'Brien said. "So in a district like Port Byron, my needs for my students (have) grown I've been there 13 years what I need to do to provide for my students is getting greater even though the number of students I'm providing for is decreasing, and that's a very difficult metric to work with." Borgognoni said he has noticed a "vicious cycle" involving people dealing with generational abject poverty during his his six years in his position. "Combine that with, as Rick described, 'an unpredictable financial aid distribution system" that's set up where it can be manipulated for political reasons and you get unfair distribution of resources, it just feeds that vicious cycle," Borgognoni said. With just 24 hours to go, 22 software developers from APEC economies are racing to build new online tools to help small businesses grow. As participants in the 2017 APEC App Challenge, these talented coders are competing to build mobile or web applications that can help SMEs begin exporting their products overseas. The goal of the APEC App Challenge arises out of the recognition by APEC Ministers and officials that the internet plays an important role in promoting the growth of SMEs in the region. The App Challenge is supported by APEC, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam, The Asia Foundation and Google. At the official launch of the APEC App Challenge on Thursday, Lai Viet Anh, Principal Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam E-Commerce and Information Technology Agency, remarked that, Recently, with the widespread use of the internet, the cost of finding overseas customers and exporting has come down dramatically. That has allowed more and more small businesses to engage in international trade and join global value chains. Participants in the App Challenge were also enthusiastic about the role that technology can play in supporting small enterprises. Noting that the vast majority of Asia-Pacific businesses are SMEs, Qamra Jema Khan, an Android developer from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, appreciated that the App Challenge seeks to use technology to help small enterprises chart their destiny in the global ecosystem. Even with limited resources, added Frederick Fogerty, a participant from Auckland, New Zealand, technology can have a substantial impact. During the APEC App Challenge period, Qamra, Fogerty, and the other participants will compete for recognition at the 2017 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Ha Noi, and for prize packages sponsored by The Asia Foundation and Google. Though the App Challenge will end on May 19, the software products it generates will have the potential to make a positive impact. Thanks to the participants efforts, the App Challenge is set to result in the creation of real, tangible and scalable products with the power to help the Asia-Pacifics small businesses take advantage of the internet to overcome persistent barriers to growth. # # # For further details, or to arrange possible media interviews, please contact: David Hendrickson (in Ha Noi) +65 9137 3886 at [email protected] Michael Chapnick (in Ha Noi) +84 122 7280 513 at [email protected] More on APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found on www.apec.org . You can also follow APEC on Twitter and join us on Facebook and LinkedIn Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free said: "The DFNI awards recognise excellence in service, innovation and quality within the airport retail sector and as such it is fantastic to receive this recognition for the seventeenth time. We never grow complacent when it comes to our retail offer and our overall service and I would like to join our Chairman, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum in thanking our team of staff and all of those who voted for Dubai Duty Free. Representing Dubai Duty Free in Singapore, Saba Tahir, Senior Vice President for Purchasing received the award on the night from Kapila Gohel, DFNI Editor. The DFNI awards are a celebration of the very best in the duty free industry in the Asia/Pacific Region and are based on votes received from industry partners. The awards ceremony was held to coincide with the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) exhibition and conference. They were awarded with Best Large Call Centre for their three UAE Contact Centres and Call Centre Manager of the Year awarded to Ahmed Murshed, the Al Ain Contact Centre Manager. Ruth Birkin, Head of Global Contact Centres for Etihad Airways, said: I am delighted that the team has again been recognised for their service quality and their commitment to constantly developing the services we offer further. As well as providing tailored solutions to guests, were always looking for ways how we can improve business efficiencies while continuing to provide high-quality services to our passengers and trade partners around the world. The airline operates four contact centres including two in Al Ain and one in Abu Dhabi, plus a further facility in Manchester in the UK. The Al Ain Keshi Pearl and Abu Dhabi contact centres operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and employ multi-lingual staff from all over the world. The other unit at Al Ain is called the Black Pearl centre and opened in 2011. In line with the company philosophy of Emiratisation, it is wholly managed and operated by Emirati ladies. The female only environment of the Black Pearl makes it possible for ladies to work and develop their careers, whilst maintaining a sustainable work and home balance, which is supportive of their family and cultural consideration. Ahmed Murshed, Al Ain Contact Centre Manager for Etihad Airways, said: It is an honour to have received the award but its one that has been supported by the hard work of all the teams in Al Ain. We will continue to drive the performance of the contact centres for the benefit of the company while supporting our guests with quality services as they make their travel plans on the airlines network. New analysis from Global Jet Capital, a global provider of financing solutions for corporate aircraft, reveals that 69.4% of business aircraft in the Middle East are medium sized to large jets. This is more than three times the figure for the global fleet, of which 18.4% are in that size bracket. While the Middle East accounts for just 1.9% of the worlds business aircraft, 7.4% of all medium sized to large jets around the globe are based in the region. Over the past five years, 127 new mid-sized to large business aircraft have been delivered to the Middle East, with the UAE receiving the greatest number with 32 aircraft, followed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Business aviation in the region was the subject of a recent event which saw 150 senior business aviation professionals from across the Middle East come together to discuss the future of the sector. Simon Davies, Vice President Sales, Middle East and India for Global Jet Capital, spoke at the Corporate Jet Investor Dubai event and examined the issue of aircraft financing. He said: The Middle East business aviation market is heavily weighted towards larger aircraft with typical purchase prices ranging from US$25-75million. Up to 80% of this will be sourced through external financing and as these types of aircraft are our specialism we are seeing an increasing number of enquiries from clients in the region. Global Jet Capital has over $1 billion to lend to clients purchasing business jets and says the bulk of these purchases will be based on leases and loans. The company currently finances over 300 business aircraft for clients. Global Jet Capital launched in 2014 and it is capitalized by three global investment firms GSO Capital Partners, a Blackstone company in partnership with Franklin Square Capital Partners*; The Carlyle Group; and AE Industrial Partners. In January 2016 Global Jet Capital completed the purchase of GEs corporate aircraft lease and loan book in the Americas. The companys current management team and executive committee is composed of leaders from business jet manufacturers, maintenance and service providers and leading financial institutions who have served the private aircraft industry for a combined 200-plus years and have completed over 3,500 aircraft transactions. Qeshm will likely make its European debut later this month with flights between the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz and Hamburg Helmut Schmidt in Germany. Operations are to be on-board the carrier's recently delivered A319-100, of which type two more are expected in the coming months. The airline secured its Third Country Operator (TCO) licence from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in October last year, alongside Iran Air and Mahan Air, becoming the first Iranian carriers to do so. Auburn Community Hospital has been cited for violations after transferring a patient who jumped two stories off its parking garage to another emergency room and not treating her at its own. However, the director of the responding medical transportation service said the hospital made the right call. According to an inspection report by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the incident took place early the morning of April 14. A 24-year-old female checked into the Auburn hospital's emergency department with her father, then ran out of the waiting room while he logged her in. Her name was never recorded in the department's log, the report says. The woman then jumped from the second level of the hospital's parking garage, the report continues. A hospital emergency staff member evaluated the woman as she was lying in the driveway of the garage, but did not document their evaluation. The woman's chin was cut and she complained of chest, wrist, hip and jaw pain, as well as pain taking deep breaths. She denied any head, neck or back pain, the report says, but the staff member applied a neck brace. Auburn Fire Department and TLC Emergency Medical Services were called and arrived at the hospital at 2:09 that morning. The woman was then transported to Upstate University Hospital's trauma center for treatment. The hospital's violations, according to the report, were not providing a proper medical screening, failing to enter information about the patient into its emergency department log and failing to document the risks of transferring the patient. It also cited the hospital for not sufficiently training its staff to follow the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a 1986 law that requires hospitals' emergency departments to provide patients who enter them stabilization and treatment, and not "dump" the patients to other hospitals. In an emailed statement, the state Department of Health, which conducted the inspection on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said it will "take appropriate action" based on the results of an ongoing investigation. It declined further comment. However, Auburn Community Hospital "should have been congratulated" for its response, said Lon Fricano, director of operations at TLC. Despite the violations the hospital incurred, Fricano continued, its response was "absolutely in the patient's best interest." Because the woman showed clear signs of trauma, he said, Auburn was not equipped to treat her because it doesn't have a level I trauma center like Upstate. Admitting her back into Auburn only would have delayed any effective treatment, Fricano said. "Less than 40 minutes after that call, she was in the proper facility," he said. "Everything was done right. No one in the loop on this issue would dispute that." Fricano also believes the citation is a misapplication of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. "The problem is the feds think their rules trump not only any state or local rules, but even common sense," he said. Auburn Community Hospital CEO Scott Berlucchi said the hospital will nonetheless comply with the citation by educating its staff in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, and revising its emergency department log. It has 90 days to do so, he said. The hospital also has not been issued a monetary fine. Berlucchi described the citation as an opportunity to learn and "improve an already well-functioning emergency department." "In my 30 years of managing hospitals, this is one of the more peculiar things I've seen," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the patient." YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. This day is an important point for the establishment of our statehood: we switch from the search of state-building to stable development stage, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said while delivering speech at the first session of the newly-elected Parliament on May 18, reports Armenpress. The international experience shows that the switch to parliamentary system will enable to reach broad public agreement and will guarantee steady development. However, it is still a chance, but in us already a real chance. The first and decisive step is already taken. By the active support of our international partners we managed to make such constitutional reforms a realty which today are considered as exemplary by many countries and leading specialists. But we must take the next step as well which is also very important: that is to implement new constitutional solutions by overcoming the inconsistencies of the Constitution, legal system and practice. Today this becomes the most important challenge for our countrys legal security, and facing it requires new quality of thinking and action. It requires new culture of state-citizen relations. It requires from everyone a will and determination to bear the historical burden with honor, the President said. According to the President, by initiating fundamental constitutional reforms, they received a vote of trust from the people on December 6, 2015 to form a public administration system where the branches of power will be clearly separated and balanced, the freedom protected by law will be guaranteed for the person, the power will be limited by law, the best guarantees will be created to fight against monopoly, corruption and other negative phenomena. Serzh Sargsyan said it is obvious that people didnt still feel the positive impact of constitutional reforms in their daily life. It is not surprising since the Constitutional norms will enter into force starting from 2018. The President said this must be done jointly, and the MPs are obliged to assume the responsibility for this large-scale work. The main advantage of proportional electoral system is that the personal responsibility is combined with political responsibility. Thus, our political forces are expected to face a serious exam on state-building, he said. Never forget that the deputy mandate is a mandate of trust and responsibility. Your fate was linked with the countrys fate with that mandate and it requires courage and bravery specific to soldier, he said. I believe the Parliaments sitting of 6th convocation must launch with such understanding, by putting the beginning of new period of establishment of parliamentarism and strengthening of the statehood in our country. The story that had everyone talking Tuesday night was the New York Times scoop that the former FBI director, James Comey, wrote a memo stating that President Donald Trump had asked him to stop an investigation into the administration's ex-national security advisor. Big questions about the propriety of such a request were raised throughout the story, all night on cable shows and everywhere one looked on social media. Lost amid all of the reaction and analysis, though, was something tucked into the middle of the story that widened my eyes when I read it for the first time. It was a paragraph essentially setting the stage for the request that Trump made regarding the FBI investigation: "Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comeys associates." When Trump has railed about the news media, calling us "fake" and the "the enemy," it's possible to view it as a lot of bluster from a man who knows how to rile up both his detractors and supporters. When he talks in a private meeting with the head of the FBI about putting journalists behind bars, we must call this thinking out for the danger it represents. The argument by government officials that news organizations should be legally barred from publishing classified information has been made before. One of the most famous examples was the case of the Pentagon Papers, classified information about the Vietnam War that the New York Times and Washington Post obtained. President Richard Nixon's administration attempted to keep it from the public by going to the courts, claiming such information would pose a security risk if shared with the public. The courts were not moved, concluding with the highest one in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's a snippet of the 1971 ruling in favor of the newspapers: "The word 'security' is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment. The guarding of military and diplomatic secrets at the expense of informed representative government provides no real security for our Republic. The Framers of the First Amendment, fully aware of both the need to defend a new nation and the abuses of the English and Colonial governments, sought to give this new society strength and security by providing that freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly should not be abridged." For a good example of what can happen if we allow the First Amendment to be diluted, President Trump needed to look no farther than his guest at the White House on Tuesday, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 155th out of 180 nations reviewed in its global free press index for 2017. Here's part of the note about that country: "The authorities have used their fight against 'terrorism' as grounds for an unprecedented purge. A state of emergency has allowed them to eliminate dozens of media outlets at the stroke of a pen, reducing pluralism to a handful of low-circulation publications. Dozens of journalists have been imprisoned without trial, turning Turkey into the worlds biggest prison for media personnel." The good news is that the United States is ranked much better than Turkey in that index. The bad news is that we've been dropping down the list in recent years. It's well past the time for Americans to see a bipartisan commitment to reversing that trend. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Ethnic Armenians of Istanbul have protested in the St. Vardanants Armenian Church of Istanbuls Ferikoy district against Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, who refuses to step down as the Patriarchal Vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Agos reports. Ateshyan was speaking about the importance of Mothers Day in the church, congratulating all mothers on the holiday. However when he began his speech, a group of people exited the Church as a protest. When the mass ended, the 15 people outside the church raised posters saying We are the ones to elect our Patriarch. It is noteworthy that this isnt the first attempt of Istanbul-Armenians on boycotting Ateshyan. Earlier, during an event with the participation of Ateshyan, a man raised the Bible in a slient protest. In addition, chairman of two foundations delivered speeches against the Vicar during an event of the Maral music and dance ensemble, while the gathered made a lengthy applaud after the Patriarchal locum tenens-elect Bekchians address was read. Its even in Utah. A breath of fresh choreographic air is coming to Salt Lake City. Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute has invited companies from across the country to join Ballet West for the first annual National Choreographic Festival, May 1920 and 2627. Over the course of two weekends and two different programs, premieres and recently acquired repertory will be performed in the new, state-of-the-art Eccles Theater. In late April, struggling womens apparel chain Bebe said it was closing all 180 stores the latest casualty amid a steady stream of defaults, bankruptcies and closures over the last year. While experts say more closures are coming, something else is occurring: The losses of traditional retail jobs are being absorbed by the likes of Amazon, with its new fulfillment centers and warehouses. But shopping is taking a new form, experts say, thanks to the internet. Michael Niemira, principal of the Retail Economist LLC, likened online shopping to the catalog sales of the early 20th century that supplied goods to consumers in areas where stores did not exist. Today, some communities are losing stores that are not profitable, and the online distribution is filling the gap as catalog sales once did, he said. The survivors will stay alert to demographic and shopping trends with fewer stores. Its why Target Corp. is going with smaller format stores while investing $7 billion in new IT over the next three years. And its why megastore Wal-Mart went on a shopping spree, starting last year, to buy online firms, such as jet.com, to offset its weaknesses. Its latest target, reports suggest, is online mens fashion retailer Bonobos. Digitally native brands, such as Away, Bonobos and Warby Parker, are creating a new kind of retail store, suggested David Bell, a marketing professor at the Wharton School. Its a zero inventory, high-experience store in which customers enter an amazing space, get a brand experience and buy items that are shipped to them. Information gathering and fulfillment used to occur under one roof, creating the need for large stores to hold all that inventory, Bell said. But that model is fading. Retail of the future will look more like a Tesla showroom than an old-school dealer lot, with 1,000 cars except the one that you want sitting out in the rain, Bell said. The Philadelphia regions powerhouse King of Prussia Mall is expected to fare much better in the new world than its competitors on the lower end. Still, David Simon, CEO of the malls owner, Simon Property Group, stressed the need for change. Im hopeful that retailers will focus on improving their in-store experience, and that could be a lot of different ways, Simon told analysts earlier this year. That could be through technology, that could be through a better look and feel. Richard Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters Inc., said the U.S. overbuilt retail space in much the way it did in housing. Retail added too much space in the 1990s and early 2000s, creating a bubble, and like housing, that bubble has now burst, he said in a March 2017 earnings call. We are seeing the results; doors are shuttering and rents retreating. Retail bankruptcies over the last 12 months are near recession levels, said RBC Capital Markets retail analyst Brian Tunick. These include BCBG, Payless, PacSun and department store closures (45 Macys, 140 JC Penneys and 150 Kmart/Sears stores in fiscal 2017). Yet there are hopeful pockets. Growing are value-oriented chains such as Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Ross, and TJX, owner of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, as well as beauty retailer Ulta. Non-store retailers, such as Amazon, run establishments classified as distribution centers, and can augment their workforce with employees from temporary help agencies. The Panel will have representatives from telecom, financial services, economic affairs and revenue department. According to the industry sources, banks are worried telcos will start defaulting on payments due to fall in revenues and high level of debt in the sector. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: With the finance of telecom firms deteriorating, the Centre has set up an inter-ministerial group (IMG) to suggest measures to see that the companies dont default in their payments. A Committee of Secretaries (CoS) had discussed the issue relating to Stress in balance sheet in select sector at its meeting on March 29. Following the meeting, an IMG has been set up which will have representatives from telecom department, financial services, economic affairs and revenue department. The IMG will examine systemic issues affecting viability and repayment capacity in the telecom sector and give recommendations for resolution of stressed assets. It will also suggest policy reforms and strategic interventions for the telecom sector. The IMG will submit its recommendations within three months. According to the industry sources, banks are worried telcos will start defaulting on payments due to fall in revenues and high level of debt in the sector. They said the telecom sector debt is around `8 lakh crore and annual interest payment of telcos is around Rs 78,000 crore. The Centres annual collections from telcos could fall to Rs 30,000 crore. This even as Centre is sitting on unsold spectrum worth around Rs 6 lakh crore. Appreciating the Centres decision for setting up an inter-ministerial committee to look into the financial health of the sector, COAI urged the government to take concrete steps that will improve the situation. COAI director general, Rajan S. Mathews also underlined the fact that the RBI recently issued advisory to all the banks to re-assess the debt bearing capability of the telecom sector. The recent results announced by the telecom companies are not an indication of a healthy growth of the sector. Immediate policy-level interventions are required to uplift the financial health of the sector and to ensure that we move in the right direction of pursuing our national goals, he added. Earlier, a group of banks had auctioned Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa for Rs 73 crore to recover dues. Mumbai: India's ace anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate has further intensified its crackdown against properties owned by Vijay Mallya in loans default and money laundering cases. ED that works under department of revenue of India's Finance Ministry has taken into its custody a farm house that founder of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owned until today. The property lies in Alibag, another holiday destination, in Maharashtra. "The property, spread in 17 acres, was provisionally attached by the agency last year in September under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," PTI report said. Earlier, a group of 17 lenders led by the State Bank of India had auctioned Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa for Rs 73 crore to recover dues after the liquor baron failed to repay Rs 9,000 crore loan he took for starting and running KFA. At the Villa, Mallya who has been known for his lavish lifestyle and flamboyant way of treating friends used to throw parties to his celebrity mates at the sprawling beach bungalow. Mallya is now facing an extradition to India trial in the United Kingdom where he has been living in a self-imposed exile since he left India on March 2 last year on a diplomatic passport he had held as Rajya Sabha member. At present, two top most investigating agencies in country -- ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation -- are pursuing Mallya's case with the UK authorities by taking several delegates to their government. Recently, a joint team of sleuths from the ED and the CBI visited the UK to take stock of the trial and give more proofs to lawyers that are pushing for India's case in a London court for Mallya's extradition. Reema Lagoo, who played a mother in umpteen films died of cardiac arrest at 59. Bollywod woke up to the sad news of Reema Lagoos demise on Thursday. The industry and audiences remember her as one of the most endearing actresses, who epitomised the loving mother in Bollywood films. The light-eyed actress passed away early Thursday morning, after suffering a cardiac arrest. The news came as a shock, especially because Reema was reported to be in good health, and had even finished shooting for her daily soap, Naamkarann on Wednesday. She had to be rushed to Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai after she complained of chest pain in the night. Reemas son-in-law, Vinay Waikul said, We took her to the hospital when she complained. She passed away of a heart attack then. Its really shocking because she was absolutely fine. Reema breathed her last at 3:15 am. Reemas funeral was held at 2 pm on Thursday, and was attended by the likes of Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, Kajol, Rishi Kapoor, Rakesh Bedi, and Sachin Pilgaonkar, to name a few. Aamir who made his debut with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, that also starred Reema, said, We are shocked because she didnt have any health issues that we knew of. My first film was with her. She was a great actress. She was such a clean-hearted person. May her soul rest in peace. Juhi Chawla, who played her daughter in the same film and did Najayaz, Pratibandh, and Deewana Mastana with her said, I met her just some weeks ago at an award function at Raj Bhavan. She has to be one of the most beautiful people. My most vivid memories are of working with her in Yes Boss. She was the ideal mom. The shoot of Reemas Mahesh Bhatt show Naamkarann was called off to pay respects to the late actress. Yususf Ansari, one of the directors of the soap, said, Its so shocking because she shot for all her scenes on Wednesday, and Thursday morning we get the news that shes no more. She shot for a sangeet sequence, and was absolutely fine and smiling through the day. Its such a big loss to the industry. Born Nayan Bhadbade in 1958, Reema was the daughter to Marathi theatre actress Mandakini Bhadbhade. Reemas acting career started soon after she completed high school in Pune. She made her debut in Marathi films with Simhasan in 1979, and in Hindi films a year later with a supporting role in Kalyug. Since then, Reema has given a number of memorable performances in films such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Saajan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, and Kal Ho Na Ho, among others. Reemas illustrious career was marked with roles that won her many accolades and awards such as Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Actress for Reshamgaath (2002) and Indian Telly Award for Tu Tu Main Main. An insecure mother who wants the best for her son in Hum Saath Saath Hain, a stoic mother who shoots her own son to bring him peace from his demons in Vaastav or the nagging and puckish mother-in-law in the hit series Tu Tu Main Main, or the controversial Rihaaee in which she played the role of a Gujarati village woman, Reema enacted each role with aplomb. Reema is remembered as a powerhouse of performance, as in films, so on stage. She held her own against Nana Patekar in Purush and thriller Savita Damodar Paranjpe. Reemas Vaastav co-star Sanjay Dutt reminisces the days he has worked with her in different movies, Ive lost a mother again today. We worked together in several movies and everytime I worked with her I learned something new. Her demise has left a void which is difficult to fill, he says. The warmth that she exuded on screen also extended off it. Mohnish Bahl, who played Reemas son in Vaastav and Hum Saath Saath Hain remembers her as a very warm person. I have done a lot of work with her, and theres so much to say. As a human being, she was a very welcoming person, and very non-judgemental to all of us. She was so beautiful and gracious. I met her long ago, and we were not friends beyond the profession, but we felt more for her, because of the kind of person she was. Its a huge loss, he said. Actor Rohit Roy has a similar opinion of her to share. Reemaji played my mother in my first film Jazbaat and my very first shot was with her. It has been almost two decades since then but feels like just yesterday. She was so sweet to me and she was such a lovely co-actor, Rohit said, adding the words of advice that he received from her during his first film. She said to me, Your rawness is your strength, dont try and act like you know it all. Reema will continue to live in our hearts. From Younger actors like Rohit and Mohnish, to her contemporaries like Anupam Kher and Rakesh Bedi, the news of her demise has saddened anyone who she was associated with. Anupam said, Im shooting in Birmingham and woke up to the news of her demise. Its so horrible. You somehow dont think some people would ever leave and they do. I still cant believe it. Her Shriman Shrimati co-actor Rakesh added, I always used to bully her on the sets. I would irritate her with small little things, and I cant put in words the kind of friendship I shared with her. I thought we would get a chance to work with each other again because of the web series trend. I hoped the series would get remade into a web one and wed work together again. But this was truly unexpected. I was in a state of shock when I heard the news. The late actress is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actor and theatre director, and estranged husband, Vivek Lagoo. Her funeral took place on Thursday afternoon. Now that Reema is no more, like Juhi points out, Sooraj Barjatyas films would be incomplete without Reema. And so would be the industry. With inputs from Uma Ramasubramanian Karti, himself a Congress leader, left for London along with a friend, airport sources said. CBI officers after conducting a raid at Karti P Chidambaram's Nungambakkam bungalow in Chennai on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Son of Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram, today left for London, two days after CBI conducted searches at his premises. Karti, himself a Congress leader, left for London along with a friend, airport sources said. He flew by an international carrier, they added. The CBI had on Monday registered a case in connection with alleged irregularities in granting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media, run by its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea, in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. The agency had on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple premises linked to Chidambaram and Karti in connection with the matter. Karti had alleged 'political vendetta' behind the searches and said no documents had been seized from during the raids, insisting he had done nothing wrong. PHOENIX The state's high court has agreed to decide whether people can be convicted of soliciting sex with a child even if there never was any actual child to begin with. Without comment, the justices this week agreed to review last year's split decision by the state Court of Appeals upholding the conviction of Dale A Wright. No date has been set for a hearing. Wright was charged with soliciting a postal inspector to allow him to engage in sexual activities with her two children. As it turned out, the children, represented as younger than 13, did not exist. Wright was arrested on charges of promoting the commission of a felony by encouraging, requesting or soliciting another to engage in illegal conduct, in this case being the sex with children. He was convicted in 1992, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Wright has since been released. But he remains on lifetime probation as the offenses he was convicted of trying to commit are designated by law as dangerous crimes against children. When the state sought to have his probation revoked in 2015 -- the appellate court ruling last year does not explain why -- Wright asked the court to reconsider the underlying question of whether the solicitation offenses, to which he pleaded guilty, fall into that dangerous crimes against children category. In essence, his attorneys are arguing that designation which resulted in the probation is based on a flaw because there were no actual children endangered. In a ruling last year, appellate Judge Patricia Orozco, writing for the majority, said thats not the way she reads the law. Solicitation does not require an agreement by the solicited child to engage in such conduct, she wrote at the time. The crime is complete when the solicitor, acting with the requite intent, makes the command or request. But that logic drew fire from appellate Judge Diane Johnsen. She argued theres something missing here: an actual victim. Under the language of the Arizona statute defining solicitation, one cannot be convicted of soliciting another to commit molestation of a child in the absence of an actual child, she wrote. Orozco, however, said the fact there were no children is irrelevant. Legal incapability of committing the offense that is the object of the solicitation is not a defense to solicitation, she wrote. Johnsen, in her dissent, said she agrees that a valid conviction of soliciting to commit child molestation may itself be a dangerous crime against children. But that is not what we have here, she wrote. The problem, the judge said, is that the actual crime of child molestation requires sexual conduct with an actual child. She said even prosecutors conceded that point. The children that Wright spoke about with the postal inspector were not real, but made-up, Johnsen said. That means the crime they were discussing child molestation did not exist because no actual child was involved. Arizonas solicitation statute requires the defendant to solicit conduct that would actually constitute a crime, Johnsen explained. It does not allow a conviction for soliciting conduct that the defendant incorrectly believes would constitute a crime, she continued. To say simply that a solicitation is complete upon the solicitors request is to disregard the other elements of the crime of solicitation, which require solicitation of conduct that actually would constitute another crime. ICJ President Ronny Abraham, who headed the bench, also ruled that India should be given consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Presiding judge Ronny Abraham of France, centre, reads the World Court's verdict in the case brought by India against Pakistan in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, May 18, 2017. (Photo: AP) The Hague: In a big diplomatic win for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan till it takes a final decision on the matter. India has appealed to the world court that Pakistan did not heed an international treaty that granted diplomatic immunity to foreign nationals charged with capital crimes. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure Jadhav is not executed pending final decision, Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, ruled. A Pakistan military court had awarded the death sentence to Jadhav, who was arrested on March 3 last year, last month for espionage and subversive activities. India had dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for refusing consular access to Jadhav and for violating the Vienna Convention on consular relations. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of Jadhav. The circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remain disputed, Judge Abraham said while reading out the world courts verdict. It also said that the 150-day period for clemency given by Pakistan, which ends in August, suggests that the execution can happen immediately thereafter. The top UN court also said that Pakistan should have given consular access to India as per Vienna Convention. It appears that the rights invoked by India under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention in the present case are plausible, Judge Abraham said. The 11-judge bench of the UN's highest court presented its verdict two days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions on the 46-year-old former Indian naval officer. The only condition under which Jadhav now stands to face execution is if Pakistan does not comply with the ICJ's decision. India can then go to the Security Council, which may then decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgement. The UN charter entails that 'each member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice' and 'if any party to a case fails to perform the obligations, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed satisfaction at the ICJ judgement. He spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to thank and appreciated efforts of advocate Harish Salve, who represented India in Jadhav case. Sushma Swaraj said that ICJ order has come as great relief to family of Jadhav and thanked Harish Salve for presenting Indias case effectively. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav, Swaraj tweeted. I complement my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work, she wrote on Twitter. Hailing the verdict, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said it is a victory for India's stand. He added that the ICJ verdict had shown that the military court trial by Pakistan was a 'charade', and that the neighbour had been completely 'blown away' by it. Rohatgi said that he hoped that the final verdict, which would be announced in August, would also be in India's favour. Responding to a question, Rohatgi asserted that the ICJ's interim verdict on Thursday was binding on both India and Pakistan. During its submission to the ICJ on May 15, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan had claimed to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. On its part, Pakistan had told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. Marine commandos conduct operation in Gulf of Aden, recover arms. New Delhi: In a meticulous operation involving marine commandos (Marcos), the Indian Navy on Tuesday thwarted a piracy attempt on a Liberian vessel in the Gulf of Aden. At about 4.45pm, INS Sharda, deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since April 6, received a distress call from MV Lord Mountbatten, about 230 nautical miles southwest of Salalah in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel had reported an incident of attempted piracy by two suspicious mother vessels along with 7-8 skiffs. Sharda, which was at that time 30 NM east of the reported position, immediately responded to the distress call and rushed to investigate the incident. A Navy spokesperson said: On arriving in the area by about 7pm, Sharda detected two dhows along with eight skiffs in vicinity, three of which fled the area at high speeds on sighting the warship. Marcos, with support of the armed helicopter from the ship, investigated the dhows and their skiffs by conducting search operations. The absence of any fishing gear onboard the two dhows and in the remaining five skiffs indicated malicious intent and possible piracy-linked intentions. One high calibre AKM rifle with one filled magazine (28 rounds) was found hidden onboard one of the dhows. The weapon and ammunition has been confiscated to prevent future illegal misuse. Indian Naval assets have been increasingly deployed in recent times to address the various maritime concerns of the region, including piracy off the coast of Somalia. Last month too, the Navies of India and China had collaborated to rescue a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden after it was hijacked by Somali pirates. Indian Navys two frontline warships, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash, were part of the operation while the Chinese Navy had deployed missile frigate Yulin. However, China had not acknowledged participation of Indian Navy in the operation. Earlier, the CBI had filed a case against Karti and INX Media following raids at his and his father's premises. New Delhi: After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to file a case against former finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram and INX Media. According to a report in the Indian Express, the ED case will be registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Proposal Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media for foreign investment. We have received the CBI FIR and a case of money laundering will soon be registered, a senior ED official was quoted as saying. ED can then also attach assets in the case, said the report. ED had sent notices to 19 firms, besides INX Media, that allegedly did business with Karti Chidambaram's two companies Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL) and Chess Management Services. According to another report in The Indian Express, after the raids in December 2015, the ED had sent summons to Essar Steel Limited, VST Tillers Tractors, Diageo Scotland Limited, and the Katra Group under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These firms had allegedly made payments to Kartis two firms during their Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) applications or clearances. One of the 19 firms appeared before the ED, but could not provide details of the services Kartis two firms offered. ASCPL and Chess Management Services sent invoices for professional services, or consultancy work, and according to ASCPL Directors testimony to the ED, the company would receive instructions, stating which companies to send the invoices to. ED officials said that the ASCPL Director had admitted that the company barely provided any services. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on Tuesday raided houses and other premises of former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti over alleged favours granted in foreign investment clearance to INX Media in 2007. The searches were spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Gurugram. The raids took place at the Nungambakkam residence of P Chidambaram in Chennai, a senior police official said in Chennai. The investigating agency had filed an FIR on Tuesday evening against Karti on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It is alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius. His father issued a strong statement in response to say that the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son. FIPB approval was granted in "hundreds of cases", the senior Congress leader said. "The government, using the CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends...The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organisations," he said The UP policeman jumped off the train to catch a fleeing prisoner. Mau: A video has gone viral in which a Uttar Pradesh policeman is being thrashed by a Railway Police Force (RPF) jawan while jumping off a train to catch a fleeing prisoner. #WATCH: UP policeman beaten by RPF jawan as policeman jumped from train to catch fleeing prisoner & asked friend to pull chain (Mau, 17/05) pic.twitter.com/f4xJvG47cn ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 18, 2017 Reportedly, the prisoner managed to flee from police custody while returning from Varanasi. Security personnel started cutting the vacuum pipe to stop the train, which led to them being beaten. Dave was known for his missionary zeal for conservation of rivers. Bhopal: Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave, known for his missionary zeal for conservation of rivers, particularly the Narmada, died of cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Thursday morning. He was 60 and a bachelor. Dave was passionate about conservation of river Narmada lifelines of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat from his early days. He had set up NGO Narmada Samagra to work towards conservation of the river. He had flown a Cessna aircraft over river Narmada to make aerial survey of the river for the purpose of conservation of the water body. It was followed by a solo voyage in the river by a raft. He was so much in love with the river that he desired his last rites to be performed on the bank of the Narmada, BJP spokesman Raneesh Agrawal, who had a long association with the suave politician, told this newspaper. If possible, my cremation should be performed on the banks of river Narmada at Bandrabhan (in Hosangabad district in MP), Mr Agrawal said, quoting Daves will. No wonder, he had christened his three-storey house here as Nadi Ka Ghar (house of rivers). He has authored eight books in Hindi and English which dwelt on environmental issues such as global warming and good governance. Born at Barnagar in MP s Ujjain district on July 6, 1956, Dave completed his post-graduation in commerce in Gujarati College in Indore, MP, and later joined the RSS as a pracharak. He was also known as a master poll strategist. He was credited with bringing back the BJP to power in MP by defeating the Congress, led by Digvijay Singh, in 2003 and helping the party retain power in the state till now by winning successive polls since then. His body was flown here from New Delhi on Thursday evening. PM Narendra Modi expressed his shock over the sudden demise of my friend and very respected colleague, environment minister Anil Madhav Daveji. Mr Hazare said he too has been demanding this and also the Right to Reject by voters since 2008. New Delhi: Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare has come out in support of BJP MP Varun Gandhis Right to Recall bill in Parliament. In a letter to the MP, Mr Hazare has said that the private member bill, if passed by Parliament, would be a revolutionary step towards enhancing the qualities of democracy in the country. Congratulating the BJP MP for his initiative, Mr Hazare said he too has been demanding this and also the Right to Reject by voters since 2008. Mr Gandhi had moved a private member bill during the last Budget Session proposing an amendment in the Representation of the People Act 1951 through his Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The private member bill has sought for a recalling process by any voter of a constituency by filing a petition before the Speaker, signed by at least one-fourth of the total number of electors in that constituency. Mr Gandhis bill states MPs and MLAs should be recalled within two years from being elected if 75 per cent of those who voted for them were not satisfied with their performance. The two leaders spoke about the need for a broader Opposition unity to take on the Modi-led BJP. New Delhi: Parleys over finalising a consensus Opposition Presidential candidate intensified on Wednesday with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee meeting Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Kejriwal has agreed on the need for a consensus Opposition candidate for the post of President. The two leaders, who met for nearly an hour, discussed probable names and Mr Kejriwal has evinced interest in the name of former West Bengal governor and Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi, sources said. Though there was no confirmation on whether the two leaders discussed the possibility of President Pranab Mukherjee being fielded for a second term as a consensus candidate, the sources said that the Delhi chief minister was more inclined towards the name of Mr Gandhi. Ms Banerjee met President Mukherjee late on Tuesday night. Her party described the meeting as a courtesy call. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had also met the President last week. Mr Kumar was the first leader to officially put forward the name of Mr Mukherjee as a consensus candidate and had asked the ruling BJP to take a lead. The two leaders spoke about the need for a broader Opposition unity to take on the Modi-led BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has taken the lead in finalising a joint Opposition candidate and has spoken to a range of top Opposition leaders like Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Ms Banerjee and CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury held telephonic conversations with SP Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. She is also likely to meet BSP supremo Mayawati. Other names that are doing the round for possible Opposition joint candidates include JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and former Speaker Meira Kumar. Ms Banerjee, who had been at the forefront of anti-demonetisation protest in December last year, had held joint rallies with the Delhi chief minister in the national capital. The two leaders had also laid seize to the RBI to drive home their point on demonetisation having an adverse effect on the common masses. Mr Kejriwal, has not yet confirmed his participation in a RJD rally being held in Patna on August 29, which will be likely attended by a range of Opposition leaders including Mrs Gandhi and Ms Banerjee. BSP MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari raised the issue of a police raid at his Gorakhpur residence on April 22. Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday accused the Yogi Adityanath government of being anti-brahmin and alleged that the chief minister was settling personal scores with his political opponents. BSP MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari raised the issue of a police raid at his Gorakhpur residence on April 22. He said that the police raided his residence without a search warrant and when he contacted senior police officials, they feigned ignorance about the matter. He said that some of his gau-palaks (cow caretakers) were taken away by the cops who tortured them and then released them. Parliamentary affairs minister, Suresh Khanna, said that the police had received information that some criminals involved in a bank loot case were hiding at Mr Tiwaris residence and the cops were well within their rights to carry out a search operation. He said that the police had not entered the residence of the MLA. Mr Vinay Shankar Tiwari claimed that he had video footage to prove that the cops had entered his home and stated that his father had been acquitted in all his cases. The minister signalled for trouble when he said, The MLAs father (Hari Shankar Tiwari) has been a senior legislator and also a minister. He has 31 criminal cases against his name. BSP legislature party leader Lalji Varma alleged that the incident was an attempt to malign a Brahmin leader and reflected the anti-Brahmin mentality of the BJP. He alleged that the Tiwari family was politically opposed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and now that the latter was chief minister, he was using his power to settle personal scores. Mr Paswan, who has been on the same side with the many parties trying to forge an anti-BJP front now. New Delhi: Attempts at Opposition unity in the run-up to the presidential polls will soon come a cropper, union minister and Lok Jana Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan said on Thursday. Mr Paswan, who has been on the same side with the many parties trying to forge an anti-BJP front now, equated the current Opposition with an orange, a fruit that has the same colour on the outside, but has many pieces on the inside. According to Mr Paswan, the efforts were bound to fail, as beyond the presidential polls, the Congress was not open to allow any person other than their vice president Rahul Gandhi as the leader of any anti-BJP platform being explored. The Congress party will never accept any PM other than Rahul Gandhi and he has failed as a leader, the Union food and consumer affairs minister said. All efforts at any such alliance have failed as was evident before the Uttar Pradesh elections and I can president that the grand alliance in Bihar will also collapse very soon, he said. The Income-Tax raids on the benami properties of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and family will certainly, definitely and very soon have an effect on the Bihar grand alliance. I had said earlier that the government will last only two and a half years and just wait and see how I will be proved right, he said. The Union minister claimed that there was a state of cold war between Mr Prasad and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Mr Kumar is scared that the RJD will break away his party MLAs and form its own government, and that is the reason he wants to keep his options with the BJP open, he said. On the coming presidential polls in July, and whether the government should make any efforts to talk to the Opposition for a common consensus candidate, Mr Paswan said, It was a political decision. Whatever decision is taken, we are with the government. Even the Congress had not consulted anybody before fielding Pratibha Patil, he said. In Gorakhpur riots, Yogi Adityanath was the main accused. Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanaths government in Uttar Pradesh has relieved government counsel Vimlendu Tripathi of his charge. He had misled the Allahabad high court on a case in which Yogi Adityanath was the main accused. A GO issued by special secretary, law, Brijesh Kumar Misra, on Thursday, stated that the order of April 23, 2017 appointing Vimlendu Tripathi as government counsel was being cancelled. According to sources, Mr Tripathi is the first casualty of the pending criminal case against Yogi Adityanath in the 2007 Gorakhpur communal riot case pending before the Allahabad high court. Vimlendu Tripathi has reportedly been punished following the Allahabad high courts adverse comment against him. The division bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava had charged Tripathi of misleading the court to complicate issues by not letting the court know on May 4 that the principal secretary Home, who is the competent authority in the matter, had already taken a decision the previous day, that is on May 3, refusing the sanction for prosecution against chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the main accused in the case. On May 4, the court passed an order calling upon the UP chief secretary to clarify whether on the Draft Final Report, which was submitted by the Crime Branch of the Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) after investigation, was pending for approval or grant of sanction for prosecution of the accused was awaited. The court termed as painful and disturbing the fact that Mr Tripathi did not inform the court on the matter though he later offered an oral apology. The petition under consideration had been filed by social activist Parvez Parwaz along with advocate Asad Hayat. The Flagstaff City Council unanimously voted Tuesday evening to go ahead with a sale of 32 acres of city-owned land near the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport to GreenTree Hospitality, which intends to build a hotel, conference center, restaurant and corporate headquarters on the parcel. GreenTree, which began in Shanghai, China, has 2,500 hotel properties in Asia and five in the United States, including one already in Flagstaff. Kevin Brooks, the president of GreenTree, said the company wants to create a corporate campus on the parcel near the airport, which would become a corporate headquarters for the companys expansion into the United States. The land is on the east side of Interstate 17, north of J.W. Powell Boulevard and east of Pulliam Drive. The development will take place in two phases, the first of which sells about 13 acres of property at a cost of $4.25 per square foot, and the second sells the remaining 19 acres for $3.84 per square foot, for an average cost of $4 per square foot, which was the determined value of the property, community investment director David McIntire said at Tuesdays meeting. In total the sale will be worth $5,576,725, McIntire said. As a condition of the sale, GreenTree made a commitment to have at least 90 jobs on the site, including 40 in the hotel and 50 at the corporate headquarters by six years after the completion date. GreenTree estimated the jobs will generate $6 million in annual payroll, and estimated the project would generate approximately $162,000 annually in sales tax revenue, McIntire said. In order to ensure the conditions of the sale are met, McIntire said the city will meet with GreenTree on at least an annual basis to determine how many jobs have been created and if the growth is keeping up with the schedule set forth in the agreement. If the job creation quota is not met, the city has grounds to sue GreenTree for damages, McIntire said. The sale was originally on city council agendas last summer, but was removed several times before coming back at Tuesdays meeting. Back in March of 2016, when the sale was first discussed, Northern Arizona University President Rita Cheng wrote a letter to GreenTree in support of the project, which was referenced in the staff summary for the sale at Tuesdays meeting. In the letter, Cheng wrote that she was grateful that GreenTree chose NAU as a partner and looked forward to the expansion of GreenTrees operations in Flagstaff and in the United States. GreenTrees hiring of or (School of Hotel and Restaurant Management) graduates, offering internships to our current students and financial contributions to our (School of Hotel and Restaurant Management) students have made for a stronger School of (Hotel and Restaurant Management) at NAU, Cheng wrote. We believe NAU is reciprocating by providing a pipeline of talented employees, and access to our highly ranked faculty. On Tuesday, Brooks said GreenTree and NAU are looking at creating a capstone case study about GreenTrees expansion to the United States, as well as internships for students at GreenTrees existing location and the new development. At the meeting, Stuart McDaniel, the vice president for government affairs for the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce spoke in favor of the sale, and said the new development could bring jobs, tax revenue and benefit the community through a partnership with NAU. Both McIntire and McDaniel said the sale, and the presence of a hotel and restaurant near the airport, could also entice a second airline to provide service at the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport. American Airlines is the only carrier offering commercial flights at the airport and only to Phoenix Sky Harbor. The council will vote on the second reading of the ordinance to sell the property at its meeting on June 6. Citing the example of Konkan Railway, he said it had a centralised monitoring system which should be replicated elsewhere. New Delhi: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday highlighted the importance of intelligence gathering and the use of modern technology for strengthening rail security. "Challenges of secured travel are increasing day by day not only in India but even globally. So security has assumed greater significance," the minister said at a round table conference here on rail security. A steep rise in accidents caused by suspected sabotage such as tampering of tracks has become a matter of concern for the railways. With its wide and open network, the sector is especially vulnerable to sabotage. At the conference, the ministry sought ideas from other stakeholders to arrive at solutions for improving rail security. "We need to take preventive measures to prevent occurrences of crime and for this intelligence gatherings have to be improved. Technology will play a very big role in this," Prabhu said. Citing the example of Konkan Railway, he said it had a centralised monitoring system which should be replicated elsewhere. The minister said a forensic laboratory was also being set up for the Railway Protection Force (RPF). "The RPF continues to coordinate with state police as law and order is a state subject," he said. Prabhu said he had written to chief ministers asking for help in the seamless policing of the rail network. Mishra challenges Kejriwal to prove charges wrong, says CM on his way to become most corrupt. New Delhi: Firing a fresh salvo at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday said that Mr Kejriwal visited his office only twice last year. When did Mr Kejriwal visit his office last time? Delhiites do not even know that their CM went to his office barely for two days in the last year, Mr Mishra tweeted. The suspended AAP leader launched a personal attack on the Delhi CM, saying Mr Kejriwal went for a movie date instead of attending to his duties. The former Delhi water minister posted a blog on his Twitter account and took potshots at the AAP convenor over a range of issues. Mr Mishra, who filed a complaint with CBDT against Mr Kejriwal, also took a dig at his one-time mentor for keeping mum on the corruption allegations against AAP leaders. His relatives are being raided, corruption cases are surfacing every day, but the chief minister, completely cut off from the public, came out of his home after days only to watch Sarkar 3... These are Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne (pipe-dreams). When did Arvind Kejriwal last go to his office? When did he climb the secretariat stairs? The people of Delhi probably have no idea that their CM has gone to office barely two days in the past year, Mr Mishra said in a blog post. He also threw an open challenge to Mr Kejriwal to prove that any of the things he has mentioned in his post is wrong. In the long post, Mr Mishra also described Mr Kejriwal as the chief minister who has no portfolio, who works the least and takes most holidays and is on his way to becoming most corrupt. Will Mr Kejriwal make his performance report public, Mr Mishra tweeted. Mr Mishra was suspended from the party last week, after he went public with allegations of corruption against Mr Kejriwal and claimed he had seen him receiving `2 crore from another minister. He also alleged that the chief ministers brother-in-law had scored illegal land deals. Mr Kejriwal and AAP said that Mr Mishra was sacked because of poor performance, and that his allegations are wild and baseless. A week ago, he started an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the AAP chief reveal the source of funding of foreign trips taken by five AAP leaders. The police found Rs 1 crore in old notes in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations in the possession of three persons. Thane: Police have seized nearly Rs 1 crore in demonetised currency notes from three persons, who were later arrested. Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a car at Parsik circle in Mumbra township of Thane district at around midnight on Tuesday. They found Rs 1 crore in old notes in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations in the possession of three persons, including a woman employee of a private bank, an official release issued by Thane police said on Thursday. The three persons were planning to get the notes exchanged for new bills. They were later arrested and a case was registered against them under relevant sections, Thane police PRO Sukhada Narkar said. Police are trying to find out from where did the accused get the junked notes, Narkar said. Under the circumstances, certain areas that come under the distribution network of these plants remained affected through the day. New Delhi: The supply of water to the national capital is expected to normalise by Thursday as Haryana has started releasing Delhis share of Yamuna water, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Haryana has started releasing water. Production likely to be normal by Thursday morning and distribution by Thursday evening. We are constantly monitoring situation, Mr Kejriwal tweeted. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Keshav Chandra expressed hope that production at the treatment plants Wazirabad and Chandrawal will stabilise by Thursday and supply will gradually improve. Water distribution will take one more day to normalise. Hopefully by tonight Wazirabad pond level would be restored and production will stabilise from Thursday. Distribution will take one more day to normalise because after production all the underground reservoirs and all the lines are to be filled up, Mr Chandra said. Two water treatment plants Wazirabad and Chandrawal, which treat around 220 MGD (million gallons per day) out of the 900 MGD treated in Delhi were down to 60 per cent of their capacity as the city was receiving around 80 MGD (million gallons per day) less than its share. Under the circumstances, certain areas that come under the distribution network of these plants remained affected through the day. Out of the 900 MGD, around 550 (almost 60 per cent) comes from Haryana and the rest from Uttar Pradesh. Late on Tuesday evening, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had tweeted that the Haryana chief secretary has assured the city government that water supply in Yamuna would be back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Mr Sisodia had threatened to move court against Haryana for withholding Delhis legal share of water and had also sought the intervention of the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). The Lutyens Bungalow Zone, which comes under the New Delhi Municipal Council, and houses the PMO, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and residences of several Union ministers, judges, Army officers and bureaucrats, among others, was affected by the shortage. Almost every summer, Delhi and Haryana spar over water-sharing with each claiming that the others demand exceeds the stipulated quantity. The government, however, has indicated that it would find way out to get farmers on board. Mumbai: Protests against land acquisition for the expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur are likely to intensify. Organisations representing farmers who are likely to lose their land due to the project are planning to unite and raise their voices against the project. Interestingly, it is being said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is also planning to join the stir in a personal capacity. The expressway, dubbed the Samriddhi Mahamarg (prosperity expressway), is said to be chief minister Devendra Fadnavis pet project and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is building it. Recently farmer organisations from Thane and Nashik held protests in Shahapur where anti-acquisition sentiments are high. The government, however, has indicated that it would find way out to get farmers on board. Now, all organisations opposing the project are planning to come together in Nashik on May 29 where there will chalk out their next move. Sources said that Mr Pawar has expressed a desire to be present for the meeting in support of farmers. Mr Pawar is said to be ready to attend the meeting in an individual capacity. If this happens, it would be very interesting as Mr Pawar is known for his pro-development approach. In past when farmers had opposed land acquisition for the Mumbai-Pune expressway, Mr Pawar himself had taken initiative to get farmers on board for the project. In such a context, Mr Pawars show of support to farmers could come under attack from the ruling side. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, We are not surprised by Mr Pawars stand. His pro-development leader image was always questionable. He is trying to provoke the people against the BJP government at any cost. There are certain elements that are trying to provoke and incite violence through such protests in state. We should see it in this perspective. However, NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik called Mr Pawars show of support part of his pro-farmer stand. We are always pro-development. But this expressway is about samriddhi of a few officers and BJP leaders as they had bought land. They are snatching farmers land to up set their own businesses. Pawar saheb will oppose this as it is anti-farmer, said Mr Malik. Compensation model The Maharashtra government has offered various compensation models to farmers to get hold of their land for this ambitious project. As per the land pooling model, annual compensation for the land per hectare would be Rs 75,000; seasonal farmlands would fetch Rs 1,12,400 per hectare and horticultural land Rs 1,50,000 per hectare. This compensation would be paid for ten years with a ten per cent increase per year. Compensation per acre for non-irrigated land would be Rs 30,000, seasonal farm land would fetch Rs 45,000 and horticulture land Rs 60,000 per hectare. Apart from this, the government will hand over the developed plots to farmers according to this model. As acquisition is also to be done, the compensation amount would also be increased. Ron Reinold was airlifted to a hospital in Florida's Putnam County in a critical condition after the incident happened on Tuesday. Washington: A man in the US was bitten on his tongue by a rattlesnake he was trying to kiss, media reports said on Thursday. Ron Reinold was airlifted to a hospital in Florida's Putnam County in a critical condition after the incident happened on Tuesday. His neighbours said that he was trying to kiss the rattlesnake when it bit him on the tongue, Action News Jax reported. Reinold's family said he was doing much better and expected to survive, the report said His neighbour Charles Goff found the snake on Monday night and put it in a tank. A day later Reinold started playing with the snake and made his ill-judged move, the report said. "The next morning before I got up, they were playing with the snake. One boy said, 'I'm going to kiss it in the mouth,' and the snake bit him in the face," Goff was quoted as saying by the report. Goff said Reinold and another man were being irresponsible by playing with the snake, the report said. "Ron was just acting silly. I guess he said he could kiss the devil and get away with it, but evidently he didn't," Goff said, adding that the neighbours left the snake after it bit. "So the snake is still out there running around somewhere," he added. Rattlesnakes, a group of venomous snakes that produce very strong hemotoxic venom, are used for hunting and defence against predators. Rattlesnake bites are often fatal for humans if not treated immediately. One million miles from Earth, a NASA camera is capturing unexpected flashes of light reflecting off our planet. One million miles from Earth, a NASA camera is capturing unexpected flashes of light reflecting off our planet. The homeward-facing instrument on NOAAs Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR, launched in 2015, caught hundreds of these flashes over the span of a year. As keen observers from outside NASA wrote in, questioning the source of these lights, scientists deciphered the tiny cause to the big reflections: high-altitude, horizontally oriented ice crystals. NASAs Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) instrument aboard DSCOVR is taking almost-hourly images of the sunlit planet from its spot between Earth and the sun. Alexander Marshak, DSCOVR deputy project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, first noticed light flashes occasionally appearing over oceans as he looked through that days EPIC images. Investigating the flashes, Marshak and his colleagues found that similar reflections from our pale blue dot caught the attention of astronomer Carl Sagan in 1993. Sagan was looking at images taken by the Galileo spacecraft, which launched in 1989 to study Jupiter and its moons. During one if its gravitational-assist swings around Earth, Galileo turned its instruments on this planet and collected data. Sagan and his colleagues used that to test a key question: Whether spacecraft could detect signatures of life from afar. Large expanses of blue ocean and apparent coastlines are present, and close examination of the images shows a region of [mirror-like] reflection in ocean but not on land, they wrote of the glints [[link to: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v365/n6448/abs/365715a0.html ]]. Flashes of light reflected off oceans like those referenced by Sagan could have a simple explanation, Marshak said: Sunlight hits a smooth part of an ocean or lake, and reflects directly back to the sensor, like taking a flash-picture in a mirror. But when the scientists took another took a look at the Galileo images, they saw something Sagan and his colleagues apparently missed -- bright flashes of light over land as well. And those flashes appeared in the EPIC images as well. As the contact listed on the website that posts all EPIC images, Marshak started getting emails from people curious about what the flashes were. We found quite a few very bright flashes over land as well, he said. When I first saw it I thought maybe there was some water there, or a lake the sun reflects off of. But the glint is pretty big, so it wasnt that. Instead, he and his colleagues Tamas Varnai of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Alexander Kostinski of Michigan Technological University, thought of water elsewhere in the Earth system: ice particles high in the atmosphere. The scientists conducted a series of experiments, detailed in a new paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, to confirm the cause of the distant flashes. First, the researchers cataloged all of the prospective sunlight glints over land in images from the EPIC camera. The flashes show up in three distinct colors because the camera takes the red, green and blue images several minutes apart. In all, the scientists found 866 bursts between DSCOVRs launch in June 2015 and August 2016. The scientists reasoned that if these 866 flashes were caused by reflected sunlight, they would be limited to certain spots on the globe spots where the angle between the sun and Earth is the same as the angle between the spacecraft and Earth, allowing for the spacecraft to pick up the reflected light. When they plotted the locations of the glints with where those angles would match, given Earths tilt and the spacecrafts location, the two matched. This helped confirm that it wasnt something like lightning causing the flashes, Marshak said: Lightning doesnt care about the sun and EPICs location. The researchers also plotted angles to determine that the light was reflecting off of ice particles floating in the air nearly horizontally. Another feature of the EPIC data helped confirm that the flashes were from a high altitude, not simply water on the ground. Two channels on the instrument are designed to measure the height of clouds, and when the scientists went to the data they found high cirrus clouds, 3 to 5 miles (5 to 8 kilometers) where the glints were located. The source of the flashes is definitely not on the ground. Its definitely ice, and most likely solar reflection off of horizontally oriented particles, Marshak said. Detecting glints like this from much farther away than in this case could be used by other spacecraft to study exoplanets, he said. As an Earth scientist, however, Marshak is now investigating how common these horizontal ice particles are, and whether theyre common enough to have a measurable impact on how much sunlight passes through the atmosphere. If so, its a feature that could be incorporated into computer models of how much heat is reaching and leaving Earth. The DSCOVR mission is a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force, with the primary objective to maintain the nations real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and forecasts from NOAA. Indian consular officials in Houston said that he would be deported to India after court proceedings. Bhardwaj's family wrote to the PMO, the ministry of external affairs and other arms of the government, requesting them to bring him back home after clearing all the charges. (Photo: Representational) Meerut: An Indian nuclear scientist has been detained in Texas, United States, for repeatedly stalking and harassing a girl student. He was also charged with obstructing a police officers duty. According to a report, the scientist, 38-year-old Tarun K Bhardwaj has been detained since December 29, 2016, but has claimed that he was not wrong in pursuing the girl from A&M University, Texas, as he liked her. Indian consular officials in Houston said that Bhardwaj has been accused of similar charges previously and that he would be deported to India after court proceedings were complete. Bhardwaj came to the US in 2007, after his PhD from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Bhardwaj was arrested several times between January and August 2015, while working as an assistant researcher at the university in College Station, Texas. He even allegedly violated surety bonds signed by him, which were meant to deter him from harassing the girl. Moreover, he also illegally removed a GPS monitoring ankle band that he was directed to wear. Bhardwajs family in Bulandshahr, UP, has alleged that he is a victim of a racially-motivated conspiracy. They also believe he has been framed by his peers who are jealous of his success and have written to the PMO, the ministry of external affairs and other arms of the government, requesting them to bring him back home after clearing all the charges. His elder brother, Prasoon Bhardwaj said, Tarun exposed corruption and racial discrimination there. He was then charged with sexual harassment and sacked in September 2015. He went to court and had been facing pressure to withdraw the case. When he didn't agree, he was arrested. However, government officials say this was the fifth time that he was detained and every time he has been booked for harassing the same female student, which is a serious charge. They also claimed that there are hundreds of Indian students and researchers at A&M University but there have been no reports of racial discrimination. British authorities shared no details of the investigation being conducted by the UKs National Crime Agency. The issue surfaced on May 15 when a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777 was searched and its 14-member crew detained for hours after it landed at the airport. (Photo: AFP/Representational) Islamabad: Drug smuggling is never one-sided, a senior Pakistani official said as Islamabad offered to assist British authorities in a probe into the alleged seizure of heroin on a PIA plane at Heathrow airport. However, British authorities shared no details of the investigation being conducted by the UKs National Crime Agency. The issue surfaced on May 15 when a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777 was searched and its 14-member crew detained for hours after it landed at the airport. Prime Ministers Aviation Adviser Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said that Pakistan was ready to help in the probe, Dawn reported. Drug smuggling is never one-sided. Somebody there had to receive whatever was concealed in the aircraft. A big chain could be involved because it cant be done by an individual. And opening an aircrafts cavities is a technical job which cant be done by an ordinary person, Abbasi said on Wednesday. The crew was released but UK officials said that they recovered an unspecified quantity of heroin hidden in the plane, leading to a major embarrassment to Islamabad. He said that the internal profiling of the crew had been started by the PIA vigilance department and a meeting of all stakeholders the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Airport Security Force, Customs and the airlines officials was called on Thursday to review the situation. Unlike the past practice, this time the issue of narcotics smuggling through a PIA plane will not be buried and those who use the national flag carrier for such criminal activities will not be spared, he said. Abbasi said neither the government nor any department including the PIA or the ANF had been informed verbally or in writing by any security agency of the UK about narcotics found in the aircraft. The adviser said it would be difficult to launch an investigation or fix responsibility unless the Pakistani authorities received an official communication regarding the drug seizure claim. According to sources, before taking off for the UK PK-785 remained parked at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad for about two hours and forty-five minutes on May 15 but the aircraft was not searched by sniffer dogs as per the standard operating procedure. India has been 'trying to hide its real face' by taking the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav to ICJ, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said. Islamabad: Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, its Foreign Office said on Thursday after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death in March by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. The court today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court. Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. "After India stood exposed in state sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle," he said. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistans reply to ICJ was in line with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. To a park ranger, there must be days when he or she dreams of just letting the Grand Canyon be left alone. Instead, there are overheated tourists to rescue, rafters on the Colorado needing help, and overflight pilots to keep from swooping too low. Nervous backcountry hikers are abusing their locator beacons and some are even launching drones in the park. And up on the North Rim, theres a herd of bison defying attempts to manage it. The last challenge is a longstanding one the bison were on the land even before the Park Service was established. They are wild but not pure bison, having been bred with cattle a century ago. And they are trampling meadows and watering holes as their numbers grow. But they are also an iconic symbol of the West and, indeed, the entire Park Service the bison is on its logo. Removing them entirely from the national park is not only impractical but out of the question politically. Everyone does agree that 600 animals are too many the carrying capacity of their preferred range in House Rock Valley outside the park is only about 100 animals. The Park Service is willing to settle for 200 bison that may or may not migrate into and out of the park, and for the first time they have proposed shooting some animals during controlled hunts inside the park over the next three to five years. Others would be captured, removed and delivered to the state, tribes or other entities. Some conservationists, pointing to the example of Yellowstone, suggest reintroducing wolves to the North Rim. If humans are to cull the herd, they say, it should be done only by non-lethal means. But wolfpacks killing calves and weaker animals for food are OK. From the standpoint of natural balance, theres a certain logic to that plan. But wolves alone might not get the job done the bison herd could grow to 800 in three years and as many as 1,500 in a decade. Were no biologists, but with Senestech right here in Flagstaff pioneering animal contraceptives as a way to control pests, we wonder if science might be called on to help solve a problem that has defied wildlife managers. Another scientific advancement drones might also help in ways that havent been tried yet. The bison retreat deeper into the forest the more they are hunted, so drones would seem a less intrusive and more cost-effective way of keeping track of them. And if those same drones dropped packets of food laced with contraceptives, a self-contained population like the North Rim herd couldnt help but shrink. For now, though, the challenge appears to be how to keep the animals who survive any means of culling from returning to and remaining in the park. Bison have shown through their behavior that they know the park to be a safe haven. Should the rules against hunting be waived more frequently so that the animals dont become so complacent? And what if House Rock Valley were to become a hunt-free zone, instead? It would be hard to argue that amid the millions of acres on the North Rim and the Arizona Strip, a herd of wild bison cant be accommodated. But park rules might have to be bent, conservation principles rethought and modern science put to the test. The bison, unlike the Grand Canyon, arent going to withstand the forces of what we call progress without either an absolute sanctuary or some human help. The Park Service has made a good start and we urge various parties to let it take the lead in working through all of the thorny challenges that species preservation in modern times entails. The National Park Service is now accepting public comment on its initial environmental assessment related to the reduction of the bison herd on Grand Canyon's North Rim. The 30-day comment period ends June 7. To view the assessment or submit comments, visit http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison Francis receives ambassadors from Mauritania, Nepal, Trinidad and Tobago, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Niger during the presentation of Credentials Letters. Crisis of fundamentalism also aggravated by "the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power, the manipulation of Gods holy name to advance by any means possible ones own plans to gain power." Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In an international scenario characterized by "dense clouds", Pope Francis invites all to build an economy with people at the center, seek dialogue and in solving controversy and isolate those who foment religious fundamentalism. Francis was speaking to the new Ambassadors of Mauritania, Nepal, Trinidad and Tobago, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Niger on the occasion of the presentation of their Credentials Letters. "The international scene - in the words of the Pope - is at present marked by great complexity, nor is it free of dark clouds. This requires a greater awareness of the approaches and actions needed to pursue the path of peace and to lessen tensions. Among the factors aggravating problems is an economic and financial system that, rather than being at the service of people, is set up principally to serve itself and to evade oversight by public authorities. Those authorities are responsible for the common good, yet they lack the means necessary to moderate the disproportionate appetites of the few. " "We also see a greater readiness to have recourse to force, not as a last resort but practically as one means among many, ready to be used without a full consideration of its consequences. Yet another factor exacerbating conflicts is fundamentalism, the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power, the manipulation of Gods holy name to advance by any means possible ones own plans to gain power." " The response to these distortions and the risks they pose to world peace must be the creation of a responsible economic and financial system responsive to the needs of individuals and the communities in which they live. Men and women, not money, must once more become the goal of the economy! We must also confront differences with the courageous patience of dialogue and diplomacy, with initiatives of encounter and peace, and not with shows of force and its hasty and ill-advised use. It is likewise essential to isolate those who seek to turn a religious affiliation or identity into a motive of hate for all others. Those who befoul the image of God in this way need to be confronted by a concerted commitment to demonstrating that those who honour Gods name save lives, not take them; they bring reconciliation and peace, not division and war; they show mercy and compassion, not indifference and brutality. If we move decisively in this direction, the cause of peace and justice the conditions of a balanced development for all will make tangible progress. " Finally, Francis asked diplomats to bring their greeting and encouragement to the Catholic communities of their countries "to continue their testimony of faith and to offer their generous contribution to the common good." The attack took place yesterday near the city of Taez, in the southwest of the country, in an area controlled by Houthi rebels. Government source speaks of "error" in targeting objective. No comment from Riyadh. Vehicle crowded with civilians returning from a day of shopping hit. Sana'a (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A Saudi Arabian led coalition air raid in Yemen killed at least 23 civilians yesterday, including women and children. News of the attack near the city of Taez, in the southwest of the country was reported by the Houthi rebels who are fighting against the government of President Hadi supported by Riyadh. A pro-government military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirms the raid and speaks of an "error" in the target of the strike. The Saudis have remained tight lipped, not wanting to officially comment on the story. Saba agency, controlled by Shiite rebels who are close to Iran, reports a raid that hit a civilian vehicle in the Mawzaa Prefecture, about 60km southwest of Taez. Local witnesses speak of at least six children killed by Saudi bombs; Six more people are also reportedly dead, but their bodies were burned, making recognition impossible. The Arab coalition attack affected an area controlled by Houthi rebels and involved at least one vehicle (civilian). A military source explains that passengers on board the bus were returning to Mawzaa after a shopping trip to the nearby town of Barah. The same source adds that many of the corpses were "torn to pieces". Since January 2015, Yemen has been the scene of a bloody civil war opposing the countrys Sunni elites led by former President Hadi, backed by Riyadh, and Shia Houthi rebels, who are close to Iran. In March 2015, a Saudi-led Arab coalition began attacking the rebels, sparking criticism from the United Nations over heavy casualties, including many children. To date, more than 8,000 people have died, more than 44,000 have been injured and 3 million displaced. Nearly 19 million people (out of 24 in total) are in need of varying degrees of humanitarian assistance. Yesterday's raid arrives a few days ahead of US President Donald Trumps official visit to Saudi Arabia scheduled for May 20. It is the first official trip abroad for the White House tenant, since his official inauguration in January. Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Juneau, Alaska Things To Do in Juneau While it is the capital of Alaska , Juneau is not a big city by any means. With that said, theres plenty to see and do in this coastal town, from historic landmarks to natural wonders and beautiful wildlife. Pack a nice winter coat, some long johns, and plenty of chap sticksheres where you should visit first in Juneau, Alaska. Affiliate links may be used in this post. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you use my affiliate link. Dont believe the hype. Band-Aids might protect minor cuts but theres no publicly available evidence they speed up healing. Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Ltd/The Conversation Everyone wants wounds to heal quickly, whether its a paper cut or a grazed knee. So its easy to be swayed by marketing claims on packs of adhesive bandages, and on signs in your local pharmacy, that promise faster healing. Band-Aids pack of 50 plastic adhesive bandages, for instance, displays the claim the product: Heals cuts twice as fast. And Band-Aids pack of ten so-called Advanced Healing adhesive bandages has the claim they promote faster healing. In store, you might see promotional displays that... (pkproject/Bigstock.com) (pkproject/Bigstock.com) The mining, resources and energy sector in Australia is undergoing a revival with more jobs available which could increase the need for skilled professionals from overseas.Overall there were 6.6% more new jobs being advertised across the country in April, according to the monthly analysis report from jobs site SEEK, with the mining, resources and energy sector seeing the biggest growth.The figures show that compared to a year ago the mining, resources and energy sector job adverts were up by 55% and according to Michael Ilczynski, managing director for SEEK Australia and New Zealand, it is encouraging news.'For the past five years, the mining, resources and energy sector has been among the industries with the lowest job ad growth so this is very encouraging for people looking at working in this industry, or those looking to develop their career in this industry,' he said.He pointed out that the boost is not just isolated to April. Over the past three months advertising across Australia for these industries has risen 70% year on year compared with April 2016.'This improvement, while off a low base, also reflects the sharp increases in prices of Australia's largest resources, coal and iron ore, though some of these rises have since partially reversed,' he added.The areas with the most number of jobs in April included mining engineering and maintenance, mining operations and mining drill and blasting. In Western Australia, where much of the industry is located, total new job adverts increased by 12.7% year on year while those in the mining, resources and energy sectors were up by 60% compared to a year ago.In New South Wales and Victoria, Australia's largest labour markets, advertising was up 2.3% and 7.4% respectively with the IT sector seeing the biggest growth in both states. While in South Australia adverts were up 18.4% year on year, led by a 34% rise in trades and services, and the state has now seen job demand rise for 25 months in a row.Job adverts increased by 8.8% year on year in Queensland with growth restored after a fall of 2% in March, which the firm suggests was due to the effects of Cyclone Debbie and the timing of Easter.The data also shows that the number of jobs being advertised increased by 10.1% year on year in Tasmania, by 5.5% in the Australian Capital Territory and by 1.2% in the Northern Territory.Success in finding a job depends on location with some states seeing more competition than others. For example, compared to a year ago, it was easier to secure a position in New South Wales and Victoria while Ilczynski said that in South Australia, Queensland, and the ACT conditions were challenging for both job seekers and hirers and in South Australia, there was a slight improvement for job seekers.But in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory it was a hirer's market in April. 'For each job advertised there was a higher than average number of candidates applying, creating more competition for job seekers but providing hirers with a larger pool of candidates to choose from,' Ilczynski added. Photo of Mumbai Sklyine courtesy of Deepak Gupta/Wikimedia Commons. General Motors will halt vehicle sales in India, the world's second most populous market, and will exit South Africa in a restructuring of its international operations, which includes the phasing out of the Chevrolet brand in both markets by the end of the year. GM expects to realize annual savings of approximately $100 million with these and other moves. GM India will now focus on export manufacturing, while Isuzu Motors is planning on purchasing GM South Africa light commercial vehicle manufacturing operations. The decision was designed to drive stronger financial performance, according to the automaker. As the industry continues to change, we are transforming our business, establishing GM as a more focused and disciplined company, said Mary Barra, GM's chairman and CEO. We are committed to deploying capital to higher return initiatives that will enable us to lead in our core business and in the future of personal mobility." The decision reflects a series of actions taken to improve global business performance that began in late 2013, according to GM. GM will continue to utilize its Talegaon plant in India due to a continued growth in exports over the past year, said Stefan Jacoby, executive vice president and president of GM International. The plant will act as an export hub for markets in Mexico and South America. Meanwhile, the automaker said it was selling its Struandale plant in South America to Isuzu because it believed the market would not provide GM with the expected returns of other global investment opportunities, said Jacoby. Isuzu will also purchase GMs remaining 30% shareholding in a Isuzu Truck South Africa joint venture, with sales through a national dealer network. In February, Isuzu agreed to purchase GMs 57.7% shareholding in GM East Africa. GM also phased out the Chevrolet brand in that market. The automaker also said that GM International will streamline its regional headquarters office in Singapore. It will retain responsibility for strategic oversight of the remaining regional business and markets, including Australia and New Zealand, India, Korea and Southeast Asia. MONUMENT VALLEY On the outskirts of Monument Valley, touching the Arizona-Utah border, a water well is encased in a brick building behind a barb-wired fence. A few cattle graze nearby, mooing to occasionally pierce the quiet. Residents say the well is one of two in the area, a couple miles from a small town on the Navajo Reservation. One well is a direct line to hotels. This one, leading to a one-spigot watering hole a few miles away, is the main water supply for about 900 people living nearby. The first residents of the day, with big plastic bottles and buckets lining truck beds and packed into car trunks as they drive along miles of rock-strewn, dirt roads, start to arrive. Lack of running water Verna Yazzie, who runs an Airbnb in Monument Valley, takes an 18-mile round trip when she needs water. She goes to the watering hole a few times a week and said she has to go off-roading for six miles to get to the nearest water source. Weve never had running water for as long as I remember, Yazzie said. I usually haul water about three times a week for ourselves, for our livestock and for our planting. The difficulties are mostly the rough roads that we have to drive. Its about nine miles one way from my house to the nearest water hole. Leaders of the Navajo Water Project, a non-profit working to bring more running water to Navajo homes in New Mexico and clean water to an Arizona school for youths who are disabled, estimate about 40 percent of Navajo Nation members dont have access to running water in their homes. The Navajo Nation is sprawled across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico in one of the most scenic, untouched areas of the Southwest. Parts of the reservation, the largest in the nation, also are removed from what some would call the acceptable trappings of civilization, with electricity and running water scarce in mostly rural areas. Jason John, principal hydrologist for Navajo Water Resources, said it could cost cost nearly $70,000 each to get running water into some Navajo homes. In tiny Oljato, where about 900 people live in this Monument Valley community, traveling to get water is a normal part of life, with some regretting it and others shrugging it off. Still others believe running water isnt safe to drink. George McGraw, founder of the Navajo Water Project, said the lack state of water access is unacceptable. In one word, Id say abysmal, McGraw said. Its humiliating that its this difficult to give people in this country access to whats an essential human right. Cultural pride, opinion divide Some Navajo Nation residents who have been without running water their entire lives dont see it as a detriment but as part of their lifestyle. Lionel John lives in Oljato but goes to college at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah. He had running water as a young child but, after he moved in elementary school to live with his grandfather hauled water until he graduated from high school. My mom raised us in Logan, Utah until I was in about third grade, and we moved back down here, John said. It was a lot different because when we were younger, we had electricity, running water. Coming back and moving here, we thought wheres the light? Wheres the running water? We had to learn how to use and bring in water. We had to use kerosene lamps. Its a little weird at first, but you kind of get used to it after a while, John said. Jason John, the water-management official, said the approach to water access is affected by some members desire to maintain the tribes culture and identity. That is the big challenge, said John, who is not related to Lionel John. Normally when you go into communities in the West, there are cities. There are developed city hubs. In places where all the economic activity occurs, but on Navajo (land), we are very rural because of the way of life that we have known for a very long time. Carl Phillips, a Monument Valley tour guide, said hauling water is inconvenient but it doesnt bother him. We travel about seven miles to the nearest water hole, Phillips said. In the summertime, theres a good one- to two- hour wait time, but were used to it. Weve always done this, since we were small. An issue of trust Some members of the Navajo Nation wouldnt use running water even if they had access, because they believe its been contaminated by now-abandoned uranium mining. Some Navajo residents said they dont trust the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. Gregory Holiday, an Oljato resident, said hed prefer the state government monitor water safety rather than the Navajo EPA. You need to be very compliant with the laws, Holiday said. They dont seem to be able to pick out the whole total reality of the news. The reason why they dont do that is money. Holidays nephew, Mark Holiday, has similar concerns. We have to haul in water just to live off of, Mark Holiday said. My mother, she has running water, but she doesnt want to use it because she doesnt know if its contaminated or not. She shut everything down. Jason John said he understands residents are worried about water contamination but said money and people to handle problems are in short supply. Trying to bring infrastructure, materials and equipment to rural areas costs thousands per home. That is an issue with the Navajo EPA, John said. They struggle with funding for staffing, and its pretty easy to see that. The challenge to a rural area is that its hard to bring qualified people in because its not easy living out there in a rural area. If you grew up in a large city, youre used to certain amenities and theyre used to having the ability to access housing, food and utilities. But to work on the Navajo Nation, you have to be comfortable not having those amenities you find in a larger city. Yolanda Barney, environmental programming manager for the Navajo EPA, declined several requests for an interview. We do not building drinking water infrastructure, Barney wrote in an email. Access to safe water is the responsibility of even a homeowner. Future help Some nonprofits have begun to work with the Navajo tribe to improve water access. The Navajo Water Project, an initiative from Los Angeles-based water advocacy group Dig Deep, has been working on Navajo land in New Mexico since 2013. George McGraw, the founder of Dig Deep, said he had been familiar with water shortages in continents such as sub-Saharan Africa. A donor who wanted her money earmarked for the United States led him to discover water-accessibility issues on the Navajo reservation. I was so surprised to see circumstances similar to in Africa, he said. Since starting their work in New Mexico, the project team has installed water cistern systems in 46 Navajo homes. They also streamlined water delivery routes in the area. By next year, the team wants to create a project in Arizona similar to their New Mexico program. McGraw said more work needs to be done, not just by nonprofits but by residents, tribal and federal governments. A lot of these changes come from the community, McGraw said. Rural areas should work with the local government and with nonprofits like ours. We want a coalition of people to come together and develop more projects like these at a small, local scale. In the meantime, one small step might make a difference to Yazzie and other Oljato residents, she said. What I would like to see change is to just have for the Valley residents to somehow have a central location where we can get water, Yazzie said. Even two miles does make a difference rather than coming all the way here. Photo of 2015 Porsche Cayenne diesel courtesy of Volkswagen AG. A federal judge has signed off on Volkswagen's settlement with regulators to resolve civil claims over diesel vehicles powered by its 3.0L V-6 TDI engine, the company has announced. Judge Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval on May 17. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board have also approved the agreement. In December, Volkswagen reached a settlement with the regulators on the 3.0L engines that would require the automaker to pay $225 million toward emissions reduction and $25 million to support the use of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in California. The engines were fitted to about 78,000 vehicles. Vehicles covered by the 3.0L settlement include 2009 to 2016 model-year Touareg, 2009- to 2015-MY Audi Q7 and 2013- to 2016-MY Porsche Cayenne Diesel. Other models include 2014-MY, 2015-MY, and 2016-MY Audi models including the A6, A7, A8, A8L, and Q5. Photo courtesy of AAA During the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, AAA projects that 39.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home, according to the AAA Memorial Day Travel Forecast, an increase of 2.7% travelers than last year. That is 1 million more travelers than year, creating the highest Memorial Day travel volume since 2005. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday May 25 to Monday May 29. "The expected spike in Memorial Day travel mirrors the positive growth seen throughout the travel industry this year," said Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, travel and publishing. "Higher confidence has led to more consumer spending, and many Americans are choosing to allocate their extra money on travel this Memorial Day." This year, 34.6 million Americans (88.1% of travelers) will drive to their destinations, an increase of 2.4% compared to last year, according to the report. When it comes to flying, 2.9 million Americans will take an airplane to their destination an increase of 5.5% over last year. AAA expects that U.S. drivers will pay the highest Memorial Day gas prices since 2015. The national average price per gallon today is $2.34, 11 cents more than last year. More Americans are planning to rent cars this holiday weekend. AAAs car rental bookings are 19% higher than last Memorial Day, according to the report. Based on AAA travel bookings, the top destinations for Memorial Day include Orlando, Rome, London, Dublin, Vancouver, Seattle, Las Vegas, New York, Paris, and Honolulu. Click here for the complete AAA/IHS Global Insight Memorial Day Forecast. For the past two decades, Honda's name became synonymous with minivans. Its Honda Odyssey topped minivan sales in the U.S. in the last six years. With such high bar to follow, does the 2018 Honda Odyssey redesign deliver? Is it still the best minivan for families? The 2018 Honda Odyssey boasts its high-tech designs and features, chief of which is the "Advanced Compatibility Engineering" (ACE) body structure. The ACE is an enhancement that gives the car, especially the passenger side, more rigidity to protect its rider against car crashes, according to Forbes. The 2018 Honda Odyssey's exterior looks identical to previous models, albeit a few inches narrower. Inside, however, it's something else. The car has an all-digital panel with futuristic mood lighting. According to Autoblog, though the panel might look busy, it offers a lot of functionality and it's easy to use. The Honda Odyssey's chief engineer, Chad Harrison, revealed the buttons in the panel might take some time to adapt but it's not challenging to get used to. "We wanted to make it blind-touch operable," he said during the unveiling of the new car, as per Auto News. What mindful parents who drive their kids everywhere would love about the 2018 Honda Odyssey is its ride control. It has been the hallmark of the car brand since nearly two decades ago. This model also has its own rear suspension with a multilink design and new feature, the anti-roll bar, which keeps the drive smoother even with heavy cargo, Car Driver cited. Under the hood, the 2018 Honda Odyssey's 3.5 liter V6 has 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. The Touring and Elite models are both 10-speed automatics and it's a slight upgrade to most Odyssey's engine transmission at nine-speed. Fuel and power efficiency is courtesy of its direct-injection system, which features cylinder deactivation, variable valves and improved start-stop system. Learn more about the 2018 Honda Odyssey's best features in the video below. Lyft and Waymo announced it will be teaming up in developing a self-driving car technology to compete with Uber. The companies confirmed the partnership Sunday in its intention to bring self-driving cars into the mainstream. Details, however, remain scarce about this partnership. A spokesperson for Lyft said it's partnering with Waymo because the company "holds today's best self-driving technology," as per New York Times. A spokesperson for Waymo, on the other hand, said both companies have a shared vision of making self-driving cars more accessible to the public. Lyft, the second most popular ride-hailing service in the U.S. next to Uber, confirmed that the deal with Waymo is a non-exclusive partnership, according to New York Post. In February, the company also announced it will utilize self-driving cars with General Motors, a major investor. If plans go well, Lyft customers in Phoenix will be the first to try the self-driving cars by 2018. Waymo, which operates under Google's parent company, Alphabet, also has a tie-up deal with Chrysler. The company intends on becoming the premiere provider of self-driving technology. Meanwhile, ride-hailing leader Uber has similar a partnership in making self-driving cars with Daimer, Mercedes-Benz' parent company. The news comes as a Cornell University study revealed U.S. households are willing to spend a maximum of $5,000 on self-driving cars, Fortune noted. "Automation of personal transportation is becoming a reality at a faster pace than anticipated," Dr. Ricardo Daziano of Cornell University said. "To plan for and analyze the large impacts of automation, policymakers and car manufacturers need to understand the market." Meanwhile, Waymo is in the middle of a legal battle with Uber over the development of self-driving technology. Allegedly, a former employee stole the company's trade secrets that Uber later obtained. Uber defended it was not guilty of any wrongdoing and made clear its intention to fight the case, hence the ongoing court battle. General Motors (GM), through its Vice President of Global Purchasing and Supply Steve Kiefer, announced Monday its aim of using green or sustainable rubber for all its tires. Even then, the company and its tire suppliers already make use of a good percentage of natural rubber but Kiefer reiterated on upgrading its standards so that GM tires become 100 percent sustainable. GM is working with companies like Bridgestone Americas Inc., Continental Tire the Americas, Goodyear and Michelin for its plan. The automaker also wants to achieve net-zero deforestation while upholding human and labor rights among farmers harvesting rubber in Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand, as per Channel News Asia. "We want to encourage affordable, safer and cleaner options for our customers that drive value to both our organization and the communities in which we work," Kiefer said. Eventually, GM would also like to involve its stakeholders. By June, the company will have a dialogue with stakeholders for the Michelin's Movin' On Conference, as per Rubber & Plastic News. The plan is to develop a road map by the end of 2017 to ensure zero environmental impact. The company also intends to consult with government agencies, environmental organizations and other automakers. Kiefer admitted this is a long process to undertake. He acknowledged there's a complicated supply chain in the industry and some sectors could be slow to respond to changes no matter how good it will be in the long run. "That's why we're going so public right now is to try and get more industry support for this," he said. Tire manufacturers use synthetic rubber along with natural rubber during production. Juan Botero of the Continental tire company said synthetic rubber, while useful, isn't a good replacement for natural rubber. With demand for vehicles growing worldwide, the automotive industry does need to come up with a more sustainable means. "Mother nature does a fantastic job with this material," Botero said as per Michigan Radio. "We, unfortunately, cannot, let's say, build tires, with the same properties without natural rubber." More people would rather use an app to book a ride than buying their own car these days. A new survey showed an increasing number of consumers ditching car ownership in favor of ride-sharing services. Capgemini conducted its survey among 8,000 people in Brazil, China, India, Italy, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. The results showed one in three people or 34 percent considered ride-sharing via apps was more practical than vehicle ownership. This number went up from 29 percent in last year's survey. Half the respondents, meanwhile, said they would consider using on-demand taxi apps. This number went up from 34 percent in a survey two years ago, as per Financial Times. A surprising number of consumers above 50 were more open to using apps and ditching cars (34 percent) compared to the 35-49 age bracket (32 percent). The survey also showed consumers, especially those living in bigger urbanized cities, considered congestion and parking costs as added problems to car ownership. Another report from RethinkX also predicted a similar trend in app use. It cited that once autonomous vehicles become mainstream, expect a massive shift in car ownership. Also, expect automakers to reduce car production and shift its business to shared cars. "Why on earth would you build a million-mile car in an individual ownership market?" the report's co-author and technology investor James Arbib said, as per Inverse. "At 10,000 miles a year, that would be a 100-year car. It would be completely obsolete!" Five years ago, automakers weren't even focused on connectivity and mobility. Today, "ride-sharing services" has been the buzzword and companies are now changing their focus and business model to tap into this growing market. Aside from Uber and Lyft, car companies like BMW, Ford and Volkswagen already launched its own ride-sharing programs in selected cities. General Motors recently announced the expansion of Maven, its ride-sharing service, in New York. Maven COO Dan Grossman, however, said they are tapping markets of millennials who could eventually consider owning their own cars in the future, as per Fast Company. A famous statue of Russian Czar Alexander II was dismantled during the Bolshevik revolution. So was a statue of Alexander III. A statue of Josef Stalin was removed from his hometown as recently as 2010. And this year in New Orleans, a fierce debate is raging over statues to Confederate heroes such as President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard. Fights over the past have always been part of the present. At Yale, student and faculty pressure resulted in removing the name of John C. Calhoun -- politician, philosopher, but also a man who regarded the slavery system as "a good, a positive good" -- from one of the university's storied colleges. And last week, Watergate, which began 45 years ago next month, began to be invoked in the capital and around the country. History is always with us, but it is not always the same. The search for a "usable past" -- a past that conforms to contemporary needs, values and desires -- is a constant part of the human condition. As a result, we celebrate Andrew Jackson, a hero of Donald Trump's, for his populist instincts and his personification of the democratic ideal in one generation, only to excoriate him a few generations later for his brutal attacks on Indians as a soldier and his policies toward Native Americans as president. A generation ago, Thomas Jefferson was universally celebrated in this country as the avatar of democracy, a philosopher-king from Charlottesville worthy of a majestic monument on the bank of the Tidal Basin in Washington, the bard behind the Declaration of Independence and the spokesman for the peculiar but intoxicating American idiom of freedom. Today another aspect of his life -- his relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings -- is part of the Jefferson legacy, along with the contradiction between the way he wrote and the way he lived. The new David McCullough volume, "The American Spirit," a compendium of the historian's speeches, is notable for several reasons, but especially for a single sentence from a 1998 speech at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where he warned that we should "not look down on anyone from the past for not having the benefit of what we know." That doctrine perhaps should be applied as well to people from the past who do not have the benefit of thinking the way we do. All of which brings us back to the debate in New Orleans over Confederate statuary. The destruction of statues is a traditional part of revolutions and even of the overturning of reviled regimes. French revolutionaries pulled down a prominent statue of Louis XV during the turmoil at the end of the 18th century. One of the most enduring images of the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 occurred when American soldiers tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square. But the Confederate statues in the American South may be a different matter entirely. "These statues are part of our history," says Martha Minow, the Harvard Law School dean who has studied the meaning of statues in our culture. "You can add statues and add context. But we shouldn't just pretend we have no history -- or pretend that we today are pure and the past is corrupted." Elaine Jones, the civil rights attorney who headed the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, understands the sentiment motivating those who want to remove the New Orleans statues. The Civil War was fought in large measure over slavery, and African-Americans have every reason to deplore that institution and the Confederacy that sought to preserve it. "But the Civil War did happen, and we have to make sure we do not exalt it and we have to have an honest appraisal of what went on," she says. "The fight should be over what the labels on these statues say -- and to have separate statues of civil rights heroes. We cannot erase history, but we must learn from it, and send the right message from these men etched in stone." Though transformations in reputations usually take years -- no one alive in 1945 could imagine the respect Harry Truman gets nearly three-quarters of a century later, much of it attributed to McCullough's 1992 biography -- sometimes the transition occurs in days. Only a week ago, for example, James Comey was being demonized by Democrats. Today they are rushing to the defense of Comey, dismissed as FBI director by President Donald Trump, the beneficiary of his pronouncements about the private email server used by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Ordinarily history moves at a slower pace, of course, but the mischief it offers is always with us. In less than a month, the distinguished historians Eric Foner of Columbia University and Lawrence Goldman of the Institute for Historical Research at the University of London will speak in the British Library about the use and abuse of American history. But it is not only American history that is vulnerable to distortion -- and misuse. "The very lesson learned from the 1930s -- that dictators must be opposed and faced down -- led Winston Churchill's protege and successor as prime minister, Anthony Eden, into error," said Goldman. "When Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, Eden mistook a nationalist leader from a developing country for another version of Hitler and conspired with France and Israel to launch a military expedition to take back the canal. The Suez crisis was a disaster for British diplomacy, hastening the end of empire." Churchill, perhaps the leader who learned the most from history, was also a biographer and historian. Indeed, while the Nazi menace was growing in Europe, Churchill was writing a biography of a relative, John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, who defeated the forces of Louis XIV of France in the early 18th century -- a work strongly influenced by fears that another European absolutist was trying to take over the continent. That helps explain Churchill's role as one of the lone voices of alarm against Hitler. In his June 1940 remarks remembered principally as the "their finest hour" speech, Churchill made an aside that might help us navigate these difficult historical shoals. "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present," the prime minister said, "we shall find that we have lost the future." And some statues tell us about our past, even when we do not like what they represent. Please Donate In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation. Racist PayPal Tries to Close Down My Blog As you can see from this article PayPal have removed my blog. I would therefore ask people to make any future donations to the following: Name of Account: Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre Account No: 04094107 Sort Code: 09-01-50 Reference: Web donations It was a very happy reunion Wednesday for a military mom and her son in Winter Haven. Air Force Sgt. Danielle Holbert surprises son at school Son Ryan didn't initially see his mother She will return to South Korea, then move to Charleston Air Force Sgt. Danielle Holbert is half-way through a six-month deployment to South Korea. She surprised her fourth-grade son, Ryan, at All Saints Academy by returning home sooner than she told him she would for a two-week break. Her daughter, Baylee, is an 11th-grader at All Saints. She also got to reunite with her as well. Holbert said she has really missed the children. "Yeah, it's hard. I can't even talk to him every day and that's the hardest thing," Holbert said. "I get lucky with Facebook getting to see them on messenger and stuff like that." Before she surprised Ryan, she was a little nervous about how it would go.   "Oh, I'm super excited. I'm real excited," she said. "I'm nervous but I'm excited. I don't know how he's going to take it. So I hope it goes well." A few minutes later as Danielle was standing in a school lobby, staff members brought in Ryan with his fellow fourth graders. He didn't expect to see his mother and didn't notice her until a staff member pointed her out. Then he ran to her and they hugged for a long time. "Well I wasn't expecting her for five days and they said something about the little kids awards," Ryan said as he explained overlooking his mom. Danielle Holbert will return to South Korea until September, and then the family will move to Charleston Air Force base. A Hillsborough judge issued an injunction on Wednesday against a Tampa man whos accused of stalking Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi over the past few months, according to court records. Bondi told judge that William Wilkes, 51, went to her Tampa home twice Wilkes also sent her unsolicited text messages, according to Bondi Wilkes arrested on April 29 for stalking, trespassing Bondi told the judge that William Wilkes, 51, came to her Tampa home twice and sent her unsolicited text messages. The Florida Attorney General said the first incident happened at 3 a.m. on March 9. I was home alone. I have a very large dog. He was agitating my dog by tapping on the window, which would have scared any other human being off, she said. My dog, in fact, ripped down my wooden blinds. Which has never happened. Bondi said Wilkes saw a few people walking down her street and decided to leave as she was calling 911. He walked to the corner, which frightened me, because he had been wearing a, I guess, a flannel shirt over a gray shirt, she said. He had taken off the shirt to change his appearance, folded it neatly down by the street and then when he left picked it back up. Bondi said the second incident happened on April 22, but this time she had a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on security detail at her home, who arrested Wilkes. The Tampa man was Baker Acted and released a few days later. Bondi said thats when the system failed her and Wilkes. They said he was safe to be released, which clearly he was not, she said. They did not notify law enforcement, which they were supposed to do to protect me. On April 27, Wilkes sent Bondi four text messages that stated, may we get married soon, your (sic) more beautiful than I ever remember how dat (sic) happen and I am in love, according to an arrest report. It troubled me, the messages that he sent me, Bondi said. Judge Christine Vogel asked Wilkes if he would agree to a civil injunction and the defendant responded, if she dont want to see me, I dont want to see her. Judge Vogel found basis for a final judgment and ordered Wilkes not to have any contact with Bondi. I understand now why victims dont want to come to court because you have to see someone whos been threatening your safety, Bondi said. I knew I had to do this. I didnt want to get an injunction against him, but I have to keep him away from me. Wilkes was arrested on April 29 for stalking and trespassing. The Tampa man has a $100,000 bond for the stalking charge, but is being held in a Hillsborough jail without bond for violating his pre-trial release conditions on three other charges. Attorney Keven Hayslett, whos not connected to the case, said mental issues will likely be raised in Wilkes's criminal defense. He probably needs to get some mental help, mental counseling, said Hayslett. In the meantime, theyre going to ensure that he doesnt contact her, because hell be in an orange jumpsuit until his case is heard by the judge. Bondi said she has another stalker, who is out of state, that believes shes the only one who can remove a chip from his brain. The Florida Attorney General did not want to go into details about that case, stating its still under criminal investigation. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Luvell Glanton Jr., MD, of Hannibal (Mo.) Regional Hospital, used Abbott's BurstDR stimulation to support patients with chronic pain, the Hannibal Courier-Post reports. Here's what you should know. 1. BurstDR stimulates patients' spinal cords. It lowers the amount of pain and related therapy maintenance.Dr. Glanton was the first provider in Missouri to use BurstDR. 2. The first patient referred to Dr. Glanton Jr. is reportedly doing well. 3. Dr. Glanton began using the treatment after he saw it reduced pain for longer periods of time than market alternatives. 4. Dr. Glanton is presenting a seminar on back pain management on May 18. David Niesel, PhD, and Norbert Herzog, PhD, published a blog post in the Huffington Post examining factors driving infectious disease outbreaks. Here's what you should note: 1. Transportation allows people to travel around the globe, often bringing infectious disease with them. A traveler from Liberia made his way to Dallas, unaware he had Ebola. After undergoing treatment at a Dallas hospital, he infected two U.S. healthcare workers. 2. The world is becoming more urban with people living in confined places. The influx of people living in close proximity facilitates the spread of infectious microbes. 3. Many people across the globe live in poverty and are unable to get access to care. Also, they live in unhygienic conditions where microbes fester. 4. Warmer temperatures also impact mosquitoes, which spread diseases. Here are seven updates for ASC leaders to note from the past week: NC hospital executives speak out after CON repeal bill passes state Senate The North Carolina Senate passed a budget proposal including an amendment to repeal the state's certificate-of-need laws, drawing criticism from hospital groups. Jeffrey Sackrison, president of Windsor, N.C.-based Vidant Bertie Hospital and Edenton, N.C.-based Vidant Chowan Hospital, said repealing the legislation will not lower costs, which proponents are claiming. Laser Spine Institute Cleveland ASC welcomes new spine surgeon Brad M. Picha, MD, joined Laser Spine Institute's Cleveland ASC. Dr. Picha is an Ohio native who completed medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. UnitedHealth to shut down Harken Health UnitedHealth Group is shutting down its Harken Health subsidiary. Harken Health lost $63.7 million in 2016. UnitedHealth Group invested $160 million into the company. Wisconsin surgery center closes after threat Franklin, Wis.-based Aurora Surgical Center closed on May 17 after a woman called the facility threatening harm. The police are investigating the case, but said they had a suspect in mind. The center reopened on May 17. Physician-owned hospital bill introduced in Senate Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced legislation in the Senate to improve access to physician-led hospitals. The Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2017 would repeal the moratorium on physician-owned hospitals that was enacted in 2010 as part of the ACA. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont requests 12.7% price hike Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont submitted a proposal to increase its 2018 rates by 12.7 percent. The payer submitted the proposal to the Green Mountain Care Board that regulates the state's healthcare system. Colonoscopy device market expected to grow at 4.6% CAGR through 2021 Technavio analysts expect the colonoscopy device market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.63 percent from 2017 to 2021. Technavia expects increased guidelines from healthcare organizations can either significantly boost the market or hinder market growth based on their nature. As I work on the book, Ive come to use a shorthand for five companies that Ive determined are critical drivers of what kind of society well be living in one generation from now. At the moment Im focused on just Internet companies, though I also plan on looking at other categories, such as energy, food, and health. My terminology has evolved in the past week from the Five Horsemen to simply The Big Five. Ive got a few reasons for this. First, the Horsemen analogy is a bit negative (given it evokes the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse). Second, theres a rather fun reference for the big five that has to do with personality traits (see this research, or this, for example). One goal of my book, which I should probably explain at a later date, is to tease out the essential character and philosophy perhaps you could call it the personality of each of these key Internet players. If corporations are people (in the US, anyway), I wonder what kind of people these companies might be? I dont think youll be surprised by my choice of the Big Five, but I do hope youll find my reasoning for their selection worthy. As you can see from the chart, the five are: Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook. If youre wondering if these companies are in some kind of order, the answer is yes. They are in order of current market cap (Facebook is a private market cap, the company is rumored to soon to be public at a valuation that would place it ahead of Amazon). But theres more to the selection of this Big Five than just market cap. In fact, there are four main criteria for making it into the Big Five. First, as I began to describe above, the companies must have financial heft, both in terms of large equity capitalizations, significant cash on hand, and a defensible core profit making machine. This gives them the ability to throw their weight around: they can make strategic acquisitions (like Googles acquisition of Motorola), and they can leverage their profit centers and cash positions in any number of ways that offer them flexibility to play the corporate game at the very highest levels. Second, the companies must have scale in terms of direct reach to consumers. By this I mean their brands are used as meaningful platforms by hundreds of millions of people on a frequent basis. Third, the companies must have deep engagement with those consumers, the kind of engagement that builds brand and creates massive stores of useful data. The relationship between the brand and its customer has to be meaningful and consistent (therefore creating permission to extract a premium and offer new products and services). It takes an ongoing service relationship for such engagement to occur Microsoft with Xbox or Windows, for example, or Facebook with its core service. On the chart, Ive ranked engagement and data on a scale of one to ten, based in part on my work on the Web 2 map earlier this year, and partly on my own experiences. (As with other parts of this chart, I ask for your help in codifying this metric, should you be so inclined.) Fourth, the companies must have significant experience building platform operating systems that are defensible and supported by a vibrant developer community. The Big Five play in each of these four categories, but there are significant differences between them all, as the chart illustrates. Lets look at each in turn: Apple has the strongest financial position of any of the Big Five, quite a feat when you consider the company was essentially bankrupt just 14 years ago. Its one of the top three companies in the world by market cap, and has the largest cash position of any technology company, period. Its core profit driver is its device business, which may be under attack (from Android and others), but appears defensible. Through its Macintosh and iOS platforms, it reaches hundreds of millions of consumers on a daily basis, not to mention the millions who circulate through its retail stores and various software applications. Apple has a deeply engaged set of core users, but Ive given the company a score of 6 because a lot of the engagement which occurs with Apples brand and products is indirect Im using a Macintosh to prepare this post, but Im not directly engaged with Apples products as I do it. Im using services that layer on top of them. Id argue this is less true with iTunes, the iPad and the iPhone, and Id wager thats how Apple wants it they want to deepen engagement with their customers, and iOS is how they are going about doing that. What data Apple collects is not easy to find but it certainly has to be deep. And Apple has long term and ongoing experience creating OS platforms, so Ive scored the company highly there, though not as high as Microsoft, which has more reach. Microsoft is the second strongest of the Big Five in terms of financials. While its certainly not been a growth stock in the past decade or so, its a profit machine, and its revenues are massive. Windows and Office have been consistent defensible profit centers, allowing the company to pursue search, online publishing, and gaming, among other key businesses. For the same reasons as Apple, Ive given Microsoft a middling engagement score its massive Windows base is not very engaged at a brand level, but the twenty-odd million folks on the Xbox Live platform certainly are. As a data powerhouse, Microsoft is a wildcard it has not leveraged the data created by our interactions with Windows and Office at least not in ways I can divine. It does have tons of data around Xbox, Bing, and its move to the cloud should make it a key player here soon. And when it comes to experience creating and driving developer ecosystems in the OS space, Microsoft has the deepest experience of any of the Big Five. (And no, I am not going to get into arguments of whether those OSes are better or worse than one another for now anyway). Google ranks third in financial heft, but its reach across the web is unmatched by any of its cohorts in the Big Five. Its search business profit center is a monster, though the company faces threats from Bing on one side, and Facebooks social web on the other. Ive scored Google equal to Apple in engagement its clearly far stronger as an engaged brand on the Internet, but less strong in its Android business, despite Androids larger base. And of course, Google was built from the ground up as a data machine. As for experience in operating systems and developer ecosystems, Google is still in early stages. Android and Chrome are both relatively new and not fully baked. Amazon has never been a major hoarder of cash, but the company has been on a roll of late, and is building both its reserves and its market cap. However, its profit center ecommerce is arguably not as defensible as others in the Big Five (though one could reasonably argue Amazon has locked in its consumers with extremely smart services such as its recommendation engine and Prime shipping programs). The companys reach into consumers is smaller than any of its peers in the Big Five, and it has just begun to play its device engagement hand via the Kindle platform. Of course, nearly 150mm of us are already deeply hooked into Amazons commerce engine, and thats a significant data advantage. As for operating system and developer experience, lets not forget Amazon Web Services the compute and storage layers of what might be called the web OS. Amazon has an enviable position in these critical areas of the emerging cloud ecosystem, though they are, in the main, indirect for now. But those services must give Amazon a view into data that is the envy of its fellow Big Five companies. Facebook is the youngest of the Big Five, and has pretty much no publicly available financial information. Its fair to assume its the weakest of the Big Five financially, but that is set to change in the next year. It already boasts a massive valuation in the private markets, and once it goes public, it could have upwards of $10billion or more to play with. It has massive reach and deep engagement nearly 1 billion of us use the service, half of us use it daily. Facebooks data trove is enviable, and its moves into nearly every aspect of our lives from payment to media, will create even more of it. The company also has created a huge base of developers for its platform, but the ecosystem is incomplete compared to vertically integrated OSes like iOS, Mac or Windows. Given its youth, Id argue Facebook has the most to prove, but certainly has earned its place in the Big Five. Id love your input on the Big Five. I plan to use this post as a milestone of sorts, as I begin the journey of writing about their impact on our culture in the coming generation. A study published in JAMA is questioning the validity of American College of Surgeons' and Association of American Medical Colleges' reports stating the nation will face a shortage between 40,800 to 104,900 physicians by 2030, Healthcare Finance reports. Here are five points: 1. The study said if each of the 388,000 full-time U.S. primary care physicians treated 1,500 patients, on average, PCPs could care for 583 million Americans. The U.S. adult population is 240 million. 2. Based on these figures, the industry would only need nearly 160,000 physicians to care for the 240 million Americans, based on a physician panel size of 1,500 patients. 3. If the panel size jumped to 2,000 patients, the industry would only need 120,000 full-time PCPs. 4. Medical enrollment figures have jumped the last 15 years. Since 2002, enrollment has rallied 28 percent. 5. The study authors argue there is no physician shortage, but rather there is a surplus of physicians. Nola Wyatt, vice president of revenue cycle for St. Louis-based Ascension, has worked in healthcare revenue cycle for more than three decades. Prior to her current role, Ms. Wyatt spent 16 years at Nashville, Tenn.-based Saint Thomas Health, part of the Ascension Tennessee Health Ministry. Ms. Wyatt recently answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about her greatest challenges as a revenue cycle leader and how she would improve the revenue cycle process. Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity. Question: What's your favorite part about being a revenue cycle leader for a healthcare system? Nola Wyatt: I have the privilege of working with talented teams to best serve those who trust us with their care by ensuring we deliver an optimal experience. It is an honor to know our work contributes to increasing access to safe and quality care, and assists in Ascension's efforts to provide compassionate and personalized care. Q: What is the biggest challenge you're facing as a revenue cycle leader? NW: As we remain committed to our quadruple aim of delivering exceptional health outcomes; ensuring an exceptional experience for those we serve and providers; and making healthcare delivery more affordable, our revenue cycle team is transitioning our operations to have a more consumer focus to support our care delivery. Q: What is one of your goals this year? NW: Our primary goal is to fulfill on our promise of standardizing our operations to ensure consistent performance delivery and consumer experience to all. Q: What is one thing you'd do to improve the revenue cycle process? NW: Throughout the entire healthcare industry, providers have the opportunity to enhance our interaction with consumers by being active listeners and helping those we serve understand their financial responsibility. We all know the patient billing experience is an integral part of a patient's satisfaction, so we must be continuously mindful of our financial information communication with consumers. More articles on finance: CHS names new CFO Idaho woman detained in Mexican hospital for 4 days over $30k medical bill Tennessee emergency medicine practice renews RCM relationship with Zotec Oregon may be paying $37 million per month in Medicaid benefits for ineligible beneficiaries, according to Oregon Secretary of State auditors. Secretary of State Dennis Richardson said more than 86,000 individuals, or 8 percent of Oregon's Medicaid recipients, did not undergo the annual benefit eligibility determination process required by the federal government. Roughly 14,000 of those individuals did not return Medicaid applications, despite being sent renewal notices. Mr. Richardson said a "preliminary analysis did not clearly identify why the remaining 71,600 have not been redetermined," according to an Auditor Alert filed May 17. He added the issue has been ongoing for the past three years and "may place federal funding to Oregon in jeopardy and result in a misuse of state monies," Portland Business Journal reports. The Oregon Health Authority disputed the audit, arguing it included "preliminary information and does not provide the entire context" of the Medicaid eligibility and renewal process, the report states. OHA officials also said it is still transferring some beneficiaries from the state's failed Cover Oregon system to the new Medicaid program. The move is expected to reach completion by the end of May. Mr. Richardson recommended OHA "work with the federal regulatory authorities to ensure federal Medicaid funding is not jeopardized while OHA resolves these eligibility determination issues." He also asked OHA to "report on its efforts to resolve these issues and fiscal impacts to the legislature no later than September 30, 2017." Although the 'WannaCry' ransomware attack has infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries since Friday, organizations in the U.S. were largely spared, according to Reuters. A Department of Homeland Security official on Tuesday told Reuters fewer than 10 U.S. organizations reported being infected by the worldwide attack. A DHS official on Monday told NPR the affected organizations range in scope from companies with only a few affected computers to those with networks of infected computers. "The U.S. is still in a relatively good place I don't want to jinx it," the official told NPR. "We don't have a large number of victims right now, and we, for the most part, are not seeing significant operational impacts for those who have been victimized. They've been able to manage through it." Palo Alto, Calif.-based Theranos reached a deal with 99 percent of its "most recent investors," offering new stock in exchange for a release of the right to bring legal claims against the blood testing startup. Those who accepted the deal received new shares of preferred stock in exchange for existing preferred stock, according to a Theranos announcement. Founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes gave shares and equity to offset the effect of those who chose not to participate in the deal. The deal comes after news in April that Ms. Holmes was $25 million in debt to the company after buying stock and deferring payment. The transaction was intended to bring investors together "around forward-looking business plans," according to the announcement. The company is now shifting focus from its finger-prick blood testing device to a product called the miniLab, which runs tests on larger sample sizes of blood. More articles on leadership and management: AMA calls on Senate to maintain ACA's insurance gains: 3 things to know 5 traits of a high-performance culture and 8 steps to start building one today OSU Wexner Medical Center faculty still distressed after CEO's resignation Joining politicians and religious leaders, more than 500 physicians from the Service Employees International Union penned a letter to the Department of Homeland Security calling for an 18-month extension of a program that allows 58,000 Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake to live and work in the U.S., according to a report from The Boston Globe. The physicians called for an extension of the temporary protected status program due to the poor health conditions in Haiti. They wrote that the country has among the world's worst health indicators, and deporting Haitians back would "jeopardize the safety and wellbeing" of those currently living in the U.S., according to the report. The administration must make a decision by May 22. If they do not, the program expires July 22, and the Haitians in the program will lose their legal right to work and could be deported, according to The Boston Globe. Read the full story here. More articles on integration and physician issues: Physician age affects patient mortality unless volume is high UM Shore Regional Health breast center granted re-accreditation Students march to protest dismissal of SLU medical school dean The following healthcare mergers, acquisitions and general partnerships took place or were announced the week of May 8. 1. After 4-year battle, Cottage Health and Sansum Clinic call off merger After a four-year fight to gain federal regulatory approval for their proposed merger, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Cottage Health and Sansum Clinic, also in Santa Barbara, called off the deal. 2. KentuckyOne to spin off 4 hospitals, 4 ambulatory centers Louisville-based KentuckyOne Health is seeking new owners and operators for more than 10 entities. The changes will ultimately leave KentuckyOne as a seven-hospital system. 3. Memorial Hermann adds 2 microhospitals via new joint venture with Emerus Memorial Hermann Health System, a 16-hospital system in Houston, entered into a joint venture agreement with The Woodland, Texas-based Emerus Holdings, one the nation's largest microhospital operators. 4. Cedars-Sinai to affiliate with Torrance Memorial Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, an 886-bed academic medical center in Los Angeles, revealed plans to affiliate with 446-bed Torrance (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center. 5. Molina Healthcare affiliates with 130-member New York physician practice Syracuse, N.Y.-based FamilyCare Medical Group affiliated with two subsidiaries of Long Beach, Calif.-based Molina Healthcare. 6. Healthcare Trust of America closes on $150M portfolio for medical office buildings in Arizona, California The Healthcare Trust of America, which owns and operates a number of medical office buildings across the U.S., closed on a $150 million agreement to purchase a medical office building portfolio. 7. Houston Methodist, Evolent Health partner to improve health of Medicare patients Houston Methodist and Evolent Health, a healthcare technology provider in Arlington, Va., will partner to develop and execute a value-based care strategy to improve services for Medicare patients. 8. Prime Healthcare Foundation's $15M acquisition of CHS hospital collapses Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Foundation's $15 million acquisition agreement to purchase Salem, N.J.-based The Memorial Hospital of Salem County fell through just as the deal received state regulatory approval. 9. DaVita acquires Purity Dialysis DaVita Kidney Care, a division of Denver-based DaVita, declared its decision to acquire Delafield, Wis.-based Purity Dialysis. 10. Tulane Medical Center acquires Lakeview Regional New Orleans-based Tulane Medical Center acquired Covington, La.-based Lakeview Regional Medical Center. The transaction was effective May 7. 11. Columbus Regional signs letter of intent to partner with Piedmont Healthcare Columbus (Ga.) Regional Health and Piedmont Healthcare, a seven-hospital system in Atlanta, signed a letter of intent to enter into exclusive negotiations to form a potential partnership. Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network could potentially get new ownership, reports The News-Sentinel. Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems currently owns the health network. However, a local physician group has proposed acquiring Lutheran from CHS, according to the report. The proposed ownership group includes 300 physicians and would receive backing from a private equity firm and possibly other investors, reports The News-Sentinel. At present, physicians have about 20 percent ownership in Lutheran. The proposed acquisition comes as CHS works to improve its financial picture. The major for-profit hospital operator ended 2016 with a net loss of $1.7 billion, and reported a net loss of $199 million in the first quarter of this year. The company is currently on a divestiture spree as part of its financial turnaround plan. Lutheran recently announced it will pursue a multiyear $500 million capital investment plan for nearly all of its facilities. Still, the physician group is reportedly worried about "a lack of corporate investment and the resulting impact on medical care," according to The News-Sentinel. The report notes it is unclear how or if a change in ownership would affect the $500 million capital investment plan. Hospital spokesman Geoff Thomas did not comment on the issue, but instead referred Becker's Hospital Review to Tomi Galin, senior vice president of corporate communications and marketing at CHS. In an emailed statement, Ms. Galin said CHS does not generally comment on potential acquisition or divestiture activity. However, "we remain very focused on the long-term success of Lutheran Health Network," she said. "We are very excited about the $500 million capital plan announced last week and the opportunity to make a transformative investment that will enhance patient care and expand health services in Fort Wayne, as well as bring jobs and other economic benefit to the community." Lutheran is an eight-hospital health network that includes nearly 1,000 inpatient beds. Becker's Hospital Review reported the following events related to hospital-union relationships including unionization votes, strikes and contract agreements since May 3. 1. Workers at Partners' Cooley Dickinson Hospital face decision to join SEIU Service and technical workers at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass., a part of Boston-based Partners HealthCare, will decide for or against joining the Service Employees International Union. 2. RNs from CHS, Quorum hospitals protest 'eroding' patient care conditions Registered Nurses represented by National Nurses United protested what they say are "eroding" patient care conditions due to high RN turnover rates at hospitals affiliated with Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems and its spin-off Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health Corp. 3. Nurses at 2 USC facilities ratify contract Registered nurses ratified a contract with Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, both in Los Angeles. 4. California hospital workers to strike over alleged unfair labor practices More than 100 healthcare workers at Watsonville (Calif.) Community Hospital scheduled a strike, which occurred May 17. The workers, represented by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, seek "to protect patient care and protest the hospital's unfair labor practices," the union said. 5. Massachusetts nurses union mulls 2018 ballot effort to set staffing requirements The Massachusetts Nurses Association is considering a 2018 ballot initiative to address hospital staffing. The consideration arrives after MNA released its annual survey of registered nurses working in the state's healthcare facilities to Massachusetts House members. 6. Aspirus Riverview Hospital workers ratify contract with pay raises Healthcare workers at Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based Aspirus Riverview Hospital ratified a contract agreement. 7. Presence Saint Joseph nurses grant negotiators ability to call strike Nurses at Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., voted 529-89 to allow the negotiating committee to call a strike if they feel the need to do so. 8. Fountain Valley Regional workers ratify contract with pay raises Unionized healthcare workers ratified a three-year contract agreement with Fountain Valley (Calif.) Regional Hospital and Medical Center. 9. Care New England workers ask execs to return $4M in pay as part of picket over layoffs Unionized nurses and healthcare employees conducted informational picketing at Women & Infants and Butler hospitals, which are operated by Providence, R.I.-based Care New England. 10. More than 1k Hurley Medical Center nurses, pharmacists picket over contract impasse More than 1,000 members of the Registered Nurses and Registered Pharmacists of Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., picketed over a contract dispute. 11. Kindred Hospital San Gabriel nurses vote to unionize Registered nurses at West Covina, Calif.-based Kindred Hospital San Gabriel Valley voted to become members of the California Nurses Association. 12. Nurses petition Berkshire Medical Center for 'fair agreement' amid ongoing labor talks Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Medical Center and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents registered nurses at BMC, continue contract negotiations. From the Justice Department joining another lawsuit against Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group to the conviction of a Detroit physician following his participation in a $17.1 million Medicare fraud scheme, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. DOJ sues UnitedHealth over $1B+ in Medicare claims The Justice Department sued Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group May 16, alleging the payer defrauded Medicare at least $1 billion in false claims. 2. Couple sues Virginia Mason Medical Center for 2nd time after winning $8.5M verdict A Washington couple filed a second lawsuit against Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center, alleging the institution failed to provide information about multiple privacy breaches involving their medical and financial records. 3. Wyoming hospital claims former CEO concealed financial trouble from board Rock Springs, Wyo.-based Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County countersued former CEO Jerry Klein for allegedly hiding financial information from the hospital board and overstepping his fiduciary duty. 4. Steward, physicians square off in $60M legal fight involving incentive payments Boston-based Steward Health Care and one of its largest affiliated physician groups, Compass Medical Group of East Bridgewater (Mass.), are suing one another for fraud and breach of contract over millions of dollars in physician payments. 5. 3rd Detroit physician convicted in $17.1M Medicare fraud scheme Gerald Daneshvar, MD, a physician of Chicago-based home visiting service Lake MI Mobile Doctors, was convicted of participating in a $17.1 million Medicare fraud scheme with two other physicians. Forbes named Zimmer Biomet to its "America's Best Large Employers of 2017" list. Here are five highlights: 1. Forbes selected companies based on an anonymous survey of more than 30,000 employees in 25 industries. 2. Employees reported how likely they are to recommend their employers to other people. 3. Additionally, the survey asked employees to rate other industry employers. 4. The list features 500 employers, with at least 1,000 employees. 5. Statista, an online statistics provider, conducted the survey. "Our team members are the foundation of Zimmer Biomet," said Bill Fisher, Zimmer Biomet's senior vice president, global human resources. "Our Company's purpose is to restore mobility, alleviate pain and improve the quality of life for patients around the world, and we accomplish this important goal through the expertise and dedication of our team members." The industry will continue pushing healthcare leaders to lower costs, and many providers are unaware of the significant savings they can accrue by fine-tuning their revenue cycle management process. Johnson City, Tenn.-based Watauga Orthopaedics, an independent orthopedic practice, previously devoted a large chunk of manpower and resources to connecting with patients prior to appointments and locating the best contact person for payers to collect on claims. These practices drained the practice of money as well as viable staff members. This all changed in 2012 when the practice teamed up with athenahealth, which provided technology that allowed staff members to shift their focus from following up on claims to clinical care. "There is a big difference from what we did pre-2012 and post-2012 in how we leveraged technology," says Kim Wishon, CEO of Watauga Orthopaedics. "We recognized changes that needed to be made in order to be successful and that is why our practice reevaluated our approach to revenue cycle management." athenahealth has key tools that allowed the practice to truncate its denial rate and free up staff to perform other activities, as opposed to administrative tasks. athenaCollector assesses a patient's insurance eligibility automatically, thereby limiting the likelihood of errors that could occur during manual entry. Additionally, athenahealth's Billing Rules Engine checks clients claims for possible errors or omissions prior to a practice submitting a claim to a payer. After employing the technology, Watauga Orthopaedics eliminated six full-time positions and reduced its denial rate from 11 percent to 4 percent. Bringing staff into the mix Ms. Wishon explains every staff member plays a part in improving a practice's RCM process. Prior to 2012, Watauga Orthopaedics' providers did not view revenue cycle as a part of their overall jobs. The practice's partnership with athenahealth, however, changed this mentality as every staff member had a role to play in revamping their RCM process. "For physicians, it is about education on the RCM process and making them understand how they can make a difference," she says. "Our staff and physicians had always had a hands-off approach. With how complicated it [the process] is, we needed a complete team effort." Leveraging technology allowed the practice to transform many staff members' responsibilities. Rather then spending hours researching a patient's eligibility and calling various insurance companies to obtain the necessary information, athenhealth's technology does all that for the practice. "You can reposition those staff members to something else they need to be doing," Ms. Wishon says. As markets become increasingly consolidated, many independent practices may struggle to stay afloat without affiliating with a larger entity. A strong RCM partner may bode well for private practices by allowing them to avoid leakage in the RCM processes and stay ahead of industry change. "We are seeing many practices combining with hospitals because they can't be profitable enough for the physicians [there]," says Ms. Wishon. "Focusing on RCM along with quality management and excellent patient care will continue the health of private practices across the United States." Thomas Schuler, MD, founded Reston-based Virginia Spine Institute in 1992 and has grown the practice to one of the largest multidisciplinary spinal groups in the region. As CEO, he leads the group through changes in healthcare and continues to succeed in providing cutting-edge treatment options for his patients. Dr. Schuler is speaking on a panel titled "How Can Spine Surgeons, Orthopedic Surgeons and Pain Management Physicians Thrive in a Changing Market?" at the Becker's 15th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference on June 22-24 in Chicago. Learn more and register here. Question: What are the biggest challenges for spine surgeons running their own practices today? Dr. Thomas Schuler: First and foremost, the biggest challenge is keeping on top of the requirements and regulations from the government and insurers. They are continuously moving their requirements and I believe they are doing it intentionally to decrease payments and/or access to care for patients. One example is with partial corpectomy. Insurance companies used to accept documentation for a partial or complete corpectomies and then they required us to identify partial corpectomies, with some requiring one-third while others required one-half, and the numbers keep changing to benefit the payers. Another area they focus on is spondylolisthesis. You can't just say spondylolisthesis; they want clarification of 3 mm of flexion/extension on the X-ray while another company might want 4 mm. They are constantly moving their requirements, not based on scientific findings but in order to promote their financial agenda. The same is true for many other codes. Payers are either bundling or excluding codes from the payments and making it hard for surgeons to collect. If surgeons are in-network, complying with the rules is important. If they are out-of-network, it's a challenge to attract patients to your practice when they have high deductibles. If you're providing the out-of-network model, you have to provide a superior product in terms of clinical quality and patient experience, and make sure your product is communicated. Q: What are the top practices doing today to ensure success going forward? TS: The answer is quality medicine and customer care. Individualized treatment for patients that will best solve their problems and provide the safest and simplest way to get back to their lives. To me, this is best done as an out-of-network provider because you don't have your hands tied by the insurance company's regulations. You can do what the patient wants when the patient wants it. You can provide care in a timely fashion with the patient driving that conversation and timeline. You also have to stay current and constantly innovate. You have to improve quality and services as new technologies become available. If you believe in the technologies and they will improve care, implement them in your practice. Some of the new technology our group is working with includes robotic surgery, which allows for even more minimally invasive operations. We also use stem cell therapies and regenerative therapies which allow for nonoperative treatments to improve patient outcomes. There are many things that can be done to enhance patient results. Artificial discs allow for less degeneration and breakdown. Patients expect high quality outcomes. You can't stay in the training you received during your residency and fellowship. You have to constantly innovate as technology allows us to do better things for our patients. Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota Medical School appointed Clark Chen, MD, PhD, head of the neurosurgery department. Here are nine things to know: 1. Dr. Chen will also serve as the Lyle French Chair in Neurosurgery. 2. His expertise lies in brain tumor research, with a specialized interest in understanding how glioblastomas acquire resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. 3. Equipped with a National Institutes of Health Research Project grant, Dr. Chen is developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for brain tumor patients. 4. Dr. Chen is also heading a study on brain tumor DNA repair and gene therapy. 5. He currently works at University of California San Diego, where he serves as the chief of stereotactic and radiosurgery, the vice chairman of neurosurgery and a neurosurgery professor. 6. Dr. Chen has written more than 200 peer-reviewed papers on neuro-oncology. 7. He has received the Damon Runyon Fellowship Award; Sidney Kimmel Scholar Award; Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Career Award in Medical Sciences; Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award; Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Scientist Award; and Forbeck Scholar Award. 8. The Taiwan president honored Dr. Chen with the Presidential Award of Achievement in 2015. The award is presented to those of Taiwanese heritage who made exceptional contributions to their profession. 9. Dr. Chen completed his radiosurgery fellowship and stereotactic neurosurgery fellowship at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below A South African Nation was caught while attempting to scale the Mt Everest without paying the permit fee. According to reports, the Nepal government fined him Rs 14 lakhs and a ban on climbing for five years. Forty-three-year-old Ryan Sean Davy's passport has also been confiscated, an official added. Notably, foreigners are charged Rs 71550 to climb Mount Everest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a three-nation tour of Germany, Spain, and Russia from May 29 with the aim of consolidating the relations with these countries. The visit to Germany and Spain will be bilateral in nature while the trip to Russia is in connection with the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held from June 1-3. Notably, this will be Modi's 28th abroad trip. Two men from Miami were arrested Tuesday after a Seward County deputy sheriff found credit card skimmers and fraudulent credit cards during an Interstate 80 traffic stop, the sheriff's office said Wednesday. The deputy pulled over Jose Roberto Jr., 18, and Reinier Pena, 28, for a traffic violation at 11:20 a.m. and asked to search the car after developing suspicion they were involved in criminal activity, a news release said. The men allowed the deputy to search the car and under the hood the deputy found two gas pump credit card skimmers concealed under the air filter and in a void space, the release said. Credit card skimmers are illicitly attached to ATMs and gas pump pay stations to secretly record credit card information that can be used to make fraudulent credit cards. The deputy also found eight cards in the car that had been altered and loaded with stolen credit card numbers. Both were taken to the Seward County jail on suspicion of multiple felonies. Investigators believe they were traveling to Colorado from Florida. Reports have claimed that Brazil President Michel Temer was secretly recorded discussing hush money payoffs to a jailed associate. Meanwhile Opposition politicians and protesters have called for the removal of Temer. Reports claim Temer allegedly authorised payments of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, a former speaker of the lower house. However, Temer's office immediately denied the report. An artists impression of the planned Seven Hills Hotel The man behind a planned 14m hotel in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains has said the area is "screaming out" for a development. Miceal Tinnelly wants to transform a 35-acre plot of land in Rostrevor into a 100-bed hotel facing Carlingford Lough. If given the go-ahead, the four-star Seven Hills Hotel and Spa will be built on the village's Greenpark Road. "This area is crying out for a hotel," Mr Tinnelly told this newspaper. "There may be one in Newry and Newcastle, but here there is nothing. There used to be three or four hotels, but now there is nothing." The developers are holding a pre-consultation meeting on the project next week. Mr Tinnelly is seeking the finance to see the scheme through to completion. It is likely the funding will come from a combination of banks and private investors. The hotel is slated to include two function rooms, two bars, a restaurant, spa, fitness suite and gym. "It is the tourists that you are trying to attract," Mr Tinnelly said. "If there is an event in this town, people have to stay elsewhere." The developer, who was a coal merchant before moving into construction, was previously granted planning permission for a smaller, 50-bed hotel on the same site. Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Mourne Mountains are a big attraction for tourists This was taken on October 2016 at Murlough reserve. Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. Submitted by Deborah Anderson from Lisburn The Mourne Mountains were voted Britain's best view (Countryman/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Mourne Mountains are a big attraction for tourists "We have been working on this for about eight or nine years now," he said. The village previously had a large hotel called the Great Northern that looked onto Carlingford Lough. Originally known as the Mourne Hotel, it was taken over and extended by the Great Northern Railway in the 1890s, then destroyed in a firebombing during the Troubles. Mr Tinnelly claimed locals had been overwhelmingly positive about the project. "People are more than happy, they are screaming out for it," he insisted. "There isn't a person who has said a wrong word against it." The developers estimate the hotel will cost in the region of 14m. As well as seeking funding from banks and private investors, the people behind the project hope to secure "grant assistance from Invest NI towards planned marketing, training, management development and IT development costs in the hotel over the five-year period of the financial projections". Speaking to Ulster Business in 2012, Mr Tinnelly said: "There is a real gap in provision in Rostrevor. We have two four-star hotels in Newcastle and Newry and fewer than 30 rooms in between from smaller providers." Meanwhile, more than 30 hotels are at various stages of development in Belfast. Around 4,000 rooms are planned for the city centre, more than doubling capacity. There are currently some 3,400. Around 1,100 rooms are being added across five under-construction developments. They are the Marriott AC at City Quays' the Grand Central at Bedford Street, Hampton by Hilton at Hope Street; the Maldron Hotel at Brunswick Street; and the Titanic Hotel. Ten Square, behind City Hall, is also being extended. Projects at the pre-planning stage include an extension to the Bullitt Hotel in the city centre, a 160-bedroom hotel at the King's Hall, and McAleer & Rushe's proposed 150-room development at the former Bank of Ireland building on Royal Avenue. Elsewhere, the developer hoping to open a George Best-themed hotel in Belfast has bought a listed building in the city centre for just over 6m. Liverpool businessman Lawrence Kenwright's Signature Living Group purchased the Scottish Mutual Building, and plans to invest a further 15m to turn it into a hotel. The building was bought from the Ballymena-based Hill family, owners of the Galgorm Resort & Spa. Mr Kenwright also recently bought the former Crumlin Road Courthouse, which he plans to convert into one of five hotels in the city. One of the most celebrated stars of Northern Ireland hairdressing has made a sensational comeback after losing everything in the recession. Belfast stylist Paul Stafford, who was forced into bankruptcy during the property crash, this week picked up one of the biggest accolades in the industry when he was named UK Salon Stylist of the Year by leading glossy magazine HAIR. The coveted award was presented to the Belfast man in recognition of his outstanding creative talent and technical ability. Paul, who went bankrupt in 2012 after losing a fortune in property investments, has spent the past few years fighting to get back on top in his industry and in business, and last night said the award marked a new era for the Stafford brand. "It was a tough time and we had to put creative things on hold and concentrate on survival," he added. "This is a great accolade to get, not just because it is judged by other hairdressers, but by the public and it is an indication that we are back in people's vision and trying to promote Northern Ireland hairdressing at a higher level, which is what I have always wanted to do." Paul paid tribute to the hairdressing industry for the support shown to both him and his equally talented wife, Leisa, when their famous salon on Belfast's Lisburn Road was forced to close when the couple faced bankruptcy in 2012. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph at the time, the 48-year-old said he and Leisa had endured "a harrowing" time fighting to hold onto their company. The loss of their business empire came about as a result of debt from a property portfolio the couple built up as a retirement fund. The property market crash left them with debt of 2m on property loans which they could not manage. Their famous Paul Stafford salon was bought over and the couple were grateful to be kept on as employees to run it. At the time, he said: "It's been absolutely horrific, the worst experience ever, and it has taken its toll on both of us.'' Now back on top with a new award to add to his trophy cabinet, Paul said it had been a long road back for both of them. He added: "We have made a definite attempt since 2012 to reinvent ourselves. The industry has been really good to me, letting me get back out there and do shows and show people how you can stay in the industry 30 years and survive. "Most people who work hard can have a career, and what has happened to us is testament to that." Paul has been making waves in the hair and beauty industry since he started out in hairdressing more than 25 years ago. Over that time he has won almost all the accolades in his field worth winning, including the prestigious Northern Irish Hairdresser of the Year title three times. But this latest prize, for which he was shortlisted in 2016 and which pitted him against some of the most famous and acclaimed names in British hairdressing, is the icing on the cake. To win, he had to submit a lengthy and detailed portfolio laying out his approach and professional achievements. This included his work as a salon stylist, catering to his personal and celebrity clients, his worldwide stage and educational work and examples of his renowned photographic collections. It was judged by an expert panel comprising some of the best hairdressers in the business. Known for his snappy dressing and Mod-inspired personal style as much as for his skills with the scissors, Paul is a regular in the Press and on TV, where he is sought out for his original views on anything and everything hair and fashion-related. He also travels the world appearing on stage at major events and sharing his knowledge with other stylists. He has recently returned from the States and is due to fly off later this month to perform in Croatia. 'Working at the top level takes a level of commitment and hard work that few people who see you cutting hair for clients in the salon would guess at, so having those efforts recognised and judged by people who I admire and whose opinions I respect to the utmost means a tremendous amount," he said. "I've won a few awards in my time, but the Salon Stylist of the Year prize is special as it recognises all the separate elements - working in the salon and out of it - that go into making a great, all-round hairdresser." Paul is in the BHA Hall of Fame, having won Northern Irish Hairdresser of the Year three times. Leisa is also a multiple award-winner, including Northern Irish Hairdresser of the Year 2004, and a seasoned session stylist in constant demand by magazines and ad agencies. Comment page 20 New figures have shown a drop in buy-to-let lending for house purchases Buy-to-let lending for house purchase plunged by nearly 80% year-on-year in March, figures from banks and building societies show. Landlords borrowed a total of 900 million for house purchases in March, marking a 79.5% decrease compared with March 2016, when 4.4 billion-worth of loans were advanced for this purpose. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which released the figures, said spring 2016 saw a peak of activity before stamp duty changes were introduced in April last year. Estate agents reported seeing a rush of buy-to-let investors snapping up properties ahead of the stamp duty increase for this sector on April 1 2016. Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: "Overall, lending trends have remained reasonably consistent." The CML also said first-time buyer and home mover activity came out of a winter seasonal dip in March. First-time buyers borrowed 4.9 billion in total in March, up 29% on February and a 9% increase compared with March 2016. Home movers borrowed 6.2 billion for house purchases, up 19% on February but down by 33% year-on-year. A total of 6 billion was also borrowed by home owners re-mortgaging in March - up 13% on February and a 22% increase compared with the same period a year earlier. But the CML said that, overall, home owner house purchase activity was at its weakest for two years across the first three months of 2017, with 155,900 loans advanced to first-time buyers and home movers in the first quarter of this year. By contrast, the number of re-mortgage loans advanced to home owners was at its highest since the first quarter of 2009, with 106,700 loans handed out in the first three months of 2017. Mr Smee said: "The relatively sluggish activity among home movers stands in contrast to the growth in first-time buyer and re-mortgage activity, but in aggregate the market is showing broadly the levels of activity we expected. "As we head into the summer, we expect a continuation of these trends, with both first-time buyer and re-mortgage lending expected to maintain momentum in the light of the very attractive deals currently available." A fresh mortgage price war has broken out in recent weeks, with some lenders offering some of their lowest ever rates. Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former residential chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), said the figures show that "realistic buyers and sellers are getting on with their business". He said: "Putting these and other figures into perspective, we are finding on the ground that those prepared to be realistic are buying whereas those who have not yet come to terms with changing market conditions are staying put." US cyber security firm Anomali is creating 120 new jobs with the opening of a lab in Belfast. The Californian firm provides cyber security solutions to help organisations identify and respond to security threats. Invest NI has offered the firm 780,000 towards the job creation with average salaries expected to be around 34,500. The jobs are hoped to be in place by the end of 2019. Anomali chief executive, Hugh Njemanze says the company has "emerged as the leader in threat intelligence solutions". "As our customer base expanded globally we looked for ways we can grow our own operations and serve the needs of the market. We are pleased to make Belfast the new base for developing new products and scaling our business in Europe and beyond, he said. And the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) also says it is investing 38.5m in research and development in Northern Ireland. Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton said the latest announcement shows that "Northern Ireland is enjoying a growing reputation as a region of expertise and knowledge in cyber security". It is no surprise that Californian based Anomali has chosen to invest here based on our world-class credentials, he said. "Northern Ireland is enjoying a growing international reputation as a region of expertise and knowledge in cyber security. Todays announcement of both a new inward investor, the Anomali R&D Labs, and a significant investment by CSIT will only see this reputation continue to grow. Invest NI also announced it has offered 5.5m for research and development at the Queen's University-based Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT). It encourages collaboration among academics, researchers, engineers, industry and government to accelerate the results of cyber and physical security research through to commercial application. The Eurovision Song Contest faithful are pleased to have seen an old favourite, dubbed Epic Sax Guy, back in the competition. Saxophone player Sergey Stepanov first came to viewers attention in the 2010 contest, when he gave an energetic performance as part of Moldovan entry SunStroke Project, earning his Epic Sax Guy name. Sergey was such a hit with the audience that a number of memes of his enthusiastic saxophone playing and dancing were made. The act is representing its country again this year and viewers were very happy that he was back on screen. Caitlin Moran was impressed. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Jack Whitehall also threw his support behind the act. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Other viewers were just as thrilled with Epic Sax Guy. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Moldova will be hoping to improve upon SunStroke Projects last Eurovision performance as they placed 22nd in 2010. Proms in the Park is heading west in Northern Ireland this year. For the first time the annual nationwide BBC celebration of popular classical music will come live from the National Trust's Castle Coole estate in Co Fermanagh on Saturday, September 9. The shift away from the Titanic Quarter, where the show has been staged over the last five years, was welcomed by DUP leader Arlene Foster, who is an MLA for the Fermanagh-South Tyrone area. "I have long been asking the BBC to consider bringing the event to Co Fermanagh and Castle Coole is a wonderful choice of venue," she said. "The Last Night of the Proms is a national institution and it is fantastic to see Proms in the Park coming to the west of Northern Ireland for the first time." The stars for the event - now in its 16th year - and how people can apply for the 6,000 free tickets are to be announced at a later date. But performers will as usual include the Ulster Orchestra conducted by David Brophy, who promises a programme combining classical and contemporary music - and a few surprises. Tourism Northern Ireland's chief executive John McGrillen welcomed the announcement. "Castle Coole is one of our leading tourist attractions and a magnificent venue for BBC Proms in the Park," he said. "This four-star treasure delights the many visitors who enjoy it each year and concert-goers will love the tranquil setting of the Fermanagh Lakelands." The concert will be hosted by Claire McCollum and Noel Thompson. In any other place, the latest allegations surrounding the 'dark money' - which the DUP received to support the Brexit campaign - would have provoked a media frenzy. In the lead up to the Brexit referendum, the DUP leadership were well aware of the disaster Brexit would be for our economy, our people, our public services and the Good Friday and other agreements. Yet they signed up to the Leave campaign and accepted a donation of 425,622 from a previously unheard of group, the Constitutional Research Council. The Constitutional Research Council (CRC) is an organisation with no legal status, membership list, public presence or visible signs of income. This information was dragged out of the DUP on the back of a series of refusals to answer where the money came from. They are obliged to conduct due diligence on any donation to ensure they are consistent with electoral law. The DUP has said this was done and they are aware of who funds the Constitutional Research Council, but they are refusing to disclose this information. We are again seeing the same old approach by the DUP to scandals such as the Renewable Heat Incentive, Nama and Red Sky. The approach of deny, frustrate and refuse to answer questions. The central new claim is that the man who channelled 425,622 to the party was connected to a very senior and powerful member of the Saudi royal family, who also happens to have been a former director of the Saudi intelligence agency. So the obvious question is whether Prince Nawwaf was the source of the new-found wealth for both the CRC and the DUP. It is a pertinent question because to receive money from a foreign government is illegal. To receive money from an unknown donor is illegal. These allegations cannot go unanswered by the DUP. Sinn Fein's patience was exhausted by the DUP's actions, and that is why Martin McGuinness called time on the party's involvement in the institutions until such times as public confidence and trust can be restored. But in order to restore confidence, Arlene Foster needs to deal with these issues. She needs to answer the questions around the Brexit dark money and all the other scandals that have blighted her party. She needs to demonstrate that the DUP is capable of behaving with integrity in government and treating people with equality and respect. However, it seems that Arlene Foster would rather talk about anything but. She has this week expressed her "concerns" about the rise in the number of people from nationalist areas who are quite legitimately and lawfully applying for postal and proxy votes. No mention of the 60,000 people who were unfairly and undemocratically removed from the electoral register or the thousands who were turned away from the polls at the Assembly election. And certainly no mention of the Brexit dark money. Whatever the full facts of the Saudi connection, it's clear that the dark money affair has cast yet another shadow over the DUP. But it may also cast new light on why they supported Brexit in the first place. Brexit will be a disaster for the north of Ireland. For our economy, for our agri-food industry and for communities and commerce on both sides of the border. Arlene Foster knew this. Her party knew this. So why on earth would they campaign for it? In total, her party received 425,622 from the CRC in support of the Brexit cause. The DUP got the money. The rest of us pay the price. Although runoff is in full throttle, that is not a reason to put away your rod and reel for the next month. There are plenty of fishing opportunities to explore. Ackley Lake continues to offer a solid bite for trout anglers, and ponds in the area are beginning to produce fish. Fly casters can try something different and hit lakes, like Hebgen, where Blue Ribbon Flies reports, on warm, calm days, fish will be rising to midges. On any day, you'll be able to catch healthy, feisty lake fish on chironomids and leeches. Although not as important to remember as it once was for anglers in the Central and Eastern fishing districts, Montanas general fishing season opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 30 for rivers and streams. This is good to note for Western District rivers and streams, unless otherwise specified in exceptions to the standard Montana Fishing Regulations. It also applies to some rivers and streams in the Central District. Lakes and reservoirs are open statewide all year. Heres this weeks Gazette Fishing Report: Top picks Ackley Lake Action remains solid in 10 to 12 feet of water with spinners or night crawlers on slip bobbers. Ponds in the area are starting to produce with small spinners or crawlers on a bobber. Dons, Lewistown. Fort Peck Reservoir, Crooked Creek From shore the bite is best with worms for all species. From boats walleye are biting, along with pike. Bottom bouncers, worm harnesses and a worm work best from boats. Green is a hot color. Crooked Creek Marina. Hebgen Lake Fishing is quite stellar for boat and shore anglers. The ice has been off the lake since May 11. Streamers that look like a midge with brown trout coloring will work. In the shallows, crayfish imitations will work. Between Kirkwood and the dam has been very good, and in the narrows and Madison Arm has been producing browns and rainbows. Kirkwood Marina. Nelson Reservoir Fishing continues to be good for walleye. Jigging minnows or pulling worm harnesses seems to work best. Bass and northerns are being caught in shallows near shorelines. Westside Sports, Malta. Tongue River Reservoir Walleye fishing has picked up a little with the reservoir leveling out with full water. Present jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water tipped with minnows, leeches, or worms. Northern fishing seems to be doing well presenting a good old Dardevle spoon or a Five of Diamonds. The crappie bite has been terrific using minnows, leeches or worms. The bass bite has been solid using live bait or plastics. The fish cleaning station is up and running. Tongue River Marina. Montana Beaverhead River Anglers are looking forward to the Clark Canyon Dam to Pipe Organ Bridge section opening Saturday. Frontier Anglers, Dillon. Big Hole River Expect it to be running ugly for a bit as the river needs to calm down to below 5,000 cfs to start seeing real improvements in clarity. The best bet to find better clarity would be to fish above Wise River. That's not to say the river won't fish; trout are just more difficult to find. The trout being caught are really nice fish. Worms, leeches, rubber legs, white streamers are good presentations. Frontier Anglers, Dillon. Bighorn River The flows have been stable this week and are currently at 13,005 cfs. The water temp has risen a bit to 50.7 degrees. Water clarity is still excellent above Soap Creek at 6-8 feet. Soap Creek is quite muddy but with the current flows it is having minimal effect. Some anglers are now going from Bighorn to Mallards. Still no top-water activity but nymphing has been good and streamer fishing is excellent. Any crustacean pattern, such as Firebead Soft Hackle Ray Charles (12-16) or Firebead Soft Hackle Sowbug, in either pink or tan, are working. Trail these behind a Wire San Juan Worm (8-10) in either red or orange. Streamer fishing has been phenomenal as emerald shiner minnows are still being washed over the spillway into the river. White Zonkers with pearl or silver bodies and either white or ghost Cousin It's are the top patterns. Visit our website at www.bighornfly.com for recent video footage of water conditions. Bighorn Fly and Tackle Shop, Fort Smith. Bighorn Lake, Ok-A-Beh At Horseshoe Bend, boaters cannot launch because of low water levels. Boaters can launch at Barrys, but it is super low. At Ok-A-Beh, a few bass are being caught on jigs and worms, or crankbaits. Pryor Creek Bait Co., Laurel. Boulder River The river remains in full blown runoff stage. The upper reaches may be clear enough to fish with a fly, although be careful as wading can be dangerous. If a fly angler can't stay away during runoff, try dead drifting a black Woolly Bugger or nymphing with a large stonefly nymph or San Juan Worm. During runoff the higher upstream an angler travels, the less water and the clearer the water will be. East Rosebud Fly Shop, Billings. Canyon Ferry Reservoir The rainbow trout spawn is nearly over, but fish continue to be caught throughout the reservoir. Shoreline anglers are having success at Shannon, Kims Marina, and on the south end using worms and/or marshmallows or various nymph flies. Boat anglers are catching a few trout trolling attractors at shallow depths. Walleye are being caught throughout the south end of the reservoir trolling crankbaits or worm harnesses in less than 10 feet of water. A few yellow perch are being caught while trolling for walleye. FWP, Helena. Cooney Reservoir Walleye fishing has slowed down some with crawlers and leeches working equally well, as is trolling with Rapalas in about 8 to 10 feet of water. Fishermans Point and at the dam seem to be about equal. Trout action has been OK trolling cowbells tipped with a crawler in about 6 to 8 feet of water. Boyd Store and Trading Post. Deadmans Basin Fishing is slow. Cozy Corner Bar, Lavina. Fort Peck Reservoir, Big Dry Arm Fishing was a little slow due to the wind. The water temp is between 53 and 54 degrees. Anglers have been taking pike and walleye. Smallmouth and lake trout fishing is slow. Worm harnesses or jigs, tipped with minnows, are the best for walleye. The walleye being caught are in 8 to 10 feet of water. Rock Creek Marina. Fort Peck Reservoir, dam area Fishing was a mixed bag over the weekend. The weather and the wind kept some fishermen off the lake. There were lake trout being caught in 15 to 40 feet of water, lots of northerns and some smallmouth bass off the face of the dam. A few walleye were also caught in 8 to 25 feet of water. Some are using crawlers and Cha Chas/Smile Blades or spinners, while others are pitching jigs or vertical jigging with minnows for walleye. For northerns off the bank, soak a smelt. Lakeridge Motel and Tackle. Fort Peck Reservoir, Fourchette Bay Walleye and large northerns are being caught in 18 to 26 feet of water. Jigs, worm harnesses, and cranks all seem to be producing. Westside Sports, Malta. Fort Peck Reservoir, Hell Creek Fishing is good for northern from boats and the bank in the Hell Creek area in 5 to 8 feet of water. A jig and a minnow, or a hook and a minnow with a bobber, or pitching cranks to shore will work. Walleye fishing is still slow. Those catching them are going to the Timber Creek section. The smallmouth bass are still pretty deep. Lake trout fishing is slow. Hell Creek Marina. Gallatin River Its still done and its going to be a while before this piece is ready to fish again. Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman. Hauser Reservoir Rainbow fishing is slow with a few being caught from shore at York Bridge and Riverside while using jigs tipped with a worm or marshmallows. Boat anglers are finding a few rainbows while trolling cowbells around Black Sandy and in the Causeway. Lake Helena walleye fishing has slowed down with a few being caught while using crankbaits. A number of perch have been caught in Lake Helena, but as a reminder only one over 14 inches can be kept. FWP, Helena. Holter Reservoir Rainbows are being caught from shore at Log Gulch and Departure Point while using worms or PowerBait. Boat anglers are finding rainbows while trolling crankbaits or cowbells along the shorelines. Perch action is good around the docks, Oxbow Bend and by the clay banks while using a jig and worm in 10 to 15 feet of water. Walleye action is slow with a few being caught with the schools of perch. FWP, Helena. Madison River, Lower The river is flowing at 3,420 cfs and dropping. Things might be coming back into shape. Bigger flies will be the ticket. Focus on the sides of the river and any slower spots you can find. Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman. Madison River, Upper The river is dirty now from West Fork to the lake. Try above Lyon's Bridge. With the high flows, the fish have been moved to the sides of the river. Scope the less looked at areas before you charge on in. A classic Bugger all the way up to a Double Dirty Hippy would be a good look. White seems to be a productive color. Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman. Martinsdale Reservoir Here and at Lake Sutherlin, Bair and Newlan Reservoirs, the bite has been slow. Cozy Corner Bar, Lavina. Missouri River, below Holter The flow was 8,720 cfs on Monday. Water temps are 50.72 degrees. Fishing generally slows down as the river rises. Get your presentation down deep. Use Zebra Midges, San Juan Worms, MO-ssassins, Green Machines and olive mayflies. Montana Fly Goods, Helena. Missouri River, Fred Robinson Bridge It is running at average rates with good fishing for catfish using crawlers and paddlefishing is picking up. Dons, Lewistown. Rock Creek It remains in runoff mode with a majority of it blown out due to snowmelt, making fishing with a fly and navigating on foot extremely difficult. The West Fork, Main Fork and Lake Fork are fast but clear. During this time of year, trout tend to collect in pools and other areas of the stream where they can get out of the high flows. Should an angler find these types of holding water, nymph patterns like a San Juan Worm, Copper John in red or a beadhead Prince Nymph can work. East Rosebud Fly Shop. Stillwater River The river rebounded a bit and is fishable, particularly in the upper stretches. Depending on how much and hard it rains this week, with cooler temperatures it might hold on through the weekend. There are still a few caddis coming off. Try dark Buggers, San Juan Worms and rubber leg nymphs like Knotty Girls, Girdle Bugs and Yuk Bugs. Stillwater Anglers, Columbus. Spring Creek Rain this week will create some cloudy water. Beadhead nymphs is where the action is. We are seeing some hatches when the sun comes out. Dons, Lewistown. Yellowstone River, Columbus Blown out. The river is unfishable. As it continues to climb and the runoff gets big, its best and safest to just stay away from it. There may be a side channel here and there thats doable with dark Buggers, but otherwise look for an alternative like tailwaters and lakes. Stillwater Anglers, Columbus. Yellowstone River, Huntley Even with high water, the catfish bite has been pretty good. Slow-moving holes to current breaks such as downed trees and rocks seem to be holding fish. They are tight against the bank, or for boat anglers anywhere from bank to mid channel. Cut bait seems to do the trick, fresh or frozen. River levels tend to fluctuate dramatically, so anglers should be careful and be aware of all the debris coming down. Boaters should expect to suck a ton of debris into their jet. TeamMinnowBucket.com. Yellowstone River, Livingston The river is blown out. Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman. Yellowstone River, Miles City It is really high. Fishing pressure is light due to runoff. Paddlefish season started on the lower river May 15. Red Rock Sporting Goods, Miles City. Wyoming Bighorn River, Thermopolis Its fishing well, but is running fast. Most action is on nymphs due to the speed of the water. Try sowbugs and worms. Hit the banks. North Fork Anglers, Cody. Buffalo Bill Reservoir It is starting to change color due to runoff. Fishing is good with flashers or crawler harnesses. Flashy lures are working, too. Lake trout, rainbows, browns and the occasional walleye are being caught. By law, all walleye caught must be kept. North Fork Anglers, Cody. Clarks Fork It blown out. North Fork Anglers, Cody. Cody-area lakes East Newton Lake, West Newton Lake, Luce Reservoir and Hogan Reservoir are fishing well. Midges and Callibaetis will work. If it warms up the damsel flies will come. Nymphs are active. North Fork Anglers, Cody. Lake DeSmet Boat anglers are catching a few trout on Nitro Worms. The Buffalo Lions Club Fishing Derby is May 27-29. There is more than $50,000 in prizes and cash awards up for grabs via tagged fish and a raffle drawing. Raffle tickets can be purchased at various stores in Buffalo, Gillette and Sheridan. The Lake Stop, Buffalo. Lower Shoshone It is floatable. It is very fast and a little bit off-color. The Mothers Day Caddis hatch is occurring. The fish are on the edges and not looking for dry flies until midday. The best action is nymphing and hitting the banks with streamers. North Fork Anglers, Cody. North Fork of the Shoshone It is in runoff stage. North Fork Anglers, Cody. The SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell has said comments from Alliance candidate Paula Bradshaw which suggest nationalists are incapable of fairly representing constituents are "an outrageous slur and should be withdrawn". Ms Bradshaw said the nationalist SDLP "by its very definition, cannot therefore provide fair representation to everyone." The Alliance candidate for South Belfast said: "Colum Eastwood claimed his party represents everyone but in the same breath admitted the SDLP is a nationalist party. By its very definition, it cannot therefore provide fair representation to everyone. "In South Belfast for example, which is the most open and diverse constituency in Northern Ireland, people should have representatives who can stand up for everyone, not just one section of the community. "This just smacks of desperation and gives into the politics of fear. What about everyone who doesn't identify as unionist or nationalist? We have had enough of sectarian headcounts. Alliance is the only party able to challenge both unionism and nationalism in South Belfast and beyond, as evidenced at the most recent Assembly election." The SDLP's South Belfast Westminster candidate said he was shocked by the comments and that "there is nothing sectarian about believing in a United Ireland." Dr McDonnell said: "As a doctor and over the course of my political career I have helped thousands of people in South Belfast. Not once in that time have I asked them to declare their political or religious background. It is my core belief that if anyone comes to you in need, you do anything you can to help them. Expand Close Comment: Paula Bradshaw Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Comment: Paula Bradshaw "I was shocked and deeply disappointed to see Paula Bradshaw suggest that my colleagues and I are unable to fairly represent people because were nationalists. "There is nothing sectarian about believing in a United Ireland or a United Kingdom. It is an insult and a slur on communities not just in south Belfast but across Northern Ireland to make such a suggestion. "I have worked my entire life to reconcile the traditions on this island. I reject entirely the suggestion that I have been unfair in my representation of people. Paula Bradshaw should withdraw her remarks immediately and apologise to those she has attacked." Sinn Fein's North Belfast general election candidate John Finucane has stopped short of condemning the IRA at a campaign event. Mr Finucane, whose solicitor father Pat was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in February 1989, is going head to head with DUP candidate Nigel Dodds in the race for Westminster. Sinn Fein is hoping that Mr Finucane's candidacy will end decades of unionist domination in the constituency. Yesterday, ahead of a Sinn Fein 'Meet your candidate' public event at the Lansdowne Hotel, the Belfast Telegraph asked Mr Finucane directly if he condemned the IRA. While Mr Finucane acknowledged that "a lot of people in this society have been caused hurt", he did not outrightly condemn the terrorist group. He stated: "I think my unique personal and professional background would show that really a lot of people in this society have been caused hurt. I think everybody in this society is entitled to truth, is entitled to justice. "I understand the context in which every group, every area of society which inflicted pain upon another area of society, I understand that context. "And I want to do everything in my power as the MP for North Belfast to make sure that we never return to those times again." When Mr Finucane was asked if he believed that the IRA's campaign of violence was justified, he replied: "Well, that's not what I'm here tonight to talk about. I'm here tonight really to talk about a very progressive, forward-thinking message. My campaign and my platform, which I have been bringing to the doors of North Belfast, is one which is primarily about Brexit. We have a candidate here who is very much pro-Brexit (Mr Dodds). I couldn't be any more of a polar opposite in respect of that. "And it's also about dealing with issues including equality. Equality touching into areas of legacy, and on other areas such as language, such as gender, such as LGBT rights." Mr Finucane was also asked if he condemned the Shankill bombing, which killed nine people in north Belfast in 1993. "I condemn all acts of violence, and as I said from somebody who has lived in North Belfast all his life, who has been affected by the Troubles in a very public manner which people will know all about, I wouldn't want any other person in this society, in my constituency or beyond to go through certainly what I went through or any other family went through," he stated. Also present at the event were Emmett and Grainne Guinness, children of late Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. Emmett McGuinness said his father would have approved of Mr Finucane's candidacy, and added that he was "very proud to have come up here to support a fabulous candidate". Prisons in Northern Ireland need to recruit 175 officers to keep them safe - but can't because of the current stalemate at Stormont, the chair of a body representing local officers has said. Adrian Smith from the Prison Officers' Association (POA) in Northern Ireland made the comments after a 38-year-old remand prisoner died at Maghaberry early yesterday morning. Further details of the man's name or how he died have yet to emerge but his next of kin have been informed. In line with standard procedure, the PSNI, Coroner and Prisoner Ombudsman have launched investigations into the death. Six prisoners died in the maximum security prison in 2016, with three in November alone. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Smith said he was still waiting for more information about the recent death, but said health and safety in the Northern Ireland prison system had not improved since the crisis last year. "I would just like to extend my sympathy and of course that of the wider POA membership to this man's family circle, it's a difficult time for them. It's a tragedy that's becoming all too common in our prisons," he said. He said understaffing was still the largest concern at Maghaberry and Hydebank Wood College. "With there being no Stormont Executive in place, the recruitment they're talking about is just being put back and back as there's nobody there to make a decision to let the prison service recruit more staff." Mr Smith said the current situation meant he could not rule out more prisoner deaths. "I haven't been in Maghaberry for a few months, but I do know the staffing levels are bound to have an impact on the regime the prison is going to run. Whether that has anything to do with the sad death of this man, I don't know." He continued: "The mood among staff at the moment is still very low. They were looking at industrial action last year over conditions of their health and safety because they are so short-staffed and it's not getting any better. "As of the end of March this year, the prison staff in Northern Ireland were 175 staff short which doesn't help matters." Speaking yesterday the head of the Prison Service, Ronnie Armour, said: "I would like to extend my sympathy and that of the Northern Ireland Prison Service to the family of the man who has died in Maghaberry this morning. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time." Green Party MLA Clare Bailey, who was a member of the Justice Committee, passed on her condolences to the family. "There are too many deaths in our prison system. Six people lost their lives while in prison in 2016," she said. "While the details surrounding the death of this man are just emerging, it is very clear that our prison service is under great pressure. "This is having a significant impact on prisoners and prison office staff. "Again, it brings home the reality that the DUP and Sinn Fein are failing the people of Northern Ireland." She added: "We need an Executive and Assembly in place to deal with the difficult but crucial issues like the much needed reform of our Prison Service." Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said: "I'll repeat what I've been saying all of last year - the Prison Service is under incredible pressure - they do not have the resources or man power. "As I said before, we're going to see more deaths and tragically here we have another one. "We still need to wait and see what the outcome is and how it occurred, and my condolences go to the family." The number of victims of paramilitary shootings has doubled over the last year, new police figures show. The annual crime statistics published by the PSNI yesterday showed a huge increase in security-related deaths and casualties from paramilitary attacks. In total there were 61 shooting incidents in 2016/17 compared to 36 the previous year. These resulted in 28 casualties - twice as many as the previous year. Republican paramilitaries were blamed for 25 of these, with loyalists deemed responsible for the remaining three. Five security-related deaths occurred in 2016/17 - the highest number since 2008/9. The number of casualties from paramilitary beatings in 2016/17 also rose - to 66, compared to 58 the previous year. In contrast to shooting incidents, loyalists were blamed for the majority of the assaults, with 56 attributed to them and 10 to republicans. Bombing incidents decreased slightly, with 23 reported, following 29 the previous year. In all 137 people were arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act, 12 fewer than the 2015/16 figure of 149. Those charged following these arrests totalled 19 in 2016/17, one more than in 2015/16. Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris said: "I acknowledge the increase in the number of victims as a result of paramilitary style attacks and would reassure local communities that we are continuing to focus on these crimes. "The PSNI is working hard to bring those responsible for these types of crimes before the courts, however we also need the support from the public in providing us with the information we need to bring the perpetrators to justice." Liam Kennedy, a human rights activist and history professor at Queen's University, founded the Children of the Troubles group to protest against punishment attacks on children. "The huge rise in paramilitary shootings is overwhelmingly due to dissident republicans," he said. "Some of these victims are children, and it beggars belief that these armed bully boys should think that pumping bullets into helpless individuals is a way to solve social problems. "This is green-on-green human rights abuses and, in the case of children, child abuse of an extreme kind." Professor Kennedy said he had heard the shootings were in fact a way of 'blooding' new recruits for dissident republicanism. "This is one of the huge legacy issues from the Troubles people fail to realise," he added. "The IRA and loyalist paramilitaries pioneered the shooting and beating of those in their own communities who crossed them in any way. "The dissidents continue that same perverted republican tradition." With most attacks taking place in Belfast, Professor Kennedy called on the city council to appoint two human rights champions to raise awareness of the traumatic consequences within republican and loyalist communities. He added: "If we can pay for traffic wardens, surely it makes sense to invest in trying to end this far more serious blight on working-class communities in this great city." Children's Commissioner Koulla Yiasouma hit out at what she called "child abuse by armed men" on young people in the lower Falls area. "Northern Ireland's past cannot be used as an excuse to normalise such assaults," she said. "The reality of life for these young people is often that of fear, poverty, intimidation, substance abuse or addiction, mental ill health and a lack of confidence in their police and other statutory services." Ms Yiasouma urged public authorities to develop a long-term action plan with local communities, supported and sustained by the Government. A DUP Westminster candidate has come under fire after one of his election leaflets falsely claimed he had visited British soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. The DUP blamed a "printing error" for a claim on a leaflet that former Upper Bann MP David Simpson "has visited British troops on the front line in Afghanistan". While Mr Simpson had planned a visit to Afghanistan with Ulster Unionist peer Lord Maginnis in 2010, the MoD stopped the two political heavyweights from going - because neither could fit in a flak jacket. The claim in the leaflet has been strongly criticised by rival Upper Bann candidate, Doug Beattie - who received a Military Cross for his heroism in the war-torn country. Asked to comment on the claim, Ulster Unionist Mr Beattie said Mr Simpson should apologise to voters. He said: "I am extremely disappointed, given that in 2010 and 2011, I was standing and fighting in Afghanistan." Mr Beattie said that "without doubt" the leaflet "is misleading the electorate". He called on Mr Simpson to "put the record straight and apologise to those brave men and women who did serve in Afghanistan, and move on". Mr Beattie praised former DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, a former soldier too, who visited his Royal Irish unit in Afghanistan. "He knows how important it is to stand face-to-face with the soldiers and listen to their issues and grievances," he added. A DUP spokesman said the claim was due to a "printing error" and Mr Simpson had "witnessed the bravery of our soldiers in Iraq", rather than Afghanistan. In November 2010, Mr Simpson and Lord Maginnis were told a scheduled trip to Helmand had to be postponed because they could not fit into the mandatory body armour. The armour kits go up to a 49in chest and are issued to visiting guests such as VIPs and politicians during visits. They had been set to fly out to meet soldiers in the Royal Irish Regiment on a morale-boosting visit. At the time, a DUP spokesman said Mr Simpson had been on MoD trips to Afghanistan "on a number of occasions before" and the situation had arisen because of "security issues". "David has been to Afghanistan on a number of occasions and fitted with his body armour several times there is no issue with size," the spokesman said. "The issue was purely to do with security on David's behalf." But in a statement at the time, the Ministry of Defence said: "Nobody is allowed to board an aircraft to Afghanistan without correctly fitting body armour. "The MoD provides a wide range of sizes but regrettably none was suitable on this occasion. "We recognise the importance of politicians visiting Afghanistan but this trip has been postponed while we try to source sufficiently sized body armour." Lord Maginnis flew out to meet the troops a few months later. However, he was accompanied on that occasion by then DUP MP Jim Shannon. The emergency services at the scene of the crash. Four people were injured with one having to be cut from a car after a wrecking spree by a so-called death driver in Belfast. Police said two men in a silver Nissan Micra car caused substantial damage after crashing into a red Renault Clio on the Bell Steel Road late on Wednesday night in west Belfast. The Micra fled the scene and was discovered burnt out on Pembrook Loop Road. Police and the Fire Service attended the scene with firefighters having to use cutting equipment to free the injured person. Police are appealing for information. "Thank you for working with us to get these thoughtless death drivers off our roads and bring them before the courts," said west Belfast police. Belfast's success at attracting cruise lines has suffered a setback with Fred Olsen Lines decision this week to withdraw Belfast from its list of departure ports. A spokesperson for Fred Olsen has confirmed that they would no longer begin cruises from Belfast for the 2018/19 cruise season. The company said there was a lack of demand for a Belfast departure. Commenting on the news, Belfast City Councillor Sonia Copeland told the Belfast Telegraph: "It is very disappointing to learn that Belfast will no longer be a departure point for Fred Olsen cruises. "It is really sad for Belfast that they've had to make this decision, that they're not getting enough business to continue with this. "It's reassuring, however, that the company will continue to bring cruise passengers here on day calls. Hopefully, they will pick up the departure option again at a later stage." Fred Olsen has offered cruise itineraries departing from Belfast since 2013. However, according to a company spokesperson " a lack of customer demand" means that they "can no longer sustain a dedicated cruise departure programme from the port." The move follows a review of how well each of Fred Olsen's 10 current UK departure points are operating. From next year, that number will be halved. Potential passengers are encouraged to consider alternative ports such as Liverpool, and the company "will look at partial turnarounds when the itineraries are being put together," the spokesperson continued. The disappointing news comes as Belfast is enjoying its busiest cruise ship season ever. Three liners, including Fred Olsen's Boudicca, are calling to the city this week alone. A spokesperson for Belfast Harbour, which works with Visit Belfast in the Cruise Belfast Partnership to bring the ships here, said: "We were delighted to have Fred Olsen starting cruises from Belfast and are, of course, disappointed, to learn that this will cease from next year. Expand Close Cruise from Belfast to Scadinavia - September 2013 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cruise from Belfast to Scadinavia - September 2013 "Nevertheless, we will be very happy to welcome the four Fred Olsen cruise liners that are due to call here this summer and ships visiting for day calls next year. "We hope that the company will reverse its decision regarding departure calls in the future. Belfast continues to enjoy tremendous success in attracting cruise liners, with the number growing from just two, 10 years ago to nearly 90 this year." Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory is stepping down after five years Northern Ireland's top prosecutor has warned his successor will face continued difficulties because of political deadlock on Troubles-era cases. Barra McGrory said controversy over legacy issues had become "the story" of his five-year term as Director of Public Prosecutions. Confirming he was standing down from the role, Mr McGrory said the past had been an "unanticipated aspect" of the job. Read More He also criticised the ongoing failure to resolve the issue, saying: "I wish the political architects of the peace process had dealt with legacy." Mr McGrory was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2011, becoming the first Catholic to hold the role. However, in recent times he has faced criticism over the prosecution of former soldiers for Troubles-era killings. Unionists called for his resignation after prosecutors reinstated attempted murder charges against ex-soldier Dennis Hutchings (75) over the 1974 shooting of John-Pat Cunningham. A judge previously said there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the charge against Hutchings. Announcing his intention to step down in September, Mr McGrory said it was "absolutely not because of legacy". However, sources close to Mr McGrory said he felt dealing with legacy issues had become "a nightmare", and cited "personal abuse" he has received. Mr McGrory said the absence of political agreement meant the issue would continue to cause problems. "Legacy is going to be very difficult for any prosecutor ... that is the reality - it's going to be difficult," he said. "The reality is that the conflict would be relived in some senses and, in terms of the prosecution service's place, it will have to deal with that. "All decisions will be viewed, it seems, through the prism of the different communities' view of what happened. "That makes it difficult for the prosecutor to function in a calm and reasoned environment. "That doesn't make the job any easier - that has been my experience and I don't think any other prosecutor is going to find it easier." He said it was unfortunate that legacy controversy had come to define his term in office. "One of my regrets is that legacy has become the story of my tenure here, rather than what I feel ought to be the real story," he added. "If I have a regret that is it - but it's not of my making. "People need to understand that these issues arise and have to be addressed. "That was an unanticipated aspect of the job when I commenced, but it became apparent very quickly that it would be an issue." Mr McGrory said he always intended to step down around this time to go back to practising at the Bar, adding: "I had a five or six-year plan when I agreed to take on the role. "My heart lies in the representative role - within criminal justice - and I hope to return to that. I left that, but always with a view that I would be returning to it, because I thought this was an important job and I was honoured to be given the opportunity to do it." Ulster Unionist election candidate Danny Kinahan welcomed Mr McGrory's departure. "Barra McGrory's decision to step down from his role as the Director of Public Prosecutions will be welcomed by many people who have watched with dismay at certain decisions under his stewardship," he said. But SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "The attacks of right-wing apologist DUP and Tory MPs on the work of the PPS during his tenure have plumbed new depths of hypocrisy. "Their approach seems to suggest that the law should apply to everyone apart from former British soldiers. "We have to deal with the legacy of the past in a comprehensive way. There can be no hiding place for those in paramilitary or state forces who are seeking to resist truth and accountability." Former Justice Minister David Ford said Mr McGrory had always "acted fairly and properly". Former UTV broadcaster Lynda Bryans is keeping tight-lipped about a photo of her husband sprawled across a hotel lobby's carpet - saying she is 'not permitted' to talk about it. Former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said the photo was "only a bit of fun". The picture showed Mr Nesbitt lying face down in the lobby of the Stormont Hotel with Marie Hyland, a woman in her 70s from west Belfast, standing over him. Read More Ms Hyland said it was a joke that had been blown out of proportion. While the picture has been doing the rounds since it was first published last week, Mr Nesbitt's wife, media expert Ms Bryans, has remained silent. When contacted yesterday, Ms Bryans (55) declined to comment about the photo of her husband, with whom she has two children. "I'm sorry I can't say anything. I'm not permitted," she said. The three candidates for Montana's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives offered varying degrees of support for investigations into President Donald Trump's conduct regarding ex-FBI director James Comey. The three weighed in Wednesday afternoon after news broke that the Justice Department had appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. "Rob (Quist) was glad to see former FBI director Mueller appointed today and has long called for an independent investigation into Russia interfering in our presidential election, unlike Greg Gianforte, who refuses to do so," said Tina Olechowski, communications director for the Quist campaign. Greg Gianforte's campaign stopped short of supporting an independent investigation. Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the Gianforte campaign, pointed out that between committees in the Senate and the House, and the probe being conducting by the FBI, there are five investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties with Russia. "We absolutely do need to get to the bottom of this," he said. Mark Wicks, the libertarian candidate, applauded the Trump administration for appointing Mueller. "President Trump has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate any involvement between his administration and the Russians," Wicks said. "I think he has done the right thing, and I hope the truth comes out one way or another." (The appointment of the special counsel was made by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, not President Trump.) Adding to the calls for a special investigation were revelations Tuesday that Comey, whom Trump fired last week, wrote in a memo that Trump had asked him to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Gianforte, as the Republican in this special House election, has gotten a few assists to his campaign from the White House. Once in late April and again in early May Donald Trump Jr. visited the state and campaigned with Gianforte on the stump. Last week Vice President Mike Pence held a rally in Billings. Scanlon said the help Gianforte received on the campaign trail won't prevent him from carrying out his constitutional responsibilities as a congressman if he's elected. "It's the duty of Congress to hold the executive responsible," Scanlon said. "Greg's his own man. He's running to be a voice for Montana." Olechowski said only Quist, the Democratic candidate, can act as a true check to the Trump administration. "Rob will be an independent check on the president, working with him when he has Montanas best interests in mind and holding him accountable when he doesnt," she said. Olechoweski noted Quist's independence and dinged Gianforte for his reported financial ties to index funds with holdings in Russian firms under sanctions by the U.S. government. On Wednesday, the Huffington Post reported that Gianforte had $47,000 in stocks in a French-Swiss cement company that was accused last year of making payments to possible Islamic State militants to secure one of its cement factories in northern Syria. Scanlon dismissed the insinuation. He said the account that held the stocks was managed like a mutual fund and that Gianforte wasn't aware of the specific companies in which the fund held stocks. "Greg wasn't aware," Scanlon said. "It was brought to his attention and he sold it." Over the last few days, more chatter has come from politicians in Washington, D.C., suggesting impeachment. Wednesday morning saw comments from Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Florida, the first Republican to suggest that findings from the investigations may merit impeachment hearings. Both Quist's and Gianforte's campaign declined to comment specifically on impeachment. Wicks urged caution. "In order to support impeachment hearings I would need credible evidence that the law has been broken," he said. "It is important that I remain impartial and not take a position without seeing evidence first. There is enough partisanship in Washington without me adding to it." Murder victim Concepta 'Connie' Leonard is to be laid to rest tomorrow morning - four days after she was brutally killed by her estranged partner Peadar Phair in a shocking murder-suicide Murder victim Concepta 'Connie' Leonard is to be laid to rest tomorrow morning - four days after she was brutally killed by her estranged partner Peadar Phair in a shocking murder-suicide. The Fermanagh mother's son Conor, who is in his 30s and has Down's Syndrome, is recovering from stab wounds to the stomach which he sustained defending his mother against her attacker, who died as a result of suicide. After the attack in Maguiresbridge, Conor was admitted to the South West Acute Hospital, where his condition was described as "stable" yesterday. Connie's funeral will take place at St Mary's Church in Brookeborough, her native village, at 11am tomorrow morning. She will be buried afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. The coroner yesterday authorised the release of Phair's body. It has since emerged that Ms Leonard had been due in court the day after her murder to seek a new non-molestation order against Phair, as a previous restraining order granted to her on March 21 had been due to expire two days ago. Sonny McDermott, who knows the Leonard family well, said there had been an "outpouring of desperate grief" at her death. Mr McDermott, chairman of the local Irish music society, revealed that there will be a guard of honour from the Comhaltas County Board at the funeral of the popular music teacher. "Connie was very well known in Irish music circles, like her father Dinny, and would have taught hundreds of students in preparation for Fleadhs down the years," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "She was very talented and taught different instruments like the accordion, the fiddle, the banjo and drums. "She would have been here every week teaching classes and she had a number of groups ready for the Fermanagh Fleadh, which is coming up. "She was a big part of the community, and she will be very much missed. It's unbelievable, you couldn't explain how much of a loss it is. "She was so young, she was in her prime. She was a very nice woman. "Everybody in this part of the country and in the music world is shocked, they don't know what to say or do. There has been an outpouring of desperate grief. "There will be a guard of honour from the Comhalthas County Board at her funeral and I'm sure there will be musicians playing. Other musicians will want to celebrate her life. Expand Close Peadar Phair was involved in the apparent murder-suicide incident in Maguiresbridge. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Peadar Phair was involved in the apparent murder-suicide incident in Maguiresbridge. "She is being buried in Brookeborough, and I would expect her funeral to be packed out. It is only a small church but I would expect it to be full to capacity. I am sure there will be people left outside who won't get a seat." Sonny also expressed his sympathy for Connie's son Conor, to whom she was devoted. "Everybody feels so much for Conor," he said. "I would also like to send my condolences to the entire Leonard family." BY VICTORIA LEONARD The area has been sealed off. Police are investigating the report of a serious sexual assault on a woman in north Belfast. It happened in the Waterworks area at 8.30pm on Wednesday night. The area has been sealed off. A PSNI spokeswoman said: "Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the assault." Red Coats issued 20,502 tickets in the space of three months. They do not have a target for their work, the Department for Infrastructure has said. Government statistics have revealed where motorists are most likely to get a parking ticket - outside of Belfast. In the first three months of the year, 20,502 parking fines were issued across Northern Ireland. If not paid within 12 days of the notice issued, which halves the fine, motorists would have forked out 1.8m for their offences. Belfast was the stand out area for motorists to be fined with 8,331 issued between January and March. However, outside the city, the next location most likely place to find errant parking was in Newry with 1,919 tickets issued in the first quarter of the year. A single ticket was issued in each of the areas of Broughshane, Donaghmore, Dungiven, Dunmurry, Fivemiletown, Irvinestown and Markethill. Read More Northern Ireland parking hotspots Their verdict means the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) remains in draft form until any future government consensus is reached on its implementation. Two Stormont departments took an "impermissible" step in securing a court order which boosted attempts to secure Northern Ireland's first John Lewis store, appeal judges ruled on Thursday. They backed claims by Belfast City Council that a judicial colleague was wrongly led into rubber-stamping an amended planning blueprint removing a restriction on future expansion at Sprucefield shopping centre in Co Down. Their verdict means the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) remains in draft form until any future government consensus is reached on its implementation. The framework has been at the centre of legal dispute since it was approved by former SDLP Environment Minister Mark H Durkan in 2014. Arlene Foster, the DUP's Enterprise Minister at the time, challenged his authorisation of a plan limiting expansion at Sprucefield to bulky goods only. In March last year the High Court held that Mr Durkan acted unilaterally and unlawfully in authorising BMAP without first securing backing from Executive colleagues. Consent was later reached by newly created Departments on the way forward in the litigation. Simon Hamilton, the DUP Economy Minister before power-sharing collapsed, and Sinn Fein Minister for Infrastructure Chris Hazzard, agreed on a proposal to have BMAP adopted without the bulky goods restriction. Their lawyers were granted an order last November declaring that the rest of BMAP could be implemented. But Belfast City Council challenged the resolution reached, claiming it went beyond determining the validity of Mr Durkan's original unilateral action. The Court of Appeal heard it had been constitutionally wrong to have a judge make the order amending BMAP. Only the administration at Stormont should deal with changes to the planning policy, the Council argued. Ruling on the appeal, Lord Justice Weir pointed out that BMAP remains entirely unadopted due to the earlier judgment. Instead of providing retrospective validation, the Executive decided to vary the terms of a still draft plan. It then engaged the High Court in a process to preserve the agreed provisions as though they had been validly adopted, while also asking to have the disputed bulky goods restriction struck down, Lord Justice Weir held. He said: "We consider that this approach was impermissible and that the successors to the principal parties led (the judge) into error by pressing upon him the draft order for which they both contended." The declaration should have been limited to a finding that BMAP's adoption had been unlawful. Lord Justice Weir added: "It would be for government to decide how to proceed, should it wish to revisit the adoption of BMAP, with or without amendment." Constable Ronan Kerr was killed by a booby-trap car bomb in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on April 2 2011 (Family handout/PA) Two men arrested in connection with the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr in Northern Ireland have been released unconditionally. A man aged 27 was arrested in Omagh and a 40-year-old were taken into police custody from prison on Tuesday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer, 25, was killed by a booby-trap car bomb in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on April 2 2011. Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process calling themselves the New IRA have been blamed for the attack on the Catholic new recruit outside his home. The bomb was attached under his car and it exploded as he prepared to drive to work. Constable Kerr was dubbed a "modern-day hero" by then PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott. He was the second policeman killed after the PSNI was formed out of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 2001. He had joined the police in May 2010. Michael Noonan said he does not want to be considered for another cabinet job The battle to be the next taoiseach has come down to Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney as both camps put on a show of strength on day one of the Fine Gael leadership contest. While Mr Varadkar is expected to personally launch his bid on Saturday, Mr Coveney fired the opening salvo on the steps of his party headquarters and declared he was not going to engage in sound bites and glib put-downs. "For me, I'm in politics to be positive and constructive," he said. "I want to lead a party and a country that can heal many of the divisions that have opened up over the last decade or so." The two challengers were left to fight it out as Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Education Minister Richard Bruton ruled themselves out of the race. Mr Bruton declared his support for Mr Varadkar, as did Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and those endorsements are expected to be backed by several other cabinet members in the coming days. Others in the ministerial ranks to back the Social Protection Minister were Joe McHugh, Minister for the Diaspora and International Development, who joined Mr Varadkar in Gweedore, Co Donegal, last weekend, and Eoghan Murphy and Sean Kyne. Helen McEntee, another junior minister in Mr Varadkar's camp, said: "Look at the fresh new approach he has taken to politics, look at how he interacts with people, look at his vision for a more forward-thinking and open Ireland. This country needs a leader for the 21st century and Leo is that person". On the other side of the battleline, Health Minister Simon Harris flanked Mr Coveney as he set out his stall. "Politics and society have become very fractured and Simon wants to reunite communities and reunite this country. That is precisely what we need right now and I believe Simon Coveney will deliver on this," Mr Harris said. The Coveney camp also made a big play on his own admission that he had asked to be Minister for Housing in the midst of an unprecedented homelessness and housing crisis. He set himself a deadline of the end of June to end the practice of putting up homeless families in long-term accommodation in hotels and B&Bs. There are still about 600 families in that position. Mr Harris added: "Simon Coveney certainly doesn't shirk challenges; he confronts them." Senator James Reilly announced he was stepping down as deputy leader of Fine Gael while plumping for Mr Coveney. Junior ministers Damien English and David Stanton are also in the camp. Mr Coveney denied that he has made any promises on cabinet jobs in return for support for his leadership bid and the TDs who came out gunning for Mr Varadkar also claimed they had been given no assurances. In the midst of declarations, Michael Noonan announced he would retire from politics at the next election. The Finance Minister said he did not want to be considered for another cabinet job and would not stand again for the Dail. "I believe now is a good time for a new finance minister to take up office. Ireland is the fastest-growing economy in Europe, the budget is almost balanced and we are on the cusp of full employment," he said. "I will continue to carry out my duties as Minister for Finance until a successor is appointed." Mr Kenny's successor is due to be elected by the parliamentary party, rank-and-file members and councillors on June 2 with the new leader to be voted in as taoiseach in the Dail in subsequent days. Mr Coveney's camp later claimed to have the support of 90% of the councillors in Cork and Kerry. The Fine Gael leadership is decided by an electoral college that gives the parliamentary party, made up of TDs, senators and MEPs, 65% of the vote. The rank-and-file members of the party have 25% and councillors 10%. Thoroughbred racehorse experts have questioned why the Government's Brexit plan did not specifically mention the 1.3 billion euro industry. The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (ITBA) and the Alliance for Racing and Breeding said negotiators should look at solving issues around border crossings by using enhanced chip technology and dedicated horse lanes at key ports. But they warned that the long-standing tradition of racehorses being moved freely from Ireland to Britain and France under a special treaty is at risk from Brexit. Elizabeth Headon, of the Alliance for Racing and Breeding, said there were welfare concerns about valuable horses being forced to remain in horse boxes for prolonged periods at border checkpoints. "While it may be quite hidden now, if we got into a position where there are fewer runners at Cheltenham it would be very visible, very public, very quickly and everybody would say what's going on, where are these horses," she said. "It was a little disappointing that in the Government plan for Brexit our sector was not specifically named." The Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom was told there are about 200 horses moving between Britain and Ireland every week and about 17,000 work in the thoroughbred industry. At the Cheltenham Festival in March there were a record 19 Irish-trained winners and at Royal Ascot last year, one in three races was won by Irish-trained horses. Ms Headon, who is on the board of Horse Racing Ireland, said: "British racing is not a replacable market for the Irish thoroughbred industry. "Unlike many other sectors, we simply cannot turn to develop large racing industries in other EU countries such as Denmark, Portugal or Germany, or adapt our product to suit new markets." The committee was also told the industry believes t here is a lot of interest and support for it, and that their ideas to solve issues around Brexit, the border and the transport of racehorses and bloodstock would not be resisted. Ms Headon said there are big concerns that owners who currently use Ireland as a base for their animals would instead opt for Newmarket. "There would be huge consequences for rural employment for us," she said. On the free movement of thoroughbred horses between Ireland, Britain and France, Shane O'Dwyer, ITBA chief executive, said there is a risk that under European rules Ireland and France would not be allowed to have a treaty with Britain to allow for open borders for the equine industry. "It is vital that this agreement is retained," he told the committee. Elsewhere, the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) told the committee that the UK Government should make a clear statement on the future for migrant workers after Brexit. The organisation said food processors and the wider agri-business sector would not be able to find people born and raised in Northern Ireland to fill the jobs currently being done by people from overseas. Barclay Bell, UFU president, said: "Could they employ local staff - the answer is no. "We feel this is one (issue) that we need a clear statement from the UK Government on where they are going with this one." Veterans in the Intermountain Equestrian Center's equine therapy program will now be able to get a ride to their rides, thanks to Career Center students. Students in the Skills USA class donated a minivan to the program that helps veterans readjust to everyday life through equine therapy. The van was donated to the school, and students replaced the brakes and suspension, gave the engine a full tuneup and did other work. "I couldn't tell you how many hours the kids put into it," said automotive teacher Joshua George. Students were greeted by Paul Gatzemeier, board chair for the center; equine therapy counselor Anvia Hampton; and Dot, a horse with an affinity for belly scratches. "We're looking for money all the time," Gatzemeier said. "Part of that is the transportation piece." Many veterans in the program don't have driver's licenses or vehicles, he said. "We get some veterans that worked on ranches as kids, and some that have never worked with a horse in their life," said Hampton. "We want to make it so anyone can ride a horse if they want to." Horses like Dot are selected for their even temperaments and curious dispositions. "They've got good hearts, they've got good heads," Hampton said. Often a rider has a preference for a horse based on personality, and vice versa, she said. That can help build a connection between horse and rider. The program is looking to expand, both in the number of veterans accommodated and in services offered, Gatzemeier said. Talks on a proposed US ban on laptops and tablets in flights from Europe ended with no ban - and a promise of more talks and better intelligence sharing. For days now, European Union officials have been hoping for details on the threat that prompted the proposed ban - the same details that US President Donald Trump discussed with Russian diplomats at the White House last week. The airline industry came out against the proposal in a strongly worded letter that said it would cause a severe downturn in trans-Atlantic air travel and cost travellers more than a billion dollars in lost time. On Wednesday, in a secure room in Brussels, officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and the European Union swapped information about threats involving air travel. An official who followed the talks said the ban was "off the table" for now. They also shared details about their aviation security standards and detection capabilities, and agreed to meet again in Washington next week "to further assess shared risks and solutions for protecting airline passengers, whilst ensuring the smooth functioning of global air travel", according to a joint statement. The White House has defended Mr Trump's decision to share classified information involving an Islamic State group terror threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft with the Russian foreign minister and Russian ambassador. The proposed electronics ban would create logistical chaos on the world's busiest air travel corridor - as many as 65 million people a year travel between Europe and North America on nearly 400 daily flights, many of them business travellers who rely on the devices to work during flight. Such a ban would dwarf in size the current one, which was put in place in March and affects about 50 flights a day from 10 cities, mostly in the Middle East. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 265 airlines, wrote to both the EU and the US State Department on Tuesday to oppose the proposed ban, which it said would deeply affect the economy and cause the equivalent of 1.1 billion dollars (848 million) in lost time to passengers. There is also the question of the relative safety of keeping a large number of electronics with lithium batteries, which have been known to catch fire, in the cargo area. IATA proposed more in-depth pre-flight screening rather than forcing passengers to give up their electronics. On Wednesday, it welcomed more discussions on how to improve security while minimising travel inconveniences. Nonetheless, airlines have said it is merely a matter of time before the ban is put in place. The prospect has alarmed EU officials, who want to know more about any new threats and the disruption such a move would create. Experts say a bomb in the cabin would be easier to make and require less explosive force than one in the cargo hold. In addition, baggage in cargo usually goes through a more sophisticated screening process than carry-on bags. The original ban on mostly Middle Eastern flights, which Britain also partially adopted and is being considered by Australia, focused on certain countries because their equipment to screen carry-on bags is not as effective as machines in the US, analysts say. Officials from Homeland Security met last week with high-ranking executives of the three leading US. airlines - American, Delta and United - and the industry's leading US trade group to discuss expanding the laptop policy to flights arriving from Europe. The initial ban has hit Middle Eastern airlines hardest. Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, this month cited the ban as one of the reasons for an 80% drop in profits last year. It said the ban had a direct impact on demand for air travel into the US and it faced rising costs from introducing complimentary laptop loans to some passengers. AP Chelsea Manning, the US soldier who was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison for giving classified materials to WikiLeaks, says she is excited about what lies ahead after her release. "I'm figuring things out right now - which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me," Pvt Manning said in an emailed statement. She tweeted a picture of her feet in trainers - with the caption "First steps of freedom!!" - after walking away from the Fort Leavenworth lock-up in Kansas having spent seven years behind bars. Pvt Manning's immediate plans, including living arrangements, remained unclear. WATCH: ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea Manning speaks out for the first time since her release from prison, sitting down with @jujuchangABC. pic.twitter.com/DkoSZOP1Oj Good Morning America (@GMA) June 9, 2017 She tweeted after then-President Barack Obama granted her clemency in January that she planned to move to Maryland, where she has an aunt. Pvt Manning originally comes from Crescent, Oklahoma. "After another anxious four months of waiting, the day has finally arrived," Ms Manning said in Wednesday's statement. "I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past." Ms Manning, who is transgender and was known as Bradley Manning before she transitioned in prison, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Read more Read More Pvt Manning, a former intelligence analyst in Iraq, has acknowledged leaking the materials, which included battlefield video. She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the US military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians and that she released information that she did not believe would harm the US. Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation's most-sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to help some of those people move to protect their safety. Several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures. Pvt Manning, who was arrested in 2010, filed a transgender rights lawsuit in prison and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers. "We can all finally truly celebrate the strength and heroism she has shown in surviving and sharing her truth and life with all of us," Chase Strangio, Ms Manning's attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in Wednesday's statement that included her post-release comments. "Through extended periods of solitary confinement and up against the government's insistence on denying her medical care and existence as a woman, Chelsea has emerged with grace, resilience, and an inspiring amount of love for others," Mr Strangio added. "I am humbled to fight alongside such a fierce advocate for justice." President Obama's decision to commute Pvt Manning's sentence to about seven years, including the time she spent locked up before being convicted, drew strong criticism from members of Congress and others, with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan calling the move "just outrageous." In a statement last week - her first public comments since Mr Obama intervened - Ms Manning thanked that former president and said that letters of support from veterans and fellow transgender people inspired her "to work toward making life better for others". "For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea," she said. "I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine." Her lawyers have said that Ms Manning was subjected to violence in prison and argued the military mistreated her by requiring her to serve her sentence in an all-male prison, restricting her physical and mental health care and not allowing her to keep a feminine haircut. The Department of Defence has repeatedly declined to discuss Pvt Manning's treatment in prison. The Army said that Pvt Manning would remain on active duty in a special, unpaid status that will legally entitle her to military medical care, along with commissary privileges. An Army spokeswoman, Lt Col Jennifer Johnson, said Ms Manning will be on "excess leave" while her court-martial conviction is under appellate review. Read more Read More Chelsea Manning leaks Baghdad attack video to Wikileaks Chelsea Manning (then Bradley Manning), the former military intelligence analyst gave classified information to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010. He was acquitted of aiding the enemy, the gravest charge laid against him by the US government. He was, however, found guilty of 19 other charges including espionage, theft and computer fraud. Following the verdict, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused President Barack Obama of "national security extremism," referring to Manning "the most important journalistic source the world has ever seen". "The government kept Bradley Manning in a cage, stripped him naked and isolated him in order to break him, an act formally condemned by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for torture. This was never a fair trial," Assange said from inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. "It is a dangerous precedent and an example of national security extremism. It is a short-sighted judgment that cannot be tolerated and it must be reversed." Its hard not to draw the conclusion that Manning's trial was about sending a message: the US government will come after you, Amnesty International noted. Making a statement alongside his guilty pleas in 2013, Manning said he wanted to reveal the bloodlust of the US military and so-called disregard for human life. He transmitted his first batch of papers to WikiLeaks, founded by Assange, on 3 February 2001 with an attached note. This is possibly one of the more significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war, and revealing the true nature of the 21st century asymmetric warfare. Have a good day. Thereafter he handed over more than 700,000 documents, including battlefield notes from Iraq and Afghanistan and a video of a US helicopter attack in Baghdad. Last month marked the fifth anniversary of the release of the 'Collateral Murder' video which showed a July 12, 2007 US Apache attack helicopter attack upon individuals in a Baghdad suburb. The attack killed twelve people including a Reuters photographer and his driver. On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. On the day after her sentencing, Manning announced via a statement on the morning talk show Today that she is transgender and wanted to be known as Chelsea. The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, called Manning a 'hero'. The other day, on a London radio station, I heard a furious man denouncing the government, after which the interviewer said: "So, you'll be voting Labour, then?" The chap almost exploded. "I will not! I was a squaddie." It was one of the encouraging indications that England hasn't forgotten the IRA and that journalists have begun to do their duty and remind people how Jeremy Corbyn gave them aid and comfort. When Mr Corbyn became MP for Islington North in 1983, he was already an important figure in pro-IRA circles, such as the Troops Out movement and the Labour Committee on Ireland (LCI), and was on the editorial board of the Trotskyist political magazine London Labour Briefing (LLB). These groups had no time for any Northern Ireland political parties other than Sinn Fein. A few weeks after the 1983 Harrods bombing that killed six people, Mr Corbyn flew to Northern Ireland to meet Danny Morrison, famous for having asked a Sinn Fein ard fheis in 1981: "Will anyone here object if, with a ballot paper in one hand and an Armalite in this hand, we take power in Ireland?" Troops Out marched for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of British soldiers. To the more political LCI, Northern Ireland was a colony, SDLP voters were "cannon-fodder ... manipulated and directed by a sophisticated management caucus" and, in the words of activist Diane Abbott - Mr Corbyn's one-time lover - unionists were an "enclave of white supremacist ideology". LLB surpassed all of them by praising the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the October 1984 Conservative Party conference. The objective had been to kill Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and as many members of her Cabinet as possible in revenge for her refusal to capitulate to the demands of the hunger strikers three years earlier. Five people died and 31 were injured, some of whom were disabled for life. The LLB editorial had described it as a "serious political misjudgment", but this was utterly disowned in the next issue by the editorial board - of which Mr Corbyn was now general secretary. He had already made his feelings clear by flaunting Gerry Adams in the House of Commons as his guest. "We refuse to parrot the ritual condemnation of 'violence', because we insist on placing responsibility where it lies," said the LLB retraction. "Let our 'Iron Lady' know this: those who live by the sword shall die by it. If she wants violence, then violence she will certainly get." The only answer was "an unequivocal British withdrawal, including the disarming of the RUC and UDR". The editorial board also allowed some light-hearted contributions. "What do you call four dead Tories? A start," was one of the rejoicing readers' letters. The Provisional IRA were fast becoming Mr Corbyn's new best friends. In 1986, he was arrested for obstruction at a Troops Out rally outside the Old Bailey, called "to show solidarity with the Irish republican prisoners put on trial by the British State". These included Patrick Magee - the Brighton bomber - and Martina Anderson (now an MLA and then described by the judge as a "hard, cynical young woman... at the centre of the plot") and four other "comrades" arrested when planning a bombing campaign in 13 English towns. Mr Corbyn and Ms Anderson would be reunited in 2007, when they both spoke at a meeting organised by the Islington North Labour Party. From 1986 to 1992, Mr Corbyn spoke annually at Sands/Connolly (Bobby and James) commemorations in London to show support for IRA "prisoners of war" and remember the IRA dead. He would pop up frequently at protest meetings honouring "martyrs", like the dead of Loughgall in 1987, sometimes alongside his comrade the Marxist Leninist Trotskyite John McDonnell, an MP from 1997, who in 2003 said publicly: "It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle... The peace we now have is due to the action of the IRA." At one such event, held in 1988, a week after the IRA murdered three British servicemen in the Netherlands, where the programme said "only force of arms... could bring about a free and united socialist Ireland," Mr Corbyn attacked the Anglo-Irish Agreement, because it "strengthened the border". Having unexpectedly, in September 2015, become Labour Party leader, Mr Corbyn and friends have sometimes felt it necessary to misrepresent what are now rather embarrassing aspects of their past. I've heard two supporters on radio recently claim that his arrest in 1987 had nothing to do with the IRA, but was at an event demanding the release of Nelson Mandela. Confronted with embarrassing evidence that they had no difficulty in endorsing an organisation who murdered hundreds of soldiers, police and ordinary trade unionists, along with many others, messrs Corbyn and McDonnell claim they were all the time working to bring about peace and save lives. Emily Thornberry, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said piously on TV: "I don't think that people should judge Jeremy for trying to talk to people who might be open to a settlement in Northern Ireland." He did no such thing. He talked only to the representatives of, or sympathisers with, republican killers. Indeed, Corbyn and McDonnell were no fans of the peace process ("the settlement must be for a united Ireland," Mr McDonnell said early in 1998), though they came to heel when told to do so by the Sinn Fein leadership. Throughout his adult life, Mr Corbyn has supported pretty well any revolutionaries as long as they're anti-American, but the IRA - unlike his country's forces of law, order and defence - has a special place in his heart. Now he aspires to be Prime Minister, Mr McDonnell is shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Ms Abbott is shadow Home Secretary. Is it any wonder that squaddies are so sickened that veterans are putting signs in their windows telling Labour canvassers to stay away? Given the demands on the PSNI, particularly from the ever constant threat of republican violence, it is imperative that the force is given the resources required to tackle crime in all its forms While there has been a welcome decline in the overall number of crimes reported to police in the past year, any relief must be tempered by the increase in what most people would regard as serious offences. The number of paramilitary linked offences, domestic abuse incidents and sexual crimes all rose, which shows there should be no complacency that the battle against crime is being won. While paramilitary-style offences make up a very small proportion of the 98,000 crimes recorded in 2016/17, the mere fact that terrorist gangs still exist almost 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement is a sad commentary on our society which seems to accede to the idea of an acceptable level of violence. If these crimes were happening in other parts of the UK there would be a public outcry, rather than the resigned acceptance or ritual condemnation which occurs here. Of course there can be no acceptance of terrorism in any of its forms and the PSNI and intelligence services must be commended for their efforts in stymieing much of the planned dissident republican violence. Dissidents were responsible for 25 of the 28 paramilitary shootings in which people were injured. By contrast loyalist gangsters carried out the vast majority of assaults. However, the aim of both groups was to continue to wield influence in their localities through fear and violence. It is a tactic which works to a large extent because the public seems reluctant to provide the evidence which would put these criminals in prison. Domestic violence and sexual assault, crimes perpetrated overwhelmingly on women, have reached record levels - 30,000 domestic abuse incidents were recorded - and those are shaming statistics. The death of Concepta Leonard in Fermanagh shows how such abuse can escalate with tragic consequences. The only ray of light is that increasingly victims now seem more prepared to come forward to report abuse by partners. Slowly but surely the taboo surrounding this type of crime is being dismantled, and perpetrators are being brought to justice. Given the demands on the PSNI, particularly from the ever constant threat of republican violence, it is imperative that the force is given the resources required to tackle crime in all its forms. The force has suffered budget cuts in recent years, but austerity must not be allowed to impair its effectiveness. I was in London on Saturday and stopped off in a bookshop at Trafalgar Square. Browsing the shelves, my attention was drawn to a book with the title The Road to Somewhere by David Goodhart. The subtitle was The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics, and in it Goodhart argues that the fault-line in politics today is between the Somewheres and the Anywheres. The Somewheres are the people with a sense of place and identity, people with an affection for their nation and a sense of pride in its history and achievements. They are patriotic and tend to be more socially conservative. The Anywheres have little of that affection for the nation in which they live. Their interests are global, they are Europhiles and they are generally more socially liberal. The Somewheres voted Leave in the EU referendum, while the Anywheres voted Remain. Goodhart estimates that the Anywheres are roughly 20% to 25% of the population, with the Somewheres at 50% and the rest in between. However, he points out that the Anywheres are the ones who dominate our society and culture and run so many of the institutions that matter. Of course, he is not the first person to identify this societal schism, or fault-line, and Theresa May touched on it in her speech at the Conservative Party conference last year. She said: If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere. The Anywheres are the people who see themselves as citizens of the world, and for them the very concept of patriotism is anathema. On the way home on Saturday night, I had time to spare in the airport and went into a shop selling books and magazines. This time, my attention was drawn to a sentence on the font cover of Time magazine: The war between globalism and nationalism is just getting started. Of course, Britain has its faults and flaws, and it has always been that way, just as it is for every other country, to a greater or lesser degree. But many people across the United Kingdom still have a love for the land of their birth. During the course of Saturday, I walked past the Central Hall, Westminster, where there was a two-day conference on Post-Brexit Britain is a New World. The conference had started on the Friday, and one of the speakers was the novelist Ian McEwan, who attacked those who had voted Leave. He said: Brexit has stirred something not heroic, or celebratory, or generous, in the nation, but instead has coaxed into the light from some dark, damp places the lowest human impulses, from the small-minded to the mean-spirited to the murderous. So, if like me you voted Leave, you may wish to ponder whether you are murderous, or merely small-minded, or mean-spirited. As if that wasnt offensive enough, he suggested: By 2019, the country could be in a receptive mood (for a second EU referendum). He even explained the reason for that suggestion and said that by then: Two-and-a-half million over-18-year-olds would be freshly franchised and mostly Remainers; 1.5 million oldsters, mostly Brexiteers, would be freshly in their graves. There was a certain irony in the fact that McEwan himself is 68. I was struck by the fact that it seems almost impossible to avoid what has become a major divide in politics. I was also struck by the arrogance of so many of the leading voices among the Anywheres, as exemplified by Ian McEwan. Moreover, such trenchant views are not restricted to the globalists in the United Kingdom. Last year, Hilary Clinton described a large section of the American electorate as deplorables and came to regret it. Thankfully, similar contemptuous attitudes on this side of the Atlantic only serve to strengthen the resolve of that large swathe of people who still value the United Kingdom, its history and its place in the world today. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy A friend of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadav (shown on banner to left), an Indian national sentenced to death in Pakistan on espionage charges, holds up a photograph of a group with him in the Mumbai neighborhood where he grew up, May 18, 2017. The U.N.s International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday ordered Pakistan to halt the execution of a former Indian naval officer, who was sentenced to death on espionage charges, until the bench delivered its final verdict. But Pakistani officials responded by saying that the government would not obey the order from the court in The Hague in the case of the condemned man, Mumbai resident Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadav. He was arrested in Pakistans Baluchistan province on March 3, 2016, and last month was sentenced to death after a military court convicted him on charges of spying for Indian security agencies. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings, the ICJ said, while ordering Pakistan to inform the court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order. The order is binding on Pakistan, which is a signatory to the Vienna Convention, the 11-judge bench said, adding that the ICJ exercised compulsory jurisdiction on parties to the international treaty signed in 1961. India brought the case to the world court on May 8, seeking an urgent hearing. It accused the Pakistani government of egregious violations of the Vienna Convention by wrongfully sentencing Jadhav to death after detaining and trying him in a military court in Pakistan. India further alleged that it was not informed of Jadhavs detention in Pakistan until long after his arrest and that Pakistan denied India its right of consular access to Jadhav. Islamabad had informed New Delhi of Jadhavs arrest in January as it requested Indias assistance in investigating Jadhavs alleged involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan. It [the ICJ] considers that the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claims by India, the bench said. Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Mr. Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the court has given its final decision in the case, it added. Pakistan rejects ruling Pakistan, however, in announcing Thursday that it would not abide by the U.N. courts order, said the ICJ did not have jurisdiction. We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country, Nafees Zakaria, Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman, told reporters there. The provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the court to have full consideration at a later hearing. These measures have no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the court. India has no substance in the case, the office of Pakistans Attorney General said in a statement. The two countries, which have fought three wars since the partition of the Indian-sub continent in 1947, are facing off in the international court amid rising tensions over the alleged beheadings of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops along the border in the disputed region of Kashmir earlier this month. The Pakistan Army denies this charge. Jubilation in India Soon after Thursdays ruling in the Netherlands, Jadhavs Mumbai neighborhood erupted in celebrations. The prayers of 125 crore [1.25 billion] Indians have been answered. We thank the ICJ for delivering such a welcome ruling, Tulshidas Pawar, Jadhavs childhood friend, told the Press Trust of India. Indias External Affairs Minister Suchma Swaraj also hailed the ruling. The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #Kulbhushan Jadhav, Swaraj said on Twitter. Even as foreign policy analysts dubbed the ICJ order a diplomatic victory for India, legal experts warned against celebrating too soon. The considerations of an interim order are different from a final one. Nobody has argues the evidence for the final case and the court has also not yet considered the evidence. The evidence has not even been prepared for the final hearing, P.S. Narsimha, Indias additional solicitor general, told BenarNews. The ICJs order on Thursday should only be seen as an interim one and nothing more, he added. Other experts disagreed. It is certainly an interim order, but it has far-reaching consequences as far as violation of human rights by Pakistan is concerned, as it is much highlighted. Pakistan cant act unilaterally now, New Delhis based foreign policy analyst Vinay Kaura told BenarNews. India, of course, has some advantage over Pakistan after todays ruling, Kaura said. A Malaysian man was sentenced to 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to receiving instructions to commit an act of terrorism through the Telegram chat application (pictured). A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced a 21-year-old truck driver to 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including one related to receiving instructions from a now dead Malaysian top Islamic State (IS) recruiter. The punishments for each conviction total 36 years, but Kuala Lumpur High Court Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman ordered Syed Amir Asyraf Syed Hamdans punishment to run concurrently. He is to serve the 16 years from the date of his arrest, Aug. 27, 2016. The sentence stemmed from his conviction on a charge that he accepted instructions from Malaysian IS member Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi to commit an act of terrorism. Wanndy was killed in a drone attack in Syria on April 29, Malaysian government officials confirmed earlier this month. In sentencing Syed Amir, Ab Karim declared that any offense related to terror, including supporting a terrorist act, deserved to be punished accordingly. Terrorism is a global threat which has no borders. The court has the responsibility to stop such acts, he said in court on Thursday. Pleading for leniency, lawyer Azamuddin Abd Aziz said his client was young, immature and easily influenced by Wanndy. Government prosecutor Mohd Izhanudin Alias pressed for deterrent sentences, noting that Syed Amir had received orders directly from Wanndy to carry out acts of terror. Syed Amir received the 16-year sentence for using the Telegram chat application to accept instructions from Wanndy to commit a terrorist act involving a hand grenade, a pistol and 24 bullets. He was charged under Section 130FA (A), which carries a 30-year sentence and a fine. Additionally, he was sentenced to 10 years for knowingly providing support to IS by using a Facebook account, under the name of Syed Malizi. He was charged under Section 130J(1)(a), which carries a sentence of life in prison, a fine, or the seizure of items involved in the act. Syed Amir was sentenced to five years jail for knowingly promoting IS membership through WhatsApp and Facebook and another five years for possessing IS-related photos and videos. The two charges were filed under Sections 130JD(1) and 130JB(1)(a) and carry sentences of up to seven years and a fine, and the seizure of items involved in the act. Wanndy designated Global Terrorist A month before he was killed, the United States Treasury Department designated Wanndy a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. At the time of his death, at least a third of the more than 250 people arrested in Malaysia for suspected ties to IS between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by or linked to Wanndy, according to police statistics cited by Reuters news service. In addition, Malaysian authorities blamed Wanndy for orchestrating the first terrorist attack claimed by IS on Malaysian soil a grenade attack at the Kuala Lumpur-area Movida nightclub that injured eight people in June 2016. Since 2014, at least 31 Malaysian IS militants, including Wanndy, have been killed in Syria or Iraq, and 56 Malaysians are fighting in Syria, according to government figures obtained by BenarNews. The Philippines on Thursday said it would reject a package of U.S. $279 million (250 million euros) in grants from the European Union tied to humanitarian projects in strife-torn Mindanao island, saying these had the potential to affect the countrys autonomy. This would mean that Manila is turning its back on the grants which have for years funded many projects to help communities affected by armed conflict in the southern Philippines. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters the Philippines would reject EU grants that would interfere with its internal affairs. The president has approved the recommendation of the Department of Finance not to accept grants from the EU that may allow it to interfere with the internal policies of the Philippines, Abella said. EU Ambassador Franz Jessen initially told reporters on Thursday about Manilas decision, but said his office has not received a written notice from the Philippine government. Anti-drug policy The Philippine governments move is an apparent rejection of the EUs criticism of President Rodrigo Dutertes tough anti-drug policy that, according to human-rights activists, has killed 10,000 people. Duterte earlier had mocked the EU, challenging the bloc to stop its aid after warning that the Philippines risks losing tariff-free exports to Europe because of the killings. This month, Philippine officials also questioned the private visit by the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, who has been effectively blocked from carrying out an independent probe on the killings. EU recently approved a $4 million aid package to support programs tied to a peace deal signed between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). In 2015, it pledged 325 million euros ($360 million) over four years to finance projects in Muslim Mindanao after Manila signed a peace deal with rebels in March 2014. Economy will absorb the loss Abella said projects approved prior to the announcement would not be affected. He said the economy has performed well in the 10 months that Duterte has been at the helm and that the funding shortfall could be offset by fresh economic gains. As you can very well see from the past achievements of the president, he has brought in an enormous amount huge slabs of bacon, he said. Youve seen the economic growth. Filipinos, he said, needed to gain confidence in themselves and be weaned from unnecessary foreign aid. And that this is exactly the kind of mentality I think that the president wants the Filipinos to avoid: a mendicant attitude, you know, Abella said. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a leading opposition figure, said the government was within its right to refuse aid, but emphasized it must provide funding to projects that would be affected. He said concerns raised by the EU on the governments drug war should not cause the Philippines to step back in our relationship with EU. House member Teddy Brawner Baguilat warned Dutertes move could lead to a full-blown diplomatic war against the EU. He said he was told by some of Dutertes key economic managers they were not consulted before the decision was made. It is a haphazard move that the government cannot afford to make, he said. Criticism or observation should not be mistaken for interference, Baguilat said, referring to the concerns raised by the international body over the drug war. Going for expanded autonomy Once the country's largest insurgent force, the MILF dropped its separatist bid for an expanded autonomy covering Mindanao three years ago. The peace deal has largely held despite sporadic skirmishes between troops and MILF members who broke away to pursue the fight. Various donors established the Mindanao Trust Fund, with the EU contributing about 80 percent of the total amount. By its own estimates, projects funded by the EU helped more than 650,000 people in more than 300 conflict-affected communities in Mindanao, the countrys mineral rich southern island where many areas remain mired in poverty because of Muslim and communist insurgencies. The MILF split from the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1978 over differences in ideology. The latter signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, leaving the MILF to continue with the fight. But aging MILF leader Murad Ebrahim opted to sign the peace deal in 2014, fearing younger fighters who have known nothing but war was in danger of being radicalized by foreigners. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. On Monday, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Carl Bernstein, whose reporting led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, said that the firing of former FBI Director James Comey was even more dangerous than Watergate because it appeared that Congressional Republicans are unwilling to critically probe the leader of their own party, President Donald J. Trump. During Watergate, it was the Republicans who demanded accountability. Not so today, Bernstein argues; and we'd agree. Next The Washington Post dropped the bombshell that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to Russian visitors in the Oval Office last week. On Tuesday, came the claim that Comey was asked by Trump to drop the investigation against Michael Flynn. The allegations are serious: Trump sacked Comey when he wouldn't stop an FBI investigation. And, releasing top secret information to the Russians could put American lives in jeopardy. A thorough and independent investigation into ties with Russia must happen quickly. We believe the security interests and the confidence of the nation could hang in the balance. This has nothing to do with being Republican, Democrat or otherwise. Quite frankly, those nations and enemies that would seek to harm America aren't interested in just hurting Republican American or Democrat America. Last week, after conflicting White House statements about Comey's firing, we asked our two Montana senators about the Russia situation. Montana's senior U.S. Senator, Jon Tester, said that it was absolutely imperative that an independent investigation into Russia and the administration was necessary to restore faith and answer questions. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Steve Daines issued a statement about Comey's firing and declined to speak with The Gazette about this subject. We can only assume he stands with The White House in turning over the classified information to the Russians. Furthermore, we can assume he would not support an independent investigation into the administration. Daines silent Daines' silence on Russia and his lack of transparency is disappointing. Montanans need to have faith in the federal government. Avoiding the questions will not make this issue go away. In fact, we'd suggest that Trump and the Republicans who want Russia to quit making headlines would want an independent investigation as soon as possible to help diffuse any lingering concerns. That is, if there's nothing to hide. We are greatly concerned that the Trump administration's ties to Russia could jeopardize our national security by undermining our intelligence community and our relations with other allies who we will count on during this ongoing war on terrorism. We believe the President's pressure to stop the investigation and broaching the subject with Comey is completely inappropriate and possibly obstructing justice. We believe there are too many questions being raised and coincidences to continue to deny the reports. First there were a bunch of Trump campaign associates with links. Then, came Michael Flynn. Now, Comey's fired. Then there were secret recordings. And then, the disclosure of "code-word" intelligence to the Russians. And then Comey being asked to cease investigating Flynn. Congress must act Surely plenty of meaningful work for the American people is not getting done because of the daily crises. And yet, we believe that these issues must be addressed. We are also troubled by the idea that the Russians are our allies. While America doesn't need more enemies, a honest and cursory look at current politics demonstrates that Russia's interest isn't in seeing us as a partner, it's seeing us destabilized while it meddles around the globe. We must be vigilant, and these growing connections to the Russian government should give us cause for concern. America needs to know about these connections, and deserves a leader that we can trust. The American public deserves and has a right to know the exact nature of Russia's involvement with the Trump administration. We will be relentless about demanding that our delegation in Congress insist on and support an independent investigation with subpoena power so that we can have faith that our president and his surrogates are fulfilling their oath to the Constitution and not giving aid to enemies abroad. For Immediate Release, May 18, 2017 Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org Senate Committee OKs Bill to Strip EPA's Power to Halt Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species WASHINGTON The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today voted on and adopted an amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act that would effectively eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate discharges from large ocean vessels, which often contain aquatic organisms from other parts of the world. Non-native species from ballast water can inflict widespread and expensive damage to rivers and lakes. For years the EPA has been tasked under the Clean Water Act to stem the spread of non-native species arriving in ballast water and the shipping industry has fought standards requiring vessels to be retrofitted to address the problem. Today's amendment would transfer all authority to regulate ballast water discharges to the U.S. Coast Guard but includes no meaningful requirement that the Coast Guard set stricter limits on discharges into fresh or saltwater bodies. Non-native aquatic species have already ravaged San Francisco Bay, the Great Lakes and other rivers and estuaries. This bill will make the problem much, much worse, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. This is a gift to industry and an insult to taxpayers, who already help support billions of dollars in restoration efforts just to keep current invasions from ballast water from getting worse. Ballast water is water carried in a shipping vessel's ballast tanks to improve its stability and balance. When ships take on ballast water, the plants and organisms in that region also get picked up and re-released in other regions, where they become pests. In 2008 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the EPA must regulate and address the spread of invasive species from ballast water under the Clean Water Act. In 2015 the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the 9th Circuit and held that the EPA needed to do even more under the Clean Water Act to require the most effective technology that has been demonstrated to be effective to clean and remove aquatic organisms from shipping vessels' ballast water. Republicans are giving foreign shipping interests the green light to cause irreparable harm to some of our most beautiful waters, said Hartl. They are essentially saying that the wildlife and communities that rely on these areas should be footing the bill for the cleanup. Invasive species like the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes cause $9 billion annually in damages to U.S. infrastructure and help drive the decline of native endangered species. Approximately 52 million gallons of ballast water gets dumped into U.S. waters each year, and 55 percent to 70 percent of 180 known invasions of the Great Lakes were caused by ballast water. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.. For Immediate Release, May 18, 2017 Contact: Amy Atwood, (503) 504-5660, atwood@biologicaldiversity.org Thomas Bachand, (510) 547-8622, keystone@steamingmules.com Lawsuit Demands Keystone Pipeline's Route, State Department Contracts Feds Denying Public Information Needed to Evaluate Oil Pipeline's Full Impacts WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity and Thomas Bachand filed suit today against the U.S. Department of State to obtain information on the route of the Keystone XL Pipeline, as well as contracts and correspondence with private consultants involved. The State Department is required to make public information about the route of the pipeline and related documents under the Freedom of Information Act. We can't fully understand Keystone XL's threats to our water and wildlife until the Trump administration releases public documents about this dangerous pipeline's route, said Amy Atwood, the Center's endangered species legal director. With the State Department illegally refusing to provide information about a leak-prone pipeline that could pollute hundreds of waterways, we're left with no option but to sue. Today's suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the Center, which has advocated against the Keystone XL Pipeline for years, and Thomas Bachand. Bachand is the creator of the Keystone Mapping Project, an internationally recognized online multimedia and photography project that examines land use, climate policy and transparency through an exploration of the Keystone Pipeline, the 2,000-mile diluted bitumen pipeline that would bisect the North American Continent. The lawsuit demands that the State Department provide specific kinds of records known as geographic information systems, GIS layers or Shape files that would reveal precisely where the Keystone XL Pipeline route would go, if constructed. The suit also demands correspondence and contracts the State Department signed with private consultants who prepared the environmental reviews for the pipeline. The Keystone XL GIS data is referenced tens of thousands of times in the State Department's environmental review, yet the data itself is fully redacted, said Thomas Bachand. State Department officials claim they do not have the data, but if that's the case then how can they have possibly considered its environmental consequences? The truth is that the State Department unquestionably possesses and controls this critical information. By revealing the precise pipeline route, the GIS layers will clearly show the habitats, private lands, farms, prairies, aquifers, rivers, streams and other sensitive places where the pipeline would be built. The contracts with private entities the State Department hired to prepare environmental reviews for the project will help shed light on the circumstances related to the State Department's refusal to provide the GIS data. The plaintiffs are represented in the lawsuit by public interest attorney David A. Bahr. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Courtesy of the Lannan Foundation, by Subhankar Banerjee To collect photographs is to collect the world, Susan Sontag once wrote. She continues, saying Photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood. Experience is then translated to paper, culled from chemical baths and light exposure until it is a physical thing, but not like a movie or a television show, which light up walls, flicker, and go out, as Sontag described, but something that endures. That history of acquisition is rich in New Mexico, as diverse and all-encompassing as the varied landscapes. Since its inception three years ago, PhotoSummera season-long series of exhibitions, events, talks and workshopsaims to provide access and celebrate the tremendous work being done in the medium locally. A collaborative effort between UNM Art Museum, 516 ARTS, and in Santa Fe, CENTER, Axle Contemporary, American Society of Media Photographers, and Santa Fe University of Art and Design, from June until September, photography enriches the landscape of these two cities like mountains and sunshine. In anticipation of PhotoSummer's official kickoff on June 17, at the UNM Art Museum, one of the organizers, Traci Quinn, who is also the curator of education & public programs at the UNM Art Museum, took the time to unpack and preview this year's PhotoSummer lineup, which focuses on Photography as Action, Activism and Empowerment. Alibi: Can you tell us about how and why PhotoSummer was started? Quinn: [It's] really the brainchild of Kymberly Pinder, the dean of the College of Fine Arts, and Suzanne Sbarge, the executive director of 516 ARTS. The common feeling about summer programming [for some time had been] that since the campus is less active that the museum should not invest too much in what is offered from June-August. Kym felt otherwise. She wanted to capture a different audience and maintain the energy we have during the academic year. She spoke with Suzanne who came up with the title PhotoSummer. The inaugural year was so successful, and we continue to gain momentum and support for our PhotoSummer initiatives every year. The collaborators recognize the vibrant community of people and organizations that support photographyand we really just want to bring that energy to focused attention. Exciting things can happen when multiple organizations recognize [that] they are interested in similar ideas and start organizing around them. What do you hope to showcase with the artists and exhibitions that are presented? We hope to draw on the regional strengths of photography and photographers in the area, and showcase the excellence of the photographic medium in New Mexico. also highlight the complex issues that photographs inherently deal with and bring to the fore. For instance, this summer the initiative is organized around the power of photography to bear witness, challenge inequitable structures and initiate change. Recognizing the fact that photography has been instrumental to critical discourse surrounding social movements from the earliest years of the medium, PhotoSummer 2017 offers a look into the history and contemporary use of photography as a powerful force in society. How does PhotoSummer programming fit into the historical legacy of the medium in New Mexico? New Mexico has always had a strong connection to photography, from the images of Timothy O'Sullivan to one of the most purchased photographs of all time, Moonrise over Hernandez by Ansel Adams. UNM Art Museum has been a part of this rich photographic history since its [founding]. [UNM] continually ranks in the top five graduate photography programs. There are many great organizations in Santa Fe like CENTER, photo-eye, RADIUS Books and others that support professional photographers. Today, photo [and] art enthusiasts journey to New Mexico from around the world, inspired by the state's artistic legacy. We think that many people recognize the artistic relevance of the photographic medium, and if there is any [doubt] in their minds, we hope that PhotoSummer can remind them otherwise. What do you hope audiences gain from the experience of visiting some of the exhibitions or other events? Every year, we hope that people enjoy the exhibitions and program we present and take away something that they didn't realize or know about the medium, a place, an idea or social issue. That is the thing about photography it is really great at connecting people and telling stories. This year we really hope that audience members take the time to recognize the impact that photography has had and continues to have on how we understand and change our world. Images are powerful. We hope that power is evident in the exhibitions and programs that are a part of PhotoSummer 2017. What can you tell us about some of the artists and exhibitions happening this time around? Here in Albuquerque the UNM Art Museum is featuring work by photographer and environmental activist Subhankar Banerjee. The exhibition Long Environmentalism in the Near North draws attention to environmental justice engagements that last not mere weeks or years, but decades, and become intergenerational. 516 ARTS is also featuring work about land and destruction [in] Landscapes of Life & Death, [which] examines how photography poses a unique opportunity to look at loss, extinction, death and renewal, spanning emotional landscapes as well as environmental landscapes of destruction. In Santa Fe, CENTER has partnered with photo-eye to bring an exhibition of photographs by Jeanine Michna-Bales from her project, Through Darkness to Light. The artist spent 10 years researching and retracing the journey of escaped slaves along the path of the nearly 1,400 mile Underground Railroad. CENTER is also hosting a workshop with Mother Jones Photo Editor Mark Murrmann and photographer Dorie Hagler on photography and social justice action. Axle Contemporary, a mobile art gallery, will be projecting their recent online exhibition at the PhotoSummer kickoff party. Why do you personally feel photography is important to celebrate, experience and recognize? I love talking with people about photography, because it is a medium that everyone in our society is familiar with it makes the first step in the conversation much easier. We see photographs all day every day. Photographs in the context of a museum or gallery space allow us the time to slow down and really think about what we are seeing and why the image was made in the first place. Stay attuned to the whole summer's programming by visiting the PhotoSummer initiative online at photosummer.org. In the May 18 Billings Gazette editorial, the editorial board mischaracterizes and assumes my position regarding Russias involvement in the 2016 election and our national security. My position has been clear and consistent: we have an obligation to hold Washington accountable to the people, up to and including the president. Its a principle that Montanans expect and deserve. Any implication or assumption of where I stand is not only misleading to Montanans but is irresponsible. It should be no surprise to Montanans that political operatives have allowed speculation to get ahead of the facts. The Gazette editorial looks as if it was ripped from the script of last nights MSNBCs Rachel Maddow show. Our national security is of the highest importance to Montanans. Ive been and will remain actively engaged on this issue. I will be in a classified briefing Thursday with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein regarding the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. We need the bipartisan U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to continue its ongoing investigation and we need a special counsel to take care of the criminal aspects of the Russia investigation at the Department of Justice. Thats why the appointment on May 17 of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be the special counsel at DOJ is the right thing to do: he knows the bureau, he knows the agents and he is above reproach. We need all the facts. We also shouldnt let allegations and speculation get ahead of the facts. Steve Daines Bozeman Editors note: The Billings Gazette first requested to speak to both Montana senators on May 11. We reiterated our request later that day to Steve Daines. We spoke with Jon Tester on May 12. We repeated our request to Daines' staff on May 14. The office did not respond by May 17. We believe that Daines not clarifying where he stands after being repeatedly asked is, in his own words, misleading and irresponsible. For Immediate Release, May 18, 2017 Contacts: Sarah Uhlemann, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 327-2344, suhlemann@biologicaldiversity.org Kimiko Martinez, Natural Resources Defense Council, (310) 434-2344, kmartinez@nrdc.org Amey Owen, Animal Welfare Institute, (202) 446-2128, amey@awionline.org Groups Seek to Protect Imperiled Vaquita Porpoises Through U.S. Ban on Imports of Mexican Seafood Caught With Dangerous Nets Gillnets Used in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California Violate U.S. Bycatch Standards Washington Conservation groups petitioned the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service today to ban imports of seafood caught with gillnets in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California, in order to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. The vaquita population has declined by 90 percent over the last five years, with fewer than 30 of the small porpoises left on the planet. Entanglement in gillnets is the sole threat to the species' survival, with scientists predicting that the vaquita will be extinct in two years if fishing practices remain unchanged. We can't leave any tool unused that will help get the vaquita's killer gillnets out of their habitat, said Zak Smith, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Marine Mammal Protection Project. The fishing industry is driving the vaquita's extinction and pressure on that group to fix their practices may be the most important way to save the porpoises. The United States must immediately ban the import of any seafood from Mexico that is contributing to the vaquita's extinction. Mexico has failed to permanently ban all gillnets in the vaquita's habitat, despite repeated recommendations by scientists and evidence that the use of gillnets by any fishery in or adjacent to the vaquita's range will undeniably lead to the species' extinction. It's horrific to watch the vaquita vanish from the Earth in real time, said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Only strong actions like trade sanctions will force the Mexican government to finally step up and save these amazing little animals. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the U.S. government to ban seafood imports from fisheries that kill marine mammals, like the vaquita, in excess of U.S. standards for marine mammal bycatch (the accidental entanglement and deaths of marine mammals in fishing gear). If U.S. standards were applied to Mexican fishermen operating in and near the vaquita's habitat, fishermen would be prohibited from contributing to the bycatch of any vaquita because it is gravely endangered and losing its population at a rate of 50 percent per year. We can't continue to wait for Mexico to find the political will and courage to save the vaquita in the wild as the species declines toward extinction, said DJ Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute. It's time for the U.S. to step up and use its laws to compel the Mexican government to save the species or to suffer the consequences of a ban on certain seafood exports. In 2016, following a legal petition by conservation groups, the Service adopted new rules to enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act's import provision. Those rules will be fully applicable worldwide by 2022. Today's petition seeks emergency application of the rules to save the vaquita, which may be extinct by 2019 without immediate action. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC. The Animal Welfare Institute (www.awionline.org) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. AWI engages policymakers, scientists, industry, and the public to achieve better treatment of animals everywhere in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild. For more information, visit www.awionline.org. The Revelator Focuses on Environment, Investigations, Ideas The Center this week launched a new online media outlet called The Revelator, which will focus on environmental news, incisive investigative reporting, and deepening conversations about the most important conservation issues of this century. The site will include daily stories about wildlife, climate change, public lands and other environmental topics, as well as essays, commentary and investigative pieces at the intersection of politics, conservation and economics. The first stories include investigative reporter John Dougherty's account of how he nearly got arrested in Peru -- for screening a documentary -- plus editor John Platt's look at how climate change threatens whooping cranes, and a report on an unexpected source of oceanic plastic pollution. Coming up are a major investigation on a well-known oil company, a look back at an important piece of history for environmental protection of workers, and an examination of the top 80 ways to reverse global warming (some of which might surprise you). Check out The Revelator now. It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy After having raised $1.2 million from Entrepreneur First and GrowX Ventures in 2021, how do you see the perfor...Read more IARI-Assam will be a postgraduate institute of higher studies in agricultural education The Cabinet has approved the proposal for setting up of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Assam on 587 acres of land provided by Assam Government with a 100% outlay. Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said, "IARI-Assam will be a postgraduate institute of higher studies in agricultural education and will include farm crops, horticulture crops, agricultural forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, piggery farming, silk pest farming, honey production etc. They will recognize all the hallmarks including all areas of agriculture, which is in the IARI of New Delhi." Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia Malawi will become the first country in the world to use the Open Trial smartphone and tablet application. The application will enable Malawi's citizens to access the country's justice system at a click of a button. The first of its kind app was revealed at the recent launch held in Blantyre. According to a report by thenextweb, Frank Richardson, Open Trials chief executive, demonstrated how the NGOs new app works. At the launch, Richardson said that the app will aid with keeping legal system role players under open, public scrutiny. As a result it is hoped that this will encourage integrity, independence, diligence, equality and impartiality in Malawis justice system. The App has three functions: one is to inform people of their basic rights with regards to fair trials and detentions; the other is a checklist that people can use to determine whether their friends or family members or detainees have been detained legally and that the trial was constitutional; the third is the reporting function, Richardson is reported to have said at the launch. The app is available in both English and Chichewa and is free for download for Android devices. So, those who feel something is not quite right and feel that their rights have been violated, can report of that to us through the app and then we will gather the data, added Richardson. While the OpenTrial app is currently only being implemented in a pilot phase in Malawi, it has manged to gather the support of various organisations such as Solicitors International Human Rights Group in London, International Bridges to Justice, Transparency International, the Hague Institute of the Law, Amnesty International, and Lawyers Without Borders. PARIS, France: France's data protection agency said Tuesday it had fined Facebook for collecting information on users without their knowledge, following a probe of the social network in cooperation with other European regulators. The CNIL agency said it had slapped a penalty of 150,000 euros ($160,000) on Facebook Inc and Facebook Ireland, for "several breaches of the French Data Protection Act", the maximum fine in such cases. Following a two-year investigation, CNIL said Facebook had built up "a massive compilation of personal data of internet users in order to display targeted advertising". The American internet giant had also "collected data on browsing activity of internet users on third-party websites, via the 'datr' cookie, without their knowledge", the agency said. This was "unfair tracking", it said. The French action is part of a Europe-wide approach, CNIL said, with Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the German city state of Hamburg also investigating and working with France. Facebook had been put on notice twice to comply with French law, but provided "unsatisfactory responses", CNIL said. Facebook has some 33 million users in France. Facebook said in a statement to AFP that it "respectfully" disagreed with the ruling and that it complied with European data protection laws. The company now has four months to file an appeal with the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court. It did not say whether it will. Last year the CNIL slapped a 100,000-euro fine on Google, another US internet giant, for failing to delist user information from all of its search engine extensions at the request of users. Google appealed and the case is ongoing. BUTTE The Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff's Department is warning people of a scam concerning a fake fundraising effort for a deputy killed in Montana Tuesday. Sheriff Ed Lester, in a news release, said the Deer Lodge Police Department has received complaints of a male who is calling residents by phone and attempting to get their credit card information. The male is apparently advising people that he is raising money for Broadwater County Deputy Mason Moore, who was killed in the line of duty on May 16. The male, who has a foreign accent, says that he is from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and that he is accepting credit card donations. This is a scam, the sheriff said. The Montana Law Enforcement Academy is not soliciting donations for Deputy Moore. The Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is accepting donations for Deputy Moores family. However, that group is not soliciting donations by phone. "Do not provide your credit card information to this individual,'' Lester said. Toyota South Africa is positioning the much-loved Toyota Hilux as a truly premium vehicle with a new commercial that celebrates its more aspirational qualities, while holding on to the marque's authentic, South African charm. The ad introduces Toyota fans to Hiluxs new tone of voice and sets it up as the vehicle for those who can handle anything from navigating challenging terrain to impressing their future father-in-law. Nobel laureate, Rudyard Kipling, provided the inspiration for the FCB Joburg team tasked with curating the brands evolution. Toyota Hilux is and always has been a much-admired South African brand. People love it for its rugged, outdoor capabilities and tough attitude, said Chief Creative Officer Brett Morris, who crafted the piece together with Creative Director Tian Van den Heever, Copywriter Tracy-Lynn King and Art Director Georja Romano. But, not everyone is fully aware of its more sophisticated side. The latest Hilux is a top-quality, reliable and innovative vehicle with a rich heritage. Not to mention its serious good looks. Kiplings poem If is a well-recognised and inspiring form of paternal advice in which Kipling tells his son about what it takes to be a man. As the brand that claims to be tougher-er, the Hilux creative team looked at re-interpreting this classic piece of literature and sharing an entertaining story about what it really means to be a tough guy in todays modern world, he said. The commercial was directed by Adrian Garces of Velocity Films, and launched on television on 7 May. There is also a cinema version and online versions. Mylan SA and Meridian Medical Technologies, a Pfizer subsidiary, have issued an urgent recall of their EpiPen injector, which is used by patients who have allergies, saying there was a defect with the device. Used for anaphylaxis in patients, which is triggered by insect bites, or stings, and allergic reactions, the EpiPen auto injector comes in both junior and senior doses and retails at about R1,000 per device. In an emergency situation, it could be deadly for patientsto not have properly functioning devices and they could suffer serious health consequences. Mylan SA head of strategic projects Tanya Anhaeusser said the voluntary recall was a precautionary measure to safeguard patients after incidents in the US and Asia during which two devices were reported to be faulty and the needles were unable to inject the amount of fluid that was necessary. In both incidents, the company said, the contents of the devices were normal, but the actual devices were defective and there was a "potential default in the supplier component", hence the recall on a worldwide scale. Anhaeusser said the firm was conducting the recall because the South African stock had been part of the same batch in which the two faulty devices were found abroad, "but therehas been no incidents or complaints made in SA so far". The company has committed itself to replacing these devices at no additional cost to customers. Mylan SA identified the EpiPen 0.3mg/0.3ml auto injector with batch number 36388, of which the company had stocked 1,211 units, as part of the faulty batch. The EpiPen Junior injectors, of which the company had brought in about 500 units, with batch numbers 36093, 36178 and 36288, were also part of the global recall. Anhaeusser said three of the four product batches were now close to expiry in May 2017, so customers who wished to return their product would be getting a fresh set of medication and devices. These usually last for a year. The company said it would be working with a medical courier to collect faulty products from customers and replace them with well dated, functioning stock. Pfizer's share price has declined for the past month and is trading on the New York stock exchange at $33,88. The company is working with the Medical Controls Council to help it carry out the recall of the devices. SYDNEY, Australia - French fashion house Chanel has triggered an uproar by selling a luxury monogrammed boomerang with a price tag of nearly $1,500, with critics saying the accessory is an insult to Australian Aborigines. Chanel is accused of turning the hunting weapon, an important part of Aboriginal heritage, into a status symbol by offering a black wood and resin boomerang for sale in its spring-summer collection. "When I think about Aboriginal culture, I think @chanel," Aboriginal activist Nayuka Gorrie tweeted sarcastically. "Have decided to save for the next three years so I can connect with my culture via @CHANEL." When I think about Aboriginal culture, I think @chanel https://t.co/ocZSljGkPW Nayuka Gorrie (@NayukaGorrie) May 15, 2017 He told the Guardian Australia that the item was "so wrong it is almost absurd". "Having a luxury brand swoop in, appropriate, sell our technologies and profit from our cultures for an absurd amount of money is ridiculous and hurtful," he said, pointing out that indigenous people were the most disadvantaged in Australia and had to fight to preserve their traditions. The furore kicked off when American make-up artist Jeffree Star posted photos online of the boomerang on Tuesday, sparking ridicule. "@JeffreeStar, rather than paying $2000AUD for a Chanel Boomerang you should look into investing in one made by an Aboriginal Australian," tweeted user LSP. Another said on Twitter: "@CHANEL your 'boomerang' is tacky and a gross appropriation of indigenous culture for your own profit." Chanel released a statement saying it was "extremely committed to respecting all cultures, and regrets that some may have felt offended". Boomerangs have played an important role in Aboriginal culture for thousands of years as objects of work and leisure. They have also become popular mass-produced souvenirs. Source: AFP Recently listed Gemgrow Properties, a specialist high-yielding, high-growth real estate investment trust, is set to make its maiden transaction by buying a retail portfolio in Makhado. The group has agreed to acquire a portfolio comprising three properties in Makhado in Limpopo for R330m. Gemgrow was formed out of the consolidation of Synergy Income Fund and Cumulative Properties. Cumulative was formed when Arrowhead Properties spun out its smaller assets into a separate company. The acquisitions were in line with the company's stated objective of being a highyielding, high-growth fund with a portfolio of retail, industrial and office assets. "We're pleased to announce the acquisition of the predominantly retail portfolio. These retail assets are placed in areas with high footfall and a strong consumer presence. "These properties will deliver sustainable and measurable income growth with long leases in place with national retail tenants. We are hoping to deliver further accretive acquisitions of a similar nature for our shareholders in the near future," said chief operating officer Alon Kirkel. The three properties are Checkers Centre, Hawama Noor Centre, and Shoprite and Noor Centre. The transaction is still subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. "We believe we are in a unique position to consolidate the high-yielding properties in the market through yieldaccretive acquisitions. This is a good example of the transactions we are able to conclude. "We intend to manage risk through aggressive growth and diversification across the country and sectors," said Gemgrow chief financial officer Junaid Limalia. Gemgrow's plan has been to buy properties valued at about R100m and less. It is hoping to attract investors seeking specialised funds, saying its specialisation is related to the size of the properties in which it invests. Source: Business Day The more futuristic and future-proof-themed day of research paper presentations started with a short play on stage presented by Kantar TNS filled with ululation, titled Throwing bones and singing praise songs, drawing inspiration from African culture to develop locally relevant projective techniques'. The second day of the Samra annual conference 2017 kicked off with the vibrant presentation from Thandi Chipeya and Dudu Njapha of Kantar TNS, playing the roles of fizzy drink marketing researcher and traditional healer respectively. Their active presentation highlighted the importance of interpreting the stories of the people by asking what they are saying and making meaning thereof through specific projective techniques and learning from existing culture. The two explained that projective techniques are a great tool for researchers to gain insight into consumers' underlying feelings, motivations, beliefs and values, which many consumers may find difficult to articulate. In addition to this, for some black African and lower income research participants it's even more difficult to participate and relate due to cultural or social distance. As a result, their research paper with Jack Hlongwane, and what they presented to Samra conference attendees, was specific projective techniques inspired by African cultural practices intended to make these specific respondents more comfortable.Firstly, they mentioned that misinterpretation is common in any field study due to word choice and people's associated meanings. So, it's important to put interpreters and moderators in the room, but there are still certain linguistic barriers that can cause interpretation problems. For example, Chipeya and Njapha point out that speaking of birds to someone who lives in the city implies a sense of freedom and the sky being the limit - positive and encouraging - while for many rural black participants there simply are no trees in the township so living like a bird means you are likely on the chopping block as that nights dinner. This is why it's important to adapt your specific questions and techniques to the specific respondents in each group.Chipeya and Njapha looked specifically at the cultural practices of singing praise songs and throwing bones as projective techniques in their focus groups. The praise songs worked wonders, the bone-throwing not so much. Here's why... Singing the praises of praise songs Praise songs have deep cultural meaning. They are passed down over generations as an oral tradition that's part of every day life yet most are not documented and are used everywhere on the continent, not just a South African thing, clarify Chipeya and Njapha. Some are used to praise leaders and chiefs, others are used at events like at weddings and parties, still others are used to give thanks for the goodness we get from nature, while others are for inanimate objects. Its very poetic and proved effective as a projective technique in the focus groups. We watched a video of a praise song of Stoney ginger beer, one of five beverage brands in rotation. Clearly a favourite, it was said to be 'too good for children who would waste it or people who are unpure or who have sinned' and that it builds happy marriages and a happy home. So while this wasnt explicitly listed as a question in the discussion guide, it was addressed through the projective technique as participants were allowed to respond as they felt best. The 'bone-throwing' of fizzy drink-branded cards didn't work quite as well. While the concept of throwing bones was easily understood, it's seen as such a sacred space and has a spiritual or religious aspect that many didn't want to broach in such a public or potentially blasphemous way. One of the key findings from this was that it's easy to misappropriate culture, and that at the end of the day its not about what you want to get from peoples stories, its about letting them tell their own stories and giving them the control to do so. Handing over the reins by exploring different projective techniques also makes it that much easier for the story to flow from within the respondents. It is still early days but this research has definite implications for the need to be more open to let people speak in these settings and not confine them to what we have planned or expected. It's also clear that there is definitely scope to learn from culture to understand our markets better. Chipeya and Njapha encourage all market researchers to think about what we can do to learn from what exists in culture, particularly for the black lower LSMs. That way, we will better understand the nuances behind the stories people tell about the brands we research. Get ready for the AI startup retail CX revolution Virtual chatbots are becoming commonplace in the B2B marketing sector as well as for general online consumer shopping. Here's what else to expect from the AI retail startup boom as it turns customer journey on its head... Late last year, Venture Beat reported on just how artificial intelligence or AI is helping retailers. They quoted CB Insights which revealed that AI startups are staking their claim in the retail sector. Chantel Troskie, customer experience account manager at Oracle SA. Chantel Troskie, customer experience (CX) account manager at Oracle South Africa, says this is relevant locally, too, as retail AI has evolved beyond giving shoppers basket suggestions based on the items in their basket and browsing activity. Now, it involves the integration of intelligent learning applications into the customer experience to provide one-to-one guidance and support, often in the form of virtual chatbots. Oracle has since conducted its own CX research into whether virtual experiences can replace reality. Troskie says there are two key findings for the SA market to note: Firstly, that 51% of South African sales and marketing specialists are able to spot trends in customer behaviour before their counterparts in other countries. Secondly, 50% of South African brands say the priorities of their sales and marketing teams are closely aligned. Here, Troskie explains how AI will increasingly help businesses to tailor their sales and services in order to enhance their customer experience with more personalised engagement that resonates Explain the rising awareness of the importance of customer experience for any industry. Explain the rising awareness of the importance of customer experience for any industry. A companys website, digital marketing content and digital channels represent just a fraction of the information resource available to customers. Forty percent of the brands say people now do more research on their own before making purchases, and 35% say customers prefer to make a purchase or manage service issues without ever speaking to an associate. The impact of this change has been transformative. In the B2B space, sales teams have to meet increasingly ambitious targets while getting less face-time with customers, if any. Meanwhile, marketing content is being held to a higher standard of transparency and relevance by customers who have been empowered by access to competitor messaging and independent reviews. How does it affect the retail and marketing sectors in particular? How does it affect the retail and marketing sectors in particular? In a world where customer expectations are changing at a faster pace than ever before, retailers need to start thinking like technology companies. There are some innovative and technology-savvy retailers rising to the challenge and starting to dip their toes into the VR water. John Lewis in the UK, for example, has incorporated two VR experiences into its 2016 Christmas campaign activity. Other retailers are ramping up their investments in new technologies to provide the kind of customer experience consumers want. Seventy-four percent of retailers responding to a recent Oracle study confirmed that they already have or are planning to implement VR by 2020. The goal of marketing hasnt changed. It still comes down to getting your brand in front of the right people at the right time so they can engage with your company. What has changed is that many consumers today actively screen out sales, marketing and advertising messages as a response to being bombarded on every possible channel or platform. To grab a consumers attention on any channel whether its over email or on Facebook brands must work harder to cut through the noise instead of just adding to it. There are three main ways to achieve this: Up your creative game inspiring content gets customers to share your message with their personal networks, and to actively seek out your brand. Add value whether its the information you share or the way in which you deliver a personalised message to address your audiences needs, relevance is key. Consider the full picture The customer experience is made up of every interaction with your brand, from an initial advert through to a sale or follow-up service. Treat CX as such, and make sure it is synchronised throughout the customer journey. For instance, a service call is as much an opportunity for brands to endear themselves with customers as an incredible ad campaign is, as long as they can quickly and effectively resolve people's issues. Explain your belief that brands have never had to work harder to get relevant messages in front of the right people at the opportune moment. Explain your belief that brands have never had to work harder to get relevant messages in front of the right people at the opportune moment. Your brand builds your companys reputation and so it reflects on your entire customer experience. Customers build certain attachments to brands and that will affect their loyalty to the brand. Sales and marketing teams have to work extra hard to be aligned and ensure that their customers ultimately get the experience that they desire and want. Customers are more empowered and choose how and where they want to engage the brands they buy products or services from. As we move further into 2017, now more than ever, customers are clearly in charge and, as a result, businesses that understand what their customers need and want are winning. How does a collaborative culture help brands turn the customer journey inside out? How does a collaborative culture help brands turn the customer journey inside out? Sales and marketing teams know that digital transformation requires them to work more closely together, and this starts with a cultural change. Nearly one-third of brands admit their corporate culture stands in the way of marketing, sales and service teams aligning priorities. There are, of course, operational and technological barriers to address. For instance, 33% of companies admit their technologies limit the ability for sales and marketing to collaborate. Similarly, customer-facing teams need to align on their approach to data and building customer profiles if they are to deliver the smooth experiences buyers come to expect. However, unless there is a directive from the top down and an investment aligning the business there will be limited buy-in from sales and marketing teams to embrace change. I've outlined five key steps below for better alignment: Build a core team: A small team made up of just a few representatives from marketing, sales and service will ensure all views are represented while making the transformation process smoother and more efficient. Align departmental goals: Common definitions of success ensure that marketing, sales and service are working towards a common outcome. Crucially, brands should set measurable goals with a concrete timeline. Its not enough to simply say everyone should focus on converting more leads. Work with a consistent view of data: People still receive emails imploring them to buy products that theyve already purchased from the same company. From a customers perspective, theres no excuse for this type of communication breakdown between marketing, sales and service teams. Get everyone on one integrated platform: Integrated tools, be they CRM or marketing automation technologies, are the best way to ensure marketing, sales and service teams all have a single, consistent view of customers. Assemble, analyse, adjust: Brands ultimately want to track campaign performance from lead to purchase so they can accurately measure ROI. Its equally important that they learn from experience and use any new insights to shape future marketing and sales strategies. The key to standing out in a crowded market is to constantly refine ones approach. Seems if you dont start adapting and refining your approach now, your business will get left behind. Click here for your copy of Oracles research and be sure to follow them on Twitter for updates. Justin Friedman, founder of For the Love of Water (FLOW), chaired and opened the keynote session on the second day of the 2017 African Utility Week. Unpacking the use of communication to drive lasting behaviour change and the philosophy behind this approach, Friedman briefly took delegates through the history of FLOW and how its simple messaging and strategy has been successful in the sphere of water conservation. Justin Friedman, founder of For the Love of Water (FLOW) Driven by a passion for connecting people and planet, he was interested in the idea of encouraging people to work together, and water, he felt, was a unifying element that could help achieve this. "I just want us to start to consider that water could indeed be this ultimate connector, because after all, it's the ultimate leveller that reminds us that we are all indeed the same," he said. Motivating behaviour change In order to put his big idea into action in making the world a better place, he had to first understand behaviour change and what drives this. Friedman listed some of the key influences that motivate a change in behaviour, including feelings, thoughts, emotions, beliefs and experiences. "In terms of understanding behaviour, back in 2010 when I began, I knew why I wanted to do this and what I wanted to do, and at the same time I became curious as to what is that simple message we can deliver," he explained. Collective action And so For the Love of Water (FLOW) was born - a simple, highly accessible message - that has managed to bring brands, organisations, government and communities together in collectively working on water security. Using various communication tools, in its first month FLOW reached 11-million people across its different channels, said Friedman, achieved through a simple strategy of engagement by asking a question which leads to action, and finally acknowledgement through sharing on different platforms. Friedman showcased two projects under the FLOW portfolio, one of which was the Genius of SPACE Langrug Pilot Project in an informal settlement in Franschhoek. The project uses biomimicry principles in cleaning up the grey water, storm water, and solid waste challenges that the community face, and is also part of the Berg River Improvement Plan. The project has been a success, explained Friedman, largely due to these core reasons: Co-design and social engagement community participation was key. Evolving the community design based on local knowledge and making those designs more resilient. Understanding that the people are the infrastructure the critical players in the project. With the project having been hailed a success, FLOW has helped clean the water, healing the community by working together, concluded Friedman. For more info on FLOW, go to www.flow.org.za. The 2017 African Utility Week took place at the CTICC in Cape Town, 16-18 May. For more info, go to www.african-utility-week.com. Amidst what has been labelled the worst drought in Cape Town in 100 years, a city official told delegates at the 2017 African Utility Week conference that there was no way they could reasonably have anticipated the severity of it. Gisela Kaiser, executive director, Utility Services, City of Cape Town Cape Town residents are now bracing themselves for level 4 restrictions. Gisela Kaiser, executive director of utility services for the City of Cape Town, who addressed delegates on Wednesday, 17 May, said despite water restrictions they are now essentially waiting on a miracle. By Friday, 12 May, the dam levels were already at 21.6% down from 70% in 2015 at the start of water restrictions. Kaiser said on the brink of winter when heavier rains are expected, meteorologists now warn this winter will be as dry as the previous two. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore, she said and invited delegates to use water sparingly during their stay in the city. Consumption reduced Kaiser said with the help of consumers and water restrictions they managed to cut down consumption and have so far saved up the equivalent of the Wemmershoek dam of about 59 million cubic metres which translates into about 23,600 swimming pools or approximately 295-million baths, she said. Water losses, said Kaiser, has been reduced from about 25% in 2009 to below 15% as of today. This she attributed to various interventions among which are the rate of pipe bursts that the city managed to reduce. It is less than half from 64 bursts / 100km back in 2010 to 31 bursts / 100km - saving millions of litres of water. She told delegates the city is doing everything it can to serve almost 4-million people, bearing in mind that Cape Town is a water scarce region and SA is the 31st driest country in the world. We know that modelling the past to predict the future is not foolproof, but there is no way we could reasonably have anticipated the severity of the drought at the time. Whenever water strategy is created it is informed by historical water patterns, she said. More pressing humanitarian needs According to Kaiser, additional water supply schemes for the region were deferred before the drought took hold. The decision to defer plans for supply schemes was followed by exceptionally low rainfall. At the time, she said, it was not practical to set aside billions of rands for a rainy day that might not come whilst there are more pressing humanitarian needs. She also referred to desalination plants as being hailed as a possible alternative, but said there was no way it could be built to scale quickly enough to compensate for such a drought. Businesses that contribute to socioeconomic development can dramatically outperform their competitors which turn a blind eye to sustainability as a driver of business growth. Mark Tulay, director of Strategic Investor Initiative at New York-based CECP This new normal business imperative goes hand-in-hand with the core of how businesses interact with their customers, employees and other stakeholders, and its transforming CEOs relationships with investors and societal investments. According to Mark Tulay, director of Strategic Investor Initiative at New York-based CECP, US-based corporations can be harnessed as a force for good in society. CECP was founded by actor Paul Newman and CEOs of companies in 1999 and now represents 200 top US companies representing $7tn in assets. These companies invested $18.6bn in philanthropy in 2015. Tulay was addressing the Trialogue Business in Society Conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 17 May. The two-day annual event aims to strengthen collaborative partnerships between business, civil society and government. Sustainability not just a tick-box The notion that doing well by doing good is simply a platitude or a tick-box has been soundly debunked by businesss financial performance, said Tulay. For example, a survey of more than 1,300 brands in 13 categories and 13 markets found that products made sustainably to some degree had, on average, 4% higher sales than those which werent, he noted. Employees and consumers increasingly place the onus on sustainable business and corporate giving firmly on CEOs: 80% of respondents to an Edelman Business and Social Purpose poll agreed that, A company can take specific actions that both increase profits and improve the economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. US consumers are now becoming more aware and mobilised, driven in part by the millennial generation, said Tulay. Young employees care far more about sustainability, seek out safe and healthy products, and want to work for companies that share their values. Employees do not want to work for companies with controversial reputations, and are seeking companies that are future-fit." Looking beyond "short-termism" One emerging positive development of this is that CEOs are being incentivised to look past the short-termism of quarterly financial results and examine the long-term social and environmental impacts. While this is in harmony with the long-held ethos of many investors that time in the market outweighs timing the market its at odds with the diminishing tenure of CEOs in recent years. US CEOs now have an average term of roughly four years, compared to 12 years a generation ago. This short-term approach limits long-term investing consistent with a companys purpose and values. In effect, such short-termism hamstrings CEOs capacity to build purpose-driven brands as they have to deliver on investors immediate expectations, said Tulay. Our aim is to catalyse a new platform between leading CEOs and $25tn in long-term strategic investment, to leverage sustainable value creation and to facilitate expectations and commitments between companies, stakeholders and investors. We aim to identify, research, and drive adoption of long-term value-generating strategies. Accordingly, CECP is mobilising pension fund managers and other long-term investors to become more aware of the integration of corporate responsibility and CSI, and in turn, the organisation has high expectations of CEOs, he said. Sustainability reporting American investors are now asking for greater information about a companys social impact. Measuring outcomes has become a more widespread practice although the methods used to collect and examine data are generally less evolved in the USA than in South Africa. Sustainability reporting is extremely important as data needs to get in the hands of investors and they can in turn mobilise CEOs, said Tulay. A push towards disclosure can have a ripple effect. Information empowers better decision-making by investors and CEOs. Telling stories through data can motivate people. Tulay said that many American companies are doing excellent work in CSI, but lag South Africa in how to monitor and measure their interventions. Companies under-estimate their giving impacts and often overlook intangibles like volunteering, so a key focus of CECP is developing and growing awareness and adoption of a global standard. He said he was heartened by many American CEOs who say they will not waver from their CSI commitments despite the change in US government. I believe they will step up, increase their giving, and take bolder positions on issues. I am humbled by the great work done in South Africa, and CECP will work to grow more awareness of this among American CEOs and investors, Tulay concluded. Nampo is not a word unfamiliar to me. As a student at NWU, my friends and I used to frequent this (then not-so-big) agri festival almost every year, funnily enough. For platsak students, it meant easy odd jobs and easy money, with a vetkoek and koeksister thrown in the mix. This year, however, my trip to Nampo looked a little bit different. Firstly, I didnt arrive in a 1989 light blue Toyota Corolla (don't judge the student car), but instead, in a sexy all-new Nissan Navara. And secondly, I couldn't find a koeksister... I wont go on about the new Navara too much since I think you already know how I feel about it. However, I felt right at home behind the wheel as we set off to Bothaville. A trip in this rugged redefined 4x4 pickup - especially the automatic - truly is a dream. The ride is smooth and it was great to give it a go on a different terrain such as the wide-open spaces of North-West and Free State - without hitting a pothole I might add. The Woodstock of the farming community Bothaville is, if you don't know, considered one of the top agricultural areas in South Africa. I couldn't help but gasp at the amount of bakkies and trucks parked on the festival grounds. This agri fest has surely tripled in size since I last attended. It's basically the Woodstock of the farming community - bakkies, trucks, tractors, and hundreds of other machines with wheels and engines as far as the eye could see. 70,000 visitors frequent this festival over a span of three days, to give you a better idea. Driving straight past the festival grounds, we made our way to the airfield where we swapped our Navaras for some spunky Datsun GOs. Even though a little bit tin-like inside, the Datsun GO is small yet incredibly spacious. What also stood out was its impressive ground clearance. I love that it's a simple, uncomplicated, nippy little car and such a fun drive! Arriving at Nampo in our Datsun GOs, we were met by the Nissan team who escorted us to the stand where we were shown a remarkable display of the NP200, NP300 Hardbody, and the all-new Navara pickup range and related accessories. Also on the stand, was a full-sized model of the Navaras award-winning chassis. We could inspect the five-link coil-sprung independent rear suspension and the twin-turbo diesel engine, as well as see its design and operation. I'd rather not ask how they got that colossal thing there without a trace of a scratch or mark. Absolutely impeccable. After seeing Nissan's comprehensive vehicle accessory range and, more specifically, the fully accessorised Navara looking all cool and rugged, I was ready for an off-road trip to the bush. According to Xavier Gobille, director of sales, marketing and aftersales at Nissan Group of Africa, the all-new Navara was launched with 67 different Africa-tested and approved accessories including cattle rails and heavy duty off-road replacement bumpers, to name but a few. Cool classics From here, we make our way to the Bothaville Nissan Museum where we met Freek de Kock and marvelled at his legendary collection of over 80 perfectly restored classic Datsun and Nissan cars and pickups. Also on display was an example of every generation of GT-R and Fairlady Z models to date. A charter flight back to Lanseria took us over the festival grounds, just to show me the full extent of bakkies, trucks, and agricultural equipment from above... It's truly a sight to see. CASPER A sample of DNA collected from a 5-year-old was consistent with the DNA of the man accused of molesting him, an analyst testified during the man's trial Wednesday. The third day of Joshua Winters' trial focused on evidence collected in the case and allegations that he molested children in the past. Prosecutors charged Winters, 34, with aggravated kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in July for allegedly leading a 5-year-old boy from the El Mark-O bowling alley to the banks of the North Platte River and molesting him there. During the investigation, authorities collected biological samples from Winters' body, a hat believed to belong to the defendant and the boy's body. The Wyoming Medical Center nurse who completed the sexual assault exam on the boy said in court Wednesday that she found no injuries to the child besides minor scratches and a bruise on his hip. But she said that sexual assault victims often don't have any noticeable injuries. She said she asked the boy if he knew why he was at the hospital and that he said "no." She asked him if he was hurting, and he said "no." But when she asked him if anybody had hurt him, the boy didn't answer. Kathryn Normington, the analyst from the State Crime Lab who examined the biological samples, said she found DNA from a swab of the boy that was consistent with samples taken from Winters' mouth. She said that there was a one in 1.37 septillion chance of picking a random individual who matched that specific of a DNA profile. Earlier in her testimony, Normington said that it would be highly improbable that DNA would pass through clothing or would be transferred via river water. Allegations from the past Some of the memories of the abuse are unclear now that almost 20 years have passed, a 24-year-old man said in court Wednesday while recounting earlier abuse by Winters. But one remains vivid. As a child, the man was often at the home of his grandparents, who had adopted Joshua Winters as their son. "We were always together," the 24-year-old man said in court Wednesday. "Pretty happy. We got along, not a lot of fighting." The man distinctly remembers being in the basement of an abandoned home in the quiet Rhode Island neighborhood where he and Winters lived in 1998. At the time, Winters was 15 years old and the man was a child of 5. In the basement, Winters molested the boy, the man testified in court. While he knew other assaults happened, he doesn't remember them as clearly, he said. Nobody in his family knew until he made a comment to his mother that he and Winters had been "making babies." Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the Tshepo 500,000 programme will now be known as Tshepo One Million, as the provincial government has doubled its target set for 2019. The Premier said this on Wednesday when he addressed a morning meeting on youth empowerment partnerships in Sandton, where more than 20 companies committed to work with the provincial to give hope to unemployed young people in the province. Some of the major international and local companies that have committed to work with the provincial government are Microsoft SA, Coca-Cola, Hollard, Gijima, Shanduka Black Umbrellas and COFESA. The partnership forms part of the efforts between government and the private sector to help create opportunities for youth in the province through the recently renamed Tshepo One Million initiative. In 2014, the provincial government launched the Tshepo initiative with the intention to empower about 500 000 young people through skills training, job placement and entrepreneurship development. However, due to the success of the programme so far and the enthusiastic support from the private sector, the target has now been increased to one million. Premier Makhura encouraged the private sector to work with government to create opportunities for young people and give them hope. Youth unemployment is the most acute and primary economic problem of our time. In Gauteng, we currently have about 2.7 million young people of working age, who are not in education and employment. Two years after we launched Tshepo 500 000, we reached 354 633 young people. That is when we decided to increase our target to empower one million young people by 2019, said the Premier. He said Tshepo One Million is aimed at providing opportunities to youth, especially those in townships who are confronted by lack of skills and limited opportunities. This is part of radical economic transformation and we can only achieve it through partnerships with the private sector, he said. Microsoft SAs Siya Madyibi said the company would provide one million young people with training opportunities in digital skills. This partnership commits to a mass-scale deployment of the Microsoft Digital Literacy and Virtual Academy Platform. The training will be run through the Tshepo One Million learning lab network attached to local libraries, based on the Massive Open Online Varsity system piloted by the City of Johannesburg. At least one million young residents of Gauteng will be trained in basic proficiency as users of the most current versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel. This training will increase young jobseekers chances of employability, said Madyibi. Coca-Cola Public Affairs and Communication Director, Tshidi Ramogase, said her company commits to explore a micro-franchise programme, executing last-mile delivery and logistics for designated areas within Gauteng, operating as part of the Coca-Cola value chain. She said Coca-Cola also commits to explore other training, employment and supplier development opportunities across the Coke value chain, which can empower young jobseekers as part of the Tshepo One Million programme. Meanwhile, the Gauteng government will work with Shanduka Black Umbrellas and SekelaXabiso Auditors as lead implementing project partners within the evolution and rollout of the Township Marketplace Platform and wider Tshepo One Million programme. On 15 June, the provincial government and its 20 partners will sign the partnership agreement and launch the Tshepo One Million Programme. The Department of Human Settlements has established an Ombudsman Office to deal with issues of conflict between contractors, provinces and municipalities, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced on Thursday. With the Ombudsman Office, we are setting up a structure that will mediate, work with all stakeholders to resolve disputes and cut through red tape for the best interests of the human settlements sector as a whole, Minister Sisulu explained. The Minister was tabling her departments R33.4 billion Budget Vote for the 2017/2018 financial year, in Parliament, on Thursday. She also announced that the department has completed the process of appointing a Human Settlements Ombudsman, Themba Mthethwa, who was previously the CEO in the Office of the Public Protector and Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS). The Ombudsmans role is to deal with all complaints that either the construction sector or the general public may have against the department or any of its entities. The Minister said the department will advertise for the position of a Deputy Ombudsman because of the enormity of the responsibilities. Human Settlements Development Bank The Minister also announced that the work of the amalgamation of the various financial entities has now been completed, and the Human Settlements Development Bank, which is established, will be launched on Friday. The Human Settlements Development Bank is being established through the consolidation of the existing human settlements Development Finance Institution (DFIs): the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency (NURCHA) and Rural Housing Loan Fund (RHLF). Minister Sisulu said the new approach will include more responsible participatory citizens, cleaner environments and non-citizens will not be allowed to own property intended for the alleviation of poverty for citizens. She said they have established a National Rapid Response Task Team and the intention was that there should not be an informal settlement whose conditions they are not aware of. We intend to enhance the capacity of this team so that, working like the census, we can employ the youth of the area to help us document the challenges of that area. Working also with our social partners, Slum Dwellers International, we would want the communities to do the enumeration of each informal settlement. This is a long-term project, but Im certain with this information we will be in a better position to plan for the future. With the right technology most of our current problems would be easy to solve. The Minister said that the department will this year prioritise the allocation of stands where they have land and encouraged South African citizens to move towards this option, wherever it is available. Here, in all the land that we hold, we will ensure that services are supplied, stands cut out and encourage our people with technical support to build for themselves. We want to encourage the use of policy options that were created to fast-track delivery and diversify options. These include the use of innovative materials, agri-villages and employer assisted housing, she said. Property Practitioners Bill Minister Sisulu, meanwhile, said the Property Practitioners Bill has been published and invited the public to engage with the bill so we can all be clear on how we achieve the transformation of the property industry which is the backbone of our national asset base as it touches every single familys residential property. Human Settlement Bill The Minister reported that a team has been established to drive this Human Settlement Bill, which the department expects to get passed before its next budget vote. This is our primary bill that establishes legally the Human Settlements approach in line with our policies and the National Development Plan (NDP). Catalytic projects The department will during the financial year roll out 46 government led catalytic projects in nine provinces, with 14 of them allocated in Gauteng and eight in KwaZulu-Natal. Six projects will be located in Eastern Cape, three in Free State, one in Mpumalanga, two in North West, three in Northern Cape, two in Limpopo and seven in Western Cape. Minister Sisulu noted that the catalytic projects are the departments new approach to build on scale and crowd in the private sector. Budget breakdown Of the R33.4 billion budget, R873 million will be directed towards initiatives and administration of the department, while R19.9 billion will be transferred to provinces. An amount of R11.4 billion is availed for the eight metropolitan municipalities in the form of the Urban Settlements Development Grant. Transfers to departmental entities and related parties amounts to R1.2 billion. Industrial property may have a reputation of being the ugly cousin in the real estate sector, but for more than a year it has outperformed retail and offices. While traditional smokestack industrial properties are struggling, the sector's newer, modern distribution warehouses are booming. Growing demand for online shopping and increased imported products in the market are helping distribution centres. People at the coal face say various types of industrial property, especially distribution centres, should continue to deliver attractive returns for the rest of 2017 and in 2018. Industrial property was the top performer in 2016, with a total return of 13.6%, outperforming the traditional frontrunner, retail, at 12.6%, the IPD South African Annual Property index showed in April. IPD's research showed the top-performing industrial category was high-tech industrial with a total annual return of 18.1%. This was also the second-best segment behind neighbourhood shopping centres and warehouses at 12.9%. "These results show the demand of industrial users for modern, efficient space in accessible locations and mirror the development activity we " have seen in recent years, where the majority of our new lending has been for the funding of large-scale logistics, distribution and assembly facilities in industrial and activity parks," said Robin Lockhart-Ross, managing executive at Nedbank CIB Property Finance. Some companies are developing their own industrial assets because existing stock is too expensive. This improved supply to the sector. Growthpoint Properties' industrial divisional director, Engelbert Binedell, says industrial property should perform at a "slow but healthy pace" for months. This is while the retail property sector's performance begins to weaken after years of stellar growth and offices continue to struggle. Certain industrial nodes are offering various opportunities for redevelopment. "Various older areas are becoming attractive again. These include Jet Park, Isando and Wynberg. There are many multifunctional buildings in these areas, which are well located close to motorways," Binedell says. Growthpoint has assets worth R120bn on a consolidated basis including its assets in Growthpoint Australia. Its highly diverse industrial portfolio is worth R12.2bn, says Binedell. Warehousing accounts for the bulk of the portfolio making up about 35.8% of it. Industrial parks account for 15.6%, with high-grade industrial making up 12.4% and high-tech industrial 10.6%. Mini units account for 6.6%, low-grade industrial 4.5%, retail warehousing 4.4%, midi units 3.7%, motor-related units 3.6%, vacant land 2.2% and maxi units 0.6%. Binedell says industrial land remains affordable in Johannesburg. "Land is cheap in Johannesburg and there is heaps of it," he says. Chloe Ma, listed-property analyst at Stanlib, agrees companies with exposure to certain types of industrial property have fared the best. "For the industrial sector, performance is heavily dependent on the type of industrial as well as the lease on the property. A major component of Redefine Properties' industrial portfolio, for example, is let to Macsteel on a long-term lease. These long-term leases generally escalate at 8% for 5 to 10 years. "This means that the landlord can expect 8% growth from these assets until the lease expires, which is great in a tough economy. However, when these long leases expire, the rentals on expiry are typically much higher than market rentals and, as a result, landlords may often need to take a rental cut for the tenant to renew the lease," says Ma. "Therefore, I would not necessarily say it is a trend that industrial property is doing better. It is heavily dependent on the type of industrial property and the terms of the lease structure. What is a trend is that logistics or warehouse industrial properties are generally performing well relative to manufacturing industrial properties or mini/ maxi-type industrial units." One of the best-performing industrial specialists over the past year has been Equites Property Fund. CEO Andrea Taverna-Turisan says he has invested in high-quality distribution centres for large companies and multinationals in SA before much of his competition. "We got in early and now [own] assets which are well-positioned to bring double-digit returns for a sustained period." Source: Business Day HVS, the global hotel consultancy hosting the THINC Africa conference is launching the inaugural THINC Africa Awards to honour and recognise the most outstanding hotels, general managers and students in Africa. According to Tim Smith, managing partner of HVS, it's vital to highlight and acknowledge the variety and exceptional properties and service available to customers throughout Africa, both from a guest and an investment perspective. Tim Smith Service is everything and many Africans offer exceptional service as a matter of course. By highlighting the very best, we thank them for promoting our great industry and ensuring guests return home with fabulous tales of their trip to the continent. From an investment perspective, investors need to be confident their sizeable investment is protected by excellent staff dedicated to maximising returns for all, he says. Southern Africa is rapidly gaining significance in the global tourism industry, establishing itself as a must-see destination as well as a valuable investment playground, Smith says. There is no question that Africa offers incredible locations and magnificent hotel properties, but it is ultimately the service, the ability to meet and exceed guest expectations, that determines customer loyalty; increasing guest returns which impacts positively on profitability. The award categories are: Hotel of the Year Awards The nominations will be categorised by positioning and rated on both qualitative and quantitative measures. General Manager of the Year Award General managers will be categorised by the hotels positioning and rated on qualitative and quantitative measures. Student of the Year To celebrate and promote the best of the next generation in the industry, the shortlisted students will be given free entry to the conference. All awards will be judged by an impartial panel of hotel experts to ensure there is no favouritism. The names of the winners will be announced on the first day of the THINC Africa conference as part of the scheduled programme. The shortlisted parties will receive global recognition and exposure through the HVS marketing portal. The shortlisted students gain entry to the conference, and a stand to promote themselves. They will be exposed to 200 leaders in the African hotel industry. The GMs and hotels receive a 50% discount on entry to the event. It is our way of promoting the very best in Africa to ensure the rest of the world is aware of the extraordinary experiences they can enjoy when the visit this great continent, said Smith. Smith emphasises that it is important to give back to the industry. For the Student of the Year we would like them to receive amazing opportunities; for GM of the Year, opportunities to further enhance their CV and boost the performance of their hotel with acknowledgment of great service and guest experience. And for Hotel of the Year, global exposure to highlight some of the best hotels in the world are in Africa, This is our way of acknowledging greatness and thanking them for all they do for our industry, he says. The awards are open to nominees throughout Africa and the nomination forms are available on THINC Africa. According to Flight Centre Travel Group, Cape Town, Australia, Thailand, New York and Mauritius are still popular destinations. However, Sri Lanka, Bali, Seychelles, Maldives, UAE, and Egypt are also the sought-after destinations for South Africans in 2017. mihtiander via 123RF - Buildings on the tiny island near the town of Weligama, Sri Lanka South Africans are looking for something different. Many love Mauritius, Thailand, and Australia and may have travelled there repeatedly, but now theyre looking for something different. Thats where these destinations come in, says Carlos Luis, land warehouse leader for Flight Centre Travel Group. Sri Lanka at the front of the queue Luis says Sri Lanka is at the front of the hot-destinations-queue because of its beaches, culture, and wildlife. Sri Lanka is becoming a very exciting destination globally and we expect that this will be on South Africans bucket list in 2017, he says. Luis says Sri Lanka and Bali also offer exciting alternatives to clients who love Thailand but are looking for something different. Seychelles and Maldives islands of choice He says the island nations of Seychelles and Maldives are the alternate destinations of choice for South Africans who love visiting Mauritius. For those South Africans who love Mauritius but have travelled there a number of times, we expect Seychelles and the Maldives to feature strongly this year. Although these destinations are often seen as similar kinds of holidays, Seychelles and Maldives offers a different kind of experience with a similar feel, he says. However, Luis says while Sri Lanka and the others are on the up, the old mainstays are still popular. Cape Town, Australia, Thailand, New York and Mauritius might not be the hot destinations this year, but they are still popular destinations for South Africans who will continue to travel there, if not necessarily in the same numbers, he says. Tourism has the potential to change the African continent said President Jacob Zuma when he officially opened the 2017 Tourism Indaba. Indeed, tourism is the new currency that ignites and unites our continent. We are looking forward to exciting times ahead for this industry on our continent. The 2017 Tourism Indaba, which runs until 18 May, kicked off with the pomp and ceremony deserving of the biggest tourism expo in Africa. This week we bring Africa and the world together, in this home-grown trade show where Africa markets herself to the world. We are truly pleased to have our 21 sister African countries exhibiting at this years Travel Indaba, says Zuma. We are ready to work in partnership with our sister countries on the continent, and with our partners in the tourism industry, to make Africa a destination of choice for the world. We will grow African tourism together and promote our beautiful continent, as we are doing this week at this Indaba. Globally more than a billion people are travelling annually, with world international tourist arrivals growing by four percent on average. Africa has increased its percentage of intentional tourists by eight percent, reaching 58 million arrivals. While this is at twice the rate of the global average, it still only represents five percent of the one billion global tourists. The president notes that while this is encouraging, as more and more world travellers are discovering our continent. It means they see its value as an exceptional destination for holidays and business events and it indicates the immense potential for the further growth in the continents tourism sector. Moving Africa forward To achieve this, he says we need to work together as Africans with our global partners. Then we can open our beautiful continent to further growth in tourism. We are determined to move Africa forward in this business. Already a lot is being done by regional economic blocs on the continent to promote regional integration which has positive spin-offs for the economy including tourism, he adds. At the African Union level, Africa is investing in infrastructure development projects that will help us to promote economic development, including tourism development. One of the key goals is to work towards a seamless travel experience across the continent. I have the privilege of chairing the African Unions Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Initiative as part of the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) and one of our key projects is to develop road and rail connectivity within the continent to make it easier to travel around Africa. He also states that the continent needs more aviation connectivity. Ultimately, one does not need to fly to Europe first before reaching a North African destination from South Africa. Popimedia's CMO2020 initiative was launched in an effort to determine if local chief marketing officers (CMOs) are prepared enough to respond to a paradigm shift that threatens their relevance, as technology and data-driven sales initiatives grow in prominence. On Tuesday, 9 May (in Johannesburg) and on Friday, 12 May (in Cape Town) this shift and the new role of the CMO in the age of data were discussed. Television personality, Jeremy Maggs hosted the event and panel discussion that pitted CMOs against CIOs. Speakers at the Cape Town event that I attended, included Maritza Curry (BI manager at Woolworths ITS), and Steven Raucher, co-founder of Rapid Deploy. On the CMO versus CIO panel, Ben Wagner (head of Native VML Cape Town) was joined by Professor Geoff Bick (professor of Marketing at UCT Graduate School of Business) and Greg Erasmus (regional executive Cornastone Telecommunications). Curry was up first and offered an insightful talk about how business intelligence (BI) and analytics can really play a vital role in allowing businesses to react faster to threats or prospects by giving users quick access to relevant information. She said the shift is not so much in the function of BI in the digital era, but rather in how companies do BI, and that there needs to be a shared vision between the BI team and business through a co-created BI strategy that addresses BI capability and needs at an enterprise level. "BI and analytics in the digital era will require a shift for many corporate or traditional IT BI teams away from centralised control to co-creation with business because information produced by the BI function will only be relevant if it is aligned to business strategy." Slide listing characteristics of companies successfully competing in a data-driven world Maritza Curry Slideshare page The pace of business change Next up was the panel discussion with Wagner, Bick and Erasmus, all offering their views on what is needed to make sure CMOs stay relevant entering 2020. The panel came to the conclusion that collaboration is vital and that marketers need to understand all aspects of the business, and engage with all of these different sections to generate value. Raucher ended the discussion with a talk introducing his company, https://rapiddeploy.com/, a computer aided dispatch platform, and chatted to us about how RapidDeploy uses technology to save lives on a daily basis. Leading up to 2020, he said its important to use technology to drive your business. "If you're not using tech to drive insights and business, you're on the back foot from the start," he said. Speaking at the Johannesburg event, Hans Zachar, MD Technology Strategy of Accenture, said that if you look at what a CMO has to think about in the future, it is very important that the CMOs recognise that businesses are changing. "We used to talk about the pace of technology change, now we talk about the pace of business change, where customers and people start becoming the centre of the CMO and the organisation's agenda. He said that CMOs need to partner with their fellow C-suite executives and that the role of the CMO is becoming even more important at the C-suite in being able to sense disruption, innovation in the market and to help organisations craft their journey into that new world. In the end, it boils down to the CMO and CIO coming together and developing strategies that drive the marketing process to grow their businesses performance and to offer positive results heading into the future. For more information on future events, visit the Popimedia webpage or visit their Facebook page. A hostile alien life-form on a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy forces the crew of a spaceship into a deadly fight for survival in Alien: Covenant; a struggling salesman from Illinois creates a multi-billion dollar empire, McDonald's in The Founder; a former child star must perform 200 hours of community service and takes the lead in a lavish religious production in the romantic comedy, The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone; the idyllic life of a lovable, placid beagle is turned upside down when his family leaves him at what seems to be the best canine spa in the animated comedy, Ozzy; a family road trip goes hilariously off course in Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul and opera lovers will indulge in the Met Opera's sumptuous staging of Tchaikovsky's romantic tragedy, Eugene Onegin. Alien: Covenant In space, no one can hear you scream. After nearly four decades, those words remain synonymous with the sheer, relentless intensity of Ridley Scotts masterpiece of futuristic horror, Alien. Now, the father of the iconic franchise returns once more to the world he created to explore its darkest corners with Alien: Covenant, a pulse-pounding new adventure that pushes the boundaries of R-rated terror. Set ten years after the events depicted in Scotts 2012 hit, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant returns to the roots of the directors groundbreaking saga with a uniquely terrifying tale filled with white-knuckle adventure and monstrous new creatures. With this, the sixth instalment in the blockbuster series, the visionary director edges ever closer toward revealing the mysterious origins of the mother of all aliens, the lethal Xenomorph from the original film. All is quiet aboard the spaceship Covenant. The crew and the rest of the 2,000 souls aboard the pioneering vessel are deep in hyper-sleep, leaving the synthetic Walter to walk the corridors alone. The ship is en route to the remote planet Origae-6, where, on the far side of the galaxy, the settlers hope to establish a new outpost for humanity. The tranquility is shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenants energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off course. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, members (Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup) of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. While there, they meet David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The mysterious world soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival. The Founder The true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a struggling salesman from Illinois, met Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman), who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. Kroc soon manoeuvres himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a multi-billion-dollar empire. Directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone Former child star Gavin Stone (Brett Dalton) must perform 200 hours of community service after trashing a hotel in his Illinois hometown. Temptation strikes when Stone learns that the church hes assigned to clean is staging a lavish religious production. After landing the lead role of Jesus Christ, Gavin finds himself drawn to the shows director (Anjelah Johnson-Reyes), a young woman who also happens to be the daughter of the affable pastor (D.B. Sweeney). Ozzy The idyllic life of Ozzy, a lovable, placid beagle who has always been pampered, is about to be turned upside down. When his family, Susan, Ted and their daughter Paula, cant take him on a long trip away from home, they leave him in what seems to be the best canine spa, Blue Creek. But the places perfect appearance turns out to be a facade concocted by its villainous owner, Mr. Robbins. Ozzy will soon discover that Blue Creek is, in reality, a jail for dogs, inhabited mainly by tough street mongrels and where its a case of survival of the fittest. Once inside there, Ozzy will have to avoid danger, find strength where he didnt think he had any and learn to rely on Chester, Fronky and Doc, his new friends who will accompany him on this adventure as he tries to get back home safe and sound. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul A Heffley family road trip to attend Meemaws 90th birthday party goes hilariously off course thanks to Gregs (Jason Ian Drucker) newest scheme to get to a video gaming convention. Based on the record-breaking book series book of the same name by Jeff Kinney, it is the fourth instalment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series and a sequel to 2012's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. Eugene Onegin The next production from the Met in the current Live in HD season, acclaimed English director, Deborah Warners production of Tchaikovskys romantic tragedy, Eugene Onegin, releases at Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas from Saturday, 20 May, for limited screenings. Soprano Anna Netrebko reprises one of her most acclaimed roles as Tatiana, the naive heroine of Tchaikovskys opera, which the composer adapted from Pushkins classic verse novel. Peter Mattei stars opposite her as the self-confident title character, Eugene Onegin, who rejects Tatianas love until its too late. For the latest film releases visit The Writing Studio website. NEWSWATCH: General Motors has announced that it is transforming its business globally. For the South African market, this means the phasing out of the manufacturing and sales of Chevrolet vehicles, and Isuzu purchasing GM's light commercial vehicle plant in Port Elizabeth. Isuzu will deepen its presence in the country with the establishing of Isuzu Motors South Africa. According to the statement, following the recent announcement of the sale of Opel to the PSA Groupe, GM will work with PSA to evaluate future opportunities for the Opel brand in South Africa. GM believes there are opportunities where it can achieve greater return on investment in specific segments and markets where the outlook for growth is strong (business adjacencies, SUVs and crossovers, U.S. and China). General Motors South Africa Announcement 18 May 2017 from FleishmanHillard South Africa on Vimeo. For more details, read the full statement by Ian Nicholls, president and MD of General Motors South Africa, explaining all aspects of the company's decision here. Carfind.co.za, an online car buying and selling platform, has introduced a 360 interior view feature. Each view is that of a real car - be it new or used. No library files are used; buyers can view the interior of the actual car that they're interested in purchasing. This is a massive leap forward in the world of online vehicle purchasing because, as any car buyer will tell you, it's vitally important to know what you're actually buying. Prior to this innovation, that was impossible in South Africa, specifically when relating to the vehicle interior, as flat photographs never portrayed the interior optimally. "The internet has played an important role within the motor industry globally," explains Frank McDouall, who conceptualised and co-founded Carfind.co.za in 2000 and is the current CIO. "But it's not without its challenges." One of those challenges is taking the conventional dealer showroom floor experience (whereby the buyer examines the car inside and out) and then replicating this experience online. "Honestly speaking, this is not easy to do. Yes, of course, there are photographs of the vehicle online. But flat photographs have limitations; they're designed to portray the car's finest features. Furthermore, photographs are better suited to displaying the exterior of a car," McDouall explains. Flat photographs not as effective He contends that photographs do not work as well for the interior of a vehicle. "It is much harder to examine the interior of any car if one only has flat photographs in front of you. And there is no denying that the interior of a car is very important; after all, it's where you spend your time!" comments McDouall. The 360 feature is a real bonus to buyers of both new and used cars. Want to compare the various interior options on a new car? You can do this easily - at the click of a button. This feature will negate the need to trawl through endless car showrooms, opening and closing car doors while searching for that perfect (but, sometimes, seemingly unattainable) interior. Each and every different interior colour and trim option can be examined with better perceptive detail - and in seconds. One can inspect the interior of the car thoroughly - simply by moving one's mobile device. "It's almost as good as sitting in the actual car. I only say 'almost' because the only things that are missing are the smell and touch of the car, so the tactile elements. Otherwise, the experience is as close to the real thing that one can simulate in the online realm." McDouall stresses that the 360 internal view is not generic. "This is very important. It is specific to each and every vehicle. So, if there is a stain on the seat or the upholstery is scuffed, the buyer will see this immediately," he explains. Rollout Carfind.co.za is currently rolling out the concept nationally across the 1000-plus dealership showroom floors that list their cars on the site, with around 900 cars already boasting the 360 interior view feature. Buyers can also filter out cars without this feature - so they can view only those models that do have the 360 interior view. Well-known veteran radio presenter Darren Scott will be joining the OFM family from Monday, 3 July, as the host of the brand-new afternoon drive show, Just Plain Drive on OFM. Scott will be replacing popular host of the Afternoon Delight, Andre Kunz, who is relocating with his family to Johannesburg. Darren Scott Scott has a highly successfully career in the media, including hosting radio shows on Jacaranda FM, 5FM, East Coast Radio and will continue as breakfast host on Johannesburgs Hot 91.9FM. Scott recently won Best Presenter of a Breakfast Show at the coveted Liberty Radio Awards. His show, Joburgs Hottest Breakfast Show, on radio station Hot 91.9FM, also won Best Breakfast Show. In 2008, Scott won the South African Best Radio Personality title and in conjunction with Jacaranda FM, he also won the title of Most Innovative Radio Show in SA. Says Nick Efstathiou, OFMs General Manager: OFM is delighted to welcome Darren Scott to the station. We always knew that it would be tough to replace one of our most popular presenters, but to have someone of his experience and caliber on air will ensure that this new venture is a great success. We are looking forward to introduce Darren to beautiful Central South Africa and to its wonderful people! Catch Just Plain Drive on OFM, the sound of your life, weekdays from 4pm to 7pm. The return of Brian Molefe as CEO of South Africa's largest state owned enterprise, the power utility Eskom, has caused outrage due to the circumstances under which he resigned in December last year. Molefe left the power utility after a Public Protectors inquiry alleged that he may have been involved in nefarious activities. The State of Capture report by the then Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, showed extensive and irregular communication between Molefe and the Guptas, a family with close ties to President Jacob Zuma. At the time Molefes backers including board chairperson Ben Ngubane glorified him. They attributed a turnaround in Eskoms fortunes as a function of the CEOs 18-month tenure. His supporters branded him as a messiah whose departure would have negative consequences for the power utility. Similar sentiments were expressed more recently by Ngubane and Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown. She told a press conference that she supported his return as CEO as he was responsible for the fact that load shedding (organised power cuts) had stopped and the power utility was on sound financial footing. But was Molefes performance as great as his supporters say it was? I suggest not. Its true that under Molefes reign power cuts across the country were brought to an end. In addition, Eskom reported better financial results last year. But neither of these two developments had much to do with Molefes capabilities as a CEO. The power cuts ended primarily due to a decline in electricity demand partly the consequence of a weakening economy and new generation capacity that had been in the pipeline for years. And the improvement in a number of Eskoms financial ratios was due in large part to massive financial support provided by the government in 2015. Did Molefe end the power cuts? Prior to Molefes arrival as CEO in March 2015 the power utilitys finances had been worsening and it was struggling to meet electricity demand. These challenges were largely due to a delay in investment by the government as well as slow increases in tariffs. The delay in investment was due to governments indecisiveness over a protracted period of time. And the slow increase in tariffs was the result of a desire to shield consumers from sharp increases and a mistrust of Eskoms claimed needs. South Africans lived through a period of extensive power cuts in 2007. Electricity generation capacity was unable to keep up with demand. The situation was largely saved by slowing economic growth combined with greater energy efficiency. These factors meant that electricity demand was already well below forecasts prior to Molefes appointment and continued this trajectory during his tenure as CEO. Falling demand created a virtuous cycle in operations: lower demand put an end to the need to impose power cuts. It also opened up the opportunity to do maintenance on infrastructure, leading to greater availability of capacity and an even lower probability of power cuts. To be sure, Molefe still had to ensure that Eskom continued to get the basics right. Theres little evidence that he did more than that. Instead, it seems that his predecessor, Tshediso Matona, was excessively negative in his outlook. This set up Molefe to appear as though he had pulled-off a dramatic success. Molefes bailouts What of the improvements in Eskoms financial situation? The view that Molefe was behind Eskoms short-term financial turnaround was used to award him a R2.5m performance bonus for the year ended 31 March 2016. (Molefe appears to have secured a R30m retirement package when he tendered his resignation. Under the terms of his return to the job this will now no longer be paid.) But a closer look suggests that Eskoms financial improvement cant be attributed to Molefe. In many respects it was the result of extraordinary support afforded to the power utility by the government in 2015. This support, facilitated by two special appropriation bills passed by Parliament, had two main components. The first was an equity injection through which the National Treasury under which Eskom received R23bn in exchange for shares. Since government is the sole Eskom shareholder, this translated into a straight cash gift. The second component was even more significant. This involved government writing-off a R60bn loan which had been approved in 2008 and disbursed in multiple tranches between 2008 and 2010. If we treat Eskom as a genuinely independent entity, the full cost to national government and therefore the taxpayer of writing off the loan had two parts: the remaining principal amount (around R30bn), and an additional R86bn, the estimated cost of the state foregoing interest payments on the loan. According to the loan conditions, Eskom would have been required to pay this interest in the event that its financial situation improved. Whether this financial support was desirable depends on your view of Eskoms recent history. Many analysts agree that additional government support was overdue. But in relation to Molefe it raises a simpler question: if many of the improvements in Eskoms financial ratios were due to massive transfers of cash and assets from taxpayers, did it make sense to pay its CEO a bonus that effectively also came from taxpayers? Either way, closer analysis of Molefes supposed successes reveal that they are not what they have been made out to be. Combined with the failures of corporate governance with which he has been associated, the case for reappointing him as Eskom CEO appears to be paper thin. The annual Travel Indaba has rebranded to Africa's Travel Indaba, reflecting its evolution from a locally-orientated event to one that is representative of the African continent. The Indaba has been taking place for more than 35 years, 25 of which have been in Durban, a venue that has been confirmed for the next five years. President Jacob Zuma reaffirmed this at the opening of Indaba 2017 on Tuesday, 16 May, referring to the Indaba as a wonderful way to celebrate Africa month and to showcase the beauty of our country and our continent. This week we bring Africa and the world together at this homegrown trade show where Africa markets itself to the world. The rebranding reflects the commitment to parenting with the rest of Africa to not only showcase tourism from across the continent but to contribute to the economic growth of Africa. Another consideration in the rebranding was to differentiate it from other high-profile events in the country that also utilise the name Indaba. A brand refresh This year, Indaba also saw a number of upgrades being implemented - all part of its brand refresh - from an updated diary system that will provide more matchmaking options and more meeting opportunities including buyers and media to a brand new Indaba App that will be the primary source of information, news on events, and for navigation and meetings. Other event enhancements include a new layout, new (streamlined) events programme with new speakers and a new luxury pavilion. In conjunction with the above, SAT will strategically position itself to meet and share insights with the greater tourism industry. The positioning has given the African travel industry more ownership in the show - with SATs role more clearly defined as the organiser and ownership of the show lying with the entire industry. Africa never stops moving Africa moves your feet as much as she moves your heart, your body, and your soul - and we, Africas Travel Indaba, move with her. The rebrand messaging is based on the insight that Africa never stops moving. It states: From the natural movement of our wildlife to the political movements that have defined our history. From the movement across borders and oceans that gave us the diversity we celebrate today, to the seemingly never-ending movement of our cities, Africa is defined by movement - Up, Down, Forward, Onwards. Forever growing, expanding, and exploding - with ideas, possibilities, and energy. Africa moves your feet as much as she moves your heart, your body, and your soul - and we, Africas Travel Indaba, move with her. Explaining the motivation behind this, Liana Liebenberg, FCBs head of design, says it is about people being so fanatical about Africa. In Africa, it is not just about moving from A to B, but the stories in between these spaces. The branding design reflects this with a logo that moves, bends and creates all these patterns in between, like the stories in Africa. We also created a CI that is modern in a contemporary way. Movement, the love, passion, and obsession with Africa that moves us emotionally and makes us want to share that feeling with the rest of the world. Moving South Africa, Africa, and their tourism industries forwards. Physically moving people from A to B as part of our business, states the branding message. Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. North Dakota legislative leaders have requested an attorney generals opinion on whether Gov. Doug Burgum overstepped his constitutional authority on several vetoes he issued after the Legislature adjourned in late April. Rep. Al Carlson and Sen. Rich Wardner, the Republican majority leaders in their respective chambers, sent a letter to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem Wednesday requesting his opinion on a handful of Burgums vetoes. Because of the time-sensitive nature of the questions presented, we would appreciate your expedited review of our request, they wrote. Meanwhile, Legislative Council staff already concluded that Burgum may have exceeded his authority on at least some of those vetoes, according to a memo provided to Forum News Service Wednesday that outlines relevant court cases and previous opinions. Burgum announced less than a week after the Legislature adjourned on April 27 that he had vetoed at least parts of nine bills. The majority leaders letter came a day after two legislative leaders expressed doubts that lawmakers would reconvene to address Burgums vetoes. They adjourned on the 77th day of the regular session, which is limited to 80 days every two years. Grand Forks Republican Sen. Ray Holmberg, chairman of Legislative Management, said the AG opinion is on a separate track than the decision on whether to call lawmakers back to Bismarck. Legislative Management, the committee that would decide whether to reconvene, has a meeting scheduled for May 31. Wardner said they sought the opinion for informational purposes. Wed like to know if they are constitutional, he said. Once the AG opinion is issued, well make a decision after that if were going to do anything or not. Wardner said lawmakers dont have any days to waste if they want to return and address other issues. Asked about what other options lawmakers might have to address the vetoes, Wardner said you could take the governor to the Supreme Court, but he quickly noted that hes not interested in that route at this time. Carlson didnt return a message seeking comment late Wednesday afternoon. The majority leaders letter questions whether the governor can veto a portion of a sentence in an appropriation bill that changes the intent of the legislation. They pointed to vetoes in the budget bills for higher education, the Department of Commerce and the State Water Commission. The legislative leaders also asked whether Burgum could veto a condition or restriction on an appropriation without vetoing the appropriation itself. They again cited the higher education, Department of Commerce and State Water Commission bills, along with the budget for the state Department of Land Trusts. Finally, Carlson and Wardner questioned whether its a constitutional violation for the Legislature to create interim committees to study state employee health insurance and to monitor state revenues and state economic activity. Many of the partial vetoes attempt to eliminate conditions or restrictions on appropriations, strike language that is not separate and distinct from the rest of the bill, change the legislative purpose of appropriations bills, and, in effect, legislate from the executive branch, the Legislative Council memo states. The governors office defended the vetoes Wednesday. "Gov. Burgum exercised his veto authority very thoughtfully and with great respect for the separation of powers, the governors spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, said in a statement. His intent was to preserve executive branch authority to ensure the ability to operate state government as effectively and efficiently as possible while prioritizing spending at a time when fiscal restraint is essential." Donors associated with companies holding medical marijuana licenses are providing most of the funding for ballot measures that would legalize recreational marijuana in several states. An analysis of campaign finance data by The Associated Press shows that marijuana legalization campaigns have raised about $23 million in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. Entities associated with the existing marijuana industry have provided the bulk of the money in every state except North Dakota, where a national cannabis advocacy group is the top donor. The New Approach advocacy group also is the main backer of a Colorado initiative to legalize psychedelic mushrooms. In Food access program at risk, the Worthington Globe's Karl Evers-Hilstrom reports: The agriculture finance bill, one of the bills Dayton rejected, would have left the Good Food Access Fund with no money for the next biennium. . . . The fund is part of an effort to deliver local produce to areas that otherwise wouldnt have access a major issue in rural areas such as southwest Minnesota, where most small towns dont have a supermarket. Studies show a lack of access to healthy, affordable food options in small, rural towns means more health problems for those residents, including a greater risk for obesity and obesity-related diseases. Steve Kinsella of the Minnesota for Healthy Kids Coalition said the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) saw significantly more applicants for the grant program than expected. The MDA received more than 50 applications totaling more than $1.5 million out of the $150,000 available for Equipment and Physical Improvement Grants. Many of the applicants were small-town grocery stores looking for help in updating their refrigeration systems, an expensive operation that typically isnt economically feasible. The fund was set to receive $500,000 for the next biennium, but the money was cut out during conference committee. Minnesota has this significant food desert problem, Kinsella said. The legislature acted last year to take steps to help address the problem, tremendous interest developed for the program and its potential to help improve access to healthy and affordable foods, and then the legislature killed the funding for it. . . . Local leaders are aiming to install a public art display, such as Bismarck's Art Alley, in Mandan. Mandan has been doing a lot of research on what the city needs to have a more vibrant downtown, said Jarrod Auer, a member of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce Leadership Bismarck-Mandan team that is leading the effort. In Bismarck, Art Alley has become a popular place for wedding and graduation photos and is a gathering point for people in the community, something Auer and his team members, Dawn Kleppe, Wade Wall Jr., Lesley Icenogle and Annette Martel would like to see duplicated in the sister city across the river. Partnering with the North Dakota Music Hall of Fame, they came up with the concept for North Dakota Music Lane in Dykshoorn Park, which would be a visual arts display honoring music hall of fame inductees. Founded in 2015, the hall of fame formed to honor North Dakotans who have made a local, regional or national contribution to the music industry. Its first four inductees are Lawrence Welk, of Strasburg, Bobby Vee, of Fargo, Peggy Lee, of Jamestown, and Lynn Anderson, of Grand Forks. There are preliminary plans to create a physical location for the hall of fame a half block away from the park in the former Elks Lodge. Should those plans take place, the art installation in the park could tie into that. The project team plans to start fundraising with a goal of $15,000. This would cover the cost of the art, the materials and installation of one 6-by-8 foot panel and two 4-by-6 foot panels by Mann Signs. The panels would be placed in line with the fence running along the south side of the park. A call for local artists to submit designs depicting their interpretation of the hall of fame honorees, as well as music in North Dakota, will be placed next week. Following a four- to six-week period for submissions, a committee will choose artists to create the art for the panels. The Mandan Architecture Review Commission will make the final approval. The team aims to raise the money and construct the art exhibit this summer. In addition to the visual art, there will be scannable QR codes on the display allowing visitors to listen to music clips from the artists and a detailed verbal history recorded by radio host and North Dakota native Shadoe Stevens. We will establish a network by uniting people of different religions from various fields [to prevent] issues that can cause religious conflict and can harm peace, said Ko Arkar Oo, an organizer of the Peace and Goodwill Forum. The May 15-19 event has brought together over 150 representatives from around the region to discuss multi-ethnic, multi-religious harmony. Too often religion is misused, often in political contexts, such as general elections, said Ko Arkar Oo. Myanmar has long struggled with issues of religious tolerance, and especially, a rising anti-Muslim sentiment. Myanmar was designated a country of particular concern once again this year by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. In its annual report, the US State Department detailed mistreatment and violence against Muslim and Christian minorities and criticized the government for not doing more to prevent the religiously fueled abuses. Although the circumstances and root causes driving the ill treatment of religious and ethnic groups differ, there are two common elements: (1) the outright impunity for abuses and crimes committed by the military and some non-state actors, and (2) the depth of the humanitarian crisis faced by displaced per- sons and others targeted for their religious and/or ethnic identity, the report said. At the Myeik forum, participants indicated a willingness to work toward interfaith harmony. Im attending [the forum] to help build relationships between Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims. I have gained knowledge about the different beliefs, convictions and activities of different religions from a diverse group of friends, Ko Chit Htwe a resident from Maung Ngan Village in Myeik township. More forums like this should be held to promote [interfaith] friendship. The meeting was attended by Tanintharyi Chief Minister U Lei Lei Maw, as well as religious leaders, government officials and members of civil society organizations from Tanintharyi, Kyunsu, Myeik, and Pulaw townships Translated by Thida Linn Edited by Laignee Barron Fighting in March between the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Government forces on Myanmars north-eastern border pushed thousands of people into China to seek refuge prompting Beijing to call for a ceasefire between ethnic troops and Chinese security forces to carry out military drills along the border. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Xi that Myanmar was grateful for Chinese help and that it would work with China to safeguard stability in the border region, the report said. During a meeting this week, members of the state government said that if the New Mon State Party/Mon National Liberation Army (NMSP/MNLA) inks the ceasefire, the state can focus on development, said U Min Kyi Win, Mon States Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. The state government wants them to sign the NCA quickly, he said. The May 16 meeting involved both the Mon State chief minister and the NMSP. The NMSP has already indicated its willingness to sign the NCA, but says it wants others to join it in doing so. The NMSP has decided to sign the NCA but we will not sign it alone. We are still negotiating about signing it together with the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council] members, said Nai Shwe Thein from the NMSP, and a member of the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN). According to UNFC leaders, the NMSP, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) have agreed to join the NCA. Others, including the Arakan National Council (ANC) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) are on the fence, while the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Wa National Organization (WNO) both recently resigned from the UNFC over disputes around the NCA. The UNFC has not announced whether it will be attending the upcoming 21st-Century Panglong Confernece, scheduled for May 24. The UNFCs negotiating team, the DPN, is expected to meet with the government peace commission in the coming days. Translated by Thida Linn Edited by Laignee Barron Sai Wan Leng Kham, an Upper House lawmaker for the SNLD representing Lashio Township, told Shan Herald on Tuesday that the enlistment policy started at the beginning of May. He said that the Manpang Peoples Militia sent letters to local villagers houses with a list of names of persons they wished to recruit as soldiers. They delivered a list of names, he said. Some families had already sent their sons to them. But others, who refused to send their children, asked us for help. So, we [MPs from Tangyan, Lashio and Mongyai] have sent a letter to high-ranking officers within the Burmese army. Some villagers have even fled their homes and villages over this policy. For example, a man from Nam Muse village had to cancel his wedding and run away because if he stayed in the village he would have been forced to enlist in the militia. SNLD MP Sai Wan Leng Kham said that he didnt know how many persons the peoples militia wants to enlist. He said the Manpang group are recruiting in their active areas such as Mongyaw, Nampong, Mongmao, Mong Dom, Wan Kard, Manthab, Wan Ben, Lukwai, Wanje, Honar Kongsar, Mong Pai, Don Nay, Nar Nang, Kun Hio, Nar Moong, Kong Mong, Khum Jong, Kong Mao, Peng Nyaung, Pang Hoong, Mong Geng, Nam Hoo Loi Kar, Pang Nyaung, Nong Liang, Mangpang and Nammuje, all of which are in Lashio and Tanyan townships. He said that some villagers believe the recruitment drive is for the Burmese army. However, the Manpang militia insists they are recruiting only for their own ranks. Reports circulated recently that villagers in southern Shan States Maukmai Township have abandoned their homes to seek refuge elsewhere, avoiding a similar conscription drive by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA). Gen. Yard Serk, the chairman of RCSS/SSA, denied such a practice. What really happened was that the RCSS wanted to train village security forces so that these villagers could protect themselves. The villagers thought it was a good idea, but three village headmen thought otherwise and ordered them to flee, said Yard Serk, whose army was among eight groups that signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) during the tenure of President Thein Seins government. The RCSS/SSA has in recent months been involved in a series of clashes with government forces in southern Shan State. More than 20 clashes have been reported between the Burmese army and the RCSS/SSA since the Shan militia signed the NCA in 2015. Shan Herald reported in December that, in northern Shan State, hundreds of villagers fled their homes to avoid a recruitment drive by the Taang National Liberation Army, also known as the Palaung Army, which has clashed regularly with Burmas government forces in the area. Hundreds of Peoples Militias exist at a local level throughout Shan State and are mostly supported by the Burmese army, which is entrenched in conflicts with several ethnic armed groups across the region. A research paper titled Militias in Myanmar, published last year by US academic John Buchanan, said, Militias take many different forms in Myanmar [Burma], varying in size, allegiances and modes of operation. Though estimates of their numbers vary, all indications are that militia groups are present throughout conflict-affected parts the country, and can be highly influential armed actors in their areas of operation. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION Gov. Doug Burgum did the wise thing when he prevented a collection of books and DVDs from being returned to the authors and producers. The Legislature transferred the material, valued at more than $370,000, to Bismarck State College. The legislation allowed BSC to return the material if it saw fit, but Burgum vetoed that part of the bill. He sees an opportunity to capitalize on the material using the talent at the school. The Dakota Institute published and produced more than 24,000 books and DVDs after being created in 2010 by the Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation. In 2015, the state acquired the Dakota Institute when it purchased the assets of the foundation. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn became part of the Parks and Recreation Department in the deal. Many of the books and DVDs are scholarly efforts that might not be considered of high interest to mainstream consumers. However, the Dakota Institute put a lot of effort into creating a quality product. Legislators may not have seen a lot of value in the material, thus the willingness to return it to authors and producers. Burgum has a different view of the situation. "We can monetize it at a higher level rather than giving it away," Burgum told reporter Blair Emerson last week. "The other piece is, coming from my background in technology, whenever I see that the state is transferring intellectual property, that catches my attention as well." The Legislature in 2015 approved $2.05 million for the state to take over the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and its assets from the foundation. The bill also included an additional $950,000 for operating expenses for the 2015-17 biennium. So it makes sense for the state to get maximum value out of the purchase. Too often government is willing to move on from projects where taxpayer money has been used because it cant anticipate future value. Burgum contacted BSC President Larry Skogen before issuing his veto and asked Skogen if a faculty member would help develop a plan that might involve students in project management to retail sales to website building. Skogen was pleased that Burgum considered the school and wanted to get student involvement. So Burgum vetoed that part of the bill and BSC has a challenge. It will be interesting to see what the students can accomplish. It could be a good learning experience and result in some revenue for the state. The publishing business can be challenging, so it wont be easy to market books and DVDs that have been available for some time. If the students can find a way to sell some of the books that would be great. Some of the material might be incorporated into classes. Books are costly for students, so if some of the material is classroom worthy, there could be savings for students. The BSC project fits Burgums promise to reinvent government. It may not seem like a big deal, but its a step toward maximizing our resources. Burgum said BSC, Parks and Recreation and the State Historical Society of North Dakota also will have to find a way to monetize the works, which have royalties attached to them. It could be called a new chapter in North Dakota government. In the past, how did people make sense of the world? Shing Yin Khor hopes that visitors to her exhibition will be just as as bewildered as those past seekers. In the past, how did people make sense of the world? Shing Yin Khor hopes that visitors to her exhibition will be just as as bewildered as those past seekers. A federal judge dismissed the civil suit filed by Dakota Access against the Standing Rock tribal chairman and four other defendants. In an order filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland said the company failed to show that the federal court had jurisdiction over the case. Hovland dismissed the claims against Dave Archambault, Dana Yellow Fat, Valerie Wolf Necklace, Clifton Holllow and Jonathan Edwards. There is still a lawsuit against Donald Strickland and Aaron Neyer, who did not file motions to dismiss. The company claimed the seven defendants interfered with pipeline work through their actions in the protest, threatening the safety of workers and costing the company business to the tune of more than $75,000 a day when work stopped. But the company didn't show that the alleged losses caused by each defendant exceeded $75,000, which is required for a lawsuit to be valid in federal court, Hovland decided. "Dakota Access cannot aggregate the alleged harm from all pipeline protesters in calculating the value of an injunction against individuals acting independently," Hovland wrote. Tim Purdon, of Robins Kaplan, who represented Archambault and Yellow Fat, said he thought the decision was appropriate. "I don't think the jurisdiction was a close call," he said. Bearing that in mind, Purdon commented that the pipeline company took advantage of the court system to get a temporary restraining order against his clients, which was in place for several weeks, and prohibited them from "unlawfully interfering" with pipeline construction. Purdon said this may have impeded their First Amendment rights. Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for Dakota Access, declined to comment. In court documents, the company argued that the court should consider the total harm done to the company aggregated among the defendants. "The value of the harm cannot be divided or apportioned to each individual defendant or protester who contributed to the harm," attorney Lawrence Bender wrote on behalf of Dakota Access. "The actions of any single individual may be sufficient to prevent Dakota Access from engaging in construction and, therefore, the entire value of the injunction is at stake as against each individual defendant." Hovland said the company can pursue damages in state court. MINOT The Ward County Commission has decided not to release a recording of an April 11 executive session related to a resignation agreement with former Sheriff Steve Kukowski. Commissioner John Fjeldahl failed at Tuesday's commission meeting to get a second on a motion to make public the discussion that occurred during the closed meeting. Fjeldahl said he wants the recording to be made public because of what he says is a dispute about what happened at the meeting. He had objected to the commission's eventual approval of the April 11 minutes, which recorded a vote during a public meeting held after the executive session. The minutes stated the motion was to take counsel advisement and accept Sheriff Kukowski's resignation, effective April 15, upon approval of attorney documents. Fjeldahl said no attorney advice was given during the executive session to accept the resignation based on those documents. "There's plenty of discussion and concern and questions about how we arrived at that," Fjeldahl said of the April 11 motion. "The best way to resolve these things is a whole lot of daylight." State's Attorney Rozanna Larson said the decision to release the recording is up to the commission because there is no legal reason to withhold it. The criminal and civil proceedings against Kukowski were dropped upon his resignation. Any attorney-client privilege is now moot, she said. Commissioner Jim Rostad favored keeping the April 11 audio private to keep the confidence of those who participated in the meeting by phone. Commissioners indicated they had spoken with Kukowski's attorney, the prosecuting attorney and a representative of the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund. "I really thought that when we went into executive session, things were shared with us as commissioners on both sides," Rostad said. "I don't think they would have shared with us had it been a public meeting. We were able to ask questions that I don't think would ever have come up in a public meeting." Commissioner Alan Walter added he could approve release of the tape if approval is given by all the other participants in the meeting. Walter voiced his irritation that there was so much public conversation about what supposedly went on in the closed session. People were talking about what the commission was going to do regarding the sheriff before the commission approved a resignation agreement on April 13, he said. "I don't know how they know what we were going to do when we didn't know what we were going to do," he said. "I don't know why we even have executive sessions because before you get out of the room, people are talking about what you did in your executive session." Two days after the closed session, the commission met to approve a $75,000 settlement with Kukowski in exchange for his April 15 resignation and pledge not to sue the county for defamation or any other claim. The April 13 meeting was noticed as an executive session, but once convened, commissioners did not close the meeting. Commissioners debated Tuesday the details of the April 11 meeting. Walter said the commission received advice from its attorney in the closed meeting, although Fjeldahl disagreed. There also was discussion about the secrecy going into the closed session. Commission Chairman Larry Louser said he had called the meeting to discuss the "sheriff situation," which gave commissioners some indication of what the meeting would be about. Weppler, Fjeldahl and Rostad as well as Larson have said they did not know the specifics of the sheriff's situation until the meeting began. "I came in this room and had zero idea," Commissioner Shelly Weppler recalled of that day. Although it became apparent some commissioners had more information than she did, Weppler said, conversation about Kukowski's resignation was a turn she hadn't expected. "That was the furthest thing from my mind, she said. We went through a lot of information in that executive session with advice from our attorney." Phone call in question Among the questions surrounding an executive session of the Ward County Commission April 11 is a curious conversation that reportedly took place between a North Dakota Department of Corrections official and two Ward County commissioners just before the session. At Tuesday's commission meeting, Fjeldahl confronted Commissioners Louser and Walter about a phone call he said they made to Steve Engen, director of staff development and facility inspection at the North Dakota Department of Corrections, a half hour before the closed meeting. Engen confirmed last week that he spoke with Louser and Walter in a conference call at 8:59 a.m. April 11. The executive session was at 9:30 a.m. Louser and Walter responded to Fjeldahl's comment with strong denials that they had spoken to Engen before the executive session, and Walter re-asserted his denial when asked after the meeting. Walter said an unsuccessful attempt was made to reach Engen following the executive session. Louser said later in Tuesday's meeting that he had talked to Engen in the past to clarify a statement from the Department of Corrections that a state-assigned jail monitor would remain in place as long as Kukowski is sheriff. "That discussion is in that recording. That's why I think it should be public," Fjeldahl responded. Fjeldahl sought to persuade the commission Tuesday to make the tape contents public. Contrary to the statements of Louser and Walter, the Minot Daily News learned two phone calls to the Department of Corrections were made from the Ward County Courthouse the morning of April 11. Engen described one of the calls as a conference call with "Larry Louser and Alan Walter both on the call at the same time." Reportedly discussed at the closed session was the amount of money the county would pay toward a portion of Kukowski's legal fees, later amended to a settlement for $75,000, and also the possibility that three misdemeanor charges against the sheriff would be dropped and the jail monitor would be released. In a letter to the commission May 8, the director of the Department of Corrections stated the jail monitor will remain in place indefinitely. The county is paying an average $7,500 a month for monitoring costs. INS Kochi of Western Naval Command successfully conducted trial firing of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM). MUMBAI (PTI): INS Kochi of Western Naval Command has successfully conducted trial firing of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), the Indian Navy said on Wednesday. The ship successfully tracked and intercepted a 'low- flying high-speed target' at enhanced range with pin-point accuracy, said an official release. "This firing not only marks a significant milestone in proving the integration of the missile and the associated Fire Control System (FCS) with the ship-borne Combat Management Suite (CMS), but also demonstrates the vital area defence capability of the ship," it said. "The firing assumes importance as it was undertaken through the indigenously developed CMS," it said. INS Kochi is the second ship among the three indigenously built Kolkata class destroyers in the Indian Navy. "The MRSAM is an advanced missile system fitted on all three ships and is designed to defend naval ships against air threats such as missiles and aircraft. The system has been developed jointly by India and Israel," it said. The three members of North Dakotas congressional delegation offered differing reactions to recent news reports that called into question President Donald Trumps handling of classified information and last weeks firing of the FBI director. On Monday, several news outlets reported Trump revealed highly classified information about the Islamic State to Russian officials during an Oval Office visit, which was followed a day later by reports that Trump had asked former FBI Director James Comey to end the investigation into an adviser. A White House official said Trumps discussions with the two Russian officials were wholly appropriate. Officials have also denied that Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. We have to be careful about anonymous sources and make sure that we get to the bottom of things on a factual basis, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told conservative radio host Scott Hennen Wednesday morning. Hoeven previously said the timing of Comeys firing was questionable. The FBI has been investigating potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said if Trump did ask Comey to discontinue the Flynn investigation, that would have been highly inappropriate. But she said its very difficult to characterize this one encounter as obstruction of justice. I think that theres a lot of hyperbole on all sides here, and its really important that we get to the facts, she said in an interview with Forum News Service on Wednesday. The Justice Department later appointed a former FBI director as special counsel to examine possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russian meddling in last years election, which Heitkamp called a very important step, and one which Ive called for. Hoeven said the special counsel appointment was a good choice, and he said the Senate Intelligence Committee and FBI should continue to investigate to get the facts. On reports that Trump shared classified information, Heitkamp said somebody would have to talk to me on how giving this information to the Russians has made us more secure or made our allies more secure. She acknowledged the president has broad authority to declassify information, but the question is is it appropriate. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., followed Hoevens radio interview Wednesday and questioned the medias coverage of the president. The third-term congressman, who has been floated as a potential Senate candidate in 2018, has been a consistent defender of Trump. Trump won North Dakota with nearly 63 percent of the vote in November, and Cramer said the states residents are more concerned about policy issues like the Farm Bill than the recent reports coming out of the White House. There are a lot of people heavily invested in bringing Donald Trump down, Cramer told Hennen. Its not that I want to understate potential problems, but theyre only potential if theyre true. In an interview with Forum News Service, Cramer said the Washington Post and the New York Times are not reliable sources to me, pointing to the newspapers use of anonymous sources. Im not disputing the facts in it. I dont know the facts, he said. But I also dont just trust the New York Times and the Washington Post and their quote unnamed sources. Cramer said a special prosecutor is unnecessary at this point, if ever. He said everybody should calm down and let the process work. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A 51-year-old Brandon man has been arrested for possession of prohibited weapons after 12 stun guns were intercepted by police and border authorities. It appears they were discovered when a man ordered them online and had them delivered. While its not known why the stun guns were obtained in this case whether they would be sold, for example, or distributed theyre prohibited devices that are illegal for the general public to have. Submitted Twelve stun guns were recently intercepted by police and border authorities. A 51-year-old Brandon man has been arrested for possession of prohibited weapons. I think there probably are a few people who just come across them on the Internet and think that that would be something cool to have and dont do the research and arent educated to know that theyre prohibited, Brandon Police Service Sgt. David Andrew said. Other people know that they are prohibited and illegal weapons and just want to have them in their possession. The BPS announced the arrest on Wednesday. It was the result of an ongoing investigation in which a package of stun guns were initially intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency, they said. Six of the weapons were designed to resemble iPhones. Andrew said its believed that the man ordered the stun guns online and had them shipped to himself. He said the CBSA first learned of the packaged stun guns earlier this month. The suspect was arrested on Tuesday and the stun guns recovered at his home. The suspect was released following his arrest to appear in court in June. Submitted One of the six weapons seized that were designed to resemble iPhones. Andrew said Brandon police have come across stun gun devices before during their duties. Suspects have had them as a form of personal protection (including drug dealers). But theyre not usually found on this scale. They may be found one at a time, for example, during investigations and searches of suspects. ihitchen@brandonsun.com Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/05/2017 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. They managed to help pull a few dogs from Little Grand Rapids, but the efforts of Westmans Strays That Cant Pay animal rescue proved tragically to have been a drop in the bucket. Donnelly Rose Eaglestick, 24, was found dead next to a pack of stray dogs in the northern First Nation community early Saturday morning. Strays That Cant Pay helped remove a few animals from the community during the winter by networking some out to Alberta and a couple others to rescues in Winnipeg, executive director Alicia Hoemsen said. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Brian Simard with the Brandon Humane Society visits with Marri, a rescue from Bloodvein First Nation, at the society's office on Wednesday afternoon. One senior adult dog they removed from the community was just riddled with bullets, Hoemsen said, adding that another dog was removed alongside her fresh litter of puppies. This weeks news that Little Grand Rapids would undertake a dog cull was pretty much a given following Eaglesticks death, though Hoemsen cautions that this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem unless its followed up on with bylaw enforcement. Otherwise, she said, the cycle of violence would continue. Give it a year, Hoemsen said, adding that with dogs reproducing every six months with multiple-puppy litters, its only a matter of time before this problem would re-emerge unless more is done. Brandon Humane Society manager Tracy Munn shared a similar sentiment, calling current efforts her organizations included putting Band-Aids on broken bones. We take so many puppies off (northern communities) because they have no vets, no animal control, and more puppies get born and born and born, she said, adding: You can have a cull, whatever. I dont know what the answer is for wild dogs, but youve got to prevent that problem. While Strays That Cant Pay works with communities and rescue organizations throughout a wide swath of the country, their primary focus is with four Westman First Nations, including Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Waywayseecappo First Nation and Birdtail Sioux First Nation. Hoemsen said that she hasnt heard of any incidents of dogs killing people in Westman during her organizations five years, but that she has heard of dogs biting people quite regularly. Last year, they managed to spay or neuter 105 animals from these four communities, but Hoemsen said that this effort has been far from matching the need. With few on-reserve households having fenced-in yards, there are many dogs on the loose, she said, adding that others are left outside on chains, which can lead to other dogs ganging up on them and causing injury. The solution, she said, is part education, part bylaw enforcement. Hoemsen said that theyd continue to do what they can to help keep pet populations down in a humane manner, but that their actions are limited by funding shortfalls. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Brian Simard with the Brandon Humane Society visits with Kansas, a rescue from Little Black River, at the society's office on Wednesday afternoon. This years budget is $129,000, though she said that theyd have a difficult time meeting this financial hurdle. The Brandon Humane Society plans on sending a mobile spay/neuter clinic throughout the province this summer, beginning with a few test rounds at First Nations communities around Virden where theyll be close to veterinarian offices in the event something unforeseen comes up. From there, theyll branch out to the more remote northern First Nations, where Munn said that she hopes to see as many as 40 dogs spayed or neutered within three-day stints, depending on how many veterinarians theyre able to line up. Munn hopes to see the mobile clinic make at least three trips to northern Manitoba this summer, beginning with Sandy Bay some time next month. These communities have their own funding challenges to deal with, Munn said, adding: This isnt about blame, this is about people working and helping together We want to fix this problem. Leadership from the four First Nations that Strays That Cant Pay spends the bulk of their time working with were unavailable for comment by press time on Wednesday. tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB Already have an account? Log in here A 25-year-old Brandon man was taken to hospital with serious and life-threatening injuries after a crash in which alcohol is believed to have played a part. We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer). The Housing Minister is to address a workshop on the rental strategy in Dublin Castle today. Simon Coveney will address fear over the fact that the average monthly rent now stands at over 1,100 per month. Let Me Tell You is a new bespoke podcast series from Hosts Daniel McConnell and Paul Hosford take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments in recent Irish political history from the unique perspective of one of the key players involved. The Government need to change their approach to the case of Ibrahim Halawa. That is the opinion of one member of the Green Party, who says if it is not dealt with straight away, the Dublin man could face another six months in prison in Egypt. A girl who died 10 years after suffering injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome fought "an amazing fight", according to her mother. Rhiannon Fegan (aged 10) died of bronchial pneumonia due to immobility due to severe neurological impairment, an inquest heard. At three months old, the child was admitted to Our Ladys Childrens Hospital in Crumlin suffering brain injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome. An inquest into her death at Dublin Coroners Court heard that following this incident in November 2004, she was cared for at the Childrens Sunshine Home in Leopardstown Road, Dublin 18 for the remainder of her life. Speaking after the inquest, Rhiannons mother Nadia Fegan, from Co Kildare, said she missed her daughter more than anything in the world. She was an amazing little girl. She had her own little personality in spite of everything. She taught me a lot. Through all her disabilities and challenges she had this amazing fight, she had this will to live, Ms Fegan said. After she died I told myself I would live for both of us now. I love her and miss her more than anything in the world, Ms Fegan said. The injuries Rhiannon sustained at three months old left the child mentally and physically disabled, wheelchair bound and unable to feed herself, the court heard. Gardai in Newbridge investigated the incident in 2004 and a file was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecution but no prosecution was directed. The child suffered seizures throughout her life and was vulnerable to chest infections due to immobility following the brain injury she suffered as a baby, the court heard. In June 2017, she was hospitalised with a lower respiratory tract infection and treated at Our Ladys Children's Hospital in Crumlin. Four days before her death she was transferred to the LauraLynn Childrens Hospice for palliative care. Her mother was by her side when she died on July 18 2015 at 2.05am. The cause of death was bilateral bronchial pneumonia due to immobility due to severe neurological impairment, according to an autopsy conducted by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis. The pathologist found several infarctions that resulted in severe neurological impairment. The timing of these injuries was consistent with the timing of the childs admission to hospital in 2004. However the pathologist said in his report the cause of these injuries was not apparent. Gardai re-investigated the case following the childs death. After Rhiannon passed away I conducted a full review of the original file and the postmortem report and re-submitted that file to the DPP in 2016, Insp Mel Smith said. The DPP again directed no prosecution in the case. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a narrative verdict outlining the facts heard at inquest. We can only attempt to understand how bereaved you feel, the coroner told Ms Fegan, offering her condolences on the tragic loss of the child. President Michael D Higgins has said the four-year trial in Egypt of 21-year-old Ibrahim Halawa needs an urgent resolution. Mr Halawa was incarcerated after being detained during Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013 and hearings in the case have been adjourned more than 20 times. The President raised the controversial imprisonment during a meeting with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church, Pope Tawadros II, at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin. In a statement Mr Higgins said: "We emphasised the crucial value of human rights, including the freedom of religion and the rights of prisoners. President Higgins also made particular reference to the pressing case of Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, which he described as needing an urgent resolution. Mr Halawa, the son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin, Sheikh Hussein Halawa, was imprisoned after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood protested over the removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013. He has been tortured and gone on hunger strikes during his imprisonment. Pope Tawadros II also held talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan and Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who also discussed Mr Halawas incarceration. Egypts ambassador to Ireland, Soha Gendi, attended the meeting with President Higgins along with a number of other Coptic Christian bishops. The President also conveyed his condolences on the loss of life following recent attacks on two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday. Both leaders also highlighted the importance of inclusive political dialogue in seeking to bring an end to the conflicts which now prevail and are threatening humanity in so many parts of the world, and the urgency of achieving new means of ensuring stability, democracy and sustainable development. Earlier this week, the latest court hearing in the case was adjourned after a number of witnesses failed to show up. It is due to be mentioned again in July. Mr Halawas family said he has asked for a transfer to the Tora prison after being assaulted by a guard. They also said a lawyer has warned them that the case may run for up to another two years. Outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny has written a letter to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pleading for Mr Halawas release on humanitarian grounds. Mr el-Sisi said he could be released, but only once the trial has run its course. A psychiatrist has told Eric Lockes murder trial that he saw no evidence of medical illness during his interviews with Gardai after the killing. The 35-year-old, who is from St. Johns Park East in Clondalkin in Dublin, claims he was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed his ex. Dr. Francis Kelly, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution today. When asked about the version of events Mr. Locke gave him, he made a few observations. He said Mr. Locke told him he dressed her after he strangled her because he felt this was the humane thing to do, but he wondered why he left a t-shirt in her mouth if that was the case. He was asked about his behaviour beforehand and his disposal of a mobile phone afterwards and said all those things indicate a clear consciousness that he knew what he did was wrong and was trying to conceal his responsibility. He also accused him of trying to downplay the force he used during the killing and he said there was ample evidence to suggest he didn't suffer from a form of autism as diagnosed by the defences experts. He also said he found no evidence of mental illness during his viewing of Eric Lockes interviews with Gardai. Housing Minister Simon Coveney has strongly hit back at claims he lacks charisma, saying a new Taoiseach doesn't need an 'X factor' but needs to deliver, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner. Speaking in Dublin today at the formal launch of his campaign to succeed Enda Kenny, Mr Coveney was supported by ministers Simon Harris, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Damien English and David Stanton, most of whom hail from Munster. Mr Coveney said his message will be built around strong, positive government with big ideas. In a strong statement in a measured address, he said: As far as Im concerned Im fighting for the soul of this party, he said. Mr Coveney said he believes the new leader should not just manage an economy but also focus on making peoples lives better. He said his manifesto will be an attempt to re-balance this country away from the dominance of Dublin so that rural people and rural parishes can believe in their futures again. Asked whether he has the X Factor, Mr Coveney said: That depends on what you describe as the X Factor. For me its about honest, strong, deliver. I dont think that a family living in a hotel room this evening is looking for a Taoiseach with X Factor. They are looking for a Taoiseach wholl solve their problems. A short time later, supporters of Leo Varadkar held a press conference, where nine of the partys 19 senators declared their support for the Social Protection Minister. Opening the event, Senator Catherine Noone said he was the best man for the job. Meanwhile, Education Minister Richard Bruton endorsed Mr Varadkar while declaring he would not be standing. Two men have been arrested in Meath and Dublin as part of an ongoing investigation into dissident Republican activity. Gardai from the Special Detective and Emergency Response Units searched a house in Meath and another in West Dublin today and arrested the two men who are in their 30s. Irish actor Johnny Ward has told the Irish Mirror, that women in the street whack him with their handbags for playing the role of Ciaran in Fair City. Since May last year, his character has been keeping Katy OBrien captive in a box, to get revenge on her brother Emmet. The storyline has been going on for so long that fans have come to the end of their tether - one fan has even set up a petition to put an end to the madness. Speaking to the Irish Mirror about the role, Johnny admits that he feels blessed to have taken the role although he has had to keep information on the story line top secret from the rest of the cast. "I couldn't say anything to anyone! No one else in the cast knew. It's been tough, but it's been a blast." He then went on to say that the shows bosses advised him to play the role sympathetically but after getting hit in the head with a few womens handbags, he feels all the sympathy for his character is gone. I'm getting women whacking me across the head with handbags! Fortunately for fans, the drama is set to come to a head in the next few weeks. Wheres the Coverage? Congress Acts to Thwart Palestinian-Pay-For-Terror | Main | Wheres the Coverage? New Palestinian Mayor is a Murderer May 18, 2017 France 24 Arabic Headline Fail on Jerusalem Attack France 24 Arabic has taken a page out of the book of the Jordanian government: blaming Israeli police for killing a Jordanian tourist, while ignoring the fact that the tourist repeatedly stabbed the Israeli officer in the head and neck. The wounded officer managed to fatally shoot his assailant. France 24 Arabic's grossly distorted headline about the May 13 attack in Jerusalem was: "Israeli police kill Jordanian tourist; Amman blames Israel." France 24's article was drawn from AFP, whose solid headline in English was: "Jordanian stabs Israeli officer in Jerusalem, shot dead: police." In addition, the accompanying Arabic article notes that, according to police, the Jordanian attacked the officer with a knife. (Video of the Jordanian's attack on the officer substantiates the police's information.) France 24's shoddy Arabic headline earned the media outlet an entry on CAMERA's popular document "Wave of Palestinian attacks accompanied by spate of bad writing." CAMERA has contacted Arabic France 24 editors to request a correction. Meanwhile, France 24 in English has failed to correct its headline which erroneously identifies the Jordanian attacker as Palestinian. That error originated with an early AFP report, which was long ago corrected. For the Arabic version of this post, please see CAMERA Arabic. Posted by TS at May 18, 2017 03:55 AM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment US president Donald Trump has said the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations that his campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election is "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history". The US justice department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation. Mr Mueller will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. The surprise announcement to hand the probe over to Mr Mueller, who commands deep bipartisan respect, was a striking shift for Mr Trump's justice department, which had resisted calls from Democrats for an outside prosecutor. It immediately escalated the legal stakes - and the potential political damage - for a president who has tried to dismiss the matter as partisan witch hunt and a "hoax". Mr Trump later tweeted: "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel (sic) appointed!" He did not provide examples or evidence of any alleged "illegal acts". The announcement was made by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. The White House counsel's office was alerted only after the order appointing Mr Mueller was signed, according to a senior White House official. In a written statement, Mr Trump insisted again that there were no nefarious ties between his presidential election campaign and Russia. "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he declared. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." Mr Mueller's broad mandate gives him not only oversight of the Russia probe, but also "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation". That would surely include Mr Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey. Mr Mueller, a former federal prosecutor at the justice department, was confirmed as FBI director days before the September 11, 2001, attacks which would ultimately shape his tenure. The FBI's counter-terror mission was elevated in those years, as the US intelligence agencies adjusted to better position America to prevent another attack of such magnitude. He was so valued that former president Barack Obama asked him to stay on two years longer than his 10-year term. Mr Comey succeeded him, having been appointed by Mr Obama. Republicans have largely stood behind Donald Trump in the first months of his presidency as the FBI and congressional investigations into Russia's election meddling intensified. However, Republican representatives have grown increasingly anxious since Mr Trump sacked Mr Comey, who had been leading the bureau's probe - especially after Mr Comey's associates said he had notes from a meeting in which Mr Trump asked him to shut down the investigation into the Russian ties of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. US House Speaker Paul Ryan said the appointment was consistent with his goal of ensuring that "thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead". Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Mr Mueller was a "great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted". A married British Army officer accused of raping a drunk subordinate servicewoman had stopped drinking during the night but encouraged waiters to fill her glass, a court martial in the US was told. Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Tomkins, 49, of Defence, Equipment and Support, allegedly attacked the woman after a dinner and free bar at a United Nations event in Uganda. The two-time Afghanistan veteran, 49, is accused of raping her after entering her room at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala under the pretences of working on a presentation on the night of January 7 2015. FBI Special Agent Ronald Brown told the the court martial at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday of the report she provided him with around a month later. Giving evidence via a videolink from Islamabad, Pakistan, he said: "She said every time her glass was partially empty of wine the server kept filling it up. "At some point it seemed Colonel Tomkins stopped drinking but encouraged the server to keep filling her glass." The complainant previously told the court she could not remember whose suggestion it was to work in her room and had said her recollection is "hazy". But the agent said: "She thinks she suggested doing this in the hotel lobby but Colonel Tomkins suggested doing it in her hotel room because that's where her notes were." The complainant says Tomkins' "overpowered" her and she was also too drunk to consent to sex. Tomkins, an officer of the Rifles regiment, based at Abbey Wood, near Bristol, denies rape and claims the sex was consensual. The court martial is the first to be scheduled to take place in both the US and the UK. The decision was made to allow witnesses to give evidence in America. Tomkins denies one count of rape between January 6-9 2015. The trial continues. Rolf Harris is to be released from prison on Friday, a court has heard. The Australia-born former television star, 87, has been appearing by videolink at Southwark Crown Court in London, where he is standing trial accused of indecent assault. Judge Deborah Taylor told the jury on Thursday that the defendant would be released from Stafford Prison on Friday and he would therefore appear in court in person on bail for the remainder of the trial. Jurors had previously been told Harris had already been convicted and sentenced for other offences in 2014. The judge told jurors: "He (Harris) will no longer be appearing in the court via videolink and he will be attending what remains of his trial in person next week." The trial, which opened on May 15, will not sit on Friday. Former Animal Hospital host Harris is standing trial accused of indecently assaulting three teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also alleged to have touched a 13-year-old girl's breast after filming a children's TV programme and asked her: "Do you often get molested in a Saturday morning?" He is separately accused of twice groping a third girl, aged 16, after being paid 100 to appear on ITV celebrity show Star Games in 1978, and telling her she was "a little bit irresistible", the court heard. He denies four charges of indecent assault against three women between 1971 and 1983. Long-serving members of the Canberra Liberals have broken ranks on abortion, despite leader Alistair Coe promising last year not to repeal the ACT's abortion laws if the party won office. Abortions have been legal and regulated in the ACT since 2002. Vicki Dunne is the health spokeswoman for the Canberra Liberals. Credit:Elesa Kurtz But Liberal health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne became embroiled in a Twitter war with ACT Labor MLA Tara Cheyne last weekend after Mrs Dunne tweeted her congratulations to the NSW Legislative Council after it voted down a bill that would have decriminalised abortion. A second American private equity firm has offered to buy Fairfax Media, while the original bidder has agreed to be grilled by a Senate committee about its plans for journalism at the media group. The publisher of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review said on Thursday morning it had received an indicative, preliminary and non-binding proposal from Hellman & Friedman to buy 100 per cent of the company for $2.87 billion. TPG's local boss Joel Thickins. The bid values the company between $1.225 and $1.250 a share in cash, and assumes the company pays shareholders no dividends. It comes after a consortium featuring US private equity group TPG Capital and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) made an approach to Fairfax earlier this month at $1.20 a share, or $2.76 billion. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson has predicted a "noble compromise" will be reached on Indigenous recognition in the constitution, with a referendum question hitting a "sweet spot" between ambition and realism, and between conservatism and liberalism. The Cape York leader believes a clear position will emerge from next week's Indigenous constitutional convention at Uluru and has challenged the nation's political leaders to have the courage to deal with it and "put a winnable proposition to the Australian people". Mr Pearson has also applauded a proposal from Warren Mundine to recognise local and regional Aboriginal bodies in the constitution as a "crucial contribution" ahead of the four-day convention. If you needed any further proof of Australian media's love of blokeish enclaves and the irrelevant old men who fester within them, you need only look to the recent broadcast on Channel Ten's The Project of Steve "Pricey" Price and his pointless interview with John "Lawsy" Laws. For reasons that still appear unclear, Laws' reanimated corpse was wheeled out this week so he and Price could hash out some old grievances under the guise of promoting Laws' newly released memoir. The interview itself was so indulgent and boring that I almost fell asleep numerous times - and listen, it was only seven minutes long so that's a pretty mean feat - but the part that's making headlines is the entirely grotesque (and yet mercifully brief) examination of Laws' take on gender politics in the workplace. Namely, that Laws continues to insist that the women who work in his vicinity wear skirts so that he can enjoy gazing upon their shapely, "feminine" legs. You could argue that it's pointless getting upset about men such as Laws. The announcement came after nearly 300 police officers on Wednesday carried out raids across Sydney, Wollongong and the Southern Highlands, arresting nine people. One of the luxury cars seized by Australian Federal Police officers during Wednesday's raids. Credit:Australian Federal Police Adam Cranston, from Bondi, and Lauren Cranston, from Picton, are among six people alleged to be members of a tax fraud syndicate that netted $165 million. All six were charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth for their alleged role in the syndicate, while two men were charged with money laundering offences. One of nine people being arrested over the $165 million tax fraud investigation. Credit:AAP/Australian Federal Police One was charged in relation to an alleged extortion on the syndicate, which also resulted in additional charges against two people charged in relation to the syndicate. Among those who appeared in court on Thursday are Daniel Rostankovski, 28, from Waterloo; Jason Cornell Onley, 47, from Vaucluse; Daniel Hausman, 47, from Woollahra; Christopher James Guillan, 46, from Sutherland; Dev Menon, 33, from Wahroonga and Devyn Hammon, 24, from Balgownie. Some of the items seized during Wednesday's raids. Credit:Australian Federal Police Police will allege in court that the syndicate members ran a legitimate payroll company, Plutus Payroll, and accepted money from legitimate clients to process payroll on their behalf. "This money was transferred to seven sub-contracted companies known as Tier 2 companies, which then made payroll payments to individual workers or clients," the federal police said in a statement. Police seized $1 million from a safe deposit box during the Plutus raids. Credit:Australian Federal Police The directors of those Tier 2 companies were known as straw directors, police say, and were essentially a front for the syndicate members, who retained effective control. "As part of their contractual obligations to the legitimate payroll company's clients, the Tier 2 companies are required to remit pay as you go (PAYG) withholding tax payments to the ATO on behalf of the clients," police said. By May 2, the high-ranking ATO official knew more about the situation Adam was in, although the recorded conversations do not suggest the elder Cranston was aware of the fraud itself. "However, investigators found that only part of these tax obligations were paid. The remaining money was allegedly siphoned off by the syndicate members and channelled through a complex series of companies and trusts for their own personal gain." Tax Office investigators, who helped the federal police during the investigation, estimate the amount of tax obligations not paid to the Tax Office to be $165 million. Mr Mills described Michael Cranston as one of the organisation's "long-serving senior officers" who had "quite an illustrious [career] up until this point". Mr Mills said he was confident the Tax Office's systems had not been compromised nor breached and the accused employees were not able to obtain any information. "The investigation has so far not revealed any evidence of actual intervention or influence on audit cases, or of money being refunded, or of tax liability being changed," Mr Mills said. "The information I have to date shows no compromise of the operations of our administration. Our systems, controls and procedures worked effectively and we have been able to successfully isolate and protect the investigation, working well with the Australian Federal Police over many months to build a picture of what has been happening." Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulated the federal police for the investigation and "taking the action that they have". "We have zero tolerance - zero tolerance - for this type of conspiracy, this type of fraud, this type of abuse of public office," he said. "People who break our laws - whether it is endeavouring to defraud the Commonwealth and the tax system, whether it is planning terror plots, whether it's trafficking in drugs - our police, our agencies, will catch them. Catch them, prosecute them and bring the full weight of the law down to bear on them. "It is a credit to the police that the matter has been identified and charges have been laid. We are ever vigilant. You cannot be ever complacent about any aspect of integrity in public life or in government. So we have a relentless pursuit of corruption, malpractice, abuse of office. The AFP have a very keen focus on it, I can assure you, as has been demonstrated." Mr Turnbull described the alleged fraud as "very, very much to be regretted", particularly the alleged involvement of a senior Tax Office official. A Sydney boxer, who died days after a professional title bout, was in a "perilous state" and probably concussed before the blow that likely killed him, an inquest has heard. Browne died in hospital on September 15, 2015, after being knocked to the canvas in the 12th round of a regional IBF super featherweight title fight at the Ingleburn RSL on September 11. Boxer Davey Browne is survived by his wife of two years, Amy Lavelle Browne, and two young sons. Credit:Darbs Darby "I think he was in a perilous state ... basically because he lacked the ability to defend himself," neurosurgeon Professor Brian Owler told the Glebe Coroner's Court on Thursday. "I'd be very surprised if any test ... revealed he wasn't concussed." A veteran Sydney journalist allegedly blackmailed members of a $165 million tax fraud syndicate after conspirators in the group had a falling out, it can be revealed. Explosive documents tendered in Central Local Court on Thursday state that well-known television journalist and former crime reporter Steve Barrett allegedly blackmailed two members of the syndicate during a meeting at the offices of Clamenz Lawyers on February 1. Journalist Steve Barrett gives evidence at a parliamentary inquiry. Credit:Peter Rae Eight people were arrested on Thursday over the alleged tax fraud syndicate including Adam and Laura Cranston, the son and daughter of Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston. Michael Cranston has also been issued a future court attendance notice for a charge of abusing his position as a public official. The Cross River Rail business case has been sent back to the Queensland government to fix up a "couple of issues". Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at Waterfront Place on Thursday morning, discussing the $5.4 billion rail infrastructure project and Cyclone Debbie recovery. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talk outside Waterfront Place, in Brisbane.? Credit:Felicity Caldwell Ms Palaszczuk would not disclose what the specific issues were with the business case, which had been sent to the federal government and Infrastructure Australia. "The Prime Minister has conveyed to me today that Infrastructure Australia has a couple of issues, they would like some more work done, and I have said that I will progress that work as quickly as possible," Ms Palaszczuk said. South-east Queensland is set for a deluge on Friday, in what could be the biggest wet since Cyclone Debbie hit the state in late March. Rainfall totals of 100 to 200 millimetres are forecast for the coast between Rollingstone and Gladstone and inland to parts of the Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments, and the Bureau of Meteorology said isolated totals of up to 400 millimetres of rain is possible. A flood watch for those areas was issued by the bureau and Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said Queenslanders should not risk driving through floodwater. Unregistered guns including rifles and a sawn-off shotgun have been seized in raids linked to Australian Border Force investigations into illegal weapon importation. Two men have been charged with a series of weapon offences after raids on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane this week. Weapons uncovered in raids on two south-eat Queensland properties. Credit:QPS Media Queensland police seized a shortened 12-gauge shotgun, modified .22 semi-automatic firearm, capsicumn spray, a silencer and handcuffs from a home in Mount Gravatt East. Police are hunting people who shot up a Brisbane unit while trying to force their way inside with a sledgehammer. Two occupants inside the apartment at the time escaped injury and the would-be home invaders left before police arrived. A witness said four shots were fired into a Mount Gravatt East unit. Credit:Glenn Hunt The group bashed on the door of the Mount Gravatt East unit with a sledgehammer before firing several shots inside about 2.40am, according to early police investigations. A witness told police at least four shots were fired. Parents have accused the Victorian Education Department of "whitewashing" sexual abuse after it deleted crucial information from their submissions to proposed new rules. In one case, the Department changed a parent's submission so it read that their child had been bullied at school, instead of sexually assaulted. The Education Department is accused of editing parents' submissions. And in another instance it deleted a paragraph that said a child was removed from school because she was "threatening to kill herself". It follows a major privacy breach revealed by Fairfax Media last month, which involved the Department publishing confidential information which identified children who had self-harmed, bullying victims and students' medical conditions. A child sex offender who went through strangers' letters in order to find them on Facebook and choose "pretty victims" to stalk has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Australian Federal Police initially charged Steven Burke with child pornography crimes after seizing electronic devices from his home in December 2015. Steven Burke had previously been imprisoned for possessing and making child pornography. Credit:Bendigo Advertiser The devices contained hundreds of thousands of child exploitation files, the County Court was told on Thursday. Burke, 39, who had previously been imprisoned for possessing and making child pornography, had downloaded the files from programs which he used to access the "dark net" and encrypt them so that they would be undetectable. Perth has always been seen as a sleepy city, but apparently revered filmmaker Stanley Kubrick considered it such an insignificant place that he almost moved his family here in the early 1960s in an attempt to escape nuclear war. Murdoch School of Arts Associate Professor Mick Broderick has revealed the late Kubrick, amid heightened Cold War tensions and paranoia, concluded WA's capital was the least likely location to be attacked by a Soviet nuclear strike. "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" directed by Stanley Kubrick. Professor Mick Broderick discovered the unlikely fact while conducting research for his new book about Kubrick's nuclear war satire Dr Strangelove. He found Kubrick went to great lengths to prepare for the move even having gone to the effort of organising visas, setting up bank accounts, transferring funds, and investigating film projects. Washington: The account from the former FBI director James Comey of President Donald Trump pressing him to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, has escalated talk among the President's critics that his actions may amount to obstruction for justice and grounds for impeachment. "Asking FBI to drop an investigation is obstruction of justice," Democrat congressman Ted Deutch wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "Obstruction of justice is an impeachable offense." President Donald Trump gestures as he gives the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut on Wednesday. But several legal specialists across party lines cautioned that talk of impeachment is premature while the facts remain unclear; the White House has denied that Trump pressured Comey to drop the case. Still, the early chatter has heightened interest in how the impeachment process works. Washington: President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian officials, though he added, "I can only speak for myself." Trump, speaking in the East Room of the White House, said he respected the appointment of a special counsel to investigate ties with Russia. "The entire thing has been a witch hunt," Trump said. "There's no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign -- but I can only speak for myself -- and the Russians -- zero." The president said the questions surrounding his campaign and Russia were divisive. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as the special counsel overseeing the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats and even some Republicans had long been calling for such an appointment, particularly after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. But what exactly is a "special counsel," and how will his investigation work? Here are some answers to questions you might have. Q: What is a "special counsel"? A: A special counsel is a person appointed by the Attorney General - or, in this case, the Deputy Attorney General, because Attorney General Jeff Sessions is recused from the Russia case - to oversee a particular criminal investigation. Such an appointment is made when the Justice Department has a conflict of interest or it is otherwise in the "public interest" to do so. The special counsel oversees investigators and ultimately decides whether or not criminal charges are warranted. If charges are warranted, the special counsel can prosecute the case. Washington/Beirut: The US military carried out an air strike on Thursday against militia supported by the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad that posed a threat to US-backed fighters in the country's south, US officials told Reuters on Thursday. One of the US officials said the strikes near the town of At Tanf destroyed at least one tank and a bulldozer, and another said it followed warning shots by US aircraft meant to dissuade the fighters from advancing further. The militia targeted in the strike was allied with the regime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A member of the US-backed Syrian rebel forces told Reuters the strikes hit a convoy of Syrian and Iranian-backed militias that were heading toward a base used by US and US-supported forces. Muzahem al Saloum, from the Maghawir al Thwra group, told Reuters that the jets struck after some rebel forces clashed with Syrian and Iranian militias after they had advanced to about 27 km from the base. A key gene that helps to explain an underlying cause of incurable bowel disorders such as Crohns disease has been identified by scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh and Bristol. Blocking the gene harms vital parts of the cell and leads to bowel disease, while targeting these vital cell parts with drugs can reverse damage, the study shows. The findings aid understanding of the cause of these lifelong conditions and could lead to new treatments, scientists say. Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD includes Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis and affects around 300,000 people in the UK. The causes of these disorders are unknown and there is currently no cure. The gene known as MDR1 governs an important extractor system for toxins in the gut, removing damaging substances from intestinal cells. A research team led by the University of Edinburgh showed that MDR1 function was lower in colonic biopsies from people with inflamed IBD compared with those without inflammation. To demonstrate how MDR1 dysfunction leads to bowel damage, the scientists then showed that mice lacking MDR1 had faulty mitochondria parts of the cell often referred to as batteries. These play a vital role in energy generation and cell health. This mitochondrial dysfunction resulted in colitis inflammation in the inner lining of the bowel that is a defining feature of IBD. Scientists further implicated the role of mitochondria by linking IBD to a large number of genes involved in regulating these cell batteries. The researchers analysed genetic data from 90,000 people 40,000 of whom had IBD. The study also showed that a drug called Mitoquinone which protects the mitochondria against toxins can reduce colitis and promote bowel recovery in the mice lacking MDR1, which scientists say is a significant step forward. Lead author Dr Gwo-Tzer Ho, Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at the University of Edinburghs MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, said: IBD has a serious impact on quality of life, with 6,000 new cases diagnosed per year in the UK. We have shown that MDR1 and mitochondrial function are important jigsaw pieces in the complex causes of IBD. Our studies highlight the importance of shielding the mitochondria from damage. This will open new approaches to drug targets that focus on the mitochondria to better design treatments for patients. The research carried out in collaboration with researchers (Prof John Iredale) at the University of Bristol and in the USA and Japan was funded by the Medical Research Council and Crohns and Colitis UK. It is published in the journal Mucosal Immunology. It's not over. Thousands of uncounted ballots remain in Bucks, Montco Bucks County officials do not anticipate all ballots cast Tuesday will be counted - or not - until next week. Leaving House key races in limbo Kaufman at OS board meeting 001.jpg Former Ocean Springs Public Works Director Andre Kaufman stands at the podium and speaks in front of a capacity audience during Tuesday night's Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen meeting. (Warren Kulo/The Mississippi Press) OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Andre Kaufman waited nearly years to talk to Mayor Connie Moran about the allegations of wrongdoing made against him while serving as Ocean Springs Public Works Director -- allegations which brought his 20-year tenure with the city to an end. Tuesday night, he got his chance. Kaufman submitted the documentation needed to be placed on the agenda for Tuesday night's board of aldermen meeting, doing so, he said, so as not to be held to the three-minute time limit given to those who speak during the "audience request" portion of the meeting. When his time came, Kaufman took full advantage, telling Moran, the aldermen present and a capacity crowd inside the board room that an investigation by the state auditor's office was nothing more than a "personal vendetta, a witch hunt." Kaufman arrived at the meeting Tuesday night with a prepared statement to read, but about a minute into his statement, Moran cut him off, telling him that the meeting was for city business, not for Kaufman to attack her or the board. She also said the public did not have a right to speak, but she and the board allow citizens to speak as a courtesy. Kaufman, naturally, disagreed, telling Moran he is an Ocean Springs resident, had been placed on the agenda, and had "a right to be heard." "If I don't have a right to speak, you don't have the right to be mayor," Kaufman said. "Up to this very moment, you have never contacted me in any way to discuss any of this." Ultimately, Moran relented -- adding that because Kaufman has threatened legal action against the city, neither she nor the board would have any comment after Kaufman's remarks. Ironically, Kaufman's appearance at the board meeting coincided with Moran presented the department Kaufman once led with a proclamation in honor of "National Public Works Week." Several members of the public works staff were on hand -- most of whom had worked for Kaufman during his time as director. The investigation began in 2013 and centered on the sale of scrap metal collected at the Ocean Springs Public Works compound on Pine Drive. Scrap metals coming from city property were sold and the money turned over to the city clerk's office. Scrap metals left by the public at the public works dumpster were sold and the money used to donate to various local charities and worthy causes. Accusations against Kaufman claimed all of the money should have been turned over to the city, rather than disbursed around the community by the public works staff. Kaufman has said repeatedly he believed Moran was behind the investigation, despite knowing Kaufman and his staff never benefited directly from the sale of scrap. When the investigation became known to city officials, Kaufman was suspended by Mayor Connie Moran and subsequently reached an agreement with the board of aldermen to step down from his position as the public works director. In late April, a Jackson County Grand Jury found insufficient evidence to hand down an indictment against Kaufman. "Your mayor taunted me for years because I was not supportive of some of her ideas," Kaufman said Tuesday. "I was outspoken when she tried to do things that were not kosher, ethical, or in some cases, possibly illegal. "She on many occasions took personal and vindictive actions against me. On more than one occasion her disciplinary actions were overturned by you, the board of aldermen." Kaufman also said Moran had targeted his daughter, April, with vicious comments, including calling April Kaufman "trailer trash" and telling her the night Kaufman's of Kaufman's retirement agreement "We got him and you're next." He also said Moran had on separate occasions referred to him as "a cancer on the city" and a "petty thief." He also claimed Moran had shared a letter outlining her intent to have him fired with a member of the media -- a violation, he said, of personnel confidentiality. "This is unethical, at the least, and clearly shows her malice toward me and a propensity to discredit me publicly," Kaufman said. Kaufman reiterated that Moran had never reached out to him to discuss the scrap metal issue -- either before or after the information was turned over to the state auditor's office. "I have served with or under four mayors (Pat Connor, Chester MacPherson, Seren Ainsworth, Moran) and none of the other three were as hateful, spiteful or disrespectful as her. "Does the board not realize that she had the state auditor involved for 18 months before you were made aware? You, the board of aldermen, represent the city -- were you not entitled to this information? Why? Because she didn't trust you? "I and my attorney feel very strongly that had she involved you, this would not have been a four-year investigation. You gentlemen would have seen all the information." Kaufman also noted the hardship the shadow of the investigation had put on him and his family. "I came here tonight to set the record straight," he said. "Neither I nor my family should have been subjected to this. This was, plain and simple, a personal vendetta. As of this meeting, I have not received an apology for the injustice done to us. It could have easily been avoided if someone other than the mayor saw all the documentation she was given. My attorney gave the complete package to the district attorney's office. "She intentionally withheld evidence to ensure I would be investigated and embarrassed. My attorney and I have discussed further legal actions as she has, for years, subjected me to a hostile work environment. I chose to retire from a job I loved greatly rather than continue to be subjected to her actions." Kaufman told aldermen he held no malice towards them, that his remarks were largely directed at Moran, and thanked the board for the opportunity to speak and offered to answer questions. As Moran had indicated, however, neither she nor the aldermen responded and Moran quickly moved on to other business. ArtificialGrass.com has recently welcomed a new apprentice to its head office in Market Overton, Rutland. Hannah Barker joins the team as a sales coordinator and is undertaking an ICT Level 2 course alongside a Business Administration Level 2 Diploma with Rutland Adult Learning in partnership with Peterborough Regional College. She hopes to complete her apprenticeship in 2018. Ms Barker attends college once a week and is enjoying a new challenge. After working as a food and beverage manager for five years, Ms Barker opted to embark on an apprenticeship with ArtificialGrass.com to begin the career in sales she hoped for. She commented: I wanted a change in career paths. I had always had an interest in sales and I came to realise how large the market for artificial grass is and how much opportunity I would have within a company like ArtificialGrass.com. Its great to have the best of both worlds as my apprenticeship offers me the opportunity to study for my diploma while gaining hands on experience with ArtificialGrass.com. I love learning new things. Every day at work is different and I enjoy going into work ready for a new challenge and interacting with customers, ensuring I give the best service I can. Andy Driver, sales and marketing director at ArtificialGrass.com, added: Hannah is settling in very well and she is already proving to be a great asset to our team. She has a fantastic attitude, is customer focused and we see lots of potential in her. Families need help: Donate and Give a Christmas During the holiday season, in partnership with NJ 211, we are pleased to offer the Give a Christmas program to Burlington County residents. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- With Joey Bellman and Richard "DJ" Jackson each claiming a seat on their respective city boards in Ocean Springs and Gautier in Tuesday's runoff elections, the races for the June 6 general election in each city are set. Bellman upset longtime Ocean Springs alderman Fred "Chic" Cody in the Republican runoff and, with no general election opponent, will become the new Ward 3 alderman on July 3. Cody's defeat, coupled with the decision of fellow aldermen Matt McDonnell, Greg Denyer and Jerry Dalgo to not seek reelection, means the Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen will have at least four new faces replacing a combined 80 years experience. Jackson, meanwhile, defeated fellow Democrat Tobey Bartee in Tuesday's Gautier runoff. Jackson also has no general election opponent and will take office as the new Gautier Ward 2 councilman, replacing outgoing Hurley Ray Guillotte. There will be five contested general election races in Ocean Springs, with just three in Gautier. Here is the complete field (i = incumbent): OCEAN SPRINGS Mayor Connie Moran (i) -- Democrat Shea Dobson -- Republican Ward 1 John Gill (i) -- Republican Roxanne Samies -- Democrat Ward 2 Rickey Authement -- Republican Matthew Pleasant -- Democrat Ward 4 Elizabeth Feder-Hosey -- Democrat Ken Papania -- Republican Ward 5 Rob Blackman -- Republican Matthew Pavlov -- Democrat Uncontested races Ward 2 Joey Bellman -- Republican (won in runoff) Ward 6 Mike Impey (i) -- Republican (unopposed) At-large Bobby Cox (i) -- Republican (unopposed) GAUTIER Ward 1 Paul Ceasar -- Democrat Cameron George -- Republican Ward 4 Charles "Rusty" Anderson (i) -- Republican Billy Raysell Booth -- Democrat At-large Mary Martin (i) -- Republican Eloise Fairley -- Independent Uncontested races Mayor Phil Torjusen -- Republican (won in primary) Ward 2 Richard "D.J." Jackson -- Democrat (won in runoff) Ward 3 Casey Vaughan (i) -- Democrat (unopposed) Ward 5 Adam Colledge (i) -- Republican (unopposed) Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 6. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. India's drug pricing regulator has demanded explanations from 65 domestic and global drugmakers for selling new forms of essential diabetes and antibiotic drugs without its approval. The move could bring penalties for the drugmakers, among them Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi, Novartis and Indian firms such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Lupin, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said on its website. Wednesday's action is the pricing authority's latest move to tighten control of drug prices, piling pressure on drugmakers grappling with slowing growth in international markets. It follows a February order capping prices of cardiac stents. "These have launched formulations by altering (an essential drug) ... without even applying for price approval from NPPA as required," it said in its notice. The action targets a group of more than 300 medicines that India defines as essential, whose prices it controls to ensure they are affordable. By law, drugmakers must seek NPPA approval for new dosages or combinations of such drugs. Many are flouting the rule, however, the regulator said, adding that it had asked them for details of drug sales and pricing by a deadline of June 15, after which it would take action. The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, the largest drug grouping, will wait for the named to confirm the data the regulator used, the body's secretary-general, D G Shah, told Reuters in a statement. India's largest drugmaker by sales, Sun Pharma, will check every product listed in the regulator's notice to ascertain its status and respond in time, a spokesman told Reuters. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, another drugmaker named in the notice, aims to respond to the pricing authority at the earliest, a company spokesman said in an email. Other companies contacted individually did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not clear if many of the drugs had approval from the central drug regulator, the pricing authority added. "It is also not clear whether these formulations have the approval of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation and whether these are rational or irrational combination drugs," it said, referring to India's main drug regulator. About half the medicines sold in India are cocktails of two or more drugs in fixed doses, known as fixed-dose combinations. The health ministry banned hundreds of such last year, as being lacking in therapeutic efficacy and regulatory approval, besides having potential to cause harm. The filed hundreds of lawsuits against the government, obtaining stay orders on the ban, and the Supreme Court will hear the cases collectively from July. Until then, the law allows the NPPA, a part of India's chemicals ministry, to fine offending companies and recover the overcharged amounts. Strong and continued growth in the herbals & naturals segment has accelerated the pace of new launches by leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) . Continuing the trend, the countrys largest consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Thursday announced that it was bringing its skincare brand Citra to India. One of the early entrants in the Indian automobile space, US-based General Motors (GM) will stop selling cars in the domestic market by the end of 2017, and would use its local manufacturing base at Talegaon (near Pune) to focus on the export markets. Ensuring that it remains in the drivers seat of the Indian e-commerce ecosystem even as it continues its talks to sell its biggest bet in the country, Japanese telecom major SoftBank has invested $1.8 billion in mobile wallet major Paytm. SoftBank, after its failed experiment in Jasper Infotech-owned Snapdeal and FreeCharge, in which it invested close to a billion dollars, will be the biggest stakeholder Paytms parent company, One97 Communications, pushing Chinese internet giant Alibaba to second spot. The move would help SoftBank maintain its bellwether status of being the lead investor in the country and it will take a seat on the Paytm board. This is the biggest round of funding ever by an Indian e-commerce firm. In line with the Indian government's vision to promote digital inclusion, we are committed to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers and merchants by providing them digital access to a broad array of financial services, including mobile payments. We are excited to partner with Paytm in this journey and will provide them with all our support, said Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer, SoftBank Group Corp, in a statement. Beating online marketplace major Flipkarts recent $1.4-billion funding, One97 Communications, the parent company of both Paytm Payments Bank and PayTm Mall, has managed to close this round at a valuation of $9 billion, putting it just $2 billion away from Flipkart. *estimates; other investors (some stakes are not known) Intel Capital, K2 Global, Mountain Capital, Ratan Tata, SAIF Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, MediaTek According to sources, SoftBank has invested $1.4 billion directly in the company, and the rest it has spent on buying One97s secondary shares. SoftBank will directly hold a 20 per cent stake in the company, while it would gain 12 per cent by virtue of being a major shareholder in Alibaba, the Chinese internet giant that has a stake in One97. Alibabas shareholding in One97 technically will go down to 29 per cent from 41 per cent, while Paytm founder and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharmas shareholding might remain the same at around 19 per cent. We are at an inflection point in our journey with Paytm. This investment by SoftBank and support of the incredible entrepreneur Masayoshi Son is a great endorsement of our team's execution and vision. We believe we have a great opportunity to bring financial inclusion to half a billion Indians, Sharma said in a statement. Sources said this investment by SoftBank would not only fuel the companys expansion plans, but help it get rid of the Chinese company tag because of its association with Alibaba, a reputation that its rivals and detractors used to derail its growth during demonetisation. They even alleged that the countrys data were at risk. Paytm, which had its back-end infrastructure ready for its payments bank after demonetisation, used it to fuel its massive growth in the past six months. Now that SoftBank is the major stakeholder, the whole debate around Paytm being Indian or not should be finally laid to rest. SoftBank is planning to invest in Flipkart as well anyway, said a source close to the company. This investment, according to the company, will help Paytm expand its user base and build a suite of financial services products for its users. The company on Wednesday announced that it would launch its payments bank on May 23. Paytm plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore (approximately $1.6 billion) over the next three to five years. Paytm, launched in August 2010 as an online recharges and bill payments platform, soon expanded into ubiquitous online and offline use-cases. In January 2014, it launched Paytm Wallet, which has emerged as Indias biggest digital wallet with over 220 million users and more than five million offline merchants across India. Paytm is headquartered in Noida, and its other investors include Ant Financial (Alipay), SAIF Partners and Mediatek. Private equity firm is raising a $ 500 million fund to invest in real estate for healthcare enterprises. This is the first fund focused on putting money on infrastructure for hospitals and diagnostic companies in the country, it says. Swedish luxury car maker has decided to locally assemble cars in India, making the country its second offshore base in the world after Malaysia. The cars will be assembled at the Bangalore facility of commercial vehicle maker Group India, part of the car makers former parent company. Swedish furniture retailer IKEA on Thursday held the ground-breaking ceremony for its store in Navi Mumbai where it would invest Rs 1,000 crore. The store, spread across 430,000 sq ft, will come up in early 2019. Juvencio Maeztu, chief executive of IKEA India, tells Raghavendra Kamath they will not target a particular class of customers to sell its products in Indian stores. Excerpts: Two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers will arrive in India from the US on Friday. It will be the first induction of the howitzers after the scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. The scandal had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. An official from BAE Systems said the first two guns will land in India ahead of the schedule over the weekend. The howitzers are being procured for the Indian Army and will be deployed along the India-China border. India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around $700 million. According to the deal, the first 25 guns will be bought directly from the US and the rest will be assembled in India. "We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Indian Army's artillery modernisation programme," the official said. Even if the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are in India's favour today, Pakistan could still go ahead with the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, write Supreme Court lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Pranjal Kishore for the Business Standard. The Case Concerning the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations or the Jadhav Case is the fourth instance of a dispute between India and Pakistan finding its way to the International Court of Justice. Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard. Nasscom on Thursday refuted reports of mass layoffs in the infromation technology (IT) sector saying the industry will hire about 1.5 lakh people this year on "net" basis although techies will have to re-skill themselves to stay relevant. Over the past few weeks, there have been reports suggesting that over 50,000 people could be laid off this year from companies like Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant. "We categorically reject the reports of mass layoffs in the sector. FY17 saw 1.7 lakh people being added, while in Q4 alone, the gross hiring was of over 50,000 by top five companies," Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar told reporters in New Delhi. In the same breath, Nasscom said that employees will have to "re-skill or perish" as the world moves to new technologies like automation, robotics, analytics and cyber security. Chandrashekhar said the association has consulted its members who have assured that the industry continues to be a "net" hirer, adding about 1.5 lakh people this year. Also, new opportunities are emerging in areas like tech startups, e-commerce, Digital India and digital payments. As many as 3 million new jobs are expected to be created by 2025. Representatives from leading companies like Cognizant, Wipro and Mindtree were also present at the media briefing. IT companies have started their annual performance appraisal cycles, which often leads to a number of terminations based on poor performance. IT companies have maintained that there is nothing different this year. "Performance-linked workforce realignment impacts about 0.5-3 per cent of the talent pool and there is no change this year. It is something every company does to stay competitive and have the right skill sets," he said. However, Nasscom could not clarify the reason why there was noise around the layoffs this year. The reports of mass scale layoffs have compounded the worry in the industry, as the sector is already battling challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Nasscom Chairman Raman Roy said companies are making huge investments in training and re-skilling their employees on new technologies to ensure they stay upto date. "The need for re-skilling talent is a reality that we have to address. To keep up in a fast-evolving technology environment, the IT industry must reinvent itself by re- skilling its employees in new and upcoming technologies," he added. Chandrashekhar said there has been a "gentle deceleration" in the growth rate of net hiring as companies move focus from scale to skills. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will pronounce its verdict on the on Thursday, just 10 days after India approached it demanding immediate suspension of the death sentence given to its former Navy officer by a Pakistan military court. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed satisfaction at the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which stayed the execution of Indian Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan. He spoke to Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to thank her and appreciated the efforts of advocate Harish Salve, who represented India in the case, official sources said. The Prime Minister's reaction came after the 11-judge bench of the ICJ unanimously stayed execution of Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major victory for India, which had moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The ICJ said that India should have been granted consular access to its as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer while noting that the circumstances of his arrest remain disputed. The ruling came three days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions in the case. Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to security, its Foreign Office said on Thursday after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian . Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death in March by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. The court on Thursday instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court. Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. "After India stood exposed in state sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle," he said. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistan's reply to ICJ was in line with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. While a trip to South America to this June offers some chilly climates, one would be remiss for not tkaing the chance to experience Inti Raymi, the Inca Sun Festival. Celebrated largely in Andean territories of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador, this festival pays tribute to the Sun God Inti during the winter solstice of the Southern Hemisphere, which takes place at the end of June. For 2017, Inti Raymi takes place on June 24 Whether or not youre a believer in the Inca Gods, the festival is a great time to travel to South America, as the streets will be filled with festivities, parties, dances, music, and food. You can purchase tickets to the events in Cusco, or just enjy the festivals as they unfold throughout the city. History of Inti Raymi The origin of the Inti Raymi dates back to the time of the great Inca rulers and to the cradle of their empire. This holiday has a very important meaning for the Andean world, taking a preponderant place in the culture of the indigenous peoples. As a traditional indigenous holiday, each ethnic group and each community has its own date and time of celebration. While several communities begin June 22 with ritual bathing in rivers, streams and sacred waterfalls, others await the arrival of the appropriate day and time to start their festivities. Where to experience Inti Raymi? Otavalo, Ecuado Just north of Ecuadors capital Quito is the town of Otavalo, most famous for its local markets, but it is also the center of indigenous culture in Ecuador. This first ritual is performed on June 22, the day of the summer solstice. The waterfalls, such as Peguche rivers and slopes have special sites where energy is concentrated during the year, and ritual bathing tries to capture them in order to load up with new forces, eliminate accumulated negative energies in the year and start with the Inti Raymi celebration. The bathroom has a clear sense of purification and is linked to the agrarian meanings of the party. At night time during all the days of celebration, the atmosphere is flooded with music, during the dance, the musical notes of the traditional instruments produce an ecstasy of force and courage without limits, deep feelings that are manifested in linguistic expressions of jubilation. During Inti Raymi, Otavalo communities prepare a karana or very special sacred gift known as a castle. The castle is a well elaborated bower with reeds in which different kinds of fruits are hung, some breads, bottles of liquor, money and chili. This is a ritual practiced with the purpose of pleasing the Andean deities and showing them the prosperity they have achieved thanks to the fecundity of Mother Earth. La Paz, Bolivia In the Bolivia the winter solstice is celebrated as the Aymara New Year (June 21), a festival based around the Ayamara calendar and coincides with Inti Raymi and is celebrated for the same reason: the return of the sun. To celebrate this festival one must just head outside of Bolivias capital to the pre-Inca site of Tiwanaku. A sacred site for the winter solstice in Bolivia, the entire complex becomes filled with dancers and festivities during the celebration, making it a major spot to visit on a trip here. Cusco, Peru The most popular celebration of Inti Raymi takes place in Cusco and the nearby Sacred Valley. The entire festival is based around a massive re-enactment of the ancient ceremony. Here, 500 indigenous actors, led by Sapa Inca, lead a parade of performances, dances, and prayers to Qorikancha, the sun temple in Cusco. At the temple a series of speeches and faux sacrifices are made to Inti. From here they travel outside the city to Sacsayhaman where the ritual continues, before returning to Cusco for one final parade. The celebration continues throughout the week with parties and dances, all of which travelers are welcome to join in on the experience, either on their own or by joining an Inti Raymi tour. If you want to discover more amazing destinations or learn all the tips and tricks to planning your next vacation, please subscribe to our Tours4fun Newsletter below. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of Indian Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. Actress Reema Lagoo, best known for playing the modern-day Bollywood mother in films such as "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Hum Aapke Hain Koun" and "Kal Ho Na Ho", passed away today at Kokila Dhirubhai Ambani hospital. She was 59. Lagoo died of a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning. She was admitted to the hospital late last night after she complained of chest pain. The first two of the M777 Ultralight Howitzers landed in New Delhi on Thursday, bringing an end to the Indian Army's three decade wait for a new artillery gun. The two 155mm/39 calibre ultralight Howitzers arrived on a chartered flight. The guns, which have a maximum range of 30 km, will be tested in Pokharan in Rajasthan. "Two M 777 A-2 (Indian) ULH arrived on Thursday for preparation of firing tables. During this event, the guns will fire 155 mm indigenous ammunition," the Indian Army said in a statement. As per the contract agreement, firing tables are being prepared by the contracted agency- US Government and BAE GCS Ltd with support of Indian Army. Three more guns will be received in the second stage in September 2018 for training, the Indian Army said. Thereafter, induction will commence from March 2019 onwards at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid 2021. According to sources, over the next year, another 23 guns will be delivered off the shelf, and another 120 will be sent in a semi-knocked down condition, to be assembled in India by Mahindra. At 4.2 tonnes, these guns weigh only a third of the normal 155 mm Howitzers, and are expected to add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army. The M777 guns, which can be carried underslung by heavy lift helicopters, are expected to give the Army tremendous flexibility in operations, specially in mountainous terrain. On November 30 last year, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to buy 145 M777s through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million. India last inducted the Swedish Bofors guns in the 1980s. The deal however got tainted by an alleged scam with allegations of kickbacks being received by Indian leaders. The Bofors guns however have been a mainstay for the Indian Army for decades, and played an important role in the Kargil conflict. The M777s would increase Indian Army's ability in high altitudes. These guns are being used by the US, Canadian and Australian armies. Steps leading to financial inclusion have been a cornerstone of the government. In the past three years, there have been many products and services to highlight inclusion, but the hero of the piece has been Jan-Dhan. Decentralised solar power, when utilised by unelectrified households, reduces money spent on kerosene but is not conducive to accessing larger social and economic benefits, a study published in Science Advances, an online publication under Science magazine, on May 17, 2017 found. India is treading a strong renewable energy path post-Paris Agreement as it witnesses a step-up in Chinese investments in . Additionally, there's a significant slowdown in Chinese investments in thermal power plants. This fact of slowdown came to light in a just-released report of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) which says China's overseas investment, including in India, into 240 coal power plants along the Belt and Road Initiative has slowed down in 2016 after the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. India was once the top destination for fossil fuel infrastructure investments. Although India is not a part of the Belt and Road initiative, China had expanded its investments to include many other countries. According to a financial expert in India, there is a noticeable spike in solar investment by Chinese firms. "Chinese investments in Indian coal projects have been declining. At the same time, Chinese investments in India on solar projects are slowly increasing," Jai Sharda, a founding partner with equity research Indian firm Equitorials, told IANS. There are reports that GLC-Poly energy, China's top solar module manufacturer, is in talks with India's Essel group to set up a solar module manufacturing facility in India this year, he added. India has committed to generate up to 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. The GEI report says that since 2016, China's support for overseas coal-fired power plant development has slowed down mainly due to shifting towards renewable energy under the Paris Agreement. Under the agreement of December 2015, 197 countries agreed to cut emissions in a bid to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. Some countries contributed to this change by reducing support for high emission projects like coal-fired power plants and shifting towards renewable energy, said the report. The cancelled and suspended Chinese projects are mainly located in India, it said. The report, released just ahead of the two-day Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Sunday, carried out a long-term review of China's involvement in coal power projects in 25 countries along the Belt and Road since 2001. Overseas project contracting is the most common form of involvement for Chinese companies developing coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road. But they do not participate in project operation and have no stake in the project's profits. By the end of 2016, China had been involved in 240 coal-fired power projects in 25 countries with a total installed capacity of 251,054 MW, says the report. The GEI says since 2001, Chinese development of coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road initiative has fluctuated, slowing sharply in 2008, 2011 and 2016 and having peaked in 2010. This trend shows that China's participation in these projects is affected by global economic shifts, the policies of host countries and restructuring towards cleaner energy. According to the report, India received support from Chinese companies for building close to 129,540 MW worth of coal power capacity and Indonesia for just 31,336 MW. The country moved a step ahead in adopting its biggest tax reform since Independence, namely, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), with the GST Council fixing the rates for 1,211 items on Thursday. On day one of its crucial meeting in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday approved all nine rules for the rollout of the new indirect tax regime . The nine rules finalised by the council pertain to composition, valuation, transition, input tax credit, invoice, payment, refund, registration and return. Heated deliberations by the goods and services tax (GST) council started on Thursday against the backdrop of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, amid a brief and unusual calm in the Kashmir Valley. The two-day meeting is expected to finalise the rules and discuss fitment of rates, with less than 50 days to go for the regime's rollout. This meeting will, in fact, decide whether will be rolled out on July 1. John shows us the glorious concluding image of the renewed heaven and earth in Revelation 21 and 22, a vision of a creation completely restored to its original goodness, a picture of restored unity and harmony between the Creator and what he has created. It seems too good to be true. But a mighty angel confirms, "These words are trustworthy and true." "Trustworthy and true" are the words used to describe the Lord Jesus. Jesus' words are like Jesus Himself, trustworthy and true. The living Word of God assures the truthfulness of the written Word of God. John wrote the book of Revelation, but these trustworthy and true words come from God. "The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon take place." God's Holy Spirit is the source of every word. Now Jesus Himself announces, "Behold, I am coming soon!" Jesus does not speak of His return to satisfy our curiosity about a cosmic timetable, but to embolden and inspire all who love Him. "Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." As the deep joy of Jesus' return takes hold of us, we will find new passion to live a holy life. The right way to await His return is to be alert and active in His service. In every area of our life, prudent planning should not focus on one year, ten years or hundreds of years, but on eternity. Those who treasure this prophecy order their lives according to its truth. They may suffer pressure or persecution, but Jesus blesses them with unshakable hope. John was overwhelmed when he heard the voice of Jesus. He fell at the feet of the angel in worship. This is the second time he made this kind of mistake. The angel's rebuke was immediate, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" The angel's rebuke was not only for John, but for God's servants today. God alone is to be worshipped. Worship is not a performance, nor should we ever idolize or worship the messenger. Worship belongs only to the worthy One to whom the message points. John received another command, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near." The Lord's return is near. It is so dangerous to assume you can afford to put off understanding this prophecy or repent at a later date. The angel warns, "Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." Unless people repent, what is true of them remains true. Ultimately, people live out who they are inside. Those determined to do what is wrong will do wrong. Sin gets darker. But the day comes when the outcome of their lives is settled and final. Only repentance and faith in Jesus can bring lasting transformation. Only the Holy Spirit gives new desires for holiness and new strength to do right. For a second time, the Lord announced, "Behold, I am coming soon!" Jesus will return with His reward and "give to everyone according to what he has done." Believers, saved by grace and dependent on it, are able to live for God's glory and be rewarded when our works are taken into account. Our works done in His name do matter. As "the Alpha and the Omega", He knows all things and will reward accordingly. He is "the First and the Last," so He is able to make all things right and fulfill every promise at "the last." Ultimately, Jesus Himself is His people's greatest reward. In this sense, the "First" and "last" do not mean time. They are the same matchless person of Jesus. He holds time and eternity and His people in His powerful hands. Who are the ones in His hands? We are told, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city." To wash your robes means to accept the grace of God in forgiveness of sin. This powerful cleansing comes only through the atoning death of the Lamb of God on the cross. Please do not think that you need a clean robe to start with. You first respond to the call for repentance, and then Jesus does the cleansing after you have responded. People who refuse to answer God's call for repentance will not enter the eternal city of God. They are called "dogs," referring to "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Their behavior proves that they do not want any part of the new heaven and new earth. They prefer falsehood more than the trustworthy and true Word. That is why they are kept outside. Jesus again affirms He is the source of this prophecy. "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches." This amazing book is not only for the benefit of "the seven churches in the province of Asia," but also for His people in every time and place. Jesus proclaims Himself "the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Jesus is David's physical offspring, coming through the royal lineage of David. But He is also David's root, who gave David life. When Jesus first came to the fallen world, He was born as a baby from David's descendants, when He comes again, the birth of new heaven and earth will accompany Him, and He will give resurrected eternal life to all believers. The desire of the Holy Spirit and the bride who is the Church for Jesus to return pours out in one word, "Come!" The yearning that the Spirit and the Church express for Jesus also invites the whole world to turn to their Lord. The rooftop cry "Come" calls all people everywhere to repent and place their faith in the Savior, who is trustworthy and true. People who answer the call are asked to add their voices, "Come!" The spiritually thirst ones are the people who wish to "take the free gift of the water of life." The Holy Spirit works behind the Church to equip every believer to extend Jesus' invitation to "Come" with love and urgency. Revelation begins with an offer of blessing to all who read it. Now, at the conclusion, people are strongly warned against adding or taking away from the words of the prophecy. The Bible is God's living Word speaking to all people. It is authentic and complete in its life-giving authority over all. This warning is not meant to detract from the blessing of this book, but to preserve it. God's Words draw His people to Himself to build relationship. Man's words make religions to keep people's heart in darkness, in falsehood and lies. When we look at God's calendar, there is only one major event left: the second coming of Jesus Christ. That is it! The new heaven and earth will be born at the same time. Though the "labor pains" of end-time events can be fascinating, but do not be obsessed with the nature, strength, and frequency of the birth pangs when we should be thinking about the baby! We must give due attention to the new world to be born out of them and the One who is coming. For the third time in this chapter, Jesus announces that He is coming soon. "Yes I am coming soon." Jesus testifies His return is certain and imminent. John, as the representative of all believers, answers to Jesus' triple announcement, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." This is an excited shout and a prayer of great joy from all His people, at anytime, at everywhere. The last verse reminds us Revelation is a letter, a love letter from a loving God to His beloved people. "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." The word grace appears only in the introduction and close of Revelation, but the concept underlies the whole book. Grace describes the work of God in this book and the entire Bible, and in the world the Lamb came to seek and to save. The Lamb is coming again in His grace to restore creations completely to their perfect goodness. Grace is what we need the most. Today is the day of grace. But soon it will not. God will not overlook rebellion against Him. It is dangerous to turn a deaf ear to God's Word. Answer His gracious call to "Come". Human history is not endless, meaningless cycles, nor will it simply fade away. Jesus Christ Himself stands at the beginning and the end of time to make history His Story. Our own life stories have unique places in His Story. Do we live our life from this prospective? Small cars will be slightly expensive under the proposed goods and services tax (GST) regime, with a peak tax rate of 28 per cent. SUVs will attract an additional cess. Foodgrain such as wheat, rice and pulses might become cheaper after the goods and services tax (GST) system kicks in later this year, as the GST Council has decided to keep them zero-rated under the new tax regime. The Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday that companies must be rated by at least two credit rating agencies to be eligible to issue debt under the country's partial credit enhancement programme. Partial credit enhancement allows low-rated corporates to obtain a guarantee from lenders when issuing debt, lowering the cost for issuers and attracting more investors. The Union Cabinet has expressed profound sorrow at the sad demise of Shri Anil Madhav Dave, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change at New Delhi, today. In a Resolution passed at a special Cabinet Meeting, the Cabinet noted that in his passing away, the country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Cabinet met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and extended its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the Government and the entire nation. . . The following is the text of the Resolution: . . Shri Anil Madhav Dave was born on 6th July 1956 at Barnagar, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. He got his M.Com degree from Gujrati College, Indore, specializing in Rural Development and Management. . . Shri Dave was a river conservationist, environmentalist and social worker. He was a prolific writer, authoring several books in Hindi and English. He was the founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad and also edited the monthly magazine Charaiveti" and JAP, Jan Abhiyan Parishad Journal. He was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 aircraft over river Narmada from the source to mouth, and also completed a 1312 km raft journey along the entire length of the river. He also organized the staging of a play on Chhatrapati Shivaji, Janata Raja" which has been staged 1000 times, including a performance at Wembley, London. . . He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various Committees of Parliament including the Committee on Water Resources and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He was also a Member of the Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change. He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 and became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. . . Shri Anil Madhav Dave was a true social worker widely known for his empathy for the poor and under-privileged. As an environmentalist, he worked tirelessly for conservation of Narmada river. He was a true nationalist and handled his public responsibilities with politeness and grace. In his passing away, the nation has lost an eminent leader from Madhya Pradesh". . . Ms Ann Linde, Minister for EU Affairs and Trade, Sweden held delegation level talks with the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju here today. During the meeting both the Ministers discussed various issues of importance to the two countries including the threat of ISIS and radicalization and steps being taken for counter-terrorism etc. . . Both the Ministers appreciated the ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber security and anti-radicalism being pursued by the two countries and emphasized the need for close collaboration both at bilateral and multilateral levels to counter this very serious threat especially against pluralist democracies such as ours. Ms. Ann Linde observed that terrorism and threat of ISIS is a big issue for Europe and urgent steps are being taken to check the same. MoS (Home) apprised her that even though threat of ISIS is there in India but various steps have been taken to keep the same under constant check and most importantly steps have been taken for de-radicalization and counter-radicalization. . . Ms. Linde shared Swedish perceptions about Brexit and challenges of influx of refugees faced by her country. While she reiterated the commitment on economic cooperation, the Swedish side offered Transfer of Technology and Capacity Building so as to make India a hub for global supply chain. They also showed their interest for supply of equipments and items for modernisation of Central Armed Police Forces. . . Ambassador of Sweden to India, Mr. Harald Sandberg and Senior Officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were present during the meeting. . . The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will leave on a three-day visit to Sikkim tomorrow. During the visit, the Home Minister will chair a meeting of the Chief Ministers of five States on the Indo-China Border viz J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to review the Indo China Border Security issues, in Gangtok on May 20, 2017. . . This is the first time such a meeting is being held by MHA. The objective of the meeting is to strengthen the coordination of MHA with the five States on Indo-China Border to improve the overall border security as states are also partners in Security of the borders. In this meeting, discussion will be held about the border infrastructure work under taken by MHA, Border Area Development Programme and coordination issues between the states and the ITBP etc. . . Shri Rajnath Singh will also be visiting Nathula Pass and ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the Jawans of ITBP on Indo-China Border. On May 21, 2017 he will visit the SSB Bns. Hqrs (Geyzing & Yuksam), besides, flying over SSB border posts at Uttarey, Kumukh & Bajrajadhara on Indo-Nepal Border. . . The Home Minister will also interact with jawans at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing. It will motivate jawans guarding our borders at very high altitudes & in inhospitable terrain. Shri Rajnath Singh will later attend a Civic Action Programme at Pelling in West District, Sikkim. . . Sixteen years into the war in Afghanistan, the situation continues to deteriorate. If this were a business, it would be bankrupt. The red carpet has been rolled out and the stars are taking their photo calls as the aristocracy of the film industry gathers at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes for the 70th annual film festival. From Afghanistan to Zambia, film makers, buyers, screenwriters, distributors, critics, academics and cineastes bunker down together for 12 days of communal cinematic consumption in dark rooms interspersed with heady business and critical discussion in the glare of the Mediterranean sunlight. Chinese authorities warned computer users of the risk of a new cyber attack by a virus similar to that has affected over 150 countries since it was detected last week, causing widespread panic. The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (CVERC) and software company AsiaInfo on Wednesday detected the "UIWIX" virus, which is spreading in a similar way like the "WannaCry" ransomware, Xinhua news agency reported. Both viruses use security holes in the Microsoft Windows operating systems to rename files and encrypt them in order to limit users from accessing the computer or files unless they pay a ransom, CVERC deputy head Chen Jianmin said. The virus usually renames files with the extension ".UIWIX", and although no infections have been reported in China as yet, the CVERC was on alert. Meanwhile, Windows released a security update to protect computers against the virus. Beijing authorities earlier this week announced the discovery of another mutation of WannaCry, the "WannaCry 2.0." Chinese newspaper Global Times said WannaCry is based on EternalBlue, an application developed by US' National Security Agency to attack computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system. Qin An, director of the China Institute of Cyberspace Strategy, said the attack "again reminds the world of the great harm the US' network hegemony and its network weapons can bring about". Among the over 30,000 companies affected by the attack in China included hospitals, train stations, universities, government offices, post offices and gas stations. One of the worst hit by the ransomware was the powerful state-controlled oil company CNPC, the fourth largest company in the world in terms of revenue, which was forced to disconnect the servers of more than 20,000 service stations and temporarily stop accepting online payments. Europes love affair with Facebook may be coming to an end. On Thursday, the European Unions powerful antitrust officials fined the social network 110 million euros, or about $122 million, for giving misleading statements during the companys $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, the internet messaging service, in 2014. Arizonas new education savings accounts program is supposed to start next school year, but its unlikely that families will receive money for private tuition before the first day of school because of a possible referendum and the laws late passage. A new group, called Save Our Schools Arizona , is collecting signatures for a referendum to halt the law to expand Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, which opens up eligibility for private tuition to all of the states 1.1 million students. The voucher-like program is the most expansive one in the country, as I explained in a previous story about Arizonas new law . Described as a grassroots, non-partisan group of parents and citizens, the organization last week pulled petitions for a ballot measure . If the group collects 75,321 signatures by Aug. 8, the law would be put on hold until the November 2018 election. If they fall short of enough signatures, the law goes into effect on Aug. 990 days after its passage and one day after the petition deadline. Many Arizona schools begin classes in early August. Dawn Penich-Thacker, Save Our Schools communications director, said the group ran out of petitions at its first event to gather signatures last week. She estimates that 4,000 signatures were collected in the first five days of circulation. Stop-by and sign events are scheduled throughout the state. Penich-Thacker said organizers began the drive because they are tired of what they says is the underfunding of Arizonas teachers and public schoolsthe state ranks near the bottom nationally. The new law would take even more money away from public schools. This was the last straw for a lot of people who thought that we had already cut education to the bone, said Penich-Thacker, who has children in traditional public schools. We kind of see this as one part of a much larger message that Arizona has had enough of cutting public education. While the petitions are being circulated, the Arizona education department is working on regulations for the ESAs, including how students would be prioritized for funding if the requests exceed the limit, said Stefan Swiat, the departments spokesman. A maximum of 5,500 new students can join the program annually, capped at 30,000 students in 2022. Were looking to expedite that so we can get students on, Swiat said. We have to really ramp up in a short period of time. While the law doesnt go into effect until the start of next school year, families can apply for funds anytime, Swiat said. The department generally recommends that families apply for accounts by May for the following school year, but there is no deadline. This school year, the department received the most applications in August and January . Swiat said he doesnt foresee families missing out because the current program has always fallen below its limit. Before the new law was passed in April , the program slowly expanded for only certain groups of students: those who have disabilities, are in D- or F-rated schools, are in foster care, come from military families, or reside on a Native American reservation. About 3,100 students are enrolled in the current program, well below the cap. Want to know the difference between education savings accounts and other voucher-like programs? Check out our explainer . What lies beyond This is not just a question for the United Kingdom and the European Union, but also one that will reverberate around the world. Alphabet Inc's Google announced on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc's iPhone, opening up the tool to a key high-end segment of the technology market. A stray dog snoozes under a red boat lying next to a rickety teashop at Sur Bandars quay, where a few dozen small boats are bobbing in the Arabian Sea. The water is clear and a school of fish is swimming near the shore. It is Friday, and instead of going to sea, the fisherfolk have headed to the nearby mosque at midday. As the 2017 UK general election nears, Labour is facing a probable loss of seats for the fifth consecutive time. It may also suffer further disintegration of its historical relationship with British voters of Indian origin. One morning in February, lawyer Marty Rosenbluth set off from his Hillsborough, North Carolina, home to represent two anxious clients in court. He drove about eight hours south-west, spent the night in a hotel and then got up around 6 a.m. to make the final 40-minute push to his destination: a federal immigration court and detention centre in the tiny rural Georgia town of Lumpkin. Immigration arrests shot up 38 percent in the first three months of the Trump administration compared with the same period last year, according to figures released Wednesday, one of the first clear indications that the presidents hard-line policies are being carried out on a grand scale. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani staked his political future on opening Iran ever so slightly to the outside world and overcoming hard-liners' opposition to secure a historic nuclear deal in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions. He'll soon find out if voters think it's enough to keep him in the job. The 68-year-old cleric, a moderate within Iran's political system, has history on his side as Iranians vote for president on Friday. No incumbent president has failed to win re-election since 1981, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader and most powerful man in Iran, became president himself. Political analysts and the scant polling data that's available suggest Rouhani will come out on top among the four candidates left running, though an outright win is by no means assured. Failure to secure a majority tomorrow would send the two top vote-getters into a runoff a week later. His supporters streamed into downtown Tehran streets thick with police for rallies that lasted into the early hours on Thursday, just ahead of a 24-hour no-campaigning period before the vote. Wearing Rouhani's signature purple on ribbons and loosely draped headscarves, they honked, cheered and chanted slogans in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of two Iranian opposition leaders under house arrest since 2011 who back Rouhani. The rallies were largely peaceful even as Rouhani supporters faced off against smaller crowds supporting his main rival, hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, though police rushed reinforcements to break up Rouhani rallies that grew large enough to block traffic. Working against Rouhani is a sense among many Iranians that the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Iran accept limits on its atomic energy program, has failed to deliver an economic windfall. "No matter who's the next president, whoever comes to power should bring a better economy," hair stylist Reza Ghavidel said. Although nuclear-related sanctions were lifted because of the deal, other US and other sanctions remain in effect. That leaves banks and many big corporations wary of doing business with Iran. Unemployment, meanwhile, remains stuck in the double digits, with nearly a third of Iranian youth out of work, according to the Monetary Fund. "This election is about the economy. I don't think most voters are thinking about the soul of the nation right now," said Cliff Kupchan, the chairman of the Eurasia Group. "The numbers are looking better ... But the voters aren't feeling it." Rouhani's stiffest challenge comes from Raisi, a law professor and former prosecutor who heads an influential religious charitable foundation with vast business holdings. He is seen by many as close to Khamenei, and has even been talked about as a possible successor to him. Khamenei has stopped short of endorsing anyone. Raisi won the support of two major clerical bodies and promised to boost welfare payments to the poor. His populist posture, anti-corruption rhetoric and get- tough reputation bolstered by his alleged role condemning inmates to death during Iran's 1988 mass execution of thousands of political prisoners are likely to energize conservative rural and working-class voters. In a bid to woo younger voters, he has even turned to appearing in a viral video next to a tattooed, once- underground rapper named Amir Tataloo - despite his own history of supporting the cancellation of concerts on moral grounds. Mostafa Hashemitaba, a pro-reform figure who previously ran for president in 2001, and Mostafa Mirsalim, a former culture minister, also remain in the race. The ruling system put in place after the 1979 Islamic Revolution combines conservative clerical oversight and state control over large parts of the economy with tightly regulated but still hotly contested elections for key government posts. All candidates for elected office must be vetted, a process that excludes anyone calling for radical change, along with most reformists. No woman has been approved to run for president. Under Iran's system, the president is subordinate only to the supreme leader, who is chosen by a clerical panel and has the ultimate say over all matters of state. The presidency is still a powerful post, with considerable influence over domestic policy, the state bureaucracy and foreign affairs. A victory for Rouhani could lead to a further loosening of limits on personal freedom, while a hard-line win could set Iran up for a renewed bout of confrontation with the West at a time when US President Donald Trump has called for a tougher line on Iran. Only two months ago, Republicans in Congress and President Trumps top economic advisers were confidently predicting that a sweeping rewrite of the tax code would be in hand by summers end. Republicans on Wednesday abruptly pivoted and rushed to call on James B. Comey, who was fired as F.B.I. director by President Trump last week, to testify before several committees, produce memos and provide greater detail of his encounters with the president. After the revelations of the past 24 hours, it appears that President Trumps conduct in and around the firing of the F.B.I. director, James Comey, may have crossed the line into criminality. The combination of what is known and what is credibly alleged would, if fully substantiated, constitute obstruction of justice. It is time for Congress and a special counsel in the executive branch to conduct objective, bipartisan inquiries into these allegations, together with the underlying matters involving Michael Flynn and Russia that gave rise to them. Meridel Rubenstein, courtesy of Museum of New Mexico Press They're propped up on blocks beside double-wide trailers, half-covered in tarps in apple orchards, or lined up in rows along flowing acequias. Just about every make and model of car and truck is represented in weathering assemblages. Each vehicle comes with its own history and an imagined future as a lowrider painted and chromed to perfection, writes Don Usner in Cruising in the Heart of the Lowrider World, the first featured text essay and corresponding photo essay in Museum of New Mexico Press' Orale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico. Usner, a writer based in Santa Fe, has a long history with lowrider culture in northern New Mexico, which first came to him when he was a kid in the form of a warning against it. Growing up in Los Alamos, Usner was cautioned to stay away from the lowriders from the valley, that is, the city of Espanola, some 20 miles away. I was very keenly aware of the prejudices and stereotypes from the time I went to school, Usner explained. But those warnings didn't do much to shake his interest in the belly-dragging cars he'd seen cruising slow down Riverside Dr. on visits to the valley, where his mother was from. As an adult, he began to connect with lowrider culture all across northern New Mexico and quickly found all those ingrained assumptions about who builds, drives and enthuses about lowriders quickly turned on their heads. Consistently, Usner said, he was surprised by how open and generous everyone was. That people were like, 'Wow, let me share this with you. Take my picture. Meet my family,' he described. I was surprised because of that reputation that I had been impressed with. It turned out to not be true at all. To Usner those warnings early on came from a growing trend in the early days of the 60s to denigrate Mexican-Americans and, as such, the tremendous art that was coming out of their culture in the shape of lowriders. What typifies a lowrider has been argued about for decades now, but most can settle on these four loose identifiers: 1) It rides low; 2) It has small, spoke rims, 3) white wall tires, and 4) a nice paint job. But more than the physical stuff of chassis, steel and chrome, lowriders are a form of cultural identity, familial heritage and personal expression, and they articulate history in a way that makes it a bit less dry, more alive by many degrees. Usner's essay points to the way lowrider craft and culture began to flourish alongside the Chicano Movement of the '60s (though lowrider roots run deep, all the way back to Juarez and El Paso circa 1939, quickly spreading to LA). During this time, these cars not only served as a source of pride and Chicano identity, but took cues from broader art movementslike the murals of LA at that time that strongly reflected the momentum of El Movimiento. In New Mexico, paint jobs reflected the style, but, in a distinctly New Mexican fashion, emphasized religious and regional imagery. To me, that is reflective of the whole tradition of the santero, Usner outlined. Elements such as this illustrate the specificity and uniqueness of the scene in New Mexico; one that is completely embedded in the culture and truly an expression of place, as Usner put it. Nevertheless, New Mexico has become synonymous with lowrider culture in all its expansiveness. Back in 1993, MTV even sent camera crews to Espanola declaring it the Lowrider Capital of the World, and Albuquerque has hosted the Lowrider Magazine's Super Show every summer for many years (this year, it will be held Aug. 20). Not to mention, Usner, along with many civic and private organizations, is putting together proposals for the Lowrider Museum, for whichfingers crossedconstruction will soon begin in Espanola. Though contemporary auto culture is perhaps nowadays skewed slightly more toward the fast and the furious set, lowriders throughout our state are keeping it bajito y suavecito, as Usner writeslow and slowflying in the face of the prevailing tendency to build higher and move faster. That's not to say these cars don't reach heightsthe current jumping record is more than 130 inchesbut in New Mexico, hydraulics were installed for navigating dirt roads, not just showing off. It's a really homegrown scene, Usner explained. And the more I page through Orale!, and the longer I speak with Usner, the more that rings true. At the heart of all of thisthe theorizing, the events, the Sunday cruisingis, of course, the cars themselves. I asked Usner if there were any lowriders that stand out in his memory. He described a '53 Bel Air out of ChimayoI love that one because it embodies a story and this history. It relates to a particular place and family. The car isn't necessarily that spectacular but because it is an expression of local culture, it has a lot of meaning. I think that's true of almost all of these cars. They have a real significance to individuals because of their story and their personal connection to family and history. It goes far beyond the value of cars that might win awards. There's a lot of cars like this one for me. The school board in Kentuckys largest school district has tapped a long-time principal to fill in as superintendent while it searches for a permanent district leader. Martin Pollio, the principal of Doss High School, will serve as interim superintendent on a day-to-day basis during the search, which is expected to last at least six months. Pollio replaces Donna Hargens, who renegotiated her contract with the school board last month and will resign on July 1. Hargens had about two years left on her original contract. Pollio starts the new position on July 2 and has said he is interested in taking the job full-time, WHAS, a local television station, reported. While Pollio will be serving in an interim capacity, we have seen big-city districts stick close to home recently when selecting new district leaders : Cincinnati and Oakland school districts conducted national superintendent searches recently but eventually settled on administrators with deep tiesand administrative expertisein their districts. Dr. Pollio is the right person at the right time to steer this districtproviding stability and direction while giving the board time to name a superintendent, school board chairman Chris Brady said in a statement. Dr. Pollio has a proven track record of turning around struggling schools, increasing student achievement and helping create and implement career pathways. Hes a proven leader who is respected by his peers and has the skills needed to continue moving our district forward. Pollio joined the district in 1997 as a social studies teacher at Shawnee High School. For 20 years, Ive dedicated my career to serving the students of JCPS, Pollio said in the statement. It is an honor to serve as the acting superintendent, and I appreciate the work of the districts 15,000 employees who make learning possible every day. I will work to build a positive culture and climate by creating healthy learning environments in each school that empower teachers to keep our focus on the most important people we serveour students. The district is currently under a state management audit that could lead to fundamental changes , the most severe of which could be a state takeover. Related Stories: The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander has revealed that for more than two decades he has, alongside his royal duties, held down a part-time second job. Even after Volkswagen pleaded guilty to a nine-year conspiracy to dupe regulators and consumers, the carmaker has continued to insist that top executives played no role in the emissions fraud. After record highs for consecutive sessions, the Indian stock market's benchmark indices closed lower on Thursday. While the S&P BSE Sensex lost 224 points or 0.7 per cent to close at 30,434, the Nifty 50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 9,429, down 96 points or one per cent. Following the death of Union Minister of Environment Anil Madhav Dave on Thursday, his mortal remains were brought to Bhopal BJP office in the evening. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid his tributes to Dave. Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and workers paid tribute to the minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today exhorted all politicians to follow the simplicity and selflessness exhibited by Dave who passed away this morning. President Pranab Mukherjee, tweeted: "Shocked by sudden demise of Union Environment Minister Shri Anil Dave; deepest condolences to his family and well wishers." A tweet by the Prime Minister said, "Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment." Dave's wish and will signed by him on July 23, 2012 urged everyone to plant trees and conserve rivers. His will categorically says: "Don't construct any monument, statue in my name and also don't organise any competition in my name." Earlier, Modi termed Dave's demise as a personal loss. "I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. His another tweet said: "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences (sic)." BJP President Amit Shah also expressed shock over the demise of Dave. He tweeted: "Shocked and deeply pained by the sudden demise of our senior leader Shri Anil Madhav Dave ji. Deepest condolences to his family & friends (sic)." Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, also condoled the passing away of the minister. Shocked by his sudden demise, Gandhi said that Dave was soft spoken and gentle human being. "He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality," she added. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi tweeted and said, "Very sad to learn of the sudden demise of Union Minister Anil Madhav Daveji. He worked tirelessly for Narmada conservation. My condolences to his family." Expressing shock over the same, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also extended his condolence. "Shocked and extremely sad to know the sudden demise of my colleague Sri Anil Madhav Dave, Environment Minister.My heartfelt condolences," Naidu tweeted. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also prayed for peace to the departed soul. "Deeply shocked & saddened by demise of my colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. May God render peace to the departed soul," Jaitley tweeted. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar took to Twitter, and India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment. Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi told ANI: "It is a personal loss for me. I had the fortune to work with him in the Rajya Sabha for many years. He believed that his concerns about environment would become a matter of concern for all." Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury termed Dave's death as "Sad and untimely". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Shocked at sudden demise of union environment minister Anil Dave ji. May his soul rest in peace. Heartfelt condolences to bereaved family (sic)." Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced two-day mourning in the state following Dave's death. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said he was shocked to hear the news of Dave's death. Anil Madhav Dave passed away earlier today at the age of 60. As a BJP member, Dave represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha since 2009. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu welcomed the Australian Border Force's largest patrol vessel Ocean Shield in Chennai today. "Australia now operates the largest and most capable maritime surveillance and response fleet Australia has ever deployed." "This is the first time an Australian Border Force vessel is visiting India. It will deepen our engagement with India's civil maritime security authorities," Ms Sidhu said. Ocean Shield reciprocates the visit by the Indian Coast Guard Ship Sankalp to Australia in December 2014. In India, it will undertake operational activities with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard to ensure safety and security across our maritime domains. Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg, who is accompanying Ocean Shield, expressed Australia's gratitude for India's ongoing cooperation to combat regional security threats. "Australia values our strong relationship with India. This visit provides an important opportunity to strengthen our cooperation and address maritime security threats including drugs and firearms trafficking, people smuggling, piracy and illegal fishing," Commissioner Quaedvlieg said. Ocean Shield is just one of Australia's extensive fleet of offshore vessels that conduct far-reaching patrols and respond to illegal activities including people smuggling, illegal fishing and transnational crime. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Backing the removal of Maulana Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati from the post of Shahi Imam of Kolkata's Tipu Sultan mosque, the Congress on Thursday accused the former of 'politics of polarisation' and said that he doesn't deserve to be called Imam. "He does not even deserve to be called Imam. The way he makes such inflammatory statements, he cannot be called Imam. Being Imam he involves in politics of polarisation which is not acceptable. The decision to sack him was absolutely right," Congress leader Meem Afzal told ANI. Dubbing Barkati's removal as inevitable, Congress leader Tom Vadakkan said that decision has been taken in interest. "This would have happened anyway because it would have created a situation where there was a dispute between civil and religious authorities. It is in the larger interest of the country and state that such disputes are sorted out at the right time and right authorities," he told ANI. Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also hailed the decision saying that such people who speak anti-India statements should be thrown out of the country. "These kinds of people should be thrown out of the country. Such persons, who raised pro-Pakistan slogans, doesn't have the authority to be the Imam. He should be sent to Pakistan. I welcome his sacking," Rahul Sinha Expressing similar views, another BJP leader Dilip Gosh said, "It is unfortunate since Imam is a religious figure. I have been reiterating that the reason he is courageous enough to say anti-India remarks because of the fact that Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) was protecting him. He is a vote catcher. He should have sacked earlier." Earlier today, the trustees of Tipu Sultan mosque sacked Barkati for his "objectionable and inflammatory remarks against the country". Refusing to step down from the post, Barkati told ANI, "Terminated, axed, these words don't apply to Imam. Imam is a community head . . . I get a lot of notices every day. Who are they to terminate me? They need to apologise before the media otherwise they will face serious consequences." Barkati also alleged that the trustees were acting on the behest of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and blamed them of siphoning the mosque's property. Barkati is infamous for issuing fatwa against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defying Centre' order on the use of red beacon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Applauding the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for putting a temporary stay on Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution, the Congress on Thursday asked Pakistan to comply with the order till the final verdict is delivered. Congress leader Kapil Sibal told ANI, "It's an important decision. It also restores the faith of the ICJ that all those who come before it should abide by its verdict. Pakistan should realise it's not only good for the region, but for the world as well. It's own international status in the world will be tarnished by the fact that they haven't given counselor access to Kulbhushan Jadhav." Expressing similar views, another Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "Pakistan has no legs to stand upon. We hope that the Government of India continues to mount that pressure, because it is the first stage and they have to ensure that his life is safe, and only when he returns home, we will celebrate." Earlier, Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ read out the much-awaited verdict and asserted that the case was indeed debatable, while also adding that the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case. The final verdict is expected in August. The only condition under which Jadhav now stands to face execution is if Pakistan does not comply with the ICJ's decision. India can then go to the Security Council, which may then decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senate Intelligence Committeee Chairman Richard Burr has accused the former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, of not cooperating with the investigation into Russians meddling in the U.S. Presidential election. Flynn has not agreed to comply with May 10 subpoena for documents about his interactions with Russian officials. Flynn "is not cooperating so far. I may have been premature but there may be a day or two left," The Hill quoted Burr as saying. Flynn, the former national security adviser, was fired in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the contents of a December phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He has been under scrutiny for accepting payments from Russia and Turkey and allegedly misleading the government about them. On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that he had appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller to be the special counsel in charge of the FBI's ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and the ties between Russia and the Trump campaign officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Justice Department has appointed former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Robert S Mueller as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. The decision was announced by Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein on Wednesday, reported The New York Times. "I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authorities and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination," Rosenstein said in a statement. While a special counsel would remain ultimately answerable to Rosenstein and by extension, the President he would have greater autonomy to run an investigation than a United States attorney. Following the development Mueller is expected to announce his resignation from the law firm WilmerHale. The announcement comes as President Trump is beleaguered with a series of revelations that he asked sacked FBI director James Comey to close the agency's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn for his Russia links. The revelation came days after Trump Fired Comey. The White House has however, denied any such reports. As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav case today, the Centre expressed confidence about the judgment, saying that it would be pronounced in India's favour. "We have hope with the ICJ. We are confident that the verdict will come in our favour," Union Minister P.P. Choudhary told ANI. Echoing the same, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nalin Kohli said the central government has argued the matter forcefully in the ICJ and hence the verdict would come in India's favour. "The matter has been argued as forcefully as it could have been argued by the government Pakistan has not presented the credible answers with regard to the critical question that were being asked. We all are hopeful and we hope that the judgment will come in our favour," he told ANI. The International Court of Justice at The Hague will pronounce its verdict on Thursday over the death sentence awarded to former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by the Pakistani military court. India has dragged Pakistan to the International Court of Justice over Kulbhushan Jadhav's case after Islamabad two-star military court framed concocted charges against Jadhav. India has accused Pakistan of not following diplomatic norms and dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention by refusing New Delhi's 16 requests of consular access to Jadhav and denying him the right to defend himself. Arguing before the 11-judge bench at the ICJ,which included former Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari,India's counsel Harish Salve stressed that not granting consular access and not giving legal representation of Jadhav's choosing amounted to a "miscarriage of justice" and a "violation of his right" to defend himself from concocted charges in a "farcical trial". India told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Noted lawyer Harish Salve had told the court that India couldn't arrange for Jadhav's defence due to denial of consular access by Pakistan. He said India made innumerable requests for consular access, but Pakistan refused to provide documents relating to the case and consular access to him. Pakistan is deliberately executing Indians in the military courts where there is no scope for any arguments even in military courts and the charges are mostly fabricated and concocted which are outside the jurisdiction of civil courts. Pakistan raised the confession statement of Jadhav as a base of its argument and accused India of using the ICJ for its political theatrics. India termed that the confession of Jadhav was forcibly taken by the military while in captivity and he was tried by a military court in Pakistan. Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi while presenting Islamabad's stance in the ICJ on death sentence handed to Jadhav said that the former naval officer entered Islamabad through Iran using a fake passport. He told the court that Pakistan had given India all information regarding Jadhav's investigation, but didn't receive any response from New Delhi. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was given the death sentence by a military court in Pakistan on April 10 for the alleged "espionage and subversive activities." To which, Pakistan stated that the Vienna Convention provisions did not apply to a spy involved in terror activities. Also the International Court of Justice (ICJ) denied permission to Pakistan to play a six-minute "confessional" video of Jadhav, which India terms as a statement taken forcible in captivity. India demanded immediate suspension of Jhadav's death sentence but Pakistan presented the Kulbhushan Jadhav case as a matter of security and ICJ 's decision would not apply to "matters related to the security of Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dylan Roof Gets New Attorneys Ahead of Planned Appeal Convicted mass murderer Dylan Roof had his motion for new attorneys granted last week ahead of his expected appeal. Roof was sentenced to death this past January. Since motions for a new trial have been unsuccessful, it is expected that Roof will file an appeal. It is no secret that Roof was not happy with his attorneys. In fact, reports have surfaced claiming that Roof believed his attorneys are evil. During the sentencing phase of his federal trial, after a jury returned a conviction, Roof chose to represent himself, against the advice of his attorneys and the court. However, now that the conviction and sentence have been issued, and there are no more motions to be made at the trial level, Roof must proceed with an appeal if he plans to continue fighting the conviction. New Attorneys, Still No Hope Roof, a self avowed white supremacist who was at only just 21 years old at the time of the crime, murdered nine African American individuals as they prayed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. As he made well known, the killings were motivated by racial hatred. As such, he was prosecuted and convicted under the federal hate crime statutes. Additionally, earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to the state criminal charges in exchange for a sentence of life in jail without parole. This means that even if Roof is successful in appealing his federal conviction, he still will be locked away behind bars due to the state court's life sentence. Federal Hate Crimes Under federal law, hate crimes are punished rather severely. If any crime is motivated by race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability, hate crime charges can be brought. The federal hate crime statute allows courts to sentence individuals convicted of minor crimes motivated by race, such as vandalism, to up to 10 years behind bars. For more serious crimes, such as rape, kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, or attempted rape or sexual assault, federal statutes permit courts to sentence an individual to life in prison. The federal hate crime statutes do not authorize the death penalty. However, capital punishment can be sought under federal law when a defendant is being charged with murder, espionage, treason, or large scale drug trafficking. However, in states where the death penalty is permitted, other serious or aggravated crimes could result in a death sentence. Related Resources: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif led-PML-N government of abusing the cybercrime law to victimise PTI's social media activists. "Govt abusing Cyber Crime Law to politically victimise PTI social media activists by threatening/arresting them. Unacceptable in a democracy," Khan tweeted. Khan's tweet came after the arrest of Salar Kakar, a PTI social media activist from Balochistan. Police had summoned Kakar on Tuesday and asked him to submit his mobile and laptop to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Kakar was accompanied by former president of the PTI's Balochistan chapter, Qasim Suri, to the police station. Dawn quoted Suri as saying that the police told Kakar the FIA had been asking about him. Police also asked Kakar to disclose the passwords of all his social media accounts. Suri alleged that the FIA deputy director had received instructions from Islamabad to bring Kakar to the capital. He said the social media activist was brought to Islamabad by road and was not even allowed to return home to fetch any belongings. Meanwhile, the PTI has decided to raise this issue in the parliament. The PTI lawmakers on Wednesday submitted a calling-attention notice seeking to discuss the issue of harassment of social media activists and the alleged signing of secret agreements with social media sites to block accounts of users who are critical of government policies. Members of National Assembly Asad Umar, retired Col Amirullah Marwat, Nafeesa Inayatullah Khattak, Aquibullah and Dr Shireen Mazari submitted the notice on behalf of the PTI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The negotiations on the proposed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in Criminal Matters between India and Belgium were held here today. The Belgium delegation was led by Steven Limbourg, General Counsellor & Head of the Directorate-III Criminal Law of the Directorate General Legislation, Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, FPS Justice, while the Indian delegation was led by Bipin Mallick, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs. The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India can and may approach United Nations Security Council should Pakistan refuse to abide by the stay order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The UN charter entails that 'each member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice' and 'if any party to a case fails to perform the obligations, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council. Here is the text of the ICJ's order: In a major win for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the primary judicial organ of the United Nations, has ordered Pakistan to take "all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of an Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, until its final order. In its order indicating provisional measures, which was adopted unanimously, the Court also stated that the Pakistan Government shall inform it of all measures taken in implementation of that order. It further decided to remain seised of the matters which form the subject of the order until it has rendered its final judgment. The Court began by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalled that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over "disputes arising out of theinterpretation or application of the Vienna Convention". In this regard, the Court noted that the both sides do indeed appear to have differed and still differ today on the question of India's consular assistance to Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. It further noted that the acts alleged by India that is the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appeared to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of the optional protocol. The Court further observed that the existence of a 2008 bilateral agreement between the two countries on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. The court then turned to the question whether the rights alleged by India are at least plausible. It observed that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining state to inform the person concerned without delay of hisrights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. The Court then focused on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considered that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention and are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court then examined whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considered that the mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also noted that Pakistan has given no assurance that Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court said that there is urgency in the present case. The Court concluded by indicating the following measures: 1.) Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures takenin implementation of the present Order. 2.) The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ read out the much-awaited verdict and asserted that the case was indeed debatable, while also adding that the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case. Abraham added that under the Vienna Convention, India should have received consular access to seek justice for the former Indian Naval officer. A Pakistan military court had awarded the death sentence to former Indian naval officer Jadhav on April 10 for alleged "espionage and subversive activities." However, India, after being denied consular access for 16th time, dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention. India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan from carrying out the death sentence of Jadhav. Demanding the immediate suspension of the death sentence, New Delhi expressed fear that Islamabad might execute the formal naval officer even before the hearing of the ICJ was over. Pakistan, on its part, told the ICJ that the provisions of Vienna Convention on consular access were not applicable for a 'spy'. It also accused India of using the international body for political theatrics. Arguing before the 11-judge bench at the ICJ, which included former Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari, India's counsel Harish Salve stressed that not granting consular access and not giving legal representation of Jadhav's choosing amounted to a "miscarriage of justice" and a "violation of his right" to defend himself from concocted charges in a "farcical trial". India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of Jadhav. Salve had told the court that India couldn't arrange for Jadhav's defence due to denial of consular access by Pakistan. He said India made innumerable requests for consular access, but Pakistan refused to provide documents relating to the case and consular access to him. Pakistan raised the confession statement of Jadhav as a base of its argument and accused India of using the ICJ for its "political theatrics." India termed that the confession of Jadhav was forcibly taken by the military while in captivity and he was tried by a military court in Pakistan. Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi, while presenting Islamabad's stance in the ICJ on death sentence handed to Jadhav, said that the former naval officer entered Islamabad through Iran using a fake passport. He told the court that Pakistan had given India all information regarding Jadhav's investigation, but didn't receive any response from New Delhi. India demanded the immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence but Pakistan presented the Kulbhushan Jadhav case as a matter of national security and the ICJ's decision would not apply to "matters related to the national security of Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jakson Group, a leading energy and engineering solutions company today announced that it will participate in the upcoming edition of Intersolar Europe, one of the world's leading exhibitions for the solar industry scheduled May 31 to June 2, 2017 in Munich, Germany. At the event, Jakson will showcase its innovative engineering skills and expertise in building highly efficient solar power plants. Senior company officials will be present at Booth # 520, Hall A4 to discuss project partnerships and new opportunities. Jakson is one of India's leading solar companies with an integrated solar portfolio that includes IPP plants, EPC, solar products and manufacturing. Jakson currently owns and operates three solar power plants in India that sell power to state utilities under long term power purchase agreements. It has a portfolio of more than 800 MW in Solar EPC that includes both land-based and rooftop solar projects in India and Africa. The company has a strong solar products portfolio and is also into manufacturing of solar modules and module mounting structures. "We look forward to our participation at Intersolar Europe for the second year. We believe it is an ideal platform for us to showcase Jakson's innovate EPC expertise in the solar segment to a global audience," said Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Jakson Group, Sundeep Gupta. "I am eagerly awaiting the results of the Intersolar Awards, where Jakson is one of the finalists in the "outstanding projects category. We won the award last year and are confident of winning the award once again this year," Ashish Sethi, Director - Solar Business, Jakson Group. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister for State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Thursday praised External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for convincing the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav albeit temporarily. "We must complement the foreign ministry by Sushma Swaraj, because, the commitment was given by it to the parliament that India will do everything to help in the Kulbhushan Jadhav's case," Rijiju told media. Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar also expressed his contentment over the decision. "The stay given by International Court at The Hague in Kulbhushan Jadhav case is a very big decision. Our only concern is Pakistan would take care about the safety and security and in continuous term would give a report to the court. We urge the Pakistan Government the safety and security and health," Kumar told media. The ICJ earlier in the day granted a stay on execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan pending the final decision of the Court. It also told Pakistan to give consular access to India to meet Jadhav. This is a big diplomatic win for India. People from all walks of life today welcomed the stay on the execution of former Indian Naval officer and alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court. The stay order was issued by the ICJ. Earlier, Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ read out the much-awaited verdict and asserted that the Kulbhushan Jadhav's case was indeed debatable, and added that the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case. The final verdict is expected in August. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The most-awaited judgement in regard with the Kulbhushan Jadhav case is all set to be pronounced today by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Pakistan military court awarded death sentence to former Indian naval officer Jadhav on April 10 for alleged "espionage and subversive activities". However, India, after being denied consular access for 16th time, dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention. India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Demanding immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, New Delhi expressed fear that Islamabad might execute the formal Naval officer even before the hearing of the ICJ was over. Pakistan, on its part, told ICJ that the provisions of Vienna Convention on consular access were not applicable for a 'spy'. It also accused India of using the international body for political theatrics. Arguing before the 11-judge bench at the ICJ, which included former Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari,India's counsel Harish Salve stressed that not granting consular access and not giving legal representation of Jadhav's choosing amounted to a "miscarriage of justice" and a "violation of his right" to defend himself from concocted charges in a "farcical trial". India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of Jadhav. Noted lawyer Harish Salve had told the court that India couldn't arrange for Jadhav's defence due to denial of consular access by Pakistan. He said India made innumerable requests for consular access, but Pakistan refused to provide documents relating to the case and consular access to him. Pakistan raised the confession statement of Jadhav as a base of its argument and accused India of using the ICJ for its "political theatrics." India termed that the confession of Jadhav was forcibly taken by the military while in captivity and he was tried by a military court in Pakistan. Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi, while presenting Islamabad's stance in the ICJ on death sentence handed to Jadhav, said that the former naval officer entered Islamabad through Iran using a fake passport. He told the court that Pakistan had given India all information regarding Jadhav's investigation, but didn't receive any response from New Delhi. India demanded immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence but Pakistan presented the Kulbhushan Jadhav case as a matter of security and the ICJ's decision would not apply to "matters related to the security of Pakistan." It will be a big success for India and a setback for Pakistan if the death sentence of Jadhav is suspended by the ICJ. Where on the one hand, India's hopes regarding Jadhav will revive, on the other, Pakistan's relations with the other nations will suffer, affecting the country multi-laterally and economically. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the entire India - from politicians to commoners - demanding suspension of the death sentence given to Kulbhushan Jadhav by the Pakistan Military court, locals in Mumbai held special prayers and 'hawan' in The people attending the prayers were seen carrying photos of Jadhav and banners that spoke of the support for him. Talking to ANI, Jadhav's childhood friend Arvind Singh said he was hopeful that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would give a verdict in India's favour. "We all are praying that he is delivered justice. Almost everybody here is praying for him. We have been campaigning on various fronts for his safe return. We are very hopeful that the verdict is going to be in our favour. The way Salve ji has put his point, we are very hopeful," he added. Hawans are also being held in other parts of the country including Varanasi and Patna among others. The most-awaited judgement in regard with the case is all set to be pronounced today by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Pakistan military court awarded death sentence to the former Indian naval officer on April 10 for alleged "espionage and subversive activities". However, India, after being denied consular access for 16th time, dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention. India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Demanding immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, New Delhi expressed fear that Islamabad might execute the formal Naval officer even before the hearing of the ICJ was over. Pakistan, on its part, told ICJ that the provisions of Vienna Convention on consular access were not applicable for a 'spy'. It also accused India of using the international body for political theatrics. Arguing before the 11-judge bench at the ICJ, which included former Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari,India's counsel Harish Salve stressed that not granting consular access and not giving legal representation of Jadhav's choosing amounted to a "miscarriage of justice" and a "violation of his right" to defend himself from concocted charges in a "farcical trial". India told the ICJ that immediate steps must be taken to stop Pakistan's from carrying out the death sentence of Jadhav. Noted lawyer Harish Salve had told the court that India couldn't arrange for Jadhav's defence due to denial of consular access by Pakistan. He said India made innumerable requests for consular access, but Pakistan refused to provide documents relating to the case and consular access to him. Pakistan raised the confession statement of Jadhav as a base of its argument and accused India of using the ICJ for its "political theatrics." India termed that the confession of Jadhav was forcibly taken by the military while in captivity and he was tried by a military court in Pakistan. Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi, while presenting Islamabad's stance in the ICJ on death sentence handed to Jadhav, said that the former naval officer entered Islamabad through Iran using a fake passport. He told the court that Pakistan had given India all information regarding Jadhav's investigation, but didn't receive any response from New Delhi. India demanded immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence but Pakistan presented the Kulbhushan Jadhav case as a matter of security and the ICJ's decision would not apply to "matters related to the security of Pakistan." It will be a big success for India and a setback for Pakistan if the death sentence of Jadhav is suspended by the ICJ. Where on the one hand, India's hopes regarding Jadhav will revive, on the other, Pakistan's relations with the other nations will suffer, affecting the country multi-laterally and economically. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday exhorted all politicians to follow the simplicity and selflessness exhibited by former environment minister Anil Madhav Dave who passed away this morning. Leaders from all political parties condoled Dave's death. President Pranab Mukherjee, tweeted: "Shocked by sudden demise of Union Environment Minister Shri Anil Dave; deepest condolences to his family and well wishers." Modi shared Dave's wish and will on Twitter and tweeted: "This document is a manifestation of simplicity & selflessness in public life. It is an illustration of Nishkama Karma Yoga (sic)." Another tweet by the prime minister said, "Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment." Dave's wish and will signed by him on July 23, 2012 urged everyone to plant trees and conserve rivers. His will categorically says: "Don't construct any monument, statue in my name and also don't organise any competition in my name." Earlier, Modi termed Dave's demise as a personal loss. "I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," the Prime Minister tweeted. His another tweet said: "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences (sic)." BJP President Amit Shah also expressed shock over the demise of Dave. He tweeted: "Shocked and deeply pained by the sudden demise of our senior leader Shri Anil Madhav Dave ji. Deepest condolences to his family & friends (sic)." Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, also condoled the passing away of the minister. Shocked by his sudden demise, Gandhi said that Dave was soft spoken and gentle human being. "He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality," she added. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi tweeted and said, "Very sad to learn of the sudden demise of Union Minister Anil Madhav Daveji. He worked tirelessly for Narmada conservation. My condolences to his family." Expressing shock over the same, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also extended his condolence. "Shocked and extremely sad to know the sudden demise of my colleague Sri Anil Madhav Dave, Environment Minister.My heartfelt condolences," Naidu tweeted. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also prayed for peace to the departed soul. "Deeply shocked & saddened by demise of my colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. May God render peace to the departed soul," Jaitley tweeted. Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was on Thursday given extra charge of Dave's Environment Ministry, tweeted: "Feel sad abt demise of dear ministerial colleague Anil Madhav Dave today morning- was a noble intellectual soul.May His Soul Rest In Peace (sic). Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said, "Absolutely shocked to hear about Anil Daveji's demise. Soft spoken, passionate about environment, literature, culture, he was always kind." Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted: "Shocked to hear about the demise of my friend and respected colleague Shri Anil Madhav Dave. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends (sic)." Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar took to Twitter, and India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment. Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi told ANI: "It is a personal loss for me. I had the fortune to work with him in the Rajya Sabha for many years. He believed that his concerns about environment would become a matter of concern for all." Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury termed Dave's death as "Sad and untimely". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Shocked at sudden demise of union environment minister Anil Dave ji. May his soul rest in peace. Heartfelt condolences to bereaved family (sic)." Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced two-day mourning in the state following Dave's death. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said he was shocked to hear the news of Dave's death. Anil Madhav Dave passed away earlier today at the age of 60. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, Dave represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha since 2009. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and expressed his satisfaction at today's order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the stay of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. Sources said, the Prime Minister also expressed his satisfaction on the efforts of Harish Salve, the former solicitor general of India and the team. Meanwhile, Swaraj said the ICJ order has come as a great relief to Jadhav's family and the people of India. "We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav," Swaraj tweeted. In a major reprieve to India, the ICJ, the primary judicial organ of the United Nations, has stayed the death sentence awarded to former Indian Naval officer and alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by the Pakistan military court, citing that both - India and Pakistan - were bound by the Vienna Convention and that the rights invoked by New Delhi under the Vienna Convention were plausible. Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ read out the much-awaited verdict and asserted that the case was indeed debatable, while also adding that the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case. Abraham added that under the Vienna Convention, India should have received consular access to seek justice for the former Indian Naval officer. The only condition under which Jadhav now stands to face execution is if Pakistan does not comply with the ICJ's decision. India can then go to the Security Council, which may then decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgement. The UN charter entails that 'each member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice' and 'if any party to a case fails to perform the obligations, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council.' A Pakistan military court had awarded the death sentence to former Indian naval officer Jadhav on April 10 for alleged "espionage and subversive activities." However, India, after being denied consular access for 16th time, dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for violating the Vienna Convention. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar after a Portuguese era footbridge collapsed in Curchorem. "Spoke to Goa CM Shri @manoharparrikar regarding the bridge collapse on Sanvordem River. Search and rescue ops have been intensified," Rajnath Singh tweeted. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy tweeted "9 Navy Divers with Geminis boats & associated equipment rush to Curchorem, South Goa bridge collapse site for Search & Rescue operation." So far, one body has been recovered from the location. 50 persons fell into a river following the collapse of the footbridge. The incident took place when the police were attempting to rescue a youth who jumped off the bridge. The number of casualties is still unclear. The police and the fire brigade are currently at spot. The rescue operation is currently underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Will Your Insurance Cover Medical Marijuana? Medical marijuana has been hailed as a wonder drug. Doctors frequently prescribe or recommend it to patients on opiates as it has potential to provide effective pain relief without the negative side effects of opiates. Although marijuana can be used to safely treat a variety of ailments, illnesses, and diseases, health insurance companies do not currently provide coverage for it. Even in states where medical marijuana is legal, because the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) puts marijuana on the same level as heroin, most health insurance companies' policies require denying coverage. However, other types of insurance may actually be available. Health Insurance Policies Require Denial Most health insurance companies require that all medical treatment be FDA approved in order to provide coverage. Since the FDA is a federal agency, and marijuana is classified as a drug with no possible medical uses under the CSA, marijuana won't be approved by the FDA until it gets reclassified. While there are many prescription drugs covered by the Controlled Substances Act, the law distinguishes between drugs that have a medical application and those that don't. Unfortunately for medical marijuana patients, despite the vast support and increased acceptance of medical marijuana nationwide, under the current administration, any change in classification may not be on the horizon for several more years. What About Workers' Comp Insurance Providers? This past January, a New Jersey workers' compensation judge ruled that a workers' comp insurer must pay for an injured worker's medical marijuana. The judge specifically found convincing the argument that marijuana was effective in providing pain relief and weaning a patient off dangerous opiates. In addition to the recent New Jersey case, a few years back, a New Mexico workers' comp judge reached a similar decision. In both cases, the judges found that medical marijuana was an effective treatment, and was reasonable and necessary for the injured employees' medical care. However, in California and other states, laws specifically allow workers' compensation, and other, insurers to deny coverage for medical marijuana claims. As such, before seeking to claim reimbursement from an insurer for medical marijuana, it's probably a good idea to read through your policy and check your state's laws to see if it is specifically excluded. Related Resources: The Tibetan government in-exile today observed the 40th International Museum Day. The Tibet Museum in Himachal Pradesh's Dharmasala organized an event to mark the day where president of the exile government Lobsang Sangay interacted with various Tibetan students. Sangay attended the opening function as chief guest. By observing the day, Tibetans tried to tell the world about the Tibet issue and situation inside Tibet. Many people including young Tibetans attended the event today. Tashi Phungstok, director of The Tibet Museum said, "We have been observing this day from last three years. So main objective to observe the day is to build a network with other museums around the world as well as to inform the people about Tibet's history and culture and what's going on inside Tibet." This year more than 35,000 museums in 145 countries observed the International Museum Day. President of Central Tibetan Administration, Dr. Lobsang Sangay said, "Tibet museum is one of the 35000 participants, it is officially listed as one of the participants so we regard the Museum Day as very important because the facts and truth about Tibet is displayed in the museum." "There is a Chinese version, they have a huge museum which falls would send historically untrue narrative and what we want to have is a true narrative of Tibet's history and Tibetan political situation in Tibet now so hence we participate in the International Museum Day and through this museum day we try to create awareness among the international community and also the tourist and the people who come to Dharmashala," Sangay added. The Tibet Museum will be observing the day till tomorrow by showing different documentary films about Tibet's issues. The Museum also organizes mobile exhibitions at different time and places throughout the year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet has expressed profound sorrow at the sad demise of Anil Madhav Dave, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change at New Delhi, today. In a resolution passed at a special Cabinet Meeting, the Cabinet noted that in his passing away, the country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Cabinet met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extended its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the Government and the entire nation. "Shri Anil Madhav Dave was born on 6th July 1956 at Barnagar, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. He got his M.Com degree from Gujrati College, Indore, specializing in Rural Development and Management," the resolution reads. Asserting that Dave was a river conservationist, environmentalist and social worker, a prolific writer, authoring several books in Hindi and English, the resolution said he was the founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad and also edited the monthly magazine "Charaiveti" and JAP, Jan Abhiyan Parishad Journal. "He was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 aircraft over river Narmada from the source to mouth, and also completed a 1312 km. raft journey along the entire length of the river. He also organized the staging of a play on Chhatrapati Shivaji, "Janata Raja" which has been staged 1000 times, including a performance at Wembley, London," it added. It further said that Dave was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various Committees of Parliament including the Committee on Water Resources and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. "He was also a Member of the Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change. He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 and became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change," it added. Asserting that Dave was a true social worker widely known for his empathy for the poor and under-privileged, the resolution said as an environmentalist, he worked tirelessly for conservation of conservation of Narmada river. "He was a true nationalist and handled his public responsibilities with politeness and grace. In his passing away, the nation has lost an eminent leader from Madhya Pradesh," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twelve preschoolers were injured after a Houston teacher's science experiment went wrong. The teacher was show a preschool class how flames change color using when the mixture suddenly erupted, the CNN quoted a fire official as saying. Most students suffered minor burns while seven were rushed to Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. The incident occurred outdoors Tuesday morning at the Yellow School, a preschool run by Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. The teacher mixed boric acid and methanol and tried to light it without success so, the teacher added more alcohol and lit the mixture, and a chemical flash occurred. All the children were released to their parents Tuesday night and the Village Fire Department is investigating. "It was an experiment that went wrong. There was a brief moment of flame and it was put out fairly quickly," said Bob Giles, business administrator at the church. "This incident will be investigated swiftly and thoroughly, and we will keep the congregation up to date as more facts emerge. Our primary concern is the health and safety of our children, and The Yellow School asks for your prayers for the injured and their families, as well as staff and students," said the Yellow School in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The House lawmakers on Wednesday passed a legislation to impose sanctions on backers of the Syrian regime, including Iran and Russia. Approved by a simple voice vote, the measure slaps the new sanctions on people who have financial relationships with the Syrian government or businesses controlled by the Bashar al-Assad regime, reports the Hill. "Assad's crimes against humanity cannot go unanswered. With these new sanctions, we will continue to tighten the screws on the Syrian regime and its most prominent backers, including Iran and Russia," Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. President Donald Trump would be authorized to waive sanctions on a case-by-case basis if warranted or if peace negotiations are underway, with no more civilian violence. The bill also directs the president to submit a report to Congress on the potential effectiveness of a no-fly zone over part or all of Syria. Similar legislation passed in the House last November, but it never came up for a vote in the Senate. The latest legislation comes as last week the United States acussed Syria of carrying out mass killings of prisoners in its Sednaya military prison. Earlier President Trump had also authorized a military strike against a Syrian government airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians. Before Wednesday's vote, the Treasury Department announced this week it had frozen the assets of several Syrian individuals and companies that provided support to the Syrian government. Americans will also be barred from any transactions with the sanctioned entities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aetna International, one of the world's largest benefits businesses, has announced the first phase of the global launch of 'vHealth by Aetna'. India is the first market in the world to see the launch of 'vHealth by Aetna' and is set to become the centre of excellence for global expansion of this service, with subsequent launches planned in other key global markets later this year. The Indian Organisation, Aetna International's fully owned subsidiary in India, plans to have four million members in India by 2020, with revenue of Rs. 300 cr. 'vHealth by Aetna' is set to transform care across the world. The service is set to give patients a very different experience when they see a doctor, designed so that doctors have extended time with patients, to listen to their concerns, and treat them with courtesy and professionalism. Consultations are delivered virtually, through a new mobile app, where they can communicate with in-house primary doctors by video call, or by telephone call. The doctors can prescribe, refer to specialists, and advise on medical concerns. Not only does this innovative service provide comprehensive, accessible primary health care, it also paves the way for a fully connected care package, reducing the need for hospital visits, and allowing members to manage their own health and keep all their health care records in one place. As well as the clear benefit of fast access to a doctor from any convenient location, 'vHealth by Aetna' is also very cost effective, reducing the need for a physical consultation by an average of 47%. Patients can rate their doctors immediately, and each doctor is carefully audited to ensure only the highest care, whilst maintaining complete confidentiality. In India, 'vHealth by Aetna' will be available at an annual subscription cost of Rs. 2400 for a family of four. This will entitle members to unlimited primary care consultations, to include the management of chronic conditions, treatment of minor illnesses, advice on alternate treatment options, interpretation of diagnostic reports and guidance to stay healthy. Diagnostic tests can be arranged at the member's home and medication can be delivered to their door. Doctors will also refer members to appropriate medical specialists at our partner centres at discounted prices where appropriate. Dr Sneh Khemka, President of Population Health, Aetna International said, "At Aetna International, we believe that new innovations and technology will fundamentally change the way health care is managed and delivered. India has a reputation for rapid acceptance of technology, including smartphones, making it a perfect market for the launch of such an innovative tool, which we believe will revolutionize the primary care system. The combination of our 'vHealth by Aetna' centre, our clinical expertise and our extensive network of medical partners, allows us to provide a uniquely integrated healthcare journey, which we believe will be of enormous benefit to our members. We are very excited for India to be leading the way with this first launch of 'vHealth by Aetna'." Manasije Mishra, Managing Director, Indian Health Organisation & Aetna India said, "Health care can appear complex and hard to navigate. 'vHealth by Aetna' can be a guide and partner in managing your family's health." He continues, "Our doctors are trained and certified as per Swiss tele-medicine standards, and follow robust clinical protocols built by Medgate A.G., a Swiss market leader in tele-medicine for over 15 years. These protocols, customised for India, enable our doctors to provide evidence based diagnosis and care. We believe that the resulting clinical quality, together with the breadth and convenience of this service will be unparalleled in the Indian health care market. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the development of four laning of Porbandar-Dwarka Section of NH-8E in Gujarat. The cost is estimated to be Rs.1958.88 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road to be developed is approximately 118 kms. This work will be done under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase IV on Hybrid Annuity Mode. The project will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in Gujarat and in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Porbandar-Dwarka section. The development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region in the State. It would also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities. It has been estimated that a total number of 4,076 mandays are required for construction of one kilometre of highway. As such, employment potential of 4,80,000 (approx.) mandays will be generated locally during the construction period of this stretch. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GPT Infraprojects rose 9.09% to Rs 269.45 at 14:15 IST on BSE after the company said its board will consider bonus issue on 23 May 2017. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 18 May 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 139.31 points, or 0.45% to 30,519.46. On the BSE, 4,604 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 10,732 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 275 and a low of Rs 244.95 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 299.85 on 3 October 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 192.05 on 21 November 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 17 May 2017, rising 4.55% compared with 4.57% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 2.08% as against Sensex's 8.33% rise. The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 14.54 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. GPT Infraprojects said that its board will meet on 23 May 2017 to consider bonus issue of shares. The board will also consider raising funds by issuing equity shares and/or other securities. Further, the board will also consider audited financial results of the company for the quarter and year ended 31 March 2017. On a consolidated basis, net profit of GPT Infraprojects declined 14.45% to Rs 3.02 crore on 13.81% decline in net sales to Rs 106.15 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. GPT Infraprojects is an infrastructure company based out of Kolkata. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Abu Dhabi, May 18 (IANS/WAM) At least 50 critically endangered turtles were released by the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) in collaboration with the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) ahead of Endangered Species Day on Friday. The turtles, which were released on the beach of Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, were rescued over the last year and sent to DTRP. Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Executive Director of Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Sector at EAD, said: "This turtle release shows EAD's commitment towards conserving endangered species through rescuing turtles and involving the community and younger generation." "By getting them closer to the species, they can connect to our natural heritage and become players in the conservation arena," she said. Warren Baverstock, Burj Al Arab's Aquarium Operations Manager of DTRP, said: "We are extremely proud to release these rehabilitated sea turtles back into their environment." "To date, the DTRP has released over 1,200 rehabilitated sea turtles back into UAE waters, and this is a great achievement for the country," Baverstock added. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Affirming its dominance in the tech world with announcing beta version of "Android O" operating system, Google is celebrating the milestone of reaching two billion monthly active Android devices globally. On the first day of its annual I/O conference at its Mountain View headquarters in San Francisco late on Wendesday, Google said "Android O" -- that will be released later this year -- would bring more fluid experiences to the devices as well as improvements to areas of the phone called "vitals" like battery life and security. "With picture-in-picture, you can seamlessly do two tasks simultaneously, like checking your calendar while planning a party on a Duo video call. And Smart Text Selection improves copy and paste," the compnay said in a statement. "By using machine learning to recognise entities on the screen-like a complete address, you can easily select text you want with a double tap and even bring up an app like Maps to help navigate you there," it added. 'Android O' is aimed to make phone startup quicker and apps faster, with added optimisations for developers to help prevent your battery from draining. With an aim to reach out to "the next billions of users" with a new initiative, Google also unveiled Android Go - a new configuration of Android for entry-level Android devices. The goal of Android Go is to get computing into the hands of more people by creating a great smartphone experience on all Android devices with 1GB or less of memory. Android Go is designed with features relevant for people who have limited data connectivity and speak multiple languages. This optimisation of the latest release of Android, starting with Android O, to run smoothly on entry-level devices. It will also consist of specially designed Google apps, like YouTube Go, Chrome and Gboard-to use less memory, storage space and mobile data. And there will be a version of the Play Store that highlights apps specifically designed for the next billion users coming online while still offering the entire app catalog. All three of these things will ship together, as a single experience, starting in 2018. Google also introduced Google Play Protect -- a comprehensive set of security services for Android, providing powerful new protections and greater visibility into your device security. "Play Protect" is built into every device with Google Play, is always updating and automatically takes action to keep your data and device safe. "Play Protect" detects and removes apps that might be harmful. "And with more than 50 billion apps scanned every day, Google's machine learning systems are always on the lookout for new risks," the company said. As part of the "Google Play" protect, the company also launched 'Find My Device' that allows users to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devices, tablets and even watches remotly. --IANS sku/qd/na/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar on Thursday condoled the death of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and said he had dedicated his life to the conservation of the Narmada river with "exemplary honesty." "It is really sad and shocking. He was a great, great environmentalist," Akbar told the media here. "He had given his life for the Narmada. Not only he knew the subject but he devoted his life to the subject with exemplary honesty... honesty just not in financial sense but also honesty of purpose," he added. Dave died in New Delhi on Thursday morning following cardiac arrest. --IANS sgh/ssp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A month before Donald Trump became the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, his ally House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said privately among GOP peers on Capitol Hill that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin makes payments to Trump. "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording verified and reported by The Washington Post. Shortly after the story broke tonight, McCarthy took to Twitter to deny. This was an attempt at humor gone wrong. No surprise @WashingtonPost tried to contort this into breaking news. Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 17, 2017 CREDIBILITY WATCH: Ryan and McCarthy spokesmen both flatly denied, then were told @washingtonpost had a recording, changed answers. https://t.co/ZrvU9UgtQO jimrutenberg (@jimrutenberg) May 17, 2017 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican sometimes referred to as 'The Gentleman from Moscow,' for his odd history as a staunch defender of Putin and Russia. Adam Entous of the Washington Post says his source for the audio recording that proves this happened won't approve its public release. But the audio is real, and after denying that it could have existed, Paul Ryan's rep says it was all a joke, don't take everything so seriously. After McCarthy said 'I think Putin pays' Trump House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy's assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the U.S. Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions. News had just broken the day before in The Washington Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home. Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy's comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: "Swear to God." Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: "No leaks. . . . This is how we know we're a real family here." The remarks remained secret for nearly a year. And after a year, whoever had that audio decided that now was the time to release them to a news reporter. VIDEO: The Washington Post's Adam Entous discusses a 2016 conversation of GOP leaders in which House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made the explosive claim. The Army's Central Command chief Lt General B.S. Negi visited the forward areas of Pithoragarh and Gunji in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, a spokesperson said. General Negi, along with the Formation Commander, carried out aerial operational reconnaissance of the forward areas along the Line of Actual Control. The Army Commander took first-hand account of operational matters and deployment of troops in the remote areas under extremely harsh and difficult conditions. He expressed satisfaction with and appreciated the preparedness level of the formation and units in their areas of responsibility. There have been incursions by the Chinese People's Liberation Army on its border with Uttarakhand and the visit of the top ranking official was to test the preparedness of the forces there for "any and all eventualities", sources said. Things are normal, the spokesperson said. --IANS md/him/dg (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after the controversial Maulana Noor-ur Rehman Barkati was removed as Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque, another leading Muslim cleric on Thursday said he should accept the termination and leave the post. "Any Imam who makes anti-national comments should be removed from the post," said President of Tahaffuz-e-Masjid committee Qazi Fajlur Rahaman. Barkati, who recently threatened 'jihad' and refused to remove the red beacon from his vehicle, was sacked from the post with immediate effect by the mosque's trustee board on Wednesday. However, a defiant Barkati has refused to heed the order, saying the trustee board has no right to remove an Imam. --IANS mgr/ssp/vgu/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Decentralised solar power, when utilised by unelectrified households, reduces money spent on kerosene but is not conducive to accessing larger social and economic benefits, a study published in Science Advances, an online publication, has found. The study was conducted over a year in 1,281 households from 81 non-electrified rural communities in Suratganj block of Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh. While half of the population was selected randomly and put into a "treatment" group, which was offered cost-effective solar microgrids by solar service provider Mera Gao Power, the other half, the "control" group, was not given power. The researchers observed over the period of the study that basic energy access through the micro-grid did not appear to provide broader socio-economic benefits. Installing a solar lighting system had little effect on the household patterns of time spent on work, studying using the light, expenditures, savings or business ownership. However, after comparing the treatment and control groups, the study found that electrification rates (percentage of households with access to electricity) in the former increased by 29-36 per cent. The electrified households also spent about Rs 47-49 less on black market kerosene per month, while the average spending earlier on black market kerosene was about Rs 73. "We worked in very small and marginalised communities, even by Uttar Pradesh standards," Michael Aklin, one of the authors of the paper, told IndiaSpend over email. "For instance, other communities might differ considerably in terms of how wealthy they are or how close they are to the grid. Similarly, if we think about other countries, we would also need to think about the price of kerosene. The impact of these microgrids could be larger in places in which kerosene is more expensive (which would be the case, for instance, in places without government subsidies)." Around 90 million households still use kerosene for cooking and lighting requirements, according to estimates by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Companies like Mera Gao Power that build small energy grids to power a few households or a village, have the potential to reach 73 million unelectrified households that still use kerosene as their primary source of electricity -- a polluting source that produces earth-warming carbon dioxide, in addition to emitting gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter, with severe health consequences. An estimated 1.16 billion people (17 per cent of the world's population) did not have access to electricity in 2015; an estimated 615 million of them are in Asia and the majority of those in India (306 million), according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an inter-governmental organisation that supports transitions to sustainable energy. For people without access to electricity, off-grid renewable systems, which are cheaper than extending the national grid, are the most economical way to get electricity, according to IRENA. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), one of eight missions initiated to combat climate change through clean energy generation, is a major policy initiative to promote solar energy, including off-grid power development, IRENA said. India aims to add 2,000 MW off-grid solar applications by 2022 under the JNNSM. This is a part of a larger target to install 175 GW (1 GW is 1000 MW) of renewable generating capacity by 2022, under its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming. Off-grid installations will make up a very minuscule part of this target. Between 2013-17, the mission is expected to deploy around one million solar lighting systems. By March 2017, the government had installed 462.54 MW of solar photovoltaic systems under off-grid applications, according to MNRE. While the government has provided these decentralised power systems for rural electrification since 2001, the sector has seen a surge of private companies recently, according to the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD). "The households could use electricity only at night, beginning at sunset and ending by 11 pm," Aklin said. "The main problem is not the number of hours but the amount of power available. The micro-grids we studied only gave people access to mobile charging and two LED lights." "Larger systems that can power appliances and machinery would have more substantial impacts but the capital cost would be higher. The challenges here concern the cost of these systems and the relative poverty of the potential customers. Public policy could be particularly useful here to help customers borrow money to buy (or rent) more powerful off-grid technologies," Aklin added. The poorest of the poor often pay the highest rates for basic electricity services, and regulation of off-grid markets is needed, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organisation. It also said that erratic supply offsets the full economic benefits of electrification programmes. Access to electricity is not binary and cannot be answered with just a yes or no. Communities' experience of electricity is shaped by attributes such as reliability, affordability, and capacity for powering different services, according to a WRI paper. As of May 16, 2017, 73 per cent of villages were electrified but only eight per cent had all its households electrified, according to data published by the ministry of power. However, this provides no information about the quality of power provided. (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Mukta Patil is an analyst. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org) --IANS/IndiaSpend patil/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet met on Thursday and condoled the demise of Environment Minister Anil Dave, saying the country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader. "The Union Cabinet has expressed profound sorrow at the sad demise of Dave today (Thursday). The country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions," a statement said after a special Cabinet meeting. The meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extended its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the government and the entire nation. The Cabinet adopted a resolution which said that Dave was a river conservationist, environmentalist and social worker. "He was a prolific writer, authoring several books in Hindi and English. He was the founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad and also edited the monthly magazine Charaiveti and JAP, Jan Abhiyan Parishad Journal," it said. The resolution said Dave was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 aircraft over river Narmada from the source to mouth, and also completed a 1,312-km raft journey along the entire length of the river. "He also organised staging of a play on Chhatrapati Shivaji, 'Janata Raja', which has been staged 1,000 times, including a performance at Wembley in London," it said. Dave was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He passed away on Thursday morning following cardiac arrest. He was 61 and a bachelor. --IANS aks/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has lamented the deaths of 21 Khalisatni militants during the tenure of Chandra Shekhar, who served as the eighth Prime Minister of India from November 1990 to June 1991. Speaking at the launch of "The People's Maharaja," his authorised biography, Amarinder Singh claimed that Chandra Shekhar betrayed him and that he was responsible for the death of 21 Khalistani militants. Elaborating further he said that he was told that some militants wanted to surrender and so he dialled the PM's number and informed him about it. The Prime Minister seemed happy at their decision and asked Amarinder Singh to facilitate their surrender. The Punjab CM facilitated the surrender of 21 militants at the residence of the then PM but it was after six months that he learnt that all the 21 Khalisatni militants had been killed. He added that he regretted trusting Chandra Shekhar and never initiated any other surrender ever since. "I felt betrayed by then PM Chandra Shekhar after 21 Khalistani militants I arranged to surrender were killed. Never spoke to him after that," Singh tweeted immediately after the programme from his verified twitter handle. Singh also stuck to his stand on the Khalistani supporters in Canadian government, saying that the Justin Trudeau dispensation has several Khalistani supporters. Earlier Amarinder Singh had refused to meet Canadian Defence Minister of Indian-origin Harjit Singh Sajjan accusing him and other ministers of Punjab origin in the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of links to radical elements demanding a separate Sikh state of Khalistan. No minister or senior officer of the Punjab government either went to welcome Sajjan or even accompany him during the visit. "These people have ruined my land. They want to destroy Punjab. I know that the Canadian government has Khalistani supporters," he said at the book launch. The Punjab CM was in a conversation with Suhel Seth and his biography has been written by Khushwant Singh, not to be confused with the late writer of the much acclaimed 1956 historical novel "Train to Pakistan". --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday again invoked the Panchsheel agreement to discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with India, a multi-million dollar project that has emerged as the latest irritant between the two countries. Beijing again sought to allay New Delhi's fear that China would meddle in the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. "I think we have already had so much discussion on this issue. We have expressed our position many times on CPEC," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here. "I want to reiterate that we would like to follow the five principles of co-existence in developing friendly relations with other countries, including our efforts in promoting regional connectivity," Hua said, referring to the Panchsheel pact. "I am sure you would have noticed that during the Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation, President Xi also said that we would follow the principle of peaceful coexistence to promote friendly cooperation along the Belt and Road. "So I think in this way the concerns from the Indian side must be addressed." In 1954, India and China signed five principles of peaceful co-existence or Panchsheel that talked about mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence. But the two neighbours fought a brief war in 1962. The CPEC has emerged as the sore point between India and China. The $46 billion economic route passes through Pakistan-administered Kashmir, claimed by New Delhi. The CPEC is one of the key components of China's Belt and Road project, which aims to connect Asia, Europe, and Africa through a network of roads, railway lines and ports. India skipped the Belt and Road forum in Beijing in opposition to the CPEC. "We have already expressed our position as you can see the Belt and Road Initiative is an open and inclusive one and follows the principles of extensive consultations and shared benefits. The CPEC is an important part of the belt and road will bring benefit to regional connectivity and common development and prosperity." Hua said. "Regarding the Kashmir region, as we said before, it is an issue between India and Pakistan and the Belt and Road initiative will not change China's positions on the Kashmir issue." she added. --IANS gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior editor with a leading Chinese daily has urged India to join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it can reduce New Delhi-Islamabad tensions. "If New Delhi joins and contributes to Beijing's infrastructural initiative, this will help alleviate tensions and confrontations between India and Pakistan," Ding Gang, a senior editor with People's Daily, said in an opinion piece published by Global Times. "More importantly, the initiative can enhance local people's living standards," he added. India has refused to join Beijing's Belt and Road initiative citing sovereignty concerns as the CPEC will run through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, a region New Delhi claims. India worries the CPEC project will infringe upon its sovereignty. But Ding said that border disputes, including those between China and India, were often the result of "unreasonable colonial orders and many remain unsettled after decades. "Military clashes are frequently seen in Kashmir, causing casualties on both sides. "Now it's time to change the old way of solving these issues. "As conflicts persist and no new rules are adopted, why can't we put these issues aside and pursue a project or programme that is based on consensus as the first step to establish mutual trust?" Ding said: "A responsible government has no reason to keep these innocent civilians enduring such ordeals. "Development is the solution to various issues. If the Indian government can take a step forward, even a small one, it will be written into the annals of history." Ding is also currently a senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. --IANS soni-mr/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced a man to five years in jail for selling endangered animals. The man, who has been identified by his surname Wei, conducted his business on social media platforms and managed pet stores that sold animals including otters, boa constrictors and toucans since 2015, the people's court of Dongxing city said. In May 2016, Dongxing forest police seized six toucans, four otters and 20 boa constrictors from his home. All the animals are under state protection, according to the court. Wei was also fined 30,000 yuan ($4,000). --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Normal life was severely affected in Left-ruled Tripura on Thursday due to a 24-hour shutdown called by the opposition Congress in support of its 12-point charter of demands, including CBI probe in chit fund activities. "Most shops and markets were closed and attendance in the government offices and banks was low across the state. Most schools, educational institutions, banks and financial institutions were also closed," a senior police official said. Most vehicles except those with the security forces and emergency services remained off the roads. Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) cancelled all to-and-fro trains connecting the border state with other parts of the country. "The weekly Tripura Sundari Express train running between Agartala and New Delhi has been rescheduled from Thursday to Friday morning," an NFR spokesman said. However, Air India and other private operators operated their flights on Agartala-Kolkata-Guwahati-New Delhi routes. Police said that no major untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state. "Around 500 picketers were arrested from across the state for picketing in front of the government offices and other important locations," Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) K.V. Sreejesh told IANS. Besides Tripura Congress President Birajit Sinha, other important leaders arrested on Thursday for picketing included Congress Legislature Party leader Gopal Roy, state Congress Vice President Pijush Biswas, state Youth Congress President Sushanta Chakraborty, former legislator Tapas De, and former Minister and veteran woman Congress leader Laxmi Nag. All India Congress Committee Secretary Bhupen Bora also joined the picketing in Agartala. State Congress chief Sinha later told reporters that the 24-hour strike was total and successful and over 2,000 Congress activists have courted arrest. "If the Left Front government does not concede our demands, we would intensify our agitation and the Left parties would be voted out in next year's assembly elections," the state Congress chief said. Besides the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the chit fund activities, the Congress has demanded unemployment allowance to all unemployed youths by the state government and appropriate settlement of all 10,323 government teachers who are facing axe due to a Supreme Court verdict. The Congress also demanded implementation of 7th Pay Commission recommendations for employees and pensioners of the Tripura government. All the three universities, including the lone central university, and colleges in the state have postponed Thursday's examinations in view of the shutdown. --IANS sc/in/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday directed Telangana Police to trace a missing youth and present him in court by June 1. The court gave the direction on a petition by Amboji Naresh's parents, two days after his wife allegedly committed suicide at her parents' house in a tragic end of a love story and an inter-caste marriage between the two childhood friends. The court took note of the alleged suicide of Tummala Swati, who was to appear in the court in connection with the case of her missing husband. The judge wondered why the 20-year-old was left alone in the house when she had attempted suicide twice. As Naresh's father Amboji Venkataiah suspected that Swati's father was behind his son's disappearance, police told the court that it was questioning Srinivas Reddy. The court directed Telangana's Director General of Police (DGP) to appoint a special officer to trace the missing man and produce him by June 1. It suggested that if the police chief failed to do so, he should order a high-level probe. Naresh, 23, has been missing since May 2 when he brought his wife to Bhongir town to meet her parents, who had promised to accept their marriage. The Hyderabad High Court had on Monday given police three days to present Swati. She allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her parents' house on Tuesday. A day earlier, she tried to end her life by consuming toilet cleaner but survived. The couple had eloped in March and married in Mumbai against the wishes of Swati's father, who comes from a higher caste. Two weeks ago, Swati's father reportedly invited the young couple to their hometown Bhongir and promised to accept their marriage. When they arrived in the town, Swati was reportedly taken away by her father while Naresh went missing shortly thereafter. Interestingly, Swati's father has filed a case of dowry harassment against Naresh, accusing him of torturing his daughter. Naresh's father denied the allegation. He approached the High Court, seeking direction to police to trace his son. --IANS ms/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Here's the list of companies that are quietly lobbying to kill New York State's Right to Repair legislation (previously), which would force companies to halt anticompetitive practices that prevent small businesses from offering repair services to their communities: "Apple, Verizon, Toyota, Lexmark, Caterpillar, Asurion, Medtronic" and the Consumer Technology Association "which represents thousands of electronics manufacturers." The companies are especially opposed to rules that ban using DRM to prevent the use of third-party parts and spares it's become common practice to embed just enough software handshaking in replacement parts to invoke section 1201 of the DMCA, which makes it a felony to bypass "effective means of access control" for copyrighted works. A manufacturer who designs their device to use (copyrighted) software to validate spare parts something John Deere has become notorious for can then invoke the DMCA to make it a felony, punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine, to make compatible components. Every company lobbying against competitors making compatible products has benefited greatly from their own competitive compatibility products: for example, Apple ran a high-profile, extremely successful marketing campaign (the Switch campaign) that advised potential customers on how to use Apple products to access files created with Microsoft products. It's ironic that many of the Apple customers who cheered on the "Switch" campaign are likely gearing up to hand-wave away the hypocrisy of lobbying to make it literally illegal to switch away from Apple-supplied products, invoking the absurd claim that Apple critics are bitter hipsters who merely resent the company's success. Remember: "the tactic of pointing to other companies that have done bad things when your favorite company is caught in its own misdeeds is the 'But her emails!' of technology fanboyism." Apple and its lobbyists would not discuss their concerns with the bill with Motherboard's Jason Koebler. However, Apple has lobbied against similar legislation in other states, several times, and told a Nebraska law-maker that passing Right to Repair legislation would turn the state into a "Mecca for bad actors." The records show that companies and organizations lobbying against right to repair legislation spent $366,634 to retain lobbyists in the state between January and April of this year. Thus far, the Digital Right to Repair Coalitionwhich is generally made up of independent repair shops with several employeesis the only organization publicly lobbying for the legislation. It has spent $5,042 on the effort, according to the records. A retainer agreement between Apple and lobbying firm the Roffe Group notes that the law firm will "lobby Apple's corporate issues, including but not limited to areas of environment, tax, and retail." According to the contract, Apple pays Roffe Group $9,000 per month for its services. According to the records, fair repair (New York Senate bill 618A) is one of just three bills Apple lobbied on in March and April. The recordswhich as far as I can tell have not been published on a news site beforealso show that Apple lobbied against similar legislation in 2016 and 2015. Apple Is Lobbying Against Your Right to Repair iPhones, New York State Records Confirm [Jason Koebler/Motherboard] (Image: Silveryhat, CC-BY-SA) UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim on Thursday condoled the death of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and said he had a lifelong love for nature and environment. "I was deeply saddened by the news of the sudden demise of my friend Anil Dave," Solheim told IANS. He said Dave was a humble, wise and a dedicated man. "Anil had a lifelong love of nature and the environment -- starting with the beauty of his home state of Madhya Pradesh but including India and the world. He will above all be remembered for his crucial role in making the Kigali Agreement, so critical to fight dangerous climate change." "We will also recall his passion for the protection of the great Indian rivers -- the Ganga, the Narmada and others," Solheim said. Dave represented India at the 28th meeting of the "Parties to the 1989 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" held in Rwandan capital Kigali in October last and later in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech in Morocco. He died here on Thursday morning. --IANS vg/ruwa/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Environment Minister Anil Dave's funeral will be held on Friday on the bank of the Narmada river in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, an official statement said on Thursday. Dave passed away in New Delhi earlier on Thursday following a cardiac arrest. In a will written on July 23, 2012, Dave stated that if possible, his last rites should be done in Bandrabhan on the Narmada river. Bandrabhan is the spot where Dave used to conduct the International River Festival every two years. Madhya Pradesh will observe a two-day state mourning from May 18, the statement said. --IANS hindi-vgu/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Environment Programme Executive Director Erik Solheim on Thursday condoled the death of Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, describing him as a wonderful advocate for environment. "Deeply sad to hear that Anil Dave has passed away," Solheim tweeted. He said Dave was "such a wonderful advocate for the environment -- we'll miss him dearly". Dave died here on Thursday. --IANS vg/ruwa/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the media reported. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller on Wednesday to the position, reports CNN. Attorney General Jeff Sessions previously recused himself from any involvement in the Russia investigation which includes evidence of potential collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign associates and Russian officials, due to his role as a prominent campaign adviser and surrogate. Mueller was appointed Federal Bureau of Investigation Director by former President George W. Bush in 2001 and served until 2013. He will resign from his private law firm WilmerHale to avoid any conflicts of interest, the Justice Department said. As special counsel, Mueller is "authorised to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters", according to the Justice Department order Rosenstein signed. In a brief statement, Mueller said, "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability", CNN reported. News of the special counsel announcement was closely held. The White House received a heads-up less than an hour before the news broke at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The rest of the House leadership and rank-and-file members were in the dark, but a Justice Department official did reach out directly to Speaker Paul Ryan shortly before the announcement to let him know of the special counsel appointment, according to a Republican official. Trump was meeting with FBI director candidates when the White House was formally told that a special prosecutor had been named in the Russia investigation. The White House counsel informed the President, reports CNN. "It's still sinking in," one administration official said, adding "We were told about it. Not asked about it." In a statement on Wednesday, Trump said an investigation will confirm that "there was no collusion" between his campaign and Russia. The naming of Mueller as special counsel comes a week after Trump abruptly fired James Comey, the man who succeeded him as FBI Director. The official announcement of Comey's dismissal cited his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server during her 2009-2013 tenure as Secretary of State. Senators plan to question Rosenstein about Comey's firing when the deputy attorney general testifies on Thursday in a closed hearing. --IANS ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A cargo-passenger ferry service linking Russia and North Korea has started regular trips and completed its first journey on Thursday. The Man Gyong Bong ferry left the North Korean port city of Rason on Wednesday and arrived in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on Thursday morning, state news agency TASS reported. The trip marked the beginning of a once-weekly regular cargo-passenger service. An estimated 40 passengers boarded the boat for the maiden voyage. "These are Russian citizens, who are returning from North Korea, and tourists from China," said Mikhail Khmel, deputy director general of Investstroytrest, the company that owns RosKor, the ferry's operator. Khmel said the vessel will make the return journey on May 19. The company expects most of its passengers to be Chinese tourists, who will be able to visit both Russia's Primorye region and North Korea in one trip, Khmel told TASS. The Man Gyong Bong ferry was built in 1971 and underwent remodification last year. It can take up to 200 passengers on board and about 1,500 tonnes of cargo. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to deal with economic offenders like liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who flee the country to escape the legal process, the government on Thursday said it has prepared a draft legislation to enable confiscation of their assets. The draft law -- Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017 -- has been prepared and put in public domain at the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, website for comments and suggestions of all stakeholders. "It is widely felt that the spectre of high-value economic offenders absconding from India to defy the legal process seriously undermines the rule of law in India," the Finance Ministry said here in a statement "It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed," the statement said. "The government is considering to introduce legislative changes or even a new law to confiscate the assets of such absconders till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum," the statement added. All stakeholders need to submit their suggestions by June 3. The legislative action is part of the Union Budget announcement. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in the Budget 2017-18 said: "In the recent past, there have been instances of big time offenders, including economic offenders, fleeing the country to escape the reach of law. We have to ensure that the law is allowed to take its own course. "Government is, therefore, considering introduction of legislative changes, or even a new law, to confiscate the assets of such persons located within the country, till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum. Needless to say that all necessary constitutional safeguards will be followed in such cases." --IANS mm/in/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday termed the International Court of Justice decision on Kulbhushan Jadhav a great victory for the rule of law and his trial in Pakistan as a "mockery" of justice. "This order though interim is a very serious indictment of the kind of mockery in the name of judicial system that exists in Pakistan," Jaitley said, commenting on the ICJ's decision asking Pakistan not to execute Jadhav pending its final decision. "Any form of judicial proceeding which is conducted in secrecy, in darkness, and which is not open for any public gaze lacks the very appearance of justice. This order today highlights the importance of the fact that when a person is allegedly accused he has a right of effective defence," he said. "Unless a person has access to his own consulate he can't even get a counsel of his own choice... It is a vindication of India's stand." "In the annals of international law this judgment is a great victory of the rule of law," he said. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month on charges of espionage. India had sought consular access to Jadhav 16 times since his arrest in March 2016, which had been refused. In a tweet earlier, Jaitley said the verdict "endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan". --IANS ao/rn (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The head of Pakistan's delegation at the International Court of Justice on Thursday termed its order staying the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "basic ruling" and said the UN court had not mentioned anything about maintainability of the order. Asked by reporters outside the ICJ if Pakistan will stay Jadhav's execution as ordered by the court, Moazzam Ahmad Khan initially did not reply. He then said that the ruling was "basic". He did not comment on the merits of the case. "This is a very basic judgment. What the court has done is that it has given a ruling on provisional measures," Khan told reporters. "It did not say anything on the merit of maintainability of the order," he said. In major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav till a final decision is taken. Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. India had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, held at an unknown prison in Pakist --IANS ao/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is eyeing cooperation with African nations on the International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative and looking forward to deepen economic cooperation during the upcoming annual meetings of African Development Bank (AfDB) Group here from May 22. For the first time, India would be hosting the annual meetings of the bank here from May 22-26. The annual meet will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 23. "India would seek to leverage this occasion to further deepen her economic cooperation with the African countries. India is also looking forward to cooperation with Africa on the International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative," the Finance Ministry said here in a statement on Thursday. The ISA initiative was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs. "The annual meetings of the bank this year would be another opportunity to discuss the issues facing the regional member countries, while India would seek to leverage this occasion to further deepen our economic cooperation with the African countries," the statement said. The core theme of the event is "Transforming Agriculture for wealth creation in Africa", which has tremendous scope for cooperation between India and Africa. The annual meetings are the largest event of the bank, which would witness about 3,000 delegates from 81 member-countries from across the world gathering at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre here in Gujarat. AfDB has adopted a strategy called 'High 5s', which focuses on five major developmental priorities comprising agriculture, energy, industrialisation, regional connectivity and improved quality of life through access to social and economic opportunities. During the course of the event, the Board of Governors of the bank will meet to dwell upon the major developmental challenges facing the African countries and the ways to achieve an inclusive and sustainable growth. India will be organising an Africa India Cooperation Event on the sidelines of the main event. The sessions would primarily focus on agriculture, healthcare, e-governance, renewable energy, skill development and education, trade and investment and manufacturing. The government is also planning an exhibition to showcase the capabilities of Indian companies in terms of technology, innovation, and start-ups, which could be relevant to African countries. The theme of the exhibition is centred on the priority areas of the bank. During India Africa Forum Summit 2015, the announcement of $10 billion line of credit by Modi marked a new beginning in India's approach to engage with African countries in a more constructive manner. India's support through lines of credit has not only helped finance the projects in African countries, but has also contributed to capacity building, IT education, and higher education. India joined the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1982 and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 1983, initiating a long history of cooperation spanning over 30 years. India's collaboration with the bank group is built around three main pillars -- contributions to the General Capital Increase (GCI), contributions to African Development Fund replenishment and a bilateral trust fund and providing resources to support highly indebted poor countries and the multilateral debt reduction initiative. --IANS mm/pgh/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi has no substance in the case of condemned alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan said on Thursday, after the ICJ asked Islamabad not to hang him. "As far as Pakistan is concerned, the (International Court of Justice) decision has not changed the status of Jadhav's case in any manner," Pakistan's Attorney General said in a statement. The statement said Jadhav, sentenced to death for spying and for acts of terrorism, had ample time to petition for clemency. "We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end," it said. --IANS mr/soni/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. We love Google for a multitude of reasons. It's the most-used platform for everyone, from students learning a new skill to grandmas who need to find out how to ruin Thanksgiving dinner again. The most READ THE REST The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday imposed sanctions on nine US firms and individuals in retaliation for new sanctions on the Islamic republic over its missile programme. The US Treasury Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Iranian defence officials, an Iranian entity and a China-based network that supplied missile-applicable items to a key Iranian defence entity, Efe news reported. According to the ministry's statement, the sanctioned US companies and individuals, whose names are expected to be announced later, are accused of "direct or indirect cooperation with the Zionist regime in committing crimes against humanity in Palestine". They also backed "terrorist acts carried out by this regime; participation and assistance in supporting Takfiri terrorism and repression of people in the region; and effective cooperation in acts against the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran", the statement added. The ministry denounced the measures taken by Washington as aimed to undermine the positive effects of the nuclear agreement signed in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 nations (US, China, Russia, UK, France plus Germany). On January 13, the US imposed sanctions on 13 people and 12 entities in relation to Iran's ballistic missile programme. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Palestinian man was shot dead on Thursday and another was injured when an Israeli settler opened fire during a protest held in the occupied district of West Bank. An Israeli military spokesman told Efe news that the demonstration turned into a riot when hundreds of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli vehicles in Huwwara village, south of the city of Nablus. According to Ynet news website, the Israeli settler, who claimed that his life was in danger, got out of his car and started shooting when about 200 Palestinians threw stones at Israeli cars. Palestinian news agency Maan identified the victim as Mutaz Hussien, 23, from the village of Beita in Nablus. Hussien died "shortly after sustaining bullet wounds when an Israeli settler opened live ammunition on him during a peaceful solidarity march in the village", according to the news agency. Palestinian journalist Majdi Eshtayya was also injured in the firing. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday thanked the Jammu and Kashmir government for "the outstanding arrangements" made for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meet that began in Srinagar. The 14th Council meet chaired by Jaitley began on Thursday morning. Finance Ministers, Finance Secretaries and taxation officials of various states and union territories participated in the meeting where tax slabs for services and commodities would be determined for the entire country. The council meeting began with a two-minute silence as a tribute to Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave who passed away in New Delhi. When the council started its deliberations for the day, Jaitley thanked state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu for making arrangements for the final leg of the council meet. Jaitley assured the state government that the centre will extend all possible help in restructuring the GST implementation for Jammu and Kashmir while respecting the special status of the state. He said the common people would have many benefits of the GST as it would decrease the cascading effect of taxes. "Importing states like Jammu and Kashmir will have huge benefit. As per our estimate, we will have Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore profit in tax revenue. "Prices will go down for the common people in the coming three years," he said. The Finance Minister said the GST is perhaps India's largest and most significant tax reform. "It is a change in tax regime itself. And today to my mind this is the most important meeting because there is lot of public interest in it, like what taxes you have on salt, on cigarettes, on ships, so it affects the general public. So it is a very important meeting and perhaps it is towards the concluding part of the GST council", he said. Drabu said the state government would introduce a bill in the state assembly in its next session to implement the GST. "We will go into the GST regime but we will try to make some changes because of our special constitutional position", Drabu said. Acclaimed filmmaker Ketan Mehta on Thursday said he has sent a legal notice to actress Kangana Ranaut for conniving with producer Kamal Jain and others to hijack "Rani of Jhansi - The Warrior Queen", his most ambitious film project. According to Mehta, he had approached Kangana to play the role of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi in his film in June 2015. The actress had publicly committed to doing the project with him in 2015 but later she announced another film titled "Manikarnika - the Queen of Jhansi" with another producer and director. When IANS contacted Mehta, he said: "Yes it is true. We have sent a notice to Kangana as I think there is an attempt of hijacking a film." "I had approached her in June 2015 regarding this project and she had readily agreed to do it and enough statements have been made by her showing the commitment about the project," Mehta said. "We also shared the script, certain research material and a lot of discussion had happened. After this, suddenly we hear that she is doing a project with some other producer. I find this completely unethical," he added. The maker of films like "Mirch Masala", "Maya Memsaab", "Mangal Pandey - The Rising" and "Manjhi - The Mountain Man" says now his lawyer will take up the matter with the actress. "This is for the legal lawyer to work it out. We have put 10 years of our life in this project as it's a great project for the world, not just India," he said. Asked if Kangana has responded to the notice yet he said: "She is yet to respond to it." "Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi", slated to release in April 2018, is being directed by Krish. The news of Mehta's notice comes soon after writer Apurva Asrani expressed dissatisfaction over how Kangana took additional credit for the story in the upcoming film "Simran". --IANS nv/pgh/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actors Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx reportedly enjoyed a rendezvous here - almost four years since their romance began. Holmes is "very serious" about her relationship with Foxx, according to a source who told usmagazine.com: "She's head over heels for him." The source added that Holmes is now "finally ready" to make the relationship public. Holmes was reportedly "super worried" about the attention they received in Paris, but is now tired of hiding her romance with Foxx. "They're talking about planning a summer trip together in Europe. They're very serious," the source said. --IANS sas/rb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Known for making controversial comments, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday described Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad as a "blackmailer" and called Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a "Dhritarashtra". "Lalu is a blackmailer and Nitish Kumar is Dhritarashtra," Singh said in a tweet, targeting both Lalu and Nitish, who are part of the Bihar's ruling Grand Alliance. Singh said Lalu has been active as a blackmailer by saving himself and his family, while Nitish Kumar has become like Mahabharata's blind king Dhritarashtra by ignoring it. Singh's comment comes after ruling RJD workers on Wednesday allegedly attacked Bharatiya Janata Party workers outside its office here followed by a violent clash between workers of the two parties in which over a dozen persons were injured. According to the police, workers of the RJD and BJP pelted stones at one another and shouted slogans with abusive language against top leaders of the rival party. Later, both sides lodged police complaints against each other. Giriraj Singh said RJD workers attacked the BJP office a day after the Income Tax Department conducted raids at 22 locations in Delhi-National Capital Region on comapanies allegedly having benami land deals with Lalu Prasad and his family. "Action against Lalu was as per the rule of the law. BJP workers were attacked after they raised corruption issue against Lalu," he added. Singh said more than Lalu, he holds Nitish Kumar responsible for the attack as being the Chief Minister of the state, maintenance of law and order is in his hands. "Nitish Kumar is afraid to take action against Lalu and his two sons despite solid evidences of benami property." This is not the first time that Singh has stated something controversial. In April, he said that people who are accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case are innocent in the eyes of the people. Earlier, Singh had also targeted IIT students around the country, saying that of the 10 educated persons who eat beef, nine are from IITs. Singh had made racist remarks against Congress President Sonia Gandhi. BJP Lok Sabha member from Nawada constituency in Bihar, Singh is known to be a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a champion of Hindutva. --IANS ik/vgu/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday expressed grief at the sudden demise of Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Anil Dave. "Saddened at the sudden passing away of Union Minister Anil Daveji. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues," Banerjee wrote on Twitter. Dave, 61, a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009, died at his official residence in the national capital. He was from Badnagar in Madhya Pradesh. --IANS mgr/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague ordered to put on hold the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, India on Friday said it still has no information about his appeal status. When pointed out that Jadhav's appeal period ends on Friday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said at a media briefing here: "We have no information but certainly the mother of Jadhav had sent a petition with the appeal through the High Commission of India and it was handed over to the Pakistani authorities." He said that Pakistan has also not responded to the request by the family members of Jadhav for visas so that they could go and meet him. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016. Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad. But, in a major diplomatic, moral and legal victory for India, the ICJ on Thursday asked Pakistan not to execute Jadhav pending its final decision and inform it of the steps being taken to implement the order. "This court unanimously decides that Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal so that Kulbushan Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision of this court in the matter. It also unanimously decides that the court must be told of the measures Pakistan takes to implement this order," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said in the operative portion of the order which he read out in the open court for nearly 30 minutes. India moved the ICJ on May 8 after 16 requests made by New Delhi for consular access to Jadhav were denied by Islamabad. --IANS ab/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani newspaper on Thursday sought a wide-ranging probe into the affairs of the Pakistan International Airline after heroin was found on a PIA flight to London. The Dawn said that while the Pakistani customs had launched a probe, the drugs could not have been concealed in the panels and other recesses of the plane without the involvement of other airport personnel. "Clearly, the investigation needs to be on a broader level," an editorial in the daily said. "PIA has suffered enormously at the hands of the powerful rackets that operate within it, and it needs to be rescued from their clutches if it is to survive." The editorial came as crew members of a PIA flight in which heroin was found after it landed in London returned to Islamabad. The crew made its way back from Heathrow Airport, where their passports were seized by British authorities who searched the plane and questioned them after landing on Monday. British authorities confirmed on Wednesday that Border Force officers had found a "quantity of heroin" on board the PIA flight. PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar said British authorities had "thoroughly searched" and detained the flight crew after they landed at Heathrow, the Dawn reported. The Pakistan carrier has come under fire for poor performance, low safety standards and the staff's unprofessional attitude. Members of PIA crew have been sacked for smuggling contraband and assisting money laundering operations. The Dawn said: "The national flag carrier has suffered another blow to its image. "It is almost impossible that the contraband could have been placed in the plane without the involvement of some members of the ground handling staff or maintenance personnel." --IANS soni-mr/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday lavished praise on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, lauding her government's competence especially in the education and health sectors. "She is doing lot of work, in education, in health. I have been a part of the state for 50 years. After becoming President, I have come to the state so many times," the President said at a programme here. "... From my personal experience I can say her government is working competently. I bless her as an elder. She is much younger to me," he added. Then, turning to Banerjee, who was present on the dias, he said: "You go ahead, God will help you". Mukherjee, who was speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences -- Eastern India's first full-fledged healthcare institute dedicated to liver diseases -- also commended Banerjee for taking immediate action after she received complaints that medical treatment was being "sold at an exorbitant cost". Banerjee had in February met private hospital authorities and pulled up many of them for "unethical" money-making practices and followed it up by passing the stringent West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017 that led to the formation of a regulatory commission to monitor the activities of private healthcare providers. "After receiving complaint that instead of service, treatment was being sold at an exorbitant cost, she has taken immediate action. "She has spoken to doctors, talked to the departments concerned, and individual and organisations who are involved in the matter. And she has found out a way through discussions," Mukherjee said. --IANS ssp/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On Monday, a small plane with two adults and two young children disappeared from radar over the Bermuda Triangle. The Coast Guard has recovered parts from the plane but are still searching for the passengers, Jennifer Blumin, 40, her 3 and 4-year-old sons, and Nathan Ulrich, 52. Since the 1950s, the Bermuda Triangle, an area between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida, has been infamous for what many believe is a disproportionate number of mysterious aircraft and boat vanishings or accidents. From ABC News: The plane was scheduled to fly from Puerto Rico to central Florida, but never arrived at its destination, according to the Coast Guard. Miami Air Traffic Control reported that it lost radar and radio contact with the airplane just three hours into the flight, the Coast Guard added in a statement. "There's no indication of significant adverse weather at the time," Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman, told The Associated Press. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair a first security review meeting on May 20 with Chief Ministers of five Himalayan states on the India-China border during his three-day visit to Sikkim, an official said on Thursday. Mehbooba Mufti, Virbhadra Singh, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling, and Pema Khandu, who are Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh respectively will attend. "The meeting organised by the Home Ministry will be held on Saturday in Gangtok," a Ministry official said. The Home Minister will leave Delhi for the Sikkim visit on Friday. The objective is to strengthen coordination of the Ministry with these five states so as to improve overall border security, he said. The official said that border infrastructure work undertaken by the Home Ministry, border area development programme and coordination issues between the states and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will also be discussed in the meeting. The ITBP is responsible for the security of 3,488 km-long India-China border in Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km), and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km). The Home Ministry's move comes days after India refused to participate in China's One Belt, One Road conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. During his three-day visit to Sikkim, the Minister will also visit Nathula Pass and ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the troopers deputed on the India-China border. Rajnath Singh will also visit the Sashastra Seema Bal battallion headquarters at Geyzing and Yuksam, besides flying over the border guarding force's border posts at Uttarey, Kumukh and Bajrajadhara on the India-Nepal Border on May 21. He will also interact with troopers at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing before attending a civic action programme at Pelling in Sikkim. --IANS rak/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Rose Byrne has lashed out at "mainstream US comedies", accusing them of being misogynistic. The 37-year-old says female characters in mainstream comedies are often little more than a stereotype, whereas men are usually afforded the chance to deliver the most memorable punchlines. "I think in a lot of mainstream US comedies women are always the nagging one, the downer. Those films are a bit misogynistic," Byrne told standard.co.uk. Byrne also said that the movie industry is "broken", arguing that there is lack of original ideas in Hollywood at the moment. "The only films that the studios are making are about robots and cars," she said. --IANS sas/ks/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 15-year-old student of Class 9 was stabbed to death by two friends after a row over a trivial issue here, police said on Thursday. One of the attackers has been held. The incident occurred on Wednesday night when the deceased, Wasim, who lived with his family in Navjeevan Camp in Govindpuri, had gone out for a walk. He was found dead in a park with stab wounds, Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya said. "We are interrogating his friend and looking for the other person," he said. --IANS sp/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "The Sense of an Ending"; Director: Ritesh Batra; Cast: Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer, Billy Howle, Freya Mavor, Charlotte Rampling, Joe Alwyn and James Wilby; Rating: **1/2 This film directed by Ritesh Batra is based on a novel of the same name by Julian Barnes which was released in 2011 and awarded the Man Booker Prize. Like the book, the film is a rather dark story, a mystery of infidelity, tragedy and missed opportunity. It packs some philosophical notions about the way we live our lives -- making it a relatable, engaging and thought-provoking, character-driven drama. It is the tale of Tony Webster, a cautious, divorced man in his late sixties who receives a legal letter by post informing him that he has bequest a diary from a woman he had met only once, during his college days. The woman was the mother of his girlfriend Veronica. The legacy unsettles Tony, pushing him to get in touch with Veronica. In doing so, he starts to put the pieces of the puzzle together, to unravel the mystery that began years ago. While Tony's past is the focal point of the plot, the screenplay seamlessly oscillates between the present and an era bygone, making it seem like a well-crafted, tastefully done and refined love drama on the surface. The wry British humour adds to the flourish. Despite this, the film falls short on making its mark. Moving on a rather dull note, Nick Payne's script and Ritesh Batra's direction is sensitive and insightful. Yet, it leaves room for individual interpretation. Pertinent details from the novel that boost the character have been skipped, making this character-driven story feel oddly hollow. The plot seems definitely calculative and underwritten. The cast is packed with an impressive list of English thespians who deliver heart-felt and layered performances. But particular mention goes to the central four, playing both old and young - Tony and Veronica. In the older phase of their lives, the duo is portrayed by Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling, as pretty exasperating people, uneasy and awkward. While Charlotte is watchful, unforthcoming and enigmatic behind a chillingly cold stare, Jim plays his usually irritable self, alternating between a grumpy old man and a somewhat coarse human being especially when he darts tasteless, crude remarks carelessly -- a trait which was evident in his youth too. In the younger version, Billy Howle and Freya Mavor slip into the boots of the seniors rather effortlessly, though they do not resemble them. While Freya Mavor and Charlotte Rampling seem to be in perfect sync with their portrayal of young and old Veronica, there seems to be a glitch between Billy Howle and Jim Broadbent. Their personalities oddly juxtapose. These four are aptly supported by Joe Alwyn as Adrian -Tony's college friend whom he admired for his academic as well as his broad outlook on life, Michelle Dockery as Susie - Tony's lesbian daughter who is pregnant and on the verge of delivering and Harriet Walter as Tony's non-conformist and pragmatic wife Margaret. On the technical front, the film is beautifully shot and mounted but there is nothing exceptional about this production. --IANS troy/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An influential think tank has urged US President Donald Trump to develop with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a common strategic view based on shared interests in China, Pakistan and Afghanistan and make India a "clear strategic and diplomatic priority" for the US. The convergence of Indian and American strategic interests provides an opportunity for the Trump Administration to advance its key foreign policy goals and the US must rapidly seize the opportunity decisively, The Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) said in a paper released here on Thursday. Deeper cooperation in defence, including in interoperability of forces, and anti-terrorism should complement the shared strategic outlook, it recommended. The paper, "The Trump Administration's India Opportunity", was authored by Marshall Bouton, the ASPI Senior Fellow for India and former President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Chief Operating Officer of the Asia Society. A starting point for close cooperation between the two countries would be an early summit between Modi and Trump, the paper said, outlining what could be the agenda for such a meeting. A summit would be "at the at the top of my list of priorities", Bouton said in an interview with IANS. "Nothing helps to get a relationship off to a good start than that kind of an exchange between the two leaders." According to a source familiar with scheduling meetings, Modi was likely to visit Washington in July. The paper saw a match in the personalities and operational styles of the two leaders and said: "Modi is a strong and decisive leader with whom the Trump administration should feel very comfortable." The two leaders, who are "highly nationalist and pro-business in their orientation, are likely to find common ground", it said. "Both leaders pride themselves on making deals, even when those deals are not entirely aligned with their parties' interests." To keep the multifaceted development of bilateral ties on track, the paper suggested the appointment of a czar for India-US relations, "preferably a cabinet member, to hold the whole-of-government brief". "With security issues a priority, Defence Secretary James Mattis, who has publicly identified India as a key strategic partner, might be considered for the position." The paper identified countering terrorism, responding to China's assertive behaviour in the region and seeking peace and stability in South and East Asia as common factors in the two countries' agendas. "India has a great deal of experience in dealing with the threat of terrorism. The US has much to gain from cooperation with India on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism." The paper said Modi will want more forceful action against Islamabad on terrorism, arguing "that only the threat of stronger sanctions such as sharp cuts to economic and military assistance and removal of Pakistan's designation as a major non-NATO ally might change its behaviour". But future Washington action against Islamabad would hinge on the course of its involvement in Afghanistan as Pakistan controls key access to US forces there, the paper said. "This will be limiting factor or something that will affect how the administration decides to position itself, at least publicly, with respect to Pakistan," Bouton said in the interview. If the US puts more troops on the ground in Afghanistan, "the dependence on Pakistanis for access across their territory and even use of facilities for the war in Afghanistan will continue and will perhaps be enlarged". However, in private dialogue with Pakistani leaders, the US may be "making very clear our strong concern about renewed attacks across the Line of Control or across the border elsewhere and what the consequences would be", he said. Trump's attitude to China has become more conciliatory because he wants Beijing to manage the North Korean crisis. Asked how this would impact the US-India perceptions of China outlined in the paper, Bouton said: "North Korea and its nuclear ballistic missile capabilities are probably the single most immediate pressing issue in US Asia policy at this time bar none. ".. So if there are tactical shifts in the way Trump administration has chosen to deal with China in this time frame, they don't necessarily tell us about the longer time view." The paper acknowledged that the two nations' "economic interests could be an obstacle to closer partnership". But it added that "with careful management and imaginative leadership, (it) could become a new frontier in the relationship". ASPI suggests that the Trump administration consult India about changes to the H-1B visa system (which is used by professionals, particularly in the technology sector). It suggested "an economic 'grand bargain' to dramatically increase economic cooperation" through a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump is looking forward to working closely with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and is willing to make peace with North Korea through engagement if the conditions are right, according to a top Seoul envoy. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday during a 15-minute meeting with special envoy Hong Seok-hyun in Washington, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. "(President Trump) talked about sanctions on North Korea and cooperative relations with China. And he said he looks forward to cooperating closely with President Moon in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue so as to produce an outcome," Hong said. "Though we're now at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he said he has a willingness to make peace through the so-called engagement if certain conditions are right. He said, however, that what he's willing to do is not talk for talk's sake but for talks that produce an outcome," the envoy said. Also in attendance at the meeting were Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. Hong said he handed Moon's letter to Trump and expressed thanks for supporting South Korea's security and inviting the South Korean leader to visit Washington next month. The two countries agreed earlier this week to hold a summit between Moon and Trump in Washington in late June. It was the first time Trump has met with a South Korean official since taking office. The meeting came after North Korea successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Haryana government on Thursday ordered the suspension of two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) and transferred a Station House Officer (SHO) for alleged lapses in the Rohtak gang-rape and murder case. The Haryana Police has also initiated departmental action against the officials, Director General of Police (DGP) B.S. Sandhu said. The Sonipat City ASI was suspended for negligence while Rohtak Urban Estate ASI was suspended for recording wrong information in the post-mortem report. Rohtak Police had recorded the woman's gender as 'male' in its report but changed it later to 'female'. The SHO of Sonipat City had been transferred for taking the matter casually. A young woman who had gone missing from Haryana's Sonipat district on May 9 was abducted, gang-raped and brutally murdered. Her body was found on the outskirts of Rohtak town, 70 km from the national capital, on May 11. Describing the incident as a "heinous crime against humanity and women", DGP Sandhu said the case challan will be presented in the court within a month. "In view of the gravity of the crime, we will endeavour to get the case decided within three months and appeal for strictest punishment to the accused," the DGP said. Asserting that any negligence in tackling crimes against women will not be tolerated, he said action will be taken against erring officials. --IANS js/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A civilian and a policeman were injured when militants hurled a grenade at a police station here on Thursday. The incident took place at the Old City's Safa Kadal police station. The injured civilian and policeman were identified as Arif and Sameer Ahmad respectively, police said. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and hunted for the attackers. The attack took place as union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired a two-day Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meet in Srinagar, attended by finance ministers of all states and union territories. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh assembly paid rich tributes to Union Minister Anil Madhav Dave who passed away in New Delhi earlier on Thursday. Leaders cutting across party lines and Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit said the nation will always remain indebted to the late leader for his work as an eminent social worker, writer and a nationalist. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed profound grief at the sudden death of Dave and said that he was always active in social and political activities right from his student days. His work was highly appreciated by various organisations and institutions in not only Madhya Pradesh but other parts of the country as well, the Chief Minister said. Leader of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party Om Prakash Rajbhar, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhary, BSP's Lalji Verma, Congress leader Ajay Kumar 'Lallu' and Apna Dal's R.K. Patel also expressed condolences on the passing away of the Union Minister and requested the Speaker to communicate the feelings of their respective parties to the bereaved family of the late minister. Dave, 61, died earlier in the day after cardiac arrest. --IANS md/vgu/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Women in the Shangla district of Pakistani's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been deprived of their right to vote in by-elections for two village councils, a media report said on Thursday. Local notables and the candidates for two village councils of Shangla, Koz Kana and Sangrai collectively agreed that women would not be allowed to cast their votes, Dawn News reported. "No women turned up to vote at the 14 polling stations in the two villages," the report said. District Election Officer (DEO) Sardar Said ur Rehman confirmed to Dawn that the ban was imposed by locals "according to their culture and that, unfortunately the locals are not willing". Out of 6,643 registered voters in Koz Kana 3,652 were male and 2,991 female. Similarly, 1,507 voters are registered in Sangrai, of which 862 were male and 705 were female. --IANS akansha/ruwa/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apparently scientists tend to think of themselves as more rational, objective, and intelligent than non-scientists. Makes sense. And laypeople tend to think that of scientists too. But the scientists surveyed in a new study from Tilburg University in the Netherlands apparently see themselves as much more rational, objective, and intelligent than non-scientists. Are they overconfident or, well, right? From Scientific American: The team surveyed both scientists and highly educated nonscientists and asked them to rate the two categories of people in terms of objectivity, rationality, integrity, open-mindedness, intelligence and cooperativeness. Both groups rated scientists higher on every one of these measures, yet scientists perceived bigger differences between the two groups than laypeople did. "That surprised us," says psychologist Coosje Veldkamp, the study's lead author. "We expected scientists to have a more realistic picture, but they see a larger difference," she says. (Some of these perceptions may be accurate, of course, but other research would be needed to determine that.) The scientists' positive self-ratings may be partly explained by the human tendency to judge members of groups we belong to more favorably than others. Further investigation showed that established scientists judged their established peers more positively than those at earlier career stages, and female scientists rated researchers of their own gender more highly. "People who identify more strongly with their group display more in-group bias," Veldkamp explains. "Women are still a minority in science, and minority-group members have been found to identify more strongly with their group." Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday met a 72-member student delegation of the City Montessori School here, which will be representing India in New York on the third International Yoga Day festivities on June 21. Extending his good wishes to the students, Yogi Adityanath said Yoga was an ancient tradition of India, and that the identity of India across the world is that of a spiritual nation. The Chief Minister also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving an international identity to Yoga. --IANS md/vgu/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It seems the Make in India and Buy in India mantra has escaped academic institutions. A senior scientist said researchers in India still wanted foreign instruments, even if better quality, locally produced ones were available. Everyone thinks only consumer goods buyers are obsessed with foreign-made products; even academics fall for the trap, said the scientist. A local testing equipment player was on the verge of slipping into red despite offering superior products because professors preferred multinational brands, added the scientist. With the International Court of Justice (ICJ) urging Pakistan not to execute Indian prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav before its (ICJ) final verdict, politicians started exchanging congratulatory messages. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, she gave full credit to former attorney general (AG) Harish Salve. We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting Indias case so effectively before ICJ, she tweeted. Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy had something different to say. I think Namo (Narendra Modi) should get all the credit for todays success in ICJ because he declined to send the present AG to argue our case, he wrote on his Twitter handle. Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change passed away after a cardiac arrest on Thursday morning, aged 60. This followed a period of prolonged illness, through which Dave tried to keep up with work. Tamil Actor Rajinikanth on Wednesday yet again refused to clear doubts whether he was taking a plunge into . "What I want to say I have already conveyed two days ago. I have nothing more to say for the present," Rajinikanth told reporters when asked if he has decided to join . He was reacting to media questions during the photo sessions with his fans. Asked about Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan inviting him to join the BJP, he said: "No comment." After meeting his fans on Monday, the actor said that if he enters politics, he will be truthful and will not entertain people who want to make money. "God decides what we have to do in life. Right now, he wants me to be an actor and I'm fulfilling my responsibility. If God wills, I will enter tomorrow. If I enter, I will be very truthful and will not entertain people who are in this to make money. I won't work with such people," Rajinikanth told his fans, who had gathered at Raghavendra Mandapam in Chennai. One of his die-hard fans said: "If Rajinikanth sir becomes a politician, he will be the best." Another fan said: "Thalaiva should announce his own party and clean up Tamil Nadu. He is the only one who can save Tamil Nadu and take it forward again." The smooth sail of the two-month-old government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has hit the first major roadblock on the law and order issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress party welcomed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the execution of Indian Kulbhushan Jadhav and expressed hope that Pakistan would respect the ICJ interim order. A 16-year-old class IX student was allegedly stabbed to death by his friends in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area, police said today. The boy identified Mohammad Wasim was a student in a government school and lived with his parents at Navjeevan Camp in Govindpuri, said a senior police officer. Preliminary enquiry revealed that the victim was in "bad company" of some pickpockets in the area and was killed over some petty dispute, said the officer. One of the victim's friends with whom he had an altercation was detained and now police teams are conducting raids to nab the others. The suspects were local residents and known to the victim. Wasim had gone out to meet some of his friends last evening, police were told by his mother. In the night when he did not turn up, his father started calling him on his phone but it was not answered. Later, a search was made and he was found in a pool of blood in a park near his home, police said. They suspected that the murder was committed over some dispute related to money. Last year, Wasim had escaped from his home in September after he was scolded by his family for keeping "bad company of pickpockets, added the officer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 500 applications, including from banks, have been filed with various benches of NCLT for bankruptcy resolution, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India chairman M S Sahoo said. "500 applications have been filed with various benches National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for resolution for insolvency and bankruptcy. The cases ranges from few lakh to Rs 5,000 crore," Sahoo told PTI. In the last quarter ended March, 157 applications (64 before the Mumbai Bench, 36 before the Delhi Bench, 14 before the Kolkata Bench and 43 before other Benches) were filed. Of the 30, five filed by operational creditors (OCs), seven by financial creditors (FCs) and 18 by corporate debtors (CDs) were admitted. The defaults underlying the admitted applications range from a few lakh of rupees to a few thousand crore of rupees, he said. Some of the applications filed include that of Gupta Coal India (Rs 2,580.07 crore), Kamineni Steel & Power India Pvt Ltd (Rs 1,405.01 crore), JODPL Private Ltd (Rs 1,332.50 crore) and VNR Infrastructures Ltd (Rs 1,102.78 crore). He further said a one-stop shop for details on all financial transactions of lenders, information utilities under the insolvency and bankruptcy law are likely to be operational in next three months. These "unique" institutions -- governed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) -- would act as repository of information about lending and borrowing activities done by all financial institution. "They will provide ready information for resolution professionals and courts like NCLT. It will help them save time as information would be readily available for expeditious clearance of cases," he said. Having such institutions might also help fight against the bad loans menace amid the government empowering RBI to direct banks to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against defaulters under the IBC. Under the IBC, information utilities can have a maximum of 49 per cent foreign holding and rules for setting up such entities are already in place. "One company has applied for in-principal approval...And FDI beyond 49 per cent is not allowed. Information utility company should become a reality in next 2-3 months," he said. An information utility would be a storehouse of financial information that helps establish defaults as well as verify claims expeditiously. Having such a system would facilitate completion of transactions under the Code in a time bound manner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Activists opposed to genetically modified (GM) mustard today expressed shock at the sudden demise of Environment Minister Anil Dave, who had met them yesterday to hear their concerns about the issue. The activists, who had yesterday organised a protest outside the Environment Ministry, demanding an immediate rollback of the approval for commercial use of GM mustard, recalled, how their issue was given a "patient, polite and attentive hearing" by Dave. They also recalled how, during the protest yesterday, they had urged the minister to come down and meet them to hear their concerns on a couple of occasions and how the minister had sent back the message saying he was unable to come down as he was not well. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), a body of the ministry that evaluates genetically modified crops, had on May 11 recommended the commercial use of GM mustard. It was now left to Dave to take a final call on the issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who condoled the death of Dave, also tweeted that he was with the Environment Minister till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. "We are deeply shocked and saddened by Dave's demise. We met him only yesterday in relation to GM mustard, to share our concerns and evidence. He gave us a patient, polite and attentive hearing. "He promised that he will bring up the matter in the right forum before any decision is taken. His commitment to environmental sustainability was apparent, in past interactions too, on climate change and natural farming," Kavita Kuruganti, from the Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), told PTI. She said that activists like her, were deeply saddened by the and hope that Dave's commitment to sustainability would "guide the Ministry in upholding its mandate". The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), Delhi University South Campus, had submitted an application to the GEAC for the environmental release of GM mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH-11 and the use of parental events (varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) for the development of a new generation of hybrids. The environment ministry had received over 700 comments from various stakeholders, on the Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report on GM Mustard, which it had earlier posted on the ministry website. Dave was to take the final call on the approval of GM mustard in a few days. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Yudhvir Singh who had also met Dave yesterday told PTI that on both occasions yesterday, the chit sent to them was that he (Dave) was unwell which is why he could not come downstairs. "It is a very sad . After a while we went inside to meet him. We were almost assured that he would do everything possible from his side. Loss of such a personality is not only a loss for farmers but for the aam aadmi as well," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Reema Lagoo, best known for playing the modern-day Bollywood mother in films such as "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!" and "Kal Ho Na Ho", passed away today at a hospital here. She was 59. Lagoo died of a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. She was admitted to the hospital late last night after she complained of chest pain, the hospital's Executive Director Ram Narain told PTI. She is survived by her daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actress as well as theatre director. Lagoo's son-in-law Vinay Waikul told PTI, "She was complaining of chest pain so we took her to the hospital at around 1 AM. She passed away due to a heart attack around 3.15 AM. "She was perfectly fine and had no health issues... So it is really shocking for all of us that she is no more with us." Born in Mumbai, Lagoo started her career with theatre, where she performed in several Marathi plays. She later took it as a full-time profession. At the age of 30, she worked in Mansoor Khan's "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak", where she portrayed Juhi Chawla's mother Kamla Singh. The prolific actress soon became synonymous as the affectionate and genial mother. From Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to Govinda and Madhuri Dixit, Lagoo played mother to all the top actors and actresses of the Hindi film industry on the silver screen. One of her most successful roles was "Hum Aapke Hai Koun...!", where she essayed the role of Anupam Kher's wife and Madhuri Dixit's mother. On television, Lagoo was popular for playing spirited characters like Kokila (Koki) and Devki Verma on "Shrimaan Shrimati" and "Tu Tu Main Main", respectively. Lagoo also appeared in films like "Saajan", "Vaastav, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Hum Saath-Saath Hain", "Deewana Mastana", "Yes Boss", and "Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon". Her acting career spanned four decades. She was last seen on the television show "Naamkaran", which aired on Star Plus. Celebrities like Karan Johar, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt and Boman Irani mourned the sudden demise of the actess. "This is truly sad ... She was warm, gracious and an exceptional actor... I had the privilege of directing her....#RIPReemaLagoo," wrote Johar, who directed Lagoo in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". "RIP #ReemaLagoo such a loss to art and cinema. You are and will always be our favourite screen mom. My condolences to the family," said Chopra. Kapoor, who collaborated with Lagoo in "Prem Granth" and "Henna", tweeted, "RIP. Worked in quite a few films. Reema Lagoo. Good friend. Heartfelt condolences." Irani posted, "Our very dear Reema Lagoo is no more. Always kind, funny and loving. Saddened. RIP #ReemaLagoo" Bhatt, who wrote "Naamkarann", told PTI, "When a friend passes away one is hurled into deep silence. I cannot forget the last goodbye we said to each other where we promised to see each other on the sets of 'Naamkarann' soon. "But that didn't happen. I am still grappling with the of her sudden death," he added. "Shocked and saddened. Reema Lagoo ji will be missed. She will always be remembered for her iconic roles in cinema and on stage. RIP," Riteish Deshmukh wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tensions prevailed in Haryana's Taraka village after a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar was allegedly removed by some unidentified persons, police said. The police was informed about the matter today following which the administration deployed security personnel in large numbers to thwart any untoward incident, SP Sulochana Gajraj said. Locals claimed that a statue of the social reformer was installed in the village on April 8 and it was removed by some people last night, police said. "It is suspected that some unidentified miscreants removed the statue," SDM S K Chahal said. "The gram panchayat has said that the statue was installed without its permission and claimed that they were not informed about the installation," he said. The sarpanch of the village had also lodged a complaint with the administration, the SDM said, adding a probe into the matter had also been ordered. The police have launched a manhunt for the miscreants, the SP said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arohan Financial Services, a city-based micro-finance institution (MFI), has raised Rs 155.5 crore from existing and new investors to support its expansion plans. "We have raised Rs 155.5 crore from existing and new investors to assist in the expansion of its operations in Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh", Arohan MD Manoj Kr Nambiar told reporters today. He said that Arohan, a part of Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, was now present in seven states -- West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Bihar and Odisha. Nambiar said that by the end of April 2017, the total loan portfolio of Arohan was Rs 1031 crore, and the target was to take it to Rs 2000 crore by March 2018 and Rs 5000 crore by March 2020. At present, the MFI was serving 7.39 lakh borrowers he said, adding that plans were there to take it to 60 lakh by 2022. Vineet Rai of Aavishkaar-Intellecap said that Arohan could potentially go public in four years to raise more capital for fund expansion. The investors that have put in money so far were Intellecash, Aavishkaar-Goodwell, Maj Invest, Tano Capital, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's automobile industry is likely to contribute 12 per cent to the country's GDP over the coming decade, from 7.1 per cent at present, Union Minister Anant Geete said today. The minister was here to inaugurate a test track facility developed by Global Automotive Research Centre. The commissioning of the facility is expected to invite greater investment in automotive and automotive components, Geete said. The heavy industry minister expressed confidence that these facilities will attract many more major players from the automotive industry to set up facilities in Tamil Nadu. The Global Automotive Research Centre (GARC) Chennai is a body working under the NATRiP (National Automotive Testing & R&D Infra Project). "Indian automotive sector plays a very important role in the country's manufacturing sector and is likely to contribute 12 per cent to the country's GDP over the next decade," Geete said. India's two-wheeler industry recently became the largest market in the world, replacing China. He said the government is also looking forward to adopting new and different ways to promote clean, safe, cheap and futuristic mobility services, which will help in creation of jobs in research, development and manufacturing sector. The government is promoting the use of electric vehicles under FAME India Scheme, as it would help the government to reduce the dependency on oil imports, Geete said. According to a report of NITI Aayog, India can reduce energy demand by 64 per cent and carbon emissions by 37 per cent with the help of connected, shared and electric passenger mobility across the country. The GARC located in the southern auto-cluster of the country is now notified under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 to issue test certificates for homologation. The facilities are expected to be used by the automotive original equipment manufacturers and component manufacturers for homologation and research & development. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Electronic voting machines (EVMs) are not just creating a stir in India, but kicking up a controversy in faraway Botswana, too. After portals reported Indian EVMs would be tested at a hackathon in the southern African country, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) -- makers of the EVMs -- said there were no such plans. It denied reports that its EVMs would figure in a hackathon organised on Friday by the Independent Election Commission of Botswana, a government body. The portals reported that BEL had been invited to the hackathon to demonstrate how the EVMs worked. The reports prompted BEL to issue a statement saying it had not sold any EVMs or paper trail machines to Botswana's Election Commission. "The Botswana Election Commission has invited a team of BEL to show only the functionality of EVMs and VVPATS designed to meet the specific requirements of the Botswana government. These EVMs and VVPATS are different from the ones which are used by the Election Commission of India," it said. Bel said there were no plans for holding a hackathon event with BEL's EVMs. The reference to EVMs in the press note issued by the Botswana Election Commission were "completely false and incorrect," it said. According to a report published in www.Itwebafrica.Com, Botswana's President Ian Khama had last year signed the Electoral Amendment Bill, 2016, a revision of the existing Electoral Act, paving the way for the introduction of EVMs. The portal said the Botswana government believed this technology would improve several election-related processes such as registration of voters, preparation of rolls and deleting provisions for supplementary rolls. Opposition parties, however, were concerned about the development and claimed EVMs were open to security breaches, it said. BEL, which is a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, and the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, a PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy, are the two producers of EVMs and VVPATs for the Election Commission of India. The Election Commission of India has challenged political parties to prove EVMs used in the recent assembly polls were tampered with, after several Opposition parties questioned their reliability and demanded a return to the paper ballot system. The planned challenge could take place later this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A NDA delegation today met Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind over the attack on the BJP office by RJD workers yesterday in the wake of Income Tax raids in connection with alleged benami property deals involving RJD supremo Lalu Prasad. The NDA delegation included senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Prem Kumar, Nand Kishore Yadav, Hindustani Awam Morcha general secretary Anil Kumar, LJP's MLA Rajeev Tiwari and Satyanand Dangi of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. In the memorandum, the NDA said the area in which the RJD youth wing had taken out a protest march and attacked the BJP office is in the prohibited zone. "With whose permission a protest march by hundreds of RJD workers was allowed and what did the police moving with them did to prevent the ugly incident?" the memorandum asked. Beer Chand Patel Marg, in the heart of the city saw a violent clash between RJD and BJP workers after the former pelted stones at the BJP office. "During time of attack, the vehicle of Lalu Prasad's son and minister Tej Pratap Yadav was roaming near the spot. Doesn't this indicate towards a planned conspiracy by the RJD?" the memorandum highlighted. The delegation demanded action against those policemen who did not take any action during the incident. The NDA leaders also highlighted that Tej Pratap Yadav had moved in a chariot followed by hundreds of two-wheeler riding supporters in the same prohibited zone on April 2, while the police did nothing. Earlier in the day, BJP workers took out a protest march and burnt an effigy of Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over yesterday's incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Brazil's President Michel Temer defiantly refused to step down today over allegations that he gave his blessing to payment of hush money for a politician convicted of corruption. "I will not resign," he announced emphatically in a brief televised statement to the nation. Less than 24 hours after an explosive report in O Globo newspaper that Temer was caught on tape agreeing to bribe the jailed politician, he faced three formal requests for his impeachment. There were also signs that his ruling coalition was crumbling, with some allies calling for his resignation. Piling on the pressure, the Supreme Court gave its green light to the opening of a formal investigation into Temer's alleged involvement with the hush money. There had been growing speculation that Temer might use his televised address to resign. However, the veteran centre-right politician, who took over last year with a promise to restore Brazil's stability after the impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff, came out swinging. He highlighted signs this week that Brazil's two-year recession is coming to an end and claimed that "optimism was returning" thanks to a programme of austerity reforms that he is trying to pass in Congress. Now "those efforts may come to nothing", he warned. It remained unclear whether Temer's defiance will be enough, with cracks growing in the ruling coalition, which is centred on Temer's PMDB party and the PSDB Social Democrats, along with a coalition of smaller parties. Earlier, a PSDB leader, Ricardo Tripoli, told AFP that "if the evidence is confirmed, then we will ask our (ministers) to leave the government". Senator Randolfe Rodrigues from the opposition Rede party promised demonstrations until Temer quits. "Brazil has no government," Rodrigues said. The Sao Paulo stock market reacted in panic to the spectre of Brazil losing its second president in just over 12 months. The Bovespa index crashed more than 10 per cent after opening, triggering an automatic suspension of trading for 30 minutes. Investors have been counting on Temer pushing through the austerity reforms, which include a raising of the minimum retirement age, so that Brazil's bloated public finances can be brought under control. Temer was reported late yesterday by O Globo to have been secretly recorded agreeing to payments of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, the disgraced former speaker of the lower house of Congress. According to the report, the president discussed the matter with Joesley Batista, an executive from the meatpacking giant JBS, on March 7. Batista told Temer that he was paying money to make sure that Cunha -- thought to have encyclopedic knowledge of Brazil's notoriously dirty political world -- would keep quiet while serving his jail sentence for taking bribes. In the recording, offered as evidence in a plea bargain between Batista and his brother Wesley with prosecutors, Temer allegedly can be heard telling Batista: "You need to keep doing that, OK?" In his statement today, Temer angrily responded to the claim, saying: "I never bought anyone's silence." A separate secret recording made by Batista allegedly caught Senator Aecio Neves, head of the PSDB party and a close Temer ally, asking him for a bribe of two million reais, or around USD 600,000. The Supreme Court suspended Neves. Officers could be seen entering Neves' property in Rio de Janeiro and his sister Andrea was arrested in Belo Horizonte. Globo published what seemed to be pictures showing men delivering a suitcase of cash for Neves. The scandal is the latest shockwave from the wider "Car Wash" graft probe ripping through Brazilian politics. Investigators have uncovered a massive scheme in which politicians took bribes in exchange for getting big businesses overinflated contracts with state oil company Petrobras. The bribery and embezzlement then rippled far beyond, pulling in many of the country's most famous executives and leaders. Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist icon for many in Latin America, faces five corruption trials, while a third of the Senate and a third of Temer's own cabinet are under investigation. Until now Temer has managed to stay above the fray. Although previously alleged to have participated in large-scale bribery deals, Temer had limited immunity. He could not be prosecuted for crimes prior to his mandate. However, the hush money claims date from well within his time in office. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Imams across the United Kingdom are being urged to give sermons to encourage Muslims to vote in the June 8 general election. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an umbrella group of the country's mosques and Islamic bodies, has circulated a suggested sermon for imams to deliver during Friday prayers that declares: "Muslims need to be more politically active." The sermon warns against the rise of the far-right and of bans on the hijab and niqab across Europe and a "constant threat to halal food". "This is no longer just scare-mongering. If we do not vote carefully in our local areas and ensure that those who are not suitable to govern or be MPs are removed from power, then we will suffer even more harm. Voting is our key tool to safeguard our rights," the sermon draft reads. Harun Khan, secretary general of MCB, said the group's aim was to ensure British Muslims engage with their local prospective parliamentary candidates and sensitise them on Muslim issues. "As the election approaches, we hope that all the main parties engage with Muslim communities and Muslim communities themselves engage in the democratic process. We have seen many arrange hustings, Q&A sessions and even go out campaigning for their local candidate - it is an important election - make your voice heard," he said. The MCB has also launched a list of eight key issues affecting the community, calling on parliamentary candidates to engage more proactively with British Muslims and combat Islamophobia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CBI today took over the probe in connection with the mysterious death of film actor Kalabhavan Mani last year. The Central agency took over the case files from Chalakudy police this afternoon, police sources said. CBI will have to re-register the case and begin investigations afresh, the sources added. Kerala High Court had last month ordered CBI to take over the probe after rejecting the agency's stand that it cannot investigate the case due to workload. Mani's wife Nimmi and brother R L V Ramakrishnan had approached the court seeking CBI probe into the actor's death. The Kerala government had in June 11 last year decided to hand over the case to the CBI. However, the agency had turned it down saying its hands were full as it was investigating many other cases. Mani, a popular actor in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, who was undergoing treatment for a liver ailment at a hospital in Kochi, was found in a serious condition at his farmhouse at Chalakudy. He later died at the hospital on March 6 last year. However, after traces of chlorpyrifos, a toxic pesticide was found in his viscera sample and traces of methyl alcohol were found in his blood, his family members demanded a CBI probe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has granted Rs.11 crore to the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, for conducting medical research on homeopathy under the 'Ayush' project. "With this money, we can buy instruments for our laboratory which is named after famous homeopath Dr Bhola Chakraborty," IIEST Director Prof Ajoy Kumar Roy told PTI. "The laboratory will stress on bio-physics, bi-chemistry-based research and dedicated towards understanding science which is trusted by many," he said. "The Ayush ministry had suggested that we name the Centre after a renowned physician who has made his state proud and hence we named it after Dr Bholanath Chakraborty," he said. Roy said IIEST, formerly BESU, is already one of the best engineering institutes and would be among the top ten, if the faculty strength is increased. "As per the recent MHRD (The Ministry of Human Resource Development) ranking we are above almost all IITs in the country. This is not a small thing considering fund constraints but we know that the MHRD is hard pressed with new institutes coming up," he said. Complementing the IIEST students he said, "Our students have prepared a project on Siachen which talks about a combined international research Centre at high altitude in the border area and this can be a solution to Indo-Pak tension." "We will present the project report to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Roy said. Asked if IIEST is having more students from the region and if that was affecting the campus getting a pan-Indian status as is the case in science and tech institutes, he said, "The West Bengal government has urged us to have 50 per cent domicile students from the state. The rest 50 per cent can come from outside." "We are also taking 15 students from African countries, Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal as part of the cultural exchange programme," he said. Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web The Centre has invited suggestions to review its present Haj policy and to frame a new one in view of the 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing subsidy given to the pilgrims by 2022. The Union Minority Affairs Ministry has appealed to people to send their views about the problems with the existing policy and ways to improve it. The suggestions are to be sent by e-mail by May 24 at hprc-mma@gov.In. "A high-level panel set up to suggest framework for the new Haj policy (2018-22) will also hear in person the suggestions people have to make on May 25," a senior official of the ministry said. The ministry had formed the panel in February this year under the convenorship of former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah Afzal Amanullah. It is tasked with examining implications of the various directions of the apex court with regard to the existing Haj policy and recommend suitable amendments to it. India's quota for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, considered as holy by Muslims, is 1.70 lakh. Out of these, 1.25 lakh travel through the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) and the remaining 45,000 through private tour operators. The SC had, in its 2012 order, asked the government to invest the subsidy amount of approximately Rs 650 crore a year on educational and social development of the community. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Conference president Farooq Abdullah today said imposition of governor's rule in Jammu and Kashmir is "unavoidable and imperative" to restore normalcy and peace in the Valley. The former chief minister also seemed to have suggested that replacing the chief minister by some BJP leader, as reported by some media "would not help" the PDP-BJP alliance. "Imposition of governor's rule and placing the legislative assembly under suspended animation is unavoidable and imperative to restore normalcy and peace in Kashmir... The PDP-BJP alliance is bereft of a political agenda and has been forged with the singular purpose of attaining power. "The alleged 'Agenda of the Alliance' (the common minimum programme between the alliance partners) has been torn to shreds and debunked by the BJP. As far as the PDP is concerned, they gave the 'Agenda of the Alliance' a discreet burial when (former chief minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) passed away (last year)", Abdullah said in a statement here. The Member of Parliament from Srinagar constituency said the imposition of governor's rule is not an ideal solution but it is the only plausible option in the present circumstances where the State is being "pushed back to the uncertainty and turmoil" of the early 1990s. "This is for the first time in almost three decades that an election had to be cancelled and we are down from a 26 per cent turnout to a 7 per cent turnout -- thanks to this government's policies and failure. The imposition of governor's rule would calm tempers and also make the administration to be perceived as politically neutral -- allowing basic governance to be restored," he said. Abdullah said the state bureaucracy is in a state of "disarray and dismay" owing to "mishandling and unprecedented impropriety" by the PDP-BJP government. "Juniors are being promoted over seniors and key departments are being run in an ad-hoc and chaotic manner. The result is a complete failure on the governance front in addition to a failure on the political front. There is no sign of development. The only sign of the government is these ribbon-cutting photo-opportunities of the Chief Minister inaugurating projects of the previous government in the state," he said. On a media report that BJP was planning to replace Mehbooba Mufti with a Chief Minister from the party, Abdullah said such a step would not help restore peace in the Valley as the alliance in its entirety had failed and was unable to deliver and fulfil its political promises. "Changing horses midway won't help. The government has become extremely unpopular and lost the faith and support of the people - as is evident with every passing day and as seen a couple of days ago when female attendees at a government organised event at SKICC refused to be addressed by the CM and stormed out of the event raising slogans," the former Union Minister said. Adbullah's reference was to the Tuesday's incident when Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was forced to leave a women's self-help group (SHG) function in Srinagar after the crowd shouted slogans against her and even flung chairs in the air. Abdullah reiterated for the need of an "open-ended, unconditional and uninterrupted" dialogue with Pakistan and stakeholders in Kashmir, which he observed as "the only way forward to deal with the issue." He said that the dialogues, if initiated soon, would be better for the state. "My apprehension is that the damage done would be far too much to handle and reverse by the time such a political initiative is taken. There should be no further delay," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first House of North Delhi mayor Preeti Aggarwal witnessed chaotic scenes today with Opposition alleging protocol violation for letting in "BJP supporters" who chanted 'Modi, Modi' and 'Jai Shri Ram'. The uproar began soon after the new mayor took charge as the Opposition members objected to the entry of "unauthorised" people into the House, and other matters. Leader of Opposition Rakesh Kumar (AAP) and several Congress councillors alleged that many BJP supporters had entered into the House unauthorisedly and disturbed the proceedings by chanting "Modi, Modi" and "Jai Shri Ram". "It was a failure and mismanagement on the part of the municipal authorities. How could outsiders enter the House, when there is a strict regulation?" Kumar said He said the chants continued and BJP members and workers thronged the stage after mayor was elected. "On top of that, the mayor, after assuming charge had nearly dismissed the House, before the Leader of Opposition could address. It was only after a senior BJP leader timely reminded her that the Leader of Opposition has not spoken, that I could make my speech," Kumar told reporters. The AAP councillor from Ajemri Gate further alleged that Aggarwal is "not aware of the House protocol" and is "incompetent" of discharging her duties as a mayor. Aggarwal, a first-time councillor (Rohini-F ward), was elected unopposed as the North Delhi Mayor. The AAP and the Congress) condemned the "protocol violations", saying the House should be used to discuss listed matters only and any political activity should not be allowed. Several outsiders had crowded the corridors of the House, which took place in a meeting hall of the Civic Centre, the headquarters of the NDMC. Many also made a bid to enter the hall forcibly, before being warded off by security personnel. Some media personnel were also caught in the melee. During the oath-taking ceremony, some BJP councillors raised "pro-Modi, pro-Yogi, and pro-BJP slogans", which were objected to by the AAP and the Congress. The Congress councillors later on also sparred with the new mayor, alleging that their party was "being deliberately ignored". Malka Ganj Councillor Guddi Devi claimed the Congress party had to "beg" to authorities to get a room in the Civic Centre office. "The mayor after getting elected has let all the BJP supporters throng the dais to greet her and take photographs with her but didn't have the decency to even let councillors of the opposition parties to stand there for a while. She wants to ignore the Opposition," Devi alleged. Aggarwal in her response said a room has been alloted to the Congress party, and the key is with Seema Tahira, the Congress councillor from Bazar Sita Ram, who was also elected a member of the Standing Committee of the NDMC. Several Congress councillors, including Devi, Tahira, and Aaley Mohammaed Iqbal (Delhi Gate) also heckled Leader of Opposition Kumar during his speech, asking the AAP to also "give answers on civic funding and Kapil Mishra's allegations". After few hours of proceedings, the House was adjourned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Skirting questions whether it is willing to rename the $50 billion traversing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, China on Thursday said it believes in the Panchsheel principles of "mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty". "We have expressed our position on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media here when asked whether China plans to rename the corridor as proposed by its envoy to New Delhi. She was also asked questions about a top BJP leader's article in a newspaper, describing as India's Achilles' heel. "I want to reiterate that we would like to follow the five principles (Panchsheel) of coexistence in developing friendly relations with other countries including our efforts in promoting regional," she said. The first principle of Panchsheel enunciated by India and China in 1954 speaks of "mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty". "I am sure you also noticed that during the Belt and Road Forum for InternationalCooperation, President Xi Jinping also mentioned that we follow the principle of peaceful coexistence to promote the friendly cooperation along the Belt and Road. So I think in this way the concerns from the Indian side should be addressed," she said. "According to the concern over Kashmir region as we said before, it is an issue between India and Pakistan. B and R will not change China's position on the Kashmir issue. B and R is open and inclusive one," Hua said. Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui had offered to rename the during an address at a think-tank in New Delhi, insisting that it was an economic cooperation and connectivity enhancement project devoid of "sovereignty issues". However, China later removed the remarks of its envoy from the transcript of his speech posted on the embassy website, apparently after Pakistan sought a clarification on it. Chinese official in Beijing, however, suggested that it was perhaps Luo's personal initiative to address India's concerns. In the article published in a newspaper in India, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav had described CPEC as India's Achilles' heel. "Adding insult to injury for India is the very name of the project, CPEC, although the region through which it passes does not belong either to Pakistan or to China," he said. India skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) held here on May 14-15 due to its sovereignty concerns over the CPEC which passes through PoK. Beverages major Coca-Cola India is looking to enhance sourcing of fruits in India for its beverages under juice and aerated drinks categories. The company, which currently procures about 2 lakh metric tonnes of fruits, plans to increase it further as part of its 'fruit circular economy' initiative. The circular economy initiative is aimed at creating a virtuous economic cycle to positively impact Indian agriculture, Coca-Cola said in a statement. "We visualise that this initiative will create a spurt in our local procurement of fruit and farm level interventions to have a positive impact on the Indian horticulture ecosystem," it said. As part of the initiative, the company has appointed Asim Parekh as Vice President - Fruit Circular Economy INSWABU, with immediate effect. INSWABU refers to India and South West Asia region. In this role, Parekh will be driving the critical task of connecting the end-to-end value chain from farmer to grocer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Institute of Design (NID) here today launched a competition, inviting college students to develop innovative products using shredded demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Participating students will need to register on the website 'keprize.Nid.Edu' and submit entries by June 29. Three winning designs will be awarded prizes of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000, on September 14. "Tonnes of shredded demonetised currency notes with face value of an estimated Rs 60 crore were given to us by the RBI which also asked us to make products out of it. We decided to hold a competition alongwith Netherlands' Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering Company whose machine was used to shred these notes," NID director Pradyumna Vyas said. Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering is also the sponsor of the awards. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who launched the competition, also promised government's help in setting up Design Museum and India Design Centre in Ahmedabad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress today welcomed the verdict of the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav and hoped the government will continue to mount pressure on Pakistan to implement the decision in order to save the former Navy officer's life and bring him back. Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the people of the country are relieved after the ICJ order as India was left with no other option since Pakistan had disrespected and violated the Vienna Convention. "It is a matter of great relief for all the people of India. We were worried. The order of the International Court of Justice must be respected by the State of Pakistan... "We hope that the Government of India will continue to mount that pressure because it is the first stage. We have to ensure that Jadhav's life is saved and then only when he returns home, we will celebrate. Right now, it is a big relief, and we hope that Pakistan respects that order. He said Pakistan's argument before the ICJ and its refusal to accept its jurisdiction betrays a mindset of disrespect to the Vienna Convention which Pakistan has brazenly violated. Asked if India moving the ICJ opens a door for Pakistan to raise bilateral issues internationally, the former external affairs minister said he is sure the government would have weighed all options and their pros and cons. "India was left with no option after Pakistan's disrespect and violation of the Vienna Convention," he said. Sharma also complimented the Indian legal team led by senior lawyer Harish Salve, saying they argued the case well as India has been able to very clearly convey that this was a case of violation and there was a need for the ICJ to intervene. "But this is a battle that shall continue," he said, hoping that the international community and the UN puts pressures Pakistan to respect and implement the ICJ's verdict. The Congress leader said Jadhav was "unfairly" denied consular access or legal assistance and the international community must bring pressure on Pakistan's government and its army. "The United Nations has to take serious note," he said. Sharma also said Pakistan's contention before the ICJ that this case was taken to the military tribunal because there was an issue of terrorism, is flawed and is a lie. He said Jadhav was a civilian who was abducted from Iran, even though he may have served in the defence services prior to his retirement. "For Pakistan to wipe its face of so many pockmarks of many cases of terrorism, it tried to present it as a justified case of action," he said. Referring to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, Sharma said even in the case of the LeT militants who had come fully armed, attacked the citizens of this country, and killed hundreds including foreigners (in Mumbai), Kasab was not only given a fair trial but in a civilian court of law, and was not denied legal assistance but given all access. "So Pakistan has no legs to stand upon," he said. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also welcomed the ICJ verdict and asked the government to ensure justice is done to Jadhav and he is brought back to India. "The case against Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan was a sham and was in gross violation of international law as his execution was ordered by a kangaroo court without consular access. It is appreciated that the world court saw reason in the Indian appeal," he said in a statement. In a major boost to India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of former naval officer Jadhav who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The UN's highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances here, was about to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees of Congress-led government in Karnataka, UP minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said in the state assembly today. His response came amid allegations from opposition benches that Anurag Tiwari (36), posted as commissioner in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. "It is true that the body of the officer was recovered yesterday. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said. The officer was found dead yesterday under mysterious circumstances on a roadside in the high-security Hazratganj area here, hardly a kilometre away from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling BJP over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high security area, thus "exposing tall claims of government over law and order." SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the 'murder' of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Khanna assured the House that a probe was on in the matter. However, dissatisfied with the reply, SP, Congress and BSP members staged a walkout from the assembly. Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead yesterday, which also happened to be his birthday. Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said the postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. "Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination," he said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Tiwari's father, however, alleged that his son was eliminated. "My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered," B N Tiwari had said in Bahraich, his native place. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today termed as a "great relief" the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan and asserted that the government will "leave no stone unturned" to save him. She also thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve who was India's attorney at the Hague and argued the case before the global court. In a series of tweets, she said, "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India." Swaraj said, "We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him)." She also complimented the team of officers from her ministry for their tireless efforts and hard work put up in the matter. The ICJ at the Hague stayed the execution of 46-year-old Indian Navy officer Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body in the case, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision by it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police have arrested eight people for allegedly organising betting on an IPL match. They were apprehended by a Crime Branch team from a bungalow in Wadala locality, an official said. Seventy-nine mobile sets, three laptops, a led TV set, two voice recorders and other electronic materials worth Rs 4.22 lakh were seized from them, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Special Branch), Vijay Kumar Magar said in a release. The police raided the bungalow last night after getting specific input that a group of people was organising betting on an IPL match, the release said. Those arrested were identified as Lokesh Khatri (33), Sharad Nakote (46), Mohmed Izaj Shaikh (45), Rajesh Kale (45), Sajid Bakhta (30), Amit Trivedi (33), Suraj Kamasti (40) and Rajesh Kamati (22), it said. They have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Gambling Act, said Sachin Khairnar, in-charge of Mumbai Naka police station. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Richard Gere has aged very well. In some instances, too well. Hes one of those actors whos a little too good looking, a bit too confident, a tad too magnetic for his own good. Theres never any doubt that a guy like Richard Gere would end up as anything other than a movie star. Consequently, its hard for superstar actors like Gere to really melt away into a role. Even in his best work, youre never unaware that youre watching Richard Gere. It works for some roles, but not others. His turn as oily, charismatic, self-serving shyster Billy Flynn in Rob Marshalls Chicago, for example, is a masterstroke of self-aware casting. In Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, however, Gere is called upon to play the titular Norman Oppenheimer, a tenacious schlub (to use the cliche) of an operator trying to convert the currency of friendships and favors into quantifiable paychecks. Norman isnt so much a con man, really, as a smalltime Jewish hustler. A businessman with no real business, he spends his days and nights in New York City shaking hands, passing out business cards by the bushel and offering to introduce people he doesnt really know to people hes never actually met. His sincere hope is that one good connection will allow him to wet his beak in somebodys business. So far, though, his decades of glad-handing have given him little in the way of either money or influence. In a way its a tough role for Gere. His charisma precedes him, and its difficult to imagine this particular guy being unsuccessful in a career that involves making friends and influencing people. But kudos to Gere for embracing his age, searching for challenging roles and not going the tough-guy senior citizen route of Liam Neeson and so many other Hollywood comeback kings. Gere commits himself fully here, embracing his flawed characters doddering desperation. At one point hes described as a drowning man trying to wave at an ocean liner, and its an apt description. From the unfashionable clothes to the bad haircut, youd almost believe this guy is a Woody Allen-ish loser. No doubt about it: This is one of Geres best roles of recent years. Aiding Geres efforts is the smart dialogue and confident character-building of Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedarturning in his first English language film after foreign-language hits Beaufort and Footnote. Norman has got more political and corporate intrigue crammed into its two-hour runtime than an entire season of House of Cards and three other basic cable dramas of your choosing. Its alsoat timesquite amusing, playfully cataloguing Normans countless failed attempts at legitimacy. Sophisticated, witty and unavoidably highbrow, Cedars film often comes across as quite talkynot a huge surprise given that its main character spends nearly the entire film spouting ingratiating dialogue. After all, its the one tool hes got in his toolbox. It pays off one night, however, when Norman crosses paths with a young Israeli politician (Lior Ashkenazi) with whom he forms a quick bond. Years later the third-tier politician finds himself improbably elevated to the position of prime minister of Israel. A fortuitous reunion with his one-time pal Norman puts our titular hustler in the enviable position hes always dreamed of. One night on a train, however, he meets a woman from the Israeli Ministry of Justice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), andin a fit of boredom or hubris or misplaced elationspills the beans on his many semi-nefarious business connections. Adding to the inevitable tragic fall spelled out in the films subtitle is the fact that the suddenly famous Norman, good pal to the new prime minister of Israel, is being awfully fast and loose with his promises now that hes finally bet on the right horse as he puts it. Dont let your mouth write a check that your ass cant cash, as they say. Unfortunately, just as were really getting into the groove of this Norman guy, forgetting the inherent suavity of the actor behind the lumpen character, Cedar starts to lose control of his clunky, overladen vehicle. As the plots continues to pile on, and the scene shifts from New York to Tel Aviv, Cedar morphs the film into more of a political thriller. Unless youre extraordinarily well-versed in Israeli politics, these late developments are a bit difficult to keep pace with. There are a few stylistic choices that prove to be stumbling blocks as wella post-party montage of talking heads, in particular, sticks out like a sore thumb. If your attention span is sturdy enough and your interest in international business/Israeli politics strong enough to get you through the swamp of wordy details, Norman is worth catching for the committed character work of Richard Gere. Norman, for all his flaws, is a fascinating fellow. You wouldnt want to go into business with himbut you could easily spend an entertaining evening watching him work the crowd at a high-class party he crashed. A engineering student here today had to fall at a woman classmate's feet and beg apology after she lodged a police complaint alleging that he had threatened her with acid attack for rejecting his advances. The incident took place at a government engineering college campus at Chandrasekharpur area of the state capital. The student was forced to publicly fall at his classmate's feet and beg apology after she lodged a complaint against him at Chandrasekharpur police station, the woman's family members said. The police said they received the complaint and are looking into the matter. The woman alleged that she has been harassed by the man. "He even threatened me with acid attack in case I go to police," she said adding this was because she had repeatedly rejected his proposals. "The boy has been harassing my sister for the last one month," said the girl's brother. B N Routray, the principal of the college said: "We will form a committee to inquire into the matter and take action accordingly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Environment Minister and two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Anil Dave passed away here today. The 60-year-old minister complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. He was sworn as minister with independent charge of environment, forest and climate change last year. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. Dave was a bachelor. He had a long time association with the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. President Pranab Mukherjee expressed shock at the sudden demise of the minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled the death of Dave. "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences," he said in a tweet. The Prime Minister said Dave will be remembered as a devoted public servant who was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. "I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," he said in another tweet. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was saddened to learn of the demise of the minister. "Dave was very active and sensitive to issues pertaining to environment. His dedication to work was highly appreciated. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the members of Anil Dave's family," Singh said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also expressed grief over the demise of Dave. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Noted educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University A Gnanam died in Chennai today due to age-related ailments. He was 85 and is survived by a son and daughter, according to Pondicherry University sources. His wife predeceased him, in 2009. Gnanam was the second Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University from 1991 to 2007. He headed the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. He had also served as Vice-Chancellor of the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli and Madras University. He was associated with various policy-making bodies and institutions on higher education. Gnanam is said to have been instrumental in the establishment of the community college attached to Pondicherry University during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor. A meeting to condole his death was held at the university premises today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has joined Twitter, a social media platform where the Ministry of External Affairs is known for its active presence. Jaishankar, late to join the social media bandwagon, took office as the country's top diplomat in January 2015. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, with nearly eight million followers, leads the MEA team on the microblogging site and is known to be prompt in reaching out to Indians in distress across the world. Nirupama Rao, who served as foreign secretary between 2009 and 2011, was a pioneer in the use of the social media among top government officers. She had been widely praised for going on Twitter to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from strife-torn Libya in 2011. With around 30 million followers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the most popular world leaders on Twitter. Jaishankar is yet to post his first tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Development of roads, bridges and other infrastructure along the 3,488 km-long Sino-Indian border will be at the top of the agenda during a day-long meeting of chief ministers of five Himalayan states convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Gangtok on Saturday. The move comes days after India refused to participate in China's Silk road project 'One Belt, One Road' conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- Mehbooba Mufti, Virbhadra Singh, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling and Pema Khandu respectively -- are expected to attend the conclave. Construction of roads along the Sino-Indian border, redressal of the situation arising out of lack of infrastructure in the frontier areas and a host of other issues will be discussed at the meeting, an official said. China is known to have improved its infrastructure along the border by constructing roads, bridges, railway network and airports. India shares an 3,488 km-long border with China that runs along the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The total length of the border in Jammu and Kashmir is 1,597 km, Himachal Pradesh 200 km, Uttarakhand 345 km, Sikkim 220 km and Arunachal Pradesh 1,126 km. The border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress. The border areas, which are located at high altitudes, have inadequate development and infrastructure facilities. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) guards this border and has established 173 Border Out Posts (BOPs). Out of these BOPs, there are 35 BOPs in the western sector (Jammu and Kashmir), 71 BOPs in the middle sector (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) and 67 BOPs in the eastern sector (Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh). The central government is at present constructing 73 roads of operational significance along the border. Out of these 73 roads, 27 roads with a total length of 804.93 km are being constructed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,937 crore. Till April 30 this year, work on 672.46 kms including 409.53 kms of surfacing, has been completed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Security along the Sino-Indian border and development of infrastructure in the frontier regions will be at the top of the agenda during a day-long meeting of chief ministers of five Himalayan states convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Gangtok on Saturday. The move comes days after India refused to participate in China's Silk road project 'One Belt, One Road' conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- Mehbooba Mufti, Virbhadra Singh, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling and Pema Khandu respectively -- are expected to attend the conclave. This is for the first time that such a meeting is being organised by the home ministry. Singh will leave for Sikkim tomorrow. The objective of the meeting is to strengthen the coordination between the Union home ministry and the five states along the Sino-Indian border to improve the overall border security, an official statement said today. It said the states were also partners in maintenance of security along the border. In the CMs' meet, discussions will be held on the border infrastructure work undertaken by the ministry, the border area development programme and coordination issues between the states and the Indo Tibetan Border Police, which guards the 3,488 km-long Sino-Indian border, it said. Construction of roads, redressal of the situation arising out of lack of infrastructure in the frontier areas and a host of other issues will be discussed at the meeting, an official said. China is known to have improved its infrastructure along the border by constructing roads, bridges, railway network and airports. India shares an 3,488 km-long border with China that runs along the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The total length of the border in Jammu and Kashmir is 1,597 km, Himachal Pradesh 200 km, Uttarakhand 345 km, Sikkim 220 km and Arunachal Pradesh 1,126 km. The border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress. The border areas, which are located at high altitudes, have inadequate development and infrastructure facilities. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) guards this border and has established 173 Border Out Posts (BOPs). Out of these BOPs, there are 35 BOPs in the western sector (Jammu and Kashmir), 71 BOPs in the middle sector (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) and 67 BOPs in the eastern sector (Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh). The central government is at present constructing 73 roads of operational significance along the border. Out of these 73 roads, 27 roads with a total length of 804.93 km are being constructed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,937 crore. Till April 30 this year, work on 672.46 kms including 409.53 kms of surfacing, has been completed. During his three-day visit, the Union home minister will go to the Nathula Pass on Saturday and the ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the jawans. He will visit an establishment of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in Sikkim on the next day, besides undertaking an aerial view of three SSB border posts along the Indo-Nepal Border. Singh will also interact with the jawans at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing in Sikkim on Sunday. It will motivate jawans guarding the borders at very high altitudes and in inhospitable terrain, the statement said. The home minister will attend a civic reception at Pelling in West District, Sikkim on Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The "2011 vintage" manufacturing policy is being modified to align it with initiatives like 'Make in India' as also Industrial Revolution 4.0, which refers to high end automation, Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. The national manufacturing policy (NMP) "is of 2011 vintage", which envisaged that manufacturing should contribute 25 per cent in India's GDP by 2022, she said. Currently, the sector contributes about 16-17 per cent to India's economic growth. The NMP, formulated in 2011, provides certain tax and other benefits to boost the sector's growth besides creating 100 million additional jobs. "Yes, we have initiated the process (to revamp the policy). I have instructed the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to get into the details of that," the Commerce and Industry Minister told PTI in an interview. She said it is necessary to modify the policy as in the last three years, the government has taken a host of initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' and significantly relaxed foreign investment policy. The revamped policy, she said, is also necessary as the government has to protect the interest of all segments of industry whether it is highly or partly automated and SMEs which are yet to adopt modern technologies. "Into this debate, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is rapidly catching up. You like it or not, some industries are bringing in robotics in a very big way; some partly using that and some others absolutely have no impact of this because they can not afford or they do not want it. But we have to have a place for all the three," Sitharaman said. Industrial revolution 4.0 encompasses use of robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data analytics and automation. Initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' are aimed at making India a manufacturing hub and they ought to find a place in the national manufacturing policy. "There should be some coherence. So I have asked them (DIPP) that in the context of three years of Make in India, get all these (initiatives) coming into this narrative," she said, adding that the policy should be relevant. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government today proposed a stringent legislation to confiscate properties of "fugitive economic offenders" to deal with persons like Vijay Mallya who flee the country to escape the law. The provisions of the proposed Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017, once passed by Parliament, will override other legislations dealing with economic offences. "It is widely felt that the spectre of high-value economic offenders absconding from India to defy the legal process seriously undermines the rule of law in India," the finance ministry said in a statement. "It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed," it added. As per the draft law, a 'fugitive economic offender', means any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to an economic offence has been issued and the person has left the country and refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. It further proposes that the burden of proof for establishing that an individual is a fugitive economic offender will be on the authorities. "The confiscation order of the Special Court will, to the extent possible, identify the property that constitutes proceeds of crime which are to be confiscated and in case such properties cannot be identified, quantify the value of the proceeds of crime," it said. The proposed law is to provide for measures to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, "thereby preserving the sanctity of the rule of law in India". It follows announcement regarding it by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech on February 1. Jaitley had said the government was considering introducing legislative changes or even a new law to confiscate the assets of such absconders till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum. He had said that in the recent past, there have been instances of big time offenders, including economic offenders, fleeing the country to escape the reach of law. "We have to ensure that the law is allowed to take its own course," he had said. Mallya, the 61-year-old chief of the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to various Indian banks, had fled India to escape legal proceedings in connection with the loans. India is making efforts to get the embattled Indian tycoon extradited from the UK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three members of Burundi's ruling party youth league, described as a militia by some, has died when a grenade exploded in the capital Bujumbura, police and witnesses said Thursday. The "Imbonerakure" -- whose name means "The Watchmen" -- has long been accused of using barbaric methods to achieve political ends on behalf of President Pierre Nkurunziza and his ruling CNDD-FDD party. The explosion happened last evening in a house in the Musaga district of Bujumbura which residents said serves as a neighbourhood headquarters for the youth wing. Municipal police commissioner, Bonfort Ndoreraho, confirmed that the victims were members of the Imbonerakure and said the perpetrator was "not yet known". However, another police source told AFP that it was unclear whether the deadly blast was the result of "an external attack or an accident." Rights groups have detailed abuses by Imbonerakure members accusing them of intimidation, torture, rape and murder of government opponents. Burundi's sometimes violent political crisis has caused 400,000 to leave the country and left hundreds dead since 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To draw attention to illegal sand mining in Jamnagar district, a man today consumed sleeping pills outside the office of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar. Gokul Varu, resident of Jamnagar, was admitted to the civil hospital after he told the staff of Chief Minister's Office that he had swallowed sleeping pills. The CMO is on the fourth floor of Swarnim Sankul-1 complex inside the Sachivalaya (secretariat). Rupani was in Ahmedabad when the incident took place. Varu, resident of Mavapara in Dhrol tehsil of Jamnagar, arrived at the Sachivalaya at around 4.30 pm. Gandhinagar district superintendent of police Virendrasinh Yadav said that Varu had consumed five pills. "Varu told one of the peons at CMO that he had consumed five anti-depressant sleeping pills. He was rushed to the hospital. Doctors told us that pills had had no effect. He will be discharged soon," Yadav told PTI. "Upon questioning, Varu claimed that he wanted to draw government's attention to illegal sand mining in Dhrol tehsil....We found that he had been detained two days ago in Jamnagar for threatening the authorities over the same issue," the SP said, adding that no police case had been lodged yet. Varu told reporters that he wanted to highlight the inaction of local authorities. "Illegal sand mining is rampant in Dhrol and Jodiya tehsils. Despite several representations, authorities have not taken any action. That is why I took this step," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / Africa by Staff reporter Over 10 000 Zimbabweans have been deported from South Africa since last year, with the country's neighbour north of the Limpopo River spending R33 million every month on extraditing illegal immigrants.Zimbabweans constitute the second largest group of immigrants staying illegally in South Africa, which is Africa's most advanced economy.It is estimated that over two million Zimbabweans are staying in South Africa, the majority of them without the requisite documentation to support their stay.Most Zimbabweans are in South Africa to escape an economic meltdown in their home country, where job losses are a daily occurrence.Currently, unemployment in Zimbabwe is estimated at 90 percent.With millions of Africa's jobless heading south to seek better fortunes, South Africa has been forced to strictly reserve 60 percent of its jobs for locals.Tension has been building up in the Rainbow Nation, as South Africa is popularly known, as thousands of its citizens demand jobs.Many Zimbabweans living in South Africa, most of whom have no permits, are therefore failing to secure decent jobs hence are forced to do menial work like cleaning or resorting to crime to make ends meet. Pretoria has for some time now been deporting illegal immigrants.Since last year, 10 433 Zimbabweans have been deported.Mozambicans form the largest portion of the deportees at 11 534, while Lesotho and Malawi contributed 6 045 and 3 257 deportations, respectively.Last year, South Africa spent over R33 million or US$2,5 million in accommodation and transportation costs.South Africa's Department of Home Affairs spokesperson, Thabo Mokgola, said the deportations were in line with the Immigration Act, which they were implementing in a non-discriminatory manner."Anyone found to have obtained any enabling document in a fraudulent manner is dealt with according to the legislative prescripts," he said.In the past, deported immigrants have sneaked back into the country through undesignated ports of entry, with many risking their lives by crossing through the crocodile-infested Limpopo River. Haryana Police has arrested six persons, including four residents of Uttar Pradesh and two of Rajasthan, for their alleged involvement in separate incidents of thefts and vehicle lifting in Gurugram. A sum of Rs 10,000 in cash, a Bolero jeep and three motorcycles were also recovered from their possession, a spokesman of the police department said here today. He said that during interrogation, accused Shahrukh and Farman Ahmed, residents of Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh, confessed to have been involved in various cases of theft in Gurugram. As many as five other cases were also solved with their arrest, he said. The spokesman said that on the intervening night of May 13 and 14, the police arrested Mohammad Shakir, a resident of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, from Sheetla Mata Road in Gurugram for his involvement in cases registered under Arms Act. He was sent to three-day police custody for further interrogation, during which he confessed to have committed theft at a house in Gurugram. The police also recovered Rs 10,000 in cash from his possession. On May 17, the police arrested another accused who has been identified as Yusuf, a resident of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, from Rajendra Park. He was involved in a theft incident. The spokesman said that the police also took Saleem alias Pandu and Majlis alias Majjar, residents of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan on production warrant from Hodal in Palwal district. During interrogation, they confessed their involvement in three cases of vehicle lifting in Gurugram. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Concerned over the possibility of ground water contamination in the city due to industrial units in residential areas, the Delhi High Court today asked the authorities what steps they were taking to prevent it. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Navin Chawla issued notices to the Central Ground Water Board, Delhi government, Delhi Pollution Control Board and various civic bodies of the national capital and sought their stand by May 25. It queried the authorities after taking cognisance of a report about discharge of carcinogenic chemicals by cloth dyeing units in Mustafabad locality of northeast Delhi. The report published in a national daily states that the untreated effluents are contaminating ground water, which is the main source of drinking water in the area, and that it is being linked to the high rate of cancer there. The bench expressed displeasure over the dyeing units operating in residential area and said, "This is happening because nobody wants to get out of their offices and see what is happening in the areas under their jurisdiction". "None of the agencies are working properly, even the MCDs are not performing their duty as per the statutory provisions under the law," it said, adding that there is not even a water policy in the country. It asked all the authorities to inform it whether they have taken any steps to prevent such activities in Delhi. The report states that though no study has been conducted in this Mustafabad locality, locals trace the genesis of the abnormal rate of cancer to toxic chemicals used by the denim dyeing units. Shocked to learn from the report that the locality is known as 'cancer colony', the bench observed, "the issue is of large environment concern". Two deaths and eight suspected tumour cases have been detected in the locality "Release of poisonous substance from these industries may not only impact the ground water in that area, but it may soon spread over other part of the city," the bench said. It directed the Delhi government to place a preliminary report with regard to the impact on the health of residents in and around Mustafabad area due to such units. It also asked the Delhi government to ensure that proper medical facility is made available to the residents of the area. It observed that the "genesis of the problem is misuse of properties by the people". The court noted that the residents of the locality depend on borewells and it is quite likely that the acids, dyes and untreated effluents discharged into the drain eventually seep into the ground water. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Private sector HDFC Life Insurance is expecting IRDA approval for three products which the company plans to launch during the year, an official of the company said. "We are expecting approval from IRDA for launching three more products this year one of which is in the health segment", Rehan Yasser, AVP (marketing) of HDFC Life said. HDFC Life, which is awaiting the merger of Max Life with it, clocked a total premium income of Rs 19,445 crore in the last fiscal, out of which Rs 8696 crore was new business premium (individual and group), registering a growth of 19 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. He said that HDFC Life was already in its third year of profits and any decision relating to a possible IPO would only be taken after the merger process was completed. HDFC Life today launched a new term plan with an option of getting monthly income. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's lead attorney Harish Salve who represented Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav's case at the International Court of Justice cited three previous death penalty and Vienna Convention-related cases fought at the world court during the trial. The three cases were Mexico vs US, Germany vs US and Paraguay vs US. Mexico vs US: In 2003, Mexico took the US to the ICJ over a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention with respect to 54 Mexican nationals who were sentenced to death in the US. They requested the court to ensure that the US should not execute or set execution dates for any Mexican national before the court passed judgment. The ICJ ruled that its jurisdiction lay only in establishing whether the US breached its obligations as listed under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention and not functioning as "a court of criminal appeal". However, the US Supreme Court held that the order of the ICJ was not binding unless Congress has enacted statutes implementing it or unless the treaty itself is "self- executing." Germany vs US: In the second case, German national Walter LaGrand and his brother Karl were arrested in US state of Arizona in 1982 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. In 1999, Germany instituted proceedings against the US for allegedly failing to inform the duo of their right to consular access, guaranteed by the Vienna Convention. The appeal was filed on the eve of the brothers' execution. However, Karl was executed before the case started and Germany demanded that the US compensate his family and halt Walter's execution till proceedings were pending. In its verdict the following day, the ICJ asked the US to ensure Walter was not executed during proceedings. He was executed in a gas chamber in Arizona after the ruling. Paraguay vs US: The third case was again filed against the US when Paraguay dragged America to the ICJ in 1998 alleging that the state of Virginia had violated Vienna Convention by failing to inform Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan, of his right to contact the Paraguayan consulate for assistance after his arrest. The Hague had called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. However, Breard was executed on April 14, five days after the verdict. Paraguay later withdrew the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The decision of the 11-judge bench was unanimous, ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The ICJ said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer while noting that the circumstances of his arrest remain disputed. The ruling came three days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions in the case. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Jadhav's case is the latest flashpoint in the tensions between Pakistan and India. On May 8, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On May 9, the global court stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major boost to India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The UN's highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". "The court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order," a press release from the global court said. Asserting its jurisdiction over the case, the court backed India's contention that there has been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times. India and Pakistan, it noted, have been signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977. As soon as the order came in, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the verdict as a "great relief". They both thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed the battery of lawyers presenting India's case. In Islamabad, Pakistan said it did not accept the ICJ ruling in matters related to national security. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying it was "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. The unanimous verdict of the 11-judge bench comes three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded annulment of the sentence and described Pakistan's trial to convict Jadhav as "farcical". Pakistan, in turn, had argued that the 46-year-old Indian national was a spy and India's plea was "misconceived". The court said Pakistan had indicated that the execution would probably not take place before August 2017. "This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case." It also noted the urgency of the case since Pakistan had given "no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision". Examining India's argument that is a risk of irreparable prejudice, it said, "... The mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India". India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. The next day, the global court gave Jadhav a lease of life and stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Jadhav's case is the latest flashpoint in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP chief Amit Shah today said India has heaved a sigh of relief following the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court. Welcoming the verdict, Shah said it would also come as a big relief for the former Navy officer's family as he hailed the Modi government's quick and effective measures on the matter. In a statement, he also praised senior lawyer Harish Salve who was India's attorney at the Hague and argued the case before the global court. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan for alleged espionage and subversive activities, following which India approached the ICJ. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here have developed a respiratory filter which not only restricts entry of up to 95 per cent dust and air pollutants but is also the cheapest naso filter available. The device 'Nasofilters', a nano-respiratory filter involving a cost of Rs 10, is ready for commercialisation and gives protection against the finest particulate pollutants in the air for at least eight hours and hence reduces risk of respiratory diseases. The team of innovators was recently awarded with the "National Startups Award" by President Pranab Mukherjee. The team included IIT Delhi faculty members Manjeet Jassal and Ashwini K Agrawal besides institute alumni Sanjeev Jain, Prateek Sharma, Tushar Vyas and a student Jatin Kewlani. "To protect the health of millions, the team has developed an incredible filter technology to save people from the harmful effect of air pollution especially keeping in mind PM2.5 concentration," Aggarwal said. The professor explained that the project involved assembling millions of small-sized pores to create a thin flexible membrane, which could capture very small particles with high efficiency. "This allows filters to be used for long hours while maintaining good breathability and comfort. The filters aim to provide relief to common users from air pollution and to protect people, who are prone to allergies, and safeguard those, who are exposed to job related industrial particulate pollutants. "This is also probably the cheapest naso filter in comparison to the face masks and other alternatives available in the market to fight critical levels of air pollution," he added. The filter can stick to user's nasal orifice and would restrict entry of foreign particulate matter including PM2.5 particles, bacteria and pollen allergens. The product will soon be available in Indian and global markets under the brand name "Nasofilters" by "Nanoclean Global Pvt Ltd" a company formed by these innovators. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India today heaved a collective sigh of relief after the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, with political leaders hailing the order, and the former navyman's friends erupting in joy and bursting firecrackers. Harish Salve, India's attorney at ICJ, the UN's highest judicial body, came in for fulsome praise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and a host of other leaders for his strong defence of Jadhav, facing gallows in Pakistan after a military court summarily convicted him of espionage and engaging in subversite activities. Soon after the 11-judge ICJ bench unanimously stayed Jadhav's execution, Modi was on phone line with Swaraj, thanking her and appreciating the efforts of Salve in securing a fresh lease of live for the former naval officer, officials said. An apparently relieved Swaraj took to twitter to tell people about the "great relief" she felt and vowed to "leave no stone unturned" to save Jadhav from the gallows. "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. "We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him)," Swaraj said in a series of tweets. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, too, welcomed the stay on the execution of Jadhav, saying the order gave people of India "a deep sense of satisfaction". He said the Modi government will go "to any extent" to save the 46-year-old former soldier. "The ICJ's decision to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav gives the people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief," Singh said in a statement. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad welcomed the ICJ order and asked the government to ensure justice is done to him and he is brought back to India. "The case against Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan was a sham and was in gross violation of international law as his execution was ordered by a kangaroo court without consular access. It is appreciated that the World Court saw reason in the Indian appeal," he said in a statement. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was in Srinagar for the GST Council meeting, complimented Salve for the order. "#ICJ verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan," Jaitley said in a series of tweets. He also complimented Harish Salve, who represented India at the ICJ at The Hague. "Well done! #HarishSalve - you have done India Proud," Jaitley, himself a legal luminary, said. "Congratulations to EAM Smt. @SushmaSwaraj ji and the entire Hague team," he said in another tweet congratulating External Affairs Minister. BJP president Amit Shah also welcomed the order and hailed the Modi government for taking "quick and effective" action in the matter. In Mumbai, where Jadhav grew up, his tense friends and well wishers had prayers on their lips as they waited with bated breath for a favourable ICJ order. They organised a 'Ganesh puja' to propitiate the elephant headed God, one of the most worshipped, and revered for his power to remove obstacles and bring good luck. As their prayers got answered, his friends at the Silver Oak Apartments in Powai burst crackers and chanted slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. The friends of the embattled soldier had earlier launched a signature campaign to build public pressure on Pakistan to secure Jadhav's release. Some local politicians also joined in the celebrations. In a big relief for India, the ICJ in the Hague in Holland today asked Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. India had moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence to Jadhav after Pakistan ignored its request for consular access to the former navyman 16 times. According to Pakistan, Jadhav was seized by its security forces in the restive Balochistan province on March three last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. India has disputed the claim and said Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the provisional measures relief sought by India in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death in Pakistan, and the International Court of Justice's response to them in today's ruling. India - A relief by way of immediate suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused. ICJ's response - The UN court stayed Jadhav's death sentence. India - A relief by way of restitution in interregnum by declaring that the sentence of the military court arrived at, in brazen defiance of the Vienna Convention rights under Article 36...In defiance of elementary human rights of an accused which are also to be given effect as mandated under Article 14 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is violative of international law and the provisions of the Vienna Convention[;] and ICJ - The Court notes that the acts alleged by India are capable of falling within the scope of Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, which, inter alia, guarantees the right of the sending State to communicate with and have access to its nationals in the custody of the receiving State. The Court considers that the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Vienna Convention ratione materiae. India - Restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court, and directing it to take steps to annul the decision of the military court as may be available to it under the law in Pakistan. ICJ - The UN court indicated to Pakistan that it must "take all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending a final judgment of the Court. India - If Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, then this Court declare the decision illegal, being violative of international law and treaty rights and restrain Pakistan from acting in violation of the Vienna Convention. ICJ - Pakistan shall inform the Court of all measures taken in implementation of the Order. It further decided to remain seised of the matters which form the subject of the Order until it has rendered its final judgment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Staff reporter MDC-T and Zanu-PF activists were at the weekend involved in bloody clashes in the dormitory town Epworth, invoking fears that the 2018 general elections could mirror the 2008 presidential poll runoff which turned into a bloodbath, particularly for opposition supporters.The MDC-T, which has embarked on a door-to-door campaign ahead of the polls, had two of its district chairpersons arrested after they allegedly beat up three Zanu-PF activists in Epworth, leaving one hospitalised.Didymus Bande (41) and Philip Muzerengi (38), MDC-T Epworth deputy organising secretary and ward 6 vice-chairpersons respectively, were yesterday remanded in custody when they appeared before Harare magistrate Barbara Chimboza facing charges of assault.They are expected to apply for bail today.It is the State's case that Bande and Muzerengi last Saturday had a misunderstanding with their Zanu-PF counterparts at their home over the opposition's door-to-door campaign.The two were on a campaign mobilising citizens to register to vote for their party in the 2018 watershed elections.It is alleged Bande, Muzerengi and their alleged accomplices, who are still at large, arrived at Zanu-PF youth secretary for administration Jacob Ndoro's residence.The two told Ndoro that they were recruiting people to join their party, who turned them away.A bloody fight allegedly ensued hours later when Bande, Muzerengi and their unnamed accomplices met Ndoro at Overspill tuckshops following a heated argument.The court heard that the two started clapping and assaulting Ndoro all over his body.He is reported to have sustained an injury on his ear. The Zanu-PF chairman for Chindunduma district in Epworth, Joseph Ngorima, was also allegedly attacked with knobkerries all over his body before they stole $57 from him.The third complainant, Tinashe Mtandwa, who is Zanu-PF youth political commissar for Epworth district, was also injured during the attack.It is also the State's case that Bande and Muzerengi went to Mtandwa's residence and they found his relatives at home with the intention of handing them over the party recruitment fliers.The court heard Mtandwa arrived and discouraged his relatives from accepting the MDC-T fliers.The State alleges this incensed the suspects, who then started assaulting Mtandwa with an iron bar on the right leg and left forefinger.Mtandwa allegedly sustained some injuries and is currently admitted in hospital.His condition is reportedly being monitored by doctors who are yet to furnish the police with a report. India scored a major diplomatic victory over Pakistan on Thursday as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) here stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer . The UN's highest judicial body also asked Pakistan to take "all measures" to ensure that Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, was not executed till the court had delivered its final verdict on the issue. India welcomed the court's unanimous decision on Jadhav, 46, while Islamabad said it had informed the ICJ that it did not accept the court's jurisdiction in matters related to security. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction with the verdict and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the order as a "great relief". The two leaders thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed a battery of lawyers presenting India's case at The Hague. ICJ President Ronny Abraham, a 63-year-old French academic and practitioner in public international law, asked Pakistan to keep the court informed "of all measures taken" in the implementation of the order. The 15-member bench backed India's contention that there had been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its had been denied 16 times. The court, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also noted that India and Pakistan were signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977. Jadhav would get a reprieve of at least 150 days since the sentence was announced, as Pakistan had indicated that the execution would "probably not take place" before August 2017. "This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the court has given its final decision in the case," the court said, and asked Pakistan to ensure that court's order be followed. It said, "the mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India." The verdict came three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded the annulment of the sentence and described Pakistan's trial to convict Jadhav as "farcical". Pakistan, in turn, argued that Jadhav was a spy and India's plea was "misconceived". Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India today, saying it was "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case to the ICJ. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the security of the country," he was quoted as saying by a television channel. India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. The next day, the global court stayed the sentence as a provisional measure. Pakistan, which announced the sentence on Jadhav on April 10, claims its security forces arrested him from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav's case is the latest flash-point in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. Navies of India and Singapore on Thursday began a seven-day-long mega maritime exercise in the South China Sea which has been witnessing a growing Chinese assertiveness. Four warships of the Indian Navy and long range anti- submarine warfare aircraft P-8l are participating in the SIMBEX (Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise), which is aimed at increasing interoperability between the two navies. A diverse range of operational activities at sea have been planned during the course of the exercise. "The thrust of exercises at sea this year would be on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), integrated operations with surface, air and sub-surface forces, air defence and surface encounter exercises," Navy Spokesperson Capt D K Sharma said. A number of warships of Singapore Navy are participating in the exercise along with maritime patrol aircraft Fokker F50 and F-16 aircraft. Held since 1994, it is the 24th edition of the annual exercise between the two countries. Pranay Varada, the 14-year-old Indian-American student, has won the prestigious $50,000 Geographic Bee competition, maintaining the dominance of the community in the contest. "I was absolutely sure I could win that challenge," Varada said soon after bagging the coveted competition, which for the past one decade has been dominated by Indian- Americans. "Having done this for such a long time and winning it now, it's just a feeling of satisfaction," Varada, an eighth grader from Texas, said. A runner up last year, Varada this time did not want to give any chance. He was declared the winner as he won the first tie breaker question when he correctly identified the Kunlun Mountains as the 1,200 mile range that separates the Taklimakan Desert from the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, he gets $50,000 in scholarship and other prizes. Veda Bhattaram another Indian-American from New Jersey finished third at the finals held here last night, while Thomas Wright from Wisconsin was declared the runner up. Wright received $25,000 and Bhattaram got $10,000 in scholarships. This year, six of the 10 finalists were Indian-Americans. Indian-Americans have won the Geographic Bee competition for the last six consecutive. Last year, Rishi Nair, a sixth grader from Florida, had won the contest. After a 30-year wait for new artillery guns since the Bofors scandal, the Indian Army today received the first two ultra light howitzers from the US as part of an order for 145 long-range guns which will be mostly deployed along the border with China. The M-777 A-2 ultra-light howitzers (ULH), having a maximum range of 30 km and manufactured by the BAE Systems, were being taken to Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan for test firing. The Indian Army is in dire need of ULH and India had struck a government-to-government deal with the US in November last year for supply of the 145 howitzers at a cost of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. While 25 guns will come in a fly-away condition, the rest will be assembled in India by the BAE Systems in partnership with Mahindra Defence. The 155 mm, 39-calibre guns will fire Indian ammunitions. "As per the contract agreement, firing tables are being prepared by the contracted agency, that is, the US Government and BAE GCS (Global Combat Systems) Ltd with support of Indian Army," the Army said in a statement. It said after the firing tables are ready, three more guns will be supplied in September, 2018 for training. Thereafter, induction will commence from March 2019 onwards with five guns per month till complete consignment is received by mid 2021. "We continue to support the US government in integrating this new weapon system with the Indian Army's artillery modernization program," an official of the BAE Systems said. The howitzers that can be heli-lifted were first proposedto be bought from BAE about 10 years back. India had last procured howitzers in the mid-1980s from Swedish defence major Bofors. The alleged pay-offs in sealing the deal and its subsequent political ramifications had severely crippled the Indian Army's procurement of artillery guns. Officials sources said that the new guns are expected to be deployed along the border with China. Last week, engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was awarded a contract to supply 100 self-propelled howitzers to the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore The first batch of the 155mm/52 calibre tracked self- propelled (SP) gun -- K9 VAJRA-T -- will be delivered later this year and the entire supply will be made within next 42 months. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Islamic State group killed more than 50 people in an attack on two government-held villages in central Syria's Hama province today, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on two villages killed 15 civilians and 27 pro-government fighters, with another 10 bodies yet to be identified as government fighters or local residents. IS also lost 15 fighters in the attack, the monitor said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Militants attacked the ancestral residence of Kulgam MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami in the south Kashmir district late evening today but no one was hurt in the incident. Gunmen opened fire at Tarigami's residence at Taragam village in Kulgam district at around 9 pm, officials said. The CPI(M) MLA, who had visited the village in the afternoon, had left for his Srinagar residence when the attack took place. Tarigami confirmed that firing had taken place but added that no one was hurt. Police officers rushed to the spot following the attack. Further details were awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing relief over the International Court of Justice staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, his friends and well-wishers today celebrated the ruling by bursting fire crackers. Fire crackers were burst by Jadhav's friends in Lower Parel and by his neighbours outside his Silver Oak apartment building in Powai area. A sizable crowd, which had gathered outside the building, shouted slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. The Jadhav family used to stay on the fifth floor of the building. They have now moved out and their flat is locked, a neighbour said. "The prayers of 125 crore Indians have been answered. We thank the ICJ for delivering such a welcome ruling," Tulshidas Pawar, Jadhav's childhood friend, told PTI. Pawar along with his family members and other friends of Jadhav was glued to the television for the ICJ ruling. He said he was praying for a positive verdict at ICJ and was hopeful of his friend's safe return to India. Residents of Aanewadi village in Satara district, where Jadhav owns an acre of land, were elated after the ICJ ruling. "This (ICJ ruling) is a good start. Now India must increase efforts to secure Jadhav's release and bring him back home," a villager said. Pawar and other friends of Jadhav also organised a Ganesh Puja here for a "favourable court verdict". Jadhav's friends in the Prithvi Nandan Society in central Mumbai's Lower Parel area, where the former Navy officer grew up, performed the Puja this morning. The group had also undertaken a signature campaign in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan to secure their friend's release. Several workers of a political party also joined locals in the celebrations outside Jadhav's apartment by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. "The international court has taken a good decision, we are very happy. He was an Indian and not a terrorist, so what Pakistan did was illegal," said one of the workers. "Now, the government should take steps to bring him home. The battle is not over yet as he is still in Pakistan. We are waiting for the day when he will be back with his family," he said. Reacting to the ICJ ruling, a US national, staying opposite the Silver Oak apartments said, "Anything between India and Pakistan escalates easily. If they kill him, it will become a national calamity." "My allegiance lies with India, I am happy to see all these celebrations. It is also good that the decision came from a third neutral party (the international court)," he said. Jadhav had spent his early days in Parel and used to stay in the police quarters with his family. After studying at King George School, Jadhav went to the Ruia College here, before joining the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla in Pune. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today stayed the execution of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das expressed grief over the death of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, who passed away in Delhi today. Dave had devoted his life to environmental issues and the country has lost a committed environmentalist and worthy politician, and it will be difficult to fill the void, the chief minister said. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy condoled Dave's death and said that he has lost a personal friend and a colleague who was serious about environmental issues. "The fateful loss is irreparable. I condole his sad departure with tearful eyes and pray to God to place the pious soul in heavenly abode," Roy said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Son of Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram, on Thursday left for London, two days after CBI conducted searches at his premises. Karti, himself a Congress leader, left for London along with a friend, airport sources said. He flew by an international carrier, they added. The CBI had on Monday registered a case in connection with alleged irregularities in granting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media, run by its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea, in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. The agency had on Tuesday coinducted searches at multiple premises linked to Chidambaram and Karti in connection with the matter. Karti had alleged "political vendetta" behind the searches and said no documents had been seized from during the raids, insisting he had done nothing wrong. Tamils in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northern and eastern provinces are today observing the eigth anniversary of the end of the three-decade brutal civil war in the country in 2009. The Tamil Genocide Remembrance day will be marked by various events at Mullivaikkal, the location of the final battle between the Lankan troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Amongst those taking part in the Remembrance are hardline northern Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran along with Tamil Peoples' Council (TPC), Tamil National Peoples' Front (TNPF), Tamil civil society, political parties of former Tamil militants and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians. Wigneswaran has called for a three-minute silence to remember those who died during the civil war and asked overseas Tamils to observe the commemoration. The Tamils want to press for an international investigation on the victims of the final battle, he said in a letter addressed to the Tamil diaspora. S J Emmanuel, President of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a Tamil diaspora group, has appealed to observe the Mullivaikkaal commemoration in peaceful prayers. Tamil nationalists had organised a series of memorial events starting from May 12 for seven days. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has condemned an attempt to ban commemorations of the dead by Tamil families in Mullivaikkal. ITJP said a court order in Tamil from the District Judge and Magistrate of Mullaitivu has placed a 14-day ban from this evening on all ceremonies near the Catholic Church in Mullivaikkal East, on the grounds that they may adversely affect "the country's integrity, national security and the peace of the nation". The LTTE's 30-year separatist campaign ended on May 18, 2009 in the northeastern Mullaithivu district when Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, was killed by Lankan troops. According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to the conflict with the defeat of LTTE in 2009. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Goodlife Mudzingwa We want an intact wetland ecosystem that guarantees sustainable water provision. The 1913 Water Regulations By-law should be reviewed. Water Laws should be reviewed to incorporate right to water enshrined in Section 77(a) of the constitution and the principles underlying the promulgation of the right to water. 2013 National Water Policy should be reviewed to stop full divestiture (privatization) of water provision. Harare Water should avail full information of procurement of water treatment chemicals. Community Water Alliance today 16/05/17 delivered the voice on water service delivery before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Rural and Urban Development.The Alliance petitioned parliament on water service delivery particularly on issues of preserving an intact wetland ecosystem as a pre-condition for sustainable water provision; parliamentary oversight on revision of 1913 Water Regulations by-law; synchronization of Water Act, ZINWA Act, Urban Councils Act, Rural District Councils Act in line with the substance and procedures of Section 77(a) of Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013; review of the 2013 National Water Policy and oversight of the tendering process on water treatment chemicals.Community Water Alliance appreciates the solidarity offered by Harare Wetlands Trust as well as Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum whose membership comprise Combined Harare Residents Association, Norton Residents Alliance, Chitungwiza Residents and Rate-payers Association, Chitungwiza Progressive Residents Association, Chitungwiza Residents Trust, Harare Residents Alliance, Epworth Residents Development Association and Simukai Residents Trust. We applaud solidarity from Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development and the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe.The residents' statement was clear:We expect Parliament of Zimbabwe to address concerns of citizens and also play the oversight role on issues highlighted. The largest off-shore patrol vessel "Ocean Shield" of the Australian Border Force arrived here today as part of the International Co-operation between the two countries, the Coast Guard said today. During the brief visit of the ship, commanded by Superintendent Alan Champkin, various events have been planned by the Coast Guard here for "mutual interaction to develop Inter-Operability between the two maritime forces", a Coast Guard release said. The ship was one of the several Australian vessels that took part in the massive search of the Malaysian Airlines MH370 which went missing after it began its journey to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board and 12 crew, the release said. The vessel can achieve a maximum speed of 16 knots with a displacement of 8,500 tonnes and is equipped with a helipad on the bow of the ship. The ship has 16 officials and 36 sailors.Upon arrival of the ship, the Coast Guard organised a warm welcome ceremony in the traditional way. The Coast Guard headed by Additional Director General, Murthy and Australian Border Force, Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg held discussions for mutual cooperation on issues concerning co-operation on SAR (Search and Rescue), mutual sharing of information on maritime challenges and joint efforts. Australian Border Force personnel were briefed about the functions of Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre and Remote Operation Station by Coast Guard officials at Chennai Port which would be reciprocated by visit of Coast Guard crew on-board Ocean Shield, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top congressional Republicans are demanding the Trump administration take swift and severe action against the Turkish government in response to violence involving members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail, with one saying the US "should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America". Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, expressed outrage today at a video clip that appears to show Erdogan's bodyguards violently breaking up a protest earlier this week outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington. "We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America," McCain said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe". McCain said "this kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically". He suggested that lawsuits should be filed if the responsible bodyguards can be identified. McCain and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told Erdogan in a letter they sent today that the "actions of your staff violate the constitutional protections of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly enjoyed by all Americans". They said they expected "conduct more appropriate" from Turkey, a member of NATO and a key US ally. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he wants "people prosecuted". "If there were any Turkish Embassy officials involved in beating up these protesters, I will call for them to be removed from the country," said Graham, the GOP chairman of the Senate subcommittee that controls the foreign affairs budget. A congressional aide told The Associated Press that two members of Erdogan's security detail were detained on the scene on Tuesday by diplomatic security agents. But the guards quickly claimed diplomatic immunity, and were released after diplomatic security consulted with counsel. The aide was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The State Department said yesterday that "violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest". The remarks from Graham and McCain come after Rep. Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the Trump administration to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted against any of the bodyguards. Royce detailed his request for an inquiry in a letter sent yesterday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He wrote that bodyguards with Erdogan on his official state visit to Washington "viciously beat multiple individuals, throwing them to the ground and kicking them in the head". The incident occurred after Erdogan arrived after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another person wrenches a woman's neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. In all, nine people were hurt. Several other Senate Republicans, including Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, called on the Turkish government to immediately apologise for the violence. In a statement, the Turkish Embassy blamed the violence on the demonstrators, saying they were "aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the president. The Turkish-Americans responded in self- defense and one of them was seriously injured". Tensions between Washington and Istanbul are running high after the Trump administration announced plans to arm Kurdish Syrian militants fighting the Islamic State group despite intense opposition from Turkey, which considers the Kurds as terrorists. The decision is meant to accelerate the operation to recapture the key Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa. But Erdogan's government views the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG as an extension of a Kurdish terrorist organisation that operates in Turkey. Trump and his national security team say the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, is the most effective battlefield partner against the Islamic State in northern and eastern Syria. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A committee has been constituted by Lt Governor Anil Baijal towards digitising the investigative processes of Delhi Police. In a review meeting with the Delhi Police held today, the LG discussed on improving the quality of prosecution and conviction rates. "Constituted a Committee to suggest possible digitisation of investigative processes. Best practices elsewhere to be emulated (nic)," Baijal tweeted. He also directed the police department to engage in technical expertise for effective investigation and stressed on increasing the number of investigating officers in the department and enhancing their skills. "Chaired crime review meeting with Delhi Police. Focus on improving quality of prosecution, and crime solvency & conviction rates (nic)," he said in another tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Family members of the two traders, who were killed in the sensational dacoity-cum-murder case here, today staged a dharna blaming the police of "inaction" even as a police inspector was suspended over the incident. The bereaved family members, who were enraged over the police "inaction" as the case could not be solved even after 60 hours of the incident, staged a dharna for around eight hours in Holi Gate area here. SSP Vinod Kumar Mishra has said that a police inspector posted with the Kotwali police station, identified as one Surendra Pal Singh Yadav, has been suspended for dereliction of duties. The protestors also gave a two-day ultimatum to the police officials to solve the case. The traders were killed and three were injured in daring dacoity committed in Koyalawali Gali falling under Kotwali police station on Monday. Politicians also threw their support behind the families. UPCC President Raj Babbar condoled the death of the traders and visited their families. He also visited the shop where the incident took place. Congressmen, led by the former Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Pradeep Mathur and former Chairman of the Municipal board of Mathura Shyam Sundar Upadhyaya joined the protest as the family members sat on the dharna. However, the dharna was lifted on the request of SP (city) Ashok Kumar after he demanded more time to work out the case. The family members then agreed to the demand and gave a two-day time limit to the SP. Sub-inspector Prateek Kumar, in-charge police out post Holi Gate, along with two constables were suspended on Tuesday in the incident. "The Sarrafa Bazar in entire UP would observe a strike tomorrow", Gaur Saran Sarraf, the state vice-president of Sarrafa Association said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said he would review progress of Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College & Hospital here in every two weeks as the institute was all set to start MBBS course from this academic session. Patnaik said this while making an on-the-spot visit of the medical college hospital here. "I am satisfied over the construction work of the medical college hospital. I will review progress of the work in every two weeks," Patnaik told reporters after witnessing the construction work for the new institute. Accompanied by Health and Family Welfare minister Pratap Jena, the chief minister said that there should be no problem to start the medical college from this academic session after the Supreme Court mandated Oversight Committee according its approval. The project in Mayurbhanj district is significant for the ruling BJD as the opposition BJP has been making in-roads to the tribal dominated area. The BJP has won most of the zilla parishad seats in the Mayurbhanj district in the recently concluded panchayat elections. Patnaik said the long standing demand of the people of Mayurbhanj has been fulfilled. He expressed the hope that it would be successful in providing better health care services to the people of Mayurbhanj. The process of admission of students for 100 MBBS undergraduate seats for the 2017-18 academic session can now be taken up as the Supreme Court mandated committed has given its nod, Health Minister Pratap Jena said. The oversight committee's green signal came a week after the state government sought its intervention following failure to get Letter of Permission (LoP) from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to start the Medical College and Hospital in 2017-18 academic session. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Naxals allegedly torched some dozen houses, including two belonging to police personnels, in a village in the insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh over the last two-three days. The incident at Rayagundam village came to light today after the policemen whose houses were burnt informed the authorities, deputy inspector general of police (Dantewada range) Sundarraj P told PTI. Rayagundam is among the villages on the border of Sukma and Bijpaur districts where security forces had carried out anti-Naxal operations between May 12 and May 16. At least 15 Naxals were believed to be killed during the operations, the DIG said. "After suffering heavy losses at the hands of security forces, frustrated ultras burnt down houses in Rayagundam," he Claimed. Houses of constable Podiyam Nanda, assistant constable Madvi Jogga and ten local residents who had not supported the Naxals were targeted, he said. Nanda and Jogga are natives of Rayagundam and have families there, but are posted elsewhere in Sukma. There were no reports of anybody getting injured in fire, the DIG added, saying that further details were awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court today sought the stand of Union health secretary, among others, on a plea for cancellation of the last National Eligibility and Entrance Test for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses. Issuing notice to the Union government and others, Justice N Seshasayee of the Madurai bench of the court sought their replies to the issues raised by the petitioners for cancellation of the test conducted on May 7, 2017. The petitioners including one Jonila contended that NEET was not conducted in an uniform manner all over the country. They argued that different sets of question papers had been used in different places in the country, though uniform syllabus had been announced. The officials did not inform that different set of question papers would be circulated, the petitioners said. In Tamil Nadu, different set of questions were given for those who opted for English and Tamil respectively, the petitioners submitted and said the Tamil question paper was easier. "One India, one question paper in NEET is a must, otherwise the scaling of intelligence and aptitude would differ. Hence NEET examination should be cancelled and fresh examination with uniform question papers be conducted," the petitioners submitted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Public sector Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) has signed a 'procedure note' with Iceberg Capital for identifying potential customers and carrying out High Speed Diesel export related activities in Myanmar. The "Procedure note for export to Myanmar" was signed by NRL General Manager (Marketing) B Ekka and Iceberg Capital CEO Anshuman Ghai here on May 16, an NRL release said today. To begin with, it was proposed to export 500 MT of High Speed Diesel (HSD) on trial basis within three months using the services of Iceberg. Iceberg Capital is a market entry, research, advisory and management consulting firm providing strategic market insights and management expertise with its head office at Yangon in Myanmar, the release said. As the refinery was only 420 km from Myanmar and connected by NH-39 (or Asian Highway-1), export of HSD to the neighbouring country by tank lorry was a win-win situation for both the nations, it said. NRL has already ventured into the Myanmar market by way of export of paraffin wax. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cab aggregator Ola today announced the launch of its "Progressive Web App" (PWA), a lightweight mobile website that offers users, especially in smaller towns and cities, an app-like experience on simple smartphones. The company claims that it requires a fraction of the data used by native apps. Launched together with Google at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco today, PWA will enable the use of Ola platform across hundreds of cities in India and addresses a significant market opportunity of customers and driver partners, the company said in a release. It said Ola becomes the first ride hailing app in APACregion to use PWA technology. "As the first ride-hailing app in the APAC region thatis using PWA technology, this represents an important development that will enable us to reach an ever greater number of customers and driver partners in rural India," Ola Co-Founder and CTO Ankit Bhati said. PWA will overcome technological barriers to entry in key markets and make Ola the first ride-sharing platform in hundreds of cities across India, where there is limited connectivity and a prevailing use of low-end smartphones, the release added. "..... It's exciting to see Ola create their PWA, which will ensure their users have an engaging experience from the very first moment," Google VP Product Management, Chrome Rahul Roy-chowdhury said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An under trial prisoner in the district prison had been admitted to the government Wenlock hospital here after he consumed overdose of medicines, police said. The prisoner, Biju alias Jose(31) belonging to Thiruvananthapuram was arrested recently by the Railway Protection Force personnel during a theft attempt at the railway station here. The person, who had been taking medicines for certain ailments, told prison officials yesterday that he had taken an overdose of tablets and wanted to be admitted to hospital. He was taken to the hospital and the doctors provided him first aid before being shifted to the prison section of the hospital, Police said. Biju told the police that he had taken excessive dose of medicines to 'get well soon' and that it was not a suicide attempt. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state... Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had... Two staffers of Pakistan's Kabul embassy were detained for hours by Afghanistan's intelligence officials, prompting strong protest from Islamabad, a media report said today. The two men were in a stationery shop at a market when they were picked up by the sleuths of country's premier intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassy's official vehicle. The staffers were identified as Hassan Khanzada, visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah, staff driver, the 'Dawn' reported. Khanzada was manhandled during the detention, it said, quoting a source. The embassy approached the Afghan foreign ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Pakistan summoned Afghanistan's deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams yesterday to lodge protest over the detention. The Afghan foreign ministry, reportedly after a bit of dilly-dallying, conceded that the two had been taken into custody by the NDS, the report said. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, it said, adding that it was unclear why the staffers were detained. The incident serves another blow to the already fraught ties between the two countries. It happened amid latest efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the five-day annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, its first ever in India. The Prime Minister will open the meeting on May 23 to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat -- a sign of strengthening of ties between India and the African region. The meeting, on May 22-26, is the largest event of the Bank, which would witness about 3,000 delegates from 81 member countries converging at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre. During the course of the event, the board of governors of the Bank will meet to dwell on major developmental challenges facing the African countries and the ways to achieve an inclusive and sustainable growth, the finance ministry said in a statement today. AfDB has adopted a strategy called "High 5s", which focuses on five major developmental priorities comprising agriculture, energy, industrialisation, regional connectivity, and improved quality of life through access to social and economic opportunities, it said. The core theme is 'Transforming Agriculture for wealth creation in Africa'. During India Africa Forum Summit 2015, the announcement of a USD 10 billion line of credit by the Prime Minister marked a new beginning in India's approach to engage with African countries in a more constructive manner. India's support through lines of credit have not only helped finance the projects in African countries, but have contributed to capacity building, IT and higher education, it said. "While annual meetings of the Bank this year would be another opportunity to discuss the issues facing the regional member countries, India would seek to leverage this occasion to further deepen our economic cooperation with the African countries through various other events that have been planned," the statement read. The central government is organising an Africa India Cooperation Event on the sidelines of the main event, it said, adding that the sessions will primarily focus on agriculture, healthcare, e-governance, renewable energy, skill development and education, trade and investment, and manufacturing. The government is also holding an exhibition during the annual meetings of the Bank with an objective to showcase the capabilities of Indian companies in terms of technology, innovation, and start-ups, which could be relevant for African countries. India joined the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1982 and the AfDB in 1983, starting a long history of cooperation spanning over 30 years. India's collaboration with the Bank Group is built around three main pillars: contributions to the General Capital Increase (GCI), contributions to ADF replenishment and a bilateral trust fund, and providing resources to support highly indebted poor countries and the Multilateral Debt Reduction Initiative. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders cutting across the party today welcomed the order of International Court of Justice staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan and asked it to respect the same. Hailing the order as "major victory" for India, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it has "exposed" Pakistan and exuded confidence that the final order too will be go in India's favour. "Major victory for India #KulbhushanJadhav case. ICJ upholds India's right to consular access, put a stay on death execution. Justice prevails (sic). "International Court of Justice staying execution of #KulbhushanJadhav has exposed Pakistan. I'm sure final order too will go in our favour (sic)," Naidu tweeted. Describing the order as "positive", CPI's national secretary D Raja hailed the ICJ for making it clear that India has every right to provide consular access to Jadhav. "Now, Pakistan will have to respect the order and abide by it," the Left leader said. Joining the leaders in welcoming the order, Delhi Chief Minster and AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal tweeted the entire country is united in ensuing Jadhav's safe release. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, currently in Hyderabad, though noted the ICJ has reiterated its earlier position that Pakistan should wait till the time the international court disposes of the case. "It is just a continuation of its earlier understanding," Yechury observed. An 11-judge bench of the ICJ unanimously stayed execution of Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. The ICJ also instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The court said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Pranab Mukherjee today cautioned against the negative impact of technological advancement and the Internet, and said "the world is yet to face squarely the disruptive impact of these forces". He also said politics without morality is no politics. The president was speaking after receiving the first copy of a book, titled 'Metaphysics, Morals and Politics', from Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former principal of the erstwhile Presidency College here, at a function at the Raj Bhavan this evening. The book was released by retired Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly. On a lighter note, Mukherjee said he was "an average student, rather less than average" as he praised the author with whom he had studied together in college. The president said the world has made tremendous technological advancements, particular mobile and communication technology and the Internet. The use of Internet is one of the important criteria to judge development in the world today, he said and cautioned against its disruptive impact. Noting that politics without morality is no politics, he said, "It is absolutely necessary, and perhaps many of our directionless, random actions are stemming out from absolutely instantaneous response." Recently, a high alert was sounded in the wake of reports of possible cyber attack by ransomware 'WannaCry' on the country's vital networks. 'WannaCry' has disrupted networks in over 150 countries, including Russia and the UK, and is being termed as one of the most widespread cyber attacks in the history. But the government allayed fears saying there was no serious impact in the country except for a few isolated incidents in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The home ministry is learnt to have given its approval for induction of two ministers in the Kejriwal government in Delhi and has forwarded its recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for a final nod. The file containing the home ministry's recommendation has been sent to the president for a final decision, official sources said. However, the president is currently on a tour to West Bengal and is expected to only return tomorrow. The final decision will be taken when the president returns to the capital, sources said. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had accused the Centre of "stalling" the Delhi government's activities by allegedly holding back files relating to the appointment of two new ministers in his Cabinet. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also said it amounted to violation of the Constitution and accused the Centre of "paralysing" the Delhi government. Kejriwal had said the people of Delhi should not suffer due to the BJP-led NDA government's "enmity" with the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. Sisodia said the Delhi government had on May 6 sent the files relating to the induction of two AAP MLAs - Rajender Pal Gautam and Kailash Gehlot - in the Delhi Cabinet, but the Centre is yet to clear the same. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reacting to the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaign's ties with Russia, US President today said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. The Justice Department yesterday appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as the special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Russian interference in the last year's presidential elections. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country," he said. Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said, "In my capacity as acting attorney general, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter." "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," he said in a statement. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. "Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly," he said. "Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result," he added. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. "That is what we've been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue," Ryan said. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Mueller's for the investigation. "The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senatr Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will hopefully help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. "We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and I'm encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election," Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. "While this is an important step forward, we still need a bipartisan, independent commission to carry out a public investigation into Russia's interference in our election. The American people deserve answers," he said. The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on an aged woman's plea seeking release of her husband, lodged in a Pakistani jail, by moving a case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Justice M M S Bedi issued the notice, returnable by August 4, on the petition filed by 78-year-old Pal Kaur of Lehra Dhudkot in Bathinda district. Kaur sought the direction to the government to take up the matter of release of her husband, Havaldar Dharam Pal Singh, and also file appropriate proceedings, if necessary, in the ICJ, for his release, as a prisoner of war, under the Simla Agreement. In her petition, filed through advocate Hari Chand Arora, Kaur stated that her husband had fought the 1971 war against Pakistan and was captured by the Pakistan Army. However, the government and the Indian Army treated him as a martyr on the basis that he was missing with effect from December 5, 1971, she claimed. According to the petitioner, another war prisoner Satish Kumar of Ferozepur informed her that he stayed with her husband in the same jail till 1976 before being taken to another prison. Kaur filed the instant civil writ petition based on an affidavit signed by Kumar, who was released in the past. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US-based Rockefeller Foundation's (RF) subsidiary Smart Power India today said its mini-grids are now operational in as many as 106 villages in India. Smart Power India is setting up these mini-grids under the Foundation's Smart Power for Rural Development programme. "The mini-grids are now operational in 106 villages in India. We are already in the process of building 125 new mini-grids with our partners ... It is the largest privately operated mini-grids cluster globally," Smart Power India CEO Jaideep Mukherji said in a statement. The grids are operational across three states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. In the long-term, Mukherji said these grids have the ability to integrate with the discoms' grids and would help accelerate the realisation of the government's 'power for all' vision. He also said that the increasing affordability of solar equipment is a positive development for the mini-grid sector as it would help reduce the cost. "Our mini-grids are helping bridge energy access gap by supplying power not only to homes, but also for commercial and productive activities in the village," he added. Deepali Khanna, Director of Rockefeller Foundation said that they are aiming at powering 1,000 villages in the country. "Currently we are working with our partners to expand our work to Jharkhand," she said. The foundation has launched an initiative to use renewable power-based mini-grids to light up villages. It is working with the government to develop central and state policies that support growth of the mini-grid sector in India. Rockefeller has invested USD 1.5 million to resolve the battery storage challenge. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former FBI director Robert Mueller has been appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. The decision by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller, 72, as special counsel came following a week of turmoil for the White House after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter. Rosenstein said he had taken the decision "to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election," including "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." Reacting to the appointment, Trump said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country," he said. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. "Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly," he said. "Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result," he added. Mueller served as FBI director for 12 years after his nomination by President George W Bush in 2001. Prior to leading the bureau, Mueller was the US attorney for the Northern District of California and served as an assistant attorney general in between stints in private practice. On Tuesday, ABC reported that Comey, Mueller's successor at the FBI, was asked by Trump in February to end the bureau's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Mueller's for the investigation. "The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senator Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. "We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and I'm encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election," Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. "The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Real Madrid moved to within one point of winning La Liga as Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice to down Celta Vigo 4-1. The European champions lead Barcelona by three points at the top of the table and now need to just avoid defeat at Malaga on Sunday to secure their first league title in five years. Once again Ronaldo made the difference as he blasted into the top corner after just 10 minutes and then added a second with a composed finish early in the second-half yesterday. Iago Aspas was then controversially sent-off when he saw a second yellow card for diving, but Celta halved the arrears through John Guidetti's deflected effort. However, Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos rounded off another four-goal showing from Madrid. Ronaldo was starting his first La Liga game away from home for nearly two months as in contrast to recent weeks, Zinedine Zidane didn't rotate his starting XI. The Frenchman went with the same side that withstood an Atletico Madrid revival to book their place in the Champions League final a week ago. And he was rewarded early on as Marcelo fed Isco and after he was dispossessed on the edge of the area, Ronaldo smashed the loose ball high into the net. Celta have now lost eight of their last nine La Liga games having concentrated on their run to the Europa League semi-finals that was ended by Manchester United last week. However, having eliminated Madrid from the Copa del Rey earlier this season, they put the European champions to the test once more. Daniel Wass stung the palms of Keylor Navas with a fiercely struck free-kick before Aspas fired just wide twice in quick succession. And Celta also had a penalty appeal waived away before the break when Raphael Varane handled inside his own area. Having soaked up that pressure, a deadly Real counter- attack doubled their advantage just three minutes into the second period. Isco was again the provider as he surged through the midfield before feeding the World Player of the Year to slot home his 13th goal in his last eight games. More controversy ensued when referee Juan Martinez Munera showed Aspas a second yellow card for diving when he appeared to have been tripped by Sergio Ramos inside the area. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Celta did manage to pull a goal back when Guidetti's effort deflected past the helpless Navas off Ramos. However, the visitors went straight up the other end and Marcelo's low cross was tapped home by Karim Benzema to restore Real's two-goal cushion. Ronaldo should have completed yet another hat-trick when he somehow managed to fire wide with the goal gaping before he was replaced with six minutes remaining. Even without him, though, Madrid continued to stream forward and Kroos rounded off the scoring with a cool turn and finish two minutes from time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unidentified criminals looted Rs 4.30 lakh cash at gun point from a trader on the Paradip-Daitary expressway near here, police said today. Businessman Sadanand Swain had drawn the cash from a nationalised bank and was on way to his house in Marshaghai when two motor-cycle-borne men waylaid him at gun point and snatched the bag containing the cash at Khamarapada traffic junction yesterday, pollice said. The miscreants are yet to be identified, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suniel Shetty says rather than resenting the success of his contemporaries, he seeks inspiration from their achievements. "I am mentally very secure. Financially, there will be ups and downs. I have been saying no (to films) so I am not seen enough but that's okay," the actor told PTI. The 55-year-old actor says his contemporaries are doing much better work today and he is happy for them. "People like Salman, Shah Rukh, Akshay, Ajay Devgn, Aamir Khan inspire me. And more so Salman, Ajay and Akshay as I am close to them," he said. Suniel will be now seen on the big screen after a gap of three years with "Reloaded", starring Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez, and choreographer-turned-director Bosco Martis's "Circus". Apart from these two projects, the actor says he is also working in a silent film. He would be also seen as a reality show "India's Asli Champion..Hai Dum!", to be aired on &TV channel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sanitation, education and health would be the focus areas for the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), said Preeti Aggarwal, after being elected as the new mayor of the civic body today. Aggarwal, a first-time BJP councillor, who represents Rohini-F ward (No 57-N), asserted that the party would work with the Opposition to "make the image of NDMC more positive". "I have a three-point formula in mind -- Swachhta, Shiksha aur Swasthya (sanitation, education and health). And, our job would be to fulfil the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sanitation would be my top priority," she told reporters soon after assuming charge. Sanitation is a major governance issue in Delhi and the BJP, which has been ruling the MCD for the last 10 years, has faced criticism from residents and opposition parties for "lack of cleanliness" in the city. The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have continuously attacked the BJP-led corporations, alleging that the three civic bodies have turned the city into a "mound of garbage". The three civic bodies had faired poorly in the Swachh Bharat survey which was released recently by the Centre. She was elected unopposed as the mayor of north Delhi and the new team of the area's civic body also took charge. Besides, Vijay Kumar Bhagat was also chosen unopposed as the deputy mayor as no other party had filed nominations for the two posts. In the high-stakes MCD polls held on April 23, the BJP had fielded all fresh faces to counter "anti-incumbency". After the polls, the saffron party's strength in the 104 -member New Delhi Municipal Corporation House is 64, while AAP has 21 and Congress 15 councillors. The BSP has one member, while two had won the election independent candidates. The post of mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two also being in the open category. In the polls, Aggarwal had defeated AAP's Abhinav Mishra in the elections by a margin of 5,413 votes. She had bagged 11,723 votes, while Mishra finished second with 6,310. Incidentally, last year too, Sanjiv Nayyar was unanimously elected the mayor on April 28. The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012 into the NDMC, the SDMC and the EDMC. The first MCD polls after the trifurcation was held the same year. The BJP had bagged 181 of the 270 wards in the civic polls. Delhi has a total of 272 wards -- NDMC (104 wards), SDMC (104) and EDMC (64). While election to Maujpur ward in east Delhi was held on May 14, Sarai Pipal in north Delhi will go to polls on May 21. Elections in these two wards were postponed due to death of candidates. Six members of the Standing Committee were also elected today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa has approached the Delhi police, alleging that some members of the party were circulating her morphed pictures and obscene articles about her on social media. An FIR has been registered against unidentified persons with the Economic Offences Wing based on a complaint filed by the Rajya Sabha MP and its cyber cell is looking into the matter, Delhi Police PRO Madhur Verma said. The official said the case was registered on the charges of "forgery for harming reputation, criminal intimidation and insulting a woman's modesty". Sasikala, who was expelled from the AIADMK in August last year, had earlier alleged she was slapped by a party leader in Chennai and was facing death threats. She alleged that 15 people belonging to the AIADMK were behind circulating her "morphed" pictures and "obscene" articles on the Internet. The police said that websites have been asked to provide details of it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran's election today is its own concern, regional rival Saudi Arabia said ahead of an "unprecedented" summit between US President Donald Trump and dozens of Muslim nations excluding Iran. "That's an internal Iranian matter," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told journalists when asked his expectations for Friday's presidential vote in Iran. "When we look at Iran's policy, we don't look at personalities. We look at actions," said Jubeir, repeating allegations about Iran's "aggressive" behaviour in the Middle East. President Hassan Rouhani faces a tough battle for re- election against hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who has called for a much tougher stance against the West and says a 2015 nuclear deal has not improved the lives of the poor. It lifted international sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Tehran will not pursue a nuclear weapons capability. The agreement, between the US under former president Barack Obama, five other world powers, and Tehran, was viewed with suspicion by Riyadh. Rouhani made the deal a centrepiece of his efforts to end Iran's isolation and rebuild its economy with foreign investment. "We have seen Iran's record of aggression increase not decrease" since the nuclear pact, Jubeir said, citing the country's support for "terrorism" and efforts to destabilise other countries. Tehran in turn says Riyadh supports radical Islamist groups. Jubeir said Trump has been "very clear about the need to push back against Iran." On Sunday, the US president will join Saudi King Salman and other Muslim leaders for the summit that aims to combat extremism and promote moderation, Jubeir said. "We believe that this summit is going to focus the world's attention on the need to work together in partnership in order to defeat the scourge of terrorism and the ideology behind it," Jubeir said. "It's the first of its kind," and shows that both the US and Muslim nations are interested in dialogue and partnership, he said. "We are expecting to have almost 37 leaders, kings and heads of state. And we expect that we will have six prime ministers and this is an unprecedented level of participation". Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led military coalition fighting Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Iraq. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump will discuss steps to continue the fight against the ISIS and extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he addresses the Muslim world during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. The discussion on extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would come up as part of the larger debate within the Islamic world and specifically to this part of the world, a senior Trump administration official said on the condition of anonymity yesterday. "So the general problem of extremism, which is the same problem in Mosul as it is in Afghanistan and to some degree in Pakistan, that's the issue that we're trying to deal with, which is extremism. So it will be something that will be discussed," the official said. Leaders of more than 50 mostly-Muslim countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan from India's neighbourhood, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The official was responding to a question about the US government's plans to deal with extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I believe the leader of Afghanistan and the leader of Pakistan will both be at the Summit, which is excellent," the official said. Although, Riyadh has not yet confirmed a separate bilateral talk between Trump and either of the two leaders -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The extremism issue would also figure for discussion during Trump's participation at the NATO summit in Brussels. The Trump Administration is in final stage of formulating its Afghanistan-Pakistan policy which among other things would decide on the number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. The final decision in this regard would be taken by the generals on the ground. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of among Muslims. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar heard the issue for six days during which various parties, including the Centre, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board and various others, made their submissions. The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, had begun the hearing on May 11. A Special Investigation Team was constituted today to probe the death of IAS officer Anurag Tiwari as the issue generated heat in the state Assembly for the second consecutive day. The five-member SIT headed by Circle Officer Hazratganj to probe the young Karnataka cadre officer's death has been asked to submit its report within 72 hours, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deepak Kumar told PTI. On allegations by family members of the deceased that it was a case of murder, the SSP said they have not given any application for registration of an FIR yet. "They (family members) told us that Anurag was not allowed leave by seniors in Karnataka but the police is probing the matter professionally, looking at all the angles," Kumar said. Tiwari was found dead yesterday under mysterious circumstances on a roadside in the high-security Hazratganj area here, hardly a kilometre away from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He was cremated today at his native place in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, where large number of locals and bureaucrats were also present. As opposition members raised the matter vociferously in the Assembly, the government informed the House that the deceased was about to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees of the Congress-led government in Karnataka. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna's response came amid allegations from the opposition benches that Anurag (36), posted as Commissioner in the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. "It is true that the body of the officer was recovered yesterday. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved," he said. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling BJP over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. The matter was raised by the Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high security area, thus "exposing tall claims of government over law and order." The SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked the members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the "murder" of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Khanna informed the House that a probe was already on. However, dissatisfied with the reply, the members of SP, Congress and BSP staged a walkout from the assembly. The issue figured in the House again during discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor for his address to the joint sitting of the legislature. Leader of BSP Legislature Party Lalji Verma slammed the Yogi Adityanath government on the law and order front. "What is the plan for controlling crime...An IAS officer's body has been recovered and a film-style loot takes place in Mathura...," he said, stressing that incidents of crime have increased in the state ever since the present government came to power in March this year. Anurag, a 2007-batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead yesterday, which also happened to be his birthday. The SSP said that the postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. "Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination," Kumar said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Anurag's father B N Tiwari, however, alleged that his son was eliminated and his brother, Mayank demanded a CBI probe into the matter. "My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered," he had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Skipping your It may not be a good idea, say scientists who found that not getting enough sleep for just two days in a row can make people less interested in hanging out with you. In a new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers found that lack of sleep can make you appear less attractive to others. "People seem to be able to tell when someone needs more sleep, and are more inclined to leave them alone in that case," according to researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and New York University in the US. They recruited 25 volunteers who had their photo taken twice - once after two consecutive nights of normal sleep (about seven and a half hours) and again after two consecutive nights of poor sleep (about four hours and 15 minutes). In both sets of pictures, the subjects were photographed in a grey T-shirt, with their hair pulled away from their faces, and were told not to wear makeup. The researchers then showed the photos to a different set of 122 volunteers, who were asked to rate the subjects on attractiveness, health, sleepiness and trustworthiness. They were also asked if they would like to socialise with the person in the photo, the 'Los Angeles Times' reported. Researchers found that people were less willing to socialise with tired-looking subjects. They also deemed the poorly rested subjects to be less attractive, less healthy and more sleepy compared to when they were well rested. According to Tina Sundelin, a post-doctoral student at the Karolinska Institutet, coffee and makeup might help a person look more awake. Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden hit back at the Hong Kong government today for rejecting the protection bids of a group of refugees who sheltered him while he was hiding out in the city. The impoverished Philippine and Sri Lankan refugees helped the former National Security Agency contractor evade authorities in 2013 by hiding him in their cramped homes after he initiated one of the largest data leaks in US history. They have spent years hoping the Hong Kong government would recognise their cases and save them from being sent back to their home countries where they say they were persecuted. But the family of four, a mother and her daughter and a single man saw their protection claims rejected Monday by the city's immigration authorities, which said there were "no substantial grounds" for believing they would be at risk if they went home. They now face deportation. "These are good people that were driven from their homes by torture, rape, abuse, blackmail and war, circumstances that are really difficult for us to imagine," Snowden said in a video released today. "Now what they're facing is a transparent injustice from the very people that they asked to protect them," he said. "Someone in the Hong Kong government has decided that they want to make these families disappear immediately, no matter the cost," Snowden added in the video in which he spoke against a plain white background. He has been living in exile in Russia since the summer of 2013. Russia's immigration service in January extended Snowden's residency permit to 2020. After leaving his initial Hong Kong hotel bolthole for fear of being discovered, he went underground, fed and looked after by the refugees for around two weeks. Their stories only emerged late last year. The refugees' lawyer, Robert Tibbo has called the decision by Hong Kong authorities "completely unreasonable", and said he had less than two weeks to submit appeals before the families were deported. He said there was a risk his clients could be detained and their children placed in government custody. Hong Kong is not a signatory to the UN's refugee convention and does not grant asylum. However, it is bound by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and considers claims for protection based on those grounds. One of the refugees, Vanessa Rodel from the Philippines, who lives in Hong Kong with her five-year-old daughter, broke down over the of the decision. Another of the refugees, Ajith Pushpakumara from Sri Lanka, told AFP the government had "taken his whole life". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Sonia Gandhi today condoled the demise of actress Reema Lagoo, whom she described as a "versatile actor". "A household name, Lagoo was a versatile actress who portrayed an array of heart warming characters on screen and had always left a lasting imprint on the hearts and minds of the viewer," she said in a statement. Gandhi also expressed her solidarity to the family and friends of the departed actor in this hour of grief. The actor, best known for playing the modern-day Bollywood mother in films such as "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!" and "Kal Ho Na Ho", passed away at a hospital in Mumbai today. She was 59. Lagoo, who came to represent the antithesis of the mournful white sari-clad mother of Hindi cinema through her roles, died of a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the first concrete results from talks this week on ending Syria's conflict, the United Nations said today the warring sides had agreed to set up expert committees to discuss "constitutional issues." Representatives of Syria's government and opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) are in Switzerland for the sixth round of UN-backed peace negotiations, but there has been no sign of progress. Today, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura's office declared a first tangible step: a series of separate meetings with the government and HNC delegations to discuss "legal and constitutional issues of relevance to the intra-Syrian talks." The announcement appeared to be watered-down version of a previous UN proposal towards a new constitution. A new constitution for Syria is one of four separate topics or "baskets" on the agenda at the talks, alongside governance, elections and combating "terrorism." By today, however, government delegation head Bashar al- Jaafari said his team had "not discussed any baskets yet." Speaking to journalists shortly after the UN's announcement, Jaafari seemed to play down how much the expert meetings would push the constitutional process forward. "The work of these experts will have nothing to do with the constitution... They will not take decisions," Jaafari said. The Syrian diplomat described the UN's earlier plan as "too ambitious." That team would have been responsible for finding "specific options for constitutional drafting," according to a copy of the document seen by AFP. The talks, which opened on Tuesday, were at risk of being overshadowed by months of parallel negotiations in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Observers said de Mistura would be scrambling to match the Astana track's momentum. The HNC held its own meetings with de Mistura on today, focused on "political transition and the constitutional framework," spokesman Yehya al-Aridi told AFP. The opposition has continued to demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as part of a political transition process, which the government sees as a non- starter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three persons were arrested here with booty worth over Rs 25 lakh, police said today. According to Commissioner Ravindra Kumar Singhal, the trio identified as Ganesh Bhamare, Shubham Bagul and Nazim Sattar Shaikh were arrested yesterday after policemen laid a trap in Patil Nagar locality. Also, Rs 19.47 lakh cash along with mobiles and weapons were recovered from their possession, police said in a release here. The three accused had allegedly looted some people when they were returning to Indore with Rs 10 lakh cash after supplying gold to some Nashik-based blacksmiths. The accused looted the gold suppliers and fled from the spot at Sonagir near Dhule after giving them a lift in their SUV till Indore, police added. The trio have been handed over to Dhule Police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Americans "must own" the problem of narcotics addiction if it wants to end the scourge of drug trafficking and cross- border violence. Tillerson spoke today after talks on combatting transnational crime with senior Mexican officials. He says US demand for opioids and other drugs is a prime driver of not only devastating overdose death tolls in the United States, but of raging gang violence in Mexico. He says: "We Americans must own this problem." Tillerson says that in addition to addressing the domestic addiction epidemic, the Trump administration will work with Mexico to disrupt drug traffickers by hitting production sites, transportation networks and their cash flow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today condoled the death of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. The Chief Minister expressed grief and regret over the death of Dave, who died today in a Delhi hospital. Palaniswami said Dave was a Rajya Sabha member since 2009 and that he had "efficiently performed in his Minister post." "I express my heartfelt condolences and sympathies with the family of Anil Madhav Dave and pray for his soul to reach the holy abode," Palaniswami said in a statement. Union Minister of State for Shipping and Roadways, Pon Radhakrishnan, also condoled the death of Dave, saying "his loss is an irreparable damage." The Minister said he had met the late Dave thrice to discuss the jallikattu issue earlier and that the latter had extended his "unflinching support" for the conduct of the bull taming sport in Tamil Nadu. Sixty-year-old Dave had complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he had passed away. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today reviewed drought relief measures and drinking water supply initiatives with seven district collectors. Palaniswami reviewed the measures with the collectors of Salem, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Villupuram, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur and Madurai through video conference from here, an official release said. He reviewed the various drought mitigation measures, drinking water supply and desilting of water bodies such as lakes, it said. The chief minister directed officials to expedite subsidy schemes for farmers, covering those left out. He also asked the collectors and other officials to work on "war footing" to ensure supply of drinking water, it said. Senior state ministers K A Sengottaiyan and C Srinivasan and Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan were among those present during the review meeting. Meanwhile, the chief minister flagged off 25 vehicles to be used in the '108' free ambulance service. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump today lashed out the appointment of a special counsel to probe allegations of his campaign's collusion with Russia into last year's general elections, calling it the single greatest "witch hunt" of a politician in American history. The Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Moscow. The decision by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller, 72, as special counsel came following a week of turmoil for the White House after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter. Reacting to the appointment, Trump earlier said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country," he had said. However, Trump later lashed out at the appointment of the special counsel in a series of tweets. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Trump said in a tweet. "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration, there was never a special councel appointed," Trump said in another tweet. Earlier, the US was rocked by revelations that Comey wrote memos of his past meetings with Trump, including one at which the president apparently asked him to stop an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The White House denied that account. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has called the situation in Venezuela a "disgrace to humanity" and said the deadly political crisis was possibly the worst of its kind in "decades." "We haven't really seen a problem like that... In decades, in terms of the kind of violence that we're witnessing," Trump told a joint press conference yesterday with visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. "People don't have enough to eat. People have no food. There's great violence. And we will do whatever is necessary and we will work together to do whatever is necessary to help with fixing that....What is happening is really a disgrace to humanity." Trump's comments came a day after the Venezuelan government announced it was sending more than 2,500 troops to a trouble-hit region on the border with Colombia to try to quell weeks of violence that have claimed 43 lives nationwide. Despite its vast oil reserves, Venezuela is suffering chronic shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies, something the center-right opposition blames on mismanagement and corruption in the Socialist government. President Nicolas Maduro in turn blames sabotage by the "bourgeois" opposition, which he says is backed by Washington. "When you look at the oil reserves that they have, when you look at the potential wealth that Venezuela has, you sort of have to wonder why is that happening, how is that possible?" said Trump. "It has been unbelievably poorly run for a long period of time, and hopefully that will change and they could use those assets for the good and to take care of their people," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) does not have much patience for "lip service" and would pull out of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) if its member countries do not make major efforts in combating terrorism and fulfil their financial commitment. "He (Trump) is at a place now he would like to stay in NATO. But he also is not going to stay in NATO if it doesn't make a lot more progress much quicker," a senior Trump administration official said yesterday, ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels next week. Trump will leave for a five-nation tour this week, during which he would attend the summit in Belgium. In his meeting with NATO leaders, Trump would confer on the war in Afghanistan and the fight against ISIS. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had on Tuesday said that the US president would like to see a greater effort placed on combating terrorism by the NATO countries and living up to their financial obligation that they agreed to. "The one thing that he doesn't have patience for is kind of lip service. So people are telling him good things. NATO has stepped up a little bit more, but you know, we'll either see real changes toward NATO or we'll try to form a different way of going about things," the official said. "So you'll see what he says when he's there (at the summit), but it's a very serious issue for him and it's a very serious issue for the American people because we don't want to be paying for everyone's defence and it's just not fair to the American taxpayers and it's not something that the president wants to see happen," the official said. At the Brussels summit, Trump will talk about how "we really do need and want our partners in Europe to do more". "America has borne the burden of that partnership for too long, and the Trump Administration is expecting everyone to step up. We want a strong relationship, but we want everyone else to do their share," the official said. "There are some issues in the world that are America's problems and there are some issues that are the world's problems, and they're as much Canada's problems as they're America's problems as they're Germany's problems. "At the end of the day, we have to have a thoughtful discussion about how we go about doing it. But what I do know is that the president's view is that America should not be bearing the entire burden for everyone's security around the world," the official asserted. US President Donald Trump is likely to visit China this year with an agenda to further improve the economic ties and "reduce conflicts" between the two countries. The move comes after the US-China relationship showed significant growth after Trump's first ever meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the former's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. Jinping had then told the US president that there were "a thousand reasons" to make the Sino-US ties work and "no reason" to break them. He had also invited Trump to visit China during the meeting. "President Trump is looking forward to and hopefully would be able to reach agreement in areas where we have not been able to reach an agreement today for the strengthening of the (US-China) relationship which will again allow us to try and reduce as much conflict and create more economic opportunities for the people," a senior Trump administration official said. While no date has been fixed for the visit so far, it has been in the discussion stage for quite sometime now. "It's something that we have been discussing. We have been making progress in our discussion. I think the US-China relationship is right now showing signs of really been stronger than it has been in the long time," the official said on the condition of anonymity. "I think that stems from the fact that President Trump and President Xi (Jinping) were able to spend a lot of time together (at mar-a-Lago) and find areas where there is a lot of common objectives. I think they have been working together towards those objectives. "Both are leaders who do not think in short term, but in long term and are trying to create the right framework for the US-China relationship to last for the duration. I would imagine that he would make a trip to China," the official said. President Donald Trump believes that the Paris climate agreement is not a "great deal" for the US and he will abide by the accord only if it improves the American economy and creates jobs, a senior administration official today said. "The president believes that the Paris climate agreement is not a great deal for America," the official said ahead of Trump's first foreign trip to the Middle East and Europe. "I am sure he will have discussions with different leaders, who have all said the standards are non-binding, and if you don't like it, you can change it," the official said on the condition of anonymity. The Paris accord, agreed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, would seek to limit global warming by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning fossil fuels. As part of the deal, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to pull America out of the agreement. "I think that it's very simple: if the president could find a way to make it a good deal for America, then I am sure he would be open-minded to potentially staying in, but if he feels like it is a deal where other countries do nothing and are able to keep up high levels of pollutants, and it really put restrictions on American industry, then he's gonna get out," the official said. The Trump administration is currently doing a review of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. A decision on this is expected to be taken in the next few weeks. "Trump has got the right to get out," the official asserted. "So that's kind of where he's at. We're doing an internal review now, we've concluded that the agreements are not legally binding, so that is a good thing, and so we do have flexibility. For them now it is really a function of deciding what ultimately he wants to do," the official said. Indicating that climate change is not among the top priorities of the US President, the official said, "I think that in terms of his priorities, he recognises climate is something that needs to be addressed, but he is a little more focused on the American economy, and on the ISIS, and on North Korea and Iran than he is on the Paris agreement." According to the official, Trump will address the issue of climate change, if it is brought up. "But it is not like the number one thing on his mind," the official said. The linguistic and sartorial diversity of India was on full display today at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, as councillors took the oath in native languages, including Urdu, Maithili and Punjabi. The use of native languages by some of the councillors, drew loud cheers from the gathering cutting across party lines. Most of the councillors took the oath of office in Hindi, but some chose to tread a different path. They read out the pledge in their native tongues or the languages they are most comfortable in. AAP councillor (Rithala) Ajit Kumar Jha chose Maithili as did BJP's Poonam Parashar Jha (Mubarak Pur Dabas ward). Ajit came to the swearing-in ceremony dressed up in a traditional Mithila dress-- dhoti, kurta and paag (headgear), decorated with Madhubani painting-- catching quite an eye. The Poorvanchali and the Bihari community people residing in Delhi is considered a major vote bank and all parties had tried to woo them during the campaigning. "I hail from Madhubani in Bihar and have been living in Delhi for several years now. We are proud of our language, attire and culture, and so I came today in our traditional wear," the Rithala councillor told PTI. Few other women councillors too took the oath in Maithili, their fellow councillors cheering and applauding. First-time councillors, Avtar Sigh, took the oath in Punjabi. Avtar signed off with a 'Jo Bole So Nihal', throwing the audience into raptures, while Paramjeet's rendition of the religious couplet -- 'Wahe Guru Ji Da Khlasa, Wahe Guru ji ki Fateh'-- was chanted by others as well. But, perhaps the loudest cheer was produced after Congress' Jama Masjid councillor Sultana Abad took the oath in Urdu. She signed off with 'Hindustan Zindabad' as fellow councillors acknowledged the gesture with equal enthusiasm. Aaley Mohammed Iqbal (Delhi Gate) and Seema Tahira (Bazar Sita Ram), both Congress councillors, also took the oath in Urdu. They both had brought in a printed Urdu translation of the official pledge text, which is written in Hindi. And, adding more colour to the spectrum of diversity, Congress' Prerna Singh (Anand Parbat ward) took the oath in English. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US-led warplanes hit a pro-regime convoy in Syria that ignored warning shots, weeks after President Donald Trump's administration launched America's first strikes against Damascus forces in the war-torn country. The strike by the coalition fighting the Islamic State group happened on the same day IS jihadists killed more than 50 people in attacks on two government-held villages elsewhere in the country. It came as the United Nations said Syria's regime and rebels had agreed to set up expert committees to discuss "constitutional issues" at the latest round of UN-backed peace talks in Geneva. US-led aircraft struck the convoy as it headed toward a remote coalition garrison near the border with Jordan, a US defence official said. "A convoy going down the road didn't respond to numerous ways for it to be warned off from getting too close to coalition forces in Al-Tanaf," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Then there was finally a strike against the lead portion of that movement." The coalition said the strike had occurred "well inside" an established de-confliction zone northwest of the Al-Tanaf garrison, where British and US commandos have been training and advising local forces fighting IS. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said, despite the strikes, the United States was "not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war, but we will defend our troops". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the strikes killed eight people "most of them non-Syrian" and destroyed four vehicles. The United States has been militarily involved in Syria since 2014, but has for the most part avoided engaging directly in the conflict. But last month, it launched a barrage of missiles at Syria's Shayrat airbase, which it said was the launchpad for an alleged chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians. Also yesterday, IS killed more than 50 people in an attack on two regime-held villages in the central province of Hama, said the Observatory. The attack on the villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh killed at least 15 civilians and 27 pro-government fighters, it said. Another 10 bodies were yet to be identified. IS also lost 15 fighters in the dawn attack on the villages in the east of the province, said the monitor. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said at least three of the civilians were killed execution style with knives, a man and his two children. State media also reported 52 people had been killed in the IS assault, though it described the attack as against Aqareb only. It said IS fighters had mutilated the bodies of villagers and looted their homes, and said 15 of the dead were children. The Observatory said IS had seized control of Aqareb and part of Al-Mabujeh in the attack, which began with heavy shelling on a nearby regime checkpoint. "Despite the arrival of reinforcements, government forces have been unable to repel the attack so far," said Abdel Rahman. IS has attacked Al-Mabujeh before with devastating effect. In March 2015, it executed at least 37 civilians in the village, whose population includes Sunnis as well as those from the Ismaili sect and the Alawite community to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. During the same assault the group kidnapped at least 50 civilians, half of them women. Control of Hama province is divided between the government, rebel forces and IS, which is present mostly in the east of the area. IS faces pressure in northern Syria, where an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is preparing an assault on its bastion Raqa city. The battle for Raqa has stirred tensions with neighbouring Turkey, which is fiercely opposed to the Kurdish fighters now leading the operation to capture the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad today hailed the verdict of the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav and expressed hope that the Indian national lodged in a Pakistan jail will now be allowed consular access. "Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and the entire legal team which forcefully argued the Indian case before the International Court of Justice. They have done India proud", VHP international working president Pravin Togadia told PTI over phone. "We are confident that today's development will compel Pakistan to review its unreasonable stance whereby it has denied consular access to Jadhav, who is helplessly languishing in jail, without any resources to defend himself", he said. "We are sure that the Government will see to it that Jadhav does not have to suffer for long. He has been falsely accused of spying and terrorism. We pray for his release and we are confident that he will come back home safe and soon", Togadia added. Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from Balochistan province in March last year while India maintains that the retired navy officer was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests. India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week alleging that the death penalty awarded to Jadhav violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The ICJ today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final judgement of the global court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid their last respects to late Environment Minister Anil Dave whose body was kept at his official residence here. Several Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, BJP patriarch LK Advani and senior leader Subramanian Swamy, also paid homage to Dave, who passed away this morning. Modi visited Dave's 11, Safdarjung Road residence around 3 PM and paid floral tributes to his departed colleague. The late minister's body was being ferried to the airport, from where it would be flown to his hometown in Indore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistan jail in 2013, today hailed the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, terming it as a victory of crores of Indians. "It is victory of crores of Indians. It is also a victory for India and its government and the legal team which worked tirelessly in Jadhav's case," she said. Jadhav is facing the gallows in Pakistan after a military court summarily convicted him of espionage and engaging in subversive activities. "Whatever Pakistan may say, they have been exposed before the world today. The ICJ order has come as a great relief not just to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav but also to the people of India," Dalbir Kaur told PTI over phone. After Pakistan military court's decision, Dalbir Kaur had said that India should approach the ICJ. "Approaching ICJ helped us. Pakistan does not have any proof against Jadhav, who is one step closer to his freedom," she said. When asked that Pakistan has said it does not accept ICJ's jurisdiction in matters related to its national security, Kaur said, "they have been exposed before the world, what else will they say. At least now they should learn from their mistakes." "They had thrown dice thinking they will let India down and defame us, but India put up Jadhav's case strongly. Everyone knows that Pakistan breeds terrorism from its soil and they are involved in proxy war with us," she said. Kaur's brother Sarabjit had died following an attack on him by inmates of a Lahore prison in April 2013. He was convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court and sentenced to death in 1991. However, the government had stayed his execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Dalbir Kaur lamented, "had the then government moved International Court of Justice in Sarabjit's case, he would have been alive". "Had ICJ been moved in Sarabjit's case, he would have been amongst us today," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Ambassador Nikki Haley will make her first trip overseas this week as Washington's envoy to the United Nations, traveling to Jordan and Turkey to focus on the plight of Syrian refugees. Haley will meet with government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations and UN agencies during the visit from May 19 to 25. The US administration sparked a global uproar earlier this year when President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the US resettlement program for refugees from Syria. That order, which also banned entry for citizens from six Muslim countries, was blocked in US courts. Haley said her trip to two of the hardest-hit countries by the Syria refugee crisis would show that the United States should not be accused of "heartlessness" when it comes to refugees. "No country has invested more in protecting, housing, feeding and caring for Syrian refugees than the US," Haley wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The United States has provided nearly USD 6.5 billion in aid for Syria since 2011, she said, adding that the US administration will continue to support countries on the front line of the refugee crisis. Turkey hosts nearly three million Syrians -- out of the more than five million who have fled the war over the past six years. In Jordan, some 657,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN, but the government says the true figure is 1.3 million. A former governor for the state of South Carolina, Haley began work Trump's ambassador to the United Nations in late January. Her first visit to the field comes as UN agencies are worried about proposed US funding cuts that could cripple the world body's humanitarian work. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a technology conference in mid-2014, Google co-founder Sergey Brin presented the companys first prototype for a self-driving car. Watching in the audience was Travis Kalanick, chief executive of Uber, the ride-hailing start-up. Brins presentation including a video of a compact two-seater autonomously doing laps around a parking lot jolted Kalanick, according to two people who spoke with him. Google, the search giant long considered an Uber ally seemed to be turning on him. And even as Uber was a growing force to be reckoned with, it was lacking in self-driving car technology, an important field of study that might affect the future of transportation. So Kalanick spent much of 2015 raiding Googles engineering corps. To learn about the technology, he struck up a friendship with Anthony Levandowski, a top autonomous vehicle engineer at G-co, Kalanicks pet name for Google. The two men often spoke for hours about the future of driving, meeting at the Ferry Building in San Francisco and walking five miles to the Golden Gate Bridge, according to two people familiar with the executives. The friendship developed into the partnership. Levandowski left Google last year to form Otto, a self-driving trucking start-up. Uber acquired it months later for nearly $700 million. Kalanick subsequently appointed Levandowski to run Ubers autonomous vehicle research. That relationship has since set off a legal morass, with Googles self-driving vehicle business now called Waymo accusing Levandowski of creating Otto as a front to steal trade secrets from Google, then using the findings with Ubers driverless cars. On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco barred Levandowski from working on a crucial component of Ubers self-driving car technology for the duration of the case. The implications are set to reverberate far beyond the courtroom. Any setback for Uber will shake up the driverless car industry, which is locked in a bitter race to introduce and commercialise autonomous cars. Silicon Valley tech titans and Detroit automakers are making huge investments bets that autonomous vehicle technology will usher in a new age of how people get around. For some companies, especially traditional carmakers, their very survival is at stake. While Google has been developing autonomous vehicle technology for more than a decade, others have raced to catch up. General Motors, Ford, Apple, Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are among those that have jumped in. All are competing and sometimes cooperating for a slice of a new market expected to top $77 billion over the next two decades, according to a study from Boston Consulting Group. Uber has been ahead of many others in publicly testing autonomous vehicles. Last year, the company began a pilot program of autonomous cars in Pittsburgh; it has also done testing in San Francisco and Tempe, Ariz. That aggressiveness has spurred an intense rivalry with Waymo. Waymos legal pursuit of Uber and Levandowski is out of corporate character; Google has tended to refrain from suing former employees who move to competitors. Many at Google and Waymo are incensed at Levandowski and how he may have betrayed them for a rich payday, according to current and former employees. That has pushed Waymo to strike back. Beyond suing Uber, Waymo said on Sunday it had teamed up with Lyft, a ride-hailing rival, on driverless car initiatives. This is a race where every single minute seems to count, said Carl W Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, who has followed the Waymo-Uber case. Uber and Google once considered each other allies. Googles venture capital arm, now known as GV, spotted Ubers potential early and invested more than $200 million in the fledgling ride-hailing network in 2013. 2017 The New York Times News Service A Taiwanese contract manufacturer, Wistron has already completed assembling small numbers of iPhone SEs as a trail run in the Karnataka production facility. The manufacturers will start shipping these iPhone SEs to the domestic customers later this month. However, the the Cupertino Giant has not started full-scale production yet. Apple will start manufacturing iPhone SE on a larger scale in India as a part of Make-in-India, later this year, at their Karnataka production unit. The company is looking for more clarity on the goods and services tax (GST) rollout before it starts the manufacturing process. "We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SE in Bengaluru. iPhone SE is the most popular and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world and we'll begin shipping to domestic customers this month," Apple told IANS in an email. The most obvious and consumer-centric change will be in the pricing of the iPhones manufactured in India. The 4-inch phone is powered by an A9 chip that's also used in iPhone 6S and comes with a 12-Megapixel camera. The company will benefit out of lower taxes and no custom duty will directly impact the prices of the devices. In 2016-17, total value of mobile phone to be produced in India is likely to reach Rs 90,000 crore from Rs 54,000 crore in 2015-16. Apple has been under severe pressure as the Chinese phone makers have captured most of the Chinese Smartphone market. In the second quarter, Apple reported 14 percent decline of sales in China. After losing its grip over the largest Smartphone market in the world, Apple is trying to hold on to India, the second largest Smartphone market after China. India will be only the third country globally to assemble iPhones. Apple has been battling Samsung for the top slot in the premium Smartphone range (Rs 30,000 and above). Will production of Apple phones in India reduce their cost in our market? In 2016, Apple products were most expensive in India. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case. Firstly, the American company needs to pay heavy custom duty while importing their products and secondly, they have to rely on a heavy network of retailers in India which ultimately reduces their profit margin in the country. To maintain that margin and keep a buffer between weakening rupee and their desirable profit, the company has prices higher than other countries. The prices are to come down once it starts manufacturing in India. No matter how big a company, ignoring the Indian market can be a detrimental move for any international Smartphone brand and Apple does not want to be left behind in the second largest Smartphone market. The company will definitely face the onslaught of Chinese smart phones as competition but the revised prices might give its sales the required boost. ICJ's verdict today is being seen as the biggest diplomatic victory India has ever had at an international forum. The case has also exposed Pakistan's duplicity and its crumbling judicial system. While the masterminds of horrific Mumbai attack are yet to face any kind of justice in Pakistan, Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested and sentenced in less than a year in a closed-door trial by a military court. Even as the International Court of Justice was hearing India's plea to stay Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution by Pakistan, a UN Committee slammed the widespread practice of torture prevalent in Pakistan. "The police engage in the widespread practice of torture throughout the territory ... with a view to obtaining confessions from persons in custody," the UN Committee against Torture wrote in its first report on the situation in the country In his concluding remarks on Jadhav's case, ICJ President Ronny Abraham said, "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order." The court not only stayed Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence till the final verdict but also said that Pakistan should grant India the consular access so that India could offer all possible help to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Rattled by court's order, Pakistan has reportedly said that it would expose real face of India to the world and it doesn't accept jurisdiction of ICJ court. Following the ICJ verdict delivered today, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said the order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India: MEA Sushma Swaraj #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/0qSMM1zSEr ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3: 54 PM Pakistan shall take all measures to ensure that Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed, says ICJ President Ronny Abraham Appropriate to say that Pak shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure #KulbhushanJadhav is not executed pending final decision: ICJ pic.twitter.com/C7tthMX7z7 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3:45 PM ICJ has its jurisdiction in Kulbhshan jadhav case, says ICJ President Ronny Abraham Rights invoked by India under the Vienna Convention are plausible: ICJ Judge Ronny Abraham #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/vuHcRuhmEz ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3:40 PM India should have been given consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan: ICJ ICJ on Kulbhushan Jadhav's nationality Both India and Pakistan agree that #KulbhushanJadhav is an Indian citizen: ICJ Judge Ronny Abraham pic.twitter.com/b0kzmtdWL6 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3:30 PM ICJ starts reading its verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhva case Here's the full text of ICJ's verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav Reasoning of the Court The Court begins by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalls that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over " [ d ] isputes arising out of the interpretation or applicat ion of the [Vienna] Convention". In this regard, the Co urt notes that the Parties do indeed appear to have differed, and still differ today, on the question of India's consular assistance to Mr. Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by P akistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling wit hin the scope of the Conventi on. In the view of the Court, t his is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of -2 -the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relati o ns does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. The Court then turns to the question whether the rights alleged by India are at least plausible. It observes that t he rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has al leged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. The Court then focu ses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It cons iders that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable preju dice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irrepara ble prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Mr. Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumsta nces, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. The Court concludes by indicating the following measures: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject -matter of this order. The International Court of Justice will deliver its verdict on the death sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav today. An 11-judge ICJ bench will start delivering the verdict at 3.30 pm (IST) at a public sitting in The Hague, Netherlands. Kulbhushan Jadhav, 46, was awarded death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month for alleged espionage and subversive activities. Last week, the International Court of Justice held a public hearing at the Great Hall of Justice housed in the Peace Palace at The Hague in Netherlands where India and Pakistan presented their case over the issue. To challenge death penalty handed out to Jadhav, counsel Harish Salve presented India's arguments at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Read Also: Harish Salve charged Re 1 for fighting Jadhav's case The Central government might have slashed petrol and diesel prices, but the fuel price woes have surfaced anew in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai. The state government imposed Rs 2 additional surcharge on each litre of petrol today. With this the petrol prices in Mumbai now stand at Rs 76.91, the costliest in the country. Why has petrol price increased in Mumbai? Maharashtra government ordered the price hike to cover its losses resulting from declining revenue that used to come in from of excise duty on liquor and stamp duty on housing transactions, reported Hindustan Times. This is the second increase in petrol prices effected by Maharashtra government within the span of one month. With this, the total surcharge on petrol has gone up to Rs 11 per litre in Maharashtra. In addition to this, customers will also have to pay the usual 26 per cent value added tax on petrol in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane and 25 per cent in rest of the state. With this increase in petrol prices, Maharashtra government stands to earn additional Rs 700 crores in revenue. Some would call this a much-needed move considering difficulties the state exchequer has been facing due to dwindling revenue. Diesel prices retained Diesel has been kept away from the price hike, which might be the saving grace in the turn of events as this will help keep the sales afloat at fuel pumps . To keep customers from heading to other states for refueling, state government has retained the surcharge on diesel - Rs 26 in Mumbai and Rs 23 in rest of the state. Also watch: China has installed rocket launchers on a disputed reef in the South China Sea to ward off Vietnamese military combat divers, according to a state-run newspaper, offering new details on China's ongoing military build-up. China has said military construction on the islands it controls in the South China Sea will be limited to necessary defensive requirements, and that it can do what it likes on its own territory. The United States has criticized what it has called China's militarization of its maritime outposts and stressed the need for freedom of navigation by conducting periodic air and naval patrols near them that have angered Beijing. The state-run Defense Times newspaper, in a Tuesday report on its WeChat account, said Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm anti-frogman rocket launcher defense systems with the capability to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers had been installed on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. Fiery Cross Reef is administered by China but also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. The report did not say when the defense system was installed, but said it was part of a response that began in May 2014, when Vietnamese divers installed large numbers of fishing nets in the Paracel Islands. China has conducted extensive land reclamation work at Fiery Cross Reef, including building an airport, one of several Chinese-controlled features in the South China Sea where China has carried out such work. More than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South China Sea every year. Besides China's territorial claims in the area, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. Over 90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years of their inception largely because they lack innovation and are merely copycat versions of successful global models, according to an IBM study. As many as 77% of the venture capitalists surveyed for the study cited lack of innovation based on new technologies or unique business models as the top most reason for startup failures The IBM study, 'Entrepreneurial India', states that 70% of the venture capitalists believe talent acquisition is one of the biggest challenges faced by Indian startups. Limited availability of necessary skills impedes growth, it said. Most startups say hiring talent is one of the biggest parts of their operational costs. Lack of sufficient funding both at entry and exit stages was found to be the third major roadblock with 65% of venture capitalists calling it as a challenge for these companies. "We believe that startups need to focus on societal problems like healthcare, sanitation, education, transportation, alternate energy management and others, which would help deal with the issues that India and the world face. These require investments in deep technology and products which are built to scale globally", said Nipun Mehrotra, chief digital officer, IBM (India/South Asia). The study said inadequate formal mentoring, poor business ethics and lack of experienced leadership were other obstacles for Indian startups. The challenges can be overcome by getting startups and established organizations to proactively collaborate with each other. "This will harden business models for startups, accelerate growth and help them leapfrog into the big league, while enabling established companies to share in the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation and agility," the study said. Almost 80% of executives from established companies say collaboration with startups accelerates new ideas. "Their mutual success will drive India toward an evermore dynamic future," it said. The study is based on interviews with more than 1,300 Indian executives, including 600 startup entrepreneurs, 100 venture capitalists, 100 government leaders, 500 leaders of established companies and 22 educational institution leaders to analyze the macro impact of startups on the country economy. As per a study, 80% of engineering graduates in India are deemed unemployable and 48% of employers in India face difficulty in filling vacancies, the IBM report states. However, eminent professors at IITs have dismissed the study as an exaggeration although they admit that there are a large number of engineers churned out by private engineering colleges are not fit for employment. The year 2016 proved to be devastating for startups as a total of 212 of them were forced to shut shop due to heavy operational costs, according to data analytics firm Tracxn. The startup death figure is 50% higher than in 2015, when 140 startups were shut down. "Socially, Indians are not encouraged to take risks. So, we end up making too many me-too products," said Kunal Khattar of advantEdge, an early stage venture capital fund. "It was always considered easier to raise money for business ideas which have succeeded," he added. - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." PICC Group, Chinas oldest national insurance company, said it is planning an IPO in China, complementing its existing Hong Kong listing, as it seeks to raise cash to bolster its balance sheet. People's Insurance Company (Group) of China, or PICC, said it plans to issue up to 4.6 billion A-shares, equal to up to about 9.78% of its total count, according to a regulatory filing made late on Tuesday. Based on its current market capitalization of about $18 billion, the proposed offering could raise up to $1.76 billion. The companys shares already trade in Hong Kong, following an IPO that raised about $3 billion in 2012. Those shares now trade about 6% below their IPO price, as investors have worried about the balance sheets of major Chinese insurance companies. Addressing those concerns, PICC has said it would use money from the A-share listing to boost its capital. For the year 2016, PICC reported a profit attributable to its parent company of 14.25 billion yuan ($2.07 billion), down 27% from the previous year. It attributed the decline to market volatility and also a rash of national disasters that forced it to make more payouts than usual. Founded in 1949, the company is Chinas first national insurer and is currently its largest focused on non-life insurance products. Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Reel World Indie Evening This Thursday, May 18, is 3rd Thursday, meaning admission to the Albuquerque Museum is free. As part of the Museums ongoing Hollywood Southwest: New Mexico in Film & Television exhibit, this Thursday has been dubbed Indie Film Night. The evening runs from 5 to 8:30pm. Starting at 5:30pm, local artists Jon Sanchez and Jeremy Montoya will lead a hands-on art activity for kids and adults, allowing them to screenprint their own movie poster. Local musical group JeeZ LaWeeZ will perform from 5:30 to 8pm. Starting at 7pm a group of New Mexican filmmakers will show off a selection of their short films. Among the participants are Travis Armstrong, Shawn Darling, Alejandra Castro, Lia Gotz, Bryan Konefsky and Steven Maes. Dirk Norris, executive director of the New Mexico Film Foundation, will moderate a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers. Other filmmakers will be on hand vending DVDs of locally made independent features. The Albuquerque Museum is located at 2000 Mountain NW. Goats + Cinema Do you love movies? Do you love baby goats? Boy, do we have the event for you. The Old Windmill Dairy in Estancia is hosting the first of several Baby Goat Cuddling and a Movie Under the Stars events this Saturday, May 20, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. Refreshments including hot dogs, popcorn, macaroni and cheese, ice tea, and lemonade are included as part of your ticket. Smores are available for an additional fee. Guests are invited to bring blankets, lounge chairs or something comfortable to sit on while you cuddle with a baby goat and enjoy a movie. The movie will start about 30 minutes before sunset. The Old Windmill has not announced the actual title of the film theyll be screening, but well assume its baby goat (and human family) friendly. This event is subject to weather and does take place on a rural farm, so be prepared to dress appropriately. To get your tickets in advance, go to theoldwindmilldairy. com/ shop/ baby- goat- cuddling- stars. Estancia is located about 50 miles southeast of Albuquerque, just south of Moriarity. How To Diagnose And Treat Gonorrhea This STD Affects Men Way More Than Women - Here's How To Know If You Have It The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. STIs, or sexually transmitted infections, are something no one likes to think about. For starters, is there anything more terrifying than getting an infection that affects your private parts? Sure, using protection during sex will keep these infections at bay but we're only human, we make mistakes, and sometimes those slip-ups can keep us up at night wondering if that sore throat is really gonorrhea throat (or insert just about any ailment that might be caused by the unprotected sex you had here). But let's talk about gonorrhea specifically, since it's a common STI that gets passed around. Just how common, you ask? Around 820,000 cases per year are reported in the U.S., according to a study done by the CDC. More men contract gonorrhea than women on average, with 330,000 more cases reported by men than by women in 2015. As for age demographic, men and women ages 20-24 were the range that most of the reported gonorrhea cases fell. But as far as age and gender go, people of any age and sex can contract gonorrhea. STIs don't discriminate, folks. Want to know more about this STI? From how it gets contracted to how to protect yourself, symptoms, treatment options and more, here's everything you need to know about gonorrhea. What Is Gonorrhea? Just from the name alone, you know it can't be good anything that rhymes with diarrhea is probably not something you want to contract. 'Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted bacterial infection that primarily affects the genital tract of both men and women,' says Dr. Amesh Adalja MD, infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. 'Less commonly it can affect the rectum, the eyes and throat. It is caused by Neisseria gonorrheae, the gonococcus.' The gonorrhea bacteria affects the areas of the body that are warm and moist, which includes the urethra, vagina, anus and entire female reproductive tract (cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes). However, some cases of throat gonorrhea and even gonorrhea in the eyes can occur. You may have heard of gonorrhea before, by way of it being referred to as the clap. Why is gonorrhea called 'the clap,' you ask? There are a few theories for how this disease got its nickname. Before safe sex was a thing, brothels used to be a hotbed for transmitting the disease. In France, these sex-work rings were called 'clapiers,' which is where some say the name comes from. Another story (which you're not going to like) involves early doctors thinking that gonorrhea could be cured by clapping both hands around the sides of the penis to get the pus out (told you). Symptoms Of Gonorrhea One of the scariest things about gonorrhea are the symptoms that come with it not because they're painful, but because the majority of people who have it never experience symptoms at all (a big reason why the disease gets passed around so easily). 'Usually there are no symptoms,' says urologist Dr. David Shusterman. 'Half of guys who have it don't know it. The symptoms are very mild, often a man will just feel that something is 'off.' With advanced cases or depending on your body presenting symptoms could include discharge, burning or lacerations or ulcers, a break in the skin. It is usually painless.' Other gonorrhea symptoms in men can include greater frequency or urgency of urination or sore throat. Symptoms of gonorrhea in women are similar, and may also include spotting between periods and pain during intercourse. If left untreated, complications from gonorrhea in men can include scarring of the urethra, or developing an abscess in the penis that can cause infertility. Similarly in women, gonorrhea can lead to infertility caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Even if you're not experiencing any symptoms, it's smart to keep up with your annual STI screening to make sure you haven't contracted gonorrhea, since most cases of this disease don't present themselves by way of physical indicators that you have it. How Is Gonorrhea Spread? If you're concerned about getting gonorrhea from French kissing, sharing food, using a yoga mat that you rented for a class or any other instance where body contact is concerned, Dr. Adalja says not to worry. "Gonorrhea is acquired through sexual contact between individuals, primarily sexual intercourse,' he says. "Oral sex can transmit the infection as well." Another word of caution from Dr. Sam Malik, GP at DrFelix sharing sex toys can also spread the disease. If you're using toys with a partner, it is important to clean them before and after you do so. While most toys are safe to be washed with soap and water, using an antibacterial wash specifically designed to get toys clean is your best bet (try this one). How To Prevent Gonorrhea You know the drill: Don't be a fool, wrap your tool. "You can prevent gonorrhea by using male or female condoms during sex, or male condoms during anal sex," says Dr. Malik. "During oral sex you should use a male condom to avoid contact with the male genitals, or an oral barrier, usually Latex Square, to cover the female genitals. Washing sex toys thoroughly after every use, or covering them with a condom, also prevents the spread of infection." It's also worth noting that getting tested once a year, and whenever you're starting a relationship with a new partner is another way to make sure that neither of you have gonorrhea or any other STI. Not that this should be used in place of protection not to scare you even more, but you never really know whether or not your partner could be up to, and you definitely don't want to find out the hard way (by contracting an STI). But knowledge is power when it comes to STIs, especially ones that don't always present themselves by way of symptoms. How To Diagnose Gonorrhea If you think you might have contracted gonorrhea, it's smart to take the necessary steps to get tested. 'Gonorrhea is tested by a urine sample for men, or a swab of vaginal discharge for women (urine samples are not so accurate for women),' explains Dr. Malik. 'The testing must be done in an appropriate laboratory. You can do this at home by ordering a home test kit from an online doctor service, which will include instructions on how to use it. The samples are then forwarded to the lab. You'll get your test results within two to three days of the lab receiving the sample.' However, if you are experiencing symptoms, it will likely be more time efficient to go to your doctor and get tested rather than take the time to order a kit, send the results to the lab, and then wait for said results to be ready in 1-3 days. AskMen Recommends: Concerned you may have picked up an unwanted infection from a recent sexual encounter? We're not here to shame you. But before you let things fester (or sleep with other people), you should find out what your STI status is, and, if you have one, take action immediately. If you don't have the opportunity to see a doctor or to go to a health clinic, consider getting ordering an at-home STI test kit. This one from myLAB tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea and boasts a 98% to 99.2% accuracy. $79.00 at Amazon.com For other options, check out our list of the best at-home STI kits. How To Treat Gonorrhea Can gonorrhea be cured? Luckily, this STI can be treated with medication. 'The recommended treatment for gonorrhea are antibiotics either Cefixime or Ceftriaxone,' explains Dr. Malik, 'which is administered as an injection. Previously, it could have been treated with a course of antibiotic tablets Suprax (Cefixme), however this is no longer the primary or secondary treatment option due to the growing antibiotic resistance.' As time has gone on, gonorrhea has actually become more difficult to treat a type which doctors refer to as 'super gonorrhea.' 'Due to the rising cases of 'super gonorrhea' which is a more powerful strain of the infection and is resistant to the antibiotic tablets in some cases, we no longer offer the tablet form as a treatment in line with the latest BASHH and NICE guidelines. The recommended course of treatment is only the Ceftriaxone or Cefixme injection,' says Dr. Malik. Once a person with gonorrhea has been treated, the antibiotics take effect soon after. 'Gonorrhea can be cured quickly once it's been diagnosed,' says Dr. Malik. "Symptoms are likely to improve within a few days of beginning the treatment, although it is important to get tested as soon you think you may have the infection to prevent any lasting damage." After you've received the treatment, you should wait at least a week in order for the medicine to run its course before engaging in sexual intercourse, even if you're being safe, to ensure that there's no remaining bacteria. Gonorrhea is another STI example of why it's incredibly important to get tested at least once per year. You may be carrying an STI even if you're not experiencing any symptoms, and if left untreated, you could wind up dealing with complications down the road that could have been avoided if the disease had been detected earlier, or unknowingly passing it along to a partner. Most insurance covers one STI screening test per year, so make sure to schedule your next appointment in a timely manner. And remember, the number one way to stay STI free and prevent gonorrhea is to practice safe sex regularly. So wash those toys, stock up on condoms and oral barriers to prevent gonorrhea. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. CAMEROUN :: WWF Initiates public dialogue on sustainable mining in Cameroon The World Wide Fund for Nature and Forets et Developpement Rural (FODER) a local NGO, have initiated the first ever public dialogue for a national policy for the promotion of sustainable artisanal and small scale mining in Cameroon. Industrial mining is still at a nascent stage, while artisanal and small scale mining has witnessed a boom over the years in Cameroon. Between 2012 and 2014, 11754 authorizations for exploration of artisanal and semi-mechanized mining were issued though the number of permits declined considerably after 2014, with just 751 permits issued between 2015 and 2016. The sector is, however, bedeviled by inadequate regulatory and institutional problems, lack of transparency and conflicts between local people and foreign interest groups, health and environmental hazards. The public dialogue that took place from 10-12 May 2017 in Bertoua, East Region of Cameroon, brought together members of parliament, traditional rulers, businesspeople, representatives of nine government ministries, councils, traditional rulers, NGOs, representatives of local communities and indigenous people. This public dialogue ensures that reforms in the sector are participatory and help in identifying the priorities for building a responsible and sustainable artisanal and small scale mining sector that contributes to Cameroons emergence by 2035, says Cleto Ndikumagenge, Director of Conservation for WWF Cameroon Country Program Office. Mining exploitation sites are full of risks for artisanal miners and the environment. A small gold mining site discovered some 10km from the town of Betare Oya in eastern Cameroon in December 2016, has attracted over 1500 people from Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Mali. While an average miner is sure to make over FCFA 300,000 ($600) a month from digging through the rocks to crushing and washing for gold, they face many health risks. The sanitary conditions are a grave cause for concern. There are no health centres here for the teeming population and everyone has to struggle to treat themselves when sick. There are no toilets, states Harman Betoli, a miner at Betare Oya. Many youths have abandoned school and are streaming in here to make fast money, regardless of the risks, adds Betoli. Besides health risks, cases of accidents and deaths have been recorded in abandoned sites. Artisanal miners are also concerned about a possible invasion of rich Chinese businesspeople who allegedly collude with government officials to buy off the sites and send away most local miners. We are overwhelmed by the situation; mining sites exploited by Chinese are left uncovered resulting in numerous accidents. Hardly does a week pass by without us recording fatal accidents, says Adamou Iya Justin, Mayor of Betare Oya. Artisanal mining exploitation is beset by conflicts of interests, says Moise Malla Noah, Delegate for Mining for the East Region of Cameroon. Local people complain their lands have been taken without their consent, he states. Malla believes Cameroon new mining code, promulgated into in December 2016, sufficiently addresses some of the problems emanating from artisanal and small scale mining. The over 80 participants at the workshop recommended that, public consultations be organized before mining permits are issued to potential miners. They also called on Cameroons Ministry in charge of environmental protection and sustainable development to step up systematic inspection of mining activities and surveillance of the environment. It was recommended local councils be involved in the attribution of mining exploitation permit and surveillance and environmental management. Participants also requested the government to accelerate the process of transfer of mining royalties to beneficiary local councils and communities. Disgruntled Teachers W. Musa Anglophone Teachers in Yaounde have refused to mark the 2017 session of government Common Entrance ,an examination which gives chance to pupils to be admitted into form one. The dozens of teachers are decrying sharp decrease of marking fees per sheet from FCFA120 to FCFA 60 and now less than the amount. The teachers want the Prime ministerial decision of FCFA120 to be respected. A meeting held in Yaounde Wednesday between the Regional Delegate for Basic Education and the grumbling teachers yielded no fruits. The teachers are quoted as saying the regional delegate was very arrogant, asking them to leave it if they were not satisfied with the FCFA 27 per sheet. A teacher says, For now we cannot mark the examination here in the Center region because of what the officials have done and we are resolute about it. Another teacher says the way in which the delegate spoke it not encourages them to at least consider. The teachers are demanding government an inquiry into the matter as it is not the first time that their dues is being hacked. | BY Ricki Green | Adshel has partnered with anti-poverty community organisation the Brotherhood of St Laurence, implementing a work experience program along with a supporting outdoor campaign, in an effort to help disadvantaged youth secure employment and return to the workforce. Launched on 3 May, Adshel and the Brotherhood of St Laurence have created a new work experience program, with six participants joining the Adshel Melbourne operations team for a workplace demonstration, tour and discussion about the different career paths Adshel employees have taken. Two participants will be invited to join the Melbourne Adshel team for a week of work experience, to gain a better understanding of how the business works, and build confidence in a workplace environment, while undertaking meaningful and practical work experience. To coincide with the program, Adshel is running a roadside campaign for the Brotherhood of St Laurence across bus shelters in both Victoria and the ACT. With the slogan Job Hunter Not Dole Bludger, the aim of the Brotherhood of St Laurence is to challenge the negative stereotypes often associated with unemployment. Says Tony Nicholson, executive director, the Brotherhood of St Laurence: We know as a welfare agency that work experience is vital to help young people into employment. The exposure and opportunities being offered by Adshel in their business will be invaluable to young unemployed participants. Adshel has taken an extra step to show their support for our work in the community. The companys pro bono support has enabled us to launch a striking roadside advertising campaign in Melbourne and Canberra to challenge inaccurate stereotypes of young unemployed people. The Job Hunter #NotDoleBludger campaign is a real bonus for our ongoing youth unemployment advocacy, and we thank Adshel for their support. Says Franck Appleby, people and performance director, Adshel: At Adshel we are committed to our purpose of creating the smartest connections for our communities and were thrilled to work in collaboration with the Brotherhood of St Laurence, to be able to support disadvantaged young adults in Victoria and provide them with work experience opportunities that will hopefully have a positive impact on their lives. We are serious about making a positive contribution to the local communities we operate in each and every day, so were pleased to be able to roll out this initiative as a part of Adshels Diversity, Inclusion & Flexibility Program for 2017. | BY Ricki Green | LIA has announced that Michael Ritchie, (left) managing director and executive producer of Australian based production company Revolver/Will ORourke will preside over the Production & Post-Production and Music Video jury. Representing Australia as a jury member is Emma Daines, executive producer / group managing director, Fin Design & Effects, Sydney. Ritchie began his career in agencies, including head of broadcast at Ogilvy in Sydney, then a more regional gig at DDB HK. From there, he moved into the production side and in 1999 saw his most successful collaboration when he joined and later became partner with Steve Rogers at Revolver. Revolver/Will ORourke is known for its commitment to produce work that people seem to remember and hopefully like. Says Ritchie: Being asked to be President of the LIA Production & Post Production and Music Video Jury is truly a privilege. I have got to the point where I just dont want to justify why craft is essential in our industry. I think its intrinsic to every single human in this world that they will respond to something made with care and craft far more than something that is not. Its that simple. I cant wait to see the work that is entered and for the good stuff to rise to the top. Says Barbara Levy, president, LIA: We are honored to have Michael preside over the Production & Post Production jury. His dedication and belief that craft is something that can make a good idea great and a great idea exceptional makes him the perfect choice to guide this jury in awarding the most outstanding work at LIA 2017. When entering awards, production companies, post-production houses, editing facilities and music and sound companies are under the belief that if an agency enters their work, there is no reason for them to enter the work as well. It may make some practical sense in theory no need to duplicate an entry into LIA, right? Wrong! Says Levy: When agencies enter LIA, they dont necessarily enter work into the categories from which production companies, post-production houses and editing facilities would most benefit, instead choosing product and service categories which are judged by the TV/Cinema/Online Film jury. The craft categories are judged by LIAs Production, Post-Production and Music Videos jury, this jury is made up of the worlds best production and post-production executives, from top executive producers and directors to agency heads of TV and chief production officers. This year, in addition to the global Of The Year Awards LIA will also award Regional Of The Year Awards, making it is even more important for Production and Post-Production Companies to enter their work and get the recognition they deserve. 2017 Production & Post-Production and Music Video Jury: Michael Ritchie Jury President Managing Director / Executive Producer at Revolver/Will ORourke Emma Daines (right) Executive Producer / Group Managing Director, Fin Design & Effects, Sydney Emma Daines (right) Executive Producer / Group Managing Director, Fin Design & Effects, Sydney Matthew Fone Owner, Riff Raff Films. London Oliver Fuselier Managing Partner Live Action, Tool of North America, Santa Monica Diane Jackson Chief Production Officer, DDB Chicago, Chicago Donna Lamar Owner, Stalking Muses, Santa Monica Moritz Merkel Executive Producer / Managing Director, Partizan, Berlin Keiko Ono Executive Producer, Spoon Inc., Tokyo David Rolfe EVP, Director of Integrated Production, BBDO New York, New York Helene Segol Executive Producer, Wanda Productions, Paris Ben Stallard Production Director, The Mill, London Judging will take place at Encore Las Vegas from September 29th through October 7th The Entry System is open for entries. The initial entry deadline is the 9th June. | BY Lynchy | Reuter Communications and Vim & Vigour PR, Singapore based lifestyle and travel communications agency, have formed a strategic alliance, enhancing the agencies integrated communications capabilities across Asia for luxury travel and hospitality clients. The new partnership extends Reuter Communications growing regional footprint to South East Asia while enhancing both firms capabilities to provide luxury hospitality and travel brands an integrated offering that now spans digital marketing, public relations, influencer engagement, corporate communications and travel trade relations. Existing and future clients can leverage a team of 50 professionals across offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Travel and hospitality are key growth areas in the luxury industry and a strategic focus for our business. In order to meet the needs of our clients, we have been looking for the right partner in the region to extend our strategic capabilities in this area. Through our alliance with Vim & Vigour we are able to provide clients with support across Asia with offices in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong. We share common values and we firmly believe that passion and creativity are key to driving awareness, engagement and business for our clients, said Chloe Reuter, CEO of Reuter Communications (pictured above). More and more companies are choosing personalised communications partners who have expertise in their industry as well as thorough understanding and reach in their market to target HNWIs. To be able to provide this network between us in Asia was a natural next step in our on-going relationship with Reuter Communications. We share very similar company values and work ethos with Chloe and her team and were excited about how we will further integrate our work to offer leading brands a smart and expanded reach, said Lynda Williams, Founder & Managing Director of Vim & Vigour PR. Under the terms of the alliance, each agency will remain independent. Live updates: GA Senate, other key races in limbo after tense Election Day President Joe Biden said: 'Our democracy has been tested in recent years, but with their votes, American people spoke once again.' Google leverages its advanced machine learning capabilities and introduces a new project that would help out job seekers. Called Google for Jobs, it seems to be a specific part of its search engine that shows job listings you might be interested in. Google itself isnt hosting the listings. Theyre using third-party sites and companies like Facebook, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Monster, and ZipRecruiter. You can customize the search for criteria like length of the commute. The feature even bundles together openings for jobs that might be similar but have different titles. When you select a job you want, Google will then redirect you to another service. Others already committed to the festival, to be held over the weekend of August 25-27, include brain expert Dr Nicola Gates; one of Australia's favourite food writers Valli Little; writer of hardboiled action thrillers James Phelan; leading young adult fiction author Gabrielle Williams; foreign policy and intelligence expert Allan Gyngell; Cameron and Samantha Bloom talking about a remarkable story of courage expressed through Penguin Bloom, the Odd Little Bird who Saved a Family. "For example, investment in the Majura Parkway was a project which had a high benefit-cost pay-off, three-to-one as I recall, but one which would have never been funded by a Coalition government because it passed through a Labor seat." Defence lawyer Louise Taylor said on Thursday while it was easy to step back and say Van Duren should not have taken the law into his own hands in such a violent way, his actions were driven by his sense of injustice at the dog being seized. The next EnVision Bus Read more [...] The body of a missing boater on Fort Loudoun Lake has been recovered. Investigating Officer Jeff Roberson reports that at 9:45 p.m., the body of a missing 18-year-old male was recovered by divers from the Knox County Rescue Squad. Joshua Armon Davis of Knoxville. He was identified as TWRA officers and Investigators located the victim by use of a Remote Operated Vehicle. The victim fell overboard from a boat that was adrift in the Little Turkey Creek area of Fort Loudoun Lake. There were two other occupants on the boat at the time of the incident. Witnesses say the victim had a personal flotation device in his hand when he fell into the water, went under and never resurfaced. A medical examiner with the Regional Forensics Center has ordered an autopsy and the incident is under investigation by TWRA. The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced Thursday that the states seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 5 percent in April, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 5.1 percent in March. In April 2016, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent. Our rate declined in April as we saw more people become employed, the labor force continued to grow and our employers reduced the number of new layoffs, said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. New claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, dropped to the lowest level weve seen in nearly 19 years. There were 15,179 more Georgians employed in April than in March, pushing the total number to another record of 4,778,503. There were 156,700 more people employed in April than a year ago in April 2016. Meanwhile, the labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed and actively looking for jobs, grew by 10,545 to 5,031,142. That total represents an increase of 145,983 over the past 12 months. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 3,386, or 13.5 percent, to 21,633, its lowest point since May 1998. Most of the decrease came in manufacturing and administrative and support services. Over the year, claims were down by 4,712, or 17.9 percent, from 26,345 in April 2016, with manufacturing and administrative and support services again contributing to the decline. Even as there were more employed Georgians, the state lost 2,800 jobs in April, dropping to a total of 4,466,700. Job losses came in construction, 3,000; trade, transportation and warehousing, 2,600; leisure and hospitality, 2,400; professional and business services, 1,200; and education and health services, 600. The job losses were offset somewhat by gains in manufacturing, 2,200; information services, 1,800; other services, including repair and maintenance, 1,600; and government, 1,300. Georgia continues to be a national leader in over-the-year job growth, as our employers added 113,600 jobs since April of last year, Butler continued. That represents a growth rate of 2.6 percent, which is a full percentage point higher than the national rate of 1.6 percent. And, we saw growth in every job sector. Job gains included: professional and business services, 28,900; leisure and hospitality, 19,500; trade, transportation and warehousing, 17,000; education and health services, 14,900; financial activities, 9,900; government, 9,100; construction, 6,600; information services, 3,800; manufacturing, 2,400; and other services, 700. Employ Georgia, the GDOLs online job listing service at employgeorgia.com , showed 75,183 new job postings statewide for April. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mohali has given an employment notification for the special recruitment of Technical Assistant & Member Support Staff vacancies for Differently-abled Persons/ Person with Disabilities (PWD) candidates on direct recruitment & contractual basis. Eligible candidates may apply in prescribed format on or before 14 June 2017. CDAC Mohali Vacancy Details: Name of the Post: Technical Assistant: 01 Member Support Staff: 01 Age Limit: Candidates upper age should be 48 years for PWD belonging to OBC category (Non-Creamy layer) and 50 years for PWD belonging to SC/ ST category. Educational Qualification: Candidates should have First class Degree/ Diploma in Computer Science/ Electronics/ IT/ Computer Application or NCVT certificate in relevant trade where basic qualification for admission to the course is matriculation or equivalent or Graduation with first class in any discipline and DOEACC A level for post-1, Diploma in Engineering or B.Sc. in relevant area with minimum 50% marks or NCVT/ ITI certificate in relevant trade for post-2 with experience in relevant field. How is the Selection Process done? Candidates will be selected based on written test/ skill test. How to Apply: Eligible candidates can send their hard copy of application in prescribed format with self attested copies of educational qualification, percentage of marks, experience certificate, date of birth, community certificate, disability certificate, two passport size photographs to the Director, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), A-34, Phase VIII, Industrial Area, Mohali (Punjab) 160071 on or before 14 July 2017. Important date to remember: Every year thousands of puppies and kittens are born without a home. Some of these animals live their entire lives outside with no one to care for them. Many end up in shelters waiting for adoption. Two charitable organizations Maddies Foundation and PetSmart Charities have provided grants for ChattaNeuter so it may make 2018 a better year for cats and dogs by neutering and spaying them now. These two grants target specific conditions and neighborhoods in Hamilton County. PetSmart Charities is helping Chattanooga spay its way to a new day by supporting ChattaNeuters Fix a Pit program. Because Pit Bulls are a popular breed, there is an overpopulation problem in some areas, and many of these dogs end up homeless, said officials. Thanks to a PetSmart Charities grant, ChattaNeuter is offering free spays and neuters of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes to all residents in the following eight zip codes: 37351, 37404, 37406, 37407, 37409, 37411, 37412, and 37421. Pit Bull appointments are available Monday through Friday. Schedule online at www.chattaneuter.org or by phone at 531-SPAY(7729). Only a limited amount of grant money is available. Thanks to Maddies Foundation, ChattaNeuter is also offering free spays and neuters for feral and community cats found in the 37421 zip code. Residents and businesses in 37421, who have feral or community cats surrounding them, are encouraged to take advantage of this offer before the funds run out. All feral and community cats brought in from 37421 will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and ear tipped. This grant is not intended for house cats or outdoor pets. A feral cat is an unsocialized or wild cat that does not have an owner. A community cat may be socialized but lives exclusively outside and has no owner. Several homes or apartments in a neighborhood usually feed these cats. No appointment is necessary for feral and community cats. Cats may be brought by Monday-Thursday, at 8 a.m. Cats must be picked up the following day at 8:30 a.m. All feral cats must be in a humane trap; socialized community cats may use a carrier. Traps are available for a modest deposit at ChattaNeuter. Only a limited amount of grant money is available for these two programs. For more information visit www.chattaneuter.org or call 531-SPAY(7729). The Alan Shuptrine: Appalachian Watercolors of the Serpentine Chain exhibition will open at the State Museum on Friday. The exhibition pays tribute to the land and people found along the Appalachian Trail, and of the Celtic culture that can still be found there. Mr. Shuptrine, nationally recognized for his paintings, has created 54 watercolors for a body of work that celebrates the connections of the Appalachian mountains, and their historical and cultural counterparts in the British Isles. Also renowned for his 30-year-career of handcrafting and carving beautiful frames, Mr. Shuptrine embeds precious Serpentine stones, and uses gold leaf accents on this collection of frames. This journey highlights Celtic traditions that were brought to America in the 18th century, and are still being practiced today, said Mr. Shuptrine. I tried to capture the deep, meaningful, and superb technical excellence in each painting, whether it is found in the Maine and Vermont tradition of quilt making in the clapboard white schoolhouse, to whiskey making and farming traditions, or stunning views across the mountain ranges. Without knowledge or appreciation for your past, and with no sense of place, how can you look to the future? Mr. Shuptrine, son of the late nationally-renowned artist Hubert Shuptrine, is partnering with New York Times best-selling author Sharyn McCrumb. Together, they will create a book called, The Serpentine Chain, a large format art book which will explore and celebrate the connections between the people of Appalachia and their historical and cultural counterparts in the British Isles. Included in the exhibition are nine paintings by Hubert Shuptrine, Alans father. Born in Chattanooga in 1936, Hubert began his artistic career working as an abstract oil painter. In 1970, after a family vacation to Maine, he began to work in watercolor and was self-taught in the medium. In 1974 he collaborated with author James Dickey on a book entitled Jericho: The South Beheld. In his second book Home to Jericho, which he both wrote and illustrated, he explored the south again. Hubert Shuptrine died in 2006, but his ethereal images of the South are still a beloved testament to the region, said officials. Alan Shuptrine: Appalachian Watercolors of the Serpentine Chain will be on view through Oct. 1, in the Changing Galleries. This will be the final temporary exhibition held at this location. It is free to the public. The mythos goes like this: Near the end of the last millennium, Martin Heinrich came to New Mexico, settling here. In the aughtsafter being deeply involved with environmental policy and literacy programs in our fair city and stateHeinrich, endorsed by the newspaper you are reading right now, was elected to the City Council. He held the post for four years, before setting his sights on Washingtons House of Representatives, handily defeating law and order Republican Darren Whitenow, coincidentally, CEO of PurLife , a New Mexico medical cannabis producer with a 16,000-square-foot growing facility. Then, in 2012, after Jeff Bingaman announced his imminent retirement, Heinrich decided he should be the Silver City natives successor in the Athenian halls and chambers of the US Senate. In November of that year, Heinrich put down a challenge from former Republican Representative Leather Heather Wilson and thus became acquainted with the lofty position of Senator. Heinrichs been working for New Mexico families since then, burning the progressive lantern brightly as he fights for truth, justice and the American way. Serio. Hes one of the best advocates and leaders this state has and last Saturday he returned to Burque to participate in the Taste of Nob Hill event. Weekly Alibi caught up with Heinrich as he trooped through the fiesta, sampling the best from local merchants, vendors and eateries. He had an update for his constituents, a hopeful set of calm, reasonable and practical words uttered amidst the turmoil and uncertainty that are currently all the rage with a Republican administration struggling for credibility on the Hill. Here is what Heinrich had to say about la politica on a warm and sunny Saturday in Albuquerque. Weekly Alibi: Lets talk about the Health Care Reform Bill! Martin Heinrich: You mean the tax cut masquerading as a health care bill. Wow! Yeah, lets talk about that It [the legislation] would kick 250,000 New Mexicans off coverage. It would take so much money out of Medicaid in particular that it would leave the state $1 billion a year in the hole, and the estimates are that a quarter of a million New Mexicans would lose coverage as a result. All of the gains weve made in the past five years in terms of coverage and bringing down the uninsured rate would disappear. One of the things that people forget is that rural hospitals really stepped up during the original health care bill; they said, Well take lower payments because we want more people to be covered. With the current House bill, it puts those people back in a position where theyre not covered, but it doesnt give a dime back to the rural hospitals. Rural hospitals across the nation may close as a result. What sorts of plans are in the works to ameliorate those sorts of losses? I think we need to start from scratch, I mean the House bill is absolutely a disaster for New Mexico. It doesnt protect people with pre-existing conditions adequately. All the promises that were madeabout lower costs, not losing coverage, protecting pre-existing conditionsturned out to be false. What does that restart entail? Stop this bill in its tracks. We need to shift from a repeal and replace, high income tax cut and work on actually fixing those things in the current health care system that clearly need work. Does the Senate have the votes to stop the legislation from advancing? My hope is that as people start to see the detailsespecially those Senators from states who have seen huge reductions in the uninsured rate as a result of the existing structureas they start to see the risk, were going to see some Republicans peel off and they [the GOP] wont have the votes to pass the legislation. If that happens, then we need to pivot toward bi-partisan solutions. Ive been working with Senator Dean Heller, hes a Republican from Nevada. Weve been trying to fix the so-called Cadillac Tax, which has ended up being a middle-class tax. Were trying to repeal that. There are a number of places [in the Senate] where theres broad, bi-partisan consensus. Because they [the GOP] has been so focused on a repeal and replace effort, we [the Democrats] havent been able to move forward. My hope is that if we can kill this legislation, we can turn back to some of those bipartisan issues. How good are the chances of killing the bill? This legislation has a 32 percent approval rating. And thats falling fast. The more my colleagues hear from their own constituents, hear about the risks associated with this legislation, the more likely it is that it will not move forward. Well, thats hopeful! I did remind readers last week to reach out to you And tell them to call on our governor too! Even Republican governors, like Kasich in Ohio have stepped up and said, This is terrible for our state; you cant do it this way. Our governor has been silent on the issue. Were a Medicaid expansion statewe stand to lose coverage for a quarter million citizensand it would be great if Governor Susana Martinez or Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez would step up and join us in trying to fix this. Well, I hope that happens. Do the reforms, as expressed by the Republicans in their legislation, constitute a danger to Americas middle class? I think one of the most important things you can do to make sure the middle class functions and prospers is to make sure that people have affordable healthcare. The middle class doesnt need to take any more hits. How do jobs and job creation fit into that functionality? We need to invest in the things we do well here. And we need to make economic development job one. Ive worked really hard to work on renewable energy development and infrastructure management, so that we can become net exporters of clean energy to the rest of the country. We havent always had the same level of leadership from our governor, for example. But in Washington, we passed a set of incentives for wind and solar that are driving growing industries in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Las Cruces, too. Investment in wind [power generation] in rural areas is growing, and they desperately need that investment. Were seeing several projects going up in rural New Mexico as a result of the incentives. It will add up to more than a gigawatt of wind [power generation] And it creates permanent jobs for technicians who will be living in those rural communities. Thats the kind of pragmatic investment in economic development the state should be making. Theres a fear that the clean energy initiatives are in danger because of Trump. What are your thoughts on that? Will those initiatives get stalled as the administration moves back to an oil and coal economy? Absolutely not. We were able to set those incentives in stone. We are not reliant on the Trump administration to like those [environmental and energy] policies. They are current law, and theyre going to be for a number of years. In addition, the economics just dont work anymore. If you have to spend 10 cents per kilowatt hour for coal but you can create a wind conract [for wind power generation] for 2-3 cents per kilowatt hour, well, the economics are now in place where they will drive the coming transition. Thats why were seeing so much investment. Our state could literally export electrons to Arizona and import dollars that we could use to fund early childhood education, to rebuild our infrastructure, to invest in our people As a consequence of all of this, even with Trump in power, should citizens remain hopeful? This is the most erratic and unpredictable administration Ive ever seen. That said, I think most Americans and most New Mexicans have realized that governance really matters; theyre engaged in a way I havent seen in many years. I think were going to see a correction and would urge all people to get involved in their local community. From there, changes will bubble up to Washington, D.C. Gulf County, Fl., is gearing up for summer adventures, including one that might surprise some visitors: scuba diving. While travelers no doubt expect to find diving in an area that boasts 244 miles of shoreline, they might be surprised to learn that even those who arent scuba certified can dive in Gulf County. Daly's Watersports is one of a few select dive shops across the country that is certified in and approved to offer Discover Scuba Diving, a program that lets inexperienced divers as young as 10 plunge as far as 40 feet into the water. Theres great diving for everyone in Gulf County, said Jennifer Adams, executive director of the Gulf County Tourist Development Council. Certified divers can strike out on their own adventures or charter a boat. Many charter captains and Gulf County Adventure Guides like father-son team Bobby Guilford and Wade Guilford enjoy showing divers their favorite spots. But inexperienced and reluctant divers are the ones Ann Marie Daly, another of Gulf Countys 23 Adventure Guides, loves getting in the water. After all, the North Dakota native was once tepid about getting wet, much less diving. These days Ms. Dalys business, Daly's Watersports sees more visitors each season take part in Discover Scuba, which it has offered for 14 years. Diving changed my life, and I see it change the lives and outlooks of those we take on the water, Ms. Daly said. Its an experience youll never forget. NOTICE: The Hamilton County Registers Office did not publish this data. All information in the Registers Office is public information as set out in T.C.A. 10-7-503. For questions regarding this report, please call Chattanoogan.com at 423 266-2325. GI numbers, listed when street addresses are not available, refer to the location of transactions (book number and page number) in Hamilton County Register Office records. A longtime favorite Japanese restaurant in Chattanooga is slated to close by Father's Day or sooner, employees said they have been told. Kanpai of Toyko, featuring talented at-your-table chefs, has operated for 34 years at Hamilton Place Mall. The restaurant has over 30 employees. Workers said the property in the mall parking lot where the restaurant is located is being sold. Said to be the most technologically advanced Skoda yet, the all-new Karoq is the subject of another official film. And its for good reason, as a production-ready prototype has embarked on a 1,500km (932 miles) long journey, from the brands hometown, Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, to Stockholm, Sweden, where it will celebrate its world premiere, on May 18, at 8pm CET (2pm EST). Skoda will start taking orders for the more upscale (and traditional) replacement of the Yeti in the second half of the yea. Buyers will get to choose between five engines, two petrol and three diesel units, with displacements ranging between 1.0 liters and 2.0 liters, and the most powerful one churning out 190PS (187hp). Depending on the selected model, the Skoda Karoq comes with either a 6-speed manual gearbox, or a 7-speed DSG automatic. All-wheel drive is part of the package, on the range-topping 2.0 TDI, and so is a driving mode selector, and a special off-road mode, available from the Ambition grades. Full pricing details will be announced in the coming weeks. VIDEO A man slammed his Dodge Challenger into a convenience store in Rocky River, Ohio last week and promptly told an employee that he wanted a beer in what was a bizarre and rather sad incident. Fox 8 Cleveland reports that the driver, Robert Mason, 45, crashed into the store and then barricaded himself inside the stores beer cooler. Police arrived on the scene shortly after and a police body camera captured officers negotiating with Mason who, as it turned out, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his previous work in the military. Authorities were ultimately able to arrest Mason after deploying a Taser. He is now facing charges including OVI and reckless operation. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the incident, but if it wasnt for a stroke of luck, that may not have been the case. Speaking to the media, an employee at the store said he could have been killed by the car and was only saved because he was pushed back ten feet by the deli case which Mason drove into. According to Rocky River Police Chief Kelly Stillman, Had the car been over a couple more feet, he was hurt, it could have been serious bodily injury, even possibly death. I mean thats a four, five thousand pound automobile coming at 30, 40 miles an hour. He was lucky, very lucky. VIDEO With its dual headquarters in America and Europe, itd be all too easy to forget that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles competes in other markets around the world. Like in South America, for example, where it is now rolling out an all-new model. Called the Argo (and not to be confused with the Toyota Aygo), the little hatchback takes a decidedly different approach from the Fiat 500 more along the lines of the budget-oriented Tipo it produces in Turkey. Fiat hasnt revealed much in the way of details to go with these two images and manufacturing video. But Motor1 reports that it will replace both the Punto and the Palio in the Brazilian market, and come with an array of engine choices ranging from 1.0 to 1.8 liters, with manual and automatic transmissions, and capable of running (as so many vehicles are in Brazil) on either gasoline or ethanol. Fiat has a long history in the Brazilian market, where it produces and offers models we dont see outside of Latin America, like the Mobi hatchback, Grand Siena sedan (again not to be confused with a Toyota), and Toro pickup. Photo Gallery Video Hong Kong has just welcomed its very first Lamborghini Centenario and while it may never be driven on public roads, it will inevitably be the envy of many local car collectors. Photographed here by Ron Alder W Photography for Lamborghini Hong Kong, the regions first Centenario looks identical to the car unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016. Consequently, the entire exterior is clad in wondrous carbon fiber which has been contrasted by a selection of yellow accents, including on the front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser. The interior also wonderfully combines carbon with black and yellow leather. Built to celebrate the birth of Ferruccio Lamborghini, the Centenario is limited to just 20 Coupes and 20 Roadsters worldwide. It shares its underpinnings with the Aventador but the 6.5-liter V12 engine has received some changes to lift power to 770 hp, allowing the supercar to hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 2.8 seconds while soaring to a top speed beyond 350 km/h (217 mph). PHOTO GALLERY According to a new report, McLaren design director Frank Stephenson could be returning to Mini to lead the companys design team. Minis former design boss, Anders Warming, left the automaker last year to join Borgward and MotoringFile reports that Stephenson is on the verge of filling the space left by his departure. Stephenson is no stranger to Mini. As a matter of fact, he designed the first new generation Mini hatch (the R50) in 2000 and set a design philosophy which the company has largely mimicked to this day. Stephenson left Mini in 2001 and joined Ferrari and Fiat where he played a pivotal role in designing the Ferrari F430, Fiat 500 and even the Maserati MC12. In April 2008, he become McLarens design director and has overseen the designs of every McLaren from the original MP4-12C through to the new 720S. In recent times, the well-respected designer has been an outspoken critic of Minis current designs. Speaking about the Countryman a few years ago with Yahoo, Stephenson slammed it saying designers had abused the brand. Oh, my gosh, I dont like it. I mean I dont like the whole new trend at all. I think they just wildly abused the brand. And theyve gone away from their roots in such a way that now the buyers are not the same buyers, he said. Neither McLaren or Stephenson have commented on the rumor. PHOTO GALLERY Toyota president Akio Toyoda says that the Japanese automaker is in the midst of a crisis following the release of disappointing financial results in the fiscal year. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, Toyota reported a 21 per cent drop in net income and said that for the current fiscal, net income will likely fall again. While discussing the companys tribulations, Toyoda expressed some serious concerns about the company. I feel a strong sense of crisis about whether or not we are actually executing carmaking from the perspective of the customer in all Toyota workplaces, from development, production, procurement and sales, all the way to administrative divisions, he said. According to Toyoda, dwindling net income comes as the automotive industry faces arguably the largest shift in its history. There are new competitors in the market and autonomous and electric technologies are being heralded as the future of the automobile. This drastic shift is expected to send Toyotas research and development budget to over $9 billion for the fourth year in a row. According to Toyoda, this is part and parcel of an old automaker in the new industry. The present automobile industry is being asked to make a paradigm shift. I want to continue planting seeds with a look to 10 or even 20 years into the future. One of the most significant changes Toyota is experiencing is its newfound openness to electric vehicles. Originally a skeptic of EVs and a believer that hydrogen was the future, Toyota jumped on the EV bandwagon last year and Toyoda immediately put himself in charge of the project. When it comes to electric vehicles, every car, be it the Yaris or whatever, once it is electrified, the acceleration is all the same. The reason I am responsible for EVs as well is that I dont want to make these cars a commodity. Even with the electrification of the vehicles, I want the prefix I love to be affixed to those cars, he told Automotive News. Toyoda believes that it will simply take time for companies like his to change and adapt to the developing industry before returning to their former world domination. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: The Canadian Press The death of a 16-year-old South Carolina boy from a probable caffeine-induced heart arrhythmia has renewed concerns about the risks of young people consuming energy drinks and other beverages containing high levels of the stimulant. Davis Cripe died April 26 after drinking a large Mountain Dew, a latte from McDonald's and an energy drink over a two-hour period before collapsing in his classroom. The Chapin, S.C., high school student was a healthy teenager with no pre-existing heart condition, local coroner Gary Watts said Monday in releasing the cause of death. Consuming excessive caffeine can speed up the heart rate and in some cases lead to an arrhythmia, a condition in which the electrical impulses that co-ordinate the heartbeat go awry, causing the heart to beat too fast, too slow or in an irregular pattern. "If you look at what the young man drank ... it's a fair bit of caffeine over a fairly short period of time," Dr. Michael Reider, head of pediatrics at Western University, said Wednesday from London, Ont. Reider said many energy drinks, such as Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar, contain high levels of caffeine, as do Mountain Dew in the U.S. and lattes, which are made from coffee. Some energy drinks contain more than 200 milligrams of the stimulant, he said. "So it's entirely possible ... this young man may have taken in 400 milligrams in the space of two hours. "That would definitely quickly kick your heart rate up, and if you have some (underlying) cardiac arrhythmia, it just might fall into a pattern where it speeds up just enough to have a fatal arrhythmia." The American Academy of Pediatrics is unequivocal in its position on the caffeine-rich beverages: "Energy drinks pose potential health risks because of the stimulants they contain and should never be consumed by children or adolescents." Health Canada says most adults can safely consume two servings of a typical caffeinated energy drink per day with no health consequences, but recommends that children and women of child-bearing age limit their consumption, spokesman Henry Guardado said by email. Photo: The Canadian Press In this Friday, May 12, 2017 photo provided by Melodie Steinhour, students at Barberton High School pose for a photo after getting pepper sprayed in Barberton, Ohio. The students were pepper sprayed as part of a criminal science class and had to get permission from their parents before they participated. (Melody Steinhour via AP) A group of Ohio high school students voluntarily got pepper-sprayed in the face and called the painful experience a useful lesson. More than a dozen Barberton High School students agreed to be sprayed last week with their parents' permission as part of a class exercise. A video posted online shows a row of teens lined up against a building. All is quiet as someone methodically sprays each student in the face, and then moves on. One by one, the students begin to scream. "It felt like sticking your face into a bonfire," said Joshua Horvath, 17, a student at the school about 40 miles (64 kilometres) south of Cleveland. Students also have been shocked with a stun gun for the criminal science class. The competitive program draws applications from students who want to join the military or become a police officer, and is taught by a former police chief. "It's an excellent program," said Melody Steinhour, 42, who recording video of the exercise and is a parent of one of the students. "The philosophy is, if you're going to carry pepper spray, or you're going to carry a Taser, and use it as a weapon, you need to know what it feels like before you inflict that pain on someone else." One copy of the video of the students being sprayed has been viewed online more than 15 million times. While some commenters have been critical of the parents for allowing their children to be pepper-sprayed, students and parents call it a useful learning experience. "It teaches us what we're going to be doing in the field," said Horvath, who wants to be a police officer. "It keeps kids out of trouble because once you learn at a younger age, you're like 'oh, yeah, I don't wanna do that again.'" The pepper spray training is intended to help students earn industry credentials in public safety from the Ohio Department of Education, the school said in a statement. It's been part of the criminal science program for years, parents and students say, but only recently gained attention because of Steinhour's video. Photo: The Canadian Press This Aug. 2, 2005 file photo shows the Venetian Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. A Las Vegas police officer used a stun gun seven times and a mixed martial arts chokehold to subdue an unarmed man who died after a foot chase through a casino over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday. Officer Kenneth Lopera thought the man had tried to carjack a pickup truck with two people inside before the officer fired the stun gun in a series of staccato bursts and used the chokehold a tactic that is not approved by the department early Sunday at The Venetian resort, Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said. McMahill showed video from Lopera's body camera during a news conference on the incident. Police posted video of the news conference including edited body camera and Venetian security footage to the Internet. "Don't move! Get on your stomach!" Lopera can be heard telling the man who the Clark County coroner identified as Tashii S. Brown. Police have used the name Tashii Farmer. His mother said he sometimes hyphenates his last name, Farmer-Brown. "I will!" he can be heard saying. The video then shows Brown on his back with his arms raised before another jolt from the stun gun makes his body stiffen. Brown cries out, "Please! Please!" Lopera, who is white, and Brown, who is black, then wrestle as the officer attempts to handcuff him. Lopera punches Brown's head and neck from behind as Venetian security guards join the effort as other police officers arrive. Sheriff Joe Lombardo told The Associated Press there was no indication that race played a role in the incident. Brown's cause of death has not been determined and an investigation is ongoing. McMahill said Lopera was heard saying he used a "rear naked choke," a prominent mixed martial arts chokehold that differs from a department-approved technique that some departments call a "lateral vascular neck restraint" and others refer to as a carotid artery hold. Department officials said previously that the officer had used the approved technique, which is banned in many other cities. McMahill said Lopera held Brown's neck for more than a minute far longer than the seven to 10 seconds it might take for an approved carotid restraint to render a person unconscious. The police official said also that the driver of the pickup didn't think Brown was trying to carjack his vehicle, and that Brown was not believed to have committed any crime. Lopera, 31, has been a Las Vegas police officer for five years, McMahill said. He is on paid leave pending departmental and district attorney reviews of the incident. Lopera is being represented by the Las Vegas Police Protective Union. Steve Grammas, union executive director, declined to comment, saying he had not seen all the video from the incident. Lopera has not provided a statement about the incident to department investigators. Photo: The Canadian Press Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman Four potential candidates to lead the FBI including former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman have met with President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating; Andrew McCabe, currently the bureau's acting director; and Richard McFeely, a former top FBI official, also went to the White House for interviews on Wednesday. The meetings came more than a week after Trump fired James Comey from his post as FBI director. Trump said Monday that the search for a successor to Comey was "moving rapidly." He also has said he could name a candidate by the end of the week, before he departs Friday afternoon on his first overseas trip as president. The Senate must confirm whoever Trump nominates. Asked as he left the White House whether he would say 'yes' if Trump offered him the job, Keating said, "I'm a public servant." He added, "Let's just say we had a good conversation." Lieberman gave a thumbs-up to reporters camped out on the White House driveway and said "It was a good meeting." Lieberman served in the Senate for more than two decades and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000 with then-Vice-President Al Gore. Lieberman lost his 2006 Democratic primary bid but won Senate re-election as a third party candidate. Keating, a Republican, was a two-term governor of Oklahoma and led the state during the deadly 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. A former FBI agent, Keating served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. McCabe became acting director following Comey's dismissal on May 9. The veteran FBI official made headlines for congressional testimony last week that rejected the White House's claim that Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file agents. During Memorial Day weekend, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will provide a variety of programs on Lookout Mountain.On Saturday, May 27, at Point Park, atop Lookout Mountain, there will be a Memorial Day artillery program commemorating the men and women whose lives have been lost in service to our nation. Visitors are encouraged to bring a photograph or small memento of a friend or loved one who died in the line of duty, as these servicemen and servicewomen will be recognized during the program.Artillery programs are scheduled at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.In addition to these programs, there will be ranger-guided tours of Point Park at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and Cravens House will be open to the public from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on both days as well.Admission to Point Park is $5 per adult, ages 16 and older (ages 15 and younger are free), and there are no fees to visit Cravens House.For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch Photo: Contributed Former FBI director Robert Mueller President Donald Trump lashed out at the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations that his campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election, tweeting Thursday that it is "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" The Justice Department on Wednesday appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation. Mueller will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. The surprise announcement to hand the probe over to Mueller, a lawman with deep bipartisan respect, was a striking shift for Trump's Justice Department, which had resisted increasingly loud calls from Democrats for an outside prosecutor. It immediately escalated the legal stakes and the potential political damage for a president who has tried to dismiss the matter as partisan witch hunt and a "hoax." In another Twitter post Thursday, Trump said: "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel (sic) appointed!" He did not provide examples or evidence of any alleged "illegal acts." The announcement, the latest in the shock-a-day Washington saga, was made by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The White House counsel's office was alerted only after the order appointing Mueller was signed, said a senior White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly by name and commented only on condition of anonymity. In a written statement, Trump insisted anew there were no nefarious ties between his campaign and Russia. "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he declared. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." Photo: The Canadian Press U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer The United States has officially indicated its desire to renegotiate the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, triggering a 90-day consultation window before formal talks begin. The clock was set ticking today in a letter from U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he is putting Congress and trading partners on notice that "free and fair" trade is the new standard in the U.S. "With this letter, we intend to notify not just Congress, but all our trading partners, that free and fair trade is the new standard for U.S. trade deals," the statement read. Ross says the U.S. manufacturing industry has been decimated by NAFTA, a deal the White House considers deeply unfair. "Since the signing of NAFTA, we have seen our manufacturing industry decimated, factories shuttered, and countless workers left jobless. President Trump is going to change that," he says. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland welcomed what was a widely anticipated development, promising to consult with Canadians on the best way forward. She reiterated the government's key message on NAFTA that it is in fact a good deal for all parties, including the U.S., where nine million American jobs are dependent on it. "NAFTA's track record is one of economic growth and middle-class job creation, both here in Canada and throughout North America," Freeland said in a statement. During the presidential campaign, Trump called NAFTA "a disaster." Photo: YouTube Boaters may find it a little challenging to get onto the water this long weekend after another boat launch was closed. Regional District of North Okanagan officials have closed the boat launch at Paddlewheel Park on Okanagan Lake over the May long weekend in response to the hazardous boating conditions created by high waters, and the potential threat to shoreline properties by wakes caused by boats or personal watercraft. The closure is in place effective immediately. While we recognize that this is just one of many launches that access Okanagan Lake, and that boaters may still choose to launch from other access points, this closure demonstrates the seriousness of the hazards that exist as a result of the current high water conditions said Bob Fleming, board of directors chairperson. We are strongly encouraging people to stay off of the lake this weekend, if possible, and if they must be out on the lake, to keep their speeds down in consideration of the unprotected shorelines. Transport Canada rules state anyone operating a power-driven boat in B.C. must adhere to a speed limit of 10 kilometres per hour within 30 metres of shore. At the recommendation of the Province of British Columbia and Emergency Management BC, the regional district is taking additional steps to protect parkland shorelines and beaches by not clearing debris that is washing up as a result of the high waters. The debris acts like a cushion to waves in the event of an onshore wind, and reduces sand erosion. For further information, call 250-550-3700. Earlier this week, the District of Coldstream closed all boat launches at the north end of Kalamalka Lake for the same reasons. Photo: ABC News A man who appeared intoxicated drove his car the wrong way up a Times Square street Thursday and plowed into pedestrians on the sidewalk, killing one and injuring about 20 others, authorities and witnesses said. The driver was taken into custody and being tested for alcohol. Pandemonium erupted when the vehicle crashed through the prime tourist location and came to rest with two of its wheels in the air, witnesses said. The vehicle leaned on a lamppost and steel barriers intended to block vehicles from getting onto the sidewalk. The crash happened at midday on a hot, clear day that brought large crowds of people into the streets to enjoy the good weather. Video posted online showed steam or smoke pouring from the car for a few moments after it stopped moving. The 26-year-old driver from the Bronx was taken into custody and was undergoing tests for alcohol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The man has a history of driving while intoxicated, according to the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Police do not suspect a link to terrorism, but the bomb squad has responded as a precaution to check the vehicle. Tourists Patrick and Kelly Graves of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, were waiting to get on a tour bus when they heard the crash. Kelly Graves said she feared the worst, maybe a bomb, as "chaos" erupted and people began running. People rushed to help the injured, who were lying on the sidewalk. Photo: RCMP Afshin Maleki Ighani, the alleged shooter of Thomas Szajko. A bail hearing for a man accused of attempted murder in an April incident in Oliver has been postponed yet again. Afshin Maleki Ighani was arrested in Princeton on the afternoon of Apr. 22, after a Canada-wide warrant was issued over several charges, including the attempted murder of Thomas Szajko in Oliver on Apr. 19 and the alleged kidnapping of a woman in a vehicle in Princeton on Apr. 22. Ighani has been before the courts for a bail hearing five times between Apr. 22 and May 17, but each time has resulted in an adjournment, according to the Court Services Online. Ighani was the subject of an hours-long police incident in a quiet Oliver neighbourhood on Apr. 19, after Szajko was admitted to the hospital after being shot. When police entered a motorhome that was the centre of the incident, Ighani was found not to be inside, leading to a wider search for the man. He was later the subject of a manhunt after police received a call that a woman had been kidnapped in a vehicle in Princeton, and was ultimately arrested that day. Ighani is facing 20 charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping and numerous firearms charges. His next appearance is scheduled for June 7, again for a bail hearing. Photo: The Canadian Press A Pennsylvania man locked his 22-month-old son in a makeshift wooden cage and left the boy home alone with his two younger siblings, including a sister born hours earlier, police said Thursday. Troopers acting on a tip arrived Wednesday afternoon at the North Manheim Township home, knocked on the door and, when no one answered, forced their way in. Just inside the front door they found a 1-year-old boy in a playpen, a newborn girl in a baby seat and the toddler inside a cage made of plywood and wooden lattice, locked from the outside. Police arrested their father, Cecil Kutz, 38, on child endangerment charges when he returned home. He remained jailed Thursday and didn't yet have an attorney. "From the time we arrived to the residence to the time the father returned, it was 40 minutes. God knows how long they were alone before that. He was nowhere to be found," state police Trooper Thomas Robin said Thursday. Police said the children's mother gave birth at the home north of Philadelphia about 9 p.m. Tuesday. She suffered heavy bleeding and Kutz called an ambulance for her around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery, according to Robin. Robin said medical staff asked her, "'Where's the baby?' She said, 'The baby's at home.' That put up a red flag." Kutz refused to tell police how long he'd left the children or where he went on Wednesday, Robin said. The father said he used the cage as a makeshift crib to keep the toddler safe at night, the trooper said. There was a foam mattress and toys inside the cage. Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer The boil water notice in Naramata has been lifted. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is rescinding the notice for the Naramata Water System, effective Thursday. Source water quality parameters for the Okanagan Lake intake have improved and are again within the specifications of the treatment plant. The RDOS advises they will be monitoring the Okanagan Lake source water quality closely as they continue with this years freshet. If they experience increased precipitation and/or increased temperatures accelerating the snow melt it is possible that future notices will be required. Photo: TNRD The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has declared a state of local emergency. Flooding in Area N (Nicola Valley South) prompted the measure, which was taken Thursday. The declaration provides the TNRD with the authority to perform emergency works within and around waterways, including constructing or placing erosion protection works or flood protection works as needed, to protect the health, safety or welfare of residents or to limit damage to property. It also gives the district authority to clear obstructions from bridges or culverts. Residents are reminded that if they feel they are in imminent danger, they should evacuate immediately. The TNRD Emergency Operations Centre can be reached at 1-866-377-7188. Regional staff or agents are empowered to implement all procedures considered necessary to prevent or to alleviate effects of the emergency. Mr Stephen Fuhr, The provincial election results have British Columbians thinking about electoral reform again. 31,924 British Columbians signed petition e-616 in favour of electoral reform. This means that per capita, British Columbians were most represented of all provinces and territories at nearly twice the national average, on a petition that has the most signatures by a large margin. https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-616 https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Search?Category=All&order=MostSignatures As a candidate, your agreement with Gary Adams, who stepped down in your riding and backed you, was that you would support Proportional Representation. You and your party earned my vote with a promise of action on electoral reform, you will lose it by inaction. Please keep your promise and uphold the recommendations of ERRE in the upcoming vote this month. Jonathan Hulka Photo: CTV Officers surrounded a Vancouver elementary school with their weapons drawn after a man ran inside saying he was being chased by someone with a gun. Annie B. Jamieson Elementary School, located near Oak Street and West 49th Avenue was on a precautionary lockdown. Vancouver police spoke to the man but didn't find the other man on site. The lockdown was lifted at 12:25 p.m. after police determined there was no risk to the students or public. The man was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment. with files from CTV News. tnAchieves, the partnering organization that administers Governor Haslams Tennessee Promise scholarship program in 84 counties, invites community members to attend the State of Tennessee Promise community tour beginning on May 22 and continuing through August 10. tnAchieves will host community meetings in each of the 84 counties it serves. "The purpose of these meetings is to provide stakeholders with county-level student data in an effort to increase student completion. These meetings will also provide an opportunity to have any questions answered about the Tennessee Promise program," officials said. When tnAchieves launched Tennessee Promise, we vowed to keep the program local in an effort to best serve students, said Krissy DeAlejandro, executive director of tnAchieves. The tour is tnAchieves keeping its promise to our stakeholders by offering a local, data-driven conversation about student success. We will be celebrating our successes while also discussing solutions for increased student completion. Those who wish to attend should register for their preferred meeting time and location at https://tnachieves.org/tour/. tnAchieves encourages those who wish to attend to register early as space could be limited. For information on tnAchieves or its tour, contact Ms. DeAlejandro at 865-621-9223 or krissy@tnachieves.org. Photo: Contributed North District RCMP have a person of interest in custody after a body was found on the shore of Francois Lake, about 200 km west of Prince George. Police in Burns Lake were called at around 6:30 a.m. Thursday by multiple members of the community. Police are working hard to gather all the evidence, Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said in a news release. The police believe that there is no risk to the community. Saunderson added that more information will be released as it becomes available. Photo: RCMP The Nechako River A woman in Prince George was pulled out of the Nechako River, saved from drowning by a police officer and dog on Thursday. Police received a report of a woman who had gone into the Nechako River at about 10:30 a.m., near the Cameron Street Bridge. A pair of off-duty 911 operators that happened to be walking alongside the river called into the RCMP, providing updates as to where the woman was. A few minutes later, emergency crews began arriving and setting up at various points along the river. Two officers were helped by a boat operator and began searching from the water. Shortly after, the woman was spotted about 700 metres down from where she entered the river. Const. Cole Ebling, a general duty officer, ran into the fast moving river and began making his way to the woman. While this was happening, an off-duty police officer sent his personal, non-police, dog into the river to grab the female. The dog got to the woman first, and began pulling her towards Const. Ebling, who then took her to shore. "Const. Ebling's actions and bravery exemplify the efforts and sacrifices our police officers and employees make each and every day here in Prince George" says Supt. Warren Brown, the officer in charge of the Prince George RCMP. "Because of Const. Ebling's commitment to public safety, he sacrificed his own safety to save the life of a person who would have drowned. I simply cannot ask more of an effort than that." Photo: Facebook RCMP say two men associated with a vigilante group in Surrey, B.C., have been charged with assault. Police say Ryan LaForge is charged with one count of assault and one count of uttering threats related to an alleged incident on April 3. LaForge, who is the president of the Surrey Creep Catchers, posted a Facebook Live video saying he had been arrested after conducting a "citizen's arrest" of a target. The group targets people they allege are child sexual predators by posing as minors online, arranging to meet their targets and filming the encounters, which are then posted on the Internet. The RCMP say the 34-year-old LaForge is also facing a separate assault charge in an alleged incident on April 19. In a news release, police say there was a confrontation between a man alleged to have been involved in child luring and three men believed to be involved with the vigilante group. Police say a second member of the group, 37-year-old Lance Loy, has also been charged with assault stemming from the alleged incident on April 19. If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,... 5/23 Doing Business with Government Part 1 Certification9:30 11 a.m.INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.Federal, state and local governments offer businesses the opportunity to sell billions of dollars worth of products and services through government contracting. Learn the steps in the process to become certified with assistance from an SBA Business Opportunity Specialist. Part 1 of 2 Certification & Solicitation.Speaker: Kena Dixon, SBA, and Paul Middlebrooks, UT ProcurementRegister for free at clients.tsbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=30370011 5/23 Facebook Advertising Workshop 10110:30 a.m. NoonBrightBridge: 535 Chestnut St., Suite 161Learn how to target your ads, learn who your customer is and fine tune your business page. This workshop is developed and delivered by an e-commerce seller, not a Facebook employee. As such the views or opinions expressed are those of the instructor. If you need help establishing a page and/or need a laptop, please let us know at least 3 days in advance.Materials needed: Active Facebook Business Page and laptop computerSpeaker: Emily Pilkington with BrightBridge Womens Business CenterTo reserve your free seat visit brightbridgewbc.org/event/FBads5-23/ 5/23 Doing Business with Government Part 2 Solicitation11:15 a.m. 12:45 p.m.INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.Contracting with the federal government can open the door to many opportunities for your small business and can aid your business growth. Learn to find contract opportunities and find out more about responsibilities of a contractor. Part 2 of 2 of Certification & Solicitation.Speaker: Kena Dixon, SBA, and Paul Middlebrooks, UT ProcurementRegister for free at clients.tsbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=30370015 5/23 East Brainerd Chamber Council Meeting11:30 a.m. 1 p.m.Car Barn: 6721 Heritage Business Court$125/23 Ribbon Cutting for Tennessee Imaging and Vein Center4:30 5 p.m.Tennessee Imaging and Vein Center: 1604 Gunbarrel Rd.5/23 Ooltewah/Collegedale Chamber Council Monthly Mixer5 7 p.m.Puleo's Grille: 6108 Artesian Cir.Join the Ooltewah/Collegedale Council for their monthly mixer at Puleo's Grille. This event is held on the 4th Tuesday of every month. Complimentary light appetizers and drink specials available at this free event.5/24 How to Get a Business Bank Loan in 5 Minutes11 a.m. NoonBrightBridge: 535 Chestnut St., Suite 161Topics include: what small businesses need to know about meeting their banker, what lenders look for in a loan applicant, what is needed for a loan application, why credit score matters.Speaker: Scottie Neil, Pinnacle Bank and BrightBridge Womens Business CenterReserve your free seat at brightbridgewbc.org/event/BusnLoan5-24/ 5/25 Enterprise Gateway Chamber Council Meeting8:15 9:30 a.m.Hospice of Chattanooga: 411 Oakwood Dr.Join us for networking from 8:15 8:30 a.m. with a program to follow, from 8:30 9:30.$105/25 Small Business Orientation- Complimentary Morning Course11:30 a.m. 1 p.m.INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.This seminar will address key topics of interest for individuals considering starting a business. Participants receive a startup packet containing vital phone numbers and addresses for getting established within State and Federal regulations.Topics include: business entity options and tax registration, the importance of business planning, financing options and the extensive network of resources through the TSBDC.Register for this free event at clients.tsbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=30360132 5/25 Small Business Orientation- Complimentary Evening Course5:30 7 p.m.INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.This seminar will address key topics of interest for individuals considering starting a business. Topics such as business entity options and tax registration, the importance of business planning, financing options, and the extensive network of resources through the TSBDC. Participants receive a startup packet containing vital phone numbers and addresses for getting established within State and Federal regulations.Register for this free event at clients.tsbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=30360161 When Morris Innovative High School senior Marco Hernandez walks across the graduation stage in Dalton on May 26, its not just a diploma hell be leaving high school with. A historic sense of pride will accompany Mr. Hernandez as he will become the first person in his family to graduate from high school. Paving the way for his five brothers and sisters to succeed, organizations in the Dalton area have decided to do the same for him. To help with collegiate expenses, the First Bank of Dalton, in partnership with the Roman Open Charities, has awarded Mr. Hernandez $500. He was also awarded the Roman Open Charities Scholarship for $1,000. Also, the Dalton Rotary Club awarded the soon-to-be 2017 high school graduate with their Service Above Self Award. Mr. Hernandez, 19, plans to take his first classes at Georgia Northwestern Technical College later this year. The Dalton resident plans to build a life helping others in need. I really want to be a social worker with families and schools, said Mr. Hernandez. But, I really want to have a non-profit organization that would help the homeless and the children of new families that move into the area. Giving back to my community by doing social work is the best way I can think of to begin my life. Beyond his academics, Mr. Hernandez has actively worked with the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, the Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership, and the Dalton City Schools Central Office. I want to work with people and help them see their potential, said Mr. Hernandez. One of Mr. Hernandez many passions is working with the Translation Academy at Morris Innovative High School. Mr. Hernandez, along with many other students, helps assist anyone who speaks Spanish fluently, but not English. The Academy helps train not only the importance of being bilingual, but also the importance of being an active part of the community around you. Nearly half of the residents in Dalton are Hispanic. I just want to be able to help the businesses and the people in the community, too, said Mr. Hernandez. The Translation Academy was launched five years ago by Paige Watts, a Spanish instructor with Dalton City Schools. During their time in the Translation Academy, students realize their value to the community, the vast opportunities that are available to them, as well as how to pursue their future goals, said Ms. Watts. The academy works with students and adults in the community, alike. More than 60-percent of the students in the Dalton City School system are Hispanic. With the support of his parents, Joaquin and Marisol Hernandez, the future Georgia Northwestern freshman says its been a real team effort for him to get where he is today. Just all of the teachers and staff at the school, as well as the organizations that I have got to work with, have really helped me decide to pursue this career, said Mr. Hernandez. Im just thankful and plan to take full advantage of all of this. Back Alley Productions is holding auditions for "Deathtrap," a thriller comedy complete with murder, betrayal and plot twists (with jokes). Auditions are Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Mars Theater, 117 N. Chattanooga St. in Lafayette. The show is directed by Zack Jordan. Plot for Deathtrap: Seemingly comfortably ensconced in his charming Connecticut home, Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, is struggling to overcome a dry spell which has resulted in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. A possible break in his fortunes occurs when he receives a script from a student in the seminar he has been conducting at a nearby collegea thriller which Sidney recognizes immediately as a potential Broadway hit. Sidney's plan, which he devises with his wife's help, is to offer collaboration to the student, an idea which the younger man quickly accepts. Thereafter suspense mounts steadily as the plot begins to twist and turn with devilish cleverness, and with such an abundance of thrills and laughter, that audiences will be held enthralled until the final, startling moments of the play. Performances will be July 28-30 and Aug. 4-6: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Those who audition should be sure to be available for the performance dates. The first cast meeting will be Friday, May 26, at 6:30 p.m. Rehearsals will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Some cast members will not be called for every rehearsal. Character Breakdown: Sidney Bruhl (M, 40s- early 50s) - Formerly successful playwright struggling creatively and financially. Hatches a plot to murder Clifford and steal his script. Myra Bruhl (F, 40s) - Sidney's wife. Encourages him to collaborate with Clifford on his play, and discourages Sidney from murdering Clifford to steal his script. Clifford Anderson (M, 20s-30s) - Affable young playwright. Student in Sidney's seminar who writes a script that Sidney thinks is a sure-fire hit. Helga Ten Dorp (F, Any age) - German psychic house-sitting for the Bruhls' neighbors. Suspects foul play. Porter Milgrim (M, 40s-50s) - Sidney's friend and attorney. Auditions will be cold reads of scenes from the script; participants will not need to have anything prepared. Auditions will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Participants only need to attend one night. There will not be callbacks for this show, and the director would like to give those auditioning the opportunity to read with as many others as possible. The more people who are there around the same time, the better. If unavailable during the audition nights, but would like to audition, please email backalleyperformances@gmail.com as soon as possible, to work out an appointment. PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Newscity APS Moves Employees to Save Funds Robert Maestas Albuquerque Public Schools is moving a number of curriculum specialists and support staff to classroom teaching assignments as a way to save funds in the coming year. It's part of a restructuring plan that school officials say will save the economically suffering district $2.5 million. In total, 28 resource teacherswho currently offer curriculum supportwill be moved to classroom teaching positions. While reassigning this many staff members is common, moving resource teachers in this manner is rare. To allow for the staff change, the restructuring of two programs will be required. The home hospital instruction service, which provides tutoring to students who are away from school for an extended period due to medical reasons, will be losing four teachers. The new program will be managed by one teacher who will conduct classes through Skype. Under the new plan, computer technicians will service multiple schools instead of just one, freeing the rest to apply for teaching positions. Some of the schools will maintain a dedicated technician on-site to maintain equipment. In all, 249 school employees will be reassigned during he restructuring, including teachers and counselors. N.M. Joins Lawsuit Against Reopening Coal Leases New Mexico was one of four states who filed a lawsuit last week over President Trump's decision to restart the sale of coal leases on federal public lands. The democratic attorney general of New Mexico, along with state prosecutors from California, New York and Washington filed with a US district court in Montana to sue Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the Interior Department and the US Bureau of Land Management to block new leases of public lands for coal mining. Earlier this year, the Trump administration rolled back a moratorium put into place by former President Barack Obama in January 2016 that halted the leasing of new coal mines on public lands. The state attorney generals filed the lawsuit because they say restarting the program without a proper environmental assessment could worsen the effects of climate change. According to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, New Mexico taxpayers must be properly compensated for coal produced in our state, including the environmental toll. Illinois Governor Candidates Want Donald Trump Impeached By Stephen Gossett in News on May 18, 2017 3:53PM In the wake of what already feels like an infamous week for the White House, several Democratic candidates for governor are officially calling for impeachment. It's been a head-spinning several days. To recap: we saw, among other shockers, the abrupt dismissal of ex-FBI director James Comey, apparent threats made to him by the president, Trump's sharing of classified information with Russian officials, and reports that the president asked Comey to drop investigations against now-ousted national security adviser Michael T. Flynn. It's been culmination enough for candidates J.B. Pritzker, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) and State Sen. Daniel Biss to drop the "I" word on Wednesday. Pritzker, a billionaire venture capitalist, said "there are credible reports that Trump has obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy." He said in a statement: "I understand that calling for impeachment is not something done lightly, but it is an action that I believe is necessary to protect our countrys national security and preserve our democracy. With the revelation, backed up by his own Tweets, that President Donald Trump may have disclosed highly classified intelligence to our Russian adversaries and compromised our allies ability and desire to share the most sensitive intelligence on ISIS, I feel a grave sense of urgency to get to the bottom of this threat to our democratic process and national security." Today, I'm calling on the House of Representatives to begin the impeachment process against @realDonaldTrump. #ilgov https://t.co/4dlbMDgWk8 JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) May 17, 2017 @realDonaldTrump Calling for impeachment is not something done lightly, but I believe its necessary to protect our countrys national security & democracy. JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) May 17, 2017 Biss was among Wednesday's chorus, as well. "Trump's reckless behavior is a clear threat to our safety and security. Draft articles of impeachment now." Biss shared a petition to start impeachment proceedings, as well. Trump's reckless behavior is a clear threat to our safety and security. Draft articles of impeachment now: https://t.co/gI1SSbV6Ea Daniel Biss (@danielbiss) May 18, 2017 Pawar meanwhile pithily offered, "time to impeach @POTUS," with a link to a damning catalog of recent White House developments from the Atlantic. The other major candidate running against Gov. Bruce Rauner from the left, Chris Kennedy, stopped short on Wednesday of calling for impeachment, but he affirmed his call that Trump should go to prison if a link between the president and Russian hacking efforts in the election is proven. Like I said months ago, a Trump & a Russian 2016 election connection would be treason & you should go to jail for treason. CGK #Comey #FBI Chris Kennedy (@KennedyforIL) May 17, 2017 Update 12:00 p.m.: Pritzker on Thursday issued a statement calling on Rauner to speak out against Trump, also. Pritzker said: "Yesterday, I called on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. With credible reports that President Donald Trump obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy, I knew it was time to act. But Bruce Rauner remains silent. Rauner continues to fail this state and his refusal to speak out as Donald Trump decimates our democracy is unacceptable. The President is putting our national security at risk and undermining our rule of law. It is time for Governor Rauner to put partisanship aside and stand with Illinois families instead of Donald Trump and his hurtful agenda." The Chattanooga Bach Choir, conducted by artistic director David Long, continues its Barnett & Company Cantata Series on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Christ Church Episcopal, 663 Douglas St. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door; students are free. For more information, visit www.chattanoogabachchoir.org. Review for the program: The program features music by J.S. Bach for choir and solo instruments, including Cantata BWV 86 Wahrlich, Wahrlich Ich Sage Euch (Truly, truly, I say to you); Suite No. 4 in E-flat major for solo cello, BWV 1010; and Organ Prelude BWV 658 Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (I will not forsake the Lord). Joining the Bach Choir are guest soloists: alto Rachel Walls, tenor Mark Laseter, bass Zachary James Cavan; along with cellist Isaiah Pennington; and organist Karla Fowkes. Mr. Long said, "On the last Barnett & Co. Cantata Series of the 2016-17 season, the Bach Choir will be joined by four outstanding local artists, all at the early stages of their professional careers. Rachael Walls, a graduate of Lee University, is an alto with outstanding coloratura (very useful for Cantata 86). Mark Laseter, a Signal Mountain native and a graduate of Westminster Choir College, sings with the professional chorus 'Seraphic Fire' and will be a choral scholar at a cathedral in Great Britain next season. "Zachary J Cavan, a native of Ringgold who holds music degrees from UT-Chattanooga and the University of Louisville, is becoming recognized as an outstanding bass and has been a frequent soloist on the Barnett & Co. Cantata Series. Isaiah Pennington, a senior at Southern Methodist University, will perform one of Bachs famous unaccompanied cello suites. "Completing the program, Bach Choir Organist and Christ ChurchOrganist/Choirmaster Karla Fowkes will play one of Bachs most ornate chorale preludes on the churchs renowned Richards and Fowkes tracker organ. Bach wrote Cantata BWV 86 during his first year in Leipzig (May 14, 1724) for the fifth Sunday after Easter and before the Rogation days of prayer. The gospel reading of that day comes from John 16:23-30 (If you ask something of the Father in my Name, He will grant it to you), and Bachs librettist takes the reading as an opportunity for exploring the question of how these words of Jesus relate with the believers life experience. Mr. Long will present a 10-15 minute introduction to the cantata, with musical examples, before the performance of the work. There will be a reception for the audience and performers following the concert. Illinois' Richest Man Donates $20 Million To Rauner Campaign By aaroncynic in News on May 18, 2017 2:21PM Citadel LLC founder and CEO Kenneth Griffin is the richest man in Chicago. (Photo via Citadel LLC's website.) "Gov. Rauner cares deeply about the future of our state and making it a better place to live and work," Griffin said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. "He has the winning plan to create jobs, improve our schools and put Illinois on the right path forward." Though the Illinois gubernatorial election is more than a year and five months away, Rauner has already raised more than several wheelbarrows full of money. The governor forked over $50 million of his own money to his campaign fund last year, and Griffins donation brings the Rauners campaign war chest to a total of more than $70 million. Prior to this donation, the billionaire hedge fund manager had already donated $13,589,295.18 to Rauner, according to records published by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. The donation is another signal that the 2018 gubernatorial election is on target to be the most expensive election in Illinois history, which is no longer terribly irregular, thanks to the Supreme Courts decision on Citizens United, every new election cycle costs more than the previous. Rauners democratic opponents and other detractors were quick to call out his newest cauldron of cash. "Never has the Rauner re-election strategy been clearer, said the group Illinois Working Together. On the same day the state's bill backlog tops $14 billion, the governor released a new campaign ad and his political campaign raked in $20 million from Illinois' richest man. Rauner's game plan is simple: spend millions of dollars to paper over his abysmal record of failure as governor. The group also tweeted a vision of what Rauners office mightve looked like after the donation. We now go live to @GovRauners office pic.twitter.com/WpUnBXXPtM IL Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) May 17, 2017 Meanwhile, Rauners opponents also took aim at him, pointing out just how expensive it has become to run for office. "This billionaire class wants to buy Illinois for themselves, Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar said in a statement to Chicagoist. Don't think for a moment these wealthy people have anyones interests but their own at heart. We are seeing firsthand here in Illinois what happens when money has too strong a hold over our politics: Government stops working for us, wrote Illinois Senator and challenger Daniel Biss in a campaign fundraising email. Biss also pointed out that a worker earning $8.25 an hour would have to work 10 hours a day every day for the next 644 years to earn as much as Griffins donation. Despite his own status as a billionaire, candidate JB Pritzker also weighed in, saying that Rauner is putting politics over passing a state budget and pointing out his most recent donors contribution of $100,000 to President Donald Trumps inauguration fund. Its clear that Ken Griffin and Rauners special interest allies want to force the Rauner-Trump agenda on our state, which attacks our working families and is decimating our economy, said a spokesperson for Pritzker in a statement emailed to Chicagoist. In this file photo, Butterball frozen turkeys are on display at Heinen's grocery store in Bainbridge Township, Ohio. Butterball will close its Gusto meatpacking plant in Montgomery, where it employs about 600 full-time worker (Amy Sancetta / AP) Butterball will shutter its Gusto meatpacking plant in Montgomery, where it employs about 600 full-time workers, marking another painful loss of jobs in the Aurora area. The North Carolina-based company's announcement comes after Caterpillar announced last month it would close its manufacturing plant in Montgomery by the end of 2018, resulting in a loss of 800 jobs. Butterball acquired Gusto Packing Co. in 2013; now, most of the plant's products will be discontinued after the plant closes on or around July 17. Advertisement Butterball said it informed employees of the plant closing Thursday. "Talk about a very hard one-two punch for all these families," said Chris Lauzen, chairman of the Kane County board, on the timing of the plant-closing announcements. "This is huge. It will be very painful for those families." Advertisement Butterball executives said they intend to find work at other facilities for employees willing to relocate, but many likely will be unwilling or unable to make the move. Butterball has plants in Missouri, Arkansas and North Carolina, but no others in Illinois. The employees are not unionized. "We are committed to retaining as many of our Montgomery employees as possible, and are committed to offering relocation assistance to any of our team members who have an interest in staying with the company and accept an available position at another location," Butterball Chief Operating Officer Jay Jandrain said in an emailed statement. The plant processes primarily pork products, such as private label and Gusto-branded varieties of bacon and ham. The 260,000-square-foot facility was formerly an independent operation known as Gusto Packing Co., founded in 1972. It appears Butterball is returning its sole focus to turkey. Jandrain cited the "lack of vertical integration in the pork complex and the weakness in the raw material commodity markets" as reasons for the Gusto plant closing. The pork products made at the Montgomery facility will be discontinued. The turkey products will be made at other Butterball facilities. Jandrain said the company will work with local and state agencies to find a buyer for the Montgomery facility. gtrotter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GregTrotterTrib Mall owner GGP plans to move its headquarters toRiver North Point, formerly known as the Apparel Center, in River North. The building also houses the Chicago Sun-Times. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) With the wrecking ball looming over its low-slung building, mall owner GGP plans to move its headquarters less than a half-mile up the Chicago River. GGP is working to finalize a lease for about 160,000 square feet at River North Point, the office building formerly known as the Apparel Center, according to sources. River North Point is at Orleans Street and the river, along the west side of the larger Merchandise Mart. Advertisement If the deal is completed as expected, GGP will move north by early 2018. GGP, formerly known as General Growth Properties, owns large shopping malls throughout the country, including Water Tower Place on North Michigan Avenue and Oakbrook Center in the western suburbs. Advertisement The real estate investment trust is moving out of a building that for years has stood out as a rare low-rise among Wacker Drive's rows of office skyscrapers. GGP's building along the east bank of the river is five stories and 226,750 square feet, according to CoStar Group. It was built in the 1950s as Morton Salt's headquarters The move to River North allows GGP to reduce its space, and is necessitated by property owner Howard Hughes Corp.'s plan to demolish the smaller building and begin constructing a 51-story tower on the site by early next year. Dallas-based Howard Hughes, which spun out of GGP in 2010 as the mall landlord emerged from bankruptcy, is developing the tower with Chicago-based joint venture partner Riverside Investment & Development. This month Bank of America confirmed it has leased about 490,000 square feet in the new tower, with plans to start moving employees there by late 2020. GGP's plans for new headquarters space come after CEO Sandeep Mathrani recently said the REIT would consider buyout offers. In a May 1 call with analysts, Mathrani said the combined value of GGP's real estate is much higher than its share price has reflected. "The sum of the parts is far greater than GGP's current stock price," Mathrani said, according to a transcript of the earnings call. "We are reviewing all strategic alternatives to bridge the gap." Mathrani later said GGP is considering a range of options, which would include an outright sale of the company, adding: "There is no sacred cow." Advertisement GGP declined to comment about the planned move to River North, or to say how many employees are in the headquarters. Spokesman Kevin Berry said in an email that "when we have some news to publicly announce, we will." GGP is represented in the River North lease by Vineet Sahgal and Meredith O'Connor of Jones Lang LaSalle. The building's owner, Blackstone Group, is represented by Mike Kazmierczak and Ron Lakin of CBRE. A spokeswoman for New York-based Blackstone declined to comment. Blackstone bought River North Point for $378 million in 2015, after a Chicago-record $1.3 billion acquisition of Willis Tower. The 1.3 million-square-foot River North office property has two towers, one of which is topped by a 525-room Holiday Inn that is owned separately but pays rent to Blackstone as part of a long-term lease. The name of one office tenant, the Chicago Sun-Times, is in large letters on the outside of the building. Advertisement rori@chicagotribune.com Twitter @Ryan_Ori Gov. Bruce Rauner's nonprofit economic development corporation has a new CEO, and he's coming from upstate New York. Mark Peterson, currently the president and CEO of the economic development engine for the Rochester, N.Y., region, on Thursday was named CEO of Intersect Illinois. He will assume his new position June 15. Advertisement Intersect Illinois, which supports marketing of the state to businesses and helps negotiate state incentives, chose Peterson in a nationwide search, Chief Operating Officer Andria Winters said. "He comes from upstate New York, and New York is similar to Illinois in that you've got a major metro area and other surrounding areas," Winters said. "He's got that experience of looking at the lens of the whole state or a different part of the state than the major metro area." Advertisement Peterson will take the helm from fifth-generation Illinoisan Jim Schultz, who left his post as director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to head Intersect Illinois, which is funded through private donations. Schultz announced in January that he planned to leave the nonprofit and transition back into private equity. Rauner created the economic development nonprofit by executive order in early 2016 and directed the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to work with the organization. Pressured by the budget stalemate, he said at the time that tapping private-sector resources could help relieve burdens on taxpayers and help with government efficiency. He also said using a private organization for the state's economic development efforts could help get around hiring restrictions like salary limitations and seniority rules. Democrats have argued that Intersect Illinois lacks transparency and accountability to taxpayers and lawmakers. One of the earliest deals the nonprofit helped negotiate was the purchase of a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal by Rivian Automotive, a Michigan-based electric car startup that has yet to produce a vehicle. In addition to local incentives, the company is set to receive $49.2 million in state tax credits over 10 years in exchange for creating 1,000 jobs by the end of 2024. Intersect Illinois also has been credited with helping bring Amazon facilities and thousands of promised jobs to the state. Intersect Illinois has seven full-time employees, Winters said. The organization also named 10 new board members. They are: Doug Oberhelman, retired chairman and CEO of Caterpillar William Osborn, former CEO of Northern Trust and chair of Northwestern University's board of trustees Advertisement James Reynolds Jr., founder, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based global investment firm Loop Capital Andrew McKenna Sr., chairman of Morton Grove-based paper company Schwarz Supply Source Miles White, chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories David Casper, president and CEO of BMO Harris Bank and group head of commercial banking Frederick Waddell, CEO of Northern Trust Anthony Anderson, retired vice chairman of Ernst & Young Advertisement Juan Luciano, president and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland E. Scott Santi, CEO of Illinois Tool Works amarotti@chicagotribune.com Twitter @AllyMarotti Tannis Betz, who lives in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, speaks about her experiences with Lincoln Towing, in which she says Lincoln towed her car from her paid parking space. The ICC will hold a hearing to determine whether Lincoln Towing should keep its license. (Alyssa Pointer/Chicago Tribune) ((Alyssa Pointer/ Chicago Tribune)/Chicago Tribune) For nearly six decades, Lincoln Towing Service has earned an infamous reputation for hauling away countless Chicago vehicles. The Andersonville-based firm, dubbed the "Lincoln Park Pirates" in song and lore, may soon be facing the hook itself: an Illinois Commerce Commission hearing to determine whether to pull its relocation towing license. Advertisement The two-day hearing, scheduled to begin May 31, is the culmination of an ICC investigation into Lincoln that began in February 2016 amid mounting public pressure and numerous citations for illegally towing cars. Allegations ranged from improper signage to relocating authorized vehicles. This is the first time state regulators have challenged Lincoln's fitness to hold a towing license, ICC spokeswoman Marianne Manko said. Advertisement Four state witnesses are expected to testify before an ICC administrative judge, with the commission itself ultimately deciding the firm's fate. Steve Friedrichs, 60, of Minneapolis, who was involved in one of 180 citations issued to Lincoln during the eight-month period covered by the investigation, will not take the stand after accepting a refund of his contested $520 towing charge. "I'm glad I got my money," Friedrichs said. "But I would have loved to testify ... so other consumers don't have to face this." The largest relocation towing service in the state, Lincoln has been at the center of lawsuits, consumer horror stories and political pressure over the years, but its fleet of wreckers has continued to ply the streets, alleys and parking lots of Chicago. Lincoln Towing was founded by Ross Cascio and became notorious for its allegedly ruthless tactics, which were immortalized in the 1970s Steve Goodman song "Lincoln Park Pirates." Cascio was owner of the firm from 1960 to 1981. He died in 1987. The current owner is Protective Parking Service Corp., an Illinois corporation since 1992, whose principal is listed as Chris Dennis by the secretary of state's office. Lincoln was granted a two-year license renewal on July 24, 2015. The ICC investigation covers the first day of Lincoln's current license period through March 24, 2016,the date of its first status hearing. Advertisement Of the 180 citations issued to Lincoln during the eight months, the towing firm has been found liable in 27 cases to date, according to the ICC. Most of the citations have been dismissed, including 99 as part of a refund and 20 for various other reasons. Lincoln settled 23 citations without an admission of liability and 11 citations are pending. Allen Perl, a Chicago attorney who has represented Lincoln for 24 years, said the citations are "not a lot of mistakes" for a firm that towed about 9,000 cars during the investigation period. "That's not a bad record for any industry," Perl said. A Rogers Park native and retired transportation executive, Friedrichs was helping his daughter move into a Wrigleyville apartment on July 31, 2015. He said he parked his rental van in a nearby lot for 15 minutes and returned to find it gone. "There's this parking lot with no signs, nothing on the building that tells you that it's a private parking lot," Friedrichs said. Friedrichs paid Lincoln and filed a complaint, but he didn't hear back from the ICC for more than a year. Then the ICC told Friedrichs that Lincoln had been issued a citation for improper signage and asked him to come to Chicago to testify against the towing firm. Advertisement When Friedrichs showed up for a September hearing, Lincoln offered to refund his $520 towing charge. Friedrichs said it took him almost eight weeks and "a number of phone calls" before he finally received his check. "Certainly I wanted my money back, but they should put a sign up there," Friedrichs said. "It was more of the principle." Drivers have continued filing complaints against Lincoln even as the state hearing process drags on. In September, Tannis Betz, 31, had her car towed in the early morning hours by Lincoln from her longtime paid parking space at her Edgewater apartment building. A single mother of two and full-time college student, she paid about $380 to retrieve her car from Lincoln, where she said she found the parking sticker, which she had taped to her rearview mirror, ripped off. She filed a complaint with the ICC but has yet to hear back. "It's a scam to get money out of people," said Betz, who is studying hospitality management at Kendall College. "I can't afford to pay for my monthly parking and then have them do stuff like that. It's not fair at all." Advertisement While her incident falls outside the period covered by the ICC investigation, she has been hoping for a refund and to exert some pressure on regulators to curtail Lincoln's license. Frustrated that she didn't hear back from the ICC, she recently threw out a file she was keeping on the incident, including copious notes, copies of the complaint and photos. "Every time I would see it, it would just get me upset again," she said. "It seemed useless to continue to have it, so I just got rid of it." The ICC regulates 56 relocation towing companies in the Chicago area. In March 2016, the commission began a similar probe of Bridgeport-based Rendered Services, the state's second-largest relocation towing company, which is still undergoing status hearings. The ICC administrative judge is expected to issue a proposed order sometime after Lincoln's hearing. The proposed order then goes to the five ICC commissioners, who review the case, invite public comment and vote on a final order, Manko said. If Lincoln Towing disagrees with the ICC's final order, it may seek administrative review in the circuit court, she said. Advertisement Perl believes the current investigation is much ado about nothing, rooted more in folklore than fact. "I think the reputation for my client is unfounded," said Perl, who didn't respond immediately to a request for comment on Friedrichs' and Betz's cases. Friedrichs, who logged 25 hours and traveled nearly 1,000 miles to contest and ultimately settle his towing charge, said Lincoln's reputation is well-earned. "I'm satisfied personally, but I think consumers in Illinois, beware," Friedrichs said. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Twitter @RobertChannick Navy Pier security officers, members of Teamsters Local 727, strike May 18, 2017, to protest a new contractor that they say plans to replace them with cheaper workers. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Navy Pier's security guards went on strike Thursday to protest a new security contractor the union says plans to replace them with workers making half their wage. Allied Universal, which took over from previous contractor SMG on Wednesday, has refused to recognize the workers' collective bargaining agreement and "made clear it plans to eliminate 90 percent of the union positions and replace experienced security professionals earning $24 an hour with outsourced workers making just $13," Teamsters Local 727, which represents the 43 security, fire and safety workers, said in a news release. Advertisement Navy Pier security officers with Teamsters Local 727 strike May 18, 2017, at the pier. The union says a new contractor plans to replace them with cheaper workers. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune ) A spokesperson for Navy Pier, the city's No. 1 tourist destination, said the strike will cause no interruption in security services and that Allied and Chicago police officers will have continued presence on the Pier. Allied said it is working toward "a smooth transition and startup of services and will continue to do so over the days and weeks to come" but declined to comment on the union's specific accusations. Advertisement Angela Burrell, public relations manager for Allied, said the company is still setting up its Navy Pier staffing. "Any statement regarding the representation of those employees would be premature," she said. The union called the strike after filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging a Navy Pier executive intimidated a union employee by cutting down a union banner that hung at Illinois Street and Wabash Avenue, said union spokesman Will Petty. The union wants Allied to retain Navy Pier's current security workforce and recognize the five-year contract it negotiated in June with SMG, which had provided security at the pier since 2011. The workers will keep striking until the union hears from Allied or Navy Pier reaches out on its behalf, Petty said. Navy Pier issued a request for proposals for a new security contractor early this year and picked Allied, which has 150,000 employees in 45 states. "The change was a strategic decision that is more aligned with Navy Pier's mission, needs and organizational priorities, and allows the pier to have better management of the on-site security team," the Navy Pier spokesperson said in an email. "Allied Universal Security has led the industry in security practices for nearly 60 years, serving many museums, cultural attractions and organizations similar to Navy Pier including several in Chicago." Teamsters Local 727 said Allied is seeking to bring in workers at $13 an hour through SEIU Local 1, part of the Service Employees International Union behind the nationwide campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. "It's ironic that SEIU drives the Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage, yet Local 1 is being used by this company to lower the long-established wages and benefits at the pier," said John Coli Jr., President of Teamsters Local 727. SEIU Local 1 did not respond to requests for comment. Advertisement aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com Twitter @alexiaer The second annual Cars & Cops car show at Collectors' Car Garage on 2500 W. Bradley Place aims to raise money for bulletproof vests for Chicago police officers while celebrating steel art on wheels on May 20. (Collectors' Car Garage) While it may seem that classic cars have enough steel to stop bullets, one classic car show aims to stop bullets by raising funds for bulletproof vests for Chicago police officers. The inaugural Cars & Cops car show at Collectors' Car Garage (2500 W. Bradley Place) on Sunday will apply 100 percent of entry fees to "Get Behind the Vest," an initiative launched by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to buy 8,000 vests this year, and an additional 500 vests annually in subsequent years. Advertisement "In light of three officers being shot in the last two weeks, including one where the ER doctor said the vest saved his life, we're hoping to attract a whole new audience," to raise awareness and funds, said former Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline, who resigned in 2007 and is now the managing director of the memorial foundation, a nonprofit that provides financial support and assistance to families of slain or catastrophically injured Chicago police officers. Just last week, on May 12, a Chicago plainclothes officer was shot in his vest in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, the Chicago Tribune reported. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson credited the vest for saving the officer's life. Advertisement Bulletproof vests are provided by the city to officers coming out of the academy, Cline explained, but any additional vests are paid for by the officer. "Companies that make the vests give it a five-year lifespan due to weather, moisture, how it's stored," Cline said. "After that it makes them ineffective in stopping bullets." Working with local businesses such as the Collectors' Car Garage for donations and fund-raising events, the foundation so far has raised enough to purchase 7,000 vests at a cost estimated to be $500 each. Entry fees for collectors wanting to qualify for awards range from $25 to $40. The family-friendly and alcohol-free event is free for spectators. Organizers are expecting more than 240 vehicles in 10 categories to be displayed at the country club for cars. "The whole deal is to raise money to protect those who protect us," said organizer Burt Richmond, who manages the 60,000-square-foot warehouse. "And share everyone's love affair with the automobile." Judges will vote in categories ranging from pre-WWII cars to tuners, which is an emerging category of Asian cars favored by young professionals "who wax them to death," Richmond said. Food trucks will be on hand, along with beverages for sale. Police SWAT team and K-9 units also will be at the event, where cars will be vying for awards. Advertisement "For all the time and effort spent resurrecting your grandfather's Plymouth, that's what you get, a trophy," Richmond said. When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday Where: 2500 W. Bradley Place Tickets: Free, $40 entry fee for contestants; www.cpdmemorial.org/events/cars-cops-car-show rduffer@chicagotribune.com Twitter @DufferRobert Ald. Pawar Proposes City Council Resolution Calling For Trump Impeachment By aaroncynic in News on May 18, 2017 8:26PM Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) / Facebook On Wednesday Pawar was among a host of Illinois gubernatorial candidates to call for the Presidents impeachment, in the wake of a seemingly never ending series of scandals involving Trump and Russia. Thursday afternoon, the alderman announced a proposed resolution in City Council calling for Trumps impeachment. "Im introducing a resolution at City Council next week calling for the Illinois Congressional Delegation and Congress to start the impeachment proceedings," Pawar said in a press release. "I believe it is now time for Congress to start taking up impeachment proceedings and move on that quickly." Among other things, the resolution states that from the moment Trump took office he was in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution. It goes on to highlight the presidents platform during his campaign, specifically the Muslim ban, defunding Planned Parenthood, and general racist rhetoric. The resolution then states that after taking office, Trump has worked towards those goals that generally target and harm marginalized communities, as well as proposing cuts to various publicly funded programs. The resolution also states that Trump sought to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigations investigation into Russian interference in the November 2016 election by instructing the Bureaus Director to abandon their efforts, and that these potential violations undermine the integrity of the Presidency, corruptly advance the personal wealth of the President, compromise the rule of law in the United States, and violate the public trust. Pawars resolution then states: BE IT RESOLVED, That the Mayor and City Council of the City of Chicago call upon the United States House of Representatives to support a resolution authorizing and directing the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, including but not limited to the violations listed herein. Should the resolution pass, Chicago would be one of the largest cities in America to call for the impeachment of the President. Other cities that have passed similar resolutions calling for Trumps impeachment or investigations into the possibility of impeachment include Cambridge, Massachusetts, Richmond, Virginia, and at least three cities in California - Berkeley, Alameda, and Los Angeles. "Our country is in a really bad place right now, said Pawar. The billionaire class is eroding peoples trust in public institutions. The one thing that keeps me grounded and positive out of all this is that our institutions are fighting back and information is getting out. We need to take action, to determine once and for all if he is unfit to serve as our Commander and Chief." Spokespersons for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other members of the City Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bail has been set at $150,000 for a St. Charles East High school teacher charged with possession of child pornography, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced in a news release. Gregory Burgener, 63, of the 400 block of West Fremont, Elmhurst, is charged with two counts of class 1 felony child pornography possession. Advertisement Berlin called the allegations against Burgener "sickening." "As I have said many times in the past, every image of child pornography represents yet another innocent victim," Berlin said in the news release. Advertisement Burgener was taken into custody Tuesday morning on the charges, which resulted from an Elmhurst Police investigation that is still active, according to the state's attorney's office. During afternoon bond court Tuesday, Burgener's bail was set with 10 percent to apply for release. If he posts the $15,000 bond, additional conditions include no contact with children younger than 18, according to the news release. A St. Charles East staff directory lists Burgener, who often goes by Gary, as an English teacher and debate club adviser for the 2016-17 school year. He is next due in court June 12 before Judge Brian Telander. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone President Donald Trump can legally share classified material with any foreign leaders he likes, as it appears he did recently in an Oval Office meeting with Russia's foreign minister and its ambassador to the United States. But the information Trump reportedly shared with the Russians was originally passed to U.S. officials by another country's intelligence service (Israel's, according to media reports), which didn't agree in advance to letting him disclose it. As a former CIA officer, I fear that sharing information without coordinating with our allies will almost certainly hurt the country's security in the long run. I know how U.S. intelligence evaluates whether we can trust our partners in other countries. If another head of state handled the sensitive information we had provided so casually, it would damage our relationship badly. It would cause us to reevaluate how and what we passed, and almost certainly result in sharing less. Over the years, the United States has developed close relationships with foreign intelligence services with whom we share common interests and goals. Since 9/11, many of these relationships have become quite close. These ties are particularly useful when it comes to sharing intelligence on the plans and intentions of terrorists - on everything from specific plots to longer-term issues such as terrorist training locations or how to provide better security for high-profile international events. Trust is the key element in these relationships. Before one intelligence service passes its information to another, its officers must have a reasonable expectation that the information they provide will be protected. Part and parcel of protecting the information is the understanding that the other country will not pass the intelligence to a third party without specific permission. This is how it has always been done between intelligence services, and for good reason; it can take years to get to the level of trust with a foreign intelligence service where information can be shared routinely. Track records matter. There are times when the U.S. decides against passing intelligence to foreign governments, even when it might be useful to them. Part of the job of professional intelligence officers is to assess the risks compared to the gains when contemplating passing sensitive information. There are important questions that need to be asked: Has there been a recent change in government in the country that is asking for the intelligence? What do we know about the new leadership? With what countries do new leaders have relationships, and are they allies or foes of the United States? How likely is it that intelligence the U.S. passes will end up with our adversaries? And of course, what would happen if we didn't pass the intelligence at all? Would that mean a terrorist attack that could be thwarted might be successful? There are times when U.S. intelligence has to hold its collective nose and pass sensitive information to a foreign government when it really does not want to - but if it is terrorist threat reporting, we often do it, in the hopes lives will be saved. (Reportedly, the intelligence Trump shared with his Russian visitors dealt with plans by the Islamic State to hide bombs in laptops on flights bound for the United States.) The story doesn't end when we pass information to another government. U.S. intelligence watches carefully to see what happens. Did the information we passed leak? Did it end up in other, unfriendly hands? Was it used politically, to score popularity points domestically? And did it result in some action that was not consistent with American values? Was an entire village razed because a suspected terrorist was there? Was a known terrorist's family tortured or killed? Were children and innocents harmed as a result of our passing the information? U.S. officials take these questions seriously. Often, hard, morally ambiguous choices need to be made. In this case, the fact that the president shared the information with Russia simply adds insult to injury. All of our allies understand that in the vast majority of situations, the Russian government is not a good partner when it comes to intelligence sharing - even, unfortunately, when it comes to issues both sides should agree on, such as terrorism. Russian operatives are often guilty of committing many of the acts U.S. intelligence is watching for when we evaluate potential partners for sharing information. As we saw during the conflict in Chechnya - which Moscow has always described as terrorism - Russia does not share the concerns the U.S. has regarding collateral damage and the unintentional killing of innocents. And the Russians rarely share intelligence of use to us. You can be sure that whichever intelligence service passed us the information that the president subsequently shared with the Russians are doing precisely the same analysis we would. And they are doing it for the same reasons. They want to know how the U.S. government, with its new president, will treat sensitive information in the future. They want to see whether the intelligence they provided is shared in an uncoordinated fashion with another country, breaking the third-party rule. If this happens, they will want to know why: Did Trump not understand, or was he not told, that the intelligence was not from an American spy agency and therefore should not be shared without checking with the originating nation? Did he not care? Did he think he could share it without it ever coming to light? There are really no answers to these or similar questions that would satisfy whichever ally passed us the information. Certainly, there are no answers to those questions that would satisfy the U.S. if the situation were reversed. The options boil down to two variations: Either the president knew and passed the intelligence anyway, or he did not know and therefore did not understand his mistake. Either way, you can be sure the foreign intelligence service will be more careful next time. They will either water the information down or not pass it at all. It does not matter whether you blame Trump, or an aggressive press corps seeking out every flaw in the White House, or you subscribe to some fringe conspiracy theory where "deep state" operatives in the intelligence world are leaking this to damage the administration. No matter why it's coming out, all of this is being watched by all of our foreign intelligence partners and their governments, all over the world - just look at how the British signals intelligence agency GCHQ ridiculed the notion that President Barack Obama had convinced them to eavesdrop on then-candidate Trump. Foreign governments are asking themselves the same set of questions, which boil down to this: Can we trust the United States with sensitive intelligence? Right now, they must be deeply skeptical. And that means the United States will have less intelligence from our foreign allies, which in turn means the United States is less secure. If we are to make America more secure again, Trump needs to be more careful. Washington Post Frank Lloyd Wright was never one to fret about meeting deadlines, sticking to budgets or roofs that leaked. So there is something fitting about the delayed, but altogether triumphant, restoration of Wright's Unity Temple, the Oak Park landmark that is the finest public building of Wright's Chicago years and home to one of the most beautiful rooms in America. Instead of finishing on schedule last fall, the $25 million project is wrapping up just in time for the 150th anniversary of Wright's birthday, June 8. The building's Unitarian Universalist congregation will return for services June 11. A formal ribbon-cutting and open house are scheduled for June 17. It's as though Wright himself had willed the timing to demonstrate afresh his genius at the very moment when public attention will be riveted on his legacy. Advertisement For decades, scholars and critics have remarked upon the striking contrast between Unity Temple's exterior and interior: The former, made of exposed concrete, is monumental, monochromatic and seemingly impenetrable. The latter, a skylit room with multiple seating tiers, is grand yet human-scaled, enlivened by a rich palette of earth-toned colors, and as airy as the concrete cube is heavy. Yet the restoration breaks down this dichotomy, revealing a strong aesthetic connection between the radically severe exterior and the warm, intimate interior a new unity, if you will, for Unity Temple. The key step involves the return of robust interior finishes that once wove a thread of nature-inspired continuity between inside and outside. Without them, we now know, Unity Temple was simply not whole. Advertisement The practically-minded will be delighted to know that the restoration also delivers creature comforts like air conditioning that will prevent the heavenly interior from turning hellishly hot come summer. The exterior is even said to be leak-free. We'll have to see about that, given Wright's infamous track record of leaky flat-roofed buildings that forced their occupants to haul out drip buckets for what they referred to as "one-bucket," "two-bucket" and "three-bucket" rains. Success, it's often said, has many fathers, and so it is with here: A team of consultants led by Chicago's Harboe Architects has lavished exacting care on every aspect of this project, from the restoration of jewel-like art glass to the recreation of textured plaster walls. This high level of quality was made possible by $10 million lead grant from Chicago's Alphawood Foundation, $1.75 million from the congregation and the rest from private donors. Yet there's a catch, as there always seems to be with Wright, who frequently lived beyond his means: The nonprofit that spearheaded the project, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation, still must raise roughly half the project's budget. For now, a bridge loan covers those costs. The restoration itself offers the best advertisement for foundations and individuals to make up the balance. From the first, financial constraints have shaped Unity Temple, which sits amid Oak Park's thriving downtown at 875 Lake St. After the congregation's Gothic Revival church burned in 1905, its leaders asked Wright, who was born into a Unitarian family in 1867, to design a new building on a prominent site along Lake Street's noisy streetcar line. The budget, a mere $45,000, did not allow for expensive materials or elaborate ornament. So Wright, ever the innovator, fashioned his design from inexpensive poured-in-place concrete. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 New lighting dramatizes the restored exterior of Frank Lloyd Wrights Unity Temple. The lighting consultant was CharterSills. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Victorians accustomed to embroidered surfaces must have been shocked by the monolithic abstraction of the completed 1908 building: A high-walled house of worship along Lake Street, joined by a foyer to a social hall and classroom building called Unity House. The passages to, and through, the sanctuary were equally radical. A circuitous route the classic Wright trope known as the "path of discovery" led from Lake Street to the entrance on a quiet side street. Inside, more turns took the worshipper from dark, tightly-confined ground-floor spaces that Wright labeled "cloisters" on upward and into the sanctuary's spectacular explosion of space and light. It was and is an extraordinary gathering place, in which space flows freely, liberated from the convention of the box. Yet there's a profound sense of order and repose, as if one had come upon a light-dappled glade. The intimacy is palpable, courtesy of tiered balconies which ensure that no seat is more than 45 feet from the pulpit. Sunlight filters down from a grid of skylights, creating an effect that Wright compared to a "happy cloudless day." Instead of turning its back on the minister to exit, congregation members pass through doors cut into walls on either side of the pulpit. In theory, at least, one enters as an individual and leaves as a member of a community "Unity Temple is where you will find the first real expression of the idea that the space within the building is the reality of that building," Wright remarked in 1952, seven years before his death. But like many Wright buildings, Unity Temple challenged the patience and finances of its occupants. Even after a 1973 renovation covered the failing original exterior with a layer of "shotcrete," a pneumatically-applied concrete, cracks and chipping persisted. Naturally, the building's many roofs leaked. Seepage from the building's internal drains, which were concealed in interior columns, weakened its concrete bones. When a large chunk of the ceiling fell in the middle of the night nine years ago, "it was a wake-up call about the instability of the building," recalled the Rev. Alan Taylor, Unity Temple's senior minister. Advertisement The restoration team has done meticulous work, beginning with the exterior, where portions of the 1973 shotcrete have been removed and replaced with new swaths of the material. Along with new roofs, restored art glass and enlarged internal drains, the new shotcrete is supposed to create that rarest of conditions in a Wright building a structure that doesn't leak like a sieve. "The system is good. It's been tested," said Gunny Harboe of Harboe Architects, who worked on the project with colleague Bob Score. (The building's sagging eaves were fixed in 2002.) Replacing the shotcrete also presented an aesthetic challenge. Unity Temple's exterior is not a simple flat gray but a richly-textured aggregate of cement, sand and pebbles that range in color from white to brown to flint. Getting the right blend was like finding the elusive mix for a perfect cocktail. Contractors had to do some spots two or three times before the work was pronounced satisfactory. The outcome largely avoids the pitfalls of a patchwork, although close inspection reveals slight variations in color. Yet time, weathering and the curing of the shotcrete should eventually blur those distinctions. And it will be no great sin if some of them remain. Unity Temple's exterior has always had a certain mottled look. One of Wright's prime tenets was to build "in the nature of materials," which meant respecting their inherent properties. New in-ground night lighting will showcase the handsomely refurbished exterior and its decorative concrete columns. The real revelations, though, are inside, where all interior surfaces have been returned to their 1908 appearance. That may not sound dramatic but it's a major shift when you realize that multiple coats of paint, even modern latex paint, had been slathered onto the original walls. That rendered them flat and textureless, which was not what Wright intended. Drawing on historic photographs and microscopic paint analysis, the architects and Philadelphia's Building Conservation Associates re-created three types of textured plaster walls (rough, semi-rough and smooth) and Wright's earth-toned color palette (pale yellow, green and brown). Contractors applied glazes over the plaster, giving them their color and a luminous sheen appropriate to a sacred space. The outcome is subtle but striking, especially within the sanctuary. From the skylight to the ground floor, the freshly-remodeled interior walls have a new sense of texture and motion, restoring a lost layer of visual richness. Just as important, the interior now engages in a quiet but unmistakable dialogue with the building's textured-concrete exterior. Inside and outside are opposites yet part of the same whole, a yin-yang relationship that makes tangible Wright's elusive gospel of an "organic architecture." Advertisement "No one's seen it that way in a long time," Harboe said. To their credit, the team of designers has addressed a host of practical issues without aesthetic sacrifice. Shallow trenches were dug in the concrete walls, then covered with plaster, to allow for the rewiring of electrical fixtures. LEDs were installed beneath the sanctuary's skylights to give worshippers in the top seating tiers improved lighting as they read from prayer books. Mechanical systems were deftly inserted in the four hollow columns that support the building. Geothermal wells nine of them, descending 500 feet beneath the front lawn will provide the air conditioning the building has long lacked. New theater lights will improve Unity Temple's ability to host performances. A comparable assortment of formal and functional improvements are being made to Unity House, though they were not complete when I toured last week. What a change has transpired since 2000, when the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (now Landmarks Illinois) placed the deteriorating Unity Temple on its annual list of the state's most endangered structures! Today, Unity Temple is a landmark renewed, an enduring statement of Wright's genius and a vivid reminder that his brilliance extended far beyond the Prairie Style houses for which he is best known. There can be no better way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Wright's birth than to see and experience this revived masterpiece. The Unity Temple Restoration Foundation will hold an open house at Unity Temple, 875 Lake St. in Oak Park, on June 17 from 2-5 p.m. Visitors will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis with the last group admitted at 4:45 p.m. The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about Wright's legacy, plans tours of the building following the completion of the restoration; more information at http://flwright.org/tours. Advertisement Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic. bkamin@chicagotribune.com Twitter @BlairKamin RELATED STORIES: Landscape architecture gets its rightful due in exhibit, book 150 North Riverside is most eye-grabbing Chicago skyscraper since Aqua Tower Advertisement Tower at Obama center (don't call it a library) needs tweaking Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Elizabeth Gillies, left, as Fallon and Nathalie Kelley as Cristal in the new "Dynasty." (Mark Hill / The CW) Add another TV reboot to the long list of shows back from the dead: "Dynasty" will debut on the CW this fall. The new version of "Dynasty," the prime-time soap that aired on ABC from 1981 to 1989, is brought to you by executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who created the CW's "Gossip Girl" and Fox's "The O.C." -- so, sort of the teen versions of "Dynasty." Advertisement Will that appeal to CW's core demographic of young viewers, especially since many of them have never heard of the original soap? CW is certainly banking on it. "I think 'Dynasty' is not unlike what we had with 'Riverdale' last year," CW marketing president Rick Haskins said on a conference call Thursday, pointing to the network's success with the drama starring Archie Comics characters. There's already a built-in audience with fans of the original material, he said, and new viewers will tune in out of curiosity. Advertisement CW president Mark Pedowitz called the "Dynasty" pick-up a "no-brainer," especially with Schwartz and Savage at the helm. "We want to be back in business with them," he said. Their fellow co-executive producers include Sallie Patrick ("Revenge"), Brad Siberling ("Jane the Virgin") and Esther and Richard Shapiro, who created the original "Dynasty." This version of the soap -- which airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m., a nod to the original's time slot for four seasons on ABC -- stars Elizabeth Gilles as Fallon Carrington (originally played by Pamela Sue Martin), a socialite who is poised to take over her wealthy father's global energy empire. But her plans fall apart when her father's new fiancee Cristal (Nathalie Kelley), a very young and savvy publicity maven, arrives on the scene. The only other new show on CW's fall schedule is "Valor," which will air after "Supergirl" on Mondays. The series follows an elite unit of U.S. Army helicopter pilots who are sent on a top-secret mission to Somalia, and the aftermath when the trip goes terribly awry. This is the network's third attempt to launch a military drama, Pedowitz said, so it's just a coincidence that it will debut at the same time as CBS's "S.W.A.T." and NBC's "The Brave." "We will have a very different take," he said, "because we're the CW." And no, moving "Jane the Virgin" to Friday nights (often known as the TV "death slot") doesn't mean the drama is doomed. Executives stressed that they strongly believe in the show, whose ratings are boosted by delayed and digital viewing. And they're happy to pair it again with "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," another critically loved series heading into its third season. --- FALL 2017 PRIME-TIME LINEUP ON CW (*New time slot) Advertisement MONDAY 8 p.m. "Supergirl" 9 p.m. "Valor" TUESDAY 8 p.m. "The Flash" 9 p.m. "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" Advertisement WEDNESDAY 8 p.m. "Riverdale* 9 p.m. "Dynasty" THURSDAY 8 p.m. "Supernatural" 9 p.m. "Arrow" * Advertisement FRIDAY 8 p.m. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" * 9 p.m. "Jane the Virgin" * RELATED STORIES: Conan O'Brien's new TBS deal extends beyond late-night TV 'Roseanne' returning to ABC with the full cast intact Advertisement Which Chicago-shot TV shows are coming back next season? Is your favorite TV show canceled? A guide to what's renewed and what's in jeopardy Second-time mother, Emily Keber-Goldrick, explains the negative stigma associated with cesarean birth, including the feeling of failing as a mother. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Emily Keber-Goldrick remembers the moment she was told she needed a C-section. The Bucktown mom initially hoped for a water birth, with a plan detailed down to lavender oil. But while pregnant with her son Rowan in 2014, she developed pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy complication. Doctors monitored her closely, she said, and after 28 hours of labor and with her son's heart rate dropping, a C-section was advised. Advertisement "I just burst into tears," said Keber-Goldrick, 32. She felt, she said, she had failed. Not every woman feels troubled by her birth experience. But having a C-section one in three births nationally is one reason women seek mental health help following a delivery, say Chicago mental health professionals. Advertisement Mental health struggles after a C-section range from guilt and anxiety to trauma from feeling their life, or the life of their baby, was in danger. "The emergency nature of C-sections leads them to feel out of control, as well as fear that there will be harm to the baby or themselves," said Dr. Sarah Allen, a Chicago psychologist and director of the Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois, which runs self-care workshops for women. Many things lead to a C-section, and each experience is different. Those who counsel postpartum women say that for many, the memory lingers. "They couldn't have that rite of passage that birth is supposed to be," Allen said. "Women start ruminating or questioning themselves 'What did I do wrong? What could I have done to prevent this?'" Emily Keber-Goldrick holds her two-week-old baby girl Sage Goldrick at home on Dec., 30, 2016. Sage is Emily's second baby delivered by cesarean. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) Allen has counseled postpartum women for two decades and said many report anxiety or depression, at least in part, because of their C-section. And she notes a difference between postpartum depression and a woman experiencing trauma rooted in a C-section alone. "It's specifically around the birth experience," she said. Women who previously have experienced anxiety or depression are most at risk for maternal mental health issues, said Dr. Katherine Wisner, who directs the Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders at Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine. About 1 in 7 new moms experience postpartum depression, and although symptoms can appear any time during the first year, they typically manifest within three months, according to the Asher Center. Markers include anger, irritability, crying, guilt, shame, sadness and lack of interest in the baby. Advertisement And about 70 to 80 percent of new mothers experience mild symptoms within two to four days, like crying or trouble sleeping and eating, often known as the "baby blues," according to the Asher Center. Lauren Orchell, 35, didn't fully realize how much her C-section affected her until her doctor suggested she schedule another. She and her husband declined. During her first birth, in 2014, doctors had noticed high blood pressure at her 40-week appointment, she said, and induced her. Laboring for 10 hours ended with surgery. Without much communicated about what was happening and why, Orchell said her husband felt helpless; she felt isolated. Right after her son was born, she asked to see him. No one heard her. "We had no idea that both of us were so traumatized by the first experience," she said. Women hesitate to voice negative feelings surrounding birth, said Dr. Marcela Almeida, a psychiatrist at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, where she directs the Women's Mental Health and Reproductive Psychiatry Service. They might feel shame or stigma around sharing anything but positive emotions surrounding new motherhood. "It's much more common than we hear," she said. "It's underreported." Advertisement Almeida said her clients with post-traumatic stress disorder experience hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts and flashbacks, and they avoid places that trigger reminders of their C-section, like an appointment with the same doctor or at the same hospital. Some experience suicidal thoughts. "And sometimes (symptoms) stay for a long time," she said. "Sometimes we're talking about months. We're talking about years." Postpartum Support International, a Portland-based organization that aims to increase perinatal depression awareness, estimates 9 percent of women experience PTSD following childbirth, often because of a real or perceived trauma. This could include an unplanned C-section or the baby needing intensive care. It can also include a feeling of powerlessness or lack of support during delivery. Almeida helps women find a support system and discuss their emotions. She tells clients, "There's so much more in motherhood than those few hours when you have no control, when things go in an unexpected way." To help process her feelings, Keber-Goldrick interviewed other postpartum moms and photographed them for a project called "Memories of Joyful Birth." The conversations were therapeutic, she said. Many also felt they'd failed. "That's your first duty as a mom," Keber-Goldrick said on a recent afternoon in an apartment filled with baby books and toy trucks. "It's one of the biggest days of your life, and it's traumatic. It's OK to want more." Advertisement Keber-Goldrick spent the years between her pregnancies plotting how to avoid another surgery. She trained as a doula, helping other women through birth, and she learned about vaginal delivery options. With her second pregnancy, she switched practices for a fresh start. But high blood pressure again signaled pre-eclampsia, she said, and in December she again delivered through a C-section. This time, however, she felt armed with information. And speaking with other moms about her post-birth emotions had eased previous feelings of failure and guilt. "I did a lot of soul-searching following my son's birth," she said. "I think it's important to remember, and I really had to come to peace with it, that cesarean birth is still birth. It's still important, and it's monumental, and it's life changing." abowen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @byalisonbowen RELATED STORIES: Advertisement 1 in 3 U.S. women have C-sections. How Chicago doctors are working to change that Cesarean study finds children do fine, but moms may be at risk They knew their unborn baby would die - just not like this WASHINGTON An exhibition of 77 photographs of John F. Kennedy's life, ranging from his early life to his assassination, has opened to the public at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Alluding to the current resident of the White House's first 100 days in office, "If you really want to look at the (first) 100 days, he didn't have it that easy," said the exhibition's curator, Lawrence Schiller, pointing to the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. Advertisement The release of "American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times" celebrates the 100th anniversary of the late president's birth on May 29. Schiller, a photojournalist who photographed the Kennedys and Lee Harvey Oswald, didn't want any of the photographs in the show to be blown up beyond the size at which they were seen by people in the 1960s. Advertisement As for the artifacts in the show, "Every single piece in there was bought on eBay," he said. "That is really the interesting thing, eBay gives you history. And the magazines are less expensive now than they were in the '60s." Magazine covers with Kennedy on the cover from Newsweek, The Atlantic, Look, and The Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine, among others, are displayed, as well as newspapers like The New York Times and an edition of TV Guide with Jacqueline Kennedy on the cover. The exhibition "covers a unique moment in American history," as it was a "golden era of photojournalism," Schiller said. He added that up to that time, no politician was photographed more than Kennedy and photojournalists didn't hide their "admiration" for him. The first room includes photographs of Kennedy's early life and his time in Congress. Schiller said the photographs capture the late president as he learned about how he should be viewed by the public eye. The second room includes photographs of Kennedy on the campaign trail, on Election Night and at his inauguration. "Kennedy had a pretty good crowd himself," Schiller said, joking about the contention from Donald Trump's White House about the size of his inauguration crowd vs. Barack Obama's. The third room includes photographs of Kennedy's presidency, which shows him as a family man. Schiller pointed out that he brought his young children to live in the White House upon moving in. Advertisement The last photographs in the room were five scenes from Kennedy's assassination. "I felt less is more," Schiller said. "How do you tell this story in the simplest way?" The exhibition, which opened last Wednesday, is based off a book co-edited by scholars Douglas Brinkley and Stephen Kennedy Smith, which Schiller collaborated on. Smith is a former Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations committee staffer. The book features almost 600 photographs. He said in creating the book and exhibition, he went through 34,000 images. Smith, the nephew of JFK, saw Schiller's book before release and requested only that he change the last photograph to one of the president on the beach alone, with which Schiller complied. The exhibition runs in D.C. through Sept. 17. Still haven't scored "Hamilton" tickets? Here's a cheaper way to connect with the tragic first U.S. Treasury Secretary's legacy as long as you don't want to take it home with you. Advertisement A collection of letters and documents belonging to Alexander Hamilton, including a sexy letter he sent his then fiancee, Eliza Schuyler, in 1780, is going on display at the Merchandise Mart this week. The price for the complete set: $2.3 million. Advertisement "You are certainly a little sorceress and have bewitched me, for you have made me disrelish every thing that used to please me, and have rendered me as restless and unsatisfied with all about me, as if I was the inhabitant of another world," the saucy devil wrote. Dashed off before George Washington called him to ride (admit it, that's hot!), Hamilton cruelly teased his lover that "A new mistress is supposed to be the best cure for an excessive attachment to an old if I was convinced of the success of the scheme, I would be tempted to try it for though it is the pride of my heart to love you it is the torment of it to love you so much, separated as we now are." New York-based rare document dealer Seth Kaller, who is marketing the Hamilton collection, said prices for Hamilton memorabilia have gone up significantly thanks to the success of the Broadway show bearing his name. "It certainly hasn't hurt," Kaller said. But if your budget doesn't stretch to Hamilton, consider a rather less romantic 1836 letter from Abraham Lincoln to his then fiancee, Mary Owens, in which he gripes about life in Springfield. It's also being displayed through Sunday by Kaller at the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show. "The new State House is not yet finished, and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing," Abe wrote. "The Governor delivered an inflamitory (sic) political message, and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business." Sound familiar? If it doesn't match Hamilton for flights of rhetoric, the price may please. It's yours for just $390,000. President Donald Trump, accompanied by, from second left, Reince Priebus, Mike Pence, Sean Spicer and then-national security adviser Michael Flynn, speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on Feb. 13, 2017. (Andrew Harnik / AP) Was President Donald Trump thinking of his old buddy former national security adviser Michael Flynn when he tweeted out his seething paranoia to the American people? Who can say? Advertisement But I've got a hunch the president was thinking of this Flynn story, the one that says Flynn was paid more than $500,000 by Turkish interests even as he influenced the shaping of anti-terrorist policy that favored Turkey and not necessarily the United States. Only a fool could look at what's coming out of Washington these days, and hear all that partisan yelping and barking, and think that what's happening to Trump isn't about power politics and cynical agendas. Advertisement Trump is himself supremely cynical. But so are the Democrats and the establishment Republicans including the Republican Never Trumpers who were once called neoconservatives. And partisan broadcast media, stoking ratings by arguing either for or against Trump, all but encourage their viewers to put on tinfoil hats marked Maddow or Hannity. But now is not the time for tinfoil hats or partisan vulgarity. Now is the time to use your nose, because this Flynn business smells like a 50 gallon can of bad meat. And I know that smell, because years ago, before I was a reporter, I was a butcher in my father's supermarket. Boning out chucks and hauling fat cans to the alley is excellent training for covering politics. When you handle meat for a living, you get a sense about when it might turn. At first there isn't even a whiff. But now here it is, sickly sweet and scary, wafting out of the fever swamp of Washington. In his frightened tweet, the president declared that he is the victim of "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Trump has had it rough, but the job of a president is to lead, to inspire confidence in the American people. Public displays of seething paranoia and fear don't inspire confidence. That's not about leadership. It's about panic. Advertisement That tweet came the day after former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate whether Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 elections. America must hope that Mueller, a respected prosecutor and former Marine, will get to the bottom of this mess. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey during the Russia investigation, but still insists there is no there there, that there was no collusion with Russia. Despite months and months of hysterical partisan shrieking, there has been no evidence of collusion, no evidence of a possible crime. But the Russia story has allowed the Democrats to scream loud and long, as they gather ammunition for the 2018 midterm elections and give cover to Hillary Clinton's spectacular failure in November. Democrats and the Washington beltway media that serve largely as loyal establishment clerks had her as a winner. That media and political elites blinded themselves to the legitimate anger of the working class toward the Washington establishment speaks to their contempt for working people. And now here comes Flynn into the picture. Advertisement Flynn had nothing to do with those self-serving assessments. Flynn had his eyes open, enjoying that Turkish cash, while campaigning next to Trump and talking about putting "America first." And then this week, in a McClatchy news service story by Vera Bergengruen, the Flynn story took on greater weight, like those cans I once dragged out to the alley for pickup on hot summer days. It was publicly known that Flynn, as a retired general, had accepted speaking fees from Russia and that he resigned from his national security adviser role in the Trump administration in mid-February. His resignation came after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with a Russian ambassador. Afterward it was learned that Flynn had accepted more than $500,000 from a Turkish company with ties to the Turkish government. Flynn later registered as a foreign agent. Pence, at least symbolically in charge of the Trump transition team, said he was unaware of Flynn's ties to Turkey. But new reporting counters that. According to the McClatchy story, no one in Washington knew Flynn was being paid by Turkey. And 10 days before the inauguration, the Obama administration was about to approve a plan to use Syrian Kurdish forces, considered the most effective in the region, to help retake the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Advertisement As Trump's incoming national security adviser, Flynn was invited to a meeting with Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, since the Raqqa operation would have taken place after Trump was president. Turkey vehemently opposes both the Kurds and American military support for Kurdish forces in the region. "Flynn told Rice to hold off," the story reported, "a move that would delay the military operation for months." After Flynn was gone, Trump supported the Syrian Kurds. Now Flynn is dodging congressional committees that want his testimony, but he won't be able to dodge Robert Mueller. Meanwhile, Trump, like some self-destructive Chicago wiseguy, reportedly sent Flynn a message telling him to "stay strong." Stay strong where? Before a grand jury? Advertisement There are many reasons for America to either support Kurdish fighters or to defer to Turkey's wishes. These involve questions about the interests of nations and our relationships with them. But to be on one country's payroll while working for our government, deciding matters of life and death and war, is unspeakable and perhaps treasonous. It is beneath contempt, but not beneath the attention of Robert Mueller. And regardless of your politics you can smell it, can't you? Listen to "The Chicago Way"podcast, with John Kass and Jeff Carlin. jskass@chicagotribune.com SPRINGFIELD Illinois Senate Democrats on Wednesday voted for a $36.5 billion spending plan that would pay universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, but the effort may prove to be more about political theater than ending the state's nearly 2-year-long budget impasse. Senators failed to approve technical legislation that would make the budget they advanced work. And they didn't vote on tax increases meant to pay for their spending plan an issue at the heart of the ongoing divide between Democrats who control the General Assembly and Republicans loyal to Gov. Bruce Rauner. Advertisement The action was the culmination of months of talks between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate over a massive budget proposal. It's often billed as a "grand bargain" but has never been agreed to by all sides. Growing increasingly frustrated as a deal remained elusive, Democrats chose to forge ahead on their own Wednesday despite the opposition of Republicans who argued more time was needed to reach an agreement. With just two weeks to go before lawmakers are scheduled to head home for the summer, Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said he was done waiting and it was time to act. Advertisement "Do you think it's going to get any better?" Cullerton asked his GOP colleagues. "Seriously?" So despite the flurry of activity Wednesday, the lack of support from Republicans and noncommittal House Democrats led by Speaker Michael Madigan means a deal to end Springfield's state budget war remains elusive. Previously, the various proposals in the Senate's budget package were linked, meaning that if one measure failed they would all fail. The bills were separated on Wednesday in order to allow lawmakers to vote on the merits of the ideas individually. Democrats went it alone to approve a spending plan, as well as a proposal that would change how Illinois funds schools and one that would allow the state to borrow $7 billion to help pay down its $14 billion backlog of unpaid bills. They did get Republican support in passing bills to make it easier for local governments to merge, and to overhaul how government contracts for services got bipartisan approval. There was also bipartisan support for an expansion of gambling and changes to the state's public employee pension system. Each of those ideas have been debated at the top levels of Illinois politics for years, stalled or hampered by complicated political and legal factors. Trying to negotiate all of them as part of one massive deal created its own political differences. Republicans refused to support the budget bill even though it contained some of the ideas they have backed because there still isn't a deal on key tax issues. Democrats in turn voted down the technical bill that would implement the budget, which also contained various spending cuts pushed by Republicans. In order to sign off on an income tax increase needed to help balance the budget, Rauner has said he also wants a freeze in homeowners' property taxes. Democrats have opposed that idea, saying it would harm local school districts that rely on the money. Indeed, a two-year property tax freeze failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday, and Rauner is pushing for a freeze that is even longer. Advertisement Also still to be worked out: changes to the state's workers' compensation system, which Rauner has said are needed to help businesses cut costs so they can create more jobs. Democrats have been reluctant to embrace anything that could reduce benefits to employees injured on the job, and no vote was taken on the issue Wednesday. And so a lot of heavy lifting remains in the Senate, not to mention the House, where Democratic Speaker Madigan has long contended that no extra issues should be tied to the budget. Top House Democrats said they would review any measures that may be sent over from the Senate. But state Rep. Lou Lang said it was "premature to determine whether these bills will become model bills for a final resolution to our issues or whether they will not." "Because they relate to the budget, they take on a special significance, and we will treat them appropriately with no preconceived notion about where the discussion will end," said Lang, a Skokie Democrat and top Madigan lieutenant. Meanwhile, both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate said they would continue talking despite trading some barbs over the process. Democrats even placed a procedural hold on some of the proposals they approved Wednesday, assuring the paperwork stays put and allowing senators to revisit them. "What happened today was a political show orchestrated by the Democrats who are trying to portray agreements that do not yet exist," said Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington. "And I suspect what's going to, I hope what happens, is that today's political theater moves on and that tomorrow we get back to the rolling up the sleeves, looking at the information that's been requested by both sides, and using that information to make some incredibly tough choices, whether it be on school funding reform, property tax and the other things that remain open and not yet resolved." Advertisement mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com hbemiller@chicagotribune.com While volunteering at her daughter's school, Rachel Gregersen noticed something that bothered her. Her 8-year-old daughter was the only African-American she saw in her class. "I was seeing the world through her eyes for the first time," Gregersen said. "It's important for children to see a reflection of themselves, to see the beauty in themselves and know they're not odd." Advertisement Gregersen, who is black, and her husband, Erik, who is white, don't make a big deal out of living as a biracial couple in Elmhurst. But they decided to transfer their daughter to a private school with a greater mix of black and white students. It's a small example of issues interracial couples still face, even 50 years after mixed marriages became legal nationwide. It was June 1967 in the landmark Loving v. Virginia case the subject of the recent film "Loving" that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Advertisement Now a new analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found that the percentage of interracial or interethnic newlyweds in the U.S. rose from 3 percent since the Loving case to 17 in 2015. And Americans have become more accepting of marriages of different races or ethnicities. One measure reflecting the shift is that, according to a Pew poll, the percentage of non-blacks who said they'd oppose a relative marrying a black person dropped from 63 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2016. The Chicago metropolitan area's rate of interracial marriages is 19 percent, slightly higher than the national rate of 16 percent, according to the study. Asians and Hispanics in the U.S. are by far the most likely to marry someone of a different race or ethnicity. Almost one-third of married Asian-Americans and about a quarter of married Hispanics are married to a person of a different race or gender, according to the study. In interviews, interracial couples in the Chicago area said they rarely encounter overt racism but occasionally run into subtle signs that they're treated differently. We forget about [race] until the outside world reminds us from time to time. Rachel Gregersen When Rachel Gregersen gets asked for identification at the same store where her husband does not, or when they eat out together and the waiter asks if they want separate checks, she said, they notice it. The couple has been married for 11 years, and previously blended into more diverse communities like Chicago's Pullman neighborhood and Oak Park. When they moved to Elmhurst to be closer to work, unlike some other newcomers, they said no neighbors introduced themselves. And after a woman next door asked them to recommend a painter, they didn't find out their neighbors were leaving until they saw the moving truck. More broadly, the couple is concerned about how their children might be treated by law enforcement. Along with a talk about the birds and bees, they will have to talk about what to do when stopped by police. Advertisement "Being in an interracial marriage did open my eyes to things like that that I never would have thought about," Erik Gregersen said. Between the couple themselves, though, "race really is not an issue," Rachel Gregersen said. "We forget about it until the outside world reminds us from time to time." As the child of an interracial couple, Michelle Hughes identifies herself differently depending on the setting. With black friends or professionally, she might describe herself as African-American, while with mixed-race friends, like a social group called the Biracial Family Network, she's proudly biracial. The network, which will celebrate the anniversary of the Loving decision next month, also holds an annual family barbecue on the lakefront. As a child, Hughes remembered being called the N-word exactly twice. She reported one child to school officials, who ended the name-calling, and her father impressed on the other child that such language was not acceptable. Hughes' parents married in 1967, the year of the Loving decision, but she said they didn't face as much backlash as some other couples because they lived in diverse areas in Chicago and south suburban Homewood. Advertisement Some of her biracial friends had much worse experiences, she said, having their hair cut off or being beaten up. Some had grandparents or other family members who disowned them. Others, whose parents divorced, got negative images of one race or the other, Hughes said, because if the ex-spouse was considered a jerk, "then everyone of that race was a jerk." Since Donald Trump's election as president, Hughes said she feels heightened tensions over race, as dramatized recently by a group of white nationalists with torches demonstrating over the removal of a Confederate statue in Virginia. But Hughes considered her parents' mix of friends and family getting along despite their differences to be a good model for race relations. "My perceptions were (that) the rest of the world was out of whack, not our family." On his second date with the woman he would later marry, Marc Dumas, of Rogers Park, said a cabdriver threatened to kick the couple out of the car after they kissed in the back seat. Advertisement Even on their wedding day, Dumas said, a woman at the bar where the couple was celebrating mistook him for an employee and later asked his wife, who is white, if she was the one "who married a colored boy today." Dumas said he and his wife, Kylie, were able to laugh it off. "I'm blessed with having really good friends who are receptive of our relationship," he said. "I don't think they think about the racial aspect of it unless something like this happens." He said he still puts up with strangers' questions about the couple's relationship and believes there are still those who don't like the idea of interracial coupling. But he also said he thinks that "a large portion of the country has gotten over that and as long as you love each other and are not doing it because you're fetishizing interracial relationships or not doing it because you think it's going to help you politically or socially, no one cares," he said. Among the study's other findings: Advertisement Black men are twice as likely to intermarry as black women, while Asian women are much more likely to do so than Asian men. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The most common racial or ethnic pairing among newlywed intermarried couples is a Hispanic person married to a white person (42 percent). The next most common are couples in which one spouse is white and the other Asian (15 percent), and then where one spouse is white and one is multiracial (12 percent). Intermarriage is slightly more common among the college educated, especially for Hispanics. Nearly half of married, college-educated Hispanic Americans are intermarried, compared with 16 percent for those with a high school diploma or less education. Thirty-nine percent of Americans polled think intermarriage is a good thing, 9 percent think it's a bad thing and the rest said it doesn't make a difference. rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com gwong@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @RobertMcCoppin Twitter @GraceWong630 Sweeping Changes Set For North Branch, As Framework OK'd By Plan Commission By Stephen Gossett in News on May 18, 2017 9:14PM The massive 700-plus-acre corridor know as the North Branch is poised for sweeping redevelopment after the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously voted to approve the months-in-the-making framework. The planwhich was finalized last week by the the City of Chicago and the Department of Planning and Developmentswings open the door for residential development, lots of new business, ultra-ambitious transportation advancements (including The 606's extension) and open space and parkland. The plan passed over familiar objections that the framework for North Branchwhich sprawls from Kinzie Street all the way past Fullerton Avenue, and encompasses all of Goose Islandprioritizes business in a way that will hurt manufacturing, and also doesn't include enough park space, as a flood of new residents will one day arrive. In a quickly fired-off press release, Mayor Rahm Emanuel big-upped what he said would be billions in investment. "In addition to building a new future for the north branch area, this framework will also generate revenue from this thriving area to support industrial businesses throughout Chicago." At the same time, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said manufacturers would be incentivized to cash out, according to the Sun-Times. Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) again voiced her displeasure at what she called lack of green space, the Trib reports. Shealong with Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) and Scott Waguespack (32nd)were able to secure ten new acres of park space for the finalized plan, but had angled for more. Community members had voiced similar concerns before the plan was finalized. Tunney was also skeptical about how the proposed transportation improvements would be funded, the Sun-Times noted. The City says that a new Industrial Corridor System Fee, applicable to developments in North Branch and other industrial corridors, would help finance plans. Half of the to-be-repurposed corridor is slated for business developmentsome of which is already in the pipeline. The growing tech industry in the corridor will probably keep fleshing out. Leading what will likely continue to be a big-dollar push was Sterling Bay, who purchased the former Finkl Steel site for $140 million in 2016. The site could anchor a, expansion of The 606 and a massive, mixed-use re-development. The framework will guide as incoming interests request whatever zoning changes are necessary for their projects. North Branch was the first in what will be a sweeping review of the city's 26 total industrial corridorsand potential further transformation, further development windfalls, and further growing pains. Improvements for Central Elementary School on Franklin Street will begin in fall, displacing the students until the next school year. The Valparaiso Community Schools district representatives presented plans for Central at Tuesday's Site Review Committee meeting, and these were the last plans to go before the city for the eight elementary schools receiving construction work. (James D. Wolf Jr. / Post-Tribune) Although Valparaiso's Central Elementary School will receive the least amount of renovations, it will be the only one of the eight elementaries shut down during reconstruction, school representatives said Tuesday. The students will go to Hayes-Leonard for the 2017-2018 school year, replacing students from that school who live south of U.S. 30 and will go to the new Heavlin Elementary, Assistant Superintendent Jim McCall said. Advertisement There'll be no new Central gym/community center as with the other schools, said McCall. The small space of the early 20th century school's grounds limits growth. Advertisement Project Engineer Loretta Pazak, of Torrenga Engineering Inc. of Munster, said that the school will get an addition on the front with a sidewalk that is more friendly for disabled visitors and a safety entrance. Architect Gregg Throckmorton, of Indianapolis-based Gibraltar Design, said the addition will match the Art Deco architecture of the historic school. The school will also get a sprinkler system and have the interior renovated, they said. An underground coal storage area from the last century and near the playground will be removed, and a concrete pad surrounded by a wall will house HVAC equipment, consolidating all the air conditioning units for the school. The north parking lot will be resurfaced and re-striped and set aside for visitors, while a paved area to the south will become the staff parking lot, fenced off from the playground, and get a wider entrance for two-way traffic, the two told the Committee. In fall 2018, Central students will return to a school that will hold about 170 students with one class of each grade level, McCall said. The school district still has more construction plans to bring before Site Review. McCall said there's still the new high school pool and the Porter County Career and Technical Education Center improvements that are on the list to receive funding from the 2015 district referendum. Advertisement Also at the meeting: Ardagh Metal at 4001 Montdale Park Drive presented plans to build a 18,000-square-foot warehouse space on the south side of its existing building where a shed now stands and will also increase green space by 100-square-foot by removing some asphalt, but the project won't mean new jobs, company representatives said. James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Paul Anderson, 37, appeared in court on a murder charge Thursday, May 17, 2017, in the December 2016 death of Melvin Sims, 56, who died 13 years after he was shot. Anderson already was serving 24 years in prison for aggravated battery to a firearm in the shooting of Sims and one of Sims' brothers. (Cook County sheriff's photo) One of two people serving prison time in the 2003 shooting of a man and his brother on their family front porch in East Garfield Park has been charged with murder after the man died late last year from his wounds, authorities said Thursday. Paul Anderson, 37, already is serving a 24-year sentence in the shooting of Melvin Sims, 56, who died Dec. 27, more than 13 years after Sims and his brothers were fired upon as they stood on the front porch of their home in the 700 block of North Springfield Avenue, according to prosecutors and court records. Anderson and Leonard Anthony, 50--who is serving a 30-year sentence in Sims' shooting--both attacked the brothers about 9:35 p.m. Sept. 29, 2003, after a dispute over money owned to one of Sims' brothers, according to prosecutors and court records. Advertisement Sims and his brothers got into a dispute with Anderson and Anthony near Chicago and Harding avenues over money owed to one of the brothers, Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini said Thursday before Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil. Anderson was involved in drug sales in the area, and was a member of the Vice Lords street gang, Santini said. The dispute ended with Anderson and Anthony getting into a car and driving away, heading south on Harding, prosecutors said. Sims and his brothers walked home to their front porch, prosecutors said. About 10 minutes after the brothers got home, Anderson and Anthony, each armed with a loaded gun, came out of a vacant lot nearby and started to shoot at the brothers, who were unarmed, prosecutors said. Sims and one of his brothers were hit, with Sims suffering a gunshot wound to the head that left him paralyzed until his death last year. Advertisement Sims, of the 700 block of North Lockwood Avenue, was pronounced dead early on Dec. 27 at West Suburban Medical Center, after suffering a medical emergency in the 5700 block of West Washington Street. Sims died from complications of remote gunshot wounds, the Cook County medical examiner's office determined Feb. 10, according to prosecutors. Witnesses identified Anderson and Anthony as the shooters in the attack, and they were later convicted. Anderson was sentenced to prison in 2004, and Anthony, who had a more extensive criminal record, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to court records. Anderson was ordered held in lieu of $2 million bail, although he would be released to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections if he made bail. A third man arrested at the time of the incident was only charged and sentenced to five years in prison for a drug-related crime, according to court records. There was no information on whether Anthony was expected to be charged with murder. The Chicago Tribune's Megan Crepeau contributed. Chicago police watch over students at outside Frazier International Magnet Elementary School,4027 W Grenshaw Ave., on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the day after a shooting death on the same block. (Peter Nickeas) Kids in powder blue polos and navy blue pants and sweaters chased each other over red and green and blue slides and bridges in the playlot outside Frazier International Magnet Elementary School just after 11 a.m. Wednesday. At 11:02 a.m. Tuesday, a Harrison District tactical sergeant heard gunfire here and used his radio to alert the district. Advertisement "Gunfire going on, 4000 block of Grenshaw, I can't see, you got people running but I can't see who's shootin." "Frazier's calling it in, they heard 10 to 20 shots fired outside the school," the dispatcher said. "There's a black SUV parked in front, unknown if they're involved." Advertisement Within a minute or so police found 34-year-old man Jonathan Green dead from gunshot wounds. The dispatcher asked the sergeant who heard the gunfire and found the man if he saw the black SUV. "I'm not looking squad, 'cause I'm over with the body right now 'cause there's a crowd gathering," the sergeant said. The victim fell next to the play lot. He was dead there but an ambulance took him to the hospital because of a gathering crowd. Every day students come out here to play, separated by age, the young ones first and older kids later on. Had this happened a few minutes later, the youngest of the students would have seen the killing or worse. "Make sure someone gets in touch with the school here, lets 'em know the kids aren't coming out for recess," the sergeant said Tuesday. "Let 'em know they aren't coming out for recess," the dispatcher said to the district's schools sergeant, who was just arriving to the scene. "Got a bonafide DOA out there." The kids stayed inside while detectives worked and police stretched tape from the fence that enclosed their playground to fences across the street. Grenshaw Street was closed Tuesday, from Pulaski to the scene, and all of Karlov from just north of Grenshaw down to Roosevelt. But at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday, a teacher walked the students out as the same district schools sergeant sat parked, waving at the little ones who waved at her and hi-fiving them through the fence. Advertisement "So these kids can have recess," the schools sergeant told her dispatcher. The Chicago Police Department was made aware of the sergeant visiting the school before she arrived and declined to allow any of its officers to speak for this story. Chicago Public Schools, on the day of the homicide and on the day after, did not return messages seeking comment, either. Other police cars were in the area, circling the school and the blocks nearby. From across the street, an older woman in a purple dress sat on her front porch enjoying the breeze and the warm weather. "They should be able to play out here," she said. She asked that her name not be used. She has to live here, she said. Advertisement "It helps the kid burn off some of that energy and it helps the teachers too," she said. "They need better conditions but what're you gonna do? We live in an area where you have to be careful." The students aren't out long each day. Fifteen or twenty minutes at a time, separated by age. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "Those little people deserve a chance," she said. A garbage truck drove by and honked at the kids playing. A Streets and San worker hanging off the back waved. At 11:15 a.m., as the kids were playing outside, two 16-year-olds were shot three blocks away. The sergeant didn't move her car, and the Frazier kids still played. One of the two teens shot suffered serious wounds, with both treated at Mount Sinai Hospital. "They shouldn't have to be here but it's a good thing they (are)," the woman said. "But how long are they going to do that?" Advertisement Within minutes a news helicopter chopped overhead for the shooting blocks away. The sound of helicopters here, news or police, is constant, the woman said. "See that?" she asked. "That's how we live." By 12:40, the school had finished recess. Officers guarded the shooting scene nearby, and the schools sergeant pulled away. Ahmad was driving his taxi and looking for customers in Old Town late Wednesday when he saw a man hop in a car and speed off. A couple who had been fiddling with a stroller began yelling and running after the car in the 1400 block of North Wells Street around 9:25 p.m. "I saw the thief hop in the car," said Ahmad, who only wanted his first name used. "The parents were running after the car along with the driver, and they were yelling like in horror." Ahmad guessed, correctly, that there was a child inside the stolen car. So he followed it. "I just gunned it." The black car, its trunk still open, drove through at least two traffic lights. Ahmad said he spotted Chicago police officers and told them what happened. Relieved that the officers were looking for the stolen car, Ahmad said he went back to work. When he reached the Near North neighborhood around 9:40 p.m., he saw a car in the 100 block of West Chicago Avenue that looked like the stolen car. There was no driver inside, but a small child was asleep in the back. "The baby was sound asleep through the whole thing," he said. Police said the girl was unharmed. No arrests have been reported and no detailed description of the carjacker was available. Ahmad said his day hadn't been going so well. He had only made $5 during the three hours he had been working. By late Wednesday, the parents of the child were thanking him for finding their child. "This is my good deed of the day," he said. Oscar Lopez Rivera is welcomed back to Humboldt Park in Chicago after being released from house arrest. The Puerto Rican nationalist was arrested in the 1980s and, after years in prison, was granted clemency by President Barack Obama. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) For a moment late Thursday afternoon, it seemed like everyone in Humboldt Park had turned out to welcome home Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera, newly free after more than three decades in prison. Posters proclaiming "Bienvenido" and Puerto Rican flags blanketed Division Street. A group played bomba music from a flag-festooned float. Dozens of students from a school Lopez helped found decades ago lined a walkway leading to La Casita de Don Pedro, a replica of a Puerto Rican home where supporters have hosted former Puerto Rican prisoners for years. Advertisement Many in the crowd consider Lopez a hero of the Puerto Rican independence movement and had waited decades for this moment. Loud cheers broke out when Lopez walked through the crowd to the casita's front porch, flanked by politicians and fellow activists. "After 35 years and months as a prisoner, I want you to know I never, ever lost hope that I'd be here with you on Division Street in Humboldt Park," Lopez, 74, told the gathering, speaking in Spanish. Advertisement Lopez was considered a top leader of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN, an ultranationalist Puerto Rican group that claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings at government buildings, department stores, banks and restaurants in New York, Chicago, Washington and Puerto Rico during the 1970s and early '80s. Among those greeting Lopez was Carlos Alberto Torres, a fellow FALN member who himself spent decades in prison. He called Lopez's return to Chicago "the culmination of a great odyssey." "This is our brother, our friend, family," Torres said, a cigar in his hand. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 Oscar Lopez Rivera, center, is led by his brother Jose Lopez, right, into La Casita de Don Pedro in his first stop in Humboldt Park on May 18, 2017. President Barack Obama commuted Lopez's 70-year prison term in January, clearing the way for his early release. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) Lopez had become a free man just a day before, gaining early release after former President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in January. Since then he has been on house arrest in Puerto Rico. Lopez, a Vietnam War veteran who moved from Puerto Rico to Chicago as a child, wasn't convicted of having a role in the FALN bombings, which killed six people and injured dozens, but those who lost loved ones hold him responsible. "This guy was convicted of leading the FALN that murdered people," Joseph Connor, whose father, Frank, was among four people killed in a 1975 bombing of the Fraunces Tavern in New York, told the Associated Press. Federal authorities charged Lopez in 1977 in connection with 16 Chicago area bombings. He remained a fugitive until he was captured in 1981 after police in north suburban Glenview stopped him for a routine traffic violation. Lopez was sentenced to 55 years in prison in 1981 after he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, armed robbery, a weapons violation and four counts of interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. At his sentencing, a federal judge termed him an "unreconstructed revolutionary." Advertisement He later faced an additional 15 years in jail after he was convicted of conspiring to escape from prison in Leavenworth, Kan. In 1999, President Bill Clinton offered Lopez clemency but he rejected the offer because it excluded two associates who have since been released. In 2011, the U.S. Parole Commission denied his request for an early release. The commutation ultimately granted by Obama had long been sought by pop culture figures, religious leaders and politicians who called Lopez a political prisoner. Among those supporting Lopez's release were former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Francis and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago, former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. "He has his champions and his critics, but this much is true: He served a lifetime in prison, including 12 years in solitary confinement. Don Oscar will spend his twilight years on the island for which he sought independence, and this feels fitting," Miranda told the AP in an email, referring to Lopez with the Spanish honorific of "don." Lopez returned on Thursday to a neighborhood he helped shape, but one that scarcely resembles the place where he grew up. Back then, the area was littered with rundown buildings and plagued by unemployment. There were few thriving Puerto Rican businesses, and the education system wasn't serving the neighborhood well. Advertisement "Literally the community was burning around us," Gutierrez said. Today, there are a number of Puerto Rican political leaders in the city Gutierrez among them and two huge steel Puerto Rican flags welcome visitors on either end of a stretch of Division Street known as Paseo Boricua Puerto Rican passway. Before his arrest, Lopez helped set the change in motion, Gutierrez said. "Many of the things we celebrate today in our neighborhood, institutionally, began with him," Gutierrez said, citing Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, both of which Lopez helped start. "He fought to make the educational system more responsive," Gutierrez said. "He saw young Puerto Ricans arrive from the island to be put in special education, put in a corner to play checkers he fought to change that." Danette Sokacich, principal at Campos high school, said Lopez's example is one she touts to her students, dozens of whom turned out for his return. Advertisement "Oscar has a relentless spirit we try to invoke in our students," Sokacich said. Maylene Rivera, 17, said that despite his long absence Lopez is "part of the community" and said she was proud to be at his homecoming. "If it wasn't for this school, I would've dropped out," Rivera said. Lopez's younger brother, Jose Lopez, is executive director of the cultural center. He said the neighborhood was "literally a slum and a ghetto where people lived in an extremely marginalized environment" when Oscar left for the Vietnam war. Upon his return in 1967, Lopez worked as a community organizer, his brother said. Lopez helped establish the Latino Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Latin American Recruitment Education Service, his brother said. Lopez also organized against employment discrimination and pushed for Latinos to have better job opportunities. Lopez was active in "just about every facet" of "the fight for social, economic, (and) political justice," Gutierrez said, noting he met Lopez while teaching at what is now Campos high school. Advertisement "Self-reliance was an important principle he taught many of us. We created that high school. It was our institution. It responded to our needs," Gutierrez said. "We literally financed it going door to door." After an initial reception at the casita, Lopez led the crowd in a march down Division to Mozart Street, where Ald. Roberto Maldonado, 26th, revealed an honorary street named in Lopez's honor. Maldonado praised Lopez as being "true to his beliefs, true to his principles and true to his Puerto Rican roots." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "He passionately fought for the rights of Latino and black Chicagoans," Maldonado said. Not everyone on hand was forgiving of Lopez's criminal past. Mark Heller, who said he lives in the community, stood near the front of the crowd at Lopez's street-naming holding a sign reading: "Terrorist OLR." Some men attempted to take it from him but, when they weren't successful, others maneuvered their Puerto Rican flags in front of his banner, largely obscuring it from view. After the ceremony, Heller criticized Lopez. "He is not a hero," Heller said. "He is not a patriot." Advertisement But the mood otherwise was best represented by the crowd, which after Maldonado's remarks chanted, "Oscar's free!" gpratt@chicagotribune.com Twitter @royalpratt A 17-year-old girl went missing eight days ago in Chicago's Belmont Cragin neighborhood, police said. Joseline Jimenez was last seen May 10 in the area of the 2100 block of North Nagle Avenue, and she has not had any contact with her family since, police said. Advertisement Jimenez is described as Hispanic with a medium complexion, black hair and brown eyes. She is 5 feet tall and about 160 pounds, police said. Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call the Area North Special Victims Unit at 312-744-8266. A prominent business leaders' group on Thursday called for an income tax hike on corporations and individuals coupled with spending cuts in state government to dig Illinois out of the red. A task force of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago cited increasing concerns "about the deterioration of Illinois' attractiveness as a place to live and work, as well as its reputation among investors," in concluding the state needs to raise $10 billion a year over the next five years to restore its financial health. Advertisement The group envisions $2 billion in savings by cutting state government expenses on operations, employee health care and pensions. The remaining $8 billion would come from a series of tax increases, including raising the corporate tax rate from 5.25 percent to 9.5 percent and raising the individual rate from 3.75 percent to 5 percent. That's where it was before a 2011 temporary income tax hike expired just before Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner took office and the stalemate began months later. A 2014 study commissioned by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and Taxpayers Federation of Illinois found that about two-thirds of corporations in Illinois don't pay corporate income tax. Ninety-five percent of those companies also reported zero or negative federal taxable income. Advertisement Additionally, the business group wants to extend the state income tax to apply to retirement income, expand sales taxes to some consumer services, and eliminate some tax exemptions for people who make more than $50,000. The group recommends using the new money to close the state's $7 billion budget deficit, pay down the bill backlog and then establish a rainy-day fund of at least $4 billion. After that, they say, the state should focus on paying down its $130 billion unfunded employee pension liability. At the same time, the group wants to see elimination of the state's tax on multimillion-dollar inheritances, which it estimates would cost $320 million a year. And it wants changes to the rules governing the state's workers' compensation insurance system to make the program less expensive for employers. That's one of the major pieces of Rauner's economic agenda. Mayor Rahm Emanuel praised the group's "honest report," but did not specifically endorse the ideas. The offices of Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan had no comment Thursday. The recommendations should be taken together, said Frederick Waddell, the Civic Committee chairman and CEO of Northern Trust Corp. "The approach is a long-term, comprehensive set of reforms that will put Illinois in a much better position," Waddell said. "I personally would pay more taxes if I felt that the state was going to be in a better position to compete going forward." Jay Henderson, a retired vice chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and chairman of the Civic Committee's tax policy group, said the ideas were aimed at bringing Illinois more in line with other states and eliminating uncertainty. "We think that the combination of these proposals together could create a long-term economic plan that is credible, that could remove, in most cases, the uncertainty around the future of the state," Henderson said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. Advertisement Still, taxing retirement income which is done in most states that have an income tax and eliminating the estate tax which doesn't exist in most states both are ideas that could prove politically challenging in Springfield. Older people tend to vote in higher numbers, and taxing their retirement income risks a backlash. Waddell said the group didn't take politics into consideration. "We really tried to say, 'What would be most impactful?'" Waddell said. The recommendations come as politics has ground the budget-making process to a halt. The Republican governor and Democrats who control the General Assembly remain locked in a stalemate that's gone on for 23 months. The situation has caused disruption of safety net programs for those in need, starved colleges and universities of cash, and caused the unpaid-bills pile to reach an unprecedented $14.3 billion. The Civic Committee is an elite business group whose membership list reads like a who's-who of Chicago business and politics. Among its members: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, who recently gave $20 million to Rauner's re-election campaign; and J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who is vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Rauner in 2018. Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are honorary members. Before he became governor, Rauner led the organization's education committee. The group's Tax Policy Task Force, which came up with the state budget recommendations, skews more in favor of Democrats. Combined, the task force's 11 members have contributed more than $534,000 to Emanuel, $54,000 to Speaker Madigan, and $26,300 to Rauner's campaign committee. Much of Emanuel's haul has come from Michael Sacks, the mayor's confidant and top campaign donor. Advertisement Henderson said the task force members were selected "to ensure that we had a diverse set of views on the committee." The group's recommendations were reviewed by the entire Civic Committee membership, which endorsed the report, Henderson said. Legislative leaders and the governor's staff also were looped in on the group's ideas. Some of the Civic Committee proposals mirror what the Senate has been trying to reach agreement on to strike a budget deal. A spokesman for Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said the Senate Democrats "appreciate the Civic Committee weighing in and hope Gov. Rauner will listen." At the crux of the budget stalemate has been the reluctance of both Republicans and Democrats to take the blame for raising taxes. On Tuesday, Rauner again tried to distance himself from talk of a tax hike, and he specifically criticized the idea of raising taxes to the level now being advocated by the Civic Committee. "If the majority in the General Assembly refuses to make sufficient cuts to balance the budget, then their answer Speaker Madigan said it 18 months ago, he wants to do a meaningful income tax hike," Rauner said, referring to Madigan's December 2015 assertion that income tax rates should return to where they were before the rollback. "The only way we can pay our debt down, the only way we can pay it down, is through economic growth," Rauner continued. "We cannot tax our way to pay it down, and we cannot purely cut. We've got to grow." Missing from the wide-ranging set of recommendations was any mention of property taxes, which are a key driver of costs for Illinois homeowners and businesses. A property tax freeze has been one of Rauner's top requirements in return for signing off on tax increases. Advertisement The Civic Committee group noted in its report that if the spending reductions it advocates were to hit local governments, it might cause cities or school boards to try to raise money through property tax hikes. Waddell and Henderson said that in addition to raising revenue and cutting spending, they decided to focus their recommendations on three areas that they thought would most impact the jobs climate in Illinois, and the property tax issue was not among them. The group recommended consolidating local government as well as changing the funding formula and increasing state aid for elementary and secondary education to better fund schools. Rauner also has pushed those ideas. kgeiger@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimgeiger Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here. Topspin Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin has joined the GOP's efforts to keep in the news Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker move to secure property tax breaks for a Gold Coast mansion declared "vacant and uninhabitable." Advertisement The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week on the tax relief, and Republicans have focused on the issue for days. Durkin signed to a bill that would allow local taxing bodies to file a complaint if a property owner getting vacancy relief isn't attempting to sell, lease or alter it. The plan also lays out penalties for those found in violation, including a ban on tax breaks until the property is sold or leased. Democratic Rep. Robert Martwick filed the measure back in February, but Durkin didn't add his name as a co-sponsor until Wednesday, after the Pritzker story broke. Advertisement "Corporations or unscrupulous property owners should not be able to receive special breaks or deals at the expense of communities," Durkin said in a statement that doesn't mention Pritzker by name. The proposal hasn't moved much, and it's probably unlikely to find a second wind in the Democratic-controlled legislature anytime soon. The Illinois Republican Party has blasted Pritzker since the report was published, saying he's hurting Chicago Public Schools and other city services that receive property tax money. Pritzker dismissed the attacks Monday, contending Gov. Bruce Rauner and Republicans are attempting to cause a distraction. Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said Durkin "tarnished himself and his office by allowing it to be used by Bruce Rauner for cheap political stunts." (Haley BeMiller) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel isn't expected to have a public schedule. *Gov. Rauner will announce the new CEO of his economic development agency Intersect Illinois at a Chicago news conference. *The Illinois House and Senate meet. From the notebook Advertisement *Give democracy a chance: Former 44th Ward Ald. Dick Simpson, now a professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, on Wednesday presented one of his periodic reports on the voting patterns of aldermen. His latest report covers the period since the 2015 election, during which Emanuel has faced myriad difficult issues related to police conduct and large tax increases. Given those challenges, and the fact that the mayor was forced into a first-of-its-kind runoff election contest two years ago, it's not surprising that more aldermen have been voting more often against Emanuel initiatives. But, as Simpson also pointed out, the mayor has yet to lose a vote. And, when asked by veteran City Hall radio reporter Bill Cameron if Chicago was ready for reform, Simpson had this to say: "We seem to be inching slowly towards being a representative democracy, and I think we should try it in Chicago and see if it works." (Hal Dardick) What we're writing *Ken Griffin gives Rauner's campaign a record $20 million. *Kinzinger, Democrats praise special prosecutor appointment. Advertisement *Aldermen advance parking rules aimed at corralling valet operators. *Alderman still fighting trash-seeking squirrels. *Proposal would target Jackson Jr.'s workers' compensation benefits. *Pothole artist targets president with new piece near Trump Tower. What we're reading *Chicago police finalize tighter rules on when to shoot, other uses of force. Advertisement *John Hancock Center could change owners and names. *As public housing developments are set to go away in a deep southern Illinois city, what's next? Follow the money *Democratic candidate for governor Chris Kennedy reported $58,600 in contributions. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Special counsel will oversee Russian probe. Advertisement *And a Senate panel asks Comey to testify. *Stock and bond yields drop on Washington's turmoil. *Milwaukee Sheriff Clarke takes Homeland Security job. WASHINGTON Tuesday's clash involving protesters and security guards for visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prompted outrage by local and U.S. officials who accused the guards of using violence to quell what had been a peaceful demonstration in Northwest Washington. District of Columbia police arrested two men, one from Virginia and one from New York, and said they are pursuing charges against additional suspects after the melee outside the Turkish ambassador's residence at Sheridan Circle. Eleven people were injured, among them a police officer. Some were kicked and stomped, their heads bloodied. Advertisement Included in the police search are members of Erdogan's armed protective detail, according to two people with direct knowledge of the case. Police are working with the State Department and the Secret Service to identify people seen on videos and obtain arrest warrants even as they anticipated thorny issues involving diplomatic immunity or the special status afforded to those who guard visiting heads of state. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward Royce, R-Calif., said that "agents of foreign governments should never be immune from prosecution for felonious behavior." In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he urged a quick inquiry and the filing of "appropriate criminal charges" before the security officers leave the country. Advertisement In a statement, the State Department said "violence is never an appropriate response to free speech." It added that the United States is "communicating our concern with the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms." D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, whose department is leading the investigation, decried the violence. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said "police are working very hard with our partners to see if we can get to the bottom of this," adding that "it was a pretty savage beating." And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., added: "This is the United States of America. We do not do this here. There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." A Turkish state news agency acknowledged that guards for Erdogan, who had earlier met with President Trump at the White House, had targeted demonstrators. Many of the aggressors seen on video were wearing dark suits and ties, and several had guns. At least two of the guns were seen on video being dropped and then picked up during skirmishes. In a statement released Wednesday evening, the Turkish Embassy called the demonstration "unpermitted" and "provocative." Officials alleged in the statement that the protesters were affiliated with the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States. A protest leader denied that any of the participants were involved with the PKK or sympathized with the group. "The demonstrators began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens" who had gathered to greet Erdogan, the statement said. "The Turkish-Americans responded in self defense and one of them was seriously injured." The Anadolu news agency also blamed the incident on an "inadequate" response by police, implying anger over authorities not stopping the protest. Tuesday's melee highlighted the political divisions and conflicts that in some cases have roiled Turkey for decades and have become far more acrimonious and violent of late. After Erdogan's government survived a coup attempt last summer, authorities have pursued a wide-ranging crackdown on enemies and dissidents. Nearly 200,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended from their jobs. The government has faced a resurgent threat from militant groups, including the Islamic State and the PKK. In turn, militant attacks and the state's iron-fisted response, have fed a deepening sense of political polarization in Turkey. Advertisement Tuesday's group was made up of roughly two dozen demonstrators including those angry at Erdogan's crackdown on dissent and his consolidation of power. Others were Kurdish activists, including supporters of a pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey whose leaders have been prosecuted by the Turkish government. Seyid Riza Dersimi, a 61-year-old Virginia resident who owns a flooring company, said he started organizing Tuesday's protest soon after he learned of Erdogan's visit to the United States. They started outside the White House, where he said Turkish guards taunted them as they chanted, "Erdogan is a dictator!" "Ergodan is ISIS!" and "Mr. Trump, please stop him!" Later, at the circle on Massachusetts Avenue NW, Dersimi said he was pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the face. He required five stitches in his nose, his lips were busted and he lost a tooth. "This is what happens in Turkey - this is not what happens in the U.S.," he said. "The American police let them attack us." Court documents describe the demonstration as peaceful until a group of "radicalized protesters began taunting the peaceful protesters." The document says four men in dark clothing then emerged from the crowd and "began attacking several of the peaceful protesters." The two men arrested by D.C. police were identified as Ayten Necmi, 49, of Woodside, New York, charged with aggravated assault for allegedly punching someone in the face, and Jalal Kheirabaoi, 42, charged with assault on a police officer. Both were released from detention Wednesday. Necmi said after the hearing that he heard about the protest over social media. He said fights had begun by the time he arrived. His attorney, Gunay Evinch, blamed D.C. police and the Secret Service for "being surprised" by the turnout and overreacting. Advertisement Necmi said he and a group of other Turkish individuals came to Washington solely to "welcome the Turkish president." The Washington Post's Kareem Fahim in Istanbul and Aaron C. Davis, Keith L. Alexander, Carol Morello and Victoria St. Martin in Washington contributed to this report. The Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees asked the FBI to hand over former director James Comeys notes about his communications with the White House and senior Justice Department officials related to the Russia investigation. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post) WASHINGTON Congressional Republicans are increasing pressure on the administration to produce records related to the latest string of controversies involving President Donald Trump, amid flagging confidence in the White House and a growing sense that scandal is overtaking the presidency. As the White House sought to contain the damage from two major scandals, leaders of two key Senate committees asked the FBI for documents related to former director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election before Trump fired him last week. Advertisement The Republican chairmen and ranking Democrats on the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees asked the FBI to hand over Comey's notes about his communications with the White House and senior Justice Department officials related to the Russia investigation. The Judiciary Committee leaders also asked the White House to provide any records of interactions between Trump officials and Comey, including audio recordings. In a nod to lawmakers' strong desire to hear from the former director, the Intelligence Committee leaders asked him to testify in both open and closed sessions. Advertisement Meanwhile, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday about whether Trump interfered in the FBI's investigation and invited Comey to testify. The requests came after news reports revealed Trump's disclosure of highly classified material to Russian officials and an alleged attempt to shut down an investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will brief the full Senate on Comey's firing. On Wednesday, some members of the GOP began predicting that the party will rally behind some sort of independent investigative body to probe the two issues. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., co-chairman of the moderate Tuesday Group, said Wednesday that the collective political fallout from the past week "will make it difficult" for Republicans to resist a change in approach. Dent said he does not like investigations by independent prosecutors because they "tend to take on a life of their own" and instead preferred an independent commission of outside experts. "We may have to move in that direction," Dent said Wednesday at a forum moderated by Center Forward, a moderate Democratic organization. The collision of the two stories Tuesday night left Republicans reeling, with a senior GOP senator comparing the situation to Watergate, and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., directing the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to immediately seek records from the FBI. Ryan was careful to strike an evenhanded tone Wednesday, saying congressional committees would continue to conduct oversight "regardless of what party is in the White House" but seeming to dismiss some concerns that have arisen in the wake of news about a memo by Comey suggesting that Trump had pressured him to drop the Flynn investigation. Advertisement "There's clearly a lot of politics being played here," Ryan said. He noted FBI acting director Andrew McCabe's recent comment that there has been "no effort to impede our investigation." McCabe made the remark in a congressional hearing when asked whether the firing of Comey had affected the bureau's work. Ryan also sounded a skeptical note about Comey's actions after the meeting in which Trump allegedly asked him to "let this go," referring to the Flynn probe. "If this happened as he described, why didn't [Comey] take action at the time?" Ryan said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not directly commented on allegations that Trump tried to pressure Comey. He did not mention the president or the controversies facing the White House during his morning remarks on the Senate floor and ignored questions from reporters in the halls of the Capitol. As they pleaded for more information from the White House, lawmakers from both parties rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's unusual offer Wednesday morning to provide a record of the meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump shared the classified information. Advertisement "The idea that we would accept any evidence from President Putin is absurd," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview with CNN. "I don't talk to murderous dictators like Vladimir Putin, so Putin's word to me doesn't mean a whole lot," Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a member of the Republican leadership, told the network. "Probably the last person the president needs to vouch for him right now is Vladimir Putin," Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with CBS News. "Its credibility would be less than zero." Concerns about Trump are clearly growing among Republican lawmakers. On Tuesday night, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., compared the current situation to the Watergate scandal while speaking at an International Republican Institute dinner. "We've seen this movie before. I think it's reaching the point where it's of Watergate size and scale and a couple of other scandals that you and I have seen," McCain told Bob Schieffer of CBS News. "It's a centipede, and the shoe continues to drop." Asked Wednesday whether the imbroglio could lead to impeachment, McCain responded: "I have no idea on that - come on." Advertisement The senator's spokeswoman, Julie Tarallo, said the comparison was "simply meant to convey that the constant revelations of events surrounding Russia's interference in the 2016 election are reminiscent of past scandals, are not good for America, and require further scrutiny." When asked what he'd say to Trump, McCain replied: "Get it all out. It's not going to be over until every aspect of it is thoroughly examined and the American people have made a judgment. And the longer you delay, the longer it's going to last." Other Republican senators, while saying they need to review documents before making a final judgment, voiced doubts about Trump. "There's a lot here that's really scary," Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said Wednesday morning in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "It's obviously inappropriate for any president to be trying to interfere with an investigation." Collins, a member of the Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, reissued calls Wednesday for the Justice Department to consider appointing a special prosecutor to probe Russia's election interference. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., is calling for a Democrat to replace Comey as head of the FBI. Toomey believes "changes are needed at the White House," spokesman Steve Kelly told The Washington Post in an email Wednesday. Advertisement And one of two House Republicans to endorse an independent investigation of the Comey matter said that if the details reported this week are true, it could be grounds for impeaching Trump. "Yes," replied Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a member of the Oversight Committee, when posed the question by a reporter. The White House has been largely silent since The New York Times first reported on Trump's alleged effort to end the Flynn investigation by pressuring Comey. Trump aides have not directly commented on the story and were absent from television shows starting Tuesday night, a notable difference from last week, when they blanketed the networks to defend Comey's firing. Before the Times story broke, Trump aides had sought to tamp down the controversy over Trump sharing classified information with Russian officials. National security adviser H.R. McMaster called the action "wholly appropriate" to the conversation that occurred in the Oval Office. Both Republicans and Democrats have called on Trump, who has suggested that he records his conversations, to provide a transcript of the meeting to congressional intelligence committees so they can assess what took place. White House aides have neither confirmed nor denied the possibility that Trump keeps tapes of his meetings. Democrats blasted House Republicans on Wednesday for doing little to probe Trump's potential ties to Russia. Advertisement "They do as little as humanly possible just to claim that they're doing something," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee. "Our committee should already be conducting robust and transparent investigations," said Cummings, who joined 32 other Democrats on Tuesday night in calling for his panel to partner with the Judiciary Committee on a new probe of Trump's White House. "Speaker Ryan has shown he has zero - zero, zero - appetite," the Democrat said. Democrats' priority is advancing a bill from Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., creating a bipartisan congressional commission to investigate Russia's cyberintrusions, how the intelligence community handled the matter and the president's potential involvement. The Democrats are hoping to file a discharge petition - which requires the signatures of a majority of all House members - to compel GOP leaders to schedule a vote on the proposal. But they could have trouble gathering enough support: As of Wednesday, The Post found only five GOP senators and 10 House Republicans open to some kind of independent investigation. While several Democrats have called for Trump to be impeached over the Comey firing, the party's leaders reiterated that their priority was a special investigation. Advertisement Schiff cautioned that hasty talk of impeachment would distract from the need for a bipartisan probe - and mire the investigation in partisanship. "It cannot be perceived as an effort to nullify the election by other means," he said. Some rank-and-file Republicans dismissed the controversies out of hand. "It's being made a bigger deal than what it is," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., said, maintaining that leaks to the media were a more serious matter. Trump "doesn't fit the model of a typical politician, and that's what the real issue is here. He's a business guy, and he wants to get things done." Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., also was unperturbed by the latest reports. Back in Alabama, he said, there is "a lot of frustration that they're not allowing him to do his job." Advertisement "So far I have not seen anything that's that alarming," Aderholt said. The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, Carol Leonnig, Ed O'Keefe, Amber Phillips, Kelsey Snell and David Weigel contributed to this report. Captain Jack Sparrow is back with the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Johnny Depp greets fans at the global premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in Shanghai on May 11. [Photo provided To China Daily] Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be released in the United States, China and other parts of the world on May 26. Johnny Depp, who plays the antihero Jack Sparrow, arrived at the Shanghai Disney Resort on May 11, accompanied by other members of the cast, including Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom for the movie's global premiere in China. Many fans of the 14-year-old franchise waited outside the Walt Disney Theater at the resort to catch a glimpse of the stars. Dead Men Tell No Tales is a new story of the high seas infused with fantasy, humor and action. With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, came the dawn of Jerry Bruckheimer's most successful franchise, one of the most successful film series in the history of Disney Studios. The first film was followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). The four films have together made more than $3.7 billion so far. In the latest film, Jack Sparrow feels the heat when Captain Salazar, played by Bardem, and his ghost sailors escape Devil's Triangle in a bid to kill him and the other pirates. From third from left, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, walk down the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on May 17, 2017. (Susan Walsh / AP) WASHINGTON As Donald Trump has grown increasingly angry and frustrated with his White House staff, the beleaguered targets of his ire have a quietly roiling gripe of their own - their boss, the president himself. In the nine days since he fired FBI Director James Comey, Trump has lurched through a series of crises of his own making - from the explosive report Monday that he had revealed highly classified intelligence to Russian officials to the bombshell Tuesday that he had urged Comey to end the federal investigation into Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser. Advertisement And in his wake remain his exhausted aides and deputies, the frequent targets of Trump's wrath as they struggle to control an uncontrollable chief executive and labor to explain away his stumbles. Wednesday evening brought yet another challenging development for the White House, as the Justice Department announced a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Advertisement Some White House staffers have turned to impeachment gallows humor. Other mid-level aides have started reaching out to consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close the staffer. Trump, for his part, largely believes his recent string of mishaps are not substantive but simply errors of branding and public relations, according to people close to him and the White House. Indeed, as he faced a wave of criticism following the disclosure he had leaked "code-word" intelligence material to Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week, the president took to Twitter to claim he had "the absolute right" to do so. White House officials are particularly worried about the news this week that Comey took meticulous memos about conversations he had with Trump - including one in which Comey claims that Trump requested that he end his investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to two people in close contact with administration officials. Aides realize that the White House has squandered its credibility and will have difficulty pushing back against the latest allegations, one of the people said. The president's siege mentality was on display Wednesday when he delivered commencement remarks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, offering graduates a warning that life is "not always fair." "You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted," Trump said. "Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history - and I say this with great surety - has been treated worse or more unfairly." The president implored the crowd to "fight, fight, fight," and added, "You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams." But his team is growing increasingly weary. Privately, they say, the problem is not an incompetent communications shop, as the president sometimes gripes, or an ineffectual chief of staff, as friends and outside operatives repeatedly warn, but the man in the Oval Office, whose preferred management style is one of competing factions and organized chaos. One West Wing official recently stopped defending Trump or trying to explain away his more controversial behavior. Another characterized the operation as "trudging along," with aides trying to focus their attention on Trump's upcoming foreign trip and the budget landing next week. Advertisement Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary under George W. Bush, said the president has created a situation where his team is increasingly unlikely to succeed. "It's torture - torture because of everything that is happening externally, but it's also torture because of how divided the White House is internally," Fleischer said of the challenges that Trump's staff faces now. "It makes it very hard to keep your head up and do your job." He added: "If you don't give people something substantive to talk about in Washington, they will be plenty happy to talk about things that are personal, political and scandal-related." For many White House staffers, impromptu support groups of friends, confidants and acquaintances have materialized, calling and texting to check in, inquiring about their mental state and urging them to take care of themselves. One Republican operative in frequent contact with White House officials described them as "going through the stages of grief." Another said some aides have "moved to angry," frustrated with a president who demands absolute loyalty but in recent days has publicly tarnished the credibility of his team by sending them out with one message, only to personally undercut it later with a contradicting tweet or public comment. And a third said that others are now sticking around purely for self-interest, hoping to juice their future earning potential. This Republican added that any savvy White House staffer should be keeping a diary. "The real question is: How long do you put up with it?," this person said. "Every one of those people could get a better paying job and work less hours." Advertisement The Trump White House has always been full of leaks to the news media. But the latest waves of anonymous griping have subtly shifted from warring aides bickering among themselves to staffers training their frustrations on the president, as well. Those who remain fully loyal to Trump report a growing sense of isolation. The president has grown increasingly willing to shake up his staff, though aides say any major changes are likely to come after a nine-day foreign trip starting Friday that many hope will provide a stabilizing reboot. If and when Trump does overhaul his team, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, is expected to play a key role in rethinking the structure and personnel within the West Wing. The president has groused about his communications operation, most notably its director, Mike Dubke, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. But Spicer has also received assurances that his job is secure and was specifically asked to accompany Trump on his trip to the Coast Guard Academy, largely to help manage the tornado of news. In addition, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has been a particular target of mockery, both inside and outside the administration. Chris Whipple, author of "The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency," said the most important duty of a chief of staff is to prevent "end runs" - including the situation in which Trump allegedly asked to meet privately with the head of the FBI, which is investigating his campaign. "The White House staff system is completely broken, maybe beyond repair. It is inconceivable that something like that could have happened on James Baker or Leon Panetta's watch," Whipple said, referring to chiefs of staff under previous presidents. "The problem with this White House is that there is no one, including Priebus, who is able to tell the president what he doesn't want to hear and until there is, this White House will be broken, will be dysfunctional and so will Trump's presidency." Advertisement The president has not yet signaled if Priebus will suffer in a staff change. But a handful of familiar names are already circulating as potential replacements, including Tom Barrack, a real estate investor and longtime Trump confidant; Republican lobbyist Wayne Berman; former Trump adviser and Republican strategist David Urban; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross; and, perhaps implausibly, businessman and casino magnate Phil Ruffin. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, meanwhile, some of Trump's top advisers worked to stabilize his policy agenda, which has been sidetracked by two weeks of snowballing controversies. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn met behind closed doors with Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, trying to solicit input on the White House's recent one-page proposal to overhaul the tax code. The White House wouldn't commit to new details of their tax plan, however, and said they wanted more time to negotiate and talk. As Democrats streamed out of the meeting, they expressed skepticism that the White House would be able to focus on something as policy intensive as an overhaul of the tax code when it seems to be engulfed in constant crisis. "How are they going to do any of this - tax policy, infrastructure, health care - when all this is distraction?" asked Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. The Washington Post's Damian Paletta contributed to this report. I've been a Republican political consultant for almost 30 years, and I've dispensed a lot of private advice. But now it's time for me to reach out publicly to my fellow Republicans working in the Trump administration. We really need to talk. Advertisement Whether you're a 20-something fresh off the campaign trail or a seasoned Washington insider serving in the Cabinet, by now you're painfully aware that you're not making America great again; you're barely making it to the end of the daily news cycle before your verbally incontinent boss, the putative leader of the free world, once again steers the proverbial car into a ditch. On every front, you're faced with legal, political and moral hazards. The president's job, and yours, is a lot harder than it looked, and you know the problem originates in the Oval Office. You hate that people are shying away from the administration jobs in droves: Just this week, in rapid succession, both Texas Sen. John Cornyn and South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy withdrew their names from consideration as replacements for former FBI Director James Comey, the guy your boss fired. Whatever department you're in, it's a safe bet that it's a whispering graveyard of empty appointments and unfilled jobs. Advertisement I know: many of you serving in Cabinet, sub-Cabinet and White House roles joined Team Trump in good faith, believing you could help steady the ship, smooth the rough edges and, just maybe, put some conservative policy wins up on the board. You could see that President Donald Trump's undisciplined style was risky, but you hoped the big show playing over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would provide you with cover to work steadily and enthusiastically on the administration's legislative priorities. Some of you even bought into the 'Merica First new nationalism. Many of you quietly assured friends in the Washington ecosystem that Trump would settle into his job - after all, just a few days after taking office, he assured us, "I can be the most presidential person ever." You figured Trump would turn his political capital into big wins, and that his lack of interest in policy details would let you and your friends in Congress set the agenda. Sure, you knew you'd have to feed Trump's ego and let him take a victory lap after every success, but you also thought you might claim a smidgen of credit for a popular infrastructure bill, a big tax cut, repeal of Obamacare or a host of other "easy" lifts. Because we're all ambitious, right? It's OK to admit it. Instead, your president botched Trumpcare 1.0 and contributed little as Speaker Paul Ryan managed to ram the public-relations nightmare, Trumpcare 2.0, through the House at the cost of much political blood and treasure. Instead, Trump's fumbles have left many members of Congress ducking town hall meetings as if they're in the Witness Protection Program. The DOA tax bill and the rest of Trump's agenda are deader and more pungent than six-day-old fish. Maybe your particular bureau is still afloat, but you're really not doing much except playing defense and wondering which of your colleagues is leaking to The Post. You learned quickly that your job isn't actually to serve the nation, manage your agency or fulfill the role you ostensibly play according to the White House org chart. In reality, you spend most of your time fluffing Trump's ego. Either that or you're making excuses for not being a more aggressive suck-up. If you've been ordained to appear on television as an administration surrogate, you know by now that your task isn't to advocate for your agency or issue, but to lavish the president with praise. Now, you see the daily train wreck; you see a White House in turmoil and a president drawing an ever-tighter circle of family and corporate vassals around himself. You worry that the scandals and legal troubles, that have been rumbling on the horizon like a summer thunderstorm, are drawing nearer. You should worry. Every day you get up, slide into the seat of your Prius or Tahoe (and, if you're senior enough, exchange a few polite words with your driver) and start checking Twitter. Whatever it is that you're feeling, it doesn't feel anything like Morning in America. It feels like some far-away kleptocracy where the center hasn't held, the airfield and radio station have fallen to the rebels, and the Maximum Leader is holed up in his secret bunker waiting for the other shoe to drop. Soon (and by soon, I mean now) you'll have to make a choice. You'll have to decide if "I'm here to help" has morphed into "I'm helping this president dismantle the republic." In D.C., principle is as rare as hen's teeth, but, GOP friends, I'm here to help you. You already know you can't save the president because he doesn't want to be saved. You already know there's not another, better version of Trump getting ready to show up. You're smart. You're loyal. You're sniffing the wind like a gazelle, nose filled with the scents of predators. You don't want to break from the pack too soon, but there's greater risk in waiting too long. Advertisement When regimes collapse, dead-enders are the most fascinating to watch the ones who end up with the profitable concessions and sought-after mistresses. You know already, though, that's probably not you. So, when this regime falls, ask yourself, do you want to be among those who said "not me," or do you want to go out like a Ba'ath Party generalissimo? Sticking with Trump to the bitter end and pretending the unfolding chaos is just "fake news" won't save your reputation as the walls close in. It won't ease the judgment of history. It won't do anything to polish up your future Wikipedia entry. Cutting ties with a man who is destructive to our values, profoundly divisive, contemptuous of the rule of law and incontrovertibly unfit to serve in the highest office in the land just might. Do it now. Washington Post Rick Wilson is a Republican consultant and a columnist for the Daily Beast. What to read next: Advertisement And now, a special counsel. How Trump still could save his disaster-prone presidency. Dear Republicans: It is possible to say no to Trump Donald Trump is not a child. He is something much worse. Impeaching Donald Trump is looking more possible every day The appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate possible Trump campaign collusion with Russian meddling in the election puts the Trump presidency in substantially greater peril than it was in only 24 hours ago. But, remarkably enough, this did not even have to happen at all it only happened because the unhinged behavior of Trump himself made it happen. Yet it's not clear that Trump's less-than-vice-like grip on reality permits him to even grasp this. Advertisement Trump unleashed two tweets Thursday morning responding to the news of the appointment, which was made by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after days of deafening criticism. Trump claimed: "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel [sic] appointed!" He then added: "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Separately, The Post reports that Trump is raging at his staff for failing to mitigate his "stumbles." Why? Because "Trump largely thinks that his recent mishaps are not substantive but simply errors of branding and public relations, according to people close to him and the White House." Advertisement But, despite Trump's suggestion that he is being victimized by a witch hunt, and that a more adept PR strategy could minimize the damage, this is a situation entirely of Trump's own making. And each of Trump's actions leading up to this moment are rooted deep in Trump's autocratic and authoritarian impulses; his total contempt for basic institutional processes; and his tendency, when his sense of grievance strikes, to slip into a delusional belief that he can overwhelm the institutional independence of his persecutors the way he might steamroll someone in a business deal. Let's trace the basic arc of this whole story. The special counsel might not be happening if Trump had not abruptly fired former FBI director James Comey. The reporting indicates that Trump was driven to do this out of grievance-laden rage at Comey for failing to make the Russia probe disappear (Comey isn't supposed to do that at Trump's behest, and firing him isn't going to do it either). So this was rooted in crazy, and didn't have to happen. More to the point, the manner in which Trump fired Comey led directly to the special counsel. Trump had made the decision and then instructed Rosenstein to produce the bogus rationale for it (Comey's botched handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe). Trump then blithely conceded on national television that the real reason was Comey's handling of the Russia probe. He was either unaware that this might be a problem, or didn't care, because, well, you can take the rule of law and shove it. All this unleashed a tirade of criticism arguing that Rosenstein, having helped provide a cover story for Trump (which Trump himself then blew up), is too compromised to oversee the continuing FBI probe. This surely helped bring about the special counsel's appointment and Trump authored it. After that, Comey associates retaliated by leaking word that Trump had demanded Comey pledge his loyalty at a private dinner in January. And after that, Comey associates leaked word of a memo in which Comey asserted that Trump had tried to persuade him to quash the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's Russia ties. To be fair, we don't know if either of these things happened. But if they did, which is perfectly plausible, these things, too, appear rooted in Trump's autocratic contempt for basic institutional processes. And we will soon hear from Comey himself on these matters, when he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump has created a problem for himself in yet another way, too: He denied asking Comey for a loyalty pledge by vaguely threatening to release alleged tapes of their conversation. Now, if Comey publicly attests to that pledge, the White House will be forced to produce these tapes or admit they don't exist, and it's very likely that neither of those outcomes would turn out well for Trump. The point is not just that Trump's actions are entirely to blame for the appointment of the special counsel. It's also that there are no indications that Trump even understands this. And on top of that, these actions themselves which simply did not have to happen will now likely be probed by the special counsel, too. Washington Post Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog, a reported opinion blog with a liberal slant what you might call "opinionated reporting" from the left. Advertisement What to read next: If you work for President Trump, it's time to quit Donald Trump is not a child. He is something much worse. Impeaching Donald Trump is looking more possible every day How Trump still could save his disaster-prone presidency The degree to which Republicans have continued to ignore or excuse President Donald Trump's reckless behavior, which now can be seen as endangering national security, has not surprised politics-watchers. If Republicans were willing to tolerate his call for Russian hacking, his defense of vile dictators, his abuse of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the "Access Hollywood" tape, his assaults on the intelligence community, his (thankfully) inept attempts to ram through a Muslim ban, his attacks on judges, his hiring as national security adviser of Michael Flynn without vetting him, and his firing of the FBI director, why should blurting out secrets reportedly entrusted to us by Israel to Russian officials move them over the edge? Then came the news that former FBI director James Comey had documentation of his meeting with Trump in which Trump asked him to step back from the investigation of Flynn. ("I hope you can let this go,'' Trump said.) That shook loose Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., who told the press: "I've asked Comey to come before the Judiciary Committee to tell his side of the story. I think it would be good for him if he did. It would be good for the country." Even House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who has been less than enthusiastic in pursuing potential wrongdoing in this administration, shot off a letter to the FBI demanding all Comey memos documenting conversations with the president. Might the presentation of a credible witness with contemporaneous notes break the logjam? We can only hope. Until now, there have been few exceptions to the rule of partisan loyalty. We did see freshman Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who has been tweeting up a storm, calling for a full investigation of Comey's firing and now the scandal reportedly involving Israeli intelligence we gave to Russia. "Our allies and partners must have the utmost confidence that sensitive information they share with us will not be disclosed," he tweeted. He continued, "Regardless of what was shared in the meeting, it's dangerous to believe that Russia can be a reliable counterterrorism partner." Last week he told a local TV interviewer: "I think the timing of the firing is indeed suspicious. It does raise a lot of questions and I think, like most American and most Wisconsinites, I just want the truth." Really, if a freshman can refuse to spin for the White House, why can't lawmakers with years of seniority in no danger of losing their seats? There was also Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., who voted against the dog's-breakfast health-care bill, who put out a statement when Comey was fired, which read in part: "I can't defend or explain tonight's actions or timing of the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The FBI investigation into the Russian impact on the 2016 election must continue. There must be an independent investigation that the American people can trust." On the Russia debacle she said, "Once again we are faced with inexplicable stories coming from the White House that are highly troubling. We need to have immediate classified briefings on what occurred at this meeting so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders and know the impact on our national security, our allies, and our men and women protecting our country." Oh, she's just trying to save her swing seat, you say? What is the excuse, then, for silence from safe members? Late Monday, before news of the Comey memo surfaced, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., weighed in as well. "The reports that the President shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials are deeply disturbing. Reports that this information was provided by a U.S. ally and shared without its knowledge sends a troubling signal to America's allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingness to share intelligence with us in the future. ... I continue to believe that we need a select congressional committee to fully investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Sanctions not intelligence-sharing should be our course of action." Then, in a telling sign the temperature was going up, he said at a GOP dinner Tuesday night that the Trump situation has reached "Watergate size and scale." Whether Comey's documentation proves to be the tipping point for Republicans is unclear. The Washington Post reports that Comey's memo and Trump's disclosure of classified information to the Russians are "forcing a change in everyone's calculations." Republicans will begin to realize that their agenda is going nowhere and that their political survival depends on Trump's political demise. Now, we've seen the Republicans fall into line behind Trump too many times to expect swift, definitive action. But more Republicans, I suspect, will figure out that they have a better chance of political survival if they follow Graham, Gallagher, Comstock and McCain (and belatedly, Chaffetz). They might consider that it was the GOP leaders who went to tell Richard Nixon in 1974 that the jig was up, not the dead-enders, who went down in history as patriots. Washington Post There are two political means of removing a U.S. president from office: impeachment and the 25th Amendment. Almost from the first day of President Donald Trump's administration, his critics on the left have batted around the idea of impeachment. Advertisement To those detractors, the investigation of Russian interference in the presidential election, the ouster of national security adviser Michael Flynn, and the firing of FBI Director James Comey all seem to be building a case to file articles to remove the president from office. But there is not much "there" in those cases: Russian interference seems to be limited to misinformation campaigns, Flynn's ouster has been undermined by the leaks that made it happen, and the firing of Comey is well within the president's authority. Whether the president dismissed Comey in order to obstruct an investigation is still being determined. For Trump's critics on the right, the preferred method of removal now seems to be invoking the 25th Amendment, under which the Cabinet would vote to remove the president from power for an indefinite period, replacing him with Vice President Mike Pence. If a coup d'etat came to America it would look like this: unelected bureaucrats voting to remove a president because of his hostility to their jobs and his childlike temperament in expressing and executing his agenda. Advertisement President Trump is many things: an oaf, a buffoon and an incompetent politician. But he is also an existential threat to the culture of Washington, D.C., and its elites. His call to "drain the swamp," whether he means it or not, has obviously riled his base and whatever base elites still have to ground themselves on. This goes a long way toward explaining the rage that encompasses the coastal media and its enablers. Nonetheless, the white-hot rage that has been brewing among the president's detractors since Nov. 8, 2016, seems to be reaching a point not seen since the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape a month before the election. Now, instead of calls for Trump to drop out of the race, there are calls for him to be removed by the Cabinet or impeached. But these are unstable times and these are dangerous ideas. In an election that fairly or not cast doubt on the president's legitimacy, in a political environment that careens between incompetence by Republicans and obstruction by Democrats, in a country whose social fabric is fraying, the calls to remove the president are reckless at best and damning at worst. The elites had their chance to persuade the American people to trust them: Between Hillary Clinton and the 17 Republican candidates, the people had a choice to vote for order and stability and politics as usual. But they chose the "Make America Great Again" candidate. Trump's critics make a good point when they attack his competence, sincerity, honesty and so forth. It is true that he is lacking in those qualities more than any other modern president. The criticism is well earned. But the unceasing attempts to delegitimize and undermine him are as childish and petty as Trump himself. What is lost in the hyperventilation of journalists, pundits and politicians is the will of the people who elected him president. Trump is a disrupter. That is his purpose and the reason he was elected. American elites stopped serving their constituencies long ago. For pundits and politicians to disregard the will of voters and float ideas for Trump's removal flies in the face of the democratic society they are supposedly trying to save. If Trump leaves office before the end of his term it will probably be because he feels boxed in or undermined. The prospects of Congress impeaching him are slim, as is his Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment. Putting these ideas into the public forum as practical solutions is harmful to the country. If America is to weather the current political storm, then cool heads must prevail. What we cannot afford is a coup. Advertisement Dominic Lynch is a writer from Chicago. His work appears in The Federalist and Chicagoly Magazine. What to read next: Republicans won't turn on Trump until his voters do Donald Trump is completely delusional about what's happening to him right now Paul Ryan and House Republicans are in total denial If you work for President Trump, it's time to quit In a conventional world, coffee is sipped in the morning and cocktails in the evening. But conventions are just playing by someone else's rules. Three Chicago bars are catering to all of our beverage needs, whenever we need them. Allow us to introduce these three all-day bars, including two inspired by coffee-to-cocktail concepts of Europe and Latin America. Revival Cafe-Bar 125 S. Clark St. 773-770-6241 Advertisement Where theres an assemblage of office buildings, coffee is sure to be in high demand. Such is the case in the Loop, where Revival Cafe-Bar (inside Revival Food Hall) serves up morning brew from a whole slew of local roasters and invites guests to come back for the approachable cocktail program available all day. While the food hall brings some of the city's best neighborhood restaurants to the area, the cafe and bar bring the charm. Dependable like a neighborhood tavern, the coffee shop-bakery-cocktail lounge hybrid is truly an all-day experience thats got all beverage needs covered. Stopping for a coffee and a pastry on the way to the office? Get it at Revival. Hungry for lunch? There are 15 more vendors within the food hall, and why not indulge in a glass of wine? Want a drink after work? Revival Cafe-Bar is there. The idea for us is to create a synthesis between the coffee side and the cocktail side and have them all in one spot, said beverage director Michael Huebner. The bar and cafe are attached so that they can function as one unit. The concept is inspired by an owners travels through Europe, Huebner said, where the cafe-by-day-bar-by-night is a common business model. Working with La Colombe, Dark Matter Coffee and several other local roasters, Eric Turner, who heads up the coffee program, offers a number of drip and pour-over coffee plus espresso drinks. Huebner pays homage to the classics on the bar menu. Serving up amaro-forward cocktails, many are low-octane and suitable for day drinking, such as the Americano with campari, sweet vermouth, sparkling water and blood orange tea ($12). A cocktail or glass of wine at lunchtime is encouraged, but hell even make it in a coffee mug for those who want to drink on the sly. While inside the food hall, the bar is a separate entity with its own vibe. In contrast to the cheery bright lights in the rest of the space, the Cafe-Bar feels relaxed with more natural light from the large wall of windows and cool dark decor colors. The food hall bustles during lunch hours, but the bar keeps the vibe alive later as it transitions in the evenings. Its a completely unique environment where youve got someone playing house music on a Wednesday night. Its also very Chicago, Huebner said. While the Loop isnt the most laid-back neighborhood, Revival Cafe-Bar is an approachable environment where guests can let their hair down. During select happy hours, the bar offers a martini and a manicure deal, and during others, pours of top-shelf spirits are available at wholesale price per ounce. The bar is open weekdays 7 a.m.9 p.m., and theres plenty of drinking to be done in that time. But if anywhere can be a pioneer in Loop nightlifean oxymoron in a neighborhood thats largely asleep by 8 p.m.its Revival Cafe-Bar. Estereo 2450 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-360-8363 When life starts to grind, a holiday cant come soon enough. But coffee, pastries, tropical spirits and Cuban sandwiches make Estereo a Latin oasismorning, noon and night. Bright and airy, the triangular bar on the corner of Sacramento and Milwaukee avenues is flooded with natural light from two walls of roll-up garage windows that let the breeze in when its warm outside. Sunlight, exposed brick, light wood and red and pale blue accents create just the right setting to float in for a coffee from Dark Matter and set up shop for the day with a laptop. The Logan Square watering hole raises up the neighborhood's Latin roots, paying homage to the all-day bars of South America. There, you see cafes as very much social centers for the neighborhood, said general manager Michael Rubel. We wanted to be a place where people from the neighborhood just drop by in the afternoon, have a coffee, bring their laptop, have a business meeting ... just spread out and enjoy it, dig the music, enjoy the light coming through the windows, grab a bite and drink and relax. Estereo by day is different than Estereo at night, but no matter, theres always music playing (hence the name). Latin soul and other sounds from South America are at the heart of the bar, and the bartenders spin records from a vast vinyl collection. During the day, its a cool, laid-back coffee shop, with Latin soul and classic salsa playing. By night, dance hall tunes are pulsing through the baranything from afro-beat and psychedelic cumbiacarrying the energy. Coffee service is available from 11 a.m.4 p.m. daily, but there are plenty of gateway drugs available all day to help with the transition to night, Rubel said. The coffee cocktail ($10), a mix of Dark Matters Chocolate City cold brew, arrack, Averna and housemade coconut-date horchata, is a prime example. The bars focus on unaged spirits from Latin America and the Caribbeanincluding pisco, cachaca, tequila and othersbrings a particular bright, tropical feel. Refreshing tropical-style beverages are just great for daytime drinking, Rubel said. You can feel like you're on vacation, even in February in Chicago. With fresh flavors from fruits such as blood oranges and concord grapes, the drinks are refreshing any time of day and pair well with Wyler Roads Cubano or portobello sandwiches pressed at the bar. When the windows are open, the space becomes an enclosed patio, and its dog-friendly. Hows that for an all-day party? Slightly Toasted 22 N. Clinton St. 312-967-2830 Advertisement Bakery by day, whiskey bar by night is this West Loop bars deal, but the gourmet toast is available all day. From the owners of the former Oak + Char comes Slightly Toasted. The initial idea was to open a whiskey bar, said partner Tyler Mendoza, but the location next to Ogilvie Transportation Center made it ideal to maximize the space to catch business in the morning with coffee and pastries. Slightly Toasted offers a custom blend from local Sparrow Coffee Roastery. Espresso is pulled from some fancy equipment Mendoza said they found in the building (a La Marzocco that hadnt even been plugged in). The pastries and bread are made fresh each day. I grew up spoiled as hell with fresh baked bread, said Mendoza, whose father Artalso a partner at Slightly Toastedhad a hand in opening several Corner Bakeries in the city. The toast offerings include sweet and savory options, such as bourbon butterscotch, Nutella and sea salt on brioche ($5) and hummus with pickled lemon, hazelnuts and spring salad on ciabatta ($5). While coffee and toast are an obvious morning pairing, guests can also take their toast with a side of whiskey. The menu offers more than 170 American, Irish and Asian whiskeys, scotches and a corn distillate from Mexico. Other barrel-aged treats throughout the menu include rotating draft beers, plus draft cocktails ($11), such as an old fashioned and the Gentleman's Club, with whiskey, manzanilla sherry and pipe tobacco simple syrup. Lighter daytime options include the Becky with the Good Berriesgin, lemon juice, housemade blueberry syrup and rosemary-honey simple syrupand the Boogie Woogie Feng Shui, a tangy sip of pisco, sweet vermouth, Peychauds bitters and a pear syrup that sings through (both $11). Theres room for 96 inside at the marble bar, wooden tables and booths with silvery crushed velvet. As the weather warms up, Mendoza said look out for a sidewalk patio for 75. On certain Saturdays, the bar-restaurant combo shows off its fine dining talent with Mercurio, pop-up dinners from chefs Brenda and Omar Garcia. With fresh breads, coffee and whiskey, this West Loop joint bills its offerings perfectly: Guests can start and end their day Slightly Toasted. Want more stuff to do this weekend? Our 2017 ultimate summer festival guide Introducing Chicago's new patios and rooftops of 2017 Things to do in Chicago this month When the 98th annual Memorial Day Parade starts in Arlington Heights on May 29, the hometown celebration, honoring those who died while serving in the armed forces, will feature time-honored traditions and new observances. Led by this year's parade Grand Marshall, Brigadier General Frederick R. Maiocco Jr., commander of the 85th Support Command in Arlington Heights, the parade is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. May 29 at the corner of Arlington Heights Road and Sigwalt Street, officials said. Advertisement Among the new units this year is a Marine Corps League Mounted Color Guard, which features four mustang horses from a McHenry-based therapy program that uses equines to assist veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, said Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights. The parade also will feature a Native American veterans group, and a "riderless horse" to honor the village's 58 residents who have died during military service, from the Civil War to the conflict in Afghanistan, Padovani said. Advertisement Those who wish to honor a veteran, from either the past or present, can participate in the Honor Flag Unit, sponsored by Glueckert Funeral Home, which is providing honor banners that display the names and branch of service of veterans. The one-and-a-quarter mile parade will proceed west on Sigwalt Street, north on Dunton Avenue, west on Euclid Avenue, and south on Chestnut Avenue to Fremont Street, where an 11 a.m. ceremony is planned at Memorial Park. "As we traditionally do, we'll be calling out the names of the area veterans who have passed away in the last 12 months, and there will be the tolling of the bell," Padovani said. "We'll also have 10 to 15 Gold Star Families at the ceremony. I always tell them, as long as there is one veteran who participates in the Memorial Day Parade, their sons will always be remembered and always be honored." For information on the Memorial Day Parade in Arlington Heights, visit: www.ahpd.org/events/memorial-day-parade--ceremony/. kcullotta@tribpub.com Twitter @kcullotta China will focus on smart manufacturing by integrating the strategy of "Made in China 2025" with the Internet Plus Initiative as well as entrepreneurship and innovation to upgrade the country's traditional industries and help advance economic restructuring. The decision was made at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday when a report on the strategy's implementation was delivered to participants. Since implementing the strategy in 2015, the country has seen a steady progress in industrial capabilities, smart manufacturing, innovation, and product quality and branding. A recent case in point was the passenger jet C919 that took its first test flight earlier this month. The meeting decided to focus on smart manufacturing and further deploy new technologies such as the industrial internet to make manufacturing a smarter and greener sector that offers better services and products. Average productivity was up by 38 percent for China's first 109 pilot projects of smart manufacturing, while operating costs dropped by 21 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The premier said "Made in China 2025", as a crucial part of the supply-side structural reform, is vital to moving the country's economy up the value chain. The key is to exploiting advantages of China's domestic market and human resources, as well as further promotion of basic research and innovations, he said. "Implementation of the strategy has introduced strength to the real economy, especially the equipment manufacturing. However, we should also keep aware of our weak links as much of the industry is at the medium and lower end of global supply," Li said. "Made in China 2025" was first unveiled in the Government Work Report in March 2015. Two months later, the State Council released a guideline, which focused on five key projects, including smart manufacturing, and 10 key fields such as new materials. Key technologies will be on top of agenda, including independent research and development. Innovative development in fields such as new materials and robots will be accelerated. As of Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has approved pilot regions for the strategy, namely 12 cities such as Ningbo in Zhejiang province and three city clusters in provinces such as Jiangsu. Some of them will be designated as the country's demonstration areas, which will get favorable policies in investment, financing and other fields. The premier urged to establish demonstration areas, where small and medium-sized enterprises can develop with large companies for collaborated growth and greater global competitiveness. The meeting also decided to cultivate a new model of incorporating the manufacturing sector with the Internet Plus Initiative. The country will strengthen cooperation with other countries to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. The country will introduce advanced management, raise quality standards and guide companies to put quality as their top priorities. More efforts will be made to attract and recruit talents from home and abroad. More items for governmental approvals will be streamlined with lower threshold for market access and improved oversights to nurture an excellent business environment. Greater financing supports will be given to the real economy to increase resources for industrial upgrading. Intellectual property rights will also be given greater emphasis to safeguard legitimate rights of market entities. A would-be robber armed with a handgun struck out at an Aurora pizza restaurant early Thursday morning, according to police. In a statement posted to Facebook, the Aurora Police Department called for anyone with knowledge of the armed robbery attempt on the first block of West New York Street to come forward. Advertisement A man with his head covered, wearing a blue windbreaker, went inside the restaurant at about 12:05 a.m. Thursday and pointed a handgun at an employee, demanding cash, police said in the statement. The employee retreated to the back of the business and hid, while another employee who had already been in the back ran outside, police said. No injuries were reported. Advertisement The armed man left without taking anything, police said, and he was last seen running eastbound on New York Street. Police ask anyone with information to call Aurora police at 630-256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000. People also can submit tips through the Aurora Police Department's free MyPD app. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone An Aurora police officer on desk duty since he was charged with domestic battery last month is asking for his gun and FOID card back. As a condition of his bond, Brian Shields, 46, had to turn those items over. While bail had been set at $5,000, he was released April 6 on his own recognizance, with further conditions including no contact with the plaintiff and staying away from a specific address. Advertisement Lacking a gun, Shields has been unable to act in his capacity as a patrol officer at the police department he's been with for more than 12 years, his lawyer argued in a motion to amend conditions of bond. "Without his FOID card and his ability to carry a firearm," the motion claims, "Shields has been unable to work in his capacity as a patrol officer for the Aurora Police Department, and therefore has been, and continues to be, severely prejudiced." Advertisement The motion asks the court to change Shields' bond conditions to allow him to carry his FOID card and service weapon, "so that he may resume his official duties as a police officer." Following Shields' arrest, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the department had launched an internal investigation and put him on administrative duty. Ferrelli on Wednesday declined to say whether Shields would, indeed, be allowed to return to patrol if a judge decided he could use a gun again. In an email, Ferrelli confirmed Shields was still on restricted duty, but said it would be inappropriate to elaborate on the case because it involves an open internal investigation. Shields' attorney, Wheaton-based Kim DiGiovanni, has not returned a message left Wednesday with her office. An order signed May 12 by Judge Kathryn Karayannis states that the motion to return Shields' gun is reserved, pending an order of protection hearing. Karayannis also ordered Shields to obtain a full risk assessment by his next court date, which is May 24. Federal law bans people convicted of qualifying offenses, including felonies and misdemeanor domestic violence, and anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order; from gun possession. Illinois prohibits people convicted of domestic battery and "substantially similar offenses" from obtaining a FOID card. International Association of Chiefs of Police policy dictates that officers arrested on allegations of domestic violence have their weapons confiscated. Further, the association mandates that officers convicted of domestic violence crimes are to be fired. Advertisement Kane County Sheriff's deputies arrested Shields April 5. He was charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery, which are alleged to have taken place at a home in an unincorporated area of Aurora. Beyond keeping him in protective custody during his short time at the jail, officials treated Shields like everyone else who is arrested, said Kane County Sheriff spokesman Lt. Patrick Gengler. Court filings accuse Shields of tripping another man, causing him to fall on a hardwood floor, after a dispute about sleeping arrangements, and subsequently striking the other man in the face and body, pushing him back down and causing him to hit his head on the floor, and biting his right index finger. After the man got away, according to court records, paramedics took him to a hospital, where he stayed overnight for diagnoses of a concussion and profuse nose bleeding. "The petitioner ran away from the home and does not recall anything until he later awoke in an ambulance," alleges a petition for an order of protection. The petition further alleges that Shields had been physically and verbally abusive in the past. Shields was suspended without pay for 11 days earlier this year, ending on Jan. 31, according to disciplinary records provided by the police department through a Freedom of Information Act request. The suspension was for a September complaint alleging Shields violated both the standards for conduct and behavior and for unauthorized use of records, according to a suspension letter. Advertisement A performance complaint states that starting in early May 2016 through August, Shields had interactions with a female who worked at a convenience store that "turned into unwanted touch and ultimately a kiss on the cheek." Further, on two dates in 2016, May 8 and June 9, Shields improperly accessed her information from the police department's records system, according to the complaint. Shields worked as a reporter for The Beacon-News in the early 2000s. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone hleone@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @hannahmleone New Aurora Alderman at Large Sherman Jenkins, left, shakes hands with 16th Circuit Court Judge Rene Cruz moments after Jenkins took the oath of office this week. (Steve Lord/The Beacon-News ) As Sherman Jenkins stood in front of the crowd at the Aurora City Council meeting this week, his daughter was in the hospital, about to deliver Jenkins' third grandchild. But his focus at the moment was on a birth of a different kind the start of a new administration at Aurora City Hall of which he would now become part. Advertisement Jenkins, the one-time director of the Aurora Economic Development Commission, joined the City Council as an alderman at large, appointed by Mayor Richard Irvin to fill the position Irvin himself held for 10 years. The position became vacant when Irvin was sworn in as mayor a week ago, and Jenkins thanked the mayor by saying aldermen "are with you, and we've got a lot to do." Advertisement "Aurora stands at the gate of greatness," he said. "It wasn't easy to get here." For more than 20 years, Jenkins was involved with how the city got there, first as assistant director and then the executive director of the Aurora Economic Development Commission. Under Jenkins' leadership, the commission fostered development of Aurora's first Downtown Master Plan, led a negotiating team to bring the Chicago Premium Outlets mall to Aurora, and spearheaded the attraction of many corporations such as Freudenberg Household Products and International Paper. Jenkins is president of SLJ Communications Inc. and SLJ Development Corp., and publishes "Tell Me Somethin' Good," a monthly digital publication that covers African-American life outside Chicago. He was the 2015 Outstanding African-American of the Year, presented annually by the city of Aurora's African-American Heritage Advisory Board. Last year, he released a book he wrote, "Ted Strong Jr: The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues All-Star." After Jenkins was sworn in this week by 16th Circuit Court Judge Rene Cruz, Irvin joked that he "tricked" Jenkins into joining the City Council so the new mayor could get the benefit of his background and experience at the relative bargain price of about $25,000 a year the salary of an alderman. "He has been indispensable for Aurora for decades," Irvin said. "I look forward to his wisdom." Advertisement Alderman Robert O'Connor, at large, praised Jenkins' experience and service to the community. "It's a great addition to have you involved," he said. Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns, 7th Ward, said the city is "blessed" to have Jenkins on the council. "He is a man who truly worked hard in the vineyard, day by day by day, to get the job done," she said. Attending the swearing in was Norm Titiner, a long-time Aurora businessman who was chairman of the Economic Development Commission when it hired Jenkins years ago. "We did the right thing," he said. Advertisement slord@tribpub.com New England Congregational Pastor Gary McCann (right) talks to church members Desiree and Rick Guzman after Desiree was awarded the Kiwanis Service to God & Fellowman award Wednesday. (Denise Crosby/The Beacon-News ) She was only 170 votes away from being Aurora's First Lady. Had her husband been able to grab just a little more support in his recent bid as mayor, Desiree Guzman's name and face would likely have become easily recognizable by residents of this state's second largest city. Advertisement But the 41-year-old wife, mother of two and co-founder of Emmanuel House, has always preferred to work behind the scenes. Described most frequently by friends and family as humble and quiet, Guzman was hesitant about her husband's bid to become mayor because of the attention it would bring and how it could possibly change the man she met in an Aurora Bible study group and has been married to for 15 years. Advertisement Because "she's an introvert," said Rick Guzman, now manager of neighborhood redevelopment for Aurora, "there was a certain amount of apprehension." Desiree Guzman was, however, front and center on Wednesday evening when the Kiwanis Club honored her with its 43rd annual "Service to God & Fellowman" award for her selfless and, yes, quiet dedication to others. In addition to her work with Emmanuel House, which puts working-poor families on the path to home ownership, she's also involved in myriad endeavors that focus on at-risk children in the Fox Valley, particularly refugees and immigrants. But it's Emmanuel House recognized last year as one of the "100 most innovative non-profits in the world" as a Classy Award finalist, presented by The Stanford Social Innovation Review and The United Nations Foundation that has become her most fervent mission. And only recently, this nonprofit she and Rick named in memory of his brother Bryan Emmanuel Guzman, who was killed in a drowning accident in 2006, was featured in the United Church of Christ national newsletter for its partnership with New England Congregational Church. After a rental home that had been plagued for decades with gang and drug issues and was near the church's preschool was donated to this Aurora church by its owners, plans were to turn it into a parking lot. But when officials realized that plan would only add six spaces, they decided instead to partner with the Emmanuel House Project. With volunteer labor and church funds that were less than what it would have cost to raze the house thanks in large part to Jim Hopp, who volunteered his services as general contractor in about six months this large white house at 15 Hawthorne Court was turned into a multi-unit home, now occupied by World Relief families from Congo, Cuba and Syria. Emmanuel House, which acts as the property manager for this home and eight other Aurora properties serving 20 families, gives residents a chance to save for a down payment. Churches sponsor a duplex for $400 a month but also help with home maintenance and rehab, as well as financial training and other support for these families. Advertisement Wednesday's dinner was attended by plenty of people who know the importance of being part of a larger community, including Alderman at Large (and former mayor) Bob O'Connor and Dee Anderson, a former winner of the award and who, along with late husband Don, were instrumental in starting Ronald McDonald House in Chicago. But there was no denying the impact the seemingly shy and soft-spoken guest of honor who sold her engagement ring in order to get Emmanuel House off the ground had on the audience. She models what it means to "walk humbly," New England Congregational Pastor Gary McCann said. "We are better people because of her," he said. A few of Guzman's biggest fans also spoke about the many lives she has changed through mission trips, tutoring, mentoring workshops, playgroups, summer and after-school programs and, of course, Emmanuel House. But it was when Desiree took the microphone to accept this award that I realized what makes her so deserving of recognition: Instead of thanking the group for awarding her past accomplishments, she expressed appreciation for giving her a reason to do more. Advertisement Like so many mothers, Guzman, who had poured so much physical and emotional energy into her work with Emmanuel House, felt like her influence "was shrinking" as she cut back on her endeavors after oldest daughter Micah was born seven years ago. "Giving up some of my capacity to influence the world for good has been a painful part of motherhood for me," she admitted. "In many ways, I stopped seeing myself as a difference-maker. I lost confidence in that part of my identity. I forgot who I was." This Kiwanis award, she said, has caused her to reflect on "what I've been able to do since becoming a mom," giving her permission "to feel proud about my service again." Then she offered up a piece of advice that I guarantee hit home with every mom who has ever felt like she's being pulled in a dozen different directions yet is never quite doing enough. While you may not "feel much like leaders or influencers do the best" you can do, she suggested. And as Mother Teresa encouraged others, "do small things with great love." It was his wife's "gentle ways of shaking up the world" that Rick Guzman applauded, giving his wife credit, not just for making him a better person but also a better candidate. Advertisement She "helped me become more willing to take big risks for the possibility of doing something significant," he said. And, he also noted, throughout the long and sometimes arduous campaign, it was his "talented ghostwriter" who "wrote the best line in any of my debates." "So I'm glad that the secret is out," the former candidate noted. "And through this award, the Kiwanis are acknowledging how people like Desiree are truly the ones who make it all work." dcrosby@tribpub.com Jon Isherwood, land acquisition manager for K. Hovnanian Homes, talks about plans for the company's proposed residential project near the Didier Farms property in Buffalo Grove to concerned neighbors near the proposal during a meeting at Meridian Middle School. (Ronnie Wachter / Pioneer Press) During a meeting Tuesday with the developers who have eyed 50 acres near Didier Farms in Buffalo Grove for a new residential development, neighbors near the proposal said they were hoping to see how the plans would be revised to address their concerns. But some said they left the meeting at Meridian Middle School, which borders the eastern edge of the proposed site, with more questions than answers after representatives with home builder K. Hovnanian Homes presented the homeowners with the same plan to build the "Linking Crossing" development, which would create 214 units of single-family homes and multi-family rowhomes on the southeast corner of Buffalo Grove Road and Brandywyn Lane. Advertisement "Asinine," resident Mike Leissner said of the proposed designs for the project. Neighbors near the proposed site have objected to the large residential development primarily because of concerns with overcrowding and increased traffic congestion in the area. Advertisement But representatives with K. Hovnanian during the meeting tried to assure neighborhood residents that they are working on a revised plan to decrease the density of the proposed development, although they didn't specify how many units could be cut from the plan. "We're going to have a revised plan. It's going to be less dense," Jon Isherwood, land acquisition manager for K. Hovnanian, told the crowd. "We're not going to be back with 209 units, or 205." A revised plan could be presented by June 21, when the developer is set to meet with the Buffalo Grove Planning and Zoning Commission about the proposal, Isherwood said. The point of the meeting with neighborhoods was to hear more of their thoughts on the proposal, which has been criticized by local residents in past village meetings. Some of the roughly 40 people who attended the meeting at Meridian Middle School said they were expecting to see changes to the plan and repeated their earlier concerns with the plan. But Isherwood and Jim Truesdell, land acquisition adviser with K. Hovnanian, reviewed some of the existing details of the Link Crossing development. The streets within the development would be owned and maintained by a homeowners association rather than the village, an idea that drew concerns from the audience. The Lake County Division of Transportation also has not granted permission for an exit onto Buffalo Grove Road, they said. And they clarified that the three-story townhouses would be within the village's 35-foot height limit, although some neighbors still said they were concerned about appearance of the development. "It's like a hotel," neighbor Cathy Arvanitakis said. Advertisement Isherwood said his group understands the concern. "You guys hate the three stories," he said. "We've heard that loud and clear." As for the population at the proposed Link Crossing development, Isherwood and Truesdell both said they would market the rowhouses to younger millennials, the four-bedroom homes to young families and the two- or three-bedrooms to older parents who are preparing to be empty nesters. The idea of smaller models had at least two people interested during the meeting. David and Nina Tenny, of Arlington Heights, watched for most of the meeting because they said they are thinking about buying property once the new development is built. The big appeal to them, they said, would be living in an area that has a mixture of younger and older residents. "You want to know how depressing it is when your neighbors keep dying?" Nina Tenny said after the meeting. Advertisement Whatever changes K. Hovnanian presents next, the revised plan likely will not affect the Didier Farms farmstead, greenhouse and playground on the northeast corner of Buffalo Grove and Aptakisic Roads. John Didier, co-owner of the Didier Farm property, said Wednesday they still have no interesting in giving up their land near the proposed development. "I am not selling not at this time," Didier said. When audience members asked K. Hovnanian representatives during the meeting about the future of farmstead, Isherwood said they had looked into it but understand that Didier is not interested in selling. "We don't know if it will ever develop," he said. rwachter@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer Bob Chamberlain managed a little smile while exercising when asked how coming to InspirFit in Willowbrook for the past couple of months has helped him. "Well, I couldn't get out of a chair before," said the 93-year-old Palos Hills resident, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease more than 20 years ago. Advertisement Watching Chamberlain walk, get on and ride an exercise bike, and work through other exercises with InspirFit co-owners Kelly Marten and Nancy Timko, it's difficult to believe that he is a Parkinson's patient who will turn 94 in July. "The whole idea of our program for Parkinson's patients is to stop or slow down the progression of the disease," said Marten, who worked with the National Parkinson's Foundation and Parkinson's patients from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He and Timko opened InspirFit in January with some financial help from a grant from the National Parkinson Foundation. Advertisement "Research shows that Parkinson's patients can greatly improve their quality of life through regular exercise, slowing the degenerative process of their condition," Marten said. Parkinson's programs at InspirFit are designed to increase or maintain the physical well-being of clients through training of strength, balance and coordination, cardio conditioning, postural habits, flexibility, gate mechanics and performance, Marten said. Chamberlain comes twice a week, for 45 to 60 minutes, to work with Marten and Timko. "They have the best service and attention, and the best results," Chamberlain said. "I'm much better in my movements now. I was frustrated when I got started, but it's gotten a lot better." Marten and Timko are working with a half-dozen Parkinson's patients and expect that number to increase. "We wanted to bring this program out here to the southwest suburbs, where it hasn't been available," Timko said. "It's about improving the quality of life for people. We can work with elite athletes, which we do, but it doesn't touch your heart like it does to see people like Bob make great progress." Marten said progress for Parkinson's patients comes not only from working hard on physical exercises. "The mental aspect of this is a big factor, and one of the things we do is help them build confidence," he said. "That comes from working closely with them and developing a relationship." Advertisement Marten said the program isn't exactly the same for all patients. "There are definitely balance and movement issues with Parkinson's, but it's very different, for example, for someone we work with who is 53 and was just diagnosed, compared to someone who has had the disease for many years," he said. Timko said Parkinson's' patients now train individually; however, plans call to add a group setting for them. "It would be great for camaraderie, kind of a support group for them," she said. Marten said that while the Parkinson's program is very important to him and Timko, they welcome everyone to pursue fitness at InspirFit. "There are no attitudes or egos here," he said. "We really all are more of a family." Advertisement cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @chuckwriting InspirFit facts Address: 7890 S. Quincy St., Willowbrook Phone: 630-794-9663 Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to Friday; 7-11 a.m. Saturday Advertisement Website: www.inspirfitness.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/spirecrossfit/?fref=ts Leading rating agency Moody's Investor Services Inc has affirmed it is confident that China's economy is well geared to withstand financial shocks, despite the nation's high debt levels. Workers work at the Liaoning section of a high-speed railway in northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] "China, more than other emerging markets, has the ability to manage its own future, at least within the confines of its domestic financial system and the domestic economy," said Alastair Wilson, Moody's head of global sovereign rating. He was speaking at Moody's annual emerging markets forum in London on Tuesday. Wilson said China's fiscal strength, its partially closed capital account, and high foreign exchange reserves are all well placed to help it absorb shocks, if necessary, and dissipate them over time. Wilson's words were in response to concerns, especially in the West, about China's rising debt levels. China's debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 277 percent at the end of 2016, from 254 percent the previous year. "Often, when you see economies with China's level of leverage and credit growth, you begin to expect (a credit bubble burst). But we haven't seen that, because of China's capacity to control the outcome of its fortunes, in the real economy, the financial sector, household sector, within a closely controlled system," Wilson said. Moody's current sovereign rating for China is Aa3, which is classified as investment grade. Moody's confident outlook for China is shared by London investment managers. "China continues to defy predictions of a hard landing," said Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. "We believe that the perceived risks in China are wildly overstated and that growth, capital flight, and debt are largely unconnected issues." Dehn said China's high debt level is not worrying when considered in combination with its extraordinarily high 49 percent savings rate. A rack holds comics for sale at Zone Comics and Games in Homewood. The store took part in Free Comic Book Day earlier this month. (Mike Nolan/Daily Southtown ) There was quite a crowd in downtown Homewood on a recent Saturday, what with Archie Andrews and the other denizens of Riverdale alongside the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants, Barbie, Batman and The Hulk. For comic book fans, the first Saturday in May has become a celebration of the history and future of comics, with teens as well as parents with young children flocking to stores such as Zone Comics and Games, 18107 S. Dixie Highway, for Free Comic Book Day. Advertisement The first comic giveaway was held in 2002, and on May 6, more than 2,300 retail shops were expected to hand out more than 5.7 million free books, according to the website for the event maintained by Diamond Comic Distributors. It started out relatively small, then "started getting traction and now it's pretty much an industrywide holiday," said Alex Stritar, who co-owns Zone Comics with his cousin, Joe Bullaro. Advertisement "We had people waiting at 9 a.m." for the shop's 11 a.m. opening, said Janet Bullaro, Joe's mom who was helping out during the event. Her father, Jim Mancino, was pitching in as well. Visitors were able to pick free comic books from a table piled high with titles and characters that appealed to all ages and interests. The free comics help introduce the books to new readers, and well-received movies based on comic book characters such as Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man show the genre isn't confined to the printed page. Stritar, of Homewood, noted that releases of movies, such as the new "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," help drive interest in comics. There is also a Wonder Woman movie due out early next month and a new Justice League movie scheduled for a pre-Thanksgiving release. Comic books also are staying relevant as writers and artists introduce more ethnic diversity among characters, and story lines touch on current issues, according to collectors Christian Toll and Nick Maro, who both were at the store for the event. "They're trying to adapt to the current social climate," Maro, of Chicago Heights, said. Toll, 20, also of Chicago Heights, started collecting comic books in 2007 and said he has amassed a collection of about 10,000. Maro, 43, said he began collecting in 1984 and has accumulated about 7,000 comics. He said he worked at Zone Comics for more than seven years before Stritar and Bullaro bought the business. From time to time, they said, Toll and Maro will sell some of their comics. At Zone Comics, Toll has a Mickey Mouse comic book from 1948 he is selling for $175. "It hurts at first," Toll said of parting with some of his collection. "But I like to see other people enjoy what I used to enjoy." Advertisement Bullaro and Stritar bought and reopened the business, which has been in downtown Homewood for a number of years, last September. Bullaro, whose full-time job is working as an economic analyst in Chicago, said the partners have been "able to reinvigorate" the business, which longtime customers said had previously lacked a diverse inventory. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The business had been for sale for about two years when the cousins bought it, Bullaro said. Stritar said he had been a customer of the shop for about 10 years, and was uncertain at first when asked by his cousin if he wanted to be partners in the shop. "The idea of owning a business was pretty terrifying," he said. Janet Bullaro said she also was unsure whether her son might have been taking on too much. "With (him) having a full-time job I was asking 'How are you going to swing this?'" she said. "They made it work." Advertisement mnolan@tribpub.com Twitter @mnolan_j Gregory D. Miles, of 1600 Astor St. in Calumet City, was charged with murder in the March 16, 2016, death of his stepson, Noah Rudder, which was ruled a homicide. (Cook County Sheriff's photo) The stepfather of a 17-month-old Calumet City boy who died last year after allegedly being placed in a bathtub with scalding water was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison. Gregory Miles, 31, received the sentence after pleading guilty earlier in the day to an involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of Noah Rudder. Advertisement Miles also was originally charged with murder and child endangerment but pleaded to only the one charge in Circuit Court in Markham. Cook County Judge Carl Boyd handed down the sentence. Boyd said he doubted whatever decision he made would help both of Rudder's families deal with the tragedy. Advertisement Shortly after sentencing, Miles spoke in open court to the Johnson family, urging them to stay strong. The stepfather of 17-month-old Noah Rudder was sentenced Thursday, May 18, 2017, to 10 years in state prison for his role in the boy's death. (Sharell Johnson ) "I loved him just as much as if he was my biological son," Miles said. Genise Johnson, a grandmother for Noah, nodded along as Miles spoke in court. She declined to talk to the media after the sentencing. The boy's mother, Sharell Johnson, however, said in a telephone interview after the sentencing that she does not believe justice was served and the sentence was far shorter than Miles deserved. She was away at work and not at her Calumet City home on March 16, 2016 when Noah was allegedly placed in a tub of running water by Miles, prosecutors said. Miles likely will serve years less thanhis full sentence due to factors that include time already served awaiting trial, she said. "He probably has a whole life ahead of him, and my son is gone," she said. She said she couldn't bear to be present for the sentencing on Thursday. Miles was the only adult in the home watching over three children, including Noah, and delayed seeking professional medical help after the incident, Cook County prosecutors said. Advertisement Prosecutors alleged Miles placed Noah in the tub and turned on the water, but walked away to answer a phone call. Evidence at trial would have shown a fault in the home's hot water heater was causing hot water to come out when the nozzles were set to lower temperature, prosecutors said. Miles allegedly told police during a videotaped interview that he saw how badly injured the child was and attempted to aid him using information "from the internet," prosecutors said. Paramedics weren't called until after midnight on March 17, 2016, more than 12 hours after Noah was burned by the water, prosecutors said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Noah was declared dead shortly before 2 a.m. at St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Hammond, Ind., prosecutors said. Johnson, Noah's grandmother, is haunted day and night by imagining her grandson crying out for help as scalding water burned his tiny body, she told the court Thursday. "I sometimes hear the screams in my head of him calling for his momma or granny," Johnson said. Advertisement Johnson said she saw her grandchild at the hospital that morning and, four hours later, was at a funeral parlor ... making arrangements. "I kissed his forehead, and it was still warm," Johnson said. Prosecutors said a medical examiner would have testified at trial that Rudder suffered third-degree burns from his waist down, including his arms. Rudder also suffered from shock due to loss of fluid, contributing to his death, prosecutors said. Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Dave Jacobsen of Gasoline Alley Band prepared for a set at a reunion of the Storm Cellar. Band members Dan Russell, Jacobsen and Dave Perrin all grew up in Elgin. In the background was a video of 1950s singers including Jiles Perry "The Big Bopper" Richardson. ( Gloria Casas/The Courier-News ) Robert Krich was just a guy with an idea. He was sitting around his living room thinking about his life and things he used to do, Krich said. His predominant memory of growing up in Elgin was going to the Storm Cellar, at First United Methodist Church on E. Highland Ave., every Friday and Saturday night. Advertisement "When we were in school, we use to go there on weekends and dance," Krich said. "You couldn't get into the place, there were so many of us kids there. It was the place to be on Friday and Saturday night." "The Storm Cellar was so much fun, I wondered if I could get a reunion started. So with that, I went down to the church and talked to Pastor Rick (Carlson) and told him what I was thinking. He said it sounds like it would be good fun." Advertisement Krich's reunion drew a crowd of about 150 people, some of whom came from out of state, to reminisce and dance the night away to 1950s music. Jim Anderson came from Arizona. He and Krich grew up together, going to Cub Scout meetings. The two were among the regulars at the Storm Cellar. "There are a lot of good memories here," Anderson said. First United Methodist Church's pastor started the Storm Cellar in 1956 because he saw a need for a place where teens could go, 74-year-old Krich said. "We had a jukebox down there, I think we wore it out," he said. "We would get down there and crank up that jukebox and I am sure we were shaking that church." He started going to the Storm Cellar when he was 15 years old, but it was supposed to be just for high school juniors and seniors, Krich said. He married a girl named Sharon who was often at his side at the cellar. They were married for 53 years, until her death. The Storm Cellar came at the height of rock and roll's popularity, he said. "Elvis as all the rage. It was new and exciting. We'd have the rock and roll. We had slow dances. We'd do the stroll, things like that. What dance one kid didn't know, another kid did." Krich and his friends also listened to Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell, Big Joe Turner and Pat Boone. What he remembers of that time is "just picking up your girl, going down there and having a heck of a good time," Krich said. Teenage girls wore a poodle skirt and blouse while the outfit of choice for guys was a pair of Levi's and a white T-shirt, with a pack of Lucky's rolled up in the sleeve, he said. "It was very American Graffiti," he said, referencing the 1973 movie about the 1950s. Advertisement The mid-1950s were different times for teens. "We kids didn't worry about anything," Krich said. "The only thing we worried about was maybe getting a good grade in English or who we were going to take to the Storm Cellar or who we would meet at the Storm Cellar. It was such different times, so easy. You didn't have a world of issues hanging over your head." Krich had a DJ playing classic rock and roll along with the Gasoline Alley Band. Band members Dave Jacobsen, Dave Perrin and Dan Russell grew up and Elgin in that era. The music is "timeless," Jacbosen said. "It was a backdrop for the people who lived through that time." "It is not only timeless, it is appealing to people's rhythm," Jacobsen said. "Even young people today are getting an appreciation for the music, which they call 'roots music.'" In 1962, the Storm Cellar moved to the newly-built YMCA on Channing Street, then it later disbanded, he said. Krich now dates a woman, Judy Gunn, who also went to the Storm Cellar. She was friends with Krich and his wife. She and her husband were married for about 50 years, until his death. Krich said he was excited about the turnout. "I have never done anything like this. I'm just a guy with an idea," he said. Advertisement Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. A dozen area residents, religious leaders, police officers and social service providers testified Wednesday about the Elgin Police Department and its work with the residents and their organizations. The exercise was part of the first-ever HOPE (Honoring Our Police in Elgin) Luncheon held Wednesday at the Centre of Elgin. The event was held in conjunction with the annual Police Officers Memorial Ceremony at the Elgin Police Department. Advertisement "Our purpose here today is that we live in very troubled times very scary times with a lot of controversy, contention and distrust," between citizens and police departments, said Danise Habun of the Elgin Human Relations Commission. However, that does not, typically, extend to the Elgin Police Department, Habun said. Advertisement "Today we take a pause to recognize the difficult, wonderful and valuable jobs of Elgin Police officers and staff and what they do for our community," she said. The idea to host a luncheon in honor of Elgin police officers came from the Rev. Bob Whitt. Whitt works with the Elgin Police Department's division for community outreach and is the founder of Building on Collaboration. The organization's website, buldingoncollaboration.com, says it is "an organization that works to be an advocate for the renewing of cities for equality. We focus on educating and empowering people to develop and implement solutions that build trust and collaboration amongst the various facets of our community." Whitt approached Habun and the Human Relations Commission about hosting a luncheon for police in Elgin. After discussion with Elgin Chief of Police Jeff Swoboda, he suggested holding it in conjunction with the annual Elgin Police Officers Memorial event, Whitt said. Testimonials about the Elgin Police Department came from the Elgin Community Crisis Center, the Ecker Center for Mental Health, the Gail Borden Public Library District, and the faith community, as well as Mayor David Kaptain. The Elgin Police Department has been a leader in policing for more than 20 years, working collaboratively with residents to address crime and other issues in the city, Kaptain said. The Resident Officer Program of Elgin (ROPE) is one example of that, he said. ROPE, he said, "allow(s) residents to see a police officer living in their neighborhood," while becoming a pipeline to leadership in the department. Advertisement Much of the command staff at the Elgin Police Department spent part of their time here as ROPE officers, getting to know their community while living in the area they worked, Kaptain noted. The program has created leaders not just for Elgin, but officers who have gone on to be chief of police in other communities around the country, he said. The Elgin Police Department is the "older brother of the police family," said Sgt. Dino Heckermann of the Streamwood Police Department. Elgin's department, he said, is the the kind of big brother that encourages his younger siblings and sets the right example. "My police brothers and sisters, you are a one of a kind work of art and the impact you'll have on the world extends far beyond your lifetime," Heckermann said. After the luncheon, much of the crowd headed to the Elgin Police Department for the memorial ceremony. A wreath was laid in honor of the 144 officers across the U.S. who were killed in the line of duty last year, as well as for the 34 K9s who were also killed. The flags in front of the department were brought to half-staff. Advertisement "Events like the one held at the Centre and this are so important to our officers," Swoboda said following the ceremony. While he is often out in the community, officers don't often get to hear about how their work affects lives and the community, he said. "This is important, because it is about all of us working together," he said, noting the number of community members who attended the two events in support of Elgin police. Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. Federal agents shot and wounded one of two suspects in a narcotics investigation Wednesday evening in West Dundee. It happened about 7 p.m. as agents from a drug task force were trying to arrest two men on narcotics-related charges, according to Special Agent Leo Hawkins with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Advertisement "Shots were fired during the arrest and one offender was struck," Hawkins said. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other suspect was not injured. Agents and Task Force Officers assigned to the Drug Enforcement Agency and Homeland Security Investigations were involved in a joint drug operation outside the West Dundee area Wednesday, according to a news release from West Dundee Chief of Police Andrew Wieteska. Advertisement At 6:48 p.m., West Dundee police were notified that shots were fired when the agents attempted to arrest two suspects at Route 72 and Sleepy Hollow Road in West Dundee, Wieteska said. Agents from the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations were involved in the arrest, but Hawkins did not say how many of them fired and why. "They are both under arrest at this time and charges are pending" Hawkins said of the suspects. The wounded suspect is a known gang member with an "extensive criminal history," he said. The roadway remained closed while police investigated and collected evidence, including the recovery of a handgun at the scene, Wieteska said. There was no danger to nearby residents, Wieteska said. Jess Dinuzzo said she was the second car at the light at Sleepy Hollow Road and Route 72 heading west toward Randall Road around 6:40 p.m. "I heard five gunshots at close range," Dinuzzo said. "I have family in the military and who hunt so I know that sound. Then, all of a sudden, on the right side of my car, I saw an SUV driving on the shoulder with what looked like like bullet holes in the windshield." Advertisement A jeep was following in pursuit, she said. "I said to myself, Oh my God, I've got to get out of here," Dinuzzo said. She turned off Route 72 into a nearby subdivision. "But I didn't realize at first that the car I saw was in the field across the street from me," Dinuzzo said. Dinuzzo said she briefly went to her office off Randall Road but was upset by what she saw. "So I went home and had a drink," Dinuzzo said. West Dundee resident Jordan Hagg said he was driving west on Route 72 when traffic came to a halt. Advertisement "There was lots of activity in the cornfield, on the side of the road, and in the street," he said. "Everyone was eventually forced to turn around and head back east." The incident is being handled by West Dundee police, State Police and federal agencies, according to Sleepy Hollow Chief of Police James R. Linane. Sleepy Hollow police are assisting, he said. Route 72 was blocked to traffic from Tartans Glen west past Sleepy Hollow Road Wednesday evening with assistance from the Kane County Office of Emergency Management. The roadway was opened at 12:15 a.m. Thursday, Wieteska said. The West Dundee Police Department is asking anyone with information involving this shooting to contact the department's investigations division at 847-551-3810. Courier-News freelance reporter Erin Sauder and Chicago Tribune reporter Rosemary Regina Sobol contributed. mdanahey@tribpub.com Advertisement Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. School District U46 interim superintendent Kenneth Arndt, left, speaks to the U46 school board, administration, and public in attendance at a recent board meeting. Arndt will leave his post of interim superintendent at the end of the month. (Rafael Guerrero/Courier-News ) As a new law goes into effect next month allowing School District U46 to have a non-superintendent lead all operations, the district's interim superintendent prepares to leave. Kenneth Arndt, who has served as U46's interim superintendent since 2014, is leaving U46 at the end of May. Advertisement On Monday, the U46 school board recognized Arndt, a retired superintendent with neighboring School District 300, for stepping in to the part-time role when the board hired Tony Sanders as its CEO. "We wanted to continue moving forward, continue everything we had and move ahead and we knew that we could do that with our staff," said school board president Donna Smith. "They knew what they were doing, they knew the direction we were going and we wanted to keep it that way. Problem was no one was a certified super to lead that. And then you came to us and helped." Advertisement Beginning June 1, Sanders can oversee the district without a credentialed superintendent by his side. While Sanders has extensive experience in education, including serving as the district's chief of staff, prior state law dictated he could not be a superintendent because he did not have teaching or school principal experience. In 2014, the school board hired Arndt as interim superintendent to meet state requirements and to keep Sanders. Back then, the board hired Sanders because they wanted U46 going in the same direction under Jose Torres, who resigned as superintendent in the summer of 2014 to take over at the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora. Arndt was responsible for more long-term planning, such as making recommendations on the U46 operating budget, building plans and sites, personnel hiring, retention or dismissal, and instruction and material selections. Under his most recent contract, Arndt made $700 per day this school year, but the contract also stated he could work no more than 100 days. The new law allows District U46 to keep Sanders and any other CEOs in the future as the top administrator as long as there are assistant superintendents in departments such as finances and instruction. The CEO must have "recognized administrative ability and management experience"; spent at least five years as an administrator and hold a master's degree; and have all the powers, duties, and management capabilities of a superintendent, according to the law. On Monday, Arndt told the board U46 was in good hands under Sanders. "I want to thank this board and the previous boards for probably making the most significant decision this community and school district will have for a number of decades ... hiring Tony Sanders as your CEO," he said. raguerrero@tribpub.com A tree in the 300 block of Davis was knocked over by high winds Wednesday, May 17, 2017 during a storm that also saw power lines fall. (Evanston Police Department ) With wind gusts as high as 45 mph Wednesday in Evanston, city crews and emergency responders were dispatched to locations throughout the city amid reports of fallen trees, downed wires and other havoc. "I'm pleased with excellent work of city staff in dealing with damage caused by the wind," said City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. Advertisement The National Weather Service had issued a severe weather alert Wednesday for areas throughout northern Illinois, including the North Shore region on into southern Wisconsin. The wind storm clobbered parts of the Chicago area, in general, but Evanston did not receive any major damage from the storm that also included some rain, officials reported. Advertisement "The call volume was a little bit higher than normal but for the most part everything was handled appropriately," Evanston Fire Department Division Chief Paul Polep said Thursday. Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, a tree fell on a vehicle injuring a motorist, police said. From that time until around 7:40 p.m., there were at least 10 incidents involving toppled trees most blocking streets, blowing construction and other signs, and wires down, according to city officials. In one incident during the evening rush hour, a large tree branch fell on top of a CTA bus in the 600 block of Lake Street, officials reported. Though the bus sustained some paint damage, there were no passenger injuries, officials said. A CTA spokesman said all service near Evanston was running normally, as of Thursday. "Right now we don't have any impact to service," said CTA spokesman Jeff Tolman."We're still moving. There are no issues as far as buses or trains at this time." The city's forestry department responded in several of the incidents, removing upended trees or trimming branches, officials said. City officials said there was no sparking from the wires that fell near a garage in the 1900 block of Campus Drive. Advertisement ComEd, the electricity utility company that services Evanston, was called out for the power line that fell in an alley in the 1900 block of Wesley Avenue just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. "The majority of work we're seeing because the weather was so bad was poles coming down because of very strong winds. We had limbs come down on lines," said ComEd spokeswoman Elizabeth Keating." Polep said one person was injured in a single-vehicle accident in South Evanston Wednesday night. The chief said there were no reports of serious injuries related to the storm. Although Evanston appears to have been spared heavy damage from Wednesday night's storm, a National Weather Service forecast calls for a mix of sun, rain, gusting winds and thunder storms over the next three days. Polep said residents should take precautions to stay safe. "Just stay in place," he said. "Listen to whatever kind of media you have on whether it's a radio or TV, listen for instructions. Follow the weather patterns, what's going on. Don't be out in the lightning or wind. Stay out of harm's way." Advertisement Brian L. Cox is a freelancer The Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei governments are teaming up to intervene and stop speculation in the real estate market, senior officials said. Home buyers examine a property model in Zhuozhou, Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua] Tongzhou district, Beijing's subsidiary administration center, is forming a realty regulation enforcement alliance with Tianjin's Wuqing district and Langfang in Hebei provincethe two latter areas within easy reach of the capitalto target market speculators and errant property agencies. Wu Diandong, deputy head of Tongzhou Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said at a working conference in Beijing that the new alliance of the three local governments will improve market supervision and hit speculation in cross-border housing sales. Tongzhou district said it had closed 75 rule-violating real estate companies since last September and plans to shut down another 150 in the current year. Langfang government has also been tightening house market regulations since April. Xiongan New Area of Hebei, the new economic zone to be developed, is implementing similar measures. Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with Centaline Property, told 21st Century Business Herald that the governments would harden their policies in Beijing's neighboring areas, where speculators have been flocking to invest. "The alliance between Tongzhou, Wuqing and Langfang will help to coordinate regulations and restrict the capital from flowing in and out of the three markets," he said. "In the past year, speculators have been flocking to neighboring areas like Langfang due to the tightening rules in Tongzhou, leading to skyrocketing prices in both those areas and in Tongzhou." Data from Centaline Property show that the average house price in Tongzhou has doubled in past two years from 21,125 yuan ($3,067) per square meter to 50,000 yuan in 2017. Joseph Craig gently corrected me. I was talking to him about Hinsdale's annual Memorial Day commemoration, and I referred to one portion of the events as a "parade." "It's a procession," he said, "not a parade." Advertisement I thanked him for the clarification. Memorial Day is the federally mandated day to remember and honor those who died in service to our country. Often I am more caught up in the opening of the area pools, the unofficial start to summer and the end of school and forget the rather somber reasons we have this holiday. The Hinsdale American Legion Post 250 helps remind us. Craig is a member of this veterans group, open to those who served in the United States armed services during times of war. The Hinsdale American Legion Post 250 has about 125 members. At one time, it had as many as 400. Advertisement Craig is a past commander of the post and is its service officer, and he is very committed to the organization and its mission. Before the actual events on Memorial Day, May 29, is Poppy Day, held Thursday, May 25. On Poppy Day, members of the American Legion Post 250 will be out in town at the Grant Square shops for example, on the streets of downtown Hinsdale and other places with heavy foot traffic giving away fabric poppies in exchange for donations. The receiver can determine the amount, but be generous and know that donations all go to benefit veterans in hospitals and nursing homes. The poppies refer to the 1915 John McCrae poem "In Flanders Field." In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row. The middle stanza is particularly evocative. We are the dead. Short days ago Advertisement We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Craig reminded me that the Hinsdale Village hall is the Memorial Building. It was built in the late 1920s as a service project of the American Legion Auxiliary, the women who supported the veterans in the American Legion. He showed me the American Legion Post plaques and also the room up on the second floor and its album of past members, its relics and grand patriotic decor. Craig said that when it was created nearly 90 years ago, it was a sort of gentleman's gathering club for veterans. Leather covered chairs, heavy drapery and quite a few flags certainly evoke that history. There is so much history right here, Craig said, which is one of the reasons he was drawn to join the Hinsdale American Legion. The Downers Grove Post has 80 acres and its own building, and when Craig retired from the Chicago police force and moved to Chicago's western suburbs, he first thought about joining the that post. But the Hinsdale one attracted him. Advertisement Craig has also been involved with Boy Scout Troop 8 for many years. American Legion posts have traditionally sponsored Boy Scout troops, and our Hinsdale one was no exception. It sponsored Boy Scout Troop 8 until the 1940s when the troop moved to Covenant Church because many of the men were involved in World War II. For Craig, working and volunteering with veterans and kids is working with "two important groups" he said. He finds the work rewarding and feels he is fulfilling a need. Years and years ago, the Memorial Day observations were a procession from the village to Bronswood Cemetery. When the Hinsdale post was founded in 1920, a year after the founding of the American Legions in 1919, Hinsdale veterans of the Spanish American War and World War I were commemorated, Craig said. These days, the youngest living World War II veteran is almost 90 years old, and he would have enlisted before he turned 18. Spend a few minutes this Memorial Day honoring those who sought to serve rather than be served. The concluding stanza says: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die Advertisement We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. Marines stand at ease during the award of a Marine Corps Medal at Naval Station Great Lakes in August 2013. (Chicago Tribune ) Although this Saturday's Armed Forces Day is not a national holiday, it is - like the military itself - steeped in history. Though not as commemorated as Memorial Day or Veterans Day, people in Lake County are honoring the holiday in different ways. Advertisement Historically, there were once separate days celebrating different branches of military service, each with its own timing and purpose. For example, Army Day stemmed from the unpopular Defense Test Day, which lasted only two years - 1924 and 1925 - according to the official Armed Forces Day website, http://www.afd.defense.gov. Then after Congress blocked any future observances, the Military Order of the World War established Army Day on May 1, 1928. Advertisement The date was selected "in hopes of dampening Communists' celebration of Workers' Day," which was also May 1, according to the site. However, the day was moved to April 6, the anniversary of entering World War I. In 1936, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed April 6 be observed nationwide, after which Congress obliged with official recognition a year later. Navy Day began earlier, in 1922 on Oct. 27. The date was "the anniversary of a 1775 report issued by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of merchant ships as the foundation of an American Navy," according to the site. Oct. 27 also has the added benefit of being the birthday of President Roosevelt, who had been an assistant secretary of the Navy. Coast Guard Day still draws some interest by members around Aug. 4, the anniversary of the Treasury Department's establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790, which is the forbearer of the modern day Coast Guard, according to the site. Though the Marine Corps is the oldest of the service branches, it was eliminated after the Revolutionary War for economic reasons, whereas the Coast Guard "has been continuously at sea since its inception," according to the site. The modern day Coast Guard came about in 1915, after the Revenue Cutter Service joined forces with the Life Saving Service that year, followed by the Lighthouse Service in 1939 and the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection in 1946. Armed Forces Day officially began on May 20, 1950, marking the formation of all armed forces organized under the single Department of Defense. Each branch was asked to drop its individual celebration, which most did. "The Marine Corps League declined to drop support for Marine Corps Day, but still supports Armed Forces Day, too," according to the site. Advertisement The Marine Corps Birthday Ball continues to honor the November 10, 1775, establishment of the corps to "augment naval forces in the Revolutionary War," the site said. The recruiting headquarters was Philadelphia's Tun Tavern, largely considered the birthplace of the Marines. Many sailors at Naval Station Great Lakes celebrate Armed Forces Day by attending an annual dinner at the Union League Club of Chicago, and little else is planned. "We're so used to supporting this particular event, that's what we focus on," said John Sheppard, public affairs officer for the station. "Armed Forces Day is about recognizing service and sacrifice that you and your family have given to make our country safe and strong," according to a statement to the News-Sun from Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander of Naval Service Training Command in Great Lakes. "I want to thank all our brothers and sisters who serve or have served our great nation." Many of Lake County's military fraternal organizations are have informal gatherings for the day. In Gurnee, American Legion Post 771 has selected Saturday to honor former member Howard "Bud" McCann, who died in February at age 93. McCann had joined the Navy after he graduated high school in 1941, according to his obituary. "They picked (Armed Forces Day) because of Bud's affiliation with the military," said John Donlin, who manages the legion's bar. Advertisement There are other ways to celebrate military personnel in Lake County. Jump America, 880 Lakeside Drive, Gurnee, is offering a discounted rates for active duty service members from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for $10. Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Lake County News-Sun. A Lake County Sheriff's deputy pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of perjury based on alleged inconsistencies in his testimony during a 2016 court hearing on a DUI case. After the not guilty plea was entered by Deputy Sheriff Justin Hill, 28, of Kenosha, Circuit Judge Christie Bishop set a pretrial date of June 22 and a trial date of July 31 for Hill. Advertisement Hill was indicted May 10 by a Lake County Grand Jury on three felony counts of perjury. According to officials with the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Hill turned himself in the day the indictments were announced and is free from custody after posting 10 percent of his $10,000 bail. Sheriff's office officials said inconsistencies were allegedly discovered in Hill's testimony during a civil court hearing Nov. 2 of last year on the potential statutory summary suspension of a DUI defendant's drivers license. Advertisement Jim Elliot, deputy chief of the Sheriff's Office of Professional Standards, has said that following an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, Hill was placed on administrative leave and relieved of his police powers. Elliot said the results of the internal investigation were turned over to the Lake County State's Attorney's Office, which then presented the facts of the investigation to a grand jury, resulting in Hill's indictment. The Sheriff's office is working with the Lake County State's Attorney's Office to determine whether any other cases in which Hill was involved could be impacted, Elliot said. Elliot added that each DUI case in which Hill was the arresting officer or was involved with the case would be reviewed individually, and the state's attorney would decide whether each case would move forward based on all evidence involved. He said a blanket dismissal of cases in which Hill was involved is not expected. Hill was hired as a sheriff's deputy in September of 2014, according to sheriff's officials, and previously had served as a sheriff's office court security officer for about two years prior to that. Defense attorney Tom Briscoe said after the arraignment he had no comment on the case, but noted that Hill is a decorated veteran who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan. jrnewton@tribpub.com Twitter @jimnewton5 Thirteen members of the Deerpath Questors, a group of antique collectors and enthusiasts in Lake Forest, sat in the living room of President A. J. Woroch on Tuesday. "We have to decide what we are going to do about our future," Woroch said. "We are having a difficult time getting leadership and getting members. What are your thoughts?" Advertisement A brief pause, member Beverly Walquist made a motion that the Deerpath Questors end its existence. "I hate to say it, but I think it's time to dissolve because the same people can't keep doing it," Walquist said. Advertisement Woroch called for a vote and all 13 women said "aye." With that, the 44-year-old group dissolved. The Deerpath Questors started as the Lake Forest chapter of a national organization in April 1973, Woroch said, and later split off from the national organization. "We had to pay dues and we didn't like that," Woroch said. In its early years, the Deerpath Questors were a popular group, said Linda Shields, who joined the chapter in the early 1980s. "I had to have two sponsors," Shields said. "They interviewed me before I was under consideration for the group. I was on a wait list for almost a year." Even with its stringent entrance requirements, the group became big enough where it split into two Questors groups in its earlier years, Shields said. Deerpath Questors met once a month to discuss antiques. They would bring in experts to lecture on such topics as English silver antiques and toured houses of antique collectors, said Paula Derning, who handled programming for the last years. They held an annual event named "What It's Worth," where an appraiser would judge the value of antiques. Most of the members are collectors. Derning said she collects a variety of items. Sue Stromberg, whose mother was in a Questors chapter in Wisconsin where she grew up, collects china. Advertisement Christine Puch joined Deerpath Questors about a decade ago because her mother was in it. "I have an appreciation for antiques but don't have many antique pieces," Puch said. "I like hearing the stories behind different objects and why people collect." Nora Murray also likes to hear the stories behind antiques. "Years ago, we had an "Antiques Roadshow" sort of presentation," Murray said. "There was someone who brought these little Asian screens that, I think, had been in their parent's attic. One of the antique dealers said, do you know what you've got there? They were screens from the 1893 World's Fair ( in Chicago) from one of the pavilions." Over the years, members said several factors led to shrinking membership. "Lifestyles change," Shields said. "A lot of younger women today are working and don't have time to be in a group. It's hard when you're young and juggling young children and a job and trying to get your house ready for a (Questors) meeting." Advertisement "The younger women are not interested in collectibles and stuff," Woroch said. "I have a collection of bells and little houses. I don't know if my children or grandchildren want any of it." With a lack of younger members joining, the existing membership had aged. "We have some 60-year-olds, some in their 70s and 80s," said Woroch. "I'm 91. We call ourselves antiques studying antiques." "A lot of people have moved away," Derning said. "Several had died. We're not attracting new members because the young women are working or involved with family and can't come to daytime meetings." "We just sort of ran out of young people," Stromberg said. mlawton@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement @reporterdude A time capsule from 1957 was opened on May 17 at School of St. Mary in Lake Forest. Students at the School of St. Mary in Lake Forest in 1957 were evidently interested in news, judging by the contents of a time capsule the school opened Wednesday. With a couple hundred students, a group of teachers and a scattering of alums watching in the school gym, Mike Nacius, pastor of the Church of St. Mary, pried open a small metal box that had been in the cornerstone of an addition to the school 60 years ago. He then pulled out several items and passed them to Principal Venette Biancalana to hold up. Advertisement The time capsule contained a program for the church's Golden Jubilee, a fundraising brochure titled "Church of St. Mary Campaign News" and a business card from a John E. Grouch with an address of 22 W. Kinzie, Chicago. Nacius then pulled out three newspapers. There was a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune from Dec. 10, 1957; the headline that day was "N.Y. Subway Strike Widens." Another article was about whether then President Dwight Eisenhower would attend a NATO meeting in Paris. Advertisement Also in the time capsule was an issue of the Lake Forester dated Nov. 28, 1957. The front page had deteriorated, but the cost of 15 cents could still be read. There was also a publication named The New World dated Dec. 6, 1957. There was a 1957 Lake Forest Lake Bluff phone directory. All the phone numbers in the directory had seven digits, but started with two letters such as WI or ID. At the bottom of the time capsule were a penny, nickel and 1946 dime that appeared to be silver. "It was cool," said sixth grader Britne Newsome. "How they put the money in and the newspapers." Students at the School of St. Mary look at the contents of a time capsule from 1957 on May 17, 2017, in Lake Forest. (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Pioneer Press) Penelope Sage, a seventh grader, also noted the newspapers. "You can compare and see events happening then and now," Sage said. Before the school year ends on June 9, current students will vote on objects to place in a new time capsule and where it will be placed, Biancalana said. Sean Carroll, husband of alum Karen Carroll, had an idea of what to put in the new time capsule. Advertisement "I'm going to push to put in a tax-free zero-coupon bond," Sean said. The opening of the time capsule was one of several events this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the School of St. Mary, according to Rachel Kuhn, director of development. The original school cost $45,000 to build, according to a history published in 2000 for its 125th anniversary. It was a three-story building that contained five classrooms, two music rooms, a playroom, assembly hall and, on the third floor, residences for the Sisters of Mercy and a chapel. In 1925, the school had 125 students, according to the history, and charged a monthly tuition of $1 in 1933. A South wing, where the time capsule was embedded, was completed in 1958. A second location called the Grade Center for preschool through third grade was built at 900 Everett Road in 1997, according to the history. Today, School of St. Mary has 45 teachers and 525 students, Biancalana said, and tuition is $5,500 a year. mlawton@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement @reporterdude A hood denoting an honorary degree is bestowed on President Gerald Ford by academic officials as Benjamin Alexander (foreground), president of Chicago State University, addresses students. In his commencement speech to that year's graduating class, Ford told students "The dignity of the individual is based ultimately on a sense of pride." (Chicago Tribune / File photo) Graduation days are upon us, the time when the wise and the accomplished stand before the graduates and hand down to them the special wisdom and advice they have gathered over the years. I remember little of the commencement addresses I've heard, with the exception of one. "Drink life to the lees," the speaker said. I don't remember who it was, but I know he was quoting the great poet Alfred Tennyson and advising the graduates to go for it, take in all life has to offer, don't let any opportunity pass you by or any fear hold you back. Advertisement Good advice. For the graduates of 2017, I've taken it upon myself to research some of the great commencement speeches ever given, and to gather some of the more meaningful quotes from those speeches and present them here. Take them for what they are worth. Advertisement The author Ray Bradbury is the great native son of Waukegan, and in 2000 he gave the commencement address at Caltech. He told the graduates: "You make a list this afternoon, of the people who don't believe in you, and you call them tonight, and tell them to go to hell!" He also advised them to make a list of the people who believe in them and to gather those people around them and "and then you move on into the future." I am not a big fan of the operating systems created by Bill Gates, but I admire that he has given away millions in philanthropic efforts all over the world. In 2007 at Harvard, he told the graduates: "Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives." President Dwight D. Eisenhower had advice for the future of education in America when he addressed the 1955 class of Penn State. He warned of providing a liberal education for some students and a practical education for others, the idea of intellect vs. industrial arts. "What we desperately need is an integrated liberal, practical education for the same person for every American youth who can possibly obtain its blessings," Eisenhower said. "Hand and head and heart were made to work together. They must work together. They should be educated together." Did Ike foresee a time when we had too much of one and not enough of the other? Students at Chicago State University in 1975 signed a petition inviting President Gerald Ford to their graduation. He was so impressed he came. He talked about their hard work and achievement. "The dignity of the individual is based ultimately on a sense of pride," Ford said. "It does not come from government programs that take over the individual's life and reduce the person to a case file and a claim number. Real aid to the individual is aid that helps the individual to help himself or herself." Advertisement As we know, today's students have been told for years that they are special. Every child gets a trophy. But J.K. Rowling had wise advice for the Harvard graduates of 2008: "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all in which case, you fail by default." The poet Robert Pinsky in 1999 at Stanford said graduation was a ritual that celebrated two great obligations of any great people caring for the young ones and honoring the wisdom of the old ones, including the wisdom of the dead. "The tribe or community or nation that fails at either of these missions brings woe and destruction on itself," Pinsky said. "Today the graduates pass symbolically from being the objects of the first concern, young ones who have been nurtured, to bearing the responsibilities of the second, those who are supposed to care for the young and who will preserve and extend the wisdom of the dead." Finally, I'd like to end with the talk Julia Keller, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter of the Chicago Tribune, gave at Dominican University in 2010. She talked about her favorite novel, Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark," where a young girl moves to Chicago with dreams of becoming an opera star. Will she make it? her teacher is asked. It depends on the ideas she lives with, the teacher responds. Then Keller says: "Think of it. Not what happens to her, not love affairs or good career breaks, but what she thinks about. It's really an extraordinary notion, and it is so exquisitely relevant to all of you here today. Advertisement "You are going forth into the world with a diploma, with a host of wonderful memories of your time on this lovely campus and with ideas. The ones you have chosen to take with you on your journey. Those ideas are your compass. Your GPS navigational system. Your Mapquest instructions." Good luck, graduates of 2017. You are young and have great promise before you. But remember the wisdom of the old ones. Randy Blaser is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press. Ericsson Gumesindo, 21, who federal immigration authorities sought to deport before he was to be tried on rape and other charges, pleaded guilty in McHenry County court to aggravated kidnapping and now faces a long prison sentence. (McHenry County sheriff's office) A man who federal immigration authorities sought to deport before he was to be tried on rape and other charges pleaded guilty in McHenry County court Thursday to aggravated kidnapping and now faces a long prison sentence. Ericsson Julio Gumesindo was 18 when he was arrested in 2014 and charged with luring a 13-year-old girl from her Woodstock home and sexually assaulting her in a nearby park while she was intoxicated. Advertisement Gumesindo had been released on bond shortly after his arrest to await trial. But last February, he was taken into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal authorities began the process of deporting the defendant to Mexico. Though Gumesindo, now 21, has not fought his deportation, McHenry County prosecutors did. They said that federal authorities would not agree to slow deportation proceedings long enough to allow the trial to take place. So county prosecutors instead convinced a circuit judge to revoke his bond so he could be taken back into the custody of the county sheriff. Advertisement "If defendant's bond ... is not revoked, (he) will be deported before his trial date and unable to appear at trial," McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney Randi Freese wrote in a motion seeking to keep Gumesindo in the country for now. "Not only will this impede the state's right to a fair trial, but the defendant's rights under the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Illinois will be violated." Later, Freese told reporters that the "victim has a right to her day in court." Fellow Assistant State's Attorney David Johnston said Gumesindo came to the U.S. illegally as a child and, though he gained legal status at one point, his documentation had lapsed. Defense attorney Francisco Botto said his client has done nothing wrong that would warrant his bond be revoked. Judge Michael Feetterer said he recognized that but cited the pending deportation in granting the revocation. Feetterer said the process of federal deportation "flared up" in March and has since taken on a "fever pitch." Noting that Gumesindo's deportation was "imminent," the judge questioned why the federal government can't work "hand in glove" with local government in such situations and allow local criminal courts to deal with cases before deportation proceedings commence. "Why (they) can't work and pull on the same end of the rope is beyond me," Feetterer said. Gumesindo was charged after the girl's father reported her missing to police at about 4:30 a.m. on July 29, 2014. When police arrived, they saw signs of a forced entry to a window of the home, according to prosecutors. Advertisement While police were investigating, Gumesindo pulled up to the house with the girl in a blue Chevrolet Cavalier that had been reported stolen two days before, officials said. He was taken into custody and charged with possession of the stolen vehicle. Authorities said they later learned that Gumesindo had been at a party at the girl's house hours earlier. He had returned to the house after the party and lured the girl out of the house before assaulting her, officials said. Besides the stolen vehicle allegation, he was also charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, residential burglary and aggravated sexual abuse. In exchange for his guilty plea to kidnapping, all the other charges were dropped. But Gumesindo faces six to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced in July, officials said. Deportation proceedings are likely to continue after he serves his sentence. Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter. A Mundelein police officer was recently given a department commendation for performing life-saving CPR on a woman Easter morning. A letter of recognition signed by Mayor Steve Lentz and Police Chief Eric Guenther was given to officer Steve Simonelli in early May for his actions after noticing a woman in distress. Simonelli performed CPR, saving her life. Advertisement Simonelli, 32, was driving along Lake Street directly in front of the Mundelein police station the morning of April 16 when he heard a scream, according to a department memo. "It was one of those oddly warm April days so I had my windows down," Simonelli told Pioneer Press. "I was a little disappointed I had to work because my whole family was at church." Advertisement The woman was sitting on a bench next to an apartment building and her head was slouched backward with her mouth open, Simonelli recalled. Another woman was draped over the older woman and screaming for help, he said. "I knew immediately that it was more of a medical emergency than a criminal incident, so I radioed for the fire department before exiting my car," Simonelli said. After checking her vitals and realizing the woman wasn't breathing, Simonelli said he prepared to do CPR and noticed a bump on her chest that he recognized as a pacemaker. Officer Tom Perdue arrived and began prepping the defibrillator, and Simonelli said he relayed the location of a pacemaker so Perdue could avoid it. "I think I did two cycles of 30 chest compressions when I noticed facial movement, like her eyes starting to flutter a little bit, and then she took this big, deep gasp," Simonelli said. "As it turns out we didn't need to shock her." The woman was in a daze but Simonelli said she was breathing on her own and able to talk when the ambulance arrived. Police learned the woman and her daughter live nearby and were on a walk without a cell phone when she felt tired and sat on the bench. "It happened the exact second I happened to be driving by," Simonelli said. "I'm a religious guy but I didn't go to Easter Mass. I think I was on duty and with my windows down for a reason. I think God put me in the right place at the right time for her." Although Simonelli said saving the woman's life is gratifying, he reiterated that he's trained to be ready for all sorts of potential emergencies. Advertisement "Steve (Simonelli) and all our other officers do this all the time and they don't see it as any big deal because this is their job and they knew the job description when they signed up," Police Chief Eric Guenther said. All officers are CPR certified, carry first aid kits and have defibrillators in their cars, according to Guenther. He said police are on patrol every minute of every day, whereas firefighters are only on the streets after a 911 call. "These interactions occur far more often than people realize," Guenther said. "We tend to keep a lot of them to ourselves, though. We don't do this for the publicity. Protecting people and rescuing people is the right thing to do and someone has to do it." However, Guenther said Simonelli has considerable extra training from his time as a medic with the United States Navy. "We have several officers with military backgrounds," Guenther said. Simonelli said he was in the Navy from 2002 until 2007, and was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005. Advertisement rkambic@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @Rick_Kambic While summer break is approaching, staff at Oak Park District 97 are encouraging parents to register for the 2017-18 school year. According to a release from the district, families of returning District 97 students can complete online registration for next school year up to June 1. Parents of current students should expect to receive an email titled "2017-18 Returning Student Registration" with a link to the registration page, officials said. Advertisement Registration had been expected to begin May 18, but has been delayed due to an "unexpected issue" with the online system, officials said. District officials expected the issues with the registration system to be resolved shortly. Parents and guardians must re-enroll all returning students in grades K-8, even if middle school students have already selected classes for next year. Students and families will not receive class lists or schedules until they complete the registration process. Advertisement If you are a renter with a lease that is set to expire before Aug. 23, you must provide the district with a copy of your updated lease and at least one piece of mail in your name, such as a utility bill, bank statement, cellphone bill, etc. No appointment is necessary for submitting this documentation. McKinney-Vento families should re-enroll at the district office, 260 Madison St., by or before June 1. Anyone with questions or needing to set up an appointment should contact registrar Sherrie Green at sgreen@op97.org. sschering@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @steveschering A Cook County sheriff's police officer and a man walk along the bank of the Des Plaines River on Tuesday searching for signs of Cameron Sanders. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) The sister of a 16-year-old Villa Park boy who went missing after he jumped off Rainbow Bridge said family members were shocked to learn he had been in the area of the Des Plaines River in Melrose Park last weekend. The Cook County sheriff's office continued the search Wednesday for Cameron Sanders, who jumped off the bridge, located behind the Lincoln College of Technology, and into the river on Saturday afternoon. Advertisement Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Cook County sheriff's office, said officials have focused their search on a section of Des Plaines River between Rainbow Bridge and 31st Street by the Brookfield Zoo. Foul play is not suspected and "at this time, it appears to be an exceptionally tragic accident," she said She added that the agency is "investigating every aspect of the case." The search will continue to search the area until the boy is found, Smith said. Advertisement Cameron Sanders' sister, Jerika Sanders, 19, said her brother doesn't know how to swim. She said the family was shocked to learn that he was hanging out at a bridge 30 minutes from their home in Villa Park. She said Cameron Sanders had left his cellphone at home and was supposed to be at work at a restaurant in Downers Grove at 5 p.m. that day. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 A Cook County sheriff's officer and a man walk along the bank of the Des Plaines River on May 16, 2017, searching for signs of Cameron Sanders. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) "(Cameron) has never been to this bridge," she said. "I was told that the kids were working on a school project that was supposed to be happening at a pool. I don't know how they got to a bridge. ... It doesn't make sense at all." Jerika Sanders said her brother was hanging out with a group of teens from Willowbrook High School. He attended the school up until this year when he was home-schooled, she said. Cameron Sanders was on track to graduate from high school this year through an online program, she said. She said her brother was with people he knew the afternoon he jumped off the bridge. "They're so-called friends (of her brother) from the school he used to go to," Jerika Sanders said. "I wouldn't call them friends. I believe he trusted them, though." She said her brother is over 6 feet tall, and he probably thought the water wasn't as deep as it was. Smith said the water depth around Rainbow Bridge varies. "On the shores, on one side it's 9 feet, and in the middle there are some areas that are 5 feet. It's all over the board," she said. Smith said the water around the bridge was deeper on Saturday due to recent heavy rains. Advertisement She said her family is satisfied with the efforts made to find her brother. After he is found, she said the family "is going to try to stay positive" and focus on making the bridge safer. Smith said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has demanded that the company that controls the railroad bridge, Canadian National Railway, take steps to secure it from public access. She said the bridge is known as a hangout spot for teens and a place where people jump into the river. Community activist and Oak Park River Forest High School teacher Anthony Clark said he also plans to advocate for the demolition of the bridge, or at least added security measures, to make sure no one could jump off it again. A spokesman for Canadian National, Patrick Waldron, said Rainbow Bridge is an active railway line, though trains seldom cross it. But because it's not an abandoned line, there are no plans by the company to demolish it, he said. Canadian National representatives met with members of the sheriff's office this week and discussed ways to prevent trespassing on the structure following the jumping incident, he said. "There were several no-trespassing signs erected this week as a direct result of discussions with (Dart) and others," Waldron said. The incident "is a terrible tragedy and a tragic reminder of the dangers of trespassing on railway property," he said. Advertisement Smith said she's not aware of any other similar incidents occurring at the bridge. Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. China Railway Corp, the world's biggest railway operator by rail length, said it hopes to deepen its existing business relationship with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in pushing forward its mixed ownership reform. General Manager Lu Dongfu said CRC is promoting the asset-backed securitization and equity financing of the railways sector and welcomed Alibaba's participation, without providing further details. Lu said he hoped the two sides could deepen cooperation in areas such as high-speed railways, international logistics, electronic payments and mixed ownership reformon the basis of consolidating the application of Alipay (the digital wallet run by Alibaba), information verification services and station navigation. Lu said he expected the partners will work together to realize the integration of the high-speed rail network with the internet, build up intelligent railway systems through an innovation cooperation model, as well as make full use of each other's resources to promote the supply-side structural reform. Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba, said his group is willing to further deepen relations with the national railway operator. He said Alibaba will combine its technical strengths in big data, cloud computing and e-commerce services with the capital and resources of CRC, to build a new business and operations model. Ma added that Alibaba will push forward e-commerce service pilots related to high-speed rail, and organize the sources of goods and expand overseas market for CRC's China-Europe freight train. By the end of 2016, China had a 124,000-kilometer-long railway system, featuring the world's largest high-speed rail network with more than 20,000 km of track. The railway has been selected as one of the seven sectors for mixed ownership reform of State-owned enterprises this year. Other sectors include the power, energy, civil aviation, telecommunications and the defense sectors, said the National Development and Reform Commission. Lu said in January that CRC will carry out a mixed ownership reform this year, and work with both private and State-owned companies to form joint ventures to support the reform. "Alibaba has great potential in mobile payment sector through cooperation with CRC to participate in the construction of an electronic ticket selling system," said Lu Zhenwang, an internet veteran and CEO of Shanghai-based Wanqing Consultancy. The annual Park Ridge Memorial Day Parade will return to the city for another year on May 29. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. from the city's South Park area and travel the traditional route up Cumberland Avenue to Prairie Avenue to Main Street and then over to Hodges Park and City Hall. Advertisement The parade is again expected to feature local veterans, community and civic organizations, scouting groups and elected officials. This year's grand marshal is Gary Warner, a 48-year resident of Park Ridge. According to the Veterans Memorial Day Association of Park Ridge the organization hosting this year's parade Warner served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 and remained in the Army Reserves until 1960. Warner, who recently stepped down from his longtime elected position of Maine Township clerk, is a member of the Park Ridge Mel Tierney American Legion Post 247, Knights of Columbus Council 4338 and Park Ridge Citizens Patrol, the association said. Advertisement Prior to the Memorial Day Parade, two ceremonies remembering local members of the military killed while serving the country are scheduled to take place. At 9 a.m., the Mel Tierney American Legion Post will conduct a traditional remembrance ceremony at the Civil War monument at Town of Maine Cemetery, 2101 W. Touhy Ave. The graves of nearly 600 people who served in the military will also be decorated with American flags by members of the American Legion and Park Ridge Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs, organizers said. At 9:30 a.m., the American Legion and Spirit of '45 Committee are scheduled to unveil a new plaque adjoining the World War II memorial that was relocated two years ago from the Devon Avenue median in South Park to an area west of the South Park Recreation Center. Fourth Ward Ald. Roger Shubert, a member of the Spirit of '45 Committee that worked to relocate and fix up the memorial, said the new plaque being added "tells the story" of the original memorial, which was dedicated in 1947. It consists of a large rock with a plaque bearing the names of 47 Park Ridge servicemen killed during World War II. "Anyone who walks up can see the names, but doesn't have the context," Shubert said. "The plaque basically describes not only the fact that there's the names of 47 servicemen on [the memorial], but that our committee rededicated it and relocated it from Devon Avenue to South Park in 2015." jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @Jen_Tribune Guests at the recent Mother's Day Dance at Wicker Park in Highland work on the "Electric Slide." ( Sue Ellen Ross/Post-Tribune ) Lorraine Konway and Bob Tintari, of Dyer, graduated the same year from the same Illinois high school more than six decades ago, but the pair didn't get together to socialize until a few years ago. Now they are dancing partners, and enjoyed the recent Mother's Day Dance at Wicker Park Social Center that was sponsored by the North Township Trustee's office. Advertisement "We met up in Northwest Indiana five years ago through mutual friends," Konway, of Valparaiso, said. "In fact, it was at a dance right here at Wicker Park." More than 200 other senior citizens joined in the annual Mother's Day event, which included a formal dinner and music from Gino and Friends, a duo that played keyboard and guitar/drums. Advertisement "This is our first time at this particular event," said keyboard player Spencer Keyes. "We enjoy playing these tunes from the 'Golden Era' for the seniors. It's their kind of music." Kathleen and Jose Acosta atteneded the dance. The Chicago couple enjoys various programs for seniors, especially those that include music. A flyer announcing Northwest Indiana activities caught their attention while at one of those programs. "We didn't know what to expect," Kathleen Acosta said, as the couple finished their lunch. "This is awesome, so enjoyable and relaxing. And the live music is great." Eleanor Uribe, North Township Trustee's Senior Program Manager, has been working with the seniors for quite a while, and knows what types of happenings they enjoy, whether it's a trip out of town or things scheduled locally. Especially the luncheons and holiday dances, which always include live music. "They love to go back in time with the old music" she said. "We always have a good turnout everyone loves to dance." Charlene and Aurel Ludwig, of Highland, are a perfect example of a couple that continues to keep music alive in their marriage. "I met my husband 11 years ago, and we've been dancing ever since," she said, with a laugh. "This is our first time here at Wicker Park and I was so impressed when I heard about this dance; and it's turned out so nice -- very pleasant and elegant." Advertisement Terrie Ruiz, of Hammond, agreed that the atmosphere was unique a formal dinner and live music in the middle of a weekday afternoon. "This (event) gets seniors out of the house," she said. "And it's also a good way to get exercise. Gives us a good workout and keeps the circulation moving." In addition to the schedule of senior citizen programs it offers, the North Township Trustee's office also plans many other activities for residents of all ages. For more information, call 219-513-8468. Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. The crowd marches to the gates of Carrie Gosch School as East Chicago residents and local organizers held a rally to confront EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt at the West Calumet Housing Complex on April 19, 2017. (John Smierciak / Post-Tribune) A group of East Chicago residents continue to push for the ability to intervene in court proceedings between federal officials and the companies held responsible for the pollution in the Calumet neighborhood. Residents of the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site objected to a ruling from Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry who found the residents could not intervene in court proceedings, primarily citing the proper time to step in had passed, a move their attorneys say doesn't account the years it took the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finally start cleaning up the contaminated neighborhoods. Advertisement "The opinion raises an important question: When a community has been subject to decades worth of pollution and delay, how quickly should the community be required to act to enforce its legal rights," wrote David Chizewer and Emily Gilman, of Goldberg Kohn, Nancy Loeb and Debbie Chizewer of Northwestern's Environmental Advocacy Clinic, and Mark Templeton of the University of Chicago Law School Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, in the residents' objection. Cherry, in his order, said that residents received notice of the EPA's clean up plan in 2012 and the 2014 consent decree filed in court and published in the federal register, noting both those events provided opportunities for them to comment. Advertisement "Applicants should have known about their interest in this case two years prior to their filing the motion to intervene," Cherry wrote. Attorneys for the residents argued that the judge should have considered the element of timeliness in the context of the history of the site, where it took decades to stop companies from polluting the neighborhood; the EPA didn't declare it a Superfund site for 24 years; funding for the cleanup wasn't negotiated until five years after the Superfund designation; significant cleanup didn't start for two years; and the EPA, in 2016, began telling residents about the high levels of contamination. In 2016, once information about the levels of contamination reached residents and cleanup had began, they began to organize and ultimately filed a motion to intervene, their attorney said in court documents. "In light of these undisputed facts, imagine the residents' reaction to learn that it is they who flunked a timeliness test," the objection said. A motion filed last November with the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana asked the court to give residents of the Calumet neighborhood a more effective voice in the ongoing discussions between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice and the two companies held responsible for contamination at the Superfund site. The residents are entitled to intervene in the court proceedings in order to ensure that a remediation plan protects human health and the environment; the plan covers the entire area affected by contamination; protections are in place to prevent exposure to hazardous material during and after the remediation; and that residents stay informed and can give input on remediation plans, read the court documents. The U.S. Department of Justice objected to the residents' desire to have a role in the case, saying they missed their opportunities to step in. The DOJ said the residents had numerous opportunities to comment on the remediation plans, according to court documents, and the lawsuit between federal officials and the companies has been resolved for two years. Advertisement "The lawsuit has long since arrived at the terminal," the DOJ's motion read. "Indeed, the passengers have gone home, and the train has left for the next day's route." The U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana, in 2014, approved a consent decree between the EPA, Department of Justice, State of Indiana, the Atlantic Richfield Company and E.I. du Pont De Nemours regarding the clean up of the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery site. The agreement covered only zones one and three of the site. Based on the agreement, the two companies would cover roughly $26 million in clean up costs, according to the EPA. The EPA in March announced another $16 million had been secured from the responsible parties to bolster clean up in the Superfund site, specifically the area not included in the previous consent decree. The residents, in the objection, noted that as the cleanup plans are changing, they should have a role in legal proceedings or otherwise lose the ability to have input on decisions affecting their lives. "After being exposed to the contamination at the U.S.S. Lead site for decades longer than necessary, the community deserves and is entitled to a voice in the legal process," the residents' objection said. Advertisement clyons@post-trib.com Twitter @craigalyons State leaders heralded a new law to help East Chicago through its ongoing lead contamination issues as an early step to making the city whole again. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill from freshman Rep. Earl Harris, Jr., D-East Chicago, during a brief ceremony Thursday at the city's Riley Park, in the heart of the U.S.S. Lead Superfund Site that covers the Calumet neighborhood. Holcomb lauded the partnership between local, state and federal leaders for starting to help East Chicago deal with the contamination and assist residents affected by lead and arsenic in and around their homes. Advertisement "This contamination issue has just reminded me that there's so much more that unites us than divides us," Holcomb said. "And when Hoosiers find themselves in the greatest of needs in the toughest of times, this is when we all come together and do extraordinary things." "This is yet another step," Holcomb said. Advertisement Harris said his father, the late former Rep. Earl Harris Sr., taught him to take care of his home and moving legislation forward to provide relief to residents faced with contamination does just that. "We know that this problem did not happen in five minutes, in a week, in a month and we know that it's going to take a little bit of time to get through it and get back to where we should be," Harris said. The ceremonial signing in East Chicago was one of two the governor held Thursday in Northwest Indiana. Earlier in the day, Holcomb signed legislation to support rail transit development at the South Shore station in Michigan City. Harris' bill will compel the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to assist with cleanup of the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site and test soil and water throughout the city; have the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to relocate residents of West Calumet; and push IDEM to do more thorough testing of the city's water. "We know this is only part of the process," Harris said, and the continued partnership between the city, residents and state could yield more legislation and action to help the community. "It's important we don't get a negative stigmatism so people don't want to come here," Harris said. In February, Holcomb signed a disaster declaration that will bolster efforts to assist residents affected by lead and arsenic contamination around the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site. As a part of that declaration, state officials would ask the EPA for funding to replace lead pipes at the Superfund site. At Holcomb's direction, Indiana state agencies have already begun providing assistance to the city, including relocation assistance for the residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex and pledging to provide water filters to residents in the remainder of the Superfund site. Advertisement Most recently, Holcomb announced the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority plans to site a new affordable housing development in East Chicago. "We are getting things done because we are working shoulder to shoulder and taking these steps together," Holcomb said. Holcomb said progress is being seen because government at all levels and members of the community are collaborating to address issues in East Chicago. "This put everyone on notice that we work together as one," said East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland. "It was a long time coming." Through the legislation, the city can restore confidence in its water supply, Copeland said, and dovetail with ongoing efforts to replace lead service lines in East Chicago. In the Superfund site, the lines are being replaced as EPA contractors remediate residents' property, Copeland said, and work is being done elsewhere in the city in concert with other projects. Copeland said the city has been clear with the EPA that once demolition is complete, it wants the property cleaned to residential standards, though the future use of the property is not certain. Copeland said once the remediation is done, the city will work with residents, businesses and other stakeholders to determine the future use. Advertisement During EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's visit in April, Copeland said he hand-delivered a letter outlining the city's desire to have that property remediated to residential standards. "We have already identified what we want it to be," Copeland said. Holcomb said people are on the right track and it's important to stay on that course. Resident Martiza Lopez said Holcomb has maintained a presence in the area and has kept an eye on the situation. "I'm a firm believer that actions speak louder than words," Lopez said. clyons@post-trib.com Advertisement Twitter @craigalyons Employees Sabrina Beck and Kerry Lopez were sorting through piles of donated clothes, toiletries, toys and other items that filled a large room in the Lake in the Woods Apartment complex clubhouse and spilled over into other rooms and the front porch, as more items continued to come in. The outpouring of support for the 16 families displaced by a fire at the Hobart apartment complex over the weekend has been amazing, the women agreed Wednesday. Advertisement "We've received donations from tenants, stores, churches. We've gotten so many donations," said Beck, a leasing consultant at the complex, which is owned and operated by Bayshore Properties. She said many people have donated gift cards for restaurants and stores. Advertisement She said some of the displaced families have been coming in periodically and picking out items that they could use. "Some people have had no chance to come in yet. Some have no place to put it yet," Beck said. Fire Chief Brian Kerr said the cause of the early Sunday fire that destroyed one building and resulted in injuries to two firefighters is still unknown, but it may have started in the attic. He estimated the cost of damages to be close to $1 million, not counting personal items lost. Kerr said two firefighters were treated and released for minor injuries, one to the knee and one to the lower back, when a third floor ceiling collapsed on them. "One fireman pulled the other one out," Kerr said. Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor said the apartment complex management has taken the lead in seeking donations for the fire victims, some of whom he said are living in hotels and some of whom are staying with family or friends until other apartment units can be located for them. "Management has been wonderful," Snedecor said. At the clubhouse Wednesday, TVs and furniture sat on the front porch, all waiting for a new home with the displaced families. A woman named Annette from Portage First United Methodist Church, who didn't want to give her last name, brought in bags of toiletries that were donated by church members. Advertisement It was not her first trip to the apartment complex since the fire -- she came with clothes on Tuesday -- and it probably wouldn't be her last. "I go to church with some wonderful people," Annette said of fellow church members who provided the donations. A young boy, who is a tenant in the complex, brought in a ball and some clothes. Lopez, account manager for the company's Allstate office and leasing consultant for Bayshore Properties, said they can't take any more clothes, but there is a need for other items, such as paper goods, laundry detergent, fabric softener and paper products. And baby formula, Beck added. "I watched Similac just flow away. It was so sad," she said. Advertisement Snedecor said he plans to recognize the police officers and firefighters who responded to the fire at a meeting in June. "Luckily, there was a quick response by police,who woke people up and got them out of the building at 3 a.m.," Snedecor said. Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Lake Central High School will see an increased police presence after school officials discovered an alleged threat on Wednesday from a former student on Instagram. In a letter to parents posted on Facebook by St. John and Dyer police, Assistant Superintendent Al Gandolfi and principal Sean Begley said the alleged post "made a threatening statement as to not attend school tomorrow (5/18/2017)." Advertisement Begley said the post did not identify a specific school that would be the source of the threat. St. John and Dyer police and a police department in Illinois where the student now lives are investigating, he said. The statement did not identify the former student or where he now lives. A message left with St. John police was not immediately returned. Advertisement "The Lake Central School Corporation and Lake Central High School take all threats from all sources seriously," Gandolfi and Begley said. "We will work closely with our law enforcement partners to provide the safest school environment possible." The decision at Lake Central follows unrelated lockdowns this week in Highland due to a nearby hostage situation and at River Forest High School in response to a social media threat. River Forest Superintendent Steve Disney said on Wednesday that the school's resource officer recommended the lockdown around 2:30 p.m. once the post was discovered. Additional Lake Station police officers responded to the school. The student was identified quickly near the end of the day on Tuesday and it was confirmed there was not an intentional threat to the school, he said. mcolias@post-trib.com Twitter @meredithcolias With oversight of Porter County's animal control shifting from the sheriff's department to the animal shelter director, the Porter County Board of Commissioners will be taking a look at what happens to people who violate county ordinances with their pets. Commissioners agreed Tuesday to put together a committee to examine the issue after Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, said dog owners who are being cited for violations of the loose dog ordinance are not paying up. Advertisement "There's no enforcement or force to make those who've been cited pay those tickets," Biggs said, adding a large amount of money is going uncollected, though he didn't know how much. "Those citations aren't being collected. People are just ignoring them." Scott McClure, the county attorney, likened the citation for a loose dog to a traffic ticket, though with a ticket, a driver who doesn't pay up will lose their license. Advertisement The county does have recourse against those dog owners, though, which is filing a judgment lien. Someone who faces a more serious offense, such as neglect of an animal or harboring a dangerous dog, is handled through the prosecutor's office and the court system, with any fees paid after a judgment going back to animal control and the shelter, he said. "Other counties are going through the same thing. They levy a lien but they're not going to lock (a dog owner) up for it," Biggs said. Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, suggested hiring a collection agency to make sure any outstanding fines are paid. In the meantime, Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-North, suggested a committee that included Biggs, shelter director Toni Bianchi, animal control and Prosecutor Brian Gensel. "It's a good time to have a meeting and walk through the procedure, just so we get everybody on the same page. It's the same guys but they're under a new director," he said. Commissioners unanimously voted to move animal control from the sheriff's department to the shelter, which McClure said required the adjustment of county codes but wouldn't need any significant changes. A new animal shelter is slated to open in the coming weeks on Indiana 49 between the sheriff's department and the Porter County Expo Center. Advertisement In other business, commissioners gave a first reading to an ordinance that would increase fees for documents from the health department. The increase for a birth certificate would be $2, to $8; $1 for a death certificate, to $10; and $5 for a paternity affidavit or an affidavit of amendment, to $25. David Hollenbeck, the health department's attorney, said the department is funded by fee collection and its own tax rate. The more fees that are collected, the lower the burden is on the tax rate. "Even with the increase, we are still close to the bottom of the pack," he said. Commissioners will formally approve the increases with a second reading at their June meeting. Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Jay Weinberg, 38, of Valparaiso, at the Collision Conference in New Orleans in April 2016, where he was invited to introduce his new app, Artunity. (Jay Weinberg) If Artunity existed in the 19th century, Vincent Van Gogh may not have died penniless and hopeless. This notion isn't lost on Jay Weinberg of Valparaiso who's living the "myth of the starving artist," as he describes it. Advertisement Two years ago, the first outline of Artunity was penciled into Weinberg's mind by the hands of fate. Weinberg had a $150 bill that was due, with no money to pay it. If he could only sell a 9- by 12-inch illustration he had created, for $150, that bill could get paid. Weinberg, a creative soul with an entrepreneurial spirit, drew upon an inspirational idea. Advertisement He was already familiar with crowd-funding online platforms to raise money for his music career, but what if he did something similar for his artwork? What if he could raise money for that $150 bill by asking for just $10 from 15 different people, with one of them randomly selected to receive that artwork. It would allow art lovers an opportunity to afford a piece of art while also allowing Weinberg an opportunity to sell his work. His idea worked like a charm. Finding just 15 potential buyers was easy. Randomly choosing one of them to receive his art was simple and fair. It was a win-win for both parties, he discovered. Earning money to pay that bill led to Artunity, the creative connection of art and opportunity. "It's where the digital world and the tangible world overlap," said Weinberg, 38, a graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago. "When an idea's time has come, it has come." If you recall, Weinberg is the artist who last year created a 30x40-inch painting capturing the Chicago Cubs' World Series victory, which he gave to his father as a Christmas Day surprise. His dad's reaction, captured on video, went viral, putting Weinberg's artwork on the map. Artunity, the app, integrates an artistic culture of "curation, community and opportunity," with Weinberg hoping to do with art what Uber did to the taxi business. The idea is to tap into "compassionate capitalism," as it's called in the business world, rather than cutthroat capitalism. "The only way for Artuntiy to be a success is if everybody wins the artists and the art lovers," said Weinberg, who speaks in flowery brushstrokes of creativity and serendipity. Advertisement Here's how Artunity works. If you're a struggling artist, desperate to sell your work, Artunity allows you an entry point into the buyers' world without any costly capital or marketing. If you're an established artist without any problems selling your work, you can find even more potential clients while possibly selling your work for a higher price. It's up to the artists to determine the correct "price point" for their artwork, factoring in how many Artunity users may buy into the opportunity of being selected to receive it. On the other end of the art world, Artunity allows an art lover who's earning, say, minimum wage a chance to land a high-priced piece of art by plopping down only $5, $10 or $50. This way, it's possible for them to seize a $5,000 piece of artwork for a fraction of its price. Jay Weinberg of Valparaiso explains his new Artunity app, which officially launches Friday. (Video provided by Jay Weinberg) (Chicago Tribune) Artunity has a computer coding system, conducted through algorithms, which randomly pulls a user's number out of a digital hat, so to speak. Whichever user gets selected will then receive the artwork, with Artunity receiving a 15 percent cut of the transaction. It's up to the artist to deliver their artwork, whether it's to a buyer in their neighborhood or on the other side of the planet. And if someone who receives a piece of art later decides to sell it through the Artunity app, the artist receives a royalty from that sale, too. Advertisement If an Artunity user shows any online interest in a piece of art, via a click, that artwork will pop up in their app, framed by a different colored frame red to signify they're interested, gold to show they're the user who was randomly selected to own it. Weinberg already has an Artunity version 2.0 and 3.0 in the works. One future upgrade will allow every user to receive a free print of the artwork they're interested in. So even if they don't randomly "win" the selected artwork through their art opportunity, they'll still receive a free print of it. As a lifelong Northwest Indiana resident, I like the idea that this new app is coming from the Hoosier heartland, not Silicon Valley or the East Coast. Weinberg will publicly launch and unveil Artunity on Friday at Fluid Coffee Bar in Valparaiso, a venue known for attracting art-minded hipsters. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with Artunity's first piece of art created and sold during that time. "An artist friend of mine will be painting it," said Weinberg, who will better explain Artunity on my Casual Friday's radio show. Jay Weinberg, 38, of Valparaiso, at the Collision Conference in New Orleans in April 2016, where he was invited to introduce his new app Artunity. (Jay Weinberg) Tune in noon Friday (or 7 p.m.) on WLPR, 89.1-FM, streaming online here. Advertisement Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > For more information on Artunity, email Weinberg at jay@theAppArtunity.com or visit www.theAppArtunity.com. Watch a video of Weinberg in his own words here: www.post-trib.com/opinion. Earlier this year, Weinberg told me something that resonated with this former political cartoonist: "Art can change the world. Art has changed the world." I hope Artunity also changes the world for all those artists who struggle to sell and exhibit their expressions of creativity. Bikes on trains Last summer, I boarded a South Shore train to Chicago with my bicycle in tow through the rail line's Bikes on Trains program. It worked out better than I expected (read my column here), and I recommend it to other Northwest Indiana bicyclists looking for a new adventure. Advertisement On my radio show, I will also talk with South Shore President and Genral Manager Mike Noland about the program and how to best use it. Each time President Donald Trump takes an awkward misstep with a key issue or boldly misspeaks about a controversial policy, I wonder how his most fervent supporters react. Not publicly to others, but privately to themselves. Deep down, do they regret voting for Trump last fall? Do they wince when he speaks from his gut, not from his head, regardless of consequences? Do they wish he would act more presidential and less temperamental? Advertisement Or do they stand by their man, their leader, their hero president, as I keep reading on my social media sites by his followers. I haven't found many Trump fans who regret their vote, let alone their views on Trump's executive orders and policy decisions. I sincerely wonder about this sizable population of our country and also our state. Advertisement "I have no regrets. And yes I would vote for him again unless something comes up that changes my mind," said Jeremy Spurrier, of Hobart, who I first met in April 2016, at the Griffith campaign office for Trump. Spurrier's loyalty reflects most other Trump supporters, I believe, regardless of why they're fans of our president. Whether it's how Trump has shaken up Washington, D.C., or his series of executive orders to overturn the previous administration's work, or his cowboy-like, shoot-from-the-lip reputation around the world. "I don't believe Mr. Trump is a Republican or a Democrat. He is a conservative capitalist and that's what our country needs," Spurrier told me last year. Most of Trump's fan base still believe this to be true, I'm sure. I already know how Trump's critics feel about his miscues or miscommunications, not to mention his questionable actions that now prompt whispers (or yells) for his impeachment. In my daily orbit, I hear from these people much more than from Trump's base, which is what prompted this column. The White House has been in chaos this past week, beginning with the firing of former FBI director James B. Comey, who had been leading the investigation into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia to influence last year's election. To defend his firing, Trump called Comey a "showboat" and "grandstander," only inviting millions of Americans to collectively visualize a black pot and a black kettle. Within hours after that statement, the White House boiled over with even more turmoil. On Tuesday, Trump yet again was the lead story in national news and, again, for all the wrong reasons. This time for what he allegedly said to Comey during a February meeting, according to associates of Comey who have seen private notes Comey wrote recounting the conversation. Advertisement "I hope you can let this go,'' Trump allegedly said regarding the FBI's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to a story in the New York Times. This statement is according to Comey's notes, two pages long and highly detailed, as described by his associates. As I watched the news Tuesday night and Wednesday morning on multiple media outlets, I wondered if this incident would be the last straw for any Trump supporters. Or is that straw buried too deeply in political rhetoric or their sincere hopes for our 45th president and for our country's future? Did our president commit obstruction of justice, as his critics claim? "I campaigned for Trump," Spurrier replied. "But if he did tell Comey to lay off Flynn, it's obstruction. "Yet every anonymously sourced article that comes out seems to feed this Trump derangement syndrome that some people had. Let's see some proof before we all lose our minds in one direction or another," he added. Advertisement Fair enough, I agreed. But words like proof, facts and truth seem useless these days in the White House as Trump's staff do their best to twist those words into more rhetoric. Unlike many other Trump supporters who seem to back our president no matter what he says or does in office, Spurrier houses more cautious support. "If it's true, he should be impeached," he said, regarding the Comey notes. "But I don't think impeachment proceedings should begin on another anonymous, unsubstantiated article." Again, I agree. Before Tuesday's breaking news about Trump, he's been making alarming headlines on an almost daily basis. Most recently, whether he wrongly shared sensitive intelligence with Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting last week. Trump said he shared only "facts" pertaining to mutual terrorism concerns with those Russian officials. His critics claim he shared highly classified intelligence from Israel about the Islamic State, something a U.S. president should never do, they say. Advertisement On Tuesday night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Kimmel joked that if Trump were Col. Sanders, all of America would know the secret recipe for his finger-lickin' good chicken. I laughed nervously along with millions of other Americans. At this point in Trump's presidency, I laugh more than I'm outraged. I envisioned this after he got elected. When asked by reporters, "Are you starting to lose confidence in President Trump?" Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell replied curtly, "No." "But I think it would be helpful to have less drama coming from the White House," he added, echoing thoughts from all of us. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > If anyone is at all surprised by Trump's actions and attitude since being sworn in, you weren't paying attention during his campaign. Or maybe you were hoping he would somehow change when he finally became the most powerful man in the world. Wrong. Advertisement So who do we believe? Trump? His staff? His outraged critics? His ever-hopeful supporters? Democratic watchdogs? Republican lapdogs? Media outlets? It typically depends on who we voted for or against, regardless of wholly appropriate facts. This is how politics work, whether it's on a national or local level. Sad but true. H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser, told reporters it was "wholly appropriate" for Trump to share whatever information he thinks benefits Americans. Possibly, but how many of our president's actions can be described as wholly appropriate for the betterment of America? That's the question I repeatedly ask myself. jdavich@post-trib.com Twitter @jdavich The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced an updated version of the information sharing platform for missing children on May 17. [Photo/China.org.cn] The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Wednesday that 1,274 missing children had been found over the past year following the launch of an app in May 2016. During the period, 1,317 updates on missing children were posted on the app, and the children found include 40 who had been abducted, 750 who had run away from home, 192 who had been lost, 75 who died by drowning, as well as 29 who were murdered, according to the MPS. The app helps to ensure efficient sharing of information and collaboration between police in different regions, and encourages witnesses to report the whereabouts of missing or trafficked children, the MPS said. Users near the site where a child disappeared receive push notifications, including photos and descriptions. The scope of these push notifications will be expanded over time. An updated version of the platform that went live on Wednesday has expanded its reach through cooperation with seven other media platforms, such as an emergency broadcasting center under China National Radio, a news app from Tencent and Yidao Yongche. So far, the MPS app has formed a cooperative partnership with 40 new media and mobile applications, including Taobao, Baidu and QQ. Winnetka officials are looking to update and improve the stormwater management policies and regulations the village now has on its books, and on Tuesday village council members approved hiring a Warrenville-based engineering company to provide that analysis. Engineering Resource Associates (ERA) will be paid $48,077 to review the village's existing stormwater control regulations, which affect new development and any redevelopment in the village, according to Public Works Director Steve Saunders. The work will be done over the summer, with final results expected in November, Saunders told trustees before they approved the contract. Advertisement He said ERA was one of four firms that responded to Winnetka's request for proposals. Although its bid was $182 higher than the lowest bit, Saunders said staff favored the company in part because it has completed similar projects for Cook and DuPage counties. The contract calls for ERA engineers to evaluate existing Winnetka development regulations, including its 2014 stormwater master plan, and its public works and engineering design guidelines, according to Saunders' report to trustees. Advertisement ERA's team will meet several times during the project with village staff, as well as with Winnetka's environmental and forestry committee, its zoning board of appeals and plan commission, and with its design review board, the report stated. The work would also include reviewing stormwater management industry standard best management practice, plus looking at what Saunders called "the universe of the six-county (Chicago) area" for existing community stormwater ordinances, cataloging them and using them as source material for potential updates to the village's own guidelines. Doing the review and update allows the village to maintain compliance with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's countywide watershed management ordinance, he said. Trustee Scott Myers asked if engineers would also analyze the ordinances they look at, to consider how the village might be affected by implementing them. "Some obviously would be more controversial and others would be more straightforward," Saunders said of sample ordinances ERA might bring to the table. He said deciding which ones, if any, to use, would include looking at such impacts. "One of the things we're going to have to wrestle with, more on a policy basis, is that there may be some (ordinances) that might have a powerful runoff effect, but for some reason bump up against other community values," Saunders said. The engineering firm will also be expected to make public presentations to the council on its recommendations, according to Saunders' report. Trustee Penny Lanphier told him that she would like to know more details on that process, including when residents would be able to give their feedback on any eventual recommendations. She said she would not like the process to restrict public feedback until the very end. Advertisement kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @pioneer_kathy Pueblo judge orders competency evaluation in election tampering case A judge has issued a gag order in the election tampering case of Richard Patton and ordered Patton to be evaluated for competency to stand trial. James Comey, director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing in Washington D.C., May 3, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] That Donald Trump is impulsive, with a tinge of outright recklessness, is no secret. He has exhibited this throughout his short political career. However, he has been lucky, unlike some others, in that he has so far not only survived, but often thrived on his rashness. The taped remarks about woman that surfaced during the presidential campaign could have proved destructive for any other mortal without a long streak of luck. Instead, Trump was exonerated and won the race. The way FBI Director James Comey was shown the door is the latest feat. Nobody had a clue that Trump would remove the man who was probing alleged Russian interference in last year's election. However, this is Trump's way of doing things; he can say one and then do another, such as vowing not to interfere in Syria and then launching missile strikes. Comey's story would have been forgotten in days. After all, he was hated by Democrats over the issue of Hillary Clinton emails in which Comey's intention at a crucial moment in the campaign did much damage. That's politics, of course, and after his fall, Comey has found support from the same people who previously wanted his head. It is one of the reasons that Comey's "ghost" is circling the skies over Washington DC, making it clear that it was easier for the president to remove him than try and live with his presence in government. History repeats itself. Richard Nixon removed Archibald Cox, the independent special prosecutor looking into Watergate on October 20, 1973, which has become known in American history as the "Saturday Night Massacre." The bizarre dismissal of Cox by the president created widespread discontent that led Congress to impeach him. The sordid drama ended with Nixon's resignation. What transpired 43 years ago has a stark resemblance with happenings on May 9, 2017, although it hasn't yet been declared a "massacre." The central question is whether the removal in any way impedes, or was meant to impede, a fair and free investigation. The answer is not sheer black and white. However, in the absence of a credible reason to justify the sacking, it is becoming increasingly hard to convince the public about the hidden merits of the decision. Already discrepancy is visible between what is said by Trump and the thinking of Comey's subordinates. The White House said his competence was in question and he had lost confidence within the crucial agency. Acting Director Andrew McCabe quickly assured a Senate committee that his former boss enjoyed "broad support" within the organization. His words can be trusted as McCabe also said Comey's dismissal would not impact the Russia probe. The investigation into the interference by Russia to the detriment of Hillary Clinton is important, as allegation have been leveled umpteen times at multiple levels. If proved, it would result in a major row between Washington and Moscow, with long-term consequences for American politics and international peace and stability. There were reports that Comey wanted more resources to carry out the investigation. Democrats are demanding tape recordings of any conversation between Comey and the White House about the probe. Trump has no choice but to come clean on the issue. His attitude has been less than convincing and it will further increase the pressure, both moral and political. Despite efforts by his aides, the Trump team has failed to justify his action. The situation can be retrieved, at least partially, provided there is will and method for it. Time is the essence and Trump should move fast. First, he should appoint a special prosecutor to ensure a fair examination of the Russia affair. It will immediately deflect the pressure, as focus would shift to the appointment and challenges for the prosecutor. Second, Trump can further dampen the rumpus by appointing a man of unblemished character as the new FBI director, someone who could be trusted and win bipartisan support in the Congress for the top job. There is a way out, though. Due to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal on the matter, it's Deputy Attorney General Jay Rosenstein's call whether to appoint a special counsel to head the Justice Department's Russia investigation. It may be the one card Trump can play to sidestep the growing frenzy that spins around him. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. By Zolzaya Erdenebileg and Weining Hu Made in China 2025 (MIC 2025) an initiative to transform China into a hub for advanced manufacturing has been met with curiosity, and some confusion, by observers since it was unveiled in 2015. The international business community is curious about how effective the policy will be. Many wonder whether MIC 2025 will end up like Germany 4.0, which was successful in increasing Germanys national industrial capacity, or Make in India, an initiative to encourage manufacturing in the country, which has not fully lived up to expectations. While many aspects of MIC 2025 are a work in progress, the government has released two important sets of information since 2015: the leadership and membership of MIC 2025s Small Leading Group (SLG) and 12 documents called 1+X that serve as a general outline for how MIC 2025 will be implemented. Given the heavy hitting roster of high-level officials in MIC 2025s Small Leading Group (SLG), it is clear that MIC 2025 has administrative weight, which is unsurprising given that the policy will guide Chinas economic development. The SLG has the capability to effect real and meaningful economic reforms. The SLGs main implementation tool, as defined in 1+X, is financial support for R&D that will in turn support indigenous innovation. This support will primarily come from increased access to capital and subsidies, which will not be available to foreign companies. A closer examination of both the SLG and the 1+X sheds further light on MIC 2025 and what it means for business in China. Whos who in the Small Leading Group? SLGs are common for government initiatives, particularly large ones. Made up of several ministerial bodies, they are created in order to build consensus and implement policies. While SLGs do not write the actual policies, they have considerable influence over government direction. As a result, examining the make-up of an SLG can help explain the support for a policy and its overall capacity to realize its goals. The MIC 2025 SLG includes 26 members from various areas of government. Chairman, Ma Kai Heading the SLG as Chair is Ma Kai, the current Vice Premier in the State Council responsible for overseeing national manufacturing. This is particularly telling as Ma Kai is the highest-ranking official overseeing manufacturing. As Vice Premier, he sits below Premier Li Keqiang in the State Council along with his three other Vice Premiers. A party member since 1965, he is an influential economic planner, and serves as manager of a number of other central bodies, such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Chinese Academy of Governance, and the State Council Safety Production Committee, among others. Vice-Chairmen The vice-chairmen serve an important role. As more than 25 ministries are equally ranked in the SLG for MIC 2025, the presence of vice-chairmen can reduce the risk of indecision due to internal disagreements. The appointments of Miao Wei, Xiao Yaqing, Lin Nianxiu, Cao Jianlin, and Liu Kun as vice-chairs suggest that their respective ministries have a leading role throughout implementation. It is worth noting that excepting for Liu Kun, all of the Vice Chairmen have engineering and physics backgrounds. Miao Wei is Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), an agency under the State Council responsible for industrial planning, policies, and standards. Xiao Yaqing is currently the Director of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Lin Nianxiu is the Vice Minister of the NDRC, a body of central importance to MIC 2025 as the NDRC is responsible for formulating and implementing medium and long-term economic and social development plans. Cao Jianlin is Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Liu Kun is Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, which is the national executive agency responsible for administering macroeconomic policies and the national annual budget. Members A myriad of other ministries and government bodies are included in the general membership. These specific ministries are included because they are the branches of the economy needed for the government to achieve MIC 2025 goals. In particular, they can be divided into three segments: high-tech research and development; talent attraction, retention, and incubation; financial channels to support the entire initiative. Viewed from this angle, the arrangement of the MIC 2025 SLG appears to answer, in the most general sense, how the government envisions implementation of MIC 2025. First, the technical and scientific goals are set. Then, the human resources are found and set to work. Finally, capital is made available to those who will contribute to MIC 2025s goals. Foreign observers should note that the existing Chairman and Vice-Chairmen have had long experiences dealing with domestic development, rather than international trade and cooperation. This makes sense because MIC 2025 is a domestic policy, unlike the One Belt, One Road initiative, which is heavily dependent on regional cooperation. But this underlines the limited scope for international cooperation on MIC 2025. 1+X implementation guidelines 1+X is likely confusing to anyone who reads it: the entire concept was labeled retrospectively. From mid-2016 until the beginning of 2017, the government released 11 implementation guidelines meant to provide roadmaps for different sectors of MIC 2025 (such as innovation center, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and more). In February of 2017, the government clarified that these documents form what they call 1+X the 1 representing the original MIC 2025 promulgation from 2015, and the X representing the 11 individual guidelines that were released. The point that the government wants to make, albeit in a convoluted way, is that several reform all working simultaneously to meet its goals by 2025. Additionally, it is worth noting that these guidelines are suggestions, not administrative requirements. This is a sentiment repeated by the SLG leadership, and the softness of the language appears to indicate that MIC 2025 is a guiding light, not an abrupt push. While the government claims that 1+X was in the works since 2015, it is unclear given that it was only announced ex post facto. Perhaps they thought that it would help tie the guidelines together under a unified banner, particularly as many did not understand how these documents were related. More likely than not, the government wished to bring further attention onto the 11 documents, which received little notice outside of the domestic industry when they were originally released. Foreign businesses should take a closer look at the document of relevance to their industry. While some firms may be able to help the government meet MIC 2025s goals, they should closely examine terms that may directly or indirectly demand technology and knowledge transfer. Others, however, may want to examine the documents to understand how domestic competitors may be using incentives to develop or expand their position in the market. Judging the efficacy of MIC 2025 Many foreign businesses are worried about longer-term access to the market, particularly after technical knowledge has been transferred onto domestic firms. After that happens, foreign players may become less relevant in the Chinese market, while local players may become global competitors, edged on by favorable government policies. However, foreign observers can afford to take wait and see approach. While the SLG has the capacity to effect change, the nature of the 1+X guidelines suggest that MIC 2025 will not truly hit its stride until a few years before the 2025 deadline. MIC 2025 only provides a direction on which industries can focus its capital and research efforts. MIC 2025 has high ambitions, but a relatively short period to achieve its goals. In this way, MIC 2025 appears more aspirational than Germany 4.0 or Make in India. Flash China is eyeing increased cooperation with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Vice Premier Liu Yandong. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong meets with Anthony Lake, chief of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Gao Jie) Liu made the remarks Tuesday when separately meeting with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, both of whom attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing from May 14 to 15. The Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to developing the regional and world economies, facilitating countries along the routes to share the opportunities created by China's development, and achieve common prosperity, Liu said. Liu also acknowledged the long-term pragmatic cooperation between China and the two UN agencies. Hailing China's remarkable achievement in children's rights and population development, and congratulating China on the fruitful outcomes of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, both Lake and Osotimehin expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with China within the initiative, and achieve success in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Shanghai and Prague have inked a deal to cooperate in the fields of film and television as China's Belt and Road Initiative gains steam. The deal, signed Wednesday in Shanghai, will see Shanghai Media Group and Medea Group from the Czech Republic work together in the making, broadcast and promotion of films and television programs about the Belt and Road Initiative. Medea Group is the biggest private media group in the Czech Republic, owning TV stations, TV program-making departments and 11 magazines. Czech President Milos Zeman said that cooperation with Beijing and Shanghai will contribute to Czech-China relations under the Belt and Road Initiative. Several Shanghai hospitals also signed agreements Wednesday to cooperate with their counterparts in Prague in the fields of aviation medical rescue and medical staff training. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang Wednesday called for a more open environment for foreign investment in central China. Opening to the outside world is one of the most important practices of promoting the development in central China, Wang said in the keynote speech at the tenth Central China Investment and Trade Exposition. In the past decade, central China has seen its economy grow substantially, its industrial structure optimized and its market more accessible to foreign investment. These changes have led to coordinated development in the region's economy, offering tremendous business opportunities for foreign enterprises, according to Wang. "More efforts should be made to nurture enterprises that have overseas business and to build pilot free trade zones and economic and technological development zones," Wang said. Wang also stressed creating a business environment which is international, convenient and ruled by law. Wang said foreign investment is an integral part of the Chinese economy. No matter how the international situation changes, China remains steadfast in its strategies of opening up to foreign capital, safeguarding the legal rights and interests of foreign investors and providing better services for them. Since China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, what has Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province in southern China, done to seize the new opportunities created by the initiative for its further development? As one of the most developed cities in China, Guangzhou is a traditional business and trade center called "a 1,000-year-old business capital," and one of the first cities to carry out reform and opening-up in China. Guangzhou has striven to upgrade its industries, business environment and infrastructure to best combine its traditional advantages with new opportunities created by the Belt and Road Initiative. New industries As a vanguard of reform and opening-up for decades, Guangzhou has taken the lead in promoting the construction of the Belt and Road, which is short for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road designed to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond. In recent years, Guangzhou has striven to shift its economic focus to capital- and technology-intensive industries, as enterprises here have sped up the pace to "go global." For example, UC Mobile Co. Ltd. (UCWeb), which is attached to China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has stood out as a global provider of mobile Internet software technology and services, especially in India, Indonesia and Russia. "Our operations are deeply localized, which means we have kept an eye on local cultures and customs. We have provided down-to-earth services," said Huang Hao, president of Alibaba's mobile business group. Meanwhile, the 2017 THero International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition organized by Guangzhou's Tianhe district government is underway, with sub-contests in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, and the United States, which would help the winning foreign high-tech companies solicit investment and do business in Guangzhou. "The international competition is also a publicity of China's mass entrepreneurship and innovation to countries along the Belt and Road," said Lin Daoping, secretary of Tianhe District Committee of the Communist Party of China. New platforms Guangzhou has also exploited new platforms to promote trade and cooperation, besides its traditional ones such as the Canton Fair, a leading platform linking overseas and Chinese traders held biannually since 1957. The 121st Canton Fair, or China Import-Export Fair, took place from April 16 to May 5 in Guangzhou, attracting 364 companies from countries and regions along the Belt and Road, according to the organizer. Two years ago, Nansha District in southeast Guangzhou became one of the pilot free trade zones (FTZs) to promote foreign trade and investment. By 2016, the import and export volume of the Nansha FTZ reached nearly 170 billion yuan (24.66 billion U.S. dollars), one fifth of the total volume of Guangzhou. In a bid to provide better services, Guangzhou has also set up a number of administrative service centers to simplify paperwork for doing business in the city. Pazhou Administrative Service Branch Center, opened in March 2016, is one of them. Pazhou, a historical place with an ancient port linking the Maritime Silk Road 200 years ago, is currently housing the Canton Fair. "The center is a window to display the city's policy, economy, culture, arts and investment environment," said Jiang Wei, head of the Pazhou center. New partners "In recent years, with the development of the economy ... we have shared our development experience with cities along the Belt and Road," said Chen Jie, director of the Asian, African and Oceanian Affairs Division of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office. "Last year, a special team was established to deal with affairs of Asia, Africa and Oceania, to facilitate cooperation between Guangzhou and cities along the Belt and Road," Chen said. Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, Guangzhou has redoubled its efforts to expand its network of friends. In 2013, Guangzhou established friendly ties of various levels with Rabat of Morocco, Phnom Penh of Cambodia, Incheon of South Korea, Binh Duong of Vietnam, Prague of the Czech Republic. In 2014, Ahmedabad of India, Pokhara of Nepal, Lodz of Poland and Tbilisi of Georgia established friendly ties with Guangzhou. In 2015, cities in Oceania and Africa, such as Suva of Fiji, Kinshasa of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Victoria of the Seychelles and Mombasa of Kenya established friendly ties with Guangzhou. For now, Guangzhou, in which 57 countries have established consulates, is looking for friends in the Middle East and West Africa. "The Belt and Road Initiative has injected new impetus in the economic and trade exchanges between Guangzhou and foreign cities," said Luo Zheng, director of the Comprehensive Division of the Commission of Commerce of the Guangzhou government. Upgrading traffic hubs Guangzhou, a key point linking China with the countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has stepped up efforts to upgrade its transport capacity to better link the countries and regions by air, sea and land. China Southern Airlines, based in Guangzhou, is a leading air carrier in China with a fleet of more than 700 passenger and cargo aircraft, ranking No.1 in Asia and No. 4 in the world, according to Qu Guangji, deputy director general & SVP of the network and revenue management division, the commercial steering committee, of the airline. As of April 2017, China Southern Airlines reached destinations in 68 cities of 38 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, getting the lion's share of the market in these areas among Chinese airlines, Qu told Xinhua recently at a symposium, adding the company also plans to open new flights from Guangzhou to destinations along the Belt and Road, such as Johannesburg, Tehran and Islamabad. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, with an ambition to become an advanced world-class air transport hub, has opened flights to 87 international destinations, including 52 in 27 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, according to data provided by the airport. In August, 2016, Guangzhou launched its first weekly cargo train to Europe as a new way to import and export goods. Meanwhile, by collecting goods by train form Chinese inland and then transferring them by sea, Guangzhou has also become a major port shipping goods to international destinations. A suspect was returned to China from Greece Thursday as a campaign to capture economic fugitives continues, according to the Ministry of Public Security. This was the second suspect that Chinese police have brought back from Greece since April 2015 during the "Fox Hunt" campaign, the ministry said. The suspect, surnamed Ma, fled with more than 20 million yuan (over 2.9 million U.S. dollars), which was allegedly illegally obtained from members of the public from 2004 to 2006, according to police. He fled overseas after the Municipal People's Procuratorate of Taiyuan approved his arrest on charges of illegal fundraising in June 2007. In October 2007, Ma was listed on an Interpol red notice. China requested the extradition of Ma via diplomatic channels after he was detained by Greek police. Greece approved the request in April, according to the ministry. The Fox Hunt campaign targets economic suspects and corrupt Party members and government officials who have fled overseas. Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong (2nd L in front) and Foreign Secretary of Nepal Shanker Das Bairagi (2nd R in front) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Kathmandu, Nepal, on May 12, 2017. Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative here on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua] With Nepal signing a landmark agreement with China to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Himalayan state is set to spread its wings to explore new vistas of economic cooperation and connectivity. This will effectively enable Nepal to overcome major handicaps created by its land-locked position between the two giant Asian neighbors China and India. For centuries, Nepal suffered from the geographical curse that led to growing dependency on India. The latter abused its economic clout to undermine Nepal's economic and political sovereignty time and again, imposing three separate trade blockades in the last half century. However, the Nepalese refused to kowtow to Indian diktats and attempted hegemony. Now that the Belt and Road Initiative ensures Nepal's access to sea via Chinese territory, India will have to think twice before applying another economic embargo to show its displeasure over the sovereign decisions of its neighbor. The first credit in carving a path of economic freedom goes to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, whose government signed a score of agreements, including a trade and transit treaty with China, and expressed a strong desire to be the part of the BRI in the wake of an Indian economic embargo in 2016. Caretaker Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who replaced Oli's government allegedly at Indian behest, at first showed hesitancy about signing the extended MoU on the BRI. He was under pressure from India and his own ruling partner, the Nepali Congress, not to sign. However, the public mood was quite the opposite. The opposition parties, intellectuals and public constantly piled pressure on the coalition government to forge an agreement on the Belt and Road Initiative through different channels. As the Chinese development venture became a global project with even U.N. endorsement, Prachanda could no longer hold back. Signing up to the BRI marks the brighter side of his premiership that will come to an end in a few weeks. This is also a positive move to rectify his lopsided foreign policies adopted since taking office some nine months ago. As the deal was struck two days before the first phase of local elections, some feared the ruling Maoist leaders would play a China card to tip the balance in its favor. Nepal's latest action has not only brought Nepal and China ever closer, it will also enhance Nepal's status in the region and international arena. Highlighting the motivation behind the launch of his signature project, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted that the Belt and Road Initiative embodied the aspiration for inter-civilization exchanges, the yearning for peace and stability, the pursuit of common development and the shared dream for a better life. "Spanning thousands of miles and years, the ancient silk routes embody the spirit of peace and co-operation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit," he said during the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14. Economic independence is the key to political sovereignty. The BRI seeks to promote "connectivity of facilities, trade connectivity, financial integration and connectivity of people." It will further attract Chinese investment in Nepal. China has money and better management skills in the infrastructure development that Nepal badly needs to fuel its inclusive economic growth. It also offers huge opportunities for Nepal to escape the vicious circle of poverty, economic dependency and prolonged transition. Once Nepal regains economic confidence and democratic stability, its diplomatic profile will soar to new heights. This will put Nepal in a dignified position to act as a strategic mediator between India and China. "Becoming part of Belt and Road Initiative, Nepal will not only become a transit hub but also an equilibrium instrument in the interaction between China and India," predicted Professor Wang Yiwei, director of Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. Having put pen to paper, Nepal and China can explore sectoral areas to set up road and railway networks in earnest. The line ministries should realign their development policies and plans, and the political parties should foster consensus viewpoint for their speedy implementation. Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Contrary to fears of worsening China-U.S. relations after President Donald Trump took office, improvements have appeared with remarkable speed. [Zhang Xueshi/China.org.cn] In a last-minute development, the U.S. has endorsed the Belt and Road Initiative and a trade deal was clinched on key issues such as agricultural trade, financial services and the energy. As a result, Matthew Pottinger, U.S. National Security Council senior director for East Asia, led an American delegation attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing on May 14-15. Pottinger announced shortly after his arrival in Beijing that, "American firms have a long and successful record in global infrastructure development, and are ready to participate in Belt and Road projects.offering best-value goods and services required over the life of a project." This is a significant "ice-breaker" and a valuable gesture of goodwill. China's win-win foreign policy has been successful, as evidenced by the presence at the BRF of the U.S., South Korea, the EU and Japan, omitting only India. At the opening of the Forum, President Xi Jinping said he visualized the Belt and Road Initiative as an open one that would achieve both economic growth and balanced development, adding: "We should build an open platform of cooperation and uphold and grow an open world economy." Availing themselves of this "open plan" concept, the U.S. embassy in Beijing and various American companies have teamed up to form an "American Belt and Road Working Group" in recognition of the fact that the Initiative is in line with America's own priorities of infrastructure development and creation of American jobs. After the trade deal was signed, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross described U.S.-China relations as "hitting a new high, especially in trade." He went on to call it "a herculean accomplishment," representing the greatest advance in the bilateral trade relationship. Ostensibly, this is the first takeaway from the trade talks initiated last month after the Xi-Trump meeting in Florida persuaded the Trump administration to adopt a softer approach and avoided confrontation, despite various lobbies in Washington pressing for a tough line on Chinese investment. China has reciprocated with a plan to send a delegation to the U.S. in July, the terms of engagement being that Chinese investment should be on a par with that from other countries. Investments in American infrastructure are set to grow through this collaboration as the joint statement declared: "The U.S. welcomes direct investment by Chinese entrepreneurs as it does by entrepreneurs from other countries." Henceforth, China will allow American or other foreign owned groups to offer financial and credit-rating services from July 16; soon, MasterCard and Visa will be applying for licences to operate within China and settle Renminbi payments there.Two major American financial institutions are going to be issued settlement licences and bond underwriting. Prior to his meeting with President Xi, Trump had pledged to address the $350 billion trade imbalance favouring China within 100 days. Thus, it was encouraging that the deal was decided on a fast-track basis, as Ross disclosed in a White House press briefing, adding: "Normally trade deals are denominated in multiple years, not tens of days." In a nutshell, the lucrative trade deal boosts shipments of American liquefied natural gas, beef and other products to China, while Chinese banks and poultry produce get access to the American market. The deal sorts out many of the trade barriers that American companies used to complain about. However, it is not viewed as a major breakthrough as yet in financial circles merely serving to raise expectations that China might accept more American exports in the near future. Notwithstanding that perception, it can be assessed as an important move in the right direction. As described by Professor of Finance at Peking University, Christopher Balding, the developments are a "positive stepping stone" towards better U.S.-China ties. Such remarkable progress in China-U.S. ties would not have been possible during the Obama administration, having backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership that sought to contain China. One of Trump's first actions was to pull the United States out of that agreement. The current trade deal and the presence of the U.S. delegation at the BRF has raised questions whether the U.S. will likewise reconsider Obama's decision not to join the AIIB bank, which is about to announce new members soon. Undoubtedly, President Trump's emerging China policy is unlike his presidential campaign rhetoric as he holds a very high opinion of President Xi as "a great guy." Further high-level China-U.S. talks will be held in the summer to map out a one-year plan with an expectation that remaining contentious issues will be resolved. Sabena Siddiqui (Twitter: @sabena_siddiqi) is a foreign affairs journalist and lawyer based in Pakistan. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. You are here: Home Flash Indonesia plans to send missions to Chinese cities of Shanghai and Chengdu, aimed to woo more foreign visitor arrivals, a senior official at the Indonesian tourism ministry said on Wednesday. Gde Pitana, the official, said the missions were assigned to facilitate meetings between potential Chinese buyers and Indonesian tour agencies in the two cities. The meetings in Shanghai would be held during the Indonesia Week, an event to promote Indonesia-China ties in trade, investment and tourism sectors, initiated by the Indonesian consulate general office. The meeting will run from May 20 to May 26, Pitana said. The ministry would bring eight tour agencies from Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta and Surabaya in its upcoming tour sales missions. Indonesia has set a target to see the arrival of foreign visitors from China at 2,435,000 this year. Indonesia is upbeat to attract more potential visitors from China. Besides the most-favored Bali, Indonesia has other destinations that can be offered for Chinese visitors, said the official. Flash Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, and Chang Wanquan, Chinese defense minister and state councilor, Wednesday met separately with Mohammed Al-Bowardi, Minister of State for Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Fan Changlong said the UAE is a strategic partner of China in the Gulf area. He hailed the smooth development of bilateral military relations and expressed his wish to further advance the relations. Bowardi said the UAE is willing to enhance cooperation and communication with China to further expand the depth and width of bilateral military cooperation. Noting the good momentum of development in military relations, Chang Wanquan said China is willing to work with the UAE to deepen exchange and cooperation in various fields. Flash Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday liberated a new neighborhood amid heavy clashes with IS in a push that initiated a new front in the northwestern edge of IS stronghold in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said. The commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) freed al-Rifai neighborhood and raised the Iraqi flag over some of its buildings after killing many IS militants, Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. Two days ago, the CTS troops freed the adjacent neighborhood of al-Uraybi amid heavy clashes with the extremist militants. The recapture of the neighborhoods came a day after the CTS forces, army and the elite forces of the federal police, known as Rapid Response, initiated a new push into four neighborhoods, including Rifai and Uraybi, and managed to defeat the IS defensive lines after fierce street-to-street clashes. The troops are still fighting in the other two neighborhoods of Iqtisadiyn and July 17 after they seized large parts of them. The troops are now pushing to seize the remaining neighborhoods in north and northwest of the city center to tighten noose around the IS redoubt in the neighborhoods of the old city center in the western side of Mosul, including old areas around the historical al-Nuri Mosque. Late in January, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after over 100 days of fighting against IS militants. On February 19, Abadi announced the start of an offensive to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of the Tigris River, which bisects the city. However, the western part of Mosul, with its narrow streets and heavily populated neighborhoods, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces. Mosul, 400 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Flash Pakistan has started investigation into the concealment of heroin in a London-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight this week, an aviation adviser said on Wednesday. Pakistani media has earlier said that British authorities had recovered narcotics from flight PK-785 of PIA which had reached London from Islamabad on May 15. Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Division Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi said that an inquiry had been ordered to probe the reported incident in a transparent and impartial manner. "It had also been decided to include experts from other relevant departments in the investigation," Abbasi told a news conference in Islamabad. Pakistani embassy officials in London have confirmed that the PIA plane had been thoroughly checked and its crew was held for about eight hours but the British authorities have not yet officially conveyed to Pakistan about the recovery of narcotics. "I am extremely concerned as to why the British authorities did not officially share the incident with Pakistan," the adviser said. Abbasi said that three senior PIA pilots have been stopped from working following inquiry against them. He offered Britain to constitute a joint investigation team on the issue if any contraband had been found from the PIA aircraft. He said that a high-level meeting would be convened on Thursday to look into the issue thoroughly and decide necessary action. Pakistan's Geo television quoted British National Crime Agency as saying that heroin "concealed in packets" seized from PIA fight was recovered in an intelligence-based operation. Customs authorities at Islamabad airport have started an investigation into how the plane, carrying heroin, was given clearance to proceed to London. Terming the reported incident "regrettable," the adviser said it was a matter of Pakistan's dignity and vowed to take the case to its logical end. Flash The secretary-general of French President's office Alexis Kohler Wednesday announced the formation of the new government, headed by the conservative lawmaker Edouard Philippe who was appointed as Prime Minister on Monday by Emmanuel Macron. In his first cabinet line-up, the new head of state mixed profiles unknown for public with others coming from the political mainstream to end decades of right-left divide. The Socialist veteran, Gerard Collomb, mayor of Lyon was named as interior minister while centrist politician Francois Bayrou was appointed to take the charge of justice portfolio. The two men have been supporters of Macron during election's campaign. From the outgoing Socialist government, Jean-Yves le Drian, ex-defense minister and a close ally to former president Francois Hollande was the sole survivor. He took his place to lead European and foreign affairs. From the right-wing, Bruno Le Maire, a pro-European, was picked as economy minister. Nicolas Hulot, a veteran ecologist activist, was named as ecology minister. The list name, which included 18 ministers and four junior ministers, contained several female faces, a move with which the country's new top official wants to deliver on gender parity promise he had campaigned for. In the list appeared Sylvie Goulard, a centrist EU lawmaker, in charge of defense affairs, Agnes Buzyn, solidarity and health minister and Muriel Penicaud, a minister in charge of employment issue. UPSET IN THE RIGHT, LEFT Seeking for wide support ahead of legislative election next month, Macron attracted to his cabinet many faces from the country's traditional parties which had alternated power over six decades. His move to broaden his political base had fueled critics in the right and left camps. "The main objective of this provisional government of confusion is to blur the French guide lines during the campaign of the parliamentary elections," said Bernard Accoyer secretary-general of the center-right "The Republicans" party. "By choosing to compose a disparate ministerial team, Emmanuel Macron continues to maintain ambiguity in the democratic debate," he added in a statement. Accoyer announced that the conservatives who joined the government were struck off the party. On his tweeter account, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, chief of the Socialist Party, wrote "a new government but not a government of renewal..." Far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who eyes to build a strong opposition in the legislative election, denounced "a right-wing government" and called nomination of environmentalist Nicolas Hulot to manage ecology ministry a "heart breaker". However, some others see the other face of the coin. "This new government is marked by new personalities who are part of a European dynamism and some of whom are familiar with the world of business," said Pierre Gattaz, head of employers' federation Medef. Gattaz expressed readiness to work with the newly-appointed government "to implement reforms that we are in need." Wednesday's cabinet could be changed depending on parliamentary election's results next month that would decide whether Macron would need to bring a coalition partners to implement his reforms. The new cabinet is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Thursday morning. Flash Chelsea Manning, who was born Bradley Manning (L) [File photo / Xinhua] Chelsea Manning, a transgender former Iraq-based U.S. Army intelligence officer who was sentenced to 35 years for giving classified data to WikiLeaks, walked out of a military prison early Wednesday after seven years behind bars. The 29-year-old army whistleblower was released from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at around 3 a.m. ET (0700 GMT), an army official told media. She will remain an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army, though she won't be paid a salary and it's highly unlikely that she will be called to serve. Her "excess leave" status will legally entitle her to military medical care, along with commissary privileges, according to local media reports. Chelsea Manning, formerly known as a male officer called Bradley Manning, was arrested in 2010 after leaking 700,000 military files including a battlefield video and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. She argued that she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians and no file was classified higher than secret. But critics said the leaks laid bare some of the United States' most sensitive secrets and endangered information sources. Several U.S. ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of the embarrassing disclosures. Manning was court-martialed and sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed for a leak conviction in U.S. history. Yet in January, the then outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the sentence to seven years after she had requested clemency. "I take full and complete responsibility for my decision to disclose these materials to the public. I have never made any excuses for what I did," Manning wrote in her petition in November to have her sentence commuted. She has reportedly tried to commit suicide twice last year and spent time in solitary confinement as punishment at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth. Flash NATO will hold talks on weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation and arms control in Finland, the bloc said Wednesday. This is one of NATO's largest outreach activities. NATO partner Finland will host the 13th annual NATO conference from May 29 to 30 in Helsinki, according to a NATO press release. More than 100 participants from nearly 50 NATO and partner countries and international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union will gather together for this informal event. The conference will address topical issues in view of a changing international security environment, such as the multilateral non-proliferation regimes and regional proliferation challenges. Discussions on non-proliferation in Syria and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will also be on the agenda. The conference will be opened by Timo Soini, minister for foreign affairs of Finland. A statement will be delivered by NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller. Flash Dutch King Willem-Alexander (L) and his wife Maxima (R) step to the Church in Amsterdam to swear in, on April 30, 2013. (File photo / Xinhua) Dutch King Willem-Alexander has been flying as a guest pilot with KLM for 21 years, according to an exclusive interview with the king published by Dutch daily De Telegraaf on Wednesday. "Twice a month he carried passengers who have no idea that the king is in the cockpit," said the paper. "I find flying simply fantastic," the king told the paper. "You can completely switch off and focus on something else." Tuesday was the last time King Willem-Alexander flew as co-pilot in the KLM Cityhopper which currently operates flights by members of the Dutch government. The Dutch king had flown Fokker 70 aircraft for both the government and KLM Cityhopper service, according to the Dutch government. Fokker 70 was being replaced this year with a Boeing 737. The king intends to carry on as co-pilot but will spend the summer learning how to fly Boeing 737. "Before Sept. 11, the cockpit door was simply open and people regularly peeked in. People found it fun or amazing to see me sitting there. After Sept. 11, the cockpit door is closed and there is much less contact between the cabin and the cockpit. But yes, some people recognize my voice during the flight," said the king in the interview. While making announcements, the king does not always say his name. "I can always say that I warmly welcome the passengers on behalf of the captain and crew. Then I don't have to say my own name. But most people don't listen in any case." KLM pilot Maarten Putman, who regularly flies with the king, was also present during the interview. He called Willem-Alexander an excellent co-pilot. "For the relatively few flying hours the king makes, he is always very sharp. He knows the procedures well. Very well." Dutch television NOS interviewed several stewardess who had flown with their king in the late 1990s. When asked how it felt to fly with a prince (Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother as monarch on April 30, 2013), they described him as "a very spontaneous guy, very down to earth, super gallant." In the 1980s, Willem-Alexander obtained private, commercial and military pilot's licences, which enabled him to fly as a volunteer in Kenya, first for the medical aid organization and wildlife service organs. In 2001, he earned his airline transport pilot licence. Senior officials from China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced on Thursday in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, that the two sides have completed the first draft of a framework for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. This landmark document reflects their shared determination to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. Since last year, tensions over the South China Sea disputes have abated remarkably thanks to the restraint and diplomatic efforts of the parties concerned. This has helped usher in a cordial atmosphere for talks on a Code of Conduct, thus paving the way for full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea agreed in 2002. It is heartening to see the South China Sea issue has been brought back onto the right track of dialogue and consultation after last year's turbulence. One important consensus has been that interference by outside forces will not bring peace and stability, but instead only creates uncertainties and undermines the interests of both China and the ASEAN member states. The latest breakthrough was made during the 14th Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the DOC between China and ASEAN. The 23rd Senior Officials Consultations will convene in Guiyang on Friday, and the first bilateral consultation between China and the Philippines on the South China Sea is also scheduled for Friday in Guiyang. These interactions and exchanges between China and members of the regional bloc, conducted just a few days after Beijing hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, prove that ASEAN is a top priority in China's good-neighborly diplomacy. China has always supported ASEAN taking center stage in regional integration and playing a bigger role in international affairs. It has vowed to throw its weight behind ASEAN's commitment to build an economic community and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025. In fact, ASEAN's development strategy can dovetail with China's Belt and Road Initiative in many ways. ASEAN countries are situated where the land and maritime Silk Roads converge, and China sees ASEAN as an important partner in promoting the initiative, which will create huge development opportunities for ASEAN countries to seize. The China-ASEAN relationship has maintained a healthy trend in recent years and is surging ahead along a fast track of development. The convergence of ASEAN's development plan and China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is based on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, will inject even more vitality into their reciprocal cooperation. China is willing to steadily push forward cooperation with Turkey on important projects under the framework of building the Belt and Road, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday while talking with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Noting that China-Turkey cooperation has developed rapidly in all areas in recent years, Xi said that developing China-Turkey strategic cooperation is in accord with the fundamental interests of the two countries and the people of both sides. The two sides should respect each other's core concerns and deepen cooperation in fighting terrorists and security, Xi said, adding that the two countries should connect their development strategies under the principle of equality, mutual benefit and win-win. Xi said that China highly appreciates Turkey's support and participation in building the Belt and Road. Xi pointed out that a peaceful and stable Middle East is in accord with the common interests of the international community, and China would like to enhance communication with all relevant parties for the peace and stability of the Middle East. Erdogan agreed with what Xi said about Turkey-China relations. Turkey upholds a positive attitude toward implementing the consensus of the leaders and pushing forward practical cooperation, he said. It's very important that China holds the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Erdogan said, adding that Turkey is willing to enhance cooperation with China in investment, transportation and infrastructure construction. The two presidents witnessed the signing of cooperative documents in judicial, transportation and culture areas after their talks. China has hosted its biggest diplomatic, economic and political event of the year, the OBOR Summit. A modern-day manifestation of the ancient Silk Road, One Belt, One Road (OBOR) has become one of the major policy initiatives led by President Xi Jinping since 2013. Over the past few years, President Xi and his team have continued to promote OBOR as a significant global convergence of political and economic interests. Foreign Minister Wang Yi echoes this sentiment, declaring OBOR to be "the most important public good China has given to the world, first proposed by China but for all countries to enjoy." The massive potential for infrastructure and other types of investments through various projects has caused many to compare OBOR to a golden age in Chinese history--when Chinese merchants played a vital role in bridging economic activities linking Asia, Africa, and Europe. With its immense potentials expected to reshape a large part of the world economy, many corporate executives, plant managers, and shareholders across China are already scrambling to get ready for OBOR. However, Chinese families could also gain much by preparing themselves for the event. That is, "Are you OBOR-ready?" is a real question all Chinese parents should be asking their children at dinner tables across the country as they are preparing for college and entering the job market soon thereafter. In this contemporary revival of the ancient Silk Road, cranes and forklifts cannot be the only improvements upon caravans and camels used in the past. Rather, there is a crucial obligation to complement OBOR's strategic economic vision with a commitment to essential skills needed through a world-class education. To begin realizing its real potential, China needs to keep one eye on development via capital resources and another eye intently focused on training its future workforce--which must be achieved through investment in soft infrastructure, education and re-training. How can China best harness the power of our human capital? While the economic center of gravity is shifting more and more towards the East, the West remains the educational center of gravity--with the United States continuing to dominate in this sector. Furthermore, it will take China several decades to build a fleet of truly world class universities. Thus, to fully engage with OBOR's immense potential means creating a synergy between the Chinese economic vision present in this initiative and the already-well-established educational hub in the United States. Currently, there exists a widening gap between China's domestic educational system and its vision for economic growth, with the former lagging far behind the latter. If China wishes to respond promptly to this problem, in the connected world, it must work towards filling this gap quickly by outsourcing rather than taking the slower rebuilding approach. By taking the cross-cultural but more vital cross-system, worldview approach towards cultivating educational potential, China will also inadvertently cause the talent pool to gravitate towards the economic success started by OBOR across Asia, Europe, and Africa. In this sense, US education can be the underlying engine driving OBOR's successful implementation throughout China and beyond. While China has embarked upon economic liberalization quite quickly, it has yet to advance at the same rate in the field of higher education. However, improving in both areas has proven to be equally important for the long-term economic stability and sustainability of the country. In a connected world, gaining a US-based education is not just about the university degree. Rather, it provides the Chinese workforce with just the right formula of training and competitive edge in the global economy. Therefore, being OBOR-ready has far reaching implications. In this new OBOR-era world, the US offers the soft infrastructure; educational support and technology, China provides the hard infrastructure and export markets, and Europe sends aid and governance advisers. And as corporate supply chains work to facilitate the smooth flow between all of these connections, it would appear that this is the closest geopolitics has come to all the right stars aligning at the same time. As one ancient Chinese wisely said, "If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. But if your plan is for one hundred years, educate children." From the dinner table to the boardroom, stakeholders and major players from all regions and sectors are eager to tap into the enormous potential derived from the human capital at OBOR. A combination of talent, skills and the right vision can help forge such educational potential into long-term economic opportunity and growth that will benefit China and the world. To enjoy the benefits of the OBOR-era world, we must first build it through the Chinese hard infrastructure and the American higher education soft infrastructure. The OBOR-era world's destiny hangs in the balance. Andrew Hang Chen is an educator and advisor on international education. He is the co-founder and CEO of WholeRen Group; Roozbeh Aliabadi is an advisor on geopolitical and geo-economics risks, and the strategic advisor for WholeRen Group A boy plays near a property project in Langfang, Hebei province. WANG JIJIA / FOR CHINA DAILY The Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei governments are teaming up to intervene and stop speculation in the real estate market, senior officials said. Tongzhou district, Beijing's subsidiary administration center, is forming a realty regulation enforcement alliance with Tianjin's Wuqing district and Langfang in Hebei provincethe two latter areas within easy reach of the capitalto target market speculators and errant property agencies. Wu Diandong, deputy head of Tongzhou Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said at a working conference in Beijing that the new alliance of the three local governments will improve market supervision and hit speculation in cross-border housing sales. Tongzhou district said it had closed 75 rule-violating real estate companies since last September and plans to shut down another 150 in the current year. Langfang government has also been tightening house market regulations since April. Xiongan New Area of Hebei, the new economic zone to be developed, is implementing similar measures. Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with Centaline Property, told 21st Century Business Herald that the governments would harden their policies in Beijing's neighboring areas, where speculators have been flocking to invest. "The alliance between Tongzhou, Wuqing and Langfang will help to coordinate regulations and restrict the capital from flowing in and out of the three markets," he said. "In the past year, speculators have been flocking to neighboring areas like Langfang due to the tightening rules in Tongzhou, leading to skyrocketing prices in both those areas and in Tongzhou." Data from Centaline Property show that the average house price in Tongzhou has doubled in past two years from 21,125 yuan ($3,067) per square meter to 50,000 yuan in 2017. A worker at a steel company in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, in Jan 2015. [Photo/China Daily] Leading rating agency Moody's Investor Services Inc has affirmed it is confident that China's economy is well geared to withstand financial shocks, despite the nation's high debt levels. "China, more than other emerging markets, has the ability to manage its own future, at least within the confines of its domestic financial system and the domestic economy," said Alastair Wilson, Moody's head of global sovereign rating. He was speaking at Moody's annual emerging markets forum in London on Tuesday. Wilson said China's fiscal strength, its partially closed capital account, and high foreign exchange reserves are all well placed to help it absorb shocks, if necessary, and dissipate them over time. Wilson's words were in response to concerns, especially in the West, about China's rising debt levels. China's debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 277 percent at the end of 2016, from 254 percent the previous year. "Often, when you see economies with China's level of leverage and credit growth, you begin to expect (a credit bubble burst). But we haven't seen that, because of China's capacity to control the outcome of its fortunes, in the real economy, the financial sector, household sector, within a closely controlled system," Wilson said. Moody's current sovereign rating for China is Aa3, which is classified as investment grade. Moody's confident outlook for China is shared by London investment managers. "China continues to defy predictions of a hard landing," said Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. "We believe that the perceived risks in China are wildly overstated and that growth, capital flight, and debt are largely unconnected issues." Dehn said China's high debt level is not worrying when considered in combination with its extraordinarily high 49 percent savings rate. An Egyptian artist performs a traditional dance at the first China-Egypt Cultural Expo in Cairo, capital of Egypt, in November 2016. ZHAO DINGZHE / XINHUA Egypt sees opportunities flowing from Initiative Expert says the country's location is key to mega infrastructure CAIRO The Belt and Road Initiative will "open up huge opportunities" for cooperation between Egypt and China in terms of mutual trade and investment, said a top Egyptian researcher. "The philosophy of the Initiative is based on the concept of development as well as trade," said Mohamed Fayez Farahat, head of the Asian Studies program in the State-run Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims at reviving ancient land and sea trade routes that link China with many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe via trade and infrastructure networks. "The Initiative by nature provides support for development in Egypt because the maritime path of the Belt and Road Initiative would pass through the Suez Canal," said Farahat who attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on Sunday and Monday. Egypt has recently adopted reform policies and austerity measures, borrowing loans to revive its economy that has been ailing due to the eruption of two uprisings and the ouster of two presidents, which affected investments and tourist inflows. An Egyptian executive interacts with her Chinese colleague for a project in the economic and trade zone around the Suez Canal. ZHAO DINGZHE / XINHUA "The Belt and Road Initiative depends on huge financing capabilities and institutions that stand behind it, and Egypt could benefit by getting support and loans for carrying out developmental projects with better and easier conditions, unlike the difficult system of Western financing institutions," Farahat said. The diversity and the richness of the Initiative's aspects would cover coordinating policies, advancing the infrastructure and integrating the financial cooperation among the partners, thus creating several fields of cooperation with Egypt, he said. Farahat said logistics, ports, infrastructure and developmental projects would constitute a breakthrough in cooperation between the two countries. Given the problems facing globalization in recent years, the Asian affairs researcher predicts China will witness "massive transitions". "China, which represents a successful model in development, essentially based on industrial fields, would pay more attention to the logistics sector to push the train of economic development in the region, including Egypt," he said. Egypt's parliament recently passed a long-awaited investment law that would create incentives the country needs to bring back investors after years of turmoil. The new law is expected to boost much-needed investments by cutting down bureaucracy, especially for starting new logistics and port projects around the Suez Canal. A researcher at work at a Chinese enterprise in Egypt. PAN CHAOYUE / XINHUA China is the largest investor in the development of Egypt's Suez Canal Corridor which emerged in 1998. The Suez Canal Economic Zone, covering a total area of 461 sq km and comprising four sections and six ports, would facilitate the presence of foreign investors. "I expect China would contribute largely to enhancing the developmental sector in Egypt, whose peace and stability are the base of those in the Middle East," Farahat said, adding that by supporting Egypt, China would secure those mega infrastructure projects that would pass through the Belt and Road Initiative's path." As a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Egypt could also benefit from funding its infrastructure projects with easier conditions, he said. Farahat said the Belt and Road Initiative needs to be publicized at the people level. "The countries and regions related to the Belt and Road Initiative should work on marketing the initiative as a project that the people believe in, which is the challenge now." He said China enjoys a high level of credibility among the developing and growing countries; it has special ties with different international partners, and its history lacks any negative implications with regard to imperialism or hegemony. Reiterating that "the Initiative was built on the idea of openness and not conflict", the expert explained the campaign seeks cooperation and integration that manifested in China's memberships in the Arab League, G20, AIIB and the ASEAN. He also hailed the Initiative because it does not seek conflict with the existing international system but integration with the world financial institutions like the World Bank. "This is the first time that an international initiative has been launched for development, especially infrastructure, besides trade," Farahat said. HEFEI - Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang Wednesday called for a more open environment for foreign investment in Central China. Opening to the outside world is one of the most important practices of promoting the development in Central China, Wang said in the keynote speech at the tenth Central China Investment and Trade Exposition. In the past decade, Central China has seen its economy grow substantially, its industrial structure optimized and its market more accessible to foreign investment. These changes have led to coordinated development in the region's economy, offering tremendous business opportunities for foreign enterprises, according to Wang. "More efforts should be made to nurture enterprises that have overseas business and to build pilot free trade zones and economic and technological development zones," Wang said. Wang also stressed creating a business environment which is international, convenient and ruled by law. Wang said foreign investment is an integral part of the Chinese economy. No matter how the international situation changes, China remains steadfast in its strategies of opening up to foreign capital, safeguarding the legal rights and interests of foreign investors and providing better services for them. BEIJING - To strike a balance between financial stability, gradual deleveraging and stable economic growth, China's banking regulators have rolled out a slew of measures. Authorities have said the country will continue to implement a prudent monetary policy and emphasize the elimination of financial risks. However, the priority of regulation is to avoid new risks associated with the disposal of existing ones. Systematic regulation Recent regulatory measures, which focus on latent risks and pressing problems in the banking system, target both irregular operations and overall market order, and authorities also want to increase market players' ability to fend off risks, said Xiao Yuanqi, head of the prudential regulation bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). "Potential impacts of these measures have been assessed in advance," said Xiao, adding that CBRC will take full account of actual risks in the banking sector and step up financial regulation. To push forward tightening of the regulation, authorities will carry out the measures in an orderly way, offer banks a buffer period of four to six months for self-scrutiny and rectification, and set different standards for new and old businesses, said Xiao. The banking regulator announced Monday it is implementing 46 legislative programs in 2017, covering risk management for bankruptcy and liquidity of commercial banks as well as for cross-industry services to plug regulatory loopholes and guard against financial risks. Research will be done on another 16 programs, including microfinance company supervision and trust company liquidity management, according to the CBRC's work plan. Ongoing self-scrutiny China will enhance coordination in financial regulation to manage the timing and pace of regulation to stabilize market expectations, according to a quarterly monetary policy report released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC). "Banks across the country are conducting self-scrutiny, and regulators have not carried out on-site inspections," said Xiao, underlining the need to grasp and monitor the overall situation of the banking system. As for the shrinking inter-bank business reported by some banks, Xiao pointed out that the phenomenon might stem from jitters caused by misunderstandings of relevant policies. "It is normal that financial institutions adjust asset-liability structures according to the external business environment and internal resource allocation," Xiao said. "CBRC will firmly support these adjustments that are conducive to risk control." Banks usually have stress tests on mortgage loans -- which account for a big share of their loans -- to ensure low non-performing ratios. Authorities will focus on lending to smaller property developers, excess real estate credit in third- and fourth-tier cities, and financial institutions that focus too much on mortgage loans, according to Xiao. "Disposal of risks must be tactical and we should not trigger new risks by removing existing ones," Xiao said. "Deleveraging efforts must, at the very least, not have any systemic financial risks," said Deng Haiqing, chief economist with JZ Securities, adding that regulators will choose a soft landing for deleveraging to avoid secondary risks due to excessive regulation. The goal of regulatory policies is to curb irregular market operations and encourage adherence to the law, said Xiao. Robust business "Recent CBRC documents almost covered all aspects of commercial banks' operation and management conducive to avoiding various risks," said Wang Jian, chief analyst with Guotai Junan Securities. Thanks to rigorous regulation, the quality of the country's banking assets is generally stable and banks' ability to resist risks is strengthening. According to data from CBRC, the provision coverage ratio of commercial banks - a measure of funds set aside to cover bad loans - was 178.8 percent by the end of first quarter, and liquidity in the banking system is "abundant." At the end of April, banks' balances of wealth management products reached 30 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion), up 1.1 trillion yuan from a month earlier, and inter-bank investment rose 4 trillion yuan from the beginning of 2017 to nearly 37 trillion yuan, the data showed. Meanwhile, risks are under control. A recent research report by Tsinghua University showed that China's financial risks have been capped at a low level since the second half of 2016. "These statistics show recent regulatory policies not only help the banking system to operate smoothly, but contribute to stabilizing the financial market and boosting the real economy," said Xiao. ACCRA - Ghanaians speaking to Xinhua here on Wednesday believed the China Trade Week is a very good initiative that will bring bilateral relations between their two countries to another level. Incoming Ghana Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, said it was good time for Ghana to have the China Trade Week held here. "It is a good start; as you can see, there are about 40 Chinese companies represented and Ghana is a growing hub for business in West Africa. I think next year we expect to see more companies. I can only see the China Trade Week in Ghana getting better." He said the time was ripe for Ghana to seek support and expertise from China to meet the developmental aspirations of the citizens. "I think, as you know, one of our key campaign promises is that every district in this country we are going to provide them with one factory. It is something that is very important for us and which better country to go to at this time than China which has done it. "Most countries, including the western countries, are going to China for this sort of partnership. So we are not only looking to China for trade, but we are also looking to China for manufacturing and production partnerships," he added. Businessman Erick Bertin Houadjeto lauded the initiative, asking for subsequent ones in Ghana to be extended over a longer period. "We saw this advert and we thought it was a brilliant idea. Ghana and China have had good bilateral relations and we thought this was a step in forwarding these ties. And I think the display of goods, there are goods that are important for our current developmental stage, especially when we look at the area of the solar paneling; when we look at irrigation projects for our agriculture and there are a lot of things even for event management, the tents and other logistics," the businessman added. There were approximately 50 Chinese companies selected from various sectors, including power energy, lighting, home electronics, construction, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), clothing and textiles as well as personal care participating in the two-day exhibition. Immediate past Ghana Ambassador to China, Anani Demuyakor, singled out the Belt and Road Initiative by the Chinese government as one of the things Ghana had a lot to learn from China to achieve its developmental aspirations. "Let's go out, let's learn from outsiders and let's take our civilization and our culture outside. So Ghanaians, we have to understand there are a lot of benefits and we have to sit down and plan and plug in where we can benefit as a nation," he urged. Nash, a Ghanaian who imports from China, expressed appreciation to the organizers of the China Trade Week, saying it would bring Chinese manufacturers closer to importers in Ghana. "Most of the materials and goods in Ghana, like 80 percent of them, come from China so we want to see how this China trade week will develop and get us better sourcing from China," he added. NAIROBI - Kennedy Ntara was determined to dodge the agony of joblessness after college and made good use of influential relatives and friends who alerted him on opportunities that were up for grabs. The 25-year-old procurement and logistics major is currently working at Twyford Ceramics, a Chinese company that has employed hundreds of Kenyan youth in its tiles manufacturing plant located 65 kilometers south west of the capital, Nairobi. During a recent interview with Xinhua, Ntara said he yearned for an opportunity to work for a Chinese firm since the university days aware of their potential to transform lives of the youth. "Soon after graduating from the university, I worked for several local companies and when an opportunity to work for Twyford ceramics knocked, I did not hesitate to grab it," said Ntara. He was recruited by Twyford Ceramics in November last year and was deployed to the warehouse and supply sections where he is applying skills taught in the university. "It has been a rewarding five months stint in my current work station. The interactions with local and Chinese staff are cordial and more importantly, I have been able to acquire new knowledge in supply chain management," said Ntara. He belongs to a growing army of Kenyan youth who have secured gainful employment from Chinese firms that have invested in the East African nation. Twyford Ceramics which happens to be a leading manufacturer of high end tiles has offered a lease of life to Kenyan youth who often endure agony of joblessness after finishing college. Li Ruiqin, the Managing Director of Twyford Ceramics said plans are in the pipeline to increase production in order to meet a high demand for tiles in Kenya and across the Eastern Africa region. "We intend to establish an additional production line to churn out large volume of tiles for the local and external market. In the process, we anticipate 1500 local jobs will be created," said Li. Twyford Ceramics and dozens of Chinese firms operating in Kenya have rallied behind the Belt and Road Initiative championed by Beijing to promote economic and industrial partnership with allies in Africa and other parts of the globe. The company has invested 70 million dollars in the plant that produces high quality but affordable tiles that have put a luster in Kenya's and regional real estate sector. According to Li, Twyford Ceramics produces 25,000 square meters of tiles daily and commands 60 percent of market share in Kenya. Ntara and his peers were upbeat their employer will soon edge out other competitors to become leading supplier of tiles. "The growth of this company means additional benefits for me and my colleagues. Am optimistic we will continue causing ripples in the domestic market for tiles. Ultimately, there will be rewards to be accompanied by that growth," said Ntara. He lauded the Belt and Road initiative saying it should focus more on industrial development and skills transfer to help address youth unemployment in Kenya. "I hope our country will remain an attractive destination for Chinese investors not just in infrastructure sector but also in manufacturing and skills development," Ntara remarked. His sentiments were echoed by Mark Otieno, a 23-year-old high school graduate and a casual laborer at Twyford ceramics since June last year. Otieno hailed the transformation of Kenya`s manufacturing sector thanks to Chinese technology. "I am always amazed by efficient and environmentally friendly production systems in this factory. Even unskilled employees do not strain while on duty," said Otieno. He intends to save enough money to cater for college education in the near future. Kenyans from all walks of life are optimistic that economic partnership with China will be elevated to new levels thanks to Belt and Road Initiative. President Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation slated for May 14 and 15 that he expected African countries to benefit from improved ties with China across diverse fields like technology, culture, trade and infrastructure development. Kenyan citizens who are already working for Chinese firms agree with their leaders that Beijing has championed mutually beneficial engagement with foreign allies. Alan Ogeta, a supervisor at Twyford Ceramics said that Kenya stands to gain immensely from industrial cooperation with China. "As a country, we should replicate China's model on industrial transformation in order to boost competitiveness of our economy and create extra jobs for the youth," Ogeta remarked. PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Malaysia's Plantation and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong said on Wednesday that he expects palm oil export to China to further increase this year. Malaysia's palm oil export to China from January to March increased by 69 percent year-on-year to 2.2 billion ringgit ($550 million), said Mah at a press conference. Citing the recent tie-up between Felda Global Ventures (FGV), Malaysia's leading global agribusiness and the world's largest crude palm oil producer, and China's Sinograin Oils Corp as a good achievement, Mah said he expected the momentum to continue. FGV said earlier that it expects its palm oil export to China to double to 600,000 tons after it sealed a memorandum of understanding with Sinograin to supply and distribute more palm oil products to China. "We hope China will invest more in Malaysia's palm oil industry, and have joint ventures with Malaysian companies," Mah said, adding he is also confident that Malaysia's total palm oil export this year will hit more than 70 billion ringgit. Flash U.S. and European Union (EU) officials met on Wednesday to discuss expansion of a U.S. ban on in-flight laptops on planes from Europe. According to some media reports, U.S. officials defended the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss with Russian officials an Islamic State group terror threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft, while EU officials said that they had not been notified on the threat. It is reported that an anonymous EU official said that the talk is to create a consultation and a sharing of information. International Air Transport Association (IATA) chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday that extending the curbs would obstruct travel and might not be the best way of countering the threat. In March, the United States announced laptop restrictions on flights originating from 10 Middle Eastern airports, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, for fear that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices. The ban applies to laptops, tablets, e-book readers and cameras. These devices have to be placed in checked baggage. According to some experts, a bomb in the cabin would be easier to make compared in the cargo. However, IATA wrote to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on Tuesday expressing "serious concern" regarding the expanded ban, the reports said. IATA said that if governments agree that wider curbs are necessary they should consider applying measures to enhance security while avoiding the concentration of devices in holds. Workers on a motor vehicle production line at a factory in Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo provided to China Daily] China will open a series of pilot zones to press ahead the Made in China 2025 strategy, Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday. The demonstration areas, poised as test bed for policy and institutional innovation, are expected to develop into industrial clusters and the country's new growth engine, according to a statement released after the meeting on the State Council's website. Twelve cities have gained approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as of Wednesday to build pilot zones for the strategy. Some of them will be designated at a national level, receiving favorable policies in financing and other fields. The State Council also promised to reduce corporate burden and cut their annual costs by 120 billion yuan ($17.48 billion) through slashing logistics fees and service charges. The Made in China 2025 has shown significant progress in upgrading the country's economy toward medium to high-end over the past two years, the statement noted. China's first home-developed large passenger jet C919 made its debut flight in Shanghai earlier this month. Smart manufacturing will be a primary focus, with China accelerating innovations in sensor and control system as well as industrial software, it added. The strategy, together with Internet Plus Initiative and mass entrepreneurship, will support the upgrade of the country's manufacturing toward intelligent, eco-friendly and service driven. China's attempt to test marine natural gas hydrates, a future energy source, has turned out to be a success, making it the first country to secure continuous and stable gas supply in marine gas hydrate exploitation, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources. The pilot production was carried out in the Shenhu Area of Northern South China Sea, the ministry said on Thursday. Natural gas hydrates, mostly found at the bottom of continental shelf and the perpetually frozen soil, are the future clean energy source, and are regarded as a new energy source due to their high energy density, huge amount of resources and cleaning characters, it said. Natural gas hydrates can play a significant role in environmental protection and global climate change, it added. Many countries, including United States, Canada, Japan and India, are looking at exploiting hydrate deposits as an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels. Countries along the Belt and Road have become popular destinations for Chinese tourists, according to a report issued by Lvmama.com, a Chinese online travel agency. The report, based on bookings made on the Lvmama website, showed that the number of Chinese tourists visiting ASEAN countries in 2016 rose to nearly three times that of 2015. The number of Chinese people visiting Central and Eastern Europe saw a year-on-year increase of 229 percent in 2016. Thailand ranked as the most popular destination along the Belt and Road for Chinese tourists, according to the report. Here is a list of the top 10 most popular destinations. No 10 Sri Lanka A mascot of Ant Financial is seen at its office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, September 21, 2016.[Photo/Agencies] Ant Financial Services Group, the payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is close to closing a $3.5 billion debt financing round, US cable business channel CNBC reported. The figure is higher than the company's earlier expectations of securing $2 billion to $2.5 billion. There has been "huge appetite" for the fundraising round, and it is "close to closing", a source familiar with the matter told the cable television network. The debt financing is being raised in US dollars, rather than Chinese currency renminbi and will help Ant Financial continue its overseas expansion. Last month, Ant Financial made a second bid for US electronic payment firm MoneyGram, increasing its offer to $18 per share in cash from $13.25, taking the total transaction value to about $1.2 billion. On April 19, Ant Financial acquired Singapore-based payment service helloPay Group. It also partnered with Indonesia's second largest media firm, Emtek, to form a payment platform within BlackBerry's messaging service which covers 63 million users in the country. Over the last few months, Ant Financial acquired a stake in Paytm in India and invested in Ascend Money in Thailand. On Feb 17, Ant Financial announced it would invest in digital financial company Mynt in the Philippines. Last year, Ant Financial raised a $4.5 billion equity funding round which valued it around $60 billion, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC at the time, making it one of the world's most-valuable private technology companies. Ant Financial said on Tuesday it has no timetable for an initial public offering, amid speculation that the internet financial giant is stalling a planned flotation while it tries to improve its performance and regain market share. Agencies contributed to this story. Joggers enjoy a run on the smart track on Chongming Island, Shanghai.[Photo provided to China Daily] A smart running track equipped with high-tech devices such as a facial recognition system and heart rate monitors has been unveiled at Mingzhuhu Park on Shanghai's Chongming Island. The track, an 8-kilometer circuit around a lake, consists of two types of surfaces: 6,800 meters of plastic and 700 meters of red asphalt. It also features a wooden pontoon section over water that measures 500 meters. Chen Zhixian, a manager at Chongming Shanghai Tourism Investment Development Co, which developed the track, said the facial recognition device uses two cameras to calculate a runner's average speed over certain distances. The system is similar to the one used in point-to-point speed cameras on highways. "The facial recognition technology ensures fair competition for runners, as it prevents them from taking shortcuts to gain an advantage over rivals," he said. "In addition to the eight facial recognition devices, we have also integrated other new technologies in the track, such as an automatic water mist machine to help cool down the runners and heart-rate testing devices to monitor the runners' physical condition. They will be put to use soon." HuangLing, deputy general manager of the company, said on Wednesday that the debugging operation of its eight facial recognition devices was complete, and the devices will start to be used in June after receiving feedback from participants in a running festival that started on Sunday. The festival will continue until May 27. "It's the first smart track to open in Shanghaian integration of new technology with the environment. A run around the lake takes about one and a half hours to finish, with the great scenery and fresh air of Chongming Island for companionship," she said. The track has received an overall positive response from the public, with thousands of online reservations made for Sunday's opening. "The track is gorgeous," said Sun Yi, who took part in the festival on Wednesday. "Woods, water and scenery are perfectly integrated. That gives me a totally different experience of jogging. It distinguishes the track from other running paths in the city." He said he looked forward to using the high-tech devices. The track will open to the public next month, after the festival closes. Users will pay 30 yuan ($4.40) to use the track and will be granted free entrance into the park. Cheng Si contributed to this story. Police in Guangzhou have detained two men suspected of chopping off the hand of a 7-year-old boy on Wednesday. According to statements released by the city's public security bureau on Sina Weibo, police detained the prime suspect, surnamed Ma, in Huangpu district at about 1 pm. Later, they detained another suspect surnamed Wu, in Haizhu district. Both Ma, 41, and Wu, 38, are from Hubei province, the authorities said. Initial investigations indicate the pair are suspected of attacking the boy because of a dispute with the victim's family over a debt, an unnamed police officer in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, told local media. "No details are available at the moment as the investigation is ongoing," the officer was quoted as saying. The boy was attacked on Qiaonanxin Street at about 7:30 am when he was going to school. Police arrived at the scene after receiving reports from residents and sent police dogs to help look for the boy's severed hand. The boy was sent to nearby Guangdong No 2 General Hospital for emergency treatment. The boy's hand was found at about 1:30 pm and surgeons tried to reattach the boy's hand. A doctor from the hospital declined to comment on the surgery when contacted by China Daily. The busy street was temporarily at a standstill when police closed the scene for investigation on Wednesday morning. A manager of a dessert restaurant nearby said she went out to see what was going on after hearing a commotion at about 8 am. "The boy was going to school with his mother when he was attacked by a man in red clothes," she told local media. The mother then held her son in her arms and shouted for help, she said. Another witness said the man began to chop at the boy after he pushed him to the ground and took his school bag. "The man then ran away with the boy's hand into a small lane," he said. A task force has been set up to investigate the case, police said. The organization behind the ACT college entrance examination has teamed up with a large Chinese test preparation provider to offer a program for Chinese students who will take the test required by many US colleges and universities. Ed Colby, a spokesman for the ACT, said the program with ATA Online (Beijing) Education Technology is individually tailored to help students understand their academic strengths and weaknesses and how they can improve. Students begin by answering individual practice questions in each of the four subjects in an ACT exam - math, science, reading and English - and recommends areas of focus for preparation. The goal is to help Chinese students identify gaps in their knowledge via diagnostic online assessments. "ATA will also offer a full mock ACT experience in which the student literally practices taking the exam in an assessment center under the same conditions as the ACT-proctored, timed, 3 to 4 hours in duration," Colby wrote in an email on Tuesday. Cheating on exams like the ACT or its rival SAT has been reported in Asia and in other countries. Students feel pressure to do well on the tests, which are important components of their applications to US colleges and universities. Last year, SAT exams were canceled at 45 testing sites across the Chinese mainland and Macao because test takers received test materials in advance. In 2015, prosecutors in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia charged 15 Chinese people, alleging they conspired to have impostors take the SAT and other college entrance exams for other students in exchange for payment of up to $6,000.Most of the defendants pleaded guilty and were deported from the US. The ACT was also canceled in South Korea and Hong Kong last year because of widespread security breaches. Colby said the ACT does not release information about test security incidents. "ACT takes test security very seriously. We use layers of security measures and procedures to deter and detect cheating attempts. Our test security measures are constantly evolving in response to emerging threats," he said. Some US colleges have dropped the ACT/SAT requirement for international students. Bob Schaeffer is the public education director of the nonprofit Fair Test, under the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He said US admissions offices that do not require ACT/SAT scores from international applicants rely on a mix of other data that varies from school to school. It can include "scores from the TOEFL and other English language competency exams, transcript reviews by independent verification services and interviews conducted either on site or using technologies such as Skype", Schaeffer said in an email. By one measure, season has changed; conditions could affect wheat crop Beijing sweltered in summerlike heat on Wednesday, with temperatures expected to remain high until Friday night. Residents in cities from at least eight northern provinces are also experiencing their first heat wave of the year, the national weather authority said on Wednesday. "They're the first really high temperatures to hit northern China this year," said Fang Chong, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Center. "The high temperatures will continue to rise and peak on Thursday." Temperatures from Wednesday to Friday will climb as high as 40 C in parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and reach 37 C in the vast regions in North China on Friday, she said. The center issued its first heat alert - a yellow warning, the third-highest - on Wednesday afternoon and advised residents to take precautions against heat stroke and fires, especially around midday. "It felt like I was walking in an oven in the strong sunshine. I had to wear sunscreen and use an umbrella, and I tried my best to stay indoors," said Wang Jing, who was working in Beijing on Wednesday. High-temperature days - referring to those that climb above 35 C - have arrived 20 days earlier than usual in Beijing, the center's data showed. Temperatures in the capital were higher than the average for the same period in recent years, but they're short of the record - 38.1 C on May 19, 2010. Though May is only half over, Beijing has entered summer, as determined by consecutive warm days. Tianjin, along with Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, and Zhengzhou, Henan province, were already into the summer, as they are ahead of the average of the past years, the national weather center said. "These regions, from Inner Mongolia to northern areas like Hebei and Henan, have been hit by high temperatures because of the west-to-east movement of a continental warm air mass, which brings sunny days with little rainfall," said He Lifu, another chief forecaster of the national weather authority. He added that it's not rare to see such dry and hot weather in northern China, as it happens every three to five years. Along with the discomfort caused by the heat, the ongoing dry and hot weather is bad for wheat growth. Seed weight will be reduced, which will affect the yield in some parts of Hebei and Henan provinces, the National Meteorological Center said. Village sees number of households below poverty line decrease rapidly Huaqiao, in Gansu province's mountainous Kangxian county, used to be a poverty-stricken village, with 126 of its 215 households living below the poverty line. "Back then there were no concrete roads in the village, and the paths became a mixture of mud and animal feces whenever it rained," said Yang Guide, who runs a grocery store in Huaqiao. To improve villagers' living conditions and help pull them out of poverty, local governments stepped up efforts to improve infrastructure in 2012, aiming to transform the area into a tourism destination. The measures included building cement roads, dredging the river, renovating houses and building garbage disposal facilities, according to Shi Wanlong, deputy Party chief of Changba township, which governs Huaqiao. With a pollution-free environment and well-preserved local culture, the village - now a 4A-level scenic site, as certified by Gansu - had attracted more than 50,000 visitors this year by early May, generating 9 million yuan ($1.3 million) in revenue, Shi said. Last year, per capita income of villagers in Huaqiao reached more than 8,000 yuan, compared with about 3,000 yuan before the village became a tourist attraction, while the number of households living below the poverty line fell to 41, he added. Huaqiao is a model example of the achievements made from the Chinese government's efforts to alleviate poverty in recent years. Between 2013 and last year, more than 55 million people - roughly the population of South Africa - were lifted out of poverty in China, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The central government allocated 66.7 billion yuan for poverty alleviation last year, an increase of more than 43 percent compared with 2015, resulting in 12.4 million people being lifted out of poverty, the office said. In addition, all of China's 128,000 poverty-stricken villages had officials appointed specifically to lead poverty alleviation efforts last year, it added. China's top leadership pledged in November 2015 that all those living in poverty - more than 70 million by the end of 2014 - would be lifted out of poverty by 2020. Governments at various levels would help about 50 million people through means such as industrial development, relocation, education and medical care relief, while all others - most of them having lost all or partial ability to undertake manual labor - will be covered by government subsidies, the central government said. In a meeting in February, President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts, including more precise measures, to ensure that poverty is eradicated in China by 2020, adding that the country would face tougher challenges the closer it comes to achieving the goal. He Hengjun, a township official in Kangxian county, who has been assigned to lead poverty alleviation efforts in the county's Zhongjie village by developing the production of local traditional Chinese medicine, said the number of households living below the poverty line - annual per capita income of 3,000 yuan - in the village fell by more than 70 last year. It is expected that the remaining six households will be removed from poverty by the end of the year, he said. A major challenge for poverty alleviation in Zhongjie is medical bills for the treatment of serious diseases, which can drag families back into poverty, He added. wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn Li Zongyin, Party chief of Guhe village. Li Zongyin, the 57-year-old Party chief of Guhe village in Anhui province, prepared cured pork and steamed buns, asking his wife, "Do you want anything else?" His wife, Wu Yunlan, was diagnosed with leukemia about two months ago and has been receiving treatment in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, for more than a month. To save money, Wu has been living in Wuxi, where her youngest daughter works. During Wu's time in Suzhou and Wuxi, Li has been able to spend just four days looking after her. Li's eldest daughter has being staying with her mother to take care of her, while leaving her two children in Li's care. "My wife persuaded me to stay in Guhe to take care of our grandchildren and the village, as there are now many businesses and poverty relief programs in the village," Li said. A 400,000-square-meter photovoltaic generator will be put into operation in the village by end of this month, and Li is required to represent the villagers in negotiations with construction workers to protect agricultural land from being damaged. "There are a lot of poverty relief policies to aid villagers, such as getting up to 30,000 yuan ($4,360) in funding to demolish an old house in critical conditions and build a new house, or being given 5,000 yuan after buying six ewes to help them breed their own," he said. "But they don't always understand the policies, so they require help from village cadres." After Wu fell sick, Li realized he was not able to take care of the village and his family. This month, his son-in-law, who is married to his youngest daughter, went to Wuxi to visit Wu. Busy with business dealings in the village, all Li could do to help was prepare some food to make his wife feel less homesick. He has been working as a village official for nearly 30 years, and has been Party chief of Guhe for more than 20 years. He attempted to quit his job three times in the past two years as he is aging and said the work makes him feel tired, but each time the Party chief of Lyuzhai township, which governs the village, has persuaded him to remain in his position. With a population of 5,086, Guhe is one of the four key villages for poverty relief efforts in Lyuzhai. Village cadres are not classed as civil servants in the country's political system, with township governments being the lowest level of government. However, administration of rural areas relies heavily on village cadres, especially the Party chief, who is elected by Communist Party of China members and is often the most reputable person among the villagers. "There are few other village cadres in Lyuzhai who have remained in their position for so many years," said Li, who receives a monthly salary of 1,200 yuan from the township government. "I owe nothing to the villagers or the government, but everything to my wife," he added. You are here: Home Flash Four men aged between 18 to 27 were arrested on charges connected to terrorism on Wednesday, London police authorities said. Officers from the Metropolitan's Counter Terrorism Command attended addresses in east London and arrested four men. The four were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, according to police. All four men have been detained and are at present in custody at a south London police station, the police said in an online statement. Officers are currently searching five residential addresses in east London and one business address, also in east London. These arrests were pre-planned as part of an ongoing investigation by the police, the statement said. Chinese police have expanded an emergency response system to help find missing children faster. The system is similar to the Amber Alert in the United States, which makes emergency broadcasts and releases information about missing children. The latest version of the Chinese system, which now links to seven more apps, including Tencent's news service and bicycle-sharing service OFO, was put into operation on Wednesday. "Fighting human trafficking is a common responsibility of society and I hope all walks of life will watch closely and help protect children," said Yang Dong, director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. The ministry officially launched the system one year ago to better spread information about missing children, including their photos and physical characteristics, to encourage the public to offer clues. The system, developed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, now connects with 21 apps from new media and mobile applications, the ministry said. Since its launch in May last year, notifications have been released on 1,317 missing children, of whom 1,274 were found, according to the ministry. "Most of these children had run away from home. Less than 5 percent were kidnapped," said Chen Shiqu, deputy director of the ministry's Criminal Investigation Bureau. Yang said the police are gradually establishing a long-term mechanism to fight human trafficking. "We have a zero-tolerance attitude toward traffickers and have taken effective measures, such as establishing a quick-response mechanism to search for missing children, and investigating children with suspicious identities," he said. Liu Zhenfei, chief officer in Alibaba's security department, said on Wednesday that the company will continue working on the system, and is preparing to expand it to search for missing elderly people. For the past 20 days or so, I have been staying in Guhe, a poverty-stricken village in northwestern Anhui province. To visit households, I have used various means of transportation, including cars, motorbikes and electric bicycles, but I have always needed to walk at least part of the journey, as the village roads remain really muddy for days after rainfall. One day, I came across an elderly villager pulling a handcart, which is a rare sight nowadays. I asked him whether he has an electric tricycle, which are popular in rural areas. "I usually ride my tricycle, but sometimes I have to use my handcart due to the poor condition of the roads," he told me. His answer reminded me of an old Chinese saying, "If you want to become rich, you must first build a road." During my time in Guhe, I have learned from the local cadres and villagers that the hardest thing for poverty-stricken areas to do is build roads. There are several governmental programs focused on building roads in rural areas. Some projects are fully funded by the government, while others also require villagers to raise funding. Some village officials told me that the last thing they want to do is take money from villagers. To decide how much money each household should pay, they have considered various factors, such as how many residents and how much land a household has. However, some villagers think the proportion each household contributes should be decided by how far their house will be from roads, or how often they use the roads, as many villagers have migrated to cities for work. It seems the only solution to such a dilemma that will keep everyone happy is that the government provides full funding for roads, although, as some local officials told me, this will create fiscal policy issues. A child receives EV 71 vaccine for hand, foot and mouth disease in Huaibei, Anhui province, in January.[Photo by Li Chunhui / China News Service] Hand, foot and mouth disease has killed about 450 children a year in China over the past decade and remains a threat, according to a senior public health specialist. Wang Huaqing, chief immunization scientist for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said more than 13 million cases were reported on the Chinese mainland between 2009 and 2015, mostly in children under 5. Since 2008, medical institutions have been required to report any instance of the infectious disease to health authorities. A national epidemic-surveillance network found more than 80 percent of the cases were among toddlers younger than 3. In addition, the cost of treatment strains family finances. The annual medical cost to treat the virus is estimated at 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in China, Wang said, citing regional studies. Given that the peak season starts in spring and runs to the end of summer, he urged parents to seek immunizations for their children. China has three domestically developed vaccines against enterovirus 71, widely known as EV 71, which is the dominant strain of the more than 20 viruses that can cause hand, foot and mouth disease. Zhao Kai, a vaccine expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said EV 71 has a good protection rate among recipients and was safe. In addition, to help protect children of other countries against the disease, China National Biotec Group, one of the three producers of EV 71 vaccine, "is seeking international approval and registration to make the vaccine available in foreign markets", he said. Starting in May, the disease has been found at kindergartens and medical institutions nationwide, according to media reports. "To avert severe cases and deaths, the health authority has beefed up routine epidemic surveillance and intervention at such sentinel facilities to ensure early detection and treatment," Zhao said. According to medical experts, children younger than 3 are at greatest risk. The infection usually starts with a light fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. In serious cases, conditions such as myocarditis, lung edema, aseptic meningitis and encephalomyelitis can develop. The virus spreads via the digestive and respiratory systems and through close contact. Hainan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hunan and Fujian provinces, as well as Beijing, take the brunt of the disease. Zhu Fengcai, deputy director of the Jiangsu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said there are no targeted treatments to eliminate the virus. "The current therapy is mainly alleviating the symptoms," he said. "The best approach is vaccination and prevention." Visually impaired students will be able to take the national college English test in Braille this summer, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday. The announcement came after a female college student with impaired vision sued the ministry for failing to help her take the exam. "Supported by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the College English Test 4 will be available in Braille for the blind and visually impaired starting in June," the ministry's National Education Examinations Authority said in a statement. "It will address the needs of blind and visually impaired test takers." People's Daily reported that a visually impaired senior student at Changchun University in Jilin province appealed twice to the local education authority - in December and March - to make the CET 4 test available in Braille. On both occasions the authority said it was unable to do so. The student sued the ministry in Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court on May 10, demanding that the ministry take reasonable measures to allow visually impaired test takers to take the CET 4. The court accepted the case on the same day. The CET 4 is a national standard test to assess students' English skills. In some schools, students have to pass the CET 4 or CET 6 to get a diploma. The certificate awarded to a student after passing the test adds weight to a resume when it comes time to look for a job. The ministry has previously made efforts to accommodate disabled students in national-level standard tests, such as the college admission exam. According to a regulation issued by the ministry and the China Disabled Persons' Federation in April, visually impaired students should be given access to Braille or large-font exam papers. Applicants with disabilities are required to make written requests for supportive treatment in advance. Parents receive licenses during a ceremony on May 17, 2017 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Chinanews.com] "When I asked my daughter to drink water in the past, I often did so in a commanding manner. But now, I would say 'daddy is tired too. Why don't we drink some water together?'" Ma Xiaomin says. "It's more effective to communicate with kids in this way." The father of a 3-year-old girl in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province is among the first to graduate from a program launched by the city's Shangcheng district to encourage better parenting. He and the other nine graduates received a "star parenting license" on Wednesday. According to Chinanews.com, the first graduates were all born in the 1970s or 1980s. The project, targeting parents of children under 15, establishes a life-long online learning platform for parents to get advice and exchange ideas with each other. At present, the platform offers more than 180 video courses by renowned experts, usually no longer than 10 minutes. "Now we have a lot of fragmented time and the short videos are very convenient," Ma Xiaomin said. As a father, he used to feel upset all the time for not knowing how to communicate with his child. Through this platform, he has learnt more about children and spent more quality time with his daughter. By following the platform's WeChat account, participants can choose courses according to the age of their children and get credits when they finish. After gaining 100 credits, they will receive a one-star license and their rating rises with credits. The top level parents will be rated as five-star parents. Besides online courses, there are also offline activities. A survey of parents before they start the program reveals misleading notions in child-rearing and deficiency in education among many parents in the city. For example, nearly 70 percent of the subjects believe scientific knowledge is the most important part of a child's education and only 15 percent give priority to moral training. "The culture of a household is the root of civilization inheritance in a society and the education of parents is the root for social stability," Kang Zhiyou, deputy director of the civilization office of the Hangzhou government, said. "The project helps to improve the qualities of parents, build a harmonious parent-child relationship and establish good family traditions," he said. The license is issued jointly by the district authorities of education, civil affairs, family planning and women's federation. In the future, the project will be expended to other regions to benefit more people and promote a life-long education system, district education director Xiang Haigang said. T he inaugural ceremony is held at the Tsinghua University on May 14, 2017. The inaugural ceremony of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals at the Tsinghua University (TUSDG), along with the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Sustainable Development Forum, was successfully held in the main building of the university on May 14, 2017. The aim of the event was to establish a leading platform to conduct interdisciplinary research and serve as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) oriented talent-training base, and collaborate with global partners to address the challenges in implementing the UN SDGs. The Institute for Sustainable Development Goals was the first interdisciplinary institute on SDGs in China. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a message of greetings to the TUSDG. "The establishment of the Tsinghua Institute shows, yet again, the commitment and ambition of the Chinese Government and people to act at all levels of society to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. [It is] the worlds shared plan to build a future of peace, prosperity and dignity for all on a healthy planet. I thank the Tsinghua Institute for its efforts in conducting research on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and in educating younger generations and professionals. However, there is still a long way to go in this vital work. Your new institute, working as an esteemed member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and with many parts of the UN system, as well as with the broader network of partners in the development and academic communities, will help to advance thinking and action for the SDGs. It will also serve as a bridge between China and the rest of the world, including the Global South, for mutual learning and exchange to drive SDG solutions and achievement." Wu Hongbo, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, also sent a message of greetings to the Institute. "I am deeply inspired by this initiative - not only because the new research institute is dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals but because it is also a testimony to the global vision and perspective of the Tsinghua University." He shared his expectations with the members of the TUSDG, stating they would need to be independent thinkers, to inspire and inform policymakers in their decision-making processes. They must also be the voice of reason, advising policymakers when plans fail to work, and be a reliable partner of policymakers, as well as champions who always adopt a systemic view and a long-term perspective, guiding future plans strategically and speaking the truth to power. In a greeting message from Yves Fluckiger, Rector of University of Geneva, he reviewed the collaborative cooperation between the Tsinghua University and the University of Geneva on education for the UN SDGs, especially with the very ambitious joint education programme around the SDGs, which ranges from workshops and summer schools to a jointly run Masters programme. He expressed heart-felt congratulations to the inauguration of the TUSDG. "Todays inauguration of the TUSDG is a major milestone, not just in our university-level collaboration for the Geneva Tsinghua Initiative, but in demonstrating the commitment China as a whole is making to achieve a more sustainable future." On the same day, President Qiu Yong of the Tsinghua University held talks with President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and signed a Letter of Intent on cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry of Industry. The move was to promote communication and cooperation with the industrial sector and universities of Indonesia, and jointly train innovative and entrepreneurial talents for Industry. Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of the National Development of the Republic of Indonesia, sent a message of greetings to the inauguration of the TUSDG. He expressed great efforts had been made by the Indonesia Government in the implementation of the SDGs. He emphasized Indonesia would further enhance the cooperation with the Tsinghua University in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Professor Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of the Tsinghua University, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Meng Xiaosi, Standing Committee Member of the CPPCC National Committee and Vice President, and member, of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), Mari Elka Pangestu, President of United in Diversity Foundation (UID) and the Former Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, Amb Sudrajat, the Former Ambassador of Indonesia to China, Professor Liu Yanhua, Counselor of the State Council, Director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change, Board member of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals, Tsinghua University and Former Vice Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology, Irene Khan, Director-General of International Development Law Organization and Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director of SDSN, Patrick Haverman, Deputy Country Director of the UNDP China, Cherie Nursalim, Vice Chairman of GITI Group and a board member of the TUSDG including He Kebin, Li Qiang, Zhang Yue, Yang Yongheng, Chen Wei, as well as more than 150 public administration practitioners, foreign diplomats in China, scholars, journalists, teachers and students from and outside Tsinghua University at the inaugural ceremony. During the ceremony, Yang Bin read the Tsinghua announcement of the establishment of the TUSDG and awarded a letter of appointment to Professor Jeffrey Sachs as the Chair of the International Academic Committee of the TUSDG. Yang Bin, Jeffrey Sachs, Liu Yanhua, Meng Xiaosi, Xue Lan, He Kebin, Cherie Nursalim and Chen Wei unveiled the plaque for the TUSDG. Before the inaugural ceremony of the TUSDG, the first meeting of the Board of Directors was held and hosted by Yang Bin. Charter, the overall planning and appointment of the Dean of the TUSDG, were approved in the meeting. The Belt and Road Initiative and Global Sustainable Development Forum was held after the inaugural ceremony. Keynote speeches were delivered by Jeffrey Sachs, Liu Yanhua and He Kebin respectively. The forum was hosted by Zhu Xufeng, the Associate Dean of SPPM and Executive Dean of the TUSDG. Nikhil Seth, the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and Bernard Debarbieux, Dean of Geneva School of Social Science (G3S), congratulated the establishment of TUSDG by submitting videos. Background: On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - adopted by world leaders, in September 2015, at a historic UN Summit - officially came into force. In the next fifteen years, with these new goals which universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring no one is left behind. China has launched its implementation process and included it into China's mid-to-long-term national development program, which well aligns China's domestic efforts with the international development agenda. President Xi Jinping made solemn commitments stating China stood ready to work with other parties to contribute to the 2030 Agenda at the Belt and Road Forum. Sticking to the mission of promoting the implementation of the SDGs in China, great efforts have been made by the Tsinghua University to establish the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of the Tsinghua University (TUSDG), which will serve as a UN SDGs oriented talent-training base, as well as a leading platform to conduct interdisciplinary research in this field. On January 16, 2017, President Xi Jinping of China and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, jointly witnessed the signing of the memorandum between the Tsinghua University and the University of Geneva on a comprehensive cooperation on SDGs. On April 26, the TUSDG was officially established by the Tsinghua University and housed in the School of Public Policy and Management (SPPM), Tsinghua University. Introduction of TUSDG: Housed in the School of Public Policy and Management at the Tsinghua University, the aim of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University (TUSDG) was to establish a leading platform to conduct interdisciplinary research and collaborate with global partners to address challenges in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By integrating theoretical learning and practical experience into the field, the TUSDG also strives to cultivate a new generation of talents who are dedicated to the implementation of SDGs and the improvement of global governance. In addition, the TUSDG will make every effort at creating a high-end open platform in the research field of SDGs, attracting world-class experts and scholars to be involved in teaching and research activities. Finally, the institute aspires to become a leading think tank in China on SDGs related policies, through cooperative partnerships with relevant government agencies. Leadership Chairman of Board of Directors: Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University; Director: Xue Lan, Co-chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Dean of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University; Chair of International Academic Committee: Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, and Director of Columbias Center for Sustainable Development and of the UN SDSN; Executive Director: Zhu Xufeng, Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University. Chinese police extradite fugitive from Greece BEIJING - A suspect was returned to China from Greece Thursday as a campaign to capture economic fugitives continues, according to the Ministry of Public Security. This was the second suspect that Chinese police have brought back from Greece since April 2015 during the "Fox Hunt" campaign, the ministry said. The suspect, surnamed Ma, fled with more than 20 million yuan (over 2.9 million U.S. dollars), which was allegedly illegally obtained from members of the public from 2004 to 2006, according to police. He fled overseas after the Municipal People's Procuratorate of Taiyuan approved his arrest on charges of illegal fundraising in June 2007. In October 2007, Ma was listed on an Interpol red notice. China requested the extradition of Ma via diplomatic channels after he was detained by Greek police. Greece approved the request in April, according to the ministry. The Fox Hunt campaign targets economic suspects and corrupt Party members and government officials who have fled overseas. Inauguration ceremony of Chinese Academy of PPP Governance with Central University of Finance and Economics is held at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing on May 18, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] An academy was established to utilize strength from the government, enterprises and scholars to offer intellectual support for the future development of public-private-partnership (PPP) in China. The inauguration ceremony of the Chinese Academy of PPP Governance with Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) was held during an International Symposium on the Good Practices of China's PPP at the university on Thursday. The academy was established by CUFE in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group. "PPP mode has increasingly been an important role in improving China's public governance ability. The academy is a beneficial attempt of using multiple strengths, including government policy support and academic advantages in a bid to give PPP more intellectual support," said Sun Xiaoxia, deputy head of the PPP leading group of the Ministry of Finance. Fu Shaolin, Chairman of University Council at CUFE, said: "The university's discipline advantage highly matches the integral requirement of PPP's top-level design and good practices." "I hope the academy will grow to be an open, international think tank with important academic influences. Then it can provide quality and effective intellectual support to our country's PPP reform and governance," said Fu. The Chinese government has made a series of policies regarding PPP since 2014. By the end of March, investments worth 14.6 trillion yuan ($2.1 trillion) in total were spent on 12,287 PPP projects in China. "The Belt and Road Initiative also provides good opportunities for the development of PPP, regional cooperation and connectivity," said Yang Shaolin, Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Administration Officer. "The successful experience of China's PPP can be helpful for other countries. World Bank would like to cooperate with other countries and international organizations to support and accelerate the Belt and Road Initiative and China's PPP," Yang said. BEIJING - President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter Thursday to the opening ceremony of the First China International Tea Expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, East China. Tea has become an important part of Chinese people's lives and a cherished symbol of Chinese culture, Xi said. From the ancient Silk Road and other trade routes that saw the flow of tea on horses and ships to today's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, "tea has transcended time and crossed borders to win the affection of people from across the world," he added. Xi hopes the expo will give exposure to Chinese tea culture and grow into an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world, according to the letter. The expo should promote the development of the world's tea industry and start a new chapter for the tea industry and tea culture, said the letter. Xi also conveyed his wishes for the success of the expo, which will be held from May 18 to 21. Johnny Depp greets fans at the global premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in Shanghai on May 11. [Photo provided To China Daily] Captain Jack Sparrow is back with the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be released in the United States, China and other parts of the world on May 26. Johnny Depp, who plays the antihero Jack Sparrow, arrived at the Shanghai Disney Resort on May 11, accompanied by other members of the cast, including Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom for the movie's global premiere in China. Many fans of the 14-year-old franchise waited outside the Walt Disney Theater at the resort to catch a glimpse of the stars. Dead Men Tell No Tales is a new story of the high seas infused with fantasy, humor and action. With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, came the dawn of Jerry Bruckheimer's most successful franchise, one of the most successful film series in the history of Disney Studios. The first film was followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). The four films have together made more than $3.7 billion so far. In the latest film, Jack Sparrow feels the heat when Captain Salazar, played by Bardem, and his ghost sailors escape Devil's Triangle in a bid to kill him and the other pirates. You are here: Home Flash China will hold the 40th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and 20th Committee for Environmental Protection meetings from May 22 to June 1, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday. Hua made the announcement at a daily press briefing, saying that Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a speech. The ATCM is an annual decision-making mechanism established under the the Antarctic Treaty. China acceded to the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and became a consultative member two years later. "This is the first time for China to hold the consultative meeting," said Hua. Some 400 delegates from 42 countries and 10 international organizations have already signed up for the meetings. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will hold a welcome banquet and give a speech, said Hua. The main focuses of the meetings will include the operation of the Antarctic Treaty system, climate change, tourism and Antarctic's special protection and management regions. "We will issue a press communique as the host country to present main achievements of the meetings," said Hua. "We will also hold a special meeting, issue 'China's Antarctic Undertaking' and sign MOUs with the United States, Russia and Germany," said Hua. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Students from Guangxi University of Science and Technology play with pupils in Tantou township, Liuzhou city, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in July. English, dancing, painting and calligraphy classes were held for the pupils during summer vacation. Tan Kaixing / for China Daily A FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENT angrily kicked the stools being used by two 4-year-olds because she could no longer tolerate the noise they were making in a restaurant in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province. The mother of one kid fought with the student "to protect her child". Beijing News comments: Although the two women apologized to each other and settled their dispute under the mediation of other people in the restaurant soon afterwards, the incident stirred heated discussion on social media. Many people supported the student, saying that such actions are the right way to deal with spoiled, noisy children in public places. This point of view goes too far, because it shows a lack of consideration for the children, who are less able to control their exuberance compared with adults. Although the supporters of the student may be willing to resort to angry methods to teach naughty children an etiquette lesson on how to behave in public, it is obvious their ire is really directed at the guardians and the way they spoil their children and do not exercise control over them. The guardians of spoiled children, usually their parents and grandparents, do have a lesson to learn from the public's reaction to the incident, as the public's response shows they do not have the same tolerance for "little treasures" that do not know how to behave themselves in public as their guardians do. The guardians need to bear in mind their responsibility not only includes ensuring the safety of their wards, but also disciplining them when necessary. It is ultimately not in the best interests of children to indulge their selfish behavior and spoil them when they are growing up. If parents do not prepare their children for the bigger world outside the family in a proper way at the right age, it will become difficult for the children to integrate into society in the future, where they have to follow some rules that they may have ignored at home under their parents' wings. SINCE THE OPENING-UP and reform policy was launched in 1978, hundreds of millions of people from rural areas left their hometowns to work in cities. Today most of the first-generation migrant workers are in their 60s or 70s. Beijing Youth Daily comments: Most of the first-generation migrant workers had poor education backgrounds and the jobs they took were mostly heavy physical labor, such as working on construction sites. It is fair to say that, having shouldered a large part of the physical labor in cities, they have contributed to the modernization of Chinese society. But the social security and welfare system was far from satisfactory when they were working, so they are commonly without a liveable pension. And their wages were so low that most of them hardly have any savings. Even after the authorities introduced a rural old pension system in 2009, according to which each rural senior citizen got only 60 yuan ($8.7) a month until this year when the pension was raised to 75 yuan a month. However, that is still too low for people to make a living. As the first-generation migrant workers reach their 60s, even 70s, how to support their lives in the rural regions poses a challenge to social stability. Worse, when their children, or the so-called second-and third-generation migrant workers, witness this, they will ask for higher pay and refrain from doing heavy labor. Some experts say that since there is a shortage of labor, they should not give up doing physical work. Such comments are rather absurd. In order to ease the labor shortage, it is necessary to raise wages and improve the social security system, rather than just asking people to act selflessly. China's economic development has been recognized by the whole world, and the realty prices have risen so fiercely that construction companies have got huge profits. Therefore, the State is able to improve social security and welfare for laborers, while the enterprises are able to raise their wages. The whole of society has already reached a consensus that migrant workers should enjoy life as urban people do. Only by improving the livelihoods of first-generation migrant workers, who devoted themselves to prosperity, can the shortage of workers be solved. [Cai Meng/China Daily] The Supreme People's Court issued a pilot guideline on the penalties for drunken driving recently, which stipulates that offenses that cause very little harm to society should not be considered crimes, and thus be exempt from the penalties set out for dangerous driving in the Criminal Law. It is reasonable to argue that all cases of drunken driving should not be treated the same, as the circumstances differ. That is why the new guideline grants judges the discretion to decide whether someone caught driving under the influence of alcohol should be held criminally responsible, taking into account how drunk the driver was, how recklessly he or she was driving and the extent of any damage they may have done. However, the high court's decision has sparked concern among many, as they interpret it as a softening of the harsh stance taken by the authorities since 2011, when drunken driving was made a crime under the amended Criminal Law and Road Traffic Safety Law. The rising number of people with a driver's license, combined with a culture that still sees drinking as the lubricant for human relations, fuels fears that a relaxing of that tougher line will reverse the progress that has been made in reducing the number of accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol. The reduced tolerance for such behavior was widely welcomed by many among the public, who saw it as the only effective way to check some drivers' reckless behavior and make roads safer. And thanks to the stepped-up clampdown, cases involving drunken driving reportedly dropped 34 percent from 2011 to 2016, and more and more drivers have embraced the maxim "don't drink and drive". The guideline does not mean a more relaxed attitude toward drunken drivingthose caught driving under the influence will still receive penaltiesbut rather a more targeted approach aimed at curbing dangerous driving as a result of alcohol consumption. For despite the progress that has been made, China is still the country with the highest number of road traffic deaths in the world. It is not just drunken driving that is responsible for this unwelcome distinction, but also drivers' disregard for the traffic rules. With a short history of private car ownership, many Chinese are yet to cultivate safe driving habits, a task that is impossible to accomplish without strict implementation of the traffic rules. This calls for an all out effort to enhance enforcement of all the road safety rules. Shaesta Waiz, Afghanistan's first female certified civilian pilot, arrives in Montreal, Canada, on Monday on the third leg of her round-the-world solo flight.Catherine Legault / Agence Francepresse MONTREAL, Canada - An Afghan pilot hoping to become the youngest woman in history to complete a solo round-the-world flight was preparing on Monday to start the Transatlantic leg of her journey. Shaesta Waiz, 29, was born in a refugee camp at the end of the war in Afghanistan before immigrating with her family to the United States in 1987. There, she discovered a passion for flying and obtained her pilot's license - becoming the youngest certified civilian female pilot from Afghanistan. Now she wants to share that sense of freedom of soaring high above ground with other young women. "When I found my passion - flying - that's when I started to challenge myself. I started to read. I started to do better in maths. I started to look at the world differently, the sky differently," Waiz said as she made a stopover in Montreal, Canada. "What's important is finding your passion and going after it." Waiz took off from Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday and has mapped out a route that will take her aboard her Beechcraft Bonanza A36 aircraft approximately 25,800 kilometers to more than 18 countries, including Spain, Egypt, India, Singapore and Australia, before ending the trip back in Florida in August. During her 30 stopovers, the engineering graduate and the International Civil Aviation Organization, which is backing her trip, will host events to try to get schoolchildren interested in science - notably aeronautics. According to ICAO figures, less than 5 percent of commercial pilots are women. "If you really break it down into science, technology, engineering and math and explore what those career fields offer, it's very exciting," Waiz said. "We hope to present to the young kids at these events what those careers are ... and hopefully get them to pursue these careers that are in need of more talent." On the website of her nonprofit Dreams Soar, she said: "Every time I open the door of an aircraft, I ask myself, 'How did a girl with my background become so lucky?' The truth is, anyone can be me." Agence France-presse US President Donald Trump (R) reaches to greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a joint news conference at the White House in Washington, US, February 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] JERUSALEM - Ahead of a much-anticipated visit by the US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in the middle of two conflicting interests. With his political survival at stake, Netanyahu must also find a way to keep his American ally satisfied. Just days before Trump's visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, anticipation is replaced by tension. In the run-up to the visit of US President Trump to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, it seems tensions are running higher than expected. Days before his arrival, a diplomatic row between the two countries arose after an American official was quoted as questioning Israel's claim to one of Judaism's holy sites in Jerusalem. While the two countries will probably be able to overcome this disagreement, the spat highlighted the growing gap between the expectations the Israeli government has of Trump and how the relationship will actually play out. Gideon Meir, a former senior Israeli diplomat, believes Israel needs to realize Trump is no longer a candidate on the campaign trail but an American president with a different perspective. "Israel has to come back to reality and to deal with President Trump, the president who sits in the Oval Office, not in the Trump Tower in New York -- it's different," said Meir. Throughout his campaign, Trump said he would move the US embassy to Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as part of their future state. But as he settled into the White House, he becomes less decisive on the matter. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Mideast War. While it considers the united city it's capital, the annexation has never been recognized by the international community. Moving the US embassy to the city would be a highly controversial move that may result in an upsurge in violence in the region. Netanyahu heads a right-wing coalition with partners that are more hard-line than him. A senior partner, leader of the Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, has been vocal against a Palestinian state. His party has demanded Netanyahu make similar statements in front of Trump. A combination photo shows US President Donald Trump (L) in the House of Representatives in Washington, US, on February 28, 2017 and FBI Director James Comey in Washington US on July 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday pushed back against a new wave of media allegations that US President Donald Trump might have tried to obstruct justice by asking then FBI director James Comey to end a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. "I hope you can let this go," Trump told Comey at the time, according to a New York Times report, quoting two people who read the memo Comey wrote shortly after meeting with Trump in the Oval Office one day after Flynn resigned over a Russia-related scandal in February. Comey, who was fired by Trump last week, detailed his conversation with the president in the memo immediately after the meeting, said the report. Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Tuesday that he is requesting the FBI to submit all the files and recordings involving any communications between Comey and Trump. However, the White House quickly denied the report, claiming it is "not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr Comey". "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," the White House said in a statement. "The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations," it said. Despite the denial, the latest allegation immediately feeds fresh fuel to the flames that have been grilling the White House since Trump's firing of Comey last week, distracting his agenda while plunging his administration into a fast accumulating credibility crisis. On Monday, it was alleged that Trump relayed highly classified information from a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria during his meeting with senior Russian officials last week. 'Absolute right' Trump tweeted that he has "the absolute right" to share certain information with Russia but also didn't specifically say whether he spilled highly classified information to Russian officials. Indeed, as US president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that such disclosures broke the law. However, a trust crisis is looming large if the Trump can't control damage soon. The White House is in a "downward spiral" and needs to do something to get "under control", Republican Senator Bob Corker has said. "On a day when we thought things couldn't get any worse, they have," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. "The country is being tested in unprecedented ways." Though Republican lawmakers have so far generally backed Trump, a new mood was evident on Capitol Hill, a Politico report commented. Also on Tuesday, a new poll showed that 48 percent of US voters said they would support Trump's impeachment, while only 41 percent would oppose such charges. Xinhua Workers search for bone fragments from the wreckage of the salvaged ferry Sewol at a port in Mokpo, South Korea, on Wednesday. Lee Sanghack / Yonhap Via Associated Press SEOUL - DNA testing on a bone found in waters where a sunken ferry was recently raised has identified one of the nine missing passengers from the 2014 disaster that killed more than 300 people, South Korean officials said on Wednesday. Testing confirmed that the bone found on May 5 was from the remains of teacher Koh Chang-seok, said the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Most of the victims were students on a high school trip. A total of 304 people died when the ferry Sewol sank on April 16, 2014, touching off an outpouring of national grief and soul searching in the country about long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. Public outrage over what was widely seen as a botched rescue effort by the government contributed to the ouster of former president Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office and arrested in March over broad corruption charges. Divers recovered 295 bodies from the ship's wreckage and nearby seas before the government stopped underwater searches after seven months. Finding the remains of the missing victims would bring a measure of closure to one of South Korea's deadliest disasters. In March, salvage workers completed a herculean effort to raise the 6,800-ton ferry from waters off the country's southwest coast and tow it to port in Mokpo, where investigators continue to search the wreckage. In recent days, they reported the discovery of suspected human bones that they put up for DNA testing. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Koh's bone was not found in the wreckage, but by divers who were searching waters where the ferry was raised from. Koh's wife, Yoo Baek-hyeong, emotionally reacted in March after the ferry was raised and put on a transport vessel for what became a weeklong journey to Mokpo. "He was in the dark and frightening deep seas for three years, but he's now going to Mokpo," Yoo said then. "I want to find even just a piece of his hair. He would have been wearing his wedding ring. ... I want to find all of those things." The ferry's captain survived and is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of committing homicide through "willful negligence" because he fled the ship without issuing an evacuation order. Accusations that Park was out of contact for several hours on the day of the sinking were included in the impeachment bill lawmakers passed in December. Ap - Xinhua Japan's Princess Mako arrives before a meeting with Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes at the presidential residence in Asuncion, Paraguay September 8, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] It remains a controversial topic in Japan to revise the males-only succession law TOKYO - Japanese Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, will wed a former college classmate, Japanese media reported, heating up debate on the ever-shrinking royal family since she must become a commoner after marriage. Japan's Cabinet is expected to approve a bill on Friday to allow Akihito, 83, to step down, the first abdication by a Japanese emperor in nearly two centuries, after he said in August that he feared age would make it hard to fulfill his duties. But the legislation will make no reference to the controversial topics of whether to revise a males-only succession law or to allow women to stay in the imperial family after marriage, a move conservatives fear would be a first step to letting females inherit the throne. Asked about the problem of the shortage in royals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Wednesday: "There is no change in our view to proceed with consideration of steps to ensure stable imperial succession." The 25-year-old Mako's unofficial fiance, Kei Komuro, appeared before media cameras on Wednesday outside the Tokyo law office where he works, a day after the news of their engagement broke. The Imperial Household Agency declined to comment. "Now is not the time for me to comment, but I want to speak at the right time," Komuro, 25, repeatedly told reporters. Komuro, who media said once served as a "Prince of the Sea" to promote tourism in a locality near Tokyo, did say he'd had a brief phone conversation with Mako on Tuesday. There are only four heirs to the throne - Akihito's two middle-aged sons, whose wives are in their early 50s, Akihito's octogenarian brother, and Prince Hisahito, the 10-year-old son of Akihito's younger son. Four grandchildren Akihito has only four grandchildren, the other three of whom are female - Mako, her younger sister, Kako, and Crown Prince Naruhito's daughter, Aiko. The shrinking royal population - which mirrors the broader trend of Japanese society - has raised concerns that the youngest prince may also be the last. "Under the present system, there is the risk that Hisahito will be the only one left in the imperial family," Keio University Professor Hidehiko Kasahara was quoted by media as telling an experts panel that studied the abdication issue. Mako, who like her groom-to-be graduated from International Christian University, has a master's degree from the University of Leicester and has been working as a researcher at a museum. Reuters Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.Kevin Lamarque / Reuters WASHINGTON - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump on Tuesday his country would not accept Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region but stopped short of directly criticizing a US decision to arm them. At a White House meeting, Trump lauded Erdogan as an important ally in the "fight against terrorism". "We've had a great relationship and we will make it even better," Trump said in their joint appearance. Erdogan said his visit would "mark a historical turn of tide" and hailed "outstanding relations" between the nations. It was an especially positive tone considering the tensions over Washington's decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that Ankara regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. US officials on May 9 disclosed Trump's approval of plans to supply the YPG as it advances toward the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. Pivotal alliance Turkey has been a partner in the US-led coalition against IS forces. The US alliance with Turkey has proved pivotal in the battle against the IS group in Syria, providing the coalition with access to Turkey's Incirlik air base to wage strikes against the militants. Erdogan had pledged to use the White House meeting to try to get Trump to change course on the YPG. Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which has fought an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and Europe. "We support Turkey in the ... fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the PKK, and ensure they have no safe quarter, the terror groups," Trump said, using an acronym for the IS group. "We also appreciate Turkey's leadership in seeking an end to the horrific killing in Syria." The YPG, or People's Protection Units, effectively serves as the military of the autonomous Kurdish-led regions that emerged in northern Syria with the retreat of state authority in 2011 that accompanied the outbreak of civil war. The US sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against IS extremists. Erdogan's visit was further complicated by Turkey's calls for the US to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Erdogan blames Gulen supporters for an attempted coup last year. Gulen has denied involvement. Reuters ATHENS - Greek workers walked off the job on Wednesday in an anti-austerity general strike, disrupting public and private sector services across the country. Workers' unions called the strike to protest new belt-tightening measures to be imposed beyond the end of Greece's third bailout next year. The left-led coalition government agreed to the reforms as part of a deal with the country's international creditors to release funds from its next bailout installment. Without the cash, Greece would once more struggle to meet a spike in debt repayments due this summer. Public hospitals were functioning with emergency staff only, while public transport was disrupted. Air traffic controllers were holding a four-hour work stoppage in the middle of the day, leading to the rescheduling or cancellation of more than 150 flights. Seamen were also participating with a four-day strike that began on Tuesday, leaving ferries servicing the Greek islands and mainland tied up in port until Friday night. Demonstrations were planned in Athens later on Wednesday, although heavy rainfall was expected to affect attendance. "No to the new looting of salaries and pensions," civil servants union ADEDY said. In parliament, lawmakers were debating the measures ahead of a vote scheduled for midnight on Thursday. The reforms will include additional pension cuts in 2019 and higher income tax from 2020. Fourth bailout Unions and the opposition have compared the measures to those of a fourth bailout, but without the corresponding relief of funds from international creditors. The government, which originally came to power in 2015 promising to repeal previous bailout austerity measures, has vehemently rejected the accusation, emphasizing that it will also take other measures to relieve poverty. Struggling through a deep financial crisis, Greece is currently in its third international bailout, which is due to end in mid-2018. It has been dependent on rescue loans from its creditors, mainly other European countries that use the euro, and the International Monetary Fund since its first bailout in 2010. In return for the funds, successive governments have had to impose repeated waves of reforms, which have included steep tax hikes and salary and pension cuts. While the country's finances have improved under the bailouts and the strict supervision they imposed, the belt-tightening has led to spiraling poverty and unemployment rates. The jobless rate, while down from highs of above 27 percent, hovers at around 23 percent. Ap - Reuters Journalists and media workers march in Athens during their strike on Tuesday. A nationwide strike disrupted services across the country on Wednesday.Louisa Gouliamaki / Agence Francepresse (China Daily 05/18/2017 page12) Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, gestures to the audience during the launch of the party's manifesto in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. [Photo/VCG] LONDON - Britain's Liberal Democrat Party, trailing significantly behind Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour party, vowed on Wednesday to hold a second referendum on a final Brexit deal if it wins next month's election. Launching his party's proposals for the June 8 election, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said they would give Britons a say on the divorce deal struck with the European Union after two years of talks, saying a bad agreement would wreck Britain's future. "You should have your say on the Brexit deal in a referendum," Farron said. "And if you don't like the deal you should be able to reject it and choose to remain in Europe." May has vowed to press ahead with Brexit, saying she was prepared to take Britain out of the EU even if no deal with the bloc could be struck, while Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn has said the issue has been settled. The Lib Dems are hopeful that their pro-EU stance will attract support from the 48 percent of Britons who backed remaining in the bloc in last year's referendum, although opinion polls suggest the message has not won over many people from the two major parties who opposed Brexit. Surveys put support for the Liberal Democrats on about 10 percent, some way behind May's Conservative Party which polls indicate is attracting support from more than 45 percent of Britons with Labour on about 30 percent. Lib Dem support nationally has collapsed since the 2010 election when the party won 23 percent of the vote, propelling it into a coalition government with former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. But five years later voters abandoned the party as it bore the brunt of public anger over unpopular austerity measures and the Lib Dems lost all but eight of the 57 seats they held in the 650-seat parliament. Among the other major policies advocated by the Lib Dems are an extra 1 pence on income tax rates to raise 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion) to spend on the state-run National Health Service and a plan for a 100 billion pound infrastructure investment to help build 300,000 homes a year and improve road and rail links. ($1 = 0.7729 pounds) Reuters A new technology has appeared to help China - and everyone - with their water pollution problems. It comes courtesy of Beijing-born MIT post-doc Xiao Su, his mentor Professor T. Alan Hatton and team, who just won the 2016 MIT Water Innovation Prize, as well as last year's Veraqua Prize, an award focused specifically on water purification methods for pollutants in China. China faces a diverse range of pollution, Su said in an email to China Daily: Industrial, urban wastewater and agricultural, chemical pollutants such as organics and heavy metals are a major problem, with pharmaceuticals, dyes and personal products present in urban sources or pesticides and herbicides in rural areas. The big challenge right now, Su explained, is the inefficiency of existing technologies to remove really toxic, yet often diluted contaminants (micropollutants), present at low parts-per-million or -billion levels. Su and Hatton describe their new approach in the current issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science. Their system uses a novel electrochemical process to selectively remove organic contaminants such as pesticides, chemical waste and pharmaceuticals, even when they are present in small - yet still dangerous - concentrations. The current methods of sifting out such trace amounts of toxins include filtering the water through a membrane, which is expensive and not 100 percent effective, or electrodialysis, which requires high voltages that often produce unwanted side reactions, Su said. As Hatton put it, "In our case, you can just flip a switch." In their system, the water flows between chemically treated surfaces that act as positive and negative electrodes and undergo reactions to become positively or negatively charged and can be "tuned" to bind with a specific pollutant. The team used ibuprofen and pesticides to demonstrate their model and removed molecules at parts-per-million concentrations. Su said their system "can have a key impact in addressing these pollution problems in China, as we provide the necessary selectivity to remove these toxic species across a range of concentrations, even very small". Su claims their technologies can "achieve dramatically higher, over 100 times more selective, performances". Using electrochemistry makes the system more sustainable and environmentally friendly, as there is no need for chemical additives or tons of solvents to reboot the operation. The process can be scaled from home to community. "For home filtration, our system is perfect for removing any trace contaminants coming from tap water," Su said. "We can also be deployed in small communities of 500-1,000 people, and integrate our systems with solar panels. This way, we can reach remote and rural areas and also ameliorate the cost of electricity," he said. From a practical point of view, Su said they are working prototypes and exploring pathways to commercialization. "Our timeline is for the first prototypes to be developed by the end of this year, latest mid next-year, and the scale-up process to hopefully lead to a competitive product line by the end of 2018," Su said. In additional to all the good things the technology can do for the environment, it also shows promise for two other uses - upstream water purification to help recover valuable species and selectively "mining" or "recovering high-value compounds in a chemical or pharmaceutical production plant, where they might otherwise be wasted," Su said. The researchers have applied for a patent on the new process. "We definitely want to implement this in the real world," Hatton said in a press release. "We expect our system, ,with some further scale-up development, to make a real difference in helping China conquer their challenges, as an energy efficient, high-performance alternative to conventional pressure or thermally based methods," Su said. Contact the writer at chrisdavis@chinadailyusa.com Canada and China's partnership on research and innovation is yielding some positive results. For example, a University of Waterloo spinoff company, StarPower ON Systems, is collaborating with Guangdong Hydrogen Energy Science and Technology to accelerate the research and commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell technologies in transportation and energy storage. And children with cancer will get better care thanks to a partnership between Toronto's SickKids Hospital and Shenzhen Children's Hospital. "These partnerships with China are a catalyst for new discoveries in Ontario," Reza Moridi, Ontario minister of research, innovation and science, said at the Ontario-China Research and Innovation Collaboration Forum on Monday in Toronto. More than 80 Ontario-China partnerships have been developed and have generated investment worth more than $300 million in research and commercialization. When the minister visited China last month during a mission to strengthen science and technology collaborations between Ontario and China, he said he was deeply impressed by the scale and speed of innovation taking place there. "I also met with 10 leading Chinese investors in Ontario during the mission," said Moridi. "All of them mentioned to me the key reason why they chose Ontario is because Ontario offers an excellent innovation ecosystem and very favourable R&D tax credits." China has become Canada's largest source of international students, second-largest trading partner, third-largest tourism market and sixth-largest source of foreign direct investment. The two sides have signed a science and technology cooperation agreement in such areas as clean technology and life science. He Wei, Chinese consul general in Toronto, said that with abundant natural resources and advanced scientific capacities, Canada's innovative concept of development has always been a good example for China to follow. "With a similar size yet a population 40 times that of Canada, China is still a developing country that is trying very hard to handle the relationship between economic growth and environmental protection," he said to a group of Ontario participants and Chinese delegates at the forum. "As China has determined to pursue a sustainable development through scientific innovation, there are a lot of potentials for the two countries to tap, especially in these areas where Canada enjoys advantages, soil and water treatment for example." In recent years, China attached great importance to the central role innovation plays in driving economic growth. China's investment in research and development (R&D) reached around $223 billion in 2016, accounting for 2.1 percent of GDP. renali@chinadailyusa.com French President Emmanuel Macron reacts after a meeting and family photo with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission at the Elysee Place in Paris, France May 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] PARIS - Support for French President Emmanuel Macron's new centrist party is growing before legislative elections next month, a poll found on Thursday, raising the chances that he will be able to win parliamentary backing for his reform plans. A Harris Interactive poll found Macron's Republic on the Move party, together with allies, set to win the largest share of the vote in the first round of the National Assembly elections on June 11. Thirty-two percent of 4,600 registered voters questioned planned to vote for Macron's party, it said. That was up three points from a similar poll on May 11 and up six points from a poll on May 7, the day that Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen to become French president. Macron, 39, who smashed the traditional left-right grip on French politics to win the presidency, gave ministerial jobs to conservatives, socialists and political newcomers on Wednesday, appointing an unprecedented all-stripes cabinet to bridge divides and broaden his support. In a morning radio interview, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe dismissed a suggestion that the mixed government was an electoral gimmick, saying 'progress' was its unifying theme. "Clearly it is a government built to last," he told France Inter. "As the legislatives approach, this (government) is of course essential, and will determine everything that happens afterwards. But the government is here to govern. It is here to prepare the recovery, it is here to create something, it is here to put projects in place." The new cabinet will meet for the first time on Thursday. BOSTON Black students at Harvard University are organizing a graduation ceremony of their own this year to recognize the achievements of black students and faculty members some say have been overlooked. More than 700 students and guests are registered to attend Harvard's Black Commencement, which will take place two days before the school's traditional graduation events. It isn't meant to replace the existing ceremony, student organizers say, but rather to add something that was missing. "We really wanted an opportunity to give voice to the voiceless at Harvard," said Michael Huggins, president of the Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance, a campus group that is planning the ceremony. "So many students identify with the African diaspora but don't necessarily feel welcome as part of the larger community, and they don't feel like their stories are being shared."Harvard joins a growing number of universities that have added graduation events for students of different ethnicities. Some have offered black commencement ceremonies for years, including Stanford University, Marshall University and the University of Washington. Some have added them more recently, and are also adding events for a variety of cultural groups. Black undergraduates at Harvard have held similar graduation events in the past, but student organizers say the new ceremony is the first that's open to students across the university. The May 23 event at Harvard will feature four student speakers discussing the hurdles they faced on the way to graduation. Every student will receive a stole made of traditional African kente cloth, meant to symbolize their shared heritage and to be worn with their cap and gown at the university's graduation. Students have raised $35,000 for the event, mostly from schools within the university. Organizers say some university deans and professors have agreed to attend. A Harvard spokesman declined to comment. "This event is truly open for everyone," said Huggins, who is graduating with a master's in public policy this month. "We really want this to be an open affair where people can learn about some experiences that often go unnoticed."Students at Harvard also started an annual Latino graduation ceremony in 2015, and the school hosts a separate event for LGBT students, known as a "lavender graduation."Many other colleges have been adding similar events in recent years. The University of Delaware held its first LGBT ceremony this year, joining dozens of others across the country. Along with its traditional commencement, Virginia Commonwealth University added new ceremonies for black students, Latinos and military veterans last year. "They're small affairs, but they're meaningful," said Michael Porter, a spokesman for Virginia Commonwealth University. "It's really a social event, and one more time to get together as you wind down the college career."Cultural graduation events are typically started by students, experts say, and often by those who feel marginalized on their campuses. They can be particularly important for black students, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate from college, said M. Evelyn Fields, president of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education. "When you're a little speck of pepper in a sea of salt, you can get lost," said Fields, who is also a professor of early childhood education at South Carolina State University. "They don't want to just be lost in the sea. They want the recognition that they believe they deserve, for the work that they've done."Black students at Harvard represent 5 percent of the overall student body, compared with whites, who make up 43 percent, according to federal education data. Campus tensions at the Ivy League school have been heightened over the past two years after a series of racially charged episodes. Harvard police called it a hate crime when framed portraits of several black law professors were defaced in 2015. No suspect was found. Months later, the law school agreed to abandon its official coat of arms after student activists protested the symbol's ties to an 18th-centry slave owner. Organizers of the Black Commencement say it's partly meant to highlight racial disparities on campus. But ultimately it's a celebration of achievement, said Jillian Simons, a law student and president-elect of the Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance. "We want to acknowledge how far we've come," Simons said. "We want to say that there is a time to be jubilant and to acknowledge something that is positive instead of something that is causing heartache." AP Aung San Suu Kyi, left, poses with the certificate of "Aung San Suu Kyi Rose" in Kunming city, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, on May 17, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] On May 17, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was presented with a new rose hybrid that was named in her honor in Kunming, China. Its official name is "Aung San Suu Kyi Rose". "Aung San Suu Kyi Rose" is a hybrid from two other traditional Chinese rose varieties. The experts at the Institute of Flowers in Yunnan Agricultural Sciences Academy started working on this new rose variety in April 2012. Four years later, they finally found success. During the ceremony, the Yunnan government issued the certificate to Aung San Suu Kyi. Then Aung San Suu Kyi watered the rose and put the "Aung San Suu Kyi Rose" label on the flowerpot. "The rose's color is very beautiful, so exquisite. And it's good for headwear I think," she said. "I will plant this rose in my home yard and let the rose witness the friendship between Myanmar and China." "Aung San Suu Kyi Rose" is the embodiment of love, friendship, encouragement and devotion. For Burmese, Aung San Suu Kyi is also treated like a Burmese rose. When she started her political career, she had always been biting and sarcastic, and people called her a rose with thorns. Now she always wears a flower in her hair to make herself more elegant and dignified. Aung San Suu Kyi visited Yunnan after she attended the Belt and Road Forum. Multiple injuries on the spot. [Calvin Zhou / China Daily] A speeding car crashed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in New York City's busy Times Square on Thursday, causing multiple injuries, killing one person and injuring a dozen, according to witnesses, and police said the incident did not appear to be an act of terrorism. The New York Police Department closed off the area. The city's fire department said there were 13 casualties. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them tourists from around the world, pass daily through the bustling commercial area, the heart of the Broadway theater district. The New York Police Department closed off the area. [Calvin Zhou / China Daily] A Reuters witness said at least 10 people were being treated for injuries on the ground after the collision at the Midtown Manhattan tourist site. Television footage showed police officers restraining a man in a dark T-shirt and placing him in a police car. Cheryl Howard and her daughter were out shopping when the car sped down the sidewalk. "I'm so freaked out!" the daughter said. "They mowed everyone down." Reutres An exhibition in London is bringing a taste of the beauty and history of China's ancient Silk Road to the United Kingdom. Sacred Art of the Silk Road, Dunhuang's Buddhist Cave Temples opened on Tuesday and runs until June 15 at the Prince's School of Traditional Art. The exhibition features 24 replica images and two replica caves and boasts illustrated scenes from Buddhist scriptures, sculptures of deities, astronomical zodiacs, and secular elements that all tell the tale of Dunhuang's fascinating history, the lifestyle of its people, the dancing and music. The ancient Silk Road linked China, Central Asia, India and Europe through a network of caravan routes that flourished with the exchange of goods, art, culture, and religion. The history of the ancient Silk Road comes alive in the exhibition of reproductions of murals from the caves, which were an important oasis along the route. The 9.7 kilometer network of caves on the edge of the Gobi Desert are decorated with art that is many centuries old. "Dunhuang's grandeur is truly a wealth for mankind," said Lou Jie, director of the exhibition center at the Dunhuang Research Academy, which is co-hosting the exhibition along with the Prince's School of Traditional Art and the Hong Kong-based Dunhuang Culture Promotion Foundation. "It's a fascinating recording of stories along the ancient Silk Road which provides inspiration for increasingly close cultural exchanges in our world today." The academy was established in 1944 to preserve, document and study the caves. It has been hosting exhibitions abroad since the 1950s, and has taken the caves' story to Poland, the Czech Republic, Japan, France, the United States, Turkey, Thailand and Japan, among other countries. This exhibition represents Dunhuang's first appearance in the UK. Alongside the exhibition, there will be a series of painting lessons at the school. Khaled Azzam, director of the Prince's School of Traditional Art, said the exhibition will give visitors a rare opportunity to see the works up close," just as pilgrims, traders and worshippers would have when they stopped at this crucial junction on the ancient Silk Road". Starting about AD 400, Dunhuang gradually grew into a thriving crossroads of art, culture, trade and ideas. But, after 1400, as trade turned to maritime routes, the Silk Road fell out of use and Dunhuang was overtaken by the desert. The replica was painted over four years by Lou herself. So far, the academy's team of around 30 artists have made more than 2,400 replicas of original Dunhuang cave murals, but that is a drop in the ocean considering 735 caves remain with around 45,000 square meters of murals and 2,000 painted sculptures inside. cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com (China Daily 05/18/2017 page3) (Photo : Department of Defense) Australia's Warship Building Program. Advertisement Australia will spend upwards of $965 million to either refurbish or build new infrastructure at the naval shipyards tasked with building its next generation warships, which should be more than able to cope with future threats from China. Under the government's 2016 White Paper on Defense, Australia plans to build about $66.7 billion worth of submarines, frigates and patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) over the next 35 years. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Work on naval shipbuilding infrastructure will start this year at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia. The Henderson Maritime Precinct in Western Australia will also be upgraded. Australia's Department of Defense announced the shipbuilding boost earlier this week as part of the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. This plan outlines a strategy to support what's being called a "continuous build" program over the coming decades. It outlines the government's strategies to support what it says are "four key enablers" to support the continuous build program: enhancing shipbuilding infrastructure; developing the workforce; developing a competitive local industrial base and a promoting a "national collaborative approach." The shipbuilding plan also calls for coordination between various levels of government, industrial sectors, academia, research institutes and professional associations. "We are embarking on a great national endeavor," said the Defense Department in a statement. "We will transform our naval shipbuilding and sustainment industry here in Australia, with Australian workers, in Australian shipyards, using Australian resources. The Defense Department said in total, the administration of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will invest more than $965 million to modernize construction shipyards in South Australia and Western Australia. Included in the work will be new cranes and heavy-lift transportation capability; building welding stations and modernizing workshops and buildings. Australia's Naval Shipbuilding College will begin work with existing education centers to expand and develop the pool of available skilled workers for the expanding naval industry. Advertisement TagsAustralia, naval shipyards, 2016 White Paper on Defense, Royal Australian Navy, department of defense, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Friends, not allies. Advertisement China's espionage operations against Australia conducted by Chinese nationals living in Australia are extensive and have risen significantly, asserted outgoing Defense Secretary Dennis Richardson. Richardson said the Chinese government is actively involved in spying activities directed at Australia and Chinese communities in Australia. He said spies from mainland China are focusing their efforts at co-opting Chinese communities in Australia and turning the local Mandarin language press into pro-China propaganda outlets. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "It is no secret that China is very active in intelligence activities directed against us. It is more than cyber," said Richardson "Likewise, the Chinese government keeps a watchful eye inside Australian Chinese communities and effectively controls some Chinese language media in Australia." He said this interference was unreasonable. "They do engage in some activities in their communities which I think would be considered unreasonable by most Australians." He pointed out that Australia and China are not allies, but they are friends. "I think Australia's relationship with China and the United States will continue to be able to be summarized simply -- friends with both, allies with one (the United States)," said Richardson. The lease in 2015 of a commercial and military port in the northern city of Darwin to a Chinese firm with close ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's armed forces, ignited a firestorm over the security implications. Australia later blocked several large infrastructure bids made by Chinese companies after this episode. Richardson said Chinese spying was a major factor in the Australian government's decision-making. In a sign it still holds China in suspicion, Australia recently appointed David Irvine, former director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), as chairman of its Foreign Investment Review Board that advises the government on offshore transactions. ASIO, Australia's equivalent of the U.S. FBI, is the national security service responsible for the protection of Australia and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defense system and terrorism. Irvine's appointment came a few months after Australia created an infrastructure body that will check whether foreign-led bids for key assets, including power grids and ports, pose any national security risks. Advertisement Tagschina, espionage operations, Australia, Dennis Richardson, Australian Security Intelligence Organization, David Irvine In 2015, Canada legalized physician-assisted suicide. We have talked about the Canadian decision several times on BreakPoint. In March, in fact, we talked about how many Canadian doctors who had originally indicated a willingness to be the physician in physician-assisted suicide were having second thoughts. Now, theres a campaign to extend what Canada calls physician assistance in dying beyond the terminally ill to include the mentally ill. This comes as no surprise to those who have followed the trajectory of Belgian and Dutch laws, which have served as a model for the rest of the world. Not only is this a terrible idea, its also whats to be expected if, as Wesley J. Smith told Fox News, society broadly accepts the agenda of killing as an acceptable end to human suffering . . . We eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferers. But even if you dont believe in the sanctity and dignity of human life, and even if you could rationalize physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, extending this right to the mentally-ill is an idea that should be resisted at all costs. The reason why lies in how mentally ill is defined. The expression mental illness is a broad category that includes different psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and clinical depression, to name but a few. While these disorders are different in their symptoms and how they are treated, they share one vital characteristic: a disconnect between what the persons mind says is true about, well, almost everything, and what is actually true. As a friend of mine has put it, our minds can be terrible liars. Theres a reason that arguably the greatest book ever written about living with mood disorders was entitled An Unquiet Mind. People who live with mental illness, especially bi-polar disorder, depressionas I doand anxiety disorder, spend a lifetime reminding themselves that just because they think somethinga something that nearly always portends evil, suffering, and despairdoes not make it true. And thats just the medical side. As 1 Peter tell us, Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. The devouring takes various forms, one of which is to make us miserable. How? By lying to us about, well, everything. The Adversarys goal is to induce despair, which Thomas Aquinas defined as ceasing to hope for a share of Gods goodness, and make us call God a liar when He tells us in Psalm 34, Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him. The distortions caused by mental illness, coupled with what Christians know about our Adversary, render the notion of consent in the Canadian proposal absurd. When you hear, please let me die, you can never be certain whose words youre hearing: the persons, the illnesss, or the Adversarys. None of this is to deny that mental illness can be painful, even excruciating. Even for the devout Christian, it can seem like a dark wood from which there is no escape. But in virtually every instance, that, too, is a lie. The late James Cavanaugh, a Jesuit priest, once wrote that If we could count the fears, both small or large, that once hounded us, and then thank God for each dreaded outcome never met, we would reach no end to gratitude. The Canadian proposal, if adopted, ensures that vulnerable people will never know how wrong they could be and, thus, experience the gratitude Cavanaugh wrote about. All of which makes assisted suicide for the mentally ill a terrible idea based on a terrible lie. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children's books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: May 10, 2017 Late last year on BreakPoint, I told you about an extraordinary bit of censorship by the French government. What was censored was an ad featuring a smiling, happy child with Down syndrome. The ad, entitled Dear Future Mom, told potential mothers about the joy and love that these children can and will bring into their lives. So, why was it banned? Because the French government believes that the ad is likely to disturb the conscience of women who had aborted their babies after learning that the child had Down syndrome. Now Im going to tell you a story about a Frenchman who saw things very differently: Charles de Gaulle. You probably werent expecting to hear that. To most Americans, de Gaulle was, as one writer put it, an obnoxious, overly ambitious man who, in the grand French manner, strutted sitting down. He may have been some or all of these things, but there was a side of Charles de Gaulle that few people know about, and that side revolved around his love for his daughter, Anne. Anne was born on New Years Day, 1928, the third of Charles and Yvonne de Gaulles three children. In De Gaulles words, Anne was un enfant pas comme les autres, a child not like the other children. As youve probably guessed, Anne had Down syndrome. Only it wasnt called Down syndrome back then. The children were called mongoloids, and, as a recent story by Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute in the Catholic World Report told readers, it was common [back then] for French families to place disabled children permanently in hospitals that were woefully ill-equipped to care for them. Thats not something that de Gaulle and his family did. As de Gaulle put it, God has given her to us. We must take responsibility for her, wherever she is and whatever she will be. And so the family worked hard to make a place for Anne. While Yvonne worked on the logistics, Charles worked on the affection. You heard that right: the affection. Anne was the apple of his eye. As the article tells us, The tall army officer infamous for his air of haughty disdain as leader of Free France during World War II and later as French President didnt hesitate to unbend to play on the floor with Anne. He sang to her, read her stories, and taught her how to pray. Every night, Anne would painstakingly . . . repeat each word after her father. In turn, de Gaulle would proudly tell his relatives that she knows her prayers! As Gregg tells readers, de Gaulle was well aware of how the Nazis treated children like Anne, and this, in turn, inspired his refusal to surrender to the Nazis. His act of resistance was a way of safeguarding his defenseless daughter from those who viewed her as sub-human. As he later said, Without Anne, I could never perhaps have done what I did. She gave me the heart and the inspiration. The contrast between de Gaulle and his successors in the Elysee Palace is almost too painful to contemplate. He refused to surrender to the Nazis to protect children with Down syndrome. After Annes death, he and his wife established a foundation, staffed by nuns, to care for people who are not like the others. De Gaulle was a complicated manmost great men arebut one of his complications was his Catholic faith that enabled him to love Anne. It was a love that, as Gregg put it, helped restore Frances honor, the same honor that was tarnished when, out of fear for hurting peoples feelings, it denied the humanity of the people de Gaulle worked tirelessly to save. To read Samuel Greggs outstanding article, A Fathers Love: The Story of Charles and Anne, please come to BreakPoint.org, click on this commentary, and well link you to it. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children's books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: May 16, 2017 For Asian American Christians, understanding ethnic identity is necessary to be able to more deeply understand and act on faith, politics, and justice, according to members of a panel who discussed these issues at Fuller Theological Seminary on Thursday. Historians say context is everything, said Dr. David K. Yoo, vice provost of the Institute of American Cultures at UCLA, who was one of three panelists. How can we say we know ourselves without knowing our context? Yoo posed. To say that these things dont matter is kind of deluding yourself. The panel session, which was hosted alongside other events by Fullers Asian American Center in commemoration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, touched upon various topics such as how ethnic identity affects an understanding of theology or faith; social issues that are relevant to the Asian American community; and the need for the Asian American community to speak up and act. Dr. Daniel D. Lee, director of Fullers Asian American Center, said that he and the other organizers felt a panel on such topics was necessary due to the current political climate. If we as Asian Americans do nothing, where are we going to end up? Lee said. What kind of witness are we going to bear for the future generations, and for society as a whole? Indeed, though many of the panelists were able to point to several social issues that impact the Asian American community immigration, health disparities, gender roles, and sexuality issues, to name a few among those mentioned they also emphasized the need for greater engagement both within the Asian American community and with the greater community. For instance, Dr. Miyoung Yoon Hammer, chair of Fullers marriage and family department in its School of Psychology, encouraged churches to seek out opportunities to collaborate with one another or with local non-profits to address these issues, particularly in providing help to undocumented individuals. Asian American Christians must also speak up and engage with the greater community in political issues as well, panelists said, as silence is powerful, in Yoon Hammers words. When youre silent, youre affirming what was last said, Yoon Hammer said. Nobody wins. One could start out in engagement by first seeking out what problems or issues may be affecting the local community surrounding the church or an individuals home for example, said Kim. Dr. Grace Kao, co-director of the Center for Sexuality, Gender, and Religion at Claremont School of Theology, encouraged churches who may not know where to start to first consider what it could offer to the community. There might be particular strengths that a church has, Kao said, or a particular geographic location that lend them to pursue one set of social justice issues over another. She added that many individuals and churches could be overcome by how broken the world is, and how great the need is. The best spiritual mentors Ive had were people who told me, Dont feel like you have to do everything. Theres something about doing something, even if its not everything, said Kao. Meanwhile, the Asian American Center also hosted an interview with hip hop and spoken word artist Jason Chu and musician Joe Kye about being culture shapers, as well as a panel on the Manzanar camps and how it has led the Japanese American community to work together with the Muslim American community. Five years since the first SOLA Conference for college students took place, pastors from ten local churches in Southern California are working together to host the first SOLA Nexus, a conference for post-college young adults. When the SOLA Council got together, we recognized the lack of ministry opportunities for young adults outside of the local church, said Richard Kim, the lead pastor of Gospel Life Mission Church. Kim, along with five other pastors of five different local churches, make up the SOLA Council, which is the most senior level of leadership in what is known as the SOLA Network. The network also hosts and organizes the SOLA Conference and offers resources online. When we looked at the landscape, there was a lot of stuff going on for college students and even for married couples, but there really wasnt much for young adults, Kim said, and we were wondering, Could this be a barrier for young adults in growing to be the disciples that God wants them to be? SOLA Nexus, which will be taking place under the theme, Connected to God, Connecting to Others, will take on characteristics of both a retreat and a conference, with plenary sessions and seminars like those of a conference, as well as small group sessions with members of differing churches, like those of a retreat. When youre a single young adult, your access to community becomes limited. Youre not with a roommate or on the college campus anymore, and you barely have enough time to even hang out with your close friends, Kim said of the need for a space for young adults to connect on a smaller scale during the event. During the main sessions, speakers such as Paul Kim, the lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in San Diego; Alex Choi, the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace in Los Angeles; and Ray Causly, the co-lead pastor of Living Way Community Church in Los Angeles will aim to point young adults to connect with God. Meanwhile, the small group sessions which will be led and facilitated by lay leaders of the various churches of Southern California will be a space in which the young adults could connect with one another, organizers hope. Small group leaders will receive training guidelines and resources prior to the conference. Topics that young adults may commonly discuss pre-marriage counseling, work-life balance, being a witness in the workplace, and being content in singlehood, among others will be explored during seminars. SOLA Nexus will take place from June 2 to 3 at Living Hope Community Church. For more information, visit sola.network/sola-nexus/. A Kentucky appeals court ruled on Friday that a Christian T-shirt maker did not discriminate in his refusal to print shirts promoting a gay pride event. In the court ruling, Chief Judge Joy Kramer stated that there was no evidence to prove that Blaine Adamson of Hands On Originals, a shirt printing company in Lexington, refused any individual the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations it offered to everyone else because the individual in question had a specific sexual orientation or gender identity. Kramer said that instead, Adamson was found to have objected to spreading the message that the group wished to print on the shirts, rather than rejecting them based on their sexual orientation. Nothing in the fairness ordinance prohibits Hands On Originals, a private business, from engaging in viewpoint or message censorship, Kramer wrote. The court voted 2 to 1 in favor of Adamson, the latest ruling in a case that has been heard by various courts over the course of five years. Todays decision is a victory for printers and other creative professionals who serve all people but cannot promote all messages, said Jim Campbell, the senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The legal group defended Adamson at the Fayette Circuit Court, which also ruled in Adamsons favor. It is also a victory for all Americans because it reassures us all that, no matter what you believe, the law cant force you to express a message in conflict with your deepest convictions, he added. In 2012, Adamson declined to print shirts for a gay pride festival hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization. The organization then filed a complaint against him, and two years thereafter, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission ruled that the law requires Adamson to print shirts even if the messages printed on it violate his religious conscience. Adamson, with Alliance Defending Freedom, filed an appeal with the Fayette Circuit Court, which sided with Adamson. Then the commission appealed to the Kentucky Appeals Court, which affirmed the circuit court ruling. People often ask me why I made that decision, Adamson told Fox News. Here is what I tell them: I will work with any person, no matter who they are, no matter what their belief systems are. But when they present a message that conflicts with my religious beliefs, thats not something that I can print. Thats the line for me. Adamson had previously declined to print shirts for other customers based on their messages, such as those that were violent or sexually explicit. Meanwhile, the Lexington Human Rights Commission expressed it would file an appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court. I think we just wanted to fight on, Bob Orbach, who chairs the commission, told WEKU. We wanted to go as far as we could go with this because in principal we believe we are right. This ruling is not about free speech, it is about how LGBTQ+ persons are treated in their communities every day, as second class citizens, said the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization. I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up. The first picture from the artists iconic flag series was offered in the American Art sale on 23 May at Christies in New York. American Paintings specialist Jennifer Jacobsen explains its greater significance Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts (now Boston), Childe Hassam (1859-1935) became perhaps the most popular of all American Impressionist artists. He studied in Paris from 1886 to 1889, where he was drawn to the work of the French Impressionists. Returning to America, he applied the radical techniques and aesthetics he discovered on the Continent to the cities of his native country, making frequent studies of Boston and New York. Hassam's interest in the urban landscape made him somewhat unusual among his American Impressionist contemporaries. After his time in Paris, explains Jennifer Jacobsen, American Paintings specialist at Christies New York, Hassams brushstrokes and hues begin to mimic those of the French Impressionists, particularly Monet and Pissarro. He was also inspired by their images of the flags and banners displayed around Paris on Bastille Day. Just Off the Avenue, Fifty-third Street, May 1916 is the first work in the series of flag paintings that came to define his later career. At the time this was painted, Hassam had already achieved success, says Jacobsen, and this series became arguably the most famous depiction of New York in American Impressionism. The full flag series, comprising some 30 oils and additional watercolours, was displayed in exhibitions following the First War World beginning with a show at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in New York just days after the signature of the Armistice in 1918. Two people were injured on a Southwest Airlines flight that arrived shortly at 7:40 a.m. Thursday at Hobby Airport. The flight - Southwest Airlines flight 223 - was coming from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. A 70-year-old man had a possible cardiac arrest on the flight. He was receiving CPR when the plane landed, said Capt. Ruy Lozano with the Houston Fire Department. A 24-year-old woman had a head injury. The woman had hit her head in the back part of the airplane, when it was still on the ground in North Carolina, after she stood up too quickly, said Brandy King, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines. Medical personnel in North Carolina checked the woman and cleared her to fly on to Houston. She declined medical assistance in Houston, King added. Southwest Airlines did not have any reports of turbulence during the flight that could have caused either injury, King said. HFD was prepared to take both people to an area hospital, Lozano said. Check back for updates on this developing story. WASHINGTON - John Fitzgerald Kennedy's 100th birthday is May 29. It's hard to think of the 35th president - the youngest ever elected to the office and 46 years old when he was assassinated - anywhere near that age. Kennedy was president for just 1,036 days, but in a 2013 Gallup poll, 50 years after his death, 74 percent of Americans ranked his presidency as "outstanding" or "above average," the highest of any president since World War II. The Kennedy centennial will be celebrated across Washington throughout the year, with exhibitions, film screenings, concerts and lectures recalling his successes as president, including the space program and the Peace Corps. The Kennedy Center, designated by Congress in 1964 as a "living memorial" to the president, will present shows with themes inspired by him. The anniversary is also a chance to remember Kennedy's Washington - the places where he lived, ate and worshiped, and to see whether you can find your own little slice of Camelot. --- WHERE HE HUNG HIS HAT - Dorchester House apartments, 2480 16th St. NW In October 1941, a 24-year-old John F. Kennedy moved to Washington to take a position in the Office of Naval Intelligence. His younger sister Kathleen was already living here, working for the Washington Times-Herald. She had an apartment in the brand-new Dorchester House apartment complex across from Meridian Hill Park. Hundreds of tenants lived there, which The Washington Post called a "modernistic and highly fashionable" building. John joined Kathleen in Apartment 542, but he didn't stay long: In January 1942, he was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, and didn't return to town until he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. - 2808 P St. NW Georgetown holds a special place in the Kennedy mystique: After Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946, he lived in a succession of houses and apartments in the neighborhood. He purchased the Hickory Hill estate in McLean in 1955, a few years after his election to the Senate and marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier, but he and Jackie decided to return to Georgetown a year later. They moved into a rental house on P Street NW in early 1957 and lived there for one busy year, which brought the birth of daughter Caroline and a Pulitzer Prize for "Profiles in Courage." - 3307 N St. NW The Kennedys moved into this house, their best-known residence, in January 1958 and stayed there until moving into the White House. After winning the 1960 election, Kennedy would come out onto the front steps of the three-story townhouse and meet the press corps, even in the midst of winter. "Our next president doesn't take the old, easy way of making his announcements about new cabinet ministers, the fate of the new frontier, etc., from his office on Capitol Hill - where, if one need edit, the corridors have steam heat," groused Washington Post staff writer Thomas Wolfe (yes, that Thomas Wolfe) in December 1960. "He just steps right out on the old front porch at 3307 N St. NW and starts talking. And disappears back into the manse." The house was sold in 1961. After her husband's assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy and her children, Caroline and John Jr., returned to the neighborhood, living at 3038 N St. NW and then at 3017 N St. NW. But the attention from sightseers and gawkers proved too much for the family, and they moved to New York in 1964. --- WHERE HE WORSHIPED - Holy Trinity Church, 3513 N St. NW. While living in Georgetown as a representative, senator and president-elect, Kennedy regularly attended Mass at Holy Trinity Church, the oldest Catholic church in Washington, including on the morning of his inauguration. He went to Mass there on Nov. 1, 1963, which was the last Mass he attended in Washington. Kennedy is remembered on a plaque outside the church, which features the presidential seal and an image of PT-109, the ill-fated boat he commanded during World War II. - The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, 1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW. On the morning of Nov. 25, 1963, a horse-drawn caisson bearing Kennedy's body left the White House, followed by his widow, his brothers, politicians and leaders from around the world. The destination was the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, six blocks away, where Richard Cardinal Cushing, the archbishop of Boston, celebrated the funeral Mass. A marble circle on the cathedral floor, just in front of the sanctuary, marks the spot where the coffin was placed. After the Mass, as Kennedy's body was being carried down the steps to the caisson, John F. Kennedy Jr. saluted his father's coffin, which became the defining image of the funeral. --- OTHER STOPS - Home of Charles Bartlett, 3419 Q St. NW Kennedy and Charles Bartlett met in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1946. Both had served in the Navy in World War II. Both were the sons of wealthy Catholic families who wintered in Florida. Different paths eventually brought them to Washington: Kennedy was elected to Congress; Bartlett became the bureau chief for the Chattanooga Times and would eventually win a Pulitzer Prize. In May 1951, Bartlett and his wife, Martha, threw a small dinner party at their home expressly for the purpose of setting up Kennedy and a socialite named Jacqueline Bouvier, whom Bartlett had briefly dated. It wasn't an instant success. Bartlett later told the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library: "This was an awkward time actually because, as I said, she was going to Europe and he was just getting involved in the (Senate) campaign," which he would win that fall. But their friends persisted in matchmaking, and just over two years later, Kennedy and Bouvier were engaged. Bartlett was an usher at their wedding, and the Bartletts were godparents to John Jr. - Martin's Tavern, 1264 Wisconsin Ave. NW No private business pushes its ties to Kennedy like Martin's Tavern in Georgetown. Two booths remember the president: Booth 1, a narrow, rumbleseat-style booth for one, where Kennedy would eat breakfast and read the paper after attending Mass on Sundays, and, more famously, Booth 3 - "The Proposal Booth." A brass plaque marks the spot where, supposedly, "JFK proposed to Jackie" on June 24, 1953. Martin's even produced a witness two years ago, a former White House chief of protocol who had been dining at the restaurant that night, although he admits he didn't see the proposal take place. It seems strange that the location of this important moment in Camelot history is so disputed. Some sources say the proposal took place at the Parker House restaurant in Boston; others say it was done by telegram, when Bouvier was in London covering Elizabeth II's coronation for the Washington Times-Herald. The earliest reference we found to the location of the engagement was in the June 28, 1953, Boston Sunday Globe, held at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, which reported that Kennedy had proposed the previous week at the Bouviers' home in Newport, Rhode Island. Go to Martin's, enjoy a drink and the stories, but take them with a grain of salt. One thing you can believe: Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's running mate, was a fan of Martin's, preferring the backroom for meetings, and Richard Nixon, whom Kennedy beat in the 1960 election, liked a table up front - the one next to the "Proposal Booth." - The Monocle, 107 D St. NE When the Monocle opened in 1960, it was one of only a handful of restaurants near the U.S. Capitol, so it quickly became a favorite of senators, including Kennedy. The politicians were soon as much of a draw as the steaks: A name-dropping 1961 column in The Washington Post referred to it as a "dandy place to rubberneck and dine," and autographed headshots still cover the walls. Kennedy, for his part, favored the table in the bay window, where he'd eat roast beef sandwiches. - Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St. NW Inaugural balls have been a fixture since George Washington's in 1789, but Kennedy's inauguration introduced the idea of turning the presidential swearing-in into a star-studded affair. The night before his swearing-in, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford organized a gala at the D.C. Armory, with performances by Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly and Sidney Poitier. Sinatra had arranged for the participants to stay at the Statler-Hilton, now the Capital Hilton, which was the site of one of the official inaugural balls. The following night, Kennedy made an appearance at that ball and then slipped up to a private party organized by Sinatra, where Nat "King" Cole played piano while the boldface names mingled. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The funeral of a Vietnam War veteran in Ringgold, Georgia caused a social media outcry. According to a Thursday Facebook post by Ella Moss, George Taylor was not presented in a casket at his funeral. Instead, he was on a gurney and wrapped in an American flag. FACT CHECK: Trump's claim veterans received '42 percent more' approval to get non-VA health care "Here is a SOLDIER that was laid out for viewing," Moss wrote. "Mr. Taylor was a 2 term Vietnam Vet." Moss said there were some issues with Taylor's insurance and the day of his viewing, "they learned that he wouldn't be in a casket." Instead, Moss said, funeral home workers offered to bring Taylor out on a table. She expressed shock that the funeral home would present a veteran on a gurney instead of in a casket. By Wednesday, Moss' Facebook post was shared 4,190 times and had 3,000 reactions. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: One of nation's oldest veterans honored on 111th birthday Funeral home workers said they were following the requests of the family, according to NewsChannel9. "We were trying to honor the request and let them have some closure by viewing their loved one," funeral home worker David Cummings told NewsChannel9. Taylor's son James Taylor told the news station that the family was at first OK with the funeral arrangements but later though it was disrespectful, prompting the outcry. The news station reports the funeral home and the family came to an agreement to place Taylor in a coffin in time for his service and burial. Taylor was buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. NewsChannel9 and Moss did not disclose her relationship to Taylor. A second grade Oklahoma teacher was arrested earlier this month for bringing syringes, heroin and methamphetamine into her classroom. The Holmes Park Elementary teacher, Megan Sloan, admitted she had pawned electronics belonging to the school and taken field trip money to buy drugs and gas. Bristol Palin, the reality star daughter of former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has put roots down in Texas with her husband and three kids, she said earlier this week. Palin, who previously competed on Dancing With The Stars and was in a number of reality shows, recently gave birth to her third child May 8, and included the Texas confirmation in a one-week update blog post on her daughter. JERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-News An Alabama woman pleaded guilty Thursday to her role in a multimillion-dollar money laundering scam based out of a cluster of call centers in India. Nilam Parikh, 46, admitted in a Houston federal court plea to orchestrating a complex scheme where callers from Ahmedabad call centers impersonated IRS and immigration officials, threatening arrest and deportation if the unwitting targets refused to fork over money, according to a press release from Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. National Guard First Lieutenant John Rader told reporters this week that United Airlines charged him $200 to fly with a 70-pound military duffel bag filled with standard battlefield gear. Rader had been deployed to Afghanistan for nearly two years and was on his way home from El Paso to Austin on Monday when this occurred. NEW GUNS: This is the U.S. Army's new pistol of choice His bag, he told the Fox 7 outlet in Austin, was too heavy to fly for free and he would have to pay a $200 fee. Rader's bag was filled with a Kevlar vest, two helmets, and boots which he wore while in Afghanistan. United does permit active military personnel to check up to five bags free as long as each item is under 70 pounds. A United rep told him he could buy second bag to lighten the load in the overweight bag if he wished but Rader declined to do so. A fellow soldier traveling with ended up in the same boat. "There was no empathy to the situation. I'm not looking for sympathy, but some form of empathy in the situation. There was none of that. It was just cold. I had to either pay or leave the bag." Rader told Fox 7. American Airlines has a policy that allows military members to travel with up to five complimentary bags weighing up to 100 pounds. Southwest Airlines says that active military are exempt from its two-piece baggage limit as long as all pieces are under 100 pounds. PREVIOUS: U.S. Army releases harrowing photo of the terrifying last moments of soldiers killed by mortar blast For his part Rader says that he will no longer use United Airlines when he travels as a civilian. United released a statement Tuesday night, stating they wanted to make things right. "We are disappointed anytime a customer has an experience that doesn't meet their expectations, and our customer care team is reaching out to this customer to issue a refund for his oversized bag as a gesture of goodwill," the airline said. Rader told Fox 7 that while that is a kind gesture, he wants to make sure things are changed for fellow traveling military personnel in the future, not just him. According to the Associated Press on Friday, United Airlines has now refunded the money to Rader. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jordy Tollett, director of the Pasadena Convention Center, is being held in the Harris County Jail after a judge ruled yesterday to revoke a six-year probation sentence in connection with a pair of 2016 DWI convictions. In March of 2015, Tollett was arrested by Webster police on DWI charges following a car accident. While out on bail on those charges, he was again arrested by Nassau Bay police in May 2015 on additional DWI charges. According to court records, a witness called 911 after Tollett almost ran over a family walking on the sidewalk. Court records show in addition to probation, Tollett was ordered to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, submit to drug and alcohol testing and perform 120 hours of community service. However, court records indicate Tollett failed to comply with drug and alcohol testing four times in May and June of 2016 and reportedly went to a nightclub on April 7. Tollett was convicted in two other DWI cases in 2008 and in 2012. During the 2012 DWI arrest in Nassau Bay, police said Tollett had to be restrained in handcuffs at the Webster jail because he was uncooperative, yelling and screaming at officers. From the 2012 story in the Pasadena Citizen: "The (arresting) officer said Tollett had trouble keeping his balance, had red watery eyes and slurred speech, repeated questions and smelled like alcohol. He also said Tollett had blood-soaked sleeves from open wounds on both arms, which Tollett reportedly said to be a serious staph infection. He was later treated by EMS." Tollett took over as executive director of the Greater Houston Convention and and Visitors bureau in 1998 and served through several mayoral administrations, the Houston Chronicle reported in 2006. During that time, he was caught multiple times by Channel 2 cameras drinking at lunch and then driving away. The 2006 article also reports that in 1989, Tollett was working for a Houston precursor to the convention bureau when he spent $2,000 entertaining tourism prospects at Rick's Cabaret. His response to criticism over that revelation - that his clients asked to go to the topless club - was used by Rick's as an endorsement on a billboard. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Montgomery County jury convicted Herman and Kathleen Hoffman Thursday on five Class A misdemeanor counts of cruelty to livestock animals almost two years after more than 200 horses were seized from their farm north of Conroe. The couple, emotional and slightly frustrated, kissed each other in the courtroom before County Court-at-Law 1 Judge Dennis Watson announced his sentence: one year in jail for Herman Hoffman and 18 months probation for his wife. Although Herman Hoffman will not start the sentence until an appeal - which he filed immediately after the sentence was imposed - is complete. Watson cited Kathleen Hoffman's health conditions as to why she received a probated sentence. She will, however, need to spend a total of 30 days in the jail as a result of her conviction, the judge ordered. The Hoffmans have bred horses for nearly 20 years. But in late 2014, advocates on social media accused the Hoffmans of starving and generally neglecting to treat the horses properly. The complaints finally drew an investigation by law enforcement officials. Their Conroe property the Calico Dairy Farm off of League Line Road was raided in June 2015. Agents with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Precinct 5 Constable's Office and the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were on the Hoffmans' farm for days as they were executing a search and seizure warrant and gathering evidence. Midori Wall, one of the six jurors who found the Hoffmans guilty, said "overwhelming evidence" helped seal the couple's fate with the two men and six women on the panel. "There had been ample warning," Wall said. "Both of the Hoffmans had ample knowledge of how to care for the horses as well." After the jury was released Thursday, at least two jurors - including Wall - stayed behind to watch the sentencing hearing. "I don't necessarily think the Hoffmans were bad people," Wall said. "I think they had some unfortunate circumstances and should have made other choices to make sure their horses were well cared for." The Houston SPCA seized 207 horses from the property in 2015. Thirty were euthanized and three others died naturally. The rest of the horses were adopted to new families. Nine of the 17 horses left still need rehabilitation before they can be adopted. Herman Hoffman said during a seizure hearing in June 2015 that the state of the animals could be attributed to sabotage by his employees to sway public opinion after photos were posted on Facebook, although he later contended that the horses were simply malnourished because of how natural horse herds work. The SPCA assessed the horses on the day of the 2015 seizure and took some to the Houston facility in order of importance of veterinary need. One of the horses from the first group to leave the ranch suffered from open wounds on both sides of its hips, which had scabbed over. Another horse showed its skeletal structure from its ribs to its hips from malnutrition. All five of the horses from the first group had unkept hooves, causing each to walk on the bottom joints of their legs. In 2015, a Montgomery County judge ordered the Hoffmans to pay HSPCA more than $450,000 in recuperation for their work on the horses. However, Herman Hoffman contended during his sentencing hearing that the seizure of their horses made the couple's net worth plunge by $3.5 million. "The SPCA will never get repaid financially what they put out to save these horses," Chief Misdemeanor Prosecutor Sheri Culberson said. "They also will never get paid in effort, the physical and emotional effort they spent doing what was right to save these horses." Assistant District Attorney Lora Ciborowski, albeit frustrated with how long it took the case to get to trial after a dozen delays, was thankful it finally was presented to a jury. "I'm glad we finally got our day in court and got justice for these horses," Ciborowski said. "That's really what it's all about." An HSPCA spokesperson said the society is pleased with the verdict and glad to have been able to help prosecutors with the case. Courtesy of Texas Commision on the Arts/Courtesy of Texas Commission on the Arts This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Controversial bathroom bill and critical funding issues took a brief two-step break in Austin this week, as the state legislature recognized two years' worth of state artists in the fields of music, visual art and writing. They tapped country music great George Straight as the 2017 Texas State Musician, then gave beloved blues artist Marcia Ball the nod for 2018. The honor, which goes to artists who already have a strong reputation, doesn't come with a check. But it does give them something more to crow about and more opportunities to share their work. That's especially meaningful to visual artists and writers who are often as respected in their fields as the musicians, but not nearly the household names. Most of them have day jobs as professors. Visual artists are honored in two categories -- 2-D (painting and drawing) and 3-D (sculpture and everything else). The sometimes reclusive Kermit Oliver was named 2017 Texas State Visual Artist-2-D. Oliver, who is represented by Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Houston, has lived near Waco for years. He is known for his symbol-rich paintings based on religious themes as well as nature-based scarf designs for the luxury goods brand Hermes. Beverly Penn, the 2017 Texas State Visual Artist 3-D, also finds inspiration in nature, although with wildly different results. An internationally-known sculptor, she makes filigreed works that explore contradictory ideas about the natural environment. Fort Worth native Sedrick Huckaby recieved the 2-D honor for 2018. His evocative paintings and drawings, often presented as portraits, examine themes of black identity. Austin'sBeili Liu, the 3-D honoree for 2018, creates dramatically poetic installations that respond to their environments. San Antonio claims the State Poet Laureates for both years. Jenny Browne, whose most recent manuscript, "Freetown," considers questions of mobility, race and climate change, serves in 2017. She has another great gig this year, too: This summer, she'll be at Guadalupe Mountains National Park this summer as a National Park Service Artist-in-Residence. Three-time Pushcart Prize nominee Carol Coffee Reposa, who also has won three Fulbright-Hays Fellowships for study in Russia, Peru, Ecuado and Mexico, has been shortlisted twice before for the Texas Poet Laureate title. It will be hers, finally, in 2018. The Texas Commission on the Arts selects the winners from nominations. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston's very own Democratic Rep. Al Green recently made national headlines after calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Green took the House floor on Wednesday, citing obstruction of justice as the reason behind pushing for Trump's removal. LOGISTICS: People are calling for Trump's impeachment here's how that would play out "This is about what I believe. And this is where I stand. I will not be moved. The president must be impeached," Green said to lawmakers. "For those who do not know, impeachment does not mean that the president would be found guilty. It simply means that the House of Representatives will bring charges against the president. It's similar to an indictment but not quite the same thing." The representative of Texas's 9th congressional district is the first lawmaker to officially call for Trump's impeachment. LOFTY GOALS: A Trump impeachment is less likely than some Democrats are suggesting Green called for the president's impeachment the day after an explosive New York Times article suggested that Trump asked former FBI director James Comey to end the bureau's investigation into Michael Flynn. Click through above to see things to know about Rep. Al Green. AUSTIN Talk about a big blue light special. Gov. Greg Abbott said the storied Governor's Mansion, an 1854 Greek Revival manse just across the street from the much-younger State Capitol, will be lit in blue on Wednesday to commemorate National Police Week. SURRENDERED: State senator surrenders to FBI after indicted Abbott said the event, the second time in a year that the mansion had been lit in a special color, since five Dallas police officers were gunned down last year, will serve "as a shining beacon of respect and remembrance for our peace officers." In addition, the governor said the unusual display "will serve as a sign of solidarity with the Dallas community, which (Wednesday) honored officers killed in the line of duty, including the victims of the ambush last July." A Russian news site recently claimed that three UFOs "several times the size of the Earth" were photographed zipping past the Sun by a NASA spacecraft. Fortunately, the "three cylindrical objects" aren't cylindrical at all: They're the planet Mercury orbiting around the Sun. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate More than 60 U.S. Forest Service fire towers are available to rent in the West. Spend your next vacation spying stars and storms, not to mention jaw-dropping views. Check out the options below, with a few more available fire towers in the slideshow above. Rocky Mountains perch (11,486 ft.): Squaw Mountain Fire Lookout in Colorado is like living in the airand you get a catwalk, stove, refrigerator, and heat. Expect to hike in a mile from the parking area. Close to Idaho Springs. Life of a lookout (almost 10,000 ft.): A historic tower saved from demo in 1991, Jersey Jim Fire Lookout Tower still has its fire finder and 360s of Hesperus and Sleeping Ute mountains of the Four Corners. Near Mancos, CO. Jump in a lake (7,772 ft.): An hour's drive from the well-cared-for Black Mountain Lookout is Frenchman Lake. You can also flip on lights in this electric cabin. Close to Milford, CA, in Plumas National Forest. Triple range views (7,702 ft.): The views are mind-bendingif you hit the weather right at Gird Point Lookout. Close to Hamilton, MT. RELATED: NorCal couple weds on Mount Everest and the photos are mind-blowing Scenery seeking adventure (6,521 ft.): The 2.1-mile trail to Washington's Winchester Mountain Lookout is difficult, with an elevation gain of about 1,300 feet in the Cascade Mountains and ice possible in July. But Mt. Baker is stunning. Overnighters are welcome on a first-come, first- served basis. If bunks are taken, pitch a tent under the stars. Volunteer maintained. Close to Mt. Baker, WA. Summer drive-in (5,980 ft.): The three-story Calpine Fire Lookout in the Sierra Nevada, built in 1934, is one of only three "windmill style" lookouts left in California. On a winter trip, arrival is by snowmobile, snowshoes, or skis; in summer, drive there directly. Close to Truckee, CA. Flashback 1930s (5,587 ft.): There's a steep hike to Evergreen Mountain Lookout, a 1935 timber fire lookout on the National Register of Historic Places. Hello there, Mt. Rainier. Close to Skykomish, WA. Huckleberry heaven (4,755 ft.): From Deer Ridge Lookout's wraparound catwalk, you can view the Idaho Panhandle National Forests when you're not out picking huckleberries. Close to Bonners Ferry, ID. Waterfall access (3,630 ft.): At Bald Knob Lookout, Eden Valley and Rogue River are spread before you, and nearby is the Coquille River Falls trail, leading to a two-tier 45-foot and 65-foot cascade. Near Powers, OR. For a list of available rentals, contact the Forest Fire Lookout Association at ffla.org/lookout-rentals.html. Book at recreation.gov; from $25/night This article originally appeared on Sunset.com: "14 Stunning Fire Tower Vacation Rentals" Subscribe to Sunset Magazine today and get 2 free preview issues! H. G. Carter, Frank Manley, Claude Tuthill and James Scanlan have been engaged putting up the wires of the new electric light plant. Friday, May 20, 1892 The row of elms in front of the court house had the marking of their lawless handiwork, and the maples that were in front of W. C. McLeans residence were mutilated by sawing off several branches ten to fifteen feet long. Mr. McLean was not disposed to submit to the mutilation and possible destruction of his shade trees, and he caused their arrest on a charge of misdemeanor. The case was heard before Justice Clark, District Attorney Macauley appearing for the state and E. O. Jackson for defendants. They were adjudged guilty and the court fined each defendant $10 and costs, about $7 each, or in default of payment sixty days in jail. Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Chuck Bomar has been appointed dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management at the University of Wisconsin-Stout beginning July 1 following a national search, Provost Patrick Guilfoile announced. Bomar serves as dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The dean search was necessitated by the reorganization of UW-Stouts colleges, resulting in the number of colleges being reduced from four to three. The reorganization saved taxpayers and students $360,000. John P. Goetz is an award-winning author who has a cabin on Tainter Lake where he lives part of the year and has written four novels. On Saturday, Goetz will be reading from his latest novel, Dirt, Evil inn the Heartland, at Bookends on Main. Wednesday, May 20, 1992 When Ken Olson of Menomonie commemorates Memorial Day, he thinks of his World War II buddies that died, either in battle, by starvation or by execution. Olson spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese forces that captured him and about 18,000 American and Filipino forces that were defending the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. I always say we were surrendered, said Olson, not captured. (Major General Jonathon) Wainwright thought he would save lives by surrendering, but if he had realized (what we were going to go through in the camps). A gunners mate, third class, on a number of mine sweepers in the U.S. Navy, Olson was part of regiment that, along with the Fourth Marine Corp, held the Japanese off for five months, finally succumbing on May 6, 1942. Wednesday, May 17, 1967 Ownership of the top type herd in Parish 5 in 1966 brought recognition in the form of a plaque to Paul W. Pellett, proprietor of the Atlasta Farm, Rt. 6, city, at the annual Wisconsin Jersey Breeders Association meeting in Fond du Lac. Sixty-one Jerseys in the Pellet herd have been classified and their average score is 85.6. A breakdown shows that two are classified excellent, 27 very good, and 32 good plus. To be classified excellent, an animal must score 90 or more points; very good takes in scores of 85 to 89, and good plus is awarded for scores from 80 to 84. Parish 5 takes in nine counties including Pierce, St. Croix, Dunn, Chippewa, Taylor, Eau Claire, Pepin, Clark and Buffalo. The state leader for type was the herd of George Borg Jr., Delavan, of Parish 2, and he received a trophy which is sponsored by Atlasta Farm. Borgs 68 animals averaged 89 points. Wednesday, May 20, 1942 The salvage collection campaign which is a campaign behind a campaign, now being carried out by Works Progress Administration men, has been completed in the Colfax area where 140,958 pounds of metal and 17,724 pounds of rubber were collected. This is the announcement made by A.E. Tilseth, chairman of the county salvage campaign. From Colfax the WPA trucks and men have moved to Boyceville. They will call on farmers in that part of th county, soliciting salvage. The men carry scales with them, weigh the salvage as it is given and credit the amount to the contributor. He, in turn, later receives a check for the salvage he gives. The salvage collection depots have been established at four places in the county. Colfax, Boyceville, Menomonie and Rock Falls. All of the areas surrounding these places will be visited by the WPA trucks. Thursday, May 17, 1917 The first annual meeting of the Norton Cheese Factory was held in the factory Saturday evening. Sam K. Iverson acted as chairman of the meeting and Burt Gullick secretary. Lewis Root, the cheesemaker, was elected secretary and treasurer of the factory. An auditing committee composed of Andrew Eaton, Mat Olson and Henry Wigdahl was elected to audit the secretarys accounts. This factory is one of the best in northern Wisconsin and is a credit to the community. The two stores are also nearly finished and ready for business. Norton bids fair to enjoy a rapid growth. State Tax Commissioners Thomas E. Lyons and Carroll Atwood held a hearing at the Court House Tuesday on the appeal taken by the city from the equalization of real estate values in Dunn County as fixed by the County board last fall and as a result of the proceedings officials of the city hope that the city may be relieved of nearly $2,500 state and county taxes contained in the last tax levy. This relief if granted will be felt at the time of the next payment of taxes, early 1918. Friday, May 20, 1892 Agents have been engaged during the week delivering Warners History of the Chippewa Valley, which for several months has been in press and mention of which has appeared in these columns. The volume contains 950 handsomely printed pages with historical sketches of the counties of Dunn, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Pepin, Barron, and Price and the cities within their borders, and portraits and biographical sketches of many prominent citizens. Among the latter are Capt. Wm Wilson, Capt. Tainter, J .H. Knapp, sr., T. B. Wilson, Jacob Miller, F. J. McLean, and O. K. Ranum. A fine picture of the Memorial building is also given. The work seems to be reasonably full and accurate in its historical statements, is attractive in appearance and altogether is a fine specimen of the printers art. H. G. Carter, Frank Manley, Claude Tuthill and James Scanlan have been engaged putting up the wires of the new electric light plant. The wanton and reckless manner in which they cut and mutilated the shade trees in doing their work has aroused the righteous indignation of many citizens. Saturday, May 18, 1867 The right kind of merchants are pretty sure to have the right kind of clerks courteous and attentive clerks. And such we always find at Knapp, Stout, & Cos. In a house which keeps five accountants and eight selling clerks and these interspersed with several owners , several foremen, shanty bosses, time-keepers, butchers, toll bridge tenders, kitchen keepers, and hack drivers, it is easy for some of them to get their corns trodden on, and to become cross and crabbed. And yet, it would take a sharper look than usual to find an uncourteous man or boy among the whole crowd. Mason ranks one class, and Messenger another, and Jim McCabe another and then, of course, the Captain makes them all gea. And they are such an appreciative set! We were about to take up a bundle to start home in the rain, when one of the boys (Charley Moore), took down a No. 1 umbrella and suggested that editors should be kept dry (not allowed to drink?) it was a nice and appropriate present.Bomar named dean of Stouts STEMM college The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. More International Students Choosing Canada, Transitioning to Permanent Residence CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A New figures show a significant increase in the number of international students enrolling in Canadian universities for the 2017/2018 academic year. Many stakeholders have attributed this increase to the growing perception of Canada as a stable and welcoming study destination in the wake of various political events worldwide. In recent months, increasing numbers of international students are choosing to study in Canada, and immigrate after graduation. Canada is a top-ten study destination worldwide, in terms of hosting international students. Between 2008 and 2016, the number of study permits that become effective each year more than doubled. In 2008, a total of 128,411 study permits became effective in 2016, this figure was 267,780. By the end of 2016, there were more than 414,000 active study permits although the actual number of international students in Canada differs from this figure, as some study permit holders may not currently be in Canada, and many international students study in Canada without a study permit. Almost half of these students study in Ontario, with British Columbia and Quebec following behind as popular study destinations. Universities witness significant growth in international applications and enrolment Many news sites have reported a recent surge in interest in Canada as an immigration destination, often attributed to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, and this interest extended to Canada as a study destination. At the University of Toronto, more than double the number of American students accepted their admission offers for 2017, compared with 2016. Brock University saw an increase of 30 percent in applications from international students, and in the early stages of the admissions cycle, there has also been an increase of 36 percent in the number of international students accepting their admission offer. The latest data for 2017 from the University of Alberta International shows that applications to graduate programs from foreign nationals rose 82 percent overall, with significant increases in the numbers of Americans (+60 percent), Indians (+152 percent) and Iranians (+196 percent) applying. At the undergraduate level, overall international applications were up 27 percent, compared to a growth rate of 11 percent at this time in 2016. We welcome a growing interest in studying in Canada and expect this development to be more than a one year anomaly we expect to see strong numbers also in the coming years, stated Julia Jones-Bourque, Marketing & Communications Manager at the University of Alberta. Chris Mota, university spokesperson for Concordia University, said, weve been fortunate in that weve seen steady increases over the years, so our enrolment has never been an issue. But this year its going to be higher. Concordia University, based in downtown Montreal, has seen increases of up to 325 percent in the number of undergraduate applications received from certain countries including Mexico (+325 percent), Iran (+317 percent), and India (+233 percent). These are countries [whose students] may have considered other parts of the world but now are thinking you know what, maybe Ill give Canada a try, Mota noted. Canada provides a level of stability and comfort, were ranked well, were a safe country, by and large, so its moved its way up as a destination of choice. Pathway to Permanent Residence International graduates of Canadian institutions may obtain a Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) after their studies, allowing them to work anywhere in Canada, for any employer, for up to three years. The PGWP program was created in order to attract international students to Canada, and few countries with equivalent education systems offer such open and advantageous work opportunities to international graduates. The growth in the number of PGWPs issued each year has seen a significant increase. At the end of 2008, there were approximately 15,600 PGWP holders. By the end of 2016, there were more than 101,000. Work experience gained on a PGWP can contribute towards an international graduates eligibility for permanent immigration programs, and can provide a way to remain in Canada and work while an application for permanent residence is in process. Immigration Programs Target International Graduates The success of Canadas immigration system with regards to enabling international students to remain after graduation is clear more than 30,000 former study permit holders became permanent residents in 2016. Of these, the majority (more than 75 percent) entered as economic immigrants, meaning they were not sponsored by a family member, spouse, or common-law partner, and did not enter through refugee/humanitarian programs. The Canadian governments willingness to welcome international graduates as new Canadian permanent residents has been supported by policy changes. On November 19, 2016, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced additional points under the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for candidates in the Express Entry pool with a Canadian educational credential. These changes have served to make international graduate candidates more competitive in the Express Entry pool. Level of education Additional CRS points One- or two-year post-secondary program 15 Post-secondary program of three years or more, or Masters, Doctoral, or eligible entry-to-practice professional degree 30 Over the first three months following the changes, 46 percent of ITAs were issued to international graduates, compared to an average of 31 percent before the changes. Of the 55,475 candidates in the Express Entry pool as of January 19, 2017, 14 percent had a Canadian educational credential. The median score of these international graduate candidates was 423, compared to a median score of 373 among candidates without a Canadian educational credential. Considering the latest Express Entry draw saw a record low CRS score requirement of 415, it is clear to see that these candidates benefit greatly from their Canadian educational experience when it comes to their position in the Express Entry pool. International students and post-graduate workers in Canada can join the CanadaVisa Study Hub for a chance to win a $2,500 scholarship. Members also get access to exclusive notifications, tools and resources to help maximize their time in Canada and pursue a pathway to permanent residence. If you want to discover your options for studying in Canada, or staying in Canada after graduation, complete the free CanadaVisa Study Pathway Assessment Form today. To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form. 2017 CanadaStudyNews All Rights Reserved Chinas fondness for pirated software left it especially vulnerable to the latest global cyberattack. Beijing has tolerated rampant use of unlicensed software copies despite repeated promises to crack down and warnings by industry groups that China is leaving itself open to being hurt by malicious code. Some 70 percent of computers in China run unlicensed software, the highest level among large countries, according to BSA The Software Alliance, an industry group. Rates for the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain range from 18 to 22 percent. That leaves millions of Chinese computers without security support and made China among countries most affected by the WannaCry ransomware that spread last week, according to security researchers. Microsoft issued a patch in March for the flaw in its Windows operating system that was exploited by WannaCry, but pirated versions couldnt use that service, leaving them vulnerable, said Zhao Boyu, a senior network engineer at Bright Prospect Technologies in Beijing. Most of the victims in China are unlicensed users, said Zhao. As of Saturday, some 29,372 institutions and hundreds of thousands of computers across China were affected, according to a security software supplier, Qihoo 360 Technology Ltd. It did not provide updated figures. The countrys main Internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, did not respond to questions about how the government was responding to the cyberattack. A foreign minister spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said she had no information about official activity or possible cooperation with foreign governments. China has long been a global center for unlicensed copying of goods from designer clothing and music to software and pharmaceuticals. Beijing has responded to foreign complaints by promising to crack down. It has required computer vendors to preload licensed software and prohibited government agencies and state companies from buying pirated versions. Despite that, news reports say Chinese universities and other schools were hit hard by WannaCry, suggesting many use pirated software. Railway stations, mail delivery, gas stations, hospitals, office buildings, shopping malls and government services were also said to be affected. Adding to the potential for disruption, China has the worlds biggest online population at 730 million. E-commerce is growing rapidly and other industries are shifting operations online, often using computers running pirated software. The security environment is increasingly threatening and damaging, the BSA said in its latest annual report on software piracy. This link between unlicensed software and cyber risk is one that CIOs should sit up and pay close attention to, it said, referring to corporate chief information officers. In China, sellers of pirated software often make products more vulnerable to hacking by adding back doors to gain access to users computers, said Zhao. WannaCry still is spreading in China but the rate at which new devices are being infected has significantly declined, the Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website. China has a reputation for relatively poor computer security even though its military is a leader, along with the United States and Russia, in cyber warfare, or technologies to disable an enemys computer systems. Hacking attacks on Western companies over the past decade have been traced to China. U.S. authorities charged five Chinese military officers in 2014 with breaking into computers of American companies. Chinas security so lax that in at least some cases, researchers say, that foreign hackers might hide their identities by taking over Chinese computers and using them to launch attacks. The authorities have tightened legal controls on data but foreign business groups say such restrictions will limit market access for foreign security products and might increase the risk of information theft. A Cybersecurity Law due to take effect June 1 and separate rules for insurance companies would require providers to show authorities how security products work and to store information about Chinese citizens within the country. In a letter this week to regulators, a coalition of 54 industry groups from the United States, Europe, Japan, Mexico and other countries appealed to Beijing to postpone enforcing the Cybersecurity Law. Chinas current course risks compromising its legitimate security objectives (and may even weaken security) while burdening industry and undermining the foundation of Chinas relations with its commercial partners, said the letter. (AP researcher Yu Bing and video journalist Isolda Morillo contributed.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. CORNELL As governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker has surveyed the aftermath of tornadoes several times. His tour Wednesday of the destroyed Prairie Lake Estate Home Park in Chetek left a deep impression. In Cornell in northern Chippewa County Thursday morning, Walker said he was taken with the severity of the damage and the devastation the tornado left in Chetek on Tuesday. "I think it's the worst I've seen as governor," Walker told reporters. But Walker saw as a positive the number of volunteers helping the mobile home park residents who had lost their homes. He saw several pastors at the scene, along with the Salvation Army and Red Cross providing aid. He said several volunteers not belonging to any organization showed up to offer their help. He declared Barron, Jackson and Rusk counties as disaster areas, which is a step to getting federal status and financial help. "The federal declaration only comes if we hit an economic threshold," Walker said. He urged residents of the mobile home park to take photos of items they own that were destroyed by the storm, and to compile a list of things that were lost and their costs. He encouraged them to give that information to their county's emergency government officials. The National Weather Service said the Chetek tornado ranked as an EF-2 tornado. That means it had winds from 111-135 mph. Tornadoes are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst. Budget plan Walker was in Cornell to speak about his two-year state budget proposal. He said under his plan, the Cornell School District will get $6 million in state funding, with a $244.20 hike in per pupil aid, an increase of $17,164 in transportation aid and $94,473 more in what's called sparsity aid, which is aided at rural school districts. Walker said his plan would eliminate the state forestry tax on homeowners' property tax bills. "We're going to continue to support forestry," if the tax is eliminated, he said. The state forestry tax is usually the smallest of the five taxes on a property tax bill. Much larger chunks go to local school districts, counties, cities, villages or towns and the vocational technical school system. Walker is confident his budget plan will pass, though there are a couple of areas to work out. About transportation funding, Walker said he would transfer money from Milwaukee-area projects to be used elsewhere in the state. Overall, Walker said his plan would spend $11.5 million for kindergarten through grade 12 over two years, which he said would be an all-time high. Presidential run Walker was peppered by questions from the students, including whether he would run for president again. "If I did a better job, I'd probably be president," he joked about his aborted 2016 run. He said he would not run for president again while serving as governor. Students also asked Walker if he would run for re-election. "I like being governor," he said. "There's no term limits ... My wife said maybe (I) can run one more time." Walker later told reporters he would wait until after the budget passes before deciding on running again. Walker was elected in 2010, survived a recall election in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014. Walker noted Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson served four terms, although resigning after 14 years in office to be a member of former President George W. Bush's cabinet. He told the students in Cornell they are in a great place. "There's all sorts of options (for you)," Walker said, adding this week there are 102,000 job openings in Wisconsin. "You've got the world in front of you. You've just got to reach out and grab it." Graduation at Cornell High School is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, May 27. Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship asked President Donald Trump on Tuesday to resist attempts in Congress to enhance criminal penalties for coal executives who violate mine safety and health standards. Blankenship, who recently was freed from federal prison, also asked the president in a letter to re-examine a federal investigation into the nations worst coal mining disaster in four decades. Blankenship served a year in prison for a misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Masseys Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia, where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion. Jurors didnt convict him of another conspiracy and securities fraud charges that could have extended his sentence to 30 years. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and others have tried without success to pass legislation to stiffen penalties on mine safety crimes. The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act was re-introduced last month. The legislation, initially offered following the 2010 explosion, also would give the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration more enforcement authority, strengthen whistleblower protections and require independent accident investigations. MSHA director Joe Main has said his agency also needs federal subpoena power in investigations. The GOP took control of the House in January 2011. Republicans have not given the bill much support. Manchin, a Democrat, didnt immediately return a request for comment Tuesday. Blankenship said mine safety will greatly improve if technology-related legislation is passed to allow Americas coal miners to mine coal at less risk to themselves. He also suggested splitting MSHA into a regulatory arm and a mine accident investigation arm. In a reply to a question about Blankenships letter, the White House said in a statement that Trump is committed to his promise to the American people to rid government of wasteful regulations. United Mine Workers union President Cecil Roberts said that before Trump considers making any changes to MSHA, I would strongly suggest he talk to the families of the 29 miners killed at UBB and then determine if he needs to act. In his letter, Blankenship questioned several investigations that concluded the blast was sparked by worn and broken equipment, fueled by a deadly buildup of methane and coal dust. Federal investigators discovered that Massey had made systematic, intentional and aggressive efforts to hide problems and throw off inspectors, even falsifying safety records. Managers also alerted miners when inspectors arrived, allowing time to disguise or temporarily fix dangerous conditions. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Electronic signature service DocuSign said on Tuesday hackers had temporarily gained access to a database containing customer emails, which the company linked to a surge in phishing emails sent to its users. The company said the emails imitated the DocuSign brand to trick recipients into opening a Microsoft Word document containing malicious software. DocuSigns service is widely used by big bank and insurers for keeping track of financial transactions, with 12 of the top 15 U.S. financial services companies using the companys software. The privately held company, valued at about $3 billion, makes software to add legally compliant electronic signatures to documents. DocuSign said only email addresses were accessed. Names, physical addresses, passwords, social security numbers or credit card data were not accessed, the company said on its website. San Francisco-based DocuSign said earlier this month that it was tracking the malicious e-mail campaign. DocuSign has about 200 million users and has been embraced as a quick and secure way to sign contracts and other official documents using a finger on a mobile device. (The company is publishing updates on the situation on its blog.) (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumya Akron police car 2.png A robber shot an Akron store owner in the face early Wednesday on Pioneer Street, police said. (File photo) AKRON, Ohio - An unidentified man shot a convenience store owner in the face during a Wednesday robbery in Akron, police said. The 34-year-old owner suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting at Pioneer Market on Pioneer Street near Sprague Street, police said. No arrests have been made, police said. The incident remains under investigation. The robber was armed with two knives when he entered the store just after midnight. The owner grabbed a handgun from behind the counter, police said. The robber wrestled the gun away from the owner and used it to pistol-whip the owner, police said. The owner tried to run away, and the robber fired a single shot that struck the owner's face, police said. Akron Fire Department paramedics took the owner to Summa Akron City Hospital for treatment. Officers searched the area but could not find the robber. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. AKRON, Ohio - Investigators seized gas cans, clothes and other items while searching a house as part of the investigation into a deadly Akron house fire. No arrests have been made in connection with the fire, police said. Investigators are still working to determine how the Monday fire that killed two adults and five children started. The blaze, which destroyed a house on Fultz Street, equaled the deadliest fire in the city's history. Investigators on Thursday executed two search warrants at houses on Hillcrest Street, around the corner from the site of the fatal fire. Approximately a dozen investigators from the Akron Fire Department, Akron Police Department and fire marshal's office searched the two houses and an adjacent garage. Investigators have not commented on the items that were seized during the search, which ended just after 2 p.m. One investigator took two gas cans and placed them into a fire department car. The can were taken from one of the houses on Hillcrest Street. Other investigators also took bags of clothing from the same house. Evidence recovered from the site of the fire is still being tested, and investigators do not yet have enough information to determine the blaze's cause, the fire marshal's office said Wednesday afternoon. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Disorderly conduct, Barrett Road: Three Berea boys - one 15, two 14 - will face misdemeanor criminal charges after they allegedly harassed and threatened a tenant at Tower in the Park Apartments, 55 Barrett. The victim, 22, called police at about 4:55 p.m. May 12. He said he had just left his apartment and was walking toward his car when the boys, two on a tandem bicycle and one on a mountain bike, rode up. They made lewd comments to the man. Apartment management had previously warned tenants about three boys jumping on parking garage roofs and bothering tenants. Police had ordered two of the boys to stay off apartment property. The man believed these boys were the troublemakers so he started recording a video of them on his cell phone. The boys continued their misbehavior and threatened to jump onto the man's garage roof, even though they knew the man was recording them. When the man asked the boys if they would fight like grown men, the boys jumped off their bikes and challenged the man to fight. The man walked away toward his car and ended the video. The man said that as he drove away, the boys said, "Call the police. They won't do (anything)." The boys later denied harassing the victim, despite the cell phone video. Operating a vehicle under the influence, Sheldon Road: A Brook Park woman, 27, was arrested at about 1:45 a.m. May 18 after police saw her car stopped on railroad tracks. The car, with its headlights off, was parked between two "road closed" signs on a closed part of Sheldon. As the officer parked his cruiser and walked toward the car, the woman stepped out. She reeked of alcohol and was unsteady on her feet. Her speech was slurred. The officer called a tow truck to remove the car from the railroad tracks. The woman became "belligerent and loud" but agreed to perform field sobriety tests, which she failed. Police found a glass marijuana pipe in the woman's car. Operating a vehicle under the influence, Prospect Street: A Parma man, 34, was arrested at about 5:50 a.m. May 13 after he ran his car into a traffic-signal pole on Prospect at Baker Street. The man told police that his steering wheel had ceased functioning. He smelled like alcohol. He admitted consuming three drinks earlier. Disorderly conduct, Bridge Street: A Bridge man, 37, was cited at about 11 p.m. May 12 after he arrived home drunk and broke into his own house. Neighbors called police after hearing the man, standing outside his home, yelling at someone inside. Then he kicked in the door to his house. When police arrived, the man was on the phone with his live-in girlfriend. She had the house keys but wasn't in the home. Then a friend of the man arrived with the house keys. The friend said the man's girlfriend did not return the keys herself because she was too intoxicated to drive. The friend vouched for the man, saying he was hurting over bad news he had received that day. The man admitted he had been drinking all day and understood why neighbors called police. The friend said he would stay with the man and watch over him. Operating a vehicle under the influence, North Rocky River Drive: A Berea man, 64, was arrested at about 12:05 a.m. May 13 after he turned his car from North Rocky River into Burger King on Front Street without signaling. The restaurant was closed at the time. The man drove back onto North Rocky River and his car started weaving. After police stopped the man, they smelled alcohol on him. Marijuana possession, Front Street: A Berea man, 30, was arrested at about 8:30 a.m. May 13 after police found marijuana in a backpack inside his car. Police had stopped his car because they checked the license-plate number and learned the man did not have a valid driver's license. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The weather in Cleveland looks like it may finally be nice enough this weekend for a trip to the beach. And with those fleeting months of nice weather in Northeast Ohio set to begin at long last, we decided to take a look through our photo archives and find some of the best vintage beach pictures. The images we collected document the way Northeast Ohio beaches have changed, and haven't changed, through the years. Some lifeguard stands, for example, where once little more than a pole with a small piece of wood on top of it that was just big enough for a lifeguard to sit on. Swimsuits also changed. Women once preferred one piece suits, but now you're more likely to see bikinis on Cleveland area beaches. And the swim trunks favored by most men were once much shorter. Beach activities like surfing and riding jet skis have been popular for decades and are pictured in our vintage photographs. The history of Cleveland area beaches is also pockmarked with instances of pollution warnings, and a few of those are included in this gallery. Scroll through the gallery above to see some of Cleveland.com and the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best beach pictures. Screen Shot 2017-05-17 at 3.12.44 PM.png Roaa Al-Dhannoon's ex-husband has been indicted in connection to her death. (File photo) LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Roaa Al-Dhannoon's ex-husband, Fahad Mohammed Saeed, has been indicted in connection to her death. Saeed, 26, is charged with aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, burglary, violating a protection order, gross abuse of a corpse, theft, telecommunication fraud and tampering with evidence and possessing criminal tools, authorities said during a press conference Thursday morning at the Lakewood Police Department. He is scheduled for his arraignment at 8:30 a.m. June 2, court records show. Saeed could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley said. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Officers and Lakewood police announced Wednesday that remains found in a container Monday near a Brooklyn ravine belong to Al-Dhannoon. Investigators would not discuss the details about how she died or how her body got there at Thursday's press conference. Investigators identified her using her fingerprints. Al-Dhannoon, 25, of Lakewood, was last seen Oct. 16, 2016 at her Edgewater Drive apartment in Lakewood. A family member reported her missing Oct. 19. Al-Dhannoon was found near the ravine behind an apartment building on Memphis Avenue near Tiedeman Road. The cause of her death is still being determined. Family and friends were concerned for her well-being because she had never been away from her son. He is 4 years old now, authorities said at the press conference. Investigators with Lakewood police, the FBI and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley's office believe Al-Dhannoon was kidnapped and possibly killed, assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor Blaise Thomas said earlier this month. Saeed, was sentenced for violating a restraining order before she disappeared. He is accused of contacting her and their son. He pleaded guilty in Lakewood Municipal, according to court records. He is currently serving a six-month sentence. Another man, Ammar Sami, 21, pleaded no contest to obstruction of justice in her disappearance and was found guilty. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 11 a.m. May 25, court records show. Authorities say he provided false information to the Lakewood Police Department and the Cleveland Division of the FBI. Lakewood police, the Cleveland FBI and the Medical Examiner's Officer concentrated on the ravine located along a stretch of Big Creel south of Memphis Avenue and east of Tiedeman Road. Authorities came across the container with the biological remains. The FBI's Evidence Response Team sifted through dirt near the Big Creek behind Parkview Estate Apartments. LIVE: Authorities give update on Roaa Al-Dhannoon case in Lakewood Posted by cleveland.com on Thursday, May 18, 2017 If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. U.S. Capitol States have leeway in how they spend money from Washington, and a breakaway state in what is now part of Ohio could easily make very different decisions than those made in Columbus. (Evan Vucci, Associated Press) WASHINGTON - Federal money - billions of dollars, sent to Ohio every year -- follows people, not states. If you get a farm subsidy or have a contract to supply Uncle Sam with jet engines, it should make no difference whether you live in Western Reserve or Leftover Ohio. Yet it can. This post is part of cleveland.com's series, "Western Reserve: the 51st state?" For more stories, click here. Ohio's past decisions to apply for federal money, to give it back to Washington or to spend one way but not another have had lasting political and financial implications. Ohio was going to build a high-speed rail line with federal money, until a new governor decided otherwise. Ohio was going to cut a break to food stamp recipients who couldn't find work, until it decided to skip big cities. So if the northern part of the state were to break away, decisions by the new state of Western Reserve on how to deal with federal money could make a bright contrast with those of the leftover state. It's not that we'd lose money. In some ways, we'd gain. In others, the cities and counties we now think of as downstate -- those in Leftover Ohio, if we made the split -- would still come out ahead. That's a fact we can't change with a mere breakup. There are more of them -- more people, more counties -- and they already get more in federal contracts. But contracts are only a small part of the federal funding picture. So how might this play out? Here are five answers. How you play the game: Large shares of money flow from Washington to the states to help people with retirement, transportation, health care, housing, jobless benefits and other social services. Excluding contracts, which we'll get to in a moment, federal financial assistance that flowed to Ohio - for state and local government use, universities, research institutions, roads and more - came to $70.7 billion in 2016, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's federal spending database. Does Ohio get what it deserves - and might the Western Reserve do better on its own? That's speculative, but the relative merits, past successes and the overall strategies of a state can make a difference. Case Western Reserve University, a private institution, is a powerhouse in medical research, getting $175 million in new medical and health research awards in 2016, according to the National Institutes of Health. That's more than any other Ohio institution that year, and Case's first-in-the-state rank is typical. Its ability to attract government grants would not change. Yet in a different kind of competitive grant, Ohio lost a chance to get millions of federal dollars to keep struggling homeowners out of foreclosure in 2016 - and as a result, other states got much larger shares. Politics and differing priorities were to blame, not geography. State-level officials gambled that they could persuade the Treasury Department to let them use most of a requested $250 million competitive grant to demolish already foreclosed, abandoned homes. Treasury, managing a recession-era program, was not convinced Ohio would handle that much demolition. It didn't matter how badly the state needed or deserved the money. What mattered to Treasury was demonstrated ability. Treasury told that to Ohio. Ohio didn't listen -- not to Treasury, and not to people within the state begging it to take a different approach. Consequently, Ohio got $93 million, not $250 million, leaving thousands of struggling homeowners behind. If Western Reserve were an actual state, its blight-removal record might have persuaded the federal government. Or it might have structured its request differently. The only thing certain is that Ohio lost. How you spend or give back what you have: Remember Ohio's decision to start a high-speed rail line from Cleveland to Cincinnati? In the throes of the recession, then-Gov. Ted Strickland accepted an offer of $400 million from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program. Then John Kasich won election and canceled the rail plan, citing government deficits and a study that showed the rail route would limit the train's average speed to 39 mph. A later study predicted a 50 mph average. Had a governor in the new state of Western Reserve been in office, the decision on rail, regardless of route, might have been different. The point is that the way each state divides or spends its federal money, and even a state's decision to accept the money in the first place, can vary widely. Consider Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Kasich accepted the federal money that went with expansion, and the state added 700,000 lower-income patients to its Medicaid rolls. Nineteen other states declined. Now Congress is trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. States could gain more authority over how they spend their federal Medicaid allotments and, more broadly, how they deal with health care and insurance for the poor. A conservative governor elected in 2018 could reduce benefits to Ohioans, saying the state can't afford the status quo as the federal share of funding drops. But in the new state of the Western Reserve, given the kinds of governors and legislators people in Cleveland, Akron and Toledo would elect, a more liberal governor might choose differently. 31 states expanded Medicaid under the ACA, and many governors including Governor Kasich would like to keep it. https://t.co/4kUQEeJqj5 Peter D. Ricoy (@PeterRicoy) February 8, 2017 How you tip the scales: Social services such as housing subsidies, food stamps and temporary cash assistance come from a different type of federal program. States should get the same amount for each deserving beneficiary. That's why some of these funds come in what's called formula grants. Therefore, while Western Reserve would have a slightly higher poverty rate (15.9 percent) than Leftover Ohio (15.7 percent), and its childhood poverty rate would be higher (23.6 percent, to Leftover Ohio's 22.2 percent), this should make no difference on an individual level. It might anyway. Political leaders get to put their thumbs on their states' policy scales, even with federal formula funds. Based on the decisions Ohio's current government has made, several social services advocates posited that a poor person might be better off living in Western Reserve. There are a number of examples to explain why, but one of the best involves food stamps, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Federal rules say people can get SNAP if they have incomes of up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $26,208 for a family of three and $31,596 for a family of four. But if able-bodied adults between age 18 and 50 without dependents don't get work or get job training 80 hours a month, their benefits stop after three months. States can seek exceptions, though - and this is where Western Reserve would probably seek a different exception than the one Kasich sought and got for Ohio. States can try to get the work requirements waived in areas where unemployment has run 20 percent higher than the national average for two years. It is simply harder to find a job and fulfill the work requirements in those areas. But how do you define an area? Kasich defined it at the county level. That provided relief from the work requirement, and continues to, in a swath of rural counties such as Adams, Clinton, Coshocton and Gallia. Yet that left cities including Cleveland and Lorain without the waivers, even though they have notably high unemployment. Kasich could have defined "area" more narrowly. State officials said, however, that county unemployment is a better measure of the job market. Social services advocates in Ohio's big cities disagreed, and still fume, saying the decision knocked unemployed people in cities who could not find jobs off food assistance. This isn't a north-south issue. But as Joel Potts, executive director of the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors' Association, noted, six of Ohio's ten largest metropolitan areas are in northern Ohio. If the state set the food stamp-waiver boundaries differently, that might make a political and policy difference. How what you are determines what you get: Billions of dollars in federal contracts flow to companies doing work in Ohio. In 2016, the federal government spent more than $5.3 billion on contract work performed in the state. The good news for Western Reserve is that contractors working with NASA Glenn Research Center, researchers at the area's universities and a number of private companies get big slices for their work already. But if the state split up, Leftover Ohio would get a bigger share. This is not just a matter of physical size and population. It's because Leftover Ohio would still have federal contracting behemoths Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, the giant General Electric jet engine plant in suburban Cincinnati and the Battelle Memorial Institute, a major research hub in Columbus. Each supports multiple contracts, subcontractors and jobs, and collectively bring billions of federal dollars to Ohio. Because of lags in reporting, details can only be analyzed for $4.7 billion in the federal contracts. But those details jump out: The Dayton area alone got more than $1.7 billion of the contract money in 2016, or more than one-third of the entire state's total, largely because of Wright-Patterson. Cleveland came in far below, at $352.5 million. Although the Cleveland figure excludes suburbs, the data make clear that Leftover Ohio would be in the lead. This would change nothing in the quality of lives or economic well-being of Western Reserve residents. And as a practical matter, far more money is at stake each year in grants and federal assistance than comes in for contracts, even the big ones mentioned here. But if measurements matter, it's good to know this before breaking up. How pride plays into it all: This leads to pride. Leftover Ohio -- the old state we'd be leaving -- would get more federal money when population was the sole factor. It's simply a matter of having more people. Incomes would be higher there, too. And Leftover Ohio would have lower poverty. But if federal money for improvement is what matters, that could be Western Reserve's gain. Anti-poverty and anti-blight programs like the Community Development Block Grant dole out money based on a community's population, poverty rate and condition of housing, so Western Reserve wouldn't likely face a loss. And as noted already, the new state's needs and priorities might be served better -- and certainly differently -- by the new state's leadership. But then there's this: Leftover Ohio might be younger, Western Reserve older. A cleveland.com calculation of 2016 Social Security payments, broken down by recipients' counties, shows Western Reserve would get more in retirement benefits per capita than Leftover Ohio. There could be other explanations for the higher payments, but the age hypothesis is consistent with voter registration records. Those show that population centers in Western Reserve would have a higher share of voting residents age 65 and older than in Leftover Ohio. Tough decisions would lie ahead of a split. Does Western Reserve care more about political independence, about politicians who represent its interests, about federal money following the region's desires and needs -- or about age, income and contracts? If a breakup ever happens, there's a lot to think about. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A woman "terrorized" her wife and family after she broke into their Ohio City home and threatened to have it shot up after accusing her wife of cheating, police say. Kimetra Leslie, 28, is charged with second-degree felonious assault and burglary. A gun was found hidden in the home after the break-in, and police asked a judge to hold Leslie on a high bond out of concern for the family's safety, according to police and court documents. Leslie's assault charge stems from a May 10 incident where she accused her wife of having an affair with the wife's stepfather, court records say. Leslie choked the woman, pulled her hair and repeatedly punched her, leaving her with a broken nose and other injuries, records say. Days later, around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Leslie showed up at the home of the woman's family on West 31st Place near Woodbine Avenue in the Ohio City neighborhood, records say. The wife's father ordered Leslie to leave, but he noticed her hands in her pocket and feared she had a gun, the report says. The man pepper-sprayed Leslie in the face, causing her to drop "something heavy" onto the porch, a police report says. The father ran away screaming as Leslie broke inside through the front window, records say. She took off some of her clothes and left them inside before police arrived to arrest her, the report says. The wife's brother later found a gun and pair of brass knuckles inside his bedroom, the report says. Leslie appeared for arraignment Tuesday, where a judge set her bond at $50,000 and ordered her to have no contact with the victims before binding the case over to a Cuyahoga County grand jury. Her next court appearance is slated for May 22. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump on Thursday took the first step towards fulfilling his campaign promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement by having his top trade representative officially notify Congress of his intent. But longtime congressional critics of the trade deal that that contributed to Midwestern manufacturing job loss expressed skepticism that a president who packed his cabinet with Wall Street veterans will make trade changes that help the middle class. My statement on @POTUS announcement to renegotiate #NAFTA. Workers on both sides of the border need a fair deal! https://t.co/8vS8NVCEdQ pic.twitter.com/xNeBmaOgdT Marcy Kaptur (@RepMarcyKaptur) May 18, 2017 "I'm ready to sit down and be be a constructive part of fixing this problem, but we need a little more seriousness and a little more engagement from the executive branch if we're going to make that happen," Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said at a Capitol Hill press conference. Trump called NAFTA "the worst trade deal in the history of the world" during his presidential campaign, promising to revise it during appearances in parts of the country - like Ohio - that lost jobs after NAFTA's 1994 implementation. I will renegotiate NAFTA. If I cant make a great deal, were going to tear it up. Were going to get this economy running again. #Debate Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2016 The notification letter U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent to Congress noted that that the U.S. economy and its businesses have changed considerably in the 25 years since NAFTA was negotiated, but the agreement hasn't kept up. It said Trump will start negotiations with Canada and Mexico "as soon as practicable, but no earlier than 90 days from the date of this notice." "Our aim is that NAFTA be modernized to include new provisions to address intellectual property rights, regulatory practices, state-owned enterprises, services, customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, labor, environment and small and medium enterprises," his letter said. But Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio - who met with Lighthizer on Wednesday - said he was told the administration doesn't want to disrupt investors or trade patterns when it renegotiates NAFTA. "If that's the starting point, then nothing will come of this that will benefit American workers or American manufacturing," DeFazio said at the press conference. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who served as U.S. Trade Representative when George W. Bush was president, said he agrees NAFTA should be modernized and will work with the administration to ensure it protects against unfair imports and opens markets to U.S. products. "I'm pleased the administration is working to expand market access, improve customs enforcement, and improve American manufacturing - all part of our effort to create more jobs and boost wages," said a statement from Portman. Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said he wants the renegotiation to cut the best deal for U.S. workers. Democrats at a Capitol Hill press conference used this table to highlight the economic damage wrought by the North American Free Trade agreement. "We've heard a lot of promises from this Administration on trade, and the President needs to follow through," said a statement from Brown. "As with every trade deal, I'll hold this Administration's approach to NAFTA to the same standard I've always used: does it put Ohio workers first?" A spokesman for Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Holmes County Republican, said Gibbs believes it makes sense to update old trade agreements "to reflect new technologies and industries," and the interests of American workers, farmers and businesses should be represented in the negotiations. Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur said NAFTA wiped out nearly 1 million U.S. jobs, added $1 trillion to the nation's trade deficit, and reduced average incomes in her part of the country by $7,000. She said it hasn't yielded a single year of trade and jobs balance or surplus in a quarter century, and she's eager for it to be renegotiated. "We know why President Trump is president of the United States," said Kaptur. "NAFTA is a brutal economic instrument and it pits the investment class against the industrial working class and small farmers." Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Ohio State Sen. Frank LaRose says he's running for Ohio Secretary of State. And Ohio politicians are reacting to the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump. Read more in today's Ohio Politics Roundup. Election 2018: Republican State Sen. Frank LaRose, of Hudson, announced that he's running for Ohio Secretary of State, cleveland.com's Andrew J. Tobias writes. "LaRose, 38, of Hudson, said in statement Wednesday he is running because he believes in 'the power of free elections,'" Tobias writes. "I believe our elected leaders must aspire to civility, find common ground and work together while still upholding their deeply held briefs," LaRose said. "As a principled conservative, I have endeavored to work with my colleagues on opposing sides of an issue while holding true to my core beliefs." Jordan reacts: Ohio U.S. Rep Jim Jordan, of Urbana, said Congress "needs to get to the bottom" of allegations that President Donald Trump tried to stop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the Columbus Dispatch's Jessica Wehrman reports. "Let's get the information, let's get the facts and then let's move on from there," Jordan said on CNBC. "No one's ever accused me of going easy on my own party. I'll follow the trail, I'll follow the truth, I'll follow the facts, but let's get those first before we start determining and jumping to conclusions and having all these hypotheticals." Brown reacts: Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he's not calling for Trump's impeachment, but he is concerned about the allegations against the president, Toledo Blade reporter Tom Troy reports. "I'm not willing to say it's obstruction of justice or an impeachable offense. I'm not a lawyer. I'm listening to people in both parties, I'm going to intelligence briefings, at some point will talk to the former director of the FBI. I really want this done thoroughly, quickly, and move on to how do we create jobs in the country," Brown said in a conference telephone call with Ohio media. Opioid crisis: "Reports that President Donald Trump is preparing to slash the Office of National Drug Control Policy's budget by 95 percent amid a heroin death epidemic has prompted a bipartisan group of congress members to urge that money be saved," cleveland.com reporter Sabrina Eaton writes. "A letter more than 70 congress members sent Tuesday to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney says the office is 'uniquely positioned to address the causes and effects of the current opioid crisis with proven strategies and broad reach.'" "While Congress would have to sign off on any cuts in Trump's budget, congress members from Ohio and other states say drug office reductions would jeopardize programs that help law enforcement and community groups fight the growing opioid epidemic," Eaton writes. "For these important programs to remain effective, we believe they must be continue to be fully funded and coordinated effectively," the letter reads. "We are gravely concerned that any interruption would exacerbate the crises in our communities and we remain committed in working together to reverse the damaging effects that opioids and other drugs have had on American families." "The letter's Ohio signatories included Republicans Bill Johnson of Marietta, Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township, Steve Stivers of the Columbus area and Brad Wenstrup of the Cincinnati area, as well as Democrats Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights, and Tim Ryan of the Niles area," Eaton writes. Paying for treatment: Two Democrats in the Ohio Senate want to use the state's rainy day fund to target the state's opioid crisis, cleveland.com reporter's Jackie Borchardt writes. "Their idea: Take $200 million from the state's $2 billion rainy day fund to increase treatment options, drug prevention education in schools and collect county-level data to better direct resources to places of most need," Borchardt writes. "Sens. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman and Kenny Yuko of Richmond Heights introduced legislation Wednesday that would set aside the money to be spent over two years. The bill would also require insurance companies to cover Suboxone, Vivitrol and other medication used to treat drug addiction, as well as 'abuse deterrent' prescription opioids that cannot be crushed and snorted or injected." Worker's compensation in Ohio: "A typically routine workers' compensation budget bill has generated outrage from Democrats over amendments eliminating benefits for undocumented immigrants and paring back a new law recognizing cancer as an on-the-job illness for firefighters," cleveland.com's Borchardt writes. "The House voted 65-29, along party lines, Wednesday to approve the two-year $566.5 million workers' compensation budget bill. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration" Lawsuit: Conservative and liberal political commentators are challenging the constitutionality of Ohio's new internet harassment law, Associated Press reporter Julie Carr Smyth writes. "A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland alleges a prohibition against knowingly posting text or audio statements or images on a website 'for the purpose of abusing... or harassing another person' violates the commentators' constitutional rights to free speech and expression," Smyth writes. "The plaintiffs in the suit are the liberal blog Plunderbund; the Portage County Tea Party, represented by well-known GOP detractor Tom Zawistowski; and John Spinelli, a freelance political reporter." "All contend they or their organizations 'routinely engage' in protected speech that 'may be considered provocative' and the law now subjects them to 'a credible risk of prosecution,'" Smyth writes. Suspended: "The chairman of the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee has suspended further hearings -- and a vote -- on a proposed bill allowing FirstEnergy to create a special customer charge to subsidize its nuclear power plant fleet," Plain Dealer reporter John Funk writes. "We have heard over 10 hours of testimony on this bill [House Bill 178]. I have given proponents and opponents a chance to make their case," said William Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who chairs the committee. "I am not sensing a keen desire on the part of the House members to vote on this and doubt that we will have more hearings in the near future unless something cataclysmic should happen." Sin tax: "Cuyahoga County will not provide a large infusion of money for major renovations to Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena because officials said they will not sell bonds backed by the sin tax," cleveland.com reporter Karen Farkas writes. "Instead the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Indians, along with the Cleveland Browns, will likely split about $7.5 million each year raised by Cuyahoga County taxes on alcohol and cigarettes." Get Battleground Briefing, our FREE politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox: Sign up here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @_marykilpatrick Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. 5.18.17 Westlake I-90 crash Traffic was at a standstill Thursday evening on Interstate 90 eastbound near the Clague Road entrance. A crash has closed the freeway between Clague and Detroit roads. (Ohio Department of Transportation) WESTLAKE, Ohio -- A crash on Interstate 90 eastbound in Westlake has closed the road Thursday evening. The crash was reported about 5:55 p.m., according to the Ohio Department of Transportation's website OhGo.com. The highway is currently completely closed between Clague and Detroit roads. Drivers must find an alternate route. It's unclear when lanes will re-open. Closed due to accident in #Cuyahoga on I-90 EB before Detroit Rd, stopped traffic back to Crocker #traffic https://t.co/IXfI2jHBEJ TTWN Cleveland (@TotalTrafficCLE) May 18, 2017 OhGo.com shows that traffic is moving slower than 25 mph all the way into Avon, further west than the Nagel Road entrance and exit. (Updated 6:45 p.m.): The right lanes of the roadway remain closed, meaning the far-left lane of the highway has been re-opened for traffic to pass, OhGo.com shows. Accident, two lanes blocked in #Cuyahoga on I-90 EB before Detroit Rd, stop and go traffic back to Crocker, delay of 13 mins #traffic TTWN Cleveland (@TotalTrafficCLE) May 18, 2017 (Updated 7:10 p.m.): Ohio Department of Transportation traffic cameras show that the crash has been cleared, and all lanes are now open. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Thousands Support Catholic Teacher Punished for Quoting Saint on Islam Contact: John Ritchie, TFP Student Action, 717-225-7147 ext 229 HANOVER, Penn., May 18, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Sixth-grade teacher Mark Smythe was reportedly threatened with dismissal after he used a catechetical text about Islam written by Saint John Bosco at Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Ocala, Florida. Dr. Jacquelyn Flanigan, Associate Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Orlando instead of standing by Mark Smythe reportedly reprimanded him for "disrespect" to Islam, claiming that his action was "not consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church." Many Catholics are perplexed however. "I don't understand why a Catholic instructor at a Catholic school is being punished for quoting a Catholic saint," said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. "This is not only troublesome, but also unjust." So far more than 16,559 people have signed a petition in support of the teacher, urging the Catholic Superintendant of Schools for the Diocese of Orlando to respect Mr. Smythe's academic freedom. Read and sign the petition here: www.tfpstudentaction.org/petitions/urge-catholic-school-not-to-sack-teacher-for-quoting-saint-john-bosco-on-islam The petition poses a series of questions: "If Mark is threatened with dismissal for quoting Saint John Bosco, what other Catholic saints will be next? Saint Thomas Aquinas? Blessed Urban II who convoked the Crusades? Saint Pius V who celebrated the victory of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Catholic fleet over Islam at Lepanto? Saint Francis of Assisi who tried to convince sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt of the errors of Islam and bring him to the truth of the Catholic faith?" Those who signed the petition are calling on school officials to serve "justice and truth by retaining Mr. Smythe as a teacher." Carnegie Mellon Qatar Graduates Largest Class May 18, 2017 By Angela Ford Maher Khan earned degrees in both computer science and information systems from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, which celebrated graduation on May 1. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) celebrated its milestone 10th graduation with its largest class to date: 109 students were recognized in the presence of family, friends, faculty and alumni. Ilker Baybars, dean and CEO of CMU-Q, reminded students how far they have come since arriving at the university. "You worked hard from the start, learning to use creativity, collaboration and tenacity to solve problems," Baybars said. "You have learned that leadership cannot exist without teamwork. Every one of you has added to the Carnegie Mellon community." This year's graduating class consists of 41 business administration students, 33 information systems students, 19 biological sciences students and 16 computer science students. This is an accomplished class academically, with 70 percent completing a minor and 53 percent received University Honors for earning a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5. Commencement speaker and CMU President Subra Suresh, sent the students forth with a charge to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution that involves bringing together the digital, biological and physical worlds. "Our challenge is to continuously strive to understand the far-reaching implications of this Fourth Industrial Revolution," Suresh said. "I am confident that you are supremely prepared to take up this task and guide humanity to a more prosperous future." The student speaker for the Class of 2017 was Ibrahim Soltan, an information systems graduate with a business administration minor. "While it is true that individual classes taught us math and science and programming and rhetoric, and biology, the overall CMU-Q experience has taught us how to identify and solve problems," Soltan said. "From small puzzles to grand challenges like autonomous cars or robotic limbs, we are at the forefront of entrepreneurship and innovation. And that is because we are taught how to solve problems." The class of 2017 raises the number of CMU-Q alumni to 679; they join a worldwide Carnegie Mellon network of more than 100,000 graduates. Watch the ceremony. After two successful quarterly reports in January and April and management's promising guidance for the year backed up by cost-cutting initiatives, the stock took off. Until last week, they had been. The toolmaker's stock had rallied over 17 percent for 2017, practically tripling the S&P 500's performance over the same period. "Here's a high quality company that's benefiting from some big changes from management, like the acquisition of Newell Brands' tool business and then Sears' Craftsman brand. The numbers have been excellent," the " Mad Money " host said. On the first day of palpable weakness in the major averages, Jim Cramer scoured the market for buying opportunities and found one manufacturer that fit the ticket: Stanley Black & Decker . Even better, the company announced the acquisitions of Newell Brands' tool division and Sears' Craftsman arm, both boons to the company's future earnings. But the stock is currently down almost $5 from its 52-week highs due to its recent announcement of an offering of 6.5 million equity units, a security that is similar to a common stock but not exactly the same. "To me, the weakness here seems misguided," Cramer said. "I don't know if the sellers simply don't understand how these equity units work or if they just want to take profits, but either way, you're setting up to get an opportunity to a buy a high quality stock into some unjustified weakness given how strong the business is." Even Stanley Black & Decker's bullish analyst day, during which management forecasted the toolmaker almost doubling its revenues by 2022, and Home Depot's earnings report, where tools were among the best-selling items, could not lift the market's spirits. This was partly justified, Cramer said. In a nutshell, the company is not required to pay any interest or dividends on equity units, which cannot be converted to common stock until May 2020, barring certain circumstances. While Cramer thinks offering equity units was a creative way for the industrial manufacturer to raise money, he said he would not advise buying them. "I wouldn't necessarily recommend the equity units for homegamers; call me conservative, but I don't like buying something that we can't turn around and sell if the facts change. However, I think the common stock is absolutely worth buying into this weakness. Stanley Black & Decker is doing this equity offering to finance a pair of acquisitions that will substantially bolster the earnings in the not too distant future," the "Mad Money" host said. "What's not to like?" Moreover, thanks to the recent pullback, Stanley Black & Decker's stock is relatively cheap, trading at under 17 times next year's earnings estimates. "Here's the bottom line: Stanley Black & Decker's stock was on fire, right up until the company announced the equity unit offering last week, and then, of course, today's selloff didn't help anything. I think you need to view any continued weakness here as a rare opportunity to buy a very high quality stock coming down from its all-time high at a discount to its excellent future prospects," Cramer said. "That's called investing." Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com The Pentagon's "rigid and convoluted" acquisition system is wasting billions in taxpayer dollars, according to a new report. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, a congressionally-mandated advisory panel looking into Pentagon acquisition reform presented an interim report calling for a shake-up in the Department of Defense's outmoded acquisition system. It said the reforms would save money and help the military stay on the cutting edge of technology. "Some of the regulations and statutes governing defense acquisitions are outdated or no longer applicable and should be amended or repealed to make the system more effective and efficient, and expand the number of companies willing to do business with DoD," said the report. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) on Thursday is expected to introduce a DoD military procurement reform measure focusing on weapons systems. The lawmaker referred to the announcement at Wednesday's hearing but provided no specifics on the bill. "We made some significant changes," said Thornberry. "But I don't think any of us believe that we have done enough or fixed the problem. And that is part of the reason this panel was created." The independent advisory panel's report said the number of defense firms exclusively manufacturing products for the U.S. is declining and that these companies are increasingly relying on subcontractors, including sometimes foreign-based suppliers. The report said these changes in the defense industrial base also require new thinking by Pentagon leaders because military technology solutions don't always come from the nation's five major defense prime contractors. It said sometimes the most innovative tech can be found from smaller firms. At the same time, the report said the military needs to consider new approaches, including using off-the-shelf hardware or through modifying existing technologies. "Instead of being so rigid and convoluted, the acquisition system should be shaped to fit the required capabilities," the report stated. Also, the advisory report urged that the Pentagon move faster to cancel programs when necessary rather than allowing costs to be ignored. The report also identified examples of DoD waste and areas where savings could be achieved in the tens of billions of dollars. In particular, it singled out the Air Force's Expeditionary Combat Support System information technology system, a computer replacement program which it said ended up costing "a billion dollars with no useful results." Also, it said the Army could save about $11 billion during the life of its purchase of armored vehicles through simple "production efficiencies." "Poor programs may need to be cancelled, but in such cases, the decision should happen earlier and before spending so much money. Requirements, budgeting, and acquisition strategies that are not aligned and coordinated can cost billions of dollars." The advisory panel also found non-defense U.S. companies with emerging technologies are sometimes staying away from the defense sector. Advisory panel member Joseph Dyer, a former commander of the Naval Air Systems Command and former COO and chief strategy officer of Boston-based iRobot , spoke at the hearing about how cutting-edge firms are sometimes discouraged from bidding for defense work. Dyer recalled a meeting with a Wall Street analyst who was critical of iRobot getting into defense and offered up some advice: "You have to get iRobot out of the defense business. It's killing your stock price. His point was profits are limited by weighted guidelines [from the Pentagon's acquisition policies]." Yet Dyer said iRobot is just the kind of company the Pentagon should be looking to attract given its focus on cutting-edge technologies such as autonomy and artificial intelligence, among other things. According to the report, "DoD has benefited from disruptive technologies and been able to incorporate these innovations, from net-centric warfare to unmanned vehicles. To fully incorporate existing and future technologies requires organizational shifts that will allow DoD to access and incorporate them faster than potential competitors." "Today the United States' ability to maintain technological, military, and economic superiority is being challenged because its adversaries are rapidly modernizing their militaries with an eye toward exploiting U.S. vulnerabilities and negating traditional U.S. advantages," said the report. Added the report, "DoD has not fully adjusted to the pace of this environment, nor has it adjusted to a marketplace that bears no resemblance to that of just a few decades ago." Another advisory panel member suggested Alphabet's Google, Facebook and other tech firms have speed in the overall development process when it comes to software but that the Pentagon still is operating under an outdated model with software development. "You have to be able to go fast, go in short sprints and if you make a mistake you get back on track," said advisory panel member William LaPlante, a former assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. One of the Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee expressed skepticism about the chances of any major acquisition reforms. "Every administration in virtually every Secretary of Defense since World War II has embarked on an acquisition reform effort," said Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-California). "Yet we still face significant challenges." Carbajal asked the advisory panel to identify specific recommendations and he urged them to take "a different approach." Deidre Lee, chair of the defense streamlining advisory panel, conceded there might be resistance to some of the changes the panel eventually proposes. Even so, Lee said "the environment is right. You in the Congress are interested." "We also have some very bold recommendations that will come out later that will impact some particular constituencies," said Lee, a former director of defense procurement and acquisition policy and also a former administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. She added, "There will be some hard decisions to make significant changes for us to move on and modernize this acquisition system." Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump jokes with retired Gen. Michael Flynn as they speak at a rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport on October 18, 2016 in Grand Junction Colorado. Michael T. Flynn, who was fired from his position as national security adviser, told U.S. President Donald Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation, the New York Times reported late Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the case. Despite Flynn telling the team about the investigation into whether he secretly worked as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign on January 4, about a month after he was informed, Trump still gave Flynn the adviser position, the report said. That meant Trump's team knew about the investigation earlier than was previously reported, the report said. The report noted that the job gave Flynn, who was fired after 24 days, access not just to the president, but also to "nearly every secret" held by American intelligence agencies. The full New York Times report can be read here. Alphabet 's Google has been enhancing its own mobile apps with artificial intelligence (AI). Now Google is trying to make it easier for other companies to use AI in Android apps. And that could help Google's effort to make Android more appealing than Apple 's iOS mobile operating system. Google believes Android device makers will come out with new models featuring special chips called digital signal processors that will support methods for deep learning, a type of AI that Google and other technology companies have been using inside their apps in the past few years. Deep learning involves two steps: First, researchers train software on lots of data, like photos. Then, the researchers show new data to the neural networks and tell them to make inferences about the data. For example, neural networks that have been fed pictures of dogs and other animals that are properly labeled can make an educated guess about whether a new picture contains a dog. Historically, this work was done on powerful computers in a data center somewhere, with the results fed back down to the mobile device. But Google foresees a day when phones and tablets will be able to do it themselves. As a result, apps will be able to get smarter and do more helpful and interesting things more quickly, without calling back to data centers. Apps could refine their image-recognition or speech-recognition systems on the fly. More broadly, Android devices will have more computing power onboard. Google will make it easier for developers to make use of that added computing power by introducing a new application programming interface for neural networks, Dave Burke, vice president of engineering for Android at Google, announced on Wednesday at the Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California. The tool will be part of TensorFlow Lite, a special version of Google's TensorFlow open-source software for deep learning. TensorFlow Lite is "a library for apps designed to be fast and small, yet still enabling state-of-the-art techniques," Burke said. Last year Google enhanced TensorFlow with Android and iOS support, but now Google is going further. Today's news comes a few weeks after Facebook introduced Caffe2, an open-source deep learning framework that can work inside Android and iOS apps. Apple has not yet added tools for incorporating AI systems into iOS apps. Watch: Google conference kicks off MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. 's mission is to steer people to the information they need in their daily lives. One crucial area the Internet giant says could use some work: Jobs. So Google is launching a new initiative, Google for Jobs, that includes a feature in search that collects and organizes millions of job postings from all over the web to make them easier for job seekers to find. In coming weeks, a Google search for a cashier job in Des Moines or a software engineering gig in Boise will pop up job openings at the top of search results. With Google for Jobs, job hunters will be able to explore the listings across experience and wage levels by industry, category and location, refining these searches to find full or part-time roles or accessibility to public transportation. Google is determined to crack the code on matching available jobs with the right candidates, CEO Sundar Pichai said during his keynote address Wednesday at Google's annual I/O conference for software developers here. "The challenge of connecting job seekers to better information on job availability is like many search challenges we've solved in the past," he said. More from USA TODAY: Pichai says he hopes Google's new job search function will surface new opportunities for job seekers who often don't know there's a job opening "right next door." Google is the latest Silicon Valley company to announce an effort to boost American jobs after President Donald Trump's call to put America first. The aggressive push into jobs could help Google attract even more employment-related advertising. Already, it's expected to pull in three-quarters of search ad spending in the U.S. this year, according to research firm eMarketer. It's also another example of the consumer-centric company's dive into the corporate sector as it hunts for new revenue sources beyond advertising. Anytime an 800-pound gorilla like Google enters a market, it sends shudders through the established players in the targeted industry. Google's leap into travel search was a game changer for the travel booking industry. In job search, the heavyweight is Indeed, which says it's the largest job search engine, with more than 20 million job postings and 200 million unique visitors a month. "We are happy to see that 13 years after Indeed launched, Google has woken up to the fact that searching for jobs is one of the most important searches in anyone's life," Indeed President Chris Hyams told USA TODAY. Other job-search companies such as Monster and CareerBuilder are partnering with Google, an unusual amount of cooperation from its competitors. Google scours the web, pulling from a broad cross-section of job listings, including from Glassdoor, Facebook, LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter. The aim is to "increase the efficiency of job matching," said Nick Zakrasek, a product manager for Google search, who gave USA TODAY a first look at the new search results job seekers will soon see. Job seekers who find a listing via Google search are then taken to the company or job-search site listing, where they can apply. Google for Jobs could prove useful to Americans whose economic anxiety is growing despite low unemployment rates, as more jobs are being displaced by technological advances, increased automation and spreading globalization. Google is very much a part of those advances: It's charting an artificial intelligence-powered future that promises to radically transform how people earn a living in the years ahead. "Google's always looking at new things it can do with the skill set it has, and particularly ways it can get deeper into search and deeper into enterprises," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research. "Jobs is a good fit for both of those, where it can provide a custom or deep search function for job listings on the consumer side and also offer businesses a system to hire workers on the enterprise side." For employers, identifying the right candidates can be daunting, with nearly half of U.S. companies saying they face challenges in filling open positions. On the employer front with Google for Jobs, Google is selling artificial intelligence and search technology to companies to make make it easier for them to find qualified recruits on their websites and job boards, Pichai says. In November, Google launched a piece of that technology Clouds Jobs API, which employers access through Google Cloud. The pilot program with FedEx, Johnson & Johnson, Health South and CareerBuilder is being expanded to include more than 30 employers, job boards and staffing agencies, he said. "It's still early days, but we've seen promising results," Pichai said. For example, since using the Cloud Jobs API, Johnson & Johnson has found that 18% of job seekers are more likely to apply for a job on the company's career site, he said. Some Google competitors in job search says the launch of Google for Jobs will help their own job listings businesses. Facebook says it launched its own jobs feature to ease the strain of job searches on its nearly 2 billion users. "This partnership with Google helps us accomplish that goal," Facebook product manager Gaurav Dosi said in a statement. Google for Jobs is good for the American economy and "has the potential to radically improve discovery of the millions of jobs on LinkedIn," Dan Shapero, vice president of careers and talent at LinkedIn, said in a statement. Frustrations For many job seekers, applying for jobs online can feel like tossing a resume into a fathomless digital abyss. Google says millions of people each day start their hunt for jobs on its search engine. But finding the right job can be a lot trickier than Googling the next movie times. Job posts are notoriously hard for search engines to classify because of the wide range of keywords used to describe job functions and inconsistency across industries and organizations in job titles. And many people have very specific requirements for the job they are seeking, such as location, accessibility to public transit and special skills. "It's something we see in the search logs. We see signs of our users being frustrated and being stressed while they're doing job seeking queries," he said. How it works For example, when conducting a search for sales jobs in Raleigh, North Carolina, openings will soon begin to appear at the top of results. A job seeker can narrow the search by applying filters, such as jobs posted in the last three days, entry level versus management roles, full-time roles versus part-time, and roles in a particular industry such as retail. Once a job seeker spots something promising, they can click through to the website where the listing is hosted and apply there. The goal for Google is to provide a comprehensive set of job postings that include blue-collar and white-collar positions, Zakrasek said. Google will also be able to point job seekers to jobs that have typically been much harder to search for and classify such as retail and service jobs. He recently received a thank you note from the brother of a Google engineer who found a job using the feature while it was being tested. "This guy had done computer repair, which means opening a computer box and fiddling with the wiring. It's kind of a dying job in this day and age and he had had trouble finding work," says Zakrasek. With Google for Jobs, "he was able to find a position he hadn't seen anywhere else." Follow USA TODAY senior technology writer Jessica Guynn @jguynn All over the United States, memorials and statues of the great men of the Confederacy--along with the flags of the Confederacy--have either already been taken down or efforts are underway to take them down. Im talking about places such as Biloxi, Mississippi; Charlottesville, Virginia; Austin, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; Charleston, South Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Orlando, Florida; and Memphis, Tennessee. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, has taken down the statues of President Jefferson Davis and General P.G.T. Beauregard. The Jefferson Davis statue had stood since 1911. General Beauregards statue had stood since 1915. In 1864, Confederate General Patrick Cleburne warned his fellow southerners of the historical consequences should the South lose their war for independence. He said if the South lost, It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision. No truer words were ever spoken. History revisionists flooded Americas public schools with Northern propaganda about the people who attempted to secede from the United States, characterizing them as racists, extremists, radicals, hatemongers, and traitors. Folks, please understand that the ONLY people in 1861 who believed that states did NOT have the right to secede were Abraham Lincoln and his radical Republicans. To say that southern states did not have the right to secede from the United States is to say that the thirteen colonies did not have the right to secede from Great Britain. One cannot be right and the other wrong. If one is right, both are right. If one is wrong, both are wrong. How can we celebrate the Declaration of Independence of the American colonies in 1776 and then turn around and condemn the Declaration of Independence of the Confederacy in 1861? In fact, southern states were not the only states that talked about secession. After the southern states seceded, the State of Maryland fully intended to join them. In September of 1861, Lincoln sent federal troops to the State capital and seized the legislature by force in order to prevent them from voting. Federal provost marshals stood guard at the polls and arrested Democrats and anyone else who believed in secession. A special furlough was granted to Maryland troops so they could go home and vote against secession. Judges who tried to inquire into the phony elections were arrested and thrown into military prisons. There is your great emancipator, folks. In fact, before the South seceded, several northern states had threatened secession. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island had threatened secession as far back as James Madisons administration. In addition, the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware were threatening secession during the first half of the nineteenth century--long before the southern states even considered such a thing. People say constantly that Lincoln saved the Union. Lincoln didnt save the Union; he subjugated the Union. There is a huge difference. A union that is not voluntary is not a union. Does a man have a right to force a woman to marry him or to force a woman to stay married to him? In the eyes of God, a union of husband and wife is far more sacred than a union of states. If God recognizes the right of husbands and wives to separate (and He does), to try and suggest that states do not have the right to lawfully separate (under Natural and divine right) is the most preposterous proposition possible. People also say that Lincoln freed the slaves. Lincoln did not free a single slave. But what he did do was enslave free men. His so-called Emancipation Proclamation had no authority in the southern states, as they had separated into another country. Lincoln had no more authority to issue a proclamation in the CSA than the British Crown has authority to issue a proclamation to the states of the USA today. Do you not find it interesting that Lincolns proclamation didn't free a single slave in the United States, the country in which he DID have authority? Thats right. The Emancipation Proclamation deliberately ignored slavery in the North. Do you not realize that when Lincoln signed his proclamation, there were over 300,000 slaveholders who were fighting in the Union army? (Source: Mildred Lewis Rutherford, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States, and Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, 1861-1865, p. 35) The institution of slavery did not end until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. Speaking of the 13th Amendment, did you know that, in his first inaugural address, Lincoln actually SUPPORTED an amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which would have been the 13th Amendment) proposed by Ohio Congressman Thomas Corwin that said: No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by laws of said State. You read it right. Lincoln supported an amendment to the U.S. Constitution PRESERVING the institution of slavery. This proposed amendment was written in March of 1861, a month BEFORE the shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The State of South Carolina was particularly incensed at the tariffs enacted in 1828 and 1832. The Tariff of 1828 was disdainfully called The Tariff of Abominations by the State of South Carolina. Accordingly, the South Carolina legislature declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unauthorized by the constitution of the United States. Think, folks: Why would the southern states secede from the Union over slavery when President Abraham Lincoln had offered an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing the PRESERVATION of slavery? That makes no sense. If the issue was predominantly slavery, all the South needed to do was to go along with Lincoln, and his proposed 13th Amendment would have permanently preserved slavery among the southern (and northern) states. Does that sound like a body of people who were willing to lose hundreds of thousands of men on the battlefield over saving slavery--especially considering that the VAST MAJORITY of southerners did NOT own a single slave? What nonsense! The problem was, Lincoln wanted the southern states to pay the Union a 40% tariff on their exports. The South considered this outrageous and refused to pay. By the time hostilities broke out in 1861, the South was paying up to, and perhaps exceeding, 70% of the nations taxes. Before the war, the South was very prosperous and productive. And Washington, D.C., kept raising the taxes and tariffs on them. You know, the way Washington, D.C., keeps raising the taxes on prosperous American citizens today. This is much the same story of the way the colonies refused to pay the demanded tariffs of the British Crown--albeit the tariffs of the Crown were much LOWER than those demanded by Lincoln. Lincolns proposed 13th Amendment was an attempt to entice the South into paying the tariffs by being willing to permanently ensconce the institution of slavery into the Constitution. AND THE SOUTH SAID NO! In addition, the Congressional Record of the United States forever obliterates the notion that the North fought the War Between The States over slavery. Read it for yourself. This resolution was passed unanimously in the U.S. Congress on July 23, 1861: The War is waged by the government of the United States, not in the spirit of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or institutions of the states, but to defend and protect the Union. What could be clearer? The U.S. Congress declared that the war against the South was NOT an attempt to overthrow or interfere with the institutions of the states, but to keep the Union intact--BY FORCE. The institutions implied most certainly included the institution of slavery. Hear it loudly and clearly: Lincolns war against the South had NOTHING to do with ending slavery--so said the U.S. Congress by unanimous resolution in 1861. Abraham Lincoln himself said it was NEVER his intention to end the institution of slavery. In a letter to Alexander Stevens who later became the Vice President of the Confederacy, Lincoln wrote this, Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington. Again, what could be clearer? Lincoln himself said the southern states had nothing to fear from him in regard to abolishing slavery. Hear Lincoln again: If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it. He also said, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no inclination to do so. The idea that the Confederate flag (actually there were five of them) stood for racism, bigotry, hatred, and slavery is just so much hogwash. In fact, if one truly wants to discover who the racist was in 1861, just read the words of Mr. Lincoln. On August 14, 1862, Abraham Lincoln invited a group of black people to the White House. In his address to them, he told them of his plans to colonize them all back to Africa. Listen to what he told these folks: Why should the people of your race be colonized and where? Why should they leave this country? This is, perhaps, the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss; but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think. Your race suffer very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be separated. You here are freemen, I suppose? Perhaps you have been long free, or all your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. . . . The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad continent not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours. Did you hear what Lincoln said? He said that black people would NEVER be equal with white people--even if they all obtained their freedom from slavery. If that isnt a racist statement, Ive never heard one. Lincolns statement above is not isolated. In Charleston, Illinois, in 1858, Lincoln said in a speech, I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. Ladies and gentlemen, in his own words, Abraham Lincoln declared himself to be a white supremacist. Why dont our history books and news media tell the American people the truth about Lincoln and about The War Between The States? Its simple: if people would study the meanings and history of the flag, symbols, and statues of the Confederacy and Confederate leaders, they might begin to awaken to the tyrannical policies of Washington, D.C., that triggered Southern independence--policies that have only escalated since the defeat of the Confederacy--and they might have a notion to again resist. By the time Lincoln penned his Emancipation Proclamation, the war had been going on for two years without resolution. In fact, the North was losing the war. Even though the South was outmanned and out-equipped, the genius of the southern generals and fighting acumen of the southern men had put the northern armies on their heels. Many people in the North never saw the legitimacy of Lincolns war in the first place, and many of them actively campaigned against it. These people were affectionately called Copperheads by people in the South. Heres another thing: the war fought from 1861 to 1865 was NOT a Civil War. Civil war suggests two sides fighting for control of the same capital and country. The South didnt want to take over Washington, D.C., any more than their forebears wanted to take over London. They wanted to separate from Washington, D.C., just as Americas Founding Fathers wanted to separate from Great Britain. The proper name for that war is either The War Between The States or The War Of Southern Independence or, more fittingly, The War Of Northern Aggression. Had the South wanted to take over Washington, D.C., they could have done so with the very first battle of the Civil War. When Lincoln ordered federal troops to invade Virginia in the First Battle of Manassas (called the First Battle of Bull Run by the North), Confederate troops sent the Yankees running for their lives all the way back to Washington. Had the Confederates pursued them, they could have easily taken the city of Washington, D.C., seized Abraham Lincoln, and in all likelihood ended the war before it really began. But General Beauregard and the other leaders of the Confederacy had no intention of fighting an aggressive war against the North. They merely wanted to defend the South against Lincolns aggression. In order to rally people in the North, Lincoln needed a moral crusade. Thats what his Emancipation Proclamation was all about. This explains why his proclamation was not penned until 1863, after two years of fruitless fighting. He was counting on people in the North to stop resisting his war against the South if they thought it was some kind of holy war. Plus, Lincoln was hoping that his proclamation would incite blacks in the South to insurrect against southern whites. If thousands of blacks would begin to wage war against their white neighbors, the fighting men of the southern armies would have to leave the battlefields and go home to defend their families. THIS NEVER HAPPENED. Not only did blacks not riot against the whites of the South, but many black men volunteered to fight alongside their white friends and neighbors in the Confederate army. Unlike the blacks in the North, who were conscripted by Lincoln and forced to fight in segregated units, thousands of blacks in the South fought of their own free will in a fully integrated southern army. I bet your history book never told you THAT. If one wants to ban a racist flag, one would have to ban the British flag. Ships bearing the Union Jack shipped over 5 million African slaves to countries all over the world, including the British colonies in North America. Other slave ships flew the Dutch flag, the Portuguese flag, the Spanish flag, and, yes, the U.S. flag. But not one single slave ship flew the Confederate flag. NOT ONE! By the time Lincoln launched his war against the southern states, slavery was already a dying institution. The entire country, including the South, recognized the moral evil of slavery and wanted it to end. Only a very small fraction of southerners even owned slaves, and the vast majority of southern leaders, including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, openly supported abolishing slavery. The slave trade had ended in 1808, per the U.S. Constitution, and the practice of slavery was quickly dying too. In another few years, with the advent of agricultural machinery, slavery would have ended peacefully--just like it already had in England. It didnt take a national war and the deaths of over a half million men to end slavery in Great Britain. Americas so-called Civil War was absolutely unnecessary. The greed of Lincolns radical Republicans in the North combined with the cold, calloused heart of Lincoln himself are responsible for the tragedy of the Civil War. And all of the hysteria over the Confederate Battle Flag is just so much propaganda. The Confederate Battle Flag flies the Saint Andrew's Cross. Of course, Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus Christ, brother of Simon Peter, and Christian martyr who was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Andrew is the patron saint of both Russia and Scotland. In the 1800s, up to 75% of people in the South were either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. The Confederate Battle Flag is predicated on the national flag of Scotland. It is a symbol of the Christian faith and heritage of the Celtic race. Pastor John Weaver rightly observed, Even the Confederate States motto, Deovendickia, (The Lord is our Vindicator), illustrates the sovereignty and the righteousness of God. The Saint Andrew's cross is also known as the Greek letter CHIA (KEE) and has historically been used to represent Jesus Christ. Why do you think people write Merry X-mas, just to give you an illustration? The X is the Greek letter CHIA and it has been historically used for Christ. Moreover, its importance was understood by educated and uneducated people alike. When an uneducated man, one that could not write, needed to sign his name please tell me what letter he made? An X, why? Because he was saying I am taking an oath under God. I am recognizing the sovereignty of God, the providence of God and I am pledging my faith. May I tell you the Confederate Flag is indeed a Christian flag because it has the cross of Saint Andrew, who was a Christian martyr, and the letter X has always been used to represent Christ, and to attack the flag is to deny the sovereignty, the majesty, and the might of the Lord Jesus Christ and his divine role in our history, culture, and life. Many of the facts--including the quotation above--that I reference in this column were included in a message delivered by Pastor Weaver several years ago. I want to thank John for preaching such a powerful and needed message. Read or watch Pastor John Weavers sermon The Truth About The Confederate Battle Flag here: The Truth About The Confederate Battle Flag Virtually every act of federal usurpation of liberty that we are witnessing today--and have been witnessing for much of the twentieth (and now twenty-first) century--is the result of Lincolns war against the South. Truly, we are living in Lincolns America, not Washington and Jeffersons America. Washington and Jeffersons America died at Appomattox Court House in 1865. And speaking of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, you can mark my words: after the Lincoln-worshipping socialists have finished removing the statues and memorials that honor the brave men of the American Confederacy, they will turn their attention to removing the statues and memorials of the brave men of the American colonies. Thats what tyrants do: they try to remove all semblances of resistance from any city or country that they conquer. That is exactly what socialist-sponsored terror groups, such as ISIS, are attempting to do among the communities they control in the Middle East; and that is exactly what the socialists in America (Republican and Democrat) are doing in our country right now. Today it is Jefferson Davis; tomorrow it will be Thomas Jefferson. P.S. For folks to truly understand Abraham Lincoln and his war against the South, I believe it is absolutely essential to read Thomas DiLorenzos phenomenal book The Real Lincoln: A New Look At Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, And An Unnecessary War. Instead of an American hero who sought to free the slaves, Lincoln was in fact a calculating politician who waged the bloodiest war in American history in order to build an empire that rivaled Great Britain's. Through extensive research and meticulous documentation, DiLorenzo portrays the sixteenth president as a man who devoted his political career to revolutionizing the American form of government from one that was very limited in scope and highly decentralized--as the Founding Fathers intended--to a highly centralized, activist state. Standing in his way, however, was the South with its independent states, its resistance to the national government, and its reliance on unfettered free trade. To accomplish his goals, Lincoln subverted the Constitution, trampled states' rights, and launched a devastating Civil War, whose wounds haunt us still. According to this provocative book, 600,000 American soldiers did not die for the honorable cause of ending slavery but for the dubious agenda of sacrificing the independence of the states to the supremacy of the federal government, which has been tightening its vise grip on our Republic to this very day. You will discover a side of Lincoln that you were doubtless never taught in school--a side that calls into question the very myths that surround him and helps explain the true origins of a bloody and unnecessary war. GET THIS BOOK: The Real Lincoln, by Thomas DiLorenzo. Find it here: The Real Lincoln Chuck Baldwin *If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link: Chuck Baldwin Live Donate Form I also have many books and DVDs available for purchase online. Go here: Chuck Baldwin Live Store To subscribe to my weekly columns, click here: Subscribe to Chuck's Column Related In the wake of a ransomware cyber-attack that hit at least 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, Microsoft President Brad Smith criticized the way governments are slow to share countermeasures. But with cybersecurity breaches transnational in nature, a major investigative force of police agencies from around the world had previously called for more help from private companies. Interpol, the cooperative international police organization with 190 member countries tracking trans-national crimes, in fact wants private to join hands in the effort to combat malicious hacks. To that end, CNBC had a rare look inside Interpol's Global Complex for Innovation earlier this year, providing a look into the coordinated global effort. The center, located in Singapore was opened in 2015 to provide access for international police and member countries fight the increase in online security breaches. "Without support from the private companies, law enforcement are not able to bring criminals into justice," said Noboru Nakatani, executive director of the Singapore-based effort said. "We need to collaborate with them by receiving information from them. Then we can start to trace back criminals." A man walks past a stock quotation board in front of a securities company in Tokyo on May 12, 2017. Japan on Thursday said first quarter GDP rose a more than expected 0.5 percent on quarter and 2.2 percent at an annual pace. A poll ahead of the data by Reuters showed analysts expected a 0.4 percent quarterly gain and a 1.7 percent annual pace. The data showed the fifth straight quarter of growth and the fastest pace since the first quarter of 2016. "It's good, but probably we may not see a continuation of this level of growth for the next quarters," Sayuri Shirai, a former Bank of Japan board member, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. She noted that much of the improvement was export-driven, but it wasn't clear whether that would continue, particularly as demand for autos in the U.S. appeared to be dropping. Real wages also were losing ground, she said. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (C) is trailed by reporters after the House voted on a procedural measure to move ahead with health care legislation to repeal Obamacare at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 24, 2017. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy privately told his colleagues last year that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin "pays" then-candidate Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. "There's two people I think Putin pays: [Rep. Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump," the California Republican said, according to a June recording that the newspaper reported it "listened to and verified." Responding to the Washington Post story on Wednesday, McCarthy said it was "a bad attempt at a joke," according to MSNBC. McCarthy and House Speaker Paul Ryan have defended now-President Trump recently as his White House faces a string of controversies, some of which are related to the FBI investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That probe which is now being led by a special counsel includes looking into any possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin. In a tweet Wednesday, Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said McCarthy "was just kidding" and that "no one took it seriously." Buck tweet: Yes, this is dumb. He was just kidding. No one took it seriously. At the time of the recording, Ryan reportedly told lawmakers to keep the conversation private, saying "no leaks." Read the full Washington Post story here. Cyber security is a key growth segment for Southeast Asia's largest telco Singtel , as price competition in data and voice intensifies globally, its group chief executive told CNBC. "Our core carriage business that is your traditional voice, data businesses, those face significant price competition The growth that we have seen in our ICT (information and communication technology) businesses has certainly helped us to maintain growth," Chua Sock Koong said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday. Singtel's ICT business, which includes cyber-security services, helped the company offset continued price declines in carriage services in the quarter ended March. The Singapore telco posted a 5.2 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to 4.31 billion Singapore dollars ($3.1 billion), while net profit rose 1.8 percent year-on-year to 963 million Singapore dollars ($692 million). Chua said the company expects its cyber security offerings to bring in 550 million to 650 million Singapore dollars ($395-$467 million) of revenue this year. "Cybersecurity is absolutely critical. We've seen a number of incidents over the weekend. We have been stepping up our capabilities in this space with the investment that we have made. For example, we now have 2,000 professionals in our cyber security business," she said. "We certainly see that as one of our key growth areas." Over the weekend, more than 200,000 victims across at least 150 countries were hit by ransomware WannaCry. The cyberattack crippled computers in entities that range from car factories, hospitals, shops to schools. This story was updated to show Chua Sock Koong is group CEO. PeopleImages | Getty Images It's no secret that attending a community college can be a stepping stone toward obtaining a bachelor's degree. However, few of these students actually get there within four years. Just 16 percent of students who began their education at a community college in 2010 successfully wrapped up their degree at a four-year school by spring 2016, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In comparison, 62.4 percent of students who started at a four-year public university completed their degree within six years. That completion rate ticked up to nearly 74 percent for those who started at four-year private schools, the center found. watch now "People think it's straightforward: Two years at one school and two years at the other," said Doug Shapiro, executive research director of the National Student Clearinghouse. "On average, it takes five years to do it, and that's because so many people go to school part time; they go into the workforce and care for family," he said. It won't be easy, but here's how your student can make the climb from a two-year community college to successful completion of a bachelor's degree at a four-year school. The true cost of savings Generally, you can count on tuition being lower at a community college compared with a four-year school, which could help curb large amounts of student loan debt. See below. In reality, however, the transfer process isn't as smooth as students expect. Aside from running into personal obstacles at home, including managing demands related to work and family, students have difficulty getting their completed credits recognized at the four-year school. "The typical number of credits is 60 for an associate's degree and you need 60 more for a bachelor's," said Josh Wyner, vice president of the Aspen Institute and a co-author of The Transfer Playbook, a research paper on best practices for two- and four-year colleges. "If they transfer and the school tells them they need even more credits to complete a bachelor's in neuroscience or in marketing, it could mean five years of education and not four," he said. Longer completion times can also affect your eligibility to receive financial aid. Administrative hurdles Other hurdles are administrative: Students who wish to transfer to the four-year school have to apply and gain acceptance there. To help simplify that process, a number of schools have established programs to streamline the migration from a community college. Some guarantee admission into the bachelor's degree program, provided the student meets certain requirements. For instance, DirectConnect to University of Central Florida is a program that eases the transition from Valencia College, a two-year school, to a bachelor's degree program. Those who complete an associate's degree from a partner school receive guaranteed admission to UCF, plus assistance with financial aid and enrollment. People think it's straightforward: Two years at one school and two years at the other. On average, it takes five years to do it. Doug Shapiro executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center The Commonwealth Commitment program in Massachusetts calls for students to complete their associate's degree within 2 years, transfer to a state university to wrap up their bachelor's within two more years and maintain full-time enrollment and a 3.0 GPA. In exchange, the state will freeze tuition and mandatory fees, as well as guarantee admission and transfer of credits. "It's very important to have a path from enrollment through completion, to plan out what you'll do when and to focus on courses that you know will transfer," said Mark Kantrowitz, vice president of strategy for college and scholarship search site Cappex.com. More from College Game Plan: Here's what to do about your student debt The cost of borrowing is going up Community college may be the secret sauce in affordable education Making a successful leap President Donald Trump is considering former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to lead the FBI, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday. Trump will meet Wednesday with Lieberman and other candidates, including acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, and former top FBI official Richard McFeely, Spicer added. During a briefing on Air Force One en route to Washington, D.C. from New London, Connecticut, where Trump delivered a commencement address to Coast Guard cadets, Spicer said "the president will continue to meet with candidates for FBI director." But a senior administration official tells NBC News that this is the first day that the president will meet with candidates to replace James Comey. More from NBC News: Obstruction of Justice: What it is and Why Trump Should Care Who Is Robert Mueller? Special Counsel Hailed by Both Parties as Straight-Shooting Prosecutor Comey Memo Has Trump White House in Tailspin These candidates have been sent over from the Department of Justice, the official said. When asked by MSNBC if he would accept if he was offered the job of FBI director, Lieberman declined to say. "It was unexpected. Not something I was seeking," Lieberman, an Independent, said. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in 2000, and Connecticut's attorney general before being first elected to the Senate in 1988. Three of the four candidates mentioned Wednesday were not among those names initially reported to be under consideration, with the DOJ conducting interviews with seven additional candidates over the weekend. President Donald Trump on Wednesday will interview four candidates for the position of director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. Spicer, who was aboard Air Force One with Trump, said the president would meet with acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman and former senior FBI official Richard McFeely. The position was left vacant after Trump fired James Comey. About the appointment of a special prosecutor on Russia investigation, Trump said "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." Kitron Opens Latest EMS Site in Sweden Published: 18 May 2017 by Mike Buetow by Mike Buetow JOKOPING, SWEDEN -- Kitron ASA today officially opened its EMS facility at Torsvik, celebrating in an event attended by customers, business partners, representatives of the local community and employees. "Kitron has experienced substantial growth in the Swedish market, and we expect this positive trend to continue. This new facility enables us to serve Swedish manufacturers even more efficiently in the future. It is also a platform on which to build our offering of more advanced services," said Stefan Hansson Mutas, managing director of Kitron Sweden. Over the past months, Kitron's operation in Jonkoping has been moved to the new facility, according to budget and without significant technical problems. Kitron has invested approximately SEK 25 million ($2.8 million) in the new facility and equipment. "Sweden has grown to be Kitron's most important market, being served both by our site in Jonkoping and other Kitron sites. The upgraded Jonkoping plant concludes a major investment cycle for Kitron. This leaves us with a portfolio of very competitive production facilities, further strengthening our position as the leading EMS company in Scandinavia," said Peter Nilsson, CEO of Kitron ASA. Rkke told Norway's Aftenposten newspaper that he wanted "to give back to society what I've earned" and described the cost of the ship as costing "the lion's share of his fortune". Kjell Inge Rkke, described in Forbes magazine as a "ruthless corporate raider", wants to build a 596-foot marine research ship that will scour the seas scooping up plastic litter. A Norwegian billionaire, who started out as a fisherman, has said he will give away most of his estimated $2.6 billion fortune in a bid to help clean up the world's oceans. The Research Expedition Vessel , built in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund, will be able to hoover up around 5 tons of plastic a day which will then be recycled. According to one media report the ship will be the world's largest of its type, able to carry 60 scientists and 40 crew. "The REV will be a platform for gathering knowledge," Rkke told Business Insider. "I would like to welcome researchers, environmental groups, and other institutions on board, to acquire new skills to evolve innovative solutions to address challenges and opportunities connected to the seas." A recent study revealed that an uninhabited island in the South Pacific was covered in an estimated 38 million pieces of plastic. Fisherman to billionaire Rkke, who suffers from dyslexia, has no secondary or higher education and according to reports worked several years on Alaskan trawlers from the age of 18. In the 1980's he ran several U.S. companies in the Seattle area before returning to Norway to build a shipping fleet. Rkke now owns nearly 67% of publicly traded Aker, a shipping and offshore drilling conglomerate, and in the latest Forbes rich list is estimated to be worth $2.6 billion. The digital currency bitcoin jumped to a fresh all-time high Thursday as global investors looked for safe haven trades. Increased interest from Asia also helped boost the digital currency. Bitcoin rose more than 3.5 percent to hit a record of $1,875.08, according to CoinDesk. One of the reasons for the move was "buying as a hedge against political chaos," said Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM, which runs a digital assets strategy. Bitcoin three-month performance Source: CoinDesk Major stock markets dropped in the last two days as separate reports of potential scandals in the U.S. and Brazilian presidencies rattled investors. The fell Wednesday in its worst day since September on growing worries that U.S. President Donald Trump might face legal issues and not be able to fulfill his promises of tax reform, deregulation and infrastructure spending. A late Tuesday night report alleged Trump asked recently fired FBI Director James Comey to "let go" of an investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Then Wednesday evening in Brazil, the O Globo newspaper reported that Brazilian President Michel Temer in March allegedly discussed bribing former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha to prevent him from testifying about a massive corruption case. The Brazil Bovespa plunged more than 8 percent Thursday in its worst day since October 2008. U.S. stocks steadied Thursday. Temer said Thursday afternoon that he will not resign and he will prove his innocence in the Supreme Court, according to a Reuters report. Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan today, Thursday, May 18 on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Following are links to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000619859 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000619894. All references must be sourced to CNBC. MOYNIHAN PART 1 KELLY EVANS: I did catch up with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan in the last hour i asked him what he thought of the Trump administration's reference to a 21st century Glass-Steagall. Here's what the Bank of America CEO had to say. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well-- I think they mean what you hear is that-- they have a differentiated set of rules and regulations for smaller, less complex institutions and bigger, more complex institutions. And we agree with that. No, we-- the large banks especially have been saying, you know, this is-- interesting enough for us to have to do all this work-- let's not take it to places where it's not as relevant, not as important. KELLY EVANS: Right. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: And so the goal would be to have a more differentiated scheme, as-- much as you can hear about it. KELLY EVANS: So you see it as a small-versus-large issue. 'Cause the other-- thing that I-- in terms of reports that I've seen thrown out there, was it that might be a U.K. style issue where they ring fence the retail banks from the investment banks, which would affect you guys. But you're-- so-- but do you think that's on the table? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: But if you back up more to what-- people are worried about, and they're worried about, you know, depositers' money being used to do trading and stuff. And that really doesn't happen in the U.S. scheme. Everybody has a bank holding company and a bank and a securities firm-- broker dealer. And the activities are already regulated, always have been regulated about what you can do in each and how they can relate to each other, and how they can-- transact with each other. So there's a series of rules that actually protect that. So that's sort of one debate. The others-- is just about size. Big institutions-- KELLY EVANS: Right. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: --and complexity and-- things like that. And I-- that, to me, is a bad policy decision, because you need large institutions to support your large companies and your large economies. The reason why the U.S. banks are larger is because our economy is 30-40% bigger than the next biggest. And by the way, the banks are bigger than the U.S. banks in the world are the Chinese banks, 'cause their economy's big. KELLY EVANS: So that would be your response to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who pressed Mnuchin today, effectively saying, "Breaking 'em up is the only option that she sees viable." BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well, I think-- the question is, "So what do-- what do you accomplish out of it?" And I think if you think about what was accomplished--when the institutions were in different pieces, would you rather have Merrill Lynch or Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers out on-- own or would you rather have-- Lehman with Barclay's and Bear Stearns with JP Morgan or Merrill Lynch with us, with a-- $200 billion capital base-- you know, $500 billion liquidity behind it, and only have about $30 billion dedicated to the trading businesses that are-- what-- people are most concerned about? I'd rather have that structure, especially as a person, in the end of the day, that has to pay for the cleanup. KELLY EVANS: If this administration does do something where it separates the big banks from the small and lightens the regulatory burden on the smaller banks, does that put you at a disadvantage? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: I don't think----it puts us at a disadvantage. 'Cause different business models. There's always-- when I went into the business and the business side 20 years-plus ago, everybody said, "Oh, don't worry, you know, all the banks will be like five banks in 20 years." Didn't happen. There's still five, 6,000 banks-plus. So there will always be different models. KELLY EVANS: --could a small bank now lend to a small business at a cheaper rate than you guys could, for example? Or make a mortgage a little bit-- at a better rate than you guys could? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: I'm not sure that the--you know, you gotta balanced that against the scale economies and stuff. But the real question's how the banking system help economies grow? And-- the idea of a lot of discussion about regulatory movement and change and thinking about resetting the regulations and balancing is about how we could help the economy grow. 'Cause the end of the day, the banks have one purpose, which is to intermediate between their customers and other customers-- or their economy or the markets. We-- are in the business of helping people accomplish their business plans and growth plans. And so the goal has to be how do you help that happen. And if you have too stringent rules around capital and liquidity that--requires to hold too much in reserve versus the risk, then you can slow down growth. And that's the discussion that's going on. KELLY EVANS: Absolutely. So it sounds like you guys would support, then, what sounds like the 21st century Glass-Steagall Act, if the details are what they sound like-- if it's big versus small. But what about the Choice Act, which is separately working its way through Congress, and would kind of provide an off-ramp from Dodd-Frank? Is--that a piece of legislation and a move that Bank of America supports, as well? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well, I think-- I would-- instead of "this legislation, that legislation," I'd back up to the principles. 'Cause I-- I'm not sure. No-- there's no-- you know, nobody knows exactly what they're saying. And all this is just by your description of all the different views of what the words mean. So-- but what-- are we for? We're for a safe and sound banking system. We're for-- a balancing and looking at regulation to think about getting the risk/reward right and helping. But-- you're doing that to help promote the growth that we need in the economy. We're growing at 2%? We've been sort of stuck in a 2% level growth. The growth we see-- today is consistent with that. If we wanna move that a little further, how can we help do that through-- smarter regulation, more balanced regulation? KELLY EVANS: And I'm sure that Chair Hensarling would say, "That's what I'm trying to do with this legislation, too, ultimately, is boost growth and, you know, lighten the burden on the banking industry. Maybe he wouldn't put it quite that way. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well, I think-- I think whether he put it that way or not, I'll let him say. But I think they're trying to-- have risk/cost benefit analysis and things like that thought throughout. But-- what is in these acts is a series of things that ail 'ya, so to speak, the series of things that-- people have pointed out that need to be changed. And they're effectively laundry lists of items that could be changed that would be beneficial to helping the economy grow faster. Then there are fundamental questions about, if you have this much capital, you're not subject to this regulation. That-- really is probably the best that-- you see in the act-- appropriate for large banks or gonna be dealt with. But the idea of- potentially operating risk capital as being redesigned or-- the frequency of-- the C-CAR (PH) process, stress test process, since we've been doing it every year, and the answers are relatively similar-- you know, those types of things are on the table. And that's all about getting the balance right. MOYNIHAN PART 2 KELLY EVANS: Just hours ago, I sat down with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. We discussed his thoughts on how to get more millennials into the housing market and his thoughts on the U.S. consumer, broadly speaking, right now. Take a listen. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well, if you look through the first week of May for the year, consumers are spending about 5% more money than they did last year for the first you know, four and a half, four months of the year. And so the consumer's healthy. KELLY EVANS: 5.5% more? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Yeah, 5% more than last year, 5, 5.5 on debit and credit cards. And overall, 3%, that means cash out the system, so writing checks and everything. And this is not small. It's almost a trillion dollars of spending. And it's, you know, billions of transactions. KELLY EVANS: That's a pretty good sign for the consumers. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: And it's been consistent. That level of spending has been consistent with, you know, 2% growth rate, more or less, that we've seen. And it's actually a little bit stronger this year so far than it was last year in a comparative period to '15 and beyond. So it's picked back up. And that's good. And so the borrowing, you saw the statistics about loans and stuff. They're back to their levels. The reality is that, as a percentage of income, the borrowing levels are actually down continuing to fall. KELLY EVANS: You mean the fact that in terms of the headline, we're now back at pre-crisis, you know, consumer indebtedness, let's call it. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Right. KELLY EVANS: But you're saying, you know, that we shouldn't be as worried as we were ten years ago? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Because it was ten years ago. KELLY EVANS: Yeah. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Yeah, the economy's a lot KELLY EVANS: Economies are supposed to grow, yeah. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Economy's bigger. The households the numbers of households are larger. The outstanding debt. So you got to be we always are worried about credit, as a company that has a lot of credit risk, that we worry about a lot. That's why we stick to what we do. If you think about it and you look back, the debt if you take out the bubble through the mid-2000s, it's actually on a fairly straight increase going back 15, 20 years, that is a relatively modest CAGR. KELLY EVANS: So you're bullish on the U.S. economy. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: It's solid. It's 2%. I mean and the question is, "Can we get it to grow faster?" And then so KELLY EVANS: Can we? I mean when you listen to stuff coming out of Washington, is that material to that answer? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Well, there's some good things to that. One is the other economies in the world are we're sorting out. Because we were growing 2% when Europe was not growing. Now they're growing, which is good, because, inter-relationship between the worldwide economies is key. The other thing is, if we can do some key reforms, I think it will help. I think the idea of tax reform I think would help boost growth. I think the idea of some infrastructure work would help boost growth. But the idea of a tax reform, infrastructure, and not only for the banking system, because whenever I talk about a regulatory reform, people think I'm talking about our own trade. In the broadest context, our midsize companies are very intent upon getting some regulatory rebalancing in everything they do: permitting to build a building-- you know, rules about what they can sell. So we feel pretty good about the economy. KELLY EVANS: So do you think millennials are spending too much on avocado toast instead of taking out mortgages? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: I sent that story to my son. KELLY EVANS: Did it ring a little true? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Oh, no, I don't think so. But he's pretty conservative. But, you know, I think at the end of the day is people forget that, at different points in your life and different points on what you're doing in life requires you to think about housing differently as a place for you and your friends, as a place for you and maybe your significant other, and then ultimately, a place for family. That drives change. And so yes, it's taken more time. And we talked a lot about this, you know, four or five years ago, that if you require a 20% down payment, it takes just a little more time to accumulate 20% than it would 3% or none, which is what the rules were for a short period of time. KELLY EVANS: Right. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: So our goal, going back to regulatory reform, is should you move the down payment requirement from 20% to 10%? Wouldn't introduce that much risk. KELLY EVANS: So you'd like to see it at ten. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: But would actually help a lot of mortgage to get done. And if you look at the statistics, the difference between 80 and 90 LTV loan-to-value isn't much different as it is between 95 and 90. That's when you start to see real differences in performance statistics. And so we don't want to wish people into borrowing money that then they have trouble repaying. KELLY EVANS: Want to ask you real quickly, as well, when we're talking about millennials, innovation is going to be a big theme for getting that next generation of clients. Zelle is coming out. If people haven't heard of it yet, the banking industry wants you to. And is this a Venmo killer? BRIAN MOYNIHAN: We've had P-to-P payment for a while. Zelle has two core aspects. One, it's a better feature functionality, a little more interesting, a little more easy to use. But more importantly, it networks together the banking systems so that the transfers can be made more easily, less costly, less delayed. KELLY EVANS: To other banks, which is the trick right now. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Right. And so you have all the banks. And we'll end up all the banks in here. We got eight or nine banks that cover a lot of the accounts. And then we'll get more. And so those two things will make it much more, you know, feature functionality plus instant settlement among all these banks, speeding up the safety, security and soundness of it, as well as the fun stuff in terms of sharing a bill or something like that. We already have, you know, billions of dollars a month that go through on P-to-P payments today. It is growing 15-20-30% year over year. It is even faster. And it'll continue to grow. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 385 million homes worldwide, including more than 94 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. watch now Jim Cramer has found that the day after a market selloff, investors find comfort in a different kind of stock than they were buying on the day of the dip. "These investors are like bloodhounds for growth. They're unleashed," the "Mad Money" host said. "And the stink of Washington doesn't throw them off the scent today." These buyers do not take Washington's woes into consideration. When their stocks slide, they attribute it to collateral damage caused by weak-handed sellers scared of market collapse. What kinds of stocks do they buy or hold? The stocks of companies that will likely continue to grow without President Donald Trump's help companies like Amazon , Apple , Netflix , Alphabet , and the semiconductor plays, the "Mad Money" host said. Focal.Point | Getty Images But the ruckus in Washington could, in a bizarre way, actually quell the market's confusion and help it get back on its feet, Cramer said. He pointed to the nomination of ex-FBI chief Robert Mueller to investigate the Russia-Trump-Comey-Flynn fiasco, a candidate both Democrats and Republicans liked for the job. "At the end of the day, whether or not it's good for Trump, the appointment of Mueller is definitely good the stock market," Cramer said. "Hopefully he'll bring closure on this issue and we can stop worrying so much about Washington again, except, perhaps, in a positive fashion as we did seven short months ago when President Trump was elected." Because the stock market is not Democrat or Republican, Cramer explained. All it craves is resolution. Walmart Fred Prouser | Reuters One thing the market may not get resolution with for a while, however, is the seemingly endless battle of online retail. For so long, it seemed like no company could rival e-commerce colossus Amazon , but Cramer thinks one up-and-coming online competitor could give it a run for its money: Wal-Mart . "You might think this comparison sounds crazy, even after the excellent quarter Wal-Mart just reported [on Thursday], but when you take a step back, it's pretty clear that these two companies have a lot more in common than you might expect," the "Mad Money" host said. Before the rise of Amazon, Wal-Mart's scale and massive array of merchandise shuttered countless smaller stores because they could not compete. "Wal-Mart was the great destroyer of retail, the great disruptor, laying waste to mom and pop stores all over the country by offering more products and undercutting them on price," Cramer explained. Amazon employs a similar strategy, using its scale to sell items online at their lowest available prices. Most retailers cannot compete, but Wal-Mart's breadth and ability to negotiate with its suppliers enable it to keep pace with Amazon's prices. US Concrete CEO: Not Relying on Trump In an interview with Cramer on Thursday, US Concrete President and CEO Bill Sandbrook said that business is strong, so strong that companies like his do not need Trump's trillion-dollar infrastructure bill to continue outperforming. "We're not relying on the Trump infrastructure bill. Those first-quarter results were driven by things done in the Obama administration, the tail-end of his administration, the passing of the FAST Act, which is additional infrastructure spend," Sandbrook said. And while the bill would certainly give Sandbrook's concrete and building business a boost, the CEO stressed other factors that were more central to his company's performance. "Only 18 percent of our business is infrastructure. The rest depends on a growing, healthy economy. And when you're in Dallas and you're in New York and you're in San Francisco and you travel a lot, you know how busy those cities are," Sandbrook said, referencing the cities where US Concrete does the bulk of its business. Marc Benioff Frank Muldoon | CNBC Despite talking over the intercom to passengers for more than two decades, no one ever realised that the Dutch king was at the controls. King Willem-Alexander said in an interview with De Telegraaf newspaper Wednesday that he had taken to the skies twice a month on short haul services. The King of the Netherlands has revealed that for the past 21 years he has been operating as a pilot for the national carrier, KLM . On staying undercover the monarch said he was never under obligation to say his name. "The advantage is that I can always say I am speaking on behalf of the captain and crew to welcome them on board, so I don't have to say my name. "But then, most people don't listen anyway," he said. The 50-year-old royal said being able to leave his royal duties behind to concentrate on flying was "relaxing". The King will take a break from his pilot duties in order to learn to fly Boeing 737s, KLM's upgrade of choice for its short haul fleet. EU's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told CNBC that Irish authorities are "taking too long" to get unpaid taxes from Apple. Speaking to CNBC over the phone on Thursday, Vestager said she hopes Ireland will recover 13 billion euros ($14.46 billion) from Apple "very soon". The European Commission ruled last August that Ireland had granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros to Apple. The illegal tax aid has created tensions between Brussels and Dublin, given that the latter doesn't want to be seen as unfriendly to business. At the time, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said the EU's decision would harm future investment decisions in Europe, but Vestager has downplayed the impact. "I haven't seen any evidence of that," Vestager told CNBC, mentioning the advantages that companies have when accessing the European market, which has a potential customer base of more than 500 million. European stocks closed lower on Thursday as mounting political uncertainty in the U.S. exacerbated concerns among investors as to whether President Donald Trump would be able to deliver on key pro-growth policies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the day, down 0.5 percent with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory. European markets Financial services stocks contracted more than 1 percent, dragged lower by Intrum Justitia 's divestment proposals. The Swedish debt collection firm submitted a series of spin-offs on Thursday in a bid to alleviate European Commission concerns over its planned merger with Lindorff, its Norwegian rival. Shares in the Stockholm-based firm slumped to the bottom of the benchmark, down over 11 percent. Auto stocks were also among the worst performers on Thursday. Fiat Chrysler , led the losses in the sector after the European Commission launched legal action against Italy for failing to respond to accusations of emission test cheating by the embattled Italian carmaker. Its shares dipped more than 3 percent. British luxury group, Burberry , posted a 21 percent drop in full-year pre-tax profit on Thursday, marking the challenge for incoming CEO Marco Gobbetti. The current chief executive, Christopher Bailey, said the past 12 months had been a year of "transition" and suggested he was optimistic ahead of Gobbetti's arrival in July. Burberry's shares rose more than 4 percent. On Wall Street, markets inched higher rebounding from their biggest sell-off of 2017. Political uncertainty in Washington hits risk sentiment The European Union is changing. The U.K.'s historic decision to leave the bloc, the growing anti-EU sentiment in some countries, and, more recently, the election of President Emmanuel Macron in France are molding the EU. According to political analysts, the path forward is further European integration, but don't expect sudden changes, even though France has just elected a pro-European leader. "I think further integration is inevitable, especially if member states want to make the euro zone sustainable in the long term. However, I don't expect any 'big bang' institutional changes," Antonio Barroso, managing director at Teneo Intelligence, told CNBC via email. Historically, we have seen that European leaders are quite averse to making changes to European treaties on a regular basis. But they could take intermediate steps in the meantime. Daniel Gros, director of the European think tank Center for European Policy Studies, also said that "it is very realistic to expect further integration. But change will take time. Nothing much will change immediately." In the near term, German and Italy two key European countries will be concerned with national elections and France will want to reform its economy first. As a result, we are unlikely to see European leaders approving deep changes to the existing framework. watch now has been fined 110 million euros ($122 million) by European regulators for providing "misleading information" about its acquisition of messaging service WhatsApp. The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, announced the fine on Thursday. "Today's decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information. And it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook," EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. "The Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts." What is the issue? Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. The Commission's issue centers around the U.S. social networking giant linking Facebook accounts to WhatsApp user identities. In 2014, the Commission said that Facebook told it that there was no possibility to establish "reliable automated matching between Facebook users' accounts and WhatsApp users' accounts." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Justin Sullivan | Getty Images But in 2016, Facebook released an update to its terms of service that raised the possibility of linking accounts from both platforms. "By coordinating more with Facebook, we'll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp," the messaging firm said in a blog post at the time. "And by connecting your phone number with Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them." But the Commission said that contrary to Facebook's statements in 2014 saying it wasn't able to link accounts, the U.S. firm was aware that such a possibility existed. However, the fine will not impact the EU body's previous decision to approve the acquisition. "The Commission at the time also carried out an 'even if' assessment that assumed user matching as a possibility. The Commission therefore considers that, albeit relevant, the incorrect or misleading information provided by Facebook did not have an impact on the outcome of the clearance decision," a Commission statement read. It added that Thursday's fine is unrelated to any ongoing national antitrust or data protection issues that may arise following the update that WhatsApp rolled out in 2016. Facebook said that to the best of its knowledge, the information it provided was correct. "We've acted in good faith since our very first interactions with the Commission and we've sought to provide accurate information at every turn. The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional and the Commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review," a Facebook spokesperson told CNBC by email. "Today's announcement brings this matter to a close." How was the fine calculated? Under European Union rules, a company can be fined up to 1 percent of its aggregated turnover if it intentionally or negligently provides incorrect or misleading information about a merger or acquisition. The Commission said that Facebook's infringements "are serious because they prevented it from having all relevant information for the assessment of the transaction." But the EU body did say that Facebook co-operated in the investigation into the WhatsApp takeover and as such, the Commission has taken this into account when setting the fine. "On the basis of these factors, the Commission has concluded that an overall fine of 110 million euro is both proportionate and deterrent," it said. The fine is small when taken in the context of Facebook's overall revenue which was $27.6 billion in 2016, and just over $8 billion in the first quarter of 2017 alone. What else is the EU looking at? President Donald Trump embarks on his first foreign trip this week. First stop: Saudi Arabia. Second stop: Israel. Then it's on to the Vatican to meet the Pope, the NATO Summit in Brussels and G7 in Italy. The trip is intended to bolster Trump's standing on the world stage, but his divulging previously classified information obtained by Israel to adversary Russia and the questions swirling about former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn may create setbacks on that front. Two former U.S. ambassadors spoke with CNBC about Trump's standing among foreign leaders and what he needs to do to win credibility. Here are parts of the conversations: Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, delivers a speech in Herzliya, Tel Aviv, on March 13, 2013. Jack Guez | AFP | Getty Images Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama (2011-2017) and current senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv CNBC: President Trump is going to be meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. How do you think the Israelis are discussing this ? Shapiro: I expect, in private, the PM will have to have some very frank conversations with the president to explain to him the damage that's been done. And to confirm that there will be procedures put in place and that the president's own personal discipline will be such that this won't be repeated. CNBC: What does Trump need to do to shore up his credibility ahead of this trip? Shapiro: I think he needs to show more discipline. I think he needs to spend time with his experts and really master the details and the briefings that he receives...and read through all that material. Foreign policy and national security is not something you can just wing. I think he's going to have to demonstrate a different kind of rigor and discipline than he has shown so far to win the confidence of many of the foreign leaders he deals with. CNBC: Do you think he's capable of that kind of discipline? Shapiro: I'm not sure. You know, he's 70 years old. He's obviously conducting his affairs in government in a similar way that he has conducted his business affairs throughout his adult life. It's difficult for a person to change at that stage of life but I think it's imperative for our country, for his success that he try and do so. CNBC: What are your colleagues and contacts in Israel saying about all of this? Shapiro: People are trying to be polite. Everybody cares about this relationship. Everybody wants to see the United States succeed and the U.S.-Israel relationship continue to be as strong as it's been over the last number of years. But there is a recognition that we're dealing with something unusual and maybe unprecedented in American history a president who is as unpredictable and inexperienced as this one and potentially compromised in serious ways. And that has Israelis who depend so much on the United States for their own security very nervous. Frank Lavin, then U.S. ambassador to Singapore, toasts with Singapore's Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh at the U.S. embassy in Singapore on August 1, 2003. Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images President Donald Trump salutes as he steps from Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., May 17, 2017. Trump does none of the above. In a statement that begins by claiming a "thorough investigation will confirm what we already know," Trump instead fails to offer even a patina of support for the investigation. But Trump's reaction to the special counsel is in fact a dramatic departure from the standard set by modern American presidents. Previous presidents have emphasized the importance of the special counsel appointments, welcomed the investigations as necessary, and offered personal praise for the law enforcement official suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. Trump did not lash out against any political enemies. His statement contained no personal attacks. There was no boasting about the size of his Electoral College victory. President Donald Trump 's response Wednesday night to the appointment of a special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, to investigate his campaign's ties to Russia was, by his standards, muted. Notably, a special counselor is not the same as a special prosecutor, which is what other former presidents faced. Vox's Jennifer Williams has a full explainer on the role of a special counselor. But it's worth comparing how prior presidents' statements of special prosecutors compare with Trump's. In 1986, after Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Walsh was appointed to probe the Iran-Contra affair, President Ronald Reagan praised Walsh's record. From the New York Times's archives: In a written statement, President Reagan said he welcomed the appointment of ''such a distinguished jurist as Lawrence Walsh.'' ''Mr. Walsh has my promise of complete cooperation, and I have instructed all members of my Administration to cooperate fully with the investigation in order to insure full and prompt disclosure,'' he said. Reagan's conduct before the appointment of the special prosecutor was also markedly different from Trump's. As the Los Angeles Times reported in the week leading up to Walsh's appointment, Reagan said he would follow whatever course of action the Department of Justice thought was correct: President Reagan, maintaining that he wants "all the facts to come out," said today that he will welcome appointment of a special prosecutor if it is recommended by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III to investigate the funneling of Iranian weapons payments to Nicaraguan rebels "The Department of Justice investigation is continuing with my full support and cooperation, and if they determine an independent counsel is called for, I would welcome that appointment," Reagan said. Similarly, President Bill Clinton greeted the appointment of the special prosecutor to probe the Whitewater scandal with a tone drastically different than Trump's. (You can read Vox's explainer on what that was all about.) As the Times reported on Jan. 21, 1994: Mr. Clinton, speaking tonight on "Larry King Live" on CNN, said he understood the need to extend the inquiry to Mr. Foster. "Because he had some files that were relevant, he has to look into what is there," Mr. Clinton said. "Whatever he wants to look into, let him do that. It's not my business to comment on that." ... Mr. Clinton said tonight that the special counsel would have free rein to do whatever was needed to investigate the Whitewater affair. "The main thing I want to do is have this turned over to him so that we can get back to work," he said. Note the difference here whereas Clinton emphasizes that it's "not my business to comment" on the special prosecutor, Trump has already leaped to the defensive, concluding that there was "no collusion between my campaign and a foreign entity." The comparison to President George W. Bush is just as striking. In December 2003, a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate who leaked the name of a CIA operative. Bush said he welcomed and supported the decision, the Associated Press reported at the time: President Bush, vacationing in Crawford, Texas, was informed of the decision midday Tuesday and supports it, the White House said. "He wants to get to the bottom of this. He said in September that he welcomes this investigation and has absolute confidence in the ability of the Justice Department to do a good job," spokesman Trent Duffy said. Trump, meanwhile, responded to an independent investigation by dismissing its work unnecessary and superfluous. Facing similar circumstances, prior American presidents have gone out of their way to show that they believe the opposite. "I am concerned about what I am hearing, but we've been through several administrations at this point, and this is a matter of states' rights," says Christie Lunsford, COO of Pro MAX Grow, which sells LED horticultural lighting for licensed marijuana growers and is based in Tappan, N.Y. Startups, analysts and investors convened this week at Marijuana Business Daily's Conference and Expo right outside the nation's capital in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The topic on everyone's minds: what the marijuana industry looks like under a Trump presidency, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Press Secretary Sean Spicer have signaled the potential for stricter enforcement at the federal level, where marijuana is technically illegal. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to request for comment. The pot industry is one of the fastest growing in the country projected sales this year are in the billions. But with a new administration at the helm in Washington, D.C., one that is potentially less friendly to legalization, marijuana entrepreneurs and investors alike are dealing with uncertain times. Some marijuana entrepreneurs like Christie Lunsford, COO of Pro MAX Grow, are concerned the new administration might stifle growth within the marijuana industry. "I think the impact we will see coming out of Washington, D.C., is fewer investors coming into the space ... fewer people launching businesses direct to the plant cultivation, dispensing and manufacturing. That's where you're going to see people not wanting to enter the cannabis space," she says. To date, the growth within the industry is undeniable, with marijuana legalized for recreational use in eight states and Washington, D.C., and for medicinal use in 30 states and Washington, D.C., per Marijuana Business Daily. Projections vary among industry analysts, but the numbers are substantial. Marijuana Business Daily predicts retail sales will hit $6.1 billion for 2017 and the industry could have a maximum economic impact of some $68.4 billion by 2021; GreenWave Advisors predicts $7.7 billion for 2017 and $30 billion by 2021 if recreational and medicinal cannabis is legalized nationwide. Capital has also flooded into the space nearly $1 billion from 2012 through 2016, according to GreenWave Advisors, citing data from Pitchbook. What's more, Marijuana Business Daily finds that investors report plans to increase the size of their investments this year. The average investor or firm involved in the industry has put around $450,000 in cannabis companies to date, with each investment coming in around $100,000. But this year, they plan to invest around $500,000 on average in marijuana businesses. "The Trump Administration has not yet changed our strategy, because there's been a lot of rhetoric but not a lot of action," says Patrick Rea, CEO and co-founder of Boulder, Colorado-based Canopy Accelerator, an investment fund for early stage cannabis companies. It has invested over $6.5 million since early 2015 in more than 64 companies. "A lot of investors are becoming more aware that they have an impact on what the administration might decide or not decide to do based on how they present themselves as a business-friendly environment, creating jobs and having positive effects on society," Rea says. Investors such as Emily Paxhia are also closely watching developments out of Washington as they strike new deals. Paxhia is managing director at San Francisco-based Poseidon Asset Management, which has a fund dedicated entirely to investing in the cannabis space. Since January 2014, the fund has invested nearly $20 million into 30 cannabis companies. "We take everything that is happening from the top down in the regulatory environment very seriously," says Paxhia. "We are not sure what the administration is going to do. ... It makes us really think carefully about the types of investments we are placing and whether or not it stays in the United States or moves abroad." Bloomberg | Getty Images Sean knew a little about the startup's run-ins with competitors, regulators and the occasional aggressive senior leader, thanks to Google searches. But he was so confident that he wanted to work for Uber that he didn't speak to a single employee current or ex outside of the formal interviews before accepting his new role. "I thought the job was a home run," he said, only agreeing to speak on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. "There are so many people who grew their careers in explosive ways at Uber." Since Sean joined and then quit Uber, the negative headlines have only increased. There's mounting sexual harassment claims, accusations of abuse of customer data and manipulation of its drivers. One ex-product manager said employees "are in this constant state of elevated stress waiting for something bad to happen." Yet none of that seems to have slowed Uber down as a company in demand. This year, Uber ranks No. 5 on the LinkedIn Top Companies list in the U.S. When it comes to job applications, views on job postings and retention of new employees, Uber ranked higher than top brands like Apple, Tesla and the Walt Disney Co. If you look at the number of people Uber is poaching from other top companies, the ride-hailing Goliath is luring more than Amazon, Apple and its top competitor Lyft. In the months after ex-employee Susan Fowler wrote an explosive blog post outlining a series of discriminatory episodes, the number of people globally viewing and applying to open roles at Uber dropped by about 15 percent. But year over year, people viewing and applying to open positions is still up by more than 35 percent, according to LinkedIn data. What accounts for the massive gulf between a company's consumer brand and its employer brand? To find out, I spoke with human resources experts, brand gurus, communication leaders working in tech, and former and current employees at Uber and other companies with tarnished brands. What I discovered is that employees thinking somewhere is a "great place to work" has little to do with what it's actually like to work there. Uber declined a request to comment directly on this story, but a company spokesperson said cultural changes are "well underway." 'A means to an end' Josh Bersin has been studying employer brands for his entire career. The founder of Bersin by Deloitte, Bersin advises employers on talent management, acquisition and human resources solutions. Whether it's investment banking or early-stage tech companies, Bersin said employees know full well that the work experiences will likely be brutal, but they often choose to work in those industries to jump-start their careers. "Most of the people who work at Uber see it is as a means to an end," said Bersin. "They want to work there because the company is well-known and will propel them to the next step." Such was the case with a former senior leader in human resources who left Uber last fall. In his roughly two years at Uber, the HR lead helped recruit hundreds of candidates and said they were in no short supply of stellar resumes across the board. Calling his former colleagues some of the "smartest people he has ever met," he said that they were also pretty "aggressive," mostly coming from backgrounds in consulting, finance or other startups. People wanted to know about the work-life balance, and I would tell them it doesn't matter where you work, it's going to be worse at Uber. former Uber HR lead When screening prospective candidates, he would be completely honest about how challenging it could be to work there. Still, he said those warnings had little impact on his ability to attract top talent. "People wanted to know about the work-life balance, and I would tell them it doesn't matter where you work, it's going to be worse at Uber," he said. That brutal honesty about what it was really like to work at Uber was echoed by current employees as well. In an interview organized by an Uber spokesperson current engineering lead Tasneem Minadakis told me that she left her job at Yelp about a year ago because she wanted to work somewhere that was building a massive business. When she was considering her new role, she said current Uber employees couldn't have been more direct about what it really meant to sign up for a job at the growing company. Today, when friends or former colleagues ask her to compare her experiences working at Uber to negative news coverage about the startup, her message to them is just as clear. "Uber is not a place for everybody," she said. "If you want to feel comfortable, then you probably shouldn't come to Uber because you'll be sorely disappointed. I have been a leader for many years, this is the one place that I actually truly feel challenged." Bloomberg | Getty Images And in Silicon Valley, challenging work environments appeal to a lot of people. Several former Uber software engineers who I spoke to said that they wanted to work for Uber because they were interested in solving big problems. One engineer, who now works at Google, described the rush he got staying up for two days straight to get a codebase ready for a sudden launch in a new country. Another said that although she was taken aback by the sheer number of hours she was expected to work, she was motivated by working on the company's first product in China, where she had grown up. Yet another found great joy in working long nights to help build the first meaningful surge-pricing algorithm that is central to Uber's business. In a model with 20 different inputs that Deloitte's Bersin uses to measure employee engagement, he found that when employees love the work they do, they will put up with a lot of other less-than-ideal factors in the workplace. "I would bet the people working at Uber are loving their work," he said. "It's exciting to be building the next big transportation company over there and that attracts ambitious, driven people." It isn't just engineers who find meaning in the challenging work at Uber. One former recruiter who mostly placed people in operating roles told me that candidates often cited the fast-paced environment as a top reason to join. The recruiter told me that it was remarkable how little prospective hires asked about what the average day-to-day life of an Uber employee was like. They just wanted to know what they'd be building. The opportunity to work on complex and interesting problems even drove some employees to take a pay cut to join Uber. A former product lead who worked for Uber in San Francisco after getting a graduate degree from a top-tier school said the pay was "pretty unattractive," but that Uber offered her a "massive opportunity" to create something that was going to be meaningful. Sure Uber had issues, but this was going to be an investment. "I was focused on how big this thing could be and the major risks," she said. "I was approaching it more like a venture capitalist than someone who would actually work there." 'Build Uber 2.0' Of course, sometimes investments go from being intelligent risks to unattractive ones. Big, hairy problems and potential upside aside, Uber has some fundamentally troubling issues facing it: A criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, a lawsuit brought on by one of the biggest tech companies in the world and the quick departure of several C-Suite executives. At some point doesn't a company's employment brand become something you'd want to avoid? Many people told me that tipping point was exactly the time they'd want to join. More than one person pointed me to Facebook as the canonical example. In 2007, Facebook launched a product that tracked its users' browsing activity off the social network. The technology, called Beacon, was met with outrage: Members revolted, a class-action lawsuit was filed and the Facebook brand was severely tarnished in the process. Just four months later with the crisis still very much unresolved, Sheryl Sandberg announced that she was joining the social network as COO. Sandberg is largely credited for the success of Facebook's advertising strategy and turning the social network from a cashless startup to one of the most dominant businesses of our time. It isn't just job-seekers in tech who think they can spot transition moments. At American Apparel in 2014, founder Dov Charney was ousted for a series of sexual harassment charges from employees. Workers told stories of Charney dancing naked in front of them and using ethnic slurs against other employees. The company's employer brand was largely in the gutter. It was then that Craig Simmons, who previously worked in HR for companies like Nestle as well as a variety of consulting firms, signed on to be chief human resources officer. He thought he spotted an opportunity to help revive the retail chain's image that was originally founded on principles like LGBT rights and immigration reform. And he found hiring wasn't as bad as he expected. Soon after he joined, Simmons recruited Tiffany Felix to lead global risk and facilities management reporting directly to the company's new CEO. Felix who previously worked for Comcast and ESPN said joining American Apparel as a risk manager at that point in the company's history was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What she was able to learn by protecting the business against future scandals like Charney's was something that no MBA and few other jobs could teach. "I wanted to come in and do repairs and some people might shy away from that, but not me," she said. "The company may make it, or it may not, but that was an acceptable risk to me." Several senior leaders have either left or been ousted in the fallout of Uber's multiple scandals. But Minadakis the engineering lead based in San Francisco said she is still at the company for the opportunity to shape what Uber will look like in the future. Pointing out that Uber's business is still growing at a record rate despite its current crises, Minadakis said she wants to become one of the leaders that helped get the company through this difficult time. "People leave and people join," she said. "You can look at is as people leaving, but you could also see how many people are joining especially senior leaders because... they see this as an opportunity to build Uber 2.0." Uber art station in Beijing. Zhang Peng | Getty Images 'Now I know culture is everything' This kind of pursuit of career experiences and doing so in spite of a company's rumored culture makes rational sense. We operate in an era where there's little expectation of job security: industries get disrupted, companies die, downsizings happen. If you're not crafting your own career path, who will? That philosophy holds true especially with high performers. Either they believe the big problems are gone or exaggerated or are sold on their own ability to smartly steer past them. I kept hearing that mentality from ex-Uber employees. They immediately believed they could handle anything until they concluded just as quickly that they couldn't. In 2014 when Sean, the young recruit from Europe, joined Uber, he was the among the first 1,000 employees. Like many of his peers, he happily took a pay cut to join the growing company and was pleased with his generous equity plan. When looking over the four-year vesting schedule for his stock options, he was confident he would still be an employee by then. He didn't even last three years. The app was available in less than 100 cities on his first day and within a matter of months that number doubled. And then it tripled. For two years, he enjoyed the fast-paced environment of a startup growing as quickly as Uber, but then a new guy with more experience came in to run his team. His boss was quick to take praise when his direct reports succeeded, but even quicker to blame them anytime something went wrong. According to Sean, he complained to HR about the situation, but nothing came of it other than his boss seeming to resent that he spoke out. It was then, with the same assuredness that made him apply to Uber, that he knew he had to leave. "I just didn't feel the same passion for work," he said. "Eventually my entire team left the company, but I was the first to go." His experience is far from unique and here's where some other LinkedIn data could point to potential problems for Uber in the years ahead. Applies and job views have dropped in the last few months and tenure is low. The average Uber employee only stays with the company for 17 months, according to LinkedIn data, the lowest average tenure out of all the pre-IPO companies on our list other than WeWork, which is dealing with its own culture battle as well. The average tenure of the top four companies on our list, all much more established than Uber, is 2.5 years or more. I assumed a level of professionalism within the company that just wasn't there. I was a little naive about how important culture is at startups. Now I know culture is everything. former Uber employee Of the more than dozen ex-employees that I spoke with, none of them worked there for more than three years. The former product lead who went to Uber after finishing her graduate degree lasted less than a year before calling it quits. Describing a work environment where "people were too busy stabbing each other in the backs to get any work done," she said things came to a head when she noticed that she was being intentionally left out of important meetings. She voiced some concerns to her manager, but they went largely unanswered. She might have gone to HR to complain, she said, but she had no idea how to contact anyone in that fledgling department nor had she ever been told what the proper procedure was to voice a complaint. Looking back, she remembers reading a 2014 Vanity Fair article where CEO Travis Kalanick said several sexist things, but she didn't think twice about how that might impact her experience as an employee. That was a mistake, she said. "I assumed a level of professionalism within the company that just wasn't there," she said. "I was a little naive about how important culture is at startups. Now I know culture is everything. It's more important than anything else. I think if I did a little more due diligence, I would have realized earlier it wasn't the right fit for me." 'People believed in Uber' As stocks find a bit of relief after the market's worst day of the year, investors may be looking for new bets in a market with growing uncertainty. Looking to international markets and finding refuge in bitcoin are two suggestions strategists are making. Investments outside the U.S. appear attractive to Mark Tepper, president of Strategic Wealth Partners. "It's pretty obvious that political risk is shifting toward the U.S.," Tepper said Wednesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "Global growth is so much stronger than U.S. growth, and if you look at the , globally oriented companies which are those companies getting at least 50 percent of their revenues from overseas are completely crushing the domestically oriented companies this earnings season." Most investors are still overweight U.S. stocks, Tepper said, as U.S. markets have outperformed international markets for years. But he sees a reversal afoot , which gives him confidence in investing abroad even as U.S. firms' first-quarter earnings have been strong. Furthermore, geopolitical risk appears to be fading on the back of French and South Korean election outcomes that were seen as positive for the markets. Indeed, a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks large- and mid-cap equities in developed markets outside the U.S. and Canada, the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF , has advanced 13 percent so far this year. The S&P 500 fund has advanced a bit less than 6 percent in the same time. Notably, the MSCI Asia Pacific index has gained 20 percent year to date; Taiwan's benchmark index has gained 22 percent, and European markets have broadly outperformed the S&P 500. Emerging markets, too, are rallying this year. One ETF that tracks emerging markets, the EEM , is up 15 percent year to date. However, the fund fell nearly 2 percent in Thursday trading as Brazilian equities tumbled on the back of emerging political concerns in the country. In a different kind of hedge, Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management suggests turning to digital currency . Bitcoin is the "new gold," he said, and appears to be a good hedge going forward. Schlossberg draws parallels between the volatile digital currency and the precious metal widely considered a safe haven. Even after bitcoin's 92 percent rally so far this year, "it's holding at very steady highs right now, and typically when you have a big move whether it be any kind of instrument generally you're going to have some continuation," he said Wednesday in an interview on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "It's clearly signaling more demand. So I like that as a hedge play going forward," Schlossberg added. Bitcoin, prone to frequent fickle swings in value given its unregulated nature, has soared to all-time highs this year as the currency has become more widely accepted as a form of payment. Still, the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year rejected a proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Stocks were trading modestly higher on Thursday after the year's biggest sell-off on Wednesday. As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to make his first trip to the Middle East, some lawmakers back in Washington are seeking amendments to a law that could see further sanctions against Hezbollah and its political allies. "We are worried," Lebanon's central bank governor told CNBC this week. "We hope that the bill's amendment can be softened." While Hezbollah is a U.S.-designated terror organization, they are also a legitimate political party in Lebanon and a key ally to christian President Michel Aoun's government. Until Aoun's election in late 2016, the country had been without a president for more than two years, leaving many to worry that any new legislation targeting the Hezbollah network could damage an already fragile stability. "I think we have a strong president, a strong government," Salameh said. "The concern is our relationship with the external world. For Lebanon it is very important that our banking sector remains integrated in the world financial markets." As head of Lebanon's central bank for over two decades, Salameh faced serious internal blowback last year as he sought to comply with provisions of the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015. He describes the fight for balance between Lebanon's fiscal needs and external headwinds ranging from regional conflict to U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes as a "dance with wolves". "As you know the basis of stability on the monetary side and the economic side is the transfers that are coming from the Lebanese diaspora that do represent 15 percent of our GDP (gross domestic product) and this helps Lebanon acquire foreign currencies, essentially dollars, in order to fund its needs," said Salameh. "What is putting pressure on us is the continuing deficit in the budget, on one side and the difficulties that we will encounter if we have more laws and sanctions." With a budget deficit at some 10 percent of GDP, Lebanon's government is dependent on the country's banking sector for funding. Lebanese banks today hold more than half of government debt. But with a deposit-to-GDP ratio second only to Switzerland, Lebanon's banks are looking to put that money to work abroad, in places like Turkey, Egypt and potentially the UAE (United Arab Emirates). That leaves the sector open to the risks of currency devaluation and political unrest. "It is a challenge but we have set a system whereby the banks cannot use the foreign currency holdings they have in Lebanon, outside Lebanon," Salameh told CNBC. "So as long as we have created this Chinese wall and they have to create funding from wherever they are getting established, I think we have created a situation where the Lebanese banking sector is less exposed to the fluctuations that are happening in the countries where they are operating." North Korea launched a ferry service to the Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday to develop links and boost economic cooperation, the North's state media said, as it faces increasing isolation over its weapons development. Experts have said North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, may be hoping closer ties with Russia would help if China, the North's main economic benefactor, steps up sanctions against it over its weapons programs, in defiance of U.N. resolutions. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that while Moscow was opposed to any new countries acquiring nuclear weapons, the world should talk to North Korea rather than threaten it. The ferry, the Mangyongbong, set sail from the North Korean port of Rajin, the North's KCNA news agency said. "Mangyongbong's operation as the Rajin-Vladivostok international tourist liner will make a positive contribution to developing marine transport and economic cooperation and tourism between the two countries," it added. The Russian consul general based in the nearby city of Chongjin saw the ferry off, it said. The Mangyongbong was in service between the North and Japan before Japan suspended its operations in 2006 after a North Korean missile test. North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday that landed in the sea near Russia. The United States has been discussing possible new U.N. sanctions with China, which disapproves of the North's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them. Russia, especially the port of Vladivostok, is home to one of the largest overseas communities of North Koreans in the world, and they send home many thousands of dollars in much-needed hard currency each month. The ferry service is expected to carry up to 200 passengers and 1,000 tonnes of cargo six times a month between North Korea and Vladivostok. The board will need to consider whether the flaw is used in core internet or critical infrastructure; what risks are posed by leaving the vulnerability unpatched; how likely another actor could be of exploiting it; and whether the NSA could achieve its objective without exploiting the security hole. According to the "Protecting our Ability to Counter Hacking Bill" or the "PATCH Bill", a board headed up by the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider if a vulnerability discovered by the NSA should be disclosed to the companies concerned or the public. The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) could be required to make public any security flaws it finds in software that it exploits to spy on users under a bill proposed by two lawmakers on Wednesday. The seals of the U.S. Cyber Command, the National Secrity Agency and the Central Security Service greet employees and visitors at the campus the three organizations share March 13, 2015 in Fort Meade, Maryland. Other board members will include the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a handful of other important organizations. The proposal by Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii comes after a major cyberattack hit 200,000 computers across the world last week. The virus known as WannaCry locked files up on a user's computer and demanded that they pay a bitcoin ransom in order to get them back. But the hackers were able to exploit the flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system because the NSA had previously found a hole. The NSA's exploit was leaked online by a group called the Shadow Brokers, which allowed the hacking group to find out about it. Governments have received growing criticism about their surveillance methods. Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said governments should stop stockpiling exploits. "This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem," Smith said in a blog post on Sunday. Under the bill proposed, the board would create an annual report with an unclassified public version released too. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. The latest allegations around Trump set off alarm bells because they could potentially be construed as Trump attempting to push Comey away from an investigation into his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. There are a variety of federal crimes related to obstruction of justice, from threatening jury members to lying to investigators. In Trump's case, reports surrounding his behavior toward former FBI Director James Comey could feed into a broad statute targeting anyone who intentionally "obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so." As lawmakers struggle to process the fast-moving story, let's take a moment to review the basics of what the accusations around Trump mean and how things could proceed if more is found. On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee investigations into Russia's role in the 2016 election. Mueller is a widely respected figure whose role puts the probe further out of the White House's reach. At the center of the maelstrom are accusations that the president may have engaged in "obstruction of justice," a federal offense that involves intentionally trying to derail an investigation. But the situation is further complicated by the unique position held by the president, whose actions according to one prominent legal theory can only be prosecuted in office by Congress with impeachment. Democrats and even some Republicans are warning that President Donald Trump may be in jeopardy if reports prove accurate that he allegedly interfered with an FBI investigation. President Donald Trump waits to speak during the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2017. What happens if it is found the president broke the law? Charging the president with a crime is not like charging the average citizen with a crime, or even other top White House officials. "Whether or not one can indict criminally a sitting president is an unanswered question," Susan Bloch, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown, told NBC News. "It's never happened and people are not sure whether it can." While it's never been tested in court, many legal scholars, including Bloch, argue that the president is constitutionally protected from criminal prosecution as long as they occupy the White House. The prevailing opinion was expressed in a 1973 memo by President Richard Nixon's Solicitor General, Robert Bork, who argued that then-Vice President Spiro Agnew could face charges stemming from his time as governor of Maryland, but that a president could only be charged after leaving office. Instead, the job of prosecuting a president would likely be left to Congress. If investigations into Trump's conduct turned up strong evidence of wrongdoing, the House could vote to impeach. The Senate would then try the president and, if two-thirds of members agreed, remove him from office. But Congress is not a normal jury and the process could turn on political considerations as well as legal ones. For one, the president's party currently controls both the House and Senate, which sets the bar high for any move toward impeachment. But even if Democrats were to take over, there could be factors that cause them to hesitate as well. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, suggested on Wednesday that Congress would consider the national mood toward Trump along with any hypothetical charges. "Would the country, would the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, view the president's conduct so serious as to be disqualifying? Or would it be viewed as just a way to nullify the election by other means?" Schiff said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "That's the ultimate test." Has anything like this happened before? The last two presidents threatened with impeachment, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, both faced charges of obstruction of justice along with other accusations. In Clinton's case, he was found not guilty. Nixon resigned before the process could play out, but the House Judiciary Committee had already advanced articles of impeachment with bipartisan support. President Gerald Ford, who took over, subsequently pardoned Nixon. It's notable that in Nixon's case, the "smoking gun" recording that preceded his resignation included audio in which the president appeared to order an aide to convince the FBI to drop its investigation of the Watergate break-in. Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who has written a book on the impeachment process, said there could be parallels between Nixon and Trump, but it was too early to know for sure. The charges against Nixon were far more extensive and included accusations of abuse of power. "It doesn't mean what Trump did is not a problem, but the facts are different," Gerhardt said. How does the latest news fit into this? Let's go over the most recent reports: According to a source close to Comey, the former FBI director wrote a memo documenting his meeting with Trump on February 14. The existence of the memo was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed NBC News. The meeting came the day after Trump had fired Flynn for discussing sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversation. According to the memo, Trump spoke to Comey alone at the end of their meeting and said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go." The White House has denied anything improper. Alex Whiting, a Harvard law professor and former federal prosecutor, told NBC News that the account of the Comey meeting was a "game changer" because it could show that Trump not only acted inappropriately but also tried to block an ongoing probe. "It's quite hard to find a proper purpose for that conversation," Whiting said. This is important, because proving criminal intent is a prerequisite for advancing obstruction charges and it can be a difficult hurdle. Also potentially critical is that the memo's alleged version of events connect to earlier reports and actions suggesting that the president was disturbed by Comey's investigations into Trump's associates and was willing to confront him over the issue. The White House offered shifting explanations for Comey's removal, but Trump told NBC News' Lester Holt that his disdain for the FBI's ongoing investigation into his campaign's possible ties to Russia, which Comey confirmed in March, helped inform his thinking. Trump also called investigations into his campaign's ties to Russia "a taxpayer funded charade" on Twitter the day before firing Comey. At the same time, Trump has said he wants the investigations to continue. Shortly after Comey's removal, sources close to Comey told news outlets, including NBC News, that Trump asked the FBI director to pledge his loyalty at a meeting in January. The next day, Trump tweeted what appeared to be a threat in which he warned that Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" The White House has declined to confirm or deny whether Trump recorded their meetings, but has denied he asked Comey for his personal loyalty. "When you put that all together with his statements and explanations and conduct, then common sense tells you that what he's trying to do is shut down this investigation," Whiting said. Recent announcements by Russia and Saudi Arabia have helped oil prices to recover and several analysts have highlighted the energy sector as a potential play for investors. The price for the commodity has been as volatile as ever, but there has seen some strong gains. A barrel of Brent crude is up about 2 percent so far this week. Oil prices have struggled in recent years due to a global oversupply, but OPEC and non-OPEC producers have reduced their output in hopes of rebalancing the market, agreeing to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day. Deepwater drilling is back to challenge shale, says Wood Mackenzie. While increased U.S. oil and shale gas production have undermined the output cut, it at least seems to have helped stabilize the price of oil. The price for Brent crude has averaged $54 per barrel, according to UBS strategist Geoff Dennis. The output cut was only meant to last six months, but major oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia announced earlier in the week that the supply cut should be extended for another nine months, into March 2018. Members of OPEC will meet next week to discuss extending the supply cut. Oil prices jumped about 2 percent on Monday following the announcement. This was further supported by the International Energy Agency's latest monthly report published Tuesday, stating that the oil market has essentially reached a balance, which will accelerate in the near term. However, the IEA report warned more needs to be done to bring stockpiles down towards the five-year average. watch now "If, as a scenario and not a forecast, the current (OPEC) output cuts were to be extended for the rest of 2017, oil stocks would start to fall quite sharply but because they are falling from such a great height, they won't get down to the five-year average until much later in the year and possibly not then," Neil Atkinson, head of the oil industry and markets division at the IEA, told CNBC on Tuesday. If OPEC succeeds in rebalancing the market and oil prices start to recover, this would present a significant upside risk for stocks in the oil & gas and energy sectors. Tim Hayes, investment strategist at Ned Davis Research Group, suggested investors should put their money into commodity and energy stocks. "It does look like commodities, energy, are finally bottoming. This has been the one area that has been divergent in what has essentially been a rolling correction since the beginning of the year," Hayes told CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday. "We saw tech bottom first and then we saw the defensives bottom in March. Financials bottomed in April and materials and energy are the last ones that have come down and now I would say they are trying to form a bottom." watch now Brazil Photo Press | Getty Images 1. Download Signal, or start using WhatsApp to send text messages Encryption is just a fancy word for scrambling your data so no one can understand what it says without a key. It's useful for protecting information on your computer, but also for making sure prying eyes can't snoop on text messages and emails on your phone. But encryption is more complex than just switching a couple of letters around. Signal is one of the most popular apps for those who want to protect their text messages. It is free, available for iPhone and Android, and extremely easy to use, but it does depend on your friends downloading and using it along with you. And unlike Apple's iMessage, which is also encrypted, the code it uses to operate is open source, which is easier for an independent security expert to examine without the special permission of the developer. "You can be sure by looking at the code that they're not doing anything weird with your data," Mr. Larson said. "In general, the idea behind the app is to make privacy and communication as simple as possible," said Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Open Whisper Systems, the organization that developed Signal. WhatsApp, the popular chat tool, uses Signal's software to encrypt its messaging. And in Facebook Messenger and Google's texting app Allo, you can turn on an option that encrypts your messages. Here's how to do that on Facebook. Here's how to do it on Allo. 2. Be wary of clicking on unfamiliar links or documents and apply software updates In May, cybercriminals used ransomware, a type of software that locks down people's data and threatens to destroy it if the attacker is not paid, to hijack hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. Such attacks are often spread through malicious email attachments and links a practice known as phishing. So make a rule of not clicking on anything when you do not know where it will take you, even if it appears to come from someone you know. Also, make sure to update your software regularly, particularly your operating system. Frequently, software companies will release updates that patch bugs and software vulnerabilities when they are discovered. But outdated or unauthorized copies of the software may still contain the security flaws. This is a particular problem with computers using Microsoft Windows, the most popular operating system in the world and therefore a big target for hackers. Finally, for those using Windows, antivirus software can go a long way toward shoring up protection. Mr. Chen recommends a ntivirus tools from Bitdefender or Malwarebytes. Aziz Ansari as Dev on 'Master of None.' Universal Television | Getty Images 3. Protect your computer's hard drive with FileVault or BitLocker and back up your data to an online backup service, external hard drive, or both Your phone may be the device that lives in your pocket, but Mr. Larson described the computer as the real gold mine for personal information. Even if your data were password-protected, someone who gained access to your computer "would have access to all your files if they were unencrypted." Luckily, both Apple and Windows offer means of automatic encryption that simply need to be turned on. In Apple's macOS, FileVault can be enabled from the Security and Privacy System Preferences panel. Apple has detailed instructions to enable it here. Microsoft Windows users must be running Windows 7 Ultimate or the Professional version of Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 to use BitLocker. Here's a guide on how to check, and how to turn it on. Similarly, keep your data backed up. If something happens to it, or you lose it all, you can recover quickly without hassle. An online backup service, like CrashPlan, a favorite of The Wirecutter, a New York Times Company, backs up your data and encrypts it at the same time. Even an external hard drive gives your files an extra layer of security. Backups will protect your photos, documents and other data not only from a technical malfunction, but from ransomware and other malicious hacking. Just make sure to test or check your backups periodically. 4. The way you handle your passwords is probably wrong and bad You know this by now. Creating strong passwords and never using the same password across sites is one of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself from digital invasion. Not everyone agrees about frequent password changes. Most say you should use really strong passwords and no more than one password per site, THEN use the password managers. Frequent changes mean you are tempted to write them down somewhere. But making up new combinations all the time is irritating and inconvenient, tempting people to reuse them or make them too simple. That is one reason some experts object to frequent password changes. It's far better to create really strong ones for every login and can pose security risks, because it's hard to remember complex ones, so you are tempted to write them down. That can lead to a lot of hard-to-remember passwords. To keep track of them, Mr. Larson recommends password managers, which help store many passwords, with one master password. He said he uses LastPass but knows plenty of people who use 1Password and KeePass, and he doesn't have a strong reason to recommend one over another. As far as making passwords up goes: Don't be precious about it. Use a random word (an object near you, for example), scramble the letters and sprinkle in numbers and punctuation marks. If you're writing passwords down or using a password manager, you don't have to worry about making them memorable. 5. Protect your email and other accounts with two-factor authentication When you turn on two-factor authentication, anyone trying to sign in to your email from new devices will have to go through a secondary layer of security: a code that is sent to your phone via text message. (Though sadly, not through Signal.) Here's a link to turn on two-factor authentication for Gmail accounts. Here's one for Yahoo accounts, and here's one for Outlook accounts. You should also set two-factor authentication for social media accounts and other sites where it's available. But email is the most important account, since many sites use email for password recovery, a fact that hackers have exploited. Once they have access to your email, they can get access to banking, social media, data backups and work accounts. 6. Use a browser plug-in called HTTPS Everywhere Mr. Marlinspike recommended this plug-in, developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital security organization. It ensures that you are using the secure form of websites, meaning that your connection to the site will be encrypted and that you will be protected from various forms of surveillance and hacking. Download HTTPS Everywhere for Chrome here. For Firefox here. Here's a list of FAQ's about the plug-in, including whether it is available for other browsers. And this is a good time to note that you should always find out whether the Wi-Fi network you are using is secure. Public networks and even private networks without security keys often are not. 7. Invest in a Virtual Private Network, or VPN The Times's personal tech expert, Brian X. Chen, recommends using a VPN to shield browsing information, encrypt all of the data coming to or leaving your computer or phone, and hide your location. VPNs create an encrypted "tunnel" through which all of your data is sent, meaning other computers or devices on the same network as your computer can't make sense of it. The only people who have the "key" in this case is your computer and the VPN provider you connect to when you turn it on. This is especially useful on public Wi-Fi networks, like at the airport or coffee shop, where you don't know who else is using the same network. Some VPNs are free, and others require monthly subscriptions. The best offer apps for your phone as well as your computer. Mr. Chen highlights three providers: Freedome by F-Secure, TunnelBear and a service called Private Internet Access. 8. Remember that incognito mode isn't always private This feature, available on Chrome, Safari and Firefox, among other browsers, may sound secure, but pay attention to the clear warnings. On Chrome, the second paragraph of the "incognito" home screen spells it out for you. "You aren't invisible," it says. "Going incognito doesn't hide your browsing from your employer, your internet service provider or the websites you visit." In reality, it simply keeps your computer from keeping a record of where you go. It doesn't stop sites from tracking and collecting data on you, and doesn't do anything to protect your online privacy or security. It does, however, keep anyone using your computer from knowing where you went. 9. Do sensitive searches in DuckDuckGo Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles during a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni following their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia, May 17, 2017. Yuri Kadobnov | Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin had fun in recent days at the expense of the United States but don't expect him to be a permanent thorn in President Donald Trump's side. Trump's White House has faced chaos since last week, when the president fired James Comey, who was director of the FBI as it investigated possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. This week, questions have risen about whether Trump tried to impede the FBI probe. Putin seemed to enjoy the confusion following reports that Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats during a meeting in Washington last week. At a news conference Wednesday, Putin offered to provide a transcript of the conversation and said the U.S. is showing "political schizophrenia." At one level, Putin may find Trump's trials amusing, but he also knows they will make it almost impossible to restore a modicum of order to Russian-American relations. Stephen Sestanovich senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations "I spoke to (Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov) today," said Putin with a smile. "I'll be forced to issue him with a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's intelligence services. It was very bad of him." Putin whom U.S. intelligence services believe is attempting to destabilize the American electoral system enjoys watching Washington flounder and contributes to that confusion with his statements, experts said. But if Putin keeps joking about Trump's troubles, he may sow more anti-Russia sentiment among Americans who are already inclined to assume the worst about the president. watch now But Putin who began Trump's administration hoping to establish better relations with the U.S. may not try to hinder his American counterpart significantly, experts said. "At one level, Putin may find Trump's trials amusing, but he also knows they will make it almost impossible to restore a modicum of order to Russian-American relations," said Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "I suspect he regrets that, while also seeing opportunities in having the U.S. brought low," Sestanovich said. 'Still hopeful for a better relationship' Putin will not "pass up the opportunity to poke fun" at the U.S., even at the expense of Trump, whom he sees as an outlet for potentially better treatment form America, said Olga Oliker, senior advisor and director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the Russian president may not want to make Trump's life more difficult at home in the long term. "I think the Russians are still hopeful for a better relationship with the United States than they've had," she said. For one, speculation had swirled that the Trump administration could lift sanctions on Moscow that the Obama administration slapped on Russia in response to election interference. Putin has repeatedly denied meddling in the election, though the Kremlin is widely understood to interfere with Western elections, and to be doing so more than ever. Though Putin seemed "gleeful" at his Wednesday news conference, coverage of Trump in Russian media has been "moderately positive" recently, said Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a foreign affairs think tank. But Americans may not see the ribbing continue. Said Aslund: "I think that Trump gets less criticism from Russia than from anywhere else and that he greatly appreciates that." Watch: Putin weighs in on cyberattack The conditions at the factory suggest the lengths the company is going to in order to meet its extremely ambitious production goals, and the tension employees feel between their pride in being part of the company and the stress and exhaustion the company's goals are causing them, according to the report. Workers at Tesla's California car factory have been passing out and requiring rides in ambulances, the Guardian newspaper reported Thursday. Fainting spells, dizziness, seizures and other symptoms have led to more than 100 calls to ambulances since 2014, according to incident reports obtained by the Guardian. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the publication in an interview that workers are "having a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs," but also said he cared deeply about their health and well-being. Tesla has also said its factory safety record has significantly improved over the last year. The news comes as Tesla prepares to launch production of its first electric car intended for the mass market, the $35,000 Model 3. "We're changing the world," said one worker, Richard Ortiz. "I can't wait for my granddaughter to one day go to class and say, 'My grandfather was in there.'" But he also said he recently lost the strength in his right arm, which was "scaring" him. "I want to use my arm when I'm retired," he told the Guardian. Some workers at the factory have attempted to unionize over the last several months. Tesla responded to CNBC's request for comment by pointing to a company blog post, published Sunday, on safety at the Tesla factory. "Tesla's safety record is much better than industry average, but it is not enough," it said in the post. "Our goal is to have as close to zero injuries as humanly possible and to become the safest factory in the auto industry. We will get there by continuing to ask our employees to raise safety concerns and to keep proposing ideas that make things even better." Read the full story in the Guardian watch now With the U.S. and Brazil beset by political turmoil and Chinese stocks on the downswing, the big trade of 2017 increasingly looks like a rotation to Europe. Cash already has been flocking across the Atlantic this year. Investors have moved $13.7 billion to European funds, with the past week's allocation of $6 billion the highest one-week flow on record, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. There are multiple factors driving the move. Most recently, the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election brought assurance that the political far-right faction led by Marine Le Pen would not be allowed to be a significantly disruptive factor. Other longer-term factors include cheaper valuations for European stocks than their U.S. counterparts and an economy that is on the move. Meanwhile, the biggest domestic stock market sell-off of the year on Wednesday sparked fears about what will happen if President Donald Trump's pro-growth agenda stalls under a cloud of investigations. Emmanuel Macron Philippe Wojazer | Reuters "The fundamental backdrop continues to support a positive stance on the European market," Ronan Carr, European equity strategist at BofAML, said in a recent note. "The earnings backdrop is very strong including evidence of strong operating leverage in Europe, broad-based positive momentum in revisions, the best earnings season in 15 years and further upside to expectations implied by leading indicators." Carr likes banks and commodities and is shying away from utilities and food. He is warning that a near-term pullback might be in store as most European indexes are up strongly in recent days and could be overheating a bit. However, after a year in which the region's stocks performed poorly and some $103 billion left Europe-focused funds, there appears to be plenty of room to the upside. Money inflow could be just starting "We've got a lot of positives," Pierre Lagrange, senior advisor at Man Group, told CNBC. "You have growth that's actually picking up, you have confidence that we haven't had for a very, very long time in mainland Europe. We can't forget how close we were to an absolute disaster." Indeed, the French election came just as the wounds were healing from last year's Brexit vote and a general fear that the euro zone was breaking up just as the economy was starting to recover. The recent flow of funds to the region shows investor confidence is coming back, and could be in at most its middle stages. After all, the $6.9 billion that has flowed to Europe exchange-traded funds is less than half what left last year, when most of the outflows came from actively managed mutual funds. Carr believes "significant potential upside remains" should active and passive funds reclaim anywhere close to what they lost in flows last year. "The bull market in European equities is in full swing," he said. ETFs tracking European indexes are having a big year. Both the Vanguard FTSE Europe Index Fund ETF Shares and the country-focused iShares MSCI Germany ETF are up 15.5 percent in 2017. The U.K.-focused FTSE 100 index has risen nearly 22 percent. Still, European stocks are relatively cheap, trading at 15.4 times earnings compared with nearly 18 times in the U.S. They've also outperformed domestic shares, with European indexes collectively up around 11 percent compared with the 5.5 percent rise in the . "The plausible bull case for Europe is that it can trade back up to those valuation levels based on falling political risk, a genuine earnings recovery and recovering inflows," Carr said. The key economic metric of productivity also is moving at a faster pace in Europe than the U.S. about 1.1 percent to 0.2 percent. Finally, fund managers surveyed this month by BofAML believe the U.S. is the most overvalued region in the world. Conversely, the euro zone is seen as one of the world's most undervalued regions. The managers have increased their allocation to U.K. equities, with underweight positions falling from a net 34 percent in April to 27 percent in May. Watch: Europe, by far, our favorite market No industry can compete for talent quite like tech can. Against a particularly tight labor market, companies like Amazon, Facebook and Tesla lure computer scientists and engineers with generous vacation benefits, mammoth salaries and promises of work-life balance. One company stands above the rest: Alphabet. Google's parent company tops LinkedIn's list of the 50 Top Companies for the second year in a row, kicking off a tech-heavy ranking. To calculate the list, LinkedIn analyzed its network of over 500 million members and considered views on companies' career pages, member engagement and retention of new hires. The platform removed itself and its parent company, Microsoft, from consideration. Of the 50 most desired employers, half were in the tech industry, up from 45 percent last year. We took a look at the tech employers job seekers were most excited about and how they've risen and fallen in the ranks over the past year. Here are the top 15 tech companies on LinkedIn's list of the most attractive employers: 15. Cisco watch now On a recent visit to one of their clients, a large tech company, Progyny CEO David Schlanger spotted a whiteboard in the health-care manager's office. On it was a running count of how many babies had been born to employees of that company using Progyny's services. The number was about 50. The health-care manager didn't put that there for his benefit, Schlanger said it's just something that was important to the client. That's what Progyny aims to do nationwide provide fertility benefits for employees of large companies. And that means helping women have more babies with the best possible outcomes. "Our business model is dependent upon providing value to employers. And cost is only one element of value. The other, more important element is the outcome. We are much more focused on the experience our providers provide to our patients and the outcomes they create," Schlanger told CNBC. Chris Ryan | Getty Images Traditionally, companies that cover infertility give employees a cap on how much they can spend on treatments. But even before getting to in vitro fertilization, the necessary tests and screenings can burn through most of a budget (a single round of IVF can cost $12,000, not including medications). To keep costs down, patients and providers could try to cut corners, skipping tests that could indicate if an embryo is viable and instead implanting multiple embryos. That would result in lower success rates for IVF, more dangerous pregnancies and multiple births. And ultimately it would end up costing employers more: Employees trying to get pregnant would be stressed out and distracted, decreasing productivity. And hospital bills for high-risk pregnancies or premature delivery (more common with multiple births) could run tens of thousands of dollars more than a standard single birth. Boosting the odds of success Progyny "turns the insurance model on its head," Schlanger says. The company is more concerned with value and patient outcomes, so it doesn't want anyone to cut corners. Procedures including IVF and pre-implantation genetic screening are covered at almost 450 clinics nationwide, the largest network of reproductive endocrinologists in the country. Some employer plans also cover surrogacy. Each patient is assigned a Patient Care Advocate to help them understand the risks and benefits of each procedure and provide emotional support throughout the process. The result is better outcomes, according to Schlanger. With IVF, he said, Progyny clinicians have a 20 percent higher success rate than the national average, and the rate of having multiple births is 74 percent lower than the national average. This approach is appealing to employers in part because it results in cheaper hospital stays and fewer rounds of expensive IVF. But companies are also realizing they have to provide more benefits to keep the best employees. One in eight couples will experience fertility issues when trying to get pregnant, and covering infertility services shows those employees that they are important to the company, Schlanger says. More from CNBC Disruptor 50: Uber vs. Lyft: A race that isn't anywhere near over Why Warren Buffett is betting on this software start-up Forget Silicon Valley, this is the red-hot market US start-ups are flocking to If they give their workers better outcomes, they're more likely to stick with the company and come back after they've had babies. That's especially important for millennials, who demand better work-life balance. "We're helping employers realize that if they cover fertility the right way, if they provide access to all the best treatments and best science, they avoid all these extra costs, like absenteeism and loss of productivity," Schlanger said. A lightbulb moment Progyny was created in 2008 when Auxogyn, a technology company that developed a technique for assessing embryo viability before implantation, acquired Fertility Authority, a direct-to-consumer company that negotiated discounts for reproductive services. In 2016 the company switched its focus to fertility benefits. "The board and the management realized there was another, bigger opportunity to create a fertility benefits business," Schlanger says. There's no more direct-to-consumer business, and the embryo implantation technology has been licensed by a partner. There's reason to think that there is money to be made in the fertility services industry. Though only about 30 percent of companies cover infertility services, there are signs that a shift is happening; in 2014, Apple and Facebook announced they would cover egg freezing for employees. We're helping employers realize that if they cover fertility the right way, if they provide access to all the best treatments and best science, they avoid all these extra costs, like absenteeism and loss of productivity. David Schlanger Progyny CEO In 2015, fertility-related services generated $3 billion in revenue, according to an estimate from mergers and acquisitions firm Harris Williams & Co. And the market is "absolutely growing," says Andy Dixon, a managing director with Harris Williams & Co focusing on health care and life sciences. That's in part due to societal shifts (people waiting to have kids longer, a rise in the prevalence of obesity that may complicate fertility) and cultural shifts (more same-sex couples seeking out reproductive services). "Without focusing on an individual company, I think there are very favorable long-term growth factors within the sector," Dixon says. "This was clearly a space that we felt was opportune for innovation," says Beth Seidenberg, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which backed Progyny in three funding rounds. Expanding its baby footprints So far, it's working out well for Progyny. It's not just edgy tech companies seeking out Progyny's services, Schlanger says it's expanded to large employers in fields as disparate as media, financial services, pharmaceuticals and education, some of which have never provided fertility benefits in the past. In May, Progyny closed $10 million in Series B financing. The Trump administration will deliver a letter to Congress on Thursday, notifying lawmakers of the White House's intent to renegotiate NAFTA, three sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. The letter, which Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said he's been waiting for, would open a 90-day window for the U.S. to get its negotiating strategy together. Delivering the letter Thursday would put the end of the 90-day window in mid-August, at which time the U.S. can begin talks with Mexico and Canada on how to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement. Ross hinted on "Squawk Box" that the letter was going to come soon. "I think it's imminent, and I certainly hope so because we've been waiting a long time for it. I could happen anytime now." The Trump administration on Thursday notified Congress that it plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the three-member deal with Mexico and Canada that President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked. The United States can start renegotiating the agreement 90 days from the notification to Congress. A letter from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to congressional leaders says the administration wants NAFTA to be "modernized." The United States seeks to support higher-paying jobs in the United States and to grow the U.S. economy by improving U.S. opportunities under NAFTA ... In particular, we note that NAFTA was negotiated 25 years ago, and while our economy and businesses have changed considerably over that period, NAFTA has not. Many chapters are outdated and do not reflect modern standards. For example, digital trade was in its infancy when NAFTA was enacted. In addition, and consistent with the negotiating objectives in the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, our aim is that NAFTA be modernized to include new provisions to address intellectual property rights, regulatory practices, state-owned enterprises, services, customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, labor, environment, and small and medium enterprises. In his campaign, Trump railed against NAFTA, saying that the deal has sapped manufacturing jobs from the U.S. He has kept up that rhetoric since he took office, and his administration has taken actions against what it deems unfair Canadian practices. The president even threatened to pull out of NAFTA entirely, but reportedly decided not to after phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Here's the full letter posted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: President Donald Trump lashed out again Thursday at the ongoing inquiries into his presidential campaign and Russia, counteracting an earlier, more measured response from the White House. On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Among the things being investigated are possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin. In a pair of Thursday morning tweets, Trump asked why no special counsel was appointed for what he called "all of the illegal acts" of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Obama administration. He then called the Russia investigation "the single greatest witch hunt in American political history." Trump tweet: This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump's tweets took a starkly different tone from the official statement the White House released in his name Wednesday night: "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." It marks at least the third time in just over a week that Trump has either contradicted or muddled a statement from his White House. Trump last week fired ex-FBI Director James Comey, whose agency was investigating the president's campaign, and reports since then have raised questions about whether he had tried to influence the investigation. After Trump ousted Comey, the White House first said the president did so because of a Justice Department memo criticizing the FBI chief's performance. Later, though, Trump told NBC News that he would have fired Comey "regardless" and was thinking of the "Russia thing" when he did so. White House officials also vehemently denied reports that Trump shared highly classified information in a meeting with Russian diplomats last week. But in later tweets, the president said he did share information about threats with the Russian officials, though he neither confirmed nor denied if it was classified. The mixed messages come as rumors have swirled about a possible shake-up of White House communications staff. On Wednesday, Trump complained in the middle of a U.S. Coast Guard Academy commencement speech that he has been "treated worse" than any politician "in history." President Donald Trump flatly denied Thursday that he ever urged ex-FBI Director James Comey to back off or close the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. "No. No ... next question," Trump said when asked during a joint news conference with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos if he had, in any way, tried to influence the probe. In a reported memo, Comey allegedly says Trump asked him to let the probe into Flynn go. The president's comments come as he deals with backlash from firing Comey last week and subsequent reports that raised questions about whether he might have tried to interfere with an investigation. The FBI is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including looking into any possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin. Trump said there was "no collusion" but added that he can only speak for himself. The president on Thursday muddled his explanation for firing Comey last week, saying he ousted him because he was "very unpopular with most people." He also highlighted the "very, very strong recommendation" he got from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. However, Trump told NBC News last week that he would have fired Comey "regardless" of what the Justice Department said. He added that he was thinking of the "Russia thing" when he did so. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said after an all-senators briefing from Rosenstein that the deputy attorney general already knew Comey would be fired before he wrote a memo that the Trump administration initially used as justification for ousting the FBI chief. Bipartisan lawmakers had criticized Comey for his handling of investigations related to Trump and his electoral opponent Hillary Clinton. But acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told Congress last week that Comey "enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does today." After the Rosenstein briefing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Russia probe "appears to me now to be considered a criminal investigation." Watch: Javers on Trump's Comey comment The drama surrounding President Donald Trump and the investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election won't negatively impact the economy at least in the short term, Republican strategist Ron Christie told CNBC on Thursday. However, it really is a question of how long it "really cripples" Washington, the founder and CEO of Christie Strategies said in an interview with "Power Lunch." "We have no idea how long this investigation will go on," he said. "If this goes on millions of dollars of investigations, year after year, then you start getting in trouble." On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Among the things being investigated are possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin. Christie called Mueller a "very good pick" that will give a lot of confidence to both Republicans and Democrats. Democrat Jared Bernstein, former chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden, agrees that picking Mueller was a "smart" move. In fact, he thinks if the investigation ultimately finds nothing, "many" Democrats will probably back off. However, while Christie is concerned about Washington being perceived globally as a dysfunctional place if the investigation drags on, Bernstein is not. While Trump "adds a level of cray cray to the equation that is very significant," gridlock and dysfunction have been already going on for quite a while in the nation's capital, Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told "Power Lunch." CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. Four potential candidates to lead the FBI including former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman have met with President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating; Andrew McCabe, currently the bureau's acting director; and Richard McFeely, a former top FBI official, also went to the White House for interviews on Wednesday. The meetings came more than a week after Trump fired James Comey from his post as FBI director. Trump said Monday that the search for a successor to Comey was "moving rapidly." He also has said he could name a candidate by the end of the week, before he departs Friday afternoon on his first overseas trip as president. The Senate must confirm whoever Trump nominates. Press Secretary Sean Spicer informed reporters about the meetings as Trump flew to Washington after addressing U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduates in Connecticut. Asked as he left the White House whether he would say 'yes' if Trump offered him the job, Keating said, "I'm a public servant." He added, "Let's just say we had a good conversation." President Donald Trump said Thursday he thinks the appointment of special counsel for the Russia investigation is bad for the United States. "I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country," Trump said. "And we have very important things to be doing right now, whether it's trade deals, whether it's military, whether it's stopping nuclear all of the things that we discussed today. And I think this shows a very divided country." Trump made his comments during a lunch with reporters and TV anchors. "It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. That's all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that we're not together as a country. And I think it's a very, very negative thing. And hopefully, this can go quickly, because we have to show unity if we're going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world." On Wednesday, Justice Department officials announced that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had tapped former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel, taking over the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election. After the announcement, the White House issued a measured statement on the president's behalf: "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." But Thursday morning, Trump tweeted a more aggressive tone, calling the investigation into potential ties between Russia and his presidential campaign a "witch hunt," a sentiment he reiterated later Thursday during a joint press conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. @realDonaldTrump: This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump also asked why no special counsel was appointed for what he called "all of the illegal acts" of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Obama administration. @realDonaldTrump: With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! In a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 78 percent of respondents said they would rather see the investigation led by an independent commission or special prosecutor, versus one led by Congress. NBC News and CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. Uber launched a new app on Thursday called Uber Freight, which matches trucking companies with loads to haul. The formal launch of the app marks Uber's long-anticipated move into the trucking industry potentially disrupting one of the most popular professions in the U.S. With 9.73 million workers, transportation and material moving is the fourth-largest employment group in the U.S., behind office staff, salespeople and food preparation workers, according to May 2016 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of transportation workers and movers, general freight trucking and specialized freight trucking are among the industries with the highest employment levels, the BLS said. An Uber Freight truck. Source: Travis Kalanick | Twitter Uber said in a blog post that the new app will relieve stress for drivers by confirming rates and loads within seconds, and delivering payments within a few days, much faster than the month-long waiting periods that are typical in the industry. Business Insider and The Verge have reported some early details of the program over the past year. The program has been in testing mode for a couple of months and is currently operating in Texas. Like Uber's existing ride-hailing app, it is based on location, an Uber spokeswoman told CNBC. Uber's ride-hailing business has been criticized by taxi unions and labor advocates, who say the services's flexible hours and fares "destroyed driver incomes" and that drivers should be employees that can unionize not independent contractors. Source: Uber Newsroom An Uber spokeswoman told CNBC that only professional drivers can use the Freight app. "We fundamentally believe that by focusing on drivers' pain points we can solve the industry's biggest challenges," Uber said in the blog post. "Happy drivers means happy shippers, and ultimately everyone benefits, including the end consumers of the goods." Another interesting tidbit: Uber Freight is led by Lior Ron, the co-founder of Otto. Otto is a trucking start-up, now owned by Uber, that has been at the center of an intense lawsuit with 's Waymo . Waymo alleges that Otto's other co-founder, Anthony Levandowki , stole key trade secrets related to Alphabet's self-driving car program, a claim Uber has called " ." But despite Ron's involvement, Uber Freight relies on human drivers, who can sign up for the program on Uber's website. The Trump administration is considering extending a ban on laptops in aircraft cabins to all flights to the US from anywhere in the world, in a move that would create major disruption for passengers and airlines. US homeland security officials who met European commissioners in Brussels this week said that if Washington does extend its ban on large electronic devices, Europe would not be singled out and restrictions would apply to all flights to the US. Brussels was also assured that it would be given ample warning of any extension of the ban in order to alert member states and European airlines. EU and US officials will meet again in Washington next week to discuss the technical practicalities of extending the ban. More from Financial Times: Brazilian markets hammered as political crisis reignited Roger Ailes death throws Fox probe into doubt United States looks at extending laptop ban to all flights David Lapan, a spokesperson for homeland security, said that secretary John Kelly was considering a worldwide extension of the US ban, though no decision had yet been taken. "We are considering extending the restriction that is in place in the Middle East and north Africa now, and the expansion of those restrictions could include Europe and other locations," said Mr Lapan. "We've had ongoing discussions with our European colleagues but it is still something that Secretary Kelly is considering." The decision has reduced any anger in Brussels that Europe would be singled out by any ban and that the US was failing to fully communicate the details of its plans. "In the army, when you have a kettle and you are making porridge, you cannot make it thicker in one corner of the kettle," said one senior EU diplomat. "It is the same with flight security. Why should [EU-US] flights be restricted and more secure than the ones to Thailand or Egypt?" Under the proposed restrictions, passengers would be forbidden from carrying electronic items larger than a mobile phone into an aircraft cabin as hand luggage. The ban is already in force at nine Middle Eastern airlines which fly to the US. The restrictions come in response to fears that Isis is developing a bomb that can be hidden within a laptop and detonated on board. Airlines fear the impact of any laptop restrictions. The chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, the airline lobby group, has estimated that extending the ban to Europe alone would cost passengers $1bn through longer travel times and lost productivity. The ban also threatens to hit demand for flights to the US, with many companies forbidding employees from stowing laptops in the hold because of the risk of sensitive information being stolen. One European airline official said the impact of an extended ban would be huge. "It will definitely cause cancellations especially in the first few weeks as people adapt to the new rules. It also might impact on travel patterns people might not fly so much and instead opt for a video call," the official said. Emirates , the largest Gulf carrier, last week reported an 82 per cent fall in annual profits, which it blamed in part on the laptop ban and a resulting reduction in its flights to the US. In April, the airline announced it was cutting the number of US-bound flights because of weak demand following introduction of the measure. A ban would also force airlines to amend rules that prohibit lithium ion batteries from being stowed in hold luggage. Brussels is concerned by the danger posed by overheating batteries left in the hold. Flight safety experts have found that when packed tightly together, laptop batteries can self-ignite and burn. Overheating batteries can also give off fumes and explode on board. The meeting between US and EU officials on Wednesday came after Brussels wrote to the Trump administration to complain of a lack of information regarding the proposed extension of the ban. European officials were frustrated after reports emerged that US president Donald Trump had shared sensitive information on the matter with Russian ambassador Sergey Lavrov. "It is somewhat surprising though that intel was shared on this issue with Russian minister Lavrov, before being shared with ministers of allied countries," said one EU diplomat. Watch: Laptop ban would cost airline passengers $1B The U.S. Justice Department plans to file a civil lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over excess diesel emissions as early as this week if no agreement is reached with the Italian-American automaker, two sources briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January accused FCA of illegally using undisclosed software to allow excess diesel emissions in about 104,000 cars and SUVs, the result of a probe that stemmed from regulators' investigation of rival Volkswagen AG. The EPA and California Air Resources Board have been in talks with FCA about the excess emissions and whether the agencies would approve the sale of 2017 FCA diesel models. A federal judge in California has set a May 24 hearing on a series of lawsuits filed by owners of vehicles against Fiat Chrysler and the Justice Department is expected to file its action by then if no agreement is reached. FCA said on Wednesday it believed that any litigation would be "counterproductive" to ongoing discussions with the EPA and California Air Resources Board. The company added that "in the case of any litigation, FCA US will defend itself vigorously, particularly against any claims that the company deliberately installed defeat devices to cheat U.S. emissions tests." The Justice Department took the same procedural step in early 2016 against Volkswagen, nearly four months after the German company admitted using software to emit excess diesel emissions in nearly 500,000 vehicles. Competition in the supermarket business is only intensifying. Amazon 's AmazonFresh initiative is rolling out brick-and-mortar pick up locations, Target has tapped a Kroger executive to run its grocery division, and discount chains Aldi and Lidl are encroaching on U.S. market share. Everybody wants a piece of the pie, literally. But Wal-Mart's investments are putting the retailer in a good place, as its first-quarter results show, while it pours money into keeping its prices low and beefing up its digital operations. Wal-Mart's grocery business saw its food categories deliver their strongest quarterly comparable sales performance in more than three years, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts and investors Thursday. "Online grocery also continues to perform well, and we're on track to scale the [grocery] offering to more stores this year in several countries, including the U.S.," McMillon went on. By acquiring Jet.com last year and bringing the website's founder, Marc Lore, on board to spearhead Wal-Mart's e-commerce division, the traditionally brick-and-mortar retailer has made clear its plans to move from bricks to clicks, as analysts say. And Wal-Mart wants to make sure its grocery offering is particularly appealing to shoppers online. [The stream is slated to start at 11:30 am, ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] House Speaker Paul Ryan holds his weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters on Thursday. Earlier this week, Ryan and GOP leaders discussed the prospects for tax reform as Republicans control Congress and the White House, calling it a "once in a generation" opportunity to overhaul the U.S. tax code. The appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate the Trump campaign's dealings with Russia was widely praised by both political parties. But there was less clarity about what exactly he can and can't do. In his new job, Mueller and his staff can interview witnesses, subpoena documents and, if the evidence merits, work with the bureau to bring criminal charges. That FBI investigation will continue, even after President Donald Trump fired Director James Comey after reportedly asking him to stand down on his probe into the business dealings of fired national security advisor Michael Flynn. The FBI is also looking into Moscow's interference in the 2016 election. But some Democrats think the special counsel role doesn't go far enough in insulating Mueller from White House interference. "Director Mueller will still be in the chain of command under the Trump-appointed leadership of the Justice Department," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. "He cannot take the place of a truly independent, outside commission that is completely free from the Trump administration's meddling." Even employees already working in the financial sector are eyeing opportunities in tech. In a new study of over 800 financial services employees in partnership with Kronos, we found that one-fourth are more interested in working in the tech industry than finance. These employees are looking for meaningful work, companies that innovate and flexibility all of which tech companies offer and where financial companies lag behind. Tech companies in their very nature are innovative. If they aren't evolving to meet the needs of their customers, their competition will crush them. In our study, we found that one-fourth of financial service employees don't view their company as innovative, yet 79 percent say working at an innovative company is important to them. Companies in the financial industry that invest more in FinTech may be able to get employees excited about working there. On the other hand, those that avoid technology because of corporate politics or poor leadership will likely have challenges inspiring an ever creative and youthful workforce. High potentials want to work at companies that are purpose-driven, that create products we use in our own lives and give back to society. In our survey, we found that 76 percent of employees say they are driven by more than just money when they seek a new job, and 73 percent say they need to see what a company stands for before joining. Financial companies need to do a better job helping employees connect their daily responsibilities to having a positive impact on the customer and the world as a whole. For instance, while many financial companies donate to charities, employees also want opportunities to volunteer at their local non-profit. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Ben Roback is a Senior Account Executive at Cicero Group and a member of the US Embassys Young Leaders UK programme. The rambunctious president of the United States gives this column enough content to analyse the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the administration on a daily basis; on balance, weekly is more than enough. What started out as another roller-coaster week for the White House has descended into an outright downward spiral when news reports emerged that President Trump directly asked James Comey, the former FBI Director, to drop an investigation into links between his former national security adviser and (naturally) Russian officials. The misstep came 24 hours after the revelation that Trump passed classified intelligence to (you guessed it) the Russian Foreign Minister. Make no mistake, Trump is now in the deepest crisis of a presidency that isnt even 150 days old. Whereas the initial battle was for dominance in a town that can swallow up even the most powerful officeholder in the world, Trump is now in a scrap for survival. Out of control with phone in hand, Twitter always at his fingertips, the President threatened to release a recording of the conversations he had with Comey in the Oval Office. The threat was staggering for an almost endless list of reasons, but centres around two: First, that hw thinks the Director of the FBI might be so careless that he would let slip information that could be held against him in future. Between the two men, only one has an impeccable record of taking care and acting responsibly throughout his career the other is the President of the United States. Second, that Trump even threatened to publish what should be a confidential conversation of major strategic importance. In true Trumpian style, the threat could always be a distraction tactic aimed at shifting the conversation. In this case it has failed miserably. Firing Comey had a clear motivation: Trump sought to expel his biggest threat from Washington. Now opposition Democrats, chomping at the bit, are increasingly beginning to float the i word impeachment. In reality, Trump is safe for as long as the rump of Republicans in the House and Senate back him. Bipartisan votes would be required to initiate impeachment proceedings and there is no material sign of that yet. But the tide of public and political opinion is very slowly beginning to shift. For the first time, Public Policy Polling found more voters support impeachment (48 per cent) than oppose it (41 per cent). On Capitol Hill, as Trump bumbles away from gaffes towards more serious constitutional crises, Democrats are pondering when is the right time to strike. On the issue of impeachment, I am doing my homework, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said in April. Congress holds the power to subpoena documents and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, indicated he is willing to issue a subpoena to obtain a memo authored by Comey stating that President Trump asked the FBI to stop its probe of Michael Flynn. Chaffetzs stance is worth watching because he is not seeking re-election and is therefore not beholden to the cult of Trump and ongoing Republican support. Paul Ryan, the Speaker with whom Trump and the Breitbart wing of the White House has clashed in the past, expressed support for Chaffetzs move as he made clear that We need to have all the facts. Meanwhile Sen. Lindsey Graham, a fully-fledged member of the Trump resistance wing of the Republican party, has invited Comey to testify publicly at a Senate hearing of the Judiciary Committee. As this column argued last week, Trump may have fired Comey but neither he nor the Russia problem will disappear any time soon. So what now? In order to begin the impeachment process, a majority of the House of Representatives would have to vote in favour. Thats 218 members in the lower chambers current make-up all 193 Democrats and at least 25 Republicans. In reality, the Democrats would need to flip the House in 2018 to initiate impeachment proceedings with any realistic chance of success. Second John Roberts Jr, the Chief Justice, would have to preside over a trial of President Trump. Then, two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote for it. In the upper chamber where Republicans enjoy a majority, the politics and mathematics make it almost impossible to foresee 18 Senate Republicans opposing a President they largely support at present. Given bipartisan good will is at a nadir in Washington, it would take an almighty constitutional crisis for the two parties to come together and remove Donald Trump from office. In short, dont hold your breath. While an impeachment of Trump is therefore not imminent, Comey testifying in front of Congress almost certainly is. If the reported account of events holds up, it will look a lot like obstruction of justice, giving Comey an open forum to double down on the notion that Trump either does not understand the rules restricting a President or is simply not fit to hold office. It is a decision that ultimately Congress will have to take. History is on Trumps side: of the 45 presidents to have occupied the Oval Office, only two have ever been impeached by the House and both were acquitted by the Senate. President Trump will desperately hope he does not become the third, but an error-prone start to his presidency makes for suspicious predictions looking forward. Owing to constitutional design, Trump is safe in office so long as he retains the support of his party in Congress. But with an increasingly thin skin, frustrated by internal Republican unwillingness to back his legislative agenda, dont rule out Trump continually lashing out against obstructionist House and Senate Republicans. On the wrong side of Trump, and with elections looming in November 2018, there could be very real incentives for their support to turn into opposition. For now, the President is safe. But his position relies as much on his own need to rein in personal mistakes as it does on the support of a Congress of which the majority never wanted him near the White House in the first place. Cllr Chris Whitehouse is the Lead Member for Childrens Services for the Isle of Wight Council and Chairman of The Whitehouse Consultancy. A major operator of academies around the country is damaging the life chances of a generation of children, whilst undermining the reputation of the whole academy programme and of the Conservative Government that stands behind it. AET (The Academies and Enterprise Trust) now runs 66 academies around England (it was a higher number but already 10 have been taken off them and one has been closed completely), and they have struggled financially, educationally and reputationally ever since they first launched because they simply arent up to the job. One Schools Minister told me personally in the past that, had he been in post at the time, AET would have been given no schools to run. A new Chief Executive, Julian Drinkall, was brought in to turn around the failing organisations fortunes in January and now boasts of his detailed discussions with Ministers, the National Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, and all eight of the Schools Regional Commissioners, about the strategy through which he intends to get the organisations finances back on track. The way this is being done on the Isle of Wight is simply crass and risks further damage to education outcomes on the Island. To a Chief Executive based in flashy offices in Euston, drawing a quarter of a million pound salary, the Isle of Wight might appear as a tiny pimple on the bottom of England, but in fact it is a proud county, made up of several very distinct local communities with their own identities and needs. On a map of England the towns of Sandown and Ryde may look close together, but they are six miles apart and very different communities. On the actual day of the local elections (4th May), a day of double purdah because the General Election was already called, AET threw every constitutional convention to the wind and announced what they disingenuously described as an amalgamation or a merger of Sandown Bay Academy with Ryde Academy to save costs. What they didnt say, until pressed on the matter, was that they would cease all teaching on the Sandown site, forcing in practice those 1,157 pupils to travel to Ryde. As a matter of law, two schools cannot be merged or amalgamated, as AET must have known full well. What they were trying to disguise was their brutal decision to simply close one school blatantly for financial reasons. There had been no consultation with the governors of the schools in question, no discussion with senior officers of Hampshire County Council who, under the direction of the Secretary of State no less, are responsible for supervision of the Islands education, and no discussion with the local education authority, of which I am Lead Member for Childrens Services. That the National Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, and the Schools Regional Commissioner for South East England and South London, Dominic Herrington, appear to have connived in this damaging and duplicitous behaviour is truly shocking. The students of Sandown Bay Academy are distraught, the parents are angry, the staff feel betrayed. The Principal and several of the senior leadership are leaving. AET had not even realised that transferring the students to Ryde would incur, for a financially strapped local authority, an annual cost of up to 1 million in home to school transport costs. Parents are now desperately trying to get their children into any school other than Ryde Academy because AET are now so unpopular that the thought of their children being taught by an organisation that is seeking to destroy their school is not acceptable, particularly as AET would benefit financially from every pupil that moved to Ryde. Sandown Bay Academy has every potential to be sustainable financially and successful educationally. There are plenty of good schools around the country with a student number of around 1,000. AET had based their sums, their Chief Executive revealed, on the declining trend in students over the last few years and extrapolated from that. Had he looked at real pupil numbers, the ones for children in our local primary schools, he would have seen that demand in the area is set to increase, not reduce. The proposed closure by AET of Sandown Bay Academy merely to shore up their own finances is an act of brutal and illiterate educational vandalism of the sort I have never previously seen in over thirty years working in education policy. Unfortunately, we dont have a Member of Parliament at the moment, although Bob Seely is our great Island candidate and will be in the House on June 9th, ready to take up the cudgels on this issue, but we desperately need the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, and the Schools Minister, Lord John Nash, to intervene to stop this damage to yet another cohort of children in the Islands schools; and before the reputation of the whole academisation programme and the Conservative commitment to it are left in tatters by the incompetence of AET. The educational prospects of a generation of children and the identity of a local community must not be sacrificed on the altar of AETs financial incompetence. Britains second woman Prime Minister is tight-lipped about its first one but, then again, being so about nearly everything is her default setting. Perhaps there is no more to her reticence than that. Or maybe it is a dog that isnt barking in the night, sending us a message we need to hear. What could this be? The best place to begin searching for an answer is to acknowledge that some of the policy differences between the two women are being exaggerated. Theresa May does not support a big state: in her very first major policy speech outside her ministerial responsibilites, she said that it should be small, strong [and] strategic. Nor is she planning to abandon the Cameron-era pledges to cut corporation tax to 17 per cent, or raise the threshold at which the 40p income tax rate is paid to 50,000. Todays Conservative manifesto will thus reiterate two major tax commitments to two heartland Tory constituencies business and the better-off. And the Prime Minister is sticking by a smaller, unpopular one, even at the cost of losing some votes: the pro-hunting lobby and its supporters. Nor, for that matter, is her so-called Red Toryism as crimson as is sometimes claimed. Many of the headlines generated during the last few weeks will look less alarming to liberals if they peer at the small print. May wants more council houses, but it isnt clear where the land to build them on will be found. She supports more rights for workers, but it isnt evident whether taking leave to care for a family member, for example, will be paid and nor is she planning to scrap the employment tribunal fees that David Cameron introduced. She has resuscitated a requirement to put employees on boards, but it looks as though companies will choose them. The red spray is mixed with blue paint. But the Prime Minister represents Conservative change as well as continuity. Thatchers 1983 landslide defined a settlement that even Tony Blairs bigger one of 1997 did not challenge. The state was rolled back, nationalised industries were privatised, the tripartite system of government scrapped, the trade unions tamed, council homes sold off, income taxes cut. Labour rejected some of that legacy (eventually raising the top rate of income tax, for example), but embraced much of it (such as using the private sector to provide services for the NHS on scale that the Tories would never have dared to risk). May, straining for her very own landslide, looks to go further than Brown and Blair in seeking to show, as she puts it, the good that government can do. She doesnt want to state to get bigger, but she does want it to intervene more. The industrial strategy wont seek to pick winning companies, but it will search for winning sectors. There will be an energy price cap not the relative one floated by John Penrose and others, but an absolute one. ConservativeHome is concerned about the politics of some of this and the drift of much of it. There is a danger of a ratchet leftwards, with Jeremy Corbyn haring off to the left and the Prime Minister plodding after him. May is also in danger of igniting the first serious Tory row about economics since the early 1980s, with free marketeer backbenches holding her legislation up. Above all, a corporatist approach would sit uneasily with an Open Brexit. But while we agitate about the detail, the Prime Minister sees the big picture and has assimilated its scale and size more clearly than her Thatcherite critics. The Conservative Party travels through the landscape of its times. These are not the same as they were in the era of Thatchers first landslide, over a quarter of a century ago, any more than they were a quarter of a century or so before that, when Harold Macmillan won his own overwhelming victory in 1959. The world has globalised. Family structure has been transformed. The western world has low birthrates and high immigration. Britain is a multi-racial country. The Soviet Union has collapsed and Islamist terror has risen. The crash happened and recession followed. Free market absolutists will claim that the former took place because there is too much crony capitalism, and too little of the real thing. They have a good point. But the argument only draws one deeper into probing whether the system works as well for the working man and woman as it did in Thatchers day. There are three big reasons why it does not. First, relations between capitalism and nationalism are strained now in a way that they werent then. Many of those who do well out of it feel they have more in common with their counterparts abroad than their fellow citizens at home. If you doubt it, ponder the politics of immigration and look, to pluck just one example out of the air, at how George Osborne at the Evening Standard now beats a pro-migration drum. Second, the changes in the way we live now have created winners and losers. The latter are simply out-wrestled by Iain Duncan Smiths five giants failing schools, crime, sub-standard healthcare, problem debt, and drug and alcohol dependency. For those who cant read or are mired in debt or trapped in substance abuse, the traditional free market nostrums of lower taxes, a smaller state and less red tape are not so much wrong as irrelevant: if a man isnt working because he cant count, cutting taxes wont help him. Finally, capitalism in the western world is simply not creating well-paid white and blue collar jobs on the same scale as it was in the immediate post-war period. Welcome to the gig economy. Mays greatest strength is that she, and the close team who work with her, grasp all this and the burning injustices that it can cause hence her Erdington conservatism. True, her gaze appears to be narrowly fixed either on the individual or the state. She seems to have less feel for everything in between: what David Cameron called the Big Society, the great three-dimensional internet of clubs and charities and voluntary groups and faith communities that are so much more effective at fixing social problems than the state. But in any modern western country, the state will stand behind them co-ordinating, innovating, cheerleading and, yes, funding. It gets a great deal wrong. None the less, if it wasnt there, much of this provision wouldnt be either. We will have seen more of the Conservative Manifesto by the end of the day. But what we know already is that May, if she can win her own landslide, wants to correct the liberal excesses of the Thatcher era by making peace with the state of seeing it, as this site puts it, not as Big Brother, but Little Brother. This ground has the merit of being where most voters stand: very, very few speak the Westminster Village language of making it bigger or smaller. And the Prime Minister seems set to use her mandate to do much of what this site has been pressing it to do such as dropping the tax pledge and ending the pensions triple lock, thereby setting the scene for more flexibility in deficit reduction and more fairness between the generations. It isnt yet clear whether May will push further to boost the technical education Britain needs, get to grips with families policy and overhaul a discredited political system (she could start by having a good long hard look at the abuse of honours), but the signs for this manifesto are good. Thatcherism was right for its times, and has lessons for today. But the world has moved on, and the Conservatives must move with it. This is a Party, not a mausoleum. None the less, the Prime Ministers plan contains a stinging irony. May, the former Remainer as Thatcher also was has not only embraced Brexit but grasped, perhaps more fully than any other British politician, what it means, what the British people wanted in backing it, and where it is leading. It is Brexit that is empowering May within her own Party, because the free marketeers are so often Brexiteers too. Since she has won their trust over the EU, they will forgive her views on the market for the moment, anyway. And it is Brexit that is gaining her what modernisers call the right to be heard not in BBC boardrooms or West Kensington or the Guardians offices, but in the Leave-backing midlands and northern citadels of the white working class. We will see next month if the Prime Minister can alchemise this permission into votes far, far away from Gina Miller Britain. Thatcher won the backing of the C1s and C2s. The convulsion of Brexit offers the Prime Minister the opportunity to reach even deeper. If she can, not much may be left of Labour afterwards. Hong Kong-based China Telecom Global (CTG), the subsidiary of China Telecom established in 2012, announced the launch of 100 Gbit/s service capability over its terrestrial cable system to address demand for high capacity connectivity between Asia and Europe in collaboration with Russian operators. Building on the launch of the Super TSR (Transit Silk Road), an ultra-low latency terrestrial route via the China-Kazakhstan Gateway, the latest initiative further diversifies CTG's product portfolio across the Europe-Asia route. CTG's new 100 Gbit/s capability is supported by cross-border transmission systems leveraging the China-Russia, China-Mongolia-Russia and China-Kazakhstan-Russia routes. The solution will be managed in collaboration with Russian partners, with which CTG has established a long-term strategic relationship. CTG stated that the service launch represents the first terrestrial 100 Gbit/s bandwidth option available between Asia and Europe, and is intended to support increasing IP transit/transmission demand from carrier partners and IP service providers. CTG launched the Super TSR last year, offering latency performance of 147 ms from Shanghai to Frankfurt, Germany and 159 ms between Hong Kong and Frankfurt, which is claimed to be 10 ms lower latency than on existing routes. The new shorter route was implemented in partnership with a Kazakhstan operator. CTG noted that the developments are part of its efforts to support China's Belt and Road initiative. Previously, last December CTG and Nepal Telecom announced an agreement to deliver IP services in Nepal leveraging the newly launched terrestrial route connecting China and Nepal, via Jilong (Rasuwa) Gateway. CORNWALL, Ontario LCBO employees were picketing outside of the LCBO on Brookdale Ave. in Cornwall on Thursday, May 18 to raise awareness about their concerns over the privatization of the liquor industry in Ontario. The Liberal government of Premier Kathleeen Wynne began allowing some grocery stores t sell wine, beer and cider two years agoon a limited basis. In February, the government expanded the program and currently 210 stores in the province can sell alochol. The LCBO makes $2.4 billion in annual profits, explained Jeff Scobie, Local President of the 4100 chapter of the Liquor Board Employees Division (LBED) outside of the Brookdale LCBO. That money goes to Ontario social programs, roads and infrastructure. This privatization means that instead of that money going to the people of Ontario it is going into the pocket of Wal-Mart and other private hands. Scobie stressed that Thursdays action was an information picket and that they were not protesting the LCBO. Several passers-by honked in support. the LCBO unionized employees are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). In March, the unions contract expired and they have since been in heated negotiations with their employer. In late April LCBO employees voterd overwhelmingly in favour of a strike, but OPSEU is still negotiating and has not yet followed through on that mandate. Our position is that the LCBO is a public instituion for the control and safe distribution of a drug, said Warren Smokey Thomas, president of OPSEU. The OPSEU bargaining team have been in negotiations since the end of March, and they have made stopping privatization a key part of their strategy. You would think the LCBO would be looking to strengthen itself to oppose further privatization. Instead, the employers proposals are designed to make it easier to further privatize our work, OPSEU said in a statement on their website. The government plans to expand the list of stores that can sell beer and wine to 450. Until recently, the Liberals had highlighted the fact that they hadnt opened new agency stores since their election but now, the LCBOs actions suggest the government might be looking at expanding the program again, the OPSEU statement reads. On the other hand, our team knows that a better LCBO starts with stopping privatization. Thats why were proposing strong new anti-privatization language at the bargaining table. After watching what happened with Hydro One, we know this government cant be trusted to look out for the publics interest when it comes to our public assets, the statement continues. So were proposing language that would mean the government cant move ahead with privatizing the LCBO without the publics approval. We think Ontarians should get the say they didnt have on Hydro One. CORNWALL, Ontario Numerous thunderstorms are expected to affect much of southern Ontario this afternoon and early evening. Severe thunderstorm watch in effect for: Cornwall Lancaster Maxville Alexandria Morrisburg Long Sault Winchester Newington Damaging wind gusts and torrential downpours giving rainfall amounts in excess of 50 mm are the main threats. Large hail can damage property and cause injury. Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles. Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors! Severe thunderstorm watches are issued when atmospheric conditions are favourable for the development of thunderstorms that could produce one or more of the following: large hail, damaging winds, torrential rainfall. The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management recommends that you take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches. Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ec.cpio-tempetes-ospc-storms.ec@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm. For more information: http://www.emergencymanagementontario.ca/english/beprepared/beprepared.html. Close So far, there has already been plenty of published ill-effects of climate change, as well as some measures that can be carried out to reduce it. Now, this is the time to see how man-made pollution is affecting other species we coexist with. Its bad effects has reached a new location - American backyards. Impact On Migratory Birds The northern breeding grounds have been attracting migratory birds for centuries and this natural process coincides with the growth of spring plants. A research report published in Scientific Reports, showed a detailed discussion and experiment done by a group of researchers from multiple universities. They studied collected data by citizen scientists and satellites views taken between 2001 and 2012. Their motive was to track how climate change is affecting the natural ability of the birds to exactly time or schedule their arrival at the breeding grounds, as reported by Futurism. Bird migration is mainly prompted by annually consistent physiological responses to photoperiod but the researchers say that their conditions at the breeding grounds actually depend on annually variable climate. The scientists presently involved in the study also merged satellite, as well as citizen science data to find out the rate of change in 48 breeding passerine species of North America, Nature elaborates. Researchers Get To See Drastic Results In Some Species They found that only 9 out of 48 North American didnt reach the breeding grounds by the deadline for mating and breeding to reproduce next generations. They also discovered an average gap stretched by over half a day per year across all species. This would stand an average estimation of five days on every 10 years. The impact of climate change has brought changes - for some species more severe, like double or triple. The scientists blame the effect of climate change in the rise of global temperature that affects the growth cycles of plants. This is because the constant climate change is also changing the natural time of plants for putting out new leaves. In North America, the process has become sooner than normal, whereas it is going late in the western part of the continent. Stay tuned for more updates. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare As my last post mentioned, release of hearing audio recordings does not appear to be standard practice in the District of Puerto Rico district court. But that isn't for lack of authority within that court. Standing Order 8, adopted in 2011, expressed with some pride that the District of Puerto Rico would be the "first in the entire Nation" after the pilot program (discussed in prior post) to make audio files available through PACER. The order makes clear that the recording is not the official record, preserving the role of court reporters. The use of the technology is left to the discretion of the presiding judge. The court's website indicates this order remains in effect. Ideally recordings of the Puerto Rico hearings would be released for free on the court's website. But even if posted only on PACER for a flat fee, opting into this practice would increase accessibility. Defendant Victor Alexander Marquez was just four months shy of his 18th birthday when he brutally murdered Maria Juarez by stabbing and slashing her 19 times during an attempted robbery. Judge Gerald F. Sevier presided over defendant's trial and sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for special circumstance murder. While defendant's original appeal was pending, the United States Supreme Court decided Miller v. Alabama (2012) 567 U.S. 460 (Miller). Miller held that mandatory LWOP sentences for juvenile homicide offenders violated the federal Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In defendant's first appeal, we recognized California does not provide for mandatory LWOP sentences for minors convicted of murder, and the sentencing court understood this aspect of its statutory sentencing discretion. Nevertheless, we reversed the judgment and remanded the matter to the trial court to reconsider defendant's LWOP sentence after applying the individualized sentencing criteria set forth in Miller. (People v. Marquez (June 25, 2013, F063837) [nonpub. opn.].) Judge Gary L. Paden conducted the resentencing hearing. After considering the Miller criteria, Judge Paden again imposed an LWOP sentence. Defendant contends the trial court misapplied the Miller criteria and argues his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. In supplemental briefing, defendant contends Proposition 57, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 (Proposition 57) passed by the voters on November 8, 2016, applies retroactively to his case. Defendant argues the initiative ended the practice employed here of allowing the prosecutor to directly file a case involving a juvenile offender in adult criminal court rather than first conducting a suitability hearing as now required by the amended provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code. As we explain in the unpublished portion of this opinion, the trial court properly evaluated the Miller criteria. In the published portion, we conclude the suitability hearing provisions of Proposition 57 are not retroactive. Retroactivity of the charging provisions of Proposition 57 would be a disaster. Cases that were fully and fairly adjudicated under then-existing law would have to be retried. Absent a clear provision in the initiative itself requiring such retroactivity -- and there is none -- this change should be prospective only. Cloud News Datadog Hires New Relic Channel Chief As SVP Of Alliances Phil Harvey Share this Cloud monitoring provider Datadog announced on Thursday that John Gray, formerly of competitor New Relic, has joined the company as its senior vice president of Alliances. Gray will lead the company's channel partnerships business and will have some business development responsibilities as well. Gray has over 20 years experience in software and SaaS sales and in building strategic alliances and channel programs. His past employers include IBM, BEA, Oracle and LivePerson. Datadog is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) monitoring, and data analytics platform and the company provides a unified view of IT KPIs, events and metrics. That information helps businesses monitor their cloud infrastructure, develop and release new applications on schedule, reduce downtime and improve application performance. [Related: The 20 Coolest Cloud Software Vendors Of The 2017 Cloud 100] As more companies are moving workloads to the cloud, Gray said Datadog's job is to help those companies feel secure before, during and after that transition. "We give the customers the confidence to accelerate their consumption of the public cloud platforms," Gray said. Gray said Datadog is targeting channel partners to help expand the company's business. The company wants to build relationships with more MSPs and SaaS providers who can use Datadog's tools to "deliver a more transparent view of all that complicated cloud infrastructure" that enterprises are using. For digital agencies and systems integrators, Gray said Datadog "helps them be more successful more quickly." This is particularly the case when it comes to helping customers who are moving to use more SaaS providers in their companies. "Customers need a better view of their data and Datadog has built a real business, not only regarding producing great products but the integrations with other tools and services they've done a phenomenal job at that," Gray said. Gray said he's enjoying his new role and did acknowledge that there will be competition between his current and previous employer. "New Relic does compete with Datadog," he said. "But the overlap in competition is relatively recent." New Relic and Datadog both offer application performance monitoring and infrastructure monitoring. New Relic declined to comment for this story, but noted that the company's alliances and channels team is now led by its CMO, Robson Grieve. Gray's pledge to partners is that he'll help them correctly message the value of having Datadog as part of the service that they provide to their customers. He added: "From a channel strategy point of view, our job is not only to convince an MSP of the value that we bring to the table but also to assist them in going to market." Cloud News Google Showcases AI Technologies At I/O Developer Conference Joseph Tsidulko Share this Google's I/O developer conference opened Wednesday with a focus on artificial intelligence as the modality that will power the next generation of its consumer products. And because innovations Google develops for consumers usually find their way into the enterprise, partners told CRN the products showcased at I/O across various platforms Android, Chrome, YouTube, Google Home, virtual reality headsets tease business-grade capabilities they'll be able to introduce to their practices down the road. The 11th I/O conference, hosted at an amphitheater near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. campus, highlighted advances that streamline for users the process of interfacing with Google products and platforms, seven of which have more than a billion monthly users. [Related: Look Out AWS And AzureGoogle Is Betting Big On The Enterprise Channel] Google CEO Sundar Pichai kicked off the morning's keynote by describing to the company's developer community the current evolution in computing as a shift from a "mobile-first to AI-first approach." "Mobile made us reimagine every product we were working on. Similarly, in an AI-first world, we are rethinking all of our products," Pichai told attendees. Google is even rethinking its entire computational architecture, the CEO said, building "AI-first data centers." To power the AI workloads of the future, Pichai announced a new chip called the Cloud TPU. Last year, Google introduced its Tensor Processing Units advanced chips customized to excel at machine learning tasks. TPUs are engaged across Google services, from Search to AlphaGo, a product from the DeepMind subsidiary that recently defeated a grandmaster of the notoriously complex Go board game. Machine learning, however, is comprised of two basic tasks: training and inference. TPUs excel at inference actually making predictions using established neural networks but the training part is more computationally intensive. Cloud TPUs are designed to churn through training tasks. Each chip is capable of 180 trillion floating point operations per second. They're designed to be stacked in pods in data centers, capable of achieving 11.5 petaflops. "We want Google Cloud to be the best cloud for machine learning," Pichai said. The Cloud TPUs will join TPUs and GPUs in a portfolio of customized hardware that achieves that goal. Pichai also introduced Google.ai to unite development of artificial intelligence across the company. The group will focus on applying state-of-the-art research, tools and infrastructure to drive AI throughout the product portfolio. Google.ai will lead projects, like one in which Google is developing neural networks that design other neural networks, an advanced capability in the realm of possibility thanks to Cloud TPUs, he said. It will apply AI advances to newer, harder problems, such as health care, and to the current portfolio, such as making the flagship Search product more assistive to users. It will also drive development of computer vision, an underlying capability of several product upgrades revealed at I/O on Wednesday. The effort to understand and contextualize images is reminiscent of the challenge Google's founders tackled in deciphering text in web pages, Pichai said. A new initiative called Google Lens will disseminate image processing capabilities to Google Photos and other products, he said. A succession of Google product leaders took the stage after Pichai, each introducing upgrades leveraging AI to better communicate, simplify tasks, share and view content, and integrate those capabilities through APIs. While they discussed mostly consumer products, Google has been a pioneer in evolving its technology to serve the enterprise, said Aric Bandy, president of Agosto, a Google partner based in Minneapolis, Minn. Partners keep an eye on I/O with an interest in how technologies introduced at that conference can be applied to solve business problems, Bandy told CRN. "Over time, they've taken the consumer tech and certainly done some very enterprise-oriented features to make it relevant in the enterprise space," Bandy said. The reality of our world is the "consumerization of IT," Bandy told CRN. Users are less likely to differentiate devices and services they use at home or on the job. "We live in a world today that is blurring the line between where the professional world and personal world starts," Bandy said. A decade ago, Google's consumer legacy was an obstacle for partners. Back then, it was difficult to even get a meeting with a big enterprise customer, and those customers would bat down Google's products for their consumer origins. The market has changed. I/O highlighted Google's strong suits mobile, machine learning and data analytics. Under the leadership of Diane Greene, the Google Cloud business division is commercializing those technologies and delivering them to an increasingly enthusiastic base of business customers. Products showcased at I/O will follow that course, like computer vision, which has immense potential for commercial applications, he said. Nicky Parseghian, a practice director at SADA Systems, a Los Angeles-based Google systems integrator, said he watched the keynote from a business partner perspective, and was excited by what he saw. "We always keep a close eye on these new projects, business units, features, technologies being released," Parseghian said. "We try to envision where it can lead from an enterprise standpoint." The thrust of the keynote was leveraging machine learning to get information to users faster and more efficiently, either through Assistant, Home, Photos or several other consumer platforms. What Google learns from those efforts will ultimately be of benefit to businesses using its cloud services. "It really helps us to see where Google is going and how essentially they can leverage all of these technologies to do good from the business standpoint," Parseghian told CRN. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT The Mary and Eliza Freeman homes in the citys South End are among the oldest standing homes built and owned by African American women in the nation. They arent much to look at, as the ravages of time have taken their toll. But a group, the Mary and Eliza Freeman Center For History and Community, has been trying for the past decade to secure this historic treasure for posterity. On Friday, Keith W. Stokes, vice president of the 1696 Heritage Group, and a descendant of Bridgeports pre-Civil War era African American community, will discuss Legacies of Slavery & Freedom: A Family Journey through the Atlantic World, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Burt Chernow Galleries at Housatonic Community College. Stokes presentation will connect the so-called Little Liberia neighborhood of Bridgeport, with several of the most important historic places and events in the history and freedom that connected both sides of the Atlantic West Africa, United Kingdom, Jamaica, Philadelphia and Newport, R.I. The talk is $12. For $55, participants will get a membership to Freeman Center and an invitation to the after-talk reception. Little Liberia was a seafaring community of free people of color. It boasted a luxurious seaside resort hotel for wealthy blacks (cited in a letter to Frederick Douglass), the citys first free lending library, a school, businesses, fraternal organizations and churches. Of about 36 structures that made up the community, only the houses once owned by sisters Mary and Eliza Freeman survive. The presentation Friday evening will include images of family heirlooms from Little Liberia between 1840 and 1900. Keith Stokes understands what we are trying to do here in Bridgeport, said Maisa L. Tisdale, executive director of the Freeman Center. The historic Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses are rare examples of African American life prior to Emancipation. He will connect the dots for listeners regarding Little Liberia and the rest of the world. Stokes is a lecturer in community and regional planning, historic preservation and interpretation with an expertise in early African and Jewish American History. He has served on numerous regional and national historic preservation boards including serving as chairman of the Touro Synagogue Foundation, vice president and trustee of the Preservation Society for Newport County in Rhode Island and as a board member of the Newport Historical Society. He has worked in business, history and community development with degrees from Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He is a native of Newport. jburgeson@ctpost.com Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was among four candidates interviewed by President Trump for the front-office vacancy over at the FBI. The president was scheduled to meet with Lieberman and three others acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, and former senior FBI official Richard McFeely on Wednesday upon his return from the Coast Guard Academy graduation in New London. It will be interesting to see if the Stamford native and former Connecticut attorney general takes the job, even if it is offered. He is comfortably ensconced with wife, Hadassah, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, N.Y., near children and grandchildren. He spends some time at a Manhattan law firm and helps lead No Labels, an organization devoted to promoting bipartisanship a Lieberman calling card. But the head of Liebermans law firm, Marc Kasowitz, is a longtime lawyer for Trump, which may pose an insurmountable conflict of interest. At age 75, Lieberman is two years younger than legendary and controversial FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover was when he died in 1972. Hoover had led the bureau since its inception as the Justice Departments Bureau of Investigation in 1924. If Lieberman served out the full 10-year-term as FBI director, he would be age 85 upon retirement. Lieberman gained a reputation during 24 years in the U.S. Senate as a straight-shooting centrist comfortable on both sides of the aisle, an asset for a prospective director of the nations embattled federal law-enforcement agency. Lieberman would replace James Comey, fired by Trump last week amid shifting explanations for the dismissal. But undergirding it was Trumps own professed loathing of the Russia thing the investigation of links between Trump and Trump operatives and Russia that may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Not living in Trumps world I refuse to be caught in the here-and-now of Trump-created crises, said Sen. Chris Murphy on Tuesday as he shuttled between meetings and speeches off Capitol Hill. One was the 2017 Ideas Conference of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Murphy spoke on U.S. national security and relations with Russia. But like everything else in Washington these days, it all inevitably comes back to the man in the Oval Office. Trump clearly views foreign policy solely through a military lens, Murphy said, noting the preponderance of retired generals in senior administration positions. He fundamentally doesnt understand the threats posed to the U.S. today. Renewed optimism Rep. Jim Himes actually sees some daylight in the House Intelligence Committee investigation of Trump-Russia ties. A member of the committee, Himes was not sorry to see its chair, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., give up leading the probe after a midnight run to the White House to brief the president. Now it is in the hands of Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, a business-like accountant who appears committed to going wherever the facts lead. I know Mike and hes nobodys fool, Himes said. I have enormous respect for him. So I think were back on track. The House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting separate investigations of what some are referring to as RussiaGate. Meanwhile, also in Washington As the news world swarmed around the New York Times report that Trump leaned on Comey to go easy on fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn I hope you can let this go, Trump allegedly said Rep. Elizabeth Esty was busy in the House Veterans Affairs Committee on legislation to ease the logjam of veterans appeals of VA decisions on disability claims for service-related injuries. With a backlog of 470,000 cases, the system is grinding to a halt, Esty said. So the preoccupation with Trump and Comey and Russia does not bring the curtain down on congressional business. But that business gets much less public notice. I was sent to Congress to get things done, said Esty. We have to get to the bottom of whats happening, but we cant have Congress and the governance of the country grind to halt. We have to learn to do these thing at the same time. dan@hearstdc.com MONROE The Monroe Police Department will host stranger danger classes in all three Monroe elementary schools beginning next week, according to a post from the Monroe Police Department Facebook page. The classes are a result of a potential kidnapping attempt that occurred Wednesday afternoon. A young girl who attends Stepney Elementary School was dropped off at her normal bus stop around 4 p.m. Wednesday where she saw an older red minivan with two passengers who tried to verbally lure her to get in their vehicle, a Facebook post from Wednesday said. Police said in the post that the girl ignored their attempts and ran to her house. The driver and passenger of the minivan were described as being in their late 40s or early 50s, according to the post. The woman is said to be of slender build with short bright red hair, dyed green at the ends. The male passenger was described as overweight with bright green hair. Police said in the post that they responded to the area to search for the vehicle but did not locate it at the time. In Thursdays post, Monroe Police said its detective division is actively working on leads. For the time being, via the Facebook post, Monroe Police ask parents to remind their children never to get into a car with people they do not know. Monroe Police is asking anyone with any information about the vehicle or the occupants to contact the department at 203-261-3622. You can legally use marijuana in the state of Washington, and soon you likely will be able to use marijuana across the entire country of Canada. And yet, if you are traveling from Canada into Washington and you admit to a border officer that you have smoked marijuana in the past, you can get blocked from coming into the U.S. And not just for now, but forever. Welcome to the latest contradiction between local, state and federal policy when it comes to marijuana. Its such a mess that only one area of the economy seems certain to benefit. Im expecting my business to boom, immigration attorney Len Saunders told The Sacramento Bee. Related: Do Something That's Never Been Done Before, According to This Marijuana Tech CEO Moral Turpitude The Bee reported that a music journalist in British Columbia recently was denied access into the United States at the Washington border because he admitted to having smoked marijuana in the past. The man, 36-year-old Alan Ranta, said officials handcuffed and questioned him. He added that officials told him he had committed a crime of moral turpitude. Ranta was not carrying marijuana at the time. Neither was Matthew Harvey, a medical marijuana user who admitted to U.S. officials he had used marijuana recreationally in the past. He was barred for life from entering the U.S. in 2014. If this strict application of law continues, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have a difficult time coming to his next meeting in the U.S. He admitted long ago to partaking of cannabis. Unless he plans on trying to lie about that now, thats going to be an issue if a border official decides to ask. What the law says. Finding the exact language is relatively easy its online. Here you can read the entirety of INA Act 212, which is the law border agents are using to keep past marijuana users out. The law outlines the various reasons a person can be denied entry into the United States. Section 2 addresses criminal and related backgrounds. This section bars drug dealers, prostitutes, human traffickers and foreign government officials who have violated religious freedoms in their country. Grouped in with that crowd are people who admit to having smoked marijuana where it was illegal at any time in the past. Related: Illinois Looks to Marijuana to Plug Huge Hole it Its Budget The pertinent section reads that a person can be barred for violating any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance. This applies to those convicted of such an act or anyone who admits having committed such an act. That means a Canadian who admits to a border official that they used marijuana when the laws in their area deemed it illegal can be barred from the United States for life. If such an admission is made, the only way into the U.S. is through a special waiver that takes time to get and costs almost $600. What to do. Its up to the discretion of border officials whether to even ask about past drug use. Of course, people can simply lie. In the case of Harvey, he never really thought about it. Harvey told the CBC he was detained six hours and questioned because he had a marijuana magazine in his car. As a medical marijuana card holder in Canada who was driving into Washington -- where marijuana is legal -- he told the truth about his cannabis use, even when questioned about past use. The issue will not go away if Canada legalizes recreational marijuana as expected in 2018. U.S. border officials can still ask about past use of marijuana before it was made legal. Some attorneys advise their clients to simply not answer the question, rather than lying. Canadian officials have voiced hope that a compromise can be found with U.S. officials. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale called the current situation both ridiculous and ludicrous. Follow dispensaries.com on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest cannabis news. Related: Border Officials Are Banning Canadians Who Admit They've Smoked Marijuana Illinois Looks to Marijuana to Plug Huge Hole it Its Budget Israel Studies Potential of Medical Marijuana as a Treatment for Autism Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Startup database Crunchbase in April 2017 released some unsettling, if unfortunately not unexpected, data about who exactly receives venture capital money. In 2016, $94 billion was invested in companies that had only male founders, while $10 billion went to businesses with at least one female founder. Not only that, but 17 percent of VC-funded startups are led by women, which is a number that has remained stagnant for the last five years. And this kind of disparity doesn't only exist in the United States. Related: Only 17 Percent of Venture-Backed Startups Are Led by Women To investigate the role that gender stereotyping plays in these types of decisions, a trio of Swedish researchers sat in on closed-door conversations between venture capitalists to get a better understanding of how they view the pitches brought to them by male and female entrepreneurs. In Sweden, as a basis of comparison, one third of businesses are owned and led by women, but they only receive 13 to 18 percent of government venture funding. Throughout the course of the experiment, the researchers chronicled the decisions made about 125 companies, 99 of which were pitched by men and 26 by women. Related: Women Won't Have Equal Numbers of Board Seats Until 2055, New Study Finds Describing their experiment in May 2017 in the Harvard Business Review, Malin Malmstrom, Jeaneth Johansson and Joakim Wincent wrote, "Aside from a few exceptions, the financiers rhetorically produce stereotypical images of women as having qualities opposite to those considered important to being an entrepreneur, with VCs questioning their credibility, trustworthiness, experience, and knowledge." And how did the men fare? "Financiers leaned on stereotypical beliefs about men that reinforced their entrepreneurial potential," they explained. "Male entrepreneurs were commonly described as being assertive, innovative, competent, experienced, knowledgeable, and having established networks." So what are the phrases that the researchers identified that give voice to this financial divide? Related: 10 Facts That Will Change How You Think About Opportunity and Entrepreneurship Where men were "young and promising," women were "young, but inexperienced." When a man was "cautious, sensible and levelheaded," a woman was "too cautious and does not dare." When a male entrepreneur was "experienced but knowledgeable," a women entrepreneur was "experienced but worried." Of the 125 pitches put to the VCs in the study, female entrepreneurs on average were given 25 percent of the amount of money they applied for, while men got on average 52 percent of the figure they wanted. Nearly 53 percent of their applications were rejected altogether, while that happened to only 38 percent of men. Update, March 15, 2018 The same group of researchers built on this study in March 2018, and asked 11 venture capitalists from two Swedish government organizations about how gender stereotypes might have influenced the decisions they made about finance applications from 126 entrepreneurs. They took four core assumptions: that women are risk-averse while men are not, that women are more cost-conscious and have a reluctance to grow big businesses, that women don't have enough resources to develop a high growth company and men do and that women's companies underperform while men's startups do not. In assessing how both the male and female entrepreneurs fared with regard to things including earnings, turnover, number of employees, operating margins and literally how much money was in the bank, the researchers came to one solid conclusion. According to a summary of the findings from the researchers in Harvard Business Review, there were "no statistically significant differences between women and men who apply for finance. In total, none of the beliefs VCs expressed about female versus male entrepreneurs could be backed up by data related to how ventures actually performed." Related: New Data Illuminates VC Bias Against Women Why Women Make Better People Managers Than Men #3 Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Women-centric Social Media Campaign Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com The saying goes that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. The current manifestation of that axiom is state governments are poised to aggressively pursuing uncollected sales and use taxes from ecommerce sellers. Last month, the National Conference of State Legislatures issued a report which estimated the aggregated missed revenue from sales and use taxes was $26 billion in 2015. That marks a double-digit percentage increase from the $23 billion in uncollected funds when they first started tracking those numbers three years prior. If you make sales online, even as a third-party seller via Amazon or eBay, there's a good chance you're not collecting the appropriate sales tax for your products and offerings. As those lost sales aggregate across thousands of sellers like you, states are taking notice and will seek their cut. When that tax bill arrives (which it will), it could be a disaster for an unprepared ecommerce site owner. "As states across this country come under increasing funding pressure regarding their respective budgets, more and more of them are looking at sales tax revenue from ecommerce and remote sellers as a potential revenue-generating boon," said Mike Stokke, chief executive officer of Ampersand Accounting, a leading consulting firm that specializes in sales tax management and compliance for ecommerce retailers. "That boon could completely blind side online businesses that aren't even aware of the growing importance surrounding this online sales tax issue.'' For years, online storefronts and web-based retailers have sold physical and digital products without collecting a dime of state sales tax. Those ecommerce entrepreneurs can largely thank the U.S. Supreme Court and its 1992 decision Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, which blocked any given state from requiring the collection and remittance of sales tax from businesses, also known as remote sellers, which did not have a physical location, inventory, business assets, employees or sales agents within that state. So, for more than 15 years the door was seemingly shut on states seeking sales tax revenue from remote sellers; however, shifts in the ecommerce marketplace are now cracking that door open -- possibly wide open Consider that during the last several years, marketplace platforms have given third-party sellers access to their millions of buyers and fulfillment services for a piece of the sellers action. The most popular of these is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), commonly referred to as Amazon FBA. With Amazon FBA, a third-party sellers products are shipped to and stored in a number of Amazon warehouses throughout the country. The risk to FBA sellers and other remote vendors is that under the Quill decision, remote inventory in other states may now create physical presence within those states. For example, even though an FBA seller might not live in Pennsylvania, the stuff that's stored at the Amazon warehouse in Hazelton actually causes all sales by the FBA seller to Keystone State residents to be subject to sales tax. But thats not all. Several states and tax commissioners are attempting to expand that legal precedent in the hopes of channeling the billions of dollars at stake into their respective state coffers. Specifically, they want to base remote sales tax collection on a preset threshold of sales or transaction volume, regardless of whether the physical presence principle of Quill has been met. At the same time, other states are seeking to put their own laws on the books to enforce collection of the errant sales taxes as they are also beefing up their sales tax auditing ranks and resources to go after remote sellers. "States can go back several years, in some cases up to 10 years to recoup sales tax that you didn't collect but should have. They can also tack on penalties as well as interest. That's an unforeseen expense that many online retailers and ecommerce sites are currently ignoring or are unaware. Their business could be out of business in short order as a result," said Stokke. The reality is that state legislatures, judiciaries and executive agencies are unifying around this issue because many of them see it as an issue of fairness. Brick-and-mortar stores that are operating within any given state have to collect the respective sales and use taxes, plus have the necessary licenses, permits and variances to do business within that state. Many lawmakers believe is an unfair competitive advantage for remote sellers that few ecommerce sites play by those same rules. This issue of economic fairness has bubbled up to the federal level where a handful of U.S. Senators reintroduced legislation last month titled the Marketplace Fairness Act to help level that levy-collection playing field for state sales tax. A similar piece of legislation called the Remote Parity Transaction Act was simultaneously relaunched in the U.S. House Representatives. Both proposals have bipartisan support, which suggests that any business generating online sales can no longer afford to ignore this issue because Washington is not ignoring it. "Ignorance and denial are not sustainable business strategies as state agencies will only become more aggressive in the pursuit of untapped revenue stream -- -but there are steps that businesses can take regardless of their size," said Stokke. The first step is getting answers to some basic questions on the topic. Then consider an expert assessment of what your sales tax situation might be. Once that situation is clearly defined, and an action plan is developed, it's important to follow through. That can mean a sales tax expert intermediary files an anonymous, voluntary admission of non-compliance on your company's behalf. That proactive outreach usually results in the waiver of any penalties and perhaps a smaller retroactive sales tax liability of no more than three years. In several states, that liability can then be amortized for up to three years and paid on a monthly installment plan. Once the compliance plan is in place, it's much easier to keep your ecommerce business on the right side of the state sales tax law going forward. "Entrepreneurs take voluntary steps to mitigate risk all the time. They structure their company as an LLC or S-Corp to limit personal liability. They may also buy fire insurance or product liability insurance to protect their hard assets from risks. While those are potential risks worth considering, the single biggest risk to an ongoing e-commerce business is not collecting and remitting the required sales tax of the government, and governments are coming to get it," Stokke said. But the key is taking the initiative on behalf of your business first and not waiting for the state to come knocking. "Once a business is contacted by an auditor, there is little opportunity to implement liability-minimizing tactics," said Stokke. "States also share information with other states, so it's possible that your company may be contacted by several states over a short period of time concerning a sales tax audit. The only way to minimize exposure and limit the risk is to address these issues aggressively and proactively." Related: Your Ecommerce Business Might Owe a Ton of Taxes You Don't Know About The Rise and Continuing Evolution of the Digitally Native Vertical Brand 3 Solutions for Ecommerce Merchants Fighting Fraud Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Cuba Promotes Business Opportunities in the Mining Sector in Beijing Submitted by: Juana Asia Business and Economy 05 / 17 / 2017 Cuban business executives are currently in Beijing promoting opportunities in the mining sector with the objective of attracting Chinese investment to the island as a way to develop the industry and expand economic development. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, the Cuban delegation from the Ministry of Energy and Mining held an exchange seminar on Tuesday in the countrys embassy in Beijing to propose different projects to the Chinese business sector and institutions. The objective of the event is to raise the opportunity portfolio for foreign investment in the Cuban mining sector linked to the nickel and cobalt activity, said Alexis Gongora, Deputy General Director of Mining. He commented that there is a great level of advancement in the project of steel and nickel with the competition of several Chinese companies, in addition to the strong progress with the Metallurgical Corporation of China which are already working on the basis of signed documents. Gongora expressed the years of interest of the Chinese in investing in the sector and pointed out that the mining projects are very much linked to the cost and requires a long term process due to the geological research, test study of the minerals and the search of the technology needed. The Cuban ambassador to that Asian nation, Miguel Angel Ramirez, highlighted that China has been one of the main clients of Cuban nickel in the last 15 to 20 years. Strong friendship ties and bilateral cooperation unites us with China and as reiterated by President Xi Jinping, our nations are friends, comrades and brothers, said the Cuban diplomat. The meeting, held on Tuesday is aimed at among other aspects, to develop the work of geological inspection or research in several regions of Cuba for precious metals (gold and silver), basic metals (copper, lead, zinc) and other minerals of interest. Cuba has one of the major reserves of nickel in the world, it is second in the world in cobalt reserves and sells its productions to over 30 countries. (PL) The Miami Goombay Village Party is a celebration of culture expression embracing the legacy of a Bahamian-rooted community in Coconut Grove. Vendors prepare to share their authentic Bahamian and American arts, craft and cuisine. This years celebration will launch festivities that transforms Grand Avenue into a journey across the ocean, creating a perfect harmony of Caribbean culture of the Bahamas and the African American energy of Miami-Dade County. Join KROMA Gallery the day before, on Friday, May 26 for cocktails, conch, and amazing art. Did we mention theres a DJ and sweet giveaways every hour? Yep. You wont want to miss this. Guest Curator is Consul General of The Bahamas in Miami, Ricardo Treco who will help celebrate Miami's Bahamian cultural presence since 1873. KROMA is located at 3670 Grand Avenue. And then on Saturday, May 27, out on the street from Douglas Road to Plaza Street, you'll enjoy the Goombay street party from noon to 6 pm, with music, arts, crafts, culture, authentic Bahamian food, Junkanoos, kids zone, face painting and so much more! It's all free and open to the public. This is all to promote and launch the return of the large Goombay Festival which will return in 2018. Opening dates, hours and new policies set for 2022 ski season A price increase on all day and season passes at Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain ski areas goes into effect on Nov. 20. Nebraska was dubbed the Great American Desert by European explorers. Grass was everywhere and trees were largely absent. Think about that. There is an uncommonly high chance that a tree you look at was planted by hand or is the descendent of a tree that was planted by hand. Generations of Nebraskans have plowed, toiled and brought to bear a tenacity that I believe to be unmatched. This resolve is present across the state, but it may be on display most in rural communities especially my community of Neligh. Seven years ago a group of individuals took stock of Neligh and didnt like what they saw. The community checked the boxes of many rural stigmas: an emptying Main Street, rural flight, brain drain and a general attitude of despair. This group started a campaign to fund a local option sales tax to encourage economic development. The measure passed by the highest margin in Nebraska history, 92 percent to 8 percent. Since 2012, this community of 1,600 has seen a colossal reinvestment. Neligh has welcomed 27 new businesses a 17 percent increase in total businesses and transitioned 14 businesses to new ownership. Antelope County has seen more than $600 million in capital investment. Give us a few years to finish projects in the que, and capital investments will clear $1 billion. Yes, billion with a B. Neligh didnt pull up its bootstraps by itself. Weve had help. Our list of partners is long: citizens, local businesses, the Nebraska State College System. One constant partner has been the University of Nebraska. There is no question that Nelighs economic development success story would not be possible without our public university. And I know our story is replicated in rural communities across Nebraska. Put simply, the University of Nebraska has always been a vital partner in growing rural Nebraska and when I consider the very real challenges and remarkable opportunities facing rural communities, its clear that if we want to grow our state for the future, well need our university more than ever. I could spout off statistics like the universitys $3.9 billion annual economic impact, or the 10,000-plus graduates per year the university produces for our workforce, or the 70 percent of Nebraska health care professionals who were trained at UNMC. But the simple fact is that the university has taken the time to assist a community like Neligh and many others on a journey to success because the universitys leadership understands that as rural Nebraska goes, so goes Nebraska. For example: Business development consultants at the Nebraska Business Development Center assisted many of Nelighs new and transitioned businesses. NBDC is housed at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has outreach offices at every NU campus and several state college campuses. And with the help of NUs Rural Futures Institute and Nebraska Extension, Neligh developed a global marketing campaign, reaching more than 350,000 individuals in 49 states and 73 countries. The community has also attracted numerous young professionals and, with the help of the Rural Futures Institutes Connecting Young Nebraskans network, is taking steps to retain them. Its easy to take the outreach arm of the university for granted. The university was established as a land-grant institution, and it has stayed true to its mission. We must remember that the seeds of innovation take time to grow. There is no greater place for innovation to prosper than the University of Nebraska. It fosters bright ideas and big thinkers in the classroom and brings them to communities throughout the state. To my fellow Nebraskans, I say, lets plant new seeds. Like our forefathers did, lets reshape the landscape. We have an opportunity to double down together on our investment in our future. Rural Nebraska can drive our states economy forward. The University of Nebraska, a partner to communities like mine for almost a century and a half, will help us get there. Greg Ptacek is the director of economic development for the City of Neligh. While Prince Harrys girlfriend, actress Meghan Markle, has yet to meet the Queen, a royal source insists: They are not engaged formally but there is an understanding. 'The engagement announcement is still tipped for August 4 and is unlikely to come earlier. 'Why so? Because the general election (June 8), the formation of a new government (June 9), the State Opening of Parliament (June 19) and the state visit of King Felipe of Spain (July 12-14) cannot be overshadowed. Prince Harry's engagement to Meghan Markle will not be announced until August 4 so as it does not overshadow the general election, formation of the government, state opening of parliament or the state visit of King Felipe of Spain - due to take place between July 12-14 Although, if Megan isn't successful, is there another American waiting in the wings... this time Barbara Bush, twin sister of Jenna Bush Hager and daughter of former president George W If it isnt Meghan, does another American wait in the wings? In a TV interview with Harry last year, NBC presenter Jenna Bush Hager former president George W Bushs daughter offered him the phone number of her unmarried twin Barbara, 35, pictured. When Harrys aides went online to check Barbaras assets up came photos of her grandmother, ex-first lady Barbara Bush, 91. Labour's manifesto pledge to end the hereditary principle worries courtiers. The monarchys our last surviving institution dependent on heredity. The flunkeys also fret about Labours manifesto undertaking to widen the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, from which royals were exempted by Tony Blair. Its a little known fact that the Queen and Charles can and sometimes do exercise a right of veto over legislation affecting their interests. ITV's well-connected news anchor Tom Bradby, 50, attacks his BBC rivals, complaining: The BBCs failure to credit other news organisations when they get scoops is utterly inexcusable. No news organisation far less ITV enjoys puffing its rivals. The point to bear in mind here is that BBCs News at Ten swamps ITVs so-called rival in the ratings, with around 4.6million viewers to ITVs 1.9million. Theresa Mays joint chief of staff, Nick Timothy, 37, who is alleged to have had expletive-ridden clashes with Chancellor Philip Hammond, has been accused previously of clashing with other Cabinet ministers. He and fellow chief of staff Fiona Hill are accused by anonymous sources of behaving like deputy prime ministers. Most senior No 10 aides are resented by ministers jealous of their access to the prime ministerial ear. But, like Tony Blairs retired mouthpiece Alastair Campbell, they can look forward to crying all the way to the bank after theyve sold their memoirs and/or diaries. Novelist Susanna Johnston, 81, confides in an amusing new memoir, Hugh Honour and John Fleming Remembered: My ageing uncle, Robin Chancellor, alone in his Northamptonshire pavilion, began to yearn for a companion. He surfed the net and believed that he might have found happiness in a sex condominium outside Bangkok. Off he toiled to meet his date a Thai grandfather called Prim. 'Prim, as it turned out, after a brief experiment, refused to share the only bed in the bungalow with Uncle Robin on account, he said, of Robins loud snoring. 'He (Prim) had to sleep under the table in the kitchen. Same-sex romance for the elderly is evidently no bed of roses. Radio 4s newly-arrived Today editor, Sarah Sands, 55, has lost her deputy, Victoria Wakely, 45. Some say there was a massive falling out over the way Ms Sands wants the flagship news programme to develop. Others say Ms Wakelys departure was agreed long ago. The BBC says: Victoria remains deputy editor of Today. She will be doing a short-term project for World Service. The show was already in ferment over a falling-out between three of their five regular presenters. Mishal Husain and Sarah Montague object to Nick Robinsons sharp elbows when it comes to bagging prime airtime. All in the middle of a general election. Radio 4s newly-arrived Today editor, Sarah Sands (pictured) has lost her deputy, Victoria Wakely Re Lady Antonia Frasers daughter Natasha, now 53, recalling that Sir Mick Jagger, 73, bedded her when she was 17, the old goats then partner, Jerry Hall, the mother of four of his children, explained long ago: I weaned him off drugs but they were replaced by sex. Remembered for his hare-in-the-headlights portrayal of James Bond, in 1969s On Her Majestys Secret Service, George Lazenby, 77, now claims: I did my own stunts... and Im the only Bond who did that. Sean Connery wouldnt. Lazenby is the subject of a new biopic, Becoming Bond, in which hes played by fellow Australian Josh Lawson, 35. The deluded dud Bond complains: Hes a nice guy, but nobody can be me. Maybe Cary Grant but no one else. George Lazenby (pictured) is the subject of a new biopic, Becoming Bond, in which hes played by fellow Australian Josh Lawson, 35 Entrepreneur Algy Cluff paid fond tribute to the late playboy Rupert Deen, who died aged 78 last December, at a packed memorial service at Chelsea Old Church. He recalled that affable Deen never worked but was a member of our 1972 Winter Olympics lugeing team, adding: This was entirely suited to Ruperts requirements since it is the only sport with the participant lying flat on his back. A new book likens President John F Kennedy (pictured) to Donald Trump a rich mans son who felt entitled to have a crack at the presidency Slain US President John F Kennedy would have been 100 on May 29. A new book likens him to Donald Trump a rich mans son who felt entitled to have a crack at the presidency. The Road to Camelot, by Thomas Oliphant and Curtis Wilkie, says Kennedy was the first modern politician to understand the tidal pull of celebrity. He admitted: Its not that I have anything burning to take to the nation. Its just, Why not me? Sky's political presenter Adam Boulton, 58, complains that Theresa Mays team is now blocking his access to Cabinet ministers. When it was disclosed last month that Mrs May would be making an unexpected statement outside Number 10 she turned out to be announcing the election Boulton speculated that it concerned the PMs health. Mrs Mays forceful Scots-born chief of staff, Fiona Hill, told Sky: You might want to tell Bunter (her nickname for well-nourished Boulton) that he should watch what he is saying about my bosss health. Boultons wife, Anji Hunter, is Tony Blairs old friend and former gatekeeper, by the way. A shocking documentary has shed light on the mothers caught selling access to their own children to paedophiles. In the latest installment of Stacey Dooley Investigates, the London-born presenter travelled to the Phillippines to film the documentary Mums Selling Their Kids For Money. In harrowing scenes from the episode two women who have several children between them - some as young as five years old - are seen accepting money in exchange for access to the youngsters. Scroll down for video Stacey Dooley is horrified as she witnesses the arrest of two sisters who are selling their children for sex The two sisters agree to speak with Stacey after spending time in prison, claiming that the children were to blame for the crime In the Philippines women sexually abuse their children for money on webcams. Stacey observes a sting operation where the women exchange their children for money to someone they believe is a paedophile but is actually an undercover Homeland agent Despite the damning evidence, when the mothers are arrested by undercover Homeland Security Investigations officers, they shockingly attempt to blame the crimes on the children instead. In her latest documentary for BBC Three, Stacey also met women who sexually abuse their own children on webcams. Not only do the mothers featured abuse their children live for paedophiles across the globe, but they also traffic their children for hands-on abuse to travelling paedophiles - many of whom come from the US and the UK. Stacey, who has spent a decade making films for BBC Three, spends time with an undercover Homeland agent named 'Mike'. Mike has made contact with the women by creating a fake persona, and to gather the evidence he needed he asked the women what they would allow their children do. Stacey spends a week with an undercover operative who is hoping to arrest as many mothers selling their children as possible He explained to Stacey that the mothers were willing to be directed by paying customers over a webcam to complete horrible acts on their children in return for money. Mike said: 'Some of these guys sometimes ask for the most horrendous abuse of a child. 'They could ask for a child to be lit on fire, basically tortured. Some of these guys you read their [online chats], theyre obviously terribly sick people, theyre monsters.' Stacey had access to a live sting operation coordinated by the Homeland task force involving two mothers - who are also sisters. They arranged to meet with Mike at a private villa where they explained their girls 'can do sex' before he handed over money as part of the transaction. Footage of another operation shows an undercover agent meeting women at a market before arranging for a further meeting in hotel room After gathering the evidence on camera Mike and his team were able to arrest the two women. Shockingly, the women showed no remorse, and so Stacey visited the pair in prison afterwards to see if they realised the extent of their crime. But the presenter was shocked to hear that the women pin the blame on their children. 'It was the kids, they initiated it themselves,' one of the women claimed through tears. 'Many youths do things they shouldnt. There are things the parents cant control. But Im not selling [them]' Stacey learns that paedophiles - mostly from the UK and US - spend thousands on visiting the country and watching the horrific content online Both women are facing up to a life sentence as charges for child trafficking, child abuse and child pornography are brought against them. Stacey told the cameras: 'A, I know thats a complete lie and B, to have that mentality when youre supposed to be the person that protects them is just so depressing. 'Its such a disappointment and they just confirm that it was right to take those kids away from them two.' After their mothers' arrests the children of the two women are rehomed in the Filipino care system. Stacey revealed in the programme that victims are given emotional and psychological support, but acknowledged the lasting effects of the sexual abuse. Many tend to suffer from post-traumatic stress, turn to substances and have suicidal tendencies, she said. 'Its a really complicated situation and your emotions are back and forth,' Stacey says as she observes the children being taken away. 'Part of you is delighted that the operation is going well because ultimately the kids are going to be safe and well in the future, but then you remind yourself that there are no real winners because these kids are going to have their mums taken away from them. 'Its very sad, its very grey, and there is no black and white.' Stacey Dooley Investigates: Mums Selling Their Kids for Money is available to watch on BBC Three online now When Monty Thomas was a child and young teen, he was endlessly bullied for his feminine features. From one building of his Queensland high school to another Monty would be verbally abused, as peers and even teachers made fun of his looks. But now those chiseled cheekbones, arched eyebrows, and pouty lips help Monty transform into Jess Whoo, his gorgeous drag persona. And one day he hopes to take her where few drag queens have gone before - the runway. Monty Thomas, 26, walked down the runway at the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival both for Myer's Menswear (left) and in couture as his drag persona, Jess Whoo (right) Now Monty, from Queensland, is working to become Australia's first drag queen supermodel It has been a long and hard journey for Monty, who never felt accepted in his little town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. 'I was a very feminine-looking child,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'People would say I looked like a young girl.' 'I was very harshly bullied at school, it was the worst environment for me in terms of being myself.' 'In small towns, people have small minds,' he added. 'I don't say that as an insult, but when you live in a small town you don't get to see different things.' 'I was doing something different and, instead of praising my individuality, it was brought down. But it would always add fuel to the fire.' Monty, now 26, was able to find an escape from the cruelty through dance, throwing himself into ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and musical theatre. Dance, as well as his tight-knit group of friends from church, were his safe zones. 'With dancing, I could just be myself,' he said. It has been a long and hard journey for Monty, who never felt accepted in his little town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast where he was constantly bullied for his 'feminine features' Monty found an escape from the cruelty through dance and his passion for wearable art, which a friend suggested he combine to join the drag world 'I was usually the only boy in the class, but it didn't matter. Since you're doing the same thing with all the girls, you're not really discriminated against.' In fact, within those four walls of the dance studio, it was quite the opposite. Monty often got to be the star. 'Being the only boy meant I got to be the center of attention,' he said. That place on center stage is no longer unfamiliar to Monty, who has been performing in drag for the last nine years. It was an organic transition as Monty combined his love for both dance and wearable art to performing in his own creations. Monty first dipped his foot into the world of drag long before it became known in mainstream pop culture thanks to RuPaul's Drag Race. When Monty first began, he found that much of the drag world was still based in comedy - a direction he didn't feel really fit him. 'It was very Priscilla Queen of the Desert,' he said, referencing the famous 1994 Australian dramedy starring Guy Pearce. Monty first dipped his foot into the world of drag long before it became known in mainstream pop culture thanks to RuPaul's Drag Race When Monty first began, he found that much of the drag world was still based in comedy - a direction he didn't feel really fit his desire to be 'creative and beautiful' 'I didn't want to be funny,' he continued. 'I wanted to be creative and beautiful.' Monty describes his drag style as being on opposite sides of a spectrum, sometimes beautiful and ethereal and other times androgynous and grungy. His 'conceptual' drag is always inspired by a feeling, whether that be empowerment or sadness, that he then turns into a look. One such design was inspired by the death of a close friend, who lost his battle with leukemia. 'I covered myself in paper butterflies and pastel colours. They were the colour of his skin when he was suffering. I took that memory and turned it into a visual.' No matter what Jess is wearing, Monty has always tried to show everyone from his family to his small town that there is art behind drag. 'I want to show that when people dress in women's clothes, or something that isn't supposed to be for them by social standards, it doesn't make them weird,' he said. No matter what Jess is wearing, Monty has always tried to show everyone from his family to his small town that there is art behind drag He has worked club gigs and weddings, but is now hoping to take his act onto the runway 'Drag is creative, it's freeing. I feel free.' And now Monty is hoping to take his mission to bigger stages, specifically those that come with a runway. Monty got his first taste of modelling last October, when he became the first drag queen in Queensland to walk in a fashion show. He was asked to come to a casting for the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival after winning a prestigious style award, and was selected to walk for Myer's menswear. But Monty also emailed the festival organiser pictures of him in drag, and she also decided to cast him in two other shows as Jess Whoo. The experience of walking down the runway as his drag persona was unforgettable. 'The response was really amazing,' he said. 'Usually with each model there's some applause, but there was cheering and clapping when I came out.' 'It was nice to look out and have acceptance, and people celebrating my work.' After that show, Monty realised just how influential drag could be in the fashion industry and decided he wanted to become Australia's first ever drag supermodel. Monty describes his drag style as being on opposite sides of a spectrum, sometimes beautiful and ethereal and other times androgynous and grungy He is now working to turn that dream into a reality, spending the last five months building a portfolio that he can show agencies to gain representation. Monty has also living back at home and is working at a high-calibre salon as a hairdresser to save money so he can move to Melbourne within the year. He's hoping to show how powerful a diverse model can be in the fashion industry, and prove they can model anything - and sell products to anyone. 'Drag is diverse and progressive,' Monty said. 'And it can be presented in elaborate and understated ways.' Monty hopes that making a name for himself as a model would prove to people that they can do whatever they want in life, no matter the society norm Monty hopes that making a name for himself as a model would also prove to people that they can do whatever they want in life, no matter the society norm. 'Women don't have to subdue themselves to a feminine job or lifestyle and men don't have to wear pants if they don't want to - they can wear a skirt!' he said. 'We shouldn't be ridiculed for that. It doesn't matter what a person is wearing or what they're doing, as long as they're good people.' It's a feeling of acceptance that Monty was denied for most of his life, but that he felt full force on that catwalk. 'Walking on a runway, it was like putting the cherry on top of the sundae,' he said. 'I entered a world that drag is not usually seen in and I'm showcased and shown off for exactly who I am.' Monty shares updates and snaps on his Instagram page, MontyTheMonstar. Lisa Snowdon, 45, lives in Essex. She began her career as a model and went on to become a well-known radio and TV personality. Earlier this year she got engaged to her boyfriend, George Smart. Here she talks to ROSANNA GREENSTREET. ............................................................................................................................ Frocks or trousers? I love fashion and like to embrace different vibes to reflect my mood, so I have an eclectic style. Some days Ill be bohemian and wear a feminine floaty dress, other days its jeans with a simple top. But summer is my favourite time of year. I love dressing for the beach. Youre never too old to look good in a swimsuit or bikini if youre canny about it. Ive just discovered high-waisted, Fifties-style pants, which are super flattering, and you wont have to worry about eating paella for lunch or having a couple of cocktails. Be proud of your body. I certainly am. When I go on holiday, I love the feeling of seeing just a few things hanging in the wardrobe. It makes it so much easier to get ready every day. Lisa Snowdon tells Rosanna Greenstreet how you are never too old for bikinis (as long as you wear big knickers) Body loves and hates? We can all be self-critical, but as Ive got older Ive tried to focus on the good things: Im healthy, happy and have lots of people who love me, so I accept myself warts and all. I am lucky because Im tall just a tiny bit short of 5 ft 10 in and my skin is good. Fashion faux pas? You know yourself whether you look good in something. As Ive got older, comfort has taken over as the most important consideration. Fashion is no fun if it doesnt fit. At my age its also about choosing when to wear things. Id love to get a little playsuit, but I wouldnt wear it for a night out in London. I might wear dungaree shorts on holiday, though. High Street or designer? Both I just love shopping! There are so many great things on the High Street and its fun to pick up a bargain. I love Zara and H&M, and Topshop is good for little dresses. I have a beautiful red pleated maxi dress from JD Williams that I style with a cool leather belt. Its also great to blitz Selfridges: I will go to all the High Street concessions on the ground floor or, if I need something special for the red carpet, Ill have a root around in the designer section. My favourite designer is Isabel Marant: I love that understated Parisian chic. She uses great prints, her clothes always fit me well and they last for years. When I was younger, I was afraid to experiment with colour, but now I love it. Wardrobe treasure? My diamond engagement ring because its so precious and beautiful, but also because of everything it represents. George chose it and thats why its so special. I had no involvement and neither did friends; he did it all by himself. We havent got a date for the wedding, but we are working towards it. I have no idea about my wedding dress, either. The other day a friend said: We should just book some appointments to try on dresses, make a fun girlie day of it, go for lunch, have a couple of glasses of champagne. I have no idea what style will suit me, so I thought that was a great idea. Heels or flats? During the day I prefer to bomb around in flats. I love Converse, Stan Smith and Golden Goose trainers, also Birkenstocks and flip-flops. But I have a soft spot for sexy high heels. I love the Italian brand Loriblu. The ones Ive got are dark blue velvet super high, pointy and very sexy. I recently wore them with cropped jeans to a gallery opening. FIVE STYLE TIPS 1 Try on swimwear in good lighting, or shadows will create lumps, bumps and cellulite that arent there. Choose an underwired bikini, which will lift up the bust. 2 A fake tan makes your limbs look longer and leaner. You feel better when everythings golden and glowing. 3 There's no point in putting on mascara unless you have curled your eyelashes it lifts the eyes and makes them more feline. After mascara I do another tiny curl, then a second coat. My favourite mascaras are Benefit Theyre Real, Clinique and Urban Decay. 4 I always put on concealer after my eyeshadow, in case any pigment drops down. I clean under my eyes and add concealer by Urban Decay. 5 Bobbi Brown foundations are fantastic, as they are not too heavy. You still want to see your skin and not be caked in make-up. Advertisement Style icon? I ADMIRE Emmanuelle Alt, editor-in-chief of French Vogue. She always makes looking cool seem so effortless. Hoarder or minimalist? Hoarder, with the desire to become more minimalist. I am desperately trying to do the one in, one out (or one in, two out) with clothes shopping. I am also being more shrewd and asking: Do I really need it? Lazy bones or gym bunny? I like walking; I check on my Fitbit how many steps Ive done and try to get to 10,000 a day. I like going to classes, too: Pilates is good for core stability and lengthening and strengthening muscles. I tried Bikram yoga the other day and did my first spin class, which was pretty intense because they scream at you. It was like a nightclub dark with loud music. But you get really into it and sweat so much. I like throwing myself into a class where there is good energy in the room and you just go for it. Left to my own devices, I cop out early. Twenty minutes on the treadmill will turn into 12, as I am not very disciplined. Nip and tuck? Each to their own, but the idea of going under the knife terrifies me. There are things you can do to prevent needing to have anything invasive. As I get older, I am most concerned about my jowls. Ive tried this treatment called Ultraformer at a place called Mode, in Loughton, and its brilliant. It uses ultrasound to shock the collagen, which tightens the muscles. Its a little uncomfortable, but Ive been having treatment on the lower half of my face and it has really helped. Top tips: There's no point in putting on mascara unless you have curled your eyelashes it lifts the eyes and makes them more feline Feast or famine? I love snacks, white wine and naughty things like that, and I believe a little bit of what you fancy does you good. But we try to have veggie-only times in the week, and stick to lean proteins, such as fish and chicken. I dont really do dairy, but I still love potatoes and rice. We both love cooking, but Id say I cook more. I dont have two heavy meals a day, though it will be one big main meal and something lighter for lunch or the other way round. If I have a naughty day and eat lots of ice cream, I wont do it again the next day. Its just about being mindful of what you eat. Guilty pleasure? I love dark chocolate and biscuits and I like baking cakes, which is a disaster because then I just want to eat them. My new favourite is chocolate and beetroot cake. Whats in your handbag? I have a little red Gucci Soho across-the-body bag, and I like a big shopper to carry shoes and a spare outfit if I have a long day and then an event to go to. I recently bought an Eighties navy Chanel bag from Vestiaire Collective. In my bag I have a charger because my iPhone is always dying; Bose headphones because Im obsessed with podcasts; my purse; almonds to snack on and my make-up. LISA SNOWDON fronts JD Williamss latest swimwear collection, jdwilliams.co.uk A young Chinese man has defied the odds and doctors by earning his Master's and now enrolling at Harvard Law School. And it's all thanks to his very dedicated mother. Ding Ding, 29, was born with cerebral palsy at a hospital in Hubei province in China in 1988. Doctors told his parents that he wasn't worth saving and suggested that his parents give him up, which Ding Ding's father was ready to agree to. But his mother, Zuo Hongyan, refused. Even when her husband divorced her, she persevered, raising Ding Ding and pushing him to meet his potential, which eventually led the young man to Harvard. Persevering: Zuo Hongyan (right) refused to abandon her son Ding Ding, 29, when Chinese doctors said he would be a burden on her due to his disability According to Xinhua News Agency and South China Morning Post, Zuo, then 25, had a difficult pregnancy, and Ding Ding suffered from intrauterine asphyxia. When he was born, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and a team of doctors and experts warned Zuo and her husband of the kind of life they faced if they kept the baby. They told t the new parents that didn't want such a child, and the rational thing was to give him up, because he would drag their lives down. Compared to most countries in the West, it is relatively more common in China for parents to get rid of disabled children. According to the Globe and Mail, Chinese authorities estimated in 2014 that 98 per cent of the 576,000 children abandoned to orphanages are disabled. Her husband wanted to give him up, so the two divorced and Zuo raised the boy on her own, working several jobs Though Zuo's husband was ready to follow the doctors' advice and this troubling trend, Zuo refused. She told Xinhua News Agency that the baby kicked in her belly and she was determined to raise it. Her husband called her stubborn, but Zuo was aghast at how selfishly he was behaving. They soon divorced, and Zuo began to raise Ding Ding on her own, as a single mother. To support him, she was forced to take up several jobs, including one full-time teaching gig and several part-time jobs. But despite an incredibly busy work schedule, the dedicated mother found time to teach Ding Ding and help him catch up to the other kids his age. As he got older, his disabilities became more apparent. He couldn't stand until he was two, walk until he was three, or jump until he was six. He learned and developed at a slower pace. She also helped her son learn to catch up to kids his age, teaching him to use chopsticks and a pen and helping him with schoolwork So Zuo doubled down, adamant that her son would overcome his disabilities as best he could. She paid for rehabilitation treatment, and even learned massage therapy so she could take care of his stiff muscles, a symptom of his disorder. She pushed him to master using chopsticks, which was difficult for him, because she did not want him to have to explain his problems every time he went out to eat as an adult. She painstakingly taught him to hold and write with a pen, and urged him to study hard. 'I didn't want him to feel ashamed about this physical problems. Because he had inferior abilities in many areas, I was quite strict on him to work hard to catch up where he had difficulties,' she said. He's now earned a aster's from Peking University International Law School and is currently attending Harvard Law Zuo, who seemed to take Amy Chua's idea of the 'tiger mother' to new levels, certainly saw her work pay off. In 2011, Ding Ding graduated from Peking University School of Environmental Science and Engineering, after which he earned a Master's from Peking University International Law School. He spend two years working, and last year was admitted to Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. 'I never dared to dream of applying to Harvard,' he said. 'It was my mother who never stopped encouraging me to give it a try. Whenever I had any doubts, she would guide me forward.' Amber Tamblyn's nearly three-month-old daughter Marlow Alice isn't the only one who is a fan of her breast milk. The 34-year-old actress and her husband David Cross, 53, were at the New York premiere of her directorial debut, Paint It Black, on Monday when he admitted that he not only tried it, but he thinks it is the best tasting milk out there. 'Its way better than almond and soy milk,' he told New York Magazine. 'Its so f**king delicious; its like dessert.' David explained that Amber was about to dump her breast milk after having a glass of wine, so he had a 'little taste' before she threw it out. 'Delicious': Amber, 34, and David, 53, were at the New York premiere of her directorial debut, Paint It Black, on Monday when he admitted to trying her breast milk Meet Marlow Alice! The couple welcomed their daughter into the world in February, and shared her first face portrait (pictured) with the public in March And he couldn't resist gushing about how good it was. 'I dont mean, "Hey thats good for breast milk,"' he said. 'It was just good full stop, period. It was very creamy, somewhat sweet, like a dessert you would pay $50 for at Jean Georges. 'It was great, and then I just had all the rest of it because she was going to throw it away.' In addition to her husband, Amber happily celebrated her directorial debut with her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, and America Ferrera. Like family: Amber celebrated her directorial debut with her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars America Ferrera, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel (from left to right) Her night: Amber revealed that she planned on leaving the premiere for a bit to pump her breast milk, so she could enjoy a drink with her friends However, before she could really get loose, the mom told New York Magazine that she was planning to leave her premiere for a bit to pump her breast milk, so she could enjoy a drink. Although she looked chic in a black, Stella McCartney suit, she noted that she had a Medela breast bump bag with her filled with her pump, lip gloss, and ice chips. Last month, Amber revealed that she had a room made for her to pump her breast milk while rehearsing for her off-Broadway debut in Can You Forgive Her. The mom took to Instagram to share a photo of herself posed in front of a door labeled 'tit room'. Fan club: David compared the 'creamy, somewhat sweet' taste of Amber's breast milk to that of a pricey dessert. Amber has her own pumping room at rehearsals for off Broadway play Too cute: Amber admitted it is hard to concentrate on work sometimes now that she is a mom Tribute: Amber celebrated Mother's Day by sharing a poem she wrote for her daughter next to a picture of her C-section scar 'My stage manager made my pump room a sign at our rehearsal studio,' Amber wrote. 'She really gets me. #VineyardTheater #CanYouForgiveHer #GinaGionfriddo #OffBroadway (Runs May 4-June 25th at Vineyard Theater in NYC).' Amber and David welcomed Marlow Alice into the world in February and announced her birth on Instagram, joking that they named her 'Dauphinoise Petunia Brittany Scheherazade Von Funkinstein Mustard Witch RBG Cross Tamblyn-Bey jr.' The director, actress, and poet waited until March to share Marlow's first face portrait with the public, and it's clear she is completely enamored with her baby girl. Amber celebrated her first Mother's Day on Sunday by sharing a photo of her C-section car along with lines from Y for Yes, the poem she had written for her daughter. 'Yes. We are imperfect and our imperfections are wars we will not wage on ourselves. Yes. I will teach you beauty by a different definition,' she wrote after sharing her poem. When the Australian model, Megan Gale, opened up about her miscarriage earlier this year, she became a spokesperson for many women and a subject not often spoken about. However, the 41-year-old has now revealed that it wasn't easy to speak about her heartbreak in public: 'It's not necessarily something you share at work immediately if at all of with your friends or with family,' she told Yahoo Be. Australian model, Megan Gale (pictured), opened up about her miscarriage in January of this year - and now she has admitted that speaking publicly about her heartbreak was hard 'It's not necessarily something you share at work immediately if at all of with your friends or with family,' the 41-year-old (pictured with her partner) said However, Megan (pictured left and right pregnant now) also said that she wanted to 'communicate a message' as miscarriages are 'very, very common' 'Then there's the flip side where [you're] also wanting to communicate a message,' she continued. The Perth-born model - who has worked with the likes of David Jones and L'Oreal in the past - told the publication it was important for her to speak about the taboo subject because it is in fact 'very, very common'. She added that after she suffered her miscarriage, she had lots of people asking her when she was going to have another baby: 'It was just a really hard one to navigate and it just made me think: "Oh my god, there are so many women who are going through this",' she said. She added that after she suffered her miscarriage, she had lots of people asking her when she was going to have another baby (pictured with her son) Initially, Megan said that she blamed herself for the miscarriage - 'I couldn't look at Shaun - but he was with me, holding my hand,' she said (pictured right with Shaun) The 41-year-old first opened up about her miscarriage in January, when she said that she initially blamed herself: 'I couldn't look at Shaun - but he was with me, holding my hand,' she told InStyle Australia of her partner. '[I felt I had] really dropped the ball [and] somehow played a part,' she continued. The mum-of-one recently announced on Instagram that she is pregnant again, with the caption: 'There's a bun in my oven' (pictured) In the interview, the mum-of-one (pictured with River) also spoke about breastfeeding She said she thinks 'across the board it should be accepted, whether it's in the workplace or not' (pictured with River) In the Be interview, Megan also spoke about breastfeeding and how she thinks 'across the board it should be accepted, whether it's in the workplace or not'. Megan already has one three-year-old son, River, who she breastfed when he was a baby. The mum-of-one recently announced on Instagram that she is pregnant again, posting a witty picture of her oven and writing: 'Well would you look at that. There's a bun in my oven. Not quite ready to take it out just yet. Should be fully baked come Spring time.' A thrifty father of two is living completely mortgage-free after swapping his family home for a double-decker bus. Professional inventor Rick Hunt, from Cambridgeshire, spent just 3,600 on the disused vehicle, stripping back the seating to kit it out with three bedrooms as well as a kitchen, bathroom, dining area and seating area for when the bus is on the move. Appearing on Channel 4's How To Live Mortgage Free, he stunned presenter Sarah Beeny with his futuristic mobile home which cost him and his wife Amanda just 20,000. The couple, parents to James and Caitlin, ploughed all their savings into the ambitious project to avoid the burden of a mortgage - the average cost of which in Britain is 115,000. Architect Damion Burrows, property expert Sarah Beeny, and designer Max McMurdo inspect the double-decker bus that will become Rick Hunt's three-bedroom family home The family revealed on Wednesday night's episode how were previously renting a 1,400-a-month four-bedroom property near Cambridge. They came up with the plan to craft their own dream home after struggling to save a deposit for a family home in the area which would have cost them in the region of 390,000. But they had the added stress of making the home fully adaptable for Amanda, who struggles with severe mobility issues after a skydiving accident during her twenties when her chute didn't open. Rick converted the lower deck into a spacious living area complete with a kitchen, left. Also pictured is the staircase and the 'telescopic lift' for Amanda to move between areas The bus has a retractable ramp and 'monorail' track, pictured, for Amanda's wheelchair The front of the top deck has been converted into a seating area for when the bus is moving Rick, a professional inventor, made the entire home from scratch using his technical skills Architect Damion Burrows inspects Rick's lift, specially built for his disabled wife Amanda Designer Max McMurdo testes out the monorail track which lets Amanda move around freely She uses a walking frame to get around the house, meaning Rick - the sole breadwinner and Amanda's primary carer - also had to install a lift in his DIY mobile home. 'We've decided to make [our family home] much more friendly in that respect,' Rick said of his plans for the 'high-tech haven'. However they managed to keep costs down, spending just 15,000 on renovations including solar panels, bottled gas for heating and a retractable ramp and 'monorail' track for Amanda's wheelchair. Discussing the 'genius' creation, Sarah tells Rick: 'The plans for the bus sound genius. This is extremely ambitious given the budget, but if anyone will do it, I think it will be you' Amanda, right, struggles with severe mobility issues after a skydiving accident during her twenties when her chute didn't open - meaning their new home must be fully adaptable Rick gets to work on the disused bus as the extent of the daunting task before him becomes apparent Access to the top deck is via a 'telescopic lift' which is lowered on an electric winch Discussing the 'genius' creation, a visibly impressed Sarah told the couple: 'The plans for the bus sound genius. This is extremely ambitious given the budget, but if anyone will do it, I think it will be you.' How to Live Mortgage Free airs on Wednesdays on Channel 4 at 8pm A children's nurse has revealed how giving birth led to her developing terrifying psychosis including believing that her husband was Tarzan, she was set to marry a TV star and her baby had died and would come back from the dead. Hannah Faulkner, 29, was sectioned after - believing she was God - collapsed to the living room floor screaming that her 11-week-old daughter Esther had been killed moments earlier. Hannah, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, was so delusional that she also thought she wanted to marry a Britain's Got Talent contestant and that her husband Andy, 31, was Tarzan. Hannah Faulkner, 29, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, was in a mental health hospital for four months and diagnosed with postpartum psychosis (pictured with her newborn baby daughter Esther, on the day she was born) Treated in a mental health hospital for four months, Hannah was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, an illness that affects one in 1,000 new mums. Now she is pregnant for the second time and although there is a risk the condition will resurface, she is determined it will not define her. 'I had suffered with depression when I was younger, so I was more likely to suffer with postpartum psychosis than other women,' she said. 'I was in my own personal, living hell. But when I came out the other side I felt so misunderstood. Now, I really want to help other mums who might be going through something similar.' Treated in a mental health hospital for four months, Hannah, with husband Andy and newborn Esther, was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, an illness that affects one in 1,000 new mums Hannah collapsed to the living room floor screaming that her 11-week-old daughter Esther had been killed moments earlier and was soon sectioned Hannah with baby Esther, aged seven months old. They are pictured in Devon in October 2015 on their first family holiday after Hannah came out of the mental health hospital Hannah said she was in her own 'personal, living hell' and now she wants to help other women who may suffer like she did Hannah gave birth to 6lb 11oz Esther at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, Hampshire, on March 11 2015. But when Esther reached six weeks old, she became floppy and unwell and was later diagnosed with an E.coli infection, something doctors were left baffled over. 'As a nurse myself, I began to think I had over-worried about Esther's illness, but at the same time I wasn't getting any sleep,' she said. 'I would stay up most of the night, waiting to feed her, and be socialising all the time in the day with friends. 'I was sleeping on and off, manic and just doing too much.' But at the end of May, Andy and Hannah's quantity surveyor father, Danny Stupple, 55, first noticed she was behaving strangely while they were watching TV. She explained: 'I started telling Andy and my dad that everyone on Britain's Got Talent was well-liked by Jesus and that I wanted to marry one of the blokes on there because he was so nice. 'Dad and Andy asked me what I was going on about, and I became really angry with them.' Hannah, pictured when pregnant, started having severe delusions just after she gave birth - even believing she was God When Esther reached six weeks old, she became floppy and unwell and was later diagnosed with an E.coli infection, which left Hannah with severe worry Hannah has overcome her illness and is now celebrating being pregnant with her second child Two day later, Hannah's delusions became a lot more serious. 'I told Andy that God had told me Esther was going to die at 12pm that day, but it was OK because she would come back from the dead,' she recalled. 'He was a little confused, but when 11.55am came I rang Esther's consultant, hysterical, and at 12pm I just collapsed to the lounge floor screaming in a foetal position. 'I barely took in breath because I was crying and shouting so much. I was convinced our daughter had died.' Andy took Esther outside and called Hannah's mother, Pippa, 55, who is a senior nurse. Hannah, pictured on her wedding day in June 2013, was referred to Melbury Lodge, a mental health hospital in Winchester Hannah is pregnant again despite the risk of her suffering postpartum psychosis (with husband Andy and Esther this month) They looked after Hannah at home that night, calming her down and giving her an increased dose of an anti-depressant, which she had been taking since she was 18 to treat low mood, before taking her to see the GP the next day. 'They knew because of my job I wouldn't want to be admitted to casualty straight away. I would have been ashamed if anyone knew I was a nurse,' she explained. 'Someone must have told me that Esther was OK though. I'd stopped screaming and crying, but I was still delusional. I was talking really fast and singing "praise Jesus" and swinging my arms in the air.' Hannah was referred to Melbury Lodge, a mental health hospital in Winchester, where she was voluntarily admitted later that day. Hannah underwent treatment, which involves sending an electric current through the brain to trigger an epileptic seizure, which can relieve the symptoms of some mental health problems But after trying to escape twice, medics sectioned Hannah under the Mental Health Act. 'I tried to escape twice by pressing the fire alarm before they sectioned me. I was really scared of what my mind was going to do,' she said. 'I was desperate to watch a Disney film, but when Andy brought me Tarzan, I believed I was actually Jane and he was Tarzan.' After Hannah was sectioned she was treated in the adult department for four days, because her psychosis was so severe, while Andy looked after Esther. When she settled, Hannah was moved into the mum and baby unit, where she could have her daughter with her all the time, with supervision from mental health nurses. WHAT IS POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS? Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness that can affect a woman after she has a baby. It causes her to have hallucinations and delusional thinking (symptoms of psychosis). Postpartum psychosis is thought to affect around one in every 1,000 women who give birth. It's sometimes referred to as puerperal psychosis or postnatal psychosis. Taken from Nhs.co.uk Advertisement But after two months in hospital, doctors told Hannah and her family that the anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications didn't seem to be working. 'I had tried to take my own life. I just didn't trust myself and felt scared about what I might do,' she explained. 'The doctor told me he didn't think I would be around to see if any more medication was working if I carried on as I was, and suggested ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). 'My parents and Andy were really against it at first. They were worried it would damage my memory, and I wouldn't remember Esther, but we realised it was my only option.' The treatment involves sending an electric current through the brain to trigger an epileptic seizure, which can relieve the symptoms of some mental health problems. Undergoing 11 sessions, over six weeks, Hannah and Andy believed it was her only chance. 'I really thought I had nothing to lose, it was the last resort for me, and I can honestly say it saved my life,' she said. The treatment made Hannah stable enough to go home in September that year, and is now on medication to treat bi-polar disorder, which she was diagnosed with during her hospital admission. After Hannah was sectioned she was treated in the adult department for four days, because her psychosis was so severe, while Andy looked after Esther Speaking about Esther who turned two recently, she said: 'We have such a deep and strong bond which is so amazing. I love her so much, and love being a mum' Now Hannah, who is supporting charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), is urging other mums who may be feeling unwell to get help Returning to work in the January 2016, now Hannah feels healthy and happy and adores time with her girl. 'Esther is the most gorgeous little girl,' she beamed. 'She brings joy to everyone she meets. 'She's so happy and has no lasting effects from her time in hospital with me. 'We have such a deep and strong bond which is so amazing. I love her so much, and love being a mum.' Now Hannah, who is supporting charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), is urging other mums who may be feeling unwell to get help. Speaking about the ordeal, Andy said: 'People said "why didn't you just leave her", but Hannah is such an amazing woman and an fantastic mum, so loving and kind. When we got married, we made a vow, and I was determined to keep it' She said: 'You will be ok. I don't want this to define me. In fact, I'd do it all again if it meant still having Esther. 'And being pregnant for the second time isn't frightening. I know I am higher risk of getting postpartum psychosis, but I have all the support in place.' Andy added: 'I thought I understood mental health before Hannah got ill. 'But I didn't know what postpartum psychosis was or even recognise my own wife, she was that bad. 'People said "why didn't you just leave her", but Hannah is such an amazing woman and an fantastic mum, so loving and kind. When we got married, we made a vow, and I was determined to keep it.' The NHS says: 'Contact your GP immediately if you think someone you know may have developed postnatal psychosis.' 'And if you are struggling to cope because your partner is going through an episode of postpartum psychosis or recovering from this, don't be afraid to get help yourself.' For support visit www.app-network.org When a family announces that it is expecting, it is usually two parents that excitedly break the news. However, for Adam Lyons and his two girlfriends, it's three parents who are getting increasingly excited about their forthcoming bundle of joy. Two years ago, Adam Lyons, 36, who is from East London, but now lives in Austin, Texas, was dubbed 'the luckiest man alive' because of his unusual living arrangements with his two girlfriends Brooke Shedd and Jane Shalakhova. At the time, Adam and Brooke had son, Dante, two, together but now the 'throuple' are expecting again after Jane fell pregnant. Adam Lyons, 36, from East London at home with Brooke Shedd, 28, left, and Jane Shalakhova, 27, centre, in Austin, Texas, preparing for the new addition to their family. Also pictured is Adam and Brooke's son Dante, two Jane is 31 weeks into her first pregnancy and looking forward to raising her son with her boyfriend and girlfriend The threesome - who share a super-kingsize bed - believe the new baby, due in July, will make their family even more complete. Adam, 36, says: 'It's so sweet that we all get to parent and raise the kids together. 'We have talked about it at length and we all consider ourselves parents to the children. With the kids, our titles are officially "Dad", "Mum" and "Mum". For us, three definitely works better than two.' In fact the threesome believe their unusual arrangement could be the future of relationships and parenting. Adam, who runs his own business consulting company Psychology Hacker, says: 'For us, three people works because it enables us to manage daily life so much better. Adam, Brooke and Jane, have fun at a Christmas party. They insist having a social life is easier as a trio as there's always someone to look after the children The trio share a king size bed every night, but admit that it can get a bit hot and sweaty with so many people in the bed Adam Lyons was dubbed the luckiest man alive because of his unusual living arrangements with his two girlfriends Brooke Shedd and Jane Shalakhova 'So many of our friends are in "normal" two-person couple relationships with kids, jobs and all the other typical responsibilities and I see them struggling to juggle their lives. It's difficult with two people. 'But with three parents, we always have the ability for one person to look after the kids. 'As a result, we never begrudge each other anything because we all have lots of time. 'With three people, it's logistically so much easier to handle all those things - we share out the responsibilities and it fits our sexual preferences too. 'When Brooke, Jane and I first came out about our relationship, we had some criticism and certain people said we wouldn't last. The family live on a large plot of land with two separate houses - one they use as an office and another which Brooke uses as a home school where she plans to teach all the trio's children An incredible family! Their arrangement may be unusual but Adam insists that having three parents on hand to raise children makes like a lot easier Brooke and Adam's son Dante, two, left, and seven-year-old Oliver - her son from a previous relationship. Adam insists having three parents makes life much easier than a traditional monogamous relationship 'But we've been going for five years now. What we have is not a fling or a phase, we're a real family with healthy, happy kids. Our son Oliver doesn't even recognise what is 'unusual' about our family. 'This should be the future of relationships, where people are able to enjoy love in any way they feel works. Three people and three parents makes so much sense to us.' Indeed pregnant mother, Jane, 27, says that she never wanted children until she realised how much easier it was with three parents. Jane, who also works with Adam in his business consulting company, explains: 'When I had boyfriends before, I never wanted or cared about kids. 'Growing up, I always thought that when you had a baby, you became a slave to your child. You see a lot of parents struggling. Adam with Brooke Shedd, 28, right, and Jane Shalakhova, 27, left, who all live as a 'throuple' in Austin, Texas Brit Adam Lyons, 36, Brooke Shedd, 28, left, and Jane Shalakhova, 27, second from right, who all live as a 'throuple'. Also pictured is Brooke's son Oliver, 7. 'But raising Dante with Adam and Brooke and watching him grow up with three parents around - I realise we could do it as a family. With three parents around, it's so doable. 'With three parents, we can still have a social life, make time for one another and share the parenting tasks so you don't end up like the typical sleep-deprived mum! With two partners, there's so much help and I'll never have to leave my kids with someone I don't trust. Bisexual Brooke, 28, - who also has son, Oliver, 7 from a previous relationship - says: 'I'm so excited for Jane's pregnancy - I love talking to her bump. I've always wanted four sons so this is a dream come true. 'I think our good parenting is one of the sexiest things about our relationship. It's incredible to see them Adam and Jane with the kids and how we share all the responsibilities. Jane, who is originally from Russia with Brooke's sons Oliver and Dante. She says they boys see nothing unusual about their arrangement as it's all they know The trio are hoping to 'marry' this year in a commitment ceremony and are planning to have more children together 'We definitely want a few more kids and I would love to have a wedding to show my commitment to Adam and Jane. Oliver says he would like to get married someday too and he knows three people can be really happy together in a relationship. We're setting a good example.' Adam, Jane and Brooke all live together on a large plot of land with two separate houses - one of which they use as an office and one of which Brooke uses as a home school where she plans to teach all the trio's children. Bisexual Jane says: 'We love living and working together - the family house is a one-minute walk from our office. 'Adam and I can have meetings in the office and head back home for lunch with Brooke and the kids. It allows us to spend more time together. I love coming home and getting a kiss from Brooke, Dante and Oliver! 'My pregnancy was a planned one. We were trying for a baby - it just felt like the right time and parenting together as a threesome is a lot of fun. Adam Lyons, Brooke Shedd, far right, and Jane Shalakhova, centre. The trio are planning a trip to the UK once the baby's born to meet Adam's friends and family Occasionally, Adam, Brooke and Jane like to involve a fourth partner in their sex life but admit that they're exhausted with two kids and another baby on the way 'But Brooke has the primary mothering role - she looks after the children and will homeschool all the kids.' Brooke, who works part-time on Adam's company whilst being a full-time mum, says: 'Adam and I always knew I wanted to home-school our kids. We both excelled at school because we found it too easy. 'We wanted to our children a chance to really succeed and get lots of attention. Oliver can read, write and understand things beyond a normal school academic curriculum.' The throuple hope to get 'married' later this year and plan to have more children. Brooke explains: 'Jane and Adam still really want a daughter so we've agreed that they should definitely try for another baby. The trio had been planning to have a baby together and intend to keep adding to their family after the new baby arrives Adam, Jane and Brooke are in an open relationship and sleep with other people outside the trio, but the demands of family life mean it's a rarity Brooke Shedd (left) has a two-year-old son Dante with Adam, but now his other girlfriend Jane (right) is expecting a baby 'But I would definitely love to get married to Adam and Jane. It's something we've always wanted even though it's not legal. Even so, it's important that the three of us can make a commitment to each other with our family and friends around. Adam adds: 'We haven't got any solid plans for a wedding just yet but it's on the cards. Prior to that, I'm bringing Brooke, Jane and the kids to England before she gives birth. I want to celebrate our pregnancy with my loved ones in Britain.' Occasionally, Adam, Brooke and Jane like to involve a fourth partner in their sex life but admit that they're exhausted with two kids and another baby on the way. Adam says: 'We are still open in our relationship and we do sleep with other people outside the thee of us but to be honest, we don't have much time anymore! We're exhausted and happy with the children. Bisexual Brooke says Jane's pregnancy is a 'dream come true' as she's always wanted four sons Adam was dubbed 'the luckiest man alive' when news of his three-way relationship first emerged two years ago 'We're still open to fun when it comes along. If we wanted to add someone, I'm sure we could.' Jane adds: 'But absolutely we still make time to go to strip clubs together! We just hang out and have fun there. 'With three people around, it's easy to schedule in fun activities. We always make sure we have time to do fun things together and have weekly date nights. 'Adam, Brooke and I still sleep in the same super king-size bed together - it still gets very hot and sweaty with the three of us!' A national search to find doppelgangers for Prince George and Princess Charlotte has revealed its adorable winners. Parents whose children bear a striking resemblance to the world's most famous toddlers sent in images - and a flurry of entries has now been whittled down to two. With all the public votes counted, the winners have been unveiled this week as Hayden from London and Scarlett from Kent. George lookalike Hayden Ursell, aged three, from Isleworth in West London, was entered by mum Kim Sheedy after repeatedly receiving comments on his likeness to the royal toddler. Scroll down for video The winner in the Charlotte category is Scarlett Evered, aged two, from Kent (left) while Hayden Ursell, aged three, from Isleworth in West London (right) was George's best lookalike The real deal: Princess Charlotte, left, turned two this month while her brother George (right) will celebrate his fourth birthday in July before starting primary school in September Hayden won with a total of 1,622 votes, and having already had some experience as a Prince George lookalike will no doubt be familiar to the spotlight. Kim said: 'Everyone is always pointing out how much Hayden looks like Prince George, so when a friend spotted the competition I thought it would be really fun to enter him. 'I'm over the moon and so proud of my little boy for winning. He has a few older siblings, and they couldn't be happier that their little brother has taken home the lookalike crown.' The winner in the Charlotte category is Scarlett Evered, aged two, from Kent, whose parents Victoria and Andrew were both extremely proud of their little Princess. Scarlett won her crown with a total of 2,633 votes, and like Hayden is also used to the royal treatment, having worked as a Charlotte lookalike. Uncanny: Scarlett, two, meets a set of Duke and Duchess of Cambridhe lookalikes The competition set out to find little boys with a regal air. Right: RJ from Glasgow is a dead ringer for the young royal, says mum Aimee McGowan, but he didn't make the final two Elsie Farrugia from Reading, right, didn't manage to swoop the crown with her cheeky chops To the palace! Other young lookalike hopefuls include blonde Lyle, from Dunbar, who was submitted by his mum Lynne McAllister Watt. Centre: Jude, whose mum Amy Charlton Hughes thinks her son looks like a young George. Far right: winner Hayden Ursell from Isleworth Her mother Victoria said: 'I entered her after one of my friends saw the competition and insisted that I should send in Scarlett's picture. 'We are all so happy she has won, and it's nice to have something lovely like this for Scarlett to look back on when she is older. 'She has two older brothers who are so pleased and absolutely adore her, I think she will always be a princess in our house.' After the site had agreed on ten finalists, an online poll to decide the two winners saw thousands of votes cast to settle which tots bear the closest resemblance to the royal siblings. Little Bobby, from Widnes in Cheshire, made the cut after being entered by his mother, Nicola Fitzsimons. Right, Isaac Seager from Wiltshire was entered by mum Becky, and is almost exactly the same age as the real prince - however the youngsters didn't make the cut Netvouchercodes.co.uk announced the competition on social media in April and received legions of lookalikes - with some more convincing than others. Prince George, 3, and his younger sister, who turned two earlier this month, are already two of the most famous children on the planet, with their profiles set to rise even further when then they appear as page boy and bridesmaid at Pippa Middleton's forthcoming nuptials to James Matthews. Well, she's wearing the right outfit! Left, Olivia Jelley's mum Gemma says her daughter regularly receives comments about her likeness to Charlotte, Right: Lily-May from Gloucester offers a royal pose but the adorable tots didn't make the cut when the winners were announced Steve Barnes, spokesperson for the retail site said: 'The royal siblings are going to be two of the most talked about people at Auntie Pippa and James' big day, and we can certainly expect them to steal the spotlight from the other high profile attendees. 'We had far more entries to the competition than anticipated, it's been great to see how proud parents are that their child looks like a royal. 'We're sure the public will agree that all of our chosen finalists look just as adorable on camera as the royal tots do. 'Who knows, one of these kids might be considered to have such a resemblance that they'll end up becoming a full-time George or Charlotte lookalike.' COLUMBUS Enthusiasm from local businesses that bought into a new STEM Academy, along with greater engagement with alumni and the general public, combined to knock the lid off Columbus Public Schools Foundations fundraising efforts so far in 2016-17. The foundation, headed by Executive Director Kim Kwapnioski, reported contributions of more than $1.1 million through the first eight months of this fiscal year (September-April) during Mondays school board meeting. That figure represents a significant increase from the approximately $97,000 raised by the foundation during the same eight-month period in 2015-16. In April alone, the organization raised nearly $131,000, more than 10 times the almost $9,900 collected during the same month in 2016. Wow, its been a wild ride, said Kwapnioski, who took over as director of the foundation nine months ago after serving as executive director of the Norfolk Area Visitors Bureau for five years. Kwapnioski credited the partnership between CPS and the business community with creating strong support for the expanded STEM Academy at the recently completed Columbus High School along Lost Creek Parkway and 33rd Avenue. A large portion of the upsurge in giving to the foundation came from businesses donating funds for new equipment for the academys career and technical programs. The academy is comprised of science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses that give students the hands-on experience and skills sought by manufacturers. Kwapnioski also pointed to the 30,000-pound anchor sitting in front of the new high school as a symbol of foundation contributions. The anchor is the centerpiece of a display that will include a ring of benches and brick wall. Surrounding trees, bushes and flowers will provide landscaping enhancements as time goes on. The foundation promotes the new display by asking donors to make an investment in the districts students while linking their support with the foundation by giving $10,000. Donors receive one of 20 links in an anchor chain showcasing their familys name or business. Other donors can sponsor one of the displays 24 benches for a donation of $2,500 or buy a $100 brick with their name etched on it for inclusion on the wall. Its been a very exciting nine months, Kwapnioski told board members. I really enjoy what Im doing. Omaha-based DLR Group, which designed the new high school, is preparing the final outline for the design of the display benches. The potential is amazing, Kwapnioski said. They've chosen a church on a private estate and installed a security detail at the Middleton's house but Pippa and James could well be faced with a wedding crasher on Saturday. Villagers claim that a 5ft long puma weighing as much as 200lbs could be stalking the woodlands near the Berkshire church where Pippa will say her vows this weekend. According to The Mirror, the ferocious cat is like to be a puma and has been spotted in Bradfield - a village just two miles from St Mark's Church, Englefield. Villagers believe a 5ft long PUMA is on the loose near St Mark's Church, Berkshire, pictured, church where Pippa Middleton will say her vows this weekend Derek Collier, who lives at Midgham, which is the neighbouring village to Bradfield, claims he came face-to-face with the giant cat recently. He told the paper that he was driving through the country lanes when he spotted the huge cat. He explained: 'It was stood about 20 yards in front of me and right in my headlights and took up about two thirds of the road 'It was there for about ten seconds then it disappeared up the bank and into the bushes. 'It was a bit of a shock to say the least. It must have been five feet long from head to tail.' And Derek's tale is by no means the first; plenty of locals claim to have seen similar cats over the years. Someone spotted a giant cat in October 2012 - and is quickly became known as the 'Creature of Curridge' - whilst other locals claim to have seen black panthers in the surrounding areas. With just days to go until their big day, Pippa Middleton and her fiance James Matthews have been spotted out and about making some final preparations. Derek Collier, who lives at Midgham, which is the neighbouring village to Bradfield, claims he came face-to-face with the giant cat recently (stock image) Derek Collier, who lives at Midgham, which is the neighbouring village to Bradfield, claims he came face-to-face with the giant cat recently Pippa Middleton was seen driving through the rain with her mother Carole earlier today near to St Mark's Church in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where the wedding will take place on Saturday. Meanwhile, James was seen popping out for a spot of last-minute shoe shopping yesterday evening. Yesterday, the busy-looking groom-to-be was seen wearing a white shirt, black trousers and a pair of trainers to help him run around central London. The prospects for a sunny wedding are not looking good for the couple, however, with heavy rain predicted for the weekend by the Met Office. Preparations for the couple's nuptials, which will be attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, were in full swing yesterday The multi-millionaire hedge fund boss, 41, was seen carrying a rucksack and two high-end black shopping bags from the exclusive shoe-maker Edward Green, where formal shoes start from 900. It was earlier revealed that Pippa Middleton has certainly made sure the toilets for her nuptials will match the extravagance of the venue. Preparations for the nuptials, which will be attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, were in full swing yesterday. A van delivering beer from the Ramsbury Brewery in Wiltshire also arrived at the house, as well as some electricity generators. Meanwhile in London several garment bags possibly containing bridesmaids outfits or even Miss Middletons hotly anticipated wedding dress arrived at the 17 million mansion she shares with Mr Matthews. A mother-of-four whose marriage broke down following an affair with the female au pair has transitioned to become a man - and married his lover for a second time. Wenn Lawson, 65, from Essex, born Wendy, had four children with husband Dave after they wed in 1972, but their relationship broke down when Wendy fell for their female au pair, Beatrice. Wendy and Beatrice, who are both autistic, wed in a civil partnership in 2007, but Wendy later realised he identified as male. After transitioning to become a man, Wenn and Beatrice exchanged vows once again in 2015, and Wenn said on This Morning today that the couple, who now live in Australia, are finally 'complete'. Wenn, 65, transitioned to become a man in 2015 after realising he was a heterosexual man trapped in a woman's body Wenn had married a man as Wendy in 1972, but then went on to marry his lesbian lover Beatrice (right) in 2007 before they remarried as man and wife in 2015 Wenn, who now lives in Warrnambool, Australia with Beatrice, spoke about his journey with gender and the book they have written, Transitioning Together, on the show. The couple explained that Wenn's children - three sons and one daughter, who are now in their forties with their own families - had to process their mother becoming a lesbian, before then years down the line transitioning to a man. 'The kids are on board. I am just mum, I am a man-mum and when Beatrice first joined us as a family she was almost like big sister,' said Wenn. 'There has been a lot of transitioning for the kids, but they have been brought up accepting and in a loving environment and that has been a big part of being able to cope.' People's reaction when the couple tries to explain their complicated history is mostly one of utter confusion and bewilderment, said Wenn. 'It's often "we're crazy". But were crazy for each other, not the other type of crazy.' Beatrice explained that even though she is a gay woman, she has learned that she is still attracted to her husband both mentally and physically. Wenn and Beatrice live together in Australia and have written a book about their journey of gender 'It is both, I couldnt say I'm not attracted to him. But we have a very strong relationship. We share very deeply and communication is absolutely the essential.' Wenn explained that it wasn't an 'easy process' for him or for Beatrice as they experienced the transition together but made sure to support each other as much as possible. 'Talking over everything, would help us get through it. It was very difficult.' As autistic adults, he believed their diagnosis also contributed to the delay of the 'joining of the dots' together. 'It's a knowing that everything in autism is delayed, but the commitment that Beatrice has shown, blows me away. 'Her courage being here today blows me away,' he said. After 33 years together, first as gay partners and now as man and wife, Wenn had gender reassignment surgery in 2015 and never considered being apart from Beatrice. 'We are both happy, we are complete,' he added. This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am The winner of Britain's Next Top Model has been announced after battling it out in one of the toughest series yet. Olivia Wardell, 18, from Timsbury, Hampshire, has beat 11 other contestants to win the coveted contract with Models 1 and will be flown around the world as she pursues her modelling dream with high-profile fashion campaigns at Boohoo and Dorothy Perkins. The youngest contestant broke down in tears in dramatic scenes during tonight's finale as judges announced she had beaten Jennifer Malengele to the top spot. Just hours earlier, the three finalists - Olivia, Jennifer, 18 and Alannah Beirne, 23 - stripped off for their final task, a steamy nude shoot in Cape Verde, before hitting the catwalk for the final time. For her final task, winner Olivia struggled through the shoot that saw her sprawled out across the sand as the tide came in, while judges repeatedly instructed her to rearrange her legs Luckily supermodel and judge Abbey Clancy was on hand to offer a few top tips beforehand, telling Olivia: 'You're so exposed, you've got nothing on - you're wearing all your body. 'Put your face where the light is. Impress us, because this is your last chance to.' Under the watchful gaze of Abbey along with model Paul Sculfor, fashion director and style guru Hilary Alexander OBE and photographer Nicky Johnston, Olivia was clearly out of her comfort zone during the shoot. Olivia struggled through the shoot that saw her sprawled out across the sand as the tide came in, while judges repeatedly instructed her to rearrange her legs, elbows and shoulders before eventually telling her to sit up straight. However her hard work paid off when she later learned she had beat 11 budding hopefuls to the crown in emotional scenes. L-R: Jennifer, Alannah and Olivia arrive on the beach in Cape Verde to be told their final task would be a nude shoot. Jennifer in particular admitted she was nervous about stripping off L-R Judges fashion director and style guru Hilary, model Paul Sculfor, Abbey Clancy and fashion photographer Nicky Johnston were on hand to make sure the girls looked their best The girls undergo hair and makeup before their final shoot. After Alannah, right, was booted off, it was left to Jennifer, left, to battle it out with Olivia who scooped the top prize Olivia was clearly out of her comfort zone as she posed under the watchful gaze of Abbey along with model Paul Sculfor, fashion director and style guru Hilary Alexander OBE and photographer Nicky Johnston First runner up, student and vlogger Jennifer Malengele, has previously been embroiled in blazing rows with her fellow contestants and came close to scooping the crown tonight Alannah Beirne, 23, from Naas in County Kildare, made it into the final three but failed to secure the top spot. She has previously said she wished she had more 'confidence and energy' Alannah, an assistant pub manager who has been documenting her experience on the show via her blog, describes herself as having a 'goofy lanky weird personality' Raven-haired Olivia, who completed her A-levels in n English, Textiles and Law just last year, didn't know what to do after leaving school but now hopes to become a role model for women in the fashion industry like her idol Kendall Jenner. The former cafe waitress is a statuesque 6ft 1in and inherited her love of fashion from her 82-year-old grandmother - despite never having set a foot on a runway before the competition. Reflecting on her win, Olivia, who has been sworn to secrecy on her victory since filming wrapped up last year, told FEMAIL: 'I haven't known what to do between winning and it being on TV. Tense: Jennifer and Olivia wait nervously to see who has won the competition after three months of gruelling tasks, photo shoots, catwalk shows and explosive arguments Judges (L-R) Hilary, Paul, Abbey and Nicky asked the girls to line up while they waited for an image of the winner to appear on the screen - much the result leaving winner Olivia in tears 'My friends have been asking if I know who the winner is and I've been saying, "Yeah, I know her pretty well. Pretty well!"' She added: 'I feel like this experience has prepared me for anything, and I feel like I have the tools and skills of a model, so I think I"m ready for it. We'll soon find out!' Reflecting on her time in the house, Olivia added: 'I was quite reserved at first because there are some big personalities in the house and I took a step back. Some of the younger ones did too. 'But once the big personalities started leaving, I stepped in. I think I shone a bit more towards the end.' Emotional: The youngest contestant broke down in tears in dramatic scenes during tonight's finale as judges announced she had beaten Jennifer Malengele to the top spot Reflecting on her win afterwards, Olivia, who has been sworn to secrecy on her victory, told FEMAIL: 'I haven't known what to do between winning and it being on TV' Olivia Wardell will win a lucrative contract with Models 1 and be flown around the world as she pursues her modelling dream with fashion campaigns at Boohoo and Dorothy Perkins She also revealed her worst moment was trying to walk in heels during one of the runway tasks, admitting: 'I was a bit like a giraffe and I was looking at the floor a lot. It was like riding a bike for the first time, wobbling all over the place. 'After that I practised a lot and got a lot better. Once someone says something to me, I work hard to polish it.' Olivia, who was talked into entering the show by her boyfriend, business student Will Brook, now dreams of walking the runway for Vivienne Westwood and Versace. Queen Maxima looked radiant and happy as she enjoyed performances at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague on Thursday. The 45-year-old looked chic in a neutral chiffon number with artistic detailing as she laughed alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander and Princess Beatrix. The royal couple were spending time presenting the 'Appeltjes van Oranje' (Apples of Orange) awards to Dutch social initiatives who help connect people from different backgrounds and cultures. Queen Maxima looked radiant and happy as she enjoyed performances at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague on Thursday The elegant, blonde royal paired her statement dress with a pair of on-trend patent gold stilettos with a clear perspex finish at the sides. Keeping her clutch close to hand as she threw herself into the day of celebration, Queen Maxima managed to pull off a regal-yet-relaxed look. The elegant, blonde royal paired her statement dress with a pair of on-trend patent gold stilettos with a clear perspex finish at the sides Keeping her designer clutch on hand as she threw herself into the day of celebration, Queen Maxima managed to pull off a regal-yet-relaxed look The Queen, who shares three children with her pilot husband, showcased her slender physique in her dress, which was cinched at the waist with a twisted satin bow. To finish off her tasteful ensemble, Maxima donned a pair of teardrop column earrings in complementary colours. Maxima pulled her hair back into a low chignon, and wore pared-back make-up for the charity event. Sitting alongside her was Princess Beatrix, King Willem-Alexander's mother, who epitomised elegance in her patterned blue shift dress. To finish off her tasteful ensemble, Maxima donned a pair of teardrop column earrings in complementary colours Sitting alongside her was Princess Beatrix, King Willem-Alexander's mother, who epitomised elegance in her patterned blue shift dress The royal couple were presenting awards for Dutch social initiatives who help connect people from different backgrounds and cultures Yesterday the King revealed he has had a secret life flying commercial jets for KLM for 21 years Yesterday the King, 50, who looked to be enjoying the event immensely, revealed he has had a secret life flying commercial jets for KLM for 21 years. Willem-Alexander said he has ended his role as a regular 'guest pilot' after 21 years on KLM's fleet of Fokker 70 planes while he previously also flew jets for Dutch carrier Martinair. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service. The Queen, who shares three children with her talented pilot husband, showcased her slender physique in her dress, which was cinched at the waist with a twisted satin bow Maxima pulled her hair back into a low chignon, highlighting her earrings and pared-back make-up for the charity event The royal representative had a busy day, as she travelled from The Hague to Utrecht, which is further inland and home to one of Holland's finest universities. Queen Maxima looked to be enjoying the Spring sunshine as she strode towards a cancer research centre in the city. The Queen spent the afternoon at an oncology centre specialising in finding cures for childhood cancer. The royal representative had a busy day, as she travelled from The Hague to Utrecht, which is further inland and home to one of Holland's finest universities The Queen spent the afternoon at an oncology centre specialising in finding cures for childhood cancer While visiting the centre, Maxima spent time exploring the research department of the centre with its top scientists While visiting the centre, Maxima spent time exploring the research department of the centre with its top scientists. She even donned a pair of red-and-blue 3D glasses in order to fully engage in the presentation on the latest techniques to better treat childhood cancer in the future - and appeared to enjoy the experience. The Queen also demonstrated a keen interest in the scientific work going on, poring over a microscope in the lab. Maxima was given a presentation on the latest techniques to better treat childhood cancer in the future She even donned a pair of red-and-blue 3D glasses in order to fully engage in the presentation The Queen appeared to enjoy the experience of wearing the 3D glasses, which looked unusual next to her elegant attire The Queen also demonstrated a keen interest in the scientific work going on, poring over a microscope in the lab If you look back on first grade as a simpler, more innocent time - think again, because one impossible math problem lifted from a primary school exam has left even the internet's brainiest users scratching their heads. The problem depicts a circle filled with five numbers - four in their own quadrants, and one in the middle. Around the main circle are four smaller circles, all blank. The instructions simply say: 'Study the number pattern. Fill in the missing numbers.' Supposedly, the question was originally listed as a bonus problem on a Primary One examination for students in Singapore - the equivalent to the first grade in the United States. Puzzling! This completely confounding question supposedly appeared on a first grader's math test - and the internet can't wrap its head around it No answer! The puzzle was originally posted to a technology forum, where users have spent days theorizing potential solutions The puzzling problem made its way to the internet via the forum of a Singaporean technology website. The original poster challenged others to solve the tricky question, and reactions were a mixture of shocked and determined. Some took one look at the puzzle and promptly declared it unsolvable. After all, with such sparse instructions, how could one ever be sure that they were correct? Others saw the puzzle as a real mathematical challenge and began theorizing a slew of potential solutions. Idea ranged from overly-complex ('you multiply each number by three and then divide by two - then you add all of the numbers up!') to the overly-simple ('just put the number of digits in each quadrant - one or two'). Eventually, someone pointed out that the puzzle bears a striking resemblance to something known in math circles as the 'Petite Circle-Sum.' This problem, originally developed by math blogger G. R. Burgin, has a much more logical explanation. Simple! One person suggested this simple solution - which involves nothing more than counting the number of digits in each quadrant Taking it further: This person answered the puzzle based on the theory that there was actually a missing number in one of the quadrants Seem familiar? Someone eventually recognized the similarity between the puzzle on the test and another type of math game Many think the confusing problem may have been directly lifted from Burgin's work - with one glaring change - the two in the bottom left quadrant of the puzzle is actually a 20 in Burgin's original. This omission may not seem like a big deal to those less mathematically-inclined, but when it comes to Burgin's solution, it makes all the difference. As for whether the confounding puzzle actually appeared on a first grader's test - it seems unlikely. According to Mashable, Singapore's Ministry of Education initially stated that 'From the image, we are unable to ascertain if the question was from a schools Primary 1 examination paper.' Figuring it all out: If the puzzle that appears on the test is, in fact, intended to replicate Burgin's puzzle - this chart shows how one might answer Flashbacks: Several years ago, another confounding question emerged from a Singapore classroom found viral fame They later revised their comment to explain that there were 'no examinations at Primary 1.' Thus, the actual source of this puzzle is likely to remain a mystery. Still, it wouldn't be the first time that Singapore schools have dished out a serious brain-teaser. In 2015, a puzzle intended for 14-year-old 'Math Olympiads' went viral for its sheer difficulty. The logic puzzle asked students to determine 'When is Cheryl's birthday?' using a list of dates and a snippet of a made-up conversation between 'Albert' and 'Bernard.' While the 'Cheryl's Birthday' problem had a definitive answer (July 16), the answer to this latest test question remains inconclusive. Certainly anyone who managed to come up with a solution earned the four bonus points in their entirety. She's been through a tumultuous time after her hopes of renewing her political career were dashed. But Karen Danczuk, 33, looked to be putting her recent troubles behind her today as she put on a loved up display with her Spanish waiter toyboy after enjoying a meal out together. The so-called selfie queen was seen leaving Nutters restaurant in Rochdale hand-in-hand with her boyfriend David, 26, and couldn't resits pausing on the steps to enjoy a smooch. Mother-of-two Karen opted for a little black dress for the lunch date, teamed with black patent shoes and accessorised with a small gold shoulder bag. Selfie Queen Karen Danczuk was seen locking lips with her Spanish boyfriend at Nutters Restaurant in Rochdale The mother-of-two showed off her legs in a little black dress, paired with patent shoes, for the lunch date Former political hopeful Karen opted for a little black dress while David looked handsome in a shirt and tie, teamed with chinos David - who Karen has been seeing for around a year - looked handsome in chinos, and a white shirt and tie. The waiter moved into her Rochdale home in November last year after the couple were spotted kissing at a dinner table and on a restaurant balcony while the couple enjoyed a trip to Costa Blanca. However, their relationship hasn't been all plain sailing as Karen became embroiled in a furious row with her ex husband Simon during a post-divorce holiday to Alicante with their children in August last year after taking a call from her lover. The former MP for Rochdale reportedly smashed a glass door during the argument, leaving Karen with 50 stitches. The loved up pair certainly weren't shy about expressing their feelings for each other as they exited the restaurant The relationship hasn't been all plain sailing as Karen was injured during an argument with her ex last year, provoked by taking a phone call from her younger lover But Karen refused to press charges to protect the couple's two young sons, as she was determined to keep things amicable. Former Labour councillor Karen recently announced she was toning down her image with a view to becoming the party candidate for Bury North in the General Election. Ive overcome my demons and Im living a new life,' she said. It's been a tough time for Karen after her political hopes were dashed but she seemed in good spirits as she enjoyed an afternoon out with David The couple have been seeing each other for around a year and David moved into Karen's Rochdale home at the end of last year 'Im a new person. Im really quite camera shy now, its quite strange. Ive completely stopped taking selfies and everything. I thought to myself, if I dont run for Parliament now, Ill never do it. This is my chance to stand up for fairness. But her bid failed and James Frith was chosen to take onConservative David Nuttall who currently holds the seat. The loved-up pair are still going strong after almost a year, despite an age gap of seven years It's been something of a tumultuous time for Karen, but at least she's had her man by her side for support The mother-of-two showed off her slim pins in a little black dress The mother-of-two split from her MP husband Simon Danczuk, 50, last year after the pair were involved in an argument at a Spanish villa. At the beginning of this week, Mr Danczuk was questioned over allegations he raped a young woman in parliament in Westminster offices in June 2016. He has denied the allegations and Karen has in defence of her ex, saying she is certain that there's no truth to the claims. The pair paused for a chat outside the restaurant as they made their way home after enjoying a romantic meal out Ivanka Trump embraced the Washington, D.C. heat and bared her legs in a breezy dress as she stepped out of her home on Thursday morning. The 35-year-old smiled as she walked out the side gate of her residence in a $138 floral mini-dress, $135 seafoam green pumps, and a $275 white tote, all from her eponymous fashion line. While Ivanka was undoubtedly turning heads in her ladylike ensemble, her Secret Service agents were dealing with a fender bender outside of her home. Ivanka Trump was photographed leaving her Washington, D.C. home on Thursday morning The 35-year-old donned a $138 floral mini-dress, $135 seafoam green pumps, and a $275 white tote, all from her eponymous fashion line Early Thursday morning, Ivanka's father, President Trump, railed against his Justice Department's decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate Russia meddling in the 2016 campaign. 'With all the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!' the president tweeted, misspelling the word 'counsel.' 'This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!' he added. Despite her father's growing political woes, Ivanka looked positively chipper as she left her home for the day. Two Secret Service SUVs were involved in a minor fender bender outside of her home The First Daughter held her white tote in her hand as she headed out the side gate The First Daughter exited the side gate of her home with a smile on her face and her handbag in her hand. Ivanka's long blond hair was smoothly blown out and loose around her shoulders, and she accessorized her white, pink, and blue, floral patterned dress with stud earrings and sunglasses. The night before, Ivanka hosted a bipartisan roundtable on human trafficking with congressional leaders in the Roosevelt Room in the White House. While the White House was in the throws of scandal, Ivanka remained, calm, cool, and collected as she hosted leaders from both parties, including the Republican senator who gave her dad one of the strongest rebukes in the aftermath of the classified Russian leak report. The White House press pool was briefly allowed in, as Ivanka portrayed trafficking as a growing American and global problem. Ivanka's long blond hair was smoothly blown out and loose around her shoulders, and she accessorized her patterned dress with stud earrings and sunglasses Ivanka's father, President Donald Trump, is embroiled in controversy, as the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election Earlier Thursday morning, Trump, took to Twitter to rail against the Justice Department The president called it the 'single greatest witch hunt' in American history 'Combating human trafficking and modern slavery is both a moral and strategic interest domestically and abroad,' she said. 'In 2016, there were over 8,000 cases reported to the National Human Trafficking hotline a 35 percent increase from 2015,' she warned. This was the second White House meeting Ivanka Trump attended on the issue, previously organizing a listening session in late February on the topic that she attended alongside her father, President Trump. Since then, she told attendees, she has been conducting interagency meetings, as well as gathering recommendations from the academic, public and private sector. 'Thanks to Congress and government agencies, we have a robust bipartisan framework which will encourage cooperation and information-gathering,' she told those gathered in the Roosevelt Room on Wednesday. Ivanka hosted a meeting on human trafficking with congressional leaders in the Roosevelt Room in the White House on Wednesday House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is pictured listening to Ivanka speak during the morning meeting Ivanka looked poised as she addressed congressional leaders about human trafficking being a growing American and global problem Ivanka was also smiling from ear to ear on Wednesday morning as she left her house ahead of her White House meeting. Although she is often spotted wearing breezy floral frocks like the one she donned today, Ivanka opted for a pale blue long sleeve top and $89 wide-leg trousers from her line despite D.C.'s soaring temperatures that reached 90 degrees. The mother-of-three's lips were pursed when she first walked out the front door of her home, but as soon as she reached the stairs, she flashed a megawatt smile for the photographers waiting for her outside. Her husband, Jared Kushner, was also grinning from ear to ear as he left their home on Wednesday morning despite reports that his father-in-law had turned on him. According to a New York Times report, the president has become 'sour and dark' and has turned against his staff, including son-in-law and senior adviser Jared, after the revelation that he shared top secret information with high ranking Russian officials. Ivanka flashed her megawatt smile as she stepped out of her Washington, D.C. home on Wednesday morning The mother-of-three donned a pale blue top and wide-leg pants despite the rising temperatures that reached 90 degrees in the afternoon Ivanka didn't look quite as happy when she first stepped out her front door 'His own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark,' the report claims, 'turning against most of his aides even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner and describing them in a fury as "incompetent," according to one of those advisers.' White House aides were sent into a wild frenzy on Monday night after reports emerged that Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian officials last week during a meeting in the West Wing. As news of the story broke, Sean Spicer's communications team attempted to drown out shouting with a blaring television and reporters had a surprise encounter with Trump's top national security adviser, HR McMaster. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied reports that Trump revealed classified information to senior officials, calling the report 'yet another fake'. Trump, however, defended himself against an onslaught of criticism following the report on Twitter Tuesday morning. Ivanka carried her smile all the way to the SUV that was waiting on the curb for her Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner, 36, was also smiling when he stepped out on Wednesday morning despite reports that President Donald Trump has turned on him amid growing White House controversy 'As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. 'Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism,' Trump tweeted. Later that night, the New York Times reported that the president asked fired FBI director James Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The White House denied the events described in the note, saying the president 'never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation.' However, several political figures said that Trump could be edging toward impeachment. Amid Tuesday's scandal, Ivanka was photographed leaving her home in a floral dress from her eponymous collection. She had her lips pursed as she walked out of the side gate of her residence and made her way to the SUV waiting at the curb for her. Ivanka looked deep in thought, however, Jared had no problem flashing a smile towards the cameras that were outside their door before he headed to work. The Duke of Cambridge has paid tribute to his mother, saying she still inspires 'countless acts of compassion and bravery', as he presented an inaugural award celebrating her memory. With brother Prince Harry beside him, the future king told the 20 young recipients of the Legacy Award that Diana, Princess of Wales had achieved so much in her life, from helping to fight the stigma around Aids to supporting the homeless. The royal brothers were making their first joint appearance at an event run by the Diana Award, established to promote their mother's belief in the positive power of young people. Scroll down for video Princes William and Harry presented 20 young winners with The Diana Award at St James's Palace on Thursday. Pictured: The royal brothers with winner Nikhiya Shansher The 20 young winners, who come from the UK, United States, Canada, India, Belize and the United Arab Emirates, were recognised for their efforts creating positive social change in their communities and countries. Speaking at St James's Palace, where the awards ceremony was held, William said: 'This summer marks 20 years since our mother died and she achieved so much in her life, from helping to shatter the stigma around Aids, to fighting to ban landmines and supporting the homeless - she touched the lives of millions. 'The truth is though, she was taken at only 36, just slightly older then I am today. Prince Harry told some of the recipients: 'When you get some spare time on your hands you're saving lives and inspiring people' Speaking at the awards this afternoon Prince William paid tribute to his late mother with the awards celebrating her memory The Duke of Cambridge paid tribute to his mother's achievements with 2017 marking 20 years since her death 'Of course we can never know what our mother would have gone on to do, but in one sense Harry and I feel that our mother lives on in the countless acts of compassion and bravery that she inspires in others. 'That is why we are so pleased that her name is being put to good use by the Diana Award to recognise young people who are making a mark in the world around them.' Those receiving the Legacy Award have demonstrated qualities of kindness, compassion and service and before the presentations Diana's sons chatted with the winners, aged 11 to late teens, to hear their stories. Those receiving the Legacy Award have demonstrated qualities of kindness, compassion and service. Pictured: The princes with Faith Dickinson Following the award ceremony the winners posed for a commemorative photo with the princes Harry told some of the recipients: 'I cannot believe how young you all are, most of you are still at school. When you get some spare time on your hands you're saving lives and inspiring people. 'You should be absolutely proud of what you've started and what you've achieved, you're still in your teenage years - don't stop now guys.' William and Harry spent twenty minutes in the Throne Room at St James's Palace where they met with the Diana Awards Inaugural Legacy Awards winners. Harry spent several minutes discussing social media with the young people, many of whom had been given training in it as part of the awards' scheme attempts to spread the globally about their work. 'What about social media? Is social media a help or a risk,' asked Harry, who often makes clear his dislike of the phenomenon. William and Harry (pictured with Gareth Browne) spent twenty minutes in the Throne Room at St James's Palace where they met with the Diana Awards Inaugural Legacy Awards winners The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry present the DianaAward Inaugural Legacy Award to 20 winners chosen from the UK & countries across the world Prince William looks on as his younger brother Prince Harry spoke to the audience about the award The answer, Jalen Arnold, from Lakeland, Florida, who has made a stand against bullying after being victimised for his own autism and Tourette's, was very much a help, although he also talked eloquently about making a stand against cyberbullying. 'What we need to give you all are the tools, the toolbox for the digital world. You need to have the right tools to be able to smash the stigma out there and tear down barriers,' the prince said. Harry also spoke at length to Jemima browning, 16, from Stutton, North Yorkshire, who has dedicated hours of her time to improving the lives of young people with disabilities through swimming, inspired by her brother who has Down's. Harry greeted Jemima, telling her that he had heard all about her work through his friend, the Invictus swimmer, Dave Wiseman. 'He told me you would be Prime Minister one day!' Harry exclaimed. Prince Harry, left, and Prince William give an award and pose for pictures with Mercy Ngulube from Wales The two princes smiled as they knelt down to present an award to 11-year-old Jonathan Bryan The two royals stood on either side of Jaylen Arnold from Florida in the USA as they gave him his award Crouching down, the princes presented Femi Owolade-Coombes with an award and posed for photographs with him Nicholas Nikiforou looked nervous as he interacted with Prince William and Prince Harry on stage Smiling proudly, Elan Mon Gilford from Wales had her photograph taken with the two royals The trio laughed as they stood on stage together (pictured centre: Nikhiya Shamsher from Bangalore) Taking 11-year-old Jonathon Bryan's hand in theirs, the princes presented him with his glass award Prince Harry and Prince William held up a sign saying 'Jonathon Bryan can change the world' The prince also sank to his knee to speak to Jonathan Bryan, 11, from Stanton St Quintin, Wiltshire. The youngster, has a number of disabilities and is unable to speak so communicated through a spelling board attached to a piece of Perspex, with a carer reading his gaze to each letter to help him construct words and sentences. Jonathan says his motto is 'never judge a book by its cover; never look at a child like me and assume we are not worth teaching.' 'How does this work?' Harry asked Jonathan, who spelt out his answers to the royal, 'what do you call it?' 'Do you find this a very good way to express yourself?' Before they went into the ceremony both William and Harry posed for photographs with the winners. 'Wow, a full house,' said Harry as he walked into the awards ceremony. A mother has issued a heartwarming thank you to 'hero' Tesco staff for their support after her autistic toddler had a 'meltdown' in-store. Josephine Smith-Mands, 41, from Cam, Gloucestershire said the supermarket workers were like 'angels' throughout her three-year-old son Peter's 40-minute episode. Peter, who was diagnosed with autism and sensory processing issues 16 months ago, went into 'full meltdown mode' according to his mother. Josephine Smith-Mands has issued a heartfelt thank you to Tesco staff after they assisted her when her autistic son Peter went into 'full melt-down mode' Josephine revealed that he began slapping himself, hitting his head against the trolley, screaming and throwing himself around on the floor. In a bid to help the mother kindhearted Tesco workers tied Josephine's hair back as she tried to calm the tot, carried her shopping home and prevented a crowd gathering. Afterwards, staff members even left a bunch of flowers on her doorstep. Josephine described the four workers and a young couple who helped her through the 'scary' ordeal as 'earth angels'. Peter, ho was diagnosed with autism and sensory processing issues 16 months ago, struggled with their supermarket visit and began 'slapping himself' But Josephine has described staff at Tesco as 'earth angels' after they helped to tie her hair back, carry her shopping and even ran home to turn her oven off The mother-of-three said: 'Peter's episode began simply by me putting a lavender plant into my trolley on the way into the store. 'This then resulted in screaming and him smacking himself. This is down to sensory issues that he has. 'The response from the staff was immediate. As soon as I got to the checkout, one of the customer service assistants, helped me as she could see I was struggling. 'She packed my shopping and she wheeled the trolley out into the front of the store and never wanted to leave me as Peter was now in full meltdown mode.' Another member of staff then offered to take Josephine home in her car - but due to Peter's condition that wasn't an option. Later on Josephine was touched to discover that Tesco staff had left a bunch of flowers on her doorstep The mother said: 'These women stayed with me for another 10 minutes trying to help me in the best way they could as he was now violent and people were passing by. 'Even some were standing and watching - the worst thing to happen as it makes it worse.' Two young people helped to carry Josephine's shopping back to her house up the hill. Another Tesco worker then ran to her house to switch off the oven, which she left on while cooking Peter's tea because she thought she'd only be five minutes. Josephine said: 'There was a true community spirit as time went on. This happened for around 40 minutes, even though it can last for some time. Josephine described the four staff members who helped her as 'true heroes' 'I was given water as it was hot on this Sunday and as Peter was battling with me it made it worse. 'They even tied my hair back up as Peter was tearing and pulling at it. 'The staff kept back the crowd of spectators by asking them to kindly give Peter and myself space and to leave us be. 'They even called my husband who was in Bristol at the time to make him aware of the matter and through all of that when Peter eventually calmed. 'I was then walked along with Chris the security gentleman and they stayed with me to make sure I was okay until my husband arrived home.' Josephine, who is married to David Mands, 43, an oil executive, is staggered by the kindness of the strangers who supported her through the 'incredibly stressful time'. 'Even after all that, they left me some flowers on my doorstep,' she added. 'I want to thank the staff and also the young couple and for them to be seen by the rest of the community as true heroes because that is exactly what they are. 'It's hard for someone to understand the struggles and obstacles you suffer as a mother to a child with special needs let alone his sensory needs. 'Many just see him as being a very naughty boy. However last Sunday I had the privilege of meeting six earth angels all in one place.' It is a rarity that a member of the royal family is able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage during an engagement. So when the opportunity arose during her visit to Exeter on Thursday afternoon Sophie Wessex could not resist indulging in a small tipple. The Countess of Wessex, 52, enjoyed a glass of local cider while visiting the Devon County Show in Exeter. Sophie Wessex enjoyed a tipple of local cider during her visit to the Devon County Show in Exeter on Thursday It seems that the mother-of-two was in especially high spirits today as she could be seen enjoying a joke with fellow visitors to the fair. The wife of Prince Edward fully embraced her trip to the countryside on Thursday opting for a more dressed down look compared to her usual tailored finish. Sophie wore a graphic print skirt in shades of blue paired with a brown waxed jacket. The wife of Prince Edward fully embraced her trip to the countryside on Thursday opting for a more dressed down look compared to her usual tailored finish The royal swept her golden tresses up into a loose up do in order to keep the hair out of her face while she sampled local produce The royal swept her golden tresses up into a loose up do in order to keep the hair out of her face while she sampled local produce. Adding a touch of glamour to her more casual ensemble Sophie wore a pair of gold earrings studded with diamonds. Pinned to her royal highness' coat was a badge that read 'President of the Devon County Agricultural Association'. Sophie was elected president of the Devon County Show in January this year as a keen supporter of British Agriculture. Pinned to her royal highness' coat was a badge that read 'President of the Devon County Agricultural Association' Sophie was elected president of the Devon County Show in January this year as a keen supporter of British Agriculture The honour was bestowed upon her on the same day as her 52nd birthday and members of the board presented her with a cake as part of the occasion. Speaking at the time of her election Sophie said: 'I am honoured and delighted to be President of The Devon County Agricultural Association this year. 'Supporting our farmers and the industry is a priority for me in my work and I very much look forward to my role with this unique part of our country and its special agricultural show.' NEWMAN GROVE Services for Verna Belle E. (Broberg) Nelson, 94, of Newman Grove, will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at Shell Creek Lutheran Church in Newman Grove. The Rev. Beckmann will officiate with burial in Shell Creek Cemetery. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday at the church. She died Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at Mid-Nebraska Lutheran Home in Newman Grove. Verna Belle, daughter of Lloyd and Elizabeth (Herman) Broberg, was born Nov. 3, 1922, on the Broberg home place, northeast of Newman Grove. She was baptized and confirmed at Shell Creek Lutheran Church. She graduated from Newman Grove High School in 1940. Her Normal Training classes allowed her to teach the following year and she continued for 18 years. She became a teachers aide at the school for a number of years. When she was offered the job in the laundry at Mid-Nebraska Lutheran Home, she started a career that lasted 38 years, until she retired at the age of 85. On June 3, 1944, she was united in marriage to DeLayne Nelson. Three children were born to them, Verdell, Doretta and Roselle. Verna Belle loved to teach, cook, sew, quilt and spend time with family. The coffee pot was always on for anyone who came to her house. She and DeLayne enjoyed playing cards and listening to dance music, especially polka. She particularly loved spending time with her four grandsons and liked to teach them to cook. They were blessed to have their grandparents one-half mile away their whole childhood. She made a quilt for each grandson on their eighth-grade graduation and a baby quilt for each of her 13 great-grandchildren. For her entire life, she recorded her experiences and thoughts in the form of diaries, poetry and prose. She wrote her autobiography, had poetry published, and attended the Write It Right Club since 1988. Her faith in God was a sustaining part of her life. She was baptized and confirmed in 1936. Throughout her life she attended services, taught Sunday and Bible School, sang in the choir, worked with the mission quilt group, and held offices in the Ladies Aid of Shell Creek Lutheran Church many times. She and DeLayne fulfilled the promises made to their god-daughter, Linda Koenig, when they provided a home for her after the death of her parents. Each of their god-children were important, receiving greetings for every major event of their life. She is survived by their children, Verdell (Joan) Nelson of Newman Grove and Doretta (David) Winkelman of San Diego, California; grandsons, Mitchel (Beverly) Nelson of Creighton, Steven (Chellee) Nelson of Schuyler, Scott (Kristin) Nelson of Newman Grove and Paul (Erin) Nelson of Omaha; 13 great-grandchildren, Katie, Brady, Jackson, Logan, Gavin, Rylan, Cody, Griffin, Everett, Bennett, Ava, Adalyn and Ivy Nelson; sister, VaLores Kaufman of Newman Grove; sister-in-law, Karen Broberg of Moline, Illinois; brother-in-law, AlDean Nelson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, DeLayne; parents; infant daughter, Roselle; brother, Vernon Broberg; sister, Viola Kopecky; brothers-in-law, Tom Kaufman, Orley Cheers and Gene Hanson; and sisters-in-law, Gladys Cheers, CleoBelle Hanson and Lois Nelson. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials may be given to Shell Creek Lutheran Church or the Newman Grove Rescue Unit. The 2015 Cannes Film Festival, you may remember, was remarkable chiefly for an incident in which a group of middle-aged women were allegedly turned away from a screening for failing to wear high heels. Several leading ladies, including Emily Blunt and Kristen Stewart, breathlessly denounced the festival's organisers as sexist pigs. The following year, Julia Roberts turned up barefoot in protest. Everyone agreed: the red carpet is no place for sexism. There might be some logic in this were it not for the fact that in all other respects, women's self-imposed red carpet dress-code seems to range from vulgar to super-vulgar. It's always struck me as somewhat irrational the way so-called feminists will screech about the injustices of high heels while at the same time indulging in the most demeaning acts of self-objectification. Revealing: Model Bella Hadid's wardrobe malfunction was no accident Getting away with it... just: Eva Herzigova in a sheer gold frock Take this year's festival. Susan Sarandon, 70, a famous and outspoken advocate of women's rights, arrived with her chest so cantilevered it could practically double as a supper tray. Quite apart from looking like someone's vampire grandmother, what is she trying to prove? That older women have bosoms too? We know that. There is an argument that this is what Cannes has always been about: getting yourself noticed, by hook or by crook. It worked for Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren, and it's working for Z-list, unknown Italian model Lara Lieto (no, me neither), whose blue chiffon strapless number was so poorly secured around her ample assets it looked like it was trying to make a break for it. The difference is that while all three women are beautiful, Bardot and Loren also possessed demonstrable talent. Bardot, the original 'sex kitten', became a global icon in her early 20s, while Loren has an Oscar, five Golden Globes and a string of other awards to her glamorous name. Near-naked but still dull: Actress Emily Ratajkowski's satin gown was slit to the hip Cowgirl tassels: Frederique Bel's pants looks like they were slipping south True, Cannes has always been showy famous when it started in the Forties for allowing paparazzi to get up close and personal with the great stars of the day as they sunbathed, dressed to kill and partied the night away. Those willing to flash a little flesh were guaranteed adoring attention. But it is only in recent years that the reality TV and Instagram brigade have turned it into a ten-day celebration of tawdry near-nakedness, desperately hoping the world's press will take the bait and mistake them for someone interesting. And so much of the elegance of days gone by has been lost in the process. Presumably, Miss Lieto's style objective (if she had one) was a nubile 'just fallen out of bed' look. The effect, sadly, was more 'tripped over my net curtains after one-too-many cocktails'. Not that baby-blue chiffon always has to look this dire: when Princess Diana did it back in 1987, she looked incredible. But then you can't buy class. A point that British-born Gone Girl actress Emily Ratajkowski (again, nope) proved when she offered her grateful followers on Instagram a preview of her red carpet outfit minus the outfit. Out there: A-list actress Susan Sarandon's embonpoint could have doubled as a supper tray Charlotte Gainsbourg's pin-thin legs and glittery T-shirt made her look like a standard lamp Just the jewels, a collection of expensive-looking rocks, and the obligatory orbs, cupped in her hands in a classic telephone-box-escort pose. After that, the dress was something of a disappointment, a rather dull satin number with nothing much to recommend it save a contradictorily demure glimpse of sideboob. Yes, it was slit to her hip, but compared with some of the other dresses on show, it was hardly impressive. Still, she made up for it later. At one of the wild parties Cannes is so famous for, she seemed thrilled when her friend and fellow model Bella Hadid approached her from behind and proceeded to administer what looked like a thorough breast cancer check-up. Ugh. But even this looked positively prim when faced with pictures of the aforementioned Bella flashing her smalls under a full-length gown that appeared perfectly sensible until she moved and it became apparent the dress was clearly designed to fly apart, revealing all to the snappers. Onlookers at the red carpet screening of Ismael's Ghosts were exposed to an outfit that left nothing and I mean nothing to the imagination. Thinly veiled: Italian model Lara Lieto looked as if she'd tangled with a pair of net curtains Knicker-flashing is not a novel attention-seeking ploy. The unedifying trend began in 1998 when Liz Hurley a byword in forging a career from a handful of revealing outfits flashed leopard-print knickers under a red dress at the wedding of aristocrat Henry Brocklehurst. But it has become something of an epidemic at Cannes. Model Eva Herzigova, in a sheer gold dress, came close to following Bella's lead on the red carpet. Not to be outdone, Charlotte Gainsbourg daughter of French songwriter Serge and the ever-stylish Jane Birkin arrived in a grey sequinned dress T-shirt that stopped just south of her belly button. The glittering top half combined with her impossibly skinny limbs brought to mind a rather over-the-top standard lamp. At least these outfits, while unspeakably vulgar, were not actively ugly. French actress Frederique Bel's, by contrast, managed to be both trashy and hideous an ill-judged crazed cowgirl affair that made her look like she was wearing her pants around her ankles. On the principle that all publicity is good publicity, I suppose some of these outfits worked. But even if all of them weren't manifestly ghastly, they all have one fatal flaw: they are designed not to flatter the female body or to fulfil a fashion aesthetic, their sole purpose is to show off as much anatomy as possible, without actually appearing naked. These women are showing off their wares, pure and simple. You can argue female empowerment and freedom of expression all you like, but the fact is, the red carpet is turning increasingly into a meat market. So forget worrying about high heels. If stars really want to change the way women's bodies are exploited in the film industry, they can start by putting their clothes back on. In short, by having a bit of self-respect. Now that's a quality that men do find sexy. At the tender age of 16 in 2011, Courtney Stodden was thrown into the spotlight by marrying then-50-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson. Six years later, at 22, she has suffered a miscarriage and is in the midst of a bitter divorce from her senior husband. Now, she reveals the grief and pressure have driven her to become dependent on prescription drugs. Last night Stodden spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com about how she resorted to dangerous methods - such as mixing pills with champagne - to 'numb' her emotions after experiencing a series of 'traumatic experiences'. And today the aspiring actress will appear today on The Doctors, seeking help from the on-set experts to explain her personal torment and discuss how to move forward. Stodden admits on the show that it was 'crazy' to marry 56-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson when she was 16 years old and he was 50 years old. She said it's difficult to talk about last year's miscarriage and recognized that mixing champagne with anti-anxiety medication would lead her down a slippery path. Now Stodden said she is moving forward in her battle against her 'demons' of anxiety and depression, and is trying to focus on finding herself. Scroll down for video Last night, ahead of the episode, Stodden spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com (pictured on FaceTime), about how she resorted to dangerous methods - such as mixing pills with champagne - to 'numb' her emotions after experiencing a series of 'traumatic experiences' She said she drinks champagne while on her medication and added she is worried this would lead her down a dangerous path. Pictured: A tweet from Stodden after her miscarriage in 2016 Courtney Stodden, 22, has revealed her addiction to prescription drugs in order to cope with her pain after having a miscarriage last year (right) and to deal with current divorce from Doug Hutchinson DANGERS OF MIXING ALCOHOL WITH MEDICATION Doctors advise against drinking while taking certain medication. Mixing the two may worsen the symptoms that the medication is working to overcome. Risk factors of taking prescribed medication while drinking include feeling more depressed or anxious. Drinking can counteract the benefits of the medication, making symptoms more difficult to treat. Alcohol may seem to improve moods in the short term, but its overall effect increases symptoms of depression and anxiety. When combined with certain types of alcoholic beverages and foods, antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) can cause a dangerous spike in blood pressure. The combination of certain medication and alcohol will affect coordination, judgment and reaction time (motor skills) more than alcohol alone. Advertisement Stodden said she knew she needed to get help when she saw herself becoming more dependent on her anti-anxiety medication and was drinking while on it. Speaking to DailyMail.com, Stodden said: 'I didn't want to get comfortable and keep doing that and then not wake up one day.' Stodden said she always dealt with anxiety and suppressed her depression. She said something shifted two years ago and her anxiety worsened began to 'spiral out of control'. It was during this time period Stodden announced she was separating from her husband following a heartbreaking miscarriage at 13 weeks pregnant. Stodden added: 'I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication about a year ago. 'I was suppressing my emotions and finding distractions, partying with friends and having a different persona.' Stodden said she could see herself getting to the point of reliance on the pills and said: 'Right now I'm trying to dig myself out of that hole.' Appearing on the medical show, Stodden opened up about her addiction to her pills to calm herself down. She said: 'I want some sense of normalcy now. I don't know if I'm coping in the most healthy way. 'I'm partying too hard probably. I have been taking anti-anxiety mediation, otherwise I feel like I'm going to jump out the window.' Stodden added: 'I don't want to get into a self-destructive pattern. If I continue down this path then I'm going to end up there.' Stodden was thrown in the public eye when she was 16 years old and became an overnight household name due to her controversial relationship with Hutchinson. She said they fell in love while he was giving her acting classes and eight months later they were married in 2011. Her mother signed off on the marriage because in California the legal age to marry is 18 unless there is parental consent. Stodden said her relationship with her mother is now estranged due to 'shattered trust'. She added: 'Throughout the years lots of things has happened. I wonder how a parent can sign off a 16-year-old to a 50-year-old?' Stodden said she always dealt with anxiety and suppressed her depression. She said something shifted two years ago and her anxiety worsened began to 'spiral out of control' Stodden was thrown in the public eye when she was 16 years old due to her controversial marriage to Hutchinson, who was 50 years old at the time After her miscarriage Stodden used a reborn doll to help her work through her emotions In July of 2016, Stodden, who was 21 years old at the time, suffered a miscarriage of her first child who was 13 weeks old. She went through the heartbreak in a very public manner, shaving her head, photographed clutching her stomach and carrying a reborn doll. Following the news of the miscarriage, Stodden and Hutchinson announced in early 2017 they were separated and headed towards a divorce. Stodden said: 'A split is really hard. Doug and I are on really good terms but it's just hard, you know, because we're trying to hang on to our friendship because we are best friends and we don't want to part in a disastrous Hollywood way.' Stodden said the thing she fears most is losing Hutchinson in the process because he is her 'rock'. In the meantime, she said she was dating around and spending time figuring out who she was. In the United States, around one percent of all pregnancies end in stillbirth, around 24,000 yearly. A stillbirth is the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery. If the baby dies before the 20th week of pregnancy, it is characterized as a miscarriage. After 20 weeks it is called a stillbirth. Research at Imperial College London found that nearly four in ten women who experience a miscarriage have symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. They experience intrusive or unwanted thoughts about their miscarriage, as well as nightmares or flashbacks, according to the study, which was published in the journal BMJ Open. There have been calls for more psychological support for women who miscarry. Many women who miscarry their baby feel so ashamed they cant even talk to their husbands about it, a study from a baby charity found in 2015. A survey found that 70 percent of women who miscarried felt guilty, 79 percent felt a failure and 35 percent said they didnt feel they could share their pain with the babys father. Researchers at San Diego State University have published a study showing Sheen's TV appearance sparked an uptick with rates of people getting at-home HIV tests - reaching a record high. Pictured: last month Charlie Sheen saved lives by revealing that he is HIV positive, a study claims. On November 17, 2015, the actor publicly disclosed his HIV status on NBC's Today Show. Last year, researchers at San Diego State University published a study showing Sheen's TV appearance sparked millions of online searches for HIV prevention and testing. Now, they have taken that research a step further, showing there was also an uptick with rates of people getting at-home rapid HIV tests - reaching a record high. The team collected data on weekly sales of OraQuick, the only rapid in-home HIV test kit available in the United States, to investigate whether Internet queries (based on Google Trends data on searches with 'test,' 'tests,' or 'testing' and 'HIV') could be correlated with any uptick in HIV testing. 'Our strategy allowed us to provide a real-world estimation of the "Charlie Sheen effect" on HIV prevention and contrast that effect with our past formative assessment using Internet searches,' said study coauthor Eric Leas. The week of Sheen's disclosure coincided with a near doubling in OraQuick sales, which reached an all-time high. Sales remained significantly higher for the following three weeks, with 8,225 more sales than expected. 'In absolute terms, it's hard to appreciate the magnitude of Sheen's disclosure,' added study coauthor Benjamin Althouse, research scientist with the Institute of Disease Modeling. 'However, when we compared Sheen's disclosure to other traditional awareness campaigns the "Charlie Sheen effect" is astonishing.' OraQuick sales in the time period around Sheen's disclosure were nearly eight times greater than sales around World Aids Day, one of the most well-known and longest-running HIV prevention awareness events. The week of Sheen's disclosure coincided with a near doubling in OraQuick sales, which reached an all-time high. Sales remained significantly higher for the following three weeks, with 8,225 more sales than expected. Pictured: the chart from the study of OraQuick sales The team's most significant takeaway, however, is that these findings reinforce their past analyses of Google search data. Using Internet searches alone the team was able to predict HIV testing sales within seven percent for any given weeks. 'Public health leaders are often cautious, choosing to wait for traditional data instead of taking reasonable action in response to novel data, like Internet searches,' Ayers said. 'Our findings underscore the value of big media data for yielding rapid intelligence to make public health actionable and more responsive to the public it serves.' Study coauthor Mark Dredze, a Johns Hopkins University computer scientist, added that 'public health must ready itself for the next Sheen-like event by embracing big media data for decision making.' said. Still, it may be the window has not fully closed on the Charlie Sheen effect, he said. 'Our findings build on earlier studies that suggest empathy is easier to motivate others when the empathy is targeted toward an individual versus a group' said coauthor Jon-Patrick Allem, research scientist with the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. 'It is easy to imagine that a single individual, like Sheen, disclosing his HIV status may be more compelling and motivating for people than an unnamed mass of individuals or a lecture from public health leaders.' Since his diagnosis, Sheen has been vocal about treatment options and side effects. At first, the star started on anti-retroviral therapy, the standard treatment for HIV. But in early 2016, months after his public announcement, he joined a Phase III clinical trial for an experimental weekly injection called PRO-140. From day one he has gushed about its effects. On numerous occasions, he has told Daily Mail Online that he felt an emotional and physical transformation when he switched from 'that cocktail of drugs' to his weekly treatment. And earlier this month he addressed why he was motivated to try an unapproved treatment - revealing his old HIV medication left him with 'borderline dementia'. Speaking to Daily Mail Online, Sheen said he did not have symptoms of dementia until he started taking his first regime of drugs to suppress his HIV. But those symptoms disappeared after he joined the PRO-140 trial. His words came as the drug, which ended its successful phase III clinical trial early this year, is now being assessed for FDA approval. Sheen told the Mail he 'is feeling fantastic now!' Dementia is set to become Britains biggest killer, with experts warning that deaths from the condition will overtake those from cancer by 2040. The figure is set to almost quadruple as an ageing population becomes ever more vulnerable to conditions such as Alzheimers disease. Cancer currently kills more than double the people who die from dementia every year. But researchers from Kings College London forecast that within 25 years dementia will creep ahead to claim 219,409 victims every year. Researchers from Kings College London forecast that within 25 years dementia will creep ahead of cancer and claim 219,409 victims every year Their figures show it will also kill more people than cardiovascular disease and organ failure. They are calling for the NHS to act now to provide palliative care for elderly patients. Use GPS to track elderly, says Met Tracking devices could be worn by elderly dementia sufferers to help find them if they wander off, the Metropolitan Police said yesterday. Contained in a necklace, bracelet or key ring, the technology would pinpoint the location of vulnerable pensioners within seconds. The Met says a significant number of the 44,000 cases of people who go missing every year in the capital are dementia-related wander walkers. It launched a Safer Walking campaign yesterday to promote the GPS technology and urged local authorities responsible for caring for vulnerable elderly people to consider the devices for their safety. The transmitters cost as little as 40. Chief Superintendent Steve Wallace, who is leading the Mets campaign, accepted there are privacy concerns and that the devices were not a substitute for good care and support. But he said the problem of wander walkers was getting worse and society had to do something about it. Charity Dementia UK, said trackers must only be used on a case by case basis, with the familys agreement. Advertisement Professor Irene Higginson, Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute at Kings College and co-author of the paper, said: Both cancer and dementia are increasing. Dementia is increasing faster, partly because of the ageing population and partly because there are fewer treatments for it. Rob Burley of the Alzheimers Society added: Dementia is set to be the 21st centurys biggest killer. It is the only leading cause of death that we cant cure, prevent or slow down. The ageing population is behind the rise in dementia, which kills people from the damage it causes in their brain. As we all live longer, the number of over-85s needing palliative care is set to more than double from 2014 to 2040, with dementia striking most people in old age. For the study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, experts analysed mortality statistics for England and Wales from 2006 to 2014. They concluded that cancer deaths will rise from 143,638 to 208,636 deaths by 2040. But deaths from dementia are projected to outstrip this, soaring from 59,199 to 219,409 over the same period. Rising deaths from the condition will contribute to a rocketing number of people who will need end-of-life care. Currently around 75 per cent of people in their final days need palliative care, but that figure will hit 90 per cent by 2040 as the elderly battle multiple complex diseases, often including dementia and cancer at the same time. Rob Burley of the Alzheimers Society added: Dementia is set to be the 21st centurys biggest killer. It is the only leading cause of death that we cant cure, prevent or slow down' Professor Higginson said: Palliative care provides relief of pain and suffering. People can be given morphine to help with pain and breathlessness, which many suffer at the end of life, with emotional and social support for those affected, to help them live as well as possible. It follows a report earlier this year that some health trusts spend as little as 14p a day per patient providing specialist care for those who are dying. Commenting on the study, Simon Jones, from the charity Marie Curie, which provides care and support for people with terminal illnesses, said: We need to radically rethink how we care for people at the end of their lives, to ensure everyone gets the range of support they need, when they need it. We need to start that process now, before we reach crisis point. Women could increase their chances of getting pregnant by using a 100-year-old fertility technique, according to new research. The procedure, which involves flushing a woman's Fallopian tubes with poppy seed oil was first used in 1917 and has significant fertility benefits, the study found. Results revealed almost 40 percent of previously infertile women conceived within six months of trying the unconventional procedure. It could offer couples the opportunity to have a successful pregnancy without relying on costly IVF, the researchers said. Up to one in five couples in the US struggles to conceive within the first year of trying despite having regular unprotected sex. Women could increase their chances of getting pregnant via a 100-year-old fertility technique 3D PRINTED OVARIES OFFER HOPE OF 'HOLY GRAIL' INFERTILITY TREATMENT A new hope for restoring fertility in women who are unable to produce their own eggs has been born in the lab. Engineers and reproductive scientists conducted experiments on sterile mice using 3D printed ovaries that allowed them to give birth. The structure of the ovaries was 3D-printed in gelatin, creating a lattice that could house follicles containing the eggs. While it has only been tested in mice so far, the researchers hope the technique could one day be used to help women who are unable to have children. The research was conducted by Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and McCormick School of Engineering, both in Illinois. Advertisement Known as the H2Oil study, global researchers led by the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute compared the benefits of flushing the Fallopian tubes with either an oil or water-based solution in 1,119 women. Almost 40 percent of previously infertile women in the oil group and 29 percent in the water group achieved successful pregnancies within six months. The oil-based product used in the study was Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, an iodized solution of fatty acids from poppy seeds, which is available in 47 countries worldwide. Study author Professor Ben Mol, who was conceived after his mother underwent the same procedure, said: 'Over the past century, pregnancy rates among infertile women reportedly increased after their tubes had been flushed with either water or oil during this procedure. 'Until now, it has been unclear whether the type of solution used in the procedure was influencing the change in fertility. 'Our results have been even more exciting than we could have predicted, helping to confirm that an age-old medical technique still has an important place in modern medicine. 'The rates of successful pregnancy were significantly higher in the oil-based group, and after only one treatment. 'This is an important outcome for women who would have had no other course of action other than to seek IVF treatment. It offers new hope to infertile couples.' The researchers are unsure as to how the oil-based poppy-extract solution improves fertility prospects, but they add it could be a cost-effective alternative to expensive IVF. 'Flushing out' Fallopian tubes with poppy-seed extract boosts pregnancies by almost 40% Professor Mol said: 'It was long believed that testing a woman's Fallopian tubes could have fertility benefits through "flushing out" the kind of debris that hinders fertility. 'The reality is, we still don't really understand why there is a benefit, only that there is a benefit from this technique, in particular for women who don't present with any other treatable fertility symptoms. 'Further research would need to be conducted into the mechanisms behind what we're seeing. 'For now, and considering the technique has been used for 100 years without any known side effects, we believe it is a viable treatment for infertility prior to couples seeking IVF. He said: 'Not only is there a known benefit, but this flushing procedure is also a fraction of the cost of one cycle of IVF. 'Considering that 40 percent of women in the oil-based group achieved a successful pregnancy, that's 40 percent of couples who could avoid having to go through the huge costs and emotions associated with IVF treatment.' Until he embarked on the study, Professor Mol was unaware that he was conceived after his mother had the procedure. He said: 'My mother went from being infertile for many years to becoming pregnant. 'I also have a younger brother. So it's entirely possible - in fact, based on our team's research, it's highly likely - that my brother and I are both the result of this technique helping my mother to achieve fertility.' Professor Mol added, however, women should speak to their doctors before considering the alternative fertility treatment. The study's results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This comes after researchers from Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and University College London may have discovered one of the leading causes of genetic abnormalities in the eggs of older women, which often leads to miscarriages and disabilities. A fault in how older women's eggs control levels of a protein known as securin may be to blame for female's reduced fertility as they grow older, they said. The first long-term study conducted into the HPV vaccine confirm it is almost 100 percent effective at protecting men from developing oral cancer. The treatment was approved to the market in 2006 to prevent women from getting cervical cancer but experts haven't been able to fully examine its effect over time. Now, the results are in from a three-year study on the effects - the longest investigation ever on HPV. It confirmed that there was no trace of cancer-linked strains of HPV among men who received the vaccine - whereas two percent of untreated men had a potentially cancerous strain. Another study, also released today, found the jab makes it next to impossible for vaccinated children to develop genital warts from the STI in their late teens and 20s. Despite a multitude of interest and research, these are the first substantial studies to confirm the vaccine's ability to protect people from the STI and diseases that can stem from it. The HPV vaccine does protect against infection, preventing genital warts, and possibly against oral cancer in men, according to new studies WHAT IS HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS? HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection. In fact, almost every sexually active man or woman will get it during their lifetime. It is spread through sex and oral sex with someone who has the virus, regardless of whether they show symptoms. Many people never show symptoms, and the majority of cases go away without treatment. However, it can sometimes cause genital warts and/or cancer. Symptoms can arise years after infection. Around 99 per cent of cervical cancer diagnoses are related to infections like HPV. HPV can also cause cancers of the throat, neck, tongue, tonsils, vulva, vagina, penis or anus. Often, the cancer does not develop until years after a patient was infected with HPV. Source: CDC Advertisement Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted disease in the US, with approximately 80 million people currently infected. Although most infections disappear on their own, without even displaying symptoms, some strains can lead to genital warts and even cancers, including prostate, throat, head and neck, rectum and cervical cancer. Approximately 28,000 cases of cancer caused by HPV are diagnosed annually - most of which would have preventable with the vaccine, the CDC says. The vaccine was first introduced with the main goal to prevent cervical cancer in women, but only about half of those eligible are getting the shots. The study on HPV vaccines leading to oral cancer in men was led by Dr. Maura Gillison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was the first research done on whether the vaccine might prevent oral HPV infections in young men, and the results suggest it can. The data was compiled from 2,627 men and women ages 18 to 33 years in a national health study from 2011 to 2014. The results in men were striking - no infections in the vaccinated group versus 2.13 percent of the others. The two-dose vaccine study on genital warts was conducted by medical experts at the Boston University School of Medicine and examined the number of shots given to patients. They concluded that girls given two or three jabs prevented better against genital warts compared to those given one or no jabs. There were similar results in the two and three jab test subjects, which experts concluding two counts of the vaccine were enough. Rebecca Perkins, an obstetrician and the lead author of the Boston study, said: 'This study validates the new recommendations and allows us to confidently move forward with the two dose schedule for the prevention of genital warts.' HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection. The vaccine was first introduced with the main goal to prevent cervical cancer in women, but only about half of those eligible are getting the shots 40,000 HPV-LINKED CANCERS DIAGNOSED A YEAR, CDC SAYS Figures released in July showed a dramatic climb in diagnoses of cancers linked to HPV. An average of 39,000 cases were diagnosed each year between 2008 and 2012, the CDC reported. That was a leap from 33,500 a year between 2002 and 2007. Almost 80 percent of cases in the last five years were directly attributable to HPV, including 19,200 diagnoses for female and 11,600 for males. The most common HPV-related diagnoses in women were cervical cancers. For men, mouth and throat cancers were the most common. The CDC estimates that more than 28,000 of these diagnoses could have been blocked by the HPV jab. 'Full vaccination coverage of the U.S. population could prevent future HPV-attributable cancers and potentially reduce racial and ethnic disparities in HPV-associated cancer incidence,' the authors wrote. 'Ongoing surveillance for HPV-associated cancers using high-quality population-based registries is needed to monitor trends in cancer incidence that might result from increasing use of HPV vaccines and changes in cervical cancer screening practices.' Advertisement Although HPV is very common and a majority of cases go away without treatment, the infection does have several other risks. Oral infections are blamed for 70 percent of cancers in the mouth and back of the throat. About 11,600 of these occur each year in the U.S. and rates are rising five percent per year. They're four times more common in men than women. There are now more mouth and throat cancers caused by HPV in the U.S. each year than there are cervical cancers. Oral sex is the main risk factor for getting an HPV infection in the mouth or throat, Dr Gillison said. While 'oral sex does not give you cancer,' the infection in rare cases can develop into cancer over many years, she explained. The vaccines are recommended mostly for young people, ideally before they're exposed to HPV. Merck's Gardasil is approved in the U.S. for females nine through 26 to prevent cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal cancers and genital warts. For males ages nine through 26, it's approved for preventing anal cancer and genital warts. A newer version of Gardasil that includes more HPV virus types is approved for males nine through 15. GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccine is approved for females nine through 25 to prevent cervical cancer. All require two or three shots, depending on age. When the vaccine was first introduced, it faced a wave of backlash from conservative parents who thought the shot would encourage children to be promiscuous. Michele Bachmann led a fierce campaign against the vaccine and urging senators to block the jab's approval, claiming there was evidence it led to mental disorders. Some schools began to require children to have the vaccine, including those in the District of Columbia and Virginia. Rhode Island schools require both girls and boys to get the jabs. Nearly half of US states have proposed school-entry requirements for HPV vaccination without success since 2006. Parents were the least likely to agree with HPV vaccine school-entry requirements if they lived in the Midwest, and they were most likely to agree if they lived in the Northeast. In the UK, all girls aged 12 to 13 get the vaccine as part of the NHS childhood vaccination program, and it's usually given to girls in year eight. The treatment in England is two injections to the arm spaced at least six months apart. Girls who began vaccination before September 2014 receive three injections. An unsettling number of adults admitted they would still swim in pools even if they had diarrhea, a study revealed. Twenty-five percent of people confessed to the unsanitary act in a federal study by the Water Quality and Health Council. The findings emerged this week - as the CDC warns there is a growing cases of infections caused by Cryptosporidium, a parasite found that can cause diarrhea. Outbreaks of diarrhea caused by swallowing swimming pool water containing parasites have doubled in the past few years. Health officials have long-warned against swimmers to avoid drinking the water but even still, 60 percent of adults still do so. Twenty-five percent of people confessed they would still swim in pools even if they had diarrhea, causing concern at the CDC due to the growing outbreak of infections because of the condition The study was conducted on behalf of the Water Quality and Health Council and adults admitted to the startling behavior. People who are sick with diarrhea are advised to stay clear of community pools for two weeks, but an alarming amount said they jumped into water just an hour later of displaying symptoms. Dr. Chris Wiant, chair of the Water Quality and Health Council, advocates for people to shower before getting into a community pool and to not pee while in the pool. Infections occur when swimmers ingest water contaminated by diarrhea from a person infected by Cryptosporidium or Crypto, a parasite that is notoriously difficult to kill. Crypto caused at least 32 outbreaks in swimming pools or water parks in 2016, compared with 16 in 2014, according to a report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report on death and disease. CAN POOP BE GOOD FOR YOU? Fecal microbial therapy, or fecal transplants, are the transfer of a fecal sample from a healthy donor to a recipient. This can be done via nasogastric tubes - Inserted into the nostril, down the throat and into the stomach - or directly into the colon. Fecal transplants have had spectacular success with treating C. difficile infections. This bacterium causes severe diarrhea and inflammation. Recurrent infections are extraordinarily debilitating and life-threatening. Trials of fecal transplants typically show a 90 percent success rate in treating this condition. For complex gut health issues, the effectiveness of fecal transplants is either much lower, or not proven. Of two published studies of fecal transplants for inflammatory bowel disease, for instance, one found a low effect and one no effect. Advertisement Arizona last year reported that 352 people became sick with Cryptosporidiosis from July through October, compared with no more than 62 cases per year from 2011 to 2015. Ohio reported 1,940 infections in 2016, compared with no more than 571 in any one year from 2012 to 2015. The CDC said it was not clear if there are actually more outbreaks, or if states are doing a better job of reporting them since it introduced a new DNA-based tracking tool in 2010. Crypto is the most common cause of diarrhea outbreaks linked with swimming pools or water parks because it can survive up to 10 days in chlorinated water. It only takes a mouthful of contaminated water to make a healthy person sick for up to three weeks. The parasites can remain in the body for weeks and can cause symptoms to reappear after recovery. Infections can cause watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea or vomiting, and can lead to dehydration. To kill the parasite, the CDC recommends closing pools and treating the water with high levels of chlorine, called hyperchlorination. The CDC advises parents not to let children swim if they have diarrhea. People who are infected with Crypto should wait two weeks after the diarrhea stops before swimming. And to keep from getting sick, the CDC advises swimmers not to swallow pool water. MEMOIR ALL THESE WONDERS edited by Catherine Burns (Serpents Tail 12.99) First, a confession: until I picked up All These Wonders, Id not come across The Moth project. The brainchild of American novelist George Dawes Green, it sprang up in the late Nineties, when people began meeting in nightclubs and bars throughout New York for impromptu storytelling sessions, at which various individuals simply got up and told a tale about something that had happened to them. The concept soon acquired a huge and enthusiastic following, with similar Moth meetings taking place around the world: the only criteria being the speakers willingness to be vulnerable, and to tell on themselves (without notes) in front of hundreds and since the advent of podcasts thousands of strangers. In this latest collection of the best of some 17,000 stories that have been recounted during Moth meetings over the years, Catherine Burns has put together 50 of the most memorable examples. Each tale is told in the first person, and each begins with a single sentence. In this latest collection of the best of some 17,000 stories that have been recounted during Moth meetings over the years, Catherine Burns has put together 50 of the most memorable examples When I was 15 years old, I lived in a mausoleum; Im looking out of a hotel room in the capital of the Congo: I was packing my suitcase, when there was a knock on the door. I would defy anybody not to read on. And what happens next is unexpected, intriguing, tender, humorous, shocking or deeply moving. They tell of joy and terror, of love and grief. Here we find Simon Bill living in a large house in Sheffield, who late one night has to confront a drug-fuelled intruder, his only allies being his infant daughter asleep in the next room, and a single remaining example of his once-extensive collection of antique swords, a 1796 British light cavalry sabre (the sort that goes schwing when you unsheathe it) that still lies somewhere in the downstairs closet. British comedian Tim Fitzhigham chronicles his hilarious attempt to cross the English Channel in a bathtub, while engineer Carl Pillitteri recollects the moment on March 11, 2011, when, while working at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, he finds himself in the middle of a major earthquake. The stories are unpredictable, gripping and utterly addictive. Australian novelist Melissa Lucashenko recounts the occasion in 2004 when, living with her troubled daughter in a downtrodden suburb of Brisbane (and wondering where shell find the next rental payment), shes invited out of the blue to appear on the Australian TV version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Having answered six questions correctly, she find herself on the verge of a life-changing $50,000 if she can provide the scientific unit for the measurement of light. Seconds after correctly replying candela, she and her daughter are hugging each other on the studio floor, their prospects transformed. All These Wonders is a compelling read, by turns uplifting, heart-breaking and ultimately redemptive. If there is a real hero of the book, it is surely the human spirit, which, time and again, transcends whatever life throws at it Few stories, however, grip with such visceral power as that told by Tomi Reichental. Im in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, it begins. Nine-year-old Tomi, along with his extended family, has been incarcerated there for two weeks, having been arrested in Slovakia by the Gestapo. One freezing cold morning, the camp guards announce that the prisoners are to be marched to a line of distant buildings for a hot shower. Once in, the doors are locked, his mother is crying and everyone is staring, transfixed, at the showerheads. Everybody, except Tomi, knows whats about to happen. Except it doesnt. Instead, they are doused with hot running water. And this is exactly what I was expecting, he concludes. Looking back, I can only imagine today what our mothers were thinking at the time. All These Wonders is a compelling read, by turns uplifting, heart-breaking and ultimately redemptive. If there is a real hero of the book, it is surely the human spirit, which, time and again, transcends whatever life throws at it. HISTORY WATERLOO MESSENGER: THE LIFE OF HENRY PERCY by William Mahon (Pen and Sword 25) There is a plaque on a building in St Jamess Square in London that captures my imagination every time I read it. It is outside the house where, on Wednesday, June 21, 1815, a wealthy socialite, Mrs Edmund Boehm, was giving a soiree attended by the 52-year-old Prince Regent, later King George IV. At some point in the evening, there was a commotion outside. The Honourable Major Henry Percy, of the 14th Light Dragoons, had arrived with a pair of French Imperial Eagles captured three days earlier on the Belgian battlefield of Waterloo. Declaring Victory, victory, sire, Percy laid them before the Prince, symbols of the epic defeat of Napoleons army. Percy was a trusted aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington. The night before the battle, he had attended a ball in Brussels, wearing his scarlet dress tunic. There was no time to change when news arrived that Napoleon was approaching from the south, so Percy was still in his party gear after the battle, when the Duke charged him with the mighty responsibility of carrying word of the triumph back to London. Henry Percy was a trusted aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington who carried the message about winning the Battle of Waterloo back to London In our own age of instantly accessible news, the image of a single soldier travelling for more than two days to deliver news of a seismic military victory is a beguilingly romantic one. And to make it even more romantic, Percy still had in his pocket a crimson velvet sachet, given to him by an unknown woman he had danced with at the ball. The plaque in St Jamess Square tells us that Percy first delivered the official dispatch to the Prime Minister, the Earl of Liverpool, then continued on to see the Prince Regent. But I have often wanted to know more about the events of that doubtless tumultuous evening. Colonel Sir William Mahons meticulously researched book fills in all the gaps. For Wellington at Waterloo, the victory was not immediate cause for celebration: he had lost too many fine officers and good friends. Unable to sleep, he stayed up most of the night, writing his official report for the government. He also had to decide who would deliver it. With several of the other contenders either injured or dead, the obvious choice was Percy, whose social and military credentials were impeccable. His father was the Earl of Beverley; his grandfather had been the first Duke of Northumberland. He was an experienced career soldier who had once been taken prisoner by the French (and, while captive, fathered two illegitimate children). Moreover, he was a fit young man, not yet 30. Early the following morning, Percy set off by carriage from Brussels for Ostend, where he was able to quash the rapidly spreading rumour that the French, not the British, had been victorious at Waterloo. A warship, HMS Peruvian, set sail for Kent at about 2pm, but there was little or no wind, and the 75-mile crossing took more than 24 hours. It was the next afternoon before Percy, increasingly anxious at the time it was taking to get to London, landed at Broadstairs. There, he climbed into a carriage, but the captured French eagles and standards were too long to fit inside, so they stuck out of the window, to the delight of crowds which gathered every time the carriage stopped for fresh horsepower. He was an experienced career soldier who had once been taken prisoner by the French (and, while captive, fathered two illegitimate children). Moreover, he was a fit young man, not yet 30 The worrying rumours of a Napoleonic victory had reached England, too, so at the four stops Canterbury, Sittingbourne, Rochester and Dartford there was frenzied excitement. By the time Percy reached London, a cheering and ever-burgeoning crowd ran after his carriage. He went to Downing Street to deliver the dispatch first, as Wellington had commanded, to the Secretary of State for War, Earl Bathurst. But and here is a detail of this story that I really cherish Bathurst wasnt in. He and the Prime Minister were dining at the home of Lord Harrowby in Grosvenor Square. So poor Percy, dishevelled and exhausted, had to clamber back into his carriage and carry on. He practically fell through the door at 44 Grosvenor Square, crying: Victory, victory . . . Bonaparte has been beaten! He practically fell through the door at 44 Grosvenor Square, crying: Victory, victory . . . Bonaparte has been beaten! After the Prime Minister and others had quizzed him, Percy went on to the Boehms house at 16 St Jamess Square. For Dorothy Boehm, the evening was meant to be her greatest social triumph, but as the orchestra was about to strike up, guests were suddenly distracted: Percy had arrived with his French eagles. Her carefully planned ball had been momentously upstaged. Although the Prince Regent tried to make it up to his hostess by giving her an inscribed, gilded replica of Percys battleground spoils, she remained inconsolable, ever after referring to those horrid French eagles. As for Percy, he died, aged just 39, in April 1825. But more enduringly, Percy died with a right to a footnote in history, and a plaque in St Jamess Square. AMNESIA by Michael Ridpath (Corvus 12.99) AMNESIA by Michael Ridpath (Corvus 12.99) A former bond trader in the City, Ridpath made his name with novels about the world of finance. Over the years, he has become one of our finest thriller writers, capable of telling captivating stories in any location, as this expertly woven standalone set in the Scottish Highlands proves. Alastair Cunningham wakes up in hospital with almost complete amnesia. He does not know how he got there, nor who he is, although he senses that something dreadful has happened to him earlier in his life. Clemence, a young student friend of the family, is sent to his remote cottage beside Loch Glass to help him recover. There, she finds an old manuscript, which he may have written, about events in the past including the murder of her grandmother. Hypnotised and horrified, Clemence reads the book aloud to Cunningham. As she does, a tapestry of deception is delicately exposed. Atmospheric, sinuous and elegant, this demonstrates Ridpaths special talent. NO MIDDLE NAME by Lee Child (Bantam 20) NO MIDDLE NAME by Lee Child (Bantam 20) Jack Reacher needs no introduction. Lee Childs novels featuring this enigmatic hero have sold in excess of 100 million copies worldwide. The last, Night School, was the biggest-selling hardback novel in this country last year. But this is a little different its a collection of short stories featuring the eponymous Robin Hood of this age, many of which have never appeared in book form before and it includes a brand new novella, Too Much Time. They give a string of insights into Reachers past, especially his younger years. It is fascinating to see the youth develop into the final article, the man who famously has no middle name, who does not live anywhere and who is never afraid to fight injustice. Like a box of luxurious chocolates, you dont need to try them all at once, which only increases their pleasure. THE IRREGULAR by H. B. Lyle (Hodder 17.99) THE IRREGULAR by H. B. Lyle (Hodder 17.99) This engaging debut introduces a character we may well come to hear more of. As a boy, Wiggins led Sherlock Holmess Baker Street Irregulars, urchins that the great detective used for finding people across the metropolis without being noticed. But that was 20 years ago: it is now 1909, and he is earning his living as a bailiff on the edge of the law, when he is asked to join a fledgling Secret Service, recommended by Holmes. Secrets stolen from the Woolwich Arsenal munitions factory are finding their way into German hands. Initially Wiggins turns down the offer, but when his best friend is killed by Russian anarchists, he accepts in order to take revenge. Impressive period detail and sharp dialogue add charm to the strong plot. THESE DIVIDING WALLS by Fran Cooper (Hodder 14.99) THESE DIVIDING WALLS by Fran Cooper (Hodder 14.99) The residents of number 37, a Parisian apartment building in a secret quarter far back on the Left Bank, live in apparent harmony. But what building doesnt have secrets? How much does anyone know of what goes on behind their neighbours doors? Grief, depression, aspiration, misery all have their home there, too. In Paris itself, political tension is on the rise and, when a Muslim family moves into the building, hidden prejudices among those living there come out into the open. Its a multi-layered novel, elevated by fine writing, in which our traditional view of Paris is debunked to show a less familiar side of the city. Coopers expertly realised characters, both sympathetic and not, have stories that are interwoven with aplomb. THE END WE START FROM by Megan Hunter (Picador 9.99) THE END WE START FROM by Megan Hunter (Picador 9.99) Set in a dystopian future, an unexplained environmental catastrophe means London is flooded and uninhabitable. A woman gives birth just before she, her husband R and baby Z are forced to leave the city to find food and shelter in the North. What follows is her account of their time among other refugees who roam the country fighting to survive. While the world around them becomes increasingly threatening and R leaves her, baby Z thrives and finds joy in the smallest things. Written in a stripped-back, detached prose that is all the more powerful for its economy, this is an uplifting celebration of the reality of motherhood in the face of terrifying global disaster. TENCH by Inge Schilperoord (Pushkin Press 12.99) TENCH by Inge Schilperoord (Pushkin Press 12.99) A Dutch forensic psychologist-turned-author tells a morally complex story with great sensitivity. When Jonathan is released from prison, he returns home to his mother determined to be a better person. Hes been given a second chance to make up for what hes done. Going back to his work in a fish factory, he adopts a life of strict routine, cooking, walking his dog, and helping his mother prepare to move house. But he feels restless and detached from his surroundings. Worse, Elke, the young girl next door, prompts feelings he believes he has under control. Alone in his room, he follows the exercises in his workbook to enforce his coping mechanisms. At last, when he is gripped by obsession, things spin out of his control. A dark and powerful read, underpinned by a growing sense of terrible tension. Even though it decided to boycott China's first Belt and Road Forum (BRF), China's richest man - the billionaire head of Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin - praised India's economic potential at the summit and highlighted his group's ambitious plans for India. Wang, head of China's powerful conglomerate with vast investments in real estate, development projects and in the film industry, was the most prominent Chinese businessman at BRF, which was inaugurated by President Xi Jinping on May 14. Among 29 foreign powers, India was the only major country absent at the summit, with the U.S., Japan and South Korea also sending delegations. Money! Wang Jianlin of Dalian Wanda Group gives a speech at a university in Beijing Chinese premier Xi Jinping had announced new loans and investments in infrastructure of more than one hundred billion dollars. While some Chinese officials have suggested that India's absence could lead to its 'isolation' and missing out on the One Belt, One Road's (OBOR) benefits, Delhi's view is that it doesn't need to endorse a domestic Chinese initiative and Chinese companies will invest in India regardless, for economic reasons. That argument was buttressed from an unlikely source, as in his keynote speech on tourism projects under OBOR, Wang chose to highlight the group's ambitious projects in India - despite Delhi not being present. 'Along the 'Belt and Road' are mostly developing countries with a sizeable population and considerable demographic dividends. For example, India is the world's second most populous country with a population of over 1.3 billion and a median age of 26 years; and Indonesia, with a population of approximately 260 million, ranks fourth in the world, and has a median age of less than 26 years. The national flags of Pakistan, left, and China are displayed on the side of a mountain in Gwadar, Balochistan, 'These countries are relatively lagging behind in tourism infrastructure and offer huge opportunities for investments,' Wang said. He also mentioned the upcoming Wanda Industrial New City (WINC) in Haryana. 'The project is located on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and India's National Capital Region, in close proximity to Delhi,' he said. 'Covering 11 sq. km. of land, the project will have a manufacturing park, cultural tourism park and residential zone, with manufacturing and cultural tourism taking up more than 70 per cent of the area. The project will create more than 1,00,000 jobs. It is currently the largest investment project in India. WINC will attract manufacturers from around the world, especially Chinese manufacturers.' The project has reportedly faced troubles in land acquisition, but Wang was bullish about its prospects. Police have filed an FIR against a 21-year-old maid who had accused her employer's 11-year-old son of raping her. The Juvenile Justice Board in Delhi found her allegations 'highly unlikely' to be true. The woman had entered a contract to work as a domestic help at the child's house for about a year. The Juvenile Justice Board in Delhi found her allegations 'highly unlikely' to be true She alleged that in the absence of his parents, the boy would misbehave with her, push her down on the bed, and rape her. She also claimed that the boy would lie down on top of her and even physically assault her. Witnessing anomalies in her statement and based on the investigation which revealed that she had filed the case with an 'oblique motive', principal magistrate Murari Prasad Singh directed the police to file an FIR against her. The police booked her for giving false information to a public servant and also putting false charges against the boy. The woman alleged that the boy used to threaten her with his bat and even blackmailed her, saying that if she revealed any of this to his family members she would lose her job. She told the police that she faced assault at the hands of the boy for four continuous days and, fed up with this, she went back to the placement agency. The agency staff took her to the police on April 9 last year. 'We should bear in mind that the child in this case is of tender age of 11 years. 'It also appears to be highly unlikely that an adult of 21- 22 years would not put up any resistance whatsoever on being physically and sexually assaulted by a child of such a tender age. 'The fact in her medical report that she had been beaten by a bat by the child was not even stated in the FIR,' the magistrate said. The court also observed that the maid stated that the sister of the child's mother was at home and it is unlikely that she would not have noticed any of the alleged occurrences for four consecutive days. During the investigation, police also found that the maid had collected Rs 40,000 from the family but worked for only four days. When she was called and asked to work, she threatened to file a complaint. The court said the case was filed with an oblique motive. 'The maid resorted to file a false case against the child who had not even turned 12 years,' said the magistrate. 'Such orders send a firm and a clear message in society that criminal law should not be exploited by anyone. In this case, an 11- year-old boy's life plunged into jeopardy because of a false accusation by an adult. 'Probably, it will take a long time for the child to recover from this tragedy,' said Anant Asthana, lawyer and child rights activist. The Juvenile Justice Board in India has sole authority to deal with matters concerning children in conflict with law. A JJB has to be constituted for each district or group of districts, and consists of two social workers and a judicial magistrate. Senior lawyer Harish Salve says that his huge diplomatic and legal victory against Pakistan was all the result of a game plan very well executed. Salve fired all the shots as the execution of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was stayed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Salve, who was India's attorney at the hearing, told India Today TV in an exclusive video interview from London on Thursday that there was utmost emphasis on 'secrecy' and revealed that the work towards it had started in mid-April. Harish Salve (pictured) fired all the shots as the execution of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was stayed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague India approached the top UN court after a Pakistani military court last month sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and sabotage. Salve said getting the ICJ jury assembled at short notice and getting an order urgently was the biggest challenge. He attributed the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ministry of external affairs led by Sushma Swaraj. 'It is a big victory for India and with humility I accept that my efforts have borne fruit. 'It is a big victory for me personally as a lawyer...it was a difficult case and involved a lot of research work. India approached the top UN court after a Pakistani military court last month sentenced Jadhav (pictured) to death on charges of espionage and sabotage 'This victory was crafted not by me but the ministry of external affairs, by their team of dedicated civil servants and it has been crafted also by Prime Minister Modi. 'It (approaching the ICJ) was a huge step for the government to take. 'I salute the government for this resolute decision and the way they have backed us, unconditionally, unequivocally...not a word of what I wrote was changedeverything was left to me every minute things and aspectsas a lawyer it gave me a lot of strength,' Salve said. On the 'inside story of the victory and the strategy', he said, 'I have a very close personal relationship with the external affairs minister She had done the initial groundworkhad a number of meetings with the minister and the joint secretaries and we had started work from the middle of Aprilthe big thing was secrecy as if things had leaked it would have got messy. 'Whatever written by me was dictated by me and juniors were typing in the laptop.' The International Court of Justice is sometimes referred to as the World Court On how he managed to mobilise the ICJ make them sit at such a short notice, he said 'I met the registrar of the ICJ to explain the circumstance ...normally it is the government representatives who go and meet him. 'But the minister insisted I go and she said ''Go and explain the case''I went and explained the whole case and he realised it was important. The president of the court was not even in The Hague. Yes, it was a challenge: we got the jury assembled and got an order within a span of four daysIt tells us what a great institution it is and how they work.' Asked how he planned to celebrate, he shot back in a lighter vein: 'How do you celebrate in London? 'Yes, by having a pint and yes I am also taking my wife out for a dinner.' India heaved a collective sigh of relief after the world court stayed Jadhav's execution with political leaders hailing the order and the former navyman's friends erupting in joy and bursting firecrackers, while Salve came in for fulsome praise from Modi, Swaraj and a host of other leaders. The family of a missing lawyer who vanished suddenly three weeks ago say she was 'very unhappy' in her marriage. Renata Antczak, 49, had demanded a divorce from her dentist husband and planned to take their youngest daughter to her native Poland against his wishes before she mysteriously disappeared. A relative said her family was increasingly worried for the welfare of Miss Antczak, who has been married to dentist Majid Mustafa for 23 years. She said they want to know why the mother-of-two left her home in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, at 1pm on April 25 on foot wearing a purple t-shirt and hasn't used any credit cards since she vanished. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline from central Poland, the family source said: 'Renata was very unhappy with her husband. 'When she was last home in January, she told her mum she had had enough and was filing for divorce. Disappearance: Missing lawyer Renata Antczak, 49, right, who vanished on April 25 was 'very unhappy' in her 23-year marriage to dentist Majid Mustafa, 47, pictured right Gone: Miss Antczak, pictured at her wedding to Dr Mustafa, in 1995 was planning to take her back to her native Poland - against her husband's wishes Mystery: The mother-of-two, left, was last seen at the home she shares with Dr Mustafa in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, on April 25. The couple have been married for 23 years 'Her mum wasn't happy about that because she is very traditional and disapproves of divorce. But she did it anyway because she wanted out of the relationship.' A source, 20, said the couple had been married since 1994, but that things had started to deteriorate between them in the last few years. They have two daughters, Magda, 23, and 11-year-old Victoria. Dr Mustafa, 47, said his wife asked for a divorce following months of increasingly bizarre behaviour, in which her interest in alternative medicines had turned into 'an obsession'. The relative said: 'When Renata became interested in alternative medicine he wasn't happy about that either. She used to visit clients and had a device for measuring their energy levels. 'But he didn't want her to do it. It caused more tension. They were arguing all the time.' Miss Antczak, who is 5ft 6in and was last seen wearing dark trousers and a purple, is qualified to work in Poland as a solicitor and has moved between the two countries in recent years, though she moved back to the UK full-time in June last year. The source said the family were concerned, adding: 'Renata hates cold weather so it makes no sense that she would leave in just a t-shirt. 'Also, the police have told us that even though she took her credit cards with her, they haven't been used. Missing: A relative said Miss Antczak, pictured at her daughter's 11th birthday, had been married to dentist Dr Majid for 23 years, but that things had deteriorated in the last few years Fears: Miss Antczak has two daughters Magda, 23, with sister 11-year-old Victoria, left, who have both made appeals for their missing mother to come home Distressed: The relative said they want to know why Miss Antczak, pictured on her wedding day, left suddenly: 'So, she doesn't have money, she left her passport, ID and clothes at home?' 'So, she doesn't have money, she left her passport, ID and clothes at home?' They went on: 'Victoria, her youngest daughter, is very unhappy in England. She doesn't have many friends and wants to come back here. 'And that's another reason Renata wants to come back, for the sake of Victoria.' They added: 'The whole family has been trying to contact her, sending her messages on social media, asking her if she's ok and to make contact. But she hasn't even opened or seen them. We fear the worst.' As Humberside Police continue to investigate what has happened to Ms Antczak, her husband believes she has joined a 'sect' after becoming obsessed with a form of alternative therapy. Messages: Miss Antczak's family have been trying to contact the mother of two since she went missing last month without warning Dr Mustafa said for the last six months Miss Antczak has been spending a week per month in Poland, apparently to train as a therapist for a homeopathic health treatment called TimeWaver. Miss Antczak qualified as a therapist and used a room at a friend's hair salon in Hull for occasional sessions. He said: 'At home she started to put candles everywhere, and joss sticks. 'After she'd gone we found some of her writing. It talked about her feeling free, free from relationships, free from everything.' He said documents have been passed to police and he believes she was 'brainwashed' by an unidentified 'sect'. 'She does love me, but there's something really strange in her behaviour in the last few months,' he added. On April 25 Miss Antczak dropped Victoria off at school, returned home and spoke to her husband, who said he was ill in bed that day. They had a 'discussion' about her returning to Poland with Victoria before Miss Antczak left the house on foot and has not been heard from since. Police have confirmed the last known sighting was when she left home in Hull at 1pm. Dr Mustafa, who reported her missing when she failed to return home that day, said he had been 'trying to get her to change her mind' and still hopes she will return. 'I still love her very much, I still miss her very much and I want her to come back. If she doesn't want to stay with me, that's her choice,' he said. Vanished: Miss Antczak, pictured with her husband and their daughter at a fun fair, has been missing for three weeks. Officers have received an 'unconfirmed sighting' of her in Poland No sign: Miss Antczak was reported missing by her husband Dr Mustafa when she failed to return home. He said he had been 'trying to get her to change her mind' over the divorce He said his wife had not been in contact with her mother in Lodz and inquiries by police in Poland have failed to solve the mystery. Superintendent Phil Ward, of Humberside Police, said: 'We have no indication of where she was going or who she was with. 'She took her daughter to school in the morning, nothing had happened previously. She has never been missing before.' A family of four were killed on their way home from a Mother's Day visit after a tractor trailer plowed into their pick up truck, causing a six-car pileup. Elise Ann Spennati, 32, and Cole Allen Spennati, 24, along with their two daughters, Sianna and Aila, aged one and four, were killed on I-95 in North Carolina on Tuesday. Michael Elliott Bricker, 68, was driving a Volvo tanker truck filled with gasoline when he failed to slow down in time, setting off a chain reaction that sparked a fire and shut down I-95 in both directions, ABC11 reported. Bricker also died in the crash, and the Highway Patrol emphasized that it was not assigning blame on the truck driver, who was not speeding at the time. Michael Bricker, 68, was driving a Volvo tanker truck filled with gasoline when he failed to slow down in time as he approached a work zone, setting off a chain reaction involving six cars Elise Ann Spennati, 32, and Cole Allen Spennati, 24, along with their two daughters, aged one and four, were killed on I-95 in North Carolina on Tuesday Bricker's tanker truck slammed into several vehicles, which veered off the road before a fire broke out and spread to a nearby woods Bricker was driving south on the highway when he didn't slow down in time as he approached a work zone that blocked off near the South Carolina state line. He slammed into the Spennatis' pick up truck, which then piled into two other SUVs, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Bricker's tanker truck then hit another tractor trailer, which smashed into a third truck, before a fire broke out and spread to a nearby woods. Harrowing photographs show mangled vehicles, debris splayed across the highway, and a trail of black tire skids as smoke still hung over the scene. At least four others were hospitalized with serious injuries, although they are expected to survive. Two other drivers were treated at the scene. The I-95 was shut down in both directions for 12 hours, and cars were backed up for miles in both directions. The Spennatis, who lived in Goose Creek, South Carolina, had visited Cole's mother in Pennsylvania for Mother's Day before they returned home Both Cole and Elise Spennati had served in the Navy. They had two young daughters who also died in the crash The Spennatis, who lived in Goose Creek, South Carolina, were on their way home from visiting Cole's mother in Pennsylvania for Mother's Day. Cole was in the Navy Munition Command at the Naval Weapons Station with had just received orders to be stationed in San Diego, his mother told WCIV. Elise also listed herself as a member of the Navy on Facebook. She listed her position as a Sonar Technician Petty Officer 2nd Class aboard the USS Stout from 2013 to 2015. Bricker worked at Blue Mountain Transport. A spokesperson at the company told ABC11: 'It's a tough time right now. We don't know what happened out there, and we don't expect to find out.' An Iranian-born refugee advocate believes 6,000 fake Iranian refugees have been given Australian visas during the past 17 years. Cyrous Sarang said many fake refugees knew how to 'manipulate the system', after the Department of Immigration caught six cases of fraud involving Iranian men. 'These refugees they've got a lot of tricks in their sleeves and they are not genuine refugees,' he told media personalities Mark Latham and Ben Fordham. 'They manipulate the system. They beat the system.' Scroll down for video Refugee advocated Cyrous Sarang (pictured with Sydney 2GB radio presenter Ben Fordham) has a pointed message for the Australian government Refugee advocate Cyrous Sarang believes up to 6,000 fake Iranian refugees are living in Australia (Manus Island pictured) Mr Sarang, who knew Iranian-born Sydney Lindt cafe siege gunman Man Monis, claimed that 6,000 fake refugees had been given permanent residency in Australia since 2000. 'I can guide the Australian immigration. Go from 2000 and open up the file on who has visited Iran. And you look at the file on the refugees,' he told Mark Latham's Outsiders program on Facebook on Wednesday night. 'If they have been tortured in Iran or in Algeria or their countries, how dare they go back there and even get married and bring back their wife over.' Mr Sarang's assertions come after the Department of Immigration recently discovered six refugees had lied on their visa applications between 2009 and 2014. Cyrous Sarang (pictured centre) told media personalities Ben Fordham (left) and Mark Latham (right) Iranians who had been granted asylum in Australia were visiting Iran Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has cancelled the visas of six Iranian refugees Immigration Minister Peter Dutton cancelled the visas of these refugees, who had visited Iran voluntarily before returning to Australia. However, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal overruled that decision and ruled they could stay in Australia. Asked by Mr Latham what Australia should do, Mr Sarang called on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to take its responsibilities seriously. 'This is the wake-up call for Australia. These people are not refugees,' he said. He added there could be thousands of fake refugees from Iran after Mr Latham asked him if there were more than six cases of immigration fraud. 'Of course. Maybe more. I can say maybe three to six thousand,' Mr Sarang said. Sydney Lindt cafe siege gunman Man Monis (pictured in 2011) came to Australia in 1996 On Wednesday next week, New South Wales coroner Michael Barnes is due to deliver his inquest findings into the December 2014 siege at the Lindt Cafe in central Sydney. Cafe manager Tori Johnson was shot dead while barrister Katrina Dawson died as police stormed the Sydney cafe at 2am, following a 16-hour standoff. Mr Sarang said Monis knew exactly what he was doing. 'He was intelligent. He was manipulator and he manipulated the immigration. He manipulated the Federal Police,' he said. 'You have to ask how a one-month economic visa turned into the citizenship of this country.' Monis sought political asylum in Australia in 1996 and was granted a visa in 2001, but Mr Sarang said the terrorist, who had requested an ISIS flag during the siege, had links to Iranian intelligence. Orlando police arrested Tremain Polk, 35 A Florida man is accused of fatally shooting the owner of a tow truck company during a dispute over $285 he owed for his impounded car. Orlando police arrested Tremain Polk, 35, a short time after the shooting Tuesday night at the Tow Truck Company. He is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Paul Gren, 53. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Polk became angry when employee Erica Hicks told him he owed $285. A police affidavit said Polk only had $135 on him. Hicks told investigators Polk tried to push his way into the office but stopped when she threatened to call police. The affidavit said surveillance cameras caught Polk jumping a chain-link fence outside the building and busting windows on three cars before getting into his vehicle and driving it toward a closed bay door. Paul Gren who was killed Investigators said Polk was trying to open the door when Gren confronted him. Hicks told investigators Gren had a gun in his hand but kept it by his side and didn't raise it. She said Polk started to walk away. 'She described how Polk took 'two steps' inside the door, turned around toward Gren, took a gun from his waistband, and fired three shots at Gren from point-blank range,' the arrest affidavit said. According to police, the shooting wasn't captured on camera but Hicks was on the phone with police dispatchers when the shots were fired. Police officers found Gren, who was taken to the hospital. He was declared dead a short time later. Polk left the scene but was arrested later Tuesday night. A dump truck overturned and spilled its load of stone on top of a car in New Jersey, and authorities say the driver and a passenger had to be dug out to be rescued. Police in Manchester Township said that 24-year-old Andrea Penna, of Whiting; and the car's passenger, 22-year-old Kaitlyn McCabe of Lakehurst, New Jersey, were trapped underneath stone and debris after the roof of Penna's car collapsed on top of them on Monday. The two women sustained non-life threatening injuries, as did the driver of the dump truck, who has been identified as Tayfun Obut, 41, of Browns Mills, New Jersey. 'Me and my neighbors grabbed a whole bunch of shovels and we came back and got to work trying to dig it out,' rescuer Ed Otreba told WABC-TV. 'I couldn't get the car door open so I started working on that first.' Police in Manchester Township said that 24-year-old Andrea Penna (right), of Whiting; and the car's passenger, 22-year-old Kaitlyn McCabe (left) of Lakehurst, New Jersey, were trapped underneath stone and debris after the roof of Penna's car collapsed on top of them on Monday A car is covered with gravel after a dump truck overturned in Manchester, New Jersey, on Monday, and spilled its load on the car The truck was headed south on Route 539 in Manchester Township on Monday afternoon when it police say it struck the Nissan as it was making a left turn and then overturned onto the car's roof, spilling the thousands of pounds of stones that it was hauling on top McCabe (right) was the first to be extricated from the vehicle, but her friend, Penna (left), was still stuck Police say the truck struck the Nissan as it was making a left turn and then overturned onto the car's roof, spilling its load on top. The truck was headed south on Route 539 in Manchester Township on Monday afternoon when it police say it struck the Nissan as it was making a left turn and then overturned onto the car's roof, spilling the thousands of pounds of stones that it was hauling on top. State police, state department of corrections employees and other motorists stopped to dig the car out. The crash is under investigation. Police said that 24-year-old Andrea Penna, of Whiting, New Jersey, and her friend, Kaitlyn McCabe, 22, of Lakehurst, New Jersey, were trapped underneath before they were extricated by police, EMTs, and local passersby Penna, the driver of the Nissan, was trapped underneath the debris longer than her friend, McCabe. '[Penna] couldn't feel her legs, she was in pain and our main priority was to get her out as quickly as we could,' said Manchester police officer Ian Bole (above) 'Me and my neighbors grabbed a whole bunch of shovels and we came back and got to work trying to dig it out,' rescuer Ed Otreba (above) told WABC-TV The two women trapped under the rocks were terrified. McCabe was the first to be extricated from the vehicle, but her friend, Penna, was still stuck. 'She was obviously very scared, she was frightened. She couldn't feel her legs, she was in pain and our main priority was to get her out as quickly as we could,' said Manchester police officer Ian Bole. After both women were finally pulled out of the car, they were taken to a local hospital and treated for injuries not considered serious. The women were rescued by passersby with the help of officials from Ocean County Sheriff's Office, both the Manchester and Whiting Volunteer Fire Departments, EMTs from Quality Medical Transport, and local paramedics , according to NJ Advance Media. The driver of the truck was also given medical care at the hospital. The highway where the accident took place was closed for hours during the rescue and cleanup. Controversial school funding cuts will be halted by Theresa May today in a 4billion manifesto pledge designed to reassure anxious parents. The Prime Minister will pledge that the intervention means no child will lose out from a shake-up which had threatened to leave thousands of schools worse off. Free school meals for four to seven-year-olds are to be axed to help pay for the move although those from poor families will still qualify. But every primary pupil in England will be offered the chance to go to a breakfast club at school which Tory sources say will provide similar educational gains. Free school meals for four to seven-year-olds are to be axed to help pay for the move although those from poor families will still qualify Mrs Mays move will help head off a Tory revolt over school funding which had threatened to continue after the election. Senior Tories hope it will also help neutralise what was becoming a toxic issue with voters and curb backbench opposition to plans for new grammar schools. Last night a Tory source said the plans would mean a real terms increase in funding for schools in every year of the next Parliament compared to current plans. A Conservative spokesman said: We have protected and increased school funding to the highest level on record but we accept there is more we can do. This extra money means no child will lose out. Plans to change the school funding formula were launched by ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured) Plans to change the school funding formula were launched by ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. They aimed to counter long-term complaints that pupils in the shires received thousands of pounds a year less in funding than those in urban areas. But the new formula has led to thousands of schools losing out and dozens of Tory MPs have warned Mrs May they would refuse to back the plans in the Commons. The decision to pour in extra funding means that, although some schools will still gain money from the shake-up, none will lose out. But ministers may face a backlash over scrapping universal free school meals for pupils in the first three years of school. The 600 million-a-year policy was introduced by the Coalition in 2014. Labour has pledged to extend the scheme to cover all primary pupils if it wins power. Last year a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that breakfast clubs, which cost roughly a tenth as much as providing school lunches, could generate roughly equal benefits in attainment. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is decidedly premature in claiming everyone's convinced his presidential campaign and Russia did not collude before the election. Investigations into contacts between Russians and people with the Trump campaign are still going on, so there's no exoneration to be found. Over the past week, Trump stretched a variety of facts on trade, taxes and economic theory. But his firing of FBI Director James Comey was far and away the source of the most tumult. Contradictions cascaded from the White House. Here are some statements by the president and his spokespeople on the FBI, Russia, economics and more: JUMPING TO CONCLUSION TRUMP, on whether people in his campaign and Russian officials were in any way in cahoots: "Clapper is convinced, other people are convinced ... Everybody's convinced. ... They're all saying, there's no collusion. There is no collusion." Fox interview broadcast Friday THE FACTS: That's untrue both generally and with respect to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence until Trump took office Jan. 20. Clapper has not said he's satisfied there was no wrongdoing. In a report published at the end of the Obama administration, Clapper said no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia had been established from a review of evidence available to him by that point. But his report focused on what was known by then about Russia's cyber actions and propaganda against Hillary Clinton, not about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Clapper expanded on that point Sunday, saying he did not know at the time that the FBI was digging deeply into "potential political collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians," and he was unaware of what the bureau might have found. "There was no evidence of any collusion included in that report," he told ABC's "This Week," meaning his report. "That's not to say there wasn't evidence." More broadly, it's obvious on its face that not everyone is convinced that Trump and his people are vindicated in the matter. Senate and House investigations continue, as does the FBI's, which Comey wanted to intensify before his dismissal last week. Acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe said the probe remains a high priority for the agency. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not convinced of anything in his panel's inquiry, except that "boy, oh, boy, there's an awful lot of smoke. I'm not saying there's fire at this point, but we're going to follow the facts wherever they lead." WHY FIRE COMEY? KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counselor, on the reason for firing Comey: "This has nothing to do with Russia." Tuesday on CNN SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, White House spokeswoman, on the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government: "We want this to come to its conclusion, we want it to come to its conclusion with integrity ... and we think that we've actually, by removing Director Comey, taken steps to make that happen." Thursday White House briefing THE FACTS: The initial White House explanation for the firing, that Comey had bungled the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's email practices, persuaded no one. Trump was delighted with Comey's disclosures about the Clinton investigation during the campaign and praised him. Sanders, though, acknowledged in general terms what was obvious that by firing Comey, the White House hoped to hasten the conclusion of an aggressive FBI investigation. WHO INITIATED THE DISMISSAL? TRUMP, in letter firing the FBI chief Tuesday: "I ... concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau." WHITE HOUSE statement Tuesday: "President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions." SEAN SPICER, White House spokesman, laying the impetus for the firing on Rosenstein and his memo building the case against Comey: "It was all him. No one from the White House. That was a DOJ decision." Tuesday SANDERS, Wednesday: "People in the Justice Department made a very strong recommendation, the president followed it and he made a quick and decisive action to fire James Comey." MSNBC interview TRUMP, Thursday: "Oh, I was going fire regardless of recommendation." NBC interview THE FACTS: The early attempts to deflect responsibility on to others were a diversion; Rosenstein had been asked by the White House to put the memo together. Trump's unvarnished assertion that he wanted Comey gone has the ring of truth, even without the whole story known. He appeared to consider himself his own best spokesman in a tweet Friday that raised the prospect of discontinuing the long White House tradition of daily press briefings. "As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!" Trump tweeted. "Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future 'press briefings' and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???" ...Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future "press briefings" and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy??? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017 TRUMP UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION? TRUMP: "First of all, when you're under investigation you're giving all sorts of documents and everything. I knew I wasn't under and I heard it was stated at the committee, at some committee level, that I wasn't." NBC interview THE FACTS: An absence of document requests can't be read as an indication that he isn't under investigation, as Trump suggests. Investigations begin with interviews and document searches that are steps removed from the subject of the probe. Direct contact with the subject wouldn't become known to that person until late in the process. TRUMP's letter to Comey: "I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation." In an NBC interview Thursday the president elaborated, saying Comey had told him this at a dinner and in two separate phone calls. "I said, if it's possible would you let me know, 'Am I under investigation?' He said, 'You are not under investigation'." THE FACTS: Comey hasn't responded publicly to Trump's claims. But even if he did make such assurances, those answers months or weeks ago would be ephemeral because the investigation into Russia's meddling in U.S. presidential election continues and hasn't reached conclusions. That's why investigators make it a practice not to circumscribe a probe in that fashion. It would also breach protocol for an FBI chief and president to discuss an investigation bearing on the president. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told senators Thursday it's not standard practice for the FBI to tell people they're excluded from an investigation. In congressional testimony March 20, Comey refused to say whether Trump himself was under investigation when asked directly. "I'm not gonna answer that," he told the House Intelligence Committee. "I'm not gonna answer about anybody, in this forum." He added that he had privately briefed the top Republican and Democrat on the committee "in great detail on the subjects of the investigation and what we're doing." Publicly, he said, he would not identify those being investigated "so we don't end up smearing people" who may end up not being prosecuted. But he described casting a wide net, "investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts." COLLEGE DAZE TRUMP: "The Electoral College is almost impossible for a Republican to win. Very hard." NBC interview THE FACTS: History disagrees. Over the past century, the party victory split is dead even: 13 for Democrats, 13 for Republicans. If you add the total electoral votes amassed by the candidates of each party over that time, Republicans actually come out ahead 7,159 to 6,607. TAX TALK TRUMP: "We're the highest-taxed nation in the world." interview with The Economist magazine THE FACTS: Trump has repeatedly made variations on this false claim. The overall U.S. tax burden is actually one of the lowest among the 32 developed and large emerging-market economies tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Taxes made up 26.4 percent of the total U.S. economy in 2015, according to the OECD. That's far below Denmark's tax burden of 46.6 percent, Britain's 32.5 percent or Germany's 36.9 percent. Just four OECD countries had a lower tax bite than the U.S.: South Korea, Ireland, Chile and Mexico. Trump qualified his claim later in the interview by saying the top marginal corporate tax rate, specifically, is higher than in similar industrialized countries. That's more or less true, although the higher rate is moderated by tax breaks not available in some of those other countries. TRADING PLACES TRUMP: "Right now the United States has ... about a $15 billion trade deficit with Canada." Economist interiew THE FACTS: His numbers are upside down. The United States actually ran an $8.1 billion trade surplus with Canada last year, according to the latest numbers available from the Census Bureau. A $24.6 billion U.S. surplus with Canada in the trade of services, including tourism and software, outweighed a $16.5 billion deficit in the trade of goods, including autos and oil. Trump, who regularly decries the loss of American manufacturing jobs, tends to emphasize trade in goods and ignore trade in services. His comment about Canada came as his administration seeks a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The U.S. last year ran a deficit of $750 billion in goods with the rest of the world but recorded a $249 billion surplus in services. ECON LINGO TRUMP: "You understand the expression 'prime the pump'? ... I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It's what you have to do. We have to prime the pump." Economist interview The phrase 'priming the pump' dates to the early 19th century. Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 11, 2017 THE FACTS: He didn't coin that phrase. It's a well-worn metaphor for generating faster growth, first made popular as an economic analogy more than 80 years ago during the Great Depression. The Merriam-Webster dictionary people quickly tweeted that the phrase "priming the pump" has been around since the early 1800s. Literally, it's about pouring water into a pump to allow it to create suction. The phrase was commonly used by mining publications during the 1920s, but it took on new significance after the economy cratered during the Depression. By 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had promoted the idea of flushing money into the economy to stimulate stronger growth with his New Deal policies. Such policies rankled Roosevelt's predecessor, Herbert Hoover. "One of the ideas in these spendings is to prime the economic pump," Hoover said in a 1935 post-presidential speech. "We might abandon this idea also, for it dries up the well of enterprise." WEEKENDS AWAY TRUMP tweets, concerning his May 5-7 weekend: "Rather than causing a big disruption in N.Y.C., I will be working out of my home in Bedminster, N.J. this weekend. Also saves country money!" ''The reason I am staying in Bedminster, N.J., a beautiful community, is that staying in NYC is much more expensive and disruptive. Meetings!" THE FACTS: True, less disruption in the New Jersey countryside than in the metropolis and almost certainly less cost to taxpayers. But his weekends away, whether at his Florida resort or in New Jersey, are much more expensive than weekends at the White House, where security is already in place. The White House doesn't make it easy for taxpayers to know anything about these costs. The administration is mum when asked for an accounting, and past attempts by government auditors to gauge the costs of presidential travel are sketchy, fragmentary or outdated. A law Trump signed provides nearly $120 million to reimburse law enforcement agencies for their costs of protecting his homes outside Washington and to house Secret Service agents in New York and Florida through September. Bedminster town officials estimate local costs of $12,000 a day for heightened security when Trump stays there. Palm Beach County, Florida, spends more than $60,000 a day when the president visits, mostly for law enforcement overtime. The New York City Police Department has said it spends up to $146,000 a day to protect first lady Melania Trump and son, Barron, living at Trump Tower until the school year ends. That cost at least doubles when the president is there. Those comparisons are inexact but they suggest a Manhattan weekend would be pricier to taxpayers. Local enforcement is only one segment of costs, though. It costs roughly $200,000 an hour to fly Air Force One, the president's armored limousine is flown separately to his destinations, and the Secret Service faces multiple other expenses associated with his travel. Trump has spent about half his weekends away since becoming president. ___ Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Paul Wiseman, Josh Boak, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Alabama Rep. Lynn Greer (above) forwarded a constituent email to dozens of legislators and lobbyists that described an experiment with caged monkeys A white Alabama legislator who sparked outrage when he sent an email that black lawmakers on Wednesday condemned as racist has apologized. Republican Rep. Lynn Greer, of Rogersville, forwarded a constituent email to dozens of legislators and lobbyists that described an experiment in which caged monkeys will eventually stop reaching for a dangling banana as they slowly accept the status quo because their predecessors were punished. The email was sent as black lawmakers used procedural tactics in the House and Senate to oppose proposed new legislative districts they said minimized black voters' influence. Greer apologized and said the email was meant to be a joke about the need to replace incumbents. Members of the Alabama House Black Caucus said in a press conference on Wednesday that the email circulated by Greer was a racial attack sent in the height of a redistricting fight However, black lawmakers said its intent was clearly racial. The bubbling tensions threatened to derail the final days of the legislative session. 'We have been subjected to the most racial insult that I've ever seen,' House Black Caucus Chairman John Knight said of Greer's email. 'There is no place in the statehouse. It is insulting and it is unacceptable.' Greer issued a statement apologizing for the email and met with the black lawmakers to apologize in person. He said he didn't see the email as racist. 'Bottom of my heart I didn't mean anything bad,' Greer told The Associated Press. Greer said he now understood, with the backdrop of the race-tinged redistricting fight, of how it was perceived. Greer issued a statement apologizing for the email and met with the black lawmakers to apologize in person. He said he didn't see the email as racist 'If I thought about all that. I guarantee you I wouldn't have done that.' Greer reportedly forwarded the email to at least one black lawmaker, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. When asked why he believed the email to be racist, another black lawmaker, Rep. John Rogers, said: 'I didn't fall off the truck yesterday. 'He didn't write it, but he spread it around,' Rogers said. 'Everybody knows what he meant when he said "monkey with a banana". 'As far as I'm concerned it's a pimp slap to my face. It was totally racist in intent.' Former Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan has died at the age of 77. Mr Morgan was first minister for almost a decade from 2000, before becoming chancellor of Swansea University in October 2011 after retiring from politics. The Labour politician was described as a 'towering figure' by former Welsh secretary Peter Hain. Rhodri Morgan was first minister for almost a decade before becoming chancellor of Swansea University in October 2011 He said: 'My deep condolences to [Mr Morgan's widow] Julie and the family on the shock news. 'As first minister Rhodri was both the father of devolution and the father of the nation. 'He did more than anyone to bed down and ensure the new Welsh Assembly gained widespread legitimacy. 'Equally at home both bantering on rugby in a pub or talking economic theory, he was a unique populist intellectual. 'I worked closely with him as secretary of state for Wales to agree the basis for the full law-making powers the Assembly now has. 'He was Welsh through and through and a repository of fascinating facts on everything under the sun. A towering figure in every sense whom we will all miss.' We have just heard the news that former First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan has passed away. Sincere condolences to Julie and the family. Leanne Wood (@LeanneWood) May 17, 2017 The current Welsh Secretary, Tory Alun Cairns, said Mr Morgan was a 'significant politician' and a 'great servant to Wales'. Current First Minister Carwyn Jones said: 'Wales has lost a father figure and a great politician tonight.' He added that his thoughts were with Mr Morgan's widow Julie. The Labour politician (pictured left and the party conference) was described as a 'towering figure' by former Welsh secretary Lord Hain (right) Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood added her condolences, tweeting: 'We have just heard the news that former First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan has passed away. Sincere condolences to Julie and the family.' Swansea University said in a statement: 'We are very saddened to hear of his death. Rhodri was a wonderful servant to the university as chancellor, as he was a wonderful servant to the whole of Wales. 'Our thoughts are with his family and his close friends.' Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, also paid tribute, to the former first minister. He said: 'Terrible news regarding Rhodri Morgan a giant of devolved politics in Wales. Thoughts with Julie and the family at this difficult time.' Mr Morgan spent more than three decades in politics. He was elected as MP for Cardiff West in 1987 and assumed office in the Assembly in 1999. Before entering politics he worked as a development officer for South Glamorgan County Council and then served as Head of the European Community's office for seven years. In 2000 became Welsh First Minster post following the resignation of Alun Michael. Coca-Cola has been quietly reducing the amount of sugar in some of its biggest drinks. The company's president and CEO, James Quincey, has revealed that some of the biggest brands, including Sprite, Fanta and Dr Pepper, have all had their sugar content reduced - without affecting sales. However, this comes on the heels of the soda giant's news last month that it will cut 1,200 corporate staff jobs this year after seeing drops in quarterly profit. Coca-Cola has made several sugar content reductions over the last four years, including a 30 percent cut for orange soda Fanta two weeks ago, reported The Times. There were similar reductions in Sprite and Dr Pepper in 2013 and 2014. Coca-Cola has been quietly reducing the amount of sugar in some its biggest drinks, such as Sprite, Fanta and Dr Pepper, but company executives say this has not affected sales The company has added sweeteners to try and maintain the same taste: Sprite has added stevia, a plant extract, while Fanta has gone with acesulfame, an artificial sweetener. Fanta now contains less than half the sugar of Coca-Cola, the company's eponymous and most popular brand, at 4.6 grams per 100 milliliters - the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar - compared to 10.8g. Quincey told Bloomberg Businessweek that the changes have not significantly hit sales. 'We took some of the calories out of Sprite and consumers like Sprite now as much as they did before,' he said. 'Then we took 30 percent of the calories out of Fanta to see what would happen. Again, sales seem to be continuing fine.' But researchers are telling a different story. Barry Popkin of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Lynn Silver from the Public Health Institute in California conducted a before and after study of the prices, sales of beverages and consumer spending on fizzy pop in Berkeley, California. They also worked out whether changes in prices of drinks reflect the tax amount in various stores. However, last month, the soda giant revealed that it would be cutting 1,200 corporate staff job as the company battles a slide in sales and quarterly profits Berkeley was the first US city to tax sugar-sweetened beverages, settling on a penny-per-ounce tax that went into effect in March 2015. Popkin and Silver found that one year after the introduction of the tax, sales of sugary drinks fell by 9.6 percent while their sales in surrounding areas rose 6.9 percent. KIDS ARE FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH SODA, REVEALS CDC American teenagers are increasingly shunning fizzy drinks, a CDC report revealed. Soda drinking among high school students in the US dropped by over one-third from 2007 to 2015. Meanwhile there has been a uptick in the number of American children drinking diet soda. Researchers say the new figures are encouraging as sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the largest contributors of added sugars to adolescents' diets. However, they noted that the overall prevalence of Americans drinking sugary drinks, at any age, remains high and more approaches need to be put into place for the downward trend to continue. The report, as part of the CDC's weekly Morbidity and Mortality report, took its data from the YRBS - a US survey that provides representative data on health behaviors among students in grades nine to 12. The survey asked the high schoolers how many times that had drunk 'a can, bottle, or glass of soda or pop, such as Coke, Pepsi, or Sprite' and not counting diet drinks. Researchers found that the number of students drinking soda daily had significantly fallen from 33.8 percent in 2007 to 20.4 percent in 2015. Advertisement Sales of water increased by 15.6 percent post-tax and sales for other non-taxed drinks such as unsweetened teas, milk and fruit juices also rose. Residents of two low-income areas reported drinking 21 percent less of all sugar-sweetened beverages and 26 percent less soda than they had the year before. Since then, several US cities have followed suit including San Francisco and Oakland, California; Boulder, Colorado; and Albany, New York - all of which passed sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in 2016. And a sugar tax is due to hit the UK next year. The new rules state that producers or importers of soft drinks will have to pay a 18 pence (23 cent) tax per liter on drinks containing five grams or more of sugar per 100ml. The tax increases to 24 pence (31 cents) per liter more if the products contain eight grams or more per 100ml. The Treasury expects the levy to raise 520million ($674million) a year. Quincey suggested the size of bottles and cans containing Coca-Cola products may be reduced to help cut sugar consumption. 'If people are going to drink everything that's in front of them, well, when they've got a smaller package, they'll have less. That's the sort of thing moms like for kids,' he said However, the soda giant revealed it would be cutting about 20 percent of its workforce - 1,200 jobs - as the company battles a drop in sales. The cost-cutting target is expected to save Coca-Cola $3.8billion by 2019. Global sales of Coke products fell by one percent for the first three months of 2017, and the company said said it expects full-year adjusted profits to drop by between one and three percent, Luna the labrador was fatally stabbed in front of her owner during their night time stroll on Wednesday night with police still searching for the suspect. The owner was taking her four-year-old labrador for a walk in a park in Mirrabooka,Perth, on Wednesday night at 6.00pm when a man wearing a tan coloured hoodie walked over to Luna and stabbed her, according to police. The 22-year-old owner approached the man and realised her Luna had collapsed and had been stabbed. Four-year-old labrador Luna was fatally stabbed at a park when it ran over to a stranger Police are investigating the death of a golden labrador after it was stabbed in a park The owner then rushed Luna to the vet, but unfortunately she died at the hospital. The man who stabbed Luna reportedly had a tanned coloured dog with him at the park. The man was described to police as 180cm tall, skinny and having a light coloured beard, he had a small tan dog, was wearing dark pants and a tan coloured zip-up hoodie. Police are continuing to investigate the incident and urging anyone with information to come forward. A jealous farmer has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years after tying up a woman who worked for him, raping her then slitting her throat. The woman had been packing for a trip to see her ex-boyfriend when John McDonald restrained her with belts and cable ties in January 2015, the Cairns Post reports. McDonald, 68, of El Arish, Queensland, raped the 32-year-old woman because he couldn't 'handle that she was leaving, Cairns Supreme Court heard. She had worked as a farmhand on his farm in Granadilla and lived in his home. A jealous farmer has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years after tying up a woman who worked for him, raping her then slitting her throat He left her tied up overnight and the following morning, he promised to take her to the airport but instead he drove her to his remote cannabis crop. There, he slit her throat and as she collapsed, he told her: 'I did it because you led me on, you made me think we would be in a relationship, you used me for money. 'When you die, no one will miss you, not even your family.' He cut her throat a second time and the woman asked for his phone to listen to music while she died but instead, she used it to call Triple-0. The woman had been packing for a trip to see her ex-boyfriend when John McDonald restrained her with belts and cable ties at his home (above) in January 2015 The following morning, he promised to take her to the airport but instead he drove her to his remote cannabis crop and slit her throat McDonald left her to die, but she survived. In a statement, she said that she had trusted McDonald and thought of him as a father figure. 'I am terrified he will come after me again.' McDonald was initially charged with attempted murder, but prosecutors agreed to drop the charge as part of a plea deal. H was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to rape, malicious act with intent and drug offences. The mystery black man who visited accused cocaine mule Cassandra Sainsbury in her Bogota hotel will not save her from a lengthy stint in jail, a source for the prosecution says. The source said the mystery man was irrelevant to Ms Sainsbury's legal case, despite her claim he tricked her into trafficking 5.8kg of cocaine. Ms Sainsbury, a 22-year-old from South Australia, was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport in Colombia on April 11. Scroll down for video The source said the mystery man was irrelevant to Ms Sainsbury's legal case, despite her claim he tricked her into trafficking 5.8kg of cocaine Colombian police have sourced the CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed for eight days before her arrest in search for the mystery man, but say he is irrelevant to her legal case 'If they catch you with drugs, you have to accept the punishment for these drugs,' a source for the prosecution told News.com.au. 'Where [the drugs] came from, at this moment, is of no interest to us. It doesn't have any relevance.' The source for the prosecution, who works for the Colombian Fiscalia, said the justice system was not postponing Ms Sainsbury's case to look for the mystery man. 'They can't leave someone waiting while they look for the person who supposedly tricked them,' he said. Ms Sainsbury is seen leaving her Bogota hotel where staff say a mystery man visited her Ms Sainsbury pictured with 18 bags containing 5.8kg of cocaine in total, which were found in her suitcase on April 11 Ms Sainsbury, 22-year-old from South Australia, has maintained her innocence since the day she was caught The Adelaide woman claimed she was set up by a man named 'Angelo' who promised her 18 sets of discounted headphones as gifts for her wedding party. She said the 18 packages wrapped in black plastic containing the cocaine were given to her the morning of her flight. She denied she knew the packages were full of drugs and has maintained her innocence since. Ms Sainsbury pictured together with her fiance Scott Broadbridge, who visited her in Colombia this week Ms Sainsbury pictured together with the suitcase which contained 5.8kg of cocaine The Fiscalia source said police secured CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury was visited by the mystery man in an effort to track him down because he was potentially breaking the law. But he said the police search was separate to their case against Ms Sainsbury. While he said the Fiscalia investigated the mystery man, he said its priority was to resolve Ms Sainsbury's case. CCTV footage obtained from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed for eight days before her arrest will not be released to the public until it is shown in court, for fear the man could go into hiding if he sees himself. CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed will be reviewed by police in search of the mystery man, but they say he is irrelevant to her legal case Ms Sainsbury pictured following her arrest on April 11 when she was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport on her way home to Australia, bypassing London Ms Sainsbury remains behind bars in notorious Colombian prison El Buen Pastor, where she was jailed following her arrest on April 11, just over a week after she arrived in South America on April 3. Ms Sainsbury will remain in prison while she awaits a court date. Her Colombian lawyer Orlando Herran has encouraged Ms Sainsbury to plead guilty because she will likely be given a shorter jail sentence. Ms Sainsbury faces 15-20 years in jail if she pleads innocent but is found guilty and faces five to 10 years if she pleads guilty. Ms Sainsbury together with her Australian fiance Scott Broadbridge who visited her in Colombia this week Cassandra Sainsbury's fiance Mr Broadbridge (pictured) arrived in Bogota on Thursday We all know the apocryphal story of the MP who pushes out his chest and tells a large crowd: These are my principles and if you dont like em . . . at which point, the crowd starts heckling. Speedily altering tack, the MP continues: . . . and if you dont like em, I can change em for other principles. Normally, this would be seen as a sceptical (if horribly true) observation about the elasticity of our politicians. Theyd sell their souls to get elected, huh? But in the case of Tim Farron, it is more serious than that. Selling his soul may be precisely what it feels like to the Liberal Democrats pink-faced young leader. This is his first general election in charge and, poor man, he is making a hash of it. Since scraping into Parliament in 2005, when he snatched rural Cumbrias Westmorland and Lonsdale from the Tories by 267 votes, Mr Farron had developed a reputation as a straight-talking Lancastrian Naive He has failed to establish impetus in the opinion polls. He has been abused in the streets, with questions about his patriotism. And he has gained little broadcasting airtime, at least on issues he wants to discuss. But none of those things matters as much as the fact that Mr Farron, a fervent churchgoer, has felt it necessary to recant on two big areas of conscience politics: gay rights and abortion. He used to be critical of both. Now, in the dirty way of modern politics, he has done a volte-face and changed his mind. Since scraping into Parliament in 2005, when he snatched rural Cumbrias Westmorland and Lonsdale from the Tories by 267 votes, Mr Farron had developed a reputation as a straight-talking Lancastrian who might not agree with you on everything, but would at least tell you what he thought. In 2008, he quit his partys frontbench because he had doubts about Nick Cleggs virulently pro-EU views. When the Lib Dems went into coalition government, Mr Farron retained his self-respect by remaining a backbencher. His Cumbrian constituents rather admired him for all that. At the 2015 election, he won his seat by a majority of 8,949. Some commentators dismissed him as laughably naive. They patronised him for being a provincial eeh-bah-gum who projected no more gravitas than a Boy Scout leader. But some of us warmed to him. I thought him a blessed relief from the metropolitan, opportunistic Clegg, and I liked the fact he was an out-and-proud churchgoer, Christianity being the real love that dare not speak its name in todays Left-wing politics. Good on him for being honest, I thought. Sadly, that honesty has not survived the soul-sapping pressures of a general election campaign. With the Lib Dems panicking at their stagnant opinion poll ratings, Mr Farron has just done the second of two startling flip-flops on what were thought to be strongly held personal beliefs. First, he was said, as a Bible fundamentalist, to regard gay sex as sinful but when he saw the damage this was doing him with younger and with gay voters, he caved in to pressure from party managers and decided it wasnt sinful at all. When the Lib Dems went into coalition government, Mr Farron retained his self-respect by remaining a backbencher Yesterday, he reversed away from his stated belief that abortion, as he once told the Salvation Army War Cry newspaper, was wrong at any time. Opponents of the Lib Dems were trying to make hay with that old story, so the Lib Dems threw their leaders beliefs under the battle bus and said he had changed his mind. Tim has made very clear today that he is pro-choice and that Lib Dem policy is about maintaining the law to give women the right to choose, Lib Dem spokesman Sir Ed Davey told Good Morning Britain viewers. Were we talking about policy on, say, tax rates or education, it might not matter. Politicians must be allowed to change their minds if they think the facts have changed. But these two issues gay sex and abortion were on the personal judgment side of political debate. Rather than find a way to defend his right to dissent from Left-wing orthodoxy, Farrons team simply blurted out that hed changed his views. One hesitates to compare little Farron to the great 17th-century Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, but there is a similarity. At the height of his powers, Galileo was investigated by the Roman Catholic Church for holding heretical views about the orbit of the planets around the sun. Bullied by the Churchs Inquisition, which insisted everything revolved round the Earth, Galileo recanted. He lived for another 30 years and came bitterly to regret not having stood up for his theories, which turned out to be correct after all. Is it not possible, in the treatment of the wretched Farron, to see echoes of Galileos forced recantation? Indeed, we could see this case as an example of the nastiness of the modern priesthood of liberals who are overbearingly intolerant. Mr Farrons problems began at the start of the election campaign when he appeared on Channel 4 News and was asked if he believed being gay to be a sin. He would not say. Blustering The interviewer barged all over Mr Farrons private religious beliefs and a blustering, sweaty Farron could hardly have handled it worse. He could have said: Mind your own business. But instead, he wriggled, and we all knew why: he was greedy for votes. The dishonesty was palpable. The same would seem to be the case with his response to abortion. You do not have to be a practising Christian to see both sides of the abortion argument. The right of women to choose is one side of that. On the other is the psychological and physical pain abortion causes, and the ever-improving ability of doctors to keep foetuses alive. To acknowledge both sides of this difficult matter would, surely, be the liberal position. Mr Farrons problems began at the start of the election campaign when he appeared on Channel 4 News and was asked if he believed being gay to be a sin Yet the Lib Dems have lost sight of the meaning of tolerance. They wag their fingers and insist on one view prevailing. Mr Farron has been taken prisoner by that hectoring tendency, and it is no surprise he has often looked so unhappy during this campaign. I feel sorry for him, yet I can no longer respect him. Tragedy One wonders what his constituents think. If local soundings are to be believed, he could lose his seat to the Tories. Cumbrians have little in common with the sexual-political obsessions of the sort of South London Lib Dems who are wrenching Mr Farron away from his roots. Similarly, what do Lib Dem voters in places such as the West Country, Wales and East Anglia think? These are areas where the Liberal Party had a presence before it merged with the Social Democrats in the Eighties to form the party today known as the Lib Dems. The intolerance was a virus imported with the SDP. Tim Farrons tragedy is two-fold. First, there is the political strategy decision he took, under pressure from metropolitan elements in his party, to push the Lib Dems as the main anti-Brexiteers the only party calling for a re-run of last years EU referendum. That suited ex-leader Nick Clegg, a Europhile zealot who may still dream of us rejoining the EU, so that he can become a Brussels Commissioner. It also suited vain old Vince Cable, who is desperate to be re-elected by the Remain-leaning voters of Twickenham. But surveys suggest it has limited the Lib Dems to a shrivelling pond of voters. Worst, it was not true to Farron himself. And here lies the second part of his tragedy. If, as looks likely, he has forsaken his beliefs recanted, to use the Galileo term for no purpose and the Lib Dems remain a pathetically small rump in the Commons, hell have sold his soul for nothing. His fellow churchgoers will forgive him. But will he ever forgive himself? The father of two young boys who were aboard a plane that went missing over the Bermuda Triangle on Monday shared his devastation as the Coast Guard continues its search for any survivors. James Ramsey's ex Jennifer Blumin was with their two sons, ages three and four, in a two-engine plane piloted by her new boyfriend Nathan Ulrich, when air traffic control lost radar and radio contact on Monday. The Coast Guard found debris floating in the water 15 miles off the coast of Eleuthera, Bahamas, from a twin-engine MU-2B - the same model aircraft that Blumin, her kids, and Ulrich were on when they vanished. Ramsey told the New York Daily News: 'I lost what I loved more than anything. 'I keep hoping its not real and I'll wake up. Wouldn't wish this pain on the worst person in the world.' Scroll down for video James Ramsey's two sons were with his ex Jennifer Blumin and her pilot boyfriend Nathan Ulrich when their aircraft went missing over the Bahamas (pictured together) Authorities have now covered more than 8,200 sq mi over 30 hrs in search of the missing plane, and continue their efforts on Wednesday. None of the passengers have been found An image posted on the Seventh District Coast Guard's Twitter page shows the debris from two plane seats along with an engine intake plug with a label warning 'remove before flight.' '#Update @USCG image of debris, confirmed components of an MU-2B aircraft recovered 15 miles E of Eleuthera, Bahamas; search continues,' they tweeted. But the Coast Guard said they were still trying to pin down 'something with specifics' to match the debris to the plane Ulrich was flying. No bodies have been recovered. Authorities have now covered more than 8,200 sq miles over 30 hrs in search of the missing plane, and continued their efforts on Wednesday. The Coast Guard has shared images of debris from a plane which disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on Monday, taking with it a New York mom, her two young sons, and the pilot '#Update @USCG image of debris, confirmed components of an MU-2B aircraft recovered 15 miles E of Eleuthera, Bahamas; search continues,' the Coast Guard tweeted The plane was 24,000 feet in the air en route from Borniquen, Puerto Rico to Titusville, Florida on Monday when air traffic control lost contact. Blumin, 40, who is the Founder and CEO of event venue development firm, Skylight Group, her sons Phineas, four, and three-year-old Theodore, and 52-year-old Ulrich never made it to their destination. The Coast Guard tweeted at 3.30pm on Tuesday that a helicopter crew located 'debris field approx. 15 mi E of Eleuthera, Bahamas'. According to the Coast Guard, the twin-engine MU-2B turboprop, manufactured by Mitsubishi, was 37 miles east of the island of Eleuthera on Monday when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with the plane around 2.10pm. Rescue teams are searching for survivors after a small plane disappeared near the Bahamas on Monday. Pilot Nathan Ulrich (right), of NH, and Jennifer Blumin (left) of NY, are still missing along with her three-year-old and four-year-old sons 'There's no indication of significant adverse weather at the time,' said Lt Cmdr Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman. Coast Guard aircraft, Customs and Border Patrol and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force are all a part of the search. A Coast Guard cutter arrived later Tuesday to assist with the search. Blumin has been featured in numerous media outlets that profiled the Skylight Group, which she founded in 2004. The group specializes in re-conceiving historical spaces and converting them for high-end event use. Skylight has a portfolio of venues that includes Skylight West, Skylight One Hanson in Brooklyn and Skylight at Moynihan Station. Skylight at Moynihan Station is located in the historic James A. Farley Post Office on West 33rd Street across from Penn Station. The airplane departed Borinquen, Puerto Rico, at approximately 11am Monday and never made it to its destination of Titusville, along the northeastern coast of Florida (as depicted by this map). Their plane was at about 24,000 feet when air traffic control lost contact Blumin founded the Skylight group in 2004. The group specializes in re-conceiving historical spaces and converting them for high-end event use. She has two children with Ramsey (pictured in 2011) The US Coast Guard of the Southeast tweeted at 3.30pm on Tuesday that crews located a debris field near Eleuthera, Bahamas, where the private plane went missing Skylight One Hanson was previously the Williamsburg Savings Bank Clocktower in Brooklyn and Skylight Modern on West 27th and 10th Avenue, is a 15,000-square-foot blank canvas created for Fashion Week in 2013. The group also has a partnership to run private events on the High Line. As of 2015, Blumin was living in Tribeca with her husband James Ramsey, a principal of the design studio Raad. The pair have two sons together, four-year-old Phineas and three-year-old Theodore. But the couples 19th-century Tribeca loft went on the market earlier this month for $3.7 million. Ulrich, who was piloting the plane, is the founder and owner of Xootr, a manufacturer of folding kick scooters and folding bicycles. He was also married to actress Rae Dawn Chong from 2011 to 2014. She tweeted about his plane vanishing shortly after 2pm. 'My ex-hubby's (Nathan Ulrich) plane is missing over the Bermuda Triangle. I am sad and in shock. So send prayers to his family. Thanks,' she tweeted. His parents also issued a statement that read: 'We were devastated and shocked to learn that Nathan, Jennifer and her children have been missing since leaving from Puerto Rico on Monday. 'Nathan is our beloved son, brother and uncle and we wish for resolution as the Coast Guard search continues. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Blumin family and James Ramsey in this difficult time.' Ulrich (pictured), who was piloting the plane, is the founder and owner of Xootr , a manufacturer of folding kick scooters and folding bicycles. He is also a mechanical engineer graduate of the University of Pennsylvania In February, Ulrich had to undergo recurrent training in order to pilot the MU-2 aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Federal Air Regulation (SFAR) on the aircraft in 2008. He posted this photo to his Facebook after landing the plane in February Ulrich was also married to The Color Purple actress Rae Dawn Chong (pictured), who tweeted about his plane vanishing shortly after 2pm 'My ex-hubby's (Nathan Ulrich) plane is missing over the Bermuda Triangle. I am sad and in shock. So send prayers to his family. Thanks,' Chong tweeted The SFAR mandates that pilots flying MU-2B planes (file), which started production in 1963, after 2008 would be required to receive type-specific initial training, as well as recurrent training. As of 29 March 2016, there have been three fatal accidents involving the MU-2B In February, Ulrich had to undergo recurrent training in order to pilot the MU-2 aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Federal Air Regulation (SFAR) on the aircraft in 2008. The SFAR mandates that pilots flying MU-2B planes, which started production in 1963, after 2008 would be required to receive type-specific initial training, as well as recurrent training. Recurrent training occurs when professional pilots practice emergency procedures as needed and as mandated. The agency also required that a fully functional autopilot be available for single-pilot operations, and that FAA-approved checklists and operating manuals be on board at all times. As of 29 March 2016, there have been three fatal accidents involving the MU-2. According to his Instagram page, Ulrich owns a Cirrus SR20, a piston-engine plane that seats between four and five people. He is also a mechanical engineer and alum of the University of Pennsylvania. MYSTERY OF THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE Last year it was reported that hexagonal clouds creating terrifying air bombs with winds of 170mph could be behind the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists have claimed the stormy blasts can flip ships into the ocean and bring planes crashing down into the sea. The winds created by the so-called air bombs are so powerful they generate 45ft high winds. At least 1,000 lives have been lost in the Triangle in the last 100 years. On average, four planes and 20 ships go missing every year. The 500,000km square patch in the North Atlantic Ocean has been blamed for the disappearance of at least 75 planes and hundreds of ships. The plane went off radar around the Bermuda Triangle (aerial view), also known as the Devil's Triangle Advertisement Last year, it was reported that hexagonal clouds creating air bombs with winds of 170mph could be behind the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists have claimed the stormy blasts can flip ships into the sea and bring planes crashing down into the sea. The 500,000km square patch in the North Atlantic Ocean has been blamed for the disappearance of at least 75 planes and hundreds of ships. At least 1,000 lives have been lost in the Triangle in the last 100 years. On average, four planes and 20 ships go missing every year. A Melbourne woman claims her dream holiday to the US took a nightmare turn when she was forced to undress in front of immigration officers then thrown behind bars. Molly Hill, 26, told Daily Mail Australia she was jetting to Hawaii for a holiday with her US boyfriend Ross Maidl when customs officers pulled her aside in Honolulu airport. She said the officers decided she was planning to overstay her visa after reading notes in her diary about her 'last day at work' and 'going away drinks.' After grilling her for six hours, they made her strip down then imprisoned her one night before her birthday. What followed left her feeling 'scared' and 'degraded.' Molly Hill, 26, says she was visiting her US boyfriend for a dream holiday before things took a horror turn The young Melbourne woman said she was jetting to Hawaii for a holiday with her US boyfriend Ross Maidl (pictured) when customs officers pulled her aside in Honolulu airport Speaking to Daily Mail Australia after touching down in Melbourne on Thursday, Ms Hill said she was still shaken. 'I still can't believe it, it all feels so surreal,' she said. She said the nightmare began when customs saw she planned to stay in the US for 88 days and began combing her luggage in a holding room. 'They were convinced I wanted to immigrate illegally. They searched my luggage, and saw my diary had notes like 'going away drinks' and 'last day at work'. This is normal before a long holiday,' she said. She said after that, she was given a 'full screening' - which entails being made to strip down, put her clothes in a box, then 'cough and squat' in front of them. In a statement, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied Ms Hill was stripped and said it acted with 'respect, integrity and professionalism'. But Ms Hill said she was 'treated like an inmate' and asked if her tattoos were gang related. Afterwards, she said customs told her there was no more flights to Australia: she was spending her first ever night in prison. 'I was handcuffed, given a prison uniform sent behind bars. That's when it became real. I was so scared.' Ms Hill said her experience of being detained in a US prison left her feeling 'scared' and 'degraded' She said she was grilled for six hours in a 'degrading' interrogation that involved making her undress to 'squat and cough' Ms Hill said she spent the night in a prison cell before she was handcuffed and deportedin in Honolulu airport She said her bunkmate was a drug mule. After a sleepless night, she was startled at dawn by a flashlight to the face. It was her birthday. 'They said "you're getting released".' I was supposed to be spending the day with my boyfriend, but I was still detained.' Ms Hill was cuffed again, escorted back to the airport then paraded in front of holiday-goers on the way back to the holding room. 'It was not very discreet. I could feel everyone judging me. I've never felt so humiliated.' She was then forced to buy a $620 ticket to Sydney despite living in Melbourne and already having a return ticket home. 'They didn't explain why I couldn't use the return. By that point I was so exhausted I just wanted to get home.' She said she is planning to speak with an immigration lawyer about the ordeal. 'Hill applied for admission as a visitor for pleasure (which means that she is only eligible to stay in the United States for a brief period of time) under the Visa Waiver Program,' a statement from CBP said. 'However, upon inspection, CBP officers found that Hill presented conflicting information and was determined to be inadmissible under the VWP. She was advised that she is no longer eligible for admission under the VWP and must obtain a valid, unexpired visa prior to subsequent entries to the U.S'. They said detaining foreign nationals was protocol when the traveller is found to be 'admissible' until the next flight is available, which in Ms Hill's case, was the following day. Theresa May will target rail bosses, phone firms, landlords and lawyers in the Tory manifesto. The Prime Minister will pledge to create a fairer rail ticketing system and a train Ombudsman to stand up for long-suffering passengers. She also plans to make the home-buying process easier and cheaper by cracking down on rip-off conveyancing and other legal fees. Mrs May has set out measures to help out renters by ending unfair leaseholds and increasing the security of good tenants. Theresa May will target rail bosses, phone firms, landlords and lawyers in the Tory manifesto Mobile phone firms will also be targeted, forcing them to make their billing fairer and make them offer customers cheaper deals when their phone contracts have been paid off, the Sun reported. Cold calling companies will be banned from urging people to make false personal injury claims, following cold-calling bans on pensions and charities. There will also be a crackdown on bogus whiplash claims in order to reduce insurance costs for ordinary drivers. Mrs May is said to be gearing her manifesto towards helping 'ordinary working families'. Mrs May dubs them people 'who want to get on with their lives' but 'have been ignored by politicians for too long', the Sun reported. 'Under my leadership, they will no longer be ignored,' she said. 'That's why I am determined to cut the cost of living for ordinary working families and to intervene when markets are not working as they should'. The Prime Minister will pledge to create a fairer rail ticketing system and create a train Ombudsman to stand up for long-suffering passengers Elsewhere in the manifesto, Mrs May will promise further curbs on migrants, forcing firms to pay 2,000 to hire them and the NHS to charge more to treat them. The Prime Minister will announce the measures in the upcoming Tory manifesto in a continued effort to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands. Mrs May will deliver an 'uncompromising' message and 'bear down on immigration from outside the EU' across all visa routes. Sources told the BBC that Mrs May is 'clear this means the end of freedom of movement' post-Brexit and will commit to reducing immigration from Europe. The measures will be set out in the Conservatives manifesto, which will be published on Wednesday. Free school meals for four to seven-year-olds are to be axed to help pay for the move although those from poor families will still qualify The document will argue that 'when immigration is too fast and too high, it is difficult to build a cohesive society' and that with annual net migration standing at 273,000, 'immigration to Britain is still too high'. The immigration skills charge levied on some firms employing migrant workers will double to 2,000 a year per employee by 2022 so 'we can invest more in workers in the UK'. Controversial school funding cuts will also be halted by Mrs May today in a 4billion manifesto pledge designed to reassure anxious parents. She will pledge that the intervention means no child will lose out from a shake-up which had threatened to leave thousands of schools worse off. Free school meals for four to seven-year-olds are to be axed to help pay for the move although those from poor families will still qualify. But every primary pupil in England will be offered the chance to go to a breakfast club at school which Tory sources say will provide similar educational gains. 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. Australia's largest Islamic school was used as a 'milking cow that never runs dry' for a powerful Muslim group behind halal certification, a court heard. The Malek Fahd Islamic School at Greenacre, in south-west Sydney, last year lost $19 million in annual federal funding, following revelations taxpayer money was leaking to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. This group, also known as AFIC, charges major food producers, including Kraft Vegemite, fees for halal certification. These fees, to certify the product contains no pork or alcohol products, are used to fund Islamic schools. The Federal Court was told there was a 'toxic combination of directors' on the boards of both the school and AFIC, The Australian reported. Scroll down for video The Malek Fahd Islamic School's directors were also on the board of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils The Malek Fahd Islamic School at Greenacre (pictured) is appealing a decision to strip it of $20 million in annual federal funding The school leases land from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, which also charges halal certification fees to the likes of Kraft Vegemite (pictured) The Greenacre school, which leases land from AFIC, has gone to the Federal Court to appeal a ruling by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal last year which upheld Education Minister Simon Birmingham's decision to withhold $19 million in annual taxpayer funding. The Muslim school has appealed to the Federal Court to have the minister's decision overturned. The legal counsel for the school, Ian Coleman SC, told the court some directors of the school had also been on the board of AFIC, The Australian said. He described it as 'a toxic combination of directors'. The school has three campuses, including Greenacre which was leased from AFIC and allegedly used to fund the Muslim umbrella group, the newspaper report said. The Malek Fahd Islamic School at Greenacre was paying inflated rent to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Education Minister Simon Birmingham last year stripped $19 million in federal funds from the Malek Fahd School in Sydney 'The Greenacre lease was treated by AFIC as a milking cow that never runs dry,' Mr Coleman said, adding the school would be put into liquidation if the federal funds did not flow again. The court also heard the Greenacre school had debts to AFIC. Last year, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal found the school's board, which has AFIC ties, was not spending its taxpayer funding on educating its 2400 students. It found AFIC had a 25-year arrangement with the Malek Fahd Islamic School to lease the property for its Greenacre campus from AFIC at the substantially inflated rate of $1.5 million a year. Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar was educated the Malek Fahd Islamic School Senator Birmingham's legal counsel Richard Lancaster SC argued to the Federal Court on Wednesday the school was bound to honour its financial contracts with AFIC. The Malek Fahd school's graduates include the leaders of Islamist extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, Uthman Badar and Hamzah Qureshi. Daily Mail Australia in March captured Mr Badar on camera telling a forum at Bankstown library that ex-Muslims deserved death. Prominent Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Adelaide-based Shia imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi have both called for Australia to shut down Islamic schools claiming they are radicalising students. The Malek Fahd school has three Sydney campuses in Greenacre, Hoxton Park and Beaumont Hills. Last year, before Donald Trump was officially named the Republican nominee for president, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy joked to GOP colleagues that the billionaire was likely on Russian President Vladimir Putin's payroll. 'There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,' McCarthy said in a leaked, June 15, 2016 conversation with House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican lawmakers. Audio of the conversation was obtained and verified by The Washington Post, and a transcript was published on Wednesday. McCarthy was referring to Dana Rohrabacher, a Californian Republican known in Congress as a defender of Putin. A few of McCarthy's colleagues laughed at his comment after which he added: 'Swear to God.' Last year House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, claimed in a private meeting with his GOP colleagues that Donald Trump was likely receiving payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin 'There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,' McCarthy said in the meeting on June 15, 2016, just a month before Trump won the Republican nomination. A few of McCarthy's colleagues laughed at his comment after which he added: 'Swear to God' Ryan told the lawmakers to keep the conversation private. 'No leaks...This is how we know we're a real family here,' Ryan said, according to the Post. 'What's said in the family stays in the family,' he added. The conversation happened the day after the Post reported that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. The exchange shows that Republicans in the House were worried about Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and Trump's relationship to Putin, but kept their concerns secret. Ryan's spokesperson, Brendan Buck, denied the exchange ever took place, then told the Post it was merely an 'attempt at humor' once he learned the newspaper had it on tape. 'No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians,' Buck said on second thought. Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, also called the remarks 'a failed attempt at humor' after claiming in a statement that it didn't happen. House Speaker Paul Ryan was also among GOP leaders in the conversation. He immediately told the lawmakers to keep the conversation private. Ryan's spokesperson, Brendan Buck, told the Post that the exchange was merely an 'attempt at humor' Not long after the Post's report surfaced, McCarthy took a jab at the newspaper in a tweet (pictured) Not long after the Post's report surfaced, McCarthy took a jab at the newspaper in a tweet. 'This was an attempt at humor gone wrong. No surprise @WashingtonPost tried to contort this into breaking news,' McCarthy tweeted. Evan McMullin, who was the policy director to the House Republican Conference at the time, confirmed the conversation that he had previously referenced in broad strokes in a New York Times op-ed. He told the Post that it's true McCarthy said 'he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll'. 'Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking,' McMullin, an independent candidate for president last year, added. The Post did not say how it came across the audio that McMullin mentioned in a Feb. 17 opinion piece that appeared in the Times. 'Suspect public comments like these led one senior Republican leader to dolefully inform his peers that he thought Mr. Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll, suggesting that Mr. Trump had been compromised by Russian intelligence,' McMullin said. 'Other leaders were surprised by their colleague's frank assessment, but did not dispute it.' A source with knowledge of the situation told DailyMail.com that McMullin may not have been present during the exchange, however. The person said he most likely heard about it after the fact. The exchange never came up when he was challenging Trump in the the general election, for instance. The 2016 exchange was revealed during a week when Trump's White House was battered by disclosures about his contacts with the Russians and his firing of former FBI Director James Comey. The Justice Department bowed to pressure on Wednesday and named a special counsel to lead an investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who served the customary decade in the job and was reappointed by President Barack Obama, will lead the probe. A defiant Trump responded by saying: 'As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity.' The Justice Department said Mueller would have 'all appropriate resources' to carry out the probe. The White House has spent weeks batting back efforts to install an independent outsider to lead the Russia probe, saying there are already sufficient probes. But Democrats in Congress have been pushing for an independent investigation that would be free from interference from Trump administration officials, as well as a special congressional commission that might probe deeper into charges that Russia tried to sway the election through hacking and other means. The 2016 exchange was revealed during a week when Trump's White House was battered by the firing of former FBI Director James Comey (right). The Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller (left) as special counsel to lead investigation into Russia On Wednesday night, Trump said he hoped the investigation would be speedy after saying 'there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity' On Wednesday night, Trump said he hoped the investigation would be speedy. Putin also said on Wednesday that Trump had not passed any secrets onto Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he could prove it. Unnamed sources told the Post last week that Trump had passed on highly restricted 'code word' information during his Oval Office meeting with Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US. And Trump took to Twitter to defend himself against the onslaught of criticism on Tuesday. 'As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism,' Trump said in two tweets. Trump's tweets seemingly confirm what the Post first reported early Monday evening. But speaking at a news conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Putin quipped that Lavrov had not passed what he said were the non-existent secrets onto him either. The Russian strongman complained about what he said were signs of 'political schizophrenia' in the United States. Backing up Trump, Putin said the US president wasn't being allowed to do his job properly. 'It's hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next,' Putin complained. Then he mocked the uproar that has thrown the White House into a tailspin. 'I spoke to him (Lavrov) today,' said Putin, smiling. 'I'll be forced to issue him with a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's intelligence services. It was very bad of him.' It isn't at all clear that the Russians would be able to produce a document that would disprove the Post's bombshell report that Trump passed on 'highly classified' information to Lavrov. Meghan Markle has arrived in the UK ahead of joining boyfriend Prince Harry at Pippa Middletons wedding this weekend. The actress, 35, and the Prince will officially attend the event in Berkshire as a couple after Ms Markles invitation was recently confirmed. They will join the brides sister the Duchess of Cambridge and Harrys brother Prince William among the guests at the lavish event. Meghan Markle, left, has arrived in the UK ahead of accompanying Prince Harry, right, to Pippa Middleton's wedding this weekend Although speculation has been building as to the dress Pippa, pictured, will wear, there has also been plenty of buzz around Meghan's outfit According to E! News, Ms Markle arrived at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday and was immediately taken to Kensington Palace. Although anticipation is building over the dress Pippa will wear for her wedding to James Matthews, there is just as much buzz around the outfit the American will don. But so far her plans have been kept under wraps, although it is understood she will wear a hat. Meanwhile the Church of England has confirmed Ms Markle and Prince Harry could wed at Westminster Abbey if they were to get married. But the Prince would still require The Queens permission and it is believed the Archbishop of Canterbury would need to provide a special licence for any potential nuptials. Well-placed sources say the relationship is extremely serious, and that Meghans invitation to Pippas wedding is the ultimate endorsement, meaning she could be a potential princess. Ms Markle was said to have been rushed from Heathrow Airport to Kensington Palace, pictured, after landing on Tuesday Meghan and Harry will attend the ceremony at St Mark's Church in Berkshire, pictured, as an official couple Speculation has mounted recently as to whether Harry will propose to Ms Markle and the pair were seen passionately embracing at a polo match earlier this month. The pair made their first public appearance as a couple at the event at Ascot in Berkshire. The Los Angeles-born star has been dating Prince Harry for around 10 months and the pair have taken turns to jet out to see each other in the UK, US and Canada. Ms Markle spends much of her time in Toronto where she films US drama Suits, in which she plays paralegal Rachel Zane. A Texas home with '666' and 'GET OUT' written on the kitchen cabinets has a new owner. The house, located in Longview, sold to the highest bidder at auction on Monday despite the eerie messages. Although the 1941 home has fallen into such disrepair, realtors say it has great potential to once again be beautiful - if the city decides not to condemn it. A Longview, Texas, home with '666' and 'GET OUT' written on the kitchen cabinets (pictured) 'to scare away break-ins' sold to the highest bidder at auction on Monday The three-bedroom, two-bath home was built in 1941 but has since fallen into disrepair Auction company H5 Auction and Realty, which sold the house, described it as the 'Ultimate Fixer Upper' and the top bidder was a buyer who has never seen the property in person The three-bedroom, two-bath home was described by H5 Auction and Realty as the 'Ultimate Fixer Upper', which is clear from the peeling wallpaper, rusted appliances and the creepy '666' and 'GET OUT' messages written on the kitchen cabinets. Listing agent, Amy Tabor, sold the home to a buyer over the phone who has never seen the property in person, just the online listing. 'We had a lot of interest in the home,' she told DailyMail.com. 'We had six registered bidders and we got all kinds of comments about the stuff on the walls. 'And people were like "Why didn't they erase that from the walls? Salesmanship 101." 'And one of our employees was like, "Do you see the response we're getting?! Salesmanship 102".' H5 Auction and Realty's Facebook post about the listing has 215 shares and 324 comments, which is an 88 percent higher interaction rate than the page's other posts. Listing agent Amy Tabor told DailyMail.com that when they posted the home's ad on Facebook, commenters were surprised the creepy messages weren't erased from the walls but 'we left it on there 'cause it's a great marketing. But when we first went inside it really creeped me out, so it likely worked on break-ins' The starting bid for the house was $2,500, but Tabor says she can't reveal the final sale price because the home is currently in contract Tabor says despite all the work that needs to be done, the home has potential. 'You can tell it was a beautiful home in the '40s and '50s but it sat there and became more and more distressed,' she said Tabor explained that the owner had written the messages to scare intruders from breaking in. 'We left it on there 'cause it's a great marketing,' she told Chron.com. 'But when we first went inside it really creeped me out, so it likely worked on break-ins.' The starting bid for the house was $2,500, but Tabor says she can't reveal the final sale price because the home is currently in contract. Despite the amount of work to be done, she says there are many unique qualities to the house such as the vintage 1950s kitchen oven from Thermador - the company that sold the first electric cooktop, bringing the restaurant experience to the home. But most of all, Tabor says it has great potential to become what it used to be. 'You can tell it was a beautiful home in the '40s and '50s, but it sat there and became more and more distressed,' she said. 'And we hope it won't be condemned like the city wants because it's in that bad of a condition. 'But it's great that someone doesn't want to tear it down and actually revive this old, historical home.' Animal rights campaigners have released footage which they claim shows a distressed female giant panda clawing walls to find its wailing cub after they were separated at a zoo. The clips were taken at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC, USA, earlier this year. Campaigners say they show Mei Xiang clawing against a wall in a desperate bid to be reunited with her cub, Bei Bei, which can be heard 'crying'. Footage shows the panda scratching at her pen National Smithsonian's Zoo in Washington DC, USA. Campaigners have said she was searching for her young cub Earlier footage shows the pair playing contently together at the zoo. People have said the footage is 'heartbreaking' Earlier footage shows mother and cub contentedly playing together at the zoo, which attracted more than 28 million visitors in 2015. Critics have described the footage as 'heartbreaking' and have set up a petition to reunite the pair. The zoo insisted Bei Bei was ready to be separated from his mother and said it would have been 'detrimental' to keep them together. Bei Bei was separated from his mother in March, aged 18 months, and placed in his own enclosure. Zoo visitors recently posted clips which seem to show Mei Xiang standing on her two back legs and clawing at a wall in the zoo while wailing. Other footage shows Mei Xiang pacing her enclosure in an apparent bid to find her cub. Bei Bei was separated from his mother in March, aged 18 months, and placed in his own enclosure Bei Bei is the star attraction at the zoo and was an internet sensation even before his birth in August 2015 as people around the world watched his pregnant mother online Hundreds of viewers have left comments after watching the videos. Nan Uhlik said: 'So heartbreaking to witness this. Humans have no right to do this to any living animals. 'Poor panda mom. She has to go through this because the zoo made the decision. 'Panda's rights as a living soul, as a mother and child, are ruthlessly trampled. What a sad world we live in. I cry for them. Helen Patel wrote: 'Cruel and disgusting. Zoo [is] wrong for [doing] this. ' And another viewer said: 'Why they can't be together for a while? They are not ready for this yet. It is heartbreaking.' The separation and video clips prompted one visitor to set up a petition urging Smithsonian Zoo to reunite the pair. It has attracted nearly 3,000 signatures and has received support from Sarah Bexell, director of conservation education at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. A petition to reunite the pair has nearly 3,000 signatures and has received support from Sarah Bexell, director of conservation education at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Nan Uhlik said: 'So heartbreaking to witness this. Humans have no right to do this to any living animals' On the Reunite Bei Bei and his mother Mei Xiang campaign page, she wrote: 'I have worked for giant pandas for nearly two decades. Smithsonian may not have a choice in this, but it is something that we must take a stand on. 'There is no need for more captive pandas and this is a gross waste of resources and extreme suffering on the part of all captive giant panda mothers and cubs. 'The U.S. MUST set the best example of humane care of all species, this demonstrates blatant disregard for the natural history and sentience of one of the most public and beloved species on Earth. 'With giant pandas we have the largest reach to teach the public how to care properly for animals in our care. 'Allow Mei Xiang and Bei Bei to separate at the right time for them.' The petition was also signed by Dr. Kati Loeffler, a vet and the former Director of Animal Health, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. A spokeswoman for Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute said: 'Over several decades, we've developed best husbandry practices for giant pandas by working with our Chinese colleagues. 'We start to wean panda cubs once they are no longer dependent on their mother for nutritional needs. 'Bei Bei was ready for the process and has acted as expected. 'Giant pandas live as solitary animals in nature. Since the bears weaned, we have zero concerns about his health and it would be extremely detrimental to house them together.' Bei Bei is the star attraction at the zoo and was an internet sensation even before his birth in August 2015. This was due to the documentation of Mei Xiang's pregnancy online, which led to people all around the world tuning in. The daughter of a controversial Venezuelan politician studying in Australia is facing calls for have her visa revoked, because she's living a luxurious life overseas while people in her home country starve. Lucia Rodriguez, the daughter of Jorge Rodriguez - a former vice-president and high ranking member of Hugo Chavez's government - moved to Sydney in early 2016. While studying film at the SAE Creative Media Institute, in Sydney, she has made the most of living overseas by immersing herself in a lavish Australian lifestyle. But the time spent surfing, tanning by the beach and cuddling Kangaroos, promoted by Ms Rodriguez on her Instagram page, has not been popular in her home country. An online petition has been launched calling for Ms Rodriguez to be sent home from her study trip, while protesters also confronted her at Bondi Beach last week about her father, The Australian reports. Scroll down for video Lucia Rodriguez (pictured), daughter of controversial Venezuelan politician Jorge Rodriguez, is facing a campaign to have her kicked out of Australia where she is currently studying media Ms Rodriguez has drawn the ire of those back in her home country, by posting photos of her surfing, tanning on the beach and even cuddling kangaroos to her Instagram account As anti-government protests rage in Caracas, the nation's capital and city where Mr Rodriguez is mayor, his daughter's behaviour has drawn the ire of Venezuelans. Video shared to social media of the incident shows Ms Rodriguez being accosted by a number of Venezuelan protesters as she walks along the world famous foreshore. Standing in front of her, the protesters yell in Spanish for about 30 seconds before a bodyguard ushers her to safety. Footage of the confrontation posted to Facebook accused Ms Rodriguez of 'living the high life' and described her father 'scum'. 'Venezuelans have had to emigrate to all parts of the world in search of a better future, future stolen by scum like Jorge Rodriguez,' the caption translates. 'This f***ing Lucia Rodriguez goes to the beach with a surfboard in Australia [and is] living the high life. '[They don't care] what is happening to the people.' A Change.org petition addressed to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and calling for Ms Rodriguez's visa to be revoked has been signed almost 28,000 times. Protesters last week confronted Ms Rodriguez about her father James Rodriguez (pictured) at Bondi Beach. The former vice-president of Venezuela and key member of Hugo Chavez's government, Mr Rodriguez is currently the mayor of downtown Caracas A online petition calling for Ms Rodriguez - who is currently studying film at the SAE Creative Media Institute in Sydney - to be sent home has received close to 28,000 signatures The petition accuses Ms Rodriguez of living in Australia and enjoying a life of luxury (right) The online petition about Ms Rodriguez was addressed to federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton Riots (pictured) have been widespread throughout Caracas since early 2016, leading to the deaths of dozens of anti-government protestors Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Immigration for comment. Violent riots have been widespread throughout Caracas since early 2016, leading to the deaths of dozens of anti-government protestors. Thousands dressed in white marched in the west of Venezuela's capital in late April following the deaths of 20, in an act likened to 'crossing the Berlin Wall'. Angry civilians have been protesting against an attempt to change the constitution by the Supreme Court and called for instant elections to be held. The opposition urged civilians to flood the streets and block off the roads in order to grind the country to a halt, leading to the initially peaceful protests. An offshore oil and gas well leaked around 10,500 litres into the ocean off the Australian coast for two months last year but the regulator did not disclose the spill until now, and details about it still remain a secret. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority's annual offshore performance report, released this week, included a brief mention of the spill. It revealed the leak had been identified by a remotely-operated vehicle during routine maintenance in April 2016 and was caused by a seal degradation. Nopsema's report noted the incident was 'a dangerous occurrence' and a 'reportable incident in relation to a well' but did not reveal where exactly it occurred or the company responsible for it. An offshore oil and gas well leaked around 10,500 litres into the ocean off the Australian coast for two months last year. Stock photo The leak went on for up to 60 days and spilled oil at a rate of up to 175 litres a day, a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. But Nopsema declined to reveal exactly where the spill occurred or the company involved, only that it occurred in the North West Shelf off the coast of Western Australia. A spokesman elaborated that a wellhead had been disconnected from a Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility to move out of the path of an approaching cyclone. 'The facility did not return for a period of two months as it underwent maintenance, and just prior to the facility's return, routine remote operated vehicle inspection work was conducted on the wellhead,' he said. 'This is when the leak from the subsurface safety valve control module on the well head was detected and reported. 'In response, the remotely operated vehicle closed the hydraulic control line isolation to the subsurface safety valve, which prevented further loss of containment.' The leak went on for up to 60 days and spilled oil at a rate of up to 175 litres a day. File photo Nopsema investigated the matter, which resulted in the company changing their safety procedures. The spokesman said the leak compromised oil, water and control line fluid and tests conducted since confirmed no further leaks. The spokesman said that because companies are required by law to report leaks and no enforcement action was taken by the regulator, they have an 'implied duty of confidence' to not reveal details about the incident. Nathaniel Pelle, a Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner, said the report was deeply concerning. 'Australians, and especially those who rely on the ocean for their livelihood, should be deeply concerned by reports that the national oil regulator has withheld information from the public about a 10,500 litre oil leak for over 12 months,' he told the Guardian. 'There's absolutely no justification for continuing to keep the company involved or the location of the oil spill a secret.' Nopsema's report said there were no fatalities or serious injuries reported to them last year and that accidents and injuries were down from the previous year. However, it found that spills went up by 28 per cent from 18 in 2015 to 23 last year despite activity in the oil industry going down by 40 per cent. The body of the pilot of an ultra-light plane that crashed over bushland on Tuesday has been found with the aircraft wreckage bringing an end to a tragic search. A searcher on horseback located the wreckage and pilot Ian Sinnott at 9am on Thursday morning at a private property on Boormans Road, 25km west of Murwillumbah in northeastern NSW. NSW police believe the 72-year-old pilot died at the scene and an operation is underway to retrieve Sinnott's body, according to police. The pilot's body and the wreckage of the plane has been found 25km west of Murwillumbah The pilot was found dead and was believed to have died at the scene Ian Sinnott, 72, disappeared after taking off from Murwillumbah in this plane at 10am on Tuesday Sinnott and the plane went missing shortly after taking off from Murwillumbah Airport on Tuesday. Emergency services were alerted shortly after 10.45am on Tuesday when a member of the public spotted the aircraft in trouble near Limpinwood. Witnesses have recalled seeing a wing break off the plane before the whole aircraft 'fell out of the sky.' Roy Sneesby has voiced his shock when his friend disappeared, revealing he is an experienced pilot, reports Gold Coast Bulletin. 'He's an accomplished pilot (he would have been flying) for at least 30 years.' Mr Sneesby said he had only recently bought the bright green plane, which could have been camouflaged in bushland. Emergency services were alerted when a member of the public spotted the aircraft in trouble 'If it went down in the bush it would be hard to see. He bought this aeroplane because it would do aerobatics.' One man took to social media to declare he saw the plane plunging from above. 'Did anyone see a plane fall out of the sky about 1 hour ago around Limpinwood?,' the man posted on Facebook. A local farmer told investigators he saw a wing falling off the plane that matched the description, 9News reported. The plane did not reach its destination and a large land and air search was launched in bushland between Tyalgum and Chilligham. The ground search was called off about 6pm on Tuesday but helicopters using night vision continued to scour the area late into the evening until fog set in. A search helicopter took off at 6am on Wednesday with another on its way to join the search, an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokesman said. Assemblyman Rob Bonta, a Democrat from the San Francisco Bay Area, announced he was shelving the bill A bill that would have let communists legally work in California government was withdrawn Wednesday after the sponsor said he learned it caused veterans and Vietnamese-Americans 'distress and hurt.' Assemblyman Rob Bonta, a Democrat from the San Francisco Bay Area, announced he was shelving the bill and apologized to veterans and people who fled the communist regime in Vietnam. His bill, AB22, would have repealed part of state law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate the U.S. government was rampant. The Cold War-era law made belonging to the Communist Party a fireable offense for public employees. Bonta said such provisions have since been ruled unconstitutional. Under his bill, employees could still have been fired for belonging to organizations they know advocate overthrowing the government by force or violence. The Assembly narrowly approved the bill last week. Some Assembly Republicans spoke forcefully against the measure before voting against it. California State Assembly. The Cold War-era law made belonging to the Communist Party a fireable offense for public employees Republican Assemblyman Randy Voepel, who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are 'still a threat.' 'This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians,' said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican a coastal district in Southern California. 'Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against.' Assemblyman Ash Kalra, one of Bonta's fellow Democrats, praised his colleague for shelving the bill, saying it caused pain for many of his constituents. A Federal Police raid on a property development firm in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburbs turned violent on Wednesday when it descended into an all-out brawl. Federal Police officers were forced to arrest high-profile businessman Michael Teplitsky, 48, when he allegedly attacked a photographer during the dramatic raid on his property development firm, Rommark. Teplitsky's socialite friend Olivia Korner also involved herself in the brawl when she pulled the hair of a nearby reporter, Fairfax reports. The raid was part of a wider investigation into a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving Adam Cranston, 30, and ensnaring his father, the Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston. Michael Teplitsky is arrested after allegedly attacking a photographer for taking his photo during raids on Rommark in Sydney's Double Bay on Wednesday Fairfax reports the investigation was in relation to someone who was allegedly associated with Mr Teplisky's firm. Mr Teplitsky reportedly threatened a photographer before crash tackling him, saying: 'If that photographer doesn't stop taking my photo in one second I'm going to lose it' and 'I don't care if [the police] are here, I will do it', Fairfax reports. Six federal police officers were forced to subdue Mr Teplitsky before his arrest. The police said no charges were officially laid against Mr Teplitsky, despite the fact he was arrested at the scene. Mr Teplitsky's socialite friend Olivia Korner, who reportedly pulled the hair of a journalist, also screamed at Federal Police officers outside the office in Double Bay, as frightened shoppers watched on. She reportedly screamed 'He's not resisting' and 'Get off him'. Another man also threatened media during the dramatic operation, reportedly taking the mobile phone from a reporter's hand and saying: 'You don't want to mess with us'. Mr Teplitsky reportedly threatened a photographer before crash tackling him during Wednesday's federal police raid Six federal police officers were forced to subdue Mr Teplitsky before his arrest The prestigious property development firm, Rommark, is behind projects including Ocean breeze at Bondi, Genoa at Bondi Junction and the ongoing development of St Margaret's at Surry Hills. The raid was part of an alleged $165 million tax fraud syndicate but there is no suggestion Mr Teplitsky or his company Rommark were involved instead someone who was allegedly associated with the firm, Fairfax reports. Officers searched the Double Bay office on Wednesday, scouring private documents late into the night. Michael Cranston's 30-year-old son Adam Cranston (pictured) is arrested by police on Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston (pictured) will be charged over a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving his son and daughter, AFP said on Thursday The Federal Police said the investigation at Rommark was not directly linked to the wider-scale tax syndicate investigation. Police confirmed a number of search warrants were conducted across Sydney as part of the wider investigation. Nine people have been arrested as part of the eight-month investigation into tax fraud. AFP seized two aircraft (pictured) and 25 luxury cars after an eight-month long investigation Mr Cranston's 30-year-old son Adam and eight other people have been arrested over a $165 million tax fraud investigation (pictured, $1 million in seized cash) Page Content In view of future negotiations of the EU budget, the European Committee of the Regions join forces with territorial associations and call all relevant actors at EU, national, regional and local level to build an Alliance for a strong and ambitious cohesion policy after 2020. New emerging priorities such as defence, security and border control, and the impact of Brexit on the EU budget risk jeopardising the future of the most powerful investment policy for the 27, worth 454bn until 2020. This is why at the CoR, today, the idea of a new open alliance was launched. The aim of the Alliance is to cast light on the added value and effectiveness of cohesion policy over the last decade, ensuring that decisions on the next EU budget take into account the voice of hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries from regional and local authorities, SMEs, NGOs, schools, universities, cultural organisations, etc. Following the recent adoption of its opinion on "The Future of Cohesion Policy beyond 2020" and in view of the forthcoming 7th Cohesion Forum at the end of June, the Committee opened, together with leading territorial associations, a realistic debate which aims to directly address some of the criticisms raised against cohesion policy, while intensifying collaboration among all supporters. " Cohesion policy is not a charity, is an obligation. EU citizens in our regions and cities need it to be stronger, easier and more effective. This why, after adopting our opinion we work on a wide Alliance for a strong Cohesion Policy post 2020 ", said CoR rapporteur Michael Schneider, State Secretary of Saxony-Anhalt and President of the CoR's EPP Group, adding that: " This is no PR stunt but a wide mobilisation open to cities, regions, territorial associations, central governments, EU institutions, universities, SMEs and civil society". Investments through cohesion policy have helped to make our cities more liveable and inclusive " said Daniel Termont, mayor of Ghent and president of EUROCITIES, stressing that: " It is a strong expression of European solidarity and has great potential to show the benefits of Europe to our citizens. For a stronger policy in the future, we need to see cities directly involved in strategic investment decisions related to the structural funds. This is vital to ensure that funding matches local needs, to strengthen local ownership and make the implementation of funding more efficient. On behalf of theCouncil of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Carola Gunnarsson, Mayor of Sala, and spokesperson on cohesion policy, pointed out that: " Cohesion policy is an instrument that demonstrates to the people that the EU cares about them and that all levels of government can team up to tackle current challenges. Giving up cohesion policy would mean the EU would deprive the European project of much of its substance. Through this alliance, mayors and regional leaders want to keep a strong cohesion policy that is able to respond to our citizens needs. The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) was represented by Erik Bergkvist, President of the Regional Executive Committee of Vasterbotten (SE), who said: Europes territories face different challenges, including geographic, environmental and social constraints, and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all European solution. This is why a Cohesion policy with a stronger territorial dimension is needed to achieve EU objectives of economic, social and territorial cohesion and to stimulate growth. We need a Cohesion policy based on a better recognition of Europes territorial diversity, greater flexibility for certain geographical regions, a place-based approach, and synergies between different levels of governance. Only then can Cohesion policy release the potential of all European regions. " "There is a growing movement of engagement needed in favour of cohesion policy coming from nearly every member states", said CoR President, Markku Markkula, inviting relevant stakeholders to join forces: " As the tough future EU budget negotiations commence, our Committee is ready to bring these voices to be heard in Brussels. This is why we want an alliance in favour of cohesion open to all those who believe in EU fundamental values like solidarity and partnership. " For more information: CoR studies on the future of Cohesion Policy Evaluations of the 2007-2013 programming period EU Cohesion policy open data portal President Markkula statement on the 25 April General Affairs Council on Cohesion European Parliament REGI Committee resolution on Cohesion Policy post 2020 EUROCITIES statement on the future cohesion policy A new Policy paper will be published ahead of the 7th Cohesion Forum. Council of European Municipalities and Regions position papers on cohesion policy Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) Position on the Principles for Cohesion Policy post 2020 . A Policy Paper on the Future of Cohesion Policy will be formally adopted at the Political Bureau in Stavanger in June 2017. Contact: Pierluigi Boda Tel: +32 2 282 2461 Mobile: +32 473 85 17 43 pierluigi.boda@cor.europa.eu http://prod-portal.cor.europa.eu/PublishingImages/3275-infographic-cohesion-policy-EN-BAT-200.png The deputy commissioner caught up in a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving his son and daughter has worked at the Australian Taxation Office for 35 years and is on a six-figure income. Michael Cranston, 58, owns a five-bedroom home with a pool in south Sydney, which backs onto forest. The father-of-three was issued with a court attendance notice for allegedly publicly abusing his position as a senior official of the Commonwealth, the AFP said on Thursday. The AFP said he is expected to be officially charged when he faces court in June. His son Adam, 30, daughter, 24, and seven other people have been arrested over a $165 million tax fraud investigation. Mr Cranston works as the High Wealth Individuals Deputy Commissioner at the ATO, a position he has been in for three years. ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston (pictured ) has been caught up in a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving his son and daughter Mr Cranston owns a five-bedroom home with a lagoon style pool. The Menai, south Sydney, property backs onto forest The lagoon is pictured when it was last listed for sale more than a decade ago He is believed to be on a salary of between $216,796 and $248,966. Including benefits, he is understood to reap up to $319,915. The benefits are understood to include a car, parking at work, an airline lounge membership, and an iPad or iPhone for work use. On his LinkedIn page, Mr Cranston writes one of his responsibilities is 'increasing compliance and willing participation in our tax and super system'. His 'key achievements' include: 'Ensuring willing participation of private business and high wealth individuals involving over 156,000 businesses that turnover more than $2 million, over 128,000 wealthy Australians, net assets greater than $5 million and nearly 5,000 high wealth individuals with net assets over $30 million.' 'In addition, I also have a focus on addressing tax crime through the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce and managing the threat aggressive tax planning poses to our community.' He speaks at international and domestic task forces and at government organisations to reduce the incidence of tax crime, according to the LinkedIn page. Adam Cranston appeared in court on Thursday. His wife Elizabeth (left), mother Robyn (right), and brother Josh (centre) are pictured supporting him at Sydney Central Local Court Adam's grandmother (pictured left) put up $100,000 of the $300,000 surety 'My personal philosophy is that the tax system belongs to all Australians and we all need to work closely together to ensure that it is administered fairly, efficiently and causes the least pain for all that participate,' Mr Cranston wrote on his LinkedIn page 'My personal philosophy is that the tax system belongs to all Australians and we all need to work closely together to ensure that it is administered fairly, efficiently and causes the least pain for all that participate,' the page says. Mr Cranston also co-chairs the Private Groups Stewardship Group, one of nine stewardship groups that make up the ATO's consultation framework. He has been at the ATO for 35 years, according to LinkedIn. He and his wife Robyn Cranston live in Menai, south Sydney. Their five-bedroom home boasts a lagoon style pool and backs onto forest. The couple bought the property in 2006 for $550,000. The home is now expected to be worth between $850,000 and $1 million, according to property data. Adam Cranston (left) with wife Elizabeth (right) on their wedding day with custom Ford GT that was seized by police during a raid of his Bondi home on Wednesday. There is no suggestion Elizabeth had any knowledge of or involvement in the alleged syndicate Adam's wife Elizabeth and mother Robyn are pictured on Thursday Adam's wife Elizabeth and mother Robyn leave Sydney Central Local Court on Thursday Mrs Cranston previously worked as an Employment Consultant at NOVA Employment and at the Department of Human Services at Centrelink for 16 years. Mr Cranston has not been officially been charged, but is due to face Sydney Central court next month. His son Adam, 30, faced Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday morning charged with conspiracy to defraud the commonwealth. Adam is Co Chairman & Managing Director of Synep Limited, which invests in companies with enterprise values between $20 million and $200 million, according to his LinkedIn page. Adam Cranston's brother Josh is pictured leaving court on Thursday He has been granted strict bail after his wife and family posted $300,000 surety for his release. His grandmother put up $100,000 of the surety. Central Local Court heard on Thursday the man is facing up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of the fraud offences he is facing. Adam's wife Elizabeth, mum Robyn, brother Josh and his grandmother were in court when the matter was mentioned. He will be released later on Thursday once his passport is surrendered to police. His 24-year-old daughter is due to face a Sydney court on June 13. She is also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud. The dramatic arrests were made following an eight-month investigation, code-named Operation Elbrus, with ongoing assistance from the tax office. 'The scale of this alleged fraud is unprecedented for the AFP,' said Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Operations Leanne Close on Thursday. Adam's grandmother (centre) and two other women are pictured leaving court on Thursday Adam Cranston (pictured) is arrested by police on Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth It is a significant fraud investigation, financial fraud criminal investigation, that the AFP has led since 2016. Assets seized in the past two days by the AFP include 25 motor vehicles - luxury, vintage and racing vehicles - 18 residential properties, 12 motorbikes, in excess of 100 bank accounts and share trading accounts, two aircraft, firearms, jewellery, artwork, vintage wines and at least $1 million located in a safety deposit box. Acting Commissioner of Taxation Andrew Mills told reporters in Sydney on Thursday Michael Cranston had 'up until this point... held an illustrious career'. 'We do take it extraordinarily seriously and... it is of concern that a long-standing officer has been alleged to have been involved in this,' Mr Mills said. The ATO was conducting an internal investigation into four officials into whether or not they looked at the material they were unauthorised to do so. Mrs Cranston, previously employed at NOVA Employment and Centrelink, is pictured Adam's custom Ford GT was seized during a police raid on his Bondi home on Wednesday 'If you are an officer within the ATO, you have access to those matters only to which you actually are required for the purposes of your job. If you seek to obtain information which is outside that scope, you actually are in breach of the code of conduct,' he said. Ms Close said it appears Mr Cranston's son has asked him to access some information. 'We don't believe that at this point that he had any knowledge of the actual conspiracy and the defrauding,' she said. Adam was arrested at Bondi while his sister was arrested in Picton during 27 raids on homes and businesses across Sydney on Wednesday. Adam's Bondi apartment was one of 27 residences raided by police on Wednesday, that led to eight other arrests. A further six search warrants will be executed on Thursday, said the AFP. The ATO is conducting an internal investigation into four officials into whether or not they looked at the material they were unauthorised to do so. Michael Flynn reportedly told Donald Trump and his transition team he was under investigation weeks before the president moved into the White House. The New York Times reports Flynn himself told the Trump camp: 'he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign'. The Times claims two people familiar with the Flynn case told the former national security adviser he was being investigated. The 58-year-old reportedly then informed Trump's chief lawyer, Donald McGahn, on January 4. Flynn, according to the newspaper, had another conversation with lawyers on the transition team two days later. Michael Flynn reportedly told Donald Trump and his transition team he was under investigation weeks before the president moved into the White House. Flynn is pictured during a press briefing in the White House on February 1 Those reported conversations, if true, would prove Trump and his team knew about the investigation into Flynn well before it has been reported up until now. The news comes after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified before Congress last week she had told McGahn Flynn 'likely could be blackmailed by the Russians.' Yates had warned the White House Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence on discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador, and Pence subsequently made public statements repeating those untruths. Flynn was fired just 24 days into his job, but he time with the White House has had a lingering impact. The New York Times reports Flynn himself told the Trump camp: 'he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign' James Comey was fired on May 9. Prior to that, it has been reported Donald Trump asked him to end the investigation into Flynn After he was sacked, Trump reportedly tried to get former FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into the ex-general. Comey did not. He was controversially fired by the president on May 9. It was also reported by CNN this month President Barack Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn during a face-to-face meeting in November. The Times reports the White House would not comment on whether it was aware of Flynns legal status prior to January's inauguration. The newspaper goes on to state it has seen one of the subpoenas that is part of a grand jury inquiry in Northern Virginia into Flynn's lobbying. It reportedly demands access to 'records, research, contracts, bank records, communications' linked to Flynn's work with his lobbying group - which he set up in 2014. Flynn reportedly told Don McGahn (pictured in Trump Tower on November 15) he was under federal investigation on January 4 Donald Trump and Mike Flynn are seen on stage together in Colorado on October 18, 2016 Specifically, according to the Times, the investigation is based on work Flynn did for Inovo BV, a Dutch company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. Alptekin is known to have close ties to Turkish President Recep Erdogan. The newspaper claims Flynn's company signed a $600,000 deal with Inovo in August last year to 'run an influence campaign aimed at discrediting Fethullah Gulen'. Gulen was accused by Erdogan of trying to orchestrate a coup in Turkey. The Times reports Flynn failed to report he had been hired by Alptekin - as he is required to do by US law, and only did so retroactively in March this year. In November, Flynn wrote a piece blasting Gulen - calling him 'a shady Islamic mullah'. The op-ed also called on American politicians to recognize Turkey as 'vital to US interests', and he attacked President Obama for keeping the country at 'arm's length'. A Kentucky woman has been accused of stealing $26,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies, according to the organization's officials. Leah Ann Vick, 26, the troop leader for the Wilderness Road Chapter in Kentucky, signed off on more than 6,000 boxes of cookies - going so far as to fabricate the number of scouts she was responsible for, CNN reported. But the funds never made it back to the organization, and Vick was indicted with felony theft before she was arrested on Monday. Scroll down for video Leah Ann Vick, 26, has been accused of stealing $26,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies The troop leader for the Wilderness Road Chapter in Kentucky signed off on more than 6,000 boxes of cookies by fabricate the number of scouts she was responsible for (file photo) Vick, who was in charge of ordering the cookies, signed off on the large order. In at least one instance on February 1, the 26-year-old picked up a stash of cookies and failed to pass them off to her troops. She also lied about the number of girls in her troop, and claimed she led a second group in Ashland, according to Haleigh McGraw, marketing director of Kentucky's Wilderness Road Council. 'Because of that she was able to acquire more than $26,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies,' McGraw told WYMT. The Girl Scouts organization fronts the money, which the scouts later pay back once they've sold off the boxes. McGraw said Vick apologized when they started contacting her and promised she would return the money. Officials have not seen the money since they started trying to recoup the funds in February. But the funds never made it back to the organization, and Vick was indicted with felony theft before she was arrested on Monday (file photo) Courtesy of WDRB Authorities tried to find Vick for several days before she was arrested on Monday. A grand jury in Pike County indicted her with felony theft by unlawful taking, which could land her in prison for a maximum of 10 years if she is convicted. Vick is currently being held in the Pike County Detention Center. Her arraignment is scheduled on May 26. Footage from a New Zealand convenience store shows a violent armed robbery where four masked men, one armed with a large knife, beat a shopkeeper all for the sake of a few cigarettes. At about 7.30pm on Tuesday, the men barged into the store in Mangere, and one man immediately shoved a shopkeeper into an icecream freezer before hitting him over the head. A second man then threatened the victim with a large knife which he held up to his throat as the others stole cigarettes. Scroll down for video. Four men stormed a New Zealand convenience store on Tuesday night and were captured on CCTV beating up a shopkeeper At one point, a masked men was pictured threatening the male shopkeeper with a large knife At one point the knife-wielding man is seen slashing bars of chocolate which are sitting on the counter. The male shopkeeper suffered facial and head injuries as well as bruising to his body, and what appear to be specks of blood are visible on the floor after he is beaten by the thieves. He is now recovering at home and is said to be 'very shaken by what has happened'. Police have labelled the group's actions as 'absolutely disgusting' and are appealing to their friends and family to dob them in. 'These offenders need to be held accountable. They are a danger to the public and this level of violence is totally unacceptable,' said Detective Senior Sergeant Albie Alexander. The men are believed to have only stolen cigarettes from the store, with one man jumping behind the counter to take them The men (some pictured) are believed to have escaped the scene on foot and police are still looking to identify them 'Police have a real focus on catching these offenders and holding them to account. 'We hope this sends a clear message to those people who think these types of cowardly crimes are acceptable that they will be held to account and placed before the courts. 'I would also remind them that this an offence which carries a sentence of up to 14 years imprisonment.' Since February, police say they have made 68 arrests in regards to violent robberies in Auckland which have occurred in the same time period. On Wednesday, police reviewed CCTV footage and examined the crime scene, but enquiries are still ongoing and the men have not yet been found. Police urge anyone with information to contact the Counties Manukau Major Crime Team on 09 261 1300, or call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Five men have smashed their way into a jewellery shop with crowbars and stolen as much as they could carry while the terrified owner cowered in a back room. The masked thugs shattered the locked glass door of Jafari Jewellery in on Bourke Road in Malvern East just before noon on Thursday. They broke open cabinets to steal the valuable pieces before fleeing in a silver BMW. Five men smashed their way into a jewellery shop with crowbars and stole as much as they could carry while the terrified owner cowered in a back room The masked thugs shattered the locked glass door of Jafari Jewellery in on Bourke Road in Malvern East just before noon on Thursday Owner Mohammed Jafari said he ran to the back of the store when the muscled robbers stormed in and while shaken he was not injured. 'They just smashed the glass and came inside smashing everything with steel bars,' he said on a call to 3AW radio. Mr Jafari said he'd owned the store for three years and was never robbed before. He said police would use CCTV and the car's licence plate to track them down. Owner Mohammed Jafari said he ran to the back of the store when the muscled robbers stormed in and while shaken he was not injured It is the latest in a string of similar violent smash-and-grab Melbourne jewellery store robberies, and the second in two days. On Tuesday a shop in Mulgrave was raided by masked robbers wielding axes and hammers who broke a front window to get inside. A staff member bravely confronted the four men and was threatened with an axe during the brazen daylight robbery in a bust shopping centre. The verdict is out on accused cocaine smuggler Cassie Sainsbury. And this Melbourne watering hole has cashed in on the debate by inviting punters to play jurors in a tip-jar trial. The manager of Exford Hotel told Daily Mail Australia the publics ruling was a one-sided affair. Melbourne's Exford Hotel has asked patrons to vote for whether they think Cassie Sainsbury is guilty Ms Sainsbury was last month nabbed with 5.8kg of cocaine hidden in the packaging of 15 headphone boxes at Colombia's El Dorado International Airport My night staff tell me its around 90/10, Exford Hotel manager Pablo Parker told Daily Mail Australia. And our hotel caters to a broad section of the community. The move has been met with some amusing responses on social media, where commenters backed the pubs revellers. Chuck a set of head phones in the Drug Mule glass, wrote one commenter. Ms Sainsbury was last month nabbed with 5.8kg of cocaine hidden in the packaging of 15 headphone boxes at Colombia's El Dorado International Airport. Since then, she has been languishing behind bars in the notoriously overcrowded El Buen Pastor prison in Bogota. The manager of Exford Hotel told Daily Mail Australia it was a one sided affair when it came to the publics opinion Ms Sainsbury has been languishing behind bars in the notoriously overcrowded El Buen Pastor prison in Bogota Police have arrested a man known as the 'Coast to Coast Bandit' who robbed a string of banks in Los Angeles and New York. Jon Waulters, 50, from Brooklyn, was arrested in New York on Wednesday afternoon. When he targeted the banks, police said he presented the teller with a note demanding money and warned that he was armed. Police have arrested Jon Waulters, 50, from Brooklyn, known as the 'Coast to Coast bandit' The 50-year-old has targeted a number of banks in Los Angeles and New York since March 9 Prior to his arrest on Wednesday, Waulters robbed a bank in Manhattan after leaving another nearby bank empty-handed. The teller at the Capital One Bank at 1295 Second Avenue gave around $1,200 in cash, sources told New York Daily News. Waulters then ran south on Second Avenue, police said. He was taken into custody a short time later. Police have charged him with seven counts of robbery. Earlier on, police said Waulters had targeted the HSBC Bank at 1165 Third Avenue but the teller had refused to hand over any cash. When he targeted the banks, police said he presented the teller with a note demanding money and warned that he was armed On Monday Waulters had allegedly tried to rob an Apple Bank on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. Police said he told the teller, 'This is a robbery,' then passed over a hand written note demanding money. However the teller refused to hand over any money even when he told her he had a gun, police said. He then went to a nearby Chase Bank, where he handed a teller a note that read, 'THIS IS A ROBBERY, NO JOKE, GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY,' police said. He took off with cash and was later spotted at the Queens Center Mall, according to the NYPD. Last Thursday police said he robbed a Chase Bank at Lexington Avenue and 72nd Street in Manhattan, armed with a black gun. The FBI said Waulters is also wanted in connection with a robbery at a bank on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in April and two robberies in Manhattan in March. In those crimes, witnesses said the 50-year-old had a sunburn and was wearing a New York Yankees cap. But in the more recent robberies, he appeared to have switched allegiance as he was spotted in a New York Mets cap. Right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones says he has settled a lawsuit filed by Greek yogurt giant Chobani. The host apologized on Wednesday, reversing course from previous claims that he would never back down in the defamation case. Jones read a brief statement at the end of his radio show saying he had retracted previous stories and tweets about Chobani, according to the Los Angeles Times. 'During the week of April 10, 2017, certain statements were made on the Infowars, Twitter feed and YouTube channel regarding Chobani, LLC that I now understand to be wrong. Right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (pictured) says he has settled a lawsuit filed by Chobani. The host apologized on Wednesday during his show saying he regrets that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho The company filed the lawsuit seeking damages in excess $10,000 in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yogurt plant in the world. But Chobani didn't issue a comment on the settlement and would only say the matter has been resolved 'The Tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be re-posted,' Jones said. The company filed the lawsuit seeking damages in excess $10,000 in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yogurt plant in the world. Chobani didn't issue a comment on the settlement. The company had initially argued in its lawsuit that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories in April that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children. 'On behalf of Infowars, I regret that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho, the way we did,' Jones added. Chobani's complaint in April said InfoWars released a video on April 11 falsely claiming that the company was 'importing migrant rapists,' with the goal of causing customers to boycott its products. '[Jones] is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut,' Chobani's attorneys wrote, according to Bloomberg News. 'Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community.' Chobani had argued in its lawsuit that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories in April that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya (pictured) and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children Chobani's complaint in April said InfoWars released a video on April 11 falsely claiming that the company was 'importing migrant rapists,' with the goal of causing customers to boycott its products During the video, an Info Wars reporter, David Knight, republished statements that claimed the Chobani plant brought 'crime and tuberculosis' to Twin Falls, something originally published on Breitbart.com, since it opened the plant five years ago. It also pointed out previous reports of the company's supposed willingness to hire refugees in Twin Falls, which has a refugee resettlement center, according to the outlet. The video was called 'Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists'. Despite the incendiary headline, the accusation never appeared in the video or was backed up by any facts, says Chobani lawyers. Jones (pictured) read a brief statement at the end of his radio show saying he had retracted previous stories and tweets about Chobani The video mentioned Ulukaya's supposed support of refugees in Twin Falls, and then linked that to a story about three Twin Falls refugee boys who admitted to charges involved in the assault of a five-year-old girl at an apartment complex. Jones has been in the news for his contentious child custody battle with his ex-wife, Kelly Jones, over their three children, ages nine to 14. A little over two weeks ago, Jones ex-wife won the right to determine who his three children would live with. A white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year was found not guilty Wednesday of first-degree manslaughter prompting angry protests soon after the verdict. Jurors deliberated for just over nine hours before finding Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty in the September 16 shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Shelby, 42, said she fired her weapon out of fear because she said he didn't obey her commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Crutcher was unarmed. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted. They noted Crutcher had his hands in their air and wasn't combative - part of which was confirmed by police video taken from a dashboard camera and helicopter that showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby, hands held above his head. Scroll down for video Oklahoma cop Betty Shelby, who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year, was found not guilty Wednesday of first-degree manslaughter. She is seen above in court Wednesday Prosecutors say the 42-year-old officer 'reacted unreasonably' and was 'emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted' when she shot Crutcher on a Tulsa road in September Shelby (left, in uniform) told the court that she had been recalling the lessons taught during her police training when she shot the Terence Crutcher (right) Angry protests began soon after the verdict Protestors gather in front of the Mayo Hotel after a not guilty verdict for Shelby Shelby's attorneys argued in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground. Shelby also said she feared Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic known as Angel Dust that makes users erratic, unpredictable and combative. She also told prosecutors that police training videos showed her that if suspects are allowed to reach back into their vehicle, they 'can pull out guns and kill you'. ' I'm told in my training that you don't let them pull their arm back out,' Shelby added, referring to the open window of a vehicle. Shelby, who had never fired her weapon on duty before shooting Crutcher dead, said she does not regret what she did. An autopsy showed PCP was in Crutcher's system, and police said they found a vial of it in his SUV. Crutcher's family said police attempted to 'demonize' Crutcher over the drug possession to deflect attention from the fact officers didn't find a gun inside his SUV. The killing of 40-year-old Crutcher was among a spate of officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Shelby six days after the shooting. An affidavit accused her of 'becoming emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted.' Defense attorney Shannon McMurray argued that prosecutors rushed to charge Shelby for political reasons, fearing civil unrest like the angry street protests that erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott four days after Crutcher was killed. In the aftermath of the verdict demonstrators blocked a main road in downtown Tulsa for a short period of time. The road was eventually cleared and the protesters voluntarily moved to a nearby street corner. A group of protesters block Denver Avenue near the Tulsa County Courthouse A protester chases down a car after the driver yelled something Protester Angie Pitts talks during the protest late on Wednesday night The family of Terence Crutcher leaves the courtroom after the jury returned a verdict in the trial of Tulsa police office Tiffany Crutcher, center, the twin sister of Terence Crutcher, talks with the media as she leaves the courtroom on Wednesday Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, right, leaves the courthouse with attorney Scott Wood in her manslaughter trial in the shooting of Terence Crutcher As Roman Heinze sexually assaulted two tourists in a violent attack at Salt Creek last year, three off-duty police officers ignored the drama and continued fishing nearby. Heinze was sentenced to 17 years jail on Wednesday in relation to the attack on two backpackers - from Germany and Brazil - in remote South Australia in February 2016. After meeting the women on Gumtree and organising to take the pair to Melbourne, he drove to a beach in Coorong National Park where he sexually assaulted them. In sentencing the 61-year-old, Justice Trish Kelly praised decent Australian men' who helped the women after they escaped, but slammed three off-duty officers for their efforts. Scroll down for video As Roman Heinze (pictured) sexually assaulted two tourists in a violent attack at Salt Creek last year, three off-duty police officers ignored the drama and continued fishing nearby Heinze attacked two female backpackers - from Germany and Brazil - at a remote beach in the Corrong National Park, in South Australia (above) Justice Trish Kelly (pictured) slammed the off-duty officers 'Fortunately, there were some decent Australian men about the place that day,' Justice Kelly told the courtroom. 'I'm not referring to the three off-duty police officers whose only apparent role in the drama unfolding on the beach around them that afternoon was apparently to drag a couple of eskies across the entrance to the beach and to carry on fishing. 'No, I'm not referring to them.' Justice Kelly said the 'fine young men' from Melbourne and a local roadhouse owner played a role in rescuing the women after they were attacked by the sex predator. She also told Heinze that his conduct had effects on the wider community. 'Men who commit crimes of the type you did...and I say men because if I ever hear of a woman carrying on like that I'll start to be gender inclusive. In sentencing Heinze to 17 years' jail, Justice Trish Kelly praised the 'decent Australian men' who helped the backpackers, but criticised the off-duty officers (not pictured) for their efforts Heinze met his victims, a Brazilian and a German, through the Gumtree website, where they had sought a ride to Melbourne. But instead he took them to the now infamous Salt Creek 'Men who commit the kind of crimes you committed go a long way to destroying the community's sense of security and safety,' she said. TIMELINE OF ATTACKS 2014: Heinze indecently assaults a backpacker at a property in Adelaide's south after he agreed to give the woman a ride interstate February 2016: Heinze attacks two backpackers on a remote beach in Coorong National Park while camping He tied up a Brazilian woman with rope and sexually assaulted her before hitting a German woman in the head with a hammer several times and repeatedly ramming her with his 4WD Both managed to escape and Heinze was found in his bloodstained car further down the beach March 2017: A jury finds Heinze guilty of six charges, including indecent assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangering life, and causing serious harm May 5, 2017: Heinze was found not guilty of rape and false imprisonment against a former girlfriend May 11, 2017: A suppression order on Heinze's identity is lifted, naming him as the Salt Creek attacker Advertisement 'In committing these crimes you've undermined yet again the reputation of this country as a safe, attractive and friendly destination for young backpackers from all over the world. 'And you've undermined for the whole community the ability to freely enjoy a beautiful wilderness area.' Heinze was also jailed for an indecent assault in 2014 against another backpacker, who he had similarly offered a ride interstate, and for breaching a bond in relation to a 2014 assault against a fourth women. Justice Kelly said the nature of how Heinze met his victims called for a warning to young people who used the internet for travel or other social interaction. 'Safety does not necessarily come in numbers,' she said. Both of the young backpackers managed to escape and Heinze was arrested in his vehicle on the beach. Police found a box of Viagra, condoms and a bottle of Passion Pop inside. Prosecutors said his iPhone had two pornographic videos on it. He saved still images from the videos, which he accessed on February 7, 2016 the day he answered the Brazilian woman's Gumtree ad. He also confessed to assaulting another woman, also a backpacker, in Hackham in September 2014. Heinze tied up a Brazilian woman with rope and sexually assaulted her before hitting a German woman in the head with a hammer several times at the crime scene (pictured, above) Prosecutors said Heinze's iPhone had two pornographic videos on it and he accessed them on the day of the Salt Creek attack Between that incident and the Salt Creek attack, he contacted 13 other backpackers on Gumtree and also accumulated depraved pornography on his computer and phone. One of the women, who was from Japan, agreed to go to Salt Creek with Heinze. But he cut the visit short because she revealed she had shared photos of him and his vehicle online. Prosecutor Jim Pearce said Heinze became 'obsessed' with that woman afterwards. Between August 2015 and January last year, he looked for information online about 'how to hurt a woman' during sex and if Japanese women 'like being raped,' the Adelaide Advertiser reports. He also searched online using terms including 'rape', 'fetish' and 'brutal.' Page Content THE FUTURE OF COHESION POLICY "What we need is an alliance for a strong Cohesion Policy after 2020," Michael Schneider (DE/EPP), State secretary of the Land of Saxony Anhalt, said as he presented his opinion on the long-term future of the EU's principal investment policy, adding: "The Committee of the Regions can be at the core of this alliance." The opinion, which was adopted on 11 May, argues that the broader aims of Cohesion Policy to increase economic, social and territorial cohesion are "more topical than ever". Reflecting the assembly's belief that the EU's support for regional development is both a significant spur to economic development and a symbol of the EU's commitment to solidarity, the CoR stated that, "even after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the percentage share of the budget allocated to Cohesion Policy should remain the same". Jyrki Katainen , the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, told the CoR that the EU needed to look at what it "could do better" to support growth, "especially in the current situation where the budget will most probably be smaller than it is at the moment", a reference to the United Kingdom's planned departure from the EU. Addressing the CoR on 12 May, Gunther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, said that there was "as much a need for Cohesion Policy than ever", noting "huge disparities" between regions. He said that, based on the CoR's opinion, "I don't see any differences in approach as to how we can properly shape the modernisation programme" for the policy. Press release: EU local leaders want a faster, flexible and ambitious cohesion policy at heart of Europe's future Press release: Cities and regions call for a more bottom-up European Semester process Press release: Le Comite europeen des regions demande lintegration d'une clause dinsularite dans la politiques de cohesion de lUE pour lapres 2020 Press release: Towards a knowledge-based bioeconomy: Cities and regions call for a review of EU policies BRINGING EUROPE CLOSER TO CITIZENS The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani (IT/EPP), told the plenary session that cooperation between the European Parliament and the CoR is of fundamental importance to bring Europe closer to its citizens, the first objective of his Presidency mandate. He welcomed the CoR's "Reflecting on Europe" initiative and added "As elected representatives in our regions you have a front role in making that objective a reality." The CoR expressed regret that the White Paper on the Future of Europe, presented by the European Commission in March 2017, fails to recognise "one of the unique aspects" of the EU its "multi-level governance". In a resolution adopted on 12 May, the CoR emphasises that "any discussions about the future of the European Union and reforms resulting from these debates must be bottom-up, involving all levels of governance". Among a series of elements identified as being "vital for defining a credible and ambitious scenario" for the future of the EU, the resolution identifies "multilevel governance and subsidiarity across all policy areas", full accountability, and a "comprehensive, properly financed and credible" cohesion strategy "incorporating the UN sustainable development goals". The result of the EU's deliberations should be "political solutions anchored in common solidarity the fundamental principle of a united Europe" rather than "minimalist compromises". To contribute to the EU's process of reflection, the European Committee of the Regions is organising scores of town-hall and other meetings with citizens from across Europe. The feedback will contribute to an opinion by the CoR, requested by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. Press release: Building political alliances to reconnect citizens with the EU Press release: Social innovation must complement technological innovation Press release: Securing a better future for Europe's youth FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS In a debate with the CoR on 12 May, Gudrun Mosler-Tornstrom (AU/PES), President of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, emphasised the record of cooperation over the past ten years between the two assemblies for local and regional politicians, as well as the complementary nature of the Council of Europe and the EU. "Our work provides the foundation for the work of the EU," she said. Ms Mosler-Tornstrom particularly emphasised the potential for cooperation between the two assemblies on corruption, the monitoring of local elections and developing relations with local and regional authorities along and beyond Europe's eastern and southern borders. In comments about current challenges, Ms Mosler-Tornstrom noted that the Council of Europe is addressing rule of law issues in Turkey, Hungary and Poland, where planned reforms of local government are "of concern". As part of its critique of actions by the Turkish government that the Council believes are damaging local democracy and "seriously weakening" civil society and political parties, the Council has called for the annulment of decisions to remove mayors. Separately, in a long series of comments on Turkey, its annual review of progress in the EU's enlargement process from the perspective of local and regional governance, the CoR expressed "concern" about the Turkish government's crackdown in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July 2016, "especially the detentions and removal from office of elected mayors", describing these actions as "seriously" weakening "pluralist democracy at the local level". At the same time, the CoR stated that "an effective working relationship between local and regional authorities on both sides can contribute to rebuilding some of the trust between Turkey and the EU" and urged the Turkish government to heed a long-standing call by the CoR for an upgrade in contacts between the CoR and local and regional leaders in Turkey. The opinion, by Rait Pihelgas (EE/ALDE), Mayor of Ambla, presses the European Commission to report on local and regional governance in enlargement countries "more effectively and in more detail". Audiovisual: The CoR has produced a video summary of the plenary session. Full proceedings from 11 May session and 12 May session are also available courtesy of EuroparlTV. Photos are available for download on our Flickr account . Contacts: Cassandra Sainsburys mother has broken down in tears during the filming of a 60 Minutes documentary that reportedly earned the family $1 million. In the documentary, which is due to air on Channel Nine on Sunday, Ms Sainsburys mother Lisa Evans is shown slumped over on the ground sobbing outside the Colombian prison where her daughter remains behind bars. Overcome with emotion, Ms Evans can be heard grasping for air and complaining she is unable to breath. Scroll down for video Overcome with emotion, Ms Evans (centre) is seen doubled over on the ground as she is comforted by her daughter Khala Sainsbury (left) and a crewman from 60 Minutes (right) Hey Cass, its mum, Im here to help you. Were sitting around the corner, Ms Evans said. Ms Sainsburys sister Khala Sainsbury is also pictured on the ground alongside her grief-stricken mother in an attempt to comfort her. The pair reportedly sold their story to the Channel Nine program for approximately $1million. Ms Sainsburys mother and sister travelled to Colombia this week for the first time since her arrest on April 11 when she was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport. Hey Cass, its mum, Im here to help you. Were sitting around the corner, Ms Evans said talking to Ms Sainsbury on the phone Ms Sainsbury appears happy as she waves from behind bars at El Buen Pastor for film crews Ms Sainsbury's mother and sister visited her at El Buen Pastor in Colombia for the first time since her arrest on April 11 Meanwhile a source from the Colombian police prosecuting Ms Sainsbury revealed a mystery black man who visited her in a Bogota hotel would unlikely save her from a lengthy stint in jail. The source said the mystery man was irrelevant to Ms Sainsbury's legal case, despite her claim he tricked her into trafficking 5.8kg of cocaine. Ms Sainsbury, a 22-year-old from South Australia, was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport in Colombia on April 11. Scroll down for video The source said the mystery man was irrelevant to Ms Sainsbury's legal case, despite her claim he tricked her into trafficking 5.8kg of cocaine Colombian police have sourced the CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed for eight days before her arrest in search for the mystery man, but say he is irrelevant to her legal case 'If they catch you with drugs, you have to accept the punishment for these drugs,' a source for the prosecution told News.com.au. 'Where [the drugs] came from, at this moment, is of no interest to us. It doesn't have any relevance.' The source for the prosecution, who works for the Colombian Fiscalia, said the justice system was not postponing Ms Sainsbury's case to look for the mystery man. 'They can't leave someone waiting while they look for the person who supposedly tricked them,' he said. Ms Sainsbury is seen leaving her Bogota hotel where staff say a mystery man visited her Ms Sainsbury pictured with 18 bags containing 5.8kg of cocaine in total, which were found in her suitcase on April 11 Ms Sainsbury, 22-year-old from South Australia, has maintained her innocence since the day she was caught The Adelaide woman claimed she was set up by a man named 'Angelo' who promised her 18 sets of discounted headphones as gifts for her wedding party. She said the 18 packages wrapped in black plastic containing the cocaine were given to her the morning of her flight. She denied she knew the packages were full of drugs and has maintained her innocence since. Ms Sainsbury pictured together with her fiance Scott Broadbridge, who visited her in Colombia this week Ms Sainsbury pictured together with the suitcase which contained 5.8kg of cocaine The Fiscalia source said police secured CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury was visited by the mystery man in an effort to track him down because he was potentially breaking the law. But he said the police search was separate to their case against Ms Sainsbury. While he said the Fiscalia investigated the mystery man, he said its priority was to resolve Ms Sainsbury's case. CCTV footage obtained from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed for eight days before her arrest will not be released to the public until it is shown in court, for fear the man could go into hiding if he sees himself. CCTV footage from the Bogota hotel where Ms Sainsbury stayed will be reviewed by police in search of the mystery man, but they say he is irrelevant to her legal case Ms Sainsbury pictured following her arrest on April 11 when she was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport on her way home to Australia, bypassing London Ms Sainsbury remains behind bars in notorious Colombian prison El Buen Pastor, where she was jailed following her arrest on April 11, just over a week after she arrived in South America on April 3. Ms Sainsbury will remain in prison while she awaits a court date. Her Colombian lawyer Orlando Herran has encouraged Ms Sainsbury to plead guilty because she will likely be given a shorter jail sentence. Ms Sainsbury faces 15-20 years in jail if she pleads innocent but is found guilty and faces five to 10 years if she pleads guilty. Ms Sainsbury together with her Australian fiance Scott Broadbridge who visited her in Colombia this week Cassandra Sainsbury's fiance Mr Broadbridge (pictured) arrived in Bogota on Thursday An Italian tourist who was crushed by a concrete slab in a freak accident on the Gold Coast had to turn down her dream job at Prada after being told she will never walk again. In August 2016, Glenda Merlini, 24, was out with her boyfriend in Surfers Paradise to celebrate landing the six-month contract with the fashion label. The couple took as shortcut through a car park on their way back to the hostel and as she stopped to light up a cigarette the concrete collapsed from the wall above, shattering almost every major bone in her body. 'I was completely conscious with everything happening in that moment. I felt the wall falling on me,' Ms Merlini told Nine News. Scroll down for video In August 2016, Glenda Merlini, 24, was out with her boyfriend in Surfers Paradise to celebrate landing her dream job with Prada when she was crushed by a concrete slab Ms Merlini, who was on a working holiday visa in Australia, said she remembered looking down at her legs under the concrete and thinking they belonged to someone else Ms Merlini, who was on a working holiday visa in Australia, said she remembered looking down at her legs under the concrete and thinking they belonged to someone else because she lost all feeling. 'Then I realised that they were my legs. I touched them and realised that I couldn't feel my legs,' she said. The tourist was left with a broken pelvis, shattered spine and collapsed lung among other horrific injuries. She said while she waited an agonising 15 minutes for paramedics to arrive a security guard ran over to help her boyfriend lift the concrete slab off her body. Mr Merlini spent six weeks in Queensland hospitals before being taken to Milan for further treatment. The tourist was left with a broken pelvis, shattered spine and collapsed lung among other horrific injuries. She is pictured here trying to walk again with aids Ms Merlini and her boyfriend took as shortcut through a car park on their way back to the hostel when the concrete (pictured) collapsed from the wall above Ms Merlini is having rehabilitation to walk again, but has been told she will likely be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life She was forced to turn down the job at Prada. Ms Merlini is having rehabilitation to walk again, but has been told she will likely be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. 'I cant even jump again, and I cant dance again. I was loving going dancing and I was loving dancing in general and even just around the house,' she told Nine News. Despite her horrific injuries, Ms Merlini has recently taken her driver's test for a modified car for paraplegics and also hopes to start a fashion course at university. The Italian tourist is seeking compensation from the Gold Coast City Council. Sydney commuters should expect chaotic travel conditions on Thursday afternoon as bus drivers remain on strike despite two Industrial Relations Commission orders to return to work. About 1200 drivers have walked off the job in protest over the NSW government's plan to privatise services in the city's inner west and south. The stoppage, which began at midnight, affects four depots in Leichhardt, Burwood, Kingsgrove and Tempe, leaving Thursday morning commuters stranded at bus stops during peak hour and school times. Much of the same is expected for the afternoon, with Transport NSW's CBD coordinator general Margaret Prendergast advising commuters to allow 'plenty of travel time,' despite a limited private bus service running along Parramatta Road from Burwood into Railway Square. 'We're really hoping bus drivers do turn up to work this afternoon and we will prioritise those buses to really service the school service run so that we can get the kids home this afternoon,' she told reporters in Sydney. Sydney commuters should expect chaotic travel conditions on Thursday afternoon as bus drivers remain on strike despite two Industrial Relations Commission orders to return to work NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance called the strike a 'reckless, selfish act' The Industrial Relations Commission late on Wednesday ordered the drivers not to strike, claiming it was 'illegal.' They sent another order on Thursday morning, advising drivers to return to work otherwise they would face 'legal consequences'. But Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW divisional president David Woollams says the drivers remain committed to the stoppage. 'Physically, it would be too big of a job for us to try and physically ring everyone to get them to come back to work,' he told AAP on Thursday. 'Even if that was to be the case, the members of these four depots are adamant they are not coming back to work today.' NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance hit back saying the union was showing contempt by refusing the orders and called the strike a 'reckless, selfish act,' Ten News reports. But the RTBU reportedly called the Minister a 'phoney, liar and fraud', as drivers vowed not to return to work. Buses fill the NSW Transport Tempe Bus Depot as up to 1,200 drivers strike in Sydney The strike will affect four depots in the areas to be privatised: Leichhardt, Burwood, Kingsgrove and Tempe (buses pictured stationary at Tempe on Thursday) At a meeting of its members RTBU divisional secretary, Chris Preston, apologised for any inconvenience caused by the strike. 'This action is on Constance's head.' Responding to the commission's orders, Mr Preston told members to return to work at the meeting but those members present shouted 'No'. 'I've asked you to go back to work. I've complied with the order,' Mr Preston said. However, Mr Constance told reporters, the members have shown 'contempt for a court ruling' and should 'go straight back to work'. Not in service buses are pictured on Thursday at Tempe Bus Depot 'If we have to go to the Supreme Court this afternoon, that we will do,' he said. The Greens have come out in support of the strike, with Mehreen Faruqi saying in a statement, the privatision of bus services 'will be a disaster for workers, drivers and the public.' Some commuters had been unaware of the strike on Thursday and were waiting for their buses on Thursday morning, before turning to taxis and Uber rides to get to work. 'I have called an Uber,' a woman on Parramatta Road told Nine News when she learned her bus wasn't coming. 'I don't know how I'll get home.' Uber appeared to have surge pricing in the Leichhardt area due to the increased demand. Another woman said she felt a bit 'scared' she would be late to work after waiting for her usual bus. 'I have called an uber,' a woman told Nine News when she learned her bus was never coming A woman is pictured on Parramatta Road getting into a taxi after waiting in vain for her bus About 1,200 drivers have walked off the job in protest over the NSW government's plan to privatise services in the city's inner west and south The NSW state government organised private charter buses - as well as additional ferries, light rail and trains - in an attempt to counter the strain of the strike. The walk-off went ahead despite a late-night ruling at the Industrial Relations Commission ordering drivers back to work. The RBTU has apologised for the disruption, but said the blame should be shouldered by the government. The union accused Mr Constance of incompetence and says he backflipped on written assurances last year the routes wouldn't be privatised. 'Members of the public should make alternative arrangements to travel to work and take their children to school,' RTBU spokesman Chris Preston said. Another woman said she felt a bit 'scared' she'd be late to work after waiting for her usual bus The NSW state government organised private charter buses in an attempt to counter the strain of the strike Mr Constance earlier said he had hoped a majority of drivers would show up for work. 'This call for a strike is about union bosses putting themselves before customers, egged on by the Labor party,' he said. He said the union's decision to call the strike at 6pm on Wednesday was illegal. Mr Constance said inner west drivers would continue their employment under the privatised new operator. The plan would see the contract for Bus Region 6 - which runs 233 routes from Olympic Park in the city's west to Kensington in the city's southeast - put out to private tender to ensure a more reliable service. The government will continue to set Opal fares and timetables and regulate safety standards once the routes are privatised. More than a dozen people - including 14 students - were sent to the hospital after a Pennsylvania school bus flipped on its side in a hit-and-run accident involving four vehicles. The Lancaster Mennonite school bus was taking students to school in East Lampeter Township on Wednesday morning when a sedan trying to pass two tractor-trailers and their escort vehicles hit the rear of one of the escort vehicles, the Lancaster County district attorney's office said. According to the DA's office, the escort vehicle was pushed into the oncoming lane and sideswiped the bus around 8am, causing the bus to impact one tractor-trailer's load and tip onto its side, prosecutors said. Scroll down for video A Lancaster Mennonite school bus (pictured) flipped on its side in a hit-and-run accident involving four vehicles, sending more than a dozen people, to the hospital, authorities said The bus was taking students to school on Wednesday morning when a sedan trying to pass two tractor-trailers and their escort vehicles hit the rear of one of the escort vehicles (pictured) According to the DA's office, the escort vehicle was pushed into the oncoming lane and sideswiped the bus around 8am, causing the bus to impact one tractor-trailer's load and tip onto its side, prosecutors said The 14 students, the bus driver and another driver were taken to a hospital, where a spokesman said two students with trauma injuries were being transferred to children's hospitals. Authorities said the others involved were treated and released from the hospital. One student was ejected from the bus and seriously injured. Lancaster Mennonite spokesman Gary Hiller said the bus was carrying 12 high school students, one middle school student and one Locust Grove elementary student. Their ages range from seven to 16 years old. 'Our focus has been on the physical and emotional well-being of our students rather than the cause and who is responsible,' Hiller said. 'We express concern for the two who are still in the hospital.' Authorities issued an alert for the newer-model light-colored sedan and its male driver, saying the vehicle was expected to have front-bumper damage. 'There's a very good possibility that this vehicle, as it was traveling eastbound prior to the accident scene, may have been passing other vehicles,' township police Chief John Bowman said. The 14 students, the bus driver and another driver were taken to a hospital, where a spokesman said two students with trauma injuries were being transferred to children's hospitals U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau was sentenced TO 18 months behind bars on Wednesday A US Navy Admiral has been jailed for 18 months for his role in the 'Fat Leonard' fraud and bribery scheme. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting in 2016 that he lied to investigators when questioned over his relationship with Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia who bribed US military officials for years in exchange for classified information. Last year, Gilbeau admitted lying to investigators by saying he had never accepted gifts from the man which prosecutors claim included prostitutes and parties. The 56-year-old confessed that when the pair met three times a year, Francis always picked up the tab. Their friendship dates back to 1997. Gilbeau received gifts from Francis and met with him three times a year for extravagant dinners for at which Francis, a Malaysian citizen, always picked up the bill. His sentence was announced on Wednesday by the US Department of Justice. Gilbeau's case is part of a long-running criminal probe known as the Fat Leonard case, in reference to a nickname for Francis. 'It is truly a somber day,' acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson said in a statement. 'When tempted by parties and prostitutes, one of our most respected leaders chose karaoke over character.' Gilbeau is free on bond and was ordered to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on June 23. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Gilbeau previously agreed to pay $50,000 in restitution to the Navy as well as a $100,000 fine. Gilbeau's attorney, David Benowitz, said his client accepted responsibility for making false statements, but denied inflating any invoice or accepting money for doing so. Leonard Glenn Francis, known as 'Fat Leonard' at 350lbs, paid numerous US military officials for classified information over several years. Prosecutors say he bought Gilbeau expensive dinners and prostitutes Gilbeau admitted lying to investigators by telling them he hadn't received any gifts from Francis in June 2016 (above entering court) 'We respectfully disagree with the court's sentencing decision, given Captain Gilbeau's otherwise stellar 37 years of service to his country, during which he was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart,' Benowitz said in an email. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino said Gilbeau deleted documents and data files as he tried to conceal his dealings with Francis, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement. 'You dishonored your shipmates, the Navy and the United States of America,' Sammartino told Gilbeau at a federal court in San Diego according to the Justice Department statement. Gilbeau's business relationship with Francis actually dated back to 1997, during which Francis plied Gilbeau with expensive gifts ranging from fine dining, luxury hotels and prostitutes, prosecutors said. Gilbeau was working on the USS Boxer in 1997 (above) when he became friendly with Francis They met again in 2003 during a port call to Singapore while working on the USS Nimitz, and continued frequent conversation from that point on. During that 2003 visit, prosecutors claim that Francis and Gilbeau conspired to overcharge the Navy for services provided to the Nimitz (pictured) Gilbeau was in his mid-30s when he first met Francis in Bali, Indonesia, and the parties with prostitutes started right away, prosecutors said. In return, Gilbeau signed off on contracts for services such as removing waste from U.S. aircraft carriers at highly inflated prices, prosecutors said. Francis was arrested in September 2013 on fraud and bribery charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in January to bribery and conspiracy charges, prosecutors said. Twenty current and former Navy officials have been charged so far in the fraud and bribery investigation, prosecutors said. Ten of those have pleaded guilty and 10 cases are pending. Also, five executives from Francis' company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, have pleaded guilty. Left-wing firebrand Anthony Albanese has stirred Labor leadership tensions by contradicting Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over his Budget-reply speech. Mr Albanese, who narrowly missed out on the Labor leadership in 2013, has given a sharply different interpretation of the Turnbull government's second Budget which included a levy to fund disability care. While Mr Shorten last week declared: 'This isn't a Labor budget', his left-faction rival from Sydney's trendy inner-west urged the ALP to declare an 'overwhelming victory'. Scroll down for video From the red team: Left-wing firebrand Anthony Albanese stirs Labor leadership tension Red tie day: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told parliament last week was 'not a Labor Budget' 'It was the Budget of ideological surrender,' Mr Albanese told the Transport Workers Union in Fremantle on Thursday. He cited the Turnbull Government's acceptance of universal health care, needs-based schools funding and backing the National Disability Insurance Scheme with a hike in the Medicare levy. Mr Shorten, who comes from Melbourne, has repeatedly dismissed media descriptions of the Turnbull government's second budget as 'Labor-lite'. 'Make no mistake, this is not a Labor budget,' Mr Shorten said in his budget reply speech last week. Mr Albanese, who won more votes from Labor Party members in the 2013 leadership ballot, appears to have contradicated Mr Shorten, who hails from the right faction. 'Budget 2017 was an overwhelming victory for the Australian Labor Party and the broader labour movement,' he said. Bill Shorten (left) and Anthony Albanese (right) both competed for the Labor leadership in 2013 'After years of negativity and culture wars, the coalition used the budget to offload much of its ideological baggage and embrace Labor values on some core issues - at least at a superficial level.' The Labor frontbencher said the government had 'finally accepted' Australians supported universal healthcare, needs-based school funding and the national disability insurance scheme was a 'critical reform'. However, while the coalition had 'raised the ideological white flag', their words had not been matched with money. 'For example, they say they embrace needs-based education funding but they are still cutting investment by $22 billion over the next decade,' he said. Anthony Albanese contradicted Bill Shorten by urging Labor to 'declare an overwhelming victory' Mr Albanese later told reporters in Perth what he had said was in line with Mr Shorten's view, and the speech had been shown to the Opposition Leader's office before it was delivered. 'What I said is perfectly consistent with what Mr Shorten said,' Mr Albanese said, adding the Turnbull Government was 'trying to capture Labor ideas because they don't have any of their own.' Asked whether he backed Mr Shorten to lead the party to the next election, he said: 'Absolutely. We are a team and I'm committed to doing the best I can on infrastructure, transport, regional development, cities and tourism.' Earlier this month, Mr Albanese described a video Mr Shorten fronted as a 'shocker' because it featured only one Asian woman and 11 white Australian workers. An elite Sydney girls school has sent an email home addressed to parents advising them to speak to their children about the content in controversial Netflix series '13 Reasons Why'. The letter sent from Dean of Students Beth Oakley from Wenona School in North Sydney addresses the show '13 Reasons Why', a series about a schoolgirl 'Hannah' and her rationale behind the decision to take her own life. The email warns parents of the potentially traumatic content in the Netflix series and reinforces the idea parents should be speaking to children about suicide, rather than to ignore it. Wenona school in North Sydney sent this email to parents advising them to talk to their children about controversial Netflix show '13 Reasons Why' The Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' has been an international hit but has been controversial due its confronting content 'The show has also captured the attention of many of our young people,' Ms Oakley wrote. 'While many viewers may be able to process the story, recognising that Hannah makes poor choices, vulnerable young people may be placed at further risk by being exposed to the series, without adequate adult support,' the letter reads. The letter continues: 'Dr Claire Kelly, MHFA Australia Youth Programs Manager says, ''Telling young people they shouldn't watch it may reinforce the idea that suicide shouldn't be discussed. 'Instead, it's important for the adults around them to be ready to talk to them about the content, and about what they should do if they or one of their friends needs help.'' Wenona school addressed controversial Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' sending an email to parents telling them to discuss the series with their children The letter ran through the potentially traumatic experiences showed in the show including cyberbullying, sexual harassment and assault. The letter mentioned adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg who told the ABC's Tracey Holmes the series was dangerous. The wave of attention follows calls '13 Reasons Why' may prove too 'confronting' for the many children being left to watch it unsupervised. Since the series first aired in March this year, calls to youth mental health services in Australia have reportedly increased dramatically. Carrie-Ann Leeson, CEO of Lifeline Canberra And in the wake of its rapid success, mental health experts are warning parents about the 'graphic' nature of the show, saying they should educate themselves about suicide and have tough conversations with their children, the Canberra Times reports. Renewed for a second series in the wake of its international success, the show has raised concerns among experts about its impact on children. However the head of a suicide support and prevention charity believes that because the show is touchy in nature, doesn't mean its impact has to be negative. 'It's very rarely [that suicide is] graphically depicted in a drama or movie. We're used to seeing people executed, whipped, murdered and raped. We're used to seeing that. Not to seeing a suicide,' Carrie-Ann Leeson, CEO of Lifeline Canberra said. 'I understand where the fear is coming from but there is a very positive solution to this. Parents are being warned about leaving children unsupervised to watch hit Netflix show '13 Reasons Why' (pictured), with mental health experts dubbing it 'graphic and confronting' 'Educate yourself around these matters and issues, and the tough conversations.' Despite many adults dubbing the show too confronting for them, many children as young as eight are being left unsupervised as they watch it. A spokesman for Netflix told the Canberra Times medical professionals advised the writers of the show to ensure they were mindful of the 'intense themes'. 'Our members tell us that 13 Reasons Why has helped spark important conversations in their families and communities around the world,' the spokesman said. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14 Journalist Steve Barrett allegedly blackmailed members of the syndicate by threatening to expose them to the media Journalist Steve Barrett has been dragged into what police will allege is Australia's biggest tax fraud sting with explosive accusations of blackmailing. At least nine people were arrested in the $165 million tax fraud investigation on Thursday, including the son and daughter of an Australian Tax Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston. Documents tendered in Sydney's Central Local Court reveal the former 60 Minutes producer allegedly blackmailed members of the tax fraud syndicate , reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Cranston, 58, has been issued with a court attendance notice for allegedly publicly abusing his position as a senior official of the Commonwealth, the AFP said on Thursday. He has not been formally charged, police told Daily Mail Australia. The court documents seen by the SMH allege that one syndicate member, Daniel Rostankovski, and Mr Barrett allegedly threatened to extort the syndicate by threatening to go public with the operation. 'Police allege ... Rostankovski and Barrett attempted to blackmail the co-conspirators in relation to their involvement in the conspiracy,' the documents read, according to the SMH. Mr Rostankovski allegedly demanded $5 million during a February meeting at the Martin Place offices of Clamenz Lawyers or Mr Barrett would go public, police alleged in documents, according to the SMH. Police documents reveal the group agreed to the payment on the condition Mr Rostankovski refrained from speaking to the media, the police or the ATO. An agreement was signed. Adam Cranston (pictured) is arrested by police on Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth Adam Cranston (pictured) is arrested by police on Wednesday for conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth Mr Rostankovski was granted strict bail on Thursday. Mr Barrett was not charged, however he was named on a long list of people that the accused are banned from contacting, reports The Australian. Mr Cranston's 30-year-old son, Adam, and 24-year-old daughter, Lauren, along with seven other people have been arrested over a $165 million tax fraud investigation. Adam Cranston was granted strict bail after his wife and family posted $300,000 surety for his release. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of the fraud offences he is facing. Scroll down for video AFP seized two aircraft (pictured) and 25 luxury cars after an eight-month long investigation Adam Cranston (left) with wife Elizabeth (right) on their wedding day with custom Ford GT that was seized by police during a raid of his Bondi home on Wednesday. There is no suggestion Elizabeth had any knowledge of or involvement in the alleged syndicate Mr Cranston's 30-year-old son Adam and eight other people have been arrested over a $165 million tax fraud investigation (pictured, $1 million in seized cash) Six people have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth, one with extortion and another two with money laundering. Daniel Rostankovski, 28, charged with blackmail and conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth, and Christopher Guillan, 46, charged with extortion and money laundering, were both granted bail on Thursday afternoon. Daniel Hausman, 47, and Jason Onley, 47, are expected to face court and apply for bail later on Thursday. The dramatic arrests were made following an eight-month investigation, code-named Operation Elbrus, with ongoing assistance from the tax office. AFP officers seized 25 motor vehicles - luxury, vintage and racing - 18 residential properties, 12 motorbikes, two aircraft, boats, firearms, jewellery, artwork, vintage wines and at least $1 million cash located in a safety deposit box. They also seized in excess of 100 bank accounts and share trading accounts reportedly worth $15 million - all suspected to be the proceeds of crime. 'The scale of this alleged fraud is unprecedented for the AFP,' said Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Operations Leanne Close on Thursday. A young family has been forced to get rid of their beloved miniature pigs because they are not considered pets by law. Western Australian mother Amanda Novotny, her husband and their two young children are grieving the loss of their two mini pigs Arnold and Olivia, 2, after the council deemed their 830 square metre home inappropriate. 'We've had Arnold and Olivia for nearly two years and everybody's happy, we love them, all the neighbours love them, the kids walk by on the way to and from the school and say hi,' Ms Novotny told WA Today. Arnold (pictured) and Olivia have been part of the Western Australian family for two years Ms Novotny said her family, who lives on a property in the state's south west, was devastated to lose the pet pigs because they had been a part of the family for two years. 'We wash them every week, they live inside with us, they sleep on the kids' beds, they're our pets,' she said. In February the family was surprised by a knock on the door from a Shire of Harvey councillor who said they had 14 days to remove the animals because they were too big to be kept as pets in the suburban home. The family found a temporary home for their beloved pets with a miniature pig breeder in the state while they fought to get them back. 'We wash them every week, they live inside with us, they sleep on the kids' beds, they're our pets,' Ms Novotny (right) said The family was shocked when the council told them they had to remove their two beloved pets from the home in February The family found a temporary home for their beloved pets with a miniature pig breeder in the state while they fought to get their pets back Shire of Harvey president Tania Jackson said the pigs were brought to the council's attention when a complaint was submitted. Ms Novotny said she was shocked to hear someone complained. She said she immediately wrote an appeal letter to the council which then sent out letter to neighbours of the family. When the neighbours reportedly told the council they had no problem with the pigs, Ms Novotny said she thought she would finally get them back. Ms Novotny said the two mini pigs, Arnold and Olivia (pictured) were no bigger than dogs and made far less sound than a dog would She was devastated when the council was unwilling to budge on its decision. Ms Novotny said the two mini pigs were no bigger than dogs and made far less sound than a dog. The Western Australian mother said her two children, aged 11 and 14, were most saddened by the loss of their beloved pets. 'My kids are heartbroken I feel really sad for them and I just want to get them back,' she said. An Australia woman was left totally paralysed and unable to talk or breathe an hour after being struck down with a life-threatening illness. Mother-of-two Crystal Brown, 33, was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder that attacks the immune system and effects just 1 in 100,000 people, in July of 2016. Her boyfriend, Joseph Papa, has shared a heart-warming video of her 10-month journey after only dating Ms Brown two months before she was diagnosed. 'I ended up staying at the hospital every night, I slept on a chair next to her bed,' he told Honey. Crystal Brown (pictured in 2016) was placed into a coma with a potentially deadly disease In July last year, Ms Brown (pictured in 2016) was struck down with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder that affects just 1 in 100,000 people and can even leave sufferers paralysed Mr Papa, 32, said initially medical staff told Ms Brown her symptoms were 'all in her head,' and it wasn't until the couple's third visit to the emergency room that a doctor thought it could be more serious. 'Within an hour or so she was put into an induced coma because she lost her ability to breathe.' Ms Brown was in the coma for seven days, and over the course of the next year would have to re-learn to walk, talk and use her muscles. The video begins with Ms Brown early in her journey looking extremely frail and in a constant state of agony. Mr Papa filmed confronting images within the first months as she writhes in pain while doctors apply treatment. Doctors begin Ms Brown's rehabilitation a month after she is first diagnosed, trying to help restore feeling and movement in her limbs. Ms Brown (pictured) was rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma Ms Brown's current boyfriend Joseph Papa (left) stayed by her side throughout her harrowing battle and last week revealed a video he'd made of her 10-month journey towards recovery After three months Ms Brown can be seen making real progress as she regains movement in her arms and legs. Eight months after being placed in a coma, Ms Brown can be seen standing under her own power. On her final day in hospital an emotional Ms Brown posted a Facebook status saying she was 'leaving what I knew as home' and would now 'start my life'. She was able to walk out of the hospital unassisted after being discharged on May 10. Mr Papa stayed by Ms Brown's side throughout her harrowing battle and last week released a heartwarming video to show the journey of his girlfriend After spending nearly a year overcoming the life-threatening syndrome, Ms Brown was able to walk out of hospital on May 10 under her own power (pictured) Ms Brown must attend regular physiotherapy and rehabilitation sessions as she is yet to regain full use of her hands. The couple believe she will make a full recovery within two years. A friend has started a GoFundMe page to help pay for Ms Brown's medical bills. Kim Jong-un is preparing for a possible US missile strike by bolstering defences at North Korean military positions, it has emerged. The dictator has ordered his army to strengthen and repair protective walls at key locations amid fears America will carry out a surprise air raid. He is said to have taken the decision in mid-April after US President Donald Trump launched dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield over suspicions Bashar al-Assad's forces had used chemical weapons. It comes as it was reported that American troops in South Korea have carried out military drills to rehearse destroying North Korea's weapons of mass destruction. American troops in South Korea have carried out military drills to rehearse destroying North Korea's weapons of mass destruction The drill, called 'Warrior Strike 7' happened at Camp Stanley in Euijeongbu, north of Seoul as well as at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex close to the North-South border Troops used a helicopter before infiltrating a mock enemy facility. It was aimed at rehearsing the rapid destruction of the North's nuclear weapons The exercise took place as it was revealed Kim Jong-un is boosting his own defences in the wake of Trump's rocket attack on Syria According to Yonhap News, a practice ship-to-shore air assault was launched from a South Korean warship. The drill, called 'Warrior Strike 7' happened at Camp Stanley in Euijeongbu, north of Seoul as well as at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex close to the North-South border. Troops used a helicopter before infiltrating a mock enemy facility. It was aimed at rehearsing the rapid destruction of the North's nuclear weapons. It was revealed amid reports Kim Jong-un is boosting his own defences in the wake of Trump's rocket attack on Syria. A source in Pyongyang told Asia Press that 'North Korea seems to be very aware of the U.S. attack on Syria' and that there were 'preparations against cruise missiles'. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion and 34th Armor Regiment participated in the Warrior Strike 7 military exercise The military exercise happened at Camp Stanley and the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea The aim of the Warrior Strike 7 exercise was to enhance the ability to destroy weapons of mass destruction US soldiers wearing gas masks carry out training exercises at Camp Stanley and the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Gyeonggi Province Meanwhile, Yonhap reported that Trump has told South Korea's presidential envoy that Washington is willing to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through engagement - but only under the right conditions. Trump has said 'a major, major conflict' with North Korea was possible and all options were on the table but wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically and peacefully, possibly through the use of economic sanctions. South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in who took office last week has campaigned on a more moderate approach towards the North but he has said North Korea must change its attitude of insisting on arms development before dialogue was possible. Moon's envoy to Washington, South Korean media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, said Trump spoke of the willing to use 'engagement' to create peace on the Korean peninsula, Yonhap news quoted Hong as saying. Kim Jong-un (pictured) is preparing for a possible US missile strike by bolstering defences at North Korean military positions, it has emerged Kim is said to have ordered the reinforcements in mid-April after US President Donald Trump (pictured) launched dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield over suspicions Bashar al-Assad's forces had used chemical weapons Rehearsal: Helicopters come in to land as US troops carry out military drills in South Korea US troops prepare to storm a mocked-up enemy base as part of exercise drills in South Korea But the United States will not have any dialogue with the North for the sake of dialogue and the use of pressure was the premise in the approach to Pyongyang, Hong quoted Trump as saying, according to Yonhap. Trump's comments could not immediately be independently verified. North Korea conducted its latest ballistic missile test on Sunday in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying it was a test of its capability to carry a 'large-size heavy nuclear warhead.' The North has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States. But a senior North Korean diplomat has said Pyongyang was open to having talks with Washington under the right conditions. Pauline Hanson has blasted six Iranian refugees for fooling Australia after they were caught holidaying in the Islamic theocracy they had fled. The One Nation leader was weighed into the controversy involving half a dozen men who arrived in Australia from Iran between 2009 and 2014. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton cancelled their visas however the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has overturned his decision and allowed them to stay. One Nation's Pauline Hanson says the six Iranian refugees found to have lied took 'us for fools' Senator Hanson is 'fed up' with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for letting refugees who had lied on their visa applications stay in Australia (stock image of Manus Island) Senator Hanson has blasted the tribunal's former member Duncan Kerr, a former Labor attorney-general whose term expired this week. 'I'm disgusted and I'm fed up with this,' she said in a Twitter video. The former small business owner from Queensland said the six refugees had fooled Australia. 'They're taking us for fools. That's right, fools,' Senator Hanson said. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is overturning Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's decision to cancel the visas of six Iranian refugees 'And when we have these people in these tribunals who are overturning decent, common sense decisions, what hope is there?.' Senator Hanson said the refugees had showed their deceit and taken advantage of Australian taxpayers. 'They couldn't have been too concerned about their life because they have gone back to Iran to visit for holidays or family, and actually one got married,' she said. 'We don't need these legal refugees that are coming to our country. They're getting on disability pensions. They're not working. 'They're in public housing. They're being looked after, their health all the rest of it.' The senator said Australia should brace for a 'flood of refugees' if Labor won the next election. Schapelle Corby has serious mental health issues and will struggle to handle her notoriety back in Australia, the author of her life story says. Tony Wilson, the only writer given full access to her family, said the convicted drug smuggler was 'not as well as some people think'. 'Her mental health issues were always very serious and from the mid-2000s she had to be controlled by drugs. I dont know exactly what regime of drugs she is on now but I do fear how shell deal with Australia,' he told the Courier Mail. Schapelle Corby (pictured in 2008) has serious mental health issues and will struggle to handle her notoriety back in Australia, the author of her life story says Author Tony Wilson said the convicted drug smuggler was 'not as well as some people think' 'She hates people staring and pointing at her. And she hates people pointing cameras at her. Her eyes were always darting constantly She freaks at all of that.' His view greatly contrasted with idyllic portrayals of her life in Bali since she was released on parole in 2014, spending her days on secluded beaches and with her Indonesian boyfriend Ben Panangian. The former Gold Coast Bulletin reporter questioned how Corby would handle even the mundane task of going shopping in Australia with people staring at her. He said Corby was always paranoid but her arrest, trial and imprisonment - along with the public scrutiny - made her even more so. The Author's views contrasted with idyllic portrayals of her life in Bali since she was released on parole in 2014, spending her days on secluded beaches and with her Indonesian boyfriend Ben Panangian (pictured) Corby is seen reacting to being sentenced to 20 years in jail in a Denpasar courtroom in 2005 Mr Wilson said the 39-year-old was terrified someone would plant drugs on her once she was on parole, putting up security cameras around her house in Bali. 'This has taken a huge psychological toll on her and people dont realise how bad she is,' he said. Corby was likely to split her time between her mother's house in Loganlea, on the outskirts of Brisbane, and her sister Mercedes' family on the Gold Coast. Mr Wilson said she would likely take a job away from public eyes to avoid exposure. Given that she turns 40 in July, she was also unlikely to have the family she always wanted and would be restricted from travelling to many countries. Mr Wilson covered her case for years and wrote the book Schapelle, which was re-released as Schapelle: The Final Chapter: Coming Home on May 1 with chapters covering her release and return to Australia. Mr Wilson said Corby would likely take a job away from public eyes to avoid exposure. Pictured, she approaches her family in court in 2005 Mr Wilson (pictured) said Corby was always paranoid but her arrest, trial and imprisonment - along with the public scrutiny - made her even more so Corby is seen standing behind bars in the holding cell at Denpasar District Court in 2006 Corby is due to return from the Indonesian island to Australia on Saturday May 27, after serving nine years for drug trafficking. The former beauty student was arrested in Denpasar airport October 2004 after being found with over 4kg of cannabis in a body board bag, which she has always maintained wasn't hers. Her sister Mercedes told Woman's Day on Monday that Corby was 'heartbroken' at the idea of leaving, including becoming separated from her boyfriend and pet dogs. Their mother Rosleigh Rose said returning to Australia would be 'hard for her'. 'I think she's kind of frightened,' she said. Given that she turns 40 in July, she was also unlikely to have the family she always wanted and would be restricted from travelling to many countries TV viewers were gripped on Wednesday night by a dramatic confrontation in the BBC drama Three Girls. Depicting the real-life battle for justice for victims of Rochdales child grooming scandal, a tense scene unfolded as police finally listened and acknowledged young women had been subjected to horrific abuse by a gang of Muslim men. The gripping scene involved actresses Maxine Peake who plays sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham and Lesley Sharp who portrays DC Maggie Oliver. At the heart of the stand-off between the two women lies the real story of the years they spent battling for the horrific abuse taking place in Rochdale, Manchester, to be taken seriously. The anger at the years spent suppressing evidence was expressed as Peake's character - complaining that girls had been 'raped, beaten, not believed, raped, beaten, not believed' - cut police down to size when they finally agreed to re-examine the allegations. It mirrors the genuine frustration felt by Sara Rowbotham, who had been referring cases to police in Manchester since 2004, without getting anywhere. Maxine Peake as Sara Rowbotham, delivering a powerful speech to DC Oliver, played by Lesley Sharp, refusing to hand over documents police didn't want to see previously And DC Maggie Oliver had worked on cases before Operation Span, where she had convinced young women to trust her only to be told no charges were going to be brought. According to the Telegraph, the real Ms Rowbotham, now a councillor, made more than 100 referrals to police after starting to see a pattern in her line of sexual health work. These began in 2004, but it wasn't until 2012 that convictions were made against nine of the men involved in the abuse. She suffered personally with poor health after the true nature of the sex ring was exposed and ended up being made redundant from her job in 2014. Peake met with Rowbotham on several occasions before taking on her role. The sexual health worker: 'The police didn't want to know' In a piece for the Guardian, she wrote about seeing the girls arrive at the clinic having walked miles from remote countryside where they had been taken to be abused. Sara wrote: 'My calls to police were ignored and social workers told me the girls were making lifestyle choices. Left, former DC Maggie Oliver, who says abuse is still going on in Rochdale, with 'hundreds' of paedophiles walking the streets, and right, the sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham, who exposed the scandal Sara and DC Oliver as portrayed by Maxine Peake and Lesley Sharp, who finally met on the second episode of Three Girls in a dramatic confrontation 'We'd make them a cup of tea, take them to a sexual health clinic to test for and treat sexually transmitted infections and call the police. But, again, the police didn't want to know. 'How it took the police so long to act to protect children from evil criminals, why social services showed wilful blindness in ignoring what was happening and how so many agencies had collectively failed to act much earlier.' The police officer: 'Paedophiles are still walking the streets' As an officer, Maggie Oliver used her real-life experience to gain the trust of the vulnerable girls she tried to help during police investigations in 2004, and again a number of years later, before Operation Span. But she said her work was wasted when the operations were non-existent after she came back from caring for and then mourning her late husband. She said: 'I worked on an almost identical operation in 2004, Operation Augusta, which had identified dozens of young victims and dozens of suspects. 'It was a virtual carbon copy of Rochdale, men of largely Pakistani heritage were abusing vulnerable white girls, in Hulme, and around the Curry Mile, in Rusholme. I was on that job for a year and a half. It was a huge investigation. 'We also had social workers telling us they'd been trying to get the police to take this problem seriously for years. 'But not one offender was arrested or charged. I couldn't believe it. It was as if none of it had ever happened. 'Nobody was ever able to explain to me why the case had been dropped. I wanted to know because I've got four kids of my own.' The show also featured DC Oliver's attempts to get the Bowens back on side - above, Amber, Ruby and mother Lorna, who had lost trust in the police She has told the Mirror the abuse is far from over. Mrs Oliver said: 'Just three months ago, one of the young women I still speak to was stood at a cash till to find one of the offenders that she had told police about stood behind her in the queue. 'In my opinion a child abuser is always a child abuser. That man is still out there walking the streets of Rochdale. There were nine men convicted. But the girls told me of many more men.' Police believed that the girls were acting as prostitutes, and as in Three Girls, one of the teenagers, portrayed in the show as the character Amber really was questioned about being a madam. Mrs Oliver believes there was an inability by Greater Manchester Police to correctly log every allegation of rape, meaning some of those the girls accused walk the streets today. GMP did not comment on the former officer's statement. The dramatic standoff: 'Raped, beaten, not believed, raped, beaten, not believed. What do you think that does to a kid?' In the dramatic scene for the BBC show, Peake, as sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham, refused to let the police swoop in and act as the saviours of the day when officers reopened the cases they had closed without prosecution. Peake delivered a dramatic speech to Sharp's DC Oliver, telling her she couldn't have paid them to look at what she was asking for now years ago, while they were 'raped, beaten, not believed'. Viewers praised Lesley Sharp for her role as DC Maggie Oliver - the real police officer ended up leaving the force over the way the victims were treated The real Sara Rowbotham went on to become a councillor after she played her part in exposing the huge exploitation scandal across Rochdale When police make their application, DC Oliver admits she can understand why Sara was so angry. In the emotional scene, DC Oliver is brought into the clinic where she introduces herself to Sara. She says: 'I'm DC Maggie Oliver, I'm a detective with Greater Manchester Police. GMP is running an operation, Operation Span, to put right what went wrong in relation to the grooming of young girls, and I understand you made several referrals to the police, in relation to two girls in particular, Amber and Ruby Bowen. MAXINE PEAKE: THE CORBYNISTA WHO RAILS AGAINST 'SUPER RICH' Maxine Peake, who plays Sara Rowbotham in the three-part drama Three Girls, has a company registered with a tax planning accountant. She is the sole director of Flat Cap Limited which boasts assets of 145,000, according to documents lodged at Companies House. The business is registered with the accountants Creasey Alexander & Co, an accountancy which boasts of its tax planning expertise on its website. There is no suggestion Ms Peake has done anything wrong, but some will think it is hypocritical given her strident views on taxation. The revelation comes after the actress who used to be a member of the Communist Party fronted an election broadcast for Jeremy Corbyn's party. In it she accused the Conservative Party of lonely looking after the 'privileged few' and urged voters to back Labour. Advertisement 'I'm here in the hope that you might have some relevant intelligence in relation to them.' As she is stared down by a furious Sara, she tells her she has the car with her in case there are files she can take straight away. Sara responds: 'F*** off. 'No, really, I mean it. F*** off. 'I've been in here, sat in here, for years, and what you're demanding off me now I couldn't pay you lot to look at for years. 'You swan in here off the street with your Prada handbag asking me to hand it over like you're asking to check me gas meter?' DC Oliver attempts to interject and says 'I understand', but Sara is quick to continue. She adds: 'You really really don't. What those girls have been telling me for years, I have been powerless to do anything about because you lot didn't want to know.' DC Oliver tells her it's 'the biggest operation the GMP is running'. Sara says: 'And what do you think has been happening to those girls in the meantime? Raped, beaten, not believed, raped, beaten, not believed. What do you think that does to a kid? 'Do you think they're sitting around waiting to do their civic duty because you lot have got your act together? If you want documents off me make an application, fill out a form, do whatever it is you coppers have to do when you're after evidence. 'But don't rock up here after all these years acting like you're the saviour of the family.' Thankfully for the girls who were exploited by the gang, Sara doesn't let sudden police interest keep her away for too long, and spends time convincing Holly, who now has a baby, to talk to officers once again. DC Oliver has the door of Amber and Ruby's home slammed in her face when she tries to speak with the family again, but eventually convinces their mother Lorna that they really can put the men behind bars this time. 'BAFTA-WORTHY': HOW VIEWERS REACTED TO THE POWERFUL THREE GIRLS SCENES Viewers praised the women for their powerful performances, that highlighted how long the abuse went on without action as Sara Rowbotham continued to make referrals to police and social services, from as early as 2004. Lyndsey Gibbons tweeted: 'Lesley Sharp. Maxine Peake. Throw in Sarah Lancashire and you have the Holy Trinity of Northern British actresses.' Luce posted: 'Lesley Sharp and Maxine Peake absolutely killing it.' Other viewers dubbed their emotional performances 'superb'. Viewers heaped praise on the powerful performances delivered by Maxine Peake and Lesley Sharp in the second part Advertisement In the same episode, Ruby learned she was pregnant, and police kept the terminated foetus after her abortion in a freezer later on in a scene that shocked viewers. The DNA evidence was taken, but officers didn't do anything with it, DC Oliver tells Mrs Bowen, played by Lisa Riley, as she convinces her the girls need to speak. Lorna Bowen, played by Lisa Riley, comforts daughter Ruby after she tells her they kept her termination to use as evidence later Attention was also drawn to the fact the show is based on a real story, and there is huge concern on the level of grooming that still goes on in the UK THE SEXUAL HEALTH WORKER WHO FOUGHT TIRELESSLY TO EXPOSE THE HORRIFIC ABUSE Sara Rowbotham was concerned about the drama, as she feared it wouldn't do justice to what happened in Rochdale Sara Rowbotham, the woman who helped expose the huge sexual crime network in Rochdale, was turned down as the seat's next candidate for MP. Now a councillor, the worker applied for the vacancy in Rochdale left by Simon Danczuk for the forthcoming election. But the local party selected Greater Manchester's former police and crime commissioner - and interim mayor - Tony Lloyd. Cllr Rowbotham, the whistleblower who lifted the lid on the horrific abuse of youngsters in the town, insisted she was '100 per cent' behind Mr Lloyd following his selection. She added: 'Tony is the best candidate for Rochdale and will make an excellent MP. 'I applied for the vacancy and was pleased my application to be interviewed by the party was successful. 'It was a fair and open selection process and the best candidate won. Tony is far more experienced and has the support of the people of Rochdale.' Former MP Mr Danczuk, who is standing for the seat as an independent, criticised the selection and said he would have stood aside had Cllr Rowbotham been selected. Sexual health worker Sara wrote in the Guardian that she was initially concerned about the BBC's interest in dramatising the scandal, and feared they could not do it justice. She wrote: 'They have managed to powerfully portray a world of desperately vulnerable teenagers who are hidden from view and don't have a voice. 'I cried when I first saw Three Girls. The girls' brave struggle to bring these criminals to justice is told with sensitivity and insight. 'It's ultimately a story about childhood that ought to spark a national debate about the protections every child should be entitled to.' She was revealed to be appearing on Channel 4's First Dates, as she tries to move on from a 'difficult, dark time'. Advertisement The Rochdale abuse scandal: What happened? Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale child sex grooming gang The Rochdale scandal was finally exposed in 2012, when people learned that for years, authorities had been suppressing knowledge of abuse rings of primarily Pakistani men preying on primarily white teenage girls. Young women were being raped by multiple men on a nightly basis, after being plied with gifts and alcohol. Nine men were sentenced in 2012, and another nine in 2016. In 2012, the men were given sentences ranging from four to 19 years. A jury at Liverpool Crown Court heard that girls would be given alcohol before being passed around for sex at two takeaways, the Balti House and Tasty Bites, in the Heywood area. The police were accused by then MP Simon Danczuk of ignoring the cases because they were brought by working class girls. Reports have estimated the number of girls abused over the course of the cover-up at 1,400, but some have said it could be as many as 2,000. Top row left to right: Abdul Rauf, Hamid Safi, Mohammed Sajid and Abdul Aziz; Bottom row left to right: Abdul Qayyum, Adil Khan, Mohammed Amin and Kabeer Hassan The men sentenced in 2012 included Mohammed Amin who was jailed for five years for sexual assaults and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Abdul Qayyum, known as 'Tiger' to his victims, was jailed for five years for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Adil Khan was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. He was jailed for eight years. Mohammed Sajid, who abused girls in a flat in the city, was jailed for 12 years after he was convicted of conspiracy, sexual activity with a child, rape and trafficking. Abdul Rauf was jailed for six years after being convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. The court heard he had sex with one girl in his taxi 20 to 30 times. Abdul Aziz was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and jailed for nine years. The youngest of the group, Kabeer Hassan, was 25 when the abuse happened. He was jailed for nine years for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Hamid Safi was jailed for four years for trafficking and conspiracy but was cleared of rape charges. The ringleader Shabir Ahmed, was jailed for 22 years, for rape, sexual assault, trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Zoe and Amber, in episode one of Three Girls. The show divided viewers and some turned off, finding it too hard to watch Lorna Bowen, portrayed by Lisa Riley, in episode two, telling the police she won't be speaking with them again, after their concerns were ignored the first time Allegations had been brought to police on multiple occasions between 2008 and 2010, and after reviews following the court case, Greater Manchester Police apologised in 2015. In total, 13 officers were investigated and seven were given misconduct notices, but none faced further proceedings after the report was issued. After the report, Assistant Chief Constable, Dawn Copley said: 'I want to say we openly acknowledge that mistakes were made and victims were let down. 'For our part in that we apologise to the victims and we give them our assurance that lessons have been learned, changes have been made and we are determined to use this to continue making improvements.' In April last year, 10 men were jailed for a total of more than 125 years for sexual offences against eight girls and women in Rochdale. They included Afraz Ahmed, a former bus driver who picked up two of his young victims from school and offered them free tickets. He was originally questioned in 2006 but a decision was made not to prosecute him after he claimed the girls' complaints against him were racially motivated. Former bus driver Ahmed, of Rochdale, was found guilty of various sexual offences, including rape, conspiracy to rape and sexual activity with a child, in relation to five underage victims. He was jailed for 25 years. Balti House, one of the Rochdale kebab houses where abuse took place, which is now under new management Also sent to prison were Choudry Hussein for 19 years in his absence for rape, sexual activity with a child and conspiracy to rape. Rehan Ali, of Blackley, was imprisoned for seven years and Kutab Miah, of Rochdale, for nine years after both were found guilty of rape and sexual activity with a child. Abid Khan, of Liverpool, was jailed for six-and-a-half years and Mohammed Zahid, of Rochdale, for five years after both were found guilty of sexual activity with a child. Mohammed Dauood, of Burnley, was jailed for 16 years after he was convicted of offences in relation to two victims including rape, sexual activity with a child and sexual assault. David Law, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was jailed for 11 years after he was convicted of conspiracy to rape. A tenth defendant, Mahfuz Rahman, of HMP Garth, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of sexual activity with a child. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years last September. A then-40-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 23 years after he was convicted of rape and attempting to abduct a child in relation to three victims. He will serve an additional eight years on extended licence when he is released. A spurned girlfriend is said to have kidnapped her boyfriend at gunpoint on his wedding day when he was due to tie the knot with a love rival. Ashok Yadav, from Mohanpurwa in Banda district, was getting married to a girl from Maudaha in Hamirpur on Monday night when his ex burst in with six armed men. They bundled the groom into the back of the car and sped away as hundreds of guests watched on in horror. Police officers in Hamirpur take a statement from who is believed to be the bride and her family Ashok, a compounder, is understood to have had an affair with a local girl before breaking it off early last year. His family then set him up with his wife and they got engaged. When the ex-lover heard he was getting married, she begged him repeatedly not to go through with it and even tried to get his parents to call it off, according to police. Woman believed to be Ashok Yadav's bride A police official involved in the investigation told the Times of India: 'The armed men took Ashok at gunpoint and threatened him to accompany them. 'After bundling him on the rear seat of a car, they sped away,' a police official said. He was missing for more than 24 hours before the authorities managed to locate him on Tuesday night. One of the wedding guests said the abduction happened when the couple were going through their tikka rituals - the branding of the forehead with a red mark. The witness said: 'We thought they are criminals demanding money but they didn't ask anything and took Ashok with them.' Deputy Superintendent of Hamirpur Police BK Mishra said they launched a manhunt and got in touch with the groom's family, but as of yet, no complaint has been filed. Shocking footage shows an attacker wielding a sword in the latest moped crime on the streets of London. The video shows the aftermath of an incident in Barking in the east of the capital last weekend when two armed attackers set upon an 18-year-old. It shows one of the pair, apparently clutching a samurai-style sword, falling off the back of the bike as they attempt to make off. This is the moment a sword-wielding attacker made off on a moped after injuring a teenager The footage, published on YouTube, shows pedestrians shouting at the pair as they disappear into the night. The victim attempted to hide in a local supermarket as he fled from the pair, the Barking and Dagenham Post reported. But he was attacked in the shop and taken to hospital with head injuries. Doctors have since said his wounds are not life-threatening. Police are appealing to anyone who saw the attack or has any information to come forward. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Officers were called at approximately 22:10hrs on Saturday, 13 May after the incident in a shop in Ripple Road. 'The victim, an 18-year-old man, was walking along when he became aware he was being pursued by two males. He began to run and the suspects pursued him.' The footage shows the attacker falling off the back of the moped before the pair make off The spokesman added: 'Fearing for his safety, the victim ran in to a shop to seek refuge but the suspects followed him - both were armed with knives. The suspects attacked the victim inside the shop, leaving with a head injury before they fled the scene on a moped.' 'The victim attended hospital for treatment to his injury - this is not life threatening.' It is the latest moped-related crime in London, which has seen a spate of thefts and robberies carried out by gangs on motorised scooters. More than 11,389 motorbike incidents, including thefts, robberies and acid attacks, took place in London alone last year. The Daily Mail reported last week how the gangs are throwing off their helmets to escape being chased by police, who follow an 'unwritten' health and safety rule that means their career is at risk if they endanger the thugs by pursuing them. Anyone with information on the latest incident is asked to call Trident officers on 020 8217 7378 or contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. This is the horrifying moment a 13-year-old boy accidentally shot dead a 12-year-old girl on Facebook Live while playing with a shotgun. The children were playing with friends in a house in Santa Rosa de Calchines, in Argentina's Santa Fe province when the tragedy happened. Footage captured by one of the youngsters in the room shows the boy pointing his father's gun at the girl, named locally as Georgina Magali Vega. Believing it to be unloaded, he can be seen pulling the trigger a number of times. But seconds later, and with the camera pointing away, the harrowing video captures the sound of a shot. It later emerged that Georgina had been killed instantly when the weapon was fired. Horrifying footage captures the moment a 13-year-old boy (right) accidentally shot dead a 12-year-old girl (left) on Facebook Live while playing with a shotgun in Argentina Footage captured by one of the youngsters in the room shows the boy pointing his father's gun at the girl, named locally as Georgina Magali Vega. Believing it to be unloaded, he can be seen pulling the trigger a number of times According to local reports, the horrifying incident unfolded on Facebook Live in the middle of the afternoon. At the beginning of the clip, the boy can be heard saying 'Look at this. A shell. I load it and I shoot you but you don't die.' Georgina then jokingly replies: 'Do you see blood or something?' Moments later the shotgun is fired before the boy and two other friends start screaming 'Georgi' repeatedly. A girl asks 'what have you done?' before another child says 'her parents are going to kill us.' According to local reports, the horrifying incident unfolded on Facebook Live in the middle of the afternoon Video shows the boy pointing his gun towards the girl. But seconds later, and with the camera pointing away, the harrowing video captures the sound of a shot In panic, the children then run out of the house. Georgina is believed to have been the only daughter of a man in Santa Rosa de Calchines. Argentinian media say the gun belonged to the boy's father and that it was not unusual for people to own guns in the town, which is near a popular hunting area. Police have launched an investigation, but they are working on the theory that the death was a tragic accident. There will now be more room in the skies for the world's biggest passenger planes after wake turbulence from another jet almost crashed a private plane en route to Sydney. An 'urgent review' over the airspace shared between large aircraft and smaller jets has been launched by Germanys Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU). Pilots of the private German plane pulled off a miracle recovery after it was sucked into the turbulence of a nearby Airbus A380 that was flying above it and plunged 10,000 feet. Planes may soon have more room in the sky following a review by the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident in Germany Currently the safe distance between airborne planes is 305m or 1000 feet (stock image) The Bombardier Challenger rolled three to five times after it was sucked into the wake turbulence of an Airbus A380 R Minimum distance between airborne planes is currently 305 metres (1000 feet) but the BFU now want to enforce far larger distances after the incident in January. The smaller plane had been travelling the safe distance underneath the Airbus however its wake turbulence was so strong it was not enough. Up until now the 305 metre distance was considered acceptable but the BFU is likely to increase the minimum distance by an unknown amount. The terrifying near-crash happened when the exclusive jet flew under the flight path of a mammoth Emirates superjumbo en route Sydney from Dubai - which had wake turbulence so powerful it caused to aircraft to flip five times. The aircraft's pilots were able to regain control of the plane using 'raw muscle force' and were finally able to restart the engines after falling 10,000ft. Several of the nine people on board were taken to the hospital, with one person sustaining serious injuries in the incident. Despite its safe landing, the aircraft was totalled with damage so extensive it was beyond repair and needed to be written off. The Bombardier Challenger (stock photo pictured) was 21 metres long and weighed between 17 and 21 tonnes The smaller plane had been travelling the safe distance underneath the Airbus however its wake turbulence was so strong it was not enough (stock image) The Flight Service Bureau released an aftermath image of the Bombardier Challenger with broken seats, food debris and shattered glass The Bombardier Challenger was 21 metres long and weighed between 17 and 21 tonnes - but it was no match for the superjumbo which is 73 metres long and weighs between 386-560 tonnes. The aircraft was flying 1000ft below the Emirates super jet and the force of its wake turbulence even minutes after it had passed sent the smaller plane into an uncontrollable spin before its engines flamed out and failed. Photos were released of the trail of destruction inside the Bombardier Challenge following its miracle emergency landing in Muscat, Oman. The once-pristine interior can be seen littered with shattered glass and debris as cushions were ripped from the seats and food went flying through the aisles and stained the walls. In a similar instance in 2012, a Virgin Australia 737 blown to the right after being overtaken by an Emirates A380 near Indonesia. A father was shot dead while buying diapers for his baby son amid widespread looting in Venezuela. Manuel Castellanos, 46, was shot in the neck on Wednesday when he was caught between mobs and police while walking home with the diapers, witnesses said. Diapers have become prized products in Venezuela due to severe widespread shortages of hundreds of essential items like food, medicine and baby products. Three National Guard sergeants would be charged later on Thursday for their 'presumed responsibility' in his killing, the State Prosecutor's Office said. Manuel Castellanos, 46, was shot dead on Wednesday while buying diapers for his baby son amid widespread looting in Venezuela (pictured a shop ravaged by looters) He was caught in the crossfire as mobs looted shops and fought security forces overnight in Venezuela's restive western region People made off with items including coffee, diapers, and cooking oil in a country where a brutal economic crisis has made basic foods and medicine disappear from shelves Mr Castellanos was caught in the crossfire as mobs looted shops and fought security forces overnight in Venezuela's restive western region. People made off with items including coffee, diapers, and cooking oil in a country where a brutal economic crisis has made basic foods and medicine disappear from shelves. Barricades of trash, car tires, and sand littered the streets, as daily life broke down in the city. In the last few years people have struggled to get basic items like toilet paper, as well as medicine supplies. Venezuela is lacking roughly 80 per cent of basic medical supplies, according to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela. Six weeks of anti-government unrest have resulted in at least 44 deaths, as well as hundreds of injuries and arrests in the worst turmoil of President Nicolas Maduro's four-year rule of the South American OPEC nation. Inflation in Venezuela rose to nearly 500 per cent in 2016 - and is expected to rise to a staggering 1,660 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Protesters are demanding elections to kick out the socialist government which they accuse of wrecking the economy and turning Venezuela into a dictatorship. Maduro, 54, the successor to late leader Hugo Chavez, says his foes are seeking a violent coup. Diapers have become prized products in Venezuela due to severe widespread shortages of hundreds of basic domestic items like food and baby products Large groups protested in Venezuelan capital Caracas yesterday on the latest show of opposition to President Nicolas Maduro Even though the government was sending 2,000 troops to Tachira state, on the border with Colombia, clashes and looting raged overnight, witnesses said. Security forces fired teargas at stone-throwing gangs, and crowds smashed their way into shops and offices in state capital San Cristobal and elsewhere. It comes as human rights groups claimed prisoners arrested during anti-government protests in Venezuela are being forced to eat raw pasta with human excrement. The allegation was made by Human Rights Watch and the Venezuelan Penal Forum lobby group. The groups claim that at least 275 activists have been thrown into military prisons since March. Three people died in a fresh wave of violence across the country this week, as protesters against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro clashed with police. A 15-year-old boy was among the dead, and the latest fatalities brings the nationwide death toll to 43 in the past three months. A joint statement by the Venezuelan Criminal Forum and Human Rights Watch claims that 159 people arrested during the unrest - prompted by the president's efforts to expand his powers - remain in prison, and outlined the horrific treatment they have endured. At least 43 people have died during the wave of protests sweeping the country, and hundreds have been rounded up and thrown in military prisons, say human rights groups Huge protests have been held across Venezuela in the last three months as voters call for fresh elections It claims that records have not been kept of arrests, meaning the true number of those detained is unknown. The groups have spoken to former prisoners to record human rights abuses in the military facilities. The statement said: 'At least 15 reported being forced to eat raw pasta with human excrement (the agents would have applied to the nose particles of the powder that is used to generate tear gas, And force them to open their mouths to ingest).' It also claims that prisoners have been beaten with iron bars by members of the Venezuelan armed forces, the Bolivarian National Guard. It said civilians are being tried for military crimes such as treason, and said detainees 'are victims of abuses that in some cases could constitute torture, both during the arrest and during their detention'. The groups said those hauled in front of military courts have included a man who was walking home from work when he was stopped by the National Guard, and two brothers who were working on the roof of a house when they were arrested without a warrant. Since Monday legions of national guardsmen and military helicopters have been dispatched to the west of the western state of San Cristobal, where an outbreak of looting and political violence has left at least three dead. Under fire: President Nicolas Maduro faces calls to stand down as angry Venezuelans take to the streets in protest at his reforms Venezuelan authorities have been heavily criticised for their handling of the crisis, which has seen at least 43 killed and 275 sent to military prisons in three months Yesterday 15-year-old Jose Guerrero became the latest victim of the unrest sweeping the country. He had gone out the previous day to buy flour, and was shot close to a protest, authorities have said. Top military commanders announced they were sending 2,000 national guardsmen and 600 troopers from special operation forces to Tachira, a mountainous state along Venezuela's border with Colombia where Guerrero and two others have been killed during protests since Monday. A rash of violence across Tachira this week has left dozens of businesses looted, 11 police stations set aflame and nervous residents scrambling to buy what food they can find. Demonstrators hold candles aloft during yesterday's protests in Venezuelan capital Caracas following the death of a 15-year-old boy Opposition groups have claimed heavy handed policing has caused the widespread violence which has swept through Venezuela Public transport was shut down yesterday with many businesses closed and long lines snaked to the few operating ATMs. 'From this moment we are not going to permit any more violent or terroristic acts,' said Jose Morantes Torres, commander of a regional defense force overseeing operations. The military operation comes as President Nicolas Maduro faces mounting international pressure to hold elections and refrain from using tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters. Anti-government street mobilizations that began after the nation's Supreme Court issued a ruling stripping congress of its last powers in late March are continuing on a near-daily basis. Protesters gather around a banner which carries the names of those killed during this year's unrest in Venezuela Large crowds protested in Caracas yesterday against the continuing violence that surrounds calls for fresh elections in Venezuela Christopher Sabatini, a professor at Columbia University, said: 'The opposition has the moral upper hand, but as long as the government refuses to yield and kill its own citizens, how much longer can this go on?' Arrests have been made in just eight of the deaths, five of which involved police officers, according to the chief prosecutor's office. Maduro's government blames the opposition for the violence, saying they are purposely fomenting unrest in order to remove him from power. Opposition leaders deny that and say heavy-handed officers and armed, pro-government militias known as 'colectivos' are responsible. On Monday afternoon, Luis Alviarez, 18, and Diego Hernandez, 33, were fatally shot during separate demonstrations. Videos of both incidents were distributed online, showing the two men lying lifeless on the pavement. Guerrero, the latest casualty, was taken to a hospital on Tuesday after being shot and died Wednesday morning after undergoing surgery, authorities said. Speaking outside a hospital, his sister lashed out at Maduro and blamed national guard officers for her brother's death. 'I hate you with all my heart,' she said, crying. 'He was a boy of 15.' A High Court judge has been left 'astonished' by the 2.5million legal bill racked up during a bitter divorce battle between a wealthy business owner and his wife. Lord Justice Moylan also criticised the reliability of 66-year-old Christakis Christoforou's evidence on 'contentious issues', suggesting it had been 'largely based on an indifference to the truth'. Lord Justice Moylan said he had been asked to rule on the division of a 50 million fortune following the breakdown of Mr Christoforou's 34-year marriage to 63-year-old Ibtissam Ali Christoforou. The divorce settlement is being heard at the High Court, at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London (pictured) Mrs Christoforou had spent 1.4 million on lawyers and Mr Christoforou 1.3 million. The judge said: 'Despite some of the complexities of this case, to have spent a total of 2.7 million is an astonishing sum which is wholly disproportionate to the issues.' The remarks against Mr Christoforou, who set up a property business in the mid-1980s, are in a ruling published following hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London. He added that he had made decisions on a number of issues, but had yet to make a final order. He said Mrs Christoforou's evidence had been 'largely reliable'. However, he said: 'In contrast, in my view, I need to treat the husband's evidence with considerable caution,' said the judge. Lord Justice Moylan (pictured) also criticised the reliability of 66-year-old Christakis Christoforou's evidence 'I have come to the clear conclusion that his evidence, when dealing with contentious issues, was largely based on an indifference to the truth and was motivated by what he seeks to achieve in these proceedings, rather than on his true recollection of events. 'I am satisfied, from the way in which significant elements of the husband's factual case have mutated during the course of these proceedings and from the way in which he gave his evidence, that this has, to a significant extent, been deliberate.' The judge said the couple had married in 1980 and split in 2014. They have two grown-up children. Mr Christoforou was born in England and now lives in Cyprus, the court heard, while Mrs Christoforou is originally from Lebanon and now resides in London. Lord Justice Moylan indicated that the family home had been in London. A spontaneous college student used his graduation ceremony to propose to his watching girlfriend in front of a roaring crowd. Baylor Universitys Joseph Dizdar declared his love for Nicole Whitehead on stage as the crowd roared with delight but some said that the impromptu proposal was inconsiderate to other students. As Dizdar grabbed the microphone after collecting his degree he exclaimed: 'Nicole Whitehead ... I love you so much, and was wondering, will you marry me?' Baylor University student Joseph Dizdar grabbed the microphone after being awarded his degree certificate Dizdar ran off the platform and to the seating area A photo of the pair after the proposal posted to Facebook by Nicole 'I'm ordained, I can do weddings too,' someone on stage joked as Dizdar ran into the crowd to see his new fiance. At this point Dizdar ran off the platform and to the seating area where he and Whitehead shared a passionate embrace in front of his peers and family. The Waco, Texas based college posted the video on its Facebook page and passed on their congratulations to the happy couple. The caption accompanying the clip said: How do you top finally getting your Baylor degree? By getting a 'Yes!' to your marriage proposal at the same time!!' One commented below: 'How priceless...I can feel the nerves and the excitement! Boy, this will be a video to show their kids one day!' While the newly engaged Nicole commented: 'Thank you, Baylor, for capturing this moment and being a good sport about my crazy fiance causing a scene! I will never, ever forget this.' However, in another comment with the video one said the proposal detracted the attention from the graduate about to receive her degree after Dizdar. 'This is cute I guess ... but not really,' Ashley Bowman wrote in the comments. 'My friend was the person behind him & this prevented her & her family/friends from hearing her name being called. She's the first person in her family to graduate college so this is kind of upsetting to steal someone's moment like that. The Waco, Texas based college posted the video on its Facebook page and passed on their congratulations However, in another comment with the video one said the proposal detracted the attention from another graduate They shared a passionate embrace in front of a roaring crowd Onlookers and family congratulate the happy couple Dizdar's mother Kelly replied with an apology to the student behind her son and said she would always pray for her success. She wrote: 'I am the newly engaged man's mom. I wondered and was concerned about you and your position behind Duke after his impromptu proposal. 'Bless you, dear one. I will repeat your name over and over in my mind and to others and pray for prosperity in your walk after graduation and for your family and friends that support your journey.' Burger King has been taken to court in Germany for handing out flyers at Dachau concentration camp when the stolen 'Work will set you free' gate was being returned. More than 800,000 people a year visit the remains of the first Nazi concentration camp in which more than 33,000 died between 1933 and 1945. The foundation which operates Dachau as a memorial to its victims has been battling the fast food chain for years, claiming its staff has been handing out flyers to guests. But the final straw appears to be when workers in Burger King uniform continued to do so when the gate reading 'Arbeit Macht Frei' was being delivered back to the site having been stolen. Burger King has been accused of delivering flyers to people visiting Nazi concentration camp Dachau claims the fast food chain has been doing it for years, but the final straw appears to be staff continuing to do so when the memorial was having its gate (pictured) reading 'Woek will set you free' delivered after it was stolen People visiting Dachau concentration camp in Germany on Victory in Europe Day The foundation has accused the burger chain of impiety and is facing off with it in court. Dr Gabriele Hammermann, head of the memorial site, said: 'It's about keeping the dignity of the place. 'We perceive advertising at the site, which is for many a place of mourning and also a cemetery, as inappropriate.' Visitors complained of returning to their parked cars after harrowing experiences inside the vast complex near Munich to find offers of hamburgers and milkshakes stuck to car doors and windows. The Bavarian Memorials Foundation assumed that the flyers came from the nearby Burger King outlet in Gauss Street and obtained an interim injunction at the State Court. 'Friendly requests and conversations were, unfortunately, without effect,' says Sandra Zerbin, press officer of the memorial. Since it is a private car park, the foundation has the right to ban advertising. More than 800,000 guests a year visit Dachau to pay their respects to the 33,000 killed in the camp by the Nazis and the prisoners (pictured) subjected to torture during World War Two But the franchise operator appealed and the case opened today in Munich. Dachau had reportedly attempted to contact a Burger King local manager, Ronny Otto, to ask him to stop handing out leaflets. When he declined their request, according to The Local, the foundation went above his head to Burger King Germany. A spokesman for the company told the site they had repeatedly asked their employer to reach an out-of-court settlement, but when it never materialised, a court order was issued to Otto in March. Ronny Klein, a boss of another outlet nearby, was accused of being behind the advertising but told German newspaper Bild everything was a 'misunderstanding'. He too said he regretted it had escalated to court, but insisted the flyers did not come from the company, despite his outlet being labelled on them. In 1996 there was a similar problem with McDonalds flyers at the site. The memorial asked for advertising to be banned and demanded an apology from the burger giants. They received both requests. Britain's divorce bill from the European Union could be as little as 5billion, analysis by chartered accountants has revealed. A major study, which takes into account the rebates owed to the UK, found there were three possible 'exit charges', ranging from 5billion to 30billion. Research by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales outlined a 'central scenario' of 15billion, which would cost each person 225. Brussels officials are demanding that Britain agrees to pay a 'divorce' bill to cover the cost of outstanding commitments when it leaves the EU. The cost outlined in the research is far lower than the 85billion figure that has been floated, and the 50billion estimate outlined by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Research on the Brexit bill by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales will boost Theresa May (pictured at an election press conference yesterday) as she heads into her negotiations with the EU next month The major study looked at the 'main components' of the likely bill for the UK when it leaves the EU in March 2019. It took into account an estimated rebate of 5-6billion and spending coming back to the UK of 6-7billion. The research also took into account EU spending commitments and other commitments. It came up with three 'exit charges', including a 'low scenario' of 5billion, a 'central scenario' of 15billion and a 'high scenario' of 30billion. Taking the central 15billion scenario, the institute said 'the UK could be asked to contribute a gross amount of 55billion, but the net cost to the UK would probably be closer to 15billion after deducting rebates, spending in the UK and the realisation of the UK's investment in the European Investment Bank'. EU officials led by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) and chief negotiator Michel Barnier (right) have hinted at vast Brexit bills of 50-85billion (pictured yesterday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg) This 'excludes contributions to the EU 2019 and 2020 budgets after the UK leaves, as we believe the UK has a strong case for arguing that it should not be liable for authorised spending that will not be committed to until after its departure'. Michael Izza, the institute's chief executive, said: 'A sensible approach to money will be an important component to achieving a successful outcome to the negotiations. 'A strong trading relationship between the UK and the EU after the UK's departure will be critical if there is to a world of strong economies.' David Davis has previously rejected suggestions that the UK will foot a 100billion (84.5 billion) Brexit bill, saying Brussels will only receive what it is legally owed. Brexit Secretary David Davis has previously rejected suggestions that the UK will foot a 100billion (84.5 billion) Brexit bill (file picture) The Brexit secretary said the European Commission could not set a 'divorce deal' figure. It had been believed Brussels was seeking up to 60 billion (50.7 billion) for Brexit, but added demands by the EU could send the figure soaring, according to the Financial Times. In March a cross-party committee of peers said Britain was not under any legal obligation to pay cash to the European Union after Brexit. An Australian teenager who vanished from one of the county's most affluent suburbs has been rescued from the hands of a convicted killer who allegedly lured her to America for sex. Sean Price, 39, is accused of grooming the 16-year-old girl from Sydney's north shore on Snapchat for seven months before convincing her to board a plane to the US to engage in sexual activity. Price, whose long rap sheet includes a 1995 conviction for criminally negligent homicide, allegedly received nude photos from the teen before he sent her more than $2,000 for the airfare, according to news.com.au. US authorities allege the teen landed in Los Angeles before Price rented a car and drove her 12,000km to New York. An Australian teenager who vanished from one of the county's most affluent suburbs has been rescued from the hands of a convicted killer who allegedly lured her to America via Snapchat for sex (stock) Police found the 16-year-old in the basement of Price's mother's home (pictured) in New York last week The pair allegedly had sex along the way, according the New York Daily News. Police found the 16-year-old, who cannot be named, in the basement of Price's mother's home in New York last week. When authorities arrived, Price's mother told them her son and the teenager weren't there - as the pair tried to hide, the paper reported. The teen reportedly suffers from anxiety disorder and was having troubles at home when she met Price online. Price was refused bail on Wednesday after he tried to convince a magistrate to grant it by offering up his mother's house. 'Any offer doesn't give the court much confidence,' Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky said, according to the NY Daily News. US authorities allege the teen landed at Los Angeles airport (pictured) before Price rented a car and drove the teenager 12,000km to New York The teen reportedly suffers from anxiety disorder and was having troubles at home when she met the killer online (stock) An Australian Federal Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the teenager was reported missing to NSW Police from her Lindfield home on April 11. 'A number of inquiries were made by police who were able to determine the teenager had left the country and travelled to the United States,' the spokesperson said. 'Collaboration between the Australian Federal Police and US law enforcement officials led to the girl being located in New York State in the company of a 39-year-old man on Friday, 12 May. 'The man was arrested and charged with a number of offences relating to his conduct and interactions with the girl and will face court action in the US.' The spokesperson said the girl has returned to Australia. 'Collaboration between the Australian Federal Police and US law enforcement officials led to the girl being located in New York State,' an AFP spokesperson said (stock image) A London-bound Ryanair flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing after a passenger downed an entire bottle of spirits and attacked others on the plane, spraying them with blood. It happened on Tuesday night on a flight from Bulgarian capital Sofia to London Stansted Airport. The man started being unruly over Austrian airspace and began brawling with other passengers on the flight, which left shortly after 10pm local time. The man became unruly over Austrian airspace and began brawling with other passengers on the flight Eyewitnesses said the man was aggressive in the cabin, violently swinging his arms around. The crew of the Boeing 737-800 decided to land at Linz in Austria to protect those onboard. The drunk man was taken into custody by police. According to the Austrian police, the arrested man is a 46-year-old Bulgarian national. He showed no resistance when he was taken from the flight. The plane was forced to divert to Linz in Austria in order to protect fellow customers, Ryanair has said He was taken to hospital for treatment, as an old hand injury had started to bleed while in the air. According to local media, the wound was bleeding so much that during the flight other passengers and crew members got blood all over their clothes. They reported that the Bulgarian told the police officers that he had wanted to fly to London 'to take a stroll'. Before the departure, the unemployed Bulgarian had bought a bottle of Ouzo at a duty free shop which he quickly downed before departure. A criminal complaint has been filed against the suspect. The Ryanair flight carried on its way to Stansted after a 50-minute delay. A Ryanair spokesman told MailOnline: 'This flight from Sofia to London Stansted diverted to Linz after a passenger became disruptive inflight. 'The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was removed and detained by police upon arrival, before the aircraft continued to London Stansted shortly after. 'We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority. This is now a matter for local police.' A couple who tortured their 16-week-old baby daughter before staging her death on a bus have each been jailed for 11 years. Father-of-25 Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, gave girlfriend Rosalin Baker, 25, the thumbs up as she boarded the number 25 in Stratford, east London, with the dead body of little Imani strapped to her chest. The baby, who had been born prematurely at 28 weeks, was rushed to hospital, but she had already died from a fractured skull and brain injuries similar to those caused in a car crash or a fall from a first floor window. Imani's wrist was broken by her arm being twisted and she suffered 40 rib fractures when her tiny body was squeezed in her parents' cramped bedsit in Manor Park, east London. A judge bemoaned the pair's lack of relationship with their child as he jailed them today. Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC told Baker: 'You never bonded with Imani. Whether that has any connection with the death of your baby daughter the year before I cannot know, but perhaps it did.' Jeffrey Wiltshire and Rosalin Baker have both been jailed for 11 years over the death of their baby daughter which was staged on a London bus in front of shocked commuters Wiltshire gave Baker a thumbs up as she set off with their already-dead child strapped in a sling He told her boyfriend: 'You, Mr Wiltshire never went to visit Imani at the hospital at all. 'That accords with a complete lack of interest you showed in her lifetime.' The pair will serve half of their sentence behind bars, meaning they should be freed in less than six years to serve the rest of the term on licence. Baker had claimed Wiltshire had caused their child's horrific injuries before forcing her to get on the bus in a bid to frame her. Wiltshire denied ever having been violent towards any of his 25 children two of whom have died or the 18 women who gave birth to them and said he had no idea how Imani had been killed. He insisted: 'I'm not a life taker, I'm a baby maker.' Last month the pair were acquitted of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. CCTV captured former music producer Wiltshire kissing Baker goodbye and giving her a 'good luck' hand gesture as she hopped on the busy bus after topping up her Oyster card on the morning of 28 September last year. The harrowing 999 call made by a fellow passenger who told the operator 'I think she's gone' The court heard Baker had moved into the London home of Wiltshire and they both took drugs Baker sat texting on her mobile phone for some 20 minutes before raising the alarm, but remained 'cold and calm' as panicking passengers tried to save her daughter's life. Experts said Imani, who had weighed just 1lb when she was born, had already been dead for hours when she arrived at Newham General Hospital. Former rapper Wiltshire, known in the music industry as 'Pretty Boy Floyd' and 'Pepper Head', had said he was pleased when he discovered Baker was pregnant, declaring: 'I'm still firing'. But she claimed he dished out savage beatings and said his violence towards her that had brought about Imani's premature birth on 2 June last year. Baker visited Imani just 16 times over the 64 days she was in hospital, whilst Wiltshire did not visit his daughter once. On 15 August, Imani was placed on the child protection register when it was noted Baker had not built a relationship with her. Baker blamed her boyfriend for Imani's death, telling jurors he had also undressed the dead baby, changed her nappy and put her in new clothes The pair, pictured in a court sketch, were cleared of murder but convicted of causing or allowing the death of their daughter, who was on the child protection register The judge said: 'Although Imani's life was short the last part of it can only have been terrifying, painful and bewildering. 'Both of you at all times put your own interests ahead of those of a helpless and dependent baby for whom you were responsible.' 'Although the jury could not be sure who was responsible for the head injuries it is safe and sure to conclude, given the extent of the and Imani's vulnerability and helplessness, that whoever did it must have intended to cause her really serious bodily harm.' He added: 'Within a matter of hours of her death and when you both knew she was dead you embarked on a cynical charade to try and pretend she had simply stopped breathing when she was on the bus with Ms Baker rather than from violence in Mr Wiltshire's flat.' 'She's not a mother, she's a monster': Fellow passenger who battled to save baby's life slams drug addict parent who let her die A mother who staged her 16-week-old baby daughter's death on a bus was branded a 'monster' by a passenger who desperately battled to save the child's life. Rosalin Baker sat on the lower deck of the number 25 texting on her mobile phone for some 20 minutes before beckoning Fjoralba Schmitz to help. 'I touched Imani and she was very cold, at first I did not think anything of it as it was a cold September day but when the baby did not react I knew something was wrong,' she said. 'I took the baby out of her sling and gave first aid for about ten minutes.' CCTV showed Baker on the bus before she asked Fjoralba Schmitz. Ms Schmitz raced to help, but found Imani had stopped breathing and her face was 'ice cold' She added: 'I had never performed first aid on a baby before but I knew what I was doing. I blew air into Imani's mouth and pushed onto her little heart but there was no reaction. 'I was in complete shock, it was one of the worse moments of my life. I tried my best but I couldn't do anything to save Imani's life.' Ms Schmitz said other shocked passengers asked if Imani was her baby as Baker sat using her phone. 'What I don't understand is that the person who is supposed to protect her child did nothing,' she said. 'The events of that day have left me very upset. I don't understand how someone can hurt a little child like that.' Ms Schmitz said she has been left unable to sleep since 28 September. 'I can no longer take the bus and whenever I see a small baby I always think of Imani. It just breaks my heart,' she said. 'When I think of Baker I can't call her a mother, she is a monster. Both Baker and Wiltshire are the worse kind of people.' Rolf Harris, 87, is to be released from prison Rolf Harris is to be released from prison tomorrow, it has been revealed. The former TV star has been appearing by videolink at London's Southwark Crown Court, where he is standing trial accused of indecent assault. Judge Deborah Taylor told the jury that the 87-year-old would be released from Stafford Prison tomorrow and he would therefore appear in court in person on bail for the remainder of the trial. Jurors had previously been told Harris had already been convicted and sentenced for other offences in 2014. The judge told jurors: 'I just want to inform you that we will not be sitting on this case tomorrow. 'The defendant, Rolf Harris, is to be released from Her Majesty's Prison in Stafford tomorrow, May 18, and yesterday following an application by the defence which was unopposed by the prosecution I decided to grant Mr Harris bail in relation to the charges you are considering in this case. Jurors had previously been told Australia-born Harris (pictured with his wife Alwen, left, and daughter Bindi, right) had already been convicted and sentenced for other offences in 2014 'Of course, the fact that I am granting him bail will have no bearing you will make in due course. 'As a result, Mr Harris will no longer be appearing in this court over the videolink following his release from prison and will be attending what remains of the trial in person.' The trial, which opened on Monday, will not sit tomorrow. Harris is standing trial accused of indecently assaulting three teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also alleged to have touched a 13-year-old girl's breast after filming a children's TV programme and asked her: 'Do you often get molested in a Saturday morning?' He is separately accused of twice groping a third girl, aged 16, after being paid 100 to appear on ITV celebrity show Star Games in 1978, and telling her she was 'a little bit irresistible', the court heard. Australia-born former Animal Hospital host Harris denies four charges of indecent assault against three women between 1971 and 1983. Harris will be released from Stafford Prison tomorrow and he will appear in court in person Giving evidence in court on the trial's fourth day, one alleged victim denied she had 'fabricated' evidence against Harris. She told the court: 'I absolutely have not (fabricated evidence). One of the reasons perhaps it was easier for me to tell police is because I had told people over the years.' Asked by prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC if she came forward to testify against Harris because she was motivated by money, the witness replied: 'I'm not driven by money. I took a 75% pay cut (with my new job). 'I do feel strongly that men like Harris shouldn't get away with it.' Asked by Mr Rees if she was an 'attention seeker', the witness replied: 'I cannot imagine how anyone would conceive of doing this for any sort of kick.' Advisers to Donald Trump's election campaign allegedly shared at least 18 calls and emails with Russians in the final stages of the presidential race. Michael Flynn and other advisers contacted people with Kremlin ties during the last seven months of the campaign, according to current and former US officials familiar with the exchanges. The alleged discussions focused on mending US-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China. The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the US presidential election and contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia. Advisers to Donald Trump's election campaign allegedly shared at least 18 calls and emails with Russians in the final stages of the presidential race Six of the calls and emails described to Reuters were alleged phone calls between Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak and Trump advisers including Flynn, his first national security adviser. Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak allegedly accelerated after the November 8 vote. Four current US officials said the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the US national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations. In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time. The people who described the calls and emails said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election. Six of the contacts described were alleged phone calls between Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak and Trump advisers including Flynn (right), his first national security adviser The White House did not respond to requests for comment and Flynn's lawyer declined to comment as did a Russian foreign ministry official. A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: 'We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors.' The 18 calls and electronic messages allegedly took place between April and November 2016. During this time as hackers engaged in what US intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to influence the outcome of the election in favor of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Members of the Senate and House intelligence committees have gone to the CIA and the National Security Agency to review transcripts and other documents related to contacts between Trump campaign advisers and associates and Russian officials and others with links to Putin, said people with knowledge of those investigations. The US Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign and possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. Mueller will now take charge of the FBI investigation that began last July. Trump and his aides have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia. 'It's rare' In addition to the six phone calls involving Kislyak, the communications described to Reuters involved another 12 calls, emails or text messages between Russian officials or people considered to be close to Putin and Trump campaign advisers. One of those contacts was by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and politician, according to one person with detailed knowledge of the exchange and two others familiar with the issue. It was not clear with whom Medvedchuk was in contact within the Trump campaign but the themes included US-Russia cooperation, the sources said. Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk's daughter. The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling Medvedchuk denied having any contact with anyone in the Trump campaign. 'I am not acquainted with any of Donald Trump's close associates, therefore no such conversation could have taken place,' he said in an email to Reuters. In the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasized a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside, the sources said. Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional. 'It's rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power,' Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters. Flynn fired Beyond Medvedchuk and Kislyak, the identities of the other Putin-linked participants in the contacts remain classified and the names of Trump advisers other than Flynn have been 'masked' in intelligence reports on the contacts because of legal protections on their privacy as American citizens. However, officials can request that they be revealed for intelligence purposes. U.S. and allied intelligence and law enforcement agencies routinely monitor communications and movements of Russian officials. After Vice President Mike Pence and others had denied in January that Trump campaign representatives had any contact with Russian officials, the White House later confirmed that Kislyak had met twice with then-Senator Jeff Sessions, who later became attorney general. Kislyak also attended an event in April where Trump said he would seek better relations with Russia. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, also attended that event in Washington. In addition, Kislyak met with two other Trump campaign advisers in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention. Trump fired Flynn in February after it became clear that he had falsely characterized the nature of phone conversations with Kislyak in late December - after the Nov 8 election and just after the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia. Flynn offered to testify to Congress in return for immunity from prosecution but his offer was turned down by the House intelligence committee. Jo-Ann Walker, who previously avoided jail for allowing her garage to be used as a cannabis farm, has swerved a prison term again for getting the house through mortgage fraud A mother-of-three who let the garage of her suburban home be turned into a cannabis factory only got the 166,000 property by lying to mortgage lenders, it emerged today. Police discovered 15,000 worth of skunk plants at the Manchester home of Jo-Ann Walker, 38, and she later admitted allowing her property to be used to produce the illegal drug. The beautician avoided a prison sentence after a court heard she was pregnant, but police investigated her in a bid to recoup any proceeds of crime. They discovered she was loaned 149,000 by the Newcastle Building Society after fraudulently claiming she earned 2,740 each month working behind the bar of a pub. A PAYE number on a P60 form she submitted with her application to the building society was found to have never existed and Walker, now pregnant with twins, has now returned to court to face a fraud charge. Manchester Crown Court heard she had a total of four homes, including a house in Southport and also in the West Yorkshire village of Skelmanthorpe. Walker, now of Rochdale, admitted fraud by false representation but escaped jail after telling a judge she is now pregnant with twins. She was previously given a suspended jail term in 2015 for producing cannabis at a time when she was also pregnant with her third child. Walker's finances were investigated after police discovered a cannabis farm in her garage The court heard the investigation into her affairs began after police noticed a strong smell of marijuana plants emitting from her garage whilst she was on holiday in the US with her children then aged 16 and eight. Walker later claimed a builder whom she refused to name had secretly planted the crop after she hired him to some renovation work on her house. But she was found by a court to have benefitted to the tune of 487,000 and was ordered to pay back 113,000. Subsequent investigations revealed she had used a fraudulent template she bought online to apply for the mortgage on the Manchester house in January 2013. Prosecutor Laura Nash said: 'The property at that time cost 166,000 and the loan that she acquired was 149,000. She had said that her employment was at a bar in Doncaster where she was earning 45,000 a year and 2,740 per month.' 'She felt her employer was at fault for failing to provide her with the payslips. But ultimately she did exaggerate her income to be able to get the mortgage.' A court has heard she got the house in Manchester by claiming she earned 40,000 a year Her lawyer Nicholas Flanagan said his client had since paid back the loan to the building society and he blamed her former employer, a hotelier now in jail for tax evasion. Mr Flanagan added: 'At no point did she default on repayments on her mortgage and the loss to the building society has been insignificant. She had four properties and she sold those four properties and all of the mortgage companies recouped their money from those sales.' Walker avoided a jail term for a second time after the court heard she is pregnant with twins He added: 'She is married and is currently pregnant with twins and is due in October. She has always worked but has now become a stay at home mother to her two older children.' Handing her a suspended sentence, Judge Richard Mansell QC told Walker: 'You were a woman of previous good character and you have always worked up until very recently when you have decided to spend time taking care of your children including the two new additions when you give birth later on this year. 'This offending was a low harm case because there was no loss to the building society. You are clearly an excellent mother to your children, you also are a essential and regular carer for your mother. To send you to prison now after such a long period of time would be a disproportionally harsh punishment.' Walker must also complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay 100 victim surcharge. President Donald Trump has been mocked mercilessly on Twitter after claiming that 'no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly' than him. Trump turned a Coast Guard guardian ceremony into a media-bashing exercise on Wednesday as he returned fire on news outlets accusing him of sharing classified information with Russia and interfering in an FBI investigation. He protested: 'No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. 'You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams.' He added: 'I guess that's why I won.' In a defiant mood, he said: 'Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down and never stop doing what you know is right'. Donald Trump has claimed that 'no politician in history' has been 'treated worse or more unfairly' than he has The US President was speaking on the day he faced calls to be impeached over his handling of the sacking of former FBI director James Comey and his relationship with Russia Following that Trump was ridiculed on Twitter for his outlandish claims. Commentators were quick to point out Nelson Mandela - South Africa's first black president - spent 27 years in prison. Others referred to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and John Kennedy in 1963. One Twitter use tweeted a picture of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, inferring he had been treated worse than Donald Trump One Twitter user uploaded a picture of John Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963 Trump delivered this year's Coast Guard commencement address in New London, Connecticut. In between congratulating the graduating class and talking up the military division, Trump bragged about his own administration and defended his presidential record. 'I've loosened up the strangling environmental chains wrapped around our country and our economy, chains so tight that you couldn't do anything, that jobs were going down, we were losing business. We are loosening it up,' he stated. 'We've begun plans and preparations for the border wall, which is going along very, very well.' Continuing, Trump told cadets, 'We are working on major tax cuts for all. We are going to give you the largest tax cut in the history of our country, if we get it the way we want it, and we're going to give you major tax reform. 'And we're also getting closer and closer, day by day, to great health care for our citizens.' Trump was delivering this year's Coast Guard commencement address in New London, Connecticut Trump said he was 'setting the stage right now for many, many more things to come' without explaining what he meant. 'The people understand what I'm doing, and that's the most important thing,' he contended. 'I didn't get elected to serve the Washington media or special interests. I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women of our country, and that's what I'm doing.' 'I will never stop fighting for you, and I will never stop fighting for the American people. ' This is the shocking moment police are forced to break through the window of a car in order to rescue a one-year-old child in China. The toddler had been left alone in the vehicle for 40 minutes by its parents in Dongguan, China on May 16 while the pair went shopping. According to reports, passersby were alerted to the child after it woke up and started crying out for its parents. Police officers kicked through the window of the vehicle to save the one-year-old The child was removed from the vehicle after 40 minutes and was said to be covered in sweat According to reports, the parents of the child left their baby inside the car as it was sleeping at the time. They decided to go to the nearby shopping mall to buy things, leaving the child behind. However the toddler woke up while they were gone and started crying out for its parents. Passersby noticed the child and alerted police. The officer kicked through the window of the car's doors in order to gain access to the child Many people on Chinese social media have criticised the parents for leaving the child The toddler had been inside the car for around 40 minutes. Police attended the scene and broke the windows of the vehicle in order to rescue the child. It was dripping in sweat. Many people have criticised the parents actions on social media site Weibo. One user said: 'Such people do not deserve to be parents.' While another wrote: 'This is irresponsible behaviour.' And one user commented: 'This has happened many times recently.' An Eritrean migrant who is alleged to have cut off a fellow asylum seeker's eyelids and bit off his ears is said to have told his victim he was planning on eating his flesh. The unnamed 20-year-old is on trial in Hanau, Hesse, accused of attempted murder and serious assault but may now face further charges of cannibalism after a police officer testified. Prosecutors told the court the attacker, who was 19 at the time, stabbed his 18-year-old victim in the neck with two knives before biting off his ears, slicing away his eyelids and ramming a pen into his eyes in the frenzied attack in Germany. Speaking on behalf of the now blind victim, who has since moved to Switzerland, a police officer said the mutilated asylum seeker told him his attacker said he was going to eat him. Handcuffed suspect, seen left, hides his face behind court documents in the German court Although the victim survived the attack, which is thought to have been over a 50 debt, he lost his sight when he was stabbed in the eyeballs with a ballpoint pen, according to Hessenschau. It is alleged the Eritrean migrant chewed the 18-year-old's ears so they could not be re-attached. Hanau State Court heard that surgeons were lucky to save the young man's life - but he will never see again. The attack took place in Schluchtern in the state of Hesse in October 2016. The refugee attacker, 19, said he was incensed at the fact he had been 'stiffed' over the loan. But a criminologist said more must have lain behind what he described as an animalistic assault. Rudolf Egg from Wiesbaden said: 'The fact that the victim's ears were ripped off like a wild animal is almost animalistic - a most unusual case. The Eritrean attacker stabbed his 18-year-old fellow refugee victim with two knives in his throat before cutting off both of his eyelids and stabbing him with a ballpoint pen in both eyeballs 'The deed was by no means a normal brawl. If you only want to hurt your victim, you don't have to do such things.' The criminal psychologist suspects that it must have been about more than money. He added: 'Perhaps jealousy played a role. Because the perpetrator did not want his victim to be injured but to be displaced. 'He wanted him to look ugly and desecrated.' The court heard that a resident in the refugee accommodation where the assault occurred heard loud screams from the home of the perpetrator and called police. Officers broke down the door and seized the bloodstained attacker sitting on top of his victim, who was lying in a pool of blood. The victim, a Somalian, was rushed to hospital after the assault prosecutors labeled 'ritualistic'. The attacker is being charged with assault and attempted murder. 'The investigating authorities have never experienced here before this form of violence. The victim was cruelly mutilated and must reckon with permanent damage. It is unclear whether the man permanently blinded,' said a police spokesman at the time. Both men had homes in the same street but not in the same building. A verdict is expected in June. Advertisement Stunning pictures have emerged charting the incredible story of a French princess who had a fling with Queen Victoria's grandson before travelling the world as a big game hunter when she was forced to marry another man. Black and white photographs show British-born Helene of Orleans escaping her unhappy marriage to an Italian prince by touring Africa. Helene had earlier been barred from marrying Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Viktor the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, because of their different religions. The young royal - dubbed the Wandering Princess in a new book - went on to marry Italian Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Duke of Aosta in June 1895 and they lived in Naples where she became known for her charity work. But in a bid to escape the boredom of court life, the intrepid princess frequently set off for hunting and photography trips across Africa. Black and white photographs from the early 1900s show British-born Helene of Orleans escaping her unhappy marriage to an Italian prince by touring Africa. Helene is pictured with a water buffalo, shot near Neumann Camp, northeast of Mount Kenya in 1910 Helene had earlier been barred from marrying Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Viktor the Duke of Clarence and Avondale (right), because of their different religions. She is pictured, centre in the picture on the left, at the wedding of her sister Isabelle to their cousin Jean, Duc de Guise in 1899, accompanied by the Princess of Wales (left) - later Queen Alexandra - and her daughter Princess Victoria (right) In a bid to escape the boredom of court life, the intrepid princess set off for a life of travel, hunting and photography across Africa. She is pictured meeting King Mzinga of the Warundi, 1910 Helene was born in 1871 in Twickenham, London, after her family was exiled in 1848, she was raised in France after the law of banishment against the dynasty was repealed. She fell in love with Prince Albert - the eldest son of the future Edward VII and grandson of then reigning Queen Victoria - during a visit to Scotland in 1890 when she was 16 and he was 23. They embarked on a whirlwind romance and exchanged dozens of messages, with the Prince describing her as his 'beloved one' and 'an angel upon Earth.' 'Nothing on Earth would turn my resolve to stick to you whatever happens, even if I had to wait 50 years or more.' However, marriage to a Roman Catholic would have seen Albert forfeiting his claim to the British throne. Helene offered to become an Anglican while the prince considered renouncing his succession rights, once telling his brother: 'You have no idea how I love this sweet girl now, and I feel I could never be happy without her'. The young royal (left) - dubbed the Wandering Princess in a new book - went on to marry Italian Prince Emanuele Filiberto (right) di Savoia, Duke of Aosta in June 1895 and they lived in Naples where she became known for her charity work. The couple had two children (pictured) Prince Amedeo and Prince Aimone The travelling princess is pictured in a traditional canoe with tribesmen on the Busi River, near Nova Lusitania, Mozambique in 1909 The French princess had a fling with Queen Victoria's grandson before travelling the world as a big game hunter when she was forced to marry another man. She is pictured in her study Photos of Helene's travels have emerged in a new book, The Wandering Princess: Helene de France, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951) by Edward Hanson Widowed in 1931, Helene was married for a second time in 1936 to Colonel Otto Campin. She is pictured in her later years with her son Aimone. Helene (pictured in court dress wearing the Cisterna family emeralds in 1899) was born in 1871 in Twickenham, London, after her family was exiled in 1848. But she was raised in France after the law of banishment against the dynasty was repealed Queen Victoria is said to have relented after initially being opposed to the union, but Helene's father refused to countenance the marriage. The Princess took the final option she had left and sought an audience with Pope Leo XIII in the hope he would allow any children she had to be raised as Protestants. But in an account of the meeting, a friend told how she found Helene 'in tears by the Holy Fathers knee. The Holy Father said, "It is useless, you know I cannot compromise on the principles I represent".' Prince Albert, known as Eddy to his family, eventually became engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, a German Protestan in December 1891. But he died from pneumonia in 1892 at the age of just 28. Widowed in 1931, Helene was married for a second time in 1936 to Colonel Otto Campin. Helene (pictured in 1923) and Prince Albert - the eldest son of the future Edward VII and grandson of then reigning Queen Victoria - fell in love during a visit to Scotland in 1890 Helene is pictured, left, in formal court dress for an audience with the Pope, 1941 and, right, with her two sons Aimone and Amedeo The pictures also show the Princess on a visit to Mar Lodge in Scotland in 1906. Pictured left to right are The Prince of Wales (later King George V), Princess Victoria, The Princess of Wales (later Queen Mary), King Edward VII, (in front) Princess Maud of Fife, Queen Alexandra, Princess Alexandra (later Duchess of Fife), Helene, Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Prince Arthur of Connaught Princess Helene is pictured with her firstborn son Amedeo in 1898. She married Amedeo's father Italian Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Duke of Aosta in June 1895 Photos of her travels have emerged in a new book, The Wandering Princess: Helene de France, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951) by Edward Hanson. The book's preface says: 'Helene's life was one of broken expectations. Her one great romance, with Queen Victoria's grandson, was not allowed to flourish because of the difference in religion. 'When she did marry, it was with the hope of large inheritance from her great-uncle and godfather, the Duc d'Aumale, and the possibility that she and her husband might eventually succeed to the throne of Italy; neither happened.' Mr Hanson said that the only part of her life 'that never let down her expectations' was when she set off on 'a life travelling, hunting, and photographing in Africa'. The book also shows pictures of Helene during a visit to the Vatican in 1929. She was joined by Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin;Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta; Aimone, Duke of Spoleto; and Luigi,Duke of the Abruzzi Helene is pictured with her husband Emanuele Filiberto at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire at the time of their engagement, in 1895 Emanuele Filiberto is pictured awarding his wife a Silver Medal for Bravery in 1917. During their marriage she spent time travelling and hunting in Africa Helene dressed up in Egyptian native costume while visiting the country during her extensive travel in 1892 Family portrait: Helene is pictured (back centre) with her sisters Isabelle (left) and Louise (right) and their mother Princess Marie Isabelle of Orleans (front centre) The Princess is pictured with her two young sons Amedeo and Aimone in 1911 in another fascinating image from the book 'The starting point for this biography came when I purchased a small collection of postcards at the Olympia Book Fair in London. The dozen or so notes were mainly written by Helene to her childhood friend Renee Saint Maur, daughter to Camille Dupuy, her parents' private secretary,' said Mr Hanson. 'The cards were sent from France, Italy, and Switzerland, from Egypt and Ethiopia, and even from a hospital ship off the coast of Libya, a first indication to me of the widespread travels and interests of this woman. 'In her youth, she was renowned as a beauty; when she chose to drape herself with royal jewels for special occasions or official photographs, there was no disputing her regal dignity and poise, which some chose to interpret as pride and haughtiness. 'However, Helene was actually more comfortable in simpler garments, most especially the travelling clothes she wore during her many trips to Africa.' The Wandering Princess: Helene de France, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951) by Edward Hanson and published by Fonthill Media is available from May 25. Labour candidate Catherine Atkinson A Tory councillor sparked outrage on social media after suggesting a pregnant Labour candidate should not be elected as MP because she would be 'too busy changing nappies'. Jon Wright commented on a Facebook profile posted by Catherine Atkinson, who is standing for the Erewash seat in the general election, suggesting she may not be able to take on the role 'whilst on maternity leave'. Mrs Atkinson, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, posted a message describing herself as a barrister with a two-year-old son and a husband who served as a soldier in Afghanistan. Cllr Wright, who represents the Hallam Fields ward of Erewash Borough Council, wrote: 'Funny she never mentioned she was heavily pregnant? 'I wondered how she would represent the people of Erewash whilst on maternity leave? 'And if it's no problem why hasn't she mentioned it? She mentioned her 2 year old son? How can a woman who is just about to give birth take on a role as MP?' In a later post, he added: 'As a voter an (sic) I not entitled to wonder how a woman just about to give birth can be an effective MP? 'Its (sic) my vote and surely something so big should be discussed. Brexit on the horizon and she might be too busy changing nappies to be a voice for the people of Erewash. 'Seems strange to me and I'm not saying she is egotistical and in it for the money and status (sarcasm).' Scroll down for video Cllr Wright, who represents the Hallam Fields ward of Erewash Borough Council, wrote: 'Funny she never mentioned she was heavily pregnant?' but his comments prompted a backlash Councillor Jonathan Wright (left) commented on a Facebook profile posted by Catherine Atkinson (right), who is standing for the Erewash seat in the general election Mrs Atkinson, who is due to give birth in late July, hit back at Cllr Wright's comments, saying she would always stand up to 'bullies.' She said: 'If it's right that a Conservative councillor has said a mum with young children shouldn't run for Parliament, I have to say I'm not surprised - that's why they are called the 'Nasty Party'. 'He should apologise. I require an apology not for me - I'm used to standing up to bullies - but on behalf of all young mothers out there, they shouldn't be put off running for parliament. 'We need their voice - they are as much members of the community as anyone else. 'I am very lucky to have a supportive family and, like many dedicated MPs who are both mums and dads with young children, it's not going to be a problem. 'What I think is much more of a problem is the fact that so many MPs have second jobs. 'It's something I campaigned against when I stood last time and I will continue to do so. When people do have second jobs, they are not putting their constituents first.' While some social media users agreed Mrs Atkinson may not be able to dedicate enough time to being an MP, others were left furious by the comments. One Facebook user described the comments as 'sexist, 70s-style' and another woman said she took 'offence at elected officials acting in an overtly sexist manner, as it is offensive and unlawful.' Another user asked: 'And what has that got to do with politics? Are pregnant women all of a sudden incapable of doing anything?' Prospective MP Catherine Atkinson (centre) with Eddie Izzard (left) and Tom Watson The comments immediately sparked fury among social media users, who labelled it 'sexism' Alan Chewings, Labour candidate for Sawley, said: 'It's bad enough that we have Tory councillors who think and say this sexist nonsense, but what is even more disturbing is that the Tories allow this person to remain in the party. He should be expelled. 'He is an insult to all women with young children.' A spokesman for the Conservative Party in Erewash said: 'The recent comments made by Cllr Wright on social media are neither the views of the Conservative Party, or the Conservative Party candidate for Erewash, Maggie Throup.' Cllr Wright yesterday defended his comments, saying: 'I just think Catherine is due to give birth and that may coincide with, or be just after, the election, where she is going to have to be away from her role as an MP. Cllr Wright later apologised for his comments about Catherine Atkinson 'I just thought the voting public should be aware of that. It's been all blown out of proportion. 'I've been made out to be sexist - that's just ridiculous.' He later wrote on Facebook: 'It appears my comments regarding Catherine Atkinson and the fact she is due to have a baby shortly before or after the election have caused offence to a few people. 'I feel I was asking a legitimate question considering the demanding and time consuming role of being an MP is. 'If my comment appeared to be sexist or offensive in any way I unreservedly apologise, it wasn't meant to be that way.' Cllr Wright is the second Tory councillor this week to spark outrage with remarks on social media. Nick Harrington was suspended from the party after tweeting: 'Thanks Ireland, You can keep your f****** gypsies!' after watching the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night. An ex-navy officer has lost his case after trying to sue his father for cutting him out of the will after winning 101million on the lottery. David Dawes won the Euromillions jackpot with his wife Angela in 2011, but was taken to court by his son, an Afghanistan veteran, Michael Dawes, 32, who said he was 'ungenerous in spirit'. But today a judge ruled at Central London County Court the millionaire father does not need to keep bailing out his son, who burnt through 1.6million in two years, and came back for more, failing to heed his stepmother's advice to stop eating at the Ritz and go to McDonald's instead. He comprehensively dismissed Michael and partner James Beedle's claim, ruling: 'There was no basis on which any rational or normal human being could conclude that they could go back for more money whenever they wanted.' Scroll down for video Pictured outside of the court today, Michael Dawes, left, and his father David, right with his wife Angela. Michael is suing David after he was cut out of his will David and Angela scooped 101million on the Euromillions in 2011 and helped family and friends with the payout Michael, 32, claimed Dave and Angie, both 53, gave repeated assurances that he 'would always be looked after'. Michael and his partner, James, 34, said they assumed the cash would keep rolling in and based a series of key life decisions on that. The couple had received a total of nearly 1.6 million from Dave and Angie in the two years after the win, the court heard. But by 2013 'most of it had been spent', explained Judge Nigel Gerald. The pair spent 550,000 on a house in Portsmouth, where Michael lived, but also gave 250,000 to James' family. Michael then gave up his job in IT based on his father's 'assurances', despite telling the media in 2011 that the family money would not change him. His father had no idea that nearly 250,000 had been 'given away' by his son, and was 'baffled' when Michael pitched up in April 2012 - 'having pretty much run out of money'. But 'as a father he wanted to help his son out', said the judge, so he kept 'topping up' his funds. 'Michael took this as a demonstration that his father would cough up whenever asked, and this therefore buttressed his strange conclusion that his dad would financially support him for the rest of his life'. The judge concluded: 'I cannot accept this.' James Beedle, Michael's civil partner, who is joining him in the legal battle The Dawes became concerned by Michael and James' spending and called a family meeting in March 2013, at which they agreed to pay off some of the couple's debts. 'But Angie made clear that there would be nothing more,' explained Judge Gerald. And the 'sad denouement to this sorry tale' came at Angie's 49th birthday party in November 2013 - during which both father and son were the worse for drink. 'The evidence is that Michael behaved extremely badly, demanding 5 million from his father, and also verbally abusing and bad-mouthing Angie. 'That was the final straw,' and the party ended with the ex-Royal Navy man being 'pushed out of the house'. 'Since then Dave has not spoken to his son and no more money has been given to him,' the judge added. At one point James and Michael were spending around 20,000 to 30,000-a-month - with a 1,000 weekly grocery bill, which the judge termed an 'astonishing' level of expenditure. 'That was way outside their means', he said, adding that they seemed to have lived 'some sort of Walter Mitty existence'. David's 'largesse' was in the context of 'a father bailing out his profligate son', the judge said. 'But that couldn't give rise to an expectation of further bail-outs.' And the judge concluded: 'Michael was provided with the funds to have a comfortable life, but for his own reasons he chose not to take that opportunity. 'I therefore dismiss the claim.' But the couple who brought it have insisted there is no bad blood. After the ruling James Beedle, who has now transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary after leaving the Royal Navy, was philosophical. 'There are no hard feelings,' he said. 'We just thought we had a genuine claim.' 'Go to McDonald's instead' Angela said she told Michael to 'stop going to the Ritz for lunch and go to McDonalds instead' when she heard how he was burning through his cash. She added that she and Dave had doled out 1million each to 11 of their close family and friends within a month of their win. She described the 1m gift as 'absolutely mind-blowing', but added: 'I never thought it would be gone a couple of years down the road. 'We thought that 1m would more than cover them for life.' Left, Matthew Dawes, Michael's brother, who kept working after the windfall. Right, Angela Dawes, above in blue, told Michael to stop going to the Rita and go to McDonald's instead Judge Gerald asked whether she and David had ever talked about giving their children more than the 1million. She replied: 'No, we never had that conversation, it was always 1million. 'That should last for the rest of their lives.' She and David got irritated when they learnt how Michael was burning through his windfall, Angela told the court. 'I told him to stop going to the Ritz for lunch and go to McDonalds instead,' she explained. Also giving evidence was Dave's other son, Matthew Dawes, who like Michael received 1m from Dave and Angie. Matthew said their dad had been clear that they would need to 'keep working to pay the bills'. Angela and David's QC, Richard Wilson, attacked Michael and James's case as 'misconceived in fact and in law'. 'In reality it is born out of regret on Michael's part,' he told the judge. 'If they do not have the financial security that Dave and Angie's gifts could have provided them with, then they only have themselves to blame.' The estranged son and the former husband - Angela Dawes' life before she met millionaire husband David Angela Dawes' son, Steven Leeman (pictured left with Angela and his father John in 2000 and right with his father in 2011) Today, David and Angela Dawes celebrate victory after a judge ruled the couple do not need to bail out David's son, Michael. However, the legal battle between father and son is not the only issue the parents have had with their respective children. In 2011, Steven Leeman, son of Angela Dawes, revealed to the MailOnline the pair had not spoken for two years after she divorced his father, John. But in a statement, she denied the claims and said she loves Steven dearly. During the heartbreaking interview, Steven, then 17, and John said the relationship had dissolved so dramatically the pair would barely acknowledge one another if they walked past each other in the street. John and Angela met in 1992 when they both worked for the same product distribution company. However, after Steven was born, times became tough for them after John lost his HGV licence following a blackout at the wheel. Their house was repossessed and they were given a council house in Wisbech. Despite the financial hardship, John claimed the family was happy. John began working as a cab driver, as did Angela, to aid their financial woes. But John said Angela began to get itchy feet when Steven began secondary school. Eventually the pair divorced in 2006 after John said he came home from work one day to find his clothes on the drive. Steven lived with Angela at first, however, he said after asking why the pair had split up, his mother said: 'If you dont like it the way it is, you can live with your father.' John added that when he and Angela met up to get some clothes, the exchange was sour. She turned up, opened the boot, threw one bag at me and said: As far as Im concerned you are both dead, and drove away. In a statement provided to the MailOnline, Angela said she was saddened by reports that she had abandoned her son. A lot of what has been said since my divorce has been untrue and very hurtful, said her statement. Ive always wanted to be in contact with my son, who I love dearly, and very much still want to rebuild our relationship. Advertisement Overnight transformation The spectacular win in 2011 transformed Mr Dawes overnight from being an industrious factory worker to a multi-millionaire who need never work again. But they soon turned to helped their friends around them in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, making 20 of their friends millionaires as well, and setting up a charity. Overall, the couple lavished 30million on their friends and family, the court heard, as well as setting up their own charity. They made several of their friends millionaires too, and bought property in London and Portugal. The couple after their huge win in 2011 - which son Michael said would not change him. He ended up quitting his job thinking his father would continue to bail him out David Dawes and Angela Dawes outside Central London County Court, as they are sued by David's son Michael The couple had their dream wedding and bought a new engagement ring for Angela. But Michael, who was serving in Afghanistan when his father won the prize, insisted he was given repeated assurances that he would never be short of cash. He told the court on Wendesday that, when his dad phoned him from the UK to give him the good news about his win, he promised that, 'I would always be looked after'. He and his partner had been assured the money would keep rolling in and based a series of key life decisions on that assumption - including James, a former lieutenant in the Royal Navy Fleet Auxiliary, giving up his services career. Michael, a onetime lecturer at Southampton University, also claims that David is holding a 200,000 investment 'on trust' for him He said the money from his father and step-mother had helped him with his mortgage, to buy a BMW, and also to help out his own friends and his partner's family. David and Angela after the win in 2011. David became concerned at his son's rate of spending, when he found himself continually topping up the account David said that his son viewed the win of 101m as a bottomless pit of money and caused the pair to row at a birthday party Family disapproval Cross-examining Michael, the barrister said David had begun to 'express disapproval and concern that you were spending money so fast.' WHAT THE DAWES DID WITH THEIR 101M Made 20 of their friends millionaires Bought a flat in Chelsea, close enough for David to walk to matches Bought a house in Portugal, near where Angela's parents live Got married, splashing cash on luxury champagne and a suite Replaced Angela's 800 engagement ring Michael bought a 550,000 house in Portsmouth and he and his partner both quit their jobs Michael bought a BMW and also gave some money to his own friends and his partner James' family Advertisement But Michael told the court: 'My expectation was that this was an ongoing process, that there was more money coming in, and that this would be the process throughout my life'. He agreed there had been 'ups and downs' in his relationship with his dad, but insisted that David 'always wanted the best' for him and his brother, Matt. He had scarcely met his step-mother, Angela, before their lottery coup, and they 'didn't get on well' at their first meeting in 2008, he added. 'I found her very particular about what she wanted to eat, and quite fussy,' said Michael. Tensions developed between him and Angela after the win, climaxing at her birthday party in November 2013 when Michael turned up without a gift for her. Chelsea fan David used the money to buy a flat close to his team's ground so he could walk to matches. Right, the couple pictured in Bond Street soon after the win Angela with her former partner John and son Steve. She married lottery winner David after their win Asked by Mr Wilson why he failed to bring a gift, Michael explained that he had bought flowers instead as he knew she loved them. And he told the court: 'What do you give someone who has everything?' ANGELA'S LIFE BEFORE SHE BECAME A DAWES Angela lived with partner John and son Steve in a caravan in Cambridgeshire before she met David. Her former partner accused Angela of having a string of affairs, ending with David, and kicking him out of the flat they had eventually shared without prior warning. Son Steve, who was just 12 at the time, also claimed he was booted out after his father's departure. He went on to claim he didn't expect any of the millions as she didn't say hello or acknowledge him if they met in the street. He also claimed he had not received a birthday or Christmas card in the years following the split. But Angela said she was saddened by the claims when they were first made in 2011, and said she wanted to rebuild her relationship with her son. Advertisement Tempers flared during the party as father and son rowed about money, but Michael denied that he told his father he 'didn't deserve what he'd got'. He accepted that he was the worse for drink by the early hours, but claimed that David 'tried to come at me' and had to be held back by other party-goers. After the 'drunken disagreement', Michael sent an apologetic card to David on Fathers' Day, but there has been a rift between them ever since, the court was told. 'They have not spoken since and Dave and Angela's financial support has ceased,' added Mr Wilson. Michael explained that the case was a 'personal tragedy' for him, but he felt that the row with his dad had been 'essentially trivial'. And he accused David and Angela of showing 'arrogance and ungenerosity of spirit'. 'I saw how over time their attitude changed from being relatively humble to being rather grand. 'They expected the people around them to treat them differently because of their money,' claimed Michael. Making their friends millionaires One of the people they made a millionaire in 2011, was family friend Andy Smith, a father of three, and struggling factory worker. Mr Smith earns 23,000 a year at the food plant where David was a supervisor. David and Angela shared much of their wealth with friends and family, making several of them millionaires after their huge win Rags to riches: above, the caravan where Angela lived with her ex-husband and son before she met David The couple lived in a flat in this block in Cambridge before they won the jackpot, and were said to pay less than 100 a week A neighbour in Wisbech said: 'Andy has had a smile on his face like a Cheshire cat all week. He's a typical working-class man struggling to make ends meet and provide for his family.' But their generosity was ridiculed by Miss Dawes's ex-husband, John Leeman, who claimed she had left him and her son with 20,000 of debts after having a secret affair with Mr Dawes. Her teenage son Steven claimed in 2011 his mother abandoned him when she started her new life. And speaking after the huge win, son Michael said he wouldn't let the money change him. He said: 'My life is not going to change much at all I have just got to crack on with my job. 'I haven't been in it long and I need to just get on with life. 'I only got back from Afghanistan in June and I just started the new job in the defence industry last week so I have to keep up with that. 'It has all been a complete whirlwind since it happened.' Chloe Layley, 22, stepped in to try to defend one of her friends when she was set upon A 22-year-old woman was left lying in a pool of blood after being kicked in the head with a stiletto on a night out. Chloe Layley stepped in to try to defend one of her friends when she was set upon in Chelmsford, Essex, by 21-year-old Jusara Tavares-Fernando, who was later spared jail. The financial management associate fell to the floor after being punched in the head and then repeatedly kicked to the head until she passed out. She said: 'I came outside of the bar with my friend and we were walking down the street and there was a group walking towards us. 'The guys started a tiff with my friend and I just tried to calm them down - then she (Tavares-Fernando) just attacked me out of nowhere. She punched me in the head which knocked me on to the floor. 'Then I felt a really hard blow to my head and that was her first kick and that got me completely out. Witnesses told me then she kicked me another five or six times. 'I just remember waking up on the floor with loads of people around me and I was covered in blood.' Miss Layley suffered cuts and bruises as a result of the attack on December 12, 2015. Injuries: The financial management associate fell to the floor after being punched in the head and then repeatedly kicked to the head until she passed out Miss Layley, who works for Ernst & Young in London, had been on a night out with friends at Missoula Chelmsford when she was attacked. She was trying to stop a fight between a group of men and one of her friends when Tavares-Fernando launched herself at her. But in the 17 months since, Miss Layley has been left with crippling anxiety and depression and relies on medication to get by. She said: 'I have been taking medication every single day for the last two years to try and stop the mental pain from the attack. 'I have been back and forth to my GP to try and have my medication sorted. I have had to attend counselling, both through work and with the charity Mind. 'I've developed social anxiety, even at family events. I always fear something is going to happen, I even sit by myself at work.' Miss Layley remembered 'waking up on the floor with loads of people around me and I was covered in blood'. Her blouse is pictured following the attack Last week Tavares-Fernando was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, when she appeared before Chelmsford Crown Court. The attacker denied causing any injury to Miss Layley , insisting that she had actually hit someone else. 'I'm quite insulted she didn't admit what she did, she could have come forward and said it was her,' said Miss Layley. 'She didn't look remorseful. She didn't look at me once. I just think everything she said was a lie.' Miss Layley was praised by Judge Jonathan Seely for her decision to read aloud her victim impact statement. She had been on a night out with friends at Missoula Chelmsford when she was attacked 'I don't think I will ever get to be the person I was before the attack,' she said. 'But I would advise anyone going to court to stay in and listen after giving evidence. 'The last two years have been absolute hell but sitting in court, it has given me closure. I'd advise people to sit through it and to look their attacker in the face.' Miss Layley had been up for a promotion at the time of the assault but missed out as she dealt with her emotional and physical injuries. 'I did eventually go for my promotion at work but I wasn't anywhere near as confident as I was before the attack,' said Miss Layley. She added: 'I am OK to go clubbing with my friends now, but I can't be left by myself, I can't even walk through town on my own, day or night.' China has successfully mined flammable ice at sea after nearly two decades of research work. The flammable ice was discovered in the South China Sea in 2007. According to Chinese state run Xinhua, one cubic metre of combustible ice is equal to 164 cubic metres of natural regular gas. Beijing claims success in mining flammable ice 4,000 feet under the South China Sea Useful resource: Flammable ice was discovered on the bed of the South China Sea in 2007 The drilling phase: On March 28, China started a trial mining phase at a depth of 4,153 feet A revolution? The colour of flammable ice is close of that to normal water ice Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming announced the success on May 18. The mining site was located in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea, 320 kilometres of the coast of Zhuhai City. The trial mining started on March 28 at a depth of 4,153 feet. During the trial, around 16,000 cubic metres of gas was extracted each day. The methane content was up to 99.5 percent of natural gas. Footage shows the bore head being lowered down into the sea to extract the gas from the ice. The Minister claimed that it was a major breakthrough that may lead to a global energy revolution. The amount of predicted resources is equivalent to more than twice that of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Successful attempt: The Minister for Land and Resourced claimed it was a major breakthrough Burning the ice: During the trial, around 16,000 cubic metres of gas was extracted each day The Chinese used a floating platform as a base to then searching for the flammable ice When the ice is released from the seabed , methane gas is released which can then be burned The flammable ice was discovered in the South China Sea (File photo) The flammable ice, a kind of natural gas hydrate was discovered in the South China Sea in 2007. For the past two decades China has been researching and exploring the area. Combustible ice is found on the seabed. It can be ignited like solid ethanol. One cubic metre of combustible ice is equal to 164 cubic metres of regular natural gas. Zhong Ziran, head of the China Geological Survey Bureau told Xinhua that combustible ice is more environmentally friendly than oil. Qiu Haijun, director of the trial mining commanding headquarters told reporters: 'With the advanced technology we could help resolve the energy resource problem and boost economic development and exchanges between countries.' The US, Canada and Japan have also been researching into flammable gas. Earlier this month Japan announced it was successful at producing the natural gas on the pacific coast and will continue mining it for around three to four weeks, reports South China Morning Post. A former Australian soldier who punched a police officer and tried to strangle a female RSPCA inspector after recapturing his service dog, has avoided further jail time. Shane Van Duren, 43, was delivered a suspended two and a half year prison sentence and 200 hours community service on Thursday, following a violent confrontation with police and the RSCPA. Van Duren cut through three wire cages and freed his Belgian Shepherd, Kalu from a RSCPA headquarters in Canberra in late 2015. Court documents said the dog, which is part of Van Duren's therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, was seized after it was found on the streets 'looking thin,' according to The Canberra Times. Former Australian soldier Shane Van Duren (pictured) - who punched a police officer and tried to strangle a female RSPCA inspector after recapturing his service dog - has avoided further jail time Van Duren cut through three wire cages and freed his Belgian Shepherd, Kalu (pictured) from a RSCPA headquarters in Canberra in late 2015 Van Duren served in East Timor and has Kalu as part of his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder Two police officers and two RSCPA inspectors went to Van Duren's house to retrieve the dog, when the situation turned violent. A police officer tried to grab Van Duren's arm when the former soldier punched him in the face and placed him in a headlock. Court heard Van Duren then grabbed a female inspector by the throat as she approached him with capsicum spray. Van Duren was subdued after the second police officer struck his knees repeatedly with a baton. 'You're f****** dead b****, this is only 50 per cent of what I can do,' Van Duren said to the inspector after being taken down, the court heard. The 43-year-old spent 46 days in custody, and later plead guilty to assault and strangulation charges. Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told court that it was a serious attack on a female in her line of work by a trained solider, according to The Canberra Times. Kalu has since been returned to Van Duren, who said the dog is doing well and is 'where he belongs' Defence lawyer Louise Taylor said Van Duren was driven by desperation to not lose his dog when he attacked the officer and inspector. 'He felt quite desperate at the prospect of Kalu being seized and the prospect of living without the dog on a daily basis,' she said. 'He accepts it would have been a very scary incident for her and she would have been fearful throughout it.' Kalu has since been returned to Van Duren, who said he is doing well. 'He's where he should be, he's where he belongs,' he told the ABC outside court. 'He's good. The family are happy.' Van Duren served in East Timor where he was confronted with traumatic experiences, including the death of personnel in 1999 and 2000, Chief Justice Helen Murrell said. A road sign has been erected in North Adelaide with an embarrassing spelling error. The sign which went up on Wednesday afternoon, didn't help motorists who were looking for Adelaide's western suburbs. The large street sign is located on Mann Road near the turn off for Melbourne Street. A road sign has been erected in North Adelaide with an embarrassing spelling error (sign pictured after error was rectified) The gaffe was spotted by a Reddit user and posted online. The sign read: 'Northern & Wetern Suburbs' instead of 'Northern & Western Suburbs.' The photo attracted a number of comments online. 'They had one job,' one Reddit user posted. The sign was rectified later on Wednesday. In a statement given to The Advertiser the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure said the job was given to an experienced external contractor. 'The department was due to conduct a full site inspection following the completion of linemarking,' the statement read. 'The error in the sign was rectified within two hours of the department being notified.' The sign read: 'Northern & Wetern Suburbs' instead of 'Northern & Western Suburbs' An elderly woman has died months after suffering severe head injuries during a horrific attack at her home in Toongabbie. Anita Christanga, 78, passed away on Sunday after police found her in a 'semi-conscious state.' She was transported to Westmead Hospital where she later died. Ms Christanga was brutally beaten by an alleged teenager intruder on January 25th where she suffered bleeding on the brain, a broken eye socket, broken jaw and broken ribs. 18-year-old Brendan Burton has been in jail since the attack, and had an application for bail denied by a judge on Friday because he posed too great a threat to the public. Scroll down for video Anita Christanga (pictured) has died months after suffering severe head injuries as a result of a brutal home attack by an alleged teenager 18-year-old Brendan Burton (pictured right) has been in jail since the attack on January 25th after his alleged involvement in the brutal bashing Mr Burton's lawyer told the judge his client suffered from ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder, and had been the victim of abuse in prison. He requested Mr Burton serve time under home arrest until autopsy results were available to help take care of his ill father. But Justice Geoffrey Bellew said Mr Burton 'has a propensity for violence...and unacceptable risk of further violent offending.' Police are conducting further investigations and will consider increasing charges after receiving medical details of Ms Christanga's death. Mr Burton (pictured left and right) had an application for bail rejected on Friday after Justice Geoffrey Bellew said Mr Burton 'has a propensity for violence and unacceptable risk of further violent offending' House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he wants James Comey to testify on Capitol Hill, but he's having problems getting in touch with the fired ex-FBI head. 'His telephone number changed since he left government service,' Chaffetz told ABC's George Stephanopoulos Thursday morning. 'So I used to be able to text and call him. I do believe he has my telephone number, but I do hope to chat with him.' Chaffetz said to comply with House rules he's already sent a date for Comey to come testify, next Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. EST. Scroll down for video CALL ME, COMEY? House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told ABC's George Stephanopoulos he has no way to get in touch with the fired FBI Director James Comey FBI Director James Comey was spotted leaving his house in the D.C. suburbs over the weekend. Chaffetz can't get ahold of Comey because he no longer has his digits Stephanopoulos also asked Chaffetz about the more recent news of the day, the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be a special counsel, tasked with overseeing the Russian investigation. On Twitter Wednesday night, Chaffetz sang Mueller praises. 'Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted,' he wrote. Though he explained to the ABC News man that he wasn't fully sold on the concept of a special counsel being appointed. 'Well, I don't know if a special counsel was warranted at this point,' he said Thursday morning. 'I have not seen the direct full evidence of an actual crime.' 'I do think Director Mueller is the best possible choice he could have made,' referencing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who made the pick. As for the House's own investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and the tentacles touching the White House, Chaffetz said he'd like to see Comey's notes that said Trump had encouraged him to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Chaffetz also said he was doubtful that Comey's notes actually existed, explaining 'nobody has seen them, even the reporter that did the story hasn't seen them.' 'We have asked the Department of Justice to see those documents, I've said if we need to subpoena them we'll subpoena them, but we really do need to see the full content of these materials and also talk to Director Comey,' Chaffetz said. Stephanopoulos suggested that Mueller-led probe may prevent Comey from coming before Congress, which Chaffetz dismissed. 'That's hardly an excuse that's worked in the past and it's not going to work moving forward,' the Republican from Utah insisted. Comey, he said, needed to speak to Congress, 'In the light of day, in a public setting.' 'Clearly, we're taking this very seriously,' Chaffetz added. President Trump again bashed the Justice Department's decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in a meeting with network news anchors Thursday afternoon following his Twitter tirade earlier in the day. Then, in a joint press conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, he once ahain lashed out at the appointment. 'Well, I respect the move but the entire thing has been a witchhunt and there is no collusion, certainly myself and my campaign but I can only speak for myself and the Russians,' Trump said at the White House presser. 'Zero.' Several minutes later, he repeated the defense: 'There was no collusion. Everybody, even my enemies, have said there is no collusion.' At the luncheon with TV personalities, Trump bemoaned the appointment of ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel saying it further divides the country before smacking Democrats for what he viewed as their role in the decision. President Trump addressed the appointment of a special prosecutor several times throughout Thursday, including at his White House joint press conference President Trump (right) again addressed the appointment of a special counsel as he held a joint press conference with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (left) President Trump sent out an early Thursday morning tweet griping about the decision his Justice Department made to appoint a special counsel to the Russia investigation Trump followed up his initial tweet by proclaiming that the Russia probe is the 'single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history' Then FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a oversight hearing on Capitol Hill December 14, 2011 WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMP TOLD THE NETWORK NEWS ANCHORS I believe it hurts our country terribly because it shows we're divided, mixed up, not unified country and we have very important things to be doing right now, whether it's trade deals, whether it's military, whether it's stopping nuclear, all of the things that we have discussed today and I think this shows a very divided country. It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. That's all this is. I think it shows division and it shows that we're not together as a country and I think it's a very, very negative thing and hopefully this can go quickly because we have to show unity if we're going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world. Advertisement 'I believe it hurts our country terribly because it shows we're divided, mixed up, not unified country and we have very important things to be doing right now,' Trump told a number of network anchors who he held a lunch with at the White House. He followed up with pointing a finger at those across the aisle. 'It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way,' Trump continued. 'That's all this is.' He had started his day by blasting the decision on Twitter too. 'With all the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!' the president wrote, misspelling 'counsel.' He also dispatched his first use of the 'witchhunt' line. Despite often pointing fingers at the media to explain his own White House's mess, Trump Thursday broke bread with the likes of CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Fox News' Bret Baier, amid nine days of heavy, and negative, news coverage. Baier, however, suggested that the president seemed unfazed, not crushed or negatively impacted by recent events. At the presser Trump came off less jovial and more solemn than his usual self, trying to pivot away from the trio of scandals to tout progress with job creation, immigration enforcement and military action against ISIS. 'We have a lot of great things going on. So I hate to see anything that divides,' Trump said. 'I'm fine with whatever people want to do, but we have to get back to running this country really, really well.' He hit on that theme during his discussion with the anchors too, saying he feared that the investigation would prevent him from getting work done on issues like trade, the military and nuclear proliferation. 'All of the things that we have discussed today and I think this shows a very divided country,' Trump told the reporters, in an on-the-record statement during an off-the-record lunch. After he was done blasting the Democrats he repeated his charge that the United States was anything but united. 'I think it shows division and it shows that we're not together as a country and I think it's a very, very negative thing and hopefully this can go quickly because we have to show unity if we're going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world,' Trump said. On Wednesday, the deputy attorney general announced that he had signed off and made former FBI Director Robert Mueller a special counsel to carry forward the Russian investigation that the FBI had began. 'As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,' Trump said in a statement released several hours after the news broke Wednesday night. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein arrives on Capitol Hill on Thursday for a closed-door meeting with Senators a day after appointing former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaig The Justice Department announced that Mueller would serve as special counsel, and would have 'all appropriate resources' to carry out the probe during a week when Trump's White House was battered by disclosures about his contacts with the Russians and his firing of former FBI Director James Comey. When asked Thursday about Comey, and whether he had askd him 'in any shape or form to close or back down the investigation into Michael Flynn,' the president gave WJLA's Scott Thuman a curt answer. 'No, no, next question,' Trump replied. Though there are still many questions swirling around about Comey's abrupt dismissal, which were not helped by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's trip to Capitol Hill Thursday. Rosenstein, according to comments made by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill to reporters on Capitol Hill, knew Comey was being shown the door, even before he wrote his memo that Trump initially pointed to when looking for a reason to ax the FBI chief. 'He did acknowledge that he learned Comey would be removed prior to him writing his memo,' McCaskill said. The White House has spent weeks batting back efforts to install an independent outsider to lead the Russia probe, saying there are already sufficient probes. As Special Counsel, Mueller will have a wide berth to follow the investigation where he sees fit, and set his own terms for how much information he wants to reveal or withhold. Democrats in Congress have been pushing for an independent investigation that would be free from interference from Trump administration officials, as well as a special congressional commission that might probe deeper into charges that Russia tried to sway the election through hacking and other means. It wasn't immediately clear how or whether Trump's contacts with Comey and reported efforts to either steer or inquire about the FBI's Russia probes played a role in the decision. The White House had repeatedly an independent investigation wasn't needed. Wednesday night, Trump said he hoped the investigation would be speedy. 'I look forward to this matter concluding quickly,' he said. 'In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.' President George W. Bush appointed Mueller to lead the FBI in 2001. He was reappointed by President Obama 10 years later to serve an addition two years. He has a reputation among members of both parties for probity. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the move Wednesday evening, after getting grilled during his own confirmation hearings about under what circumstances he would be willing to appoint a special counsel. 'In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,' Rosenstein said. 'My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command,' he continued. Rosenstein added, 'Each year, the career professionals of the U.S. Department of Justice conduct tens of thousands of criminal investigations and handle countless other matters without regard to partisan political considerations.' He continued: 'I have great confidence in the independence and integrity of our people and our processes. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, however, I determined that a Special Counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome.' 'Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result,' he added. Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference A letter appointing Mueller as special counsel charges him with investigating links 'between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump' Sen. John McCain compared Trump scandals to Watergate in scope in comments Tuesday, where he also referenced Iran-Contra Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US President Donald Trump, and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak (L-R) talking during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House In this Sept. 4, 2013, file photo, then-incoming FBI Director James Comey talks with outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller before Comey was officially sworn in at the Justice Department in Washington Rosenstsein's letter tasks Mueller with investigating links 'between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.' The wide scope also includes 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation' which would appear to include any efforts Trump may have made to interfere with the FBI's investigation of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn. 'I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability,' Mueller said in a statement. Rosenstein didn't inform the White House or the Attorney General of the decision until after he had signed the order, CNN reported. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was spotted at the White House about 5 pm Wednesday, about an hour before the news broke. It wasn't immediately clear what Sessions was doing at the White House. In response to an inquiry from DailyMail.com, a DOJ official said: The White House was informed after the order was signed as was the attorney general. In Mueller, the department has tapped a counsel with a reputation for probity. The soon-to-be special counsel was born outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and earned degrees from Princeton, New York University and the University of Virginia. President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner pauses while speaking to a member of the audience as he arrives for a news conference with President Donald Trump and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos A decorated war veteran, he served as a Marine in Vietnam and came home with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and two Navy commendation medals. Mueller took over the helm of the FBI in 2001. In July, after he was nominated by then President George W. Bush, the Justice Department announced that he had prostate cancer and would undergo surgery. That surgery was scheduled for three days after his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His nomination passed unanimously on the Senate floor on August 2, 2001, 98-0. Mueller didn't fully step into the job until September 4, 2001, a week before the Sept. 11, terror attacks. Democrats have been calling for an independent probe of Moscow's alleged election interference since the existence of the FBI's Russia probe was reported and then confirmed by ex FBI Director Mueller during Trump's first 100 days in office. The calls only increased after Trump sacked Comey last week. The president said in an NBC interview that the FBI's Russia probe, which he has called a 'hoax,' was on his mind when he decided to fire Comey. The New York Times reported Tuesday that according to a memo written by Comey, Trump had asked Comey to back off in the FBI's probe of ex national security advisor Mike Flynn, whose own Russia connections are under investigation. Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the sprawling FBI investigation, NBC News reported. Although Republicans have provided considerable cover for Trump, there were early stirrings of more aggressive oversight on Wednesday. House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speaks during a press conference after a classified meeting of the committee in which they reviewed documents related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn in the Capitol on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who has been criticized by committee Democrats for not taking an aggressive investigative stance toward the Trump administration, wrote the FBI on Tuesday seeking copies of 'any and all documentation the fired FBI director James Comey kept of his communications with President Donald Trump.' The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has its own investigation of alleged Russian election interference, also wants Comey to appear in closed and open session. It asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to hand over any notes Comey has of conversations between the White House and Justice Department officials about the Russia probe. Still another panel, the Senate Judiciary Committee, is also seeking documents. Panel chair Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and ranking Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California wrote the Justice Department and the White House on Wednesday seeking documents. Democrats, for the most part, greeted the development positively. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who worked under President Obama, called Mueller 'Incorruptible.' 'As long as his charter is appropriate defined and he is properly resourced, this is a good move.' Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware sent out a bevvy of tweets praising Mueller. 'Director Mueller helps restore confidence in the independence and integrity of the ongoing investigation into Russian interference,' he wrote, calling the ex-FBI head a 'strong choice.' Some Democratic lawmakers, while praising the choice of Mueller, again pointed a finger at the Trump administration and demanded that the probe be given proper resources. MUELLER'S ROLE IN WASHINGTON'S MOST-TOLD STORY ABOUT JIM COMEY During Mueller's tenure at the top of the FBI, he was involved in one of the most memorable parts of his successor Comey's biography. As the story goes, Comey whose firing last week by President Trump teed of the White House's most recent troubles received a call in 2004 informing him that President Bush's White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card were heading to the intensive care unit where Comey's boss, John Ashcroft, the attorney general, lay ill. Gonzales and Card wanted Ashcroft to sign off on a reauthorization of President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program, which the Republican president had signed off on in the aftermath of 9/11. The Justice Department had just deemed the program illegal. Comey, serving as the deputy attorney general, alerted Mueller and then rushed to Ashcroft's hospital bed, barely beating Gonzales and Card, according to an account from the Washington Post. Ashcroft, at that time, refused to sign. The White House officials eventually stood down, when Bush relented, after both Mueller and Comey, along with Ashcroft, threatened to resign. Advertisement 'And now that the Justice Department has rightly turned the reins of the investigation over to an independent special prosecutor, it is critical that former Director Mueller is given the resources he needs to get to the bottom of Russias attack on our democracy, without any interference from the Trump administration,' said Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota. Republicans' responses were more mixed. Sen. Lamar Alexander praised Mueller's 'independence and integrity' while working with both Presidents Bush and Obama. 'Which are exactly the qualities needed to pursue the Russia investigation to its conclusion,' Alexander said. The Tennessee lawmaker also urged the Senate to continue its investigation and bring ex-FBI director Comey before Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said nothing to Mueller's character, but pledged the Senate's probe would go on, and said appointing a special prosecutor ensures the FBI's investigation 'will continue.' House Speaker Paul Ryan said, 'My priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead.' 'That is what weve been doing here in the House,' he continued. 'The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice.' The House's 'important ongoing bipartisan investigation,' Ryan also said, will continue. Advertisement A bustling underground community that was constructed by residents of a bomb-ravaged Kent town in the Second World War and featured a hospital, a concert hall and a wealth of other amenities is revealed in fascinating photos. Ramsgate residents adopted a completely subterranean life at the height of the Second World War, after 500 Nazi bombs were dropped on the town in just five minutes on August 24, 1940, destroying their homes and businesses. Some 300 families took to living in the tunnels on a permanent basis. The scene in the tunnel network underneath Ramsgate where people sought safety during the Second World War One of the entrances to the tunnels is shown during the war (left) while some of the street signs can be seen (right) Life underground became their norm with street signs, canteens, shops and other services operating in the tunnels. The elaborate labyrinth also hosted concerts and there was even an underground hospital. Muriel Lilley's late husband grew up in Ramsgate and visited the tunnels while on leave from the Commandos during the war. Mrs Lilley said: 'It was like one big family down there, everyone knew each other. 'You'd bump into neighbours or people that used to go to the same shops as you. 'After so many people were made homeless by the bombs they just moved into the tunnels permanently. 'There were barbers down there, greengrocers, everything. Some people would play music, and there were concert parties to keep up morale.' The design of the two-and-a-half miles of tunnels built under Ramsgate meant that no-one was ever more than a quarter of a mile from an entrance. Phil Spain, of the Ramsgate Tunnels heritage group, said: 'The reality was that a lot of Ramsgate residents were evacuated, so the tunnels could hold the whole town. Ramsgate residents adopted a completely subterranean life at the height of the Second World War, after 500 Nazi bombs were dropped on the town Life underground became their norm with street signs, canteens, shops and other services operating in the tunnels. The elaborate labyrinth also hosted concerts and there was even an underground hospital Makeshift bunkbeds can be seen here running down the corridor. Some 300 families took to living in the tunnels on a permanent basis 'At one point, there were just under 1,000 people living down there. They're unique in being the only civilian and not for military use tunnel network. 'It's the most extensive underground public shelter system in the country, if not the world.' One of the deepest points of the tunnels stretches 90 feet below the surface and was accessed by three steep flights of stairs, which surfaces outside the Holy Trinity Church. And despite every tunnel being carved from the cliffs by hand, the air raid section of the maze was built in just nine months. It was this vast burrow, measuring over three miles, that saved hundreds of lives in the town during the war. Ramsgate and the surrounding area had been badly bombed during the First World War and in 1938, with war on the horizon, Borough Engineer RD Brimmell applied to Westminster to build a vast network of underground tunnels beneath the town. After initial refusals, Ramsgate council's third application in 1939 was approved by the Home Office, and work commenced using local labour. By June of that year, the first section had already been finished and the Duke of Kent did the honours at the official opening. The design of the two-and-a-half miles of tunnels built under Ramsgate meant that no-one was ever more than a quarter of a mile from an entrance These long tunnels (pictured left, in 1939) were filled with large groups of families escaping German bombs (right, in 1940) Mr Spain said: 'There's a story of a man who got shellshock and spent four years down here. 'When he finally climbed the stairs to get out, he collapsed from a heart attack and died.' But, despite their wartime connection, the largest of the tunnels actually dates back much further than the Second World War, opening in October 1863 as a railway tunnel serving Ramsgate Harbour Station. The line closed in 1926 when the current Ramsgate station opened, but the tunnel was brought back into use in 1936 when a narrow gauge railway ran between Hereson Road and the seafront. People today can take a guided walk through the historic tunnels, which re-opened as a tourist attraction in 2014. Advertisement A Danish homeware brand famous for making bins has branched out into making micro houses, with a line of cabins it describes as a 'battery-charging station for humans'. Vipp, which started life 75 years ago with the invention of pedal-controlled waste bins, plans to sell its 'Shelter' mini dwellings for more than 410,000. The metal and glass micro homes take six months to build and up to five days to install. The glass walls of the Vipp homes offer sweeping views of wherever the owner chooses to build their home. The cabins have been described by their creators as an escape from urban chaos The slick black cabins are described as a 'battery charging station for humans' by Vipp, the company which makes them. They feature ladders to climb onto the roof of the one-storey block The unusual metal and glass cabins are fitted with Vipp products, including kitchen equipment and a small upstairs bedroom The glass exteriors give full views of the surroundings, and the retailer says the new cabins will cost more than 410,000 The new cabins are a far cry from the company's origins creating waste bins and selling household products Boss Kasper Egelund descibed the cabins as a 'battery-charging station for humans'. And a statement from the company said: 'Vipp has made a plug-and-play getaway that allows you to escape urban chaos.' The prefabricated homes, which are made just north of Copenhagen, are metal and glass boxes fitted with furniture, lighting and shelving made by the company. Each cabin has a kitchen, dining area, bathroom and room with a daybed on the ground floor, and a small sleeping area upstairs. Referring to the company's new route, a Vipp statement said: 'There is no evident link between a pedal bin, a kitchen and a shelter, but enter the shelter and the philosophy of one, long-lasting, functional tool per category is embodied in every object you see.' It takes around six months to build one of the homes, and then up to five days to put them in place, the company said. The cabin is pictured here before it is transported A simple steel grid structurally supports the two level space, where only the bathroom and bed loft is shielded from the main living space. The Shelter is pictured under construction The metal and glass micro home is carefully lifted from a lorry to wherever the owner's land is - ideally in a secluded natural setting The prefabricated cabins are lifted into place, and are then fitted with products made by Vipp, a Danish retailer founded 75 years ago The lower floor of the 55 square foot buildings include bathroom and kitchen areas, while there is a bedroom upstairs. A famous Vipp bin is pictured in this bathroom The cabins are metal and glass rectangular boxes which are elevated from the ground and sell for more than 410,000 The prefabricated buildings contain items created by Danish retailer Vipp, including bedding and shelving units A statement from the company said: 'Vipp has made a plug-and-play getaway that allows you to escape urban chaos' The glass walls of the cabins can be slid open to get homeowners even closer to nature The luxury Honduras prison where notorious MS-13 gang members were allowed to play video games on 52-inch TVs and take advantage of a sex room have been unveiled. A transfer of hundreds of members of organised crime gangs from an overcrowded jail to a new maximum security prison has unearthed details of the pampered lifestyles they have left behind. A total of 773 gang members have been moved from a prison in Tamara, near the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa, to the new El Pozo 2 jail in La Tova in the western Honduran department of El Paraiso. The designer flat-like cells were kitted out with air conditioning, colour-coordinated furniture, food blenders, coffee machines and well-stocked fridge-freezers. An enormous 52-inch screen used by MS-13 gang members to play video games like FIFA The gang members were living in relative luxury inside the prison with well-stocked fridges The Karmasutra sex room which was made available to senior gang members when their wives visited Some of the inmates even had access to a special comfort room with mirrors and ambient lighting, dubbed the Kamasutra, for conjugal visits with their wives and girlfriends. Entering the Kamasutra was reportedly a privilege for gang leaders and other senior gang members who earned the right through carrying out crimes for their bosses. And, when they could not enjoy the pleasures of female company, the inmates organised computer game tournaments to keep themselves amused behind bars. All the prisoners are believed to be members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs in Honduras which is regarded as one the most dangerous countries in the world. Hondurans were shocked when pictures of the conditions they had enjoyed at the severely overcrowded Marco Aurelio Soto prison were posted on social media. They included photos of nicely-decorated cells with games consoles where prisoners were allowed to play top games including FIFA and Grand Theft Auto. In one room, wall decorations included a mirror framed in the shape of a snake in the shape of the number 18 to denote the Barrio 18 gang. Pictures on the walls included former, mostly dead, gang leaders. One room had a mirror framed in a snake shape and also portraits of deceased gang leaders As well as access to the sex room and huge TV's, prisoners were also able to get their hands on food blenders and PlayStation games God of War, FIFA, Uncharted 3 and Grand Theft Auto The gang members were transferred to their new maximum security prison under a heavy security escort supervised by the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez. Prisons in Honduras are notorious hotbeds of gang activity, with fights, extortion, drug deals and killings common in the countrys overcrowded facilities. Having swelled to 20,000 members in just two decades the MS-13 gang has gained notoriety for the brutal way members eliminate their enemies. The group was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the United States after a violent civil war left over 100,000 dead. The mob's habit butchering victims with machetes and shooting rival gang members in the head points to a chaotic and scatter-gun approach, but there is a level of sophistication behind their operations in the US. It has been revealed MS-13 is organized around five separate ranks, with secret coded messages shared every day on social media in a complex chain of command ruled by chiefs in El Salvador. Four unidentified members of the Mara Salvatrucha "MS-13" (juvenile gang) show their tattoos in the unit where they are kept imprisoned in the National Penitentiary in Tamara Local residents pass by graffiti in the MS-13-controlled El Bosque neighborhood in Tegucigalpa Foot soldiers for the gang must seek permission, sometimes from head honchos inside prison, to carry out executions. But despite the business-like organization of the group, there is not always big money at stake - members must pay as little as $10 to join in the first place. The gang has since spread all over the country, and are known widely as the best killers - due to their exceedingly brutal weapon of choice, a machete. They have clashed regularly with the Barrio 18 firm both inside and out of prison. The MS-13's rivals also go by the name of the 18th Street Gang, because it started in the 1960s near 18th Street in LA's Rampart District. Two teenage cousins were killed and their disabled uncle suffered severe burns when their family home in Iowa became engulfed in flames early Monday morning, in what investigators are calling an act of arson. Law enforcement officials said Wednesday that the deceased girls have been identified as 16-year-old Shakiah Cockerham and 12-year-old Melanie 'Paige' Exline, both of Guthrie Center. Their uncle, 54-year-old William Long III, was hospitalized with extensive burns to his upper body in the Monday house fire and was flown to an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital, where he remained Thursday. Scroll down for video Smoldering carcass: This house on Main Street in Guthrie Center, Iowa, became engulfed in flames Monday morning after being set on fire by a mystery arsonist The inferno took the lives of 16-year-old Shakiah Cockerham and 12-year-old Melanie 'Paige' Exline, and injured their uncle The girls' 74-year-old grandmother, Shirley Exline, escaped with only minor injuries. The Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office found arson to be the fire's cause, and a criminal investigation has begun. According to a press release from the Guthrie County Sheriffs Office, on Monday at 12.27am the Guthrie Center Fire Department received a call about a fire at 1005 Main Street. By the time they arrived on the scene, the residence was completely engulfed in flames. It took firefighters 15 hours to put out the blaze. The charred frame of the home was still smoldering Monday afternoon, surrounded by piles of blackened debris. The home on Main Street did not have functioning smoke detectors, reported WHO-TV. Speaking to the Des Moines Register on Wednesday, Shirley Exline recounted how her two granddaughters, Shakiah and Paige, were clinging to her as they tried to escape the burning home before an explosion sent the grandmother flying into the yard. It took firefighters 15 hours to put out the flames. The house had no working smoke detectors The two cousins stayed behind and perished in the fire. Their deaths have been ruled homicides. Shirley said that in the chaos of the fire, she caught a glimpse of an unknown man leaving her home. So far, no suspects have been named and no arrests have been made. Shirley had been raising Shakiah from infancy and had been named Paige's guardian in March. She also has been caring for her middle-aged son, William Long, who has a brain tumor. Shocking twist: In April, Paige Exline's brother, Noah Exline, 19 (pictured in his mugshot), was charged with sexually abusing his sister at least seven times She was in the process of trying to gain full custody of Paige and was due in family court for a hearing this Friday. Last month, Paige's brother, Noah Exline, 19, was charged with sexually abusing his sister while she lived with him and their father, James Exline. Shirley told the newspaper that since taking Paige into her home and becoming her guardian, she had been threatened twice by a woman allegedly associated with the girl's family. According to court records, Noah Exline has admitted to at least seven counts of sex abuse involving his younger sister. A news report from Raccoon Valley Radio dated April 7 stated that Paige Exline claimed her brother started molesting her when she was just nine years old. Noah was booked into the Green County Jail on charges of second-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child and was later released. Officials investigating the arson and double homicide in Guthrie Center have not commented on a possible link between this case and the sexual abuse case. School friends of the deceased girls remembered Shakiah Cockerham as an outgoing and kind girl who loved drawing, while her cousin Paige was described as the 'cool' girl who enjoyed dancing. A pair left 15,000 worth of 2p coins on a busy London canal path and secretly filmed the reaction of passersby. The brilliant social experiment divided the greedy from the generous, with dozens enjoying the sight until two men completely cleared the pathway and made off with the change. Businessman Jamahl McMurran and artist Lana Mesic carried out the stunt on the towpath of Regents Canal, near Kingsland Street, at 9am yesterday. A pair dropped 15,000 worth of 2p coins on a London path and secretly filmed the reaction of passersby The pair dropped off the 300 mound of pennies, left over from one of Lanas recent art installations, and set up a camera in Jamahls flat to capture peoples reactions The brilliant social experiment divided the greedy from the generous as the duo looked on from a flat nearby Businessman Jamahl McMurran and Lana Mesic, a Croatian artist and photographer who was staying with him, carried out the stunt on the towpath of Regents Canal, near Kingsland Street, at 9am yesterday The Croatian artist and photographer who was staying with Mr McMurran dropped off the 300 mound of pennies, left over from one of Lanas recent art installations, and set up a camera in a flat nearby to capture peoples reactions. They managed to get four hours of 'exciting' footage before two men swiped the 300 pile. The video they filmed includes a 'magical' man who stood on the coins and scooped them up before throwing them into the air. While children were spotted playing and taking their own photos. Mr McMurran told MailOnline his guest came up with the idea: Lana was trying to figure out how to get 100 worth of 2p coins back to Holland and we were coming up with ways she could get rid of them. I flippantly suggested the project then the next day, Lana got to work with organising it. He said they were shocked in a good and bad way after watching the video. He said: We both had an idea about what was going to happen, we knew some people would enjoy it. And we expected others to come and steal it. But what we really wanted was someone to come along and give it to charity. What we were really interested in though, was studying peoples behaviour. They managed to get four hours of 'exciting' footage before two men swiped the 300 pile Mr McMurran: 'It was completely random but very exciting.' He said he was 'gutted' when two men stole the entire pile of coins, adding he wished a homeless person would find them Children, women, men and those passing by were caught on camera over a four-hour period stopping to marvel at the sight. Some were seen pinching the odd penny while one man played with the coins, throwing them in the air. That all stopped though after two men came along and took every last penny. Mr McMurran said: I went back in the evening to check and there were zero left, not a single coin. But while people on social media were quick to condemn the two men, Mr McMurran said it was important not to make assumptions. He said: You never know why they took them, its easy to make assumptions but it could have been for charity, for a homeless shelter, who knows. Beijing has unveiled a homegrown combat chopper that's said to be capable of destroying the most powerful tank in the world. Two-seat Z-19E, also known as 'Black Hurricane', is built to cater to the international market as Beijing aims to expand its presence in the global market for military aircraft. Chinese state media claimed that the single-rotor, narrow-body aircraft is one of the most advanced helicopters of its kind worldwide. Scroll down for video China's new military helicopter, Z-19E, made the maiden flight today in the city of Harbin The two-seat aircraft is also known as 'Black Hurricane' in the West or 'Yuan' in China The attack helicopter has been designed to cater to the international market, reports said Z-19 HELICOPTER: THE ORIGINAL MODEL Seat: Two Length: 12m (39ft) Height: 4.01m (13ft) Weight: 2.3 tonnes Maximum takeoff weight: 4.5 tonnes Maximum speed: 305 kph (189 mph) Range: 800km (497mi) Cruising speed: 245 kph (152mph) Source: China.com.cn Advertisement The light attack helicopter debuted to the public in September, 2015, and made its maiden flight today in Harbin, north-east China, according to People's Daily Online. The aircraft is expected to perform air-to-ground strikes, air-to-ground fire support and air-to-air combat in complicated weather conditions. The newspaper claimed it has 'excellent combat abilities. Its nickname in China is Yuan, which stands for 'Yours Useful Available Necessities', as the Chinese authority expects it to help the country gain market share against Western competitors. The helicopter is said to feature a multiple rocket launcher, which could fire more than a dozen rockets at the same time. Chinese state media claimed that 'Black Hurricane' is capable of destroying the most powerful tank in the world The military helicopter features a multiple rocket launcher and can marry four missiles Z-19E is designed and built by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China in Harbin The aircraft took to the skies for the first time today at a military airport in Harbin It could also carry four air-to-ground missiles, which have been described as the helicopter's secret weapon, according to Xinhua News Agency. The state Chinese news agency claims that the missiles could destroy the most powerful tank in the world. In addition, bullet-proof armour have been fit on the pilots seats, which could block bullets from a 12.7mm machine gun, reports said. The Chinese media are yet to release key statistics or the price of Z-19E. But it's been reported that its maximum take-off weight is 4.25 tonnes. The aircraft is expected to carry out air-to-ground strikes and air-to-ground fire support It's also expected to perform air-to-air combat in complicated weather conditions Z-19E is said to be an improved version of Z-19, which is 12 metres long (39 feet), 4.01 metres tall (13 feet), with a range of 800 kilometres (497 miles). The helicopter's features are also said to be similar to those of a Z-19 Z-19E is designed and built by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a state-owned firm specialised in manufacturing military and industrial aircraft. Chinese industry experts expect 100 to 150 Z-19Es to be sold in the next 10 years to worldwide clients. 100 to 150 Z-19Es are expected to be sold in the next 10 years to worldwide clients The global market for military helicopter is likely to witness a steady growth over the next decade because of an increase in defense spending globally, according to a report released in December, 2016. North America and the Asia-Pacific are likely to be the key pivots for military choppers between 2016 and 2025, followed by Europe and the Middle East, said the report. Besides Z-19, Aviation Industry Corporation of China is the manufacturer of C919, China's first domestically built passenger plane. The narrow-body, twin-engine plane is Beijing's first step toward independence from Boeing and Airbus as it attempts to replace all 6,000-6,800 of its western aircraft at a cost of around $1 trillion. Single-aisle C919 made its maiden flight on May 5 in Shanghai. A mother-of-three has spent the past three weeks in intensive care after getting botulism from a bad batch of gas station nacho cheese. Lavinia Kelly is one of five confirmed botulism cases in Sacramento County, California. In addition to the five confirmed cases, there are three more probable cases and one suspected case. All nine remain hospitalized. Kelly's family say the 33-year-old was leaving work on April 21, when she stopped at Valley Oak Food and Fuel gas station in Walnut Grove for a snack. She purchased some nacho cheese which she drizzled over a bag of Doritos. Within hours she started to feel sick. Scroll down for video Lavinia Kelly, 33 (pictured), has spent the past three weeks in the intensive care unit after getting botulism Kelly got botulism from nacho cheese she purchased at a Walnut Grove, California gas station Symptoms of the botulism include double vision, slurred speech, drooping eyelids and muscle weakness Botulism is a potentially fatal poisoning that is caused by eating foods that have been contaminated with the botulinum toxin. It most commonly occurs in homemade canning, when the food is improperly preserved. Symptoms of the illness include double vision, slurred speech, drooping eyelids and muscle weakness. Kelly's partner Ricky Torres told the Sacramento Bee that the following morning, Kelly went to the hospital when she started having double vision. They sent her home a few hours later, but that evening she started vomiting and having difficulty breathing. Her family drove her back to the emergency room, and the next day doctors hooked her up to a ventilation machine and admitted her to the intensive care unit. 'I've never seen my sister ... not have function of her body or be able to communicate. And I've never seen my sister on tubes or anything like that,' Kelly's older sister, Theresa, told KXTL. Kelly is a mother of three. She has been unable to move or even open her eyes by herself The family has field a negligence lawsuit against Valley Oak Food and Fuel gas station for the poisoning Just weeks before, happy pictures on Facebook show Kelly helping her sister down the aisle. Kelly's partner says the poisoning has gotten so bad that Kelly can no longer open her eyes. If she wants to see someone, others have to hold her eyelids open. On Wednesday, Kelly celebrated her 33rd birthday from her hospital room, unable to move. The county revoked the gas station's permit to sell food and drink on May 5 and is urging anyone who ate the gas station's prepared foods from April 23 to May 5 to contact their doctor immediately. Kelly's family have since hired a Seattle law firm that specializes in food safety issues and they have filed a negligence lawsuit against the gas station. '(The gas station) should have been more aware. Theyre handling that stuff every day. I know they probably didnt make the cheese per se, but they handle that stuff in the store,' Torres said. Kelly's sister Theresa wipes away a tear as she speaks about the tragic incident Just weeks before the poisoning, Kelly, left, was helping her sister, right, down the aisle 'Somebody needs to be accountable. Somebody needs to pay attention to what the heck they're... what they're doing you know? It's crazy,' Dawn Kelly, Lavinia's mother, added. According to the lawsuit, Kelly's 'medical condition is poor, and her prognosis uncertain.' Bruce Clark, the family's lawyer, would not say how much money they are suing for, but he says similar cases in the past involved millions of dollars. 'Only human mistakes create the environment for botulinum toxin to form,' Clark said. 'We will use the lawsuit to learn more about the source of the food product that was contaminated. The source of the food product may be unrelated to the gas station; it could be a commercially made, pre-packaged item. Thats an essential question.' In 2014, there were 161 reported cases of botulism in the U.S. Only 15 of them were food-borne, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with medical costs. DNA from a priest's exhumed body does not match evidence in the slaying of a Baltimore nun whose decades-old unsolved murder is now featured in a Netflix documentary, police say. Father Joseph Maskell's body was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery in February as part of the investigation into the 1969 death of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik. Detectives revealed on Wednesday that after weeks of testing, Maskell's DNA did not match evidence found from the murder scene nearly 50 years ago. Father Joseph Maskell's (left) body was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery in February as part of the investigation into the 1969 death of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik (right) Sister Cathy, who was an English teacher at Archbishop Keough High School, went missing in November 1969. Her decomposed body was found two months later dumped in a Lansdowne field. The 26-year-old nun had suffered blunt force trauma to her head. She was rumored to be a confidante of girls who claimed they had been raped and abused by Maskell when he worked at the school as a counselor and chaplain between 1967 and 1975. Sister Cathy's murder case is the subject of the upcoming Netflix documentary The Keepers: Who Killed Sister Cathy?, which is scheduled to air on Friday. The documentary examines the theory that the nun was killed because she knew of the alleged abuse and knew too much about the web of pedophiles operating within the church. Maskell's remains were exhumed in February from a Baltimore cemetery and his DNA was compared to crime scene evidence from nearly 50 years ago Sister Cathy's (right) murder case is the subject of the upcoming Netflix documentary The Keepers: Who Killed Sister Cathy? (left), which is scheduled to air on Friday The Keepers features testimony from Sister Cathy's former students who say they were raped by Maskell and terrified into keeping quiet about it. A trailer for the series points the finger squarely in his direction for her killing. Maskell died in 2001. He was never arrested or charged with the young nun's murder. In police probes about the sexual abuse, he denied all the accusations against him. Detectives would not reveal what evidence remains of the nun's death. Video courtesy of WJZ They said Maskell's remains were sent to Bode Cellmark Forensics in Lorton, Virginia so his DNA profile could be compared to crime scene evidence. Police said DNA profiles of about a half-dozen suspects have been compared with crime scene evidence over the years. None have matched. Detectives say the most recent results mean their best chance for solving the crime is with people who are willing to come forward with information. Sister Cathy, who was an English teacher at Archbishop Keough High School (above), went missing in November 1969. Her decomposed body was found months later dumped in a field The deadline to sign up for this free community event that is open to all is Nov. 16. Kennebunk Post "We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night." UberEats delivery driver Ahmesaidali Aden (above), 25, was caught with 25,000 of crack. He claimed he turned to peddling cocaine because he couldn't pay his drug debts on a zero-hours contract An Uber delivery driver caught with 25,000 of crack claimed he turned to peddling cocaine because he couldn't pay his drug debts on a zero-hours contract. Ahmesaidali Aden, 25, stashed the quarter-kilo of drugs in the seat compartment of the moped he used to deliver food for the smartphone app firm UberEats, which customers use to order restaurant meals. Aden had previously worked as a courier for online shopping platform Amazon, but neither job paid enough to keep underworld creditors at bay, Manchester Crown Court heard. Now Aden, of Moss Side, Manchester, has been jailed for 40 months after admitting possessing class A drugs with intent to supply. He was caught after police raided an address in Withington on April 11 and examined his scooter parked outside. They found four large rocks of crack cocaine, of 88 per cent purity, in a paper bag in the storage area. Aden was offered the drugs, which he was told had been stolen from another dealer, as a way of working off debt, and told he could keep a slice of the profits, the court heard. He has five previous drug offences on his record and was last jailed in 2015 for cannabis dealing. Defence barrister Ian Metcalfe said: 'The circumstances in which this man found himself back before a crown court are regrettably depressingly familiar. Aden, of Moss Side, Manchester was caught when police found four large rocks of crack cocaine, of 88% purity, in a paper bag in the storage area of his UberEats scooter. (File image) 'He's a drug user. He accumulated debts because he was using more drugs than he was paying for. 'These debts carried forward and were increased by the drugs recovered when he was arrested in possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He went to prison and was released. 'He came out of prison with the best of intentions, he sought work and found work, zero-hours contract work, as a delivery driver, initially with Amazon, then UberEats, again zero-hours contract work. 'The two effects of that were that he didn't have the money to discharge his previous drug debts and also he had a lot of spare time on his hands. Inevitably he came back into contact with old associates. 'He was reminded that he owed a debt. In time those reminders became slightly more pressing.' Sentencing, Judge Hilary Manley said Aden was 'no stranger to the courts'. Sending him down, the judge said she took into account the 'real efforts' he 'had made to secure and maintain legitimate employment'. A young father who was told he had only two months to live has had his brain tumours disappear after receiving groundbreaking drug treatment. Sydney man Leigh Miller, 29, was diagnosed with advanced melanoma last year that spread to his liver, lung, blood and brain. Doctors delivered Mr Miller a devastating prognosis of only two months to live, 9 News reported. But a trial drug treatment issued to the father-of-two by Sydney's Melanoma Institute has delivered 'game changing' results. Scroll down for video A young father (pictured) who was told he had only two months to live has had his brain tumours disappear after receiving groundbreaking drug treatment Sydney man Leigh Miller, 29, was diagnosed with advanced melanoma last year that spread to his liver, lung, blood and brain Mr Miller received immunotherapy drugs Yervoy and Opdivo that conjured the power of his immune system to fight the cancer. MRI results show the tumours on Mr Miller's brain have disappeared, one year after treatment. Mr Miller said he was devastated at the thought of not being there for his family, but now can see a bright future. 'Having two kids, thinking not going to see them grow up. Having a wife, not being there for the rest of my life or their lives together,' he told 9 News. MRI results show the tumours on Mr Miller's brain have disappeared, one year after treatment '[Now] I can see a life ahead of me with my kids,' Mr Miller told 9 News. Melanoma Institute professor Georgina Long said the drug treatment is 'groundbreaking' and a 'game changer'. 'What we want to do is get an army of immune cells to kill the tumour. The first drug gets that army together, the second allows that army to get down there and kill,' she said. Doctors said the drug treatment should be given preference for patients whose melanoma has spread to their brain, according to 9 News. The body of child killer Ian Brady has been released to his lawyer ahead of his planned cremation. Police had guarded the body overnight over concerns for its safety amid continued public revulsion at his horrific crimes half a century ago. The coroner's office today allowed the release of the body to the executor of his will, solicitor Robin Makin, following assurances the killer's ashes will not be scattered over Saddleworth Moor, where Brady and Myra Hindley buried their victims. The body of Ian Brady, pictured (left) after his arrest in the 1960s and (right) in a court sketch at his last court appearance, has been released ahead of his planned cremation Brady died at Ashworth High Secure Hospital in Maghull, Merseyside, on Monday The Moors Murderer died at Ashworth High Secure Hospital in Maghull, Merseyside, just after 6pm on Monday. Brady wanted The Ying Tong Song by the Goons to be played during the committal of his body for cremation, The Times reported this week. A man who wrote to Brady during his years in prison claims he wanted his ashes to be scattered in Scotland, near his birthplace in Glasgow. A Merseyside Police spokesman said this afternoon: 'Responsibility for the body has now transferred to the executor of Ian Brady's will and Merseyside Police has no further involvement.' Brady and Hindley were jailed for life for the killings of John Kilbride, 12, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, 17. They went on to admit the murders of Pauline Reade, 16, and 12-year-old Keith Bennett. Pictured: Tributes to missing victim Keith Bennett. Brady's body was released on the condition his ashes not be scattered over Saddleworth Moor, where his victims were buried Terry Kilbride, brother of killed John Kilbride, said Brady should be buried within prison walls Keith's body has never been found after Brady failed to inform police of its location during his 51 years behind bars. Martin Bottomley, head of Greater Manchester Police's cold case review unit, said the case remained open and officers would act on 'credible and actionable' information which would help them find the body of Keith. He said: 'Whilst we are not actively searching Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester Police will never close this case. Brady's death does not change that.' A man who struck his head after tumbling over a railing at Chicago's Wrigley Field has died. The Cook County medical examiner's office says 42-year-old Richard E Garrity of Wheaton was pronounced dead Wednesday at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Authorities say Garrity, who worked as a marketing manager with Heineken, fell over a railing after Tuesday night's game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Police say he suffered head trauma from the fall. Richard E Garrity was attending the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds baseball game with his wife Emily at Chicago's Wrigley field when he plunged over the railing and was rushed to the hospital The Wheaton, Il native was pronounced dead on Wednesday and had suffered head trauma from the fall that happened approximately 45 minutes after the Cubs beat the Reds 9-5 'The thoughts and prayers of our entire organization are with his family during this difficult time,' said the Chicago Cubs in a statement according to the Chicago Times The drop happened approximately 45 minutes after the Cubs beat the Reds in a 9-5 victory right behind the right field line seating bowl area. The medical examiner has scheduled an autopsy for Thursday to determine the cause of death. 'The thoughts and prayers of our entire organization are with his family during this difficult time,' said the Chicago Cubs in a statement according to the Chicago Times. The medical examiner has scheduled an autopsy for Thursday to determine the cause of death of the father of two 'He was a great guy; everyone loved him,' Garrity Sr. said of his son (pictured). 'When he walked in a room, there were no strangers' Garrity was said to have been a lifelong Cubs fan Garrity had attended the Cubs game against the Cincinnati Reds as part of a work outing with his colleagues and his wife, said his father Richard Garrity Sr. 'He was a great guy; everyone loved him,' Garrity Sr. said of his son who was a father of two. 'When he walked in a room, there were no strangers.' His father added that Garrity was a lifelong Cubs fan. This is the moment a bullfighter throws his hat to the former king of Spain after dedicating his kill to him - before plunging his sword into the animal. King Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 and was replaced by son Felipe, was thrown the matador's cap as he watched proceedings at the 'San Isidro' Fair at Las Ventas Bullring in Madrid. The 79-year-old, who once described the blood sport as a 'Spanish asset that we have to support', could be seen reaching down to grab the hat. Matador El Fandi - considered one of the most skilled bullfighters in the world - leaps as he prepares to lance an exhausted and already badly injured bull with a banderilla - a wooden stick, about two feet long, with a metal barb at one end Bullfighting supporter King Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 and was replaced by son Felipe, reaches down to grab the hat of a matador who dedicated his bull to the monarch Bullfighter Miguel Angel Perera prepares to thrust a knife into another bewildered and bleeding animal during the Madrid 'San Isidro' festival Moments later, the matador who dedicated his killing to the king plunged his sword into a bull. Two years ago, the monarch was spotted at another festival in San Sebastian where he told reports it was 'thrilling' to share the experience with his daughter and grandchildren 'who have always supported the national fiesta'. It comes just days after thousands of protesters took to the streets of central Madrid calling for bullfighting to be banned in the country that invented it. Bullfighting great El Fandi kneels down as he torments an injured bull during a performance at Las Ventas. Former King Juan Carlos attended the event El Fandi raises his hands as h ecelebrates with the huge crowds who paid to see him slaughter a bull Former King Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 citing personal reasons, believes the savage blood sport is a 'Spanish asset that we have to support' Royalty: Spain's Princess Elena (left) was also in the crowd for the 'San Isidro' Bullfight Fair 'We are fighting to end the corridas and any spectacle organised in Spain which mistreats animals for people's amusement,' 48-year-old lawyer Sandra Barrena, one of the protesters, told AFP. 'Torture is not culture,' chanted the marchers, who also called for the end of all grants to bullfighting events. In 2010, the Catalan government voted to ban deadly bullfighting in the northeast region but last year Spain's top court overturned that decision, judging that it was part of Spain's cultural heritage. The bullfighting tradition has drawn increasing controversy and protests around Spain in recent years, with demonstrators turning up and taking to Twitter to denounce what they feel is a brutal, anachronistic event. Saturday's protest followed a similar one in Madrid last September. On the run: A bull chases a bullfighter during one of the performances at the San Isidro fair in Madrid, Spain, A baying crowd watches on in Madrid as Spanish bullfighter 'Perera' prepares to butcher another heavily bleeding animal Four members of the Insane Spanish Cobra gang in Michigan are accused of taking turns to rape a 13-year-old girl and then tattooing her with gang insignia. Jacob Yrles, 19, Anthony Bunn, 18, Terry Taylor, 23, and Steven Erwin Washburn, 26, are collectively facing more than 40 felony charges after they allegedly attacked the girl in Flint in 2014. The men faced court on Wednesday in Genesee County where the judge ordered they go to trial ongang, sexual assault and gun charges, Michigan Live reports. The teenage victim, who had run away from home, told the court she was attacked over a two-day period in the summer of 2014 after only just meeting the four men at a party. Jacob Yrles, 19, and Steven Erwin Washburn, 26, are among the four charged with sexually assault a 13-year-old girl in Flint, Michigan in 2014 She had turned down an offer to join the primarily Latino gang, but testified that she left the party with the men and went to a liquor store. The girl claimed that on their way to the store, Bunn pulled a gun out from his pants and then hid it again. Later when they arrived at a home, the girl said she had a 'gut feeling' something wasn't right when the group of men started whispering together. She claims Yrles then grabbed her and took her to the garage where he blindfolded her and sexually assaulted her. The girl testified that when Yrles left the garage, Bunn entered and said 'You're not done yet'. The teen said Bunn, Taylor and Washburn all then allegedly took turns sexually assaulting her. Terry Taylor, 23, and Anthony Bunn, 18, are among those going to trial on gang, sexual assault and gun charges over the alleged attack in 2014 'I did not say yes and I was too scared to say no,' she said in court. 'I got the feeling there was no saying "no".' She claims that the following day, the four gang members took her to a bedroom in the home and allegedly forcibly drew tattoos on her body. The girl claims the men tattooed a gang name they assigned her on her left hip, a three-point diamond Cobra insignia on her right hip and two large gang tattoos on her back. When questioned in court, the girl said it took so long to come forward with the allegations because she was traumatized. The men have been charged with five counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault, gang membership, gang recruitment, unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and carrying a concealed weapon. Bunn is also facing an extra charge of felony firearm. The four men remain in custody and are looking at life sentences if convicted. Amber West, Brittney Stiles' sister, recalls the moment her sister who shot by her husband The sister of an Alabama woman gunned down by her husband has spoken of the look of fear in her eyes before she was shot and how she called for help as she lay dying. Brittney Stiles' sister, Amber West, said she will never forget the moment her sibling was shot multiple times by her military veteran husband Joshua outside her Russellville, Alabama home. West said: 'When you see your sister get gunned down and you can't do nothing, that's something people will never understand. 'I will never forget that look of hate he had when he shot her. The look of fear in her eyes when he drew the gun on her, I'll never forget it.' 'She said, 'Help me, help me,' West told AL.com about the moments after her sister was shot. 'She died in my arms gasping for air and nobody will every truly know how that feels.' Authorities in Russellville were called to a home on College Avenue at around 7am on Tuesday after receiving a reports of a shooting. Officers who responded to the scene found 22-year-old Brittney Stiles suffering from a fatal gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead on the spot in the presence of her family members including her unharmed two-year-old daughter with Joshua. Brittney Stiles' sister, Amber West, said she will never forget the moment her sibling was shot multiple times by Joshua (left) Couple's feud: Joshua Stiles, 30 (left), allegedly shot dead his 22-year-old wife, Brittney (right), in Alabama before turning the gun on himself Heartbreaking: The couple's 2-year-old daughter was said to have been present when her father fatally shot her mother nine times Mrs Stiles was placing her daughter in her car sear inside this white sedan when police say her husband opened fire As officers were processing the crime scene, a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy caught a glimpse of a black F-350 Ford pickup truck driven by the victim's husband, 30-year-old Joshua Stiles, and gave chase. Officers from multiple agencies joined the pursuit, which took them into neighboring Colbert County and ended 40 minutes later with a crash after authorities laid down spike strips on Highway 247 to try and stop the vehicle. They say Stiles tried to go around a roadblock that had been set up by the police but lost control, slid off into a ditch and slammed into two trees, according to Times Daily. When officers approached Stiles' wrecked vehicle, they say they discovered the suspect dead from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver. An autopsy will be performed on his body to determine the exact cause and manner of death. Joshua Stiles led police on a 40-minute chase in his black F-350 Ford pickup truck (pictured), which ended with a crash and his suspected suicide Motive: Police say Tuesday's violence was the culmination of a two-week-long domestic dispute between the married couple, pictured left during Brittney's pregnancy and right with their daughter at a costume party Brittney was pronounced dead on the spot in the presence of her family members including her unharmed two-year-old daughter Lured to her death: Police say Joshua had threatened the toddler Tuesday to make his wife come home Brittney and Joshua Stiles' relationship had experienced verbal abuse and some conflict, West said. 'But he never put his hands on my sister,' West said. 'Until yesterday, things never got physical. There can be no signs of domestic violence and this still happen to somebody wonderful.' Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett has revealed to the Franklin County Times that the suspected murder-suicide was the culmination of a two-week-long domestic dispute between Joshua and Brittney Stiles. On Tuesday morning, the married couple were arguing and Brittney left, but she was forced to return to their home after her husband allegedly threatened their two-year-old daughter. On May 9, Joshua wrote on his wife's social media page in the comments section below a striking selfie of the young woman, 'You're so beautiful baby!' Brittney came back for the child and was placing her in her car seat when the police chief said her husband shot her, reported the station WHNT. The child was in the backseat of the vehicle and was not physically harmed. She is now being cared for by family members. Brittney's sister, Amber West, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her funeral, writing in the fundraiser's description that the 22-year-old woman was shot nine times by her husband. 'He killed her in front of me and my mother,' West stated. 'Her daughter was in the back seat of her car when he emptied to clip on his gun into my sister.' West said Brittney died in her arms after gasping for air and begging her, 'Help me, sis.' Officials said Joshua Stiles was given an honorable discharge from the military in 2016. His final Facebook post, dated May 13, consisted of a selfie taken last year, showing Stiles with his older daughter, likely from a previous relationship. West added the family has experienced tragedy in the past, including the death of her 6-year-old brother who succumbed to cancer in 2003. 'I really want to ask people to pray for us -- especially my mom,' West said. 'This isn't the first child she's lost, and she's still in shock.' Military man: Joshua Stiles was given an honorable discharge from the military in 2016. Their daughter (pictured right with mom) was not physically harmed in Tuesday's shooting The orphaned girl is now being cared for by family members, having lost both of her parents On May 9, a week before the alleged murder-suicide, he commented on a photo of his and Brittney's toddler, which she posted on her page, writing, 'Daddy's little angel.' That same day, he wrote on his wife's social media page in the comments section below a striking selfie of the young woman, 'You're so beautiful baby!' Brett Baier, Greta Van Susteren, Geraldo Rivera and Kimberly Guilfoyle were among those who paid tribute to former boss Roger Ailes after news of his sudden death. The popular television hosts all expressed their condolences following Ailes' passing while also sending their regards to his wife Elizabeth and son Zack, opting to say little else about the polarizing executive in their brief posts. This was not the case however with Sean Hannity and Rupert Murdoch, who both released lengthy statements about the man they worked side-by-side with for two decades. 'Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes,' said Murdoch in a statement on Thursday. 'A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping Americas media over the last thirty years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted.' Scroll down for video Gone: Fox News employees and friends of founder and former CEO Roger Ailes (above with Rupert Murdoch in 1996 at the launch of Fox News) remembered the media titan after his passing on Wednesday Memories: Ailes and his wife Elizabeth one month before he passed away in a photo shared by Matt Drudge (above) High honor: He wasn't perfect, but Roger Ailes was my friend & I loved him. Not sure I would have been President w/o his great talent, loyal help,' said Pres. George H.W. Bush (above) The Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox and Fox News went on to say: 'Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. 'At 21st Century Fox we will always be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Elizabeth and son Zachary.' It was just ten months ago that Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James forced Ailes to step down from his post at Fox News after two decades in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual harassment against the then-CEO. Lachlan and James have yet to comment on the passing of Ailes. Ailes also got some high praise from another former boss, George H.W. Bush, who he advised during his campaign for president. 'He wasn't perfect, but Roger Ailes was my friend & I loved him. Not sure I would have been President w/o his great talent, loyal help. RIP,' said the elder President Bush. In a lengthy post on Twitter, Hannity remembered Ailes as a 'patriotic warrior' and 'second father,' adding that the media titan was now hard at work preparing to 'kick the a**' of his enemies in his next life. 'Today America lost one of its great patriotic warriors. Roger Ailes. For Decades RA's has impacted American politics and media,' wrote Hannity about his good friend and former boss on Thursday. Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes. A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping Americas media over the last thirty years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted. Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. At 21st Century Fox we will always be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Elizabeth and son Zachary. -Rupert Murdoch on Ailes' passing 'He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape singlehandedly for the better. 'Neither will ever be the same again as he was a true American original. Few people in this life will ever reach the profound level of impact that Roger Ailes had on the country every single day. As his opponents played checkers in life, Roger was always the strategist, playing Chess, 5 steps ahead at a whole other level.' He then said: 'On a personal note, were it not for Roger Ailes, I would not be the person I am today.' Hannity went on to write about how Ailes took a chance on him when he was first starting out by giving him a job on the network, adding that they then became even closer when the news anchor lost his father six months after starting at Fox News. He closed by writing: 'But to his enemies know this; I say ADVANTAGE ROGER, In his mind he just has a head start in preparing to kick your a** in the next life. 'God speed Roger Ailes!' Elizabeth Ailes released a brief statement as well after her husband's passing, saying: 'I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning. 'Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to riseand to give back. 'During a career that stretched over more than five decades, his work in entertainment, in politics, and in news affected the lives of many millions. And so even as we mourn his death, we celebrate his life..' In a more subdued tweet, Guilfoyle wrote: 'RIP #RogerAiles sending my love and prayers to Beth & Zachary. Roger was a friend and a mentor to so many of us @FoxNews he will be missed.' Baier echoed that sentiment, writing: 'Love and prayers to Beth and Zach. R.I.P Roger - you changed television as we know it.' Among those keeping quiet in the first two hours after the news of Ailes' passing were former employees Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, who both accused the former CEO of sexual harassment. He built a powerful conservative television network, but then he abused his power. He will be remembered both for the powerful network he built, but also for the women he victimized and who were courageous enough to make him accountable for his misconduct towards them. -Gloria Allred on Ailes' passing Meanwhile, Lisa Bloom, who has represented a number of women that have accused Ailes and Fox News of harassment, wrote: 'Roger Ailes has died. Let all his victims now be ungagged for the true, full reckoning of his life. And give them back their jobs.' She also fired back at David Axelrod when Obama's chief strategist wrote that despite the sexual harassment scandal that brought him down, his impact on Politics and media was 'indisputable.' 'For better or worse? Do dozens of women victims leave this as an open question? Thanks for the mansplain,' wrote Bloom. Gloria Allred, who also represented a number of women who accused Ailes of sexual harassment, said in a statment: 'He built a powerful conservative television network, but then he abused his power. He will be remembered both for the powerful network he built, but also for the women he victimized and who were courageous enough to make him accountable for his misconduct towards them.' Geraldo Rivera, who was both an employee and close friend of Ailes, wrote: 'OMG #RogerAiles is gone, devastating news, & Erica & I send our condolences to Beth, their son Zack & the entire family. He was a great man.' He followed that up soon after by writing: 'RIP #RogerAiles one of the most impt broadcasters in history-The genius who created #FoxNews -a good friend, who loved his family & country.' And he closed out his thoughts by writing: 'Friends for decades #RogerAiles hired me twice-at #CNBC & #FoxNews after 9/11. I so lament his passing & the circumstances of his last year.' Kennedy wrote: 'I will talk about the passing of Roger Ailes on my show tonight at 8pET. God rest his soul. #RIPRogerAiles' Great Van Susteren wrote: 'My heart goes out to Beth and Zach and yes Roger was the tv genius as everyone has said this morning.' Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs wrote: 'Roger Ailes died this morning, our deepest sympathies to Beth and his son Zach. Roger was a media genius, good friend and great American.' Laura Ingraham wrote: 'Roger Ailes founded one of the most important and successful media outlets in American history. I will miss his friendship dearly. RIP.' She then went after reporters who were criticizing Ailes and speaking about his sexual harassment scandal in their coverage of his death, saying their 'nasty commentary' made her miss Ailes even more. Also remembering Ailes was Matt Drudge, who posted a photo of the executive and his wife smiling at their Florida home. 'Spent magical day with Ailes in Palm Beach last month. He loved life, country, Beth. News! We sat for 9 hours. He was excited for the future,' wrote Drudge. It is one of the few photos of Ailes that has been released since he left Fox News last July. Harris County prosecutors may choose not to pursue a case of 'sexual assault' between two juveniles if they feel violence or coercion were not involved, according to public attorney Jackie Stewart Gravois. But others in the state of Texas are not so lucky. Josh Gravens is one of them. In an interview with The Texas Observer in 2012, he told how he and his sister had touched one another intimately twice in 1999, when he was 12 and she was eight. That came after his own sexual abuse at the hands of a female babysitter and her two male friends, he said. 'I was sexually confused, and it started to play out with my sister ... Like, where my body part touched her body part. It was never penetrative. 'Obviously, it couldn't have been what they call consensual, but it was playing.' I thought it was so important that I never call my sister a liar Josh Gravens, on why he admitted to the 1999 acts that put him on the registry aged just 13 A Christian counselling center told his mom she had to contact the police. She didn't want to press charges, so the state took up prosecution. Gravens, now aged 30, admitted all of the claims against him at the time. 'I thought it was so important that I never call my sister a liar,' he said. In a lot of cases, he says, the victim is called a liar 'and has to deal with it later on. I never wanted that to happen to my sister.' He was then put on the sex offenders' registry until 2021. That notes down everything from the person's current appearance - if Josh grows a beard or gets a haircut he needs to file a new picture - to their shoe sizes. Registered offenders can be subject to random police checks at their home. They cannot vote. Juveniles can be refused access to school education. Gravens was aged 13 when he was told he would be placed in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for three years. There, he said, he would be beaten up because of his age and the nature of his crime, while the guards turned a blind eye. After being released aged 16, he joined high school. Everything went well - he was named 'friendliest boy' - until a local newspaper did a report on sex offenders. He was shunned by his former friends and even teachers. The same thing happened - but worse - when he went to college to study political science. After a TV news report on local registered offenders, he began to receive death threats and was chased by a truck full of men throwing bottles at him. Multiple people had said they planned on throwing me out of the tower Gravens, on why he was let go from a construction job, aged 19 He dropped out, aged 19, and worked on a construction crew until he was let go for his own safety. 'Multiple people had said they planned on throwing me out of the tower,' he explained. He then got a job traveling around the country, working on wind farms, until he forgot to register while working in Washington state for a month. As a registered offender, he needs to register in any county that he stays in for more than a week. He spent 13 days in jail, was fined $2,000 and spent $6,000 on a lawyer to get him out. Gravens also lost his job, because his parole officer told him he didn't have to tell his new employers about his status, because his case was adjudicated, so technically he was never convicted of a felony. He got married and bought a pizza restaurant in Witchita Falls, but decided to commute from another county because he didn't want to have to register as a sex offender where his business was. I've never had thoughts of suicide, but if any person were weaker than me, mentally or whatnot, it would crush them Josh Gravens in 2012 The police found out; he was fined again and lost his business. The local prosecutor considered sending him to jail for eight years, while he was expecting his first child. He was spared that when his sister wrote a letter to the judge asking for clemency. As of 2012, he was working in Plano, Texas, and considering going back to college. He still lives in the state. Josh told The Texas Observer that his faith and the 'strong support' of his family had kept him going through his trials. But he knows many don't have either. 'I've never had thoughts of suicide,' he said. 'But if any person were weaker than me, mentally or whatnot, it would crush them.' Police have found a toddler locked inside a makeshift wooden cage while his day-old sister and one-year-old brother were found alone in the same house. Their father Cecil Eugene Kutz, 39, was arrested on Wednesday after police went to the home in Pottsville, Pennsylvania after receiving a tip. He is accused of leaving the three children alone in the home for at least 40 minutes. Troopers went inside the home after their knocks went unanswered and they found the three children just inside the front door. Cecil Eugene Kutz, 37, was arrested on Wednesday after police found his toddler locked in a cage and his two other children alone in a home at Pottsville, Pennsylvania The 22-month-old boy was found inside the cage made of plywood and wooden lattice that had been locked from the outside. Police found his younger brother in a playpen and his newborn sister in a baby car seat nearby. The baby was rushed to hospital for evaluation and all three children were taken into the care of the county's Children and Youth Services. Authorities arrested the father when he returned to the home. Kutz was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. Police say the children's mother Tiffany George had earlier been taken to hospital suffering from complications from the youngest child's birth. Kutz remains in Schuylkill County Prison on a $250,000 cash bail. He didn't yet have an attorney. The US Coast Guard unloaded cocaine in South Florida worth nearly $500million from 20 separate seizures in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Coast Guard officials said in a news release Thursday the seizures totaled about 18.5 tons of cocaine. The recently seized drugs were brought to Port Everglades by the cutter Hamilton. Authorities say the cocaine was intercepted along the Central and South American coasts by Coast Guard cutters and a Royal Canadian Navy ship sailing with a Coast Guard team aboard. The eastern Pacific is a prime smuggling route for cocaine headed to Mexico, where it is typically brought into the US. The US Coast Guard unloaded cocaine in South Florida worth nearly $500million from 20 separate seizures in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The cocaine is seen above during a news conference at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday Authorities say the cocaine was intercepted along the Central and South American coasts by Coast Guard cutters and a Royal Canadian Navy ship sailing with a Coast Guard team aboard. A 33-foot Special Purpose Craft used for counter-drug missions is seen in the above stock photo Numerous suspected smugglers are being prosecuted by US attorneys in California, along the East Coast and elsewhere as a result of the operations. This is the second large-scale seizure of illicit narcotics in as many months. In late March, the USCG cutter James delivered 16 tons of seized cocaine worth $420 million wholesale to Port Everglades. The illicit cargo was seized in 17 separate raids on smugglers in international waters of the eastern Pacific off Central and South America shores. In late March, the USCG cutter James delivered 16 tons of seized cocaine worth $420 million wholesale to Port Everglades The illicit cargo was seized in 17 separate raids on smugglers in international waters of the eastern Pacific off Central and South America shores. The USCG cutter James is seen in the above stock image US and Canadian coastal defense vessels cooperated in the interdictions. The seizure mission, conducted over 26 days, was code-named operation 'HITRON,' for helicopter, interception, and tactical squadron. 'With this ship, we're capable of owning the night,' cutter James captain Mark J. Fedor told reporters at a dockside press conference Tuesday morning in remarks relayed on Twitter. In December, Coast Guard forces brought in 26 tons of seized cocaine to Port Everglades. The cutter Hamilton was covered in pallets of the drugs in that case, which had to be unloaded with a crane. Advertisement A Royal Marine veteran who died with no known relatives had a poignant funeral fit for a hero today after hundreds answered a social media appeal. When Harry Wheeler passed away at Ashfields Care Home for the Elderly in Macclesfield, Cheshire, last Monday, there were fears no one would attend his funeral because he had no surviving family members. Mr Wheeler's beloved wife of 50 years, Enid, and their daughter, Susan, both died before him. But a social media campaign launched by friends saw a staggering wave of support with more than 300 mourners making their way to Macclesfield Crematorium to pay their respects. Mr Wheeler's coffin was draped in a Union Jack flag and arrived in a horse drawn carriage behind a military piper as a friend paid tribute to an 'extremely lovable man' who was 'an absolute joy to be around'. Scroll down for video Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the World War II veteran who died aged 96 without any known relatives When Harry Wheeler (pictured left and right, in a sketch in his Royal Marine uniform) passed away at Ashfields Care Home for the Elderly there were fears no one would attend his funeral because he had no surviving relatives A social media campaign launched by friends saw a staggering wave of support with more than 300 mourners making their way to Macclesfield Crematorium to pay their respects Mr Wheeler's coffin was draped in a Union Jack flag and arrived in a horse drawn carriage behind a military piper as a friend paid tribute to an 'extremely lovable man' who was 'an absolute joy to be around' The retired master carpenter served with the Royal Marines in Italy and lived independently in Wilmslow, Cheshire, until he was 94. Coronation Street actor Charlie Lawson, who played Jim McDonald, was among those who backed the drive to attend Mr Wheeler's funeral. The Royal Marines provided music and pipers for the service, which was conducted by Rev Thomas Chrisp. As well as dozens of veterans from across the Forces were representatives from the Royal Marines associations. Cadets from Tytherington School, representatives from Cheshire Police, local dignitaries and Macclesfield Town Councillors also paid their respects. In a eulogy written by friend Mike Jeffers, Mr Wheeler was described as an 'extremely lovable man' who crammed a lot into his life and was 'an absolute joy to be around'. The service concluded with The Last Post and Reveille. The Royal Marine veteran had a poignant funeral fit for a hero today after hundreds answered the social media appeal Cadets from Tytherington School, representatives from Cheshire Police, local dignitaries and Macclesfield Town Councillors also paid their respects The Royal Marines provided music and pipers for the service, which was conducted by Rev Thomas Chrisp. And as well as dozens of veterans from across the Forces were representatives from the Royal Marines associations In a eulogy written by friend Mike Jeffers, Mr Wheeler was described as an 'extremely lovable man' who crammed a lot into his life and was 'an absolute joy to be around' People lined the streets as they joined together to pay their respects to the former Royal Marine, who served his country Sgt Jim Lynskey, a staff instructor at the Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside, said: 'Although he lost his birth family and on paper is all alone, his other family from the Royal Marines were there in force. 'Once a Royal Marine always a Royal Marine.' Councillor Gareth Jones said: 'I felt I had to be here to pay my respects to Harry.' Mr Wheeler was born in September 1920 and trained to be a joiner and then a master carpenter. He also played for Manchester United's reserve team and served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, during which time he was posted to Italy. Sgt Jim Lynskey, a staff instructor at the Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside, said: 'Although he lost his birth family and on paper is all alone, his other family from the Royal Marines were there in force. 'Once a Royal Marine always a Royal Marine' Mr Wheeler also played for Manchester United's reserve team and served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, during which time he was posted to Italy In 1945 Mr Wheeler married his beloved wife Enid and they had a daughter, Susan before making their home in Wilmslow, but Enid sadly passed away in 1997 and Susan in 2001 The Reverend Crisp said: 'The loss of both Enid and Susan didn't so much leave Harry alone - for you can't be alone with so many happy memories - by it did make his life a little emptier perhaps' Cadets and members of the armed forces turned out in their military dress and solemnly honoured the man who served fir his country in the Second World War Friends launched an appeal fearing Mr Wheeler funeral would take place 'without a soul in the world' to remember him - but thankfully they were proven wrong as kind-hearted mourners turned out in their droves In 1945 Mr Wheeler married his beloved wife Enid and they had a daughter, Susan before making their home in Wilmslow. Enid sadly passed away in 1997 and Susan in 2001. Reverend Crisp said: 'The loss of both Enid and Susan didn't so much leave Harry alone - for you can't be alone with so many happy memories - by it did make his life a little emptier perhaps.' Mr Wheeler lived independently at his home in Lacey Green until two years ago before moving to Ashfields care home where he died on May 8. Friends launched an appeal fearing Mr Wheeler funeral would take place 'without a soul in the world' to remember him. Sen. John McCain said Thursday that the Trump administration should kick Turkey's ambassador out of the United States as punishment for the beatings outside his Washington, D.C. residence this week. In a disturbing video of the scene, protesters were knocked to the ground and kicked in the head by men in suits who have not been identified but McCain says were bodyguards of the Turkish president. Footage showed two elderly men bleeding from the head, their clothing covered in blood. 'We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America,' McCain exploded on Morning Joe. 'This is the United States of America. This isn't Turkey. This isn't a third world country.' Scroll down for video Sen. John McCain said Thursday that the Trump administration should kick Turkey's ambassador out of the United States as punishment for the beatings outside his Washington, D.C. residence this week Shocking footage has emerged showing violent clashes between people protesting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters in Washington DC President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was at the White House for talks that day. McCain says it was Erdogan's body guards who carried out the beatings The Republican legislator, who chairs the Senate's Armed Service Committee, said, 'This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically.' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the time of the assaults. McCain said Erdogan's bodyguards would have been ordered to carry out brutal beatings like that and there must be repercussions for the conduct. He suggested lawsuits and criminal charges in addition to the removal of the Turkish ambassador. The foreign guards are protected by diplomatic immunity, but McCain said charges should be brought anyway. 'These are not just average people that did this beating. These are Erdogan's security detail,' he said. 'Womebody told them to go out and beat up on these peaceful demonstrators.' A spokesperson for the State Department condemned the attacks. The White House has made no public comment. Authorities said nine people were hurt and two arrests were made during the altercation that D.C. police officers were called in to break up. Two elderly men - who were protesting against the Turkish leader - were pictured after the clashes with blood pouring from their heads Protesters demonstrating against Turkish President Erdogan were attacked by what appeared to be suited bodyguards (left) of the president After Erdogan left his meeting with Trump at the White House, he stopped by the ambassador's residence in the upscale Sheridan Circle neighborhood, where protests prompted city officials to shut down nearby streets. It is unclear from the video that was taken whether the beatings took place on the grounds of the embassy, which rests on Turkish soil, or on a nearby property that is governed by the United States. Flint Arthur, one of the protesters, told CNN they were protesting Erdogan's policies in Turkey, Syria and Iraq.' 'They think they can engage in the same sort of suppression of protest and free speech that they engage in in Turkey,' he said of the assaults. 'They stopped us for a few minutes ... but we still stayed and continued to protest Erdogan's tyrannical regime.' The State Department said Wednesday that the U.S. was 'communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms.' 'Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest,' State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. McCain told MSNBC the U.S. government's response had not been strong enough. He did not come down on Trump, who encouraged violence against protesters of his candidacy at a rally once when he was campaigning for president. He said the U.S. should take action generally, including throwing the Turkish ambassador out. 'You cannot have that happen in the United States of America,' McCain said. 'People have the right in our country to peacefully demonstrate, and they were peacefully demonstrating. This suited man - believed to be a bodyguard of the Turkish president - was filmed kicking a female protester who was on the ground. Then he tried to run away Men in suits were filmed at the start of the video running across the street to physically attack the protesters The men wearing suits appeared to start the physical altercations - based on videos posted online on Tuesday A woman (left) had to receive treatment after she was knocked down and kicked by men in suits, while the man on the right had a severe cut to the head Turkey's government claimed the protesters were affiliated with a 'terrorist' group. 'The violence and injuries were the result of this unpermitted, provocative demonstration,' a statement from the Turkish embassy that was provided to NBC said. 'We hope that, in the future, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that similar provocative actions causing harm and violence do not occur.' The Guardian said protesters were carrying the flag of the Kurdish PYD party. Doug Buchanan, a DC Fire and EMS spokesman, said two of the demonstrators who were hurt were seriously injured and were taken to hospitals by ambulance. He said by phone that emergency personnel were called to the residence about 4:30 pm Tuesday. Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said the altercation broke out between two groups, but he didn't elaborate on the circumstances. He said two people were arrested, including one who was charged with assaulting a police officer. Police are seen securing the street outside the Turkish embassy on Tuesday after clashes broke out Washington Police (left and right) battled to control the wild scenes on Tuesday afternoon President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the press following meetings with US President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Each side accused the other of being the aggressors. Pro-Erdogan demonstrator Mustafa Dikilitas, told ABC television: 'We weren't doing anything wrong. We just celebrated our president.' And another, Busra Eren, said: 'One of the YPG supporters ran across, picked up a megaphone, and hit a Turkish citizen with it.' 'All of the sudden they just ran towards us,' Yazidi Kurd demonstrator Lucy Usoyan told ABC, adding that she was attacked by one of the pro-Erdogan supporters. 'Someone was beating me in the head nonstop, and I thought, "Okay, I'm on the ground already, what is the purpose to beat me?"' Russia is beefing up its Baltic Fleet with the arrival of more warships and fighter jets - and NATO's 'aggressive ambitions' have been blamed. By the end of the year the fleet will have additional guided missile craft, fighters and support vessels, the Russian military has announced. The boost comes at a time of heightened tensions, with NATO members anxious over planned Russian war games in September following missile deployment in the region. Scroll down for video Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, is set to strengthen its presence in the Baltic still further by the end of the year Defence analyst Alexander Khrolenko said NATO can 'only dream' of dominating the Baltic Writing for Sputnik News, which was set up by the Russian government, defence analyst Alexander Khrolenko said NATO can 'only dream' of dominating the Baltic. He wrote: 'The swift military buildup of the Baltic Fleet is a natural response on Russia's part to NATO's aggressive ambitions in the region, increased war-gaming, Baltic air policing, anti-Russian sentiments and spy fever.' He added that NATO war games 'simulate a hybrid war with Russia, of course'. Among the planes set to be deployed to the fleet are Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters, Sputnik reports. Last week Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said the United States and NATO are prepared to deploy any capabilities necessary to help improve air defence systems in the Baltic region. Russia is preparing for massive military exercises in its western military region in September, and has deployed a missile system in neighbouring Kaliningrad Last week Pentagon chief Jim Mattis (pictured this week in London) said the United States and NATO are prepared to deploy any capabilities necessary to help improve air defence systems in the Baltic region Russia is preparing for massive military exercises in its western military region in September, and has deployed a missile system in neighbouring Kaliningrad. 'We will deploy whatever capability is necessary here,' Mattis said when asked about regional air defences. Two US defence officials earlier said the United States was considering sending a Patriot missile battery to the Baltic region for NATO air defence exercises this summer, though they stressed the move would only be temporary. Pro-Moscow analyst Khrolenko said Russia's Baltic Fleet currently consists of three diesel submarines, a destroyer, six patrol ships, six fast attack guided missile craft, six anti-submarine warfare corvettes, 12 missile boats, six amphibious assault ships, as well as six coastal minesweepers and nine inshore minesweepers. Moscow last year deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Lithuania and Poland, rattling the NATO members. Mattis said: 'Any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know, and we all know, they are not threatened by anything that we are doing ... is simply destabilising. Moscow is holding its so-called 'Zapad' drills in September, which will see the Russian military showcase new hardware and upgrade existing systems in its western military region, US officials said. French-born Fabrice Anthamatten, 42, is on trial in the Swiss city of Geneva for murdering his therapist Adeline Morel, 34 A rapist who murdered a female therapist he was left alone with during a special 'reintegration into society' session sexually fantasised about recreating the throat-slitting scene in Braveheart. French-born Fabrice Anthamatten, 42, is on trial in the Swiss city of Geneva for murdering his therapist Adeline Morel, 34. Her body was hidden in a bag in the woods in Versoix near the Swiss city. Anthamatten had been charged with rapes going back more than 10 years. Anthamatten was serving out his sentence at Geneva's Champ-Dollon prison - he was convicted in both France and Switzerland on rape charges dating back as far as 2001. Back then he was given a five-year sentence for rape and in 2003 he was given another 15 years. Anthamatten was permitted to leave the prison under Morel's escort for the purposes of 'reintegrating' him into society. However the pair failed to show up for their equestrian therapy session in September 2013 and Anthamatten is accused of killing Morel. After a manhunt involving police forces from Switzerland, France and Germany, Anthamatten was finally arrested in Poland. Anthamatten had allegedly watched scenes in his cell from Braveheart - the film starring Mel Gibson as Scottish knight William Wallace - in which a woman's throat is cut (pictured) The judge postponed the trial, scheduled for October last year, after demanding a new psychiatric report on Anthamatten. Yesterday the trial restarted with two Swiss experts, Alexandra Rageth and Eric Luke, testifying that the defendant had erotic fantasies since the day he met Morel in the specialised rehabilitation centre. Adeline Morel, a 34-year-old mother and therapist, went missing with Fabrice Anthamatten, 39, back in September 2013 They said Anthamatten had watched scenes in his cell from Braveheart - the film starring Mel Gibson as Scottish knight William Wallace - in which a woman's throat is cut. Luke said: 'He told us that he had imagined himself and Adeline in this scene.' They both said the risk of him re-offending was very high. However they did not make any statements on Wednesday as to whether he should be sentenced to life in prison. Anthamatten has been charged with deprivation of liberty, sexual coercion and theft. He had already confessed to Morel's murder in court, saying it was an 'impulse' he could not control. He said: 'I wanted to escape and find my ex-girlfriend in Poland.' Anthamatten said he kidnapped Morel in a car and took her to a forest where he tied her to a tree and cut her throat, forcing the woman to kiss him before killing her. The trial at the Geneva court is ongoing. An Australian man has been jailed for grooming a 12-year-old girl online for sex after her mother pimped her out to him. Thomas Keski Nummi Wilson, 25, was sentenced on Thursday to two years in jail after court heard details of how he groomed a girl in the United States online. Keski Nummi Wilson's sentence will be suspended after 28 days in prison. The ACT Supreme Court heard how he sent the 12-year-old sex toys and thousands of dollars in gifts, according to the ABC. An Australian man has been jailed for grooming a 12-year-old girl online for sex after her mother pimped her out to him (stock image) The ACT Supreme Court (pictured) heard how Keski Nummi Wilson sent the 12-year-old sex toys and thousands of dollars in gifts Keski Nummi Wilson - who was 22-years-old at the time - also got the girl to send pornographic images of herself, court heard. He met the girl online in August 2014 and began to talk to her on Facebook and Instagram in conversations that became sexually explicit. The court heard how these conversations would have been 'extremely damaging' for the 12-year-old. Keski Nummi Wilson was arrested in October 2015 after a tip-off from the FBI, who had detained the girl's mother Julie Greiner, 43, when her son raised the alarm. Keski Nummi Wilson - who was 22-years-old at the time - also got the girl to send pornographic images of herself, court heard (stock image) Greiner has been jailed in the US for human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, pimping of a child and pattern sexual assault of a child, according to the ABC. She received more than $10,000 from Keski Nummi Wilson, according to a warrant sworn in the Jefferson County Court in Colorado. The court heard Keski Nummi Wilson and his mother travelled to Colorado to meet the girl and her mother, before going on a holiday together. No sexual encounter occurred between the man and the girl during the holiday, court heard. The 35-year-old Ohio father accused of child neglect after reportedly getting drunk at a Disney World resort hotel poolside bar while leaving his infant son next to him to suffer first-degree sunburns, now claims that the child's burns are mostly eczema. Brian-Keith Olmstead was arrested and charged with child neglect on Monday, after police received multiple complaints about his drunken behavior during the day and reportedly found that his infant son had been sitting in a dirty diaper for hours, with his legs and feet badly sunburned. After returning home to Brunswick, Ohio, Brian-Keith and his wife, Destiny Olmstead, told WKYC on Wednesday that the reports of their seven-month-old son Blake's severe sunburns were overstated and mostly a case of eczema. Scroll down for video Brian-Keith Olmstead was charged with child neglect after allegedly getting drunk by a Disney World pool and allowing his infant son, Blake, to get first-degree sunburns on his legs and feet 'He doesn't have any type of severe sunburn on his legs, he has a little bit of sunburn,' Destiny told WKYC. On the day of Brian-Keith's arrest, paramedics apparently told deputies that the young boy had first-degree burns on his legs and feet. The Olmsteads also disputed other aspects of Brian-Keith's reported activities in the hours leading to his arrest. While at Disney's Art of Animation Resort, Brian-Keith allegedly used Blake's stroller to plow through crowds while shouting racial slurs and was said to have been escorted back to his room by resort staff, only to return to the food court area where guests complained that he threatened them with violence, WKMG reported. Destiny Olmstead said her son Blake, only has 'a little bit' of sunburn and suffers from eczema And, when Brian-Keith was being driven to jail by deputies, he reportedly called one deputy names and said Donald Trump was going to kill him. Brian-Keith told WKYC that he'd only had three drinks at the bar and got mad after a couple said that he was an 'unfit father.' He also said that he had not been escorted back to his room, didn't say that Trump was going to kill anybody and that he never charged at anyone. Brian-Keith admitted that he does need have a drinking problem, though, and intends to go into a residential treatment program. 'He has a problem and he's addressing it, but it's not something that happens all the time,' Destiny told WKYC. The 35-year-old Ohio father was visiting Walt Disney World with his family at the time of his arrest. He reportedly went on a drunken and racist tirade plowing his son's stroller into people at the park Brian-Keith Olmstead, 35, was arrested an charged with child neglect on Monday evening But she said he left with their young son and returned back to the Art of Animation Resort (file above) around 3.30pm. Witnesses at the resort told police that Olmstead sat at the poolside bar with his son in the stroller next to him and 'drank himself into a state of intoxication' 'It's unfortunate and he's going to get the help that he truly needs to get, but he's a great father.' Brian-Keith posted $2,200 bond on Monday night. This is not his first run-in with the law, as records show Olmstead has been arrested on DUI, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in Ohio, WKMG reported. The Olmstead family was at Disney World to attend their daughter's cheerleading competition. The former girlfriend of Adam Cranston has revealed how the alleged leader of a $165 million tax scheme took her on trips to Dubai and Paris and spoiled her with designer shopping sprees and plastic surgery. Toni Brady, from Sydney, said she had a 'Pretty Woman' moment when she met the 30-year-old through a mutual friend over drinks in 2015. Money was no problem for Mr Cranston, who almost immediately hired the 24-year-old to be his assistant and began showering her with gifts, Ms Brady told The Herald Sun. 'It felt like a Pretty Woman situation.' 'He bought me jewellery. Diamond earrings, Hermes bracelets, handbags. My favourite are Dolce and Gabbana.' Scroll down for video Toni Brady (pictured) is the 24-year-old former girlfriend of Adam Cranston She claimed the alleged leader of a $165 tax scheme took her on trips overseas and bought her designer clothing (pictured together on a trip in Paris) Mr Cranston was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth this week and has been accused by police of running a $165 million taxation fraud syndicate (pictured) Ms Brady (pictured), from Sydney, said she had a 'Pretty Woman' moment when she met the 30-year-old through a mutual friend over drinks in 2015 Money was no problem for Mr Cranston, who almost immediately hired the 24-year-old to be his assistant and began showering her with gifts, she said (shopping bags pictured on Ms Brady's Instagram) Although their relationship ended some time before Mr Cranston's wedding in October 2016, Ms Brady told the publication she has been dragged into her former lover's recent troubles. She said her bank accounts which she said Mr Cranston frequently wired money into even after their breakup have been frozen and wiped out by the Australian Tax Office. Mr Cranston was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth this week and has been accused by police of running a $165 million taxation fraud syndicate. Mr Cranston the son of Australian Tax Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston was arrested at his Bondi apartment on Wednesday and granted bail on Thursday after his wife and grandmother posted $300,000 for his release. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. His 24-year-old sister, who faces the same serious offences as well as an additional charge of dealing with the proceeds of crime, was granted conditional bail on Thursday afternoon and will face court next month. ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston (pictured leaving Sydney court) will be charged following an investigation over a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving his son and daughter, AFP said Adam Cranston (pictured) was arrested at his swanky Bondi apartment by police on Wednesday Seized items are displayed at a press conference at the AFP headquarters in Sydney Adam Cranston and his sister are among nine people who were arrested on Wednesday. AFP allege the group used stolen taxpayer funds to fund their 'lavish lifestyles' (pictured, $1 million in seized cash) Ms Brady said Mr Cranston bought his and her Omega watches (pictured) and a Jeep in her name 'He bought me jewellery. Diamond earrings, Hermes bracelets, handbags. My favourite are Dolce and Gabbana,' Ms Brady (pictured) told The Herald Sun Ms Brady is picture inside a lavish home trimmed with golden staircases and furniture As a result of the investigation, Ms Brady said her bank accounts which she claimed Mr Cranston frequently wired money into even after their breakup have been frozen and wiped out Michael Cranston was issued a court attendance notice for allegedly publicly abusing his position as a senior official of the Commonwealth, following the eight-month investigation by the Australian Federal Police. Ms Brady told the Herald Sun she didn't know Mr Cranston was being investigated by police. The 24-year-old said she worked for Mr Cranston for about a month at a Double Bay company that has since shut down. But their relationship was physically almost immediately, she said. After their relationship began, Ms Brady said Mr Cranston paid her rent and took her and her family on trips overseas. Ms Brady told the Herald Sun she didn't know Mr Cranston was being accused of running the syndicate The 24-year-old said she worked for Mr Cranston for about a month but their relationship was physically almost immediately After their relationship began, Ms Brady said Mr Cranston paid her rent and jewellery and took her and her family on trips overseas 'He paid for my mum and I to go to the Maldives, and my girlfriend and I to go to Japan. I did solo trips too.' Ms Brady told the Herald Sun Mr Cranston also bought shoes, jewellery, clothes, his and her Omega watches and a Jeep in her name. Nothing was off limits including 'liposculpture' for her buttocks, she said. 'I thought it was amazing, like a fairy tale. And it wasn't just about the money,' Ms Brady said, adding that she loved Mr Cranston and was 'heartbroken' when they split. This week Ms Brady said she received a $128,000 bill from the ATO regarding end of year earnings she believed had already been taken care of. Ironically, it had Michael Cranston's signature at the bottom, she said. 'He paid for my mum and I to go to the Maldives...I did solo trips too,' Ms Brady said 'I thought it was amazing, like a fairy tale. And it wasn't just about the money,' Ms Brady said Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein made a quiet demonstration of the new power dynamic surrounding the Russia probe when he informed the White House of his decision to name a special counsel after he had already put ink to paper. Rosenstein told the White House of the decision after the fact, without ever having made a request or given a head's up, according to officials familiar with how the stunning decision to name former FBI Director Mueller to the position came down. 'He signed the order. Then he let the White House know,' an official with knowledge of the situation told DailyMail.com. 'And then he let the AG know after he signed the order.' The White House got the word at about 5:00 pm, just an hour before the Justice Department put out the information Wednesday evening. Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (C) arrives to brief the full U.S. Senate on details of President Donald Trump's recent firing of FBI Director James Comey at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Rosenstein told the White House of his decision to name a special counsel to probe Russian election meddling after he had already signed the order The move which took the FBI's Russia investigation in a dramatic new direction came while the White House was already in freefall over President Trump's decision to sack FBI Director James Comey, and just two days before the president heads on his first overseas trip. His telling move came a week after White House officials depicted him as the force behind Trump's decision to fire Comey a narrative Rosenstein disputes and that Trump himself contradicted in an interview when he said he had been thinking about firing Comey since he took office. Statutes governing the appointment of a special counsel neither direct nor prohibit the attorney general from informing the chief executive when a special counsel gets named. But they do give a special counsel 'the full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions of any United States Attorney,' with no limitations on budget. During his confirmation hearing, Rod Rosenstein testified he would name a special counsel if appropriate but the White House didn't see the move coming Rosenstein's letter gives the special counsel authority to pursue 'any matters' that arise 'There's nothing in those regulations that prevents that,' said the official. Rosenstein may have been acting with extra caution as a way to demonstrate independence. The letter Rosenstein drafted tasks Mueller with investigating links 'between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.' The wide scope also includes 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation' language allowing Mueller to go wherever he sees fit, including potentially examining Trump business dealings in search of Russia connections. Trump learned of the move that will reshape the start of his presidency while he was busy vetting potential new FBI Directors, CNN reported. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller will lead the probe into the Trump campaign's alleged Russia ties Three candidates whose names had been publicly floated have already removed themselves from consideration, following a New York Times report that Trump asked Comey to pledge his 'loyalty' to him early this year. The White House disputes the report. The White House put out a dispassionate statement Wednesday night, but by Thursday morning, Trump was venting on Twitter. 'With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special (counsel) appointed!' the President complained on Twitter, misspelling the word 'counsel.' Then he complained: 'This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!' A week ago, it was Rosenstein who was reportedly steaming. He had met with Trump the previous Monday, at the president's request, following a White House meeting. The two spoke about FBI Director James Comey. How Rosenstein got the post that let him outsource Russia probe President Trump nominated career Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general in February but his fate was immediately tied up in the probe of Russian election interference. Rosensteins March confirmation hearing came just five days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from election investigations, following revelations of his undisclosed contacts with the Russians. With Sessions on the sidelines, lawmakers new Rosenstein would have the authority to oversee the FBIs Russia investigation or outsource it to a special counsel. The career official had a reputation for integrity and bipartisan backing. But Democrats demanded answers on how he would conduct himself and grilled him for his views on an independent investigation. He assured Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy: I'm willing to appoint a special counsel, Senator, whenever I determine that it's appropriate based upon the policies and procedures of the Justice Department. Democrats also pressed him on political interference. "Certainly if the president had a conflict in a particular matter I would not take any advice from the president," Rosenstein assured the Judiciary Committee. Ultimately, he was confirmed by the Senate on a 95 to 6 vote on April 25. Within less than a month, he named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel investigating Russian election interference, after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, reportedly gave highly classified information to top Russian officials in the Oval Office, and reportedly asked Comey to back off his investigation of fired security advisor Mike Flynn. The White House denied the reports. Advertisement Comey (the first one boarding the plane) and his entourage were pictured getting on a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport shortly after he was called and told he had, indeed, been fired Former FBI Director James Comey was fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday; Comey is seen here before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC on May 3 Rosenstein told the White House of his decision to name a special counsel to probe Russian election meddling after he had already signed the order President Donald Trump didn't get a head's up about Rosenstein's decision Rosenstein then furnished a letter severely criticizing Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. 'I cannot defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken,' Rosenstein wrote in a letter the White House released immediately after Trump fired Comey. By the day after Comey's firing, Rosenstein threatened to quit over the way the White House cast him as the prime mover behind the decision, the Washington Post reported. Rosenstein denied he threatened to quit, saying: 'No, I'm not quitting.' Trump cited Rosenstein's letter in his own letter firing Comey. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump acted on 'clear recommendations' from Rosenstein and Sessions. The news Rosenstein had named a special counsel came as a shock to the White House. CNN had reported a week ago that Rosenstein didn't see a need for a special prosecutor. Rosenstein had testified in his March confirmation hearing that he would name one 'if 'its appropriate based upon the policies and procedures of the Justice Department.' A hilarious video has emerged of a speedy getaway gone wrong, showing the moment three Saudi men toppled off the back of a truck when its acceleration took them by surprise. Five passengers, wearing what appears to be the Saudi Arabian traditional white robe, the thobe, and patterned headscarf, the kaffiyeh, had been standing casually on the back of a white pickup truck on a dusty road, thought to be in Yemen. But when the vehicle jolted into life and began to speed up the road, a toppling trio were sent flying off their precarious perch and onto the road. In the short clip the three men are seen falling from the truck with their arms flailing. One man's kaffiyeh even comes loose from the jolt of the vehicle, and whimsically floats through the air to follow him on his path off the end of the platform. Bemused passersby watched the slapstick comedy scene unfold in front of them as the driver appeared not to slow down - perhaps unaware of the fact that three passengers had been flung off the truck. A hilarious video has emerged of a speedy getaway gone wrong, showing the moment three Saudi men toppled off the back of a truck when its acceleration took them by surprise Five passengers, wearing what appears to be the Saudi Arabian traditional white robe, the thobe, and patterned headscarf, the kaffiyeh, had been standing casually on the back of a white pickup truck on a dusty road, thought to be in Yemen The two other passengers in the back of the pickup truck had the sense to hold on to the driver's cab as the vehicle began to move, so were able to stay on board. But one of them did not seem to like his unstable position and quickly crouched down to brace himself more readily against the motion of the vehicle. Simultaneously, the unlucky trio were propelled backwards off the truck. Haykal Bafana, from Yemen, posted the hilarious video on social media earlier today for the enjoyment of his followers and other Twitter users. Waheeda Peace said: 'Sorry, couldn't help laughing. Hope nobody got injured.' It does not appear that anyone was seriously harmed in the video. The sad decline of one of the AFL's greatest players has another chapter as fallen star Ben Cousins has been assaulted by inmates in his Perth prison after refusing to play in a jail footy match, according to reports. Cousins, 38, was approached by a group of men to participate in the 'scratch match' and was 'set upon' after declining, reports Nine journalist Damian Barrett. Cousins is currently serving a 12-month sentence for repeatedly violating a violence restraining order against his ex-partner, Maylea Tinechef. Fallen AFL star Ben Cousins (pictured) has been assaulted in a Perth prison by inmates after refusing to participate in a jail footy match Cousins (pictured) was 'set upon' after declining an invitation to play in the 'scratch match' Cousins was sentenced in March after breaking the VRO by continually stalking and approaching Ms Tinechef, with whom he has two young children. He attempted to contact Ms Tinechef 542 times in November of 2016, including 103 times in a single day. The prison has refused to comment on the situation. Former teammate Andrew Embley said last month Cousins was 'desperate' to see his children and show them he could be a 'role model.' 'He's keen to be there for his kids and is desperate to see his children. He understands the role of a father and he wants to be a role model,' Embley told the Herald Sun. Cousins (pictured) has battled addictions to ice, cocaine and pills. He was caught in possession of eight grams of meth during his arrest for breaking the VRO taken out by his ex-partner Cousins (pictured) is widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation and was called 'football's Brad Pitt' Cousins has a long history of substance abuse, battling addictions to ice, cocaine and pills. At the time of Cousins' arrest in February for breaking the order, he was also caught in possession of eight grams of meth. He told officers he had a high tolerance as he was a heavy user. In a tapped prison phone call to his father earlier this year, Cousins revealed he was unable to control his habit. 'I have a bit of gear and it makes me feel normal,' he said. 'I'm not going to stop. I don't want to stop.' Cousins (pictured) is currently serving 12 months for violating a violence restraining order Cousins (pictured) captained West Coast from 2001-2005, winning a Brownlow Medal and the 2006 AFL Premiership Cousins' demise began following the club's 2006 Premiership as he was suspended after revelations of his substance abuse. The club chairman at the time, Dalton Gooding, said it was a 'very sad day' as the club allowed the champion leave in 2007 to attend a rehabilitation centre in California. Cousins returned mid-season, but was arrested a few months later for drug possession and had his contract terminated. He returned to the game in 2009, as a member of the Richmond Tigers, playing two seasons. He announced his retirement in 2010, saying 'I'll always regret what I've put my family through.' 'People wonder why I haven't broken down or shed a tear, my tears are something that I hold close to me, they're for me and my family.' Cousins (pictured) played 32 games for Richmond after returning to the AFL in 2009 Cousins (center) played 238 games for West Coast, before having his contract terminated in 2007 for missing two training sessions. It was later revealed he was suffering from substance abuse Cousins is widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation, winning the Brownlow Medal in 2005, the AFL Premiership in 2006 and accruing six All-Australian team selections. Cousins captained West Coast from 2001-2005 and was named the club's best and fairest four times. The United States said on Wednesday that ISIS is believed to be working on a sophisticated new bomb that could be hidden in laptop computers and are capable of evading airport detectors. The assessment was made following an examination of evidence left behind by ISIS fighters after they were overrun from their position at University of Mosul in northern Iraq this past January. After Iraqi special forces recaptured the area from ISIS, it was learned that ISIS used the university and its equipment and labs to develop deadlier bombs, according to CBS News. The 'new generation' of explosives are believed to be more powerful and capable of evading detection with scanners typically used at airports, according to US officials. ISIS bomb makers reportedly tested the new explosives by using the airport scanners that they took from the Mosul airport after the jihadist group overran the city in 2014. The interior of a burnt building of the University of Mosul is seen during a battle with Islamic State militants After Iraqi special forces recaptured the area from ISIS, it was learned that ISIS used the university and its equipment and labs to develop deadlier bombs, according to CBS News After ISIS was routed by Iraqi troops in January, the group reportedly burned many of the buildings it left behind so as to conceal evidence. But US officials told CBS News that ISIS fighters left behind enough evidence to give them pause. Officials' belief that jihadists are developing more sophisticated explosives is apparently what motivated Western governments led by the US to seriously consider instituting a ban on laptops for all flights from Europe and the Middle East. Talks on a proposed US ban on laptops and tablets on flights coming from Europe ended Wednesday with no ban - and a promise of more talks and better intelligence sharing. Officials' belief that jihadists are developing more sophisticated explosives is apparently what motivated Western governments led by the US to seriously consider instituting a ban on laptops for all flights from Europe and the Middle East For days now, European Union officials have been hoping for details on the threat that prompted the proposed ban - the same details that US President Donald Trump discussed with Russian diplomats at the White House last week. The airline industry came out against the proposal in a strongly worded letter that said it would cause a severe downturn in trans-Atlantic air travel and cost travelers more than a billion dollars in lost time. On Wednesday, in a secure room in Brussels, officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and the European Union swapped information about threats involving air travel. An official who followed the talks said the ban was 'off the table' for now. He spoke on condition of anonymity to release details of the sensitive negotiations. They also shared details about their aviation security standards and detection capabilities, and agreed to meet again in Washington next week 'to further assess shared risks and solutions for protecting airline passengers, whilst ensuring the smooth functioning of global air travel,' according to a joint statement. WHERE THE BAN CURRENTLY APPLIES: The current US ban on laptops and tablets affects flights from Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The British security rules apply to flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. Advertisement The White House has defended Trump's decision to share classified information involving an Islamic State group terror threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The proposed electronics ban would create logistical chaos on the world's busiest air travel corridor. As many as 65 million people a year travel between Europe and North America on nearly 400 daily flights, many of them business travelers who rely on the devices to work during flight. Such a ban would dwarf in size the current one, which was put in place in March and affects about 50 flights a day from 10 cities, mostly in the Middle East. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 265 airlines, wrote to both the EU and the US State Department on Tuesday to oppose the proposed ban, which it said would deeply affect the economy and cause the equivalent of $1.1billion in lost time to passengers. There is also the question of the relative safety of keeping a large number of electronics with lithium batteries, which have been known to catch fire, in the cargo area. IATA proposed more in-depth pre-flight screening rather than forcing passengers to give up their electronics. The US is a 'den of evils that should be wiped off the face of the earth' as it continues to keep a close eye on North Korea, a comment piece in Kim Jong-un's newspaper has claimed. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Thursday, in article called 'Don't Dream Silly Dream', threatened the US by saying 'its desperate intelligence operation against DPRK will only bring destruction to it'. It claimed the 'maximum pressure and engagement' employed by President Donald Trump was 'just a policy of state-sponsored terrorism'. It accused the US of 'unhesitatingly resorting to hideous provocation' and 'foolhardy operations'. In a warning, it said: 'The foolhardy operations against the supreme leadership of the DPRK and its strategic facilities only bring to light the wretched plight of the U.S. which has sustained disgraceful defeats only in the showdown with the DPRK. Kim Jong-un's newspaper has described the US as a 'den of evils that should be wiped off the face of the earth' It comes a week after North Korea accused the US of 'state sponsored terrorism' in an attempt to assassinate Kim Jong-un using a biochemical substance. The allegation was made by the secretive state's vice foreign minister in a briefing to foreign envoys. Han Song-ryol vowed to wipe out 'terrorist maniacs' intent on wiping out Kim's regime. He claimed that a North Korean man was bribed and coerced to join a Washington and Seoul-backed plot to assassinate the despot leader at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. Han said North Korea would seek to extradite anyone involved in a conspiracy against Kim. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Kim's mouthpiece, threatened the US by saying 'its desperate intelligence operation against DPRK will only bring destruction to it' Trump has said 'a major, major conflict' with North Korea is possible and all options are on the table but that he wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically, possibly through the extended use of economic sanctions. American troops in South Korea today carried out military drills to rehearse destroying North Korea's weapons of mass destruction South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in has campaigned on a more moderate approach towards the North but said it must change its attitude of insisting on arms development before dialogue can be possible. The North has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States, saying the programme is necessary to counter U.S. aggression. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North Korean threat, has called on China to do more to rein in its neighbour. China for its part has been infuriated by the U.S. deployment of an advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, saying it was a threat to its security and would do nothing to ease tension with Pyongyang. American troops in South Korea have carried out military drills to rehearse destroying North Korea's weapons of mass destruction Islamic State has created a Chemical Weapons cell in Syria made up of its top specialists from across its new self-titled caliphate, according to US officials. Having fled both Mosul and Raqqa en masse due to intense military pressure, ISIS terrorists are said to be calling an area it controls within the Euphrates River Valley its de facto capital. It is here, between Mayadin and the town of al Qaim across the border in Iraq, where the cell is working on its chemical arsenal. A source in the US defence department said thousands of ISIS terrorists have converged in the area, which is where the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is said to be hiding. ISIS fighters, pictured, are said to be fleeing Mosul and Raqqa for a stretch of land south of the Euphrates River Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader, is said to have made his way to the area and is in hiding Chemical weapons experts working for ISIS have fled Raqqa and Mosul to set up in Al Qaim The production faction is made up of chemistry experts from across Iraq and Syria, who have been brought together for the first time, an official told CNN. With so many of its strongholds under huge pressure from coalition forces, the move is said to be a tactical switch to boost its ability to defend those areas. Woman beheaded for witchcraft and sorcery ISIS thugs beheaded a woman they claimed was a witch and a sorcerer. The horrifying incident occurred in Deir Ezzor province, Syria. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said she was butchered in front of children outside the village's postal building. Advertisement US authorities monitoring the area said they have observed a growing number of ISIS chiefs abandoning Raqqa for the stretch of land south of the Euphrates River. 'We know they have been moving a lot of their leadership out of Raqqa and we suspect much of their technical expertise and planning as well,' US Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, told CNN. Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led military coalition, told the site that ISIS have used what he called low-grade chemical agents in the past. 'We know ISIS is willing to use chemical weapons. This is not something we want to see them get good at,' he said. The officials' conclusions are backed by the fact there have been more than 15 chemical weapon attacks since April 14 in or around Mosul. It comes as the terror group killed more than 50 people in an attack on government-held villages in Syria's central Hama province and another incident of a woman getting beheaded for 'witchecraft and sorcery '. The dramatic confrontation between two Georgia cops and an escaped prisoner outside an Athens store has been captured on a police bodycam. The shocking incident occurred when the owner told 911 on Tuesday that Marvin Terrell Taylor, 43, was in his store - even though he was supposed to be serving time for stealing from there. Two police officers arrived to investigate, leading to a violent confrontation that would see them both injured as they apprehended him, Online Athens reported. Scroll down for video Fled: Escaped prisoner Marvin Taylor (left) was caught on police bodycam fleeing a Georgia store on Tuesday. Taylor was hit with a taser (right) and his pants fell down while he fled Taylor had been missing for days after not returning from a work release program, Athens-Clarke County Police Department said. He is seen being stopped by Senior Police Officer Gregory Gilchrist in an aisle in Dollar General, the same Athens store he was convicted of stealing $62 of hygiene and personal grooming items from in December. The officer asks the man his name and Taylor says it is 'Davis'. When the cop tells him to hold up, Taylor makes a break for it. He runs behind the store's counter, then makes a leap over it - just as the officer tases him. Taylor swipes the electrodes from his body and continues his escape, but his pants have fallen down and he's forced to crawl out of the door while Lt Christopher Nichols follows him. Outside, both cops then hold down Taylor, who continues to protest his confusion and innocence while struggling. Both officers were injured in the fracas: Nichols suffered fractures to a finger, while Gilchrist hurt his elbow. Pantsed: Taylors pants fell down, exposing his black boxer shorts, as police tased him. He continued trying to escape after swiping the Taser's electrodes out of his back Undignified: Taylor crawled away from cops with his pants down (left) before being subdued in the parking lot (right). He had been convicted of stealing from the exact same store in January Taylor had been convicted in January for the December theft from Dollar General. He had been charged with felony theft due to previous convictions for stealing. He received a sentence of four years on probation, with the first year to be spent at the state Diversions Center. He was also placed into a work release program, which he'd then walked out of, an officer told DailyMail.com. A felony escape warrant had then been issued for him. The police had been searching him for days when he was spotted making his return visit to Dollar General, he said. Police say that when he was searched afterward, he was found to have stolen $20 of goods: bug repellent, a flashlight and a utility knife. After this arrest this time, he was charged with theft by shoplifting and obstruction of an enforcement. He was also served with the escape warrant. Cassandra Sainsbury is expected to confess to acting as cocaine mule based on tell all TV confessions from her family and fiance. In a soon to air interview with Channel 7, the 22-year-old's partner Scott Broadbridge has reportedly conceded Sainsbury will admit her role in an international drug syndicate- before the case is heard in court, The Daily Telegraph reported. Sainsbury, who is still behind bars in Colombia, is understood to have given her partner permission to sell his side of the story. Cassandra Sainsbury (pictured) is expected to confess to acting as cocaine mule based on tell all TV confessions from her family and fiance In a soon to air interview with Channel 7, the 22-year-old's partner Scott Broadbridge (pictured) has reportedly conceded Sainsbury will admit her role in an international drug syndicate Sainsbury, who is still behind bars in Colombia, is understood to have given her partner (pictured) permission to sell his side of the story In a promo for the Channel 7 interview Broadbridge says his partner's flight to Colombia was a surprise to him. Broadbridge is expected to explain what he knows about the syndicate behind the cocaine deal. Sainsbury's mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury reportedly sold their story to the Channel Nine program for approximately $1million. Ms Sainsbury's mother and sister travelled to Colombia this week for the first time since her arrest on April 11. She was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine in her suitcase at El Dorado International Airport. Last week Sainsbury expressed concern with her family's attempt to sell her story. She urged them to wait until her trial was finished. 'Once I've been sentenced I'm happy to talk about what happened because my case isn't in jeopardy then,' she said. In a promo for the Channel 7 interview Broadbridge (left) says his partner's flight to Colombia (right) was a surprise to him A Pizza Hut supervisor allegedly pepper-sprayed a colleague after a vicious argument about how to put pepperoni and cheese on a pizza. Police are searching for Anderson Lewis after he reportedly sprayed his female victim on her arm at the restaurant in Sandy Springs, Florida on Tuesday. Witnesses said Lewis confronted the victim about the placement of the pizza ingredients. A Pizza Hut supervisor allegedly pepper-sprayed a colleague after a vicious argument about how to put pepperoni and cheese on a pizza (stock image) He then allegedly told her that she 'needed to go home or get fired' before she replied that he wasn't her manager. According to witnesses including the general manager, Lewis started threatening her husband and mentioning her brother, who died two weeks previously. The manager said he told Lewis to leave which is when he allegedly whipped out the pepper spray. He then reportedly left the store in a huff after writing his address on a napkin and telling his victim that if she wanted to fight, that's where she could find him. Roger Ailes will always be remembered for his downfall, the way he was forced out as president of Fox News for sexually harassing the leggy and beautiful women he hired to take the channel to the top. It was a shocking end to an extraordinary career for a man who helped four presidents take the White House and who for 20 years had pushed conservative causes on Rupert Murdoch's network. Ailes, who died early Thursday aged 77 just 10 months after he quit, was a larger than life figure who was idolized by conservatives and loathed by the left. Scroll down for video Roger Ailes wife Elizabeth, right, announced his death in a statement Thursday. They are pictured outside the News Corp building on July 19, 2016 - just two days before his resignation He had been in a coma for eight days after hitting his head in a fall at the $36 million Oceanside mansion he had bought in Palm Beach, Florida just last year, said New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman, whose reporting had been instrumental in bringing down Ailes. And the scandal that he was at the center of has continued to roil Fox News. Bill O'Reilly's ouster last month after a host of women made similar claims against him was a direct result of the climate that Ailes fostered at the Fox headquarters on New York's Sixth Avenue, as was the firing of Ailes's successor Bill Shine. But despite his fall from grace, both colleagues and rivals lauded him in the hours after his death 'Today America lost one of its great patriotic warriors,' said Fox's Sean Hannity. 'Few people in this life will ever reach the profound level of impact that Roger Ailes had on the country every single day. As his opponents played checkers in life, Roger was always the strategist, playing chess, [five] steps ahead at a whole other level.' Roger Ailes (pictured) suffered from hemophilia, a blood disorder, and was in and out of hospitals in Warren, Ohio from throughout his childhood Roger Ailes's father was a factory maintenance foreman who regularly beat him, which Ailes thought was normal for the time. Roger was born May 15, 1940 and died three days after his 77th birthday in Palm Beach, Florida (Ailes family pictured) After his death was announced, several of Roger Ailes's (left) rivals paid their respects On the other side of the political divide, MSNBC's Al Sharpton said he had known Ailes for 30 years. 'We've fought, debated and exchanged war stories. We didn't agree on much and I protested him many times,' added Sharpton. 'However his impact on US culture is undeniable.' Ailies graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 1958 (pictured as a senior) And Democratic strategist David Axelrod added: 'I knew Ailes. Competed against him in campaigns. Railed against him many times. But appreciated our frank, backchannel conversations.' Roger Ailes was a sickly child. Born on May 15, 1940, he was the son of a factory maintenance foreman in Warren, Ohio. Throughout his early years he was in and out of hospital due to his hemophilia. His father regularly beat him, but Ailes saw that as nothing out of the ordinary for the time. Soon after graduating from the Warren G. Harding High School in 1958, he was kicked out of the family home. The young Roger thought it was another life lesson from his father, only later learning it was because his parents were about to divorce. But he prospered, attending Ohio University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in radio and television in 1962. He got his big break almost immediately out of college. He landed a job at The Mike Douglas Show, then a little black-and-white show airing just in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Within months it was picked up for national syndication. Roger Ailies was kicked out of his family home after he graduated high school in 1958. He would later learn it was because his parents were about to divorce (Ailes family pictured) Roger Ailes (pictured) graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in radio and television in 1962 After college, Ailes (center, in high school) started working at the The Mike Douglas Show which aired in Cleveland and Philadelphia before it was picked up for national syndication The syndication of The Mike Douglas Show gave Ailes national exposure, which led to an interview with Nixon on air (pictured in high school) In 1967, Richard Nixon was booked on the show and Ailes and the Republican politician got into an argument about the merits of television, which Nixon saw as a gimmick. Ailes was so impressive that the campaign hired him, charging him with the task of making the future president who had famously bombed in his 1960 debate with John F. Kennedy appear less stiff and more likeable. From there he went on to two more Republican presidential campaigns, helping with Ronald Reagan's re-election in 1984 and then steering George H.W. Bush to the White House four years later. But he suffered a devastating blow when he tried to get former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh elected to the Senate from Pennsylvania in a special election in 1991. Thornburgh was hot favorite but lost in an upset and immediately afterwards Ailes announced he was giving up political consulting for good. He moved back to television, starting with the fledgling CNBC and when media mogul Rupert Murdoch wanted someone to head up his new Fox News cable channel in 1996, Ailes was a logical choice. Then candidate Richard Nixon was so impressed with Ailes's interview he hired him for his campaign in 1967. Nixon gave the 27-year-old the task of making him seem less stiff on air After Nixon, Roger Ailes went on to help three other presidents take the White House. He aided in Reagan's re-election, George H.W.'s (pictured) campaign and helped coach Donald Trump His views on what makes good TV were clear. 'If you have two guys on a stage and one guy says, 'I have a solution to the Middle East problem,' and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?' he was fond of asking. For 20 years Ailes built up the channel, turning it into a ratings machine. The conservative views that Fox promoted resonated with middle America making household names of hosts such as O'Reilly, Hannity and Glenn Beck. But over the years Fox News was also gaining a reputation for the number of beautiful young women who were placed onscreen. Ailes was clear what he wanted and invariably dressed them in short skirts behind glass tables so viewers could see their shapely legs. It was a stroke of genius as far as ratings were concerned and Fox soon overtook CNN as the leading cable TV network. But it was those same women who were to bring down Ailes and later O'Reilly. Ailes was hired to run Fox News in 1996 after working for CNBC. He promoted conservative viewpoints that resonated with Middle America, making Fox a ratings machine In 2014 Sherman alleged that Ailes offered one producer a raise if she would sleep with him. Fox hit back, angrily denying the allegation. Then last July former host Gretchen Carlson learned her contract would not be renewed. She filed a lawsuit claiming she had been fired because she rebuffed her three-times married boss. 'You and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better,' Carlson claimed he had told her. Ailes was divorced twice. His wife Elizabeth (pictured) was married to him at the time of his death. The two have a son, Zachary Again Fox was adamant the claims were made up. Sherman then claimed at least six other women had made similar claims and within days Murdoch was forced to initiate an internal review. Those inside Fox News were hardly surprised that Ailes was being accused. According to Vanity Fair, he frequently greeted his female employees by saying 'Turn around and give me a spin.' 'A step further was: 'Does Rupert know you're more than just a hot blonde,' the magazine claimed. He also told a pregnant woman he knew about her condition in advance of her telling him. 'You know how I could tell? Because your breasts look big.' Just 15 days after Carlson first made her claim, Ailes was out. 'I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry,' he said as he left the News Corps Building for the last time. He walked away with a $40 million golden handshake. Carlson got a $20 million pay-out. But it still wasn't the end of the matter. The following month Andrea Tantaros claimed she had complained to Fox executives about Ailes's behavior and had immediately been taken off air. In July, Murdoch left Fox News after allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women at the network. He left with a $40 million golden handshake The news ticker outside Fox News, which Ailes helped build, reports his death Thursday Ailes moved to Palm Beach following his ousting from Fox. Multiple women at the network said he sexually harassed them which led to an internal review Ailes died moved permanently to his Palm Beach home shortly after he was ousted from Fox. He died eight days after falling hitting his head inside his $36 million mansion (pictured) A host of other women came forward with similar claims Laurie Duhn claimed he had harassed her for 20 years, once telling her to dance in a garter belt in his hotel room, Laurie Dhue claimed she was a victim of both Ailes and O'Reilly. STATEMENT FROM RUPERT MURDOCH ON THE DEATH OF ROGER AILES 'Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes. 'A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping Americas media over the last thirty years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted. 'Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. 'At 21st Century Fox we will always be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Elizabeth and son Zachary.' Advertisement Then Fox's most popular female presenter Megyn Kelly left to join NBC. Her departure came with another bombshell. In her book she recounted how she hated being alone with Ailes because of his actions. It culminated in what Kelly called 'a shocking exchange' in his office. 'He crossed a new line,' she wrote. 'trying to grab me repeatedly and kiss me on the lips.' In the months since Ailes quit, the company he built has been in turmoil, partly due to changes forced on its line-up by O'Reillys dismissal and partly due to viewers wanting to learn more about the scandals surrounding Donald Trump's presidency. MSNBC has been closing in on its ratings dominance on Monday it was just 2,000 viewers behind. Ailes himself had one final hurrah in the last year of his life. He helped prepare Trump for debates last year after his ousting from Fox. 'It is not an overstatement that without Roger Ailes there is no Donald Trump,' CNN's Chris Cillizza tweeted soon after his death. Roger Ailes was married three times. He leaves behind his wife Elizabeth, who announced his death on Thursday, and one son, Zachary. Fired Trump National Security Advisor Gen. Mike Flynn won't honor a subpoena issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the panel chairman says. Gen. Flynn's lawyers said he would not honor the subpoena, and that's not a surprise to the committee, but we'll figure out on Gen. Flynn what the next step, if any, is,' said North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican leading a probe of Russian election interference. But the probe continues. 'We're continuing on with a lot of interviews and through those interviews it leads us to additional document requests and additional individuals we'd like to talk to,' Burr told reporters in the Capitol Thursday, CNN reported. Flynn's lawyer has been seeking immunity for his client. After a series of immediate reports, Burr told the Huffington Post he may have spoken too soon and had yet to get a 'definitive answer' to the subpoena. Former National Security Advisor retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn won't honor a Senate subpoena, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said Congressional aides said negotiations with Flynn's lawyer continue, Reuters reported. The Intelligence Committee is seeking to interview Flynn as part of its probe of Russian election interference. Trump fired Flynn after he failed to inform Vice President Mike Pence about his Russia contacts during the transition. Reuters reported Wednesday on 18 undisclosed Trump campaign Russia contacts. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (L) speaks along side retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn during a campaign town hall meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., September 6, 2016 On Wednesday, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to act as special counsel to lead an investigation into Russian election interference, a move the White House has been arguing against. House Speaker Paul Ryan said House investigations would continue. 'This is an investigation involving Russia, involving another country interfering with our elections, and so the intelligence committee in my opinion is the best place for that,' Ryan said. The Amtrak engineer who caused the deadly 2015 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia has turned himself in on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Brandon Bostian was cleared of criminal wrongdoing last week over the crash, despite reports he was going 106mph when he took a 50mph curve, causing the train to derail. Eight passengers were killed in the crash and more than 200 were injured. But a judge filed new charges against him following a private criminal complaint from a crash victim's family. Today, the 34-year-old was seen walking to a Philadelphia police station to turn himself in, on eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of causing or risking a catastrophe and numerous counts of reckless endangerment. Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak engineer involved in a fatal train crash two years ago, walked into a police station in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 18, to turn himself in Bostian faces charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter over the fatal crash The engineer was shockingly cleared of criminal wrongdoing last week, and was instead charged with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of causing or risking a catastrophe and numerous counts of reckless endangerment Bostian, wearing a maroon polo shirt and jeans, was cuffed by investigators from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, in front of a crowd of press waiting at the corner of 21st and Hamilton streets, and escorted into the department. Just minutes after leaving Philadelphia on May 12, 2015, on a Washington-to-New York run, the train accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve, derailing in a crash that killed eight people and injured about 200. The National Transportation Safety Board found that Bostian essentially forgot where he was when he sped up. Bostian, who has been on unpaid administrative leave from Amtrak, did not respond to reporters' questions as he entered the police station. Philadelphia prosecutors had decided not to charge him, but a judge acting on a private criminal complaint from a crash victim's family ordered misdemeanor charges filed. On May 12, 2015, during a journey from Washington, DC to New York, at 9:10pm, Bostian accelerated to 106mph on a 50mph curve, which caused the train to derail (Pictured, an aerial shot of the wreckage) Eight of the passengers were killed and more than 200 of the 238 were injured (Pictured, rescue workers asses the wreckage) Local prosecutors had cleared Bostian of criminal wrongdoing last week. When the accident occurred, he had only been assigned to the route just a few weeks beforehand (Bostian pictured left in 2007 outside a train at the Amtrak station in St Louis, and passengers aboard the train steady themselves just moments following the crash) The case was referred to the state attorney general, who added a felony count of causing a catastrophe on top of eight misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and other charges. The citizen complaint against Bostian was brought by attorneys for the family of Rachel Jacobs, a 39-year-old chief executive of a Philadelphia-based technology startup who was killed returning home to her husband and 2-year-old son in New York. Just days before a two-year statute of limitations was to expire, Philadelphia prosecutors announced they had concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove that Bostian acted with intent or 'conscious disregard' for the passengers' safety. But victim lawyers said that should be an issue for a jury to decide. Now the new charges have been filed, attorney Thomas Kline, who had sought the private complaint on the Jacobs family's behalf, said it wouldn't have happened 'had a courageous family, the Jacobs family, not stood up against the decision of a local prosecutor not to press charges'. Today, the 34-year-old was seen walking to a Philadelphia police station to turn himself in with someone who appears to be his lawyer Bostian was cuffed by investigators from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office on Thursday Bostian, wearing a maroon polo shirt and jeans, was escorted in front of a crowd of press waiting at the corner of 21st and Hamilton streets The engineer, who has been on unpaid administrative leave from Amtrak, did not respond to reporters' questions as he entered the police station He was escorted inside the police station where he faces eight charges of involuntary manslaughter 'That was clearly wrong, as evidenced by the attorney general not only reversing course but adding charges,' he said. The criminal case is sure to bring new scrutiny to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) finding that Bostian had lost 'situational awareness' on the curve in North Philadelphia. The speed limit climbs from 50mph to 110mph about a mile and a half after the curve. Amtrak has taken responsibility for the crash and agreed to pay $265 million to settle claims filed by victims and their families. The NTSB found no evidence that Bostian was impaired or using a cellphone. The agency also called Amtrak's long failure to implement automatic speed control throughout the busy Northeast Corridor a contributing factor. In a lawsuit against Amtrak, Bostian said he was left disoriented or unconscious when something struck his train before it derailed (Pictured, rescue workers search for survivors among the wreckage) Bostian has a personal injury suit pending against Amtrak, saying he was left disoriented or unconscious when something struck his train before it derailed. He had heard through radio traffic that a nearby commuter train had been struck by a rock. However, the NTSB concluded that nothing struck his locomotive. Federal investigators believe he was distracted listening to radio traffic that a nearby commuter train had been struck by a rock and lost track of where he was. 'One thing he has never recollected is how or why he accelerated before the curve,' said attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who with Kline represents about three dozen victims. Other lawyers have called last year's NTSB report on the crash a 'whitewash' and a 'quantum leap.' A judge has sentenced a California man to three years and eight months in prison after he admitted he threw a special needs boy's assistance dog off a balcony. Jose Yvani Herrera, 24, pleaded no contest to felony cruelty to an animal in court on Wednesday. Prosecutors say that in addition to state prison time, Herrera has been barred from owning, living with or caring for an animal for a decade, reports the Long Beach Press Telegram. Jose Yvani Herrera, 24, was sentenced to more than three years in state prison after throwing a special needs boy's assistance Chihuahua (like the one pictured above) off a balcony Prosecutors revealed that on May 7, Herrera hurled the dog Pearl, a one-year-old Chihuahua off the balcony of a home on Artesia Boulevard in Long Beach, California where he was living. Cops arrested him at the home on the same day. Herrera lived in the home with his ex-girlfriend, her 41-year-old mother and her 10-year-old special needs brother, Pearl's owner. Pearl survived, but the fall resulted in 'significant injuries to her eye,' prosecutors said. Due to the specialized medical care she needs, Pearl is recovering at Long Beach Animal Care Services instead of at home with the boy and his family. The animal welfare shelter is trying to 'work out getting the dog back to the owners,' David Linn, Long Beach ACS field operations supervisor told the Long Beach Post. During the hearing, Herrera admitted that he had a prior conviction for second-degree robbery in 2015. President Donald Trump says he's 'very close' to naming an FBI director. Trump confirmed Thursday afternoon that former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman is a favorite for the position. 'We're very close to an FBI director,' Trump told reporters shouting questions at him as he met with the Colombian president in the Oval Office. 'Soon,' he added. In response to a reporter who asked about Lieberman's reported frontrunner status, Trump said that 'he is.' The president said later, during a presser with his foreign counterpart, 'We're going to have a director who is going to be outstanding. Ill be announcing that director very soon, and I look forward to doing it. 'I think the people in the FBI will be very, very thrilled.' THE OUTSIDER: Former Senator Joe Lieberman, pictured on Wednesday at the White House, was among the FBI director candidates interviewed on Wednesday. President Donald Trump confirmed that he was a frontrunner on Thursday The White House suggested Lieberman was on Trump's short list for FBI director on Wednesday, when it revealed that the Democrat-turned- Independent and three other candidates were sitting down for formal interviews with the president. Three potential FBI directors the Justice Department initially interviewed have publicly dropped out of the running. Alice Fisher, an assistant attorney general in George W. Bush's Justice Department, has taken herself out of contention, CNN reports. She pulled out as Justice announced that it appointed a special prosecutor to take over the Russia case. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who served as his state's attorney general, announced his intentions Tuesday to remain in the U.S. Senate. Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, a former prosecutor and state's attorney in South Carolina, told DOJ he was bowing out on Monday. President Donald Trump's short list for FBI director just got a little shorter. Alice Fisher, an assistant attorney general in George W. Bush's Justice Department, has taken herself out of the running John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who served as his state's attorney general, announced his intentions Tuesday to remain in the U.S. Senate. Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, a former prosecutor and state's attorney in South Carolina, told DOJ he was bowing out on Monday U.S. appeals court Judge Merrick Garland, Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, said this week that he didn't want the job, either, after his name was put forward by the top Republican in the Senate. That leaves Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former U.S. attorney Michael Garcia from Justice's original list, according to Politico. Trump interviewed McCabe and three other candidates for the vacancy on Wednesday. Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and Richard McFeely, a former FBI Executive Assistant Director who was in charge of investigating white-collar and organized crime along with cyber cases, were seen leaving the White House on Wednesday. Lieberman, the vice presidential nominee in 2000, also sat down with Trump on Wednesday, the White House said. Senators on both sides of the aisle have encouraged Trump to pick someone who did not work in politics to succeed Comey. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer reiterated his position on Thursday on the Senate floor. 'A career politician of either party or anyone who suggests a lack of impartiality should not be considered,' he said in a shot at Lieberman. Richard Blumenthal, the other senator from Connecticut at the end of Lieberman's time in office, also shot the idea down. 'This appointment is so important that we should try to insist on someone who has no political background,' the Democrat said. Lieberman pal John McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee for president, argued Thursday in his colleagues' favor, however, on Morning Joe. 'He's the greatest man I've ever known,' the Arizona senator said. Another friend of Lieberman's, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, said the former lawmaker is a 'pillar of credibility.' 'I think he'd be a good choice. But now you have a special counsel the new FBI director doesn't have to worry about riding herd over an investigation of the man who appointed him,' he said. Trump has wasted no time in replacing James Comey following his decision nine days ago to fire America's top cop. He has said he hopes to announce his choice before leaving Friday on a nine-day overseas diplomacy tour. THE G-MEN: Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe (left) and former executive assistant director Richard McFeely (right at the White House on Wednesday) are on the president's short list White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One following Trump's commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut that Trump would be interviewing four candidates that afternoon for FBI director. 'Let's just say we had a good conversation,' Keating said as he came out. 'I'm a public servant,' he told a journalist who asked what his response would be if Trump did make him an offer. Reporters did not see McCabe leave the premises. Lieberman said after his meeting that the interview 'was unexpected. Not something I was seeking.' The former lawmaker, 75, would indeed be an unconventional choice. Although he declared his independence from political parties in 2006, he ran for vice president as a Democrat six years earlier. He served as Connecticut's attorney general before first running for the U.S. Senate in 1988. A White House official told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Trump is aware Lieberman once advocated for criminal investigations of news organizations that chose to publish classified materials that were surfaced as part of computer hacking enterprises. The president has spoken openly about 'opening up' America's libel laws in order to make it easier to sue news outlets, and reportedly asked Comey during a February 24 meeting to consider criminally charging journalists who published classified document leaks. The New York Times drew criticism in 2010 for reporting on the contents of highly sensitive National Security Agency documents stolen by Army private Bradley Manning, who later gave them to the anti-secrecy Wikileaks website. THE LONG SHOT? Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, shown throwing out the first pitch before a 2010 Washington Nationals baseball game, was an FBI agent for four years following his 1969 law school graduation President Trump fired director James Comey eight days ago, and has wasted little time identifying and interviewing possible replacements Lieberman said then in a Fox news Channel interview that the Times had 'committed at least an act of bad citizenship. And whether they've committed a crime, I think that bears very intensive inquiry by the Justice Department.' He also urged the Obama administration to charge WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with treason for publishing the material. 'He ought to be indicted and then we can ask the authorities in England to extradite him to the United States,' Lieberman said. 'I think its the most serious violation of the Espionage Act in our history.' Lieberman said that one reason to ask for criminal charges in the case is 'if you don't prosecute people who commit crimes, others are going to do it soon and again. And I'm afraid that's what's going to happen here.' The retired former senator has already pitched in to help Trump once this year, warmly introducing David Friedman during his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of ambassador to Israel. White House press secretary Sean Spicer spoke to reporters about the FBI director interviews during an Air Force One flight back from Conncticut, where the president delivered a commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Lieberman ran for vice president in 2000 as a Democrat, ultimately losing the election on a ticket with then-Vice President Al Gore (left) The other three candidates on Trump's meeting list are all current or former FBI agents. McCabe took over the top job on an acting basis when Comey got the ax. McFeely ran the bureau's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch for three years before retiring. And Keating was a G-man for four years after he graduated from law school in 1969, primarily investigating terrorism cases on the West coast. He also served as an associate U.S. attorney general for ten years during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush presidencies. Retired Congressman Mike Rogers, a former agent who advised Trump during the transition, was also said to be under consideration, although he was not one of the candidates Trump spoke to Wednesday at the White House. A former Miss World Australia winner was used to lure clients to the payroll company embroiled in an unprecedented scam to defraud the Australian Tax Office. Plutus Payroll Australia is at the centre of a complex web of alleged deception which has sparked the biggest tax fraud investigation in Australian history. Erin Holland, who took out the 2013 beauty pageant, was paraded at Plutus promotional parties and featured heavily in its social media advertisements. 'Continuing to be spoilt rotten by my wonderful client Plutus Payroll Australia!' Ms Holland wrote on her Facebook page, according to The Australian. Former Miss World Australia winner Erin Holland was used to lure clients to the payroll company embroiled in an unprecedented scam to defraud the Australian Tax Office Erin Holland (pictured) took out the 2013 beauty pageant Miss World Australia Holland posted about hosting and performing at a Plutus Payroll event in Sydney, uploading a photo standing next to the company's former director Simon Anquetil (left) On an online forum, a man claiming to be James Kitson, one of Plutus' senior executives, promoted a 2015 event while spruiking the company's 'zero-fee' policy. 'For anyone in Sydney... we'll be hosting an event likely at the Hilton in Sydney CBD - and yes Miss World will be there again,' the post read, according to the paper. Former Plutus director Simon Anquetil offered guests at the same function the chance to 'join me for a selfie' with the 'stunning' Ms Holland, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Holland also posted about a Plutus Payroll event in Sydney on her personal social media account in 2015, saying she had a 'great time hosting and performing'. Mr Anquetil is not alleged to be involved in the $165 million taxation fraud syndicate, and has not been charged by police. There is no suggestion that Ms Holland or Mr Anquetil had any involvement in, or knowledge, of the alleged misconduct. ' 'Erin Holland was engaged by Plutus Payroll to perform and host events curated by Plutus Payroll,' Ms Holland's agent told Daily Mail Australia in a statement. 'At no time did Erin Holland have any involvement in, or knowledge of, alleged misconduct or alleged criminal activity by any person associated with Plutus Payroll or its related businesses.' Ms Holland was paraded at Plutus promotional parties and featured heavily in its social media advertisements Former Plutus director Simon Anquetil (pictured) offered guests the chance to 'join me for a selfie' with the 'stunning' Ms Holland Model Erin Holland (second from right) is pictured in a photo with Simon Anquetil (centre) and Jay Onley (Right). Mr Conley has been charged in relation to the alleged tax fraud Police allege the elaborate syndicate ran the legitimate payroll company and accepted money from clients to process payroll on their behalf. Money was transferred to subcontracted or second-tier companies which made the payroll payments. That was legal but police allege what happened next was not. The subcontracted companies were fronts controlled by the syndicate and failed to pass on complete PAYG contributions to the tax office. The allegedly stolen money was transferred to the conspirators through a series of companies and trusts and used to fund lavish lifestyles. Seized items are displayed at a press conference at the Australian Federal Police headquarters on Thursday Among those linked to the alleged criminal conspiracy is senior tax official Michael Cranston Among those linked to the alleged criminal conspiracy is senior tax official Michael Cranston his 30-year-old son, Adam, and 24-year-old daughter, Lauren. Mr Cranston, 58, was issued a court attendance notice for allegedly publicly abusing his position as a senior official of the Commonwealth, after an eight-month investigation by the Australian Federal Police. Mr Cranston allegedly tried to cut a deal with high-ranking colleagues after learning his son was among nine people under investigation for a $165 million taxation fraud syndicate. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of the fraud offences he is facing, and dodged media after he was released from Surry Hills Police Station on Thursday. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Holland for comment. A mother-of-four escaped serious injury when her SUV hit a 9-foot alligator crossing Interstate 75. 34-year-old lawyer Jennifer Rosinski of Cooper City, Florida lost control after hitting the alligator, and the car flipped over multiple times on Tuesday night. The Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release that she somehow escaped with bruises and a cut under her right eye. The alligator wasn't so lucky. 'I've never been in a significant accident before, and the first one I'm in is car vs. alligator,' said Rosinski, a mother of four and a resident of Cooper City in Broward County. 'Are you kidding me?' 34-year-old lawyer Jennifer Rosinski of Cooper City, Florida lost control of her Ford Escape after hitting and killing an alligator (pictured) while driving on Interstate 75 on Tuesday night Late Tuesday evening, Rosinski was driving along the highway when she saw what she believed was a fox. Unable to avoid, she hit what would soon be revealed to be an alligator. 'I thought I hit a fox because it was moving so fast,' Rosinski said. 'They said, "You hit an alligator.' I said, 'What?' And they said, 'Yeah, it's right over there.' The collision sent her company issued Ford Escape spiraling out of control, overturning half a dozen times. Rosinski escaped the Escape with the help of bystanders, crawling out the vehicles rear door after it spiraled out of control and overturned half a dozen time. She came out with bruises and a scratch under her eye while the alligator was killed Rosinski escaped the Escape with the help of bystanders, crawling out the vehicles rear door. Lt. Gregory S. Bueno told the Palm Beach Post that crashes involving alligators are rare along that segment of I-75 in southwest Florida. 'You expect to see something like that on Alligator Alley,' Bueno said, referencing a portion of I-75 that runs west of Fort Lauderdale and east of Naples. 'Typically, in that part of Sarasota County, you see incidents involving deer or maybe a cow that got out of a fence. But alligators? No.' There are reportedly more than 1 million alligators in Florida but they are hardly the cause of car accidents. I don't know if it is cowardice or self-preservation. But grooming gangs are something we would prefer not to talk about. We've even given them a polite-sounding name, like something to do with hair care or personal maintenance, and look away. Talk about something else. Little wonder then that we have been finding the BBC drama on grooming gangs, Three Girls, too painful to watch. Liv Hill, Molly Windsor and Ria Zmitrowicz, as Ruby, Holly and Amber, and who are groomed and abused in BBC drama Three Girls On Wednesday night Ruby learned she was pregnant at the hands of the gang. After her abortion, police kept the terminated foetus in a freezer. It was a scene that shocked viewers. Some felt sick and had to turn off. My email inbox is similarly harrowing. After I asked for people to share their personal experiences with grooming gangs, I have been overwhelmed in every sense. Not only by the numbers, but by the stories they share. One lady let's call her Jemma says she is telling her story for the first time. Poured out, page after page, like a big, silent scream. From the first cigarette to nightly abuse by multiple men at the hands of the man she thought loved her. No matter how many of these stories come to light, no matter how familiar the pattern of the way these men operate, you don't get used to it. Can't get used to it. Shouldn't. The hook who snares the girl. The predator who gets the girl. And the co-ordinator who links the predators together in dirty rooms where the girls are raped by gangs. The ordinary girl. Head turned by free cigarettes and a fast car, alienated from family, ostracised from friends in the blink of an eye, then fed to the gang. It is not normal to hear about a little girl of 12 being locked in a strange room and raped by stranger after stranger, persuaded by her boyfriend it is the only way for him to pay off the debts he owes and for them to go on spending more time together. Somehow he made her believe it was all her fault. That she was to blame. Threatened they would kill her nan if she told. Amber, Ruby and Lorna Bowen in the second episode of the drama which airs on BBC One at 9pm on Wednesday A survivor of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham rang my radio show on Sunday to share her story. She speaks for thousands. She was 13 when she reported multiple cases of rape to the authorities. When she revealed the men's names, she was told not to discuss their ethnicity, not to make race an issue. She went on: 'The police said it was my word against his. And they said he was quite a nice guy so it probably wouldn't stand up in court. 'I saved the clothes I was raped in. But they said they lost them, so there was no evidence anymore.' Failed by the authorities, she fell back into the hands of the gang, and went back to being exploited. The only way her parents could make it stop was to move their child out of the country, to send her away from the UK to escape these men who preyed on their child. This pattern is familiar, too. In the Sikh community, children are sent away to give the child some hope of starting again and undoubtedly to protect the family honour. It seems an abused child never really escapes some feelings of shame. One child was sent to California to a foster family, to try to rebuild her life. She has not been back to the UK since. She misses her home. She misses her family. Her family's actions have reinforced everything the groomers said that she was to blame. But she also sees this new life as a way to start again. A little girl. Alone on the other side of the world. I met with Mohan Singh after tracking him down from a photo in which he was protesting outside court against a grooming gang. Left, DC Maggie Oliver who quit in disgust at the way the investigation was handled. Right, Lesley Sharp as DC Maggie in Three Girls. The former detective says offenders identified during the original investigation are still at large and abusing young girls in the town Resplendent in orange and purple robes, he was there to represent the Sikh community, to say these heinous acts against children were not in his name. To show that those charged with child sexual exploitation did not represent his religion. I watched him and wished other religious leaders would stand with him. To say no, not in our name either. I asked him why gangs were so successful, why police had done nothing to help the victims. He said: 'I think it is due to political correctness, but it's also down to nobody wanting to be called a racist. 'Nobody wants to call a spade a spade, nobody is grabbing the bull by the horns and saying: "No. Abuse is abuse, and we must stop it".' Mohan Singh appeared on Katie Hopkins LBC show and said: 'Nobody wants to call a spade a spade, nobody is grabbing the bull by the horns and saying: "No. Abuse is abuse, and we must stop it" He said people are too afraid to speak the truth. And it is a curious thing, because girl after girl tells me, reminds me, they never gave a thought to the religious beliefs of the man who groomed them, who they thought loved them. They didn't even see a difference in culture or colour. They were colour-blind to the hook who plucked them from their lives to feed a hungry group of men. They only remember his kindness, what it felt like to be special, how thrilling it was to feel loved. Race and religion don't come into it for the girls. And that is Mohan's point, too. Whoever is to blame, we need to focus on the fact that sexual abuse of children is wrong. I think he is right. To agree sexual abuse of children is wrong must be a fundamental starting point for every conversation. But we cannot sidestep the fact that 90 per cent of grooming gangs charged with offences are Muslim. And yet only 5 per cent of the population follows Islam. The numbers of abusers who purport to be Muslims are disproportionately high. All the more reason for an imam to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Mohan outside the court. For the religious leaders to condemn the gangs. I have been criticised widely for discussing the subject on my show. Rounded on by liberals, accused of Islamophobia, of bias, and reminded I failed to mention Jimmy Saville. I never find this argument helpful. This is not a competition. Does it make it better that little girls are raped by both white men and brown men? Does that make it OK? Is that the multicultural ideal? Top row left to right: Abdul Rauf, Hamid Safi, Mohammed Sajid and Abdul Aziz; Bottom row left to right: Abdul Qayyum, Adil Khan, Mohammed Amin and Kabeer Hassan Where are the feminists on this? The thousands of 'Pussy Marchers' and their silly hats? The outspoken women who are paid to sit on panels to talk about women's rights? Where are JK Rowling, Lily Allen speaking for Britain and Gary Lineker? Why the silence? One of my followers on Twitter articulates it beautifully: 'Feminism stops on Islam's doorstep. It is the precise point of the intellectual paralysis of intersectional doctrine.' Or the 'thought vortex', as I like to call it, where the need to kowtow to the Muslim faith overrides the injustice of the rape of young white girls regarded as 'trash'. One thing is clear. Whilst Three Girls was a programme on TV, its content is a reality for thousands of young girls in the UK. A reality which means many now live apart from their parents. One viewer texted the Whistleblower for the Rotherham Abuse Scandal, Jayne Senior, simply saying: 'I've just watched my life being acted out'. It is a reality which means many are still carrying the secret horror of it around with them every day. A big bag of shame, sitting heavily on their shoulders. And just because a few mugshots show a handful of men in jail, we should not allow ourselves to imagine this problem has gone away. These gangs are relatively sophisticated, organised and networked between cities. When a child falls into their hands they are trapped in a web whose invisible threads stretch right across the country. Shabir Ahmed, the group's ringleader, who the girls called 'Daddy'. Right, played by Simon Nagra in the BBC drama The Director and Head of the Child Abuse department at Switalskis Solicitors says the problem is getting worse. 'I have had reports from numerous girls and parents in Rotherham that child sexual exploitation by young Asian males is continuing to this date. 'I spoke this week to a 17-year-old who had been pimped out by Asian gangs in Bradford and complained that social services and the police failed to take action to prevent abuse or arrest or disrupt the abusers.' These reports are backed up by Maggie Oliver, played by Lesley Sharpe in Three Girls. A former detective who helped cage a gang of Rochdale sex groomers in 2012, Maggie says offenders identified during the original investigation are still at large and abusing young girls in the town. I have seen how terrifyingly easy it is for these men to pick a target, alienate her from her family, and then feed her to the gangs. And in the last few weeks, I have heard the same story, told in different ways, too many times. The Rotherham survivor who shared her story with me on air has managed to move on, to rebuild her life and start a little family of her own. She is a strong woman. She had a boy. I asked if she was glad. She said she was relieved. He stood more of a chance against the gangs. Katie will be discussing the problem of grooming gangs with Jayne Senior, the Whistleblower for the Rotherham Abuse Scandal on LBC radio 10am Sunday 21 May. Sick vandals have trashed a memorial to Fusilier Lee Rigby in a horrifying attack just days before the fourth anniversary of his murder. The heartless thugs even ripped down a teddy bear left there by Lee's six-year-old son Jack at the memorial in Woolwich, south east London. Detectives have set up a police cordon after memorial flags were damaged overnight - with some possibly stolen. Scroll down for video Sick vandals have ransacked a memorial to Fusilier Lee Rigby in a sickening attack just days ahead of the fourth anniversary of his murder Thugs even ripped down a teddy bear left there by Lee's little son Jack (pictured with his mother Rebecca and Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace last week during a tea party to honour the children of those who have died serving in the armed forces) The heartless offenders are believed to have struck overnight, targeting the memorial flags which were displayed on railings. The memorial was placed outside the Royal Artillery Barracks, near where the 25-year-old soldier was brutally killed. Extremists Michael Adebowale, 25, was jailed for 45 years and accomplice Michael Adebolajo, 32, was jailed for life for killing the off-duty soldier near his barracks on May 22, 2013. The pair knocked him down with a car before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives. Police officers are conducting reassurance patrols in the area following the act of vandalism. Forensics officers are at the scene and have sealed off the area on the boundary wall of a block of flats. The attack is the second on the site since Christmas after a flag was taken in January. Detectives have set up a police cordon after memorial flags were damaged overnight - with some possibly stolen The memorial was placed outside the Royal Artillery Barracks, near where the 25-year-old soldier was brutally killed Lee Rigby (left), 25, was off-duty when he was hacked to death by Michael Adebowale, 25, Michael Adebolajo, 32, with meat cleavers near his barracks on May 22, 2013. Pictured right, his wife Rebecca and son Jack Lorna Taylor, 49, a friend of Lee's mother Lyn, who has campaigned for a permanent memorial in the town and has organised a series of events on Sunday and Monday to mark Lee's murder said she was heartbroken. She revealed police have asked her if she thought the attack could be racist. Ms Taylor, from Woolwich also revealed that a teddy left at the scene by Lee's little son Jack had also been pulled off and thrown over a wall. The area is a shrine to the fusilier and veterans and other well-wishers leave Tee shirts, cuddly toys and other banners in honour of the soldier at the spot where he was murdered. Ms Taylor said: 'I am disgusted.I can't believe anyone would want to do this. It's heart breaking. 'They have slashed everything down with a knife even a memorial banner to Lee we had specially made. 'Everything has been slashed down with a knife. Even a teddy left by Lee's son Jack has been cut down and thrown over a wall. 'The police asked me if I thought it could be racist - but I don't know. It could be anyone. The attack is the second on the site since Christmas after a flag was taken in January Forensics officers are at the scene and have sealed off the area on the boundary wall of a block of flats 'Why on earth would anyone want to do this? It is totally disrespectful. 'I haven't had the heart to call Lyn ands tell her. She's going to be distraught that someone has done this.' She added: 'We have got lots of people coming to pay their respects this weekend. 'It's clearly been done with the anniversary in mind.' A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Police were called at 11:44hrs on Thursday, May 18 to a report that flags at the Lee Rigby memorial in Hillreach, Charlton, SE15 - opposite the Royal Artillery Barracks - had been damaged, with some possibly stolen. 'Officers have attended and are making enquiries; a crime scene is in place. 'It is believed that the memorial was damaged sometime overnight on Wednesday, May 17 into Thursday, May 18. 'Local officers will be conducting reassurance patrols.' Lee's name appears on a plaque at the refurbished St George's Chapel in Woolwich - a chapel of the town's army barracks which was destroyed by a doodle bug in World War Two. It was refurbished in 2015 and now acts as a permanent memorial to those from the town who died in conflict. 91-year-old Duane Marvin from Anchorage man has been charged with first and second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 92-year-old wife, Charlotte A 91-year-old Alaska man has been charged with first and second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 92-year-old wife. Duane Marvin is accused of killing Charlotte at their home in Anchorage. His defense attorney, Jon Buchholdt says Duane Marvin is innocent. Buchholdt says Duane did not fire the gun on purpose and that he stumbled and fell when the gun discharged. He says Duane suffers from dementia and is like a child, stressing the World War II veteran doesn't belong in jail. Anchorage police say they don't know the motive for the shooting. According to an Anchorage Police charging document obtained by the Alaska Dispatch News, Duane told investigators: 'I killed my wife and I don't know why.' 'I don't know what happened,' and 'I had no reason to do anything to my wife,' Duane said. Duane was pushed to the court podium in a wheelchair and cried through much of the hearing on Wednesday. Anchorage police say they don't have a motive as to why he shot her dead Marvin spent most of the court hearing crying and wearing headphones in order to hear Marvin's granddaughter claims he has dementia as well as suffering from hearing loss, and has trouble walking and communicating Duane's defense attorney, Jon Buchholdt, says the shooting was an accident, and the gun went off because he fell, reported KTVA. 'He stumbled in a bedroom with his wife, and he's crippled, and he fired off a gun because he's a gun freak,' said Buchholdt. He has since been released to the custody of his granddaughter. Police were called to the couple's house on Sunday afternoon after receiving calls that a woman was dead in her home. Investigators believe that Duane shot Charlotte Marvin and then hid the gun in a cabinet before walking to a neighbor's home to report his wife's death. Police also found three 9mm bullets in his pants pocket. Duane turned himself in later that day. His granddaughter Gena Powers told a judge that he has dementia but was not taking any medication for it. He was also suffering from hearing loss, and has trouble walking and communicating. A former kindergarten teacher and divorced mother-of-two from Texas accused of having sex with a half-dozen high school students is asking a judge to lower her bail amount. Heather Lee Robertson, 38, of Lufkin, has been locked up in Angelina County Jail since April 22, when she was arrested on multiple charges of second-degree felony improper relations between educator and student and ordered held on $600,000 bail. Robertson was initially charged with four criminal counts for allegedly having sex with four teenage boys, including one instance in which she was said to have engaged in a threesome with two male students. A lawyer for former kindergarten teacher Heather Lee Robertson, 38 (pictured in court in early May), has filed a motion asking a judge to lower her $600,000 bail Robertson has been locked up in Angelina County Jail since April 22, when she was arrested on four criminal counts. Prosecutors later filed eight more counts against her, including six charges of sexual assault of a child Prosecutors later identified two more suspected victims and filed a total of eight additional charges against Robertson, including six second-degree felony sexual assault on a child counts and two more improper relationship counts. The station KTRE-TV reported that earlier this week, the woman's defense attorney filed a motion claiming that she is 'illegally confined and retrained' in the county jail because her six-figure bail amount is 'excessive, oppressive' and beyond the former teacher's financial means. Scott Tatum goes on to say in his motion that the collective bail of $600,000 violates his clients' constitutional rights protected under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Eight Amendment to the US Constitution reads: 'Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.' Under Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, all US citizens are guaranteed a right to due process. Tatums court filing also requests that a judge conduct a hearing to go over evidence in the case and lower Robertsons bail to an unspecified 'reasonable amount' that she presumably could afford. Robertson (pictured in an earlier mugshot, left), 38, is accused of having sex with six male high school boys after sexting with them on Snapchat (pictured right) The 38-year-old veteran educator has two daughters of her own, the eldest pictured in the photo above, with her face obscured to protect her privacy One of the teenage victims told detectives last month that he and Robertson, formerly a kindergarten teacher in the Hudson Independent School District, started talking and exchanging sexually explicit messages on Snapchat, and sometime after spring break she invited him over for sex. The teen asked whether he could bring along a friend, and Roberson agreed, according to the document cited by the Lufkin Daily News. When the two juveniles arrived at the woman's apartment, they found her lying on the couch and smoking an e-Cigarette. After a few minutes of conversation, Robertson invited her underage guests into the bedroom, where she proceeded to strip naked before having a threesome with the high schoolers, according to the arrest document. Two other high school students later admitted to meeting Robertson for sex on multiple occasions, bringing the total number of victims to four. One of the boys recounted for the police how he would sneak out of his home and Robertson would pick him up and take him to her apartment to have sex. Robertson (pictured with her eldest daughter) admitted to the allegations last month, confessing that she had sex with one of the students four times between late 2016 and April 14 When investigators confronted the 38-year-old educator, who has two daughters of her own, Robertson admitted to the allegations, confessing that she had sex with one of the students four times between late 2016 and April 14. Robertson said she recently became a heavy drinker and would sometimes forget the details of the sexual trysts. She also revealed that she did not force the teens to wear condoms because she can no longer get pregnant. The 38-year-old said she instructed her underage lovers to keep quiet about their sex sessions, lest she get in trouble. Hudson ISD Superintendent Mary Ann Whiteker said in a statement that Robertson resigned just after the allegations against her came to light. She had been with the district since 2000, spending the first 13 years of her teaching career at Burley Primary in Lufkin. Robertson was pulled over by police while driving in Lufkin at around noon on April 22 and was arrested on the four initial improper relationship charges carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The teacher's past criminal record includes the single arrest of driving while intoxicated count in March. Theresa May today unveiled plans to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years as part of an ambitious plan to tackle the housing crisis. She also promised to end the scourge of shoddy homes and provide greater protections for 'generation rent' so that they have the security to live in their properties for longer. And the PM vowed to crack down on rip-off leasehold deals which sting people with escalating ground rent. Spiralling house prices have meant that for millions of Britons the dream of owning their own home has seemed a distant dream. Theresa May unveiled plans to build another 1.5 million new homes But the Tory Party's plans, contained in their manifesto, aims to extend the housing ladder to a new generation. In a frank assessment of the scale of the problem Britain faces , the manifesto states: 'We have not built enough homes in this country for generations, and buying or renting a home has become increasingly unaffordable. 'If we do not put this right, we will be unable to extend the promise of a decent home, let alone home ownership, to the millions who deserve it. 'We will fix the dysfunctional housing market so that housing is more affordable and people have the security they need to plan for the future.' The party promises to build one million new homes by the end of 2020 and another 500,000 by the end of 2022. The manifesto lashed out at developers who it on their planning permission or throw up poor quality housing without local amenities such as parks. Councils will be given fresh powers to intervene if developers sit on their planning permission. And the new housing will be high quality developments such as mansion blocks, the Tories promise. The manifesto states: 'More homes will not mean poor quality homes. 'For too long, careless developers, high land costs and poor planning have conspired to produce housing developments that do not enhance the lives of those living there. 'We have not provided the infrastructure, parks, quality of space and design that turns housing into community and makes communities prosperous and sustainable. The result is felt by many ordinary, working families. The Prime Minister also promised to give greater protection to renters and that the new generation of housing will be high quality - unlike some past developments This shoddy housing is 'unacceptable' and will not be tolerates, the manifesto promises. It adds: 'We will build better houses, to match the quality of those we have inherited from previous generations. 'That means supporting high-quality, high-density housing like mansion blocks, mews houses and terraced streets.' And it sticks to the party's commitment not to build on the Green Belt. The manifesto also promised 'crack down on unfair practices in leasehold, such as escalating ground rents' and to strengthen protections for renters. But the party faces a tough battle to tackle Britain's dysfunctional housing market. While house prices balloon, particularly in the South East, successive governments have woefully failed to build enough new homes. The number of affordable homes built in England in 2015-16 fell to its lowest level for 24 years. Just 32,110 built, compared to 66,600 in the previous year, according to figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Advertisement The final 13 flying Hurricane fighter planes that helped defeat the Germans in the Second World War have been recorded in all their glory for a new book. The Hawker Hurricane was seen as the poor relation to the Spitfire in the Second World War but these stunning photographs reveal just how majestic it was in full flight. A total of 14,583 Hurricanes were made during the Second World War but, because of the high casualty toll and the fact most were scrapped, only 13 airworthy ones exist today. Photographer John Dibbs spent 10 years travelling around the world photographing Hurricane fighter planes and visited placed such as Britain, France, the US and New Zealand. Above is a Hurricane AE 977 patrolling the White Cliffs of Dover Using the skill and experience of highly experienced RAF and civilian pilots, Mr Dibbs was able to fly to within 15ft of some of the Hurricanes - with breath-taking results . Above is a Hurricane painted in the colours of No 303 'Polish' Sqn Photographer John Dibbs has got up close and personal to the legendary fighter planes in order to capture them like never before. His 10 year quest for surviving Hurricanes took him all over the world and he photographed them in Britain, France, the US and New Zealand. Using the skill and experience of highly experienced RAF and civilian pilots, Mr Dibbs was able to fly to within 15ft of some of the Hurricanes - with breath-taking results. There was a fair degree of skill involved as he took the photos from the cockpit of a Second World War trainer aircraft which was travelling at 200mph while confronting wind blast. The thrilling photos were taken for a definitive history of the Hurricane which is told by Mr Dibbs and aviation historians Tony Holmes and Gordon Riley in their new book 'Hurricane, Hawker's Fighter Legend.' The book coincides with the 80th anniversary of the Hurricane formally entering service in 1937. The single-seat Hurricane fighter aircraft was designed and built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force. There was a fair degree of skill involved as he took the photos from the cockpit of a Second World War trainer aircraft which was travelling at 200mph while confronting wind blast. This photograph shows an R4118 Hurricane, which fought in the Battle of Britain The thrilling photos were taken for a definitive history of the Hurricane which is told by Mr Dibbs and aviation historians Tony Holmes and Gordon Riley in their new book 'Hurricane, Hawker's Fighter Legend'. Pictured is a Fleet Air Arm Sea Hurricane It was beloved by its pilots for its ability to simultaneously take a battering and inflict serious damage from its remarkably stable gun platform. The aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60 per cent of the RAF air victories in the battle and serving in all the major theatres of the Second World War. It engaged in many memorable dogfights with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and proved a mortal foe to the Luftwaffe, on some estimates shooting down more than 1,000 German planes during the Battle. Without the Hurricane the RAF would have probably lost the Battle of Britain because there were simply not enough Spitfires emerging from the aircraft factories and into the squadrons. The last Hurricanes were made at the end of 1944 and they were seen as 'obsolete' after the war so all but a handful of them were sent to the scrapyard. Mr Dibbs, 51, originally from north London but now living in Seattle, US, said: 'For me the Hurricane is somewhat unjustly overlooked in favour of the Spitfire when people recollect the Battle of Britain. 'Personally the aircraft for me was the trigger point in my interest in aviation as my father grew up on a street that ran directly to RAF Northolt where the Hurricanes flew and fought from during the Battle of Britain. Above shows the inside of a restored cockpit of a Hurricane - with a few modern editions like GPS for safety and to make the flights easier for today's pilots Above shows the Battle of Britain Memorial flight Hurricane (front) leading the Spitfire (back) in the skies over Southern Britain 'My dad was the archetypal "kid on a bike by the RAF fence" watching the Hurri's scramble to fight the Luftwaffe. 'So for me the photos I take are a conduit to tell the story of yesterday's heroes. 'The Hurricane for me epitomises the bulldog nature of that pivotal summer, when Hitler looked likely to reign supreme. 'The Hurricane looked pugnacious and tough and could take tremendous punishment, but with an Achilles heel of having a fuel tank right over the pilot's lap, which cost many a young pilot their lives or horrendously burned them if hit. 'It too though could wield out retribution with its 8 x.303 inch machine guns and claimed more enemy aircraft than Spitfires, ground defences and the rest of Fighter Command combined. 'It simply was the right aircraft at the right time flown by amazing pilots..' Famous ace, Douglas Bader, who was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged, poses on a Hurricane 174 Hurricane Sqn at RAF Manston, Kent, in 1942. The last Hurricanes were made at the end of 1944 and they were seen as 'obsolete' after the war so all but a handful of them were sent to the scrapyard Mr Dibbs says he feels privileged to have photographed a Hurricane Mk I, R4118, a true Battle of Britain veteran, having known its wartime pilot Wing Commander Bob Foster who shot down a Ju 88 (bomber aircraft) in this very model. He also photographed a Hurricane which represents the aircraft of Hurricane Ace Pete Brothers flying over the White Cliffs (the cliffs were the Seven Sisters) which he says 'will stay with me forever'. The book is dedicated to the late Mr Brothers who rose to the rank of Air Commodore after the war. Mr Holmes, 49, originally from Fremantle in Western Australia but now of Sevenoaks, Kent, said the purpose of the book was to highlight the 'forgotten' contribution made by Hurricanes to the British war effort. He said: 'The Hurricane gets kind of forgotten about in the whole round up of the Battle of Britain. 'When you consider it far outnumbered the Spitfires I think it deserves more coverage than it gets, which was part of the inspiration of putting the book together. Mr Dibbs says he feels privileged to have photographed a Hurricane Mk I, R4118, a true Battle of Britain veteran, having known its wartime pilot Wing Commander Bob Foster who shot down a Ju 88 in this very model. Above are 174 Hurricane Sqn at Manston This sight would have sent chills up Luftwaffe bomber crew's spines during the summer of 1940 - Hurricane LF363 makes a 'firing pass' of the camera plane 'They entered the RAF front line service in 1937 so this year will be their 80th anniversary. 'They served throughout the war and the last one was made at the end of 1944. 'Throughout the war 14,583 Hurricanes were made yet today there are only 13 air worthy ones remaining. 'A lot of them were lost in the contribution to the war effort, a lot were lost in accidents and after the war Hurricanes were seen as obsolete so they were sent to the scrapyard. 'John (Dibbs) travelled all over the world to photograph the remaining ones and the result is a visual treat.' A Kurdish student claims Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan's security detail threatened to kill her during a demonstration outside the ambassador's residence in Washington. Erdogan was in Washington to meet with Donald Trump when members of the Kurdish community decided to protest outside the ambassador's residence. However, 26-year-old Ceres Borazan, a Kurd from Turkey, claims she was man handled by Erdogan's security detail who were filmed attacking protesters on the street. Scroll down for video Ceren Borazan claimed a member of President Erdogan's security detail threatened to kill her outside the Turkish embassy in Washington where Kurdish people were holding a protest Ms Borazan, pictured, claimed she suffered a popped blood vessel in her eye during the attack At least 12 people including one police officer were injured following the disturbance She wrote about her ordeal on Facebook: 'They attacked women, children and the elderly with reckless abandon. I ran in the opposite direction from our friends and got caught by one of the security guards. He put me in a headlock to the point where he popped a blood vessel in my eye.' Ms Borazan claimed the security guard had threatened to kill her before she managed to escape into a nearby car. Commenting on the motorist, she said: 'I swear that man saved my life.' US Senator John McCain condemned the attack and called on Trump to react. He told MSNBC: 'We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America. This kind of thing can not go unresponded to diplomatically. 'This isn't Turkey, this isn't a third world country.' Several people required treatment following the incident outside the ambassador's residence Senator John McCain has called on the Turkish Ambassador to be expelled in response The Turkish embassy blamed the protesters for the violent scenes outside the residence Washington Police chief Peter Newsham said 11 people and one police officer had been injured in the violence which took place on 'Embassy Row'. The Turkish embassy released a statement blaming the Kurdish PKK. 'The demonstrators began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the president. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense and one of them was seriously injured.' McCain laid blame directly at the feet of Turkish officials. He said: 'This is Erdogan's security detail. Somebody told them to go out there and beat up on these peaceful demonstrators. I think it should have repercussions, including identifying these people and bringing charges against them. After all they violated American laws.' Aaron Black, 30, has been jailed for two and a half years A foot fetishist who targeted young lone women as they waited for the bus has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Aaron Black, 30, performed solo sex acts as he leered at his victims feet. Police praised the women who came forward to halt his nine-month spree of disgusting crimes. They were shielded from Blacks warped gaze as they gave evidence in Inner London Crown Court, where he was found guilty of eight counts of outraging public decency, six counts of exposure and one count of sexual assault. Black was jailed today for two-and-a-half years for the offences, which took place between 26 July 2016 and Tuesday 4 April this year in the Shoreditch, Elephant and Castle and Lewisham areas of London. He targeted most of his victims while they were at or near a bus stop. Acting DS Gavin Staplehurst, of the Met police, said: I would like to thank the victims in this case for reporting these offences and assisting the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with the subsequent court case. Each of the victims in the case was a young woman who took time out of their lives to assist the police. Siwan Hayward, TfLs Head of Transport Policing, said: I commend all these women for coming forward and reporting what they saw. Every report matters and helped police build a picture so they could catch Black and he could be sentenced for his offensive, disgusting crimes. This behaviour will not be tolerated on our transport network. Offenders will be identified and will be brought to justice. Black, of Boundfield Road, Catford, was convicted of eight counts of outraging public decency, six counts of exposure and one count of sexual assault. An Ohio man has been charged with aggravated murder after the remains of his missing ex-wife were found in a container outside Cleveland. An indictment Wednesday against 27-year-old Fahad Mohammed Saeed also charges him with kidnapping, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, stalking and abuse of a corpse. Saeed's ex-wife, 25-year-old Roaa Al-Dhannoon, was last seen October 16 at her Lakewood, Ohio, apartment. 27-year-old Fahad Mohammed Saeed is charged with the murder and kidnap of his ex-wife 25-year-old Roaa Al-Dhannoon, whose body was found in a container at the bottom of a ravine She was reported missing three days later. The container in which her body was found happened on Monday near a ravine in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn. Authorities came across the container which contained biological remains. The FBI's Evidence Response Team sifted through dirt near the Big Creek behind Parkview Estate Apartments during their search. Investigators would not discuss the details about how she died or how her body got there at Thursday's press conference. Authorities came across a container with the biological remains. Al-Dhannoon was identified by her fingerprints Al-Dhannoon's body was found in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn behind an apartment block Al-Dhannoon was last seen in October and had a restraining order against her ex-husband A medical examiner has confirmed the remains are Al-Dhannoon's. She was identified her using her fingerprints. Family and friends were concerned for her well-being because she had never been away from her son. He is 4 years old now, authorities said at the press conference. Investigators with Lakewood police and the FBI believe Al-Dhannoon was kidnapped and then killed. Saeed was sentenced for violating a restraining order before she disappeared. He is accused of contacting her and their son. A Lakewood Municipal Court judge in late January sentenced Saeed to six months in jail. He could now face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of his ex-wife's murder. Chelsea Manning has posted the first photo of herself since her release from prison on Wednesday after seven years behind bars. 'Okay, so here I am everyone!!' wrote Chelsea on Instagram, adding '#HelloWorld.' In the photo, Chelsea wears a navy blue dress with stripes at the waist and a deep v-neck. The 29-year-old also shows off her new pixie-cut in the image, which is the first she has shared since her transition. It was announced back in September that the army had agreed to allow Chelsea to undergo gender transition surgery, six days after she started a hunger strike in protest of their refusal to allow her to have the operation. 'I am unendingly relieved that the military is finally doing the right thing. I applaud them for that. This is all that I wanted for them to let me be me,' said Chelsea at the time. She was the first transgender inmate to ever be approved for the surgery. Big debut: Chelsea Manning posted a photo of herself on Instagram Friday, her first since she was released from prison after seven years Not shared: The black-and-white photo of Chelsea released by the military at her trial had been taken years prior and sent to her therapist Military prison: Chelsea (above in 2013) has been behind bars since 2010, when she was first charged with giving classified government materials to WikiLeaks Chelsea successfully petitioned to have her name changed in 2014, and began hormone therapy in February of the next year. It marked the first time the Army had allowed the therapy in prison, and they still required that Chelsea keep her hair cut short as per their standards. Two months after she was approved for hormone therapy, Chelsea wrote about how happy she was in a letter to Amnesty International, which the group posted on their Facebook accounts. 'I finally began my prescribed regime of hormones to continue my overdue gender transition in February,' explained Chelsea, who used the letter to thank members of the group for their support. 'It's been such an amazing relief for my body and brain to finally come into alignment with each other. My stress and anxiety levels have tapered off quite considerably. Overall, things are beginning to move along nicely.' She added that the she was 'staying strong' thanks to the support of Amnesty advocates. The black and white image of Chelsea with long blond hair that began circulating in 2013 was taken years before it was released by the military during her trial. That image had been sent by Chelsea to a therapist, along with an email in which she said that she had hoped her time as an army private might help her 'get rid of [her need to transition].' Chelsea wrote about the first time shed went shopping for women's clothing in an essay that was published in The Guardian back in August, saying it happened back in 2010 while she was on leave from her deployment to Iraq. 'Id long known I was a woman, but Id been afraid, and a bit embarrassed, to appear publicly as myself before this,' wrote Chelsea. 'Not only was I worried that I could lose my already-tenuous connections with my family, but I was terrified that I could face administrative, or even criminal, charges from the military.' Chelsea pointed out that this was also a year before the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy was abolished by the Obama administration. She went on to detail how she bought a business-like suit which she told the salesperson was for her girlfriend, adding that the two were the same height and asking that she be measured to insure it would fit. Then she went off and bought some cosmetics, and used a wig she had previously purchased to put the look together. 'I actually spent a solid day, in public, dressed a woman, wearing my new clothes and makeup,' wrote Chelsea. 'I just kind of wandered about, going to coffee shops and bookstores, trying to blend in as a bored woman looking for something interesting to do even though I was actually exhilarated.' Online: She posted a photo that showed her in a pair of new black Converse sneakers with the caption: 'First steps of freedom!!' Food for thought: Later that afternoon Manning posted another snap of herself enjoying her first post-prison lunch, a piece of pizza Sorting out her social: Chelsea tweeted and then deleted a comment about her release being a trending topic (above) Bubbly: Chelsea capped off her day with a $150 bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, writing: 'Here's to freedom and a new beginning.' Chelsea has been documenting her time back in the real world ever since she was released on Wednesday. Her first post showed her 'first steps of freedom' in a pair of new black Converse hours after her release from Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, while her second was of the slice of pizza she had been looking forward to enjoying for the past seven years. She then capped off her day with a $150 bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, writing: 'Here's to freedom and a new beginning.' Chelsea has been behind bars since 2010, when she was first charged with giving classified government materials to WikiLeaks. Chelsea, who was named Bradley at birth, was convicted in 2013 on 20 of the 22 offenses with which she was charged, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge she was facing, aiding the enemy. Chelsea was then sentenced to 35 years in prison, but that was later commuted to seven years beginning with the date of her arrest by Barack Obama just days before he left office. In total, she released more than 700,000 classified military and diplomatic documents via WikiLeaks. She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the US military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians and that she released information that she didn't believe would harm the United States. Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation's most-sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to help some of those people move to protect their safety. The Crescent, Oklahoma, native tweeted after being granted clemency that she plans to move to Maryland. Chelsea previously lived with her aunt Debra in Potomac for a little over a year before she enlisted in 2007, at which time she attended some college, had a boyfriend and held down a handful of jobs. Advertisement This is the harrowing moment a driver believed to be high on synthetic marijuana plowed into pedestrians in New York City's Times Square before telling police as he was arrested: 'I wanted to kill them all.' The driver, identified as 26-year-old Richard Rojas of the Bronx, was dramatically taken into custody on Thursday after killing an 18-year-old girl and seriously injuring 22 others when he drove through crowds at the popular tourist destination. A crazed Rojas tried to flee police immediately after crashing his maroon Honda sedan in to a pole and was captured on camera running across the road with his arms flailing. Dramatic video footage, which show the immense speed in which he was travelling, shows Rojas getting into a fistfight with an officer as they struggled to arrest him, before he was eventually bundled into a squad car. Rojas allegedly told police after he was arrested that he wanted to murder the innocent pedestrians and then wanted cops to kill him as well, sources told the New York Post. 'You were supposed to shoot me. I wanted to kill them,' he told police. Law enforcement sources say that Rojas appeared to have smoked the synthetic drug, also known as K2, before to the crash. Others claimed he was also under the influence of PCP which causes hallucinations and mania. He told police once in custody that God made him carry out the attack, according to sources cited by CNN. Rojas, a former Navy electrician mate fireman's apprentice who left service in 2014 and never served overseas, blew a 0.0 when tested for alcohol at the precinct following his arrest. He was charged with one count of murder, 20 counts of attempted murder and five of aggravated vehicular homicide late on Thursday night. Scroll down for videos This is the harrowing moment a drug-crazed driver mercilessly plowed through pedestrians in Times Square on Thursday at 11.55am before telling police when he was arrested that he wanted to kill them 'all' and then be shot dead himself The driver, Richard Rojas, 26, eventually crashed his maroon Honda sedan into a pole and tried to flee the scene (above) as others watch on in terror. The photographer who took the image later revealed he did not know Rojas was the motorist responsible for the carnage. He believed the perpetrator was still in the car Shocked bystanders watched on as a crazed Rojas jumped around and ran across the street in an attempt to evade police He was arrested at the scene moments later by NYPD officers after being stopped by a group of Good Samaritans which included a Planet Hollywood bouncer who tackled him to the ground and another man who tore off his shirt to ensure he was not wearing carrying any weapons Planet Hollywood bouncer Ken Bradix (pictured wearing a black t-shirt and hat) was the first to stop the US Navy veteran. He tackled Rojas to the ground before NYPD officers got to him Incredible video footage has emerged showing the speed the car was travelling before it was stopped in its tracks by bollards on the sidewalk. The attacker is then seen to get out of the car and try and fight bystanders. A photographer, Frenchman Charles Guerin, who managed to capture the incredible images of Rojas jumping and screaming in the street had no idea who he was taking photographs of. He assumed the driver was still in the car and only later realized he had snapped the perpetrator. Guerin, a correspondent for French agency Bestimage, happened to be in the area at the time and managed to whip the camera out of his backpack in time to take the pictures. He told the New York Post: ' dont know if Im going to sleep well tonight, from what I saw.My camera cannot protect me.' The driver was pictured running across the road with his arms flailing after crashing into a pole on the sidewalk The driver was eventually tackled to the ground and bundled into a squad car Officials said Rojas was arrested in 2008 and 2015 for driving under the influence in Queens and Manhattan, and in 2016 for menacing in different areas of New York. Last week, he was arrested after pulling a knife on a man in the Bronx and asking him 'do you feel safe?'. According to an arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com, he thought the man was trying to steal his identity. Rojas was allowed to walk free after striking up a deal with the Bronx District Attorney's Office. 'When he was arraigned he pleaded to a lesser charge at the arraignment,' a spokesman said. Friends of the man said he appeared in high spirits on Wednesday night and gave no indication of what he was planning. They told DNA Info that he had been drinking heavily and often spoke about 'conspiracies, demons and devils'. After being arrested, he told authorities how he thought it was the 'last day on earth'. Rojas enlisted in the US Navy in 2011. He was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, until 2014 when his military career came to an end. US Navy officials have not yet confirmed the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Armed Forces. He never served overseas. After the crash on Thursday, the NYPD closed off the ordinarily bustling Times Square at the corner of 45th Street and Broadway on Thursday. A bystander captured the moment the speeding car crashed into a pole, causing it to flying off the ground The speeding vehicle struck 23 people before coming to a stop in the middle of Times Square just before noon The driver reportedly has a history of driving under the influence. He was said to be 'visually impaired' when he was arrested Alyssa Elsman, 18, was killed in the crash. The teenager from Michigan was visiting New York City with her family Among those hit by the driver was 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman who died at the scene. The teenager was a tourist from Michigan who was vacationing with her family. She was walking around Times Square with her 13-year-old sister who was also struck. Alyssa's body lay lying on the ground on Thursday as first responders arrived at the scene. Other injured victims were lay sprawled across the sidewalk as first responders and other pedestrians tended to them. Of the 22 people hurt, police said that four people had been critically injured with open fractures and multiple traumas and three others were seriously injured - all were hospitalized. Some 15 more were not seriously injured, and were not hospitalized. Authorities said Rojas drove up Seventh Avenue in the wrong direction and made a U-turn onto the west sidewalk. Police believe Rojas, who mas multiple DWI convictions, had been smoking marijuana before he got in the car He then plowed down pedestrians for three blocks before crashing into a pole and attempting to flee. Some witnesses said the driver kept speeding even when the body of a victim was clinging to his windshield. The car came to rest with two of its wheels in the air. It was pictured leaning on a lamppost and steel barriers intended to block vehicles from getting onto the sidewalk. He jumped out of the vehicle and tried to flee the scene before he was stopped. A photographer who was in the area pulled out his camera as he saw the crash unfold and unwittingly captured images of Rojas trying to run away. 'I thought the driver was still inside the car,' Charles Guerin told The New York Post. Alpha Balde, a CitySightseeing ticket agent, and a bouncer from Planet Hollywood were among those to help tackle Rojas to the ground. 'We saw the driver running toward Planet Hollywood in the middle of the block,' Balde told the NY Daily News. 'The bouncer from Planet Hollywood knocked him out. He knocked him out so bad you could see the blood coming out of his face. That's when I jumped in, I grabbed him from his neck and within about one minute everybody's there. 'I ripped off his shirt... to make sure this guy doesnt have anything under his shirt that's going to damage you.' 'He's just mowing down people,' said Asa Lowe, of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming. 'He didn't stop. He just kept going.' After the car struck a barricade and stopped, the driver climbed out of his vehicle, Lowe said. 'He just started running until people tackled him down,' Lowe said. 'Citizens just reacted.' Rojas is pictured inside and then leaving Manhattan's Seventh Precinct on Thursday. Police sources say he was rambling during interviews and claimed it was the last day on earth Rojas was given a red t-shirt to wear by authorities after having his own clothes torn by a Good Samaritan at the scene who wanted to ensure he was not concealing any weapons Police officers were stationed outside the driver's Bronx home after the crash on Thursday afternoon A woman, believed to be dead, was seen lying on the sidewalk with her face covered with a sheet. Other victims could be seen sprawled out across the pavement Victims sprawled on the sidewalk were being tended to by first responders and other pedestrians Pedestrian's shoes were scattered at the scene as authorities treated the injured bystanders An injured man was being treated on the ground after the collision at the Midtown Manhattan tourist site Rojas had reportedly made a U-turn on Seventh Avenue and drove for three and a half blocks in the wrong direction, striking the victims, before crashing into a stanchion at the corner of 45th St and Broadway Forensic teams continued working at the site on Thursday afternoon. Rojas's maroon Honda remained lodged against the pole it earlier crashed in to Rojas's Honda remained a crumpled heap at the foot of some of Times Square's iconic billboards Dozens of forensic investigators descended on the tourist destination on Thursday afternoon to begin piecing together the crime Spilled soil from plant pots which were knocked over in the rampage remained on the ground next to the car Headphones and sneakers which belonged to the victims were among scattered pieces of evidence The driver's crumpled car was eventually removed from the scene on Thursday as night fell New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio both visited Times Square to assess the scene. Cuomo released a statement in which he said: 'Today's events at times square were nothing short of horrific.' He added: 'As the facts continue to emerge, my heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, as well as their families.' Police do not suspect a link to terrorism, but the vehicle was checked by the bomb squad and certain city landmarks were getting a beefed up police presence. 'Based on the information that we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism,' Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the scene. Traffic all around Times Square is snarled up after the incident. Police are continuing to increase the size of the closed area to keep crowds away from the scene. City authorities were nevertheless deploying extra police from anti-terror units to key locations around the US financial and cultural capital, home to 8.5 million, out of 'an abundance of caution,' the mayor said. Emergency services and bystanders help an injured pedestrian after a vehicle mounted the sidewalk in Times Square Distraught pedestrians were spotted helping their injured friend on the sidewalk This car mounted a curb and struck 14 people, killing one and seriously injuring another. It appeared to have caught fire after the crash K2: The synthetic marijuana driver 'smoked' before going on murder-suicide spree Senior police officials told media outlets on Thursday that Richard Rojas had been smoking K2 before he mowed down pedestrians at Times Square. The drug is a synthetic form of cannabis and is growing in popularity at a frightening rate. It is designed to look like marijuana and is sold at a lower rate but K2, also known as Spice, is a harmful blend of chemicals. The drug has been known to cause erratic and dangerous behavior because it can make subjects immune to pain. After a spate of frightening overdose cases which saw users walk around like in a zombie-like state, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton called for it to be stamped out. It was also named as the drug smoked by fallen NFL star Aaron Hernandez in his prison cell last month before he took his own life. On Thursday, police officials said Rojas 'rambled' through interviews and said it was the last day on earth. His delusional state is thought to have been brought on by the drug. Advertisement Video courtesy Kevin Tobin Witnesses said everyone just started running when the car rammed into a pole and came to rest at 45th Street and Broadway A number of injured pedestrians were seen lying in the middle of the road as witnesses helped treat them Hamas has banned people walking dogs in Gaza in order to protect women and children. The hardline Islamic group claims women and children feel scared when confronted by large dogs while strolling in the street. The ban will impact dog owners who want to walk their pets in populated areas such as towns and villages or on the beach. Hamas militants have banned people from walking dogs in crowded areas on the Gaza strip Hamas said their main duty is to ensure the safety of women and children in Gaza However, Hamas spokesman Ayman al-Batniji told the Telegraph: 'In recent weeks, the phenomenon of young men walking with their dogs in the streets has widely spread. It is neither of our culture nor of our traditions. Children and women feel scared when they see dogs. Our duty is to maintain the safety of citizens.' He added: 'We are not against dogs, we use dogs in our work. The ban is simply to protect our women and children.' Dog owners are concerned and many have been afraid to let their pets out in case they are prosecuted by the authorities. One dog owner, Yasmin Shath said: 'They dont want people to get busy with dogs, they want them to think only about politics, about resistance, to always be on and never to relax.' When a 29-year-old mother-of-two from was picked up on drug possession charges in Georgia last week, correction officers discovered prescription pills hidden inside her privates but missed a second stash. It was not until Joyce Marie Hawkins, of Smyrna, was transferred from the city jail to the main Cobb County Jail on May 12 that her bra was found to contain enough methamphetamine to charge her with drug trafficking, according to law enforcement officials. The case began unfolding shortly before 4am on May 11 when a car Hawkins was riding in as a passenger was pulled over on Windy Hill Road in Smyrna and police officers allegedly found a glass pipe containing meth residue inside a purse. Secret stash: When Joyce Marie Hawkins (left and right) was arrested on drug possession charges in Georgia, jail staff found prescription pills in her vagina but missed meth in her bra It was not until Hawkins was transferred to Cobb County Jail (pictured) that staffers found 54 grams in her bra Hawkins, who had been in trouble with the law before, was initially booked into the Smyrna jail, where staffers searched her and found a plastic jewelers baggie inside her vagina contain three-and-a-half pills of Dextroamphetamine - a controlled substance used to treat ADHD in children that can cause psychosis, delirium and heart failure. One of the jailers then removed Hawkins bra and patted the fabric in search of additional drugs, but the officer failed to detect the concealed meth, according to officials speaking to Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Deputy Smyrna Police Chief Robert Harvey called it an 'oversight' on the part of the jail staff but noted that meth can be easily hidden because of its size and texture. The following day, Hawkins was transferred to the Cobb County Jail where correction officers conducted a strip search that turned up more than 54 grams of meth inside a plastic bag hidden in the womans bra. Hawkins has an infant son (pictured) and an older daughter. She was also arrested in March 2014 on marijuana possession Hawkins, who has an infant son and an older daughter, was then booked on three felony charges of possession of controlled substances and possession of meth, as well as a drug trafficking charge stemming from the stashed meth. Online records indicate that in March 2014, Hawkins was arrested for allegedly being in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Press Secretary Sean Spicer isn't getting shown the door, but he is getting the hook from the podium as the White House plans to have fewer press briefings on the return end of President Trump's trip abroad. 'Sean's not leaving as press secretary, but that they are shaking up the briefings to scale them back,' said a prominent D.C. Republican with close ties to the administration. The source pointed to Trump addressing reporters Thursday afternoon for the first time in what has been nine days of White House drama, using it as an example of the president 'taking back the handling of his message personally,' the Republican insider said. Scroll down for video Press Secretary Sean Spicer watches his boss, President Donald Trump, address reporters today alongside Colombia's president. Spicer is expected to play a less visible role in the White House once Trump returns from his first foreign trip For weeks there have been reports that Trump might dump Spicer, who came onto the Trump team through his work at the Republican National Committee under Chairman Reince Priebus, who now serves as the president's chief of staff. Spicer, thanks to Melissa McCarthy's portrayal of the press secretary on Saturday Night Live, has become one of the most visible faces of the Trump administration, but for many Americans, she's expertly turned him into a punch line. He was also responsible for a mega-gaffe last month when he more favorably compared Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad during a press briefing. He promptly apologized. The incident, as well as a number of unsourced quotes, fueled rumors that Spicer was on deck for an ouster, but at the same time, Trump has been hinting that he wants to cut down on briefings, which Politico pointed out, are his least favorite part of the day. Conversations about a retooling of the White House communications department have ramped up over the past week, Politico also reported, with an unnamed source saying 'the status quo won't continue.' Though, DailyMail.com's source says, at least for now, it won't result in a 'you're fired' offed at Spicer, but instead a less publicly visible role. And in 'this town' insider Washington, Spicer has become a sympathetic character, forced to deal with a difficult president and subject to his whims and abuse. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote a column this week charging 'Trump has sucked the lifeblood out of Sean Spicer.' 'Alas, poor Spicer! I knew him well,' Milbank opined. 'He was one of the top Republican flacks in town, affable and quick-witted, always happy to dish with reporters off the record.' 'I liked him. I still like him or at least that Spicer I knew before he answered Donald Trumps call,' Milbank said. Trump's split from his communications team was especially visible this week. As they sent out a more measured statement in response to Wednesday night's news that the deputy attorney general had decided to appoint a special counsel to the Russia probe, a combative Trump stepped on that message, using Twitter, Thursday morning. 'With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!' Trump said, calling the Russia probe 'the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!' The president continued beating that drum all day. Meanwhile, Spicer stood to the side as Trump took questions from reporters. Spicer did not return DailyMail.com's request for comment. Ruth Ellis (pictured) became notorious as the last woman to be hanged in Britain, aged 28 The infamous 'bullet' holes from the shots fired by Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, were made with a drill after a drunken lock-in, it's been claimed. The blonde was hanged for murder after shooting her cheating boyfriend, would-be racing driver David Blakely, outside the Magdala pub in Hampstead in 1955. The pub attracted thousands of macabre sightseers from around the world and became a 'must see' for people on the Murder Mile tours. Now the story of the two bullet holes may have been revealed as a myth cooked up the pub landlady Mary Watson, whose brother drilled the holes in the wall. Ellis became notorious as the last woman to be hanged in Britain, aged 28, after she shot Blakely outside the pub on Easter Sunday in 1955. Her execution in Holloway Prison became a focus for campaigners and finally helped end the death penalty in the UK. Neil Titley, who has researched the pub's history, says he was at a lock-in late one night when a plan to make the pub appealing to tourists was concocted. The 71-year-old said: 'It was about 25 years ago in the 1990s and I remember it well. The pub had just been added to the Murder Mile tours. Scroll down for video The infamous 'bullet' holes from the shots fired by Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, were made with a drill after a drunken lock-in, it's been claimed The pub attracted thousands of macabre sightseers from around the world and became a 'must see' for people on the Murder Mile tours 'These included the Kray brothers pubs and Jack the Ripper areas and a Japanese company decided to include the Magdala. 'It was about 2am in the morning and we were having a bit of a lock-in and the landlady said, "There's not much to look at here, it's just a bar", so they decided to change that. 'She got her brother to go upstairs and get her a drill. He then went outside and put up some bullet holes in the wall. 'All of us drinking in the pub went outside as well as watched it all happen. And this was 30 years after the murder happened. 'It was all a bit of fun after a few late night drinks.' Neil has started a blog of memories of the pub as part of his campaign to get it re-opened, explaining how the urban myth had developed over the years. Neil added: 'While the Ellis story was huge at the time and it had a massive effect on the hanging debate, possibly ending hanging in Britain, she didn't become a major figure until a long time after. 'These things gather a momentum as they go along and become more famous as years go past and the myth grows. The execution of Ellis (pictured in model shoots) in Holloway Prison became a focus for campaigners and finally helped end the death penalty in the UK Neil Titley, who has researched the pub's history, says he was at a lock-in late one night when a plan to make the pub appealing to tourists was concocted 'The strange thing was that there was actually bullet holes in the door next door. Ruth Ellis was spraying bullets everywhere and bullet were left in every building except the pub. 'It was incredibly unlucky that she managed to hit her victim, bullets were flying everywhere. 'The strange thing is that just down the road was the second last woman to be hung, Styllou Christofi. was also from the area.' The pub was sold in 2014 and briefly re-opened but has been closed for nearly three years. Neil said: 'The pub lost its licence for a long time, now its been bought by a property developer in the British Virgin Islands. 'It's a great pity and a huge shame because it's closed off a huge part of the social life of the area that has been around for 150 years, people are pretty fed up about it. 'Hundreds of people used to drink there, Dylan Thomas used to go in there, so did Peter O'Toole.' 18-year-old Calvin Yearwood, 18, was arrested and charged with grand larceny, extortion and criminal possession of stolen property in the sting A tourist got a little more help than she had bargained for after seven undercover NYPD officers agreed to help her get back her stolen phone. Bridesmaid Stacey Ramsey had flown to New York with the rest of the bridal party to do a little shopping last weekend. But her trip was ruined after she noticed her $855 iPhone 7 had been swiped from her purse during a meal out on Sunday, she told KHOU. After multiple calls to the phone, and activating the item's lost mode, the thief finally got in touch the next day. 'Hey, are you missing a cell phone?' asked the thief, according to Ramsey who replied that she was. 'Well, I have it. But, it's going to cost you to get it back,' she says he told her. Ramsey says she broke down in tears when she realized she was being extorted for money by the same man who had stolen her phone. 'I was like, what do I do? I'm not paying $400 to get my phone back,' she said. Ramsey reported the incident to the police who agreed to set up a sting to capture the thief and return the phone. The Houston visitor agreed to meet the man who had her phone, and even offered him an extra $100 to make sure he would come. When it was time to meet, in the New York Port Authority bus terminal, Ramsey realized the cops had not been kidding about the sting. As many as seven undercover officers, in various disguises such as a 'bum', another pretending to drink beer and one with a broken arm positioned themselves around the meet. While a female officer accompanied Ramsey, posing as her friend, Cops setup a sting at the Port Authority Bus Terminal after a Stacey Ramsey's phone was stolen by a thief who demanded she pay $400 to get it back Ramsey's trip was ruined after she noticed her $855 iPhone 7 had been swiped from her purse during a meal out on Sunday Eventually, 18-year-old Calvin Yearwood, 18, arrived, with Ramsey's phone in hand. 'I said, 'So, I really can't have my phone for free?'' Ramsey said. 'He said, 'No. I just walked all this way. I need the money.'' As Ramsey went to reach into her purse, the officers pounced, tackling Yearwood to the ground. The teen has since been charged with grand larceny, extortion and criminal possession of stolen property. Meanwhile, Ramsey is grateful to the cops. But even more grateful to get her phone back in one piece after it went flying through the air during the tackle. A stunt pilot's 'relatively low' flying experience contributed to his crash death in front of a horrified crowd during an air display. Kevin Whyman, 39, was killed when his red Gnat plane suddenly nosedived and crashed into trees at the CarFest North event in Oulton Park, Cheshire, in 2015. The married father and former RAF fast jet pilot suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr Whyman made an 'inappropriately timed' recovery while performing 360-degree acrobatic rolls that led to his crash, an inquest heard. Kevin Whyman's 'relatively low' flying experience contributed to his crash death in front of a horrified crowd during an air display, an inquest heard The 39-year-old was killed when his red Gnat plane suddenly nosedived and crashed into trees at the CarFest North event in Oulton Park, Cheshire, in 2015 He was one of two pilots in the Gnat Display Team that was performing maneouvres at the time for the crowd at the charity weekend organised by presenter Chris Evans to raise funds for BBC Children in Need. Mr Whyman's aircraft was performing its second roll when it reached an angle of bank of 107 degrees and the nose of the jet dropped unexpectedly. Shocked spectators fell silent as the plane suddenly nose-dived after performing a low-level, close-proximity pass before disappearing behind trees. Moments later, a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky. TV and radio presenter Chris Evans later led a minute's silence in tribute to Mr Whyman. A visibly upset Evans told reporters: 'There was a tragic accident, the result of which was that one of the pilots involved in a synchro display lost his life.' He added: 'Our condolences go out to his family, who have been informed.' Mr Whyman was trying to regain control when he carried out an 'inappropriately timed' action in a bid to reverse the plane, Geraint Herbert, a senior inspector at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, told the hearing at Warrington Town Hall. That caused the rate of descent to increase and made the situation irrecoverable, he said. The married father and former RAF fast jet pilot suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr Whyman made an 'inappropriately timed' recovery while performing 360-degree acrobatic rolls that led to his crash, an inquest heard Shocked spectators fell silent as the plane suddenly nose-dived after performing a low-level, close-proximity pass before disappearing behind trees. Moments later, a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky 'In this case the pilot was faced with a startling, time-critical situation but one part of the recovery technique was inappropriately timed,' he said. 'It was our conclusion that the pilot's relatively low experience played a part in the inappropriate recovery.' The court heard Mr Whyman had previously served in the RAF but kept up his flying when he left in 2000 for a job in the City of London. He was employed as a managing director at Credit Suisse at the time of his death. Dr Robin Whyman told the inquest his Chester-born son, nicknamed 'Jester' by his flying colleagues, had attended The King's School in his home city and went on to study economics at Peterhouse, Cambridge University. He joined the university's air squadron and boat club, where he earned a double blue as he coxed Cambridge to victory in the 1996 and 1997 boat races against Oxford. The court heard Mr Whyman had previously served in the RAF but kept up his flying when he left in 2000 for a job in the City of London His son went into the RAF, which included initial officer training and jet training in Tucano, Jet Provost and Gnat aircrafts. In October 2000 he and squadron colleagues arrived at RAF Valley expecting to fly Hawk jets but were told none were serviceable and they would have to wait until the following January, said Dr Whyman. In the same year, Mr Whyman was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and was advised he should seek treatment but he declined, said his father. Dr Whyman, from Christleton, Chester, said: 'He was upset about it and thought it would stop him flying. He had subsequent examinations and nothing showed up again.' He said his son did not want to 'wait around' to earn his RAF wings as friends from university told him if he sought work in the City his earnings would mean he would be able to fly privately. He said he last spoke to his son on the phone a day before the Oulton Park event in which he was scheduled to fly on the Saturday and Sunday. Dr Whyman said: 'He said 'give me a call and I will come and spend the night with you before doing the second display the next day', and of course that never happened. 'He sounded full of beans. I think he was really keen about the following couple of days because it was more or less on home ground where he was brought up.' Mr Whyman's wife Alexandra, 36, a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley, did not attend the inquest. The hearing was told the couple had a daughter who is now aged three-and-a-half. It was previously reported that Mrs Whyman was pregnant at the time of the accident and later gave birth to a second daughter. He had a total of 218 hours of flying time in the swept wing Folland Gnat over 11 years and an average of 12 hours per year over the last five years before the fatal crash, the inquest was told. Ambulances and fire engines rushed to Oulton Park when spectators alerted them to the horrific crash TV and radio presenter Chris Evans, who had organised the festival, led a minute's silence in tribute to Mr Whyman His logbook recorded a total of 418 hours as a pilot in command in all aircraft - which classed him as 'intermediate' by the Civil Aviation Authority, rather than the 450 hours required to be termed as 'experienced'. Mr Herbert said the display team had expected to fly the roll manoeuvre at a speed of 300 knots but Mr Whyman's speed was 227 knots on the first roll and 247 on the second. He said aircraft behave 'slightly differently' at a lower speed and it could have been a possible reason for the nose dropping. Disorientation or distraction in the cockpit before the crash could not be excluded but there was no evidence to support either theory, the inquest heard. Mark Fitzgerald, a close friend of Mr Whyman and the other pilot performing the 360-degree rolls, queried why investigators had not looked in more detail at why the second roll stopped at 107 degrees. Mr Fitzgerald, who said he had performed the manoeuvre on more than 1,000 occasions, said: 'Something must have caused the pilot to take a very unusual action to stop the roll like that halfway through. It is very, very rare you would have someone recover from that point.' Mr Herbert replied: 'We say we don't know why the nose dropped. We concluded that it reversed at 107 degrees in recognition that the nose had dropped and something odd had happened and he was trying to recover the aircraft.' Alan Moore, HM Coroner for Cheshire, will sum up the evidence on Friday to jurors before they retire to consider their conclusions. Two men were sentenced Thursday to three year-prison terms for assaulting a Sikh man in Northern California and admitting to hate crimes. Colton Leblanc, 25, and Chase Little, 31, on Thursday each pleaded no contest to assault with a hate crime enhancement. Maan Singh Khalsa, 42, was dressed in traditional Sikh clothes driving to a religious ceremony in Richmond, California, in September when someone in a pickup truck threw a half-full beer can at his car. Leblanc and Little then jumped out the truck and punched Khalsa numerous times through an open window. They knocked off his turban and cut Khalsa's hair with a pocketknife. The Sikh religion considers unshorn hair sacred. The assault occurred in Richmond, which is 18 miles northeast of San Francisco, according to NBC Bay Area. Maan Singh Khalsa (seen above outside a courtroom on Thursday) was dressed in traditional Sikh clothes driving to a religious ceremony in Richmond, California, in September when someone in a pickup truck threw a half-full beer can at his car Colton Leblanc (left), 25, and Chase Little (right), 31, on Thursday each pleaded no contest to assault with a hate crime enhancement. They will serve three years in prison Khalsa is of South Asian descent and wears a turban. He also keeps his hair long for religious purposes. Leblanc and Chase reached a plea agreement with the Contra Costa district attorney's office, according to the Los Angeles Times. Simon O'Connell, the prosecutor who tried the case on behalf of the government, said the assault and the cutting of the victim's hair made this crime stand out, 'making this so clearly a hate crime.' 'We want to think that crimes like this only occur elsewhere and 'don't happen in our community.' They do,' O'Connell said. 'Reducing the frequency of hate crimes starts with recognizing that we need to do a better job of embracing our differences.' 'Cutting a Sikh's hair is one of the most humiliating things anyone can do to a Sikh,' Khalsa told the judge in the case. 'By cutting my hair, the attackers did not just attack my body; they attacked my dignity, my spirit, my faith, my religion and my entire community.' In recounting the assault, Khalsa tried to reason with his attackers. Khalsa sustained a swollen black eye, cuts, bruises, and damage to his teeth. He is seen above at the hospital just days after the assault Khalsa said it never even occurred to him to roll up the window once he saw the two men approaching his car While attempting to shield his hair from being cut, he suffered a lacerated pinkie finger, part of which had to be amputated Khalsa showed what remains of his right pinkie finger outside of court on Thursday. He said that having his finger amputated has hindered his ability to work since typing on the computer is an important aspect of his job 'There is a misunderstanding; I am your brother,' he recalled telling his assailants. Khalsa said it never even occurred to him to roll up the window once he saw the two men approaching his car. 'My attackers hit me with their fists, knocked off my turban, and yelled, 'Cut his hair',' he said in his statement. 'They yanked my hair through the window and used a knife to saw parts of it.' While attempting to shield his hair from being cut, he suffered a lacerated pinkie finger, part of which had to be amputated. Khalsa also sustained a swollen black eye, cuts, bruises, and damage to his teeth. He also said that he has suffered from post-traumatic stress and that his life is 'forever changed.' He had a swollen black eye, cuts and bruises, and his teeth were damaged. An IT specialist employed by the Social Security Administration, Khalsa has lived in the US since immigrating from India in 2003. He says he has always considered himself an American 'like everyone else.' 'I had never worried about being a victim of prejudice,' Khalsa said. But the attack 'has greatly affected every facet of my life; [the assailants] have transformed my day-to-day experience and my very outlook on the world.' He said that having his finger amputated has hindered his ability to work since typing on the computer is an important aspect of his job. Khalsa also says that he can no longer go rock-climbing with his eight-year-old daughter. 'It's difficult for me to go outside now without having pepper spray with me,' Khalsa said. 'Now, when I interact with strangers, I am not as open as I used to be. I am more likely to view others not as my brothers, but as possible threats to my safety.' Khalsa addressed his attackers in court, saying he still views them as 'brothers.' 'I hope that you will learn about me and my community and one day consider me your brother too,' Khalsa said. Khalsa said it may take the rest of his life for him to recover from the attack. 'But the recognition of the attack as a hate crime - as harm to my dignity and my entire community - is the first step in the process,' he said. Attacks on Sikhs in the US rose after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, during a wave of anti-Muslim backlash. Though Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims in the US, Sikhism is a different monotheistic faith founded more than 500 years ago in South Asia. It has roughly 27 million followers worldwide, most of them in India. Four years ago, a white supremacist opened fire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin killing six worshippers. A teen and a man in Fresno, California attacked a 68-year-old Sikh man last year, beating him and running him over with a car. Police say they targeted Amrik Singh Bal because he was wearing a turban and traditional Sikh robes. A Chicago-area teenager was charged with a hate crime after a 2015 road rage incident in which he called 53-year-old Sikh taxi driver Inderjit Mukker 'Bin Laden' and repeatedly hit him in the face, breaking his cheekbone. The first televised election debate has been branded a borefest - after Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn refused to turn up. Viewers took to social media to make their views plain on the the two-hour ITV programme, which featured the leaders of the Lib Dems, SNP, Ukip, Green Party and Plaid Cymru. One joked that it was the 'worst episode of Take Me Out I have ever seen', while another said it was like 'watching a cup final when neither team has turned up'. Leaders from five parties went head to head in the ITV leaders debate - but Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May both refused to show up for the clash Viewers were quick to mock the debate, which Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn did not attend. One compared it unfavourably to the dating show Take Me Out One viewer hit out at Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn for failing to take part in the debate, saying it was like watching a cup match without either of the sides turning up Another viewer pointed out that the main contenders on June 8 were not on the screen While another viewer speculated that not many people will have bothered to tune in to catch the debate as the headline acts were not taking part Mrs May has declined to take part in any head-to-head debates, saying she wants to focus on touring the country speaking to voters directly. Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn has berated the PM for not doing the face-offs, but also refused to take part. The show saw Remoaner politicians threaten to try to derail Brexit as they went head to head in the first televised leaders debate of the General Election. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said Britain should have the choice to 'remain in the European Union' while SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon railed against an 'extreme Brexit'. While Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said she does not want tougher border controls and wants to keep free movement with the EU. Mr Farron repeated his party's threat to hold another referendum on the final deal in a desperate bid to keep Britain in the EU. NUTTALL GAFFES BY CALLING LEANNE WOOD 'NATALIE' Leanne Wood said she was going to 'cry' after the Ukip leader repeatedly called her by the wrong name Paul Nuttall committed a double gaffe during the TV debate last night - as he repeatedly called a fellow party leader by the wrong name. The Ukip chief was left embarrassed after he twice referred to Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood as 'Natalie'. The mistake was particularly bizarre as none of the other politicians on the ITV programme were named Natalie. Ms Wood suggested she would cry if he did not know who she was, while Green leader Caroline Lucas suggested he was being sexist. There is speculation he could have been confusing Ms Wood with former Green leader Natalie Bennett - or even the Hollywood actress Natalie Wood. Advertisement He said: 'The Brexit negotiation between Brussels and London will have outcomes none of us can predict. 'That means that at the end you should have the final say.' Mrs May has warned that the threat of a second referendum would tie her hands at the negotiating table in Brussels and leave Britain with a worse deal. And she had she has declared that she is willing to walk away rather than be saddled with a bad deal which could hobble Britain for decades. But the left-leaning leaders who dominated the stage all rounded on the PM's plans. Ms Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, accused Theresa May of pursing 'a hard, extreme Brexit'. She added: 'Today she threatened again to walk away from any deal, and that would be an economic catastrophe.' Ms Lucas said she thinks Britain should be able to stay in the EU, and keep our borders open to the bloc, telling the audience: 'It's a wonderful thing that we can live and work and be in these other member states.' And she said that the Green Party would hold another vote in a move designed to derail Brexit. Ukip leader Paul Nuttall was a lone voice in backing the vote last June, and said Britain will be able to strike trade deals around the world when we leave the EU. He said: 'The bottom line is this, the people have voted - they voted to leave the EU, to leave the single market, and Tim can cry about it all he wants.' But the blunder-prone leader made another gaffe when he wrongly referred to Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood as Natalie. Caroline Lucas and Tim Farron both want a second referendum so they can undo Brexit Ukip's blundering leader Paul Nuttall made another gaffe - accidentally calling Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, Natalie The Liberal Democrats trolled the Labour Party for failing to show up to the 'leaders' debate' Ms Wood was quick to spot the gaffe, and told him 'I'm not Natalie (Bennett - the former Green Party leader), I'm Leanne.' Political leaders locked horns on topics such as the NHS and foreign aid as they went head to head in the debate. Viewers attacked the PM and Mr Corbyn for failing to turn up to the debate and mocked the second rate line-up. As the debate got underway Jeremy Corbyn asked the PM for a head to head debate Theresa May, pictured at her manifesto launch in Halifax today, was criticised by viewers online for not showing up to the televised General Election debate Jeremy Corbyn, pictured on the campaign trail in Southall, west London, today, also turned down an invite to appear on the show saying he would not take part without the PM Ms Wood also challenged Mrs May over her decision to miss the debate. In her opening statement she said : 'I have a message for the Prime Minister, who I'm sure is watching tonight. 'You may be too scared to come here tonight, for your U-turns to be highlighted, for your cruel policies to be exposed. 'You want this election to only be about Brexit because that means you avoid talking about the real issues like the NHS, the economy and the cuts you have made to our public services. 'That's weak leadership - weak and unstable.' As the debate got underway, Mr Corbyn repeated his plea to the PM for a head to head debate. Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein knew that President Trump was going to fire FBI Director James Comey before he wrote a memo raking Comey over the coals for his handling of the Clinton email scandal, senators said. Rosenstein briefed senators Thursday, just a week after Trump's stunning decision to fire Comey. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told reporters afterward that Rosenstein revealed new information about the letter he penned, which Trump cited to justify Comey's firing. 'He did acknowledge that he learned Comey would be removed prior to him writing his memo,' McCaskill said. Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein knew that President Trump was going to fire FBI Director James Comey when he wrote a memo about Comey's conduct in the Clnton investigation, senators said Thursday 'He knew that Comey was going to be removed prior to him writing his memo,' the Missouri senator added. Her account of the closed meeting was backed up by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). 'Yes,' Durbin said, asked whether Rosenstein knew Comey was getting fired before he wrote it. 'He knew the day before,' he said, adding that Rosentein learned May 8th, the date he wrote the memo. But Florida Senator Marco Rubio was less certain what Rosenstein revealed. 'I'm not sure he addressed that with the level of clarity most people wanted to hear,' he said, asked about the timing of the Rosenstein letter. The letter Rosenstein wrote was sharply critical of Comey though it stopped short of calling for his ouster, stating that it was up to the president to decide. 'I cannot defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken,' Rosenstein wrote. Rosenstein made a quiet demonstration of the new power dynamic surrounding the Russia probe when he informed the White House of his decision to name a special counsel after he had already put ink to paper. Rosenstein told the White House of the decision after the fact, without ever having made a request or given a head's up, according to officials familiar with how the stunning decision to name former FBI Director Mueller to the position came down. Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (C) arrives to brief the full U.S. Senate on details of President Donald Trump's recent firing of FBI Director James Comey at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Rosenstein told the White House of his decision to name a special counsel to probe Russian election meddling after he had already signed the order 'He signed the order. Then he let the White House know,' an official with knowledge of the situation told DailyMail.com. 'And then he let the AG know after he signed the order.' The White House got the word at about 5:00 pm, just an hour before the Justice Department put out the information Wednesday evening. The move which took the FBI's Russia investigation in a dramatic new direction came while the White House was already in freefall over President Trump's decision to sack FBI Director James Comey, and just two days before the president heads on his first overseas trip. His telling move came a week after White House officials depicted him as the force behind Trump's decision to fire Comey a narrative Rosenstein disputes and that Trump himself contradicted in an interview when he said he had been thinking about firing Comey since he took office. Statutes governing the appointment of a special counsel neither direct nor prohibit the attorney general from informing the chief executive when a special counsel gets named. But they do give a special counsel 'the full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions of any United States Attorney,' with no limitations on budget. Rosenstein's letter gives the special counsel authority to pursue 'any matters' that arise 'There's nothing in those regulations that prevents that,' said the official. Rosenstein may have been acting with extra caution as a way to demonstrate independence. The letter Rosenstein drafted tasks Mueller with investigating links 'between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.' The wide scope also includes 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation' language allowing Mueller to go wherever he sees fit, including potentially examining Trump business dealings in search of Russia connections. Trump learned of the move that will reshape the start of his presidency while he was busy vetting potential new FBI Directors, CNN reported. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller will lead the probe into the Trump campaign's alleged Russia ties Three candidates whose names had been publicly floated have already removed themselves from consideration, following a New York Times report that Trump asked Comey to pledge his 'loyalty' to him early this year. The White House disputes the report. The White House put out a dispassionate statement Wednesday night, but by Thursday morning, Trump was venting on Twitter. 'With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special (counsel) appointed!' the President complained on Twitter, misspelling the word 'counsel.' Then he complained: 'This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!' A week ago, it was Rosenstein who was reportedly steaming. He had met with Trump the previous Monday, at the president's request, following a White House meeting. The two spoke about FBI Director James Comey. How Rosenstein got the post that let him outsource Russia probe President Trump nominated career Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general in February but his fate was immediately tied up in the probe of Russian election interference. Rosensteins March confirmation hearing came just five days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from election investigations, following revelations of his undisclosed contacts with the Russians. With Sessions on the sidelines, lawmakers new Rosenstein would have the authority to oversee the FBIs Russia investigation or outsource it to a special counsel. The career official had a reputation for integrity and bipartisan backing. But Democrats demanded answers on how he would conduct himself and grilled him for his views on an independent investigation. He assured Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy: I'm willing to appoint a special counsel, Senator, whenever I determine that it's appropriate based upon the policies and procedures of the Justice Department. Democrats also pressed him on political interference. "Certainly if the president had a conflict in a particular matter I would not take any advice from the president," Rosenstein assured the Judiciary Committee. Ultimately, he was confirmed by the Senate on a 95 to 6 vote on April 25. Within less than a month, he named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel investigating Russian election interference, after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, reportedly gave highly classified information to top Russian officials in the Oval Office, and reportedly asked Comey to back off his investigation of fired security advisor Mike Flynn. The White House denied the reports. Advertisement Comey (the first one boarding the plane) and his entourage were pictured getting on a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport shortly after he was called and told he had, indeed, been fired Former FBI Director James Comey was fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday; Comey is seen here before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC on May 3 Rosenstein told the White House of his decision to name a special counsel to probe Russian election meddling after he had already signed the order President Donald Trump didn't get a head's up about Rosenstein's decision Rosenstein then furnished a letter severely criticizing Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. 'I cannot defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken,' Rosenstein wrote in a letter the White House released immediately after Trump fired Comey. By the day after Comey's firing, Rosenstein threatened to quit over the way the White House cast him as the prime mover behind the decision, the Washington Post reported. Rosenstein denied he threatened to quit, saying: 'No, I'm not quitting.' Trump cited Rosenstein's letter in his own letter firing Comey. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump acted on 'clear recommendations' from Rosenstein and Sessions. The news Rosenstein had named a special counsel came as a shock to the White House. CNN had reported a week ago that Rosenstein didn't see a need for a special prosecutor. Rosenstein had testified in his March confirmation hearing that he would name one 'if 'its appropriate based upon the policies and procedures of the Justice Department.' Dr Alan Keightley was head of religious studies at a West Midlands college when he began writing to Ian Brady in 1992. He received hundreds of letters from him and, from this archive, Dr Keightley has written a biography that sheds a unique light on Bradys evil. Today, in our third extract, he reveals how Brady thought he was untouchable. But then he planned another bloody killing... The Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, never expected to be caught. After cold-heartedly slaughtering four young people in Manchester and burying each of them in peat graves on Saddleworth Moor, they felt omnipotent. When I talked to Brady in prison 30 years later, I asked him if they had thought about the prospect of living into middle age, or even beyond. He told me they discussed a long-term plan to convert a farmhouse. Scroll down for video Moors Murderers, Ian Brady (pictured) and Myra Hindley, never expected to be caught We looked at two in the Manchester area. One had a well in the cellar. Clearly they believed they could go on killing for as long as they pleased. That they were stopped after the next murder was down to something Brady had never allowed for his own carelessness. This fact would come to haunt him, and he would admit to me in the end that his life had been a failure. Bradys criminal activities had never lived up to his expectations of himself as a successful bank robber. As for the murders, he broke his own rules he left a trail that could be traced back to him and Hindley and incriminating evidence everywhere, on paper, in photographs, on tapes. Here was the arch-criminal who boasted that the police would never take him alive or gather the evidence to convict him only to be arrested with hardly a murmur and the case against him as watertight as it could possibly be, short of a grovelling confession. The terrible fact is that, for a while after the murder of Lesley Ann Downey, their fourth victim, Brady and Hindley became bored with their crimes. The couple began seeing more of Hindleys sister, Maureen, and her husband, a layabout with a police record named David Smith (pictured together). Brady had long had a hankering to bring them into their activities, not least because he fancied Maureen Power, once attained, becomes a curiously empty experience, Brady told me. He was so restless he thought of leaving Hindley and twice packed a bag to do so, but she begged him to stay. They looked for a diversion and considered how they could start a small race war in Moss Side, the area where Manchesters immigrant community was concentrated. We had no political or racial motive, Brady told me. It was simply an existential challenge. They did extensive research on this and on another possible project derailing an express train. Their relationship continued to have an undercurrent of violence. He hit her hard once when, while they were having a row in the car, she vented her fury by driving fast and exceeding the speed limit. He was furious with her for taking the needless risk of being stopped by the police. But then he rarely managed to live up to his own self-image as the cool, dispassionate killer, a face that would melt into the crowd. His rage was in danger of drawing attention to him. Brady was always spoiling for a fight and carried a knife with him at all times. He loved to walk around with a revolver under his waistcoat and became obsessed with firearms. He liked to wake up in the mornings and see his Smith & Wesson .38 lying on the table beside him, glinting in the sunshine, as he recalled. He carried it with him, ready for the police if they tried to catch us off guard to make a surprise arrest. The couple began seeing more of Hindleys sister, Maureen, and her husband, a layabout with a police record named David Smith. Brady had long had a hankering to bring them into their activities, not least because he fancied Maureen. Now the four of them began taking trips out to Saddleworth Moor, where Brady and Smith would practise shooting at an old oil drum. Without knowing it, Smith once stood on the grave of 12-year-old John Kilbride, Brady and Hindleys second victim. Brady lured 17-year-old Edward Evans back to the couples home and killed him in front of Hindley and Smith At night they drank heavily and Brady talked to Smith about carrying out armed robberies. But Smith got very nervous when Brady produced his guns. Brady took against Smith. He found him irritating and intellectually inferior. Now he was also proving undependable, as Brady always suspected he might. Brady was worried that, if they went on a robbery, Smiths nerve would crack and he would have to shoot him which would lead the police to Myra and himself. He decided instead that he would get rid of Smith and once got close to luring him up to the moor to kill him. But Hindley argued him out of it. For the rest of his life, Brady would regret listening to her and missing the opportunity of eliminating the man who would eventually cause their ruin. One night Brady and Smith were discussing plans to rob a gas and electricity showroom when a drunken Brady asked Smith: Are you capable of murder? Then he added: Ive done it. Ive killed three or four. Their bodies are buried on the moors. You and Maureen were sitting near one of them. A few days later, he returned to the subject, telling Smith he had photographs to prove his murders. Then, still feeling Smith doubted him, he promised: Ill do another one. In what happened next, Brady had a double motive. He would convince Smith that he really was a killer. He would also test Smiths nerve for the robbery that they were planning. This murder was conceived and executed within the space of five hours, Brady told me. That evening, he and Hindley drove into the centre of the city. At 10.30pm, they parked the car close to Manchester Central station and Brady went to the station bar to buy some wine. Hanging around nearby was 17-year-old Edward Evans, whom Brady recognised. He had seen him in a Manchester gay pub a couple of times, but the two had never spoken. Brady walked over to Evans and asked him if he wanted to come back for a drink. Evans had been planning to meet friends, but they had not turned up, and he was only too happy to salvage what was left of a wasted evening. For a while after the murder of Lesley Ann Downey, their fourth victim, Brady and Hindley became bored with their crimes He accepted what according to Brady was a covert invitation to sex. They got into the car and all three drove to Bradys and Hindleys home. As they got out of the car, Brady whispered to Hindley: Fetch Smith. Hindley went to Smiths flat in a block nearby, chatted for a while and then asked him to walk her home because the lights were out on the estate and she was afraid of the dark streets. Smith told his wife he would be back soon and, picking up a walking stick, left with his sister-in-law. Meanwhile, at home, Brady had had sex with Evans. When Hindley and Smith arrived, he let them in. Then he went back to the living room and walked behind the settee that Evans was sitting on. He told me: I picked up an axe that had been placed out of sight and I brought it down with great force on to his head. I was aiming to kill him instantly, but he turned round and the blade bounced off. Evans screamed out as I rained down blows to his head. He was writhing on the floor to protect himself. Smith joined in the fray and started to kick Evans and hit him with his stick. Myra was in the room watching. [This was denied by Hindley and Smith both claimed they were not in the room when Evans was killed.] Myras grandmother was woken up by the noise and shouted down to ask what was happening. Myra shouted something in reply, but I was too occupied to know what it was. Evans was still alive. I fetched a length of electrical flex from the kitchen, put a cushion cover over his head and strangled him. He stopped gurgling. It was suddenly quiet. The walls, floor and carpets were spattered with blood. Smiths jeans were covered in blood and his stick lay in a pool of blood. I handed the axe to him so that his fingerprints were on the handle. I lit a cigarette and muttered something about it being the messiest murder I had committed. Myra spread a white cotton blanket on the floor and we lifted the body on to it and knotted it up. We wrapped a large sheet of polythene around the bundle, and Myra held her grandmothers bedroom door closed as Smith and I struggled upstairs with it. I was wearing a shoulder holster and a gun, which was hindering my movements. I took them off and put them into Myras empty bedroom. This was a fatal mistake. I should have asked Smith to carry Evans single- handedly. I would then have had no reason to put the gun down upstairs. It would then have been under the divan bed downstairs as usual and I could have used it at the arrest. Back home, covered in blood and retching, he woke up Maureen (pictured with Brady and her sister) and spluttered: Ive just seen somebody killed. Weve got to do something. We are going to the police' It took the three of us almost three hours to clean up the blood in the living room, using buckets of soapy water and rags. The plan was to take the body to the moor next day. At that stage, Brady felt that Smith had passed the initiation test. Although Smith seemed calm as he left to go home, in truth he was terrified that he would never get out of the house alive. When he finally left, he ran home, his mind full of terrors. Thirty-seven years later, Smith explained: You think you would shout blue murder, but I knew if I did that, I wouldnt even make it to the front door. I had to show no emotion, no bad reaction, or Evanss murder wouldnt be the only one that night. Back home, covered in blood and retching, he woke up Maureen and spluttered: Ive just seen somebody killed. Weve got to do something. We are going to the police. But what if Brady was waiting outside, keeping watch on them? They decided to wait until daylight. At the first signs of dawn, they slipped out, armed with a knife and a screwdriver, and hurried to the nearest telephone kiosk. Constable Keith Edwards answered the telephone at 6.07am in Hyde police station. My name is David Smith, said a voice. Theres been a murder. A police car was sent to pick up Smith and when it arrived he was so terrified he jumped in the back before it had come to a halt. At the police station he told detectives the story of the night before and spoke of other murders and bodies on the moors. He warned the police that Brady had guns in the house. Thirty policemen headed for Bradys house, headed by Superintendent Bob Talbot. In December 1965, police searched the home of Brady and Hindley after Edward Evans was killed. The house was pulled down in the 1980s A bread man was delivering in the street and Talbot commandeered his white coat and basket. Then he walked up the front path, went round the side and knocked on the back door. Hindley answered. She was ready to leave for work in her tweed jacket and skirt and white stiletto shoes. Talbot looked at the womans back-combed honey platinum hair, thick black eye make-up and lipstick, little realising that this face would come to haunt the front pages for a generation and go down in the annals as Britains most infamous female serial killer. Talbot said: I have received a report that an act of violence took place here last night. Hindley replied: Theres nothing wrong here. But Talbot swept past her, went into the living room and saw Brady, dressed only in a string-vest, sitting on the divan bed and calmly writing a letter to his boss explaining that he would not be in work that day because he had sprained his ankle. This was true. It had happened in the fracas the night before. The policeman went upstairs and found Hindleys grandmother sitting up in bed sipping tea. Then he tried the second bedroom, but the door was locked. He asked for the key and Hindley told him it was at her office. Talbot said he wasnt leaving until he had checked the bedroom. Back downstairs in the living room, no one was speaking. Hindley looked at Brady for help, and then he broke the silence. You had better give him the key, he told her, then, turning to the police officer, said: A fight got out of hand last night. Police would discover suitcases in a left-luggage office containing more incriminating evidence, including photographs of Lesley Ann Down (pictured) and the notorious tape recording of her being assaulted Upstairs, the superintendent unlocked the bedroom door, went in and saw the large parcel covered with a grey blanket under the window. A few books were scattered on top. He felt the grey bundle and found that he was touching a human foot. There was a carrier bag on the bedroom floor with a hatchet inside. Alongside it was a stick covered in blood and a cardboard box containing two loaded revolvers. Talbot walked back down the stairs into the living room and told Brady to get dressed. Brady put on his shirt and trousers and slipped into his shoes, watched by Talbot and another policeman. Brady told me years later that he intended to kill both of them where they stood and had decided which one to shoot first. Then he and Hindley would make a run for it in the car. If they were cornered, he would shoot her dead and then blow his own brains out. He bent down to tie his shoe laces and felt underneath the divan bed with his right hand for the loaded revolver. It wasnt there. The superintendent had already found the guns in the bedroom, where Brady had absent-mindedly thrown them just a few hours before. Brady realised he was finished. The date was October 6, 1965. He once told me: Its the only date I ever remember. I was deceased that day. Reflecting on the arrest, he said: The house was surrounded by police and all the exit roads were blocked but I still believe that if we had been given ten seconds warning to reach the revolvers and rifle, we could have got away. And then? Probably death in hours or days. At the police station, Brady was charged with the murder of Edward Evans. Meanwhile, police searching the house found a photograph album with pictures of Brady and Hindley in remote spots on the moor. In an exercise book of Bradys doodles and drawings, the name John Kilbride appeared the name of a boy the police knew to be missing and presumed dead. By the time Hindley was also charged with Evanss murder, the police were out on Saddleworth Moor trying to spot likely graves, using the photographs as clues. Soon the police would discover suitcases in a left-luggage office containing more incriminating evidence, including photographs of Lesley Ann Down and the notorious tape recording of her being assaulted. In custody, Brady was coming to terms with his fate. He told me he had two chances to escape during this period, once through an open window in the police station and on another occasion at Risley remand centre. He was being escorted across a car park when a dense fog came down and he could have made a run for it. He didnt because he didnt want to leave the girl, as he called Hindley, to face the music on her own. Defending her became his passion. All my evidence at the trial was to get her off. I felt total indifference for everyone except her. He told me that was why he also turned down an opportunity to kill himself when he was on remand. Hindley was equally protective of him. She instructed her lawyer not to cross-examine Brady in any way that might damage him. She and Brady were able to see each other briefly on their way to and from the court and he warned her that she should show some remorse in the dock. I told her to put some small flakes of tobacco in her eyes to at least give the appearance of crying. She ignored my advice. As for himself, Brady added: I felt detachment and contempt during the trial. I was finished, and all the huffing and puffing around me meant nothing. I stared at the judge at one point and smiled. He nearly had a heart attack! Hindley's back-combed honey platinum hair, thick black eye make-up and lipstic would come to haunt the front pages for a generation. Bradys criminal activities had never lived up to his expectations of himself as a successful bank robber I cast my mind out into deep space, looked back at the speck of dust called Earth, and imagined all its pomposities and little wars and laughed. It put everything in the right perspective. Thirty years after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders, Brady told me the fate that he would have preferred: execution by lethal injection, though he would have settled for hanging if necessary. He said: When a person is sentenced to life or 30 years, they should then go from court to a special unit where on the table in the cell there is a capsule of potassium cyanide. They should be told that the capsule kills in 10 seconds. If, by morning, they have not chosen to take the capsule, they should know they will serve 30 or 40 years in the garbage cans that pass as prisons in Britain. He thought most would opt to die. This would be popular with the public as it saves money. Brady did not get his wish to die because in the period between the murders he and Hindley committed and their trial, MPs had voted to abolish capital punishment. He resigned himself to permanent imprisonment with no hope of release even before the jury pronounced him guilty. Often, he said to me that he didnt deserve any sympathy and had no wish for it. Ian Brady believed that nothing he could say or do would make any difference. IAN BRADY: The Untold Story Of The Moors Murders by Dr Alan Keightley is published as an e-book on May 22, at 9.99. Available for pre-order on Amazon and other e-tailers. Rape suspect: Oracio Sales-Perez, 28, a native of Guatemala living in Florida, is accused of raping a 10-year-old girl in West Palm Beach three times Guatemalan national living in Florida has been arrested and charged with repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl in his West Palm Beach home. Oracio Sales-Perez, 28, was taken into custody on Tuesday on three counts of sexual assault of a minor and ordered held without bond. According to West Palm Beach police, Sales-Perez had threatened to blame the young victim for the assaults if she told anyone about them. Sales-Perez is suspected of bringing the young girl to his apartment in West Palm Beach on three separate occasions this spring, undressing and raping her. The alleged attacks occurred between April 1 and May 14, reported CBS 12, citing police. A witness claimed to have seen the victim enter Sales-Perez's bedroom and shutting the door. Minutes later, the 28-year-old man emerged wearing nothing but a bath towel, reported Palm Beach Post. The 10-year-old girl told investigators that she was scared because Sales-Perez had allegedly threatened to tell everyone the sexual assault were her fault. Locked up: Sales-Perez was ordered held in Palm Beach County Jail without bail When questioned by police, Sales-Perez maintained his innocence. It is unclear how he knew the 10-year-old girl. A spokesperson for the West Palm Beach Police Department told the Daily Mail on Thursday that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on Sales-Perez, but he would not comment on the suspect's current immigration status. The Daily Mail reached out to ICEs Florida field office for comment and was awaiting a response. Advertisement Theresa May put a full-throated Brexit at the heart of her partys manifesto yesterday as she vowed to deliver a clean break from Brussels. The manifesto commits the Conservatives to pulling out of the single market, the customs union and European Court of Justice, and reaffirms the Prime Ministers threat to walk away from a bad trade deal. Including the pledges in her blueprint for government will make it much harder for rebel Tory MPs, diehard Remainers and unelected peers to block a proper Brexit. In her speech in Halifax, Mrs May said: If we fail, the consequences for Britain and for the economic security of ordinary working people will be dire. If we succeed, the opportunities ahead of us are great. Prime Minister Theresa May's Tory manifesto, published yesterday, commits the Conservatives to pulling out of the single market, the customs union and European Court of Justice, and reaffirms the PMs threat to walk away from a bad trade deal But the Prime Minister said there would be give and take in negotiations and signalled Britain could pay at least a part of the 85 billion bill demanded by the EU. Mrs May confirmed the country would not be half-in and half-out of the EU, and said negotiating the best deal for Britain would be the central challenge facing her if she returns to Downing Street. Our future prosperity, our place in the world, our standard of living, and the opportunities we want for our children and our childrens children each and every one depends on having the strongest possible hand as we enter those negotiations in order to get the best Brexit deal for families across this country, she said. I have negotiated for Britain in Europe, and I know that the best place to start is to be clear about where you stand and what you want. That is why I have been clear that we do not seek to fudge this issue to be half-in and half-out of the EU. The British people made their choice. I respect that, and I respect the view of other European leaders who agree we cant be half-in, half-out either. Mrs May, pictured here at the missiles producer MBDA in Bolton today, confirmed the country would not be half-in and half-out of the EU, and said negotiating the best deal for Britain would be the central challenge facing her if she wins the election Explosive: The PM launched her party's manifesto in Halifax yesterday morning, left, before meeting David Armstrong from the missiles producer MBDA in Bolton, right. The manifesto contains major reforms to social care, ditches the pensions triple-lock and scraps free school lunches in favour of free primary school breakfasts The Prime Minister promised to forge a new deep and special partnership with Europe, and to transform the country into a global trading nation that stands tall in the world once again. But the manifesto reaffirmed Mrs Mays view that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK in terms of its future trading relationship with the EU. The negotiations will undoubtedly be tough, and there will be give and take on both sides, but we continue to believe that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK, it said. The document said the Government may be willing to make a reasonable contribution to the EU after Brexit and pledged to come to a fair settlement on an exit bill. But it warned Brussels that the days of Britain making vast annual contributions to the European Union will end. The Conservatives said they will create a British shared prosperity fund to replace EU regional development funding, which has often been criticised for being wasted and misspent. Mrs May also used the manifesto to rule out a second Scottish independence referendum until after Brexit is complete. The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union but some would disrupt our attempts to get the best deal for Scotland and the UK with calls for a divisive referendum that the people of Scotland do not want, it said. We have been very clear that now is not the time for another referendum on independence. In order for a referendum to be fair, legal and decisive, it cannot take place until the Brexit process has played out and it should not take place unless there is public consent for it to happen. This is a time to pull together, not apart. The two main political parties received nearly 7 million in donations in the first week of the election campaign. The Conservatives have built up a war chest of 4 million, while Labour has received 2.6 million, almost of of which came from its union backers. ........................................................................................................................................................................................... Tories WILL keep 100,000 target for net migration The Prime Minister yesterday unveiled a crackdown on foreign citizens exploiting the immigration system while keeping the pledge to slash the numbers coming here to the tens of thousands. Vowing to bear down on immigration from outside the EU, Theresa May promised tougher rules and a fresh drive to tackle health tourism. The Tory Party manifesto warned migration was too high and too fast, threatening social cohesion. It said that, at 273,000 in the year to September, net migration the number of migrants arriving in the UK minus those leaving needed to be cut to sustainable levels. The Tory Party manifesto warned migration was too high and too fast, threatening social cohesion Mrs May said a raft of proposals would allow a Tory government to lower net migration to below 100,000 but she refused to set an arbitrary date for hitting the target. Firms employing skilled non-EU workers would see the Immigration Skills Charge double to 2,000 a year per employee, with the cash used to train millions of apprentices. It aims to deter businesses from avoiding obligations to improve the skills of the British workforce, and the manifesto does not rule out extending the levy to EU workers after Brexit. Mrs May faced down a Cabinet revolt by vowing to keep foreign students in the migration figures. Removing them could slash the headline number by more than a third, but she believes doing so would be duping the public. The manifesto also promised tougher visa requirements for overseas students. It said: We will expect students to leave the country at the end of their course, unless they meet new, higher requirements that allow them to work in Britain after their studies have concluded. Figures show 50,000 foreign students a year stay in the UK after completing courses. And the Tories would raise the 18,600 salary threshold UK citizens must meet before their non-EU spouses can gain a British visa. The party also unveiled measures to combat health tourism. Patients would be issued an NHS number only if they could prove they were eligible for free healthcare. This is the ten-digit number given to all patients either at birth or when they first register with a GP. Those without an NHS number who needed emergency care would still be treated, but given an invoice afterwards. The Tories also promised to treble the immigration surcharge insurance fees paid by migrants to cover the cost of NHS care. It would rise to 650, with international students paying 150. Who's the boss? Mrs May faced down a Cabinet revolt by vowing to keep foreign students in the migration figures. Removing them could slash the headline number by more than a third, but she believes doing so would be duping the public Mrs May said: In immigration, you have to be constantly working at it. There is no single thing that changes the figures in the way that you want. You have to look at all aspects of immigration. What we will be able to do when we leave the EU is, of course, bring in rules and controls for people coming from those remaining countries in the European Union into the UK, which we havent been able to do as a member of the EU. Failure to control the UKs borders in large part due to the requirement to let in EU citizens was the spur for millions of Brexit voters. Lord Green of Deddington, of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said the pledges were a sound basis for reducing the scale of immigration. Carolyn Fairbairn, of the Confederation of British Industry, said: In a global race for talent and innovation UK firms risk being left in the starting blocks because of a blunt approach to immigration. The next Government can both control migration and support prosperity. Foreign criminals would be fitted with electronic tags as they awaited deportation, the manifesto says, making sure they could not vanish. A daring Golden Retriever is helping those in need by giving them a lesson on how to hit the beach and enjoy a nice day riding the waves. Ricochet, a surfing therapy dog based in San Diego, California, helps give her specialized services to people with disabilities, children and veterans with PTSD by allowing them to go boarding with her. 'Feelings such as isolation and social anxiety are replaced with inter-connection and trusting friendships all built in a playground of transformation,' said Judy Fridono -Ricochet's owner who explained the importance of the therapy - to Newsivity. Scroll down for video Ricochet helps give her specialized therapy to people with disabilities, children and veterans with PTSD by allowing them to go surfing with her in San Diego, California 'Feelings such as isolation and social anxiety are replaced with inter-connection and trusting friendships all built in a playground of transformation,' said Judy Fridono - Ricochet's owner - about why the dog does the therapy The canine was born for service - initially part of a program called Puppy Prodigies Neo-Natal & Early Learning Program - and was set to become a companion for someone with disabilities. But as a young pup she quickly grew close to waterboarding when she first hopped on a boogie board to play with a boy and was able to stay balanced in 2009. Ricochet - dubbed the surfice dog - was known for her work with disabled children but recently began working with veterans in mentoring the kids. Initially in the Puppy Prodigies program, Ricochet quickly grew close to waterboarding when she first hopped on a boogie board in 2009 Hold on! Ricochet - dubbed the surfice dog - was known for her work with children with varying disabilities But recently she has been working with Waves of Empowerment which seeks to bring veterans suffering with PTSD and children with disabilities together in hopes they'll learn from each other. She is carried by a member of the team Not only does her work promote positive benefit care for the children but it also helps give support to the soldiers assisting with the program. Called Waves of Empowerment, this specialized therapy seeks to bring veterans suffering with PTSD and children with a range of disabilities together in the hopes that they will empower and motivate each other to live more fulfilled lives. 'Every 65 minutes a veteran with PTSD takes their life by suicide' said the group's organizers to Newsivity. Bowwowabunga! Ricochet rides with two learning surfers eager to master standing up while riding the waves Waves of Empowerment organizers said: 'To that end, we provide opportunities that enable them to continue their life of service, and find new purpose by engaging in community-based services while also getting to mentor and inspire future generations' Besides surfing with children (pictured) to bring awareness and help to these groups, Ricochet has also raised more than $500,000 for various causes relating to young children and animals 'That's up to 22 lives a day! Through this unique model, we are determined to reduce these staggering statistics and improve the lives of our physically and emotionally wounded war heroes. The over 250 causes are mostly fundraiser through the pup's popular Facebook page with almost 259k followers and an Instagram account with 105k followers, showcasing the dog's talent for helping young children 'To that end, we provide opportunities that enable them to continue their life of service, and find new purpose by engaging in community-based services while also getting to mentor and inspire future generations.' In the video posted by Newsivity, a young boy can be seen riding with Ricochet as the water takes them closer to the shore. Later in the clip, a group of children and veterans take the child and the pup and help push them out into the water so they can catch some waves. Besides surfing to bring awareness and help to these groups, the American Kennel Club certified dog has also raised more than $500,000 for various causes relating to young children and animals. The over 250 causes are mostly fundraiser through the pup's popular Facebook page with almost 259k followers and an Instagram account with 105k followers. President Donald Trump smacked down liberals' threats of impeachment Thursday afternoon as 'totally ridiculous' after saying that he did not ask his fired FBI director to stop an investigation into Mike Flynn. 'No, no, next question, Trump said after a reporter asked him about a memo James Comey wrote outlining a conversation he had with Trump about his former national security advisor. The reporter moved on and asked Trump reflect on his actions and say honestly if he wonders at times if he'd done anything that 'might worthy of criminal charges...or impeachment.' President Donald Trump smacked down liberals' threats of impeachment Thursday afternoon as 'totally ridiculous' Trump says he did not ask his fired FBI director, James Comey, right, to stop an investigation into Mike Flynn, his fired national security advisor, center Democrats have accused Trump of obstruction of justice and threatened him with removal from office over his alleged collusion with the Russians and a report this week that claimed he tried to interfere with the FBI's investigation into Flynn. Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat, delivered an impassioned speech on the floor of the House on Wednesday morning calling for Congress to dismiss the Republican president who is only in his fourth month in office. 'This is about what I believe. And this is where I stand. I will not be moved. The president must be impeached,' Green said the morning after the New York Times published its story about the Comey memo. Green had already called for Trump's impeachment, following a separate revelation that Trump shared highly classified information with the Russians last week in the Oval Office. He railed against Trump on Wednesday from the floor after the Times' story broke. Congresswoman Maxine Waters chimed in Tuesday from the Center for American Progress conference. 'I think this is going to put us a little bit further on our way to what I have been calling for for so long, and that is impeachment,' Waters said. Justin Amash, a Republican congressman from Michigan, said that Comey's memo would be grounds for impeachment, if the allegations are true. 'I think its totally ridiculous. Everybody thinks so,' Trump said of impeachment talk during an East Room news conference. Continuing, he said, 'We have to get back to working our country properly so that we can take care of the problems that we have. We have plenty of problems. 'We have a tremendous group of people, millions and millions of people out there that are looking at what you had just said and said, "What are they doing?" The president said Wednesday in a written statement that he did not attempt to waive Comey off of Flynn, his fired national security adviser who took money from the Russia and Turkey that he did not report to the U.S. government. The president said Wednesday in a written statement that he did not attempt to waive Comey (pictured) off of Flynn, his fired national security adviser who took money from the Russia and Turkey that he did not report to the U.S. government Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13 for lying to the vice president about another subject - his conversations with the Russian ambassador about sanctions during the transition. According to the Times, which ran a report with portions of a memo Comey is said to have written, he met with his FBI director the next day. Comey was asked to stay behind after other administration officials were dismissed, the report said. Trump then pressured him to lay off Flynn, calling him a 'good guy.' The memo hasn't been released. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday that the White House disputes the accord, as it was reported. Comey was subsequently fired by Trump himself over his handling of Hillary Clinton's email investigation, or so the White House says. Trump said he was justified in canning Comey, despite the complaints he's received from Democrats and Republicans over the timing. The FBI is investigation Trump's presidential campaign for collusion with the Russians as part of its probe into interference in November's presidential election. Comey 'was very unpopular with most people,' Trump asserted as he stood next to the Colombian president during the joint news conference. 'We need a great director of the FBI. I cherish the FBI. Its special. All over the world, no matter where you go, the FBI is special,' he added. 'We're going to have a director who is going to be outstanding. Ill be announcing that director very soon, and I look forward to doing it. I think the people in the FBI will be very, very thrilled.' Being chatted up by the young Theresa May must have been a blowtorch experience. I offer myself as your Prime Minister, she rasped yesterday, fixing us with blazing eyes and a nose angled like a fish-hook. Vote for me, she said, three times. It was not so much a request as an instruction, issued with breathy, alto insistence. She promised a resolute determination to get on with the job. No wonder husband Philip is such a quiet fellow. It is quite possibly simple exhaustion. Imagine being courted by such a laser-focused phenomenon. Turbo-charged trout. Scroll down for video Theresa May pictured during the Conservative Party manifesto launch in West Yorkshire Theresa Mays party the artist formerly known as the Conservatives launched its election manifesto at a Halifax wedding-reception space called The Arches, part of an old industrial mill. They occasionally have Bavarian nights at The Arches, chaps dressing up in lederhosen and the lasses presumably in Angela Merkel costumes. Phwoarr. Halifax is a marginal Labour seat at present. You can tell a partys ambitions from its manifesto-launch venue. Labour used a university campus in Bradford (going for student/public-sector votes in that Left-wing town). The Lib Dems opted for an East London nightclub (the metropolitan raver vote). The Tories were in Halifax because they are after centrist northern English voters and this renovated mill spoke of industrial revival. Their launch was the smallest but the most controlled and serious. Theresa doesnt do frivolous. Trade union protestors including someone dressed as a Dalek had gathered outside the venue. Contained by police, many of them had taken to a road high above the mill, their banners and placards visible above a wall Zulu spears on the horizon. Tories out! came a distant chant. It felt nostalgic for the 1980s. Inside we were shown a video which had female and ethnic voters saying Im standing with Theresa May. Around the stage was the slogan Forward, Together. The 84-page manifesto contained only one photograph of Mrs May at a recent campaign event. No wonder Theresa May's husband Philip (pictured) is such a quiet fellow. It is quite possibly simple exhaustion. Imagine being courted by such a laser-focused phenomenon, writes Quentin Letts The party launched its election manifesto at a Halifax wedding-reception space called The Arches, part of an old industrial mill Enter the Cabinet, Boris newly shampood; he was sandwiched between his two foes, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Chancellor Philip Hammond. Poor Boris. Many of the men were in obedient blue ties. David Davis, Brexit Secretary, had been chosen as warm-up man (does Mrs May see the reliable Davis as her de facto deputy?). The moment she entered, the Cabinet shot to their feet, as though just electrocuted in the privates. They burst into frantic applause. Look, miss, Im clapping as hard as I possibly can. Please dont sack me! It may not be enough to save Liz Truss and Sajid Javid. Mrs May was more animated than sometimes. There was a sense not quite of nervousness but certainly of the significance of this declaration of intentions. She wanted to build a Great Meritocracy. There would be obstacles in our way (the House of Lords? Nicky Morgan?). It was all going to take discipline and focus, effort and hard work and above all a unity of purpose. Gulp. The Tories were in Halifax because they are after centrist northern English voters and this renovated mill spoke of industrial revival. Their launch was the smallest but the most controlled and serious It all sounded decidedly Lenten. My eyes wandered longingly to a Gin Bar adjacent to the space where she was speaking. In one of the more interesting passages, she defined the typical British voter: They are not ideological, dont buy into grand visions, arent fooled by politicians who promise the earth. They do not ask for much. They just want to get on with their lives, do their best for their children and be given a fair chance. When she was later asked to describe May-ism she instantly snorted: There is no May-ism! There is good solid Conservatism which puts ordinary working people at the heart of everything we do in Government. Despite that disavowal of an ism, she spoke pointedly about my mainstream Government. The first-person singular was also dominant in her final crescendo, delivered almost with fury: Come with me as I lead Britain, as a I fight for Britain, as I deliver for Britain. Pure theatrical chastisement. The army has been forced to pull a 15-second 'Honor' commercial after it was revealed one of the soldiers featured in it was a convicted rapist. The recruitment commercial, which was one in a series that were played across the country earlier this month, showed former Specialist Nicholas Marcum. It aired for a week between May 8 and 15, and was played about 245 times. Marcum, 28, was convicted in a general court martial for 'forcible rape of a child' and jailed for 20 years in September 2016. The Alaska Dispatch reports the victim was 15. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell told the newspaper at the time of the conviction the rape took place on May 14, 2014, in Fort Wainwright. Scroll down for video The army has been forced to pull a 15-second 'Honor' commercial after it was revealed one of the soldiers featured in it was a convicted rapist It was also reported the soldier provided the victim with alcohol on the day of the rape, and he was a 'friend of the girl's family'. The attack took place at the girl's family home, according to military news website Task and Purpose. He is currently being held at the US Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - the military's only maximum security jail. Business Insider reports the image of Marcum used in the commercial was taken in July 2014 during a promotional photo shoot at the Fort Wainwright base. The recruitment commercial, which was one in a series that were played across the country earlier this month, showed former Specialist Nicholas Marcum. Marcum was based at the Fort Wainwright barracks (pictured) The military said the advertisement was pulled and Marcum's image has been deleted from further use The commercial has since been pulled, and Marcum's image will never be used again. Major Avon Cornelius explained to Business Insider how the shocking blunder occurred. 'All soldiers, civilians, and family members are vetted prior to filming in any national or local advertising effort,' he said. 'However, participants are not usually vetted a second time if images are later used.' He added: 'We have put in place measures to ensure secondary vetting of images in all future productions to minimize any similar circumstance occurring again.' The convicted criminal who allegedly lured a 16-year-old girl from her Australian home on Sydney's north shore to the U.S. for sex is a married father with a four-year-old daughter. Sean Price, 39, is accused of grooming the Lindfield schoolgirl from Sydney's north shore on Snapchat for months before convincing her to board a plane to Los Angeles to engage in sexual activity, according to a complaint made in the Eastern District of New York. Price, whose long rap sheet includes a 1995 conviction for criminally negligent homicide for the death of a passenger in a car crash, allegedly received nude photos from the teen before he sent her US$1,600 (AU$2,150) for the airfare, according to court papers. His estranged wife, Rhyse Price, told Mail Online she was sickened by the allegations. Sean Price, 39, is accused of grooming a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Sydney for months before convincing her to board a plane to Los Angeles to engage in sexual activity His estranged wife, Ryhse Price, told Mail Online she was sickened by the news but was not surprised (Sean and Rhyse Price are pictured) 'This is horrifying,' Ms Price said. She separated from him and fled to Canada with their four-year-old daughter and her 17-year-old daughter, who has a different father. Ms Price said she was devastated for their young daughter. 'I'm broken for my four-year-old daughter. She adores him despite his absence,' Ms Price said. Asked if she had a message for Price, his estranged wife said: 'To Sean: I hope your daughter never has to suffer the sins you have placed in her name.' Asked if she had a message for Price, his estranged wife said: 'To Sean: I hope your daughter never has to suffer the sins you have placed in her name' (they are pictured together with the two daughters in the background) Price and Rhys are pictured on their wedding day together Police found the 16-year-old in the basement of Price's mother's home (pictured) in New York last week, it's alleged A room inside Price's mother's home where the 16-year-old girl was found is pictured Ms Price said her heart went out to the 16-year-old girl and her family. 'I feel for this girl's parents. I cannot imagine their fears and just what they must have been going through while she was missing. I can't believe this. He is sick.' US authorities allege the teen landed in Los Angeles before Price rented a car and drove her 12,000km to New York. The pair allegedly had sex along the way, according the New York Daily News. Police found the 16-year-old, who cannot be named, in the basement of Price's mother's home in Queens, New York last week. When authorities arrived, Price's mother told them her son and the teenager weren't there - as the pair tried to hide, the paper reported. US authorities allege the teen landed in Los Angeles before Price rented a car and drove her 12,000km to New York. The pair allegedly had sex along the way An Australian teenager who vanished from one of the county's most affluent suburbs has been found after she was allegedly lured her to the U.S. via Snapchat for sex (stock of Snapchat app) Price was refused bail on Wednesday after he tried to convince a magistrate to grant it by offering up his mother's house The teen reportedly suffers from anxiety disorder and was having troubles at home when she met Price online. Price was refused bail on Wednesday after he tried to convince a magistrate to grant it by offering up his mother's house. 'Any offer doesn't give the court much confidence,' Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky said, according to the NY Daily News. An Australian Federal Police spokesperson told Mail Online the teenager was reported missing to NSW Police from her Lindfield home on April 11. 'A number of inquiries were made by police who were able to determine the teenager had left the country and travelled to the United States,' the spokesperson said. 'Collaboration between the Australian Federal Police and U.S. law enforcement officials led to the girl being located in New York State in the company of a 39-year-old man on Friday, 12 May. 'The man was arrested and charged with a number of offences relating to his conduct and interactions with the girl and will face court action in the U.S.,' an Australian Federal Police spokesman said 'I'm broken for my four-year-old daughter. She adores him despite his absence,' Ms Price said Asked if she had a message for Price, his estranged wife said: 'To Sean: I hope your daughter never has to suffer the sins you have placed in her name' 'The man was arrested and charged with a number of offences relating to his conduct and interactions with the girl and will face court action in the U.S.' The spokesperson said the girl has returned to Australia. At a press conference on Friday afternoon, NSW Acting Superintendent Mick Haddow said the family was 'dealing with an enormous challenge'. 'Needless to say, this has been a very traumatic experience for everyone involved.' AFP Commander Chris Sheehan said the man was facing multiple charges, including for allegedly moving a minor person across state jurisdiction for sexual purposes. 'The male person who groomed her to go overseas has been arrested in the United States and will face prosecution for very serious offences,' Mr Sheehan said. He said there were Australian federal and state legislation relating to adults grooming children for sexual purposes. 'There is always potential down the track for prosecution here in Australia.' Mr Sheehan advised parents to be aware of the risks of social media use and to be aware of what their children are doing online. A man who was the target of an attempted robbery has also been struck by a passing car as he fled the gang. The man, aged in his 20s, was fleeing a gang of four men as they attempted to rob him on King Street in Melbourne's CBD at 3.30am on Friday. When running across the road to escape, he was hit by a passing car and the driver fled the scene, according to 9News. Scroll down for video The man was escaping a robbery on King Street when he was struck by a car The man was struck by a car on King Street in Melbourne and was treated at the scene for head and leg injuries Paramedics treated the man for head and leg injures before he was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The man is in a stable condition. Police are investigating both incidents and are looking for both the driver of the car and the four men who attempted to rob the victim. Police are looking into both incidents with the gang and driver fleeing the scene Most of the criminal charges against 48-year-old Patricia Fowler (pictured) related to the disappearance of her twins more than 10 years ago have been thrown out by a Pennsylvania judge A judge has thrown out most criminal charges against a Pennsylvania woman accused of endangering and concealing the whereabouts of her twins, who haven't been seen in more than 10 years. Allegheny County Judge Thomas Flaherty let stand a charge of unsworn falsification, which alleges Patricia Fowler, 48, made misleading statements to police who began investigating the whereabouts of the twins last year. But the judge announced Wednesday there is insufficient evidence the Penn Hills woman obstructed justice, concealed the children's whereabouts from their incarcerated father or endangered the twins. Flaherty ruled Fowler did not obstruct a child abuse case or endanger the children because there's no evidence they've been harmed. At Fowler's preliminary hearing in October, Allegheny County Detective Michael Kuma testified he believed Ivon and Inisha Fowler, a boy and girl who would be almost 19 now, were dead. Kuma said he believes that because their older brother, Datwon, who will be 20 in August, told police he believed the twins were sick the last time he saw them more than a decade ago on September 11, 2006. Patricia Fowler remains jailed on charges she's collected nearly $50,000 in welfare benefits for the twins despite having not seen them for years. Her public defender, Aaron Sontz, has a policy of not commenting to the media. Police and child services have not been able to locate Ivon and Inisha Fowler for more than ten years. They were last seen in September 2006 Flaherty took the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families to task for not keeping better track of the children. That agency has refused to comment on the case because its dealings with allegedly abused children are confidential. The judge noted Ivon was badly scalded in a bathtub when he was about 2, but welfare caseworkers didn't alert police or begin the process to have him removed from Fowler's care. A caseworker testified at another hearing in 2006 that the twins were reportedly living with relatives in North Carolina and doing well, but five months later the agency closed the case after the agency told a judge that the twins couldn't be found. CYF was not able to validate that the two children viewed by caseworkers in 2006 'were actually the twins, as the child presented as Ivon did not have any scars from the severe burns he suffered in 2000,' the judge wrote.' Penn Hills and county police became involved with Fowler and her children again in June after CYF caseworkers asked for help removing four other minor children from the home for unspecified medical neglect. About two weeks later, the agency called back and told police about Ivon and Inisha, saying they hadn't been seen since at least 2006. Fowler's other son, Datwon (pictured), previously told police he believed the twins were sick the last time he saw them more than a decade ago on September 11, 2006 Fowler at various times told police the twins were living with friends or relatives in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. She even claimed once that she sold for $2,000 each to a woman she didn't know in a deal brokered by a man she met in a bar, but later acknowledged that was a lie, authorities said. Police have been unable to find any school records using the children's names, birthdates and Social Security numbers. District Attorney's spokesman Mike Manko said the office is reviewing Flaherty's ruling. The office could appeal it to Superior Court or try to refile the charges and present more evidence. Datwon Fowler remains jailed on charges including conspiracy and criminal use of a cellphone, which he's accused of using to text a detective while claiming to be Ivon in August. The cellphone text message claimed the boy was safe. But GPS tracked the phone to the address where Datwon Fowler lived with his mother, not out of state, where the Fowlers claimed the twins were living. Police said Datwon Fowler then acknowledged lying and pretending to be Ivon. Datwon's attorney, Richard McCague, did not immediately comment Thursday. At least 44 high-ranking members of the notorious MS-13 gang face federal charges after they were rounded up and arrested in Los Angeles pre-dawn police raids. Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement officers fanned out across the city early Wednesday morning and stormed homes and storefronts to nab leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang. The operation, which was part of a three-year investigation into the violent gang, is the latest step in a multi-agency anti-racketeering case. Authorities - headed by the FBI - arrested 21 people at more than 40 locations on various charges, including narcotics trafficking and other violent crimes. Many of them were illegal immigrants. At least 44 high-ranking members of the notorious MS-13 gang members face federal charges after they were rounded up and arrested in Los Angeles pre-dawn police raids. The 21 (pictured) arrested with ties to MS-13 were a part of a racketeering case Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement officers fanned out across the city early Wednesday morning and stormed homes and storefronts to nab leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang Authorities - headed by the FBI - arrested 21 people at more than 40 locations on various charges, including narcotics trafficking and other violent crimes. Some of the gang's leaders are still at large, including Jorge Ramos (left) and Irwin Garcia (right) At least three high-ranking gang members, Jorge Ramos, Irwin Garcia and Jesse Perez, remain at large after the police raids. The 21 arrested with ties to MS-13 were among the 44 people who are part of this racketeering case. Twenty of those are already serving time in jail and three are considered to be fugitives. Three alleged MS-13 gangsters were charged in the racketeering indictment for murders they committed in connection with the gang's activities. Jesse Perez (pictured) is also one of at least three people who remain at large after the police raids According to ABC News, the former head of the entire gang in Los Angeles and 12 senior leaders of the gang are among those facing charges. Twelve guns, thousands of dollars in cash and drugs, as well as 15 children were found at the homes raided Wednesday. A raid at a storefront along a strip of dilapidated buildings also found at least seven people locked in a room. Police are investigation them as possible human trafficking victims. Law enforcement officials say the dozen high-ranking gang members had formed a de facto leadership council for the gang because no one person was willing to take on the top role in the wake of ongoing scrutiny by law enforcement. Carlos Alfredo Cardoza Lopez, also known as 'Little Boy,' 23, is accused of fatally shooting an innocent bystander in the gang-controlled Little San Salvador Nightclub in August 2015. A friend of the murder victim was also stabbed during the attack. Two other MS-13 members - Samuel Alexander Paredes Rivas, also known as 'Blacky,' 39, and Joffri Molina, also known as 'Espia,' 24 - are also charged with murder. Rivas is accused of murdering a man in August 2015 at a strip mall in Pacoima. Authorities are seen arresting suspected members of the violent gang MS-13 The 21 arrested with ties to MS-13 were among the 44 people who are part of this racketeering case. Twenty of those are already serving time in jail and three are considered to be fugitives Three alleged MS-13 gangsters were charged in the racketeering indictment for murders they committed in connection with the gang's activities Molina allegedly murdered a man in September 2015 on a street in North Hollywood. 'This gang is responsible for murders - both of rival gangsters and innocent bystanders - as well as drug dealing and extortion in many communities in the Los Angeles area,' said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown. 'With thousands of members here in the Southland, the gang's power is widespread - power which it maintains with severe acts of violence. Today's charges and arrests, however, will deal a critical blow to the top leadership of this criminal organization and will significantly improve safety in neighborhoods across this region.' If found guilty of the murder charges, all three men could receive the death penalty under federal law. MS-13 has become a primary target of the Justice and Homeland Security departments amid the Trump Administration's broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration and violent crime. The El Salvadorian criminal enterprise is believed to have a presence in 46 states and is the first and only criminal organization in the US to be named as 'transnational' by the FBI. The gang was started about 30 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the US after a violent civil war left more than 100,000 dead. Major roundups of MS-13 members have taken place across the country since the early 2000s. Twelve guns, thousands of dollars in cash and drugs, as well as 15 children were found at the homes raided Wednesday Law enforcement officials say the dozen high-ranking gang members had formed a de facto leadership council for the gang because no one person was willing to take on the top role in the wake of ongoing scrutiny by law enforcement A raid at a storefront along a strip of dilapidated buildings also found at least seven people locked in a room. Police are investigation them as possible human trafficking victims A woman posed for a dramatic set of wedding photos in which she torched her wedding dress. A photographer set fire to the bride-to-be's wedding dress in China's Fujian province and let it burn up to create an artistic effect. 'Behind the scenes' footage was posted online on May 16 with many people on Chinese social media sharing their concerns. An assistant lit up the dress while the bride-to-be posed for the photo shoot (left). Fire started to burn up along the dress in seconds (right) In the footage uploaded to People's Daily on May 16, a woman can be seen standing at the lakeside in Fuzhou as one assistant sets the dress on fire. As the fire turns the dress into a haze of bright orange, Mr Zheng, the photographer, captures the moment with his camera. The fire continues to burn and reaches the woman's back. Zheng told Pear that a fire extinguisher was on hand to put out the fire at any time. Mr Zheng, the photographer said the bride agreed to take the photos as it was 'a cool idea' Fire burned up to the back of the bride-to-be to create an artistic sense in the photo shoot The crew managed to put out the fire by the extinguisher before causing any injuries Mr Zheng said thorough research has been done before to ensure safety of the bride-to-be He said: 'We did research beforehand, from the choice of oil, wedding dress testing and the time required to put out the fire, to ensure that everything was under control.' The idea was inspired by a trend set by John Michael Cooper, a wedding photographer who aimed to create a ritual known as Trash the Dress by destroying wedding dresses in the name of art in 2001. The trend became popular over many years after his photos caught lots of attention. Zheng said he wished to follow the same trend. He added that his client thought it was 'a cool idea' and agreed to do so. He told Pear: 'The photoshoot follows a theme of classical elements. These beautiful photos are not being photo-shopped as it's important to enjoy the process in the making.' However many web users disagree. A trend in US: Wedding photographer John Michael Cooper started the trend to destroy their wedding dresses in the name of art, a ritual known as Trashing The Dress. 'mSuRou' asked in the comment section: 'Who thinks the photos are pretty?' 'Zhangdaixia' said: 'Such an ignorant woman who is putting her life at risk.' Chinese Firefighters Department posted on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media account, warning the public that wedding dress material is highly flammable. They stated that any delay in putting out the fire could lead to serious consequences to the wearer. Facebook has been slapped with a 110 million euro (94.5 million/ $123 million) fine after the EU's anti-trust watchdog said it provided 'incorrect or misleading' information regarding its $19 billion (15.3 billion) takeover of WhatsApp. The European Commission said the social network inaccurately claimed it would be unable to combine user data between the two companies' accounts. 'Contrary to Facebook's statements in the 2014 merger review process, the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users' identities already existed in 2014, and Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility,' the commission said. Scroll down for video #Mergers: @EU_Commission fines Facebook 110 million for providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover https://t.co/zWRsc8X9yk Ricardo Cardoso (@RCardosoEU) May 18, 2017 WHAT HAPPENED? During regulatory scrutiny of the WhatsApp deal in 2014, Facebook told the EU competition enforcer it was unable reliably to match the two companies' user accounts. The Commission subsequently found that this was technically possible at the time. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has recently put the tax affairs of a number of high-profile firms including Apple, Amazon and Google under the microscope, said the sanction was 'proportionate and deterrent'. Advertisement It added that the ruling does not affect its decision to approve the merger. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has recently put the tax affairs of a number of high-profile firms including Apple, Amazon and Google under the microscope, said the sanction was 'proportionate and deterrent'. She added: 'Today's decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information. 'And it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook. 'The commission must be able to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts.' The European Commission said the US social network Facebook inaccurately claimed it would be unable to combine user data between the two companies' accounts The Commission can fine a company as much as 1 per cent of its global turnover, which in Facebook's case could have reached $276 million (212 million) based on its 2016 revenue. The move by the European Commission will come after a six-month investigation. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in March told a news conference that a small handful of companies may have provided misleading information when they sought approval for their mergers. We need accurate #facts to do our job. @facebook now fined 110 mio for giving wrong/misleading information when it took over WhatsApp. Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) May 18, 2017 The EU sanction will come on the heels of a 150,000-euro ($167,000 / 128 000) fine handed down by a French data watchdog to Facebook on Tuesday for failing to prevent its users' data being accessed by advertisers. Italian antitrust authorities levied a 3-million-euro fine ($3.3 million/ 2.6 million) on WhatsApp last week for allegedly obliging users to agree to share their personal data with Facebook. 'We've acted in good faith since our very first interactions with the Commission and we've sought to provide accurate information at every turn', a Facebook spokesperson told MailOnline. 'The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional and the Commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review. Today's announcement brings this matter to a close.' The lines between man and machine look set to become increasingly blurred with the advent of computer chips that can be implanted directly into the brain. Elon Musk recently hit the headlines with his Neuralink brain interface, which would allow users to connect directly to the internet with their minds. Another project announced this week is exploring the technology's potential for allowing people who have been paralysed to move again. And their device could allow them to feel feedback, like the sensation of holding a loved one's hand or a hot cup of coffee, from previously paralysed limbs or the next generation of prosthetics. Scroll down for video Researchers from the University of Washington are working on a brain chip (artist's impression pictured) to allow paralysed people and those wearing prosthetic limbs to control the bodys muscle functions again (stock image) BRAIN IMPLANT Researchers from the University of Washington are working to create a chip to allow the person with the implant to control the bodys muscle functions. The chip will take neural signals from the brain that represent movements the person wants make. These signals will then be sent to a simulator implanted in the spinal cord, which will prompt the movement in the paralysed limb or prosthetic. And the device will also be able to send information in the opposite direction, allowing the person to once again feel what they are touching. As well as their potential for prosthetics, the chips could help treat a range of neuro-degenerative disorders, like Parkinson's and Alzheimers. They could also help people to recover from a stroke and even paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries and other life-changing medical situations. Advertisement The chips will be developed in partnership between the University of Washington and processor manufacturer ARM, based in Cambridge. The university's Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) has signed an agreement with the firm to create the chips. The processor will decode the complex signals formed within the brain and digitise them so they can be processed and acted upon. The end result should allow the person with the implant to control the bodys muscle functions. And the device will also be able to send information in the opposite direction, allowing the person to once again feel what they are touching. It is not clear when the technology will be ready, but basic brain chip systems which allow control of previously paralysed limbs have already been created. What is different about this chip is the potential its creators envisage to treat a whole host of other conditions. As well as prosthetics, the chips could help treat a range of neuro-degenerative disorders, like Parkinson's and Alzheimers. They could also help people to recover from a stroke and even paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries and other life-changing medical situations. A processor in the brain will decode the complex signals formed within the brain and digitise them so they can be processed and acted upon. The end result should allow the person with the implant to control the bodys muscle functions once again (stock image) Dr Scott Ransom, the CSNE's director of industry relations and Innovation, said: 'We are very excited to be collaborating with a company like ARM. 'ARM's strong expertise in power-efficient microprocessors compliments the CSNE's work in computational neuroscience and brain-computer interfacing. 'We expect the partnership to lead to advances in not only medical technology but other applications as well, such as consumer electronics.' Brain-implantable chips need to be very small and highly power-efficient. ARM's Cortex-M0 processor is the company's smallest and requires the lowest levels of energy to power it. Elon Musk (pictured) recently hit the headlines with his Neuralink brain interface, which would allow users to connect directly to the internet with their minds. Another project announced this week is exploring the technology's potential for allowing paralysed people to move again It will form an integral part of the implantable chip system. The chip will take neural signals from the brain that represent movements the person wants make. These signals will then be sent to a simulator implanted in the spinal cord, which will prompt the movement in the paralysed limb or prosthetic. This is by no means the first project of its kind and implantable technology looks to become one of the next frontiers of electronic exploration. In March it was reported that Ian Burkhart, a 25 year old man from Ohio, who lost the use of his arms and legs after hitting his head, was able to use his arms again thanks to a similar chip. Last week's WannaCry ransomware attack led to worldwide cyber chaos, crippling vital computer systems such as those used by the NHS. Now victims of the hack are reporting they have received a chilling new message from the cyber criminals behind the scheme. Infected computers have received a pop-up encouraging users to send the attackers cash in exchange for their files. Scroll down for video Victims of last week's WannaCry attack are reporting they have received a chilling new message from the hackers behind the scheme. Infected computers have received a pop-up encouraging users to send the attackers cash in exchange for their files A WARNING FROM THE SHADOWBROKERS Microsoft has pinned partial blame on the NSA for the cyber attacks, which were spread using hacking tools created by the agency. The tools were leaked online by hacking group 'ShadowBrokers' last month after they accessed NSA cyberware files. This week it was revealed that the mysterious ShadowBrokers group is threatening to release more such tools next month. In a taunting online message in broken English late Tuesday, the group said it will take payments beginning in June for monthly releases of computer hacks and vulnerability exploits like the one behind the global hacking wave. Advertisement The message said: 'I have already sent decryption keys to many customers who had sent me the correct amounts of bitcoin, and I guarantee the decryptions for such honest customers. 'Send me a message with your unique bitcoin wallet address an hour before your payment. 'Then you will receive the decryption key more quickly.' Security expert Thijs Bosschert told The Sun Online that the message appeared earlier today. He said the pop-up could have been programmed to appear at a set point after the malware first infected the computer. 'But since no one else reported on this before I think the message was sent by the attackers this morning,' he said. 'It also fits the time windows op 9:00-11:00 GMT which they name in the malware,' he added. The WannaCry attack has continued to spread throughout this week, especially in Asia, though it has slowed down in the West. The extortion scheme has hit 150 countries including the US, Britain, Russia, China, Germany and France. The initial attack paralysed NHS computers, Germany's national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies Last Friday 150 countries were hit by a major cyber attack affecting computers, phones and emergency bleepers in hospitals and GP surgeries - pop-ups like the one pictured demanded a ransom of $300 (230) British IT expert Marcus Hutchins, 22, discovered a 'kill switch' for the cyber attack over the weekend. This prevented more than 100,000 computers across the globe from being infected. But despite slowing the spread of WannaCry, he fears that the ransomeware could have a 'backdoor'. Microsoft has pinned partial blame on the NSA for the cyber attacks, which were spread using hacking tools created by the agency. This graphic shows how ransomware can quickly infect an entire computer system. Last week's virus utilised powerful cyber tools developed by the US National Security Agency that were leaked online in April The tools were leaked online by hacking group 'ShadowBrokers' last month after they accessed NSA cyberware files. This week it was revealed that the mysterious ShadowBrokers group is threatening to release more such tools next month. In a taunting online message in broken English late Tuesday, the group said it will take payments beginning in June for monthly releases of computer hacks and vulnerability exploits like the one behind the global hacking wave. It also threatened to release compromised data from the international banking network and secret information on the nuclear and missile programs of Russia, China, Iran or North Korea. The WannaCry tools were leaked online by hacking group 'ShadowBrokers' last month after they accessed NSA cyberware files. This week it was revealed that the mysterious ShadowBrokers group is threatening to release more such tools next month (stock image) 'Is being like wine of month club. Each month peoples can be paying membership fee, then getting members only data dump each month. What members doing with data after is up to members,' the group wrote on the Steemit social blogging platform. ShadowBrokers first surfaced last year offering for sale a suite of hacking tools stolen from the US National Security Agency, leaking bits to demonstrate what they had in their possession. Who is behind the group is unknown, though they are believed to be based in Russia or Eastern Europe. Analysts believe the files are genuine and came from the NSA's hyper-secret hacking unit dubbed the 'Equation Group.' In the 2001 blockbuster, 'What Women Want', Mel Gibson's macho character is in an accident that allows him to hear what women are thinking. And when it comes to online dating, researchers suggest that men would be wise to follow suit and get into the mind-set of women albeit without going through an accident. A new study has found that men are more likely to be successful in online dating if they create profiles that are more like the women they hope to attract. A new study has found that men are more likely to be successful in online dating if they create profiles that are more like the women they hope to attract (stock image) ONLINE SUCCESS The researchers looked at three months' worth of anonymous data from a popular dating site, including the profiles and clickstreams of 410,000 active users from 10 metropolitan areas. Together, these users wrote 25 million messages, generated 286 million clicks on the site and rated other users' profiles 864 million times. Males accounted for 62 per cent of the messages and initiated 86 per cent of the communication. The study focused on the free-text responses to several questions designed to share insights men thought potential romantic partners would want to know about them. Results showed that successful male daters focused on their similarities with the females they were hoping to attract, while highlighting what they thought made them stand out from the competition. Advertisement Previous studies have shown the impact of photos and lists of common goals and interests, including geographic location, race, education, income, marital histories and the desire for children. But the researchers from the University of Michigan are the first to look specifically at how text in profiles crafted by men is perceived by the women they hope to attract. Mr Danaja Maldeniya, lead author of the study, said: 'Our findings suggest that when males craft their profiles, they should attempt to highlight their perceived similarities with the females they are hoping to attract, while highlighting what they think makes them stand out from the competition. 'Depending on the particular pair of users, these two factors may be at odds.' The researchers looked at three months' worth of anonymous data from a popular dating site, including the profiles and clickstreams of 410,000 active users from 10 metropolitan areas. Together, these users wrote 25 million messages, generated 286 million clicks on the site and rated other users' profiles 864 million times. Males accounted for 62 per cent of the messages and initiated 86 per cent of the communication. The study focused on the free-text responses to several questions designed to share insights men thought potential romantic partners would want to know about them. In the 2001 blockbuster, 'What Women Want', Mel Gibson's macho character is in an accident that allows him to hear what women are thinking. Researchers suggest that men would be wise to follow suit and get into the mind-set of women albeit without going through an accident Dr Daniel Romero, who also worked on the study, said: 'The results of our study offer insights that could be useful for improving the recommendations made by dating sites to their users. 'For example, at any given time, a dating site would know the set of males who are competing for the attention of a female. 'The site can then adjust recommendations so that the female is linked to a more diverse set of men who are different from her current suitors, but still similar to her, which our results suggest would lead to more successful matches.' Pirate Bay's biggest competitor ExtraTorrent has shut down permanently as part of the crackdown on illegal content sharing. The popular file-sharing site's closure was announced in a homepage message saying 'Extra Torrent has shut down permanently'. ExtraTorrent is one of several torrent sites that have been forced to close recently and authorities might soon be heading for the biggest of them all, The Pirate Bay, which host millions of links to files for download. Scroll down for video ExtraTorrent is one of several torrent sites that have been forced to close recently and authorities might soon be heading for the biggest of them all, The Pirate Bay, which host millions of links to files for download (stock image) WHAT IS THE PIRATE BAY AND WHAT ARE TORRENTS? ExtraTorrent is a website that hosts millions of links to files that are free to download. Some of these files are legal but others are illegal copies of TV shows, films, music albums, computer programmes such as Photoshop, and more. These files are known as Torrents and are transferred through peer-to-peer software in which one user hosts the file and another 'leeches' it directly from their network. Torrents allow users to efficiently trade files between one another using websites like The Pirate Bay as directories to find the files they want. Advertisement 'ExtraTorrent with all mirrors goes offline.. We permanently erase all data', the website says in its message. Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones. Thx to all ET supporters and torrent community. ET was a place to be.' 'It's time we say goodbye', operator 'SaM' told TorrentFreak, who first reported the closure. The site was founded in November 2006 and was the second largest trailing site behind The Pirate Bay. This news comes after the recent closure of other file-sharing sites, Kickass Torrents and Torrentz.eu. Sky and Virgin Media are facing anger from copyright owners about legally and illegally obtained copyright material being downloaded on such file-sharing sites. There is no evidence that this pressure caused ExtraTorrent to shut down but both companies are involved in the government's Get It Right campaign. In February the companies issued warnings to customers to stop downloading TV, music and films. 'Copyright owners are monitoring peer-to-peer (file-sharing) networks to identify instances where their content is uploaded and shared without permission,' the campaign states. 'ExtraTorrent with all mirrors goes offline.. We permanently erase all data', the website says in its message. 'Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones. Thx to all ET supporters and torrent community. ET was a place to be.' 'They will note the Internet Protocol (IP) address and then contact the appropriate ISP including BT, NowTV, PlusNet, Sky, Talk-Talk and Virgin Media. 'The account holder may then receive an Educational Email from their ISP referencing one or more instances of peer-to-peer uploading and file sharing activities that have been confirmed to breach copyright.' TalkTalk and BT are also signed up to the government campaign. As the space race heats up, Elon Musk's SpaceX remains confident about its plans to send tourists into space by 2018. But not everyone is convinced by Musk's timeline. The head of Russia's most prominent spaceflight firm, RSC Energia, has questioned whether SpaceX even has a spacecraft ready for such a mission, adding that it 'would be difficult to carry out such a mission in 2018, and even in 2020.' Scroll down for video Vladimir Solntsev (pictured left), the head of Russia's most prominent spaceflight firm, RSC Energia, has questioned whether SpaceX, (CEO, Elon Musk pictured right) even has a spacecraft ready for such a mission, adding that it 'would be difficult to carry out such a mission in 2018, and even in 2020' THE SOYUZ ROCKET The Soyuz is a Russian spacecraft that carries people and supplies to and from the space station. It can also bring people back to Earth. Each Soyuz rocket has room for three people to ride in it. At least one Soyuz is always attached to the space station. If there were an emergency on the space station, the crew could use the Soyuz to leave the space station and return to Earth. Source: Nasa Advertisement Vladimir Solntsev, general director of RSC Energia made the comments while speaking with the Russian news agency TASS. Mr Solntsev said: 'As for the state of affairs specifically at Elon Musk's company, it would be difficult to carry out such a mission in 2018, and even in 2020. 'Nobody has yet even seen the designs. There's no launch vehicle, no spacecraft. 'The Crew Dragon spacecraft designed for missions to the ISS and Falcon 9 launch vehicle are a far cry from a spacecraft and a rocket that are needed for a mission towards the moon.' In February, SpaceX announced its plans to launch a crewed mission beyond the moon for two private paying customers in 2018. If successful, the mission will be the first time in 45 years humans have been in deep space, said the company, promising its mission will go 'faster and further' than any humans before them. RSC Energia has been working on a similar mission that would use a modified Soyuz spacecraft, although the timeline has been changed several times. Despite this, Mr Solntsev believes that his firm has an advantage over SpaceX. RSC Energia has been working on a mission that would use a modified Soyuz spacecraft, although the timeline has been changed several times He said: 'I think that they [potential customers] still trust us more. 'We have 141 manned launches under our belt. 'Competition is useful; it provides a good motivation to improve a project for the benefit of the customers.' Mr Solntsev said: 'The Crew Dragon spacecraft designed for missions to the ISS and Falcon 9 launch vehicle [pictured] are a far cry from a spacecraft and a rocket that are needed for a mission towards the moon' Nasa has already bought two seats on board a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station in 2019, and Mr Solntsev says he think they may buy another three. He added: 'We are now in talks with potential clients, and we believe that even in the unlikely case of Nasa not taking up the option, we will be able to find those who wish to fly to the ISS in 2019.' THE HISTORIC SPACEX MOON MISSION Musk says the mission will 'skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space' and then return to Earth. However, he has refused to reveal who the two paying tourists are SpaceX will launch the private mission on a journey to circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth. Lift-off will be from Kennedy Space Center's historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral the same launch pad used by the Apollo program for its lunar missions. The mission will use one of SpaceX's Dragon capsules, which will be modified to allow communications in deep space. The Dragon will be capable of operating autonomously throughout the whole flight, but the passengers will be trained in emergency procedures. The mission would 'do a long loop around the moon' and would take about a week. Musk says it will 'skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space' and then return to Earth. The total flight would go about 300,000 to 400,000 miles into space. The system is a complex network of machinery, pipes, tanks and sensors that work together to provide astronauts with air and other essentials. SpaceX built a test version of its Crew Dragon (pictured) solely for evaluation of the life support system The mission will use one of SpaceX's Dragon capsules, which will be modified to allow communications in deep space. Musk said it would be roughly the cost of a crewed mission to the International Space Station, and that other flight crews have already expressed interest in later flights. 'This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them,' SpaceX said. Engineers evaluate the ECLSS system designed for Crew Dragon missions The mission would 'do a long loop around the moon' and would take about a week. 'It would skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space' and then return to Earth, Musk said. 'There is some risk here,' he said, adding the hopeful passengers are not 'naive' about the dangers. Advertisement Russia intends to fly four Soyuz spacecrafts each year, in the hope of reviving the programme to fly tourists to the ISS. Mr Solntsev said: 'In 2018, we are planning to try flying without the flight engineer on board, and from 2019, we are planning to make it the standard operational practice. 'There will be one commander on board to provide spacecraft control, and two spaceflight participants.' The saying goes that opposites attract, but according to a new study, that may not be the case. Far from looking for something new, research suggests that we're attracted to people who look like those we spend time with, such as family and close friends. The findings show that facial characteristics common to each person's population are considered the most attractive. Scroll down for video Two of the female individuals from El Salvador. One is from the rural area (left) and one is from the urban area (right). In rural areas women's faces were rated as being heavier-looking and both men and women in those areas were more attracted to that look WHAT DID THEY DO? The research looked at people from rural areas in Malaysia and El Salvador. Researchers asked male and female subjects in different areas which men and women they found most attractive from digitally-manipulated face pairs. 'Our results showed that participants from rural areas preferred heavier-looking female faces than participants from urban areas', researchers said in the paper. 'We also found that the female faces from the rural areas were rated as looking heavier than the female faces from the urban areas'. Researchers believe this could mean that watching specific shows could lead us to prefer people who look like specific actors, or whether high exposure to politicians' faces could influence our preferences for a mate. Advertisement Researchers asked 260 male and female subjects in different areas which men and women they found most attractive from digitally-manipulated face pairs. 'In a world where it is said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", it might actually be that "beauty is in the faces of those we behold", since we grow to like those around us', said Dr Carlota Batres from the University of St Andrews, who led the research. The study, which looked at people from areas in Malaysia and El Salvador, showed that facial characteristics common to each person's population were considered the most attractive. 'Our results showed that participants from rural areas preferred heavier-looking female faces than participants from urban areas', researchers said in the paper which is published in Human Nature. 'We also found that the female faces from the rural areas were rated as looking heavier than the female faces from the urban areas.' The saying goes that opposites attract, but according to the new study, that may not be the case. Model Gisele Bundchen looks remarkably similar to her husband, footballer Tom Brady These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that familiarity contributes to face preferences given that people in these urban and rural areas chose faces they were most familiar with. Researchers believe this could mean that watching specific shows could lead us to prefer people who look like specific actors. Similarly, high exposure to politicians' faces could influence our preferences for a mate. Actor Denzel Washington, bears a strong resemblance to his wife, Pauletta Washington, suggesting we may be attracted to people who look like us This research follows a study that recently suggested women are most attracted to men who look like their brothers. The study found there was 'clear evidence' for similarities between the faces of women's brothers and their partners. Although the idea of having a relationship with someone who looks like your sibling might be disturbing, partnering up with someone who looks like them could be a genetic advantage. Singer Leann Rimes married her husband Eddie Cibrian in 2011. They may have been drawn to each other due to their very similar facial characteristics Researchers from Northumbria University asked volunteers to rank the facial similarities between the brothers and boyfriends of a random selection of women. 'We asked 32 women to pass on details of the study to their brother and male partner, who in turn supplied photographs of themselves', Dr Tamsin Saxton from Northumbria University told MailOnline. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow's ex-husband singer Chris Martin of Coldplay (middle) bears a strange resemblance to her brother, Jake Paltrow (right). Research shows although the idea of having a relationship with a sibling might be repulsive partnering up with someone who looks like them could be a genetic advantage WHAT DID THEY DO? Researchers from Northumbria University ranked the facial similarities between the brothers and boyfriends of a selection of women. Volunteers were asked to say which of the four other men resembled the brother the most. People chose the picture of the partner as the one that was most similar to the brother 27 per cent of the time. The results showed there was 'clear evidence for perceptual similarity in facial photographs of a woman's partner and her brother'. Advertisement The 32 brothers were aged 1840 and the 32 partners were aged 2037. 'In addition, 48 photographs (24 brothers, 24 partners) were located online by a researcher who had been instructed to find relatively recent facial photographs of brothers and partners of public figures or celebrities', she said. Participants were given a piece of paper with a picture of the brother of a women and four other men - one of whom was her partner. They were then were asked to say which of the four other men resembled the brother the most. The results showed there was 'clear evidence for perceptual similarity in facial photographs of a woman's partner and her brother'. Australian actress Margot Robbie's partner Tom Ackerley (middle) looks similar to her brother Cameron Robbie (right). It has long been speculated that women tend to choose partners who look like their fathers but new research suggests women are more attracted to men who look like their brothers Model Gigi Hadid's boyfriend Zayn Malik looks like her younger model brother Anwar Hadid (right). Researcher's results showed there was 'clear evidence for perceptual similarity in facial photographs of a woman's partner and her brother' Actress Jessica Alba's partner film producer Cash Warren looks like her brother and actor Joshua Alba. People chose the picture of the partner as the one that was most similar to the brother 27 per cent of the time, which is only slightly above random chance 'Although siblings themselves are sexually aversive, sibling resemblance is not', researchers wrote in the paper which is published in Evolution and Human Behaviour. 'Faces that subtly resemble family members could present useful cues to a potential reproductive partner with an optimal level of genetic dissimilarity', they said. People chose the picture of the partner as the one that was most similar to the brother 27 per cent of the time, which is only slightly above random chance. Actress Blake Lively's partner Ryan Reynolds (middle) looks like her brother and fellow actor Eric Lively (right). 'Although siblings themselves are sexually aversive, sibling resemblance is not', researchers wrote in the paper which is published in Evolution and Human Behaviour In a recent interview with Seth Meyers, Allison William (left) said that reporters confused her brother Doug, right, for her husband, Ricky Van Veen (centre), when she took him as her date to the Girls premiere earlier this year Dr Saxton believes it is because people find the familiar attractive. For example people choose partners who have similar interests, tastes and views - so in a similar way individuals choose someone who looks like them too. She decided to look into this after looking at previous research which showed people chose partners who resemble their parents so thought a similar logic could be applied to siblings. Since mid-April, small earthquakes have been cropping up deep beneath Mount St Helens at relatively high rates, bringing roughly one tremor every few hours. In the last 30 days, scientists have located 55 seismic events in the vicinity, and say there may be well over 100 earthquakes linked to the swarm so far. The activity falls in line with magma recharge thought to be underway since 2008. But, dont start panicking just yet for now, scientists say theres no sign of imminent eruptive activity. Scroll down for video Washingtons notorious volcano is best known for its cataclysmic 1980 eruption, which brought devastation and destruction that stretched on for miles, and visible ash fall nearly 1,000 miles away. Scientists say it's recharging - but there's no sign yet of imminent eruption THE NEW SWARM Scientists first began detecting small earthquakes beneath Mount St Helens on April 21. But, they estimate the uptick started as early as April 16, and was definitely underway by the 18th. The largest so far was a magnitude 1.3, and most have occurred between sea level and 3 mi (5 km) below sea level (approximately 2-7 km below the surface), according to USGS. The activity mirrors swarms that occurred this past November and almost exactly a year ago in March-May, which brought low-magnitude earthquakes at a rate of about 1-2 quakes per hour. Advertisement Scientists with the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) first detected the earthquakes on April 21, according to the USGS. Deep snow this past winter left the monitoring sites buried, and knocked out telemetry and power. But, once everything had been restored to nearly full capacity, the network immediately began picking up signs of small earthquakes at a rate of one quake every few hours. The scientists have found good evidence to suggest this swarm began as early as April 16, and was definitely underway by the 18th. The largest so far was a magnitude 1.3, and most have occurred between sea level and 3 mi (5 km) below sea level (approximately 2-7 km below the surface), according to USGS. So far, though, scientists have not detected any deformation or gas signals. In the last 30 days, scientists have located 55 seismic events in the vicinity, and say there may be well over 100 earthquakes linked to the swarm so far (shown above). The activity falls in line with magma recharge thought to be underway since 2008 Washingtons notorious volcano is best known for its cataclysmic 1980 eruption, which brought devastation and destruction that stretched on for miles, and visible ash fall nearly 1,000 miles away. The event has come to be known as one of the 'deadliest eruptions in US history'. It reawakened in 2004, spewing steam and ash up to 10,000 feet into the air. This activity continued until January 2008, and five months later, scientists concluded Mount St. Helens had gone to sleep. THE 'CATACLYSMIC' ERUPTION OF MOUNT ST HELENS, 1980 On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington erupted. The cataclysmic event killed 57 people and blasted more than 1,300 feet off the top of the mountain. The eruption was trigged by a magnitude 5+ earthquake, which was accompanied by a debris avalanche. This abruptly removed the pressure at the top of the volcano, allowing hot water to quickly become steam, expanding explosively, according to USGS. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington erupted. The cataclysmic event killed 57 people and blasted more than 1,300 feet off the top of the mountain. The aftermath can be seen above A wave of decreasing pressure travelled down the volcano to the magma reservoir lying below. The magma then began to rise and bubble, creating a massive eruption which lasted for nine hours. The debris avalanche travelled westward as far as 14 miles down the North Fork Toutle River valley, with a total volume equal to 1 million Olympic swimming pools. And, the lateral blast devastated the surrounding area nearly 19 miles west to east, and 12.5 miles to the north. The eruption was trigged by a magnitude 5+ earthquake, which was accompanied by a debris avalanche. Scenes from the aftermath are pictured In less than 15 minutes after the blast of hot material began, an eruption cloud had reached a height of more than 15 miles. Roughly 520 million tons of ash were blown across the United States, causing complete darkness in Spokane, Washington 250 miles away from the volcano. The cloud circled the Earth in 15 days. Advertisement The earthquakes detected this year at Mount St Helens are thought to be tied to the recharge in the magmatic system, which was first detected in 2008. And, the activity mirrors swarms that occurred this past November and almost exactly a year ago in March-May, which brought low-magnitude earthquakes at a rate of about 1-2 quakes per hour. Still, the researchers say the current activity does not indicate that the volcano is readying for another deadly eruption anytime soon. Mount St. Helens is located in Skamania County, Washington. Roughly 520 million tons of ash were blown across the United States when it erupted in 1980, causing complete darkness in Spokane, Washington 250 miles away from the volcano There are several reasons why it is very unlikely that this swarm is a precursor to imminent eruptive activity at Mount St. Helens it is similar to the ones in the past that did not lead to surface activity, the USGS explains. It consists of very small earthquakes occurring at relatively low rates; there are no other geophysical indicators (deformation, tilt, gas) of unrest. Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing twice as fast as the rest of the world, while the Antarctic is warming at a much slower rate. A researcher has revealed that the Antarctic's land height could be a 'game changer' when it comes to explaining this. With an average elevation of about 2,500 meters, Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth - by contrast, the Arctic has an average surface height of one meter. One of the reasons why the Arctic is warming faster is because of its melting sea ice. This reduces the icy, white surface area that can reflect sunlight back into space, causing more solar radiation to be absorbed by the dark colored Arctic waters WHAT THE MODEL REVEALED Dr Marc Salzmann, a researcher at the Institute for Meteorology, University of Leipzig in Germany, used a climate model of Earth to see how it would react to double the atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration present today. He also conducted this same computer model experiment in a hypothetical world where Antarctica's land height was reduced to a similar level to the Arctic. Antarctica's average elevation of 2,500 meters is mostly due to a thick layer of ice covering the bedrock. The continent also has high mountains, such as Mount Vinson, which rises almost 4,900 meters above sea level. So in his model, Dr Salzmann artificially decreased Antarctica's land height to one meter - similar to the surface height in the Arctic. His model revealed that if Antarctica's land height is reduced, temperatures respond more strongly to a rise in greenhouse gases over the continent, contributing to an increase in Antarctic warming. Advertisement Past climate studies have shown that as the Earth warms due an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, temperatures rise faster at both poles than other parts of the world - a phenomenon called polar amplification. However, this effect isn't the same at both poles. 'On average, warming for the entire Antarctic continent has been much slower than Arctic warming so far,' says Dr Marc Salzmann, a researcher at the Institute for Meteorology, University of Leipzig in Germany and the lead author of the study. 'Moreover, climate models suggest that, by the end of this century, Antarctica will have warmed less compared to the Arctic.' One of the reasons why the Arctic is warming faster is because of its melting sea ice. This reduces the icy, white surface area that can reflect sunlight back into space, causing more solar radiation to be absorbed by the dark colored Arctic waters. While researchers believe that this is a significant contributor to increasing temperatures in the Arctic, it isn't the only one. Another factor is changes to the transport of heat by Earth's atmosphere and oceans to the poles, which have been suggested as a contributor to the significant rise in Arctic temperatures. In addition, cold temperatures and the way air is mixed close to the surface at the poles mean that the surface has to warm more to radiate additional heat back to space. These effects may not only lead to stronger warming at the north pole, but also at the south pole. 'I wondered why some of the reasons to explain Arctic warming have not yet caused strongly amplified warming in all of Antarctica as well,' said Dr Salzmann. 'I thought that land height could be a game changer that might help explain why the Arctic has thus far warmed faster than Antarctica,' he says. So to answer this question, Dr Salzmann used a climate model of Earth to see how it would react to double the atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration present today. He also conducted this same computer model experiment in a hypothetical world where Antarctica's land height was reduced to a similar level to the Arctic. Antarctica's average elevation of 2,500 meters is mostly due to a thick layer of ice covering the bedrock. The continent also has high mountains, such as Mount Vinson, which rises almost 4,900 meters above sea level. Antarctica's average elevation of 2,500 meters is mostly due to a thick layer of ice covering the bedrock. The continent also has high mountains, such as Mount Vinson, which rises almost 4,900 meters above sea level So in his model, Dr Salzmann artificially decreased Antarctica's land height to one meter - similar to the surface height in the Arctic. His model revealed that if Antarctica's land height is reduced, temperatures respond more strongly to a rise in greenhouse gases over the continent, contributing to an increase in Antarctic warming. This would reduce the difference in polar amplification between the Arctic and the Antarctic. The most significant factor was a change in the way heat is transported in the atmosphere from the equator to the poles in a scenarios where Antarctica is flat. Dr Marc Salzmann, a researcher at the Institute for Meteorology, University of Leipzig in Germany, used a computer model which revealed that if Antarctica's land height is reduced, temperatures respond more strongly to a rise in greenhouse gases over the continent, contributing to an increase in Antarctic warming 'Assuming a flat Antarctica allows for more transport of warm air from lower latitudes,' Dr Salzmann says. 'This is consistent with the existing view that when the altitude of the ice is lowered, it becomes more prone to melting.' He says that in the long term, this could accelerate Antarctic warming in the real world. As the Antarctic arms due to increased greenhouse-gas emissions, ice melts, reducing the continent's elevation over hundreds or thousands of years. And this would contribute to even more warming. Electrons are swarming all throughout Earths magnetosphere, each spiralling through a complex dance. But, how they move all depends on the strength of the magnetic field. In a new study, researchers uncovered the pattern of electrons in an intermediate field for the first time, revealing how they meander in a hybrid dance of spirals and bounces. Scroll down for video Electrons are swarming all throughout Earths magnetosphere, each spiralling through a complex dance. In a new study, researchers uncovered the pattern of electrons in an intermediate field for the first time, revealing how they meander in a hybrid dance HOW MMS WORKS MMS is made up of four spacecraft, which fly in a pyramid formation, according to NASA. This allows it to see fields and particles in three dimensions. The array measures the electric and magnetic fields as it flies around Earth. It also counts electrons and ions to measure energy and direction of motion, and can study small-scale particle dynamics. Advertisement Its known that electrons in a strong magnetic field spin about in tight spirals along the magnetic field, according to NASA. On the other hand, electrons in weaker regions go freestyle, and wag in back-and-forth pattern called Speiser motion. The researchers with NASAs Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission investigated what happens in between when electrons move through an intermediate strength field. MMS observed interactions of electrons in a moderate strength magnetic field, in which the currents run in the same direction as the magnetic field. These are known as intermediate guide fields. This revealed that, as the particles encountered the current sheet, they began moving in a series of large spirals along the guide field. Over time, these electrons gained energy, and eventually escaped in high-speed jets. This also took some of the energy from the field, causing it to weaken. MMS is showing us the fascinating reality of magnetic reconnection happening out there, said Li-Jen Chen, lead author of the study and MMS scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. According to the researchers, the magnetic field environment was created by a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection. As the particles encountered the current sheet, they began moving in a series of large spirals along the guide field. Over time, these electrons gained energy, and eventually escaped in high-speed jets This causes the current sheet, where the current travels, to be tightly confined by bunched-up magnetic fields, according to NASA. The new insight can help scientists to predict the intensity of energy releases, which cause shock waves and cosmic rays. Magnetic reconnection is also responsible for solar flares on the sun, the space agency explains. The time resolution of MMS is one hundred times faster than previous missions, said Tom Moore, senior project scientist for MMS at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. That means we can finally see whats going on in such narrow layers and will be able to better predict how fast reconnection occurs in various circumstances. Manatees have no front teeth but being grabbed by a 600lb example of the species in 10ft of water certainly felt, briefly, like something out of Jaws. In reality, the inquisitive mammals flipper-hug was just its way of figuring out what we were. Wearing wetsuits and snorkels, we must have looked like outlandish creatures to the manatees, and there was no doubt this gentle sea-cow wanted to check us out. The encounter came at the end of our two-hour tour and we had been instructed on manatee etiquette, so we knew the proper reaction, which was to do nothing. Passive observation was the phrase of the day, and we knew we were not allowed to initiate contact with these endangered animals. A swimmer gets a 'kiss' from the rare sea creature in Florida, the only place in America where it is legal to swim with them If they decided to give us the once-over, a one-handed belly rub was permissible, but no more. With barely 5,000 of them left in this part of the world, they have right of way, and anything that even hints at threatening their way of life is forbidden here. The here in question was Crystal River, Florida, the epicentre of activity for this species. Manatee Central, if you like. Through the winter thanks to constant warmth from underwater springs there are more manatees here than anywhere else on Earth, and this is the only place in America where it is legal to swim with them. We had dropped anchor at the Plantation resort, an example of old-world Floridian charm, and had already seen signs of these slow-moving leviathans from the patio outside our room, which overlooked a man-made tributary of the river. Any closer and theyd have needed a room key. An early-morning tour into the bay promised the full manatee experience, though, and we werent disappointed. Indeed, our guide insisted it was rare to get such consistent activity, with almost two dozen animals putting in an appearance, including one that viciously gummed our anchor rope and another that shooed it away in a fit of what looked like teenage rebellion. Back at our dive centre, we were able to see a video highlights package of our experience courtesy of our guide and her GoPro camera. Crystal River, the epicentre of activity for this species Our next stop was Three Sisters Springs Wildlife Refuge, which became famous in 2016 after a video of 300 manatees packed into its one-acre expanse went viral. The huge gathering of mammalian group-huggery had been sparked by a drop in sea temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, and, with the Springs staying at a constant 22.2C, the manatees, in urgent need of warmth, had headed there. Manatees suffer from cold stress when the water drops to 20C, and they suffer hypothermia below 18C. If they cant find warmer waters, they die, hence the attraction of the Springs, which feeds into Kings Bay. Once the Gulf warms up, the majority head out to sea, but 100 or so stay in the area year-round, so manatee tours are always available. During our late-March visit most of the Three Sisters residents had already departed, but we did see a group of six four adults and two calves calmly moving around behind the orange buoys that mark several off-limits areas to swimmers in manatee season (mid-November to March 31). We finished our day at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, where alligators, Florida panthers, fey deer, red wolves, black bears, bobcats and a huge array of birdlife were on display. Back at the Plantation, we toasted our animal encounters with excellent local craft beers and wondered if, somewhere, a manatee was telling its friends: Youll never believe what I ran into in the bay today... Alberto Giacometti was a mountain goat. As a boy he disappeared into the meadows above the village of Stampa in Bregaglia near the Swiss-Italian border. When the sun was high he daydreamed in a cave in the hillside. A farmer tried to employ him in the fields but the future painter and sculptor just gazed at the sky. Delightful: Soglio is almost as perfect a Swiss village as you can imagine, endlessly tranquil No wonder when the air is so clear, the sky so improbably blue, the peaks white with snow as late as May. Arrive in Stampa and you straight away want to be sketching, taking photographs, lacing your walking boots. And with a major new retrospective of the artist at Tate Modern in London, there's no better time to follow in his footsteps. A city on the water: The underrated city of Zurich is also a place to trace the Giacometti tale As a young man, holidaying with his family by the lake at nearby Maloja, Giacometti went hiking with his brother Diego up mountain passes and across glaciers. Both wore three-piece tweed suits. Like any goat, Alberto was stubborn, determined. While making his name as an artist in Geneva, Paris and New York, he worked with ferocious concentration, smoking all the time. One patron said that sitting for a portrait by him was like having your skin pulled back from its skull, such was the intensity of his focus. He stretched the human body to its limit with thin, tense figures reduced to the sparest skeletons. They are haunting presences in the galleries of Zurich's Kunsthaus gallery the place to start for Giacometti pilgrims, with its survey of the artist's life and work. Here you see his early portrait heads, inspired by Picasso's Chestnut held every try a tipple beer or follow a chestnut Cubism; his gaunt sculpture The Walking Man (1947); and a pensive sketch of his mother Annetta (1951). Giacometti once presented her with three versions of a painted vase of flowers, some coloured, some monochrome. She picked the grey one, because she said: 'What do you know about colour?' The Marktgasse Hotel is minutes from the Grossmunster cathedral with its stained glass windows by Sigmar Polke and Augusto Giacometti, Alberto's cousin. There are more Augusto windows in the Fraumunster church over the Munsterbrucke bridge and a dreamy, visionary rose window by Chagall. Do not expect to come home Festival, which is October, you can of chestnut schnapps. and gourmet trail slender as a Giacometti bronze. The shops in Zurich sell either Chanel or chocolate. Teuscher is the prettiest, with pralines in brightly coloured foils. H. Schwarzenbach is the most venerable, more like an apothecary than a sweetshop. Coffees and hot chocolates at Cafe Schober will set you up for sightseeing. Bregaglia, three hours by train, is chestnut country. At Longhin in Maloja they serve chestnutflour pasta with local mushrooms, then hot chestnuts with crema di marroni, and glasses of chestnut schnapps. On the hairpin bends between Maloja, Borgonovo, where Alberto was born in 1901 and buried in 1966, and Stampa where the studio he inherited from his painter father Giovanni has been impeccably restored, you see the slatted huts for the chestnut harvest. Like father: Alberto was the son of painter Giovanni Giacometti, and always had an artistic gift The Stampa studio (ciaesagranda.ch) brings Giacometti to life: his boyhood graffiti on the walls, his doodles on the backs of doors, the match burns on the floor below his easel. Stay in nearby Soglio, high above the hairpins, with not a sound to wake you in the night except the occasional goat bell. Dr Marco Giacometti of the Centro Giacometti is a spellbinding guide to these villages. (Tours: fondazione@ centrogiacometti.ch). Shards of splendour: Alberto Giacometti is the subject of a Tate Modern show until September He is a cousin to the Giovanni-Alberto-Diego branch of the family and has the lean, rangy body of one of Alberto's plaster casts. The likeness is uncanny. 'I have a mission,' he says as he walks us through meadows to Giacometti's daydreaming cave. He wants to make others fall in love with the mountains that inspired and drew the artist back from childhood until his death at 65. Even in hospital he was still calling for 'plastilina' his modelling clay. Advertisement The Worlds Most Beautiful Island', 'Best Honeymoon Destination, 'Bucket List Sunsets' if youre researching Greece and the Cyclades you probably already know that the idyllic, crescent-shaped Santorini is famous for being one of the most romantic places on the planet. Heart-stopping sunset views, clusters of postcard-pretty blue and white buildings, charming little seafood joints and miles of curled Vinsanto vineyards make this Aegean jewel a favourite of just marrieds as well as seasoned jet-setters looking to fan some flames. And the recently revamped Santorini Grace, a boutique hotel carved out of the Imerovigli cliff face and cascading down towards the volcanic caldera (crater), intends to take the Greek island experience to a whole new level of spectacular with its exclusive new design, ultra-private location and a bespoke VIP menu designed to cater for the most glamorous guests. The recently revamped Santorini Grace intends to take the Greek island experience to a whole new level of spectacular with its exclusive new design, ultra-private location and a bespoke VIP menu designed to cater for the most glamorous guests Breath-taking: A view out to the submerged caldera from a deluxe room with plunge pool All rooms feature views of the dramatic caldera and a terrace on which you can choose to take a private (Champagne) breakfast as well as oversized rain showers, heritage Hellenic design pieces and a 'maxi bar as standard Tucked away from the crowds of nearby Thira, the 21-bedroom hotel now boasts the islands largest infinity pool, a fizzy new Champagne lounge, a whizzy yoga and pilates studio and even a private villa with its own hammam, all with views over the azure-blue Aegean. I spend three nights hanging out with the honeymooners 300 metres above sea level, and discover that its really rather fabulous being romanced like a VIP - even if it is just for the weekend. When I arrive the guy behind the bar already knows my name, something thats usually a cause for concern (or at least an apology), but Ilias is a concierge at the Santorini Grace, where I now know they pride themselves on knowing every guest intimately, often before they even arrive, and so I was soon able to stop worrying about previous trips to Greece and start lapping up Iliass expert drink recommendations and the stellar Grace service. My holiday romance with the Grace started before Id even set foot on the stunning island of Santorini, as I filled in a Bespoke Experiences form back in my London office. With just a few ticks I had unwittingly created my dream mini break (excluding a partner) with everything from the booze in my bar (Hendricks and Grey Goose) to the smell in my bedroom (Fig and Cut Grass) and the pillows on my bed (Lavender and Goose Down) customized in advance to ensure that my stay would be as fun, fragrant and fluffy as possible. Tucked away from the crowds of nearby Thira, the 21-bedroom hotel now boasts the islands largest infinity pool And while most high-end hotels will turn a blind eye to guests pilfering the products, I was delighted to find out that at the Grace its expected - encouraged even! - because an organic toiletries selection is also curated especially for each guest ahead of arrival. The personalized service continues beyond the bedroom: by the second day of my stay the breakfast waiters remembered that I was that annoying person who likes soy milk in her cappuccino, and my go-to daytime drink of sparkling water and fresh lime appeared magically wherever I went around the pool and terrace. That evening another delicate and delicious Grace Rose cocktail (recommended by Ilias, designed by cocktail don Salvatore Calabrese) was produced with a flourish at sunset. Santorini was dramatically reshaped in the 16th century by a huge volcanic eruption - what's left is hypnotic The idyllic, crescent-shaped Santorini is famous for being one of the most romantic places on the planet Back in the bedroom romantic touches like monogrammed towels and robes, chocolate-dipped strawberries and an adorable turndown service had me hankering after a future stay with my husband. But in the name of investigative travel journalism I managed to soldier through my solo five-star weekend by sleeping like a star fish on the king-sized bed, using both marble sinks in the double vanity unit (one for teeth, one for face), watching Real Housewives guilt-free from my private terrace hot tub, flirting with the bar staff and generally enjoying only having to pick up my own pants from the floor. Sleep Domed roofs, minimalist whitewashed walls, walnut wardrobes, marble accessories and splashes of aqua the hotel has nailed exclusive Santorini style with its refurbishment (your Instagram account will never have looked better). All rooms feature views of the dramatic caldera and a terrace on which you can choose to take a private (Champagne) breakfast as well as oversized rain showers, heritage Hellenic design pieces and a 'maxi bar as standard. Most also feature indoor AND outdoor private plunge pools and canopied daybeds, and some have their own steam rooms. Double zero thread counts and a 'Pillow Menu featuring seven different styles (who knew there were so many ways to rest your head?!) will ensure a good nights sleep. And the aforementioned turndown service including, variously, chamomile tea, mini midnight feasts, inspiring romantic quotes and - equally inspiring - the next days breakfast menu, was a total treat at the end of a long day sunbathing and volcano-gazing. Eat Chef Spiros Agious delivers contemporary dishes inspired by the flavours of the Cycladic islands and Greek villages This is a plate of pan-seared fish fillet, served with naxos potatoes, rustled up in the hotel's restaurant To be honest the kitchen here doesnt need to try very hard; the incredible views from the open-air restaurant are enough to keep guests coming back for more regardless of the calibre of cuisine. But instead of coasting on its knock-out location the Grace has worked hard to complement the jaw-dropping vista with interesting food and drink menus that have become known as the best on the island. Breakfast is a Champagne-laced, a-la-carte affair thats served until 11.30 when the restaurant rolls into a light lunch menu. And Lunch, served until a very European, very civilized 7pm is a tasty opportunity to beat the heat and people watch from one of the peaceful enclaves dotted around the pool terrace. But its dinner time when the magic really starts. First out at sea as the sun sets and the sky explodes into swirls of pastel corals and blues, and then inside the Santoro kitchen as local wonder chef Spiros Agious whirls into action, delivering contemporary dishes inspired by the flavours of the Cycladic islands and Greek villages - sweet shrimp ceviche with watermelon and feta cheese and red octopus and golden polenta paired with the islands famous assyrtiko wine - and served up on slates, shells, stones and even sometimes on regular old plates. Play Domed roofs, minimalist whitewashed walls, walnut wardrobes, marble accessories and splashes of aqua the hotel has nailed exclusive Santorini style with its refurbishment. Pictured is the hotel's stylish Champagne lounge Once guests have settled in to the Grace they find it very hard to leave. Most people I met looked genuinely baffled when I asked them where else they had visited on the island (and indeed, why go anywhere else when some of the best views, food and service are right outside your door and there are LOTS of steep stairs and hills to contend with when venturing out?), but those keen to explore the locale can do so in signature Grace style with one of the hotels five-star tours and adventures around the island. I loved cruising around the caldera on a sleek catamaran. And our day spent touring the towns of Oia and Thira with local guide Evgenia was a total delight as she steered us away from the crowds (which are the one downside to a trip to Santorini) to some breathtaking picture opps, charming boutiques and finally a secret seafood spot where we feasted smugly on fresh lobster and squid, far away from the cruise ship crowds in the main town. Away from the hotel Id recommend a romantic dinner at Selene (request a table on the terrace) and then a nightcap in one of Thiras fun cliff-side bars (tip: wear flats). Detox The dedicated new yoga and pilates reformer studio is a great place to break out your designer leggings, writes Toni Theres a brand new boutique gym at the hotel (boutique being a fancy word for tiny in this instance, but it doesnt matter because most guests are too busy sunbaking to worry about TRX machines). And the dedicated new yoga and pilates reformer studio is a great place to break out your designer leggings as you hone your stretching skills at one of the daily classes or with a one-on-one PT session. But I really loved the In-Room Fitness Kit (another genius option on the Bespoke menu) which includes yoga mats, a gym ball, fitness bands, skipping ropes, hand weights and pilates gear to help you keep trim on the privacy of your own terrace. Retox Described as an 'in-room bar cupboard the mini bar at Santorini Grace is actually a customizable (of course) maxi bar featuring full-sized bottles of your favourite spirits as well as everything you need to mix the perfect pre-dinner drink (muddlers, shakers, strainers) and the perfect crystal glasses to serve it up. Even the bar snacks are stylish, with overpriced kale chips and organic fruit bars replacing the usual overpriced peanuts. Away from the bedroom the new Champagne Bar may cause a little headache as you try and decide between a glass of Bollinger as you drink in the stunning view of Skaros rock from the terrace, and getting cosy with a flute of Ruinart inside the bar, where walls of black volcanic rock and cream leather chairs make for a sexy drinking den. What else There are no lounges (yet) at Santorini airport but the hotel does offer a VIP arrival and departure service for 60 euros which includes transfers as well as fast-track luggage collection and porter services. We were met on the tarmac and whisked past the crowds both ways, which has to be the best way to start and finish a VIP mini break. Toni Jones is the founder of travel and wellness blog detox-retox.co.uk . The sight of long queues forming at US airports is nothing new. In fact, thanks to the mass consumption of flight travel and its associated security risk, snaking security lines are almost the new normal. So, with 234million passengers projected to fly this summer, the Transportation Security Administration has boosted its workforce by thousands to cope with demand - and stem criticism in the process. Scroll down for video Number crunching: 2.54million are expected to travel via the US each day from June-August Efficiency: The TSA has previously come under fire for snaking lines across airports. This picture shows a monster queue at Chicago Midway last year The Department of Homeland Security agency, which ensures the safety of those using communal transport across America, has drafted-in 2,000 new officers to help process the numbers, which are estimated at nine million more than 2016. They've also added 50 canine teams, who'll help process the hordes of people passing through customs. To streamline the process further, the agency has also joined forces with airlines to install automated screening lanes in some of America's most heavily-used portals. These include Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport. 'As we approach the summer break, securing the travel of millions of passengers daily remains our top priority,' said TSA Acting Administrator Huban A. Gowadia. The TSA has installed automated screening lanes at the nation's busiest airports Last summer saw 224.8million travelers pass through US airports 'It is well known that terrorists continue to focus on aviation, which is why TSA continues to focus on providing robust security screening. TSA takes many security measures, seen and unseen, while working closely with industry partners such as airlines and airports to enhance the traveling experience and ensure every passenger arrives to their destination safely. 'TSA is tasked with a complex, critical security mission that can only be accomplished through close collaboration with stakeholders and partners. We will not compromise our security mission of protecting air travelers as we face an evolving threat by a determined enemy,' she said. Last summer saw 224.8 million travelers pass through US airports. Reese Witherspoon was seen leaving her office in Brentwood on Wednesday. The 41-year-old actress looked ready for summer as she donned a red, white and blue skirt with a floral print. The Oscar winner had a busy schedule as she was seen earlier on Ellen telling the host that she is working out details for a second season of HBO's Big Little Lies. Clocking out: Reese Witherspoon, 41, was seen leaving her office in Brentwood on Wednesday The Sweet Home Alabama star looked casual chic in a white sweater and breezy printed skirt. The blonde bombshell carried a denim coat in one hand and a brown purse in the other with a cute watermelon coin bag. She bounced around in adorable high end blue open toed heels. Her trademark tresses were left long and loose as she rocked retro shades. Patriotic: The Sweet Home Alabama star looked casual chic in a white sweater and breezy printed skirt Starlet@ The blonde bombshell carried a denim coat in one hand and a brown purse in the other with a cute watermelon coin bag Meanwhile, Reese told Ellen that she and fellow producer Nicole Kidman are in talks with the author of the Big Little Lies book regarding a possible second season to the hit HBO show which was based on the book. Reese - who also starred on the series - told Ellen as to whether there will be a second season: 'We hope so!' 'I mean Nicole and I produced it as well so we've been talking to the writer, Liane Moriarty, who wrote the book, about new ideas and what these characters can do.' Strut: Her trademark tresses were left long and loose as she rocked retro shades. The dish: Reese was seen earlier on Ellen telling the host that she is working out details for a second season of HBO's Big Little Lies 'But it seems like people just love these characters. Hopefully we can go on.' On Tuesday Nicole told Variety that she wants a second season but it must be the right story to tell. She said: 'If the storyline could be powerful and compelling. If there is a way to form these women's lives further, that's really interesting. It would be so lovely if we could do it.' They're certainly not afraid of a daring look. And Little Mix's Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock put on a typically racy display as they posed for a cheeky Instagram clip posted on Wednesday. Jesy, 25, showed off her fabulous figure in a plunging black bra top and oversized knickers as the pair re-created the Charlie's Angels' pose. Little Minx: Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock put on a racy display as they posed for a cheeky Instagram clip on Wednesday She finished off the sexy ensemble with a pair of knee-high boots, which featured an unusual graffiti motif. Wearing her fiery locks down in loose waves, Jesy opted for a glamorous make-up look, accentuating her eyes with lashings of mascara. Leigh-Anne, 25, meanwhile sizzled in a pair of tight-fitting PVC trousers, which she teamed with a matching black bralette. If looks could kill: Jesy, 25, showed off her fabulous figure in a plunging black bra top and oversized knickers as the pair re-created the Charlie's Angels' pose Sharing the clip with her 2.9million Instagram followers, Jesy captioned the clip with the words: 'She my side kick'. Jesy shared another sizzling behind-the-scenes snap with her followers last week, which showed her looking incredible in a red bodysuit and fishnet tights. She pulled her stage look together with a pair of thigh-high boots and wore her long locks down in tumbling curls. It came after it was revealed that her ex Chris Clark dumped her over the phone, because he apparently wasn't over his ex Amber Dowding. Racy: Jesy shared another racy behind-the-scenes snap with her followers last week, which showed her looking incredible in a red bodysuit and fishnet tights Chris's TOWIE co-star Myles Clark told OK! Magazine: 'People are saying he used her, but that's not true. 'He probably didn't do it as well as he could have, but he wanted to tell her as soon as possible, which meant over the phone as she was in America. 'He was buzzed, proper into [Jesy], but his first love was Amber. He thought, I'm not over Amber.' Since the split, Chris has reportedly reunited with Amber, with the couple said to be keeping their relationship status quiet to avoid a backlash. Split: It came after it was revealed that her ex Chris Clark dumped her over the phone, because he apparently wasn't over his ex Amber Dowding He made no secret of sleeping around following his divorce from wife Tamara Jaber. And on Thursday, it appeared that one of Kyle Sandilands' many one night stands had come back to haunt him when a listener phoned into the Kyle and Jackie O Show to say he had a five-year-old daughter called Sophie. 'Caroline from Paddington' only abandoned the convincing prank after Kyle said he was feeling numb and was about to have a heart attack, complaining: 'I feel that I could die at any second!' 'I would rather be dead than get this call': Kyle Sandilands is duped on air into thinking he has a lovechild The call began innocently enough with Kyle and Jackie 'O' Henderson putting Caroline on the air to take part in their pop quiz. But the segment was derailed when Caroline said she had lied to producers in order to get on radio. 'I need to talk to you Kyle, I didn't want to do this in a public forum,' she explained. 'A couple of years ago you and I had a really good night out, I've tried and tried to get in touch with you.' Couldn't keep a straight face: While not in on the prank Jackie couldn't help but see the funny side of things After convincingly describing a wild night out with Kyle in King's Cross before heading back to his Terrey Hills mansion in 2011, Caroline said she had discovered she was pregnant. 'We had an amazing night, it was fantastic,' she said. 'You are very very good lover Kyle I would have to tell you.' With Kyle uncharacteristically quiet, Caroline said she was only telling the shock jock now because his daughter Sophie was asking about her dad. Too close to the truth? Caroline convincingly described a night out with Kyle in 2011 follwoing his split from wife Tamara Jaber 'Is this a bulls**t story? I don't mean to offend you I just have to ask,' Kyle eventually managed to say, to which the caller insisted it was all true. The prank was only brought to an end when Kyle began complaining of heart attack symptoms. 'I think maybe we should chat off air and join the dots,' Kyle said. 'I've gone completely numb from my chest down, I feel that I could die at any second.' 'Is this a bulls**t story? I don't mean to offend you I just have to ask': With Kyle uncharacteristically quiet, Caroline said she was only telling the shock jock now because Sophie was asking about her dad 'Oh for god's sake seriously my arm has pins and needles in it!' Caroline only brought the prank to an end when Kyle began complaining of heart attack symptoms 'That was my worst nightmare you having a heart attack, just joking - only lying Kyle!' Caroline revealed, laughing. 'Oh for god's sake seriously my arm has pins and needles in it!' Kyle said. 'I would rather be dead than get this call.' Caroline explained that she was a longtime listener who had emailed producers with the idea to get Kyle back for pranking others - 'They couldn't even believe that they had thought of this!' 'I was going to get the call dumped!' Kyle revealed after regaining his composure. 'I'm going upstairs to have a cigarette ... I was racking my mind saying which one of the thousands of women could it be.' She is no stranger to flaunting her figure in an array of skimpy bikinis, having risen to fame on Ex On The Beach. But Jess Impiazzi managed to set pulses racing in a more formal setting on Wednesday, as she made a titillating arrival at the Guide Dogs Awards in London. The reality star, 27, was not afraid to show off her assets in a low-cut crimson dress as she cuddled up to the pooches at the bash, held at the Hurlingham Club. Scroll down for video Red hot! Jess Impiazzi managed to set pulses racing in a more formal setting on Wednesday, as she made a titillating arrival at the Guide Dogs Awards in London The brunette beauty certainly upped the sex appeal at the event in a daring red gown - which gave an ample glimpse of her cleavage with its plunging sweetheart neckline. Pulling into stylish bardot straps, the frock then cinched in at her petite waist before skimming her enviably slender frame to its statement ruffled hem. Proving her chic sense of style, she accessorised her look with black gladiator heels and a matching leather clutch as she posed for cameras. Busty babe: The brunette beauty certainly upped the sex appeal at the event in a daring red gown - which gave an ample glimpse of her cleavage with its plunging sweetheart neckline Styling her hair into big, bouncy waves and adding a sultry, smoky eye, Jess exuded glamour and confidence as she cuddled up to an adorable golden labrador and her mother Debbie - who is registered blind. Debbie was diagnosed with Uveal Effusion, a rare degenerative eye disease which saw her sadly lose her eyesight when Jess was growing up. Talking to Reveal last year, Jess revealed about the difficulties of the illness, which put strain on their relationship as Debbie lost motivation to live life to the full. Sweet: Styling her hair into big, bouncy waves, Jess exuded glamour and confidence as she posed with an adorable golden labrador and her mother Debbie - who is registered blind 'We ended up arguing a lot simply because I was trying so hard to push her into doing something each day,' she admitted to the magazine. 'It was really horrible. But I'm so glad we went through that... she needed that.' The Ex on The Beach star has since striven to raise as much money as possible for the charity who helped her mum in her youth - climbing Ben Nevis as well as Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and Mount Kilimanjaro for the cause. The Guide Dogs Awards annually honours people who have taken extraordinary steps to make a difference to someone living with sight loss - and often draws in a star-studded guest list. Star-studded: Joining Jess at the bash were Made In Chelsea's Lucy Watson and her boyfriend James Dunmore Cute: The pair, who have been dating since 2015, showed off their playful as well as stylish sides on the carpet as they happily stroked and cuddled a number of the sweet canines Joining Jess at the bash were Made In Chelsea's Lucy Watson and her boyfriend James Dunmore. The pair, who have been dating since 2015, showed off their playful as well as stylish sides on the carpet as they happily stroked and cuddled a number of the sweet canines. Animal lover Lucy, who is a devoted vegan, looked effortlessly chic at the event in a sleek black jumpsuit, which skimmed her slender figure from head to toe. Gorgeous: Lucy looked effortlessly chic at the event in a sleek black jumpsuit, which skimmed her slender figure from head to toe Sweet: It is no wonder Lucy bagged an invite as a devoted animal lover and staunch vegan Slender: Styled like a suit with a traditional lapel collar, the one-piece secured at her petite waist with a ribbon belt, to draw further attention to her killer body Styled like a suit with a traditional lapel collar, the one-piece secured at her petite waist with a ribbon belt, to draw further attention to her killer body. Adding height to her frame with pointed court shoes, the brunette then finished her look with a leopard print clutch and striking bronze eye-shadow as she spent a night surrounded by pooches - leaving her own canine friend Digby at home. Meanwhile her beau James suited and booted up for the occasion in a suave velvet blazer and classic bow tie as he joined his girlfriend for the festivities. Puppy love: The brunette then finished her look with a leopard print clutch and striking bronze eye-shadow as she spent a night surrounded by pooches Suave: Meanwhile her beau James suited and booted up for the occasion in a suave velvet blazer and classic bow tie as he joined his girlfriend for the festivities Man's best friend: Pete Wicks of TOWIE fame also got in on the action in a stylish green checked suit A Time To Live (BBC2) Rating: You know what they say about life's constants: death and taxes. Whatever the outcome of the General Election, you've got more chance of immortality than of mercy from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs men. None of the 12 terminally-ill people in Sue Bourne's gentle collection of interviews, A Time To Live (BBC 2), was anticipating any sort of rebate. Death was not merely inevitable, but imminent. Some were stoic, some were sad. Some were serene, and a couple seemed to be relishing their own bad luck with grim gallows humour and a glass of bubbly. Anita (pictured), a 70-year-old widow, was treating a planned trip to the Dignitas euthanasia clinic in Switzerland as her final adventure All were touchingly honest. Each talked not so much about the diagnosis as the effect it had on them and their families, and of their hopes for the future. That is what was most uplifting and inspirational about this simple, uncluttered programme. Everyone had something to keep living for. In the face of overwhelming odds, no one was giving up. Only one of the 12 was contemplating measures to end her life: 70-year-old widow Anita, an enthusiastic traveller stricken with motor neurone disease, was treating a planned trip to the Dignitas euthanasia clinic in Switzerland as her final adventure. Most were determined to squeeze every last moment of love and fun from the time they had left. Annabel, 51, took that decision to the extreme her terminal diagnosis gave her the impetus to leave her husband, move into an apartment, find a new lover and devote herself to painting. Nigel, 69, (pictured) wanted to outlive his sentence by months and attend a family wedding Paulette, a 45-year-old single mother with just a few months to live, was overjoyed that her illness had brought her much closer to her own mother. Kevin, an energetic 69-year-old who loved a good project, was having a blast, organising his bucket list and funeral. Some of the stories were heartbreaking, especially from younger interviewees: 23-year-old Joleen felt 'robbed' of her life, and police officer Steve, 36, worried about how his children would cope. The series of five-minute profiles closed with two of the most joyous interviews. Cindy, 69, had chosen to stop chemotherapy, to relish the final few weeks of life. Unexpectedly, death held back and she enjoyed a last glorious summer in her beloved country cottage. And Nigel, a glumly witty man of 69, who lived his whole life 'expecting things to go wrong and they usually do', had one impossible hope: to outlive his sentence by months and attend a family wedding. Magically, he made it. The smile on his face said more clearly than words that life is truly worth living. Michael Mosley v The Superbugs (BBC 4) Rating: We will all be facing the final demand from the heavenly tax collector sooner rather than later, if the direst predictions of Michael Mosley v The Superbugs (BBC 4) come true. The medic and presenter explained with his usual amused elan why the antibiotics that have been protecting us from infections for decades are becoming useless. There was no scaremongering, no horror movie warnings of rampant TB and gangrene, but Michael didn't try to disguise how urgently medicine needs a fix. Michael Mosley explained with his usual amused elan why the antibiotics that have been protecting us from infections for decades are becoming useless Simple cartoons, reminiscent of public health film shorts from the Fifties, showed how armies of bacteria went to war with each other and evolved new defences. Meanwhile, Michael was making a jelly mould of his own body and painting it with virulent microbes, before placing it in a glass coffin to rot. It was a vivid demonstration of how much damage bacteria do if left unchecked. As much art as science, the installation might be a cert for the Turner Prize. They play love interests on the new reboot on 90s drama Baywatch. And while fans had been hoping that it may be a case of life imitating art for Zac Efron, 29, and Alexandra Daddario, 31, the pair recently denied romance rumours. 'As far as I know, she hasn't said yes,' Zac told The Daily Telegraph this week. Just friends: Zac Efron, 29, recently denied he is dating his Baywatch co-star Alexandra Daddario, 31 American actress Alexandra added that romance speculation 'makes sense because we are love interests in the movie - But [he] is a lot for me to handle.' The duo play on-screen lovers Summer and Brody in their upcoming film. Romance rumors were first reported by gossip site Hollywood Life, with a source claiming the pair have been secretly dating for months. Putting rumours to bed: 'As far as I know, she hasn't said yes,' Zac told The Daily Telegraph this week The source said they had instant chemistry on set and Zac was attracted to his co-star because he thinks she is more 'mature and sophisticated' than the other women he's been with. Earlier this month, Neighbors star Zac fueled dating speculation when he kissed the brunette beauty at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. As they waited to present together at the awards, the pair got cozy backstage. Not surprised: American actress Alexandra added that romance speculation 'makes sense because we are love interests in the movie - But [he] is a lot for me to handle' She shared the snap on Instagram and captioned: '@mtv movie and tv awards backstage shenanigans with @zacefron #SummerandBrody #Baywatch.' In the lead up to the event, Alexandra and Zac expressed excitement to be sitting next to each other. The actress posted a snap of herself with her's and Zac's designated seating areas which were next to each other. Zac commented on the snap writing: 'Heck yeah - I'm officially excited for the MTV Awards. Thanks seating gods!' They rose to fame as Alfie and Kat Moon on EastEnders - characters that have even bagged their own spin-off series. And Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie proved their winning chemistry existed both on and off-screen on Wednesday, as they promoted their new show Redwater at BBC Radio 2. The actress, 45, kept things casually cool in a white shirt and skinny jeans as she posed with her 53-year-old telly husband outside the studios in London. Scroll down for video Pals: Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie proved their winning chemistry existed both on and off-screen on Wednesday, as they promoted their new show Redwater at BBC Radio 2 Chic: The actress, 45, kept things casually cool in a white shirt and skinny jeans as she joined her 53-year-old telly husband outside the studios in London Jessie opted for workwear-chic for the interview by sporting a white chiffon shirt, which remained sophisticated with a ruched front and statement sleeves. Showing off her slim figure, the brunette teamed the top with simply but stylish black skinny jeans, before jazzing the look up with quirky tan boots - adorned with a faux-fur trim. Looking worlds away from her EastEnders character, the Enfield native then tied her outfit together with a trendy fringed handbag and glamorous dark sunglasses. Ready for business: Jessie opted for workwear-chic for the interview by sporting a white chiffon shirt, which remained sophisticated with a ruched front and statement sleeves Quirky: Showing off her slim figure, the brunette teamed the top with simply but stylish black skinny jeans, before jazzing the look up with quirky tan boots - adorned with a faux-fur trim The brunette beamed widely as she arrived at the studio to promote her new show with co-star Shane - who kept things equally low-key in an all-black ensemble and mottled grey coat. The acting duo proved to be better friends than ever as they posed arm-in-arm outside - having recently joked that their on-screen bond had lasted longer than any of their own romantic relationships as actors. Speaking to The Sun, Shane was quick to gush about his co-star as he explained: 'This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones! Low-key: The brunette beamed as she arrived at the studio to promote her new show with co-star Shane - who kept things equally low-key in an all-black ensemble and mottled grey coat Pals: The acting duo proved to be better friends than ever as they posed outside - having joked that their on-screen bond had lasted longer than any of their own romantic relationships 'We just know each other really well as friends off-screen as well as actors,' he continued. 'And we can tell each other what we're thinking, we can tell the truth to each other.' The pair are currently promoting their EastEnders spin-off Redwater - which follows the post-Albert Square lives of Kat and Alfie Moon. However, the series aired in the Republic of Ireland four days before its release on BBC One, meaning fans became aware of a few spoilers in the plot, prior to watching it live. Exciting: The pair are currently promoting their EastEnders spin-off Redwater - which follows the post-Albert Square lives of Kat and Alfie Moon The twist in the pilot episode - which involves Alfie helping Kat look for her long-lost son - was heavily discussed on social media, consequently ruining any surprises for those yet to watch it. The spoiler was that Kat's son's identity was revealed - which is one of the draws of the show in the first place. It was disclosed that her son was the priest Dermott; but this wasn't the end of it. In the premiere episode's final scenes, Dermott killed a man - leaving the episode on a dramatic cliffhanger. Spoiler: However, the series aired in the Republic of Ireland four days before its release on BBC One, meaning fans became aware of a few spoilers in the plot, prior to watching it live Unhelpfully, one fan recounted the entire plot in one of their tweets, guessing what happens next: 'In a shocking subplot the priest is actually a serial killer, killing off #Redwater residents! Hell be brought to justice by Alfie.' 'Oooh an evil priest. He has a temper just like his mammy,' came another tweet, once again explaining what happened. 'Trust Kat to have a psycho son,' a third posted. Another tweeted 'I knew it was the priest!' followed by 'I did NOT expect to find out the identity of Kats son this early!' Ruined: The twist in the pilot episode - which involves Alfie (Shane Richie) helping Kat (Jessie Wallace) look for her long-lost son - was heavily discussed on social media, consequently ruining any surprises for those yet to watch it Drama: Kat - who had her fair share of maternity drama in EastEnders with her sister/daughter Zoe and a baby swapping storyline - had her son taken from her after she gave birth to him as a teenager Kat - who had her fair share of maternity drama in EastEnders with her sister/daughter Zoe and a baby swapping storyline - had her son taken from her after she gave birth to him as a teenager. As the first episode drew to a close, she and Alfie were still in the dark about his identity; unlike viewers and Twitter users. The iconic soap couple have been together for 16 years. And the stars themselves have pointed out that this 'marriage' has lasted longer than their own real life couplings with respective partners. 'This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones!' Shane Richie gushed about his on and off-screen relationship with Redwater co-star Jessie Wallace 'This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones,' 53-year-old Shane joked, speaking to The Sun. 'We argue, then we won't talk for a day, and then we're talking again, and he makes me laugh all the time,' Jessie, 45, chimed in. 'We just know each other really well as friends off-screen as well as actors,' added Shane. 'And we can tell each other what we're thinking, we can tell the truth to each other.' Redwater debuts on BBC One on Thursday at 8pm. They've been inseparable since they debuted their relationship publicly during Fashion Week. And Karl Stefanovic, 42, and Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, headed out for a romantic date in Sydney on Wednesday night. As the couple headed through the entrance of swanky French restaurant Bistro Moncur in Mosman, the Today host opened the door but appeared to march through it first. Lovebirds: Karl Stefanovic, 42, and Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, headed out to a romantic date in Sydney on Wednesday night Jasmine seemed not to mind too much as she appeared in a relaxed and happy mood. Dressed in a flattering grey dress, the former model teamed her ensemble with a cropped leather jacket, black Valentino sandals and Chanel crossbody bag. She wore her blonde locks tied up into a tight bun and kept her makeup relatively low key with just a hint of pink lip. What a beauty! Dressed in a flattering grey dress, the former model teamed her ensemble with a cropped leather jacket, black Valentino sandals and Chanel crossbody bag Karl, who has noticeably updated his wardrobe since dating the shoe designer, wore a pair of dark denim jeans, and a crisp white unbuttoned shirt. The father-of-three teamed his look with a black jacket a pair of his signature RM Williams boots and belt. Trendy: Karl, who has noticeably updated his wardrobe since dating the shoe designer wore a pair of dark denim jeans, a crisp white unbuttoned shirt As they took their seats inside the eatery, the duo looked animated and lively. Since the couple started dating last year, they have been spotted on a number of occasions looking happy and content during Fashion Week. Last year, Karl attended the same event with his ex wife Cassandra. The look of love: As they took their seats inside the eatery, the duo looked animated and lively Karl and Cassandra announced their shock split after 21 years of marriage, in September last year. The former couple share three children together - Jackson, 17, Ava, 12, and River, 10. After news broke, Karl moved out of their family home in Lindfield, on Sydney's Upper North Shore, where Cassandra remained. Happy: Since the couple started dating last year, they have been spotted on a number of occasions looking happy and content during Fashion Week Since then, Karl has been spotted holidaying with Jasmine with her family in Mexico. They also have spent a weekend with each other's families in Queensland where they met with their mothers. Holidays together: Karl has been spotted holidaying with Jasmine with her family in Mexico It was recently claimed Karl had settled his divorce, with his with his estranged wife taking home a reported $6 million in cash and assets, plus child support and 'ongoing payments' in the couple's settlement. The TV host reportedly earns up to $3 million a year at Channel Nine. Getting to know the family: They also have spent a weekend with each other's families in Queensland where they met with their mothers Karl is said to be 'head over heels in love' with Jasmine. A source revealed to Woman's Day, 'Karl is desperate to prove to her family that he's really serious about her... he's made a point of taking her dad to one side and telling him he's genuinely in love and this is no way a fling.' She's known for her more contemporary style of dressing. But this week during Fashion Week, Jesinta Franklin (nee) Campbell has switched up her look opting to channel the eighties. The 25-year-old sported two ensembles with puffed sleeves at Bec & Bridge's Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week show, then at the InStyle and Audi Women Of Style Awards. Taking it back! Jesinta Campbell (nee Campbell), 25, channeled the eighties with puffed sleeves during Fashion Week Wednesday night saw Jesinta making a bold arrival at the InStyle and Audi Women Of Style Awards in Sydney. The David Jones ambassador sported an abstract body con-style frock, that offered just a hint of cleavage and highlighted her lean legs. However, a puffed sleeve brought to mind the eighties, a style the decade was very much known for. Jesinta accessorised the retro look with pointy-toed black boots, a two-toned shoulder bag and black jewels. Making a comeback? A puffed sleeve brought to mind the eighties, a style the decade was very much known for The day prior saw Jesinta sport a similar puffed sleeve while attending Bec & Bridge's Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week show at David Jones' flagship store. A black leather corset-style top featured a puffy sleeve, again bringing to mind eighties fashion. The Saint Laurent top which retails online for just under $7,735 was paired with Balenciaga skinny-leg indigo jeans and pointy-toed black heels. The television personality carried her belongings in a classic black quilted bag and sported a pair of elegant drop earrings. Consecutive fashion: The day prior saw Jesinta sport a similar puffed sleeve while attending Bec & Bridge's Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week show at David Jones' flagship store Contemporary: The choice of attire is a new look for Jesinta, having often taken to the media wall in more contemporary designs The choice of attire is a new look for Jesinta, having often taken to the red carpet in more contemporary designs. According to The Daily Telegraph, the former Miss Universe Australia beauty pageant contestant, is set to break into the international high-end fashion market. Last month, the publication reported that Jesinta filmed a commercial for a major brand in London. Chic in black: Past red carpet appearances have seen the former Miss Universe Australia highlight her figure in elegant, slim-fitting designs At the time, the brunette offered a glimpse of a fashion project on Instagram. In a social media snap, Jesinta stood on a ladder in a long gown and furry jacket, as she laughed with two male crew members. She captioned the photo: 'So much fun filming in London today! Huge thanks to the entire team for all of the laughs'. Global stardom: According to The Daily Telegraph, the former Celebrity Apprentice star is on the verge of breaking into the international high-end fashion market Hitting the big league: Last month, the publication reported that Jesinta filmed a commercial for a major brand in London While it is unknown what brand the commercial is for, Jesinta has certainly been working hard to build up her portfolio with major labels. A fashion insider told Sydney Confidential that the model had been trying to establish her own brand. 'Jesinta has done well not to pigeonhole herself...She can work hard and gets what she wants,' the source said. His model looks have catapulted him to international fame, where he pocketed a whopping $100,000 to walk the runway at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week just days ago. And Jordan Barrett may have just revealed some of his beauty secrets. The 20-year-old Australian personality this week enjoyed a laser facial, a chakra healing massage and a glow protein shot at the exclusive All Saints Skin Clinic in Sydney. Scroll down for video His secrets? This week, Jordan Barrett enjoyed a laser facial, a chakra healing massage and a glow protein shot at the exclusive All Saints Skin Clinic in Sydney (seen at InStyle awards) It's believed the massage was performed by Angelina's former masseuse and healer. Jordan enjoyed some downtime at the luxurious clinic ahead of attending the InStyle Women of Style awards in Sydney on Wednesday, where he was glowing. In images of Jordan at the salon, he looks relaxed as he cuts a casual figure in a turquoise T-shirt and blue and white striped trousers. Luxurious! It's believed the massage was performed by Angelina's former masseuse and healer Model off-duty: In images of Jordan at the salon, he looks relaxed as he cuts a casual figure in a turquoise T-shirt and blue and white striped trousers On Monday, the blonde personality walked for Justin Cassin at Fashion Week in Sydney. It was revealed by The Daily Telegraph on Friday the model received a whopping $100k paycheck to walk the runway. The Byron Bay-born son of convicted Gold Coast cannabis kingpin Adrian Barrett, touched down in Sydney that day. Ca-ching! It was revealed by The Daily Telegraph the model received a whopping $100k paycheck to walk the runway for Justin Cassin at Fashion Week Jordan was just 13 when he was discovered at a grocery store by Kirk Blake from What Model Management in 2011. 'I was scouted in my local grocery store on the Gold Coast by a man named Kirk Blake, who has been in the industry for years,' he described in a 2013 interview. He was stealing matches for cigarettes at the time, he later told New York magazine. Work could begin in early June on a $4 million overhaul of the W.G. Rice Elementary School outside Mount Holly Springs. South Middleton School Board members Monday awarded $2.81 million in contracts for general construction, electrical work, asbestos abatement and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning upgrades. The board also authorized administrators to buy all the HVAC equipment and control components needed for this project direct from Trane, the manufacturer, for $668,000. Buying direct on a piggyback contract through a state procurement program will save the district about $82,000, Business and Operations Manager Matthew Ulmer said. Contracts approved Monday include $1,348,000 with eciConstruction of Dillsburg for general construction work; $1 million with Lugaila Mechanical Inc. of Liverpool, Perry County, for HVAC construction; $398,900 with MidState Mechanical & Electrical of Dillsburg for electrical construction; and $63,360 with First Capital Insulation Inc. of York for asbestos abatement. The original bid from Lugaila was $1,750,000, of which about $750,000 was included for the contractor to procure the equipment and control components from Trane, Ulmer said. He added, in checking other options, the district was able to get the better price of $668,000 through a direct buy from the manufacturer. Five deducts totaling $750,000 were removed from the original Lugaila bid to get its price down to the $1 million contract approved by the school board. The $668,000 in procurement costs and the $2,810,760 in contractor agreements yield a total of $3,478,760. The district had budged $3.5 million in construction costs for the project, Ulmer said. However, when soft costs are included, the total comes out to about $4 million to take into account such line-items as architectural fees, contingency and financing costs. Now that the board has awarded contracts, the district could have all the necessary approvals from the state Department of Education by the end of this week, said Jeffrey Straub of Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, the district architect. Notices to proceed could then be issued to contractors who could start work shortly after school lets out for the summer on June 9, Straub said. He said half of the work on the project could be completed by the time students report for classes in late August. The district plans to transfer the third grade from Rice Elementary School to Iron Forge Elementary School. The transfer would free up space at Rice to allow for enrollment growth and would allow the district greater flexibility to shift students around, limiting the disruptions during the overhaul. The second phase of this project could begin after school starts with completion expected by the end of the 2017 calendar year, Straub said. He said the abatement part of the project involves the removal and disposal of all asbestos floor tiles from the building. Bid documents also mention the removal of mastic adhesive from under the carpeting. Board members and school district officials anticipated more interest among contractors than the one bid each received for the general construction and HVAC construction work. The rebid of the electrical work yielded three bids while the asbestos abatement yielded eight bids. Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Andrew Glantz said dkuring the pre-bid walk-through three companies expressed an interest in submitting general construction bids and three for HVAC bids. The market was not there, Glantz said. The project includes the full replacement of the buildings HVAC system along with the replacement of the entire roof except for a portion over the gym. Other base-bid upgrades under general construction include carpet replacement in about 60 percent of the building, a new paint job for the building interior and cosmetic and functional improvements to the library. Part of the library will be transformed into an area for maker space activities. Maker spaces or innovation stations are areas within a school building where students can go and explore a topic of interest or to create something. His new romance has been front and centre of Sydney's fashion week. And after months of trying to keep a low profile, Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough's relationship is well and truly out in the open, with the lovebirds enjoying a series of high-profile dates at Sydney restaurants in recent days. This past week the Today host and his lady love have been been spotted out at China Doll, Bar Machiavelli and Bistro Moncur - all eateries promoted by Karl's friend and PR queen Roxy Jacenko. Taking tips from Roxy? Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough enjoy series of romantic dates at eateries promoted by the PR queen. The couple is pictured arriving at Bistro Moncur on Wednesday night The Sweaty Betty founder told Daily Mail Australia she was delighted to see Jasmine and Karl dining at restaurants her firm represented. 'We work on a huge restaurant and bar portfolio here at Sweaty Betty PR all of which are known as institutions on the dining front Jasmine and Karl are friends of my agency so its a pleasure to welcome them in,' Roxy said. Roxy denied the high profile couple were getting meals for free, adding: 'If anything is comp, it is a signature cocktail on arrival.' On Wednesday night, Karl and Jasmine enjoyed a romantic date at swanky French restaurant Bistro Moncur, the couple's chemistry evident as they enjoyed their meal by a window. 'Jasmine and Karl are friends of my agency': The Sweaty Betty founder told Daily Mail Australia she was delighted to see friends Jasmine and Karl dining at restaurants her firm represented. Roxy is pictured at Bistro Moncur last year Celebrating: On Monday, Jasmine and Karl headed out with their mothers and Richard and Christian Wilkins for a meal at China Doll in Woolloomooloo. Pictured right of Karl is Jasmine's sister Jade Divine desserts: In March Roxy shared this post of sweet treats to her Instagram profile After watching close friend and colleague Richard Wilkins' son Christian make his red carpet debut on Monday, Jasmine and Karl headed out to celebrate with a meal at China Doll in Woolloomooloo. The fashionable pair made their way from the front row of the fashion show to the restaurant alongside their mothers and Christian and Richard. Meanwhile last week Karl and Jasmine were spotted enjoying themselves during a meal at the upscale Bar Machiavelli in Rushcutters Bay. Don't mind the view! Last week Karl and Jasmine were spotted enjoying themselves during a meal at the upscale Bar Machiavelli in Rushcutters Bay Swanky: Roxy will frequently share photos of weekend meals at Bar Machiavelli The pair were spotted through a window stealing an intimate moment with one another during their meal with Jasmine's sister and friends. Roxy regularly promotes all three restaurants Karl and Jasmine have dined at recently through posts on her personal Instagram account and Sweaty Betty's page. Karl and Jasmine reportedly met in December last year and were spotted canoodling on a yacht in February. The Today host allegedly finalised his divorce from wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, in April after they split in October last year. Social media fanatic: Roxy regularly promotes all three restaurants Karl and Jasmine have dined at recently through posts on her personal Instagram account and Sweaty Betty's page She's mastered the table shot! Roxy shared this photo of her meal at French eatery Bistro Moncur earlier this year The Channel Nine journalist made his pubic debut with shoe designer Jasmine on Monday, weeks after initial speculation they would step out as a couple for the first time at Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys' April wedding. Karl instead went solo at the nuptials, instead embracing his groomsman duties with a quirky wedding speech turned song. Sung to the tune of Oasis' Champagne Supernova, Karl waxed lyrical about Sylvia's 'great behind' and how the family 'dont pay for sh*t'. An intruder was in the home of Amber Rose for four hours while she was inside, according to a new report. As the 33-year-old model returned to her Los Angeles home on Tuesday after a trip to Miami, she made the shocking discovery according to TMZ. Sources say the model was fast asleep when the man broke into her home early Wednesday morning by breaking a kitchen window. Scary! Amber Rose, 33, found out an intruder had been in her house for four hours while she was sleeping, according to TMZ She had just returned to her house in the San Fernando Valley after spending some time in Miami According to the site, Amber, her mom, son, assistant and bodyguards were all in the house asleep and nobody heard the intruder. Quiet burglar: Sources say the model was fast asleep when the man broke into her home early Wednesday morning by breaking a kitchen window In fact, it wasn't until the afternoon that Amber saw the broken window in the kitchen and checked the surveillance footage. The surveillance footage showed the guy breaking into her house and fleeing hours later. Sources reveal Amber's assistant even got up to make food while the guy was in the house. Amber called the police who are investigating, but according to TMZ, it doesn't look like the guy took anything. The night club owner was recently in Miami for a nightclub appearance the week prior and was seen getting close with rapper French Montana on the beach the day before her Monday strut. Amber recently posted two photos with the rapper on social media after the speculation of them being a couple, but she called him her 'Bruva 4 life.' She shot to fame while dating Kanye West after appearing in his 2008 music video for Put On. Rose has a four-year-old son Sebastian with ex-husband rapper Wiz Khalifa, 29, they married in July 2013 and announced they were seeking a divorce in September 2014. Rose has a four-year-old son Sebastian, who was in the house at the time, with ex-husband rapper Wiz Khalifa (pictured in February) Now it appears she is playing the field as a single woman. Amber split in February with dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, 31, after dating for nearly five months. She was teamed with Val's brother Maksim, 37, during season 23 of Dancing With The Stars. She's become a breakout star of Foxtel's The Real Housewives of Sydney. And on Thursday, Athena X Levendi enjoyed the perks of her newfound fame as she was at the centre of attention at Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week. The 40-year-old flaunted her cleavage in a bold ensemble that featured geometric prints and tassled detailing. Fringe benefits! Athena X Levendi, 40, flaunted her cleavage in a tassled ensemble at Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week in Sydney on Thursday Athena posed up a storm outside of Sydney's Carriageworks. The reality star sported a layered ensemble with tassled detailing, adding pops of colour with geometric prints. Despite the hefty amount of fabric, Athena was sure to flaunt her cleavage with a plunging neckline. Sartorial choices: The reality star sported a layered ensemble with tassled detailing, adding pops of colour with geometric prints Details: Black open-toe boots, jewelled sunglasses and statement accessories tied in with the fashion-forward look Beauty: Styling her blonde locks in glamorous waves, Athena highlighted a flawless complexion and a matte red lip Her own runway! Athena was in a jovial mood, twirling for the camera Elongating her frame with a pair of open-toe black boots, the socialite accessorised further with drop earrings, a bangle, jewelled sunglasses and a vibrant tote bag. Styling her blonde locks in glamorous waves, Athena highlighted her flawless complexion and added an extra wow factor with a matte red lip. Athena was not the only Sydney housewife to make an arrival at Fashion Week on Thursday. Krissy Marsh highlighted her figure in a slim-fitting emerald green frock at the VMajor runway show. The 45-year-old accessorised with black knee-high boots, a Chanel quilted handbag, large gold hoop earrings and statement jewels. Hint of flesh: Despite the hefty amount of fabric, Athena's top featured a plunging neckline, showing off her ample assets Making them green with envy? Athena was not the only Sydney housewife to make an arrival at Fashion Week on Thursday. Krissy Marsh, 45, attended the VMajor runway show Chic: The socialite accessorised her frock with black heeled boots, a Chanel quilted handbag and statement jewels Styling her brunette locks in loose waves, Krissy enhanced her striking facial features. A flawless base, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a nude colour over her plump pout finished off the look. Meanwhile singer and actress Erin Holland looked vibrant as she showed off her street style. Beauty: Styling her brunette locks in loose waves, Krissy enhanced her striking facial features Collection: Models took to the runway, debuting a number of lightweight VMajor designs in a predominately neutral colour palette Bohemian: One particular design saw a model sport a plunging crop teamed with a high-waisted white skirt with fringed detailing The 28-year-old covered her slender frame in an abstract frock with block panels. A subtle split added a flirty touch, while reflective sunglasses, drop earrings, a black clutch and strappy heels tied in nicely. Erin's brunette locks were styled sleek at the nape of her neck, drawing attention to a flawless makeup palette. Bold: Meanwhile singer and actress Erin Holland, 28, looked vibrant as she showed off her street style Fun and flirty: An abstract frock with block panels was teamed with black strappy heels, reflective sunglasses and drop earrings Elsa Pataky debuted her new micro bob on Thursday. The 40-year-old Fast and Furious star shared a snap of her new hairstyle to Instagram after getting the chop in Los Angeles. Pouting in the black and white snap, Elsa said she was 'changing looks'. Suits you! Elsa Pataky debuted her new micro bob (L) on Thursday (pictured R in April) They love it: Fans loved the new look, with one writing that Elsa was a 'hot mumma!!' The Spanish actress and wife of Aussie hunk Chris Hemsworth, now has a blunt full fringe and her shorter hair is styled loose waves. Fans loved the new look, with one writing that Elsa was a 'hot mumma!!' Another added she was: 'Magnificent in every way.' Mixing it up: Elsa in 2013, had a short blonde pixie cut She suits them all! In 2004 (L), Elsa had long blonde hair and in 2006 (R), had long brown locks Elsa is married to Australian actor Chris and the pair share three children together. They are parents to twin sons, Tristian and Sasha, three, and daughter India Rose, five. The family are based in Byron Bay and Elsa and Chris often travel to the US for their work commitments. Family: Elsa is married to Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and the pair share three children together Elsa recently spoke to OK! Magazine about her and Chris's new war film, Horse Soldiers. The blonde beauty said she didn't feel awkward shooting bedroom scenes. 'We play husband and wife so it was like we weren't even playing. It was natural, it felt so comfortable,' she told the publication. 'We were in bed together and usually with those scenes it is awkward but it was easy.' 'It is a scene in bed, but not a sex scene... that would be too easy!' she quipped. Details of Olivia Newton-John's health battles emerged last week when the Grease star was forced to postpone her upcoming American concerts. Now, Olivia's daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 31, has asked her online followers to send 'healing prayers' for her mother as she battles with the spinal condition sciatica. Taking to Instagram, the aspiring pop star shared a photo of herself and her mother alongside an emotional tribute that read: 'I love u mama. Miss U so much. Will all of u send healing prayers for my mamas back please [sic].' 'I believe in the power of positive thinking': Chloe Lattanzi, 31, has asked her online followers to send 'healing prayers' for her mother Olivia Newton-John as she battles with the spinal condition sciatica Chloe added: 'I believe in the power of positive thinking and energy. Love u all [sic]'. Last week, alleged details of Olivia's battle with sciatica surfaced in a report by New Idea. The nerve condition has the potential to render sufferers unable to move. Health concerns: Last week, alleged details of Olivia's battle with sciatica surfaced in a report by New Idea 'We are very worried': An insider reportedly told the publication that Olivia's condition has been debilitating, An insider reportedly told the publication that Olivia's condition has been debilitating, saying: 'To see her unable to walk or get out of bed because the pain is so severe is incredibly rattling. We are very worried.' Olivia's management previously announced on her Facebook page that her scheduled performances were cancelled due to health problems. The post read: 'We are so sorry to announce that the Olivia concerts scheduled for May will be postponed due to a bad issue with Olivia's sciatica.' Clearing her schedule: Olivia's management previously announced on her Facebook page that her scheduled performances were cancelled due to health problems 'Once the dates are rescheduled we will post the new dates ASAP. Apologies for any inconvenience.' In a public statement made by Olivia herself, the songstress explained: 'I have had a long running issue with sciatica and I need to take this time to rest and deal with this very painful condition. 'My husband John is taking great care of me and I want to thank all my family, friends and fans for their concern, love, support and good wishes. 'I look forward to returning to performing soon!' she concluded. After revealing his new relationship with model and shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough, Karl Stefanovic is fast becoming part of the fashion pack. After making their public debut at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Monday, Jasmine and Karl mingled backstage with model of the moment, Jordan Barrett. The male supermodel shared a photo of his very intimate embrace with the Today host on Instagram, and Jasmine was quick to comment: 'You must be pretty special getting the Stefanovic koala hug.' 'You must be pretty special getting the Stefanovic koala hug': Jasmine Yarbrough's cheeky comment after male supermodel Jordan Barrett greets boyfriend Karl with VERY intimate embrace The cheeky greeting happened after Karl and Jasmine sat front row with their mothers and Richard Wilkins. The group were there in force to support Richard's son Christian, who was making his runway debut at the Justin Cassin show. Meanwhile also walking in the show was supermodel Jordan Barrett, who reportedly made $100,000 for a one minute walk down the runway, according to The Daily Telegraph. Fashion first: The cheeky greeting happened after Karl and Jasmine sat front row with their mothers and Richard Wilkins One pricey walk: Walking in the show was supermodel Jordan Barrett, who reportedly made $100,000 for a one minute walk down the runway, according to The Daily Telegraph. After the show had finished, Jordan shared a photo to Instagram of him greeting Karl in a very intimate fashion. The ladies' man model straddles the Today host, with both men grinning as Jasmine and Richard watch on laughing. 'Everything Karl does, Karl does it right @kstefanovic always and every time,' Jordan captioned the photo. Loved up: Karl and Jasmine reportedly met in December last year and were spotted canoodling on a yacht in February 'You must be pretty special getting the Stefanovic koala hug,' Jasmine responded in the comments below. Karl's Today co-host Lisa Wilkinson also weighed in on the photo, writing: 'So sorry I missed you @iblamejordan !!! Can't believe you all had a good time to without me!' Karl and Jasmine reportedly met in December last year and were spotted canoodling on a yacht in February. The Today host allegedly finalised his divorce from wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, in April after they split in October last year. She's an advocate for body confidence. And Ashley Graham was showing all kinds of confidence on the red carpet for her book signing at The Book Mark Shoppe in New York City on Wednesday night. The stunning 29-year-old looked exquisite in a tight black long-sleeved dress that hugged all her curves and showed off her tiny waist. Sexy model: Ashley Graham, 29, showed all kinds of confidence on the red carpet for her book signing at The Book Mark Shoppe in New York City on Wednesday night. She was at the NYC venue to sign copies of her new memoir, A New Model. The dress, which could also be a skirt tucked into a patterned top, was tight against the body-confident star's curves. The top of the outfit featured cutouts around the shoulders and she accessorized with an oversize belt. She paired the black look with strappy black sandals and earrings from Yossi Harari. Gorgeous: The stunning 29-year-old looked exquisite in a tight black long-sleeved dress that hugged all her curves and showed off her tiny waist The gorgeous model kept her makeup natural and wore dark makeup around her eyes to really make them pop. She wore her chestnut hair in loose waves around her shoulders and parted it to the side. The popular brunette just came off a gig co-hosting the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday night alongside Julianne Hough. Natural: She kept her makeup natural and wore dark makeup around her eyes to really make them pop Looking good: The top of the outfit featured cutouts around the shoulders and she accessorized with an oversize belt The beauty competition - which aired live on Fox - crowned Italian-born 25-year-old Kara McCullough representing the District of Columbia. 29-year-old Ashley showcased her size 14, 5ft9in curvaceous figure in a plunging emerald gown and gold stilettos selected by her stylist Oscar Montes de Oca. It was the first time the Nebraska-born IMG Model - who's a prominent body activist - hosted the popular pageant. Busy: The popular brunette just came off a gig co-hosting the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday night alongside Julianne Hough President Donald Trump owned Miss USA from 1996-2015 where five former contestants told Buzzfeed News he'd make inappropriate visits to the dressing room. Ashley confirmed to People on Wednesday that she'll return as judge on cycle 24 of America's Next Top Model on VH1 alongside original host Tyra Banks. The Toothbrush video vixen has also been married to LA-based cinematographer Justin Ervin for seven years after meeting in church back in 2009. Ashley took to Snapchat to show some behind the scenes shots of her event They are no strangers to raising eyebrows with their risque breakfast radio antics. And KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O did what they do best this Thursday by hosting a bizarre on-air kissing challenge between staff-members. During the segment, producer Pedro Cuccovillo Vitola locked lips with a female staff-member who seemed less-than-thrilled at the prospect of puckering up. 'Did you clean your teeth this morning': KIIS FM 's Kyle And Jackie O did what they do best this Thursday by hosting a bizarre on-air kissing challenge between staff-members 'Did you clean your teeth this morning? No, actually don't open your mouth. I'm serious, don't touch me,' she said, moments before the awkward kiss. Listeners cringed as Pedro then shared a decidedly more passionate smooch with Intern Pete, who wasn't afraid to take the challenge seriously. Following the challenge, Kyle asked Jackie whether she would lock lips with a male staff member, saying: 'Why don't you and John kiss each other?' Awkward! Listeners cringed as Pedro shared an awkward kiss with the staff member Sharing is caring? Following the challenge, Kyle asked Jackie: 'Why don't you and John kiss each other?' 'Because, Kyle, we're not here for your sick fantasies,' the mother-of-one snapped back. 'Hey if it was my fantasy it would be girls on each other!' quipped Kyle. Recently KIIS FM producers were forced to deny rumours that Jackie is pregnant with her second child. No thanks! 'Because, Kyle, we're not here for your sick fantasies,' the mother-of-one snapped back The pregnancy speculation was sparked after a video was posted on the radio program's Facebook and Instagram accounts on Monday, in which employee Pedro is seen passing wind in Jackie O's face. Jackie is seen reacting by running away from the smell in the studio. Rather than commenting on the gag, social media users immediately asked whether the 42-year-old was pregnant. 'Wait, is Jackie pregnant here?' one wrote on Facebook, while another asked 'Kyle and Jackie O Is Jackie currently pregnant?' Producers were immediately forced to shut down the rumours, denying the blonde beauty was expecting. She's the beach babe not shy about posting a photo of herself in a bikini on Instagram. But on Thursday, Megan Marx, 27, was showing off something else when she posted a scantily clad photo of herself to social media. The outline of her ribs clearly visible, the former half of The Bachelor's first lesbian couple appears to have embraced the latest Instagram trend of 'ribcage bragging'. Who is she ribbing? The Bachelor's Megan Marx joins latest Instagram trend of 'ribcage bragging' in sexy beach photo In the photo shared with Megan's 139,000 followers, the Geraldton native appears in a pair of skimpy swimwear bottoms, the top half of her body cut off. Visible instead were her ribs, which protruded against her skin as Megan posed on the sand. Megan's followers were quick to complement her on the photo, leaving remarks such as 'Beautiful woman' and 'wow' underneath. Jumping on the bandwagon? The outline of her ribs clearly visible, the former half of The Bachelor's first lesbian appears to have embraced the latest Instagram trend of 'ribcage bragging' Famous faces: Know as 'ribcage bragging', the trend involves posing to allow your ribs to become visible. Pictured is Bella Hadid Latest trend: Like the 'thigh gap' and 'bikini bridge' before it, the look is favoured by celebrities on Instagram such as Kourtney Kardashian Know as 'ribcage bragging', the trend involves posing with your hands above your arms to allow your ribs to become visible. Like the 'thigh gap' and 'bikini bridge' before it, the look is favoured by celebrities on Instagram such as Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Kourtney Kardashian. Megan's latest bikini post comes after she recently revealed she was ready to find love after her split from girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon in March. Looking for someone: Megan's latest bikini post comes after she recently revealed she was ready to find love after her split from girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon in March Dating: Taking to Instagram, the blonde beauty confirmed she was using dating app Happn with the hope of meeting someone special The two west Australian natives had met while competing for Richie Strahan's affection on The Bachelor last year. Taking to Instagram, the blonde beauty confirmed she was using dating app Happn with the hope of meeting someone special. 'I love happn because it allows you to find that person you locked eyes with on the beach and connect with them in real time,' she wrote. Jim Carrey's beard is here to stay. After debuting his new facial hair on social media last month, the 55-year-old actor showed it off once again at the LA screening of If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast on Wednesday. Dressed in a black graphic T-shirt and black jacket, the smiling star was seen chatting with legendary actors Mel Brooks, 90, and Dick Van Dyke, 91, as he sat in the theater waiting for the film to commence. Bearded man: Jim Carrey showed off his facial hair at the LA screening of If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast on Wednesday Other veteran actors who turned out for the screening included Carl Reiner, 95, Barbara Bain, 85, and Henry Winkler, 71. The screening also attracted more than a few notable Hollywood figures. TV producer George Shapiro was in attendance, along with writer and producer Norman Lear, 94. Songwriter Alan Bergman, 91, put in an appearance, as well as musician Nancy Wilson, 63. Meeting an icon: Dressed in a black graphic T-shirt and black jacket, the smiling star posed for a photo with legendary actor Mel Brooks Conversation starter: The bearded actor was seen talking with Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke as they sat in the theater waiting for the film to commence Stepping out: Fellow attendees at the If You're Not In the Obit, Eat Breakfast screening included Barbara Bain and Matthew Modine The Fonz: Former Happy Days star Henry Winkler attended, accompanied by his wife of 39 years, Stacey Weitzman Other actors at the screening included Matthew Modine, 58, Paul Reiser, 60, Kevin Nealon, 63, Larry David, 69, and Richard Lewis, 69. But it was ultimately Jim's beard which stole the show. If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast is a documentary, which has been produced for HBO. Still going strong... TV producer George Shapiro shared a moment alongside 95-year-old actor Carl Reiner The twilight years: If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast stars (L-R) Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, Alan Bergman and Dick Van Dyke all turned out for the screening Photobombers: The group shared a comical moment after being joined by Aimee Hyatt (front and center) and George Shapiro Party people: Comedian Larry David and Joyce Lapinsky were spotted mingling at the film's afterparty Comedy legend Reiner tracked down other well-known people who are in their 90's and beyond to reveal what life is really like in the twilight years. The documentary profiles stars including Betty White, 95, Iris Apfel, 95, Van Dyke and 100-year-old runner Ida Keeling. If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast screens on HBO on June 5. MECHANICSBURG A local power company plans to build on nine properties in one Midstate community. Many residents want to fight them, but to do so, theyd have to go to court and face eminent domain. Barry Strock, a farmer in Upper Allen Township, found out about PPLs plans last month. Utilities has the right to cross your property whether you like it or not, said Strock, who has a horse boarding business and crop farm. PPL announced a new power line and substation, plus three facility upgrades, in Upper Allen Township. The company says it will improve service to the ever-growing Cumberland County and prevent outages. Originally PPL wanted to go directly through the center of this farm, Strock said. And we were very against that. Nine other property owners raised concerns about safety, property value and other things. The township wrote letters to county and state officials, but found out theres really nothing they can do. The only option for residents is to take PPL to court and face eminent domain, which the electric company says they try to avoid. The power is definitely a need with Cumberland County, Upper Allen Township Manager Lou Fazekas said. Theres no way around it. Somebodys going to be impacted. Strock is one of those people. If they start in the middle of growing season, it will affect me. But, he says he was able to win a few battles. We were able to move it out to the property lines, but we werent able to stop it, Strock said. The first project could start as early as summer. She's the daughter of Olivia Newton-John trying to launch her own Hollywood career. And Chloe Lattanzi has shared a glimpse of latest project, horror film Dead 7, on Instagram on Thursday. 'It's not everyday that a Backstreet Boy holds you hostage,' the 31-year-old wrote in the caption. The accompany picture saw former boy band member AJ McLean holding a knife to her neck on set. 'It's not everyday that a Backstreet Boy holds you hostage': Chloe Lattanzi looked startled in a Instagram snap on Thursday, as AJ McLean held a knife to her neck on the set of Dead 7 Sitting in a derelict haunted house, Chloe was dressed as her character Trixie in the film, which is written by Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. A striped T-shirt tucked into a pair of black Daisy Dukes enhanced her ample bust. AJ McLean, formerly of The Backstreet Boys, dressed as his villainous character as Johnny Vermillion. Career-oriented: Olivia Newton-John's daughter Chloe is hoping to forge her own career Drawing attention to overalls, a top hat, face paint and tattoos, AJ pulled a menacing grin as he held a fake knife up to her neck. 'It's not everyday that a Backstreet Boy holds you hostage,' Chloe captioned the snap. Meanwhile, Chloe's previous post on Instagram was on a far more serious note. Support: Chloe's previous post on Instagram was on a far more serious note, as she asked her fans to send 'healing prayers' for her mother, as she battles the spinal condition sciatica Taking time out: Details of Olivia's health battles were brought to light last week, when she was forced to postpone her upcoming American concerts due to health problems The personality asked her online followers to send 'healing prayers' for her mother, as she battles the spinal condition sciatica. Details of Olivia Newton-John's health battles were brought to light last week, when the Xanadu star was forced to hold off on her upcoming American concerts. Taking to Instagram, Chloe shared an image of herself and Olivia, alongside an emotional tribute that read: 'I love u mama. Miss U so much. Will all of u send healing prayers for my mamas back please. 'I believe in the power of positive thinking and energy. Love u all (sic)'. Concerns: Taking to Instagram, Chloe shared an emotional tribute that read, 'I love u mama. Miss U so much. Will all of u send healing prayers for my mamas back please (sic)' 'To see her unable to walk or get out of bed because the pain is so severe is incredibly rattling': Alleged details of Olivia's condition surfaced in New Idea magazine last week Alleged details of Olivia's condition surfaced in New Idea magazine last week. The nerve condition has the potential to render sufferers unable to move. A source reportedly told the publication: 'To see her unable to walk or get out of bed because the pain is so severe is incredibly rattling. We are very worried.' Olivia's management previously announced on Facebook that her scheduled performances were cancelled due to health problems. The post read: 'We are so sorry to announce that the Olivia concerts scheduled for May will be postponed due to a bad issue with Olivia's sciatica.' 'Once the dates are rescheduled we will post the new dates ASAP. Apologies for any inconvenience.' She hosts Sydney's most popular breakfast radio program with Kyle Sandilands. But in the '90s, Jackie 'O' Henderson was known for hosting the Hot30 Countdown with then-husband Phil O'Neil - before he abruptly quit in 1999. Speaking on the Youve Gotta Start Somewhere podcast, Phil revealed he left the country and his marriage due to the stress of work. 'It became all-consuming,' he explained. 'It became all-consuming': Radio personality Ugly Phil O'Neil (right) revealed he left Australia and his marriage to Jackie 'O' Henderson (left) in the late '90s due to the stress of work Jackie was already one of Australia's most popular radio hosts 20 years ago, albeit with a different man at her side. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an 18-year-old Jackie first met Phil when calling his Gold Coast radio show to try and win tickets in 1993. A year later, the pair were married and by 1996 she was his co-host on the Hot30. But three years, later Phil abruptly quit his job, their marriage ended and he moved to London for another radio job. Former relationship: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an 18-year-old Jackie first met Phil when calling his Gold Coast radio show to try and win tickets in 1993 The perfect match! Ugly Phil was replaced by Kyle Sandilands after he quit in 1999, and the pair later achieved notoriety for the top-rated Kyle And Jackie O Show. Pictured in 2001 Ugly Phil was replaced by Kyle Sandilands, and they later achieved notoriety for the top-rated Kyle And Jackie O Show. Speaking on the podcast, Phil revealed he left behind his marriage and lucrative Australian career in 1999 due to exhaustion. 'It became all-consuming. I was tired of doing the Hot30,' he said. 'I was like, ''Hey, Im 37 years old and Im mates with the guys from Hanson who are 15. Im too old for this''.' 'Wow, that was fantastic': Now, Phil admits he looks back on that busy period of time with fondness and wonders why he didn't enjoy it more 'I got offered a job in London to go and work there and I just needed to get away,' added Phil, now aged 54. Phil explained that his Australian role involved working 'non-stop' for 'six to seven days a week' for half a decade. Now, Phil admits he looks back on that busy period of time with fondness and wonders why he didn't enjoy it more. Back Down Under: After stints in London and Birmingham, Phil returned to Australia permanently in 2008 and now hosts a Triple M daytime show Finding love again: After their divorce, Jackie married photographer Lee Henderson in 2003 After stints in London and Birmingham, Phil returned to Australia permanently in 2008 and now hosts a Triple M daytime show. After their divorce, Jackie married British photographer Lee Henderson in 2003. The couple welcomed their daughter Kitty in 2010. She dumped her fiance, personal trainer Dan Adair, last year and moved to America to pursue her modelling dreams. And Natalie Roser, who is now dating actor Harley Bonner, looked happier than during a girls' trip to the Maldives this week. The 27-year-old flaunted her slender frame in a series of bikinis, before posing in lingerie and stripping naked for a bubble bath. Model behaviour! Natalie Roser (left) looked happier than during a girls' trip to the Maldives this week - as she continues her romance with Neighbours actor Harley Bonner Posing in their bedroom, Natalie and her friend Brooke Hogan wore matching black lace bras as they giggled for the camera. The intimate apparel put Natalie's busty cleavage on display, as she flaunted her remarkably toned abs. Natalie also enjoyed a bath with Brooke and Madeline Joyrelph, as they covered their modesty with bubbles and rose petals. Blonde bombshells! In a racy Instagram photo, Natalie enjoyed a naked bubble bath with models Brooke Hogan and Madeline Joyrelph Living the dream! Natalie (left) dumped her fiance, personal trainer Dan Adair, last year and moved to America to pursue her modelling dreams Natalie wrote in the caption: 'Do you think we're spoilt enough?' After splitting with fiance Dan last year, the bikini model appears to be enjoying the her new life overseas. She let her down on the retreat, taking to Instagram to document spa dates, surfing sessions - and even a cheeky topless photo. Girls gone wild! The Australian bikini model appears to be enjoying the her new life overseas Natalie and Dan got engaged on holiday in July 2015 and were scheduled to to marry in October last year, but it was postponed. They were photographed having a tense conversation before the wedding date, but a representative denied the relationship was in trouble. Natalie later debuted her relationship with Neighbours star Harley Bonner, the son of Australian actress Carla Bonner. Carefree! Natalie was engaged to Dan Adair and they were scheduled to to marry in October last year, but it was postponed. It is understood they later separated Margot Robbie has been enjoying a holiday in Hawaii with her family. And on Saturday, she was spotted at the beach with her mother Sarie Kessler and husband Tom Ackerley. The 26-year-old looked in deep conversation with her mother as Tom went surfing. Family time! Margot Robbie has been enjoying a holiday in Hawaii with her family Surf's up! On Saturday, she relaxed at the beach with her mother and husband Tom Ackerley The Wolf Of Wall Street star offered a glimpse of her tummy in a boho wrap top from Faithfull The Brand. She paired the top with orange shorts with a floral pattern and ruffled edges. Meanwhile, Tom emerged from the water shirtless in a pair of white board shorts. Close: The 26-year-old looked in deep conversation with her mother, Sarie Kessler Beach chic: The Wolf Of Wall Street star offered a glimpse of her tummy in a boho wrap top from Faithfull The Brand Short shorts! She paired the top with burnt orange shorts with white floral pattern Change of weather: It appeared to be raining as Margot left the beach with her mother Margot was seen adjusting the surfboard, a red daisy chain visible around her ankle. While Tom went surfing, Margot spoke to her mother who sweetly placed her arm around her daughter. The holiday comes as Margot prepares for another busy year, as she is starring several Hollywood projects. Ready for a surf? Margot was seen adjusting the surfboard Nice view! Margot and her mother sat on the beach as Tom strolled out of the ocean Helping out? Margot appeared to be offering surf tips A month ago, NW magazine claimed Margot is 'expecting her first child', and may have been 'pregnant' at her wedding in December. A source reportedly said: 'It's so exciting - although she's not really showing yet, so not many people have cottoned onto the news. 'Given how far along we think she is, there's definitely a chance she was (pregnant) at the wedding. We're expecting an announcement any day now.' Wedding bells! Tom and Margot married in Byron Bay, NSW in December last year Relaxed: While Tom surfed in the ocean, Margot spoke to her mother Everything OK? Sarie sweetly placed her arm around her daughter Unconfirmed: The sighting comes after a magazine claimed Margot is 'expecting her first child' In the past, Margot has spoken about her plans for children. She told Sunday Style: 'I want tons of children. I grew up in a family of four (kids), so that sounds like a good number'. Last week, the Suicide Squad star played bridesmaid at a friend's wedding, five months after her own nuptials. She was seen sporting a pink wig as she got to work on the set of her upcoming movie, Life In A Year, in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday. But Cara Delevingne was back to her buzz cut as she showcased her newly-shaved head while arriving at Nice Airport on Thursday morning ahead of an appearance at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The model-turned-actress, 24, made her way through customs, sporting a vintage military-style pea coat with fur trim over a grey knitted jumper - which was perhaps a little out of season for the sunny South of France. Scroll down for video Creating a buzz: Cara Delevingne showcased her newly-shaved head while arriving at Nice Airport on Thursday morning ahead of an appearance at the 70th Cannes Film Festival Dressing for comfort ahead of her red carpet appearance, the Suicide Squad star wore loose-fitting tracksuit bottoms, blue aviator shades and suede Puma classics for her transatlantic flight. Going make-up free as she wandered through the airport, Cara clutched her boarding pass as she prepared for her moment in the spotlight. The supermodel, who plays a dying teen in the film, was seen on set in Toronto on Wednesday sporting a racy white maxi dress and a candy-coloured hairpiece. The British beauty looked relaxed as she arrived on set in the wig, which fell into playful pink and white stripes. Dressed for winter? The model-turned-actress, 24, sported a military-style pea coat with fur trim over a knitted jumper - perhaps a little out of season for the sunny South of France Hard at work: The Suicide Squad star was seen sporting a pink wig as she got to work on the set of her upcoming movie, Life In A Year, in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday Indicating she was filming a more formal scene, Cara was dressed in a semi-sheer maxi dress of white crochet and lace - displaying her famously statuesque figure for all to see as she prepared to shoot. Keeping warm while she got into character however, the Burberry model then added a chunky black coat on top as well as UGG boots as she chatted to the crew. Checking her phone animatedly, Cara then disappeared into the filming establishment to work her magic in front of the camera. The beauty is currently filming Life In A Year, directed by Mitja Okorn - which follows Cara as a terminally ill woman, with one year left to live. In a bid to make her last months her best yet her boyfriend Daryn, played by Jaden Smith, 18, vows to give her an 'entire life' in the time she has left. Busy bee: Cara was dressed in a semi-sheer maxi dress of white crochet and lace - displaying her famously statuesque figure for all to see as she prepared to shoot Dedication: Fully committing to her character, Cara debuted her fully shaved head last month, and has since showed off her new look at the glitzy Met Gala in New York City (pictured) Fully committing to her character, Cara debuted her fully shaved head for the first time on set last month, and has since showed off her new look at a number of red carpet events, including the glitzy 2017 Met Gala in New York City. Only weeks before the film, Cara had been seen dying her trademark tresses a bright hue of pink - which she explained was in preparation of the big shave. She told US Weekly magazine of the shake up at the time: 'I have to shave my head for my next part, so I have to do something different. 'So I dyed it. Just for fun. Just to change it up.' Making the transition from modelling to acting in recent years, Cara is also set to make an appearance in anticipated sci-fi thriller Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets. The star, who landed her first acting role as Princess Sorokina in 2012 flick Anna Karenina opposite Keira Knightley, will play a feisty young fighter in the film. Newly brunette model Erin Holland knows a thing or two about fashion. And on day five of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sydney, the 28-year-old brought her A-game with and eye-catching outfit. The former Miss World Australia turned heads on Thursday by opting for a black, orange and white dress in bold stripes. Scroll down for video Animal instinct: Erin Holland (pictured) shows off her enviable figure in a striped dress at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sydney on Thursday Erin flaunted her toned arms in the sleeveless number, while her enviable physique was accentuated by the thin material that clung to her body in all the right places. Her slender pins didn't escape attention either, with a strategic split at the front of the dress adding a risque touch. Accessorising the ensemble, the media personality chose a large black clutch with a chain strap. She matched this with strappy black heels and added delicately dangling silver earrings. Time to split: The 28-year-old flaunts her slender pins with a strategic front split Earning her stripes: Erin pulls off a black, white and orange striped dress at Fashion Week Topping off the stylish dress, Erin chose over-sized gold shades and a number of gold rings to adorn her fingers. Wearing her freshly brunette locks tightly tied back in a low bun with a middle part, the formerly blonde beauty was the epitome of sleek and chic. Her makeup was on point as well, with her strong brows and flawless complexion emphasised with a nude pink lip. Delight in white: On Wednesday, Erin showed off her pins in a gorgeous white mini-dress New do: Erin recently dyed her hair from blonde to dark just in time for fashion week The Queensland-born star has been killing in the style stakes all week. On Wednesday, she flaunted her slender legs in a gorgeous white mini dress on day four of Fashion Week. Catching up with fellow fashionista, Nikki Phillips, Erin went for a classic black and white ensemble just like her pregnant pal. She announced she was expecting her first child with her ex earlier this week. And now pregnant Cara de la Hoyde, 26, has revealed that she has been suffering from debilitating morning sickness on social media. The Love Island star - who announced she had split from boyfriend Nathan Massey, 24, three weeks ago - took to Twitter on Wednesday night to ask her followers for their advice on how to tackle her ailment. Scroll down for video Feeling it: Pregnant Cara de la Hoyde, 26, has revealed that she has been suffering from debilitating morning sickness on social media She posted: 'Why do they call it morning sickness when it lasts all day and night?Early night for me. Any good tips ladies?' Among those who answered her plea was fellow Love Island star Cally Jane Beech - who welcomed her daughter Vienna on May 7 - and shared her trick to get over the uncomfortable symptom. The new mum replied: 'Ginger tea bbe try that helped me xxx it's awful ain't it hopefully will go'. Delighted with the tip, the ITV2 beauty insisted: 'Thanks hun, its on my shopping list. Currently going through a pack of ice lollies which seems to be helping.' Looking for advice: The Love Island star took to Twitter on Wednesday night to ask her followers for their advice on how to tackle her ailment Helping hand: Among those who answered her plea was fellow Love Island star Cally Jane Beech - who welcomed her daughter Vienna on May 7 - and shared her trick to get over the uncomfortable symptom Aside from being plagued by morning sickness, the Kent native also revealed to her 286,000 followers on Twitter she was glued to Channel 4 series One Born Every Minute as she prepares to welcome the pitter patter of tiny feet in November. Announcing the news in this week's issue of OK! magazine, Cara admitted she's been battling 'weird' morning sickness. She confessed: 'I felt like I was going to throw up but I didnt. I looked like a cat choking on a fur ball'. Her admission comes after she revealed she is pregnant with former flame Nathan's child, just a month after the couple parted ways. Preparation: The Kent native also revealed to her 286,000 followers on Twitter she was glued to Channel 4 series One Born Every Minute as she prepares to welcome the pitter patter of tiny feet later this year New beginning: Her admission comes after she revealed she is pregnant with former flame Nathan's child, just a month after the couple parted ways (Pictured in January) Having set eyes on one another in the very first episode of last year's second season of Love Island, the duo were instantly connected and remained the longest standing couple in the series - leading to their win of the show and a whopping 50,000. Cara and Nathan - who won last summer's Love Island - have no plans to reconcile their relationship, and just want to concentrate on their baby. She told the publication: 'Its a shame and a sad situation. I know a lot of people will think, well youre going to have a baby together so just stay together but were not going to do that just to look like the perfect couple. When I told him, we were together but wed been having problems for a while. People are probably expecting us to get back together because were having a baby, but were not one of those couples who can force something if its not working. Focus: Cara and Nathan - who won last summer's Love Island - have no plans to reconcile their relationship, and just want to concentrate on their baby 'I just want to concentrate on the baby and hes the same. Weve actually been having a really hard time. Its a lot to go through emotionally breaking up, moving out and becoming parents. I was so happy, its what Ive always wanted. But I was thinking, should I be happy? Me and Nathan splitting up isnt the ideal situation. The former circus performer explained she discovered she was pregnant when she had a smear test at the hospital but is excited for her adventure ahead. Following the announcement, Nathan took to Twitter to open up about the revelation. He penned: 'Yes it's true..I'm going to be a Dad. Its an emotional time for me and I'm overwhelmed by all the support from both my family and friends.' 'It's an emotional time for me': Love Island's Nathan Massey has broken his silence following ex Cara De La Hoyde's shock pregnancy news... (but doesn't mention her) - pictured in October Previously Nathan, who found love with Cara last summer when they appeared together on racy reality show Love Island, shared the news of the couple's split in April. Alongside a shot of himself looking solemn as he took a solo stroll while chatting on his phone, he wrote at the time: 'The worst feeling in the world is when you know that you both love each other, but still you can't be together! 'Me and Cara have split, we've had the summer of our lives together, but sadly come to a end , I wish her the best for the future.' Looking to the future: Previously Nathan, who found love with Cara last summer when they appeared together on racy reality show Love Island, shared the news of the couple's split in April Doing her part in spreading the news, brunette beauty took to Twitter around the same time as she announced: 'Me & Nath have split... sometimes love just isn't enough, but what will be will be... thank you for everyone's support lately.' This comes after the brunette defiantly revealed that 'she couldn't imagine life without him' - contrary to reports claiming the pair have split. The month before, Cara was forced to quash reports stemming from 'a close friend' stating that the pair had parted away shortly after they spoke to OK! Magazine about their union, admitting while they are 'not perfect' they are very happy. She recently credited breastfeeding with helping her shed her baby weight. And Billie Faiers showed off her sensational post-baby body in a figure-hugging green dress as she headed to the In The Style press day in London on Thursday. Highlighting her hourglass curves, the 27-year-old reality star proved she'd had no problem snapping back to her pre-pregnancy frame as she strolled into the London bash. Scroll down for video Yummy mummy: Billie Faiers showed off her sensational post-baby body in a figure-hugging green dress as she headed to the In The Style press day in London on Thursday Featuring a scooping neckline, the dress offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst Billie dared to go braless beneath the risky front-zip design. Cinching at her slender waist the garment fell just below the knee, offering a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were boosted by a pair of brown heels. Wearing her golden locks in loose waves, Billie framed her pretty features - which were still radiating with the healthy glow of new motherhood. Mum's the word! Highlighting her hourglass curves, the 27-year-old reality star proved she'd had no problem snapping back to her pre-pregnancy frame at the London bash Billie welcomed her second child, son Arthur, in March with fiance Greg Shepherd and credits her weight loss with breastfeeding the newborn. She told Closer: 'You can feel your tummy almost contracting while you breastfeed. It's funny, but I think it'#s definitely helped me slim down.' She had decided against breastfeeding daughter Nelly, now two, as she had struggled with it. Chest a glimpse! Featuring a scooping neckline, the dress offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst Billie dared to go braless beneath the risky front-zip design Leggy lady! Cinching at her slender waist the garment fell just below the knee, offering a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were boosted by a pair of brown heels Blonde bombshell! Wearing her golden locks in loose waves, Billie framed her pretty features - which were still radiating with the healthy glow of new motherhood But with the help of her sister Sam Faiers - who is a huge advocate of breast feeding and is currently trying to wean her son Paul, one, off of breast milk - Nelly has been able to do so with Arthur. During Wednesday's series finale of The Mummy Diaries - Sam's reality show - viewers witnessed Billie give birth to Arthur with her family all on hand to help. From the delivery room, an 'exhausted and overwhelmed' Billie said: 'I had breast feeding expert or even guru, Sam with me', before her sister went on: 'I'm really proud of us because I helped Arthur latch on.' She's in style! Billie oozed glamour as she posed at the photocall for her new clothing line at the In The Style Summer Press day at 100 Wardour St Glamorous gal pals: Billie was joined by (L-R) Binky Felstead, Sarah Ashcroft and Charlotte Crosby as they promoted their new summer clothes ranges Girl power: The foursome flashed a peace sign as they posed together for pictures Whilst Sam is a proud advocate of breastfeeding, famously feeding her son baby Paul during a live interview on This Morning, Billie won't be so open. In the episode, her fiance Greg adamantly stated she was not allowed to share photos of her in action as she is 'famous enough' without doing so. Sam and Billie first soared to fame in TOWIE's 2010 inauguration before leaving the show and both forging careers in the spotlight - now centred around life as mums. She's as well known for her sense of style as she is for her acting abilities. And Michelle Williams, 36, did not disappoint at the photocall for her latest movie, Wonderstruck, at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival on Thursday as she stepped out in a thigh-grazing look alongside her glamorous co-star Julianne Moore, 56. Soaking up the French sun, the American screen siren was a vision of beauty as she posed for snaps ahead of her new flick's premiere. Scroll down for video Tres chic: Michelle Williams (L), 36, did not disappoint at the photocall for her latest movie, Wonderstruck, at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival on Thursday as she stepped out in a thigh-grazing look alongside her glamorous co-star Julianne Moore, 56 Showing off her enviably long and lean legs, the Oscar nominee dazzled in a printed floral mini dress with dramatic flared detailing on the shoulders. Cinching in at her slender waist, the garment highlighted her sensational figure whilst remaining demure, grazing the tops of her tanned and toned thighs. Giving her diminutive frame an extra boost, the stunning starlet donned a pair of barely there black heels, whilst her only accessory was a pair of beige circular shades. Pin-credible: Soaking up the French sun, the American screen siren was a vision of beauty as she posed for snaps ahead of her new flick's premiere Flaunt it! Showing off her enviably long and lean legs, the Oscar nominee dazzled in a printed floral mini dress with dramatic flared detailing on the shoulders A vision: Boasting her pixie crop, the mother-of-one worked a fresh beauty look with a glowing rose blush across her cheeks Boasting her pixie crop, the mother-of-one worked a fresh beauty look with a glowing rose blush across her cheeks. Elsewhere, Julianne looked incredible in her emerald green ankle-skimming dress which highlighted her narrow waist with a fabric black belt. Her choice of garment accentuated her radiant alabaster skin and flame-coloured hair as she tackled a number of steps towards the cinematic event. The Oscar winner teamed her fashion forward look with a pair of black platform sandals and kooky retro inspired shades. Red Alert! Julianne looked incredible in her emerald green ankle-skimming dress which highlighted her narrow waist with a fabric black belt Fashion forward: The Oscar winner teamed her fashion forward look with a pair of black platform sandals and kooky retro inspired shades Green with envy: Her choice of garment accentuated her radiant alabaster skin and flame-coloured hair as she tackled a number of steps towards the cinematic event Work it! Julianne held onto her long number as she navigated up the steps in her high heels Michelle stars as Elaine in Wonderstruck, alongside Julianne, Oakes Fegley and Amy Hargreaves in the eagerly anticipated movie. The film, which is adapted from a novel by Brian Selznicktells, covers two different time periods, telling the story of a young boy in the Midwest and a girl in New York. Wonderstruck's world premiere will be at Cannes on Wednesday, and the drama is competing for Palme d'Or - the most esteemed prize at the festival. Flawless: Michelle showcased her flawless complexion as she posed infront of a wall photographer Fun times: Michelle and filmmaker Todd Haynes appeared to have a blast at the event Casting call: Brian Selznick, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Michelle, Todd Haynes, Julianne, Jaden Michael, John Sloss and Millicent Simmonds (Pictured L-R) at the photocall Having a laugh: Michelle shared a giggle with director Todd while Julianne watched on Beaming: The trio were all smiles alongside their co-stars Jaden and Millicent Wonderstruck is one of 49 films being screened at this year's festival with two of the final flicks produced by streaming service Netflix - Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. However the decision to include them didn't go down well with film purists and since the cinematic event has announced that from 2018 only movies set to be released on the big screen will be considered for selection. Leading this year's esteemed jury is Volver director Pedro Almodovar for the 70th annual film festival taking place May 17-28 in France. All white: On the same day, Russian actress Maryana Spikav was pictured at the Loveless photocall Rockstar: She threw some serious poses in front of a host of photographers Russian actor Alexei Rozin (L), Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev and Maryana posed together All stars: (L-R) Mikhail Krichman, Alexander Rodnyansky, Maryana Spikav, Andrey Zvyagintsev and Alexei Rozin Fun in the sun: There was also a photocall for Sicilian ghost story with (L-R) Gaetano Fernandez, Filippo Luna, Julia Jedlikowska, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza Loving life: The group seemed in great spirits as they posed for snaps at the event Sweet: Gaetano Fernandez and Julia Jedlikowska posed together Good fun: Western also posed for pictures with the cast (L-R) Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, Director Valeska Grisebach, Meinhard Neumann and Reinhardt Wetrek all smiles Blue-tiful! Director Valeska Grisebach dazzled in a navy co-ord teamed with brown boots Looking lovely: She seemed in good spirits as she posed for pictures Joining him is Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain, actor Will Smith, X-Men star Fan Bingbing, actress Agnes Jaoui, director Paolo Sorrentino, German writer-director Maren Ade, filmmaker Park Chan-wook and composer Gabriel Yared on the jury. Apart from films, A-list stars are set to attend a number of star-studded bashes throughout the festival including the AmFar Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and Chopard's annual bash at Port Pierre Canto, co-hosted by Rihanna. Returning to Cannes, Cheryl's ex husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini will launch his new pop up restaurant Versini on the rooftop of the Five Seas Hotel. Radiant in red: Janine Jackowski dazzled in a maroon shift dress with cut outs across the chest Terrific trio: Janine Jackowski, Valeska Grisebach and Jonas Dornbach posed together Loving life: Vyara Borisova, Meinhard Neumann and Valeska Grisebach all seemed in good spirits Cosy: (L-R) Actor Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, German director Valeska Grisebach, Actor Mainhard Neumann and Actor Reinhard Wetrek cuddled up together Pretty in pink: Meanwhile, actress Hanna Sugisaki attended a photocall for her new movie Blade of the Immortal on Thursday aftrernoon Colleagues: She was joined by (l-r) Takuya Kimura and Takashi Miike for the press shoot Attending: (L-R) Hiroyoshi Koiwai, Misako Saka and Jeremy Thomas were also in attendance Group shot: The team behind the movie posed together on day two of the prestigious festival True blue: Takuya cut a dapper figure as he posed in a navy blazer over a matching shirt Switching the focus: The singer, actor and radio personality took his own shots of the action Picture perfect: Screen star Hanna, 19, was seen watching some of the action from the sidelines as a wall of photographers surrounded her Meanwhile, Uma Thurman dazzled as she arrived to the festival working a chic look in a pair of suit pants and chic stripped shirt. Cutting the Cannes breeze, she wrapped a camel coloured collarless jacket around her frame as she posed for pictures. She accessorised her look with a simple scarf and intricate belt while standing tall in her pointed stilettos. Dazzling: Uma Thurman dazzled as she arrived to the festival working a chic look in a pair of suit pants and chic stripped shirt Loving life! Cutting the Cannes breeze, she wrapped a camel coloured collarless jacket around her frame as she posed for pictures Sealed with a kiss: She accessorised her look with a simple scarf and intricate belt while standing tall in her pointed stilettos Zoe Ball has given an insight into the heartache she has endured in the days since the tragic death of her boyfriend Billy Yates. At the start of the week, the TV presenter took to Twitter, where she responded to a follower's words of comfort as she comes to terms with her devastating loss. When the well-wisher told Zoe that she 'must be sad, bewildered and wondering what the point is', the broadcaster confirmed: 'Pretty much spot on. Thank you for your kindness. Means so very much. Love xxx.' Scroll down for video Devastated: Zoe Ball has given an insight into the emotional anguish she has endured following the death of her boyfriend Billy Yates (above), who was found hanged at his flat on May 4 While she's been keeping a low profile since cameraman Billy was found hanged in his flat in Putney, south-west London, she returned to the micro-blogging site to thank the BBC for airing the documentary Life After Suicide. Billy, 40, was tragically pronounced dead after paramedics were unable to revive him, having arrived minutes after he was discovered in his flat. It has been reported that Zoe had asked a friend to check on her boyfriend because he stopped answering his phone, hours before he was found dead at his home. The BBC radio DJ became anxious when Billy's phone kept ringing out almost a fortnight ago - so raised the alarm to a friend, who then found him dead at his flat in Putney. Sad and bewildered: The TV personality admitted that a follower's sentiment that she 'must be sad, bewildered and wondering what the point is' was 'pretty much spot on' A source told The Sunday Mirror: 'Zoe had been trying to contact Billy. They were very close and it wasn't like him to not take her calls. 'That's when she raised the alarm to his friend who went round to check and found him. She and all of his friends are devastated.' Zoe has since pulled out of filming for the final of the BBC's new baking show Big Family Cooking Showdown with Nadiya Hussain, in the wake of the tragedy. The Strictly: It Takes Two presenter has remained silent in person over the heartbreaking event - but took to social media last week to thank her fans for their continued support, by re-tweeting a message from her management company. Keeping a low profile: The 45-year-old, pictured above in 2011, has been keeping a low profile in the days since Billy's death, but was spotted in Brighton on Monday The post read: 'On behalf of Zoe Ball, we would like to thank everyone for the kind messages and support during a very difficult time.' The presenter also re-tweeted a message from food blogger Jack Monroe about mental health and suicide prevention. It read: 'You don't have to 'man up' - the biggest killer of men under 45 is suicide. The strongest thing to do is talk. #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek'. Television presenter and DJ Kate Thornton also stood in on The Zoe Ball Show on BBC Radio 2 last week - and delivered her heartfelt condolences to the presenter live on-air. At the start of the show she said: 'Sadly our lovely Zoe Ball can't be here today. Difficult time: Zoe received an influx of kind messages from followers after re-tweeting a message from her management team (above) Raising awareness: She also re-tweeted a message from food blogger Jack Monroe about suicide prevention, after Billy was claimed to have suffered a number of mental health issues 'Before we get started can I just say from everyone on the show and here at Radio 2 our thoughts are with Billy, his family, and friends and of course with you Zoe.' It has been reported that Zoe's tragic boyfriend fell victim to a jailed accountant who left his clients with huge tax bills. Billy is said to have hired Christopher Lunn, who was jailed for five years in 2016 and had stars such as Sadie Frost and Fiona Bruce among his clientele. Lunn filled out inflated fees and expenses on tax returns in order to reduce taxable profits, but often left his customers with huge bills to front. Heartfelt: She said of Zoe (pictured in 2005): 'Can I just say from everyone on the show and here at Radio 2 our thoughts are with Billy, his family, and friends and of course with you Zoe' A source told the Sun: 'Billy suffered from depression but the strain of being left with an unexpected tax bill hit him hard. 'These sorts of things are a considerable concern for anyone but it's particularly tough when someone already has mental health issues to overcome.' It is not yet clear what forced him to commit suicide - but sources say he suffered both his financial problems and mental health difficulties, as Zoe followed Depression Awareness and Anxiety UK on Twitter. In a final tragic tweet, Billy had confessed on the site that a book about depression titled How To Save Time had given him 'reasons to stay alive.' Speaking out: It is not yet clear what forced him to commit suicide - but sources say he suffered financial problems and mental health difficulties, as Zoe followed Depression Awareness, Samaritans and Anxiety UK on Twitter (above) Since the event, it has been claimed Zoe is yet to contact his grieving parents to pay her condolences - preferring to wait for the opportune moment. The presenter reportedly wants to tell Mr Yates' mother and father how much she loved their son 'when the time is right'. Billy was said to have given Zoe a new lease of life following her split from husband of 18 years DJ Fatboy Slim in September, and she had only recently expressed her love for him. She had met the 40-year-old Antiques Roadshow cameraman through mutual friends at the BBC, and the pair appeared to confirm their romance when they were seen kissing in London in January. Laurie A. Carter will serve as the 17th president of Shippensburg University. The announcement was made Thursday morning by Frank Brogan, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. She will assume her new duties Aug. 7, replacing George Jody Harpster, who retired in January. I am thrilled to be here and honored to have the opportunity to serve as the next president of Shippensburg University, Carter said Thursday. She said she is looking forward to leading Shippensburg a university primed for greatness and strives to provide a quality education that prepares all students for success in the future. Brogan said he and others on the universitys presidential search committee and Council of Trustees, as well as the Board of Governors, were all impressed with her passion for students and student success during the interview process. Her constant focus was always on students and student success, he said. Glen Grell, chairman of the search committee and a trustee board member, said she embodies the mission of the PASSHE. That mission will always be in the forefront of her thinking as we develop policies and advocate for high education throughout our commonwealth, he said. Recruiting and retaining students is something Im very passionate about. ... Im looking forward to moving the university forward, Carter said. She said she wants all students to have the opportunity to attend and succeed. She said she is confident that Shippensburg can successfully face two main challenges enrollment and managing the budget and realize its goal of being a leader in Pennsylvania. Carter is a 1984 graduate of Clarion State College (now Clarion University) with a bachelors degree in communications. She earned a master of arts degree in communications in 1987 from William Paterson College and a doctor of law in 1993 from Rutgers School of Law-Newark. Her career includes more than 20 years at the Julliard School. Since 2015, she has served as executive vice president and university counsel at Eastern Kentucky University. She was chosen over Jonathan Levin, a professor of English at the University of Mary Washington. Carter said she and her family are looking forward to becoming part of the Shippensburg community. As a graduate of Clarion, the return to Pennsylvania also gives her an opportunity to give back. We like to cook together, we like to travel together, and we like to immerse ourselves in the campus and community, she said of her family. We like to attend sports events, and we like to attend arts events. We want to be part of the community, not just at Shippensburg University, but in the area and the region. Also on Thursday, Brogan praised Barbara Lyman, who served as interim president. He said that under her leadership, the university continued to move forward during the presidential search and has experienced a smooth transition. In addition, Brogan thanked individuals who served on the search committee and council of trustees for their time and dedication. Jasmine Yarbrough's romance with Karl Stefanovic, 42, has been making headlines after they were spotted canoodling in February. But the 33-year-old model's close friendship with Sydney socialite 'Prince' Christian Wilkins has been mostly kept under the radar. As Karl and Jasmine take their relationship public at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Daily Mail Australia looks back on this unlikely friendship. Getting along well! Christian Wilkins (left) has become close friends with Jasmine Yarbrough (right) since she began dating Karl Stefanovic. Pictured at Fashion Week on Monday Her friendship with Christian was first noticed in March when he was seen leaving Karl and Jasmine's love nest in Sydney's Northern Beaches. With his long blonde hair tied into a similar style as Jasmine's, Christian reportedly acted as a 'decoy' to lure paparazzi away from the couple. Christian left the property in car with Karl, so that Jasmine - who was still inside the home - could sneak away later. Is that how they were introduced? Before Karl (left) and Jasmine officially confirmed their romance, long-haired Christian was twice used as a 'decoy' to help her escape paparazzi A week later, Christian was playing decoy once again - this time with his father, Channel Nine reporter Richard Wilkins. As Karl and Jasmine flew into Sydney after a romantic weekend in Brisbane, Christian and Richard helped the camera-shy couple leave separately to avoid a media circus. Jasmine was given a ride home by Richard and Christian, as her boyfriend Karl waited for a taxi alone. BFFs! While it is unclear exactly when Jasmine and Christian first met, they appear to have been good friends for at least several months While it is unclear exactly when Jasmine and Christian first met, they appear to have been good friends for at least several months. Back in April, Christian posted an Instagram Story of the pair having fun in Jasmine's home city of Los Angeles. And it looks like their friendship is going from strength to strength. 'Princess Jasmine!' Back in April, Christian posted an Instagram Story of the pair having fun in Jasmine's home city of Los Angeles On Monday, Jasmine and Karl supported Christian by making their public debut at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week to watch his first runway show. 'We are here for Christian, he has been a great friend of ours so we are here to support him,' Karl told The Daily Telegraph from the front row. Karl separated from his wife-of-21-years Cassandra Thorburn last year, months before starting his relationship with Jasmine. Green team were on the chopping block on Thursday's MasterChef elimination. And the group faced one of the hardest cook-offs yet, trading precious preparation time for flavoursome ingredients. The task proved too much for Benita Orwell though, who was eliminated after she took her eyes off her prawn broth for just a minute. Saying goodbye! Thursday's Masterchef elimination proved too much for Benita Orwell though, who was eliminated after she took her eyes off her prawn broth Benita, 57, opted to cook a complex prawn wonton dish, trading half her allotted 90 minutes for her ingredients. Combining the seafood with ginger, coriander and kecap manis, she planned to impress the judges and 'fight like it's the biggest fight of (her) life'. But Benita was caught out after a strong smell wafted through the kitchen and she checked her broth, before announcing: 'My God! It's burnt'. Was it worth it? Contestants swapped precious cooking time for flavoursome ingredients, but Benita failed to impress with her complex prawn wonton dish Last-minute substitute: Caught out after she burnt her broth, Benita blitzed her remaining ingrediants to make a replacement sauce With just minutes left to find a replacement, Benita blitzed her remaining ingredients to make a sauce, but it wasn't enough to keep her in the competition. 'Four dishes today showed beautiful flavour and great technique... but one cook took their eye off the ball, albeit for a moment,' judge Matt Preston said. Benita was left 'gutted' and 'shattered' by events, but encouraged others to pursue their dreams, regardless of their age. 'Anyone who thinks that they're too old, well, don't,' she said. Out of the competition: The 57-year-old was left 'gutted' and 'shattered' after being sent home The contestants were feeling the pressure during the challenge, with Pete cutting it close with his cherry vanilla layer cake. With 65 minutes to cook, it was his Greek yoghurt mousse that let him down, refusing to hold form after it had been in the blast chiller. 'I take the acetate sheet off... and the whole cake just sinks. This thing is sinking like the Titanic,' he remarked. Strained: The contestants were feeling the pressure during the challenge, with Pete cutting it close with his cherry vanilla layer cake 'The thing is sinking like the Titanic': Pete's Greek yoghurt mousse let him down, refusing to hold form after it had been in the blast chiller Nicole opted for time over ingredients, with 70 minutes to put her steamed ginger pudding with Greek yoghurt sorbet together. Playing it safe, she cooked two versions of the cake and was uncertain over which to present to the judges. Opting for the one cooked without the sauce, the judges called it 'crumbly' and 'dry'. Playing it safe? Nicole opted for time over ingredients, with 70 minutes to put her steamed ginger pudding with Greek yoghurt sorbet together Decisions, decisions! She made two cakes but chose to present the one cooked without the sauce, and the judges deemed it 'crumbly' and 'dry' Arum emerged victorious with his gingerbread cake, topped with caramel and yoghurt ice cream. Despite 'buying' pistachios, he opted to leave them out of the dish, joking he was 'giving other people a five-minute head start'. And the judges were impressed by his decision, with Gary Mehigan calling it one of the 'best ginger puddings' he's ever had. Cooking sensation! Arum emerged victorious with his gingerbread cake, topped with caramel and yoghurt ice cream Ginger overload: The judges were impressed by his decisions, with Gary Mehigan calling the dish one of the 'best ginger puddings' he's ever had Meanwhile, Ben was just as successful with his deep fried John Dory, with artichoke three ways and vanilla bean hollandaise. Losing 35 minutes because of his ingredients, Ben used the pressure to his advantage and won the judges over with his technique. Next week will see the remaining contestants battle it out over sweet creations, including a gravity-defying ice cream treat. She is eight months pregnant with her first child. Showcasing her blossoming bump, Binky Felstead, 27, slipped into a stomach-hugging khaki midi dress as she attended the In The Style Summer party at 100 Wardour Street in London on Thursday. The Made In Chelsea beauty - who is expecting first child with beau Josh 'JP' Patterson - looked positively radiant at the bash as she held her darling bump while posing for photos alongside her fellow designers Billie Faiers and Charlotte Crosby. Scroll down for video Blossoming: Binky Felstead, 27, slipped into a stomach-hugging khaki midi dress as she attended the In The Style Summer party at 100 Wardour Street in London on Thursday The E4 star's choice of garment highlighted her beautiful bump with its fitted silhouette while exhibiting a touch of skin with her bardot neckline. Binky's flirty look - which appears in her latest summer collection out now - featured frill detailing over her bust while her long ombre locks cascaded down her shoulders in a tousled style. Hinting at her honed pins, the darling number grazed her knees, showcasing her golden glow and lustworthy tie-strap black sandals. Radiant: The Made In Chelsea beauty looked positively radiant at the bash as she held her darling bump while posing for photos For the frill of it: Binky's flirty look featured frill detailing over her bust while her long ombre locks cascaded down her shoulders in a tousled style Stepping out: Binky posed with her fellow In The Style designers Billie Faiers and Charlotte Crosby Elsewhere, she weighed in on the dangers of pregnancy exercise, making a positive argument for expectant mothers to maintain their fitness throughout their pregnancy earlier in the week when she appeared on Sky News' Sunrise. Hitting back at critics, she insisted that working out in her third trimester has had positive effects on her mental health and body. She said: 'As a first-time mum, you are already aware that people are anti-exercise in case it does harm the baby but with the research you're doing your body good and your baby good. 'It helps you with labour, it keeps me and my mind at ease. I suffer from anxiety so I feel so much better.' Glowing: The E4 star's choice of garment highlighted her beautiful bump with its fitted silhouette while exhibiting a touch of skin with her bardot neckline Fashion fiends: The trio coordinated in their khaki looks at the exclusive bash All smiles: The reality stars were all smiles as they prepared to launch their new collections on the online retailer After party: Binky Felstead hit the In The Style Summer Party at the Libertine in London Binky also shared some of her favourite exercises during the discussion, adding: 'Swimming is really good and lots of stretching, obviously pelvic floor is very good.' Her admission comes after she notably took to YouTube when she first announced her pregnancy at the start of 2017 to show how mums-to-be can still take exercise while expecting. Meanwhile, being a fashion model, a TV personality and a regular target for the paparazzi, Binky opened up about the pressures of being in the public eye, and how her pregnancy has impacted this previously. When it comes to getting 'bikini ready' after the baby comes, Binky told MailOnline: 'I will certainly continue to eat well once I have had the baby as I think strength and health is so important. Then when I am ready I will be back in the gym and training.' Yummy mummy: Billie Faiers showed off her sensational post-baby body in a figure-hugging green dress as she headed to launch Mum's the word! Highlighting her hourglass curves, the 27-year-old reality star proved she'd had no problem snapping back to her pre-pregnancy frame at the London bash She's in style! Billie oozed glamour as she posed at the photocall for her new clothing line at the In The Style Summer Press day at 100 Wardour St Her schedule being as hectic as it is means Binky will slow down the pace a little when the new arrival comes. 'I am going to take some time off to enjoy being a new mum,' she explained. Elsewhere, Binky's fellow In The Style designer Billie Faiers, 27, showed off her sensational post-baby body in a figure-hugging green dress. Highlighting her hourglass curves, the reality star proved she'd had no problem snapping back to her pre-pregnancy frame as she strolled into the London bash. Featuring a scooping neckline, the dress offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst Billie dared to go braless beneath the risky front-zip design. Chest a glimpse! Featuring a scooping neckline, the dress offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst Billie dared to go braless beneath the risky front-zip design Leggy lady! Cinching at her slender waist the garment fell just below the knee, offering a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were boosted by a pair of brown heels Blonde bombshell! Wearing her golden locks in loose waves, Billie framed her pretty features - which were still radiating with the healthy glow of new motherhood Cinching at her slender waist the garment fell just below the knee, offering a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were boosted by a pair of brown heels. Wearing her golden locks in loose waves, Billie framed her pretty features - which were still radiating with the healthy glow of new motherhood. Billie welcomed her second child, son Arthur, in March with fiance Greg Shepherd and credits her weight loss with breastfeeding the newborn. Joining them at the fashion launch was former Geordie Shore star Charlotte who flaunted her endless pins in a flirty playsuit with floral print. Feeling flirty: Joining them at the fashion launch was former Geordie Shore star Charlotte who flaunted her endless pins in a flirty playsuit with floral print Feeling flirty: The off-the-shoulder garment featured skin-flashing cutout detail across the neckline while highlighted her narrow waist with it's drawstring detail in the midst of her midriff The off-the-shoulder garment featured skin-flashing cutout detail across the neckline while highlighted her narrow waist with it's drawstring detail in the midst of her midriff. Teetering to the exclusive launch, she highlighted her toned limbs by adorning her feet in a pair of cream strappy sandals. In high spirits, the MTV star is currently loved-up with CBB alum Stephen Bear, having first gone public with their romance in February when they were pictured heading out together. Posing up a storm: Teetering to the exclusive launch, she highlighted her toned limbs by adorning her feet in a pair of cream strappy sandals Mane attraction: Charlotte worked her shoulder-length locks into a relaxed wave as she made her way inside the party An insider told The Sun Online at the time that things were seriously hotting up between them on their series Just the Tattoo of Us. They said: 'Bear and Charlotte have been snogging loads on set for Just Tattoo Of Us and have hardly kept it a secret to the crew. 'Its clear they are besotted with each other.' She joined the great and good of Hollywood at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony on Wednesday night. And Lily-Rose Depp proved she can do off-duty chic just as well as red carpet glamour as she emerged from her hotel in the French coastal town on Thursday. The model, 17 - who is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp, 53, and musician Vanessa Paradis, 44 - looked lovely in a bright orange mini-dress as she soaked up the sun in the South of France. Scroll down for video A bright future: Lily-Rose Depp dazzled in a bright orange dress as she emerged from her hotel in Cannes, France, on Thursday morning Featuring symmetrical button fastening and a plunging neckline that showed off her slender frame, the aspiring actress seemed happy and relaxed as she wandered around. Lily-Rose let her tousled blonde tresses fall past her shoulders and sported a pair of Nike Flyknits for comfort. The beauty was her usual natural self, going make-up free as she headed out for the day. Though she looked every bit the Chanel darling in orange, it was a more dressed down look than her dazzling ensemble the previous night. Au revoir! Lily-Rose Depp looked summer chic as she headed to the airport to fly out of Nice Already making her mark: The rising star was swarmed with fans who wanted autographs Casual: The model, 17 - who is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp, 53, and musician Vanessa Paradis, 44 - soaked up the sun in the South of France Tangerine dream: Featuring button fastening and a plunging neckline that showed off her slender frame, the aspiring actress seemed happy and relaxed as she wandered around Lily-Rose wowed in a Grecian-style white Chanel gown, as she beamed and waved for cameras on the red carpet at the opening ceremony screening of Les Fantomes d'Ismael. The dress perfectly mixed together modern and old-fashioned styles - first pulling into a casual and trendy T-shirt shape on top, before slitting into wide cut-outs at her petite waist. Giving the rest of the look more of a Grecian goddess feel, the gown was secured at the waist and shoulders with a string shimmering gold leaves, evoking the time's classic laurel leaf headbands, before it fell into white pleats all the way to the floor. As a young muse of Chanel director Karl Lagerfeld, the 17-year-old's striking natural beauty was clear for all to see as she left her hair in simple curls, and added glowing make-up to her enviably clear skin. Opening night: Lily-Rose wowed in a Grecian-style white Chanel gown, as she beamed and waved for cameras at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony on Wednesday Muse: The dress perfectly mixed together modern and old-fashioned styles - first pulling into a casual and trendy T-shirt shape on top, before slitting into wide cut-outs at her petite waist While Lily-Rose was born in Paris, the starlet now spends most of her time in New York and Los Angeles as she pursues her blossoming fashion career. Like her mother Vanessa, Lily-Rose models for Chanel, starring in her third campaign for the high-end brand in February to debut the Rouge Coco Gloss, before hitting the runway for its Paris Fashion Week presentation in March. The brand ambassador, who scored her first campaign with the fashion house when she was just 16, is also the face of the Chanel No.5 L'eau fragrance. In demand: While Lily-Rose was born in Paris, the starlet now spends most of her time in New York and Los Angeles as she pursues her blossoming fashion career Staying grounded: She completed the summery look with a pair of comfortable trainers She's got front: Her garment proved to be perilously plunging However balancing both a successful modelling and acting career, she also starred in three films last year: Planetarium with Natalie Portman, The Dancer and Yoga Hosers, alongside her famous father. Lily-Rose is also due to reprise her Yoga Hosers role in Kevin Smith's comedy Moose Jaws, which is expected to begin filming later this year. It is no wonder the beauty has scored an invite to this year's glitzy Cannes festival after her flick The Dancer screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the star-studded event last year. He's the 'male supermodel' who pocketed a whopping $100,000 to briefly walk the runway at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week days ago. But Jordan Barrett looked just as savvy off the catwalk, working several eye-catching looks as he sat in the audience at two shows on Thursday. The 20-year-old Australian heartthrob was seen in a black suit with white detailing at the Strateas.Carlucci presentation, exposing his shirtless chest beneath. Wardrobe change! Jordan Barrett (pictured) rocked two very different looks as he sat in the audience on day five of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week on Thursday A hint of tanned skin was visible in the suit jacket's open V-shape. The model wore his hair slicked back off his face and accessorised with a thin gold bangle and chunky gold ring. He proudly sat in the front row of the show as he posed for the cameras. The look: The 20-year-old Australian heartthrob was seen in a black suit with white detailing at the Strateas.Carlucci presentation, exposing his shirtless chest beneath Nice view? Jordan proudly sat in the front row of the show as he posed for the cameras On the same day, the Byron Bay native was seen in a much more elaborate get up at the Street Style show at Carriageworks. Jordan again wore his hair back, and accessorised with a pair of dark framed glasses. He chose a yellow hoodie for the occasion, wearing a camel toned jacket over the top and matching tapered slacks. All yellow: On the same day, the Byron Bay native was seen in a much more elaborate get up at the Street Style show at Carriageworks Little touches: He gave the look a casual edge with a pair of black and white Converse sneakers He gave the look a casual edge with a simple pair of black and white Converse sneakers. In preparation for Fashion Week, Jordan had enjoyed a laser facial, a chakra healing massage and a glow protein shot at the All Saints Skin Clinic in Sydney. Jordan enjoyed some downtime at the luxurious clinic ahead of attending the InStyle Women of Style awards in Sydney on Wednesday. Pampered: In preparation for Fashion Week, Jordan had enjoyed a laser facial, a chakra healing massage and a glow protein shot at the All Saints Skin Clinic in Sydney Hard work: On Monday, Jordan walked for Justin Cassin at Fashion Week in Sydney On Monday, Jordan walked for Justin Cassin at Fashion Week in Sydney. It was revealed by The Daily Telegraph that he received a whopping $100,000 paycheck for his runway appearance. Jordan, who mostly works overseas, had touched down in Sydney earlier that day. She's well known for her incredible wardrobe on daytime television show, This Morning. And Holly Willoughby, 36, looked incredible when she slipped into another stunning dress on Thursday morning while at the This Morning Live expo at NEC Birmingham. Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes presented the main show from the London studio. Scroll down for video It would be nude not to! Holly Willoughby wore a pretty lace dress with floral embroidery and front split to film at This Morning Live at the NEC Birmingham Arena on Thursday Well-matched: She teamed her outfit with a pair of nude strappy sandals as she sat next to co-host Phillip Schofield Holly's nude dress was made of lace and midi in length and had floral embroidery going down the front. Clearly thrilled with the look, the mother-of-three shared a picture of it on her Instagram page, writing: 'Today's look on @thismorning @tmliveevent ... love this dress by @hopeivylondon.' Royal wave: Holly appeared in lively spirits when she walked out onto the stage at the expo Blonde ambition: Her light-coloured locks were styled into pretty loose curls which framed her features perfectly Good company: Phillip and Holly had big smiles on their faces as they mingled with fellow guests Beautiful: Holly looked effortlessly glamorous as she sat on the sofa She teamed it with a pair of matching suede shoes while complemented her look perfectly. Holly's locks were styled into pretty loose curls which framed her features perfectly. Phillip had a big smile on his face as he sat next to Holly, wearing a blue shirt and smart trousers. Holly shared the look on Instagram, writing: 'Today's look on @thismorning @tmliveevent ... love this dress by @hopeivylondon' Like what you see? Holly was left rather red-faced when Gino took it upon himself to do a strip tease Oh no: She seemed rather giggly as he started grappling with the buttons The pair were joined by resident chef, Gino D'Acampo at the expo, which covers all things home and lifestyle related and runs from 18-21 May. On the show with, Mel C talked about her friendship with Victoria Beckham and her true feelings about a Spice Girls reunion. And Doctor Who companion Pearl Mackie also made an appearance on the show. Pals: The pair were joined by resident chef, Gino D'Acampo at the expo, which covers all things home and lifestyle related and runs from 18-21 May Last year Kendall Jenner hosted the special Magnum x Moschino event at Cannes. And Cara Delevingne was ready to take over the glamorous duties as she arrived in style at the event's photocall at the 70th annual film festival. The model-turned-actress, 24, looked the epitome of Parisian chic as she flashed her svelte legs in a chic black bardot style dress and stylish red beret. Scroll down for video Parisian chic: Cara Delevingne, 24, looked incredible as she arrived to special Magnum x Moschino photocall at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival on Thursday Cara worked her supermodel prowess in the sensational look which zeroed in on her enviably toned legs - which were boosted with pointed black heels. The stylish black dress, which fell at a saucy thigh-grazing level, boasted an exposed zipper down the middle and across the sides - as well as lace-up detailing on the shoulders. Getting into the spirits of things, the British beauty hid her new shaved look with a bright red beret, which boasted the word 'Anarchy' in blue lettering. Keen on amping up the glamour furthermore, Cara's pout was doused with a slick of red lipstick and she accessorised with a chic pair of shades and delicate gold stud earrings. Leggy lady: The model-turned-actress looked the epitome of Parisian chic as she flashed her svelte legs in a chic black bardot style dress and stylish red beret Pin-credible: Cara worked her supermodel prowess in the sensational look which zeroed in on her enviably toned legs - which were boosted with pointed black heels Racy touch: Cara's stylish black dress fell at a saucy thigh-grazing level Trendy: The number boasted an exposed zipper down the middle and across the sides - as well as lace-up detailing on the shoulders Topping things off: The British beauty hid her new shaved look with a bright red beret Statement: The hat boasted the word 'Anarchy' in blue lettering Cara looked in great spirits as she headed to the event with Jeremy Scott - the host behind the Magnum x Moschino photocall. The celebrations are to honour Jeremy's latest collaboration and is said to 'embody the spirit of someone who is not afraid to show their wild and fierce side.' The man himself was hard to miss at he put on a funky sartorial display in a super cool black suede leather jacket, which was adorned with bright patchwork designs such as hamsa hands and elephants. Last year, Cara's pal Kendall was the model muse for the glitzy bash where she wowed in a gorgeous patterned gown with a plunging neckline. Model muse: Cara looked in great spirits as she headed to the event with Jeremy Scott - the host behind the Magnum x Moschino photocall Designing talent: The man himself was hard to miss at he put on a funky sartorial display in a super cool black suede leather jacket Va va voom! Keen on amping up the glamour furthermore, Cara pout was doused with a slick of red lipstick Party time: The celebrations are to honour Jeremy's latest collaboration and is said to 'embody the spirit of someone who is not afraid to show their wild and fierce side' Professional: Despite being swarmed by press, Cara looked relatively at ease as she made her way to the event Meanwhile, Cara is currently filming Life In A Year, directed by Mitja Okorn - which follows Cara as a terminally ill woman, with one year left to live. In a bid to make her last months her best yet her boyfriend Daryn, played by Jaden Smith, 18, vows to give her an 'entire life' in the time she has left. Fully committing to her character, Cara debuted her fully shaved head for the first time on set last month, and has since showed off her new look at a number of red carpet events, including the glitzy 2017 Met Gala in New York City. Only weeks before the film, Cara had been seen dying her trademark tresses a bright hue of pink - which she explained was in preparation of the big shave. Documenting: Cara looked in high spirits as she whipped out her camera to take selfies Fashionista: She accessorised with a chic pair of shades and delicate gold stud earrings Glued to the screen: Cara couldn't peel her eyes away from her phone Getting comfy: Cara took to the sofa with Jeremy as they discussed the special event Pin envy: Her legs were on fine form as she got cosy on the sofa Pulling out all the stops: A sizzling performance also took place as dancers took to the stage infront of them Trendsetter: Jeremy paired his trendy jacket with a pair of leather trousers Photogenic: A big still from Cara's photo shoot for Magnum was shown on the screen Following her lead: Last year Kendall Jenner hosted the special Magnum x Moschino event at Cannes Hard at work: The Suicide Squad star was seen sporting a pink wig as she got to work on the set of her upcoming movie, Life In A Year, in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday She told US Weekly magazine of the shake up at the time: 'I have to shave my head for my next part, so I have to do something different. 'So I dyed it. Just for fun. Just to change it up.' Making the transition from modelling to acting in recent years, Cara is also set to make an appearance in anticipated sci-fi thriller Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets. The star, who landed her first acting role as Princess Sorokina in 2012 flick Anna Karenina opposite Keira Knightley, will play a feisty young fighter in the film. She's been busy making the talk show rounds ahead of the premiere of the Twin Peaks reboot this weekend. And on Thursday Naomi Watts was all smiles as she stopped by The Today Show in New York. While the 48-year-old looked stunning in a long-sleeve floral frock, she almost lost one of her shoes when the strap came undone. Mishap! Naomi Watts looked stunning in a long-sleeve floral frock, but she almost lost one of her shoes when the strap came undone Her pale blue heels with gold detailing matched her dress beautifully, however caused a minor mishap when one of the shoe's bands came open as she walked. Naomi looked otherwise elegant in the slinky, silky white number, which featured a multi-coloured flower pattern and high collar. Keeping her accessories simple, The Ring star slung a pink bag with matching blossom pattern over her shoulder and sported rose-coloured glasses. Blossoming beauty! Naomi was all smiles as she stopped by The Today Show in New York on Thursday in an elegant floral frock Pretty palette: The Ring actress opted for natural make-up tones, with hints of blush and a rouge lip colour The Ring actress opted for natural make-up tones, with hints of blush and a rouge lip colour. Her medium-length locks were worn out in loose curls, framing her face and adding a touch of Hollywood glam. The mother-of-two again set aside time for her fans, stopping to sign autographs ahead of her appearance on the show. Generous: The mother-of-two again set aside time for her fans, stopping to sign autographs ahead of her appearance Style queen: Keeping her accessories simple, she slung a pink bag with matching blossom pattern over her shoulder and sported rose-coloured glasses It comes after Naomi appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday, wearing a classy black and gold ensemble. The King Kong actress spoke about her role in the Twin Peaks reboot, telling the host that the series was shrouded in secrecy even for the actors. 'You don't get to see the entire scene, (you get to see) your lines and maybe if there is a question before,' she revealed. It marks the fourth time the actress has worked with director David Lynch, after getting her Hollywood break with his hit film Mulholland Drive. Jordan Barrett caught the eye of many an eligible single lady at the InStyle Women of Style Awards in Sydney on Wednesday. But he appeared to win the affections of one in particular, with the 20-year-old model reportedly seen 'flirting' with fellow runway star Elyse Taylor, 30. Despite their 10-year age difference,The Daily Telegraph reports that Jordan 'put on a flirty display' with Elyse. Connection? Despite their 10-year age difference, The Daily Telegraph reports that Jordan Barrett (right) 'put on a flirty display' with Elyse Taylor (left) at the InStyle Awards this week The pair are said to have 'locked eyes for most of the night' and 'linked arms' as they briefly left the room together. Jordan was then seen 'draping his arms around her from behind' as they posed for a group photo with AFL WAG Jesinta Campbell. The genetically-blessed fashionistas were also pictured at the event with former model and businesswoman Jodhi Meares. Flirting? Jordan (left) and Elyse (right) are said to have 'locked eyes for most of the night' on Wednesday and 'linked arms' as they briefly left the room together The male model has a reputation as a 'cougar hunter' after being linked to Kate Moss, Paris Hilton and Lara Stone in the past. Meanwhile, Elyse split with her husband Seth Campbell last year. The former couple, who share three-year-old daughter Lila Louise, were married for just over a year. Single: Meanwhile, Australian model Elyse split with her husband Seth Campbell last year It was recently claimed Jordan had earned a whopping paycheck to briefly walk the runway for Justin Cassin at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The Daily Telegraph alleged he received $100,000 for his runway appearance. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Jordan and Elyse for comment. Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella Thursday is warning residents of a surge in unclaimed property scams targeting people through fake letters and emails. The scammers portray themselves as being representatives of the treasury or from the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, and the correspondence in many instances does use the letterhead of that organization. The scammers claim the state is holding on to a person's unclaimed property, which may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They they request personal information, and a small fee, with the promise of obtaining the property. As Treasurer, Im outraged that anyone would attempt to defraud Pennsylvanians who just want their rightful property," Torsella said in a news release. "Approximately 10 percent of all Pennsylvanians have unclaimed property with Treasury, so its important that people know the correct way to find and collect what theyre owed." Torsella said the Treasury receives millions of dollars of unclaimed property annually, and the property is available for owners to claim, with the Treasury serving as the custodian. You should always be a cautious consumer, particularly when receiving unsolicited mailings concerning your money, Torsella said. Treasury can help you recover your property free of charge, however, independent Finders are also available. Consumer should make sure those Finders are certified by checking the listing on Treasurys website. To view unclaimed property in Pennsylvania, visit www.patreasury.gov/claim. She recently jetted to Turkey for a Brazilian butt lift. And Chloe Khan seemed keen to show off the results as she headed to a yacht party with a host of fellow reality stars in Ibiza on Wednesday. Ensuring she would turn heads on the outing, Chloe also dared to go braless beneath a rose gold cover up, teasing a glimpse at her surgically enhanced assets. Scroll down for video Looking good: She recently had a Brazilian butt lift. And Chloe Khan seemed keen to show off the results as she headed to a yacht party with a host of reality stars in Ibiza on Wednesday Whilst struggling to contain her ample bust, the flimsy material also offered a look at her enhanced buttocks as she donned just a tiny pair of white bikini bottoms. Adding to the glamour, Chloe donned a glittering diamond choker and carried a Yves Saint Laurent handbag. With her make-up expertly applied, Chloe finished off the look by styling her raven coloured tresses in loose waves that framed her pretty features. All eyes on her: Ensuring she would turn heads on the outing, Chloe also dared to go braless beneath a rose gold cover up, teasing a glimpse at her surgically enhanced assets All about the accessories: Adding to the glamour, Chloe donned a glittering diamond choker and carried a Yves Saint Laurent handbag Brunette bombshell: With her make-up expertly applied, Chloe finished off the look by styling her raven coloured tresses in loose waves that framed her pretty features Terrific trio: Chloe was joined Ex On The Beach's Helen Briggs and Geordie Shore's Chantelle Connelly as they headed towards the party boat Loving life: The gal pals all seemed in great spirits on the outing Full steam ahead: The ladies were loving life as they walked along Chloe's outing came after she went under the knife again to enhance her posterior. A Brazilian butt lift is designed to improve the appearance of lift and contour on the derriere by removing fat from the waist and injecting it into the bum. Ahead of her journey, Chloe was open about the procedure, announcing in a video: 'I'm on my way to Elite after care, it is in Turkey so I'm going to jump on a quick flight, to go and get a Brazilian butt lift. Posing up a storm: Once on the high seas, Chloe bizarrely changed into more clothing, teaming a cream bardot top with tiny denim hotpants Strike a pose: The Playboy playmate seemed to be having a whale of a time Two's company: She was joined by Love Island's Katie Salmon on the outing Bootylicious: Chloe showed off the results of her Brazilian butt lift in her tiny shorts Busting out: Chloe was also seen bursting out of a tiny blue swimming costume Bottoms up: The starlet crawled over to be near Big Brother's Lateysha Grace All aboard captain! Chloe rode along behind Katie Salmon who dazzled in a tiny yellow bikini and grey baseball cap Looking good: The duo seemed in great spirits as they floated along the sea Double trouble: The ladies threw their arms up in the air in abandon as they cruised along Peace out: Katie was in high spirits on the high seas as she partied with her pal Two's company: The reality starlets were on high spirits on the outing Soaking up the sun: Chloe and Katie were joined by Ex On The Beach's Zaralena Jackson 'It's not implants, they actually take all the fat from your own body that you don't want and they put it all in your booty, to give you that fat a**e. 'So for someone who isn't that fat, or wasn't, I've been stuffing my face on Dominoes and loads of munchies all week to pack on the pounds.' Chloe has been open about her love of plastic surgery, and recently revealed she has splashed out roughly 50,000 on cosmetic procedures. Not-so mellow yellow! Katie flaunted her impeccably peachy posterior in a tiny bikini Looking good: Katie posed up a storm as she sailed along the high seas Hold on: It was safety first for Katie as she steadied herself on the edge of the boat Keeping hydrated: Katie made sure her fluid intake was high Peachy: Katie also donned a pink bikini with tiny briefs that couldn't contain her derriere Fun in the sun: Katie seemed to be enjoying herself with Chantelle Connelly Demure: Katie had layered up in a white tasseled kaftan to board the boat Speaking to new! magazine, the Playboy playmate explained: 'In my circles, surgery isnt weird. Its like going for dinner! 'I love looking like a Barbie and being out of proportion.' She added: 'Ive spent about 20,000 on my boobs, 9,000 on my nose, 8,500 on veneers, and my lips were another 10,000 - so about 50,000 in total.' Chloe was not alone at the yacht party, and was joined by a host of reality stars on the yacht. All together now: The reality stars were out in force as they sailed around Ibiza All together now: The group all seemed in high spirits on the outing Love Island star Katie Salmon was also aboard, and opted to put her heavily tattooed curves on display in a bejwelled pink two-piece, which featured a halterneck top and high-cut bottoms. With her hair styled in braids, the reality TV star showed off her toned and shapely physique in the eye-catching number as she sipped champagne with partygoers. Katie is reportedly 'in talks' to make a big return to this year's hotly anticipated series Love Island, after impressing producers with her fiery nature and headline-grabbing antics. Hop aboard! Former Geordie Shore star Chantelle Connelly jumped on the back of Sam Giffin - who appeared in the latest series of Big Brother Terrific twosome: Chantelle looked incredible in a skimpy black bikini Double trouble: Chantelle was spotted putting on quite the busty display as she stepped out in a a black Emporio Armani bikini for a yacht party with Helen Briggs Glam: The starlets seemed in great spirits as they headed on the action-packed yacht Brunette beauty: With her chestnut brown tresses blowing in the gentle sea breeze as she lapped up the festivities, she shielded her eyes with a pair of fashionably mirrored sunglasses The glamour model was embroiled in a love triangle after catching the eye of Sophie Gradon - who was already coupled up with Welsh hunk Tom Powell. And as a source revealed to The Sun, fans may be able to expect to see Katie onscreen sooner than they may have anticipated. 'Katie was only in the house for five minutes but was caught up in two of the most dramatic twists in the entire series. Strike a pose: Zaralena Jackson sizzled in a white lace swimsuit with tie up detailing on the side Bootylicious: The Ex On The Beach star sizzled as she kept her balance on the board Explosive: Zaralena made an explosive impact on the last series of Ex On The Beach, after enjoying a night with Aaron Chalmers as soon as he entered the villa Layering up: Zaralena sizzled in her skimpy swimsuit that she wore beneath a tribal print cover-up and teamed with cream wedges All together now: Zaralena was joined by Helen who also rocked crochet swimwear Lacy lady! Zaralena layered up with an oversized denim jacket Squat it like its hot: Zaralena was loving life as she rested on the edge of the boat Two of a kind: Zaralena cosied up to a gal pal on the floating panel 'Its no secret that ITV are hoping for more sex, drama and tensions this year, and they know that Katie would be the perfect instigator. 'Shes already spoken to producers who seem to want her to return to the Villa for the whole stint rather than arriving later than the others.' Katie's brief dalliance with fellow beauty Sophie - creating the first female couple - revved up the drama of last year's series, while her confession of feelings for Irish wrestler Adam Maxted caused another shockwave. Pour it up: Helen treated herself to a glass of wine as they set sail Looking good: The starlet showed off her tanned and toned stomach on the outing Bootylicious: Helen was joined by her busty pals on the yacht Twerk it out: Helen seemed to be enjoying the music as she danced along Looking good: She seemed in great spirits as she danced along The rumours come after a blunder by Channel 5 implied that the star was about to take on another dating reality show - MTV's Ex On The Beach. Appearing on the channel's Celebrity Sex Pod show, the voiceover appeared to give away Katie's next career move by stating: 'Next in the queue and seeking advice on their sex lives is ... Ex On The Beachs Katie Salmon.' Bottoms up! The starlets showed off their peachy rears as they reclined on the yacht Yacht's up? The gal pals all seemed in excellent spirits Not to be outdone, Ex On The Beach's Helen Briggs went for a white off-shoulder crocheted crop top and olive green bikini bottoms, while cat-eye sunglasses and her signature bold blue locks set her apart from the crowd of sun-seeking revellers. Sam Giffen, whose claim to fame is appearing on the 2016 series of Big Brother, also seemed in great spirits as chatted with ZaraLen Jackson. Zaralena made an explosive impact on the last series of Ex On The Beach, after enjoying a night with Aaron Chalmers as soon as he entered the villa. Dancing through life: Chloe shimmied along as she lead the overseas dancing Loving life: The group danced around in the sunshine Cheers! The pals seemed to be having the best of times at their wild party All together now: The group were in the best of spirits as they danced around Making moves: The group looked picture perfect on the outing Her decision to leave the show was the result of a love triangle with Aaron and his ex-girlfriend Becca Edwards, atop a mutiny with Geordie beauty Zahida Allen. Following a series of furious rows, she explained: 'Aaron clearly still has feelings there for Becca and I feel like piggy in the middle, so I need to get out of this situation. I think it's time I left. I've made a decision that I will go tonight'. Meanwhile, former Geordie Shore star Chantelle Connelly was spotted putting on quite the busty display as she stepped out in a a black Emporio Armani bikini for a yacht party. With her chestnut brown tresses blowing in the gentle sea breeze as she lapped up the festivities, she shielded her eyes with a pair of fashionably mirrored sunglasses as she lapped up the festivities Picture time! Big Brother's Lateysha Grace ensured she was front and centre for picture time Snap happy: Chloe stopped the conversation for a selfie She put on a decidedly raunchy display with pal Bella Hadid following the opening ceremony of the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival. Now putting the hands-on display behind her, Emily Ratajkowski showcased her sophisticated style as she stepped out on the Promenade de la Croisette in Cannes, France on Thursday. The 25-year-old model-turned-actress stunned in a darling black sundress which highlighted her slender physique and ample cleavage. Scroll down for video Picture perfect: Emily Ratajkowski put on a sophisticated sartorial display as she stepped out on the Promenade de la Croisette in Cannes, France on Thursday Her midi number featured a torso-hugging bodice which exhibited her narrow waist before flaring out into an A-line skirt. Emily's charming daytime garment boasted ribbon straps and an eye-catching bow nestled in the midst of her bust. Adding inches to her statuesque frame, she slipped on a pair of red and black Altuzarra espadrilles which wrapped around her slender pins with ease. Breast of both worlds! The Gone Girl star's demure look was worlds away from her raunchy antics on board a yacht the previous evening Figure-flaunting: The 25-year-old model-turned-actress stunned in a darling black sundress which highlighted her slender physique and ample cleavage Chic: Her midi number featured a torso-hugging bodice which exhibited her narrow waist before flaring out into an A-line skirt Leaving her brown locks loose, she accessorised her demure ensemble with an Amelie Pichard mini wicker handbag and oversized shades. The Gone Girl actress has been enjoying herself since landing in the South of France earlier this week having spent time at A-list hotspot Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, documenting her envy-inducing trip on social media. Her stylish display comes after she enjoyed a glamorous night out at the opening ceremony of the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival which saw her continuing the party as they put on a rather raunchy display while boogying the night away on a luxury yacht after the main event. Sophisticated: Adding inches to her statuesque frame, she slipped on a pair of red and black Altuzarra espadrilles which wrapped around her slender pins with ease Copping a feel: Bella, 20, was so impressed by Emily's assets, she couldn't help but grab them during a dance session while attending the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival Chilling: Documenting their evening on Instagram, the beauties were seen changing out of their designer dresses into more comfortable jeans as they relaxed Emily and her pal Bella Hadid , 20, was evidently so impressed with the We Are Your Friends star's assets that she couldn't help but grope her as they got their groove on in a racy Instagram video, with Emily captioning the clip: 'She loves me.' The two gorgeous women, along with Hailey Baldwin, were dancing up a storm in similar off-the-shoulder sexy tops and jeans. Earlier in the night, the trio commanded attention on the Palais des Festivals red carpet earlier that evening, as they posed in a selection of show-stopping gowns. Daring: Emily showcased her sizzling style as she made her way down the busy promenade Style star: Leaving her brown locks loose, she accessorised her demure ensemble with a mini wicker handbag and oversized shades Sizzling: She has been making an impact on the festival Stunner: The busty beauty looked incredible in the gown Ruling the red carpet: Emily's demure look was worlds away from her dazzling champagne coloured silk gown at the Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony the previous evening Leggy lady: The stunning silk number featured a soaring thigh-high split to ensure every inch of the model's toned and tanned pins were on display Clearly enjoying their time in the French Riviera, Emily was quick to share a number of videos of their dance party on Instagram. In one clip, the sister of supermodel Gigi is even seen holding on to Emily's famously busty chest as they writhe against each other on the desk of the luxurious yacht. Emily opts for a solo session by posting a video of herself strutting her stuff to Nicky Minaj. She captioned the video: '@nickyminaj you the queen' with a crown emoji instead of the word queen. Boat party: Bella, Emily and Hailey Baldwin let their hair down in a more casual fashion after the glitzy Cannes Film Festival Opening Gala Advertisement After putting on the most stylish of displays at a photocall for their new movie Wonderstruck on Thursday afternoon, Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore pulled out all the stops for the big premiere later that evening. Stepping out for the second day of the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, Michelle glided onto the expansive red carpet at the iconic Palais des Festivals in a glittering, form-fitting black dress, which featured a plunging neckline. Her floor-length number boasted capped sleeves, which - when blended with her bleached and chopped pixie cut - gave the 36-year-old actress a sleek and polished futuristic look. Scroll down for video It's showtime! (L-R) Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore attended the premiere of their new movie Wonderstruck at the Cannes Film Festival's Palais des Festivals on Thursday evening The extra material capping the sleeves of the mother of one's stunning gown culminated in a gathering of material at the base of her backless number, giving it something of a cape-like appearance. And while the gown - which featured a darkened panel down the front, was cut at the perfect length to graze the red carpet laid out for the festival, a thigh-high slit added an edgy touch. Michelle opted to forgo accessories, going jewellery-free as she allowed her gown to do all of the glittering on her behalf. She also went light and minimal on the makeup, letting her natural beauty shine through. Not to be outdone, 56-year-old screen siren Julianne made quite the entrance at the show-stopping screening, gracing the red carpet in a textured white midi dress, which boasted a feathered overlay. Form-fitting: Michelle glided onto the expansive red carpet at the iconic Palais des Festivals in a glittering, form-fitting black dress, which featured a plunging neckline Futuristic: Her floor-length number boasted capped sleeves, which - when blended with her bleached and chopped pixie cut - gave the 36-year-old actress a sleek and polished futuristic look Having a laugh: The criticially-lauded actresses hugged and laughed as they posed for photographs alongside each other Cape: The extra material capping the sleeves of the mother of one's stunning gown culminated in a gathering of material at the base of her backless number, giving it something of a cape-like appearance Natural beauty: Screen star Michelle opted to go light and minimal on the makeup, letting her natural beauty shine through Standing tall in a pair of silver strappy heels, the Oscar-winning actress teamed her gown with a large, glittering statement ring on each of her hands, while oversized diamond curled earrings added a further touch of pizzazz. Her signature fiery red tresses rested about her shoulders in a series of soft waves, while her alabaster complexion was given dusted with a light application of naturally-hued makeup. Ahead of the big premiere, the actresses also wowed at the movie's photocall earlier in the day, as Michelle stepped out sporting a thigh-grazing look alongside her glamorous co-star Julianne. Soaking up the French Riviera sunshine, the American screen siren was a vision of beauty as she posed for snaps ahead of her new flick's premiere. All white on the night: Not to be outdone, 56-year-old screen siren Julianne made quite the entrance at the show-stopping screening, gracing the red carpet in a textured white midi dress, which boasted a feathered overlay Chatting: The beauties merrily chatted away in between posing for the plethora of photographers gathered on the red carpet Pizzazz: A pair of oversized diamond curled earrings added a further touch of pizzazz to the Oscar-winning actress' look Fiery red tresses: Julianne's signature fiery red tresses rested about her shoulders in a series of soft waves, while her alabaster complexion was given dusted with a light application of naturally-hued makeup Climb: The stars carefully made their way up the grand staircase as they prepared to settle into their seats for the screening Showing off her enviably long and lean legs, the Oscar nominee dazzled in a printed floral mini dress with dramatic flared detailing on the shoulders. Cinching in at her slender waist, the garment highlighted her sensational figure whilst remaining demure, grazing the tops of her tanned and toned thighs. Giving her diminutive frame an extra boost, the stunning starlet donned a pair of barely there black heels, whilst her only accessory was a pair of beige circular shades. Boasting her pixie crop, the mother-of-one worked a fresh beauty look with a glowing rose blush across her cheeks. Puckering up! T.J. Miller and Kate Gorney were also seen attending the premiere - and they shared a kiss for all to see Contrasting: Sandy Powell made an entrance to remember in a striped blue gown, which contrasted her bright orange hair Elsewhere, Julianne looked incredible in her emerald green ankle-skimming dress which highlighted her narrow waist with a fabric black belt. Her choice of garment accentuated her radiant alabaster skin and flame-coloured hair as she tackled a number of steps towards the cinematic event. The Oscar winner teamed her fashion forward look with a pair of black platform sandals and kooky retro inspired shades. Michelle stars as Elaine in Wonderstruck, alongside Julianne, Oakes Fegley and Amy Hargreaves in the eagerly anticipated movie. Breathtaking: Amber Valletta looked breathtaking in an orange floral gown, which featured a layered, asymmetrical design Strike a pose! The model and actress peeled out her trusty iPhone to take a snapshot of the bustling action surrounding her Glittering: The 43-year-old beauty lit up the red carpet with a range of accessories that included an elaborate diamond choker The film, which is adapted from a novel by Brian Selznick, covers two different time periods, telling the story of a young boy in the Midwest and a girl in New York. Wonderstruck is competing for Palme d'Or - the most esteemed prize at the festival. Wonderstruck is one of 49 films being screened at this year's festival with two of the final flicks produced by streaming service Netflix - Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. However the decision to include them didn't go down well with film purists and since the cinematic event has announced that from 2018 only movies set to be released on the big screen will be considered for selection. Squad: Actresses Michelle and Julianne joined (l-r) director Todd Haynes, actor Jaden Michael, producer Pamela Koffler and screenwriter Brian Selznick Strappy heels: Standing tall in a pair of silver strappy heels, the Oscar-winning actress teamed her gown with a large, glittering statement ring on each of her hands Mingling: The actresses were seen greeting and mingling with a long line of well-heeled attendees at the big unveiling So excited: Looking dapper in an all-black ensemble, Jaden could barely contain his excitement as he lapped up the festivities Tale: Wonderstruck, which is adapted from a novel by Brian Selznick covers two different time periods, telling the story of a young boy in the Midwest and a girl in New York Glam: Julianne and Michelle later attended another glamorous event together following the premiere Dazzling: The pair both commanded attention in their contrasting gowns, both opting for classic pieces Guests: The actresses, pictured with Roy Price, were at a party held in honour of their film Wonderstruck at Nikki Beach Co-stars: The cast of Wonderstruck were out in full force, including young star Millicent Simmonds (R) Talented: The star-studded cast means that the film, which covers two time periods, is hotly-anticipated Stunning: Julianne was a vision in white; while actress Charlotte Carroll (R) went for a feminine icy blue frock All smiles: Julianne stars as Lillian Mayhew in the film, while Millicent plays Rose. Michelle stars as Elaine in the movie Leading this year's esteemed jury is Volver director Pedro Almodovar for the 70th annual film festival taking place May 17-28. Joining him is Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain, actor Will Smith, X-Men star Fan Bingbing, actress Agnes Jaoui, director Paolo Sorrentino, German writer-director Maren Ade, filmmaker Park Chan-wook and composer Gabriel Yared on the jury. Apart from films, A-list stars are set to attend a number of star-studded bashes throughout the festival including the AmFar Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and Chopard's annual bash at Port Pierre Canto, co-hosted by Rihanna. Returning to Cannes, Cheryl's ex husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini will launch his new pop up restaurant Versini on the rooftop of the Five Seas Hotel. Black to basics: Tiziana Rocca, left, and Giulio Base arrived at the event in smart and polished black ensembles Competing: Wonderstruck is competing for Palme d'Or - the most esteemed prize at the prestigious annual festival Stiff competition: Wonderstruck is one of 49 films being screened at this year's festival with two of the final flicks produced by streaming service Netflix - Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories Judge and jury: Leading this year's esteemed jury is Volver director Pedro Almodovar for the 70th annual film festival Parties: Apart from films, A-list stars are set to attend a number of star-studded bashes throughout the festival including the AmFar Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and Chopard's annual bash at Port Pierre Canto, co-hosted by Rihanna She showed her younger counterparts how to turn heads on the red carpet for all the right reasons at the 70th Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony on Wednesday evening. And Susan Sarandon dazzled once again as she stepped out in the French coastal town on Thursday when she was spotted leaving the iconic Hotel Martinez. The acclaimed actress, 70, looked elegant in an eye-catching grey and black patterned dress, which split at the thighs to display a hint of her perfectly toned legs. Scroll down for video Stunning: Susan Sarandon, 70, flashed her legs when she headed out to the 70th annual Film Festival in Cannes on Thursday, wearing a patterned dress with a high neckline Confident: The new look comes a day after the youthful actress put on a VERY busty display in a plunging green velvet gown at a screening for the movie, Ismael's Ghosts Featuring a scooped neck and a flattering cinched-in waist, the screen star's choice of outfit was decidedly more demure than the previous evening - but a style winner all the same. The redhead beauty ditched her jewels to put the emphasis on her stunning attire. Susan's age-defying look was finished off with a pair of bulky statement shades and patent lace-up shoes as she strolled around town with her entourage. The ultra-confident display comes a day after the Thelma and Louise icon wowed crowds in a plunging Alberta Ferretti gown that highlighted her ample assets. Turning heads: Susan looked incredible wearing her statement dress with a pair of flatform brogues Hollywood legend: Her show-stopping look was finished off with a pair of bulky statement shades as she strolled around town with her entourage She poured her voluptuous curves into the stunning number while strutting her way down the famous Palais des Festivals red carpet. Susan is well-known for her activism and does not mince her words when discussing political issues. She backed Bernie Sanders in the presidential election after slamming Hillary Clinton for her conduct over the emails scandal. And she is also open about her love life, described herself as a 'serial monogamist' who was open to a relationship with a woman. Ready to party: Susan is well-known for her activism and does not mince her words when discussing political issues Holding tight: She navigated her way down some stairs, while holding a bottle of Evian, which had an artfully placed straw to avoid messing up her lipstick The Feud: Bette And Joan star candidly told PrideSource in February: 'Yeah, I'm open. My sexual orientation is up for grabs, I guess you could say.' She added, 'I'm a serial monogamist, so I haven't really had a large dating career. I haven't exactly been in the midst of a lot of offers of any kind.' Last year, she ended her five-year relationship with Jonathan Bricklin, a man more than 30 years her junior. Susan met Jonathan on a road trip to Chile in 2010, the year after she split from Tim Robbins, with whom she had been in a long-term partnership since 1988. Dating: Susan is also open about her love life, described herself as a 'serial monogamist' who was 'open to a relationship with a woman 'Up for grabs': The star candidly told PrideSource in February: 'Yeah, I'm open. My sexual orientation is up for grabs, I guess you could say' Until 2009, she was thought to be blissfully happy with her partner of 23 years Tim, father to their two sons Jack, 27, and Miles, 24, as well as Eva, 32, her daughter from an earlier relationship. Then out of the blue Tim, 54, went through what hes called a midlife crisis and insanity and the couple separated. Before that, Susan married actor Chris Sarandon at just 21 years old, in 1968, but it ended in divorce in 1979. This years Cannes film festival runs from May 17-28 Love life: She added, 'I'm a serial monogamist, so I haven't really had a large dating career. I haven't exactly been in the midst of a lot of offers of any kind' History: Last year, she ended her five-year relationship with Jonathan Bricklin, who had a 30-year age gap It includes 49 films in total, two of which are produced by streaming service Netflix - Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. However the decision to include them didn't go down well with film purists and organisers have announced that from 2018 only movies set to be released on the big screen will be considered for selection. Headed up by Volver director Pedro Almodovar, members of this year's judging panel from the Feature Films category include actors Jessica Chastain, Will Smith and Fan Bingbing, as well as directors Paolo Sorrention and Gabriel Yared, of The English Patient fame. She's rarely seen in anything less than an eye-catching outfit. But Christine Bleakley ditched her usual glamorous look for a more casual ensemble as she left ITV studios in London on Thursday. The stunning Irish presenter stepped out in a black asymmetrical biker jacket with exposed zip detailing over a fitted black top. Casual: Christine Bleakley left ITV studios in London on Thursday in a black asymmetrical biker jacket with exposed zip detailing over a a fitted black top Christine matched the look with high cropped jeans and fresh white Adidas trainers. Approaching her second anniversary with ex-Chelsea star Frank Lampard, Christine had made an appearance on Loose Women earlier in the day where she wore a vivid orange maxi dress with a thin leather belt that drew in around her slender waist. Christine's appearances on Loose Women are never anything less than absorbing and in December she revealed her longing to have a baby with beau Frank. Low key: Christine matched the look with high cropped jeans and fresh white Adidas trainers Happily married: Approaching her second anniversary with ex-Chelsea star Frank Lampard, Christine had made an appearance on Loose Women earlier in the day where she wore a vivid orange maxi dress with a thin leather belt that drew in around her slender waist The Irish presenter, who was hosting the chat show for the first time, told Martine McCutcheon, Gloria Hunniford and Linda Robson: 'I'm 37 but in my head I'm about 23/24. Of course you have to get your head around that biologically you can't have babies forever. 'I certainly would love to have children. I think with Frank having two little girls, you've got a strange sense of motherhood without being mummy but it is a wonderful thing. 'There are no grandchildren in my family at all so I know my mum and dad would secretly love it. They'd never put pressure on us but I know they'd secretly adore it.' Although she's not thinking about it too much yet, Christine is open to the idea of IVF - a technique used to help people with fertility problems - in the future. Children: Christine admitted she would love to have children with husband Frank despite being in her forties She explained: 'I would probably [have IVF]. I have very close friends that have gone down that road (IVF) and I know it can be incredibly difficult, you go through various rounds and they don't work, it can be very stressful for couple. 'It's one of those things where you just think, "Well, I'll put my trust in whatever it is up there." But if you're told you're can't, then that's when I think I'll go down that route. I've had a very good trial period of him and I know he'll be a great dad.' Christine also revealed how ex Chelsea star Frank, 38, broke down in tears at the couple's wedding last year. She explained: 'He's not naturally (a crier), but on our wedding day, goodness me, it all started on that day.' Frank became emotional while speaking about his late mum after the service and again when speaking about Christine, the presenter said. She added that he was set off once more when his daughters gave an impromptu speech about the newlyweds. 'He wasn't afraid to do it in front of friends and family,' said Christine. He took an extended break from Albert Square to care for his daughter after a car crash. But Mick Carter (played by Danny Dyer) steamed back onto EastEnders tonight by getting into a fight with Woody Woodward (Lee Ryan) which saw him strike the show's new bad boy in the face. In Thursday night's episode, Danny's character was furious when he caught Woody in bed with his-daughter-in-law, Whitney, and their argument quickly came to blows. Confrontation: An EastEnders bust-up on Thursday night saw Danny Dyer's character Mick Carter punch Woody in the face After a scuffle, Woody could be seen cradling his nose. Sensing trouble, Mick's mother Shirley (Linda Henry) came to break up the argument, ordering Woody to leave before he 'said too much'. But the incident is just the first of Mick's worries. As viewers already know, Shirley sold the freehold of the Queen Vic pub without his permission, in a last-ditch bid to raise money to save Lady Di. Ouch! Danny's character was furious when he caught Woody in bed with his-daughter-in-law Whitney, and their argument quickly came to blows. Woody later cradled his nose She is currently keeping this secret from him, but the truth is set to emerge next week. Danny Dyer, 39, took time off EastEnders due to exhaustion. The actor has thrown himself back into a gruelling filming schedule after time away in South Africa as he took a break from the set. Friendly face: Danny slipped back into his role as pub landlord Mick with ease. He is seen here filming scenes with his character's mum Shirley (played by Linda Henry) Speaking after Danny's break, former EastEnders star Larry Lamb has said that the pressures of being on the show could cause many of the actors to turn to drink. The soap legend, 69, admitted that actors on the BBC soap may be resorting to alcohol, as they work 'under stress'. The Gavin and Stacey actor explained to The Sun at the event: 'There are a lot of businesses like EastEnders where people maybe get involved in drinking a bit more than they should. The boy is back in town: Danny, 39, looked fresh faced as the first photographs of his comeback to the soap emerged on Tuesday 'It happens with doctors and airline pilots it happens with people working under a lot of stress.' While he implied the pressured conditions on set caused the stars to blow off steam, he also claimed the glitzy, high-flying lifestyle that comes with being an actor can also contribute. Danny first appeared as Mick - the landlord of the iconic pub in Walford - in December 2013, after which he became a show favourite. Amber Heard said she has been working hard to prepare for her role as Queen Of The Atlantis Mera in Aquaman. And on Thursday the 31-year-old actress finally shared an image from the set of the 2018 film that also stars Jason Momoa. 'Over a year of prep, 6 months of training, & countless hrs of denying myself pleasure, aka donuts, has led to this moment: Day 1,' the ex-wife of Johnny Depp wrote. Day 1: Amber Heard shared with fans that she began filming Aquaman with this photo on Thursday The star had a scarf on her head and her feet were up as a makeup artist applied lipstick to the beauty. In her hand was an Aquaman comic book. The character of Mera will make her debut in the movie Justice League, out this November. Her role in Justice League will be a supporting one, and she will take a much larger part in Aquaman, which is slated for release on December 21, 2018. Queen of Atlantis: Heard is seen as Mera in the Justice League, out later this year On Tuesday, the former Mrs. Depp gave fans some insight into her training routine for the upcoming blockbuster. In a time-warped video, Heard can be seen doing a series of yoga moves with a trainer. She wrote 'Thank you @fitnessbyfortitude for making a few hours a day feel like just minutes.' Co-stars: The 31-year-old actress is seen here with Aquaman himself Jason Momoa Amber has been Down Under since April 19 when she posted a photo of herself with the caption 'Hello Brisbane! #aquaman.' Days prior she attended the Unite For Humanity Gala in Los Angeles, but left the event early for a 'medical emergency.' 'I wish I could have stayed for the entire event,' she wrote to fans after news broke of her early exit from the gala. In love: The ex of Johnny Depp is now dating Tesla founder Elon Musk, as seen in this photo she shared to Instagram Amber is currently dating 45-year-old Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is said to have wooed her with one of his brand's vehicles. She was married to her The Rum Diary co-star Johnny Depp from 2014 until 2016, when they divorced after accusations of abuse. Ironically it was in Australia, where Amber is filming Aquaman, where she and Depp were cited with illegal dog smuggling as he filmed the fifth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, and were forced to issue a public apology. Wonderstruck Verdict: Flounders in its own syrupy ambition Rating: The last picture by American director Todd Haynes was the sumptuous lesbian romance Carol, which was rapturously received two years ago here at the Cannes Film Festival. Audiences were indeed Wonderstruck. But this film, starring Julianne Moore, had a much cooler reception in Cannes today. And no wonder, for it flounders and eventually drowns in its own syrupy ambition. Nevertheless, Wonderstruck contains many of the stylistic flourishes that made Carol so lovely to look at. In particular, Haynes treats period detail like a great portrait painter preoccupied with getting the eyes right, and here he has two periods to obsess over; Wonderstruck tells two stories simultaneously, one set in 1977, the other exactly 50 years earlier. Audiences were indeed Wonderstruck. But this film, starring Julianne Moore (right), had a much cooler reception in Cannes today. And no wonder, for it flounders and eventually drowns in its own syrupy ambition. The film is based on a 2011 novel for young adults by Brian Selznick, who also wrote the screenplay, and whose very name is a throwback to another age he is related to the celebrated Thirties producer, David O Selznick. His famous forebear would feel right at home in the 1927 setting, which is rendered in black and white and follows a young deaf girl, Rose (delightfully played by hearing-impaired actress Millicent Simmonds). She lives with her wealthy but emotionally distant father in Hoboken, New Jersey, but longs to escape, her imagination kindled by the (silent) movies. She is understandably discombobulated to see that talkies are on their way. Well come back to Rose, as the film does again and again, but really its main protagonist is 12-year-old Ben (Oakes Fegley, also excellent), who in 1977 is living in Minnesota with his aunt and two cousins, after his librarian mother (a fleeting role for Michelle Williams) has been killed in a car crash. Bens mum never told him anything about his father, but Ben thinks he lives in New York, so sets off to find him. This task would be tricky enough, but to add a further layer of complication, Ben has lost his hearing following a lightning strike. The mini stars of the show, Millicent Simmonds and Jaden Michael made an impression Certainly, Wonderstruck has some sweet things to say about the imagination of children, especially deaf children From this point on, the lives of Ben, in what might be termed Kojak-era New York, and Rose back in the Jazz Age, run closely in parallel. He is looking for his father, while she is just as keen, for reasons I probably shouldnt divulge, to track down a major silent-movie star called Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore). Moreover, both children, 50 years apart, are equally in thrall to museums, and above all the Museum of Natural History, where he usefully makes a friend, and she just as usefully encounters a close relative. Gradually, steered either by delightful serendipity or thunderous contrivance, depending on how cynical you are, their parallel lives start to converge. Personally, I found that the films decidedly whimsical charms began to peter out some way before the end. But even then there were plenty of people around me dabbing their eyes. The greats: In particular, Haynes treats period detail like a great portrait painter preoccupied with getting the eyes right, and here he has two periods to obsess over; Wonderstruck tells two stories simultaneously, one set in 1977, the other exactly 50 years earlier Certainly, Wonderstruck has some sweet things to say about the imagination of children, especially deaf children. And, perhaps ironically, it has a memorable soundtrack, combining Seventies classics (David Bowies Space Oddity, The Sweets Fox on the Run) with jazz and ragtime. Haynes has also made his film a kind of visual hymn to New York; Rose and Ben are never more wonderstruck than when they arrive in Manhattan, she stepping off the Hoboken ferry into a monochrome world of flat caps and Model T Fords, and him off a Greyhound bus into a dazzlingly colourful cityscape, full of thieves and derelicts and, that thumping Seventies cliche, black kids playing under a gushing fire hydrant. So the picture has plenty of pleasures, but in attempting to manipulate the audience as he manipulates his characters, Haynes overdoes it. By the end, I believed in everything except the story. Leonardo Dicaprio and Nina Agdal have split. The 42-year-old Oscar-winning actor and the 25-year-old Sports Illustrated model called an end to their relationship just four days ago, DailyMail.com has learned. 'They both decided it was a good idea to break up,' a source has said. 'They are staying friends and are on good terms.' The two were together for over one year. 'They broke up a couple of days ago,' according to a source close to the couple. Over: Leonardo Dicaprio has split from Nina Agdal. The 42-year-old actor and the 25-year-old model called an end to their relationship just four days ago, DailyMail.com has learned Last look: DiCaprio and Agdal were last seen together at a restaurant in West Hollywood on May 9 DiCaprio and Agdal were last seen together at a restaurant in West Hollywood on May 9. They were side by side at an outside table as they ordered sushi and fish tacos. There were two motorcycle helmets in front of them. Leo was checking his phone often and the two did not have any PDAs, an eyewitness said. Both were dressed casually with baseball caps on. Doing fine back then: In September the two were in step in New York City They did not live in the same city: While he was mostly in LA, she lived in NYC; here they are seen in West Hollywood in August The split comes after the Titanic actor was spotted with friends in Malibu on Sunday. It appeared as if they were enjoying a gathering at a private home. That same day Agdal was forced to cancel her trip to Australia, where she was scheduled to appear at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Just five days ago: The split comes after the Titanic actor was spotted with friends in Malibu on Sunday The catwalker was supposed to attend the Misha X Myer party in Sydney on Monday night, but has stayed in the US due to visa issues. The cover girl was 'considering' flying to Sydney on a tourist visa but the idea was supposedly abandoned due to legal issues. Nina and Leo were seen twice together in March: at Crustacean in Beverly Hills and at her 25th birthday party in St Barts. It looked as if they were going strong with sources saying they were 'having a lot of fun together.' Solo: The two were never very public with their relationship and were not once photographed on a red carpet together. See here in February The two were never very public with their relationship and were not once photographed on a red carpet together. They also lived in different cities: while he owns a home in Los Angeles and spends most of his time there, she resides in NYC. DiCaprio and Agdal were first spotted together in May 2016 at Up & Down club in New York City. The actor arrived at the nightclub with Agdal and a group of friends before partying the night away in the VIP section. They were then seen together in the Hamptons where they were photographed embracing after a minor car crash. Leonardo's longest relationship has been with Gisele Bundchen who is now wed to Tom Brady. He has also dated Bar Refaeli, Erin Heatherton, Blake Lively and Toni Garrn, among others. The ex: Leonardo's longest relationship has been with Gisele Bundchen. They were together for five years. Here she is pictured in Brazil in 2003 Dakota Fanning was losing the war against the wind as she was seen with a face full of hair in New York City on Thursday. The sister of Elle Fanning did everything she could to keep her locks out of her face - everything except tie her hair back, that is - as she made her way down a busy street. The 23-year-old star looked chic in a black-and-white print sundress while she fought the relentless billowing gusts. Windswept: Dakota Fanning, 23, was losing the war against the wind as she was seen with a face full of hair in New York City on Thursday The War Of The Worlds alum tackled the sidewalks with the dress that revealed her decolletage and gorgeous gams. Her trademark blonde tresses were kept long and loose when the wind eventually died down. Dakota bounced around in tan leather sandals and carried a stylish brown leather purse in her right hand. The older sister of Elle Fanning has had her hands full with several projects lately. Hair-owing: The Twilight alum began a battle of the ages to keep her hair in a respectable style Reprieve: There were brief moments when both sides seemed to call a truce Not for long: But the crafty enemy would lay still for only a moment before it reared its ugly head again She plays leading lady Liz in the sadistic Western Brimstone, a tale moves from the peaceful American wilderness into a world of sex and violence. Dakota stepped into the role after Mia Wasikowska pulled out at the last minute. 'I didnt have any trepidation,' she told The Independent when asked about being called up to the role so late by Dutch director Martin Koolhoven. Warrior princess: Dakota displayed true valor as she continued fighting the good fight Heads down: At times, the War of the World star was ready to wave the white flag 'I just hoped that Martin would want me to do it. I just read the script and really loved it. I felt it was very different from anything I had ever done. Any opportunity to have a strong female character be the lead of a film we dont see that nearly enough.' The film follows the rugged tale of a mute woman (Fanning) who is persecuted by a vengeful preacher (Guy Pearce) who arrives in her town. Also appearing in the epic is Game of Thrones hunk Kit Harington who stars as rugged outlaw Samuel. Mettle: But she dug deep and found the strength to carry on; for herself, for her country, for the fate of the world Last stand: Dakota and the winds clashed in an epic action-packed climax Written and directed by Koolhoven, Brimstone was honored as one of the official selections at this year's Venice Film Festival. Recently, Dakota was handpicked by the Jimmy Choo's Spring Summer 2017 collection to model its up and coming footwear. She is set to star as Sarah on the new drama series called The Alienist, which airs this year on TNT. Last man standing: The starlet came out victorious and all was at peace again... til next time Killer: After defeating the wind, Dakota took to playing a vengeful mute in Brimstone, which was out for streaming in March It's based on the novel of same name by Caleb Carr. The psychological thriller drama is set in 1896, when a series of gruesome murders of boy prostitutes has gripped the city. Newly appointed top cop Teddy Roosevelt calls upon Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a criminal psychologist -- aka alienist -- and newspaper illustrator John Moore to conduct the investigation in secret. Joining them in the probe is Sara Howard (Dakota), a headstrong secretary at Police Headquarters. Next up, Dakota stars in the all-female remake of Ocean's Eleven called Ocean's Eight due out in 2018. Indian Army gets its First Artillery Gun in 30 Years Published: May 18, 2017 Nearly after 30 years after the induction of Bofors howitzers, Indian Army will get its first artillery guns called M777 from BAE Systems. Swedish Bofors guns were inducted in late 1980s after which Army has not inducted any modern artillery guns. The two M777s has arrived in New Delhi and will be tested at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan. The two M777 guns will be used for compilation of firing tables. Indian Army has plans to equip 169 regiments with 3,503 guns by 2020. Salient Highlights The deal for procuring M777 guns from the United States was initiated in 2010. Finally, the contract worth Rs 2,900-crore to buy 145 M777 guns were struck in November 2016. The government-to-government deal was struck under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. The 155 mm/39-caliber howitzers will increase the armys capabilities in high altitude and will be deployed in the northern and eastern sectors. The modular design of the guns would come handy in towing the guns along the narrow and treacherous mountain roads that is found in Indias borders with both Pakistan and China. It will be especially used by the armys new mountain strike corps which is being raised to counter China in the Northeast. The new corps is expected to be fully operational by 2025. The guns can also be airlifted by using heavy-lift helicopters like the Chinook. India has signed an agreement to acquire Chinook from the US. The C130J Super Hercules, which are used for strategic airlift by India is also capable of airlifting M777 guns. The M777 guns are already in service in the countries like the US, Canada and Australia. These guns were deployed by these armies in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first 25 guns will be inducted directly. The rest 120 guns will be be assembled in India by BAE Systems in collaboration with Mahindra Defence. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017 Category: Defence Current Affairs Topics: Defence Indian Army National Latest E-Books She was reportedly kicked off her flight to Malaga Spain, this week after clashing with a stag party on board. And a friend of Daniella Westbrook has revealed how she was the victim as she was taken off the EasyJet plane in tears. According to The Sun, the actress, 43, was mortified when she was escorted from the plane at London's Gatwick Airport following a row with the lads, who allegedly jeered at her on board. Not flying high: Danniella Westbrook was the victim when she was taken off an EasyJet flight to Spain after the star reportedly clashed with a stag party on board A source told newspaper: 'There was a large group of men shouting remarks like get your gear out and get your t*** out for the stag. 'She felt absolutely mortified being frogmarched off the plane while others took photos of her in tears. 'Then she was forced to wait another three hours for the next flight.' According to The Sun, the actress, 43, could not hold back her tears as she was escorted from the plane. Frogmarched off: According to The Sun , the actress, 43, was mortified when she was escorted from the plane at London's Gatwick Airport A fellow passenger claimed that Danniella had actually been the one to cause the drama - revealing she was 'suddenly removed' after allegedly protesting when she was asked to pack her handbag into her carry-on case. The former EastEnders star was reportedly taken off the flight after getting into an altercation with the raucous group - who called out a number of insults towards her as she boarded. But another source previously claimed to the Sun that Danniella had been asked to leave after throwing a tantrum when told she was only allowed one item of hand luggage. Drama: However, a passenger claimed that Danniella had been the one to kick off - being 'suddenly removed' when she protested to packing her handbag in her carry-on case With another flyer asking if she was OK, the insider said she had replied: ''No I'm f****g not. They've made me put my handbag away in my hand luggage.' 'She had a bit of an exchange with some other passengers as we were boarding and then we ended up waiting about half an hour without explanation.' Clearly not resolving the issue, the source then revealed that the cabin crew had interjected and transferred Danniella to a later flight, to avoid any further tension. Back to health: Danniella was heading to Spain for a girls' holiday in Marbella - after spending time in a rehab clinic in Mijas last month, in order to 'beat her demons' EasyJet states on their website that passengers are allowed one item of hand luggage each, which can be lifted into the overhead locker. It is only easyJet Plus cardholders, FLEXI fare, Up Front or Extra Legroom customers who are allowed an additional bag under their seat. MailOnline has approached representatives of the airline and Danniella for comment. The mother-of-two was heading back to Spain for a girls' holiday in Marbella - after spending time in a rehab clinic in Mijas last month, in order to 'beat her demons' once and for all. Back to good health: After a month-long recovery in the centre, Danniella was then cleared to return home from Spain (above) at the beginning of May After a month-long recovery in the centre, Danniella was then cleared to return home at the beginning of May. However, the actress had immediately concerned fans upon her return to the UK, after admitting she had come off all of her medication. Appearing on Loose Women last week, the blonde confessed that it 'is and isn't safe' to be off her pills - which she took for a number of mental health conditions, including borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia. Her husband Joe is currently serving a 36-month sentence for conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges in a New Jersey jail. But Teresa Giudice was not going to let the absence of her husband of 17 years put a damper on her 45th birthday. In a picture posted to Instagram on Thursday, The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star was flanked by her daughters Gia, Milania, Audriana and Gabriella Giudice. Giudice girls: Teresa Giudice celebrated her 45th birthday on Thursday with daughters Audriana, Gabriella, Gia and Milania on Thursday In true New Jersey fashion, the self-admitted animal print lover's birthday cake had zebra stripes around it's perimeter. Giudice wore black and white stripes herself, but instead of a prison uniform, it was actually an off-the-shoulder top that showed off her tan. In 2015, she celebrated her 43rd birthday party in a Connecticut correctional center for her part in tax evasion and fraud that she and Joe were charged with. Time apart: Her husband Joe is currently serving a three-year jail sentence for tax fraud, here they are seen in 2016 before he turned himself in, and after she served nearly a year in jail Girls trip: The family went on a luxurious Puerto Rican vacation in April Teresa's happy family photo comes on the heels of a string of upsetting events facing those close to the Fabulicious author. She took to social media to send a message to her former Real Housewives Of New Jersey co-star Dina Manzo who was beaten and bound by robbers in a violent home invasion over the weekend at the residence of her millionaire businessman boyfriend Dave Cantin. Giudice shared a photo of Dina taken just hours before the violent incident on Saturday as the blonde beauty attended the First Holy Communion for her daughter Audriana. Bad news: Family friend Dina Manzo (R) was punched in the face and bound during a home invasion robbery last weekend, here she is seen with Teresa's daughter Audriana Tribute: Giudice's mother passed at the age of 66 in March, here her granddaughter Audriana poses with a photo of her grandmother The reality star's caption read: 'We love you Dina and Dave.' She also pointed out that Dina is Audriana's godmother. More heartbreaking news for Giudice came with the death of her mother Antonia Gorga in March at the age of 66 of natural causes. She posted a tribute to her mom on Mother's Day, featuring her daughter Audriana posing with a photo of her grandmother. Talk about getting an early start on trying to whip up some buzz. On Thursday 31-year-old Texas lawyer Rachel Lindsay revealed during a press call that she got engaged to one of her handsome 31 suitors when starring on The Bachelorette. The reality show doesn't debut until Monday. Taken! Rachel Lindsay revealed she got engaged when starring on The Bachelorette Nice guys: The beauty has 31 men to choose from during the show that will air this summer The bad boy? 'Maybe he's not here for the right reasons,' the show's host, Chris Harrison said of 30-year-old suitor DeMario The beauty told reporters during the ABC Upfronts that shes 'very much engaged.' She would name the guy or even drop a hint. But she did say she was not settling. 'If I had a list he would check everything off,' added the ABC star. She's in love: 'If I had a list he would check everything off,' added the ABC star. The show begins on Monday Lindsay first competed on Nick Viall's 21st season of The Bachelor before being eliminated in his finale three. She had told the 34-year-old she was in love with him. He is now engaged to Vanessa Grimaldi. 'Every morning I wake up and pinch myself,' she added. 'I want us to get the chance to get to know each other. Maybe it will be quick. Maybe it will be a longer engagement like Shawn [Booth] and Kaitlyn [Bristowe]. We just really want to get to know each other.' Coy: 'Every morning I wake up and pinch myself,' she added. 'I want us to get the chance to get to know each other. Maybe it will be quick. Maybe it will be a longer engagement,' she said This comes one day after her suitors were revealed. Among this year's contestants is DeMario, 30, who may be at a bit of an advantage after first meeting Rachel on After The Final Rose, following her appearance on the last season of The Bachelor. But according to a Facebook Live video featuring the hit show's host, Chris Harrison, 'Maybe he's not here for the right reasons.' Another contestant who has a past with Rachel is Fred, 27. Fred first met the 31-year-old lawyer when she was his summer camp counselor back when he was at school, and according to the show's 45-year-old host, he still carries a torch for her. So much to absorb: Also this week new art from the show was released and the suitors were named by ABC There's also Jonathan, 31, who describes his occupation as 'Tickle Monster' - despite actually working as a doctor. Another contestant with a somewhat interesting occupation is Lucas, 30. The handsome contender describes his occupation simply as 'whaboom.' 'It's hard to explain. It's a lifestyle. It's an essence. It's who he is. It's a noun, it's a verb. It's an adverb. You'll understand night one,' offered Chris. 'Some of you are going to love him, some of you are going to love to hate him, and some of you are just going to hate him.' And while Kenny, 35, may have a tough exterior, Chris says, he 'probably cries more than anyone this season.' The professional wrestler is also a dad to a little girl, and Chris describes him as 'a softy'. Kat and Alfie: Redwater was demented even for an EastEnders spin off, which is saying something. Even the positive things were a disaster and made it stranger. The standard of acting by the Irish co-stars was terrific for instance but so visibly richer and more convincing the scenes without Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace were much better. The irony was Kat and Alfie: Redwater might have been pretty good if only it didnt have Kat and Alfie. Painful to watch: Kat and Alfie: Redwater was demented even for an EastEnders spin off, which is saying something Like Ballykissangel meets Broadchurch and set on the tropical paradise that is seemingly the Southern coast of Ireland, Redwater was basically ruined by the two Gor Blimey Cockernees blundering around the fields and harbour like fish out of water, looking like tourists from London who had wandered on to the set by accident. Still it was a vast improvement on previous specials featuring Albert Square residents who had boldly crossed the border (out of Walford). The BBC had been forced to apologise the last time the soap had gone to the Emerald Isle when three episodes about Pauline Fowler and her long-lost sister portrayed Dublin as being overrun by drunks, dirty peasants, and donkeys. Another plus was that Kat and Alfie winning a million pound on the lottery, and moving to Spain had improved their dress sense enormously. It was a pleasant change not to see him in that hideous leather trench coat or Kat bulging out of a leopard skin mini skirt like a backstreet brass. Spin off: The standard of acting by the Irish co-stars was terrific but so visibly richer and more convincing the scenes without Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace were much better Kat in particular had undergone more of a personality transplant than a makeover. Gone were the trademark giant hoop earrings, tarty lipstick, stilettos, and alarming cleavage replaced by rainbow bracelets, sunny yellow cardigan, and sandals. Perhaps she had discovered Stevie Nicks or ecstasy. She certainly giggled more than she ever did during her several spells living in Walford. Kat also appeared to have developed ESP and a gift for acting as a human divining rod that Melisandre in Game Of Thrones would envy. Kat and Alfie arrived in Redwater hoping to track down the son that (unbeknownst to her until recently) had been taken from Kat and put up for adoption back in 1983 when he was a newborn baby and she wasnt much older (14). Family: Kat and Alfie arrived in Redwater hoping to track down the son that (unbeknownst to her until recently) had been taken from Kat and put up for adoption back in 1983 I know Im not going to find him in the first ten minutes, she cooed to poor Alfie. But she did well virtually despite with armed only an old postcard from Redwater and no information about him whatsoever (not even his name). Her tactics were relatively simple, as indeed she was: blend in with the locals from the picturesque Irish village by dressing as a member of Clannad, give them some banter, and then drink them under the table. (The locals that is. Not the wafting 70s folk-rock band.) Are there a lot of families here then? she asked, acting dumb with impressive authenticity. Are there a lot of blokes in their thirties and that? Makeovers: Kat and Alfie winning a million pound on the lottery, and moving to Spain had improved their dress sense enormously As luck would have it there were and Kat eyed them like a ravenous cougar (like Michelle Fowler), secretly filming possible candidates on her phone, plying them with probing questions followed by whisky chasers. The chances that the man would still be living there three decades later and that Kat would latch on to his family on Day One were probably greater than winning a million on the lottery. But she hit the jackpot with the first and only people in the entire village she talked to. The head of the family was Lance Bryne, a wise, rugged, farmer/poet who was married to Fionnula Flanagan from Waterloo Road. Their children tilled the land and manufactured ice-cream. Its just his face and that black air ! gasped Kat, ignoring the local priest Father Dermott (as she would do) and fixing her gaze on the Byrnes grandson Andrew Kelly, who at 33 perfectly fitted her sons age and description (black hair). On the search: I know Im not going to find him in the first ten minutes, she cooed to poor Alfie. But she did well virtually So this is home yeah? Where you were born? Where you grew up? she asked, casually making small talk. Maybe we shouldve gone through Social Services, frowned Alfie a ridiculous notion given Kats powers. Unfortunately there were also early signs that since we last saw her Kat had got even thicker. Ere ! How do you know were from London?! she screeched to poor Fionnula. When Kat then poured out her heart about her bay-bay to Lance (the excellent Ian McElhinney) he clearly knew all about her and her child. Is that him? Its just his face and that black air ! gasped Kat, ignoring the local priest Father Dermott (as she would do) But Andy wasnt Kats son, the priest was. Kathleen Moon ! Shes your mother, Lance told Father Dermott. His reaction was obvious, and understandable, and written all over his face: HOLY S**T ! Back in 1983 Dermotts pregnant mother Iris had run off to London, lost her baby, and been given Kats (i.e. Dermott) by the convent. Iris had brought him back to Redwater as her own. Funny old day this is turning out to be, the priest murmured. I always wanted you to know ! insisted Lance. But I was out-voted... By my wife ! Big reveal: Kathleen Moon ! Shes your mother, Lance told Father Dermott. His reaction was obvious, and understandable, and written all over his face: HOLY S**T ! Jesus looked upon Jerusalem and he wept, declared Dermott cryptically adding we live in a foreign world Lance, which didnt help much. Im going to think and pray on it tonight. An emotional Lance hugged him and heartily boomed: I love you ! At the start of the show you wondered if anyone would want to discover that Kat was their birth mother. It ended suggesting that she probably wouldnt want to be re-united with him anyway if she had seen what we had. The news that he was related to the Slaters seemed to tip Dermott over the brink, striding into the sea where Lance was swimming the next morning and force-feeding him a Communion wafer. Then he drowned him. Emotional: Funny old day this is turning out to be, the priest murmured I love you too and I forgive you ! he told Lance before then pushing him under the waves and saying: I offer you the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. May Jesus Christ protect you and lead you to eternal life. Amen? It was certainly an unexpected twist, albeit quite bonkers, conjuring echoes of the BBC series The Lakes or of course Broadchurch - if it had been the vicar whodunit. With Kat busy becoming the 458th Albert Square resident to trace a long-lost son/daughter/ sister/father/muvver/bruvver Alfie didnt get much of a look in. Shocker: I always wanted you to know ! insisted Lance. But I was out-voted... By my wife ! His brain tumour was hardly mentioned except for the evening before the murder, after he had woken up, wandered into the fog in a daze, and nearly walked over a cliff. The doctor said these visions and things could fade eventually, consoled Kat who also appeared to have qualified as a doctor in Spain, but confirming at the same time that Alfie also had supernatural powers (visions). I got scared tonight, Alfie murmured. I think Im seeing things. Like, something was coming. Something horrible. Whether he was predicting Dermotts attack or the rest of Redwater remains to be seen. Penelope Cruz has been putting on a long blonde wig and wearing tight dresses all week to star as Donatella Versace, 62, in a new biopic. But on Thursday the 43-year-old Spanish siren got a chance just to be herself for a while. The brunette was seen with wet hair and an ultra casual outfit - her Daisy Dukes and a white T-shirt as she headed to the Miami set of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Scroll down for video The wig is off! Penelope Cruz wore her natural locks wet as she was seen on the Miami set of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Thursday So chic but not chic: The brunette was seen with wet hair and an ultra casual outfit - her Daisy Dukes and a white T-shirt The beauty looked slender in her little ripped cut-offs which she paired with a gold sandals. And her top looked like it cost $4.99 at Target as it was nondescript save for the flattering V neckline. The beauty seemed to have no makeup on except for a layer of light red lipstick as she headed to her trailer on the cramped set of the highly anticipated docu series. She looks good in ANYTHING! The beauty looked slender in her little ripped cut-offs which she paired with a gold sandals. And her top looked like it cost $4.99 at Target But she won't be comfie for long: The siren was heading to the hair and makeup department The woman she is playing: Donatella Versace attends the Met Gala on May 1 Several attendants were around her and seemed thrilled to be so close to the wife of Javier Bardem, whose Pirates Of The Caribbean film comes out next week. The Volver actress looked to be in a serious mood as she prepared for what no doubt would be a long day of faking an Italian accent for the series. The day before the star was seen in several outfits. No time for fun: A handler gets her on the move; not seen was husband Javier Bardem Blonde ambition: Penelope was back in her platinum blonde wig as she got to work on the set of Versace: American Crime Story later that day Leggy lady: The actress was seen leaving her trailer wearing a floral long-sleeved minidress and gold flip flops as she got to work on set Wow! She a red tight dress, most likely by Versace as she shot a scene. She also had on high heels, chunky gold jewelry and was smoking a cigarette One was a tight red bathing suit, which she wore in a pool. The wig was off. Another was a red tight dress, most likely by Versace as she shot a scene. She also had on high heels, chunky gold jewelry and was smoking a cigarette. As part of the scene, she filmed with Edgar Ramirez who plays Donatella's brother Gianni and Ricky Martin, who is portraying Gianni's lover Antonio D'Amico. Cool look: As part of the scene, she filmed with Edgar Ramirez who plays Donatella's brother Gianni and Ricky Martin, who is portraying Gianni's lover Antonio D'Amico Donatella was 42-years-old when her older brother Gianni Versace was gunned down on the steps of his Miami mansion by Andrew Cunanan, who he had met at a party months prior. The buildup to the murder and it's aftermath are all expected to be covered in Ryan Murphy's Versace: American Crime Story. Not sure how she feels: The Italian designer has not said much about the docu series being made about her brother's murder. Seen February Ricky Martin, Darren Criss and Edgar Ramirez have all been spotted filming at the Versace Mansion in Miami, where the series taking place. Gianni's murderer Cunanan, who is being played by Glee star Darren Criss, was a well-known party-goer in the San Diego gay scene who developed a penchant for older men who could pay for the luxury lifestyle to which he aspired. But in 1997 he embarked on a four month crime spree from April through July during which he brutally murdered five men, the last being Versace. Now in a floral minidress: This little number hardly looked like something Donatella would wear as Cruz was seen later heading into her trailer Really? There was an umbrella over Penelope's head even though there was no rain Having exhibited her toned physique during a recent swimwear shoot it was back to grindstone for Kady McDermott on Thursday afternoon as she worked out in Manchester. The Love Island star, 21, was put through her paces by personal trainer Sam Witter during a fitness session in a local park. Sporting a crop top and gym leggings, Kady showed off her slender physique while performing a series of rigorous free exercise routines. Scroll down for video Working up a sweat: Having exhibited her toned physique during a recent swimwear shoot it was back to grindstone for Kady McDermott on Thursday afternoon as she worked out in Manchester Giving fans something of an insight into the work required to maintain her healthy figure, the TV personality performed a series of lunges, planks and sit-ups during her session with Witter. Seemingly in high spirits, the brunette beamed while exercising with a rubber band wrapped around her legs. Her latest appearance comes shortly after she showed off her sensationally slender physique in a racy white swimsuit on Instagram. Jumping for joy: Seemingly in high spirits, the brunette beamed while exercising with a rubber band wrapped around her legs Guidance: The Love Island star, 21, was put through her paces by personal trainer Sam Witter during a fitness session in a local park The brunette beauty certainly set pulses racing as she posed in the racy one-piece - which plunged at the chest to give a flash of her delicate cleavage. Clinging to her impressively flat stomach and tiny waist, the swimsuit then rose high at her thigh to leave almost all of her long and slender pins on show as she smouldered for the cameras on set. Embarking on the shoot for jewellery brand Coco Gem, Kady then made her swimwear more dramatic by layering an array of glittering body chains on top - which she showed off by playfully shimmying for her followers. A bit of all-white: Kady previously showed off her sensationally toned physique in a racy swimsuit on Tuesday as she documented an exciting photo shoot on Instagram Saucy: The brunette beauty certainly set pulses racing as she posed in the racy one-piece - which plunged at the chest to give a flash of her delicate cleavage Model material: Clinging to her impressively flat stomach and tiny waist, the swimsuit then rose high at her thigh to leave almost all of her long and slender pins on show Modelling a number of looks, the star then swapped her swimsuit for more racy gold and pearl bralets, which displayed her toned abs in further sizzling shots. Leaving her hair sleek and straight and adding a bold red lip, Kady oozed glamour and confidence as she documented her fun day of shooting for fans. Clad in various skimpy ensembles, her deep golden tan was also clear to see - having recently returned from a string of idyllic holidays. Flash of skin: Modelling a number of looks, the star then swapped her swimsuit for more racy gold and pearl bralets, which displayed her toned abs in the next shots She jetted home for a girly getaway to Marbella, Spain last week, which had followed immediately after her romantic break in the Maldives with boyfriend Scott Thomas. Having released her own fitness programme for fans, Kady had displayed her famously toned figure in an array of glittering bikinis by the pool as she relaxed in both luxurious destinations. However the brunette appears more than happy to have reunited with her beau in the UK, after the pair were spotted enjoying a romantic date night at the Miss Manchester 2017 competition last week. First meeting on Love Island last year, the pair appear to still be going strong - with Kady hinting she'd like her man to propose in a recent interview with OK! magazine. All eyes on me: Leaving her hair sleek and straight and adding a bold red lip, Kady oozed glamour and confidence as she documented the shoot for her fans Jet-setter: Clad in various skimpy ensembles, her deep golden tan was also clear to see - having recently returned from a string of idyllic holidays, including a week in Marbella (above) Speaking about her dream proposal, the TV star said: 'I wouldnt want it to be in front of anyone because Id get embarrassed. 'Id want it just us two, preferably in a hot country, on the beach with rose petals and candles everywhere! Romantic, cute and private would be perfect. Scott added: I think it will have to involve towels again like when I asked her to be my girlfriend on Love Island! After less than a year of romance, the pair are now living together in a rented three-bedroom house in Cheshire. She is the proud founder, designer and model of a successful swimwear range. And Kimberley Garner proved, even when clothed, she has the perfect beach body as she slipped into a tiny bralet with a billowing maxi skirt while hitting the star-studded Magnum x Moschino party at 70th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. The 27-year-old former Made In Chelsea star showed her edgier side in the sexy look as she flashed her abs from beneath the tiny bralet which boasted sculpted cups to help boost her already perky cleavage. Scroll down for video Wow! Kimberley Garner proved, even when clothed, she has the perfect beach body as she slipped into a tiny bralet with a billowing maxi skirt while hitting the star-studded Magnum x Moschino party at 70th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday Kimberley joined Made In Chelsea in March 2012 before departing the following November, as she featured in some extremely tumultuous storylines. Since then she has become a designer and red carpet fixture, meaning Cannes was an essential hot spot for the star to hit all the hot parties. The blonde beauty slipped into a sexy bralet for the bash which made the most of eye-popping cleavage thanks to the shaped cups. The blue, white and pink pattern on the top provided a shattered illusion which gave yet another funky twist on the stunning ensemble. Sizzling: The 27-year-old former Made In Chelsea star showed her edgier side in the sexy look as she flashed her abs from beneath the tiny bralet which boasted sculpted cups to help boost her already perky cleavage Hot stuff: Kimberley joined Made In Chelsea in March 2012 before departing the following November, as she featured in some extremely tumultuous storylines Cheeky! The stunning star proved she knows exactly how to work the red carpet Kimberley also spotted a floor-sweeping red maxi skirt - perfectly suited to her lithe form - with bunching details adding volume to the chic look. Proving her attention to detail, Kimberley coordinated her red lipstick to the skirt in a near-identical colour match which helped bring the quirky look together. Her silky blonde tresses were worn in bouncy waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting. Blonde beauty: Her silky blonde tresses were worn in bouncy waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting Stunner: Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Daisy Lowe who looked sensational in a slinky black number purchased from vintage site Open for Vintage, which amplified her stunning curves Dazzling: The loose-fitting black number boasted a cowl trim at the back while the hemline skimmed her ankles - clad in silver stilettos Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Daisy Lowe who looked sensational in a slinky black number which amplified her stunning curves. The loose-fitting black number boasted a cowl trim at the back while the hemline skimmed her ankles - clad in silver stilettos. Tallia Storm joined the girls as she looked incredible in a boho-inspired ensemble. Her sheer wrap dress was complete with intricate adornments and a net detailing while the sheer material gave a glimpse of her incredible figure underneath. Keen to display every aspect of the stunning look, she raised her arms in the air and displayed the bat wing sleeves on the outfit which gave further drama to the look. Billowing: Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Tallia Storm who looked incredible in a boho-inspired ensemble Like A Bat Wing Outta Hell: Keen to display every aspect of the stunning look, she raised her arms in the air and displayed the bat wing sleeves on the outfit which gave further drama to the look Living it up: Tallia was joined by her sister Tess who looked like a boho beauty Sister, sister: The duo dazzled on the red carpet as they hit the red carpet Flying the flag further for the Brits was Strictly Come Dancing victor Ore Oduba who was joined by his wife Portia Jett. The duo stormed the red carpet with Cheryl's ex-husband Jean Bernard Fernandez Versini - in an unlikely meeting of minds. Stylish: Flying the flag further for the Brits was Strictly Come Dancing victor Ore Oduba who was joined by his wife Portia Jett They dressed alike when they were child stars working on the TV series Full House. And it looks as if twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are still playing matchy matchy as they looked much alike when stepping out together in New York City on Wednesday. The 30-year-old designers were in the navy as they headed to a waiting car together. In the navy! Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen rocked similar styles as they stepped out together in New York City on Wednesday Mary-Kate had a boyfriend blazer, worn over tonal top and trousers. She added a generous amount of gold jewelry and gold-framed aviators. The pretty Elizabeth And James designer had her blonde tresses pulled into a loose up-do. Matching style: The 30-year-old former stars of Full House were in the navy, as they headed to a waiting car together Ashley kept the blue theme going with her chosen outfit. She wrapped an oversized navy scarf around her delicate neck. The Californian-born beauty made sure to stay hydrated with a giant bottle of water. The twins are now fashion designers after first finding fame playing Michelle Tanner in Full House. As they were: They starred in Full House, pictured in 1990 with Bob Saget Earlier this year they agreed to pay out tens of thousands of dollars after interns worked up to 50 hours per week, without pay, as they worked for their high-end fashion line. The former actresses will hand over $140,000 to a group of 185 interns who produced clothes for their fashion line The Row, according to a new filing in Manhattan Supreme Court. The class action suit was brought by former design intern Shahista Lalani in 2015. They didn't return for the Netflix spin-off Fuller House, last year. She is fast becoming Hollywood's latest It girl but this star is not about to confirm to the latest trend. Doing things her way certainly works for Paris Jackson with the fashion oddball's unusual style helping her stand out. The 19-year-old star cut a cool but kooky figure as she stepped out in Malibu, California, with a friend on Thursday. Coffee run: Paris Jackson cut a cool but kooky figure as she stepped out in Malibu, California, with a friend on Thursday As the ocean breezes remain cool, it was not exactly beach weather but the daughter of Michael Jackson still managed to get a little sun on her skin. Stopping in to grab a coffee, Paris threw on a cropped stripped zip up sweater without a bra. The very Seventies surfer top fell off her shoulder and showed off her fantastically flat stomach. While the precarious placement of the top suggested a wardrobe malfunction at any minute, Paris made it to her car. Signature style: The star threw on a cropped stripped zip up sweater without a bra which showed off her stomach Added extras: Paris wore a pair of beaten up Converse high tops and further accessorized her look with a woven backpack which suited her style to a tee. The young star added a pair of ripped up boyfriend fit jeans as well as a pair of beaten up Converse high tops. Paris further accessorized her look with a woven backpack which suited her style to a tee. On Wednesday, Paris shared a snap of her rarely seen youngest brother Prince Michael II - better known as Blanket. Now 15, the teen looked like any other boy his age as he smiled while wearing a big hoodie. They are two of the hottest properties in the fashion world. And Cara Delevingne and fellow model Lily Donaldson proved exactly why on Thursday evening as they headed to the Magnum x Moschino party at 70th Cannes Film Festival. The 24-year-old designers' muse looked simply sensational in an asymmetric black gown, naturally designed by Moschino, while she was joined by fellow Brit Lily, 30, who rocked the style du jour - a lingerie-inspired Christian Dior ensemble. Scroll down for video Model mates: Cara Delevingne and fellow model Lily Donaldson proved exactly why on Thursday evening as they headed to the Magnum x Moschino party at 70th Cannes Film Festival Cara was dressed to impress as she attended the bash - where she was acting as brand ambassador for the Moschino collaboration with Magnum ice creams. She slipped into a little black dress which made the most of her endless legs while also displaying her long lithe arms through the sleeveless detail. Ties at the shoulder provided a loose-fitting look while also plunging down into a cheeky neckline which gave just a hint of her perky assets. Boosting her height and already endless legs was a pair of pointed stilettos which perfectly coordinated the vibes of the sophisticated look. Sophisticated style: The 24-year-old Chanel muse looked simply sensational in an aysymettric black gown while she was joined by fellow Brit Lily, 30, who rocked the style du jour - a lingerie-inspired Christian Dior ensemble Sizzling: Cara arched her famous eyebrows in a sizzling red carpet pose Bleaching it out: Having shaved her head for a recent film role, Cara was making the most of her edgy new look as she showed the bleached style in all its glory I'm with the designer! Cara draped her arm around Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott as they posed on the red carpet at the proud unveiling of the ice cream collaboration Fashion friends: Cara and Jeremy pulled their coolest poses Rock on! The celebrations are to honour Jeremy's latest collaboration and is said to 'embody the spirit of someone who is not afraid to show their wild and fierce side' Having shaved her head for a recent film role, Cara was making the most of her edgy new look as she showed the bleached style in all its glory. Standing out boldly against her smouldering eye make-up and slick of jet black lipstick, the hairstyle was perfect for the over all look. Cara draped her arm around Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott as they posed on the red carpet at the proud unveiling of the ice cream collaboration. The celebrations are to honour Jeremy's latest collaboration and is said to 'embody the spirit of someone who is not afraid to show their wild and fierce side.' Lily meanwhile was going for an equally vampish look as she left little to the imagination beneath the bustier style top to the Dior gown. Smouldering: Lily meanwhile was going for an equally vampish look as she left little to the imagination beneath the bustier style top to the Dior gown Dior diva: The straps on the dress were monochrome with Christian Dior stamped throughout while she flashed her knickers from under the sheer skirt Dior darling: The straps on the dress were monochrome with Christian Dior stamped throughout while she flashed her knickers from under the sheer skirt The straps on the dress were monochrome with Christian Dior stamped throughout while she flashed her knickers from under the sheer skirt. Her blonde locks were styled into bouncy waves while her make-up was dewy and stunning to allow her gown to do the talking. Also present at the bash was swimwear designer Kimberley Garner who proved, even when clothed, she has the perfect beach body as she slipped into a tiny bralet with a billowing maxi skirt. The 27-year-old former Made In Chelsea star showed her edgier side in the sexy look as she flashed her abs from beneath the tiny bralet which boasted sculpted cups to help boost her already perky cleavage. Wow! Kimberley Garner proved, even when clothed, she has the perfect beach body as she slipped into a tiny bralet with a billowing maxi skirt while hitting the star-studded Magnum x Moschino party Red hot: Kimberley was flanked by pals at the glam bash Beaming: The stunner was no doubt overjoyed to be in such A-list company Kimberley joined Made In Chelsea in March 2012 before departing the following November, as she featured in some extremely tumultuous storylines. Since then she has become a designer and red carpet fixture, meaning Cannes was an essential hot spot for the star to hit all the hot parties. The blonde beauty slipped into a sexy bralet for the bash which made the most of eye-popping cleavage thanks to the shaped cups. The blue, white and pink pattern on the top provided a shattered illusion which gave yet another funky twist on the stunning ensemble. Sizzling: Since then she has become a designer and red carpet fixture, meaning Cannes was an essential hot spot for the star to hit all the hot parties Hot stuff: Kimberley joined Made In Chelsea in March 2012 before departing the following November, as she featured in some extremely tumultuous storylines Cheeky! The stunning star proved she knows exactly how to work the red carpet Kimberley also spotted a floor-sweeping red maxi skirt - perfectly suited to her lithe form - with bunching details adding volume to the chic look. Proving her attention to detail, Kimberley coordinated her red lipstick to the skirt in a near-identical colour match which helped bring the quirky look together. Her silky blonde tresses were worn in bouncy waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting. Blonde beauty: Her silky blonde tresses were worn in bouncy waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting Stunner: Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Daisy Lowe who looked sensational in a slinky black number from vintage site Open for Vintage, which amplified her stunning curves Dazzling: The loose-fitting black number boasted a cowl trim at the back while the hemline skimmed her ankles - clad in silver stilettos Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Daisy Lowe who looked sensational in a slinky black number which amplified her stunning curves. The loose-fitting black number boasted a cowl trim at the back while the hemline skimmed her ankles - clad in silver stilettos. Tallia Storm joined the girls as she looked incredible in a boho-inspired ensemble. Her sheer wrap dress was complete with intricate adornments and a net detailing while the sheer material gave a glimpse of her incredible figure underneath. Billowing: Another red carpet lover in Kimberley's midst was Tallia Storm who looked incredible in a boho-inspired ensemble Like A Bat Wing Outta Hell: Keen to display every aspect of the stunning look, she raised her arms in the air and displayed the bat wing sleeves on the outfit which gave further drama to the look Living it up: Tallia was joined by her sister Tess who looked like a boho beauty Sister, sister: The duo dazzled on the red carpet as they hit the red carpet Stylish: Flying the flag further for the Brits was Strictly Come Dancing victor Ore Oduba who was joined by his wife Portia Jett Sequin sensation: Lena Gercke showed off her model credentials Wow! Victoria Swarovski looked fabulous in a sizzling silver gown Keen to display every aspect of the stunning look, she raised her arms in the air and displayed the bat wing sleeves on the outfit which gave further drama to the look. Flying the flag further for the Brits was Strictly Come Dancing victor Ore Oduba who was joined by his wife Portia Jett. The duo stormed the red carpet with Cheryl's ex-husband Jean Bernard Fernandez Versini - in an unlikely meeting of minds. New locks: Cara showed off her newly shaven hair as she partied in style Bling: The star accessorised with some seriously funky jewellery Model ambitions: Lily Donaldson was also in attendance at the event Fun filled night: The star were spotted filming on their phones as the event got underway Partying in style: Cara showed off her new look by rocking a contrasting feminine frock In her element: Cara was thoroughly enjoying herself as she partied the night away Thrilled: The star was the life and soul of the party at the fun-filled event New crop: The star appeared to still be adjusting to not having any hair Leggy lady: Cara ensured her long legs were the centre of attention in her thigh-skimming dress Indian Scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni Wins Prestigious Dan David Prize Published: May 18, 2017 Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize as a recognition for his contributions made in the field of astronomy. Shrinivas Kulkarni, a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is a pioneer in the field of time-domain astrophysics. He has been credited for building and conducting the Palomar Transient Factory, which is a large-area survey of the night sky that has turned up with thousands of stellar explosions. Shrinivas kulkarni would share the award with Andrej Udalski of the University of Warsaw and Neil Gehrels of NASA for their discoveries on time-domain astrophysics in the Future category of the prize. With this award, Shrinivas Kulkarni will join other prominent Indians who have won the Dan David prize like noted author Amitav Ghosh, music conductor Zubin Mehta and renowned chemist CNR Rao. Dan David Prize The Dan David Foundation was established in 2000 by the late Dan David, an international businessman and philanthropist. Three Dan David prizes of $1 million each are awarded each year in the categories of Past, Present and Future to people who have made exemplary contributions to humanity in the field of sciences, humanities, or for their work in civil society. The recipients in the Past category are chosen from the field of history, archaeology, paleontology, biography, etc;. The recipients in the Present category are chosen from arts, media, policy, economics, etc. The recipients in the Future category are chosen from one of the exact or natural sciences. The prize mandates the laureates to donate 10% of their prize money to provide scholarships for graduate or post-graduate researchers in their respective fields. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017 Category: Awards, Persons & Places in News Topics: Awards International Persons in News Latest E-Books Deadliest Catch star Sig Hansen has been arrested and is facing assault charges after an incident involving an Uber driver according to a new report. The 51-year-old fishing vessel captain got into a confrontation with a driver from the ride app early Thursday morning in Seattle according to TMZ. The gossip site claims that he is now facing charges of assault and property destruction. Tough times: Deadliest Catch star Sig Hansen - pictured in March 2016 - has been arrested and is facing assault charges after an incident involving an Uber driver according to a new report Tough times: The 51-year-old fishing vessel captain got into a confrontation with a driver from the ride app early Thursday morning in Seattle according to TMZ After the news had broke Hansen released a statement to TMZ as he said: 'I am terribly sorry for my behavior and am very embarrassed by it. I owe a bunch of people apologies, first and foremost to our Uber driver, who was just trying to get us home safely. 'I hope I can make that apology in person. I have no excuse, and accept responsibility for my actions. I made a boneheaded move last night, and I am sorry.' According to the police report obtained by TMZ the Uber app had canceled his ride despite Hansen being in the vehicle with his family. The family had said offered to pay the driver $100 in order to finish out the trip, however, the worker refused as he claimed it was against the company's rules. This reportedly angered Hansen who apparently spat on the driver's head and back of his seat before getting out of the car to kick it. The driver then fled the scene and called police. Uh oh: According to the police report obtained by TMZ the Uber app had canceled his ride despite Hansen being in the vehicle with his family, as he is pictured with daughter Mandy and wife June in April 2014 According to the report, when law enforcement arrived they noticed body fluid on the back of the headrest as well as a dent in the side of the car. Police then went to the Hansen residence as they described him as 'obviously intoxicated' as the reality star explained that he was celebrating Norwegian Independence Day. Law enforcement also said that Hansen had denied wrongdoing at first and even tried walking back into his home according to TMZ. Vroom vroom: Hansen is the American captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern He was then stopped by officers then put in handcuffs. Sig apparently had also offered to pay for any damage to the driver but denies spitting. The Deadliest Catch star was booked at King County Jail and will reportedly be released on a bail of $2000. His ride app days may be over as well as a rep told TMZ: 'Violence will not be tolerated on the Uber app. We have been in contact with our driver partner, and the rider no longer has access to the app.' Hansen has starred in all 12 seasons of Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. She's one of the most glamorous women in the world. And Kim Kardashian, 36, decided to reminisce about the time she attended the Cannes Film Festival last year with a behind-the-scenes look at the primping process. In honor of this year's film festival, the KUWTK star posted two photos to her website www.kimkardashianwest.com showing her intricate dress that featured sparkling detailing with the sides cut out. In honor of the glamorous event: Kim Kardashian, 36, decided to reminisce about the time she attended the Cannes Film Festival last year with a behind-the-scenes look at the primping process In the first photo, the reality star was just starting the glam process and presumably trying on the dress as she had no makeup on and her long hair had not yet been tied up into the tight bun she ended up wearing. She was on her tippy toes for the photo to ensure proper visual representation of the dress. The second photo reveals the mom-of-two as she's putting the finishing touches on her incredible look that featured her dark hair in a tight bun and dark eyeliner around her eyes to really make them pop. She wore dangling diamond earrings that perfectly complimented the sparkling diamond-inspired gown. All ready: The second photo reveals the mom-of-two as she's putting the finishing touches on her incredible look that featured her dark hair in a tight bun and dark eyeliner around her eyes to really make them pop Kim captioned the photo: 'In honor of the Cannes Film Festival this week, I wanted to throw it back to my fitting for the De Grisogono red carpet in Cannes in 2016.' She explains how the entire look came together at the very last minute, saying: 'I wrote this beautiful custom Lanyu couture dress. I last-minute had nothing to wear for the event, so the designers from Lanyu flew in from China and met me in New York for a fitting, just hours before my flight to Cannes.' But once she decided on the gorgeous frock, there were some difficulties with the fitting. It all came together: The mom-of-two explains the entire look came together last minute from Chinese designer Lanyu, who flew into New York from China for the fitting 'The first slip we made for the dress was too short, so my amazing tailor got more fabric to add,' she explained. 'Then, the mesh from the slip was too light for my skin tone, so we had to dye the slip with tea bags at our hotel in Cannes, LOL! The dress was still a little damp when I wore it on the red carpet! I ended up pairing this dress with De Grisogono jewels and Manolo Blahnik heels. We added the leftover beads from my 2016 Met Gala Balmain gown outfit to the shoes, so this was a total custom look.' Insider secret: 'The dress was still a little damp when I wore it on the red carpet! I ended up pairing this dress with De Grisogono jewels and Manolo Blahnik heels' She finished the explanation with a shoutout to her glam squad: 'Mario did my glam, with a smokey eye and heavy bottom eyeliner. For my hair, Jen Atkin and I went for a slicked-back bun.' Kim does not appear to be attending the glamorous film festival this year. She just got home from New York City where she was attending NBC Universal's newfronts presentation to support her E! show. She later indulged in pizza and ice cream with Jonathan Cheban before returning to Los Angeles earlier in the week. Working hard: Kim was recently in New York City where she attended NBC's newfronts presentation along with sister Khloe They tied the knot just over a week ago in a lavish country wedding. And newlyweds Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black are clearly still inseparable as they enjoyed an evening at a Hunter party on Thursday to kick off festival season. The diver, 22, and his beau, 42, cosied up for the cameras at the summery event, coordinating in sporty jackets at Soho's Vinyl Factory in London. Scroll down for video Date night: Newlyweds Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black are clearly still inseparable as they enjoyed an evening at a Hunter party on Thursday to kick off festival season Tom wrapped an arm around his filmmaker husband as the two flashed a glimpse of their wedding rings. The Olympic diver looked casual cool in an olive green jacket layered over a black t-shirt and slim-fit cropped jeans. His new husband matched in a brown jacket and black jeans and tee with Hogan trainers. Just married! The diver, 22, and his beau, 42, cosied up for the cameras at the summery event, coordinating in sporty jackets Husband and husband: Tom wrapped an arm around his filmmaker husband as the two flashed a glimpse of their wedding rings Tom and Dustin were happily married in the Cathedral Room at Bovey Castle in Devon on May 6 before guests enjoyed a three-course meal. The diver recreated the scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as he stood on the balcony in front of guests as he professed his love to his beau, according to the Sun. Wedding-goers then toasted to the couple's happiness with a glass of champagne. Fairytale wedding: The couple tied the knot at Bovey Castle, Devon on May 6 and posed for a series of adorable photographs Romantic: Tom and Dustin's ceremony took place under an arch of flowers and their wedding guests threw confetti on them as they left The after party was hosted in the Dartmoor Suite ballroom where people danced the night away until the early hours of the morning. Adorable photographs posted on Instagram show the lovebirds embracing on a bridge in the castle's country grounds. Another picture showed Tom and Dustin walking down the aisle in Burberry suits after they tied the knot. They were married under a floral arch and their guests threw confetti and gave the pair a standing ovation as they left the ceremony. The couple of four years were also pictured watching a magnificent firework show from the entrance of Bovey Castle. Party people: Courtney Love looked lovely in a Hunter jacket as she hugged Stella McCartney She introduced her new pet lizard to fans in January by sharing a snap of her pet reptile Rusty looking comfortable as it lounged between her cleavage. And model Catherine McNeil's reptilian pal has certainly grown over the past few months, with the 27-year-old sharing a new snap of Rusty this Friday. Taking to Instagram with the intimate snap, Catherine was seen cosying up in bed with the scaly critter, alongside the caption: 'She's getting so big!' 'She's getting so big!' Model Catherine McNeil, 27, revealed a glimpse at her pet lizard Rusty this Friday It's the latest in a series of lizard-related updates from Catherine, who earlier in the year shared a photo of herself drying Rusty off with a tea-towel after giving her a bath. The Girlfriend Magazine has been busy making appearances on international catwalks over the past year, having debuted a new bowl haircut in Balenciaga's recent show. Late last year, reports surfaced that the 'hard-partying' model visited Australia for a summer getaway in an alleged attempt to recharge from her intense lifestyle. Getting settled: She introduced her new pet lizard to fans in January by sharing a snap of her pet reptile Rusty looking comfortable as it lounged between her cleavage Rub a dub dub! It's the latest in a series of lizard-related updates from Catherine, who earlier in the year shared a photo of herself drying Rusty off with a tea-towel after giving her a bath According to a source: 'Her life when she is overseas is pretty hectic, so for her to come home for a month and live low key has been great, The Daily Telegraph reported. The insider claimed the Vogue cover model wasn't in the best shape when she arrived in her home country, thanks to her penchant for partying overseas. 'Cat was pretty fragile when she got home,' they said, adding: 'There has been no hard partying at all.' Chic: The Girlfriend Magazine has been busy making appearances on international catwalks over the past year, having debuted a new bowl haircut in Balenciaga's recent show The brunette stunner's noticeably lean frame has seen her supporters on social media voice their concern in recent times. Her slender physique first attracted unwanted attention in July last year when she shared a picture that focused on her significant thigh gap. Daily Mail Australia has previously contacted a representative for the model, but they declined to comment. The Syrian conflict has claimed more than 320,000 lives since 2011 Rival Syrian delegations on Wednesday weighed a UN proposal on developing a new constitution for the war-ravaged country, as a new round of peace talks entered a second day. The sixth round of UN-backed negotiations in Geneva is the latest drive to bring a political solution to the conflict which has claimed more than 320,000 lives since 2011. The talks opened with tensions high over a US charge that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government was using a prison crematorium to hide evidence of thousands of murdered detainees. Syria's government delegation, led by Bashar al-Jaafari, returned to UN headquarters Wednesday afternoon for a meeting with talks mediator Staffan de Mistura. Syria conflict They were expected to discuss his proposal to create a "consultative" committee of civil society activists and technocrats tasked with setting a roadmap to a new constitution. The team would begin work immediately on "specific options for constitutional drafting" in order to "prevent a constitutional or legal vacuum at any point during the political transition process being negotiated," according to a copy of the document seen by AFP. Syrian government officials did not respond to requests for comment, but a source close to the delegation confirmed they had received the document. The opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has said it has "reservations" about the draft, which it are expected to discuss with de Mistura later Wednesday. An opposition source told AFP that the HNC had submitted a list of questions on the document to the UN, including on what "prerogatives" the new committee would have. - 'No more committees' - "This paper was a surprise -- it was not expected in the first place," the HNC's Munzer Makhos told AFP. "We don't know what the aim is or how it will be implemented. We don't want there to be more committees outside of our control." UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura at a press conference on the eve of the new round of peace talks The UN-backed talks are expected to focus on four separate "baskets": governance, a new constitution, elections and combating "terrorism" in the war-ravaged country. While the HNC has insisted on Assad's ouster as part of any political transition, the government sees this demand as a nonstarter. The back-to-back meetings on Tuesday were brief, in line with de Mistura's pledge to keep the talks "rather business-like, rather short". Hopes for a breakthrough remain dim, particularly after US claims of new regime atrocities at the notorious Saydnaya prison near Damascus. Satellite images released by the US State Department appeared to support earlier claims by rights groups that Saydnaya is an execution centre, a claim Damascus rejected. Relatives of detained Syrians -- some of them imprisoned in Saydanaya -- gathered outside the UN in Geneva Wednesday, carrying portraits of their missing loved ones and tearfully writing their names on long strips of paper. - 'Different role for Russia' - The HNC has said Washington's accusations about Saydnaya demand a response from the United States and other friendly nations, but also called on Russia to take action. "For us, we need to see a different role for Russia -- not only helping Assad commit crimes. We need to see Russia help Syrians decide their fate and their destiny," said HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet. He told journalists that members of the HNC would meet with Russian officials later in the day. The UN meanwhile confirmed that de Misura met earlier Wednesday with Russia's deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov. Jaafari met Gatilov in Geneva on Tuesday. Longtime regime ally Moscow has become a key player in Syria's crisis, launching an air war in support of Assad in 2015 and brokering several agreements aimed at ending the war. The latest effort is a tripartite agreement between Russia, fellow Assad ally Iran, and rebel backer Turkey to create four "de-escalation" zones across some of Syria's bloodiest battlegrounds. It was signed on May 4 in the Kazakh capital Astana as part of parallel negotiations. De Mistura has dismissed suggestions that the Astana talks are competing with the Geneva track, saying they were "working in tandem". The military retains huge political and economic influence in Myanmar Myanmar's military on Wednesday sued two local journalists using a controversial censorship law over an article they wrote criticising the top brass as fears grow over curbs on press freedom. The military retains huge political and economic influence in Myanmar and has a long track record of pursuing critics, both during the crippling decades of junta rule and since the generals partially ceded power to civilians. The latest story to anger the military, published in The Voice newspaper in late March, took aim at a propaganda film called "Pyi Daung Su Thit Sar" (Faithful to the Union) lauding the army's victories over armed ethnic groups. The article took aim at senior leaders for sitting around holding peace talks and drinking wine while low-rank soldiers are being killed. Kyaw Swa Naing, who wrote the story under a pen name, said he would report to the police on Thursday over the case brought under the country's increasingly used and broadly worded telecommunications law which forbids "defaming or disturbing" people online. "I am determined myself that I won't apologise to them for my article," Kyaw Swa Naing, who is being sued along with the paper's editor, told AFP. "There is fighting everywhere and its normally lower-rank soldiers who end up dead while the leaders sit behind their desks." Myint Kyaw from the Myanmar Press Council, a media arbitration panel, said the military viewed the article as creating "divisions" between the high and low ranking soldiers. The case also comes at a time of heightened tensions between the government and Myanmar's military, which still holds key levers of power after Suu Kyi's NLD party won the first free elections in generations in 2015. Earlier this month one of her senior aides accused the military of spreading rumours to destabilise the NLD, bringing an angry response from the army in the most public sign yet of simmering discontent between the two. Hopes had been high that the party, many of whose MPs spent decades in jail for speaking their minds under Myanmar's former junta, would usher in a new era of free speech. But defamation prosecutions have soared since they took power in March 2016, with social media satirists, activists and journalists targeted. Chelsea Manning's first Instagram post after her release from a US Army detention facility at Fort Leavenworth Chelsea Manning was a meek, geeky army private who stunned the world in 2010 by leaking a massive trove of secret US diplomatic records, hoping to spark debate over the country's role in wars. But she exited military prison Wednesday after serving seven years for her crime equally known for a heartbreaking, ultimately triumphant struggle with her gender during her time in jail. The former Private Bradley Manning, 29, survived two suicide attempts and the US military's conservative views on gender while serving a 35-year sentence for espionage for handing over hundreds of thousands of pages of US diplomatic communications and other records to WikiLeaks in 2010. She maintained that she never intended to hurt US interests, and her sentence was commuted by outgoing President Barack Obama in January, who called the punishment "very disproportionate" to the crime. Born a male in a small rural Oklahoma town, Manning grew up in Wales after her parents divorced; Manning's father kicked her out of the house when he learned of his child's sexual orientation. She developed a talent in computing, and after finishing school, joined the US Army in 2007. She has said she thought of herself as female since she was young, and struggled in the macho environment of the military. At the time, she was subject to the military's ban on openly gay troops, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." - Prison gender change - After basic training she was assigned to an intelligence unit and in 2009 was sent to Iraq, deploying to a base near Baghdad where she was given access to a broad set of US intelligence on the military's classified computer network. Chelsea Manning, the transgender former army private jailed for leaking thousands of secret US documents to WikiLeaks, was released from prison after seven years She began downloading files, including an explosive video of a US helicopter gunship mowing down Iraqi civilians two years earlier, documents on US treatment of detainees in the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, and more secret documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Detained in May 2010 over the initial leaks, she later admitted to downloading some 700,000 sensitive files and turning them over to WikiLeaks. "I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public," she confided in online chats with a former hacker who reported her to authorities. But Manning's trial and imprisonment brought out the dramatic struggle she had over her gender. After she was convicted and sentenced in 2013, she announced she was a female and requested medical treatment -- including hormone therapy -- to enable her to become a woman. In a path-breaking legal battle in military courts, she won the support of judges to be referred to as a woman, and to receive therapy for so-called gender "reassignment." But rules at the Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas military prison were still tough. Though permitted to wear women's undergarments, she was forbidden to grow her hair long. And in court she was still referred to as "he" with regard to any proceedings prior to her official name change. "I am torn up," she said in a 2015 interview with Cosmopolitan magazine. "I get through each day OK, but at night, when I'm alone in my room, I finally burn out and crash." But she also said she found support in letters from transgender people around the world. Her stress over the gender shift led to two suicide attempts in 2016. In September, Manning began a hunger strike to protest what she said was the military's refusal to treat her gender dysphoria. - 'First steps to freedom' - While her leaking secret documents to WikiLeaks still garners tough criticism in US military and intelligence circles, Obama said on January 18 that justice had been adequately served by her seven years behind bars. "It has been my view that given she went to trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received, and that she had served a significant amount of time, that it made sense to commute and not pardon her sentence," he said. Newly free, in her first public act Wednesday Manning posted a photograph on social media of her feet in brand-new black Converse All-Stars, saying: "First Steps of Freedom". The US Department of Justice named Robert Mueller, who was director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, as special counsel to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election A former FBI chief was tasked Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether Donald Trump's team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president's favor. Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyze his presidency. The Republican leader, who has struggled to shake off suspicions that Russia helped put him in the White House, has been accused of seeking to block the investigation by sacking FBI chief James Comey. Under pressure to provide guarantees to Congress and the public that the Russia probe will continue unhindered, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Robert Mueller -- a widely respected figure who headed the FBI for the decade after the 9/11 attacks -- to take over the reins. Trump's Russian quagmire "Based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," Rosenstein said in a statement. A New York-born Vietnam war vet aged 72, Mueller has a reputation as a tough lawman who once even stood up to a president. He will head up the FBI's ongoing probe of "Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters," with the authority to prosecute crimes unearthed by the investigation. Trump reacted swiftly, without directly commenting on Mueller's appointment. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said in a tersely-worded statement. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." - Political drama - Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from the Russia probe in March due to his own undisclosed contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak Capping days of political drama in Washington, Mueller's appointment came as Trump fends off a stunning series of allegations including claims he shared US secrets with Russian officials in the Oval Office. Pressure has spiked in Congress for an independent probe into ties between Trump's campaign and Moscow, which US intelligence chiefs accuse of interfering to sway the election in the Republican's favor. "We need the facts," Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said. A special counsel is empowered to conduct the investigation independent of the Justice Department hierarchy, with a dedicated staff of his choosing. The counsel is not required to consult with or keep informed the attorney general or deputy attorney generals on the course of the probe. Mueller is specifically empowered to examine "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." US President Donald Trump has consistently rejected any suggestion of collusion between his camp and Moscow as "fake news Rosenstein's order came a week after he played a key role in Trump's firing of Comey, who had overseen the FBI's Russia investigation since last July. The deputy attorney general penned a memo criticizing Comey's handling of the probe into Trump's defeated rival Hillary Clinton's emails, which provided the White House with the rationale for firing him -- and raised questions about Rosenstein's ability to remain politically independent. His boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, was forced to recuse himself from the Russia investigation due to his own undisclosed contacts with Moscow's ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. - 'Any links' - Trump has consistently rejected any suggestion of collusion between his camp and Moscow as "fake news" and complained in a speech Wednesday that he had been treated "more unfairly" than any US leader in history during his fledgling presidency. But calls for the Russia probe to be placed in independent hands intensified this week following reports that Trump urged Comey to reel back its investigation of Michael Flynn, the national security advisor fired for not telling the truth about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took power. Trump's alleged pressure on Comey -- denied by the White House -- has exposed the president to accusations of obstructing justice. The New York Times reported late Wednesday that Flynn told the president-elect's transition team in early January that he was the subject of a federal investigation, but was hired for the highly sensitive national security adviser position anyway. Flynn ended up being fired from the position after just 24 days. Senate leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday stressed that while Mueller's appointment "confirms that the investigation into Russian intervention into our election will continue," the Senate committee's probe would also stay active. Given the politically explosive context, Mueller's appointment was widely welcomed across the political spectrum. During his tenure as director of the FBI, from 2001 to 2013, he served both Republican and Democratic administrations, overseeing a shake-up of a huge bureaucracy blamed for missing evidence that could have prevented the September 11, 2001 attacks, and earning high respect from both parties. The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said Rosenstein did "the right thing" by appointing Mueller. "I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead." Robert Mueller, a Vietnam war vet who served as director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, is described as enjoying seamless respect from Democrats and Republicans alike Robert Mueller, named Wednesday to take over the US probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, has a reputation as a tough lawman who once even stood up to a president. Mueller, a Vietnam war vet who served as director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, is described as enjoying seamless respect from Democrats and Republicans alike as he undertakes a high-stakes mission which could determine the fate of Donald Trump's presidency. "Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted," tweeted Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee. The New York-born Mueller boasts "determination and independence of mind," added Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of Trump's loudest critics. "I think that Bob Mueller is the kind of prosecutor and investigator we need here," Blumenthal added. Trump's opponents are suggesting the president may have committed obstruction of justice -- an impeachable offense -- by allegedly asking FBI director James Comey in February to drop an investigation related to the Russia probe before sacking him last week. Mueller, 72, is known for a no-nonsense management style developed during a tenure that began with him firmly in the hot seat: he took up the FBI post just a week before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Much of his work then centered on saving and reforming the Federal Bureau of Investigation amid calls for its dismantling after the agency missed clues that pointed to a massive attack against America being in the making. Under Mueller, the FBI was rebooted into an agency with the new task of countering terror threats, and became a key part of the American national security apparatus. - Showdown with a president - One of Mueller's many accomplishments was the foiling of an Al-Qaeda attack on a commercial airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. Mueller proved his mettle famously in a dramatic 2004 showdown in which he threatened to resign rather than go along with reauthorization of a post-9/11 domestic spying program under then president George W. Bush. The Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, had determined that it was illegal. Mueller and his eventual successor -- Comey, then deputy attorney general -- backed down when the Bush administration agreed to make changes to the program, which was eventually disclosed to the public in 2005 by the New York Times. In the end, Mueller was in the top FBI post for the second longest period after J. Edgar Hoover, who held it for 48 years until his death. The UN will soon deploy a rapid intervention force of Senegalese peacekeepers in central Mali, which has seen an increase in jihadist attacks and communal violence since 2015 A rapid intervention force of Senegalese troops will soon be deployed in central Mali, which has seen an increase in jihadist attacks and communal violence since 2015, the new UN peacekeeping chief said. "We are awaiting the upcoming deployment in the centre (of Mali), by Senegal, of a rapid intervention force to deal with the situation of insecurity," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, under secretary-general for UN peacekeeping operations, told reporters on his first visit to the west African country since taking office. "In light of the security situation," the UN's Mali mission (MINUSMA) had a "robust mandate but, despite its efforts, there was a lack of capacity," Lacroix said Wednesday. "We are hopeful that, soon, a number of reinforcements will arrive, which will make up for these shortcomings," he said. MINUSMA has been stationed in Mali since July 2013 and has just over 12,000 military and police personnel on what is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. It is the most deadly peacekeeping mission since Somalia in 1993-95, with more than 70 peacekeepers killed. Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013. A 2015 peace deal signed by Tuareg-led rebels, the government and pro-Bamako militias aimed to quell separatist uprisings in the north and isolate jihadist groups. But its implementation has been piecemeal and the jihadists, who did not sign up to the accord, continue to mount attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces. "The peace agreement is a process that is slowly evolving, too slowly no doubt, even if there has been some progress recently and which must be encouraged," said Lacroix. Those developments include the establishment of interim authorities in the north and the start of mixed patrols, said Lacroix, who held talks with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga. NITI Aayog Conducts First Samavesh Meeting Published: May 18, 2017 NITI Aayog has conducted the first Samavesh meeting of the National Steering Group and other knowledge partners under the co-chairmanship of Amitabh Kant, CEO and Ratan P Watal, Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog. The meeting was also attended by representatives of four States- Kerala, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Salient Highlights The objective of the meeting was to bring together 32 premier educational and policy research institutions to boost the development process, improve institutional capacity and forge a field level interface with the community in pursuance with the Prime Ministers call for a New India 2022, In the meeting, Memorandum of Understands (MoUs) were signed between NITI Aayog and major think tanks across the country with an aim to create an atmosphere of evidence based policy research. This is the first ever initiative undertaken by the government to bring a huge number of institutions across diverse domain themes to deliberate together to promote inclusive development of the country. This network is expected to promote efficient knowledge sharing and information exchange among all partners in order to achieve a sustainable and more inclusive development in line with the National Development Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals and the 15 year Vision, 7 year strategy and 3 year action plan. NITI Aayog has been emphasizing upon the role that can be played by the countrys Premier institutes to promote for inclusive development of the country. As a part of Samavesh initiative, NITI Aayog will launch a new link in its website that would serve as a major repository of knowledge based reports and case studies across different sectors of the economy. NITI Aayog NITI Aayog or National Institution for Transforming India was established on January 1, 2015 through a government resolution. NITI Aayog is essentially an advisory body that seeks to provide critical directional and strategic inputs across spectrum of key elements of policy to the centre as well as to the states. NITI Ayog was established by the government as a Think Tank which has no power to impose policies. NITI Aayog seeks to put an end to the slow and tardy implementation of the policy by fostering inter-ministry, inter-state and centre-state coordination. It has been envisaged to follow the bottom-top development approach whereby, it would develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans to the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017 Topics: Inclusive Growth National NITI Aayog Latest E-Books The International Court of Justice at the Hague is to rule Thursday on an urgent bid by India to stop Pakistan from carrying out a death sentence imposed on an Indian national convicted of spying The UN's top court was to rule Thursday on an urgent bid by India to stop Pakistan from carrying out a death sentence imposed on an Indian national convicted of spying. In an emergency hearing on Monday held only days after India lodged its case, lawyers for New Delhi called on the International Court of Justice to order Islamabad to suspend its execution of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav. Jadhav was arrested in the southwestern province of Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistani officials claim he has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services. He was convicted last month by a court martial and sentenced to death. The UN tribunal, based in The Hague, said in a statement issued Wednesday that it "will deliver its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan), tomorrow on Thursday 18 May 2017". The president of the court, Ronny Abraham, will read out the decision at midday (1000 GMT). The case -- a rare foray for the two nations into the international courts -- has highlighted the recent sharp upsurge in tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. India has denied Jadhav was a spy, and on Monday accused Pakistan of "egregious violations of the Vienna convention" by denying him access to legal counsel and consular visits, and refusing to reveal the charge sheet against him. It wants the ICJ to decide whether Pakistan has broken the convention and international human rights law. But in the meantime as the court considers whether to take up India's case, New Delhi asked the tribunal to order a stay of execution until the end of the legal battle. Jadhav was "an innocent Indian national, who, incarcerated in Pakistan for more than a year on concocted charges ... has been held incommunicado... and faces imminent execution," Indian lawyer Deepak Mittal told the tribunal Monday. But Pakistani representatives accused New Delhi of "political grandstanding" and told the court Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan". Lawyer Khawar Qureshi denied the execution was imminent, though he did not give a timeframe. The ICJ was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between nations in accordance with international law. The last time India and Pakistan took a dispute to the ICJ was in 1999 when Islamabad protested against the downing of a Pakistani navy plane that killed 16 people. In that case, the tribunal decided it was not competent to rule in the dispute and closed the case. India and Pakistan routinely accuse one another of sending spies into their countries, and it is not uncommon for either nation to expel diplomats accused of espionage, particularly at times of high tension. But death sentences have rarely been issued in recent years. Children orphaned by Boko Haram Islamists play on a spinning wheel at an abandoned amusement park in Maiduguri, Nigeria After a night on the streets, the pack of young boys move into Maiduguri's abandoned amusement park in the early morning to play on the broken-down rides. Shoeless and wearing ragged clothes, they sprint to the merry-go-round, its chipped candy-coloured paint bleached by the scorching sun. The horses are motionless but the boys laugh like they're in Disneyland, forgetting their troubles in a brief moment of joy. They are among thousands of children orphaned by Boko Haram Islamists now living in the capital of Borno state, in northeast Nigeria. "They are internally displaced persons (IDPs) but they are not in camp," said Salisu Ismail, a 42-year-old who works near the amusement park. "There is no care for them, so they come here and play. They aren't supposed to be here, they should be in school but they don't have any access. It's really painful to see." - 'Without education, they'll consume us' - Local officials in Maiduguri face the dilemma of how to get thousands of homeless children back to school in a desperately poor region where education has never been prioritised but is the key to preventing another jihadist uprising Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri by a charismatic preacher who advocated a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran and denounced Western influence in Nigeria. Rampant poverty, high unemployment and government corruption attracted increasing numbers of followers even before the group turned to violence. With those factors drivers for radicalisation, officials fear the city will remain a fertile breeding ground for extremism if the masses of orphans aren't taken care of. Yet today they face the dilemma of how to get thousands of homeless children back to school in a desperately poor region where education has never been prioritised but is the key to preventing another jihadist uprising. "We have an official number of over 52,000 orphans in Borno state," governor Kashim Shettima told AFP. "Unofficially, the orphans may number over 100,000. Half of them may be in Maiduguri. Without educating these youth, they will be monsters that consume all of us. "It's a very huge challenge." - Relentless assault - In Maiduguri, where the population has doubled to over two million as a result of Boko Haram insurgency, thousands of children are homeless Even as the Nigerian army reclaims the last of the territory held by Boko Haram, whose name roughly translated from Hausa means "Western education is sin", their relentless assault on education continues to restrict development. In some of the far-flung camps on the border of Niger and Cameroon, where the battle is still raging, there are no schools at all. In Maiduguri, whose population has doubled to over two million due to those seeking shelter from the conflict, thousands of children are slipping through the cracks. "A lot of children have never been to school," said UNICEF child protection specialist Samuel Manyok "It's as bad as (the situation in) Somalia and South Sudan combined." - Harrowing stories - Getting children whose lives have been shattered by Boko Haram into class is just one hurdle to reintegrating them back into society when many have suffered traumatising experiences. Sitting at a concrete table in the amusement park, 15-year-old Aisha -- not her real name -- says she was the only one of her family to survive when Boko Haram invaded her village in 2015. When her parents refused to let her marry a Boko Haram fighter, the militants shot her father "on the spot" and tossed her mother into a makeshift prison full of urine and faeces. Days later and starving, she finally let her daughter go. "He forced himself on me," Aisha said of her new husband with whom she lived in Sambisa Forest, Boko Haram's stronghold in Borno state. "He would bring bombs and tell me to pour water on them, so they didn't explode." Wearing a white hijab with two ruby studs in her nose and a wary look in her eyes, Aisha says she saw militants strapping explosives to young girls and boys. The rebels gave them 50,000 naira ($158, 145 euros) for their families and told them they would go to heaven. If they refused to blow themselves up, they would be shot, she said. In December, the Nigerian military invaded Sambisa Forest and rescued Aisha. She now lives with a man from her village in an IDP camp in Maiduguri. But she isn't going to school. Asked what she wants to do in the future, she doesn't seem to know. "Clothes make me happy," she eventually replies. - 'A time bomb' - Schools were only officially reopened in Maiduguri and accessible areas of Borno state late last year after closing down in 2014. Hundreds of others across the state are waiting to be rebuilt after being destroyed by Boko Haram. To address the orphan crisis, Shettima's goal is to build "20 mega-schools across the state". His government has also floated plans to build a massive orphanage for 8,000 children. Whether construction begins depends on how much the Borno government receives from the federal government, a notoriously unreliable benefactor. It is also counting on the generosity and courage of international donors. "The destruction of schools, the displacement and loss of school years, and the abduction of school children has reduced the level of access to education in a safe environment," said Oge Chukwudozie, manager of humanitarian organisation Plan International Nigeria. "Given that the crisis directly targeted schools, non-government organisations had to play it safe so that children will not be exposed to direct attack by Boko Haram." Nigeria's government is unlikely to resolve the school shortage quickly. But without urgent intervention, the risk of renewed violence increases. "They need a second chance at life," said UNICEF's Manyok. "Otherwise they become a destabilising factor. It's just a time bomb." French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre is set to perform in New York as part of his first-ever North America tour Electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, who has performed some of history's largest concerts over a four-decade career, is finally touring the United States. And he at last feels at home. The French artist, who sees music as a form of "emotional counterforce" in a turbulent era, plays Saturday at Radio City Music Hall in his first full-fledged concert in New York. He recalls fantasizing about playing the storied venue from his first trip to New York. But he traces a reluctance toward the United States to his father, Maurice Jarre, a giant of Hollywood music who scored classic films including "Lawrence of Arabia." "I had a difficult relationship with my father," who split with Jarre's mother when he was a child, the youthful 68-year-old told AFP in New York. "He lived in the United States for 60 years, in Los Angeles, and it was difficult for me to go to California because I always thought it was my father's territory," he said. "Probably psychologically this is the real reason ... why I didn't tour here early." With his father's death in 2009, that issue is gone. Jarre closes his North America tour in Los Angeles on May 27. "I have the feeling that coming here is a continuation of what he was doing," Jarre said. "I feel, in a strange way, a bit at home now." Jarre, who was the first Western musician in China after the Cultural Revolution, had played only one previous concert in North America -- a massive city-wide light and music show in Houston in 1986 to celebrate the NASA space program and the state of Texas. - Emotional balance through music - A committed pro-European and critic of President Donald Trump, Jarre, whose 1976 album "Oxygene" was a defining work in electronic music, believes that music "can bring a sort of oxygen, no pun intended, and serve as an emotional counterforce." On his recent two-volume "Electronica" series of collaborations, Jarre recorded a track with US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden whom he credits with opening a welcome debate on technology's role in society. "It's very important, at this moment that the United States is going through an identity crisis, to remember that this country was founded on an act of resistance that was considered treason at the time by the king," Jarre said. "Traitors one day could become heroes the next and people like Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are part of a counterforce that is important to protect," he said. Jarre celebrated the election of the young centrist Emmanuel Macron as French president, saying "we can for once be proud of France." "We got it right -- and not extreme right," he said with a chuckle. Jarre said he could hear the subconscious effect of the November 2015 attacks in Paris on "Oxygene 3," the third part of his trilogy which he released last year, as he noticed "chaotic interruptions" when he listened back. "We all had the feeling in Paris, in France, that you go outside and anything can happen. You can meet the love of your life at the corner of your street but you can also die from terrorism," he said. "It's not like being in a kind of war atmosphere all the time. It's the reverse -- it's like peace, but suddenly you have just an element of chaos happening." - Ready for AI 'revolution'- Four decades into Jarre's career, electronic music -- particularly pop-driven dance music -- tops charts and festival lineups. The mainstreaming of electronica is no surprise to Jarre, who said he always knew that electronic music "wasn't a genre in itself, but another approach to musical composition." Looking ahead, Jarre said the future was artificial intelligence. He dismissed the dangers, recalling that before the advent of train travel some feared that riding at fast speeds would blow up passengers' hearts. "I think the great revolution is ahead of us," he said. "The moment will come in a generation or two, and I don't think we need to be afraid, when machines or robots are capable of creating music, films, stories and books. And our role will need to be rethought." A Mexican farmer in the state of Puebla sets fire to a sugar cane grove before cutting down the scorched stalks for processing A looming trade conflict with the United States over sugar is threatening to disrupt the livelihood of residents in sugar cane growing regions like the central Mexican town of Atencingo. Mexico has until June 5 to reach an agreement with Washington for its sugar exports to continue entering the US market duty-free. Mexico exported 1.1 tonnes of sugar to the United States in 2016, according to government figures. Sugar cane day laborers here earn between 600 and 700 pesos ($32-$38) a day, a salary that most need to support their families. If no deal is reached their livelihoods are in danger, as US trade officials are threatening to slap tariffs of up to 80 percent on Mexican sugar imports. The dispute comes as the two neighbors, along with Canada, are set to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "They pay us 36 pesos (about $1.8) the tonne" of cut sugar cane, said day laborer Enrique Gonzalez, 31. "If you cut, you earn money," said the soot-covered Gonzalez, as he hacked away at the cane stalks and piled them up. "If you don't cut, you earn nothing." Gonzalez spoke as part of his sugar cane field was on fire. Thick columns of smoke reached to the sky as flames destroyed the cane's straw tops and leaves. Machete-wielding workers like Gonzalez later enter the fields and cut down the scorched stalks, which are loaded onto trucks and driven to processing plants for pressing. The resulting syrup is crystallized and processed into sugar. - Dumping claims, counterclaims - Failure to reach an agreement would set a bitter tone ahead of NAFTA renegotiation talks, likely to begin in August. "It would force the Mexican government to toughen their positions at the time of renegotiations, both in political and economic terms," said trade attorney Alejandro Luna. A worker uses a machete to harvest the scorched sugar cane at a plantation in Atencingo, Puebla state Mexican sugar has entered the US market tariff-free since 2008. In exchange, the Mexican market was opened to US corn-based fructose, used mainly to sweeten soft drinks. US sugar companies and farmers have long accused Mexico of flooding the US market with subsidized sugar sold at below-market prices, and in 2014 both governments agreed to Mexican sugar export quotas. But complaints from US sugar concerns continued, and last year Washington and Mexico City restarted sugar trade talks. "If they set tariffs, they'll remove us from the market," said Juan Cortina, head of the CNIAA, the trade chamber representing sugar producers. The CNIAA in turn has opened its own anti-dumping probe against American fructose imports. Mexico buys some 1.6 million tonnes of fructose each year, Cortina said. The Mexican finance ministry said in early May that the US companies are complaining in part because they want to "eliminate the competition ... of refined sugar from Mexico." - Generations of sugar workers - Sugar is central to the economy of places like Atencingo, located in Puebla state some 175 kilometers southwest of Mexico City and home to nearly 11,000 people. Workers load a truck with scorched sugar cane stalks to be taken to a processing plant for pressing. The resulting syrup is refined into sugar For generations workers troop out between November and May to harvest the cane, then process it into sugar. For the rest of the year many of them work in construction, or travel to the northern state of Sonora to harvest grapes. "Sugar cane in this part of the state is synonomous with work and many years of tradition," said Gabriel Conrado, 57, who heads the regional farm laborers' union. "We hope that... the negotiations reach a positive conclusion." Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, speaks during a press conference in Tehran Iran criticised new US sanctions on its missile programme on Thursday, saying they would undermine a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "Iran condemns the US administration's ill will in its effort to reduce the positive results of the country's implementation of JCPOA (nuclear deal) commitments by adding individuals to the list of unilateral and illegal extraterritorial sanctions," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on his Telegram channel. The administration of US President Donald Trump chose to stick by the nuclear deal with Iran on Wednesday, renewing a waiver of nuclear-related sanctions despite his past criticism of the agreement. But it imposed new measures to punish Iranian defence officials and a Chinese business tied to Tehran's ballistic missile programme, which it says is in breach of international law because they could carry nuclear warheads in the future. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in April that Iran was complying with its side of the bargain, but has described the country as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism The decision came just before a Friday presidential election in Iran, in which moderate President Hassan Rouhani is fighting for a second term against hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who has called for a much tougher stance against the West. Iran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons and Ghasemi said its missile programme is part of its "absolute and legal right to build up the country's defensive capabilities". "The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its missile programme with power and authority based on its plans," he said. Ghasemi said Iran would retaliate by adding nine US individuals and companies to its own sanctions list, accusing them of "clear violations of human rights" in relation to their support for Israel or "terrorist groups" in the Middle East. - Under review - Trump threatened to tear up the nuclear deal during his campaign and has launched a review of its terms, but until then he is required to decide on renewing sanctions relief at regular intervals. Current President Hassan Rouhani, who is seen as the frontrunner in unofficial polls, has vowed to work towards the removal of remaining sanctions and called for more time to allow the benefits of the deal to reach ordinary Iranians His first deadline fell this week, related to sanctions on oil purchases through the Iranian central bank -- part of a 2012 law called the National Defence Authorisation Act -- that must be waived every 120 days. The Trump administration will have to waive more sanctions next month if it wants to stick by the nuclear deal. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in April that Iran was complying with its side of the bargain, but has described the country as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Washington has maintained a raft of other sanctions related to human rights and the missile programme that continue to stifle Iran's efforts to rebuild its foreign trade. This has been a major issue in the Iranian election, with hardliner Raisi accusing Rouhani of making too many concessions without gaining any economic benefits. Although oil sales have rebounded since the deal came into effect in January 2016, Iran's continued exclusion from the international banking system has prevented it from signing much needed trade and investment deals with Europe and Asia. Rouhani, who is still seen as the frontrunner in unofficial polls, has vowed to work towards the removal of remaining sanctions and called for more time to allow the benefits of the deal to reach ordinary Iranians. The European Union has been one of the most vocal international critics of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, which has seen thousands killed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he wanted to behead opponents of his drug war and warned 50,000 people could die in the crackdown, after rejecting European Union aid in response to its criticism of the killings. Duterte insisted he would not be intimidated by criticism of the drug war, which rights groups have said could be a crime against humanity. "Don't trust those human rights (critics), if you do I will cut off both your heads," Duterte said in a speech to inaugurate a bridge in the southern Philippines. "I will not be influenced by any fear. Jail me. So jail me. If they say I should be jailed, okay. Fine. I'll pay the price." Duterte said human rights activists had alleged that 10,000 people had died in his drug war since he came to power in the middle of last year, but warned of many more deaths in his quest to eradicate drugs in society. "Make that 50,000. I will really finish them off. And even if I go to hell, I can rot in prison. I do not mind. I am old." Duterte's comments came shortly after his spokesman said the Philippines would refuse European Union grants that "interfered" with its internal affairs. The European Union has been one of the most vocal international critics of the drug war. "The president has approved the recommendation of the department of finance not to accept grants... from the EU that may allow it to interfere with the internal policies of the Philippines," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters. Abella said one grant had already been declined for having "objectionable" conditions attached to it, although he refused to elaborate. The European Union is the Philippines' eighth biggest source of aid, with assistance last year worth $217 million, according to government data. Much of the aid is spent on projects to help end Muslim and communist insurgencies in the southern Philippines. It was not clear how much money was in jeopardy. Abella said humanitarian aid would still be accepted but the EU ambassador to Manila, Franz Jessen, said the decision impacted 250 million euros ($278 million) in grants. Police have reported killing about 2,700 people since Duterte took office at the end of June and immediately launched his war on drugs, while unknown assailants have killed more than 1,800 others. Economic secretary Ernesto Pernia added to the confusion by saying the announcement of rejecting aid may just be a response by Duterte to the criticism and he may retract it. - Angry responses - Duterte, 72, has repeatedly criticised European lawmakers and the EU for condemning his drug war. The European Union has said it is reviewing Philippine exports' duty-free status because of rights concerns, which also include Duterte's plans to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility to nine. Duterte last year used vulgar language and raised his middle finger in response to a European parliament statement expressing concern over the killings. The German government also expressed concern after Duterte last year drew parallels between his drug war and the Holocaust perpetrated by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said, underestimating the number of people killed in the Holocaust. Duterte later apologised for the Hitler reference but said he was "emphatic" about wanting to kill addicts. Duterte easily won presidential elections last year after promising to end crime by killing tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts. Duterte easily won presidential elections last year after promising to end crime by killing tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts. Police have reported killing about 2,700 people since Duterte took office at the end of June and immediately launched his war on drugs. Unknown assailants have killed more than 1,800 others, while about 5,700 other violent deaths are under investigation, according to police data. Partly in response to American criticism of the drug war, Duterte has also loosened the Philippines' ties with traditional ally the United States. Duterte has instead embraced China, which has supported his drug war and sought to deepen economic ties by providing billions of dollars worth of investments and aid to the Philippines. India's environment minister Anil Madhav Dave, pictured here on July 5, 2016, has died at the age of 60 in New Delhi, shocking colleagues who remembered him as a nature lover committed to conservation India's environment minister Anil Madhav Dave died Thursday at the age of 60 in New Delhi, shocking colleagues who remembered him as a nature lover committed to conservation. Dave complained of discomfort in the morning and was rushed from his home to the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he passed away. The Bharatiya Janata Party to which he belonged confirmed Dave's passing in a brief statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his shock at his colleague's sudden death, describing it as a "personal loss". "I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues," Modi tweeted. "Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment." Science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan has been given the vacant environment portfolio, the president's office confirmed in a statement. Colleagues remembered Dave as a passionate conservationist who spearheaded a campaign to protect India's Narmada river running through his home state of Madhya Pradesh. Dave, who was unmarried, had been a member of parliament's upper house since 2009. His death comes amid concern that US President Donald Trump could water down or abandon a global pact on climate change to which India, a major polluter, is a key signatory. India, the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, formally signed the Paris agreement last October. Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden hit back at the Hong Kong government for rejecting the protection bids of a group of refugees who sheltered him while he was hiding out in the city Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden hit back at the Hong Kong government Thursday for rejecting the protection bids of a group of refugees who sheltered him while he was hiding out in the city. The impoverished Philippine and Sri Lankan refugees helped the former National Security Agency contractor evade authorities in 2013 by hiding him in their cramped homes after he initiated one of the largest data leaks in US history. They have spent years hoping the Hong Kong government would recognise their cases and save them from being sent back to their home countries where they say they were persecuted. But the family of four, a mother and her daughter and a single man saw their protection claims rejected Monday by the city's immigration authorities, which said there were "no substantial grounds" for believing they would be at risk if they went home. They now face deportation. Sri Lankan refugee Nadeeka (R) holds her baby boy Danath as her daughter Sethumdi (front C) stands with Keana (front L), daughter of Filipino refugee Vanessa Rodel (back C), as they meet the press outside the Immigration Tower in Hong Kong "These are good people that were driven from their homes by torture, rape, abuse, blackmail and war, circumstances that are really difficult for us to imagine," Snowden said in a video released Thursday. "Now what they're facing is a transparent injustice from the very people that they asked to protect them," he said. "Someone in the Hong Kong government has decided that they want to make these families disappear immediately, no matter the cost," Snowden added in the video in which he spoke against a plain white background. He has been living in exile in Russia since the summer of 2013. Russia's immigration service in January extended Snowden's residency permit to 2020. After leaving his initial Hong Kong hotel bolthole for fear of being discovered, he went underground, fed and looked after by the refugees for around two weeks. Their stories only emerged late last year. The refugees' lawyer, Robert Tibbo has called the decision by Hong Kong authorities "completely unreasonable", and said he had less than two weeks to submit appeals before the families were deported. He said there was a risk his clients could be detained and their children placed in government custody. Hong Kong is not a signatory to the UN's refugee convention and does not grant asylum. The hands of Keana, daughter of Filipino refugee Vanessa Rodel, are seen as she hugs her mother outside the Immigration Tower in Hong Kong However, it is bound by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and considers claims for protection based on those grounds. One of the refugees, Vanessa Rodel from the Philippines, who lives in Hong Kong with her five-year-old daughter, broke down over the news of the decision. Another of the refugees, Ajith Pushpakumara from Sri Lanka, told AFP the government had "taken his whole life". Lawyers for the Snowden refugees have separately lodged an asylum petition with the Canadian government and are calling for to be expedited. The video of Snowden can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5InlEgqHOE A man (L) wearing a mask of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kneels down in a mock apology next to the statue (R) of a teenage girl symbolizing former "comfort women" who served as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with a senior South Korean envoy on Thursday, as the two countries try to lower tensions over Tokyo's wartime use of "comfort women". The special envoy dispatched by South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In said in Tokyo that Seoul wants regular summits and improved relations, which have been hindered by the memory of Japan's harsh colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945. Abe also struck a conciliatory note, saying: "With the new president, I wish to build future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations." In what both governments hoped was a major step forward, the two countries had agreed in 2015 to a deal designed to end a row over Korean "comfort women" forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during the World War II. South Korean special presidential envoy Moon Hee-sang (L) shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo on May 18, 2017 However, the election this month of Moon as president, replacing the ousted Park Geun-Hye, has cast doubt over the agreement, which both governments previously had said "resolved (the issue) finally and irreversibly". Moon in a phone call with Abe last week said that most Koreans cannot accept the agreement. That raised worries in Tokyo that the issue could again hinder ties, at a time when both countries are seeking unity to face the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile development. As part of the accord, Japan offered an apology and a payment totalling one billion yen ($9 million) to the dozens of remaining survivers. But critics of the deal in South Korea said Japan did not go far enough, and earlier this year Tokyo recalled its ambassador over a statue symbolising "comfort women", which was erected outside its consulate in the South Korean city of Busan. Speaking to reporters after Thursday's meeting, envoy Moon Hee-Sang confirmed that the "comfort women" issue had been raised, but did not offer further details. "We had a serious discussion but I find it uncomfortable to say more about it," Moon said, adding that both sides expressed their positions. Japan has pressed Seoul to implement the deal and also to remove another "comfort women" statue near the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also China and other parts of Asia, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II. The two brutal beheadings have shocked largely peaceful Taiwan. A Taiwanese man was arrested Thursday for decapitating his sister in front of horrified neighbours, a week after another killer was jailed for beheading a three-year-old girl in the street. The brutal crimes have shocked the largely peaceful island. The 54-year-old man, identified by his family name Lin, beheaded his sister with a kitchen knife outside their home in southern Kaohsiung city after an argument, police said. Lin and his sister, 52, were both unmarried and lived together in southern Kaohsiung city. He had been taking care of the mentally-ill woman for many years, police added. "She was supposed to go to the hospital this morning and they quarrelled when she refused. Lin then attacked her with a kitchen knife and severed her neck," an officer said. Local television quoted an eyewitness as saying the woman had knelt and pleaded for her life while neighbours screamed when they saw her severed head on the pavement. In the previous killing of the three-year-old girl, schizophrenic Wang Ching-yu decapitated the child in public near a metro station in Taipei last year, fighting off her mother and passers-by who tried to stop him. He escaped the death penalty in court last week. Wang's case sparked fresh debate over the death penalty for child killers and there were protests calling for capital punishment. He claimed that he had hallucinated he was a Chinese emperor from Sichuan province and believed that killing the girl would bring him concubines to "carry on his family line", local media reported. Prosecutors called the crime extremely cold-blooded and demanded the death penalty. But a district court sentenced Wang to life in prison due to his "mental handicap". , 14 : 40 ; 3 Two plastic surgeons who treated ousted South Korean president Park Geun-Hye -- including one who injected her with human placenta extracts -- and three other people were convicted in connection with the scandal that brought her down Two plastic surgeons who treated ousted South Korean president Park Geun-Hye -- including one who injected her with human placenta extracts -- and three other people were convicted Thursday in connection with the scandal that brought her down. The guilty verdicts are the first in the wide-ranging scandal that embroiled the country for months and culminated in Park's dismissal. Kim Sang-Man, who gave the former president the placenta injections, was fined 10 million won ($9,000) for faking medical records whenever he secretly treated her. Another plastic surgeon, Kim Young-Jae, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for perjury for telling a parliamentary hearing that he had never given Park cosmetic treatments, when he later admitted giving her botox injections. Park was renowned for her meticulous attention to her appearance, maintaining an elaborate hairstyle and refusing to be seen by others without undergoing an hour-long daily routine at the hands of her stylists. The two doctors testified that they had visited Park at her residence for years, often without the presence or knowledge of the presidential medical team. Park was removed from power in March after the massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal prompted millions to take to the street calling for her ouster, pushing lawmakers to impeach her. She is awaiting trial for offering policy favours to business tycoons, including Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong, who bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil, who is also on trial for bribery. Choi, daughter of a shady religious figure who was also close to Park, wielded enormous power over Park from her daily wardrobe choice to nomination of top officials. A state probe revealed Park secretly sought questionable cosmetic treatments from doctors who were linked with Choi but were not part of the presidential medical team. The Seoul Central District Court also sentenced Kim Young-Jae's wife to a year in prison for bribing Park's top economic advisor in exchange for policy favours for her business. Another doctor linked to Choi was jailed for a year for perjury during the parliamentary probe, and a fourth medic received a suspended term. A snap election held on May 9 saw a left-leaning former human rights lawyer, Moon Jae-In, elected as president. Iraqis flee their homes in the Rabie neighbourhood of west Mosul as security forces advance into the area on May 17, 2017 The exodus of civilians from the battleground city of Mosul has reached an unprecedented level, leaving aid agencies struggling to cope, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq said on Thursday. "The numbers of people fleeing their homes in western Mosul are overwhelming," Lise Grande said in a statement. "We are talking about very large numbers of families who are leaving everything behind. They are fleeing under very difficult circumstances. Many are food insecure and haven't had access to safe drinking water and medicines for weeks or months," she said. Iraqi forces launched a massive offensive seven months ago to retake the country's second city from the Islamic State group, which seized it in June 2014. More than 700,000 people have since been displaced, half a million of them since mid-February when Iraqi forces moved on the more densely populated west side of the city. The government, the UN and its partners have been setting up camps around Mosul to assist increasingly desperate civilians, including some who faced starvation and were used as human shields by jihadists. But Grande said the aid community was struggling to cope with the latest influx. "The numbers of people who are moving are now so large, it's becoming more and more difficult to ensure civilians receive the assistance and protection they need," she said. Iraqis flee their homes in the Rabie neighbourhood of west Mosul as security forces advance into the area on May 17, 2017 She warned that another 200,000 civilians who are still trapped in the Old City of Mosul, where holdout jihadists have focused most of their resources ahead of a bloody last stand, could flee in the coming weeks. Grande urged donors to ramp up support for the Mosul aid effort, which has been massively underfunded so far. "Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake," she said. A wounded Palestinian reporter is carried by a medic and civilians in the occupied West Bank on May 18, 2017 near Hawara military checkpoint where a Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler, medical and security sources said. A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler during a clash near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday during protests in support of hunger-striking prisoners. The clash near Hawara military checkpoint in the northern West Bank erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to pass through a crowd of Palestinian protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire, Palestinian security sources said. The Palestinian killed was identified by the health ministry as Muataz Bani Shemsay, 23, from a village near Nablus. He was shot in the head, it said. A photographer with Associated Press news agency was also wounded by gunfire but was in stable condition, medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a "violent riot broke out" that saw Palestinians throw rocks at passing cars. Soldiers "responded with riot-dispersal means. One of the Israeli citizens whose car was damaged from the rocks fired into the air." The spokeswoman confirmed one person was killed and another wounded. "From what we understand it is not from (soldiers') fire, but the incident is still under review," she said. Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered at an Israeli military checkpoint at Huwara, south of Nablus and the regular site of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers. The protest was held in support of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails on hunger strike since April 17. Palestinian protesters surround a car reportedly driven by an Israeli settler as it attempts to pass through a demonstration near the Hawara military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on May 18, 2017 An Israeli settler attempted to drive into the crowd, the security sources said, and was surrounded by protesters who threw stones at the car. He then got out of the car and opened fire along with soldiers who deployed, the sources said. On Thursday evening hundreds of Palestinians from Al-Amari refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah and nearby Qalandia gathered at a military checkpoint outside Jerusalem. - Petrol bombs - From behind a barricade of burning tyres and scrap metal they hurled rocks and petrol bombs at soldiers, who responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas, AFP journalists at the scene said. Palestinian women mourn over the death of 23-year-old Muataz Bani Shemsay, who according to Palestinian security forces was killed by an Israeli settler during clashes near Nablus, during his funeral procession in the West Bank on May 18, 2017 They were also protesting in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, fasting since April 17 over demands for improved conditions. The health of several had already declined but several on Thursday intensified their protest, saying they would no longer drink. An Israeli Prisons Service spokesman told AFP that "several dozen" hunger strikers were moved from prisons in southern Israel to facilities nearer the centre of the country with faster access to hospitals "in case there is a need to move them very, very quickly." He did not elaborate. In the Gaza strip, armed militant groups pledged "not to remain with arms folded" if fasting prisoners were to meet grave physical harm. "The enemy only understands the language of force and we are ready to speak in the way they understand best," they said at a news conference. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 264 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, the Israeli authorities say. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has subsided in recent months. The ferry move comes amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang's latest missile test The first ever ferry service linking Russia and North Korea was launched on Thursday, the company operating it said, hoping to serve tourists and North Korean workers. The ferry will travel weekly between Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok and the North Korean port of Rajin, also called Rason, said Vladimir Baranov, director of InvestStroiTrest, the company that operates the Man Gyong Bong boat that will service the route. Potential passengers include "North Koreans coming to work in Russia and tourists from northern China who miss the sea because they don't have their own," Baranov told AFP. "Also it will service cargo because currently the logistics are horrible, it takes 22 days for cargo to get from Vladivostok to Rajin," he said. Baranov said Russian tourist firms had already expressed interest in the possibility of Russians travelling to North Korea by ferry. "It's a trading economic zone, so they don't require visas, only an invitation, which the tourist firms would provide," Baranov said when asked how Russian tourists would gain access to the secluded country. The news comes as tensions have spiked on the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang's test launch of a ballistic missile, with Washington saying the country's weapons development should be treated "with a sense of urgency." Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week he is against expanding the "club of nuclear powers" but added that "we must stop intimidating North Korea." Russian state channel Rossiya showed the ship in the Vladivostok port early Thursday, saying locals were not permitted to get close due to a security incident over a found unclaimed bag. A representative of a Chinese tourism firm told the channel that the route would be "very convenient" for those wanting to visit North Korea and Russia on the same trip. Baranov said sixty tourists from China have already booked a trip on the next boat, which has 40 cabins as well as bars and a karaoke room, according to the company website. Veteran entertainer Rolf Harris is accused of four counts of indecent assault against three teenage girls between 1971 and 1983. He denies the charges Australian entertainer Rolf Harris is to be released from a British prison this week, a London court was told Thursday. The 87-year-old former television star has been appearing via videolink during his trial on charges of indecent assault, which opened on Monday. The jury has previously been told that Harris has already been convicted and sentenced in 2014 for other offences. Judge Deborah Taylor said Harris would be released from prison on Friday. "He will no longer be appearing in the court via videolink and he will be attending what remains of his trial in person next week," Taylor said. Harris is accused of four counts of indecent assault against three teenage girls between 1971 and 1983. He denies the charges. The trial is due to last three weeks. A household name for decades in Britain and his native Australia, Harris is an artist and television presenter who also topped the music charts in both countries. The Paris Agreement commits signatories to limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels UN climate negotiations conclude in Bonn on Thursday with delegates putting on a brave face despite the threat of an American exodus hanging over their global pact to stem global warming. Envoys from nearly 200 country signatories to the Paris Agreement kept a close eye on Washington throughout their 10-day huddle for any signal about President Donald Trump's intentions. On the campaign trail, Trump had threatened to "cancel" the hard-fought pact in which his predecessor, Barack Obama, played an instrumental role in dragging it over the finish line in 2015. On the second day of the Bonn talks, the White House announced the postponement of a meeting to discuss America's future in the deal, compounding the uncertainty. A historically small US delegation at the annual round of technical negotiations was thus also left in the dark. The Paris agreement: key points "I personally have met with the head of the (US) delegation a couple of times and... he's just very open in repeating: 'Our position is under review'," UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said on Thursday. But delegates insisted that work continued on outlining a nuts-and-bolts "rule book" for implementing the agreement's goals, despite the ever-present "Sword of Damocles", as one put it. Many commented that the mood was a positive one, and that the American delegation participated in the talks, though cautiously. - Progress despite the odds - There is the fear, however, that whatever progress is made now could easily be swept off the table when the negotiators get together next, perhaps encountering a new US team with a different brief. "The rest of the world must continue to work towards progress together," said Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, who will preside over the next ministerial-level round of climate talks in November. "We shouldn't give up because one of the community, one of the family, has decided that they will not walk with us." Observers pointed to the importance of coming meetings of the G7 and G20, strategic country groupings of which the US is a member, in putting pressure on Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by China. "We work very hard together with many other friends in the world to convince the US that staying in the Paris Agreement is the right way to go," Jochen Flasbarth, Germany's state secretary for the environment, told journalists in Bonn. "Germany stays committed to the international UN climate process. We believe that it is irreversible and many, many countries indicate to us that nobody has the intention of thinking about another format, another track apart from the UN." There are fears in some quarters that an American withdrawal may encourage others to follow suit, or at least harm the collective will, built up over two decades of tough negotiations, to act tougher on climate change. The Paris Agreement commits signatories to limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. This will be achieved by limiting emissions from burning coal, oil and gas. But the fossil fuel lobby in America exerts a strong influence over climate politics, both national and international. "We don't know," what Trump will eventually decide, "but we won't stop our work even if the result is a negative one," Khan said. "Progress must be pursued irrespective of the odds." The "rule book" the Bonn participants started work on is meant to guide countries in implementing the Paris Agreement's goals -- what type of information to include in their emissions-curbing updates, for example. The rules must be finalised by next year, leaving just over 18 months for what appears set to be a difficult negotiation. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg talks to the press in Brussels on May 18, 2017 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that he had complete confidence in allies' sharing of sensitive intelligence, amid an uproar over US President Donald Trump's reported disclosure of classified information. Trump is due in Brussels next week to meet EU and NATO leaders on his first foreign trip since taking office in January on a promise to force allies to take on more of the defence burden. "I very much appreciate the cooperation we have inside NATO on information sharing," Stoltenberg told reporters when asked about Trump's conduct. "I trust all allies enough and I am absolutely certain that they are able to share and to handle this information in a good way," he said as he went into a meeting with EU defence ministers on increasing security cooperation. Stoltenberg noted that NATO's 28 member countries, led by the United States, have been exchanging sensitive information for years, and in 2016 the alliance created a top intelligence coordination unit to improve such exchanges. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the EU and even described NATO as "obsolete" at one point, caused dismay after reports he disclosed intelligence about a possible Islamic State terror threat during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week in Washington. It subsequently emerged that staunch US ally Israel may have been the source of the information, adding fuel to the fire. Established diplomatic norms mean that intelligence is rarely discussed in public, that it is shared only very carefully with allies, and that its source is rarely if ever disclosed. Trump's problems, and the turmoil over his administration's possible Russian links, have raised eyebrows in Europe but political leaders and officials have been reluctant to discuss the matters publicly. Friends of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav celebrate in Mumbai on May 18, 2017 after he is given a stay of execution in a high-profile case at the International Court of Justice The UN's top court on Thursday ordered Pakistan to stay the execution of an Indian national convicted of spying, in a decision hailed by New Delhi. Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav must not be put to death by Islamabad until they have had time to pass final judgement in the case. Jadhav was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistani officials claim he has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services. He was convicted last month by a military court and sentenced to death. But India has maintained he is not a spy, and that he was kidnapped by Pakistan. It lodged a case against Islamabad earlier this month, accusing the Pakistanis of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking international human rights law. New Delhi also appealed for the court to impose emergency measures to suspend Jadhav's execution until the legal battle in The Hague has concluded. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," said the court's president Ronny Abraham. Pakistani officials claim Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services but India denies the allegations He also ordered Pakistan to inform the tribunal that it has implemented the decision, and stressed that ICJ decisions are binding on all member states. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the ruling and said in a Tweet that it was "a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India". "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav," he said in another Tweet. - Urgent case - Outlining the reasons for its decision, Abraham said Pakistan had "given no assurance" Jadhav would not be executed before the court delivered its final decision. "The mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India," he added. Therefore the court was "satisfied" of the "urgency" of the case. India's battle at The International Court of Justice to stop Pakistan executing one of its nationals accused of spying has highlighted tensions between the nuclear armed rivals The case -- a rare foray for the two South Asian nations into the international courts -- has highlighted the recent sharp upsurge in tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan reacted coolly, with the attorney general's office stressing that the outcome was an interim order "without prejudice to the final determination of the merits" of India's case. "The court's decision today has not changed the status of commander Jadhav's case in any manner," it said in a statement, adding he could still apply for clemency. "We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end." The ICJ was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between nations in accordance with international law. The tribunal has not yet decided whether it has jurisdiction to hear India's case, and a final ruling could take months, if not years. India and Pakistan have routinely accused one another of sending spies into their countries, and it is not uncommon for either nation to expel diplomats accused of espionage. But death sentences have rarely been issued in recent years. - 'Justice served' - Outside Jadhav's former home in Mumbai, a group of friends let off firecrackers in celebration. "Justice has been served and it is proven that Pakistan's courts are mere kangaroo courts and nothing else," one friend Sachin Kale told AFP. Jadhav, who is married with two children, reportedly joined India's prestigious National Defence Academy in 1987 and was commissioned as an engineer in the Indian Navy in 1991. The son of a retired police officer, his neighbours remember him as a shy but helpful man who was good at sport and academic, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The last time India and Pakistan took a dispute to the ICJ was in 1999 when Islamabad protested the downing of a Pakistani navy plane that killed 16 people. But the tribunal decided it was not competent to rule in the dispute and closed the case. South African mountaineer Ryan Sean Davy takes a 'selfie' as he climbs on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest A South African caught attempting to climb Mount Everest without an $11,000 permit said Thursday that he couldn't afford the hefty fee but had always planned to turn himself in and serve jail time as punishment. Ryan Sean Davy was arrested on Tuesday after handing himself into authorities in Kathmandu, a week after he was found hiding in a cave near Everest base camp without a permit. He told AFP at a police detention centre that he knew he would have to eventually turn himself in -- and likely face jail time -- because he wanted to release a film and book about his Everest adventure. "I realised that I would have to turn myself in to make it all legal, do the jail time because I can't afford the permit," said the 43-year-old, who now faces a $22,000 fine. Davy, who has no prior mountaineering experience, was attempting to scale the world's highest peak alone and with limited equipment -- and hoped to save the lives of other climbers along the way. Before he was caught he had managed to climb as high as camp one at an altitude of 6,000 metres (nearly 20,000 feet), despite not having all the proper equipment. To get there he had to cross the treacherous Khumbu icefall, a huge stretch of glacier containing deep crevasses that must be crossed by ladder. "I had some of the gear, not all of it, so there were some really interesting, scary parts," he said. Davy recently hit a low point in his life after ploughing all this savings into two feature films that never got off the ground, but felt he could pick himself up if he was able to help someone else. "I just really wanted to find some sort of fulfilment by helping somebody, whatever the consequence was," he said, sitting in a small office at a police station in Kathmandu wearing a green t-shirt, boardshorts and flip-flops. South African mountaineer Ryan Sean Davy, who was arrested in Nepal for attempting to climb Mount Everest without paying the $11,000 permit fee, says he planned to turn himself in at the end of the season and serve the jail time as punishment "I couldn't figure out what to do and then I realised if there's one place in the world where there's a guarantee that I could help people then that's Mount Everest," he said. Davy said he was motivated by the controversial death of British mountaineer David Sharp near the summit of Everest in 2006. Sharp's death sparked a heated debate within the climbing community because a number of climbers passed him during their ascent to the summit but did not stop to help. "I'd learned about the David Sharp scenario, where a lot of the climbers got summit fever and a lot of the climbers walked right past a dying man. So I was worried maybe the same thing would happen," Davy said. - Traverse to Tibet - Once he reached the summit, Davy said he had planned to cross to the Tibet side of the mountain -- a move that would have landed him in trouble with the Chinese authorities as well. "I wanted to traverse actually. I know that's illegal," Davy said. "By traversing I could have been able to help people on the north side because a lot of people struggle on the steps, so if there were any potential fatalities, I was hoping I could be of service." Davy -- who is due to appear in court on Sunday -- could face up to four years in prison if he cannot pay the hefty fine, director of the tourism department Dinesh Bhattarai told AFP. This photograph taken from an aircraft shows an aerial view of Mount Everest (C) and The Himalayan mountain range In addition to a $22,000 fine for climbing Everest without permission, Davy could be hit with another $1,500 fee for partially scaling Pumori and Lobuche, two neighbouring mountains, Bhattarai said. The filmmaker is also facing charges under Nepal's strict public order laws for swearing at officials from the tourism department during questioning -- allegations Davy denies. Johannesburg-born but US based, Davy moved to Aspen, Colorado six months ago to begin preparing for his Everest bid, living out of the back of a van because he was short on cash. "For the last six months prior to my Everest expedition I just focused all my attention on learning how to climb, learning how to use the equipment," he said. "I know that I could have ended up in trouble, but I was really hoping that nobody would have had to come to my aid because I didn't want to risk anybody else's life." "My only real regret is that I was caught before I was able to do any good." "House of Cards" star Robin Wright said at the Cannes film festival that Michelle Obama would be a "great female president". "House of Cards" star Robin Wright -- who plays a quietly Machiavellian First Lady in the hit Netflix series -- said Thursday that Michelle Obama should be the next US president. The actress told reporters at the Cannes film festival that Donald Trump "has stolen all our ideas" for the next series of the drama about a villainous head of state who stops at nothing to stay in the White House. Wright, a prominent activist, said a leader like Michelle Obama could galvanise liberals to get through the Trump years. "We gotta see the hope somewhere, even if it is out there in the future," she said at a "Women in Motion" talk in Cannes. "Everyone is talking around the (water) cooler saying, 'We have four more years of this! What are we going to do?'" She added: "In 2022 I want Michelle Obama there. She would be a great female president. It does take time to break the mould and change the psychology. Maybe it's going to take a little more time for Michelle to get that message through." Wright, 51, who is starring this summer in "Wonder Woman", which she called the "first female superhero movie", also said "it's time the film industry addressed its gaping gender imbalance". With only seven percent of films directed by women, according to estimates, she said the problem was obvious. "There are women CEOs who are making billions and billions for their companies. Why can't we just implement that in the (film) industry? It's time." - Blatant sexism - "The problem today is that feminism has become a derogatory, diva-like word. Feminism means equality, period. Equal work for equal pay," Wright told the "Women in Motion" talk organised by the luxury group Kering. Michelle Obama could galvanise liberals during the Donald Trump years, "House of Cards" star Robin Wright said at the Cannes film festival She said she first experienced blatant sexism early in her career. "When I was 17 in Paris I went for a 'go see' (audition). I thought they were just looking at my face, but the guy told me to lift up my top. I did, and he said, 'No, I like the other one's titties better'." But she said feminism was about more than calling out crude discrimination. "It is not just about 'Yeah, girl power!' but love and justice, and that is a great message to spread to our little women." Wright, who has also directed "House of Cards" episodes while starring alongside Kevin Spacey, said she decided to ask to direct herself after Spacey was offered the chance, which he turned down. "We are like brother and sister on the show. It is like, 'What are you doing? I want a bit of that'." She ended up directing seven episodes in the last season and her first short film, "The Dark of Night", a "female vigilante movie set in the 1930s" is having its premiere at Cannes this week. The Islamic State group is under growing pressure in Syria and Iraq The Islamic State group killed more than 50 people in an attack on two government-held villages in central Syria's Hama province on Thursday, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on the villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh killed at least 15 civilians and 27 pro-government fighters. It said another 10 bodies were yet to be identified as government fighters or local residents. IS also lost 15 fighters in the dawn attack on the two villages in the east of the province, the monitor said. State news agency SANA reported the attack, giving a toll of 20 civilians killed in Aqareb, without mention of Al-Mabujeh. It said most of the civilians had been beheaded and mutilated. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said at least three of the civilians killed in the attack, a man and his two children, had been executed. It was unclear if others had also been executed or were killed in fighting. The Observatory said IS had seized control of Aqareb and part of Al-Mabujeh. "Despite the arrival of reinforcements, government forces have been unable to repel the attack so far," Abdel Rahman told AFP. IS has attacked Al-Mabujeh before with devastating effect. In March 2015, it executed at least 37 civilians in the village, whose population includes Sunni Muslims as well as those from the Ismaili sect and the Alawite community to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. During the same assault the group kidnapped at least 50 civilians, half of them women. Control of central Hama province is divided between Syria's government, rebel forces and IS, which is present mostly in the east of the area. Israeli soldiers take part in training on March 22, 2017 on the Golan Heights, most of which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed Israel on Thursday released thousands of previously classified official documents charting political decisions during the 1967 Six-Day War when it occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Made public by the Israel State Archives ahead of the 50th anniversary of the June 5-10 conflict, the 150,000 pages contain minutes of the wartime security cabinet and transcripts of other ministerial meetings, a government statement said. At the end of the fighting with Egypt, Jordan and Syria the Jewish state was left in control of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, part of the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. The Golan and east Jerusalem were subsequently annexed but the moves were never recognised by the international community. Fifty years later the West Bank remains occupied and the Gaza Strip is under a tight Israeli blockade. The publication gives access to unpublished information on the war, long the object of research and historical writing. "For the first time in 50 years it will be possible to closely follow the dynamic within the government regarding the Six-Day War," chief archivist Yaakov Lazovik said in the statement. "What were the ministers' initial positions regarding the future of the territories?" - 'Powder keg' - On June 15, 1967, five days after the end of the war, ministers of the security cabinet discussed various options for the newly occupied territories, with then foreign minister Abba Eban describing continued Israeli rule as a potential "powder keg". "We are sitting here with two populations, one of them endowed with all the civil rights and the other denied all rights," he was quoted as saying in extracts published by Israeli daily Haaretz. "The world will side with a liberation movement of that one and a half million" under occupation, he said. The possibility of expelling them was mentioned, with Levy Eshkol, the Israeli prime minister at the time, saying that "if it were up to us, we would send all the Arabs to Brazil." His justice minister, Yaakov Shimshon Shapira, objected. "They are inhabitants of this land, and today you are ruling over it. There is no reason to take Arabs who were born here out of here and transfer them to Iraq," he said. Eshkol was unconvinced. "We didn't sneak in here. We said that the Land of Israel is ours by right," he wrote. The documents reflect the government's thinking during the war and euphoria after the destruction of the Egyptian air force and the Israeli victories on the Jordanian and Syrian fronts. A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of Arabs and Kurds, removes an Islamic State group flag in the Syrian town of Tabqa on April 30, 2017 US-led warplanes hit a pro-regime convoy in Syria that ignored warning shots, weeks after President Donald Trump's administration launched America's first strikes against Damascus forces in the war-torn country. The strike by the coalition fighting the Islamic State group happened on the same day IS jihadists killed more than 50 people in attacks on two government-held villages elsewhere in the country. It came as the United Nations said Syria's regime and rebels had agreed to set up expert committees to discuss "constitutional issues" at the latest round of UN-backed peace talks in Geneva. US-led aircraft struck the convoy as it headed toward a remote coalition garrison near the border with Jordan, a US defence official said. "A convoy going down the road didn't respond to numerous ways for it to be warned off from getting too close to coalition forces in Al-Tanaf," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Syrian government forces fire artillery during a battle against the Islamic State group on May 16, 2017 in the town of Maskana, on the edge of Lake Assad in the eastern part of the Aleppo province "Then there was finally a strike against the lead portion of that movement." The coalition said the strike had occurred "well inside" an established de-confliction zone northwest of the Al-Tanaf garrison, where British and US commandos have been training and advising local forces fighting IS. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said, despite the strikes, the United States was "not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war, but we will defend our troops". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the strikes killed eight people "most of them non-Syrian" and destroyed four vehicles. The United States has been militarily involved in Syria since 2014, but has for the most part avoided engaging directly in the conflict. But last month, it launched a barrage of missiles at Syria's Shayrat airbase, which it said was the launchpad for an alleged chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians. - IS executions - Also on Thursday, IS killed more than 50 people in an attack on two regime-held villages in the central province of Hama, said the Observatory. The attack on the villages of Aqareb and Al-Mabujeh killed at least 15 civilians and 27 pro-government fighters, it said. A missile is launched from the USS Porter in the Mediterranean Sea on April 7, 2017, when President Donald Trump ordered a massive military strike on a Syrian air base Another 10 bodies were yet to be identified. IS also lost 15 fighters in the dawn attack on the villages in the east of the province, said the monitor. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said at least three of the civilians were killed execution style with knives, a man and his two children. State media also reported 52 people had been killed in the IS assault, though it described the attack as against Aqareb only. It said IS fighters had mutilated the bodies of villagers and looted their homes, and said 15 of the dead were children. The Observatory said IS had seized control of Aqareb and part of Al-Mabujeh in the attack, which began with heavy shelling on a nearby regime checkpoint. "Despite the arrival of reinforcements, government forces have been unable to repel the attack so far," said Abdel Rahman. IS has attacked Al-Mabujeh before with devastating effect. In March 2015, it executed at least 37 civilians in the village, whose population includes Sunnis as well as those from the Ismaili sect and the Alawite community to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. During the same assault the group kidnapped at least 50 civilians, half of them women. Control of Hama province is divided between the government, rebel forces and IS, which is present mostly in the east of the area. - UN-backed talks - IS faces pressure in northern Syria, where an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is preparing an assault on its bastion Raqa city. More than half of Syria's population has been displaced in the six-year war The battle for Raqa has stirred tensions with neighbouring Turkey, which is fiercely opposed to the Kurdish fighters now leading the operation to capture the city. On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for the removal of US diplomat Brett McGurk, who coordinates the US-led coalition against IS, saying he was supporting the Kurdish fighters. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government demonstrations in 2011. The conflict has proved stubbornly resistant to international efforts to find a political solution, but a new round of UN-sponsored talks are underway this week in Geneva. But the United Nations said Thursday the warring sides had agreed to set up expert committees to discuss "constitutional issues". A new constitution is one of four separate "baskets" on the agenda at the talks, along with governance, elections and combating "terrorism". The UN-sponsored process has been somewhat overshadowed by a parallel track convened in Kazakh capital Astana by regime supporters Russia and Iran along with rebel backer Turkey. The three nations agreed earlier this month to establish four "de-escalation zones" in Syria, and are now hammering out the details of the plan. Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) leader Nasr al-Hariri (2ndL) and UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura (3rdR) take part in a new round of Syria peace talks on May 16, 2017 in Geneva In the first concrete results from talks this week on ending Syria's conflict, the United Nations said the warring sides had agreed to set up expert committees to discuss "constitutional issues." Representatives of Syria's government and opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) are in Switzerland for the sixth round of UN-backed peace negotiations, but there has been no sign of progress. On Thursday, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura's office declared a first tangible step: a series of separate meetings with the government and HNC delegations to discuss "legal and constitutional issues of relevance to the intra-Syrian talks". The announcement appeared to be a watered-down version of a previous UN proposal towards a new constitution. But late Thursday, eight rebel groups suspended their participation in the HNC's delegation, expressing dissatisfaction with the decision-making process at the talks. The statement, published by rebel group Faylaq al-Sham, came on the eve of the last day of talks. A new constitution for Syria is one of four separate topics or "baskets" on the agenda at the talks, alongside governance, elections and combating "terrorism." By Thursday, however, government delegation head Bashar al-Jaafari said his team had "not discussed any baskets yet." Speaking to journalists shortly after the UN's announcement, Jaafari seemed to play down how much the expert meetings would push the constitutional process forward. "The work of these experts will have nothing to do with the constitution... They will not take decisions," Jaafari said. The Syrian diplomat described the UN's earlier plan as "too ambitious." That team would have been responsible for finding "specific options for constitutional drafting," according to a copy of the document seen by AFP. The talks, which opened on Tuesday, were at risk of being overshadowed by months of parallel negotiations in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Observers said de Mistura would be scrambling to match the Astana track's momentum. The opposition has continued to demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as part of a political transition process, which the government sees as a non-starter. Police secure an are near a car after it plunged into pedestrians in Times Square in New York on May 18, 2017 A US Navy veteran with a criminal past -- but no apparent terror motive -- rammed a car into a crowd of people in New York's Times Square on Thursday, killing a young woman and injuring 22 other people. The midday incident sparked fear in the heart of America's most populous city after deadly car-ramming attacks in London, Berlin and the French city of Nice, but authorities said there was no evidence the crash was terror-related. Times Square, next to the famed Broadway theater district, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US financial capital and where police stepped up patrols in recent years after a car bomb was planted in 2010. "Based on the information we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the scene. "That being said, we are reinforcing key locations around the city with our anti-terror units of the NYPD so out of an abundance of caution, major sites in the city will get additional police coverage," he added. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio briefs the media in Times Square following a violent car accident in New York on May 18, 2017 Richard Rojas, a 26-year-old from the Bronx stopped twice in the past for drunk driving, drove his Honda onto the sidewalk at 11:55 am (1555 GMT), smashing into pedestrians for three blocks at high speed, police said. The vehicle collided with a metal pole and came to a stop at 45th Street and Broadway, police said. The vehicle flipped onto its side, smoke and flames spewing out of the hood as the injured littered the ground. An 18-year-old woman was killed and 22 other victims were injured, including the woman's 13-year-old sister, officials said. Four were in critical condition. Witnesses spoke of fear and panic as the car hurtled through the crowd at the start of the lunch hour as people enjoyed one of the first warm days of summer in an area typically packed with tourists and office workers. "There was a maroon car just careening at high speed. It seemed like it was trying to hit everybody," witness Annie Donahey told AFP. - 'Happened so quickly' - A Police officer collects the license plate of a car after it plunged into pedestrians in Times Square in New York on May 18, 2017 "There were people on top of the hood that were being flown over the sides and the girl who had been walking next to me... was in a heap on the ground, and she was clearly dead, and it just happened so quickly," she added. Rojas was arrested and will be tested for drugs and alcohol, police said. "The perpetrator is in custody. He's a United States citizen and a former member of the armed forces with the United States Navy," de Blasio told reporters. New York police said Rojas was arrested for driving under the influence in 2008 and 2015, and detained earlier this month for menacing. The US Navy said he served from September 2011 to May 2014, reaching the rank of electrician's mate fireman apprentice. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, and had been based in Florida, Illinois and South Carolina. Broadway announced that shows would run as scheduled Thursday but urged theatergoers to allow extra time to arrive "due to an active investigation" in the Times Square area and road closures. A pipe bomb exploded last September in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, lightly wounding 31 people in the last terror-related incident in New York. An American of Afghan descent, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, was charged. Times Square was the scene of the most serious security alert in New since the September 11, 2001 attacks when Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant, planted a car bomb at the intersection on May 1, 2010. His explosive device failed to detonate and he was arrested shortly after boarding a flight to the Middle East. He pleaded guilty and said he was aiming to avenge deaths from US missiles fired from drones operating over Pakistan. He was sentenced to life behind bars. Abdullah Tomia, chairman of a Libyan-Italian committee to curb illegal immigration, calls for Italy to arms its patrol boats to combat people trafficking, at a news conference in the Libyan capital Tripoli, on May 18, 2017. Libya on Thursday asked Italy to arm the patrol boats it uses in the fight against illegal immigration across the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe. Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti this week handed over to the Libyan coastguard four patrol boats repaired in Italy as part of a cooperation deal against people traffickers. Another six patrol boats are to follow soon after the training of their Libyan crews, he said. "These boats are not fitted with arms. We can't used them for patrols when the traffickers are increasingly armed," Abdullah Tomia, a senior naval officer in charge of cooperation with Italy, told a news conference in Tripoli. "We've asked Italy to arm the patrol boats," he said, while noting that Libya was still under a UN arms embargo in force since its 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi. "Before the revolution, we were dealing with unarmed traffickers. But no we are up against fierce, armed gangs," Tomia said. Libyan authorities have complained about lacking the means to deal with the floods of migrants who try crossing the Mediterranean in makeshift boats. Last year, a record 181,000 migrants reached Italy, 90 percent of them from Libya. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (R-2) and others give a press conference in Gaza City May 11, 2017, as the group announced the arrest of the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders, Mazen Faqha, who was shot dea don March 24, 2017 A military court in Gaza on Thursday concluded the trial of three men accused of assassinating a Hamas military leader and will deliver its verdict at the weekend, an official said. The trial of the alleged killers of Mazen Faqha opened on Monday and the court held its fourth and final session on Thursday. The chief suspect, Ashraf Abu Leila, 38, and two accomplices are charged with shooting dead Faqha, a senior Hamas official, next to his home on March 24. "The verdict will be delivered on Sunday," Hamas-run interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozum told AFP. "It will be final and under Palestinian law the accused have no right of appeal." "The sentence will be the death penalty and execution will be carried out as quickly as possible," said a source close to the military court system. Hamas has accused the men of colluding with Israel to set up and commit the murder. In the wake of the killing it launched a large-scale campaign against all "collaborators" in which it said it made 45 arrests. Hamas hanged three men on April 6, convicted by the military court of past acts of "treason and collaborating" unconnected to Faqha's slaying. The assassination in the middle of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip shocked the Islamist movement. Hamas immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008, and implemented strict border restrictions on those seeking to leave the Palestinian enclave. Abu Leila was arrested about two weeks after the assassination and his detention was publicly announced by Hamas's leader Ismail Haniya last Thursday. Faqha had been in charge of forming cells for Hamas's military wing in the occupied West Bank. He had spent years in an Israeli jail before being released as part of a 2011 prisoner exchange deal. Women wait for food distribution in the town of Banki in northeastern Nigeria in April 2017 as conflict and the risk of famine heighten Two million people are teetering on the brink of famine in northeastern Nigeria but efforts to reach some are being thwarted by Boko Haram jihadists, the UN's food agency said Thursday. More than 20 million people across Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, are in areas hit by drought and are experiencing famine or are at high risk of famine in "the biggest crisis we have seen in the past 50 years", said Denise Brown, emergency coordinator for the UN's World Food Programme. "While they are all in difficulty, northeastern Nigeria is one that has got under our skin at WFP," she added. Around 1.8 million people in the area are classified "as being on the edge of the (famine) cliff", she said, and WFP is managing to provide support of some sort to 1.2 million of them -- though it desperately needs more funds. "But there are several hundred thousand people who are up in three areas in Nigeria on the borders with Niger and Chad that we just can't get to because of the active conflict," she said, putting the figure at around 600,000 people. Boko Haram launched an uprising in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and began eyeing border areas in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The conflict in the area of Lake Chad has left 20,000 people dead since then. - Funding gap hits children - Map of northeast Nigeria, focusing on the difficulties on getting aid to civilians, as of February 2017 "We've seen hundreds of thousands of people displaced from border areas in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and millions from Nigeria. The epicentre may be northeastern Nigeria but it's become a very big regional challenge," Brown said. The World Food Programme said it needed $230 million (207 million euros) between now and October to stave off a famine in Nigeria. Brown admitted the Rome-based food agency had not been prepared for a crisis on this scale there. "It's a middle-income country, it's the richest country in Africa. We didn't think we'd have to apply our emergency capabilities here". "The first time we went up there was a year ago. We were not prepared for the level of human suffering that we saw," she said. It was local communities, "some of the poorest people on the planet", that worked as "first responders" when the crisis hit. The agency's famine-prevention programme targets as standard all children from six to 23 months, making sure they are screened with the help of UNICEF and given special food. But in Nigeria it was not just babies and toddlers at risk. "When we saw the level of malnutrition in older children, we expanded that to all children under five-years old, but because of the lack of resources we've had to scale it back again," she said. The cut to food aid also comes as the country hits the "lean season", a period of the year when families naturally have less to eat. Migrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016 Some 2,300 migrants headed for Italy in 22 barely seaworthy vessels were rescued off the Libyan coast on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said. Coastguard and military vessels joined forces with others chartered by humanitarian organisations to come to the rescue of the migrants, who were packed into 10 wooden boats and 12 rubber dinghies. "About 2,300 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean today," the coastguard said in a statement. Prudence, a vessel chartered by medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres, picked up 770 people, many of them young children -- one a baby aged just six weeks, it said. SOS Mediterranee's and MSF's Aquarius vessel rescued 560 people and Phoenix, chartered by Maltese NGO Moas, hauled in another 360. Some 46,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year even before Thursday's drama, around a third up on the same period last year, according to the Italian interior ministry. At least 1,229 people have drowned making the perilous trip, according to the International Organization for Migration -- one death for every 39 persons rescued. The latest wave of people picked up comes as Italy beefs up security ahead of next week's G7 summit at Taormina in Sicily. The summit poses a challenge given that local authorities on the island have banned migrants from disembarking at Sicilian ports. Southern mainland ports or and those in the of Sardinia will instead take the strain. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that governments around the world are "ready to re-engage" with the United States US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared Thursday that the Middle East and the wider world are awaiting President Donald Trump's first foreign tour with eager anticipation. Dismissing concerns that the domestic scandals dogging Trump have hurt his international standing, Tillerson said his trip marked the return of a vital US leadership role. Governments in the Middle East, Asia and Africa were, he argued, stung by the "neglect and outright dismissal" of their concerns under the previous US administration. "They're ready to re-engage with America," he told reporters. "And that is the purpose of this trip -- it is really one of conveying the message that 'America is back'." Under Trump, he said, the United States will once again act as a "facilitator," uniting and leading friendly nations in the war against "global terrorism." "This is not a battle about religions. This is not a battle about cultures. This is a battle about good and evil," he said, shortly before joining the president for the trip. "The goodness of people of all faiths will prevail over this evil -- and that is the president's message that he will be taking," Tillerson continued. "And he will be convening people globally to confront this face of evil wherever it presents itself in the world, and there's a great anticipation around that leadership." Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, with Tillerson at the State Department for talks with their Mexican opposite numbers, agreed. "I just actually returned from a trip I took to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and they are so looking forward in that part of the world to the arrival of the president," he said. Trump and Tillerson are due in Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks with the king and his government and to attend a conference of dozens of leaders from the Muslim world. After Riyadh, they are due in Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, before travelling on to the Vatican and the NATO and G7 summits in Europe. "The US president assured him he will be able to find a settlement within one year," Palestinian Foreign Affairs minister Riyad Al-Malki, seen in 2015, said of Trump's meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in early May The Palestinians are taking seriously Donald Trump's efforts to help resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a minister said Thursday, ahead of the US president's visit to the West Bank next week. Foreign minister Riyad al-Malki was speaking in Muscat where he was accompanying Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a regional tour prior to the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh on Sunday. "Abu Mazen stressed Trump's seriousness in settling the Palestinian issue" after they met in Washington this month, said the minister, referring to Abbas by his Arabic nickname. "The US president assured him he will be able to find a settlement within one year," he added. Trump hosted Abbas at the White House on May 3, pledging to help end the decades-old conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. "It is something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," the US president said at the time. Trump's visit to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday is expected to last a few hours. It will be part of his first trip abroad since his inauguration in January. The tour, which begins on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, will take him to Israel and the West Bank and then to the Vatican. Kentucky Derby winning horse Always Dreaming is bathed following a training session for the upcoming Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 17, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming will start alongside top rival Classic Empire in Saturday's Preakness, with the oddsmakers favorites expected to stage a superb side-by-side break from the gates. "Always Dreaming is obviously a very good horse. We just want a fair shot at him," Classic Empire trainer Mark Casse said. "It could be interesting. They might go right at it from the start." A 10-horse field will race 1 3/16ths of a mile at Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland, in the second leg of US flat racing's Triple Crown, with Always Dreaming as a 4-5 favorite and starting from the fourth gate with Classic Empire, second choice at 3-1, just to the outside. "I wasn't overly concerned about where we drew," said Todd Pletcher, Always Dreaming's trainer. "In a lot of races things change as soon as the gates open. We'll just let him run his race." If Always Dreaming wins again, the horse could complete the treble at next month's Belmont Stakes. Only 12 horses have managed the feat, the most recent of them American Pharoah in 2015 to end a record drought that had lasted since 1978. The dark colt, ridden by John Velazquez, won the Derby by 2 3/4 lengths two weeks ago at Churchill Downs over Lookin At Lee, who starts second from the outside on Saturday and ranks third with Preakness oddsmakers at 10-1. Classic Empire, which had been a Derby favorite at 4-1, settled for fourth on a sloppy track and having him next door to Always Dreaming at the start is no worry for Pletcher. Preakness contender Classic Empire trains on the track during a training session for the upcoming Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 18, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland "I don't think it matters, as long as everybody breaks cleanly," Pletcher said. "I would imagine that Classic Empire is going to keep an eye on where we are." Count on Classic Empire jockey Julien Leparoux to be paying attention to the Derby winner from the start. "Always Dreaming will be right there, but if we break running, we can be there, too," Casse said. "I like it a lot better being 5 and Always Dreaming being 4 than us being 4 and he's 5, because that puts Julien more in the driver's seat. "If we break running and Always Dreaming doesn't, we may be on the lead. If Always Dreaming breaks running and we break running, if Julien thinks Always Dreaming is running too easy, he'll go up and engage him earlier. If he thinks he's running, he'll sit back." Cloud Computing is fourth in the betting line at 12-1 followed by Conquest Mo Money and Gunnevera at 15-1, Hence at 20-1 and 30-1 longshots Multiplier, Term Of Art and Senior Investment. Microsoft held back from distributing a free security update that could have protected computers from the WannaCry global cyber attack American software giant Microsoft held back from distributing a free security update that could have protected computers from the WannaCry global cyber attack, the Financial Times reported Thursday. In mid-march, Microsoft distributed a security update after it detected the security flaw in its XP operating system that enabled the so-called WannaCry ransomware to infiltrate and freeze computers last week. But the software giant only sent the free security update -- or patch -- to users of the most recent version of the Windows 10 operating system, the report said. Users of older software, such as Windows XP, had to pay hefty fees for technical support, it added. "The high price highlights the quandary the world's biggest software company faces as it tries to force customers to move to newer and more secure software," it said. A Microsoft spokesperson based in the United States told AFP: "Microsoft offers custom support agreements as a stopgap measure" for companies that choose not to upgrade their systems. "To be clear, Microsoft would prefer that companies upgrade and realise the full benefits of the latest version rather than choose custom support." According to the FT, the cost of updating older Windows versions "went from $200 per device in 2014, when regular support for XP ended, to $400 the following year," while some clients were asked to pay heftier fees. The newspaper argued the high costs led Britain's National Health Service -- one of the first victims of the WannaCry attack -- to not proceed with updates. Microsoft ended up distributing the free patch for the older versions on Friday -- the day the ransomware was detected. Although the announcement was "too late to contain the WannaCry outbreak," the report said. Microsoft did not confirm to AFP when it made the patch free. A hacking group called Shadow Brokers released the malware in April claiming to have discovered the flaw from the NSA, according to Kaspersky Lab, a Russian cybersecurity provider. French President Emmanuel Macron will address French soldiers stationed in the city of Gao in Mali's deeply troubled north. The French base there has 1,600 soldiers -- the biggest outside the country President Emmanuel Macron on Friday visits conflict-torn Mali, where French troops have been fighting jihadists for four years, in his first official visit outside Europe after taking power. He will address French soldiers stationed in the city of Gao in Mali's deeply troubled north. The French base there has 1,600 soldiers -- the biggest outside the country. The troops are part of Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror operation whose mission is to target jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert. Set up in 2014, the operation comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed across five countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso. It operates Mirage 2000 fighter jets and drones for gathering intelligence. Macron will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of Armed Services Sylvie Goulard, as well as the head of the French development agency (AFD) Remy Rioux. Macron will hold talks with Malian counterpart Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on the fight against terrorism and the west African country's rocky path to normality since a 2015 peace deal. Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in March 2012, and these forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year. But jihadists continue to roam the country's north and centre, mounting attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces still stationed there. Germany is the biggest contributor to the UN force in Mali, or MINUSMA, which has been stationed there since July 2013 and has just over 12,000 military and police personnel on what is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment. Sources in his entourage said 39-year-old Macron would seek to emphasise the need for closer European cooperation in the fight against jihadists, especially with EU heavyweight Germany. France wants a "new Franco-German impetus so that Europe plays a greater role in defence and security matters, especially in Africa and the Sahel," a source said. Macron has already discussed this on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first leader he met after taking office. BERLIN (AP) - Germany's Foreign Ministry says it has been granted consular access to a German-Turkish journalist arrested in Turkey. Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said Wednesday that consular officials will visit reporter Deniz Yucel in an Istanbul-area prison on Thursday for a second time since his arrest earlier this year. He says the government is "very happy about this" and it will give officials the opportunity to assess his wellbeing, the conditions he's been held in and to determine how to proceed next in the case. Yucel was one of many journalists swept up in the aftermath of last summer's failed coup in Turkey. He's accused of disseminating terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred, as well as being a German spy and PKK associate. Germany has dismissed the claims as absurd. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The U.S. Navy's senior officer wants a larger and better fleet sooner to compete with other countries, but says the cost is yet to be determined. Adm. John Richardson released a paper Wednesday that conforms with President Donald Trump's call for a 350-ship Navy and the service's estimate that it needs 355 ships. But Richardson says growing the fleet is insufficient; a different fleet that can fight in new ways is what is really needed. He wants ships and aircraft to be built faster, with innovative technology. He says the pace competitors are developing their navies, including China and Russia, demand it. Richardson declined to provide a cost estimate. He says the plan isn't finalized. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of building and operating 355 ships would average $102 billion annually. NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Latest on the removal of another Confederate statue in New Orleans (all times local): 2:30 p.m. New Orleans police say they've arrested a father and son for spray painting the base of a statue of a Confederate general that was removed earlier in the day. A worker in protective gear takes down an Army National Guard flag from the statue of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard during the statue's removal from the entrance to City Park in New Orleans, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. The city announced late Tuesday that it had begun the process of removing a statue of Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard - the third of four monuments city officials plan to take down across the city. (AP Photo/Scott Threlkeld) Police say the men were arrested Wednesday on a charge of criminal damage to historic buildings or landmarks by defacing with graffiti. According to authorities, an officer saw the men allegedly painting the base of the monument with the words "Gen. Beauregard CSA." Officials took down the statue of P.G.T. Beauregard early Wednesday - the 3rd of four Confederate-era monuments the city targeted for removal. Removal of the statues has sparked a backlash among some supporters who claim the monuments are part of history. Demonstrators have come out to protest their removal while waving Confederate battle flags. __ 3:30 a.m. Workers in New Orleans have taken down a Confederate monument to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, the third of four such monuments to come down in the city. The removal of the statue early Wednesday comes after the city has already taken down a statue of the Confederacy's only president and a memorial to a white rebellion against a biracial Reconstruction-era government in the city. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu first proposed removing the monuments in the summer of 2015, and the City Council approved the move later that year. But the process was stuck in legal limbo for over a year as monument supporters fought to keep them up. Supporters say removing the monuments is akin to erasing history. But those calling for their removal say they glorify a shameful part of the city and country's history. A New Orleans Police mounted patrol circles the statue of Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard as the statue is prepared for removal from the entrance to City Park in New Orleans, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. The removal of the statue comes after the city has already taken down a statue of Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy's only president, and a memorial to a white rebellion against a biracial Reconstruction-era government in the city. (AP Photo/Scott Threlkeld) LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on the death of an unarmed man in Las Vegas after an officer used a neck hold banned in many cities. (all times local): 4 p.m. Las Vegas police say an officer used a stun gun seven times and an unapproved neck hold on a man in a deadly chase at a casino over the weekend. This undated booking photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety shows Tashii Brown, known to them as Tashii Farmer-Brown. He was released from state custody in January, 2016, according to the department. Court records show he was sentenced to five years in prison in 2010 for assault. Brown, unarmed, died early Sunday, May 14, 2017, outside The Venetian in Las Vegas, after a police officer grabbed him in a neck hold, a much-criticized law enforcement technique to subdue people. Brown became unconscious and died, despite efforts at CPR. (Hawaii Department of Public Safety via AP) Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday that an officer reported that he thought the man was trying to carjack a pickup truck before the officer used the stun gun and choking technique to subdue him early Sunday at The Venetian. Authorities say 40-year-old Toshii Brown led the officer on a foot chase and shook off the effects of the stun gun and punches. McMahill said the officer was heard on a body camera recording saying he used a "rear naked choke," a prominent mixed martial arts technique. it could take several weeks for a ruling on Brown's cause of death. ___ 1 p.m. Police in Las Vegas are due to report about the weekend death of an unarmed man after an officer used a neck hold on him that is banned in many cities. A Wednesday briefing comes amid questions about the number of times Las Vegas police use the technique that critics call a chokehold. The department approves its use and reports it was used an average of more than once a week during the last five years, including 51 times last year. In Los Angeles, by comparison, the arm-around-the-neck technique is considered lethal force. Police there reported using it seven times over those same five years, including twice last year. New York City banned the practice in 1993 - years before the death of Eric Garner spurred a national debate about police brutality. This photo taken at The Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 14, 2017, shows the scene where an unarmed man died after police squeezed his neck during a struggle to subdue him. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which led a push for use-of-force reforms after Las Vegas police were involved in 25 shootings in 2010, said Monday, May 15, 2017, that it will seek a review of the training that allows officers to use what the department calls "lateral vascular neck restrain." (Billy Winkler via AP) PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Medicaid recipients in Maine told state regulators Wednesday they shouldn't be forced to work to continue getting their health care benefits as the Republican governor has proposed. The health care bill recently approved by U.S. House Republicans would let states require certain Medicaid enrollees to work - an unprecedented change to the half-century-old health care program for low-income people run by states. The Senate is considering the bill. In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage's administration wants to require most "able-bodied" adults to work, volunteer or take classes if they receive MaineCare benefits. The governor's office contends those and other adjustments would likely decrease the number of Mainers participating in the program and generate $8 million annually. Judy Bullard, of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, describes her ordeal of living with epilepsy and how she will be adversely affected by the state's proposed changes to the medicaid program during a hearing, Wednesday, May 17, 2017, in Portland, Maine. The state estimates its plan to create work requirements for Medicaid would result in less coverage and higher costs. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) About 270,000 residents receive MaineCare, most of them children, the elderly, people with disabilities and low-income parents. "The program has grown well beyond that, and often to the detriment of those core populations," said state Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew, who said work boosts self-esteem. The administration wants to help able-bodied adults get "out of poverty and access good-paying jobs with benefits," Mayhew said. Welfare reform is a cornerstone of LePage's administration, which has imposed work requirements for food stamps and successfully cut thousands of childless adults from MaineCare. The administration also wants MaineCare recipients to pay $20 co-pays for "non-emergency" emergency room visits and fees assessed by providers for missed doctor's appointments. Mayhew said her department will explore ways the state can help Medicaid enrollees prepare for and find jobs. New Hampshire refers Medicaid adults to job counseling services, while the federal government hasn't yet approved any waivers from states requesting work requirements for Medicaid. "We expect, however, that in this new administration, that they will be much more receptive to these proposals," Maryhew said. MaryBeth Musumeci, associate director of the Kaiser Family Foundation's program on Medicaid and the uninsured, said her research shows that nationwide, nearly 8 in 10 Medicaid adults without disabilities already are in working families, with 59 percent working themselves. "One issue is that many of these Medicaid adults are working in low-paid jobs that don't offer employer-sponsored coverage," she said. At a Wednesday public hearing in Portland, opponents said the rules would target low-income families who struggle with generational poverty, health issues, childcare costs and varying requirements for public assistance programs. "You can't tell me that me and my family haven't been working hard," said Elizabeth Capone-Henriquez of Portland, who said she turned to MaineCare because past jobs didn't provide health care. Old Orchard Beach resident Judy Bullard said Medicare covers $600 of her monthly supply of epilepsy medication, while MaineCare covers the remaining $1,100. Maine's proposal exempts those receiving disability benefits and would require medical certification if it's "not evident" that an individual is physically or mentally unable to work. "It took me a long time to get on disability and if I had lost health care, work would have been out of the question," Bullard said. "I would have been very sick or even dead. The idea that a caseworker could make a determination about my ability to work by looking at me and talking to me is terrifying." She said that it's unfair to punish people for missing doctor's appointments for "reasons out of their control," such as falling ill or mishaps with MaineCare transportation providers. Judy Newell of Portland, Maine, speaks against the proposed changes to the state's Medicaid program during a hearing, Wednesday, May 17, 2017, in Portland, Maine. Maine and Wisconsin are finalizing waivers to make significant changes to Medicaid that would make the program more like welfare programs, with restrictions to eligibility and enrollment, premiums and cost-sharing. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Cisco Systems Inc. said Wednesday that it is laying off 1,100 more workers, deepening job losses at the internet gear maker battling declining revenue. The new round of layoffs comes on top of the 5,500 jobs Cisco announced it was cutting in August. That amounted to about 7 percent of its workforce at the time. Cisco sells routers, switches, software and services business and has seen its business hurt as more of its corporate customers rely on remote data centers for their computing needs instead of online networks maintained on their own premises. FILE - This Wednesday, May 9, 2012, file photo, shows an exterior view of Cisco Systems Inc. headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. Cisco Systems Inc. reports earnings, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) The company based in San Jose, California, on Wednesday reported revenue of $11.94 billion for its fiscal third quarter that ended in April. That was down from $12 billion a year earlier. It said it expects its revenue to decline 4 to 6 percent in the quarter ending in July compared to the same 2016 period. Its stock was down $2.53, or 7.5 percent, to $31.29 in extended trading. Cisco reported a profit of 50 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 60 cents per share and topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 58 cents per share. For the current quarter, Cisco expects its per-share earnings to range from 60 cents to 62 cents. _____ Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CSCO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CSCO _____ Keywords: Cisco Systems, Earnings Report PARK HILLs Students in eastern and southern Missouri who are completing college degrees through Central Methodist University will be honored at commencement exercises beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Mineral Area College Bob Sechrest Sr. Field House on the Park Hills campus. Students from CMU partnerships with Mineral Area College and from Three Rivers College, as well as online students, will be honored during the ceremony. CMU Provost Dr. Rita Gulstad will officiate over the activities. MAC President Dr. Steven Kurtz will welcome the assembly. Rev. Eddie Bone of Park Hills First United Methodist Church will provide the Invocation and the Benediction. Jerry Benner of Ferguson, Central Class of 1966, will bring greetings from the CMU Alumni Association. Congressman Jason Smith, R-8th District, will present the commencement address. A seventh-generation Missourian, he was raised in Salem and still owns the family farm there started by his great-grandfather. Smith received two undergraduate degrees from the University of Missouri and attended law school at Oklahoma City University. He was elected to the Missouri legislature in 2005, and in 2013 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. DENVER (AP) - A Colorado man whose 98-year prison term was cut short by a judge has been detained by immigration officials just as he was set to be released. Rene Lima-Marin was released to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Denver on Wednesday, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. Lima-Marin, who came to the U.S. from Cuba with his parents when he was a toddler during the 1980 Mariel boat lift, was convicted in 2000 of multiple robbery, kidnapping and burglary counts after he and another man robbed two video stores at gunpoint. He was mistakenly released on parole in 2008. He then held a steady job installing glass, got married and has a stepson, Justus, 10, and son JoJo, 7, who was born while he was out of prison. FILE - In this May 7, 2014 file photo, Rene Lima-Marin sits for an interview with The Associated Press about the circumstances of his sentencing and incarceration, in a meeting room inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, a privately operated prison in Burlington, Colo. Lima-Marin was sent back to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early. On Tuesday May 16, 2017, a judge ordered him released from prison again, saying it would be "draconian" to keep him behind bars and that he has paid his debt to society. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) Authorities realized the mistake in 2014 and returned him to prison. A judge on Tuesday ordered Lima-Marin's release, saying it would be "draconian" to keep him in prison and that he had paid his debt to society. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement can request that an inmate suspected of an immigration violation be held after their release from jail or prison under a form referred to as a hold or a detainer. Jasmine Lima-Marin had decorated her home with balloons and said she was on standby to drive to the prison where her husband was incarcerated to pick him up. "Everyone is completely devastated," his Denver-based attorney, Kimberly Diego, said. "Everything has been turned on its head." Diego added that she was scrambling to find him an immigration attorney. Lima-Marin never applied for citizenship, his father, Eli Borges, told The Denver Post. The so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy sent back Cubans intercepted at sea but gave those who reached land an automatic path to legal residency. Before leaving office in January, President Barack Obama announced the end of that policy as part of normalizing ties between Cuba and the U.S. President Donald Trump has been critical of his predecessor's moves to improve relations with the Castro government and promised to re-evaluate the agreements with Cuba. He has not yet said publicly whether he intended to reverse specific policies. The Colorado Legislature approved a nonbinding resolution earlier this month urging Gov. John Hickenlooper to grant Lima-Marin clemency. Hickenlooper said Wednesday that the Department of Corrections was required by law to release Lima-Marin to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. "We can't imagine the emotional roller coast this family has endured. ... The family has shown amazing strength and we hope this is a temporary stop on his way to being reunited with his family," he said. Lima-Marin's co-defendant, Michael Clifton, is serving a 98-year sentence. CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago man is being held without bond in the fatal beating of another man that someone videotaped on a cellphone and later posted on Facebook. Prosecutors say the beating of 41-year-old Charles Johnson occurred Nov. 28. Antwan McNutt was arrested May 9 in Madison, Wisconsin, and is charged with first-degree murder. Assistant State's Attorney Craig Taczy said Wednesday the beating of Johnson occurred outside a Chicago Transit Authority rail station in the middle of the day. Taczy says McNutt encountered Johnson and began beating him with a bottle. Taczy told a judge Wednesday in court that several people watched the beating and at least one took a cellphone video. It was later posted on Facebook. Assistant Public Defender Brett Balmer says McNutt isn't believed to have videotaped the attack or posted it online. TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The Latest on the not guilty verdict in the manslaughter trial of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man. (all times local): 12:15 a.m. Demonstrators blocked a main road in downtown Tulsa for a short period of time after a police officer was found not guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed black man. The Rev. Joey Crutcher, father of Terence Crutcher, talks with the media following the verdict in the trial of Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby in Tulsa, Okla., Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Shelby was charged with manslaughter in the shooting of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man. Shelby was found innocent Wednesday. At left is Leanna Crutcher, the mother of Terence Crutcher and at right is Crutcher family attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Earlier, a protest had dispersed but some demonstrators gathered later a short distance away from the courthouse where the trial of officer Betty Jo Shelby had been held. Police stood about a block away and announced through a loudspeaker that protesters should disperse or police might use a chemical agent to break up the demonstration. The road was eventually cleared and the protesters voluntarily moved to a nearby street corner. ___ 11:45 p.m. Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has called for calm after a jury found a Tulsa police officer not guilty in the shooting of an unarmed black man last year. In a statement after Betty Jo Shelby was acquitted of manslaughter in the death of Terence Crutcher, Fallin said: "Those who disagree with the verdict have the right to express their opinions. I just ask that they do so in a peaceful manner." About 100 people gathered in a plaza outside the courthouse after the verdict, chanting "No Justice No Peace. No Racist Police." The demonstration was peaceful and dispersed later in the evening. Tulsa has a long history of difficult race relations dating back to a 1921 race riot that left about 300 black residents dead. ___ 10:45 p.m. The father of a black man fatally shot by Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby last year says that the officer got away with murder. Speaking after a jury found Shelby not guilty of manslaughter, Rev. Joey Crutcher, father of Terence Crutcher, said: "Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder." Terence Crutcher's sister, Tiffany Crutcher, says that her brother did not show any aggression toward Shelby, did not attack her and did not threaten the officer. Tiffany Crutcher said: "Betty Shelby murdered my brother and after she murdered my brother the Tulsa police department covered up for her." ___ 10:15 p.m. The lawyer for a Tulsa police officer says Betty Jo Shelby is elated that a jury has found her not guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed black man last September. Defense Attorney Shannon McMurray says Shelby is "elated and very proud of her jury." McMurray says Shelby is ready to get back to her life. Shelby testified that she shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher out of fear because she said he didn't obey commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted, arguing that Crutcher had his hands in their air and wasn't combative. ___ 10 p.m. A jury has acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for just over nine hours Wednesday. Tulsa Officer Betty Jo Shelby says she shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher out of fear because she said he didn't obey commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted, arguing that Crutcher had his hands in their air and wasn't combative. The shooting was among a spate of officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. ___ 12:30 p.m. Jurors are deliberating in the manslaughter trial of an Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year. The jury got the case shortly after noon Wednesday. They must decide whether Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby went too far Sept. 16 when she killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Shelby could spend between four years to life in prison if she's convicted. Prosecutors said during closing arguments that Crutcher was not a threat to Shelby. They say he wasn't armed or combative when Shelby approached him on a street after his SUV broke down. Her attorneys said Shelby shot Crutcher because she thought he was reaching into his SUV for a gun. There was no gun in the vehicle. ___ 12:10 a.m. Jurors are to hear closing arguments Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year. They must decide whether Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby went too far Sept. 16 when she killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Prosecutors have said Shelby overreacted because Crutcher wasn't being combative and had his hands raised high. Shelby's attorneys have said Crutcher refused Shelby's commands to lie down during a two-minute period before police cameras recorded the shooting. Shelby could spend between four years to life in prison if she's convicted. Shelby testified Monday that she feared for her life and thought Crutcher was reaching inside his stalled SUV for a gun. He didn't have one on him or in the vehicle. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The lawyer for an Australian woman charged with providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia says his client is innocent. Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy last year after becoming a popular destination for would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children. Tammy Davis-Charles appeared in court Thursday in orange prison clothes. The trial was postponed to allow victims and witnesses to appear. Davis-Charles and two Cambodian associates were charged last year with acting as intermediaries between parents and pregnant women and falsifying documents. They face up to two years in prison. Developing countries are popular for surrogacy because costs are lower than in nations such as the United States and Australia, where surrogate services are around $150,000. Davis-Charles' lawyer, Chheang Sophorn, said he hopes the trial will happen quickly. TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albania's political parties have reached a compromise on next month's parliamentary election following intensive talks mediated by a senior U.S. official. Following a three-hour meeting that ended at dawn Thursday, Prime Minister Edi Rama of the governing Socialist Party and Lulzim Basha of the main opposition Democratic Party told reporters they had reached a deal. Rama's handshake with Basha sparked clapping from the latter's supporters. Many in Albanian politics think the move will likely result in the postponement of the June 18 parliamentary election. Basha said the deal will be "detailed in the next 24 hours." Rama, Basha and their technical staffs were meeting later Thursday to draft the deal. Previously efforts by European and U.S. officials had failed to convince the Democrats to change their position that they would not take part in the June 18 parliamentary election, fearing that Rama's Cabinet would manipulate the vote. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee on Monday gave them a proposal from European lawmakers and another from Rama as a basis for negotiations. U.S. Ambassador to Tirana Donald Lu was seen Wednesday going from Basha to Rama. In a post to the embassy's Facebook page, Lu hailed the "Albanian people for their patience and their belief in the strength of Albania's democracy," also the two political leaders and the diplomats involved in the mediation. "We eagerly look forward to an election with the participation of all of Albania's political parties," said Lu. The European Union office in Tirana also tweeted "Congratulations on agreement for free and fair elections in best interest of all citizens of Albania." The opposition has boycotted parliament since February, blocking the launch of judicial reforms, and refused to register for the election. The Electoral College decided to postpone to May 22 its verdict on a complaint from the People's Alliance Party that the registration of candidates was overdue. ___ This story has been corrected to fix the length of time for drafting to 24 hours, not 234 hours BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union has fined Facebook 110 million euros ($122 million) for providing misleading information over its buyout of mobile messaging service WhatsApp. The European Commission said Thursday that when Facebook informed it of the 2014 takeover it had said it would be unable to "establish reliable automated matching" between Facebook and WhatsApp user accounts. But the Commission says that in 2016 WhatsApp offered updates including the possibility of linking user phone numbers with Facebook user IDs. FILE - This Feb. 19, 2014, file photo, shows WhatsApp and Facebook app icons on a smartphone in New York. The EU's competition watchdog has fined Facebook 110 million euros ($122 million) for providing misleading information over its buyout of mobile messaging service WhatsApp. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File) Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the fine is proportionate and serves as a deterrent to other companies. She said "the Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts." Facebook said in a statement that it "acted in good faith" throughout with the EU office and "sought to provide accurate information at every turn." It added that the "errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional." BRUSSELS (AP) - The leaders of six Western Balkans countries are to meet in Brussels on May 24 amid European Union concern about rising tensions in the volatile region. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has invited the leaders of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to a working dinner in the Belgium capital. The aim, her office said Thursday, is "to discuss the situation in the region in light of the latest developments and to look together at the way forward." Macedonia has been embroiled in a political crisis that culminated in angry protesters storming parliament, while Kosovo faces early elections next month after a no-confidence vote. Montenegro is set to join NATO, but blames Russia for a foiled election day coup possibly linked to its future membership. BERLIN (AP) - Germany's foreign minister says it's "absolutely necessary" to continue intelligence cooperation with the United States amid a furor over President Donald Trump's discussions with Russian diplomats. Sigmar Gabriel said after meeting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington late Wednesday that intelligence cooperation didn't come up in their talks. Asked whether Germany can still trust the U.S. when it comes to sharing intelligence, Gabriel said there is "a strong intelligence cooperation between us and the United States and that's absolutely necessary for our own security." German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel shakes hands with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a photo opportunity at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) He added: "I'm sure that we will continue the cooperation." The White House has played down the importance and secrecy of information that Trump that gave to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, which had been supplied by Israel under an intelligence-sharing agreement. JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Four Indonesian soldiers were killed when a Chinese-made anti-aircraft cannon malfunctioned during an exercise in the Natuna island chain in the South China Sea, the Indonesian military said Thursday. Army spokesman Alfret Denny Tuejeh said eight other soldiers were wounded in the accident Wednesday in the Tanjung Datuk region of Riau Islands province. He said the malfunction of the twin-barreled gun caused it to fire in unexpected directions and hit the soldiers, who are members of the Quick Response Team of the Army's Air Defense Artillery Unit. Four of the wounded are in serious condition. Tuejeh said an investigation is underway to find out why the weaponry, purchased from China in 2003, malfunctioned. Indonesia has boosted its military presence in the Natuna islands, which are in the southernmost reaches of the South China Sea, in response to Beijing's assertive posture in the region. Unlike several other Southeast Asian nations, Indonesia does not have a territorial dispute with China. But China's "nine-dash line" that signifies its expansive claims to the sea overlaps with Indonesia's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. Its been more than two weeks since the announcement that the county was filing an injunction against the Cosmic Reunion to stop the festival but there may now be a resolution in sight. St. Francois County Prosecutor Jerrod Mahurin said as he understands it, after talking with the organizers' attorney Tuesday, he believes there is a resolution. Assuming everything goes as planned, we will be in front of Judge Sandy Martinez Friday at 10 a.m. to resolve everything, said Mahurin. Right now that plan is to have them agree to an injunction with certain restrictions that the county basically needs. Mahurin said once organizers comply with those then the county is OK with the festival. He added those restrictions dont include having to obtain a permit for this years festival. Which the point of filing the injunction in the first place was not to stop the festival, but was to make sure they were compliant with certain things, said Mahurin. It will not require the permit for this one, however, it will require it in the future if there are festivals of this size. He added they are still hashing out some details. We will have something in front of the judge and hopefully we can get all the details ironed out between now and then," he said Wednesday afternoon. Astral Valley Owner and Cosmic Reunion CEO and Venue Coordinator Sheena Cox said the festival promoters feel its in the best interest of the community to ensure that everybody is safe for the event. We are in the works in reaching a resolution with the county and plan to make an announcement after its signed off on by the judge, said Cox. The event will still be taking place and we have been ensuring the safety of the community during the event. Cox said they have ensured the county that they do hire a security company and medical personnel to come in during the event. She said they also have adequate facilities brought in and trash services. JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli university department's decision not to play the national anthem at a graduation ceremony on Thursday has sparked outrage from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. A Hebrew University of Jerusalem spokesman confirmed an Army Radio report that the Humanities Faculty will not play the anthem at the event "out of consideration" for Arab participants and said there was no requirement to do so. "Hatikvah" ("The Hope") was made the official state anthem in 2004, but Israel's Arab minority feels excluded by its emphasis on Jewish historic aspirations for statehood. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision "shameful," adding that it "strengthens" his resolve to pass a controversial bill entrenching the state's Jewish identity. Considered a flagship of Israeli academia, Hebrew University is a public institution that receives government funding. A similar move by the school last year drew protest by faculty member and students. Education Minister Naftali Bennett's office said he spoke with the university's president, and informed him that as a public institution, it ought to honor the state that stands behind it. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that as an alumnus he was "shocked," and called on the university "to change this peculiar decision." Center-left Zionist Union party lawmaker Tzipi Livni, a member of the opposition, called it "a mistake" that plays into the hands of right-wing radicals. The university rebuffed the criticism, saying there was no legal requirement to play the national anthem at academic functions. "At official state ceremonies at the Hebrew University, the national anthem is played as usual," the university said in a statement. "At academic ceremonies there is no obligation to play the anthem." Lee Robert Moore was jailed for 20 years for sending obscene messages and images to minors A Secret Service Agent sent explicit messages and pictures of his penis to underage girls while on duty at the White House. Lee Robert Moore has been jailed for 20 years after sending the indecent material to a police officer who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Moore, 38, from Maryland, had also sent explicit images to real girls in Florida, Texas and Missouri. He used the mobile apps Kik and Meet24, NBC reports, and sent some of the messages while he was on duty in Washington DC. Moore was arrested after his activities were revealed by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force. A letter from Moore's wife urged US District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley to show leniency. It stated: 'I can honestly say he is still a genuinely good and decent person. 'I ask that you consider the lowest possible sentence as it would greatly benefit our children, as well as myself.' Yet papers submitted by prosecutors called for Moore to be sentenced to life in prison. He was on guard duty outside the White House when he sent some of the messages, prosecutors revealed The court documents said: 'It is particularly galling that he was himself an armed guard at the single most important residence in our constitutional republic, yet he repeatedly used that guard booth to take photos of his penis and send them to underage girls.' Moore admitted participating in sexual chat sessions and sending explicit photos of himself. Moore worked at the White House as a uniformed Secret Service officer when he was arrested in 2015. ISTANBUL (AP) - Turkey has told the United States it will not join in any military operations that include Kurdish fighters in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday, while vowing to strike the U.S.-backed Kurds if they threaten Turkey's security. Turkey's foreign minister also demanded that a U.S. envoy be removed for allegedly backing the Kurds, but the State Department said Brett McGurk has the "full support" of the Trump administration. Speaking in Istanbul two days after meeting President Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan criticized the U.S. decision to ally with "terror organizations" for the long-awaited operation to capture Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group. President Donald Trump walks Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his car following his visit to the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) "We said we would not be in such an operation with you where you ally with terror organizations and so we said good luck," Erdogan said. Turkey considers the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria a terror organization and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Erdogan said he warned Trump that Turkey would combat YPG if the group posed any security threat. "We are already telling you in advance, our rules of engagement give us this authority, we will take such a step and we won't discuss it or consult with anyone. Because we have no time to lose," he said. Citing a cross-border offensive Turkey launched against IS and the YPG in Syria last year, Erdogan said "we won't hesitate to launch similar operations if we see the need." Earlier Thursday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Trump administration understood Turkey's position against the YPG. "They did not say anything negative about this issue and treated it with understanding," he said. In April, the U.S. had criticized Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq. Cavusoglu said Trump's administration seems more understanding about Turkey's security concerns. He went on to plead for the replacement of Brett McGurk, the U.S. presidential envoy for the global coalition against IS. "This McGurk is definitely supporting the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial for this person to change," he said, accusing the diplomat of carrying on Obama-administration policies. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said McGurk has done "tremendous work" in coordinating and leading the international coalition against IS, and has the support of the White House and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The U.S. respects Turkish concerns about its "by, with, and through" approach to the Syrian Democratic Forces led by the YPG, and will continue consulting with Ankara as the focus on combating IS continues, Nauert said. Cavusoglu said Turkey received U.S. assurances that arms sent to the YPG would be used only against IS, without explaining how this would be monitored. "The weapons provided will only be used in Raqqa and its south, they will absolutely not be used against Turkey, this will not be allowed," Cavusoglu said. "Turkey and the U.S. will together run an active combat against the PKK." A cease-fire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed in July 2015 after a two-and-a half year hiatus in fighting, leading to clashes in Turkey's southeast and round-the-clock curfews as well as airstrikes on alleged PKK camps in northern Iraq. According to the International Crisis Group, at least 2,798 people, including state security personnel and Kurdish militants, have been killed in Turkey. The death toll includes nearly 400 civilians. The PKK is considered a terror group by the U.S. and Turkey's Western allies. ___ Josh Lederman contributed from Washington. BEIRUT (AP) - The Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages in central Syria on Thursday, capturing at least one of them in violence that left 52 people dead including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were beheaded, as well as Syrian troops, state media, medical officials and an opposition monitoring group said. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam, raising fears the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The villages are located near the town of Salamiyeh and the highway that links the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, but state media said traffic was not affected. In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, speaks with Iraq's National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayadth, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, May. 18, 2017. (SANA via AP) State news agency SANA said militants were able to storm homes in the southern part of the Aqareb al-Safi village, adding that government forces repelled them, pushing them back toward the desert. The head of the National Hospital in Salamiyeh, Dr. Noufal Safar, said the hospital received 52 bodies, including 11 women and 17 children. He said some of them were beheaded and others had their limbs amputated. "They were brought with all forms of deformations but most of them appear to have died as a result of gunfire," Safar told The Associated Press by telephone. He added that most of the dead and wounded were brought by ambulances. Safar quoted some of the wounded people as saying the extremists began storming homes and beheading women inside. Rami Razzouk, a coroner at the hospital who inspected the bodies, said the children brought in were mostly dismembered, while most of the men died from shelling or heavy machine gun fire. He said at least nine children were beaten with heavy objects such as bricks or stones on their heads or necks. Razzouk said there were "a couple of children whose heads were fully dismembered because of the beating." Two of the children "had most of their limbs removed so they had to be carried in blankets" and two men were shot in the eye, he said. He said 120 people were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 52 people were killed in the fighting, with the dead including 15 civilians, 27 Syrian soldiers and 10 unidentified people. SANA said 40 people were wounded. The attack on Aqareb al-Safi came as government forces are on the offensive against the extremists in other parts of Syria, mostly in the northern province of Aleppo and the central Homs region and to the east. U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces are meanwhile marching toward the extremists' de-facto capital of Raqqa, in northern Syria. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the group captured Aqareb al-Safi and Mabouja. It identified residents as members of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam. The Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death. IS has massacred thousands of Shiites and other opponents in Syria and Iraq, often boasting about the killings and circulating photos and videos of them online. Aamaq claimed that 100 Syrian troops and pro-government gunmen were killed in the fighting. "Dozens of people are missing but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh," said the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said IS deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi. State TV said two people were wounded in IS shelling in Salamiyeh. Also on Thursday, SANA reported that Assad met with Iraq's national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad to discuss steps to improve coordination between their countries' militaries in the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border. ____ Associated Press writer Hashem Osseiran in Beirut contributed to this report. DUI arrest: Patrick French, 49, has been charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated after officials say he was spotted cruising in the parking lot at the New York State Police Academy in Albany A man from upstate New York has picked the wrong spot to drive drunk and then settle in for a catnap, namely, the parking lot of a police academy. State police say an off-duty trooper reported a suspicious person Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot at the New York State Police Academy located at state police headquarters in Albany. Troopers say they watched the driver, identified as Albany resident Patrick French, 49, emerge from his vehicle and lay down in a patch of grass behind the academy, apparently intending to get some shuteye. Law enforcement officials at the scene said they could smell alcohol on the drowsy suspect's breath and his motor skills appeared impaired, reported the Albany Times-Union. Troopers say they watched French emerge from his vehicle and lay down in a patch of grass behind the academy, apparently intending to take a nap Troopers conducted a field sobriety test on French and then took him to the trooper station at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany. A breath test revealed French had a blood-alcohol content of 0.28 per cent, which is more than three times the 0.08 percent legal limit for driving in New York. French was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, issued tickets and released pending his next court appearance scheduled for May 27. Jennifer Lawrence has acknowledged that a tabloid site's video of her dancing on a stripper pole is the real thing, but the actress says she's not sorry about it. The video posted by Radar Online on Wednesday shows Lawrence dancing on a pole in what looks to be a dimly-lit bar. Lawrence responded on Facebook that she was celebrating one of her best friend's birthdays during the night the video was taken and dropped her "paranoia guard" to have fun. She says she "had a BLAST that night" and isn't going to apologize. The Oscar-winning actress adds that she thinks her pole dancing is "pretty good." JOHANNESBURG (AP) - France's new president has chosen the West African nation of Mali for his first official visit outside Europe. Why? Here's a look at Emmanuel Macron's trip on Friday to France's largest overseas military operation - in a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region. WHAT'S THE THREAT? Several jihadist groups remain in northern Mali after occupying the vast region south of the Sahara in 2012, and they have been blamed for deadly attacks in neighboring countries that have alarmed the international community. A French-led military intervention pushed the extremists from their strongholds in 2013, but the fighters continue to target Malian and other military assets with suicide bombings, improvised explosives and kidnappings. In January, a suicide attack on a Mali army camp killed more than 75 people. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali has become the deadliest of the U.N.'s current missions worldwide. Most of the extremist groups in the region trace their origins to al-Qaida's North Africa branch. FILE-- In this photo taken Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013, a sign on the northern road exiting in Gao, Northern Mali, reads "welcome to the islamic state of Gao. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) WHAT IS FRANCE'S MILITARY DOING THERE? France has led international counter-terrorism efforts in largely francophone West Africa, a role that the U.S. military has recognized and supported. "I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will not enjoy these decisions," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said during a stop in the East African nation of Djibouti last month. France's new foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is best known globally for leading the successful military campaign in Mali as French defense minister. France now has more than 4,000 soldiers in the West African nations of Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania as part of Operation Barkhane, which former French President Francois Hollande said is meant to "wipe out armed terrorist groups" in the Sahel region. The operation, France's largest overseas, began in 2014. In his first visit after his inauguration, Macron acknowledged the toll on the operation's French forces when he went to a military hospital in a Paris suburb and met with two soldiers injured in Mali last year. At least 19 French soldiers have died in the Sahel region since 2013, the French ambassador to the United Nations said in April. WHAT IS MACRON DOING IN MALI? The French president is expected to visit the eastern city of Gao, home of the permanent French military base in Mali. Gao is also where the deadly attack in January occurred. That attack, claimed by the al-Qaida-linked al-Mourabitoun extremist group, happened just days after Hollande visited the city. Al-Mourabitoun has since merged with the groups Ansar Dine and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb to form the Mali-based Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen. FILE-- In this photo taken Sunday Feb. 10, 2013, French soldiers secure the area where a suicide bomber exploded at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE-- In this photo taken Sunday Feb. 10, 2013, French soldiers secure the evacuation of foreigners during exchanges of fire with Jihadists in Gao, northern Mali. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE-- In this photo taken Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013, angry crowds shout at suspected Islamist extremists in the back of an army truck in Gao, Northern Mali. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE-- In this photo taken Monday Jan. 28, 2013, a young child runs through the deserted side streets of Gao , Northern Mali. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE-- In the photo taken Saturday Feb. 2, 2013, French President Francois Hollande is surrounded by security as he greets a couple of thousands well-wishers during his two-hour-long visit to Timbuktu, Mali. France's new president Emmanuel Macron has chosen for his first official visit outside Europe the West African nation of Mali, a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Authorities are conducting another search at a Los Angeles area park for clues in the disappearance of a 5-year-old boy missing for nearly a month. Sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida says deputies are conducting a "large search" Thursday at Arroyo Seco Park in South Pasadena. Investigators previously searched the park after the father of 5-year-old Aramazd Andressian Jr. was found passed out there on April 22. Sheriff's officials say the father took prescription pills and was in a car doused in gasoline. Ana Estevez, at podium, the mother of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., joins law enforcement officials at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May. 17, 2017. Los Angeles Sheriff's officials made a public plea with information about her son's whereabouts. Aramazd Andressian Jr., was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father on April 20. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) The father was initially arrested on suspicion of child endangerment but later released. On Wednesday the boy's mother, Ana Estevez, joined sheriff's officials to make a public plea for her son's safe return. Authorities say the boy was last seen with his father at Disneyland on April 20. Ana Estevez, center, the mother of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., is helped by an unidentified family friend, left, with South Pasadena Police Chief Arthur Miller, right, as they join Sheriff's officials at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles Wednesday, May. 17, 2017, as Los Angeles sheriff's officials make a public plea with information about her son's whereabouts. Aramazd Andressian Jr., was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father on April 20. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau Capt. Christopher Bergner, center, stands by a poster of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles Wednesday, May. 17, 2017, as Los Angeles sheriff's officials make a public plea for information about his whereabouts. Aramazd Andressian Jr., was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father on April 20. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Ana Estevez, foreground, the mother of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., joins sheriff's officials at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles Wednesday, May. 17, 2017, as Los Angeles sheriff's officials make a public plea with information about her son's whereabouts. Aramazd Andressian Jr., was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father on April 20. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Ana Estevez, center, the mother of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., joins sheriff's officials at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles Wednesday, May. 17, 2017, as Los Angeles sheriff's officials make a public plea with information about her son's whereabouts. Aramazd Andressian Jr., was last seen leaving Disneyland with his father on April 20. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) WASHINGTON (AP) - Making good on a campaign promise, the Trump administration formally told Congress Thursday that it intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, starting 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to revamp the pact. Talks with Canada and Mexico can begin after that. The two-page letter offered few details about what changes the administration would seek in the 23-year-old pact that President Donald Trump has called "a disaster." Lighthizer told reporters that any new deal should do a better job of protecting U.S. factory workers and should be updated to reflect new technologies. FILE- In this Monday, May 15, 2017, photo, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington during his swearing-in ceremony. Lighthizer sent a letter to congressional leaders on Thursday, May 18, starting 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Last month, White House aides spread word that Trump was ready to pull out of NAFTA. Within hours, the president reversed course and said that he'd seek a better deal first. "We are going to give renegotiation a good strong shot," Lighthizer said. He refused to say whether leaving NAFTA remained an option. The trade agreement has been a lightning rod for criticism since it was being negotiated in the early 1990s. During the 1992 presidential campaign, independent candidate Ross Perot famously predicted a "giant sucking sound" as NAFTA pulled U.S. factory jobs south of the border into Mexico. Campaigning last year, Trump vowed to renegotiate NAFTA and pull out of it he couldn't get a better deal. NAFTA took effect in 1994 and triggered a big increase in trade among the three countries. American farmers have mostly benefited from the reduction in trade barriers. But the pact did encourage American manufacturers to relocate some operations to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper labor there; so critics blame NAFTA for wiping out U.S. factory jobs. "Since the signing of NAFTA, we have seen our manufacturing industry decimated, factories shuttered, and countless workers left jobless," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. "President Trump is going to change that." In March, the administration circulated an eight-page draft letter on NAFTA that disappointed critics by appearing to keep much of the existing trade agreement in place. Thursday's letter had fewer specifics. Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, called it "markedly vague." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi complained that "the president's vague NAFTA letter is a stark contrast with the aggressive promises he made to hard-working families during the campaign." But Republican congressional leaders promised to work with the administration to craft a better deal. "We look forward to working with the administration to strengthen the agreement in a seamless way and ensure that we retain the current benefits for American workers, farmers and businesses," said Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mexico and Canada signaled that they welcomed the opportunity to modernize the agreement. Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute, said the United States could seek modest "technocratic" changes, including provisions to update NAFTA to reflect technologies that have emerged since the original agreement was negotiated. Or it could take a more aggressive approach, putting pressure on Mexico to reduce the trade gap, perhaps by dropping a value-added tax Mexico slaps on goods coming across the border. Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged the administration to reach a deal quickly. Political pressures in 2018 - a presidential election in Mexico and congressional elections in the United States - could make it harder to seal an agreement next year. I want to thank all those who have made phone calls, visited the Jefferson City office, sent e-mails or written letters to my office throughout this frustrating and at times, difficult legislative session. In order to balance the state budget, hard decisions have to be made that impacts peoples lives. We strive to keep the funding intact for our senior citizens and our most vulnerable citizens as well as making the education funding a top priority. I have listed below briefly some of the Budget and Legislation highlights. I will be mailing out a more detailed end of session report in June. Budget Highlights - Budget is balanced, as required by the Constitution - Restored proposed cuts to K-12 transportation ($36 million). - K-12 foundation formula is fully funded; an increase of $48 million. - $6 million to expand broadband to rural schools - $250k to revamp Amber Alert (adds silver and blue alert to the system) - Allocated $42 million (all federal money) to implement the excellence in mental health programs - $2 million more in funding for alternatives to abortion - $200 million set aside in a supplemental fund to pay for unexpected expenses Ethics Earlier this year, we passed the first ever complete ban on lobbyist gifts in Missouri history. Banning lobbyist gifts limits special interest influence on our legislators and rebuilds trust between legislators and Missourians Tort Reform This year the House Members passed numerous pieces of tort reform legislation that will help Missouri job creators. For too long our courts have favored trial attorneys. By making our courts more balanced, we are creating a better environment for job creators and businesses. The tort reform bills that made it through the legislative process will help put an end to frivolous lawsuits by putting new expert witness standards in place, and strengthening Missouris workplace discrimination standards. SB 31 As part of the tort reform package, the House and Senate gave final approval to legislation commonly referred to as collateral source reform. This bill will help to clarify that an injured person involved in a lawsuit can recover only the actual cost incurred for medical treatment. Specifically, the legislation would modify Missouris collateral source rule that currently prevents evidence from being admitted to show when a plaintiffs losses have been compensated from other sources such as insurance or workers compensation. HB 151 Legislation no the REAL ID act is now on its way to the Governors desk. Missourians will soon have the option to obtain a drivers license that is compliant with the federal REAL ID act. This legislation will require the Department of Revenue to issue REAL ID compliant (to those who want them) drivers licenses and identification cards. Compliant licenses will be needed to do things like board airplanes and enter military bases and federal buildings. SB 16 (bill is identical to HB 129) Legislation that I sponsored. This bill provides that the usual and customary delivery charges that are stated separately from the sale price shall not be subject to sales and use taxes. MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) - Call them the unrecovered - a handful of states where job markets, nine years later, are still struggling back to where they were before the recession. That's true in Mississippi, where job numbers and the overall size of the economy remain below 2008 levels. Unlike states that have long since sprinted ahead, Mississippi is struggling with slow economic growth and slipping population in a place that's rarely at peak economic health. Miguel Brown, despite family ties to his hometown near the Alabama border, is working on oil rigs off the shore of Texas, chasing higher wages. "It's rough," said the 49-year-old Brown. "There's not a whole lot of jobs in Meridian, especially that pay anything." Not only Mississippi, but also Alabama, Michigan, New Mexico, and West Virginia are still short of pre-recession job levels by multiple measures. That contrasts with states including Colorado, North Dakota, Texas and Utah, where employment numbers have soared. Nationwide, job numbers surpassed pre-recession peaks in the middle of 2014, about the same time Mississippi was saddled with the nation's highest unemployment rate. Emilia Istrate, who produces a yearly report on how local economies are faring for the National Association of Counties, said the recovery has been widespread but "uneven." "It explains why so many Americans don't feel the national economic numbers. It's because they live in one of these places that is still in recovery or struggling," Istrate said. Growth has long lagged in Mississippi, and jobless rates are high even in good times. The unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in March, the lowest since the U.S. Labor Department began the current system of measurement in 1976. But at the same time that the Magnolia State's unemployment rate was at a record low, it tied for the ninth highest among the states. Mississippi suffers from a cluster of ills that make it an economic laggard. Only 53 percent of Mississippi adults were working in 2016, the second lowest share of any state. Mississippi's economy depends on slow-growth sectors, including government employment. While nearly 30 percent of Americans older than 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher, only 21 percent of Mississippians do. The overall size of Mississippi's economy was smaller in 2016 than it was in 2008, and people are beginning to vote with their feet: the state's population has fallen in the last two years. "I think the population is falling because of the economy," said state economist Darrin Webb. "People have had to go where the jobs are." That doesn't mean things haven't improved for many people. Economists have long advised that a better-educated, more productive workforce could eventually spur growth. The state's community colleges last year began offering not only adult education classes to high school dropouts, but also free training leading to career certification. Kathryn Winfield, 37, was one of the first graduates. Returning to the labor force after two years spent caring for her dying father, she earned her high school equivalency degree and became a certified nursing assistant. After nearly a decade making the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour working as a cashier, Winfield is now making more than $13 an hour helping care for nursing home patients. She said the additional pay allows her to better provide for her three kids. In some ways, Mississippi's economy has healed from the scars of the recession. Archie McDonnell Jr., the CEO of Citizens National Bank, said loan demand has rebounded above prerecession highs at Meridian's largest financial institution, and the bank's profits have more than tripled from their bottom in 2011. "People just decided, the recession's over, I've got to get back to running my business and investing and doing things," McDonnell said. McDonnell said he's hopeful about investment in Meridian, noting a $50 million museum being built downtown, an investor seeking to redevelop a derelict 16-story art-deco skyscraper into a hotel, and new ownership at the city's mall. The number of Mississippians who report being employed could top the precession high when April data is released Friday. But employer payrolls, another way to measure employment, leveled off last year and remains about 1 percent below where they were before Mississippi's economy headed south in early 2008. It is not just the number of jobs, but what they pay. Workers made an average of $669 a week in Meridian and surrounding Lauderdale County in late 2016, compared to $739 statewide and $1,027 nationwide. Good wages are the reason that Brown says he has left his hometown of Meridian. "These are my roots," Brown said. "Meridian will always be home, without a doubt, but you've got to make ends meet and you can't do it here." ___ Follow Jeff Amy at: http://twitter.com/jeffamy. Read his work at https://www.apnews.com/search/Jeff_Amy. NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on the death of media guru and political strategist Roger Ailes (all times local): 11:55 a.m. Details are emerging about an accident Roger Ailes suffered in Florida a few days before died. According to a Palm Beach police report, a caller contacted 911 dispatchers just before 2 p.m. on May 10, saying Ailes had fallen in his bathroom, hit his head and had serious bleeding. FILE - In this July 24, 2006 file photo, Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox News, listens as anchor Shepard Smith, seen on screens in front and behind him, as Smith talks to the audience via satellite from Israel, at the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Fox News said on Thursday, May 18, 2017, that Ailes has died. He was 77. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) The caller said Ailes was not responding appropriately to questions and was still on the ground. Paramedics arrived within a minute and he was taken to a hospital. No other details were announced. 11:36 a.m. Fox personalities including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are remembering Roger Ailes. "Roger Ailes founded one of the most important and successful media outlets in American history. I will miss his friendship dearly. RIP," Ingraham wrote on Twitter. Sean Hannity also took to the microblogging site to mourn his old boss: "He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape singlehandedly for the better." __ 11:03 a.m. Fox News executive chairman Rupert Murdoch issued a statement on the death of Roger Ailes, saying the media giant was "shocked and grieved" by his passing. "A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping America's media over the last 30 years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted," the statement read. "Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs." __ 10:28 a.m. Roger Ailes, the communications maestro who transformed television news and America's political conversation by creating and ruling Fox News Channel for two decades before being ousted last year for alleged sexual harassment, died Thursday, according to his wife, Elizabeth Ailes. He was 77. A former GOP operative to candidates including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a one-time adviser to President Donald Trump, Ailes' TV network changed the face of 24-hour news. In early 1996, he accepted a challenge from media titan Rupert Murdoch to build a news network from scratch to compete with CNN and other TV outlets they deemed left-leaning. But in little more than two weeks, both his legacy and job unraveled following allegations by former anchor Gretchen Carlson that he had forced her out of Fox News after she spurned his sexual advances. The lawsuit quickly triggered accounts from more than 20 women with similar stories. ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia city's policies illegally restrict access to utility services, and those policies disproportionately affect black and Latino residents, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. The lawsuit against LaGrange says the city, which is the only provider of basic utilities, threatens to cut off utilities if residents don't pay outstanding municipal court fines. Another policy denies utility services to people who can't provide a Social Security number and a photo ID issued by the state or federal government, the suit says. The policies violate the federal Fair Housing Act - which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin - because they disproportionately affect black and Latino residents, the lawsuit says. They also violate the obligation not to discriminate when providing utilities and violate state law, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of organizations, including the Georgia NAACP, as well as individual residents. It asks a judge to permanently block the policies and to award damages to the individuals. LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton and City Manager Meg Kelsey didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, and Kelsey did not immediately respond to a phone message. LaGrange is about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta, near the state line with Alabama. The city's website pitches it as a "growing progressive city just south of the busiest airport in the world." It touts a low cost of living and high quality of life that has helped the city and surrounding Troup County attract two dozen international businesses. The city doesn't collect property tax and, therefore, uses other streams of income, including court fees and utility payments, to beef up its revenue, said Justin Cox, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center who filed the complaint. "It's extremely regressive," Cox said in a phone interview. "The city balances its budget on the backs of poor people who are overwhelmingly racial minorities." The city code says anyone applying for utility service who owes any debt to the city, including court judgments and fines, must pay that debt before getting utility service, the lawsuit says. The city code also says customers who owe any kind of debt to the city may have their utility service disconnected without prior notice if they fail to pay the debts. "No provision of Georgia law authorizes municipalities or utility providers to collect unpaid court debt by withholding or terminating utility services, or by threatening to do either," the lawsuit says. "In fact, common law duties owed by utility providers such as the City prohibit this practice." Black people make up 49 percent of the city's residents but represented about 90 percent of utility customers threatened with disconnection from January 2015 through September 2016 because of court debt added to their utility accounts, the lawsuit says. Cox said they used city data obtained through open records requests to identify people affected. "It's remarkable how common it is in the African-American neighborhoods in LaGrange, and if you look at a map of where the city is threatening to cut off utilities, it's where the African-American folks live in LaGrange," Cox said. "It's stark, and the city has been aware of it for quite some time." The second policy targeted by the lawsuit says applicants must be able to provide a Social Security number and a state or federal photo ID. Many immigrants - both legally and illegally present and an overwhelming majority of whom are Latino - cannot meet that requirement and thus can't get utility service, the lawsuit says. The policy isn't simply meant to verify the identity and credit of its account holders because it also refuses to let people who do meet the requirements open accounts on behalf of others, the lawsuit says. LaGrange could follow other utilities providers in the state that accept IRS-issued Individual Tax Identification Numbers and photo IDs issued by foreign governments, the lawsuit. A Pennsylvania man locked his 22-month-old son in a makeshift wooden cage and left the boy home alone with his two younger siblings, including a sister born hours earlier, police said Thursday. Troopers acting on a tip arrived Wednesday afternoon at the North Manheim Township home, knocked on the door and, when no one answered, forced their way in. Just inside the front door they found a 1-year-old boy in a playpen, a newborn girl in a baby seat and the toddler inside a cage made of plywood and wooden lattice, locked from the outside. Police arrested their father, Cecil Kutz, 38, on child endangerment charges when he returned home. He remained jailed Thursday and didn't yet have an attorney. "From the time we arrived to the residence to the time the father returned, it was 40 minutes. God knows how long they were alone before that. He was nowhere to be found," state police Trooper Thomas Robin said Thursday. Police said the children's mother gave birth at the home about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Philadelphia at around 9 p.m. Tuesday. She suffered heavy bleeding and Kutz called an ambulance for her around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery, according to Robin. Robin said medical staff asked her, "'Where's the baby?' She said, 'The baby's at home.' That put up a red flag." Kutz refused to tell police how long he'd left the children or where he went on Wednesday, Robin said. The father said he used the cage as a makeshift crib to keep the toddler safe at night, the trooper said. There was a foam mattress and toys inside the cage. "He says he would keep him there at night because he claimed he was crawling all over the place. He told me he's done it in the past, that it's not the first time he put him in that contraption," Robin said. Kutz "really didn't seem very concerned" about leaving his children home alone, but the mother expressed alarm and "said this was never done on her watch," the trooper said. The newborn was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The boys were placed in the custody of child welfare authorities. ___ This story has been corrected to show Cecil Kutz is 38, not 37. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the Trump administration's plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada (all times local): ___ 12:55 p.m. A prominent critic of U.S. trade agreement calls the administration's plans "markedly vague." Lori Wallach, director of the Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, says NAFTA needs a complete overhaul. "Modest tweaks will not stop NAFTA's ongoing damage, much less deliver on (President Donald) Trump's promises for a deal that will create American jobs and raise wages," she says. She worries that a revamped NAFTA will include provisions left over from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement between the U.S., Mexico and 10 other Pacific Rim countries negotiated by the Obama administration and thrown out by Trump. ___ 12:37 p.m. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign affairs minister, says renegotiating the trade pact "offers us an opportunity to determine how we can best align NAFTA to new realities - and integrate progressive, free and fair approaches to trade and investment. We are steadfastly committed to free trade in the North American region and to ensuring that the benefits of trade are enjoyed by all Canadians." She also defended the trade agreement: "NAFTA's track record is one of economic growth and middle-class job creation, both here in Canada and throughout North America." ___ 12:25 p.m. The Mexican government says it "welcomes" the opportunity to renegotiate NAFTA. In a statement, it says: "We reaffirm our willingness to update the agreement in order to successfully address the challenges of the 21st century. Our countries deserve a modern instrument to regulate our trading and economic relationship." The Mexican government also says that NAFTA "has been of immense benefit to all parties. We look forward to a constructive process to increase our economic cooperation." ___ 12:15 p.m. U.S. congressional leaders promise to work closely with the Trump administration to renegotiate NAFTA. "Congress and the administration must work hand-in-hand if we are to achieve the high-standard trade agreements our country needs to grow," says Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "We look forward to working with the administration to strengthen the agreement in a seamless way and ensure that we retain the current benefits for American workers, farmers and businesses," says Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, starting 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to revamp the 23-year-old pact. Talks with Canada and Mexico can begin after that. The two-page letter offers few details about what changes the administration would seek. President Donald Trump has called NAFTA a "disaster" that has wiped out American factory jobs. WASHINGTON (AP) - The businessman in line to be American ambassador to Japan says he's optimistic about reaching deal with Japan that could mean equal or better results than the Asia-Pacific agreement that President Donald Trump pulled the United States from after taking office. William Hagerty tells a Senate committee that Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and members of Trump's Cabinet are engaged in an "economic dialogue" aimed at a bilateral trade pact with Japan. Hagerty says Trump and his team are making strides on a personal level with Japanese leaders. Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH'-bay) at Trump's Florida resort in February. Hagerty says Pence communicates regularly with Japan's vice prime minister. ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Authorities in Virginia say a man shot by police after pinning an officer against a vehicle has died. Arlington police said in a statement Thursday that officers tried to stop a vehicle on Interstate 395 in the Washington suburbs on Wednesday, but the driver maneuvered around officers. When the vehicle hit heavy traffic, officers approached the vehicle. Police say the driver hit an officer, pinning him against another vehicle. That's when police say officers shot the driver. Police say the driver, 28-year-old Daniel Boak of Centreville, was taken to a hospital, where he died. After the trapped officer was freed, he was taken to a hospital with serious injuries that aren't thought to be life-threatening. Police did not release the names or races of the officers or Boak's race. ___ This story corrects the spelling of the driver's name. His name was Boak, not Bork. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - An Amtrak engineer involved in a train derailment that killed eight passengers turned himself in to police Thursday on charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter, in a case brought only after a victim's family got a judge to order that charges be filed. Brandon Bostian, 34, was put in handcuffs as he arrived at the Philadelphia police station with his attorney. Just minutes after leaving Philadelphia on May 12, 2015, on a Washington-to-New York run, Bostian accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve, sending his train careening off the tracks, an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found. In addition to the eight dead, about 200 passengers and crew were injured. Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak engineer involved in a fatal train crash two years ago, walks to a police station in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 18, 2017, to turn himself in to answer charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) The agency found that Bostian essentially forgot where he was when he sped up. Bostian, who has been on unpaid administrative leave from Amtrak, did not respond to reporters' questions as he entered the police station. He told NTSB investigators he could only remember speeding up for an 80 mph straightaway and then hitting the brakes a few minutes later as he felt his body lurch and the locomotive starting to tip over. Just days before a two-year statute of limitations was to expire, Philadelphia prosecutors announced last week that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Bostian acted with intent or "conscious disregard" for the passengers' safety. Victim lawyers said that should be an issue for a jury to decide, and a judge acting on a private criminal complaint from one victim's family ordered misdemeanor charges filed. City prosecutors then referred the case to Pennsylvania's top prosecutor, the state attorney general, who added a felony count of causing a catastrophe on top of eight misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and other charges. The citizen complaint against Bostian was brought by attorneys for the family of Rachel Jacobs, a 39-year-old chief executive of a Philadelphia-based technology startup who was killed returning home to her husband and 2-year-old son in New York. Thomas Kline, an attorney for the family, said Thursday the state's prosecution of Bostian "ratifies the fact that there are important circumstances where citizens who are aggrieved and who follow the legal process can achieve justice." "The district attorney's office was 100 percent wrong and the attorney general's office is on a track to being 100 percent correct," he said. Amtrak has taken responsibility for the crash and agreed to pay $265 million to settle claims filed by victims and their families. The NTSB found no evidence that Bostian was impaired or using a cellphone. The agency also called Amtrak's long failure to implement automatic speed control throughout the busy Northeast Corridor a contributing factor. Bostian has a personal injury suit pending against Amtrak. He said he was left disoriented or unconscious when something struck his train before it derailed. He had heard through radio traffic that a nearby commuter train had been struck by a rock. However, the NTSB concluded that nothing struck his locomotive. "The best we could come up with was that he was distracted from this radio conversation about the damaged train and forgot where he was," NTSB chairman Christopher Hart said at a May 2016 hearing. The train's data recorder showed that at about 55 seconds and a mile-and-a-half before the derailment, Bostian applied full throttle and held it there for about 30 seconds. The train reached a speed of about 95 mph. The NTSB said he then slightly lowered the throttle for 2 seconds before returning to full throttle and holding it there for another 20 seconds. Three seconds before the derailment, at a speed of 106 mph, Bostian applied the emergency brake, which reduced the speed to 102 mph. Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak engineer involved in a fatal train crash two years ago in Philadelphia, is taken into a police station in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 18, 2017, after he turned himself in to answer charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak engineer involved in a fatal train crash two years ago in Philadelphia, is taken into a police station in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 18, 2017, after he turned himself in to answer charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak engineer involved in a fatal train crash two years ago in Philadelphia, is arrested outside a police station in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 18, 2017. He turned himself in to answer charges including causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on the death of media guru and political strategist Roger Ailes (all times local): 8 p.m. Bill O'Reilly is warmly remembering former Fox News Channel founder Roger Ailes, who died after a fall at his home on May 10. FILE - In this July 24, 2006 file photo, Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox News, listens as anchor Shepard Smith, seen on screens in front and behind him, as Smith talks to the audience via satellite from Israel, at the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Fox News said on Thursday, May 18, 2017, that Ailes has died. He was 77. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) During a four-minute tribute on his podcast Thursday, O'Reilly praises Ailes as a visionary and someone who "didn't take any guff from the left or the right" politically. The 77-year old Ailes died Thursday in Palm Beach, Florida. Ailes was ousted from Fox in July after accusations of sexual harassment. O'Reilly was fired his top-rated show at Fox in April after reports surfaced that the network had settled lawsuits with five women who alleged he sexually harassed them. O'Reilly has denied those accusations. O'Reilly says Ailes' departure from Fox News "broke his heart," and after he was forced out Ailes was "never the same." ___ 4:49 P.M. Authorities in Florida are saying Roger Ailes died of bleeding on the brain caused by an earlier fall at home. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office says the Fox News Channel founder died of a subdural hematoma - or bleeding on the brain - caused by the fall. The death has been ruled accidental and there was no evidence of foul play. According to a Palm Beach police report, a caller contacted 911 dispatchers just before 2 p.m. on May 10, saying Ailes had fallen in his bathroom, hit his head and had serious bleeding. 4:17 p.m. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is adding his voice to those mourning Fox News Channel founder Roger Ailes. "In the years I worked with Ailes he was a great mentor, deeply patriotic, committed to Fox News and really worried about America," Gingrich, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. "Roger Ailes was a genius at politics and the news media. His advice to Presidents Nixon and Reagan was historic and helped elect both." Ailes died Thursday at age 77. ___ 2:14 p.m. David Axelrod, a longtime political adviser to former President Barack Obama, is acknowledging the legacy of former Fox News chief Roger Ailes. "For better or worse & the ignominious end 2 his reign at Fox News, the impact of Roger Ailes on American politics & media was indisputable," Axelrod tweeted Thursday. In 2009, Axelrod said the Fox News Channel is "not really a news station" and that much of the programming is "not really news." Ailes died Thursday at age 77. ___ 1:05 p.m. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Fox News personality and Roger Ailes' friend, is calling the former Fox chief "a genius." "More than anyone, Roger knew how to frame the message and communicate it to the masses," Huckabee said. "The GOP has long had a problem speaking to people beyond the board room and country club - Roger changed that. He was a genius." Ailes died Thursday at age 77. ___ 12:40 p.m. Former President George H.W. Bush is adding his voice to the many on social media mourning Ailes, saying his election in 1988 was in part due to the media strategist. Ailes acted as a consultant to Bush during his 1988 presidential bid, as well as helping former Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. "He wasn't perfect, but Roger Ailes was my friend & I loved him. Not sure I would have been President w/o his great talent, loyal help. RIP" Ailes died Thursday at age 77. __ 11:55 a.m. Details are emerging about an accident Roger Ailes suffered in Florida a few days before died. According to a Palm Beach police report, a caller contacted 911 dispatchers just before 2 p.m. on May 10, saying Ailes had fallen in his bathroom, hit his head and had serious bleeding. The caller said Ailes was not responding appropriately to questions and was still on the ground. Paramedics arrived within a minute and he was taken to a hospital. No other details were announced. Ailes died Thursday at age 77. ___ 11:36 a.m. Fox personalities including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are remembering Roger Ailes. "Roger Ailes founded one of the most important and successful media outlets in American history. I will miss his friendship dearly. RIP," Ingraham wrote on Twitter. Sean Hannity also took to the microblogging site to mourn his old boss: "He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape singlehandedly for the better." Ailes died Thursday at age 77. __ 11:03 a.m. Fox News executive chairman Rupert Murdoch issued a statement on the death of Roger Ailes, saying the media giant was "shocked and grieved" by his passing. "A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping America's media over the last 30 years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted," the statement read. "Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs." Ailes died Thursday at age 77. __ 10:28 a.m. Roger Ailes, the communications maestro who transformed television news and America's political conversation by creating and ruling Fox News Channel for two decades before being ousted last year for alleged sexual harassment, died Thursday, according to his wife, Elizabeth Ailes. He was 77. A former GOP operative to candidates including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a one-time adviser to President Donald Trump, Ailes' TV network changed the face of 24-hour news. In early 1996, he accepted a challenge from media titan Rupert Murdoch to build a news network from scratch to compete with CNN and other TV outlets they deemed left-leaning. But in little more than two weeks, both his legacy and job unraveled following allegations by former anchor Gretchen Carlson that he had forced her out of Fox News after she spurned his sexual advances. The lawsuit quickly triggered accounts from more than 20 women with similar stories. NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - A United Nations envoy on Thursday shuttled between the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus to clinch agreement on holding a summit in Geneva, where it's hoped two years of reunification talks will produce success. Espen Barth Eide said after talks with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and breakaway Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci that both men were ready for a "final phase" of negotiations. But Eide said some "outstanding issues" need to be cleared up before another summit can be scheduled in a process that's said to have gone farther than previous reunification attempts over 40 years. Greek and Turkish Cypriots protesters hold up banners with messages to the rival leaders during a demonstration for the peace at the Ledras main crossing point inside the U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, May 18, 2017. A United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide, is shuttling between the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus to clinch agreement on holding a summit in Geneva where it's hoped the final act of two years of reunification talks will be played out. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) Anastasiades said he has pitched a proposal that could pave the way to a summit. But he decried what he said was a bid to foist responsibility for possible failure on his shoulders. He criticized the Turkish Cypriot side for insisting on a summit without first committing to resolve how the island's land would be apportioned as Greek and Turkish Cypriot-administered parts of a federal Cyprus. On Wednesday, Akinci faulted Anastasiades for insisting on tackling outstanding issues individually rather than packaging them together for a final give-and take. Cyprus has been divided since a 1974 Turkish invasion in the wake of a coup mounted by supporters of uniting the island with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared independence in the island's northern third. Greek Cypriots want enough territory ceded to their administration that would ensure the return of around 90,000 displaced persons to their homes and properties. However, Turkish Cypriots have offered less. Cypriots protesters hold up a poster with a massage to the rival leaders during a demonstration for the peace between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at the Ledras main crossing point inside the U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, May 18, 2017. A United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide, is shuttling between the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus to clinch agreement on holding a summit in Geneva where it's hoped the final act of two years of reunification talks will be played out. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) A woman and a girl stand by a graffiti peace sign during a demonstration for peace between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at the Ledras main crossing point inside the U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, May 18, 2017. A United Nations envoy, Espen Barth Eide, is shuttling between the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus to clinch agreement on holding a summit in Geneva where it's hoped the final act of two years of reunification talks will be played out. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli rights group suing Facebook on behalf of families of victims killed by Palestinian attackers said on Thursday that it will appeal after the case was dismissed by a New York court. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said the court dismissed the lawsuit on grounds of immunity, according to the communications decency act. She said her group Shurat Hadin will appeal the decision. The group claims the social network is providing a platform for militants to spread incitement and violence. "We believe there is a fatal mistake in their ruling because the court totally did not address the issue of aiding and abetting terrorism," she said. "It did not address the fact that Facebook provides support and sort of services to a terror organization to Hamas, which is a violation of the anti-terrorism act and therefore Facebook cannot be immune from this," she said. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is the family of Taylor Force, a 28-year-old MBA student at Vanderbilt University and a U.S. veteran who was visiting Israel in 2016 when he was stabbed to death by a Palestinian. Other plaintiffs include the family of Richard Lakin, a 1960's civil rights activist in the U.S. who marched with Martin Luther King and was a Freedom Rider, working to desegregate the South, who as an educator in Israel worked for peace and coexistence. Lakin was killed by Palestinians who attacked the bus he was riding on in Jerusalem in 2015. And relatives of Naftali Fraenkel, an Israeli teenager who was kidnapped and killed by Hamas operatives while hitchhiking in the West Bank three years ago. Shurat Hadin says Facebook is violating the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act by allowing groups such as the Islamic militant group Hamas to disseminate their messages on Facebook. The lawsuit comes as Israel is considering how to contain Palestinian incitement on social media as it deals with a wave of Palestinian attacks against civilians and security forces. Since September 2015, Palestinian assailants have killed 42 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British student, mainly in stabbing, car ramming and shooting attacks. During that same time, some 245 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. Israel has identified most of them as attackers. "Facebook cannot sit in their ivory tower hiding behind immunity in Palo Alto while blood is spilled in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Facebook as social media has social responsibility," Darshan-Leitner said, adding she is confident her group will get Facebook to change their policy. Israel blames the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders compounded on social media sites that glorify bloodshed and encourage attacks. Palestinians say it stems from anger over decades of Israeli rule in territory they claim for their state. NEW YORK (AP) - Twitter's new privacy policy suggests ambitions of becoming more like Facebook - more tracking of users and more targeting of ads to rake in more money. Twitter recently reported its first quarterly revenue decline since going public. That should give you some clues about the reasons behind the policy changes, which take effect June 18. WHAT'S CHANGING? This Wednesday, April 26, 2017, photo shows the Twitter icon on a mobile phone, in Philadelphia. On Thursday, May 18, 2017, Twitter announced that it is updating its privacy policy so it can track users' interests better and target advertisements to them, at least in the United States. Along with this, Twitter is also rolling out more granular controls so users can decide, to an extent, whether and how they want to be tracked and targeted. The move comes as the company reels from its first quarterly revenue drop since going public. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Twitter was already tracking users. For example, if you visited a webpage that had an embedded tweet or a button to share something on Twitter, you could be tracked and targeted. With the changes, Twitter expands the pool of people it can track and lets the company collect more data about those people when they are visiting sites around the web, said Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, an industry-backed think tank in Washington. For example, the company will now keep data about users' web activities for 30 days instead of 10, which allows it to create more comprehensive profiles of people. In addition, Twitter will no longer honor the "Do Not Track" option that let people say no to being tracked by the likes of ad and social networks. Many such networks no longer honor that option anyway. Polonetsky said Twitter had been "one of the rare prominent brands that respected Do Not Track." WHY IS TWITTER DOING THIS? The short answer is money. A longer answer? Targeted ads that are tailored to your whims and tastes are more lucrative than generic ones. That's the selling point of online advertising, and the reason why companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter offer their services for free. The implied understanding is that they will make money off you by showing you ads. Research firm eMarketer expects worldwide digital ad spending to hit $224 billion this year. Google and Facebook will command a combined $110 billion of this. Twitter, though, is estimated to get just $2.3 billion, or about 1 percent. Twitter's investors are hungry for a larger slice of the pie. IS THIS BAD FOR YOU? That depends on whom you ask. Twitter, of course, is giving the impression that it's a good thing, or at least not something many users will care about. In a pop-up notification telling users of the change, Twitter chirps that you will "soon start to see more relevant Tweets and ads based on your visits to sites with Twitter content." It says that the tailored ads you already see will improve and that "we've given you even more control" over your data. Your next option is to click a highlighted "sounds good" box, or choose "review settings," which appears in less prominent type underneath. Sounds good? Not to privacy advocates. "Twitter's announcement is bad news for online privacy. The company dropped Do Not Track and gave advertisers access to more user data," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Also, all of the settings now default to disclosure, which means users have to go in and change their privacy settings." YOUR OPTIONS If you are in the U.S., move to Europe. Besides achieving your dreams of finally living in a tiny flat in Paris with a stray cat named Gaston and a mustached baker named Olivier, you will also have stronger online privacy protections. Twitter will store data about your web activities for 30 days now instead of 10, but it won't do this for users in the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), because it's prohibited. Barring that, go to http://twitter.com/personalization on a browser; from an app, click the settings wheel from your profile, then choose "Settings" and "Privacy and safety." You can go through the permissions piece by piece and decide, for example, whether to turn off personalize ads (but still get non-targeted ads). Or, you can disable all, prompting a warning that "Turning this off may make the Tweets and ads you see less relevant." Is that what you really want? Click "Yes, I'm sure" and that's that. CLEVELAND (AP) - An Ohio man was indicted Thursday on aggravated murder and other charges after the remains of his ex-wife who'd been missing since October were found in a container outside Cleveland. Fahad Mohammed Saeed, 27, of Cleveland, also was charged in the indictment with kidnapping, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, stalking and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of 25-year-old Roaa Al-Dhannoon. She was last seen Oct. 16 at her Lakewood, Ohio, apartment and was reported missing by friends three days later. Saeed was already in Cuyahoga County Jail after a Lakewood Municipal Court judge sentenced him to 180 days in jail in January for violating a protection order given to Al-Dhannoon. The couple divorced in September, and Al-Dhannoon was granted sole custody of their young son, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Blaise Thomas said. This undated photo provided by the Lakewood Police Department in Lakewood, Ohio, shows Fahad Mohammed Saeed, of Cleveland, indicted Thursday, May 18, 2017, on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, stalking and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of his ex-wife Roaa Al-Dhannoon. Investigators found Al-Dhannoon's remains Monday, May 15 in a container buried near a ravine in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, Ohio, after she was last seen at her Lakewood, Ohio, apartment on Oct. 16, 2016. (Lakewood Police Department via AP) The container was found Monday after an extensive search buried near a ravine in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, Thomas said. The prosecutor wouldn't say what led investigators from the Lakewood Police Department, county sheriff's office and the FBI to that particular area. A medical examiner identified Al-Dhannoon's remains using fingerprints, but hasn't yet determined how she died. Her death has been ruled a homicide. A man described by Thomas as a friend of Saeed's, Ammar Sami, is scheduled for sentencing later this month on an obstructing justice conviction. Thomas said Sami falsely told investigators he didn't know Saeed and denied speaking with him on Oct. 16, the day Al-Dhannoon was killed. Sami pleaded guilty to the charge on May 1. Court records don't indicate whether Saeed has an attorney. An attorney who represented him in the protection order case said Saeed is no longer his client. Saeed's arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday. Saeed and Al-Dhannoon came to the U.S. about three years ago as refugees from Iraq, Thomas said. They initially lived in California before settling in the Cleveland area. Thomas said Saeed and Al-Dhannoon were in the process of obtaining residency status. ___ This story, headline and slug have been corrected to show the missing woman was Saeed's ex-wife and the spelling of her first name is Roaa, not Rosa. The story has been corrected to show the indictment was handed down Thursday, not Wednesday. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island judge on Thursday denied a request to release secret grand jury records from the criminal investigation into the state's $75 million deal with 38 Studios, the video game company started by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice Gibney ruled that Gov. Gina Raimondo, who petitioned for the records, failed to show that a "public clamor" for disclosure outweighed the need for secrecy. Raimondo, a Democrat, had sought the records in February, arguing that Rhode Island residents have a right to know what happened and "complete transparency is the best way to ensure that such a disastrous deal never happens again." Schilling's company moved to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 2010 for a $75 million loan guarantee, but later went bankrupt. Raimondo's petition was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union but opposed by state Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, a fellow Democrat who said releasing the records would undermine the grand jury process that involves witness testimony given behind closed doors. The grand jury concluded its work in 2015 with no criminal charges. Gibney sided with Kilmartin, arguing in the 24-page ruling that Raimondo "was not a party to the original investigation, the civil suit has concluded, the petitioner does not need the materials for any particularized reason, the targets of the investigation were exonerated, and disclosure of the material would hinder the free and untrammeled flow of information and compromise the longstanding history of grand jury secrecy." Gibney also wrote that "allowing public clamor alone to justify disclosure would cause the exception to swallow the rule; namely, releasing documents based on mere public interest in grand jury proceedings would entirely defeat the purpose, and role, of the grand jury." Raimondo said Thursday she was disappointed but respected the court's decision. She didn't say if she would appeal it to the state's Supreme Court, but said she is asking her legal team to review its options. Kilmartin on Thursday thanked the judge for a "well-reasoned and thoughtful decision upholding the special role of the grand jury in the criminal justice system." Kilmartin was also a state legislator at the time of the 38 Studios deal and voted for the legislation that allowed the deal to happen. BOSTON (AP) - While other Harvard University students were writing papers for their senior theses, Obasi Shaw was busy rapping his. Shaw is the first student in Harvard's history to submit a rap album as a senior thesis in the English Department, the university said. The album, called "Liminal Minds," has earned the equivalent of an A-minus grade, good enough to guarantee that Shaw will graduate with honors next week. Count Shaw among those most surprised by the success. Obasi Shaw poses outside the gates of Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, May 18, 2017. Shaw, an English major who graduates from Harvard next week, is the university's first student to submit his final thesis in the form of a rap album. The record, called "Liminal Minds," has earned the equivalent of an A- grade, good enough to ensure that Shaw will graduate with honors at the university's commencement next week. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) "I never thought it would be accepted by Harvard," said Shaw, a 20-year-old from Stone Mountain, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. "I didn't think they would respect rap as an art form enough for me to do it." Shaw describes the 10-track album as a dark and moody take on what it means to be black in America. Each song is told from a different character's perspective, an idea inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century classic "The Canterbury Tales." Shaw, who's black, also draws on the works of writer James Baldwin while tackling topics ranging from police violence to slavery. Shaw's thesis adviser, Harvard English lecturer Josh Bell, said Shaw is a "serious artist and he's an amazing guy." "He was able to turn around an album that people in the English Department would like very much but also that people who like rap music might like," Bell said. Harvard undergraduates aren't obligated to submit senior theses, but most departments require it to graduate with honors. Often it takes the form of a research paper, but students can apply to turn in an artistic work as a creative thesis. Some submit screenplays, novels or poetry collections. Shaw was at home for winter break in 2015, struggling to find a topic for a written thesis, when he told his mother, Michelle Shaw, about the creative thesis option. He had recently started writing his own raps and performing them at open-microphone nights on campus. His mother connected the dots and suggested he record an album for his thesis. It took Shaw more than a year to write the songs and record them at a studio on Harvard's campus. His friends supplied many of the beats, while he taught himself how to mix the tracks into a polished product. "I'm still not satisfied with the quality of the production just yet, but I'm constantly learning and growing," Shaw said. Rap and hip-hop have drawn growing interest from academia in recent years. Harvard established a fellowship for scholars of hip-hop in 2013, and other schools including the University of Arizona have started to offer minors in hip-hop studies. Clemson University announced in February that a doctoral student submitted a 34-track rap album as his dissertation, a first for the South Carolina university. Shaw plans to circulate the album online for free and hopes it opens doors to the music industry. In the meantime, he's headed to Seattle to work as a software engineer at Google. ___ Find Collin Binkley on Twitter: @cbinkley. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning is revealing her new look as a woman, after being freed from a Kansas military prison and a 35-year sentence for leaking classified materials. The transgender soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning took to Twitter and Instagram Thursday, posting a portrait photograph of her with short-cropped hair, bright red lipstick and a dark outfit with a plunging neckline. The 29-year-old Oklahoma native included the caption, "Okay, so here I am everyone!!" This undated photo provided by Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning shows a portrait of her that she posted on her Instagram account on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Manning, the transgender soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning, revealed her new look after being freed from a Kansas military prison and a 35-year sentence for leaking classified materials. (Tim Travers Hawkins/Courtesy of Chelsea Manning via AP) Manning was released early Wednesday from confinement at Kansas' Fort Leavenworth, after having served seven years behind bars for giving classified materials to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning and her attorneys have refused to divulge her post-prison whereabouts or immediate plans. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is "very close" to naming a new FBI director to replace the one he fired more than a week ago and that former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was among his top choices for the job. Lieberman was among four candidates Trump interviewed at the White House on Wednesday. "We're very close to an FBI director," Trump said when asked about the search during an Oval Office appearance with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Trump said "soon" when asked how close he is to making an announcement. Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman gives a 'thumbs-up' as he leaves the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. The White House says President Donald Trump will be interviewing four potential candidates to lead the FBI. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Trump leaves Friday afternoon on his first overseas trip as president, a four-country, five-stop tour that will keep him out of Washington for more than a week. He has said he could name a director before he departs. The president also replied "he is" when asked whether Lieberman is a top candidate for the position. Lieberman gave reporters a thumbs-up as he left the White House on Wednesday and said he and Trump had a "good meeting." Trump interviewed three other potential FBI director candidates the same day: former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, former top FBI official Richard McFeely and Andrew McCabe. McCabe was tapped to become acting director after Trump dismissed Comey on May 9. The firing was sharply criticized because it came amid the bureau's investigation into Russia's meddling in last year's presidential election. "I cherish the FBI. It's special," Trump said later Thursday at a joint news conference with Santos. "All over the world, no matter where you go, the FBI is special." He said the bureau hasn't enjoyed "that special reputation" since during the presidential campaign. Trump also criticized Comey for his performance during a recent appearance before Congress, and said Comey's replacement is "going to be outstanding." The Senate must confirm Trump's candidate for the job. Senate Republicans praised Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, while Democrats were less effusive about their former colleague. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Lieberman a "pillar of credibility." Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said Lieberman "may be the only potential nominee that could get 100 votes that I know of. Everybody likes and respects Joe Lieberman." But several Democratic senators said during a caucus lunch Thursday that they would not support Lieberman, according to a person familiar with the meeting who declined to be identified because the lunch was private. Among their concerns was Lieberman's past praise of Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, who was fired in February after misleading officials about his conversations with Russian officials. Flynn has figured prominently in the FBI investigation into Russian interference into the election. A Nov. 25 news release from Trump's transition team quoted Lieberman praising Trump's selection of K.T. McFarland as deputy national security adviser. Lieberman added that McFarland "and General Mike Flynn will form a very strong leadership team at the National Security Council." Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank, also opposes Lieberman, saying he lacks law enforcement experience and is close to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former U.S. senator. Lieberman testified in support of Sessions at his January confirmation hearing. Lieberman served in the Senate for more than two decades and was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 with Al Gore, then the sitting vice president. Lieberman lost his 2006 Democratic primary bid but won Senate re-election as a third-party candidate. Lieberman spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention on behalf of his friend, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and did not seek re-election in 2012. He has served as co-chairman of No Labels, a centrist group that promotes bipartisanship. Keating, a Republican, was a two-term governor of Oklahoma and led the state during the deadly 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. A former FBI agent, Keating served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Keating told The Oklahoman he does not expect to be chosen. "If they wanted me, I certainly would be honored, but I really don't think that's going to happen," he told the newspaper after his interview. McCabe, a veteran FBI official, made headlines for congressional testimony last week that rejected White House claims that Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file agents. He also disputed the administration's characterization of the investigation into potential coordination between Russia and Trump associates. Several candidates have withdrawn from consideration: Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina; Cornyn; Alice Fisher, the former head of the Justice Department's criminal division; and Michael Garcia, a former U.S. attorney from Manhattan. ___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker contributed to this report. ___ Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating stops to answers questions from members of the media as he leaves the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. The White House says President Donald Trump will be interviewing four potential candidates to lead the FBI. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - A woman has been accused of shooting two of her children in the head in Ohio and has been arrested. Police say an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy were shot Thursday morning and are hospitalized in critical condition. An 11-year-old daughter at the Dayton home at the time was unharmed. Police Chief Richard Biehl says the woman shot the children inside the home and then took them outside, where police and emergency crews found them in the front yard. A firearm was taken from the home. Police say there are indications the mother has mental health issues but it hasn't been determined why the children were shot. The police chief says detectives will be conferring with the Montgomery county prosecutors about criminal charges against her. MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Nicaragua is denying that a recently activated land-based satellite station donated by Russia has the purpose of spying on the region or the United States. Orlando Castillo is director of Nicaragua's state-run telecommunications company. He says the station known as Glonass aims to help tackle drug trafficking, natural disasters, global warming and other issues. Castillo said late Wednesday that "it is not for spying on anyone." The station came online April 7 and is located south of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua. Ties between Russia and Nicaragua have concerned some in the United States, especially on military cooperation. Last year Nicaragua received 50 T-72 tanks from Moscow as part of a process of modernizing its armed forces. Here are five things we learned during the General Election campaign on Wednesday: We have just released our manifesto! It is about a brighter future for Britain - and the power is in your hands. https://t.co/Y4jiE1qvxs pic.twitter.com/siogwGy1fC Tim Farron (@timfarron) May 17, 2017 The plan will generate 1 billion in revenue, the party claims, leading punters to propose the funds go into a joint account. Tim Farron, who admitted that he tried cannabis many, many years ago at college during an interview with Sky News, has high hopes for the proposal believing it will break the grip of the criminal gangs and protect young people. Our recent statistics would suggest quite a few of you are suffering from 'voter fatigue'! https://t.co/JQbPqKzuhR #GE2017 #BMGinsights pic.twitter.com/LfVfZf5dVe BMG Research (@BMGResearch) May 17, 2017 The survey, conducted by BMG Research, discovered that just 49% of people thought the recent spate of elections and referendums has been about right. Unsurprisingly, only a third of young people who have not had as many chances to cast their ballot felt voter fatigue. Meanwhile, 57% of Scottish respondents who have also faced an independence referendum in recent times thought there had been too many. Francesco Gabbani from Italy, right, performs at Eurovision The former Ukip leader said European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker looked a bit silly after deciding to speak in French, having derided Mr Farages mother tongue. Mr Farage pointed out that the extravaganza known as the Eurovision Song Contest saw 90% of the songs sung in English. Perhaps in a sign of European enthusiasm for English, the winning act sang a romantic ballad in Portuguese. Boris Johnson scratches his head while holding an alcoholic drink The Foreign Secretary was told that alcohol is against our religion by one outraged worshipper, who said she wouldnt be wanting to put somebody in power who wants to put more alcohol in India, which is causing a lot of problems already. Theresa May and Philip Hammond during a general election campaign event He did not delve into the cause of his cursing, and brushed off claims of conflict between the Downing Street neighbours as tittle-tattle. But the revelation appears to confirm that Spreadsheet Phil is able to turn the air blue in more ways than one. Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Kezia Dugdale has defended her leadership of the Scottish Labour Party amid a claim it is in meltdown over council coalitions. Ms Dugdale criticised the Tories and the SNP, saying it was their petty politics that had forced her party into the centre of power-sharing talks across the country. It follows the suspension of nine councillors in Aberdeen after they defied the wishes of the ruling Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) and went into administration with Conservatives in the city. Kezia Dugdale (Janer Barlow/PA) Labour has just suspended all 9 councillors in Aberdeen. Full statement below pic.twitter.com/icWRYZz2HB Kezia Dugdale (@kezdugdale) May 17, 2017 Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley said the SEC had also rejected a possible coalition with the Tories in West Lothian. Nicola Sturgeon used First Ministers Questions at Holyrood to claim Labour under Ms Dugdale is in disarray, it is in civil war, it is in meltdown. As leader of the Scottish Labour Party she is not in control of her own party because she cant stop her councillors going into coalition with Tories up and down the country, Ms Sturgeon said. What a total shambles. Suspension doesn't change fact that these councillors have used Labour votes to give Aberdeen a Tory council. https://t.co/nEcc5kqL7V Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 17, 2017 Asked at a briefing with journalists whether the actions of the Aberdeen group had undermined her leadership and the party, Ms Dugdale said: No, because Ive been very clear that they dont act as Labour councillors when theyre passing on Tory cuts in Aberdeen. Labour has agreed a power-sharing agreement with the SNP to run Fife Council while a proposal for a deal with the nationalists in Edinburgh is expected to come back to the SEC after being initially rejected. However, Ms Dugdale said there was categorically no deal with the Tories in North Lanarkshire. She said: The reason that were in this position and that Labour is at the centre of all these power-sharing talks is because both the SNP and the Tories ruled out dealing with each other two weeks ago in a complete petty political manoeuvre. Today's meeting of the full Council is continuing. An administration has been installed and key appointments made: https://t.co/z5B0jqa2MO Aberdeen City Council (@AberdeenCC) May 17, 2017 The reality is that its only the Labour Party thats taking the responsible approach rooted in our values and principles, which are to oppose any deals which involve passing on austerity to communities and that would lead to job losses. I think thats the responsible thing to do, its the Tories and the SNP that have ruled out even talking to each other at a much earlier stage and thats driven entirely by their obsession with their constitution. Earlier, Mr Rowley told BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme Labour had been clear no power-sharing arrangements would be agreed where it would mean increased austerity that will impact on communities, in particular the poorest communities up and down Scotland. He said the nine suspended councillors in Aberdeen broke those rules. Barney Crockett, one of the suspended councillors who was appointed Lord Provost as part of the agreement, told the same programme the action was a procedure they would work through. He said: Well work through it and Im confident that we will be back in Labour very soon. Were still Labour councillors through and through, and Im sure everything is going to be rectified and will be in good order. Ross Thomson, the Tory candidate for Aberdeen South in the General Election, said: Labour has been plunged into civil war after Kezia Dugdales reckless decision to suspend all nine councillors in Aberdeen. The local group were doing the right thing for the city to provide stability after what has been a difficult time for the local economy. Rolf Harris is to be released from prison on Friday, a court has heard. The Australia-born former television star, 87, has been appearing by videolink at Southwark Crown Court in London, where he is standing trial accused of indecent assault. Judge Deborah Taylor told the jury on Thursday that the defendant would be released from Stafford Prison on Friday and he would therefore appear in court in person on bail for the remainder of the trial. Jurors had previously been told Harris had already been convicted and sentenced for other offences in 2014. Rolf Harris leaves Southwark Crown Court in 2014 with his wife and daughter (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The judge told jurors: He (Harris) will no longer be appearing in the court via videolink and he will be attending what remains of his trial in person next week. The trial, which opened on May 15, will not sit on Friday. Former Animal Hospital host Harris is standing trial accused of indecently assaulting three teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also alleged to have touched a 13-year-old girls breast after filming a childrens TV programme and asked her: Do you often get molested in a Saturday morning? He is separately accused of twice groping a third girl, aged 16, after being paid 100 to appear on ITV celebrity show Star Games in 1978, and telling her she was a little bit irresistible, the court heard. He denies four charges of indecent assault against three women between 1971 and 1983. Theresa Mays manifesto showed the Tories had returned to being the nasty party, Labour said as it warned 10 million pensioners would lose their winter fuel payments under her plans. The Prime Ministers policy platform, which saw her vow to govern for mainstream Britain and deliver a strong economy after Brexit, included a radical shake-up of pensioner benefits and the system for funding social care. Labour went on the attack over the plans to end the pensions triple lock, which guarantees annual rises of at least 2.5%, in an effort to attract the so-called grey vote. Older people are more likely to cast their votes and Mrs May knows that removing universal benefits such as the winter fuel payment risks a backlash, but she is confident that her plans to tackle the giant challenges facing the country such as its ageing population will attract support. The fallout from the manifesto launch came as five other leaders without Mrs May and Labours Jeremy Corbyn locked horns in a televised debate which saw the Prime Minister criticised for her failure to attend. Instead of taking part, Mr Corbyn led Labours fightback following the launch of the Tory manifesto, saying: Theresa Mays nasty party has launched a shameful attack on older people introducing a compassion tax to force those in need of social care to pay for it with their family home. .@Theresa_May, why not debate me? The public deserve to see a debate between the only two people who could form the next government. #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/dUNfmjj6Mu Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 18, 2017 Labour is standing up for pensioners and guaranteeing the triple lock on state pensions, as well as giving social care the funding it needs. It is clear the Conservatives are offering more of the same, tax giveaways for their billionaire friends and nothing for ordinary people. Labour is standing up for the many, not the few. Key words from the Conservative party manifesto The decision to scrap a planned 72,000 cap on social care bills was denounced by the author of a seminal report on the issue, Sir Andrew Dilnot, who said pensioners would be left helpless to control costs. Instead, Mrs May offered a guarantee that no-one will be forced out of their home or left with assets of less than 100,000 as a result of care costs. Increased spending will be funded by withdrawing the 300 winter fuel payment from wealthier pensioners. Labour highlighted analysis by living standards think tank the Resolution Foundation which suggested that the winter fuel payment plans look set to restrict the benefit to the very poorest two million pensioners, taking it away from 10 million others and saving 1.7 billion. .@Theresa_May and the @Conservatives manifesto abandons older people & will do nothing to address inequality in our society. #ToryManifesto pic.twitter.com/yhNRECSh1o Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 18, 2017 Both the Prime Minister and Mr Corbyn turned down the invitation to take part in the ITV Leaders Debate in Salford. Tim Farron and Leanne Wood Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Liberal Democrat chief Tim Farron, Ukips Paul Nuttall, Plaid Cymrus Leanne Wood and Green co-leader Caroline Lucas showed up for the prime time debate. Mr Farron told viewers: The fact that Theresa May isnt here tonight tells you she is taking you for granted. She thinks she owns this election, owns our future and owns our childrens future. Ukip has warned there will be no Brexit unless it gets some MPs into the House of Commons at the June 8 general election. The eurosceptic party, which has seen its support leach away to the Tories following last years referendum, warned voters that victory for Conservatives would allow Theresa May to backslide on EU withdrawal. They accused the Tories of picking Remain candidates for a series of key Leave-backing seats, including Chelmsford, Thurrock, Great Yarmouth and Boston and Skegness where Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is standing. Tim Aker (PA) .@Tim_Aker 'look at the evidence, Tory remainers are remainers, and will backtrack on Brexit' pic.twitter.com/hHEUkpXgog UK Independence Party (@UKIP) May 18, 2017 Speaking at a London press conference, Ukip MEP Tim Aker said Mrs Mays speeches could have been written by Ukip, but that her record on Europe, immigration and law and order could have been orchestrated by Labours Diane Abbott. If you were to be blindfolded and heard policies such as police cuts, cuts to prison services and soaring net immigration to a third of a million, you would think I was reeling off Labour policies, said Mr Aker. What do you trust, talk or action? Theresa Mays record could easily mimic a Labour Home Secretary. Unchecked, can we risk her backsliding as Prime Minister? Mr Aker said early warning signs had already surfaced that Tories were ready to compromise on issues such as free movement and the multi-billion pound divorce bill expected from Brussels. The message is clear we need a Ukip voice in the Commons to make sure we finish the job on Brexit, he said. Theresa Mays record tells us without the threat, theyre free to backslide. Without Ukip, there would have been no referendum. Without Ukip in the Commons, there will be no Brexit. Mr Aker is Ukip candidate in the partys top target seat of Thurrock in Essex, where he finished third in a close three-way fight in 2015, just 974 votes behind Conservative Jackie Doyle-Price, who is standing again on June 8. Police have launched an investigation following a number of deaths of babies at a hospital. Cheshire Constabulary has launched the investigation following a greater number of baby deaths and collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. The probe will focus on the deaths of eight babies but will also review seven further deaths and six non-fatal collapses which happened during the year-long period. Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Wenham said: In May 2017, The Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust contacted Cheshire Constabulary regarding neonatal services at the hospital. A mother holds the feet of a newborn baby (PA) This was in relation to a greater number of baby deaths and collapses than normally expected during the period of June 2015 and June 2016. The hospital also made the constabulary aware of a number of independent reviews that they had commissioned into these deaths. As a result, Cheshire Constabulary has launched an investigation, which will focus on the deaths of eight babies that occurred between that period where medical practitioners have expressed concern. In addition the investigation will also conduct a review of a further seven baby deaths and six non-fatal collapses during the same period. We recognise that this investigation will have a significant impact on all of the families involved, staff and patients at the hospital and the public. Parents of the babies are being updated on the investigation and will be supported throughout the process by specially trained officers. We are committed to carrying out the investigation as quickly as possible. The Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester (Peter Byrne/PA) The investigation is in its very early stages. We are unable to provide any further details at this time. A hospital spokeswoman said an independent clinical review into neonatal services had been carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the results had been published earlier this year. The spokeswoman said: This report pointed to 24 recommendations for improvement, which are now under way. The trust and its doctors have continuing concerns about the unexplained deaths and are very keen to understand that everything possible has been done to help determine the causes of death in our neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016. As a hospital, we have taken the clinical review as far as we can. We have now asked for the input of Cheshire police to seek assurances that enable us to rule out unnatural causes of death. Countess of Chester Hospital medical director Ian Harvey said: We are deeply sorry for the further distress and heartache this will cause. Throughout this, we have never lost sight of the families left bereaved by the loss of their baby and they will continue to be our main concern. The Conservative Party believes its manifesto pledges will tackle the social care funding crisis. Here are some of the questions being asked: What are the Conservatives proposing? No-one will have to sell their home to pay for care costs in their lifetime while a persons assets would not be allowed to dip below 100,000 as a result of paying for care. This is an increase from the current 23,250 level in England and is designed to allow elderly people to retain more of their wealth or pass it on to relatives. More people are also expected to be required to pay for care in their own home. This is due to the proposal to include the value of someones property in the test to assess how much someone should pay for domiciliary care in their own home. A stronger Britain where everyone has the economic security they need and the chance to live a secure and full life. pic.twitter.com/NvMLv1GTmk Conservatives (@Conservatives) May 18, 2017 Why are changes needed to social care? All sides have recognised in the House of Commons that social care needs more money, particularly given the countrys ageing population. Cuts to council budgets have put pressure on social care services with eligibility criteria to decide who receives help being tightened. What is the scale of the people requiring social care support? The House of Commons Library noted in March that the overall adult population grew by 10% between 2001 and 2011 but the number of adults aged over 65 grew by 11% and those aged 85 rose by 24% in the same period. People aged over 85 are most likely to need care. If we get Brexit right, we can use this moment of change to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Britain here at home. pic.twitter.com/nk9883flRm Conservatives (@Conservatives) May 18, 2017 What have the Conservatives tried recently to resolve the funding problems? A social care precept was introduced to allow local authorities to increase council tax levels initially by up to 2% extra, later by up to 3% while reforms to a house-building scheme saw a further 240 million freed up for an adult social care support grant for 2017/18. What problems did the Government encounter when trying to raise funds via other methods? Chancellor Philip Hammond sought to raise 2 billion for social care by hiking National Insurance Contributions for the self-employed. But this was scrapped within days, amid claims it broke a 2015 manifesto pledge. The farcical scenes in March further highlighted the urgency around the need for extra money. PM: So join me on this journey. Come with me as I lead Britain. Strengthen my hand as I fight for Britain. pic.twitter.com/EyLQ5pkTJl Conservatives (@Conservatives) May 18, 2017 How do the new Tory plans compare to previous ones? Sir Andrew Dilnots major report in 2011 suggested a 72,000 cap on care costs, which was due to be introduced in 2020 although would be scrapped under the Conservative Party plans. Sir Andrew said the new Tory approach meant they are tackling completely different questions. Before the 2010 general election, Labour considered increasing inheritance tax to pay for social care dubbed a death tax by the Tories. Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Conservative Party manifesto launch in West Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) What is Labour offering at the 2017 General Election? Labour says it would increase social care budgets by a further 8 billion over five years including 1 billion in the first year. It would also lay the foundations of a National Care Service for England within its first five years in power. But how the new system is funded would need cross-party support, the party adds, with wealth taxes, an employer care contribution or a new social care levy among the options floated in the manifesto. The Conservatives pledge to increase runway capacity at Heathrow is a significant boost to UK trade, the airport has claimed. The partys manifesto said it will continue our programme of strategic national investments including the HS2 high-speed rail line, improved rail links across northern England and Heathrow expansion. The Tories promised that they will ensure these projects do as much as possible to develop the skills and careers of British workers. Heathrow (PA) A Heathrow spokeswoman said: The Conservative manifestos commitment to support Heathrow expansion is a significant boost to keep the UK connected to new trading markets and spread growth across all of Britain. Politicians from across the political divide and large and small businesses in every corner of Britain want to see Heathrow expansion delivered as soon as possible. We are working hard to deliver Britains new runway, along with the 180,000 career opportunities, including 10,000 apprenticeships, and new skills training for British workers it will provide. .@Conservatives manifesto text on airspace commits to reducing aircraft noise, but increasing capacity. But which will get priority? pic.twitter.com/zNu0DMyRUa The Aviation Environment Federation (@The_AEF) May 18, 2017 The Conservative manifesto for the 2015 general election did not specifically mention Heathrow, only pledging to respond to the Airports Commissions final report, which had recommended expanding the west London hub rather than Gatwick. Theresa Mays government published a consultation on its draft national policy statement in February, setting out why a third runway at Heathrow is its preferred option for boosting airport capacity in south-east England. Find out why Govt prefers a new northwest runway at #Heathrow and have your say on planning policy proposals https://t.co/zhKOuTyrmP pic.twitter.com/O5k76hrQmy Department for Transport (@transportgovuk) March 11, 2017 Several senior Tories, including Boris Johnson, remain opposed to Heathrow expansion and Zac Goldsmith resigned his Richmond seat last year in protest at the decision to go ahead with the project. He fought the by-election this triggered as an independent and lost to the Lib Dem candidate though he is standing again in next months General Election as the official Tory candidate. Savannah Marshall has signed professional terms with Floyd Mayweather and already provoked the ire of double Olympic champion Claressa Shields. Marshall remains the only fighter to have defeated the otherwise all-conquering Shields, outpointing her en route to becoming the world amateur champion in 2012. The 25-year-old announced her decision to leave the Great Britain squad in March having failed in her second attempt to claim an Olympic medal in Rio last summer. Savannah Marshall We would like to wish good luck to two-time Olympian and 2012 world middleweight champion @Smarshall1991, all the best for the future! pic.twitter.com/HxCdEKLyOl GB Boxing (@gbboxing) March 17, 2017 Marshall will predominantly base herself in Las Vegas to work with Mayweathers promotions company, and plot a potential big-money re-match with Shields. Shields has won her first two professional fights and in March made history by becoming the first female fighter to top a premium TV card in the US. But she was less than impressed by news of Marshalls deal, tweeting: The best news Ive heard in a while! Her ass is kicked! @MayweatherPromo set it up! Shields later added: Mannnnnnn he (Mayweather) just added fuel to the fire man! Im going to light her ass up! Right in front of him! Jeremy Corbyn has visited a Sikh temple, a day after Boris Johnson angered a follower of the faith by discussing whisky exports on a similar visit. Covering his head with an orange patka as required, Mr Corbyn served food to worshippers and made an offering at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara in Southall, west London. It came after the Foreign Secretary was rounded on by a woman at a Sikh temple in Bristol for attempting to use alcohol as an example of the benefits of a trade deal between the UK and India during a Conservative Party visit. labour leader Jeremy Corbyn Both politicians were looking to boost their parties popularity among Sikhs, traditionally seen as mainly Labour voters, although the Tories campaigned hard for their backing under David Cameron. On Wednesday, Mr Johnson was at the Nirman Sewak Jatha temple in St George, Bristol, when he began discussing whisky exports. Some Sikh teachings consider alcohol to be prohibited, although many Sikhs in the UK do drink alcohol. A worshipper at the temple told Mr Johnson whose mother-in-law is a Sikh that his comments were absolutely outrageous. About 200 here in Southall to here Jeremy Corbyn speak on a very wet evening pic.twitter.com/xpCVNpcV5c Arj Singh (@singharj) May 18, 2017 In a video posted online by the Bristol Post, Mr Johnson tells the temple: Whenever we go to India, to Mumbai or to Delhi, we have to bring clinkie in our luggage. We have to bring Johnnie Walker, we have to bring whisky, because as you may know there is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scotch whisky, so we have to bring it in duty free for our relatives. But imagine what we could do if there was a free trade deal with India which there will be. The video shows a woman at the temple telling Mr Johnson that alcohol is against our religion. I wouldnt be wanting to put somebody in power who wants to put more alcohol in India which is causing a lot of problems already, she told Mr Johnson. We've been out on the campaign trail with @tom_watson, as the Deputy Labour leader caught up with voters in South Wales. Watch and RT pic.twitter.com/CS82BZ7Hiw The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 18, 2017 When I heard that on the news I thought no way am I going to vote Tory because I dont want alcohol. Im a practising Sikh. To me that is absolutely outrageous. He replies: I understand your point of view. Thank you very much for your question. BBC reporter Pete Simson, who attended the event, tweeted that the woman told Mr Johnson she had experienced alcohol problems in her family. Hes apologised several times, he added. By Clyde Russell LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 18 (Reuters) - Hedge fund Elliott Management is probably about half way to achieving its goal of extracting better returns out of BHP, the world's largest mining company. It's not so important to focus on the nitty-gritty details of the activist investor's proposals on how BHP should hive off its petroleum arm and consolidate its dual-listed structure. What does matter is the fact that Elliott, since it went public on April 10, has managed to put pressure on BHP's management and board to do more in the name of shareholder value. It was always likely that BHP's leaders would reject Elliott's plan, and so it proved as the company said it would cost too much to implement and wouldn't deliver Elliott's anticipated benefits. But since then BHP has been forced into the somewhat uncomfortable position of having to explain its plans and set forth a vision of how the company will lift its returns to its owners. BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie, speaking to an audience of bankers and investors in Barcelona on May 16, said the miner had made consistent progress and was confident it could grow the value of the company by up to 50 percent and almost double the return on capital. "Our path is deliberate, with value and returns at the centre of everything we do," Mackenzie said. In an earlier statement, BHP also rejected claims by Elliott that it was not open to change and had been misleading in its response to the New York-based investor's plans. If Mackenzie's comments and the statement sound a tad defensive, it's probably because they are. BHP finds itself on the back foot just at a time when it probably thinks it has a reasonably good story to tell the market. The sustained efforts to cut costs at its major iron ore and coal operations have paid dividends, making BHP a leaner and more efficient operator. On the commodity price front, while it's the case that iron ore and thermal coal have lost ground this year, they are both still well above the levels that prevailed at the start of 2016. Coking coal, used to make steel, is currently still at elevated prices, but this is due to the lingering impact from Cyclone Debbie, which damaged infrastructure in Australia's Queensland state, home to BHP's major coking coal mines. The price of crude oil has been relatively positive for BHP, as it and other companies outside the agreement between OPEC and some allied producers ride on the coattails of the gradually tightening market. CASH GENERATOR Even with the retreat in some commodity prices this year, and the mixed outlook for top buyer China, BHP is still generating strong cash flows. For example, the spot Asian iron ore price <.IO62-CNO=MB> has dropped 34 percent since its peak so far this year in February to the close on Wednesday of $62.20 a tonne. But even at the current, lower price BHP is likely generating around $30 in free cash flow from each tonne of iron ore, a sum that runs into billions of dollars quite quickly when you consider the company aims to produce 268 to 272 million tonnes this financial year. It's this sort of cash that Elliott is likely after, either through share buybacks or increased dividends, both of which may also serve to boost the share price. There is definitely a case for a mining company such as BHP to be more generous to shareholders, especially since the benefits of the boom in commodity prices that followed the 2008 global recession were largely spent on expanding production rather than paying investors. If an investor bought BHP shares in Sydney at the height of the post-2008 boom in commodities, they would still be under water. BHP's Sydney shares reached a closing peak of A$44.89 on April 11, 2011, before slumping to a trough of A$14.21 in January last year. They have since recovered to A$24.07 at the close on Wednesday. For both shorter-term investors and long-term holders, such as pension funds, the above paragraph is distressing as it underlines the difficulty of benefiting from the good times in commodity cycles. Before BHP goes too far down the road of appeasing Elliott, it should also consider elucidating a strategy focused on long-term, sustainable returns to investors, as this may appeal more to the majority of shareholders than Elliott's vision of a one-off boost from carving up the company. Disclosure: At the time of publication, Clyde Russell owned shares in BHP as an investor in a fund. (Editing by Richard Pullin) Following are news stories, press reports and events that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): TREASURY BOND TENDER The finance ministry is expected to announce the result of its treasury bond tender at 0930 GMT. WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT DATA The statistics office is expected to publish April corporate wages and employment data at 1200 GMT. IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to issue a statement after its annual mission to Poland. The conference is expected to start at 1030 GMT. JSW Polish state-run coal producer JSW plans to invest 1 billion zlotys this year, put aside another 1 billion zlotys and pay a dividend, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper quoted its acting CEO as saying. ALIOR BANK Michal Krupinski, a former chief executive of state-controlled insurer PZU, may become the new CEO at PZU's lender Alior Bank, replacing Wojciech Sobieraj, who has headed the bank since 2008, daily newspaper Parkiet said, quoting unnamed sources. Krupinski could also become the CEO of Pekao, the Puls Bizesu newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources. ORANGE The Polish arm of French telecoms group Orange is the only network operator in Poland that has fully complied with the EU's directive on ending roaming charges, Puls Biznesu and Rzeczpospolita said. PGNIG PGNiG's share of the Polish retail gas market fell to 73.7 percent last year from 80.2 percent in 2015, due to growing competition, Rzeczpospolita said, quoting the energy market regulator. BZ WBK Comparable net profits at Polish lender BZ WBK are set to rise this year, Rzeczpospolita said, quoting the bank's CEO. .... ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau; Editing by Greg Mahlich) By Stefano Bernabei and Paola Arosio MILAN, May 17 (Reuters) - Italian regional lenders Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca may need to raise capital privately to cover loan losses to win European Union approval for a state bailout they have requested, six sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The two banks, together with fellow bailout candidate Monte dei Paschi di Siena, are stuck in rescue talks with European authorities that are keen to limit the amount of taxpayer money used to help ailing lenders in accordance with new EU rules on banking crises. But having failed to raise funds on the market last year, the two Veneto-based banks may have no alternative to turning to healthier rivals for help once again, five of the sources said, in a fresh drag on Italy's weakened banking industry. Both Popolare di Vicenza and the European Commission said negotiations were ongoing. Popolare di Vicenza, whose CEO Fabrizio Viola is leading talks with European authorities, said the bank would not comment on rumours and added discussions focused on targets set under a restructuring plan that envisages a merger between the two banks. The two banks were rescued from bankruptcy a year ago by bank support fund Atlante, which took up 2.5 billion euros in initial share issues that were spurned by investors. It later pumped another 938 million euros into the two banks. State-sponsored Atlante was financed by Italian banks and insurers, which have since been forced to write down the value of their stakes. The two Veneto banks must fill a 6.4 billion euro capital shortfall after loan writedowns led to a combined 2016 loss of 3.4 billion euros and pushed their capital below minimum thresholds. EU rules allow a state to step in to cover losses that a lender could potentially suffer under a shock scenario, but not losses that are foreseeable or have already been incurred. The two banks have warned they are likely to book further loan losses this year as they apply guidelines provided by the European Central Bank, with a potentially significant impact on capital and earnings. The sources said the prospect of fresh loan writedowns, which could not be covered with public money, was likely to force the two banks to raise capital privately first. The rescue scheme under discussion entails a private contribution through the conversion of around 1 billion euros in junior debt into equity. The 938 million euros paid by Atlante should also count as private capital. If more money from private investors is needed, there may be no alternative to other Italian banks chipping in to avoid failures that might destabilise the whole industry, five of the sources said. In this case, banks would need to pay fresh funds into Italy's deposit-guarantee fund. To avoid breaching EU state aid rules, the fund has set up a separate, voluntary scheme which has already been used to rescue two small lenders in the past two years. The fund's Director General Giuseppe Boccuzzi told Reuters on Wednesday that to date he was not aware of any such initiative. ($1 = 0.9007 euros) (Additional reporting by Valentina Za, Andrea Mandala, Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Mark Potter) BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had lodged a complaint with the United States after it imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme. China has complained repeatedly to the United States about unilateral sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies linked to either Iran or North Korea's nuclear or missile programmes. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under a 2015 international nuclear deal even as he imposed the new penalties. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China followed local rules and regulations and closely adhered to its responsibilities to the international community. "China is opposed to the blind use of unilateral sanctions particularly when it damages the interests of third parties. I think the sanctions are unhelpful in enhancing mutual trust and unhelpful for international efforts on this issue," she told a daily news briefing. "China has lodged representations with the United States and hopes the U.S. side can on the principle of mutual respect resolve non-proliferation issues through dialogue and communication," Hua added. China has close economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran, but was also instrumental in pushing through a landmark 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme. (Reporting by Philip Wen; Writing by Ben Blanchard) PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - France needs "massive and rapid" growth in renewable energy capacity and nuclear power is not the country's only energy solution, new Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Thursday. Philippe, who was appointed by newly inaugurated President Emmanuel Macron, used to work as head of public affairs for state nuclear energy group Areva, parts of which are set to be absorbed by EDF, the state power utility which operates the nation's ageing nuclear power station fleet. On Wednesday, Macron appointed environmentalist Nicolas Hulot as his environment minister with responsibility for energy matters - a move that hit EDF's share price. Nuclear power accounts for about three-quarters of French power generation at present. France needs "to reach the objectives set out by the President," Philippe said on France Inter radio. "That means an approach founded on the secure base of nuclear and a rapid, massive and visible development of renewables," he added. Philippe also said the government would take a "pragmatic" approach regarding France's future energy and power supplies. (Reporting by Andrew Callus and Jean-Baptiste Vey; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) MILAN, May 18 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Libya had 0.82 percent of UniCredit capital at the lender's annual general shareholders meeting in April, minutes of the meeting made public on Thursday showed. The Libyan Central Bank previously had a stake of 2.95 percent which was diluted as a result of UniCredit's bumper capital increase, a source close to the matter said. Italy's biggest bank by assets completed a hyper-dilutive 13 billion euro ($14.4 billion) cash call earlier this year to rebuild capital after a balance-sheet clean-up. Investment fund Dodge & Cox presented at the AGM with 3.44 percent of the bank's capital, the minutes showed. Other investors included Allianz, with a stake of 1.01 percent, and businessman Leonardo del Vecchio, with 1.93 percent. Banking foundations Cariverona and CRT had stakes of 1.8 percent and 1.74 percent respectively, the document showed. UniCredit's leading shareholder is Capital Research and Management with a stake of 5.072 percent followed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund Aabar with 5.038 percent. ($1 = 0.9003 euros) (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, writing by Stephen Jewkes) By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN, May 18 (Reuters) - Ireland will more than likely have to ask the European Union for specific assistance in dealing with economic fallout from Brexit, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Thursday. Due to its close trade links with Britain, Dublin has said that it would make a strong case to fellow member states that it may require EU support to mitigate a "serious disturbance" to Ireland's economy from its neighbour's departure from the bloc. Ireland's top civil servant overseeing Brexit planning, John Callinan, said on Tuesday that such a request would not yet be made as long as a close future trading relationship between the EU and Britain was possible. nL8N1II6AO] Kenny, who is stepping down as prime minister and due to be replaced next month, anticipated that it would be needed. "More than likely will have to make a case for assistance from the European Union in this regard because all of the economic reports would indicate that Ireland would be most adversely impacted by a difficult Brexit," Kenny told a conference on Brexit. "While we are the strongest and fastest growing economy (in the EU) ...these shocks and problems are of major significance for us." Callinan said on Tuesday that one of the areas being examined was a potential exemption from EU state aid rules, enabling Ireland to provide financial support to some companies adversely affected by Brexit. Irish businesses fear Brexit will lead to a costly rise in tariffs, paperwork and transit times. Kenny said there were no answers yet as to whether exporters to Britain would face tariff charges. Speaking at the same conference, a senior official at the government agency responsible for customs checks, said disruption at the border between the Irish Republic and the British province of Northern Ireland would be minimal. The border will be the only land frontier between the United Kingdom and the European Union once Britain leaves. Tony Buckley, assistant secretary for customs at Ireland's Revenue Commissioners, said customs posts would not be needed and being an island at the end of the EU supply chain meant Ireland could rely to a greater extent on self assessment with the small number of required checks made away from the border. "The main image that comes to people minds when they think of an border is cars being stopped and searched. Not going to happen. There's no reason for it," Buckley said. "We have some 300 border crossings, we haven't the faintest intention to close any of those or interfere with them in any way." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by John Stonestreet) By Feisal Omar MOGADISHU, May 18 (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab publicly cut off the right hands of two men on Thursday after a sharia court convicted them of breaking into a shop and stealing about $500, the al Qaeda-linked group said. The two men had confessed to the theft in Tiyeglow district of the southern Bakool region and were ordered to refund the money, Moalim Gedow, al Shabaabs Bakool governor told Reuters. An al Shabaab ambulance then took the men to hospital, Abdullahi Madey, a Tiyeglow resident told Reuters. Al Shabaab, which has been fighting for years to topple the central government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law, carries out executions, floggings and amputations after summary trials in cases ranging from espionage to theft. (Editing by George Obulutsa and Louise Ireland) PRAGUE, May 18 (Reuters) - Czech utility CEZ's supervisory board rejected rival Czech Coal's offer for one of the country's biggest coal-fired power plants on Thursday after the Finance Ministry objected to its sale. Czech Coal had set an end-April deadline for its offer for the 1,000 MW Pocerady plant, which was valued at up to 10 billion crowns ($417 million), but extended the deadline after CEZ delayed its response. CEZ's board of directors favoured the sale as it looks to cut coal-fired generating capacity and focus on refurbished plants that emit lower emissions, but the Finance Ministry, which controls the state's 70 percent stake in CEZ, questioned pushing a sale through now. CEZ said in a statement after the meeting that while three external analyses had determined the sale was advantageous to CEZ, the supervisory board did not favour a sale at this point given uncertainty about lignite coal's future as an energy source. "The Pocerady plant remains the property of CEZ," CEZ supervisory board chairman Vaclav Paces said in a text message. Czech Coal spokeswoman Gabriela Sarickova Benesova said CEZ's decision not to sell now showed coal still had strategic value and a long future. Czech Coal is a lignite supplier to Pocerady and the two companies signed a long-term supply contract in 2013 giving CEZ put options to sell Pocerady to Czech Coal in the future. CEZ declined to exercise an option last year and must decide on the next option by 2019. "The option remains valid, so definitely by no later than 2019 its fate must be decided," CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz said. Czech Coal's offer price of 4.6 billion crowns in cash, and the rest in future coal and electricity supplies, is much higher than the 2 billion crowns it would pay if the put option is exercised at the later date. However, Czech Coal, owned by tycoon Pavel Tykac, wanted to buy the plant now so that it can modernise it to meet stricter emissions' rules. CEZ, which also produces nuclear power, has upgraded its other coal-fired plants but not Pocerady. ($1 = 23.9630 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Robert Muller and Jan Lopatka; Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Susan Fenton) By Aziz El Yaakoubi and Noah Browning ADEN/DUBAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Young men mangled in an explosion cling to life, motionless amid the chaos of a crowded hospital in Yemen's main southern city of Aden. Having bandaged them, doctor Ahmed al-Garba shoves past fighters with rifles dangling at their sides and moves on to other patients. "We treat soldiers with war wounds from bullets and bombs, even al Qaeda fighters. We don't ask people who they fight for when we treat them," Garba said. Such scenes are repeated daily in Gumhuriya Hospital, evidence of a stalemated and increasingly messy war that offers no clear path to victory for Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. President Donald Trump this weekend. The mostly Gulf Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and backed by U.S. arms and intelligence, has waged a nearly two-year-old campaign on behalf of Yemen's internationally recognised government, which the Houthi movement - allied with Saudi's arch-foe Iran - is battling to dislodge. Trump has signalled a tough new line on Tehran by choosing Riyadh for his first visit abroad. But the Yemeni government's authority is fast eroding and, though nominally based in Aden, it resides mostly in Riyadh to avoid incessant bombings by Islamist militant groups al Qaeda and Islamic State. Meanwhile the hospital scenes of children shrivelled by hunger and men writhing from shrapnel wounds suggest the cost of the war in terms of human suffering is growing. More than 10,000 people have died, 19 of the country's 28 million people need some form of aid, famine looms and the breakdown of the health system sparked a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 200 people in less than three weeks. Washington is considering stepping up the non-lethal support, such as intelligence, it already offers the coalition in Yemen, U.S. officials have said - reversing a policy by predecessor Barack Obama who limited the U.S. role due to mounting civilian deaths. But a U.S. raid on al Qaeda authorized by Trump in January which led to the death of a Navy SEAL and up to 12 civilians may have curbed his taste for further interventions, and Gulf Arab allies may for now be contented with the mere expression of continued U.S. approval of the war effort. "At this point they may not be looking for any bigger U.S. military role... Just not complaining or pressuring them to wrap the war up would be the kind of thing Trump is likely to do and the Gulf states want," said Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst at the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies. POWER STRUGGLE But time could be running out for the coalition to break the stalemate and advance on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa. Militiamen and gunmen roam the streets of Aden, where the writ of President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi holds less authority than ever. Hadi's position, and the justification of his backers for intervening in Yemen at all, suffered a setback this month when he sacked Aden's popular governor Aidaroos al-Zubaidi. Zubaidi promptly set up a political council aimed at achieving independence for a southern Yemeni state, leaving Hadi caught in a power struggle with armed secessionists. Southern fighters not only control most of the lands wrested back from the Houthis in the war, but are a key element of a coalition-backed offensive northward toward Sanaa. Faisal al-Salmi, a southern soldier who rides a pickup truck mounted with a machine gun near the frontlines, said the U.S. must eventually back his side in the internal southern power struggle if it wanted to defeat terrorism and Iran. "We hope for a U.S. stance which gives political and military support to the southerner movement as it fights terrorism," Salmi told Reuters. "Ignoring or holding off on supporting the southern cause will only delay the war." (Editing by William Maclean and John Stonestreet) By Chijioke Ohuocha ABUJA, May 18 (Reuters) - Development Bank of Nigeria, a new state-backed lender, aims to make up to 20,000 new loans to small firms within its first year of operation as part of efforts to help unlock credit to the recession-hit economy, its chief executive Tony Okpanachi said. Africa's biggest economy is in its second year of a downturn brought on by low prices for oil, the country's main export, which has slashed government revenues and hammered the naira currency. Many businesses have had to shut down or lay off workers to survive. The new development bank -- modelled on Germany's KfW -- will lend to local commercial banks and microfinance institutions that will then make loans to small firms, helping boost economic growth and jobs. Small scale enterprises make up 60 percent of Nigeria's economy. Okpanachi said the bank will grant loans of up to 12 years' maturity, longer than usual for the West African country, to enable the financing of new projects that would not be viable with short-term funds and in dollars. The newly licensed bank has the Nigerian government, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, the World Bank and KfW as initial investors, with start-up capital of $1.3 billion. It aims to start lending in August. "The focus is on new loans," Okpanachi, an ex-Ecobank executive, told Reuters in an interview. "We know agriculture is a focus area, we will encourage that. We know other small industries. We would also try to encourage those sectors that will give maximum impact to the economy." President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to strengthen the agricultural sector, to reduce Nigeria's costly food imports and diversify the economy away from overreliance on oil. But access to long-term funds in local currency has been a major hurdle. Long-term naira financing is scarce in Nigeria. In 2013, when the country was seen as an attractive investment prospect several firms took out dollar loans to expand. Then, the economy was growing, oil prices were rising and the currency was stable. Now, lower crude prices and revenues mean dollars are running short, making it tough for local companies to repay foreign currency loans from earnings in the devalued naira. Okpanachi said the development bank aims to secure a credit rating from an international agency and to raise fresh capital within three to five years of operation. The bank's board is made up largely of non-executive directors appointed through a competitive process to ensure proper corporate governance, he said. (Editing by Catherine Evans) HELSINKI, May 18 (Reuters) - Finland's financial watchdog wants the police to investigate tyre maker Nokian Tyres over possible misuse of insider information, the National Bureau of Investigations said on Thursday. The request follows the watchdog's own investigation into the tyre maker's acknowledgement last year that it had supplied special high-quality tyres for tests by motoring journalists, leading to stronger test scores that helped garner good publicity. The Financial Supervisory Authority has asked the bureau to investigate whether Nokian misused insider information or breached disclosure laws, Inspector Erkki Rossi told Reuters by telephone. He said the bureau would appoint a person to decide whether to launch the requested investigation. Last year, shares in the tyre maker fell after the company admitted the use of high quality tyres in tests. Daily Helsingin Sanomat later reported that some members of the company's management team had sold options before it went public about the specially designed tyres. Nokian said in a statement on Thursday that it did not wish to make any comment at the moment. Its shares initially fell 2 percent on news of the watchdog's request, but were flat by 1334 GMT. The motor industry is sensitive to accusations of test manipulation after carmaker Volkswagen in 2015 admitted installing illegal software to conceal the true level of emissions from some of its diesel vehicles. Nokian Tyres has defended its practises, saying that the use of special tyres happened in the past and tests in its main markets have been reliable for years. It had launched an internal investigation into the matter in October 2015, and the reported option trades took place in October and November 2015, before the company went public with the past practises. Nokian's previous CEO Ari Lehtoranta told Reuters last year that the company saw no reason to forbid the trades because of the issue. (Reporting by Tuomas Forsell; writing by Jussi Rosendahl; editing by Jason Neely and Susan Fenton) HAVANA, May 18 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Thursday 1,847 residents had so far contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus, warning that certain provinces on the Caribbean island still had high rates of infestation despite a series of measures to stave off the epidemic. At the start of the global Zika outbreak, Cuba managed for months to fend off the virus that can cause microcephaly in babies as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, even as neighboring territories like Puerto Rico were hard hit. The Communist-run country called out the military to help fumigate, activated neighborhood watch groups to check for places with standing water where mosquitoes breed, and instituted health checks at airports and other entry points to the island. "Even though we have managed to reduce the cases of infestation... there are still provinces like Havana, Guantanamo, Cienfuegos and Camaguey, with big risks and rates of infestation," the head of the Civil Defense's Department of Disaster Reduction, Gloria Gely, was quoted as saying by state-run media. Although generally a mild disease, the virus is a particular risk to pregnant women as it can cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. Gely did not detail how many of the cases were contracted locally nor whether there had been any instances of babies born with microcephaly on the island of 11.2 million inhabitants. There is no preventive treatment against Zika, but drug companies are rushing to develop a vaccine. The virus has spread to more than 60 countries and territories since the current outbreak was identified in Brazil during 2015. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta; Editing by Frances Kerry) RIYADH, May 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is not concerned about sharing intelligence with the United States, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with Russia during a White House meeting last week, saying he had an "absolute right" to share "facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety". "We share a very, very large amount of intelligence with the United States and vice versa," Jubeir told reporters in Riyadh ahead of a visit by Trump. "We have had no hesitation about doing so and we will not have any hesitation about continuing to do so." (Reporting by Katie Paul, Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) By James Pomfret PEARL RIVER ESTUARY, China, May 19 (Reuters) - As a 30-km (19-mile) bridge between Hong Kong and China across the Pearl River estuary nears completion, Chinese officials are hoping it will bring more than economic integration at a time of growing tension between the two sides. The bridge that snakes out over the blue estuary with soaring pylons, viaducts and towers using more steel than 60 Eiffel Towers, was first proposed in the late 1980s. But it was opposed at the time by Hong Kong's British colonial government, which was wary of development that might draw the city closer to Communist China. Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, however, there has been a flurry of projects integrating the port city with the Pearl River Delta's manufacturing and urban sprawl, and stoking some unease in Hong Kong. Wei Dongqing, a Chinese Party official and the executive director of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau bridge Authority, one of the leaders of the project, sees the bridge, linking the former European colonies of Hong Kong and Macau with Zhuhai city, as promoting unity, both physically and mentally. "It's psychological. It joins three places," Wei told Reuters on a media-trip bus speeding along the half-finished, six-lane bridge, with the facades of Macau's casinos glimmering in the distance. "We have confidence for the future ... a united market, a united people ... that's the dream." After nearly eight years of construction, the cost of the bridge and tunnel project has ballooned to some $19 billion, at the last estimate. Critics see it as a white elephant, that will struggle to become viable and be unlikely to draw the 40,000 or so vehicles a day as forecast. While most construction is expected to be finished by year-end to allow the first vehicles to cross, Wei said he "wasn't sure" when full operations - including toll booths, customs and immigration facilities - would be ready. "We are facing new challenges after the bridge is completed ... how to operate it, make it efficient, and really benefit the whole area," he said. The Hong Kong Transport Bureau, which oversees the Hong Kong end of the project, gave no specific response to questions on whether more delays and cost-overruns were expected, but said it was confident construction could be completed by the end of the year. Final arrangements were being decided by the three sides, it said in an email. 'BLUR THE BORDER' Mainland and Hong Kong officials have long stressed the bridge's economic importance at a time when tension in Hong Kong has escalated, with protests in 2014 over Beijing's refusal to allow full democracy, and suspicion of creeping mainland interference despite a guarantee of autonomy. Some in Hong Kong, apart from questioning the huge sums that could have gone into health, housing and education, are worried about what they see as an erosion of Hong Kong's independent identity in China's increasingly extensive embrace. "You see a kind of network trying to blur the border between Hong Kong and China," said pro-democracy lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki. "In the coming 10 to 15 years, when all these infrastructure projects are completed, you will see Hong Kong is only part of China because you cannot see a clear border." Another project - a multi-billion dollar high-speed rail link - sparked an outcry over plans to allow Chinese immigration facilities to operate on Hong Kong soil. Critics say that undermines Hong Kong's autonomy under a "one country, two systems" formula, under which the city returned to Chinese rule. "I don't think many Hong Kong people mind to be integrated ... but what we want is to do it democratically," said Eddie Chu, who led protests against the rail link and is now an elected lawmaker. "Behind all the protests in the last 10 to 15 years, the core idea is democracy and it's an extension of the democratic movement, whether we have popular control over the direction of economic development and town planning." But project leader Wei, dressed in grey overalls and a white hard-hat, celebrates the integration that the critics decry. "It's actually one bridge, three systems. It's about the law, policy, transportation policy, customs policy," said Wei. "The bridge is becoming a new icon." (Additional reporting by Venus Wu; Editing by Robert Birsel) A 12-year-old schoolgirl, who attempted to elope with her boyfriend after changing out of her school uniform in a toilet in the Kuliyapitiya Town, was taken into custody by the Women's and Children's Bureau of the Kuliyapitiya Police yesterday. Two security officers at the Kuliyapitiya bus stand had grown suspicious after seeing the girl loitering near the public toilet and had kept an eye till she come out. After noticing that the girl had changed out of her school uniform into coloured clothing, they had detained her and informed the police about their suspicions. The police officers arrived and took the girl into their custody. The girl has begun a love affair with a boy she had met at a funeral house and and they had apparently planned to elope together. Police has begun investigations to arrest the girl's boyfriend. They had also warned the girl's parents to be more vigilant about the whereabouts of their ward at all times. It was also revealed that the girl had used her mothers phone to talk to her boyfriend when she was away. OIC Women's and Children's Bureau Women SI Savithri Sirimanne, Sergeant Dayarathna (58527) Women Sergeant Wickremasinghe (392) are conducting investigations under the guidance of the Kuliyapitiya HQI Ajith Priyantha. (Dinesh Upendra) Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran had appealed to the people to treat today (18) as A Day of Mourning and observe three minutes silence in memory of those who lost their lives during the final stages of the war. The commemoration week of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) would conclude with a programme on the Vellamulliwaikkal beach in Mullaitivu. The Chief Minister had also asked Tamils living in other parts of the world to engage in commemoration activities to coincide with the remembrance programme in Mulliwaikkal. He had requested Tamils overseas to show their support for the programme in their own countries by observing three minutes silence at 9.30 am in honour of those that lost their lives on this day so many years ago and to call upon the government of Sri Lanka to expedite investigations into war-crimes allegations. The notice further say that although Tamils are now living peacefully in the north, they still have bitter memories of the war and that the relations of those who died needed closure on what actually happened and justice should prevail. Tomorrow's commemorative event was scheduled to take place at the War Memorial on the beach in Vellamulliwaikkal in Mullaitivu under the patronage of Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran. Several programmes have also been arranged by various politicians and organisations to mark the occasion. (Romesh Madushanka) Minister John Amaratunga has said that disgruntled ministers and deputy ministers should be given the 'smoke treatment' meant for dengue mosquitoes and they would be all right after that. The minister made this remark while speaking to reporters during a dengue mosquito eradication campaign held recently. When asked what his opinion was with regard to certain ministers and deputy ministers publicly stating that they were disgruntled with the government, Minister Amaratunga said: They should also be fogged with smoke like the dengue mosquitoes. After that they would be all right. By Yohan Perera The government will work with the employers to pass on an equitable share of the benefits the exporters would gain from GSP Plus to the employees, Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said yesterday. The greatest benefit to the people is creation of new jobs. But we will work with the employers to pass on an equitable share of the benefits the exporters gain out of GSP Plus to the employees whenever possible, Dr. de Silva told a media briefing yesterday. Elaborating on the future outcome of the UK exiting from the European Union (EU) he said Sri Lanka has initiated unofficial discussions with the UK to work out a plan under which market access could be gained for Sri Lankan exporters. The UK is still part of the EU and it will take two years for it to move out. Thereafter, we need to work out a plan for the UK. We have initiated unofficial discussions already, he said. Dr. de Silva said GSP Plus will help a range of Sri Lankan export goods to enter the European markets with tax concessions from Saturday, May 20, 2017. He said items such as prawns would be able to enter the European market without export duty. Prawns are subjected to an export duty of 18 percent at the moment but it will be slashed with the GSP Plus status, giving a benefit to the exporters, Dr. de Silva said. He further stated along with GSP Plus and the governments decision to grant a 200 percent depreciation allowance for investments in the North and 100 percent depreciation allowance for investments in the rest of the country would help boost the much-needed investments for the country. The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) today warned it would resort to a countrywide work stoppage on Monday over several demands including Wednesday's teargassing of protesting university students. GMOA media spokesman Samantha Ananda told Daily Mirror that they would stop work from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon. No arrest have been made in connection the grenade attack on the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and no legal action has taken against former SAITM CEO Sameera Senaratne, he said. Dr. Ananda said they were also protesting against government moves to suppress trade union leaders.(Kalathma Jayawardhane) REUTERS, 17th MAY, 2017- Gunmen attacked a building of Afghan state television in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday and engaged in a gun battle with security forces, the provincial governors spokesman said. We can confirm that a number of insurgents have entered the building, said Attaullah Khughyani. Who they are, and what their target is, is still not clear. He said there appeared to have been at least three attackers, two of whom had blown themselves up while at least one was still fighting. Heavy gunfire could be heard from around the building of RTA, Afghanistans national broadcaster, located close to the provincial governors compound. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar, the eastern province on the border with Pakistan where Islamic State fighters have established a stronghold, but there is also a strong Taliban presence in the region. Insurgents fighting to oust the Western-backed government in Kabul have conducted a series of high-profile attacks this year on targets including Afghanistans largest military hospital and a military base in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. "Owing to local concerns the Indian prime ministers travel had to be preceded by categorical announcements on both sides that there would be no signing of agreements" Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left Colombo to attend Chinas One Belt One Road Forum in Beijing within hours of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis departure from Sri Lanka after his participation as chief guest in the International Vesak Day celebrations on 11th -12th May. Chinas OBOR project is seen as its most ambitious foreign policy initiative, linking Asia, Africa and Europe with massive infrastructure investments on the part of China. Sri Lanka was one of the earliest to pledge support for the OBOR also known as the Silk Road. Significantly India boycotted the Beijing Forum because of what Indias Finance Minister Arun Jaitley referred to as sovereignty issues. Indian disapproval relates to the fact that part of the project runs through territory in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi says is its own. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe however has made positive remarks about the Beijing forum at its conclusion, describing it as historical, because for the first time, he said, there has been a trade and cooperation plan for Eurasia. A number of developments point to cross-currents that Sri Lanka will have to navigate in participating in the ambitious project, while maintaining a balanced foreign policy and good relations with the two Asian giants India and China. Special Projects Minister Sarath Amunugama has already sailed into uncharted waters with his remarks to PTI in Beijing. Eyebrows would surely have been raised in Pakistan, a friend of Sri Lanka, when he said that the issue over Kashmir is going through the heart of Indian interests. Amunugama confirmed reports that Sri Lanka turned down a recent Chinese request to dock a submarine adding that Sri Lanka is taking assistance from the Indian Navy to maintain maritime security including tracking submarines. In the same breath he asserted that We are equidistant from everyone. A previous submarine docking in Colombo in 2014 so angered India that it is believed that India had a hand in the regime change of January 2015. China has consistently maintained that the submarine visits relate to anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Amunugamas remarks come against a backdrop where the government is trying to iron out issues relating to Chinese investments. The Port City project, though it has now got the go-ahead, was earlier suspended by the Sirisena Wickremesinghe government owing to Indian pressure. The Hambantota Port and industrial zone are yet to be finalized amid local apprehensions. Where the proposed Indian projects are concerned, fears were revived following a MoU signed during Wickremesinghes recent visit to New Delhi, that listed a plethora of envisaged projects with Indian collaboration that included the strategic Trincomalee port and environs. Owing to local concerns the Indian prime ministers travel had to be preceded by categorical announcements on both sides that there would be no signing of agreements. In Delhi, responding to a question on Trincomalee port ahead of the trip, an Indian official told reporters its a little premature at this stage to be talking about it. The Indian media has no illusions as to the geopolitics underlying Modis visit. Now it appears New Delhi has decided to use religion as the language, perhaps more saleable in Sri Lanka, through which India will pitch the security co-operation that it wants with its closest Indian Ocean neighbor said a commentary in the Indian Express. While Prime Minister Modi in his keynote speech inaugurating a Buddhist conference in Colombo mainly dwelt on the two countries shared Buddhist heritage, he also remarked that ... the economic and social well being of the people of Sri Lanka is linked with that of 1.25 billion Indians. Because, whether it is on land or in the waters of the Indian Ocean, the security of our societies is indivisible. A projection of Indian soft power may be read into these words. For Sri Lanka the question is, must these development partnerships with China and India necessarily be seen as prejudicial to each other, or can the island state find ways to benefit from the multiple suitors it attracts on account of its strategic location, while protecting its own national interest? As Indias neighbour and the country with which we have had the longest historical, religious and cultural links we need to be sensitive to Indias concerns, especially security concerns, says Dr Palitha Kohona, former Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Sri Lankas former ambassador to the UN in New York. But this does not mean we have to be obsequious, he says, nor does India expect us to. "As an independent country we must chart our own destiny. No country, however well meaning will safeguard our future and that includes India" We maintained a proactive balance between India and China over the years. Sri Lanka benefitted immensely from this approach. Instead of sycofantishly being over loyal to India or anyone else, we can be ourselves while being sensitive to Indias security concerns he told the Daily Mirror. The secret is to keep India informed, be independent and not offend other friends gratuitously. Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Director General of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) is of the view that Sri Lanka does not need to reposition as a hub of the Indian Ocean, as it has already been that since ancient times. The Indian Ocean does not belong to India and a Chinese submarine visiting Sri Lanka should be seen as a positive gesture by Indians, primarily because India has a close and deep relationship with Sri Lanka he says. Second, because the submarine, was not even nuclear powered was just making a port call.Third because India, being the islands closest neighbour, is building a massive arsenal of 170 warships, five submarines and one nuclear submarine with Sri Lanka not having raised any question regarding this. Fourth, Sri Lanka always keeps Indias security concern in mind and Sri Lankan leaders do not make knee- jerk reactions because of the carefully calibrated policy by our leaders. He goes on to say Sri Lanka should also build its capacity to counter any future destabilization activities by regional and extra regional powers which would affect the economic development of the nation. It is in Sri Lankas national interest to defend its territory and its surroundings. Therefore, if Sri Lanka wishes to build a submarine fleet in the future, for defensive purposes, this act should not be viewed as a threat by surrounding nations. Pointing out that China has helped Sri Lanka financially and to develop its infrastructure, Abeyagoonasekera says Sri Lanka should assist China fully with the OBOR project which will benefit our people and our economy immensely. In this he concurs with Kohona who also drew attention to the immense economic opportunities the OBOR offers. As an independent country we must chart our own destiny. No country, however well meaning will safeguard our future and that includes India Kohona said. We must not play our hand so as to miss out on this opportunity. We must decide what is in our best interest and hope that as a mature neighbour India will understand our needs. We can and must manage this relationship with our interests uppermost. After all Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly emphasised the commonalities between India and China and invited Chinese businesses to invest in India. China is Indias biggest trading partner. "A number of developments point to cross-currents that Sri Lanka will have to navigate in participating in the ambitious project, while maintaining a balanced foreign policy and good relations with the two Asian giants India and China" Modis visit to the central hills brings welcome relief to a marginalised community Mans fascination with certain numbers goes back to the dawn of recorded history. For the Ancient Babylonians the most meaningful number was 60. They based their mathematics and calendar around it and we, many centuries later, have inherited their system. Thats why an hour has 60 minutes, and a minute 60 seconds. Significance of 12 and 60 In Ancient Egypt, 12 was considered special. In Egyptian mythology there were 12 realms of the dead. Indeed, 12 crops up throughout history inches to a foot, pennies to a shilling, months of the year, the number of apostles. A day is split into two cycles of 12 hours. There are sensible reasons to venerate 60 and 12. Both divide neatly into halves, quarter and thirds, making them ideal units of currency and measurement. But that doesnt explain why humans are still so hung up on 7 a prime number that cannot neatly be divided by anything other than itself and number 1. Magic Number 7 In our day to day life an emotional attachment to numbers and 7 in particular is surprisingly common. People around the globe consider 7 as a lucky number, but from where this sentiment originates is most commonly not known, though everyone knows that there are seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas and seven continents. And the common man knows, that Snow White ran off to live with seven dwarves, there were seven brides for seven brothers, Shakespeare described the seven ages of man, Sinbad the Sailor had seven voyages. And when Ian Fleming was looking for a code for James Bond, he didnt go for 006 or 008. Only 007 had the right ring. But why do we prefer some numbers to others? What is so special about 7? In the traditional Chinese culture, seven represents the combination of Yin, Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth). This combination is considered as harmony in the ideology of Confucianism Hebrew tradition states seven is the number of intelligence, and there are seven Great Holy Days in the Jewish year. Elsewhere, the traditional Menorah, pictured, has seven branches Unlucky 13: why is it feared? The fear of the number thirteen is called Triskaidekaphobia, a word coined in 1911, and superstitious sufferers associate the number with bad luck and misfortune. In Tarot cards, Death is the thirteenth card in a deck, while the end of the Mayan calendars 13th Baktun, or cycle, was said to be the time of the apocalypse in 2012. In religion, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ in the Bible, was the thirteenth member at the last supper. Friday the 13th is considered the unluckiest day of the month. But in Italy, 13 is considered a lucky number, especially when gambling, Alex Bellos poll only asked people for their favourite number. But if it had asked for the number they hate, the answer would inevitably have been 13. The fear of 13 or Triskaidekaphobia is so widespread that one in ten people thought to suffer from it. Many large hotels go straight from the 12th to the 14th floor. No one knows why 13 is thought to be unlucky, but there are many theories. One is that it represents Judas Iscariot, the 13th apostle, who betrayed Jesus at the Last Supper. Another is that it comes from Norse lore, where evil was introduced to the world by the mischievous god Loki at a party in Valhalla, the home of the gods. According to the legend, he was the 13th guest to arrive. (To be continued) Human hand trailblazer of human civilization Part 9 Finger nails: Protectors of finger tips and conductors of electricity A study of fingers short of an account of the significance of finger nails would not be complete. A consideration of the nails is necessary and much information as to the general health and robustness of the constitution can be obtained from them, says veteran Palmistry expert Pscho. Meanwhile, Comte C.de Saint - Germain, the author of the celebrated work on Palmistry, the study of Palmistry says: It has been said by scientists of recognized capacity, that the nails are nothing but electric fluid within us solidified by exposure to the air, thus becoming kind of intermediary substance between the human sciatica and the flesh. According to Indian Palmist Dr. Narayan Dutt Shrimali, nature has given us the nails for the dual purpose of protecting the tips of fingers so that the fingers do not get damaged or hurt by a blow from outside and serving as conductors of electricity. He says that the natural electricity present in the atmosphere enters the body through the nails. Not only electricity, but also the rays of the planets enter the body through nails. The second wife and son of notorious underworld gangster M.N. Naufer alias Potta Naufer, were among five people arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) today while attempting to smuggle 609 grams of gold to India. The STF said the suspects were arrested at the airport exit on the Katunayake Expressway after receiving a tip off. Sources said three suspects, Naufer's 50-year-old wife, another woman and a man were on their way to the airport to board a Mumbai flight when the STF intercepted them. They had in their possession six pieces of gold weighing 100 grams each hidden in their rectum while Naufer's 21-year-old son and annother accomplice were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting the smugglers. Investigation had revealed that the gold smuggling operation had been continuing for about an year. The suspects were handed over to the Seeduwa Police. Potta Naufer was sentenced to death after being found guilty of killing High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya.(Darshana Sanjeewa) Refraining from commenting on any issue related to Sri Lankan Tamils, superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday evaded question on Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day, which is observed by Sri Lankan Tamils. The day is regarded by Sri Lankan Tamils as a remembrance for those, who died in the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Earlier in March, Rajini called off his proposed visit to Sri Lanka to inaugurate a housing scheme following opposition from Tamil fringe groups. "VCK chief Thirumavalavan and MDMK chief Vaiko urged me not to visit Sri Lanka. I accepted their request because of cordial relationship," Rajinikanth said. The decision came after he met with opposition from pro-Tamil outfits in his state. Rajinikanth was to participate in a charity event, slated to take place on April 9. He was scheduled to formally present keys to 150 homes built by Gnanam Foundation for the internally displaced Tamils in the island nation. However, the visit was opposed by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Marumarlarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK). Gnanam Foundation has been focussing on re-building infrastructure in the key areas of Sri Lanka, which were badly affected in the civil war that took place around three decades ago. (ANI) TOTAL PR, one of the leading Public Relations agencies in the country, operating under aegis of the Omnicom Media Group - Sri Lanka, rebranded themselves recently as PROTEAN. Drawn from Greek mythology, the word Protean /prti.n/ represents such characteristics as: ever changing, versatile, flexible, all-round, many-sided and resourceful, which are fundamental in todays dynamic world of Reputation Management. While the practice of Public Relations goes back thousands of years when pharaohs, kings and emperors used statutes, carvings, temples and palaces as a means of conveying their power and supremacy to their subjects and enemies, over the years the practice has become more strategic, professional and sophisticated. Today, in the 21st century the value of PR is being embraced as a key component in the modern marketing mix. With the evolution of technology and social media and the consequent outpouring of modern and non-traditional means of mass communication, the practice and profession of Public Relations has undergone quantum changes, becoming a vital tool in molding the profile of many a successful organization. As a PR agency operating in such a dynamic environment, it is always important to stay ahead and adapt to change. At PROTEAN we are constantly on the lookout for new trends from the region, ensuring our clients brand stories remain fresh and relevant in a marketplace where content has firmly established its role as king, stated Champika Thalgodapitiya, the PR Director of PROTEAN. Set up as a specialized SBU in October 2012, PROTEAN counts renowned brands and organizations including one of the countrys leading ICT Solutions providers, popular footwear brands, global airlines, successful financial organizations, well-known FMCGs, major blue-chip conglomerates, principal insurance companies, trendy restaurants and prestigious educational institutions amongst its current clientele. It is refreshing to see more and more clients embracing this powerful medium both traditionally as well as across digital and social media platforms, allowing us to invest more resources in both PR and digital, added Keith Wijesuriya, CEO of the Omnicom Media Group, Sri Lanka. PROTEAN operates as an SBU of the Omnicom Media Group, Sri Lanka, the local affiliate office of the worldwide Omnicom Media Group. OMG Sri Lankas offerings include OMD Sri Lanka, PHD Sri Lanka the two leading and award-winning global media networks and their local Digital specialist unit, ALTERNAET. The Omnicom Media Group is the media service division of Omnicom Group Inc., the leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company, providing services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. The group includes the full service media networks OMD Worldwide and PHD Media, leading global data and analytics company, Annalect, as well as several media specialist companies including search specialist Resolution, digital trading platform Accuen, Novus, Optimum Sports/Fuse, Outdoor Media Group, Content Collective, and direct response agency Pathway. For more details, please log on to: www.omnicommediagroup.lk, and www.facebook.com/OmnicomMediaGroupSL. Its a well-known fact that the University of Moratuwa is the most sought after technological university in Sri Lanka. Completing the tangle of creativity and technology, the Department of Integrated Design stands as the peerless government university specialized in the field of design in Sri Lanka. Addressing the necessities of the Sri Lankan design industry through a unique learning process, it acts as the integrated solution in design innovations. Carrying out the above-mentioned mission, the Department of Integrated Design announced the launch of the Sri Lanka Design Code 2017 exhibition, which is to be held on the 20th & 21st of May, 2017 thus catering to the emerging design economy in Sri Lanka. The announcement was made at a media conference held on the 17th of May at the National Library Auditorium. The creativity of students, which is challenged by the conventional method of university entry based on the advanced level, is to be preserved as a national responsibility. In the Department of Integrated Design studies are conducted via three streams: Media and Communication Design, Product Design, and Fashion and Lifestyle Design. Continuous assessments based on modules are used to assess the students, which are supported by field visits, and workshops. Building connections between foreign and local universities, widening the exposure of students in the design industry has been identified as a social and an economical need. As an initial step in fulfilling this need, the Sri Lanka Design Code 2017 exhibition scheduled to be held on the 20th & 21st of May is to be held at the Trace Expert City, Maradhana. Design talks, a series of discussions by industry experts and foreign designers, workshops focused on school students to enhance their creative abilities will be conducted at the exhibition. The design executions of students in every academic year will be exhibited. Products developed by taking bamboo as a raw material, empowering young design entrepreneurship and local craft economy will be presented by second year students to fulfill an academic, and more over national need. As the climax of the event, Avant-Garde and graduation collections will be exhibited on an outdoor fashion ramp. This exhibition taken as a step to establish the design industry in Sri Lanka will open up new opportunities for Sri Lankan Design communities. At least thirteen individuals were hospitalized after a partially constructed building collapsed in Wellawatte a short while ago. Reports stated the building was situated behind the Savoy Cinema. Nine individuals were admitted to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital and four others were admitted to the National Hospital, Colombo. Police said several others were reportedly trapped inside the building and fire fighters are conducting rescue operations. Residents in the vicinity of the building are being evacuated as the building is sinking, a reporter at the scene said. Video by Buddhi Video courtesy Social Media A massive news leak that Saudi Arabia was about to give $1 billion to Bangladesh to build mosques has drawn flak, as the western intelligentsia has come down heavily on the Saudi leadership, most recently, for spreading pan-Wahhabism. As the news of the Wahhabi propaganda spread, Saudis retracted from the commitment, as reflected by the statement issued by their minister of culture, Dr Awwad Alawwad, who was quick to resort to damage control by "clarifying" that they would go ahead with the funding for building as many as 560 mosques only if a formal request came from the host government, i.e. Bangladesh. Judging by the so-called clarification, it is clearly evident that Saudi Arabia was all set to donate the huge money for the pursuit of its plans to further Islamise a country like Bangladesh. Now the question is, why Bangladesh? The answer is simple - because Bangladesh is possibly in the process of fighting Islamic fundamentalism, converting it into a really secular state and trying to extricate itself from the adverse effects of the extremist mindset, as the promotion of fundamentalism has recently seen a growth in terrorist incidents with the IS stepping up its activities with massive radicalisation and killings of liberals and free-thinkers. Meanwhile, Daniel Pipes, an academic and prime mover behind the thinktank Middle East Forum maintains that Saudi Arabia is engaged in a long term strategy to transform a worldwide culture in promoting Wahhabism. In this context, it may be pointed out that Bangladesh, in the past, has been warming up to Saudi Arabia, with its president HM Ershad openly accepting any form of donation from the Saudis which also carried diktats from the monarchy, shaping and influencing policies of the Bangladesh government. It also paved the way for future interventions and Islamisation. Saudi Arabia's help bolstered the Bangladesh government earlier when, for electoral and theocratic conveniences, prime ministers like Khaleda Zia (1991-1996 and in the second term 2001-2006) gave cabinet berths to Jamaat-e-Islami ministers, allocating lucrative portfolios. Bangladesh, in the past, has been warming up to Saudi Arabia. Photo: Reuters Such assignments helped the Jamaat leaders in carrying out Islamic directives and in the process strengthening the roots of fundamentalism. Those ministers, Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mujahid, continued to swear allegiance to Saudi Arabia. Their terms in office saw the mushrooming of mosques and madrasas, giving further boost to the growth of fundamentalism and reinforcement of ties with Saudi Arabia. In retrospect, these machinations look part of a grand design initiated by Saudi Arabia, as recently articulated by Pipes and his ilk. Against this backdrop, fresh Saudi plans to inject $1 billion of monetary help to construct mosques do not surprise Saudi watchers, but it's imperative for the right thinking forces to alert the world against the perils of fanning Wahhabism, which poses a threat to the remaining peace-loving Islamic nations. Saudis are already perpetrating excesses on the Houthis in Yemen and incessant attempts to check Iran against its nuclear programmes are all Saudi plans to control forces opposed to Wahhabism. Bangladesh's minorities, already afflicted with the high-handedness of diehard Islamists, are apprehensive of any Saudi financial assistance towards Islamisation in the form of building of mosques endangering their existence. As this write up goes to the press, US president Donald Trump would be readying for trips to several countries, including a halt in Saudi Arabia. As a world leader, it would augur well if during his parleys in Riyadh, he puts it across to the Saudi monarchy to rein in plans to export extremist Islamic ideology in the shape of large fundings to Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, which will only promote radical Islam but may eventually abet terror. India has reasons to celebrate as the International Court of Justice at the Hague, the Netherlands, has ruled in favour of New Delhi in the much-hyped Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The ICJ has effectively issued an interim stay order on the imminent execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Pakistan had awarded the death penalty after trying him in a military court. Todays decision at the ICJ has therefore brought much relief to Indians across the board. #KhulbhushanJadhav- Court Unanimously stays Jadhavs execution! Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2017 ICJ rules that Pak won't hang Jadhav. Pak to take all measures to ensure Jadhav is not executed and shall inform court of all measures taken May 18, 2017 Just a word of caution: this is stay on procedural/jurisdiction grounds. We must celebrate when we get Jadhav free on merit #IndiaForJadhav Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 18, 2017 Indias side was argued at the ICJ by senior advocate Harish Salve, who famously fought this high-profile case for just Rs 1. Congratulations are pouring in for Union minister of external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, who threw her diplomatic weight behind this case to save Jadhav from the gallows, and also for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this major international victory over Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif. PM speaks to EAM @SushmaSwaraj to thank her; appreciates efforts of advocate #HarishSalve who represented India in the Jadhav case. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2017 The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 #ICJ verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 18, 2017 Hero of the Moment- Harish Salve. True patriot and a great legal brain. And all one minus histrionics- with the clear, clinical lawyers gaze barkha dutt (@BDUTT) May 18, 2017 The 11-member bench at the ICJ ruled in favour of India and also asked Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav. Presided by Judge Ronny Abraham of France, the order said: The Court indicates to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to prevent the execution of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, pending final judgment of the Court. The order further said: The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today indicated to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, of Indian nationality, is not executed pending a final judgment of the Court in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan). In its Order indicating provisional measures, which was adopted unanimously, the Court also stated that the Government of Pakistan shall inform it of all measures taken in implementation of that Order. It further decided to remain seised of the matters which form the subject of the Order until it has rendered its final judgment. Read the full text of the ICJ order here and here. Photo: DailyO The ICJ ruled that any action by Pakistan that could irrevocably damage Jadhavs rights under the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, 1963 would be stayed. Of course, this is a provisional order, and Pakistan, the ICJ ruled, is liable to respect its ruling until the case hearing is completed. The main points of the order are as follows: A) ICJ has jurisdiction on the case The ICJ ruled that any dispute stemming from an interpretation of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations are subject to its jurisdiction. The Court said: The Court begins by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalls that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over [d]isputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the [Vienna] Convention. B) Pakistan not giving consular access to Jadhav was 'denial of rights' The ICJ has observed that failure to adhere to Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 and not allowing consular access to Jadhav was tantamount to denial of rights, as the 2008 bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan nowhere overruled the Vienna Convention per se. The Court said: It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of - 2 - the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. C) Indias claims are plausible The Court observed that the provisional measured requested by India staying of execution order and consular access under Vienna Convention were well within its rights. The Court said: It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. D) Staying of execution order Pakistan had tried Jadhav in a military court and sentenced him to death. But as observed by many in India, the military court trial was a sham and perfunctory. Important.Here's why Kulbhushan Jadhav's trial by a Court Martial by the Pakistan Army is a sham: pic.twitter.com/aXgt3U3v2C Navdeep Singh (@SinghNavdeep) April 10, 2017 The Court noted that there was a risk of irreparable and urgency in the fact that Jadhav was under a death sentence and therefore it was well within its jurisprudential rights to intervene on Indias behalf. The Court said that even though Pakistan had indicated that Jadhav wouldnt be executed before August this year, a hastier action couldnt be ruled out in the absence of a higher court order because no such assurance was given by Pakistan. The Court said: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. Setting a precedent for multilateral mediation? Amid all the chaos and conjecture of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case hearing, we need to ask the question staring us in the face. Will India consider multilateral mediation to resolve thorny bilateral issues? Whether its at the United Nations itself, or one of its affiliated bodies such as the International Court of Justice, the trajectory of India-Pakistan dispute resolution has been a mixed bag so far. Fine success #ICJ reprieve for #KulbhushanYadav Shows international laws work. Lesson also to warriors spoiling to dump Indus Waters Treaty Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) May 18, 2017 After setbacks in three international-tribunal cases between 2013 & 2016, India tastes success at ICJ on provisional measures in a 4th case. pic.twitter.com/gAG7DdSX6U Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) May 18, 2017 Because members of the UN are automatically party to the ICJ jurisdiction, of course India and Pakistan are entitled to knock the ICJs door to figure out disagreements over various issues. So far, India and Pakistan have knocked the ICJs door four times to settle mutual disputes. In September 1974, India revoked a 1959 jurisdiction to exclude a dispute within the Commonwealth of Nations from the ICJs domain. Also disputes relating to or connected with facts or situations of hostilities, armed conflicts, individuals or collective actions taken in self-defence... The precursor to the 1974 resolution was in 1971 and 1973, when India had bitter experience with ICJ. In 1971, India filed a case against the jurisdiction of the international Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) against Pakistans demands that New Delhi couldnt deny Islamabad overflight and landing rights. This was in the wake of the 1971 Bangladesh war and India was openly siding with then East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh after India conclusively won the 1971 war. However, the ICJ ruled against India and allowed Pakistan overflight and landing rights. In 1973, Pakistan filed a case to prevent the repatriation of 195 Pakistani prisoners of war in Indian custody to Bangladesh (the Razakars), to face trial on charges of genocide. This case was withdrawn, but it could have gone against India. Things changed in 1999, when Pakistan, a Commonwealth nation, took India to the ICJ because the matter was way too urgent. India had shot down a Breguet Atlantique patrol plane of the Pakistan Navy in Indian air space over the Rann of Kutch. The ICJ however stuck to the 1974 position that it had no jurisdiction over a Commonwealth nation and it was a matter of defence-related mutual hostility. In Indias turn, the Commonwealth ruling prevented India from knocking on ICJs door when Captain Saurabh Kalia and his platoon members were killed by Pakistani Army, beheaded to boot, with additional torture. Of late, Pakistan has approached the ICJ over the Indus Waters Treaty, asking India to adhere to it despite sinking mutual ties, especially after the September 18, Uri attack in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani militants. In return, India had sabre-rattled and threatened to turn off the Indus tap, denying Pakistan its share of the waters of Indus. However, environmental cost and possible refugee crisis notwithstanding, the IWT water war found both criticism and arguments in favour from within India itself. Also, the designated mediator World Bank has tried to intervene and stall the process of a resolution by a court of arbitration, which works in Indias favour. But given the massive environmental and economic impact of the IWT, its likely that the 1960 treaty would be adhered to, despite everything. The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav Even though the Jadhav case could have come under the 1974 resolution, which was cited by Pakistan (as well as the 2008 resolution on consular access), the ICJ decided to not only entertain the case, but also provisionally ruled in Indias favour. The warmongers are having a field day yet again. A familiar setting, albeit different characters, similar plot, comparable screenplay and matching marketing pitch pushing for the same end-result. As we see some reduction in the level of destruction in todays war zones, another one is being pushed to a boiling point. The catcalls, expert opinions, the doomsday prophesies are all in abundance. This time the target is the Korean Peninsula. They are talking of pre-emptive strikes on North Korea. George H Wittman, a veteran in international security affairs, wrote in a Washington Times column that a simple, though agonising choice: go with a crushing conventional pre-emptive strike to the extent that is technically possible. He goes on to say, The alternative is to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on North Korean hard points and facilities along the DMZ and beyond. North Korea may be behaving badly as per US assessment, but it would not be good behaviour either to violently end the era of 'strategic patience'. So Mr Wittman, you propose dropping a nuclear bomb on a sovereign state on the basis of a perceived (or ill-perceived?) threat? We may have forgiven your arrogance as the price we pay for your love for mankind. But, hell no! You deprive us of this generosity by going further In either case, United States will take a diplomatic blow, but will limit American and allied casualties. Wow! He recommends dropping a nuclear bomb on North Korea to "limit American and allied casualties"! Douglas Birkey, the executive director for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Power Studies, let loose another tirade on Korea on May 11 on Fox News, The United States must seriously anticipate the use of force to eliminate this rogue nations offensive nuclear capacity. Birkey has it all figured out: The United States needs to consider options that would collapse the North Korean threat as fast as possible. That means hitting targets in a concurrent, decisive fashion to prevent wholesale devastation in Seoul and a nuclear launch. Doing so demands Americas most advanced combat aircraft the B-2 bomber, F-22 fighter, and F-35 fighter. On can go on quoting magniloquence from committed champions of wars. They would not blink an eye before shrugging off the ensuing death and destruction as unavoidable collateral damages all for the greater safety of our future generations. Surely, this would have nothing to do with the powerful arms industry and their brokers. I am not a fan of North Korea, or for that matter of any such state where happiness and prosperity of the masses is not a priority. Nonetheless, I cannot help wonder what have they done to our world to deserve this? Leaving aside their aggressive posturing and damaging rhetoric towards South Korea and their closest allies (lets not forget the two countries are technically still at war), what else? Have they attacked any other sovereign state? No. Have they tried to destabilise any other sovereign country in the name of faith, affiliation, political views or threat perception? No. Have they declared any hegemonic ambitions? No. They just want to be left alone. Then, why are they developing WMD? This is not what the world needs; nuclear proliferation is never good for our planet. What does a small nation do when the worlds most powerful countries, armed with ammunition to destroy our world many times over, call it "rogue" and "evil", declare their intention to do what it takes for a regime change, continue hitting with punishing sanctions, and more? Challenged with its very existence, the regime does what best it can do refuse to give in and go on an overdrive to create as much deterrent as possible in its own defence. Is it that the world is concerned about their records on human rights? Oh, come on! Do we have to name the countries that are best of friends with our powerful captains despite those countries abysmal human rights records? Is it about love for the famished North Korean people? Not true. There are scores of people languishing in abject poverty in many parts of the world, with no one to care. The reckless saber-rattlers should be urged to step back for now. Unless its basic survival is absolutely threatened, a struggling North Korean regime is unlikely to take on the world and bring upon itself a definite annihilation. We need to, instead, engage its leadership, earn their trust and strive to integrate them with our world in prudent steps. North Korea may be behaving very badly as per your assessment, (US) President Trump; but it would not be a good behaviour either to violently end the era of strategic patience. 1) Was Belt and Road Forum (BRF) summit an overall success? Yes, from the Chinese point of view, the BRF summit was a success because most of the key nations through which the Belt and Road projects pass through, barring India, attended the summit at the highest level. Thus it added substance to Chinas bid to create a new world order across Asia. But the EU representatives (including those from Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain) struck a jarring note by rejecting a Chinese text related to a trade prepared at the summit. According to media reports, EU representatives explained that for Europe, the BR initiative would only succeed if it was based on transparency and co-ownership. The EU representative had also raised the issue of profitability of the project, which remains a big question mark. This, in a way, vindicated Indias perceptions on the BR initiative. Internally, the successful conclusion of BRF has given Xi's image a big boost, making him the master of all he surveys, as the cliche goes. This would further strengthen his control over the three echelons of power: the CPC, the government and People's Liberation Army (PLA). But his acid test will be to successfully carry forward the project and deliver on his promises on OBOR to the people. This may not be an easy task, given the complexities of the BR initiative and the imponderables on its gruelling course. 2) Was India's decision to boycott correct? Understandably, opinions are divided in the country on the Modi governments decision to boycott. This is evident from editorials in national dailies, which are equally divided on the issue. There are merits and demerits in the decision taken by India. The boycott is in keeping with the governments policy decision, which was crystallised after China chose to ignore India's repeated expressions of concern about the CPEC's violation of Indian sovereignty in illegally occupied Indian territory in Kashmir. Our foreign secretary has explained Indias deep concerns explicitly to the Chinese counterparts on a number of occasions. The Pakistan army will be very happy with the outcome as it has been an unflinching supporter of the CPEC. On the negative side, by boycotting the BRF, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost a very good opportunity to put across the Indian perspectives and reservations on the OBOR and the CPEC at the forum attended by heads of state and high dignitaries from 29 countries. I presume, the government took an informed decision to boycott the summit, considering the pros and cons in the entirety. I also expect the government to have worked out a post-boycott action strategy. We will have to wait and see the developments in this regard in the coming weeks. 3) Has the BRF given a boost to Pakistan? Yes. The Chinese gave place of prominence to Pakistan in the summit and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was basking in its glory. It has come at the right time for him when his political fortunes at home have gone south rapidly. He had been plagued by uncertainties about his future on two counts: uneasy relations with the army, which is a power centre outside the constitution in Pakistan. The other is the judicial probe into the offshore accounts of his sons, the details of which were leaked out in the Panama Papers. It continues to haunt him. Considering this, the BRF probably worked as a shot in the arm for him, as his body language and broad smile in the visuals of the forum indicate. But on his triumphal return home, Nawaz Sharif will be facing flak from the opposition and the media, which have been critical of the lack of transparency in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. This has gathered more mass, particularly after the Karachi newspaper Dawn published two CPEC project documents for the first time. These indicate the great game the Chinese are playing in Pakistan. I am not sure how the Pakistan intelligentsia and politicians will react to China planning to call the shots in all walks of life in Pakistan in the next decade plus, as visualised in the project papers. Overall, we can expect the Pakistani PM to be fully occupied with damage control measures to salvage his reputation, already in tatters. The Pakistan army will be very happy with the BRF outcome as it has been an unflinching supporter of the CPEC. As Chinas powerful ally in Pakistan, the army will benefit immensely from the strategic alliance with the Chinese, not only on the military front but in internal power play as well. It is likely to increase as the CPEC matures further in the coming days. Beefing up of infrastructure visualised under the project would add to rapid maneuverability of Pakistans armed forces in the coming years, particularly along its western borders along Iran and Afghanistan. Of course, along our western borders, improved communication networks to be executed under the project could add form and content to the Pakistani armys muscle-flexing in tandem with its Chinese allies. So we can expect increased belligerence from the army, hiking up provocative activities through jihadi proxies in the Kashmir valley to tie up our forces in fighting rearguard actions. This would add depth to safely execute the CPEC project in PoK in areas close to the border. It should also be a matter of concern for our national security planners, as the days may not be far off when the Pakistan army carries out a joint exercise with the PLA close to our western borders. No one has ever accused the Pakistani army of intellectual brilliance. But no one expected it to make two tactical blunders in the space of a few days. The first error was the cold-blooded murder of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz by Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, armed, funded and trained by the Pakistani army. This egregious stupidity will alienate Kashmiri youth whom Rawalpindi has spent years and crores to subvert into stone-pelting India-baiters. Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz. The brutal torture and murder of 22-year-old Fayaz, a Kashmiri and proud Indian Army officer, rips the mask off Pakistan. Young Kashmiris now see, if they hadnt already, the face of a nation so immersed in its enmity towards India that it will treat Kashmiri youth as collateral damage. Local Kashmiris support for Pakistan will never be quite the same again. Kidnapping The second tactical error committed by the Pakistani Army was to kidnap Kulbhushan Jadhav from the Iran-Balochistan border, put him on trial in a military kangaroo court, find him guilty of espionage, and sentence him to death. Several consequences will now follow. First, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after its initial hearing, will adjudicate on the matter. In the meantime, the Pakistani Army will use the fig leaf of its amendment restricting the ICJs jurisdiction on national security. The amendment was rushed through on April 29, 2017, by Pakistans permanent representative to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, after India sought consular access to Jadhav an unprecedented 16 times. By internationalising its dispute with Pakistan for the first time since a 1971 reference to the ICJ, India has broken away from the stubborn insistence on bilateralism in its relations with Pakistan. I have long argued that there are key strategies India must adopt to defeat Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir and support the freedom movement in Balochistan. Kulbhushan Jadhav. As I wrote: Pakistan craves equivalence with India. It recognises it cant claim parity economically, militarily or diplomatically. The only way it can do so is to engage India in a permanent, low-intensity conflict. A part of this strategy is plausible deniability while inflicting damage on Indian soldiers, police and civilians. Pakistans rehearsed script: attack, deny, engage. Now is an opportunity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a strong public statement on Pakistan-abetted terrorism and take questions from the media. This is the time to assert his leadership. The statement must spell out the governments broad intent and strategy on Pakistan. It need not disclose details of any covert operations on Pakistani soil that may or may not be under planning. But unless Pakistan is made to pay, it will not stop. The incarceration of Jadhav and the murder of Lt Fayaz present India with an opportunity to turn the situation around in the Valley, where anger against the Indian security forces is real but where Pakistans role is now seen with increasing suspicion. Trust The Indian government must move quickly across three fronts. First, deliver in full the flood relief funds promised three years ago. A government that doesnt keep its word to its own people is not a government that deserves to be trusted. The Modi government must not fall into this trap. Bridge the trust deficit, dont widen it. Second, focus on the Kashmir economy. Today the state lives off the annual subsidy of over Rs 25,000 crore the Centre gives it. Much of this goes into the wrong hands. Development in the Valley is abysmal. The government must invest in the Valley, first through public sector units and then incentivise private sector companies to invest, provide jobs to youth and refurbish infrastructure. Holding the final GST Council meeting of 32 state and Union Territory finance ministers in Srinagar this Saturday is exactly the kind of confidence-building measure the Valley needs to integrate itself with the rest of Indias economy. Opportunity Just four days after the murder of Lt Fayaz, 2,000 Kashmiri boys and girls (yes, girls) turned up for a physical and written exam for the post of sub-inspectors in the Jammu & Kashmir police. The desire for a better life is strong among Kashmiri youth. Pakistan-paid stone-pelters are in the minority. But the PDP-BJP governments ham-handedness has allowed a narrative to gain currency that implies the opposite. Now that the Pakistan army has shown the Kashmiri people its real terrorist face by torturing and murdering an unarmed young Kashmiri army officer, public opinion in the Valley will shift. India must seize the moment. Third, use this opportunity to change the narrative. The horrors of life in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) must be highlighted. Is that the alternative home Kashmiris seek? In conversations with ordinary Kashmiris, the common refrain is they want neither India nor Pakistan, just independence. On digging deeper, Kashmiri youth concede that greater autonomy within India is actually their preferred choice. The lessons for the Indian government from the Jadhav and Fayaz tragedies are several. Focus on two. First, dont hesitate to internationalise disputes with Pakistan. As a terror sponsor, it is Pakistan which has most to lose when global adjudication forces the world to condemn it. Second, keep your promise to the Valley: funds, investments, jobs. Kashmiri stone-pelters are paid by the ISI by the day. Wean them away into real jobs by investing in the Valleys atrophied economy. I'm not sure who is going to be the "star" of this story, Mary-Rose MacColl's Swimming Home. I think the impetus for buying the book was the young woman who wants to swim the English Channel, Catherine Quick, who is a mere fifteen years old at the start of the story. But now that I am a few chapters in, maybe it is actually her aunt Louisa who is really going to be the one to come into her own. The story opens with a phone call to Louisa who is a surgeon in London in 1925, surely an amazing feat for a woman at the time. Her nurse pulls her from the examining room to take an urgent call asking her to come immediately to an address on the banks of the river Thames. She expects to find one of her patients in some form of distress but instead discovers her niece performing a perfect crawl across the frigid river. Flash back to Australia, an island in the Torres Strait known as Thursday Island where Louisa's brother Harry had emigrated to. Harry is also a doctor and had married an American woman and the two had traveled to Australia to be missionaries, but she died not long after Catherine was born. A widower with a small daughter, Harry is happy to have Louisa come out to take care of them, but something happens and Catherine is left on her own with no one but her aunt Louisa. There are lots of details to fill in now, but I know they end up back again in London and then later will go to New York City. For now, however, let me 'introduce' Catherine to you. My teaser is from when she was a small, precocious child living with her father on Thursday Island. This is Louisa's first impression of the girl. "She was a beautiful child, with long chestnut hair that fell down her back in a wave, green eyes and dark skin, a handful of freckles thrown across her cheeks, and wit, if the speed at which those eyes surveyed Louisa was anything to go by. She was a Quick, Louisa could see, even in the way she she stood, toes out, ankles together, like Millicent and Louisa both." Later in London we are introduced to the image of Catherine, the swimmer, as Louisa recalls her when she first met her as a small child. "Catherine took to the water as if she lived there, running out alone into the sea and then diving under, terrifying Louisa. In the twilight, she watched her little niece swimming out into the sea and catching the gentle waves back in with her father. Catherine was not like a person, Louisa thought then. She was like a sea creature. That was what she smelt like. It was the sea, clean and pure and alive. Wild, that's what Alexander [Louisa and Harry's elder brother] had said before Louisa left England. That child is growing up wild." "Watching her in the water now at fifteen, Louisa couldn't help thinking that swimming was what Catherine had been born to." Torres Strait is a place; it lies north of the tip of Australia, between the continent and New Guinea. The nice thing about choosing Australia as a destination is stories set near water! Another favorite setting of mine. I am going to have to get a map so I can orient myself. It's just a pity there won't be any actual field trips this summer. Armchair travel via stories is always the next best thing. And I think I am going to like Louisa and Catherine equally well and am curious where their adventures will take them. At a news conference and a candidate forum Wednesday, local black activists and independent hopefuls for Charlottesvilles City Council addressed the lingering fallout from protests held last weekend at Jackson and Lee parks. On Wednesday morning, the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP held a news conference to condemn the torch-lit demonstration held by white nationalist groups. Later in the evening, two African-American council candidates gave their differing opinions on the citys statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the protestors were seeking to protect from the crane. Following the City Councils 3-2 vote earlier this year to remove the Lee statue, a so-called pro-white rally was held Saturday afternoon in Jackson Park to protest the citys decision. Saturday night, the protesters regrouped for a tiki torch-lit demonstration at Lee Park. It was reminiscent of back in the day with the Ku Klux Klan, said Janette Martin, president of the local NAACP branch. I hate to say that, but thats what it was with the torches. The only thing missing was the white sheets. At the candidate forum, hosted by Equity and Progress in Charlottesville, independents Nikuyah Walker and Kenneth Jackson shared their thoughts about the statue situation. I support the removal of the statues, Walker said, threading the issue with other race matters she said she hopes to address if elected. If you look at any aspect of our government, there are disparities. There are disparities in education, housing, wealth and the social services system, she said. You either have to think that black people are inferior or that institutional and systemic issues, such as racism, are at play here. Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for the council as a Republican in 2004, said at a February council meeting that he is opposed to the removal of the Lee statue, alleging that it would be nothing more than a symbolic gesture to the African-American community that would infuriate other community members. In an interview before Wednesdays forum, Jackson criticized Saturdays white nationalist rally, as well as a counter-protest held Sunday at Lee Park. Hate only begets hate, he said. I think some members of City Council have equated flying a rebel flag and the statues with hate and negativeness from the Civil War, he said. But when you start beating bushes like that and telling people that its hate ... one hate group will bring about another hate group. The other three independent candidates Paul Long, Nancy Carpenter and Dale Woodson also shared their thoughts on the proposal. Long and Carpenter said they support removal of the statues. Woodson called for a public referendum, an idea that city officials last year said they would not pursue due to the complexities of whether moving the statue is legal. Earlier this month, a city circuit judge issued a six-month injunction against moving the statue, pending litigation. The judge also said he thinks the monument is protected by state law. At Mondays council meeting, Mayor Mike Signer said part of the reason he voted against the removal of the statue is because many African-American constituents he spoke with said they were opposed to removal. Citing the official report from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, Signer said he also found that numerous Charlottesville African-American residents who have lived through decades of suppression of their history oppose removal on the grounds that it would be yet another example of hiding their experience. The council created the commission last year to explore options for the controversial monument, as well as one of Confederate Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson in Jackson Park. The commission ultimately gave a unanimous recommendation that the city should either move the Lee statue to McIntire Park or transform it in place. Jalane Schmidt, a University of Virginia religious studies professor and activist who identifies as a person of color, took exception to the mayors claims, calling them outrageous. The mayor went to conservative churches and talked with elderly folks, she said. He didnt go to barber shops, nightclubs, social media or forums to talk to young African-Americans. I am unaware of any uprising among black folks in Charlottesville who are disappointed that City Council voted to move the monument. RICHMOND Virginia residents will need a new drivers license by October 2020 if they want to use their license to board a plane. The Virginian Pilot reports the change is part of the REAL ID program, which was passed after the 9/11 attacks and requires stringent proof of residency. Virginia licenses and state ID cards dont currently meet all REAL ID standards. But the state Department of Motor Vehicles notified the Department of Homeland Security this month that it will roll out compliant licenses and state ID cards by October 2018. The DMV said residents who prefer to travel by car or train may not need the new ID, but those who fly frequently may want it so they dont have to carry their passport for domestic flights. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Washington and the country received a much-needed shot of good news Wednesday evening with the revelation that the Justice Department will appoint a special counsel. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named Robert Mueller III, a former FBI chief. This was an essential and reassuring step after a series of alarming developments. The first question for Mueller will be whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election. The second question will be whether anyone in the Trump campaign colluded in the meddling. And the third question will be whether anyone in the administration, up to and including President Donald Trump, illegally tried to interfere with investigations into the alleged meddling and collusion. An independent inquiry is needed because of statements and actions by Trump that raised serious concern about executive interference. These include his reported request in January that then-FBI Director James Comey swear his loyalty to the president; his reported attempt a month later to persuade Comey to drop an investigation of Trumps first national security adviser, who had to quit after he lied about the nature of his contacts with Russian officials; and his decision last week to fire Comey. Trump initially put forward false explanations for that firing but eventually admitted that he was motivated by his displeasure with the FBIs investigation of alleged Russian interference. A few notes of caution are in order. A special counsel is essential in this case, and Mueller must be prepared to follow the evidence wherever it leads. But theres always a worry when a prosecutor has only one mission that he will pursue it with excessive zeal. Thats less likely with a special counsel under current law than it was under the old independent-counsel statute, and its a trap that Mueller seems unlikely to fall into. But its worth keeping in mind. More salient is the fact that the special counsels job is only to look for criminal behavior and, if he finds any, to prosecute the wrongdoers. His job is not to inform the public or to pass judgment on actions that may have been unwise, inappropriate or unethicalbut did not violate the law. That is why this appointment does not let Congress off the hook. The American public needs a full accounting of Russian interference in the 2016 election; of American cooperation in that meddling, if any; and of administration efforts to impede investigations into the meddling and collusion, if they took place. The House and Senate intelligence committees are working on aspects of all that, and those must continue.But a full accounting is likely to emerge only if Congress appoints a special commission like the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks. With the Trump administration having led the way, Congress too should act. WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - Here's a guy who fought hard to be where he is in life, and he fought damn hard to be where he is as president, but there's one thing wrong here, no one believes a word the Donald says. Its like Im invisible. This is why I have to tweet every few minutes to show people I am around. When I am on screen maybe they dont see or hear me, the Donald said, with tears streaming down his face. What about the goddamn Russians? They seem to have been a thorn in the side of the Don since the beginning of the election campaign. Talking to Russians aint a bad thing. I talk to people from all over. Like I talk with those people from Africa, I talk to Israel, and I talk to North Korea, does not mean a thing. These Libtards got it against me at every turn and want an excuse to impeach me, Trump added. The president records every conversation that occurs in the White House, and do does the FBI, who seem to have the Donald firmly in their sights. Lets see, I fire that kook Comey, now he goes crying to the dems, and they continue their little investigation. Last I heard, I was the president, the fucking king, I order these people not the other way round! a thumping fist on the Oval room table resounds. Something has to be done by the Don sharpish or he really will end up on the wrong end of the stick. Purge the system Back when he was first announced as the winner of the election, the Squib advised the Don to clean house, like fire all the socialist whining Obamamites embedded in the FBI, CIA ,IRS, DoD, etc, etc.. That is the only way the Don is going to survive a presidency. Dont speak to any press that is under the leftwing bias, dont fucking tweet any more. You are the president, you are meant to be elusive, decisive and very secretive. By tweeting your every brain fart, you not only give away your every intention to your enemies but you add fuel to the fire and obstruct the workings of your team. If you dont listen to the Squib Donald, who the fuck are you going to trust? Remember Drain the swamp, Build the wall, Throw out the illegals, Ban the Muslims, and lets have a war for a change. Yes, a good ol shoot out with some terrorist loving country, and were not talking a civil war, were talking either Syria or N.Korea. Listen to Henry, he comes around, talks to you in the office, listen to him and take his advice. Just do it. New York: The Indian IT industry "rightly" should be in "panic" mode as it has not kept pace with the fast-changing innovation, India-born former McKinsey head Rajat Gupta has said. He said industries today "have to constantly move with innovation" as basic IT work gets automated and advanced innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cloud computing overtake the technological world. "Code writing and testing is the most inefficient industry that existed," he said at a panel discussion here yesterday organised by the New York Tri-State chapter of Pratham USA, one of the largest non-governmental organisations. "The Indian IT industry is in panic and rightly should be because technology is overtaking them and they haven't invested in it," Gupta said. Gupta, who was a former director at Goldman Sachs, was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of insider trading charges. A free man now, Gupta has been gradually re-entering the social and philanthropic world. Last year, he assumed the role of Chairman of WHEELS Global Foundation, a US-based non-profit started by IIT alumni that focuses on applying technology to uplift rural communities and provide technological solutions to global challenges. Experts are warning of prolonged layoffs in the Indian IT sector as digitisation and automation become the new normal and a wave of protectionism in major markets like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand closes the door for IT engineers from India. Gupta said there is urgent need for "revolution in education" where imparting knowledge has to move from being in lecture mode to being more interactive, digital and participatory. "A fundamental revolution in education needs to be taking place," he said. He also voiced concern at the huge youth unemployment in India and other major countries. "India needs to create 20 million jobs a year and it is no way near that. Most of our skilling efforts in India are failures because certain elements are not built into it. It becomes a government scheme. Are (the youth) really skilled when they come out. No," he said. On the recent increase in hate crimes targeting Indian- Americans, Gupta said there has to be heightened awareness among the community through educational programs about their rights. The Indian-American community, unlike other minority communities, also does not have a legal defence fund that can be used to bring cases and prosecute those responsible for such crimes. Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar claimed that top five IT companies hired additional 50,000 people between January to March in 2017. New Delhi: Rejecting reports of mass lay-offs in IT sector, Nasscom on Thursday said that the industry will hire about 1.5 lakh people this year on net basis. However, Nasscom said that employees need to upgrade their skills with changing times to remain competitive. You guys and your colleagues have done a lot of reporting which we know is not based on facts, said Nasscom chairman, Raman Roy during a press conference called over media reports suggesting that over 50,000 people could be laid off this year from top IT firms. Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar claimed that top five IT companies hired additional 50,000 people between January to March in 2017. He said in FY 2017, the industry added 1.70 lakh new jobs on net basis. Hiring continues across the sector. Industry will remain a major net hirer in 2018, said Mr Chandrashekhar. At the same time performance linked workforce realignment which is based on appraisal, skill sets has been prevalent practice in the industry. Typically it impacts 0.5-3 per cent (workforce). It could vary from year to year, from company to company. But this is how industry has dealt with changing challenges. There has been no change in this overall pattern in current year, he said. However, Nasscom president said that there is a gentle deceleration in net hiring growth rate. New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI today recommended the use of Aadhaar-based eKYC verification for subscribers of fixed line, internet and broadband connections, as in the case of mobile connections. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recommendation, if accepted by the Department of Telecom, would make the authentication process fast and reliable and lead to substantial savings for the industry. "...the authority recommends laying down an appropriate format (Customer Acquisition Form) for verification/reverification of all subscribers (including fixed line) availing internet and broadband services and adoption of Aadhaar-based eKYC service, similar to mobile connections, for their verification," a TRAI statement said. TRAI had received a representation from the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) to extend Aadhaar-based eKYC authentication to ISPs for broadband and internet connections also, as is currently the case with mobile connections. "ISPAI has stated in their letter that use of such service for authenticity of customers for broadband and internet connections will be fast and much authentic as well as save time and cost," TRAI said. While the government has prescribed CAF for verification of new mobile connections using Aadhaar based eKYC services and for re-verification of existing subscribers, TRAI noted that "so far this requirement has not been prescribed for the customers of internet and broadband as well as fixed line". Mumbai: Taking a breather after a record- setting spree, benchmark Sensex plunged 224 points today to retreat from lifetime highs as investors booked profits amid global volatility. The 30-share index stayed in the negative zone throughout the session and hit a low of 30,393.72, before settling at 30,434.79, down 223.98 points or 0.73 per cent. Likewise, the 50-scrip NSE barometer Nifty slipped from its all-time high to finish at 9,429.45, down 96.30 points, or 1.01 per cent. Mumbai: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a regular at Cannes, and has been gracing the red carpet for more than a decade now. This time too, the gorgeous diva is all set to grace the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival 2017. Cannes fiesta has got everyone excited, especially the fashion police, who are all alert and eager to use their rating wand. With beautiful Deepika Padukone making a style statement at Cannes, Aishwarya too has departed for the 70th edition of Cannes. The 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' actress has already reached Cannes with daughter Aaradhya, who seems very excited about this trip. Here is the picture: Aishwarya was spotted at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday with her daughter Aaradhya. What caught our attention was hubby and a doting dad, Abhishek Bachchan came to see them off at the airport. While the mother-daughter duo walked ahead towards the airport, Abhishek kept a watch on them from his car. Isnt that too cute?! Clad in a denim and tee, she completed her look with a coffee brown trench coat, thus looking radiant and attractive. The actress has been making heads turn on the red carpet for a decade now, and itll be quite interesting to see what the diva will wear on May 19 and 20, as shell be walking the red carpet on these two days. Apart from Aishwarya and Deepika, Sonam Kapoor, too, will be walking the red carpet on behalf of an international cosmetic brand, which the three are representatives of. As part of the festival, Aishwarya will present her 2002 cult Sanjay Leela Bhansali film Devdas at a big screen open to the public on the Martinez beach, as part of the festival. Mumbai: The loss of Marathi and Hindi film industries veteran actress Reema Lagoo has left Bollywood heartbroken. On Wednesday night Lagoo, who was only 59, complained of chest pain and suffered a massive heart attack. The actress was rushed to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Andheri where she breathed her last. An emotional Priyanka took to Twitter to extend her condolences to the bereaved, saying, RIP #ReemaLagoo such a loss to art and cinema. You are and will always be our favourite screen mom. My condolences to the family. Lagoos former co-star Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and gen next star Alia Bhatt have expressed their sadness and shock over the sudden demise of this Bollywood doyen on social media. Akshay wrote: Saddened to hear about the demise of #ReemaLagoo, had the opportunity to work with her...a fine actress and person.Prayers to the family Anushka: Grew up watching d warmth & love #ReemaLagoo ji brought out on screen. Saddened by her sudden demise.Heartfelt condolences to her family... Alia Bhatt: So so sad to hear about Reema Lagoo ji!Such a phenomenal actor & a lovely warm person! I have always loved & admired her work. Shocked!! Reema Lagoo had played Sanjay Dutt's on screen mother in 'Vaastav,' shattered by the actress' sudden demise, he said, "I have lost a mother again today. We worked together in several movies and every time that I worked with her I learnt something new. Her demise has left a void which is difficult to fill. May God give strength to her family and close ones." Madhuri Dixit and Randeep Hooda are mourning her death too and have expressed their grief on Twitter. Renuka Sahane, who played the role of Lagoo's daughter in 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun', shared a touching post on Facebook. "Reema Tai....the first time I met you, many, many years before I got to work with you in films, was at your home. You had made amazing "matkichi usal". I couldn't take my eyes off you.....you were so beautiful. Then I saw you on stage...." Savita Damodar Paranjape" " Ghar Tighancha Hava"....you were outstanding.....what an immensely powerful actress you were on stage! I was in awe of you....a huge fan. I wouldn't have imagined I would get the opportunity to work with you a few years down the line. "Hum Aapke Hain Koun"....I played your daughter. I would joke with you that I wasn't suited to play your daughter since you are so beautiful...." looks department Anupam Kher ". You would laugh full throatedly at this comment, slap me playfully and say " !" We used to share our Tiffin boxes, make-up rooms.....you were protective about me.....if an actor became too friendly you would help me get out of any such situation.....I could spend hours watching you get ready. Though you would want to get ready as fast as possible because you didn't much care for spending time on make-up. You didn't need it much because you were naturally so beautiful. Once I got my camera and asked your permission to click your photos in black & white.....you were a bit embarrassed but allowed me to experiment with what I wanted to do....I wanted to take a picture of you in the mirror.....You were thrilled with the photos....but they didn't do justice to your beauty.....And the Hindi films you did didn't do your immense talent justice....and life hasn't been just in snatching you away so early! I'm sharing the black & white photos I clicked with a very heavy heart.....the last thing I wanted was to share them as an obit to you. Rest in eternal peace my beautiful Reematai " A popular face in the 80s and 90s, both in Marathi and Hindi films, Reema Lagoo started her acting career in 1970s and will always be remembered for her roles in 'Maine Pyar Kiya', 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and 'Hum Saath-Saath Hain'. Her contribution to Indian television is also commendable, 'Tu Tu Main Main' and 'Shriman Shrimati' are some of her notable roles in small screen. Mumbai: Deepika Padukone is the winsome fashionista Bollywood will boast of and proudly flaunt to the world. And she rightly deserves the status and respect she gets as the undisputed queen of red carpet. Case in point: Day 1 of Cannes Film Festival! Dressed in a sheer purple Marchesa gown, the rangy lady is class personified. To add drama to her already whimsical look, the leggy lass wore statement jewellery- studded danglers and a ring she picked from the jewellery studios of De Grisogono. For her feet, our desi Cindrella chose the best in the business, Jimmy Choo stilettos. DP is the official ambassador of a popular cosmetic brand and is representing the same at Cannes. Deepika will also been seen walking the red carpet on May 19. Other actresses who will join this beauty are Sonam Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. While Aishwarya will walk the red carpet on May 19 and 20, Sonam is scheduled to attend the film festival on May 21 and 22. Ash, who is a regular at Cannes, left for France today, with her daughter Aradhya. Here are some of the pictures and videos of DPs debut at the Cannes: Mumbai: Just days after writer Apurva Asrani accused Kangana Ranaut of lying about co-writing the plot of Simran, co-producer of the film, Shailesh Singh, who was also accused in Asrani's Facebook post of persuading Asrani to share credits with Kangana for about 2 months, has reacted to Apurvas publicity stunt. Shailesh Singh, who has worked with Apurva Asrani in two films- Shahid and Aligarh, has hit back at the ace writer saying that his accusations sound like attention-seeking. He seems to be doing this for publicity. If this is about him versus Kangana, I want to clarify that to please an actress; Id have paid her more. Why be unfair to him? Once the film hits screens, we will release the script online for the world to judge, he said to a daily. Singh also said that Asrani has a signed legal document with him which proves that he had given his consent. I have worked with Apurva on two of his biggest films Shahid and Aligarh. Apurva has a legal document in his possession signed by all parties Kangana, Hansal, the producers and himself wherein he agrees to the credits given by us, the producer said. When asked about Kangana getting the co-writer credit ahead of Asrani, who has supposedly written the entire script over a period of 1 year, with extensive research in the US, a diplomatic Shailesh said it was a mere error. I have conveyed this(that it was an error) to Apurva. We could have chatted in person before he took the issue to social media. For the uninitiated, Apurva Asrani took the Facebook route on Wednesday to share his disagreement on Kangana being credited as the co-writer of 'Simran.' He also wrote that how he is disappointed with the fact that Kangana has been claiming in her interviews that Hansal Mehta approached her with a one-line screenplay of the film, and further went on to claim that the film was a gritty thriller then and it's she who converted it into a light-hearted film. Talking about Ranauts claims, he said in his post: Ms Ranaut has been claiming in several interviews that Hansal Mehta, the director of Simran, approached her with just a one line screenplay of the film. She says that they story was dark & gritty thriller at that stage and that she herself developed it into a light, fun film. This completely discredits me and my efforts, and I have to call out this lie at the cost of so many of her fans turning against me. Those that know me will know that I have always strived for the truth, and that is more important to me than a hit film It was only the day after I finished the first cut of the film that Hansal called me to meet. He informed me nervously that Kangana is turning director and therefore has demanded a co writer credit. I naturally had a shit fit and feeling shocked and betrayed, I refused to give in. For 2 months, he and his co producer Shailesh tried to arm twist me into giving her a co writer credit. The details of which I will reserve for the future. I finally gave into an additional writing credit, but only because they claimed their film would be stuck if I didn't do so. But I refused to give her a co writer credit, and we signed a letter where they promised me the same. The film is slated to release on September 15. Here is Asrani's full Facbook post: Mumbai: Wedding songs have always got takers in a country as ours, were a lot of importance is given to the grand event, that is the marriage ceremony. Every Desi anthem would be a wedding regular. The latest number to join the list is Ashwni Dhir's 'Guest Iin London,' with their 'Frankly Tu Sona Nachda'. The Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Kharbanda starring number, ably composed by Raghav Sachar, is an absolute delight to watch and listen. The very bright and delectably colourful ambience and choreography only add to the wholesome experience of it. The first trailer of the film ensures that the audience is in for more fun with a younger lead cast. Adding to the humour is Sanjay Mishra, who plays a Pakistani in the film. The film also has a cameo by Ajay Devgn, who played the lead in the first instalment. The film, also starring Tanvi Azmi, is slated to release on June 16. Watch the video here: Seventeen years after Alaipayuthey, R. Madhavan is still the quintessential perfect gentleman in Kollywood, and heartthrob for thousands of women. For his roles, Maddy never steps back from going out of the way to bring out perfection and has carved a special niche across industries, with his evolution as a performer. The Irudhi Suttru actor, as brand ambassador of Hathway Broadband, launched the network in the city. Catching up with him, Maddy was, as usual, at his eloquent best.. On co-star Vijay Sethupathi: I had a great time with Vijay Sethupathi during the shoot of Vikram Vedha and if two actors are committed to their work, theres no stopping them. I feel that he is a thinking actor too. Its been a rewarding experience as we worked together to make every scene better. Being part of multi-starrers: I like to do scripts that will walk into the archives. Be it 3 Idiots, Guru, Aayutha Ezhuthu or Rang De Basanti, there isnt a multi-starrer movie that I was a part of, that didnt walk into the archives. It is the script that lures me in. Cop act for the second time: I dont give in to prejudices that if an actor plays a cop, it would be a huge hit. I analyse my character and the script and work accordingly to give my best. If I had given it a thought, I dont think Id have come far in these 17 years. Whatever characters I pick, Ive managed to entertain the audience. Are actors forced to voice their opinion? Actors are always soft targets. I am not someone who would raise my voice to seek publicity. I am a responsible citizen and I continue to be so. If anybody accuses me of being rich, I give it back to them because I had a poor economical background. I worked my way up and I am an exemplary citizen and I always do what is good for my nation. Would you be part of Kamal Haasans Bigg Boss, if given a chance? Its not really my cup of tea, so I wouldnt accept it. What would you call your autobiography? The title would be Prelude to my Autobiography. But Im too young to have one and there is still a long way to go! Do you have a favourite co-actor? When I listen to scripts, I never ask who my co-star is instead I ask about the characters and the producers of the particular venture. Id love to work with Deepika Padukone, but apart from that, I dont think there is any desire. With Kamal Haasan and Amitabh Bachchan, its a different story I am game irrespective of my work schedule. Are you a person who is involved in the creative process of a film? Always! I always take part in the creative process of every film of mine. Gone are the days where an actor would walk into the sets, finish his portions, take the money and leave. In fact, Ive been accused of being interfering but thats the way I am. It is important for every actor to get involved with the script. Maddy and the world wide web I know that the internet is the lifeline of every society. Its unfortunate but also true because it adds up to our routine life like water and electricity. Appliances at home and apps are connected to the internet including our security. I think its important to educate and protect yourself from the perils of it... as we see with the current issue of Ransomware. Im also happy to associated with a brand like Hathway, which is a reliable tech service. Is a Mani Ratnam re-union on the cards? Id love to and if he has something in mind, he will definitely call. Upcoming projects Quite a few, actually. Vikram Vedha, an untitled film with Karu Pazhaniappan, Chanda Mama Door Ke, a biopic and a web-series titled Breed. Director Vijay, who is awaiting the release of Vanamagan, a forest thriller, is now working on his next project, titled Karu. We had earlier reported that he had roped in actress Sai Pallavi for this crime-thriller produced by Lyca Productions. The latest update is that the film will be made as a Tamil-Telugu bilingual and Vijay has chosen a Telugu actor to play the titular role. A source in the know tells us, Telugu actor Naga Shourya has been signed on as the hero for this venture. With this film, he will be making his debut in Tamil. Having bagged director Vijays film, Naga Shourya is confident that he will be able to make a mark in Tamil as well. Since Vanmagans release has been postponed to June, director Vijay is concentrating on giving final touches to his script. It is said that the shooting of Karu (untitled in Telugu) will begin only after Vanamagan releases. Workers who are exposed to sunlight or bright indoor lights during the morning hours sleep better at night and tend to feel less depressed and stressed than those who dont get much morning light, according to a recent study. Exposure to more light during the day and less light at night is critical for healthy sleep patterns because it helps to calibrate the bodys internal circadian clock, the study team writes in the journal Sleep Health. The results suggest that in office environments, being exposed either to daylight or electric lights that are rich in short wave blue light may be important for the health of workers, said lead author Mariana Figueiro. Many office buildings may actually be moving in the direction of reducing light said Figueiro, program director at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Much has been done to reduce light levels to promote energy efficiency, which is important, but we may be going too far in this direction, she told Reuters Health by email. We need to start thinking about how we light our daytime environments, Figueiro added. To see whether typical office workers get enough light to regulate their sleep-wake cycle, the study team recruited participants in five government office buildings across the United States. A total of 109 employees working at the offices wore light-measuring devices for one week in summertime to gauge their exposure to different types of light throughout the day, and 81 of these participants repeated the experiment in winter as well. The office workers logged their sleep and wake times and completed questionnaires about their mood and sleep quality at the end of each study period. Researchers found that people who were exposed to greater amounts of light during the morning hours, between 8 a.m. and Noon, fell asleep more quickly at night and had fewer sleep disturbances during the night compared to those exposed to low light in the morning. People getting more morning light were also less likely to report feelings of depression and stress. Office workers who were exposed to high levels of light all day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., also reported lower levels of sleep disturbance and depression. Individuals should think about their lighting environment at work, and also some of their habits during the day (and before bed), Ilia Karatsoreos, an associate professor of integrative physiology and neuroscience at Washington State University in Pullman, told Reuters Health by email. A lack of good quality sleep has been linked to mental and physical health problems, including issues with mood, thinking, metabolism and the immune system, said Karatsoreos, who was not involved in the study. There are many easy things we can do during the day to increase our exposure to sunlight that could have beneficial effects on mood and sleep for many people, Karatsoreos noted. Perhaps leaving your desk and getting out in the bright sun for lunch could help. A robust light and dark pattern (high circadian effective light during the day and low in the evening) is important for our health and wellbeing, Figueiro said. Look out a window, seek light during the day, especially during the morning, go out during lunch time, Figueiro advised. A womens clothes shop in Chennai wanted me to model for their latest campaign and it was to be shot in the Himalayas thats how my trip happened. With a weeks notice, as is often the case in the modelling industry, we rushed to scramble and got winter clothes and mountain gear for the expedition. The trip was 10 days long and towards the end, none of us wanted to leave! Mesmerising Spiti Valley Everyone should visit Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh, at least once in their lifetime especially during winter. The majesty of the mountains, the snow sparkling like crushed diamonds and the starkness of the landscape are both awe inspiring and humbling. Knowing that you are at the mercy of nature, along with the kindness of the mountain, people, and how they share what little they have, makes you rethink your life decisions and goals. Spiti is a two-day drive from Chandigarh and you have the meandering river for company. Roads are so narrowly carved out of the mountain side that you will even wonder if your SUV will even fit. To add to it, there are shooting stones to wake you up if you dare to fall asleep this is a trip that is meant for the books! The scenic beauty is unparalleled with mountains covered in snow coupled with villages so far away that they look like specks on the mountain side. Goosebumps all round! Its hard to choose just one memory from a trip that was so eventful. I fondly remember the time we stood frozen during mid shoot as we spotted a leopard barely 12-feet away and the thought that crossed my mind was that I hope it realises Im too skinny to make a good meal! That apart, the time when our quick-thinking driver saved us from a landslide and the time when I posed on a bridge and a particularly strong gust of wind turned my saree pallu into a sail, causing me to almost fall, were unforgettable experiences. The moments I cherish the most however would be my conversation with the mountain women. Entering the crumbling ancient Dhankar monastery, made me feel like I have crossed a portal and entered another time! Bringing a new perspective to life When you are going to the Himalayas, one tends to be aware of everything that the place has in store for you. What the place truly brings to our life is perspective. I understand that there is low oxygen, I get there and I find out how hard it is to even climb stairs or take a turn. I look around and Im reminded that this is normal for the small population that lives there. This gives my life more meaning. Kind-hearted locals The locals were helpful in welcoming us into their homestays as there are no resorts nearby. We ate our meals family style. Some of them were our guides, others helped us fix our car when it broke down. The women lit fires by the roadside to keep us warm during th shoots as we started to turn blue in the -20 degree weather and we cajoled others into letting us dress them up in sarees and model with us! They gifted us local organic rajma and we left behind some lipstick for an adorable little girl called Sonam, whose house we lived in. We are now planning to send books and medical supplies, as well. The cuisine Spitian culture has major Tibetan influences. On your way to Spiti, you will pass by this little village called Nako, with just one shack that served some of the yummiest food I have ever eaten (maybe it was the hunger talking)! If you ever go there, ask for thukpa, a noodle soup and some momos. The fresh mountain air will make you ravenous and this will seem like a meal fit for the gods. The team The simple, stress-free mountain life with no phone signal had a certain allure that we found hard to resist. Our gang of five consisted of Bhagath Kumar of Makka photography, Nara, a landscape photographer who made this trip happen, Anusha Swamy, my fellow model who is also the makeup and hairstylist and Archana, who was the stylist for the shoot. Suggestions Be more prepared than you think you need to be, pack some energy bars and chocolates for when you get stuck and take lots of warm clothes trust me it will come handy. If you have the time, work on your fitness levels as it will help you cope with the conditions there better. I would recommend going there once in autumn to witness the beautiful colours and towards the end of winter you get to see the snow-covered peaks and the frozen landscape. Next on my checklist is to train and hopefully get to the Everest base camp in the next few years. (As told to Balajee C R) The temple priests called the villagers to guide the 12-foot crocodile out of the precinct with the help of a rope used like a lasso to hold onto the crocodiles teeth. (Photo: Pixabay- for representational purpose only) A temple area is usually flocked by devotees of all kinds from all across the country but is definitely not a place that wild animals can be spotted easily. However, the priests at a temple in Karnataka were in for a surprise when they saw a huge crocodile in the temple premises recently because they clearly didnt expect it. According to a media report, the temple in Bagalkot in north Karnataka had the unusual visitor because the village has been facing a drought from the past two years which has led to lower water levels. The temple priests called the villagers to guide the 12-foot crocodile out of the precinct with the help of a rope used like a lasso to hold onto the crocodiles teeth. The villagers than took the animal to a safe distance and tied it while trying to keep it in control. The authorities later released the animal back into the wild. There have been many crocodiles spotted entering villages because of the lack of water in the lakes in Karnataka. While earlier this month one rescue attempt failed, this one was successfully carried out by authorities. In March, the Chennai Police had seized demonetised notes amounting to Rs 1.02 crore and Rs 3.45 crore in two different incidents from people who were attempting to get them exchanged. Chennai: In the biggest seizure of demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 by any agency in Tamil Nadu, the Chennai police on Thursday recovered `45 crore from a costume tailoring shop in Kodambakkam. Police raided the place early Thursday morning based on a tip off and found 11 bags with bundles of old notes stuffed in them. The shop MV Ramalingam & Co is a costume tailoring store which specialises in stitching uniforms for government officers. The owner of the shop Dhandapani, who was questioned by the police, claimed that the money belonged to a city jewellery shop owner. Costume tailoring shop The money stashed in the shop was meant to be exchanged, he said. Dhandapani, also explained that the jewellery shop owner had asked him as a favour to keep the money until he could find a way to get it exchanged legally. The police said that the owner of the seized cash has a jewellery shop in Sowcarpet as well as a finance firm in Teynampet. Police said the seized cash would be handed over to the RBI. We are not making any arrest. The case will be handed over to DRI or income tax department, the police said. This is the first time the Chennai police are seizing such a huge stash of banned notes, particularly after demonetisation of old notes came into effect on November 8 last year. In March, the Chennai Police had seized demonetised notes amounting to Rs 1.02 crore and Rs 3.45 crore in two different incidents from people who were attempting to get them exchanged. The volume of the current seizure is much bigger. It is alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to file a case against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram and INX Media. According to a report in the Indian Express, the ED case will be registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Proposal Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media for foreign investment. We have received the CBI FIR and a case of money laundering will soon be registered, a senior ED official was quoted as saying. ED can then also attach assets in the case, said the report. ED had sent notices to 19 firms, besides INX Media, that allegedly did business with Karti Chidambaram's two companies Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL) and Chess Management Services. According to another report in The Indian Express, after the raids in December 2015, the ED had sent summons to Essar Steel Limited, VST Tillers Tractors, Diageo Scotland Limited, and the Katra Group under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These firms had allegedly made payments to Kartis two firms during their Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) applications or clearances. One of the 19 firms appeared before the ED, but could not provide details of the services Kartis two firms offered. ASCPL and Chess Management Services sent invoices for professional services, or consultancy work, and according to ASCPL Directors testimony to the ED, the company would receive instructions, stating which companies to send the invoices to. ED officials said that the ASCPL Director had admitted that the company barely provided any services. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on Tuesday raided houses and other premises of former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti over alleged favours granted in foreign investment clearance to INX Media in 2007. The searches were spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Gurugram. The raids took place at the Nungambakkam residence of P Chidambaram in Chennai, a senior police official said in Chennai. The investigating agency had filed an FIR on Tuesday evening against Karti on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It is alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius. His father issued a strong statement in response to say that the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son. FIPB approval was granted in "hundreds of cases", the senior Congress leader said. "The government, using the CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends...The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organisations," he said. The ministry had formed the panel to suggest framework for the new Haj policy (2018-22) in February 2017 under the convenorship of former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah Afzal Amanullah. (Photo: PTI/Representational) New Delhi: The Centre has invited suggestions to review its present Haj policy and to frame a new one in view of the 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing subsidy given to the pilgrims by 2022. The Union Minority Affairs Ministry has appealed to people to send their views about the problems with the existing policy and ways to improve it. The suggestions are to be sent by e-mail by May 24 at hprcmma@gov.in. "A high-level panel set up to suggest framework for the new Haj policy (2018-22) will also hear in person the suggestions people have to make on May 25," a senior official of the ministry said. The ministry had formed the panel in February 2017 under the convenorship of former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah Afzal Amanullah. It is tasked with examining implications of the various directions of the apex court with regard to the existing Haj policy and recommends suitable amendments to it. India's quota for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, considered as holy by Muslims, is 1.70 lakh. Out of these, 1.25 lakh travel through the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) and the remaining 45,000 through private tour operators. The SC had, in its 2012 order, asked the government to invest the subsidy amount of approximately Rs 650 crore a year on educational and social development of the community. Karti P Chidambaram addressing media after CBI sleuths searched his office premises, in Chennai. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Son of Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram, Thursday left for London, two days after CBI conducted searches at his premises. Karti, himself a Congress leader, left for London along with a friend, airport sources said. He flew by an international carrier, they added. The CBI had on Monday registered a case in connection with alleged irregularities in granting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media, run by its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea, in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. The agency had on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple premises linked to Chidambaram and Karti in connection with the matter. Karti had alleged "political vendetta" behind the searches and said no documents had been seized from during the raids, insisting he had done nothing wrong. The acquisition of the first two howitzers is part of Indian Armys Rs 22,000-crore modernisation plan. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Indian Army on Thursday received two Howitzer M-777s, artillery guns with a maximum range of 30 km, from the United States. The guns would be used to enhance defence system in high-altitude areas in eastern border against China. According to a report, this is the first time in three decades, since the Bofors scandal that the Indian army has received howitzers. The two howitzers are part of Indias 145-gun order from the US according to a deal which cost India Rs 5000 crore. According to the report, the acquisition of the first two howitzers is part of Indian Armys Rs 22,000-crore modernisation plan, under which it will acquire five different types of artillery guns. "We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Indian Army's artillery modernisation programme," the report quoted an official of the company as saying. The BAE Systems, which manufactures the M-777 ultra-light howitzer guns, will deliver 25 of the 145 to India, while the rest will be assembled here by Mahindra. Lucknow: The Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances here, was about to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees of Congress-led government in Karnataka, UP minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said in the state assembly on Thursday. His response came amid allegations from opposition benches that Anurag Tiwari (36), posted as commissioner in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. "It is true that the body of the officer was recovered yesterday. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said. The officer was found dead yesterday under mysterious circumstances on a roadside in the high-security Hazratganj area here, hardly a kilometre away from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling BJP over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high security area, thus "exposing tall claims of government over law and order." SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the 'murder' of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Khanna assured the House that a probe was on in the matter. However, dissatisfied with the reply, SP, Congress and BSP members staged a walkout from the assembly. Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead yesterday, which also happened to be his birthday. Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said the postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. "Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination," he said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Tiwari's father, however, alleged that his son was eliminated. "My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered," B N Tiwari had said in Bahraich, his native place. Jadhav, the 46-year-old former naval officer, has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage and subversive activities. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: India on Thursday asserted that the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, is binding on Pakistan and termed the verdict as "unanimous" and "unambiguous". Hours after the ICJ in The Hague pronounced its provisional order in the case, the External Affairs Ministry said the government will do everything possible to save the life of Jadhav. Addressing a crowed press conference in Delhi, MEA Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the provisional relief provided by the ICJ is the first step in ensuring justice to Jadhav. The order by the ICJ is unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous. The verdict a matter of great relief for people of the country, he said. Replying to a volley of questions on India's possible response if Pakistan does not implement the ICJ order, Baglay said the order is binding on Pakistan. Earlier, the ICJ stayed the execution of Jadhav, who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. The woman said Rizvan evicted her from their house in April and gave him a piece of paper with talaq written thrice on it. (Photo: File) Jodhpur: A 25-year-old Muslim woman, whose husband divorced her by writing talaq thrice on a piece of paper, has moved court against the practice and also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abolish it. Amit Maheshwari, the counsel of Shagufta Modi, who married Rizvan in December 2014, claimed that her husband was unemployed and would pressure her to take money from her parents. The woman said Rizvan evicted her from their house in April and gave him a piece of paper with talaq written thrice on it. Rizvan, in a letter to Shagufta, had alleged that she "is querulous, would visit her parents often and that she did not mend her ways. So talaq is the only solution". He said that according to the Sharia law, he had divorced his wife in the presence of two witnesses and that "both of them are now free to remarry as per their choice". Shagufta said her parents tried hard to bring him round to save their marriage but in vain. Later, they knocked the doors of the court. Maheshwari said, "We have prayed to the court to prohibit Rizvan from remarrying until the Supreme Court decides on the issue of triple talaq." The woman said she has also written to the prime minister, appealing to him to "save Muslim women from the evil practice". "Triple talaq is devastating for families, women and children and must be abolished for the good of the society," Shagufta said. New Delhi: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) which on Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, is presided by Ronny Abraham, who has earlier served as a judge in the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Abraham is a member of the ICJ since February 15, 2005. He is the president of the court since February 6, 2015. After months of bilateral tension, the ICJ verdict has come as a great relief to his Jadhav's family and the people of India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing satisfaction on the judgement. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The UN's highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". Abraham also served as the "Director of Legal Affairs at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-2005)," according to the ICJ website. Before his appointment to the ICJ, he served, from 1998 to 2005, as the head of the Legal Affairs Directorate at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of advising the government on legal matters in the fields of general international public law, European Union law, international human rights law, the law of the sea and the Antarctic. The ICJ president was a member of the French delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations (1998-2004) and the head of the French delegation to the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly (1998-2004). He has also spent time in academia, being a professor of international law, at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (until 1998). He also was an Associate Professor, University of Paris X-Nanterre (1997-2003). ICJ's Vice-President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf has been a member of the court since February 6, 2009 and its vice-president since February 6, 2015. The Somalia-born judge has also served as a Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs (March 2001-January 2009). The judges of the ICJ include Dalveer Bhandari (India), Hisashi Owada (Japan), Christopher Greenwood (the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Joan E Donoghue (the US), Xue Hanqin (China), James Richard Crawford (Australia) and Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation), among others. Bhandari is a member of the ICJ since April 27, 2012 and his term is to expire on February 5, 2018. Justice Bhandari Bhandari had a distinguished and successful career as an attorney at law for 23 years before he became a judge in the Indian higher judiciary in 1991. The ICJ today also said, "The court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order." The meeting, from May 22-26, is the largest event of the Bank, which would witness about 3,000 delegates from 81 member countries converging at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 5-day annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, its first ever in India. The Prime Minister will open the meeting on May 23 to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat -- a sign of strengthening of ties between India and the African region. The meeting, from May 22-26, is the largest event of the Bank, which would witness about 3,000 delegates from 81 member countries converging at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre. During the course of the event, the board of governors of the Bank will meet to dwell on major developmental challenges facing the African countries and the ways to achieve an inclusive and sustainable growth, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday. AfDB has adopted a strategy called High 5s, which focuses on five major developmental priorities comprising agriculture, energy, industrialisation, regional connectivity, and improved quality of life through access to social and economic opportunities, it said. The core theme is 'transforming agriculture for wealth creation in Africa'. During India Africa Forum Summit 2015, the announcement of a USD 10 billion line of credit by the Prime Minister marked a new beginning in India's approach to engage with African countries in a more constructive manner. India's support through lines of credit have not only helped finance the projects in African countries, but have contributed to capacity building, IT and higher education, it said. "While annual meetings of the Bank this year would be another opportunity to discuss the issues facing the regional member countries, India would seek to leverage this occasion to further deepen our economic cooperation with the African countries through various other events that have been planned," the statement read. The central government is organising an Africa India Cooperation Event on the sidelines of the main event, it said, adding that the sessions will primarily focus on agriculture, healthcare, e-governance, renewable energy, skill development and education, trade and investment, and manufacturing. The government is also holding an exhibition during the annual meetings of the Bank with an objective to showcase the capabilities of Indian companies in terms of technology, innovation, and start-ups, which could be relevant for African countries. India joined the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1982 and the AfDB in 1983, starting a long history of cooperation spanning over 30 years. India's collaboration with the Bank Group is built around three main pillars: contributions to the General Capital Increase (GCI), contributions to ADF replenishment and a bilateral trust fund, and providing resources to support highly indebted poor countries and the Multilateral Debt Reduction Initiative. The Tennessee law will expressly prohibit the use of so-called free speech zones to limit the areas of campus on which certain viewpoints can be heard. University administrators are prohibited from rescinding the invitations from students or faculty of speakers with whom they disagree or fear will cause disruption. The law also demands campuses use the actual legal definition of student-on-student harassment handed down by the Supreme Court, behavior so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and detracts from the victims educational experience, that the victim-students are effectively denied equal access to an institutions resources and opportunities. New Delhi: The sudden demise of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave has taken the political fraternity by shock, with leaders expressing grief and condoling the former's death. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief over the 'personal loss'. "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," Modi tweeted. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, also condoled the passing away of the minister. Shocked by his sudden demise, Gandhi said that Dave was soft spoken and gentle human being. "He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality," she added. Gandhi conveyed her condolences to the members of Dave's family, admirers and supporters. Expressing shock over the same, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also extended his condolence. "Shocked and extremely sad to know the sudden demise of my colleague Sri Anil Madhav Dave, Environment Minister. My heartfelt condolences," Naidu tweeted. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also prayed for peace to the departed soul. "Deeply shocked & saddened by demise of my colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. May God render peace to the departed soul," Jaitley tweeted. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar took to Twitter to express shock at the 'untimely' demise. "Shocked & saddened by untimely demise of Shri. Anil Dave. India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment," Parrikar tweeted. Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi also expressed grief over the sudden death, saying it was a personal loss for him. "It is a personal loss for me. I had the fortune to work with him in the Rajya Sabha for many years. He believed that his concerns about environment would become a matter of concern for all," Tyagi told ANI. Former Union Minister and SeniorCongress leader Jairam Ramesh today condoled the demise of Anil Dave. Describing the BJP leader as a "very nice man," Ramesh in his condolence message remembered the support Dave had extended to him during his stint as Environment Minister in the previous Congress-led UPA government. "He supported whatever I did when I was minister," Ramesh said. The Rajya Sabha MP said Dave, who was an "ideal chairman of the Rajya Sabha select committees," had special interest in river conservation. "He listened to everybody... (He) did not give offence to his political opponents," Ramesh said. Anil Madhav Dave passed away earlier today at the age of 60. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, Dave represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha since 2009. The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq among Muslims. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar heard the issue for six days during which various parties including the Centre, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board and various others made the submissions. The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, had begun the hearing on May 11. The members of the bench are from different religious communities including Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim. The bench had made it clear that it would examine whether the practice of triple talaq among Muslims is fundamental to their religion and had also said for the time being it will not deliberate upon the issue of polygamy and 'nikah halala'. It had also said that the issue of polygamy and 'nikah halala' would be kept pending and will be dealt with later. Nikah Halala is a practice intended to curb the incidence of divorce under which a man cannot remarry his former wife without her going through the process of marrying someone else, consummating it, getting divorced, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then returning to him. The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands. During the trials, the Centre had told the apex court that it would bring a law to regulate marriage and divorce among the Muslim community if triple talaq is struck down. The Centre got an assurance from the apex court that these aspects were open and would be dealt with later. The apex court bench said the government has to first pass the test of "essentiality" and prove that 'triple talaq' is not an essential part of Islam, as this will amount to "tinkering" with religion. Presenting the case on behalf of the government, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the issue of triple talaq should not be seen as discrimination between majority and minority communities or the majority forcing its views on minority. The hearing assumed significance as the apex court has heard the matter during the summer vacation. As per the new decision, students would have to pass class V and VIII examinations for promotion to the next classes. However, students of classes 5 and 8 who fail might get another opportunity to pass even if the existing policy is scrapped as proposed in the RTE amendment Bill. Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre is planning to scrap the no-detention policy followed till standard VIII, according to an announcement made by Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday. Whether this will be an infringement on the Right to Education remains a question mark. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) had earlier recommended that the 'no-detention' clause in the Right to Education Act be amended which may result in children from class V till class VIII being detained if they fail the school examination. In pursuance of a resolution adopted at a meeting of the CABE held on June 6, 2012, a sub-committee was constituted to study the implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in the context of no-detention provision in the RTE Act, 2009. The panel submitted its report in August, 2014 and it was placed before CABE at its meeting held on August 19, 2014. All states and Union territories were asked to share their views on the no-detention policy. As many as 28 states have shared their views out of which 23 states have suggested modification to the policy. The CABE had gone for the decision as many surveys had found that learning outcome had deteriorated with the implementation of the policy. Even the National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted by NCERT had found that the learning outcomes of students were getting poorer. As per the new decision, the HRD ministry would decide on fixing learning outcome for each class. Parents of students taking admission in classes 1 to 8 will be given a document which will include the details of what their child should know according to the class they are in, as part of the learning outcomes decided by the central government. For example, if a child is in class 4, he/she should know how to read headlines, subtitles and captions on TV and pamphlets. The ministry will also amend the RTE rules to mention the parameters for assessment of the learning outcomes for each of the elementary classes. As per the existing no-detention policy, students are promoted automatically to higher classes every year till the end of upper primary. The policy was adapted the UPA government on April 1, 2010 to ensure that every child aged between 6 and 14 received school education. However, for the last many years, concerns have been raised about the negative impact of the policy on the academic performance of the students. The matter regarding amendment to section 16 of the RTE Act, 2009 is under the active consideration of the ministry. As per the new decision, students would have to pass class V and VIII examinations for promotion to the next classes. However, students of classes 5 and 8 who fail might get another opportunity to pass even if the existing policy is scrapped as proposed in the Right to Education (RTE) amendment Bill. These examinations are to be scheduled before the commencement of the academic year in June. Students will be asked to attend remedial classes before sitting for the exams once again. However, the onus would be on the states to decide whether to hold examinations in classes 5 and 8 as education is in the concurrent list. Those states which do not want any changes in the no-detention policy will also be free to continue with it. All-Kerala School Teachers Union (AKSTU) general secretary N. Sreekumar told Deccan Chronicle that the suggestions on scrapping were discussed at CABE during the tenure of Smriti Irani in the HRD ministry. The then education minister in the UDF government, P.K. Abdul Rabb, had agreed to the suggestions. However, the stand was taken by the then education minister without consulting the stakeholders. The RTE Act would have to be amended for the purpose, Mr Sreekumar said. Kerala Pradesh School Teachers Association president P. Harigovindan said that there was mixed response to the decision to do away with the no-detention policy. The issues related to the measuring of the learning outcome. While the central rules stipulated that admissions to class I are to be made when a child is six years old, the state rules say that admission should be when the student is five years old. This has its effect on the learning outcome every year. As a result, it was not fair to introduce any decision on measuring the learning outcome on the same scale across the country, Mr Harigovindan said. Sujeev Jose, an English teacher of Government Higher Secondary School, Neduveli, said that there had been a fall in standards after the introduction of the no-detention policy. However, any decisions on doing away with the policy should be made without losing the good aspects of the activity-oriented learning introduced in schools, Mr Jose said. Stating that Islam seeks to fight evil, Abdullah said there was evil all around in India, practiced by Hindus. (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: Fugitive Islamic State (IS) preacher from Kerala, Abdul Rashid Abdullah, who is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for leading 23 residents from the state to join the terrorist group in Afghanistan, is now telling his target audience to travel to the war-torn country instead of waging jihad in India. In an interview to the Indian Express, Abdullah justified his stand by saying that it has become impossible to wage offensive jihad in India. "Today, it is impossible to wage offensive jihad in India. First, we have to consolidate the Caliphate, and then expand its frontiers," he was quoted as saying. Abdullah said that ISIS in Afghanistan was telling Indian Muslims to wait, the Caliphate is coming faster than you think. He claimed that the aim was for the whole world to be ruled by Allah, so he alone can be worshipped, not false gods. Calling the Narendra Modi government a blessing in disguise for ISIS, Abdullah said in the interview that this is because while Muslims face visible oppression in some parts of India, in other parts they do not realise they are being oppressed. Abdullah claimed that the Modi government was planning to change the Constitution, and only then, Muslims would truly be awakened and start searching for a solution. Lashing out at Muslim scholars for misleading the community in India, Abdullah said that while they claim that it is possible for Muslims to practise their faith fully in India - pray, fast, go for hajj etc, they do not mention that there is no scope for offensive jihad in the country. Stating that Islam seeks to fight evil, Abdullah said there was evil all around in the country. He blamed the Hindus for practicing idol worship, and said evils like alcoholism, prostitution and homosexuality were also rife in the country. However, Abdullah bemoaned that no Muslim could raise his hand to stop these. Claiming that Islam was spread by the sword, not by peace, Abdullah said in the interview that the Prophet Mohammad the Caliph Abu Bakr Siddiq, and their followers conquered the world by the sword, not by doing dawah. Dismissing the claim of Muslim scholars in India that campaigning to improve the conditions of Muslims in India was more important than global jihad, Abdullah said education and jobs were pseudo-achievements, and the respect for other religions was anti-Islamic. Indian Muslim leaders fall into three categories, he alleged, those who do not know the truth, those who deliberately obscure the truth, and those who realise the truth, but only wish to work for it indirectly, fearful of the consequences of speaking out," he added. Abdullah also claimed that 'any Muslim' supported the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, and called the Caliphate in Afghanistan 'a kind of utopia'. He also said that many Indians, 'far more than you can imagine', were travelling to Afghanistan to fight for ISIS. Decrying even the fundamentalist Taliban, Abdullah claimed their actions were anti-Islamic because they wanted to implement Sharia only in Afghanistan, not the whole world. The preacher said that Muslim youth had realised that western philosophy and western ways of life 'rested on shaky foundations' and some had turned to atheism. But he said that the advent of the internet and the knowledge of English had 'opened up a new world' for these youth. New Delhi/The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will pronounce its verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case today, just 10 days after India approached it demanding immediate suspension of the death sentence given to its former Navy officer by a Pakistan military court. "The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India v Pakistan), today on Thursday 18 May 2017. "A public sitting will take place at 12 noon (3:30 pm IST) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, will read the court's decision," the international court said in a release today. India, whose request for consular access to Jadhav was turned down 16 times, had approached the ICJ on May 8, accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a "farcical trial" for convicting Jadhav without a "shred of evidence" following which the court had stayed his execution. The ICJ ruling also made it clear that "pending the meeting of the court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects." During its submission to the ICJ on May 15 at a public hearing, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. India is represented by its 'Agent' Deepak Mittal, who is the head of the Pakistan division in the external affairs ministry and the case is argued by its lead attorney Harish Salve. The India team is expected to be present at the time of the verdict. On its part, Pakistan told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. KOLKATA: Urging the medical practitioners to bring in human touch in providing healthcare, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday reiterated that attack on doctors and ransacking hospitals by angry relatives of patients alleging medical negligence is unacceptable. A patient or the relatives of a patient also have their own responsibility to ensure a better healthcare system. Ransacking hospitals or beating up doctors alleging medical negligence (in case a patient dies) is not unacceptable, the President said at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS), the first full-fledged healthcare institute dedicated to liver diseases in eastern India, set up by the West Bengal Liver Foundation in Sonarpur in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. Batting for humanitarian outlook on the part of doctors, Mr Mukherjee said that human touch should always complement the advancement of technology in modern healthcare. A smiling face can cure half the disease. This is a practical truth and if this adds to the competency of a medical practitioner then the patient will get the confidence of recovery, he said. The President lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present at the event, to rein in private hospitals in Kolkata after complaints of exorbitant charges. The Chief Minister said that when she saw that healthcare has deviated from the concept of service she spoke with the doctors and other officials concerned and came out with some preventive measures. The Bengal government has passed a bill aimed at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and taking steps to stop medical negligence. Mamata Banerjee during her address said that the other name to health services is service and giving life to a patients. The state-of-the-art IILDS, spread over a four-acre plot, has a 100-bed inpatient section. It has a six-bed intensive therapy unit and two theatres equipped to carry out all types of gastrointestinal and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeries inclusive of liver transplantation. Judges enter to read the world courts verdict in Jadhavs case, in The Hague, Netherlands on Thursday. New Delhi/The Hague: In a major diplomatic victory for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) barred Pakistan on Thursday from executing former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, convicted by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges, till the world court pronounces its final decision in the case. The Hague court rejected Pakistans claims that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, and ruled that India should have been granted consular access. India heaved a collective sigh of relief with political leaders hailing the order, and the former naval officers friends in Mumbai erupting in joy and bursting firecrackers. The ICJ will now call for a more comprehensive filing from India before it decides the case, a process that could take years. Pakistan risks international condemnation if it violates the ICJ order now and hangs Jadhav. The ICJ is the top United Nations legal body for hearing disputes between countries and its rulings are binding, though occasionally flouted. Granting the provisional relief sought by India, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to take all measures to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision and inform the court of all the measures taken in implementation of the order. The court also said it was legally binding on both countries and involves international legal obligations. The ICJ said that the mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. Excerpts from the judgement On Jurisdiction The Court has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalled that India sought to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the (Vienna) Convention. It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. On Consular access The Court observed that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. Risk of irreparable prejudice Chennai: Chennai on Thursday recorded the hottest day since 2014. According to weather office sources here the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degree Celsius in Nungmabkkam. The temperature recorded in Meenambakkam was even higher, touching 43.6 degree Celsius, a new high in the last 15 years, sources said. According to Regional Meteorological Centre weather bulletin, thunderstorm accompanied with gusty wind is likely to occur at isolated places over interior Tamil Nadu on Thursday, but there will not be any significant change in the weather for next five days. Attributing it to heat waves, RMC director S. Balachandran said, The land breeze blowing towards northwest has led to the rise in temperatures. Easterlies shall bring no relief to the city and temperature can soar high further in the coming days. Similar pattern of weather will prevail for next 5 days, resulting in soaring temperatures. The mild showers received on Tuesday morning turned out to be a rare happening and there are no signs of rain to the city. Weather blogger Pradeep John said that Chennai is likely to remain dry for at least a week. However, interior regions like Trichy, Vellore and Cuddalore will receive heavy rainfall. Similar heat situations are to prevail in the coming days as the land breeze travelling from Andhra Pradesh shall lead to rise in temperatures, he added. Hyderabad: Arguing that the Telangana state Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act introduced by the TRS government was in violation of the Central Land Acquisition Act 2013 passed by the UPA government, the TS Congress has decided in principle to challenge the state Act in the Supreme Court. There are many violations of the Central Act. We will file a PIL, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy told the media here on Thursday. He said pro-farmer laws have been excluded from the new Act, and it also did away with the provision of mandatory holding of gram sabhas, and initiation of a social impact study of the areas where the land is to be acquired. Instead, there were some draconian laws in the state amendment, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged, saying these were ultra vires vis-a-vis the Central Act. He alleged that state BJP leaders were trying to lure Congress leaders into the saffron fold, and asked whether such actions went well with the BJPs ideology. To my knowledge, no Congress leader is unhappy with the party and there is no chance of any senior leaders jumping the ship. They are spreading such rumours on the eve of Amit Shahs visit here, Mr Reddy said. He said if the BJP was really serious about strengthening its base in the state, it should work its way forward in positive ways. Mumbai: The moment International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to halt Kulbhushan Jadhavs death sentence, his friends and family members heaved a sigh of relief. However, they were quick to respond that they do not trust Pakistan and will have a big celebration only when Jadhav comes back home. Jadhavs uncle, Subhash Jadhav said, We are really happy with decision. In fact, all Indians are happy. We are celebrating the decision but still we are afraid of Pakistan. We cannot trust them till Kulbhushan enters in India. We are now concerned about his life and nothing else. We have hopes that he will come back safely. Jadhavs family used to stay on the fifth floor of Silver Oak apartment in Mumbais plush Powai area. However, the societys watchman said that the family has moved out and the house is locked. The moment ICJ news broke out mediapersons thronged the locality. Around 50 local BJP workers also came and burst crackers outside Jadhavs house. They shouted slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram. The international court has taken a good decision, we are very happy. He was an Indian and not a terrorist, so what Pakistan did was illegal, said a BJP worker. His childhood friend Tulsidas Pawar said, Wwe knew that India would win this case. After we heard the verdict, we broke into celebratory mode. We bought sweets and busted crackers. One of the endearing qualities of a RW fanatic is his/her ability to project something I like to call the "ALL or NOTHING" strategy. It is closely related to the BLACK or White logic or the THEY ALL DO IT or the IT'S NOT That BAD mindset. Look, the presidency is a job like NONE other and there's no way to TRAIN someone for the horrific, frightening responsibility of the presidency, but we the people have tried (in the past) to elect SOMEONE with SOME sort of legislative, governing, military experience AND someone with a background in LAW--an education befitting the most powerful man/woman in the world. Up until now it's been our goal to choose someone with a bit of caution--a dash of honor--a pinch of decency--someone to admire. We haven't always succeeded, but we've tried. WE have attemped to raise the BAR so our lawmakers and our administrations represent the BEST of us. WE DO hold them to a higher standard and we should continue to do that. Of course presidents make mistakes---how could they not? They've never done this job before. Neither have cabinet members, LIKE Hillary Clinton, who openly admits she's made mistakes. AND Clinton has been investigated MANY times for the mistakes she's made. So you can STOP with the.....but what about Hillary....and what about Obama...? NO ONE thinks they were perfect and no one expects our presidents to get everything right. I'm sure they've all crossed the line at some point because POWER does that to a person. Donald J Trump is unlike anything we've ever dealt with. He should NEVER have been elected because he doesn't have a clue. All we've seen for over 100 days is one mistake after another. Every American should be concerned about this. Every American (including you) should question his judgement---just as you questioned Obama's, Clinton's, Bush's, Reagan......and every other president. Trump has NEVER--not once--in all the mistakes he's made--not once has he apologized. NOT once has he said "I was mistaken" or "I misspoke" or "Let me clarify...".....and NEITHER have his supporters. It's time for you and your president to own up. Man up. New Delhi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday termed as a great relief the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan and asserted that the government will leave no stone unturned to save him. She also thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve who was India's attorney at the Hague and argued the case before the global court. In a series of tweets, she said, The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Swaraj said, We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting Indias case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him). She also complimented the team of officers from her ministry for their tireless efforts and hard work put up in the matter. Salve had charged only Rs 1 for the case. On being asked about the fee, Mr Salve said, When you believe in the case you do it pro bono (free of charge) and this was such a case. The government of India sought advice from me at the initial stage after which I researched about the case and gave my advice. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was in Srinagar for the GST Council meeting, complimented Salve for the order. #ICJ verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan, Jaitley said in a series of tweets. He also complimented Harish Salve. Well done! #HarishSalve - you have done India Proud, Jaitley, himself a legal luminary, said. Hyderabad: The Telangana state government is making swift moves to shift Dharna Chowk - where public protests generally take place away from the Indira Park in the city, despite stiff opposition from Opposition parties and civil society organisations. The government has come up with two new locations Malkajgiri and Shamshabad. It is also willing to make available 10 acres of land at each location and provide facilities such as tents, toilets, and drinking water, as in Jantar Mantar in Delhi where protests take place. Government land is available in both the locations, and as they are on the citys outskirts, they will not pose any traffic or law and order problems, police feel. These two locations have been referred to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for approval and he is likely to discuss the matter at a meeting of police officers that he has convened at Pragati Bhavan on Friday. At the meeting, Mr Rao will interact with police officials from SI to DGP level, to discuss the revamping of the police force and review the law and order situation in the state. The Chief Minister has gone through the report submitted by the police department on shifting Dharna Chowk. He is expected to discuss the issue with the home minister and senior police officials in the meeting and take a decision, said CMO sources. The sources said the Chief Minister wants to send a clear message that his government was not trying to suppress the voice of the Opposition and civil organisations by shifting the traditional protest location, and was in fact setting up two Dharna Chowks. Uttar Pradesh policeman is being thrashed by a Railway Police Force (RPF) jawan while jumping off a train to catch a fleeing prisoner. (Photo: ANI | Screengrab) Mau (Uttar Pradesh): A video has gone viral in which a Uttar Pradesh policeman is being thrashed by a Railway Police Force (RPF) jawan while jumping off a train to catch a fleeing prisoner. Reportedly, the prisoner managed to flee from police custody while returning from Varanasi. Security personnel started cutting the vacuum pipe to stop the train, which led to them being beaten. Anil Madhav Dave with members of Nila Vichara Vedi on the banks of Bharathapuzha during his visit to Kerala in 2014. Thrissur: The untimely demise of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave has come as a shock for the functionaries of Nila Vichara Vedi, a socio-environmental organisation that works for the revival of Bharathapuzha. Mr Dave and ecologist Madhav Gadgil were expected to take part as chief guests in the National River Fest to be held on the banks of Nila (Bharathapuzha) from June 2 to 5. "The news of death has come as shocker. It is a setback for our efforts to implement major watershed programmes for the river and the plan to take back the encroachments on the river bed. Even when he was ill, he spoke to us when we went to invite him to the river fest," said Vipin Koodiyedath, an activist of the Vedi. Mr Dave, a native of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, had inspected Bharathapuzha in 2014 as the head of the Parliament standing committee for water conservation. An environmentalist, he had then suggested several projects to revive the dying rivers in Kerala, members of the Vedi said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays respect to the mortal remains of environment minister Anil Madhav Dave at his residence in New Delhi on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) Bhopal: Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave, known for his missionary zeal for conservation of rivers died of cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Thursday morning. He was 60 and a bachelor. Mr Dave was passionate about conservation of the river Narmada, considered a lifeline to Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, from his early days. He had founded the NGO Narmada Samagra that worked towards the rivers conservation. He was so much in love with Narmada that he desired his last rites to be performed on its bank, BJP spokesperson, Raneesh Agrawal, who had a long association with the suave politician, said quoting Daves will. Do not erect a memorial when I die, but plant a tree if you loved and respected me, said Dave in his will. Dave had authored eight books in Hindi and English which dwelt with environmental issues such as global warming. Born at Barnagar in Ujjain district in MP on July 6, 1956, Mr Dave had completed his post-graduation in commerce in Gujarati College in Indore in MP and later joined RSS as pracharak. He was credited with bringing back BJP to power in MP by defeating Congress, led by Digvijay Singh, in 2003 and helping the party retain power in state by winning successive elections since then. His body was flown here from New Delhi on Thursday evening. His last rites would be performed at Bandrabhan, on the banks of Narmada on Friday morning, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said. Leaders cutting across party lines on Thursday condoled the demise of Union minister and BJP leader Anil Madhav Dave, remembering him as a soft-spoken, honest person and a learned man. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was shocked over the sudden demise of my friend and very respected colleague, environment minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. Shocked at his sudden demise, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Dave was a soft spoken and gentle human being. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and Opposition leader M.K. Stalin also condoled the death of Dave. The Union Cabinet passed a condolence resolution and observed a two-minute silence in the memory of environment minister. The National Flag was pulled down to half-mast on all government buildings in Delhi as a mark of respect for the environmental activist. There was a meeting between Pawar and Gandhi, in which the issue of candidates for the post of president was also discussed. (Photo: PTI) Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday said its president Sharad Pawar has rejected Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's proposal to be the opposition's candidate in the country's presidential election. "There was a meeting between Pawar and Gandhi, in which the issue of candidates for the post of president was also discussed. Pawar clearly informed Gandhi that she should consider somebody else's name," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said here. "I am not keen on contesting," Pawar was quoted by Malik as telling Sonia Gandhi in the meeting that took place in New Delhi in the last week of April. Asked if it was the Congress which proposed that Pawar should contest the presidential election, Malik said, "Unless there was a proposal, why would he say no?" At a recent rally in Mumbai, Pawar had stated that as the NDA has enough numbers to get its candidate elected, the election for the president's post was not likely to throw any surprise. The NCP has 11 MPs and some 50 MLAs across the country. The media is awash with surveys that indicate a majority of people are satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Their expectations, they told pollsters, have been surpassed. Three years after the watershed mandate, both the government and the ruling party have worked as per my expectations too. This may seem odd to readers who kept track of this writers views, but there is a reason for this high score on the satisfaction index. I feel no disappointment as the script unfolded exactly as envisaged. To appreciate this, one must go back to 2013-14, to the people who decided that Mr Modi and his party or its allies was their choice. These people, constituting around 37 of Indians who voted, opted for Mr Modi for two reasons: the first lot thought he had put the ghosts of Godhra, the Gujarat riots and encounter deaths behind him and had reinvented himself as the Development Man. In Mr Modi, they saw a transformative leader, who could extricate the nation from the morass it slipped in during Dr Manmohan Singhs second term. The second lot, who were under no illusions, felt a Hindu Hriday Samrat is always true to his core beliefs. They were sure everything else was a smokescreen, the proverbial add-on to an existing pizza base. This section felt that Mr Modis election was a historical necessity to seek revenge for the subjugation of Hindus in the medieval past. Even among the first group, there were two categories, one of which endorsed hardline Hindutva in subconscious minds but were too timid to admit this and publicly articulate support for majoritarianism. But it was the second category, well-meaning right-wing liberals, who bore the most risk as they staked belief and commitment to humanitarianism and took Mr Modis utterances at face value. They were politically naive and hoped Mr Modi would be nothing but Atal Behari Vajpayee with 282 Lok Sabha MPs. In recent weeks, there have been several instances of these liberals feeling unsure about their choice. For many, Yogi Adityanath becoming Uttar Pradesh chief minister was the last straw, a move that could no longer prevent them from confronting their inner selves. These liberals had deluded themselves when in 2014 Mr Modi mocked Rahul Gandhi, calling him shehzade, not assigning a more Hindi/Hindu moniker of yuvaraj or rajkumar. These liberals also didnt read the writing on the wall when the then UPA government was repeatedly parodied as the Dilli sultanate and not samrajya, rajya or rajatva. Clearly, the BJP campaign was intended to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. There are three areas in which Mr Modis performance must be assessed social impact, effect on public institutions and democratic processes and, finally, government policies and initiatives. While the slide downhill in the first two sectors is ominous but on expected lines, the performance on the final parameter is a shade disappointing. The social strategy was evident within weeks when Yogi Adityanath was given charge of handling the bypolls in UP. Thereafter, there has been no relenting on the strategy to maximise support from among the proverbial 85 per cent comprising Hindus and what Sangh Parivar labels as Indian Religionists. There is no disappointment as Mr Modis government was not expected to work to integrate Juhapura, the largest ghetto in Asia with an all-Muslim populace, that exists on the fringes of Ahmedabad, as a testimony to the communitys social exclusion. There is no disenchantment with this government because it was expected it would work towards the creation of many more Juhapuras. If the 2014 verdict made Muslims realise they were rendered redundant in the electoral process, that the BJP can win elections without even paying lip-service to them, developments since then has increased their social isolation. As the recent UP elections has demonstrated, a grand narrative has been created with the intention of deepening prejudice against Muslims. Slaughterhouses have to be shut down as mainly Muslims own and work in these. Moreover, this industry proliferated due to the appeasement policies of previous governments. Owners and workers have benefited and became rich overnight. As this is an industry where work is over by mid-morning, Muslim youth have all the time to loiter around womens colleges and seduce Hindu girls. The meat ban, gau raksha and anti-Romeo squads are part of a grand strategy to hit back after Hindus were at the receiving end under pseudo secular rule! But then, these developments are also on expected lines. After declaring Parliament as a temple of democracy, the BJP refused to confer Leader of the Opposition status to the Congress nominee. If that showed how democratic institutions would be treated, the strategy to dub problematic laws as money bills is the latest instance of scant respect for institutions and tradition. Frequent run-ins with the judiciary and attacks on educational institutions also underline the growing devaluation of healthy precedents. Insofar as government policies and governance tactics are concerned, there is little change from the Gujarat model of micro-management and lofty ideas without adequate spade work. Because nothing can be consistently inadequate, several schemes made steady progress, but core areas remain unte-nded. Finding jobs for people and addressing growing livelihood conc-erns remains the biggest areas of worry. However much the government may like to pat itself on the back for the pace of converting to LED use or expanding the DBT network, the peoples key concern remains finding adequate resou-rces. The regimes political consolidation too is on expected lines. Three years into Mr Modis tenure, the picture on the ground is turning out exactly as foreseen. There was an outside chance in 2014 that India would change Mr Modi. But he has clearly been smarter and appears to be succeeding in altering the face of the nation. The writer is the author of Narendra Modi: The Man, the Times and Sikhs: The Untold Agony of 1984. While the International Court of Justice is still to give its final order in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case that India took before it, the interim verdict of the UN court at The Hague on Thursday seems fundamentally logical and appeals to a sense of basic human values divorced from considerations of politics. Pending the final disposal of the case, the 11 judges of the court were unanimous that the ICJ did have jurisdiction in the matter as the issue concerned the guarantee of consular access to Mr Jadhav, who is in Pakistani custody after being tried by a military court there and awarded the sentence of death. The court also ordered that Mr Jadhav shall not be executed and that the Pakistan government will report to it on the steps taken to ensure this. The ICJs order has caused much disappointment and confusion in Pakistan, besides mutual recrimination. It is easy to see the military will let the civilian government be the fall guy, although the civilians were at no stage involved in the Jadhav case. The Army took charge of it from the start to burnish its nationalist credentials. Pakistan turned down 16 written requests by India to be allowed consular access to its national. Mr Jadhav was disallowed the use of a counsel of his choice. The charges framed against him were not made public or communicated to India despite repeated requests. The court had no difficulty in proceeding on the basis that even spies and terrorists have human rights (if Pakistans contention is indeed valid that its Indian prisoner was on a spy mission). In effect, it was a show trial of an Indian national who was apprehended by the Pakistanis in circumstances that look dubious at best (although Pakistan disputes the Indian version and calls the former naval officer an Indian spy), and the ICJ recognised this to be the case at core. Will Pakistan comply with the order? It is a rogue state with a slack sense of morality. It can, therefore, conceivably approach the UN Security Council for relief and to reiterate arguments questioning the ICJs jurisdiction, not respecting the fact that 11 judges of the court had unanimously taken the view they had. It is not unlikely that China will support it in the UNSC. In that event, the ICJ will stand disregarded. This is because it has no means to ensure that its orders are enforced, although the court has said that in this matter Pakistan had a legal obligation to honour the Thursday directive. In the worst case scenario, which is far from inconceivable in the case of Pakistan, the Army can simply have their prisoner bumped off and plead innocence, instead of bothering with legal niceties. Libraries represent the history, culture and civilisation of a country. In a sense, they also represent its future. If a country invests in its public libraries it ensures its continued cultural enrichment. Right through history, till recent times, it is the deliberate burning down of libraries that demonstrated barbaric behaviour. Mobs of philistines vandalise either because they have conquered or because they want a cultural cleansing. At Hitlers book burning sessions Goebbels had famously declared: These flames not only illuminate the final end of an old era, they also light up the new. Till today we cant forget the destruction of the libraries of Alexandria and of our own Nalanda and Vikramshila. Apart from losing so much learning it did inflict a wound on humanity. The way the world is headed and in view of the clash of religions, we need to protect our civilisation. Thats why we need more and more libraries. Yet all we hear is the futility of spending money on libraries. In todays digital world, why should anybody want to visit a library when there is one in every smartphone? Fortunately, India hasnt fallen prey to this line of thinking yet. In 2014 our President launched the National Mission on Libraries. Rs 400 crores was allocated for the next three years and this included funding to set up a national virtual library. But whereas in other nations the complaint is a shortage of funds, here the funds allocated arent utilised. Its a matter of shame that many states didnt even apply for these funds and although some states have good library systems, the average national spending is only 27 per cent, according to Subadra Ramakrishnan in her article Why Indians are losing out on libraries. Further, in this well-researched article she claims there is a correlation between the literacy rate of a state and its public library system. No wonder a public library has been called the peoples university. However, to have a robust library system today, the library as we have known it must be reinvented. The Imperial Library (which along with the Calcutta Public Library became the National Library) was intended to be a library of reference, a working place for students and a repository of material for future historians for India, in which every work written about India at any time can be seen and read. These objectives remain, but the format and system must meet the requirements of digital times. Recently, when my membership of a city library expired, I toyed with the idea of becoming an online member. This would allow me access to thousands of books, journals and films in the comfort of my home, through my phone or any computer. But the moment I stepped into the library to renew my card as an online member, I knew that I would be deprived of the indescribable pleasure of visiting a real library. The very sight of shelves filled with all sorts of books waiting to be explored, the silent camaraderie of book lovers and the delicious exercise of browsing and then choosing the books, magazines and films you wish to borrow are all appealing. From time to time you bump into students and fellow teachers or old friends and it is nice to share a cup of coffee in the small cafeteria at one end of the library. The issuing and reissuing is done by a machine. At the touch of a few buttons it produces a slip with the details of the items you have borrowed and the due date of return. There is a small conference hall for all kinds of talks and workshops I attended one on how to use the online library effectively. Sometimes there are film shows and general discussions in the main library after office hours. There are facilities for photocopying and recording. These are some of the ways the British Council Library has reinvented itself. Apart from innovations, there is a combination of the traditional and contemporary and all users are satisfied. Indeed, the transition to a digital world must be handled sensitively. The playground and the library are the twin nerve centres of a school while colleges and universities take great pride in their libraries. I know that in some state-of-the-art libraries, robots are used to fetch books for the reader. I remember feeling somewhat unnerved when years ago at the imposing UPenn Library I saw whole book cabinets moving across the floor. Somebody had switched on this mechanical device whereby stacks of books could be moved mechanically to make room for a person who wanted to go through a particular aisle. As for childrens libraries some of the pictures look so magical that you want to be a child again. A school library is where children get access to information, they learn, they read for sheer pleasure and, hopefully, they develop the traits of a lifelong learner. Today libraries are not totally silent anymore. In modern school libraries there are dedicated spaces for discussions and consultations. There are exciting library-related activities and, of course, there are Kindles, other book readers and laptops, along with traditional books. In very sophisticated institutions there are facilities to produce resources. Children make their own websites and create films, blogs, power point presentations, and audio recordings on a variety of topics. Teachers do the same. It is so much better to create your own audio visual lesson than to outsource it or make do with readymade material. Librarians should be retrained. Their task would be very different in the digital world of today. Users have to be guided in efficient ways to access relevant information. But in a world of overabundance of information, unreliable information and dubious sites, librarians must have the skills to teach young people to sift information. This is a vital need today. In a democracy, it is vital that every single individual should get access to information. It is therefore important for our country to have a vibrant public library system. Literacy and digital literacy will increase at a quicker rate if we revitalise our libraries. I wish there were more neighbourhood libraries. Run properly, they would go a long way to keep our young out of trouble and to give them the opportunity to enrich themselves. We have some of the most beautiful old libraries in our country. But I hope we will always keep in mind how essential libraries are. And I also hope that the day will never come when readers will lose their freedom to read whatever they choose to read. No civilised people burn or ban books rather they preserve, nurture and create knowledge. Our libraries must be cultural hubs that befit our glorious heritage and serve as learning centres which can fulfil our nations dreams for tomorrow. The writer is a veteran school educator based in Kolkata Khande de Pahul or in simple terms, called Amrit-Chakhna (to partake nectar) is the Sikh ceremony of baptism which is of immense socio-religious significance. Khande de Pahul is like taking a new birth with a transformed physical, mental and spiritual faculties. It is a journey from a mundane to a spiritual field of life, though remaining within the householders way of life. The Sikh baptism ceremony is open to all. Any person of any caste, class, gender, religion or nation can embrace it and become a pure new person by becoming a member of the Khalsa. The ceremony was started by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 when, on the day of Baisakhi, he had baptised the Five Beloved ones (Panj-Piyaras). The turning point of the ceremony was a request by the Guru to initiate him into the Khalsahood by the Panj-Piyaras. The initiation ceremony can be conducted at any quite place in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib and six baptised Sikhs one granthi to read from the sacred granth and five Sikhs to administer the Khande de Pahul. These six may even include Sikh women. Everyone, the seeker and those administering it, must take bath and wash their hair prior to the ceremony. With their heads covered and Five Kakkars donning their bodies, the persons seeking initiation must stand respectfully with hands folded facing the Guru Granth Sahib. One of the five beloved ones explains the main rules and obligations of the Khalsa Panth. These are to meditate only on the one supreme creator and renunciation of the worship of any created thing; study and live according to the Sikh teachings, and to help and serve humanity at large. The Sikhs, waiting to be baptised, are then asked if they are willing to abide by these rules. On an affirmative response, the ceremony starts with an ardas and the preparation of the amrit (nectar) starts after taking hukam (command) from the Guru Granth Sahib. The writer teaches sociology at Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, Delhi University Nine people were hurt and two arrests were made during an altercation at the Turkish ambassadors residence in the US capital during a visit by Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to witnesses, a brawl erupted when Erdogans security detail attacked protesters carrying the flag of the Kurdish PYD party outside the residence. A local NBC television affiliate reported Erdogan was inside the building at the time. Erdogans referendum victory spells the end of Turkey as we know it Yavuz Baydar Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said the altercation broke out between two groups but he didnt elaborate on the circumstances. He said two people were arrested, including one who was charged with assaulting a police officer. All of the sudden they just ran towards us, Yazidi Kurd demonstrator Lucy Usoyan told ABC, adding that she was attacked by a pro-Erdogan supporter. Someone was beating me in the head nonstop, and I thought, Okay, Im on the ground already, what is the purpose to beat me? The altercation came the same day that Erdogan met Donald Trump at the White House. The State Department declined to comment. The first day of the event kicked off with Google showcasing its intention to implement artificial intelligence in all of their apps and services. Google has kicked off its highly anticipated three days I/O developer conference in California with lots of goodies for its loyalists and consumers. The first day of the event kicked off with Google showcasing its intention to implement artificial intelligence in all of their apps and services. Apart from the modern fancy stuff, Google also announced its plans to provide the benefits of the Android platform to developing countries that the existing 2 billion have been enjoying till date. Heres a brief of what Google had in store for the world on the first day of the conference. Improved Google Assistant Googles Assistant is growing up and is getting better at assisting people in daily life activities. The Assistant will now be able to identify information from images and show relevant results to the user, using Google lens. The Lens is basically the integration of an upgraded Google Goggles into the Assistant, which can help you find information about restaurants, flowers and WiFi passwords too. The Assistant will also pull up options related to a movie theatre amongst other places through its viewfinder mode. Third-party developers will also be able to incorporate their apps with Assistant with the Google Assistant SDK. Assistant on iPhone, fridges and ovens With Microsoft moving into a software service provider category for iOS and Android platforms, Google took the initiative to bring its Assistant to iPhones. The Assistant will be available as a standalone app on the App Store, just like Microsofts Cortana. Users will have to open the Google app to speak and interact with Assistant. The Assistant will also be available on fridges, ovens and other appliances from LG and GE, thus completing a connected Google Home ecosystem. Google Home gets an upgrade too In view of latest threats from rival AI speakers, the Home speaker gets the ability to do free calls in US and Canada. Proactive assistance comes to the Home speaker, which can provide you relevant information for upcoming events. In short, the Home will be able to get you traffic alerts or train timings based on your appointments logged in the calendar. Plus, Home users will be able to play songs from their smartphones via Bluetooth connections as well. Visual Positioning Service (VPS) Googles idea of implementing Augmented Reality (AR) in useful products of our life begins by marrying Tango and Maps. The VPS takes help of Tangos AR advancements and helps users create real-time virtual spaces to be used in Maps. So, you can create a virtual map of your office space and use the algorithms of Maps to lead you to your destination. A smarter AI engine AI is the hot topic in every tech firms conference these days and Google had a slightly different take on the topic. Google wants to implement the benefits of AI in the phones of the masses. Sundar Pichai showed off Googles AI prowess in enhancing an extremely low-lit photograph with natural colours and removing specific objects from them. While these developments will take some time to reach people, the Smart Reply feature in Gmail, that will be able to read as well as understand the content and provide relevant reply options, will be available instantly. Cloud TPU to handle AI In order to take the AI to the next level, Google also unveiled its second generation TPU chip along with its cloud service. This silicon infrastructure will be able to train neural networks, aid image recognition and host machine translation tools. The new chip can train neural networks at a rate several times faster than existing processors, cutting times from as much as day down to several hours, says Jeff Dean, who heads Google Brain. Android O Beta unveiled The world looks out for a new Android every year and Google unveiled the Beta version of its latest Android O for Pixel devices. The new OS is slated to provide two times faster boot up than the current Android Nougat. Not only device bootup, but apps also run significantly faster on the newer OS. Stock Android will finally be getting individual icon notification in the form of Notification Dots, something existing on Samsung devices for many years. Also, the Smart Text Selection will let users double tap on text segments containing names and addresses and copy it to any other window without dragging cursors all over the screen. The new Android also gets support for the Kotlin programming language. Android Go As an improved successor to the Android One project, Android Go wants to reach the next two billion people. Google knows that developing countries have to compromise with undeveloped infrastructure and thus wants cheaper devices with less than 1GB of RAM to run the latest Android smoothly. With Android Go, users can have affordable devices with a stripped version of Android running scaled down apps from a scaled down version of the PlayStore. With the unnecessary stuff shaved off standard Android, users will massively gain from immense data and resource savings. New VR devices coming late 2017 Last years Google Daydream with its remote brought an improved VR experience to the people. This year, Google wants to bring standalone VR devices to the market for a new VR experience. Google is working with Qualcomm, HTC and Lenovo for developing such VR headsets to catch up with the competition of Oculus VR, Microsoft Mixed reality headsets and more. Google Jobs In order to have a presence in the field of job hunting, Google is rolling out its own job search portal. The search engine will draw in data from existing job portals like LinkedIn, Facebook, Monster and others. Jobs will available initially in the US before rolling out to the world later sometime. Jobs will leverage Googles advanced machine learning capabilities to better match opportunities with candidates. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Microsoft recently released its latest Windows 10 build 16199 and now it comes with a new feature for Android users that brings phone call notifications right on their desktops. One of Microsofts priorities is offering support for Android and iOS devices. At its Build developers conference recently, the company announced a new series of features which will arrive on smartphones not running on its own platform. Today, the software giant has started testing its incoming call notifications on Android devices, so whenever someone with a phone powered by Googles operating system receives a call, a notification shows up on their desktops with options like decline and text back. All you need to do in order to get phone notifications on your Windows 10 PC is to have Cortana set up and running on both the PC and the Android smartphone, and obviously logged in with the same account. For our Insiders with Android phones, Cortana can now display cross device incoming call notifications! Install the Cortana app on your phone, go to Settings > Sync notifications and turn on all the Cortana cross-device features. The next time you receive a call, a notification will appear on your Fast ring PC telling you who it is and giving you the option to text back a reply or decline the call, Microsoft explains. The feature should work with any Android phone that runs Cortana. Also make sure that you download the latest version of Microsofts digital assistant. Furthermore, the same account needs to be used on both devices to be able to offer the cloud-based synchronization for call notifications. This feature is still in the early days and is expected to become available to all users with the stable release of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update due in September. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Aadhaar data stored with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) could be threatened by attacks from ransomware like WannaCry, which has been rampaging through many countries. Hyderabad: Aadhaar data stored with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) could be threatened by attacks from ransomware like WannaCry, which has been rampaging through many countries. There are no reports of such an attack on the data so far but the sharing of Aadhaar data with other agencies could lead to threat to or to destruction of data from the server, says regional director of Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) India, Pradipto Chakrabarty. Sharing CompTIA's views on the ransomware, Mr Chakra-barty said that it was scary to envisage such an attack on the UIDAI. Aadhaar was a predominantly non-linked service earlier, which means that it contained mostly demographic information of citizens. But it is now being linked to bank accounts, income tax, and other more sensitive resources like mobile service operators etc. This makes it a huge threat surface for hackers to intrude. Imagine a situation where an intrusion happens through Aadhaar. Since the users bank account is linked with his Aadhaar number, the ransomware can potentially lock down the account and make it unusable unless a ransom is paid. As of now, the current attack in Europe does not indicate its spread to individual services but one can easily imagine the scale of destruction if a similar incident happens with UIDAI, Mr Chakrabarty pointed out. He said that as we move towards a cashless economy, the volume of electronic usage will increase and since Aadhaar is linked to your bank account, the attacks are quite possible if we are not adequately prepared. The sheer volume of Aadhaar numbers and their linked financial accounts is an indication of the tremendous risk that we run if there is such an attack on the Aadhaar system. Responding to alerts by CompTIA, Deputy Director General of UIDAI, MVS Rami Reddy, told this newspaper that no such threat to the database of Aadhaar has been detected. We are maintaining secure servers and monitoring the current scenario, he said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Mueller is known as 'Bobby Three Sticks' by some because of his full name, Robert Mueller III - a moniker that belies the formal bearing and no-nonsense style of the former Marine Corps officer who was decorated during the Vietnam War. (Photo: AP) Washington: Former FBI director and prosecutor Robert Mueller, known for his independence in high-profile government investigations, is taking on a new challenge in the midst of a crisis that threatens the presidency of the United States. Mueller, 72, was named on Wednesday by the Justice Department to probe alleged Russian efforts to sway November's presidential election in favour of Donald Trump, and investigate whether there was any collusion between Trump's campaign team and Moscow. President Trump said in a statement that there was no collusion between his campaign and "any foreign entity." Mueller is known as "Bobby Three Sticks" by some because of his full name, Robert Mueller III - a moniker that belies the formal bearing and no-nonsense style of the former Marine Corps officer who was decorated during the Vietnam War. Democrats and Republicans alike praised his appointment and hailed his integrity and reputation. As special counsel, Mueller will serve at the pleasure of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed him to the post. But past appointments have shown that the job comes with independence and autonomy. During the George W Bush administration, in 2003, Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed in a similar role to investigate the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA undercover officer whose husband had criticised Bush Administration policies. Fitzgerald indicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, who was granted clemency from a prison sentence by Bush before he left office. Robert Luskin, a Washington lawyer who defended Bush political advisor Karl Rove during Fitzgerald's investigation, praised the choice of Mueller. "I think it's good across the board," Luskin said. He described Mueller as "credible" and "independent" and said his appointment would be "good for the Department of Justice." Mueller, known for avoiding political controversy, took a stand in 2004 when he and then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey threatened to resign when the Bush White House sought to reauthorize a domestic wiretapping program that the Justice Department had deemed unconstitutional. In his new role as special counsel, he will have wide latitude to take the investigation wherever he thinks it should go and can use the full range of Justice Department investigative tools, said Jack Sharman, an attorney who served as special counsel during a probe into the Whitewater real-estate investments of President Bill Clinton in 1995. Mueller was appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by George W Bush a week before the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, DC. He was credited with transforming the FBI after Congress and an independent government commission established that the agency and the CIA had failed to share information before the attacks that could have helped thwart them. At the FBI, Mueller put more resources into counterterrorism investigations and improving its cooperation with other federal agencies. Before becoming FBI director, Mueller was chief of the Justice Department's criminal division. Among his most famous cases was the fraud and racketeering indictment of individuals associated with a politically connected Luxembourg bank run out of London and led by bankers from Pakistan and Abu Dhabi. He also oversaw the investigation into the Pan Am airline bombing over Scotland and the drug case against former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Mueller served 10 years as FBI chief under Bush and his Democratic successor Barack Obama, who then signed legislation to extend Mueller's FBI term for another two years. He was succeeded as FBI director by Comey, who was fired last week by Trump. In the wake of his firing, there have been media reports that in February Trump had asked Comey to end an FBI investigation into one of the president's former aides, Michael Flynn. The reports cited a memo said to have been written by Comey documenting Trump's request. There have been calls for months for a special counsel to oversee the investigation into any ties between Trump's campaign team and Moscow. Most recently, Mueller had worked at a major Washington law firm, Wilmer Hale, which presents a possible wrinkle for his new assignment. The firm represents Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have taken on White House jobs. It also represents Paul Manafort, a former campaign chairman who had ties to Russia. Mueller left Wilmer Hale this week, but faces a Justice Department ethics requirement that could bar him for a year from investigating anyone represented by his former firm. Mueller may be able to obtain a waiver from the Justice Department's ethics officers or recuse himself from investigating certain individuals, leaving those inquiries to a deputy. Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration who has been a vocal critic of Trump, said Mueller has good grounds to receive such a waiver. Bhardwaj was arrested several times between January and August 2015, while working as an assistant researcher at the university in College Station, Texas. (Photo: Representational) Meerut: An Indian nuclear scientist has been detained in Texas, United States, for repeatedly stalking and harassing a girl student. He was also charged with obstructing a police officers duty. According to a report, the scientist, 38-year-old Tarun K Bhardwaj has been detained since December 29, 2016, but has claimed that he was not wrong in pursuing the girl from A&M University, Texas, as he liked her. Indian consular officials in Houston said that Bhardwaj has been accused of similar charges previously and that he would be deported to India after court proceedings were complete. Bhardwaj came to the US in 2007, after his PhD from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Bhardwaj was arrested several times between January and August 2015, while working as an assistant researcher at the university in College Station, Texas. He even allegedly violated surety bonds signed by him, which were meant to deter him from harassing the girl. Moreover, he also illegally removed a GPS monitoring ankle band that he was directed to wear. Bhardwajs family in Bulandshahr, UP, has alleged that he is a victim of a racially-motivated conspiracy. They also believe he has been framed by his peers who are jealous of his success and have written to the PMO, the ministry of external affairs and other arms of the government, requesting them to bring him back home after clearing all the charges. His elder brother, Prasoon Bhardwaj said, Tarun exposed corruption and racial discrimination there. He was then charged with sexual harassment and sacked in September 2015. He went to court and had been facing pressure to withdraw the case. When he didn't agree, he was arrested. However, government officials say this was the fifth time that he was detained and every time he has been booked for harassing the same female student, which is a serious charge. They also claimed that there are hundreds of Indian students and researchers at A&M University but there have been no reports of racial discrimination. Washington: Donald Trump gave vent to frustrations over his mounting political problems on Wednesday, declaring that no president in US history had been treated "more unfairly." During a commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump urged graduating cadets to follow his example and "fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, give up. Things will work out just fine." "Look at the way I've been treated lately. Especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down," he said. The outburst came amid intensifying pressure on the president in the wake of his firing of James Comey as director of the FBI last week, in the midst of a probe into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russian attempts to tilt the US election in his favour. The Senate Intelligence Commitee announced on Wednesday that they have asked Comey to testify. The New York Times, citing sources close to Comey, reported yesterday that Trump asked the FBI director in an Oval Office meeting to drop its probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. A day earlier, the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat. Four potential candidates to lead the FBI - including former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman - have met with President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (Photo: File) Washington: Four potential candidates to lead the FBI - including former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman - have met with President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Former Oklahoma Gov Frank Keating; Andrew McCabe, currently the bureau's acting director; and Richard McFeely, a former top FBI official, also went to the White House for interviews on Wednesday. The meetings came more than a week after Trump fired James Comey from his post as FBI director. Trump said Monday that the search for a successor to Comey was "moving rapidly." He also has said he could name a candidate by the end of the week, before he departs Friday afternoon on his first overseas trip as president. The Senate must confirm whoever Trump nominates. Press Secretary Sean Spicer informed reporters about the meetings as Trump flew to Washington after addressing US Coast Guard Academy graduates in Connecticut. Asked as he left the White House whether he would say 'yes' if Trump offered him the job, Keating said, "I'm a public servant." He added, "Let's just say we had a good conversation." Lieberman gave a thumbs-up to reporters camped out on the White House driveway and said, "It was a good meeting." McFeely departed without comment. Reporters did not see McCabe when he left the complex. Lieberman served in the Senate for more than two decades and was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 with then-Vice President Al Gore. Lieberman lost his 2006 Democratic primary bid but won Senate re-election as a third party candidate. Lieberman spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention on behalf of his friend, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and did not seek re-election in 2012. He has served as co-chairman of No Labels, a centrist group that promotes bipartisanship. Keating, a Republican, was a two-term governor of Oklahoma and led the state during the deadly 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. A former FBI agent, Keating served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. McCabe became acting director following Comey's dismissal on May 9. The veteran FBI official made headlines for congressional testimony last week that rejected the White House's claim that Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file agents. He also disputed the administration's characterization of an investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump White House. Several other candidates have withdrawn from consideration, including Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, both Republicans; Alice Fisher, the former head of the Justice Department's criminal division; and Michael Garcia, a former US attorney from Manhattan. Impeachment does not mean the president will be found guilty. (Photo: AP) Washington: A Democratic lawmaker has called for the impeachment of US President Donald Trump for his alleged involvement in obstruction of justice after news reports revealed that he had asked the FBI to stop investigations against former national security advisor Michael Flynn. In fact, Congressman El Green from Texas on Wednesday became the first US lawmaker to demand the impeachment of Trump from the House floor. I rise today Mr. Speaker to call for the impeachment of the President of the United States of America for obstruction of justice. There is a belief in this country that no one is above the law. And that includes the President of the United States of America, Green said on the House floor. The Congressman said that his call for impeachment is a position of conscience for him and asked the American people to speak up. Each member of Congress has to make his or her decision. This is where I stand, I will not be moved. The President must be impeached, Green said. At the same time, he noted that impeachment does not mean the president will be found guilty. It simply means the House of Representatives will bring charges against the president, he said a day after the New York Times reported that it found a memo in which the sacked FBI Director James Comey said that he was asked by Trump to stop Flynns investigations. Soon thereafter another Republican lawmaker was seen supporting the impeachment move. Yes, he told The Hill newspaper when asked if the details of the memo if true merited impeachment. But everybody merits a fair trail, he was quoted as saying. However, the House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said that he has full confidence in Trump. I do (have confidence in Trump), he told reporters at a news conference. He also urged the lawmakers to be sober. That is our job, to be sober, to be passionate and to follow the facts wherever they may lead, he said. It is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president. We have an obligation to carry out our oversight, regardless of which party is in the White House. That means before rushing to judgment we get all the pertinent information, Ryan said. The White House has denied the allegations of obstruction of justice. While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn, it said. The president has the utmost respect for the law enforcement agencies, and all investigations, the White House said, adding that this is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Comey. Ryan supported the White House. There is an FBI investigation going on right now with all things related to Russia, done by the career professionals at the FBI who are going to continue to be career professionals. And the acting director just said the other day that no one has tried to impede that investigation, he told reporters at a news conference. As President Donald Trump prepares for his first overseas trip, Saudi Arabia has announced to make a whopping USD 200 billion investment in the US and intends to purchase arms worth USD 300 billion from America, a senior administration official has said. Saudi Arabia will be the first stop of Trumps maiden overseas trip beginning later this week. After Saudi Arabia, he travels to Israel and follow it with a visit to Italy, where he will have an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Trump will also stop at NATO headquarters in Brussels and attend a G7 summit in Italy. Saudis would be signing for making USD 200 billion of investment in the United States which would create a lot of jobs, said a senior administration official involved in planning of the major presidential trip. They (Saudis) see America a place to invest their money for all the reasons. They see our economy really about to take off. They see great rule of law. They see great opportunity here. So they want to invest in US a lot which is good for us to create jobs, the official said. They also intend to purchase about $ 300 billion of military equipment. They would be signing deals for about $109 billion, which is all dollar for dollar stuff which US would have to buy alone if we were to go alone to keep the region safe, the official said. Trump seeks new partners US President Donald Trump says that his first overseas visit is aimed at strengthening old friendships and seeking new partners, not those who take and take and take.I will strengthen old friendships and will seek new partners, but partners who also help us, not partners who take and take and take, he said on Thursday. Seoul: South Korea's new liberal president vowed Thursday to reopen an investigation into the government's role in the violent suppression of a 1980 democratic uprising in the city of Gwangju that killed hundreds, as he further distanced himself from his ousted conservative predecessor. An emotional President Moon Jae-in made the comments during an event in Gwangju marking the anniversary of the massacre, which he called the "saddest and most painful moment" in the country's recent history. Moon is the first president to attend the anniversary in four years. Former President Park Geun-hye, the daughter of military dictator Park Chung-hee who ruled the country in the 1960s and '70s, avoided the event after attending during her first year as president in 2013. Former military strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power months after Park's death in 1979, was convicted in 1996 on a broad range of criminal charges, including bribery, treason and orchestrating the crackdown on the Gwangju protesters. He was pardoned in late 1997 and denied responsibility for the bloody crackdown in a memoir published in March, saying he never ordered his troops to fire at the protesters. Moon wiped away tears as he listened to a speech by a daughter of one of the Gwangju victims and unexpectedly stepped up the stage as she left. In a speech, Moon promised a more thorough investigation into the actions of Chun's soldiers, including their alleged use of a military helicopter to fire with a machine gun at protesters. "The new government will invest greater effort into fully revealing the truth surrounding the May 18 democracy movement," Moon said. "We will at any cost unveil the truth and responsibilities behind the shootings." Government figures show about 200 people were killed during the suppression, which involved police, paratroopers and tanks dispatched by Chun, but activists say the actual toll was much higher. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden hit back at the Hong Kong government on Thursday for rejecting the protection bids of a group of refugees who sheltered him while he was hiding out in the city. The impoverished Philippine and Sri Lankan refugees helped the former National Security Agency contractor evade authorities in 2013 by hiding him in their cramped homes after he initiated one of the largest data leaks in US history. They have spent years hoping the Hong Kong government would recognise their cases and save them from being sent back to their home countries where they say they were persecuted. But the family of four, a mother and her daughter and a single man saw their protection claims rejected Monday by the citys immigration authorities, which said there were no substantial grounds for believing they would be at risk if they went home. They now face deportation. These are good people that were driven from their homes by torture, rape, abuse, blackmail and war, circumstances that are really difficult for us to imagine, Snowden said in a video released on Thursday. Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right Wednesday to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labour protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending. The most senior Cabinet job the post of interior minister went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macrons presidential bid. The Interior Ministry is responsible for securing France amid a high threat of extremist violence. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, who led Frances military operations abroad as former President Francois Hollandes defence minister, will stay on in Macrons government as foreign minister and also be in charge of European affairs. Le Drian, another Socialist, brings deep experience that could prove valuable to the untested 39-year-old president. Le Drian vowed to promote the countrys key role in the international community, noting continuity between his previous position and his new diplomatic job. The armed forces will now be led by Sylvie Goulard, the most senior woman in the government. Goulard, 52, is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will be expected to champion Macrons push for joint European military operations. In an important gesture to the right-wing Republicans party ahead of parliamentary elections next month, the crucial Economy Ministry will be run by prominent conservative Bruno Le Maire, 48. The Cabinet includes 18 ministers and 4 junior ministers, half of them women and half men. Center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Macron tapped named Monday, is to lead the government at least until the elections. Members of civil society without government work on their resumes were appointed to some ministerial posts. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition. His portfolio includes energy and transportation. Muriel Penicaud, the new labor minister, previously worked for food corporation Danone and French telecommunications group Orange. Since January 2015, she led Business France, a public agency in charge of promoting French companies abroad and attracting foreign investments. Penicaud will have the daunting task of supervising the reform of labor protections, a part of Macrons agenda that already has prompted outcries from unions. Culture minister Francoise Nyssen is CEO of French publishing house Actes Sud. Macron is known as a passionate literature lover. The youngest person selected to work in Macrons government was Mounir Mahjoubi, 33, who was named junior minister for digital economy. As Macrons campaign digital chief, Mahjoubi was responsible for cybersecurity. The announcement initially planned for Tuesday was pushed back a day while authorities dug more deeply into candidates tax records and financial assets for signs of potential conflicts of interest. Macron has pledged to fight corruption after tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government. The new government may only serve for a few weeks. If Macrons party doesnt win a majority in the June 11 and 18 elections, he might have to form a coalition and adjust the makeup of the government. He also could end up with a government led by an opposition party. Later Wednesday, Macron will host European Council President Donald Tusk at the Elysee Palace for a private dinner. Its a sign of the new French presidents determination to shore up European unity. The two are expected to discuss security and migration, according to Macrons office. Macron wants European militaries to join efforts and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules. He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU, to deter others from trying to leave after debt and migration crises that have eroded public support for the bloc. The Hague: India's lead attorney Harish Salve who represented Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav's case at the International Court of Justice cited three previous death penalty and Vienna Convention-related cases fought at the world court during the trial. The three cases were Mexico vs US, Germany vs US and Paraguay vs US. Mexico vs US: In 2003, Mexico took the US to the ICJ over a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention with respect to 54 Mexican nationals who were sentenced to death in the US. They requested the court to ensure that the US should not execute or set execution dates for any Mexican national before the court passed judgment. The ICJ ruled that its jurisdiction lay only in establishing whether the US breached its obligations as listed under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention and not functioning as "a court of criminal appeal". However, the US Supreme Court held that the order of the ICJ was not binding unless Congress has enacted statutes implementing it or unless the treaty itself is "self-executing." Germany vs US: In the second case, German national Walter LaGrand and his brother Karl were arrested in US state of Arizona in 1982 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. In 1999, Germany instituted proceedings against the US for allegedly failing to inform the duo of their right to consular access, guaranteed by the Vienna Convention. The appeal was filed on the eve of the brothers' execution. However, Karl was executed before the case started and Germany demanded that the US compensate his family and halt Walter's execution till proceedings were pending. In its verdict the following day, the ICJ asked the US to ensure Walter was not executed during proceedings. He was executed in a gas chamber in Arizona after the ruling. Paraguay vs US: The third case was again filed against the US when Paraguay dragged America to the ICJ in 1998 alleging that the state of Virginia had violated Vienna Convention by failing to inform Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan, of his right to contact the Paraguayan consulate for assistance after his arrest. The Hague had called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. However, Breard was executed on April 14, five days after the verdict. Paraguay later withdrew the case. Presiding judge Ronny Abraham of France, center, reads the World Court's verdict in the case brought by India against Pakistan in The Hague. (Photo: AP) The Hague: In a big diplomatic win for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan till it takes a final decision on the matter. India has appealed to the world court that Pakistan did not heed an international treaty that granted diplomatic immunity to foreign nationals charged with capital crimes. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure Jadhav is not executed pending final decision, Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, ruled. A Pakistan military court had awarded the death sentence to Jadhav, who was arrested on March 3 last year, last month for espionage and subversive activities. India had dragged Pakistan to the ICJ on May 8 for refusing consular access to Jadhav and for violating the Vienna Convention on consular relations. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of Jadhav. The circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remain disputed, Judge Abraham said while reading out the world courts verdict. It also said that the 150-day period for clemency given by Pakistan, which ends in August, suggests that the execution can happen immediately thereafter. The top UN court also said that Pakistan should have given consular access to India as per Vienna Convention. It appears that the rights invoked by India under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention in the present case are plausible, Judge Abraham said. The only condition under which Jadhav now stands to face execution is if Pakistan does not comply with the ICJ's decision. India can then go to the United Nations Security Council, which may then decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgement. The UN charter entails that 'each member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice' and 'if any party to a case fails to perform the obligations, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed satisfaction at the judgement of the ICJ. He spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and thanked her. He also appreciated the efforts of advocate Harish Salve, who represented India in the Jadhav case. Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that ICJ order has come as great relief to family of Jadhav and thanked Harish Salve for presenting Indias case effectively. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav, Swaraj tweeted. I complement my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work, wrote Swaraj on Twitter. Hailing the verdict, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said it is a victory for India's stand. He added that the ICJ verdict had shown that the military court trial by Pakistan was a 'charade', and that the neighbour had been completely 'blown away' by it. Rohatgi said that he hoped that the final verdict, which would be announced in August, would also be in India's favour. Responding to a question, Rohatgi asserted that the ICJ's interim verdict on Thursday was binding on both India and Pakistan. The 11-judge bench of the UN's highest court presented its verdict two days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions on the 46-year-old former Indian naval officer. During its submission to the ICJ on May 15, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan had claimed to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. On its part, Pakistan had told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. Stuart Jones, the top US diplomat in charge of the Middle East, said the US is still forming a comprehensive Iran policy, alluding to President Donald Trumps assertion that he may tear up the deal after he finishes reviewing it. (Photo: AP) Washington: The Trump administration said Wednesday it will continue granting nuclear sanctions relief to Iran, keeping the Obama-era nuclear deal intact for now. But the US also announced new unrelated sanctions in a bid to show it wasnt letting Tehran off the hook. Under the 2015 deal, sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program were waived in exchange for Irans commitment to roll back the program. But continuing the sanctions relief requires the renewal of a six-month waiver. The most recent waiver, issued by former Secretary of State John Kerry in December, was set to expire this week. Stuart Jones, the top US diplomat in charge of the Middle East, said the US is still forming a comprehensive Iran policy, alluding to President Donald Trumps assertion that he may tear up the deal after he finishes reviewing it. In the meantime, Jones said, the US will keep implementing the deal - including the sanctions relief. This ongoing review does not diminish the United States resolve to continue countering Irans destabilising activity in the region, whether it is supporting the Assad regime, backing terrorist organisations like Hezbollah, or supporting violent militias that undermine governments in Iraq and Yemen, Jones said. And above all, the United States will never allow the regime in Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. Aiming to undercut the perception that Trump is softening on Iran, the US paired the announcement with new sanctions punishing Iran for its ballistic missiles program. Under the nuclear deal, the US can continue sanctioning Iran for other, non-nuclear behaviour, although Tehran has threatened to pull out of the deal if the US and other countries do so. The new economic sanctions announced on Wednesday target Iranian military officials, the State Department said, along with an Iranian entity and a network based in China that are accused of supplying Iran with materials for ballistic missiles. The State Department also released a new report criticising Iran for human rights abuses, including the alleged mistreatment of prisoners. Musharraf filed an application before the special court on May 5 in which he expressed willingness to face the trial under military protection. (Photo: AFP) Islamabad: Pakistan has rejected former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's demands of military security and safe passage to Dubai to face his high treason trial, saying an "absconder" cannot give conditions and "dictate his prerequisites" to the court. The federal government on Wednesday told a three-member special court that being an absconder for high treason, 73-year-old Musharraf cannot seek any relief until he surrenders before the court which is trying him in the high treason case. "An absconder cannot dictate his prerequisites to the court and give conditions, that too his own subjective satisfaction, as to when he will appear and for how long," the government said in its response. Musharraf filed an application before the special court on May 5 in which he expressed willingness to face the trial under military protection. He also sought assurance from the court that he would be given safe passage back to Dubai. The government, through its chief prosecutor Mohammad Akram Sheikh, said, "The application has been filed only to prolong the conclusion of the trial," the Dawn reported. "That similar applications requesting 'foolproof' security and citing medical and security reasons have previously been made in the other cases pending against the absconding accused but no other court allowed these requests." it said. However, the government said it was willing to provide "all due security" to Musharraf "as per his entitlement". It also said that measures of effectiveness of the security could not be left to the whims of the absconding suspect, as in that case, security measures would never be found adequate. The federal government said Musharraf's demands were delaying tactics and said the suspect's conduct showed he had no desire to appear in court. The government's response also expressed doubts over the authenticity of the medical reports filed by Musharraf's counsel. "There is neither any independently verified evidence of the ailments and travel restrictions nor has any material been placed on record," it said. "The attestation by consulate general of Pakistan, Dubai is dated August 9, 2016, whereas the body of the vakaltnama (power of attorney) has an overwritten date as April 30, 2017, which on the face of it shows that it is not an authentic document," the response said. According to the reply, the court through its order dated July 19, 2016, declared Musharraf to be a proclaimed offender/absconder. Perpetual arrest warrants have been issued against him, after which proceedings to confiscate his properties have also been initiated. The government asked the court to dismiss Musharraf's application seeking military security and safe passage to Dubai, and to take "all appropriate coercive measures to procure the attendance of absconding accused to complete the trial". The special court will resume proceedings in the high treason trial on May 19. Musharraf imposed emergency in 2007 by suspending the constitution is high treason according to the constitution in Pakistan and carries maximum death penalty. Pak army said in a statement that UN military observers were also apprised of the latest situation along LoC. (Photo: Representational/File) Islamabad: Pakistan army on Wednesday lodged a protest before UN military observers against unprovoked Indian firing on civilians from across the Line of Control. Army said in a statement that UN military observers were also apprised of the latest situation along LoC. United Nations Military Observers at UNMOGIP were invited to GHQ to register a protest over unprovoked Ceasefire Violations and targeting of the civilian population by Indian Army on 10, 13 and 16 May, it said. The statement claimed that the Indian Army used small arms, automatic and heavy calibre weapons, heavy mortar and field artillery in Sabzkot, Baroh, Tandar, Khuiratta, Kot Koterra and Karela Sectors to target Pakistani villages. The UN observers were also told that one civilian was killed and 15 others injured, including women and children, the statement added. The issue surfaced on May 15 when a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777 was searched and its 14-member crew detained for hours after it landed at the airport. (Photo: AFP/Representational) Islamabad: Drug smuggling is never one-sided, a senior Pakistani official said as Islamabad offered to assist British authorities in a probe into the alleged seizure of heroin on a PIA plane at Heathrow airport. However, British authorities shared no details of the investigation being conducted by the UKs National Crime Agency. The issue surfaced on May 15 when a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777 was searched and its 14-member crew detained for hours after it landed at the airport. Prime Ministers Aviation Adviser Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said that Pakistan was ready to help in the probe, Dawn reported. Drug smuggling is never one-sided. Somebody there had to receive whatever was concealed in the aircraft. A big chain could be involved because it cant be done by an individual. And opening an aircrafts cavities is a technical job which cant be done by an ordinary person, Abbasi said on Wednesday. The crew was released but UK officials said that they recovered an unspecified quantity of heroin hidden in the plane, leading to a major embarrassment to Islamabad. He said that the internal profiling of the crew had been started by the PIA vigilance department and a meeting of all stakeholders - the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Airport Security Force, Customs and the airlines officials - was called on Thursday to review the situation. Unlike the past practice, this time the issue of narcotics smuggling through a PIA plane will not be buried and those who use the national flag carrier for such criminal activities will not be spared, he said. Abbasi said neither the government nor any department including the PIA or the ANF had been informed verbally or in writing by any security agency of the UK about narcotics found in the aircraft. The adviser said it would be difficult to launch an investigation or fix responsibility unless the Pakistani authorities received an official communication regarding the drug seizure claim. According to sources, before taking off for the UK PK-785 remained parked at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad for about two hours and forty-five minutes on May 15 but the aircraft was not searched by sniffer dogs as per the standard operating procedure. The warning comes on the heels of the WannaCry cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. (Photo: @fendifille/Twitter) China has urged Windows users to protect themselves against a new ransomware virus similar to the WannaCry bug that wreaked havoc worldwide last week. UIWIX encrypts and renames files through a bug in the Windows operating system, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned in a public announcement on Thursday, telling users to install the latest Microsoft update. The warning comes on the heels of the WannaCry cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. While no UIWIX infections have yet been detected in China, the virus has spread in other countries and prompted a security alert last week from the Danish cybersecurity company Heimdal Security. UIWIX ransom-ware is picking up where the first WannaCry wave left off, without a kill switch domain and the same self-replicating abilities that enable it to spread fast, the firm said. Heimdal cautioned that the new bug could be more powerful than WannaCry due to the absence of a kill switch domain that could contain the viruss distribution. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday approved a flat Rs 10,000 penalty for regularising unauthorised dwelling houses built on plots measuring up to 30/40 sq ft on government land within certain limits of urban local bodies, including Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The regularisation scheme will be implemented under section 94cc of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act and covers all urban local bodies (ULBs). Under the scheme, illegally built houses on plots measuring not more than 20/30 sq ft will be regularised. Houses built on plots measuring up to 30/40 sq ft on government land in the buffer zones around ULB limits will also be regularised, Law Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. The penalty for SC/ST and ex-servicemen is Rs 5,000. The government has already received applications for regularisation. The applications will be processed in the coming days. The scheme will mainly benefit slum dwellers, he added. Provisions In Bengaluru, the scheme provides for regularisation of houses built on government land within 18 km of the BBMP limits. Other than BengaIuru, it is within 10 km of corporation limits, within five km of city municipal council limits and within three km of town municipal council and town panchayat limits, he added. The scheme was conceived by the previous BJP government in 2009. But then governor H R Bhardwaj had opposed it, saying the scheme was against the rule of law. He had also refused assent to an amendment bill passed by the legislature in this regard. Subsequently, the Congress government pursued the bill and finally managed to get the assent of the Governor. The government also substantially reduced the penalty over the years. First N Korea-Russia ferry service opens despite UN sanctions A North Korean passenger ferry has docked in Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok for the first time.The vessel, called the Mangyongbong, will sail once a week to the port city and will also carry cargo. North Korea is under wide-ranging UN sanctions.The ferry service comes amid heightened tension between North Korea and the US over Pyongyang's missile tests and efforts to develop a nuclear arsenal. Governor Vajubai Vala has objected to the continuation of M Krishnappa as housing minister on the grounds that his name figures in a land scam. The Governor on Wednesday wrote a letter to this effect to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, according to sources in the Secretariat. Former corporator N R Ramesh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had complained to the Governor that the minister had committed irregularities in acquisition of agricultural land in Vajarahalli and Raghuvanahalli off Kanakapura road in Bengaluru South taluk. He had raised questions about Krishnappas continuation as minister. Based on the complaint, the Governor sought an explanation from the chief minister about what action he would take against Krishnappa, it is said. The division bench of the Karnataka High Court had in April quashed the acquisition of 189 acres of land for a housing cooperative society in Vajarahalli and Raghuvanahalli. The court had held that the land was acquired by middleman M Krishnappa, who is now housing minister, using political influence in favour of Bangalore City Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. The high court had held that it was Krishnappa who received the compensation from the government for the land and not the villagers who had parted with the land for the society. However, the minister had denied his role in the case. It is learnt that the governor referred to the high courts observations in his letter to the chief minister. Four chain-snatching cases were reported in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. The police suspect that a gang which recently walked out of jail on bail is behind these incidents. Bike-borne miscreants made away with a 25-gm gold chain from Rekha Suresh, who was going to a relatives house in Subramanyapura near Abbayya Naidu Studio, Chikkalsandra, at 1.30 pm on Wednesday. One of the two approached her on the pretext of asking for an address and gave her a piece of paper. As she was reading it, he snatched her chain and sped away on the bike driven by the other. At 2.15 pm, in Konanakunte, bike-borne miscreants made away with a 35-gm gold chain snatched from another woman, Mangala. Though the residents tried to chase and catch the duo, they escaped. Police suspect the same duo behind the incident. Two miscreants on a Bajaj Discover bike made away with a 125-gm gold chain from a woman shopkeeper in Maruthi Nagar at 2.30 pm. The two went to Munigangammas shop and asked for cigarettes. While she turned to get the cigarettes, one of them threw chilli powder on her face, snatched her chain and escaped. Bike-borne miscreants snatched a 60-gm gold chain from an elderly woman in Konankunte, while she was returning from a temple at around 7 pm. A miscreant barged into the house of Vijayalakshmi of Kurubarahalli and made away with her 26-gm gold chain on Tuesday night. Vijayalakshmi had forgotten to lock the door and had gone to sleep, when the incident occurred. On seeing him, Vijayalakshmi cried for help, but he fled. Basaveshwaranagar police have registered a case. The Cubbon Park Walkers Association intends to stage a protest against the Tourism Departments proposal to conduct some activities in Cubbon Park and Lalbagh from 7 pm to midnight, once or twice a month. Association president S Umesh said they will oppose the proposal if it is finalised. Organising activities will lead to illegal activities in the park. The security system is insufficient and there are no CCTV cameras. The lights and sounds would disturb birds and reptiles in the park, he said. Green spaces We have prevented a glasshouse from coming up here and we also got a ban on vehicles in the park on Sundays. These two parks are the last remaining green spaces in the city and we will fight to save them, Umesh said. Environmentalist and chairman of Lalbagh's Advisory Committee Dr A N Yellappa Reddy has also spoken against the proposal. These two parks are the only places where nocturnal animals and birds come to rest. Not only the fauna, but also the flora will be affected by the harsh light used to illuminate the place, he said. Responding to the opposition, Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge said, People are jumping to conclusions about what we have proposed. We dont intend to have rock concerts in the park. We just want to see how we can engage people and curate some activities. We have not yet decided what they will be. He said that the department is open to suggestions and discuss any concerns that citizens or environmentalists may have. We will certainly keep the environment aspect in mind and we wont do anything to disturb the ecosystem of the parks, Kharge said. Reacting to the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaign's ties with Russia, US President Donald Trump today said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. The Justice Department yesterday appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as the special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Russian interference in the last year's presidential elections. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country," he said. Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said, "In my capacity as acting attorney general, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter." "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," he said in a statement. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. "Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly," he said. "Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result," he added. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. "That is what we've been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue," Ryan said. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Mueller's for the investigation. "The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senatr Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will hopefully help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. "We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and I'm encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. "While this is an important step forward, we still need a bipartisan, independent commission to carry out a public investigation into Russia's interference in our election. The American people deserve answers," he said. Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize for his contribution in the field of astronomy. Kulkarni is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He is a pioneer and leading figure in time-domain astrophysics across the electromagnetic spectrum who built and conducted the Palomar Transient Factory, a large-area survey of the night sky in search of variable and transient phenomena. The survey has turned up thousands of stellar explosions, transforming our knowledge of the transient sky. The USD 1 million prize is a joint international enterprise endowed by the Dan David Foundation headquartered at Tel Aviv University. Kulkarni, with this honour, joins other prominent Indian laureates of the Dan David prize including author Amitav Ghosh, music conductor Zubin Mehta and renowned chemist CNR Rao. The honour will be conferred at a festive awards ceremony here on May 21 in the presence of the laureates. Three Dan David prizes of USD 1 million each are given every year in the categories of "Past", "Present" and "Future" to people around the world who have made outstanding contributions to humanity in the sciences, humanities, or through their work in civil society. The recipients in the "Past" category are generally drawn from the field of history, archaeology, paleontology, biography, etc; the "Present" from arts, media, policy, economics, etc; and the "Future" from one of the exact or natural sciences. The "Future" category this year is dedicated to astronomy and will be shared by Kulkarni, Andrej Udalski of the University of Warsaw and Neil Gehrels of NASA for their discoveries on time-domain astrophysics. The prize, now in its 16th year, was established by the late Dan David, an international businessman and philanthropist who envisioned a project that would extend beyond traditional academic categorisations. This vision is fulfilled by a "roving" formula that seeks to reward achievements in all fields of human endeavour rather than in a fixed set of categories. In order to encourage and foster new generations of scholars, the laureates are required to donate 10 per cent of their prize money towards scholarships for graduate or post- graduate researchers in their respective fields. Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, a long time RSS member, died due to heart failure on Thursday. He was 60. The two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, official sources said. The news of Dave's demise was broken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend and a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. He will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. I was with him until late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss, Modi tweeted. President Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders too expressed their condolences. The national flag would remain half-mast on Thursday in his honour. The minister, who recently recovered from back-to-back attacks of pneumonia and a viral fever complained uneasiness and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The minister (Dave) was brought to AIIMS, New Delhi at around 8.50 AM. He was brought in a state of cardiac arrest. All measures were taken to resuscitate him. He was declared dead at around 9.45 AM, said a doctor from AIIMS. The minister's body would be kept in Delhi for few hours before being flown to Indore for cremation. Being a bachelor, he is survived by his brother Abhay Dave. The government has named Union Science Minister Harsh Vardhan as Dave's replacement in the green ministry in addition to his existing portfolio. Former FBI director Robert Mueller has been appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. The decision by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller, 72, as special counsel came following a week of turmoil for the White House after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter. Rosenstein said he had taken the decision "to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election," including "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump."Reacting to the appointment, Trump said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country," he said. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. "Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly," he said. "Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result," he added. Mueller served as FBI director for 12 years after his nomination by President George W Bush in 2001. Prior to leading the bureau, Mueller was the US attorney for the Northern District of California and served as an assistant attorney general in between stints in private practice. On Tuesday, ABC News reported that Comey, Mueller's successor at the FBI, was asked by Trump in February to end the bureau's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Mueller's for the investigation. "The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senator Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. "We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and I'm encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election," Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. "The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. An expert in river conservation and a member of the parliamentary forum on global warming, environment was a subject close to the heart of Anil Madhav Dave who was appointed environment minister only last year. Dave was involved in social work right from his early days and founded NGO "Narmada Samagra" for conservation of the river. A two-time Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, Dave was known in the BJP as a man gifted with immaculate organisational skills. He had a long time association with the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Following this, Uma Bharti who became the Chief Minister, made him Advisor to the CM. As an NCC Air Wing Cadet he took his early flying lessons and found a lifetime passion. He was a holder of a private pilot licence and had once flown a Cessna aircraft around the banks of Narmada for 18 hours. As Rajya Sabha MP, he has served as Member of Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change. A post-graduate in Commerce from Gujarati College in Indore, Dave had keen interest in literature and had penned a number of books. Dave was born to Pushpa and Madhav Dave at Barnagar, district Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on July 6, 1956.He inherited the legacy of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh from his grandfather Dadasaheb Dave and volunteered to be a Pracharak fter completing higher studies. He rose in the Sangh echelons over the years and was deputed to the BJP, right before the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2003. The leader from Madhya Pradesh was key party strategist and served as chief of its election management committee for the three times during the state assembly elections in 2003, 2008 and 2013 and Lok Sabha elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was known for his booth-level management and planning. Dave was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various committees including Chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013. Dave had also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference on the occasion of Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela in Ujjain. A pall of gloom descended at 'Nadi Ka Ghar' (house of rivers), the residence of Union minister Anil Madhav Dave here, as the news of his sudden demise reached here this morning. The 60-year-old environment minister and two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh passed away in Delhi this morning. As the news of his demise spread, his supporters started flocking 'Nadi Ka Ghar', the three-storey building set up by Dave from which he also used to run Narmada Samagra, an NGO for conserving river Narmada, the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. Born on July 6, 1956 at Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain district, Dave used to live in this house whenever he was in Bhopal. A master strategist, Dave was credited with bringing the BJP to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 by running a successful campaign against the then Congress Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described Dave as a true party worker, as he remembered his long-time BJP colleague. "Anil Dave was a true BJP worker. He has served the country with dedication for his whole life," Chouhan said in a tweet. "The country has lost a true patriot and son of Maa Narmada. It is an irreparable loss," Chouhan said. Congress's chief whip in Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia said the state has lost an excellent environmentalist and a simple and honest leader in the death of Dave. State BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan described Dave as a nationalist thinker, an able organiser and an environmentalist. It is an irreparable loss to the nation and the BJP, he said. Dave had made immense contribution to politics and environment by associating himself with public causes, MP's Public Relations minister Narottam Mishra recalled. BJP's state vice president Vijesh Lunawat, who was very close to Dave, said the leader had made an unparallelled contribution to the party. Dave was a "university" himself in environment conservation, election management and developing a dedicated work force for the party, he said. Dave's mortal remains will be brought to the state BJP headquarters here in the evening to enable the people and party workers to pay their respects. The leader's last rites will be performed at Bandrabhan, a place close to his heart, on the banks of Narmada river in Hoshangabad district tomorrow morning, state BJP's media in- charge Lokendra Parashar said. Dave used to organise the international river festival at Bandrabhan to create awareness among people about conserving rivers. Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar expressed shock over Dave's sudden demise. "Shocked & saddened by untimely demise of Shri Anil Dave. India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment," Parrikar tweeted. The ship will be at Chennai until May 20. A series of programmes have been planned by the Indian Coast Guard for mutual interaction to develop Inter-Operability among the maritime forces. Coast Guard sources here today said that the ship was constructed as an Offshore Support Vessel by STX OSV, Tulcea, Romania and was later inducted as ABFC Ocean Shield, an Offshore Patrol Vessel on June 30, 2012. The ship achieves the maximum speed of 16 kt with a displacement of 8,500 tonnes and draws 6.6-meter draught. A medium size helipad is available atop the bow of the ship, which also has 1,000 square meters deck area for cargo and equipment. The ship has a complement of 16 Officers and 36 sailors. The offshore patrol vessel Australian Border Force Cutter (ABFC) Ocean Shield has arrived at Chennai Port on Thursday as part of International Co-operation. The ship was part of the extensive search operations to trace the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH-370 in 2014. A court here today refused to initiate proceedings on the plea of the CBI seeking to declare Malaysian nationals T Ananda Krishnan and Augustus Ralph Marshall absconders in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. Special Judge O P Saini also adjourned sine die the case against the two accused against whom the arrest warrants have been pending. On the last date of hearing, the CBI had told the court that more steps were needed to be taken to secure the presence of Krishnan and Marshall, who were charge-sheeted along with former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi, in the case. While issuing arrest warrants against Krishnan and Marshall on September 24 last year, the court had ordered that the trial against them and two Malaysia-based firms -- Astro All Asia Network PLC and Maxis Communication Berhad -- be segregated from that of the Maran brothers and two other companies. It had noted that appearance of those based in Malaysia may take a long time leading to a delay in the proceedings. The court had on February 2 this year discharged Marans and others in the case, saying the charges were based on "misreading of official files", speculation and surmises of the complainant. The CBI had filed the charge sheet against the accused for offences punishable under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After 31 years, Indian Army received its first two artillery guns that landed in Delhi on Thursday. Over the next two days, the M777 ultra light weight howitzers will be transported by road to the Indian Army's firing range in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The Army would use the first two guns for firing its ammunition to prepare its range table, sources told DH. In December 2016, India signed the $737 million (about 4,700 crores) deal with the USA to purchase 145 M777 howitzers from the BAE Systems under a government-to-government contract. While the first 25 guns are to be imported in the next two years, the rest would be assembled at a factory at Faridabad, which is set up by Mahindra in partnership with the BAE System. The entire order is to be executed in 54 months. At half the weight of other 155 mm towed howitzers, the ultra-light weight howitzers with a range of 30 km, provide a rapid reaction capability for the Indian army, which can take these guns to the mountain. The skyrocketing price of these guns is due to the usage of the Titanium metal, which is currently unavailable in India. It is because of this metal, that these howitzers are dubbed as a lightweight military weapon. The metal brings down the overall weight of the artillery gun outright, said Lt Gen V K Chaturvedi, a retired Army officer, who played a key role to initiate the artillery modernisation programme of the Indian Army. Since M-777 can be carried by Chinook helicopters which too India is buying from the USA they can be quickly moved to areas close to the border. It can also be carried by the C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft or on trucks, providing easy mobility in the mountains. Indian Armys field artillery rationalisation plan, drawn in 1999, aimed to acquire 2,800-3,000 155 mm/52-calibre guns of all kinds and 155 mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers by 2027. The projection includes 814 truck-mounted guns, 1,580 towed guns, 100 tracked self-propelled guns, 180 wheeled self-propelled guns and 145 ultra lightweight howitzers. Since the induction of Bofors guns in the 1980s, Indian Army did not have any artillery guns. After three decades, an ordnance factory in Jabalpur is making indigenous Dhanush artillery guns, using the Bofors technology. These indigenous Bofors guns are not anywhere close to the induction. Leaders cutting across party lines today condoled the demise of Union minister and BJP leader Anil Madhav Dave, remembering him as a soft-spoken, honest person and a learned man. 60-year-old Dave, Minister of State (independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, passed away here this morning. Shocked at his sudden demise, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said Dave was a soft spoken and gentle human being. "He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality," she said. She also conveyed her condolences to Dave's family members, admirers and supporters. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi remembered Dave's efforts for conservation of the Narmada river. "Very sad to learn of the sudden demise of Union Minister Anil Madhav Daveji. He worked tirelessly for Narmada conservation. My condolences to his family," he tweeted. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad recalled Dave as "a very soft spoken and honest person". "Dave was an able fellow Parliamentarian and a popular leader. I remember him as a very soft spoken and honest person. He was an accomplished writer both in Hindi and English language," the Congress leader said, as per a release issued by his office. "Azad also prayed to Almighty to give strength and courage to the near and dear ones of Dave in this moment of grief and also prayed that his departed soul may rest in peace," it said. Congress's chief whip in Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia said Madhya Pradesh has lost an excellent environmentalist and a simple and honest leader in the death of Dave, who hailed from the state. The Left parties condoled the "untimely" demise of Dave, describing him as a "very learned and polite" leader. "Sad and untimely. Heartfelt condolences (sic)," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter. CPI national secretary D Raja remembered Dave as a "learned" person and an orator with "sense and conviction". "I would see him speak with lot of sense and conviction in the Rajya Sabha. He was a very polite person. It is very sad to learn about his demise," Raja, a Rajya Sabha MP, said. Conveying condolences to Dave's family, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu termed his demise as an "irreparable loss". "Very sad and shocking. He selflessly worked on several social issues," Prabhu said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed condolences and said, "Saddened at the sudden passing of Union Minister Anil Dave. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues." Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Dave played an important role in giving boost to many projects in his state."Extremely shocked and saddened to know about the very simple, humble, environmentalist #AnilMadhavDave ji's sudden demise," Fadnavis said in a tweet. "As an Environment Minister, he played imp role in giving boost to many projects in Maharashtra. He will be always remembered for this great help," he said. "My deepest condolences to Anil ji's family, friends and followers. "Mumbai will remember #AnilDave ji for giving environmental clearances to coastal road and STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) which will give a better life to Mumbaikars," he said in a series of tweets. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar expressed shock over Dave's sudden demise. "Shocked & saddened by untimely demise of Shri Anil Dave. India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment," he tweeted. Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar has expressed sorrow and grief over the demise of Dave. Dave was a devoted public servant and passionate towards conserving the environment, he said. Khattar conveyed his heartfelt sympathies to members of the bereaved family and prayed to the Almighty that the departed soul may rest in peace. While a battery of legal luminaries worked hard for former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav at The Hague, his friends did their bit back home in Mumbai -- with prayers seeking a favourable verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Tulshidas Pawar, Jadhav's childhood friend, and others organised a Ganesh Puja here, offering prayers for his life. Hours later, the court at The Hague had given its verdict -- staying Jadhav's execution by Pakistan. "I was there when Kulbhushan filled up the entrance exam form for the National Defence Academy, which he eventually joined. I also attended his Passing Out Parade at the NDA," Pawar told PTI. Jadhav's friends in the Prithvi Nandan Society in central Mumbai's Lower Parel area, where he grew up, began the Ganesh puja in the morning. The puja was performed in an apartment block located close to the N M Joshi Marg police station, in the heart of the financial capital's erstwhile mill district. Jadhav, who was held guilty of espionage by a Pakistan military court, spent his early days in Parel and used to live in the police quarters with his family. The family moved out of Lower Parel in 1998. "The Pawar and Jadhav families share close ties," Pawar's wife, Vandana, who got acquainted to Jadhav after her marriage, said. Friends of Jadhav had also undertaken a signature campaign in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan to secure his release. After studying at King George School, Jadhav went to the Ruia College here, before joining the NDA at Khadakvasla in Pune. The ICJ's verdict came 10 days after India approached it, demanding the immediate suspension of the capital punishment given to the ex-Navy officer. The National Green Tribunal today directed the Centre to frame a national policy to prevent the "rapid decline" in the population of indigenous breeds of cattle across the country. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Environment Ministry and Department of Animal Husbandry to hold a meeting with all the states and come out with a common policy on the issue. "The records submitted by various states clearly indicate that there has been a rapid decline in indigenous breeds of cattle. Tell us what steps have you taken to prevent this decline in the population of species which may even lead to their extinction.... "This is a serious issue and it requires a national policy," the bench said. The tribunal asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to discuss the issue with all stakeholders concerned during the vacations and inform it about the decision. The matter is now listed for hearing on May 22. The NGT had noted that there was nearly 80 per cent decline in the animal population in Kerala from 2003 to 2012 and said that such a condition may lead to the extinction of the species in the state. The order came while hearing a plea filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar who had moved the tribunal against the "looming threat of extinction of indigenous breeds of cattle" in the country. The tribunal had earlier issued a notice to the Agriculture Ministry on the plea which also sought a nationwide ban on the slaughter of cattle belonging to indigenous breeds. Kumar had claimed a steep decline in the indigenous cow population and said that Indian cattle were being replaced across the country by exotic and cross-bred cows imported from Europe, Australia and the US. "Even developed countries are taking steps to preserve diversity in livestock and taking substantial steps to preserve and conserve their domestic livestock species," the plea had said. Kumar had accused government authorities of being a silent spectator to this "extinction". Militants today lobbed a grenade at a police station in old Srinagar city, injuring a policeman. The grenade exploded in the compound of the police station in Safakadal, a police official said. A special police officer (SPO) Samir Ahmad was injured in the incident, the official said. He said the injured cop has been shifted to police control room hospital and his condition is said to be stable. Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, its Foreign Office said today after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. The court today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court. Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistans reply to ICJ was in line with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that issuing of stay by the ICJ in interim case of Jadhav is not something extraordinary. He said courts sometimes grant such orders which do not have any bearing on long-term running of the case. Aziz said it is wrong impression that the selection of counsel in the case was not appropriate. He said the matter of consular access was not included in operational order of the court. "Our stance is that security reasons are also very important," he added. Information Minister Mariyum Aurangzeb said no compromise will be done on Pakistan's nation security. Commenting on the ICJ ruling, Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's Office said the ICJ's decision has not changed the status of Jadhav's case in any manner. In a statement, it said in todays interim order, ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Commander Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case. The statement said the provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the court to have full consideration at a later hearing. It said these measures have no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the Court. It said Pakistan attended the hearing out of its utmost respect for the court and pursuant to the established jurisprudence that the challenge to jurisdiction can be made via appearance and not by abstaining from the process. In addition, Pakistan attended because of its conviction that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues is through peaceful means, the statement added. "We are confident that India would not be able to hide the subversive activities it is trying to carry out through its agents like Jadhav," it said. The statement said in Pakistan had assured the court unambiguously that Jadhav would be provided every opportunity and remedy available under the law to defend his case. Meanwhile, experts and the opposition leaders blasted ICJ order as failure of the Nawaz Sharif government to press the case properly. "We based our case on jurisdiction and it proved weak. More arguments should have been made regarding espionage," Pakistan People's Party leader Sherry Rehman said. Justice (retd.) Shaiq Usmani told DawnNews the decision is alarming because "ICJ does not have jurisdiction. It's Pakistan's mistake to have appeared there. They shouldn't have attended. They have shot themselves in the foot." London-based Barrister Rashid Aslam said Pakistan was ill-prepared and did not utilise the 90 minutes it had to make its argument. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Srinagar, where she sought restructuring of credit facility to local businessmen who suffered huge losses due to last year's unrest in the Valley. Jaitley, who is in Srinagar to chair crucial meeting of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, called on Mehbooba where the two discussed process of fund flow to the State, particularly under the Prime Ministers Developmental Plan (PMDP), an official spokesman said.The Chief Minister also sought timely and periodic release of funds under the plan and apprised Jaitley of the huge losses suffered by local business units, particularly the ones started by young entrepreneurs, during the unrest of last year. She sought restructuring of credit facility to them. Jammu and Kashmir suffered losses to the tune of over Rs 16,000 crore during the five-month long unrest in the Valley from July to November last year. "Losses caused due to the unrest from July 8 to November 30, 2016 are estimated at more than Rs. 16,000 crore, Economic Survey 2016 report states. The chapter Economies of Uncertainty and Conflict of the report said that in 2016, the civil strife caused tremendous miseries, loss of life, complete halt of economic activity in the Valley coupled with loss of property worth crores of rupees. The scraping of internet services, mobile and phone services for long spells during the turmoil made communication in the state very difficult. Hartals, bandhs, stone pelting, curfews and restrictions immobilised life in all the 10 districts of the Valley, it said. A local court in Jharkhands Hazaribagh district on Thursday pronounced former RJD MP, Prabhunath Singh, guilty in the murder of Ashok Singh, then a Janata Dal MLA from Bihars Masarakh constituency. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on May 23, said the Additional District and Sessions judge Surendra Sharma. Prabhunath, who was present in the court, was immediately taken into custody and sent to jail after being pronounced guilty by the court. A former JD (U) MP from Bihars Maharajganj in 2004 who later shifted his allegiance to Lalu Prasad and became RJD MP in the 2013 by-election, Prabhunath eventually lost during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The 22-year-old murder case of the Bihar legislator dates back to July 3, 1995, when Ashok Singh was sitting on the sprawling campus of his official residence 5, Mangles Road in Patna. At around 7 pm, three unidentified assailants barged into his campus and hurled bombs at him leading to his instant death. Ashok was 28 years old when he was killed. His wife Chandni, who alleged that the killing was orchestrated by Prabhunath Singh, whom Ashok had defeated in 1995 Bihar Assembly polls, later lodged a FIR against Prabhunath and his brothers. During the trial, it was found that Ashok was killed within three hours of meeting the then DGP, GP Dohre whom he had reportedly pleaded to beef up his security cover. The trial was later shifted to Hazaribagh (then in undivided Bihar) in 1997 on the directive of the Patna High Court. We respect the court verdict. Each individual is accountable for his action, said RJD legislator Shakti Yadav, reacting on the arrest of his party leader. Expressing confidence in the ability of the opposition in fielding a common candidate in the ensuing presidential polls, CPI(M) general Secretary Sitaram Yechury today suggested that Gopal Krishna Gandhi may be among the possible choices but said that the ruling party should declare their candidate first in order to build consensus. Yes, we have looked into the name of Gopal Krishna Gandhi. Few suggested a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee , but a consensus must be arrived at first, said Yechury. Speaking to press after two-day Telangana state CPI(M) meeting here on Thursday, the 64-year-old veteran cited the broad consensus in the case of APJ Abdul Kalam and said that the selection of the candidate depends on whether the BJP wants secular supervision from the Raisina Hill or communal supervision but concluded that so far BJP has not taken that initiative. The ruling party lacks the initiative to try and build consensus, he said answering a question on the name of a consensus candidate from the entire opposition. "Nitish Kumar (the Bihar chief minister) said there is no objection if Pranab Mukherjee becomes a consensus candidate. The ruling party has to take an initiative if a consensus candidate is to emerge. They are not taking any initiative. So, it is clear that they want a communal supervision of the Constitution," he emphasised. Terming the three-year rule of the NDA government as a dismal failure in all sectors, he said that for the first time the internal and external security of the country is in deep peril. We were told that there will be peace at the border after surgical strikes, now the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is out of control. We were told that the government wiped out Maoists, but they are killing our security forces in large numbers, Yechury said. He said that the CPI(M) is on its way of forming a national platform against communalism in the backdrop of rampant cow vigilantism and attacks on Dalits and Muslims. However, he said that the CPI(M) also opposes the Majlis mark of politics as both Hindu and Muslim radicalism is two sides of the same coin. Each survives on the other, we are trying to break that by bringing the left parties and similar social groups together on one platform, he said. A day after securing anticipatory bail from a Karnataka court, former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today joined investigation by the Lokayukta SIT into an illegal mining, lodged against him. Janata Dal (Secular) state president Kumaraswamy was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for two hours during which he explained his version of events, the officials said. Kumaraswamy has been accused of putting immense pressure on the then Commissioner of Mines, Gangaram Baderiya, in 2007 to clear a file in favour of Janthakal mining firm, when he was the chief minister. Baderiya, now the Revenue Department's principal secretary, was arrested by SIT on May 15 for allegedly allowing the firm to illegally lift one million tonnes of mined ore in Chitradurga based on forged documents. The SIT had summoned Kumaraswamy following the arrest of Baderiya. Speaking to reporters after appearing before SIT officials, Kumaraswamy said he was being targeted by the Congress government as he has a strong base in the state ahead of 2018 assembly elections. "I am being targeted because I have a stronger base ahead of 2018 elections. And the people, who are occupying the SIT seats, take orders from the government to ensure that I am behind the bars for at least an hour and they show me in bad light," he said. Kumaraswamy said he would cooperate with SIT officials. A missing child's complaint can also be lodged with the police through SMS, according to a standard operating procedure (SOP) notified by the Centre on Thursday to deal with such cases. On receiving such a complaint, the police will first record it on the general station diary and subsequently register a FIR after preliminary verification of the complainant, the SOP also stipulates. In addition to all the regular means of filing a complaint i.e. in person, over the phone, over the e-mail, or other communications, a missing child's complaint may be filed through SMS to the authorities, read the SOP. The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has developed the SOP for tracing of missing children following a Supreme Court directive in 2015. The SOP stipulates that a station house officer (SHO), on registration of missing child's case, will make an assessment of the risk involved and determine the urgency of investigation and areas of inquiry. The SHO will also determine the types of specialist knowledge that might be needed to trace and recover the missing child. The officer will determine the agencies to be first alerted about the missing child. The SHOs concerned will have to fill up a "Risk Assessment Form" and put these exercises on record. The FIR will be forwarded to the special juvenile police unit of the police station for an immediate action for tracing the missing child. The officer concerned will upload the information about the missing child along with his recent photograph at www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in and also forward it to other agencies including Railway Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. According to the SOP, the police will leave no stone unturned to trace the missing child. Distribute hue and cry notice at all the outlets of the city or town. Search areas and spots of interest such as movie theatres, shopping malls, parks, game parlours and areas where missing or runaway children should be identified and watched, the SOP provides. Where a child cannot be traced within a period of four months, the investigation of the case will be transferred to the anti-human trafficking unit in the district which shall make reports every three months to the District Legal Services Authority regarding the progress made in the investigation. If trafficking or any other element of organised crime is suspected, a specialized team shall be instituted fo an investigation headed by the SHO, the SOP further stipulates. Swedish home furnishing major IKEA, the world's largest furniture seller is scouting for locations in Bengaluru and Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) for setting up its stores. "Land for us is a very important component. We have already started work at Hyderabad and the groundbreaking for Navi Mumbai has happened as well. The company is in negotiations for land in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR and we are close to signing deals in these regions," IKEA India chief executive officer Juvencio Maeztu said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Navi Mumbai store. The Hyderabad store should be operational early next year while the Mumbai store is planned to open early 2019, Maeztu added. The IKEA store in Navi Mumbai is located near the Turbhe train station and is spread across 4.3 lakh sq. ft. area. The store will have 1500 parking spaces and a 1000 seat restaurant serving Swedish and Indian delicacies. More than 9500 products will be displayed, including more than 60 room settings and 3 full-size homes. The store is expected to be visited by more than 4 million Mumbaikars every year. Each IKEA store is likely to employ around 700 direct co-workers and another 1500 providing services such as assembly, delivery etc. According to Maeztu, the company is not in a hurry to join the e-commerce bandwagon in India. "We have started looking at the process of e-commerce sales in India. We will be starting our Hyderabad store without e-commerce and may look at it after starting the Hyderabad store, Maeztu said. Congress on Thursday said it was relieved at the International Court of Justice staying the execution of former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan. Congress was skeptical of the Modi government's decision to move the International Court of Justice. It had even cautioned the Centre that India ran the risk of opening itself to similar actions by Pakistan. However, the ICJ decision appeared to have removed all doubts and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal even expressed readiness to accept Kulbhushan's brief once India got counsular access to him Once India gets consular access, there will be right of appeal, if any assistance is needed, I will be happy to help Kulbhushan's family, Sibal, a noted lawyer, told reporters here. Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked the international community to put enough pressure on Pakistan to ensure that it respected the ICJ order. We welcome the decision of the ICJ. It is a big relief, first step, and we hope that Pakistan respects that order, Sharma told reporters here. He said the Congress expected the Government to mount pressure on Pakistan to ensure that Jadhav's life was saved. Sharma said India was forced to move the ICJ after a military court in Pakistan had unilaterally awarded death penalty to Jadhav without granting him consular access or any legal assistance. Last week, Congress had pitched for a bilateral resolution to the issue irrespective of however intransigent and badly behaved Pakistan was. The Congress had also asked the government if it had thought through all the ramifications of its decision to move the ICJ in the matter. Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistan jail in 2013, today hailed the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, terming it as a victory of crores of Indians. "It is victory of crores of Indians. It is also a victory for India and its government and the legal team which worked tirelessly in Jadhav's case," she said. Jadhav is facing the gallows in Pakistan after a military court summarily convicted him of espionage and engaging in subversive activities. "Whatever Pakistan may say, they have been exposed before the world today. The ICJ order has come as a great relief not just to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav but also to the people of India," Dalbir Kaur told PTI over phone. After Pakistan military court's decision, Dalbir Kaur had said that India should approach the ICJ. "Approaching ICJ helped us. Pakistan does not have any proof against Jadhav, who is one step closer to his freedom," she said. When asked that Pakistan has said it does not accept ICJ's jurisdiction in matters related to its national security, Kaur said, "they have been exposed before the world, what else will they say. At least now they should learn from their mistakes." "They had thrown dice thinking they will let India down and defame us, but India put up Jadhav's case strongly. Everyone knows that Pakistan breeds terrorism from its soil and they are involved in proxy war with us," she said. Kaur's brother Sarabjit had died following an attack on him by inmates of a Lahore prison in April 2013. He was convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court and sentenced to death in 1991. However, the government had stayed his execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Dalbir Kaur lamented, "had the then government moved International Court of Justice in Sarabjit's case, he would have been alive". "Had ICJ been moved in Sarabjit's case, he would have been amongst us today," she said. Two days after CBI conducted searches at his premises, former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram on Thursday left for London. Airport official sources said "He (Karti Chidambaram) boarded a flight to London with his aides". However the official did not elaborate his (Karti Chiambaram's) plan to foreign trip. CBI on Tuesday conducted raids at the residences of senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister and his son Karti Chidambaram with regard to alleged favours granted in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to a private firm during the previous Congress-led UPA regime. The investigation agency had recently registered a case with regard to FIPB clearance given to a company in which it is alleged that favours were given when Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister under the Congress government at the Centre. "It is politically motivated... I do not understand why they are conducting raids. I have not committed in any wrong doings", Karti Chidambaram, who was present in the house during the searches, said. Reacting to the raids, former union minister Chidambaram said the Central government was trying to silence his voice and stop him from writing. Ever since Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Narmada Yatra in December 2016, Environment Minister Anil Dave, who was associated with the Narmada movement for a long time, wanted to be a part of the programme. However, ill health and official duty (Dave was the minister in waiting for the visiting Indonesian president) prevented him from travelling to his home state. It was only towards the end of the Narmada Yatra that he could find time to attend an event in Indore. Daves wish came true about a fortnight before his untimely death. Dave is credited of being one of the key backroom boys behind the BJPs success in Madhya Pradesh. Though he had a long association with the RSS, the soft-spoken leader shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of the then chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Uma Bharti, who subsequently became the chief minister, made him her adviser. Passion for flying As an NCC air wing cadet, Dave took early lessons in flying, which became a lifetime passion. A private pilot licence-holder, Dave once flew a Cessna 173 aircraft along the banks of Narmada for 18 hours. He also completed a 19-day raft journey covering 1,312 km in the river. Dave became environment minister in July 2016. In the last 10 months, he took several policy decisions on animal welfare and environmental compliances. However, the decision that is pending pertains to the commercialisation of genetically modified mustard, which has received the regulators approval. The M777 ultra-light howitzers, which arrived in Delhi on Thurday, will be transported by road to the armys firing range in Pokhran in Rajasthan. In December 2016, India had signed a deal of about Rs 4,700 crore with the US to purchase 145 M777 howitzers from BAE Systems in a government-to-government contract. The guns will be used to prepare a range table, the list of the calibrations and elevations to which the guns must be set to strike a target at a particular distance, sources told DH. While 25 guns will be imported in the next two years, the rest will be assembled at a factory at Faridabad that Mahindra set up in partnership with BAE Systems. The entire order will be executed in 54 months. At half the weight of 155 mm towed howitzers, the ultra-light howitzers have a range of 30 km and can provide rapid reaction capability to the Indian army. Since the M777 can be carried by Chinook helicopters which India will be buying from the US, too they can be moved quickly to areas close to the border. It can also be carried by the C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and on trucks, providing easy mobility in the mountains. The skyrocketing price of these guns is due to the usage of Titanium, which is currently unavailable in India. It is the use of Titanium that makes the weapons light-weight, said Lt Gen (retd) V K Chaturvedi, who had played a key role in initiating the artillery modernisation programme of the Indian Army. The Indian Army, as part of a deal struck with the US government to buy 145 M777 howitzers, received two artillery guns on Thursday. These howitzers are the first artillery guns to be inducted into the army after it bought them from the Swedish company Bofors 31 years ago. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it did not want the practice of triple talaq to continue, and would issue an advisory against it. The submission came just before the hearing on the Constitutional validity of triple talaq. We have held a meeting on Wednesday and will send a circular to all the qazis within a week to mention in the nikahnama that it would not be permitted, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar. A nikahnama is an Islamic marriage contract or prenuptial agreement. The board had earlier admitted triple talaq was sinful and undesirable but defended it, saying it had flourished for 1,400 years. In his concluding arguments on behalf of the board, Sibal cautioned the apex court not to take the dangerous and slippery slope. He said it was not the domain of the court to declare the practice illegal or unconstitutional. The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer, reserved its judgement after wrapping up the six-day hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq. The court asked the counsel when the board was going to issue directions to the clerics, and if it was willing to submit details in an affidavit. When the counsel agreed to file an affidavit as early as possible, the petitioners expressed their reservations. They said such an advisory would have little effect on the ground. The court had earlier asked the board if the women could insist on a condition in the nikahnama that the husband would not deploy triple talaq. Countering Attorney General Mukul Rohatgis argument that triple talaq had to be tested on the principle of equity, good conscience and Constitutional morality, Sibal said such an examination could not take place in the absence of a relevant law. It is for the legislature to pass a law which can be tested on the principle of constitutional morality. Otherwise my right is protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution, he said. The article enshrines the right to practise, profess and propagate religion. So bring a law if you want some social reforms. There is a process, follow the process.The court is not to decide what are the sinful practices in the world. Lots of sinful practices are still protected as customs, Sibal said. His contention that the women have accepted the practice was opposed with a loud no no no in the courtroom by counsel representing affected women. Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, a long-time RSS member, died of cardiac arrest here on Thursday. He was 60. The two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness in the morning and was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he breathed his last, official sources said. Dave had recently recovered from back-to-back attacks of pneumonia and viral fever. The minister was brought to AIIMS, New Delhi, at around 8.50 am in a state of cardiac arrest. All measures were taken to resuscitate him. He was declared dead at around 9.45 am, a doctor said. Cremation in Indore The ministers body was kept in Delhi for a few hours before being flown to Indore for cremation. Dave, a bachelor, is survived by brother Abhay. The government has named Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan as Daves replacement in the green ministry, in addition to his existing portfolio. Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke the news through a tweet. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend and a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. He will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. I was with him till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss, Modi tweeted. President Pranab Mukherjee and several other leaders expressed condolences. The national flag remained half-mast on Thursday in his honour. The verdict came three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded the annulment of the sentence and described Pakistans trial to convict Jadhav as farcical. Pakistan, in turn, argued that Jadhav was a spy and Indias plea was misconceived. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria hit out at India on Thursday, saying it was trying to hide its real face by taking the case to the ICJ. We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to national security of the country, he was quoted as saying by a television channel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction with the verdict and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the order as a great relief. The two leaders thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed a battery of lawyers presenting Indias case at The Hague. India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. India scored a major diplomatic victory over Pakistan on Thursday as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the execution of former navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. The United Nations highest judicial body also asked Pakistan to take all measures to ensure that Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for espionage, was not executed till the court had delivered its final verdict.Islamabad said it had informed the ICJ that it did not accept the courts jurisdiction in matters related to national security. ICJ president Ronny Abraham asked Pakistan to keep the court informed of all measures taken in the implementation of the order.The 15-member bench backed Indias contention that there had been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhis requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times.The court, which had provisionally stayed Jadhavs sentence on May 9, also noted that India and Pakistan were signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977.Jadhav would get a reprieve of at least 150 days since the sentence was announced, as Pakistan had indicated that the execution would probably not take place before August.This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the court has given its final decision in the case, the court said, and asked Pakistan to ensure that courts order is followed.The ICJ said, The mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. Paytm, the second largest Internet company run by One97 Communications, on Thursday said that it has raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank Group in one of the largest funding rounds by a single investor in the Indian startup ecosystem. Besides reducing the burden of Chinese investment by Alibaba, Paytm will find the Japanese conglomerate investment to expand its soon to be launched payments bank operations, expand the user-base and unveil more financial products. Commenting on the development, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said they the company is at an inflexion point in its journey. This investment by Softbank and support of the incredible entrepreneur Masayoshi Son is a great endorsement of our teams execution and vision. We believe that we have a great opportunity to bring financial inclusion to half-a-billion Indians. Paytm plans to invest about around Rs 10,000 crore over the next three to five years towards enabling half-a-billion Indians to join the mainstream economy. As a part of this vision, the company will soon launch the Paytm Payments Bank, it added. Paytm, which has around 230 million wallet-users, plans to launch its payments bank on May 23, and will use the money to acquire new 500 million customers and launch a slew of financial service products such as wealth management, deposits, and money lending, among others. Paytm has tied up with several financial institutions including banks such as ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda and startups such as Capital First and Capital Float to lend to customers on their behalf. SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said that the companys investment in Paytm is line with the Indian government's vision to promote digital inclusion. We are committed to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers and merchants by providing them digital access to a broad array of financial services, including mobile payments, said Son. SoftBank, which was an early investor in Alibaba, has committed investments of over $10 billion in India. It has pumped close to $2 billion into Indian startups like Snapdeal, Ola and Housing.com in last few years. The company had to write off a significant portion of that after the devaluation of those investments. Dec. 1, 1928 May 7, 2017 Agnar Al Allen Straumfjord, M.D., died peacefully in his sleep May 7, 2017, at his home in Sisters. Al was born December 1, 1928, to Jon Vidalin Straumfjord, M.D. and Thorey Thorderson Straumfjord and was raised in Astoria, the middle child of three brothers. A graduate of Astoria High School, he attended Willamette University and the University of Oregon Medical School, now OHSU, earning his medical degree and completing residencies there in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. He served in the United States Navy as a Flight Surgeon and readily admitted he only spent one day at sea. He had special interest in providing student health care, both at Oregon State University and at OHSU where he was a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Later he practiced psychiatry in Corvallis for many years, followed by work at Oregon State Hospital and the Benton County Mental Health Clinic. Al had Agnar Allen Jr. and Karen Lee with his first wife, Louise Ulvin. In 1973, he and Marianne Sawin Sanders married and he added his son Peter to his family. In 1975, they moved to a large farm in Albany, followed by many years in Camp Sherman and Sisters. He loved the farm but eventually retired to his beloved Central Oregon. Doctor Al was known for his vast range of knowledge in a multitude of areas, his special love for his Icelandic heritage, and anything to do with railroads. His support of his children and wife was never ending. He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Agnar Allen Jr.; and brother, Robert. He is survived by his wife, Marianne; children, Karen (John) Timmers and Peter Straumfjord; his brother, Jon Straumfjord M.D.; grandchildren, Kristjana, Jens, Steen, Johann, and Kaisa; great grandchild, Ezra; and many special nieces and nephews. An open house to celebrate his life will be from 1 to 4 p.m. on June 3, 2017, at the family home. Donations in his honor may be made to the Marianne and Al Straumfjord Family Scholarship Trust at Oregon Health Sciences University. Film producer Parvathamma Rajkumar was, on Thursday, put on ventilator after her health deteriorated. She is being treated by a team of five doctors at the intensive care unit of M S Ramaiah Hospital. The 77-year-old wife of matinee idol, the late Dr Rajkumar, was shifted to the hospital about a week ago following respiratory problems. Parvathamma is suffering from respiratory problems, kidney failure and cancer. Her condition will be critical as long as she is on ventilator, Dr Naresh Shetty told reporters. He, however, said Parvathammas vital organs were normal. Her blood pressure is also normal. The next 48 hours are extremely crucial, he said. Parvathamma may undergo a dialysis procedure as she is suffering from partial renal failure. Her kidneys have been partially damaged and she needs dialysis any time now. Doctors will take a call on that, he said. A team of doctors comprising a physician, nephrologist, oncologist, pulmonologist and intensivist is constantly monitoring her. Parvathammas eldest son and actor Shivrajkumar said his mother would be critical till she was taken off the ventilator. Actually, she is better on Thursday compared to the previous day. As of now, there is nothing to worry, he said. Her second son Raghavendra Rajkumar said, She is in safe hands and all she needs is prayers. Members of Rajkumars family held an emergency press conference to clarify about Parvathammas health after a website reported that she was no more. She had been hospitalised on March 7 for high diabetes and low blood pressure. Later, she was discharged. Bengaluru city police commissioner Praveen Sood, KFCC chairman Sa Ra Govindu and members of Rajkumars family and relatives visited the hospital. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had visited the hospital on Tuesday and had wished her speedy recovery. Parvathamma has produced over 75 movies under the banners Vajreshwari Combines and Poornima Enterprises, featuring Rajkumar and their three sons Shivrajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar. She introduced popular actresses like Sudharani, Malashree, Prema, Rakshita and Ramya. With the launch of two solar farms of 2.5MW and 440kW capacities at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here on Thursday, the airport operators formally took a decisive step towards generating 12% of its energy needs through solar power. The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has indicated that the two projects are part of a larger plan to fulfil 50% of KIA's energy needs through renewable power in the next three years. The first project of 440kW has been installed in the car park area in front of the BIAL corporate office, and the second project of 2.5MW solar panels at the airside. Both projects jointly will reduce carbon emission by 3125 tonnes per annum (3075 tonnes of CO2 emission per annum at the airside and 550 tonnes of CO2 emission per annum at the car park area). The project implemented by Bosch Limited and executed by the Bosch Energy and Building Solutions (BEBS) team in India, will generate approximately 4.4 Mio units of electricity, annually. Commissioning the projects at KIA, BIAL's President Airport Operations, Hari Marar said, We have focused on sustainability and embarked on adopting renewable energy as part of our overall green vision. We aim to achieve 50% of our energy needs through renewable power in the next three years. Both projects were designed keeping in mind the uniqueness of their locations the 440-kW project located at the car park area has been designed to optimize land usage enabling the generation of more than 6 lakh units of power, annually, and double as a car park for about 160 cars; due to the proximity to the runway, the 2.5-MW project has been additionally designed to sustain high wind speeds, according to BIAL. The projects underwent a rigorous quality process to ensure an active life of 20 years. World Resources Institute (WRI) India assisted BIAL in the techno-commercial evaluation of the bids for this project. The San Dieguito Union High School District projected a $9.2 million deficit at its March board meeting. At the May board meeting, the projected deficit was recalculated at about $8.5 million. Some might consider that a positive trend. But $8.5 million in the hole is nothing to smile about, with less that two months left until the end of the fiscal year, on June 30. In March, SDUHSD superintendent Eric Dill expressed confidence that revenue will grow by the time the books are closed. To support his hopeful outlook, he pointed to last year when a $2 million deficit turned into a $4 million surplus. But, as the saying goes, Hope is not a plan. Complicating the situation further, the district showed projected reserves dwindling fast from 12.2 percent in 2016-2017, to 8.8 percent in 2017-2018, to 4.9 percent in 2018-2019, to 3.3 percent in 2019-2020. Multi-year deficit spending continues to erode the reserves, Dill wrote in his March 9 board report. Then theres that pesky pension problem. The troubled California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) is demanding increased pension contributions from school districts to stay afloat. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, school districts were required to provide 8.25 percent of teacher salaries in 2013-2014 to CalSTRS, and that number is projected to go up to 19.1 percent by 2020-2021. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), which manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees, and their families, is in no better shape. School districts can be expected to increase their contributions in coming years to CalPERS as well. According to the California School Boards Association, the new projected rate for 2020-2021 approaches 24.9 percent, with a top rate of 28.2 percent in 2023-2024. Budget stability? This brings us back to that $6.5 million annual expense for 12.5 percent district-wide salary increases, approved by a 3-2 board in late 2015 and early 2016, discussed last week. In email conversations at the time the contract was up for approval, Bob Croft, head of the San Dieguito Faculty Association (teachers union), wrote, Our new contractual agreement provides the financial security, health benefits, and contractual language stability that our members deserve. This agreement also provides the budget certainty and security for our districts future. I can only speak with great confidence that San Dieguitos educators have very much earned every aspect of this new agreement. It provides budget stability, said then Superintendent Rick Schmitt. Our community has supported our employees over the years. To justify the raises, the district emphasized that teachers have not received a master contract raise since 2007. The wording is important. Although its true that there has not been a contract raise in years, teachers receive salary increases annually based on whats called step-and-column adjustments, given for longevity and educational credentials. These step-and-column raises occur yearly regardless of whether theres a change in the contract. Annual step-and-column increases float between $850,000 and $950,000, according to Dill. He estimated about $250,000 per year for column increases when we spoke last year. As discussed before, a first-year teacher at Step 1 and Column 1 before the contract change would earn $42,545 for a standard 186-day work year. Add in a $1,000 stipend for the required English learner credential, $11,000 from a flexible health spending account transferred into salary, and the 12.5 percent raise. So in one years time, that teachers salary goes from $42,545 to $61,573 and thats excluding any step-and-column raise. Square all this with Dills comment about the deficit at the March 9 meeting: We need to hold tight on expenditures. Public disclosure Last year Del Mar resident Michael Robertson filed a complaint about the teachers contract to the states Public Employment Relations Board, claiming insufficient time was provided for public review of the proposed labor contract. Its a reasonable claim, given that the contract was first posted on the district website late in the day on Dec. 16, 2015, for a board vote to take place the next day. That gave the public less than 24 hours to review the document assuming the public even knew it was there to review. His complaint was denied, as Robertson expected. Its long odds because the system is rigged, he said. The people judging my complaint are union sympathizers. He appealed the decision. Although Robertsons tenacity is legendary, his challenge failed. This makes a mockery of the entire process, he said, adding that the principles of open government are violated when the public is given less than one day to review such an important document. Schmitt did attempt to post the proposed contract early, but SDFA union president Croft refused to ask his members to ratify the agreement until the day before the board meeting. The district, by advice of counsel, was told the document could not be made public until the union approved it. It is nonsense that a public document cannot be made public unless the union ratifies it, said attorney and education activist Sally Smith. The board failed in its fiduciary duty to the people by hiding the contract. Smith cited Government Code 3547 which states in part: Meeting and negotiating shall not take place on any proposal until a reasonable time has elapsed after the submission of the proposal to enable the public to become informed and the public has the opportunity to express itself regarding the proposal at a meeting of the public school employer. SDUHSD Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Torrie Norton said the district was forced to delay posting the contract until it was ratified by a majority of union members to allow more teachers the chance to vote. Said Croft, The SDFA Executive Board decided to allow an extended time in which our members may submit their ballots on the new agreement. But by delaying the deadline for teachers to vote, the public was effectively denied the opportunity to review the contract. And its not like there was any dissension among teachers it was a done deal, and a great deal which was ratified overwhelmingly by union members. Responded Croft at the time: With the district deciding on the delay not SDFA why wouldnt SDFA then want to take advantage of that opportunity to ensure our membership had additional time to submit their ballots? SDFAs Executive Board most certainly wanted to do our best, given the circumstance, to allow as many members as possible to submit ballots and have their voices heard. I believe that is simply SDFA working to meet the needs of our members. Head-in-the-sand Its clear the public was not given sufficient time to review the contract, one that was in serious need of public scrutiny given the startling size of the salary increases. When board members Joyce Dalessandro, Beth Hergesheimer and Amy Herman voted in favor of this labor contract, they also voted in favor of secrecy and against public disclosure. Transparency and open government took a big hit that night, as did the districts bottom line. Nevertheless, the November 2016 election saw voters reaffirm their faith in Dalessandro and Hergesheimer by re-electing them indicating taxpayers are comfortable with their positions on fiscal issues. Still, this rosy optimism seems unwarranted and feels more like a head-in-the-sand approach to governance. Trustees have three primary duties: to hire and review the superintendent, to enact policies, and to ensure fiscal solvency for decades to come, not just until their next election. In a May 12 San Diego Union-Tribune article, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown is quoted as saying, [T]he economic recovery is not going to last forever We dont live in a world of straight-line revenues that go higher every year. There are serious financial issues facing San Dieguito because of the contract approval, escalating pension costs and declining reserves. Ignoring these problems does not make them disappear. Voters decided last November that the status quo is what they wanted. So be it. Lets hope things go well. Then again, hope is not a plan. Opinion columnist and Senior Education Writer Marsha Sutton can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com. A teenager with type 1 diabetes has been left devastated after she was barred from a school trip because of her condition, says her mother. Aaliyah Thomso, from Scotland, was due to travel to Highlands Holiday Park with students from Elgin High School, but her mum says the school stopped her going at the last minute. Speaking to the Press and Journal newspaper, Jaye Thomson said: She was really looking forward to it, but then spent all of Friday evening [upset] when she found out she couldnt go, she was really devastated. Diabetes is classed as a disability and its the only reason shes not been allowed to go. According to Ms Thomso, the plans for the trip were made in January and she even met with teachers about her daughters condition. Ms Thomson says she had informed the school about Aaliyahs diabetes in advance of the trip, but received a recent email asking about medical problems affecting any of the children going on the trip. She said: I went to a meeting at the school earlier this month just to go over things and to make sure Aaliyah would be safe. At that point, I got the impression that the teachers didnt want her to go because it would be a hassle for them. A Moray Council spokesman said: The school did everything possible to get the necessary information from Ms Thomson about Aaliyahs condition and medication but, despite repeated efforts over a number of weeks, this was not forthcoming. In the absence of that information and following consultation with professionals from other sectors, the school decided that it could not take the risk of allowing Aaliyah to join the class trip to what is a relatively remote area. We can understand her disappointment but were satisfied that no fault lies with the school. But Ms Thomson has insisted she had provided school with the necessary information in relation to her daughters type 1 diabetes. She said: I had adjusted Aaliyahs insulin so that she would be fine for all the activities, but she was on a similar trip last year with New Elgin Primary School and had no problems. Its the way the school went about this that hurts the most, they made it so hard for her and I do consider it discrimination. Norway's Statoil Petroleum awards Tendeka with additional work Tendeka, a provider of Oil & Gas completion systems has been awarded additional work scope with Statoil Petroleum in Norway. The additional scope covers the provision of specialist sand screens and inflow control technologies for the new Cat-J rigs, Askeladden and Askepott. Statoil have awarded this for a period of 4-years with the option to extend by two additional 2-year periods. The two Cat-J rigs are operated under the Oseberg and Gullfaks licences, located in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. They are tailor-made for harsh environment, shallow wells operating in depths of up to 150m and with drilling capabilities of up to 10,000m. The arrival of these two new rigs in the second quarter of 2017 will ensure continued development of the Oseberg and Gullfaks fields. Gary Smart, Chief Executive Officer of Tendeka said: 'We look forward to working with the Gullfaks and Oseberg teams to provide operational efficiencies and production optimisation, in line with that shown previously on Troll. This award strengthens our relationship with Statoil and highlights our continued commitment to the North Sea.' As part of this award, Tendeka has been granted a non-exclusive work scope for the further supply of sand screens, inflow control and swellable packers to a broader range of assets within the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). Associated Companies Tendeka Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Meeting today on WSCC expansion SEATTLE The Seattle Design Commission will hold a meeting today to discuss public benefits the city could get from the Washington State Convention Center as part of its $1.6 billion expansion. The meeting will run 9 a.m.-noon at Seattle City Hall, Room L280. Speakers will include representatives from Pine Street Group, LMN Architects and Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. The WSCC wants the city to vacate three alleys and underground portions of Terry Avenue and Olive Way. The project will pay for these rights of way and provide public benefits, including partial funding to study a lid for Interstate 5. Other public benefits could include public art, a night watch, connectivity improvements and affordable housing. Subscriber content preview GOP has reversed 14 Obama-era regulations The GOP says many of the actions were designed to help businesses, but others addressed social issues. By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON Final score: Republicans 14, Barack Obama's last-minute regulations, one. Congressional Republicans anxious to show voters they can get something done are hailing their reversal of more than a dozen Obama-era regulations on guns, the internet and the environment. . . . login or purchase a To read this story in fullor purchase a subscription. Govt proposes 10 new indigenous nuclear power reactors The union cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to construct 10 units of India's indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR), in a move to fast-track India's domestic nuclear power programme and give a push to country's nuclear industry. The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for construction of 10 units of the indigenous nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 7,000 MW, a significant augmentation of nuclear power generation capacity. The 10 reactors will be part of India's latest design of 700 MW PHWR fleet with state-of-art technology meeting the highest standards of safety, says an official release. The first of its kind project for India's nuclear power sector, the ten new units will come up in fleet mode as a fully homegrown initiative. It would be one of the flagship 'Make in India' projects in this sector. With likely manufacturing orders of close to Rs70,000 crore spread across domestic industry, the project will help transform Indian nuclear industry by linking high-end technology programmes with indigenous industrial capacities, says the release. The project will bring about substantial economies of scale and maximise cost and time efficiencies by adopting fleet mode for execution. It is expected to generate more than 33,400 jobs in direct and indirect employment. With manufacturing orders to domestic industry, it will be a major step towards strengthening India's credentials as a major nuclear manufacturing powerhouse, according to the release. India has a current installed nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW from 22 operational plants. Another 6,700 MWs of nuclear power is expected to come onstream by 2021-22 through projects presently under construction. The proposed indigenous PHWRs will help add another 7,000 MW, taking the country's overall nuclear power generating capacity to 20,480 MW. India has made rapid advances in nuclear technology and its nuclear scientific community has attained mastery over all aspects of PHWR technology. India's record of building and operating PHWR reactors over the last nearly forty years is globally acclaimed. The cabinet's decision reflects the government's commitment to prioritise the use of clean power in India's energy mix, as part of low-carbon growth strategy and to ensure long-term base load requirement for the nation's industrialisation. It also supports India's commitment to sustainable development, energy self-sufficiency and bolsters global efforts to combat climate change, the release added. Excerpt from The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled From India to Europe for Love The Prophecy Ever since the day I was born, in a village in the Indian jungle, my life course has been steered by a prophecy. It was winter and almost time for the New Year celebrations, which remained a tradition, even though the British who had introduced them to our country had left two years earlier. It rarely rained in December, but that year the north-eastern monsoon lingered on the Orissa coast. Eventually the rain subsided, but the forested slopes on either side of the river remained hidden in the dark clouds that doused the landscape in twilight, even though it was morning. Suddenly, the sun cut through the darkness. And there I was, laid in a basket inside one of the village huts, destined to be the protagonist of our story although I did not yet have a name. My family gathered around, marvelling at me, fresh to the world. The village astrologer was also present, proclaiming that I had been born under the sign of Capricorn, on the very same day as the Christian prophet. 'Look!' cried one of my brothers. 'What?' 'There, above the baby!' Everyone looked up and saw a rainbow that had formed in the beam of light that fell through the little window. The astrologer knew what it meant. 'He will work with colour when he grows up.' It did not take long for the rumours to spread around the village. A rainbow child, said one. A great soul, a Mahatma, is born, said another. When I was only one week old a cobra strayed into the hut where I was sleeping, oblivious to the impending danger. It rose above my cot and flared its muscly hood. My mother saw it and assumed it had already bitten me. She ran to me just as the snake slithered away outside. But I was fine. Indeed, I was lying there quietly, my dark eyes gazing out into the void. A miracle! The village snake charmer told my parents that the cobra had extended its hood to protect me from raindrops dripping through the ceiling directly above my cot. The rain had been hammering at our roof for the past few days and it was now leaking. Cobras are considered holy and this was a sign from the divine. Publisher: Pan Macmillan Price: Rs 319 The astrologer nodded as the snake charmer spoke. Yes, indeed. I was no ordinary baby. The astrologer returned to tell my fortune. He took a sharpened stick and scratched my future on a palm leaf. 'He will marry a girl from far, far away, from outside the village, the district, the province, the state and even the country,' it began. 'You needn't go looking for her, she will come to you,' he whispered to me alone, looking straight into my eyes. At first, my father could not make out the rest of the words. The astrologer held an oil lamp underneath a candle stick smeared with butter and let the soot that formed fall into the grooves scratched in the porous leaf. The text appeared before my parents' eyes. He did not need to read it out loud, my father could see the curly Oriya script for himself and read it to my mother: 'His future wife will be musical, own a jungle and be born under the sign of Taurus.' I have lived with the prophecy on the palm leaf and the stories of the rainbow and the cobra ever since I learned to understand what the adults were saying. Everyone was sure my future had been set. I was not the only one to have my future told. The fates of all children are written in the stars the moment they are born. That is what my parents believed, and so did I, growing up. And in some ways, I still do. His full name is Jagat Ananda Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia. A joyful name. Jagat Ananda means universal happiness, and Mahanandia means optimism. But this is not his full name; this is just the short version. Including all the titles passed down from grandparents, tribe and caste, it runs to 373 letters. But who can keep track of 373 letters? His friends settled instead on two. P (for Pradyumna) and K (for Kumar). PK's family never used any of his given names when they called out after the little boy as he ran through the village or climbed up high in the mango trees. His father used Poa, meaning little boy, his paternal grandparents always said Nati, grandson, and his mother chose Suna Poa, golden boy, because his skin was just a shade lighter than that of his siblings. His first memories of the village by the river on the edge of the jungle were from after he had turned three. Or maybe he was four. Or still only two. Age was not so important. No one cared about birthdays. If you asked the villagers how old they were, their answers would vary and were never precise. Around ten, forty-something, nearly seventy, or merely young, middle-aged, very old. However old he was, PK remembers standing inside a house with thick walls made of mud and a roof of yellowed grass. The picture comes into focus. Fields of corn with their dusty tips rustling in the evening breeze and clumps of trees with their plump leaves set alight by flowers in the winter and heavy with syrupy fruit in the spring. A stream flowed through the village and into a large river, behind which a solid wall of foliage and branches rose up from the ground. It was the beginning of the jungle, from which came the occasional trumpeting of an elephant or the growl of a leopard or tiger. Wild animal tracks could often be spotted in the mud, along with piles of elephant dung or the imprint of a tiger's paw, accompanied by the buzz of swirling insects and the singing of birds. PK's horizon was the edge of the jungle, but his universe extended beyond it and into the woods. See interview: PK recounts his incredible journey Also see: PK's karmic ride for love For many college students, summer is a time to unwind from the challenges of university life. It's a time to lift the head out of the books, to turn off the whirl of knowledge and to breathe. Brianna Hanna, Donegal town, a second-year student in Galway studying geography, sociology and political studies, will take on a whole new meaning in life in June when she heads off as a volunteer to Zambia. Habitat for Humanity, the international organisation that Brianna is volunteering with, has a strong track record for the calibre of its work and the support it provides to the volunteers. Habitat for Humanity Irelands vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Since I was small I have felt a draw to India; my dream is to be there working with women, to understand their lives and culture and to support their empowerment through community education and development. Going to Zambia is a step towards fulfilling this dream," she says. During the three weeks that Brianna and the other volunteers are in Zambia, they will live and build alongside future homeowners, community members and local trade professionals. "I am so looking forward to being immersed in a different culture, to all the new experiences and challenges it holds, but also carrying that sense of community that unites people, whether you are in Donegal or Zambia," she adds. Brianna Hanna Challenges So what have the challenges been for Brianna so far and what are the challenges she expects to encounter? "Part of the preparation has been to learn about Zambia, the people, the culture to have an understanding of the social, economic and political landscape. 'Home comforts' as I know them will be left at home! The work starts early, showers are buckets of water being thrown at you, its dark by 6 pm and part of a dress code is having your legs covered at all times. Brianna explains she is very much a home bird. I talk to my Mum every day, so not being able to do this will be a huge wrench for me. I am a vegetarian so this may also prove difficult. Brianna will be able to phone home once a week, but homesickness is a real concern. I think the next month maybe a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me, but I am preparing myself for this. We all need role models, people who inspire us, motivate us, challenge us and sustain us. Listening to Brianna, her older sister Katelyn certainly holds this title. Both share a keen interest in the role of women and do not shy away from calling themselves feminists. They believe in women making informed choices, having bodily autonomy, having equal access to resources, education, employment, etc. "I dont believe in pushing my agenda, but I think it is important that young women are seen and heard. I have been on marches and I am not afraid to stand up and speak out for what I believe in," Brianna says. Her parents, Damien and Margaret, have been an incredible support. I know they are very proud of me. Once they knew I had made up my mind to go Zambia, they have been there with me very step of the way; encouraging me, supporting me, helping me in so many practical ways. Mum listening to me daily, to Dad, who took us all by surprise when he too shaved his hair when I did. I know he did this for me and for the cause and it was a very special moment. Brianna had shaved her head in a fundraising event to support her work with Habitat. Brianna has also tapped into the wisdom and experience of her cousin Tasmin, who previously volunteered. She heads off to Zambia with armsful of love, respect and admiration from grandparents, family members, friends and well-wishers. Safe travels, Brianna, enjoy the experience and we look forward to hearing all about your experiences. Donegal TD and Minister Joe McHugh has announced he is backing Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar to be the next Taoiseach. Minister McHugh said he believed Minister Varadkar would be an outstanding leader of the country who understood issues affecting people right across the State and in particular Donegal. "Leo was in Donegal for two days last week but he is no stranger to Donegal," said McHugh, who is Minister for the Diaspora and International Development. "He has visited the county on many occasions both in a private capacity and as a minister. He retained Malin Head Coastguard Station at a time when there was pressure to close it and he began the process of better cross-Border cooperation on health care as emphasized just a few days ago with the Cancer Care Centre at Altnagelvin. "Leo also worked for a time in Carndonagh as a junior doctor when he was training in the medical profession. He understands, as he said last week, the unique circumstances of Donegal, cut off from the rest of the North for most of the last century by partition, and cut off geographically and in other ways from the rest of the State. "I believe Leo Varadkar will make an excellent Taoiseach for all the people of the Republic of Ireland and for all the people of Donegal. I have never found him wanting when it came to dealing with issues head-on. "I also believe Minister Varadkar will help stabilise our country, deal with the challenges of Brexit and help Donegal and the border counties in the months and years ahead. He is a keen supporter of Irish language and culture and his continuing support for our native language is immense. "I hope now Leo goes on to win this Fine Gael contest and help lead our country after the enormous progress of this Government over the past six years. Fifteen of Donegal's 21 beaches monitored by the EPA for bathing water quality have been rated as excellent. Three were rated as good, one as sufficient and two are new additions to the EPAS monitoring. None of Donegals beaches breached the minimum EU standards The Bathing Water Quality in Ireland report for 2016 showed the only change in the county was at Lisfannon near Buncrana which was rated as excellent in 2015 and downgraded to good for 2016. The Donegal beaches rated excellent are Ballyhiernan, Bundoran, Carrickfinn, Culdaff, Downings, Drumnatinny, Fintra, Killahoey, Marble Hill, Murvagh, Naran, Port Arthur, Portsalon, Rossnowlagh and Shroove . Three, Lisfannon, Portnablagh, and Rathmullan, are listed as good. Lisfannon just exceeded the threshold for excellent quality due to Enterococci counts. The EPA said these waters continue to be of extremely high quality with few pollution sources or events identified. Portnablagh shows very variable Enterococci counts and just exceeded the criteria for excellent quality. Rathmullan showed consistently poorer water quality in 2016 than in previous years for E.coli in particular. Ladys Bay at Buncrana was rated as sufficient for the third year. The EPA said Ladys Bay appears to exhibit episodic low-level pollution possibly arising from wastewater discharges. The EPA said Doohey and Magheroarty were newly identified in 2015 and currently have insufficient samples for full classification but would appear to be likely to meet excellent quality in 2017 given current performance. Almost three-quarters of all identified bathing waters in the country, 102 of 140, were classed as excellent one more than 2015. A further 18 were classed as good, five more than in 2015. Annie McLoone was the youngest of three children born to Michael (Mick the post) and Bridget McLoone in Clooney, Glenties in 1925. She had a brother, Phil and a sister Bridget. She attended the local school in Clogher and when taking piano lessons in Castlegolden at weekends met Mother Gabriel Gallagher who suggested she go to Mount Sackville, Dublin as a boarder for her second level education. She loved it from the start and inspired by her experience there and by her profoundly Christian upbringing she entered the Novitiate in Ferbane in 1944. After her profession as a Sister of Cluny and the completion of her third level studies she was missioned to Trinidad and Grenada in the West Indies where she taught in a secondary school, served as the superior of the community, but it was her musical knowledge, perfect pitch, and beautiful voice which will be immediately recalled when her name is mentioned. She trained the school choir and put on several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas over the years much to the delight of students and parents (a tribute from Lauren Ramdhanny and other past pupils of St. Josephs Convent Grenada). She contracted typhoid in St.Georges which almost caused her death but survived to take up an appointment as Provincial in the USA in 1966 where she served in many different roles for 16 years. She was elected to the General Council in Paris in 1982.She travelled from there around the four corners of the world to support the work of large and small communities of sisters and each one had their own wee story of her kindness and help to them personally. Can we imagine the good she did all over the World of Cluny when she accompanied Mother Marie Noel on these journeys?(a tribute from Sr. Mary Sweeney and all in Makeni). In 1994 she was appointed to Mt. Sackville to take on several roles - the accounts, the Liturgy and the hospitality services. As we celebrate the life of Sr. Eucharia we thank her for the gift of her life to us, especially in her service of leadership at every level. Some people arrive into our lives and depart leaving footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the very same(tributes from Sr. Claire Houreau, Superior General, Sister Rowena, Provincial, Sister Maeve the Superior, sisters of the Province of Ireland and Great Britain and the staff of Mount Sackville). In the homily preached at her funeral mass her nephew, Fr. Michael McCullagh drew on the first reading-Love never fails-to capture this outward looking love for others and gratitude for her own life that sustained Eucharia throughout her life to practice what she preached often at great personal sacrifice. Her family thank her for this great love she had for them down to the fourth generation. The family in turn loved her - they could not but love her for being the inspirational role model she was in gifting her life selflessly in the service of her God and her fellow human beings. May she rest in peace. * Contributed by Michael McLoone. A Eufaula hospital that had been operating under the umbrella of Dothans Southeast Alabama Medical Center will soon be under new management. Medical Center Barbour has signed a lease with Alliant Management Services of Louisville, Kentucky, the management company announced Thursday. Eufaula Mayor Jack Tibbs has been working on getting a new partner to manage Medical Center Barbour (MCB) for about five months. We understand the importance of good health and want to provide our community with convenient quality healthcare right here at home, Medical Center Barbour CEO Ralph Clark said. We strive daily to provide quality healthcare services. Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) expressed support for the Eufaula hospitals decision. The hospital had been under the oversight of the Healthcare Authority of Eufaula through its relationship with SAMC. Our goal throughout our relationship with the Healthcare Authority of the City of Eufaula has always been to ensure the residents of Barbour County had access to quality care. AMS has demonstrated they can operate successfully in rural markets and we believe this new relationship will be beneficial for all parties, said Rick Sutton, CEO for Southeast Alabama Medical Center, in a written release. SAMC is in the process of a strategic cost reduction. A hospital spokesperson said the Medical Center Barbour decision was not related to SAMCs current process. Tibbs said the new partnership could be a real positive thing for Eufaula. AMS manages, leases and owns hospitals. Among the hospitals AMS has purchased is Northwest Florida Community Hospital in Chipley, Florida. Also under its management is Calhoun Liberty Hospital in Blountstown, Florida. MCB will be AMS only hospital in Alabama. AMS manages one in North Carolina, five in Kentucky and five in Illinois. In its mission statement, AMS said that it is committed to quality healthcare and has a long-standing relationship with partner hospitals and a history of success. These relationships clearly demonstrate that the benefits of professional management and access to a vast network of resources can be enjoyed without sacrificing autonomy. (AMS) niche has been rural hospitals, Tibbs said. Theyre not taking over because our hospital is doing great right now. (MCB) is having a profitable year. Weve got a really good rural hospital. But, these guys can come in and see what can be added. Southeast Alabama Medical Centers contract with Medical Center Barbour expires in December, but Tibbs believes AMS could take over as soon as October after the fiscal year ends. A psychologist from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) who spent more than a year living with remote islanders to study whether facial expressions of emotion are universal, has contributed to a new book on the topic. Dr Carlos Crivelli, VC2020 Lecturer in Psychology, spent long periods of time embedded with his adopted families on the isolated Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea and the Sunni Sufi Mwani communities of Northern Mozambique for his research. He wanted to see whether the facial expressions of emotion were universal if everyone understood smiles to mean happy, scowls to mean angry and so on. Showing photographs of facial expressions of emotion to Trobianders and Mwani, Dr Crivelli found that while some facial expressions, like smiles, were moderately linked to happiness, others did not. A wide-eyed gasping face, which commonly denotes fear in Western cultures, was instead recognized as a threatening display by a large majority of the Trobrianders. There were other examples. What this meant, Dr Crivelli said, was that facial expressions of emotion are not universal. Faces are flexible tools that we use to interact with others in varied ways. The environment people lived in determined how they interpret peoples faces. This conclusion challenged decades of academic thought. In a new book, The Science of Facial Expression, Dr Crivelli contributes a chapter about facial expressions and emotions in indigenous societies. Dr. Crivelli said: It is a widely held assumption in psychology and neuroscience that humans use their faces to express and read emotions across all societies. As recent evidence suggests, Trobriand, Mwani, and Himba participants are not able to recognise basic emotions from faces, but instead, they attribute general affective properties such as feeling good or bad as Westerners do. Our cultural backgrounds lead us to believe that we can read people like a book. However it is not about expressing and reading emotions through faces, but using our faces as flexible interfaces for social interaction within the cultural and social backgrounds we share. Our goal for the years to come should be to understand the diversity of strategies that human beings use to manage interactions through facial displays. Response by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, on the receipt of an Honorary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Tel Aviv, 18 May 2017 Ladies and gentlemen, It is my privilege to speak to you tonight, on behalf of all those whom you distinguished by awarding an honorary doctorate of the University of Tel Aviv. We come from different fields of human endeavour. Politics, policy, business, history and of course fundamental research. Our achievements are diverse. But they are all based on careful accumulation, experimentation and exploitation of knowledge. Knowledge created and fostered by universities such as yours. And I cannot but detect the profound influence of this search for knowledge in my memory of recent events. The eruption of the global financial crisis in 2008, and the subsequent sovereign debt crisis in Europe, caused a deep recession worldwide, a sharp increase in unemployment and exposed the incompleteness of some parts of the EU institutional architecture. Fertile conditions to give voice to populist and nationalistic rhetoric. But that period of crisis was also conducive to improving our understanding of economic and political forces, and to translating this new knowledge into action. The crisis has thus resulted in a form of creative destruction, where established paradigms have been critically revisited, where flawed practices have been exposed and replaced by sounder ones and where new research addressed previously neglected aspects of our societies. This renewed effort has both greatly deepened our understanding of economics and shaped our policy response. The crisis is now behind us. The recovery in the euro area is resilient and is increasingly broad-based across countries and sectors. Domestic demand, supported by the ECBs monetary policy, is the mainstay of that recovery. Five million more people are employed now than were in 2013, and unemployment though still too high is at an eight-year low. Worldwide, the financial sector is now more resilient. The global economic outlook is also improving, and downside risks are moderating. However, what we need in Europe to ensure that economic growth and higher prosperity is sustained through time are structural reforms and a renewed sense of purpose for the EU. Started in the aftermath of the Second World War, European integration was the response to citizens desperate need for peace. The system of treaties between governments that had dominated European relations between the two wars and even before had utterly failed to deliver what governments are mainly for: security and prosperity. Pooling sovereignty on issues of direct common interest became the new basis for cooperation between the European nations. At the time such a project seemed bold and optimistic just as calling for further, deeper integration seems bold and optimistic today. But our founders were right. Europe has delivered peace, prosperity and political stability for a period of time that has no precedents in its modern history. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that created the European Union and the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty that created the Monetary Union. Further progress is needed. The institutional architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union remains incomplete in a number of aspects. The crisis has exposed structural weaknesses in our construction and has forced us to address them. The repair has started with the creation of the banking union. But the work is far from over and the challenges we face go beyond Economic and Monetary Union. They pertain to security, migration, defence, and generally all those challenges that can be addressed only by pooling sovereignty. And these challenges are greater than in the past. Today we can sense a rising wave of energy in demanding joint European action. The European Union and the euro always commanded the support of the majority of European citizens, but, often, it was only the vocal opposition that was heard. Now this silent majority has regained its voice, its pride, and its self-confidence. Only by working together can the nations of Europe overcome these challenges. The opportunity for progress is real. Values and judgement lie at the heart of all our undertakings. But they need to be supported by continuing research, ever increasing knowledge, and uncompromising examination of facts. This was true in addressing the great financial crisis, designing and implementing policies that improve the world economy and building institutions that deliver peace and prosperity in Europe. But it is also true in all the fields represented today by my fellow recipients. That is why we must be grateful to all places of knowledge, and today to the University of Tel Aviv. Thank you once more, not only for the honour that you are bestowing upon us, but also for your ongoing contribution to our common good. Trump just gave us a chance to save health insurance for 24 million Americans Thanks to Donald Trumps decision to step on every available rake in front of him, there is now a special counsel investigating the presidents possible collusion with Russian meddling in our election, which obviously happened because you watched much of it happen on TV. Now someone with some possible integrity has subpoena power over the Trump Administration. And he may even use it. I honestly didnt think this would happen until 2019 AT THE EARLIEST. This gives us a huge opportunity to use our greatest asset. Our focus killed TrumpCare and its the only thing that can kill it again. Last week, in my typically pedantic fashion, I tried to warn you that Trumps cavalcade of chaos was helping keep our eyes off the Senates effort to pass Trumpcare in much the same way the House did. And this is effort is definitely ongoing, despite the three-dumpster fire that is the Trump presidency. The Washington Post reports: Were working on it as a Senate, not working with the president, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Other Republicans worry the high drama is distracting Americans from the efforts to replace Obamacare, especially at a time when marketplace insurers are again seeking big rate hikes for next year. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said senators are focusing on health care in nearly every meeting lately, but fears thats getting lost on the public. That really gets waylaid by the day-to-day issue of the hour, Rounds said. He sounds so worried! If Republican Senators wanted this process to be seen by the public, they COULD DO IT IN PUBLIC the way Democrats did with the Affordable Care Act. We cannot not let TrumpCare become law. You know that. You know we cant reverse the biggest improvement to our health care system in 50 years with a bill that ends Medicaid as we know it, cutting the program beyond the quick endangering seniors, the disabled, rural hospitals, special education and more. All to fund a giant giveaway to the rich. And if we dont kill it, lots of us will die 26,000 in the year 2026 along, according to an estimate from ThinkProgress. Here are the best two ways to kill TrumpCare. 1. Democrats need to win one or both of the special House elections in safe Republican districts. The election of Rob Quist and/or Jon Ossoff will send a shudder down the area that used to house Republicans spines. 2. Find people who are represented by these swing Senators: FOCUS ON TRUMPCARE. Here is our target list of Senators. And here are questions to ask them https://t.co/UXo06NtNnL Please RT! pic.twitter.com/DBjP3XkWdf Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) May 16, 2017 Ask them to call and ask these questions suggested by Topher Spiro, Vice President, Health Policy, Center for American progress: 1. Will *anyone* lose their health insurance coverage? If you repeal the financing, how can you possibly avoid coverage losses? 2. If you just *delay* the end of Medicaid expansion, how is it possible that no one will be harmed? 3. Will *anyone* pay more for health insurance because of their age, income, health, or where they live? 4. Will average deductibles increase? Will financial protections or benefits be watered down? 5. Will state flexibility to customize or tailor Medicaid result in any benefit cuts or eligibility restrictions? 6. Would tax cuts for people with income greater than $200,000 be possible without corresponding cuts to Medicaid? Arent they linked? 7. Will *anyone* who has a pre-existing condition pay more for health insurance or lose their coverage? 8. Will *anyone* with employer coverage lose their coverage? Will *anyone* with employer coverage have weaker financial protections? 9. Will the Senate bill defund Planned Parenthood or otherwise restrict choice of health care providers? You may think there are bigger fires to fight than this. I get it. Godspeed. We need to do what ever we can support the undocumented and push back on the panoply of assaults on voting rights, education and good governance we face. But this fight, I argue, is the most important strategically and symbolically. Trump is uninsuring his own voters to pay off his donors. A5 Cutting Medicaid funding would severely impact hospitals' ability to care for Medicaid patients: https://t.co/ZSydjQEqVP #ProtectMedicaid pic.twitter.com/8QhGbZ1X4d Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) May 18, 2017 And if hes able to to do that, Democrats will have that betrayal to build on to not only reclaim the achievements of the ACA but build on them with true universal health care. Plus, we know this fight is winnable because weve done it before. So lets do it again. [Image by Ted Eytan | Flickr] It infuriates garbage Democrats and their media shills that Bernie is the most popular and beloved politician in America. It absolutely unhinges them. I wonder which contemptible establishment whores-- "many" contemptible establishment whores-- Edward-Isaac Dovere was referring to when he wrote Tuesday that "many top Democrats are furious that Bernie Sanders appears to be running for president again, or at least planning to drag out his decision long enough to freeze the race around him." Wasserman Schultz? Some of the other Clinton garbage who turned America over to Trump? Schumer? Hoyer? Dovere is an imbecile himself so he could well be referring to any congressional jerk foolish enough to talk with him in confidence. He quickly managed to slip in that Bernie will "be 79 the next time the New Hampshire primary rolls around" and that Jane Sanders' college is being investigated for "potential bank fraud," typically ugly Dovere-branded sliming, the specialty Politico keeps him around for. He also accused Bernie of daring to introduce Medicare-For-All legislation and trying to "force others to sign on" and of daring "to put himself at the center of the conversation." Another congressman told me today that Dovere is the "biggest asshole pretending to be a journalist... I ever met... [If] I see him coming, I turn around and walk in the other direction." Another indictment Dovere thrust at Bernie: "Hes joining Ohio Gov. John Kasich for a CNN town hall tonight thats being held on the evening of the Center for American Progress forward-looking Ideas Conference-- an event Sanders wasnt invited to. Some of his moves, like collecting names and email addresses via RSVPs to his unity tour with new Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez for his Friends of Bernie Sanders group-- a mailing list the DNC itself wont have any access to-- have alienated his allies on the left." Dovere is just pulling that nonsense out of his ass, of course. No allies of Bernie's on the left are alienated by any such thing. If course to a numbskull like Dovere, "left" means anyone not quite as far right as Paul Ryan or Mark Meadows, or any "ex"-Republican he can find to call Bernie names. Former DNC chair Donna Brazile warned party leaders against relying on Sanders, unless theyre willing to give in on opening the party to more independents like he wants. "He's not someone who we should go to, to build or rebuild or expand our party unless he's willing," she said. Sanders, who has re-registered as an independent and made a point of asserting that independence while he was on tour with Perez, is nonetheless the most popular Democrat and the most popular active politician in the country. Hes savoring it, whether in the stops hes planning to make this weekend in Montana for Democratic House candidate Rob Quist, or his trip to Iowa, home of the caucuses he nearly won, on July 15 for the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's "action convention. The Democratic establishment has all but abandoned the Montana special election-- just the way they did with Berniecrat Jim Thompson in Kansas. Quist is too independent-minded and progressive for them. They're pouring millions into the more "moderate" Jon Ossoff race in Georgia and nothing close to what's needed in Montana. Blue America is recommending contributions for both candidates-- party unity. And speaking of party unity, Our Revolution endorsed Jimmy Gomez Tuesday, despite the fact that Gomez-- a solid progressive-- was a Hillary backer in 2016. In Congress, a number of up-and-comers say theyre glad to see Sanders pushing the party toward an economic focus, and away from the social issues of Hillary Clintons failed Stronger Together. Those voices, and the people who show up by the thousands still at Sanders stops around the country, are the ones the gripers should be focused on, his supporters say-- not nursing old grudges or complaining that Sanders would torpedo their chances. Starting with healthcare-focused rallies in January that he encouraged Senate Democratic leaders to do more widely, Sanders continues traveling the country. Hes also using his newfound celebrity to elevate local-level fights like a unionization drive in Mississippi and the candidacy of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello, whose effort is being managed by one of his former top staffers. Touring the country with Perez, Sanders sought to stamp his economic populism on the head of the DNC. But people familiar with the arrangement said he also spent much of the time traveling with the party chair on their private Gulfstream jet getting to learn about Perezs personal history, which he hadn't bothered to read up on earlier. For years, our fellow activists on the left have said we need an antidote to the tea party. This is what an antidote to the tea party looks like, said former NAACP President Ben Jealous-- an Our Revolution board member-- at the groups meeting in Maryland last month. Sanders loyalists say theyre eager to stir up the internal fight that they say the party needs to have. To Sanders, its the natural next step in his pursuit of the 40-year-old goal of upending the established political system, which they see millions of voters having supported last year. And each passing day of the Trump administration, along with the Democrats resistance, has vindicated his belief that substantive change can come when masses rise up. Our party is divided into various wings, and Bernie clearly represents one of those wings. It is a progressive, activist, economic populist wing to the party, said Mark Longabaugh, one of the top strategists for the 2016 campaign, who said hes among those whod be ready to sign up again. The rest of the party still hasnt wrapped its mind around it. Sanders sees everything hes doing as maximizing his sway in the Senate, using the speculation to build his center of gravity. To the extent he has thought about 2020, he hasnt gotten into how different the race would likely be if its a packed field, rather than the binary choice of 2016. If he were to run again, he would almost certainly be by far the most famous entrant, dominating the left and sucking up far more television coverage than he did before. But he would also have four years' worth of new baggage to contend with, including barbs from [vile, repulsive, contemptible] Clinton allies [typified by crooks and cheats like the universally-despised, outside of Clinton establishment circles, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rahm Emanuel] who still quietly blame him for her loss. Back to Montana for a moment; internal polls are now showing that Quist has caught up with the rich Republican candidate and Bernie's upcoming rallies in Montana this weekend are such a big deal that the first venue in Missoula this Saturday has been changed from the 1,200 seat Wilma Theater to the 7,500-seat Adams Center Field House. Cable TV has been facing mounting attacks from new technologies and new competitors. C Spire recently joined the action, announcing plans to enter the pay-TV space. Its not yet clear what C Spire TV will be, or how it will impact the marketplace. Well have to wait for C Spire to spell that out in the coming weeks. What we know so far is that C Spire is a regional player in Mississippi, so the service wont be available throughout the United States. Also, this pay-TV platform appears to have been developed by MobiTV, which is interesting. The television industry is ripe for growth, with new competitors and innovation from IPTV, satellite TV and wireless TV. This is fertile ground, and I expect to see an ever-increasing number of competitive moves going forward. C Spire sees a growth opportunity in television. I think this new C Spire TV service will be wireline, and available only to customers of the companys ultra-fast Internet service. Since C Spire started out as a wireless company, it would be great if it could deliver this television service wirelessly over its own network, like AT&T does with its DirecTV mobile television offering. Will this be part of C Spires offering? C Spire has been expanding its market footprint in recent years. It started with wireless, then offered an ultra-fast, wireline Internet service in a few cities. While this television offering will have a limited marketplace, it has a good potential for growth where it is available, because it can be part of a three-legged stool. Plethora of Pay-TV Choices Many others also see a rising opportunity as they move into this space. I believe there will be an increasing number of choices for pay-TV in the next few years. It started a decade ago with AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS and CenturyLink Prism, which are all IPTV. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and many others also entered the picture. Then AT&T acquired DirecTV and started to innovate, creating DirecTV Now and wireless TV. AT&Ts success in television has prodded other competitors that have innovation in mind. It sent Comcast back to the drawing board to try to come up with a competitive answer to mobile TV. It also spurred Verizon to consider ways to enter the television space to compete not only with DirecTV Now, but also with mobile TV offerings. MobiTVs Growth Opportunity The growing and changing pay-TV space represents a huge opportunity for companies like MobiTV. The more companies that want to enter the television space, the bigger the opportunity for MobiTV and others to help them do that. After all, television is a complicated industry. The non-TV companies that want a slice of the pie will need help. These activities are a threat to the traditional cable television industry. For quite a while, TV has been equated with cable TV. However, as cable TV becomes less important and moves to the falling side of the growth wave, we will start thinking of this space as pay-TV. Will cable TV companies be able to redefine the space? Or will they have simply have to deal with others changing their world around them? Pay-TV is the new world of television going forward. Its IPTV, which is like cable TV over the Internet, and it will allow companies to provide much more to customers going forward. That means wireless TV or mobile TV letting users watch television on their smartphones and tablets anywhere in the country, not just on their couch at home. Congratulations to C Spire TV for taking advantage of this growing opportunity. This is yet another wake-up call for investors, competitors and workers in the changing pay-TV space. Now is the time to find companies that are on the growth side of the wave, not the shrinking side. As pay-TV changes, companies that use IPTV, wireless TV and especially, those that innovate like crazy will be the winners. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a long-anticipated executive order that addresses a campaign promise to begin shifting the country toward the Buy American, Hire American strategy that appealed to much of the industrial working class population in the Rust Belt states. The order calls on the U.S. government to shift purchasing toward domestically produced goods. It also sets in motion a change in immigration policies, which could exclude many qualified foreign professionals from Silicon Valley firms. Trumps speech and signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon followed his appearance at the Snap-On Tools headquarters in Wisconsin, a state he narrowly won despite its usual role as part of the Democratic Partys blue firewall in the upper Midwest. For too long weve watched as our factories have been closed and our jobs have been sent to other faraway lands, Trump told attendees at the event. More than 70,000 U.S. factories have been lost since China joined the World Trade Organization, he noted. End the Lottery The executive order will end the practice that allowed Buy American programs to be circumvented by excessive waivers and endless exemptions, Trump said, noting that American workers have been losing out in an economic environment that has favored cheap, subsidized foreign goods. Trump touched briefly on the H-1B visa issue during his speech, noting that visas are granted in a totally random lottery system, and saying that was the wrong approach. Instead, they should be given to the most-skilled and highest-paid applicants, and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans. No one can compete with American workers when they are given a fair and level playing field, he said. If the present system is flawed, its not clear what an effective replacement would look like, however. Large technology companies want more highly educated foreign candidates for H-1B, and many hope that a study would help them, said Peter Vogel, a partner in Gardere, Wynne Sewell. Many potential candidates lose out in the current complex lottery system, he told the E-Commerce Times. Best and Brightest Many Silicon Valley firms hire workers from India through the H-1B visa program, and they recruit them directly when they complete their engineering studies at major American colleges and universities, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. One concern among IT vendors is that if the H-1B program is highly restricted, it would damage their ability to hire the best and the brightest minds to their workforce, no matter what their country of origin, he told the E-Commerce Times. Trump has made a wide range of statements about the program, King added, sparking concerns about its future funding, confusion over the actual implications of the executive order, and worries about the long-range implications for existing workers and their companies. Call to Action The Consumer Technology Association on Tuesday called on Congress to take immediate action to address visa and immigration reform. CTA President Gary Shapiro praised Trump for calling attention to abuses in the program, and said the program needs to focus more on merit. Congress should take the lead by passing reforms that are fair, effective and efficient, he urged.Legislators need to show leadership to help the technology industry support about 15 million American jobs and billions of dollars contributed to the U.S. economy. Except for those folks living under rocks (sounds uncomfortable), everyone knows about or at least has heard of bitcoin. However, not everyone understands the technology of bitcoin, which extends well beyond Internet-based currency. For the rock people, bitcoin is an Internet-based currency that allows for transparency with respect to each transfer of the currency through the use of a distributed database. Each transaction is locked in a block, and blocks are connected to form a blockchain. What Is Blockchain? Blockchain is an open source technology that facilitates creating each block, locking each block, and connecting the resulting string of blocks. Because it is a write-only database that never can be edited or deleted, the blockchain gives integrity to the complete history of the transaction. For example, if we purchase a new tablet online using bitcoin, the seller wants certainty that the purchaser actually owns the bitcoins used to purchase the tablet. Also, the seller wants to be certain that the bitcoins have not already been spent by the purchaser for other goods. The blockchain shows the ownership history of the bitcoins used before the purchase of the tablet. As a result, blockchain makes it difficult for a dishonest person to break the law by stealing some elses data. We are now entering a time when blockchain is expanding to wider, nonmonetary activities at least since earlier this year, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signed an agreement with IBM to explore Watson, famous from Jeopardy!, and blockchain to protect electronic health records. As a matter of fact, the use of Watsons artificial intelligence recently has expanded beyond the FDA deal to other important areas. For instance, IBM earlier this year began offering Watson/Blockchain as a Service, so we likely will see even more AI interfacing with blockchain. Where Are We With AI? AI is hardly new it has been a part of the IT world for about 50 years. However, it was not until 2011 when Watson became a public success in on Jeopardy! that most people began to understand AI as more than just something from a science fiction novel. Today, one only has to acknowledge the recent and extensive media coverage of driverless cars to realize just how ubiquitous AI has become. Back in 1955, James McCarthy of Dartmouth College and a team of researchers defined AI as follows: the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves.The process of self-improving computers, AI, or machine learning has an inherent legal risk if the process violates a law in one or more countries. For example, if an AI system learns that it is acceptable to alter true facts (for the rock people, we are referring to lying), what is to stop it from altering something like a financial report made to the SEC to make a company look profitable, when in fact it is not, or a contract for the sale of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York as being executed by the true owner of the property? Follow the Data Trail Combining AI with blockchain allows for the secure, transparent review of data that is changed or moved over time, giving both the buyer and seller confidence in the validity, title and transfer of that bridge in Brooklyn. The Federal Trade Commission last year issued report entitled Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? The report focuses on privacy for citizens, since many companies rely on big data for AI to provide help with strategic business decisions without understanding the validity of the data. The use of big data has distinct concerns for electronic medical records. The Federal Trade Commission earlier this year held its third FinTech Forum, which included a discussion about blockchain payment systems and smart contracts to ensure consumer protection. Blockchain and Electronic Medical Records The FDA agreement with IBM/Watson will explore the exchange of owner-mediated data from several sources, such as electronic medical records, clinical trials, genomic data, and health data from mobile devices, wearables and the Internet of Things. Initially, the project will explore the use of blockchain to share oncology-related patient data for research. As the use of EMRs has expanded, the quantity of data has exploded. The mass of medical data tied to an individual gives medial researchers and professionals a complete view of the individual. The data, though, must be accurate and complete. Blockchain technologies keep an unalterable audit trail of all the medical data. As the use of blockchain expands, it is reasonable to see its use not only in medical research, but in real and intellectual property transactions, contracting and auditable file storage. Arizona Adopts Blockchain Laws! Arizona recently recognized blockchain as legal, when the governor signed HB2417 into law. Among its provisions: A signature that is secured through blockchain technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an electronic signature. A record or contract that is secured through blockchain technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an electronic record. Smart contracts may exist in commerce. A contract relating to a transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because that contract contains a smart contract term. As more states adopt laws recognizing the legality of blockchain, more lawyers will need a full understanding of this disruptive technology. 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The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that WVDEP secretary Austin Caperton signed a letter addressed to the environmental law firm Appalachian Mountain Advocates denying its request for the hearing. The brief letter did not state a reason for denial. Appalachian Mountain Advocates senior attorney Derek Teaney said individuals and groups he represents will likely appeal Capertons decision in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline will carry fracked gas 300 miles from northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia, crossing streams and wetlands in the 195-mile project area in West Virginia. In March, the WVDEP announced it issued the State 401 Water Quality Certification for the project, which stipulates that pipeline activity will not violate the states water quality standards. The department also praised the project as it would help meet the growing need for power generation in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. However, Appalachian Mountain Advocates contends that the WVDEP acted prematurely in issuing the permit. As the Roanoke Times detailed, the Lewisburg, West Virginia-based nonprofit has a slew of concerns over the departments approval of the natural gas pipeline, including: The department had not established current water quality baseline data for streams that the pipeline would cross. The department had failed to adequately consider impacts to water quality from land disturbance and subsequent erosion and sediment unrelated to stream crossings. Because the pipelines route is not yet final and property surveys are incomplete, the locations and effects of discharges associated with the construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline [are] ill-defined and impossible to fully evaluate. The department had not adequately evaluated the effects on public drinking water supplies of the pipelines construction and operation. Its really disappointing that the secretary of the DEP so cursorily rejected our request for a hearing, Teaney said earlier this week. But its not surprising given how little attention the agency gave the application in the first instance, accepting such limited information from the applicant. The project has sparked further outcry in Virginia. For instance, Preservation Virginia has put the village of Newport in Giles County on its 2017 list of the states most endangered historic places: One specific example is in Giles County, where two existing historic districts are threatened by the [Mountain Valley Pipeline] The covered bridges and historic structures that lend the district integrity and the continued agricultural pattern of land use in this area would be permanently and irrevocably impacted by the pipeline. Conservation groups also warn that the line would cut through one of the most celebrated hiking trails in Americathe Appalachian Trail. Caroline Mosley, of The Wilderness Society, wrote in an online post that the pipeline could threaten wildlife habitat, recreational lands and the health of local Appalachia communitiesall while setting a terrible precedent of building energy infrastructure through our national forests. The proposed pipeline is a joint $3.5 billion project of EQT Midstream Partners LP, NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, WGL Midstream and Vega Midstream MVP LLC. The interstate project will be regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The agency will issue a final environmental impact statement for the pipeline on June 23. Tech giants are trying to cancel Eagle Forum. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and others have shadow-banned and removed us from your news feed and search results. They are trying to erase Eagle Forum. But we are here. Help us fight. Subscribe to Eagle Forum Report newsletter by email here its free and its critical NOW more than ever. Please SHARE our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Help us win! And if you can, please contribute to Eagle Forum. YOU make our work possible. Federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham, has called for an end to the wink and nod deals as he meets with state leaders today to discuss Australias future school funding arrangements. Todays briefing to the states proposes they provide advice to COAG on funding and reform principles to guide collaborative work that will drive improved student outcomes and position First Ministers to enter into a new national agreement on schooling by June 2018. In what is expected to be a heated meeting, Birmingham will present the Federal Governments detailed plan outlining the money it will contribute, how the funding will be allocated and how Australias schools will benefit. Ahead of the meeting, Birmingham was confident that the plan had broad support. Our policy has won the endorsement of many educators, academics, think tanks and parents, he said in a statement today. I have been heartened when speaking with teachers, principals and families over the past fortnight as Ive toured schools in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. However, some states have slammed the Federal Governments plan as unfair, saying their schools are likely to miss out on millions in funding. A recent analysis by the Victorian Education Department warned that more than 70 of the states schools would be $1m worse off over the next two years as a result of the reforms. Meanwhile, NSW Education Minister, Rob Stokes, is warning that he may consider court action if the Federal Government reneged on its existing funding agreements with the state. Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek claims that the Federal Government was cutting $22bn from schools to pay for a $50bn big business tax cut. What kind of Prime Minister rips money off schoolkids to give it to bankers? she said in a statement. The $22bn cut means every Australian school will lose an average of $2.4m. Its the equivalent of sacking 22,000 teachers. However, Birmingham said that the Federal Governments plan will bring transparency, consistency and a truly needs-based approach to funding that has never before been achieved. Those [schools] that currently receive the least will enjoy the fastest rates of growth, he said, adding that more than 4,500 mostly government schools will benefit from certain growth in their per-student funding of more than 5% every year, for ten years. The Turnbull Government is presenting a historic opportunity to end the schools funding wars with a detailed plan for record and growing levels of federal funding that is based on the individual need of each school, is delivered equitably across states and equitably across non-government sectors. One out of every 100 special education students was restrained by school personnel or secluded in school from his or her peers in the 2013-14 school year, presumably to quell behavior that teachers considered disruptive or dangerous. That means nearly 70,000 special education students were restrained or secluded in that school year, the most recent for which data are available. For most students, this happened more than once: States reported more than 200,000 such incidents, so on average, a special education student was restrained or secluded about three times. These statistics, based on an analysis by the Education Week Research Center of data collected by the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights, represent the best national snapshot of these controversial practices. The numbers are also, almost surely, dramatically understated. By the Numbers: Restraint & Seclusion The Department of Educations Civil Rights Data Collection offers the only information available on the use of restraint and seclusion nationwide. The data that is captured show that students with disabilities and boys are most often subject to restraint and seclusion. State policy does not appear to fully determine variations in reported use of such practices. One out of 5 districts have students that were restrained or secluded during the 2013-14 school year. Nearly 70,000 students covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were restrained or secluded in 2013-14. Those students account for over 200,000 incidents of restraint or seclusion. One in every 100 students with disabilities is restrained or secluded. Four out of 5 students with disabilities who are restrained or secluded are males. Source: Education Week Research Center analysis of Civil Rights Data Collection, 2017. Some student counts were rounded to protect individuals from being identified. Many large districts, including New York City and Chicago, were among the nearly 80 percent of districts that reported no special education students being restrained or secluded. Advocacy groups and news organizations have investigated restraint and seclusion incidents in individual states and have found large undercounts. This is true even in states such as Indiana and Maine that have their own reporting requirements separate from the federal collection of civil rights data. The shaky recordkeeping has serious consequences for students, who are traumatized or injured at unknown rates; teachers, who say they arent getting the help they need to deal with troubled students; and advocates and policymakers, who say they want to end inappropriate use of these practices. The data also show how challenging it is to regulate restraint and seclusion through policy. Whether students are restrained or secluded appears to have more to do with the culture of the school or district they attend than with any state rules or regulations meant to restrict the practice. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire, examining previous collections of restraint and seclusion data, found that the vast majority of the variance in reported restraint and seclusion rates is found among districts in the same state, all presumably governed by the same policies. Many states are continuing to enact such restrictions, however. Michigan is one that has recently prohibited seclusion and restricted restraint to emergency situations involving the safety of the student or others. In addition, districts must train key personnel in de-escalation and safe restraint procedures. The changes will take place in the 2017-18 school year. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, a Republican, led a commission that was asked to recommend reforms to the states special education program. For that work, he traveled around the state to hear parents concerns about restraint and seclusion. Its really unbelievable, some of the things Ive heard, said Calley, who has a daughter with autism spectrum disorder. The anecdotal evidence was just piling up that it was much more common than anyone cared to admit. Federal Efforts to Reduce Restraint Recently, the issue has made it into federal policy: States must explain how they plan to reduce aversive behavioral interventions under the state plans that are required by the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed in 2015. Several of the 16 plans submitted so far refer to supporting school districts as they implement positive behavioral supports and interventions, a framework to prompt good behavior. None of the plans submitted so far spell out a restraint-and-seclusion threshold that would trigger further state intervention to reduce the numbers. In Ky., a Restraint and an Injury In 2013, Kentucky enacted regulations that, for the first time, spelled out how restraint and seclusion could be used in its school districts. The policy stipulates that such practices could only be used if a students behavior represents imminent danger to himself or others. The restraint or seclusion must end as soon as the danger has passed, and parents must be notified within 24 hours. The provisions closely matched a set of best practices that had been released a year earlier by the U.S. Department of Education. But a year later, a then-16-year-old autistic student, Brennan Long, was left with two shattered thigh bones after being restrained in his Louisville school. The fallout from that incident has continued since then. An investigation by the Louisville Courier-Journal found that the 100,000-student Jefferson County district, which includes Louisville, was dramatically underreporting cases of restraint and seclusion. In the same year that Long was injured, the district reported 174 restraint and seclusion incidents to the state. Upon further review, Jefferson County reported that restraint and seclusion incidents were far higher4,165. Several other concerns have come to light. Jefferson County was found to be one of five Kentucky school districts that trained some staff members in Aikido Control Training, a form of Japanese martial arts that includes prone restraint techniques. Prone restraints are banned under state regulations and have led to deaths in other situations. Further investigations found other troubling restraint cases, including a 2014 incident where a special education teacher held a student against a wall until he vomited as he attempted to break free. In February, Stephen Pruitt, the state commissioner of education, said that Jefferson County would have to go through a top-to-bottom management audit. The superintendent of the school district, Donna Hargens, announced in April that she will resign at the end of the 2016-17 school year, her sixth leading the district. The relationship between Hargens and the county school board worsened in the wake of the scrutiny by the state. What happened to Brennan Long, now 18, has yet to be fully explained. No criminal charges have yet been filed in the matter, but investigations continue. School staff members have said that Brennan was aggressive on the day he was injured, and taken to the ground by an aide in a procedure that nudged the student off-balance and allowed him to be lowered to the floor in a seated position. Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, a federally mandated agency that represents people with disabilities, said that the behaviors that staff members described, such as making loud noises, getting up from his chair, biting his arm, and putting his hands in his pants, were not aggressive. And the restraint had to have been more forceful to cause such serious injuries, the advocacy organization said. The aide that restrained Brennan remains employed by the district. The Long family ended up settling with the school district for $1.75 million, and has continued to speak out on the case. Its amazing to us that this is taking so long, said Brennan Longs father, Brian. But were going to get to the bottom of this. Ive done a lot of work with restraint and seclusion. Ive gotten laws passed that really limit the use of restraint and seclusion in lots of other settings. None of that has translated into the school setting, said Leslie Morrison, the director of investigations for Disability Rights California, a federally funded organization that advocates and litigates on behalf of state residents with disabilities. The resistance is remarkable to me. But when it comes to issues of behavior, its impossible to say there should only be a certain number of restraints or seclusions, said Sarah Ricker, the student assistance coordinator for the Maine education department. Such numbers are dependent on a students behavior and needs. What is high, what is lowwe can only determine that over a period of time, Ricker said. Maine restricts restraints to emergencies where a students safety is at risk, and teachers understand that, she said."I have not heard a teacher say they dont know what they need to do. The last time a federal restriction on restraint and seclusion garnered some traction was nearly a decade ago. The National Disability Rights Network, which represents the state protection and advocacy organizations, released a report in 2009 called School is Not Supposed to Hurt that catalogued dozens of cases of abusive restraint and seclusion incidents and four deaths linked to the practices. The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report the same year saying that it had found hundreds of abuse allegations over the prior two decades linked to restraint and seclusion in schools. In 2010, Congress came close to enacting a federal policy restricting the practices, but the provision died in the Senate over hotly contested language that would have allowed restraint or seclusion to be written into a students individualized education program. But that wasnt the end of the federal governments attempt to influence the issue. In 2012, the Education Department released a document outlining 15 principles that states could use as a starting place for their own regulations aimed at reducing restraint and seclusion. And, in the waning days of the Obama administration, the departments office for civil rights sent out guidance to districts outlining how restraint and seclusion could be considered a violation of a students rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other federal statutes. But statewide policy changes dont always make much of a difference at the school and district level. Researchers at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire analyzed federal data on restraint and seclusion that was collected during the 2009-10 and 2011-12 school years. Of the 10 states with the highest levels of restraints and seclusions, six had meaningful prohibitions meant to limit the practice, said Douglas Gagnon, who led the analysis. Emergency Considerations Prohibitions against restraint and seclusion generally leave an opening for the practice to be used on an emergency basis, to protect the student or others from physical harm. But its tough to really codify whats an emergency, and whats a threat, Gagnon said. About This Series Hidden Inequities: An Education Week Analysis Educators and the public are aware that achievement gaps often separate students of color from their higher-achieving white peers, leave low-income students lagging behind their better-off peers, and restrict opportunities for students with disabilities. Less obvious are the mechanisms and circumstances that contribute to those academic differences. This installment is the third of a series intended to shed light on the hidden inequities that keep education from reaching the goal of leveling the playing field for all students. Each report is being produced by Education Week staff writers working in collaboration with the Education Week Research Center. Watch for the June installment, which will examine school closings and high student-mobility rates, their impact on educational quality, and their disparate effects on different school communities. Click here to read the full series. In 2013, Maine started requiring schools to document each use of restraint and seclusion. Disability Rights Maine, one of the nations federally funded and mandated protection-and-advocacy agencies, requested access to that data. In an April report, the organization found that in a state with about 30,000 students, ages 3-21, in special education, there were between 11,600 and 16,500 reported incidents of restraint and seclusion over the four years that the law has been in place. But that number is also skewed by undercounting: Nearly one-third of the entities covered under Maines law failed to report data for all four years, the Disability Rights Maine investigation found. California lawmakers in 2013 repealed a state requirement that mandated data collection on emergency interventions and required districts to create behavior-management plans for students with serious behavioral problems. The previous state law had imposed costs and requirements on California that were in excess of what the federal law required, state officials argued. In the last year that state reporting was required, California had 22,043 behavioral emergency reports, which include restraints and seclusions. Advocates believe many of those incidents were not linked to emergencies, however. Last year, the federal Education Departments civil rights office entered into a settlement agreement with Californias Oakland Unified district after investigating a case where a student was restrained more than 90 times in 11 months. Stuart Candell, who has autism and was 9 at the time, was often held face down by two to three adults, according to federal investigators. Prone restraint has been linked to suffocation deaths. The district was required to sever ties with any private schools that use the technique. Now a 13-year-old in 7th grade, Stuart is not being restrained any more, said his mother, Bonnie Candell. While she did not know about all of the restraint incidents, she knew the school used the technique. You think, well, they must know what theyre doing, Bonnie Candell said. Potential Undercount At the same time, federal data could be capturing overcounting. The 3,000-student Columbia-Brazoria district in southeast Texas is one of many across the country that stands out from neighboring school systems because federal data show a relatively high 82 restraint or seclusion incidents among 250 students with disabilities. Thats wrong, said Lynn Grell-Boethel, the director of special education for the district for 16 years. A clerical employee was erroneously recording children being sent to the office as seclusions, she said, and police arrests were wrongly recorded as mechanical restraints. Typical seclusions, such as isolating a child in a special room for that purpose, are not allowed under Texas regulations. The actual number of restraint incidents for students with disabilities in the 2013-14 school year, Grell-Boethel said, was seven. The district is making efforts to reduce restraint rates, Grell-Boethel said. You really have to know the kid, and you really have to develop strong relationships with them, she said. These are community schools, so a lot of people in the schools know the family, know the kids, know the situation. The 42,000-student Marion County, Fla., district is also trying to lower its restraint and seclusion rates. Florida requires districts to report numbers and take corrective action if the incidents reported are higher than state averages. According to state data, the central Florida district reported 467 restraints and 377 seclusions in 2015-16, more than any other similar-sized state district. Heidi Maier, who was elected superintendent in November, knew the issue would have to be addressed, said Elizabeth Fields, the districts special education director. The school system is looking at a variety of methods, from eliminating seclusion rooms to providing more teacher training and setting up rooms where students can voluntarily calm themselves. We need a lot of verbal de-escalation training, Fields said. That needs to happen to all teachers. General education teachers are saying those kids are in my room, too. Reece L. Peterson, a special education professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an expert in reducing restraint and seclusion, supports more training, but he is sympathetic to teachers who say thats just one more activity to fit into an already-packed schedule. What we need is a few states to be models of what could happen, he said. My dad, Sargent Shriver, created Head Start 52 years ago today to help transform the lives of the most vulnerable children in our country. As the director of President Lyndon Johnsons Office of Economic Opportunity, my father brought together national experts to develop a child-development program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. From the beginning, Head Start was designed to provide comprehensive early-childhood and parenting education services. Since its creation, Head Start has helped prepare more than 33 million American children for kindergarten and beyond. Some Head Start graduates, like the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Ford Foundation president Darren Walker, have gone on to distinguished careers in public service. Others have become doctors, lawyers, teachers, or pursued many other professions. Todays Head Start students include children like Jahzara, a girl who participates in a Head Start program in Arkansas. Because of Head Start, she entered kindergarten cognitively, socially, and emotionally prepared. That means she knew how to spell her name, identify shapes and recognize letters, and work and play well with other children. Her mom told her teachers that because of Head Start, shes confident her daughter is ready for kindergarten. But here in the United States, not all kids have the same chance to attend a high-quality preschool program . In fact according to recent data, 53 percent of 3- and 4-year-old American kids are not enrolled. These children, especially those from lower-income homes, often start school behind their peers. By age four, a child living in poverty is as much as 18 months behind developmentally from their more well-off peers . Many never catch up. This missed opportunity carries consequences far beyond kindergarten. Children living in poverty who dont participate in high-quality early-education programs are 25 percent more likely to drop out of school and 60 percent more likely to never attend college. Early education not only helps prepare children to succeed, it helps our economy. The people who elected President Trump expect him to protect and grow Head Start because they know the program works." Researchers, including the Nobel Prize-winning economist and University of Chicago professor James Heckman have revealed that when children participate in high-quality early-learning programs in the first five years of life, they perform better in school, attain higher-paying jobs, rely less on social programs, and contribute more to the economy. In fact, Heckmans most recent research released in December 2016 shows that high-quality early-childhood programs for disadvantaged children more than pay for themselves , providing a 13 percent return on investment per year, per child. On the other hand, when early deficits in literacy and math skills persist into adulthood, they are associated with negative economic consequences for the individuals, taxpayers, and Americas economy. Despite our current political climate, in which it seems that the two parties cant agree on much of anything, we find that there is bipartisan agreement on early ed. In the fiscal year 2017 omnibus legislation approved overwhelmingly by Congress earlier this month, there was increased funding for critical early-learning programs, including Head Start. But the fiscal year 2018 budget proposed by President Donald Trump slashes funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that supports Head Start, by 18 percent. These cuts could lead to fewer low-income children having access to the program. According to a nationwide March 2017 poll commissioned by Save the Children Action Network, that is not what voters said they wanted when they elected Trump president . The poll found that 86 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Head Start. Rather than cut it, 82 percent of those polled said they would support increasing or maintaining current levels of funding. In fact, 70 percent of self-identified Trump voters want to increase or maintain Head Start funding, while only 15 percent of them want to cut or eliminate it. To put it simply, the people who elected President Trump expect him to protect and grow Head Start because they know the program works. I am well aware of budgets at both the state and federal levels are tight. Unfortunately, the reality is that not everything can be a priority. But the long-lasting benefits of high-quality early-childhood education are too great to ignore. Thats why I urge Congress to protect funding for early-learning programs like Head Start as the legislators consider fiscal year 2018 appropriations. Investing in kids today helps create a better tomorrow. May 18, 2017 Cambodia lauds CPF's exemplary treatment of migrant workers Cambodia's Labour and Vocational Training Ministry has awarded a certificate to Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF), lauding its exemplary migrant workers recruitment and treatment at a swine processing plant in Chachoengsao, Thailand. CPF is the first Thai enterprise to receive such a certificate. Chamroen Kuem, the labour advisor at the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, recently visited CPF pork processing plant in Padriew district, Chachengsao province, and presented the certificate on good practices for migrant workers. Through a review by the ministry, CPF is exemplary in terms of Cambodian worker recruitment as workers have been treated with care and enjoyed equal rights as Thai workers. Chamroen said that conversations with Cambodian workers and his visits to the workplace, the dormitory and the canteen assured the Cambodian government of CPF's good treatment to the workers. The workers enjoy a happy life and many of them send home THB10,000 (US$294) per month, which helps lift the quality of life of the Cambodians and their families. "The employment of any Cambodian worker elevates the quality of life of his family in Cambodia. On behalf of the Cambodian government, I hereby thank CPF for its appropriate and equal care for the Cambodians," Chamroen said. Voraset Ranvongsanithichot, assistant vice president of CPF pork processing plant, said that CPF has upheld the international human rights practices in labour recruitment and treatment and has complied with the memoranda of understanding on labour signed by the governments in Thailand and neighbouring countries. The processing swine plant in Padriew employs more than 700 migrant workers. Aside from 20 workers from Myanmar, the rest are Cambodian. All were recruited directly by the company and they enjoy equivalent pays, welfare, training, health expenses, insurance and the pay hike scale offered to Thai workers. They stay in five provided dormitories and are assisted by a translator who helps connect them with needed help and consultation, to ensure a good stay in Thailand. Under CPF's policy for migrant worker recruitment, all recruited will be the company's direct employees. The recruitment of Cambodian workers is carried out through agents certified by the Cambodian government, while the recruitment process is transparent and closely reviewed by CPF's office in the country. To date, CPF has employed nearly 9,000 migrant workers, with 6,300 of them being Cambodian. - CPF Brazil pork exports fall 16% in April, the month after meat scandal broke out Brazilian pork exports in March and April fell 3% and 16%, respectively, compared with the same months last year, following the Brazilian tainted-meat scandal, which exploded in mid-March. This came after positive movements in export volumes in January and February, according to AHDB Pork. In March police divulged that health inspectors had been bribed to certify meat no longer fit for consumption and that additives were used to mask problems in the produce. As a result of the police disclosure, exports from at least 21 meat processors under investigation were stopped, and 63 people allegedly involved in the scandal were arrested. Several key markets for Brazilian pork (most notably China and Hong Kong) temporarily denied access to Brazilian meat products,. In March, shipments of Brazilian pork to China and Hong Kong were down 24% and 27% year-on-year, respectively. This reflects the period of around a week when a total ban on imported Brazilian meat was enforced. Based on updated information from Brazilian authorities, some countries that had enforced a ban (including China) have withdrawn their restrictions. Other destinations, including Hong Kong, kept restrictions on plants that were under investigation. Despite the lifting of restrictions by most of the countries that had imposed a ban, Brazilian pork exports remained 16% lower year-on-year in April, driven by substantial declines in shipments to Hong Kong (41%) and China (59%). Shipments to both markets also decreased compared with March. The downturn may be due to importers switching to alternative suppliers both during and beyond the ban, the pork division of the UK Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board said. Amid these difficulties, shipments to Brazil's primary pork export market, Russia (which did not impose any restrictions), have continued to increase, AHDB Pork said. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recently attended a defense ministerial in Denmark with members of the global coalition against ISIS to discuss how to defeat the group. In a press conference following the meeting, Secretary Mattis said, We're going to further accelerate this fight and to free the people currently suffering from Daesh's crushing occupation and our enemy's terror threat to Europe and beyond. Denmarks Defense Minister Claus Hjort Fredericksen described the effort to defeat ISIS as one of Denmarks highest priorities, and agreed to substantially increase the countrys defense budget to aid in the counter-ISIS campaign. ISIS has lost well over half its territory in Iraq and in Syria. In Afghanistan, the enemy has lost about two-thirds of its strength. Moreover, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently announced the death of the Sheikh Abdul Hasib, the Emir of ISIS-Khorasan, an affiliate of ISIS in Afghanistan. In our anti-ISIS campaign, said Secretary Mattis, we are dealing that group one more significant blow with the loss of their leader. Secretary Mattis cautioned that the battlefield against ISIS is also a humanitarian issue where innocent people live right now, sometimes forced to stay on the battlefield by ISIS. We're doing everything humanly possible to limit the suffering and any casualties among those innocent people, he said. Once the ISIS threat is subdued, said Secretary Mattis, the real work of rebuilding begins in order to prevent another terrorist group from filling the void. And how do we do that? Bottom line is we've got to restore government services, and that means we all have to work together. ISIS has done horrible damage, said Secretary Mattis. Thats why the U.S. is committed to working with its allies to defeat [ISIS] wherever it attempts to establish its roots. 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Ramsey Town Commissioners were asked to call a requisition meeting by a number of registered voters in the town over concerns about the future of the facility. The Department of Health and Social Care recently revealed it will be moving all endoscopy surgeries to Noble's Hospital, as well as transferring two members of staff from Ramsey to the Braddan hospital. The local authority confirmed Health Minister Kate Beecroft has been invited to the meeting, along with the Department's Chief Executive and other members. The Commissioners say the meeting will give the public a chance to hear the views of those withing the DHSC. The meeting will take place at Bunscoill Rhumsaa on Lezayre Road from 7pm on Tuesday. A Department of Homeland Security official told Reuters earlier this week that some U.S. critical infrastructure operators have been affected by the recent WannaCry ransomware campaign. The official didnt provide any further information, except to say that there have been no victims of the cyber attack within the U.S. federal government. Dragos CEO Robert M. Lee told Forbes that his company is aware of infections that occurred in the industrial control system community and had impact, including small utilities and manufacturing sites in the United States though he said no ones been hurt and no safety was at risk. The news should put all companies that rely on industrial control systems (ICS) on high alert, PAS Global CEO Eddie Habibi told eSecurity Planet by email, because the choices available to protect the systems within an industrial process facility are much more limited than those in corporate IT. In a corporate IT network, cyber security professionals have the option of isolating traffic or entire systems if they are compromised, Habibi said. Personnel can also apply patches in real time with confidence that patching will not impact system performance. A Challenge for ICS But in an industrial process facility, its rarely possible to isolate traffic or systems. Those systems may have primary responsibility for controlling volative processes or ensuring worker and environmental safety, Habibi said. System uptime is paramount. Real-time patches are also no-nos within a facilitys network, Habibi added. First, any Microsoft patch must have ICS vendor approval before application. Even with approval, patching typically occurs during maintenance windows and turnarounds when systems are offline something that may occur only once or twice per year. And patches may never get applied if theres a potential for process disruption. In these cases, asset owners may place additional security controls in front of the unpatched system to mitigate risk, Habibi said. This assumes that there is a closed-loop, enterprise-wide patch management process in place that can evaluate the steps required to mitigate risk; many companies are missing this capability. So while its great that Microsoft has issued patches for older operating systems in response to WannaCry, Habibi said that may not be enough for critical infastructure operators, which have limited ability to apply those patches. As we watch WannaCry continue to proliferate and see new variants spring up, the risk to industrial process facilities remains high, he said. Langner founder and CEO Ralph Langner told Forbes that a competent attacker could hit industrial targets and force a product halt. We havent seen that on a large scale yet, but I predict its coming, with ransom demands in the six and seven digits, he said. Hospital Equipment Separately, an unidentified source in the healthcare industry provided Forbes with an image of a Bayer Medrad radiology device in a U.S. hospital infected with WannaCry ransomware. A Bayer spokesperson told Forbes that it had received two reports of customers in the U.S. with devices hit by the malware. Operations at both sites were restored within 24 hours, the spokesperson said. If a hospitals network is compromised, this may affect Bayers Windows-based devices connected to that network. The company said it will be deploying a patch for its Windows-based devices soon. According to the HITRUST Alliance, medical devices from Siemens and other unnamed manufacturers have also been infected. HITRUST is reaching out to healthcare organizations and trade associations to provide information to detect, prevent and remediate the threat and associated malware, the organization stated. Select Siemens Healthineers products may be affected by the Microsoft vulnerability being exploited by the WannaCry ransomware, Siemens stated in a security bulletin [PDF]. The exploitability of any such vulnerability depends on the actual configuration and deployment environment of each product. Twenty-four students from 12 different countries have arrived at the ESRF for the 19th HERCULES specialised course which runs from 15-19 May 2017. This course, called HSC19: Quantitative Imaging with X-rays and Neutrons, involves more than 70 participants and starts with lectures on the major techniques and theoretical aspects of image processing. It also includes one day of tutorials and a full day of hands-on practical sessions on 6 different beamlines. Quantitative imaging is more than just producing pretty pictures, its about extracting quantifiable features from images. For example, choosing to represent data in 2D or 3D, or getting information on sample dimensions, not just shape. Quantitative imaging can also give information on the composition of a pollutant or be used, for example, to measure the concentration of products within a sample. In medical imaging, it can provide the surgeon with a probability, expressed as a percentage, that the spot they are looking at is actually a tumour. Some examples of quantitative imaging using X-rays or Neutrons. Click on the photos for explanations and credits. Not just a pretty picture the power of quantitative imaging For Birgit Kanngiesser, Experimental physicist at the Technical University of Berlin and on whose original idea HSC19 was created, quantitative X-ray and neutron imaging is a new language for transporting information. It has to be learned and there are several traps that need to be avoided. Images can tap into our emotions and have an effect on our interpretation. Its necessary to maintain a scientific and analytical approach. We already have definitions and protocols for this in spectroscopy, for example, but they need to be applied now to imaging as well. Algorithms play a decisive role in this validation process, and we hope to raise awareness of these issues during HSC19, to create common definitions and at least open a discussion within the community. Lara Maldanis, 27, Brazilian Lara has a background in biology, studying fossil hearts for her Masters degree. She has just started the 3rd year of a PhD in applied physics at the Brazilian Synchrotron, LNLS. She is particularly interested in palaeometry and palaeobiology. She studies microscopic samples, or microfossils, with high resolution imaging and tries to correlate morphology with chemical information to get clues on fossil structure. Ive found the course very interesting so far. Especially in that it shows the potential of the different techniques that I can apply in my PhD. Im very excited, too, about the practicals. Im hoping to learn a lot and take back this knowledge with me to Brazil. Imaging techniques have seen an intense development using neutron and synchrotron radiation over the past 20 years, with the development of brighter sources and efficient detectors. During the week of HSC19, experts and beginners will discuss the creation and use of images, explore the good and bad practice in the field and gain hands-on experience in the newest developments in imaging techniques. With a 50% success rate, competition was high to obtain a place on the course. Its in our interest to facilitate access to these courses for students who already have an interest or experience in these techniques. Their motivations to follow the course play a large role in their success as a candidate, says Judith Peters, Professor at UGA, ILL scientist and member of the HERCULES board. For Jose Baruchel, former Director of HERCULES and distinguished ESRF scientist: One of the main benefits of this type of course is the networking. These are all brilliant students working on the same topics, they have contact with the most recognised teachers in Europe and they will almost certainly work together in the future. Its an important step towards creating a scientific network that will follow them throughout their career. Sophie Redford, 31, British After a Masters in Physics at Manchester University, Sophie studied her PhD in particle physics at Oxford University and at CERN working on LHCb. Following a fellowship within the CERN Physics and Detectors group of the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), today she is a post-doc at PSI, working for the development of a photon detector for SwissFEL. The talks today have been really great its only the first day and Ive already learned alot! Theres a good cross-section of people and a good mix between students and lecturers. Id love to stay in research after finishing my postdoc. Id like to continue working to improve the dialogue between the scientists using the images and those building the detectors. Vincent Favre-Nicolin, Director of the HERCULES programme and ESRF scientist, works in the field of coherent image analysis, developing experiment protocols and software for the interpretation of experimental data. HERCULES is a fantastic project, it brings together such a large community and is the only school in the world that offers this wide a range of techniques. We are not just teaching techniques for use during a PhD or a postdoc, but for the entire career of these students. I hope the students are interested in the quantitative analysis part of the course and that they enjoy the tutorials. I also hope to learn a few tricks myself! he says. This year, five PhD students were able to benefit from a grant provided by one of the programme sponsors, DECTRIS. About HERCULES HERCULES stands for Higher European Research Course for Users of Large Experimental Systems. Since 1991, the programme has provided training for students, postdocs, and scientists from European and non-European universities and laboratories in the fields of synchrotron radiation and neutron science for condensed matter studies (biology, chemistry, physics, materials science, geosciences, industrial applications). The courses are organised as a collaboration between ESRF, ILL, UGA, Grenoble Inp, IBS, CNRS, CEA, as well Soleil, LLB, Elettra, PSI, DESY and European XFEL outside Grenoble. Throughout the years spent cultivating next-generation scientists, HERCULES School has been recognised as an internationally known training course. To help nourish more young scientists outside Europe, overseas Hercules Schools have also been hosted in Latin-America and in Brazil. Bi-Husan Lin, 37, Taiwanese Bi-Hsuan holds a Masters in Electrophysics and a PhD from the Department of Photonics and Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. He spent one year at the ESRF as a postdoc. Today he is one of the scientists on beamline 23A X-ray nanoprobe (XRN) at Taiwan Photon Source. The HCS19 programme offers one week courses and detailed lectures for the researchers. Such program provides a combination of theory aspects and experimental practices, which really help me to build up the necessary concepts and knowledge useful to my research. Especially the techniques of CDI and Bragg ptychography will be used in our new beamline to study the dislocations and strain distribution of our samples. However, its all new to me, so not very easy, but it helps that the lecturers are very good! ESRF/K. Colvin The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the latest on all the biggest court and crime news in Essex direct from our expert court reporter Four men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a young man was stabbed to death in the car park at the Brewery Shopping Centre in Romford . A spokesman for the Met Police confirmed that they were called at around 4.35pm by the London Ambulance Service to reports of a stabbing in the car park in Waterloo Road. Four men were arrested, close by to the scene of the incident, on suspicion of murder. The men have been take into custody in separate police stations. When officers attended, they found the man, believed to be aged 20, suffering a suspected stab wound. The man was found by a passer by who reportedly performed CPR on the man until emergency service arrived. He was taken to an east London hospital where he died at 5.33pm. The victim's next-of-kin will be notified in due course. Essex Live understands that the shopping centre was put on lock down with no one allowed in or out as police dealt with the incident. Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact police via 101, or by tweeting @MetCC. Even though it might not feel like it lately with our crazy northern Nevada weather, summer is quickly approaching. As vacation plans are being made, dont forget the great things Elko has to offer too. For example, the California Trail Interpretive Center offers a wide variety of educational and entertaining opportunities for the entire family. They are a great resource for summer fun. Save the date for this years 14th Annual California Trail Days event, which will take place on the weekend of June 3-4. Come see the 1850 Wagon Encampment and Shoshone Summer Camp at the California Trail Interpretive Center, located approximately eight miles west of Elko on I-80 exit 292. See pioneer life along the trail and Native American culture come to life. Experience historic displays, special presentations, and fun for the whole family at this years Trail Days. The schedule is jammed packed with informative lectures, virtual tours, demonstrations, jubilant music, dancing, and a celebration party. On June 3, at 11 a.m. the California Trail Centers 5th Anniversary Celebration will commence. The California Trail Interpretive Center had their official opening on June 2, 2012. The creation of the Trail Center required vision, determination and a tremendous amount of hard work. Helen Hankins, Dave Jamiel, and Leah Brady will share their reflections on how the Trail Center became a reality. Helen Hankins is the former BLM State Director for Colorado, former BLM Elko District Manager, and president of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. Dave Jamiel served as the first California Trail Center manager. Leah Brady is a board member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance, and she will discuss the background behind the Native American exhibits. Following the 45-minute program, the speakers will cut the Trail Centers 5th anniversary birthday cake. Dignitaries will be on hand to offer congratulatory remarks. At noon enjoy gold rush mining songs from 1849 to 1863. Nevada musician, historian, and story-teller Chris Bayer will sing and converse upon the original western music of gold rush California and Nevada. Bayer will bring his old banjo to inform and entertain with the stories and tunes that defined gold rush songs. The program includes important reflections on mining and western culture. The music that was created by the men that followed the luster of gold continues to resonate in the modern sounds of country and rock music. Thats the message Bayer spreads as he mines a deep vein of Gold Rush music, keeping it alive for attentive audiences. Dressed in period appropriate cap, vest, shirt, trousers and boots to set the time-travel machine straight back to the mid-1800s, this is a program visitors will not want to miss. Wagons were an essential and indispensable apparatus for thousands of emigrants. At 1 p.m. join Frank Tortorich to learn The Anatomy of a Wagon: How a Wagon Works. Tortorich is a historian, author and member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. Tule duck decoys were used in Nevada for centuries. Mike Williams, a member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribe, will demonstrate how to make a female tule duck decoy beginning at 2 p.m. Williams is a member of the Nevada Arts Council and is a recipient of the Nevada Governors Arts Award for Excellence in Folk Arts. Williams created a Paiute tule boat and duck decoys that are exhibits at the Trail Center. Williams is also featured in a Trail Center video depicting a day in the life of Great Basin Indians. Saturdays events will culminate with a Pioneer Dance from 7-9 p.m. Learn traditional and pioneer dances, and enjoy live music by Southwind. Dont be shy if you dont know the dance steps, there will be instructors on hand to help out. Sundays events will begin at 11 a.m. with From Trail to Rails: The Transcontinental Railroad in Nevada and California. Trains played a vital role in the settlement of the American West. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, powerful locomotives gradually replaced covered wagons. Railroad networks were much safer, quicker, and more efficient in transporting freight and people. Wendell Huffman will discuss the early development of the Transcontinental Railroad in Nevada and California. Huffman is curator of history at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. He is co-author of Waiting for the Cars: Alfred A. Harts Stereoscopic Views of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1863-1869. Huffman will be available to sign books following the program. Sunday at noon Frank Tortorich will again present The Anatomy of a Wagon: How a Wagon Works. If you missed his lecture on Saturday, this is a great opportunity to learn about the covered wagons that were such crucial and imperative devices for thousands of emigrants. At 1 p.m. join former Trail Center Manager Dave Jamiel as he presents Legends, Lies and Lore of the American West. The history of the American West is often intertwined with mythology. Many of the myths make colorful stories, but inaccurate history. Listen in as Jamiel will separate fact from fiction with many prominent legends, lies and lore of the American West. Closing out the days festivities at 2 p.m. visitors can take a virtual tour of the California Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Placerville, California. The program will include photographs of prominent landmarks along the Trail, such as Independence Rock, in Wyoming. The speaker is Frank Tortorich, a historian, author, and member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. If all of this activity stirs up some hunger pangs, dont fret Whitney Family Tacos will be on site both days and ready to take your order for their delicious Indian tacos. Lastly, dont forget, this event is free and open to everyone. For more information call 738-1849 and for a complete schedule for all of the Trail Days programs and demonstrations go to: californiatrailcenter.org. The European Union says that the Philippines has rejected its development aid, thus essentially putting 250 million euros in new EU grants at stake. There was no immediate explanation for this position but President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier challenged the EU to stop its assistance after Brussels had warned that his country could lose tariff-free exports to Europe because of the killings in the war on drugs launched by President Duterte since he took office on 30 June last year. About 9,000 people, many small-time users and dealers, have been killed around the country. According to police, about a third of the victims were shot by officers in self-defense. The EU delegation in Manila confirmed the decision of the Philippine government and the official statement announcing the end of its funding agreement will be issued today (18 May). EU Ambassador Franz Jessen added that the move had put at risk programs to help poor and conflict-hit regions in the south of the country. The EU money was also meant to target Muslim communities as the block has been providing aid to support Manilas efforts to end nearly 50 years of Muslim rebellion in a conflict that has claimed more than 120,000 lives and displaced 1 million. Brussels granted the Philippines 130 million euros in 2007-2013. The Philippines established diplomatic ties with all the original 15 EU member states in 1948 and then with the European Community itself in 1964. In March this year, the EU became the largest destination of exports from the Philippines with $901 million. The EU thus overtook Japan and marked a growth of more than 48%, making the EU the biggest and fastest growing export market for Philippine goods. One in four children at least 29 million across the Middle East and North Africa lives in poverty, according to the latest report of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), which also points out that millions of the regions young people live without accessible and quality health care, the most basic life necessities, nutritious food, quality safe water, sanitation or proper housing. The report is based on research in 11 countries and the outcome of the study was presented in Rabat, Morocco, ahead of the first-ever conference on child poverty in the region. The UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Geert Cappelaere, commented that child poverty is not only about family income it is much more than that it includes access to quality education, healthcare, home and safe water. Mr. Cappelaere also stressed that the future generations could be left impoverished for at least three generations because when children are deprived of the basics, they are at risk of getting trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. Although UNICEF acknowledges that a lot of progress has been made in most countries to decrease poverty, the number of children living in poverty continues to be high, especially in conflict-hit countries. The study also finds that lack of education is the main driver behind the key drivers of inequality and poverty for children. Children who live in households headed by uneducated family members are twice as likely to live in poverty. Moreover, one quarter of children aged 5 to 17 are not enrolled in school. About 50% of all children live in inadequate housing either overcrowded or with poor flooring and almost 50% of them are not immunized or were born to mothers who were not given birth assistance or antenatal care. Abstract ID / Presentation Title Lead Author Poster No. Date / Time Session Oral Presentations Renal Cell Choueiri TK 4504 Monday, June 5 Genitourinary Carcinoma 8:00-11:00 a.m. (Nonprostate) Cancer (JAVELIN Renal 100) First-line avelumab + axitinib therapy in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma: results from a phase 1b trial Poster Sessions Head and Neck Lee NY TPS6093 Monday, June 5 Head and Neck Cancer Cancer (TiP) 1:15-4:45 p.m. (JAVELIN Head and Neck 100) JAVELIN Head and Neck 100: a phase 3 trial of avelumab in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) vs CRT for 1st-line treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN) Lymphoma (TiP) Chen R TPS7575 Monday, June 5 Hematologic (JAVELIN DLBCL) 8:00-11:30 a.m. Malignancies-Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Phase 1b/3 study Leukemia of avelumab-based combination regimens in patients (pts) with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (R/R DLBCL) Merkel Cell D'Angelo SP 9530 Saturday, June 3 Melanoma/Skin Cancers Carcinoma 1:15-4:45 p.m. (JAVELIN Merkel 200) First-line avelumab treatment in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma: preliminary data from an ongoing study Merkel Cell Shapiro I 9557 Saturday, June 3 Melanoma/Skin Cancers Carcinoma 1:15-4:45 p.m. (JAVELIN Merkel 200) Exploratory biomarker analysis in patients with chemotherapy- refractory metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma treated with avelumab Non-Small Cell Gulley JL 9086 Saturday, June 3 Lung Cancer-Non-Small Lung Cancer 8:00-11:30 a.m. Cell Metastatic (JAVELIN Solid Tumor) Exposure-response and PD-L1 expression analysis of second-line avelumab in patients with advanced NSCLC: data from the JAVELIN Solid Tumor trial Pan-Tumor Kelly K 3059 Monday, June 5 Developmental (JAVELIN Solid 8:00-11:30 a.m. Therapeutics- Tumor) Immunotherapy Safety profile of avelumab in patients with advanced solid tumors: a JAVELIN pooled analysis of phase 1 and 2 data Prostate Cancer Fakhrejahani F 5037 Monday, June 5 Genitourinary (JAVELIN Solid 1:15-4:45 PM (Prostate) Cancer Tumor) Avelumab in metastatic castration-resist ant prostate cancer (mCRPC) Renal Cell Choueiri TK TPS4594 Sunday, June 4 Genitourinary Carcinoma 8:00-11:30 a.m. (Nonprostate) (JAVELIN Renal 101) Avelumab plus axitinib vs sunitinib as first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma: phase 3 study (JAVELIN Renal 101) Urothelial Apolo AB 4528 Sunday, June 4 Genitourinary Carcinoma 8:00-11:30 a.m. (Nonprostate) Cancer (JAVELIN Solid Tumor) Updated efficacy and safety of avelumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma: pooled analysis from 2 cohorts of the phase 1b JAVELIN Solid Tumor study Publications Merkel Cell Bharmal M e21070 Carcinoma (JAVELIN Merkel 200) Non-progression during avelumab treatment is associated with clinically relevant improvements in health-related quality of life in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma Merkel Cell Kaufman HL e21065 Carcinoma (JAVELIN Merkel 200) Patient experiences with avelumab vs chemotherapy for treating Merkel cell carcinoma: results from protocol-specified qualitative research Non-Small Cell Feng Z e20581 Lung Cancer (JAVELIN Solid Tumor) Comparative study of two PD-L1 expression assays in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) *Avelumab is under clinical investigation for treatment of NSCLC, RCC, DLBCL, SSCHN and mCRPC and has not been demonstrated to be safe and effective for these indications. There is no guarantee that avelumab will be approved for NSCLC, RCC, DLBCL, SSCHN and mCRPC by any health authority worldwide. About Avelumab Avelumab is a human antibody specific for a protein called PD-L1, or programmed death ligand-1. Avelumab is designed to potentially engage both the adaptive and innate immune systems. By binding to PD-L1, avelumab is thought to prevent tumor cells from using PD-L1 for protection against white blood cells, such as T-cells, exposing them to anti-tumor responses. Avelumab has been shown to induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro. In November 2014, Merck and Pfizer announced a strategic alliance to co-develop and co-commercialize avelumab. Indications The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for avelumab (BAVENCIO(R)) for the treatment of (i) metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (mMCC) in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older and (ii) patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. Continued approval for these indications may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Avelumab is not approved for any indication in any market outside the US. Important Safety Information The warnings and precautions for BAVENCIO include immune-mediated adverse reactions (such as pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction and other adverse reactions), infusion-related reactions and embryo-fetal toxicity. Common adverse reactions (reported in at least 20% of patients) in patients treated with avelumab include fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, diarrhea, nausea, infusion-related reaction, peripheral edema, decreased appetite/hypophagia, urinary tract infection and rash. About the Merck-Pfizer Alliance Immuno-oncology is a top priority for Merck and Pfizer Inc. The global strategic alliance between Merck and Pfizer enables the companies to benefit from each other's strengths and capabilities and further explore the therapeutic potential of avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody initially discovered and developed by Merck. The immuno-oncology alliance will jointly develop and commercialize avelumab and advance Pfizer's PD-1 antibody. The alliance is focused on developing high-priority international clinical programs to investigate avelumab as a monotherapy, as well as in combination regimens, and is striving to find new ways to treat cancer. All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to http://www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service. For further details and press materials about Merck in oncology please visit enlace About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2016, Merck generated sales of EUR 15.0 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the "Merck" name and brand except in the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world(R) At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at http://www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us at http://www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer [enlace ] and @Pfizer_News [enlace ] , LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pfizer ], YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer [enlace ] . Pfizer Disclosure Notice The information contained in this release is as of May 17, 2017. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments. (CONTINUA) 62 political, military and diplomatic European leaders call for closer EU-NATO collaboration The Ukraine crisis has been a huge wake up call for the EU and NATO. Each organisation knows that it must work with the other. And for the first time in over a decade they are making a visibly concerted effort to cooperate. It would be unacceptable if they did not. Both are headquartered in Brussels, deal with Europes security and defence, and share 22 member states. Europes security demands that they should cooperate. Yet for years they have barely managed to communicate, let alone work together. So we warmly welcome and acknowledge last Julys Joint Declaration, last Decembers Common Set of Proposals for Cooperation, and the increasingly successful efforts by the EUs and NATOs hard working staffs to implement these proposals. But this is not enough, as is clear from the report by the European Leadership Network (ELN): EU-NATO Relations: Inching forward EU member states and NATO Allies need not just to want the EU and NATO to work together but to invest the political energy to make this happen. The ELN report shows that this is not as hard as is often imagined. Political differences between a small minority of Allies and member states and respect for the organisations different mandates, decision making autonomy and institutional integrity, need not hold all progress hostage. Ultimately, the greater obstacles are lack of attention in European capitals, lack of resources and practical arrangements for collaboration in the two organisations, lack of knowledge in each organisation about the other, and a long-standing lack of cultural affinity made worse by years of diplomatic trench warfare. These obstacles can now be overcome. And overcoming them would unlock greater efficiencies, greater effectiveness separately and jointly, powerful synergies, and genuine and much needed collaboration for the sake of Europes security and well-being. This group endorses the key recommendations in the ELN report and calls on European governments to improve EU-NATO cooperation in the following ways: Resource. Set more staff from the European Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and EU agencies to work on security and defence issues, security clear more staff, train personnel to work with confidential and classified information and provide secure communications equipment. NATO, with better security but many fewer total staff, needs money from NATO Allies for extra people to implement the Joint Declaration and the Common Set of Proposals. Educate. Mutual familiarity is crucial for long-term collaboration. Establish sustainable and sustained mutual education between and about the two institutions. Member states delegations in both institutions should host workshops for NATO and EU staff and for their own personnel. Staff exchange between the two institutions should be incentivised, particularly in the seven areas of the Joint Declaration. Frequent, regular visits of international staff and national delegations to each others institutions should become central. Explain. Create a compelling narrative on EU-NATO cooperation that promotes a better understanding of the value added by their cooperation, dispels concerns among domestic audiences and partner countries, and supports greater transparency and sustainability of activities. Aligning the EU and NATO message would foster coherence on the seven areas of cooperation and greater will to act against common threats. Be ambitious. If Europes security is to be protected as it needs to be, EU member states and NATO Allies will have to shift in thought, word and deed from mere cooperation working together on goals that happen to overlap to active collaboration working together towards shared goals. The international staffs need clear guidance that the goal is collaboration for real world effect, not simply cooperation for political effect or to avoid duplication or optimise resources. Member states should be clearer that the process continues far beyond 2017 and that the shared goal in working together is better security for Europe. 17 May 2017 SIGNATORIES: Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway; former Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Deputy Chair of The Elders Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime Minister of Norway Massimo DAlema, former Prime Minister of Italy; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Willy Claes, former Secretary General of NATO, Belgium The Rt Hon Lord Browne of Ladyton (Des Browne), Chair of the ELN and former Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom Sir Adam Thomson, former British Permanent Representative to NATO, Director of the European Leadership Network Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Defence Secretary and former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chair of the Munich Security Conference and co-chair of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany General Sir John McColl, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) and Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, former Foreign Minister of Denmark Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, former Minister of Defence of Italy Rudolf Scharping, former Defence Minister of Germany Ana Palacio, former Foreign Minister of Spain Professor Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Mogens Lykketoft, former Foreign Minister of Denmark Professor Dr Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Former Foreign Minister of Poland Louis Michel, Former European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid; Former Foreign Minister; Current MEP Elisabeth Rehn, former Defence Minister of Finland, current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims at the International Criminal Court Professor Todor Tagarev, former Defence Minister of Bulgaria Dr Solomon Passy, former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Hikmet Cetin, former Foreign Minister of Turkey and leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Imants Liegis, former Defence Minister of the Republic of Latvia, serving Ambassador to France Janos Martonyi, former Foreign Minister of Hungary Fatmir Mediu, former Defence Minister of Albania Budimir Loncar, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of former Yugoslavia General Vincenzo Camporini, former Chief of the Joint Defence Staff of Italy Admiral (ret.) Juhani Kaskeala, former Commander of Finnish Defence Forces, former member of the Military Committee of the European Union Admiral the Lord Boyce (Michael Boyce), former Chief of Defence Staff and First Sea Lord, Crossbench Peer in the UK House of Lords General Klaus Naumann, former Chief of Staff of the German armed forces, Former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (David Richards), former Chief of the Defence Staff, member of the House of Lords Ricardo Baptista Leite, serving Member of Parliament, Portugal Marietje Schaake, serving Member of the European Parliament General (Ret.) Bernard Norlain, former Air Defence Commander and Air Combat Commander in the French Air Force and Military Advisor to Prime Minister Michel Rocard Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom (James Arbuthnot), former Chairman of the Defence Select Committee of the United Kingdom; serving member of the House of Lords Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Sir Menzies Campbell), former leader of the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; serving member of the House of Lords Lord Hannay of Chiswick (David Hannay), former British Ambassador to the EU and to the UN Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona, former OSCE Secretary General, Ambassador to the UK and Russia; and former Italian representative to the Albright Group for the drafting of NATOs New Strategic Concept Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (John Kerr), former British Ambassador to the EU and the US; former FCO Permanent Under-Secretary Stefano Stefanini, former Italian Permanent Representative to NATO; former Diplomatic Advisor to the President of Italy Sir Tony Brenton, former British Ambassador to Russia Tom McKane, former Director General for Strategy and Security Policy at the UK Ministry of Defence Dr. Klaus Wittmann, former Bundeswehr General, Senior Fellow Aspen Institute Germany Karsten Voigt, former German-American coordinator in the Federal Foreign Office of Germany; Former President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Lord Triesman (David Triesman), former Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom Ambassador Tedo Japaridze, serving Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Faruk Logoglu, former Turkish Ambassador to the US; serving member of The Grand National Assembly of Turkey Lord Wallace of Saltaire PC (William Wallace), former Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; serving member of the House of Lords Ambassador Ozdem Sanberk, former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ambassador Carlo Trezza, former Member of the Advisory Board of the UN Secretary General for Disarmament Matters and Chairman of the Missile Technology Control Regime Lord (David) Ramsbotham, Crossbench peer in the House of Lords Ambassador Henrik Salander, former Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Secretary- General of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission Vahit Erdem, Ambassador, former head of the Turkish Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and former Secretary General of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Wolfgang Petritsch, former EU Special Envoy to Kosovo and former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador Balazs Csuday, current Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Vienna Ambassador Jaakko Blomberg, former Finnish Ambassador to Canada and Estonia Ambassador Elena Poptodorova, Director of Euro-Atlantic Affairs, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria Stefano Silvestri, President of the International Affairs Institute of Italy, consultant for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministries of Defence and Industry Professor Raimo Vayrynen, former Director at Finnish Institute of International Affairs Mustafa Aydn, Rector of Kadir Has University (Istanbul) and President of the International Relations Council of Turkey Professor Ivo Slaus, Croatian former member of parliament and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mustafa Nayyem, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament Jaakko Laajava, former Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy and Facilitator of the WMDFZ in the Middle East This statement is published in the name only of those who have signed, and not on behalf of all of the members of the European Leadership Network. Late-session push for minimum wage hike CARSON CITY (AP) A late-session push to raise Nevadas minimum wage for the first time in seven years is under way in the state capital. Two top advisers to Gov. Brian Sandoval met with increase backers Wednesday, less than an hour after state senators passed a bill to incrementally raise wages. The Republican governor said last week he does not support an increase. But Democratic legislative leaders promised to prioritize boosting the states lowest legal wages. The fight could stretch into final budget negotiations. Nevadas minimum currently bottoms out at $7.25 an hour with health insurance, and $8.25 without. Senate Bill 106 would raise the minimums to $11 and $12 in 2021. The measure had stalled for three months, but came back to life this week with a committee vote and party-line approval in the Senate. Nevada unemployment dips to 4.7 percent CARSON CITY (AP) Nevadas unemployment rate dipped down to 4.7 percent last month. The Las Vegas Sun reports the decrease is due in part to large gains in the construction and leisure and hospitality sectors. The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Wednesday that last months jobless rate was down from 4.8 percent in March. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in April. Resort delays opening date to 2020 LAS VEGAS (AP) A long-delayed multibillion-dollar casino-resort project on the Las Vegas Strip that would cater to the citys Chinese tourism is pushing its opening date back another year. Malaysia-based developer Genting Group on Wednesday said the proposed 3,000-room Resorts World Las Vegas will open in 2020 after overhauling its design to have a modern Asian flair and appeal to the younger generation of gamblers. The $4 billion project on the Strips northern end is expected to include a 100,000-square-foot casino, a variety of dining options with authentic Asian cuisines and abundant retail space. The projects initial target opening was 2016. The Malaysian conglomerate bought the Las Vegas property in 2013 from Boyd Gaming, which had started building a hotel complex on the site of the former Stardust casino when the recession hit. Donations cut Washoe school lunch deficit RENO (AP) Washoe Countys school superintendent is praising local families whove come forward with contributions to help cut into a deficit in the districts school lunch program. District officials say the unpaid balance in students lunch accounts totals more than $66,000 this year more than double last years deficit. The school board considered but rejected a proposal last week to begin serving only cheese sandwiches as the entree for children whose accounts were more than $13.50 in arrears. Superintendent Traci Davis announced Tuesday that about $2,900 in private donations have been collected to help cover the costs. That amount had grown to more than $3,800 by noon Wednesday. She says shes extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. Bitcoin has recovered to $1818 levels and is on its way to retesting the highs of $1892 hit on May 11. The correction has been brief and shallow. Today, we bring you two differing views of experts. One believes that bitcoin is a bubble, whereas, the other advices to hold bitcoins to protect from the impending market crash. Bitcoin is in a bubble Nir Kaissar, founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm believes that bitcoin is a bubble in the making. Bitcoins value has skyrocketed since its inception. Kaissar says that an investment of $100 in Bitcoin from the beginning would be worth close to $3 million today. Its not easy to justify that kind of return for any investment. The price of Bitcoin is up 3 million percent since July 2010, as quoted by Bloomberg. He draws parallels between bitcoin and the various bubbles in history the 17th-century tulip bubble in Holland, Englands South Sea Bubble in 1720, and the dotcom bubble and warns the investors to ask themselves as to why they are invested in bitcoin. Buy bitcoins to safeguard from the next crash On the other hand, Mike Maloney, the founder of precious metals broker GoldSilver.com, suggests owning cryptocurrency to protect oneself from the shift in the global monetary system. He believes that there will be a big crash with bubbles all around, which will lead to a new world monetary system and advises on buying cryptocurrencies. You want to have an alternative monetary system that is already ready to go and those actually exist today. They are called cryptocurrencies. It started with Bitcoin. There have been several others that have been introduced. I own a few of them. I dont own a lot of cryptocurrencies but I think it is something that is necessary to be prepared because if the monetary system fails, youll be able to do transactions right away with other people and you can do them over long distances. You can do them over the Internet just like you pay with your credit card today, reports The Cointelegraph. After the disappointing inventory report from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, the markets were cheered by the data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. The US EIA data showed that crude stockpiles fell 1.8 million barrels against expectations of a fall of 2.4 million barrels for the week ended May 12. This extended the drawdowns for the sixth consecutive week. The oil bulls were further encouraged by the small drop in the US domestic crude oil production, which fell 9,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.305 million bpd, the first fall in 13 weeks, which ended the longest stretch of gains since 2012. "Its the first time in 13 weeks that domestic production has been lower," Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, said by telephone. "That, plus draws across the board, should help support the market. This is a good report for the Saudis," reports Bloomberg Quint. The closely watched gasoline stocks also fell by 413,000 barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 1.9 million barrels. A triumvirate of draws for crude, gasoline and distillates is a supportive influence for prices, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, reports Market Watch. However, the bullish sentiment was not universal. "The numbers beneath the surface were rather mixed with gasoline stocks falling only slightly on weaker demand and sharply higher imports suggesting sufficient availability of crude oil internationally despite OPEC cuts," said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, Germany, as reported by Reuters. Nevertheless, the drawdowns, though slow, will encourage the OPEC members and their allies to extend the deal and probably deepen the cuts further to speed up the rebalancing of the crude oil market. ELKO A Starr Valley man found guilty of statutory sexual seduction was sentenced in Tuesday in Elko District Court. Javier Santiago, 23, was given a suspended sentence of six years maximum in prison, placed on probation for five years, and ordered to serve 270 days in jail with credit for 22 days served by District Judge Al Kacin. Santiago was further ordered to register as a sex offender, have no contact with the victim, or have contact or communication with a person less than 18 years of age in a secluded environment unless an adult who has never been convicted of a sexual offense is present and permission has been obtained by his parole officer, and not possess any electronic device capable of accessing the internet or access the internet through any such device unless it is approved by his parole officer. Santiago pleaded guilty in December to the lesser charge of statutory sexual seduction, a category B felony, in a plea deal which dropped charges of lewdness with a child under the age of 16 and sexual assault on a child under the age of 16, according to Free Press files. The incident reportedly occurred in 2015 and Santiago was arrested Oct. 14. Police reports stated he was dating the victim at the time. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In the spring of 2013, a massive cyberattack crippled South Korean banks and television networks. The same attack also hit one organization on American soil. Greg Scarlatoiu of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea woke up one morning that March and checked his email. He said he saw an email from a friend in South Korea: So, you have been hit. Scarlatoiu learned his website had been defaced by hackers who also took down the organizations reports on human rights abuses in North Korea. We were paralyzed, Scarlatoiu said. Possible North Korean links to the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks highlight the international threat of cyberattacks. Interviews with experts on cybersecurity, the military and North Korea describe rapid improvement in the North Korean cyber capabilities. They also state that the threat of cyberwarfare adds yet another complication into already tense relations on the peninsula. The latest ransomware attack hijacked computers and left users unable to access their files. A message demanded $300 to $600 or the files would be destroyed. Computers in more than 150 countries have been affected so far, U.S. government officials said this week. Code in the WannaCry malware appears similar to code in malware used by hackers linked to North Korea known as the Lazarus Group, the Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab announced this week. Were catching a bit of code reuse, said Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, a Kaspersky Lab researcher who led a webinar on the WannaCry breach Wednesday morning. The Lazarus group has been linked to the attacks against Sony Pictures in 2014, the theft of $81 million from Central Bank of Bangladesh in 2016 and the 2013 attack against South Korean banks and television stations. A 2016 report by Kaspersky Lab noted that metadata suggest Lazarus Group attackers are probably located in a Korean time zone. The report also noted many of the Lazarus Groups attacks have targeted institutions in South Korea. The North Korean government in Pyongyang has been pouring money into the nations estimated 9,000 cyberwarriors, said Bruce Bechtol, a Marine veteran and political science professor at Angelo State University. Their operators are becoming more skilled than they were, Bechtol said. North Koreas hackers are stationed in cells all over the globe, said Jim Jaeger, a retired Air Force brigadier general and strategist at Fidelis Cybersecurity Global. Knowing who did what in the cyber world can be very difficult because it is easy enough to route signals through different countries, said Ryan Manship, security practice director at RedTeam Security of Minneapolis. This inability of nations to quickly determine who attacked whom online could be dangerous in times of increased tensions. For a half-century, North Korea has played a game of brinkmanship with South Korea and the United States. The North threatens its neighbors with troops or missiles, increases tensions to the brink and then backs down in exchange for economic or security concessions. Recently, missile tests and nuclear saber-rattling have been called an existential threat by U.S. officials, who now have two supercarrier battle groups in the region. So far, the nations rulers in Pyongyang have proven capable of provoking its enemies without crossing the red lines that would lead to a war, said Jon Condra, Director of Asia Pacific Research at the cyber intelligence company Flashpoint. Cyberattacks add more complexity to what was already a precarious situation. Countries on the brink of war have protocols to prevent overreactions and unnecessary wars protocols that now must consider cyberwarfare. While traditional military deployments and actions are the most obvious signals of a ratcheting-up of tensions, Condra said, the cyber domain is becoming increasingly prominent as a means of denial and disruption, and sometimes even destruction. Gray areas remain in cyberwarfare, said Dave Aitel, formerly of the NSA and now CEO of the security software company Immunity. If I turn off the lights in Denver for two minutes every day, is that an act of war? asked Aitel. When we dont know if what the Russians did in the election warrants response, then were in a really tight spot. Cyberattacks in the past have failed to provoke military responses, Condra said. When the Sony hack was traced back to North Korea, the Obama administration levied sanctions on the country. Now, Bechtol asked, will President Donald Trump take the same action if (the ransomware attack) turns out to be the North Koreans? This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A former San Antonio police crime scene investigator testified Wednesday that the bullets that hit the residence of a Stone Oak homeowner shot by a door-to-door salesman trying to sell him a security system appeared to have come from in front of the house and not from the street, as the defendant told police. Richard Luis Amezquita told police he was attacked Nov. 7, 2015, by Kerry OToole, 53, a self-employed contractor who worked out of his far North Side home in the 1000 block of Visor Drive in Stone Oak. Amezquita, who worked for Vivint, was in the neighborhood that day and was selling home security systems and solar panels. Amezquita, 37, said he was in his vehicle when he fired at OToole, whom he said kicked and choked him, and also threw rocks at him and his car. But under questioning by prosecutor Kimberly Gonzalez, Robert Ross, who worked for 17 years as an SAPD crime scene investigator, said it was likely whoever fired the four bullets found inside the home was outside the residence, possibly on the porch, and not in the street. The vertical trajectory does not support that theory because of the height of the house, Ross said. He told the jury that if Amezquita was inside his car, about 25 feet from the front door, he would have to raise his arm and fire from a steep angle, which would have given him a finite range of motion. On the first day of the trial Tuesday, jurors listened to the 911 call Amezquita made after the shooting in which he told police OToole had attacked him. I need the police here at Visor Drive. I was just assaulted, Amezquita said during the 911 call. I feared for my life, and I had to shoot him. I need you to send the police ASAP. Amezquita, who pleaded not guilty, has said he fired in self-defense. Prosecutors said Amezquita could have called the police to report the altercation but instead decided to shoot. Testimony is expected to continue this morning in 186th State District Court, presided by Judge Jefferson Moore. If convicted, Amezquita faces up to life in prison. ezavala@express-news.net Twitter: @elizabeth2863 WASHINGTON The Justice Department late Wednesday said it was appointing former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the ongoing investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command. Mueller, who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, Rosenstein said. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called Mueller's appointment a positive step. The American people expect him to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into whether any Americans assisted the Russians who interfered in our election and, if necessary, to use his ability to prosecute perpetrators, Castro said in a statement. The announcement came amid growing murmurs of impeachment as Democrats went on the attack over reports that before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, he asked him to squelch an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Even as Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a review of a damaging memo implicating Trump, he said he still had confidence in the president. At the same time, the Senate Intelligence Committee said it wants Comey to testify, and Democrats pressed for legislation to name an independent commission to investigate alleged Trump-Russia ties and potential obstruction of justice. Public reaction from Republicans was muted, though some expressed private frustration about the onslaught of allegations surrounding Trumps handling of classified information and his sacking of Comey, who was leading the agencys investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, went beyond most Republicans, amplifying on an earlier statement last week that had called Comeys firing troubling. Even more troubling, Hurd said Wednesday, are reports that just months before his firing, James Comey - a man who in spite of our disagreements I have the utmost respect for - may have come under pressure by the president in an attempt to influence an ongoing FBI investigation. Hurd, who sits on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he supported the committees request for Comeys memos and for the former FBI director to appear in front of the committee to testify. The memos reportedly stem from leaked accounts of private notes Comey took of his conversations with Trump in February. Their existence was reported by the New York Times and Washington Post, citing associates of Comey who had seen the notes. At least one Republican, Justin Amash of Michigan, told reporters that if the allegations about Trumps pressure on Comey are true, they would warrant impeachment. Amash added, however, Everybody gets a fair trial in this country. Meanwhile, Houston Democrat Al Green became the first member of Congress to go to the House floor to call for impeachment, citing Trumps alleged request to Comey to let go an inquiry about Flynn, and the presidents subsequent warnings to Comey via Twitter that he better hope there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press! There is a belief in this country that no one is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States of America, Green said. Our Democracy is at risk This offense has occurred before our very eyes. San Antonio Democrat Lloyd Doggett also took to the House floor to decry Republican silence about the Comey affair. It would appear that some of our Republican colleagues are in a witness protection program, Doggett said. At long last we wonder what will awaken these Republicans from their partisan stupor. While stopping short of calling for impeachment, Doggett said, Our Republican colleagues need to decide whether they want to be accessories to Trumps obstruction of justice as he continues to endanger national security. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, used his Twitter account to assert that Trump may have sought to obstruct an FBI investigation. The American people need an independent investigation to find the truth, Cuellar wrote. U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, among several Texas Republicans who have publicly backed Comeys firing, did not respond to a request to comment on the latest report dogging the White House. Nor did Texas Republicans Michael McCaul, John Culberson, Ted Poe and Pete Olson. Republicans were being urged by leaders to show restraint and not rush to judgment. Ryan told GOP members during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that they need the facts. Theres been a lot of reporting lately, Ryan said, referring reports that Trump pressured Comey to end the Flynn investigation, which centered on his firing for misleading White House officials about his phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Ryan also questioned Comeys version of events. Im sure were going to want to hear from Mr. Comey about why, if this happened as he allegedly describes, why didnt he take action at the time? Trump, speaking at Wednesdays U.S. Coast Guard commencement, struck a combative tone but didnt directly address the political whirlwind around him. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, he said. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. He added: "No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly. But Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican, compared the obstruction of justice allegations against Trump to those made against President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. White House spokesman Sean Spicer, speaking with reporters while returning from the Coast Guard Academy, refuted media accounts of Comeys memo, but offered no details. The president has been very clear that the account that was published is not an accurate description of how the event occurred, he said. Im not going to give any other comment on that. Green, a former NAACP leader in his 12th year in Congress, joined a chorus of Democrats - including Californias Maxine Waters - who have talked about Trumps impeachment. But he was the first to do so from the House floor. Greens speech - delivered, he said, with a heavy heart - also comes a day after Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, suggested on CNN that Trump could be headed for impeachment after allegedly asking Comey to end his inquiry of Flynn. I have to say, King said, simply because obstruction of justice is such a serious offense. Green also cited obstruction of justice as a grounds for impeaching Trump. I do not do this for political purposes, he said. I do this because I believe in the great ideals that this country stands for: Liberty and Justice for all. While recent revelations about Trumps sacking of the FBI director have alarmed Democrats, actual impeachment proceedings would require the participation of Republicans who control both chambers of Congress. Green acknowledged that his impeachment call might seem a long shot. I am a voice in the wilderness, he said. But I assure you that history will vindicate me. kevin.diaz@chron.com blambrecht@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Family members of two San Antonio victims who died in last summers hot-air balloon crash that killed 16 people near Lockhart are launching a petition to the White House calling for tougher federal oversight of balloon pilots, who currently are exempt from drug tests and medical exams. We dont want all those victims to have died for nothing, said the petitions primary author, Patricia Morgan, whose daughter and granddaughter from San Antonio both died July 30 when a commercial hot air balloon piloted by Alfred Skip Nichols struck high-voltage power lines. Morgan said she has little confidence the Federal Aviation Administration will do anything to make hot air balloons safer, and she had tried with no success to discuss her concerns with Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Ted Cruz and other Texas lawmakers. The lack of a response by Cruzs office was particularly frustrating, she said, because Cruz is a member of an aviation subcommittee that oversees the FAA. [ SPECIAL REPORT: Adrift: FAA did nothing about hot air balloon warnings ] Morgan said Cruzs deputy chief of staff, James Christoferson, finally called her Thursday morning after the San Antonio Express-News asked Cruzs office why no one had contacted her. Morgan, who lives in Brownsville, said Christoferson expressed his condolences and said the senator is interested in working with the FAA to enact stronger safety measures for the balloon industry. Christoferson told her no one responded to her email because a privacy form hadnt been filled out. Im glad somebody has reached out, Morgan said. But she also wondered why lawmakers arent already doing more. I feel like, why do they even have to react to my email? Why isnt something being done? Its almost been a year and we havent heard anything. Libby Hambleton, a spokeswoman for Cornyn, said the senators staff members plan to speak with Morgan after learning she had tried to get in touch with them. Sen. Cornyn visited the site of the hot air balloon crash days after the incident with Caldwell County Judge Ken Shawe and Sheriff Daniel Law, Hambelton wrote in a statement to the Express-News. Sen. Cornyns staff was working with the National Transportation Safety Board every step of the way, and his staff engaged with local officials and attended the victims memorial on the senators behalf. A statement released by Cruzs office said it doesnt comment on constituent work because of privacy concerns. Sen. Cruz extends his deepest sympathy to all of those who lost loved ones in the Lockhart balloon crash, and our office is already working on legislative solutions to help prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future, the statement read. The balloon crash near Lockhart was the deadliest in U.S. history. [ Hot air balloon crash near Lockhart kills 16, officials confirm ] An Express-News investigation published in March found that hot air balloons sustained higher crash rates than other types of aircraft. But unlike most pilots, balloon pilots arent required to undergo drug testing or take medical exams. Nichols wasnt legally allowed to drive a vehicle because of a string of DWI convictions, and he never reported the infractions to the FAA. But even when the agency found out about his criminal history, officials didnt discipline Nichols, and they allowed him to keep his commercial pilots certificate. After the crash, federal investigators discovered Nichols had been on prescription medications that included oxycodone, Valium and Prozac. Several of those drugs had warnings not to operate heavy machinery and were prohibited by the FAA. But for balloon pilots, the agency relies on an honor system to make sure theyre fit to fly. [ Balloon pilot had witches brew of medications before fatal crash ] Morgan said the petition is an attempt to prod officials to bolster FAA regulations governing balloons that date to the 1930s. Morgans daughter, Lorilee Brabson, and her granddaughter, Paige Brabson, died in the balloon crash. If antiquated FAA rules were brought up to date, this accident was totally avoidable, the petition states. Hot air balloon pilots are not required to be drug tested nor have medical exams as other tour operations. It is time for FAA to ensure all tour passengers have oversight and the same safety benefits as passengers of helicopter and airline tour operations. All Lives Matter. The White Houses online petition system, called We the People, was launched by the Barack Obama administration in 2011 and touted as a way for the public to draw attention to important issues. If a petition received 100,000 signatures within 30 days, it often received an official response. But its unclear whether the Trump administration will respond to future petitions or even continue the program. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order in January requiring federal agencies such as the FAA to eliminate two regulations for every regulation they enact. Before the crash, the FAA had rejected calls by the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA safety inspector Wayne Phillips to increase oversight of commercial hot air balloons, some of which can carry enough passengers to fill a commuter plane. Two lawmakers have called for greater oversight of the balloon industry and have openly criticized the FAA: Texas state Rep. John Cyrier, R-Lockhart, and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio. Morgan said she hasnt yet spoken with them but plans to send them the petition. Morgan said she doesnt know if the Trump administration will take the petition seriously. But if it helps prod officials to make ballooning safer, she said its worth a try. What else can we do? she asked. jtedesco@express-news.net An immigrant smuggler who led police on a high-speed chase that injured several people in a small border community was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison. Jovanni Rodarte, 20, of Rio Bravo pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiring to transport immigrants, causing serious bodily injury. He was sentenced Wednesday in Laredo by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio National Cemetery on the near East Side is the resting place for some of the most well-known members of the military to come through San Antonio. One of the cemeterys tombstones marks the gravesite of Gen. John L. Bullis, the namesake of Camp Bullis on the far North Side. Bullis fought for the Union in the Civil War, during which he was captured twice by the Confederacy, and was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. Another plot is the resting place of Lt. George E.M. Kelly, who became the second U.S. serviceman killed in an aviation accident when his airplane crashed in San Antonio in 1911. Kelly AFB was named after him in 1948. Lieutenant Kelly was one of the best men in Signal Corps, U.S. Signal Corps Commander Maj. George Squier was quoted as saying in a New York Times article about the crash. He was devoted to his work and gave every promise of becoming one of the Armys most valuable aviators. The cemetery at 517 Paso Hondo St. is home to the graves of nearly 300 Buffalo Soldiers troops from African-American units who fought on the western frontier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Every year, members of the Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers Association hold a ceremony at the cemetery on Veterans Day. They dress up like the soldiers, with yellow bandanas, blue pants and leather boots. The associations president, Billy Gordon, became interested in Buffalo Soldiers a name given to the troops by Native Americans, perhaps because they admired their fighting spirit while playing one of them in a movie filmed in San Antonio in the early 90s. Gordon, who spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and fought in Vietnam, was inspired by the way the soldiers coped with the bigotry they experienced. What really impressed me was they had every excuse to quit every excuse to say Im not putting up with this anymore. But those men stood for something, said Gordon. They put up with an ungodly amount of adversity. Of course they were ex-slaves, so they were men of iron, so to speak, but they turned into men of steel. One of the four regiments of Buffalo Soldiers formed after the Civil War was stationed at San Pedro Springs Park in San Antonio. The soldiers, many of whom were former slaves, were mistreated while they were here, leading to a mutiny. When the African-American units were formed, some people were unsure how effective they would be, Gordon said. But the soldiers had one of the lowest desertion rates in the U.S. Army and included 14 Medal of Honor recipients. Of course, they became the most decorated and outstanding unit, he said. Their contributions loomed large. Along with the Buffalo Soldiers, the San Antonio National Cemetery is the resting place for other American soldiers who worked on the western frontier, and for those who fought against Native American tribes and in the Spanish-American War, according to the National Park Service. It is the oldest national cemetery in Texas. The city of San Antonio donated the land for the cemetery to the federal government in 1867, according to the park service. The first soldiers buried there were Union soldiers who were moved there from cemeteries in surrounding areas. The cemetery includes a monument to soldiers buried there whose identities are unknown, as well as Native American scouts and a dozen Chinese civilian employees of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. Another national cemetery, Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, was created in 1924 about 4 miles away. The 3.7-acre San Antonio National Cemetery, at Center and North Monumental streets, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Its in the fast-growing East Side neighborhood of Dignowity Hill, surrounded by city cemeteries and parks. rwebner@express-news.net @rwebner COMING FRIDAY: Women and children at the Battle of the Alamo. The Texas Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill establishing statewide rules for companies such as Uber and Lyft that connect riders with willing drivers, sending a measure to the governors desk that would supersede all local regulations regarding so-called transportation network companies. Sen. Charles Schwertnerall, R-Georgetown, a sponsor of House Bill 100, said state rules would eliminate a patchwork of local regulations that he called deliberately onerous. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner disagreed, noting the city has co-existed with Uber for more than two years. This is another example of the legislature circumventing local control to allow corporations to profit at the expense of public safety, Turner said in a statement. Uber officials, who along with Lyft lobbied heavily in Austin this session for state rules, cheered the decision. A statewide framework will help bring greater economic opportunity and expanded access to safe, reliable transportation options to more Texans, Sarfraz Maredia, general manager for Uber Texas, said in a statement. To become the new rules of the road, the bill needs to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Because senators approved the bill 21-9, with eight Democrats and one Republican opposed, the new rules would go into effect immediately after Abbott signs the bill. Travis Considine, spokesman for Uber in Texas, said the company would soon return to the cities it left after the new rules take effect. The rules would supersede those at the city level, where the companies bitterly have opposed Austins and Houstons requirements, largely because of regulations requiring drivers to undergo a fingerprint-based background check. Im disappointed that the legislature chose to nullify the bedrock principles of self-governance and limited government by imposing regulations on our city over the objection of Austin voters, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in a statement. Uber and Lyft pulled out of the capital city last spring after voters there upheld city regulations requiring ride-hail drivers undergo fingerprint background checks and that companies report data about operations. Municipal officials and critics of the companies said state rules would erode public safety protections and have other consequences. Texas cities will be unable to stop worsening traffic, challenged to generate tax revenue to pay for roads, and powerless to strengthen background checks to protect local citizens, said Dave Sutton, spokesman for the Whos Driving You? campaign, organized and funded by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association. Jeff Coyle, a city of San Antonio spokesman, previously has said the bill generally aligns with the regulations that we have put in place in San Antonio, but it does not include the consumer choice model that has worked well for our community. In San Antonio, fingerprint background checks for drivers are voluntary, but the city does require the TNCs to periodically notify their drivers that they can undergo free fingerprint background checks at the police department. Drivers can upload SAPDs verification to their TNCs app. That element consumer choice was the cornerstone of a one-year pilot program, which proponents say strikes a balance with public safety. In December, the city made the pilot program permanent but left room for future contract negotiations. No changes were made in the Senate to the bill, authored by Rep. Chris Paddie, R-Marshall. That includes leaving untouched an amendment added in the state House defining sex as the physical condition of being male or female. The additional language on sex drew questions from Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio. I dont understand why in a transportation bill we have to have the definition of what that condition may be, Menendez said, noting his concern that it could lead to discrimination against transgender individuals or those whose genders are in flux. State Reps. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, and Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, added the language, citing a need to clarify exactly who received protection from discrimination. The language put Uber and Lyft on the defense with some equal rights groups. When the bill was approved by the House in March, the companies said they remained committed to inclusive business policies and called the amendment unnecessary, but stopped short of saying they would oppose the bill theyd lobbied heavily to see prevail. Under the new state rules, the companies would be licensed by the state, pay a $5,000 fee and agree to conduct a national background check, which they already do under their own internal policies. They no longer would have to comply with the background checks mandated by the cities, and could return to places such as Austin and Galveston where they have left because of local rules. New rules would apply only to companies that connect to drivers and not to taxi companies, which vigorously have opposed companies such as Uber and Lyft. Taxi cabs and limousine companies also can connect with riders via smartphone, but cannot operate as a cab and so-called transportation network company simultaneously. Not deregulating the entire industry was a missed opportunity, said Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, who filed his own bill which failed to gain support that would have removed barriers for app-based and taxi companies alike and placed minimal requirements on any company. Im interested in the kid who is tinkering and coding the ride-sharing service of tomorrow, and making sure that government doesnt crush that future disruptive innovation, Huffines said. Huffines, who supported the HB 100 reluctantly, said he anticipated further loosening of paid ride restrictions during the 2019 legislative session. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If Ivy Taylor has her way, by the time the June 10 mayoral runoff rolls around, youll be thinking that Ron Nirenbergs middle name is Ron and his first name is Liberal. On Tuesday morning, Taylors campaign launched a parody website (liberalron.com) that skewers Nirenberg the District 8 councilman who is challenging the mayor as a leftist who wants to bring the nanny state to San Antonio and stop the record job growth. Taylors ridicule assault on Nirenberg has been supplemented by a radio ad which encourages listeners to visit the Liberal Ron site. The website also brands Nirenberg as wishy-washy, pointing to his change of heart on the Vista Ridge water pipeline and the Mission Trails zoning case and proclaiming, Nirenberg Unveils New Campaign Slogan, Regrets Old One. Taylors satirical offensive is the brainchild of Colin Strother, the political consultant who joined the mayors re-election team after her disappointing finish in the May 6 general election. Taylor won a plurality in the general election, but her five-point margin over Nirenberg (42-37 percent) was lower than many local politicos expected. (Austin-based Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak also has joined Taylors team as a senior adviser, focused on messaging.) Ron sees a path to victory of catering specifically to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, and the mayor is focused on a broad-based campaign that speaks to all San Antonians, regardless of their political affiliations, Strother said. Were just making a very serious point in kind of a lighthearted way. In a way, the two main points emphasized by the website/ad are contradictory, because one point suggests that Nirenberg is a wild-eyed leftist out of step with mainstream San Antonio, while the other argues that he will say or do anything to fit in with the views of whichever audience hes addressing. If he has no core beliefs, as the website argues, how can he be an ideologue? But both arguments play into the Taylor strategy of hurting Nirenberg with North Side conservative voters, many of whom are still on the fence about the two-term councilman. The website seems to be telling North Siders that Nirenberg is a liberal, and if he tells you anything different, dont believe him. A big factor in this campaign calculus is former Mayor Julian Castros recent endorsement of Nirenberg. While Castro is rightly perceived as a star in the Democratic Party on the strength of his 2012 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention and his stint as housing secretary for Barack Obama the Taylor team is betting that Castros support will be, at best, a double-edged sword for Nirenberg. In Castros third and final mayoral election campaign in 2013, more than 50 percent of the voters in Districts 9 and 10 cast their ballots for someone other than Castro, even though he faced no serious competition. On Monday, KTSA radio host Jack Riccardi whose listeners tend to skew conservative asked his Facebook followers whether Castros endorsement made them more or less likely to vote for Nirenberg. The response was overwhelmingly negative. Thats the albatross that will sink Ron. Just lost my vote, wrote one person. Another wrote, Well, this definitely clarifies my choice. Vote Taylor. Taylor alluded to the Castro endorsement on Tuesday night during a KSAT 12 mayoral debate, saying that Nirenberg has recently garnered several endorsements that I think everyone would agree are from the liberal parties and liberal corners. Nirenberg said he was proud to blockwalk with Castro and called hypocrisy on Taylor, pointing out that a few months ago she gratefully accepted the endorsement of another prominent (and unabashedly partisan) San Antonio Democrat: former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte. What, Nirenberg wanted to know, was the difference between that endorsement and the one Nirenberg accepted from Castro? Within hours of the Liberal Ron website launch, local progressives started decrying it as a tacky stunt, but that hasnt dissuaded the Taylor campaign. Strother said the websites next move will be to offer genuine Ron Nirenberg flip-flops that only come in gray (presumably because Nirenberg cant see any issue in black-and-white terms) and two left feet. Nirenberg spokesman Kelton Morgan blasted the parody website. I get that desperate people do desperate things, Morgan said. But this level of 12-year-old playground bully tactics is ridiculous and Mayor Taylor should be embarrassed. A strange sidebar to the Liberal Ron attack effort is that its creator, Strother, is a Democrat, while Nirenbergs campaign manager, Morgan, is a Republican. But in municipal politics, up is down and right is left. And parody is dead serious. ggarcia@express-news.net MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. Farm royalty owners face many legal and financial risks associated with oil and natural gas leasing. Many farmers have used royalty income streams to supplement farm income and to make important capital investments. However, shale well production declines and price volatility introduce significant levels of risk to the royalty income stream and ultimately to the farm business. Penn State Extension Shale Education Team Educators and Program Sponsor Rockcliff Capital LLC are offering a comprehensive workshop to help farm royalty owners understand how current natural gas production and utilization trends can affect their royalties, important records to maintain, and decision-making strategies for how to limit farm business exposure to risk. Dates and times The workshop, Shale Royalties and Your Farm Business: Managing the Risk Associated with Royalty Income Streams, will be hosted June 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Washington County Fairgrounds, 2151 North Main St., Washington, Pennsylvania. Register The program is free, thanks to a grant from the Northeast Extension Risk Management Education. The program material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2015-49200-24225. Refreshments and lunch are provided by Rockcliff Capital LLC. Seating is limited and pre-registration is required online at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/events or by calling 570-320-4429. For additional information contact Dave Messersmith at dtm101@psu.edu or to Carol Loveland at cal24@psu.edu or at 570-320-4429. ELLSWORTH, Ohio During the May meeting of the Western Reserve Rangers 4-H club, members were recognized for their participation in various events and contests. Members participated in the YSU English Festival: Natalia Kresic placed first in journalism and Reese Snyder placed first in the poetry activity. Honorable mentions were: Thomas Collier, Olivia Haid and Reese Snyder. Members were encouraged to participate in Communications Days at the Canfield Fairgrounds, June 19. Members signed up to participate in the Berlin Center Memorial Day Parade May 28 and the Canfield Fourth of July Parade July 4. Sewing Learn shops begin June 15. Members should use the Remind App to keep up to date on county and local 4-H club activities. Western Reserve Rangers will meet again June 8, at 7 p.m., at the Ellsworth Fire Hall. ALEXANDRIA, Va. On May 9, the American Seed Trade Association hosted a meeting of grower groups, seed companies, and state government officials to discuss a collaborative approach to addressing Palmer amaranth and other weed seed issues. The meeting, which took place in Des Moines, Iowa, served as an information-exchange and strategic dialogue about potential short- and long-term solutions. Weeds like Palmer amaranth move through many different routes, so controlling them requires an active, unified strategy, including growers, industry and government, said ASTA President & CEO Andrew W. LaVigne. The meeting brought together key stakeholders to discuss lessons learned, and strategies for collaboration moving forward as we deal with Palmer amaranth and other new and emerging weed seed issues. Raising awareness The meeting raised awareness about the importance of state seed regulatory systems. When it comes to purchasing seed, meeting participants underscored the need to communicate with growers the importance of buying professionally produced seed from a company licensed to do business in the state, and specifically checking if seed was tested both for performance and for presence of Palmer amaranth and other weeds. Professional regional seed suppliers take care in managing seed production to reduce the presence of diseases, pests and weeds to meet local needs. This includes field preparation and inspections throughout the growing process; properly cleaning seed using state-of-the-art equipment to maintain quality; and testing to ensure high-quality performance standards are met. Seed companies must also comply with federal and state requirements for seed purity and germination, and these results must be listed on the seed tag. Farmers who have identified Palmer amaranth in fields or conservation plantings are urged to contact their local Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency or Extension professional. Since July last year, the broader criteria has also been used to decide Producer of the Month awards and has already opened up the competition to more lamb producers using a wider range of genetics, in more areas of the State. So it was decided to build a project around these key groups and as we explored the concept we realised that it needed to encompass the beginning of the wool chain, the shearing and shearers, to the Woollen Mill and Albany Wool stores history, right through to the end products that can be produced using the fibre. Kill more does to have more calves? Editor: It has been brought to my attention that the Elko County Game Board for Wildlife, in their wisdom, sent forward to the Nevada State Game Commission the recommendation to shoot 250 doe deer in the coming deer season in the Rubies. NDOW had requested a harvest of 100 does and I have been told that the deer numbers had been overestimated by NDOW at that time. So, the Elko board requested another 150 does be harvested ... Now let me try to understand this in cow terms: You shoot one half of your cows in your cow herd to increase the calf survival so you will have more calves? Am I missing something or is this a way to bring back our mule deer in the Rubies that have been in a death spiral for the past several years? This is where we are at in mule deer management in Area 10 The Rubies which was once the crown jewel in the mule deer herds of Nevada. Sad! Mike Laughlin Lamoille FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) The federal government has plans to give up about one square mile of land next to the Kinross Fort Knox gold mine. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been using the land as a buffer for radio interference around an array of weather satellite receivers, but no longer needs to, the Daily News-Miner reported Tuesday. A provision of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act gives the state first claim to a piece of land that the federal government relinquishes, but a public meeting is scheduled for Thursday to talk about the relinquishment process. A subsidiary of the nearby Kinross mining company had received authorization in 2014 to explore for gold in the area. Fairbanks Gold Mining is engaged in exploration throughout the District, and we plan to continue this exploration, including preliminary exploration on this land, company spokeswoman Anna Atchison said. The state government is still in the process of receiving the 165,300 square miles promised to it through the 1959 Alaska Statehood Act and subsequent amendments. To date, the state has received about 156,250 square miles, said Marty Parsons, the deputy director of the Division of Mining, Land and Water. As you get down to the final 5 million acres, you have to get very selective because theyre not going to give us any more, Parsons said. The land had been a high priority and was top-filed by the state government because it has state mining claims on it that cant be used while the federal government is using the land, he said. Late last week, the China Food & Drug Administration released for public comment four draft policy circulars designed to speed approvals for innovative drugs and medical devices, permit conditional approvals for certain products where efficacy has been proven in clinical trials, further protect data exclusivity during clinical trials, allow more flexibility during clinical trials, and clarify IP rights. The four draft policy circulars (Circulars) are drafted at a high level and lack the force of law but suggest significant changes in the overall regulatory environment in the life science industry as part of broader medical reform efforts in China. (See a related post about the recent Two-Invoice policy here.) Some of the provisions in the Circulars parallel those found in a January 2017 State Council policy document, although in some cases the Circulars are narrower or omit certain requirements or prohibitions found in the earlier policy document. A section of the Circulars would, if promulgated as drafted, impose several new prohibitions and requirements on activities by the life science industry, particularly reps: 1. Reps would be prohibited from having sales responsibilities and would be permitted to engage only in academic promotion of new drugs and listening to feedback from doctors. The terms, including sales responsibilities and new drugs, are not defined. CFDA has expressed an openness to hearing from industry what form selling activities take. 2. Reps would be prohibited from having contact with doctors in private. These terms are not further defined, and CFDA seems unlikely to provide a further gloss. 3. Companies and reps would be required to hold academic promotion activities in public and file a record of the event with the medical institution (e.g., hospital, clinic). The terms are not defined, and the terminology does not suggest that pre-approval would be needed. (The Circulars would seem to expressly permit such academic promotion activities; the propriety of such activities was called into question by the Nine Prohibitions, jointly issued by two different government agencies in late 2013.) 4. Manufacturers would be required to register their reps on website designated by CFDA that will be publicly accessible. 5. Individuals at hospitals would be prohibited from providing prescription data to employees of pharmaceutical companies or distributors. (Collating or providing prescription data for a commercial purpose was prohibited in 2013; the Circulars would remove the commercial purpose qualifier and prohibit all provision of prescription data from individuals at hospitals to industry.) The Circulars do not have the force of law and lack penalty clauses, and it is unclear how CFDA would enforce in practice some of the requirements and prohibitions. Much would depend on how these high-level provisions were interpreted in practice, or enforced in coordination with other government agencies with more direct oversight over pharma and device companies. Many in the industry are watching for further developments before making changes. The deadline for public comments is June 10; comments on changes are encouraged by May 25. Covington has prepared an analysis, available from the author upon request, of the broader regulatory impact of the Circulars, including full translations. ______ Eric Carlson, a contributing editor of the FCPA Blog, is a Shanghai-based partner at Covington & Burling LLP specializing in anti-corruption compliance and internal investigations, with a particular focus on China and other regions in Asia. He speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese and can be contacted here. James Yuan and Audrey Zhi, both associates in Covingtons Shanghai office, contributed research for this post. To celebrate the release of her new book Handcuffs, Truncheon and a Polyester Thong, author Gina Kirkham tells us a little bit about herself. Gina Kirkham I am actually quite shy. I know, it seems quite bizarre for someone who was a Police Officer and is now a writer of (hopefully) humour, to be so shy. Putting on the uniform was probably very similar to how Superman felt changing into his outfit, the only difference being I put mine on at home, not in a phone box and I wear my knickers under my combat pants, thank goodness. It does give you confidence to suddenly try to be the person youve always dreamt of being. Bold, brave, courageous and confident. In my everyday life, I would cringe at the thought of having to complain about mould on cheese in the local supermarket, but once the uniform was on, Id bowl into pub fights, mass brawls and hang off motorway bridges without a second thought. I once left my baby daughter at home alone. Two miles from home, driving over the humpy-bumpy bridge I did a rather fervent mummy squeal as the car lurched forward over the crest and dropped down again. Oooh little bumps for little girls... I simpered whilst half turning to look at the back seat and my 3- week-old baby. To my eternal horror, it was empty apart from Humphrey the Hippo glaring at me. I had gone one better than my mum, who had inadvertently left me in my pram outside Woolworths in 1958, I had left my daughter tucked up in her carrycot... .... on the coffee table at home. I have overwhelming urges in other peoples homes. I have a long-suffered compulsion for order, balance and tidiness. As the attending officer, I frequently had to check myself as my overwhelming urge to interfere suddenly kicked in at the homes of victims, complainants and even offenders. On one visit I walked along the hallway of a rather well-to-do family, straightening every picture on the wall and whilst giving words of reassurance in the lounge, the direction of their frosty glares to my hands alerted me to the fact that I had subconsciously rearranged all their ornaments on the mantelpiece too. I am a Nanny to two incredibly gorgeous granddaughters. I was blessed with my first granddaughter, Olivia in 2009. Annie came along in 2012, just two weeks after I retired from the Police. They were a tremendous distraction whilst I came to terms with retirement, missing my colleagues and missing my work. I can now be found several times a week, in between writing, playing Crocodiles from sofa to sofa or crawling inside a plastic tent to have a tea party. I first fell in love at 15 We shared half a sixpence as a token of our undying love for each other. After a little bit of kissing for the first time, I had found myself rushing to the chemist to frantically thumb through an information booklet. By paragraph 3, I was relieved to find that swapping spit couldnt make me pregnant, give me acne or a hairy tongue. I did notice however, that I had developed hairy legs, but this may have been just an unlucky coincidence. This relationship was to end in heartbreak, with me staring out of the window, crying into my hankie whilst listening to Nilssons Without You. I mourned a love lost for several weeks and half a ruddy sixpence I couldnt spend. I am a grateful fundraiser for Clatterbridge Cancer Centre I have sadly lost both my mum and dad to cancer. Mum in February 2006 and Dad three years later in August 2009. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is an amazing facility where they both received treatment in the early stages. To be honest, I do the easy bit. I stay at home and raise the pennies whilst my fabulous hubby John, climbs mountains, searches for Lost Cities (I think that was what he was doing), treks across deserts, and forgoes his beloved pork pies and special fried rice during those times he is away carrying out his daring deeds. The benefit for me is the Sky remote all to myself and the toilet seat down for two whole weeks. I have a terrible fear of heights. Up until Sunday 3rd June, 1979 I didnt know that I had a fear of heights. Probably because I had never really climbed anything higher than our stairs. On this fateful day, I was taken out onto Blackpool Pier for a family jolly of sorts. Halfway across I happened to look down through the slats in the boardwalk and that was it. I suddenly had a phobia and was frozen to the spot. Two hours later I was eventually brought back to concrete by wheelchair, after my rescuers had dumped some poor Octogenarian out of it and onto a nearby bench. To this day, I still cant climb metal grated steps/stairs or gantries without freezing like a myotonic goat. I posted my first Manuscript submission to myself After avidly reading chapter and verse of the Writers & Artists Yearbook, I took on board all the advice given. My first three-chapter submission of my treasured manuscript was to an Agent that didnt accept electronic submissions, only physical copies. I carefully wrote out, in my best handwriting, a large manila envelope, with my name, address and enough postage to cover. Bundling everything together, I checked, re-checked and checked again, before skipping to the local post office. Two days later, it was back through my letterbox. In my unbridled excitement, Id put it all in the wrong envelope and had sent it to myself. I hate having my photograph taken. Just the mere hint of a camera is enough to send me scuttling behind the nearest wheelie bin, tree, car, lamppost or door. I cant bear to see myself amplified in glaring colour, filtered or otherwise. The unbridled horror I felt when my Publisher asked for a photograph for their website can only be equalled by asking me to climb the Eiffel Tower. To get the shot required an incredible amount of planning and a quick Google on how to do selfies. Sitting on the toilet, ambient lighting behind me did nothing to enhance my features, neither did a double shot through the mirror, bouncing the image back to my iPhone but they used it anyway! I really did go to Downing Street As Police Officer of the Year award holder, I was invited to an Excellence in Policing function, all expenses paid by my Force, at 10 Downing Street to meet the then Prime Minster, Tony Blair. Arriving with my fancy invite clutched in my hot hands, in full uniform, I took the opportunity whilst waiting for his appearance, to check out the ladies loos after too many orange juices. Sadly, I got side-tracked sniffing the potpourri, admiring the gold-plated taps and thickness of their loo roll, so by the time I returned to the reception, Tony Blair had been, gone....and I had missed him. Handcuffs, Truncheon and a Polyester Thong is published by Urbane Publications on 18th May 2017. Veronice Henry's new book The Forever House comes out today so we asked her to tell us a some things we don't already know about her. Veronica Henry I WENT TO NINE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS My father was in the army, so we were forever on the move. Moving so much has made me very adept at making new friends. Books, however, were my constant. Wherever I was in the world, my fictional friends were always with me. IM HALF IRISH My father was Irish, and I spent many happy holidays by the sea in Kerry where he was brought up during the war. My heart is in those misty hills, the air sharp with burning peat. I STUDIED LATIN AT UNIVERSITY People think Latin is a dead language and therefore useless, but as a word lover it is incredibly useful. And Latin is so disciplined and structured it helps train your brain for plotting a novel. Its very logical. I RAN A POST PUNK NIGHTCLUB While I was at uni in Bristol I ran an alternative club night. I found my old playlists the other day and was sad to see so many of the artists I used to feature are now dead Bowie, Prince, George Michael, Pete Burns I PLAYED PEACHES THE BARMAID IN THE CAT AND FIDDLE IN THE ARCHERS My first job was production secretary on The Archers. Every now and then, for a joke, the producer would get me into the studio to play Peaches the extravert barmaid in the nefarious drinking den. I WAS A SCRIPT EDITOR FOR CROSSROADS Crossroads was a teatime television institution legendary for its bad scripts and wobbly sets. I worked on the show before it was axed in 1987 and the scripts were getting better by the end! IVE WRITTEN SCRIPTS FOR HEARTBEAT I loved working on this show a real feel good drama with a big heart. My proudest moment was when Jenny Agutter was cast as one of my guest characters. I LOVE LOBSTERS One of my favourite songs is Rock Lobster by the B52s, and I love a bit of lobsterabilia. My eldest son bought me a hatchling from the Lobster Hatchery in Padstow called Rock, of course. I like to think of him bobbing about somewhere. IVE GOT A MINIATURE SCHNAUZER When I got divorced, my friend persuaded me to get a dog I was dubious at first but now we are inseparable. Shes called Zelda, after Zelda Fitzgerald. Shes naughty and feisty and makes me laugh. MY BROTHER AND I ARE OBSESSED WITH COOKING My brother lives in Australia, but now we have FaceTime we call each other two or three times a week. We can literally spend two hours talking about what we are each going to cook over the weekend. Food is very important in my books and its great to have someone who shares that passion and understands when I rave about something Ive had in a restaurant. He took me for an incredible meal at Peel Street when I visited him in Adelaide in March banana blossom salad and Armenian lamb soldiers. I dream about it! Virginia Macgregor's new book Wishbones is released today, so to celebrate, she tells us a bit more baout the author behind the books. Virginia Macgregor I celebrate my characters birthdays I believe that the more real my characters are to me, the more theyll come alive for my readers. I have a thing for birthdays: to me, theyre not about getting older but about celebrating the existence of those we love and I certainly celebrate the existence of the wonderful characters who have kept me company over the years. Their birthdays are even written into my birthday diary! English is my third language I was born in Germany, lived in France and moved to Oxford, England, when I was five and learnt the respective languages of those countries as I went. At first I was hugely resistant to learning English: there are recordings of me bashing the kitchen table and refusing to speak this silly language. But very soon, I fell in love with English, its magical words, its quirkiness and its amazing stories. And now, of course, writing in English is my lifes work and my greatest joy. Ive just moved to America Im now having to learn another language: American English! My husband is the Director of Theatre in a wonderful boarding school called St. Pauls in New Hampshire. Weve always loved New England and coming here was a dream come true not that it hasnt been without its challenges. I still feel very English but exploring a whole new continent and its people is hugely stimulating to me as a writer. I love the cold and the rain This is probably sharing too much information, but here goes: I dont really sweat. Which you might think is a good thing (I save money on deodorant and I dont smell). But sweating is the bodys way of cooling us down when we get too hot. So, in hot weather, I more or less internally combust. So I love, love, love the cold, the rain, thunderstorms, the winter. Nothing feels as good to me as breathing in cool, fresh air. Which is why I got married in December, why I love New England winters and why I miss the rain in England too. I dont have rhythm This is a source of endless amusement to my husband (and will no doubt be a source of great embarrassment to my daughters). I love music and I love the idea of dancing but my body just has a way of stepping out of sync whenever its asked to follow a beat. I believe that animals are magical Most of my novels, both for adults and Young Adults, have at least one animal character. Im a great animal lover and a vegetarian. As George Bernard Shaw said: Animals are my friendsand I dont eat my friends. I have a funny notion that I might have been an elephant in a past life. I believe that animals sense more of the world than we do as human beings that they have access to whole other planes of existence too. I love that. I light a candle when I write My dear writing buddy, Joanna Seldon, once gave me a small, white candle -holder with the etching of a cat on the front. Ever since then Ive lit a tea light in this holder every time I sit down to write. Its a ritual, a comfort and an offering to the gods of the imagination. Joanna recently died of cancer so doing this has acquired an even greater resonance: when I light the candle now, I feel that shes with me, willing me on to write. I wear my husbands socks. I dont know when I stopped buying my own socks but when I worked out that my husband had more socks than hed ever be able to wear (or certainly wear-out), I thought it would be economical and kind of fun to share. The hopeless romantic in me also likes to know that I carry a bit of him with me everywhere I go. And it annoys him when his favourite socks go missing, which kind of amuses me. Every night, before I go to sleep, I make a note of three things: how long I wrote that day, what I read and how long I walked. Writing, reading and walking are essential parts to each of my days and holding myself accountable in this way helps me focus on whats important. All three elements feed into each other and help me to be a better writer. If I havent done all three, I feel like my days incomplete. Im an unashamed optimist Although my novels tackle challenging and sometimes very sad contemporary issues, Im a great believer in the human spirit. I believe that part of a writers job is to offer hope. The Spanish government is to create an inter-ministerial work group called Task Force Brexit with the aim of providing support and advice for Spanish citizens in the United Kingdom ahead of the countrys exit from the European Union . The task force, the creation of which is already considerably advanced, will be based at the Spanish embassy in London and will count on a team of 15 people, spread across the embassy, sectorial departments and the consulates in London and Edinburgh. View of Big Ben in London. EFE The plan, which has been laid out in a response from the government to a written question from Socialist senator Andres Gil, and to which EL PAIS has had access, is in response to the growing concerns that the Brexit process has caused among Spaniards residing in the United Kingdom and the companies, institutions and Spanish entities that are carrying out activities in or with this country. There is a great need for this because there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety Luz Villarrubia, co-founder of Surviving Brexit As for the investment needed to get the service up and running, the government has stated that it will only be able to judge the cost once the provisions for the additional personnel needed have been approved. The government has stated that the embassy and the two Spanish consulates on British soil are working with a large collective of Spaniards through the Surviving Brexit platform, which already numbers more than 3,000 Spaniards resident in the UK. A group of representatives from the platform met with the Spanish ambassador at the time, Federico Trillo, who has since been replaced by Carlos Bastarreche on December 6, as EL PAIS reported to convey the concerns of its members and request support and advice. An artwork in the English port city of Dover attributed to street artist Banksy, depicting a workman chipping away at one of the 12 stars on the flag of the European Union. HANNAH MCKAY (REUTERS) This is very good news, said Luz Villarrubia, the co-founder of Surviving Brexit. We hope that this goes further than simply good intentions and goes ahead. There is a great need for this because there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety among Spaniards in the United Kingdom. The government letter, dated May 5, sums up the five demands from Spanish residents in the United Kingdom: the setting up of a support and information service; assistance for anyone who wants to apply for permanent residence; the creation of a Brexit section on the embassy and consulate webpages, including an FAQ section that will be kept permanently updated; the publication of an information newsletter (electronic or via traditional mail) informing people of all the changes that could affect the situation of Spanish residents; and the organization of talks and conferences with the Spanish collectives from different parts of the United Kingdom. Task Force Brexit will act as the single point of contact for Spaniards seeking help and advice The Task Force Brexit will act as the single point of contact for Spaniards seeking help and advice, coordinating the work of the consulates and embassy departments whose work is related to the issue. The current plan is for the service to be in place for three years: the two years that the Brexit negotiations will last, plus another year for the implementation of the results of the negotiation. There are currently 131,000 Spaniards registered at the consulates in London and Edinburgh, but calculations suggest that the total number of residents is at least double that figure. Spanish migration to the UK has grown considerably since the global economic crisis took effect, with increases of between 15 and 20% from 2008 onward. Official sources have said that there is now a rise in the number of Spaniards who are returning to their home country, in part due to the improvement in the domestic economy, and in part due to fears over Brexit. English version by Simon Hunter. Ben Affleck wants to direct a film starring his ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner The 44-year-old actor and director was married to the brunette beauty - who he has daughters Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight, and five-year-old son Samuel with - for 11 years before she filed for a divorce in April this year, but the dark-haired hunk has admitted he would "love" to work with his former partner on a project in the future despite their break-up. The 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' star - who appeared alongside the 45-year-old actress in the 2003 film 'Daredevil' - told PEOPLE: "I would love to, are you kidding me? I think that would be great." And the American heartthrob has revealed he would gladly direct a film with Garner because he thinks she is "great" and believes they could create a "really cool" project if they were to join forces again. He added: "I've often said that I want to direct a movie that Jennifer was in because I think she's so great and she could do something really cool." However, Affleck believes the only problem preventing them from collaborating on a movie would be their children and having to find a babysitter to care for their three kids whilst they worked. Affleck, who recently moved out of their Los Angeles home, said: "The problem that gets in the way is that one of us has to be looking after the kids at home." And the California-born star is also keen to join forces with his children onscreen when they grow up. He added: "Yeah! I've got another however many years until college. We're locking it down for the next 13 years." Although the former couple are in the midst of a legal dissolution of their marriage and are currently co-parenting their brood, they have tried to maintain a good relationship with one another since the split for the sake of the children. A source previously revealed: "The kids are good. Ben and Jen are working closely together to make sure the kids are doing fine during this transition and that it doesn't interrupt their lives too much. They have their own traditions and things they'll do together as a family still." Affleck returns to screens as Batman in 'Justice League', which will be released in cinemas on November 17, whilst Garner next stars in the drama 'Wakefield' due to hit the screens on Friday (19.05.17). Muse have released a brand new single named 'Dig Down'. Matt Bellamy of Muse The 'Supermassive Black Hole' hitmakers - compromising of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard - dropped the track, which is not due to appear on an album, on Thursday (18.05.17), and it is available to stream and download now. Lead vocalist, Matt, 38, said: "When I was writing this song I was looking to counteract negativity in the world and give inspiration, optimism and hope to people to fight for the causes they believe in; that as individuals we can choose to change the world if we want to." 'Dig Down' marks the first standalone single Muse have had since 2010's 'Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)'. The video for the song was directed by Lance Drake and the record itself was co-produced by Mike Elizondo and Muse and features Lauren Wasser. Lance said about the video: "The song is about survival and fighting the odds - when I heard this song I knew I wanted to do an action packed narrative. "I'd heard about Lauren a year or so ago, I read her story and she gave me personal inspiration so I'd always kept her in mind to shoot with one day. "The power of the song made me think of her... So I wrote the video narrative based on Lauren's story and how she overcame the odds." Last November, the band announced they are headlining Reading and Leeds Festival this year, which is their only UK appearance and will mark their third headline slot at the festival to date. The band will also be performing at Belfast Vital Festival. The rockers will be heading out on a North American tour with support from Thirty Seconds to Mars and PVRIS starting on Saturday (20.05.17) in West Palm Beach, Florida. Muse's last album 'Drones' was released in June 2015 and debuted at number one in 21 countries around the world. One of the biggest pressures women face in everyday life is simply being a female. Whether theyre judging themselves or being judged unfairly by others, when it comes to education, work, progress and society in general, theres a real lack of equality between the sexes. With that in mind, weve decided to take a look at some of the biggest shows on Netflix and see how their leading women can inspire and empower through their actions. Whilst equality is still something being fought for in the real world, theres a staggering amount of brilliance from the ladies being acknowledged in the world of TV streaming. Here are some of Netflixs Most Inspiring And Empowering Women Sophia Girlboss Credit: Netflix Based on a real-life story, Girlboss follows the journey of Sophia, a rebellious young woman who decides to take her fate into her own hands when she ends up broke. Creating an online business where she quickly has to learn how to become a boss, she works her way up the ranks of entrepreneurship and provides one of the most compelling and exciting success stories the world has seen to-date. Kimmy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Credit: Netflix Rescued from a doomsday cult and starting afresh in New York City, Kimmy Schmidt is a woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders but shes a pro at hiding it. In this brilliant comedy, we follow Kimmy as she navigates through a world she didnt think existed anymore, with hilarious results. Orange is the New Black Credit: Netflix The majority of the Orange is the New Black cast could fit into this category, with the Ladies of Litchfield proving theyre a heck of group, having overcome some incredibly tough challenges to-date. Later this year well get a fifth season of Orange action, where the prisoners will rise up against the racial and economic tensions rooted in the prison. We cant wait to see how it all turns out. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Credit: Netflix Lorelai, Rory and Emily Gilmore had been followed for four seasons of change in the original Gilmore Girls series, before this show brought them back almost a decade after that series finale. Once again they proved that women can do absolutely anything they put their minds to, bringing viewers into the fold once more and allowing fans to be a true part of the Gilmore family. Betty and Veronica - Riverdale Credit: Netflix Instead of resorting to having the two leading females in Riverdale feuding over a boy, the writers of the show had Veronica and Betty become the best of friends, working together to solve the biggest mystery to ever rock the small town. Whilst creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has said the love triangle involving the two females will return at some point, it was good to see the pair given proper storylines to kick-start the show, rather than resorting to the easy option. Prairie The OA Credit: Netflix Vanishing from her home seven years earlier, Prairie Johnson returns home with a mysterious set of new abilities and quickly gets to work in recruiting five strangers for a secret mission like none other. Despite being shunned by many, Prairie doesnt allow the negativity surrounding her get in the way of her reaching her objective. Thats something that we can all admire. Eleven Stranger Things Credit: Netflix Another young girl with mysterious powers is Eleven, from hit original series Stranger Things. Turning up at a time when a young boy vanishes from a small town, those who come into contact with Eleven quickly come to realise that shes anything but ordinary. In fact, shes super-human. Queen Elizabeth II The Crown Credit: Netflix Whats more exciting than watching the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II throughout her younger years leading the United Kingdom? Strong-willed and level-headed, The Crown allows viewers a glimpse into the events that helped shape the second half of the 20th century. by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Gujarati dal dhokli Ingredients 1 cup green moong dal, boiled 2 tbsp refined oil 2 tbsp ghee 1 bay leaf a handful of curry leaves 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp peanuts a dash of asafoetida 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tsp red chilli powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 2 pinches ofsalt 1/2 tsp garam masala powder For the dhokli 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp cumin seed powder 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped 1 tsp salt 1 tsp refined oil 1/2 cup wheat flour Method Mix turmeric, jeera powder, chopped coriander, salt and little oil with wheat flour in a bowl. Add enough water and knead the flour like a chapatti dough, then roll out like chapattis. Cut them into even-sized square pieces. Heat plenty of water in a broad vessel and when it starts to boil, add the dhokli pieces and cook till they become just soft. Strain excess water through a colander and keep dhokli pieces separately. Pressure cook the dal in enough water till just soft (one whistle would be enough for it). Then heat the oil and ghee in a kadai over low-medium flame. When it becomes hot, add bay leaf, curry leaves, cumin seeds, peanuts and asafoetida and stir for a minute. Then add coriander powder, red chilli powder, jeera powder, and turmeric powder and mix all the ingredients quickly. Then pour the cooked dal over them, add salt and cook for a few minutes. Then add dhokli pieces at the end and boil for about one to two minutes. Just before serving, add melted ghee on top, along with garam masala powder to give it a more delicious flavour and aroma. Photograph courtesy: Pinterest Site Blocked In order to access website you need to accept our cookie policy. View cookie policy. Accept Oats Aloo Paratha Makes:2-4 parathas Ingredients For the dough 50 g wheat flour 50 g oats flour salt, a pinch water, as required For the stuffing 3-4 potatoes, boiled tsp chaat masala tsp garam masala 50 g boiled green peas 1 tsp red chilli powder tsp black pepper powder 1 tsp ginger, chopped 1 tsp green chillies, chopped a few coriander leaves, chopped salt, to taste oil/ghee for making the paratha Method For the stuffing Mash the potatoes well.Mix all ingredients required for the stuffing along with the potatoes. Keep itaside. For the paratha dough Take both the flours. Add salt and water and start kneading to make a smooth and soft dough. Cover it with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes. Knead once more to make it smoother. Now take one dough ball at a time. Dip it into dry flour and roll into 3-4 inch diameter circleusing rolling pin and board. Pinch the centre, put in the potato stuffing, seal it properly and roll it gently. Heat the tawa on medium flame. Once hot, place the paratha on it and cook it evenly on bothsides. Apply some oil/ghee on the surface. Flip again and cook it by pressing gently.Serve with dollop of butter with yoghurt or raita. Recipes and photographs courtesy: KOSH Oats Pakistan is partnering with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, to popularise use of e-commerce in the country. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Alibaba in presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his first ever visit to Alibabas Hangzhou headquarters, which entails training of Pakistans small businesses in e-commerce.The MOU was signed on April 16, 2017. Under the agreement, Pakistans small businesses will be trained to better use Alibabas platforms and e-commerce in general. Pakistan is partnering with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, to popularise use of e-commerce in the country. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Alibaba in presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his first ever visit to Alibaba's Hangzhou headquarters, which entails training of Pakistan's small businesses in e-commerce.# Alibaba, affiliate Ant Financial and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan also agreed to foster growth of exports from the South Asian countrys small and medium-sized enterprises. The parties will also work together to grow online payments and cloud-computing services in Pakistan.Pakistan has seen significant progress in the past years, and we look forward to working together with TDAP to further enhance the potential of their SMEs through the signing of this MOU, said Alibaba group executive chairman Jack Ma in a statement. Ma was on hand for the signing ceremony.MOUs are typically the first phase of collaboration between Alibaba and its public and private partners to explore ways of doing business together. The announcement follows similar initiatives by Alibaba to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries by increasing access to e-commerce. As these SMEs grow, the economies of those developing countries do as well.One trend helping to drive that growth is the ubiquity of smartphones. This has given rise to greater levels of mobile commerce, both in consumption and in entrepreneurship. In Pakistan, mobile phones accounted for 70 per cent of all web traffic in the year ending January 31. However, with just 18 per cent of the population currently online - 35.1 million out of a total 194.8 million - there is still room for the sector to expand.With the support of the Alibaba Group we hope to elevate our local businesses to new heights and bring them into the realm of the e-commerce platform, Prime Minister Sharif said in the statement.Sharifs visit comes less than a week after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was in Hangzhou to witness a separate MOU signing with Alibaba. Over the past two months, the company and its affiliates have signed several agreements with Malaysias government and Malaysian enterprises to realise Mas vision of an Electronic World Trade Platform. The eWTP would create an online network of free-trade zones that would allow SMEs to participate in the global economy. (SV) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Bangladesh has called for US investment in the high-end garment sector during the third round of talks under the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa). The issue of Bangladeshi garments attracting high duty in the US markets was also raised. However, US reinstatement of GSP privileges to Bangladesh was not discussed in the meeting. We have not discussed the GSP issue, said Bangladesh acting commerce secretary at the post-meeting briefing in Dhaka. However, Bangladesh raised the issue of high duty on its garment shipments to the US. Readymade garments from Bangladesh currently attract 15.62 per cent duty while entering the US, which reduces competitiveness of these products in the US market. Bangladesh has called for US investment in the high-end garment sector during the third round of talks under the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa). The issue of Bangladeshi garments attracting high duty in the US markets was also raised. However, US reinstatement of GSP privileges to Bangladesh was not discussed in the meeting.# In his briefing, Bose said that Bangladesh has sought US investment in some sectors, including the high-end garment sector, telecom and energy sectors. Fair prices of goods, technology transfer and infrastructure development were also discussed in the meeting. The 15-member US delegation was led by Mark Linscott, assistant US trade representative, at the meeting held to promote expanded bilateral trade and investment in goods and services. Both governments pledged their commitment to deepen their engagement and increase their trade and economic ties. The United States particularly noted its interest in addressing specific market access barriers to trade and concerns on overall labour reform, the US Embassy in Dhaka said in a press release. In 2016, the two-way trade between Bangladesh and the US was $6.8 billion. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The Union textiles minister Smriti Irani has initiated a new campaign called #CottonIsCool on microblogging website Twitter to make cotton popular. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) is supporting the initiative taken by the ministry of textiles, while online marketplace ShopClues has partnered with the ministry to bring out the Indianness of cotton. Irani recently said on Twitter, "I celebrate Indian summers and cotton industry with my #CottonIsCool look. What is your #CottonIsCool look?!" along with her picture in a cotton saree. She also encouraged others to do the same. ShopClues, under the initiative, has created a special #CottonIsCool page which will be active from until May 20, 2017. Consumers using coupon code cottoniscool will also be offered a 10 per cent discount on existing cotton products on the site. The Union textiles minister Smriti Irani has initiated a new campaign called #CottonIsCool on microblogging website Twitter to make cotton popular. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) is supporting the initiative taken by the ministry of textiles, while online marketplace ShopClues has partnered with the ministry to bring out the Indianness of cotton.# "It gives us immense pleasure to join hands with the ministry of textiles to promote the cotton industry. Cotton is a fabric that keeps one cool in scorching Indian summers, and we are sure that our customers spread across Bharat in over 30,000 pin-codes will have a lot to choose from our wide range of cotton products we have on offer," said Radhika Aggarwal, chief business officer and co-founder, Shopclues. Earlier, ShopClues had partnered with the Central Cottage Emporium and National Handloom Development Corporation to promote handcrafted, regional, and handloom products on the platform, which were part of its IndiMarket, an exclusive platform for locally sourced Indian products. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The government of Germany will provide 7 million to Bangladesh to help with the remediation work of the country's readymade garment sector. As per an agreement signed between German Embassy in Bangladesh and the Economic Relations Division, the grants will help enhance the capacity of some of the commercial banks to address the funding needs of the sector. The agreement was signed by additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division, Muhammad Alkama Siddiqui, and German ambassador Thomas Prinz under the project 'Financing of Environment and Safety Retrofits in the Bangladesh Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector'. The funding is expected to ensure effective usage of credit, improve environment standards and promote safety of workers in the RMG sector, the German embassy said in a statement. The government of Germany will provide 7 million to Bangladesh to help with the remediation work of the country's readymade garment sector. As per an agreement signed between German Embassy in Bangladesh and the Economic Relations Division, the grants will help enhance the capacity of some of the commercial banks to address the funding needs of the sector.# The project will help in bridging the knowledge gap in investments and remediation upgrades as well as in the implementation of the investments, added the embassy. Germany is expected to provide 4 million through KfW and 3 million through GIZ. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India A witness provided by the Spanish government offered up to three different versions of events in the international arbitration claim over renewable energy premium cuts that Spain has just lost , according to official documents that EL PAIS has had access to. The states experts also failed to convince the three arbitrators appointed to the case at the World Banks International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which recently ruled that Spain must pay 128 million plus interest in compensation to a British-based investor. A solar power plant in Spain. REUTERS The lawyers that represented Spain during the arbitration process desperately changed their defense strategy at the last minute, when it became increasingly evident that they would lose the case. Until then, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had failed to answer letters by investors requesting a negotiation. As a result, the three arbitrators including one appointed by Spain ended up deciding in favor of Eiser Infrastructure Limited and its affiliate Energia Solar Luxembourg, stating that the Spanish government had violated Article 10 of the Energy Charter Treaty, thus depriving the plaintiff a fund with ties to ABN Amro of fair and equitable treatment. This new system was profoundly unfair and inequitable in the way that it was applied to the plaintiffs existing investment ICSID arbitrators The ICSIDs decision represents the first international arbitration claim lost by Spain over its widely criticized regulatory changes to the renewable energy sector, and it sets a precedent for the 26 other claims still pending. Until now, other disputes had been settled in Madrids favor, but those were not filed with the ICSID. The arbitrators written decision, which EL PAIS has seen, strongly criticizes the regulatory changes undertaken by the Rajoy administration following the Popular Partys victory at the November 2011 general election, at a time when Spain was in a deep economic crisis and authorities were looking to make spending cuts. The plaintiffs filed their claim in December 2013. A hearing was held in Paris from February 15 to 20, 2016. Besides the three arbitrators, there were stenographers, interpreters, and 18 individuals representing the plaintiffs, including nine lawyers from Allen & Overy, and several witnesses and experts from The Brattle Group. The Spanish government sent 17 representatives of its own. Wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, two regular features of the Spanish landscape. EFE One of these was Alfonso Olivas, director of renewable energy at IDAE, the states Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings. Asked about several key reports, Olivas said that these were simply wrong. But when he was asked whether he had actually read the reports, he provided inconsistent testimony, stating in various ways that he had, that he had not, or that he might possibly have read them, according to the arbitrators. Ultimately, Olivas was forced to admit that he had never even requested access to the power plants in order to obtain the data that he had brought to support the governments position. And in the end it was an expert proposed by Spain who convinced the arbitrators that Spain was wrong. As for the system itself, the ICSID finds that Spain eliminated a favorable regulatory regime that had been awarded to the plaintiffs to encourage investment, and later replaced it with an unprecedented, completely different regulatory system based on completely different premises. This new system was profoundly unfair and inequitable in the way that it was applied to the plaintiffs existing investment, adds the document. The arbitrators considered that Spain crossed a line and violated its obligation to award fair and equitable treatment in June 2014, when the earlier regulatory regime was definitively replaced by a completely new regime. English version by Susana Urra. World cotton crop in 2017-18 is expected to be 113.2 million bales, 7 per cent (7.3 million bales) above the 2016-17 estimate, due to a rebound in global area devoted to cotton, according to the US department of agricultures (USDAs) initial projection. Global area is forecast at 31.8 million hectares (78.5 million acres), the highest in three years. Although most major producing countries are expected to increase cotton area, the global yield is projected to decrease slightly from 2016-17s 3-year high to 776 kilograms per hectare (692 pounds per harvested acre). India is forecast to remain the leading cotton producer in 2017-18, accounting for 28 million bales of production, or 25 per cent of the world total. Indias output is projected nearly 6 per cent above the 2016-17 crop, as cotton area is expected to increase nearly 10 per cent due to higher cotton prices relative to competing crop prices. Limiting the production increase is a projected yield that is below 2016-17 but still near the 5-year average. World cotton crop in 2017-18 is expected to be 113.2 million bales, 7 per cent (7.3 million bales) above the 2016-17 estimate, due to a rebound in global area devoted to cotton, according to the US department of agriculture's (USDA's) initial projection. Global area is forecast at 31.8 million hectares (78.5 million acres), the highest in three years.# China is forecast to produce 23.5 million bales of cotton in 2017-18, three per cent above the previous season and the largest crop in three years. Area is expected to rise from 2016-17 to 3 million hectares, but will remain relatively low because Government policies have reduced support for cotton farmers while production costs remain high. With area concentrated in the high-yielding Xinjiang region, the 2017-18 national yield is forecast near 2016-17s record yield of 1,708 kilograms per hectare. Cotton production in Pakistan, Brazil, and Australia is also forecast to increase in 2017-18. In Pakistan, higher area and an above-average yield are expected to push the crop 10 per cent higher to 8.5 million bales, the largest in three years. For Brazil, increased area is nearly offset by a lower yield, resulting in a crop that is expected to expand three per cent and equal the 2014-15 production. In Australia, production is projected to increase nine per cent in 2017-18 despite a considerable anticipated area reduction; most of the area decline is expected in dryland planting. As a result, the larger share of the Australian crop under irrigation will boost the national yield forecast some 40 per cent in 2017-18. Meanwhile, world cotton consumption is forecast to increase 2.3 per cent (nearly 2.6 million bales) above the 2016-17 estimate to nearly 115.8 million bales, as per USDAs initial 2017-18 projection. The increase reflects anticipated growth in the world economy. Cotton mill use is led by China and India, with a combined 2017-18 consumption projected at 61.5 million bales, or 53 per cent of the global total; cotton mill use is forecast to grow slightly above one per cent in each country. The largest growth of the major cotton spinners, however, is forecast to occur in Vietnam, where 2017-18 cotton mill use is projected 11 per cent higher at 5.9 million bales. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India With the development of cotton crops in the 2016/17 season coming to an end, Brazils Centre for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics has noted that nearness of the new crop increases dispute between purchasers and sellers. The harvesting period is approaching in many regions of the country. Liquidity, however, was low in the first fortnight of May.While sellers were willing to trade the remaining batches from the 2015/16 season at firmer prices, purchasers were retracted, working with the product previously purchased, the centre said. With the development of cotton crops in the 2016/17 season coming to an end, Brazil's Centre for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics has noted that nearness of the new crop increases dispute between purchasers and sellers. The harvesting period is approaching in many regions of the country. Liquidity, however, was low in the first fortnight of May.# The development of crops has been satisfactory in almost all Brazilian regions and a good or excellent crop is expected. Thus, purchasers believe the entry of the new crop in the second semester may push down quotes. Sellers aim at selling a higher percentage of the output through contracts.Between April 28 and May 15, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index, 8-day payment terms, for cotton type 41-4, delivered in Sao Paulo, increased a slight 0.14 per, closing at 2.7679 BRL (US $ 0.8906) per pound on May 15.In April, 30.9 thousand tonnes of cotton were exported (Secex data), 4 per cent lower than in March/17 and 24.4 per cent down compared to the volume shipped in April/16.From August/16 to April/17, exported shipments totaled 554.5 thousand tonnes, 36.3 per cent lower than that in the same period last season (between August/15 and April/16).As for importations, Brazil purchased 4.8 thousand tonnes of cotton in April, 43.1 per cent lower than in March/17. However, from August/16 to April/17, the volume reached 29.5 thousand tonnes, much larger than 3.8 thousand tonnes from August/15 to April/16. (SV) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India More than 60 renowned apparel brands including Big Brother, Diya Design Studio, Baaniz (Mangalam), Femi Design and Tosro Shirts will participate at the 11edition of trade fair by Apparel Manufacturers of India (AMI), the leading apparel group of manufacturers & traders. The event beginning from June 6, 2017 will be AMI's 7edition in Kochi. The three-day event is an opportunity for the exhibitors to attract retailers and MBOs across Kerala, for Onam. "We are excited to conduct our next edition of trade fair in Kochi. We have held 6 trade fairs here, over the last 3 years, and the response we have received is tremendous. Every edition of our fair has witnessed more than 700 retailers, MBOs and chain stores presence and they look forward to our event. We hope to make this edition a grand success too. said Umesh Bani, key organiser, Apparel Manufacturers of India. AMI had hosted its first exhibition in January 2015 with the aim of bridging the gap between retailers, agents and suppliers. Its core purpose is to grow together and build a strong network for mutual growth and they believe that entrepreneurs can easily make their dreams a reality if each one helped other, enough to achieve their goals. Till date, AMI has conducted 10 fairs across Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad and reached out to 7,000 retailers and MBOs. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India His Trip Was Pre-Planned A source close to the actor revealed to India.com, "His trip to the US was pre-planned. Everyone from team Baahubali knew of this.'' He Wanted To Leave Earlier But... ''He in fact wanted to leave earlier but couldn't due to film's promotions all over the country.'' He Will Start Shooting For Saaho Soon ''The fact that he will start shooting for his next film Saaho in the US next month onwards made it a viable option for a vacation." Prabhas Knows He Can't Roam Around Freely "Prabhas is well aware that while it was possible for him to roam around in public without his guards on earlier, it may no more be possible post the success of Baahubali." All Thanks To Baahubali 2 ''Baahubali 2 has been receiving so much love and attention from all quarters that it will be difficult for Prabhas to go unnoticed.'' He Is Having A Great Time "He is having a great time doing all the things that he had planned. He has been visiting his favourite places, cafes and restaurants, meeting his friends.'' He Is Roaming Around In Disguise ''The only difference is, he is roaming around in disguise." Here Is How... ''Prabhas has his hood on or he has been wearing a bandana or a cap to go unnoticed.'' This Is The Last Thing He Wants To Do ''Apart from being a very shy person, he is also on his downtime and attracting unnecessary attention will be the last thing he'd want to do.'' Aamir Khan With Wife Kiran Rao Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao pay their last respects to Reema Lagoo. Kajol Pays Her Last Respects Kajol attends the funeral of Reema Lagoo in Mumbai. Kajol has starred in many films with the late actress. Rest In Peace Reema Lagoo Reema Lagoo suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away on May 18, 2017. Her presence will be deeply missed. Heavenly Abode Reema Lagoo leaves for heavenly abode. Her place cannot be filled in the Bollywood film industry. Rishi Kapoor Attends The Funeral Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor also paid his last respects to Reema Lagoo. Reema's Demise Is Shocking The whole film industry and common people alike are shocked and saddened by Reema's death. Will Be Missed Reema Lagoo will surely be missed and there's no one who can fill her place in Bollywood. Passing Away Reema Lagoo passed away at the age of 59 due to cardiac arrest. Her contribution to Indian cinema was immense. Reema's Last Abode The funeral of Reema Lagoo was attended by a lot of celebrities, friends and family members. Hard To Digest The sudden demise of Reema Lagoo is very hard to digest and people still can't believe that she's no more. At The Funeral The whole film fraternity is sad by the demise of Reema Lagoo and many celebs tweeted about her passing away. RIP Reema Rest in peace Reema Lagoo. Can You Spot The Tattoo? Yesterday, we saw Deepika Padukone attending press event at Cannes and in this picture, the back portion of her neck is very much visible & so is the tattoo! Deepika Is Currently, Rocking At Cannes Yesterday evening, the lady walked the red carpet for Cannes 2017 and took the film festival by storm! This Time, Deepika Gets It Right! Unlike her other international outings, this outing of Deepika Padukone was praised by each and every one. Deepika, The New LOrealista The Piku actress walked the red carpet of the Cannes film fiesta as an ambassador for the popular cosmetic giant, L'Oreal Paris India. Sonam's Comment On Deepika's Appearance Yesterday, at the launch of her own clothing brand, Sonam Kapoor said, "I hope she has a good time. I don't think I should be giving any advice to someone who has already walked several international red carpets." She Has Raised The Expectation Yesterday, every picture that surfaced on social media, raised the bar expectations and speculations higher. We're desperately waiting for Deepika's second look for Cannes red carpet. She Arrived On May 16 Deepika arrived in Cannes on May 16, 2017 and ever since, social media platforms are inundated with her oh-s-gorgeous' pictures Deepikas Candid Picture Here's the picture of Deepika Padukone, when she was getting ready for her final appearance for Cannes red carpet. Top producer and wife of Dr Rajkumar, Parvathamma Rajkumar was admitted to MS Ramaiah memorial hospital recently, after she had hmrhth,complained of giddiness and breathing problems. Hospital sources revealed yesterday that she was in stable condition. However, today morning a section of media reported falsely about Parvathamma's health condition. Apparently an article in a website instigated this rumour. This spread as wild fire amongst fans and hundreds of fans started gathering near the Ramaiah Hospital in Mathikere. Gauging the condition, Dr Rajkumar's Family and hospital authorities called for a press meet to clear the air. Parvathamma's son Shivanna and Raghanna were present in the press meet which concluded some time ago, to stand along with the doctors who were treating their mother. Shivanna quashed the rumours about Parvathamma's health condition. He revealed that she was in a critical condition; however, everything was under control and requested fans to not believe in any news until it comes from their end. Doctors informed that she will be under the support of ventilator for the next 24 hours. Also they revealed that nephrologists are going through the reports of Parvathamma and they will take the decision on dialysis for Kidney. Both Shivanna and the doctors requested fans to maintain peace and assured there was nothing to worry. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hadvisited Parvathamma in hospital and wished her speedy recovery. Speaking to reporters, he informed that Parvathamma Rajkumar's health was in stable condition. Puneeth was present at the hospital, during his visit. Police have been deployed around the MS Ramaiah Memorial hospital for security as fans are gathering near hospital. Several celebrities are also arriving to the hospital. Here is an exciting news for the Malayalam movie industry. The actresses and women technicians of Mollywood are joining hands under the leadership of popular actresses Manju Warrier, Parvathy, Rima Kallingal, etc., for a new women's union. The new women's union of Malayalam cinema, which has been named as 'Women Collective In Cinema' will soon come in action. A core committee, which consists of 15 members including Manju Warrier, Parvathy, Rima Kallingal, editor Beena Paul, etc., will head the new union. As per the latest reports, the core committee members of Women Collective In Cinema recently met the honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan today, to discuss the further activities of the newly formed association. The actresses and women technicians decided to form a new union, considering the problems faced by women in Malayalam film industry. The recent attack against a popular actress had created quite a stir among the film industry members. Several popular actresses and technicians, including Anjali Menon, Bhavana, Geetu Mohandas, Padmapriya, Vidhu Vincent, Sajitha Madathil, Ramya Nambeesan, Sayanora Philip, etc., are also a part of the core committee of the Women Collective In Cinema. If the reports are to be believed, popular actors and technicians of Malayalam cinema, including Mammootty, directors Amal Neerad, Aashiq Abu, etc., have also offered the complete support to Women Collective In Cinema. Sexiest Television Star' Nia Sharma surely knows how to make heads turn with her bold style statements. The sultry actress whose maiden web series 'Twisted' has been getting good response seen in a totally different avatar in the show. Nia has been paired opposite Namit Khanna in the series. The actress is in news constantly owing to vactions pictures, stunning red carpet appearances and of course her sassy comments! Recently, the actress found herself in a soup when a lip-lock scene with her female co-star, Ishita Sharma went viral. Nia has certain gone bold for her web-series, but this certainly didn't go well among the masses. Previously, Nia was in news for posting a video of herself grooving in skimpy clothes and also for kissing her Jamai Raja co-star, Reyhna Malhotra. The actress has hit back at the haters once again. In one of her latest interviews, the actress has a perfect reply for all the haters out there. Read on to know her reply... 'What Is The Hoopla About?', Asks Nia "Nobody among my family and friends reacted to the smooch with Ishita. Because, it's such a normal thing. So I don't know what is the hoopla about? I shot this sequence two months back." Acting Doesn't Come Like A Piece Of Cake "That day, I was very nervous, very uncomfortable. That day I realised that acting doesn't come like a piece of cake to you. But after two months, when it's on air it, created waves and I don't understand why?." It's Netflix Age! "It's the Netflix age and I am a girl who watches it from dawn to dusk. Koi ek scene nahi hai jahan aisa kuch naa ho. So for me it's very normal. Honestly, we are mirroring the real world. It doesn't make me a lesbian or the things which people are writing." Nia Is Happy To Explore TV & Digital Mediums "So being an actor, I am very happy that I have got an opportunity to explore TV and digital mediums. But in a way I am happy about all that was written because people are actually watching the show more." Remove The 'Bahu' Tag The actress added that, the strong negative reaction is because of her 'bahu' image on TV. The actress told, "Remove the bahu tag from Nia Sharma and then you will understand that whatever I did was absolutely apt. As long as you will keep calling me TV bahu, things will not look normal." Nia In Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 For the uninitiated, the actress is gearing up for Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 - Pain In Spain. The actress will be seen competing with her co-star, Ravi Dubey on the show. In fact, the team has left for Spain last night, as the series will be estensively shot there. During one of interviews, she had stated that, she wants to enjoy her stint in the show. The actress candidly admitted that, she is very scared of lizards. "I don't know if I will be able to survive for even three episodes. I am very afraid of lizards, so if they will ask me to perform a task with them, I will leave the show and come back to India," concluded Nia. We would like to wish Nia, all the very best for the show! Many of the stores in Valencia, the capital of Carabobo state in Venezuela, are graveyards for broken glass . Two weeks ago, hundreds of people looted supermarkets, businesses and even trucks loaded with products. Nothing could have stopped the hordes of people who, for three days non-stop at first, and then intermittently, have decimated the commerce in this province. As well as the damage, there has been another calamitous effect: the worsening of shortages. Looted stores in Valencia, Venezuela. T. ROMERO (ATLAS) Just over a month ago, when the wave of protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro was at its peak, and before the unrest began, 86-year-old pensioner Arturo Gomez knew that he would find food in a Chinese-owned store in the municipality of Naguanagua, in Valencia. But now, as he wanders the streets, he gazes with nostalgia at the gutted stores and complains of how he cannot get hold of any food. Never have I seen anything like this, a plague passed through this country, he says. What little I can find now costs 10 times as much. What little food I can find now costs 10 times as much Arturo Gomez, 86-year-old pensioner The continuous looting in some provinces of Venezuela has served to worsen shortages. Damiano del Vescovo, the president of the Fedecamaras trade association in Carabobo, explains that the food scarcity is only set to get worse after 189 stores and a number of industrial plants were destroyed. Carabobo is a key state in the Venezuelan economy, given that it represents 30% of the GDP in the country, he says. The economic crisis has got worse in Venezuela since 2012, but with the growing wave of looting this situation is getting worse and the direct impact will be felt by the people. Not only have small businesses been affected, but also big firms such as the Mocasa food processing plant, which supplies pastries to the CLAP [a plan created by Maduro to sell food at regulated prices], a warehouse belonging to [brewer, food processor and packager] Empresas Polar and other companies. Betty Amadios business, which makes cured meat products, has been completely laid to waste. The looters destroyed machinery and even the walls in the processing plant. The company was founded 50 years ago by her father and one of her uncles, both Italians who had fled the economic crisis caused in Europe by the Second World War. We have got through a lot of crises, she explains. We supply 70% of the cured meat products in Carabobo and also to other states in the country, among them Falcon and Zulia. The looting will make it difficult to recover quickly and be able to supply the supermarkets in the area. The looters destroyed machinery and even the walls in the processing plant The shortages are worse in poor neighborhoods. In Colinas de la Guacamaya, an area in the center of the city, trucks will not go in to distribute food products. For several years now no one has wanted to go into the neighborhood to sell products, because theyre scared theyll be robbed, explains Rosa Gonzalez, the owner of a small grocery store and mother of four. Every day I do the rounds of a number of different warehouses in search of food; sometimes I find what I need, and other times I dont. According to a number of business owners, the government has only offered loans to some of the affected businesses, but no compensation. For now the worst affected are the small companies and hundreds of people who could lose their jobs. Many have tried to deal with these unusual circumstances by beefing up their security. The owners of a number of businesses in Valencia have installed window bars to try to stop any further attacks. We will not close, but we will protect our supplies from the looters, says a trader in Naguanagua. The government has only offered loans to some of the affected businesses, but no compensation But others have changed their plans. Alvaro Fernandez, a Venezuelan with Spanish nationality, is considering emigrating after his company selling spare parts for cars, fridges and other electrical appliances was left in ruins by the looting. My father, who was born in Oviedo [in Asturias, northern Spain], has nearly given up, he explains. We have had our business taken from us. Their premises, located in a neighborhood in the center of Valencia, was looted for three days straight. Fernandez and a friend saw how dozens of men and women destroyed the warehouse. The police didnt do anything, and it all played out in front of them, he says. There are even videos, many of which were posted on social networks, that show the stony faces of officials while they were robbing my company. English version by Simon Hunter. Veteran actress Reema Lagoo passed away at the age of 59. The actress suffered a cardiac arrest. It came as shocking news for all of us as there were no reports regarding the actress' ill health. According to the reports, the actress complained of chest pain on Wednesday night (May 17). She was rushed to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital, where she breathed her last. Television actors were shocked with the sudden death. They took to social media to express their condolences. Mahesh Bhatt "We said goodbye to one another after making a promise to meet soon. That never happened . We think we have time.We don't!!Goodbye Reemaji." Divyanka Tripathi & Namish Taneja Divyanka: #RIP Reema Lagoo ji. Big loss to the industry! Namish: Woke up with the sad news, RIP #ReemaLagoo. ma'am Manish, Ragini & Geetanjali Maniesh Paul: RIP reema lagoo ji...u will be missed... Ragini Khanna: Rip reemaji #ReemaLagoo Geetanjali Tikekar: RIP Reemaji Sana & Karan Sana Sheikh: Dharti pe roop maa baap ka us vidhaata ki pehchaan hai :( #ReemaLagoo Karan Tacker: Such a pivotal part of the films I grew up to.. truly sad.. RIP #ReemaLagoo ji. Keith Sequeira "RIP Reema Lagoo ji ! An actress whom I have seen from my childhood with fantastic acting skills. She'll always be remembered as Shrimatiji." Zain Imam "Nobody can match the zeal and enthusiasm u had ma'am. U will be missed RIP #Reemalagoo... Was indeed a pleasure wrking with u in naamkaran." Mansi Salvi "Reema Lagoo..Artist, mother..a beautiful soul.Unforgettable fond memory of my life.love n respect. RIP." Mohena Kumari "Reema Lagoo ji's shot was ready at 9am on the sets of Namkaran. She never made it. The news is very very disturbing. May she rest in peace and may her loved one's find the strength to cope. Farewell ." Preetika Rao: Life is so short yet we complicate it.. #RIP #ReemaLagoo ..what a fine actress.. too young to go.. Nivedita Basu: She was like my quintessential mother figure Thru and thrubig loss for the film industry #RIPReemaLagoo Annup Soni: RIP Reema ji... Sachin Shroff: Very sad to hear this. Got to know she was fine yesterday and shooting. Life is unpredictable. KRK: I saw Reema Ji in Rajashree films and I didn't know her personally so of course i will not miss her. Therefore I said #RIPReemaLagoo Ji! Reema played the role of Dayavanti Mehta, mother and grandmother to the main protagonists on Star Plus' popular show, Naamkaran. Apart from Bollywood films, the veteran actress was known for her roles in Shrimaan Shrimati, Khandaan, 'Tu Tu, Main Main' and Do Aur Do Paanch. Reema became famous for portraying 'modern and understanding mother' to some of the biggest stars on both big and small screens. Divorced from her former husband and actor Vivek Lagoo, Reema is survived by her daughter Mrunmayee, who is a film and stage actress and a theatre director. The industry has lost a great actress. May her soul rest in peace. CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/24/17 -- The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC) will be hosting a press conference following the presentation of its recommendation to Calgary City Council on Monday, July 24. Immediately following the presentation to Council, CBEC Board members will move to the Power Reception Room in City Hall, where media are invited to come and ask questions regarding the recommendation. Who: Rick Hanson, CBEC Chair Brian Hahn, CBEC General Manager What: Rick Hanson and Brian Hahn will be available to answer questions on behalf of CBEC regarding its recommendations to City Council regarding a potential 2026 OPWG bid. (i) A photo op with the Board will take place after the question and answer period. When: Monday, July 24, 2017 Council meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Press conference likely between 10:30-11:30 a.m. Where: Power Reception Room (directly behind Council Chambers) Calgary City Hall 800 Macleod Trail SE Calgary, AB T2P 2M5 Calgary Bid Exploration Committee: On September 19, 2016 the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC) was formed as a partnership between The City of Calgary and Tourism Calgary. Its mandate is to conduct an objective, balanced, comprehensive feasibility assessment on whether or not The City of Calgary can reasonably host the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (OPWG) and; if so, whether it is reasonable and prudent that Calgary should submit a bid to the International Olympic Committee to host the Games and, if so, subject to what conditions. Contacts: Calgary Bid Exploration Committee Mallory McCredie 403-880-6349 mallory.mccredie@calgarybec.ca SAN ANTONIO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2017 / Brian Alfaro, CEO of Silverstar Resources, recently joined industry professionals at the 2017 NAPE Summit in Houston, Texas. The largest conference in the world for professionals in upstream oil and gas, the NAPE Summit is "a networking event that brings together all the players necessary to forge, facilitate, and close deals." During his time there, Alfaro was able to form new connections, strengthen old ones, and in turn open up a myriad of new opportunities for Silverstar Resources. Dating back 25 years ago to 1993, NAPE was launched by the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) with one purpose in mind: to create a venue that brings prospects and purchasers together. The inaugural event was a modest affair with 80 booths and 800 attendees. However, the idea was novel, and became destined to grow abundantly as more oil and gas professionals realized that NAPE provided a critical need that no other organizations adequately addressed. Over the years, the AAPL attracted additional partners who are leading forces in the world of oil exploration, including The Independent Petroleum Association of America, The Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and The American Association of Petroleum. Today, NAPE hosts three annual expos that are recognized throughout the industry as must attend events. Brian Alfaro was thrilled to join the 1,000 exhibitors in speaking to over 10,000 attendees during the course of the three-day event. One of the main topics discussed during the summit, Alfaro noted, was the recovery of the oil industry from the historically low prices of $30 and $40 a barrel. As businesses prepare for an aggressive rebound, Alfaro expects global demand will continue to rise by 1.4 million barrels per day and for prices to continue to improve over the course of the year. In turn, rapid growth is set to occur from Texas to North Dakota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Nine U.S. players, led by West Texas' Permian Basin, are set to receive more investment than the previous year. "The amount of transactions going on in the Permian is absolutely breathtaking," said one summit speaker. "But don't think this recovery is just [there]... Because it's not." Generally, the industry experts agreed that the outlook for the coming year is overwhelmingly positive. In the first month of 2017, U.S. companies added 82 oilrigs, the largest single month addition since early 2011. Brian Alfaro is the President and CEO of Silverstar Resources, a Texas-based energy and petroleum company. The multifaceted entrepreneur has over 17 years experience developing successful businesses in the oil industry. To date, drills associated with his companies have produced 5 billion cubic feet of gas, or the equivalent of over 850,000 barrels of oil. Also a dedicated philanthropist, Alfaro strongly supports organizations on local, national and global scales, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, The Miracle League, First Book San Antonio, Family Violence Prevention Services, Junior Achievement of South Texas, and the Special Olympics. Brian Alfaro - Oil and Gas Industry Mogul and Dedicated Philanthropist: http://brianalfaronews.com Brian Alfaro (@alfaro_brian) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/alfaro_brian Brian Alfaro - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-alfaro-b5152739 Contact Information: BrianAlfaroNews.om www.brianalfaronews.com contact@brianalfaronews.com SOURCE: Brian Alfaro SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 05/17/17 -- The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) networks were breached by hackers last month (April 2017), according to the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). CSA said: "We know who did it, and we know what they are after..." This is a case of cyber forensics at work -- using forensic computing to secure and examine digital evidence which is central to criminal investigations involving digital media. Singapore's Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs systems have also been breached. And just over the past weekend, about 150 countries worldwide were hit by cyber-attacks on an unprecedented scale. It is against this backdrop that Kaplan Singapore is beefing up its cyber security programmes offered through reputed partner universities to produce digital forensics and cyber security specialists in response to a growing market for such personnel to fight rising cybercrime. The initiatives are: Kaplan will incorporate EC-Council's cyber security features into its Foundation Diploma and Skills-based Diploma programmes to produce cyber-savvy graduates. EC-Council is the world's largest cyber security technical certification body and operates in 145 countries globally. Kaplan signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to formalise this arrangement with EC-Council, and Wissen International, which markets EC-Council's programmes. EC-Council is the owner and developer of the world-famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (C|HFI), Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), License Penetration Testing (Practical) programmes, among others. EC-Council is the world's largest cyber security technical certification body and operates in 145 countries globally. Kaplan signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to formalise this arrangement with EC-Council, and Wissen International, which markets EC-Council's programmes. EC-Council is the owner and developer of the world-famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (C|HFI), Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), License Penetration Testing (Practical) programmes, among others. Under the terms of the MOU, EC-Council will: Grant permission for its Certified Secure (CSCU) course to be incorporated into Kaplan's Foundation Diploma (KFD). This is projected to be launched in the third quarter of 2017 Grant permission for its Certified Security Specialist (ECSS) and Certified Network Defender (CND) courses to be incorporated into Kaplan's Skills-Based Diploma (KSD). These are projected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2017 (subject to CPE registration). Kaplan will launch a new University of Portsmouth degree programme in Forensic Computing in December 2017. This will provide a core background in computing as well as the principles, techniques and processes essential in training to be a computer forensics investigator. With rising cybercrime, such investigators are needed for a range of offences -- from minor indiscretions to major embezzlements and serious sexual offences, in which trained personnel need to track information on digital media and examine digital evidence necessary for criminal investigations. Graduates of University of Portsmouth's programmes elsewhere have gone on to become digital forensics and cyber security specialists. This will provide a core background in computing as well as the principles, techniques and processes essential in training to be a computer forensics investigator. With rising cybercrime, such investigators are needed for a range of offences -- from minor indiscretions to major embezzlements and serious sexual offences, in which trained personnel need to track information on digital media and examine digital evidence necessary for criminal investigations. Graduates of University of Portsmouth's programmes elsewhere have gone on to become digital forensics and cyber security specialists. Murdoch Singapore and Google have reached agreement to co-host the "Singapore Forum on Cyber Worlds in the Asia Pacific 2017" on August 3. The key themes of the forum are Cyberwellness, Cybersecurity, Cyber Lifestyles and Cyber Governance and Ethics. Murdoch University already offers four degree programmes in Cyber Forensics (part-time and full-time) through Kaplan: Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security (Single Major) Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security and Business Information Systems (Double Major) Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security and Computer Science (Double Major) Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics and Information Security and Management (Double Major) Graduates of these programmes are already employed in civil service and the private sector. The Cyber Security Landscape In Singapore, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim has said that the cyber security sector is projected to grow to about S$900m by 2020. There is a National Cyber Security Masterplan 2018 which aims to: Enhance the security and resilience of critical infocomm infrastructure Increase efforts to promote the adoption of appropriate infocomm security measures among individuals and businesses Grow Singapore's pool of infocomm security experts. Worldwide, statistics from the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report 2016 show that there were 689 million victims of cybercrime -- i.e. 1.8 million victims per day and 21 victims per second. Since 2015, US$126 billion has been spent dealing with cybercrime globally. Seventeen new programmes to be launched by Kaplan The University of Portsmouth degree programme on Forensic Computing is one of 17 new programmes to be launched by Kaplan with reputed overseas universities from August this year to meet the changing market demand for personnel. All the programmes will be offered on both a part-time or full-time basis. It will also launch Murdoch University degree programmes in Journalism with an option for five other double majors -- Communications and Media Studies, Management, Marketing, Public Relations, and Web Communications. Other programmes include: University of Portsmouth courses in Psychology, Software Engineering, and Economics, Finance and Banking; a RMIT Masters programme in Engineering (Management), and Northumbria University programmes in Accounting and Childhood Studies and Early Years. (Please refer to the chart below.) Part-time Programmes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Programmes Launch intake ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diploma in Psychology Aug-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UOP BSc Forensic Computing Dec-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UOP BSc Software Engineering Dec-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UOP BSc Economics, Finance and Banking Dec-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NU BA in Accounting Sep-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NU BA Childhood Studies and Early Years Oct-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RMIT Masters in Engineering (Management) Sep-17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (Single Major) MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication and Media Studies (Double Major) MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Management (Double Major) MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Marketing (Double Major) Sep-17 MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations (Double Major) MU Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Web Communication (Double Major) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Full-Time Programmes -------------------------------------------------------- Programmes Launch Intake -------------------------------------------------------- Diploma in Psychology Aug-17 -------------------------------------------------------- UOP BSc Forensic Computing Dec-17 -------------------------------------------------------- UOP BSc Economics, Finance and Banking Dec-17 -------------------------------------------------------- NU BA in Accounting Sep-17 -------------------------------------------------------- Key MU - Murdoch University NU - Northumbria University UOP - University of Portsmouth RMIT - RMIT University About EC-Council International Council of E-Commerce Consultants, also known as EC-Council, is the world's largest cyber security technical certification body. EC-Council operate in 145 countries globally and are the owner and developer of the world-famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (C|HFI), Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), License Penetration Testing (Practical) programs, among others. EC-Council has trained and certified over 200,000 information security professionals globally that have influenced the cyber security mindset of countless organisations worldwide. EC-Council certification programs are recognised worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the US Federal Government via the Montgomery GI Bill, and the US Government National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) certifying EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH), Network Security Administrator (ENSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Disaster Recovery Professional (EDRP), Certified Security Analyst (E|CSA) and Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) program for meeting the 4011, 4012, 4013A, 4014, 4015 and 4016 training standards for information security professionals and most recently EC-Council has received accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). About Kaplan Singapore Kaplan Singapore is a private education provider comprising of three entities - Kaplan Higher Education Academy (KHEA), Kaplan Higher Education Institute (KHEI) and Kaplan Learning Institute (KLI). Through its three entities, Kaplan offers more than 300 full-time and part-time academic programmes, over 200 WSQ courses and professional qualifications such as ACCA, CFA and others, for young and adult learners to pursue their qualifications of interest. Kaplan serves over 30,000 learners from more than 30 countries worldwide. It was conferred a record of 9 awards at the JobsCentral Learning Training and Education Development (T.E.D.) Awards 2016, making Kaplan the "Best Private Education Institution", "Best Corporate Training Provider" and "Gold Standard Service Provider" in the selected categories/discipline by entity. Kaplan in Singapore is the only private education provider to be awarded the 4-year EduTrust Certification for all its 3 entities. This affirms Kaplan's commendable performance in key areas of management and the provision of educational services. For further information, please contact us at: Cindy Tan +65 6500 4298 Email Contact Ian Lim +65 6309 7275 Email Contact ORANGE COUNTY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2017 / Leading IT entrepreneur Nick Kohlschreiber is proud to have had an opportunity to showcase one of his new projects - the revolutionary Internet monetization platform that lets businesses take full advantage of their social media accounts. Utilizing advanced technologies, the model builds upon the unprecedented growth of networking websites, namely Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, to rapidly and cost-effectively build an engaging brand reputation that converts potential customers. "Today, almost every business has its own Facebook profile," stated Kohlschreiber, "but many of them, particularly smaller to midsize companies, need assistance in order to gain visibility online and grow their business. We are here to help them achieve that." While many in his industry still claim that social media is too difficult and expensive to monetize, Nick Kohlschreiber is actively using a platform that can be roughly applied to any vertical, and has been doing so for years. Dating back to the successes of his first company in the solar energy sector, the entrepreneur was able to effectively drive traffic and generate growth via the Internet. After perfecting these marketing techniques and assembling a world-class team of IT experts, Kohlschreiber is now disclosing his tactics with those who need it most - small businesses and innovative entrepreneurs. "Due to the constantly increasing number of new social media platforms, generating sales and revenues through those channels has become a science in itself," he elaborated. "Many clients do not realize that these networking sites can be used for much more than connecting with an existing or potential customer base." From building brand awareness to optimizing lifetime consumer revenue, dedicated teams construct individualized roadmaps for each client to achieve their goals and assure continued success. Without divulging any proprietary information, Kohlschreiber explained that his company gets the basics right first by creating a passionate audience of robust size across multiple platforms to learn from and engage with. Once accomplished, detailed content and media plans effectively spread promotions, advertise products, and attract customers to online stores. Accompanied by advanced metrics that track monetization efforts at every stage, the team is able to determine which channels and what consumers will provide the best return on investment for each client. Ultimately, the company's success lies in this data. The advanced analytic technology developed by Kohlschreiber allows for his client's businesses to create an authentic online customer base, leverage that audience, and then transition them to the desired product or service. Nick Kohlschreiber is a renowned entrepreneur and the developer of creative marketing solutions that ensure the organic proliferation of new businesses. He founded his first company in 2010, and was able to grow it until a successful exit at a multiple of ten times its original value, developing it into several larger businesses that he continues to manage today. Currently the owner of a media company based in Newport Beach, Kohlschreiber is an enthusiast for originality and innovation, urging employees and clients alike to, "Think Big, Go Far." Nick Kohlschreiber - Expert in Modern Marketing: http://www.nickkohlschreibernews.com Nick Kohlschreiber - The Relationship Between Marketing and Modern Technology: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nick-kohlschreiber-relationship-between-marketing-012100851.html Nick Kohlschreiber on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nkohlschreiber1/ Contact Information NickKohlschreiberNews.com www.NickKohlschreiberNews.com contact@nickkohlschreibernews.com SOURCE: Nick Kohlschreiber GENEVA, May 18,2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Galvanised by its extraordinary success in some of the world's iconic fashion and luxury goods capitals, Fragrance Du Bois is proud to announce the opening of its first in-store boutique in London. Having established a positive symbiosis and working relationship with the House of Jovoy in Paris, Fragrance Du Bois' superb range of products will be available from June 2017 in the 'Embassy of rare perfumes', at 21 Conduit Street, in the heart of London's Mayfair district. "This is a very exciting time for us," said Nicola Parker, International Brand Director at Fragrance Du Bois. "Not only are we expanding the brand's global presence, but we're also strengthening our partnership with Jovoy, with whom we share many values. It's been working magnificently in Paris, thanks to our friendship with Jovoy's inspirational founder, Francois Henin, and as a Londoner myself, I'm delighted that we will now be able to offer our products to conscious consumers in my home town." Fragrance Du Bois is a pioneer in using only 100% pure, organic and sustainably produced Oud oil in its signature creations. The brand's products are not only unique and exotic, but they also appeal to those for whom known provenance has become a key factor when making a purchase. With environmental awareness and social responsibility becoming increasingly important, Fragrance Du Bois, as a brand, appeals to those who want to know where their products come from, how they are made, and by whom. "It also gives me great pleasure to know," concluded Parker, "that one of our most popular and bestselling fragrances, London Oud - created by one of my favourite Master Perfumers, Francois Merle-Baudoin - will be 'coming home'. It's a fragrance that perfectly balances the power and nuances of Oud to produce an expression that reflects the sensory adventure of travelling through one of the world's great cities." Fragrance Du Bois is now 'sharing the love', by providing its expertise and pure, sustainable ingredients to a new skincare and accessories brand that is promising to 'change the face of skincare' as it evolves. Oud Essentials will be 'opening its doors' soon, with a range of products using the same 100% pure Oud oil that characterises Fragrance Du Bois' signature offerings, as the two companies forge a complementary partnership that is set to impact the global industry and change the way we feel about the products that we use. Vertical integration has always been a key facet to Fragrance Du Bois' expansion plans, and the London opening is yet another step in the right direction for the young, vibrant brand. Having increased its presence in the last few months with openings in Geneva, Doha, Milan, Zurich, Los Angeles, and Marbella-- adding to existing boutiques and outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Paris-- Fragrance Du Bois is well on its way to achieving its objectives of becoming a globally recognised brand in a remarkably short space of time. Notes for Editors: For further information, please contact: Marine Adenin FDB Europe Email: marine.adenin@fragrancedubois.com Tel: +41 228 199 427 Samantha Tham Marketing Manager, Asia Email:samantha.tham@fragrancedubois.com Tel: +65 9144 0933 About Fragrance Du Bois Fragrance Du Bois is a niche, luxury perfume house born from the richest essences of nature, crafted by fifth generation perfumers, from the 17th century French traditions of Grasse. At the heart of all Fragrance Du Bois' creations is its signature Oud that exudes the ultimate in luxury, being both distinctive and unique. All the Oud used by Fragrance Du Bois is produced on its own sustainably managed plantations, and is guaranteed to be ethically and sustainably sourced. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170518/1855253-1 Public Relations Department, Eisai Co., Ltd. +81-3-3817-5120 TOKYO, May 18, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today that a series of abstracts highlighting new study results for its in-house discovered lenvatinib mesylate (selective inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) with a novel binding mode, product name: Lenvima / Kisplyx, "lenvatinib") and eribulin mesylate (halichondrin class microtubule dynamics inhibitor, product name: Halaven, "eribulin"), as well as H3B-8800, a splicing modulator discovered by Eisai's U.S. research subsidiary H3 Biomedicine Inc., will be presented during the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), taking place in Chicago, the United States, from June 2 to 6, 2017.Detailed data regarding the results of a Phase III clinical trial (Study 304) of lenvatinib compared with sorafenib as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, which has already achieved its primary endpoint, will be presented orally at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This presentation is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 4, 8:12 AM local time, in Hall D2.Major poster presentations will include a highlight of the results of a Phase Ib/II clinical trial (Study 111) of lenvatinib in combination with the anti-PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with endometrial carcinoma, and the results of a Phase I clinical trial of H3B-8800 in patients with advanced myeloid malignancies.Eisai positions oncology as a key therapeutic area, and is aiming to discover revolutionary new medicines with the potential to cure cancer. The company will continue to create innovation in the development of new drugs based on cutting-edge cancer research, as it seeks to contribute further to addressing the diverse needs of, and increasing the benefits provided to, patients with cancer, their families, and healthcare providers.About EisaiEisai Co., Ltd. (TSE:4523; ADR:ESALY) is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three therapeutic areas: integrative neuroscience, including neurology and psychiatric medicines; integrative oncology, which encompasses oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments; and vascular/immunological reaction. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.Source: EisaiContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Six Service Providers Champion the TM Forum Catalyst in Which NEC/Netcracker Demonstrates the Importance of Service Orchestration for Network Slicing NEC Corporation and Netcracker Technology announced today their participation in the 5G Service Operations: Closed Loop Assurance of 5G Network Slices Catalyst project at TM Forum Live! 2017. The goal of the Catalyst is to fully explore operational technology readiness to enable 5G-based IoT services. Championing the project are six service providers: AT&T, BT, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor and Vodafone. The TM Forum Live! 2017 event runs from May 15-18 in Nice, France. The Catalyst project illustrates the industry-wide importance of progressing 5G service operations to enable both new services and revenue growth, including self-driving cars, smart cities, connected factories and transformational remote health care. NEC/Netcracker is at the forefront of ensuring that 5G operations can support the needs of new IoT services that require specific SLA characteristics enabled by end-to-end network slices. Due to the vast number of IoT services and devices, the process must also be fully automated. NEC/Netcracker will showcase how Service Orchestration is the critical component in creating, managing and automating network slices across all network boundaries, including mobile, fixed, SDN and legacy networks. "We are very excited to be a key participant," said Aloke Tusnial, CTO of SDN/NFV Business at Netcracker. "5G networks promise to open up new service opportunities for providers but the impact of 5G on service operations must be fully explored to make this happen. With NEC/Netcracker's Service Orchestration offering, a component of our Transport SDN Solution, we are helping the industry progress faster towards this goal." For more information about the Catalyst project, or to schedule a tour of the Catalyst onsite at the show, contact Joanna Larivee at Joanna.Larivee@Netcracker.com. About NEC Corporation NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com. The NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/vision/message.html. NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. 2017 NEC Corporation. About Netcracker Technology Netcracker Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, is a forward-looking software company, offering mission-critical solutions to service providers around the globe. Our comprehensive portfolio of software solutions and professional services enables large-scale digital transformations, unlocking the opportunities of the cloud, virtualization and the changing mobile ecosystem. With an unbroken service delivery track record of more than 20 years, our unique combination of technology, people and expertise helps companies transform their networks and enable better experiences for their customers. For more information, visit www.netcracker.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170516005615/en/ Contacts: Netcracker Technology Joanna Larivee, +1-781-419-3374 Joanna.Larivee@Netcracker.com or SmartMark Communications for Netcracker Juliet Shavit, +1-215-504-4272 jshavit@smartmarkusa.com POMPANO BEACH, Florida, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Union International Trading Company, a leading Kuwaiti distribution company in the cosmetic industry, is the exclusive United Arab Emirates distributor of OFRA Cosmetics. Union International Trading is now the go-to source in the UAE for purchasing the innovative cosmetics line. OFRA Cosmetics uses the finest ingredients to formulate and produce exclusive skin care and makeup products in-house. "I am pleased to be working with the Company as our exclusive distributor in the country. Union International Trading is focused on delivering the best customer experience. The Company well represents our brand in the UAE," said Ofra Gaito, President, OFRA Cosmetics. For genuine OFRA Cosmetics products, UAE locals are encouraged to only buy from Union International Trading. Buyers should beware because all other entities who claim to be in partnership with OFRA Cosmetics may be selling counterfeit goods. Purchasing authentic OFRA products is especially important since OFRA Cosmetics is synonymous with quality. Some of the newest high quality products include OFRA's unique Pop-Up Palette that is a customizable and multifunctional magnetic makeup palette to house up to 48 grams of magnetic makeup godets. Makeup enthusiasts and professional makeup artists alike are bound to enjoy the latest innovative product from OFRA! For more information about OFRA Cosmetics sold at Union International Trading, please visit www.unioninternationalco.com or contact Union International Trading via telephone at +965 22463900. About OFRA Cosmetics OFRA Cosmetics is celebrated for having the most comfortable liquid lipstick formula on the beauty market as well as the most luminous highlighters. OFRA utilizes a fusion of skin care and makeup to create the most unique items that not only make you look great but are great for you. Founded in 1998, OFRA Cosmetics Laboratories are leading innovators within the beauty industry. Cutting-edge products are manufactured using natural ingredients, such as plant, marine and vegetable extracts, Vitamin C, and organic compounds. While swooned over by celebrities and industry professionals, OFRA is an accessible, affordable brand for every level of beauty consumer. For more information visit www.ofracosmetics.com or contact support@ofracosmetics.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/484327/logo_Logo.jpg DUBLIN (dpa-AFX) - Ireland's central bank raised the growth forecasts for this year and next again, citing weaker than expected import growth and better investment outlook. The growth forecast for this year as raised to 4.9 percent from 4.5 percent predicted earlier, the Central Bank of Ireland said in its latest quarterly bulletin released on Thursday. The projection for next year was lifted to 3.9 percent from 3.6 percent. 'The Irish economy has performed strongly this year although projected growth in headline GDP seems likely to overstate the strength of underlying developments,' the bank said. 'This revision reflects both weaker than expected import growth and an upward revision to forecast investment in intangible assets this year,' the bank added. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The European Parliament wants production of energy from renewable sources between 2020 and 2030 to meet more ambitious goals than those suggested by the executive in Brussels. Renewable-energy production will be key to ensuring that the European Union itself complies with the UN-sponsored Paris Agreement, the first universal and legally binding global climate deal. A wind farm in Muras (Lugo). Oscar Corral While the European Commission wants production of at least 27% of energy in 2030 to come from renewable sources, a final report by the MEP in charge of this matter, Spaniard Jose Blanco, raises this figure to 35%, and asks to restore binding national targets. In what direction does a Europe that proclaims itself a world leader against climate change want to head? Does it want to drift along on the issue of renewable-energy production, or does it want to set itself ambitious goals that will entail greater effort? This, in a nutshell, is what the EU must now decide. The report will now require approval by the EU Parliaments energy committee and by the plenary session The union is now working on the regulations that will set clean-energy goals for 2030, since the 2020 targets reaching 20% of energy from renewables are already in place. The final document is expected to be ready and approved by the summer of 2018. Negotiations are three-way, between the EU Commission, the Parliament and the governments of the various member states. After signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, Europe already knows where it needs to be by 2030: it must have achieved a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists agree are responsible for global warming, down from 1990 levels. The next step is to define the instruments to reach that goal. And the energy sector is key in this respect. Jose Blanco has led the team making the new proposals. Cristobal Manuel Late last year, the European Commission presented its so-called Winter Package, a proposal for an energy directive for the 2020-2030 period. This package of measures stated that production of at least 27% of energy should come from renewable sources by 2030. But environmental groups and the renewables sector complained that this goal lacked ambition. These critics said that the EU was just drifting along on clean-energy issues, and even stepping on the brakes when it comes to encouraging clean energy, which is becoming increasingly competitive as demonstrated by an electricity auction held in Spain this past Wednesday. Between 2004 and 2015 (the last year with final Eurostat figures), the percentage of renewable-energy consumption grew from 8.5% to 16.7%. An official report by the EU Commission admitted that, simply by maintaining the current situation without introducing any additional measures business as usual by 2030 Europe will have reached 24.3% of renewable energy over final consumption. And that is without taking into account technological advances that are considerably reducing the costs of wind and solar energy, year after year. The report led by Jose Blanco, a member of Spains Socialist Party was finished on Wednesday. The document, to which EL PAIS has had access, proposes raising the 2030 goal to 35%. The report will now require approval by the EU Parliaments energy committee and by the plenary session. Parliament sources said that in any event, the final proposal will be more ambitious than the Commissions original goal. A year ago already, the EU Parliament said that this goal should be at least 30%. National targets Blancos document also proposes restoring binding national targets. This is because, while the current 2020 renewable energy plan details specific goals for each country, the Commissions proposal for 2030 has dropped those country-specific targets. For many member states, these national goals represent a lot of pressure, as they often incur in delays and target failures that get released every year. Yet many experts note that this kind of public exposure is one of the most efficient tools in climate change policy. Additionally, Blancos team wants to encourage self-production and avoid the kind of measures that hinder its development an issue that particularly affects Spain, where consumers have accused the government of making it difficult and expensive to generate ones own energy. The document specifically wants to eliminate existing fees on self-produced energy and storage if the facility is not connected to the general grid. The Commissions proposal also omits goals for the transportation sector. Blancos document asks for these to be written back in, and suggests a 12% goal of renewable energy for this sector, which is being particularly slow to decarbonize. English version by Susana Urra. OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the pre-European session on Thursday. The yen fell to 124.07 against the euro and 113.57 against the Swiss franc, from an early 6-day highs of 123.39 and 112.92, respectively. The yen dropped to 144.37 against the pound, from an early near 3-week high of 143.39. Against the U.S., the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the yen slipped to 111.42, 77.17 and 81.78 from an early more than a 3-week high of 110.52, more than a 2-week high of 76.76 and a 3-week high of 81.30, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 126.00 against the euro, 115.00 against the franc, 148.00 against the pound, 114.00 against the greenback, 78.00 against the kiwi and 84.00 against the loonie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The project driven by mVenturesBcn, the programme promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona to create and support new digital projects and businesses, and NUMA helps startups build their growth machines and fine-tune their execution to be ready to raise venture capital. All startups in the first edition have been funded and achieved substantial growth in their core business metrics. Ali Partovi, investor and advisor of Facebook, Uber, Airbnb or Dropbox, Amit Shafrir, former Badoo president and Gary Shainberg, former vice president of technology and innovation at British Telecom, are mentors of the program NUMA Barcelona, Europe's first growth program driven by a joint-initiative of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona and French accelerator network NUMA, has opened the call for applications to the second edition of its growth program. Ten international tech start-ups with ambitious visions and demonstrated market validation will be selected to join the program in Barcelona, which will start in November 2017 and end in February 2018 at 4YFN. Like the first season, the program will focus on growth and execution. The team will work with startups to validate their execution plan, build their growth machine and prepare them to raise venture capital from local or international funds. Selected startups will receive 30.000 when joining the program and access to a follow fund supporting their growth during or after the program. The program's first edition has proven particular successful, with all business managing to raise funding and grow their core business metrics. Startups from the previous edition were selected amongst 900 applications from 46 countries and included companies such as Vitcord, a collaborative video application which since closed a 750k, or Trybe, a British peer-to-peer marketplace for indie chefs looking to grow their consumer base from their home kitchens. Active mentors of the program include Ali Partovi, investor and advisor of Facebook, Uber, Airbnb or Dropbox, Gary Shainberg, former vice president of technology and innovation for British Telecom or Amit Shafrir, former president of Badoo and AOL Premium Services, among others. Applications are open on NUMA Barcelona's website until July 9th. Interviews with start-ups will run throughout the summer. Final results will be communicated to the participating startups on September 26th. About NUMA NUMA is a global innovation network bringing growth and human capital to start-ups. NUMA has accelerated start-ups in seven different countries (France, USA, Germany, Russia, India, Morocco and Mexico), and plans to deploy its model in 15 countries by 2019. About mVenturesBcn Mobile World Capital mVenturesBcn, a programme of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, is a key player in entrepreneurship and innovation. Mobile World Capital Barcelona, an initiative driving the mobile and digital transformation of society to help improve people's lives globally, hosts the Mobile World Congress and delivers 4 Years From Now [4YFN], a business platform for the start-up community. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005070/en/ Contacts: NUMA Barcelona Jordi Collell, +34 651 19 44 39 jordi.c@numa.co SINGAPORE, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GM India to focus on export manufacturing Isuzu Motors to purchase GM South Africa light commercial vehicle manufacturing operations Chevrolet to be phased out of Indian and South African markets General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced key restructuring actions in its GM International operations to drive stronger financial performance and focus its capital and resources on business opportunities expected to deliver higher returns. The company will focus its GM India manufacturing operations on producing vehicles for export only and will transition GM South Africa manufacturing to Isuzu Motors. GM's Chevrolet brand will be phased out of both markets by the end of 2017. "As the industry continues to change, we are transforming our business, establishing GM as a more focused and disciplined company," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. "We are committed to deploying capital to higher return initiatives that will enable us to lead in our core business and in the future of personal mobility. "Globally, we are now in the right markets to drive profitability, strengthen our business performance and capitalize on growth opportunities for the long term. We will continue to optimize our operations market by market to further improve our competitiveness and cost base." These decisions were made following an extensive review of operations in GM International markets and reflect a series of actions taken to improve global business performance that began in late 2013. "These actions will further allow us to focus our resources on winning in the markets where we have strong franchises and see greater opportunity," said GM President Dan Ammann. "We have compelling plans for growth in both the top line and the bottom line as we invest for the future." GM Executive Vice President and President, GM International, Stefan Jacoby said the company is running its GM International markets with an enterprise approach and making decisions that are best for the global business. "In India, our exports have tripled over the past year, and this will remain our focus going forward," he said. "We determined that the increased investment required for an extensive and flexible product portfolio would not deliver a leadership position or long-term profitability in the domestic market." In South Africa, Isuzu will acquire GM's light commercial vehicle manufacturing and GM will cease manufacturing and sales of Chevrolet in the domestic market, subject to local regulatory requirements. "After a thorough assessment of our South African operations, we believe it is best for Isuzu to integrate our light commercial vehicle manufacturing operations into its African business," said Jacoby. "We determined that continued or increased investment in manufacturing in South Africa would not provide GM the expected returns of other global investment opportunities." Under the improvement actions announced: India: GM's manufacturing facility at Talegaon will continue as an export hub for Mexico and Central and South American markets. GM will cease sales of Chevrolet vehicles in the domestic market by the end of 2017. Existing Chevrolet customers will continue to be supported in the market. South Africa: Isuzu will purchase GM's Struandale plant and GM's remaining 30 percent shareholding in the Isuzu Truck South Africa joint venture, with sales through a national dealer network. Isuzu will also purchase GM's Vehicle Conversion and Distribution Centre and assume control of the Parts Distribution Centre. The company will phase out the Chevrolet brand in South Africa by the end of 2017. GM continues to work with PSA Groupto evaluate future opportunity for the Opel brand in South Africa. Importantly, existing Chevrolet and Opel customers will continue to be supported in the market. East Africa: As announced on February 28, Isuzu has agreed to purchase GM's 57.7 percent shareholding in GM East Africa, assuming management control. GM will withdraw sales of the Chevrolet brand from the market. Singapore: GM International will streamline its regional headquarters office in Singapore, which will retain responsibility for strategic oversight of the remaining regional business and markets, including Australia and New Zealand, India, Korea and Southeast Asia. This will deliver greater organizational efficiencies while leveraging global resources and in-market expertise. Across affected markets, GM is working with employees, their union representatives and local authorities to provide transition support. As a result of these actions, GM expects to realize annual savings of approximately $100 million and plans to take a charge of approximately $500 million in the second quarter of 2017. The charge will be treated as special and excluded from the company's EBIT-adjusted results. About $200 million of the special charge will be cash expenses. Forward Looking Statements: This document may include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations about possible future events and thus are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may differ materially from forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including: (1) our ability to deliver new products, services and experiences that attract new, and are desired by existing, customers and to effectively compete in autonomous, ride-sharing and transportation as a service; (2) sales of full-size pick-up trucks and SUVs, which may be affected by increases in the price of oil; (3) the volatility of global sales and operations; (4) aggressive competition, including the impact of new market entrants; (5) changes in, or the introduction of novel interpretations of, laws, regulations or policies particularly those relating to free trade agreements, tax rates and vehicle safety and any government actions that may affect the production, licensing, distribution, pricing, or selling of our products; (6) our joint ventures, which we cannot operate solely for our benefit and over which we may have limited control; (7) compliance with laws and regulations applicable to our industry, including those regarding fuel economy and emissions; (8) costs and risks associated with litigation and government investigations; (9) compliance with the terms of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement; (10) our ability to maintain quality control over our vehicles and avoid recalls and the cost and effect on our reputation and products; (11) the ability of suppliers to deliver parts, systems and components without disruption and on schedule; (12) our dependence on our manufacturing facilities; (13) our ability to realize production efficiencies and cost reductions; (14) our ability to successfully restructure operations in various countries; (15) our ability to manage risks related to security breaches and other disruptions to vehicles, information technology networks and systems; (16) our ability to develop captive financing capability through GM Financial; (17) significant increases in pension expense or projected pension contributions; (18) significant changes in the economic, political, and regulatory environment, market conditions, and foreign currency exchange rates; and (19) uncertainties associated with the consummation of the sale of Opel/Vauxhall to the PSA Group, including satisfaction of the closing conditions. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. GM undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements. KAROO ENERGY PLC ("Karoo Energy" or the "Company") 18 May 2017 Placing to Raise 481,010 Karoo Energy is pleased to announce that Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited ("Peterhouse") has raised 465,000 gross of expenses, for the Company through the issue of 15,500,000 new ordinary shares in the Company ("Placing Shares") at a price of 3 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing"). Placees will also receive one warrant for every one Placing Share subscribed for. The warrants have an exercise price of 6 pence each, and are exercisable at any time for 36 months from the date of this announcement. Further, the Company announces that it had raised 16,010 gross of expenses, through the issue of 533,667 new ordinary shares at a price of 3 pence per share, completed prior to the Placing undertaken by Peterhouse. Use of Proceeds: The funds will be used to further progress exploration activities on the Company's Botswana licences, with a particular focus on shale gas licences. NOEL LYONS, CEO, KAROO ENERGY PLC, COMMENTED: "Through our 93.48% owned subsidiary, Equatorial Oil & Gas plc, we are progressing our petroleum exploration licences. The licences are prospective for shale gas deposits and we look forward to updating shareholders with positive news. We continue to be cognisant that exploration for shale gas in the region must only occur in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, and will ensure steps are taken to fully respect the operating environment at all times." In accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the Company hereby announces that it has 203,734,975 ordinary shares of 0.25p each in issue, each share carrying the right to one vote. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in treasury. The above figure of 203,734,975 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. ENQUIRIES: Company Noel Lyons 020 3130 0674 Corporate Adviser Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited Guy Miller / Mark Anwyl Telephone: 020 7220 9796 Online printer offers even faster delivery for all products throughout France The online print shop UNITEDPRINT SE and its well-known brand print24.com is implementing its new standard and express delivery with even faster delivery times for its entire product portfolio throughout France! All products are now available with the new Fast Delivery Service, including Top sellers such as Posters, Flyers, Brochures and Business cards! The online printer promises one day faster delivery when ordering with standard or express delivery. print24.com matches the delivery times in France to the ones in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The customers will receive many Top sellers such as Flyers, Business cards and Postcards within four days when using standard shipping, within three days for express shipping and even within just one day when using priority shipping! "We are very proud of being able to reduce the delivery times for all of our products without cutting down on quality or increasing prices", explains Ali Jason Bazooband, Managing Director for Innovation/Marketing of print24.com, "Having said that, our Fast Delivery Service is available for all our customers throughout France!" The new service is valid indefinitely for the entire range of products from print24.com - without any surcharge or extra costs. print24.com is a UNITEDPRINT SE brand, a global and innovation-oriented e-commerce company for print and media. As one of Europe's leading online print shops, UNITEDPRINT SE employs a staff of around 700 people and operates the renowned brands print24, Easyprint, Unitedprint, getprint, printwhat, FIRSTPRINT, DDK PRINT BIG, infowerk, and Unitedprint Shop Services (USS) in 26 locations worldwide (in Germany, 21 other European countries, and in Brazil, China, Canada, and the US). In addition to the standard print products, Unitedprint provides its customers with high-quality products and services ranging from textile printing, photo printing, large-format printing, advertising material, advertising equipment and the hospitality/gastronomy sectors. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005041/en/ Contacts: unitedprint.com SE Maria Lehmann 0049 (0)351 27225388 presse@unitedprint.com BOSTON, MA and GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- GSX Solutions [http://de.gsx.com], the leading provider of monitoring and management solutions for messaging, collaboration, and mobility applications, today announced its new localized website to better address the needs of German speaking markets. Already trusted by long term German customers and partners, GSX is happy to expand its reach with a tailored suite of products and sales team. German speaking staff is available for demos and inquiries at sales@gsx.com. The GSX Solutions Suite of tools includes: End-User Experience and Performance Monitoring for Office 365, Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, OneDrive for Business, Cisco IronPort, BlackBerry UEM and IBM applications. Office 365 Management Tools to track and boost, such as: Office 365 Performance Monitoring, Office 365 Usage Reports, Office 365 Security Audit Reports, Office 365 User and License Administration, Yammer and SharePoint Social Analytics. About GSX Solutions GSX Solutions is the leading provider of monitoring and management solutions for messaging, collaboration, and mobility applications. At the core of GSX's mission is the end-user experience, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted service delivery. GSX Monitoring provides exceptional user satisfaction within complex on-premises, hybrid, and cloud scenarios by providing IT teams with deep insights into the user experience. GSX Management for Office 365 includes powerful usage reporting, security auditing, and enterprise-class administration. GSX is an IBM Business Partner as well as a Microsoft Systems Center Alliance Partner and a Microsoft Gold Partner. For more product information and partner opportunities, please visit http://de.gsx.com. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. GSX company contact: marketing@gsx.com Media contact: gsx@transform.pr Now available in select markets outside the U.S., new bed system designed for higher acuity settings improves safety, outcomes, and patient experience CHICAGO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC), announced the launch of the new Hill-Rom 900 Accella' bed system for higher acuity patients in intensive and acute care settings. Hill-Rom's new bed system is available in select markets outside the United States and builds on the successful Hill-Rom 900 platform, with its proven reliability and years of exemplary performance in hospitals around the globe. "Higher acuity settings are some of the most challenging environments in which to provide quality patient care," said Paul Johnson, president of Hill-Rom Patient Support Systems. "In specialty medical/surgical units and step-down ICUs, patients' needs are increasingly acute, the volume of patients can be overwhelming, and staffing resources are rarely ideal. That's where the new Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed can provide significant benefits." Hill-Rom 900 Accella' Bed: Advancing Safety, Enhancing Outcomes, and Improving Productivity and the Patient Experience The new Hill-Rom 900 Accella' bed offers caregivers a number of features that make caring for patients easier and safer, improving patients' overall care experience. The Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed offers innovations that work towards: Advancing safety. Patient falls result in extended length of stay, higher likelihood of readmission, and increased risk of complications 1 . With the Hill-Rom Accella bed's three-mode bed exit alarm, intelligent night light, brake-off indicator and low-height indicator, caregivers can more easily prevent the most frequently reported incidents of falls 2 . Patient falls result in extended length of stay, higher likelihood of readmission, and increased risk of complications . With the Hill-Rom Accella bed's three-mode bed exit alarm, intelligent night light, brake-off indicator and low-height indicator, caregivers can more easily prevent the most frequently reported incidents of falls . Enhancing outcomes. The Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed allows easy positioning of patients at risk of pulmonary complications. A head-of-bed (HOB) angle alert supports compliance of local protocols, which can be critical as studies have shown that when the HOB is elevated to 45 degrees, there is a ventilator-associated pneumonia rate of about 5 percent compared to when the patients were lying supine, where the rate is 23 percent. 3 With the bed's EasyChair' feature, caregivers can easily place patients in a seated position to facilitate better breathing and prepare them for mobilization. In addition, the bed's One-Touch Side Egress feature allows caregivers to help the patient exit the bed in an optimal sequence by simply pressing one button, therefore facilitating the full focus of the caregiver on the patient. The Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed allows easy positioning of patients at risk of pulmonary complications. A head-of-bed (HOB) angle alert supports compliance of local protocols, which can be critical as studies have shown that when the HOB is elevated to 45 degrees, there is a ventilator-associated pneumonia rate of about 5 percent compared to when the patients were lying supine, where the rate is 23 percent. With the bed's EasyChair' feature, caregivers can easily place patients in a seated position to facilitate better breathing and prepare them for mobilization. In addition, the bed's One-Touch Side Egress feature allows caregivers to help the patient exit the bed in an optimal sequence by simply pressing one button, therefore facilitating the full focus of the caregiver on the patient. Improving productivity and overall patient experience. The Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed's simple weigh feature allows caregivers to quickly measure a patient's weight without having to make adjustments to the bed The bed's intuitive Graphical Caregiver Interface simplifies workflow by offering caregivers a bright and easy-to-use interactive touch screen that controls HOB and bed-exit alerts, simple weigh and bed positioning. With SlideGuard' technology, Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed can achieve a 50% reduction in patient migration compared with other similar beds, resulting in less patient repositioning and reduced torso compression.4 "We are proud of the engineering and innovation built in to the Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed," said Johnson. "This bed system is an excellent solution for high acuity settings given its intuitive bed controls and productivity enhancements that afford increased caregiver time with patients and improved patient satisfaction." The Hill-Rom 900 Accella bed is available with a wide range of foam, hybrid and powered surfaces for the prevention of pressure injuries and the promotion of their healing. About Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. Hill-Rom is a leading global medical technology company with more than 10,000 employees worldwide. We partner with health care providers in more than 100 countries, across all care settings, by focusing on patient care solutions that improve clinical and economic outcomes in five core areas: Advancing Mobility, Wound Care and Prevention, Patient Monitoring and Diagnostics, Surgical Safety and Efficiency, and Respiratory Health. Hill-Rom's people, products and programs work towards one mission: Every day, around the world, we enhance outcomes for patients and their caregivers. Visit www.hill-rom.com for more information. 1.Oliver D. Assessing the risk of falls in hospital: time for a rethink? Canadian Journal of Nursing Research. 2006; 38:89-94 2.Demangeat, J.L., Geldreich, M.A., Kessler, B., Kohlbecker, C., Sure, M.C. and Jeanmougin, C. (2009). Putting into place devices for prevention of falls at the hospital center at Haguenau [French]. Recherche en soins infirmiers(99), 26-42. 3.Drakulovic, et al. Supine body position as a risk factor for nonsocomial pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients: a randomized test. The Lancet. Nov 1999. 4.Internal Hill-Rom study, 2017 Logo- http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/371037/hill_rom_holdings__inc__logo.jpg MANCHESTER, England, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- World Routes, the unrivalled airline route development forum, and global tourism charity the Travel Foundation, will join forces for this year's event in Barcelona in September. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/513179/World_Routes_Jamaica.jpg ) World Routes brings together leading airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss future global air services. It moves to a new city every year to highlight different destinations and markets to route development professionals. The Travel Foundation, which works to increase the benefits of tourism for destinations, will curate a series of presentations and other live content for delegates, based around the theme: 'growing the value of tourism'. The programme will focus on opportunities for destinations, and those who invest in them, to get more from the tourism they are developing - for businesses, communities and the environment. The Travel Foundation will also be the official charity partner for World Routes, providing opportunities for all delegates to support the cause. Steven Small, brand director of Routes (the organiser of World Routes events) said: "We are really proud to be working with the Travel Foundation, particularly during the UN's International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. "This partnership reflects UBM's commitment to sustainability. It highlights the increasing demand from our delegates for discourse around the future impact of tourism and the role aviation plays when developing and investing in destinations." Salli Felton, CEO of the Travel Foundation, said: "This is an exciting new opportunity for us to engage with senior decision-makers at a time when they are growing or changing the nature of tourism, and planning for the future. "Our programme of live content will explore how to manage the impact of these changes for the benefit of businesses, the economy, communities and the environment." World Routes 2017 is taking place in Barcelona between 23 and 26 September. Around 3,000 delegates from 300 airlines, 700 airports and 130 tourism authorities are expected to attend. More information about World Routes can be viewed at routesonline.com Notes to Editors The Travel Foundation is an international charity that works to increase the benefits of tourism for communities and the environment, collaborating with tourism authorities and businesses in popular holiday destinations worldwide. thetravelfoundation.org.uk/ is an international charity that works to increase the benefits of tourism for communities and the environment, collaborating with tourism authorities and businesses in popular holiday destinations worldwide. thetravelfoundation.org.uk/ For more information, images and quotes from the Travel Foundation, please contact Head of Communications Ben Lynam: ben.lynam@thetravelfoundation.org.uk, +44 (0)117 930 7176. Routes events are unique forums dedicated to the development of new air services. They revolve around pre-scheduled meetings, an exhibition and a conference. Five 'regional' route development forums are held between February and June in the Americas, Asia , Europe and Africa , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September. , and , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September. Routes events are organised by UBM plc.UBM is the largest B2B event organiser in the world.Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors.Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed.Please visithttp://www.ubm.comfor the latest news and information about UBM. Karen Reeves Communications & Content Marketing Manager Routes, UBM EMEA T: +44(0)161-234-2721 M: +44(0)796-6405-105 E: Karen.Reeves@ubm.com Alternative sustainable power sources create new growth opportunities, finds Frost & Sullivan CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past decade, the South African electricity sector has witnessed dynamic change. An economic shift from mining and industrial production towards a service industry has reduced electricity demand to pre-2008 levels. Under these challenging circumstances, the continued development of the electricity supply industry will prove essential in achieving business sustainability and providing power at competitive prices. "A sluggish economy and rapidly decreasing technology costs associated with grid-connected solar and wind power are proving to be critical determinants in the future development of the power generation industry in South Africa," said Frost & Sullivan Power Generation Industry Analyst Neeraj Sanjay Mense. "Coal and nuclear power are set to become less competitive in the future, paving the way for alternative sustainable generation sources that have the potential to ignite economic growth and job creation." South African Electricity Market-2016 Snapshot, recent research from Frost & Sullivan's Power Generation Growth Partnership Service programme, analyses the total electricity supply industry (ESI) of South Africa and explores trends in current and future electricity demand, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and possible power generation scenarios until 2050. To learn more about the Electricity Market in South Africa or to speak to us, please click here: https://goo.gl/8PPEiD Several trends and developments are encouraging growth in the South African electricity market, including: Vast potential for solar photovoltaic and wind renewal energy; Decreasing cost of renewable energy technologies; New business models, such as pay per use in the off-grid segment involving renewable power generation; The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) for infusion of renewable power into the national grid has become a global benchmark for procurement of renewable power projects developed and owned by private players; Potential implementation of an adaptive model for power generation and electricity demand that takes into consideration evolving conditions in South Africa ; and ; and Successful smaller projects with short lead times, lower liabilities, low power-generation costs, and operational flexibility. "Future investments in power generation should be determined through an up-to-date central database, which considers changing conditions and demand," noted Mense. "Establishing local supply chains and relationships with regulatory authorities will be critical for companies foraying into renewable project development, while leap-frogging power storage technologies can improve project viability and impact." About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion South African Electricity Market-2016 Snapshot MCCE-14 Contact: Samantha James Corporate Communications - Africa P: +27 21 680 3574 F: +27 21 680 3296 E: samantha.james@frost.com Ms. Pek Swan Layanto Investor Relations PT Wintermar Offshore Marine Tbk Tel +62 21 530 5201 Ext 401 Email: investor_relations@wintermar.com JAKARTA, INDONESIA, May 18, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - Wintermar Offshore Marine (WINS) Shareholders have approved the proposal to issue 400 million new shares without pre-emptive rights. In compliance with OJK regulations, the minimum price for the placement will be IDR258.48 and the approval is valid for a period of two years from 18 May 2017 to 18 May 2019.The placement of shares will provide the WINS Group with access to funding during the next two years. Cash raised from the fund raising will be used to reduce debt, provide working capital and funding for business development. With the increase in equity, the capital structure of the company will also be strengthened.The shares will be placed to affiliated parties who have committed to a twelve month 'lock up' period, as prescribed by OJK Regulations, within which time the shares cannot be sold.The Shareholders also approved the appointment of the following new Directors to the Board:1) Mr Adhi Pradnyana Gaduh -Mr Gaduh has a wealth of experience in Strategy with the Gajah Tunggal Group and previously from Boston Consulting Group. He holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical engineering from University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University.2) Mr Donny Indrasworo -Mr Indrasworo has been with the Group as the Head of Commercial and Business Development for the Wintermar Group. He holds a Bachelors degree with double majors in Economics and Business Administration from Hogeschool Inholland, University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam.3) Mr Darmawan Layanto -Mr Layanto has been instrumental in the growth of Wintermar's fleet for the past 17 years in the Shipbuilding and Technical Division. He will relinquish his role as Commissioner and become a Director where he will have a more active day to day role. He holds a Bachelors degree in Management from Golden Gate University.The Shareholders have also accepted the retirement and resignation of the below Directors:1) Mr Endo Rasdja who has served as Independent Director since 2010 has retired, and2) Mr Marc Thomson resigned from the Company in March 2017 to pursue his personal business interests.Mr John Stuart Anderson Slack, who has served as Director since 2013, will step down from the Board of Directors and be appointed as a Commissioner of the Company with immediate effect. He will continue to be actively involved with the Company in his new role. Mr Slack is a Chartered Accountant with many years of experience in various listed companies in Indonesia and graduated from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology.About Wintermar Offshore Marine GroupWintermar Offshore Marine Group (WINS.ID), developed over 40 years and whose track record of quality is both a source of pride and a responsibility that we are dedicated to upholding, sails a fleet of more than 70 Offshore Support Vessels ready for long term as well as spot charters, all operated by experienced Indonesian crew and tracked by satellite systems and monitored in real time by shore based Vessel Teams.In 2011, Wintermar became the first shipping company in Indonesia to be certified with an Integrated Management System by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, comprising ISO 9001:2008 (Quality), ISO14001:2004 (Environment) and OHSAS 18001:2007 (Occupational Health and Safety). For more information, please visit www.wintermar.com.Source: Wintermar Offshore Marine GroupContact:Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. A new political scandal has managed to throw Brazil into turmoil in a matter of minutes. The newspaper O Globo reported on the existence of an audio recording in which President Michel Temer is heard authorizing the payment of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, the former speaker of the lower house who is in jail for corruption. If true, it would mean that the president of Brazil was trying to obstruct the justice systems investigation into widespread political graft. Michel Temer (left) speaking with then-speaker Eduardo Cunha. ANTONIO CRUZ (AFP) More information Una supuesta grabacion en la que Michel Temer obstruye la justicia estremece Brasil Minutes after the news organization published the information on its website, the matter was already the opening story on the nations main televised newscast, Jornal Nacional. Soon the Avenida Paulista the main artery in Sao Paulo, which is Brazils financial capital filled up with demonstrators demanding new elections. A deputy has since filed a request for the impeachment of the president (whether the request will be accepted or not remains unclear). Nobody has heard the recording, and the government denies its existence. EL PAIS contacted state prosecutors about the claim, but they neither confirmed nor denied it. According to O Globo, Temer was secretly taped on March 7 while he was talking to Joesley Batista, a top executive at the powerful business group JBS. Batista is cooperating with authorities as part of a plea bargain resulting from the Petrobras graft investigation, and he had a recording device concealed under his clothes. If the allegations are confirmed, they would drag the Temer administration to the brink of the abyss The newspaper claims that Batista told Temer he was paying a monthly fee to Eduardo Cunha to ensure his silence. There is a widely held belief in Brasilia that Cunha possesses nearly encyclopedic knowledge of all the corrupt dealings that prosecutors are now investigating as part of the massive corruption case involving the state oil company Petrobras. When he heard about the monthly payment, Temer allegedly replied: You have to keep that up, all right? The businessman asserts that Temer is not the person who came up with the idea of paying off Cunha, but that he was aware of the scheme. If the allegations are confirmed, they would drag the Temer administration to the brink of the abyss. The president secured the position thanks to the fact that impeachment proceedings against former president Dilma Rousseff were accepted, ultimately leading to her ouster on September 1, 2016. He had been her deputy. The origin of the new scandal lies in the Petrobras graft case. Reuters Ever since he took over presidential duties almost exactly a year ago (in an interim capacity at first), he has failed to elicit any significant voter sympathy that might guarantee him some stability in the post. His austerity policies, which he hopes will pull the country out of the worst recession in decades, have already earned him two general strikes and a multitude of street protests. And his administration has been engulfed in a series of back-to-back corruption scandals that have done little to improve his low popularity. In fact, the government had recently been seeking support for its big project this year, pension reform, which requires approval by two-thirds of the house. These new revelations are dropping like a bomb on Temers efforts to push this reform through and keep economic powers happy the same powers that, according to political observers, he owes his job to. Additional reporting from Afonso Benites. English version by Susana Urra. SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- With the goal of enabling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to achieve higher productivity with advanced and secure work processes made simple, Canon today announced the launch of the new imageRUNNER ADVANCE (iR-ADV) C355i, C3500i and 4500i series of multifunction devices (MFDs) integrated with uniFLOW online, a secure cloud print management software. Launched at the Canon Think Big Leadership Business Series 2017, the event was graced by Ms. Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry. Addressing the recommendations made by the Committee on The Future Economy (CFE), Ms. Sim Ann spoke about the strategies to support the transformation of SMEs while enabling local businesses to build deep capabilities and stay relevant in the global economy. In alignment with this, the award-winning iR-ADV line was designed to address the concerns of onsite server maintenance and document management security in the cloud platform amongst SMEs. Built to raise the bar of document management solutions by offering a user-friendly platform that maximises cost saving, the new imageRUNNER ADVANCE series enables SMEs to manage their print and document solution environment securely while dispensing with local servers. "Canon understands that small and medium-sized enterprises often seek a fine balance between security, flexibility for scalability and costs," said Mr. Vincent Low, Director and General Manager, Business Imaging Solutions, Canon Singapore. "With this integration, the new imageRUNNER ADVANCE offers innovative document management solutions that enables our customers to achieve a high-level of security without the costs and commitment to server infrastructure." Security made easy With the uniFLOW Online solution, users may print, scan and send confidential documents with the iR-ADV MFDs while being assured that sensitive information will not stray beyond intended recipients. Secure print jobs stay within the enterprise local network and are released only upon authentication. Maximise Control with Cloud The versatility of the new solution on the iR-ADV MFDs enables collection of usage statistics to take place at the cloud level. Administrators will be able to review the usage associated with printing, copying and scanning anytime, anywhere, as long as they have access to the URL. The reporting capabilities ensure easy tracking of usage for accurate cost allocations by user groups and help organisations monitor print volume to address corporate sustainability goals. High degree of flexibility Where mobility and adaptability are integral to supporting a competitive workforce, the new iR-ADV MFDs offers a fluid and mobile printing solution. Users may exercise flexibility in fulfilling their document management needs from compatible devices and even modify document output finishing options before the print job is released. In combination with the other security features such as the standard Hard Disk Drive (HDD) encryption function on the new generation iR-ADV platform, Canon's full range of iR-ADV multifunction devices empowers SMEs with the assurance of security while realising higher efficiencies in workflows and high-quality print output. Availability The iR-ADV C355i, C3500i and 4500i series with uniFLOW Online are now available from Canon Singapore and at all Canon authorised imaging solution partners. Appendix The new Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE line was launched at the Canon Think Big Leadership Business Series 2017. Held at the Marina Mandarin Hotel and co-organised by The Business Times, the convention hosted a panel of expert speakers who unpacked some of the recent strategies announced by the Committee on the Future Economy, and provided insights on how to apply them on the go. For more information on the innovative features on the latest additions to the new iR-ADV series, please refer to the enclosed appendix A. About Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. Canon is a global leader in photographic and digital imaging solutions. Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. is the headquarters for South & Southeast Asia driving sales, marketing and service strategies. Besides handling the domestic market, the company covers 22 other regions including subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The parent company Canon Inc. has a global network of close to 300 companies and employs close to 200,000 people worldwide. It is dedicated to the advancement in technology and innovation and commits more than 8% of its total revenue each year to R&D. Canon is consistently one of the top few companies to earn the most number of patents over the last 20 years. As a Fortune Global 500 company, Canon is guided by its kyosei philosophy that focuses on living and working together for the common good. More information is available at www.canon.com.sg. APPENDIX A Canon completes its award-winning New Generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE Generation 3 line-up with the addition of three new series The new iR-ADV line offers a user-centric and personalised platform designed to enable greater workplace productivity in today's offices SINGAPORE Canon today marked the completion of its imageRUNNER ADVANCE (iR-ADV) new generation line-up with the launch of iR-ADV C355i, iR-ADV C3500i and iR-ADV 4500i series. The new additions aim to deliver exceptional user experience not only to the end users, but also to the administrators. Combining intuitive usability and excellent connectivity with seamless operability, the latest multi-function devices (MFDs) are set to become an integral part of today's complex office eco-system. "The modern office environment requires smart office solutions to drive productivity in workflows and connectivity for the mobile workforce while ensuring a high level of document security," said Vincent Low, Director and General Manager, Business Imaging Solutions, Canon Singapore. "The latest iR-ADV series feature innovative functionalities that complement the current and future needs of today's work environments, while ensuring that the user experience remains seamless with possibilities for the personalisation of individual workflows." Intuitive user experience optimises workflow efficiencies The new iR-ADV series offer an intuitive user experience with familiar smartphone-like navigation such as swiping and pinching for simple steering across the local user interface. Besides intuitive operation, the usability of the MFDs is enhanced with My ADVANCE that enables the personalisation of settings and workflows. Designed to streamline workflows and take into account the nature of tasks, users can customise display language, initial display screen, frequently-used settings, address lists and more to suit their preferences. Users can benefit from the same level of customisation via My ADVANCE Synchronisation, where personal settings are synchronised automatically amongst a fleet of up to ten different Generation 3 devices in a networked environment for improved efficiencies. Seamless connectivity ideal for the new age offices Modern workflows require connection to varied external sources and functions in a flexible manner to suit today's on-the-move workforce. The new iR-ADV series fulfills the requirements of such agile working environments by supporting a wide range of mobile document handling applications such as Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print and MOPRIA, as well as Canon PRINT Business. The seamless mobile connectivity allows users to execute critical tasks efficiently, and transfer documents anywhere, anytime, via their connected smart devices. Intelligent fleet management raises operational productivity The latest iR-ADV series provides valuable resource optimisation features through its many device management capabilities targeted at boosting the efficiencies of administrators. Administrators can easily retrieve usage reports for tracking and cost controlling, as well as manage different levels of device access for personnel, including guest and temporary users. Other time-saving capabilities include quick installing during device relocation or new fleet deployment, and the ease of providing remote troubleshooting at any time. Key product specifications iR-ADV C355i - Printable up to A4 in colour and monochrome - Available in 35 pages per minute iR-ADV C3500i - Printable up to A3 in colour and monochrome - Available in 30 / 25 / 20 pages per minute iR-ADV 4500i - Printable up to A3 in monochrome - Available in 51 / 45 / 35 / 25 pages per minute Media Contacts Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. Geraldine Lam Tel: 6796 3694 (O) Email: Email Contact Ogilvy Public Relations on behalf of Canon Singapore Melody Uy Tel: 6213 6997 (O) Email: Email Contact BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The British pound recovered from recent highs against other major currencies in the early European session on Thursday, after data showed that U.K. retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in June. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that U.K. retail sales grew 0.6 percent month-on-month in June, reversing a 1.1 percent fall in May. Sales were forecast to gain 0.4 percent. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales climbed climbed 0.9 percent, in contrast to a 1.5 percent decrease in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent increase. On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 2.9 percent in June from 0.9 percent a month ago. This was also faster than the expected 2.5 percent. Likewise, sales volume excluding auto fuel improved to 3 percent from 0.6 percent. Sales were forecast to grow 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, European stock markets traded higher after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary stimulus intact and sounded more upbeat about the economy, but downgraded its outlook for inflation. Investors braced for the European Central Bank's rate decision and President Mario Draghi's press conference for clues as to whether the central bank will begin paring stimulus measures. In the Asian trading today, the pound held steady against its major rivals. In the early European trading, the pound rose to 0.8833 against the euro and 1.2458 against the Swiss franc, from an early 2-day lows of 0.8866 and 1.2411, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.87 against the euro and 1.27 against the franc. Against the yen, the pound advanced to 146.27 from an early low of 145.57. The pound may test resistance around the 148.00 region. The pound edged up to 1.3017 against the U.S. dollar, from an early 6-day low of 1.2972. On the upside, 1.31 is seen as the next resistance level for the pound. Looking ahead, the European Central Bank is set to announce its interest rate decision at 7:45 am ET. The bank is expected to keep its refi rate at zero percent and the deposit rate at -0.4 percent. The announcement will be followed by a press conference at 8:30 am ET. In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended July 15, U.S. leading indicators for June, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing index for July, and Eurozone consumer confidence index for July are slated for release. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The euro fell against its key counterparts in early European deals on Thursday, as European shares followed Asian shares lower, after political uncertainty in Washington stoked concern about the ability of the U.S. President Donald Trump to push through his reform agenda. Besieged from all sides, the Trump administration appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into Russia's involvement in the U.S. presidential election last year. That followed a report from The New York Times that former FBI Director James Comey had composed a memorandum recording the President's request to drop an investigation of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser. With Trump facing the threat of impeachment, traders fear that the agenda of tax cuts and deregulation could be delayed. The German yields also fell, with the benchmark yield on 10-year note falling 0.33 percent. Yields move inversely to bond prices. In an interview, the European Central Bank member Benoit Coeure told that the bank should be prepared to alter its monetary policy stance when economic conditions improve, or else that would result in a financial setback once it begins policy normalisation. 'Too much gradualism in monetary policy bears the risk of larger market adjustments when the decision is eventually taken,' Coeure added. The euro showed mixed performance against its major rivals in the Asian session. While the euro rose against the greenback and the yen, it held steady against the pound and the franc. The euro hit near a 2-week low of 122.93 against the yen, down from an early high of 124.11. If the euro-yen pair extends slide, 122.00 is likely seen as its next support level. Preliminary data from the Cabinet Office showed that Japan's gross domestic product gained 0.5 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017. That was in line with expectations and up from 0.3 percent in the previous three months. The single currency reversed from an early high of 0.8610 against the pound, edging down to a 2-day low of 0.8535. The next possible support for euro is seen around the 0.845 region. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in April. Retail sales volume including auto fuel grew 2.3 percent month-on-month, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in March. This was the fastest growth since January 2016, and above the expected rate of 1.1 percent. The euro pared gains to 1.0893 against the Swiss franc, from a high of 1.0928 hit at 6:15 pm ET. Continuation of the euro's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.08 mark. The euro retreated to 1.1120 against the greenback, from an early 6-month high of 1.1172. On the downside, the euro is likely target 1.10 as the next support level. The euro slipped to a 2-day low of 1.6024 against the kiwi, compared to 1.6073 hit late New York Wednesday. The euro is seen finding support around the 1.58 area. Looking ahead, the U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended May 13, leading indicators for April and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for May are slated for release in the New York session. At 8:30 am ET, the European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch gives keynote address at Government Borrowers Forum hosted by the European Stability Mechanism and the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg in Luxembourg. At 8:45 am ET, the European Central Bank executive board member Sabine Lautenschlager speaks at the IBF Board meeting organised by Bundesverband deutscher Banken in Berlin, Germany. The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaks at the Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, at 1:00 pm ET. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks on economy and monetary policy before the Economic Club of Minnesota at 1:15 pm ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Cherry Creek Mortgage Company (CCMC), one of the nation's largest privately owned mortgage banking firms, has announced a corporate rebrand that reflects changes throughout the home-buying industry. The launch, complete with a new website, will better serve borrowers and real estate partners nationwide. CCMC's new website simplifies the application process for borrowers and includes a wealth of educational resources for both consumers and real estate agents. CCMC also unveiled a new corporate motto -- "Built with Trust" -- to instill confidence as they help borrowers find the right loan, not just any loan. "Whether you're a prospective homebuyer, consumer looking to refinance or real estate agent searching for a partner, we understand that finding the right mortgage partner is critical to your transaction and overall experience," explained CCMC vice president of Marketing Kirsten Hamling. "We have a proven track record of improving the quality of life for borrowers and real estate partners alike, and our new brand emphasizes our passion for exceptional mortgage service." "Cherry Creek Mortgage has been able to offer mortgage products to my clients that I didn't even know existed," recalled Kentwood Real Estate Broker Associate Brandon Brennick. "They've been able to close loans ahead of schedule, and I'm incredibly thankful for and impressed by their service and partnership." "Cherry Creek Mortgage has helped us purchase three different homes over eighteen years, including moves to different states," said Gretchen Moser, a recent homebuyer currently living in the Denver market. "We know that they're always looking out for us, and we can trust their team to offer sound advice throughout the entire process." "'Built with trust' is more than just a tagline for our team," added Hamling. "To date, we've helped more than 217,000 families obtain home loans, and just last year, we originated $4.3 billion in home loans. We can't wait to serve even more families nationwide." About Cherry Creek Mortgage Company Headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO, CCMC is a privately owned and operated full-service mortgage banking firm. The company's lending activities are largely focused on residential real estate through a network of branch offices across 14 states. With more than 900 employees spread across 80 branch offices, the company continues to enjoy both the trust and respect of its clients by adhering to the foundation its core values provide. CCMC was recently named one of the 100 Top Mortgage Companies In America by Mortgage Executive Magazine. For more information, visit www.cherrycreekmortgage.com or call 303-320-4040. Media Contact: Ian Toner Communications Strategy Group, on behalf of Cherry Creek Mortgage Company itoner@wearecsg.com 720 726 5460 RED BANK, NJ--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Karen Murdock, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Independent Agent Marketing and Distribution for Plymouth Rock Management Company of New Jersey, is being recognized by the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey with the prestigious Company Person of the Year award. The award honors one person who fosters strong working relationships with agents and brokers, and who exemplifies a commitment to professionalism and service. Murdock has earned a reputation as a respected leader during her 43-year career. During that time, she inspired countless professionals and forged deep industry roots. In fact, she has worked with multiple generations of insurance agents from several families. For the past 25 years, Murdock tirelessly worked to expand Plymouth Rock's presence in NJ. She was among the first employees to join the company when it started in 1992 as Palisades Safety and Insurance Association. She helped grow the company from a startup working out of a hotel into a statewide institution. Today it has almost 1,000 employees, writes $725 million in annual premiums and has more than 450 agent relationships. Murdock has an unwavering commitment to service, even in times of crisis. After Superstorm Sandy, she helped lead teams that organized Plymouth Rock's community outreach. Those efforts helped New Jersey residents get their lives back on track. "Karen is a rare professional who both has a passion for service and understands the complex nature of the business," said Ed Fernandez, President of the Independent Agent Division at Plymouth Rock Management Company of New Jersey. "She is an energetic advocate for independent agents and this award is a testament to her dedication." The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey will honor Murdock June 10 during a conference in Atlantic City, NJ. About Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock Assurance is a marketing name used by a group of separate companies that write and manage property and casualty insurance in multiple states. Insurance in New Jersey is offered by Plymouth Rock Management Company of New Jersey on behalf of Palisades Insurance Company, High Point Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey, Palisades Safety and Insurance Association and their affiliates. Each company is financially responsible only for its own insurance products. For additional information about Plymouth Rock Assurance, please visit plymouthrock.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/5/17/11G139163/Images/10-12-03-karen-atririum_017_cropped-c7087469a07fb865b8e9f1d62c45ad39.jpg Media Contact Michael Buck mbuck@plymouthrock.com 908-219-5326 VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Solar Alliance Energy Inc. ('Solar Alliance') or (the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: SAN) (OTC: SAENF) is pleased to provide further information regarding the Solar Origination Agreement (the "Agreement") with Crius Solar, LLC ("Crius Solar"), an affiliate of Crius Energy, LLC. Solar Alliance will be targeting eastern Massachusetts for sales team expansion under the Agreement and the Company expects to have a sales team in place this summer. Each new market will consist of a sales team that is capable of driving residential solar system sales representing approximately US$12,000,000 in top line revenue annually. The implementation period for a new sales team is expected to be approximately three months. The Company is also assessing potential acquisitions of local sales and marketing companies that will help achieve our targets. "The expansion plan being pursued with Crius Solar is in line with our current model of utilizing external installation partners instead of being vertically integrated," said Solar Alliance Chairman and CEO Jason Bak. "Solar Alliance's core competency is sales and marketing. Partnering with Crius Solar allows us to maintain our high margins and reduce overhead costs associated with the installation process. We believe this model allows for aggressive growth while maintaining fiscal responsibility. We are excited to expand into the Massachusetts market which is driven by high electricity costs, net metering and a renewable portfolio standard with a solar goal along with an accompanying SREC market." The Company is taking a responsible approach to expansion through this partnership with Crius Solar as it allows Solar Alliance to focus on sales and marketing and rely on Crius Solar for permitting and installation fulfillment. This low risk, low cost growth model fits perfectly with our corporate belief that growth in the solar industry must be done in a profitable manner without over-reliance on the public markets to fund expansion. Expansion into New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island will occur after the Massachusetts operation is up and running. The northeast U.S. expansion plan represents a new revenue stream that is accretive to Solar Alliance's current organic and acquisition model that includes the following key elements: Organic growth of the San Diego sales team to take advantage of the strongest solar market in the United States. Organic growth of the Northern Los Angeles and Orange County sales teams, whose recent addition tripled the size of the Solar Alliance team. Managing the installation of the 156 residential solar projects recently acquired in Los Angeles. The Company estimates the pipeline of acquired projects will generate approximately US $2,800,000 in gross revenue and up to US $1,585,000 in accretive gross profit. Commercial/industrial sales division that has been building a pipeline of potential projects totaling several megawatts. Solar Alliance is actively recruiting sales leaders in Massachusetts. Interested solar professionals should contact the company at jobs[at]solaralliance.com. Jason Bak, Chairman and CEO About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com) Solar Alliance is a sales, marketing and development company focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. Since we were founded in 2003, we have developed wind and solar projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Solar Alliance is committed to an exceptional customer experience, effective marketing campaigns and superior lead generation in order to drive sales and generate value for shareholders. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. We make solar simple and our goal is to install solar on every available rooftop in America. Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words "would", "will", "expected" and "estimated" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. "Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." For more information: Solar Alliance Investor Relations Spyros Karellas Pinnacle Capital Markets (416) 433-5696 spyros@pinnaclecapitalmarkets.ca Investor Relations Department, VGI Global Media PCL Tel: +66 2273 8639; 0 2273 8623 E-mail: ir@vgi.co.th www.vgi.co.th Released for VGI Global Media PCL by Public Relations Department, MT Multimedia Co Ltd Contact: Orn-arong ("Fah") Pattaravejkul Tel: +66 2612 2081 #129 Mobile: +66 8 6884 4458 E-mail: orn_tabo@hotmail.com BANGKOK, May 18, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - VGI Global Media PCL (SET:VGI), operator of a data centric media hypermarket, announced its operating results for 2016/17, highlighting a 30% YoY rise in revenue, achieved amid shrinking media spending. It attributed the success to the healthy growth in the OOH segment and the recognition of revenue from the acquisition of Rabbit Group companies. In view of a forecasted improvement in media spending this year, its management seek to grow the revenue for 2017/18 to THB 4,000 million.Mr. Marut Arthakaivalvatee, Vice Chairman of VGI, operator of a data centric media hypermarket, revealed VGI's operating results for 2016/17 (Apr'16 - Mar'17), including a total revenue of THB 3,052 million, increase 30% YoY from THB 2,341 million, despite lower media spending in the market during the year. The growth was driven by the expansion in out-of-home (OOH) media segment covering BTS, Office, Outdoor, Aviation and Activation. Furthermore, VGI recognised revenue from Rabbit Group (BSS and BSSH) and has already benefitted from the synergies after an acquisition.Net profit decreased from last year to THB 826 million mainly due to the suspension of advertising media services during the national mourning period and one-time rise in selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) as a result from domestic and international mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals that were aimed at enhancing VGI's potential and enabling the company to achieve an exponential growth target as set by the 2017/18 plan."Amid low media spending over the past year, we managed to record solid growths in revenue across our one-stop Out of Home media platform. We also earned more revenue following the acquisition of MACO and Rabbit Group to enhance our strengths as well as our future performances," he said.The company's board approved on 16 May 2017 payment of cash dividends for the second half-year results to the shareholders at THB 0.025 per share, or THB 172 million in aggregate (subject to final approval by the shareholders on 6 July 2017). This means that the dividends declared for FY2016/17 will total THB 412 million.The Vice Chairman added that in 2017/18 VGI will earn revenue from the investments made in the previous year and enjoy a forecasted improvement in media spending, which will enable the company to meet the total revenue target of THB 4,000 million (50% from the advertising media within the BTS skytrain network, 25% from OOH advertising media, 15% from Rabbit business and the remainder from the advertising media at office building).About VGI Global Media PCLVGI Global Media PCL (SET:VGI) is Thailand's major provider of out-of-home media solutions, having more than 10,000 items of large still-image screens in the BTS skytrain network and large retail stores nationwide. It also has over 11,000 sq.m. of advertising space in the product display zones of large modern trade stores, as well as about 5,000 items of digital screens and media in the BTS platform and train areas, the Tesco Lotus, Big C, and Watson stores, and large office towers throughout Bangkok, and mega LED and outdoor led screens under its management. In addition, the company runs retail shops in 23 BTS stations and radio networks covering nearly 2,000 modern trade stores in Thailand. For more information, please see www.vgi.co.th.Source: VGI Global Media PCLContact:Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares extended losses from the previous session on Thursday, with financial and commodity-related stocks pacing decliners, amid worries that the firing of FBI Director James Comey will hinder President Donald Trump's proposed tax overhaul and his broader economic stimulus agenda. The pound's strength also kept investors nervous. The pound rose above $1.30 for the first time since September on account of dollar weakness and due to strong retails sales data. U.K. retail sales volume including auto fuel grew 2.3 percent month-on-month in April, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in March, official data showed. This was the fastest growth since January 2016. Likewise, retail sales excluding auto fuel climbed 2 percent in contrast to March's 1.2 percent decrease. The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 100 points or 1.34 percent at 7,403 in late opening deals after declining 0.3 percent the previous day. Energy giant BP Plc lost 1.5 percent on receiving shareholder nod for a new remuneration policy. Mining stocks like Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore fell 2-3 percent, while banks Barclays, HSBC Holdings and Lloyds Banking Group dropped 1-2 percent. Land Securities, Britain's largest listed property developer, lost 2 percent after warning of Brexit uncertainty hitting the London office market. Tour operator Thomas Cook rose about 1 percent after its half-year results came in live with expectations. Royal Mail advanced 1.5 percent as it reported a 25 percent rise in fiscal 2017 pretax profit. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. ANKARA (dpa-AFX) - Alex Jones, head of Web-based radio and video network Infowars, has settled a defamation lawsuit from yogurt company Chobani on allegations that its Idaho factory was importing migrant rapists. On Wednesday, the right-wing Info Wars host said the story on the Greek yogurt manufacturer was wrong, and that the Tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be reposted. Jones, whose YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers, in early April published a video and promoted it on Twitter with a headline that read 'Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists.' The allegations were centered on Chobani's facility in Twin Falls, Idaho, the largest yogurt plant in the world, connecting it to a sexual assault case involving refugee children. Chobani filed suit in U.S. District Court in Twin Falls last month, accusing Jones of defamation. The lawsuit reportedly sought damages in excess of $10,000 and a retraction and removal of the posts. Jones said, 'During the week of April 10, 2017, certain statements were made on the Infowars, Twitter feed and YouTube channel regarding Chobani LLC that I now understand to be wrong. The tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be re-posted. On behalf of Infowars, I regret that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho, the way we did.' Chobani, founded by Hamdi Ulukaya, an immigrant from Turkey, often employs refugees. In 2015, Ulukaya was honored for humanitarian efforts for refugees with a Global Leadership Award from the United Nations Foundation. Meanwhile, Jones has been a vocal supporter of travel bans for refugees. In March, Jones apologized and issued a retraction to a Washington, D.C.-based pizzeria for pushing a false story about a child sex ring. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of Lilis Energy, Inc. (NYSE MKT: LLEX). If you are a shareholder of Lilis Energy, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at: http://pjlfirm.com/lilis-energy-inc/ You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at rl@pjlfirm.com or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation. Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. SOURCE: Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Google Ad Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS Google Ad There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan READING, England and BOSTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Retains inclusion in Gartner Magic Quadrant for the fourth consecutive year Eptica (www.eptica.com), the leading European technology company specializing in intelligent platforms for digital customer experience, announced today that it has been included in Gartner Inc's "Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center (CEC)" by Michael Maoz and Brian Manusama, May 8, 2017. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Eptica has appeared in this Magic Quadrant. "The digital customer experience market is changing rapidly, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence and increasing consumer demands, and is becoming ever-more central to business success. I am therefore very proud that Eptica has retained its position in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center," said Olivier Njamfa, CEO and co-founder of Eptica. According to Gartner, this Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center examines the global market for customer service and support applications designed to enable customer service and support agents to engage customers through their preferred communication channel. The functionalities evaluated in this Magic Quadrant include those for knowledge-enabled service resolution, social media/community management and offer management. Also evaluated are interaction assistance tools and service analytics dashboards. Ideally, the applications should have tools for both agents and customers, and the vendors should have a clear point of view on how to escalate customer support from self-service to human agents and back again, while retaining the context of the interaction for reporting and future customer engagements. Gartner evaluated vendors on their completeness of vision and ability to execute on that vision. "Artificial intelligence is becoming central to customer experience. Our long-term investments in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and linguistics have ensured that our AI technology is now mature, meaning that our platform is becoming increasingly vital to our customers. Coupled with our strong, self-learning knowledge management capabilities, this means we are ideally positioned to help brands deliver digital CX across email, chat, social media and self-service, through a single, cloud-based platform, " added Olivier Njamfa. Eptica provides brands with conversational and collaborative solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that enhance digital customer experience. Eptica transforms digital relationships between brands and individuals into meaningful conversations improving daily life for everyone. These meaningful conversations drive customer experience and create business value. As part of the Magic Quadrant, Gartner spoke in-depth to all 15 vendors included, carried out over 150 online surveys and conducted 50 telephone interviews with vendors' reference customers. The Magic Quadrant was launched at the recent Gartner Customer Experience & Technologies Summit, held in London between May 10-11 2017. As part of the event, Eptica presented alongside its customer, L'Occitane, the leading global manufacturer and retailer of natural and organic cosmetics and well-being products, discussing how L'Occitane is using Eptica's artificial intelligence (AI) powered conversational and collaborative solutions to boost efficiency and sales across its operations. About the Magic Quadrant Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Eptica Eptica is a leading European technology company specializing in intelligent platforms for digital customer experience. Eptica provides conversational & collaborative solutions powered by AI. Founded 16 years ago by Olivier Njamfa, Eptica supports brands to make digital CX the key link in the value chain, ensuring their customer service delivers value to consumers and across their business. Globally, more than 450 organizations across all industries rely on our solutions on all digital channels, including self-service & knowledge base, email, chat and social media. We enable millions of individuals to engage in meaningful conversations with brands improving daily lives for everyone. Customers include AXA, L'Occitane, Dixons Carphone, Credit Agricole, Specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Eptica makes the best use of AI & cognitive technologies for CX enabling brands to improve: Customer satisfaction Competitiveness: equipping organizations with bots that automate simple tasks and provide decision support tools to enhanced agents, generating greater productivity and allowing agents to focus on more complex conversations & enabling sales Customer knowledge: generating insights that guide brands and their operations Eptica has offices in Paris, London, Boston and Singapore. Follow us on Twitter: @Eptica. Discover our news and opinions on the market in our blog. MUMBAI, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegis Limited, a global outsourcing and technology services company, today announced that it has been accredited with the 'Aon Best Employer in India' Award for 2017 by Aon, the global human resources consultancy services firm. The award was presented to Aegis during the Best Employers Learning Conference and Awards Ceremony held on 9th May, 2017 in Mumbai. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120710/NY37889LOGO ) The key attributes that differentiated Aegis were its commendable HR and people management practices which enabled high employee engagement scores. Tarandeep Singh, Partner, Talent and Performance at Aon said, "We are delighted to welcome Aegis Limited to this elite group of Best Employers. Their unique Employee Value Proposition (EVP) of 'GET-SET-GO' stands out in the industry and they are way ahead of their peers in many people practices across the industry. Our heartiest congratulations to them for the win!" Sandip Sen, Global CEO, Aegis Limited said, "For Aegis, it's crucial that we create a diverse and inclusive work culture that empowers our employees to realize their full potential, and deliver the best results for our global clients. This accreditation truly highlights the investment we make in our people." A total of 119 organizations representing 14 key industry sectors cumulatively employing approximately 520,000 employees, participated in the 2017 Aon Best Employers India study. The study research methodology involves a rigorous process, conducted over a nine-month period that culminates in a solid, credible list of 19 Best Employers decided by an external panel of independent jury. SM Gupta, Global Chief People Officer, Aegis Limited said, "We are indeed humbled and honored to receive this award which is a testament to the efforts we have invested in creating a progressive and inclusive workplace. This award is yet another milestone in our journey to create an unmatched workforce that delivers unparalleled services to our clients." In the past Aegis has been recognized with Aon Hewitt Best Employer award in India and Australia in 2011 and 2013. Aegis' Human Resource strategy focuses on inter-dependence between individual development and organizational growth and fosters a positive and healthy work environment for its people and the people it partners with across the entire value chain. About Aon Hewitt Aon Hewitt empowers organizations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative human capital solutions.We advise and design a wide range of solutions that enable our clients' success.Our teams of experts help clients navigate the risks and opportunities to optimize financial security; redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability, and wellbeing; and achieve sustainable growth by driving business performance through people performance.We serve more than 20,000 clients through our 15,000 professionals located in 50 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.aonhewitt.co.in About Aegis Aegis is a global outsourcing and technology services company committed to impacting clients' business outcomes by focusing on enhancing customer experience across all touch points and channels. Aegis has operations in 46 locations across 9 countries with more than 40,000 employees. Aegis services over 150 clients from verticals such as Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Technology, Telecom, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality, Consumer Goods, Retail, and Energy & Utilities. The company is wholly owned by Essar, a USD 27 billion conglomerate.For more information, write to us at info@aegisglobal.com or visit http://www.aegisglobal.com. Aegis Media Contacts Aegis (Global) Danveer Bhasin, Vice President - Global Marketing and Strategy Aegis Limited Phone: +91-99301-35788 Email: Danveer.Bhasin@aegisglobal.com Positive opinion from relevant committee for EU approval of articular cartilage product BERLIN, TELTOW / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / In the course of the ongoing application for EU marketing authorisation, CO.DON AG received today the official positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for its articular cartilage product. The recommended indication is the repair of symptomatic articular cartilage defects on the femoral condyle and the knee patella; defects of up to 10 cm for adults. The CHMP assessment forms the basis for a decision by the European Commission on EU-wide marketing authorisation for the product. In the past the European Commission has followed the recommendations of CHMP for the great majority of applications. Dr. Bernd Wegener, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CO.DON AG. "Obtaining EU marketing authorisation for the articular cartilage product is CO.DON AG's most important strategic goal and it is now within reach. This great success is the result of the work carried out by all the employees of CO.DON AG and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them most sincerely." Dirk Hessel, CEO of CO.DON AG: "This positive opinion represents another decisive step towards EU-wide approval. The CHMP recommendation covers all the indications in the application. Our preparations for market entry mean we can start with the practical implementation as soon as marketing authorisation is granted. If the European Commission follows the recommendation, we are ready to treat the first patients outside Germany. We soon hope to be able to meet the high demand for our advanced methods across the EU, especially since no comparable product is currently available in our target markets." About CO.DON AG: CO.DON AG develops, produces and markets in Germany autologous cell therapies for the minimally invasive repair of cartilage damage in joints following traumatic or degenerative defects. CO.DON condrosphere(R) is a cell therapy product that uses only the patient's own cartilage cells ("autologous chondrocytes"). CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been approved by the German federal agency PEI in accordance with Section 4b of the German Pharmaceuticals Act (AMG) and is currently undergoing Phase II and III clinical trials to obtain European marketing authorisation. CO.DON condrosphere(R) has been used for more than 10 years in over 150 clinics to treat more than 11,000 patients. In Germany the statutory health insurance companies have paid for the treatment of knee and hip joints since 2007 and for the treatment of vertebral joints since 2008. The shares in CO.DON AG are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A1K0227). Executive Board: Dirk Hessel (CEO), Ralf M. Jakobs (CFO). More information can be found at www.ihre-zellzuechter.de and www.codon.de. Investor Relations and Press Contact: Matthias Meiner, M.A. Corporate communications / IR / PR Tel. +49 (0)30 240352330 Fax +49 (0)30 240352309 Email: ir@codon.de CO.DON AG via the EQS Newswire distribution service including Press Releases and Regulatory Announcements BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks fell for a sixth day running on Monday as investors fretted about higher interest rates and coalition negotiations between German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party and the Social Democrats broke down over the weekend. French President Emmanuel Macron's party lost two by-elections for parliamentary seats on Sunday and the dollar paused after recovering somewhat on Friday on the back of robust U.S. employment data, further weighing on markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down nearly 1 percent at 384.14 in late opening deals after falling 1.4 percent on Friday amid across the board selling. The German DAX was declining half a percent and France's CAC 40 index was losing 0.9 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down more than 1 percent ahead of a crucial week for negotiations between Britain and the European Union on their future relationship. Ryanair tumbled 3.5 percent as the budget carrier warned of some localized disruptions and adverse PR in the months ahead. Oil & gas exploration company Tullow Oil lost 1 percent and Total SA shed half a percent amid an extended decline in oil prices. Global consulting and IT service firm Capgemini lost 1.6 percent in Paris after announcing the acquisition of LiquidHub. German airline Lufthansa fell about 1 percent after it unveiled plans to replace top management at Brussels Airlines. Swedish engineering group Sandvik was little changed after its fourth-quarter core profit topped forecasts. Deutsche Bank recovered from an early loss to trade about 0.4 percent higher. In economic releases, the euro area economy expanded at the fastest pace since mid-2006 in January, final data from IHS Markit showed. The final composite output index rose more than initially estimated to 58.8 in January from 58.1 in December. The flash score was 58.6. A gauge of Eurozone investor confidence weakened in February, while the region's retail sales declined in December after recovering a month ago, separate reports showed. Elsewhere, British service sector activity expanded at the slowest pace in nearly one-and-a-half years in January, survey data from IHS Markit showed. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Researchers from across the country gathered today to discuss ways data and research can make a difference in Canadian communities. The University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and Calgary Homeless Foundation are hosting Data That Makes a Difference - the 2nd Annual Canadian Homelessness Data Sharing Initiative at the University of Calgary's Downtown Campus. This event is significant in the homelessness research community because it offers a venue where researchers from across Canada can meet face-to-face and discuss their successes and strategies. This conversation allows for greater collective impact nation-wide, and assists the homeless-serving sector across our country provide a better system-of-care to Canada's most vulnerable. Through knowledge sharing we deepen our understanding of best strategies and programs to benefit Canadians experiencing homelessness, and strengthen our communities across the nation. Each presenter was asked to present data focused around the core question: "how can our data make a difference?" Presenters will describe and discuss how their data sets address homelessness, and attendees are in for a day full of thought-provoking questions which will foster discussion on future research and collaboration. The purpose of the event is to spark new research ideas and generate questions pertaining to how research can positively affect individuals experiencing homelessness. The partnership between Calgary Homeless Foundation and the School of Public Policy allows for a union of homeless-serving sector knowledge through an academic platform. The two organizations work closely to provide increased understanding of how public policy and research can consistently improve quality of care for those experiencing homelessness. The hope of both Calgary Homeless Foundation and the School of Public Policy is that partnerships will emerge, nation-wide, and create a Canadian network of collaborative, data-informed homelessness research. QUOTES: "To solve the problem of homelessness we need to understand who experiences it, how they experience it, and how those who have escaped it have succeeded. The more data we share, the faster we will learn the answers to these questions" said Dr. Ron Kneebone, Professor and Director of Economics and Social Policy Research, School of Public Policy, U of C. "Sharing data and comparing research results in an open, supportive forum is the fastest way of ending homelessness. Understanding that is the reason for this initiative." "The Homelessness Data Sharing Initiative is the only initiative of its kind in Canada; it may be the only initiative of its kind in the world. This is the only time the administrators of data on homeless people come together at one event with the researchers who use it" said Dr. Nick Falvo, Director of Research and Data at the Calgary Homeless Foundation. "To end homelessness, we need good analysis. To do the analysis, researchers need to know what data is available. This event allows that to happen and involves the sharing of data across jurisdictions. The more we share the data, the more robust our datasets and the better our research." WHEN: May 18th, 2017Ticketed event 7:45am- 4:00pm WHERE: University of Calgary Downtown CampusNexen Technology & Conference Centre906 8th Ave SWCalgary, AB, T2P 1H9 About Calgary Homeless Foundation The Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) is a catalyst and enabler for Systems and Service Agencies to optimize client success. CHF focuses on four strategic pillars of work: Research and Development, Community Mobilization, Funder of Outcomes and Impact, and Public and Political Will. CHF addresses gaps and identifies best practices to improve the system of care. Through mobilization of collective impact, CHF is committed to moving forward in partnership with the many homeless-serving agencies, the private sector, government partners, the faith community, other foundations and all Calgarians to end homelessness in Calgary. CHF is gaining an international reputation as a leading contributor to applied homelessness research. Making evidence-based decisions and planning based on research is a key tenet of CHF's role as System Planner for Calgary's Homeless-Serving System of Care. A key ingredient to this approach has been the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) which we are constantly looking to expand and enhance. For more information, visit calgaryhomeless.com About School of Public Policy The School of Public Policy is Canada's leading policy school. The School was founded in 2008 by renowned economist Jack Mintz with a vision to drive policy discourse with relevant research, outreach and teaching. Its faculty is composed of scholars with exceptional academic credentials and experienced practitioners in business, government and the non-profit sector. The School's research is respected because it is independent, credible, and based on hard data. Its influence is reflected by its wide dissemination among policy makers, business leaders, and the media. Indeed, the School is Canada's most cited policy school, both within traditional media and academic publications. The School of Public Policy also provides hands-on training in Canada and abroad through a Master of Public Policy Program, an Extractive Resource Governance Program, and an Executive Training Program. Its alumni can be found in leadership positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors across Canada. Contacts: Media Inquiries Calgary Homeless Foundation Kara Layher Communications Specialist 403-615-7607 karal@calgaryhomeless.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Scientific Metals Corp. ("STM" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: STM)(FRANKFURT: 26X)(OTCQB: SCTFF) is pleased to announce that it has completed the non-brokered private placement of units (each, a "Unit") previously announced on May 17, 2017. The Company issued a total of 2,000,000 Units at a price of $0.85 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,700,000. Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $1.10 per share at any time within 24 months of the date of issuance of the warrant. A director and officer of the Company participated in the private placement and acquired a total of 970,000 Units. All of the securities issued under the private placement are subject to a four month resale restriction. The private placement remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Wayne Tisdale, CEO of the Company states, "We are pleased to close this institutional round of funding, and are delighted to add new investors into our company ranging from Europe to the United States of America, as well as management participation. We feel strongly that this round of funding puts STM in a healthy position to execute on our business plan. The cobalt market has come under intense pressure with rising prices cresting 5 year highs coupled with supply constraints out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are very pleased to move forward with our home grown project in hopes that we can be a leader in the move towards a safe ethical solution. We would like to thank our shareholders old and new for their commitment in our vision." The Company intends to use the net proceeds of this private placement for the phase 1 exploration program at its flagship Iron Creek cobalt property in Idaho, and for general working capital purposes. For further information on the Company and cobalt, please visit https://youtu.be/HVQwpQy0_1k. Reader Advisory This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. . In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's proposed operations and the proposed use of proceeds from the private placement. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation and environmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; liabilities inherent in mining operations; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Scientific Metals Corp. Wayne Tisdale President (604) 639-4457 info@scientificmetalscorp.com www.scientificmetalscorp.com EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd. (the "Company" or "Liquor Stores") (TSX: LIQ), North America's largest publicly traded liquor retailer, today highlighted a number of serious flaws in the analysis and strategy of activist shareholder PointNorth Capital. Liquor Stores' comments follow a preliminary review of PointNorth's dissident circular. PointNorth, a recent 9.7% shareholder of the Company, launched a costly and distracting proxy battle for control of the Board just weeks after rejecting an offer from Liquor Stores for two board seats. Jim Dinning, Chairman of the Board of Liquor Stores, commented, "Over the past six months, we repeatedly asked PointNorth to share its advice and constructive criticisms so we could either use its insights to improve our operations or help it to better understand our business. PointNorth consistently declined to share its thinking." "Now we know why: PointNorth's analysis is riddled with flaws," said Mr. Dinning. "The biggest flaw is its assumption that what might have worked in government-controlled provincial monopolies, that by definition have no competitors, would work in our six highly competitive markets. Government monopolies control both wholesale and retail operations, set prices and adjust margins at will without having to compete with discounters - or anyone, for that matter." Applying a monopoly business strategy to Liquor Stores will erode gross margin and is doomed to fail. Customers don't go to monopolies because they want to. They go because they have no other choice. This flawed analysis is a product of PointNorth's decision to delegate the development of its proposed "New Strategy" for Liquor Stores to two of their nominees, Stephen Barbet and Richard Perkins, both of whom are former executives of Nova Scotia's government-run liquor monopoly. As far as Liquor Stores is aware, neither PointNorth nor its nominees have in-depth experience in the highly competitive liquor retailing sector in which the Company operates. "Shareholders only have to look at the track records of PointNorth's principals to see the value destruction that occurs from a defective strategy. We urge Liquor Stores shareholders to bear that in mind as they evaluate PointNorth's faulty analysis, misleading claims and wishful thinking. Don't let Liquor Stores suffer the same fate as SiriusXM, Priszm, KEYreit and Mobilicity." In due course Liquor Stores will provide a detailed review of the serious flaws in PointNorth's analysis. For now, Liquor Stores believes the following points serve as useful and troubling examples: 1. Our strategy is working: PointNorth is wrong to assert that our proven strategy is a response to its announcement of its investment in Liquor Stores six months ago. As PointNorth and all of our shareholders know, we have been proactively executing our Seven Point Plan for three years - and we have the results to show for it. These results, delivered during the worst recession in decades in two of our major markets, include year over year sales growth, growth in operating profit before amortization, and the strong returns we've earned from the 46 store renovations completed to date. 2. PointNorth's strategy shows a fundamental lack of understanding of how the business operates in a highly competitive jurisdiction like Alberta, where consumers have more choice than almost anywhere in Canada. In Ontario, consumers must buy from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Beer Store and a limited number of licensees that have serious restrictions on what products they can carry and/or at what prices. Nova Scotians have the monopoly Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, where PointNorth's key advisors and dissident nominees Richard Perkins and Kenneth Barbet, used to work. 3. PointNorth's strategy dismisses the customer - the heart of any competitive retail business. Our strategy is to attract customers with a satisfying shopping experience, tailored pricing, and a consistent and compelling assortment of liquor products, including our high margin private label line that our staff are trained to sell. We have invested strategically to enhance this in-store experience. PointNorth's dramatic cutbacks on our product selection and staff would kill the qualities that differentiate us and pit us against the likes of Costco and Loblaws-operated Real Canadian Liquor Stores and independent price discounters, leaving Liquor Stores with nothing to compete on except price. That's the kind of thinking you'd expect from government liquor monopoly "experts" but it's not appropriate for the markets in which we operate. 4. PointNorth doesn't understand how to manage inventory in a competitive environment. PointNorth doesn't understand the value of our private warehouse. It is a strategic asset that holds only 7% of our inventory and pays for itself many times over every single year. We need it for the large-order purchases of high-margin private label products and high-margin discounted, limited time-offer wholesale products. PointNorth wrongly refers to this as "minor gross margin enhancements". The gains are significant and a distinctive competitive advantage in a highly competitive market like Alberta. 5. PointNorth wants us to accelerate the implementation of our ERP system. Going fast always sounds good, but countless companies have created massive problems by getting these software installations wrong. Speed kills. Surprisingly, none of PointNorth's nominees are described as having any meaningful Information Technology expertise for a business of a comparable complexity to Liquor Stores. The Company is moving ahead with an appropriately sized ERP system and implementation plan, with guidance from incumbent directors with extensive IT and grocery retail expertise. The Company is following a reasonable timeline that will not put the Company and our shareholders at risk. 6. PointNorth wants its nominees to re-evaluate our U.S. business, but we already do that in the normal course and none of their nominees have U.S. retail liquor experience, or U.S. retail experience of any kind. PointNorth's nominees would not be qualified to lead that review. Further, PointNorth's suggestion is not a new idea. Management and the Board, including a veteran U.S. grocery and liquor retailer, regularly examine the return on capital from all our business segments, including our U.S. operations. The Board has even engaged outside financial and strategic advisors for assistance. After our latest review of a wide array of strategic alternatives last year, the Board and its advisors concluded that there was greater value for shareholders in continuing to run these profitable U.S. assets. However, we will continue our regular examination of our business components including our U.S. operations. 7. PointNorth's plan to remove our U.S. regional office is shortsighted. That regional office makes a significant contribution to our gross margin with only 11 people on staff and at a nominal cost of less than $150,000 per year for office space. What PointNorth misses is that in addition to running our U.S. operations, our U.S.-based team leads our successful high-margin private label program for the U.S. and Canada. This is another troubling example of how PointNorth doesn't understand our business. 8. PointNorth disregards the importance of real estate to our business. Two things are true about any retail business: (1) retail is detail, a point that eludes PointNorth with its poor understanding of basic market dynamics; and (2) location, location, location. With 252 stores in over 14 markets across 2 provinces and 4 states, understanding real estate is important to the success of our business. Our Board's collective deep real estate experience is far superior to that of PointNorth's nominees. It has enabled us to secure prime real estate locations and ensure that our stores are conveniently located on competitive terms with advantageous tenants. Two of our current Board members work full time in the real estate industry and have over 65 years of combined experience in Canada and the U.S. 9. Each of the two PointNorth nominees who "authored" its "New Strategy" stand to receive exclusive payouts from PointNorth less than 18 months after the Annual Meeting. This is the very definition of a "Golden Leash", which Investopedia defines as follows: "A golden leash is designed to offer an incentive to the nominee directors to act in the interests of the major shareholder..." PointNorth is trying to convince you this isn't the case, despite the plain meaning of its own disclosure. Here's what it said on page 50 of its Dissident Circular: PointNorth entered into an advisory agreement with certain individuals having liquor retailing expertise, including two of the nominees, Kenneth G. Barbet and Richard D. Perkins, whereby such individuals agreed to provide advisory services to PointNorth. Pursuant to the agreement, the advisors will, in certain circumstances, receive a specified percentage of the net profits earned by PointNorth on the shares held by PointNorth, such payment to be made on the earlier of (i) PointNorth having sold all of the shares it owns and (ii) November 15, 2018. Now PointNorth is contradicting its own circular. In a news release issued yesterday, PointNorth claims it will not really be compensating Mr. Barbet and Mr. Perkins if they are elected. The only way to clear up this contradiction is for PointNorth to disclose the full terms of its agreements with Mr. Barbet and Mr. Perkins. "The question is whether PointNorth truly doesn't understand our business, or is trying to mislead shareholders into giving up control by electing their majority slate," said Mr. Dinning. "Shareholders should stay tuned for further communications from us in the days ahead. This will come down to who you can trust to be good stewards of your investment." Vote the WHITE proxy for Liquor Stores' nominees Liquor Stores urges shareholders to read its Management Information Circular, available on the Liquor Stores website at http://www.liquorstoresna.ca/investors and under the Liquor Stores profile at www.sedar.com. The circular highlights the value creation initiatives undertaken by Liquor Stores and its Board over the past few years. The Circular also outlines the strategic importance of Liquor Stores' market diversification and work underway to improve inventory management to free up more cash flow to invest in the business. Liquor Stores recommends that shareholders vote the WHITE proxy for the Board's eight experienced and qualified incumbent nominees. Vote today. Meeting Details The record date for the Annual Meeting was the close of business on April 21, 2017 (the "Record Date"). All registered shareholders of record as at the Record Date are invited to attend the Meeting which is taking place at Meeting Place 1 at the Hyatt Place Edmonton-West located at 18004 100 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta, on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (Edmonton time). Shareholders are advised to vote only the WHITE form of proxy today, or no later than 10:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) or Noon (Eastern Time) on Friday, June 16, 2017. If shareholders have any questions or require any assistance in executing your proxy or voting instruction form, please call D.F. King Canada at: - North American Toll Free Number: 1-800-301-9627 - Outside North America, Banks, Brokers and Collect Calls: 1-201-806-7301 - Email: inquiries@dfking.com - North American Toll Free Facsimile: 1-888-509-5907 - Facsimile: 1-647-351-3176 ABOUT LIQUOR STORES N.A. LTD. The Company operates 252 retail liquor stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Liquor Stores' retail brands include: Liquor Depot, Liquor Barn, and Wine and Beyond in Alberta (178 stores); Liquor Depot and Liquor Barn in British Columbia (34 stores); Brown Jug in Alaska (22 stores); Liquor Barn "The Ultimate Party Source" and Liquor Barn Express in Kentucky (15 stores), Joe Canals Discount Outlet in New Jersey (2 stores), and LQR MKT in Connecticut (one store). The Company's common shares and convertible subordinated debentures trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "LIQ" and "LIQ.DB.B", respectively. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains forward looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable securities legislation. All statements and information other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to: Liquor Stores' strategy, the implementation of our ERP system, and our continued regular examination of our U.S. business. Forward-looking statements reflect our current plans, intentions, and expectations, which are based on management's perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Our plans, intentions, and expectations are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and other uncertainties and contingencies regarding future events and as such, are subject to change. There is no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which these forward-looking statements are based will occur. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to, those discussed elsewhere in this press release and our other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Some of the factors that could affect future results and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to: risks relating to government regulation and changes thereto (whether by court decisions, citizen referenda, or otherwise); competition; the state of the economy including general economic conditions in Canada (including Alberta) and the U.S.; the unpredictability and volatility of Liquor Stores' common share price; restrictions on potential growth; availability of sufficient financial resources to fund the Company's capital expenditures; changes in commodity tax rates and government mark- ups; risks relating to future acquisitions and development of new stores; the ability of management to execute the Company's business and strategic plans; Liquor Stores' ability to locate and secure acceptable store sites and to adapt to changing market conditions; poor weather conditions; dependence on key personnel; labour costs, shortages and labour relations including Liquor Stores' ability to hire and retain staff at current wage levels and the risk of possible future unionization; supply interruption or delays; dependence on suppliers; reliance on information and control systems; income tax changes; leverage and restrictive covenants in agreements relating to current and future indebtedness of Liquor Stores; and credit risks arising from operations. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The information contained in this press release, and as disclosed in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, identifies additional factors that could affect the operating results and performance of Liquor Stores. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Liquor Stores assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances except as expressly required by applicable securities law. Contacts: Investors Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd. Matthew Rudd Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (780) 702-7389 Media Longview Communications Louise Kozier (604) 694 6033 LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Membership in The Alliance provides Conotoxia with the opportunity to help shape and advance the payments industry Conotoxia announced that it has joined NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association's Payments Innovation Alliance. The Alliance, a membership group that serves as the voice of the payments industry, encourages industry collaboration to help advance global payments. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453681/cinkciarz_logo.jpg ) "We are pleased that Conotoxia has joined the Payments Innovation Alliance," said Janet O. Estep, President and CEO of NACHA. "Bringing diverse parties together to discuss, debate, and ultimately transform the payments industry is the goal of The Alliance. Participation by organizations such as Conotoxia will help us further our goal and strengthen the industry as a whole." As a member of The Alliance, Conotoxia will be able to: Initiate and take part in important projects aimed at strengthening the global payments industry as a whole. Network with payments professionals from around the world. Attend in-person and virtual meetings. Contribute to thought leadership documents, such as white papers, authored by other Alliance members. "Membership in this group enables us to further our mission to execute the highest customer service standards. By engaging and collaborating with other global payments innovators, we can not only help advance our own organizational goals and objectives, but serve as an integral player in shaping the future of the global payments system," said Piotr Kicinski, Vice-Chairman of the Board at Cinkciarz, the parent company of Conotoxia Sp. z o.o. Conotoxia joins a host of other global organizations that are members of The Alliance. The Alliance membership consists of nearly 200 organizations. Conotoxia will be participating in its upcoming meeting, which will take place on June 1-2, 2017, in Berlin, Germany. The meeting will bring together members from across geographies to participate in knowledge exchange, discussion, debate, education and networking. Piotr Kicinski will be a featured speaker at the event. Conotoxia Sp. z o.o., a licensed payment institution and a subsidiary of one of the largest private companies in Poland - Cinkciarz, will be offering global money transfer and payment services using cutting edge technology alongside extremely attractive conversion rates and transfer fees. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures were steady Thursday morning, clinging to this week's significant gains amid political turmoil in the U.S. and tensions with North Korea. The Trump Administration is reportedly in serious chaos as they try to manage the fallout from allegations related to the president's relationship with Russia. FBI Director James Comey says he was asked to drop an investigation into the dealings of Trump adviser Michael Flynn. Also, Trump admits he offered classified intelligence to Russian officials at a meeting where he barred the U.S. press corps. With stocks plunging yesterday, gold surged to its highest since late April. June gold was up $1 at $1259 an ounce this morning. The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for new claims consensus of 240K. In the previous 4 weeks the moving average was 243.50K. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures were lower Thursday morning amid renewed demand concerns in the wake of President Donald Trump's recent problems. Investigations into his dealings with the Kremlin and the circumstances surrounding his firing FBI Director James Comey threatens to hinder his pro-growth economic agenda. Meanwhile, U.S. oil supplies fell less than expected last week, the Energy Department's most recent report said yesterday. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 66 cents at $48.42 a barrel, easing from multi-week highs. OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on May 25 and are expected to prolong their agreement to limit production by up to nine months. The Labor Department's Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The economists are looking for new claims consensus of 240K. In the previous 4 weeks the moving average was 243.50K. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Fed Business Outlook Survey for May is expected at 8.30 am ET. The forecasters are projecting General Business conditions gauge to decline to 19.6 from 22.0 last month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company, today announces the publication of an editorial featuring India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC), an NNW client positioned as a first mover in developing a portfolio of products using cannabis-based combination therapies for the treatment of pain and other conditions. The publication is entitled, "Cannabis-Based Therapies with Potential to Dull the Pain of Opioid Abuse." It discusses alternative, cannabis-based pain treatment therapies and several promising, public companies that are developing them. To view the full publication visit: https://www.networknewswire.com/cannabis-based-therapies-potential-dull-pain-opioid-abuse/ "According to a 2016 report published by Transparency Market Research, analysts surmise that almost 20 percent of the world's population currently suffers from chronic pain. As such, the global pain management therapeutics market is expected to exhibit a 3.7 percent CAGR through 2024, with market valuation increasing to US $83.0 billion by the same year. "IGC aims to formulate and commercialize cannabinoid compounds as an alternative to addictive long-term opioid treatments, endeavoring to do so through a focus on combination therapy. The company is developing a portfolio of phytocannabinoid-based therapies to treat a broad range of therapeutic indications, including neuropathic and cancer pain. IGC has applied for a U.S. patent to treat pain based on a novel therapy that utilizes cannabinoid extracts. "IGC's innovative and exciting strategy is to leverage its 'first mover' position to become a leader within the phytocannabinoid-based combination therapy specialty pharmaceutical sector. Developing cannabis-based combination therapies represents a huge and unique opportunity in this emerging specialty pharmaceutical sector. Obtaining FDA approval for combination therapy is typically significantly quicker and less costly than new drug applications, which means IGC can potentially bring its cannabis-based pharmaceutical products to market in a timely and thus cost-effective manner. With a market cap of approximately $11.0 million, a fraction of that of its peer group, IGC is poised to explode once its cannabis-based pain therapies obtain approval and can be brought to the market." About IGC In the United States, the company develops cannabis-based therapies. IGC has assembled a portfolio of patent filings that encompasses the indications of Pain, Seizures, Epilepsy, and Cachexia using phytocannabinoids. The company is based in Bethesda, Maryland. For more information, visit www.igcinc.us. About NetworkNewsWire NetworkNewsWire (NNW) provides news aggregation and syndication, enhanced press release services and a full array of social communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and distribution company with an extensive team of journalists and contributing writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies who need to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge. For more information, visit https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com Please see full disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://nnw.fm/Disclaimer Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. NNW Contact: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212.418.1217 Office Email Contact The HKBU research team: (From left) Professor Zhang Ge, Dr Liang Chao, Miss Wang Luyao and Professor Lyu Aiping (Copyright: Hong Kong Baptist University) (From left) Miss Wang Luyao, Professor Zhang Ge and Dr Liang Chao witness the launch of Tianzhou-1 at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan. (Copyright: Hong Kong Baptist University) In vivo osteoblast-specific delivery of CKIP-1 siRNA could improve bone formation and increase bone mass of aged rats dramatically. (Copyright: Hong Kong Baptist University) HONG KONG, May 18, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is conducting a space life science study on board China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, which was launched last month. HKBU is the only higher education institution from outside of Mainland to conduct a scientific research project onboard Tianzhou-1.The HKBU team investigates the effect of the "CKIP-1" gene on bone formation under microgravity conditions in space. Under microgravity, bone loss is several times faster than on Earth, posing a serious health threat to astronauts, who therefore cannot stay in space for long periods of time. The HKBU team hopes that this study can lead to the formulation of a set of protective measures and treatment strategies as well as the discovery of new drugs to prevent or treat bone loss resulting from space travel. It could also serve as reference for the development of health care and therapeutics for the ageing population.The HKBU team is led by Professor Lyu Aiping, HKBU's Dean of Chinese Medicine and Director of the Law Sau Fai Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases (TMBJ), and Professor Zhang Ge, Associate Director of TMBJ, Associate Director of SCM's Teaching and Research Division, and Director of the Technology Development Division, with Post-doctoral Research Fellow Dr Liang Chao and Senior Research Assistant Miss Wang Luyao as team members.Professor Lyu Aiping said this is another important contribution made by HKBU to the Mainland's major scientific research initiatives after its participation in the first deep-sea expedition of the manned submersible Jiaolong in 2013. This new contribution not only recognises HKBU's and Hong Kong's research strength in related areas, but also is a great source of encouragement to members of the Chinese medicine and higher education sectors.Professor Zhang Ge said the quality of research of TMBJ on bone and joint has reached the top international level. TMBJ members have in recent years published a number of research papers in prestigious academic journals such as Nature Communication and Nature Medicine. He hopes their project can bring a breakthrough in this related area of research.The "CKIP-1" gene in osteoblast (bone forming cell) could specifically interact with "Smurf1" genes in the cells to inhibit cell activity, thereby slowing down or hindering bone formation. The research team led by Professor Lyu and Professor Zhang further found that the aberrant elevated "CKIP-1" expression in osteoblasts could inhibit bone formation and contribute to the reduction in bone formation during ageing as well as in the development of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. Nevertheless, the function of "CKIP-1" on the process of bone formation reduction caused by microgravity in space is still not yet known. The team has placed osteoblast in which "CKIP-1" genes were silenced on board the Tianzhou 1 for further research and is monitoring the effects of "CKIP-1" on osteoblast.To prepare for the launch of Tianzhou 1, Dr Liang Chao and Miss Wang Luyao of the HKBU team participated in a number of life science experiments at ground level organised by the National Space Science and Application Centre of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. These experiments included simulated vibration tests, bio-compatibility tests and simulated microgravity experiments as well as systematic matching experiments and rehearsals. Tianzhou 1 was launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan.Entitled "Research on the impact that microgravity has on the proliferation and differentiation of cells", the space life science study on Tianzhou-1 is led by Northwestern Polytechnical University in collaboration with HKBU, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project consists of eight sub-projects and HKBU is responsible for the "CKIP-1" one.Media enquiries:Connie Ko of the School of Chinese Medicine (+852 3411 2132) orM S Fung of the Communication and Public Relations Office (+852 3411 5261 or +852 7472 2122).Source: Hong Kong Baptist UniversityCopyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) "the Company" is pleased to announce that the Company and its Korean partners, Hanwha, KORES, KEPCO and SK, have entered into a buy back agreement for the Korean Partners' 50% interest in the Cree East uranium project Limited Partnership. The Cree East Project covers 57,752 ha (223 square miles) of highly prospective terrain in the eastern Athabasca basin. CanAlaska will buy back the 50% interest in the Limited Partnership earned by the Korean partners (the "Partners") in consideration for certain indemnities which it will provide to the Partners. In addition, all funds previously invested by the Partners that are held in the Partnership's bank account on the date of closing will be returned to the Partners at closing. Cree East Korean JV Project To view an enhanced version of the Cree East Korean JV Project, please visit: http://www.accesswire.com/uploads/26847_canala2.jpg Since 2007 the Korean Partners have funded $20 million of exploration on the Cree East Project, and delineated multiple zones of uranium mineralization associated with graphitic conductors and large hydrothermal alteration halos, both in basement and sandstone environments, at depths ranging from 100 metres to 450 metres below surface. The systematic multi-phase exploration programs on the project were reduced in scale in 2011 and exploration drilling has been suspended since 2012. The property has two priority exploration targets at Zone A and Zone B, where uranium has been discovered above and below the unconformity, which is located at approximately 400 metres depth. The partnership has maintained a diamond drill at the site of Zone B mineralization since 2014, however the protracted slowdown in the uranium market has precluded any further activity by the Limited Partnership and its management. President Peter Dasler commented, "CanAlaska is very grateful for the support of each of the four Korean Industry Partners management and staff for their guidance and financial support on the project. CanAlaska is now tasked with finding new partnerships to advance the drill testing of the targets that have been detailed through our partners' persistence." In other news, CanAlaska has accepted the termination of property sales agreements with Fjordland Exploration Inc. and Canterra Minerals Corporation for certain diamond exploration properties in the western Athabasca. CanAlaska retains a 100% unencumbered interest in these properties. The qualified technical person for this news release is Dr. Karl Schimann, P. Geo., VP Exploration for CanAlaska. About CanAlaska Uranium CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in approximately 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres), one of the largest land positions in Canada's Athabasca Basin region - the "Saudi Arabia of Uranium." CanAlaska's strategic holdings have attracted major international mining companies Cameco, Denison, KORES, and KEPCO. CanAlaska is a project generator positioned for discovery success in the world's richest uranium district. For further information visit www.canalaska.com . On behalf of the Board of Directors "Peter Dasler" Peter Dasler, M.Sc., P.Geo., President & CEO, CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. Contacts: Peter Dasler President Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 138 Email: info@canalaska.com John Gomez Corporate Development Tel: +1.604.484.7118 Email: jgomez@canalaska.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking information All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events. SOURCE: CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. ZURICH (dpa-AFX) - Credit Suisse Group (CS) said that, at Extraordinary General Meeting, its shareholders approved the proposed capital increase. The shareholders approved an ordinary capital increase by way of a rights offering of up to 404.53 million newly issued registered shares to existing shareholders. With a majority of 99.35% of the votes represented, the shareholders of Credit Suisse Group AG approved a share capital increase through a rights offering of up to 404.53 million newly issued registered shares with a nominal value of 0.04 Swiss francs each to existing shareholders. The proposed rights offering was therefore approved by more than the required majority of more than 50.0% of the votes represented at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The shareholders of Credit Suisse Group AG will be allotted one pre-emptive subscription right for each registered share they hold on May 22, 2017, including new shares to be issued under the scrip dividend alternative for the financial year 2016, as approved at the Annual General Meeting of April 28, 2017. 11 pre-emptive subscription rights entitle the holder of such rights - subject to certain restrictions under applicable local laws - to purchase 2 new registered shares at the offer price of 10.80 francs per share. Credit Suisse Group AG expects that the net proceeds of the rights offering (excluding the issuance of any new shares from the exercise of rights allotted on shares received as scrip dividend) will amount to about 4 billion francs. The pre-emptive subscription rights are expected to be traded on SIX Swiss Exchange from May 23, 2017 to June 2, 2017. The exercise period for the pre-emptive subscription rights is expected to be from May 23, 2017 to June 7, 2017, 12:00 noon (CEST). The listing and the first day of trading of the new registered shares on SIX Swiss Exchange, as well as the delivery of the new registered shares against payment of the offer price, are expected to take place on June 8, 2017. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Prime Dividend Corp. (The "Company") declares its monthly distribution of $0.06142 for each Class A share and $0.04167 for each Preferred share. Distributions are payable June 9, 2017 to shareholders on record as at May 31, 2017. Under the distribution policy announced on July 17, 2014, the monthly dividend payable on the Class A shares is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of the Class A shares over the last 5 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, Class A shareholders of record on May 31, 2017 will receive a dividend of $0.06142 per share based on the VWAP of $7.37 payable on June 9, 2017. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy. Preferred shareholders continue to receive prime plus 0.75% with a minimum rate of 5.00%. Since inception Class A shareholders have received a total of $9.30 per share and Preferred shareholders have received a total of $6.18 per share inclusive of this distribution, for a combined total of $15.48. The Company invests in a portfolio of high yielding Canadian Companies as follows: Banks Investment Management Bank of Montreal AGF Management Ltd. Bank of Nova Scotia CI Financial Corp. CIBC IGM Financial Inc. National Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada Toronto-Dominion Bank Life Insurance Utilities & Other Great-West Lifeco Inc. BCE Inc. Manulife Financial Corporation TransAlta Corp Sun Life Financial Inc. TransCanada Corp Power Financial Corp. TMX Group Inc. Distribution Details Class A Share (PDV) $0.06142 Preferred Share (PDV.PR.A) $0.04167 Ex-Dividend Date: May 29, 2017 Record Date: May 31, 2017 Payable Date: June 9, 2017 ------------------------------------------------------------ Contacts: Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372 Local: 416-304-4443 info@quadravest.com www.primedividend.com SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- CFN Media Group ("CFN Media"), the leading agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, today announced publication of an article discussing how Cannabis Wheaton (TSX VENTURE: CBW) (OTC PINK: KWFLF) is transforming the cannabis industry's investment model and changing the way companies work together. Rapidly Growing Industry Canada has become a pioneer in the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis. With plans to legalize recreational cannabis next year, Deloitte Canada projects that the market could mushroom into a $22.6 billion industry. The retail market is projected to be worth between $4.9 billion and $8.7 billion per year, while growers, testing labs, lighting providers, security systems, and other ancillary services would increase that number to $12.7 billion to $22.6 billion. Health Canada has already approved more than 40 licensed producers, but analysts still project a shortfall in supply that could support high prices. PI Financial believes that licensed producers will need to cultivate a total of 610,000 kilograms of cannabis to meet domestic and export demand by 2019, but existing capacity could result in a 200,000 kilogram shortfall. And, the rigorous process of becoming a licensed producer could limit future supply growth. These dynamics have encouraged existing licensed producers to invest in ambitious expansion plans to maximize their revenue. Despite the market's potential, raising capital can be somewhat difficult and expensive due to the unique risks associated with the industry. Lenders have a tough time determining compliance, licenses are not transferrable, inventories aren't salable, and there are risks with lending to non-compliant borrowers. Streaming Business Model Cannabis Wheaton aims to solve these problems and capitalize on the $22.6 billion industry with an innovative streaming business model. The company has already established 14 agreements across six provinces to fund facility construction, expansion, and innovations in exchange for minority equity interests and portions of the cultivation production. Through these agreements, the company has access to 1.3 million square feet of cultivation (by 2019), 30,000 registered patients, and nearly 40 medical marijuana clinic partnerships located throughout the country. In addition to financing, the company provides its partners with access to its industry relationships and brand building expertise. The company plans to continuously build its partners' product offerings to maintain brand and consumer loyalty as the market moves toward recreational legalization next year. The goal is to help these partners maximize their profitability, which in turn helps maximize the company's equity interest in them. Investors benefit from this business model by realizing the upside of multiple cultivation facilities without risks like build-out delays, licensing delays, or poor harvests. In essence, the company provides an exchange-traded fund (ETF) like vehicle for investing in the cultivation and production side of the cannabis industry, along with exposure to the consulting and branding segment of the industry over the long-term. Experienced Management Cannabis Wheaton's management team is comprised of industry first-movers, visionaries, and experts dedicated to helping its streaming partners reach their growth potential. Chairman and CEO Chuck Rifici founded Canopy Growth Corp. and built it into a 500,000 square foot licensed producer. Today, the company is worth over C$1 billion and has become a leader in the space. Mr. Rifici is also the CEO of Nesta Holding Co., a private equity firm that builds partnerships and brands within the cannabis space, as well as Chairman of National Access Cannabis, a clinic helping patients access cannabis. CFO and COO Jeff Tung, CFA, was the co-founder of CPS Management Partners, where he led the acquisition of multiple businesses in the insurance space. Ultimately, the firm became the largest workers' compensation claims administrator in Canada with IRRs in excess of 50%. Chief Creative Officer Ian Rapsey is an award-winning creative director that helped build Tweed Marijuana's rebranding of Bedrocan following its acquisition. Prior to working in the cannabis industry, he was the creative lead at Bruce Mau Design where he was working with global brands. Chief Infrastructure Officer Brad McNamee is a second-generation mechanical contractor specializing in HVAC design and design-build services. He was a key member of the original ground-breaking team tasked with pioneering a large scale indoor environmental production platform for the medical cannabis industry prior to joining the company. Please follow the link to read the full article: http://www.cannabisfn.com/cannabis-wheaton-diversified-exposure-licensed-producers/ Learn how to become a CFN Media featured company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/ Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from your smart phone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8 Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com About CFN Media CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis. We help marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed. Disclaimer: Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. CFN Media Frank Lane 206-369-7050 flane@cannabisfn.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Dividend Select 15 Corp. (The "Company") declares its monthly distribution of $0.07350 per Equity share. The distribution is payable June 9, 2017 to shareholders on record as of May 31, 2017. Under the distribution policy announced in September 2014, the monthly dividend payable on the Equity shares is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of the Equity shares over the last 3 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, Equity shareholders of record on May 31, 2017 will receive a dividend of $0.07350 per share based on the VWAP of $8.82 payable on June 9, 2017. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy. Since inception, Equity shareholders have received a total of $5.11 per share inclusive of this distribution. The Company invests in a portfolio of 15 Canadian companies selected from the following 20 company universe which are among the highest Canadian dividend yielding stocks. Bank of Montreal Great West Lifeco inc. TELUS Corporation BCE Inc. Husky Energy Inc. The Bank of Nova Scotia CIBC National Bank of Canada The Toronto-Dominion Bank Power Corporation of Thomson Reuters CI Financial Corp. Canada Corporation Enbridge Inc. Royal Bank of Canada TMX Group Inc. EnCana Coproration Loblaw Companies Limited TransAlta Corporation Sun Life Financial Inc. TransCanada Corporation Distribution Details Equity Share (DS) $0.07350 Ex-Dividend Date: May 29, 2017 Record Date: May 31,2017 Payable Date: June 9,2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacts: Investor Relations: 1-877-478-2372 Local: 416-304-4443 info@quadravest.com www.dividendselect15.com Technology partnership provides London businesses with predictive security ratings data LONDON and NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- London Digital Security Centre, a not-for-profit organization founded by the Mayor of London as a joint venture with the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police and SecurityScorecard, the leading security rating platform, today announced a partnership to improve the cyber security health of London's business ecosystem. Since its launch in 2013, SecurityScorecard has established itself as the highest-performing security rating platform to address the imminent risk of data breaches, a risk that has grown exponentially year over year. The company takes a unique and highly effective approach to security, identifying vulnerabilities from an outside perspective, the same way a hacker would. SecurityScorecard continuously and non-intrusively gathers millions of signals that are indicators of good and bad security factors and assigns a grade of A, B, C, D, or F to denote a company's security health. With the industry's most accurate rating of security risk, SecurityScorecard can help organizations gain operational command of the security posture for themselves and across all their partners and vendors. On announcing the partnership, Chairman for the London Digital Security Centre, David Shepherd, stated, "Following last week's cyberattacks, the reality is even clearer. The role of the Centre is to help businesses grow and innovate their resilience to online threats and vulnerabilities. We are delighted that SecurityScorecard have joined us in this endeavor and are providing free services that will help businesses to take control of their digital security." Through the partnership, SecurityScorecard will provide security ratings to all member businesses as part of London Digital Security Centre's initial service offering. As companies gain insight into their security posture, they will ultimately have the ability to access more detailed reporting and view individual ratings for 10 critical risk categories that contribute to the overall security rating, ranging from DNS health to employee security awareness and hacker chatter. The London Digital Security Centre is a membership-based organization. The Centre works with academia and specialists from private industry to help businesses innovate, grow and prosper by helping them operate in a secure digital environment. The Centre have access to a wide range of services, including onsite security awareness training, educational programs, security assessments and the latest alerts regarding cybercriminal threats and online vulnerabilities. "We are excited to partner with the London Digital Security Centre and are proud to help hundreds of thousands of businesses in the London area understand the SecurityScorecard rating for themselves and for their partners and suppliers. We are part of an interconnected ecosystem, where a compromise of a third-party could lead to a compromise of your company. We are excited to see London leading the charge in becoming a cyber secure city," said Aleksandr Yampolskiy, CEO and Co-Founder of SecurityScorecard. "Our team of security engineers, developers, and data scientists have discovered that companies with a poor SecurityScorecard security rating are over five times more likely to fall victim to a data breach. By working with the London Digital Security Centre, we're able to provide these exclusive and predictive risk insights to London's businesses, helping the entire city become more secure." "Today's businesses are all operating online and are part of the digital economy," said John Unsworth, Chief Executive for the London Digital Security Centre. "The role of the Centre is to ensure that all members receive the right level of support that helps their business embrace digital commerce and digital innovations. The SecurityScorecard platform will help us to achieve this. As more companies register for the assessment and begin to improve their security ratings, the impact on London as a city will be significant." To register for the assessment or for further information on the London Digital Security Centre please visit www.londondsc.co.uk or contact John Unsworth by email at john.unsworth@londondsc.co.uk. About London Digital Security Centre The London Digital Security Centre is a non-for-profit organization founded by the Mayor of London as a joint venture with the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police. The Centre works alongside the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre (ActionFraud) to help prevent businesses being the victims of cybercrime. The London Digital Security Centre provides free impartial advice and support to businesses to help improve their digital security and enable them to work in a secure online environment. For more information, visit www.londondsc.co.uk. About SecurityScorecard SecurityScorecard's proprietary SaaS platform helps enterprises gain operational command of their security posture through continuous, non-intrusive monitoring for any organization including third and fourth parties. The platform offers an unmatched breadth and depth of critical data points including a broad range of risk categories such as Application Security, Malware, Patching Cadence, Network Security, Hacker Chatter, Social Engineering and Leaked Information. For more information, visit www.securityscorecard.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/513263/SecurityScorecard_London_Digital_Security_Centre_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/513262/SecurityScorecard_Logo.jpg HEFEI, China, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading PV inverter system solution supplier, announced that the world's largest floating PV power plant of 40MW with Sungrow's PV inverters utilized has been successfully connected to the grid in Huainan, China. The power plant is based in a subsided area of mining which is flooded due to the rainy weather with depth of water ranging from 4 to 10 meters in Huainan, a coal-rich city in southAnhui province. And the seriously mineralized water makes this area valueless. "The plant not only makes full use of this area, reducing the demand for lands, but also improves generation due to the cooling effects of the surface," explained a professional from the local government. Sungrow's central inverter SG2500-MV employed in this plant features its integration of the inverter, the transformer and the switchgear, as a turnkey station with lower transportation cost due to its 20-foot containerized design. In addition, the combiner box SunBox PVS-8M/16M-W supplied by Sungrow as well is customized for floating power plants, enabling it to work stably in suchenvironment with high level of humidity and salt spray. "Introducing cutting-edge technologies to products is what we are always committed to. We continue to offer better products and solutions to customers all over the world," said Professor Renxian Cao, president of Sungrow. About Sungrow Sungrow is a global leading PV inverter system solution supplier with over 31GW installed worldwide as of December 2016. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Renxian Cao, Sungrow is a global leader in research and development in solar inverters, with numerous patents and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter systems as well as energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications. With a 20-year track record of growth and success, Sungrow's products are available in over 50 countries, maintaining a market share of around 25% in Germany and over 15% globally. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting: http://www.sungrowpower.com Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/512220/40MV_floating_pv_power_plant.jpg VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Bayhorse Silver Inc., (TSXV: BHS) ("Bayhorse" or the "Company") has advised American Cordillera Mining Corp ("AMCOR") that it has met the minimum expenditures as detailed in the Mining Lease Option Agreement (the "Option Agreement") dated December 4, 2013 with respect to the Bayhorse Silver Mine. As of May 2, 2017, the Company has expended in excess of the minimum US$1,500,000 of required property expenditures as defined in the Option Agreement and has exercised its option to acquire an 80% undivided right, title and interest in and to AMCOR's Mining Lease with Bayhorse Silver Mine LLC on and to the Bayhorse Silver Mine. The Company has issued the remainder of the 500,000 common shares of the Company in accordance with the Agreement. AMCOR is required to deliver to the Company a registerable transfer document confirming that the Company holds an 80% Leasehold Interest and AMCOR holds a 20% Leasehold Interest, respectively, in the Mining Lease. In accordance with the provisions of S. 8.1 of the Agreement, Bayhorse formally advised AMCOR that it had made a "Decision to Mine" and in accordance with the Option Agreement a Joint Venture is automatically deemed to have been formed in accordance with Schedule "C" to the Option Agreement, with Bayhorse as the Operator. As of the date of this News Release, the Company has expended US$1,600,000 in property expenditures and as such the Initial Calculation for the Joint Venture expenditures shall be based upon that amount. As a result of the exercise of the Option and commencement of the Joint Venture, AMCOR and the Company are deemed to have the following Joint Venture Interests: Deemed Expenditures: AMCOR $320,000 Joint Venture Interest: 20% Deemed Expenditures: Bayhorse $1,600,000 Joint Venture Interest: 80% In accordance with the provisions of the Option Agreement, Bayhorse will be responsible for 80% of the project expenditures going forward and AMCOR will be responsible for 20% of the expenditures. Provisions in the Option Agreement allow for dilution of either JV parties interest in the JV and, when either parties interest falls below 10%, their interest shall be converted to a 1% NSR and the surviving party shall hold a 100% interest to the lease. The Company advises it is not basing its decision to produce on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and also advises there is increased uncertainty and specific economic and technical risks of failure associated with its production decision. This News Release has been prepared on behalf of the Bayhorse Silver Inc. Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents. On Behalf of the Board, Graeme O'Neill, President (604) 684-3394 Bayhorse Silver Inc., a junior exploration company, is earning an 80% interest in the historic Bayhorse Silver Mine, Oregon, USA. Bayhorse is also earning a 75% interest in the past producing Bridging the Gap Project, consisting of ASARCO's historic Crown Point, Silver King, Ranger, Wyoming, Curlew, and Blackhawk silver/lead/zinc mines in Idaho's Silver Valley. The Company has an experienced management and technical team with extensive exploration and mining expertise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Bayhorse Silver Inc. Turkish security personnel involved in clash outside Turkish ambassador's residence (video) The violence captured on camera outside the Turkish ambassador's residence on Tuesday was a "brutal attack on peaceful protesters," D.C.'s police chief said. Speaking at a Wednesday news conference, police chief Peter Newsham said: "Yesterday afternoon, we witnessed what appeared to be a brutal attack on peaceful protesters at the Turkish ambassador's residence." Newsham said 11 people and one police officer were injured. The protests came the same day President Trump met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey at the White House. The fighting was between Armenians and Turks. Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, including his government security forces and several armed individuals, violently charged a group of Armenians outside the Turkish ambassadors residence. The State Department confirmed on Wednesday that Turkish security personnel were involved in the clash. We are concerned by the violent incidents involving protestors and Turkish security personnel Tuesday evening. Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest, the State Department said in a statement. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms. The department said they will work with the United States State Department and United States Secret Service to "identify and hold all subjects accountable for their involvement in the altercation." The violence captured the attention of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. "This is the United States of America," McCain wrote on Twitter. "We do not do this here. There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) on Wednesday sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging immediate action to hold individuals accountable for brutal attacks on peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Ambassadors residence on Tuesday Mayor Bowser stated: "What we saw yesterday - a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration - is an affront to D.C. values and our rights as Americans. I strongly condemn these actions." What we saw yesterday a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration is an affront to DC values and our rights as Americans, said Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser in a statement issued earlier today. I strongly condemn these actions and have been briefed by Chief Newsham on our response. The Metropolitan Police Department will continue investigating the incident and will work with federal partners to ensure justice is served. "Unfortunately, this is not the first such episode and represents a troubling pattern - whether it was last year's event at Brookings Institute wherein Turkish presidential bodyguards and pro-Erdogan supporters violently tried to bar people from attending the think-tank event or Turkey's shameless support of Azerbaijan's ongoing ceasefire violations against Armenia and Artsakh, which included the ISIS-like mutilation of an elderly couple and the beheading of three Armenian soldiers," the Armenian Assembly of America said in a statement condemning the attack on peaceful protesters. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Mundoro Capital Inc. (TSX VENTURE: MUN)(www.mundoro.com) ("Mundoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the start of the drilling program at the Tilva Rosh gold target on the Company's 100% owned Savinac license ("Savinac"). Savinac is one of the four exploration licenses located in the southern portion of the Timok Magmatic Complex in Serbia that are 100% controlled by Mundoro ("Timok South Projects" see Figure 1: Savinac License Location Map). Teo Dechev, CEO and President of Mundoro commented, "The prior drilling results at Tilva Rosh successfully followed the surface trench results of high grade gold-silver mineralisation down dip along the structure. The current program aims at defining the extent of near surface mineralisation along a 400 meters strike length and up to 100 meters depth. To date the mineralisation is open to the north, south and at depth. Mundoro is focused on drill testing select target areas in the Timok South Projects in parallel to furthering the JOGMEC funded Timok North Projects programs. We believe this parallel strategy of testing and advancing assets, through either partnerships or our own treasury, provides continuous opportunities to shareholders for creating value." TILVA ROSH GOLD TARGET The current drill program at the Tilva Rosh gold target is designed to follow up on two key gold bearing features: (i) a mineralised gold bearing hydrothermal breccia structure containing significant gold grades and (ii) quartz veins that also host gold mineralisation which have been identified with prior trenching and drilling. The 2017 drill program is budgeted for 1,500 meters of shallow drilling in 14 holes as shown in Figure 2: Tilva Rosh Drill Plan Map to test 400 meters along strike and up to 100 meters down dip extension. Previous Work at Tilva Rosh Mundoro conducted geochemical, mapping, trenching, and ground magnetic surveys over the Savinac license as well as compiling historic data, targeting epithermal and porphyry Cu-Au systems. This work outlined the Savinac mineralised belt (9 km by 2 km) which includes the Tilva Rosh epithermal system expressed on the surface with a large area of advanced argillic alteration covering 4 km by 1 km. Tilva Rosh was explored previously in the late 1970's and early 2000's but significant gold mineralisation and porphyry Cu-Au potential was identified by Mundoro's exploration in Q4-2013. As part of the 2014 program, six inclined diamond drill holes totaling 917.8 m were drilled at the southern portion of Tilva Rosh system to test the down dip extent of the high-grade gold mineralisation, which was previously confirmed by trenching results of 12 m @ 33.03 g/t AuEq (30.39 g/t Au, 171.27 g/t Ag). Collar locations for the previously drilled holes are also shown in Figure 2: Tilva Rosh Drill Plan Map. The previous Tilva Rosh drilling program demonstrated continuation of surface mineralisation at dow-dip for a north-west striking hydrothermal breccia structure which hosts the high grade gold. Copper mineralisation was intersected at depth in four of the six drill holes drilling in 2014 as shown in Table 1 below and appears to be related to supergene enrichment. The Company believes copper was not present at surface due to the highly acidic nature of the lithocap in the area caused by the high pyrite content in the system. The eastern most drill holes, SAV02 and SAV05, intersected the highest lead-zinc contents (up to 2.2% Zn and 0.6% Pb) suggesting lateral zoning indicative of a porphyry style hydrothermal system. Table 1: Summary of significant results from the 2014 Tilva Rosh drill program ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drill Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_01 11 18 7 7.90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 13 15 2 24.98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 13 14 1 42.90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 126 133 7 0.35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_02 30 40 10 0.34 ------------------------------------------------------------ 67.7 71.8 4.1 0.62 ------------------------------------------------------------ 95.6 100.0 4.4 0.54 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_03 71.0 76.0 5.0 2.54 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 74.0 74.7 0.7 10.35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_04 42.2 51.3 9.1 1.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 43.3 47.3 3.0 1.45 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_05 29 50.2 21.2 0.25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 30.4 36.0 5.6 0.43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 46.2 50.2 4.0 0.35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_06 38.5 42.9 4.4 0.59 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drill Hole ID Cu (%) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) CuEq (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_01 _ 46.74 8.68 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including _ 128.05 26.95 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including _ 199 46.22 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _ 2.76 0.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_02 _ 2.16 0.38 _ ------------------------------------------------------------ _ 2.36 0.66 _ ------------------------------------------------------------ _ 6.38 0.65 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_03 0.59 15.54 3.73 2.36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 1.47 50.10 13.52 8.54 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_04 0.33 9.00 1.91 1.21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 0.58 14.60 2.61 1.65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_05 _ 1.78 0.28 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including _ 3.30 0.49 _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 0.14 3.88 0.63 0.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAV_06 0.21 14.95 1.17 0.74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Gold Equivalent ("AuEq.") is calculated using the formula AuEq = (g/t/Au) + (g/t/Ag) + ($/ozAu)/65 + ((%Cu) x (22.0462) x ($/lbCu)) / ((1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)). -- Copper equivalent (CuEq%) is calculated using the formula CuEq = (%Cu) + ((g/t/AuEq) x (1/31.1035) x ($/ozAu)) / ((22.0462) x ($/lbCu)). -- Metal prices used are: gold price of US$1300/oz, copper price of US$3/lb, and silver price US$20/oz. -- All thicknesses from intersections from drill holes are down-hole drilled thicknesses or outcrop sample length thickness. True widths cannot be determined from the information available. Future Targets at Tilva Rosh The initial drill results from Tilva Rosh are encouraging and are interpreted to be proximal to a Cu-Au porphyry system related to a large area of advanced argillic lithocaps to the north (approximately 500 meters), highlighted with a molybdenum anomaly and followed outwards to zones of lead-zinc. These are geochemical signatures of porphyry deposit footprints and where the Company believes there is good potential for further porphyry drill targets. BORSKO DRILL PROGRAM UPDATE The drill program at the Borsko license in Serbia, which is being sole funded by JOGMEC as part of the JOGMEC option announced in August 2016 ("Timok North Projects"), has completed to date a total of 3,123 meters of diamond drilling in three holes: BJ-06, BJ-07, BJ-08. Due to the extended drill campaign at Borsko, which began in February 2017 and was extended twice, the Company now expects the assay results from this drill program to be announced in June. ANGEL DRILL PROGRAM UPDATE The commencement of the drill program at the Angel Vyvoda ("Angel") gold target in the Zvezda license in southeastern Bulgaria has been moved back due to mechanical problems with the drilling equipment. The Company expects the drilling program to now commence around the end of May with assay results from the Angel drilling program expected in August. The Angel drill program will test the large gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly that is also associated with the Au-Ag-Sb-As-Mo suit of elements (which indicate an epithermal environment that has the potential to host a mineralized system) seen in the geochemical survey that cover an area of a 2.7 km x 1.5 km and delineating at least three sets of E-W to NW-SE structures. For further information on the Angel drill program, please refer to our press release on September 16, 2014. On behalf of the Company, Teo Dechev, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Sampling and Analysis All drill core samples are processed and assayed using 50-gram fire assay with atomic absorption finish and ME-MS61 by ALS Serbia and Romania. Quality Assurance and quality control procedures include the systematic insertion of standards and duplicates into the sample streams. Field duplicate samples are taken every 25 samples and standards and blanks are inserted after every 20th sample. All data collected in the field and assay results from the laboratories are routinely verified and entered in an Access database. Qualified Person Technical information contained in this Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. G. Magaranov, P. Geo., Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Mundoro Capital Inc. Mundoro is a Canadian mineral exploration and development public company focused on building value for its shareholders through directly investing in mineral projects that have the ability to generate future returns for shareholders. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of projects in two European countries as well as an investment in a producing gold mine in Bulgaria and a feasibility stage gold project in China. The Company holds eight 100% owned projects in Serbia, the four Timok North Projects are in option to JOGMEC, and the four Timok South Projects are being advanced by Mundoro. Mundoro's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MUN". Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe" or "continue" or similar words or the negative thereof, and include the following: completion of the earn-in expenditures and options by JOGMEC; and completion of a definitive joint venture agreement by the parties. The material assumptions that were applied in making the forward looking statements in this News Release include expectations as to the mineral potential of the Timok North Properties, the Company's future strategy and business plan and execution of the Company's existing plans. We caution readers of this News Release not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements contained in this News Release, as there can be no assurance that they will occur and they are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include general economic and market conditions, exploration results, commodity prices, changes in law, regulatory processes, the status of Mundoro's assets and financial condition, actions of competitors and the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities. The forward-looking statements contained in this News Release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this News Release are made as of the date of this News Release and the Board undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and for a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Mundoro Capital Inc. Teo Dechev CEO, President and Director +1-604-669-8055 www.mundoro.com LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Victor Dahdaleh, Canadian philanthropist and businessman, joined academic and business leaders last week at the 95th Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce annual event at the House of Lords. Dr Dahdaleh, whose charitable foundation The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation supports a diverse range of causes across education, healthcare and social and economic development, was the President of the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce from 2004 to 2009. Fellow former President Robert Brant and current President William Swords were also in attendance. Introducing Peter MacKay - former Canadian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Minister of Defence, and Minister of Foreign Affairs - as guest speaker, Dr Dahdaleh highlighted the Nova Scotian's leadership and principled thinking. "It is all too common for us to take for granted the real leadership it takes to shape the political future of a nation. It takes courage, tenacity and integrity. Peter knows that a government must always decide whether to lift people up to reach their potential or weigh them down with over-regulation and too heavy a tax burden," said Dr Dahdaleh. Guests were joined by leading political figures - including Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade Liam Fox, Lord Giddens, Lord Bell and Canadian High Commissioner Janice Charette - to discuss the future of Canada-UK relations in the year in which Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of Confederation. The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation seeks to strengthen this historic relationship culturally by its ongoing sponsorship of the Canada Gallery at Canada House in London, which celebrates Canadian artists and their work. Also present at the event was Dr Kent MacDonald, president and vice-chancellor of St Francis Xavier University - another institution with which Victor Dahdaleh has close ties. In 2015, Dr Dahdaleh was honoured by the university with a Degree of Doctor honoris causa in Law. And additionally representing the Canadian academic establishment was York University President Designate, Dr Rhonda Lenton. York University is among several academic organisations partnered with the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation to deliver cutting-edge research programmes. In late 2015 the Foundation made a record$20milliondonation toYork to fund the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health , a state-of-the art facility. With The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation's fundamental principle of matching other funds when it considers donations, it has also been an active supporter ofMcGill UniversityinMontreal, one of the world's leading centres of medical-doctoral research. The Foundation matches the funds for an endowment in perpetuity for 32 scholarships at the university. The awards are aimed at outstanding full-time undergraduates from low-income countries. And last year it also matched a donation to found a newChair in Neuroscienceat the university, building onMcGill'sworld-class research in the study of chronic brain disease. In the UK, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation partnered with the British Lung Foundation in 2016 to launch anew programme of research into mesothelioma. Research teams from the University ofLeicester, Imperial College London and Cambridge University came together under the initiative. The Foundation's 5 million donation matched UK government funding announced earlier in the year. Also in the UK, Victor Dahdaleh is an Honorary Fellow at London School of Economics, where he has funded a range of new schemes and backed a scholarship programme to enable disadvantaged students from overseas to study at the school. The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation's support for education also reaches Africa, where it is a donor to the Northwood African Educational Trust, which manages a school for orphans in northwest Ethiopia. Victor Dahdaleh is the owner and chairman of Dadco, a privately owned investment, manufacturing and trading group established in 1915. For more information, visitvictordahdalehfoundation.com. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Prophecy Development Corp. ("Prophecy" or the "Company") (TSX: PCY, OTC PINK: PRPCF, Frankfurt: 1P2N) is pleased to announce that it has finalized detailed internal mine plans for the Paca project, initially targeting nearsurface mineralization with a low mining strip ratio. In addition, the Company has executed agreements regarding the sourcing of skilled workers through the local Pulacayo cooperatives for future mining operations at the Pulacayo and Paca projects. Further to the Company's news release dated December 2, 2016, Prophecy has renewed the letter of intent (LOI) to lease mining equipment from Oroscons S.R.L. Under the updated LOI which expires June 30, 2017, Oroscons agrees to provide Prophecy through lease, a mining and transportation fleet that would enable open-pit mining of the Paca deposit at a minimum rate of 200 tonnes of ore per day. Further to the Company's news release dated December 14, 2016, Prophecy is negotiating with a number of vendors that provide dedicated toll milling services at their ore processing facilities located in Potosi, which is a 2.5 hour drive by car, on paved road from Pulacayo. The toll milling services would entail the processing of mined materials to be supplied by the Company, utilizing conventional crushing, grinding and flotation technology to produce zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates. Given the low rates of capacity utilization of a great number of ore processing facilities (>50) in Potosi, the Company is confident it can finalize a new toll milling agreement at lower cost than the one signed last December. Prophecy continues discussions with a number of large trading and smelting companies that are interested in purchasing future zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates processed from Pulacayo and Paca mined materials and providing Prophecy with advance payment against future concentrate delivery to finance Paca to production. The most recent trial test runs at two concentrate-buyer designated processing facilities demonstrated high rates of silver recoveries (>85%) from Paca bulk sampling. Prophecy is further encouraged by an improved concentrate purchase term-sheet received from a major trader in May with significantly lower processing charges, consistent with industry trends. Please refer to the Company's June 18, 2015 and September 21, 2015 news releases for details regarding the amount and grade of resources for the Pulacayo and Paca deposits. Lastly, the Company's Bolivian subsidiary, ASC Bolivia LDC Sucursal Bolivia, has invested approximately US$28 million at Pulacayo and already acquired necessary environmental and social licenses to mine at Pulacayo. The Company is working with the Bolivian mining ministry and Corporacion Minera De Bolivia (COMIBOL) (which is under internal restructuring with a newly-appointed COMIBOL President) to obtain authorization for mining. The Company is confident that all key pre-requisites (community and ministerial support, mining equipment, mine plan, toll milling, concentrate off take and project financing through advance concentrate sales payments) are or will be in place for rapid mobilization to bring Paca and Pulacayo to production as soon as authorization is obtained. In March, Prophecy partially sponsored a Bolivian delegation headed by the Bolivian Minister of Mining and Metallurgy to attend the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in Toronto, Canada. The event successfully brought new Canadian investors to Bolivia. The Company will provide further update on project progress in due course. A positive production decision would not be based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability so would carry increased uncertainty and the risk of failure as to the mining method and profitability. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release was reviewed and approved by Christopher M. Kravits, CPG, LPG, who is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Kravits is a consultant to the Company and serves as its Qualified Person and General Mining Manager. Mr. Kravits is not independent of the Company since most of his income is derived from the Company. About Prophecy Prophecy Development Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that is engaged in worldwide mineral and energy exploration and development. Further information on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com. PROPHECY DEVELOPMENT CORP. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "JOHN LEE" Executive Chairman For more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor Relations: +1.888.513.6286 ir@prophecydev.com www.prophecydev.com Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding Prophecy's future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These estimates and assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and other uncertainties and contingencies, many of which, with respect to future events, are subject to change and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by Prophecy. In making forward-looking statements as may be included in this news release, Prophecy has made several assumptions that it believes are appropriate, including, but not limited to assumptions that: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, such as due to labour disruptions; currency exchange rates being approximately consistent with current levels; certain price assumptions for coal, silver and other metals; prices for and availability of fuel, parts and equipment and other key supplies remain consistent with current levels; production forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of Prophecy's current mineral resource estimates; labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Prophecy's current expectations; that any additional required financing will be available on reasonable terms; and market developments and trends in global supply and demand for coal, energy, silver and other metals meeting expectations. Prophecy cannot assure you that any of these assumptions will prove to be correct. Numerous factors could cause Prophecy's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including the following risks and uncertainties, which are discussed in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors" in Prophecy's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form as filed on SEDAR and posted on Prophecy's website: Prophecy's history of net losses and lack of foreseeable positive cash flow; exploration, development and production risks, including risks related to the development of Prophecy's mineral properties; Prophecy not having a history of profitable mineral production; commencing mine development without a feasibility study; the uncertainty of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; the capital and operating costs required to bring Prophecy's projects into production and the resulting economic returns from its projects; foreign operations and political conditions, including the legal and political risks of operating in Mongolia and Bolivia, which are developing countries and being subject to their local laws; the availability and timeliness of various government approvals, permits and licenses; the feasibility, funding and development of Prophecy's projects; protecting title to Prophecy's mineral properties; environmental risks; the competitive nature of the mining business; lack of infrastructure; Prophecy's reliance on key personnel; uninsured risks; commodity price fluctuations; reliance on contractors; Prophecy's need for substantial additional funding and the risk of not securing such funding on reasonable terms or at all; foreign exchange risk; anti-corruption legislation; recent global financial conditions; the payment of dividends; the inability of insurance to cover all potential risks associated with mning operations; and conflicts of interest. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on Prophecy's forward-looking statements. Prophecy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although Prophecy has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Prophecy undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. SOURCE: Prophecy Development Corp. The Employment Law Group Law Firm Guides Whistleblower Sandra Jolley To $1.6 Million Award, Maximum under 'FIRREA' Law WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / The U.S. government awarded $1.6 million to consumer advocate Sandra Jolley, a prominent critic of predatory reverse-mortgage lenders, in recognition of the role she played in blowing the whistle on improper practices by Financial Freedom, a lender and loan servicer that was run at the time by Steven Mnuchin - who, in a Trump-era twist, now heads the U.S. Treasury. Ms. Jolley's award is the maximum allowed by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), which encourages whistleblowers to reveal fraud that affects federally insured financial institutions. It was based on Financial Freedom's May 16 agreement to pay the United States more than $89 million to resolve matters including Ms. Jolley's claim that the company illegally foreclosed on many homes that were subject to reverse mortgages and then made inflated claims for reimbursement from a government insurance fund. A reverse mortgage is a home-equity loan, usually government-insured, that allows older homeowners to stay in their homes for life while giving them extra income. Repayment is triggered by events including the homeowner's death, after which servicers may foreclose on a property if borrowers or their estates can't satisfy the loan. The federal government regulates the foreclosure process via strict timelines and a few modest consumer protections - regulations that Ms. Jolley said were trampled by Financial Freedom. In her FIRREA declaration, filed in 2014, Ms. Jolley supplied evidence that Financial Freedom had obstructed repayment options and accelerated foreclosure to push older people, often freshly bereaved, out of their longtime homes at a rate far higher than other servicers. The Employment Law Group law firm represented Ms. Jolley in her FIRREA action as part of its growing whistleblower practice. Ms. Jolley's involvement with reverse mortgages began with her parents' traumatic experience with Financial Freedom. As a result of that experience, she started helping other homeowners and their families as a reverse-mortgage suitability and abuse consultant. Her hard-won expertise has saved hundreds of older people from losing their homes - and now has returned nearly $90 million to the government. Ms. Jolley's reverse-mortgage consultancy is based in Oxnard, Calif., and helps homeowners nationwide. Her Web site, elderfinancialterrorism.com, features advice for homeowners who are considering reverse mortgages, or who are fighting wrongful servicing or foreclosure practices. "Sandy is an amazing example of someone who gained deep knowledge via personal hardship, and now puts her learning at the service of others in the same situation," said David L. Scher, a principal attorney at The Employment Law Group. "It's appropriate that she has been rewarded by the government, because she certainly saved it a bundle. It's a sad irony, however, that Financial Freedom's settlement payment goes into coffers overseen by Mr. Mnuchin, who was guiding Financial Freedom while all of this occurred." At the time of the events highlighted in Ms. Jolley's FIRREA declaration, Financial Freedom was a part of OneWest Bank. Mr. Mnuchin was an owner of OneWest and served as its Chief Executive Officer, a tenure that earned him the nickname "The Foreclosure King." OneWest's aggressive squeezing of homeowners wasn't limited to elderly clients with reverse mortgages: An investigation by California's Department of Justice, for instance, found evidence "suggestive of widespread misconduct" in OneWest's handling of regular mortgages after the 2008 financial crisis, too. In 2015, Mr. Mnuchin led the sale of OneWest to CIT Group for $3.4 billion, reportedly receiving $380 million as his slice of a deal that went sour almost immediately: The new owner was forced to create a growing reserve to account for Financial Freedom's misstatement of money due from the government - a matter that was also investigated by government regulators. Today's settlement appears to be the first time Mr. Mnuchin's former company has paid the government in connection with wrongful foreclosures. Alone among major banks, OneWest refused to settle with regulators in a separate probe of the mortgage crisis, forcing its small borrowers to resolve their cases individually. "Today's settlement is a long-overdue step toward accountability at Financial Freedom," said Ms. Jolley. "This company still services approximately 80,000 reverse-mortgage loans, and those consumers will need proof that it has changed its ways. Financial Freedom must start treating reverse-mortgage regulations as crucial protections for their own customers - not as obstacles to be overcome." She also noted that Financial Freedom is not the only reverse-mortgage servicer that has taken advantage of older homeowners. "This is an industry that makes more money when consumers don't understand or exercise their rights," said Ms. Jolley. "The fate of Financial Freedom may serve as a deterrent for some, but unfortunately reverse-mortgage abuse is still common and many seniors continue to lose their homes unnecessarily." Sandra Jolley and David L. Scher are available for interviews about this case. Contact Mr. Scher at 202-261-2802 or dscher@employmentlawgroup.com. About The Employment Law Group The Employment Law Group law firm represents whistleblowers and employees who stand up to wrongdoing in the workplace. Based in Washington, D.C., the firm takes cases nationwide. More information about The Employment Law Group and its attorneys is available at https://www.EmploymentLawGroup.com. Consumer Advocate Who Blew Whistle on Financial Freedom SOURCE: The Employment Law Group, P.C. SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Wandera, the leader in enterprise mobile security and policy provided through its pioneering mobile gateway, today announced it has completed a total $27.5 million Series C equity and venture debt financing. New investor, Sapphire Ventures led the round with participation from existing investors, Bessemer Venture Partners and 83North, bringing the company's total funding to date to $50 million. As part of the new investment, Andreas Weiskam, managing director at Sapphire Ventures, will join the Wandera Board of Directors. The new financing follows a spectacular year for Wandera which has increased its number of Fortune 500 clients fivefold and which is now growing bookings at 250% year on year. Major global deployments include leading organizations in healthcare, finance, technology and professional services. "After thoroughly researching the mobile security and policy market, we see a winning technology leader in Wandera and its differentiated secure gateway. Mobile risk control, including threat defense, is a rapidly growing market and enterprises must prioritize an investment in mobile security solutions to ensure mobile employees have seamless, secure access to applications," said Andreas Weiskam of Sapphire Ventures. "Very quickly we recognized the strength of Wandera's cloud architecture and the effectiveness of its technology to identify emerging threats and enable proactive policy actions. We are excited to partner with this experienced leadership team right at the forefront of their market." Wandera plans to use the funding to expand its global footprint and further develop its gateway technologies, in particular its intelligence engine, MI:RIAM, designed to identify zero day threats and surface new analytic insights using a sophisticated blend of machine learning and data science techniques. Just last week, MI:RIAM detected 400 new variants of the dangerous SLocker ransomware, previously thought to have been eradicated. The power of MI:RIAM comes from its unmatched visibility into mobile data -- in 2016 the gateway scanned 26 billion mobile web requests including 700,000 unique apps and over 10 million plus web domains. "This funding is a real testament to the team and technology we have built here at Wandera," said Roy Tuvey, Co Founder and President at Wandera. "We are thrilled to partner with Sapphire Ventures, a leading growth investor with an impressive track record in identifying global market leaders including a number of high profile IPOs. They have demonstrated clear expertise in our area of enterprise software, particularly given their history and relationship with SAP. We are looking forward to working together to rapidly scale our pioneering cloud mobile gateway, and provide global enterprises a single integrated platform for mobile security and policy." Wandera is headquartered in San Francisco and London, and opened offices in Athens, Brno and Tel Aviv in 2016. About Wandera Wandera offers organizations a solution for Enterprise Mobile Security and Data Policy, using a unique gateway architecture to protect and enable corporate mobility. It works with more than 500 global enterprises, and has alliances with among others Deutsche Telekom, BT, Orange, Verizon and VMware. The company is frequently recognized by analyst firms Gartner, IDC and Forrester for its powerful Mobile Threat Defense and Content Filtering capabilities. Wandera is headquartered in the US and UK, and recently won Mobile Security Solution of the Year at the Computing Security Awards and the Mobile Security Award at Computing Magazine's Security Excellence Awards. Find us at wandera.com and follow us @wandera. About Sapphire Ventures Sapphire Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on helping innovative technology companies become global category leaders. Leveraging nearly two decades of experience and an extensive global enterprise network, Sapphire Ventures invests capital, resources and expertise to enable its portfolio companies to scale rapidly. Whether entrepreneurs sell to businesses, consumers or both, Sapphire Ventures offers a platform for business development and operational excellence to help them accelerate growth. With over $2.4 billion under management via direct growth investments and early-stage fund investments, Sapphire Ventures is positioned to elevate companies to the global stage. Find us in Palo Alto and at www.sapphireventures.com. Contact: Liarna La Porta liarna.laporta@wandera.com NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT (TOKYO:9432) Group, announced today that its "Germany Munich 2 Data Center" (Munich 2) has opened, effective immediately, in Unterschleiheim, a suburb of Munich, Germany located 16km from the city center. The facility is under the management of e-shelter, a NTT Com company and leading data-center operator and service provider in Europe. The two-story Munich 2 initially is offering 2,800 square meters of server space, equivalent to 1,100 racks, which is expected to expand to 5,600 square meters. The facility is operating under NTT Com's Nexcenter brand, which encompasses 24/7 data-center services in more than 140 bases worldwide. e-shelter, which is known as "home to the cloud," was joined by customers, partners, media and civic leaders to celebrate the opening of its second data center in Munich. The festivities included a welcoming address by the mayor of Unterschleiheim, Christoph Bock. Munich 2, the latest example of e-shelter's ongoing growth, follows the mid-April launch of the highly anticipated e-shelter innovation lab in Frankfurt. e-shelter expects to open additional data centers in Europe this year. Highly reliable and energy-saving functions Munich 2 delivers data-center services based on more than 300 globally unified standards that Nexcenter facilities have implemented for equipment and operations. The facility has adopted the industry's top standards to ensure high availability and energy savings. e-shelter designed the structure to adapt flexibly to environmental changes and future expansion. A stable and secure environment is assured by redundant electrical equipment and power supply for air conditioning. Advanced security and telecommunication equipment satisfy enterprises in need of ultimate reliability, such as financial institutions. Munich 2 achieves superior energy savings thanks to the latest technologies for efficient cooling and automatic control of cooling-water paths and amounts, leveraging access to cool groundwater available locally year-round, as well as automatic control of electricity use that is visualized with an original e-shelter program. Strict measures for operational management and security Munich 2 provides customer systems with robust protection based on standardized operational processes and multi-phase security. Internal personnel, not external providers, conduct thorough risk management and other important tasks, including 24/7 monitoring of key infrastructure and double-checking of security process by two staffers. Customers can request additional security measures for entering the server room, etc. by controlling access with multi-phase contactless IC cards and biometric authentication. Unauthorized facility entry is prevented with interior and exterior cameras, sensors around the building and a road barrier for approaching cars. High-quality network environment Munich 2 provides circuits from more than 10 providers using different paths. Also, all circuits are duplicated in the meet-me-room for telecom provider interconnection, the server room and the network racks. Customers can use maximum 10Gbps internet circuits and carrier-neutral multiple network, as well as build seamless ICT environments combining NTT Com data centers and cloud services worldwide. Background In Europe, NTT Com delivers data center services in Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the UK (see Appendix 1). In Germany, NTT Com has actively expanded its base in the country's busy data-center market serving financial, software, automotive, electricity and publication companies. Please see Appendix 2 for more details of Munich 2. About NTT Communications Corporation NTT Communications provides consultancy, architecture, security and cloud services to optimize the information and communications technology (ICT) environments of enterprises. These offerings are backed by the company's worldwide infrastructure, including the leading global tier-1 IP network, the Arcstar Universal One VPN network reaching 196 countries/regions, and over 140 secure data centers worldwide. NTT Communications' solutions leverage the global resources of NTT Group companies including Dimension Data, NTT DOCOMO and NTT DATA. www.ntt.com | Twitter@NTT Com Facebook@NTT Com LinkedIn@NTT Com About e-shelter e-shelter is one of the leading data center operators in Europe, providing highly secure environments for housing and connectivity of IT and network systems. With a presence in all key city-markets of the DACH-region, e-shelter leverages 300 MW of power capacity and 90,000 sqm of data center space to deliver scalable data center solutions. As a member of the NTT Communications Group, e-shelter provides access to a global network of 140 data centers. Among e-shelter's clients are financial services companies, telecoms operators, IT service and outsourcing providers as well as cloud service providers. In addition to e-shelter, the companies Arkadin, Dimension Data, itelligence, NTT Communications, NTT DATA and NTT Security are part of the NTT Group in Germany. In this region, the NTT Group represents around 5,300 employees and revenue of more than 1.2 billion. You can find further information on the global NTT Group at www.ntt-global.com. http://www.e-shelter.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005536/en/ Contacts: NTT Communications Corporation Hiroshi Seo, +81 3 6733 9511 wg-cl@ntt.com or e-shelter Daniela Beeger, +49 (0)69-7801 2110 presse@e-shelter.de VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 5, 2017 / Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (OTCQB: LXRP) (CSE: LXX) (the "Company" or "Lexaria") is pleased to announce that its has appointed Allan Spissinger as new acting CFO, Secretary and Treasurer. Allan Spissinger was involved in the information technologies (IT) sector for more than 10 years working on corporate IT infrastructure and software development projects before focusing on finance and accounting. Allan joined the audit and assurance practice of PricewaterouseCoopers (PwC) obtaining his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation by working primarily in the public company space on financial reporting and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance in sectors including resources, manufacturing and technologies. Allan has managed private businesses for 20 years before joining Lexaria in September 2014 as its corporate controller and is intimately familiar with its operations, procedures and controls. "Working with the Lexaria management team has been an inspirational experience," said Mr. Spissinger. "I look forward to my expanding role and continuing to build the exciting future that Lexaria's patented technologies enable." Lexaria's CEO Chris Bunka says, "Everyone at Lexaria welcomes Allan in his new role as CFO as we continue to strengthen our leadership team. I have every confidence in Allan and his abilities to help guide Lexaria through what we expect to be a period of phenomenal growth to come." Separately, the Company announces it has received US$1,540 for the exercise of 11,000 existing warrants prices at US$0.14. The Company has also settled debt of US$12,000 through the issuance of 35,294 shares at a deemed price of US$0.34. 200,000 stock options have been granted to Mr. Spissinger with an exercise price of US$0.37. No commissions or placement fees have been paid related to the funds received from this warrant exercise. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. The securities referred to herein will not be or have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. Lexaria has 18 patents pending and patent applications filed in more than 40 countries worldwide. About Lexaria: Lexaria Bioscience Corp. is a food biosciences company with a proprietary technology for improved delivery of bioactive compounds. The Company's lipophilic enhancement technology has been shown to enhance the bioavailability of orally ingested cannabinoids, while also improving taste. This technology promotes healthy ingestion methods, lower overall dosing and higher effectiveness in active molecule delivery. The Company's technology is patent-protected for cannabidiol (CBD) and all other non-psychoactive cannabinoids, and patent-pending for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), other psychoactive cannabinoids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), nicotine and other molecules. www.lexariabioscience.com FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Lexaria Bioscience Corp. Chris Bunka Chairman & CEO (250) 765-6424 FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This release includes forward-looking statements. Statements which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. The Company makes forward-looking public statements concerning its expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: that any additional stock warrants or stock options will be exercised. Such forward-looking statements are estimates reflecting the Company's best judgment based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the Company include, but are not limited to, government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition, the patent application and approval process and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the Company's public announcements and filings. There is no assurance that existing capital is sufficient for the Company's needs or that it will be able to raise additional capital. There is no assurance that Lexaria will successfully complete any other contemplated or existing technology license agreements; or that results from any studies will be favorable or in any way support future business activities of any kind. There is no assurance that any planned corporate activity, business venture, or initiative will be pursued, or if pursued, will be successful. There is no assurance that any of Lexaria's postulated uses, benefits, or advantages for the patented and patent-pending technology will in fact be realized in any manner or in any part. No statement herein has been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Lexaria Energy Foods, Amarii, and ViPovaTM products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Lexaria Bioscience Corp. National supply chain cooperative extends partnership with procurement provider after capturing savings and operational efficiencies ARCOP, Inc., the national supply chain cooperative for Arby's Restaurant Group, is extending its partnership with PROACTIS, a global Spend Control and eProcurement solution provider. In the past six years, PROACTIS sourcing services have led to more than $14M in savings for ARCOP's member community across both direct and indirect spend areas. "Our co-op members rely on us to drive down costs, establish healthy supplier relationships and deliver continual process improvements that make them more profitable," said Keith Anderkin, Senior Vice President of Procurement at ARCOP. "The white glove treatment through which PROACTIS' team of experts provides its robust sourcing services enables us to deliver on this promise." The national supply chain cooperative leverages PROACTIS' sourcing technology and services to get a consolidated view of procurement data and streamline the RFI and RFP process, which dramatically increases the number of sourcing events it can run. With PROACTIS, ARCOP has uncovered meaningful savings across a wide range of sourcing categories. "The food service industry is incredibly competitive. Between rising food prices, fluctuating consumer preferences and stagnant industry growth, no restaurant business is immune to the pressure," said Brian Miller, VP of Services, PROACTIS. "Restauranteurs recognise a holistic sourcing strategy can help them thrive by capturing new value across strategic spend areas and investing the savings back into the business. ARCOP has proven itself a leader in this charge." About PROACTIS PROACTIS specialises in helping organisations take the waste out of all their non-payroll spend to deliver greater bottom-line value. We deliver technology solutions and associated services that help them transform the way they buy and pay for all types of goods and services to eliminate wasted time, money and talent throughout the business. proactis.com About ARCOP, Inc. ARCOP, Inc. has served as Arby's national supply chain cooperative since 1978 and manages the Arby's system. ARCOP's membership is comprised of both Franchised and Company owned Arby's restaurants. ARCOP utilises system volume to negotiate with suppliers and distributors to establish pricing for all restaurants and to ensure continuity of supply through strategic supply chain management. ARCOP manages over $1 billion in annual spend for all food, packaging, beverages, distribution, capital assets, smallwares, energy, and service programs. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171005005992/en/ Contacts: PROACTIS Simon Dadswell simon.dadswell@proactis.com +44(0)1937-545070 BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - The Brazilian Real strengthened against the U.S. dollar in the early European session on Thursday, after Brazil's central bank slashed its interest rate further, while hinting that the pace of easing would moderate at its next meeting. The monetary policy committee, known as Copom, unanimously decided to slash its Selic rate by one percentage point to 10.25 percent from 11.25 percent. The rate was lowered by 100 basis points at its April meeting. The bank had started easing in October 2016 after inflation showed signs of easing. The Brazilian Real advanced to a 2-week high of 3.2245 against the greenback, up by 1 percent from Wednesday's closing value of 3.2570. The next possible resistance for the Real is seen around the 3.19 region. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Dow Jones received a payment from EQS/DGAP to publish this press release. EQS-News: The Investor Relations Society / Key word(s): Miscellaneous The Investor Relations Society: Gary Leibowitz and Evan Davis awarded IR Society Fellowships 22-Jun-2017 / 10:31 GMT/BST *London, 21 June 2017* *Gary Leibowitz and Evan Davis awarded IR Society Fellowships* Yesterday at its annual conference, the Investor Relations Society ('IR Society' or 'the Society') announced the recipients of its 2017 Fellowship awards: Gary Leibowitz, senior advisor, McKinsey; and Evan Davis, author, broadcaster and journalist. The IR Society Fellowship Programme was launched in 2011 to recognise outstanding individuals who have made a significant contribution to the IR industry and IR Society, either through their own work or by developing others in their organisations and beyond. "The IR Society is delighted to honour our 2017 Fellows, Gary Leibowitz and Evan Davis. They are both leaders in their own fields and have been staunch supporters of Investor Relations. We now recognise them for their significant support and contribution in raising the profile of the IR Society," said David Lloyd-Seed, Chair of the IR Society. "Gary was a long-serving IR Society Board member, is highly regarded by the IR community for his innovative approach and is credited with getting his former IR team behind Society initiatives. Today, Gary is working at McKinsey as a senior adviser and we look forward to his continued association with the Society." David continued: "In many ways, Evan has become a feature of the annual conference with a popular and inimitable style that resonates well with our members and the IR community. Evan's participation has helped raise the profile of the conference. We owe a debt of gratitude to each of them." The IR Society's 31st annual conference, held yesterday, was entitled 'A new World Order: The Ascent of IR.' With an attendance of over 350 delegates, keynote speakers included Lady Barbara Judge, Chairman of the IOD and Anne Richards, Chief Executive, M&G Investments, as well as other speakers from the investment community. The IR Society was delighted to welcome back Evan Davis as conference host for the seventh year running. Throughout the day, we featured the prevailing theme of change, its impact on IR best practice and the response from the C-suite, the Boardroom and IROs, as well as the buy- and sell-sides. The big topics included a critical assessment of the changing regulatory environment we face and other pressing issues, from pay and performance to the imperative of responsible investing in UK plc. For further information contact: *The Investor Relations Society* John Gollifer - General Manager 020 7379 1763 Laura Hayter - Head of Policy and Communications 020 7379 1763 *Notes for editors:* *The Investor Relations Society* The Investor Relations Society (IR Society) is a membership organisation that exists to promote best practice investor relations in the UK and beyond. It is run by IR professionals for IR professionals. Established in 1980, the IR Society's mission is to promote best practice in investor relations; to support the professional development of its members; to represent their views to regulatory bodies, the investment community and government; and to act as a forum for issuers and the investment community. The Society has over 800 members from the UK, Europe and beyond, including representatives from most of the FTSE 100, a large number of FTSE 250 companies and a number of AIM and smaller companies as well as IR advisers and service providers. For more information visit www.irs.org.uk [1] or connect with us on Twitter (@IRSocietyUK) or LinkedIn [2] Dissemination of a UK FINANCIAL NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. End of Announcement - EQS News Service 585391 22-Jun-2017 1: http://public-cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=dbbb5b9ea8233e85f1c84ca07123c681&application_id=585391&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 2: http://public-cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=1d8db2adbdd5a3212d6d2b31bb8d5841&application_id=585391&site_id=vwd&application_name=news (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 22, 2017 05:31 ET (09:31 GMT) Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS Google Ad There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - While Republican leaders have steadfastly claimed the move is unnecessary, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Wednesday the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as Special Counsel to oversee an investigation of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. Rosenstein said in a statement he determined it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for the investigation. 'My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted,' Rosenstein said. 'I have made no such determination.' He added, 'What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.' Rosenstein said he has great confidence in the independence and integrity of the Justice Department's people and processes but determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. The deputy attorney general said Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and expressed confidence he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result. Mueller, who had been working at a private law firm, served twelve years as FBI director under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Despite Republican resistance to naming a special prosecutor, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle praised Mueller for his independence and integrity. 'Mueller has a strong reputation for independence, and comes with the right credentials for this job,' said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. 'At the end of the day, we need a public accounting of what went on to restore faith in government.' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Mueller exactly the right kind of individual to serve as special counsel and said he now has significantly greater confidence the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead. Schumer had previously indicated Senate Democrats would attempt to block the nomination of any replacement for fired FBI Director James Comey until a special prosecutor was appointed. The appointment of Mueller comes on the heels of reports President Donald Trump asked Comey to drop a federal investigation into links between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Responding to Mueller's appointment in a statement, Trump expressed confidence the investigation will show there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. 'As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,' Trump said. 'I look forward to this matter concluding quickly,' he added. 'In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.' However, Trump struck a more combative tone in posts to Twitter on Thursday, reiterating his claim that the investigation is a witch hunt. 'This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!' Trump tweeted. 'With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!' Trump claimed in remarks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement Ceremony on Wednesday that he has been the most unfairly treated politician in history. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de LINKOPING, Sweden and LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International medical imaging, IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) reports that all customers in the UK are again operational with Sectra's IT solutions. No customers outside the UK were affected by the recent ransomware attack. "I am proud to say that the close partnership we have with all our customers in combination with clear crisis management processes has made this an efficient, although tough journey. We have worked around the clock, also over the weekend, to get systems back up at record times. As a medical IT company with its roots in cybersecurity, we have a big advantage in situations like these," says Jane Rendall, Managing Director, Sectra Ltd. Over the weekend of May 12-14, several healthcare organizations in the UK were affected by a ransomware attack. The ransomware delivery campaign spread through a combination of a phishing attack and by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft windows operating systems. The ransomware had a major impact in the UK. Sectra is one of the four big imaging IT providers in this area, with more than 50 customers including some of the biggest UK trusts. In addition, more than 400 institutions across the UK are connected to Sectra's service for transferring images between healthcare providers, patients or medico-legal staff, Sectra Image Exchange Portal (IEP). Sectra was in contact with all customers on Friday May 12 and had, as many other vendors, several systems infected. Sectra's monitoring service provided an overview of the status of most systems and effort could be directed where it was needed the most. Sectra has since Friday, in close co-operation with the healthcare providers themselves, worked to ensure that its customers can begin to operate their systems again. Where needed, infected systems have been rebuilt. The Image Exchange Portal servers are patched with all available security updates at the time of release and were therefore not affected. Sectra will continue to work to support all customers to ensure the security of their systems, following this attack and going forward into the future. For further information, please contact: Dr. Torbjorn Kronander CEO and President, Sectra AB, +46-705-23-52-27 Mrs. Jane Rendall Managing Director, Sectra Ltd +44-1908-673-107 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/sectra/r/all-sectra-customers-live-following-recent-ransomware-attack,c2269160 The following files are available for download: VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") (TSX: TV)(LMA: TV)(OTCQX: TREVF)(FRANKFURT: 4TI) reports that at its Special Meeting held on May 17, 2017 shareholders voted in favour of all resolutions supporting the Company's proposed acquisition of a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80.08-percent interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90-percent interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39.24-percent interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire a 100-percent interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada, and certain related exploration properties and assets. There were 157,588,572 common shares represented in person or by proxy at the Special Meeting, representing 39.04% of the Company's total issued and outstanding common shares. The report of voting results is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description of Outcome of Votes Votes Votes Matter Vote For Withheld Against ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Consideration Resolution 139,844,550(i) 267,116 Share Resolution approved (99.81%) n/a (0.19%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Private Placement Resolution 139,659,903(i) 451,763 Resolution approved (99.68%) n/a (0.32%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Shareholder Rights Plan Termination Resolution 139,819,920(i) n/a 291,746 Resolution approved (99.79%) (0.21%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Excludes 17,476,906 shares held by interested parties "The overwhelming approval by the voting shareholders is a resounding endorsement of the Company's planned acquisition of these zinc mines from Glencore," stated Dr. Mark Cruise, Trevali's President and CEO. "This transformative transaction will propel Trevali to top-10 global zinc producer status and create a premier pure-play zinc miner with sector-leading leverage to the commodity." ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with two commercially producing operations. The Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander mine in Peru and its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. Trevali also owns the Halfmile and Stratmat base metal deposits, located in New Brunswick, that are currently undergoing a Preliminary Economic Assessment reviewing their potential development. Additionally, the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Glencore PLC to acquire a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80.08% interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90% interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39.24% interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire 100% interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada and certain related exploration properties and assets. The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV), and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of TREVALI MINING CORPORATION Mark D. Cruise, President This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation to, update such statements containing the forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to statements as to: the expected benefits of the proposed Transaction, the closing the Transaction" including the anticipated timing thereof, the satisfaction of all conditions to closing the Transaction and the Offering including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary consents and approvals, the completion of the debt financing, the Company's plan to prepare a new PEA for its Halfmile and Stratmat properties, the accuracy of estimated mineral resources, anticipated results of future exploration, and forecast future metal prices, expectations that environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, political, marketing or other issues will not materially affect estimates of mineral resources. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in spot and forward markets for silver, zinc, base metals and certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Peruvian sol versus the U.S. dollar); risks related to the technological and operational nature of the Company's business; changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States, Peru or other countries where the Company may carry on business in the future; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological or structural formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the Company does business; inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources as properties are mined; global financial conditions; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; the Company's ability to complete and successfully integrate acquisitions and to mitigate other business combination risks; challenges to, or difficulty in maintaining, the Company's title to properties and continued ownership thereof; the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, and changes in project parameters to deal with unanticipated economic or other factors; increased competition in the mining industry for properties, equipment, qualified personnel, and their costs. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty or reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Trevali's production plan at the Caribou Mine is based only on measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Trevali's production plan at the Santander Mine is based only on measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is therefore no certainty that the conclusions of the production plans and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) will be realized. Additionally, where Trevali discusses exploration/expansion potential, any potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. We advise US investors that while the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources" and "inferred resources" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the US Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize these terms. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the material in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The TSX has not approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. Contacts: Steve Stakiw, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications (604) 488-1661 / Direct: (604) 638-5623 sstakiw@trevali.com LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Calling him the right man to help disabled and minorities communities, Ruben Hernandez, the founder and president of Unification of Disabled Latin Americans, today endorsed Robert Lee Ahn for the 34th Congressional District. "I am impressed by Robert's commitment to the people of this district and his forward-thinking ideas to help disabled and minority communities so desperately in need and deserving," Hernandez said. "Born and raised in this community, he is one of our own and someone Latinos, Koreans and everyone else can rally around to be the voice we need in Washington." UDLA was founded in 1974, by and for physically challenged individuals and is committed to improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and help them recover their self-esteem and become productive members in society. UDLA encourages disabled individuals to realize their unique potentials and reach greater independence by offering various programs and services free of charge. "I am honored by this endorsement and what it shows in terms of the broad support our campaign has from all over the district. Ruben is a notable example of how one determined person can make a difference to improve the lives of others," Ahn added. "I am proud to carry this endorsement with me to Washington and focus on the challenges the disabled face, especially disabled minorities who need better access to services, support and protection from discrimination." Hernandez came to the U.S from Mexico at age 20, only to lose his sight after being shot in the head, but that didn't stop him as he found the inspiration to found UDLA which has been instrumental in the rehabilitation of hundreds of disabled individuals and their families. Hernandez cited Ahn's success in getting the Anderson Munger Family YMCA built in the district as evidence of his "can-do" approach to solving problems. The 34th District represents all of Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Bangladesh, as well as parts of Historic Filipinotown, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Downtown, Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, City Terrace, Echo Park, El Sereno, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Mt. Washington, Montecito Heights, and Westlake/Pico Union. For more information, go to www.AhnforCongress.com. The general election is June 6th. Contact: David Meraz Campaign Manager (661) 443-4842 Email Contact SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- In an effort to enhance his practice's online presence, board-certified facial plastic surgeon John Hilinski, MD recently launched a new design for his website. The San Diego-based surgeon was seeking to update his website with a fresh, modern look. This included an entirely new color scheme and a rebranded logo. The new website exhibits a soft, clean feel that reflects the calming, professional environment Dr. Hilinski offers at his practice. A major focus of Dr. Hilinski's new practice website is his tutorial on rhinoplasty, which is one of the most common procedures he performs. This acts as a comprehensive resource for those researching variations of the rhinoplasty procedure, as well as demonstrates Dr. Hilinski's advanced expertise in performing the complex surgery. In addition to the rhinoplasty tutorial, visitors of the site can also find a large collection of procedural pages, many of which include frequently asked questions and case studies. The information previously found on Dr. Hilinski's website, as well as new custom-written content, has been placed within a responsive website design, allowing people to conveniently view his site on a variety of Internet-compatible devices -- from desktop computers to tablets and smartphones. The website has also been revamped with updated best practices for search engine optimization, with the mission of helping Dr. Hilinski be more visible within relevant search queries. For the development of his new practice website design, Dr. Hilinski collaborated with Rosemont Media, a local digital marketing firm that he has worked with since 2011. Dr. Hilinski believes his upgraded website better aligns with the type of atmosphere he has established at his practice -- a state-of-the-art environment with patient education being a top priority. About John Hilinski, MD Dr. Hilinski is double board certified in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery as well as Head and Neck Surgery. He completed his Medical Doctorate from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and continued to the University of California, San Diego for his residency in Head and Neck Surgery. Following his training, Dr. Hilinski was selected for a fellowship in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery in Chicago, training under world-renowned facial plastic surgeon Dr. Dean M. Toriumi. Today, Dr. Hilinski performs a wide range of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures at his San Diego practice, with particular expertise in rhinoplasty. He is available for interview upon request. For more information, visit drhilinski.com or facebook.com/drhilinski. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3140690 Dr. John Hilinski 3720 Fourth Avenue San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 296-3223 Rosemont Media (858) 200-0044 www.rosemontmedia.com Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities or an invitation to enter into an agreement to do such things, nor is it calculated to invite any offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for the securities of the Company. This announcement is not, and is not intended to be, an offer of securities of the Company for sale, or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Company, in the United States. The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold within the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. This announcement and the information contained herein are not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. No public offer of the securities referred to herein is being or will be made in the United States. ZHEJIANG EXPRESSWAY CO. LTD. (A joint stock limited company incorporated in the People's Republic of China with limited liability) (Stock code: 0576) ANNOUNCEMENT ON RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE AGM Zhejiang Expressway Co., Ltd. (the "Company") held its 2016 annual general meeting (the "AGM") at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 5/F, No. 2 Mingzhu International Business Center, 199 Wuxing Road, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, the People's Republic of China (the "PRC"). Shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders") who attended the AGM by proxy represented a total of 3,725,638,583 shares of the Company entitled to attend and to vote at the AGM, or 85.7826% of the total issued share capital of the Company as at the date of the AGM. Chairman of the Company, Mr. Zhan Xiaozhang, chaired the AGM. Votings at the AGM took place by way of poll, the details of all the proposed resolutions to be resolved are as follows: AS ORDINARY RESOLUTIONS 1. Resolved to approve the report of the directors of the Company for the year 2016, with 3,725,408,583 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9938% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 230,000 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0062% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 2. Resolved to approve the report of the supervisory committee of the Company for the year 2016, with 3,725,408,583 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9938% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 230,000 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0062% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 3. Resolved to approve the audited financial statements of the Company for the year 2016, with 3,725,408,583 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9938% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 230,000 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0062% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 4. Resolved to approve the payment of a final dividend of RMB29.5 cents per share in respect of the year ended December 31, 2016, with 3,725,638,583 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 100% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and no shares voted in the negative; 5. Resolved to approve the final accounts of the Company for the year 2016 and the financial budget of the Company for the year 2017, with 3,725,408,583 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9938% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 230,000 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0062% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 6. Resolved to consider and elect Mr. Wu Qingwangas an independent supervisor of the Company with 3,722,226,432 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9084% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 2,876,151 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0772% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 7. Resolved to approve the re-appointment of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants Hong Kong as the Hong Kong auditors of the Company, and authorize the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") to fix their remuneration, with 3,725,636,482 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9999% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 2,101 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0001% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); 8. Resolved to approve the re-appointment of Pan China Certified Public Accountants as the PRC auditors of the Company, and authorize the Board to fix their remuneration, with 3,725,636,482 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.9999% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 2,101 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.0001% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM); AS SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS 9. Resolved to approve the grant of a general mandate to the Board to issue, allot and deal with additional H shares not exceeding 20% of the H shares of the Company in issuing and authorizing the Board to make corresponding amendments to the Articles of Association of the Company as it thinks fit so as to reflect the new capital structure upon the allotment or issuance of H shares with 3,016,478,388 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 80.9654% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM) and 709,160,195 shares voted in the negative (representing 19.0346% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the AGM), the details are as follows: "THAT: (A) a. subject to paragraph (c) and in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, the Articles of Association of theCompany and the applicable laws and regulations of the PRC, the exercise by the Board during the Relevant Period (as hereinafter defined) of all the powers of the Company to allot, issue and deal with, either separately or concurrently, additional H shares of the Company and to make or grant offers, agreements, options and rights of exchange or conversion which might require the exercise of such powers be hereby generally and unconditionally approved; b. the approval in paragraph (a) shall authorize the Board during the Relevant Period to make or grant offers, agreements, options and rights of exchange or conversion which might require the exercise of such powers after the end of the Relevant Period; c. the aggregate nominal amount of H shares of the Company allotted, issued and dealt with or agreed conditionally or unconditionally to be allotted, issued and dealt with (whether pursuant to an option or otherwise) by the Board pursuant to the approval granted in paragraph (a) shall not exceed 20% of the aggregate nominal amount of H shares of the Company in issue on the date of passing this resolution, otherwise than pursuant to (i) a Rights Issue (as hereinafter defined) or (ii) any scrip dividend or similar arrangement providing for allotment of shares in lieu of the whole or part of a dividend on shares of the Company in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company; and d. For the purpose of this special resolution: "Relevant Period" means the period from the date of passing of this resolution until the earliest of: the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company; the expiration of the period within which the next annual general meeting of the Company is required by the Articles of Association of the Company or other applicable laws to be held; and the revocation or variation of the authority given under this resolution by a special resolution in general meeting. "Rights Issue" means an offer of shares open for a period fixed by the directors to holders of shares on the register on a fixed record date in proportion to their holdings of such shares (subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to fractional entitlements or having regard to any restrictions or obligations under the laws of, or the requirements of any recognized regulatory body or any stock exchange in any territory outside Hong Kong) and an offer, allotment or issue of shares by way of rights shall be construed accordingly. (B) The board be authorized to make corresponding amendments to the Articles of Association of the Company as it thinks fit so as to reflect the new capital structure upon the allotment or issuance of shares as provided in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (A) of this resolution." At the time of the AGM, the total number of shares in issue of the Company as well as entitling the holders to attend and vote at the AGM in respect of the resolutions of the AGM was 4,343,114,500. There was no share requiring any holder to attend and vote only against the resolutions or to abstain from voting at the AGM. Mr. Eric Shi of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants was appointed and acted as scrutineers for the vote taking during the AGM. FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE PAYMENT OF FINAL DIVIDEND The payment of a final dividend of RMB29.5 cents per share in respect of the year ended December 31, 2016 was approved by more than half of the votes cast by the Shareholders at the AGM. For determining the entitlement to the proposed final dividend, the register of members holding H shares of the Company (the "H Shares") will be closed from May 24, 2017 to May 29, 2017 (both days inclusive), during which period no transfer of H Shares will be effected. In order for holders of H Shares to qualify for the proposed final dividend, all transfers of H Shares accompanied by the transfer instruments and relevant share certificates must be lodged with the Company's share registrars in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Registrars Limited at Rooms 1712-1716, 17/F Hopewell Center, 183 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong for registration not later than 4:30 p.m. on May 23, 2017. Shareholders whose names appear in the register of members of the Company on May 23, 2017 (the "Record Date") are entitled to the said final dividend. Pursuant to the relevant regulations and the Articles of Association, dividends for holders of H Shares (excluding Shareholders who are Chinese Mainland individual investors or enterprise investors investing in shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect) shall be paid in Hong Kong dollars according to the average closing exchange rate of Hong Kong dollars to Renminbi declared by the People's Bank of China in the five trading days prior to the date of the declaration of dividends. The applicable exchange rate for the purpose of the payment of the final dividend is therefore HK$1.00 to RMB0.88398. Dividends payable to the Shareholders who are Chinese Mainland individual investors or corporate investors investing in the H Shares via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect will be paid in Renminbi by the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited Shanghai Branch or Shenzhen Branch as entrusted by the Company. According to the Law on Corporate Income Tax of the People's Republic of China and the relevant implementing rules (the "CIT Law") which came into effect on January 1, 2008, the Company is obliged to withhold for payment the corporate profit tax, which is at the rate of 10%, from the payment of dividends to non-resident enterprises (as defined under the CIT Law, including HKSCC (Nominees) Limited, other nominees, trustees or other groups and organizations) who are holders of H Shares. Dividends paid to natural persons who are holders of H Shares are not subject to individual income tax for the time being. According to the requirements of the "Notice on Taxation Policies Concerning the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Pilot Program (Finance Tax [2014] No. 81)and "Notice on Taxation Policies Concerning the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect Pilot Program (Finance Tax [2016] No. 127) and jointly published by the Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation and China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect tax arrangements are as follows: (i) for Chinese Mainland individual investors who invest in the H Shares via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the Company will withhold individual income tax at the rate of 20% in the distribution of final dividend. Individual investors may, by producing valid tax payment proofs, apply to the competent tax authority of China Securities Depository and Clearing Company Limited for tax credit relating to the withholding tax already paid abroad; and (ii) for Chinese Mainland securities investment funds that invest in the H Shares via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the Company will withhold individual income tax in the distribution of final dividend pursuant to the foregoing provisions. For Chinese Mainland corporate investors that invest in the H Share via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the Company will not withhold the income tax in the distribution of final dividend and such investors shall file the tax returns on their own. The final dividend of HK$33.3718 cents per share (before tax) is expected to be paid to the H Shareholders of the Company on June 26, 2017. Investors should read this announcement carefully. The Company will withhold for payment the corporate profit tax strictly in accordance with the relevant laws or requirements of the relevant governmental departments and strictly based on what has been registered on the H Share register of members on the Record Date. The Company will owe no liability whatsoever in respect of and will not entertain any claims arising from any delay in, or inaccurate determination of, the status of the Shareholders, or any disputes over the mechanism of withholding. ADJUSTMENT TO CONVERSION PRICE OF 365,000,000 ZERO COUPON CONVERTIBLE BONDS DUE 2022 References are made to the announcements of the Company dated 5 April 2017, 6 April 2017 and 21 April 2017 in relation to the issue of the zero coupon convertible bonds due 2022 in an aggregate principal amount of 365,000,000 (the "Bonds"). The payment of the 2016 final dividend as recommended by the Board was approved by the Shareholders at the 2016 AGM. With effect from 24 May 2017, being the day immediately after the record date in respect of the 2016 final dividend, the Conversion Price of the Bonds will be adjusted from the initial Conversion Price of HK$13.10 per H Share to the adjusted Conversion Price of HK$12.63 per H Share (the "Adjustment"), in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Bonds. Save for the abovementioned Adjustment to the Conversion Price, the other terms of the Bonds remain unchanged. As at the date of this announcement, the aggregate principal amount under the Bonds that remains outstanding is 365,000,000. Immediately following the Adjustment, the maximum number of H Shares issuable by the Company upon full conversion of the Bonds at the adjusted Conversion Price of HK$12.63 per H Share will be 239,761,361 H Shares, representing an increase of 8,602,124 H Shares (the "Additional Conversion Shares") from the original 231,159,237 H Shares based on the initial Conversion Price of HK$13.10 per H Share. The Additional Conversion Shares will be issued and allotted pursuant to the general mandate approved by the Shareholders at the annual general meeting of the Company held on 6 May 2016 (the "General Mandate"). The Company is entitled to issue and allot a maximum of 286,770,900 H Shares pursuant to the General Mandate and has not fully utilised the General Mandate as at the date of this announcement. An application will be made by the Company to the Stock Exchange for the listing of, and permission to deal in, the Additional Conversion Shares on the Stock Exchange. By order of the Board Tony Zheng Company Secretary Hangzhou, the PRC May 18, 2017 As at the date of this announcement, the executive directors of the Company are: Mr. ZHAN Xiaozhang, Mr. CHENG Tao and Ms. LUO Jianhu; the non-executive direc tor s of the Company are: Mr. W ANG Dongjie, M r. DAI Benm eng and Mr. ZHOU Jianping; and the independent non-executive directors of the Company are: Mr. ZHOU Jun, Mr. PEI Ker-Wei and Ms. LEE Wai Tsang Rosa. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Roger Ailes, the founder as well as former Chairman and CEO of Fox News, has died at the age of 77. Ailes founded Fox News in 1996 and built it into the country's top cable news network. He left the company in July 2016 following allegations that he sexually harassed female colleagues. Ailes' death was confirmed by his wife Elizabeth Ailes in a statement. 'I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning. Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise - and to give back,' the statement read. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and for Rudy Giuliani's first mayoral campaign. In 2016, he was also an adviser to the Donald Trump campaign, where he assisted with debate preparation. Ailes was an acknowledged master of communications and was known for his focus on airing conservative opinions. Ailes abruptly resigned from Fox in July 2016 after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him, alleging wrongful termination and sexual harassment. Born in Warren, Ohio, Ailes attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he majored in radio and television. Ailes suffered from haemophilia and was often hospitalized as a youth. After graduating in 1962, he launched his career in television by working for KYW-TV for a then-locally produced take-variety show, 'The Mike Douglas Show.' When the show was syndicated nationally a few years later, Ailes star rose with it. In 1967, Ailes met future President Richard Nixon on the Mike Douglas Show, who later called on Ailes to serve as his executive producer for television. He also worked on the campaign to re-elect Ronald Reagan in 1984 and was later credited for guiding George H.W. Bush to victory in the Republican primaries and the come-from-behind victory over Michael Dukakis. Ailes later made his way back to television and was tapped by Rupert Murdoch in 1996 to become the founding CEO of Fox News. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de TEMECULA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Marana Police Department, serving the City of Marana, a suburb of Tucson, is the first public safety answering point (PSAP) in Pima County to cut over to a managed service solution for 9-1-1 emergency calls. The solution is available to the state's PSAPs to upgrade to Next Generation (NG) 9-1-1. The new service, NG9-1-1 Managed Service Solution is provided by CenturyLink, along with network capabilities, and Airbus DS Communications is providing the VESTA 9-1-1 call handling system. By utilizing a managed service solution, the Marana Police Department now has access to the latest public safety technology and around-the-clock monitoring in a cost efficient and operations-friendly model. The Marana Police Department, a six-position PSAP serving more than 40,000 residents over 127 square miles, won't have to worry about maintaining equipment or keeping up with the ever-evolving pace of technology. Instead, it will have the latest system hardware and software along with 24/7 monitoring and maintenance. With the VESTA system, the Marana Police Department is also outfitted with advanced mapping and analytics capabilities and an intuitive user interface to help Calltakers respond to calls more quickly and efficiently. Once fully enabled, the VESTA 9-1-1 call handling system will allow Calltakers to move between different PSAPs on the same regional system as needed and begin work immediately with a familiar and personalized user interface. Once Pima County's seven remaining PSAPs migrate to CenturyLink's Managed NG9-1-1 Service Solution, the county will be able to take advantage of cost and operational efficiencies as a single robust regional network. "We were very eager to be the first PSAP in the county to adopt this new solution and take the first step in becoming next generation ready," said Sheila Blevins, Pima County 9-1-1 Coordinator. "It was by far the easiest cutover I've experienced in my 30 years in public safety. Now, we have peace of mind knowing that Airbus DS Communications and CenturyLink are monitoring and updating our hardware and network 24/7. We have also opened the door to future possibilities such as text-to-9-1-1 and video capabilities." "Airbus DS Communications is honored to help the Marana Police Department and its fellow PSAPs in Pima County prepare for the next generation," said Mary Wathen, vice president of operations at Airbus DS Communications. "Our VESTA 9-1-1 system can be tailored to fit PSAPs of any size and offers the flexibility for neighboring agencies to align their public safety efforts. This allows municipalities like Pima County and the state of Arizona to easily deploy regional networks to better protect their communities." Marana Police Department chose CenturyLink's Managed NG9-1-1 Service Solution because of its reliability and redundancy and the inclusion of the VESTA 9-1-1 advanced emergency call-handling system. "CenturyLink is excited to support the Marana Police Department and its fellow agencies in Pima County by providing a solution that delivers the latest public safety technology without requiring significant capital investment," said Marty Leavengood, vice president, Government and Education Solutions, CenturyLink. "Our Managed NG9-1-1 Service Solution ensures that Marana Police Department's public safety professionals now have the best tools and the time to do what they do best - save lives." About Airbus Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of EUR 67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe's number one space enterprise and the world's second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide. Airbus DS Communications, Inc. is a global leader and trusted source for mission-critical communications technologies. The VESTA product suite provides Next Generation 9-1-1 call processing systems, land mobile radio solutions and emergency notification applications, creating smarter ways to keep all our communities safe. Airbus DS Communications was awarded the Frost and Sullivan's 2016 Best Practices Award as the NG9-1-1 Company of the Year. www.airbus-dscomm.com About CenturyLink CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications and IT services company focused on connecting its customers to the power of the digital world. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, big data analytics, managed security services, hosting, cloud, and IT consulting services. The company provides broadband, voice, video, advanced data and managed network services over a robust 265,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 360,000-route-mile international transport network. Visit CenturyLink for more information. Contacts: Flynn Nogueira Airbus DS Communications Director of Marketing flynn.nogueira@Airbus-DSComm.com 951.216.9699 Minh Le DVL Seigenthaler minh.le@dvlseigenthaler.com 615.610.0310 Courtney Morton CenturyLink Courtney.morton@centurylink.com 801-238-0228 Chicago, June 2, 2017 Regulatory News: OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE) announced today that the Company will present at the upcoming "Annual Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum" being held on June 2, 2017, in Chicago,in parallel to the international annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Dominique Costantini, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, will provide an overview of the Company, its most recent accomplishments and future growth steps. She will focus on its original immuno-oncology portfolio including combined neoepitopes specifically activating T lymphocytes (Tedopi in phase 3 registration trial in Non-Small Lung Cancer) and new checkpoint inhibitor blocking myeloid suppressive cells associated to the tumor (OSE-172/Effi-DEM, SIRPa antagonist in preclinical stage). Both products have a strong interest in combination with the available T checkpoints as well as in case of escape to this line of immune treatment. "Our franchise in immuno-oncology is positioned on T-cell specific activation by neoepitopes and on suppressive cell blockage in the tumor microenvironment by a checkpoint. Tedopi and OSE-172 (Effi-DEM) are key assets to reinforce our visibility with clinicians, in particular in the United States", said Dominique Costantini. Details of the June 2, 2017, presentation: Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel Presentation track: B Presentation time: 11:30 AM Central Time ABOUT THE ANNUAL SACHS IMMUNO-ONCOLOGY: BD&L AND INVESTMENT FORUM The 3rd "Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum" is designed to bring together thought leaders from cancer research institutes, patient advocacy groups, pharma and biotech to facilitate partnering and funding & investment. It is expected that around 250 delegates and about 30 presentations by listed and private biotechnology companies seeking licensing investment. Numerous networking opportunities available via an online One-2-One meeting system with dedicated meeting facilities to make the event more transactional. ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registration trials to R&D: In immuno-oncology Tedopi, a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Currently in registration Phase 3 trial advanced NSCLC HLA A2+ patients EU /US Orphan Status in the US - Registration expected in 2019 A Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in NSCLC is considered in 2017 to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Orphan Status in the US in NSCLC is considered in 2017 OSE-172 (Effi-DEM), new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP-a receptor In preclinical development for several cancer models. In auto-immune diseases and transplantation FR104, CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy Phase 1 trial completed - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation to pursue clinical development. OSE-127 (Effi-7), interleukin receptor-7 antagonist In preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseasesand other autoimmune diseases.License option agreement with Servierfor the development and commercialization. The portfolio's blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018 **. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics' management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics' shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 28 April 2017 under the number R.17-038, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2016, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics' website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518005795/en/ Contacts: OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie Detry, +33 143 297 857 Sylvie.detry@ose-immuno.com or Media AlizeRP Caroline Carmagnol Laetitia Abbar +33 647 389 004 oseimmuno@alizerp.com or LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos, +41 79 367 6254 chris@lifesciadvisors.com BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets declined steadily during the first few hours of trade Thursday, extending the losses from the previous session. Investor sentiment continued to be impacted by the barrage of issues plaguing the Trump administration. Traders are concerned that it could prevent Trump from implementing his pro-business policy agenda. However, the markets pared their losses in the afternoon following the early recovery on Wall Street. The European markets still finished in negative territory Thursday, but finished well off their intraday lows. Policymakers agreed that there was a need for great caution in undertaking even subtle changes in communication so as to avoid market volatility similar to the 'taper tantrum' in 2013, the minutes of the minutes of the European Central Bank's policy session on April 26-27 revealed Thursday. 'It was felt that the Governing Council's communication should be adjusted in a very gradual and cautious manner as, at the current juncture, monetary and financial conditions were particularly sensitive to changes in communication,' the minutes, which the ECB calls 'the account', said. 'After a long period of very accommodative monetary conditions, even small and incremental changes in communication could have strong signaling effects when interpreted as heralding a change in the monetary policy stance.' The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.50 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.62 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.75 percent. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.33 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.53 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.89 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.70 percent. In Frankfurt, Merck KgaA fell 2.78 percent after its first-quarter net profit declined 11.8 percent from a year earlier. Deutsche Borse tumbled 0.87 percent after ruling out big stock exchange mergers for now. In London, Land Securities dropped 2.60 percent after warning of Brexit uncertainty hitting the London office market. Tour operator Thomas Cook rose 1.28 percent after its half-year results came in line with expectations. Royal Mail advanced 0.65 percent as it reported a 25 percent rise in fiscal 2017 pretax profit. Burberry jumped 4.69 percent. The company announced a new buyback of 300 million pounds and said its targeted cost savings are on track. Experian weakened by 2.18 percent, despite reporting a profit before tax of $1.07 billion at actual exchange rates for the twelve months ended 31 March 2017, up from $966 million a year ago. The company also announced a $600 million share repurchase programme. Debt collection firm Intrum Justitia plunged 11.65 percent in Stockholm after it proposed a string of divestments to meet EU demands related to a planned merger with Norwegian rival Lindorff. Fiat Chrysler sank 2.74 percent in Milan after reports that the U.S. Justice Department is preparing to sue the company over excess diesel emissions. France's unemployment rate based on ILO norms unexpectedly dropped in the first quarter to its lowest level in five years, preliminary data from INSEE showed Thursday. The ILO unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent from 10 percent in each of the previous three quarters. Economists had expected the figure to hold steady. UK retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Retail sales volume including auto fuel grew 2.3 percent month-on-month, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in March. This was the fastest growth since January 2016, and above the expected rate of 1.1 percent. Economists had forecast a moderate 1 percent expansion. In an upbeat sign for the labor market, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing another unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 13th. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 232,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 236,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 240,000. Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity has unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in the month of May, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday. The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity in the region climbed to 38.8 in May from 22.0 in April, with a positive reading indicating growth. The index had been expected to dip to 19.5. A report released by the Conference Board on Thursday showed that its index of leading U.S. economic indicators rose in line with economist estimates in the month of April. The Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.3 percent in April, matching the downwardly revised increase in March as well as expectations. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Technavio analysts forecast the global fire protection equipment market for wind power systemsto grow to USD 3.52 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of close to 10% over the forecast period, according to their latest report. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170619006042/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global fire protection equipment market for wind power systems from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) The research study by Technavio on the global fire protection equipment market for wind power systems for 2017-2021 provides a detailed industry analysis based on the geography (EMEA, the Americas, and APAC) and application (onshore and offshore applications). The fire protection equipment for wind power systems detect fire in wind turbines and initiate a process that automatically extinguishes the fire. The global fire protection equipment market for wind power systems is expected to grow significantly, owing to the rising fire accidents in wind turbines, which are increasing wind energy consumption and expanding offshore installations. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free Technavio analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global fire protection equipment market for wind power systems: Rise in wind energy consumption Supportive regulatory actions Increase in offshore installations Rise in wind energy consumption Countries worldwide are slowly shifting their focus toward renewable energy sources because of the depletion of conventional sources of energy and to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Wind power is considered to be the most efficient source of power generation and also one of the most abundant sources of alternative energy. According to GWEC, China is the leading country in terms of cumulative installed wind power capacity. "With increased wind energy consumption, we expect the demand for wind turbines to increase rapidly. This increase in the number of wind turbine installations is propelling the demand for fire protection equipment in wind power systems, as they help in protecting the turbines against firesays Thanikachalam Chandrasekaran, a lead analyst at Technavio for power research. Supportive regulatory actions The fire protection equipment for wind power system is receiving significant governmental support, greatly enhancing its adoption rates. For instance, the revised edition of the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) 850 identifies the hazards and protections for wind-power facilities. Similarly, manufacturers in Europe are expected to comply with the section 1.5.6 of the 2006/42/EC Machinery Directive which states that machinery must be designed and constructed in a way to avoid any risk of fire or overheating from both internal and external sources. With the regulatory support of government worldwide, there is an increasing need for fire protection equipment in wind turbines. Increase in offshore installations "Offshore wind energy installations have been present in small numbers until now. However, countries worldwide are making heavy investments in installing offshore wind farms. Several governments have committed to installing more offshore wind power despite some inherent difficultiessays Thanikachalam. Countries such as the US, Japan, China, South Korea, and India are expected to experience increased number of projects in offshore wind. Given that these offshore wind parks require investments on a higher end and human intervention is difficult in the region in the event of an emergency, the automatic fire extinguishing systems are mandatory in these parks. Browse Related Reports: Global PPE Market for Lab and Research Facilities 2017-2021 Global Arc Flash Protection Equipment Market 2017-2021 Global Lighting Protection Systems Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like energy storage smart grid, and oil and gas. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technaviois a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170619006042/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com United Engine Corporation (a part of Rostec Corporation) will present engines for aircraft and helicopters at SITDEF 2017 exhibition in Peru, as well as negotiate with partners from Latin American countries. The international defense technology exhibition SITDEF takes place on the territory of the headquarters of Ground Forces in Lima, the capital of the Republic of Peru. The exhibition has been held every other year, starting from 2007. Visitors of UEC at SITDEF 2017 will see the helicopter engine VK-2500PS and the engine digital control system BARK-88 for upgrading of RD-33 engines. In addition to that, UEC will make presentations of turbofan engines RD-33MK and AI-222-25 (for MiG-29 aircraft and combat trainer aircraft Yak-130, respectively). At SITDEF 2017 UEC will negotiate with Peruvian partners. First of all, with the representatives of Air Force, aviation of Ground Forces and commercial customers. Meetings with delegations from other countries of the continent have been planned. "Peru, which has a big fleet of aircraft and helicopters with UEC engines, is one of the most important and promising partners in Latin America for our company, says Alexander Artyukhov, the General Director of JSC United Engine Corporation, We certainly expect that the fleet of aircraft engines designed and produced by UEC will increase even more if the new contracts for supply of aircraft or helicopters to Peru are signed. At the moment we are developing the system of integrated maintenance and after-sales service support for engines in Peru. A special role in this process is given to establishing direct relationships with civil and military customers." UEC aircraft and helicopter engines are used in many countries of Latin America: Peru, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba and others. In Peru, Russian engines proved their unique reliability in the difficult climatic and natural conditions of the country. In particular, the company's specialists provide a comprehensive support to the Peruvian side in ensuring the operation of the RD-33 engines (as part of the MiG-29 fighters) and the R-95Sh (as part of the Su-25 attack aircrafts), as well as the TV3-117 and VK-2500 engines, which also take off the ground the multipurpose Mi-171Sh helicopters and Mi-35 attack helicopters, supplied earlier by JSC Rosoboronexport to the Ministry of Defense of Peru. UEC also intends to expand its cooperation with civilian operators in Peru using more than 50 TV3-117 VK-2500 engines for various helicopters. The VK-2500PS engine is the latest modification of VK-2500 with the extended engine service life, the use of the modern electronic full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system, providing for the higher operational characteristics. The digital BARK-88 unit enables the better regulation of the engine's work, ensures the longer operational reliability, improves the engine's adaptation to the environmental conditions. The UEC is ready to propose Peru to modernize the RD-33 engines of its Air Force by installing the BARK-88 system. Earlier the engines of the MiG-29 aircrafts belonging to the world famous Swifts aerobatic performance demonstrator team of the Russian Air Force were upgraded with the installing the BARK-88 system. JSC United Engine Corporation (a part of Rostec Corporation) is an integrated company specializing in the development, serial production and maintenance of engines for military and civil aviation, space programs and navy, as well as oil and gas industry and power industry. One of the priority activities of UEC is the implementation of integrated programs for the development of the industry enterprises with the introduction of new technologies that meet international standards. Rostec Corporation is a Russian corporation established in 2007 to facilitate development, manufacturing and export of high-tech industrial products for civil and military designation. It consists of 700 organizations that comprise 11 holding companies in military-industrial complex and three in civil industry, as well as over 80 companies with direct management. Rostec portfolio includes such well-known brands as AVTOVAZ, KAMAZ, Kalashnikov Group, Russian Helicopters, VSMPO-AVISMA, Uralvagonzavod, etc. Rostec organizations are located in 60 regions of the Russian Federation and deliver products to the markets in more than 70 countries. Rostec's consolidated proceeds in 2016 reached RUB 1 tn 266 bn, consolidated net proceeds RUB 88 bn and EBITDA RUB 268 bn. Average salary in the Corporation in 2016 amounted to RUB 44,000. In accordance with Rostec strategy, the main objective for the Corporation is ensuring the technological advantage of Russia at highly competitive world markets. The key tasks for Rostec are the introduction of a new technological paradigm and digitalization of the Russian economy. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006051/en/ Contacts: United Engine Corporation Anastasia Denisova Phone/fax: +7 (499) 558-38-83 press@uecrus.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has ordered monetary sanctions and permanent bans against Brendan James Schouw and his company Hornby Residences Ltd. for fraud. In January 2017, a BCSC panel found that Schouw, a Vancouver resident, convinced one investor to invest $1 million in Hornby for a Vancouver real estate project. After depositing the investor's money into Hornby's bank account, Schouw redirected certain of the funds to his own account. Schouw spent approximately $75,000 of the investor's money on his personal mortgage payments and on his separate property management business, despite representing to the investor that all of his investment would be used for the development of a Vancouver real estate project. In its decision, the panel stated "Schouw knowingly diverted the funds for his own purposes and did so with the knowledge that by so doing, he was putting the investor's funds at risk." For his misconduct, Schouw has been ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $125,000. He has also been ordered to pay a disgorgement order of $74,612. Schouw and Hornby are jointly and severally liable for the disgorgement amount. Both Schouw and Hornby have been ordered to cease trading in, and are permanently prohibited from purchasing, any securities or exchange contracts. They are both also banned from becoming or acting as a registrant or promoter, acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with activities in the securities market, and engaging in investor relations activities. Schouw has been ordered to resign any position that he holds as a director or officer of any issuer and has been permanently prohibited from becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer or registrant. The panel also ordered that securities of Hornby be permanently cease traded. You may view the decision on our website, www.bcsc.bc.ca, by typing Brendan James Schouw, Hornby Residences Ltd. or 2017 BCSECCOM 168 in the search box. Information about disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website. Please visit the Canadian Securities Administrators' (CSA) Disciplined List for information relating to persons and companies disciplined by provincial securities regulators, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA). About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca) The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering: -- A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence -- A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org. Contacts: Media Contact: Alison Walker 604-899-6713 Public inquiries: 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free) inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT)(CSE: EAT.CN)(CNSX: EAT)(OTCQB: SPLIF)(FRANKFURT: 2NU) is pleased to announce an update on operations in Pueblo, CO. Nutritional High is impressed with the progress that has been made since the launch announcement on February 22, 2017. Palo Verde team has been focused on streamlining the production process in anticipation of radically scaling up the throughput, while maintaining strong extraction yields. Since the initial launch Palo Verde has manufactured over 7,000 grams of cannabis oil distillate and approximately 3,000 FLI cartridges. The focus of equipment and extraction process calibration has been to achieve higher THC content for the final oil product, while ensuring that the gross extraction yields remain in line with expectations. The THC content has improved from high 70s percent for the initial batches to over 90% for the more recent batches, with some batches achieving over 95% THC content. At this time, the throughput is estimated at 20-40 lbs of trim per day with an estimated yield of 8-10%. The throughput has been increasing as a result of the new equipment being installed since the initial launch. The process upgrades also allowed to remove more unwanted compounds out of the oil, which has resulted in higher purity product. Palo Verde continues to accept sales orders for FLI cartridges and bulk oils, which have performed well in the Colorado market and there have been repeat orders. The average wholesale price of the FLI cartridges has been $16 per 0.5g cartridge, which ranges depending on the final THC content of each product. In order to accelerate product sales Palo Verde has also augmented its sales team by hiring another sales representative and intends to bring on more to strengthen its salesforce. Jim Frazier, CEO of Nutritional High commented: "We're very pleased with how the production ramp-up is progressing. The team has come a long way since commencing commercial production in late February and we look forward to FLI cartridges building a strong consumer market presence in Colorado, and nationally as Nutritional High established facilities in other states." About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and marijuana-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Contacts: Nutritional High International Inc. David Posner Chairman of the Board 647-985-6727 dposner@nutritionalhigh.com www.nutritionalhigh.com OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to Congress on Thursday officially informing lawmakers of President Donald Trump's intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Lighthizer said the administration seeks to renegotiate NAFTA in order to support higher-paying jobs in the U.S. and grow the economy by improving opportunities under the trade deal. 'Today, President Trump fulfilled one of his key promises to the American people,' Lighthizer said in a statement. 'For years, politicians have called for the renegotiation of this agreement, but President Trump is the first to follow through with that promise.' He added, 'USTR will now continue consultations with Congress and American stakeholders to create an agreement that advances the interests of America's workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses.' Lighthizer noted in his letter to Congress that the economy and businesses have changed considerably in the 25 years since NAFTA was negotiated but the agreement has not. Sending the letter begins a 90-day period for the administration to develop its negotiating positions before negotiations with Canada and Mexico can officially begin. Trump regularly offered harsh criticism of NAFTA during the presidential campaign, calling it the 'worst trade deal in the history of the world.' However, a group of eighteen Republican Senators sent a letter to Lighthizer earlier this week stressing the positive economic impact of NAFTA. The letter claimed NAFTA has led to tremendous growth in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada, integrated cross-border supply chains that benefit U.S. employers, and more than tripled U.S. exports of goods and services. 'Given that the agreement is more than two decades old, there are areas in which NAFTA will benefit from strengthening and modernization,' the GOP senators wrote. They added, 'On the other hand, efforts to abandon the agreement or impose unnecessary restrictions on trade with our North American partners will have devastating economic consequences.' The senators, led by Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said they will maintain a keen interest in the on-going process surrounding NAFTA and said they look forward to working with Lighthizer. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Cherubim Interests, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHIT) ("the Company"), an expansion-stage alternative construction, and real estate development company, announces its 2016 annual financial results and for the first and second quarters ending February 28, 2017 and corporate updates. Management Commentary "I am pleased to report that we've been able to generate great momentum as a fundamental business since we last filed our financial reports on May 30, 2016. We were able to capitalize on storm damage that swept through North Texas early last year with our subsidiary Victura Roofing. We are currently into this years' storm season and will also continue to recognize a portion of last year's revenues well into Q3 2017 as we complete the backlog of work," said Patrick Johnson, CHIT CEO. "We have also established additional revenue streams with opportunities to construct and distribute mobile extraction laboratories as well as provide industry agnostic construction services within the cannabis sector. We believe that with a backlog of roofing revenues with exponential additional sales opportunities, the rollout of BudCube Cultivation Systems Technology, and solid niche opportunities within the cannabis sector, we are now poised to make a substantial revenue run which will further enhance value for our shareholders." 2016 Financial Results Revenue was $213,663, an increase of 213,663% compared to $0 in the prior year of 2015. Total cost and expenses were $206,542, a 77.45% decrease compared to $915,850 in the prior year of 2015. Balance Sheet, Cash, Liabilities As of August 31, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $830,482, an increase of 4,080% from $19,865 at August 31, 2015. Total liabilities were $2.85 million as of August 31, 2016, a decrease of 2.4% from $2.92 million at August 31, 2015. Q1 2017 Financial Results At November 30, 2016, Revenue was $408,628 an increase of 408,628% compared to $0 at November 30, 2015. At November 30 2016, total cost and expenses were $2,456,104, a 11.26% increase compared to $2,179,355 at November 30, 2015. Balance Sheet, Cash, Liabilities At November 30, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $638,170, an increase of 3,653% from $16,562 at November 30, 2015. Total liabilities were $2.6 million as of November 30, 2016, a decrease of 8.5% from $2.84 million at November 30, 2015. Q2 2017 Financial Results At February 28, 2017, Revenue was $381,516, an increase of 381,516% compared to $0 at February 28, 2016. At February 28, 2017, total cost and expenses were $230,737, a 43.8% increase compared to $160,428 at February 28, 2016. Balance Sheet, Cash, Liabilities At February 28, 2017, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $529,966, an increase of 3530% from $14,507 at February 28, 2016. Total liabilities were $2.08 million at February 28, 2016, a decrease of 7.9% from $2.1 million at February 28, 2016. Corporate Updates: Convertible Stock Dividend: The Company will begin converting the stock dividend for our shareholders in the coming weeks. S-1 Registration Statement Legal Counsel has completed the draft of the S-1 Registration Statement. Now that the company is current, the company intends to file the statement in the coming week. BudCube Cultivation Systems The company is currently locating raw land in the DFW Metroplex to build a state of the art office complex for its staff and for production and Distribution hub for BudCube Cultivation Systems technology. The company had originally signed a real estate contract to deploy BudCube Cultivation Systems technology and hybrid business concept in the Eugene, Oregon area. The contract has lapsed but the company plans on resuming discussions regarding the property in the coming weeks. If we are not successful acquiring the originally located property, one of similar or like kind will be. BudCube Construction Services The Company has executed a construction management agreement with GreenPhoria Farms to perform industry-agnostic tenant finish out services. GreenPhoria Farms is a cannabis producer with twelve proprietary strains and over 30 years of cultivation expertise in the industry. The company currently has approximately 20,000 sq. feet under lease in Hillsboro, Oregon, and intends on introducing its proprietary strains to the industry as early as 3rd quarter 2017. The company has begun mobilization and opened its construction office in Hillsboro, Oregon. We expect to begin wall erection in the coming weeks. Victura Roofing The Company is in the process of adding new sales management with the capability to development a year-round marketing plan that offers the business stable growth. New management will develop a strong roofing program in the sectors of new roofing sales, new residential and commercial construction, and insurance restoration and repair through affiliated relationships. About Cherubim Interests Inc. Cherubim Interests specializes in alternative construction projects, as well as covering the entire spectrum of real estate development: due diligence, acquisition, planning, construction, renovation, and management; providing complete beginning-to-end development programs for mixed use, single, and multifamily projects and properties. For more information, visit www.cherubiminterests.com Safe Harbor Statement This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E and/or 27E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements as to the future performance of the company and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to raise necessary financing, retention of key personnel, timely delivery of inventory from the company's suppliers, timely product development, product acceptance, and the impact of competitive services and products, in addition to general economic risks and uncertainties. Cherubim Interests, Inc. Patrick J. Johnson Chief Executive Officer (844) 842-8872 pjohnson@cherubiminterests.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is planning to announce Thursday that he will not serve his full term in the House, according to media reports. Citing multiple sources familiar with the congressman's plans, Politico said Chaffetz will leave Congress on June 30th. The Washington Post also reported that Chaffetz plans to step down next month. Chaffetz announced last month that he would not run for re-election in 2018 and indicated he planned to return to the private sector. 'I have long advocated public service should be for a limited time and not a lifetime or full career,' Chaffetz said at the time. 'Many of you have heard me advocate, 'Get in, serve, and get out.' 'After more than 1,500 nights away from my home, it is time,' he added. 'I may run again for public office, but not in 2018.' Chaffetz sought to preemptively cut off any speculation about the reason for his decision, saying he is healthy, confident he would be re-elected, and has the full support of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to continue as chairman of the oversight committee. While Chaffetz' seat would likely remain in GOP hands in a potential special election, his early departure would trigger a closely watched race to succeed him as chairman of the high-profile Oversight Committee. The Washington Times pointed to committee members Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., as possible replacements for Chaffetz. The reports about Chaffetz stepping down come just days after he demanded the FBI hand over all documents detailing communications between former Director James Comey and President Donald Trump within the next week. Chaffetz made the request late Tuesday in the wake of reports that Trump had asked Comey to drop a federal investigation into links between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WOODBURY, NY--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Vanderbilt Financial Group, an Independent Broker Dealer, is pleased to announce the addition of a branch from Cheshire, Connecticut. Formerly affiliated with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, EVANS Group Financial Advisors has joined Vanderbilt. Coming off the heels of their biggest recruiting year ever with 25 new advisors in 2016, Chief Operations Officer, Joe Trifiletti explains, "We have seen a lot of momentum in the last year and expect to expand on that in a big way this year. We're seeing a lot of individual Financial Advisors, as well as groups, looking to join our firm due to our attractive culture, focus on Impact Investing, and recent growth in a time when many firms are shrinking." The EVANS Group is comprised of Financial Advisor, Michael Evans, and his wife Mary who manages all the administrative needs of their business. Michael has over 27 years of experience in the industry and holds Series 6, 7, 24, 63, and 65 licenses as well as Life and Health Insurance. The EVANS Group was started in 2006 and services both individuals and businesses. Michael and Mary pride themselves on their mission to work with each individual client to pin point their unique challenges, situation, and goals in order to create a highly customized and individual plan to best meet their needs, which is also a pillar of Vanderbilt's practice. The EVANS Group has a special focus on helping clients in periods of transition like job change, retirement, change of marital status, and inheritance. Michael is a proud 1984 graduate of Providence College. He started his professional career as an accountant with Big 8 Accounting Firm, Coopers & Lybrand, and he passed the CPA exam in 1985. Michael and Mary have lived in Cheshire for 20 years with their 3 children, Kirsten, Caitlin, and Zachary. Michael shares, "Mary and I are absolutely thrilled to join Vanderbilt Financial Group today! When we met Steve Distante and his extraordinary executive team at the Vanderbilt corporate office, Mary and I instantly knew that Vanderbilt was the perfect firm for our clients and for our family. As the first office in the state of Connecticut, Mary and I are very excited to help Vanderbilt to increase our "Foot Print" in the "Land of Steady Habits." "Michael and Mary are such a wonderful couple..." says Vanderbilt CEO, Steve Distante, "... they are both such appreciative and genuine people. It was an instant connection to find another rare long term married couple that works together like me and my wife Heidi, our Chief of Staff. We knew from the start they would be great addition to the Vanderbilt Team especially their strong connection to our five core values of Gratitude, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork, and Trustworthiness. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship, we are grateful that the Evans family has chosen Vanderbilt as their broker dealer." About Vanderbilt Financial Group: Founded in 1965 and located in Woodbury, NY, Vanderbilt Financial Group is an Independent Broker Dealer known as the Sustainable Broker Dealer committed to investing with purpose. The firm offers Impact Investments in socially and/or environmentally responsible, ethical, and impactful opportunities. In 2014 the firm was recognized with the MAP Vital Factors Solutions Presidential Award for achieving excellence through implementing the MAP Management System' and in 2015 became the first LEED Platinum office building on Long Island. Vanderbilt's refreshing, unique, and innovative culture is a driving force to constantly strive to positively impact their community. To learn more, check out http://joinvanderbilt.com/. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/5/18/11G139257/Images/MichaelEvans-3913b83bc51da53a91dfa19f4460e502.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/5/18/11G139257/Images/MichaelMaryEvans-a764952e04539f29b521ea3a0d606402.jpg Contact Info Contact: Jenny Klaum Executive Creative Director Phone: (631) 845-5100 Email: jklaum@vanderbiltsecurities.com Website: www.joinvanderbilt.com IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ("Anadarko" or the "Company") (NYSE: APC). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between February 17, 2016 and May 2, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm before the July 3, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased Anadarko shares during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esq., of Khang & Khang LLP, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone at (949) 419-3834 , or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case yet. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Anadarko made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company's maintenance and safety protocols concerning some of its vertical wells were inadequate; that due to those shortcomings, these wells were at an increased risk of explosion; and that as a result of the above, Anadarko's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On April 17, 2017, a deadly explosion killed two people and critically injured another in a home located within 170 feet of an Anadarko well. On April 26, 2017, The Denver Post reported that the Company "plans to shut down 3,000 vertical wells in northeastern Colorado" following the April 17 explosion. On May 2, 2017, the Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District concluded that the fatal home explosion on April 17 was linked to a faulty gas line connected to an Anadarko well. When this information was released, Anadarko's stock price lowered materially, which caused investors harm. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit, or if you have any questions about this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone at (949) 419-3834 , or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions. Contact Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick" or the "Company") (NYSE: ABX) for possible violations of federal securities laws between February 16, 2017 through April 24, 2017 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the July 10, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline. To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esq., of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com. No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also do nothing and be an absent class member. According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Barrick made materially false and/or misleading statements, and failed to disclose: that the pipes and safety systems at the Veladero mine were not robust enough to prevent gold-bearing solution spills; that Argentinian authorities would restrict the addition of cyanide to the Veladero mine's heap leach facility and require remedial work; that these developments would impact the production capacity of the Veladero mine; that as a result of the above, Barrick's Veladero mine production guidance and total gold production guidance were overstated; and that as a result of the above, the Company's statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On April 24, 2017, Barrick revised its full year guidance, stating that "[f]ull-year gold production is now expected to be 5.3-5.6 million ounces, down from our previous range of 5.6-5.9 million ounces." Barrick attributed about two-thirds of the decrease to the planned sale of 50% percent of its Veladero mine. The Company also revised Veladero-specific guidance, forecasting full-year production at Veladero of 630,000-730,000 ounces, compared to its previously-issued guidance of 770,000-830,000 ounces. Upon release of this information to the public, Barrick shares dropped in value materially, which harmed investors according to the Complaint. Lundin Law PC was established by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders' rights. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. Contact: Lundin Law PC Brian Lundin, Esq. Telephone: 888-713-1033 Facsimile: 888-713-1125 brian@lundinlawpc.com http://lundinlawpc.com/ SOURCE: Lundin Law PC CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Mr. Kevin Nephin, President and CEO of Kestrel Gold Inc. (the "Corporation" or "Kestrel") (TSX VENTURE: KGC) announces that it proposes to offer by way of a non-brokered private placement up to 6,000,000 units ("Units") at a price of $0.10 per Unit to raise gross proceeds of up to $600,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit is to consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder to acquire, for a period of 24 months from the date of issue, one common share at an exercise price of $0.15 per common share. Finders' fees will be payable in cash in the amount of 8% of gross proceeds and finder's warrants equal to 8% of units sold to subscribers introduced by the finder. Attributes of the Offering are as follows: -- The Offering will be made pursuant to various prospectus exemptions in all jurisdictions in Canada. The exemption available to existing shareholders (the "Existing Shareholder Exemption") is only available in Alberta (ASC Rule 45-516), British Columbia (BC Instrument 45-534), Ontario (Section 2.9 of OSC Rule 45-501) and Saskatchewan (General Order 45-926). The exemption available by virtue of receipt of suitability advice from a registered investment dealer is only available in Alberta (ASC Rule 45-516), British Columbia (BC Instrument 45-536), and Saskatchewan (General Order 45-930) and in relation to same, the Corporation states that there is no material fact or material change related to the Corporation which has not been generally disclosed. -- With regard to the Existing Shareholder Exemption, the record date for subscribers who qualify is May 17, 2017 and subscriptions will be accepted by the Corporation on a "first-come-first-served" basis. -- There is no minimum offering and the maximum offering is 6,000,000 Units. -- Proceeds from the Offering will be used for finders' fees of up to $48,000, for exploration activities in the amount of $315,000 and up to $237,000 for general working capital. The Offering is subject to final TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. Common Shares and Warrants will be subject to a four-month hold period. About Kestrel Gold Inc. Kestrel Gold Inc. holds a 100% interest in the King Solomon's Dome project and has options to earn a 100% interest in four gold projects totaling approximately 5,700 hectares located within the Yukon portion of the Tintina Gold Belt, as well as four copper-gold projects in British Columbia, Canada, north of the Red-Chris copper-goldmine, totaling approximately 7,200 hectares. Numerous mineralized occurrences exist on these various properties and each has an excellent data base from previous work. Kestrel's proposed 2017 work programs will focus on further enhancing the value of these projects. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the closing of the proposed private placement and the anticipated use of proceeds of the private placement. Although the Corporation believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as " believe", "expect", anticipate", "intend", "estimate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Corporation cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Corporation are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Corporation's equity securities; the state of the market for minerals that may be produced; recent market volatility; variations in the nature, quality and quantity of mineral deposits that may be located; the Corporation's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities; the Corporation's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. Contacts: Kevin Nephin President and CEO (604) 824-6056 kvnephin@gmail.com LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global SAP consultancy works together with AWS to launch the world's first proof-of-concept for SAP BW/4HANA Bluefin Solutions, a Mindtree company, announced today that it has helped deploy the world's first proof-of-concept for SAP BW/4HANA, enabling offshore drilling company Noble Corp. to drive better data-driven decision making across its business. SAP BW/4HANA is SAP's next-generation data warehouse application for running a real-time digital enterprise. Bluefin, an SAP partner, worked with Amazon Web Services to quickly roll out the proof-of-concept to deliver digital agility and flexibility. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140416/681203 ) Noble Corp., owns and operates one of the most modern and technically-advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry and is seeking a more modern data warehousing environment and better informed decision-making capabilities across their entire business. Noble Corp. found that business users wanted faster access to data and improved reporting capabilities to drive smarter business decisions, which its existing database platform was not able to deliver. Following SAP's recommendation, Noble Corp. partnered with Bluefin Solutions to support them in their digital transformation journey. After gaining a deep understanding of Noble Corp.'s reporting challenges, Bluefin and AWS completed a joint proof-of-concept illustrating the potential of SAP BW/4HANA. They ultimately delivered a 2TB HANA instance in under an hour, allowing the project to kick off without having to wait for hardware to be shipped and racked. Results In addition to shrinking its database size from 700GB to 100GB and speeding up backups, Noble Corp. has achieved the following results: Employees spend less time running reports and more time on other revenue-generating tasks Data modelling can be undertaken without disrupting business as usual End users can easily access real-time data without assistance from the IT department Users can run increasingly complex reports and gain deeper insight into the business "There was an urgent need to take stock of where we are, where we want to be and what we need to do to clean house," Mary McLemore, Business Analytics Manager for Noble Corp. said. "Bluefin has helped us to understand this and we are now laying the foundations on which to build and innovate." "Enterprises today need to ensure seamless, real time access to insightful data. As an enterprise data warehouse tailored for the cloud, SAP BW/4HANA allows businesses to accelerate digital transformation and make themselves agile," said John Appleby, Global Head of Sales at Bluefin. "Noble Corp. is a great example of a company leveraging the cloud to become a data-driven organization. Bluefin has deep and broad experience to help companies realize the potential of the cloud and we were excited by the immediate results this proof-of-concept achieved for Noble Corp." Bluefin will demonstrate SAP BW/4HANA cloud deployments at SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference being held May 16-18 in Orlando, FL. Follow Bluefin on Twitter, @BluefinSolution, to stay up to date on the latest news. About Bluefin: Bluefin Solutions is Mindtree's award winning global SAP consultancy. As one of the first companies to go to market with an SAP HANA practice in 2011, Bluefin is SAP's go-to HANA innovation partner. They deliver solutions across 17 countries, collaborating to digitally transform enterprise application portfolios. The depth and breadth of their knowledge and understanding of SAP products and Cloud, combined with their agile approach, enables their clients to experience results quicker, mitigate risk, and lower their total cost of ownership. Visit http://www.bluefinsolutions.com to learn more. About Mindtree Mindtree [NSE: MINDTREE] delivers digital transformation and technology services from ideation to execution, enabling Global 2000 clients to outperform the competition. "Born digital," Mindtree takes an agile, collaborative approach to creating customized solutions across the digital value chain. At the same time, our deep expertise in infrastructure and applications management helps optimize your IT into a strategic asset. Whether you need to differentiate your company, reinvent business functions or accelerate revenue growth, we can get you there. Visit http://www.mindtree.com to learn more. SAP, SAPPHIRE NOW and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. For more information contact: Sarah Wagstaff Bluefin Solutions +447970020033 Sarah.wagstaff@bluefinsolutions.com Erik Arvidson +1-978-518-4542 mindtree@matternow.com Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (ticker: PSH:NA) today announces that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's ordinary shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"): Date of purchase: 18 May 2017 Number of Shares purchased: 9,580 Shares Highest price paid per Share: 1,206 pence 15.68 USD Lowest price paid per Share: 1,191 pence 15.49 USD Average price paid per Share: 1,197.71 pence 15.58 USD PSH intends to cancel these Shares. The net asset value per Share related to this Share buyback USD 18.74 14.51 GBP which was calculated as of 16 May 2017. After giving effect to the above Share buyback, PSH has 239,762,611 outstanding Shares. The prices per share in USD were calculated by Jefferies. The number of PSH Management Shares and the 1 special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) has not been affected. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (PSH:NA) is an investment holding company structured as a closed ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006369/en/ Contacts: Media Contact: Maitland James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151 Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Gen III Oil Corporation (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: GIII) announces that it has granted an aggregate of 480,000 stock options to officers, employees and consultants to the Company. Each option will entitle the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $0.72 per share and valid for a period of two years. The options were granted in accordance with the Company's stock option plan. On Behalf of the Board of Gen III Oil Corporation Greg Clarkes, Chief Executive Officer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Gen III Oil Corporation. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. Contacts: Greg Clarkes (604) 806-5275 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 18, 2017) - Seahawk Ventures Inc. (CSE: SHV) ("Seahawk") announces that it has decided to only retain two of the initial nine mineral claims it had previously acquired of the Mackenzie Mountains Iron-Copper Property (the "Mackenzie Property") located in the Mackenzie Mining District, Northwest Territories, Canada. It is of the Board's view to focus its attention on acquiring other potential assets that will benefit the company and its shareholders going forward. Management believes it has kept the heart of the Mackenzie claims for future consideration and possible exploration. The Mackenzie Property The Mackenzie Property is an early stage iron-copper property situated 190 kilometers west of the town of Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River. The property comprises now of two mineral claims that collectively cover 1,096.33 hectares of Crown land in the Northwest Territories of Canada. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Giovanni Gasbarro President and CEO Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information, please contact: Giovanni Gasbarro (604) 939-1848 giogas2@gmail.com WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Today the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, dba NeighborWorks America, announced that it awarded $68.09 million in flexible grants to 243 nonprofit organizations, all members of the national NeighborWorks network. These awards pend receipt of the funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This fiscal year 2017 grant funding (appropriated through Public Law 115-31 - the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017) will provide a much-needed boost that will support the organizations as they use the grants to further NeighborWorks America's s mission to develop and preserve affordable housing, revitalize and sustain neighborhoods, and create jobs. "NeighborWorks America is proud to award these grants to NeighborWorks network organizations across the country to support their efforts to provide affordable housing opportunities, build strong neighborhoods and create jobs. We are committed to being strong stewards of the resources the taxpayers have entrusted to us," said Paul Weech, chief executive officer and president of NeighborWorks America. "A strong indicator of the value of these grants is that the NeighborWorks network leveraged $91 of other investments for every $1 of appropriated grants we provided them -- resulting in a direct investment of $7.1 billion in communities across the country during the last fiscal year." In fiscal year 2016, NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network assisted more than 360,000 families, including: 21,000 homeowners created 16,200 quality, affordable rental homes developed 12,700 affordable homes preserved 55,600 homes repaired 154,100 quality, affordable rental homes owned and/or managed 115,000 families and individuals counseled on financial capacity, pre-purchase, post-purchase, or foreclosure issues, and 18,900 training certificates issued More than 53,600 jobs created/maintained NeighborWorks America is a congressionally chartered, national nonpartisan nonprofit that provides access to homeownership, safe and affordable rental housing, and other community building services. The organization's mission is to make every community a place of opportunity while serving as responsible guardians of the federal and other investment funds entrusted to us to make that mission a reality. NeighborWorks America supports a network of more than 240 nonprofits, located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, providing grants, technical assistance and best-in-class training. For more information about NeighborWorks America, visit NeighborWorks.org. About NeighborWorks America For nearly 40 years, NeighborWorks America, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit, has created opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $27.2 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals. Contact: Lindsay Moore lmoore@nw.org 202-760-4059 @neighborworkspr According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global industrial thermostatic control valves market is expected to reach USD 1098 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of more than 5%. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006405/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global industrial thermostatic control valves market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) This research report titled 'Global Industrial Thermostatic Control Valves Market 2017-2021' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions. The rising number of applications in the power industry and the rapid adoption of automation in the end-user industries is the primary reason for the growth of the industrial thermostatic control valves market. Industrial thermostatic control valves will subsequently experience an upsurge in growth with businesses looking to incorporate safety measures within industries, by adhering to the government standards and minimizing the impact of hazardous operations on industrial workers. The power industry is expected to witness the maximum adoption of thermostatic control valves during 2016-2021 due to series of fresh investments, especially in the APAC region. Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Technavio's industrial automation research analysts categorize the global industrial thermostatic controlvalves market into the following segments by end-user. They are: Oil and gas industry Water and wastewater treatment industry Power industry Others The top three end-user segments for the global industrial thermostatic control valves market are discussed below: Oil and gas Many thermostatic control valves are employed in oil and gas plants to accommodate complex operations, such as draw works, drilling, service rigs, mooring, and mud pumps for oil explorations. The drop in crude oil price by 50% in 2014 as compared with 2013 created a huge imbalance in the oil and gas industry, and thus, the profit margin of oil producers was impenetrable. The low oil price crisis will bring slow growth for the thermostatic control valves market during the forecast period. According to Raghav Bharadwaj Shivaswamy, a lead automationresearch analyst from Technavio, "Several European and the American governments have started imposing regulations on the oil and gas industry to safeguard the interests of both environment and human life. The European Union has formulated strict guidelines ensuring that these industries incorporate operational safety and reduction in emission. These norms and directives will drive the demand for thermostatic control valves during the forecast period." Water and wastewater treatment industry Many opportunities for revenue generation for the thermostatic control valves market will be provided by the water and wastewater treatment industry during the forecast period. The water and wastewater treatment industry needs to ensure highly error-free production by ensuring the water conductivity, pH level, corrosion rates, and other parameters as per the measuring standard during the treatment process. "Growth in population and rising water applications will contribute to modern treatment facilities for both raw and wastewater. Thermostatic control valves are expected to play a key role in regulating temperature and flow rates in water pipelines," says Raghav. Power industry Developing countries across the world are expanding their power generation capacity to address the rising demand for energy. The third major revenue contributor to the industrial thermostatic control valves market is the power industry. Countries are investing in advanced technologies and equipment to scale up production capacities due to increased demand for power. Many industrial valves for various solar and wind power plants are deployed by countries like China, India, and South Korea, which will augment the need for thermostatic control valves. China is the largest wind power market. 138GW capacity wind power projects were sanctioned in China during 2011-2015. The government initiative toward sustainable energy provides incentives and fuels the growth of power industry in China. The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's research analysts in this report are: AMOT Danfoss Fluid Power Energy Fushiman Metrex Valve Browse Related Reports: Global Distribution Automation Solutions Market 2017-2021 Global Industrial Roller Chain Drives Market 2017-2021 Global Bearings Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like robotics. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170518006405/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/18/17 -- Dealnet Capital Corp. ("Dealnet" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: DLS), will release its financial results for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017 on Thursday May 25, 2017 before market open. A conference call to discuss these results will be held thereafter at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time. Conference Call Details: Date: Thursday May 25, 2017 Time: 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time Dial-in Number: Local / International: 416-340-2216 North American Toll Free: 1-866-223-7781 Replay Number: Local / International: 905-694-9451 North American Toll Free: 1-800-408-3053 Passcode: 5163032# Website: To view the press release or any additional financial information, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Dealnet website at: http://www.dealnetcapital.com/investors/ About Dealnet Capital Corp. Dealnet is a specialty finance company backed by its proprietary, scalable engagement platform to service the $20 billion home improvement market through both dealer-based and direct homeowner-based originations of secured finance assets (equipment leases and loans). The company earns net finance income over the term of these assets and from fee income derived from the transaction support services that it provides to its dealer network. The Company also uses its engagement platform to provide customer support services on a contract basis to third-party institutions. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Dealnet Capital Corp. Michael Hilmer Chief Executive Officer +1-855-912-3444 mhilmer@dealnetcapital.com Dealnet Capital Corp. John Sadler Senior Director, Corporate Communications (905) 695-8557 ext. 1348 jsadler@dealnetcapital.com MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump said Thursday he respects Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the investigation of Russian meddling in the presidential election but reiterated his claim that the probe is a witch hunt. During a press conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Trump also once again said there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia. Trump argued that the Russia investigation is dividing the country and suggested the focus should be on the progress that has been made in the early days of his administration. 'We have to get back to running this country really, really well,' Trump said. 'My total priority, believe me, is the United States of America.' Trump flatly denied that he asked former FBI Director Comey to drop a federal investigation into links between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. The president also shrugged off the talk of impeachment by some of the left, saying he thinks it is 'totally ridiculous.' Commenting on his controversial firing of Comey, Trump said he expected the decision to be well received by Democrats due to their criticism of the former FBI Director. Trump indicated he plans to announce his nominee for FBI Director 'very soon' after saying earlier in the day that former Democrat-turned-independent Senator Joe Lieberman is among the top candidates for the job. Responding to questions from reporters about the recent scandals, Trump repeatedly sought to turn the conversation back to progress on jobs and plans to repeal Obamacare and cut taxes. (Photo: Michael Vadon) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) (NYSE: KGC) ("Kinross") announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire an approximately 19.9% interest in White Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: WGO) by selling its 100% interest in the White Gold exploration project in the Yukon Territory to the company. The strategic ownership in White Gold Corp. will provide Kinross with future optionality in the highly prospective White Gold District, and in the larger Yukon Territory. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM) (NYSE: AEM) ("Agnico Eagle") also holds an approximately 19.9% equity investment in White Gold Corp., and both Kinross and Agnico Eagle are expected to leverage their deep technical and operational experience to support White Gold Corp.'s pursuit of exploration and development opportunities in the Yukon, including at the White Gold exploration property. "We look forward to working with Agnico Eagle and White Gold Corp. to support the pursuit of quality development opportunities in this highly prospective and largely underdeveloped district," said J. Paul Rollinson, President and CEO of Kinross Gold. "This investment will allow the three companies to pool their expertise together to strengthen their position in this excellent mining jurisdiction." Kinross' sale of the White Gold exploration property to White Gold Corp. includes the following consideration: Approximately US$7 million (C$10 million) in cash, payable upon closing; 17.5 million common shares of White Gold Corp., at deemed purchase price of C$2.01 representing approximately 19.9% of the pro forma issued and outstanding shares of White Gold Corp., with a current market value of approximately US$26 million (C$35.2 million); Deferred payments of approximately US$11 million (C$15 million), payable in three equal payments of approximately US$3.7 million (C$5 million) upon announcement by White Gold Corp. of a preliminary economic assessment, announcement of the completion of a feasibility study, and following the announcement of a positive construction decision for the White Gold exploration project. Kinross will also enter into an investor rights agreement with White Gold Corp. that will provide Kinross with the right to maintain its ownership position through participation in any future equity financings, and the right to nominate a board member in White Gold Corp. White Gold Corp. is the largest landholder in the White Gold District and its experienced exploration team has been involved in multiple major discoveries in the Yukon. The transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2017, subject to customary conditions of closing, as well as the concurrent closing of a private placement to Agnico Eagle to maintain its proportionate interest in White Gold Corp., and obtaining TSX-V approval. Additional White Gold Corp. Equity Details Kinross expects to acquire the securities for investment purposes and may or may not purchase or sell White Gold Corp. securities in the future on the open market or in private transactions, depending on market conditions and other factors, subject to certain contractual restrictions agreed to with White Gold Corp. Specifically, Kinross has agreed that it will not trade its White Gold Corp. common shares until four months following closing. For further information, a copy of the early warning report filed on SEDAR in connection with the transaction may be obtained from Kathleen Grandy, Vice-President, Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at 416-365-2496. About Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross is a Canadian-based senior gold mining company with mines and projects in the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Chile and Ghana. Kinross' focus is on delivering value based on the core principles of operational excellence, balance sheet strength, disciplined growth and responsible mining. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: K) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KGC). Cautionary statement on forward-looking information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance of Kinross, constitute "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and the "safe harbor" provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on the expectations, estimates and projections of management as of the date of this news release unless otherwise stated. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Kinross as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of Kinross contained in this news release, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to: (i) the various assumptions set forth herein; (ii) that Kinross will complete the sale of its interest in the White Gold exploration project in accordance with, and on the timeline contemplated by, the terms and conditions of the relevant agreements, on a basis consistent with our current expectations; (iii) that any contingent payment contemplated by the purchase agreement governing the sale will be paid to Kinross, and (iv) that a construction decision will be made in respect of the White Gold Project. The forward-looking information set forth in this news release is subject to various risks and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information, including the risk that the sale transaction will not be completed for any reason. Certain of these risks, factors, estimates and assumptions are described in more detail in Kinross' most recently filed Annual Information Form in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and the "Risk Analysis" section of our most recently filed Management's Discussion and Analysis, to which readers are referred and which are incorporated by reference in this news release. In addition, all forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by the full "Cautionary Statement" in such Annual Information Form and the "Cautionary Statement on Forward Looking Information" in such Management's Discussion and Analysis. These risks, factors, estimates and assumptions are not exhaustive. Kinross disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Investor Relations Contact Tom Elliott Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development phone: 416-365-3390 tom.elliott@kinross.com Media Contact Louie Diaz Director, Corporate Communications phone: 416-369-6469 louie.diaz@kinross.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/25/17 -- Banro Corporation (the "Company" or "Banro") (NYSE MKT: BAA)(TSX: BAA) provides an update on the incident at its Namoya mine site reported in the Company's May 18, 2017 press release. Mining day shift operations resumed at Namoya on Monday, May 22. Spraying of the heap leach facilities continued to extract gold. Following the precautionary measures taken last week, foreign nationals and non-essential local staff who left site on a temporary basis are expected to start returning to site tomorrow. It will take several days for all staff to arrive back on site, and a few days thereafter for full production operations to be achieved. Banro would like to thank its local staff for their dedication and commitment in maintaining the Namoya operations during the last week. The Company would also like to thank all the service providers including the national security agencies who maintained their services at Namoya during the same period. Banro Corporation is a Canadian gold mining company focused on production from the Twangiza mine, which began commercial production September 1, 2012, and on production at its second gold mine at Namoya, where commercial production was declared effective January 1, 2016. The Company's longer term objectives include the development of two additional major, wholly-owned gold projects, Lugushwa and Kamituga. The four projects, each of which has a mining license, are located along the 210 kilometre long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the South Kivu and Maniema provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. All business activities are followed in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. For further information, please visit our website at www.banro.com. Contacts: Banro Corporation Investor Relations +1 (416) 366-2221 +1-800-714-7938 info@banro.com www.banro.com Regulatory News: In connection with AP Alternative Assets, L.P.'s ("AAA"; Euronext Amsterdam: AAA) equity investment in Athene Holding Ltd. ("Athene"), AAA, the largest shareholder of Athene, informs its investors that Athene has today filed with the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") a registration statement on Form S-1 relating to a proposed underwritten follow-on secondary offering of its Class A common shares. The registration statement is available for free on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. AAA is advised that any offering by Athene will be made by means of a prospectus filed with the SEC. When available, a copy of the prospectus related to the offering will be accessible for free, on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. A copy may also be obtained, when available, from the underwriters of the proposed offering when identified. A registration statement relating to Athene's common shares has been filed with the SEC, but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About AP Alternative Assets, L.P. AP Alternative Assets, L.P. was established by Apollo Global Management, LLC and its subsidiaries ("Apollo") and is a closed-end limited partnership established under the laws of Guernsey. Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with 27 years of experience investing across the capital structure of leveraged companies. AAA is managed by Apollo Alternative Assets, L.P. For more information about AAA, please visit www.apolloalternativeassets.com. This announcement does not constitute or form part of an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to future events and circumstances. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from the historical experience and expressed or implied expectations of AAA. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and AAA does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements unless required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170522006338/en/ Contacts: AP Alternative Assets Gary Stein (New York), +1 212-822 0467 CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/03/17 -- CANEX Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: CANX)("CANEX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has received exploration permits for the Gibson gold-silver project in British Columbia. The permits allow the Company to excavate up to 10 trenches and construct and drill from 6 drill pads at Gibson. A reclamation bond of $10,000 has been posted as part of the Gibson exploration permit. The Company will mobilize a crew and equipment to Gibson next week to commence Phase 1 trenching which will focus on uncovering and extending the known high-grade gold and silver targets. The trenching program is expected to take up to 3 weeks. Exposed mineralization will be mapped and sampled with assay results expected by late September. If Phase 1 successfully uncovers high-grade gold and silver mineralization the zones would be drill tested later in the year during a Phase 2 drill program. The Gibson Prospect The Gibson prospect is 887 hectares in size and located in central British Columbia, approximately 95 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James. The area is accessible via a network of all weather logging roads. Gibson contains mesothermal gold-silver mineralization hosted in highly altered volcanic rocks adjacent to the Hogem Batholith. The zone was discovered and explored by Noranda Exploration Company from 1989 to 1991. Following soil sampling and induced polarization geophysical surveys Noranda exposed precious metal mineralization in hand trenches with surface samples returning 12.86 g/t gold and 144.7 g/t silver over 1.5 meters and 5.35 g/t gold and 2136 g/t silver over 1.7 meters. Noranda subsequently drilled 9 holes with 8 of the 9 holes intersecting significant gold and silver mineralization. The best drill intercept returned 4.26 metres grading 6.77 g/t gold and 1828 g/t silver. No follow up trenching or drilling has been conducted at Gibson since the highly successful Noranda program and the mineralized zone appears to be about 4.5 metres wide and at least 400 metres long and remains open in all directions. The Noranda hand trenching and drill results are reported in BC Assessment report 21762 for Noranda Exploration Company by Stewart and Walker 1991. This drilling was done prior to NI 43-101 and should be considered historic in nature. The results have not been verified by CANEX and should not be relied upon. About CANEX Metals Inc. Canex Metals is a Canadian based exploration company focused on acquiring and advancing high grade gold and silver deposits in stable mining jurisdictions. Company Management has a proven track record of exploration success, with key personnel being involved in discoveries in Mexico, Newfoundland, and British Columbia. Dr. Shane Ebert P.Geo., is the Qualified Person for CANEX Metals and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. Shane Ebert, President/Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Except for the historical and present factual information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release, including words such as "expects", "projects", "plans", "anticipates" and similar expressions, are forward-looking information that represents management of CANEX Metals Inc. internal projections, expectations or beliefs concerning, among other things, future operating results and various components thereof or the economic performance of CANEX. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause CANEX's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, those described in CANEX's filings with the Canadian securities authorities. Accordingly, holders of CANEX shares and potential investors are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted. CANEX disclaims any responsibility to update these forward-looking statements. Contacts: CANEX Metals Inc. Shane Ebert 1.250.964.2699 Jean Pierre Jutras 1.403.233.2636 www.canexmetals.ca VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/17 -- Valens GroWorks Corp. (CSE: VGW)(CSE: VGW.CN) (with its 100%-owned subsidiaries, the "Company" or "Valens") has elected to terminate discussions for the proposed acquisition of late-stage cannabis production license ("LP") applicant Royal Green Acres Manufacturing Ltd. ("RGAM"), and has released RGAM from the restrictions and obligations of the exclusivity period. The Company is expediting the acquisition of its own Licences to Produce ("LP") and Licences to Sell ("LS") under the revised Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations ("ACMPR") process, as a follow up to its recently awarded Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealer's Licence ("DL"). The Company's decision follows Health Canada's May 26, 2017 press release introducing several improvements to its medical cannabis program, expected to have direct application to the Company's expansion plans. Health Canada states that effective immediately the application process for becoming a licensed producer of cannabis for medical purposes is as follows: -- Intake and Initial Screening -- Detailed Review and Initiation of Security Clearance Process -- Issuance of Licence to Produce ("LP") -- Introductory Inspection (as cultivation begins) -- Pre-Sales Inspection -- Issuance of Licence to Sell ("LS") These improvements streamline the application process for issuing LPs, with some stages of the application reviews taken concurrently, permitting licensed producers to manage production on the basis of their vault capacity, authorizing longer validity periods for licences and security clearances, and streamlining the review and approval of applications to modify or expand an existing production facility for licensed producers with a record of good compliance. Health Canada's expedited process may allow the near-term issuance of an LP to the Company, and expedite the process to acquire an LS concurrent to our DL cultivation activities. This process would recognize the extensive multi-year process completed for our DL that included many of the same LP stages now expedited, including application, facility design and construction, and security clearance of key personnel. About Valens GroWorks Corp. Valens GroWorks Corp is a CSE-listed company with an aggressive acquisition strategy in progress, providing management, consulting, testing and support services to domestic and international licensees, as well as financing the buildout of established, fully-licensed operations. The Company seeks to capture a broad spectrum of clinical trial and R&D clients, medical marijuana users, as well as recreational users once legalized, in pursuit of its ambitious seed to sale and farm to pharma objectives. The Company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia: 1) Valens Agritech Ltd. ("VAL") which holds a Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealers Licence at its state-of-the-art Health Canada inspected and approved two-acre secured site and 17,000 sf production facility in Kelowna, British Columbia, and is seeking to add a Licence to Produce and Licence to Sell to its operations, and 2) Supra THC Services Inc. ("Supra"), a Health Canada Dealers-Licenced cannabis testing lab with an established scientific team supporting its operations, positioning to provide sector-leading analytical and proprietary services to Licensed Producers and ACMPR patients. On behalf of the Board of Directors, VALENS GROWORKS CORP. Robert van Santen, Chief Financial Officer Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or is "anticipating", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include statements regarding the use of proceeds from a proposed funding. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to: the ability to obtain any necessary financing; the economy generally; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek safe harbor. Contacts: Greg Patchell +1.250.860.8634 Brit + Co, a San Francisco, CA-based digital media company, raised $15m in new funding. The round was led by Verizon Ventures. To date, the company has raised $45m in total funding from Verizon Ventures, DMGT, Intel Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, and angel investors such as Marissa Mayer and Gary Vaynerchuk. Additionally, former Target CMO and Uber President, Jeff Jones, will join the company as an advisor. The company intends to use the funds to support the continued diversification of revenue streams including advertising, online classes, and merchandising as well for editorial expansion with respect to both new verticals and innovative media formats, with a focus on video. Led by Brit Morin, Founder & CEO, Brit + Co Brit + Co is a digital media company that inspires, educates and entertains over 125 million women through inspirational content, online classes, and products. The company currently has over 100 employees in in San Francisco and New York and operates a network of hundreds of contributors. FinSMEs 18/05/2017 Social Native, a Los Angeles, CA-based platform for branded content on demand, closed an $8m seed funding round. Backers included SoftBank Capital. The company intends to use the funds to invest into the Content Optimization Engine and in sales and marketing. Led by CEO David Shadpour, Chief Growth Officer Jeff Ragovin, and Chief Strategy Officer Eytan Elbaz, Social Native is a technology platform connecting brands with a diverse network of creators, globally, to produce custom content on demand. The company has created content for such brands as Polaroid, Walgreens and General Motors, among others. FinSMEs 18/05/2017 Spotluck, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of a tech optimaztion platform for restaurants, closed $4.8m in Series A financing. The round was led by JOBI Capital, with participation from New Dominion Angels and existing investor RANK Capital Group. The company intends to use the funds to bolster its presence in its current markets, strategically expand to new cities, and most importantly, evolve its product and technology stack. Founded in 2014 Led by CEO Cherian Thomas, Spotluck provides proprietary technology that gamifies restaurant discovery while bringing dynamic pricing to the restaurant industry. Users learn about new restaurants and get access to discounts that range from 10%-35% off. The iOS & Android app is free for users and the restaurant discounts fluctuate based on factors like day, time and weather, working under the premise that dining out should cost less on a rainy Monday night than on a busy Friday night. These dynamic discounts provide restaurants more business when they need it most. Over 1,200 restaurants throughout the D.C. metropolitan area, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York currently participate with Spotluck. FinSMEs 18/05/2017 Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm Menlo Ventures closed its fourteenth fund, at $450m. Menlo Ventures XIV, dedicated to investing primarily in early-stage consumer, enterprise and frontier technologies, was oversubscribed with both new and existing limited partners. The firm will invest 80% of the fund which brings the firms total capital to more than $5 billion under management in core thesis areas and 20% in frontier technologies, targeting early-stage investments with 50% of the fund going toward Series Seed and Series A deals. Menlo will continue its allocation of $15 million for the Menlo Talent Fund, aimed at promising seed-stage ideas. Menlo XIVs investment team consists of four managing directors: Mark Siegel, Venky Ganesan, Matt Murphy and Shawn Carolan, Talent Partner Jordan Ormont, investment professionals Tyler Sosin, Steve Sloane, Jayni Shah and Croom Beatty. The Fuel team, which provides assistance to companies in the early go-to-market stage of their evolution, currently includes Jenny Saling (marketing), Jordan Ormont (talent), and Kayla Hinderscheid (customer development). In conjunction with the close of this latest fund, the firm announced the opening of a San Francisco office, where the entire team splits time together between it and its Menlo Park headquarters. Menlo has funded more than 440 companies with an aggregate market value exceeding $250 billion. In the last five years alone, Menlos 33 exits have a combined market value of $5.4 billion. It is currently investing in Menlo XII, a $400 million early-stage fund, and the $250 million Menlo Opportunity Fund, aimed at early growth investing. The portfolio includes consumer companies like Machine Zone, Uber, Stance, Rover.com, Poshmark, Roku, eero and Warby Parker, cybersecurity companies like BitSight, SaaS companies like Heap, Overops and Signifyd, and fintech startups like Betterment, Bluevine, and RealtyShares. Frontier technologies bets were put on Clarifai in the AI sector, Dedrone in cybersecurity, and Synthego in computational biology. FinSMEs 18/05/2017 Some days ago, YL Ventures, a San Francisco, CA- and Tel Aviv, Israel-based seed stage venture capital firm with a meaningful list of successes, mainly in the cybersecurity field, closed its third fund, at $75m. Following, it, Iren Reznikov, Senior Analyst at YL, answered our questions about herself, the new fund, the firms modus operandi, and shared with us our thoughts about the vc and tech world. FinSMEs: Hi Iren. First, tell us a bit more about you please. Whats your background? Iren: I joined YL Ventures two years ago after serving in the International Affairs Department in the Israeli Ministry of Finance, where I specialized in FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) policy of the Ministry, and other Macro Economic issues of the Israeli economy. On behalf of the Israeli government, I took an active role in negotiating bilateral treaties between Israel and other countries, with a strong focus on emerging economic markets. In addition, I was an Israel-China Economic Fellow at the National Economic Council within the Prime Ministers Office, developing strategic initiatives for the enhancement of Israel-China economic relations. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Economics, and Political Science (the honors program PPE) from the Hebrew University and I am currently an Executive MBA candidate at the Hebrew University. FinSMEs: Lets speak about the new fund. Whats the overall investment strategy? Iren: Our focus for YLV III, our new $75M fund, will remain seed stage technology companies in high-growth B2B software sectors including cybersecurity, enterprise software, autonomous vehicles, drone technologies and VR/AR. We will continue teaming up with strong technological Israeli entrepreneurs that have identified big market opportunities. Our approach is very focused and selective. We invest only in two to three companies a year, as we believe that entrepreneurs in these stages need the fullest attention and assistance in order to grow their companies successfully. We are fully dedicated to supporting our portfolio companies in every aspect they need and helping them in the critical time of building their companies. Our combination of strong presence in Silicon Valley and deep roots in the Israeli startups ecosystem, enables us to become the ultimate partner for early stage tech startups that are seeking to succeed in the US market. We leverage our vast business network for introductions to customers, strategic partners, board members, key hires, top-tier follow-on investors and potential acquirers. We lead the initial $2-3 million seed investment and continue to support our companies as they grow and raise more capital, as we successfully did in our previous two funds. YL Ventures reserves more than half of its investable capital for follow-on financing of its existing portfolio companies. FinSMEs: Your main focus is on cybersecurity, one of the most dynamic tech areas. Which will be the main trends in the next few years? Iren: We are definitely very bullish about cybersecurity and we intend to continue and invest heavily in this area through our new fund. As we see it, traditional cybersecurity fields such as endpoint and network security have become extremely crowded in the last few years, with companies establishing their presence and gaining market traction. Instead we are looking for innovative security solutions for emerging tech markets- from our experience, cybersecurity issues always follow in the footsteps of new technologies. A good example for this is virtual containers and connected cars, two markets which present great opportunities for cybersecurity solutions (we have invested in both of these categories- in Twistlock and in Karamba Security). As with connected cars, we believe we will see other solutions focusing on securing emerging IoT markets such as medical devices, drones, and others. We also predict that we will see a rise in management platforms that can help CISOs to consolidate their control and provide automation, orchestration, and visibility on the various security products deployed in their organizations. Managing dozens of security products which produce many alerts and are managed via different dashboards, are causing serious hurdle for CISOs, and so this presents an interesting opportunity to solutions in this space. We expect the continuing spread of Ransomware attacks to increase (as weve seen in the latest global attack). As SMBs are the most vulnerable market for such attacks, we believe that they will start to invest more heavily in security products and enhance their overall security posture. FinSMEs: A short history, already some big exits. What do you want to see in entrepreneurs? How do you support them beyond capital? Can you bring us some examples? Iren: We love working with brilliant technological entrepreneurs that have deep understanding in the field they are aiming to operate in, and we specialize in helping them in the early stages of their journey, even before they know how exactly their next venture will look like. This is the reason we keep in close touch with entrepreneurs who are not ready to raise capital yet- we believe that building a relationship in these stages is beneficial for both sides, as the entrepreneur gets to gain insights and feedback from a potential investor, while we are able to track the founders progress over time and learn about her execution skills. As I mentioned before, our strong presence in Silicon Valley enables us to provide a full package of support, as we leverage our vast network to create business opportunities and guide our founders through the challenges of penetrating global markets and building great companies. Finally, as we are a very focused VC investing in specific fields, we have a great understanding of the technologies we invest in and that enables us to give added value to our entrepreneurs and to the Israeli local entrepreneurial community. FinSMEs: Beyond cybersecurity, personally, what do you think will be hot in tech in the next years? What do you follow with particular attention? Iren: In the general technological world, we are following closely the adoption of Serverless architecture. Also called FaaS (Function as a Service), this is the next evolution of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), as it completely abstracts the cloud infrastructure from developers. The biggest advantage of this technology is that it executes the code using only the precise amount of compute resources needed to complete the task, and so customers pay only when a serverless function is executed. This ability is especially relevant for IoT applications and AR/VR, where real-time responses are needed at a large scale. Cloud providers are already offering this kind of service, including AWS Lambda, Microsoft Azure Function and IBM Bluemix OpenWhisk. Although Serverless architecture is still in its embryonic stage, we predict that the adoption rate of serverless will continue to grow. FinSMEs 18/05/2017 New Delhi: India is treading a strong renewable energy path post-Paris Agreement as it witnesses a step-up in Chinese investments in solar energy. Additionally, there's a significant slowdown in Chinese investments in thermal power plants. This fact of slowdown came to light in a just-released report of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) which says China's overseas investment, including in India, into 240 coal power plants along the Belt and Road Initiative has slowed down in 2016 after the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. India was once the top destination for fossil fuel infrastructure investments. Although India is not a part of the Belt and Road initiative, China had expanded its investments to include many other countries. According to a financial expert in India, there is a noticeable spike in solar investment by Chinese firms. "Chinese investments in Indian coal projects have been declining. At the same time, Chinese investments in India on solar projects are slowly increasing," Jai Sharda, a founding partner with equity research Indian firm Equitorials, told IANS. There are reports that GLC-Poly energy, China's top solar module manufacturer, is in talks with India's Essel group to set up a solar module manufacturing facility in India this year, he added. India has committed to generate up to 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. The GEI report says that since 2016, China's support for overseas coal-fired power plant development has slowed down mainly due to shifting towards renewable energy under the Paris Agreement. Under the agreement of December 2015, 197 countries agreed to cut emissions in a bid to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. Some countries contributed to this change by reducing support for high emission projects like coal-fired power plants and shifting towards renewable energy, said the report. The cancelled and suspended Chinese projects are mainly located in India, it said. The report, released just ahead of the two-day Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Sunday, carried out a long-term review of China's involvement in coal power projects in 25 countries along the Belt and Road since 2001. Overseas project contracting is the most common form of involvement for Chinese companies developing coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road. But they do not participate in project operation and have no stake in the project's profits. By the end of 2016, China had been involved in 240 coal-fired power projects in 25 countries with a total installed capacity of 251,054 MW, says the report. The GEI says since 2001, Chinese development of coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road initiative has fluctuated, slowing sharply in 2008, 2011 and 2016 and having peaked in 2010. This trend shows that China's participation in these projects is affected by global economic shifts, the policies of host countries and restructuring towards cleaner energy. According to the report, India received support from Chinese companies for building close to 129,540 MW worth of coal power capacity and Indonesia for just 31,336 MW. Investors in China and India increasingly dominate ownership of coal reserves amid campaigns for divestment in many rich nations to limit the risks from climate change, a study showed on Tuesday. The report, by British-based research group InfluenceMap, identified thousands of shareholders in 117 listed companies producing 3 billion tons a year of thermal coal with 150 billion tons of reserves. It said that ownership of thermal coal, used in power plants, was dominated by "strategic investors in China and India (governments, individuals, power companies, special purpose companies)." Ownership had shifted towards Asia from Europe and North America in recent years, Dylan Tanner, executive director of InfluenceMap, told Reuters. "Coal has been pushed into a corner, stigmatized by the divestment community ... the overwhelming majority is held by strategic investors who have an interest in using the asset the power companies or governments," said Tanner. Almost 200 governments pledged at a summit in Paris in 2015 to shift this century from fossil fuels towards renewable energies to curb climate change, and more than 500 major investors have pledged to limit coal investments. China and India say they will need coal for decades to bolster economic growth even as they try to curb emissions blamed for warming the planet. As part of the divestment in coal, Norway's sovereign wealth fund and California's CalPERS and CalSTRS pension funds, representing about $1.4 trillion in assets, had sharply cut their ownership of coal since 2010, the study said. Some investors, however, now see opportunities in coal because U.S. President Donald Trump doubts climate change is man-made and wants to promote fossil fuels from the United States as a cheap source of energy. Even before Trump's election, some mid-size U.S. and other asset managers "have been bulking up on coal in the last five years in anticipation of a resurgence of some of the remnants of the U.S. coal bankruptcies and growth in Asia," the study said. The report said that if all the coal reserves identified in the report are consumed, it would release greenhouse gases equivalent to 45 percent of the gases needed to raise average surface temperatures above an agreed ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. New Delhi: As farmers prepare fields for kharif sowing, the government is considering increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of cotton by Rs160 per quintal to Rs4,320 for the 2017-18 crop year beginning July. It is also planning to promote Bt cotton variety developed by the government research body ICAR and expects increased area coverage and better output on hopes of good southwest monsoon that has already hit Kerala in advance. For the ongoing 2016-17 crop year, MSP of medium staple cotton has been fixed at Rs3,860 per quintal and long staple cotton at Rs4,160. According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry has proposed increase in cotton MSP by Rs160 per quintal for the 2017-18 crop year, based on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). It has moved a Cabinet note for inter-ministerial comments on fixing MSP at Rs4,020 per quintal for medium staple cotton and Rs4,320 per quintal for long staple cotton for the 2017-18 crop year. That apart, sources said since much of the cotton area is under Bt cotton seeds of private companies, the government is planning to promote first generation Bt cotton variety developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and has asked National Seed Corporation to ensure sufficient supply in the ensuing kharif season. With higher MSP and normal monsoon forecast, area under cotton is expected to increase next year. In 2016-17, cotton area had dropped to 102.78 lakh hectares, but output rose by 8.57 percent to 32.58 million bales (of 170 kg each) due to good yields. The passing of the much awaited Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) is expected to be a game changer in the Indian commercial real estate sector with all stakeholders benefitting from a win-win situation. The various stakeholders of commercial real estate are typically the developer, retail investor and office occupier. For the developer, it would mean more compliance and making company and project-related details accessible to both the government and customer. For office occupiers, RERA will bring the much-needed transparency and the regulatory framework that would offer an opportunity to do a fair comparison between projects and choose the project choice. The retail investor typically invest in under construction commercial projects for assured return. A direct impact of RERA will be that assured return guarantee schemes will disappear and mostly impact Grade B developers who will be stressed for funding and subsequent project completion. With RERA coming into force, agreements between various parties, i.e. land owners, developers and financial investors, may undergo changes in line with the provisions of the Act. New sectors such as e-commerce, logistics and start-ups are emerging as major drivers of commercial real estate besides the IT and ITES companies which have traditionally driven office space demand. RERA gets implemented at an opportune time as office demand is witnessing an uptick not only in the top 7 Indian cities but also in tier-II cities of the country thanks to both start-ups and SME sector. These sectors are expected to consume more space going forward. Although availability of right space at right location remains a challenge for many occupiers, about 38-40 million sq ft of new space will be added in 2017. Thanks to more investment in infrastructure, tier-II cities such as Pune and Hyderabad will also drive demand for office space in 2017. In Hyderabad, good demand is expected from both MNCs and start-ups. With transparency, FDI will receive further boost as confidence triggers higher inflow into the Indian real estate market. Along with that, the possibility of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) becoming a reality soon has led to increased participation by private equity in the sector, giving developers the much-needed funds as well as exit opportunities from completed projects. The private equity investment in real estate increased 26 percent to a nine-year high of nearly Rs 40,000 crore (US$ 6.01 billion) in 2016. RERA will only contribute to this trend in 2017 and beyond. In 2016, the overall absorption of prime office space across the seven leading cities of India reached approximately 40 million sq ft. The REIT opportunity: REITs will help smaller investors to invest in grade-A commercial real estate across India. Budget 2016-17 exempted dividend distribution tax (DDT) on special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Rules for REITs were relaxed, and the investment cap in under-construction projects was raised from 10 percent to 20 percent. SPVs are now allowed to have holdings in other SPV structures, and the limit on number of sponsors has also been removed. Currently, around 229 million sq ft of office space can be seen as REIT-compliant. If even 50 percent of this were to get listed, we are looking at a total REITs listing worth $18.5 billion. Introduction of RERA will add to the investor confidence. Even fast growing coworking space too will get a boost from the Act as officer seekers, even those who are seeking offices for just one or two people, have better access thanks to increased transparency in the working of the industry. Thus RERA has come at an opportune time and further bolster the real estate industry in the country in the coming years. (The writer is a director at Purple Yo, an online platform for commercial realty) As Saba Qamar, the lead female actor of Saket Chaudhary's Hindi Medium, puts it in the film - 'English is not a language in India. It is a class.' In a similar sense, Hindi Medium is not a film, it is a feeling. It is a feeling that every Tom, Dick and Harry faces, whose second language is not English or who has not been privileged enough to gain education from an English medium school or merely someone who prefers to speak in their mother tongue rather than English. It is that unadulterated feeling of being yourself and not succumbing to societal pressure. Hindi Medium hammers home this idea in such a lighthearted manner that it does not feel like a bitter antidote to deal with a colonial hangover. Rather, it is a sweet pill that you do not mind taking. The film does not uphold Hindi as the linguistic supremo but emphasises more on India's obsession with English. Irrfan Khan and Pakistani actor Saba Qamar play a couple who have acquired a Hindi medium education in a government school but aspire to make their daughter study in a top English medium private school so that 'she does not go through the same struggle that they did'. They are willing to go to any hilarious, and at the same time saddening, extent to get their daughter admitted to a school reserved for the elite. Irrfan, as usual, nails his act of a humble guy who falls for a girl at the first sight. He plays a henpecked husband, but not out of submission. He just does not take his life seriously and chooses to take it one unreasonable demand at a time. His transformation is frustratingly gradual but he delivers impeccably in the final monologue, prompting the audience to forgive the fact that it took so long for him to get there. Saba's character, on the other hand, comes across as one-dimensional. She is an insecure mother who lets herself fall prey to the fear of failure instilled in her by society and the educational institutes. However, if her back story, which has not been explored much in the film, is taken into account, you do feel the place where all her nagging comes from. The supporting cast is spot on too. A special mention to Deepak Dobriyal who perfects his act of a simpleton. In the changing cinemascape of Bollywood, where there is a soft corner for grey roles, he plays the epitome of optimism and simplicity. Yet, his compelling act allows you to root for him in every scene. Amrita Singh returns to the silver screen in a negative role after Mohit Suri's 2005 action thriller Kalyug. She plays a school principal who initially appears as a morally upright woman scorning at those who attempt to grease her palms. One wonders how she has managed to be at the centre of such a corrupt system only to discover her darker shades towards the climax. There are also fleeting cameos by Neha Dhupia, Sanjay Suri and Mallika Dua (yes, that Mallika Dua). They have little to do but manage to lend a helping hand to the lead characters. The girl who plays Irrfan and Qamar's daughter is adorable to an extent that you would smile at her mere appearance. She brightens up every frame where she is in the spotlight. The writing by Chaudhary and Zeenat Lakhani is tight in most of the places but is so fast-paced that sometimes the characters do not get the time to breathe. It feels like they are just throwing their dialogues to each other. Also, while the film sets out to be a fun film which should not be taken seriously in its entirety, it oscillates from a satire to a social commentary. Some plot points are exaggerated for effect while the others are a harsh reality. The viewer tends to get confused between the two categories and might end up believing the exaggerated notes while overlooking the factual ones. Chaudhary does his best in bringing forth the chemistry between Saba and Irrfan - a chemistry that is easy on the eyes despite the head reminding you that their character traits are poles apart. In this respect of sparking that connect between unconventional couples, the director probably draws from his past films - Pyaar Ke Side Effects starring Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat and Shaadi Ke Side Effects starring Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar. The film has also been shot beautifully as it effectively contrasts the posh colony of Vasant Vihar with Chandni Chowk in New Delhi. Also, Sachin-Jigar add more life to the film with three songs (one during the end credits) that are not stretched and focus on carrying the narrative forward. With Meri Pyaari Bindu last week and Hindi Medium this week, they proved that they can offer both quantity and quality equally well. Hindi Medium will be remembered as that lighthearted entertainer that hits you hard with its emotional quotient yet does not make you cry your eyes out. Self-proclaimed god-woman Radhe Maa is set to make her debut into showbiz with the web series No Casting No Couch Only Ouch, where she will play the guiding light of the protagonist. When Bombay Times asked the producer of this web series, Ramman Handa, if this was a way to clean up Radhe Maa's image, he said, "It is actually a way to make people meet the real Radhe Maa. To me, her name means 'Rah De Maa', which means, 'Show us the way, mother'. And that is what she will do in the series; she plays the messenger of God, who brings the protagonist out of depression." The shoot of the web series was carried out in Radhe Maa's own bungalow, and Handa mentioned that the god-woman was quite comfortable in front of the camera. He stated that the reason why she was so natural and comfortable was that she was playing herself. He states that the result is good. In 2015, two complaints were filed against Radhe Maa; one involved a dowry harassment case, for which she was given anticipatory bail, and the other was a case where she was accused of promoting superstitions. In the former case, she was accused of instigating a housewife's in-laws to take dowry from her. Cannes: The 70th Cannes Film Festival opened Wednesday under the lights of Cote D'Azur sunshine and high-wattage stars such as Will Smith and Marion Cotillard. But a brewing storm over Netflix's place at the world's most prestigious film festival clouded the event as Cannes rolled out the red carpet. Optimism is high at this year's Cannes, which features a lineup widely considered to be well-stocked with heavyweight filmmakers, including Todd Haynes (Wonderstruck), Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled), Michael Haneke (Happy End) and Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here). Rancor and controversy nonetheless dogged the festival's preamble, as well as its opening day. During the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi helped set a welcoming tone for the festival, calling it a "place where cultures speak to one another." Farhadi's presence in Cannes sharply contrasted with the Academy Awards ceremony in February, which the filmmaker (whose The Salesman won the Best Foreign Language Film) boycotted to protest President Donald Trump's proposed travel ban on visitors from several predominantly Muslim nations. Farhadi collected his Oscar statuette Wednesday in France, via producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy. But while Cannes maintained its status as an international melting pot, definitions of what qualifies as cinema continued to stir debate. For the first time, Cannes selected two Netflix releases - Bong Joon-ho's Okja and Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories - for its Palme d'Or competition. French theaters, which have strict rules regarding streaming service films, rebelled at the thought of a movie that won't play on the big screen winning the Palme d'Or - the biggest award in film next to an Oscar, and to some, even more important. The festival relented and next year won't accept streaming-only films in the competition. Earlier Wednesday, Pedro Almodovar, who's presiding over the competition jury this year, read a lengthy statement in which he said, "I personally cannot conceive of not only the Palme d'Or, but any other prize, being given to a film and then being unable to see this film on a large screen." Coming from the head of the jury that will decide the award, the comment was striking and potentially means the Bong and Baumbach films already are out of the running. But Almodovar, a Cannes regular, drew applause for his defense of the theatrical experience. "The size of the screen should not be smaller than the chair you're sitting in. It should not be part of your everyday setting," the Spanish filmmaker said. "You must be small and humble in front of the image that's here." Will Smith, a member of the jury that also includes Jessica Chastain, Paolo Sorrentino and Park Chan-wook, stuck up for Netflix. Later this year, Netflix will debut one of its biggest-budget films yet, the $90 million fantasy thriller Bright, in which Smith stars. "In my house, Netflix has been nothing but an absolute benefit," Smith said of his children's viewing habits. "They get to see films they absolutely wouldn't have seen. Netflix brings a great connectivity. There are movies that are not on a screen within 8,000 miles of them. They get to find those artists." Smith, who has not had a film play at Cannes before, was dressed dapperly and posing cheerfully with festival-goers screaming "Will! Will!" "West Philadelphia is a long way from Cannes," joked an enthusiastic Smith, referring to his hometown. Security was greater than ever at the French festival, which has stepped up efforts to restrict access, added more metal detectors and even introduced an anti-drone system. France has been under a state of emergency since the November 2015 Paris attacks. This is also the first festival held since the truck attack in nearby Nice killed 86 people last June. On Wednesday, the heightened measures were already causing something unthinkable at the stringently clockwork Cannes: slight delays at screenings and press conferences. Festival organizers have said everything was being done to maintain safety and the celebratory atmosphere of the event. "You're in a country which has got a lot of terrorist attacks. Charlie Hebdo, the Bataclan, Nice, one year ago. So we need to pay attention," festival director Thierry Fremaux said in an interview. Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael's Ghosts, with Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Cotillard, was the opening-night film. Critics, while praising some of the performances, weren't enamored with Desplechin's farcical, self-referential drama about a filmmaker visited by a long missing ex-wife. Ahead of the premiere of Ismael's Ghosts, Monica Bellucci presided over an opening ceremony that included a slight riff on the best picture envelope flub that concluded this year's Academy Awards ceremony. In the Cannes version, a new envelope was brought out and the interaction dissolved into a dance that ended with a kiss from Bellucci. The Cannes Film Festival runs through 28 May, when the Palme d'Or winner and other awards will be announced. In his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire (2009), A.R. Rahman thanked his mother in the best way anyone connected with Hindi films would. He said, "Mere pass Maa hai" the classic Salim-Javed scripted line from Deewar (1975) forever created a special place for the character of the mother in Hindi films. For the longest time, the onscreen Maa was always meant to be Nirupa Roy, or Sulochana before her, until 1989 when the baton was passed on to Reema Lagoo. The veteran Marathi and Hindi film actor, who was also active on Marathi stage for almost forty years, Reema Lagoo, 59, passed away following a cardiac arrest earlier today and with her death, the era of iconic onscreen mothers has come to an end. Popular Hindi films would perhaps be the only cinema in the world where typecasting of an actor happens at some other level. Here, an actor is not only associated for a better part of their career with a specific role that they portray such as Jagdish Raaj, who was always the police inspector or Iftekhar, who was so convincing as a police commissioner that many a time he would waltz through customs at Indian airports but also get attached to another actor thanks to the relationship their characters shared. This is the reason that after the success of Deewar Nirupa Roy was fondly referred to as Amitabh ki maa or Nazir Hussain was the jagat daidee. The year when Reema Lagoo became Salman ki mummy in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) was truly a transitional phase for not only the leading man or the narrative in commercial Hindi films but also the supporting actors, specifically onscreen mothers. The foundation of the change across these parameters was laid by Mansoor Khans Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) where the hero was a departure from the Angry Young Man template popularised by Amitabh Bachchan and even the roles frequented by the then young stars Anil Kapoor (Meri Jung, Mashaal, Karma), Jackie Shroff (Hero, Mera Jawaab), Sunny Deol (Arjun, Dacait) or Sanjay Dutt (Jeeva, Naam). Even the character actors portraying the elders in the film were different where a father (Dalip Tahil) was not too far off in age or temperament from his college going son (Aamir Khan). The new kind of classic Hindi film narrative (songs, dances, drama et al.) that was attempted by Qayamat Se Qayamat Takm came into its own with Sooraj Barjatyas Maine Pyar Kiya and in it, Reema Lagoo as the heros mother ushered in the new phase of the reel mother. While Reema Lagoo was seen as a star mother for the first time in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak where she played the mother of the leading lady (Juhi Chawla), in Maine Pyar Kiya that she introduced the new-age mum for Hindi films. Reema Lagoos mother character, Kaushalya Choudhary, was a departure from the Nirupa Roys and Sulochanas for she could perfectly balance the old and the new. She not only knew her son, Prem (Salman Khan) well enough but also knew what was good for him and for a change both mother and son were on the same page. In fact, she even orchestrates the way the son professes his love for Suman (Bhagyashree) and empowers him to go stand up in front of her husband and Prems authoritarian father (Rajeev Verma) without abandoning her pati. At some level contrarians would argue that Maine Pyar Kiyas Kaushalya only updated the hero being tied to maa ka pallu facet of popular Hindi cinema, but what the role achieved within the realm of popular Hindi cinema was nothing short of remarkable, and it was all thanks to the actor that Reema Lagoo was. Ironically enough the same year, 1989, also had Nirupa Roy in one of her final outings as Bachchans mother in Toofan (1989) where almost everything about the film and the kind it represented right from the narrative, the tropes, the plot points as well as Roys character were beginning to looking dated. The 1990s were truly the golden phase for Reema Lagoo not just in films but also television. Even when she played the mother to most top stars in standard Hindi films her roles were not cut from the same fabric as a Nirupa Roy. She got to portray characters with a few more shades of grey than the blacks and whites that onscreen mothers before her were doomed to deal with. Her single mother in Aashiqui (1990) had more nuances than both the protagonists Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal, and her calculative class obsessed matriarch in Yeh Dillagi (1994) remains a treat to watch for she transformed the one-dimensional role a Lalita Pawar or a Bindu would have been given in the 1960s or 1980s into something of a socio-political statement. She also featured in the Barjatyas follow-up to Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hai Koun ! (1994), where she played Salman Khans mother in law and later Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) where she reprised the same character. This was also the phase where Lagoo forayed into television and two of her shows Srimaan Srimati (1994) and Tu Tu Main Main (1994) became immensely popular. Beginning in the mid-1990s the subjects and themes that were considered the mainstay of popular Hindi for the longest time began to undergo a sea of change. This was a phase where the maa, baap and bhai, bhen characters were being re-looked at and as the audience was getting younger by the year these characters, too, couldnt remain the same. At the same time, stars such as Amitabh Bachchan were re-modelling themselves as characters actors that led to an entire generation of actors who excelled at these roles being pushed off the radar. It was around this time that Reema Lagoo got to play one of the best-written characters in popular Hindi cinema and perhaps the one that would come to be seen as her greatest role. Mahesh Manjrekars Vaastav (1999) was the story of Raghu (Sanjay Dutt), who goes from an easy-going guy to rule the Mumbai underworld, and his relationship with his mother Shanta (Reema Lagoo) is the moral compass that tells him just how much he had strayed. The film had many characters and situations that might appear stereotypical to Hindi cinema but it was the climax of the film where a broken Raghu on the run from the cops and rival gang members begs his mother to free him. In a chilling moment of clarity where Shanta realises that the hallucinating, crazy man in front is not her son she takes the gun from Raghus hands and pulls the trigger. One could safely say that Vaastavs Shanta could be the 1990s Radha from Mother India (1957) and while Radha might be seen as a greater role Shanta nonetheless in a way surpassed the other great onscreen Maa from Deewar. RIP Reema Lagoo: From Hum Aapke Hain...Koun! to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, the perfect screen mom Islamabad: Two staffers at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul were detained by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the intelligence agency of Afghanistan, under unclear circumstances, the media reported on Thursday. The two men, Hassan Khanzada and Syed Munir Shah, were at a market when they were picked up by NDS members and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassy's official vehicle, Dawn online reported. Khanzada serves as a visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah is a staff driver. The embassy approached the Afghan Foreign Ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, reports Dawn online. On Wednesday, Afghan deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams was summoned to the Foreign Office over the detention of the embassy staffers. "The Afghan deputy head of mission was summoned to the Foreign Office today to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the incident in which two diplomatic officials in Kabul were detained, reportedly by Afghan security agencies," the Foreign Office said. Pakistan accused Afghanistan of violating Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961). "It was emphasised that such incidents undermined the constructive engagement which the two countries envisaged for strengthening of bilateral ties," it said. Bhopal: A pall of gloom descended at 'Nadi Ka Ghar' (house of rivers), the residence of Union minister Anil Madhav Dave in Bhopal, as the news of his sudden demise reached on Thursday morning. The 60-year-old environment minister and two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh passed away in Delhi on Thursday. As the news of his demise spread, his supporters started flocking 'Nadi Ka Ghar', the three-storey building set up by Dave from which he also used to run Narmada Samagra, an NGO for conserving river Narmada, the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. Born on 6 July, 1956 at Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain district, Dave used to live in this house whenever he was in Bhopal. A master strategist, Dave was credited with bringing the BJP to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 by running a successful campaign against the then Congress Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described Dave as a true party worker, as he remembered his long-time BJP colleague. "Anil Dave was a true BJP worker. He has served the country with dedication for his whole life," Chouhan said in a tweet. "The country has lost a true patriot and son of Maa Narmada. It is an irreparable loss," Chouhan said. Congress's chief whip in Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia said the state has lost an excellent environmentalist and a simple and honest leader in the death of Dave. State BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan described Dave as a nationalist thinker, an able organiser and an environmentalist. It is an irreparable loss to the nation and the BJP, he said. Dave had made immense contribution to politics and environment by associating himself with public causes, Madhya Pradesh's Public Relations minister Narottam Mishra recalled. BJP's state vice president Vijesh Lunawat, who was very close to Dave, said the leader had made an unparallelled contribution to the party. Dave was a "university" himself in environment conservation, election management and developing a dedicated work force for the party, he said. Dave's mortal remains will be brought to the state BJP headquarters here in the evening to enable the people and party workers to pay their respects. The leader's last rites will be performed at Bandrabhan, a place close to his heart, on the banks of Narmada river in Hoshangabad district on Friday morning, state BJP's media in- charge Lokendra Parashar said. Dave used to organise the international river festival at Bandrabhan to create awareness among people about conserving rivers. Meanwhile, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar expressed shock over Dave's sudden demise. "Shocked & saddened by untimely demise of Shri Anil Dave. India has lost a promising leader who had immense concern for our environment," Parrikar tweeted. Environment minister Anil Madhav Dave died in New Delhi on Thursday. Sixty-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home on Thursday morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, official sources were quoted as saying by various news agencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers took to Twitter to condole Dave's death. Here is everything we need to know about the minister: Dave was born on 6 July 1956 in Badnagar,Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh to Madhav lal and Pushpa Dave. An expert in river conservation and a member of the parliamentary forum on global warming, environment was a subject close to the heart of Dave who was appointed environment minister only last year. Dave was involved in social work right from his early days and founded NGO "Narmada Samagra" for conservation of the river. Dave was known in the BJP as a man gifted with immaculate organisational skills. He had a long time association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Following this, Uma Bharti who became the chief minister, made him advisor to the chief minister. As an NCC Air Wing Cadet he took his early flying lessons and found a lifetime passion. He was a holder of a private pilot licence and had once flown a Cessna aircraft around the banks of Narmada for 18 hours. A post-graduate in Commerce from Gujarati College in Indore, Dave had keen interest in literature and had penned a number of books. He inherited the legacy of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh from his grandfather Dadasaheb Dave and volunteered to be a Pracharak after completing higher studies. He rose in the Sangh echelons over the years and was deputed to the BJP, right before the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2003. Dave began political career with JP Movement Dave began his political career by participating in the JP movement in 1974. He became a full-time pracharak after he finished his college and remained in the RSS till the 2003 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. Known for his election management, Dave was the head of the Central Election Management Committee in Madhya Pradesh between 2003 and 2014. The leader from Madhya Pradesh was key party strategist and served as chief of its election management committee for the three times during the state assembly elections in 2003, 2008 and 2013 and Lok Sabha elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was known for his booth-level management and planning. Dave was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various committees including Chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013. As Rajya Sabha MP, Dave served as Member of Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change. He also served as the chairman for the Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013. On 5 July, 2016, he was appointed as the MoS with the independent charge of the ministry of environment and forests. Dave had also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference on the occasion of Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela in Ujjain. Known environment crusader Dave, a social worker, was well-known for his conservation of the River Narmada, a lifeline to central India. He was the founder of the movement "Narmada Samagraha", which aims to conserve the river and its catchment areas. According to his bio in the ministry of environment and forests, Dave was the founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad, a unique concept in India, which works as an umbrella organisation to interlink and empower SHGs and NGOs. Penned several books Dave had written nine books in Hindi, including two books on his work as a social worker in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from his native Hindi, he wrote two books in English: From Amarkantak to Amarkantak and Beyond Copenhagen, both of which dealt with environmental issues. With inputs from agencies The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) raided the residences of former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti P Chidamabaram on Tuesday morning, simultaneously with 14 other locations across Delhi, Noida and Mumbai. According to CNN-News18, the raid took place after an FIR was registered against Karti Chidambaram over Foreign Investment Promotion Board's (FIPB) approvals for INX media then owned by Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani in 2007-2008. The agency has registered the case against INX Media through its director Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, Karti Chidambaram, Chess Management Services (a company owned by Karti), and Advantage Strategic Consulting Limited through its director Padma Vishwanathan. Reports also suggested that Karti took bribes from the Mukherjeas by promising to get them clearances from his father, who was then Union finance minister in the Manmohan Singh government. Here is all you need to know about the INX Media scam: Indrani and Peter Mukherjea founded INX Media in 2007. They sought clearances from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which is the authority to vet foreign investment requests in India, on investments made by Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and on downstream investment. While the FIPB approved the former request in 2007, the latter took a while, since the board urged the company to seek separate approvals. Downstream investment is a type of financial investment wherein an Indian company with foreign investors later invests in an Indian company. What is the irregularity in the deal? According to a report in Business Standard, INX Media was allowed to seek FDI worth Rs 4.62 crores only. However, in contravention of FIPB rules, it created FDI worth Rs 300 crores through the process of "downstream investment", by issuing shares at premium of Rs 800. When did this irregularity come to light? In early 2008, when the matter came under the scanner of the FIPB, which then sent notices to the media firm, the issue was highlighted in the media, as reported in the Business Standard article. Karti Chidambaram's entry into the case According to the FIR, that was filed on Tuesday, Karti was brought into the picture by the Mukherjeas "to wriggle out of the situation without any punitive action". Karti, using his influence in the Finance Ministry on account of his father's position, tried to clear the approval for the media firm. Through his company Chess Management Services, in which he was also a director, Karti allegedly directed the entire scam. Being a management firm, it gave a number of suggestions for clearing the approval to INX Media, which incorporated them in its reply to the FIPB. On account of his influence, even officers in the department overlooked the previous illegality and gave "undue favour to the INX Group". What about the bribe paid to Karti? Karti's other company, Advantage Strategic Consulting, also facilitated clearances to INX Media in 2008. In its detailed report, India Today explains how investigations revealed Karti receiving kickbacks from INX Media at a time when FIPB approval papers for the company were pending with his father, the then Union finance minister. The report said that on 22 September, 2008, Advantage Strategic Consulting got Rs 35 lakh from INX Media. The report also noted that Karti's companies had a quid-pro-quo relationship with INX Media, receiving lakhs of shares from the Mumbai-based company in return for favours done to them. What is the ED angle to the case? According to media reports, it was an earlier raid by the Enforcement Directorate during the investigation against Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis deal that gave clues about possible irregularities in clearing the approval in 2008. The ED then tipped off the CBI to take action on the case. What has P Chidambaram said about the issue? The former finance minister issued a statement after the raids began. "The government, using CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends. The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders from opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organizations. All I will say is, I shall continue to speak and write," he said. "FIPB approval is granted in hundreds of cases. The five secretaries who constitute FIPB, officials of the FIPB secretariat, and the competent authorities in each case are all public officials. There is no allegation against any of them. There is no allegation against me," his statement continued. Terming it vendetta politics, Chidambaram said, "Every case was processed according to law and approval was granted or refused in accordance with the recommendations of the FIBP, consisting of five secretaries to the Government of India." Have the Mukherjeas been raided too? Yes. The CBI on Tuesday raided the residences of the couple immediately after the raids were conducted in Mumbai. What is Karti's defence? Karti told reporters on Tuesday that the raids were part of political witch hunt spearheaded by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre against leaders of the Opposition. He also added that the CBI had no evidence against him and that the latest development is a ploy by the BJP to stop his father Chidambaram from speaking against the government. "The case against me has been foisted purely out of political reasons and vendetta. Nothing can be proven against me and I have not done any crime. It has been done mainly to muzzle my father's voice against the government," he said. With inputs from agencies Beijing: Skirting questions on whether it is willing to rename the $ 50 billion CPEC traversing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, China on Thursday said it believes in the Panchsheel principles of "mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty". "We have expressed our position on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media in Bejing when asked whether China plans to rename the corridor as proposed by its envoy to New Delhi. She was also asked questions about a top BJP leader's article in a newspaper, describing CPEC as India's Achilles' heel. "I want to reiterate that we would like to follow the five principles (Panchsheel) of coexistence in developing friendly relations with other countries including our efforts in promoting regional," she said. The first principle of Panchsheel enunciated by India and China in 1954 speaks of "mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty". "I am sure you also noticed that during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping also mentioned that we follow the principle of peaceful coexistence to promote the friendly cooperation along the Belt and Road. So I think in this way the concerns from the Indian side should be addressed," she said. "As per the concern over the Kashmir region as we said before, it is an issue between India and Pakistan. B and R will not change Chinas position on the Kashmir issue. B and R is open and inclusive one," Hua said. Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui had offered to rename the CPEC during an address at a think-tank in New Delhi, insisting that it was an economic cooperation and connectivity enhancement project devoid of "sovereignty issues". However, China later removed the remarks of its envoy from the transcript of his speech posted on the embassy website, apparently after Pakistan sought a clarification on it. A Chinese official in Beijing, however, suggested that it was perhaps Luo's personal initiative to address Indias concerns. In the article published in a newspaper in India, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav had described CPEC as Indias Achilles heel. "Adding insult to injury for India is the very name of the project, CPEC, although the region through which it passes does not belong either to Pakistan or to China," he said. India skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) held in Bejing on 14-15 May due to its sovereignty concerns over the CPEC which passes through PoK. Following the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision to stop standardisation of marks, the average marks of the Class XII CBSE students is expected to go down by about 10 percent this year, The Times of India reported. According to the report, the decision came just weeks after the the board, in consultation with other school boards across the country, decided to scrap the concept of "moderation or standardisation" a byword for inflating marks. The report quoted an official as saying that the new policy will results in a drop in marks scored as well as the overall pass percentages across boards. Another official who spoke to The Times of India was quoted as saying, "Marks, both aggregate and subject-wise, will drop. The average drop could be from six percent to 10 percent, depending on the marks scored in each subject." The report noted that the last year, the CBSE gave 16 extra marks in Class XII Maths examination in the process of standardisation. This practice has led to CBSE students securing higher marks than their contemporaries from other boards. According to a report in India TV, the scrapping of moderation will lead to a dip in the cut-off marks for several top Delhi colleges, compared to the other years, when the exorbitantly high cut-offs gained media attention. However, another report in The Times of India added that the 24 April decision would not affect the HSC students in Maharashtra as the state board does not not follow any kind of standardisation or moderation of marks. Chairperson of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education welcomed the decision and told the publication, "We never followed a moderation policy to tweak results. We always wanted to bring out the real picture even if it meant that our success rates varied each year. We never gave extra marks if a particular question was tough." Srinagar: Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday asked the Army to remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across the border, days after two security personnel were beheaded by the Pakistani Army after crossing the Line of Control (LoC). Jaitley, while reviewing the security situation of Jammu and Kashmir at a high level meeting in Srinagar, also asked the forces to deal firmly with the inimical elements but ensure safety of the innocent people, officials said. The meeting, where newly-appointed defence secretary Amit Mitra and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat were present, took place against the backdrop of spurt in militant attacks and incidents of stone-pelting in Kashmir and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC. The Defence Minister, who arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday evening and soon after chaired the meeting, was briefed on the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and steps being taken to restore normalcy in the Valley through close coordination amongst all the government agencies, officials said. He was also apprised of various measures to strengthen the counter-infiltration grid along the LoC, where Pakistani forces have been indulging in shelling and attacks. Jaitley "lauded the valour, sacrifice and patriotic fervour of every soldier who is serving in these challenging situations for national integrity", saying the entire country is proud of them, the officials said. He urged all soldiers to continue the good job being done and ensure safety of the innocent people while dealing firmly with the inimical elements. He also impressed upon the commanders to maintain strict vigil along the LoC and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across. Jaitley, who also holds the fianance portfolio, will preside over the GST Council meeting in Srinagar on Thursday. He is also likely to meet chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. The visit of Jaitley and Rawat to Kashmir comes against the backdrop of beheading of two Indian security personnel by Pakistani military in Poonch district earlier this month which was termed "barbaric" by India. While Rawat hinted at retaliation to avenge the killings, Jaitley had said the sacrifice of the two soldiers will not go in vain and that the armed forces will react "appropriately". Pakistani troops have also been repeatedly violating the ceasefire on the LoC and have been shelling Indian Army posts and civilian areas. The Kashmir valley has witnessed a spurt in incidents of violence and militant attacks in the last couple of months. The Pakistani troops were involved in 67 ceasefire violations in the first four months of 2017, with maximum of 26 incidents reported in April, according to Army sources. They said a total of 27 militants were killed between January and April in counter-insurgency operations. New Delhi: A man, accused of raping and threatening a woman, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which said the complainant was mature enough to fully understand what was happening between them. The court also noted that there was an inexplicable delay on the part of the woman in approaching the police as the FIR was lodged in 2016 while the alleged incidents of rape occurred over a time span of eight years since 2008. "No cogent evidence has emerged on record to show that physical relations were established with the woman without her consent. She was mature enough to fully understand as to what was happening between the two. "There is nothing in her evidence to demonstrate that she was incapable of understanding the nature and implications of the acts which she consented to. If a fully grown up lady consents to the act of sexual intercourse and continues to indulge in such activity for long, it is an act of promiscuity on her part," Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Kumar said. The judge further said that an FIR is a vital piece of evidence and a delay sometimes gives complainant an opportunity to fabricate facts. "The FIR in criminal case is an extremely vital and valuable piece of evidence for the purpose of corroborating oral evidence adduced at the trial... "Delay sometimes affords opportunity to the complainant to make deliberation upon the complaint and make embellishment or even make fabrications. In the present case, the delay in lodging the FIR has not been adequately explained," the judge said. The court noted that no complaint was lodged by the woman immediately after the alleged incidents though she had ample opportunity. It said from her testimony, it appears she voluntarily stayed with the accused and never tried to run away despite the opportunity to run away from his clutches nor did she ever disclose the incident of rape to anybody. According to prosecution, the woman, a south-West Delhi resident, lodged a complaint against the accused at the instance of her husband after he read some of the man's text messages in her phone. It was alleged that the woman came in contact with him in 2008 and was raped and threatened by him on several occasions till 2016. The accused had denied the allegations levelled against him contending that he was falsely implicated at the behest of the woman's husband and whatever relations he had with the woman were consensual. New Delhi: A man has been held for sexually assaulting his six-year-old step-daughter, the Delhi Police said on Thursday. The assault was reported to the police on Wednesday evening by a woman in the neighbourhood after the child was found complaining of pain. Ravinder, 27, is the girl's step-father and worked as a care-taker at a farm house in Saket. He was arrested from his work place, a police officer said. "Ravinder daily took his elder daughter (the victim) to his work place and sexually assaulted her. On Tuesday, he did the same and returned to the residence at 9.30 pm. The girl on Wednesday complained of pain and narrated the crime of her step-father to a lady in her neighbourhood," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal told IANS. Ravinder, a native of Uttarakhand, lives in a rented accommodation in Khanpur area. "The minor has been admitted to hospital and a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act was registered against him," Biswal added. New Delhi: Delhi's AntiCorruption Branch (ACB) on Thursday said it has ordered inspection of a Public Works Department (PWD) project as part of a probe into an alleged Rs 10 crore scam involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's brotherinlaw. "We have directed the PWD for site inspection with a team of experts and sought their opinion in connection with a project involving Kejriwal's deceased brotherinlaw Surender Kumar Bansal in the alleged Rs 10 crore scam", ACB Chief Mukesh Kumar Meena told IANS. The officer said that ACB was doing site inspection for collecting evidences at different locations. The ACB action follows the filing of three cases on 9 May against Bansal and senior PWD officers in connection with the corruption charge. The investigating agency questioned six engineers of the PWD on 13 May. The three FIRs were registered against Bansal and the PWD officers after it was discovered that the bills were cleared by different companies for different works. The case involving Bansal, who died on 7 May, relates to a drain project and improvement of kerbs from Shani Mandir to Bakoli village up to Drain No. 6 on the National Highway44. The FIRs do not mention Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Kejriwal's name, although complainant Rahul Sharma, Convener of NGO Road Anti-Corruption Organisation, has accused the Chief Minister of helping Bansal to get fake bills of around Rs 10 crore cleared. The ACB recorded the statement of Sharma on 11 May. Editor's note: This is the ninth piece in a multi-part series on the nature of human excesses that have imperilled the fragile ecosystem of South India's ghats, home to at least 325 globally threatened species of flora and fauna, by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's reckoning. This article, like the one preceding it, marked a slight deviation: They address issues specific to the Eastern Ghats. We will return to the westerly range in the tenth and concluding section of the series. Keesarabodu Tavitayya, a 70-year-old tribal from Eguvaragada village in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district, was killed in November 2016. He was walking through the forest while returning from a family wedding nearby, when he was trampled by wild elephants, which then dragged his body for over two kilometres. "This is the handiwork of a herd of elephants that entered Andhra Pradesh from Odisha's Lakheri forest seven years ago, and never went back," said Shanti Swaroop, district forest officer for Srikakulam. Summer is perhaps the cruelest season for wild animals. Especially a summer such as this one, when water sources inside the hills have dried up and food is scarce. In Andhra Pradesh's border districts like Srikakulam and Chittoor, elephant herds from Odisha and Tamil Nadu are entering farms and villages, scaring villagers and destroying crops in search of food and water. Similarly, black buck and antelopes in the Rollapadu sanctuary in Kurnool district also wander into villages and destroy standing crops. The monkeys of Nalgonda and Nizamabad, and hyenas and sloth bears of Anantapur are also entering human habitation in desperation. "It's a sad state of affairs, since the animals go from place to place in search of food and water," said Purushottam Reddy, professor at Osmania University. The latest report by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) says that close to six lakh trees were illegally felled between April 2013 and March 2016 in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This allegedly accounted for over 55 percent of the total destruction of tree wealth in the two states. In Telangana, smuggling of teak and timber along the Godavari in Karimnagar and Warangal was a major cause of illegal axing of trees. Experts have said that actual numbers might be much more than was recorded, and despite the public outcry, the situation has actually worsened. "In Hyderabad alone, nearly 1,500 trees were felled in road widening activities for the Metro rail project," said J Rama Rao, who works for the Save Hyderabad campaign. Hyderabad Metro managing director NVS Reddy said that the Metro Rail planted over one lakh saplings in place of the felled trees. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao launched a 'Harita Haram' programme, to plant 230 crore saplings in urban, rural and forest belt areas to improve ground water resources. But over 50 percent of the two states' geographical area was declared as drought-ridden. Together, they have sought central assistance of nearly Rs 12,000 crores. Furthermore, the focus is also on the efforts and measures to mitigate the wild animals' summer blues. "It's the duty of the government to guard and protect even those in the wilderness," said BJP leader G Kishan Reddy, contending that the Telangana government should spend more on facilities in the forest belt so that the wild animals don't enter villages and towns along the border. The monkey menace has also caused trouble in some unexpected quarters; in Dubbaka village of Dharpilli mandal in February this year, the wedding chances of nearly 25 grooms were ruined because of the simians. Media reports said that brides rejected alliances after they heard that the families come from the problem village. On 18 February, women, children and the elderly waged a bitter battle against the monkeys, using sticks and stones to drive them away. This incongruous attack on the monkeys was widely publicised by the media, following which the brides refused to wed men from that village. Following the distressing monkey attacks on their fields and the destruction of crops and plantations, the villagers looked forward to the establishment of "monkey shelters", to come up at Chincholi, near Nirmal in Adilabad district, which was designed by the Telangana government as a rescue and rehabilitation centre. "The Rhesus and Bonnet species of monkeys have both been causing disturbances in villages and towns of the state, due to dumping of a large quantities of human waste, and when they come for summer crops like millet and groundnut," said a retired chief principal conservator of Telangana Forests. "In Telangana, we have budgeted for, and are also addressing the needs of wild animals in the summer months, like a shelter for monkeys, food and water for wild animals," said Jogu Ramanna, Telanganas Forest And Tribal Affairs minister. Attracted by cabbage and cauliflower crops in winter, and irrigation facilities for the sugarcane crops in summer, elephants from Odisha invade villages and plantations of Srikakulam district on a regular basis. The Andhra Pradesh government had in 2013-14 brought trained elephants from Kerala and Karnataka to catch the rogue ones under 'Operation Gaja'. "But our efforts failed, as the Odisha government has not improved facilities in their sanctuaries and elephants strayed into the border districts perennially," said state forest minister Sidda Raghava Rao. Similar summer visitors would also regularly arrive at Kuppam in Chittoor district, also the constituency of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. During the NT Rama Rao regime in 1985, the government spent huge sums on setting up an over 36-km electric fence at the Ramakuppam-Palamner forest belt, after a tribal forest guard was stomped to death by a rogue elephant. "But the electric fencing did not succeed due to power cuts and farmers inadvertently kept stepping on them," said former Ramkuppam divisional forest officer Prakash Naidu. Officials say the number of wild elephants, natives of Bandipur forests in Karnataka and the elephant corridor of Hosur and Krishnagiri, have been on the rise and are a nightmare for farmers and industrialists of Kuppam. "In 2014, about 43 pachyderms had come to Kuppam and the number is now gradually increasing, to nearly five herds of 15-20 animals," said district forest officer Shiv Ram Prasad. The Andhra Pradesh government is also considering setting up temporary shelters with fodder and water for the straying animals spread over eight Assembly and four parliamentary segments on a pilot basis. "These animals stay for some time and go back to their original habitats when rains begin," said Sarvottam Naidu, a farmer from Ramakuppam. "The elephant corridor between Hosur and Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu that's close to Kuppam has been disturbed by urbanisation, and the animals are straying into Kuppam, which falls on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu-Karnataka tri-junction," said AV Joseph, former wildlife official, Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra government has even made a budgetary allocation to provide for relief activities in Kuppam and Srikakulam. The former has forest land of only 200 acres and grazing land for elephants Palamner and Ramakuppam forest is around 35,000 acres. The straying animals enter these forest lands through Kuppam, say officials. In the same manner, black buck and antelopes of Kurnool reserve also caused a major law and order issue during the summer months, when the mercury crossed 45 degrees celsius. In 2007 and 2010, black buck had strayed into the villages of Alur and Mandal in Kurnool district. The forest and police departments had to cordon them off with a large force and bring them back to the reserve, but before that could happen, many were felled by hunters and whisked way clandestinely to Hyderabad and Bangalore. For nearly two weeks, police kept special checkposts at the highway and other road junctions to check for transport of deer meat and deer skin and seized over 40-50 of them. Falling green cover due to forest denudation and increasing black buck population has led to their straying out of the reserve into the fields and villages in search of food and water. In the erstwhile united state of Andhra Pradesh, a black buck sanctuary Mahaveer Harina Vanasthali was set up over 1,459 hectares near Hyderabad, and many black buck from the Kurnool sanctuary were relocated here in 2011. "Since they were away from the protected habitat they also became prey to hunters and some were gunned down by farmers," said a forest official who preferred to remain anonymous. Drought has been a perennial feature of Anantapur district, the groundnut hub of Andhra Pradesh. Parts of the district like Kalyanadurg and Rayadurg have been hit by desertification and have given room for hyenas and sloth bear. These animals come to the plantations and villages, as farmers encroach deeper into their habitat. With the animals crawling It's come to a point that the animals are now crawling around in search of food, and often take away goats and small babies. This results in police shooting at them and killing them. In 2016, farmers killed a sloth bear and hung it on a tree to scare off other bears. In the summer especially, villagers are scared of traveling on foot through the fields or at nights for fear of hyena and sloth bear attacks. The Forest Department has provided cages at sensitive spots, so that the farmers capture the animals and keep them. "Sometimes the sight of the cages scared the animals away from invading the villages," said Gopala Reddy, Mandal revenue officer of Kalyanadurg. In the Nallama forests across Kurnool-Srisailam-Guntur districts, special water tanks were kept by the Forest Department for the sake of wild animals so that they would not stray into human habitat. In some plain lands of the Srisailam tiger reserve, sun shelters were created for the cats. In forests across Karimnagar, Warangal, and Nizamabad, the Forest Department, in collaboration with state police, dropped water pouches in tubes at major water holes to supplement the need of animals. Environmentalists say that the man-animal conflict is likely to spiral further in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, in view of massive infrastructure projects, and dense forests are being cleared or eroded gradually. For the construction of Amaravati, the new AP capital, and the surrounding ring roads, nearly 15,000 hectares of forest land have been cleared causing wildlife to enter human habitations. "The Amaravati project is still under an NGT (National Green Tribunal) probe for huge cement and steel structures and the elimination of flower and fruit plantations along the Krishna river. This has increased mercury levels at Vijayawada and Guntur by over 1-2 degrees," said Shivaji, an environmentalist. Hyderabad's Metro Rail works, the IT corridors and pharma hubs have also taken a huge toll on the greenery. "Tree planting is a joke in political and administrative circles. During the YSR (late Congress chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy) regime, nearly 150 crore saplings were planted and Kiran Kumar Reddy (YSR's successor) claimed 25 lakh saplings were planted during his tenure. Now KCR claims a roadmap for 230 crore saplings till 2019. Even if half of these saplings were actually planted, Telangana would have adequate ground water for 10 years and no drought," said TDP legislator and KCR critic A Revanth Reddy. Part 1:Urbanisation demands see hills sacrificed to whims of mining, industry lobbies Part 2:How deforestation saved ecologically-sensitive hills in Kerala Part 3: Ambulance service supplies water to 700 families in Kerala's Kottayam Part 4: In Kerala's Wayanad, acute water scarcity leading to man-animal conflict Part 5: Cauvery suffers a slow death as tourism and urbanisation flourish Part 6:Tamil Nadu's over-dependence on ground water has left it parched Part 7: Encroachments in elephant corridor lead to human-animal conflicts Part 8: How one man struggles to help Nallamalla's monkeys survive the summer Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on Thursday morning. 60-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to condole his sudden death, remembering his devotion to public service and commitment towards the conservation of the environment. Other cabinet colleagues also took to Twitter to condole the passing away of Dave. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 Home Minister Rajnath Singh It is extremely shocking and saddening to learn of the demise of our colleague and Union Environment Minister Shri Anil Madhav Dave. 1/3 Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 18, 2017 Shri Dave was very active and sensitive to issues pertaining to environment. His dedication to work was highly appreciated. 2/3 Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 18, 2017 I offer my heartfelt condolences to the members of Shri Anil Dave's family. May God give them strength to bear this huge loss. 3/3 Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 18, 2017 Union Minister Piyush Goyal Shocked to hear about the demise of my friend & respected colleague Shri Anil Madhav Dave. Heartfelt condolences to his family & friends. Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 18, 2017 Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi As Environment Minister, the contribution of Sh. Anil Madhav Dave ji has been unparalleled. He leaves behind a deep void. Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) May 18, 2017 Health Minister JP Nadda Shocked & saddened by the demise of my colleague & veteran leader shri Anil Madhav dave ji . May his soul rest in peace. Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) May 18, 2017 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Deeply shocked & saddened by demise of my colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. May God render peace to the departed soul. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 18, 2017 HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar Saddened by the sudden demise of my colleague Anil Madhav Dave ji.My heartfelt condolences. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2017 Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, the formr ally of the BJP, too expressed grief over Dave's death. In his condolence message, Kumar said that Dave was a renowned politician, Rajya Sabha member and a social worker. Dave's death has caused a void both for society and politics, Kumar added. The chief minister prayed to the Almighty to give strength to the minister's relatives and followers to bear the huge loss and grant eternal peace to the departed soul. Madhya Pradesh government has announced two-day state mourning. National Flag will fly half-mast on all government buildings in Delhi and all state capitals today in view of the demise of Dave. The BJP Rajya Sabha MP since 2009, belonging to Madhya Pradesh, was given the Ministry of Environment and Forest portfolio on 5 July, 2016, while his predecessor Prakash Javadekar was given charge of the HRD ministry. With inputs from PTI Editor's Note: Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, 10 kilometres to the west of Ernakulam, were once bustling commercial hubs till the late 20th Century. Today, the various ethnic communities that had made this place home are struggling to stay relevant, trying to keep their businesses and traditions. In this multi-part series, Firstpost looks at these communities and their place in the history of Mattancherry. This is the third part of the series. Keralites greatly value the contributions made by the Konkanis in various spheres of their life ever since they started migrating to the southern state from the 11th Century. But many grudge the ethnic community for introducing a disruptive form of protest in the state. The hartal, they organised in protest against the illegal demand of a huge sum of money by the King of Cochin for the royal treasury in 1791, was later adopted by Keralites as their most favourite form of protest. The trade and industry in the state today consider hartal as one of the major hindrances in the development of the state. Historians, however, do not blame the Konkanis for shutting down their business at Vypeen and Mattancherry after the King sought 30,000 varahams (then currency) from Thirumala Devaswom, an important socio-religious organisation of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSBs). They view it as a spontaneous reaction against the persecution by King Raja Rama Varma, who massacred a large number of Konkani merchants after the Devawom refused to part with its wealth. The King then plundered the shops of the merchants and looted the temple. In fact, historians say that the Konkanis are one of the most persecuted communities in India. It was the persecution by the Mughals and Portuguese that forced the Konkanis to flee their homeland in the countrys south western coast. The first batch of Konkanis came to Kerala in 1294, when Allauddin Khilji attacked Goa, according to noted Konkani writer, historian and activist, Narendra Purushottam Mallya. Another exodus was triggered by an inquisition carried out by the Portuguese in accordance with a Papal bull in 1560. Mallya told Firstpost that a large number of Konkanis were forced to flee to different parts of the country after they were given the option of either converting to Christianity or leaving their homeland. We feared they will convert us forcefully, kill our language, culture and religion. Unable to bear the torture, atrocities and persecution we left our homeland, said Mallya, who was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri in recognition to his contributions to the community. Mallya, who initiated a movement for the promotion of the Konkani language, said that the Konkanis who reached various parts of Kerala were also persecuted by the local kings and people. A group of families which came to Kozhikode were denied shelter by the Zamorin, a Hindu ruler. The refugees who came to Kochi were allowed by King Veera Kerala Varma to settle down in the kingdom. He allotted an area behind his palace at Mattancheryy called Cherrlai to the Konkanis. However, his successor Raja Rama Varma forced them to flee to Thuravoor and Alappuzha in Travancore Kingdom. They were not even welcomed by the locals in many places. They were denied entry in temples by Namboothiri Brahmins, who considered themselves superior to the refugees, who were called Paradeshi Brahmins. The boycott forced them to construct their own temples and live around them in agrahara (Keri) fashion. The community built 16 temples during the period. However, many of them were plundered, some repeatedly by the kings and the Portuguese. A temple they built in 1599 was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1662. It was reconstructed in 1663 during the Dutch reign but the idol disappeared mysteriously in 1719. The temple was plundered again in 1791. The migration of Konkanis to Kerala was thus marked by several trials and tribulations. It is recorded in history as the 'great run'. The migration was led by Saraswat Brahmins. Sonars (goldsmiths), Kudumbis (manual workers), Vaniyars (traders), and Devadasis accompanied them. Though the Konkanis have settled in different parts of the state, the major settlement is in Kochi. They have made the land allotted to them at Mattanchery their permanent abode. Today, there are 30,000 Konkanis in Mattancherry. Thirumala Devaswom, which is called Gosripuram, is the socio-religious nerve centre of the Konkanis in Mattancherry. It also serves as the headquarters of all migrated Konkanis in Kerala. The Saraswat Brahmins live around Gosipuram, while the Kudumbis and others live in the periphery. There is an unwritten rule among the Saraswat Brahmins - prohibit members not to sell their land or buildings to outsiders. Though the Vaniyars represent the business community, the Saraswat Brahmins were forced to take to business as they could not find suitable jobs when they migrated to the city. Kapil R Pai, president of the Devaswom, said the upper caste members had excelled well in the business despite the lack of experience. With the help of the rulers and the Dutch merchants they flourished in their business. The rulers gave the Konkanis free hand in the business, which helped them control the trade globally. At one point of time, all major trade and business of Kochi went through their hands. This in turn helped Kochi to emerge as an international trade centre, claimed Pai. The Saraswat Brahmins are today one of the most prosperous communities in Kochi. The Konkanis were also the first to start an Anglo-vernacular school in Kochi. The TD School they established at Mattancherry is today a major centre of learning in Kochi. Besides, they set up many other schools and colleges not only in Kochi but also in the nearby areas. The practice of women wearing sari and blouse without a veil was brought to Kerala by Konkani women, according to Mallya. He said that the practice was embraced by most sections of women in the state. The beautiful elephant procession that later become an integral part of Hindu festivals in the state is also a contribution of the Konkanis. While the Saraswat Brahmins have prospered, the benefits of their prosperity were not passed on to the Kudumbis, who had accompanied them in the migration. Though the Sarswat Brahmins use their service in their business and homes they have kept them at a distance in social and religious spheres. A member of the community was reluctant even to take this correspondent to the place where Kudumbis stayed. He agreed only after some senior members of the community intervened. P Raman, a Kudumbi, said lack of education was the major reason for the economic and social backwardness of his community. Kudumbi families who were content with their traditional jobs have realised this and are now trying to give proper education to the children now, Raman said. He said that the Kudumbi Seva Sangham, which they formed recently, was helping the community in achieving economic and social progress. He claimed that the government of Kerala had recognised the community as Other Backward Community (OBC) because of their efforts. This, he hoped, will help them in accessing government jobs and educational opportunities. Historian Balagopal TS Prabhu believes that the upper caste would not have made the progress they have made in the social and economic spheres without the hard work of the Kudumbis. It is high time that the Saraswat Brahmins recognised the role played by the Kudumbis in their economic advancement and share the benefits with them, he said. Part 1: Century-old settlements fight to retain historical legacy Part 2: Big retail, local players push entrenched Gujarati trader community towards migration New Delhi: In a bid to deal with economic offenders like liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who flee the country to escape the legal process, the government on Thursday said it has prepared a draft legislation to enable confiscation of their assets. The draft law Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017 has been prepared and put in public domain at the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, website for comments and suggestions of all stakeholders. "It is widely felt that the spectre of high-value economic offenders absconding from India to defy the legal process seriously undermines the rule of law in India," the Finance Ministry said here in a statement "It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed," the statement said. "The government is considering to introduce legislative changes or even a new law to confiscate the assets of such absconders till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum," the statement added. All stakeholders need to submit their suggestions by 3 June. The legislative action is part of the Union Budget announcement. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in the Budget 2017-18 said: "In the recent past, there have been instances of big time offenders, including economic offenders, fleeing the country to escape the reach of law. We have to ensure that the law is allowed to take its own course. "Government is, therefore, considering introduction of legislative changes, or even a new law, to confiscate the assets of such persons located within the country, till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum. Needless to say that all necessary constitutional safeguards will be followed in such cases." Srinagar: The PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir is planning to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the next 30 days in the state legislature to pass the law on its own terms to preserve the financial autonomy of the state but the law is been being opposed tooth and nail by the business community here. Finance Minister Haseeb A Drabu, while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 14th GST council meet at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre in Srinagar, said the state will be part of the GST regime but because it enjoys a special constitutional position, the government will try and make some changes in the law. "We will try and introduce the GST bill in coming 30 days in the state legislature. Only after it is passed by the state legislature, shall we enact it," Drabu said online the side of the GST Council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The council will decide the tax rates before GST rollout from 1 July. Drabu said the "historic" GST meeting will make Jammu and Kashmir part of the economic history aimed at reordering the countrys federal polity. However, the Kashmirs industrial bodies have opposed the move saying it would compromise the financial autonomy of the state. Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), chairman Farooq Dar said GST council meet in Srinagar is an attempt to erode the financial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir. "We are not against any tax regime which is for the betterment of the business community. But Jammu and Kashmir state is not like any other state in India. It has as special status guaranteed under Article 370 under which this law cant be implemented here," said Dar. The 14th GST Council started on Thursday with finance ministers of 29 states and three Union Territories and Jaitley in Srinagar to attend the conclave that will decide the tariffs for various items amid polar differences on gold, handicrafts, beedi and a few small items. "State like Jammu and Kashmir will have a huge benefit. As per our estimate, we have Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore profit in tax revenue. Prices will go down for common people in coming three years," Drabu said. "It is the most significant tax reform since Independence." The states in India draw power to tax from Article 246 of the Constitution, but Jammu and Kashmir draws power to tax from section 5 of its own constitution. The Union finance minister assured the state government that the Centre will extend all possible help in restructuring the GST implementation for Jammu and Kashmir while respecting the special status of the state. Later while talking to Firstpost, Drabu, the former banker turned PDP politician, who was the architect of the BJP-PDP alliance, said that it is inclusiveness and participatory new approach which is the beauty of the federal structure of new India. "It is so significant and important thing that when the last time they changed the economic regime of the country there was hardly any consultation. But today we have to even consult everyone even on the change in the rates," he said. The meeting in Srinagar is also seen as a push to divert the attention from the bad news coming out of the region, as it comes in the backdrop of a restive Valley, marked by violence and protests in recent months. The meeting is presided over by Jaitely, who arrived on Wednesday. A 140-member group of ministers and their staff will be hosted for a dinner by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday. After the meeting is over, the ministers would be driven to Gulmarg for a guided tour. The meeting is slated to decide fitment of various goods and services in the multi-tier tax structure of 5, 12, 18, 28 percent, with additional cess over and above 28 percent for demerit and luxury goods. Indications suggest the government will impose a cess on luxury and other goods with a cap of 15 percent. The maximum cess on pan masala has been capped at 135 percent and for tobacco, it is capped at 290 percent or Rs 4,170 per 1,000 sticks. The environment cess has been capped at Rs 400 per tonne. Interestingly, while Jammu and Kashmir is playing an important part in the evolution of the new tax system deliberations, it is currently not joining the new regime directly. Given its special status, Jammu and Kashmir is legislating on the issue and adopting a state GST law later this year. The meeting will last for two days, beginning Thursday during which the delegates will decide the tax bands for various commodities under the countrys first, major indirect tax reform, it is likely to be called 'Srinagar Declaration'. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) declared the Haryana Board Class 10 result also known as the HBSE Result 2018 or the HBSE 10th Result 2018 today on the official website bseh.org.in. The result is available on examresults.net and haryana.indiaresults.com as well. Students who appeared for the Haryana Class 10 exam can also check their result via SMS by sending a text message RESULTHB10ROLLNUMBER to 56263. Steps to check HBSE Result 2018 or HBSE Class 10 result 2018: - Click on the official website bseh.org.in - Look for the tab which says HBSE Result 2018, HBSE 10th Result 2018 - Click on the tab which says Haryana Board Result 2018, Haryana 10th Result 2018, - Enter your roll number, and other required information - Download the Haryana 10th Result 2018 for future reference According to News18, over 5 lakh students appeared in the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) Class 10 Examination 2018 was conducted in the month of March for the academic year 2017-18. Students have also been advised to keep their relevant candidate information, including roll numbers, handy in order to avoid delays. The generation of nuclear power in India got a big boost on Wednesday with the Union Cabinet's decision to construct 10 indigenous pressurised heavy water nuclear reactors, with a total capacity of 7,000-megawatt electric (MWe). Of course, most of the sites for these reactors had already been chosen way back in 2012 and preliminary work had already commenced Gorakhpur near Fatehabad district in Haryana, Banswada in Rajasthan, Chutka in Mandla district and at Bheempur in Madhya Pradesh. The latest decision has now added Kaiga in Karnataka to the list. Wednesdays decision underscores the Narendra Modi governments commitment towards promoting nonconventional (non-fossil) energy resources such as nuclear, solar and wind power. At present, India generates 37,674 million units of energy from its existing nuclear plants (in 2016-17), but this figure only reflects about 80 percent of the countrys capacity factor. Indias target is to have 14.5 gigawatt electrical (GWe) nuclear capacity on line by 2020 as part of its national energy policy, which aims at supplying 25 percent of the total electricity requirement from nuclear power by 2050. According to a World Nuclear Association (WNA) study, as of today, nuclear power provides over 11 percent of the world's electricity as continuous, reliable base-load power, without carbon dioxide emissions. As of April 2017, 30 countries worldwide are operating 449 nuclear reactors for electricity generation and 60 new nuclear plants are under construction in 15 countries. And there are 55 countries that operate a total of about 245 research reactors and a further 180 nuclear reactors power some 140 ships and submarines. Sixteen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity. France gets around three-quarters of its power from nuclear energy, while Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ukraine get one-third or more. South Korea, Bulgaria and Finland normally get more than 30 percent of their power from nuclear energy, while in the USA, UK, Spain and Russia get almost one-fifth of their power from nuclear. Japan is used to relying on nuclear power for more than one-quarter of its electricity and is expected to return to that level. Though in some developed countries, there have been demands to revisit the nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 in Japan. Over 50 countries, both developed and developing, are actively considering embarking upon nuclear power programmes. The Chinese government plans to increase nuclear-generating capacity to 58 GWe with 30 GWe more to be added by 2020. China has completed construction and commenced operation of 17 new nuclear power reactors in between 2003 and 2013 and many have been planned since then. In fact, China is now commencing export marketing of a largely indigenous reactor design R&D on nuclear reactor technology in China is second to none. Russia plans to increase its nuclear capacity to 30.5 GWe by 2020, using its world-class light water reactors. Construction of a large fast breeder unit is nearly complete, and development proceeds on others, aiming for significant exports. An initial floating power plant is under construction, with delivery due in 2016. Russia is active in building and financing new nuclear power plants in several countries. Finland and France are both expanding their fleets of nuclear power plants with the 1,650 MWe EPR from Areva, two of which are also being built in China. A UK government energy paper in mid-2006 endorsed the replacement of the countrys ageing fleet of nuclear reactors with new nuclear build, and four 1,600 MWe French units are planned for operation by 2023. And now, London aims at having 16 GWe of new nuclear capacity operating by 2030. Against this background, it is but natural that India, a poor fuel resource country, should find nuclear power attractive. However, there have been some bottlenecks on the way. First, there have been strong forces, many of them being assisted by leading western anti-nuclear and green lobbies, who have delayed the commissioning of nuclear plants in India by resorting to mass agitations and legal recourses on some pretext or the other (mainly centring on environmental and settlement issues). Some political parties have also exploited the situation. Secondly, there has been the security factor, which the critics of the nuclear power cite to be the most important reason as to why the programme should not be promoted. But the fact remains that with each passing day, nuclear power is becoming safer and safer thanks to the tremendous advances made in the nuclear science. Apart from taking the climatic and geographic features of the location of plants (such as earthquake proneness and tsunami possibilities) into account, we have now what is called the passive safety system for nuclear reactors that keeps the reactors cool in the event of an accident. When a reactor shuts down, the radioactive byproducts of the nuclear fission continue to generate heat. Failure to remove that heat can damage the reactors nuclear fuel and cause radiation leaks, something that happened at Fukushima. There was nothing wrong with the nuclear reactor as such; the problem occurred when following a tsunami, the Fukushima plant was shut down. There was no electricity for the safety system to remove the excess heat. Under the traditional safety system, the vulnerability of the nuclear plants is dependent on the availability of the electric power for cooling operations. However, the new technologies have upgraded the reactors to such an extent that we have now what is called the "passive safety system", which relies on gravitational forces to remove excess heat. After all, heat-removal is the basis for safety. For instance, our Kudankulam plants in Tamil Nadu have four channels of safety system, sufficient for an "immediate stopping of the chain reaction in case of crisis"; in fact, the system is designed to ensure water supply for cooling of the reactor even if there is a blackout for 24 hours. In addition, passive safety systems reduce the number of valves and pumps in nuclear plants by at least 50 percent, thereby not necessitating a bigger space for a reactor, which, in turn, is less labour intensive and vulnerable to sabotage. The third bottleneck has been Indias unique nuclear liability laws of 2010 that talk of compensation in the event of nuclear accidents in a plant. As India is not self-sufficient in nuclear fuel and technology, it has to import them from outside. The universal practice is that in the event of an accident, it is the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that gives the compensation. No nuclear exporting country or farm undertakes the responsibility of safety, operations and maintenance of the NPP it has sold fuel and technology to. There has to be a national law or bilateral arrangement or international liability regime (such as Vienna-based Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for Nuclear Damage or Paris Convention on Third Party Nuclear Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy) for the exporter and importer to manage the liability in case any nuclear accident takes place affecting a third party or the country. Based on this principle, India passed a Liability Act in the Parliament in 2010 that places responsibility for any nuclear accident with the operator, as is standard internationally, and limits total liability to 300 million SDR (about US$ 450 million) "or such higher amount that the Central government may specify by notification". Operator liability is capped at Rs 1500 crore (about US$ 285 million) or such higher amount that the Central government may notify, beyond which the Central government is liable. However, after compensation has been paid by the operator (or its insurers), clause 17 (b) of the Indian Act allows the operator to have legal recourse to the supplier for up to 80 years after the plant starts up if in the opinion of an Indian court the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employee, which includes supply of equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub-standard services. This clause giving recourse to the supplier for an operational plant is contrary to international conventions and undermines the channelling principle fundamental to nuclear liability. Also, no limit is set on suppliers' liability. Obviously, all potential nuclear suppliers to India were unhappy. They wanted the law to be suitably amended, even though the fact remains that the stringent provision of 17 (b) was incorporated under the pressure of the BJP, then in opposition. In fact, this clause was the brainchild of the present finance minister Arun Jaitely. Of course, in November 2011 the Department of Energy (DAE) published a notification that claims by plant operators against component suppliers "shall in no case exceed the actual amount of compensation" paid by utilities. The new Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules gives plant operators the right of recourse against equipment suppliers related to "the extent of the operator's liability" or "the value of the contract itself, whichever is less." They also limit it to the duration of the initial plant licence "or the product liability period, whichever is longer." But still, this was seen as confusing and is not satisfactory to major suppliers. However, after assuming office in 2014, the Modi government has retrieved the situation to a great extent. First, it asked the ministry of external affairs to come out with clarifications that clause 17 (b) of the CLND will remain mostly on paper and that the section 46, which refers to the right of victims to sue in case of a nuclear accident according to tort law, will not apply to the suppliers. In 2015, the Modi government created a 15 billion rupees ($222 million) insurance pool to shield the operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, and the suppliers against claims. And most importantly, it ratified last year the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which the Manmohan Singh-government had signed in 2010. The CSC, a free-standing international nuclear liability regime, will give India access to international funding, beyond those available through national resources, to pay for damages in the event of a nuclear accident as per international practices. Viewed thus, the latest decision of the Modi-government to augment nuclear power generation is a logical corollary. In the first move to induct new artillery guns in the Indian Army in nearly three decades, two M-777 ultra-light howitzers will be flown down to India from the US on Thursday. The 155mm-calibre guns manufactured by BAE Systems are being acquired under the $737 million deal which India inked with the US in November 2016. According to a report in The Times of India, the two howitzers, which will come in a chartered aircraft from the UK, will be taken to the Pokhran ranges for testing and "compilation of the firing tables" for subsequent use. "The firing tables, with the guns being tested for different kinds of Indian ammunition with bi-modular charges, will take some time to be formulated." A source quoted in the report said that five guns will be delivered every month and that all 145 guns will be inducted by June 2021. The last time the army inducted a modern artillery gun was in the late 1980s, when Bofors were purchased by a Swedish company Bofors AB. There was a controversy over payment of alleged kickbacks in the deal, which put on the backfoot all deals for the modernisation of the artillery. Subsequent scandals revolving around other global artillery manufacturers, like South African Denel and Singapore Technology Kinetic's, further punched gaping holes in the army's long-range, high-volume firepower. The original Swedish Bofors company is now owned by BAE Systems, reported The Times of India. The guns which are currently being used by the US, Australian and Canadian armed forces, are primarily meant for the front in China. The army has plans to equip 169 regiments with 3,503 guns by 2020.The guns will equip the new 17 Mountain Strike Corps, which the army is raising by cannibalising its existing reserves, for the China front. With two infantry divisions geared for mountain warfare, and associated artillery, air defence and armoured brigades, the 17 Corps will be fully in place with 90,274 troops by 2021. After these two guns, three M777 guns will come to India in September 2018 and used for training. Thereafter, five guns will be inducted every month from March 2019 to June 2021. These guns, which will equip seven artillery regiments, are capable of firing at a range of 24 to 40 kilometres, depending on the type of ammunition used, was reported in Indian Express. While the first 25 guns will be inducted directly, 120 of the 145 guns will be assembled in India by Mahindra Defence as part of offsets obligation, the report said. The arrival of the M-777 guns comes soon after the government also inked a Rs 4,366 crore contract with engineering conglomerate L&T for the supply of 100 self-propelled howitzers in collaboration with its South Korean technology partner Hanwha Tech Win. These 155mm/52-calibre tracked guns called K-9 Vajra-T, in turn, are to be delivered within 42 months, reported The Times of India. Key features of the M-777 M-777 is the worlds first 155mm howitzer weighing less than 10000 lbs (4218 kilogrammes) because it uses titanium extensively. It has been selected by the US Marine Corps and US Army as their next generation medium force weapon. The gun can be transported by helicopter and transporter aircraft such as the C-130, and has a minimal gun crew of five. The M-777 uses a digital fire-control system to provide navigation, pointing and self-location, allowing it to be put into action quickly. With inputs from PTI New Delhi: Two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers will arrive in India from the US on Friday. It will be the first induction of the howitzers after the Bofors scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. The scandal had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. An official from BAE Systems said the first two guns will land in India ahead of the schedule over the weekend. According to a report in the The Times Of India, the two howitzers, which will come in a chartered aircraft from the UK, "will be taken to the Pokhran ranges for testing and compilation of the firing tables for subsequent use." A source quoted in the report said that five guns will be delivered every month and that all 145 guns will be inducted by June 2021. The howitzers are being procured for the army and will be deployed along the India-China border. India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around $700 million. As per the deal, the first 25 guns will be bought directly from the US and the rest will be assembled in India. "We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Army's artillery modernisation programme," the official said. With inputs from PTI India has cause to be concerned about the large number of dams being constructed by China. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Beijing last week to build the Bhasha and Bunji Dams on the River Indus in Gilgit-Baltistan which India claims to be its own territory has triggered fresh alarm bells. The Bhasha Dam, being built with a height of 272 metres, will produce 4,500 megawatts of electricity. It is being built as a gravity dam and will be the highest roller-compacted concrete dams in the world. The Bunji Dam is also being built on the Indus River. It will be 190 metres high and will have an installed capacity of 7,100 megawatts. These two mammoth dams are being constructed at a total cost of $27 billion and can be seen as part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative of the Chinese government, which is expected to bolster the Chinese economic and geopolitical footprint across a swathe of nations. The Three Gorges Corporation, which built the largest dam in the world (Three Gorges), will help finance this project with a capital of $50 billion. Last Saturday, India came out openly against the OBOR policy manoeuvre, describing it as little more than a colonial enterprise, while also expressing reservations against the 'ecological and environmental' damages that a project of this size would cause. India also went on to add that a connectivity project (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) must be pursued in a manner that respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations as well. Activists in India concede that while Chinese engineers possess great expertise in building mammoth dams, the environmental impact of these hydro projects has not been placed in the public domain. Environmental activist Himanshu Thakkar, who has specialised in the study of dams, pointed out, "Large dams change the micro-climate of a region. Both the Bhasha and Bunji Dams are much larger than any existing dam in India. In fact, the entire installed hydropower projects in Jammu & Kashmir do not equal even the Bhasha Dam, which is the smaller of these two dams. This helps provide an idea of just how mammoth these projects are." Thakkar believes, "These dams will involve large scale deforestation and will require large-scale evacuation of thousands of families. We are still to study just how close India is to the submergence area of these dams because if the river is in flood, then the backwater impact of these dams can come to India." What Thakkar found surprising was how the Chinese are proceeding to build these dams in disputed territory. The reason why the Chinese engineers have chosen this particular area for construction is because the Indus River has 46 percent snow melt and is a perennial river which flows through these high mountains at tremendous speed. Vikram Soni, professor emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, who has specialised in the study of rivers, said, "The more the slope, the greater the power. China is an energy deficient nation and they have negotiated with Pakistan to use the electricity generated from these two dams for their own use," "In terms of ecological destruction," Soni warns, "when the Tehri Dam was constructed, it is known to have caused a great deal of ecological destruction. Since the size of these dams is much larger than our own Tehri Dam, the amount of destruction is going to be that much greater," "What kind of fallout it will have in the Kashmir Valley is something one will need to study in much greater detail. But, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir faced flash floods some time ago which is known to have been triggered by heavy rainfall and deforestation." Professor V Bhutani (retd) of the Delhi University, who has specialised in China, expresses apprehension at the stationing of Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan to protect their strategic assets. "Tibet has been run over by a large Hun population. With Pakistan expected to be turned into an economic colony of China, the increasing presence of Chinese troops in the northern sectors is not something India will feel comfortable about." China is also planning to build 55 reservoirs on the rivers flowing from the Tibetan plateau. Already, they have completed the Zangmu Dam, built on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra in 2010. Three more dams at Dagu, Jiacha and Jeixu are presently under construction, while in 2015, work started on the Zam hydropower station which will be the largest dam on the Brahmaputra river, which the Chinese refer to as the Yarlung Tsangpo. The origins of the river are from a glacier in western Tibet, close to the origins of the Indus and Sutlej rivers, all of which emanate from Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash. Medog has been selected as the site of this mega project as the river makes a huge bend inside a giant canyon, which is around 198-miles long and 3.1-miles wide. Medog, incidentally, is located just 30 km north of the Indian border. The Chinese have moved the entire team which built the Lhasa-Beijing railway line to execute this mammoth project, which will involve the construction of massive tunnels and reservoirs and turbines in order to generate 40,000 megawatts of power. The first hint of this scheme emanated from an official Chinese newspaper in the 1990s, pointing out that the Chinese wanted to exploit the spectacular 2,000-metre-drop in the river to generate electricity. The dam will be constructed before the Brahmaputra flows into Arunachal Pradesh and this water is expected to be diverted to the vast, arid areas of Xingjian region and the Gansu province in China. India has repeatedly shown displeasure as well as apprehension with respect to China's activities on the Brahmaputra. In fact, as far back as 2013, India complained to China about the hydro projects on the Brahmaputra. Union water minister Uma Bharti has also expressed her reservation about these Chinese moves as she believes this can adversely affect both India and Bangladesh. Being the lesser of the two riparian countries, India is, of course, concerned about the likely fallout of Chinese activities in the long run. An Inter-Ministerial Expert Group set up to study the impact of these dams on the Brahmaputra had not reflected positively on Chinese activities on dam-building and establishing hydropower stations within 500 kilometres of the India-China border. But China has not cared to heed these apprehensions. As soon as India had indicated that it was planning to assert its rights within the Indus water treaty versus Pakistan, China went public with its plan to build a large dam, with an investment of $740 million, on Xiabuqu River, close to the city of Xigaze. Xigaze is a strategic location close to Bhutan and Sikkim and is the town from where China intends to extend its Beijing-Lhasa railway line up to Nepal. Work on this dam will be completed by 2019. Water experts insist that the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of water resources must start negotiations for an international treaty on the Brahmaputra before North East India is subjected to major water scarcity. Dr Chandan Mahanta, an expert on the Brahmaputra river basin, who heads the Centre for Environment at IIT Guwahati, believes the ministry of water resources must set up the Brahmaputra River Valley Authority (BRVA) at the earliest. Mahanta pointed out that with China building four dams on the Brahmaputra, it was imperative for such an organisation to undertake a comprehensive study of the Brahmaputra basin. "There is no clarity about the nature of dams being constructed by the Chinese, who claim they are building run-of-the-river dams. The Indian government is going by that assurance but the people in Assam have serious doubts about the Chinese plans," said Mahanta. "We need to undertake a sound scientific investigation about both the lean flows of the river and how the dam construction by the Chinese will affect the river. We feel that once the dams are in place, the Brahmaputra will become a seasonal river, causing water scarcity in our region," he said. "Such an apprehension is being expressed by people throughout Asia, who want to know just how much water the Chinese plan to divert across Asian rivers," Mahanta said, adding that a bilateral collaborative study between the two countries will help allay these fears. India and China have an agreement on sharing the data of the Brahmaputra water but do not have any treaty, similar to India and Pakistan on the sharing of the river waters. China has so far not communicated officially about the construction of the three dams Dagu, Liacha and Jiexu on the Brahmaputra. It is for this reason that the Indian government is pressuring China to set up a joint water commission or work towards having a joint water sharing treaty, following an inter-governmental dialogue on this subject. Political analysts believe that India's response to all these developments remains weak-kneed. Bhutani added, "India has a huge trade balance with China since we import much more than we export but even this factor has not been used to our advantage. Instead of following a policy of appeasement with Beijing, New Delhi needs to forcefully take up its concerns since water security remains critical for any country." Ghulam Mohammad Mir, a resident of Heff area in South Kashmir's Shopian district, was woken up by the sound of jackboots on Wednesday morning, when soldiers cordoned off the entire area and positioned themselves in every nook and cranny of his village. Mir, 56, an orchard owner, woke his three children sleeping in the next room and ordered them to wear proper clothing, as the forces might soon order them to get out of their house. "But, until morning, nothing happened," Mir said, "Then they searched every house... it was as if we had gone back to the early nineties, when crackdowns and door-to-door searches were common." "As the search operations continued, the villagers gathered on the edge of the cordoned-off areas and started protesting... clashes erupted (soon after). Now, this did not look like the nineties... when people were ordered to come out of their houses and told to gather at a particular spot, where they would be paraded in front of an informer," he said. The clashes that ensued between civilian protesters and the security forces left close to two dozen civilians injured at multiple locations across Heff and Shirmal a cluster of villages in the Shopian district. Shopian is one of the four volatile districts of South Kashmir, where militants enjoy considerable support among the masses. The security forces in the Valley are increasing the frequency of cordon-and-search operations (CASO), a clear throwback to the nineties. And, if official sources are to be believed, they are likely to launch a major combing operation in coming days to flush out militants from three of the most volatile districts of South Kashmir Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian. The increased frequency of CASOs in South Kashmir as they are commonly referred to in counterinsurgency grids in the Valley comes after militancy witnessed an uptick recently. Former IGP Javeed Gillani said that at least 90 of the local youth, who have joined the militancy wave since June last year, belong to South Kashmir. Out of a total of around 200 militants active in Kashmir, 110 are local youth. On multiple occasions in recent weeks, gun-wielding militants have been seen roaming freely in groups on the streets in at least three districts of South Kashmir. These districts are the ones where the state had struggled to impose its writ during the five months of unrest last summer, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The unrest that followed Wani's killing left close to a hundred people dead and thousands injured, and Jammu & Kashmir saw one of the biggest crackdowns on protesters in the last 27 years of insurgency. On Wednesday, when the forces conducted door-to-door search operation at Heff and Shirmal villages where Ummer Fayaz Parry, an Indian Army officer was abducted and killed by militants recently massive clashes erupted soon after, forcing the operation to be called off. "When they found a militant's house, they ransacked it and started beating the family members," Imtiaz Ahmad Haji, a resident of Shirmal told Firstpost. The police, however, denied the claim and said that no such action (beating) took place. It said that the operation was a joint exercise between the Kashmir police and the army. It is not clear if the army had any prior input about the presence of the militants in the area but it is clear that CASOs, a major feature of the counter-militancy operations, are back in the Valley after more than 15 years. The practice was abandoned in 2002 following widespread public resentment over an incident in which people were gathered in a ground and paraded in front of "informers", to pick out militants or their sympathisers. The improving militancy graph and security situation in the Valley during the late nineties also contributed to the reduction in the number of CASOs. Jammu & Kashmir director general of police, SP Vaid, said that the security forces are carrying out these operations mainly to flush out militants from places identified by intelligence reports. "Till the time we don't get them all, we won't stop these search and cordon operations," Vaid said. Last week, nearly 4,000 police and army personnel took part in CASOs across two dozen villages in Shopian. Unmanned drones and army helicopters were also a part of the operations, as thousands of policemen combed through villages and orchards. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, currently holding additional charge of the ministry of defence, met with the army chief to review the security situation in the Valley. He is currently in Srinagar to attend a GST Council meet. Jaitley and the army chief would sit in for a review meeting later to get a feel of the situation on the ground. They will also meet field commanders to better analyse the state of affairs in the Valley. India may have soured through the initial hearing on the International Cout of Justice at The Hague, but the fight is far from over. The interim order, even though passed in India's favour and an essential step to ensure to safeguard Jadhav's rights, is just the first step. There are several steps to the hearing and important dates that are crucial for Jadhav's safety. Here are some important dates and events that are crucial in the case: 10 April 2017: Kulbhushan Jadhav was served the death sentence by Pakistani military court 18 May 2017: ICJ tells Pakistan to put his execution on hold pending its final order. 19 May 2017: Jadhav has the right to appeal within 40 days to an appellate court by 19 May. Which means the ICJ interim order came right on time for Jadhav in case he did not or could not file his first appeal to the appellate court. ICJ says that it has no knowledge whether Jadhav has filed his appeal. 18 July 2017: Assuming the appellate court in Pakistan denies the appeal on 19 May, he may lodge a mercy petition to the (army chief of Pakistan) within 60 days of the decision by the appellate court. 16 October 2017: Assuming mercy petition is denied on 19 July, Jadhav may lodge a mercy petition to the President of Pakistan within 90 days after the decision of (the army chief) on the mercy petition. For more details and live updates follow our blog here. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave an interim order in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Thursday in India's favour, thus telling Pakistan to put on hold the planned execution of Jadhav. The order not only clarifies many things that India sought in its application and prevents Pakistan from going ahead with the death sentence, it also rejected the claim of no jurisdiction as raised by Pakistan during its oral observations. Here are some key points from the interim order: I. On Jurisdiction of the Court The ICJ notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of - 2 - the Optional Protocol. The court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. II. On consular access It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognised in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible III. On Validity of measures India sought The court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. IV. On Kulbhushan Jadhav's executive risk The court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might, therefore, be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter before the court has given its final decision in the case. The court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Jadhav will not be executed before the court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. For more details and live updates follow our blog here. If there is a weakness in the proceedings at The Hague it is that the 11-member bench failed to put a clock on its orders. There is no order demanding that consular access be given by a specific day. By the same token, the Pakistan delegation gave no indication that they would abide by the 'recommendations' of the court. It knows we cannot keep running back to the ICJ like kids snitching to a teacher at every juncture. If the time frame had been placed on the issue of the access and also an assurance demanded that no execution will be carried out India would have been happier. This is all very vague and more an opinion than a verdict. The Pakistani delegation refused to respond to a question asking for assurances that the execution would not be carried out. So just like the US ignored the ICJ in two precedents with Germany and Paraguay, will Pakistan do the same? No point second guessing them but we have no idea at this juncture how Pakistan will conduct itself. For us, it has been a vindication and a good move with high PR potential something we are not particularly good at historically. But we must not go overboard. We have to be smart, not silly. Jadhav is still in custody. Again these are interim procedures and pronouncements and count for very little unless we can bring our man home. This super-celebration is misplaced if our aim is to save Jadhavs life. There is too much congratulation going on and we must stop right here. Put in perspective it is necessary for us to be circumspect and stop with the party. There is no party yet and the ICJ has never really been more than a blip on our radar. In the past, we have treated the ICJ with casual indifference ourselves. There is also a misnomer in announcing that the execution has stayed. It has not. All the court has done is to reiterate Pakistans stance that it would not carry out the execution before the end of August and seek that assurance which has not been given. So we must decide as a nation and a government what exactly is our goal? If it is to get Jadhav home then we must rise above the drumming and the hoopla and not be so cockahoopwe are not in the lock-up, he is. Let us keep him safe and not be made the scapegoat because we are getting over excited. Discussing whether Pakistani justice is a sham is not our priority. Ours is to reunite Jadhav with his family. If it is to go for broke and label Pakistan a rogue state and obtain as much mileage out of its loss of face on several levels today then we have to decide whether that exercise jeopardises the life of the man the nation is trying to saveand if we can live with that burden. New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Congress welcomes ICJ order and hopes govt continues to mount pressure on Pakistanthe verdict of the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav and hoped the government will continue to mount pressure on Pakistan to implement the decision in order to save the former Navy officer's life and bring him back. Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the people of the country are relieved after the ICJ order as India was left with no other option since Pakistan had disrespected and violated the Vienna Convention. "It is a matter of great relief for all the people of India. We were worried. The order of the International Court of Justice must be respected by the State of Pakistan...We hope that the Government of India will continue to mount that pressure because it is the first stage. We have to ensure that Jadhav's life is saved and then only when he returns home, we will celebrate. Right now, it is a big relief, and we hope that Pakistan respects that order." He said Pakistan's argument before the ICJ and its refusal to accept its jurisdiction betrays a mindset of disrespect to the Vienna Convention which Pakistan has brazenly violated. Asked if India moving the ICJ opens a door for Pakistan to raise bilateral issues internationally, the former external affairs minister said he is sure the government would have weighed all options and their pros and cons. "India was left with no option after Pakistan's disrespect and violation of the Vienna Convention," he said. Sharma also complimented the Indian legal team led by senior lawyer Harish Salve, saying they argued the case well as India has been able to very clearly convey that this was a case of violation and there was a need for the ICJ to intervene. "But this is a battle that shall continue," he said, hoping that the international community and the UN puts pressures Pakistan to respect and implement the ICJ's verdict. The Congress leader said Jadhav was "unfairly" denied consular access or legal assistance and the international community must bring pressure on Pakistan's government and its army. "The United Nations has to take serious note," he said. Sharma also said Pakistan's contention before the ICJ that this case was taken to the military tribunal because there was an issue of terrorism, is flawed and is a lie. He said Jadhav was a civilian who was abducted from Iran, even though he may have served in the defence services prior to his retirement. "For Pakistan to wipe its face of so many pockmarks of many cases of terrorism, it tried to present it as a justified case of action," he said. Referring to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, Sharma said even in the case of the LeT militants who had come fully armed, attacked the citizens of this country, and killed hundreds including foreigners (in Mumbai), Kasab was not only given a fair trial but in a civilian court of law, and was not denied legal assistance but given all access. "So Pakistan has no legs to stand upon," he said. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also welcomed the ICJ verdict and asked the government to ensure justice is done to Jadhav and he is brought back to India. "The case against Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan was a sham and was in gross violation of international law as his execution was ordered by a kangaroo court without consular access. It is appreciated that the world court saw reason in the Indian appeal," he said in a statement. In a major boost to India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of former naval officer Jadhav who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The UN's highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". Islamabad: Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, its Foreign Office said today after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death in March by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. The court today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world," he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court. Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. "After India stood exposed in state sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle," he said. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistans reply to ICJ was in line with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. 16:57 (ist) Key observations made by ICJ in the interim order on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case The ICJ gave an interim order in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Thursday in India's favour, thus telling Pakistan to put on hold the planned execution of Jadhav. Here are some key points from the interim order. I. On Jurisdiction of the Court "The ICJ notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. "In the view of the court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of - 2 - the Optional Protocol. The court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. II. On consular access It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible III. On Validity of measures India sought "The court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. IV. On Jadhav's executive risk The court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might, therefore, be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter before the court has given its final decision in the case. The court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Jadhav will not be executed before the court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. Ten days after India approached The Hague-based International Court of Justice demanding an immediate suspension of the death sentence given to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court, UN's top court will pronounce its verdict at noon local time (3.30 pm IST). In an emergency hearing swiftly organised on 15 May, counsels for New Delhi had urged the court to halt the execution of Jadhav. He was arrested in the southwestern province of Balochistan last year and Pakistani officials claimed he had confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services RAW. He was convicted by a court martial and sentenced to death. India has denied Jadhav was a spy, and accused Pakistan of "egregious violations of the Vienna convention" by denying him access to legal counsel and consular visits, and refusing to reveal the chargesheet against him. Jadhav was "an innocent Indian national, who, incarcerated in Pakistan for more than a year on concocted charges ... has been held incommunicado... and faces imminent execution," lawyer Deepak Mittal told the tribunal. But Pakistani representatives accused New Delhi of "political grandstanding" and told the court Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan". The UN tribunal, based in The Hague, said in a statement it "will deliver its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India versus Pakistan)... on Thursday 18 May, 2017". President of the Court Ronny Abraham, will read out the decision at midday local time (3.30 pm IST). The case a rare foray for the two nations into the international courts after 18 years has highlighted the recent sharp uptick in tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals. "A public sitting will take place at 12 noon at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, will read the court's decision," the international court said in a release on Wednesday. The ICJ ruling also made it clear that "pending the meeting of the court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects." As the world court prepares to read out the judgment in this highly-awaited case, here's what we know about the president of ICJ Ronny Abraham. Abraham became the member of ICJ on 15 February 2005. He was elected as the president of the UN court on 6 February 2015. Before the ICJ appointment, from 1998 to 2005, as head of the Legal Affairs Directorate at the French ministry of foreign affairs, he was in charge of advising the government on legal matters in the fields of general international public law, European Union law, international human rights law, the law of the sea and the Antarctic. A government advisor and the former director of legal affairs in the foreign ministry, Abraham had served as a judge on this court since 2005. His election illustrated the influence of French law and the vitality of French-speaking nations on international legal bodies. Abraham was also a judge at the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Speaking about international justice system in 2003, Abraham had said, "International justice is a long-drawn-out affair. Its establishment is an ongoing and gradual process, and always a difficult one. In practice, it is an ideal we seek to attain but where much still remains to be done. We must avoid excessive idealism and naivety, but also too much cynicism. The last few decades have shown that international justice has made genuine progress. On the other hand we must not believe that the stage has been reached where all the major political issues facing the world can be settled in the courts." The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce on Thursday its verdict on India's appeal seeking revocation of the death sentence awarded by a Pakistani court to alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. In a statement, the court announced that it will "deliver its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India versus Pakistan), on Thursday" at noon (3.30 pm IST) in a public sitting. Judge Ronny Abraham, president of the court, will read the decision, it said. The decision comes after India sought the court's intervention on Monday for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. Indian lawyer Harish Salve alleged that the trial of Jadhav, a former navy officer, was held under "farcical" circumstances in violation of the Vienna Convention. The lawyer told the court that Jadhav was kidnapped in 2016 from Iran where he was pursuing his business after retiring from the Indian Navy. He said Jadhav was brought to Pakistan and was shown to have been arrested in Balochistan and presented as an alleged Indian spy. His alleged confession admitting he worked for India's external spy agency RAW and his involvement in terror activities was extracted in a military custody, Salve said. He urged the court to direct Pakistan to see that Jadhav was not executed and "no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of India or Jadhav with respect to any decision the court may render on the merits of the case". Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, held at an unknown prison in Pakistan. Salve demanded that Pakistan should annul Jadhav's death sentence as he was not even given a chance to defend himself. Pakistan, however, rejected the plea on the ground that India had no right to invoke the jurisdiction of the UN's highest court because the Vienna Convention does not provide for matters relating to spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage. The following is a list of articles and opinions, previously published on Firstpost, on the Kulbhushan Jadhav trial: The verdict in the case of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav is to be pronounced by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at 3.30 pm IST. In the four days since India and Pakistan presented their respective oral observations at The Hague, the topic of whether or not the court will order provisional measures in the case has been widely discussed (here's a look at some of the views published by this website). There are three past cases (relating to death penalties) handled by the ICJ that can be seen as some sort of precedent for today's verdict. These are the 1998 Paraguay versus the United States (Angel Francisco Breard) case, the 1999 Germany versus United States (LaGrand) case and most recently, the 2003 Mexico versus United States (Avena) case. It is the last of these that will boost Indian hopes of a positive verdict in the Jadhav matter. But first, a quick recap: In the Breard case, the court called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision of the court in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. The court also requested the US to inform it of all the measures taken in implementation of its order. However, Breard was executed on schedule on 14 April. Paraguay later withdrew the case. In the LaGrand case, the court called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Walter LaGrand (on death row at the time) was not executed pending a final decision of the court in the proceedings instituted by Germany and inform it of all the measures taken in implementation of the order. Nevertheless, Walter was executed shortly after the Court had issued the provisional measures order. Neither of these augur well for India, so let's move onto the Avena case. Case concerning Avena and other Mexican Nationals by Firstpost on Scribd In this case the judgment of which is reproduced above, the court observed that the US had not informed the 51 Mexican nationals involved in the case of their rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Article 36 provides that when a national of a foreign country is arrested or detained on criminal or immigration charges, the detainee must be advised of the right to have the detainees consulate notified and that the detainee has the right to regular consultation with consular officials during detention and any trial. Accordingly, the court noted that the US has "breached the obligations incumbent upon it". The US agreed to review the convictions and death penalties handed to the Mexican nationals. On Monday, India's agent in the case Joint Secretary (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran) Deepak Mittal noted, "India was informed on 25 March, 2016 that an Indian national was allegedly arrested on 3 March, 2016. India, on that very day, sought consular access to the said individual. The request did not evoke any response. On 30 March, 2016 India sent a reminder reiterating the request for consular access at the earliest. Despite a number of such reminders for consular access sent by India, there has been no response and all these requests fell on deaf ears." He added that the trial that was held in a military court was an "egregious violation of the rights of consular access under the Vienna Convention (and) has led to serious miscarriage of justice". Fourteen years on from the Avena case, it's impossible to predict what the ICJ's verdict will be, however, if the Avena case is anything to go by, India can afford to be a bit optimistic. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to pronounce its verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at noon local time (3.30 pm IST). This comes 10 days after India approached it demanding the immediate suspension of the death sentence given to the retired Indian Navy officer by a Pakistan military court. In terms of precedents in the history of the ICJ, there are three previous death penalty/Vienna Convention-related cases wherein the timelines and results are instructive. It remains to be seen whether there will be any major deviation from these decisions. Here's a look at the previous cases: April 1998: Paraguay versus the United States (Angel Francisco Breard case) Paraguay instituted proceedings against the US on 3 April, 1998, in a dispute regarding alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. It argued that Breard was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death without the state of Virginia advising him of his right to assistance by the consular officers of Paraguay, as required by the Vienna Convention. Paraguay asked the court to adjudge and declare that it is entitled to restitution in integrum, that is, the re-establishment of the situation that existed before the US failed to provide the required notification. In view of the urgency of the case, Paraguay also requested the court to indicate provisional measures to the effect that the US should refrain from executing Breard before the court could consider Paraguay's claims. This provisional measures application was made the same day. In that case, the vice-president of the court sent Article 74 letters to both parties as in Jadhav's case. To clarify, this is not an order. The hearing was on 7 April and the decision was delivered on 9 April. In the reasoning leading to its decision, the court found that the execution of Breard "would render impossible the ordering by the court of the relief that Paraguay seeks and thus cause irreparable harm to the rights it claims". The court pointed out that the issues before it were not on the death penalty generally and its function was "to resolve international legal disputes between States and not to act as a court of criminal appeal". The court found that a dispute existed prima facie between the parties regarding the Vienna Convention and that it had jurisdiction prima facie to examine it, as both parties were party to the Vienna Convention and its Optional Protocol. The court called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision of the court in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. The court also requested the US to inform it of all the measures taken in implementation of its order. However, Breard was executed on schedule on 14 April. Paraguay later withdrew the case. March 1999: Germany versus United States (LaGrand case) Germany instituted proceedings against the US on 2 March, 1999, alleging violations of the Vienna Convention with respect to two of their citizens (Karl and Walter LaGrand). Karl was executed before the case was brought in spite of appeals for clemency and numerous diplomatic interventions at the highest level by the German government. Walter was to be executed for the same crime (murder) the following day. At a meeting with the acting president of the court, Germany emphasised the extreme urgency of the situation and asked the court to indicate measures without a hearing. The US argued inter alia that the request for provisional measures was made at a very late date and it strongly objected to any procedure without a hearing. Germany argued on the basis of violations of the Vienna Convention (brothers were tried and sentenced to death without being advised of their rights to consular assistance). It also argued that "the failure to provide the required notification precluded it from protecting its nationals' interest in the US at both the trial and the appeal level in the state courts". Germany asked the court to adjudge and declare inter alia that the US had violated its international legal obligations under the Vienna Convention; that the criminal liability imposed on the brothers in violation of international legal obligations was void; that the US should provide reparation in the form of compensation and satisfaction for the execution of Karl, and that it should restore the status quo ante in the case of his brother Walter, that is to re-establish the situation that existed before the detention of, proceedings against, conviction and sentencing of that German national. Germany also requested the court to declare that the US should provide Germany with a guarantee of the non-repetition of the illegal acts. The court rendered its decision the following day 3 March. At the outset, the court established that a dispute existed prima facie between the parties as to the application of the Vienna Convention and that it had jurisdiction prima facie to examine it. It called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Walter was not executed pending a final decision of the court in the proceedings instituted by Germany and inform it of all the measures taken in implementation of the order. In its reasoning, it found that the execution of Walter "would cause irreparable harm to the rights claimed by Germany". It stated that "the international responsibility of a State is engaged by the action of the competent organs and authorities acting in that State, whatever they may be", and that consequently "the Governor of Arizona is under the obligation to act in conformity with the international undertakings of the United States". The court repeated its views on the death penalty as above. This was the first case in which the court indicated provisional measures without any hearing. This is provided for by the Rules of the Court (Article 75, paragraph 1). Walter was executed on 3 March, 1999, after the Court had issued the provisional measures order. January 2003: Mexico versus United States (Avena case) Mexico filed its provisional measures request on 9 January, 2003, along with its application initiating proceedings against the US in a dispute concerning alleged violations of the same Vienna Convention with respect to 54 Mexican nationals on death row in various US states. They requested the court inter alia that pending final judgment in the case, the US should take all measures necessary to ensure that no Mexican national be executed and that no execution dates be set for any Mexican national; that the US ensure that no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of Mexico or its nationals with respect to any decision this court may render on the merits of the case. The hearing was held on 21 January, 2003, with the judgment pronounced on 5 February, 2003. The court began by considering whether it had jurisdiction prima facie (at first sight) to hear the case, a prerequisite for the indication of provisional measures. It noted that the parties were both parties to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and to its Optional Protocol, and accordingly found that it had jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. Turning to the arguments of the parties, the court found that a dispute exists between them regarding the remedies to be provided in cases of breaches by the US of its obligations under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention. The court concluded that it must address the issue of whether, by indicating provisional measures, it should preserve any rights which may subsequently be adjudged by it to belong to the applicant or to the respondent, without being obliged at this stage of the proceedings to rule on those rights. It added inter alia that "the function of the court is to resolve international legal disputes between States, inter alia when they arise out of the interpretation or application of international conventions; and not to act as a court of criminal appeal" regarding death penalty issues; and that it "may indicate provisional measures without infringing these principles". The court recalled that provisional measures are only justified if there is urgency, "in the sense that action prejudicial to the rights of either party is likely to be taken before a final decision is given". The court stressed the fact that there were no execution dates fixed in any of the cases before it was "not per se a circumstance that should preclude from indicating provisional measures". It noted that that on the basis of the information before it, three Mexican nationals, were at risk of execution in the coming months, or possibly even weeks, and that "their execution would cause irreparable prejudice to any rights that may subsequently be adjudged by the court to belong to Mexico"; the court accordingly concluded that "the circumstances require that it indicate provisional measures to preserve those rights". As for the other individuals listed in Mexico's application, the Court observed that "although currently on death row, [they] are not in the same position as the three persons identified" earlier and that it may, "if appropriate, indicate provisional measures in respect of those individuals before it renders final judgment" in the case. In its order, the court indicated to the US that it must "take all measures necessary" to ensure that three identified Mexican nationals are not executed pending a final judgment of the court. It directed the US to inform it of all measures taken in implementation of the order. With inputs from PTI The first thing to consider about today's verdict to be delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is that it is not going to be a verdict on the merits of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The ICJ is not going to rule on whether Jadhav is indeed a "terrorist" as Pakistan claims him to be, or whether he is an innocent Indian national caught in the web of India-Pakistan's spy games. Therefore, Thursday's verdict shall not be an indictment of Jadhav, nor shall it be an annulment of Pakistan's military court's decision to send the retired naval officer to the gallows. When President of the Court Ronny Abraham sits down to read the ICJ's decision at the Hague-based Peace Palace on Thursday, he will essentially rule on whether prima facie India has a case at all before the court. In ICJ's words, according to the media statement uploaded on its website it is going to pronounce its "Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case". India's appeal to the ICJ, as clarified by its application to the United Nation's judicial arm on 8 May, rests on: 1) relief by way of immediate suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused; 2) relief by way of restitution in interregnum by declaring that the sentence of the military court arrived at is violative of international law and the provisions of the Vienna Convention; 3) restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court and; 4) if Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, then this Court to declare the decision illegal." India has urged the ICJ not only to set aside Pakistan's court's sentence but also to ensure that Jadhav is not executed by Pakistan during the duration of ICJ's trial proceedings. It is the second point on which the ICJ is expected to deliver its judgement today. In so far the India's appeal seeking annulment of the Pakistan kangaroo court's order is concerned, that shall only be taken up once it is decided that the court indeed has prima facie basis for jurisdiction. Pakistan has argued that the ICJ is powerless in this regard because the matter pertains to a bilateral treaty (2008 Consular Agreement) that contravenes provisions of the 1963 Vienna Convention. It has also argued that Jadhav is in "no imminent danger because he still has not exhausted all his legal remedies which gives him an accumulative 150 days of time." India's argument, put forward by senior counsel Harish Salve last Monday, was that the entire Pakistan state appears to be in collusion and there can be no real relief possible for Jadhav. In fact, India fears that the execution might take place before the trial is over. The 150-day relief period that Pakistan has put forward during the oral hearing, argued India in its 82-page application, is an "illusory remedy": because all structures of the Pakistani state are subservient to the Army's powers. "The death sentence stands confirmed by the chief of army staff. An appeal before a tribunal presided over by him or officers junior to him would be an appeal from Caesar to Caesar," India had said in its application, referring to a Pakistani newspaper article where a Pakistani army spokesperson was quoted as saying that there is very little chance of the verdict being overturned. It is to be noted that at no stage of the hearing did Pakistan give any assurance that the 150-day deadline is sacrosanct. This is expected to strengthen India's case and the court's limited verdict today. After weeks of deliberation and after India and Pakistan presented their cases in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the day is here when the world court will pronounce its verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at 3.30 pm on Thursday. The verdict comes merely 10 days after India approached it demanding immediate suspension of the death sentence given to its former Navy officer by a Pakistan military court. Here is a timeline of the former-navy man's arrest and the subsequent saga. 3 March, 2016 Jadhav, a 1991 commissioned Naval officer, was arrested by Pakistan authorities on the charges that he was dealing with Balochistan freedom fighters. The allegation against Jadhav was that he, who retired in 2013, was an active Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) operative, a charge denied by India. Government sources said that Jadhav was a small businessman. It was also reported that Jadhav often carried cargo to and from Iranian ports bordering Pakistan and has nothing to do with India's external intelligence agency. Sources, however, had added that there is no proof that the retired navy officer was arrested in Balochistan as claimed by Pakistan. 28 March, 2016 The external affairs ministry was asked to extend all possible help to the former Navy official. "We do agree, to the extent I know, that he is an Indian citizen and we have asked for consular access," former defence minister Parrikar had said, adding that he is concerned about Jadhav since he is a veteran. 29 March, 2016 Pakistani intelligence agency ISI's media wing ISPR held a press conference during which it releases an alleged confessional video of Jadhav. In the video, he claimed that he is a spy sent by India to help sabotage activities in Karachi and Balochistan. 17 May, 2016 Pakistan used Jadhav to raise the bogey of Indian-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. Pakistan's Senate unanimously adopted a resolution asking the government to prepare a dossier on "Indian interference" in the country and sent it to other nations and international institutions. The resolution moved in the Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament, by ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party Senator Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum is passed. 6 June, 2016 Pakistan officially turned down India's request for consular access to Jadhav. "Jadhav will not be granted consular access," Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had said, alleging that Jadhav had entered the Pakistan territory for some special objectives. 6 December, 2016 Pakistan prime minister's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz admits that the government was presented with only "insufficient evidence" on Jadhav. Addressing a full senate chamber, Aziz said the dossier on Jadhav contained mere statements. It did not have any conclusive evidence, he was quoted as saying by the Geo TV. 3 March, 2017 The Pakistan government said it is not considering to extradite Jadhav. Islamabad also added that more information on him has been sought from India. Reacting to Pakistan's assertion, a senior Indian government official in New Delhi said Pakistan should follow well-established international practice while dealing with foreign nationals in its custody. The official also rejected allegations against Jadhav as "baseless". 10 April, 2017 Jadhav was sentenced to death on charges of espionage by a Pakistani military court. ISPR issued a statement confirming the news. 11 April, 2017 Reacting strongly to Pakistan's decision to send Jadhav to the gallows, Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India will regard this as a "premeditated murder" if Pakistan carries out the death sentence awarded to Jadhav. She further said that such a move will not come without repercussions. The Lok Sabha, as well as Rajya Sabha, stood united in condemning Pakistan. 12 April, 2017 Jadhav will not be immediately executed, Pakistan's defence minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif said. The minister said that there are three appellate forums available for him. Asif added that Jadhav had the right to move the Pakistan army's Court of Appeal against his conviction within 60 days, followed by submission of mercy pleas to the army chief and the President. 12 April, 2017 Pakistan army took custody of a Karachi-based underworld don Uzair Jan Baloch for allegedly helping Jadhav to spy against Pakistan. 15 April, 2017 India decided to put all bilateral exchanges with Pakistan on hold. 16 April, 2017 Pakistan prepared a new dossier about the alleged militant activities of the Indian prisoner on death row and added that it will share it with the UN and foreign envoys stationed in Islamabad. The new dossier is based on Jadhav's early testimonial and statements given in front of the Field General Court Martial about his alleged involvement in espionage and sabotage activities in Karachi and Balochistan. 17 April, 2017 Pakistan's army ruled out consular access to Jadhav."Under the law, we cannot give consular access to Khubhushan who was involved in spying," Pakistan military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters. 8 May, 2017 India moved International Court of Justice in order to stay the death sentence awarded by the Pakistani military court. 10 May, 2017 The International Court of Justice stayed the hanging of Jadhav. The Hague-based ICJ stayed his execution following India's submission that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business after retiring from the Navy. 15 May, 2017 ICJ reserved its verdict over the case after publicly hearing both the sides. Counsel Harish Salve represented India while UK-based Pakistani jurist Khawar Qureshi defended Pakistan. 17 May 2017 The ICJ will deliver it's verdict in the case on Thursday at 3.30 pm (IST). With inputs from agencies Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Gujarat for two days early next week, during which he will attend the annual general meeting of African Development Bank to be held in Gandhinagar on 23 May. The state unit of BJP said on Wednesday during his 22 and 23 May visit, Modi will also go to Kutch district in the state to inaugurate development works at Kandla and dedicate to the nation Narmada Water pumping station at Bhachau in the same district. "The prime minister will arrive at Bhachau in Kutch district on 22 May. After attending a programme in Bachau, he will reach Kandla, where he will attend a programme of Kandla Port Trust. He will make a night halt in Gandhinagar," state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said. At Bhachau, Modi will dedicate the pumping station of Narmada Water Project to the district. With this pumping station, the Narmada water will reach the remote areas of Kutch district, which lies in the arid western part of the state. Modi will then attend another programme at Kandla Port Trust, one of India's largest seaports along the Gulf of Kutch in Kutch district, where he will dedicate to the nation various developmental works. After a night halt at Gandhinagar, he will attend the Annual General Meeting of African Development Bank the next day. "On 23 May, the prime minister will attend the annual general meeting of the African Development Bank, which is being organised at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. After that, he will leave for Delhi," Pandya said. The AGM is likely to see a participation by private sectors from across Africa, ministers of finances from 80 countries, and also heads of states from several African countries. This is Modi's third visit to the state this year. On 7 April, he had visited Botad to inaugurate the Link two of the state government's ambitious SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation) project by formally releasing Narmada water in Krushnasagar dam. Earlier, on March 8, he had visited Gandhinagar to address women sarpanch from across the country on the International Women's Day. A key Maoist cadre, Podiyam Pandu alias Panda, who had recently surrendered to the Chattisgarh Police on 9 May, has now made allegations against Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar and human rights activist Bela Bhatia, according to a report in The Times of India. Panda, at a press conference in Raipur, claimed that he was the only link between the senior Maoist leaders and urban network of sympathisers and activists, including Bhatia and Sundar. He said that he had, on several occasions escorted them deep into the jungles of Chhattisgarh to meet the top Maoist leaders, who are wanted in various cases. The key Maoist operative also allegedly confessed to have acted as a courier for the Delhi activists, fetching information and parcels from the Maoist leadership in Bastar and Sukma. However, Panda's wife Muiyye claims that Panda's surrender and confession was staged. Alleging that Panda has been illegally detained by the police, Muiyye, who is also the sarpanch of Chintagufa village, has moved Chattisgarh High Court with a habeas corpus petition, according to another report in The Times of India. Muiyye claims that the police were neither allowing her to meet her husband nor the family was informed about whereabouts of Panda, adding that the police has even picked up Panda's brother as a pressure tactic to push them to withdraw the case. Meanwhile, the Delhi University professor has rubbished all accusations made by Panda, according to The Times of India report quoted earlier. Sundar, who is a known face in flagging alleged police 'excesses' against the tribals in the naxal-hit belts, has said that Panda has made the statement under duress. Besides, this is not the first time that Sundar's name has cropped up in cases easily traced back to the red corridor. In November 2016, Sundar was booked for the murder of a tribal person in the insurgency-hit Sukma district along with charges of rioting and inciting violence. It was alleged that Sundar incited Maoists to murder Shamnath Baghel, a tribal leader who was spearheading a protest against Maoist activities in their village since April, 2016. Sundar, in her defence had told Firstpost at the time that action against her was "patently absurd." The FIR is patently absurd. How can we be charged with murder and rioting when we are not even there? This is clearly part of IG Kalluri's attempt to intimidate and harass journalists, lawyers, researchers, political leaders and human rights activists who have exposed the reign of fake encounters, gang rapes etc. that are going on in Bastar," she had said at the time. " In particular, this is a direct fall out of the CBI chargesheet of special police officers turned constables for arson in Tadmetla in 2011, an operation which Mr. Kalluri directed, she added. Inspector General Shivam Kalluri, referred to by Sundar in the above statement, has been in the news for his slightly over-enthusiastic style of dealing with Maoists. A report in Hindustan Times states, "Kalluri has been in the news for what rights activists describe as his high-handed style in tackling Maoists in the region. He has had several much-publicised run-ins with journalists and is said to have been instrumental in the detention of many of them." The frequent run-ins between Kalluri and journalists even led to the Chhattisgarh government to limit the powers of the police in arresting scribes, the news report states. Meanwhile, Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said that Panda was a key cadre in the region and has been instrumental in executing several deadly attacks in south Bastar, including the Tadmetla attack wherein 76 troopers were killed (2010) and Kasalpada attack in which 14 CRPF personnel were killed (December 2014). Panda was also allegedly involved in the attack on CRPF patrolling party on 24 April this year in Burkapal area under Chintagufa police station limits wherein 25 personnel were killed. The ultra was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head. During interrogation, according to the police, Panda revealed that Naxals were keeping an eye on the activities of security forces in Burkapal and Chintagufa axis since 15 April before executing the attack. Panda had contacted Chintagufa police on 7 May expressing his desire to join the mainstream and later brought to Sukma where he finally turned himself in on 9 May, Meena said. A native of Chintagufa, Panda has been associated with senior Maoist leaders, including Ramanna, Hidma, Maddana, Paparao and Situ since 1997, and acting as a courier for them for transporting various commodities after procuring it from cities, Meena said. In 2014, he left his native place and shifted to nearby Minpa village where he started working with Duled Janatana Sarkar squad which was being headed by commander Aayta. Later in 2016, he was elevated as militia deputy commander, he said. Besides, Panda was also part of the Naxals squad that had kept then Sukma Collector Alex Pual Menon in its captivity in 2012, he added. Panda also revealed that he had arranged meetings of activists from Delhi with Maoist leaders like Ramanna and Hidma several times in the interior villages of Sukma, the SP said, adding that his surrender is an important achievement for the cops. Police sources told PTI that Panda was also familiar with urban network of Maoists and played a crucial role in arranging meetings of Maoist sympathisers from the town with ultras in jungles. His interrogation may facilitate the arrest of Maoist supporters in urban areas, sources added. With inputs from PTI Hyderabad: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said the opposition parties were in the process of zeroing in on a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential poll, and Gopal Krishna Gandhi was among the probable choices. "One round of discussions were held with all parties. We, the opposition parties, are now trying to follow it up and zero in on one candidate...to sponsor him," he told reporters here. Asked about whether Gopal Krishna Gandhi, a former bureaucrat who also served as the governor of West Bengal, was being considered, he replied in the affirmative. "He is also under consideration. I had spoken to him about two months ago. We told him 'you are a good candidate'. He said he will consider if all (opposition parties) approached him together. So, he will be there," Yechury said. He, however, refused to name others being considered by the opposition for fielding a joint candidate against the ruling NDA nominee, saying the individuals concerned might face problems. "I am not telling names because you (media) had written that (L K) Advani would be the president. We did not say, of course. Two days after writing that, Babri (Masjid) case got revived. So, don't ask names. It will be dangerous for those individuals. Such a government is there," he said. He assailed the BJP for not trying to build a consensus around a candidate for the post of the president, and alleged it indicated that the ruling party wanted a "communal supervision of the Constitution". "Nitish Kumar (the Bihar chief minister) said there is no objection if Pranab Mukherjee becomes a consensus candidate. The ruling party has to take an initiative if a consensus candidate is to emerge. They are not taking any initiative. So, it is clear that they want a communal supervision of the Constitution," he said. Citing the election of APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil as examples, he said the ruling party normally reaches out to the opposition whether the latter agrees to its proposal or not. Yechury evaded a direct reply when asked about the likely timing of the announcement of the joint opposition candidate, saying let the notification come first. "Let the notification of election come. The whole point is that now there will be a situation where the ruling party and the government are waiting for the opposition to announce the candidate. So, they will do the counter. "So, we should also wait. Let's see. The ruling party has to take the initiative," Yechury said. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq among Muslims. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar heard the issue for six days during which various parties, including the central government, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, etc made their submissions. The bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, had begun the historic hearing on 11 May. It had fixed a six-day schedule for hearing, in which three days were available for those challenging triple talaq and three days for those defending it. On Wednesday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that triple talaq was not intergral to Islam, but was a gender issue within the Muslim community. Referring to the batch hearing, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the practice of triple talaq is a tussle between the "haves and have-nots" inside the community. "The prism through which you see the case is not like majority versus minority; this is a case where it is an intra-community tussle between Muslim men and women. This time Muslim women have questioned the centuries-old hegemony suffered by them at the hands of their male counterparts," Rohatgi said on Wednesday. He argued that fight is between men of the Muslim community, who are more powerful and educated, and the women, who are frequently uneducated and aren't as powerful. The apex court also questioned the government on Wednesday as to why it did not legislate the regulation of marriages and divorces among Muslims. Rohatgi, in his rebuttal to arguments favouring the 1,400 year-old practice of triple talaq, responded that the hallmark of a secular court was to reform without waiting for a legislation, when such matters come to it. Rohatgi referred to sati, infanticide, Devdasi and untouchability among Hindus, and said that they have been done away with. He said that under Article 25 (right to practice religion) of the Constitution, even the core component of religion can be tested on grounds of fundamental rights. "Rights given under Article 25 of the Constitution cannot be considered as absolute," he said. He added that the court must look into these aspects, because a community cannot decide what constitutes a fundamental right. He said that if the right to religion went against the fundamental rights, then it is the Constitution which will prevail over practices like triple talaq. The bench had asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) whether a woman can be given the option of denying triple talaq at the time of execution of 'nikahnama' (marriage contract). Former Union minister and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing the AIMPLB, said that he will respond after talking to all board members. Referring to responses from the AIMPLB, Rohatgi had said that they call triple talaq undesirable or sinful, but still insist it's valid, and wondered how can it be considered integral to religion if it was so. Sibal, who started arguments on Wednesday, referred to a Delhi High Court judgment, and said that it was wrong in holding that all schools of thought termed triple talaq as "sinful". "The Supreme Court cannot be called upon to decide as to what was wrong or right with the practice and belief," he said. Sibal made an argument that challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq, which is practised by a small portion of community, may revive the practice which is dying. He said if the secular Supreme Court decides to undertake suo motu (on its own) scrutiny of the issue, with the Centre seeking a ban, then the community may take a tough stand. Sibal said the community faced the court on Wednesday to seek protection of its personal law, customs and practices using just faith. "Our faith in this court for the last 67 years is fundamental, and with that faith we have come here," he said. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Maharashtra, said that issues raised in the petition were matters of legislative policy and ought not to be addressed by the court. He referred to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and said India had made an express reservation with regard to its policy of non-interference in the personal affairs of any community without its initiative and consent. "The constitutional validity of personal law in our country cannot be tested on the oasis of enacted legislation of other countries," he said in his written submissions while questioning the arguments of the Centre and of petitioners who say triple talaq has been abolished in Islamic countries. Senior advocate V Giri, representing Jamiat-ulama-I-Hind, said that Shariat was the law applicable to Muslims prior to the enactment of the Shariat Act. "The Shariat has not been subsumed by the statute nor has the Shariat Act codified the Muslim personal law. The Shariat Act has only statutorily declared that Muslim personal law as a set of rules would govern Muslims in India and that it is the Muslim personal law that would have overriding effect over any usage or custom to the contrary," he said in his written submission. Giri, however, said that rights and duties of Muslims in India continue to be governed by the Muslim personal law and the Shariat Act has not substituted it nor has it provided for a different set of rights and obligations. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the bench that Sharia does not give equal protection of law to Muslim men and women. "The impact of divorce is civil and not religious. Since 1950, we are concerned with what the law is. We are not concerned about the past 1,400 years," she said. Jaising also questioned arguments that the matter was not within the jurisdiction of the court to decide. "If personal law is not outside the jurisdiction of the state, how it can be said that it is outside the jurisdiction of the court," she said, adding, "The matter was about supremacy of the Constitution." Kapil Sibal's argument that triple talaq is a matter of faith among Muslims just as the belief among Hindus about Ram Janmabhoomi would have been laughable had it not come from India's former law minister who also headed the Ministry of Human Resources under UPA and is a prominent lawyer. For argument's sake, if the Supreme Court accepts his argument and lets faith prevail over constitutional legality, Sibal would have nowhere to hide if the same formula is applied in Ayodhya -- let a temple be constructed because it is a matter of faith among Hindus. Because this is precisely the crux of the argument of the Hindutva brigade. The BJP and its saffron brigade have always argued that construction of the temple is a matter of national faith, not legality. The problem with Sibal and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is that with their specious, incorrect and irrational arguments, they are hurting the cause of Islam, reinforcing some of its malpractices and misconceptions and consequentially proving its critics right. Consider for instance the plea that triple talaq is as old as Islam. Arguing in favour of the predominantly Sunni practice that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by simply saying talaq thrice, Sibal said its source can be found in Hadith and it came into being after the time of Prophet Muhammad. This was effectively debunked by the Supreme Court bench that is hearing a plea by some Muslim women for outlawing triple talaq. Holding the Quran in his hand, Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, read out verses and said there is no mention of Talaq-e-Biddat (triple talaq) in the holy book. "...Talaq-e-Biddat finds no place in the Quran. We are only pointing this out to you because you should know that we also understand what is happening here and its not that we are not getting it, said the CJI. What the AIMPLB and its counsels do not understand is that by justifying triple talaq as an Islamic practice, they undermine the basic tenets of Islam that confer a lot of rights upon married women. Many scholars have pointed out that Islam treats marriage as a contract between a man and a woman and makes it extremely difficult for either of them to break it easily and unilaterally. As eminent lawyer Salman Khurshid, who is an amicus curiae in the triple talaq case, pointed out to the SC, Islam prescribes rigorous rules for annulling a marriage. If a man wants to divorce his wife, he has to wait for three months a period called iddat after saying he wants to divorce her. This period allows for mediation, reconciliation, and introspection. Only if he is still adamant on divorcing her after this waiting period, a Muslim man can separate from his wife, that too after paying her the meher agreed upon at the wedding. Many Islamic scholars says even if a man says talaq a million times in one setting, it is to be treated as the beginning of the three-month period. (Even this practice is unfair to women, but that is a separate argument). Unlike many other religions, Islam actually gave many rights to women. It gave them some amount of financial security through meher, a contract that guarantees a certain amount and gifts to a woman in case if she is divorced by her husband. Remarriage of widows the Prophet himself married a widow several years older than him and divorced women were not just acceptable but actively encouraged. And daughters had equal rights in the ancestral property. Triple talaq, it has been argued by prominent scholars, has no mention in the Quran. Even the Prophet had proscribed it, ruling that even if a man says it thrice, it is to be considered single talaq and thus the beginning of the three-month period of iddat. Incidentally, when triple talaq was accepted as a means of divorce during the Caliphate of Umar, the original intention was to protect women, not allow men to abruptly dump them. Scholars believe Umar allowed it because Muslim men turned talaq into a joke by taking back their wives even after pronouncing talaq several times. This kept women trapped and did not allow them to escape a vicious circle of separation and reconciliation. By supporting a practice that was originally intended to protect women but then became a convenient tool for depriving them of equality and justice, Sibal and AIMPLB not only support an illegality but also negate the spirit of Islam by painting it as regressive and anti-woman, a charge that its critics have often levelled against the religion. And by defending it as a matter of faith, he is handing over to the Hindutva brigade an argument that his clients would find impossible to refute. Islamabad: Women in the Shangla district of Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province have been deprived of their right to vote in by-elections for two village councils, a media report said on Thursday. Local notables and the candidates for two village councils of Shangla, Koz Kana and Sangrai collectively agreed that women would not be allowed to cast their votes, Dawn reported. "No women turned up to vote at the 14 polling stations in the two villages," the report said. District Election Officer (DEO) Sardar Said ur Rehman confirmed to Dawn that the ban was imposed by locals "according to their culture and that, unfortunately the locals are not willing." Out of 6,643 registered voters in Koz Kana 3,652 were male and 2,991 female. Similarly, 1,507 voters are registered in Sangrai, of which 862 were male and 705 were female. Montreal: An Afghan pilot hoping to become the youngest woman in history to complete a solo round-the-world flight was preparing Monday to start the Transatlantic leg of her journey. Shaesta Waiz, 29, was born in a refugee camp at the end of the Soviet war in Afghanistan before immigrating with her family to the United States in 1987. There, she discovered a passion for flying and obtained her pilot's license becoming the youngest certified civilian female pilot from Afghanistan. Now she wants to share that sense of freedom of soaring high above ground with other young women. "When I found my passion flying that's when I started to challenge myself. I started to read. I started to do better in maths. I started to look at the world differently, the sky differently," Waiz said as she made a stopover in Montreal. "What's important is finding your passion and going after it." Waiz took off from Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday and has mapped out a route that will take her aboard her Beechcraft Bonanza A36 aircraft approximately 25,800 kilometres (16,000 miles) to more than 18 countries, including Spain, Egypt, India, Singapore and Australia, before ending the trip back in Florida in August. During her 30 stopovers, the engineering graduate and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is backing her trip, will host events to try to get schoolchildren interested in science notably aeronautics. According to ICAO figures, less than five percent of commercial pilots are women. "If you really break it down into science, technology, engineering and math and explore what those career fields offer, it's very exciting," Waiz said. "We hope to present to the young kids at these events what those careers are... and hopefully get them to pursue these careers that are in need of more talent." On the website of her non-profit Dreams Soar, she commented: "Every time I open the door of an aircraft, I ask myself, 'How did a girl with my background become so lucky? The truth is, anyone can be me." Sydney: A once-thriving koala population is fast disappearing, according to Australian researchers who on Thursday called for action to save the marsupials from extinction. Researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, conducted a study in the Fraser Coast region and were shocked to discover a seemingly sudden and unexpected decline of koalas in the area, Xinhua News Agency reported. A public survey by the Tiaro and Land District Care Group in 2003 recorded numerous koala sightings, but the researchers were unable to find even a single koala in the area, suggesting a localised extinction may have already occurred. "If we keep having these localised extinctions, we'll turn around in 10 years and there'll be no koalas left," researcher Anthony Schultz said. via GIPHY "It was very surprising. Most of the time, when there is a large decline in population, we can say there was a specific reason for it. There's no obvious trigger and yet there's quite strong evidence for another localised extinction." As part of the research commissioned by the Fraser Coast Council, Schulz visited the areas that were studied in the original survey to track the koala population, accompanied by detector dogs who are trained to sniff out koala faeces. "The dogs are able to track scat from up to six months ago, so if they are not able to find anything, it means there have been no koalas in this area at all for the past six months," he said. The findings surprised the researcher, who considered the area to be quite ideal for a healthy koala population, with a high prevalence of state forests. The Australian Koala Foundation estimated there are less than 100,000 left in the wild and attributed habitat clearing as the primary reason for the decline. New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday he wanted to float his own party due to "differences within the Congress" two years ago, but never toyed with the idea of joining the BJP. "It is absurdity," he said, brushing aside reports that he wanted to join the BJP. "They have produced stale news. This is two years ago when there were differences in the Congress and I said I will form my own party. Where is the question of joining the BJP? I think there are too many channels and there is too little news," he said. will come a time when we will bounce back," he said. Speaking at a function to mark the Delhi launch of his book on the Saragarhi battle and the unveiling of his biography "The People's Maharaja", he said he did not shy from speaking his mind on controversial subjects like the alleged Khalistani leanings of the Canadian defence minister and the 'human shield' action of an Indian Army Major in Kashmir. He stuck to his stand on Khalistani support in the Canadian government and said the Justin Trudeau dispensation had several members who were Khalistani supporters, including Sajjan Singh. "His (Sajjan's) father was part of the Khalistani movement that has brought trouble in Punjab," he said. Amarinder also reiterated his support for Major Nitin Gogoi, saying he took the right decision to protect the lives of his own men and said as a soldier he did a "great job". "I think the entire Indian Army supports him and I hope he gets an award for meritorious service," he said. Claiming to be a positive man, who always preferred to look at things and situations positively, Amarinder came out candidly with his views on various subjects, while mincing no words in offering his criticism where he thought it was merited. In his biography, he also referred to an episode in his biography, where he felt "betrayed" by the then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, whom he had talked to in getting 21 Khalistani terrorists to surrender, only to find them shot dead a few months later. Asked about the "demise" of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, Amarinder said he merely read the situation on the ground and found that there was no groundswell in the party's favour, just a hype in the media, especially the social media. The people of Punjab wanted a stable government and voted for one, he said. The Punjab chief minister refused to be drawn into criticism of 95-year-old Parkash Singh Badal, saying he had nothing personal against the Badals. He also said it was not him who got him arrested, but was a result of the legal fallout. On the SYL canal issue, Singh said warned of the revival of terrorism and naxalism if the canal was constructed, causing southern Punjab to go dry. He pointed out that water was the main issue in the Anandpur Sahib resolution and could once again become the source of contention and violence in the state. Amarinder said drugs was a major concern, which his government was tackling with all its might. He also felt that industrial revival and infrastructural development was important for Punjab's revival. He also narrated excerpts from own latest book on military history, 'The 36th Sikhs in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98 Saragarhi and the defence of the Samana forts', that struck an emotional chord with the audience. The book, "The Peoples Maharaja" authored by Khushwant Singh, brings out interesting incidents of his life from his childhood days to the present times. Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare has come out in support of the `Right to Recall' bill introduced by the BJP MP Varun Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. In a letter sent to Varun Gandhi on 16 May, Hazare said such a provision will mount pressure on the political parties not to allot tickets to candidates facing corruption charges or having criminal background. The parties give tickets to such candidates because they control vote-banks, Hazare said, while also batting for "Right to Reject" option at the stage of polling. "If the majority of candidates from a constituency have criminal background or are facing serious charges of corruption, there should be Right To Reject option. EVM should have an additional button for 'Not-Like' ("napasand") and if majority of voters press this button, the election from that constituency should be cancelled," Hazare said in the letter. "There should be a re-election where the same candidates won't be able to contest," he said. The `None Of The Above' (NOTA) button on EVM isn't good enough as the election doesn't get cancelled even if majority of voters opt for NOTA, Hazare said. According to the bill moved by Varun Gandhi, MPs and MLAs can be recalled within two years of being elected if 75 per cent of voters in the constituency are dissatisfied with their performance. New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said the BJP government failed on various fronts during its three years in office, and social cohesion and balance "went for a toss because it does not believe in the idea of India". Accusing the Narendra Modi government of creating an "atmosphere of fear and intimidation", the Congress said it "completely failed" in various areas, including internal security, economic development and international relations. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the performance of the Modi government is dismal and blotted. "Social cohesion and social balance has completely gone for a toss in the past three years and this is primarily because this government does not believe in the founding values of the Indian state". "It does not believe in the Idea of India, in the preamble to the Constitution and that gets reflected in the assault on the freedom to eat, to dress as you like, to think, to express and most importantly the freedom to live your life without fear or intimidation", he told reporters. The Congress leader said the only achievement of this government is that it created a climate of fear and intimidation which has compelled people from the creative community to install a "self censor" in their heads. "That perhaps is the biggest assault on social cohesion in the past 36 months", he said. On the issue of internal security, he said it also has been too awry and the failure on the Kashmir issue is in front of everyone. "The Kashmir failure is before you. The lines of ideology are incompatible. The BJP and the PDP have proven to be an abject and miserable failure. "As we speak, the sense of drift in Kashmir is getting institutionalised and the fear is that the situation is completely and absolutely beyond the control of this government", he said. On the government's Pakistan policy, he said, "In the last 36 months, I have not seen any evidence of this government having any policy on Pakistan except u-turns, flip-flops and somersaults". Tewari noted that leftwing extremism has grown by leaps and bounds and Maoism and militancy, besides claiming lives of our Jawans, are also eating into the finances of the country. The Naga Accord, he said, is in the doldrums and one does not know if it exits or has vanished and the government does not have a concrete answer. "In terms of action and coherent strategy, the nation has not heard a single word," he said, adding that the government has been utter failure on the economic development front. He said in 2015-16, the GDP grew by 7.9 per cent but has slowed down to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17, but the economy is actually growing at 5.1 per cent. Against this, he said, under the UPA, the Indian economy registered an average growth of 7.8 per cent despite the global meltdown and the Eurozone crisis. He also cited the declining IIP and industrial growth numbers and said the money supply was growing by 10 per cent in March last year but after demonetisation it has plateaued at 7.3 per cent. Tewari also pointed out that the last three years have been marked with increasing conflict with the Supreme Court and destabilisation of states ruled by opposition parties. He said the NDA government has failed in maintaining a balance between the United States, Russia, China and the European Union. Patna: Opposition BJP workers on Thursday burnt the effigies of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the Bihar capital and other places in the state to protest an alleged attack on the BJP office and its workers. Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar led hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members on a march from the party office to the busy Dak Bungalow square in the heart of Patna. Kumar said the protest by the BJPled National Democratic Alliance has been staged at all district headquarters in Bihar against the attack on the BJP office "by RJD goons". "We have burnt the effigies of Lalu and Nitish in Patna to protest against what happened on Wednesday when RJD workers attacked BJP workers", Kumar told the media. He said a delegation of NDA leaders will meet the Governor soon in connection with the incident. However, there were few of the BJP's allies Lok Janshakti Party, HAM and RLSP leaders and workers during the protest. Angry BJP workers shouted slogans against Lalu and Nitish "Lalu-Nitish murdabad". They also shouted slogans against Lalu's two sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav. Tejashwi is the Deputy Chief Minister and Tej Pratap is Bihar Health Minister. On Wednesday, half a dozen persons were injured in a violent clash between RJD and BJP workers in Patna, a day after IT raids in connection with alleged "benami" property deals involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family. The clash took place in front of the BJP state headquarters office on the busy Birchand Patel Marg near the IT square in the heart of Patna. Later both BJP and RJD workers lodged FIRs against each other in connection with the clash. Chandigarh: Various issues including the cleanliness drive from 5 June, birth centenary celebrations of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, and the visit of party president Amit Shah in July were discussed at a meeting of the ruling BJP MLAs on Wednesday. A strategy to strengthen the party's mass base was also discussed at the meeting of the ruling party MLAs and chairpersons of the boards and corporations of the Haryana government. The meeting was presided over by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. State BJP chief Subhash Barala told reporters after the meeting on Wednesday evening that the issue pertaining to cleanliness drive in 120 big villages and towns was discussed besides the issue of the party MLAs' fortnight long special drive at booth levels to strengthen the party in their respective areas. It was decided that a campaign would be run as part of Upadhyay's birth centenary celebrations. The meeting, which was held in the absence of BJP Haryana in-charge Anil Jain, did not take up the issue of non-redressal of grievances of a certain section of the BJP by the state bureaucracy and poor execution of already announced development projects. Notably, at least 16 of the 47 BJP MLAs in Haryana are up in arms against the non-redressal of their grievances by the bureaucracy and poor execution of development projects. Besides, the legislators are demanding more say in the government affairs, especially in transfer and posting of government officials. Gurugram MLA Umesh Aggarwal had earlier gone public with allegations of corrupt practices against his own government. Organisational matters were taken up at the meeting, and the legislators tried to put a united front against the backdrop of Amit Shah's three-day visit to Haryana from 4 July. The meeting decided to take party and central government's flagship programmes to the grassroots level. It was decided to launch a special district-wise "swachata abhiyan" from World Environment Day on 5 June. On the question of voices of dissent in the party in the recent past, Umesh Aggarwal, the MLA from Gurugram, while interacting with reporters later, held that there was no dissenting voice raised at the meeting. "We have already apprised the national leadership about our grievances and will again raise our viewpoint if required in future," he said. New Delhi: West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and party MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday protested outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the "water crisis" in the city. The two leaders along with party workers reached Kejriwal's Civil Lines residence demanding a meeting with him. The officials at the chief minister's house, however, turned down their request, citing his "busy" schedule. Verma and Sirsa then broke pitchers outside the chief minister's house as a mark of protest and accused Kejriwal of "holidaying" on a working day. "We were trying to meet the chief minister for the last two days but an appointment was refused. His officials made us wait for two hours and later said he was busy. We decided to meet him at his residence but he went away through the back door," they told reporters. Later, they tried to meet Kejriwal at South Avenue where he had gone for a meeting with West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee. They were, however, stopped at a barricade erected by the police near the venue of the meeting. Sirsa accused Kejriwal of "pursuing his political agenda" and "evading" a meeting with public representatives who wanted to raise a genuine issue before him. He said a letter was written to Kejriwal a few days ago, apprising him of the "alarming" water crisis but no steps were taken to meet the challenge. "We have received thousands of complaints from residents of West Delhi in the last few days regarding the acute water shortage," he added. New Delhi: Amid efforts made by opposition parties to put up a consensus presidential candidate, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in the capital. Kejriwal, accompanied by AAP leader Raghav Chadha, met Banerjee at the official residence of her nephew Abishek Banerjee, who is a Lok Sabha member from Bengal, at South Avenue. When asked whether the issue of a joint presidential candidate featured in the meeting, Banerjee said, "When two political leaders meet, obviously they will discuss political situation." The AAP leaders, who did not want to be named, also maintained the same. Both Kejriwal and Banerjee share an adversarial relationship with the BJP-led Centre. The two have time and again accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in "political vendetta" against their state governments. Meanwhile, the meeting, that lasted for over 30 minutes, came within a day of Banerjee meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi, following which the Trinamool Congress supremo had pitched for a consensus Opposition candidate. Incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee's tenure ends in July, and Banerjee had met him on Wednesday night. There are also talks of him getting a second term. The United States has warned at the United Nations that Venezuela's crisis was worsening and could escalate into a major conflict, similar to Syria or South Sudan. At least 43 people have died during weeks of clashes between government forces and opposition demonstrators angry at President Nicolas Maduro's handling of an economic and political crisis. "This isn't getting better, it's getting worse, and what we are trying to say is the international community needs to say 'respect the human rights of your people' or this is going to go in the direction we've seen so many others go," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters on Wednesday following Security Council talks. The United States requested the closed-door consultations on Venezuela despite objections from some council members who insisted the crisis was not a threat to international security. Haley said the US decision to raise Venezuela at the Security Council was aimed at conflict prevention and to ensure that the top UN body was paying attention to the crisis. "We've been down this road with Syria, with North Korea, with South Sudan, with Burundi, with Burma. We've been down this road," Haley said. "Why not get in front of this? Why not try to stop a problem before it starts?" Opposition demonstrators have held daily protests since 1 April, angry at what they see as moves to strengthen Maduro's hold on power. Rejecting the US action at United Nations, Venezuela accused the United States of meddling in its domestic affairs. "Venezuela will resolve its own internal problems. We will do it ourselves," Ambassador Rafael Ramirez told reporters after the meeting. "We will not accept interference." Earlier, Haley said in a statement that Venezuela was "on the verge of a humanitarian crisis" and urged the international community to work together "to ensure Maduro ends this violence and oppression and restores democracy to the people." Uruguay's Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, who holds the council presidency this month, said the Organization of American States (OAS) and other regional bodies were best-placed to help address the crisis. The Caracas government, however, has decided to pull out of the OAS, which is due to hold a ministerial meeting on Venezuela on 31 May. Speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed "great concern" over the "extremely difficult situation" in Venezuela and said he was in contact with regional leaders. Making his first public remarks on the crisis, Guterres said mediation was "indispensable" to resolve the crisis. By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump lashed out on Thursday over his Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, calling it "the single greatest witch hunt" in U.S. history.Trump's Twitter comments stood in contrast to his measured statement on Wednesday night after former FBI chief Robert Mueller was named as special counsel, in which he said "a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity."Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller after a succession of jarring developments that brought questions over Russia's alleged meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign to a boil.They included Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, reports that Trump had previously pressured Comey to end a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Trump discussing sensitive information on Islamic State with the Russian foreign minister.In two Twitter postings, the Republican president assailed the latest development to roil his four-month-old administration."With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!" Trump wrote, misspelling the word counsel as he referred to Democratic former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton."This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" added Trump, who said in a speech on Wednesday that "no politician in history" had been treated worse or more unfairly than he has.Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar responded, "This is a truth hunt."U.S. stocks rose as upbeat economic data emboldened investors to return to the market on Thursday, a day after Wall Street saw its worst selloff in eight months on worries that the political turmoil could sideline Trump initiatives such as tax cuts that investors see as favoring economic growth. Rosenstein, the No. 2 Justice Department official, named Mueller amid mounting pressure in Congress for an independent investigation beyond existing FBI and congressional probes into the Russia issue.Mueller's appointment was not expected to affect the FBI or congressional investigations.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Comey should still appear before congressional committees that have invited him to testify.A key issue Mueller may have to tackle is whether Trump has committed obstruction of justice, an offense that could be used in any effort in Congress to impeach him and remove him from office. Trump cited displeasure with the FBI's Russia probe as a factor in dismissing Comey. In addition, Comey wrote a memo detailing Trump's comments to him in February saying "I hope you can let this go," referring to the Flynn probe, a source who saw the memo said on Tuesday.Asked about the potential that there had been obstruction of justice, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters the special counsel will "follow the facts where ever they may lead" and that "it is premature to prejudge anything at this point."Flynn's contacts with Russians during the presidential campaign, as well as his work for the Turkish government, are under investigation. He was fired as national security adviser in February after it emerged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington in December.FLYNN CONTACTS Flynn and other advisers to Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the presidential race, Reuters reported on Thursday. Republican Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Flynn's lawyer told the committee he would not honor the panel's subpoena seeking relevant documents.Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump's favor. Trump has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his November election victory.In the Russian city of Sochi, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mueller's appointment, calling it an "internal matter" for the United States.Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans widely praised the appointment of a special counsel to take over the Russia probe.Rosenstein was due to brief U.S. senators later on Thursday. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Rosenstein would be questioned about a letter he wrote accusing Comey of missteps as FBI director, including his handling of an election-year probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. The White House initially said that letter prompted Trump to fire Comey, but Trump later said he had already decided to dismiss him and was thinking of "this Russia thing."The Russia matter has consumed Washington and overshadowed Republican legislative priorities including a planned healthcare overhaul and sweeping tax cuts, something the party had hoped to make rapid progress on given its control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. NEW YORK A speeding car crashed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in New York City's busy Times Square on Thursday, causing multiple injuries, witnesses said.Thirteen people were treated for injuries, the New York Fire Department said on Twitter. The New York Police Department closed off the area.A Reuters witness said at least 10 people were being treated for injuries on the ground after the collision around noon ET (1600 GMT) at the Midtown Manhattan tourist site. The vehicle was a red sedan and CBS New York Television said the driver had been removed. Witnesses said the motorist had driven against traffic and onto the sidewalk, striking pedestrians. The car crashed into a pole and came to rest at 45th Street and Broadway.Seven people were being placed on stretchers, a Reuters witness said. Shoes were scattered at the scene and one person was covered by a bloodstained blanket, the Reuters witness said. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Daniel Bases and Jonathan Allen; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Howard Goller) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BEIJING China and Southeast Asian countries agreed on Thursday to a framework for a long-mooted code of conduct for the disputed South China Sea, China's foreign ministry said, as both sides step up efforts to ease tension in the strategic waterway.China and the members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had been hoping to this year agree on the framework, 15 years after committing to draft it. Some ASEAN diplomats have expressed concern about whether China is being sincere, or whether ASEAN has enough leverage to get China to commit to a set of rules.Some Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as the United States, have expressed concern at what they see as China's militarisation of the South China Sea, including building air strips on man-made islands.After a meeting between Chinese and ASEAN officials in the Chinese city of Guiyang, China's foreign ministry said the framework had been agreed upon, although it gave no details of its contents. The talks had been candid and deep and made positive achievements, it added in a statement.All parties "uphold using the framework of regional rules to manage and control disputes, to deepen practical maritime cooperation, to promote consultation on the code and jointly maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea", it added. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhemin, in comments carried on state television, said the framework was comprehensive and took into account the concerns of all sides.But he called on others to stay out, apparently a coded message to the United States."We hope that our consultations on the code are not subject to any outside interference," Liu said. The permanent secretary of Singapore's foreign ministry, Chee Wee Kiong, said what he called a "draft" framework would be submitted to a meeting between the foreign ministers of China and the ASEAN states in August in the Philippines."We hope to continue the positive momentum of consultation and make steady progress towards a substantive CoC based on consensus as directed by our leaders," Chee said, in remarks also shown on Chinese state television, referring to the code of conduct.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in goods pass every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.Negotiators from China and ASEAN met in Indonesia and Cambodia in the last few months to try to reach a final draft, which could be approved ahead of the August meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in the Philippines. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: Reacting to the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaign's ties with Russia, US President Donald Trump said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. The Justice Department appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as the special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Russian interference in the last year's presidential elections. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," Trump said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." Deputy attorney general Rod J Rosenstein said, "In my capacity as acting attorney general, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter." "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," he said in a statement. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. "Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly," he said. "Special counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result," he added. House speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. "That is what we've been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue," Ryan said. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed Mueller's choice for the investigation. "The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence," senator Richard Burr said, and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. Democratic Senatr Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will hopefully help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. "We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and I'm encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election," Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. "While this is an important step forward, we still need a bipartisan, independent commission to carry out a public investigation into Russia's interference in our election. The American people deserve answers," he said. Washington: Donald Trump gave vent to frustrations over his mounting political problems on Thursday, declaring that no president in US history had been treated "more unfairly". During a commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump urged graduating cadets to follow his example and "fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, give up. Things will work out just fine". "Look at the way I've been treated lately. Especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down," he said. The outburst came amid intensifying pressure on the president in the wake of his firing of James Comey as director of the FBI last week, in the midst of a probe into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russian attempts to tilt the US election in his favour. The Senate Intelligence Commitee announced on Wednesday that they have asked Comey to testify. The New York Times, citing sources close to Comey, had reported that Trump asked the FBI director in an Oval Office meeting to drop its probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. A day earlier, The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat. Washington: US president Donald Trump is likely to visit China this year with an agenda to further improve the economic ties and "reduce conflicts" between the two countries. The move comes after the US-China relationship showed significant growth after Trump's first ever meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the former's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. Jinping had then told the US president that there were "a thousand reasons" to make the Sino-US ties work and "no reason" to break them. He had also invited Trump to visit China during the meeting. "President Trump is looking forward to and hopefully would be able to reach agreement in areas where we have not been able to reach an agreement today for the strengthening of the (US-China) relationship which will again allow us to try and reduce as much conflict and create more economic opportunities for the people," a senior Trump administration official said. While no date has been fixed for the visit so far, it has been in the discussion stage for quite sometime now. "It's something that we have been discussing. We have been making progress in our discussion. I think the US-China relationship is right now showing signs of really been stronger than it has been in the long time," the official said on the condition of anonymity. "I think that stems from the fact that President Trump and President Xi (Jinping) were able to spend a lot of time together (at mar-a-Lago) and find areas where there is a lot of common objectives. I think they have been working together towards those objectives. "Both are leaders who do not think in short term, but in long term and are trying to create the right framework for the US-China relationship to last for the duration. I would imagine that he would make a trip to China," the official said. The White House on Wednesday named failed Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman as a surprise contender to become the next FBI director. President Donald Trump will interview the former independent senator who ran on a ticket with Al Gore in 2000 before endorsing Republican John McCain in 2008 at the White House later in the day. The choice of a new FBI director will be closely scrutinised with the administration thrown into turmoil by a succession of stunning allegations against Trump, most damagingly that he may have obstructed justice by asking now sacked FBI chief James Comey to drop a probe into one of his top advisors. "The president will continue to meet with candidates for FBI director," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters returning with the president from a trip to Connecticut. "He will meet with four more: Andrew McCabe, Frank Keating, Richard McFeely and Joe Lieberman. Those will all happen upon return to the White House this afternoon." Gore and Lieberman narrowly lost the disputed 2000 election to Republican George W Bush, and the Connecticut senator mounted his own unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2004. Lieberman served 24 years as a Connecticut senator before retiring in 2013. He was the northeastern state's attorney general from 1983-88, and also served 10 years in the Connecticut state senate. He is also senior counsel at New York law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres, whose founder Marc Kasowitz has represented Trump. Lieberman endorsed Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential election. The White House has provided no set timeline for the process of replacing Comey. But Trump said Saturday that he would act quickly to appoint a successor. The president's nominee must be confirmed in the Senate, where Democrats and some Republicans have fiercely criticised Comey's firing. Washington: Donald Trump considers working with Russia to accomplish his strategic goals but not at the cost of America's interests, a senior administration official has said. "He's (Trump) been very clear on his desire with Russia. There's a lot of fever in this country about Russia and the Russians. Obviously, it seems like they did do some bad things with regards to trying to interfere by doing the DNC hack and all those different things that's been reported on," the official said on Wednesday. "But, he views the world through his strategic objectives area. To the degree that the Russians can work with him on accomplishing those strategic objectives he's going to work with him," the official said. "Where our objectives are not aligned he's not going to not work with them. If they do things that he sees as aggressive and hostile towards American interests he will confront them. I would say Trump is not being rigid or dogmatic or closed-minded. I would say he's being very cautious in the way he approaches it. "Like in Syria, for example, there might be some opportunity by working with Russia towards ending the conflict and creating de-escalation zones, and if we can accomplish that then he'll be very open-minded to that," the official said. The senior official said when it comes to other issues, the US president will be less flexible and open-minded and that the US and Russia have a lot of different interests in a lot of different places. President Trump is scheduled a number of world leaders, including the new French President Emmanuel Macron, as he heads for his maiden foreign trip this week. "For him its going to be an opportunity to be able to spend time with a lot of these leaders. To have very candid conversations about what weve accomplished to date and how the world has changed and how the world is changing and where it has the potential to go," the official said. The US is also making efforts to mediate talks between Israel and Palestine to ensure peace in the region and will assess the on ground situation during Trump's visit there. Trump is scheduled to visit Jerusalem where he will meet Israeli President Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after that he will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem and convey America's interest to facilitate an agreement that ends the conflict in the region, US National Security Advisor H R McMaster said on Tuesday. "With regard to Israelis and Palestinians, we so far had great conversations with both parties. I think, we tried to show people that things are possible," the senior administration official said. "We will do our assessment when we reach the region, but we are planning to meet Abbas and Netanyahu while we are there and see how it goes," the official said. Trump wont last a full term. Ive put money on it he says cheerily on phone from London. Will you speak on record?I ask. No, he says, his voice turning grave. Most of my clients are in the US, its a new company, they can run it into the ground if they want toyou know how these things work. Ill speak to you after hes impeached, he says and hangs up. Impeach 45 is the bombshell of the day in political sweepstakes, Hillary Clinton has (re)launched a political movement to find an alternative to Donald Trump and the US presidents favourite rag Breitbart says all the revitalised left-wingery about impeachment is a James Comey hit job because he is bitter and hurting after he was fired. This is Americas Page One before Trump climbs onto his big plane and watches the fires from the clouds as he wings to Saudi Arabia bearing gifts the largest arms deal in history. Will Trump go? During the only three other impeachment scenarios in Americas history, the president was facing off against a Congress led by the Opposition. Today, Republicans are the majority party in both the House and Senate. Paul Ryan, the Republican Speaker has so far been supplicant to Trump. Unless the entire Republican party turns on Trump, say, while the president is on tour, Trump is going nowhere. True to form, Breitbart is playing the Russia can prove Trump didnt give classified intel as its lead story. Putin mocked the idea that Trump shared secrets during the meeting with Russias foreign minister, calling the latest wave of allegations "political schizophrenia" and saying people spreading them are either "dumb" or corrupt." Citing unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat. Media get a handle, at last Make no mistake, even the media that is lambasting Trump maintains that Impeach 45 is more liberal fantasy and less of distinct possibility in the near term. What theyre thrilled to bits about is that the gunpowder they were so desperately hunting for has been delivered to them, in their backyard, by leaky minions in the White House, with a shiny bow on top. "I hope you can let this go," Trump reportedly told James Comey about the ongoing investigation into then national security adviser Michael Flynns Russia links, after a White House meeting in February, according to a memo written by the ex-FBI director and first scooped by The New York Times. His government is a shockingly leaky vessel. Thank heaven for that, writes Frank Bruni in a searing critique of the yes-men scaffolding around Trump, in The New York Times. The Criminal President, screams an op-ed page headline in Wednesdays The New York Times. After the revelations of the past 24 hours, it appears that President Trumps conduct in and around the firing of the FBI director, James Comey, may have crossed the line into criminality. The combination of what is known and what is credibly alleged would, if fully substantiated, constitute obstruction of justice. It is time for Congress and a special counsel in the executive branch to conduct objective, bipartisan inquiries into these allegations, together with the underlying matters involving Michael Flynn and Russia that gave rise to them, is how this story begins. It is by now popular lore that Trump doesnt drink or do drugs. His drug is himselfhimself on TV, says a close campaign adviser. The liberal media is salivating over this they know only too well that the history of botched White House runs have rarely been about spy cams and ratting; giants have been demolished before by sheer vanity and their deafness to omens. The never-Trumpers, out of business for the last 100 days, are grandstanding on prime time telly again. "After watching the Clinton impeachment I thought I'd never see another one, but I think we're in impeachment territory now for the first time," David Gergen, who advised former presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton while they faced impeachment, told Anderson Cooper on CNN. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Americas rust belt, Trump voters are sick of the Russia talk while Chinese media is celebrating that their leader has already met the crown prince and princess of America Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump before this Russia thing blew up. "The president is above law" An American President can be removed from office if he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. And, who sits in judgement over this? The vice-president and a majority of the Cabinet secretaries or Congressionally appointed body which could include or comprise solely of say, a panel of medical experts. If the president objects, a two-thirds majority in each chamber of Congress is essential within a time frame of three weeks theres no appeal. The most gaping hole in Americas democracy is this that the president sits above the law, says Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's Sunday morning 'GPS' show. Most lawyers say Trump is right. Impeachment is political, not legal. Since the Republican party controls both houses of Congress, there is little movement there. There are only two controls left that can contain Donald Trump the courts and the media. We must not start the next Presidents term with tattered standards and sunken expectations, says Zakaria. "Our task is, quite simply, to keep alive the spirit of American democracy," @FareedZakaria says of the press https://t.co/CxWcmio1Xx CNN (@CNN) May 14, 2017 In the past two weeks, a Presidency of ideological meanness and unsurpassing incompetence has moved into another, more recognizable realm. The usual comparison is with the Watergate era, says the The New Yorker and goes on to explain why the comparison with Watergate is actually quite off ( and Trumps reign much worse). Trump is no Nixon. Nixon was shrewd, so strategic, he would never be caught with his pants down, says the ultra left magazine. Although 'Will Trump be impeached' is playing on loop, 'Will Trump stay President in 2017' and 'Will Trump remain President in 2018' are the more robust markets on PredictIt, an online real money site that tests the wisdom of crowds. Thats not all. Wall Street is tanking after many weeks of steady climb. Witnessing the chaotic intersect of the Comey firing, its backstory playing on The New York Times page one, the unrelenting comparisons with Watergate and clearer understanding of 'Trumponomics', financial analysts are coming around to the view now that the Trump administration handicapped by repeated crises will fail in its promise to slash corporate and individual tax rates. Then, there are the Trump voters waiting for the promised jobs when immigrants are scrubbed from the payrolls. Theyre sick and tired of hearing about a faraway land called Russia and whether or not it meddled. This is sounding more and more like Clintons emails, cant wrap my head around it says Cindy from Alabama, a Trump voter who works on a horse farm and carries a gun in her backpack to the grocery store. We have no idea where this is going next, White House courtiers are saying, shaking their heads and walking around in a daze trying to control fires their king had lit all around them. Trumps most pressing liability is not getting impeached, its about getting hobbled by unpopularity, being seen as someone who is embroiled in dubious engagements with places halfway across the world rather than a doer at home for the people who voted him in. Trump aimed straight for his core voters as the rift deepened in Washington DC: "You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. No other president has been treated worse or more unfairly. I didn't get elected to serve the Washington media or special interests. I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women of our country, and that's what I'm doing," he said in the capital city on Wednesday. Trump is only the fifth US President who failed to win the popular vote. An impeachment will be dramatic, the possibility that Trump may meander through a 4-year term pockmarked by Opposition blockage is distinctly real. By Bernie Woodall A former U.S. Navy admiral at the centre of a massive bribery scandal was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 months in prison for choosing "karaoke over character," U.S. prosecutors said.Former U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau, 56, of San Diego, pleaded guilty last year to lying when he told federal agents he had not received gifts from Malaysian businessman Leonard Francis, the owner of a Singapore-based defence contractor. Gilbeau, who became the first active-duty admiral ever convicted of a federal crime, was subsequently demoted to captain. Gilbeau's case is part of a long-running criminal probe known as the Fat Leonard case, in reference to a nickname for Francis."It is truly a sombre day, acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson said in a statement. When tempted by parties and prostitutes, one of our most respected leaders chose karaoke over character." Gilbeau is free on bond and was ordered to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on June 23. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Gilbeau previously agreed to pay $50,000 in restitution to the Navy as well as a $100,000 fineGilbeau's attorney, David Benowitz, said his client accepted responsibility for making false statements, but denied inflating any invoice or accepting money for doing so."We respectfully disagree with the court's sentencing decision, given Captain Gilbeau's otherwise stellar 37 years of service to his country, during which he was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart," Benowitz said in an email. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino said Gilbeau deleted documents and data files as he tried to conceal his dealings with Francis, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement."You dishonoured your shipmates, the Navy and the United States of America," Sammartino told Gilbeau at a federal court in San Diego according to the Justice Department statement.Gilbeau's business relationship with Francis actually dated back to 1997, during which Francis plied Gilbeau with expensive gifts ranging from fine dining, luxury hotels and prostitutes, prosecutors said. Gilbeau was in his mid-30s when he first met Francis in Bali, Indonesia, and the parties with prostitutes started right away, prosecutors said.In return, Gilbeau signed off on contracts for services such as removing waste from U.S. aircraft carriers at highly inflated prices, prosecutors said.Francis was arrested in September 2013 on fraud and bribery charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in January to bribery and conspiracy charges, prosecutors said.Twenty current and former Navy officials have been charged so far in the fraud and bribery investigation, prosecutors said. Ten of those have pleaded guilty and 10 cases are pending. Also, five executives from Francis' company, Glenn Defence Marine Asia, have pleaded guilty. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Ben Klayman and Lisa Shumaker) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. PARIS France said on Thursday it was reviewing its position on the Libyan conflict and for the first time openly called for a united national army that included eastern militia commander Khalifa Haftar to battle Islamist militants.In the previous government, the Foreign Ministry openly supported the U.N.-backed Libyan government of Prime Minister Fayez Seraj, while the Defence Ministry worked closely with Haftar, who has waged a campaign against Islamists in eastern Libya but resisted a rapprochement with Seraj. Diplomats had told Reuters that they had expected a clarification once the new president, Emmanuel Macron, took office. The previous defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is now foreign minister. "Libya needs to build a national army under civilian control with the participation of all the forces that fight terrorism across the country, including those of General Haftar," Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told reporters in a daily briefing, making no mention of Seraj. "In contact with our European partners and neighbouring countries, France will study ways of reinforcing our political and security activity to help restore Libyan institutions and an army capable of defeating the terrorists."France had never publicly urged a role for Haftar before. The new president, who travels to Mali on Friday to meet French troops and hold talks with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, vowed during the election campaign to put the fight against Islamist militants at the top of his security priorities.Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has become the dominant force in eastern Libya over the past three years, though it continues to face armed resistance in Benghazi and other regions, and to take heavy losses. Haftar and Seraj ended a year of deadlock by holding talks in Abu Dhabi this month, and appeared at ease - but it is unclear if either man will help to reconcile a complex array of factions on both sides of Libya's divide.France took a leading role in the NATO air campaign that helped rebels topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but his demise tipped the country into years of chaos. Paris has thousands of soldiers positioned across West Africa, some of them about 60 km from Libya's southern desert border, as part of its Barkhane counter-terrorism force.Three members of French special forces were killed in a helicopter accident during an intelligence-gathering mission with Haftar's forces last year. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Kevin Liffey) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. President Donald Trump's White House has been plunged into crisis mode once again by explosive claims that he tried to quash an FBI investigation, and divulged secrets to top Russian officials. The twin allegations mark the latest in a string of major setbacks to have buffeted his four-month-old presidency. The Russian connection Since US intelligence agencies last October accused Russia of trying to swing the presidential election in Trump's favor, questions have swirled about whether some in his campaign colluded with Moscow. The FBI and several congressional panels are probing allegations of collusion between Trump's team and Russia, something the president flatly denies. The cloud hanging over the White House mushroomed in February when Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned over concerns about his meetings with Russia's ambassador in Washington. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any Russia-related inquiries soon after, following revelations he too failed to reveal he met the envoy, Sergey Kislyak. Trump's big ask The day after Flynn was forced out, Trump hosted a meeting with then FBI director James Comey, at which he asked him to call off the investigation targeting Flynn, according to the New York Times. The White House categorically denies the paper's account of events, which could amount to obstruction of justice. Comey recounted the incident in a memo, read to the Times by an associate, which quotes Trump as saying: "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." Exit James Comey On 9 May, Trump dismissed Comey as head of the FBI, dropping a bombshell in Washington where the opposition suspected him of seeking to stall the agency's Russia investigation. The White House initially said the decision was motivated by Comey's mishandling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails but Trump himself undercut that explanation by saying he always intended to fire Comey and that his decision was linked to the Russia probe. Spilling secrets to Moscow The day after Comey's ouster, Trump received Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and its ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, to whom he divulged highly classified intelligence, according to the Washington Post. The intelligence was originally gathered by Israel, the New York Times said, and pertained to an Islamic State plot to hide bombs in laptops to blow up civilian aircraft. Israel did not want the sensitive material shared with any other country, even allies. While the White House denied access to the meeting to US media, the Russians published photos of Trump smiling and shaking hands with his Russian guests, a move that angered the White House. Conflicts of interest The real estate mogul's administration has been plagued with allegations of conflict of interest from the beginning. Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, also a property developer who has become a trusted aid to his father-in-law, have maintained extensive business interests. Before entering office, Trump revealed a plan whereby he would hand over the day-to-day running of his business empire to his two sons and a long-time business associate. But he continues to profit from his business, which critics say could leave him open to influence by outside actors. Travel ban blocked Trump promised on the campaign trail to prevent Muslims from entering the US, but his 27 January order to ban travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries was blocked by the courts, which said the US constitution banned discrimination on religious grounds. A watered-down version of the ban was again thwarted by the courts on 15 March, with judges citing Trump's own campaign speeches as grounds for suspicion that it was a still an attempt to ban Muslims. Stumbling healthcare reform Trump failed in his first attempt to push through a sweeping overhaul of Barack Obama's signature healthcare law in March. The House eventually passed it by a whisker, but the controversial act faces a tough battle in the Senate. Four Indonesian soldiers have been killed and eight others injured by artillery fire in an accident during training on a South China Sea island, the Indonesian Army said on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday when an artillery cannon malfunctioned during the exercise involving an army reserve battalion on Tanjung Datuk Natuna, on the northwestern fringe of the vast Indonesian archipelago. "The cannon became uncontrollable and hit soldiers in the vicinity," army spokesman Alfret Denny Tuejeh said. Of the eight hurt, four suffered serious injuries, he said. The cannon, purchased in 2003, was used a day before without any problem, he added. The military has begun an investigation to find out what caused the incident. The island is part of the small Natuna archipelago, remote Indonesian islands in the South China Sea, home to rich fishing grounds and abundant oil reserves. There have been repeated clashes between Chinese and Indonesian vessels around the islands in recent times, prompting Indonesia to bolster its defences in the area. Indonesia maintains it has no maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea, unlike other Asian nations, and does not contest ownership of reefs or islets there. But Beijing's expansive claims in the sea overlap Indonesia's exclusive economic zone waters where a state has the right to exploit resources around the Natunas. China has defended its incursions into Indonesian waters around the islands, saying its trawlers are operating in "traditional Chinese fishing grounds", but Jakarta disputes this. Islamabad: Drug smuggling is never one-sided, a senior Pakistani official said as Islamabad offered to assist British authorities in a probe into the alleged seizure of heroin on a PIA plane at Heathrow airport. However, British authorities shared no details of the investigation being conducted by the UK's National Crime Agency. The issue surfaced on 15 May, when a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777 was searched and its 14-member crew detained for hours after it landed at the airport. Prime Minister's Aviation Adviser Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said that Pakistan was ready to help in the probe, Dawn reported. "Drug smuggling is never one-sided. Somebody there had to receive whatever was concealed in the aircraft. A big chain could be involved, because it can't be done by an individual. And opening an aircraft's cavities is a technical job which can't be done by an ordinary person," Abbasi said on Wednesday. The crew was released but UK officials said that they recovered unspecified quantity of heroin hidden in the plane, leading to a major embarrassment to Islamabad. He said that the internal profiling of the crew had been started by the PIA vigilance department and a meeting of all stakeholders the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Airport Security Force, Customs and the airlines officials was called on today to review the situation. "Unlike the past practice, this time the issue of narcotics smuggling through a PIA plane will not be buried and those who use the national flag carrier for such criminal activities will not be spared," he said. Abbasi said neither the government, nor any department including the PIA or the ANF had been informed verbally or in writing by any security agency of the UK about narcotics found in the aircraft. The adviser said it would be difficult to launch an investigation or fix responsibility unless the Pakistani authorities received an official communication regarding the drug seizure claim. According to sources, before taking off for the UK PK-785 remained parked at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad for about two hours and forty-five minutes on May 15 but the aircraft was not searched by sniffer dogs as per the standard operating procedure. This afternoon the International Court of Justice at the Hague ordered provisional measures in the India-Pakistan case concerning Kulbushan Jhadav, an Indian national who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani General Court Martial. These provisional measures, under international law, will be effective immediately and unless modified by the court, will remain binding until the conclusion of the hearings. The provisional measures are measures that the court can order under Article 41 of its Statute in order to protect the rights of the parties in a particular case before it. In the case of LaGrande (Germany v the United States of America) the court held that the measures ordered under Article 41 create binding obligations on States under international law. At the outset we need to note one important thing, the court has on Thursday not commented on the merits of India's case. Therefore the court has said nothing about either India's allegations or Pakistan's allegations. In fact, the president of the court as he was summing up, made it very clear, that the court has not dealt with the merits or questions relating to the admissibility of the application. The court proceeded on the law relating to provisional measures, which requires only the establishment of certain prima facie criteria. The court found: a) That since there was a dispute relating to consular access under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, in particular, the extent of the obligations that India and Pakistan felt were required under Article 36, there existed prima facie jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention. This arose because of the allegations India has made regarding Pakistan's delayed consular notifications and failure in informing him of consular access at the time of his arrest. Since the Vienna Convention is not explicit on the question of Terrorists and Spies not being subject to the Convention, the Court will not consider the question at this interim stage. b) That the question of the 2008 Bilateral Agreement between India and Pakistan limiting the rights under the Vienna Convention is a question that can be answered at a later stage as there is no explicit bar to the jurisdiction of the ICJ under the 2008 India-Pakistan bilateral Agreement. c) That the purpose of Provisional Measures is to protect the rights of the Parties while the matter is going on. For this to be granted the rights claimed must be plausible and there must be a link between the rights and provisional measures that are requested. India's reliefs claimed are plausible and since at the interim stage the Court is not required to decide if they are definitive, provisional measures may be granted. d) With regard to the question of urgency, as Pakistan cannot give a definitive timeline and has not undertaken before the Court not to execute Jhadav before the case is over. Furthermore, as Pakistan's counsel had mentioned August 2017 as the date before which no execution would take place, the Court felt this time was too short and there was considerable uncertainty also as to the date on which the Appeal would be disposed. Therefore the Court was satisfied as to urgency. Therefore the court ordered the following provisional measures: a) Take all steps to ensure that Jhadav is not executed. b) Report to the Court the steps it's taken in compliance with the Order. c) Until the Court has decided on the final matter, be ceased of subject matters that form a part of the Order. The ICJ said nothing about the merits of either India's or Pakistan's case before the court on Thursday. Therefore there was no finding of fact with reference to India's evidence or Pakistan's evidence. India will still have to make its case before the ICJ in the main stage of the proceedings. Now the court will call for submissions from the parties and fix a date for final arguments on the matter. This is at best a tactical victory for India, however, the overall burden of having Jadhav's death sentence overturned is something that India will still have to fight hard towards. As this author expressed his reservations as to the merit's of India's main case before the court, there is still a long way to go before we can consider this a victory against Pakistan. One more important thing that's worth pointing out, despite his execution now being stayed by the Hague, Jadhav may still not be able to have consular access or have access to his family. India did not request for consular access as a provisional measure nor did we seek that we are allowed to help him fight his appeal via the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. If Pakistan goes ahead with the appeal, then Jadhav could be subject to the final orders of a court where he had an inadequate defence. In LaGrande (Germany v US) and Avena (Mexico v US) the setting aside of the final verdict was something that the ICJ was not inclined to do and the ICJ reiterated that States were to be left to decide their own means of how to provide restitution for a failure to comply with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention. So while Jhadav may have got a reprieve from The Hague, his best chances of finally avoiding the noose may still be navigating the complexity that is the Pakistani court system. India's failure to ask for an order granting her consular access in the interim stage is something that is quite strange. If Pakistan as a response to this order grants India consular access though, it would make its case much easier at the time of final hearing at The Hague. One hopes that's the exact intention of India's Ministry of External Affairs in order to finally secure consular access. However, how the final matter will pan out is something that still needs to be seen as having a sentence overturned by The Hague, would be a first, for any country, not just India. While legally speaking, this author doubts if it will happen, the patriot in him hopes that it will. Article 36 of the Vienna Convention won the day. The 2008 bi-lateral agreement was set aside and does not supersede the rights of the ICJ to judge the case. Pakistan errs in not offering consular access. Also, the ICJ finds it odd India should join the investigation against its own national to enable Pakistan to offer access. It is a bit unfortunate that the ICJ does not have more teeth. It should have asked Pakistan for evidence of the whereabouts and condition of the captive Jadhav and at least put Pakistan further on the backfoot by calling for some visible assurance that he was alive and in good health. By not doing so it has allowed the liberty and rights of the individual to be compromised in secrecy. Indias demands are plausible, says Judge Abraham, thereby underscoring the milky nature of the ICJs power. Preserving the rights of the captive is a given and the court so declares but does intimate how these will be exercised. We lose no ground over the time span given for the execution to be carried out. The court is not happy with the 150-day window and believes there is an urgency since Pakistan has given no assurance that it will follow these steps and the ICJ feels the rights claimed by India have merit. The court has decided unanimously Pakistan shall take all measures to ensure that Jadhav is not executed until a final decision is made. Until the court has given its final decision on the matter Pakistan will apprise the court of all developments. While we have won the moral victory what makes us think that Pakistan will adhere to the spirit of the interim order. It can completely play lets pretend and then finally do nothing. So long as the presence of Jadhav is unknown to the world at large it is difficult to gain any traction once the two parties go home. Kulbhushan Jadhav case at ICJ update by Firstpost on Scribd All this still hinges on the appearance of Kulbhushan Jadhav so we know he is alive. You do not pay a ransom unless you get proof of life. We do not have that. Pakistan lost every one of the six points in contention. But even if there is no ambiguity on the Indian admissions the crying fact is that there is no date set for the consular access and we have no idea where Jadhav is so our screaming of a victory only makes sense if we can bring light into the cell. That has not yet happened. Again, the world we live in is so brutal these days that the ICJ dealings with war crimes or espionage over an individual become a bit of a lightweight. Between genocide in Syria and the fighting in Iraq, the terror attacks around the world, the problems in Afghanistan, the cruel kidnappings and tribal conflicts in huge swathes of Africa, the tensions in Turkey and Ukraine and the rising damp in the Far East, the ICJ is well out of its depth with the issue of dirty deeds and cannot police the world. Nor does it have that fiat. There is no argument that the Jadhav milestone will create a deeper schism between the two countries and the frost echoes the sentiment expressed by the US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats while addressing a Congressional hearing last week. He said, "Islamabads failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhis growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistans investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016." As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) put on hold the death sentence of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, media in Pakistan and across the world gave a myriad of reactions to the verdict.According to Dawn online, Pakistani analysts were earlier confident that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction to put Jadhavs execution on hold, however, on Thursday observers have said the jurisdiction argument was weak and damaging. Retired Justice Shaiq Usmani told DawnNews the decision is alarming because ICJ does not have any jurisdiction. He said it was Pakistans mistake since it appeared at the court. They shouldn't have attended. They have shot themselves in the foot, Usmani added. London-based Barrister Rashid Aslam, on the other hand, told Dawn News that Pakistan was ill-prepared and did not utilise the 90 minutes it had to make its argument. Usmani was one of many other lawyers who thought Pakistan did not put up its best defence and should have been better prepared. Another lawyer questioned that when India did not give consent to the Kashmir issue going to ICJ, then why did Pakistan give consent to the Jadhav case? Pakistan's Geo TV focused on how "India was trying to portray Jadhav's sentencing as a humanitarian issue". Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said India wove a humanitarian angle in the "Indian-spy" Kulbushan Jadhavs case to divert the world's attention from his real actions: fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan. The Daily Pakistan played up Zakaria's statements and carried a headline like "ICJ verdict was leaked to India ahead of time: Pakistan Foreign Office". The Daily Pakistan article further mentioned how the ICJ verdict has fuelled intense speculations with observers including journalists saying that the Indian lobby in the court had influenced and then leaked the verdict. People on Twitter even brought up journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's tweet as vouching for the speculation. India apparently has people inside of the ICJ guiding their home country, Pakistan on the other hand is not even prepared to fight the case pic.twitter.com/9LVSEwRuGm Waqas Ahmed (@waqas_x) May 18, 2017 As I had predicted in my earlier tweets the ICJ decision was a foregone conclusion. We did not have to go to ICJ to begin with but we did Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 18, 2017 There were journalists who also tweeted the possibilities of Pakistan not following the international court's order. Other tweets from students also emphasised on the Pakistan's weak defence at ICJ. #KalbhushanJhadav case precedent...Germany vs US 1982, Germans Karl-Heinz & Walter awarded death penalty. ICJ moved but US executed them Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) May 18, 2017 We sent a junior lawyer in #KalbhushanJhadav case because all senior lawyers of Pakistan are defending PM Nawaz in corruption cases: ISPR Tayyaba Chaudhary (@TayyabaLatifCh) May 18, 2017 In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The decision of the 11-judge bench was unanimous, ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday termed as a "great relief" the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order of putting on hold the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan and asserted that the government will "leave no stone unturned" to save him. She also thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve who was India's attorney at the Hague and argued the case before the global court. In a series of tweets, she said, "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India." Swaraj said, "We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him)." She also complimented the team of officers from her ministry for their tireless efforts and hard work put up in the matter. The ICJ at the Hague stayed the execution of 46-year-old Indian Navy officer Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body in the case, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision by it. The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday said that India should have been granted consular access to its national Kulbhushan Jadhav as per the Vienna Convention. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by Pakistan on charges of espionage and subversive activities. The circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remain disputed, ICJ president Ronny Abraham said while reading out his verdict. The 11-judge bench of the UN's highest court is presenting its verdict two days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions on the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer. During its submission to the ICJ on 15 May at a public hearing, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. Jadhav was arrested on 3 March, 2016 and sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. India is represented by its 'Agent' Deepak Mittal, who is the head of the Pakistan division in the external affairs ministry and the case is argued by its lead attorney Harish Salve. The India team is expected to be present at the time of the verdict. On its part, Pakistan told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. By Karen Dillon | LEAVENWORTH, Kan. LEAVENWORTH, Kan. Chelsea Manning walked out of a U.S. military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in U.S. history.Manning, 29, was released from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at about 2 a.m., the U.S. Army said in a brief statement."First steps of freedom!!" Manning wrote alongside a photograph of sneaker-clad feet that she published on social media. Manning was convicted of providing more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks, an international organisation that publishes such information from anonymous sources, while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq.WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a target of criminal investigations in Sweden and the United States, had promised to accept extradition if Manning was freed. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the arrest of Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, was a priority. Former U.S. president Barack Obama, in his final days in office, commuted the final 28 years of Manning's 35-year sentence, effective four months later. That decision angered national security experts who say Manning put U.S. lives at risk but it won praise from transgender advocates who have embraced her transition to a female gender identity.Once known as Private First Class Bradley Manning, she is likely to become a high-profile transgender advocate, said Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who has represented her. Manning announced her gender transition while the U.S. Army was keeping her in the men's prison and forcing her to wear a male haircut. She twice tried to commit suicide and faced long stretches of solitary confinement as well as denial of healthcare, Strangio said.Last year, the U.S. Defence Department lifted a long-standing ban against transgender men and women serving openly in the military. The Pentagon estimated it affected 7,000 active-duty and reserve personnel. Although transgender people still complain of widespread discrimination in education, employment and medical care, awareness of the issue has exploded since Manning went to jail. Transgender celebrities such as Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox have become part of the mainstream. "LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY" In a statement to ABC News, Manning said she appreciated the support she had received from people all over the world."The past will always affect me, and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point not my final destination," the statement said.Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq "out of a love for my country." In nearby Kansas City, Missouri, some 15 members a local group called PeaceWorks demonstrated in support of Manning on Wednesday, crediting her with exposing war crimes."This is the kind of information we the people should have in order to make decisions about our leaders and who should be in office," said Henry Stoever, 68, a retired lawyer and leader of the group.Among the material Manning leaked was a 2007 gunsight video of a U.S. Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staffers.WikiLeaks began revealing secrets from anonymous sources in 2007 and then burst onto the wider public consciousness with a series of releases throughout 2010.More recently, WikiLeaks published Democratic National Committee emails in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the email accounts were hacked by Russian intelligence as part of a campaign by Moscow to influence the election. (Additional reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City and Daniel Trotta and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Bill Trott) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: Michael Flynn, Donald Trump's fired national security adviser, told the president-elect's transition team that he was the subject of a federal investigation, but was hired for the post anyway, The New York Times reported late Wednesday. The daily, citing two people familiar with the case, said Flynn told the presidential transition team's chief lawyer Don McGahn about the investigation on 4 January weeks before assuming the highly sensitive post. Flynn, who ended up being fired from the position after just 24 days, is at the center of a sprawling federal investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The White House has said that Flynn was dismissed for misleading vice-president Mike Pence about a phone call with the Russian ambassador, during which he reportedly discussed ways of softening US sanctions on Russia. Trump repeatedly tried, without success, to get FBI director James Comey to drop the probe into Flynn. He finally fired Comey last week, in a move legal experts say could become the basis for an obstruction of justice investigation against the beleaguered American president. A decorated retired general, Flynn during the Barack Obama administration was ousted as the head of the Defence Intelligence Agency. Obama, shortly after last November's presidential election, reportedly warned Trump not to hire Flynn for the national security post, according to news reports advice the billionaire businessman failed to heed. LAGOS Military corruption is weakening Nigeria's efforts to battle the Islamist insurgency of Boko Haram, the watchdog Transparency International said on Thursday.Its report underlines the difficulty of achieving two key promises of President Muhammadu Buhari's 2015 election campaign: tackling endemic corruption and defeating an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 lives and displaced millions."Corrupt military officials have been able to benefit from the conflict through the creation of fake defence contracts, the proceeds of which are often laundered abroad in the UK, U.S. and elsewhere," the watchdog said in a statement.Last year, Nigeria's vice president said around $15 billion had been stolen from the public purse under the previous government through fraudulent arms procurement deals. Transparency International said this had left the military "without vital equipment, insufficiently trained, low in morale and under-resourced". "This has crippled the Nigerian military in fighting an aggressive ideologically inspired enemy such as Boko Haram," the watchdog said, pointing to cases of soldiers taking on the militants without ammunition or fuel. A defence spokesman said the allegations were false for the current crop of military officers."A lot has been done to train, boost troops' morale and procure vital equipment through due process," said Major General John Enenche, adding that the military "will continue to get better with the right kind of leadership that we have today". The military says it has recaptured much of the territory claimed by Boko Haram since the conflict began in 2009. But the reclaimed areas are often razed towns, or islands of relative safety and highways connecting them to larger cities.Much of the territory away from the roads is still dangerous, and Boko Haram attacks remain frequent.The report also said countries such as the United States could encourage defence reform by withholding arms, such as the planned sale of up to a dozen Super Tucano A-29 aircraft to help the fight against Boko Haram.Transparency International said Nigeria should make its defence budget and procurement systems more transparent to ensure that contracts were not inflated, or given to shell companies to conceal the true beneficiary. (Reporting by Paul Carsten; and by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Editing by Kevin Liffey) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Daniel Trotta and Jonathan Allen | NEW YORK NEW YORK A U.S. Navy veteran slammed his car into pedestrians in New York City's packed Times Square on Thursday, killing an 18-year-old woman and injuring 22 people. The city's mayor said there was no indication it was an act of terrorism.Witnesses said the motorist mounted the sidewalk in a burgundy Honda sedan and sped along for more than three city blocks, knocking people over before the car hit a pole and came to rest at 45th Street and Broadway in Midtown Manhattan.(For a graphic on Times Square car crash, click tmsnrt.rs/2rvktPe) Police who took the driver into custody identified him as Richard Rojas, 26, of the New York City borough of the Bronx. They said he had been arrested twice for drunken driving in 2008 and 2015, and once earlier this month for menacing.There was no indication it was an act of terrorism, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the scene.Initial reports of the incident brought to mind vehicle attacks on pedestrians in recent months in Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Sweden.Security camera footage showed the car slam into pedestrians who moments earlier were ambling along, some carrying shopping bags and others pushing baby strollers.The incident took place close to noon ET (1600 GMT) on a bright, sunny day. "People were being hit and rolling off the car," said Josh Duboff, who works at the nearby Thomson Reuters headquarters. He leapt out of the way to avoid being struck. A woman's body lay covered with a bloodstained blanket. A police officer kept vigil nearby, sadly shaking his head. Shoes were scattered on the sidewalk. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them tourists from around the world, pass daily through Times Square, the heart of the Broadway theater district.The bustling streets are heavily patrolled by police, some on horseback. Many, but not all, sidewalks are lined with barricades and planters for fear of vehicle attacks.A bouncer from the Planet Hollywood restaurant and a ticket agent were among onlookers who helped police subdue the suspect when he tried to flee the scene, media reports said. Broadway shows would go ahead as planned on Thursday evening in the many local theaters, organizers said in a statement.'MOWED EVERYONE DOWN' U.S. Navy records show Rojas enlisted in September 2011 and was based in Illinois and Florida, working as an electrician's mate fireman apprentice. He was arrested a year later at a naval base in Jacksonville, Florida, where officials said he attacked a cab driver, shouted "my life is over," and threatened to kill police, according to court records. Rojas was charged with misdemeanor battery and resisting an officer without violence, but it was unclear how the case was resolved.U.S. Navy records show he spent two months in a military prison in Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 2013, but did not say why. He left the Navy in May 2014. After Thursday's incident, authorities cordoned off an area from 41st to 47th streets and from 6th to 8th avenues for several hours, effectively shutting down one of the busiest parts of one of the busiest cities in the world.The crash occurred near the headquarters of the Reuters news agency, 3 Times Square. Building foreman Rodney Muir said he heard what sounded like a big bang and crunching metal. He said he looked out and saw what appeared to be a body in the street.One of the injured, Cheryl Howard, had blood dripping down her right arm and a bruise above her left eye. She and her daughter were shopping when the car sped toward them. "I'm so freaked out!" Howard's daughter said. "They mowed everyone down."One injured woman had a large open wound on her leg.Times Square was evacuated in May 2010 when a car bomb that failed to explode was found in an SUV. Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American and Taliban-trained militant, later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.Six months ago the city completed a $55 million, nearly six-year renovation of Times Square that turned roadways into pedestrian zones. It aimed to improve traffic congestion and safety, but not all sidewalks were fitted with safety bollards or barriers to vehicles. (Additional reporting by Daniel Bases, Andrew Chung, Grant McCool, Jonathan Spicer, Barbara Goldberg, Joseph Ax, Hilary Russ, Peter Szekely, Letitia Stein, Colleen Jenkins and Emily Flitter; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Howard Goller) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Parisa Hafezi | ANKARA ANKARA Known for years as a mild-mannered cleric, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has reinvented himself as a rabble-rousing political street fighter to shore up his chances in an unexpectedly tight race against a united conservative bloc.A pragmatist rather than a gung-ho reformer, Rouhani has tried to fire up the pro-reform camp with speeches that break taboos by targeting Iran's hardline elite, from the conservative judiciary to the powerful Revolutionary Guards. Rouhani's rival is cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who has gathered the hardline camp behind him and appears to have the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rouhani says a hardline victory could put Iran on a more confrontational course with the West, and would prevent the opening of society that a majority of Iranians, especially the youth, yearn to see."You want to limit people's freedom. Voters will confront you in the election. We have chosen our path, the path to freedom. We will not retreat," Rouhani said in a campaign rally. He has openly criticised the human rights record of the authorities, speaking at rallies about "those who cut out tongues and sewed mouths shut". In a debate last week he accused Raisi of seeking to "abuse religion for power". All this is a departure from a man known for decades as a loyal member of the Iranian ruling establishment."Rouhani is a regime insider. He is loyal to the establishment. He is not a reformist but a bridge between hardliners and reformists," said a former senior official.HIGH HOPES Born into a religious family in 1948 and rising to the middle ranks within the Shi'ite clergy, Rouhani was active in the revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah in 1979. He has held several sensitive jobs in the Islamic Republic, including representing Khamenei for 25 years at the Supreme National Security Council. When he was swept to office four years ago with three times as many votes as his nearest challenger, Iranians held high hopes that he could fulfil his promises to reduce the country's isolation abroad and bring more freedoms at home.As an establishment insider, he was intimately familiar with the policymaking process in Iran, where decisions by the elected government and parliament can be undone by the clerical judiciary that has ultimate say. He promised to achieve the aims sought by reformists, but without crossing the lines that would provoke a hardline backlash, and heal wounds of the previous presidential election, when mass reformist protests were violently crushed after the disputed the re-election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The crowning achievement of Rouhani's first term was a deal with global powers to curb Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of most financial sanctions. Crucially, Rouhani's government won the cautious backing of the hardline supreme leader for the deal.But since the accord was reached, the promised economic benefits have been slow to arrive. Meanwhile, there has been little progress on giving Iranians more freedom at home to gather, communicate and dress as they please.Many reformist voters say they are disillusioned, an apathy Rouhani's allies see as the biggest threat to his re-election. His fiery rhetoric in the final days of the campaign seems intended to whip up support from reformists and remind them of the high stakes.But it also risks provoking the sort of backlash from the hardliners that he previously averted. Khamenei issued a veiled rebuke on Wednesday, calling some of the rhetoric in a televised debate "unworthy". Although the supreme leader did not single out any candidate, it was easy to read it as aimed at Rouhani. (Editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: When US President Donald Trump travels to Saudi Arabia to address the Muslim world this week, participating leaders would be asked to sign a pledge to make it "illegal" in their country to fund outfits that promote extremism and terrorism. Leaders of more than 50 countries, most of them Muslim majority ones, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia. Trump would address the gathering on Sunday. The pledge would have a far-reaching implications on countries like Pakistan, where fundraising for extremist organisations is common and at times supported by the ruling establishment. While the pledge would not be legally binding, it would be used for making these countries accountable by the Trump administration, which has made the fight against terrorism a priority, a senior administration official said. "One of the other things (we are) doing on this trip is to get a lot of countries to sign a pledge to make it illegal in their countries to fund organisations that promote extremism and terrorism. Once we have that we are going to try to figure out where the grey is," an administration official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that White House has been working "very hard" on this. "Because we want the countries to make a choice, do you want to be good, do you want to be gray or do you want to be bad? We are not going to allow people not to choose their destinations. I am not saying that check this box. (But) we intend to go to these countries and say 'look you told us that you would do these things, and these are the things we see you doing. Are you going to stop them?'" the official said. According to the official, many of these countries are doing what they are because of the circumstances they are in. "What we find that a lot of these countries find in the gray because the people next to them... compete with them... playing in the gray and they are scared to jump. And we feel that if we can get all of them to commit to doing that, we would have a real chance of making progress," the official said. The official, who has been part of the planning of Trump's maiden overseas trip, acknowledged that a lot of people would say that such a pledge is destined to fail. But, he added, there's no harm in trying. "A lot of these countries are saying that they want to be on the good side and cooperate with America. So our job is to take that and then really verify and hold them accountable to them not doing that, and be very honest with them," the official said. "We want to keep a 100 per cent success as our objective and work as hard as we can to get there," the official said. Islamabad: Two staffers at the Pakistan embassy in Kabul were detained by the Afghan intelligence and freed after some three hours, dealing another blow to Kabul-Islamabad ties. Hassan Khanzada and Syed Munir Shah were at a Kabul market on Wednesday when they were picked up by members of the National Directorate of Security, the intelligence agency of Afghanistan, media reports said. They were taken to a detention centre along with the embassy's official vehicle, Dawn reported. Khanzada, a visa assistant at the embassy, was "manhandled", it said. Shah is a staff driver at the embassy. The Pakistan embassy approached the Afghan Foreign Ministry and sought their immediate release. On Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign Office summoned the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission, Zardasht Shams, and lodged a protest over the incident. Dawn said the incident had dealt another blow to the already fraught ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The incident took place amid efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Islamabad and Kabul in the aftermath of border clashes in which about a dozen lives were lost. Dawn said there were serious concerns about the safety and security of Pakistani diplomats and embassy staff in Kabul. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday alleged that India has been diverting nuclear materials it had obtained for peaceful purposes under the NSG waiver to make weapons. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told reporters that Pakistan has been underscoring for decades the risks of diversion by India of imported nuclear fuel, equipment and technology, received pursuant to civil nuclear cooperation agreements and the 2008 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver. "The concerns over diversion are neither new nor unfounded. India enjoys the rare distinction of diverting nuclear material, obtained on its peaceful use commitment, to its nuclear weapons programme," he said. "The past and potential misuse of nuclear materials by India entails not only serious issues of nuclear proliferation but also carry grave implications for strategic stability in South Asia and national security of Pakistan." He said media reports and papers substantiate an otherwise largely "ignored fact" that India's nuclear weapons programme is the fastest growing in the world. Talking about a paper recently released by Harvard Kennedy School, he said that this paper and other several reports corroborate growing concerns related to the use of nuclear material acquired by India from abroad in its existing and future unsafeguarded nuclear reactors, plants and facilities for development of nuclear weapons. "The recent Belfer paper inter alia concludes that India has accumulated nuclear material for over 2,600 nuclear weapons," he said. He said that NSG states have a responsibility to take into account these well-founded concerns while considering transfer of nuclear material to India and its NSG membership bid. He claimed that many international nuclear experts, think tanks and media reports in the past years have consistently raised concerns over the lack of transparency, absence of international safeguards, and the potential for diversion of unsafeguarded nuclear material for nuclear weapons in India. Zakaria also said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was establishing units in Kashmir, which were managed by non-Kashmiri activists. "Their increasing presence in (Kashmir)is to terrorise Kashmiris and deter them from participating in the self-determination movement," he alleged. Zakaria called on the international community to take notice of the situation in Kashmir and condemned the ban on social media and TV channels in the valley. He said Pakistan extends full cooperation to United Nations Military Observers in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in monitoring situation on the Line of Control and the working boundary. Talking about the issue of medical visas by India, he said most patients who were travelling to India from Pakistan have serious ailments requiring urgent medical attention. "Despite paying for their treatment themselves, these patients are being deprived of their basic right to health, due to political consideration on the part of India," he said. "While granting or denying a visa is a sovereign right of any country, this Indian move is unprecedented in inter-state relations," he said. Islamabad: Pakistan's federal government has rejected conditions set by former president retired General Pervez Musharraf, such as the provision of military security and safe passage back to Dubai, to face his high treason trial, the media reported on Thursday. In a response submitted to the three-judge special court seized with the high treason case, the federal government said on Wednesday that being an absconder for high treason Musharraf cannot seek any relief until he surrenders before the court, Dawn online reported. The response stated: "An absconder cannot dictate his pre-requisites to the court and give conditions, that too his own subjective satisfaction, as to when he will appear and for how long." Musharraf filed an application before the special court on 5 May in which he expressed willingness to face the trial under military protection and assurance from the court that he would be given safe passage back to Dubai. Through its chief prosecutor in the case, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, the government said: "The application has been filed only to prolong the conclusion of the trial." However, the government said it was willing to provide "all due security" to Musharraf, "as per his entitlement", reports Dawn online. The government asked the court to dismiss Musharraf's application seeking military security and safe passage to Dubai, and to take "all appropriate coercive measures to procure the attendance of absconding accused to complete the trial". The special court will resume proceedings in the high treason trial on Friday. Islamabad: Pakistan hanged four more Taliban terrorists convicted of different terrorism-related offences by controversial military courts in the restive northwestern province, the second such execution in as many days. The terrorists were hanged in a jail in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the worst hit due to violence by Taliban terrorists, taking the number of hanged terrorists to over 170 since the Peshawar terror attack in 2014. "They were involved in different terror activities including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies," the army said. The terrorists were tried by military courts which work in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants, it said. The convicts were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Rizwan Ullah, Sardar Ali and Sher Muhammad Khan. All of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Four "hardcore" terrorists convicted of "heinous" terrorism-related offences were hanged in the restive northwestern province on Wednesday. Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students. Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack. Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 170 militants. A former FBI chief, Robert Mueller was tasked on Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether Donald Trump's team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president's favor. Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyze his presidency. The Republican leader, who has struggled to shake off suspicions that Russia helped put him in the White House, has been accused of seeking to block the investigation by sacking FBI chief James Comey. Under pressure to provide guarantees to Congress and the public that the Russia probe will continue unhindered, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Robert Mueller a widely respected figure who headed the FBI for the decade after the 9/11 attacks to take over the reins. "Based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," Rosenstein said in a statement. A New York-born Vietnam war vet aged 72, Mueller has a reputation as a tough lawman who once even stood up to a president. He will head up the FBI's ongoing probe of "Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters," with the authority to prosecute crimes unearthed by the investigation. Trump reacted swiftly, without directly commenting on Mueller's appointment. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said in a tersely-worded statement. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly." Independent of hierarchy Capping days of political drama in Washington, Mueller's appointment came as Trump fends off a stunning series of allegations including claims he shared US secrets with Russian officials in the Oval Office. Pressure has spiked in Congress for an independent probe into ties between Trump's campaign and Moscow, which US intelligence chiefs accuse of interfering to sway the election in the Republican's favor. "We need the facts," Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said. A special counsel is empowered to conduct the investigation independent of the Justice Department hierarchy, with a dedicated staff of his choosing. The counsel is not required to consult with or keep informed the attorney general or deputy attorney generals on the course of the probe. Mueller is specifically empowered to examine "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." Rosenstein's order came a week after he played a key role in Trump's firing of Comey, who had overseen the FBI's Russia investigation since last July. The deputy attorney general penned a memo criticizing Comey's handling of the probe into Trump's defeated rival Hillary Clinton's emails, which provided the White House with the rationale for firing him -- and raised questions about Rosenstein's ability to remain politically independent. His boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, was forced to recuse himself from the Russia investigation due to his own undisclosed contacts with Moscow's ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. 'Any links' Trump has consistently rejected any suggestion of collusion between his camp and Moscow as "fake news" and complained in a speech Wednesday that he had been treated "more unfairly" than any US leader in history during his fledgling presidency. But calls for the Russia probe to be placed in independent hands intensified this week following reports that Trump urged Comey to reel back its investigation of Michael Flynn, the national security advisor fired for not telling the truth about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took power. Trump's alleged pressure on Comey denied by the White House has exposed the president to accusations of obstructing justice. Perhaps shaken by the gravity of recent developments, several congressional panels have demanded that the FBI and White House hand over records related to Comey, who has been called upon to testify before both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Government Oversight Committee. Senate leader Mitch McConnell stressed that while Mueller's appointment "confirms that the investigation into Russian intervention into our election will continue," the Senate committee's probe would also stay active. Given the politically explosive context, Mueller's appointment was widely welcomed across the political spectrum. During his tenure as director of the FBI, from 2001 to 2013, he served both Republican and Democratic administrations, overseeing a shake-up of a huge bureaucracy blamed for missing evidence that could have prevented the September 11, 2001 attacks, and earning high respect from both parties. "Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted," tweeted Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz, who heads the House oversight panel. The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said Rosenstein did "the right thing" by appointing Mueller. "I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead." Tokyo: Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe met with a senior South Korean envoy on Thursday, as the two countries try to lower tensions over Tokyo's wartime use of "comfort women". The special envoy dispatched by South Korea's new president Moon Jae-In said in Tokyo that Seoul wants regular summits and improved relations, which have been hindered by the memory of Japan's harsh colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945. Abe also struck a conciliatory note, saying: "With the new president, I wish to build future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations." In what both governments hoped was a major step forward, the two countries had agreed in 2015 to a deal designed to end a row over Korean "comfort women" forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during the World War II. However, the election this month of Moon as president, replacing the ousted Park Geun-Hye, has cast doubt over the agreement, which both governments previously had said "resolved (the issue) finally and irreversibly". Moon in a phone call with Abe last week said that most Koreans cannot accept the agreement. That raised worries in Tokyo that the issue could again hinder ties, at a time when both countries are seeking unity to face the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile development. But critics of the deal in South Korea said Japan did not go far enough, and earlier this year Tokyo recalled its ambassador over a statue symbolising "comfort women", which was erected outside its consulate in the South Korean city of Busan. Speaking to reporters after Thursday's meeting, envoy Moon Hee-Sang confirmed that the "comfort women" issue had been raised, but did not offer further details. "We had a serious discussion but I find it uncomfortable to say more about it," Moon said, adding that both sides expressed their positions. Japan has pressed Seoul to implement the deal and also to remove another "comfort women" statue near the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also China and other parts of Asia, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II. President Tayyip Erdogan told US president Donald Trump during his visit to Washington this week that Turkey would act "without asking anyone" if it faced any sort of attack from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Turkish media reported on Thursday. Trump's approval, before the visit, of plans to arm the YPG as it advances towards Islamic State's Raqqa stronghold had overshadowed talks between the NATO allies, but Erdogan did not directly criticise the plan at the White House. Later, speaking to reporters at the Turkish embassy, Erdogan underlined Turkey's concerns about the YPG, which Ankara regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group fighting a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey. "We clearly told them this: if there is any sort of attack from the YPG and PYD against Turkey, we will implement the rules of engagement without asking anyone," the Sabah newspaper citing him as saying. The PYD is the YPG's political arm. Erdogan said that the United States had made its decision on the subject of the Raqqa operation and that Turkey could not participate, given the YPG involvement. "We told them... we do not regard your cooperation with a terrorist group in Raqqa as healthy," Erdogan was cited as saying, but he said he expected a role for Turkey in Syria. "I believe they will knock on our door on the subject of Syria," he said. The United States sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organisation. By Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Thursday assailed the Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, calling it "the single greatest witch hunt" in U.S. history.Trump's defiant Twitter comments stood in contrast to his measured statement on Wednesday night after former FBI chief Robert Mueller was named as special counsel, in which he said "a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity."Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller after a succession of jarring developments that brought to a boil questions over Russia's alleged meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign.They included Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, reports that Trump had previously pressured Comey to end a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Trump discussing sensitive information on Islamic State with Russia's foreign minister.In Twitter postings, the Republican president decried the naming of a special counsel, by an official he himself appointed."With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!" Trump wrote. He initially misspelled the word counsel as he referred to Democratic former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and corrected himself in a later tweet."This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" added Trump, who said in a speech on Wednesday that "no politician in history" had been treated worse or more unfairly than he has.Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar responded, "This is a truth hunt."U.S. stocks rose as upbeat economic data emboldened investors to return to the market, a day after Wall Street saw the biggest selloff in eight months on worries the political turmoil could undermine Trump initiatives such as tax cuts that investors see as favouring economic growth. Rosenstein, the No. 2 Justice Department official, named Mueller amid mounting pressure in Congress for an independent investigation beyond existing FBI and congressional probes into the Russia issue.Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans widely praised Mueller's appointment. But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Comey should still appear before congressional committees that have invited him to testify.Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi said an independent commission to investigate the Russia matter was still needed to guard against White House interference. Asked about Trump's tweets, she said the president should "get some thick skin." A key issue Mueller may have to tackle is whether Trump has committed obstruction of justice, an offence that could be used in any effort in the Republican-led Congress to impeach him and remove him from office. Trump cited displeasure with the FBI's Russia probe as a factor in dismissing Comey. In addition, Comey wrote a memo detailing Trump's comments to him in February saying "I hope you can let this go," referring to the Flynn probe, a source who saw the memo said on Tuesday.Asked about the potential that there had been obstruction of justice, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters the special counsel will "follow the facts where ever they may lead" and that "it is premature to prejudge anything at this point."Flynn's contacts with Russians during the campaign, as well as his work for the Turkish government, are under investigation. He was fired as national security adviser in February after it emerged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington in December.FLYNN CONTACTS Flynn and other Trump campaign advisers were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the presidential race, Reuters reported on Thursday. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Richard Burr, said Flynn's lawyer told the panel he would not honour its subpoena seeking relevant documents. Congressional aides said the panel was still negotiating with Flynn to obtain them.The House Intelligence Committee requested more documents from the Justice Department and FBI related to its Russia probe.Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump's favour. Trump has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his November election victory.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Mueller's appointment, calling it an "internal matter" for the United States.Rosenstein was due to brief U.S. senators later on Thursday. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Rosenstein would be questioned about a letter he wrote accusing Comey of missteps as FBI director, including his handling of an election-year probe into Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.The White House initially said that letter prompted Trump to fire Comey, but Trump later said he had already decided to dismiss him and was thinking of "this Russia thing."The Russia matter has consumed Washington and overshadowed Republican legislative priorities including a planned healthcare overhaul and sweeping tax cuts. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Susan Heavey, David Alexander and Amanda Becker; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Ayesha Rascoe and Richard Cowan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate possible collusion between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team and Russia as well as alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election.The move followed a week of turmoil for the White House amid rising demands for an independent probe of alleged Russian efforts to sway the outcome of November's presidential election in favour of Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton.Pressure has been building on Trump since his firing last week of James Comey, chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter. U.S. intelligence agencies said earlier this year that Russia interfered in the U.S. election. Moscow has dismissed the allegations, and the Trump team has denied any collusion with Russia. "My decision (to appoint a special counsel) is not the finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement. "I determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome," he said.The controversy has caused an uproar in Washington and on Wall Street where the S&P 500 and the Dow had their biggest one-day declines since September as investor hopes for tax cuts and other pro-business policies faded amid the political tumult. Democrats in Congress and some of Trump's fellow Republicans had called for an independent investigation.U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, senior Democrat on the House of Representatives oversight committee, applauded Rosenstein's action, saying: "I think he made a solid choice in Mr. Mueller, and I commend him for putting our country and justice system first." (Additional reporting by Amanda Becker, Mark Hosenball, David Alexander, Doina Chiacu, Patricia Zengerle, Susan Heavey, Richard Cowan and Tim Ahmann in Washington, and Caroline Valetkevitch and Sinead Carew in New York; Writing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Donald Trump does not have much patience for "lip service" and would pull out of NATO if its member countries do not make major efforts in combating terrorism and fulfil their financial commitment. "He (Trump) is at a place now... he would like to stay in NATO. But he also is not going to stay in NATO if it doesn't make a lot more progress much quicker," a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday, ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels next week. Trump will leave for a five-nation tour this week, during which he would attend the summit in Belgium. In his meeting with NATO leaders, Trump would confer on the war in Afghanistan and the fight against Islamic State (IS). White House press secretary Sean Spicer had on Tuesday said that the US president would like to see a greater effort placed on combating terrorism by the NATO countries and living up to their financial obligation that they had agreed upon. "The one thing that he doesn't have patience for is kind of lip service. So people are telling him good things. NATO has stepped up a little bit more, but you know, we'll either see real changes toward NATO or we'll try to form a different way of going about things," the official said. "So you'll see what he says when he's there (at the summit), but it's a very serious issue for him and it's a very serious issue for the American people because we don't want to be paying for everyone's defence and it's just not fair to the American taxpayers and it's not something that the president wants to see happen," the official said. At the Brussels summit, Trump will talk about how "we really do need and want our partners in Europe to do more". "America has borne the burden of that partnership for too long, and the Trump Administration is expecting everyone to step up. We want a strong relationship, but we want everyone else to do their share," the official said. "There are some issues in the world that are America's problems and there are some issues that are the world's problems, and they're as much Canada's problems as they're America's problems as they're Germany's problems," "At the end of the day, we have to have a thoughtful discussion about how we go about doing it. But what I do know is that the president's view is that America should not be bearing the entire burden for everyone's security around the world," the official asserted. By Anggy Polanco | SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela Venezuela said it was sending 2,000 soldiers on Wednesday to a border state that is a hotspot of anti-government radicalism after looting that killed a 15-year-old in the latest unrest roiling the nation. Most shops and businesses in San Cristobal, capital of Tachira state on the Colombian border, were closed and guarded by soldiers on Wednesday, though looting continued in some poorer sectors, residents said. People made off with items including coffee, diapers, and cooking oil in the OPEC nation where a brutal economic crisis has made basic foods and medicine disappear from shelves. Barricades of trash, car tires, and sand littered the streets, as daily life broke down in the city that was also a hotspot during the 2014 wave of unrest against leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Hundreds of thousands of people have come onto the streets across Venezuela since early April to demand elections, freedom for jailed activists, foreign aid and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature. Maduro's government accuses them of seeking a violent coup and says many of the protesters are no more than "terrorists." State oil company PDVSA also blamed roadblocks for pockets of gasoline shortages in the country on Wednesday. In Tachira, teenager Jose Francisco Guerrero was shot dead during the spate of looting, his relatives said. "My mom sent my brother yesterday to buy flour for dinner and a little while later, we received a call saying he'd been injured by a bullet," said his sister Maria Contreras, waiting for his body to be brought to a San Cristobal morgue.The state prosecutor's office confirmed his death, which pushed the death toll in six weeks of unrest to at least 43, equal to that of the 2014 protests. '21ST CENTURY JEWS' With international pressure against Venezuela's government mounting, the United Nations Security Council turned its attention to the country's crisis for the first time on Wednesday."The intent of this briefing was to make sure everyone is aware of the situation ... we're not looking for Security Council action," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told reporters after the session."The international community needs to say, 'Respect the human rights of your people or this is going to go in the direction we've seen so many others go' ... We have been down this road with Syria, with North Korea, with South Sudan, with Burundi, with Burma."Venezuela's U.N. envoy Rafael Ramirez in turn accused the United States of seeking to topple the Maduro government. "The U.S. meddling stimulates the action of violent groups in Venezuela," he said, showing photos of vandalism and violence he said was caused by opposition supporters.Venezuelans living abroad, many of whom fled the country's economic chaos, have in recent weeks accosted visiting state officials and their family members. Maduro on Tuesday likened that harassment to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust under the Nazis."We are the new Jews of the 21st century that Hitler pursued," Maduro said during the cabinet meeting. "We don't carry the yellow star of David ... we carry red hearts that are filled with desire to fight for human dignity. And we are going to defeat them, these 21st century Nazis." Venezuela's main Jewish group, the Confederation of Israeli Associations in Venezuela, responded with a statement expressing its "absolute rejection" of "banal" comparisons with the Holocaust that killed six million Jews. Social media has for weeks buzzed with videos of Venezuelan emigres in countries from Australia to the United States shouting insults at public officials and in some cases family members in public places.Maduro's critics say it is outrageous for officials to spend money on foreign travel when people are struggling to obtain food and children are dying for lack of basic medicines. But some opposition sympathizers say such mob-like harassment is the wrong way to confront the government.As night fell on Wednesday, thousands of opposition supporters poured onto the streets of different cities for rallies and vigils in honour of the fatalities during protests.Many carried flags and candles. "We've been in the street for more than 40 days because this government has broken every law, every human right, and we cannot bear it anymore," said one demonstrator, Eugenia, who asked that her last name not be used. "This rally is important because we have to retake the streets, we have been scared for too long," she added, referring to the rampant violent crime that normally stops people from going out after dark. Graphic on Venezuela's economic woes: here (Reporting by Anggy Polanco, additional reporting by Eyanir Chinea, Brian Ellsworth, Girish Gupta, Euridice Bandres and Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas, Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations in New York; Writing by Girish Gupta and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Hay) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A former FBI chief was tasked Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether Donald Trump's team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president's favour. Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyze his presidency. The Republican leader, who has struggled to shake off suspicions that Russia helped put him in the White House, has been accused of seeking to block the investigation by sacking FBI chief James Comey. Under pressure to provide guarantees to Congress and the public that the Russia probe will continue unhindered, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Robert Mueller a widely respected figure who headed the FBI for the decade after the 9/11 attacks to take over the reins. "Based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," Rosenstein said in a statement. A New York-born Vietnam war vet aged 72, Mueller has a reputation as a tough lawman who once even stood up to a president. He will head up the FBI's ongoing probe of "Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters," with the authority to prosecute crimes unearthed by the investigation. Special counsels like the one named Wednesday to oversee the probe into Russia's alleged election interference are rare super sleuths with more power and independence than regular American investigators. This time it is former FBI director Mueller who will take over the probe into the meddling as well as whether President Donald Trump's campaign team colluded with Moscow to tilt the election his way. The stakes are huge. Unlike a US attorney, a special counsel has more leeway in carrying out a probe. They are appointed when an investigation by a US attorney would present a conflict of interest or "under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter," says the law allowing for special counsels. For instance, in 1999 Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Senator John Danforth to oversee a probe into the role of the FBI in a deadly assault in 1993 against the Branch Davidians sect in Waco, Texas. A special counsel does not have to keep his or her superiors briefed on each step of the probe they are carrying out even though the counsel does still answer to the Justice Department and thus, ultimately, to the president. The attorney general or his or her deputy does not have to explain their criteria in choosing someone to be a special counsel, who can even come from outside government. That is the case with Mueller, the former longtime FBI director who will resign from the law firm where he works to take on this job. Mueller was named by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, to whom he will report. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia probe because he failed to state during his confirmation hearings that he had met with Russian officials. A special counsel can issue subpoenas and ask for extra resources for a probe but must warn the attorney general or the deputy of important moves they plan to make in the investigation. The attorney general can oppose a procedural act that the special counsel wants to make. And he or she can dismiss the counsel if they feel that individual has made a serious mistake or is in a situation of conflict of interest. One of the best known special prosecutors was Archibald Cox, named to lead the Watergate investigation that led to Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. Nixon wanted Cox fired after he issued subpoenas for copies of taped conversations Nixon made in the Oval Office. Attorney General Elliot Richardson refused to fire Cox, and resigned. His deputy William Ruckelshaus did the same in what came to be known as the "Saturday Night Massacre." With inputs from AFP Google at the Google I/O 2017 announced its standalone Daydream VR headset, as expected. HTCs VIVE and Lenovo will be building these headsets that are coming later this year. Google will also create a standalone headset reference design powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 VR platform. Since it is an untethered headset that doesnt require a smartphone like the first generation Daydream headset, and this comes with positional head-tracking. Regarding the headset, HTC Video, said: We have been working closely with developers and consumers to define the best VR experiences over the past few years, and we are perfectly positioned to deliver the most premium standalone headset and user experience. Vives standalone VR headset will provide a deeper and more immersive portable VR experience than ever before. These company did not provide any other details about these headsets. The Qualcomm reference design also includes custom specifications for tracking cameras and other sensors that make the best use of the Tango-based tracking technology Google has placed in the headset. Commenting on the new headset, Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., said: We are thrilled to once again work with Google and offer a powerful premium Snapdragon experience for devices on the Daydream platform. Our companies share the same vision: to make it possible for everyone to enjoy rich and immersive VR experiences on a smartphone device or a dedicated VR head-mounted display while being fully mobile, rather than being restricted by cables or limited to predefined rooms setup for outside-in tracking. Clay Bavor, vice president, virtual reality, Google, said: The Daydream standalone headset reference design created in close partnership with Qualcomm will enable manufacturers to build a whole new category of VR devices. These headsets have everything needed for VR, built right into the headset itself and are as easy to use as picking them up. Theyll feature WorldSense for positional tracking right out of the box without any external equipment. Were thrilled that headsets will begin to hit shelves later this year. Source Tetra Pak Company Overview Tetra Pak is the world's leading company for food processing and packaging solutions. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world. With close to 22,000 employees based in over 85 countries, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business. Our motto, PROTECTS WHATS GOOD," reflects our vision to make food safe and available, everywhere At Tetra Pak we are specialists in complete solutions for the processing, packaging and distribution of food products. Our solutions are specifically designed to be as economical with resources as possible. Dairy products, juices and nectars, ice cream, cheese, food and vegetables and pet food are examples of products that can be processed or packaged in Tetra Pak processing and packaging lines. We focus on keeping the consumption of all raw materials and energy to a minimum during both the manufacturing process and distribution. The processing solutions are also designed to treat the products gently. Our products are divided into several categories: Packages Processing equipment Filling machines Distribution equipment Service products R&D Our customers need faster, better and cheaper developments to reduce their operational costs and to increase performance in order to remain competitive. We invest in technology and new products in response to customers, consumer and market dynamics. Environmental sustainability We are committed to running our business in an environmentally sound and sustainable way. We set goals for continuous improvement in our development, sourcing, manufacturing, and transportation activities. As part of that commitment, we take a long-term and lifecycle view, continually improving environmental performance, communicating openly with our stakeholders and reporting regularly on our performance. Read about our environmental performance. Food for Development For more than 45 years, we have helped customers, governments, international and community-based organisations and farmers to provide milk and other nutritious drinks in schools around the world. Read about Food for development and our school milk projects. By continuing to browse our site you agree to our Privacy & Cookie Policy. > Privacy & Cookie Policy I Agree Amid a growing debate over the use of robots in the American workforce--and the resulting loss of workers' jobs--Entropy Economics president Bret Swanson argues robots aren't killing the economy, but saving it. Theres been a lot of doom and gloom about robots and automation and artificial intelligence," Swanson told the FOX Business Network's Stuart Varney. "But if you look at the facts, if you look at the evidence the problem isnt that weve had too much technology, its that weve had too little technology across a lot of the economy in what we call the physical industries. But robots have powerful critics, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Co-Founder Bill Gates raising concerns about the costs of increased automation, even suggesting a robot tax to help offset the jobs lost in America to machines. Others, including former McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) USA CEO Ed Rensi have touted the benefits of automation, telling the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo in May of 2016, its cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee whos inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries. Swanson, whose company researches technology, innovation, and their impact on the global economy, believes an increased investment in technology and automation helps U.S. business compete better globally. A lot of the industries and firms that didnt invest in technology were the ones that were the most vulnerable to foreign, low-wage competition. The ones that did invest more actually have had better luck competing with people around the world. Dunkin Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN) is firing the latest shot in the battle of the beverage giants vying to win over consumer taste buds and dollars. On May 19, customers can sip the new Frozen Dunkin Coffee for free. And theres a lot more to the offering than just plain generosity, it follows Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino which skyrocketed into a social media sensation last month. Starbucks strategy of late has been to introduce a number of new and unique items to capture share from non-traditional segments and also from at-home purchasing. The Unicorn drink is a prime example of a limited time offer that garnered a ton of attention not all good, but taste is also subjective, so its effective at generating controversy, Tim Powell, VP and Senior Analyst of Q1 Consulting, told FOX Business. Dunkin has also cashed in on the viral drink campaign, introducing the Dunkin Energy Punch last month, mimicking the neon colors of Starbucks Unicorn drink with a bright blue iced beverage suitable for Instagram. As these newer offerings become more common, older brands such as the popular Coffee Coolatta, a Dunkin menu staple since 1994, are getting retired. Dunkin is following a similar strategy of trying to grab new customers and build traffic by offering free samples. Chipotle did this 15 or so years ago in the Boston area and converted customers into a walking salesforce saying positive things about the brand, Powell said. Both Starbucks and Dunkin are looking to develop a core base of loyal customers using a habit-forming drink. The key is to get customers while they are young and get them hooked by the time they are in the labor force. While free and unique drinks create buzz, not everyone is convinced they translate into meaningful sales. I dont think the promotions are an either/or situation. For one thing, they do get a lot of PR and its good PR plus free anything is a goodwill gesture with customers Second, they do get customers into the units, who they hope return (or, in the case of Starbucks, repeat purchase the beverage). Not everyone will agree with me, but in the vast majority of cases, the campaigns do not create sustainable loyalty, Bob Golden, Partner at Pentallect Inc., told FOX Business. Both Dunkin and Starbucks are under pressure to boost store-sales. In Dunkins latest quarter, U.S. comparable store-sales were flat. While rival Starbucks reported a 3% rise, down from 7% in the prior year. Still, shares of Starbucks have gained 7.6% this year, while Dunkin shares are up 6%. Host Neil Cavuto paid tribute Thursday to his former boss, Roger Ailes, the founder of both Fox News and FOX Business, who died hours earlier at the age of 77. Ailes' death came ten months after he left the network amid sexual harassment charges. Now is not the time to refresh controversy, so much I dont know now as I really didnt know back then. But I do know this for sure right now, whatever else you might think of the messenger, let no one doubt Roger Ailess message. He forever changed the way you think of the media and what has become the sameness of the media, Cavuto said. Ailes began his television career in Cleveland and Philadelphia in the 1960s and then became a political consultant for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He returned to television in 1993, as the president of CNBC, which he left after being appointed by Rupert Murdoch as the CEO of Fox News in 1996. Cavuto said he was among Ailes first recruits at the network Ailes built from the ground up. Back then it was as if I had entered the witness protection programI had. I was part of a rag-tag deserve-ably unassuming team of journalists not remotely ready for prime-time or anytime for that matter. Our mission, Rogers mission, was simplechange the world. And this was our only directive, be fair, be balanced, assume nothing, report everything, he said. The Ohio-native turned Fox News into the nations longest-running No. 1 cable news network. Roger used to say being a good journalist and a good patriot were not incompatible. Forgetting that theyre linked is unthinkable. You cant have one without the other. Hed often tell me, he offered viewers both and pretty soon those viewers wanted no other. It was Fox and only Fox. And not just for a few minutes at a time Fox viewers had us on all day, all the time, said Cavuto. Cavuto added: He really did change the debate as he revolutionized the country. Thats why I lead with his passing today. And the lasting enriching legacy that makes all other news seem like just noise today because if you think about it, the populist whos raging in the White House today owes his very unlikely trajectory to power that Roger Ailes unleashed more than two decades ago today. A car struck pedestrians in New York Citys iconic Times Square on Thursday around noon. There are reports of multiple injuries and one fatality in the heavily populated pedestrian area. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, the New York Police Department confirmed that an 18-year-old woman has died and 22 people were injured in the crash. The NYPD says one suspect, a 26-year-old male, Richard Rojas of the Bronx, was taken into custody at the scene. The FBI is aware of the incident and have not yet determined a cause. The NYPD tweeted at this point there is no indication that the crash is related to terrorism and the incident is believed to be isolated. There is no indication at this point that the incident in #TimesSquare is related to terrorism. More information to follow. NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 18, 2017 New York Citys Times Square has roughly 360,000 average daily visitors. On the busiest days, pedestrian counts as high as 480,000. Times Square supports 10% of New York City's jobs, with more than 170,000 workers in the area ranging from retail and hotels to major financial institutions and cable networks. In August 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio created a 100-officer unit to patrol Times Square to help control the ballooning industry of costumed Superheroes and cartoon characters. Some of which had become aggressive in targeting tourists for tips. The speed limit surrounding Times Square is 25 m.p.h., less than the 30 m.p.h. limit, that applies to the rest of the city. Oil prices settled higher on Thursday, as key producing countries suggested they would extend supply cuts to reduce an ongoing global crude glut. Brent crude settled up 30 cents at $52.51 a barrel, or half a percent. U.S. crude oil settled at $49.35 a barrel, up 28 cents, for the highest close since April 26. Market watchers are growing more confident that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia will extend output cuts of almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of March 2018. Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft will meet agreements with OPEC on oil output reductions, Igor Sechin, Rosneft chief executive, told reporters in Berlin. Algeria, the African oil producer that played a key role bringing together support for OPEC's output deal last year, said that most participating nations back a nine-month extension of the cuts. "The majority of the countries support the proposition of Russia and Saudi Arabia," Algerian Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa told reporters after meeting his Russian counterpart in Moscow. Both benchmarks rose on Wednesday after news of a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories and a dip in U.S. output. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventories fell 1.8 million barrels in the week to May 12 to 520.8 million barrels. In addition to U.S. crude stocks drawing down for the sixth consecutive week, the EIA showed an increase in refining rates. But Michael Dei-Michei, head of research at JBC Energy in Vienna, said the market should consider that intermediate products - gas oils, diesel oil and other products - are not featured in the headline EIA numbers, and those stocks are rising, which could lead to higher finished product inventories. That could slow the supply drawdown. "The effects of higher crude runs may not have fully filtered through yet, with stocksof unfinished oils having risen strongly over recent weeks, meaning that the headline categories should start to reflect some of this in the near future," he said. On May 25, leaders from OPEC and other producers will meet in Vienna to decide on output policy. The group is expected to prolong its agreement to limit production for up to nine months. However, Gene McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition Energy, said with increased production in Libya and Nigeria, as well as the United States, sticking to current cuts might not be enough. U.S. crude production has climbed 10 percent since mid-2016 to 9.3 million barrels per day, close to levels from top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia. (Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London, Henning Gloystein; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) You've no doubt heard of General Motors, Kodak, Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL), and L Brands (NYSE: LB). Well, you might not know the name L Brands, but you probably have heard of at least its Victoria's Secret brand. And you might be excited to learn that you can buy stock in any of these big-brand names as each is publicly traded on the stock market. But a big name isn't enough to build an investing thesis on. Let's take a look at four big-brand investing tips using these four stocks to help make the points. 1. There's more to a company than a name Ever heard of General Motorsor Kodak? I know you have; they are storied companies with incredible brands and histories...and shareholders of each were wiped out when these big-brand companies took their respective trips through bankruptcy court. Image source: Hormel Foods. GM and Kodak are different companies today, but the real takeaway here is that, even if you know the name, you should understand a company's business before you buy its stock. For example, L Brands owns the Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, PINK, La Senza, and Henri Bendel brands -- and you probably know at least a couple of those names -- and its stock offers an impressive 4.5% dividend yield. Yet it's struggling with sluggish sales as consumers buy more online and less at malls. Before buying shares, investors should understand how the businesses are under pressure. Otherwise, you might be sideswiped by bad news that you could have seen coming. You have to get past the brand name to see the full picture. 2. Change should be a constant One of the problems big brands often succumb to is complacency. Take Kodak, the famed photo company that saw its business destroyed by digital photography. Kodak actually invented the digital camera, but it didn't pursue it because its film business was so lucrative. In hindsight, that was a disastrous choice. You can see some retail companies falling behind in the same way today as sales have shifted online and they have failed to make the move quickly enough to meet shoppers where they are. What should you be looking for? Try to find companies that are always looking to get better in some way. Hormel is a good example. This company is best known as the maker of Spam, but were you aware that it recently added Muscle Milk, Wholly Guacamole, and Justin's nut butters to the mix? These are up-and-coming brands that fit more closely with changing consumer tastes. The company is giving people the products they want as they try to eat more nutritious foods. Basically, Hormel is shifting with the market so it stays relevant. Innovation is a constant for Hormel. Image source: Hormel Foods. If you focus on companies that are always looking to be better, you're more likely to see increasing share prices over time. 3. Low debt loads can make all the difference Change is easier if you have a reasonable debt load. One of the core reasons I own Hormel stock is because long-term debt makes up just 5% of its shareholders' equity. That allows the company to branch out into new areas without having to worry about whether it can afford the investment. Compare that to L Brands, which has negative shareholder equity. L Brands recently reported $5.7 billion in long-term debt compared to $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents. With debt at high levels, L Brands' ability to adjust to the changing marketplace is constrained. It's an important piece of information that makes the changing retail landscape more concerning -- and the stock's hefty dividend less secure. HRL Times Interest Earned (TTM) data by YCharts. 4. Focus on dividends One of the ways to quickly find big-brand stocks worth looking at is by examining their dividends. L Brands has increased its dividend for six consecutive years. That's not bad, but nowhere near as impressive as Hormel's 51-year streak. For reference, Kodak no longer pays a dividend, and General Motors' current dividend streak is only three years long. The reason to focus on a long history of regularly increased dividends is that it shows a commitment to shareholders and improving performance. Indeed, a company can only increase its dividend over the long term if its business is doing reasonably well. You can't expect a company to do well every year, but looking at dividends will help you identify the cream of the crop. And, of course, you get to collect that growing income stream along the way, too. Names matter, but not always In the end, you can't just buy a company based on its name alone. There are other factors you have to consider, including the business it's in and the business environment it's dealing with. The company's ability to change over time is another key factor, since the world never sits still. Financial stability, meanwhile, is what allows a company to prosper in good times and bad since it allows the company the flexibility to change. And dividends are a great way to quickly identify the companies you'll want to consider. These tips may sound basic, but they are easy to forget. Remembering these tips and applying them could help you earn thousands by pointing you in the direction of strong companies that will pay out dividends and see their stock prices rise over the years. 10 stocks we like better than Hormel FoodsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now...and Hormel Foods wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017. Reuben Brewer owns shares of Hormel Foods. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee met Thursday to discuss a shared interests ranging from trade to climate change. Trudeau told reporters their private meeting at a Seattle hotel was an opportunity "to talk about the incredibly close ties between Washington state and British Columbia and indeed, all of Canada." "We're both strongly engaged on issues of climate change, issues of openness to trade, leadership on refugees as well, and an understanding that diversity can be a real source of strength," he said. Inslee called Trudeau's visit fitting "because we share so much more with Canada than just a common border." "We share an incredible commitment to defeating climate change and a recognition that we can grow our economies while we're doing that," he said. "It is a great pleasure to know that we have a national leader in the North American continent who's committed to that." In a news release issued after the meeting, Inslee's office said the governor and prime minister discussed their respective efforts on curbing carbon pollution: with Inslee talking about his clean air rule to cap carbon pollution, and Trudeau describing pollution reduction initiatives in Canada's largest provinces, including British Columbia. They also discussed increased oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, as well as efforts to protect the area's southern resident orca whale pod. Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia are involved in initiatives promoting clean energy and the feasibility of a high-speed rail connection connecting Canada to the Pacific Northwest. The state's transportation budget signed by Inslee earlier this week includes $300,000 to study the possibility of a train that would travel 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour) from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon with stops in Seattle and Olympia. Canada is Washington state's second largest destination for exports behind China, according to the state's Commerce Department. Bilateral trade between the Washington state and Canada totaled $19.8 billion last year, with $12.8 billion of that accounting for Washington imports from Canada. The prime minister arrived in the state Wednesday to attend and speak at Microsoft's CEO Summit in Redmond. The event, which was closed to the public and media, focused on cybersecurity and the space race. Trudeau's office said he was the first sitting head of government or state invited to address the summit and attended so he could promote Canada's technology industry. After their Seattle meeting, Inslee was traveling to Mexico to meet up with a state delegation on a trade mission and Trudeau was heading to Burnaby, British Columbia for an event. When Trudeau left the Seattle hotel, he was met by about a dozen protesters opposed to Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion and carried signs saying "Trudeau You have a Choice" and "Tar Sands or Clean Lands." General Motors (NYSE:GM) said Thursday it will no longer sell vehicles in India, as the automaker overhauls its global businesses to focus on profitable markets and new technology. Automakers are rethinking their roles in international markets at a time of increasing investments in self-driving cars and other fledgling businesses. GM, the largest U.S. car manufacturer by sales, announced in March that it would sell its Opel unit in Europe to Peugeot parent PSA Group, cutting bait with a market that has weighed on profits across the industry. The move followed a decision in 2015 to drop Russia. About a year earlier, GM, Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Ford (NYSE:F) all announced plans to end manufacturing in Australia. In addition to ending sales in India, GM said it will pull out entirely from South Africa, where the company will sell its manufacturing operations to Isuzu Motors. The Chevrolet brand will officially close its doors in India and South Africa by the end of 2017. As the industry continues to change, we are transforming our business, establishing GM as a more focused and disciplined company, GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. We are committed to deploying capital to higher return initiatives that will enable us to lead in our core business and in the future of personal mobility. GM President Dan Ammann said the changes to the automakers global footprint will help GM focus its resources on stronger markets. In the U.S., GM has reported robust profit growth on sales of trucks and SUVs, which generate healthy returns. India, the second-most populous country, is on pace to become the worlds third-largest auto market, according to forecasts. However, automakers have had trouble turning profits there. GM had a small footprint in India, where it sold only 29,000 vehicles in 2016. GM will continue making vehicles in India, primarily as an export hub for Mexico, Central America and South America. The Detroit-based company expects to record a $500 million charge in the second quarter tied to the changes in India and South Africa. GM shares were up six cents at $32.49 in recent trading. Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) is the market-share leader of wearable technology used by consumers, and it's working with Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) to develop devices that can help diabetes patients live longer and healthier. In this clip from The Motley Fool's Industry Focus: Healthcare podcast, analyst Kristine Harjes is joined by contributor Todd Campbell to discuss whether this could be Fitbit's next big market opportunity, and what wearable technology more broadly could mean for patients with chronic diseases. A full transcript follows the video. 10 stocks we like better than MedtronicWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Medtronic wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 This video was recorded on May 10, 2017. Todd Campbell: Fitbit has been around for 10 years, and they've sold 63 million devices. There's so many of these devices around, and maybe many of our listeners are wearing them right now. But what's intriguing to me is, as I was researching for today's show, only one in 10 are wearing them on a daily basis. Kristine Harjes: Yeah, I believe it. I think Fitbit in general is struggling with not so much initial adoption, but actually sticking with their product. But if they want to really dive into being able to integrate their wearables tracker with something like a continuous glucose monitor, which is something they're working on with Medtronic regularly. You can just tell the people who were just sitting there shaking up and down all day long and counting that as steps. And that's fine if you're doing something like a step competition with your friends -- well, it's not fine, it's not great, but it doesn't have the consequences that it would if somebody is using it in a medical way. And that's not to say that people are trying to cheat their medical data. But even something as simple as brushing your teeth, people sometimes log that as steps, and that's problematic when your doctor is looking at that data. Campbell: Yeah. I was reading one study, Kristine, where a care provider, a hospital system provided a bunch of older patients, I think they were in their 80s, with devices that could be used to measure how much activity they were doing and their heart rate and all of this stuff, and frankly, most of them forgot that they were even wearing them within a few days of wearing them, and forgot to put them on. We have to, obviously, be able to develop systems that are sensitive and give us new insights into, for example, blood sugar levels, so that people can stay within their desired range more frequently throughout the day. But we also have to make it so it becomes something like your watch, where you're actually looking at it every once in awhile. Again, I suppose watches aren't being worn as much as they used to be anyway, because now we have smartphones. How often are you checking your watch? It's going to be like a text message; you're going to have to actually pick up the phone and look at your texts and say, "I moved this many feet, and my heart rate is this, but what do I do with this information?" I think that's part of what Medtronic is trying to accomplish in its push here, is to take all the information it has, from being a huge player in medical devices, especially in diabetes, and be able to marry that with the information that's being collected by the user who's wearing the device, and then being able to take that one step further and actually provide actionable insight that either the caregiver, be it the primary physician or the patient, can use to actually improve their lifestyle, or something. Harjes: Yeah, you're absolutely correct. Medtronic right now is staring down a mountain of data and looking at it and saying, "We have so much information; how do we derive useful conclusions out of it?" They have a partnership with IBMthat was announced in April of 2015 that will leverage the artificial-intelligence powers of Watson, which is the supercomputer that won Jeopardy!. With Watson, they're going to analyze all these electronic medical record data, I think it's 10,000 EMRs, and they're going to use this population information to develop a real-time personalized care. Todd, as you were saying, it's going to need to come from an app or your phone or something telling you, "You're showing abnormal patterns," or, "We've noticed this." That's exactly what they're trying to develop. They created something called Sugar IQ, which is a personalized assistant that can detect patterns of behavior, and it can protect diabetic events hours before they happen, which is really pretty incredible. And it seems to me like they're only getting started with this. Campbell: You know what's interesting, too, is that Massachusetts General Hospital did something where they gave pedometers to patients, and they linked that up with a text-messaging system that would basically say, "Here's how you're doing; here's some tips." They actually look at the weather, all sorts of things that they put together to try to figure out the best way to make it relevant to the patients. Sure enough, the patients who are receiving these daily tips did better overall in achieving whatever their goal was for their blood-sugar levels. So yes, we have all of this information out there, all of this data. On the healthcare side of things, we have companies like Medtronic that have tons of experience in creating medical devices. Then we have the consumer-electronics companies, who have tons of experience generating devices that people want to use. Then, we have healthcare providers who are trying to figure out how can they take all of this, marry it together, and make it into something they can actually use to reduce these rates of obesity, to keep people who are pre-diabetic -- because there are over 80 million Americans who are pre-diabetic -- to keep those from becoming full-blown cases of diabetes and ultimately make it so that cardiovascular disease is no longer the No. 1 killer worldwide. Kristine Harjes has no position in any stocks mentioned. Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Fitbit. The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Latest on the Trump administration's plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada (all times local): ___ 12:55 p.m. A prominent critic of U.S. trade agreement calls the administration's plans "markedly vague." Lori Wallach, director of the Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, says NAFTA needs a complete overhaul. "Modest tweaks will not stop NAFTA's ongoing damage, much less deliver on (President Donald) Trump's promises for a deal that will create American jobs and raise wages," she says. She worries that a revamped NAFTA will include provisions left over from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement between the U.S., Mexico and 10 other Pacific Rim countries negotiated by the Obama administration and thrown out by Trump. ___ 12:37 p.m. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign affairs minister, says renegotiating the trade pact "offers us an opportunity to determine how we can best align NAFTA to new realities and integrate progressive, free and fair approaches to trade and investment. We are steadfastly committed to free trade in the North American region and to ensuring that the benefits of trade are enjoyed by all Canadians." She also defended the trade agreement: "NAFTA's track record is one of economic growth and middle-class job creation, both here in Canada and throughout North America." ___ 12:25 p.m. The Mexican government says it "welcomes" the opportunity to renegotiate NAFTA. In a statement, it says: "We reaffirm our willingness to update the agreement in order to successfully address the challenges of the 21st century. Our countries deserve a modern instrument to regulate our trading and economic relationship." The Mexican government also says that NAFTA "has been of immense benefit to all parties. We look forward to a constructive process to increase our economic cooperation." ___ 12:15 p.m. U.S. congressional leaders promise to work closely with the Trump administration to renegotiate NAFTA. "Congress and the administration must work hand-in-hand if we are to achieve the high-standard trade agreements our country needs to grow," says Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "We look forward to working with the administration to strengthen the agreement in a seamless way and ensure that we retain the current benefits for American workers, farmers and businesses," says Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, starting 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to revamp the 23-year-old pact. Talks with Canada and Mexico can begin after that. The two-page letter offers few details about what changes the administration would seek. President Donald Trump has called NAFTA a "disaster" that has wiped out American factory jobs. Older white Americans are nearly twice as likely as African-Americans to say they've saved enough for retirement, a new poll found. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey also found that African- Americans and Latinos have less financial security than whites and will rely on fewer sources of income during retirement. The retirement savings gap between white and other minority groups extends beyond pensions, 401(k)s or other retirement accounts. The survey shows older white Americans are also more likely to collect Social Security benefits, inherit money from their families or receive income from the sale of a home or other physical assets. The disparity in retirement readiness is a sign that the structural inequalities black and Latino workers face during their working years extend into retirement. For example, the unemployment rate among African-Americans is twice that of whites. On top of that, blacks earn less than whites with similar education and experience, research shows. "Having good saving habits is good but black and Latino workers are just always worse off and it makes every aspect of saving for retirement harder," said Matthew Rutledge, an economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. About 38 percent of older white Americans said they had sufficient money for retirement compared with 20 percent for African-Americans. Four in 10 older Americans say they think they'll outlive their retirement savings. "Black and Latino families benefit from being close," Rutledge said, adding that family members help to care for children and the elderly. "But it doesn't pay off when compared to whites family's (financial) contributions." Families not only pass down money, but also information on how to handle finances. "They have learned better savings behavior from the previous generation," he said. "Older Americans who received financial help from family are less likely to have racked up credit card debt or student loans. They can save (for retirement) rather than paying off debt." The poll showed whites are significantly more likely, compared to African-Americans and Latinos to say they have a retirement account. They're also more likely than African-Americans to say they will have income from the sale of physical assets. But even when it comes to the most basic form of income during retirement, whites are more likely to say they will receive Social Security payments 82 percent compared to 62 percent for African-Americans and 60 percent for Latinos, the survey found. The situation is so dire that some older African-Americans and Latinos have no sources of income for retirement 14 percent compared to 4 percent of whites, the survey found. Maria Villanueva, 69, is one of them. Villanueva doesn't collect Social Security payments because she didn't pay into the system. Villanueva immigrated illegally to California in the 70s to work as a farmworker and became a legal resident after the Immigration Reform and Control Act was signed into law. The single mother worked as a domestic worker but was paid in cash. "I didn't know I had to pay into Social Security," she said in Spanish. "All my life I've taken care of everyone except myself." Villanueva hoped she would be able to work into older age but she can't because of various chronic illnesses including diabetes and arthritis. She now relies on government assistance and food stamps. She provides for her 15-year-old granddaughter. "I try not to think about the future because I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," she said. "What if I go to sleep tonight and I don't wake up tomorrow?" Retired members of minority groups tend to have lower incomes and are more likely to describe their financial situation as "somewhat poor or very poor" compared to white Americans. Black Americans were also more likely to say they sometimes fall behind on bills, the poll found. John Jackson, 66, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to an Individual Retirement Account when he worked as a manager. Now, two years into retirement, he said he's not sure if his savings and Social Security will be enough. Jackson, who is black, says there are many people worse off than him and that's why he doesn't like to complain. Worst case scenario, he said, he has a big loving family who could take care of him. "I know God will take care of me," he said. Some white Americans also are fearful about having enough for retirement. For example, Karen Brooks, a 52-year-old university professor living in a suburb outside Seattle, said she's concerned whether she's saved enough. Brooks is, by most standards, better off financially than Jackson. She has a pension from her work as a school teacher. She is also contributing about 15 percent of her current income to a retirement account and she may even receive a small inheritance. But her biggest source of worry is that she didn't save when she went back to graduate school. "I'm pretty smart and I've done well," she said. "I'm saving for retirement but I don't know if it's going to be enough. It's frightening even talking about it now." The survey was conducted Feb. 14 through March 13 by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. It involved interviews in English and Spanish with 1,683 people aged 50 and older nationwide who are members of NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. It includes oversamples of 332 African Americans and 308 Hispanics. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE Maria Ines Zamudio is studying aging and workforce issues as part of a 10-month fellowship at The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which joins NORC's independent research and AP journalism. The fellowship is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. ___ Online: AP-NORC: http://www.apnorc.org/ Questions about the health of the CEO hired by CSX railroad this spring are being raised ahead of next month's shareholder vote on his compensation. The Wall Street Journal reports 72-year-old Hunter Harrison often works from home and occasionally uses oxygen because of an undisclosed health issue Harrison told the newspaper doctors cleared him to work, and he believes he can lead the turnaround he began in March at CSX. "I'm having a ball and I'm running on so much adrenaline that no one can stop me," Harrison told the Journal. "Don't judge me by my medical record, judge me by my performance." While leading Canadian Pacific railroad, Harrison took an extended leave in 2015 after leg surgery and pneumonia. He often worked from his home near West Palm Beach, Florida, during his last two years as CP's CEO. CSX Executive Vice President Frank Lonegro said Harrison remains fully engaged. Lonegro spoke Thursday at a Bank of America Merril Lynch conference, and he said using oxygen hasn't slowed Harrison. "I've gotten a dose of leadership from him while he had supplemental oxygen. I've had a dose of leadership from him when he hasn't had supplemental oxygen and they were equally as blunt and equally as effective," Lonegro said. "So, no question about who's in charge and no question about how engaged he is." CSX shareholders will vote early next month on whether the Jacksonville, Florida, railroad should pay the $84 million in compensation Harrison forfeited when he left Canadian Pacific railroad earlier than planned. Harrison has said he will resign if the compensation isn't approved. Harrison was hired in March after the Mantle Ridge hedge fund pressured the railroad to make changes. Harrison has a track record of reducing costs and boosting profits through the scheduled operating model he developed at CP and Canadian National. Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and BMW have reached a proposed settlement that would compensate owners of 15.8 million vehicles for money they lost due to the massive recall of Takata air bags. In documents filed Thursday with a federal court in Miami, the automakers agreed to pay $553 million to compensate owners and widen their efforts to make sure vehicles are being repaired. The court must still approve the settlement. Takata's air bag inflators can explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. The inflators are blamed for at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries worldwide. The problem touched off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history involving 42 million vehicles and 69 million air bag inflators. The settlement would compensate owners for things like lost wages or child care while they were taking their vehicle in for the recall repair. Owners could also be compensated if they paid for a rental car or for vehicle storage while they were waiting for a car to be repaired. Owners may also get payments of up to $500 each. The settlement would also require the automakers to step up their efforts to locate owners and educate them about the need to complete the recall repairs. As of April 28, only 32 percent of Toyota owners, 31 percent of Subaru owners, 18 percent of Mazda owners and 16 percent of BMW owners had completed the repairs, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Automakers would be required to provide free rental cars to owners of the highest-risk cars. U.S. safety regulators have determined that older cars are at the highest risk, since a chemical Takata used in its air bags can break down over time when it's exposed to humidity. The 2002-2006 BMW 3 Series, 2003-2006 Mazda6, 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy and 2003-2007 Toyota Corolla are among the vehicles covered by this settlement that are considered the highest risk. The settlement affects 9.2 million Toyota vehicles, 2.6 million Subaru vehicles, 2.3 million BMW vehicles and 1.7 million Mazda vehicles. The recall affects vehicles as far back as the 2000 model year and as recent as the 2016 model year. Toyota would pay the most under the settlement, at $278.5 million. Nissan, Honda and Ford are also part of the ongoing federal court case, but plaintiffs' attorney Peter Prieto wouldn't say Thursday whether he is talking to those companies about similar settlements. Japanese auto supplier Takata Corp. pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court in February. The company has agreed to pay $1 billion in penalties for concealing defects with its air bags. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy The worlds biggest money managers cant help but weigh in on the never-ending saga of the investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during last years election at this years annual SALT Conference. Typically dominated by high-level discussions on macro-economic and financial market trends, attendees are laser focused on the controversy and any potential impact it may have on Trumps economic agenda. This administration is dysfunctional Jim Chanos, noted short seller and president of Kynikos Associates, said at a press conference on Thursday. Chanos, a lifetime Democrat and a vocal critic of Trump, slammed the president for the way the administration has handled the Russian investigation and went as far as to compare him to President Richard Nixon. When Richard Nixon got on the helicopter in 74, his approval ratings were higher than our current president Chanos said. I hear people say well nothing matters and people dont care but that didnt prevent Nixon to resign and most of his cohorts going to prison, Chanos continued. Nixon was forced to resign after being impeached in 1974 when he was charged for obstruction of justice and abuse of power by Congressional lawmakers after the infamous Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C. Gerald R. Ford was then sworn in as the 38th President of the United States. As for Trump, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Trumps alleged ties to Russia. This after the New York Times reported that former FBI director James Comey wrote a memo that suggested the President may have pushed for him to move on from investigating former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. That news hit the U.S. stock market which suffered its worst drop since the election on Wednesday. Stocks managed to recoup some of those losses on Thursday and continue to hover near record levels. Still, Chanos doesnt believe Trump is driving the positive sentiment. I think the markets are hoping Vice President Pence becomes the president so a more stable person can enact the Republican agenda because at the end of the day the markets are looking for tax cuts and lower regulations, Chanos said. The opposite side of Chanos is high profile, emerging markets fund manager, Mark Mobius. The global investor came to Trumps defense on Wednesday during a press conference when he insisted that the distracting issues within the White House are all a smokescreen and behind the scenes the President was fine tuning his economic policies. I got a feeling that theres a method to this madness, Mobius, the manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, told FOX Business. By bringing up distracting information youre able then to get things done in congress. Its an odd way of thinking but the population is generally distracted with things like secret information being given to Russia. Then you can be talking to congress without the controversy surrounding whatever you want to do he said. Mobius was a supporter of Trumps in the run up to last years election and was vocal about his belief in him during the 2016 Salt Conference when he called him a great negotiator. The Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel on Wednesday to oversee the federal investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. But former FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom said Mueller should focus on the other investigations. This is a foreign intelligence investigation and collusion isnt actually a crime, Kallstrom said during an interview on the FOX Business Network. The fifth column certainly is doing a good job of keeping it the talk of the town, but what about the thousands of people that were apparently unmasked? That lost their Fourth Amendment rights? A good portion of them probably. What about the leaks? What is going on with these other investigations? Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice has reportedly declined a request to testify before the Senate on allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials, and in Kallstroms opinion, the unmasking could be one of the biggest scandals ever in the United States. Despite this, Mueller, who served as FBI director for the Bush and Obama administrations from 2001 to 2013, could fold these investigations into the Russia probe, he said. The language gives him the leeway to go therethose things really need to be investigated. They are 100 times more important than whether or not the Russians colluded in any way, he said. All these administrations that come and go talked to groups before they get inwhether or not any of that collusion is a crime, I think, is something the Democrats want to talk about for the next four years. This is probably a good thing, but Mueller has to get it done and he has to get it done in a timely fashion. Even so, the act of special investigations could go on for years, he said. These things have a way of never ending and that would be pathetic in my view, but, on the other side the Republicans seem so inept to actually get together and deal with the realities here, Kallstrom added. This 1896 Arnold Benz Motor Carriage is largely held to be the very first car to receive a speeding ticket, and it's headed for the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Palace Court in the United Kingdom. The UK in the 19th century was a tough place to have an automobile. The law at the time required drivers to maintain a speed of no more than 2 mph and be proceeded by someone walking in front of the vehicle waving a red flag. For reference, that's a little quicker than the average speed of an ambling cow. It's unclear whether Walter Arnold knew the rules when he came puttering through Paddock Green in Kent on January 28, 1896, but a constable spotted him greatly exceeding the speed limit, traveling at an estimated 8 mph. To make maters worse, no one was running ahead, waving a red flag. The officer happened to be on a bicycle at the time and managed to catch Arnold and write him a citatiton. He was later convicted of speeding and made to pay a lofty fine of a shilling "plus costs." It's not all bad, though. The incident helped build awareness of the automobile, and the UK passed the Locomotives Act later that year, thereby raising the speed limit to a more functional 14 mph and abolishing the flag waver all together. Car owners celebrated by, what else, racing from London to Brighton in an event known as the Emancipation Run. Arnold and his Benz Motor Carriage were there. It would take drivers in the United States another three years to earn their first speeding ticket. According to Gizmodo, that dubious honor goes to Jacob German in 1899. Even better? He was driving an electric car. German was 26 at the time, working for the Electric Vehicle Company, a firm that leased electric cabs. New York required all drivers to maintain a speed of no greater than 8 mph on streets and no more than 4 mph around corners. German was doing 12. Like Arnold, German was brought down by a patrolman on a bicycle. Arnold's Motor Carriage will be at this year's Concours of Elegance at Hampton Palace Court, along with other quick hardware like a Le Mans-winning Jaguar XJ-9 and a Harrods liveried McLaren F1. Fast company. The public may view the cars on September 1, 2017. MORE AUTO NEWS FROM MOTOR AUTHORITY A Georgia mother said she was outraged when her teenage daughter with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) received a school award for "Most Likely to Not Pay Attention" on Tuesday. Nicole Edwards said her 14-year-old daughter, who attends Memorial Middle School in Rockdale County, came home with the trophy after going to a school assembly, according to Fox 5 DC. "I feel like it was very derogatory, I feel like it was humiliating and this was held as an assembly with the school," Edwards told Fox 5 DC. Edwards said her daughter was initially voted as "most likely to ask a question that has already been answered." SON OF FAMILY WHO ADOPTED GIRL WITHOUT LIMBS DEALT DEVASTATING CANCER DIAGNOSIS "You guys are calling me when youre having problems with her in school, when youre having problems with her not paying attention or not getting it and then you give her an award for it," Edwards said. "Why call me to discipline her, but yet you turn around and give her an award for it, it doesn't make sense." The mother said she wants the school to conduct an investigation into the incident and she was "deeply hurt" by the situation. Rockdale County Schools issued a statement to Fox 5 DC saying they are investigating the incident. "I can assure you that Rockdale County Public Schools will not condone anything that may cause student embarrassment or humiliation. We will take appropriate action to address this situation upon gathering all of the facts," the spokesperson said. Click here for more from Fox 5 DC. Researchers are hopeful that the results of a landmark study involving 3-D printed ovaries in mice may one day evolve into an option for women with infertility due to cancer treatments or other conditions. Were learning more about the fundamental biology of the ovary through these 3-D printed structures and this new knowledge is aiding in the next generation of options that were working toward for young cancer patients, said co-senior author Teresa Woodruff, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, according to Reuters. FERTILITY DOCTOR ACCUSED OF SWAPPING DONOR SPERM WITH HIS OWN Researchers grew the ovaries on a 3-D printed structure made out of biologic inks to support ovarian follicles, and then implanted the artificial organs into sterilized mice. Ovarian follicles are fluid-filled sacs that contain immature eggs, which Woodruff told Reuters is a fundamental element of the ovary. The mice went on to mate, gave birth to healthy offspring and were able to feed their pups by producing milk which signals a return to normal levels of hormone production. While Woodruff said researchers will need to figure out how to make some follicles in the ovary mature while others remain unchanged, the option could provide patients with a long-term solution that is currently unavailable to them. EX-ESPNER HAD MISCARRIAGE DURING LIVE BROADCAST There is obviously a lot of work thats going to be needed, but being able to shower the function of these 3-D ovaries is a big breakthrough, Nina Desai, director of the Cleveland Clinic In Vitro Fertilization Lab, who was not involved with the study, told Reuters. Its really important to be able to show that its a feasible thing. Woodruff said that if the technique is tailored for humans, it could offer younger patients the opportunity to go through normal puberty and be fertile. Were hoping these advances are going to lead to more options for pediatric and adult cancer patients in the future, Woodruff said. The study was published in Nature Communications. Reuters contributed to this report. Smoking in both indoor and outdoor public spaces has been banned in the Philippines, with those who disobey the law facing a maximum penalty of four months in prison and a fine of $100. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who was once a heavy smoker but quit after a health scare, signed the executive order on Tuesday. The ban is one of the regions strictest anti-tobacco laws and mimics the 2012 ordinance Duterte created in his hometown of Davao City, Reuters reported. Under the law there will be designated smoking areas set up for adults and the creation of police-led anti-smoking task forces in towns and cities. TECHNOLOGY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: GOOD OR BAD? The ban also includes vaping and e-cigarettes and is expected to impact an estimated 17 million Filipino smokers, Reuters reported. Health advocates have long-battled tobacco lobbyists and the eight firms currently making cigarettes in the country. The executive order also prohibits anyone from selling, distributing and purchasing tobacco products to minors in the country. Nearly half of all Filipino men and 9 percent of women smoke. Experts estimate the habit costs the economy nearly $4 billion in annual health care and productivity losses. The Philippine Tobacco Institute was not available for comment, Reuters reported. Dutertes campaign promises had centered on eradicating drug pushers, tough punishment for criminals and hitting hard on smoking and illegal gambling. Human rights groups said 7,000 to 9,000 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been murdered during Duterte's "war on drugs." The government refuted the statement, releasing data on May 2 that showed nearly 4,600 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations and homicides found to be drug-related. Duterte's actions caused a rift between him and the European Union. He has repeatedly lashed out at the EU for raising human rights concerns over his deadly crackdown. "If you think it is high time for you to withdraw your assistance, go ahead, we will not beg for it," Duterte said in a speech in October, referring to aid from the U.S., EU and other critics. The Philippine government informed the EU delegation on Wednesday that it will no longer accept new grants from the EU. The country is forgoing possibly more than $287.7 million in funds for development projects. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Kiran Shelat was willing to try almost anything to get off dialysis. Every night, the civil engineer was hooked up to a machine for 10 to 12 hours, often suffering excruciating muscle aches. And he would need to live this way until he could get a kidney transplant which could take up to 10 years. So when a doctor at the University of Pennsylvania offered him a transplant last summer, Shelat jumped at the chance, even though there was a catch: The organ donor had hepatitis C, and Shelat stood a good chance of contracting it. As many as 1,000 such infected kidneys are thrown away each year in the United States, but new medications have made hepatitis C curable and made it possible to consider using infected organs for transplants. That could cut down on the wait time not just for kidneys but also other organs, especially hearts. Thats where the big benefit is going to come, said Dr. Richard N. Formica Jr., director of transplant medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. Read more: In groundbreaking trials, surgeons to use infected kidneys for transplants In 2016, there were 14,501 kidneys made available for transplantation in the US, while roughly 100,000 people waited for a new kidney, he said. The same year, there were 3,208 heart transplants, Formica said, and nearly 4,000 people waited for one. Adding hundreds more organs to that much smaller pool, he said, would be a big deal. First, though, researchers need to know whether transplanting infected organs is safe which is where Shelat came in. He was one of 10 volunteers to receive a kidney transplant within the last year from a donor infected with hepatitis C. All 10 of the patients contracted hepatitis C, but all were cured of it so quickly that none suffered any effects of the disease. And all of them are doing well with their transplant, according to the study, published late last month in the New England Journal of Medicine. Now, the University of Pennsylvania researchers told STAT, they are getting ready to test transplanting hepatitis C-infected hearts. Today, most of the hearts donated by hepatitis C-infected patients are wasted, said Dr. David Goldberg, a liver transplant specialist who helped lead the Penn research. Only patients who themselves have the infection can get these organs. Adding those hearts to the broader pool would make a huge difference. The opportunity is large, he said. Donors infected with hepatitis C tend to be younger than non-infected donors, with an average age of just 37. They often acquired their infection through drug addiction and then died young, leaving relatively healthy organs, despite their history. Fifteen years ago, there were perhaps only 100 such organs donated from people who had overdosed. Today, because of the opioid epidemic, that number is closer to 1,200 a year, Goldberg said, and their families hope donation will mean their tragic end wont be completely in vain. Read more: Matching hearts and kidneys and lungs. This website makes organ transplants in the US possible Participants in Penns trial said they were extremely grateful for their new kidneys, and didnt even notice the extra pill a day they took for 12 weeks to rid them of hepatitis C. Im glad I did it and Id do it again, said Irma Hendricks, 66, a study participant from East Stroudsburg, Pa. Hendricks plans to buy a cake on June 12 to celebrate the anniversary of her transplant. Im 66 and Im living again. Dr. Peter Reese speaks with a patient who received a kidney transplant from a donor with hepatitis C at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. (Jessica Kourkounis/AP) Dr. Peter Reese, a liver specialist who helped lead the research, said he had hoped that by treating the infections as quickly as they could be detected usually about three days after the transplant the patients would be rapidly cured and would never know they had been infected. That proved true for Hendricks, Shelat, and the others. Not every patient he approached wanted to risk getting an infected organ, Goldberg said. Some were uncomfortable with any kind of experimental therapy; others knew someone whod suffered from hepatitis and simply shut down the minute they heard they might get the infection. The 10 who volunteered for the study had either never heard of hepatitis C or were more concerned about getting off dialysis than about catching an infection that could very likely be cured, Goldberg said. Since late 2013, there have been three medications approved to treat hepatitis C, Sovaldi and Harvoni from Gilead, and, more recently, Mercks Zepatier. All have reported cure rates above 90 percent. Hendricks said she was worried about the transplant surgery, but not about contracting hepatitis C. Shed seen ads on TV touting the new medications and she felt sure it wouldnt be a problem. Her main concern, she said, was getting rid of the debilitating headaches that plagued her nearly every day on dialysis. They havent returned since her surgery, and her blood pressure has fallen back to a normal range. Its amazing what a kidney does for your body, she said. Shelat, 63, of Yardley, Pa., said hes now able to travel again, without packing an extra suitcase for his dialysis machine and worrying the whole time that something will go wrong. And Maureen Riley, also 63, of Plains, Pa., said she would have done almost anything to cut down on the three-day-a-week, four-hour-long sessions of dialysis. When you have other responsibilities, you do watch the clock, said Riley, who cares for a grown daughter with cerebral palsy. One nurse said to me, Are you sure you want to take a hep C kidney? I said, Do you see anybody offering any others? Cost remains a key issue for hepatitis C transplants. Drugs to treat the infection can run as high as $95,000 for a 12-week course and insurance companies havent yet been convinced to pay for giving the medication to transplant patients, though it costs less than a years worth of dialysis, said Formica, who was not involved in the Penn research. Merck donated medication for the 10 patients in the trial. Beyond trials, we have to find a way to pay for it through insurance, Reese said. The single biggest barrier is being able to guarantee that the hepatitis C can be treated, even before the patients sign up for the program. I think thats the big mountain ahead. Goldberg, Reese and, Formica all said that the Penn study should pave the way for more trials with hepatitis C-infected organs, and ultimately, if they are successful, to adding the infected organs to the larger pool. Transplant is so transformative: It makes them feel better, it makes them live longer, Reese said, adding that many people reengage in their work, family, and social life after a transplant. I think it can make a humungous difference in the lives of 1,000 people. Shelat said hes thrilled that his daughter, a nurse, and other medically trained family members helped convince him to go ahead with the surgery. Medication was largely able to keep his kidney disease under control for two decades. But in 2009, the illness began taking over his life leading to swelling, exhaustion, and regular trips to the emergency room. His doctor started him on home dialysis in 2015, and his name was added to the wait list for a new kidney. Read more: Worlds first transplant of HIV-positive liver a success, doctors say Hed been on dialysis for about a year when Goldberg called and offered him a place in the trial. Shelats results since the operation last August have affirmed his decision to participate. Shelat said hes back to working four to six hours a day at the New Jersey Department of Transportation, going to the gym regularly, and practicing his beloved tabla Indian drumming. Hes sleeping well, suffering no more cramps, and filled with more energy than he ever had on dialysis. He now wants to counsel others who are considering getting a transplant from a hepatitis C-infected donor: I want them to feel just as good as Im feeling now and go on with their lives. Youve enjoyed a nights worth of drinking out with loved ones maybe it was a special occasion with family and Champagne, a big game over beers with your buddies, or an ordinary weeknight when you and a girlfriend tipped back a bottle of wine and ran it dry just because. The next day, you may notice some temporary signs of skin puffiness, a headache, or nausea. But has your celebratory night of imbibing left your body permanently damaged? 5 SURPRISING BENEFITS OF DRINKING IN MODERATION Here, Fox News talks to Dr. Hwan Y. Yoo, a liver specialist at The Center for Liver and Hepatobiliary Diseases at Mercy in Baltimore, Maryland, and Kathy Jung, director of the NIAAA Division of Metabolism and Health Effects, to find out. What does the liver do? First, its important to understand the effects of alcohol on the liver, an organ thats responsible for converting and storing nutrients into substances human cells can use to function, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). When we consume anything, the liver filters that matter and ensures no toxic substances enter the body as such. DRINKING WINE IN MODERATION MAY HAVE THIS BRAIN BENEFIT People who drink too much may be at risk of liver disease, an ailment that can affect other organ function in the body and increase the risk of premature death. According to the NIH, sometimes people with liver disease may not show symptoms, while other times they may notice swelling in their midsection or legs, a tendency to bruise easily, changes in urine or stool, and yellowing of the eyes or skin. How much is too much? For patients who dont have liver disease, physicians generally recommend not exceeding the equivalent of two drinks a day for men or one drink for women. One drink is equivalent to one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or one 1-ounce shot, Yoo said. (The amount may vary depending on the person, including whether they have any signs of liver disease.) Binge drinking typically refers to either over five drinks for men or over four drinks for women within two hours. RED MEAT EATERS MAY HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF DYING FROM THESE DISEASES How does binge drinking impact the body? According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), more than 2 million Americans suffer from alcohol-related liver disease, and heavy drinking, even over the course of just a few days, can contribute to liver damage. Unfortunately, binge drinking will cause immediate damage, Jung said. Alcohol will cause the gut to leak bacteria and bacterial products into the bloodstream in fact, just 30 minutes after consuming alcohol, these bacterial products can be found in your blood, she said. Those bacterial products will in turn stimulate inflammation, which contributes to chronic disease. Your liver will suffer some of the worst damage: Even one evening of binge drinking can cause the death of liver cells, Jung said, though she noted that researchers are still working to understand the mechanisms behind this. Even just a short bout of heavy drinking can cause fat to build up in the liver making it more difficult for the liver to function and signaling the onset of the earliest stage of alcoholic liver disease, according to the NIAAA. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Can you reverse the damage? If youve noticed youve had too much to drink, can you reverse the damage? Not quite: you wont be able to undo alcohols effects on your liver, Jung said. Still, she noted that if you abstain from drinking for the next few days, you will give your liver a better shot at recovering completely. Yoo noted that, after a bout of drinking, you can help your body recover in a few other ways as well, including hydrating with at least eight glasses of water a day, making sure meals are at least 40 percent protein in order to ensure adequate nutritional intake, and getting about 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise a day. With the backlog of immigration cases hitting a record high of 585,930 cases in April according to Syracuse University, the initiative announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month in Nogales, Ariz., to hire more immigration judges is a vital step in bringing our immigration courts back to enforcing federal law. This includes the long overdue hiring of an additional 50 immigration judges this year and another 75 next year under a streamlined hiring process. Now that Sessions has already surged 25 immigration judges to detention centers along the border and the Trump administration ended the Obama era catch and release policy, we may once again see U.S. immigration courts fulfilling their mission: trying the cases of those who have entered or remained here illegally. Why are these moves important? Because the huge backlog of untried cases and the prior catch and release policy allowed many illegal aliens to disappear, never to be seen again. Their numbers are stark evidence of a breakdown in the immigration court system that only accelerated during the Obama years. Ending the catch and release policya policy Border Patrol agents rightly refer to as the catch and run policywas a critical first step. Catch and release is the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) policy of arresting illegal aliens, giving them court dates, and then releasing them. Unsurprisingly, many of those released never showed for court. The numbers tell the story. In 2016, 39 percent of aliens who were free pending trial failed to show up for their hearings. In 2015, 43 percent did the same. Over the past 21 years, 37 percent of all aliens the U.S. permitted to remain free before trialsome 952,000 peoplewere ordered removed for dodging court. Courts are three times more likely to issue removal orders for evading court than removal orders from cases that were actually tried. Predictably, American immigration courts have the highest failure-to-appear rate of any court system in the country, averaging more than 45,000 per year. This is why surging more judges to immigration detention facilities along our border is critically important. Deploying judges who can swiftly conduct hearings to grant relief to the deserving and direct removal of offenders not only assures due process to all claimants, but it also serves to warn others away from illegal entry. In short, alert and empowered courts harden our borders. Restoring the authority of immigration judges is just as important. At the end of 2008right before Barack Obama became presidentfederal immigration courts reported a backlog of 186,108 cases. By the end of 2016, backlogged cases had increased 300 percent to 542,411, and now we have reached almost 586,000 cases. Much of this backlog resulted from procedural changes directed by Justice Department political appointees that radically slowed down court cases. In 2006, 233 immigration judges completed 407,487 cases. Yet in 2016, more than 270 judges completed only 273,390 cases. At the same time that these Justice Department appointees nearly halted adjudication, DHS political appointees refused to enforce removal orders issued by the immigration courts. Today unexecuted removal orders stand at 953,506a 58 percent increase since 2002and the great majority of these orders were issued to those who evaded court. One final note of concern that few mention: From 2003 through 2015, 62,409 asylum applicants from the 36 Specially Designated Countriescountries that DHS designates as aiding and abetting terrorismentered the U.S. Forty percent of this group (24,975) received asylum. From the remaining asylum seekers, 3,095 never showed for their court hearings and were ordered removed. Within this group of absconders were 338 people from Iran, Sudan and Syria, countries the U.S. identifies as State Sponsors of Terrorism. Never has there been an accounting to Congress or the public about what became of these people from terrorist safe-havens who claimed asylum before disappearing into the United States. On top of that, almost no one noticed another alarming fact that came out of former FBI Director James Comeys testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 3. Comey said that out of over 2,000 violent extremist investigations about 300 of them are people who came to the United States as refugees. The bottom line is that America has a well-organized immigration court system that can help secure our borders and remove violators while also redeeming the persecuted. But it works only if it has enough judges to handle its cases and if illegal aliens are detained, so they actually show up for court. Eight years of intentional neglect cant be reversed overnight. But Jeff Sessions seems intent on making sure that all of this finally happens by empowering judges, prosecutors, and enforcement officers to do their jobs. He is restoring common sense and effectiveness to an immigration court system that, until recently, had neither. In a period of seven days this month, President Donald Trump fired James Comey as director of the FBI and was accused of sharing top-secret intelligence data with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador to the United States, the latter a known Russian spy. The Comey firing was clumsy and rude. Comey learned of it from FBI agents in Los Angeles who noticed reports of it on television monitors that they could see while he was speaking to them. The White House initially claimed Comey had been fired because of his poor judgment in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, in which he announced that she would not be indicted even though there was ample evidence to indict her and then reopened the case two weeks before Election Day even though there was no evidence to justify doing so. Then the president said he had fired Comey because he objected to Comeys public personality. Then the president claimed that though Comey had told him he was not the subject of any FBI investigation, Comey had not been investigating Trump administration intelligence community leaks with the same vigor with which he had been investigating allegations of collusion between Trumps campaign and the Russian government. Then Trump met with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador. Then someone who was at the meeting or privy to it afterward, American or Russian, revealed to The Washington Post that at the meeting, Trump had boasted of intelligence data related to the Islamic State group. Then Trump himself admitted sharing this intelligence with the Russians. A leak of top-secret material by the president or by an anonymous source is potentially catastrophic, and the charge that the president himself revealed top secrets to a known Russian spy is grave, perhaps the gravest ever leveled at an American president in the modern era. The Americans and the Russians at the meeting with Trump denied that he had compromised intelligence sources or revealed the location of American military, but they did not deny that he had revealed top secrets. All of these events took place in seven days. Here is the back story. When Comey usurped the authority of the ethically challenged then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and announced that Hillary Clinton would not be indicted for espionage -- the failure to safeguard state secrets that had been given to her for safekeeping -- even though there was a mountain of evidence of her guilt, it seemed to me that he was trying to have it both ways. He was trying to keep his job by pleasing both Republicans and Democrats. Instead, he grossly miscalculated and substantially irritated leadership in both parties, including Clinton and Trump. At the same time he was exonerating Clinton legally while damning her politically, he was investigating the Trump campaign, about which he quite properly did not say a public word. And he authorized his agents to engage a former British intelligence agent to dig up dirt on candidate Trump and to pay him $50,000 for it. The story the agent dug up was so lurid and unbelievable that the FBI declined to make the payment. Comeys leadership of the FBI was flawed, but not so flawed as the reasons given for his summary firing. Those inconsistent reasons fed the Democrats narrative that Comey had been onto something in the Russia/Trump campaign investigation and the president had known it and wanted to derail it. The president has yet to deny this. Though the president has complained that Comey failed to investigate leaks of intelligence data from within his administration, The Washington Post effectively accused the president himself of becoming the leaker in chief by revealing to the Russians information so secret that only a handful of Americans legally possessed it. That information consisted of the name of a city in Syria from which spies had reported that the Islamic State group was plotting to plant bombs on commercial airliners. What is so secret about that? Intelligence data almost always requires reading between the lines. Doing so here reveals the country from which the intelligence came, as there is only one friendly country that has sufficient intelligence resources in that city to develop local human spies. That country, which the president did not name but which we know is Israel, at first threatened to cut off providing intelligence data to the U.S. because of the presidents private revelations but later said that all is forgiven. So, the president told the Russians where to find Israeli spies in Syria. The fact that these revelations were private is of legal significance. Under federal law, the president can declassify any secrets, even the most highly sensitive and guarded ones. He can do so by whispering the secret into someones ear or by formally removing the secret from its classified status. But because he did not do the latter, the secret is still a secret -- yet The Washington Post has this material and may now legally reveal it. How can a newspaper reveal a top secret that the president has not made public? If someone reveals the secret to the newspaper, it can. The person who did so in this case committed a felony, and the president is right to be angered over it. That person is probably a member of the intelligence community bent on frustrating or destabilizing or controlling the Trump presidency. Because that person gave it to the Post and because there is enormous public interest in knowing what Trump told the Russians, the Post is free to publish it. All of this demonstrates that rogue intelligence agents can engage in their own form of agitprop -- agitation propaganda. And they can cause political harm with it. Yet the questions of whether Donald Trump revealed top secrets to the Russians and, if he did so, whether it was intentional or not and whether it was harmful to national security are questions to which we are entitled to answers. And was Jim Comey fired for getting too close to the truth or not close enough? Why do these questions keep coming? Ten years ago I got a crazy idea. It all began when I read Henry Wadsworth Longfellows amazing poem, Paul Reveres Ride. You probably know the first lines: Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Id never read much past that, but when I did I was stunned: the poem was incredibly beautiful and inspiring. How had I missed it all these years? It was also very long! But it was so fantastic that I couldnt help wondering if my daughter and I might try to memorize it together. Generations of Americans had memorized it. That used to be one of the ways we passed on our cultural history and celebrated what we all had in common as Americans. So my daughter and I decided to give it a shot. And amazingly we succeeded! Because she was seven, my daughter got it memorized before I did. And because I was not seven I got choked up at many of the patriotic lines, which were deeply moving. One thing the poem did was make me realize how much I had failed to appreciate the magnificent nation in which I was privileged to be born and grow up. Its lines reminded me of the huge sacrifices so many made so that we could have the freedoms we have today freedoms many of us probably take for granted. I realized that my entire generation had missed out on what previous generations had not: celebrating the greatness of our nation and its heroes. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was a tremendous mistake, one that we are now paying for in many ways as our culture and nation become increasingly divided. Being an American is something we need to learn and understand. We are not an ethnic or religious group. America is the only nation in the world based on an idea freedom and self-government so if we dont understand that idea and what sacrifices were made to win that freedom and keep it for over two centuries, how can we possibly continue to keep it? How can we call ourselves Americans? So its a sad fact that since roughly the Sixties most of our schools have failed to teach us about who we are and why we should celebrate it. Often we have only focused on what weve done wrong as a nation. Of course we should face our sins and our mistakes. But if we get stuck there, and dont focus on where weve come from and how weve overcome those sins and mistakes, we are truly to be pitied. Every country has things to be proud of and to celebrate. Theres a Greek proverb that says: "If you don't boast about your home, it will fall down and crush you. I came to the conclusion that its vital that we teach our kids about our past and especially about the heroes of our past. So I actually wrote a whole book on this subject, titled "If You Can Keep It: the Forgotten Promise of American Liberty". As you might expect, I devote nearly a whole chapter to talking about Paul Reveres Ride. And everywhere I go I talk about whats in the book, and about my hopes of inspiring a new generation to love this great country. But two months ago, I got another idea. Since I now have a national radio program, I thought, what if I sponsored a contest for kids to memorize Paul Reveres Ride? The deadline for entries could be April 18th, the famous date in the poem. The problem was I got the idea so late that kids would barely have three weeks to do it. But even if five kids took me up on the huge challenge, it would be worth it. So I announced the contest on the air. The most creative and overall best recitation of the poem would win. Naturally theyd have to post their entries on youtube. I would take the winner and their parents to dinner here in New York, where I live, and Id also interview them on the radio program and give them signed copies of almost all of my books, plus Eric Metaxas Show mugs and tee-shirts! Im sure it was the tee-shirts that did the trick, because even though there were only three weeks, we got no less than fifty submissions and all of the kids had memorized the entire poem! One of them was four years old! Did I mention what a long poem it is? I was staggered. So many of the submissions were so terrific there was almost no way to pick a winner! Several of them involved props and costumes and three of them featured actual horses! One young lady traveled all the way from Indiana to the Old North Church in Boston to film her recitation there! Two kids from Lithuania even sent in videos, as did one from Berlin, Germany! And one kid recited it while riding his bike! Some of it is also absolutely bust-a-gut hilarious! Whether intentional or not I will leave up to you. If you watched all fifty videos without a break it would take you eight hours straight! So I thought we should make a fun compilation video featuring all of the kids who participated, in the hopes of getting you and your kids and your friends to watch it, so that maybe you would all get as excited as I am about it and maybe youd even challenge your own kids to memorize it! Well, that was my idea. Now its up to you. I want to make the video go viral and light a spark that will carry the torch of freedom onward, and Ill need the help of thousands of Paul Reveres like you and your kids to carry it. Is that too corny for you? Tough luck. Its the truth. Now get riding, podners! God bless you. And God bless America. In a rare moment of apparent consensus, Republicans and Democrats, pundits and ordinary citizens seem to be overjoyed at the appointment of a special counsel. President Trump, on the other hand, has already tweeted a dissenting view stating: this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! While I do applaud the appointment of Robert Mueller, because of his distinguished background, I also worry about the process by which the special counsel investigates its targets. I care more about due process and civil liberties than I do about politics. As a civil libertarian, I have long opposed the way even honest prosecutors use grand juries in a manner totally inconsistent with the original intent of the Framers who wrote our Fifth Amendment that provides grand juries for all federal felonies. The grand jury comes as close to a Star Chamber as any institution in America. It operates behind closed doors, denies targets and witnesses the right to have their counsel present, is presented only with inculpatory and not exculpatory evidence, and is supposed to decide only whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a finding of probable cause. Grand jury proceedings are secret and we almost never know what happened within that black box. Thats why lawyers say that prosecutors can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. The rule of criminal justice is that it is better for ten guilty people to go free than for one innocent people to be convicted, but that salient rule does not apply in grand jury proceedings. The mantra of the grand jury is when in doubt indict. The function of a grand jury is not to learn the historic truth. It is to learn the prosecutors version of the truth based on the evidence that he or she chooses to present to the grand jury. Honest prosecutors, and Robert Mueller is among the most honest, will not seek an indictment of someone they believe to be innocent. But no system of criminal justice should have to depend on good faith and integrity of individual prosecutors. There are too many opportunists within the ranks of prosecutors, who merely seek notches on their belt rather than real justice. The real problem with the appointment of a special counsel in this case is that the most serious allegations against the Trump administration are not criminal in nature, and are therefore beyond the scope of the special counsels mandate. It would not be criminal, even if it happened, for the Trump campaign to have collaborated with the Russians in an effort to get their candidate elected. It would have been wrong but not criminal. Nor is it a crime for President Trump to have provided classified information to the Russians that could lead the Russians to learn the sources and methods of our allys intelligence gathering. Finally, it is probably not an indictable offence for the president to have fired the Director of the FBI and/or asked him to let it go with regard to his fired national security advisor. Just because something is wrong doesnt make it criminal. To be criminal there must be admissible evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a statutory crime has been committed. It is unlikely that such a conclusion will be reached by the special counsel with regard to President Trump or anyone currently in his administration. It is possible that he may find criminal conduct on the part of General Flynn, but even that is unlikely. But even if Flynn were to be indicted it is certainly possible that Trump would pardon him. A special counsel is even more dangerous for civil liberties than ordinary prosecutors, because they generally have only one target. That target may be a person or a group of people, but there is an inclination to find criminal conduct when the focus is so narrow. A special prosecutor is like Captain Ahab and the white whale is his target. Lavrentiy Beria, the notorious former head of the Soviet KGB, once reportedly said to Stalin show me the man, and Ill show you the crime. Despite the appointment of an extraordinarily able and distinguished special counsel, civil libertarians should not be applauding the decision to employ a special counsel in this case. It would have been far better for Congress to have appointed a non-partisan investigatory commission similar to the ones appointed to investigate the 9/11 terrorist attack and the destruction of the Challenger. Such a commission would have only one goal: finding the whole truth. A special counsel has a very different goal: deciding whether to prosecute particular individuals. At this point in our history, learning the truth may be more important than prosecuting questionable cases. Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced his intention to seek harsher penalties for criminal activity involving opioids. On the surface this would seem logical, as a large extent of the opioid epidemic involves criminal activity. But, unfortunately, there is no evidence that stiffer penalties will stem the tide of abuse and overdose. In fact, a National Institutes of Health study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2009 concluded that treating the addiction that led to the criminal behavior not only improved public health, but also reduced criminality. Treatment involves effective medication such as Suboxone (naloxone and buprenorphine) or methadone, but it can help only with the physical addiction. The disease goes much deeper. Lasting cures are tied to 12-step rehabilitation programs, peer-to-peer counseling and having something to live for. Alicia Reddy, the registered nurse known as the Addiction Angel of Staten Island, tells the story of one addict who couldnt kick his heroin habit until his 7-month-old daughter required recurrent operations for her malformed bowels. Being there for her gave him something to live for, and this change in focus enabled him to rise to a cure. Clearly, heroin abuse is steeped in a criminal culture. But the abuse itself is a disease. It can stop your breathing or give you a life-threatening infection, a truth that was brought home last week when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that hepatitis C infections tripled from 2010 to 2015, and that injection drug use, including heroin, was a primary cause. Since four out of five cases of heroin abuse begin with prescription opioids, physicians especially primary care doctors like myself have to make sure we know what we are treating. Back pain, for example, is often muscular, and may not require prescription opioid painkillers in the first place. It may respond well to heat or muscle relaxants or ibuprofen or chiropractic or acupuncture. Medical marijuana has uses for pain that need to be further explored. New drugs that target non-opiate receptors in the brain and avoid the addiction centers are in the pipeline. Doctors need more education, beginning in medical school, on properly diagnosing and treating pain. Its one thing to prescribe Percocet or Vicodin or codeine after an operation or procedure or for cancer pain. Its another to knee-jerk a prescription for muscle pain. A program such as I Stop in NY State, which requires physicians to record their prescriptions of DEA-controlled drugs on a state website, helps to limit over-prescriptions that lead to addiction. Our war veterans, more than half of whom the VA says are afflicted by chronic pain, elicit our compassion and help us see opioid addiction as a disease, not a crime. The Center for Ethics and Rule of Law reported that the number of veterans addicted to opioids rose 55 percent, to 68,000, between 2010 and 2015. Far too many war-wounded succumbed not just to the bullets of the enemy, but to the opiates intended to ease their suffering, said Bill Morgan, the White House chiropractor for 16 years and a military veteran himself who worked at Bethesda Naval and Walter Reed Military Medical Centers during the darkest days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nothing is more tragic than nursing a wounded soldier back from near death for over two years, only to lose him to an opiate overdose. No soldier should ever survive the wounds of combat only to die from the medications prescribed by their well-intentioned countrymen. Morgan provides chiropractic treatment as an alternative, as a way to wean patients from their addiction or to prevent it in the first place. Referring to opioids, he said, Nothing is easier for a doctor than to give a medicine with no therapeutic value which take away the patients complaints. The solution to opioid addiction isnt locking up the addicts. Its getting them effective treatment. Clamping down on the dealers and suppliers and tightening the border to thwart Fentanyl and heroin trafficking are one thing, but clamping down on the abusers themselves is another. They are victims. They generally belong in treatment centers, not in jail. Republicans, in particular the Trump administration, are approaching a historic decision that will shape America for generations to come. The endless hostility of the Left, exemplified by violent fascists on college campuses, thugs in the streets, determined disrupters at town hall meetings, and the dishonest elite media are all part of their efforts to defeat the reforms and changes that President Trump was elected to implement. The constant, anonymous leaks from disgruntled federal bureaucrats aim to provide ammunition for the propaganda news media to press the attack. The Lefts dance of destruction is stunningly choreographed. I have been overseas for the last three days, and it has been sickening to see so many foreigners terrified because they unknowingly believe the news medias false reports and vicious attacks. The only version of President Trump they know is the one portrayed in the 24-hour cesspool of CNN and the daily acrimony of the New York Times. Sadly, our own nations news media is doing more to undermine America's image than Al Jazeera or Pravda combined. As the media continues to serve as a megaphone for the nameless federal employees who have axes to grind, remember that 95 percent of 2016 campaign donations from federal employees went to Hillary Clinton. At the State Department, 99 percent of employees who gave supported Clinton, and that figure is 97 percent at the Department of Justice. Congressional Republicans are rapidly approaching a crossroads. Some have already surrendered by giving up on town hall meetings. Others have accepted the news media's false narrative as the truth. Republicans must decide if they are going to fight for what they believe in or retreat to the tenuous safety of the beltway bubble. The Trump White House faces an even greater challenge. Trying to reason with, placate, or even respond to the Washington news media is a losing game. Each day, the opposition media is fiercely committed to either magnifying a supposed problem or inventing a new one. We are today in a one-sided cultural civil war. The Left has picked the battlefield and defined the terms of engagement. If conservatives respond to this aggressive, sometimes violent hostility from the Left with confusion, uncertainty, and appeasement, we are guaranteed to lose the struggle to drain the swamp and reform Washington. Further, surrendering will destroy America as we know it. Far from making America great again, we will have yielded our country to left-wing thugs, liars, and intimidators. Those of us who truly want to make America great again have one choice: Fight. Our situation is similar to President Lincolns in 1861. He had to make the choice between fighting until he won or giving up on the idea of the United States. Once again, our country is at stake. Senate Republicans are well-positioned because there are 10 Democratic senators up for re-election in states President Trump won last November. These Democrats should be made to carry the burden of the collapsing ObamaCare system and the pain it is causing in their states. They should be made to own every strand of expensive red tape they vote to keep and every Homeland Security measure they oppose. They should be held accountable for every crime in their states committed by criminal aliens protected by sanctuary city laws. If Senate Republicans implement an all-out campaign, they could pick up all 10 seats and have the largest GOP majority since the election of 1868. House Republicans have a more difficult challenge. Political polarization, compounded by a number of incumbents retiring, make it harder for them to expand their majority. But here are some numbers for perspective: ? 12 congressional districts carried by President Trump are currently represented by Democrats. ? These Democrats won by an average of six percent, or just 19,000 votes. ? Four won by less than two points. On the other hand: ? 23 Republicans are in districts won by Secretary Clinton. ? They won their races by an average of 12 percent, or 37,000 votes. ? Only one Republican in a Clinton-won district won by less than 2 points. Defeating the Left's attacks will require House Republicans to engage in significantly more training and planning than they are used to. Most House Republicans have spent their congressional careers in a safe majority. Very few lived through the disaster of 2006, and only a handful of current members were in the so-called permanent minority before 1994. This House GOP has never faced an all-out political war like this. House Republicans must dramatically reorganize their thinking and restructure their activities or resign themselves to accepting Speaker Pelosi and the impeachment effort of 2019 (which will be the Democrats first priority, should they gain control of the House). House Republicans must change now. Fighting to retain a majority is far easier than fighting to reclaim it. Remember, before the Contract with America, House Republicans had been in the minority for 40 years. The Trump White House, however, faces the biggest decisions. Members of the Trump team have used harsh words but timid tactics when dealing with the unending, dishonest, and vicious assaults by the left-wing media. The President seems to understand how serious and how bad the situation is. He has said: As you know I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth." Jan. 21, 2017 But there are some terrible, dishonest people, and they do a tremendous disservice to our country and to our people. A tremendous disservice. They are very dishonest people, and they shouldnt use sources. They should put the name of the person. You will see stories dry up like youve never seen before. Feb. 24, 2017 The Washington media is part of the problem. Their priorities are not my priorities, and they're not your priorities," April 29, 2017 When your opponents are "among the most dishonest human beings on earth, do a tremendous disservice service to the country, and are part of the problem," then you need a strategy and system that is built around that analysis. The next few months will see one of the greatest decisions in American history. Do we fight to make America great again, or do we surrender to those who claim the elitist power to dictate to the rest of us? There is no middle ground. Roger Ailes saw me coming through the door to his office and with his needling wit he said: We cant have you working here. My jaw dropped. Roger knew how to get your attention with a cutting comment in good times and bad. I was going through a very bad time. This was late October of 2010 and the night before Id been fired by NPR. Later, I was labeled a bigot and in need of psychiatric care by the head of a major, national media operation, the then-president of NPR (National Public Radio). Ailes, who died Thursday at 77, started laughing as he watched my reaction. Then the executives in the room went from stone faced to laughing along with the boss. Ailes told me to sit down and said he was offering me a new contract and increased role with the network. In Ailes fashion, he cut to the emotional power and pain of the moment for me. He asked me what my wife and kids had to say about the public beating I was getting. Then he asked how much I was paid by NPR. He said he would make up the money so I would not have to go home and explain why we had lost money because of NPRs action. Also true to Rogers style, he said he was watching to see how the left-wing media handled the story of a serious journalist being silenced for speaking his mind. I met Ailes while I was a White House correspondent for The Washington Post and he did some work for President Reagans political director, Ed Rollins. And later we talked when he was in George H. W. Bushs 1988 campaign. He was a good source for a black kid with a big Afro who some conservatives found hard to take. He was a tough political fighter with a disdain for self-righteous liberals and he was willing to push emotional buttons among voters -- from fear to rage to needling humor that often came so close to the edge it made his friends nervous and scared his opponents. In 1984, he mocked one of Mitch McConnells opponents in a Kentucky Senate race with an ad featuring a hound dog searching for the politician with the spotty record of showing up for votes. He signed off on a 1988 ad that led to national laughter at the Democrats presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis, for riding around in a tank with a helmet on as if he was a little boy pretending to be General MacArthur. That sharp edge and his immense curiosity about people he knew the family story, the gossip, the education, the weaknesses and his willingness to pull those levers made him a power player. He elected presidents, senators and created major media personalities as well as the dominant cable news channel of his time. It also had a damning consequence. He lacked restraint. It led to his downfall and worst of all it hurt many people. As a black person and a civil rights historian, sometimes the buttons Roger allowed to be pushed on race saddened and alarmed me. His reckless lack of restraint also brought scandal to the institution he so carefully built and that remains his legacy. Ailes personally recruited me to come to Fox News as he was creating the network in 1996. I signed my first contract in 1997, after he convinced my wife that it was OK for me to leave what was then the top brand in cable news: CNN. I was once sitting in his office, filled with television monitors with the sound off, listening to his comments about what was on the screen. He snickered about poor production that made for boring television. He wanted intense debate, good looking people and surprise twists and turns in conversation and facial expression that drew attention to the screen. One of his assistants once told me that Ailes secret was he saw the world through the eyes of a three-year-old boy. Nothing was too complicated. It was either good or bad, interesting or boring, an idea or person he wanted or he didnt. This cut across political lines. Rogers top aide at Fox and friend for many years was Chet Collier, a Democrat. They differed on politics but they agreed on putting on a good show that drew eyeballs to the television. Collier saw a kindred spirit in Ailes as a 22-year-old when he hired him as a production assistant on the Mike Douglas Show. Collier told the story of Ailes advising candidate Richard Nixon, as a guest on the Douglas show, that television had to be a top tier concern for any politician. Nixon later hired Ailes. And he would tell that story but also note with his distinctive belly laugh - that Nixon was constantly backing away from the snake handlers and famous stripper also scheduled for the show that day. Loyalty mattered greatly to Ailes because he knew low moments. He once told me of being out of money and fellow Republicans turning their back on him. He decided that sad character was not him. He preferred going out with a fight and got back in the fight and became the major media executive of his time. Ailes invited my two sons to have lunch with him one day in his private dining room at Fox. They wanted career advice. He talked about hard work, loyalty to friends and even more, loyalty to the truth and anger at hypocrisy and being smart enough to see what is plain and obvious in the world and willing to fight for it. Never let the hypocrites win, he said. He was not focused on the fact that the boys are black and their father a Democrat. Juan has been a staunch defender of liberal viewpoints since his tenure began at Fox in 1997, Ailes said in a statement after NPR fired me. He is an honest man whose freedom of speech is protected by Fox News on a daily basis. It was protected by Roger Ailes. The appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel for the investigation of possible links between the Trump campaign and various organs of the Russian government provides an opportunity to reflect on where things stand and where they are likely to go for the embattled Trump Administration. The biggest danger to the White House and the Trump administration from this continuing investigation is not that former director Mueller or any of the numerous Congressional committees will find much evidence of meaningful collaboration between candidate Trump or his campaign staff with Russia before the election. Rather, their serious legal difficulties are likely to come as a result of the Presidents maladroit handling of the investigation itself. I doubt that he and his aides had any real intention of covering up anything, but the way the President mishandled former FBI Director James Comey certainly provides yet another exhibit A for those who believe that the problem with most political scandals is not the crime but the subsequent response. In terms of the original issue Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election and possible collaboration with the Trump campaign there is still no reason to disagree with former Acting CIA Director and Hillary Clinton supporter Michael Morells judgement that while there may be much smoke surrounding Trump and Russia, there is no fire in terms of hard evidence of meaningful coordination of the two efforts. To be sure, the U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian government was bent on meddling in the campaign, including hacking the emails of political operatives on both sides and selectively releasing particularly embarrassing ones from Democrats. But most experts attribute this to an effort to make mischief for what the Russians, like most of the rest of us, expected would be the incoming Clinton administration. Far from a well-laid out plan to install Putins Manhattan candidate in the White House, the Russian efforts look more like opportunistic cyber vandalism. The real scandal was how Trump and his people responded to the controversy that all the smoke inevitably generated. Take his former National Security Adviser, retired General Michael Flynn, and his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition. Clearly, they were part of an effort to undermine the Obama administrations increasingly hard-line policy against Russia, but they were more impolitic than anything else, given that the new administration would soon be able to change course after the inauguration. What got Flynn in trouble was not so much these back-channel conversations but his subsequent lack of candor with the FBI and the Vice President about them. In general, what has gotten Flynn in legal hot water is not the substance of his political contacts with foreign governments but rather his failure to fully comply with the regulations that govern the business relations of Americans abroad. In Flynns case his companys well-compensated, but not adequately disclosed, lobbying efforts for the Turkish government could put him in greater legal jeopardy than his high-profile speech in Moscow or his Sunday chit-chat with Kislyak. Of course, the President himself has made things worse. Rather than let the investigations take their slow, painful, but likely inconclusive course, he forced the issue with then-FBI Director Comey, trying to convince him that his disgraced national security adviser was a good guy who had suffered enough for his transgressions. Similarly, the President seemed eager to get Comey to reassure him that he was not himself the target of the investigation. He was not as Comey reportedly assured him not once but three times but his inappropriate badgering and subsequent firing of Comey have changed the story from was there any collusion with Russia during the campaign to whether the administrations subsequent effort to end the investigation of it constituted obstruction. The naming of Director Mueller as special counsel will undoubtedly drag out the Russia investigation that the President had hoped would go away. But it might also offer an unexpected life-line to the White House if the President can sit on his hands and zip his lip about it from here on out. If, as the CIAs Morell believes, there is no smoking gun in the original charges of Trump campaign-Russian collusion during the election, that will eventually become public. The President may find that it is ultimately less painful to twist in the wind of an inconclusive investigation than go down in flames trying to shut it down. The Justice Departments appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in last years presidential election has excited both delight and dismay. Some Democrats have lauded the appointment, seeing it as corroborating their allegations about collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to flip the election. Others, including the President himself, have attacked the appointment as further evidence of a design to overturn the election results and oust Trump from office. Muellers appointment may halt the rising tide of criticism and demands for investigation into the Russia controversy and even give Trump breathing room to get his house into order. Some hope that Muellers well-won reputation for integrity and independence will lead to a final conclusion that will settle the matter. But the longer-term consequences will be to continue the political fighting, perhaps even prolong it, and to expand the scope of the controversies under investigation. First, its crucial to distinguish between a special counsel, such as this is, and an independent counsel. The office of Independent Counsel was created by a statute that Congress has allowed to lapse. A special counsel, by contrast, is an official appointed by the Justice Department and subject, like many other federal criminal investigators and prosecutors, to the Justice Departments supervision and control. Normally, a special counsel like Mueller would answer to the Attorney General. But since Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, Mueller will answer to Sessions deputy, Rod Rosenstein. Under Justice Department regulations, Mueller will enjoy certain protections against removal by Rosenstein. But under the Constitution, both Rosenstein and Mueller are ultimately answerable to the President as head of the Executive branch. The rules governing Muellers appointment differ from those that applied to an independent counsel, which were provided by an Act of Congress rather than by internal Justice Department regulations. The investigation of President Bill Clinton was spearheaded by former Judge Ken Starr, an independent counsel appointed under the statute. Many Clinton supporters were critical of Starrs investigation, which seemed to them unfairly broad and vindictive. Republicans had earlier raised similar objections to the statute when independent counsels were investigating Ted Olsen, a Reagan era official (and later Solicitor General under George W. Bush), and Iran-Contra. Even though the Supreme Court had upheld the constitutionality of the statute, both parties agreed that it had worked disastrously in practice, and decided not to renew it. Congress decision not to renew the Independent Counsel Act was a wise one, not only because of its policy misfires, but also because the Supreme Court had erred badly in upholding its constitutionality. The Courts opinion drew forth a magnificent dissent from the late Justice Antonin Scalia, which many now regard as his finest effort, and which over the years has come to be widely accepted by liberal and conservative legal scholars alike. (In the aftermath of the Starr investigation, leading liberal scholar Cass Sunstein wrote that Scalia nailed it.) Scalia argued that under fundamental constitutional separation-of-powers principles, the powers to investigate and prosecute criminal activity in violation of federal law belonged exclusively to the President. Congress had no power to assign those powers to officials not subject to the Presidents authority to supervise, control and remove. The safeguards established to ensure the independence of the relevant investigators and prosecutors were invalid. The President controlled their activities, and politics not a statute controlled the President. It is vital to understand that Mueller is not and cannot be independent in the sense in which that term is often understood. President Trump may remove him for any cause or for none though a political firestorm would ensue if he did. One caveat. There is language in the Supreme Court's decision in a Watergate era case that could be taken to imply that the regulatory restrictions on the Attorney General's power to remove a special counsel would apply to the President as well. But if Scalia's understanding of executive power is correct, as we believe it is, then the President cannot be fettered by those restrictions, even if the Attorney General is. Second, it is obvious that no one can predict the outcome of Muellers investigation. Much will depend on the scope of the investigative jurisdiction that Rosenstein has assigned him, and on how he interprets his mandate. The Justice Departments terse announcement said only that he had been appointed to oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters. If Mueller focuses on the repeated (but so far unproven) claim that Trump or his campaign officials colluded with the Russian government to swing the election, the investigation could well be over quickly, and might well prove to be a vindication for Trump. If Mueller extends his investigation into the conduct of Obamas National Security Adviser Susan Rice and other Obama officials in the aftermath of Novembers election, the results could prove to be extremely embarrassing for the former President, his associates, and his party. (Indeed, they might also embarrass former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump believes slow-walked the investigation of possible wrongdoing and criminality by Obama appointees.) And if Mueller choses to engage in a broad-gauged investigation that includes all the business dealings between Trumps associates or Trumps business empire and Russian persons (whether governmental or not) reaching back over years, the investigation would likely be agonized, prolonged, politically polarizing, and deeply damaging to the public confidence in our legal system. Of special interest, of course, is what might result if Mueller investigates the charge tossed about rather cavalierly by Trumps opponents that he sought to obstruct justice by telling Comey to drop the investigation of General Michael Flynn, who briefly served as National Security Adviser before Trump discharged him. The only evidence to have surfaced so far is a memorandum Comey prepared for his own use that purported to record a conversation between himself and Trump. According to Comeys memorandum, Trump said that he hope[d] you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go . . . . He is a good guy. Barring far more evidence, we doubt that a statement as ambiguous as that would prove obstruction of justice. Furthermore, the interpretation put upon Trumps alleged statement that it amounted to an order to drop the Flynn investigation has been emphatically denied by the White House. And, of course, it is only Comeys version of what appears to have been a private conversation between the two men. In itself, it is a slender reed on which to build a criminal charge of a sitting President. And remember, the Constitution vests in Trump alone the power to supervise federal criminal investigations. We wish Robert Mueller success in executing a task that will test him to the limit. But in light of the Presidents continuing constitutional authority over all federal law enforcement, and the tendency of independent counsel investigations to go beyond their original mandates, expect the political controversy to only continue and perhaps get worse. Those are the words used to end a military radio transmission. Thursday, Roger Ailes, the man who built and led Fox News, stopped transmitting. He will be deeply missed by his lovely wife Beth, their son Zach and all my friends at Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity he gave me sixteen years ago when he hired me to host "War Stories." His love of history, encouragement, guidance and support turned the show into the longest running, continuously broadcast military documentary series in television history. Asked Thursday morning when I first met Roger, my interrogator was stunned to learn it was just before Christmas in 1986 at the home of then Vice President George H.W. Bush. The VEEP, ignoring all the noise and fury in Washington over the so-called Iran-Contra affair, had the temerity and kindness to invite Admiral John Poindexter, me and our wives to his Christmas party. At the time, the admiral and I were persona non grata in our nations capital. Roger was there and there is a photo of him [later featured on the back of my first book, "Under Fire"] that shows him scowling as Vice President Bush is seen shaking my hand at the doorway. More than two decades after the picture was taken, I asked Roger why the long face? The answer was classic Ailes: I was wondering what the caption would be if the pic showed up in the Washington Post. Eight months after being hired to document the events of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War with the accounts of eyewitness-participants, Roger dispatched our "War Stories" team to make the first draft of history in what is now Americas longest war. He sent us to lovely places like Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines and Somalia. And as always, he was paying attention. In April 2003, when another news organization reported that a Marine helicopter in which we were riding was hit by enemy fire and forced to land behind enemy lines, he called on my satellite phone to check on our well-being. Once he ascertained there were no friendly casualties he growled, Im glad you and Griff [Jenkins] are OK. Now remember, youre there to report the news, not be the news. Thats the Roger Ailes the newsman the gruff, no nonsense boss who loved and admired Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Guardsmen and Marines that I will miss. He was generous to the Freedom Alliance Heroes Scholarship fund for the sons and daughters of military personnel killed in the line of duty. And tough as he was, he could tear-up in a minute when meeting a Gold Star mom or widow. According to a certain hymn, the streets of heaven are guarded by United States Marines. As of Thursday, May 18, there is a rough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside newsman named Roger covering the story fair and balanced. And he can finish every report with the sign-off, Roger, out. One of the most important aspects of immigration reform is bolstering enforcement of existing immigration law. While most unlawful immigrants come to the U.S. seeking a better life for themselves and their families, there are too many others who commit crimes against Americans, including murder. These crimes are especially devastating for the victims loved ones because they could have been prevented if our laws were actually enforced. We have recently introduced legislation, the Davis-Oliver Act, to give law enforcement at all levels the tools and resources they need to keep America safe and secure. This is a vital first step but not the only step in modernizing our broken immigration system. Under President Obama, interior enforcement deteriorated dramatically as his administration refused to enforce immigration laws, rewrote the law through executive action, and implemented policies that enabled millions of unlawful and criminal aliens to remain in the United States free from any possibility of removal. These policies hadand continue to havedramatic consequences. The rule of law was undermined as hundreds of thousands of Central American unaccompanied minors and families arrived at the Southwest border during the Obama years and were released into the U.S. And too many Americans were killed or seriously harmed at the hands of unlawful immigrants who joined gangs and/or committed crimes. The Trump administration has begun to reverse the Obama Administrations disastrous policies and is enforcing the law as written. President Trump has issued executive orders to strengthen the interior enforcement and implement strong border security measures. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are already implementing these executive orders and there have been quick results. Illegal border crossings at the Southwest border have dropped dramatically in 2017, due in large part to consistent enforcement of the law and the strong message that the U.S. no longer tolerates illegal immigration. Despite the progress made within the Executive Branch, our laws still need to be improved to provide the Trump administration with the additional tools it needs and to ensure that all future administrations continue to enforce the law. This week, the House Judiciary Committee will take up a bill to improve the interior enforcement of our immigration laws to prevent criminal aliens from roaming free in our communities. The Davis-Oliver Act is named after Placer County Detective Michael Davis, Jr., and Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver, who were murdered by an unlawful immigrant in California in October 2014. The bill removes the ability of any president to unilaterally shut down immigration enforcement by granting states and localities the authority to enforce federal immigration laws consistent with federal practices. Local law enforcement officers are trusted to enforce many federal laws, including homicide, rape, and drug laws but not immigration laws. The Davis-Oliver Act would change that. The Davis-Oliver Act also ensures that unlawful immigrants convicted of drunk driving are deported. Drunk driving is currently not a deportable offense and many offenders have been released into communities, even when their recklessness results in the death of Americans. For example, in January 2016, 21-year-old Sarah Root was killed in Omaha, Neb., after an unlawful immigrant driving drunk struck her car. She had just graduated from college. To make matters worse, the person responsible was released from custody and is still on the loose. This common sense bill also protects public safety by enhancing penalties for deported felons who return to the United States. And it also strengthens current law to penalize sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. These changes are desperately needed. In 2015, Kate Steinle was murdered in San Francisco, a known sanctuary city, by an unlawful immigrant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who had previously been deported five times and was convicted of multiple felonies. Another criminal immigrant, also deported at least five times, Nicodemo Coria-Gonzales, is suspected of being responsible for nearly a dozen sexual assaults in Austin, Texas. He allegedly kidnapped a woman and attempted to light her on fire using gasoline, and kidnapped and raped a 68-year old woman. We cannot allow dangerous unlawful immigrants to repeatedly enter the U.S. without consequence. The Davis-Oliver Act is not the end of the House Judiciary Committees efforts to improve our nations immigration system, but it is a critical first step. The most important duty of the federal government is to keep Americans safe, and for far too long our immigration laws and lack of enforcement have been failing the American people and harming too many lives. The Republican Congress is working with the Trump administration hand in hand to ensure our laws are enforced and improved, and to enhance public safety. We have much work to do and are committed to ensuring our immigration system is enforced in order to better protect the American people. Weeks before President Trump's inauguration, Michael Flynn told the transition team he was under federal investigation for working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, the New York Times reported late Wednesday. The disclosure by Flynn on Jan. 4 was first made to then-Trump transition team lawyer Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel, two people familiar with the case told the newspaper. Flynn's conversation with the transition team came a month after the Justice Department notified Flynn he was under investigation, according to the Times. The Justice Department investigation was not seen as disqualifying Flynn from the national security adviser position, people close to the retired Army lieutenant general told Fox News. Flynn was fired as national security adviser by Trump on Feb. 13 after the White House said he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials about his communications with Russia's ambassador to the United States. The White House had no immediate comment on the Times story Wednesday night. Earlier Wednesday, people close to the former national security adviser told Fox News that Flynn never asked Trump to interfere or block federal probes. "Flynn never spoke to the president about trying to end or influence any ongoing government investigations of him," Fox News was told. Separately, McClatchy reported Wednesday that Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve a Pentagon plan to retake ISIS' de facto capital, Raqqa, with the help of Syrian Kurdish forces a plan that the government of Turkey had opposed. The Trump administration eventually approved the offensive after Flynn's dismissal. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. He was ultimately paid more than $500,000 to advocate for the Turkish government. The McClatchy report says Flynn's explanation for the decision is not recorded and it was not immediately clear whether he consulted with other members of the transition team. Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report. A House Republican committee chairman called on lawmakers Wednesday to turn the nation's air traffic control operations over to a new, non-profit corporation, saying no other infrastructure change has as much potential to improve travel for the average American flyer. President Donald Trump has also called for privatizing air traffic control operations, suggesting placing them under an "independent, non-governmental organization" to make the system more efficient while maintaining safety. Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told colleagues his top priority this year is to overhaul the Federal Aviation Administration along those lines. He said the effort he'll pursue will fund the new corporation through fees assessed for air traffic services and will free the operations from government dysfunction and the uncertainty of the annual appropriations process. He said the FAA has been trying to put in place a high-tech system for air traffic controllers for nearly three decades, but progress has been incremental. Ultimately, he said, it makes sense to remove the FAA as a transportation service provider and maintain its role as a regulator of air safety. He said that would lead to a decrease in flight delays and ease congestion. "The true risk lies in doing nothing," Shuster said. But Shuster faces opposition from the committee's Democratic members and the union representing the technicians who install, maintain and support air traffic control systems. They fear that turning financing decisions over to a corporation would subject the system to economic hardships and particularly could hurt flight operations at smaller airports. Airlines have been lobbying vigorously for the changes Shuster seeks. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., pointed out they were not invited to testify Wednesday, alluding to recent controversies such as the dragging of a passenger off a United flight. He said their absence shows that supporters of privatization know Americans aren't interested in giving more control over to the airlines. DeFazio said the biggest obstacle to updating air traffic systems has been the broken budget process in Congress and unstable funding from lawmakers. The privatization debate has been going on for decades. The Clinton administration proposed moving air traffic control operations out of FAA to a corporation owned by the government in 1995. Dorothy Robyn, a special assistant to the president on economic policy, told lawmakers that only four nations at that time had moved traffic control operations outside of traditional government operations, and Clinton's proposal was "dead on arrival on Capitol Hill." Now, some 60 countries have transferred their air traffic control operations, she said. "I think it is a mistake to view this proposal as ideological," Robyn said. Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the association will consider supporting a new entity to run air traffic control operations, but it cannot be a for-profit corporation. He said the new system would also have to ensure that air traffic control workers' pay and benefits are protected, and that it continue to serve rural communities, which are worried that privatization would lead to less money for their airports. Rinaldi's group backed Shuster's privatization bill last year. "The last thing we want to do is create a system that's unfair to different users," Shuster told reporters after the hearing. The congressman said he expects the committee to hold one or two more hearings before voting on a bill. A similar effort stalled last year, but Shuster is counting on an "engaged" White House to enhance prospects this year. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman of the House oversight committee, expressed skepticism Wednesday about the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation into possible ties between President Trump's campaign and Russian officials. In an appearance on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Chaffetz said Mueller's credentials were "impeccable." "Hes in the latter part of his career. He has nothing to prove. Hes been silent politically," Chaffetz continued. "It doesnt get any better than Robert Mueller, if youre going to do it." However, Chaffetz added that he had "not seen any evidence of actual collusion" that would require Mueller's appointment. "Where is the actual crime that they think they need a special prosecutor to prosecute?" Chaffetz asked host Tucker Carlson. "I havent seen that." Chaffetz also expressed fears that the likely length of the investigation would cause congressional Democrats to "politically exploit this on a daily drumbeat, making up theories, making up stories, trying to get somebody to grab onto a piece of meat and say, Oh, this is true. "[Mueller] is going to be essentially silent over the next I dont know how long," Chaffetz went on. "Six months? Two years? I dont know." The Justice Departments appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign won bipartisan praise Wednesday night on Capitol Hill, even from those hammering the White House over the controversy in recent days. Top Republicans and Democrats issued statements lauding the choice of Mueller, expressing confidence he would get to the bottom of the matter: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.: A special counsel is very much needed in this situation and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has done the right thing. Former Director Mueller is exactly the right kind of individual for this job. I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead." Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member on the House intelligence committee: "The decision to appoint a special counsel is a very positive step forward. Bob Mueller is a respected former Director of the FBI who knows the Bureau inside and out, and enjoys a superb reputation among members of both parties. His appointment will help reestablish public confidence that the FBI investigation into the Russian active measures campaign during the presidential election and any involvement of U.S. persons will be thorough and any prosecutorial decisions that result are based on sound and independent judgment. The appointment of a special counsel is not a substitute for a vigorous investigation in Congress and the House Intelligence Committee will take steps to make sure our investigations do not conflict and ensure the success of both efforts. We will also want to make certain that the special counsel has all the resources it needs to undertake this important task." Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.: Its time to get to the bottom of this. Ive been pressing the DOJ to take this step for nearly 3 months because the Americans deserve nothing less than the truth. I have faith that Robert Mueller will provide the independence necessary to be sure this investigation is conducted with the trust and confidence of the American people. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.: Robert Mueller is an exceptional public servant -- from his days as a decorated Marine, through his years as a federal prosecutor, to his time as head of the criminal division and then as Acting Deputy Attorney General, and then onto his twelve years of principled leadership as the Director of the FBI. His record, character, and trustworthiness have been lauded for decades by Republicans and Democrats alike. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.: My priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. That is what weve been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine: The Deputy Attorney General made an excellent choice in selecting former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel. He has sterling credentials and is above reproach. Because of his experience leading the FBI for more than a decade, Mr. Mueller has established relationships with FBI agents and will be able to move forward quickly. He is well respected on both sides of the aisle and will inspire public confidence in the investigation. In the meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee will continue our investigation into Russia's attempts to influence elections. This investigation will be broader than the special counsels charge, and it is important that we continue to follow the evidence wherever it may lead. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee: The appointment of Bob Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a good first step to get to the bottom of the many questions we have about Russian interference in our election and possible ties to the president. Bob was a fine U.S. attorney, a great FBI director and theres no better person who could be asked to perform this function. He is respected, he is talented and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member on the House oversight committee: Knowing Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein from his tenure in Baltimore, I think he made a solid choice in Mr. Mueller, and I commend him for putting our country and justice system first. I urge Mr. Mueller to follow the facts wherever they may leadwith integrity and independence. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.: Robert Mueller is the right man to lead this investigation. Hes a strong, independent leader who built an impeccable reputation over decades in law enforcement. And as special counsel, Im confident hell pursue the facts wherever they may lead. As Ive said before, Vladimir Putins acts of aggression pose serious threats to the U.S. and our allies. Weve got to get to the bottom of Russias efforts to meddle in our democratic process so we can keep it from happening again. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.: "This is a critical step and I'm glad Mr. Rosenstein took it. The past 48 hours have shown the lengths that the President and his Administration will go to hinder and halt this investigation, so I will withhold judgment pending its progress. The eyes of the nation are on Mr. Mueller and his team. The special counsel will examine and prosecute any crimes that may have been committed, but this will not solve the bigger crisis of Russia's cyberattack on our countryonly an independent commission can do that." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: The decision by the Deputy Attorney General to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel confirms that the investigation into Russian intervention into our election will continue, as stated last week by Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will also continue its investigation into this matter. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Former FBI Director Mueller is widely respected and has had a distinguished career serving his country under Republican and Democratic administrations. This is very encouraging news and his appointment should go a long way towards depoliticizing the investigation into Russias unprecedented interference in our election. We owe it to the American people to get to the bottom of this. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; "Robert Muellers appointment as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation is a positive step. I am hopeful that he will help us get to the bottom of the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, including any role the president may have played. To ensure the American people have full confidence in this investigation, it must be conducted in an open and transparent manner and be given the full resources it needs. Additionally, the ongoing investigations by both the Senate and House must continue." On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced he had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller III to oversee the bureau's investigation into "Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters." Here's a look at Robert Mueller's life and career: Born August 7, 1944 in New York City Graduated from Princeton University in 1966 and received a master's degree in international relations from New York University the following year Served as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam for three years, receiving a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other medals Graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1973 Worked for 12 years (1976-1988) as an investigator and prosecutor for U.S. Attorney offices in Northern California and Boston Joined the Justice Department in 1989 as an assistant to then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh. During his three-year tenure leading the DOJ's criminal division, Mueller oversaw the prosecutions of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and crime boss John Gotti, as well as the investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. After two years as a partner at the Boston law firm of Hale and Dorr, Mueller rejoined public service in 1995 and went on to work for the U.S. Attorney's offices in Washington D.C. and Northern California. Was nominated to be FBI Director by President George W. Bush on July 5, 2001 and officially assumed that position on Sept. 4. During his tenure, Mueller helped turn the FBI from a criminal investigative bureau into a counterterrorism and counterintelligence unit. In 2004, Mueller, along with then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey, threatened to resign over the Bush administration's program of warrantless surveillance. Bush ultimately agreed to changes in the program and both men stayed on. Mueller left the FBI on Sept. 4, 2013, having served two years beyond his ten-year term at the request of President Barack Obama. He is the second longest-serving FBI director in the bureau's history, behind only J. Edgar Hoover. Since leaving the FBI, Mueller has been a partner at the Washington D.C. law firm WilmerHale. He was expected to resign from the firm after being appointed special counsel to the FBI's Russia investigation. Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., last summer that Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying Donald Trump, a remark spokesmen for both lawmakers dismissed as a bad joke Wednesday. The remark, made just over a month before Trump received the Republican nomination for president, was dismissed as "a failed attempt at humor"by McCarthy's spokesman. "The idea McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false," Matt Sparks told Fox News. The June 15 conversation was first reported by The Washington Post, which claimed it that it heard a recording of the conversation. "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," said McCarthy. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., has said policymakers in Washington have been too harsh on Russia and should work more closely with Moscow to fight extremist groups. According to a transcript from the Post, McCarthy's comment prompted laughter from some Republicans in the room, at which point Ryan jumped in. "No leaks, all right?" the Speaker said, as the laughter continued. "This is how we know we're a real family here." Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck also described the exchange as "an attempt at humor," at one point taking to social media to counter the report. "No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians," Buck said in a statement. "Whats more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russias interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity." Rohrabacher spokesman Ken Grubbs told the Post that the lawmaker was an advocate of "working closer with the Russians to combat radical Islamism. The congressman doesn't need to be paid to come to such a necessary conclusion." Fox News' Mike Emanuel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump said Thursday he is very close to naming a new FBI director to replace James Comey, and his leading contender is former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman. Lieberman, 75, who served in the Senate from 1989-2013, first as a Democrat and then as an independent, met with Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss leading the law enforcement agency. A late and somewhat unlikely addition to Trump's short list, Lieberman is nonetheless the sudden frontrunner. When asked point-blank by a reporter in the Oval Office Thursday if Lieberman was the leading contender, Trump replied, "Yes." Trump also met Wednesday with current acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and FBI official Richard McFeely. Liebermans law enforcement experience stems from his two-term tenure as Connecticuts attorney general, spanning from 1983 until his resignation in 1989 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. WHO IS JOE LIEBERMAN, TRUMP'S TOP PICK FOR FBI DIRECTOR? Lieberman, who ran as vice president on Al Gore's 2000 ticket, became an independent after losing the Democratic primary in 2006. He won re-election, and two years later further angered Democrats when he endorsed John McCain for president against eventual winner Barack Obama, even speaking at the Republican National Convention. Lieberman told Fox Business Network last year that he never changed parties and in fact ended up endorsing Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign against Trump. Some Republican senators called the idea of Lieberman replacing Comey intriguing, but Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said it was a mistake to nominate him. "Lieberman is probably the only person who can get 100 votes in the Senate," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on Capitol Hill on Thursday after the closed Senate briefing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Cornyn was on the White House's shortlist to replace Comey, but withdrew himself from consideration this week. On Thursday morning on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued against a career politician of either party to lead the FBI, though he did not name Lieberman. Fox News' Chad Pergram, John Roberts, and Lesa Jansen contributed to this report. Sen. John McCain condemned Tuesdays brawl between protesters and members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C., and suggested the Turkish ambassador should be thrown the hell out of the U.S. McCain, R-Ariz., appeared on MSNBCs "Morning Joe" on Thursday and slammed Turkish officials for violating American laws. We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America, McCain said. This is the United States of America. This isnt Turkey; this isnt a third-world country; and this kind of thing cannot go un-responded to diplomatically. McCain added: It should have repercussions, including identifying these people and bringing charges against them. After all, they violated American laws. The Secret Service announced on Wednesday that it is investigating the attack that sent nine people to the hospital, and according to the D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, it appeared to be unprovoked. Later in the day Wednesday, McCain and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sent a joint letter to Erdogan to express their "grave concern" with the behavior of his security detail. "The actions of your staff violate the constitutional protections of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly enjoyed by all Americans. Your staffs blatant violation of these rights on American soil is an affront to those freedoms, and reflects poorly on your government," the letter said. "We have long supported Turkey as a member of NATO, and a key U.S. ally in the region, and we expect conduct more appropriate to our decades long partnership." McCain and Feinstein weren't the only lawmakers who condemned the incident and called for action. On Wednesday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., called for the arrest and prosecution of members of Erdogans security detail. If Erdogans bodyguards who participated in this attack have entered the country on diplomatic visas, those visas should be revoked right away, Lofgren said, slamming Erdogan as authoritarian and an oppressor and said that it was unwise for Trump to meet with him. The United States needs to send a strong message that we will not stand by," as Erdogan brings "thuggish tactics to our nations capital, Lofgren said. Also on Wednesday, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday urging immediate action to hold individuals accountable. I ask that you immediately look into this matter and bring all appropriate criminal charges before these individuals leave the United States, Royce wrote. Agents of foreign governments should never be immune from prosecution for felonious behavior. Royce added: Above all else, they should never be permitted to violate the protections afforded by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The State Department issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the incident, and said: Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest. The State Department said they were communicating their concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms. The man tasked with investigating possible meddling by Russia in the 2016 presidential election a probe that will likely encompass President Trumps recent firing of FBI Director James Comey once called Comey one of the finest people Ive ever met. Robert Mueller, Comeys predecessor at FBI from 2001-2013, has a lengthy, close and somewhat controversial history with the man suddenly at the center of investigations swirling around Trump. Mueller on Wednesday evening was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as special counsel to oversee the Justice Departments investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and related issues. Trumps critics contend several of his top campaign aides including onetime campaign chair Paul Manafort, adviser Carter Page and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had suspicious, if not illicit, contacts with Kremlin-linked officials. Trump has denied any collusion with the Russian government and no evidence has been publicly presented to show such collusion. Trump fired Comey May 9, in part, Trump said later, because the Russian investigation was dragging on. In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,'" Trump said. "Its an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. Press leaks, including to Fox News, later established that Comey had written a memo to himself detailing at least one encounter with Trump where the president had suggested he would like to see any investigation of Flynn ended. With growing calls from largely Democratic lawmakers that the Trump administration could no longer credibly conduct any investigation into Russia in the midst of Comeys ouster, Mueller was thrust into the picture. But Mueller and Comey have been longtime allies dating back to at least 2003 when the men both worked in Washington, D.C., Mueller as FBI Director and Comey as Deputy Attorney General. The men were memorably cast mostly via Comeys 2007 testimony as honorable men standing against government overreach when they talked former President George W. Bush out of pushing ahead the renewal of a controversial surveillance program. That episode included a supposedly dramatic hospital bedside encounter when Bush aides tried to get ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft to sign off on the programs renewal. But Ashcroft, and in Comeys telling, Comey himself, stood firmly athwart the pressure and prevailed. Mueller was a confidante of Comey during the initial incident, backing him up and reportedly offering to resign alongside him should the need arise. After Comeys testimony in 2007, Muellers notes were subpoenaed by Congress as a way of verifying the account (which Bush and then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez offer a differing version of). "I hung up, called Director Mueller, with whom I'd been discussing this particular matter and had been a great help to me over that week -- and told him what was happening," Comey testified. "He said, 'I'll meet you at the hospital right now.'" He later told senators of Mueller: Hes one of the finest people Ive ever met. According to a lengthy Washingtonian article published on the eve of Comey succeeding Mueller as FBI head, Mueller was the one person in government in whom [Comey] could confide in and trust. As the showdown with Bush was going on, Comey, riding with Mueller to the White House, reflected on the impending fight that could be bearing down on the men. At least Bob Mueller will be standing on the tracks with me, Comey thought, according to The Washingtonian. When Comey was initially called to Ashcrofts bedside, his first call was to Mueller who reportedly responded: Ill be right there. Now hes tasked with evaluating Comeys accounts and recollections as he tries to play arbitrator in a mushrooming saga thats clouded Trumps nascent presidency. A day after the so-called Comey memo ricocheted through Washington and effectively resulted in the naming of a special counsel to probe what President Trump once called this Russia thing, Vice President Pence filed paperwork to launch his own political action committee. The move is sure to stoke speculation about the VPs future plans though it also could simply be an effort to boost Republican allies on Capitol Hill. Paperwork for the Great America Committee was filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. As a leadership PAC, the group would be able to raise money that could then be channeled to fellow Republicans congressional campaigns. The senior Pence adviser behind the PAC, in an interview with Bloomberg, cast the group as part of Pences effort to boost the presidents legislative agenda. The Vice President is playing a leading role in passing legislation on the Hill, Nick Ayers reportedly said. He wants to support House and Senate members who are helping pass the presidents agenda. The PAC does not mean the vice president is planning any separate run of his own. But at the least, it would allow Pence to demonstrate his fundraising clout and strengthen alliances on Capitol Hill as he distributes that money. The filing comes as Republicans and Democrats are chattering about the possibility however far-fetched, remote and deep into the future that Pence could someday ascend to the presidency. Politico published an article late Wednesday on conservatives hinting that Pence could make a better alternative to Trump. Such speculation intensified over the course of the last week, and especially after The New York Times on Tuesday reported that a memo from fired FBI Director James Comey alleged Trump once asked him to end the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The White House denies this. And after a special counsel was named Wednesday to oversee the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump maintained the investigation will show there was no collusion with his team. On Thursday, he called the controversy a witch hunt. If what the [New York Times] reported is true, Pence is probably rehearsing, one unnamed House Republican told Politico. The special counsel announcement mostly satisfied congressional Democrats who had called for such an appointment. But a handful have floated the threat of impeachment, even amid warnings from their own ranks that they might not like Pence any more than Trump as commander-in-chief. Impeachment also has virtually no support among Republicans in Congress, foreclosing it as an option for the foreseeable future. Asked Thursday about the possibility of a President Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan shrugged off the question. "Good grief. ... I'm not even going to give credence to that, he said. Pence managed to stay away from the Comey controversy for at least a day, as he spent Thursday addressing a U.S. Chamber of Commerce investment summit, while standing by Trump. Pence told the audience theres no better time to invest in America and assured the business community that no matter what is happening in Washington, Trump will never stop fighting for good jobs and opportunities. Political figures remembered Roger Ailes as a patriot and deft tactician in the art of communicating, as they reacted to his death Thursday at the age of 77. His widow, Elizabeth Ailes, announced the news in a statement. I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning," the statement read. "Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to riseand to give back." Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said he was deeply saddened, tweeting about Ailes moments after the statement was released. He had many critics and like ALL of us his sins, but I remember a great patriot, friend and boss, said Huckabee, a Fox News contributor. Karl Rove, a former top George W. Bush adviser and a Fox News contributor, praised his impact on American politics. This is a sad day, Rove said. He had a big heart, and an even bigger brain and what he did for his country through his long life and involvement in public affairs was extraordinary. He played a role in the election of several presidents and gave voice to Americans who had none in the creation of the Fox News Channel. What a remarkable life. Ailes founded Fox News in 1996 and built it into the nation's long-running No. 1 cable news network. He resigned from Fox in July amid charges of sexual harassment, which he denied. Roger Stone, who like Ailes used to work for the late President Richard Nixon, called the former Fox News chairman a good friend and communications genius. Fox News host Sean Hannity also spoke to Ailes acumen in the television world. As his opponents played checkers in life, Roger was always the strategist, playing Chess, 5 steps ahead at a whole other level, he tweeted. He said on Americas Newsroom that Ailes wanted to leave the country in a better place. Alex Conant, a partner at Firehouse Strategies and former communications director to Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, said in an email, Arguably no individual had a greater impact on modern political media than Roger. His vision brought balance to cable news and helped inform millions of Americans. Just days before President Trump was sworn in, his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, reportedly blocked a military plan opposed by Turkey that was supposed to take aim against an ISIS group. The plan that he reportedly blocked was to be carried out by Syrian Kurdish forces in Raqqa, a measure Turkey has long opposed. Flynn, who was fired from his position in February, was registered as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before Election Day. Paperwork filed in March with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit said Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November that "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." The McClatchy news service reported that President Obamas national security team asked for Trumps approval on a plan to retake the Islamic States de facto capital of Raqqa, because it was more than likely to be carried out under his presidency. Timelines distributed by members of Congress show that Flynn told then national security advisor Susan Rice to hold off, delaying the operation for months. Trump eventually approved the plan, but only after Flynn had been fired in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other white House officials about his ties to Russias ambassador to the U.S. It was only weeks later in March when Flynn disclosed to the Foreign Agent Unit Registration Unit of the Justice Department that he was paid for work that could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey. News about Flynn's activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Mueller will have sweeping powers, including the right to bring federal charges. House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee says his panel has not received a response from Michael Flynn's lawyer -- correcting his earlier statement that Flynn would not comply with a subpoena. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina says ousted National Security Adviser Flynn's attorneys "have not yet indicated their intentions regarding the Senate Intelligence Committee's subpoena" as part of the panel's probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Burr says he would welcome Flynn's willingness to cooperate. Hours earlier, Burr said Flynn's lawyer said he wouldn't comply, "and that is not a surprise to the committee. We'll figure out on General Flynn what the next step, if any, is." Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said in an interview Wednesday that he has taken a job as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. The conservative firebrand told WISN-AM in Milwaukee that he will work in the Office of Partnership and Engagement as a liaison to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. He said he will start in June. A DHS spokesman didn't immediately reply to a phone message and email. Clarke, who spoke at the Republican National Convention, was a strong supporter of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. The appointment comes just two weeks after an inquest into the dehydration death of an inmate at the Milwaukee County Jail recommended criminal charges against as many as seven staffers. Clarke wasn't among them. A lengthy inquest into the dehydration death of a Milwaukee County Jail inmate raised troubling questions about how Clarke manages the jail, just as the White House was said to be considering him for the job. Seven jail staffers could face criminal charges after the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office outlined a case for the jury suggesting that disobedient inmates were routinely deprived of water as punishment and pleas for help were ignored. Despite the investigation into his jail, Clarke remained popular with many conservatives, including some who had been trying to get him to run for U.S. Senate next year against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Last year, the frequent Fox News guest earned more than $105,000 in speaking fees almost as much as his sheriff's salary at more than three dozen events across the country. The Associated Press contributed to this report The Trump administration slapped new sanctions on eight members of Venezuela's Supreme Court Thursday, accusing them of abusing power and damaging their nation's democratic fabric as Washington raises concerns that socialist President Nicolas Maduro is moving toward one-party, authoritarian rule. Those blacklisted by the Treasury Department include Maikel Moreno, the president of the pro-government Supreme Court, as well as all seven justices who signed a ruling in late March stripping the opposition-controlled congress of its last remaining powers. The ruling was later partially reversed amid a backlash of international criticism, but it sparked a protest movement that has continued for nearly two months and left more than 40 people dead. "The Venezuelan people are suffering from a collapsing economy brought about by their government's mismanagement and corruption. Members of the country's Supreme Court of Justice have exacerbated the situation by consistently interfering with the legislative branch's authority," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said. "By imposing these targeted sanctions, the United States is supporting the Venezuelan people in their efforts to protect and advance democratic governance in their country." The action marked second time the Trump administration has stripped high-level Venezuelan officials of their U.S. assets and banned Americans from any business dealings with them. In February, the U.S. ordered sanctions against Vice President Tareck El Aissami, accusing him of playing a major role in international drug trafficking. Earlier Thursday, Trump expressed dismay about Venezuela's troubles, asking aloud how a nation sitting atop the world's largest oil reserves could be stricken by so much poverty and unrest. "You sort of have to wonder: Why is that happening? How is that possible? Hopefully that will change and they can use those assets for the good. Because right now what's happening is really a disgrace to humanity," Trump said after meeting at the White House with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. In an appearance on "Special Report with Bret Baier," Santos said the U.S. and Colombia were working together to "force a peaceful transition" of power in Venezuela. "We have three objectives," Santos told host Bret Baier. "One, the two sides to agree on a calendar for elections. Two, the regime to recognize the authority of the [National Assembly] the Congress of Venezuela. And third, to seek a way to liberate [Venezuela's] political prisoners. And were pressing for that and we have to continue to press for that." Venezuela's Supreme Court has long been packed with government loyalists, some of dubious legal qualifications. Moreno first gained notoriety as an attorney defending a group of supporters of then-President Hugo Chavez who fired into a crowd during a 2002 coup attempt. Moreno was later accused by an exiled Supreme Court magistrate of belonging to the so-called "Band of Dwarf Judges" that worked hand in glove with top administration officials to manipulate cases. In 2006, he was removed from a lower court bench but later named to a diplomatic post in Rome. Another sanctioned magistrate, Calixto Ortega, is a long-time diplomat who was sent by Maduro in 2014 to Aruba to negotiate the release of a retired army general who had been arrested by the Netherlands, which runs the Caribbean island's foreign affairs, on a U.S. drug warrant. He was named to the Supreme Court after losing a race for congress in 2015 congressional elections that the opposition won by a landslide. The judges' devotion to the government is indisputable. The court's constitutional chamber declared null and void eight National Assembly laws between January and October 2016, after just one such ruling in the previous 200 years, legal experts say. In issuing its sanctions ruling, the U.S. Treasury Department cited several court rulings since the opposition gained control of congress. One was the approval of Maduro's budget and his appointment of two government sympathizers to the National Electoral Council, decisions that are supposed to require National Assembly approval. Another was a ruling a year ago declaring null all acts of the National Assembly issued while it remains in contempt of an earlier ruling requiring the congress to unseat three elected lawmakers over still-unproven allegations of voting fraud. There was no immediate reaction from the Maduro government, but in the past it has disputed that the country's justice system is politicized. Maduro has said he had no prior knowledge of the Supreme Court ruling against congress in March, pointing to the objections raised by his chief prosecutor as proof that Venezuela's institutions operate independently. The new sanctions come as Maduro is facing increasing international pressure to hold elections. On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council discussed the crisis in Venezuela for the first time at the request of the United States. The Washington-based Organization of American States is holding a rare foreign ministers council session on the troubled South American nation later this month. Maduro has vowed to resolve his nation's crisis by convoking a special assembly to rewrite Venezuela's constitution. The opposition rejects that plan as another attempt by the president to tighten his grip on power, and opposition leaders are calling on Venezuelans to continue to take to the streets in protest. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have participated in near-daily anti-government street demonstrations since the Supreme Court's ruling in late March. The protests typically end with state security forces launching tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators, some of whom fire back with rocks and gasoline bombs. More than 2,000 people have been detained and several hundred put through military tribunals, according to Foro Penal, a nonprofit lawyers' cooperative defending many of those charged. Hundreds have been injured and at least 43 killed, a toll that equals the deaths in the nation's last wave of political upheaval in 2014. Fox News' Rich Edson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump on Thursday strongly denied any collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and rejected allegations that he pressured then-FBI Director James Comey to drop a related investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn saying the entire thing has been a witch hunt. There was no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign but I can only speak for myself and the Russians zero, he said, adding that questions surrounding his campaign were divisive and pulled focus from other problems facing the nation. I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things, he said. But Trump, speaking in the East Room of the White House during a joint press conference alongside the visiting Colombian president, said while he respected the move by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel in the Russia probe, the entire thing has been a witch hunt. He also denied he urged Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, telling reporters, No, no. Next question. The allegation was made by Comey himself in a memo he wrote after a meeting in February. The memo emerged in press accounts this week after being revealed by Comey associates, in the wake of Trumps decision to fire Comey last week. The denials amount to Trumps most extensive, public response yet to the wave of negative reports aimed at the White House and members of the Trump administration. Trump on Thursday also defended his Comey decision and took aim at the former bureau boss credibility and popularity. Comey was very unpopular, Trump said. He added, When I made that decision, I actually thought that it would be a bipartisan decision because you look at all of the people on the Democratic side, not only the Republican side, that were saying such terrible things about Director Comey. The president dismissed suggestions of criminal charges and impeachment talk. I think its totally ridiculous, he said. Everybody thinks so. Trump spoke alongside Colombian President Juan Santos though the progress made during a work session at the White House between representatives of the two countries took a back seat to the wave of political controversies blanketing the Trump administration. Still, both leaders were able to get in a few words about the bi-national cooperation to eliminate drug trafficking networks, illicit financing, coca cultivation and cocaine production, of which there is far too much. Trump said his administration was committed to cutting the flow of drugs into the United States. President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning to rail against the investigation into allegations of Russian collusion with his campaign, hours after a special counsel was named to oversee the probe. Trump deployed his characteristic social media bombast to take his unvarnished response directly to voters, elaborating on the staid written statement issued the night before that denied any collusion with Kremlin-linked officials. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! Trump tweeted. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump fired back ahead of a briefing Thursday afternoon for all U.S. senators being held by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The senior DOJ official, who made the call to appoint a special counsel, is set to brief lawmakers on Trump's controversial decision last week to fire FBI Director James Comey, a move that escalated calls on Capitol Hill for an outside counsel. The pair of tweets on Thursday echoed advice Trump gave Wednesday afternoon to graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, in which he urged the cadets never to give in and always to fight back. Over the course of your life you will find that things arent always fair, not always warranted but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight, Trump said. Never ever give up. Things will work out just fine. In the speech, he also decried his treatment at the hands of the media, saying no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly. The Twitter messages and Coast Guard Academy remarks were in stark contrast to the statement issued by Trump after the Wednesday night appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and other matters. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, Trump said. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. A senior administration official told Fox News that Trump was measured in his response to news of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, telling his staff it was time to move forward. Some members of Trump's team were surprised the president's reaction wasn't more visceral -- though Trump eventually ramped up his response in public with the Thursday tweets. Fox News' John Roberts contributed to this report. President Donald Trump leaves the United States today for his first overseas trip as commander-in-chief, with a full itinerary of stops throughout the Middle East and Europe. His trip begins Friday with a stop in Saudi Arabia, followed by planned visits to Israel and the Vatican. Trump will later attend the 28th NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, and the 43rd G7 summit in Taormina, Italy. The president's travel comes on the heels of a number of highly publicized controversies, including the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey. Below is a look at what the president has lined up so far. Saudi Arabia Trump will arrive in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where there will be an arrival ceremony, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said at a news conference Tuesday. He's slated to have coffee with King Salman, go to bilateral meetings with members of the royal family and attend a royal banquet, McMaster told reporters. The president will also attend "a signing ceremony of several agreements that will further solidify U.S.-Saudi security and economic cooperation." Trump and first lady Melania Trump will partake in an official dinner with the Saudi royal family that evening, according to McMaster. The next day, Trump will meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, McMaster said. That afternoon, Trump is slated to have lunch with leaders from dozens of Muslim countries, "where he will deliver an inspiring, yet direct speech on the need to confront radical ideology," according to McMaster. Trump is also expected to later participate in "the inauguration of a new center intended to fight radicalism and promote moderation" as well as in a Twitter forum. Israel Trump will meet with Israel President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem and plans to lay a wreath at Yad Vashem, a Holocaust memorial. Trump is also expected to give remarks at the Israeli Museum before later meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He and Melania will also attend a private dinner with Netanyahu and the prime minister's wife, Sara. Trump will meet Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem the next morning and "convey his administration's eagerness to facilitate an agreement that ends the [Israeli/Palestinian] conflict," McMaster said. Other planned stops include the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Western Wall, where Trump will pray. PUTIN ON TRUMP-LAVROV MEETING: I'LL HAND OVER RECORDS The Vatican The next day, Trump is going to have a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, McMaster said. "He looks forward to celebrating the rich contributions of Catholics to America and to the world, and to discussing a range of issues of mutual concern," he explained. Trump is planning to tour St. Peter's. He will also meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella. TRUMP'S AGENDA AT RISK AFTER SERIES OF CONTROVERSIES Belgium Trump will meet King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, as well as Prime Minister Charles Michel. He will later meet with the presidents of the European Union and the European Council. He's expected to later have a "working lunch" with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron, McMaster said. Trump will follow that by delivering remarks at the unveilling of a NATO memorial and will reaffirm the United States' commitment to NATO, McMaster said. Trump, along with Secretary of Defense James Mattis, will also attend a meeting and dinner with NATO leaders. Italy Trump is expected to then travel to the 43rd G7 summit, which will be held May 26-27 in Taormina on the island of Sicily. In the meetings, he'll "press America's economic agenda and call for greater security cooperation," McMaster said. On the first night of the G7, he'll also go see La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra and attend a dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Trump is planning to speak to U.S. troops at Sigonella Naval Air Station before he leaves Italy. Its been more than a year since Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to oversee the investigation into whether Donald Trumps presidential campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election. Mueller was tasked with overseeing the Russia investigation, including any links between the Russian government and people associated with Trumps campaign. Trump repeatedly has called the investigation a witch hunt and insisted theres been no collusion. Hes also called the appointment of Mueller, which came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the case, unconstitutional. The terms special counsel, special prosecutor and independent counsel are largely the same, though there are distinctions in how each is appointed. Read on for a timeline of other notable special counsel appointments in American history. Plame affair; 2003 Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plames identity. He was appointed by James Comey, then deputy attorney general, after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the probe. Before his appointment, Fitzgerald was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York who prosecuted terrorism cases in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, The Washington Post reported. He also was the first lawyer who built a criminal indictment against Usama bin Laden, according to the newspaper. SCOOTER LIBBY PARDONED IN CIA LEAK CASE In more recent times, Fitzgerald reportedly was under consideration to become a special prosecutor tasked with investigating former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email server. Whitewater scandal; 1994 Robert B. Fiske Jr. originally was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Janet Reno, who served in the Clinton administration, to investigate misconduct pertaining to the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed real estate venture headed by President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, along with James and Susan McDougal. The probe also included the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr., which was ruled a suicide. As special counsel, Fiske led the questioning of the Clintons, The New York Times reported in 1994. The newspaper described the event as an extraordinary move as it was the first time a sitting president provided a sworn deposition about his conduct. That same year, Fiske was ousted, and former solicitor general Kenneth Starr was appointed special counsel by a panel of judges. They said they removed Fiske so that he'd be protected against perceptions of conflict. Starrs investigation ultimately led to the impeachment of Clinton as it encompassed the Monica Lewinsky scandal. By 1999, Starr was replaced with veteran prosecutor Robert Ray. Ray closed the investigation in 2000, officially clearing the Clintons of any wrongdoing in the failed Whitewater project. Iran-contra affair; 1986 Appointed by a panel of judges, independent counsel Lawrence Walsh was tasked with investigating alleged misdeeds by the Reagan administration in the sale of weapons to Iran to fund resources and weapons for U.S.-backed rebels in Nicaragua. After seven years, Walsh cleared President Ronald Reagan and his administration of criminal wrongdoing in the sale of the weapons, The New York Times reported in 1994. However, Walsh said he found Reagan had knowingly participated or at least acquiesced in a cover-up of a scandal. EXPLAINED: SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT MUELLERS INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP, RUSSIA In all, Walsh charged 14 people with crimes, mostly related to trying to withhold or hide information from Congress. The paper reported that 11 people pleaded guilty or were convicted. Watergate scandal; 1973 Archibald Cox was appointed special prosecutor to lead the Watergate investigation in 1973. Cox tried to force the White House to turn over then-President Richard Nixon's taped Oval Office conversations. In what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre, Cox was dismissed from his post later that year. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus already had resigned in protest after Nixon ordered them to fire Cox. Nixon resigned in 1974 while facing impeachment. Federal government conspiracy allegations; 1952 Officially dubbed "special assistant attorney general," Newbold Morris was appointed by then-Attorney General J. Howard McGrath as special prosecutor, tasked with cleaning out corruption in the federal government, it was reported at the time. Specifically, Morris investigated a reported conspiracy among Justice Department and Bureau of Internal Revenue officials who allegedly were fixing tax cases and accepting illegal payments. Morris sent special questionnaires to most federal administrative employees and requested McGraths personal financial records and notes, according to The Atlantic. McGrath ultimately fired Morris before he resigned from his Cabinet position. Narwhal tusks have long fascinated Inuits but there has never been scientific evidence for how they are actually used. Well, drone footage has finally confirmed one useof these strange extensions. In a short clip, a narwhal is shown striking, stunning, and eating a small fish -- the first time such behavior has been captured on tape. "We know narwhals come in an out of the fjords in the summer but its not totally clear what they do, Marianne Marcoux, one of the scientists who worked on the study, told Digital Trends. "The drone allows us to get a new vantage point without disturbing the animals. Initiated as a pilot study to test the usefulness of the drone, the goal was to count how many narwhals were entering Tremblay Sound, Nunavut. The research team from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), World Wildlife Fund Canada, the Vancouver Aquarium, and Arctic Bear Productions got a surprise. "We found the narwhal would use the tusk to tap fish and it would stun them a little bit, and the narwhal could then suck in the fish, Marcoux said. Stunning fish is now an acknowledgedsecondary function of the tusk -- the first of which is for sexual selection. "Its a bit like the feathers of the peacock in that it allows the female to judge the male on his qualities, Marcoux said. This secondary function is closely related to another hypothesis, which suggests the tusks are used as sensory organs. The narwhal's tusk is a hollow canine tooth that spirals out from the animals head, reaching lengths of up to nine feet. A nerve runs through its middle and small holes enables the narwhal to sense its environment, such as electricity generated by fish. Despite their apparent noise, the drones dont seem to disturb the narwhals. Marcoux said at least one other study has measured drone noise above and below water in the environments and determined that the devicesweren't loud enough to bother the animals. The researchers plan to return with a drone next year summer to observe moms and their calves. Moving far beyond Windows on the desktop, Microsoft wants to provide the platform for all of your devices, from handsets to headsets. At its recent Build developer conference and EDU event, the software giant laid out its vision of the very near future. Here are four ways Microsoft plans to become an even more ubiquitous part of your daily life. Youll download (good) apps from the Windows Store. Today, most people download programs from their publishers, third-party vendors or open-source repositories. However, Microsoft really wants you to get all your software from its Windows Store, much in the way you get iPhone or Android apps from Apples and Google's stores, respectively. Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10 S operating system, which is targeted at students, will only install apps that come from the Windows Store. Meanwhile, the company is adding more important software, such as iTunes and Autodesk, to the store. The store promises more convenience, as it ensures a certain level of quality and security while allowing you to sync apps across different devices. The company also gets a share of revenue from apps sold through its store, while developers have the chance to build one program that can run on Xbox, phones, headsets and computers. Windows will be on iOS and Android (sort of). Ding dong! You hear that? Its Windows Phones death knell. Microsoft has all but acknowledged that its mobile phone platform can't compete with Android and iOS. Thats why its focusing on putting its core functionality onto iOS and Android via apps. For instance, to use the new universal Windows 10 keyboard, youll have to use its Word Flow keyboard. Want to use the Continue Where You Left Off feature? Youll install Cortana on your phone. Youll have affordable VR, but no HoloLens. Lets make two things clear: 1. HoloLens is nowhere near ready for a consumer launch. It may never be. 2. Microsofts Windows Mixed Reality headsets are regular VR headsets. HoloLens, while still amazingly cool, is shaping up to be an enterprise tool. That means you shouldnt expect it to be available to the public for years (or maybe even longer). Almost every HoloLens demonstration Ive seen has involved building something, showing off models at scale, providing detailed instructions or working in a space collaboratively with others. Considering the dev kit is still $3,000 and the enterprise version is $5,000, Microsoft wont have it at a mass-market price for a while. Even then, developers will need to build tools that make it worthwhile. In other words, there are no holograms coming to your home anytime soon. Acers "mixed reality" headset is Microsofts favorite consumer device to show off right now, but youll see similar options from HP, Lenovo, Dell and others soon. Despite Microsoft and partners call these products "mixed reality" devices, they only do VR, and on the Acer at least, the output is blurry around the edges. However, for $299 ($399 with controllers), the price is right for mass adoption. Cortana will be your digital assistant. Heres where Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do. Many of the companys recent announcements subtly say one thing: Amazon was right. By the end of the year, youll be able to buy Microsofts digital assistant in a speaker. Cortana is getting its own speaker , courtesy of audio titan Harman Kardon, but it wont be released until the fall. HP is also building its own Cortana device . Microsoft released a Cortana skills kit to developers; initial actions include telling the weather from Dark Sky and delivering pizza from Dominos. Thats all well and good, but Amazons Echo speaker and Alexa assistant dominate the market M ore than 11 million units have been sold , according to Morgan Stanleys estimates with Googles Home speaker in a distant second place. Alexa has more than 10,000 skills , so Microsoft is desperate for developers to jump on board and make its assistant the best. If they dont get on board, youll probably be using Alexa instead. You may already be. If Cortana has one advantage, its that its already built into millions of PCs running Windows 10. According to Microsoft, more than 145 million people use it in some fashion (but far fewer than the 500 million who use Windows 10 monthly), either speaking or typing, so at least theres some familiarity. And it means your PC will be a smart home device, too . But Cortana has a lot of work to do to catch up with Amazon and Alexa. Microsoft claims that AI will eventually reach all of its products , from Windows PCs to Xbox to Bing. The companys new bot framework will, in theory, help organize your life and files, by scheduling meetings and summoning whatever youre working on. In theory, theyll work hand in hand with Cortana for seamless interactions. This is an area where Microsoft could surge ahead of Amazon (Amazon doesnt really have a need to work on Windows PCs), but everywhere else, it has a lot of catching up to do. Microsofts New Future More than ever, Microsoft has its eggs in many baskets: Windows, high-end PC hardware, AR, VR, AI, cloud computing and Xbox, to name just a few. (Well hear more about the latter at E3, when the company discusses its 4K powerhouse, Project Scorpio.) Microsoft will play a bigger role than ever in your digital life that is, if it can court developers to give you experiences better than those from Google and Amazon. Microsoft says it will make Windows great, and that Windows will make your other platforms so much better, that youll want to use Microsoft services and apps everywhere. Will you? Only time will tell. Ransomware can be a deadly scourge for companies and individual users. If you dont believe that, just ask emergency room workers in the UK. Last week, the WannaCry ransomware attack crippled their network -- one report suggested people with life-threatening injuries were told not to come to the hospital. Another said ambulances were redirected. Seeing a ransomware message on a computer screen is also a major source of stress. The computer suddenly becomes under the control of a foreign entity, one that starts demanding a payment -- usually in Bitcoin to protect their identity -- to release locally-stored files and apps. FACEBOOK FINED $122M OVER WHATSAPP PRIVACY DISPUTE But now, researchers have another possible solution. In the future, security systems could use artificial intelligence to monitor user behavior, track activity, suggest when there may be a danger and even mount an attack against the ransomware purveyors, effectively rendering the deadly malware client inoperable. AI helps organizations understand the network and its activity, says Jason Kichen, the Director of Cybersecurity Services at Versive. It can then clearly articulate to the security team what the problem is, so that those teams can make informed decisions. Raja Mukerji, the cofounder and Chief Customer Officer at ExtraHop Networks, equates how an AI can block ransomware to how airport security stops people from using water bottles. Today, everyone has to drop their water bottle in a bin. Current computer security systems tend to use the same approach -- all traffic is monitored and blocked. Yet, harmful agents still sneak through, as is the case with the WannaCry virus. A new technique using AI in airport security would not block all water bottles. It would be smart enough to identify behavior. CYBERATTACKS THREATEN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMY At the airport, an AI might use computer vision technology to know when someone acts nervous and twitchy, or why the same person keeps approaching different checkpoints. Similarly, an AI could look for strange activity on your computer -- a Windows app that doesnt belong there, an email from someone you dont know with an attachment, or something else malicious. AI looks for patterns of contextual irregularity in peoples behavior, explains Mukerji. Its all about preventing a compromise, but doing so in a dynamic, adaptable manner. Kichen says AI could add significant value. Often, a ransomware attack such as WannaCry uses social engineering -- someone working the graveyard shift in ER clicks on an attachment and cripples the network. Suddenly, the computer is hijacked. An AI would know an incredible amount of information -- that the workers is tired and overworked, that he or she is not computer-savvy, that the server used to send an email is from a known hacker. Interestingly, some of this machine learning is already in use, analyzing network traffic. However, where an AI really helps is in predicting imminent threats. Marty Kamden, a spokesperson for NordVPN, says the greatest dangers are those we know nothing about. Yet, there is a vast treasure trove of information about previous attacks, techniques, and success. An AI could learn and adapt faster than any human. In the end, that could save lives. Especially in an emergency room. This is a rush transcript from "Your World," May 18, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. Perhaps it seems fitting on a day we cover the latest on a president railing against the mainstream media, we report on the passing of a news pioneer who challenged that mainstream media. Roger Ailes, who put Fox News on the map, is now gone from this world he was 77 years old. It seems fitting he was born in the midst of a world war. I used to joke fighting was in his DNA from the get-go. Something had to explain how Roger refused to let-go of conventional truths the media took as a given, spoon-fed to a public that knew or saw or read little else. It is said Roger democratized news not so much a response to the left, but as he would tell me, what was left out. That was his battle plan. What the others were leaving out. As he would tell me later, he had nothing else. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Roger Ailes: When I had to launch Fox News and we had no studios, control rooms, stars, programs, or anything else, but we did have an idea. And we knew there was an audience. And we knew how to do it. (END VIDEO CLIP) Lost in this age-old argument about what is Fox News, throughout my earliest days working with Roger when this place was just starting up more than two decades ago he would instead remind me what Fox was not, and is not, that were not the same. The same approach to the same stories the same way, each day, every day. Roger encouraged us to look at the bad, but also see the good. To recognize that capitalism has its sinners. But it also has its saviors. That being rich isn't bad. Acting like it is. That not all priests are pedophiles. And not everyone who prays is pathetic. That god and country mean something. And always dismissing one or both says something about a generation that has forgotten its roots, as much as it's lost its core. Roger was among the first to say that being a good journalist and a good patriot are not incompatible. Assuming you could be a good journalist without being a good patriot was, for Roger, that was kind of unthinkable. Fair and balanced seems almost an over-used phrase today. It was an alien concept more than two decades ago around today. Back then the media felt they were doing just fine, there's no audience for something like Fox. Roger proved there was, the vast majority of disheartened spoon-fed media customers, who proved there was a widespread hungering for Fox. To this day, there are still journalists who prefer to say we at Fox tilt to the right, but would never say of any of their colleagues or themselves, they tilt to the left. That tilt is fine. That tilt is accepted. That bias is okay. That tilt is encouraged. That tilt remains the prism through which the media sees the world and shares its vision of the world. They're entitled to that point of view. Roger was the first to say they're not entitled to stacking the facts to support that point of view. It made Fox a pariah with media folks, even as it made Fox a phenomenon with most average folks. Maybe that is Roger's lasting legacy that he made the obvious so obvious. The bias so transparent. What qualified as news so predictable. That's the chasm Roger Ailes brought to life and this channel brought to the world. The gulf between what mattered to the media world and what mattered to the real world. Between the folks writing the lines, and the folks tired of the same old lines. Between those supposedly providing a service, and those who were getting sick of that service. The media never got that. Roger Ailes never forgot that, that was something that we would never forget ever and he wasnt going to slow down. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Ailes: I love Fox News. I understand where it fits in the world. I want it to continue forever and I want it to grow and be strong. Cavuto: But you have no near term plans? Ailes: Well my near term plans are to put my competitors out of business completely. I get up every day figuring 'this is how we're going to do this.' And I don't think about anything else. And I wouldn't recommend anybody for the job who didn't think that way. (END VIDEO CLIP) Roger Ailes would be the first to tell you he was an unlikely revolutionary. And his fly-over country roots in Ohio, made him an even more unlikely media titan. He used to say given the choice between hiring someone with a good IQ versus a good EQ, he'd pick the EQ candidate every time. Because, he said, common sense matters. There is much over the last year that I have as tough a time comprehending today as I did a year ago. Back then I was recovering from open heart surgery and through everything that was going on, constant phone calls from Roger and his wife Beth checking in on how I was coming along. Much I still can't fathom, save that Roger apparently compartmentalized a lot. Maybe more than most. I'll never know for sure. But I sure know this. Nothing takes away from what he did, what he created, and the legacy left. No less than Rupert Murdoch, who not only appreciated Roger's vision, but funded it, saw it and Roger's great potential: A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping Americas media over the last thirty years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted. Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. All the lives and anchors you know so well here. Roger saw something in each and every one of us constantly. In the end, after all the controversies, all the battles, all the back and forth over allegations, some real, some maybe not this much is certain. We are here, I am here, a fair and balanced alternative to same-old is here because this middling kid who didnt quite do that well in school from Ohio, somehow took it upon himself to change the world. A remarkable testament. A remarkable life. Roger Ailes, gone at 77. Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. Micaela Bensko wanted Virgin Atlantic to learn from the mistakes they made last week when they denied her and her service dog entry into their JFK lounge. But instead, Bensko says she only got a tone-deaf peace offering from the airline. Bensko, a wheelchair-bound mother of four who suffers from severe spinal pain as the result of an accident in 2011, was initially denied entry into Virgin Atlantics JFK lounge on May 10, when a Virgin employee told her that that her dog, Blue Belle, didnt have the correct paperwork for a service animal, and might cause a possible discomfort to others in the lounge. BRIDE AND GROOM ON WAY TO WEDDING BOOTED OFF UNITED FLIGHT Bensko told Fox News that she knew enough about Federal Law and service-animal regulations to refute the employees statements she always pays extra to use an airport lounge so she can lay down and alleviate her spinal pain before a flight, and she always travels with her dog but she and Blue Belle still were not granted access. Bensko later uploaded footage and audio from the incident to YouTube, along with an open letter to the airline industry asking for a change in how airlines and corporations train (or in this case, don't train) their employees as to the federal laws mandated specifically to protect the disabled. Now, days after the incident, Bensko tells Fox News that she finally received a response from Virgin Atlantic, but they didnt exactly tell her what she wanted to hear. Bensko spoke with a representative from Virgin Atlantic earlier this week, and on May 15, she says the airline emailed her to apologize. According to the letter, which she shared with Fox News, a representative for the airline promised that the company was working with its customer-facing teams to ensure the proper care of all our customers as it relates to their policies. He then offered her a ticket for a complementary domestic return flight and the full use of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse during her travel. I am truly sorry and I hope that you will be in touch when you wish to take advantage of this, read the letter provided by Bensko. DISABLED REPORTER BLASTS EASYJET AFTER BEING STRANDED WITHOUT WHEELCHAIR ASSISTANCE According to Bensko, however, a free ticket isnt what she was fishing for. A single ticket for me, no matter how glamorous it may sound, is unthinkable and again tone-deaf to all we have discussed, responded Bensko, before urging the representative to research complex regional pain syndrome (CRSP) and arachnoiditis, which are two of the chronic conditions she suffers from. Bensko also reiterated her opinion that Virgin Atlantics employee-training program needs an overhaul. I hold your employee less culpable than the neglectful nature of your employee training program focusing just on the general population, and not the millions of disabled passengers, as an efface to the very foundation your company is based on by Richard Branson's humanitarian ideals, she wrote. Bensko tells Fox News that she had originally hoped Virgin could be the first airline to take a stand for the disabled, and further educate their employees on proper ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) laws. But now, she says shes hoping her story can inspire at least one other carrier to step forward. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS I'm not going away until the airlines, even just one airline, says they are going to be the first to say they care, she said. Bensko has not yet heard back from the airline about her latest letter, though she did confirm that she filed formal complaints with Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation, the latter of whom is submitting her case for investigation. A representative for Virgin Atlantic has since told Fox News the initial incident was a "genuine mistake," and that the company is reviewing its training procedures to prevent further mistakes. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year. The jury will decide whether Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby went too far Sept. 16 when she killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on a city street where his SUV had stalled. The jury got the case shortly after noon, following closing arguments in which prosecutors said Crutcher was not a threat to Shelby, did not make any aggressive moves toward her or any of the responding officers and didn't say he was going to be aggressive toward her. Shelby, who has been on unpaid leave, faces four years to life in prison if convicted. Defense attorney Shannon McMurray said Shelby shot Crutcher because she thought he was reaching into his SUV for a gun. There was no gun in the vehicle. "To somehow imply that she was supposed to see what was in this door panel is absurd. It's deceitful and you should disregard it," McMurray told jurors. But in his closing remarks, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray challenged the defense argument that Shelby shot Crutcher as he appeared to be reaching into the vehicle. Gray told jurors that enhanced video clips of the shooting captured on police dashboard camera and a helicopter hovering overhead appear to show that Crutcher was shot five seconds before he appeared to reach inside the SUV. The defense attacked prosecutors for charging Shelby with first-degree manslaughter just six days after the shooting, saying the case was rushed. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said defense attorneys know it was "a bad shoot." "Do any of their attacks on me have anything to do with Sept. 16? Don't let yourself be distracted," Kunzweiler told the jury. Throughout closing arguments, Shelby, 43, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion. Her husband, also a Tulsa police officer, sat in the row directly behind the defense table. Crutcher's family and community members occupied many of the seats in the courtroom. Crutcher is one of at least 20 black people in the U.S. whose deaths after police encounters in recent years have brought national attention and galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement has called on people to demand more accountability from law enforcement. The video taken of Crutcher's shooting by the dashboard camera and helicopter shows Crutcher walking away from Shelby toward his SUV with hands above his head. Shelby's attorneys say that in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground. Shelby took the witness stand in her own defense during the trial, testifying that she feared for her life when she shot Crutcher. A northern California couple captured their wedding on Mount Everest in vivid photos. James Sissom, 35, and Ashley Schmeider, 32, of Sacramento, California, in March climbed the earths highest mountain with photographer Charleton Churchill for the adventurous wedding, according to USA Today. The photos are amazing and well treasure them for the rest of our lives, but the experience also brought us closer together, Sissom told People. Schmeider became interested in Mount Everest after reading Into Thin Air, a book about the authors experience during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. This was kind of a bucket list trip for us, Schmeider said. This is already something we had planned on doing in the future, but not necessarily for a wedding." Schmeider contacted Churchill on Instagram, where the photographer posts pictures of the adventurous weddings and engagements he shoots. The couple and Churchill discussed and decided on Mount Everest for a wedding destination. COUPLE WHO LOST 578 POUNDS COMBINED ARE GETTING MARRIED The two spent nine months preparing for their hike. The couple, along with Churchill, hired porters, guides and cooks and then traveled on a 15-hour flight to Nepal. On March 8, the group began climbing. The group stayed in small brick structures along the hike and endured freezing temperatures and rising altitudes. After eight days, the group made it to the camp on March 16, the wedding day. They were 17,500 feet high. The couple had a small ceremony and posed for pictures in freezing temperatures. Both Sissom and Schmeider wore thermal underwear beneath their suit and dress. MAN WHOSE WEDDING WENT VIRAL ACCUSED OF FAKING TERMINAL ILLNESS Schmeider said she was initially concerned about how the pictures would look. I didnt feel like the prettiest bride on my wedding day, she said. I was really blown away when I saw them and I dont know how he made us look like we did. Millennials seem to have it all: college courses covering the most obscure topics, social media and an app for nearly every one of life's needs. But college and technology have failed to teach the most basic skill -- how to live like an adult -- according to the founders of an "adulting" school where young men and women can learn how to manage debt, unclog a drain and figure out how to do what grownups call a handshake. "Our mission is to teach basic stuff about life that were not taught in school but need to know in order to be successful adults," said Rachel Weinstein, a psychotherapist, who along with another woman founded The Adulting School in Portland, Maine. It offers live events as well as webinars with the goal of making millennials self-sufficient and equipped to handle the most basic adult duties. "What is 'adulting'? It's being able to take care of those mundane, adult responsibilities, like keeping your bills organized, changing the oil in your car and creating a budget," Weinstein told Fox News. Weinstein and Katie Brunelle founded The Adulting School late last year with a focus on particular areas such as money, work, relationships, wellness and health and community. "You're smart and capable -- your education just didn't provide you with all the skills you need," the school -- which doesn't offer conventional classroom courses -- boasts on its website. The website also offers a free, online "Adulting IQ" test for readers to determine how efficient they are as real-world adults. Among the "yes" or "no" questions include: -- I rock basic budgeting -- I understand the important details of credit card, debit card and loan offers -- I know how to build a positive credit history -- I can hang a picture on my wall -- I can patch a hole in a wall -- I know how to put in a spare tire Those with a failing grade receive a message, saying, "Sorry to break it to you -- your parents are tired of your daily calls for help." Weinstein said there are many factors that contribute to the phenomenon known as "adulting." The decline in home economics classes at public high schools around the country, for instance, has prevented students from learning real-life, self-sufficient skills that adulting lessons seek to address. "We focused on eye contact and the handshake," she said. "We asked the question, 'What do you convey through your handshake?" Rachel Weinstein Weinstein said students have become increasingly focused on building the most impressive college resume -- in effect devoting all their time to academic and extracurricular activities. "These days students are going to track practice or to theater club after school all the things that are going to beef up their applications to colleges," she said. "They're not going home to help cook the family dinner or to apply for a part-time job." Weinstein also cited the increased use in social media -- like Facebook or Instagram -- saying, "If you dont know how to use it in moderation, it can really be a time suck." Weinstein and Brunelle recently hosted an event called, "Put yourself out there: Network like a pro." "We focused on eye contact and the handshake," she said. "We asked the question, 'What do you convey through your handshake?" she said. "It sounds basic, but people dont talk about that stuff explicitly." To those who mock the idea of "adulting" -- particularly among older generations -- Weinstein said she has a simple message: "Ive never seen anyone improve his or her life or get stronger from just criticism. If people have a problem with it, they should ask, 'How can I help?" Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy news service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasn't reported, but Turkey has long opposed U.S. military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces. At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department. News about Flynn's activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Mueller will have sweeping powers, including the right to bring federal charges. House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating. Trump fired Flynn in February on other grounds that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. McClatchy's reporting reflects previous reports in The New Yorker and other media outlets about Flynn's work on behalf of Turkey. The military plan against the Islamic State stronghold was eventually approved, but not until after Flynn had been fired. A convicted California cop killer is set to be released from prison, but the slain officers family is fighting to keep him behind bars. I never thought wed be here trying to fight for him to stay in prison. What kind of justice system would release a cop killer? the victim's son, George Aguilar, Jr., told KABC-TV. Sgt. George Aguilar, an 18-year police veteran with the Inglewood Police Department, was murdered in March 1988 while chasing several robbery suspects. Getaway driver Joevone Elster, who was 14 and a member of the Crip Gang at the time of the crime, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. OFFICER FATALITIES GROW AS MONTANA DEPUTY IS KILLED ON DUTY Aguilars family learned of Elsters release on Tuesday, leaving them shocked and devastated. He is scheduled to be paroled Friday, according to ABC. According to family members, the killer was previously granted parole, but Gov. Jerry Brown reversed the decision. Los Angeles Superior Court later overturned Browns decision, allowing the original parole grant to be reinstated. He absolutely loved his job, Aguilars daughter, Camille Zamorano, said of her father. He gave his life for it, and now our justice system is going to allow the person responsible for his murder to walk the streets. DAUGHTER OF NYC COP KILLED IN 9/11 ATTACKS JOINS NYPD Aguilars family is pleading for help from Gov. Brown and asking that the public speak out on behalf of their plight. Aguilar, according to KABC, was well-known in the law enforcement community so much so, that his murder was turned into the 1994 docudrama, "Victor One," with actor Danny Trejo playing the slain officer. The governors office said Brown is unlikely to overturn the Superior Courts decision, as it has already gone through the legal process, and usually it does not succeed in reversing a reversal that has already been approved by that court. One woman was killed and 22 other pedestrians were struck when a speeding car plowed into a crowd in New York's Times Square on Thursday afternoon. The suspected driver, Richard Rojas, was taken into custody in the incident, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a news conference. The 26-year-old Bronx man had two prior arrests for driving while intoxicated, in 2008 and 2015, and he was being tested for alcohol consumption on Thursday. Rojas is a U.S. citizen who previously served in the Navy, authorities said. There's no indication the crash was related to terrorism, de Blasio said; however, the White House and FBI were made aware of the incident. Of those who were hit, an 18-year-old woman was killed and her 13-year-old sister injured. Four of the 22 injuries were considered critical, officials said, though all were expected to survive. Three other people were in serious condition. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the car careened the wrong way down three blocks, mowing down pedestrians. "He was driving very fast," said Karma Namgyal, 49, a street vendor. "He was going the wrong way up the street and drove onto the sidewalk. He started hitting people. They were flying in the air. He plowed through them. The people he hit were face down. Everyone else started screaming. It was all fast. " Several witnesses told Fox News after the driver crashed, he attempted to escape; however, he was ultimately pinned to the ground by five people who held him at the scene until police arrived. "It sounded like a bomb going off," said Dave Willis, a tourist from the U.K. "I ran over and it was over in seconds. He was tackled to the ground." A maroon 2009 Honda could be seen in multiple photos upended on steel barriers and a lamppost at the corner of 45th Street and Broadway. The FDNY received the first emergency call just before noon. "We saw people laying on the sidewalk . . . with crowds of people laying around them," one witness told Fox News. "You could see clumps of people down the sidewalk with people all around them trying to help them." The NYPD expected the police activity in the area to cause delays. "Due to a vehicle collision with pedestrian injuries, emergency vehicles are in the area of #TimesSquare," the NYPD tweeted. "Expect delays in the area." Fox News' Julie Banderas and Perry Chiaramonte contributed to this report. A 6-year-old boy who sparked an Amber Alert in Mississippi was found dead inside a stolen car with a single gunshot wound, according to multiple local media reports. Kingston Frazier was found inside a vehicle in Gluckstadt that was parked behind an ABC warehouse. The child was last seen Thursday at the parking lot of a grocery store in Jackson at about 1:15 a.m., reports WMC News5. According to the Clarion-Ledger, his mom, Ebony Archie, arrived at the store, Kroger, and ran inside for a few minutes, leaving her Toyota Camry running and the boy inside. Shortly afterward, a car with two men pulled up next to Archie's Camry. One of the passengers, described as a 6-foot-tall black male, entered Archie's car with Kingston inside and sped away. Authorities told the Clarion-Ledger that the vehicle the men were in is a light-colored, two-door sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, with a dent on the rear passenger side. This is a developing story. Check back for more updates. An alligator in Florida was euthanized after vandals who broke into a business saw the reptile and gouged its eyes out, police said. The vandals broke into an Indiantown property owned by Del Monte Foods, a produce-distributing company, and began damaging the area, Martin County Sheriff's Office said. They broke the door, cut an electrical outlet, took a fire extinguisher and sprayed foam on farming equipment. The attacker then flooded the entrance by turning on the faucets and drew graffiti on porta pottys. CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED FOR TOSSING SPECIAL-NEEDS BOY'S ASSISTANCE DOG OFF BALCONY The vandals later spotted the four-foot alligator on the ground near the building and tortured it before gouging its eyes out with a "blunt object," according to police. The alligator was found with cut marks on its back. Officials euthanized the reptile because of its injuries. The police department posted photos of the alligator on Facebook on Thursday, asking for the public's help to find the vandals. Pvt. Chelsea Manning posted the first photo of herself on Thursday, a day after she was released from a Kansas military prison where she served her sentence for providing classified government materials to WikiLeaks. "Okay, so here I am everyone!! =P," Manning captioned the portrait photo that was posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts at 1 p.m. Manning, 29, left Fort Leavenworth at about 2 a.m. Wednesday after serving seven years of her 35-year sentence. Former President Barack Obama granted her clemency in his final days in office in January. CHELSEA MANNING FREED FROM KANSAS MILITARY PRISON Manning, who was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning in prison, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Manning has been vocal on social media since her release, documenting special moments such as her first steps out of prison. "Here's to freedom and a new beginning #Chelseaisfree," Manning wrote on Twitter on Wednesday with a photo of a bottle of bubbly. She tweeted after she was granted clemency that she planned to move to Maryland, thought Manning and her attorneys have since refused to divulge her post-prison whereabouts or immediate plans. whereabouts or immediate plans. Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning is revealing her new look as a woman, after being freed from a Kansas military prison and a 35-year sentence for leaking classified materials. The transgender soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning took to Twitter and Instagram Thursday, posting a portrait photograph of her with short-cropped hair, bright red lipstick and a dark outfit with a plunging neckline. The 29-year-old Oklahoma native included the caption, "Okay, so here I am everyone!!" Manning was released early Wednesday from confinement at Kansas' Fort Leavenworth, after having served seven years behind bars for giving classified materials to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning and her attorneys have refused to divulge her post-prison whereabouts or immediate plans. Supporters of a 74-year-old Puerto Rican nationalist freed from house arrest this week after decades in prison will honor him as he returns to his former hometown of Chicago. Thursday events for Oscar Lopez Rivera include the dedication of a Chicago street-way named after the one-time leader in the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN. The Marxist-Leninist group claimed more than 100 bombings in the 1970s and 1980s, including in Chicago. Most didn't cause serious injuries, though there were deaths. Those whose relatives died criticized then-President Barack Obama's decision to commute Lopez' sentence in February and they derided moves to cast Lopez as a hero. But his supporters note he wasn't convicted of bombings but on sedition and other lesser charges. They long viewed him as a political prisoner. If Turkish President Tayyip Erdogans bodyguards in fact started that beatdown of peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, it apparently wouldnt be the first time. Or the second, third, fourth the precise number is tough to nail down. While much of the Erdogan-controlled Turkish media on Wednesday accused the embassy protesters who were beaten as supporters of terrorism a common label slapped on a wide range of anti-Erdogan political opponents the incident brought back for others memories of similar incidents in years past. In February 2016, during Erdogans visit to Ecuador, his bodyguards were blamed for applying similarly brutal tactics to suppress protesters, even allegedly breaking the nose of Ecuadorean lawmaker Diego Vintimilla. Ecuadors then-President Rafael Correa called the incident a chain of mistakes, and fingered the Turkish bodyguards for starting the violence. To be frank, you cannot do this in a foreign country, he was quoted as saying. The protests were sparked by a group of women who started screaming murderer and get out of Ecuador during an Erdogan speech. He took note of the protest, and reportedly said, Appropriate responses will always be taken to handle these disrespectful people, as his security men punched some women in the head, and dragged them away. But its hardly just the presidents guards who have gotten in on the action. Three years ago, during a visit to a mining disaster in Soma, Turkey, Erdogan adviser Yusuf Yerkel became an unintended international viral celebrity when he was photographed viciously kicking at a protester -- who was being held down on the ground at the time by Turkish special forces. The bad PR generated by the photo only worsened when it turned out Yerkel then filed a medical report allowing him to miss seven days of work due to injuries sustained to his leg by the kicking. Of course. He never faced any procedural or legal sanction for the assault. And the miner? Turkish media said he was dismissed from his job without compensation. Perhaps not to be outdone by one of his spry young staffers, the news emerged a bit later that Erdogan, then Turkeys prime minister, had himself taken a smack at a protester in a Soma supermarket. And where were those bodyguards during all this? Not surprisingly, video shows them dragging the man after Erdogan smacked him, taking him into a corner of the market and beating him up. Only a month later, Erdogans guards were in action once again. This time it was in the city of Silivri, where Caner Oruc, a math teacher, reportedly shouted at Erdogans bus as it drove through the streets. According to Turkish press reports, Erdogan pointed out Oruc to his seven-member security team, who promptly hauled him into a nearby building, and beat him badly enough to break his nose. Among those in the security detail accused of the Oruc beating: Erdogans own nephew. A woman was handcuffed and another woman was escorted out of Arlington High Schools graduation, after a fight broke out Tuesday night. Graduation attendees captured the fight on video, as students made their way into the sanctuary at Bellevue Baptist Church, in Cordova, for their graduation. The ceremony was held around 7 p.m. The video shows two women throwing punches at multiple people. A woman in a brown dress hits a man, and then shoves a young woman. Eventually, one of the women begins pulling another womans hair. People on social media said the fight started over a request to switch seats. Jeffrey Mayo, the chief of staff for Arlington Community Schools released the following statement : Last night we celebrated 500 students who graduated from Arlington High School. This years class earned over $30,600,000 in college scholarships. It was unfortunate that a couple of adults in the audience exhibited the behavior they did prior to the ceremony beginning and thus has caused a distraction from the celebration of our students accomplishments. The graduation ceremony was not affected by this incident due to the actions of Bellevues security team who promptly removed the adults from the ceremony. It is our hope that the focus will shift to our students and their accomplishments instead of the poor decisions by adults in attendance. Congratulations to our 2017 graduates of Arlington High School. Click for more from Fox 13 Memphis. A jury on Wednesday acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man last year, sparking outrage from the man's family and supporters. Tulsa Officer Betty Jo Shelby said she shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher out of fear because he didn't obey commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. However, Crutcher's father, the Rev. Joey Crutcher, said in no uncertain terms: "Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder." Jurors reached their verdict after deliberating for just over nine hours. A lawyer for Shelby said the officer was "elated" that the jury found her not guilty. "She's ready to get back to her life," defense attorney Shannon McMurray said. The shooting unfolded on Sept. 16 of last year. Shelby said while she was headed to a different call, she encountered Crutcher near his SUV as it was stopped in the middle of a two-lane road. The officer testified that he refused to follow her commands -- and after he reached his hands into the SUV's open window, she fired. TENNESSEE POLICE HUNT MAN WHO DROVE OVER OFFICER Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted, arguing that Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasn't combative. Dashcam video showed the man falling to the ground shortly after he appeared to reach into the SUV. Protesters briefly blocked a street outside the courthouse after the jury announced its verdict, shouting "No justice, no peace," and "Hands up, don't shoot." They also marched to the hotel where the officer was believed to be staying, Fox 23 reported. "As Ive said all along, the Tulsa Police Department is committed to protecting the rights of protesters in our community," Police Chief Chuck Jordan said at a news conference Thursday. "Weve had our failings, we understand that. Were committed, absolutely, to ensure trust and cooperation with our community." "We recognize that the issue of racial disparity in Tulsa is the great moral issue of our time in this community," Mayor G.T. Bynum added, noting the divide within the community. "We cant work to address it until we acknowledge it exists. We have a long way to go as a city when one part of our city is synonymous with an entire race." MURDERED OFFICER'S FAMILY PUSHES TO KEEP KILLER IN JAIL "I ask Oklahomans to respect our criminal justice system and especially the jurors, who heard the evidence from both sides in this case. Those who disagree with the verdict have the right to express their opinions; I just ask that they do so in a peaceful manner. I appeal to Tulsans and others to remain calm. Our thoughts and prayers should be with the Terence Crutcher and Betty Shelby families during this difficult time," Gov. Mary Fallin responded. An autopsy found Crutcher had PCP -- a drug that can trigger hallucinations -- in his system when he died. His wife said that was irrelevant to the case. The defense attacked prosecutors for charging Shelby with first-degree manslaughter just six days after the shooting, saying the case was rushed. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said defense attorneys know it was "a bad shoot. The shooting was among several officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. Click for more from Fox 23. The Associated Press contributed to this report. New York State Police said one of its troopers is in critical condition after his patrol car was hit on Wednesday by another vehicle on a highway. Police said Trooper Craig Foglia, 45, had pulled over a vehicle on Interstate-86 in the Steuben County town of Campbell, about 90 miles south of Rochester. Foglia was sitting inside his cruiser when it was hit from behind by a pickup truck. CAR JUMPS CURB, HITS PEDESTRIANS IN TIMES SQUARE The truck was driven by Kenneth Aukett, 78, of Westmont, New Jersey, police told WBNG. Aukett experienced non-life-threatening injuries. The crash demolished the back of the trooper car, which then hit the car Foglia pulled over. The two people in that vehicle were not injured. OFFICER FATALITIES GROW AS MONTANA DEPUTY IS KILLED ON DUTY Foglia, a 13-year veteran, was airlifted to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Police announced on Thursday that the trooper was in critical condition after undergoing surgery. Police are investigating the cause of the crash. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ceren Borazan was sure she was going to die on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Kurdish graduate student, who was in Washington, D.C., to protest Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans visit to the White House, was one of about two dozen people demonstrating outside the countrys embassy on Sheridan Circle late Tuesday afternoon when supporters of Turkeys controversial leader and allegedly members of his security force pushed past police and violently attacked the protesters. Borazan tried to flee the ensuing melee, but was grabbed by one of Erdogans purported security guards and put in a headlock so tight that one of the blood vessels in her eyes popped. He held me and threatened to kill me, Borazan told Fox News. I know this guy wanted to hurt me or that he wanted to kill me. While Borazan said that her memory of the struggle is hazy, she added that she was somehow able to escape from her captors clutches and find help from a nearby driver who let her hide inside his car. I was lucky enough to get in that car and hide, she said. That guy saved my life. Borazan was able to escape the attack relatively unharmed physically, but a number of her fellow demonstrators were not so lucky. Authorities in Washington, D.C., said that at least nine people were injured in the attack with two seriously injured and requiring an ambulance to take them to the hospital. A Voice of America video showed police officers struggling to protect the protesters and ordering the men in suits to retreat. Instead, several of the men dodged the officers and ran into the park to continue the attacks. The video also shows the attackers kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk, wrenching another woman's neck and throwing her to the ground and kicking the face of a man carrying a bullhorn. I am an American citizen. I didnt expect something like this to happen here, Abbas Aziz, a 62-year-old Kurdish teacher, told Fox News. Four of the attackers ganged up on Aziz knocking him to the ground with punches to the head and repeatedly kicking him in the chest and head before police drove them away. This is Washington, D.C., this is America, Aziz said. This is not Ankara, this is not Turkey. Many of the demonstrators attacked earlier this week are calling for charges to be brought against the attackers. Two men were arrested at the scene, and police intend to pursue charges against others involved, but the Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham said during a press conference on Wednesday that there may be issues with diplomatic immunity. The White House has so far remained quiet on the incident with Press Secretary Sean Spicer referring reporters to the State Department and declining to comment further. "Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms." A number of lawmakers in Washington condemned the violence with one senior Republican senator calling for Turkey's ambassador to be thrown out of the country. "This is the United States of America. We do not do this here," Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., commented while retweeting the video. "There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." Both the Turkish officials and Turkish state-media both reported a much different version of the attack, with the countrys embassy in Washington, D.C., releasing a statement that blamed the violence on the demonstrators. The statement said the demonstrators were "aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the president. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense and one of them was seriously injured." Turkey's official Anadolu news agency labeled the protesters Kurdish "supporters of terror." It said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that Erdogan's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Roger Ailes, who built Fox News into a cable powerhouse before leaving the company last year, died Thursday morning at the age of 77. The Ohio-born television pioneer was a confidant of presidents and an acknowledged master of communications. He founded Fox News in 1996 and built it into the nation's long-running No. 1 cable news network. Ailes resigned from Fox in July amid charges of sexual harassment. His widow, Elizabeth Ailes, confirmed the news in a statement. "I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning," the statement read. "Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to riseand to give back." The Associated Press quoting the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office said Ailes died of complications from a fall at his home on May 10. "Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs." Rupert Murdoch Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of 21st Century Fox and Fox News Channel, said he was saddened by the development. "Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes," Murdoch said. "A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping America's media over the last 30 years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera he discovered, nurtured and promoted." Murdoch noted Ailes' critical role in creating Fox News. "Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have," Murdoch said. "In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. "At 21st Century Fox we will always be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Elizabeth and son Zachary." Fox News host Sean Hannity tweeted tributes to his onetime boss in a series of messages. "Today, America lost one of its great patriotic warriors," Hannity tweeted. "He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape, single-handedly for the better." Ailes left Fox News under a cloud of controversy on July 21, though he strongly denied the allegations. Ailes was born in Warren, Ohio, and attended Ohio University in Athens, where he majored in radio and television. After graduating in 1962, he launched his career in black and white-era television by working for then-local personality Mike Douglas. When the show was syndicated a few years later, Ailes' star rose with it. It was during a 1967 taping of "The Mike Douglas Show" that Ailes met future president Richard Nixon, who later tapped him to serve as his executive producer for television. That experience began a decades-long dual track in which Ailes cast long shadows over both television and politics, culminating in his founding of Fox News. In 1984, Ailes worked on President Reagan's re-election campaign. Four years later, he was a key player in the successful presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush, helping to plot effective messaging and television advertising strategies. He later helped build CNBC before Murdoch chose him to launch Fox News. As recently at last fall's election, and after his career at Fox had ended, Ailes reportedly advised President Trump in preparation for debates. Ailes and Elizabeth were married in 1998. Their only son, Zachary, was born on New Years Day 2000. The Secret Service announced Wednesday that it is investigating what one official called a brutal attack on peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday by Turkish President Erdogans security detail. The attack that sent nine to the hospital appeared to be unprovoked, Peter Newsham, the D.C. police chief, said. The Wall Street Journal reported that one police officer and two Secret Service officers were injured in the melee. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another wrenches a woman's neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. A Voice of America video showed police officers struggling to protect the protesters and ordering the men in suits to retreat. Instead, several of the men dodge the officers and run into the park to continue the attacks. The clash happened at the Turkish ambassador's residence Tuesday as Erdogan arrived after a White House meeting with President Trump. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency labeled the protesters Kurdish "supporters of terror." It said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that Erdogan's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene." In a statement, the Turkish Embassy blamed the violence on the demonstrators, saying they were "aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the President. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense and one of them was seriously injured." Politicians weighed in as well. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called it a "violent attack on a peaceful demonstration," and said it "is an affront to DC values and our rights as Americans." "This is the United States of America. We do not do this here," Sen. John McCain commented while retweeting the video. "There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." The State Department and D.C. police are also looking into the incident. The Associated Press contributed to this report The hunt for a serial burglar in the North County has come to an end, thanks to quick thinking by an Escondido homeowner. Jalen Nicholas Johnson, 18, was arrested on Monday. Investigators said Johnson is believed to be behind the burglaries of at least five homes. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to several charges of burglary and attempted burglary. Johnson was captured Monday afternoon after he came face to face with Escondido homeowner Maria Saldibar. I saw him where my back window was, Saldibar said. Saldibar was home alone when she heard a knock at her front door. COPS: DAD LOCKED TODDLER IN CAGE, LEFT DAY-OLD BABY ALONE I didnt go to open it, said Maria. She told FOX 5 that seconds later, she heard the squeak of her side gate opening. When I saw him just walking behind my window, I was like what should I do? Should I hide in the closet? What should I do?, Saldibar recounted. Then she heard a loud crack at her sliding glass door. I thought everything was broken and he was inside, Saldibar said. She said she ran out of her room screaming as loud as she could. Thats how he actually got scared and ran away, she said. I went out to the front and went running after him. Saldibar said she quickly called 911. Neighbors heard her screams and came to help. They saw him running, jumping over fences and thats how he got caught, Saldibar explained. AFTER BOY IS TAKEN BY CAR THIEVES, POLICE FIND BODY Investigators said earlier in the day Johnson tried to break into a home half a mile away on Via Gordo. When an 18-year old woman spotted the suspect, he ran off. The young woman called her father, who came home and began driving around the neighborhood looking for the suspect. As Saldibar and her neighbors were searching, the suspect ran into the father of the first burglary victim. When the suspect jumped over a fence into an apartment complex, deputies made the arrest with the help of another resident. Investigators said Johnson was also the intruder captured on surveillance at an Escondido home in February. That home belongs to Saldibars sister. We saw one of the videos and he looks like that person from the video, Saldibar said. Saldibar said she believes it was not accident thatJohnson targeted her house. At her sisters house, each room was ransacked. The thief made off with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, electronics and cash. He probably found something that led him to her home, Saldibar said. READ MORE FROM FOX 5 SAN DIEGO. An Ohio coroner says a 16-year-old Toledo boy found dead near a backyard shed was shot more than 10 times, including twice in the chest. Police believe Todd Davis was killed sometime Monday night. He was found and pronounced dead on Tuesday morning. Toledo police Lt. Joe Heffernan tells The Blade that it appears the teenager was shot in an alley. Investigators have released no information about potential suspects or motives. Police say the shooting happened within hours of another shooting of a teenager a few blocks away, but there is no indication that they were related. In the other case, 18-year-old Treyvon Warren was fatally shot in the head while he was in a car. No arrests have been made in either shooting. ___ Information from: The Blade, http://www.toledoblade.com/ Five years ago this Friday, Chen Guangcheng and his family landed at Newark Liberty International Airport to start their new life in the United States. Less than 24 hours earlier, Chen had made a hasty departure from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the culmination of a nearly month-long diplomatic tussle that ended years of mistreatment and imprisonment that the blind human rights activist had endured at the hands of the Chinese government. While nobody would have faulted Chen for taking a much-needed break after years of fighting against forced abortions under Chinas one-child policy, corrupt officials and the mistreatment of the disabled, he is not one to rest on his laurels. Chen studied law at New York University, started teaching at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., was named a senior fellow at the conservative Witherspoon Institute, published a memoir of his life in China and, to this day, continues to be one of the most vocal critics on Beijings attacks against human rights activists. The Communist Party of China has never ceased cracking down on the people of China, Chen told Fox News. But now the Chinese people are fighting back. Theres an awakening going on with the population and the CPC is getting more afraid. Chen, who lost his eyesight to a mysterious fever shortly after his birth in 1971, began his life as a political activist early getting elected as a student representative at his first school and petitioning for basic rights like running water and freedom of movement. But it wasnt until he returned to his village in the eastern province of Shandong after finishing college that Chen truly began his work as the so-called barefoot lawyer and to gain the attention of local Communist party apparatchiks. With no formal legal training -- he went to a school for traditional Chinese medicine and massage -- Chen began advocating for the rights of the disabled and against the late-term abortions and forced sterilization of women found in violation of Chinas one-child policy. After filing an unheard of class-action lawsuit on behalf of women from the city Linyi who were forced to have abortions by the city's family planning staff, local officials put Chen under house arrest and beat him when he tried to escape. This began a period of seven years that saw Chen either imprisoned or under house arrest on a host of charges from damaging property to organizing a mob. Instead of silencing Chen, his detainment had the opposite effect and he quickly became a cause celebre among politicians, Hollywood celebrities and human-rights groups. Amnesty International declared Chen to be a prisoner of conscience, actor Christian Bale attempted to visit him and his plight gained the attention of lawmakers on both sides of Washingtons political divide. His story is something that transcends party lines Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey who tried to visit Chen when he was under house arrest, told Fox News. Everyone should care when such a hero is fighting for such basic human rights. Chen and his family eventually escaped from house arrest under the cover of nightfall in April 2012 and sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. After a month of tense negotiations with the U.S. State Department, the Chinese government eventually granted Chen permission to study abroad when New York University offered him a visiting scholar position. The activist arrived in New York City hobbling on crutches after suffering a broken foot in his escape and surrounded by a throng of well-wishers and reporters. I dont really feel that happy, but rather sentimental, Chen said, according to the New York Times. After all the suffering for years, I dont have those tearful moments anymore, but I do feel something inside. The U.S. may have helped Chen escape China, but his host nation was not immune to his criticism. In his memoir, The Barefoot Lawyer, Chen alleges that the Obama administration decided that his case must not hurt relations between the U.S. and China. He also says that the State Department brushed off his demands that the Chinese investigate and punish those responsible for his poor treatment and instead urged him to accept any deal with Beijing. Chen also said that NYU forced him to leave his post at the school after pressure from the Chinese government. Those statements drew prompt rebukes from both the U.S. government and NYU and have been blamed along with his friendliness with numerous conservative thinkers and his pro-life stance for his causes not maintaining the level of attention lavished on other human rights crusaders. No one in New York has anything good to say about him, Jerome Cohen, a law professor at NYU and a longtime mentor of Chens, told Fox News. But he is not a simple person by any means. Much like his activism in China, however, Chen has refused to stay silent, continuing to be an outspoken advocate for human rights in his homeland: decrying the continued use of late-term abortions and forced sterilization; the ramped-up crackdown on human rights lawyers under Chinese President Xi Jinping; and the persecution of his own family members still living in the country. While Chen admits that it is too early to make a judgment on how the administration of President Donald Trump will handle its relations with China, he hopes that it will push the government in Beijing to improve its human-rights record. That is a basic American value and in the U.S. we need to reinvigorate the sense of that value, Chen said. For many years the U.S. has operated on a policy of appeasement in regards to China, but when it comes to authoritarian dictatorships, the U.S. needs to stand up and say no. At just 22 years old with a small baby to tend to, Fada Astana received a message every spouse of a soldier in combat dreads: Your husband has been killed in action. Suddenly without an income and fearing for her future, Astana two years ago joined the national police force, stationed in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley province, a couple of hours drive north of Kabul. After joining the uniformed ranks of another 26 women, typically between 18 and 30 years old, it didn't take long for the now 24-year-old Capt. Astana to realize she wasn't alone. An estimated 100 Afghan soldiers a day die protecting their country from encroaching insurgency, every day leaving scores of widows with little means but to find alternative ways of making ends meet. Typically, war widows receive only a one-off payment from their government of around $1,400 after death. According to Maj. Suraya Fedq, who is director of the women's police division in Panjshir, there are some women who sign up out of sheer patriotism. However, the vast majority come amid grief-stricken circumstances. "We are all coming here with different kinds of problems. Most of us are poor people, our husbands or our brothers have died and we need the money," Fedq, 33, who became an officer about five years ago, told Fox News. "Of course I wanted to work for my province and my country. But I needed to work for myself and my children. I had three small children and my husband -- one day I just never heard from him again." Fedq said six years ago the calls from her husband, who was working as a local security contractor in Herat province, abruptly stopped. After a few months passed, she painfully realized she needed to open a new, harder chapter in her life. Her children are now 6, 9 and 10 and she says she still doesn't know what happened to her husband. Yet in joining the force, many have found a family-like support, not only to overcome the grief of losing a loved one, but also to find the confidence to assert control of their lives and their perpetually conflict-torn country. "We can help each other. We cook, get together outside of work. It gives us independence," Fedq explained. "For me, I know now I can survive." Fedq said that all the women in her division are or were married, and that they have offices entirely separate from their male colleagues. Pay is generally the same irrespective of gender, around $200 a month. For many of the women, the country's highest-ranking female officer, Brig. Gen. Muslima Amani, has become both a mentor and inspiration. Amani, the deputy of the passport branch for all of Afghanistan, joined the force under the Communist regime of the 1980s, but when the Taliban took over was relegated to her house and forced to wear a burka. Then Amani, 49, emerged back into uniform after the U.S.-led invasion. "We have many widows who need to feed their kids, but beyond the salary, the job brings empowerment," Amani told Fox News from her compound in the west of Kabul. "The American support brought a great hope to us, because we know the value of freedom. We know the Taliban and we have overcome terrifying times." In recent years, an array of programs run by international governments and the United Nations Development Programme's Law and Order Trust Fund have collaborated with the Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police force, to train female officers. Such programs have focused on training them in specific skills such as information technology, crime scene investigation, handling evidence, taking victim and witness statements and operating checkpoints. Amani said that she has undergone an array of these curricula and was even sent on an official training trip to South Korea, but the weapons component comes most naturally of all. "All of Afghanistan -- men and women -- know how to use guns," she said with a sly smile. Training in each province varies, but women typically undergo two months of "basic training" -- learning how to use various weapons, including the AK-47, automatic rifles and pistols. They have since learned skills more akin to a "quick reaction force" to respond to emergencies and search homes. And of increasing importance, the women have become more adept at detecting "wannabe" suicide bombers -- both females and males disguised as females -- all shrouded behind the burka. "This is a big problem," Fedq said. "They come and we don't know who they are." Astana and Fedq acknowledged how lucky they are to work in the relative safety of the Panjshir Valley, but the vast majority of their female counterparts across the country aren't as fortunate. In many other provinces, the female officers often have to live in secure on-site compounds and are frequently the target of terrorists. Much of the danger of the profession comes not just from being in the line of duty, but in battling the deeply conservative gender traditions of their country. Many women still can't patrol the streets in uniform because of possible retaliation. Many cannot tell male relatives of their job and endure on-the-job harassment. "In the eyes of some, this is still a man's job, so its very strange for them," Fedq said. Just more than a year ago, a female officer working in the provincial passport department in southern Kandahar was targeted and shot dead by an unknown assailant. And although she was flanked by bodyguards, in 2013 the country's top female police officer, Sub-Inspector Negar, known only by one name, was gunned down getting into her car in the terrorist hotbed of Helmand province. Her murder came just months after her predecessor, too, was killed. Nonetheless, the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, followed by the post-2014 NATO mission known as Resolute Support, has spent hundreds of millions on bolstering female police numbers -- with steady success In 2005, there were only 180 women out of a total of 53,400 military personnel, but by 2013 there were 1,551 policewomen out of 157,000. Today, as relayed to Fox News by a ministry official, there are 3,137 females in the force of 157,000 -- a modest but growing 2 percent of the force. "We are in a war situation. We are always getting information about threats in our lives," Amani added. "But I tell the girls together we must not leave, we must stay and fight for our families and our country. And to be proud every day of serving, of helping bring changes to lives in Afghanistan." France's new president has chosen the West African nation of Mali for his first official visit outside Europe. Why? Here's a look at Emmanuel Macron's trip on Friday to France's largest overseas military operation in a country where multiple extremist groups pose a growing danger to the region. WHAT'S THE THREAT? Several jihadist groups remain in northern Mali after occupying the vast region south of the Sahara in 2012, and they have been blamed for deadly attacks in neighboring countries that have alarmed the international community. A French-led military intervention pushed the extremists from their strongholds in 2013, but the fighters continue to target Malian and other military assets with suicide bombings, improvised explosives and kidnappings. In January, a suicide attack on a Mali army camp killed more than 75 people. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali has become the deadliest of the U.N.'s current missions worldwide. Most of the extremist groups in the region trace their origins to al-Qaida's North Africa branch. WHAT IS FRANCE'S MILITARY DOING THERE? France has led international counter-terrorism efforts in largely francophone West Africa, a role that the U.S. military has recognized and supported. "I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will not enjoy these decisions," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said during a stop in the East African nation of Djibouti last month. France's new foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is best known globally for leading the successful military campaign in Mali as French defense minister. France now has more than 4,000 soldiers in the West African nations of Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania as part of Operation Barkhane, which former French President Francois Hollande said is meant to "wipe out armed terrorist groups" in the Sahel region. The operation, France's largest overseas, began in 2014. In his first visit after his inauguration, Macron acknowledged the toll on the operation's French forces when he went to a military hospital in a Paris suburb and met with two soldiers injured in Mali last year. At least 19 French soldiers have died in the Sahel region since 2013, the French ambassador to the United Nations said in April. WHAT IS MACRON DOING IN MALI? The French president is expected to visit the eastern city of Gao, home of the permanent French military base in Mali. Gao is also where the deadly attack in January occurred. That attack, claimed by the al-Qaida-linked al-Mourabitoun extremist group, happened just days after Hollande visited the city. Al-Mourabitoun has since merged with the groups Ansar Dine and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb to form the Mali-based Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen. The father of the two boys who were on the Florida-bound plane that disappeared near the Bahamas earlier this week said he loved his sons "more than anything." "I lost what I loved more than anything," James Ramsey told the New York Daily News. Ramsey is the former partner of Jennifer Blumin, who was also on the plane with 52-year-old Nathan Ulrich. "I keep hoping its not real and Ill wake up. Wouldnt wish this pain on the worst person in the world," Ramsey said. AT LEAST 4 DEAD AFTER TRAIN DERAILS IN GREECE Ulrich, Blumin, 40, and her two sons, ages 3 and 4, were on the MU-2B aircraft that departed from Borinquen, Puerto Rico about 11 a.m. on Monday. The plane was heading to Titusville, Florida when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with it just after 2 p.m. It was flying about 37 miles east from Eleuthera, Bahamas. United States Coast Guard said on Wednesday that debris search crews recovered were confirmed to be from a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft. The materials were located 15 miles east from the island in the Bahamas. "The debris does match up with that style of aircraft and we have notified the family," Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman, said. The Coast Guard continued to deploy search crews on Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board announced the day before that it will be investigating the plane's disappearance. Search crews have covered more than 8,200 square miles looking for the plane. RUSSIAN NAVY SHIP COLLIDES WITH FREIGHTER NEAR ISTANBUL Blumin is the founder and CEO of Skylight Group, which provides event space around New York City, specializing in the fashion industry. The company released a statement confirming that she and members of her family were on the plane. "Her family is working with investigators and we politely ask that you respect their privacy at this time," it said. Ulrich served as a Coast Guard Auxiliary pilot out of Air Station Cape Cod from 2005 to 2014 and is co-owner of a company that manufactures kick scooters and folding bicycles. "Nathan is our beloved son, brother and uncle and we wish for resolution as the Coast Guard search continues," the Ulrich family said in a statement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Turkish officials say 16 Ukrainian tourists have been injured in a traffic accident in western Turkey. The Mugla governor's office said in a statement that the bus was traveling Thursday from popular tourist destination of Bodrum to Denizli province when it skidded on a rainy road and tipped over. The group's Turkish guide was also injured. The governor's office said there were no critical injuries and all were receiving medical treatment in Mugla. Footage from the private Dogan news agency shows a white overturned bus on a winding road. Earlier, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency had reported that 10 Russian tourists had been injured in the accident. Another bus accident on Saturday killed 24 Turkish citizens when a bus flipped over on a bend in Mugla. The International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage and terrorism, in a case that has further strained relations between the Asian neighbors. The U.N. court ruled unanimously that Pakistan shouldn't carry out the death penalty on Kulbhushan Jadhav pending the outcome of a case filed by India alleging that Pakistan breached Jadhav's right to consular assistance following his arrest last year. Jadhav was convicted in Pakistan and sentenced to death on April 10. CELEBRATIONS FOR FREED PUERTO RICAN NATIONALIST STIR CONTROVERSY "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed," court President Ronny Abraham said at a hearing in the ornate, wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice in The Hague. India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj, tweeted that the "ICJ order has come as a huge relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India." Asian neighbors Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, and Jadhav's death sentence has further strained ties. Pakistan sought to play down the significance of the order. "It's a very basic thing which the court has done, given its ruling on a provisional measure which is basically a procedural process and I think that is about it," said Pakistan's ambassador to the Netherlands, Moazzam Ahmad Khan. "The court ... has said nothing on the merits or the maintainability of the case." At hearings on Monday, India called Jadhav's trial a "serious miscarriage of justice" because he wasn't allowed to see Indian diplomats or choose his own defense lawyer. Indian lawyers argued that those restrictions amounted to a breach of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. NATO CHIEF RULES OUT COMBAT ROLE AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE Pakistan argued that Jadhav's rights weren't breached and that the court didn't need to issue an urgent order to stay his execution because it wasn't imminent. A lawyer for Pakistan added that a bilateral agreement allows either country to decide on consular access in cases involving "political or security" issues. Pakistani representative Mohammad Faisal on Monday showed judges a copy of an Indian passport he said Jadhav was carrying at the time of his detention, which bore the name Hussein Mubarak Patel, calling it an "obvious indication of covert and illegal activity." He said Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan." The case will take months or years to settle at the United Nations' highest judicial organ, so judges issued Thursday's order to ensure that Jadhav isn't executed before the case ends. "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned" to save Jadhav, Swaraj tweeted. Rulings by the court are final and binding on the countries involved. The U.S. military launched fresh air strikes against pro-Assad troops in Syria after they ignored repeated warnings from both coalition and Russian forces, officials told Fox News Thursday. The Syrian forces, in several vehicles including at least one tank, were near the Jordanian border and deemed a threat to coalition partners on the ground, a Pentagon official said. They were repeatedly ordered to stop their advance toward a de-escalation zone, but ignored the warning, officials said. "The coalition commander assessed the threat and after shows of force didn't stop the regime forces and those forces refused to move out of the deconfliction zone, the commander on the ground called for the air strike as a matter of force protection," a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. Another military source told The Associated Press it appeared the Syrian forces were poised to attack an area that included U.S. advisers. "They were building a fighting position" about 55 kilometers from a U.S.-coalition base close to At Tanf, where advisers train members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Coalition, the second official said. Defense Secretary James Mattis briefly addressed the strikes Thursday during a meeting with Swedish Defense minister Peter Hultqvist. "We're not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war but we will defend our troops, and that is a coalition element made up of more than just U.S. troops, and so we'll defend ourselves," Mattis said. "If people take aggressive steps against us, and that's been a going in, a policy of ours for a long time." The U.S. and Russia, which is allied with the pro-Assad forces, have established buffer zones around their separate areas of operation to avoid collateral damage. Each side has agreed to notify the other if the deploy forces within the buffer zones. In this case, an official told The Associated Press, Russia tried multiple times to contact the Syrian forces. It was at that point that U.S. and coalition jets escalated their warnings. "We conducted a show of force. We conducted warning shots. All to no avail," the official said. The American strikes were the first against Assad positions since the Pentagon rained 57 Tomahawk missiles on the Shayrat air base near Homs. But the strikes confirmed Thursday were believed to be the first targeting Syrian personnel. The attack on forces does not reflect an escalation, the Pentagon official said. "There is no change in policy," the official said. Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet King Salman when he travels to Saudi Arabia as part of his first foreign trip, but who is the Saudi royal? Fox News takes a look at the 81-year-old reigning monarch. When did Salman become king? Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, born on Dec. 31, 1935, became king in January 2015 after his half-brother King Abdullah died. Salman became crown prince in 2012, a title which made him next in line. He was previously named defense minister in 2011. What is King Salman known for? Salman spent decades as the governor of the Riyadh Region, serving in the post from 1963 to 2011. In that time, the capital city of Riyadh grew and flourished, according to a PBS profile. PBS also described him as a champion of poor Muslim countries and a mediator for the Saudi royal family. TRUMP'S FIRST FOREIGN TRIP: SCHEDULED STOPS IN SAUDI ARABIA, ISRAEL, AND BEYOND What do we know about Salman's personal life? Salman is considered part of a powerful group of full brothers in the House of Saud, called the "Sudairi Seven," according to the AP. Some of those brothers have died, including the late King Fahd. Salman has been married three times. He had 10 sons - two of whom died - and a single daughter, AFP reported when he became king. What are some key events during his reign? Starting in March 2015, Saudi Arabia has been leading a military coalition against Shiite rebels in Yemen, which has included air strikes. The country executed a well-known Shiite cleric in January 2016, drawing condemnation from Iran and Germany. TRUMP EYES RESET WITH AMBITIOUS FOREIGN DIPLOMATIC TOUR Who is fighting to replace Salman? In 2015, Salman named his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef crown prince, and one of his sons, Mohammed bin Salman, became deputy crown prince. The two princes are fighting to be Salman's successor, as he's thought to be in poor health, Politico reported this week. Has Salman met Trump before? Trump and Salman will be meeting for the first time in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for bilateral talks aimed at repairing relations that were strained under the Obama administration. Saudi Arabia is seeking to shore up support from both its allies and the United States against Iran. What has Salman said about Trump? Salman praised Trump in a telephone call in April, describing him as "courageous" for authorizing a U.S. military strike on a Syrian air base following a chemical attack there. Salman's son, the deputy crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, met with Trump in Washington, D.C. in March earlier this year. The king named one of his other sons, Prince Khaled bin Salman, ambassador to Washington in April. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to discuss the music of the Grateful Dead without talking about drugs. But dont worry, we will talk about drugs. First, lets celebrate an anniversary. On May 8, 1977, the Grateful Dead played a concert at Cornell Universitys Barton Hall. Thanks to tapes circulating in the music community over the past 40 years, this concert was pinpointed as the single best night of the Grateful Deads long, strange touring career. Im not going to shill for the consensus, but it is a remarkable document. Theres a reason the Library of Congress added the concert recording to its National Recording Registry. Spotify recently made it available (its probably easily discovered elsewhere with a Google search) and its worth listening to, even if youre not a Grateful Dead fan. Most surprising are the short, first-set songs, some of them covers, that would later become half-hearted filler for many a Grateful Dead show. Marty Robbins El Paso was particularly lively that night at Cornell, as was Merle Haggards Mama Tried. You can hear the band members paying earnest homage to blues traditions as they sing dont you let that deal go down in Deal. If you want to argue that the Grateful Dead were musical anthropologists preserving the great American folk songbook, this concert might be your best evidence. Buddy Hollys Not Fade Away and the Motown classic Dancing in the Street also get the Grateful Dead treatment, to great effectsomething that wasnt always the case when the band tackled those songs in subsequent decades. Hardcore deadheads might lament the lack of an adventurous psychedelic jamthere is no Dark Star herebut the fact that the band seemed bent on reining in its most self-indulgent tendencies makes this a particularly accessible concert. There is improvisation, to be sure, but it is intentional. As the tie-dyed kids in the parking lot might say, its tight. Who were those kids, anyway? According to a recent book by Jesse Jarnow called Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, they were part of a sort of psychedelic nation-state that existed wherever the Grateful Dead set up shop. There were more permanent outposts for LSD-influenced citizensthe bay area in Northern California and The Northeast Kingdom in Vermont, for examplebut for Jarnow, the history of psychedelics in America hews closely to the history of the Grateful Dead. For fans of jam bands and the Grateful Dead who can get over Jarnows inexplicable use of present tense in a history book, its worth reading. It makes sense to focus on the Grateful Dead, a band that got its start jamming for blissed-out kids at Ken Keseys acid tests in San Francisco. Jarnow follows the blotter tabs and the bands fans to suss out psychedelic trails that lead to prominent visual artists, the founders of Apple, New York graffiti artists, Phish and the scientists who formed the internet. Its a neat trick, but almost too cute. Is it any wonder that one of the most beloved bands in history inspired some important people? Is it any wonder that people growing up in 60s and 70s America were turned on to (and by) peyote and magic mushrooms? Theres no doubt psychedelics were, and continue to be, part of our national zeitgest. They were also influential, to varying degrees, in some important peoples lives. And while the members of the Grateful Dead certainly used psychedelic drugs, that in no way means those drugs are necessary to enjoy the considerable merit of their music. That May night back in 1977 proves it. Tune in, turn on, and enjoy. Professional cellist Michael Reynolds and the world-renowned Muir Quartet will perform tonight and tomorrow evening at the 30th annual Chamber Music Festival, organized by ArtsLIVE!, a local organization dedicated to enriching the Fredericksburg region with a range of performing arts experiences. As both a soloist and chamber musician, Reynolds has performed more than 2,000 times in the United States and throughout the world, including at the White House and with such well-known artists as Benny Goodman and Leon Fleisher. For the last decade every May, Reynolds has left Boston, where he teaches at Boston University, to come to Fredericksburg and serve as artistic director for the annual chamber festival here. There are very few communities in the world that will open their arms and support chamber music professionals in this way, Reynolds said. Over the years weve developed lifelong friendships with these really wonderful people in Fredericksburg who created this organization and we feel quite fortunate to have been involved all this time. Reynolds said festival founder, Heidi Lehwalder, was a visionary, identifying Fredericksburg as a perfect fit for such a festival back in 1987. Right from the beginning first-class artists were invited, so the level of playing was always very high, he said. Then as [Lehwalder] built the board they began to add things, celebrating young artists, developing a partnership with Virginia Operawhich exposes more than 5,000 kids to outstanding musical performance in area schools each year, expanding into jazz, bluegrassalthough chamber remains kind of the core program. The festival began Tuesday night at Trinity Episcopal Church. Tonights program will include works by Bach and Strauss, as well as a remarkable piece dedicated to a fish, Trout, by Franz Schubert. Fridays audience will enjoy music with an AztecMayan influence by Gabriela Lena Frank, Bachs great Brandenberg Concerto No. 3featuring both festival artists and six students representing several local high schools and the thrilling Sextet in G Major, Op. 37 by Ernst von Dohnanyi. Its been great to watch the gradually but steadily growing participation of young people at our chamber concerts, Reynolds said. He said ArtsLIVE! board member Deborah Tripp has arranged for young chamber groups to perform as the audience arrives, and the winners of the 2017 Young Artist Competition, held by the organization in January, give a pre-concert performance each night. Winner for First-Place Pianist, Philip Lambert, will perform Friday night. He won a $500 scholarship in the competition. I really love playing, the Stafford High School junior said. Its very satisfying to see a new piece and play it through for the first time, then learn the intricacies of the pieceI just love the journey to the finished product. Its always fun. Lambert, who is 17, won second place in 2015 and 2016. Its always one of the highlights of my year, he said. [The chamber festival] is always a great show and Im happy to be a part of it. I think a young person exposed to culturemusic, theater, danceit changes their whole world view, Reynolds said. As founder and executive/artistic director of the Classics for Kids Foundation, he has helped develop music programs for children across the United States. Its always been our primary goal to introduce kids to great music and the arts in general, Reynolds said. Artistically fluent kids are more productive members of society. It opens their minds to ethnicities, religion, beautythats what art and culture does, it opens up the world. A Culpeper woman was found guilty Thursday of unlawfully feeding buzzards at her Third Street home. Judy Kelley Schoniwitz told District Judge Dale Durrer that she had no intention of putting out food to attract vultures to her highly populated neighborhood, but they just showed up when she started feeding homeless cats. Durrer said that Virginia law does not take intent into consideration when it comes to feeding wildlife and said he was forced to find Schoniwitz guilty. He fined her $300, but suspended all but $75 of that amount. Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries officer Owen Bullard testified that he had been called to the Schoniwitz residence in 2016 following complaints from neighbors, the town of Culpeper and the Culpeper Police Department that the defendant was putting out food that was attracting vultures. He said he found multiple bowls of cat food on Schoniwitz front porch and warned the woman to stop leaving food out unattended and to clean up the mess. Bullard further testified that the scavengers were making a mess of the neighborhood, defecating in pools, on cars and on houses. I warned her to remove the attractions, he said. Schoniwitz admitted that she was putting food out, but not for buzzards, only for birds and the stray cats that came to her door. After the warning, traps were placed on her property and 25 cats were removed by animal control, she said. There are no cats there now, she told the judge. People were dropping cats off at my house because they know I love animals and that I would feed them, she said after the trial. Schoniwitz testified that she had tried her best to get the buzzards to stay away, but that the area had always been a roost and the birds were prone to take up residence there. We used firecrackers to try and scare them away and now they are gone, she said, adding that her porch and yard are now clean. Schoniwitz blamed neighbors for feeding cats in the open and said the vultures were also attracted to nearby Dumpsters. She introduced loaf bread wrappers and a partial sack of birdseed that Judge Durrer duly inspected. This is what I was putting out for the birds, Schoniwitz said. Buzzards dont eat bread and birdseed. But Bullard, who entered into evidence photographs of buzzards sitting on a front porch railing and eating in the yard, said that nine months after the original complaint, he was called back and again found evidence that the defendant was putting out food that was attracting vultures. At that point, he gave her a summons for unlawfully feeding wildlife. I didnt know I was doing anything wrong, Schoniwitz told the court. I certainly didnt want to cause my neighbors any problems. Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Chris Morehouse had a number of witnesses ready to testify, among them town police Maj. Chris Settle, town Public Works Director Jim Hoy and several neighbors. However, Schoniwitz agreed to allow the state to proffer the evidence. Schoniwitz said that she will likely appeal Durrers decision to circuit court. Almost every person who attended a Virginia Department of Transportation meeting Wednesday on the future of the Waterloo bridge was adamant in one respect: The historical integrity of the 139-year-old structure should be retained, no matter what. Most of the 100 or so attendees wanted the bridge over the Rappahannock River on State Route 613 restored and reopened to vehicles. A minority felt the single-lane truss structure, one of only a few left in the state, should be reopened only to pedestrians and bicyclists. VDOT says that the bridge can be dismantled, repaired and reassembled for about $4 million. Both jurisdictions involvedCulpeper County to the south and Fauquier County to the north (the river is the county line)are asking just one question: Wheres the money coming from? VDOT Administrator Mark Nesbit admitted that right now there are no funds to do the job, but he added that one private donor, Hitt Construction, has offered to put up $1 million toward the restoration project. That still leaves $3 million to be found somewhere. VDOT closed the bridge, which had a three-ton limit, in January 2014, when engineers felt the steel frame could not withstand even that much weight. If restored and reopened, the one-lane bridge with a wooden floor would have a 12-ton weight limit. This meeting is to find out if the citizens even want the bridge, Nesbit said. Theres not a lot of traffic in that area. Phoebe Tufts, who lives just across the Rappahannock on the Fauquier side, thinks the bridge should be reopened just for pedestrians and bikers. It will be a massive expense to pay money to keep this as a vehicular bridge, she said. She adds that traveling an extra mile to get to State Route 211 is perfectly OK with her. VDOT considers this a redundant bridge anyway, she says. But Tufts was one of the very few who did not want the bridge restored to vehicular traffic. My only concern is the cost, said Frank Bossio, who also lives on the Fauquier side. And I really think there is a path to get that cost down. Commonwealth Transportation Board member Greg Yates is of the same opinion. I think the historic restoration is a good thing, he said. There are very few of these 1800-vintage truss bridges left. We just need to keep the cost down. Yates thinks the project could be done for far less than VDOT estimates. And he points to the possibility of getting that $1 million donation. A $1 million private donation: thats an unusualmaybe unprecedentedsituation in Virginia, added CTB member Scott Kasprowicz, who lives in nearby Middleburg. Fauquier, like Culpeper, has been prioritizing the limited amount of state funds it gets to improve local roads and it is uncertain whether either Board of Supervisors will appropriate $1.5 million to restore a bridge that handles a very limited amount of traffic. Still, there is the history involved. As long as we can afford it, we should preserve our history, said Pete Eltringham, a member of the Fauquier County transportation committee. I think it should be saved and put back into service, said Bryan Jacobs, a member of the Fauquier County architectural review board. It is part of an important path that should be re-established. Given the heavy turnout and the historic attention the old bridge has gotten (the Waterloo Woolen Mills was just to the north in pre-Civil War times), it is almost certain that the 1878 bridge will be restored in one manner or the other. The only question seems to be where the money will come from. Although Brig. Gen. John Epperly has lived in Fredericksburg for the past 20 years, his military career often takes him away from the familiar streets and faces of the cherished place he has come to call his home. And now is no different: Epperly is currently deployed a half a world away in the sandy deserts of Kuwait as deputy commander of the Virginia National Guards 29th Infantry Division. The division started training in October, and is stationed on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The unit is tasked with building partnerships with military counterparts in other nations, including Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. By being here, we support stability in the region, Epperly said. When our militaries better know each other, we start a dialogue that helps maintain regional security. Under Epperlys direction, the division is responsible for over 10,000 soldiers spread across five countries in the Arabian Gulf region. This includes overseeing several subordinate brigades. Said another way, we take care of those brigades so they can get their jobs done, Epperly said. Much of my day involves making myriad decisions toward that end. Maj. Gen. Blake Ortner, the commander of the 29th Infantry Division, relies heavily on Epperly. In addition to many years of service together under the 29th ID, the two share a common bondthey are both from the Fredericksburg area. A native of Stafford County, Ortner is responsible for the training, readiness and care of approximately 18,000 soldiers. He said there is no such thing as a typical day on deployment. He usually attends meetings, and makes several trips each month to visit soldiers and military leaders across the 10 countries where they are assigned. When not in uniform, Ortner works as the deputy government relations director for Paralyzed Veterans of America. He is responsible for working with Congress and federal agencies to protect benefits and healthcare for veterans. The 29th ID is projected to return in late summer, and the soldiers are eagerly waiting for the day they can hug and kiss their loved ones again. But manylike Epperlyhave grown accustomed to the trials of military life. Epperly was born at Camp LeJeune, N.C., when his father was in the Marine Corps. He grew up in Radford and was appointed to West Point after graduating from Pulaski County High School. After eight years of active duty service, he settled down with his family in Fredericksburg in 1997. Since then, he has deployed to Mississippi as a battalion commander to provide relief after Hurricane Katrina and he participated in his first combat deployment during the Iraqi Surge Campaign in 200708. I joined because I wanted to continue to serve my country, he said. I stayed in after 9/11 because the nation was at war and I felt that as a professional officer I had a duty to continue my service. There is a tradition of service in Epperlys family. In addition to having a father in the Marine Corps, both of his sons are serving. His oldest, Matt, is a lieutenant in the Coast Guard, and is deployed to Kuwait aboard a cutter. When he returns, he will be going to California to command his own patrol boat. Epperlys youngest, Michael, is at the U.S. Naval Academy. Both of his sons graduated from Mountain View High School in Stafford County. The family frequently calls one another and takes advantage of Facetime. They are making plans for things they will do when all together again. It helps to look forward to better times, Epperly said. Reminders of home keep Epperly going. He misses green grass, fresh air and his hobbies, especially scuba diving. Epperly also misses his civilian job. When not in uniform, he works as executive vice president for operations at a cybersecurity organization, Coalfire Inc. The company supports federal and commercial clients nationwide, including Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft, among others. Im what is considered a traditional guardsman in that I have a civilian job and am a citizen soldier as well, he said. Like Epperly, Ortner said it is difficult not to be there as his children adjust to college life, and his wife deals with everything that comes up on the home front alone. Although this is his fifth deployment and his family knows the drill by now, it doesnt make the separation any easier, he explained. I miss not being there to support my wife when she has to call the insurance company to deal with storm damage, or problems with the bank, he said. We were together before 9/11, so you could say she didnt sign up for this life and I am on my fifth deployment. Ortners family is coping with the separation through their strong shared faith and support from church and military friends. I think it helps that they also believe we are doing something good over here, he added. Ortner wants those back home to know there are still soldiers overseas in dangerous areas, like Kuwait, fighting to preserve the freedoms they enjoy. Despite the hardships of deployment and the understanding they could be moved to a combat zone at any moment, the soldiers have maintained a positive attitude. I know it is a cliche, but we all honestly know we are protecting America by what we do here and we do not take that lightly, he said. Every day we stand in harms way for our families and our fellow Americans and do it willingly. Epperly couldnt agree more. He said one perspective is always confirmed when he goes overseasAmerica is a very special place and there are still people fighting for it. I want folks back home to know that we still have a lot of Americans in harms way, he said. We should not forget that. After the King George County Service Authority announced two weeks ago that every customers bill is proposed to go up an average of 12.7 percent, Christopher Werle, chairman of the Board of Directors, answered a lot of questions and concerns through email and social media. That included talking with residents whose bills total more than $600 for two months of usage. Bills of that size typically involve either really large families or outdoor sprinkler systems, Werle said. To put those high water and sewer bills in perspective, $600 is about half the monthly mortgage on a $300,000 home, according to Zillow website, an online marketplace for buying and renting property. And its more than what the average American pays each month on a new vehiclewhich is $493, according to Experian Automotive. King George water and sewer rates already are among the highest in Virginia, according to the consultants Draper Aden Associates. And theyre poised to rise again next fiscal year as the authority deals with paying back $38 million in debt. Much of the debt came from unfunded mandates from state and federal agencies, and the rural system had no choice but to make the fixeson many old and dilapidated systemsto protect and preserve water quality, Werle said. King George also is hitting the brick wall next fiscal year because, in the past, it has paid interest only on the borrowed money, said Ruby Brabo, a Service Authority director and chairwoman of the King George Board of Supervisors. Starting in fiscal 2018, the authority will begin paying on the principal. Thats the primary reason the King George Service Authoritys 4,049 customers are about to get soaked with even higher bills. The debt fee for water and sewer customers is proposed to rise from $50.98 to $85.87 every two months, according to the authority. To offset those increases, the authority is proposing lower water and sewer rates, but the bottom line still would result in an overall increase of almost 13 percent per bill. The amount that King George customers would pay, for debt service alone, is considerably more than what Spotsylvania and Stafford residents pay monthly for their entire bills, according to a calculation tool on the Draper Aden website. The average monthly bill for 5,000 gallons of water is $58.63 in Spotsylvania and $64.56 in Stafford. A BIG WASTE OF WATER Back to those King George bills that total more than $600 for two months. Theyre going to get higher, not just because of the proposed increases, but also because the authority has added a tierand another surchargefor those who want to keep their vehicles spotless or their lawns lush during the hot summer months. The surcharge affects only those who use more than 12,000 gallons in two months. The average bill is based on 9,000 gallons, according to the Service Authority. Were always discouraging people from irrigating because its a big waste of water, Werle said. Yeah, it looks nice to have that thick, lush grass, but its going to cost to do that. It already costs, and its going to cost even more. At the same time, those who use above-average amounts of water wont see that same surcharge added to their sewer rates. Sewer bills are calculated based on how much water is used. Customers who use a lot of water outside have complained in the past about being charged for the water on their sewer bills, when the outdoor water merely ran into the ground, not through the sewer system. They all say the same: I dont mind paying for the water, its the sewer, said Chris Thomas, general manager of the authority. RATES GO UP WITH USE Under the proposal, the water consumption fee would be $4.53 per 1,000 gallons of water used, up to 12,000 gallons. Thats lower than the current rate of $4.92 per 1,000 gallons of water. Those who use more than 12,000 gallons would pay a consumption rate thats 5 percent higher than those who use smaller amounts. The higher rate would be $5.17 per 1,000 gallons. The wastewater consumption rate for those who use the smaller amount of water would be $10.57 per 1,000 gallons. For those who consume larger amount, the rate would be $11.49 per 1,000 gallons. All told, the proposed increases would raise an average bill from $198.67 to $223.87 for 9,000 gallons of water and two months of usage. The increases would mark the eighth time in nine years that King George water and sewer bills have gone up. The rate hike hasnt been approved, but will be the subject of a public hearing, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 20 in the board room of the Revercomb Administration Center. After the hearing, the Board of Directors will set the rates for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Eleanor J. Fortney, age 90, was escorted gently from this life by her Savior Jesus Christ on the evening of May 13, 2017. She was born in Whitmer, WV on April 16, 1927 to Stelman and Caroline Judy. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Hunter; her sister, Rosalie; and brothers, Bill and Wade. Eleanor grew up in Romney, WV in a loving family. She was always an excellent student, earning academic honors including Knight of the Golden Horseshoe and being named valedictorian of her graduating high school class. She attended and graduated summa cum laude from Fairmont State College. While in college, she met her husband of 65 years, Hunter E. Fortney. They lived in Alexandria, VA for 49 years before moving closer to their daughters. Teaching, Eleanors lifelong career, was a true calling for her. She brought her teaching gifts to students and they rewarded her by learning with enthusiasm. Eleanor was a woman of faith and service. She was a good listener and counselor to her friends. She was an elder in The Old Presbyterian Meeting House, Alexandria, Virginia. She was a Stephens Ministry participant and delivered food for Meals on Wheels. She also belonged to several teaching sororities and served in the roles of president and secretary for these organizations. While teaching full time and raising her family, Eleanor earned her M.A in Education from American University in Washington, D. C. Eleanor is survived by her daughters Judy (Lou Valente) Fortineux and Diane (Scott) Richards as well as five grandchildren, Christopher and Jeremy Byrum, Emily Saggese, Philip and Kyle Richards and seven great grandchildren. A service to honor Eleanor will be held at Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, Virginia on Sunday, May 21, 2017 at 3:00 PM. Deacon Vernon Elric El Green, 75, passed away peacefully at Carriage Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fredericksburg, VA. Elric was the second of three boys born in Champlain, Virginia to the late John L. Green, Sr. and Esther J. Green Banks. Educated in the public schools of Fredericksburg, El received a diploma from Walker-Grant High School in 1960 and attended Virginia State University. El was employed as an International Rate Specialist with United Air Lines, in Herndon, VA, where he remained for 32 years. Upon returning to Fredericksburg, El re-activated his membership at Shiloh New Site Baptist Church, becoming an Ordained Deacon in 2008. El enjoyed fishing, reading, and having fun with friends maintaining his trademark sense of humor all the way to the end. He was predeceased by his parents, his stepfather, Elmore Banks, and two brothers, John L. Jr., and Larry. He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife Mildred, daughter Angela, and grandson Quincey, as well as countless other relatives and friends. Friends and family are invited to attend the funeral service on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site), 525 Princess Anne St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401, with viewing for one hour prior to the service. AFTER several years of civil war in Syria, millions of displaced citizens have fled and continue to flee from their country seeking safety. The words refugees and migrants have made headlines across the globe, and the international community still struggles to find a solution for helping the Syrian people. But while the world remains fixated on the refugee crisis in the Middle East, another perilous crisis exists in South Sudan, and in many regards, this tragedy is more incredibleand perhaps offers a more inspiring and thoughtful approach. The split of the southern region of Sudan from the northern part of the country has brought on a tumultuous transition. The ripples caused by this bloody civil war have created waves of disruption to local agriculture and infrastructure, and famine has become widespread. Many citizens face extreme poverty and starvation. These horrific conditions have spurred a massive exodus of people seeking food, water and survival, with the vast majority ending up in neighboring countries. Estimates indicate 1.6 million people are now displaced from South Sudan, or almost 15 percent of the total population. This has placed an enormous burden on the surrounding region, most of which was already plagued with poverty, disease and other social ills. Many Sudanese migrants fled north to Uganda, which has historically had an open-door policy to refugees. Uganda relief efforts have stretched the nation beyond what anyone thought was possible. The country has started to run out of adequate food rations and clean water, and health and educational services cant keep up with the tremendous demand. The U.N. Refugee Agency reports that there are 800,000 South Sudanese refugees currently in Uganda, and that figure is expected to surpass 1 million before the middle of this year. In March alone, there was an average of 2,800 new refugees entering Uganda each day. While cynics may condemn the Ugandan government for accepting strangers at the cost of its own local resources, the nations humanitarian efforts should be applauded. Ugandan immigration policies aim to protect newcomers while bolstering host communities. These actions have upheld the commitment Uganda made as a member state of the United Nations at the Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016, when the New York Declaration was drafted. The purpose of the declaration was to address the growing need for a standardized and comprehensive response to migrants, one that would protect refugees rights and ensure safety and support during what is often a very painful transition. As a champion of this endeavor, Uganda has done an outstanding job at providing land for refugees, including them in national development plans, and granting them access to job markets. These policieswhich, remember, have been implemented by a relatively poor (by Western standards) nationprovides a stark contrast to other countries policies, which too often place refugees in camps that become unsafe and unsanitary or close a nations doors altogether, shutting those out who need aid. Lets put things into perspective: Amnesty International reports there are 4.96 million registered Syrian refugees. The United States admitted 18,007 of these refugees from October 2011 to December 2016. In the final year of the Obama administration, the overall refugee ceiling was raised to 85,000 persons for fiscal 2016. But this target was far from hit. Now that President Donald Trump has issued an executive order seeking to suspend admission of Syrian refugees and those from six other countries, it is unclear what the future holds for refugees here. So while America has, even under Obamas more-generous policy, allowed a number of refugees from Syria that equates to far less than even one-tenth of 1 percent of the total U.S. population and less than 3 percent of the total number of Syrian refugees, Uganda, a country with fewer than 40 million citizens and limited resources, has accepted about half the total number of displaced South Sudanese. Uganda has taught us being a good neighbor means rising to the occasion when those in need ask for help. Its actions are to be commended, and the international community should not only support their efforts, it should emulate them. Jacquelyn Corley is a neurological surgery resident at Duke University Medical Center. Email her at Jacquelyn.corley@duke.edu. She wrote this for InsideSources.com. The draft pension reform proposed by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman foresees the change of the pensionable service, retaining the retirement age and a possibility of compensating the absence of the pensionable service. "The pension age would remain at 60 for persons who have the 25 years of the pensionable service There are people who do not have the pensionable service. This is a large problem. These people would have a possibility of retiring in the age of 63. If people have less than 15 years of the pensionable service or 15, they would become pensioners in the age of 65. The requirements to the pensionable service are only changed," the prime minister said at the presentation of the draft pension reform in Kyiv on Wednesday. Groysman also said that the draft envisages the possibility of compensating the absence of the pensionable service. "If you are lacking several years to reach the 25 year pensionable service and you are not 60 years old, you can compensate this via sending contributions to the Pension Fund," the prime minister said. According to a posting on the website of the pension reform, the term that could be compensated is restricted with five years. The sum per year is calculated by multiplying the contribution from the minimum wage by 12. Filling in the gaps The registries, created and maintained by the NCI, are a national treasure, according to Etzioni. An ever-unfolding flower of data, SEER provides us with critical cancer statistics: who gets it, where they live, what kind of cancer they get, the stage and morphology of their tumor, the first course of treatment and, finally, whether the cancer kills them or not. But like most of us, the set of registries has issues. The biggest one, according to many patient advocates, is that it does not collect recurrence rates; if a persons cancer comes back, the SEER registries dont fold that information into the mix. Doing that would be very resource intensive, Etzioni said, because youd have to be continually checking on people to see if theyve had a recurrence which she said, is not feasible at this point on a national scale. This lack of data makes it difficult to accurately assess how many people are actually living with terminal cancer. But there are creative workarounds, which is how Etzioni and lead author Dr. Angela Mariotto of the NCI attained their MBC estimates. Its important to have more accurate estimates, said Mariotto, who for the last 17 years has squeezed the SEER registries for every last ounce of useful data. Mariotto said the MBC study is all part of a larger effort to beef up SEER, led by Dr. Lynne Penberthy, associate director for the Surveillance Research Program, within the NCIs Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. Penberthy is also one of the authors of the new study, along with Dr. Marc Hurlbert of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Musa Mayer of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. "We're trying to capture more data items and give a more complete picture of cancer treatment and cancer care," Mariotto said. "For example, we capture information on treatment, but we dont have information on the agents for chemotherapy. The NCI is also crowdsourcing ideas to fill in SEER's data holes and enhance it. Folding in recurrence data is a top priority, Mariotto said, pointing to methods that might be used to flag recurrence in the future such as algorithms that use insurance claims data, pathology reports, lab tests and imaging results to point to cancers return. For now, though, the NCI is relying on statistical modeling to estimate just how many women are living with the disease. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers decided to resume licensing of anthracite exports in 2017 in consultation with Ukraine's Energy and Coal Industry Ministry to overcome crisis in the energy sector linked to termination of anthracite supplies from Ukrainian government uncontrolled territories of Donbas. "The resolution is intended to provide for a balance on the domestic market, prevent the uncontrolled exports of anthracite coal and supply anthracite to Ukrainian power generating companies to meet their demand," the Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported after the meeting. The ministry said that consultations with the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry will be carried out without attracting exporters via exchange of information between the ministries. "The licensing is temporarily introduced until crisis in the energy sector is overcome. Then it will be annulled," reads an explanatory note to the draft resolution. The Country Land and Business Association has launched a campaign calling on government to deliver a Brexit that works for farmers and the countryside. The Countryside Matters campaign aims to demonstrate why investment in the countryside should remain a national priority post Brexit. Launching the campaign at the Devon Show on Thursday (18 May), CLA president Ross Murray warned delegates there is a risk the next government might seek to choke off funding for farming and the rural economy and reallocate it to other priority areas, such as the NHS. See also: Resilient agriculture is election priority, says CLA But it is vital for the government to treat farming, the rural economy and our landscapes as a public investment priority, he added. Farming and fishing is the lifeblood of our nations food industry, providing the essential ingredients for over 1bn meals consumed every week, said Mr Murray. Agriculture in its varied forms has absolutely shaped the land, how it looks and breathes, and sustains the vast green lung that the countryside represents to our growing population and the inevitable urbanisation. The two, town and countryside, have to go hand in hand. Mr Murray said the UK food and farming industry finds itself at a crossroads with Brexit. For the past 43 years, regulation and support for the industry has been led by the EU, mainly through the common agricultural policy (CAP). Brexit opportunity But for the first time in two generations. the next government will have the opportunity to shape its own agricultural policy. As such, Mr Murray urged the next government, of whatever colour, to allocate immediate investment through the budget process to re-energise UK agriculture and the wider rural economy as the country withdraws from the CAP. Over the coming months, the CLA will be taking this message around the country at country shows and to newly elected MPs. Calling on farmers to make the case for agriculture with their MPs, Mr Murray said: We have to show that investing in the countryside is a shared priority, not just for rural dwellers and business owners, but for the whole population. As part of the campaign, the CLA will publish new research about what people want from their countryside and how measures can be delivered in innovative and cost-effective ways. Farmers can support the campaign by signing up at the Countryside Matters website and tweet why the countryside matters on Twitter using the hashtag #countrysidematters. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not oppose an initiative of Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers to upgrade pensions from October, Social Policy Minister of Ukraine Andriy Reva has said. "The IMF knows that we will upgrade pensions. They [the IMF] have not presented any objections regarding the upgrade of pensions. I hope that they would not do it," the minister told reporters after a government meeting on Thursday. Reva said that the upgrade of pensions is Ukraine's internal issue. "Upgrading of pensions is our responsibility of the government and we would not ask anyone if we can upgrade pensions or not," the minister said. He said that the bill has been submitted to the National Reforms Council. He expressed hope that the meeting to discuss the bill will take place next week. Reva said that the bill could be submitted to parliament in June. State-owned enterprise Ukrainian Sea Port Authority on May 18, 2017 signed a contract with China Harbour Engineering company Ltd (CHEC) to carry out dredging works at the Yuzhny seaport (Odesa region), the largest port in the country in terms of handling. An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the contract was signed with participation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, Head of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority Raivis Veckagans and representatives of Ukrainian and Chinese businesses. Under the contract the Chinese company will carry out dredging works for the approach canal deepening it from 16 to 19 meters and create the operations water area of 16 meters deep near berths 23, 24 and 25. According to a press release of Cargill and M.V.Cargo spread at the signing ceremony, a new grain terminal is being built near berth 25 by the two companies. Dredging works would allow the new grain terminal to service vessels of the Post Panamax type with deadweight of 100,000 tonnes. Councilwoman Suzie Price and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson are in the running for the city's top political post. Should the LaSells Stewart Center carom moon-ward this weekend, deactivate PulsePoint and reholster your phone: Its just the Cherry Poppin Daddies reshaping the joint into the swankiest speak in town. Their 7 p.m. Saturday performance caps the three-day da Vinci Days festival while also serving as a fundraiser for the event, which returned last year after falling dormant in 2013. Spirits proffered by Lumos Wine Company, 2 Towns Ciderhouse and Block 15 Brewing Company will slake dance-floor thirsts, chased by appetizers and desserts from Forks & Corks Catering. The evening is sponsored by Oregon State University, Hewlett-Packard, the city of Corvallis and Benton County. Doors open at 6 p.m., followed an hour later by the blown-out walls and roof. Entry is $45 in advance, $60 on the day and site, and $20 for students with valid/current student ID. Tickets, which cover the performance, appetizers and dessert, are available at http://tiny.cc/lzm7ky or at the door. Of course, the evening would be incomplete sans swag, and patrons have opportunities to score T-shirts and two Daddies slabs, signed and sealed: 2016s The Boop-a-Doo and the deluxe 20th anniversary edition of fate-changer Zoot Suit Riot (1997), both on vinyl. Interested parties should visit the da Vinci Days Facebook page (http://tiny.cc/bym7ky) and either smash that like button, as the moppets say, or share the event for a chance to win. When The E last spoke with CPD frontman Steve Perry, he was approving mixes for what became White Teeth, Black Thoughts (2013), which was issued in two editions: the first marked the Daddies long-awaited full return to swing; augmenting the second were forays into other American styles. At the time, Perry, an assiduous student of music and sociology, called it the soundtrack for the Great Recession. Since then, the Daddies have stuck with jazz, in part because Perry enjoys exploring its breadth and because, well, our times, in a way, demand it. Weve been here before, and the music of rebellion got us through. Released last year, The Boop-a-Doo represents yet another departure of sorts for the Eugene-based collective. But it aligns with Perrys credo, the questions hes posed since establishing the group in 1989, when the Cherry Poppin Daddies moved to conquer the Northwest with defiant concoctions of swing, rock, funk, punk and ska: What would rock n roll sound like if the Beatles hadnt happened? Or Elvis? What would punk rock be if we were doing it today? When it came to swing, the Daddies were best known for sweat-shelled firebursts; The Boop-a-Doo, however, drinks in the intoxicating Jazz Age of the early 20th century. Although the nascent form was indeed considered wild, fast, and dangerous musicians were often arrested for playing it and adults feared their kids were skidoo-ing to Hell early jazz made do with more primitive recording conditions, gear now considered antique, and instruments alien to the Daddies sound, like tubas and banjos to keep time. But Perry loves a challenge and remains pleased with the results. I went around town and visited friends with vintage gear, he recalled last week in a telephone interview. I have a lot of vintage gear, too. We picked up things like temple blocks, old cymbals that were still playable, some lovely drums and the banjo. We also used tuba on certain tracks to get the bass sound. We reached back and put up these old rhythm mics to record with. What happens in recording, usually, he continued, is that the guitar eats up a weird amount of space in a mix. Its a little large and sometimes it makes a mess. Modern hi-hats and guitar sounds are just too big. Whereas the banjo has a nice little slot its percussive and it sounds strong. When I brought in the old drum kit, everything bloomed. Its a great-sounding record, overall. Everythings little the notes are smaller and go by faster, with tons of physicality. If America was a person, from a musical perspective, this music would be a 7-year-old with lots of energy. The songs fly by and sound good going down. Perry calls The Boop-a-Doo a bookend of sorts in a planned jazz trilogy. It was preceded in 2014 by Please Return the Evening: The Cherry Poppin Daddies Salute the Music of the Rat Pack, familiar territory since the Sammy Davis Jr. at the Coconut Grove vibe in Come Back to Me on 1994s Rapid City Muscle Car. However, the disc presented another challenge: transforming eight people into a leviathan equal to the bombast required for the Rat Packs outsized showmanship. That was another test of our studio chops, Perry said. Those records were made with huge bands, so we wanted that huge coloring, too, with giant sections. We needed the studio to sound larger, more lush, which is quite a task for every player. They all had to play more parts. It was a very different task. Perry remains mum on the trilogys final chapter, discussing instead his holiday plans: The Cherry Poppin Daddies Christmas Canteen, which he envisions as the spiritual descendant of a Christmas 1944 USO show in the South Pacific, with band members in period fatigues interpreting wartime standards with a slightly kinky vibe. Weve never tackled that era, Perry said. And that could be the third part. But I might attack other types of jazz, too, like the beatnik/bebop era or Western swing. The Daddies have even made room for dance, collaborating with Eugene Ballet director Toni Pimble on a show centered around their repertoire. Although she titled the resulting 2014 production Zoot Suit Riot, Pimble wisely cast wider than the swing material, pulling from every hue of the catalog. It worked out well, Perry said. Each piece was performed to a different song. Dance is good that way; you can really tailor it. That really fits us, to be honest, because I look at my albums in a similar way. Theyre like a grand hotel with different guests and vibes. Room 1 is nothing like Room 2. Room 3 is funny; Room 4 is tragic. It wasnt just one style of music, and it made for a better show. As most people know, Zoot Suit Riot is both the title of a Daddies album and the bands most visible hit, peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard Pop chart in 1998. Those with long memories will recall that this success came with frustration. Riot was intended as a stopgap between releases, a swing-themed collection of songs culled from the Daddies diverse canon with four new recordings all the bands budget then allowed attached. It arrived during a storm of luck and circumstance. Swing bands were suddenly in vogue. Scenesters adopted their grandparents slang. Music by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Squirrel Nut Zippers poured from every convention hall. Your square friends donned Homburgs and took Lindy Hop classes through the Parks & Rec. It was simultaneously glorious and maddening. The Daddies, sadly, were considered just another act capitalizing on a fortuitous time in popular culture. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, Perry recalled. It was fun, though. I didnt like being hemmed in that much. Im a prickly person. I want to do what I want to do. But I dont begrudge the album. Its allowed me to have a long career and given me the ability to make the records Im making now. Riots recent 20th anniversary allowed Perry to revisit the album and shape it into the perfect document of its era and the musics potential. Instruments and bits were rescued from the void (example: a once-lost Theremin on Here Comes the Snake), and Zoot Suit Riot itself was recalibrated to the correct speed. Perry also added live performances from the resulting tour. We weighed everything to make the definitive reissue, he said. But the Cherry Poppin Daddies were never much to linger in their own past. Perrys already deep into another album of originals, mixing the topical and personal, reflecting on the passage of time. Its really just about us and now, he said, some of the things weve been dealing with as we get older. Im getting to that age [hes 53] where Im thinking back on things. For instance, I grew up on the East Coast, New York state, but Ive lived most of my life in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. But theres a weird part of me that will always be an East Coaster. Im still asking myself, Why do I not fit in out here? If you ever grow up in a place, leave it and go back, that feeling of familiarity runs deep in your blood. It sits with you. Im thinking a lot about that lately. I have children and you see yourself in them. You think about stuff like that. I love this record. It has an urgency. Its certainly an interesting time to write, and I have good grist for the mill. A public hearing Wednesday night on Benton Countys 2017-19 budget turned into a debate over lethal vs. non-lethal methods of predator control. With the biennial budget process drawing toward a close, more than 60 people packed into a Sunset Building meeting room for a hearing on the countys $242.7 million budget proposal for the next two years. Over the first two hours, the six-member Budget Committee heard funding requests from the fairgrounds manager and a parade of people representing a variety of outside agencies seeking county support, from social service providers and cultural organizations to the local Humane Society and the da Vinci Days festival. Once the meeting was opened to public testimony, however, predator control became virtually the sole topic of discussion. The debate revolved around two funding requests. USDA Wildlife Services is asking for $96,690 in county discretionary funds for the next two years. The federal agency uses a variety of methods, , including trapping and killing, to control wild animals that attack livestock, damage crops and cause other problems for people. A group of local citizens is asking for $60,000 to fund a pilot program that would provide non-lethal wildlife control methods such as guard dogs, electric fencing and electronic hazing devices to area farmers and ranchers. Neither request is funded in the current draft of the budget. A total of 17 people stepped to the microphone to speak on both sides of the topic, often with a good deal of passion. Elizabeth Waldron, who lives near the Oregon State University Sheep Center outside Corvallis, was one of several people testifying in favor of the pilot program. She said she has seen and sometimes freed coyotes caught in snares at the facility. Its a horrible, painful, prolonged death, Waldron said. Debra Higbee-Sudyka, representing the Sierra Club, argued that predators play an important role in ecosystems and should not be needlessly killed. Were not advocating that that you discontinue lethal wildlife control, she told the committee members, but that you broaden Benton Countys toolbox to include non-lethal wildlife control. But a number of farmers and ranchers spoke in favor of the USDAs traditional control methods, saying less lethal methods could create unintended consequences. When you push the coyotes out of one pasture, they go somewhere else, said Frank Nusbaum, who grazes sheep on his Bellfountain-area farm. Its going to be a matter of moving them from one place to another. Monroe sheep rancher Lynne Miller had a similar comment. Nobody wants to eradicate all the wildlife. We want to be able to target the animals that are killing and harassing our livestock, she said. Wildlife is a public asset, Miller added. It should not be up to private citizens to feed them. The plan presented by county budget manager Pat Cochran at the committee's initial meeting on April 10 calls for $220.2 million in expenditures over the next two fiscal years, up 11.6 percent from $197.4 in the current biennium, and $22.5 million in reserves, up 4 percent from $21.6 million. But the funding requests from county department heads and outside agencies exceed the spending proposal by close to $3 million. It will be up to committee members to decide whether to deviate from Cochran's recommendation to satisfy some of those competing requests. As Cochran told them Wednesday night: You can do almost anything you want, but there are consequences to anything you do. The Budget Committee, made up of County Commissioners Anne Schuster, Xan Augerot and Annabelle Jaramillo and citizen appointees Phyllis Lee, Curtis Wright and David Dowrie, will meet again at 6 p.m. Monday in the Sunset Building, 4077 S.W. Research Way, to deliberate and vote on the 2017-19 budget and set a maximum property tax rate. An additional meeting has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the same location if need be. Corvallis High School student Jasmine Henry planted petunias, marigolds and geraniums Wednesday at the Benton County Veterans Memorial, honoring her grandfather, who served in the Vietnam War. "By contributing to this memorial, I feel like I'm contributing to what he did over there," said the 17-year-old Henry. Henry was one of more than 60 high school juniors who planted flowers at the memorial in front of the Corvallis National Guard Armory in anticipation of a Memorial Day celebration. Social studies teacher Chris McGowan said his students currently are learning about the Vietnam War. "It's their community, it's their project and now it's their wall," said Becki Goslow, who is organizing the Memorial Day event. Goslow said she enjoys seeing students take pride in a local project. "The kids did a really good job," she said. High school student Ryan Manhard visited the memorial in elementary school before taking a class trip Washington, D.C., to see the national war memorials. "To come back here and visit the memorial, it means a lot to me," Manhard said. Now flanked by bright red geranium bushes, the memorial was conceived of by Les Whittle in the 1990s. Whittle, a Korean War veteran, sifted through national archives for World War I and II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts to find the names of fallen soldiers from Benton County. The memorial was erected in 1996. The names of local soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan were later added. Whittle said he enjoys seeing how enthusiastic the students are about helping. "I did a brief talk about the memorial, and everyone is looking right at you and showing a great deal of interest, and that makes you feel good," he said. Honorary Consul of Israel hopes FTA between Ukraine and Israel will be signed by late 2017 Honorary Consul of Israel in Western Ukraine Oleg Vyshniakov hopes the agreement on a free trade area (FTA) between Ukraine and Israel will be signed by the end of 2017, which will significantly increase trade turnover between the states. "We hope by the end of the year the FTA agreement between our countries will be signed," he said at a press conference in Kyiv. He also noted at present trade turnover between Ukraine and Israel is about $1 billion. "This is a little for such countries. The figure will increase significantly after the signing of the FTA agreement," the consul said. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman expects that the State Service for Financial Investigations will begin work in early 2018. "The Security Service of Ukraine, I expressed this and now I want to emphasize, should deal with the security of the state, while the issues of economic activity should not be part of its authority," he said at a meeting with representatives of the European Business Association in Kyiv. According to him, a separate state service should investigate economic crimes. "According to the plan, we envisaged six or eight months for setting up the service, that is, in fact it should be the next year, the beginning of next year," the prime minister said. Environmental organization : Sustainable Chemistry Center coming to Bonn Bonn The International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre represents more growth for Bonn in the area of sustainability. New staff there will work closely with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Bonn will become home to an international center for sustainable chemistry. On Wednesday in Berlin, German Minister of the Environment Barbara Hendricks handed over the foundation charter to the Managing Director, Friedrich Barth. The International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) will work closely together with the United Nations and is expected to help the UN in meeting its targeted sustainable development goals. The world is faced with major challenges, such as global population growth, poverty, hunger and deteriorating environmental conditions, increasing migration, climate change, scarcity of resources and the worldwide erosion of stable ecosystems, reads the ISC3 website. It notes that the chemical industry plays a key role in relation to these challenges and can contribute to achieving sustainable development goals through innovations which are suitable for the commercial market. Minister Hendricks said, From today on, we will be able to make a substantial contribution to national and world wide chemical industry politics from the UN location in Bonn. Initially, 20 staff are expected to work closely with UNEP, the environmental program of the UN. The German government will be supporting the international center this year with 1.7 million euros. From the year 2018, the amount will increase to 2.4 millions euros. Weather at the end of the week : Temperatures to drop in Bonn and the region BONN After a sunny start to the week, the coming days will be cooler and rainy. The good news: On the weekend, the sun will pop out again between the clouds. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken After a summer-like start into the week, with grilling and outdoor activities looking very inviting, dark clouds will now move into Bonn and the region: Rain is expected. On Thursday, it will already be cloudy in the morning, with the sun barely visible. According to Kachelmannwetter, there will be heavy rains in the evening and temperatures of 16 to 18C. On Friday, a heavier jacket is needed: It will be rainy and cooler with temperatures falling below 15C. There is a chance of thunderstorms in North Rhine Westphalia on both Thursday and Friday. The strategy of development of PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia for 2017-2021 provides for a comprehensive modernization of rolling stock and infrastructure, company chairman Wojciech Balczun has said. "In the next five years we plan to invest UAH 130-150 billion," he said at a press conference in Kharkiv. According to him, in particular, it is planned to upgrade 30% of the fleet of freight cars and locomotives, 45% of passenger carriages. It is expected investments in the freight transportation sector will amount to more than UAH 28 billion, which will allow buying 20,000 new wagons and modernizing 50,000 already available. In addition, UAH 9 billion is expected to be used to purchase 400 passenger carriages, UAH 11 billion for the purchase of electric trains, UAH 3.5 billion for diesel trains and more than UAH 10 billion for the modernization and repair of the existing rolling stock. As for traction rolling stock, it is planned to purchase more than 200 new locomotives (UAH 30 billion) and modernize the existing ones (UAH 9.5 billion). The strategy, which the management presented to the staff of the regional branch of PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia, provides for the continuation of reforming the industry by building a vertically integrated structure. In particular, it is planned to create companies not on a regional basis, as it was before, but on the areas of activity: freight transportation and logistics, passenger carriage, infrastructure, traction services, production and service. All these companies are expected to be created during 2017-2019. Article Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs. Madach Imre ut. 3 I haven't been to Australia yet, but I have visited a few Australian style coffee shops in New York and Amsterdam and I am getting a feeling for the vibe while I wait for my Antipodean adventure. I only had an Italian amount of time for for an afternoon macchiato but I can say this tiny shop pulls a great espresso and I would have loved to linger here. Ferenciek ter 3 Lots of blond wood, strong wifi and a shrine to a yoga master are what you find here. I had a very Instagrammable cortado and a not too sweet slice of lemon poppyseed cake. With great lighting, gorgeous tiled floors and a soaring ceiling, the feeling here is very Scandi-chic. I ordered a Cortado and a brownie for a late morning snack. They have a shop with beans and teas and downstairs there is are very fancy coffee machines for sale. It was also a nice surprise to see coffee from my favorite Neapolitan bar, Mexico and the Florentine third wave coffee masters Ditta Artiginale Pack you bikini (and flip flops)A very stylish aunt of my college roommate gave us an indispensable piece of advice when we were young travelers setting out for our first independent European adventures. Always pack a bikini. This is important advice for Budapest which is famous for its healing thermal baths.We only got to visit one of them because of a freak accident involving a low and very sharp edged parking barrier which sliced an artery in Mark's leg! (On a side note I can report the Hungarian emergency services are swift, efficient and compassionate. Oh and breathtakingly affordable .)The Rudas baths are one of Budapest's oldest and the draw here is the small rooftop pool with views across the Danube towards Pest. Pava Udvar (Peacock Passage) at the Four Seasons. My old fashioned was tad too sweet for my taste, but the calm and lush setting made up for it. My pal Kevin is another one who really knows about the luxury lifestyle. (You have pre-ordered your copy of Rich People Problems , right?) He recommended having a drink under the glass ceiling of the I had read somewhere that this was the swankiest cocktail bar in town and I knew my pal Richard loves a Kempinsky Hotel so we stopped here after about 15,000 steps of exploring. We had the entire place to ourselves. I loved the taste of my drink, a tangy mix of mezcal, hibiscus and sumac and the power outlet next to my velvet chair. This was one of those trips where I didn't do that much research aside from reading my pal Ishta's blog posts because I had a bunch of writing to do and didn't know how much free time Mark would have and didn't want to be disappointed by knowing what we were missing. As far as food all I really knew about was paprika and Dobos torte. I had no idea that Hungary is the world's second largest producer of fois gras? How did I not know this? I made an attempt to eat a bowl of goulash and a slab of fois gras at least once a day and recommend you do the same. Where to Eat in Budapest How Much Goulash is Too Much Goulash? This bar is a scene. The whole place was kind of ridiculous and we were the oldest people there by at least a decade, if not two. The views and the cocktails are great and if you are lucky you will end up sharing a table with the only other couple your age swapping stories about film sets and best secret european island spots. This simple place across the street from Saint Stephens Basilica was exactly what I was looking for. Cheap and cheerful (and yes a little bit touristy.) The food was terrific. Mark had an asparagus soup that I have already tried to replicate here in Rome, full of fresh spring flavor. I had a plate of chicken paprikas that was almost as good as my mothers. Cold local beers were the perfect accompaniment. Varoshaz utca 6. We watched Anthony Bourdain's Budapest episode the night before we left and one detail really resonated with me. The Hungarian version of the tavole calde inside a butcher shop. I had lunch at Balla-Hus not far the main shopping street Vaci utca. I asked what the man behind the counter liked best and he pointed at a vat of stew and said pork meat. and soon had a flimsy plastic plate piled high with that and a side of nokedli (which are similar to German spaetzle.) My idea of heaven. Varosliget Cafe & Restaurant 2015 Olof Palme setany 5. This restaurant at the end of the leafy Andrassy ut has a big picture windows with views of a lake and a fairytale like castle. Mark's colleagues had organized a dinner here where the menu is Hungarian but a (somewhat) lighter, modern version. I started with a jar full of duck liver pate with a basket of fresh bread with a glass of sweet Tokaji wine. Their version of stuffed cabbage switched out the cabbage for kohlrabi and I did not leave a morsel of it on my plate. We stayed late until a fierce spring storm passed and learned about Palinka, the Hungarian version of grappa, which I can say is the perfect antidote to too much duck liver and creamy sauces. Erzsebet krt. 9-11 This might be the number one tourist destination in Budapest. We went for an early and very leisurely breakfast. This is a place to embrace excess. There is more gold, mirrors, painted ceiling, gypsy music and champagne than you could possible digest. But you should try. We did eat more than goose liver and Goulash. Budapest has much more variety than Rome when it comes to ethnic food. The J uiceline Nador ut. 20 There was no way my juice obsessed husband could go for more than a few days without a hit of kale and ginger. I found this jewel of a shop near the Central European University. He and the owner bonded on talk about machines and ingredients while I enjoyed a jolt of vitamins. Oktober ut. 6 Over the past day the militants have carried out 52 shelling of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area, as a result of which five Ukrainian servicemen have been injured, the press center of the ATO headquarters reported. In the Mariupol sector the militants carried out 21 shelling. The main fire activity of the enemy was concentrated in the areas of such populated localities as Shyrokyne, Pavlopil, Krasnohorivka and Maryinka. In addition, the militants fired on Vodiane, Hnutove, Lebedynske, Bohdanivka, Novotroyitske and Chermalyk. The militants fired on Pavlopil using 120 mm mortar shells banned by the Minsk agreements. "Avdiyivka in the Donetsk sector remains in a difficult situation. Its suburbs and some of our positions farther in the south were fired on with 120-mm mortar shells and tank armament banned by the Minsk agreements. While in this area, as well as in the area of Kodema, the enemy used 122 mm artillery systems," a statement posted on the official Facebook page of the ATO headquarters press centre, says. Some 13 attacks were recorded in the Luhansk sector. The militants fired upon the positions of the ATO in the vicinity of Krymske from mortars of 120 mm and 82 mm caliber, near Novo-Oleksandrivka - from mortars of 82 mm caliber, near Novozvanovka - from grenade launchers and machine guns, grenade launchers were used near Troyitske and Lobacheve. xspraise at 18-05-2017 07:01 AM (5 years ago) (m) A 29-year-old man, Rex Kpanor, a cleaner at the Cardio Thoracic Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has been arrested for allegedly The victim, Christiana Ohenewaa Anim, a mother of three was purportedly killed following a misunderstanding between her and the suspect. A 29-year-old man, Rex Kpanor, a cleaner at the Cardio Thoracic Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend at Labadi, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. The victim, Christiana Ohenewaa Anim, a mother of three was purportedly killed following a misunderstanding between her and the suspect. I am satisfied that she is dead and I don't regret killing her. Now the police can do whatever they want to do with me. . These were the purported words of Rex. Narrating the incident, Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, La District Police Commander, said on May 11, 2017, at about 12pm, a woman rushed to the police station to report that a man had butchered his wife in a house close to her restaurant. The family of the deceased was asked to help apprehend the suspect who had gone into hiding after allegedly committing the act. According to Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, on Sunday, May 14, a family member received a phone call from the suspect and in the course of their conversation, he asked how the wife was faring. The family member lied to him that his wife was on admission at the Police Hospital and so the man proceeded to the hospital (with the intention to finally kill her) when he was apprehended. At the police station, Rex, who reportedly claimed he was not remorseful about what he had done, told the police that he was satisfied that the wife was dead. Rex had co-habited with the woman for about 11 years and that their first born is 10 years old. The couple was living at Sukura near Mamprobi when a misunderstanding ensued between them. Madam Christiana then relocated to live with a family at Nima but her husband managed to trace her to her new place. This compelled the woman to further move to live with an aunt at La, but the man kept pestering her with calls. On Thursday, May 11, Rex traced Christiana to La and in the course of their conversation, a fight ensued between them, which eventually led to the murder. I am satisfied that she is dead and I don't regret killing her. Now the police can do whatever they want to do with me. . These were the purported words of Rex.Narrating the incident, Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, La District Police Commander, said on May 11, 2017, at about 12pm, a woman rushed to the police station to report that a man had butchered his wife in a house close to her restaurant.The family of the deceased was asked to help apprehend the suspect who had gone into hiding after allegedly committing the act. According to Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, on Sunday, May 14, a family member received a phone call from the suspect and in the course of their conversation, he asked how the wife was faring.The family member lied to him that his wife was on admission at the Police Hospital and so the man proceeded to the hospital (with the intention to finally kill her) when he was apprehended.At the police station, Rex, who reportedly claimed he was not remorseful about what he had done, told the police that he was satisfied that the wife was dead. Rex had co-habited with the woman for about 11 years and that their first born is 10 years old.The couple was living at Sukura near Mamprobi when a misunderstanding ensued between them. Madam Christiana then relocated to live with a family at Nima but her husband managed to trace her to her new place.This compelled the woman to further move to live with an aunt at La, but the man kept pestering her with calls. On Thursday, May 11, Rex traced Christiana to La and in the course of their conversation, a fight ensued between them, which eventually led to the murder. Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 18-05-2017 07:01 AM (5 years ago) | Hero clarajancita at 18-05-2017 10:54 AM (5 years ago) (f) The European Commission has barred Nigerias flag carrier airline, Medview from operating into European airspace for safety reasons. Several other airlines were also affected. A total of 181 airlines were barred from flying into Europe, while 174 airlines were barred due to safety oversight by aviation authorities in their home countries. The European Commission has barred Nigerias flag carrier airline, Medview from operating into European airspace for safety reasons. Several other airlines were also affected. A total of 181 airlines were barred from flying into Europe, while 174 airlines were barred due to safety oversight by aviation authorities in their home countries. However, all carriers from Mozambique and Republic of Benin have been removed from the list of airlines banned. Medview was one of seven airlines barred due to safety conditions with the airlines themselves. The airline is yet to issue an official statement concerning the ban, but a Director in the airline, Alhaji Ishaq Na Allah told New Telegraph on phone that the UK civil aviation requested the airline stop flying its B767 and has advised it to lease another aircraft. He said they are working to resolve the issue while the UK authorities are due in Nigeria to carry out safety audit on the airline. He did not, however, disclose when the airline would be back in service to London. The airline, being one of the two flag carriers of Nigeria, was Listed by Introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on January 31, 2017, and was the first airline to list its shares on the stock exchange in the last 10 years. However, all carriers from Mozambique and Republic of Benin have been removed from the list of airlines banned. Medview was one of seven airlines barred due to safety conditions with the airlines themselves. The airline is yet to issue an official statement concerning the ban, but a Director in the airline, Alhaji Ishaq Na Allah told New Telegraph on phone that the UK civil aviation requested the airline stop flying its B767 and has advised it to lease another aircraft.He said they are working to resolve the issue while the UK authorities are due in Nigeria to carry out safety audit on the airline. He did not, however, disclose when the airline would be back in service to London. The airline, being one of the two flag carriers of Nigeria, was Listed by Introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on January 31, 2017, and was the first airline to list its shares on the stock exchange in the last 10 years. Post Reply I am a metro reporter on Gistmania, I have been publishing news materials for over 5 years Posted: at 18-05-2017 10:54 AM (5 years ago) | Hero The womans male colleague told The Star they finished work at 4am and were attacked on Lilian Ngoyi (formerly Bree) Street. Their names have been withheld to protect the woman's identity. Quote "We were walking on Bree Street when one guy grabbed her," the co-worker said. Quote "From there, all I saw were a bunch of armed men surrounding me. They started hitting me, until I ran to get help from a woman who sells newspapers around the corner, said the 23-year-old bartender.Some of the assailants proceeded to assault him, while the others stripped his female colleague.The woman was then dragged into a dilapidated block of flats nicknamed Mnyama Ndawo, meaning Quote "dark place" , he said. Quote When the police arrived, we heard screaming from the building, which has no electricity. When we found her, there were men standing in a queue waiting to have sex with her, said the traumatised man.Police spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said 11 suspects were arrested and were expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on charges of kidnapping and rape. The woman is in Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, where she is receiving counselling. WhatsApp: Down once again on Wednesday News oi -Shilpa Once again WhatsApp is down! Whatsapp, a widely used messaging platform owned by Facebook was down once again yesterday. Just two weeks back, it had to face the same outage globally. Later, the company apologized for the inconvenience caused by the app. Now, by going down once again, it has unpleased the regular users. WhatsApp can be considered as a popular app since it is used by more than 1.2 billion users worldwide. Yesterday the app suffered a global outage in many places including India. Users had to face the problem while logging in, receiving and sending of messages. Some users complained that they were not able to use the chat function and the whenever they tried to send messages, a spinning wheel and also connecting message popped up. Some frustrated users have also tweeted to tell that they will switch to some other rival apps instead of facing this issues regularly in Whatsapp. Scam Alert: WhatsApp cannot be changed to new colors Down Detector, a monitoring website reported that this issue was faced in between 5 pm and 6 pm (BST). As per their report, almost 55 percent of the users suffered connection problems, 35 percent had to face the issues pertaining to receiving the messages, whereas 10 percent of the Whatsapp users faced issues while logging in. These issues in Whatsapp are faced by countries including India, Malaysia, Spain, UK, US, Europe, Brazil, and other parts of South America. Being used globally, this app does not break often when compared to other messenger apps. But this repeated outage in the same month, made everyone to lose faith in it. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Best Samsung 4G smartphones to buy under Rs. 10,000 Features oi -Harish Kumar Are you looking for a 4G Samsung phone that is a value for your money offering? Check out! Samsung has its reputation in the Indian market (even globally) for its offerings in the smartphone arena. There are Samsung loyalists always prefer the brand despite the emergence of many other brands. When it comes to Samsung smartphones, the devices always have a user-friendly interface and come with enough features that are beneficial to the users. The smartphones come with power saving modes and Samsung exclusive apps and features too that are attractive and meant to give a better user experience. Upcoming Samsung smartphones to be launch in 2017 With the boom in the 4G network across the country, the Samsung 4G smartphones are sought after the fans. Here, we have listed some of the Samsung 4G smartphones in the sub-Rs. 10,000 price bracket. Do check them out. Best Mobiles in India Leaked Samsung Galaxy C10 image reveals rear dual cameras News oi -Chandrika It could be the first Samsung phone to feature a dual-camera setup We have been hearing a lot of rumors about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy C10 lately. The phone is touted to be first Samsung smartphone to come with a dual-camera setup. A couple of days back, a cutout of the alleged device was spotted online, which said the same. Yet again, a new image said to be of the Galaxy C10 has hit the web. As you can see from the image, there are rear dual cameras with a LED flash in between. Apparently, the camera setup is vertically arranged. Other than that, the image shows the phone in a beautiful Rose Gold color. Now coming to rest of the specifications, previous leaks had suggested that the Samsung Galaxy C10 will pack the Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 660 processor. Oppo A77 with 16MP selfie camera Vs other best selfie smartphones Notably, this recently launched mid-range chipset uses a 14nm FinFET process and offers 4K video capture and playback capabilities, along with 8GB maximum memory and Vulkan API support. So based on these facts, it is speculated that the Galaxy C10 will come with 6GB RAM on board. Display-wise, the smartphone is rumored to sport a 6-inch display. In addition to this, recent leaks have further revealed that the device would feature a Bixby button just like the Galaxy S8. However, there has been a confusion regarding the model number of the upcoming smartphone. Some sources say that it is SM-C9150, while some claim it to be SM-C9100. Now, which one is authentic is not really known. Samsung has not yet disclosed anything about the Samsung Galaxy C10. In any case, going by the company's past patterns, this smartphone will be limited to the Chinese and Indian market. Via Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Sony Xperia XZ Premium with Motion Eye camera now available in China News oi -Chandrika This smartphone costs a bomb Yesterday, Sony officially released its new flagship smartphone, the Xperia XZ Premium in China. The company had already announced the phone back in February at the MWC 2017. Talking about its specs, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium flaunts a 5.5-inch display with 4K resolution. The display also comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for better protection. The heart of the device is an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The smartphone is fueled by a 3230mAh battery. The memory aspect is taken care of by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Asus ZenFone AR, the new Tango phone coming soon The native storage can be further expanded up to 256GB with a microSD card. In terms of optics, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium boasts a 19MP high-resolution rear-facing camera with Motion Eye feature, which can take slow motion videos at 960fps. Likewise, there is a f/2.0 13MP secondary camera with 22mm wide-angle lens. On the software side, the device arrives with Android 7.1.1 Nougat right out of the box. The Xperia XZ Premium measures 156777.9 mm and weighs 195gram. The handset is available in three different color options: Black, Gold and Silver. Google Photos has 500 million users; gets 3 new sharing features Given the powerful specs, the flagship smartphone from Sony comes with a high price tag. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium would cost 5699 ($827). The pre-order for this phone has already opened on the official website of Sony. Additionally, Sony has also released a special Spider-Man edition of this phone and it will come in a special box. However, the company is yet to announce its pricing details. Via Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Use Aadhar based e- KYC service as an alternative process for issuance of mobile connections: TRAI News oi -Priyanka Trai said as the Aadhar based e- KYC authentication is not only fast and reliable but may also result in substantial savings for the industry. Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI) has suggested the use of Aadhar based e- KYC service as an alternative process for issuance of mobile connections. "The authority recommends laying down an appropriate format (Customer Acquisition Form) for verification/reverification of all subscribers (including fixed line) availing internet and broadband services and adoption of Aadhaar-based eKYC service, similar to mobile connections, for their verification," a TRAI statement said. The regulator said, "the authority has received a letter from internet service providers (ISP) Association of India wherein it has been requested to extend Aadhar based e-KYC authentication to ISPs and UL-ISPs for broadband and internet connections also, as is applicable for mobile connections." "ISPAI has stated in their letter that use of such service for the authenticity of customers for broadband and internet connections will be fast and much authentic as well as save time and cost," the telecom regulator further added. Micromax emerges as the second largest handset brand in Russia: Counterpoint Trai said as the Aadhar based e- KYC authentication is not only fast and reliable but may also result in substantial savings for the industry, the Authority recommends laying down an appropriate format (CAF) for the verification/ re- verification of all subscribers (including fixed line) availing Internet and Broadband services and adoption of Aadhaar based e- KYC service, similar to mobile connections, for their verification. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear a plea challenging the central government's notification to make Aadhaar mandatory in order to avail various government schemes, ANI reported. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe Major General Timothy McGuire has said that the U.S. military is studying the experience of Ukrainian servicemen obtained in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area. According to the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, during a meeting on May 17 with Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak at the training center of the 7th Army Training Command of the U.S. Army Europe, McGuire said that the command and staff appreciate the opportunity to study the experience of Ukrainian servicemen, received in the ATO area. Keeping this in mind, we are making certain changes in the tactics of our drills and training, he said. The American general also said that the level of training, including that of the Ukrainian military, has significantly grown. According to Poltorak, familiarization with the work at the center's training area, the arrangement of accommodation for the military will allow to take into account "certain elements in the construction of new towns for servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both at permanent deployment sites and at landfills." WikiLeaks Source Chelsea Manning Freed From U.S. Military Prison RFE/RL May 17, 2017 Chelsea Manning, the U.S. soldier who was convicted of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents, says she is seeking to put her past behind her following her release from prison. Manning, who walked free on May 17 after serving seven years in prison, said after her release that she is "figuring things out right now -- which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me." "I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past," Manning, whose original 35-year sentence was largely commuted by former President Barack Obama shortly before he left office, said in a statement via her lawyers. The 29-year-old soldier, who was born Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of 20 charges in connection with the leaks, including espionage. After her sentencing, Manning said she had felt female since childhood and wanted to live as a woman. Manning was deployed to Iraq as an intelligence analyst when she leaked the diplomatic cables and military files to WikiLeaks. She defended her move by saying she had wanted to spark a public debate in the United States about the role of the U.S. military and foreign policy, but later apologized for "hurting" the country. The U.S. military confirmed earlier on May 17 that Manning had left a military prison in Kansas. After her release, she posted a photograph of her feet in sneakers accompanied by a caption that read: "First steps of freedom!!" A day after Obama commuted Manning's sentence in January, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he stood by his offer to be extradited to the United States as soon as Manning was released from prison. Assange fled to Ecuador's embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces rape allegations. He has remained there ever since. The United States is conducting an investigation into WikiLeaks, which last year published internal Democratic Party e-mails that U.S. intelligence says were stolen in a Kremlin-directed hacking campaign aimed at meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Central Intelligence Director Mike Pompeo in April called the website a "hostile intelligence service." With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and the BBC Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/chelsea-manning-wikileaks-released-prison/28493490.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Releases Chelsea Manning By VOA News May 17, 2017 Chelsea Manning, the U.S. Army soldier who gave more than 700,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, was freed from prison early Wednesday after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence. An army statement said Manning was released at 2am local time from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in the state of Kansas. "Whatever is ahead of me, is far more important than the past," said the 29-year-old in a statement released by her legal team. "I'm figuring things out right now - which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me." An online fundraising effort set up to help Manning pay for living expenses after her release had brought in nearly $150,000 in donations as of Wednesday. Manning's lawyers say she plans to go to Maryland. The leaks included battlefield reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as State Department cables, and rocketed WikiLeaks to international prominence. Critics said the disclosures publicized some of the nation's most sensitive secrets and put people mentioned in the documents, such as those who aided U.S. troops overseas, in danger. Former U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence in January, setting Wednesday as her release date. Manning, who was known as Bradley at the time of the leaks, came out as transgender after being sentenced to prison. Manning said she acted "out of concern for my country," innocent civilians who died in the wars and in support of "transparency and public accountability." Her conviction in a military court on 20 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, theft and computer fraud, remains in place and Manning is appealing the verdict. She objected to the length of the sentence, which was longer than any previously given for the disclosure of such information. Manning's lawyers have said she was subjected to violence while in prison, and that the military mistreated her by forcing her to serve her time in an all-male facility and restricting access to physical and mental health care. "Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts," Manning said in a statement last week. "I am forever grateful to the people who kept me alive, President Obama, my legal team and countless supporters." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: I Can Prove Trump Passed No Secrets By VOA News May 17, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin says President Donald Trump never passed any classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they met last week in Washington, and he has the transcripts to prove it. Speaking Wednesday alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Putin said Lavrov never passed the purported secrets on to him, and he would be happy to hand over the transcripts of the conversation. Trump has been defending himself this week after media reports claimed he shared sensitive intelligence with Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. The president and his aides have denied Trump shared any information that would have compromised sources or methods of gathering intelligence. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster called Trump's discussion with Russian diplomats "wholly appropriate." "I'm not concerned at all," said McMaster, who sat in on the Oval Office meeting. News accounts of the meeting claim the classified information involved a possible Islamic State plan to smuggle bombs hidden in laptop computers aboard airliners. Putin said the anti-Russian sentiment in America is damaging the country and not allowing Trump to govern properly. He accused Trump's detractors of suffering from "political schizophrenia." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 17, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 29 strikes consisting of 87 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead. -- Near Hawl, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position. -- Near At Tanf, a strike destroyed a storage facility. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a four oil processing equipment items, two ISIS oil storage tanks, a vehicle and a fighting position. -- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a front-end loader. -- Near Raqqa, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed five vehicles, two vehicle bombs, two mortar systems and an ISIS storage facility; and damaged an ISIS bridge. -- Near Tabqah, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three vehicles and two fighting positions. Strikes in Iraq In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 58 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a bunker and a tactical vehicle. -- Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed a bunker. -- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 10 fighting positions, three medium machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenade systems, an unmanned aircraft system, an ISIS-held building, an artillery system, a heavy machine gun, a mortar system, a vehicle bomb, a command-and-control node, a vehicle and a vehicle bomb-making facility; damaged 16 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar team. -- Near Sinjar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, an ISIS staging area and an improvised explosive device cache. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle. Additionally, a strike was conducted in Syria on May 15 that closed within the last 24 hours: -- Near Raqqa, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Military Chiefs Discuss Issues Confronting Alliance By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity BRUSSELS, May 17, 2017 NATO chiefs of defense are discussing issues from Afghanistan to Russia to the southern flank during the 177th Military Committee meeting here today. The chiefs will discuss these issues and make recommendations to their political leaders. Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel, the chairman of the Military Committee, will lead the discussions. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks for the U.S. military in this forum. The military leaders of the alliance look to translating "political objectives into military reality; to deliver tangible, coherent and sustainable effects that influence the strategic environment to make it more safe and more secure," Pavel said at the beginning of the meeting. Projecting Stability The chiefs started with the situation on the southern part of the NATO alliance. "We will discuss two issues that are high on the political agenda: projecting stability to strengthen security beyond our borders and how to enhance NATO's role in fighting terrorism," Pavel said. The chiefs will work from a strategic assessment of the Middle East and North Africa as they look to the next steps in the alliance training and capacity building effort in Iraq, and how to further assist Mediterranean partners. NATO will work with international organizations, including the European Union, in this effort. The afternoon session will be dedicated to Afghanistan and the 13 partner nations that work with NATO in Afghanistan will participate. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, commander of U.S. European Command and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; and Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, will brief the chiefs. Developing Afghan National Defense "As part of a wider effort by the international community, the continued development of the Afghan national defense and security forces is a vital contribution to the stability of the country -- to ensure its own security and permit economic and social development," Pavel said. "Our aim today is to reaffirm our support in the ongoing development of the Afghan national defense and security forces, preferably aligned with their four-year development plan." The four-year plan is the blueprint Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is using to set goals for his nation. In four years, for example, the Afghan government should be able to provide security for 80 percent of its population. The chiefs will also discuss fair burden sharing. NATO nations pledged at the Wales Summit in 2014 to invest 2 percent of gross domestic product in defense. They reiterated that pledge at last year's Warsaw Summit. "From the military side, we should focus our efforts on meeting our capability targets and the priority areas for enhancing NATO's military capabilities across all domains," Pavel said. The chiefs will also discuss progress made in deterring Russia and its influence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A deputy of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, the chairman of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, has called for the quick preparation and adoption of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine concerning the Crimean Tatar national autonomy. "We are doing everything to finally, in the coming months, prepare amendments and annexes to the Constitution of Ukraine and reformat the Crimean autonomy in such a way as to strengthen 'Ukrainianness' on the Crimean land that would finally take into account the right of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination on the Crimean land to ensure the rights of all those who live on this land," Chubarov said at the morning plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday. Saber Junction 17: Training Can be a Minefield By Staff Sgt. Brian Gordon, 114th Public Affairs Detachment May 17, 2017 HOHENFELS, Germany -- As simulated battles rage throughout the wooded hills of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center during exercise Saber Junction 17, few Soldiers notice the curious structure consisting of four waist high tubes attached to a large plate pointing in various directions resting in a field. The tubes are part of the Spider Activated Volcano Obstacle (SAVO), a capability in minefield technology. These units consist of four tubes containing six anti-vehicle mines each. When activated from a remote control, each SAVO unit dispenses mines that cover an 80 meter area, creating a dense minefield almost instantly. Such a minefield is a perfect obstacle to be used in an exercise focused on mobility like Saber Junction 17. At JMRC, the multinational exercises conducted in the heart of Europe provide a perfect training lab for units and agencies to test new systems and operational procedures within a dynamic and realistic modern combat scenario. For this exercise, the U.S. Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command was able to take advantage of this opportunity to test the SAVO under operational conditions with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "We can set this whole thing up in about an hour, with two to four of the SAVO units, wherever we think the enemy will come," said PFC Samuel McCall, Combat Engineer with A Troop, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "The remote control unit can set it off up to 500 meters away, much farther if we add the signal repeater sets we have." The SAVO units can be transported in various manners, including in the back of armored vehicles or trailers. "You can deploy them quickly and recover them if you don't use them," said Maj. Michael McDevitt, Senior Planning Engineer with RDECOM, Detachment 8. "The time savings and recoverability aspects of this system are some of the highlights of this emplacement concept." Several safety features are incorporated into the SAVO system. The SAVO units will be designed to stay in place prior to launching mines from the canisters for up to 1 year. During this time they are fully recoverable and reusable. Once the operator launches the mines, the deployed mines have a pre-set lifespan after which they will self-destruct which prevents opposing forces from potentially using them against friendly troops as well as , eliminating any possible danger to civilians or animal life in the future, unlike many conventional mines in use today. This makes SAVO compliant with US landmine policy. "This thing is great," said McCall. "It was not hard to learn, it's easy to emplace, and you can put the whole thing on safe if you need to do repairs or change batteries or something." The SAVO program is one of the latest innovations to come out of RDECOM, which is the U.S. Army's technology leader and largest technology developer. RDECOM provides the Army with an organic research and development capability. More than 13,700 Soldiers, civilian employees and direct contractors are employed at seven major laboratories and research, development and engineering centers. It also integrates technologies developed in partnership with an extensive network of academic, industry and international partners. "RDECOM has worked on everything from combat vehicles, munitions, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), uniforms, MREs to capabilities like the SAVO," said Maj. Angela Smoot, RDECOM science and technology advisor to USAREUR. "We take feedback from Soldiers and use it to inform future developments and designs. Technology is an iterative process that requires time to ensure the capability meets the requirement and mission." McDevitt said that using the SAVO in this exercise was an "operational proof of concept." The feedback that comes out of this in the form of After Action Reviews (AARs) and reports from the troops on the ground will be sent back to RDECOM's Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center for consideration in future development of the SAVO. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Angolan Minister of Defense Joao Lourenco May 17, 2017 Remarks by Secretary Mattis and Minister Lourenco at a Memorandum of Understanding Signing at the Pentagon SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Well, welcome to the Pentagon, Minister Lourenco. And thank you for championing the presidential approval for the memorandum of understanding. With this memorandum, we're taking the first steps toward a strategic partnership that will enhance the security cooperation between our two nations. Here in front of the press, I want to acknowledge Angola's steady leadership in world affairs, most recently as a member of the United Nations Security Council, and in hosting the 2015 International Conference on Maritime and Energy Security. We recognize this was an important step in the Yaounde code of conduct to increase regional cooperation in protecting against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and your leadership -- your country's leadership in seeking stability in Central Africa, specifically in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. And with this memorandum, we begin building a long-term partnership based on mutual respect. We will have information exchanges, training for officers in each other's country, ongoing visits between our leaders and mechanisms to train for peacekeeping. We will also continue to work closely with our African partners in the defense against terrorism. We look forward to building a mutually beneficial partnership with you, Minister Lourenco. As the African proverb goes, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Thank you again for coming to visit us in America and we look forward to the discussion. MINISTER OF DEFENSE JOAO LOURENCO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Excellency General James Mattis, secretary of defense of the U.S., the distinguished generals and the senior officers of the Department of Defense of the U.S., Ambassador Helen La Lime, I would like on my own behalf and of the delegation that accompanies me to take the invitation that the U.S. government has addressed to us, to receive the U.S. with the main objective, but not only to sign the MOU on the (inaudible) between our two countries. Different, that we just cleared out -- a few minutes ago -- of signing the MOU, it is the main legal tool that will enable us to strength (sic) the bonds of cooperation between our -- our two difference (sic) forces. General James Mattis made it possible to have authorization of His Excellence President Jose Eduardo dos Santos for the signing of this MOU. I would like to let you know President Jose Eduardo dos Santos was very pleased, and he gave -- gave us the full powers in writing so we could comeand sign this MOU. That's because we see over -- we see this cooperation with the United States as a very serious commitment. We believe that both country (sic) will benefit from this cooperation. The United States is well known as the biggest power in the world -- doesn't need any -- any presentation. But -- but Angola is also a very important country. Its size and the -- also in the region in Africa where it is the way it borders between two very important regions, the position between the southern African region and the central Africa region. We are located in the Gulf of Guinea, and on which a -- United States have a -- a very important supporter to that region. We are very much committed on fighting terrorism in generally (sic), but most important in that particular region of Africa, of -- in the Gulf of Guinea. We are very much engaged in trying to help the countries in the Great Lakes region to find the lasting peace in particular, in the Central African Republic, that is living with the instability for long years now, but also in the DRC and in Burundi. Angola is currently the chairperson of the Great Lakes region conference until December this year, and we will play our -- final role to try to find lasting peace to all these countries. We engaged on this commitment, and we believe that once this MOU that we have signed -- (inaudible) -- forces, we believe, with partnership of U.S., we'll be more able to -- to trying to find lasting peace on the Great Lakes region and also in the central Africa region. So, Mr. James Mattis, secretary of defense of U.S., thank you very much for allowing us to come for this meeting and the signing of this MOU that will possibly ease the cooperation between our armed forces and ministry of defense. Thank you very much. SEC. MATTIS: Thank you, sir. And for all of you here, if you remember back to Angola of 25 years ago, and then you look at Angola's bright future today, the difference between Angola of 25 years ago and Angola today is the leadership that Minister Lourenco and others provide, and that creates the bright future Angola has today. And that's a future of genuine peace and prosperity that they can look forward to, and I would add, with America's respect and support. Thank you again for coming, Minister Lourenco. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Q: Mr. Secretary, have you reassured your Israeli counterparts that any information -- (inaudible) -- that they provide will be safeguarded by the United States? SEC. MATTIS: We always have safeguarded information from our allies and there's nothing that has caused them to question it. We've received no questions at all. Q: From the Israelis or any of your other counterparts? SEC. MATTIS: We've received no questions at all from anyone. Yes? Q: Mr. Secretary, nonetheless, and I would ask the minister as well, if I might, the world (inaudible) seems a little unsettled right now by the American admittedly political situation. For the minister, in your country, sir, are people following the situation in Washington? Do you believe there is some, perhaps, unsettlement in your government about what is happening in Washington with the administration? And Mr. Secretary, in your dealings as you set off again going to NATO, what are your reassurances? If they're not asking you, what reassurances are you prepared to give the countries, the ministers you encounter? But for the minister of Angola first -- (inaudible). MIN. LOURENCO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Indeed, we follow up the situation around the world. Indeed also in the United -- the U.S. As a politician, we have -- (inaudible). But we consider that whatever problems the American administration is facing are internal situations on which we don't want to comment. We believe -- (inaudible) -- American politician will overcome in due time these challenges that they are facing right now. SEC. MATTIS: As you heard from the minister -- from Minister Lourenco, we maintain steady military relations with our friends, our partners, our allies. There's been no disruption whatsoever. Everything is quite steady. And it's a stable situation going forward, including into NATO. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. One last question. Go ahead. Q: Until now, we haven't heard any details -- (inaudible) -- administration on -- (inaudible) -- African country. Can you give a little more information about -- (inaudible)? SEC. MATTIS: From the American point of view, and I can speak more broadly than just the Department of Defense, Africa is a region, a continent full of potential. And we look at it as a place that we want to support the kind of leadership that we find here in Minister Lourenco and the government in Angola. And the reason we're signing this memorandum of understanding is to show that we can make common cause going towards the future that fulfills their full potential right now. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks very much. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1185512/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Secretary General welcomes political progress in Skopje NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 17 May. 2017 Press Release (2017) 088 Issued on 17 May. 2017 I welcome President Ivanov's decision to grant Mr. Zaev's parliamentary majority a mandate to form a new government. This is a step in the right direction, and the right thing to do. I encourage the swift formation of a new government, a timely confirmation vote in parliament and a constructive attitude by all parties. It is important the country can start to focus on its urgently needed reforms. I urge all those concerned to continue their efforts to advance the country's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Lake Erie Provides MEDEVAC Support Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170517-01 Release Date: 5/17/2017 9:11:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Lucas Hans USS Lake Erie Public Affairs PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) performed a medical evacuation after a request came from a U.S. Army logistics support vessel (LSV) in the early hours of May 15. After receiving the call, Lake Erie plotted a direct course to the LSV Once in range, the ship deployed an embarked helicopter assigned to the "Scorpions" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49 Detachment Four to retrieve the distressed mariner. "We got the request to conduct the MEDEVAC within an hour of initial notification," said Lt. Mark Rittenhouse, the tactical action officer on duty at the time the ship received the call. "At first, we weren't sure we would be the ones to respond. When standing by to conduct an operation like this, many things have to be considered quickly, and it's all being done in the best interest of the individual who is in distress." The mariner was brought aboard Lake Erie, and his condition was assessed in the ship's medical facility. "The Lake Erie is a multi-mission ship," said Rittenhouse. "These types of things are not uncommon. The important thing is that we were able to respond quickly." The patient was later flown from Lake Erie to Tripler Army Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii, for additional care. Lake Erie's Air Detachment Officer in Charge Lt. Cmdr. Keith Johnson spoke about the challenges the aircrew experienced during the MEDEVAC. "This was a unique situation, because the Army ship we were flying to was not air capable," said Johnson. "We had to do a hoist MEDEVAC where we lowered a basket with our aircrewman and lifted the patient up in it. The only safe place to lift him from was the ship's well deck. We didn't have much room. The deck was slippery, and the ship was rolling significantly. Johnson added that there was a very thorough discussion before the they left, and they studied photos of the ship to ensure that they had a definite plan of action. This is the second rescue mission for Lake Erie in the last two months. The first occurred March 19, while underway conducting a composite training unit exercise with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. Lake Erie provided assistance to 25 mariners after receiving a call of a civilian ship taking on water. Lake Erie is currently underway on an independent deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East in support of maritime security operations and theater cooperation efforts. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian troops clash with students in Kashmir Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 5:48PM Hundreds of stone-throwing student protesters have clashed with New Delhi government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir as tensions continue to rock the disputed Himalayan region. Media reports said that Indian paramilitary troops used tear gas and batons to try to disperse students of a college in old part of the main city of Srinagar on Wednesday. The violent clashes erupted after angry students boycotted their classes and poured out into streets in downtown city around noon. They chanted slogans against Indian rule over the Muslim-majority region and demanded release of their fellows arrested during earlier protests. The students retaliated by hurling stones and breaching the barricades set up by paramilitary soldiers in the area. Witnesses said Indian troops chased students, including a large number of girls, with batons. Separately, a large group of students also staged a massive march in Bandipora district of north Kashmir. Tensions between Kashmiri students and government forces have intensified since April 15, when Indian forces raided a college in Pulwama, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Srinagar, to scare anti-India activists. Hundreds of students were wounded in disturbances. The unrest had prompted authorities to temporarily shut down schools and universities. In the latest surge of violence in Kashmir, several people were killed on April 9, when Indian paramilitary forces clashed with protesters during a by-election in Srinagar. Pro-independence factions in Kashmir had called for a boycott of the vote, resulting in heightened security and a low voter turnout when the polling began. The Muslim-majority region has witnessed an increase in mass protests and violent attacks since early July 2016, when Burhan Wani, a top figure in a pro-independence group, was killed in a shootout with Indian troops. Nearly 100 people have lost their lives and more than 12,000 wounded in the ensuing crackdown. In recent months, the use of pellet guns by Indian forces in Kashmir has drawn widespread criticism as the weapons have caused permanent disabilities among victims. The government crackdown has failed to halt the protests against the Indian rule in Kashmir. The region has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both since the two partitioned and gained independence from Britain in 1947. The two countries have fought three wars over the disputed territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi air raid on Yemen leaves over 20 civilians dead Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 3:30PM At least 23 civilians have lost their lives when Saudi fighter jets carried out an airstrike in Yemen's southwestern province of Ta'izz as the Riyadh regime continues with its atrocious aerial bombardment campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor. Local sources told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the aerial attack had targeted a vehicle as it was travelling along a road in the province's Mawza' district on Wednesday afternoon. The sources added that the victims were returning from al-Barh market in the neighboring Maqbanah district. There were reportedly several women and children among those killed in the airstrike. Al-Masirah cameraman wounded in Saudi drone strike Meanwhile, a cameraman for al-Masirah television network sustained injuries when a Saudi unmanned aerial vehicle carried out an attack against the channel's staff in the Harad district of the northwestern province of Hajjah, located approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of the capital Sana'a. Al-Masirah correspondent Walid al-Muthar said the Saudi drone targeted the crew as they were moving to cover relief activities in Harad. Muthar identified the injured cameraman as Ismail al-Balahi. Yemeni soldiers, allies make advances in Saudi Arabia Separately, Yemeni army soldiers and allied fighters from Popular Committees have advanced east of Ulaib Mountains in Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Najran. A military source, requesting anonymity, said Saudi troops launched a counterattack shortly afterwards to reclaim control over a hilltop but failed despite intense air support. Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to reinstate Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement. The Riyadh regime has, however, failed to reach its goals despite suffering great expense. The military aggression has claimed the lives of more than 12,000 people, mostly civilians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Red Cross: 115 bodies found in Central African Republic Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 11:40AM The Red Cross says 115 bodies have been found in the Central African Republic's town of Bangassou following several days of attacks by militants. "We found 115 bodies and 34 have been buried," said Antoine Mbao Bogo, the president of the aid group's local branch, from the capital Bangui on Wednesday. "They died in various ways: from knives, from clubs and bullet wounds." The figure is more than four times the toll previously reported. A top UN official had previously said only 26 civilians were killed. Bangassou, a diamond-mining town in the Central African Republic, has witnessed an escalation in fighting over its control since 2013. In March the same year, the country fell into chaos when then President Francois Bozize was ousted by the mainly Seleka rebel alliance and was replaced by Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia, the first Muslim to hold the presidency in the generally-Christian nation. The replacement, however, caused a series of deadly retaliatory attacks between the Seleka rebels and the Christian militia known as anti-balaka. Some 13,000 peacekeepers have been deployed to the country by the United Nations as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR (MINUSCA). Civilians say the mission has failed to protect them against armed groups. Last week, hundreds of militia with heavy weaponry captured Bangassou and UN peacekeepers have been trying to regain control over the southeastern town ever since. UN spokesman Herve Verhoosel said on Wednesday the peacekeepers seized back key points thanks to the deployment of additional UN troops and air raids. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Militants attack TV, radio building in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 9:8AM Afghan security forces have engaged three gunmen who have attacked a state radio and television building in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province. The gunmen began the Wednesday attack by detonating a bomb and managed to enter the state-run radio and television building in the provincial capital Jalalabad. The building is close to the governor's compound and a police station. Heavy gunfire erupted between the security forces and the assailants, while some journalists and staff were trapped in the building, according to a photographer, who said he fled the building as soon as the gunfight started. Government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said there were three assailants. "Two of them have been killed and one is still resisting," he said. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the side of staff and security forces, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. The Takfiri Daesh terror group, which is active in the mountainous eastern province, claimed responsibility for the assault. Elsewhere in the country, three civilians were killed in separate bomb attacks, officials said on Wednesday. Two civilians were killed and two others were wounded in a bomb blast late Tuesday in the Nijrab district in Kapisa Province. Another civilian was also killed and 10 others were wounded, including three policemen, in twin bomb blasts in the southern Kandahar Province. Those attacks have not been claimed by any group, either. The Taliban have stepped up their attacks with the start of spring. They have been engaging in militancy since a US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, which toppled a government run by them. Daesh has gained a foothold in Afghanistan more recently. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China sets up defense systems on South China Sea reef Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 7:37AM China has set up rocket launchers on a reef in the disputed South China Sea as a defensive measure against Vietnamese military combat divers. The Chinese state-run Defense Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that China's military had installed on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands the Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm anti-frogman rocket launcher defense systems, which have the capability to discover, identify, and attack enemy combat divers. Though the report did not indicate when the defense system had been installed on the reef, it did point out that the deployment had been part of a reactive measure that was initiated in May 2014, when Vietnamese divers installed large numbers of fishing nets in the Paracel Islands. Fishing reportedly constitutes a national security issue for Vietnam. The Chinese military has carried out major construction work on Fiery Cross Reef, one of several Chinese-controlled entities in the South China Sea where the country has conducted such work. Earlier, the Chinese military reportedly deployed advanced airborne early warning and control airplanes to a military airbase near the disputed South China Sea. While Fiery Cross Reef is administered by China, it is also claimed by other regional countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan. The development comes as Beijing has declared that military construction on the islands it controls in the South China Sea will be limited to essential defensive measures and that it can conduct whatever it deems appropriate on its own territory. However, the US has censured what it refers to as China's militarization of its maritime outposts and has attempted to assert its right to freedom of navigation by conducting periodic air and naval patrols near Chinese waters, prompting Beijing's anger. An estimated five trillion dollars in global trade is shipped through the South China Sea annually. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Attackers Storm Afghan State Television Building, Civilians Killed RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan May 17, 2017 Attackers stormed the state television building in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, triggering an hours-long gunbattle with security forces that left at least two civilians dead. The extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack. Four attackers and two civilians died in the May 17 violence, according to local officials and medical personnel. At least 13 other civilians were injured in the fighting. Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Nangarhar Province's governor, said four attackers had entered the compound of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), including two suicide bombers who blew themselves up. Several RTA employees were reported to have been trapped inside the station during the clashes. As the attack unfolded, the IS-affiliated AMAQ news agency said on the Telegram instant messaging service that "Islamic State fighters are currently carrying out an attack inside the state broadcasting building in the city of Jalalabad." Both IS and the Taliban are active in the mountainous province bordering Pakistan. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-gunbattle- state-television/28492745.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Verkhovna Rada has not supported the submission to the NSDC of the proposal for the application of personal sanctions against former high-ranking officials, including former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, as well as businessmen. Corresponding resolution No. 5350 on the protection of national interests, national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, counteraction to terrorist activity was supported by 202 people's deputies with 226 necessary for taking a positive decision at the parliament session on Thursday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. The speaker twice put to vote the return to consideration of this issue, the proposals also did not gain the necessary number of votes. "Unfortunately, there are no votes. The decision is rejected," Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy said. Top NATO Commanders Recommend Joining Anti-IS Coalition RFE/RL May 17, 2017 Top NATO commanders have recommended that the military alliance join the international coalition fighting the Islamic State extremist group. The chairman of the NATO military committee, General Petr Pavel, said on May 17 in Brussels that "there is merit for NATO becoming a member of that coalition." Pavel said the alliance's military leaders agreed "that NATO can and should do more" to increase the capacity of Iraq and other countries fighting IS to better defend themselves. He said the final decision will rest with NATO heads of state and government when they meet in Brussels on May 25. NATO's role could include training local forces and helping to build militaries and institutions. NATO countries do not want the alliance engaged in active combat against Islamic State militants, even though all are individual members of the anti-IS coalition. U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO do more to combat terrorism. Trump is scheduled to meet NATO leaders in Brussels next week With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-islamic-state-/28494039.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Offers To Provide Record Of Controversial Trump-Lavrov Talks RFE/RL May 17, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow is prepared to provide a record of a White House meeting in which U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly shared classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Putin's remarks on May 17 came a day after political tension in Washington increased again following reports that Trump appealed to FBI Director James Comey in February to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, the national security adviser who was forced out after making misleading statements about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. "If the U.S. administration considers it possible, we are ready to provide a record of Lavrov's conversation with Trump" to U.S. lawmakers, Putin said at a press conference with visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. He added again: "If the American administration wants this, of course." A senior Kremlin aide, Yury Ushakov, later said that Putin was talking about a written record of the meeting, not an audio recording. Citing anonymous officials, U.S. media reported on May 15 that during his May 10 meeting with Lavrov, Trump had disclosed highly classified information received from a U.S. ally -- reportedly Israel -- about a planned operation by the extremist group Islamic State (IS). Putin said the United States is going through a period of increasing "political schizophrenia." He injected a note of mockery into remarks that appeared aimed to suggest no sensitive information was exchanged during the meeting between Trump and Lavrov, quipping that his longtime foreign minister had failed to pass on any secrets. "I spoke to [Lavrov] today," said Putin with a smile. "I'll be forced to issue him a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's intelligence services. It was very bad of him." Lavrov is the highest-level Russian official to meet face-to-face with Trump since he took office on January 20. During the campaign last year, Trump praised Putin and voiced hope that badly strained Russia-U.S. relations would improve, but there have been few signs of closer cooperation against terrorism. Senior Trump administration officials have taken a tough stance on Russia's actions in Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere. Expectations of a meeting with Putin early in Trump's term never materialized, and they are now expected to hold their first face-to-face talks during a G20 summit in July. In his remarks in Sochi, Putin dismissed outrage over Trump's reported disclosures as an effort by U.S. politicians to whip up "anti-Russian sentiment." Asked what he thinks of Trump's presidency, Putin said that it is up to the American people to judge but that his performance can be rated "only when he's allowed to work at full capacity," implying that someone is hampering Trump's efforts. "It's hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next," said Putin. "What surprises me is that they are shaking up the domestic political situation using anti-Russian slogans," Putin said. "Either they don't understand the damage they're doing to their own country, in which case they are simply stupid, or they understand everything, in which case they are dangerous and corrupt." The White House has denied that Trump did anything wrong in his meeting with Lavrov, which was also attended by Kislyak. Trump said on May 16 that he had "an absolute right" as president to share "facts pertaining to terrorism" with Russia. With reporting by RIA, Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP, and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-trump- lavrov-recording/28493379.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Buildup: China Installs Anti-Frogman Guns in South China Sea Sputnik News 22:08 17.05.2017(updated 22:51 17.05.2017) China has reportedly further militarized a disputed reef in the South China Sea, just days after agreeing to minimize tensions with Vietnam. China's increasing military capabilities are proudly on display: according to Chinese state-run newspaper the Defense Times, Norinco CS-AR-1 55mm rocket launchers have been installed on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. The defense systems are able to detect and engage enemy combat divers. Frogmen are mainly used by Special Forces divisions since underwater divers and small-scale vehicles are notoriously difficult for to target. They have been used by Vietnam since 2014 to install particular fishing nets throughout the South China Sea. In 2014, Vietnamese frogmen were reported to have been involved in placing obstacles around a Chinese oil rig to interfere with drilling. "40 percent of losses in naval warfare history took place at the anchor site because warships or other facilities are too large to evade enemy fire," People's Liberation Army Navy commander Zhang Lisong told the Global Times. An expert on Chinese navy threats told the Global Times at the time that Vietnamese frogmen would constitute China's toughest enemy in the future. The reef where the cannons were mounted is claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam but controlled by China. On Tuesday, a joint statement from China and Vietnam stated Beijing would "not take any actions to complicate the situation," Sputnik reported, which is important for the safe passage of $5 trillion worth of trade transiting the South China Sea annually. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address As Somalia combats insecurity, poverty, drought worsens 'more rapidly than projected' - UN official 17 May 2017 The humanitarian crisis in Somalia is worsening, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council, calling for more than $800 million in aid to offset the impact of a severe drought in a country that is already battling insecurity and poverty. "The humanitarian crisis has deteriorated more rapidly than was originally projected," the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Raisedon Zenenga, told the Council in New York. He said that people are dying and need protection, particularly women and children, as drought conditions force them to migrate from rural areas to town, and as sexual violence increases in displacement camps. "The scaled up response by humanitarian agencies has averted a famine in the country thus far, but the crisis is unlikely to abate any time soon. The needs for humanitarian assistance are increasing faster than the pace of response," said Mr. Zenenga, who is also the deputy of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia or UNSOM. At least $669 million has been received or pledged for the effort, leaving a gap of $831 million in the revised 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan. More than six million people are affected, of whom only about three million have been reached with food rations. In the longer-term, the country's structural problems must be addressed and resilience built, so the country can withstand extreme climatic conditions, the senior UN official said. Peacebuilding and State-building Aside from the humanitarian needs, Somalia faces continued insecurity, predominantly from Al Shabaab. In today's address, Mr. Zenenga applauded the Security Council-mandated African Union troops, known as AMISOM, which have provided "the backbone of security in Somalia over the past 10 years." He called on donor countries to assist with "predictable funding," ideally through assessed contributions, to support the troops. The call echoes that of the Special Representative, Michael Keating, who took part last week in the London Conference on Somalia. As a result of the Conference, the international community reached a security agreement and defined a so-called New Partnership for the country, which sets out a framework to meet the Government's priority political, security and economic recovery plan. A follow-up meeting is planned for October. These efforts build towards universal elections which are scheduled for 2020, what Mr. Zenenga called "a defining litmus test of the progress made towards a properly functioning State." This past February, the Parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo to be the new President since direct elections could not be held safely in the country. In 2020, Somalia aims to hold direct elections. Ahead of that vote, building up the country's security and police force, so that it can start taking over responsibility from AMISOM, is a top priority. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Possible US Troop Increase in Afghanistan Aimed at Breaking Stalemate By Ayesha Tanzeem May 17, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump is considering whether to send up to 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, a decision expected to come before a NATO summit on May 25. But the question being asked is what can the U.S. achieve with such a small number of extra troops in a country where 350,000 Afghan security forces are already engaged in battle. Back in March, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post titled "Why we need more forces to end the stalemate in Afghanistan." It is a question Trump must have considered as he viewed the proposals his top advisers put on his desk recently. The Trump administration is determining whether to send between 3,000 to 5,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to try to break a stalemate in the 15-year war against the Taliban. Administration officials say Trump is likely to discuss a troop increase when he attends a NATO summit later this month. Some are calling it one of the most important decisions of his early presidency, pitting president Trump against candidate Trump, who proposed during his election campaign to leave Afghanistan and focus attention on the United States instead. With some 350,000 Afghan security forces already engaged in the fight, the numbers reportedly under consideration are marginal, and seem intended only to increase pressure on the Taliban to negotiate. "His thinking is basically to try and help the Afghan government keep territory, to take back some more territory, and to put it in a position where the Taliban would like to go to the negotiating table. That's it," said Kate Clark, a senior analyst at the Afghanistan Analysts Network. However, bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table has been an elusive goal. Multiple multi-nation efforts toward this goal have fizzled out without concrete results. When former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar received a red carpet welcome in Kabul this month after signing a peace deal with the government, the Taliban squashed rumors that they may follow his example, calling negotiations "un-Islamic" and tantamount to "surrender." When U.S. commander General John Nicholson publicly requested an increase in troop levels to advise and assist the Afghan forces during senate testimony in February, he admitted the Afghan forces were in a stalemate with the Taliban. While the latter had been unable to take over any major cities last year, they had held their ground, and even gained a bit of territory. The surge, marginal as it may be, may break that stalemate in favor of the Afghan government and push the Taliban to change its mind. But it might also strengthen their resolve, according to Islamabad-based analyst Maria Sultan, who heads the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute. "The mere fact that the entire war rhetoric is based against the presence of foreign troops, it creates more sources of instability and also more potential targets," she said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and top officials of his government reportedly support a U.S. troop increase. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Militants Storm Afghanistan's National Broadcaster By Ayaz Gul May 17, 2017 A group of at least four Islamic State militants, including suicide bombers, stormed an office of Afghanistan's state broadcaster in eastern Nangarhar province Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding up to 20 others. Provincial officials and hospital sources said four employees of the national Radio Television Afghanistan, or RTA, and at least two security personnel were among the dead. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the violence as an "attack on free speech." The assault in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, began with suicide bombers blowing themselves up and making way for others to enter the facility. The raid set off fierce clashes with Afghan security forces. The firefight left the assailants dead, ending a nearly four-hour siege. IS through its global media outlet, Amaq News Agency, claimed the suicide raid killed 30 security personnel and media men, though the group often issues inflated tolls after such attacks. Loyalists of the Syria-based terrorist group are operating in several districts of Nangarhar, with Achin as their stronghold. They regularly stage attacks on Afghan and U.S. forces that are conducting major operations to eliminate IS from the volatile province, which borders Pakistan. The Taliban insurgency is also active in parts of Nangarhar. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Sign of Closer Sino-Philippine Ties, US Naval Exercises Skip a Disputed Sea By Ralph Jennings May 17, 2017 Annual exercises held by the Philippine and U.S. navies are skipping the South China Sea this year as the Southeast Asian nation's leader takes another step toward a stronger political and economic relationship with China, the sea's most ambitious claimant. The "Balikatan" military exercises May 8-19 include a disaster drill off Aurora province on the Pacific Ocean side of the main Philippine island, Luzon. They have kept clear of disputed tracts in the South China Sea. Beijing's maritime claims overlap Manila's in the South China Sea off the west Luzon coast. Avoidance of the disputed sea advances Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's friendship with China after four years of open disagreement that had landed in a world arbitration court. "President Duterte has never been a true geopolitical person, which means that foreign policy is about economic policy, and you can see this in the way he actually justifies or explains the approach to China," said Herman Kraft, a political scientist at University of the Philippines Diliman. Duterte has visited China twice, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and agreed to hold talks going on this month over management of contested tracts of water. China offered $24 billion in aid and investment in October and in January committed to 30 projects worth $3.7 billion. The exercises off the Philippine's Pacific coast signal support for China while giving a new nod to the United States as well as pro-American elements of the public, analysts say. Benham Rise, a 13-million-hectare undersea plateau believed to be rich in fossil fuels, was awarded to Manila in 2012 by the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. But Chinese vessels were spotted exploring it last year. China does not officially claim the plateau. A show of force backed by the U.S. navy, part of the world's strongest military, near Benham Rise should help calm Filipinos upset by China's presence last year and those who simply prefer Washington to Beijing, analysts say. "It ensures the pro-American Filipinos the Americans are not totally out of the Philippines and there's still room for dialogue and cooperation, and so these exercises are just a calibration of Philippines-U.S. relations," said Eduardo Araral, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore's public policy school. "So China is happy, Philippines is happy, U.S. is happy." About 70 percent of Filipinos place "much trust" in the United States, according to a late 2016 poll by the Metro Manila research institution Social Weather Stations. The United States colonized the Philippines for about 50 years through World War II and has given it military support since then. Duterte angrily questioned American influence in the Philippines last year and ordered that its forces leave -- but later backed down on most of his threats. He knew about Chinese research vessels at Benham Rise last year, but didn't reveal that knowledge according to some Philippine media reports. China resents U.S. involvement in the South China Sea, a 3.5 million-square-kilometer tract rich in fish, shipping lanes and possible fuel reserves. "The naval drill serves also the purpose of signaling that Manila is intentioned to make the Philippine defense posture less unbalanced," said Fabrizio Bozzato, an associate researcher specializing in international affairs at Tamkang University in Taiwan. "So far the Philippine defense strategy, attention and resources have been focused on the western corridor of the Philippines, so President Duterte intends to show the domestic and international audience that he's determined to improve the security infrastructure in the eastern part of the country," Bozzato said. In 2014, former Philippine president Benigno Aquino signed an enhanced defense agreement with Washington. Joint naval exercises since that year had targeted possible scenarios aimed at resisting China in the disputed sea. The world arbitration court said in July China lacks a legal basis to most of its claim, which covers about 95 percent of the whole sea extending south from Hong Kong to Malaysian Borneo. China has irritated the Philippines and three other Southeast Asian claimants to the same sea with a push since 2010 to landfill tiny islets for military use. Philippine and U.S. officials agreed in November to the scope of this year's joint exercises, which the U.S. Embassy in Manila says include "maritime interdiction and amphibious raids" as well as humanitarian aid and anti-terrorism work. The United States sent a navy logistics vessel, amphibious vehicles and more than 25 military aircraft, the embassy says. The embassy did not comment on reasons for this year's choice of the Philippine Pacific Coast as a location for the exercises. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN: Congolese Civilians Paying Price in Kasai Conflict By William Clowes May 17, 2017 In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations says civilians are paying a high price in the conflict in the central Kasai region. A U.N. report out this week accuses state security forces of killing dozens of women and children. Since August of last year, the Kasai region in central Congo has been the scene of bloody fighting between the government and an armed group known as Kamwina Nsapu. Both sides of the conflict have been condemned by the United Nations: the militants for allegedly recruiting children and attacking public buildings and officials; and the security forces for allegedly deploying disproportionate and indiscriminate force in operations against Kamwina Nsapu rebels. On Tuesday, the U.N.'s Joint Human Rights Office published findings that the Congolese military and police forces carried out at least 185 extra-judicial executions during March and April, including 16 women and 53 children, in just three towns in Kasai-Central Province during operations against the armed group. Kasai-Central is one of five provinces affected by the fighting. VOA spoke with Jose Maria Aranaz, the Joint Human Rights Office's director. "We are very worried by the excessive and disproportionate use of force by state actors, particularly military units but also by the police which explains the large number of extra-judicial killings and summary executions," he said. Aranaz told VOA that up to 700 civilians may have been killed since the start of the fighting. The government has denied accusations of abuses against civilians. On Monday, military spokesman General Leon-Richard Kasonga told reporters that the Congolese armed forces "respect international humanitarian law and human rights" and "have operated in a professional manner." The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the crisis in the Kasai region has displaced more than 1.2 million people. Violence appears to be intensifying. The U.N. says 100,000 civilians were uprooted during the first week of May alone. In recent months U.N. investigators say they have also found mass graves, reportedly dug by Congolese soldiers after clashes. "Up until now, 42 of these sites have been documented and reported to the government for their action. The U.N. has offered its support, both operational and technical, for verifying and conducting a credible investigation as to who is responsible for these mass graves. We are still waiting to hear from the authorities about what progress has been made," said Aranaz. Congolese civil society activists doubt the government's capacity to carry out a credible inquiry. Jean-Claude Katende, the president of the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights, spoke to VOA. He said that the only possibility for victims to eventually get access to justice is to put in place an international inquest under the U.N. to investigate all these violations of human rights. General Kasonga, the military spokesman, accused Kamwina Nsapu of digging the mass graves, calling the militiamen "bloodthirsty terrorist insurgents." He said the military investigation into the mass graves is ongoing. Kasonga urged militia fighters to lay down their weapons and in March the interior ministry said that 400 had surrendered in the course of a week. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address White House Reeling After Twin Allegations Related to Russia By Ken Bredemeier, Peter Heinlein May 17, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump's White House was left reeling Wednesday following the stunning allegation that he sought to derail a criminal investigation into links his former national security adviser had with Russian officials on top of reports that Trump disclosed highly classified intelligence to two Moscow diplomats last week. "Nobody knows where this really goes from here," one White House official told Politico, a Washington political news site. "What is next?" A small but growing number of Trump's Republican colleagues in Congress, along with Democrats, called for a special prosecutor or commission to examine ties between Trump and his aides to Russia, an investigation going beyond those already being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the intelligence committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives. "Now is the time to put party considerations aside and do what is right for the country," by appointing an independent special prosecutor not beholden to the White House, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said. The House Republican leader, Speaker Paul Ryan, said the three probes already under way were sufficient. "There's plenty of oversight going on," Ryan told a news conference. "We need to follow the facts wherever they may lead." Trump made no direct public comment about the controversy, but told graduating seniors at the Coast Guard Academy in the northeastern state of Connecticut, "No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly" than he has been. The new willingness to investigate the Trump-related links to Russia came after associates of then-FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump abruptly fired last week while he was heading the agency's Russia probe, said that Comey wrote notes after a February meeting with the president saying that Trump had asked him to drop a probe of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed the Comey account, telling reporters aboard Air Force One returning to Washington, "The president has been very clear this is not an accurate representation of that meeting. The Comey-Trump meeting came a day after Trump fired Flynn, a retired Army general, for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Trump loyalist, demanded that acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe produce within a week all information it has related to the Comey-Trump meeting at the White House. Other lawmakers, including the Senate intelligence panel, called on Comey to testify publicly and privately about his conversations with Trump. Ryan questioned why Comey did not disclose Trump's request to end the Flynn probe shortly after their February conversation. The New York Times broke the story late Tuesday, reporting that Comey had written a memo detailing his conversation with Trump. The Times story said the memo was part of a paper trail Comey created to document his perception that the president's request was improper. Several legal analysts have argued that any such request could be considered obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference Tuesday, "If true, this is yet another disturbing allegation that the president may have engaged in some interference or obstruction of the investigation." The Times reported that an FBI agent's contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations. A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment on the details of the Comey memo. The Trump White House swung into crisis mode after the story broke. A statement issued Tuesday evening did not directly refer to The Times report, but denied that Trump had asked Comey or anyone else to end the Flynn probe. "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," the statement said. "The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey." In a separate statement issued at the same time, the administration pointed out that McCabe had told a Senate committee last week that the White House has not interfered with the Russia investigation. William Gallo, Michael Bowman and Katherine Gypson contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump's Woes Trigger More Alarms on Capitol Hill By Michael Bowman May 17, 2017 For weeks, most Republican lawmakers limited their comments about the crisis-plagued Trump administration to vague expressions of concern if they commented at all. That common stance began to shift late Tuesday after media reports surfaced that former FBI director James Comey had written memos alleging President Donald Trump pressured him to halt an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. Hours later, one of the Republican Party's elder statesmen, Senator John McCain, raised eyebrows by comparing Trump's woes to those of former President Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974. "I think it's reaching the point where it [Trump controversies] is of Watergate size and scale," McCain said. "Every couple of days there is a new aspect of this really unhappy situation." Democrats, meanwhile, are making an increasingly lengthy list of demands for a full accounting of Comey's firing, Trump's alleged meddling in the Russia probe, the intelligence the president shared last week with Russian officials, and any ties between Moscow and the president's inner circle. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging the White House to release any written or recorded records of Trump's conversations with Comey. "The president says what Comey said was wrong. Prove it," Schumer said. Democrats also want the White House to provide a transcript of the president's meeting with Russia's foreign minister and ambassador. Above all, they are demanding a special prosecutor to lead the investigation of Russia's meddling in last year's presidential election. "We have learned, if the reporting is accurate, that the president is willing to directly interfere with an active investigation," Schumer said. "The only way out [solution] is a special prosecutor. It's the right thing to do." A panel in the House of Representatives has demanded the FBI turn over Comey's memos. House Speaker Paul Ryan, on whose shoulders much of the burden of advancing an ambitious Republican agenda rests, is taking pains to remain above the fray. "We need the facts," he said. "It is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president. Now is the time to gather all the pertinent information. Our job is to be responsible, sober and focused only on gathering the facts." Representative Elijah Cummings is among Democrats who question Ryan's resolve and that of Republicans more broadly to unflinchingly uncover the truth. "Speaker Ryan has shown he has zero, zero, zero appetite for any investigation of President Trump," Cummings said. The man who could appoint a special prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, will brief the entire Senate behind closed doors Thursday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The U.S. Department of State urges the Ukrainian government to find an opportunity to protect its national interests without violating constitutional principles, in particular, freedom of speech. The U.S. State Department made a corresponding statement at the request of "Voice of America" in response to the ban on Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki in Ukraine. There is no doubt that the mass media under Russia's control are trying to undermine the Western media with the help of fake news and false information, including with Ukraine [...] Nevertheless, freedom of speech is a key element of a healthy democracy prescribed in the Constitution of Ukraine. We call on the Ukrainian government to find ways to protect their national interests in a way that does not undermine constitutional principles, a statement reads. Answering a question asked by a Voice of America correspondent about possible preliminary communication between the United States and Ukraine over the ban on Russian social networks, the State Department spokesman said he can not comment on private diplomatic talks on this particular issue, but said they are constantly engaged in discussions with the Ukrainian government about importance of supporting freedom of speech. Did Trump Ask FBI to End Investigation Into Flynn? By William Gallo, Peter Heinlein May 17, 2017 Following a bombshell revelation that President Trump may have asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the agency's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a powerful Republican Congressional committee chairman has asked the FBI to hand over Comey's notes on the incident within a week. In a letter to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) demanded that "all memoranda, summaries, and recording, referring or relating to any communications between Comey and the President" be made available to the committee by May 24. The New York Times broke the story late Tuesday, reporting that Comey had written a memo detailing his conversation with Trump a day after Flynn resigned under fire last February. The Times story said the memo was part of a paper trail Comey created to document his perception that the president's request was improper. Several legal analysts have argued that any such request could be considered obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense. Representative Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference Tuesday, "if true, this is yet another disturbing allegation that the president may have engaged in some interference or obstruction of the investigation." The Times reported that an FBI agent's contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations. The Trump White House swung into crisis mode after the story broke. A statement issued Tuesday evening did not directly refer to the Times report, but denied that Trump had asked Comey or anyone else to end the Flynn probe. "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," the statement said. "The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey." In a separate statement issued at the same time, the administration pointed out that then deputy FBI Director McCabe had told a Senate committee last week that the White House had not interfered with any investigation. FBI controversy Trump abruptly fired Comey last week, creating a firestorm of political controversy and increasing calls for a special prosecutor or independent commission to look into any Russia-Trump connections. White House officials have stressed that the Russia probe had nothing to do with Trump's firing of Comey, although Trump himself has suggested in interviews that it was at least partly a motivation. Colleagues of Comey have said the former FBI director took careful notes of meetings, especially politically sensitive ones, and there have been reports in recent weeks suggesting that such memos existed. Flynn's resignation came hours after it was reported that the Justice Department had warned the White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office. A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment on the details of the Comey memo. Reaction from Congress News of the reported Comey allegations prompted swift reaction on Capitol Hill. Several key Republican Senators seemed to question Comey's reported version of events. "The director might have told us that there'd been a request like that, and it was never mentioned by him," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC). "So somebody's going to have to do more than have anonymous sources on this one for me to believe that there's something there." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a frequent Trump critic, said, "If this happened, the FBI director should have done something about it or quit." Seeking independent investigation But for House Democrats, the revelations are just the newest reason on a long list that should move Congress to pass legislation creating an independent investigation into Russian election interference. On the floor of the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he was "shaken" by reports that Trump tried to shut down an active investigation. "The country is being tested in unprecedented ways history is watching," Schumer said. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted, "If reports are true, Trump's attempts to shut down the FBI's Flynn investigation is an assault on the rule of law." There already have been calls for Trump to turn over records of any conversations with Comey. That was especially the case after Trump, in a tweet earlier this week, appeared to threaten Comey into silence with the existence of what he said could be "tapes" of their conversations. It is the latest controversy to embroil the White House, which also has been dealing with the fallout over reports suggesting that Trump divulged sensitive information during a meeting with Russian officials last week. The controversies threaten to distract from Trump's first overseas trip, which begins later this week. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Haley Calls for UN to Intervene in Venezuela 'Humanitarian Crisis' By VOA News May 17, 2017 United States Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is calling on the international organization to address what she called a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. The U.N. Security Council is meeting Wednesday afternoon at Haley's request to discuss an international effort aimed at combating further deterioration in Venezuela's economic and political situation. "In Venezuela, we are on the verge of humanitarian crisis," Haley said in a statement ahead of the meeting. "Peaceful protesters have been injured, arrested and even killed by their own government. Medicine is unavailable, hospitals lack supplies, and it's become difficult to find food." Since early April, Venezuela has been rocked by near-daily anti-government street demonstrations aimed at removing President Nicolas Maduro from power. At least 42 people have been killed during the unrest. The closed-door meeting Wednesday will mark the first time the Security Council has discussed the crisis in Venezuela. Meeting on human rights Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said he would meet Friday with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. Wednesday's UN debate coincides with Maduro's renewal, for the seventh time, of a state of emergency. That has allowed him to govern by decree, unhampered by the South American country's opposition-controlled National Assembly. Maduro claims his political enemies are seeking international support to overthrow him. He also maintains they're stirring unrest that has boiled over into a second month of often-violent street protests. Opposition activists accuse the socialist president of operating as a dictator, using his influence over state institutions to stay in power. They have demanded long-delayed elections, the release of political prisoners and delivery of humanitarian aid. The Organization of American States' foreign ministers agreed Monday to meet on May 31 to discuss Venezuela, whose economy has constricted for several years to a point of chronic and severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. Death toll reaches 42 Three more people were shot dead Tuesday in demonstrations in different parts of the country, bringing the death toll to at least 42. Diego Arellano, 31, was shot in the chest in San Antonio de los Altos, a Caracas suburb, according to prosecutors. Diego Hernandez, 33, was fatally shot at a demonstration in Tachira state, bordering Colombia, and a regional police officer has been detained. An unnamed 17-year-old boy died after being shot in the head in the western state of Barinas, prosecutors said. Despite the deaths, and the fact that hundreds of opposition members have been wounded or detained, their leaders say street actions will not cease. Leaders have called for a vigil Wednesday night in Venezuela's main thoroughfares. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former FBI Head Mueller Named Special Prosecutor in Russia Probe By Steve Herman May 17, 2017 In a surprise move, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was named Wednesday as a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel also known as a special prosecutor does not mean a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted, explained Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who in recent days expressed skepticism about the need for such independent oversight. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, Rosenstein added. Trump expects quick conclusion Without mentioning Mueller's appointment, President Donald Trump, in a statement, said: A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. After his new assignment was announced, Mueller said, I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability. Mueller held the top position at the FBI for 12 years until 2013. He was succeeded by James Comey, who was fired last week by President Trump, a move that set off a political firestorm. Mueller brings instant integrity A Republican political analyst, Evan Siegfried, told VOA that until Mueller's appointment, there was zero integrity in this investigation. Mueller, he explained, will be completely siloed off from the Department of Justice and the FBI. He has his own budget; he can hire his own staff; he can kick all the FBI to the curb for all he wants and can take the investigation wherever it leads. The special prosecutor also would seek indictments and lead court action against anyone charged with criminal acts as a result of discoveries during the probe. Concerns from both sides The move came after a small but growing number of Trump's Republican colleagues in Congress, along with Democrats, began calling for a special prosecutor or commission to examine ties between Trump and his campaign aides to Russia. Such an investigation would be in addition to those already being conducted by the FBI and the intelligence committees in both the Senate and House. Comey had been leading an investigation into the Trump team's ties to Russia. News reports Tuesday disclosed that Comey wrote an internal FBI memorandum months ago saying the president asked him to suspend or end an investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. A mixed response Democrats predictably are praising Mueller's selection. Some prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill are, as well, concerned that a ballooning scandal could derail their legislative agenda, despite controlling both house of Congress. Republican Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the committee's vice chairman, in a joint statement, called Mueller's appointment a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence. Republican Senator Mark Rubio, a member of the Intelligence Committee, commented that for the sake of the country, all parties must fully cooperate with his efforts that are focused on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees, termed the naming of a special counsel absolutely necessary, adding that Mueller's reputation for exercising judgment in standing up to administration pressures is exactly what is required for this important position. Congressman Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Mueller is a great selection, adding that he has impeccable credentials and should be widely accepted. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Mueller is a respected public servant of the highest integrity, but that a special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last. Congressman Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, commended Rosenstein for putting our country and justice system first. Some Republicans question move However, some Republicans questioned the move. Congressman Peter King expressed concern about the wide purview special prosecutors have. Im worried with all special counsels because there's no control over them and they can abuse their power. The Republican leadership, however, confirmed that investigations already started in the Senate and the House will continue. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his top priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. (Katherine Gypson, Mike Bowman and Bill Gallo contributed to this report.) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S. Korean politician raises possibility of returning THAAD People's Daily Online By Li Xiang (CNTV) 14:46, May 17, 2017 South Korea's ruling Democratic Party has put forward the possibility of returning the controversial THAAD anti-missile system to the United States. National Assembly member Woo Won-shik said in a radio interview that the deployment of THAAD required parliamentary approval. He added that if there were any legal issues related to its deployment, the Democratic Party would recommend returning the system to the US. In July 2016, Washington and Seoul agreed to deploy THAAD in South Korea, with the procedure beginning in March of 2017. Several neighboring nations have been strongly opposed to its deployment, including China and Russia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address THAAD detected N Korea missile: Seoul Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 1:53AM South Korea's defense minister says that North Korea's latest missile test was detected by the recently installed THAAD missile system. On Tuesday, Han Min-koo told the country's parliament that the Pyongyang's missile was successful in flight, adding that "It is considered an IRBM (intermediate range ballistic missile) of enhanced caliber." He noted that the North's missile program was progressing faster than expected, adding that the US-deployed THAAD anti-missile system had detected the launch, the first tacit confirmation of the system's use. North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile from the northwestern city of Kusong at around 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT Saturday) and it flew 787 kilometers (489 miles) before landing in the sea between North Korea and Japan, the South Korean military said in a statement. The installation of THAAD began last month amid rising tensions over North Korea's ballistic and nuclear tests. China and Russia have criticized the deployment of THAAD, saying it would significantly affect the balance of power in the region and would lead to more instability. Washington and Seoul had agreed on the installation in the summer of 2016. US to 'call out' countries supporting N Korea Following a closed door UNSC meeting on Tuesday, the US ambassador the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said China could be persuaded to impose fresh UN sanctions on North Korea. "The conversations that I have had ... in dealing with Beijing is that if (North Korea) did something else and if it looked to be long-range, which this does, and if it looks like it is proactively leaning toward an ICBM, which it does, then we would take action," she said. "I believe that China will stay true to that and we will come together on how we're going to do thatWe have not seen anything from them in the past week but we are encouraging them to continue moving forward," she added. "If you are a country that is supplying or supporting North Korea, we will call you out on it. We will make sure that everyone knows who you are and we will target those sanctions towards you as well," she added. Haley made the announcement one after the United Nations Security Council demanded that North Korea halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The North, already under an array of sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs, says it is developing arms as deterrence against the US threat. North Korea has also said that it would not abandon its missile and nuclear programs unless the US ended its hostility toward Pyongyang. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S Korea to Convince US to Turn THAAD Radars Away From Chinese Territory Sputnik News 21:44 17.05.2017(updated 21:46 17.05.2017) South Korea plans to put China at ease by convincing the US to deploy THAAD radars in South Korea directed strictly to the north and not covering some Chinese territory. The special envoy of the newly elected South Korean president, during his upcoming visit to China will try once again to convince the Chinese leadership of the need to deploy the US THAAD missile defense complex on South Korean soil and will propose a plan to reduce China's concerns. The plan is to turn away the radars from China and direct them only toward North Korea instead. Meanwhile the THAAD missile defense complex located in South Korea was able to record the launch of the North Korean missile on May 14, according to Han Min-goo, the South Korean minister of defense. According to Yonhap news agency, it was the US who noticed the launch of the North Korean Hwasong-12 missile and the South Korean military learned about it after receiving a phone call from its American counterpart. However, the fact that the data was actually received from the THAAD radar became known later on after receiving clarification from the South Korean side. No other details were provided by the US military. According to the agency's source in the South Korean intelligence, the United States and the Republic of Korea are just setting up data exchange in real time and are planning to complete this work by the end of the year. On Sunday, North Korea successfully test-fired a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile. The launch was personally overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The mid- and long-range rocket called Hwasong-12 capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead was launched in the vicinity of Kusong, a city in North Pyongan province. The missile flew 787 kilometers along its planned trajectory, reached a maximum flight altitude of 2,112 kilometers and dropped into the open sea, according to a report by KCNA news agency. In July 2016, Washington and Seoul reached an agreement on placing a US THAAD system in South Korean territory. In early March the THAAD deployment began in response to North Korea's ballistic missile tests. The move provoked sharp criticism by a number of countries, including China, which claimed the installment of the missile defense system would undermine its security. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S Korea to Consider Sending THAAD System Back to US - Ruling Party Leader Sputnik News 13:18 17.05.2017 South Korean ruling Democratic Party's leader would consider the possibility of uninstalling and sending the THAAD system back to the United States. TOKYO (Sputnik) The floor leader of the South Korean ruling Democratic Party, Woo Won-shik, said Wednesday Seoul would consider the possibility of uninstalling and sending the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system back to the United States. "We have to look into issues including the possibility of sending back THAAD, if it has not properly undergone domestic legal procedures," Yonhap news agency quoted Woo as saying during a radio interview. The parliamentarian referred to the lack of parliamentary approval of this crucial national security decision. The statement comes after a statement made by US President Donald Trump in late April, in which he informed Seoul that "it would be appropriate if they paid" for the deployment of a US THAAD system on South Korean soil. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who officially assumed office on May 10, has repeatedly criticized the previous government under impeached leader Park Geun-hye for agreeing to host the THAAD system without seeking parliamentary approval. In April, media reported, citing a US military official, that the THAAD system in South Korea would be operational in the very near future. In July 2016, Washington and Seoul reached an agreement on placing a US THAAD system in South Korean territory. In early March the THAAD deployment began in response to North Korea's ballistic missile tests. The move provoked sharp criticism by a number of countries, including China, which claimed the installment of the missile defense system would undermine its security. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPRK defends its latest missile launch, seeks int'l support People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:55, May 17, 2017 PYONGYANG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has justified its latest long, medium-range ballistic missile test-firing as "routine work to raise nuclear capability for self-defense," rejecting a UN Security Council statement of condemnation. "The successful test-fire of Hwasong-12 is of great and special significance in ensuring peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region, and it is the greatest victory of the Korean people," a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The DPRK is also stepping up diplomatic actions to seek support and understanding from other countries over its missile launch. The DPRK Foreign Ministry on Monday briefed diplomatic envoys of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the present situation, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). DPRK officials accused the United States of openly pressuring other countries into severing or degrading diplomatic ties with it by misusing "sanction resolutions" against it. They were referring to a recent meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and ASEAN officials in Washington, during which Tillerson called on ASEAN countries to degrade diplomatic ties and cut commercial interactions with the DPRK. "Such pressure by use of 'sanction resolutions' devoid of legality, morality and impartiality is a blatant infringement on the independence of a sovereign state and act of interference in others' internal affairs," said a senior DPRK diplomat at the briefing. The DPRK test-fired a ballistic missile on Sunday which "accurately hit" the targeted open waters 787 km away after flying to a maximum altitude of 2,111.5 km, according to the KCNA. Both the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday slammed recent ballistic missile launches conducted by the DPRK. The UN Security Council "strongly condemned the most recent ballistic missile launches" conducted by the DPRK on April 28 and May 13, the 15-nation UN body said in a press statement. Enditem NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Security Council sees "ample possibility" to use sanctions against DPRK People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 11:00, May 17, 2017 UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- There is "ample possibility" for the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in response to its missile launch, said council President Elbio Rosselli on Tuesday. He made the remarks after a closed-door meeting among the 15 council members on the issue of the DPRK. The meeting was convened two days after the DPRK test fired a ballistic missile. Rosselli, the Uruguayan ambassador to the United Nations, voiced absolute rejection of the continued nuclear tests and missile launches conducted by the DPRK, adding the council will be working on ways to resolve the threat. There is ample possibility for the council to use sanctions to respond to the current situation without closing other options "through creative, subtle and peaceful diplomacy," Rosselli said. He said the council emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia at large, while urging the DPRK to show sincere commitment to de-nuclearization immediately. He also called on all UN member states to honor their obligations under Security Council resolutions on sanctions on the DPRK. According to previous Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation. The council has already imposed tough sanctions on the DPRK, including banning the sale and transfer of coal, iron and iron ore from the country's territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pyongyang Developing Missiles Faster Than Seoul Expected Sputnik News 23:59 16.05.2017(updated 07:17 17.05.2017) Following a UN Security Council directive ordering North Korea to cease all ballistic missile and nuclear weapons developments, a South Korean minister said Tuesday that Pyongyang is making progress on its missile program faster than expected. North Korea is continuing its development of a missile capable of striking the US mainland, despite UN sanctions and international calls for denuclearization. Pyongyang has even strained ties with former ally China, which has asked the North to rein in its weapons activities; it launched a missile test on Sunday as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to host a summit showcasing the One Belt, One Road initiative designed to expand trade throughout the Asian continent. Washington has warned North Korea that the "era of strategic patience" they enjoyed under former President Barack Obama would not continue under current President Donald Trump. The US has steadfastly refused to rule out military action against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and has sent a nuclear-powered missile-armed submarine and a Navy carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. Annual joint military drills with South Korea and Japan have been viewed by the North as a dress rehearsal for invasion. The DPRK's test-launch on Sunday was "successful in flight," according to South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo. He added, "It is considered an IRBM (intermediate range ballistic missile) of enhanced caliber compared to Musudan missiles that have continually failed," according to the Japan Times. Han answered in the affirmative when asked whether the North's missile program was developing faster than Seoul had predicted. IRBMs are designed to travel from 1,860 to 2,485 miles. In late April, Trump told Reuters "There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult." He later told Bloomberg that he'd be "honored" to meet Kim under the right circumstances, but hasn't clarified what those circumstances are. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Interpol has removed red notice from former head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Serhiy Arbuzov, and Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has forwarded new accusations, defending lawyer of Arbuzov Sergei Kovalev has said. "Interpol has removed red notice from Arbuzov. Interpol permitted him to freely travel. The decision of the Interpol Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) preceded this decision. The CCF considered arguments of PGO and our arguments. We would not make them public. We do not have right to do this," Kovalev said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. The lawyer said that PGO forwarded an accusation against Arbuzov. "Having no desire to accept the defeat, PGO announced that our client is suspected in the Ukrtelecom case. They are trying to place Arbuzov on the wanted list again. The Ukrtelecom case is being investigated for three years. Earlier our client was not mentioned there," he said. He said that these steps of PGO have signs of a crime in the form of the unlawful punishment of the invariably non-guilty person. The lawyer said that Arbuzov is planning to return to Ukraine. "Arbuzov can freely travel all over the world, apart from Ukraine, where a criminal case against him has been opened. As soon as it is closed, our client will return to Ukraine," Kovalev said. North Korean Nukes and Missiles 'Recipe for Disaster' By Margaret Besheer May 17, 2017 The head of the U.S. Pacific Command warned Wednesday that the combination of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads in the hands of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un represents "a recipe for disaster." Speaking at an event in Tokyo, Admiral Harry Harris Jr. said every test North Korea carries out brings it a step closer to the ability to launch nuclear-tipped missiles. "I must assume that Kim Jong Un's claims are true, because I know his aspirations certainly are," Harris said. "So I take him at his word ... and that should provide all of us with a sense of urgency to address this problem now." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told countries Tuesday that they must join the effort to prevent North Korea from getting a nuclear weapon, warning they could face sanctions themselves if they help the rogue state achieve nuclearization. Nikki Haley spoke ahead of a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the U.S. and council member Japan, along with South Korea, to discuss Pyongyang's latest illicit ballistic missile launch. "You either support North Korea or you support us, because that's what it comes down to," Haley told reporters. Speaking of the enforcement of international sanctions, she added this warning: "The United States is not past looking at third-country entities who are helping North Korea, and putting sanctions on them, because if you are supporting North Korea, you are against the rest of the international community." Council members met Tuesday following Pyongyang's May 14 launch of a mid- to long-range missile that traveled 800 kilometers before landing in the sea west of Japan. Strong condemnation It was North Korea's second missile test in as many weeks, and came just four days after Moon Jae-in took office as president of South Korea. "Obviously, Pyongyang, with this missile launch, Pyongyang tried to test the resolve of the new government in its pursuit of denuclearization of North Korea," Seoul's U.N. Ambassador Cho Tae-yul told reporters. He said South Korea's new leader had been clear that his government would respond to North Korean provocations and would consider dialogue only if and when there was a change in the North's behavior. In a statement Monday evening, Security Council members "strongly condemned" both of the recent missile launches and expressed their "utmost concern" over North Korea's "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance of the Security Council." North Korea's Foreign Ministry rejected the statement, saying it called into question the country's nuclear deterrence for self-defense purposes. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the launch, saying it violated Security Council resolutions and was a threat to peace and security in the region. He urged Pyongyang to ensure full compliance with its international obligations and return to the path of denuclearization. "We need to put further pressure on North Korea to make them feel that they have to change course," Japan's U.N. envoy Koro Bessho told reporters. Sanctions expected Many are expecting additional and stronger international sanctions. Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson directly called on the international community to act before North Korea carries out a more serious provocation and to impose new sanctions. Washington and Beijing have been discussing possible measures, but it did not appear that a new resolution is imminent. "China was really working with us in terms of tightening the sanctions, in terms of what they were saying to North Korea in trying to convince them," Haley said. "We have not seen anything from them in the past week, but we are encouraging them to continue moving forward." The U.N. Security Council has imposed several rounds of increasingly harsh, targeted sanctions on North Korea since 2006. The last round, imposed in November 2016, took three months to negotiate. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Germany may pull troops out of Turkey base Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 12:35PM German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has warned that Berlin could allow the movement of troops out of a base in southern Turkey if Ankara keeps denying German lawmakers access to the site. Gabriel said on Wednesday that if German lawmakers were not allowed a visit to Incirlik base, where some 250 German troops are stationed, the parliament in Berlin may decide to move them out of Turkey. "I can only hope that the Turkish government changes its mind in the coming days. Otherwise, the German parliament will certainly not leave the soldiers in Turkey," Gabriel said in an interview with local media. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Tuesday that Berlin might move the troops elsewhere. Even the opposition, including the Greens and Left parties, has called for a vote in the parliament, also known as the Bundestag, to pull the soldiers out. Some media reports have hinted that the troops, who have been in Incirlik as part of a US-led coalition in the so-called fight against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Syria and Iraq, could be redeployed to Jordan. Germany says its military involvement in the current conflict in the two Arab countries serves logistic and supportive purposes and the troops have not been deployed to combat missions. Relations between Germany and Turkey declined further during a Turkish referendum in April, which was meant to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers. Turkish officials were angry at a decision by the German government to deny rallies in support of Erdogan in Germany, where some three million ethnic Turks live. Ankara said similar rallies by outlawed Kurdish militants and their sympathizers were generously allowed in Germany. Berlin and Ankara were previously at odds over developments that unfolded in the wake of a coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016. Turkey launched a massive crackdown following the July 15 coup attempt. The action has mostly targeted followers of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric who has denied any involvement in the coup. Berlin and several other Western governments have repeatedly criticized the crackdown. Turkey defends the move and says European governments have failed to properly condemn the coup. It says that Germany has even protected putschists by granting them asylum. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Looking to Buy? Germany Seeks Classified F-35 Intelligence Sputnik News 22:38 17.05.2017(updated 22:51 17.05.2017) The German government has sent a request to the US military asking for secrets about Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Berlin has not determined a course of procurement, but the letter indicates the US may have a potential buyer in Germany. The intelligence brief requested will allow Berlin to conduct "an in-depth evaluation of market available solutions," the German Ministry of Defense said, "including the F-35." Germany is a member of the team that produces the Eurofighter Typhoon and is actively seeking new clients. Typhoons have already joined the German Luftwaffe, but the German MoD is reportedly looking to upgrade its air force fleet sometime within the next decade. The UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Norway, Denmark and Israel are currently the only US military partners who have F-35s in their fleet. Singapore has reportedly expressed interest in the fifth-generation Lockheed jet as well. The jet has faced countless mechanical and operational problems. After two years, pilots lighter than 135 pounds were just cleared to start training with the jets on Tuesday. The seat ejector posed an "elevated level of risk" of lethally snapping pilots' necks before it was fixed this week. At least the Germans had the manners to ask for the intelligence. In January 2015, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that Chinese hackers stole 50 terabytes worth of data on the F-35's blue prints. The Pentagon agreed to work with its German security partners to "support" the Luftwaffe's request, the F-35 program office said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Three debates of presidential candidates in brief IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 17, IRNA -- Candidates of the 12th presidential elections, slated to held on May 19, expressed their views about various economic, political and social issues in the framework of three rounds of televised debates. The candidates included Ebrahim Raeisi, Custodian of the Imam Reza Holy Shrine in Mashad; First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri; Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf; former minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mostafa Mirsalim; former Minister of Physical Education Mostafa Hashemi Taba, and President Hassan Rouhani. The debates were held on April 28, May 5 and May 12 respectively. The following is a summary of the major issues raised in the debates: The first debate was focused on economic and social topics including emigration to big cities, the need to establish e-government, unemployment of the Iranian youth, tax policies, particle pollution and environmental problems. The second debate was held with the political and cultural issues in the spotlight. Major issues discussed in the second debate included the foreign policy, interacting with critics, defense policy, national security and Iranian-Islamic lifestyle as well as Iran's nuclear rights. Commenting on the landmark nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in 2015 between Iran and six world major, all candidates agreed that it is an international agreement which should be respect by all parties. However, a number of the candidates including, Mirsalim and Raeisi believed that the deal has failed to completely serve the interests of the Iranian nation. Raeisi, a 56-year-old principlist candidate, said the JCPOA has failed to end Iran's economic recession and remove all banking sanctions. Mirsalim, a 70-year-old conservative candidate, said the nuclear agreement proved to the world that Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons. However, Rouhani defended performance of his administration regarding the JCPOA noting that the deal has led to the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions. Jahangiri, the 59-year-old ally of President Rouhani, described the nuclear deal as one of the greatest achievements in the history of Iran without which the country's oil exports could have been stopped. However, in the third and last debate the six candidates expressed their plans on economic challenges facing the country including smuggling and imports, dependence on oil revenues, reduce crude oil sales, banking issues, domestic production, subsidies and economic growth. Mirsalim said he plans to reduce crude oil sales in favor of exporting domestic products. He added that the sales of crude oil have made the country more dependent on other countries. Supporting Mirsalim's idea, Raeisi said that building of refineries in various provinces would reduce crude oil sales. Meanwhile, Hashemi Taba, 70, opposed to the idea of building refineries in different parts of the country arguing that would not be economical. He also said that an "export-oriented" economy would help reduce smuggling of goods and promote the policy of Economy of Resistance. The six candidates continued their campaign by addressing people in different meetings both in the capital Tehran and other cities. However, one of the candidates, Qalibaf officially quitted the presidential race in a letter sent to the Elections Headquarters on Wednesday (May 17). He had earlier announced that he would support Raeisi in the presidential elections and asked his supporters to vote for the principlist candidate. Jahangiri, another candidate has also dropped out from the presidential race in favor Rouhani. Releasing a statement on May 16, Jahangiri told his supporters to vote for Rouhani. Another presidential candidate, Hashemi Taba, had earlier announced in a message that he would vote for Rouhani but he did not explicitly said that he quitted the race. The Elections Headquarters announced that according to elections law any candidate wishing to quit presidential campaign should deliver his resignation in writing to the election headquarters and supervisory board. 9060**1394 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump administration renews Iran sanctions waivers Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 4:53PM The administration of US President Donald Trump has extended sanctions relief for Iran to uphold Washington's part of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers. The United States "continues to waive sanctions as required" to continue implementing the nuclear deal, the US State Department announced on Wednesday. Under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in exchange for removal of all nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the US. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama renewed the waivers days before he left the White House in January. Some of the waivers would expire if Trump refuses to extend them this week. Unnamed officials earlier told Reuters earlier that Washington had already noted Iranian officials that the waivers would remain in place. "If they don't renew the waivers they will have a big mess on their hands," Timothy O'Toole, a sanctions attorney at a US law firm told Financial Times. "Iran would have no impediment to restarting its nuclear program." The decision poses a major challenge for Trump, who has been critical of the deal. As a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump frequently criticized the JCPOA as "the worst deal ever negotiated," but offered conflicting opinions on whether he would try to scrap it, renegotiate its terms or keep it in place. After accusing Iran of "not living up to the spirit" of the deal, the new Republican president said in April that his administration was analyzing the JCPOA and would "have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future." Meanwhile, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and national security experts from the administration of former President Barack Obama have thrown their weight behind a newly formed organization called "Diplomacy Works," which aims to which aims defend the nuclear deal. Shortly before Trump's January 20 inauguration, Kerry said the nuclear accord was one of Obama's policy victories and warned Trump that canceling it would harm the US in an irreparable way. The waiver extension comes as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose government pushed hard to achieve the deal, faces off with his rivals in the campaign run for the May 19 presidential vote. US Treasury sanctions two Iran officials Meanwhile in a surprising move on the same day the Trump administration waived other, broader sanctions on Iran, the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on two Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network. "These sanctions target Iranian officials as well as a China-based network that are providing support to Syria and supplying items to further Iran's ballistic weapons program," the Treasury statement said. The United States claims that Iran's missile tests violated Resolution 2231, which was adopted in July 2015 to endorse the nuclear agreement. Iranian officials say the country has carried out the missile tests as part of its program to boost defense capabilities, rejecting claims that the tests were in violation of Resolution 2231. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rohani Scorecard: Did Iran's President Deliver? Frud Bezhan May 17, 2017 When Hassan Rohani was elected as Iran's president in June 2013, he assumed power at a time when the Islamic republic was facing unprecedented sanctions, international isolation, and a worsening economy that was a source of discontent at home. Rohani, a relative moderate, won the election on promises to improve ties with the West, secure more freedoms to the Iranian people, and revive the recession-hit economy. As he seeks a second term in office four years later, his critics are lashing out -- accusing him of failing to deliver on many pledges, and knocking those that he pulled off. Here's a look at how Rohani fared on the main challenges he faced: FOREIGN POLICY "This [election] victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity...over extremism." -- Hassan Rohani upon scoring a landslide, first-round win in June 2013. Rohani took over from Mahmud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative whose two terms in office were marked by anti-Western rhetoric, threats to Israel, and defiance in the face of international scrutiny of his country's controversial nuclear program. The confrontational polices made Iran an international pariah, and led to the imposition of international sanctions that hit the country's economy hard and hampered its ability to conduct trade. Rohani indeed toned down the rhetoric, promising to constructively engage with world powers, end the tense standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, and open Iran to new business opportunities. End Iran's International Isolation -- PASS "The new government feels there is a fresh opportunity for interaction at the global level." -- Rohani, June 2013 The new president made unprecedented conciliatory gestures to world powers. In 2013, there was a historic telephone with then-U.S. President Barack Obama, the first such contact between leaders of the two countries since they broke off diplomatic ties following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 2016, he made the first trip by an Iranian leader to Europe in 16 years, meeting with European leaders and the pope. Rohani also made a new push for nuclear negotiations that culminated in the landmark July 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, a deal that is held up as the main achievement of the Rohani presidency and which initially exhibited a thaw in relations with the West. Rohani also extended a hand to some of Tehran's traditional adversaries. He described archrival Saudi Arabia as "a brother," and in 2013 wished Jews around the world a happy Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Regional tensions persist, however, fueled in large part by wars in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq where Tehran has supported its Shi'ite allies to the chagrin of the Sunni-dominated Persian Gulf states. Israel has maintained its strong opposition to the nuclear deal and questioned Tehran's honesty. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, has criticized Rohani for saying his rapprochement policy toward the West had caused the threat of war to diminish. "What protected this country during all these years against aggression, and the enemy's intrusion, is the presence of the people," Khamenei said just three weeks before the May 19 election. Lift International Sanctions -- PASS "You should know the nuclear issue and the sanctions will also be resolved, and economic prosperity will also be created." -- Rohani, June 2013 Rohani's team told the Iranian public that all international sanctions would be removed immediately after the implementation of the agreement in January, despite Washington's assertions otherwise. When the nuclear deal worked out in the summer of 2015 was implemented in January 2016, the United Nations lifted all nuclear-related sanctions and the European Union lifted many bilateral sanctions. But removing U.S. sanctions was trickier, with those related to Iran's nuclear activities taking months, owing to bureaucracy and stipulations worked into the deal under which Iran had to prove it was meeting the terms of the deal. Even when all U.S. nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, Washington maintained or added unilateral sanctions linked to Iran's human rights record, alleged support for terrorism, and its controversial ballistic-missile program. Such sanctions have severely affected Iran's "access to [international] trading relationships, access to foreign investment, and access to finance," says Scott Lucas, an Iran specialist at Birmingham University in Britain and editor of the EA World View website. Tehran accused Washington of foul play when all sanctions were not immediately removed after the deal was signed, with Khamenei saying it showed "devilish" U.S. intentions. Rohani has been accused by the deal's domestic opponents of misleading the Iranian public and overhyping the nuclear deal. Supreme Leader Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, has criticized the deal and emphasized a "resistance economy" and warned against Western "infiltration" through the agreement. ECONOMY "My message to the Iranian nation is that we should all get ready for a jump in production, a jump in economic growth, and an economic boom because of the new conditions that are ahead of us." -- Rohani, October 2015 Despite promises of an economic boom, Iran has been unable to reap the full benefits of the nuclear deal for a variety of reasons, including resistance among hard-line conservatives to opening up the state-controlled economy, residual U.S. sanctions, and European companies' continued wariness of investing in Iran because of fears of U.S. penalties. "He has stabilized the situation, which was deteriorating very badly," says Steve Hanke, an economist teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "Now the situation is one of stability and modest improvement. Rohani has succeeded in turning the corner." The economic progress Rohani's government has made has yet to trickle down to the average Iranian household in terms of jobs, salaries, and the price of basic goods. Reports from Iran suggest there is rising public frustration over a lack of tangible benefits from the deal. Most respondents in a recent poll said they believe the nuclear accord has not improved the life of average Iranians. Hard-line clerics, the judiciary, and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have complained that Rohani conceded too much in the nuclear deal while obtaining little in return. They have said that under Rohani, the number of poor Iranians has increased. "This deal was like a check that the government has been unable to cash," said Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line conservative cleric who is considered Rohani's main rival in the upcoming vote. "Why can't we run the country better despite all of our resources? Because we don't have effective management, and corruption doesn't allow it," said Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative who was among the candidates vying for the presidency before he dropped out on May 15. Boost Growth, Jobs -- INCOMPLETE The main economic indicators indeed point to improvement in Iran. Economic growth is projected to reach 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent in 2016 and 2017, respectively, compared to 0.5 percent in 2015. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that "increased activity" in agriculture, car production, trade, and transport services has led the recovery in growth in the nonoil sector. The improvement in growth, however, has not translated into more jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 12.4 percent last year, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous year. Increase Oil Output To Presanctions Level -- PASS Iran has dramatically increased its oil output to 4 million barrels a day (bpd), the level it produced before sanctions, from as low as 1 million barrels when it was under sanctions. Today, Tehran exports 2 million barrels of oil per day. Without the nuclear deal, Rohani said that figure would only be 200,000 bpd. But low oil prices, which have fallen from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to around $50 recently, have limited the gains for Iran's economy and budget revenues. Increase Foreign Investment -- INCOMPLETE Rohani said recently that the way to tackle unemployment was to attract $140 billion in foreign investment to modernize the oil-and-gas, transportation, and telecommunication sectors. When selling the deal, the president mentioned access to lucrative markets as a major benefit. There have also been potentially lucrative understandings with the French firm Total and Russia's Gazprom to develop major oil and gas fields in Iran. But so far, none of these deals have come to fruition. Rohani has also delivered on promises to the Iranian people by signing headline-grabbing agreements to purchase long-desired passenger aircraft from the U.S. firm Boeing and its European rival, Airbus. The deals were seen as a symbolic benefit of dealing with the West, and while the planes have been ordered, most deliveries are not expected until 2018. DOMESTIC POLICY "What I truly wish is for moderation to return to the country. This is my only wish. Extremism pains me greatly. We have suffered many blows as a result of extremism." -- Rohani, June 2013 Rohani assumed power after two terms of Ahmadinejad, whose reelection in 2009 was seen as based on fraud and sparked the largest demonstrations in Iran since the Islamic Revolution. The protests brought a harsh crackdown on demonstrators and the opposition Green Movement, with thousands arrested and hundreds jailed, including the protest leaders. Rohani promised to expand individual freedoms and civil liberties that were eroded following the protests. He also pledged to lessen censorship and state restrictions on people's lives. But the general "openness" he pledged has yet to materialize. "Despite his efforts to open up political and social space, Rohani has always been contained by the supreme leader, the judiciary, and the Revolutionary Guards," analyst Lucas says. The supreme leader -- not the elected president -- controls Iran's armed forces and makes decisions on security, defense, and key foreign-policy issues. The president sets the country's economic policies, domestic social and education programs, and some public works. The president also has some say in the level of media freedom and political openness. However, he can be overruled by the clerical establishment by way of the judiciary or the IRGC. Free Political Prisoners -- FAIL High on his list was to free political prisoners, which has gone largely unfulfilled. Rohani vowed to work to end the house arrest of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi. The two Green Movement figures, along with Musavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, have been under house arrest since February 2011. In September 2013, about a dozen political prisoners were released. But the move has proved an isolated incident. "Rohani may want to free political prisoners but he does not have the power to do so," Lucas says. "The supreme leader will ensure that this is still the case if the president is reelected." Many pro-reform Iranians remain concerned about the oppositions leaders' house arrests. Rohani's supporters chanted Musavi's name at one of his recent campaign events, according to a video posted online by young reformists supporting him. Unblocking Social Media -- FAIL "We have to give people a free hand; we shouldn't intervene so much in people's private lives and culture." -- Rohani, June 2013 Rohani spoke out against tough state censorship and promised to end Iran's "security atmosphere." The Islamic republic blocked access to YouTube and Western social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter after the post-2009 crackdown. That has led Iranian authorities to create one of the largest Internet filters in the world, although its citizens continue to access Western websites by using virtual private networks (VPNs), on which the authorities have clamped down. In 2012, Iranian officials said they were planning to create a national intranet that would be largely isolated from the World Wide Web, saying the internal system would protect the public from "un-Islamic" content. The project has not been fully implemented. In November 2013 there were reports that the government had met to discuss unblocking access to Facebook and Twitter, triggering a backlash against Rohani. Hard-liners oppose social media, which they describe as tools of Western intelligence agencies and "Zionists." In 2014, Rohani said in order to unlock access to social media there would need to be "coordination" between other parts of the government, suggesting it was out of his hands. "Access to Internet and connectivity speeds improved significantly under Rohani," says Ali Vaez, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. "This is why social media have now become the main platform for electoral debate. But he could not go as far and as fast as he wanted, given resistance from other power centers." Establishing Ministry Of Women -- FAIL "We will not accept the culture of sexual discrimination. Women must enjoy equal opportunity, equal protection, and equal social rights." -- Rohani, June 2014 In 2013, many women voted for Rohani, who made issues of gender discrimination part of his platform for office. Rohani's appointment of female vice presidents -- who hold the portfolios for women, legal affairs, and the environment -- was seen as a positive step. But he has failed to fulfill his promise of creating a women's affairs ministry, and he has not submitted a promised bill to protect women's rights in the face of opposition from conservatives. But he has still said he is the best candidate to defend women, adding that his conservative critics want to "create segregated pavements" on public footpaths and separate the sexes in the workplace. Analyst Vaez says Rohani had to pick his battles and the women's issue was one he could not win, considering the fierce opposition it would have prompted among conservatives. "Rohani made incremental progress on specific issues by building new coalitions in backroom negotiations, but he refrained from actions that could jeopardize his main priorities where he had the best shot at success," Vaez explains. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-presidential-election- rohani-scorecard/28493174.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Extends Iran Nuclear Sanctions Relief, Adds Other Sanctions RFE/RL May 17, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is extending sanctions relief for Iran that was granted under the 2015 nuclear agreement, while imposing new economic penalties over Iranian ballistic-missile activity. The State Department says it is telling Congress it will continue to waive sanctions on Iran as part of the 2015 nuclear deal. The decision comes just before the Obama administration's last six-month waiver expires. Trump was elected after warning during his presidential campaign that he might cancel the agreement. While the waiver on the nuclear-related sanctions was renewed, the U.S. Treasury imposed new measures to punish two Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network for supporting Iran's ballistic-missile program. The Iranian officials sanctioned on May 17 are Morteza Farasatpour and Rahim Ahmadi. Farasatpour coordinated the sale and delivery of explosives and other materiel to a Syrian government agency, the Treasury Department said. Ahmadi is the director of Iran's Shahid Bakeri Industries Group, which is responsible for Iran's solid-fuel ballistic-missile program, the Treasury statement said. The sanctions "for proliferation activities in support of a key designated Iranian defense entity" also apply to Chinese national Ruan Runling and three China-based companies associated with Ruan -- Shanghai North Begins International, Shangai Gang Quan Trade Co., and Shanghai North Transway International Trading Co., the statement said. The decision not to renew sanctions comes just two days before Iran is due to hold a presidential election and may prove a boost for President Hassan Rohani, who signed the deal and is seeking reelection. Under the terms of the 2015 deal, the previous U.S. administration of President Barack Obama agreed to waive sanctions on Iran's nuclear program in return for strict controls to prevent it from developing atomic weapons. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-extends-iran- nuclear-sanctions-relief/28494069.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Says Hope Exists for Restoring Peace in Libya, Russia Ready to Help Sputnik News 16:20 17.05.2017(updated 16:21 17.05.2017) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday there is hope for establishing peace in the Libya and Moscow is ready to contribute to the process of settlement in the crisis-torn state. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Russian leader recalled that representatives from Libya's rival political factions, including the head of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, and officials of the country's Government of National Accord (GNA), held a meeting on May 2. "I think that there is hope for reaching civil peace in Libya. This country is very important in the region and important for Europe given the fact that it is becoming a certain transit point for large numbers of refugees, especially from Sub-Saharan Africa, into Europe," Putin said following his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. The Russian leader recalled that representatives from Libya's rival political factions, including the head of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, and officials of the country's Government of National Accord (GNA), held a meeting on May 2. "We hope that the agreements reached at the meeting would be developed and this process would result in a speedy restoration of civil peace and the creation of a stable situation in Libya. As for us, we and our Italian friends, as well as everyone interested in normalizing the situation, including the regional states, are ready to provide all possible assistance to this process," the president added. Libya has been in state of a civil war since its longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The eastern authorities act independently from the GNA in the west of the country and cooperate with the Libyan National Army led by Haftar. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi says China willing to assist Myanmar in peace progress People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:49, May 17, 2017 BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China is willing to continue to provide Myanmar with assistance in its internal peace progress. Xi made the remarks when meeting with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing on May 14-15. He called on the two sides to jointly maintain peace and stability on the border. Xi noted that the two countries have a deeply rooted friendship and extensive common interests, and the two sides reached important consensus on all-round strategic cooperation in the new era during Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw's visit to China last month. He said China and Myanmar should boost their ties and advance the construction of key projects, economic corridors, economic zones and infrastructure. Aung San Suu Kyi commended the Belt and Road Initiative as one that will bring peace, reconciliation and prosperity to the region and the world at large. She said Myanmar is grateful to China for its efforts in advancing her country's internal peace progress. Myanmar stands ready to work with China on peace and stability on the border. In a separate meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged an early cease-fire in northern Myanmar to ensure peace on the border. Li said China supports the second meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference to be hosted by Myanmar. The meeting is an inclusive dialogue designed to open to all armed groups. On joint projects, Li called for steady progress of oil pipelines, ports, and economic zones. He also demanded proper handling of the Myitsone hydro-power station to "guide cooperation expectation and boost confidence." The project on the Ayeyawaddy River started in December 2009 but was suspended by the previous government in 2011. With an installed capacity of 6,000 megawatts, the project was designed to yield 29,400 million kilowatt hours a year on completion by 2019. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korea's President Moon says war with North highly possible Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 9:36AM South Korea's newly-elected President Moon Jae-in has warned of a "high possibility" of conflict with North Korea amid the latter's rapidly advancing missile and military nuclear programs. "The reality is that there is a high possibility of a military conflict at the NLL (Northern Limit Line) and military demarcation line," Moon said during a visit to the country's Defense Ministry on Wednesday. "We are living in the reality where there is a high possibility of military clashes" along the disputed sea border off the Koreas' west coast or along the heavily-fortified land frontier that divides them, Moon further said. "I will never tolerate the North's provocations and nuclear threats," he said, urging the South's military to adopt a "watertight defense posture." The remarks come amid increased tensions between the United States and certain regional countries on the one side and North Korea on the other. The North Korean missile and military nuclear programs have concerned the US. And the American military presence in the region and constant threats of an invasion of North Korea have concerned Pyongyang. The remarks also came just days after Moon declared his willingness to work for peace with North Korea following his inauguration as president. He has been known as an advocate of engagement with Pyongyang. Moon had said, "If needed, I will fly to Washington immediately. I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances... I will do everything I can to build peace on the Korean Peninsula." Also on Wednesday, South Korea's unification ministry said that the country's basic position was that communication lines with Pyongyang had to open, as President Moon sought a two-track policy, involving sanctions and dialog with Pyongyang. The ministry's spokesman, Lee Duk-haeng, also said during a press briefing that authorities from the South go to the Panmunjom communications office at the border between the two Koreas on a regular basis to make daily checks for possible responses from the North. According to Lee, communication channels between the two Koreas were severed by Pyongyang after February 2016, in the wake of sanctions over the North's last nuclear test and its decision to shut down a joint industrial zone that operated inside North Korea. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has not used his right to participate in the session of the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv, a representative of the prosecution in Yanukovych's case, Ruslan Kravchenko, said. "The court has given Yanukovych an opportunity to participate... The Obolonsky court passed a lawful, objective decision to allow Yanukovych to take part in the judicial proceedings... without the possibility of delaying the process from either the Russian Federation or the defense team. But as we all saw, he [Yanukovych] has not used [this opportunity]," Kravchenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday after a meeting of Obolonsky district court in Kyiv. He expressed an opinion that the defendant failed to take part in the court session in order to drag out the trial. "But to take part in a videoconference in is his right, and not an obligation, and he did not use this right," the prosecutor added. Kravchenko also said he had grounds for requesting a trial in absentia. Moon Warns of War on Korean Peninsula Sputnik News 22:20 17.05.2017(updated 22:51 17.05.2017) Following the deployment of the cutting-edge US-built THAAD missile system in South Korea and Sunday's successful launch of Pyongyang's most powerful ballistic missile to date, newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in has declared that war with the North is a "high possibility." Mere hours after President Moon stated his intention to reopen negotiations with the People's Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK), the leader tempered his suggestion by asserting that an armed conflict with his northern neighbor was probable. "The reality is that there is a high possibility of a military conflict at the NLL [Northern Limit Line] and military demarcation line," Moon said, cited by Reuters. Moon's remarks follow statements from Pyongyang officials asserting a continuation of their defiance of the United Nations Security Council ban on nuclear and ballistic missile weapons testing, and the concurrent deployment of a powerful new US-built anti-missile system on South Korean territory. Designed to quickly identify, target and destroy incoming supersonic missiles, the installation of the US-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system has angered not only the DPRK, but Russia and China as well. But Washington has been slow to network THAAD with Seoul's existing missile defense network, and Sunday's launch by Pyongyang saw key data acquired by the US system withheld from South Korea. "Currently, [Seoul] is unable to have real-time access to the detection data of the THAAD radar because the system [] is still under construction," according to an anonymous defense source, cited by Korea Times. Contacted by word of mouth over a telephone link, Seoul only learned basic information about Pyongyang's Sunday launch, without being provided key data points, including the speed of descent of the DPRK missile and the shape of the missile's warhead. At somewhere between Mach 15 (11,000 mph) and Mach 24 (18,000 mph), the DPRK Hwasong-12 missile fell short of the minimum Mach 24 descent speed of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to the source. Although the data link between THAAD and South Korea's existing Green Pine missile defense network has yet to be established, it is expected to be completed late this year, according to Yonhap. THAAD, deeply unpopular with South Korean citizens and many lawmakers in Seoul, has now reached what the military terms "initial operational capability," as reported by Korea Times. Moon campaigned on a pledge to revisit the installation of the new US missile system on South Korean soil, and has publicly considered reversing its deployment. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Seoul Calls for Reopening of Communication Hotline With Pyongyang Sputnik News 06:38 17.05.2017 South Korean Unification Ministry's spokesman Lee Duk-haeng said that South Korea calls for reopening of the intra-Korean communication channel that was cut off in 2016 after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. MOSCOW (Sputnik) South Korea calls for reopening of the intra-Korean communication channel that was cut off in 2016 after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, South Korean Unification Ministry's spokesman Lee Duk-haeng said on Wednesday. "The government has kept the stance that the inter-Korean dialogue channel should be reopened. The ministry has been reviewing ways to restore it," the spokesman said, as cited by the Yonhap news agency, adding that there are "no specific steps in the offing." On May 10, new South Korean President Moon Jae-in officially assumed office, stating in his inaugural address that he would do everything possible to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula, and even "visit Pyongyang if it is possible." The latest North Korean missile test was carried out on Sunday, with a ground-to-ground intermediate ballistic missile falling in the Sea of Japan. On Monday, the country's government officially confirmed the test to be successful. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former Top U.S. Officials Call For New Sanctions, More Aggressive Action On Russia RFE/RL May 17, 2017 WASHINGTON -- The United States should impose new sanctions and move more aggressively to "shape Russian thinking" in response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine and elsewhere, former top State and Defense department officials said. Michael Carpenter, who was the Pentagon's top Russia official until January, said the measures Washington should take should include deploying an armored brigade permanently to the Baltics and restricting some Russian surveillance flights over U.S. territory now authorized under the 2002 Open Skies treaty. "If we do not check Russian aggression with more forceful measures now, we will end up dealing with many more crises and conflicts, spending billions of dollars more in the defense of our European allies, and potentially see our vision of Europe whole and free undermined," Carpenter told a hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission on May 17. Carpenter, along with former State Department arms control director Stephen Rademaker, also suggested that the United States should consider returning intermediate-range cruise missiles to Europe, in response to Russia's alleged violations of a key Cold War-era arms agreement. Rademaker told the commission that Russia will comply with important treaties like Open Skies, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, and Conventional Armed Forces in Europe but only when it is in Moscow's interest. When it isn't in Moscow's interest, "it will seek to terminate themor violate them while continuing to play lip service to them...or it will selectively implement them," he said. Russia, for its part, has repeatedly denied violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty and instead accuses the United States itself of violating the agreement. Carpenter called for more financial sanctions that leverage U.S. dominance in financial markets, for more pressure on top Russian officials, and he said that the so-called Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law that puts restrictions on alleged Russian human rights offenders, had been "vastly underutilized." Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said the list should be expanded to include relatives of Kremlin-connected oligarchs and other powerful government officials, for example, to keep their children from enrolling at U.S. colleges and universities or spouses from "going on London shopping trips." During last year's election campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed a conciliatory approach toward Moscow, saying more cooperation was needed in the fight against terrorism. Since taking office, however, the administration has largely maintained the stiff-armed policy initiated by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. The Helsinki Commission is a U.S. government agency that monitors international adherence to the 1975 Helsinki Accords on human rights. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/former-top-us-officials-more -aggressive-action-russia-ukraine/28494026.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria's warring sides to respond to UN bid for drafting constitution Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 10:9AM Syria's warring parties have reportedly been presented with a "surprise" United Nations proposal aimed at mapping a way forward to a new draft constitution for the conflict-ridden Arab country. The representatives from the Damascus government and opposition groups are expected to respond to the UN initiative on Wednesday, the second day of the sixth round of Syrian peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva, AFP reported. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura met twice with delegations from Syria's opposite sides on Tuesday. Opposition figures said their meetings with the UN envoy had focused on the drafting of a new constitution and the issue of prisoners. A source close to the Syrian government delegation confirmed that they had received a copy of the UN proposal. Two opposition sources told AFP that de Mistura had presented Syria's main opposition bloc, the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC), with a document proposing a team of civil society activists and technocrats tasked with mapping a way forward to a draft law. A copy of the proposal seen by AFP said the "consultative" team would begin work immediately on "specific options for constitutional drafting" in an attempt to "prevent a constitutional or legal vacuum at any point during the political transition process being negotiated." However, the HNC's Munzer Makhos said opposition figures had "many reservations" and were still discussing the document. "It will become clear on Wednesday. This paper was a surprise -- it was not expected in the first place," Makhos added. Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies that have long pushed for the ouster of the Damascus government. Several rounds of intra-syrian peace talks have been held in Geneva and the Kazakh capital, Astana. The Astana talks, brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey, have most recently produced a memorandum of understanding on de-escalation zones in Syria, sharply reducing fighting in the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria censures deadly US strikes on civilians in Raqqah, Dayr al-Zawr Iran Press TV Wed May 17, 2017 9:11AM Syria has written to the United Nations, severely condemning recent fatal airstrikes by the US-led coalition against civilians as illegal and a breach of its sovereignty. More than 26 people were killed and scores injured in the coalition air raids on al-Ekirshi village in Syria's Raqqah Province on Monday. Similar strikes targeted the city of Abu Kamal in Dayr al-Zawr Province on the same day, killing over 31 people, most of them children and women. The US-led coalition denied role in the Dayr al-Zawr airstikes, but the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights emphasized that a coalition plane was probably behind the raids. The US-led coalition aerial assaults are a "blatant aggression against the Syrian people and flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Syria's Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in two letters addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guteres and the world body's Security Council, the official SANA news agency reported on Tuesday. The Raqqah "death toll is expected to rise due to the number of severely injured civilians and the huge destruction caused by the US-led coalition attack to the houses," the ministry said. The coalition has admitted to the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians during its operations in Syria, so there is no doubt about the catastrophic consequences of the strikes on the Syrian people, it added. The Syrian Foreign Ministry further noted that the coalition strikes do not target terrorists and their allies, but rather civilians, enabling militants to commit more crimes in Syria. The real enemies to the Syrian people are terrorist groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham , which the US-led coalition as well as Saudi Arania, Turkey, Qatar and Britain supply with weapons and funds in order to achieve their goal of destroying Syria and killing its people, it pointed out. The ministry also reiterated Syria's call on the UN Security Council to help stop the coalition attacks against the Syrian people. The US-led coalition has been conducting air raids against what are said to be Daesh terrorists inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. The strikes have led to civilian deaths and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump, Erdogan Avoid Discord Over Kurds in White House Talks By VOA News May 17, 2017 After meetings Tuesday at the White House, President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praised the strength of the two countries' relations, while at the same time sidestepping their differences over strategies for confronting Islamic State extremists in northern Syria. Both Trump and Erdogan described bilateral ties as strong. "We've had a great relationship," the U.S. president said, "and we will make it even better." Neither leader mentioned Trump's decision last week to supply heavy weapons to Syrian Kurdish rebel militias, the YPG, who make up a key part of a U.S.-backed alliance preparing to march on the Islamic State's de-facto capital, Raqqa, later this year. Full agreement Turkey, which has battled Kurdish separatists since 1984 in its southeast, has voiced broad opposition to the presence of YPG fighters in the anti-jihadist coalition. Erdogan has argued that YPG's ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party make it likely that any U.S. weaponry supplied to the Syrian Kurds will eventually end up in Turkey, in the hands of the outlawed PKK. Erdogan has called the decision to provide U.S. arms "contrary to our strategic relations to the U.S." But there were no public signs of friction Tuesday, as Trump and Erdogan struck public poses suggesting full agreement on the need to capture the IS stronghold at Raqqa. "There is no place for the terrorist organizations in the future of our region," Erdogan said. Ahead of his visit, the Turkish leader had pledged he would try to persuade Trump to change his mind about arming the YPG. Erdogan also ordered airstrikes last month on sparsely-populated Kurdish areas along the Iraq-Syria frontier. Turkish journalist Semih Idiz, writing for Al Monitor, said the strikes appeared to carry a domestic political message, showing the depth of Erdogan's determination to fight the PKK. Prior to Erdogan's arrival at the White House, a violent altercation broke out between Erdogan supporters and a group of a few dozen people protesting the president outside of the Turkish ambassador's residence. Erdogan bodyguards were also involved. Washington's fire and emergency medical services department said nine people were hurt, including one person with serious injuries. The police department said it arrested two people. Similar clashes happened last year when Erdogan visited Washington for a nuclear security summit. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Poroshenko Hails 'Historic Day' As Visa-Free EU Travel Deal Is Signed RFE/RL May 17, 2017 STRASBOURG -- Representatives of the European Parliament and the European Council have signed a document in Strasbourg formalizing a long-awaited visa-liberalization deal with Ukraine. The deal was signed by the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and Malta's Interior Minister Carmelo Abela. Malta currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was present at the ceremony, said the signing of the agreement represents a landmark in Ukraine's history. "It is an absolutely historic day for Ukraine, for my 45 million nation, and I am absolutely confident that this is a historic day for the European Union," Poroshenko said after the signing. "Ukraine returns to the European family. Ukraine says a final farewell to the Soviet and Russian Empire," he said. Tajani said the visa liberalization was a "good message" to "very pro-European" Ukraine. "The new rules on visa liberalization are the beginning of a new era," Tajani said. EU member states gave their approval on May 11, and the visa-free regime is due to enter into force on June 11. Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports will be able to enter all EU member states other than Ireland and the United Kingdom without a visa for up to 90 days during any 180-day period. It also applies to four Schengen Area countries that are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Poroshenko's predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, was pushed from power in 2014 by massive pro-European protests after he scrapped plans for a deal to tighten ties with the EU. Russia then seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region and fomented separatism in eastern Ukraine, where a war between Russia-backed forces and the government has killed more than 9,900 people. Much of present-day Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire beginning in the 17th century, and Ukraine was under Moscow's thumb as a Soviet republic for most of the 20th century. It gained independence in the Soviet collapse of 1991. Visa-free EU travel began on March 28 for citizens of Georgia, another former Soviet republic that is under pressure from Russia. With reporting by RFE/RL's Marek Hajduk in Strasbourg and Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-ukraine-visa-free- travel-deal-signed/28492872.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Public Sharply Divided Over Ukraine's Ban On Russian Social Networks Christopher Miller May 17, 2017 KYIV -- Censorship and a blow to freedom of expression, or a long-overdue move in defense of national security? President Petro Poroshenko's blanket ban in Ukraine on several Russian Internet services, including leading Russian-language social networks and a popular search engine, has struck a chord -- or a nerve, depending on who you ask. The ban, based on recommendations of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) put forth in April and issued on May 16 by presidential decree, immediately triggered a wave of criticism from human rights groups and journalists who claimed it was undemocratic. Meanwhile, many Ukrainians -- particularly from the government and security apparatuses -- heralded it as a long overdue step to combat Russian instruments of information warfare amid a bloody shooting war with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Specifically, the decree orders Internet service providers (ISPs) to block public access for three years to the Mail.ru group and its social-networking sites, VK (formerly VKontakte) and Odnoklassniki -- the top two in Ukraine. At least 78 percent of Internet users in Ukraine, or some 20 million people, reportedly had a VK account as of late April. The Mail.Ru group is controlled by Kremlin-friendly oligarch Alisher Usmanov. The decree also orders a block on the popular Russian search engine Yandex and its various services. It brings the total of sanctioned physical and legal entities to 468 companies, most of them Russian, and 1,228 individuals in connection with what Poroshenko called via his own VK page Russia's "hybrid warfare" against Ukraine, including its seizure of Crimea in March 2014 and its role in a conflict in the country's east that has killed more than 9,900 people. In signing the decree, Poroshenko promised to close his own VK page, where he has more than 466,000 followers. (The page was still up at the time of publication.) Cynical Or Long Overdue? Blistering criticism of the president's move came fast and hot. "This is yet another example of the ease with which President Poroshenko unjustifiably tries to control public discourse in Ukraine," said Tanya Cooper, Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW). "Poroshenko may try to justify this latest step, but it is a cynical, politically expedient attack on the right to information affecting millions of Ukrainians, and their personal and professional lives." Some critics drew comparisons to Internet restrictions imposed by China, Iran, and Turkey. The "Erdoganization of Poroshenko is here" former journalist-turned-lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko tweeted in an ominous reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on that country's press and academia after a failed coup in July 2016. Serhiy Petrenko, the former head of Yandex Ukraine, wrote this especially scathing indictment of Poroshenko's decree on his blog: "I'll be brief. Everyone who had a hand in this decree, including the person who signed it, are f***ing idiots." The decree's supporters were no less enthusiastic, with many, like Ukrainian political consultant Taras Kuzio, saying the move was "long overdue." "On the territory of Crimea and in the Russian Federation, Roskomnadzor blocked all our information resources, in particular, Free Crimea," Ukrainian political analyst Taras Berezovets wrote on Facebook, referring to a nonprofit project that monitors activities of Russian authorities on the annexed Crimean Peninsula. "Russians constantly write letters demanding to ban materials from our sites to our German [service] providers. So don't be surprised that for me this is a day of personal victory. Vendetta is such a sweet word, I'll tell you." In justifying the ban, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement that "Russian security agencies are waging a hybrid war against the Ukrainian population, using in their special information operations Internet resources such as VK, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru, and so on." Andrei Soldatov, a Russian cybersecurity expert, told RFE/RL that "it is true that VK is extremely intrusive and known to be cooperative with the FSB," a reference to Russia's Federal Security Service and main successor to the KGB. But he argued that most Ukrainian users "cannot pose a security risk" as ordinary citizens "have no access to secrets." Rather than risk public outrage, Soldatov said, Ukraine could have limited usage of those sites to military and officials with security clearances. Another option, he said without endorsing it, would have been to take a page from Russia's playbook and require the sites to store Ukrainians' personal data on Ukrainian soil. But How To Ban? At the time of publication, all of the banned sites were still accessible in Ukraine. Ukraine had no legal mechanism in place for blocking the Internet resources listed in the ban when Poroshenko signed the decree, according to an SBU statement, leaving it and other law enforcement agencies scrambling to recommend the necessary changes in Ukrainian law. Mykhaylo Chaplyhya from the Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsperson's Secretariat told the UNIAN news agency that no website may be blocked in Ukraine without a court order. Failure to comply with the order may result in fines equal to 100-200 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, according a statement published on the site of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatics. Some ISPs, including Ukraine's largest fixed-line operator, Urktelecom, said on May 17 that they had already begun to implement the ban, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. "Work will be carried out in stages and, according to specialists' preliminary estimate, will take several days, up to a week," Interfax quoted Urktelecom as saying. If or when access to the targeted sites ceases, experts say it will be easy to skirt the block, as virtual private networks (VPNs) are readily available in Ukraine. Not skipping a beat, VK sent Ukrainian users a message late on May 16 with a link to instructions on how to use such tools to circumvent the block. "We love our Ukrainian users and want you to always stay in touch with friends and family," the company said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-ban-russia-social- networks-slammed-praised/28493634.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address On Friday, May 19, at 12.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference, entitled "Non-Transparent Situation in Tender for Procurement of Hemophilia Drugs Organized by UNDP, which Was Won by Foreign Company without Office in Ukraine, which Offered $600,000 More." The participants will include member of the Biofarma supervisory board Krzysztof Siedlecki and Acting Director General of Biofarma pharmaceutical plant Andriy Obrizan (8/5a Reitarska Street). Accreditation is required by phone: (050) 915 1565. About 100 Danville Head Start pre-kindergarten graduates sang, danced and clapped their way to kindergarten during a graduation ceremony Thursday. We want to thank you for raising such sweet and loving children, said teacher Kimberly Kelly. Averett University Executive Vice President Charles Harris began the program, thanking students for their hard work and their parents and friends for supporting them during the school year. Were delighted to be a part of this program, Harris said. As part of the program, Head Starts Class Seven performed a song routine called Ive Been Going to Head Start to the tune of the childrens song Ive Been Working On the Railroad. The whole audience in the packed Violet T. Frith Fine Arts Center clapped along as the students used tambourines and other simple percussion instruments to keep time. The performance was part of the preschool programs Growing Up Musically program a collaboration allowing Averett music professors and students to come into classrooms and teach through simple song and dance routines. Janet Phillips, assistant professor of music, told the audience studies show early exposure to music help students succeed in class. Soon-to-be graduates and siblings Derriyah and Xavier Ballard waited patiently for their turn to go up on stage with their class. Derriyah said she was very excited to head to kindergarten after summer vacation because I like to learn. Sadly, Xavier said he wasnt excited for the next school year, but he did admit to enjoying his time in Head Start with teacher Toni Gross. Both graduates said they were excited for the presents they would receive after the ceremony. Averett University President Tiffany Franks congratulated the students, and also issued a challenge to them. In just 13 to 15 years, I want to see you in this auditorium as Averett University students, Franks said. AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 17, 2017 /CNW/ - Meridian Mining S.E. (TSX V: MNO) ("Meridian" or the "Company"), today announced that the board of directors of the Company has approved the grant of an aggregate of 8,456,166 options (the "Options") to purchase common shares in the capital of the Company to certain directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company. The Options are exercisable at a price of $0.44 per common share for a term of five years, until May 17, 2022. The granting of the Options is subject to regulatory acceptance of applicable filings.The Options shall be exercisable, subject to the receipt by the Company of any required regulatory approval, four months after the grant. ABOUT MERIDIAN Meridian Mining S.E. is focused on the acquisition, exploration, development and mining activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on exploring and developing the Jaburi manganese and gold projects, the Bom Futuro tin JV area, and adjacent areas in the state of Rondonia. The Company employs a two-pronged strategy with the objective of growing pilot production while advancing a parallel multi-commodity regional exploration program. Meridian is currently producing high grade manganese at its project located at Espigao de Oeste. Further information can be found at www.meridianmining.co. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining S.E. "Anthony Julien" Anthony Julien President, CEO and Director FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements include, among others, statements with respect to the Company's plans for exploration and development of its properties and potential mineralization. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such risk factors include, among others, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, failure to complete anticipated transactions, the timing and success of future exploration and development activities, exploration and development risks, title matters, inability to obtain any required third party consents, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices and one-time events. In making the forward-looking statements, the Company has applied several material assumptions including, but not limited to, the assumptions that: (1) the proposed exploration and development of mineral projects will proceed as planned; (2) market fundamentals will result in sustained metals and minerals prices and (3) any additional financing needed will be available on reasonable terms. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. The Company cautions that it has not completed any feasibility studies on any of its mineral properties, and no mineral reserve estimate has been established. In particular, because the Company's production decision relating to Jaburi's manganese project is not based upon a feasibility study of mineral reserves, the economic and technical viability of the Jaburi manganese project has not been established. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed option grant and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Meridian Mining S.E. PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - May 17, 2017) - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Perseus Mining Ltd. ("Perseus") (TSX:PRU)(ASX:PRU) is pleased to report progress achieved to date on drilling programmes at its Yaoure Gold Project in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa ("Yaoure"). Yaoure is expected to become Perseus's third operating mine when it is developed and will make a significant contribution towards Perseus's target of producing in excess of 500,000 ounces of gold from its West African mines by 2021. The recently completed drilling programmes will provide critical information on which to base a Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") at Yaoure that is now scheduled to be finalised in the December 2017 quarter. The associated JORC Table 1 is included in the release available for download from www.perseusmining.com and www.asx.com.au. HIGHLIGHTS Approximately 33,700m of resource definition drilling has been completed in the proposed CMA and Yaoure open pits. (Refer to Figure 1 below.) A further 12,200m of trial grade control drilling has been completed in the Yaoure pit. Approximately 63% of assays have been returned from the combined drilling programmes. Interpretation of the mineralisation in the higher grade CMA pit is in line with previous interpretations made by Yaoure's previous owners, Amara Mining plc ("Amara") and assay results received from the CMA pit are in line with the tenor of grades from previous drilling programmes. Perseus's understanding of the mineralisation in the Yaoure pit has been significantly improved from the results returned from the latest drilling. The mineralisation is more tightly constrained than previously estimated by Amara and this is expected to impact on re-estimation of Mineral Resources and Reserves by Perseus. Structural reinterpretation has highlighted the potential for additional mineralisation to be defined, particularly to the north west of the Yaoure pit. A new Mineral Resource estimate for the deposits is expected to be released in August 2017 after all assays have been returned, thorough QA/QC applied, interpretation of the mineralisation completed, modelling carried out and the final estimate reviewed externally. A new Ore Reserve estimate for the deposit is expected to be released as part of the DFS during the December 2017 quarter. Perseus's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Jeff Quartermaine said: "We are very pleased to have successfully completed this current phase of drilling at Yaoure with the consent and cooperation of our host community. The results of the drilling programmes are providing our DFS team with a comprehensive understanding of the known mineralisation and the potential for further discoveries at Yaoure which is essential if we are to prepare a Definitive Feasibility Study for an affordable and highly profitable project on which we can confidently base a positive investment decision later this year." Overview Previous mining at Yaoure exploited oxide gold mineralisation in two adjacent pits, namely, the Yaoure pit and, to the east, the CMA pit. The CMA pit has been backfilled with waste material from the Yaoure pit. The CMA deposit comprises gold mineralisation hosted by a north-striking shear zone up to 40 metres true thickness and dipping consistently at 25-30 degrees to the east. Gold is associated with pyrite in ankerite-quartz veins and adjacent altered basalt. Mineralisation in the Yaoure pit is more complex, with gold mineralisation hosted variously by east-dipping structures similar to the CMA lode ("Y-type" structures), steep east, north-east and south-east striking faults ("S-type" structures) and as sheeted vein arrays hosted by a granodiorite intrusive body. Similar to CMA, gold is associated with pyrite within, and adjacent to, quartz and quartz-carbonate veins. In the northern part of the mine area the distance between the two mineralised systems diminishes and it is projected that future open pits may merge in a "Bridge" area. In late December 2016 Perseus commenced a program of infill resource definition drilling, totalling approximately 33,700 metres of reverse circulation percussion ("RC") and diamond core drilling. A further 12,200 metres of RC drilling was undertaken in a trial grade control program over portions of the Yaoure open pit in order to determine the spatial continuity of gold grades immediately below the existing pit. Those programs are now complete. At Yaoure pit, resource definition drilling was designed to provide consistent 25 x 25 metre drill coverage of mineralisation likely to be exploitable by open pit mining. Infill drilling at CMA now provides consistent 25 x 50 metre coverage of mineralisation to a maximum 200 metres below surface. It is considered that those drill spacings will permit reliable estimation of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources. Figure 1 shows a synopsis of geology, mineralised structures and drill hole locations. Drill Results Currently assays have been received for approximately 29,300 samples and results remain outstanding for approximately 17,000 samples. Results received to date confirm the tenor of mineralisation in holes drilled previously. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show representative drill cross-sections through the CMA pit, the Yaoure pit and the Bridge area, (locations A-A', B-B' and C-C' respectively on Figure 1). Table 1 summarises the drill intercepts in the holes in the three cross sections. Synopsis Results received to date for CMA drilling confirm the tenor of previous intercepts and the continuity of mineralisation. It is anticipated that the relatively straightforward structural architecture of the CMA mineralisation will result in a robust Mineral Resource estimate, which is important because CMA is expected to contribute the majority of the economic mineralisation underpinning Yaoure's DFS. Geological logging and assays received to date from drilling in the Yaoure pit are providing a much clearer view of structural controls on mineralisation in that pit. Indications are that the 25 x 25 metre spaced drill coverage is likely to be sufficient to permit the application of tight controls on the mineralisation in the planned Mineral Resource estimate, particularly when combined with the knowledge gained from the closely spaced grade control drilling. The increased understanding of the controls on mineralisation will impact on Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the Yaoure pit. A potentially important outcome of the 2017 work programme is the recognition of possible extensions of both the Yaoure and CMA mineralised systems, particularly to the northwest of current drill coverage. Drill testing of those areas is beyond the scope of the DFS and they remain targets for future near-mine exploration. Update on DFS Completion of the DFS was scheduled to take 10 months from commencement of the drilling program, which began at the end of December 2016 following the extension of Yaoure's Exploration Licences 168 and 397 for two years on 1 December 2016. Information associated with progress of the DFS will be progressively released with the next milestone being the publication of a new Mineral Resource estimate in the September 2917 Quarter. The full study including a new Ore Reserve estimate is expected to be completed in the December 2017 Quarter. To view Figure 1: Recent drill hole locations and mineralised structures, please visit this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/PerseusMining_Fig1.jpg To view Figure 2: CMA drill section 777185N, please visit this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/PerseusMining_Fig2.jpg To view Figure 3: Yaoure pit drill section 777185N, please visit this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/PerseusMining_Fig3.jpg To view Figure 4: Bridge area drill section 777585N, please visit this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/PerseusMining_Fig4.jpg Table 1: Table of drill intercepts (0.6 g/t Au cut-off, maximum 2m included waste) Grid coordinates and azimuths refer to UTM Zone 30N, WGS 84 datum Hole ID Year E N Elev Dip Azi Total Depth metres From metres To metres Length metres Au g/t Estimated True Width metres YDD0031 2012 220925 777586 237 -60 270 310.26 0 28.5 42 8.5 35.5 53.35 8.5 7 11.35 1.02 3.69 1.05 4.7 3.9 6.2 YDD0039 2012 221037 777587 242 -60 270 308.65 24.67 33.47 8.8 2.49 8.8 YDD0048 including 2012 221087 777587 242 -60 270 343.55 58.77 61.46 67.9 62.32 9.13 0.86 7.88 69.7 9.13 0.86 YDD0141 2013 221476 777188 282 -60 270 291.89 157 176 19 4.37 19 YDD0148 2013 221576 777189 276 -60 270 320.36 208 213 5 2.87 5 YDD0166 2014 220751 777184 215 -60 270 183.1 7.7 48 13 53 5.3 5 1.31 2.01 5.3 5 YDD0170 2014 220680 777180 220 -60 270 151.6 16.7 21.2 4.5 1.47 4.5 YDD0185 2014 220814 777184 211 -60 270 214.9 13 38 56 78 28 41 61 83 15 3 5 5 2.15 4.28 3.77 1.44 15 3 5 5 YDD0199 2014 220857 777180 211 -60 270 283.97 15 44 54 64 101 20 47 56 71 106 5 3 2 7 5 1.71 1.27 3.15 1.58 1.01 5 3 2 7 5 YDD0201 2014 221296 777185 285 -60 270 433.6 86 103 17 2.81 17 YDD0258 2014 221385 777185 285 -60 270 164 119 136 152 122 141 155 3 5 3 1.66 3.02 1.38 3 5 3 YDD0267 2014 220716 777184 218 -60 270 229.4 0 32 10 38 10 6 1.88 1.49 10 6 YDD0333 2014 221417 777182 296 -60 270 202.7 144 161 148 163 4 2 7.05 2.67 4 2 YDD0416 2015 220676 777184 220 -45 270 212.2 14 17 3 5.28 3 YRC0399 2012 220965 777586 237 -60 270 60 7 13 6 1.34 6 YRC0696 2014 221485 777186 281 -65 270 200 162 177 15 3.31 15 YRC0705 2014 221527 777183 279 -65 270 240 186 193 7 9.00 7 YRC0838D 2017 221357 777185 285 -60 270 150.2 105 120 15 3.28 15 YRC0839D 2017 221326 777185 285 -60 270 126.2 93 104.85 111 100 108 119 7 3.15 8 5.19 7.90 1.43 7 3.15 8 YRC0840D 2017 221274 777185 285 -60 270 99.3 75.2 90 14.8 6.94 14.8 YRC0878 including 2017 220949 777585 238 -60 270 115 31 33 42 37 36 48 6 3 6 11.8 22.5 3.21 3.3 1.7 3.3 YRC0879 2017 221017 777585 239 -60 270 70 16 23 7 4.05 7 YRC0880 2017 221062 777583 241 -60 270 75 28 45 58 31 54 66 3 9 8 4.89 1.35 1.85 3 9 8 YRC0900 2017 220740 777185 215 -55 270 70 14 46 30 52 16 6 1.48 1.09 16 6 Competent Person Statement: The exploration results presented in this report were compiled by Mr Gary Brabham, F AusIMM, MAIG, an employee of the Company. Mr Brabham has sufficient experience which is relevant to the mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and as a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Mr Brabham consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears and has approved the inclusion of the technical and scientific information in this report. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Sissingue, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. TSX Venture Symbol: COR VANCOUVER, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Camino Minerals Corp. ("Camino" or the "Company") (COR: TSX-V) is pleased to report that the Phase 2 drill program has started at its Los Chapitos Project ("Chapitos"), located in southern Peru. The diamond drill arrived at the property on May 12 and began drilling a few days later. It is currently set up on Pad #1 and is drilling a twin hole to CHR-002 which intersected 1.30% copper over 106 meters, including 2.12% copper over 38 meters, with the hole ending in mineralization. Diamond drill hole DCH-001 is expected to drill through this mineralization and continue to a proposed depth of between 400 and 500 meters. The plans for additional drilling on the Adriana Zone will be finalized based on observations from this first hole. The Phase 2 program has been expanded and will now total at least 3,000 meters of diamond drilling. Individual holes will range in length from 150 to 450 meters. In an effort to accelerate the pace of the program, a second diamond drill has been contracted. This drill is expected to arrive before the end of May and will begin work testing the Katty Zone. Drill results will be released as they become available. In addition to the ongoing drill program, a number of other field activities are planned over the coming months. Field crews will continue mapping and prospecting the property. Recent work has discovered an extension of the Lourdes Zone, which is located two kilometers northwest of the Adriana Zone. The magnetic survey grid will be expanded to cover the entire 6 kilometers of the eastern trend of mineralization. Finally, the area covered by IP survey will be extended to the southeast from the current grid over the Adriana and Katty zones across to cover both the Vicky and Pilar zones. A summary presentation, including drill plans and sections, can be found on the company website at www.caminominerals.com. Kenneth C. McNaughton, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., is the Qualified Person (QP) responsible for the Chapitos project. About Camino Minerals Corporation Camino is a discovery-oriented mineral exploration company. The Company is focused on the acquisition and development of high grade copper and precious metal projects. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminominerals.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information This News Release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates," "believes," "may," "continues," "estimates," "expects," and "will" and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to our planned exploration activities, the adequacy of our financial resources, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the results of future exploration and drilling. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "projects", "assumes", "budget", "strategy", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "targets" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative forms of any of these terms and similar expressions, have been used to identify forward-looking statements and information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, those risks identified in the Company's annual disclosure materials, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Readers are encouraged to read these materials. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Camino Minerals Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Prophecy Development Corp. (Prophecy or the Company) (TSX:PCY, OTCPK:PRPCF, Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to announce that it has finalized detailed internal mine plans for the Paca project, initially targeting nearsurface mineralization with a low mining strip ratio. In addition, the Company has executed agreements regarding the sourcing of skilled workers through the local Pulacayo cooperatives for future mining operations at the Pulacayo and Paca projects. Further to the Companys news release dated December 2, 2016, Prophecy has renewed the letter of intent (LOI) to lease mining equipment from Oroscons S.R.L. Under the updated LOI which expires June 30, 2017, Oroscons agrees to provide Prophecy through lease, a mining and transportation fleet that would enable open-pit mining of the Paca deposit at a minimum rate of 200 tonnes of ore per day. Further to the Companys news release dated December 14, 2016, Prophecy is negotiating with a number of vendors that provide dedicated toll milling services at their ore processing facilities located in Potosi, which is a 2.5 hour drive by car, on paved road from Pulacayo. The toll milling services would entail the processing of mined materials to be supplied by the Company, utilizing conventional crushing, grinding and flotation technology to produce zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates. Given the low rates of capacity utilization of a great number of ore processing facilities (>50) in Potosi, the Company is confident it can finalize a new toll milling agreement at lower cost than the one signed last December. Prophecy continues discussions with a number of large trading and smelting companies that are interested in purchasing future zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates processed from Pulacayo and Paca mined materials and providing Prophecy with advance payment against future concentrate delivery to finance Paca to production. The most recent trial test runs at two concentrate-buyer designated processing facilities demonstrated high rates of silver recoveries (>85%) from Paca bulk sampling. Prophecy is further encouraged by an improved concentrate purchase term-sheet received from a major trader in May with significantly lower processing charges, consistent with industry trends. Please refer to the Companys June 18, 2015 and September 21, 2015 news releases for details regarding the amount and grade of resources for the Pulacayo and Paca deposits. Lastly, the Companys Bolivian subsidiary, ASC Bolivia LDC Sucursal Bolivia, has invested approximately US$28 million at Pulacayo and already acquired necessary environmental and social licenses to mine at Pulacayo. The Company is working with the Bolivian mining ministry and Corporacion Minera De Bolivia (COMIBOL) (which is under internal restructuring with a newly-appointed COMIBOL President) to obtain authorization for mining. The Company is confident that all key pre-requisites (community and ministerial support, mining equipment, mine plan, toll milling, concentrate off take and project financing through advance concentrate sales payments) are or will be in place for rapid mobilization to bring Paca and Pulacayo to production as soon as authorization is obtained. In March, Prophecy partially sponsored a Bolivian delegation headed by the Bolivian Minister of Mining and Metallurgy to attend the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in Toronto, Canada. The event successfully brought new Canadian investors to Bolivia. The Company will provide further update on project progress in due course. A positive production decision would not be based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability so would carry increased uncertainty and the risk of failure as to the mining method and profitability. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release was reviewed and approved by Christopher M. Kravits, CPG, LPG, who is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Kravits is a consultant to the Company and serves as its Qualified Person and General Mining Manager. Mr. Kravits is not independent of the Company since most of his income is derived from the Company. About Prophecy Prophecy Development Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that is engaged in worldwide mineral and energy exploration and development. Further information on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com. Prophecy Development Corp. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD JOHN LEE Executive Chairman For more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor Relations: +1.888.513.6286 ir@prophecydev.com www.prophecydev.com Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, estimates, or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect managements expectations regarding Prophecys future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These estimates and assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and other uncertainties and contingencies, many of which, with respect to future events, are subject to change and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by Prophecy. In making forward-looking statements as may be included in this news release, Prophecy has made several assumptions that it believes are appropriate, including, but not limited to assumptions that: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, such as due to labour disruptions; currency exchange rates being approximately consistent with current levels; certain price assumptions for coal, silver and other metals; prices for and availability of fuel, parts and equipment and other key supplies remain consistent with current levels; production forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of Prophecys current mineral resource estimates; labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Prophecys current expectations; that any additional required financing will be available on reasonable terms; and market developments and trends in global supply and demand for coal, energy, silver and other metals meeting expectations. Prophecy cannot assure you that any of these assumptions will prove to be correct. Numerous factors could cause Prophecys actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including the following risks and uncertainties, which are discussed in greater detail under the heading Risk Factors in Prophecys most recent Management Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form as filed on SEDAR and posted on Prophecys website: Prophecys history of net losses and lack of foreseeable positive cash flow; exploration, development and production risks, including risks related to the development of Prophecys mineral properties; Prophecy not having a history of profitable mineral production; commencing mine development without a feasibility study; the uncertainty of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; the capital and operating costs required to bring Prophecys projects into production and the resulting economic returns from its projects; foreign operations and political conditions, including the legal and political risks of operating in Mongolia and Bolivia, which are developing countries and being subject to their local laws; the availability and timeliness of various government approvals, permits and licenses; the feasibility, funding and development of Prophecys projects; protecting title to Prophecys mineral properties; environmental risks; the competitive nature of the mining business; lack of infrastructure; Prophecys reliance on key personnel; uninsured risks; commodity price fluctuations; reliance on contractors; Prophecys need for substantial additional funding and the risk of not securing such funding on reasonable terms or at all; foreign exchange risk; anti-corruption legislation; recent global financial conditions; the payment of dividends; the inability of insurance to cover all potential risks associated with mning operations; and conflicts of interest. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on Prophecys forward-looking statements. Prophecy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although Prophecy has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Prophecy undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/ProphecyMay182017.pdfSource: Prophecy Development Corp. (TSX:PCY, OTC Pink:PRPCF, FWB:1P2N) To follow Prophecy Development Corp. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below. Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 Filing Services Canada Inc. Toronto, May 18, 2017 - Toachi Mining Inc. ("Toachi" or the "Company") (TSX-V: TIM) announces that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the grant of 250,000 stock options (the "Options") to Mr. Eberhard "Ebe" Scherkus. Mr. Scherkus was appointed a director of the Company earlier this month. For additional information on this board appointment, please see Toachi press release dated May 10, 2017 and available at www.toachimining.com The Options are exercisable into common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.38 all vesting upon issuance. The Options have a five-year term to maturity. About Toachi Mining Inc. Toachi brings a disciplined and veteran team of project managers together with a high grade gold-copper-silver-zinc project at La Plata in Ecuador. Toachi is focused on and committed to the development of advanced stage mineral projects throughout the Americas using industry best practices combined with a strong social license from local communities. Toachi Mining has 51,653,935 shares issued and outstanding Forward Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to certain factors and assumptions, including, that the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events and that the Company obtains regulatory approval. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, that occurrences such as those referred to above are realized and result in delays, or cessation in planned work, that the Company's financial condition and development plans change, and delays in regulatory approval, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT Nick Tintor, President and CEO Telephone: 416 987 0855 Mobile: 416 953 4244 Email: ntintor@rgmi.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 18, 2017) - THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SSV)(OTCQB:SSVFF)(FRANKFURT:SEG1)(SSE:SSVCL) ("Southern" or "the Company") has entered into an agreement with Gravitas Securities Inc. ("GSI" or the "Lead Agent") and such other co-agents (collectively, the "Agents") as may be agreed to by the Lead Agent for the Company's $5,000,000 Private Placement. The Company plans to issue (the "Offering") up to 12,500,000 units ("Units") in a brokered private placement at a price of $0.40 per Unit (the "Offering Price"). Each Unit will consist of one common share and one transferable share purchase warrant, with each warrant exercisable to purchase one additional common share for a period of three years at an exercise price of $0.55 per share. Southern has arranged an initial subscription from Electrum Global Holdings L.P. ("Electrum") to purchase 36% of the total Units sold in this Offering. The Company has agreed to grant the Lead Agent an over-allotment option to offer, at the Offering Price, up to that number of additional Units as is equal to 15% of the number of Units in the Offering, on the same terms and conditions as the Offering, increasing the size of the Offering to a maximum of 14,375,000 Units. The over-allotment option may be exercised in whole or in part at any time 24 hours prior to the closing of the private placement (the "Closing"). If this option is exercised in full, an additional $750,000 will be raised pursuant to the Offering and the aggregate gross proceeds of the Offering will be $5,750,000. Net proceeds from this private placement are intended to be used to contribute to the Company's proportionate share (40%) of the costs associated with continuing exploration on the Cerro Las Minitas property near Durango, Mexico together with the Joint Venture partner of the Company, Electrum Global Holdings L.P. (60%), and for additional working capital. Further exploration work in 2017 and 2018 is to be funded by the two Joint Venture partners and is expected to consist of RC, RAB and core diamond drilling in order to: (a) Extend the known mineralization at the Blind and Blind Shoulder targets to increase the current resource of 113Moz AgEq. (1) (b) Explore for accumulations of potential new mineralization elsewhere in the larger area of the Cerro Las Minitas property. Further work is currently ongoing on the balance of the larger property area including continued surface work and sampling, exploratory RAB/RC drilling and additional core drilling of certain defined targets. On Closing, the Company will pay to the Agents a commission equal to 7.00% of the gross proceeds of the Offering placed by the Agents, in cash, and will issue such number of broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants") as is equal to 7.00% of the number of Units sold on the Offering by the Agents, excluding any Units issued to Electrum Global Holdings LP. Each Broker Warrant is exercisable into Shares at the Offering Price for a period of three years from the Closing Date. For all Units purchased by an individual or entity listed on the Company's President's List, the Lead Agent will be entitled to a reduced Fee and number of Broker Warrants of 2% Agent's Fee and 2% Broker Warrants. The Closing is expected to occur no later than June 30th, 2017 or such other date as the Lead Agent and the Company may agree and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). About Gravitas Securities Inc. GSI is known for sophisticated sector expertise, tactical individuals with a commitment to excellence, global integration and innovation, and as a leading independent wealth management and capital markets firm. GSI provides a wide range of investment mandates and services for retail and corporate clients globally from offices in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and is represented in the United States through its FINRA representative, Gravitas Capital International, in New York and San Francisco. About Southern Silver Exploration Southern Silver Exploration Corp. is a precious metal exploration and development company with a focus on the discovery of world-class mineral deposits in north-central Mexico and the southern USA. Our specific emphasis is the Cerro Las Minitas silver-lead-zinc project located in the heart of Mexico's Faja de Plata, which hosts multiple world-class mineral deposits such as Penasquito, San Martin, Naica and Pitarrilla. We have assembled a team of highly experienced technical, operational and transactional professionals to support our exploration efforts in developing, along with our partner, Electrum Global Holdings LP, the Cerro Las Minitas project into a premier, high-grade, silver-lead-zinc mine. The Company engages in the acquisition, exploration and development either directly or through joint-venture relationships in mineral properties in major jurisdictions. Our property portfolio also includes the Oro porphyry copper-gold project located in southern New Mexico, USA. 1. The 2016 Cerro Las Minitas Resource Estimate was prepared following CIM definitions for classification of Mineral Resources. Resources are constrained using mainly geological constraints and approximate 10g/t AgEq grade shells. The block models are comprised of an array of blocks measuring 10m x 2m x 10m, with grades for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn and AgEq values interpolated using ID2 weighting. The models identified at a 150g/t AgEq cut-off, an indicated resource of 3,724,000 tonnes averaging 90g/t Ag, 0.05g/t Au, 2.3% Pb, 2.5% Zn and 0.09% Cu and a cumulative inferred resource of 6,611,000 tonnes averaging 82g/t Ag, 0.17g/t Au, 1.6% Pb, 4.3% Zn and 0.2% Cu. Mineral Resource cut-offs are estimated using an average long-term price of $15/oz silver, $1,100/oz gold, $2.75/lb Cu, $0.90/lb lead and $0.90/lb zinc and metal recoveries of 82% silver, 86% lead and 80% zinc. AgEq calculations did not account for relative metallurgical recoveries of the metals. All prices are stated in $USD. Mineral Resources are conceptual in nature and as such do not have demonstrated economic viability. The current Resource Estimate was prepared by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo. of Kirkham Geosciences Ltd. who is the Independent Qualified Person responsible for presentation and review of the Mineral Resource Estimate. Robert Macdonald, MSc. P.Geo, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and responsible for the supervision of the exploration on the Cerro Las Minitas Project and for the preparation of the technical information in this disclosure. The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities for sale, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. On behalf of the Board of Directors Lawrence Page, Q.C. President & Director, Southern Silver Exploration Corp. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Southern Silver Exploration Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. JAKARTA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials of Chinese firm China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) and Indonesian firm Palapa Satelit Nusa Sejahtera (PSNS) Wednesday signed a purchase contract for the latter's satellite system, namely PALAPA-N1, scheduled to orbit in first half of 2020. PALAPA-N1 communication satellite project is the first communication satellite of Indonesia that is produced by China. PSNS is a joint venture enterprise of prominent telecommunication firm operating in Indonesia, Indosat Ooredoo, and Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN). Under the contract, CGWIC is responsible for in orbit delivery of the PALAPA N1. CGWIC shall provide a package solution with the products and services to its Indonesian client, including the satellite, the rocket launching service, ground system, insurance and financing support. The PALAPA-N1 satellite, which is designed to replace the PALAPA D, will be launched to its orbit slot at 113E in the geostationary arc by Long March 3B launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. PALAPA-N1 will provide the latest technology of High Throughput Satellite for broadcast and broadband telecommunications. Speaking on the sideline of the signing ceremony, Indosat Ooredoo CEO Alexander Rusli said the new satellite would greatly help broadband penetration among the society in Indonesia. "It would also help accelerating the creation of digital society in Indonesia, support the government's plan to make Indonesia the largest digital state in Southeast Asia," he added. The contract signing was witnessed by Indonesian Informatics and Communications Minister Rudiantara, Chinese Embassy Charge d'Affaires Sun Weide and Vice President of China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation (CASC), the parent firm of CGWIC, Yang Baohua. CGWIC President Yin Liming said the satellite would significantly improve the broadcast and broadband in Indonesia. "It would also be an embodiment of friendship between Chinese and Indonesian people," he said in a statement. CGWIC won the contract after undergoing a strict auction process considering technical, manufacturing period and cost efficiency. It brushed competitors from Europe and the United States to get the contract. The PALAPA-N1 satellite is developed by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of CASC. The PALAPA-N1's satellite system is designed to have lifetime of more than 16 years, to be equipped with a total of 42 transponders. BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Altogether 14,405 workplace accidents occurred in China in the first four months of 2017, down 25.4 percent from the same period last year, official data showed on Wednesday. No "extremely severe accidents" occurred, which in China refers to those that cause more than 30 deaths, leave more than 100 severely injured or result in more than 100 million yuan (about 15 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses. By the end of April, authorities had sent out 37 teams to inspect safety at over 400 businesses in 21 provinces and regions, according to the State Administration of Work Safety. The inspections found more than 2,000 safety issues, and over 20 companies were ordered to halt business. Despite regular calls by the government for more focus on work safety, tragedies still occur. A lack of safety awareness, poor regulation and lax implementation of safety measures are among the factors leading to accidents. to the state of New York if Syracuse ceased to exist? Maybe not a lot. Life would go on pretty much as before. Unless, of course, you were a resident of Syracuse. In that case, you might have cause to wonder what would justify folding up the states fifth-largest city after a productive life of 192 years.All right, Im exaggerating. Syracuse isnt going to be literally wiped off the map. The struggling city will continue to exist as a geographic entity, 26.6 square miles of territory with fixed boundaries and roughly 150,000 people inside them. But if the plans of a blue ribbon commission become law, Syracuse wouldnt be much more than that.After three years of work and testimony from hundreds of residents, the 19-member Commission on Local Government Modernization, created by a coalition of civic leaders and financed in part by the state legislature, issued its final report early this year. It made a series of recommendations that werent entirely surprising but still managed to be rather startling in their language, scope and aura of solemnity.Under the plan, the city would be absorbed by surrounding Onondaga County. Syracuse would have no mayor, no police force and no economic development agency. Its city council would be merged into a 33-member county legislature, only five of whose districts would lie entirely within the city, which currently holds about a third of the countys population.Few would dispute that the city has some serious problems. It is home to 18,000 fewer working residents than in 1990; its job growth since then has been less than half the national average. The city of Syracuse is worse today than it was a decade ago, commission co-chairman Neil Murphy said to me recently. And its not going to get better.The Onondaga County executive, Joanie Mahoney, has been warning for the past six years that the city is financially unsound. She thinks that the commissions plan may be the only viable option for dealing with a deteriorating situation. If you dont like this plan, she asks, what is your plan? The clock is ticking. No is not an option.And viewed in the abstract, consolidation would seem to make sense. As in most troubled metro areas, the surrounding county is healthier than the city. A consolidated Onondaga County would at least be within reach of fiscal stability. It might even look more attractive to corporations and other significant job creators. But urban life isnt lived in the abstract. The closer one looks at the plan, the more problematic it begins to appear.No longer a city in its historic sense, Syracuse would become a debt district. Yes, those are the words the commission report uses. Residents of the evaporating metropolis would continue to be responsible for the crippling public pension debts that have threatened its solvency for years. There would still be a Syracuse school system, and this too would have to be paid for by those living inside the urban boundary. The county would not be asked to bail out school or pension debts.Nor would Onondaga Countys other 19 towns and 15 villages, some of them quite prosperous, be much help in dealing with Syracuses problems. Thats because they wouldnt even be part of the consolidation. The villages and towns could vote to join up later, and this is what the plans drafters are hoping for. Were pretty confident, says Murphy, that a lot of them will opt in. Others are not so sure.Then theres the pesky question of how much money would actually be saved by folding the city into the county. The commission says the amount could be between $8 million and $22 million a year -- a range so large as to cast some doubt on how confident the drafters were in their findings.In fact, the commission seems unsure about whether the consolidation plan is meant to be a money-saver at all. On page 70 of its report, it declares that these recommendations are not intended to generate material savings. They are not about savings at all. Two pages later, the document announces that there are cost savings to achieve significant annual savings by leveraging common services and scale. It shouldnt come as a surprise if people are a little bit confused.Its equally unclear where the political support for a move this drastic could come from. The existing city government, needless to say, isnt pleased with it. The week the report was issued, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner charged that it abolishes the city, strips the city of its assets and saddles city residents with enormous financial obstacles without any means to raise revenue to satisfy them. She called it a plan for the worst form of corporate looting. None of her colleagues in city government chose to challenge her.So the political support would have to come from outside the city, from the suburban and rural communities and the county legislators who represent them. But that isnt happening either. The Republican majority in the county legislature promptly announced that it had no plans to vote on the consolidation proposal anytime in 2017. The legislator who chairs the consolidation subcommittee told a reporter that Im unaware of any official at the city level, the town level, the village level that supports this. Some of these local officials are suspicious that, even though the plan formally excuses them from having to pay off any of the citys debt, or even joining the merged government, they will somehow be dragged into a Syracuse bailout somewhere down the road.So the whole idea is dead, right? Well, not totally. The state could revive it. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is a proponent of local government mergers and an ally of the Onondaga county executive, is asking the state legislature to approve a bill that would require county officials to propose specific consolidation and service-sharing measures for their jurisdictions. If this passes, Mahoney could put a consolidation referendum on local ballots without having to ask for support from any other elected officials. Of course, such a referendum would still need majority support from the voters inside and outside the city. And its doubtful that Mahoneys state mandate would allow her to propose anything as drastic as confining the city of Syracuse to oblivion. But some significant aspects of a merger -- such as combining the city and county parks departments -- could probably be achieved that way.doesnt offer much of a blueprint on how to get a difficult job done, it does suggest some of the pitfalls that good-government crusaders can run into.We actually know quite a bit about the politics of urban consolidation. For one thing, we know that the efforts to achieve it dont succeed very often. Between 1902 and 2010, 105 consolidation measures were brought to voters in American cities and counties. Less than 20 percent of them were approved.The losing campaigns nearly all had something in common. They told voters that local government was in dire straits, inefficient, duplicative and leaking resources, and that consolidation would bring new efficiencies and substantial savings of money. Overlapping police forces, parks departments and water systems could be combined in the interest of economy and sound management. This is the road down which the Syracuse reformers have chosen to travel.The voters almost never buy it. They highly value their local-level public services and are alienated by prophecies of fiscal doom. They are suspicious of promises that consolidation will save money, and they have a right to be. Every study done on consolidation -- and there have been many of them -- has concluded that very little money actually is saved. By and large, the same services have to be provided that were provided under the old arrangement.In fact, we dont just know what fails when it comes to urban consolidation. We also have a pretty good idea of what succeeds. Nashville, Tenn., gave us some hints about this in the 1960s, and then Louisville, Ky., wrote the book on it in 2000.Twice in the 1980s, Louisvilles good-government forces had produced city-county consolidation plans, making the usual arguments about fiscal difficulties and promising savings and efficiency by means such as merging local police departments. Both these plans were soundly defeated.The third time, in 2003, Mayor Jerry Abramson decided that these fights couldnt be won on negatives. He organized a campaign based on the idea that Louisville wasnt a failure but a great city that could become even greater. He kept repeating that if the city and county merged, the 65th largest city in America would move up to 23rd place. The new entity would be a source of pride to everyone who lived there. Louisville wouldnt be disappearing into the county; it would become the flagship of a strengthened metropolitan area.The voters of Louisville and surrounding Jefferson County bought that argument, by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent. The morning after it passed, banners went up: Welcome to Louisville, Americas Newest Top 25 city.Im not dismissing the differences between Louisville and Syracuse. The fiscal situation does seem to be worse in upstate New York now than it was in Louisville 17 years ago. The civic pride that Abramson kindled wouldnt be easy to duplicate in a Rust Belt industrial city that has endured several decades of bad news. Still, the Syracuse commission seems to have missed something that was out there for them to notice: Its never going to be easy to sell a repair job. The things that sell are vision and hope. Andrew Reynolds made a startling assertion. The University of North Carolina political scientist, who had helped devise a formula for measuring the vitality of democracies, wrote a newspaper column claiming his states restrictions on voting and its unwillingness to follow established rules means our state government can no longer be classified as a full democracy.Reynolds column was widely shared and reprinted by several national outlets, mostly but not exclusively liberal. He received some pushback. But the North Carolina legislature seems to be on a mission to prove him right.Immediately after last Novembers election, in which Democrat Roy Cooper unseated GOP Gov. Pat McCrory, the Republican-controlled legislature used a lame-duck session to strip the governors office of a number of key powers, including authority over some appointments. That effort has been held up in court , but legislators keep coming up with new variations. After the election -- which also cost conservatives their majority on the state Supreme Court -- it was widely reported that the GOP-dominated legislature would pack the court, adding two seats to create a new majority before Cooper could take office. But while they didnt pack the Supreme Court, North Carolina legislators did tamper this year with the main appellate court, reducing its membership by three in order to prevent Cooper from appointing replacements for retiring Republican judges.Republicans, who hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers in North Carolina, have done little to hide their partisan motivations in such maneuvers. They will tell you that Cooper, as a legislator, also voted for structural changes that helped his party. But nothing like whats going on now. Todays GOP legislators have unapologetically pushed their authority to the max. Theyve moved to change rules governing local elections, control of election boards and the order in which candidates appear on ballots, all in ways designed to disadvantage Democrats. Its straight up political, Republican state Sen. Jeff Tarte said back in March, when he introduced legislation to alter local judicial elections in ways that would help his own party.North Carolina may be ground zero in terms of legislative assaults on other branches and institutional norms, but its not unique. All around the country, longstanding norms of political fair play are being tossed aside. Lawmakers are moving openly to undermine critics or opponents who threaten their power. Theyve filed dozens of bills to weaken state courts and to shield themselves from other forms of accountability, undermining ethics agencies and cordoning off access to public records. Legislatures and state agencies keep putting up roadblocks against reporters, up to and including expulsion from legislative chambers. On May 9 -- the same day that President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey -- a reporter was arrested at the West Virginia Capitol for causing a disturbance by yelling questions about health care to Tom Price, the federal Health and Human Services director. The reporter was charged with willful disruption of state government processes.Legislators also are striking out at ordinary citizens who seek to challenge their power, passing new laws to criminalize protest, enacting fresh restrictions on access to the ballot for initiatives and going so far as to overturn laws that voters have already approved. Lawmakers in many states no longer feel constrained in the same ways that their predecessors did, says Peverill Squire, an expert on legislatures at the University of Missouri. They are more willing to challenge the other branches of state government, as well as the federal and local governments, and even their own constituents.Thats what makes the situation in the states different from the one in Washington. There is clearly an erosion of norms in the federal government, with Trump showing disdain for courts and legal and congressional investigators. But in state politics, theres no single person acting like an authoritarian. Instead, institutions that themselves embody the most deeply entrenched democratic traditions are seeing the erosion of those traditions. States are learning what the tyranny of the majority is all about.Many legislators act as if they view the other branches as separate but not equal. They do not shy from claiming they know best and deserve deference because they are the most representative part of government. The legislative branch of government is closer to the people of our state than I believe the executive branch is, state Rep. Justin Burr, who sponsored some of the legislation to strip Cooper of his powers, toldin March. We come from 170 districts all over North Carolina.Legislative control is split between the parties in only a handful of states. In many more, one party enjoys supermajority control, and gubernatorial vetoes can be little more than an exercise in extra paperwork. Courts are standing up to legislators, but find themselves under siege as a result. And voters often have little choice at the polls. Put aside the question of how effectively legislators are able to select their own constituents through gerrymandering, or whether voter identification laws are meant to suppress Democratic turnout, as Democrats claim. The reality is that most legislators dont have to worry about voters much at all.Last November, 42 percent of all state legislative seats went uncontested by one party or the other. (In North Carolina, the figure was 45 percent.) Those numbers are in line with other recent election cycles. And, despite the fear legislators seem to have about potential opposition if they break with party orthodoxy, few ever actually see a primary opponent. Just under 80 percent of the incumbents running again last year had no primary contest. All told, a third of legislators were re-elected through the simple act of showing up, facing no opposition in primaries or the general election. Among those who drew an opponent, the vast majority had no real contest.All of this has emboldened legislators. Whats more, with parties separated into warring camps, the desire to entrench power has grown. Power grabs can be justified as preventing the other side from pursuing its evil ways. When you view the other side as the enemy, you increasingly feel that the ends justify any means, says Lee Drutman, a senior fellow in political reform at New America, a think tank in Washington.With Republicans controlling two-thirds of the nations legislative chambers, they are doing most of the power grabbing these days. But Democrats are not guiltless. The new three-seat Democratic majority in the Nevada Senate this year changed chamber rules to prevent GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison from casting tie-breaking votes. In February, Californias Democratic Senate majority voted to remove Republican Janet Nguyen from the floor for giving a speech defending the Vietnam War. (She eventually got an apology from Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon.)Even in the limited number of districts that are competitive, theres a problem holding politicians responsible for such moves. Many voters now are as set in their partisan loyalties as officeholders. If Republicans wont consider voting for any Democrat, that leaves them with little leverage over GOP legislators. Their votes can be taken for granted, regardless of what actions a GOP-dominated legislature might take. Vice versa for Democrats, of course -- even more so under Trump. Voters in either party are apt to cheer any perceived victories for their side rather than complaining that the system of checks and balances they vaguely remember from school is being violated. Not only political elites but the general public thinks of themselves as part of a team, says Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political scientist. Theyre rooting for their team, even if theres some cheating going on.The rise of partisan suspicion creates an arms race mentality, or what Drutman describes as a doom loop. The urge is to press every advantage before the other side can take control again. Actions that are corrosive to institutions invite reciprocal actions by the other party once the majority changes hands (and triggers a disingenuous dance of politicians suddenly reversing themselves on a given issue or process, depending on whether theyre newly in the minority or majority). A Republican legislator would say the majority rules, were following procedures, were doing what Democrats used to do when they were in the majority, says Ferrel Guillory, who teaches public policy at the University of North Carolina. On the ground, it has the feel of a majority that feels that now is its time, its time is limited and theyre going to do everything they can do while theyve got power to do it.At the same time, the line of defense protecting institutional norms is weakened when respect for institutions themselves has been badly eroded. Polling numbers exploring trust in government keeps plumbing new depths. The media, ostensibly tasked with being the watchdog, faces similarly bleak numbers when it comes to trust.For all these reasons, the idea of defending procedural fairness doesnt make for much of a rallying cry, even in a year when other kinds of protests are very much in vogue. People will march for womens rights and for science and against climate change and certainly against Trump, but there are no marches on behalf of the democratic process itself. Fights over rules and procedures matter intrinsically to officeholders, but are yawn-inducing for the public. Nobody goes to the barricades for norm-breaking, Nolette says. People care about abortion and health care, but they dont care that nobody has used this particular mechanism before to strip a governor or attorney general of his power."whether norm-breaking has gotten worse. There arent any widely accepted definitions that would document how many traditional norms have been broken this year, and how that would compare with a decade ago, or two decades ago. Clearly some of the ways that legislators seek to entrench their power are eternal. Redistricting has been all about preserving and expanding majority power since the earliest days of the republic. Undercutting or underfunding ethics enforcement is also a time-honored tradition.In the 1960s and early 1970s, a majority of states passed laws to crack down on civil rights and anti-war protesters. As long ago as 1990, a book called, by Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter, argued that elections were becoming irrelevant, with political institutions mired in perennial trench warfare and important decisions being made by unelected actors, including special prosecutors. What we should ask ourselves, one reviewer of the book wrote, is whether America is about to end its experiment with electoral democracy.So the assault on fair play isnt a new idea. Nevertheless, it seems clear to most observers that something new is going on. Maybe its a difference in kind, or maybe there really is more openness about bending the rules to suit partisan purposes. Legislators have often been known, for example, to challenge ballot measures in court, or redirect or withhold funds that voters have approved. That still happens. But South Dakota took this tactic one step further this year. The state legislature kicked off its session by overturning a law (an ethics package, no less) that voters had just enacted at the ballot box in November. Now legislators are picking and choosing what part of the voters will theyre going to accept, says Justine Sarver, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, and thats just not how democracy works.In a similar way, its become a familiar practice for legislatures to restrict the authority of cities and counties to set their own policy courses on matters such as property taxes, minimum-wage levels, immigrant protections and gay rights. Whats less well known is that states stand ready to interfere not just with policy but process at the local level. In October, Californias Democratic-dominated legislature changed the redistricting process for seats on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in a clear maneuver to elect more Democrats. This year, legislation has been introduced to do the same thing in San Diego County.In April, Indiana passed a law creating a merit selection process for judges in Marion County, which includes Indianapolis. That sounds like a responsible thing to do, but in this case it had the effect of disenfranchising the countys large populations of Democrats and African-Americans. The judges will now be chosen by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, rather than by voters in the county. While North Carolina legislators were pursuing their straight up political strategy to make local judicial races partisan, Tennessees Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill in March making local judicial races nonpartisan -- but only in the states Democratic strongholds.Legislative respect for the independence or neutrality of courts sometimes appears to be withering away altogether. North Carolinas legislature may have backed off from packing the state Supreme Court, but legislatures in Arizona and Georgia approved exactly that change last year. This year, legislators in 15 states introduced more than 40 bills that sought to constrain the judiciary, according to a new study from New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice. These bills included a wide range of approaches, from changing the ways judges are selected to limiting their terms. The bills reflected a desire on the part of legislators to increase their influence over the courts, entrenching partisan power or punishing courts that had issued rulings they didnt like. These sorts of attacks matter, even if they dont get passed into law, says Michael Nelson, a political scientist at Penn State University. They can affect the sort of cases judges choose to hear, or it might make them more deferential overall.The voting public pays little attention to state courts, making them ripe fodder for tinkering and interference. Julio Gonzalez, a Republican member of the Florida House, introduced a bill to allow the legislature to override judicial rulings. He explained it by claiming that under the existing rules, there is nothing the legislature can do to push back against the power of the court. Thats not a check and a balance, Gonzalez says. Thats not a dialogue. Its a monologue from the judiciary to everybody else.In fact, it is a check and balance. Judges are supposed to be the umpires. In turn, legislators can impeach judges they think have gotten out of control. They can also pass new laws in response to judicial opinions. But one of the reasons courts exist is to have an institution separate from the political branches to determine whether new laws violate the state or federal constitutions. The point of separating powers is to ensure that the people who pass the laws are not deciding for themselves whether their products pass constitutional muster. If legislatures can just overrule courts anytime they want, why even have a court system? asks Billy Corriher, who focuses on state courts at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington. Theyre trying to minimize the powers of other branches of government, so the legislature reigns supreme.Despite all their blustering and their transparent power grabs this year, legislators cant get away with doing anything they want. If lawmakers venture too far, a gubernatorial veto can often still be sustained, even in a state where one party has what looks like a veto-proof majority. Courts have not lost the power to make legislators behave. And public opinion still matters. Four months after Oklahoma voters approved a pair of ballot measures on criminal justice issues, the state House voted to overturn them, but public outrage convinced the legislature to back away from final passage. When voters notice these things and really speak out, they still have the ability to stop some of these actions, says Gene Perry, policy director of the nonpartisan Oklahoma Policy Institute.But legislators are tired of hearing from the public. Or so it seems, when bills have been introduced in many states to increase criminal penalties for protesting and to give law enforcement agencies more authority to break up demonstrations. Four anti-protest bills were signed into law in February in North Dakota alone. Just last month, Oklahoma enacted legislation to deter protests around critical infrastructure, which primarily means oil and gas pipelines. Protesters are now subject to fines of up to $100,000 and prison terms of up to 10 years. Even the people who offer them rides or housing now face legal liability. Earlier, the legislature made it a crime to compensate protesters.The public may be willing to protest pipelines, but whether it will take to the streets to preserve the right to take to the streets is another question. This is a moment when institutions and norms are in decline at all levels of the political system. The willingness of federal politicians to abandon existing norms -- with the president openly questioning the authority of courts and the U.S. Senate holding open a Supreme Court seat for a year, to cite only two examples -- may have an unfortunate trickle-down effect, suggests Alicia Bannon, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center. Were just seeing generally that these unwritten rules that have lasted for many years, Bannon says, are breaking down and are under threat. A white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last year has been found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter after nine hours of jury deliberations.Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher Sept. 16 on a city street where his SUV had stalled. The video taken of Crutcher's shooting by a dashboard camera and helicopter shows Crutcher walking away from Shelby toward his SUV with hands above his head.The family of Terence Crutcher burst into tears and reacted with outrage after jurors found Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty in the Sept. 16 shooting."Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder," Crutcher's father, Rev. Joey Crutcher said after the verdict was announced.A lawyer for Shelby said the officer was "elated" that the jury found her not guilty."She's ready to get back to her life," Defense Attorney Shannon McMurray said.Shelby looked stone-faced when the verdict was read, but Crutcher's family was quickly ushered out of the courtroom sobbing and wailing.At least four of the 12 jurors were crying as they left the courtroom and did not look at either the family of Crutcher or Shelby. The juror comprised eight women and four men and included three African-Americans.Demonstrators gathered outside the courtroom Wednesday evening in peaceful protest at the verdict. Marq Lewis, organizer of the local civil rights group We The People Oklahoma said the verdict was a blow to Tulsa's black community."When is it going to stop - just officer-related shootings? When will the police change policy," he said.Shelby's attorneys say that in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground.The jury got the case shortly after noon Wednesday, following closing arguments in which prosecutors said Crutcher was not a threat to Shelby, did not make any aggressive moves toward her or any of the responding officers and didn't say he was going to be aggressive toward her. Shelby, who has been on unpaid leave, had faced four years to life in prison if convicted. Chicago police officials on Wednesday announced policy changes intended to cut back on questionable shootings and other uses of force that have haunted the department for years.The changes, made after months of back-and-forth revisions, will tighten department rules that experts and advocates have criticized as too permissive of unnecessary uses of force.The policy changes -- expected to take effect this fall -- represent a milestone for a department upended nearly 18 months ago by the release of video of a white officer shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.The revised rules, however, do not go as far in some respects as the rules proposed by police Superintendent Eddie Johnson in October, when the department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel faced more intense federal scrutiny amid the immediate fallout over the video.The final version of the department's main use-of-force policy substantially resembles the scaled-back proposal Johnson made in March after rank-and-file police complained that his first proposal was too extreme.In one key change, the policy holds that an officer can't shoot a fleeing person unless that person presents an imminent threat to police or others. The rule that has been in place says an officer can shoot any person fleeing after committing or trying to commit a felony using force.The new policy also calls on officers to use their new de-escalation training to try to defuse incidents. The adopted language is less strict than Johnson's first proposal, though. Officers have to try de-escalation only "when it is safe and feasible to do so."Johnson announced the new rules at an event at police headquarters designed to show unity among his command staff, rank-and-file officers and residents. Johnson spoke to a crowd of officers as he was flanked by Ald. Ariel Reboyras, 30th, an Emanuel ally who lauded the new rules in both English and Spanish.Johnson was also joined by activist William Calloway, who helped force the release of the McDonald video. Onstage during questioning by the media, Calloway greeted Johnson with a handshake and "What's up, Supe?" He credited the protests over the McDonald shooting with creating change in the department."This is a big win for us, that our voices were heard," Calloway said.But he added the caution that it won't be clear how effective the rules are until they are in place.The policies are yet another point of disagreement between top department officials and the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents rank-and-file officers and whose contract with the city expires this year.Kevin Graham, elected FOP president last month, released a statement Wednesday decrying the "anti-law enforcement climate" in Chicago. Graham has opposed the idea that the department needs outside oversight or tougher discipline."Three Chicago police officers have been shot in the last two weeks. The reality is that many offenders do not want to go to jail and they become resistant or combative with officers. These violators determine the level of response by officers," Graham said in a written statement."For these reasons, we do not believe that extensive changes should made to the current use of force policy. Nevertheless, we are always willing to discuss new measures with the superintendent that insure the safety of our officers and those of the public," the statement read.Johnson, meanwhile, said the department can't compromise on either officer safety or residents' rights."I'm not naive. I know that there will be some who will think that these policies are too restrictive for officers to do their jobs, and there will be some who think it isn't restrictive enough," he said."However, I do believe that the set of policies we are releasing today is in the best interest of everyone," he said.In a break from tradition for a department that has done little to train officers on policy changes, all of the approximately 12,000 officers will receive both computerized and in-person training on the new force rules, Johnson announced.The rules are expected to take effect this fall after officers have each received four hours of in-person training. That will be followed by eight more hours of training next year.Department rules can be more than symbolic -- they set boundaries that officers can face punishment for breaking.Officer discipline has been rare and often light in Chicago, and oversight officials aiming to strengthen accountability have sought changes to use-of-force policies widely criticized as too permissive. More specific rules could give disciplinary authorities stricter standards to apply to officers who use force in questionable circumstances.Sharon Fairley, who runs the city's main police oversight agency and will head the city's revamped Civilian Office of Police Accountability when it begins operations this year, lauded the new rules."We believe these new policies incorporate new concepts that are essential to fair and effective policing," she said in a statement.The department's force policies drew intense focus after Emanuel was forced in November 2015 to release video of Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting McDonald as the teen walked away from police with a knife in his hand.Furious protests followed, and the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the department. Emanuel, meanwhile, made changes aimed at getting ahead of federal authorities. One of his early moves was to propose new rules on the use of force.Johnson, appointed to lead the department as the crisis deepened, first proposed new force rules in October that were markedly more restrictive than the rules in place. Some officers said the draft policy was too exacting for cops making split-second decisions under pressure.Months after Johnson put that proposal out for public comment, the Justice Department finalized a report that concluded officers used force too aggressively, often against minorities and with limited fear of repercussions.But President Donald Trump's election and his appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general upended the political discussion about police reform. Sessions has signaled that he is unlikely to seek court enforcement of reforms, and the lack of federal pressure would leave Emanuel largely in control.Emanuel, for his part, is trying to boost officer morale and tamp down surging violence on the South and West sides, which some blame on officers scaling back activity to avoid trouble.Emanuel and Johnson have both vowed to continue pursuing reforms, but experts have voiced skepticism that meaningful change will come without federal pressure.In March, Johnson scaled back and tweaked his proposal from October on the department's main use-of-force guidelines.The final version of the main force policy resembles the one Johnson proposed in March.Like past revisions of the rules proposed by Johnson, the final policy begins with a symbolic statement of the department's commitment to protecting human life.Beyond rhetoric, certain changes are aimed at addressing long-standing issues in the department, including the new rule that an officer can only shoot a fleeing person who poses an imminent threat to an officer or other person. The rules that have been in place allow an officer to shoot a fleeing person who has committed a felony using force.A database compiled by the Tribune last year showed that foot chases played a role in more than a third of the 235 police shootings from 2010 through 2015 that ended with someone wounded or killed.The new policy expands on the comparatively bare-bones one that has been in place, which focuses largely on whether a use of force is reasonable. The department's new overarching rule on using force emphasizes that it must be objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional to the threat.The new rules also require officers to intervene verbally or by other means when another officer uses excessive force. Johnson's original proposal suggested officers could physically intervene when colleagues use excessive force, inspiring ridicule from observers who suggested it could call for a cop to shoot his partner. The final version calls on an officer to intervene, but it does not specify that the intervention could be physical.The final rules also closely resemble Johnson's scaled-back proposal on officers giving medical attention. The earliest proposal mandated that officers give medical care to the wounded, but the final rules say officers may do so if they are properly trained.Experts and reform advocates had little time Wednesday to digest the extensive new rules, but attorney Jon Loevy, who has often sued the department over uses of force, said he was pleased with the more specific rules."I'm not afraid to criticize the Chicago Police Department, but this is something that I think they deserve credit for," he said. 'Unanswered questions' (TNS) -- Some 16 years ago, Texans got the Power to Choose their electricity supplier but landing the best deal is still as confusing as finding the cheapest airfare.Now, a group of entrepreneurs are trying to cash in on the frustration, seeking to correct what they see as a flawed, inefficient system -- the website that lets customers choose their energy supplier. These companies offer expert recommendations -- often for a price -- that they promise would help customers save money on electricity bills.Theres so many factors to consider in a plan that theres just not an effective way to do it without knowing your exact usage or having a good predictive model of what your usage should be, said Michael Hays, co-founder of Coppell-based Awesome Power . Power to Choose isnt built that way.These new electricity shopping services -- which started opening in 2015 -- uses computer models to analyze a customer's electricity consumption patterns to predict their future usage and find the best plan from among hundreds of choices offered by dozens of electricity suppliers.This new generation of companies includes Houston-based Energy Ogre , Dallas-based Energy Choice Experts Awesome Power and Plano-based kiloWhat.energy . The biggest of the bunch, Energy Ogre, has 30 plus employees and office space, while the others have one or two staffers. The customer bases is still relatively small compared the giant Texas energy market, one of the largest in the country.A combination of factors have made these businesses possible, including the deregulation of the electricity market in 2002, easy access to cheap computing power and the widespread adoption of smart meters that allow consumers to download their electricity usage and see it in as little as 15-minute increments.Electricity providers have long held the advantage by tweaking prices on the middle range of usage to make their plans rise to the top of the list. Often price jumps significantly if more or less electricity is used, making it difficult to figure out which deal is right for which month. Then, there are fees for using too little electricity or flat fees for certain tiers of usage.Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the Texas Public Utility Commission, which created the Power to Choose website, said there are no plans to duplicate these kinds of services. He said the PUC website strives to be an unbiased source for consumers, and these features could be seen as endorsing particular suppliers.What about bias at energy shopping services?That bias issue is something owners of the free sites - Awesome Power and kiloWhat.energy - acknowledged. Both companies make money through commissions from the electricity providers but say they dont skew their algorithms.The owners of both companies said their computer code analyzes electric plans and matches customers based on their expected usage. A lot of factors go into figure that out: actual data, typical usage and even climate forecasts. When the best plan recommendations are emailed to customers, they would have an option to click on a link to sign up for one of those plans.If the customer uses one of the electricity supplier would pay the energy shopping website.At Awesome Power, Hays said he includes almost all the deals found on Power to Choose; only the most confusing ones are excluded. And, Hays said the recommendations also include plans where Awesome Power doesnt get paid.On the kiloWhat.energy website, the research only includes companies that pay the site a commission. Owner David Manz said he chooses from some 50 of the more than 300 plans available on the Power to Choose website.Im not trying to steer anyone toward one plan, he said. Im trying to get as many electricity providers as I can onto my site. Some of them are happy to do it. Some of them who dont benefit from the level of transparency I offer dont really want to have anything to do with my site.Energy Ogre and Energy Choice Experts are both paid sites and they say that's the only way to be truly independent.We dont take anything from the retailers, said Jesson Bradshaw, CEO of Energy Ogre. Thats the only way to be agnostic.Energy Ogre charges $10 per month but offers more services, including signing up customers for the electricity plans and acting as a go-between with the provider. The company also switches its customers more often than some of the other services to make sure customers pay the lowest possible rates.At Energy Choice Experts, the cost is $35 for the first year, and $30 a year for renewals. Company co-founder Scott Hundley said he doesnt have the same level of customer service. But he said he charges much less and offers a thorough analysis of deals.R.A. Jake Dyer, a policy analyst for the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, which advocates on behalf of cities and other governments, said his organization supports Power to Choose since it has a public mission. With these new services, he said, its difficult to part the veil.You dont know what goes into the algorithm, he said. You dont know if its a pay-to-play situation...Theres a lot of unanswered questions with regards to any for-profit website.Dyer said an analysis of Power to Choose shouldnt just focus on the negative.He said that complaints about electricity providers are much lower than they were in 2008 or 2009. There have also been changes to the website to weed out some misleading deals. And customer searches can exclude time of use plans (such as free nights or weekends) or plans with minimum usage fees or credits, both of which add to a deals complexity.The problem isnt the Power to Choose website, Dyer said. Its the complexity of the market.Hadley said the PUC has changed the site over the years to make it more useful. And the PUC has blocked electric plans that appeared to be misleading.TXU Energy has pushed back against some of the energy-shopping companies on its website and questioned the safety of peoples confidential information data and whether they can guarantee savings.Susan Chadwick, who lived in Southlake before moving to Richardson, missed the deregulation revolution. In her old home, she was part of an electric co-op for about 20 years. About 25 percent of Texas still has a closed, regulated electricity market.After her move in 2015, Chadwick said she was hammered by high electric bills that she just chalked up to her new house. She said she signed up with TXU Energy without thoroughly studying all that companys plans or its competitors.Eventually, she heard about Energy Ogre on a TV news broadcast and used that to find better deals. Now retired, she said shes using twice the electricity and paying less than she was a year ago.When youre working, you dont have time to do that much research, Chadwick said. I wasnt very good at looking around.Dyer said theres a risk in either approach. But he said that with a little research, the average customer could find a good deal without the help of these new services.If your expectation is that you want to find the perfect deal, who knows? he said. But I think the Power to Choose website is a reasonable tool to make reasonable decisions. Right Conditions Odds for Success? Student Passion (TNS) -- Can a drone port on a strip-mined mountaintop in Kentucky keep an ambitious student like Seth Hatfield from leaving his economically distressed hometown for good?A co-op of rural school districts in the regionhome to a long-declining coal industryis betting on it.The districts and other backers of constructing a $50 million complex where companies would design, build, and test drones and train people to operate them, say the region's high schools would provide a strong pipeline of students to learn high-tech skills.They hope to accomplish two feats in a region where, at 12.8 percent, the January unemployment rate was more than twice the national average: create jobs in the burgeoning high-tech field and entice the region's brightest students back home after college with the promise of good jobs.For Hatfield, a sophomore at Belfry High School in Pike County whose passions are video games and robots, it's a thrilling prospect."I feel like this is a great opportunity for me, and I feel really lucky that all of this is happening in my area, close to my hometown," said Hatfield, 16, whose grandfather was a coal miner.The project, known as USA Drone Port, is still in its conceptual phase and is expected to be built near Hazard, in southeastern Kentucky. It would include a 3,500-foot runway for drones and other small autonomous aircrafts, as well as an indoor-testing facility for year-round work. There would be space for engineers to build, test, and perfect their inventions. Classroom space would be available for K-12 and college students to learn drone design and manufacturing and have job-shadowing and mentoring opportunities. The facility would have aquatic ponds to test small underwater vehiclesthe kinds that might be used in search and rescue missions."We know [drone technology] is a growing area of employment opportunities, and the uses are only now being discovered," said Jeff Hawkins, the executive director of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative , or KVECa collective of 21 rural districts with 50,000 students that covers an area roughly the size of Connecticut."It's also a way for us to engage student-learners in a pathway that's focused on drone design, testing, and use, that exposes them to high levels of mathematics, engineering, and physics, etcetera."Hawkins believes the education system is inextricably linked to the region's economic future."Where the two intersect is the edu-economy," he said. "That's the sweet spot for us."The project grew out of discussions about postsecondary opportunities and regional economic development between educators at KVEC and officials from the state's aerospace industry, said Paul Green, the director of KVEC's Appalachian Technology Institute. The need for a facility for research and development of drone technology emerged over and over, Green said. The state has a growing aerospace industry and is second in the country in the export of aerospace products and parts, he said.The southeastern Kentucky region has many features that make it a prime location for such a project, including thousands of acres of land and open space far enough away from population centers without being too remote, Green said.While districts in the region have large numbers of students living in poverty81 percent qualify for free- or reduced-price mealsthey post average four-year graduation rates that are higher than the state's average, Hawkins said. In 2016, KVEC's graduation rate was 94.9 percent, while Kentucky's statewide rate was 88.6 percent, Hawkins said. Steady growth in the graduation rate has been the result of expanding personalized learning, personalized professional development for educators, and expanding curricular options, particularly career tech-ed courses.The KVEC districts have also been building a stronger foundation for high-tech education, deploying more than $30 million in federal grants to expand courses in computer programming, computer science, coding, aeronautics, and aviation. Prior to the recent expansion, only two of KVEC's 29 high schools offered computer science classes with coding, and only two had offerings related to aerospace engineering and aviation, Green said."Our programming is trying to expose kids to these new things," Green said. "We are working to create potential economic opportunities with something like the drone port, where industry may say, 'This is a great training facility. This is a great testing facility. It may behoove us to move our research and development center to this location.' "The drone port dovetails with KVEC's efforts to prepare students for jobs of the future and build multiple career pathways. This fall, KVEC plans to offer a new pathway in drone design and development. It will also emphasize entrepreneurship and creativity."The unique thing for me is how do we create an ecosystem that fuels both the K-12 education system and diversifies the economy, so that people can stay here and find gainful employment and create a vibrancy of life," Hawkins said.Revitalizing economically depressed regions is a tall order in any setting where manufacturing and industry jobs have disappeared, said Harry J. Holzer, a public policy professor at Georgetown University in Washington. In many of those regions, residents who had the opportunity left permanently. Many who stayed behind have been out of the workforce for extended periods, often on long-term disability, Holzer said. And some of those areas are in the throes of the opioid epidemic. The eastern Kentucky region is home to several counties with some of the largest declines in life expectancy between 1980 and 2014, according to a recent report in JAMA Internal Medicine, a drop driven in part by poverty and lack of healthcare access. The opioid and prescription drug epidemic and an exodus of younger people have also played a role, Hawkins said.But there are features in the region that companies may find attractive, such as cheaper land and lower taxes. Building a skilled workforce might also draw interest, and KVEC's partnership with a local community college and the region's relative proximity to Lexington, Ky., also "raise the odds of success," he said. University of Kentucky economist Christopher Bollinger expressed caution.There are major challenges to luring tech firms to areas where the labor force needed to support the industry does not yet exist, Bollinger said. And a lack of big-city amenities to attract a start-up labor force is also a barrier.The new training for high-tech jobs in coding, engineering and aviation and entrepreneurship should continue whether the drone port gets built, he said. That kind of training and education can spur entrepreneurial activity and lead to economic revitalization."Fundamentally, I am always skeptical of 'if you build it they will come' " he said. "But I am not skeptical that education is the key to economic growth. We see this all the time."The project is not intended to be exclusive to drone development, said Bart Massey, who works at Hazard Community and Technical College and will serve as the manager for the project. Robotics will also be central, and the complex's final form will be driven by industry needs, he said.So far, the board that would manage the drone port has received support from local county governments. A landowner has agreed to donate the property for the airstrip. Other property owners have also expressed their intention to donate more land if needed, Massey said. The organizers will need to raise private money, but they also hope to get financial assistance from the Appalachian Regional Commission and grants through the federal Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program, Massey said. The first phase is estimated to cost $15 million.The entire project would take between 24 and 36 months to complete, but educators hope that students and businesses would be able to use portions of the facility as soon as fall 2018, Massey said.Belfry High School students like Hatfield and his classmate Autumn Gibson see real promise to pursue a career close to home. Gibson, 15, whose early exposure to air shows fostered a love for airplanes, signed up for an early-morning aeronautic class when it was first offered. This semester, she and some classmates built a wind tunnel from scratch."I thought it was a great opportunity to get a head start on a possible career," said Gibson, who plans to be an aviation technician and return to work at the regional airport.Hatfield has already demonstrated a talent with drones. He recently won KVEC's first-ever drone contest in which contestants had to pilot a drone in an enclosed space without crashing it.The planned drone port gives him hope that his family's Appalachian rootswhich run deep in southeastern Kentuckycan remain."By the time I complete college," he said, "there is bound to be something for me back home." (TNS) - More than 140 courthouses across California are seismically unsafe, a study commissioned by state officials determined, and fixing just the worst dozen would cost more than $300 million.In a serious earthquake, 145 courthouses could face substantial structural damage, extensive non-structural damage and substantial risk to the life of those in the buildings, says the study, presented Wednesday to a committee with the Judicial Council, which sets policy for California courts.Glendale Superior and Municipal Courthouse received a seismic risk rating of 44.2, the highest in the state and among a dozen facilities considered very high risk. The report used seismic-risk ratings developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.Other Los Angeles County facilities in the very-high-risk category included the west and east wings of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, which each received a 23 rating.In Orange County, the central courthouse in Santa Ana was given a 2.1 seismic-risk rating, while the north court facility in Fullerton got a 4.4. The Lamoreaux Justice Center, in Orange, received a 3.3. All are considered high-risk facilities.Gwen Vieau, the spokeswoman for Orange County Superior Court, noted that the ratings for these facilities put them below the threshold suggesting immediate intervention.We remain concerned about the current condition of several of our courthouses, but we are hopeful in these times of limited resources (that) necessary structural repairs can be made to all court facilities before they are tested or damaged by any seismic activity, Vieau said.Other Los Angeles facilities in the high-risk range: those in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Pasadena, Lancaster, Alhambra, Newhall, Norwalk, Van Nuys and Santa Monica, which collected 3.4 to 5.4 ratings.Representatives of Los Angeles Superior Court declined comment.The most-troubled facility in Riverside County, at the high-risk level, was the Hemet Courthouse, with an 8.2 seismic rating. The worst in San Bernardino County, at the same level, was the Victorville Courthouse, which received a 4.3 rating.Retrofitting the dozen very-high-risk court facilities would cost $300 million to $400 million, the study found, while the price tag for retrofitting the 44 high-risk facilities would boost the price tag by $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion.We need to address this, said Brad R. Hill, administrative presiding justice of the California Court of Appeals, fifth appellate district, during the Wednesday meeting in San Francisco. We cant be in a position, after a major earthquake, to have the public say, What were you doing, and why didnt you raise the alarm? We are raising the alarm.Several committee members noted that most people going to a courthouse dont have a choice, because they are either serving jury duty or under a court order to attend a hearing.This is a risk that we can avoid and fix, said Val Toppenberg, a former Merced and West Sacramento redevelopment director who sits on the committee.However, any construction is contingent on money from the state, which committee members noted leaves them at the whims of state legislators and the governor.It doesnt get safer each year as the buildings get older, said Stephen Nash, executive officer for Contra Costa County Superior Court. We are sitting on a time bomb. We are watching the clock tick. But our ability to do anything has been taken away.State budget cuts over the last decade have hit California courts particularly hard, as hundreds of millions of dollars for construction and operations were slashed. Earlier this year, Superior Court officers from across the state urged Gov Jerry Brown to earmark more money to the system.Architect Clifford Ham, who presented the study to the Judicial Council committee, noted that the courthouses seismic issues are comparable to those other state agencies face, such as those governing public universities or veterans organizations.The findings represent a fairly rough estimate, he said.The engineering company that put together the study is now going to turn its attention to identifying the 20 to 25 court facilities that would be the best candidates for retrofitting.2017 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.)Visit The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) at www.ocregister.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. President Donald Trump wasted no time in making good on his promises to take a more aggressive stance on immigration policy and deportations. The question many administration watchers are asking is how will this effort intertwine with potential changes to domestic surveillance policies.Beyond the bulk collection of email and phone records, there are other controversial surveillance issues that will play out over the next four years. For instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has raised concerns about the use of social media monitoring of foreign visitors, biometric surveillance of immigrant communities and rapid DNA analyzers.As a presidential candidate, Trump made several comments in favor of restoring the post-9/11 Patriot Act and said that he errs on the side of security in the debate over the National Security Agencys bulk phone metadata program. Now that he is in office, privacy advocates and policy experts are watching his executive orders and key appointees for signals of surveillance policy change, some of which could be made without informing the public.One early executive order eliminated the extension of Privacy Act coverage to non-U.S. persons for data about them held by the federal government. Previously both U.S. and non-U.S. persons could request to see the information the Department of Homeland Security held on them, such as details from an immigration application, information about a citizens comings and goings from the country, and interactions with the government.Surveillance law and policy are complicated because there are overlapping statutes and court decisions and a collection of executive directives, some of which are secret, noted William Bendix, a professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire who focuses on surveillance policy.Its not so much what they collect; it is what they do with the data once they have it, Bendix said. Can they mine it indiscriminately? Can they share it widely? Keep it indefinitely? For the most part, surveillance statutes dont provide answers to those questions, he said. At most, they require the executive branch to create minimization procedures, which are supposed to place limits on what data is reviewed and shared. Those are classified and can be changed easily by the president and his officials. If the president imposes serious restrictions on agencies, then we will have strong privacy protections, he said, but if the president waters down or decides to discard these minimization procedures, then watch out.Michael German, a fellow with the New York University School of Laws Brennan Center for Justices Liberty and National Security Program, said it would be difficult to imagine creating a legal regime over the intelligence community that would give them any more power than they already have.Over the course of two administrations, we have deconstructed the restrictions that came out of the J. Edgar Hoover/Nixon/Watergate situation, to ensure that the rule of law would apply to this secretive activity and that there would be enough independent oversight even in a closed system to prevent the types of abuses we are having, said German, who served as a special agent with the FBI, where he specialized in domestic terrorism and covert operations.One internal watchdog people will be watching is the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). The five-member board is one of the few independent actors in the executive branch that can actually conduct thorough oversight of intelligence agencies, Bendix said. The problem is that it needs three members to maintain a quorum to issue public reports. As of press time, it had only one member, Elisebeth Collins, so the board wont be able to issue any public reports. PCLOB staff can continue working, but it wont be able to tell the public what it has concluded.German said PCLOB has never really operated the way it should have. Despite the great intentions and incredible effort by its members, it was never established to be effective as a watchdog, he claims. The intelligence community is a $70 billion operation and five people and a staff of 10 are supposed to oversee it? he asked incredulously. The situation there could be made worse, but not much worse.It is the same with the Intelligence Oversight Board, he added. When an Inspector Generals report on FBI abuses of National Security Letters was published, it came out that the Intelligence Oversight Board had never met during the Bush administration. And it hasnt been very effective except in short bursts in response to crises, German said. I understand that now it is down to just a handful of members. Again, it is a structure built to perform a task for which it is completely under-resourced, and nobody has ever really attempted to use it in the way it was designed.Still another place to watch is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court. After the Snowden leaks, it was revealed that one FISA Court judge had approved the National Security Agencys mass metadata collection program in secret with no debate or consultation. Given these very intrusive and large-scale surveillance programs have been authorized by a single judge, it was decided that was not good enough that the court is not engaging in the kinds of deliberations we would expect from a judicial body, Bendix explained.Now, when the court receives an application from the Justice Department that pushes into a new, legally controversial area, a friend of the FISA Court is invited to advocate for the privacy position. But it is up to the discretion of the director of national intelligence to inform the public when this happens.If the new administration wants to be more secretive and not tell the public about these cases, it would be perfectly legal for them to do that, Bendix said.The FISA Court is supposed to be more transparent about rulings it issues that represent novel interpretations of surveillance authorities, said Kate Tummarello, who works on surveillance issues for the Electronic Frontier Foundations Activism Team. They are supposed to have a public advocate, she said. It is unclear if they are using them the way they are supposed to be used. It is not clear President Trump will have a huge impact on the court itself. From what we know, that is going to come down to the leaders of the intelligence community he picks.If there are early indications of how surveillance policy will change under the new administration, it is the people being appointed to key positions. Privacy organizations such as the EFF and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) paid close attention to the voting records and nomination hearings of key Trump appointees. Tummarello noted that new Attorney General Jeff Sessions once wrote an op-ed opposing the USA FREEDOM Act and said the bulk phone records collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act was subject to extraordinary oversight and warned the bill would make it vastly more difficult for the NSA to stop a terrorist than it is to stop a tax cheat.We at EFF thought the USA FREEDOM Act was a small step in the right direction, and he thought it was a big step in the wrong direction, Tummarello said. Sessions also helped derail a bill in the Senate that would have required law enforcement to get a warrant before accessing stored electronic communications, like emails. The Email Privacy Act got bogged down, because a bunch of senators, including Sen. Sessions, attempted to attach privacy-harming amendments to a pro-privacy bill, she said. (The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the bill again and it now moves to the Senate.)Tummarello said new CIA Director Mike Pompeo has also defended the countrys sweeping surveillance program and protested any narrow restraints placed on government surveillance. He introduced legislation to undo many of the USA FREEDOM Acts changes.Privacy and cybersecurity advocates are also concerned about written comments Sessions made during his confirmation process about back door encryption. Natasha Duarte, who works on data privacy, surveillance and cybersecurity issues as CDTs Ron Plesser Fellow, said technologists tend to agree that there isnt a way to have an encryption back door that allows law enforcement in and not people who do cyberattacks. It is worrisome that Jeff Sessions written commentary seemed to imply that law enforcement needed to be able to overcome encryption, she said.Duarte said CDT also is watching closely reports that border agents are seeking to collect peoples social media information before allowing them into the country. Michael German said it is questionable whether requiring that social media information improves our security rather than undermines it. How is a front-line customs official going to assess my Twitter account to determine whether I am a risk or not? he asked. What metrics are they using? Is that a valuable use of their time?Privacy watchers will also have their eye on Congress in 2017. On its docket is a renewal of Section 702 of the USA PATRIOT Act, under which PRISM and other spy programs are conducted. It could renew the governments ability to collect the content of email and other Internet activity from technology companies, noted attorneys Richard Hsu and Jeewon Serrato in a recent blog post.The attorneys with Shearman & Sterling LLP wrote that Senate Republicans are expected to re-introduce legislation similar to Sessions proposed amendment to the Electronicommunications Privacy Act (ECPA), which would require companies to grant investigators access to encrypted communications. Silicon Valley has been nearly unanimous in its protestation against such surveillance and data collection. However, a Trump White House is unlikely to be sympathetic to their concerns.Some state legislatures are trying to be proactive in rejecting certain forms of increased surveillance. According to EFFs website, California Senate Bill 54 authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon would prevent law enforcement agencies in California from sharing department databases or private information with the federal government for immigration enforcement. Senate Bill 31, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara, would prevent local and state government agencies from collecting data, sharing data, or using resources to participate in any program that would create a list or registry of people based on their religion, ethnicity or national origin, which EFF calls a direct response to Trumps call for a Muslim registry, noting that SB 31 would also strictly limit law enforcement from collecting information on a persons religion.Law enforcement officials may take a positive view of enhanced surveillance techniques in immigration and terrorism investigations, seeing them as valuable new tools in their toolbox. But German said even those who are worried about surveillance issues shouldnt focus their concerns on the Trump administration.The question isnt how will Donald Trump change things; the question is how will he use this broad power that a bipartisan consensus in the national security establishment has given him, German said. The problem is not President Trump. The problem is that these powers shouldnt be in the hands of any president. The way to stop Trump from abusing them is to make sure that the restrictions are put back in place so nobody can abuse them. Although there seem to be few arguments about the countrys infrastructure needing a reboot, a consensus about what the future will begin to look like is much tougher to reach. While there is a trend toward autonomous vehicles, will this act as an incentive to live further away from urban centers, or could fleets of self-driving vehicles lure more people to live in cities?While no infrastructure crystal ball exists, experts from government, industry and nonprofits gathered on May 16 during the AtlanticLIVEevent in an attempt to shed some light on what the future holds for mobility.One thing Michelle Quadt, infrastructure adviser for McKinsey and Company, believes we could see relatively quickly is a widespread multi-modal wayfinding app. Theyre not that far away, she said. We just need to connect the systems of data that exist now.The idea is that some days, travelers may want to hail a ride sharing vehicle from their house to a metro station, then at the last stop either reserve a shared bike, or walk the last leg. With a fully integrated app that allows users to request rides or reserve light rail tickets, human mobility could be greatly expanded beyond the current constraints of personally owned vehicles.Perhaps the largest hurdle in making that method a reality is overcoming the data sharing agreements between privately owned companies. Companies like Uber and Lyft possess troves of data about when and how people move within cities, but often require the cooperation from local governments to continue operating. One compromise that could be reached between transportation network companies and public agencies would be to define the policy goal first and foremost, then requesting specific datasets.Linda Bailey, executive director for the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), expressed that cities need to enter into partnerships or they risk missed economic opportunities. Cities should come to a consensus about specific plans, and then approach partners requesting relevant data sets, such as traffic flows, safety data and ridership demographics.Connected vehicles also present a unique opportunity for city planners. As long as the appropriate data-sharing provisions are laid out, every vehicle could essentially act as a probe, explained Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Research Associate Reginald Viray. Connected vehicles driving through streets could help identify potholes, severe road cracks or litter, and crowd source a map for cities.It is hard to imagine a much worse state of roads, explained co-founder of CityFi Gabe Klein, who previously worked as transportation commissioner for Chicago and Washington, D.C. We fail on every measure, he said, referring to the failing grade the United States earned on the state of infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers.Infrastructure disrepair however, is not exclusive to cities. The onset of automation could have a profound effect on where job centers are located and how people access them. What we need to keep in mind, explained former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, is that technology is not the be-all, end-all solution to our current problems.From Foxx's perspective, the current dialog about infrastructure is unsophisticated, as the conversation primarily revolves around the source of funding, but that is putting money into the system from 50-60 years ago. Data must be allocated to the appropriate resources that will push us further into the country we are becoming, he explained. But we cant leave rural America out of conversation.The country needs to have a much broader conversation about the role automation will play in the next couple of decades. If not managed correctly, automated truck drivers and advanced robotic manufacturing could yield disastrous returns for labor. That, Foxx said, is something to think about when designing infrastructure.Putting a road in some place isn't going to create a job necessarily, beyond the job to build the road, said Foxx. We need an initiative in rural america that is much more sustainable.Transportation should be thought of as connective tissue to opportunity, said Seleta Reynolds, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. The state of infrastructure disrepair is a prime opportunity to rethink how cities and communities have been designed over the past 100 years. By keeping people, not cars, at the center of planning, infrastructure can more efficiently move people for the next 100 years. (TNS) -- Those self-driving cars and trucks that appear to loom in our near future? The " Internet of Things " in our homes that will let us talk to our toasters? Lightning-fast internet connections that will let us download a full-length movie in seconds and will help companies large and small transfer mountains of data in the blink of an eye? Much of it depends on the service that wireless companies call 5G. And it's coming sooner than we thought likely this year, in some parts of North Carolina.The 5G service (which stands for Fifth Generation wireless) will be blazing fast.The problem with 5G is that it will require a lot of transmitters. Instead of big cellular towers that now transmit and receive wireless signals at 4G speeds, 5G service will need millions of smaller transmitters along public rights of way almost as common as telephone poles.The system would free home and business internet users from needing expensive fiber-optic connections. Instead, they could pick up a 5G signal with an outside antenna connected to a modem. It's fair to say 5G will bring revolutionary change to the world of internet use.This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for legislative vision in Raleigh. The House Energy and Public Utilities Committee has scheduled a hearing today on House Bill 310, blandly titled Wireless Communications Infrastructure Siting. We hope the details don't lull anyone into nap time. The bill is really important. It's all about giving wireless companies the right to put those small transmitters along public rights-of-way. It also takes some regulatory authority away from the cities and counties and gives it to the state. It could make internet service another public utility which is what it should have become long ago.State lawmakers have long shied away from treating internet access as if it was simply another essential utility. That attitude has prevented the growth of broadband networks in rural areas, where long distances between houses and businesses provide little return on costs. It's one reason why North Carolina's rural economy is still in a recession. The arrival of 5G technology could eventually change that. But it will require some strong guidance by lawmakers if it's going to happen.House Bill 310 could be that first step toward making truly high-speed internet access available across the state. It requires a new way of thinking in Raleigh, adding broadband service to the state's list of essential public utilities, backed by policies that help speed its rollout across the state, not just in high-tech hubs like the Triangle and Charlotte.We hope the members of the General Assembly will see the opportunity and seize it. The new 5G technology isn't about faster cellphone service. It's about the possibility of dramatic expansion of blazing-fast internet access for everyone. If we're going to be competitive in attracting 21st century jobs, we've got to have the 21st century technology in place to make those jobs possible. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Liu Qibao attend a celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter of congratulations to CASS on the 40th anniversary of its founding. The letter was read by Liu Yandong at the celebration held by CASS Wednesday. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday sent a letter of congratulations to Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on the 40th anniversary of its founding. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, praised the academy's work in serving the decision-making of the Party and the nation, boosting the sinicization of Marxism and developing Chinese philosophy and social sciences. Xi asked CASS staff and the country's philosophers and social scientists to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics while sticking to the guiding status of Marxism. He said they should study issues concerning the country's reform, development and stability, as well as promote the global influence of Chinese philosophy and social sciences. The letter was read by Vice Premier Liu Yandong at a celebration held by CASS Wednesday. Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and called for efforts to implement the CPC Central Committee's guideline on developing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. (TNS) -- AUSTIN Trying to text your friend who's in line for food at the Texas-Oklahoma game could be easier under a bill the Texas House passed Thursday.The bill would allow cellular companies to place new network nodes in public rights of way. The "small cell nodes" would allow Texans to have 5G technology, which allows for faster access to data and helps cellphones work in large crowds.Putting nodes in rights of way is standard practice for many utility companies, but the bill would standardize it and cap the fees that cities can charge for the use of public property. It needs one more vote in the House before being sent to the governor.Dallas charges $1,000 a year for cable, gas and cellular companies to use public property and is considering raising the fee to $2,500. Under the bill the Senate passed in April , cities could charge only $250 a year. The city of Dallas estimates that the loss of these fees and taxes could cost over $60 million in annual revenue on its 10,000 nodes, and possibly over $800 million statewide."I look at this bill and I see a potential to influence a migration from one technology to the next that's based on avoiding payment of right of way fees," said Don Knight, an attorney for the city of Dallas.But the network providers spearheading the effort to put the new nodes on public property said that's not the case."Texas doesn't have a legal framework for small-cell wireless providers to gain access to public rights of way," said bill author Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills. "Senate Bill 1004 provides the framework to build a telecom infrastructure that will help our state maintain its status as a global economic leader."The 5G network could provide better cellphone coverage for attendees at events like Texas-OU or the Austin City Limits Music Festival, said Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, the sponsor of the bill in the House.Many local officials who testified against the bill say the potential benefits don't outweigh the loss of funding for using the rights of way."It's an issue of private companies using taxpayer property for their own gain," said Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League. "This bill is completely off the charts in terms of fairness."Placing nodes on private property typically costs $1,500 to $2,500 in Texas cities. Dallas' charge of $1,000 a year is the smallest fee you can get, Knight said."When we lose tens of millions in revenue, we need to raise property taxes or lose that much in public services," he said.Dallas officials have been on high alert about revenue shortfalls because of a massive funding gap in the city's Police and Fire Pension System and legislation that would limit its ability to raise property taxes AT&T argues that the small cell nodes would have the opposite effect, generating revenue for Texas cities. The 5G networks require about five times more nodes than are currently in Texas, according to the Texas Municipal League.AT&T asserts that the influx of new small cell nodes will offset losses the city might incur from the lower fees per node. AT&T spokeswoman Adrianna Bernal said it's a bill "that will bring tomorrow's technology to Texas quickly."Other states like Arizona charge $50 annually, while some cities give away the rights for free.Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, said $250 is "quite generous," and Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, accused cities of opposing the bill because of their "greed."But local officials said $250 isn't enough."If we dont get money for the taxpayers, they end up subsidizing the private companies," Knight said.The bill specifies that the machinery can't take up more than 28 cubic feet in volume or protrude farther than two feet, and it requires the providers to comply with the city's unique design requirements. The House version also requires the city's approval before placing the nodes in designated historic districts, which can require network providers to use "camouflage measures.""If you want to use the city's property, we support it, but be respectful of public property and use it in a responsible manner," Sandlin said.Network providers have told lawmakers that many of the nodes would not be obtrusive aesthetically or physically, but some experts disagree."They were telling the Legislature that these small cell sites were size of an iPad, which is ridiculous," Knight said. The legislation does allow the providers to place poles up to 55 feet in height."Were talking about pretty large equipment, additional road hazards and more things for cars to crash into," he added.House members shot down provisions to give cities more control over where and how the nodes were placed."This probably isn't a perfect bill, but we've negotiated with the parties as much as we can," said Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, who opposed the bill before changes were made. (TNS) Delivery robots, a sci-fi idea that recently entered real-world testing, would be banned from San Francisco sidewalks under legislation Supervisor Norman Yee introduced on Tuesday.I want to keep our sidewalks safe for people, Yee said. Seniors, children, people with disabilities cant maneuver quickly to avoid robots. He has other concerns as well: potential job loss for delivery people; privacy issues, because the robots are equipped with cameras; and even terrorism, if someone loads up a robot with explosives.Yee said he initially considered regulating the robots, but soon concluded that any rules would be almost unenforceable.Robots that range in size from dorm fridge to shopping cart and go about 3 or 4 mph, the same speed as a pedestrian, are currently trundling along sidewalks in several cities for pilot delivery programs.San Francisco startup Marble has a handful of robots delivering hot meals ordered on the Yelp Eat24 app in the Mission District and Potrero Hill. Estonias Starship Technologies is testing its automated couriers with DoorDash meals in Redwood City, and with Postmates deliveries in Washington. Last year it did a one-day test of its six-wheel robots in San Francisco. South San Franciscos Dispatch is also developing and testing robots.Safety is Marbles top priority, according to CEO and co-founder Matt Delaney. We look forward to working with the supervisors, neighborhood groups and others to craft smart regulation that balances the needs of pedestrian safety, local businesses, manufacturing and innovation, he said in a statement.A San Francisco ban is a bad idea, said Paul Mackie, a spokesman for Virginias Mobility Lab, which researches advanced transportation.The space-saving R2D2s could fix a lot of our traffic headaches caused by the ever-growing number of delivery vans and trucks that have to park illegally and dangerously to make their dropoffs, he said in an email. It doesnt make any sense for San Francisco leaders to be going backwards like this.So far, three cities San Carlos, Redwood City and Washington have approved robot deliveries, Mackie said. Virginia and Idaho also allow them, and Wisconsin has passed legislation now awaiting the governors signature to allow delivery robots to use sidewalks and crosswalks.Yee said hes trying to get ahead of problems. People dont think about the negative impacts of these creative new ideas until its too late, he said. He believes for example that the Uber and Lyft cars that flood city streets cause traffic jams. Im trying to prevent some of the things that we did not prevent with other innovations like ride hailing, he said.The issue is reminiscent of city attitudes toward Segway scooters. While most cities allow them on sidewalks, San Francisco confines them to streets or bike lanes.Grant Loveless, operations manager for City Segway Tours of San Francisco, said the ban initially hurt business, but that customers adapted. His vehicles go 10.5 mph, 2 mph slower than the factory speed, but faster than pedestrians.I dont think any sane person would be more comfortable riding on the sidewalk with all the foot traffic, he said.Might robots likewise get shunted to the bike lane? Im not focused on that, but its something to discuss, Yee said. Maybe in the future there will be robot lanes. (TNS) -- HAVERHILL, Mass. Almost a year ago, Haverhill City Council President John Michitson stressed the importance of improving the security on city computers to protect the personal information of residents.Now, after the ransomware virus WannaCry froze hundreds of thousands of computers demanding payment in over 150 countries last week, the city is glad it took the necessary precautions to ensure its data stays safe and sound.When constructing the budget for the 2017 fiscal year, the city set aside $566,260 for its Municipal Information Systems Department, according to Peter Karlson, the city's Information technology director.Mayor James Fiorentini said the city's IT budget "will go up" in the upcoming budget, but added he was unsure whether it would go up "by a lot or a little."Karlson said after Michitson proposed the city investigate its tech security last year, the council approved an audit and an IT security committee, composed of city department heads, was created.The committee rewrote the technology security policy. Another IT consultant, Frances Alexander, served as the adviser."Last year, the city set aside about $7,500 for the audit, and we took a portion of the IT budget to write the policy," Karlson said. "The audit didn't find any glaring weaknesses. Overall, our infrastructure is airtight."In all, Karlson said the audit, which he said was conducted last year by Marcum, LLP., recommended only minor adjustments to the system's security settings.While the city employs only one IT professional, Edward English, it hires out external consultants from firms like Karlson's, NeuEon, and others, including Boston Systems and Solutions, to man the city's IT help desk, provide strategic advice, and wire the city's computer network.The city's total IT budget is dedicated to salaries and software licensing, an expensive, but necessary, proposition.In its FY17 budget, the city set aside $138,000 for software licensing and $120,000 for system support, a figure that Fiorentini cut back $67,000 from the amount requested."Licensing fees can exceed $40,000 a year per program, and that's just to maintain what you've got," Karlson said, adding that the IT department is not looking for a large increase in its share of the budget this fiscal year."There aren't a lot of things we're looking to do, mostly replacing hardware and swapping out software to save some money," he said.Fiorentini said the city has paid for two system back-up programs, as well as an imaging program that maps the city's IT network every day.In addition, the city has switched its email server to a cloud-based system and has begun moving its back-up systems offsite to protect them from physical fires, which Fiorentini said has wiped out IT networks in other cities around the state.As the rest of the world continues to grapple with the WannaCry attack, Karlson said Haverhill pays Boston Systems and Solutions to keep its systems proactively updated and patched across the board. He said the city spent $30,000 last year on backing up its entire system.And in a city which operates around 500 computers in its network, that is no small task.Karlson said he recalled a past NeuEon client that saw its system become infected with a similar ransomware virus after two employees clicked on a link in the same email."It downed their entire system for 48 hours," said Karlson, adding the lost productivity cost the company between $300,000 to $400,000.While the city can take every security precaution money can buy with its system, Fiorentini said the biggest issue for tech security has been and will likely always be human error.Fiorentini said that he has learned a lot about cyber security through working with Karlson and Alexander. He said he has also spoken with Police Chief Alan DeNaro about ways to improve cyber security."We've been going through a lot of training with our employees. But the big, big issue, 24/7, is human error," said the mayor. "We tell them unless you're positive the email you're receiving is legitimate, do not open it and tell Ed (English) or Peter Karlson." Two F1 teams have admitted their opposition amid rumours Mercedes is preparing to help Honda finally get up to speed in formula one. The rumour has been taking shape in recent weeks, and in Barcelona it emerged that the Austrian company Avl might also get involved to help Honda finally end its reliability and performance crisis. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, however, is not confirming the rumblings. "Honda is a large and prestigious company," he told Spain's El Mundo Deportivo. "They're in a difficult situation now but I'm sure they will find a way out and do not need our help." But amid the rumblings, there are already signs that some of Mercedes and Honda's rivals are not happy with the plan. Renault-powered Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said: "I don't know if it's true, but I don't think it's a good idea. "There are already very strict rules about cooperation with regards to the chassis." And amid a sea of 'no comments' elsewhere, Bob Fernley admitted that as Force India's deputy boss, he would not be happy if Mercedes started working with Honda. "As a team that's not only paid for its (Mercedes) engines but contributed to the development of them, I would certainly be very negative towards sharing that technology with another team that is a competitor of ours," he said. (GMM) Chinese PresidentXi Jinping, foreign delegation heads and guests pose for a group photo at the Leaders' Roundtable Summit of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation at Yanqi Lake International Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said Wednesday the just concluded Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation outlined the roadmap for the success of the Belt and Road Initiative and pointed a clear way for future cooperation. Yang said in an interview that the forum, which was held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday, clarified an assortment of projects that would be implemented within the framework of the initiative. The forum yielded a list of outcomes, which included 76 consensuses comprising more than 270 detailed results in five key areas, namely policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity. "The grand blueprint of the Initiative is being converted into a clear roadmap," said Yang. Yang said forum was the largest multilateral diplomatic activity that was proposed and held by China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The forum sent a positive signal for all parties to work together to build a community of shared future, which would be extremely important for China and the world. Yang said that China did not have selfish motives nor pursue selfish interests, and hosted the forum with an open, inclusive, democratic and transparent attitude. He said the forum consisted of an opening ceremony, a round-table summit and high-level meetings to ensure all parties had the opportunity to fully take part in the forum. Yang said he believes the broad and in-depth participation of all parties involved into the initiative will contribute hugely to China and world development. Twenty-nine foreign heads of state and government attended the forum. Other delegates included officials, entrepreneurs, financiers and media from over 130 countries and regions, which are home to more than two thirds of the world's population and their combined gross domestic product accounts for 90 percent of the world's total. Toto Wolff has denied that Mercedes slashed 5 kilos of weight from its 2017 car ahead of the recent Spanish grand prix. Before Barcelona, team figures including Niki Lauda admitted that excessive car weight was one of the areas Mercedes was working on to fight with Ferrari this year. Then in Spain, as Lewis Hamilton returned to the top step of the podium, there were rumours the triple world champions had managed to slash 5kg of weight in the Barcelona upgrade. "We tried to improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce weight, but we're not talking about five kilograms," boss Wolff told Spain's El Mundo Deportivo. "In formula one it is difficult to make big steps like that -- they are all small. We are working more with grams than kilograms," he added. Indeed, a tired-looking Hamilton admitted after the race that he is even going without an in-car drink bottle to save weight, despite the increased physical difficulty of racing with the 2017 cars. "I don't carry drinks in my car to save weight," he revealed. "I was a little bit tired after that one." (GMM) Red Bull is waiting on a Renault upgrade that has been delayed for reliability reasons. In Barcelona, the former champions took a clear step closer to runaway pacesetters Mercedes and Ferrari. "We closed more than 60 per cent of the gap," Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper. He admitted the team is hoping for another big step in time for the Red Bull-promoted Austrian grand prix in July. But that also depends on whether the Renault upgrade will be ready by then. "Naturally we are hoping that something will come before Austria," he said. (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has hailed a step forward for formula one in the wake of Bernie Ecclestone's departure. During the Spanish grand prix, a distraught young Ferrari fan was plucked out of the grandstand by Formula One Management staff so that he could meet Kimi Raikkonen and get a signed cap and once-in-a-lifetime paddock visit. "I don't know if something like that was possible under the old management," Chase Carey, who replaced the ousted long-time F1 supremo Ecclestone, is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. And that isn't all. In Barcelona, among other new fan-friendly initiatives, there was a F1-branded white two-seater Minardi doing laps all weekend. "There are new ideas from race to race," said Red Bull official Marko. "We (Red Bull) have often had ideas that were not supported, but it's no longer about things imposed from above, but a cooperation to make the whole event more attractive." It is of particular interest to Red Bull, as the energy drink company is not only a team owner but the actual race promoter of the Austrian grand prix. Indeed, Marko said he has been in contact about the Red Bull Ring's 2017 race with new commercial boss Sean Bratches. "We presented him with a list of ideas and within an hour all ten points were agreed," Marko said. "It is a different atmosphere and mood, but at the same time there are also very intensive talks about new regulations on the technical side, the engine side, and the finance side." (GMM) PARIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The secretary-general of French President's office Alexis Kohler Wednesday announced the formation of the new government, headed by the conservative lawmaker Edouard Philippe who was appointed as Prime Minister on Monday by Emmanuel Macron. In his first cabinet line-up, the new head of state mixed profiles unknown for public with others coming from the political mainstream to end decades of right-left divide. The Socialist veteran, Gerard Collomb, mayor of Lyon was named as interior minister while centrist politician Francois Bayrou was appointed to take the charge of justice portfolio. The two men have been supporters of Macron during election's campaign. From the outgoing Socialist government, Jean-Yves le Drian, ex-defense minister and a close ally to former president Francois Hollande was the sole survivor. He took his place to lead European and foreign affairs. From the right-wing, Bruno Le Maire, a pro-European, was picked as economy minister. Nicolas Hulot, a veteran ecologist activist, was named as ecology minister. The list name, which included 18 ministers and four junior ministers, contained several female faces, a move with which the country's new top official wants to deliver on gender parity promise he had campaigned for. In the list appeared Sylvie Goulard, a centrist EU lawmaker, in charge of defense affairs, Agnes Buzyn, solidarity and health minister and Muriel Penicaud, a minister in charge of employment issue. UPSET IN THE RIGHT, LEFT Seeking for wide support ahead of legislative election next month, Macron attracted to his cabinet many faces from the country's traditional parties which had alternated power over six decades. His move to broaden his political base had fueled critics in the right and left camps. "The main objective of this provisional government of confusion is to blur the French's guide lines during the campaign of the parliamentary elections," said Bernard Accoyer secretary-general of the center-right "The Republicans" party. "By choosing to compose a disparate ministerial team, Emmanuel Macron continues to maintain ambiguity in the democratic debate," he added in a statement. Accoyer announced that the conservatives who joined the government were struck off the party. On his tweeter account, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, chief of the Socialist Party, wrote "a new government but not a government of renewal..." Far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who eyes to build a strong opposition in the legislative election, denounced "a right-wing government" and called nomination of environmentalist Nicolas Hulot to manage ecology ministry a "heart breaker". However, some others see the other face of the coin. "This new government is marked by new personalities who are part of a European dynamism and some of whom are familiar with the world of business," said Pierre Gattaz, head of employers' federation Medef. Gattaz expressed readiness to work with the newly-appointed government "to implement reforms that we are in need." Wednesday's cabinet could be changed depending on parliamentary election's results next month that would decide whether Macron would need to bring a coalition partners to implement his reforms. The new cabinet is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Thursday morning. Putin offers to share Trump-Lavrov meeting transcript to prove that Donald J. Trump had not divulged any secrets meeting with Russian officials. Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not divulged any secrets during a meeting in Washington with Russian officials and offered to prove it by supplying Congress with a transcript. Two U.S. officials said on Monday Trump had disclosed classified information about a planned Islamic State operation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they met last week, plunging the White House into a fresh controversy just four months into Trump's tenure. Trump, whose administration has been dogged by allegations that Russia helped him win the White House and that he and his allies are too cozy with Moscow, has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with the Russians after media reports of the meeting alarmed some U.S. and foreign politicians. (Photo/Weibo) A Boeing 737-800 passenger jet was found missing a wheel after its landing at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in central Chinas Henan on May 16, 2017. The Urumqi Air aircraft that lost one wheel had a normal landing and had passengers off the plane before the maintenance team found the missing wheel on the runway. The Urumqi Air later released a statement apologizing to the passengers and saying the involved aircraft is having a comprehensive security check. Qualcomm Technologies also demonstrated simultaneous charging, in which two vehicles on the same track can charge dynamically at the same time. The vehicles can pick up charge in both directions along the track, and in reverse, further showcasing how the Qualcomm Halo DEVC system has been designed to support real-world implementation of dynamic charging. Qualcomm Incorporate, through its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., demonstrated dynamic electric vehicle charging (DEVC), which allows vehicles to charge while driving. Based on the Qualcomm Halo wireless electric vehicle charging technology (WEVC), Qualcomm Technologies designed and built a wireless DEVC system capable of charging an electric vehicle (EV) dynamically at up to 20 kW at highway speeds (100 km/h). The dynamic charging demonstrations took place at the 100-meter FABRIC (FeAsiBility analysis and development of on-Road chargIng solutions for future electriC vehicles) test track, which has been built by VEDECOM at Satory Versailles. VEDECOM was created in February 2014 and is an Institute for Energy Transition (ITE) established as part of the French governments Investment for the future plan (Programme dInvestissements dAvenir or PIA). The Institute is dedicated to individual, carbon-free and sustainable mobility. Qualcomm Technologies and VEDECOM integrated the source part of the Qualcomm Halo DEVC system in the test track, while VEDECOM and Renault integrated the receiving part onto two Renault Kangoo vehicles. Following the demonstration, the Qualcomm Halo DEVC system was handed over to VEDECOM to perform tests for FABRIC. These tests will evaluate the operation, safety and efficiency of energy transfer to the vehicles for a wide range of practical scenarios including vehicle identification and authorization on entering track, power level agreement between track and vehicle, speed and alignment of vehicle along track. FABRIC is a 9-million (US$10-million) project, mostly funded by the European Commission, addressing the technological feasibility, economic viability, and socio-environmental sustainability of wireless DEVC. The project began in January 2014 and will continue through December 2017, and is being undertaken by a consortium of 25 organizations from nine European countries, including automotive manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and research organizations from automotive, road and energy infrastructure domains. VEDECOM is one of the FABRIC collaborators and responsible for providing the demonstration of the charging solution at Satory using the Qualcomm Halo DEVC system. FABRICs main goal is to conduct feasibility analysis of wireless DEVC as a means of EV range extension. Qualcomm Halo envisages a transport system in which licensed operators build out the Dynamic Charging network in a similar way to which wireless communications networks have been deployed. DEVC technology would be integrated into one or more lanes of main roads and highways and DEVC drivers would drive and charge at the same time. Qualcomm Halo expects new business models to develop around DEVC networks and services, potentially mirroring the wireless communications business models that have helped drive global adoption of wireless mobile phones and devices. Under current EU law, national authorities are responsible for checking that a car type meets all EU standards before individual cars can be sold on the Single Market. When a car manufacturer breaches the legal requirements, national authorities must take corrective action (such as ordering a recall) and apply effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties laid out in national legislation. The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Italy for failure to fulfil its obligations under EU vehicle type-approval legislation with regards to Fiat Chrysler (FCA) automobiles. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice asking Italy to respond to concerns about insufficient action taken regarding the emission control strategies employed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group (FCA). The Commission is closely monitoring the enforcement of these rules by Member States and has already opened infringements against the Member States that issued type approvals for Volkswagen Group in the EU for not applying their national provisions on penalties despite the companys use of illegal defeat device software. Car manufacturers have been treating emission tests laxlysome have even broken the law. The emissions scandal has shown that the responsibility to enforce the law and punish those who violate it can no longer be left solely to individual Member States. While the European Parliament and Member States have recently made good progress on our proposal to overhaul the current system, its high time that they reach a final agreement. Citizens health and trust is at stake and we have no time to lose. Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs The current case relates to information brought to the Commissions attention in the context of a request from the German Transport Ministry in September 2016 to mediate between the German and Italian authorities on a dissent on NO x emissions concerning vehicles of a type approved by Italy. In the course of the mediation process, the Commission carefully assessed the NO x emissions test results provided by the German type approval authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt), as well as the extensive technical information provided by Italy on the emission control strategies employed by FCA in the car type in question. Reuters: US preparing to sue FCA over diesel emissions Reuters reported that the US Justice Department will file a civil lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over excess diesel emissions as early as this week if no agreement is reached with the Italian-American automaker, citing two sources briefed on the matter. The EPA in January accused FCA of illegally using undisclosed software to allow excess diesel emissions in about 104,000 cars and SUVs. The EPA and California Air Resources Board have been in talks with FCA about the excess emissions and whether the agencies would approve the sale of 2017 FCA diesel models. EU type approval legislation bans defeat devices such as software, timers or thermal windows which lead to higher NO x emissions outside of the test cycle, unless they can be justified by the need to protect the engine against damage or accident, or for the safe operation of the vehicle. As the Commission has pointed out repeatedly, the exception to the prohibition is precisely that: an exception that must be interpreted strictly. The Commission is now formally asking Italy to respond to its concerns that the manufacturer has not sufficiently justified the technical necessityand thus the legalityof the defeat device used, and to clarify whether Italy has failed to meet its obligation to adopt corrective measures regarding the FCA type in question and to impose penalties on the car manufacturer. A letter of formal notice is a first step in an infringement procedure and forms part of the Commissions dialogue with Italy to clarify facts and to find a solution to the concerns identified by the Commission. Italy now has two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the Commission; otherwise, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion. Background. Defeat devices are clearly banned by EU law (subject to a limited number of exemptions). Car manufacturers have an obligation to comply with this law and respect the ban which has been in place since 1998. Under current rules (Directive 2007/46/EC, which sets the general framework, and Regulation (EC) 715/2007), which establishes the specific type-approval requirements for the emissions from Euro 5 and Euro 6 cars), it is the responsibility of the Member State which approved a vehicle type (commonly referred to as model) to address any non-compliance of production and vehicles of that type. The European Commission is closely following Member States efforts to clarify the possible wrongdoing by car manufacturers in the past. In December 2016, the Commission opened infringement procedures against seven Member States for breach of EU type approval legislation. Following the revelations in September 2015 that Volkswagen Group used defeat device software to circumvent emissions standards for certain air pollutants, the Commission called on Member States to carry out the necessary investigations into the possible presence of such devices in vehicles approved by their approval authorities, and to ensure compliance with EU law. As a response, several Member States have conducted investigations and published reports with regard to NO x emissions from vehicles. In the context of these investigations, some Member States have concluded that a number of manufacturers use emission strategies that can be justified and legal because they are needed to protect the engine. The ban on defeat devices foresees an exemption (both under EU and US law) for when the need for the device is justified to protect the engine against damage or accident and to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle. It is up to the manufacturer to demonstrate to the national authority that any use of defeat devices is covered by one of the exceptions and is technically necessary. On 26 January 2017, the European Commission published guidance to help Member States evaluate if car manufacturers use defeat devices or other strategies that lead to higher vehicle emissions outside of the test cycle and analyse whether they are technically justified. A car manufacturer using emissions abatement strategies should be able to provide a technical justification for questions such as: Is the increase of emissions kept at the lowest possible level? Is there no better technology or design on the market that would allow for improved emission control or safer operation of the engine? Can the risk of sudden and irreparable engine damage be appropriately demonstrated and documented? BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, and Chang Wanquan, Chinese defense minister and state councilor, Wednesday met separately with Mohammed Al-Bowardi, Minister of State for Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Fan Changlong said the UAE is a strategic partner of China in the Gulf area. He hailed the smooth development of bilateral military relations and expressed his wish to further advance the relations. Bowardi said the UAE is willing to enhance cooperation and communication with China to further expand the depth and width of bilateral military cooperation. Noting the good momentum of development in military relations, Chang Wanquan said China is willing to work with the UAE to deepen exchange and cooperation in various fields. Local teachers aim to inspire their students to think about careers in the computer science field worked with students at Monroe Intermediate School during a special Tuesday night program. Tracy Clement, a teacher at MIS, said the program shows students what they can do in different computer science fields and gives students instruction in basic computer programing and engineering through different stations spread throughout MIS. One station allowed students to build a basic video game while others featured basic engineering through building slingshots, binary coding and work in virtual reality. One station, using a product called Makey Makey, introduced students to building circuits and using a circuit board to play a piano. Students connected their circuit board to a computer and placed Play-Doh on portions of the boards. The Play-Doh functioned as buttons on the board, allowing kids to play a piano on the computer. Clement said the program originated with Western Wyoming Community College instructor Carla Hester-Croff, who hosted the program in Rock Springs previously. Clement said the Tuesday-night program was the first time it was hosted in Green River. Clement, who hosts the MIS after school technology club, said a lot of her club students are interested in computer science, but left the program available to anyone interested in technology to make it open to the community. "They really seem to have fun with it," she said. "I think it's cool to get the community out here for some hands-on technology and engineering." Along with WWCC, Google also helped sponsor the event, providing Google Cardboard virtual reality devices to the school. Clement said students attending the program were entered into a raffle to win the cardboard-based Virtual Reality units at the end of the night. A Rock Springs man accused of attempting to commit human trafficking claims hes innocent. Guadalupe J. Chavez-Arellano, 53, appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery at an arraignment to solicitation to commit human trafficking in the first degree, attempt to commit human trafficking in the first degree, attempt to commit sexual servitude of a minor and attempt to commit sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. Chavez-Arellano pleaded not guilty to all four felony charges and a jury trial has been scheduled to take place Aug. 14 at 9 a.m. If Chavez-Arellano is found guilty on all four felony charges he could face a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison and a maximum fine of $35,000. According to court documents, on Feb. 17, 2017, the Sweetwater County Sheriffs Office was notified by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation that during a controlled purchase of methamphetamine a couple of days earlier, the target of investigation, Chavez-Arellano, has asked their confident informant if the CI could acquire breast milk and a virgin girl around the age of 13 or 14 for him. On Feb. 19, 2017, the sheriffs deputy interviewed the CI who stated he/she met Chavez at the soup kitchen in Rock Springs and during one of their first conversations Chavez asked to purchase human breast milk from the CI. Since that time, Chavez made multiple requests from the CI for breast milk and for the CI to acquire a child for him so he could allegedly have sexual relations with the child. The CI told the deputy that on at least three separate occasions Chavez allegedly asked for a virgin girl around 13. On Feb. 19, 2017, sheriffs office detectives and Rock Springs Police Department detectives worked with DCI agents to conduct an operation in which Chavez would meet a 13-year-old girl for sex. The CI made and recorded a call to Chavez, in which the CI told Chavez a girl had been procured for him and that Chavez was to meet the girl at a motel. Chavez asked if the girl was a virgin and 13. The CI said she was and knew she was because the parents said so. Chavez was asked to pay a small amount of money for the girl, but refused. Chavez allegedly demanded the girl be delivered to his residence, but nothing came out of that operation. On Feb. 20, 2017, a detective was advised that the CI was contacted again by Chavez who wanted breast milk delivered to him at 7 p.m. and allegedly wanted the girl to be delivered at 8:30 p.m. Around 4 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2017, a RSPD officer was contacted by a 13-year-old girl who said a man tried to get her to go with him while she was hanging out near the Broadway Theater. The girl said a man, who she later identified as Chavez, had approached her while she was by the theater and asked if she was 13. The girl said she lied and said she was 15. Chavez offered to take her to the movies, which she declined despite his numerous demands. The girl then ran to Escape Day Spa and Chavez didnt follow her. On Feb. 20, 2017, at 7 p.m. the CI met with Chavez and gave him the milk. The CI then told Chavez that the 13-year-old girl, who was actually an officer, was in the truck waiting for him. The CI then asked Chavez if he wanted to meet the girl or if he wanted to wait until 8:30 p.m. Chavez told the CI he allegedly wanted the girl now and he would like to take the girl to school the next morning because she was going to stay overnight at his residence. Chavez allegedly provided a pack of Smoker Friendly brand cigarettes as payment for the child. Chavez then went toward the truck to meet with the girl, which is when he was arrested. When officers searched Chavez home they found toys on the porch, a girls skirt on the door knob of the porch and a hand-colored drawing that had his phone number on it. Chavez was interviewed by police and said he had met the CI at the soup kitchen and had been purchasing breast milk from the CI. Chavez said the CI allegedly told him a young girl could be procured for $20 if he wanted one. Chavez allegedly admitted to giving the CI a $100 bill and the CI was supposed to make change and return the rest, but he never got his money back. Chavez claims procuring the girl wasnt his idea, but the CIs and that his only intention was to watch a movie with the girl. He also claims he did not provide a pack of cigarettes as payment for the girl. He said the CI allegedly wanted $5 for the girl, but all he had was a pack of cigarettes. As for the drawing with his phone number on it, Chavez stated he was hoping an underage girl he liked would see it and call him. Chavez did admit to accosting the girl at the Broadway Theater earlier in the day and stated all he was doing was offering to take her to the movies. He denied any other intentions. Mary J. Britton, 78, of Rock Springs passed away May 11, 2017, at her home following a lengthy illness. She was born Nov. 2, 1938, in Holbrook, Neb., the daughter of Earl Morris and Maci Evangeline Harding Morris. Britton attended schools in Scottsbluff, Neb., and was a graduate of the Scottsbluff High School with the class of 1955. She married Larry Britton in Pocatello, Idaho in Jan. 1, 1959. He later preceded her in death at Rock Springs on Feb. 16, 2004. Britton had been employed as a secretary for Commercial Communications and Smith Energy. Mary was the matriarch of the family. She... A Green River High School student will join 160 other U.S. Presidential Scholars in Washington D.C., in June to receive a medallion and participate in numerous activities. Anna Harris, a senior at GRHS, recently received a letter from United States Secretary Betsy DeVos of the Department of Education informing her of her selection as one of the 2017 Presidential scholars. According to a press release, Harris was one of 722 semifinalists from nearly 5,100 candidates who applied across the country. Harris is one of the 161 outstanding American high school seniors who have demonstrated out... UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- With the number of refugees and migrant children increasing in nearly five fold globally in five years, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday called on leaders at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit to adopt a six-point agenda to protect such youngsters. "These children need a real commitment from governments around the world to ensure their safety throughout their journeys," UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said. "Leaders gathering next week at the G7 in Italy should lead this effort by being the first to commit to our six-point agenda for action." Speaking to reporters in UNICEF House in New York to mark release of the agency's latest report, Forsyth said children should be protected from violence, abuse and exploitation. "At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were recorded in about 80 countries in the combined years of 2015-2016, up from 66,000 in 2010-2011," said the report which explored motivations behind their journeys and risks they faced. "An increasing number of the children are taking highly dangerous routes, often at the mercy of smugglers and traffickers, to reach their destinations, clearly justifying the need for a global protection system to keep them safe from exploitation, abuse and death," it said. "These children need a real commitment from governments around the world to ensure their safety throughout their journeys," said Forsyth. "Leaders gathering next week at the G7 should lead this effort by being the first to commit to our six-point agenda for action." The report found that in 80 countries in 2015-2016, about 200,000 children traveling on their own applied for asylum and were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, and 170,000 applied for asylum in Europe. During the same period and the first months of this year, such children accounted for 92 percent of all children arriving in Italy by sea. UNICEF is also urging the public to stand in solidarity with children uprooted by war, violence and poverty, by supporting the six-point agenda for action. GREENSBORO Wendy Linney met her husband at work and found a spiritual connection. It never really mattered to her that she was white and he was black. It was a matter of the heart, Linney said. It was not a matter of really looking for anything else. Linney, 45, and her husband, Antonio, 56, are part of a culture that barely existed in 1967 the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Loving v. Virginia that interracial marriage was legal throughout the country. A new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows just how far weve come. Currently, 1 in 10 people in the United States have a spouse of a different race or ethnicity thats 11 million people. The survey, which concentrated on newlyweds, or people married within the past 12 months, showed a dramatic change over 50 years. Back then, only 3 percent of newlywed couples were of different races or ethnicities. In 2015, that number was 17 percent. In the Greensboro-High Point region, however, interracial marriage isnt as common its 9 percent compared with such places as Honolulu (42 percent), Fayetteville (29 percent) and Anchorage, Alaska (28 percent). Other places where interracial marriage isnt as prevalent: Baton Rouge, La. (8 percent); Chattanooga, Tenn. (5 percent); and Asheville (3 percent). The Winston-Salem region is more closely aligned with the national average of 16 percent. The growth in intermarriage has coincided with shifting societal norms as Americans have become more accepting of marriages involving spouses of different races and ethnicities, even within their own families, the survey states. Kelly Dawson, who is white, said she cant imagine a happier relationship with husband Kevin, who is black. She is originally from Greensboro and works for a Durham nonprofit. He graduated from UNC-Greensboro and works for a telecom company. Its really amazing that everybody gets along and genuinely cares about each other so weve never had any issues with our families, said Dawson, who has been in a relationship with Kevin for eight years and married nearly three years. She said she feels pressure sometimes to show others that her marriage is happy and strong, but thats easy because it is. Well hear mumblings that somebody doesnt like intermarriage a friend of a friend or something like that will say they dont agree with it or its a harder path, Dawson said. People who say that dont really understand .... you dont choose who you care about. Linneys story reflects the nations evolution. She was divorced before she met Antonio. At the time, she wasnt even looking for a relationship. I was raised that you stayed basically with your race so my father didnt give me away when we got married, she said. But children often draw people together and when she had triplets 12 years ago Thursday, her father saw her in the hospital the first time he had visited her and Antonio together. Their family has been united ever since. Linney, whose children attend Allen Jay Prep Academy in High Point, said its important that the school is diverse. She said she has taught her children to find ways of describing their friends that go beyond ethnic or racial differences. We try to just teach our kids to look much further than the color of the skin and find somebody thats compatible with them, Linney said. Thats what its really all about. The heart has no color. The launch of the app's updated version on May 17 (photo/China.com) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Wednesday that 1,274 missing children had been found over the past year following the launch of an app in May 2016. During the period, 1,317 updates on missing children were posted on the app, and the children found include 40 who had been abducted, 750 who had run away from home, 192 who had been lost, 75 who died by drowning, as well as 29 who were murdered, according to the MPS. The app helps to ensure efficient sharing of information and collaboration between police in different regions, and encourages witnesses to report the whereabouts of missing or trafficked children, the MPS said. Users near the site where a child disappeared receive push notifications, including photos and descriptions. The scope of these push notifications will be expanded over time. An updated version of the platform that went live on Wednesday has expanded its reach through cooperation with seven other media platforms, such as an emergency broadcasting center under China National Radio, a news app from Tencent and Yidao Yongche. So far, the MPS app has formed a cooperative partnership with 40 new media and mobile applications, including Taobao, Baidu and QQ. How many straws will it take to break this camels back? Russian intelligence hacked the elections so what? Three top officials who are investigating this unprecedented breach of democracy are fired ho hum. The firing reveals a secret recording system in the presidents office old news. Having run on a platform of keeping out immigrants, the president arranges to sell visas to anyone willing to invest millions in his own company who cares? Every day a new, extraordinary report tops the front page, reminiscent of Watergate, only worse. On May 15, the headline is: Trump gives intel to Russians. No more back-door negotiations. No more rigging behind the scenes. The president of the United States flat-out gives to the Russians code-word information that is so highly classified that even our allies dont have it. And its information that jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. The same Islamic State that the president confidently promised he would shut down, no problem. Nero is fiddling away, Rome is in flames, and the millions of Americans who are trying to shout Fire! are being dismissed. Enough straws, already. It is past time. The Rev. Beth Woodard Greensboro UNC-Greensboro should get approval to develop two millennial campus districts when the UNC Board of Governors meets today and Friday. System President Margaret Spellings has already recommended the green light. A millennial campus is distinct in key ways from the rest of the university in that it allows partnerships with private entities. The dynamic Centennial Campus at N.C. State University was the first of this model in North Carolina. While the primary purposes are education and research, related business and commercial enterprises are part of the mix. This isnt a new concept for UNCG, either. It already operates a millennial campus with N.C. A&T at two locations of the Gateway University Research Park. While the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering is the main occupant, several government and business tenants are on site, including the VF Global Innovation Center. UNCGs new initiatives will occupy two designated districts a health and wellness district in Spartan Village and a visual and performing arts district on Tate and McIver streets. Both promise opportunities for collaboration with the private sector to serve the public and stimulate economic activity. Spartan Village is a new development south of Gate City Boulevard that includes residential buildings, a recreation and wellness center and retail space. The designated district also would include a science building and planned nursing building. It would be an inviting area for medical practices, pharmacies and related businesses. The arts district could see artists galleries, musicians studios, costume designers, bookstores, cafes or a movie theater. Greensboros colleges and universities contribute substantially to the citys economy but also to its character and vitality. These districts can encourage new partnerships, enhance teaching and learning experiences and open doors to commercial applications of the knowledge and creativity generated in an academic setting. If they contribute to some blending of campus and off-campus culture, that would be good, too. UNCG has struggled a bit to find its identity, or brand, since it grew beyond its original role as the states public university for women. Thats not to say it doesnt have strengths, because many of its academic programs rank among the nations best. It has a beautiful campus, and its development along Gate City Boulevard is transforming a formerly derelict stretch of that important artery. Its push into the Glenwood neighborhood got off to a rocky start but communication and trust are improving. Meanwhile, Tate Street gives UNCG a groove perfectly suited to an arts district. The student body, with many first-generation college-goers, is diverse, talented and proud to be Spartan. Theres an identity in there somewhere. Spellings recommendation says UNCG has the administrative and fiscal capacity that is required, and the activities to be performed on the millennial campus would advance regional economic development. The Board of Governors Committee on Budget and Finance should approve the millennial campus districts today, and the full board should follow Friday. These are good projects for UNCG and for Greensboro. BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China is eyeing increased cooperation with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Vice Premier Liu Yandong. Liu made the remarks Tuesday when separately meeting with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, both of whom attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing from May 14 to 15. The Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to developing the regional and world economies, facilitating countries along the routes to share the opportunities created by China's development, and achieve common prosperity, Liu said. Liu also acknowledged the long-term pragmatic cooperation between China and the two UN agencies. Hailing China's remarkable achievement in children's rights and population development, and congratulating China on the fruitful outcomes of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, both Lake and Osotimehin expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with China within the initiative, and achieve success in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Federal agencies are warning the public that certain lead tests may provide inaccurate results, but the state Department of Public Health said its been warning people about these tests for more than a year. On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning that certain lead tests manufactured by Magellan Diagnostics may provide inaccurate results. The CDC recommends that children younger than 6 years old along with and pregnant women and nursing mothers who have been tested for lead exposure consult a health care professional about whether they should be retested. The FDA is deeply concerned by this situation and is warning laboratories and health care professionals that they should not use any Magellan Diagnostics lead tests with blood drawn from a vein, said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDAs Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a statement. The FDAs warning is based on data showing that Magellan lead tests, when performed on blood drawn from a vein, may provide results that are lower than the actual level of lead in the blood. The issue may date back to 2014. The warning includes all four of Magellan Diagnostics lead testing systems: LeadCare; LeadCare II; LeadCare Plus; and LeadCare Ultra. The announcement didnt come as news to staff at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which sent out a letter in January 2016 to hospitals, clinics and other care providers stating that departments Lead and Healthy Homes Program has determined that LeadCare systems manufactured by Magellan Diagnostics are not an acceptable analytical method for confirmatory venous blood lead results. The letter went on to urge that the tests should not be submitted to the CT DPH for disease reporting purposes. U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., sent out a statement scolding the FDA for approving the tests. When the health of our children is at risk, families should be able to depend on these tests to ensure that their children can be properly diagnosed and treated, DeLauro said in the release. As a result of approving this defective test through the less stringent 510(k) pathway, the FDA has failed to do its job as a regulatory agency and it has given a false sense of security to families that have been greatly impacted by water quality and lead tragedies. As a result of the rising number of ecommerce companies and the growth of online sales, some physical retailers are dramatically downsizing or going bankrupt. The number of bankruptcy filings by U.S. retailers with at least $250 million in liabilities nearly doubled in 2016 and will continue to take center stage in bankruptcy courts in 2017. But a secondary reason leading to this sea of change is a renaissance in innovation among ecommerce players. Jeff Jones, a managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, refers to this as "ecommerce 2.0." The brands emerging in the retail sector that are seeing the greatest growth are quite different from their ecommerce predecessors. These digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs), or v-commerce brands for short, are trailblazing entirely new approaches to retail. Digitally native vertical brands, a term coined by Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, follow specific criteria. Related: The First 5 Steps to Launching a Successful Ecommerce Business SHANGHAI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai and Prague have inked a deal to cooperate in the fields of film and television as China's Belt and Road Initiative gains steam. The deal, signed Wednesday in Shanghai, will see Shanghai Media Group and Medea Group from the Czech Republic work together in the making, broadcast and promotion of films and television programs about the Belt and Road Initiative. Medea Group is the biggest private media group in the Czech Republic, owning TV stations, TV program-making departments and 11 magazines. Czech President Milos Zeman said that cooperation with Beijing and Shanghai will contribute to Czech-China relations under the Belt and Road Initiative. Several Shanghai hospitals also signed agreements Wednesday to cooperate with their counterparts in Prague in the fields of aviation medical rescue and medical staff training. Bourdain chatting with rapper Heems over some excellent Queens dumplings. Photo: David Scott Holloway/CNN In nine seasons of Parts Unknown, the closest Anthony Bourdain has gotten to Queens is the theme song that kicks off every episode its by Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan of Queens of the Stone Age. Finally, though, for this Sundays new show, the New York native heads to the borough to survey the food and culture in one of Earths most diverse places. A 2014 episode focused on the Bronx, but, believe it or not, this is only the second time the crew has even shot in New York City. It sounds like the reason for their return may have something to do with Laurie Woolever, Bourdains personal assistant and cookbook co-author and a Jackson Heights resident for nine years. She tells local news site QNS.com that shes been dropping less-than-subtle hints for ages: Im always kind of slipping in a reminder of just how great Queens is. I would just kind of mention, I ate at this great place or this taco cart or I went to Flushing, subtly sort of reminding [Bourdain] of this place across the river he had to take a look at. Tune into CNN at 9 p.m. to see Bourdain trek to Corona for Ecuadorian street food, then bristle at the quagmire that is New York Citys street-vendor licensing system with Street Vendor Project director Sean Basinski. He also eats at Lhasa Fast Food in Jackson Heights, heads down to the Rockaways to talk about the (still) unfinished Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, and feasts on dumplings and boiled pig tongue at Deng Ji Restaurant with the rapper Heems, for his obligatory Flushing stop. The episode also apparently manages to pay very quick homage to historic Neirs Tavern in Woodhaven, a 180-year-old bar you might remember from Goodfellas, Tower Heist, or a million listings of New Yorks must-see pubs. Try the tempura-battered pickles at Bondurants. Photo: Liz Clayman While the Upper East Side might not be a destination for nightlife, there are still plenty of low-key spots worth checking out. Places where you can be a regular and they will remember your name, or where you can just be passing through and feel equally as welcome. Satisfying food and drink is a must, of course, and an atmosphere that will entice you to stay awhile. The Absolute Best 1. Bondurants 303 E. 85th St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-249-1509 Its not the job of a bar to appease all tastes, but Bondurants sure does try, and the effort is appreciated. The whiskey selection alone over 130 bottles strong, from Jack Daniels to the hard-to-find Old Rip Van Winkle and a strong craft-beer list is enough of a draw. But there are more pleasures on offer (not to mention the proximity to the Second Avenue subway). With its tin-pressed roof and wood paneling, the space is both airy and dark at once: kitschy chandeliers let you know that Bondurants doesnt take itself too seriously, and televisions are discreetly hidden (see if you can find them). Ordering at the bar may seem like a hindrance, but, in fact, its a blessing when it means youll receive your insanely large portion of house-brined and perfectly sour tempura-battered pickles and megasize tater tots that much faster. 2. Seamstress 339 E. 75th St., nr. First Ave; 212-288-8033 If youre a cocktail fan on the Upper East Side, Seamstress is your spot. Named for the neighborhoods historical abundance of tailors, the bar comes with modern-day pedigree: cocktail maven and co-owner Pam Wiznitzer, formerly of the Dead Rabbit, is currently president of the United States Bartenders Guild. Sample from the list of 50 American classics, from the Aviation to the Zombie or try originals like the Endless Search ($15): rum, pickled mango, egg white, and sesame oil in a dim, date-ready setting entered through a velvet curtain. At $14 to $17, the drinks skew pricey for the area, but show up between 5:30 and 7 p.m. for oyster happy hour, and get your bivalves for just a buck. 3. The Penrose 1590 Second Ave., nr. 83rd St.; 212-203-2751 As a neighborhood go-to, the Penrose hits all the marks: extensive craft-beer and whiskey lists, better-than-average cocktails, playfully kitsch yet modern decor (think: typewriters and reclaimed wood), and a killer custom-blend Pat LaFrieda burger, courtesy of the team behind Wilfie & Nell. The problem is, because its got everything, the crowd gets voluminous both in size and noise, filling every nook of the massive space. Your best bet is staking out a spot on a weekday afternoon, or becoming a day drinker. Its worth it to try their housemade fizzy ginger and muddled lime sodas, to which you can add your choice of liquor. 4. Sugar East 1125 First Ave., nr. 62nd St.; 212-832-4610 First things first: This new kid on the block is not for everybody. Formerly the Merchants NY Cigar Bar, the tobacco license here was grandfathered in, making Sugar East one of only eight bars in the city where you can smoke indoors. Cigars arent on the menu (and theyd rather folks not bring them), but packs of cigarettes are, and if youd like to light one up, youre welcome to. Even the candle in the bathroom is cigar-scented. But if you can get past all that, youre in for a treat: A Havana-in-its-heyday bar with handsome Art Deco lines, big roomy booths, and cocktails by Jeremy Strawn, a Death & Co. and Mulberry Project alum. Drinks are named for their primary taste profile, the gin-based Celery ($16) tastes like celery, the bourbon-based Charred Lemon ($16) like charred lemon, etc.; to flex your senses, order the Coconut, with Havana Club rum, Fernet, absinthe, and coconut juice. Served in, well, a fuzzy coconut, its presented with a lit cinnamon stick, meant to be inhaled as you drink, and truly transports. Bites like lobster arepas with tart pomegranate seeds and chorizo-pineapple-and-mint skewers are small but potent, and DJs spin regularly later in the evening. 5. The Pony Bar 1444 First Ave., at 75th St.; 212-288-0090 There are a few wines if you ask, and theyve got the means to make you a mixed drink. But what you come here for is a massive selection of craft beer, heavy on New York State selections and regularly rotating. The UES offshoot of the Hells Kitchen original opened in 2013, and has cultivated a loyal following who come for the happy hour (4:20 to 5:20, $5 beers), surprisingly elevated bar food, emphasis on beer education, and in-the-know choices, currently including an extra pale ale from the up-and-coming Industrial Arts brewery in the Hudson Valley (check the website for the most up-to-date offerings). If the crowd gets to be too much, as it tends to on the weekends, just take your brews to go in one of their 64-ounce growlers. Honorable Mentions Bemelmans The Carlyle, 35 E. 76th St., at Madison Ave.; 212-744-1600 Sure, it wont be your everyday go-to, but for special occasions, your girlfriend and your grandma will both love Bemelmans. From Ludwig Bemelmanss illustrations of Madeleine on the walls to the cocktail list designed by Dale DeGroff, and maybe even a Chita Rivera sighting when she performs at the Cafe Carlyle next door, Bemelmans is a slice of history in New York, a place where time stands still, and one that gives you free snacks. With individual table lamps and live music, a night here makes for an exceptionally romantic date. Come early (before 9 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, and at 9:30 p.m. the rest of the week), if you want to avoid a cover. Treadwell Park 1125 First Ave., at 62nd St.; 212-832-1551 Youve had a long day, and you just want to go to a bar and spread out at a picnic table, eat some free popcorn, and order up some beer and a giant Nathans banh-mi hot dog that should take two people to finish. Maybe after youll play an arcade game or Ping-Pong. But first, in this sprawling space where every day is Oktoberfest, youll try one of the 20 craft beers on draft or 30 bottled beers or, hey, maybe a gluten-free cider. Then youll top it all off with a beer float, because there are five to choose from, made with gelato, ice-cream, or sorbet. These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Lee Hae-chan, file photo. A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in headed to China on the morning of May 18 for discussions about U.S. missile defense system THAAD and ways to contain North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported. The special envoy, Lee Hae-chan, will reportedly hand over a personal letter from Moon Jae-in, explaining the political compass of his new government. Also high on the agenda of Lee's three-day visit will be discussions about a summit between the two countries' heads of state. The former South Korean prime minister is expected to meet with ranking Chinese officials, possibly including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Yonhap reported. At a regular press conference on May 11, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Moon told Xi during a telephone conversation that Moon thinks highly of China's Belt and Road Initiative, and expects the initiative to bring development and prosperity to China, South Korea and other countries along the route. Moon, who officially assumed office on May 10, has repeatedly criticized the previous administration under impeached leader Park Geun-hye for agreeing to host the THAAD system without seeking parliamentary approval, according to Korean news outlets. In a May 17 report, Yonhap stated that Woo Won-shik, the floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party, said Seoul would consider uninstalling and returning the THAAD system to the United States. Woo also referenced the lack of parliamentary approval for this crucial national security decision. Would give authorities power to monitor security threats China's top lawmakers recently released the draft of the first intelligence law, which Chinese experts believe would gain wide public support to protect national security. The standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Tuesday released a draft of the National Intelligence Law on its website for public feedback until June 14. The draft on the website said that state intelligence work should provide support to guard against security threats and protect major national interests. It also said that the law will give authorities the right to monitor and investigate domestic and foreign individuals and organizations to protect national security if passed. "The intelligence law is part of the overall plan to legalize national security measures in China," Yang Jianying, a professor at the School of Public Administration of the University of International Relations, told the Global Times on Wednesday. Yang said the National Security Law will serve as the main law, while specialized laws, including laws on counter-espionage, terrorism and cyber security, as well as intelligence, will be applied to different areas. "It will not only improve law enforcement but also make citizens comprehend and support national security work," Yang said. "While China is more open to the world, Chinese citizens should always keep national security in mind when communicating with overseas sources," Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the Chongqing Municipal Communist Party of China Committee, told the Global Times on Wednesday. "Under the backdrop of globalization, the covert struggles between different countries and regions have become more complex, so Chinese citizens need to be educated to build and enhance their sense of intelligence," Yang noted. "However, the 'intelligence' in the intelligence law only covers national security and military intelligence. We should also be concerned with intelligence in technology, economy, business and society to better enhance national security," Yang said. "Personal information leaks are severe. So leaks in the country's intelligence will bring even greater damage," Su noted. Under the National Security Law passed in July 2015 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, April 15 was made the day for national security education to enhance people's national security awareness, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The Beijing Municipality's National Security Bureau published a new reward scheme, which took effect in April, to encourage the public to report any suspicious activities, with successful tipsters receiving between 10,000 ($1,452) and 500,000 yuan. In December 2016, China's top legislature passed the country's first counter-terrorism law in the latest attempt to address terrorism at home and help maintain world security, according to Xinhua. Haiti - 214th of Flag : Message from Guy Lamothe, Ambassador of Haiti to Mexico As part of the 214th anniversary celebration of the Haitian flag, Haitian Ambassador to Mexico, Guy G. Lamothe delivered a message to the Haitian diaspora living in Mexico with special thought for our compatriots in Tijuana and Mexicali (Cities border with the USA), thanks to the goodwill of the Mexican Government. Message from Ambassador Guy G. Lamothe : "Dear compatriots of the Haitian diaspora in Mexico, The Embassy of Haiti in Mexico, always faithful to the ephemerides of its national history, takes advantage of the 214th anniversary of the creation of the Haitian flag, to highlight for you the pivotal date of May 18, 1803, with the intention of a citizen appropriation of the symbolism emanating from it. The Embassy would like to point out first that the creation of the national blue and red bicolor, to Arcahaie is the witness of an historic initiative of exemplary value and model. A remarkable example, given by the founding fathers of the homeland, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Alexandre Petion, of political and social consensus, convergence of interests for a project of society beneficial to all : the end of European colonialism. This is an unavoidable model for the girls and sons of Dessalines and Petion of Haiti and elsewhere, who are genuinely anxious to ally themselves in order to work in harmony and enjoy together in peace the ancestral heritage. In this traditional celebration that challenges the patriotic consciousness of every authentic Haitian, the Embassy also takes into account a special thought for the compatriots established in Tijuana and Mexicali by the manifest goodwill of the Government and the brotherly people of Mexico https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20907-haiti-flash-regularization-of-haitians-blocked-in-mexico.html Let each and everyone find in this message of circumstance the active sympathy of this diplomatic mission to them and the assurance of its unconditional commitment to the improvement of their situation. For the country, for the ancestors and for ourselves, daughters and sons of Dessalines and P"tion, let us march together! Guy G. Lamothe, Ambassador" HL/ HaitiLibre Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help LWF: A look ahead at the UKs wine fair By Jo Gilbert This years London Wine Fair comes at an interesting time for our industry. The first of the post-Brexit era, next weeks event will unite a trade which is being forced to re-think its identity, relationships (and margins) as the UK re-defines its place in the international business community. The political and economic tectonic plates shifting beneath us have also set the tone for change within the wine fair itself. Having attended for the past 17 years as exhibitor and visitor, Hannah Tovey will attend this years fair as the heiress apparent to the role currently occupied by Ross Carter. Tovey will officially start her tenure as event director in June, but the fair will be part of the handover as the Imbibe Live creator begins to outline her vision for its future. Carter has put his own stamp on the fairs evolution over the past few years. He is credited with much of impetus behind bringing the fair back from the ExCel to the Olympia, as well as reinvigorating its domestic focus. This was, and still should be the fairs priority, he told Harpers, not least because of the fact that the UK is the worlds second largest importer of wine by volume after Germany, and second by value behind the United States (OIV report April 2016.) 99.9% of wine is imported to the UK, which is quite unique. Its enough to demand our own event, Carter said. A tight focus on the domestic market will return next week, as will segmentation into the UKs various route to market. Indies and the on-trade have been given more attention over the past few years, including dedicated areas like Wines Unearthed and Esoterica. This segmentation works for the likes of premium supplier Hatch Mansfield which distributes to independents, the on-trade, travel retail, and larger accounts such as Majestic. But despite various changes intended to make the fair more relevant to the UK market, some large agents have failed to sign up for this years fair, meaning that the aisles may be lacking in some of the bigger players. However, with around 15,000 visitors registered so far, the fair will continue to maintain its relevance as the place to meet and do business, and particularly as the years biggest launchpad. Broadland Wineries alone is set to introduce 57 new wines and others are similarly saving up their biggest or most significant launches for the year to introduce to buyers. With new pastures and challenges ahead, now seems like a great moment for the trade to reinvigorate itself by presenting new ideas, creating business opportunities and fostering and consolidating ties: and this is the spirit under which the LWF returns to the Olympia next week. Brighton Gin founder joins JF Hillebrand By Jo Gilbert Logistics provider JF Hillebrand UK has appointed a new business development manager of Porter and Laker, the companys UK-focused fine wine division. Helen Chesshire has joined the company, which specialises in beer, wine and spirits, to create long term partnerships and solution lead services. Chesshire has worked in the drinks industry for two decades, and brings experience from Tanners Wine Merchants, Western Wines, Berkmann Wine Cellars, Pol Roger Portfolio, Kingsland Drinks, Santa Rita Estates and Ambriel. She is also the founder and director of Brighton Gin at the citys first distillery. She will now represent the Porter and Laker division alongside UK director Chris Porter. The business has a rich legacy and one which I intend to maintain and grow within the vibrant, innovative and dynamic drinks industry which has been my home for so long, Chesshire said. JF Hillebrand UK Ltd is part of JF Hillebrand Group, which has four offices in the UK employing over 200 employees. (photo/CGTN) For a lot of underground urban commuters, subway doors are more than just gates taking them from point A to point B. Its a moving trap, whose threat is amplified during rush hours. A fatal accident always seems to be seconds away every single time someone tries to squeeze themselves in the carriage just moments before the doors shut closed but its a risk some dont mind taking. Although life-threatening accidents caused by subway doors are a rarity, the risk of a mishap is still there, waiting for the right moment to happen. A woman in south China's Guangdong Province learned how much of a headache commuting can be, especially when one does not follow common safety measures. On Wednesday, a Chinese woman got her hair stuck between subway doors as she pushed her way into a crowded subway car during peak hour at Zhujiang Xincheng station of line 5 in Guangzhou. The lady's hair was pinched from the roots, making it hard for her to yank it out. Eye witnesses said the unidentified woman was unable to move and cried for help. To make things worse, she was not be able to free herself at the next stop, as the doors for the remainder of the trip would only open at the other side. Later on, subway staff members came for help, but the girl refused their suggestion to cut her tresses off. To avoid disrupting the normal operation of the city's underground system, the train kept running while the girl waited patiently to be released, playing on her mobile phone, and not seeming affected the least by the sticky situation. Six stops later, the operator of the train opened the door and, at last, she and her locks were freed. The management of Guangzhou subway later commented on the incident, saying it would have taken a full set of procedures to open the door while the subway was in operation, to ensure that safety of all passengers would not have been compromised. It also said that although subway doors have a precautionary system in place to prevent people from getting stuck, the possibility of smaller objects getting caught without activating the alarm still exists. Hawaii Supreme Court - Major Eminent Domain Opinion: Larger Parcel, Deposit by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation, May 17, 2017 Yesterday, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Nakayama in an eminent domain case we've been following. We filed an amicus brief in the case supporting the property owner on one of the three issues presented, too. More on that below. The case involves three parcels on Kauai -- one of which is owned by a fellow who has been a thorn in the County's side -- which were condemned by the County for the expansion of a public beach park. The County was taking Parcels 49, 33, and 34. Sheehan owned 49, and HRH, an entity incorporated in the Cook Islands, owned 33 and 34. Sheehan asserted his use of Parcel 49 stretched across 33, 34, and Area 51 -- a portion of another Parcel but not a separate record lot. He claimed to use Area 51 pursuant to an easement. The owner sought damage for the severance of Parcel 49 from Area 51. He also challenged the "blight of summons" damages (also known inaccurately as "interest") on the final just compensation award. There was also a dispute after the County revised its appraisal downward, and then withdrew a portion of the deposit which it had made to secure immediate possession. Parcel 49 (green) Parcel 33 (pink) Parcel 34 (yellow) Area 51 (blue) The court of appeals held that Hawaii law requires that two parcels physically abut before a jury can consider them part of a larger parcel. The property owned by the condemnee was separated from the other parcel he claimed to use, and not physically connected. The condemnee claimed he used the two parcels together as a boat yard, and therefore the taking of his property damaged his use of the other. Applying the "three unities" test, the ICA held that the owner "cannot satisfy the physical unity requirement because the two parcels Petitioners claim to use together are separated by two others. County of Kauai v. Hanalei River Holdings, Ltd., No. CAAP-14-0000828, slip op. at 31; 2016 Haw. App. LEXIS 224, at *10 (2016). The ICA asserted the "must touch" test was established by the Hawaii Supreme Court in City and County of Honolulu v. Bonded Investment Co., Ltd., 54 Haw. 523, 511 P.2d 163 (1973), which, in the ICA's view, required "that all of the pertinent lots abut one another." Slip op. at 20. The property owner applied for cert (we don't call them "petitions" in Hawaii, but rather "applications for certiorari"), and asked three Questions Presented: "Must two parcels physically abut in order for the jury to consider whether they are part of a larger parcel?" The second question challenged how the courts below calculated blight of summons damages, and whether the County had conditioned its okay of the owner's withdrawal of the deposit which the County had made to secure immediate possession. The final question was whether the County could reduce the deposit after it updated its appraisal of the property, and it lowered its valuation. The County opposed the application. The Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this year, and yesterday issued a very readable 50-page opinion. The short story is that it corrected the Court of Appeals' larger parcel analysis, holding that parcels didn't need to physically abut in order to be part of the severance damage claim. This was the argument we advanced in our amicus brief, so we're glad the Supreme Court agreed. But the court didn't disturb the judgment, and held that even under the correct analysis, the owner didn't prove any of the three unities. To us, this is the most interesting part of the opinion (pages 19-28), and there's a good run down of the three unities test and larger parcel analysis in severance damage claims. The court correctly focused on unified use as being "the most important factor to this analysis," and held that three unity analysis isn't an "elements" test where all three are required, but are "factors" -- Accordingly, we hold that when determining whether a claimant is entitled to severance damages under the three unities test as articulated in Bonded Inv. II, the three unities should be evaluated and weighed against one another as factors, and should not be viewed as essential elements. The unity of use should be accorded more weight compared to the unity of title and physical unity. Consequently, a lack of physical unity will not be dispositive of a condemnee's claim for severance damages. Therefore, the ICA gravely erred to the extent that it applied the three unities as elements and barred Sheehan from claiming severance damages as a matter of law because Parcels 49 and Area 51 are not physically contiguous. Slip op. at 26. Check it out, the court has a good summary of the law nationwide in this part of the opinion. As to the second and third issues, the court affirmed the court of appeals' rulings on conditional deposit, and the condemnor's ability to withdraw a portion of the deposit to reflect its lowered appraisal. The Supreme Court concluded that the condemnor was not placing a condition on the owner's withdrawal of the deposit when it required the owner show it was entitled to compensation. This seems like a reasonable demand, and one which comes from the language of the statute: the withdrawing party has to show that it is an owner "entitled to compensation" before it can withdraw. However, the court held that the deposit became conditional (and blight of summons damages began again) when the condemnor demanded that the owner indemnify it because it was a Cook Island corporation. The County said that an offshore owner meant that if the eventual jury verdict exceeded the deposit, the County wanted assurances that it would get the difference between the verdict and the deposit returned. The court held that making such demands as a condition made the deposit conditional. You can't do that, and the statute doesn't discriminate based on where the residence of the owner. Lacking an unconditional deposit, the owner was entitled to blight of summons: We therefore hold that a deposit made unconditionally at the outset may later become conditional if, after the initial unconditional deposit, the condemning authority opposes the withdrawal of the deposit to an entitled condemnee by imposing a subsequent condition upon the withdrawal of the funds. Slip op. at 39. Finally, the court concluded the County could withdraw a portion of the deposit to reflect its lowered valuation, because the condemnee would not be harmed by the withdrawal. If the property owner would be harmed, however -- if, for example, the owner had already withdrawn the deposit or compensation had already been paid -- or if the condemnor was acting in bad faith, that would be a different story: Accordingly, we agree with the ICA and hold that the court in an eminent domain proceeding has the discretion to permit a governmental entity to withdraw a portion of a deposit of estimated just compensation when the deposit has not be disbursed to the landowner, the government acted in good faith in seeking to adjust the estimate to accurately reflect the value of the property on the date of summons, and the adjustment will not impair the substantial rights of any party in interest. Slip op. at 46-47. All in all, an interesting end to an interesting case. PDF: County of Kauai v. Hanalei River Holdings Ltd., No. SCWC-14-0000828 (May 16, 2017) PDF: Brief Amici Curiae of Owners' Counsel of America and Nat'l Federation of Independent Business Small Business... HOUSE BILL 451 -LEGISLATION REDUCING BLOOD QUANTUM FOR SUCCESSORSFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS News Release from DHHL, May 17, 2017 Who will be affected by the legislation that reduces blood quantum for SUCCESSORS? This new legislation, House Bill 451 (HB451, CD1) only affects LESSEE beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended (HHCA). Today, there are nearly 10,000 LESSEES living in Homestead communities across the State. The requested change in HB451 would allow these LESSEES to designate a spouse, child, grandchild, brother or sister who is at least 3.125% Hawaiian to SUCCEED to the lease. In other words, it would reduce the current required blood quantum from 25% to 3.125% What is this new legislation that reduces blood quantum for successors? Currently, Section 209 of the HHCA provides that a spouse, child, grandchild, brother or sister of the LESSEE who is at least 25% Hawaiian can SUCCEED to the lease. If the US Congress approves this new legislation (HB451, CD1), the LESSEE could pass their lease to a spouse, child, grandchild, brother or sister with a blood quantum of 3.125%. When will this new legislation (HB451, CD1) take effect? The process to enact a bill requires many steps and is not guaranteed. Although, the Hawaii State Legislature just passed this bill, the Governor must sign the bill by July 11, 2017. It is expected that the Governor will sign HB451. Thereafter, HB451 will be submitted to the Department of Interior (DOI) for review. In addition, HB451 requires the consent of the United States Congress. The probable length of time for the consent of the United States Congress is undetermined. To be clear, however, until the legislation receives Congressional consent, Section 209 of the HHCA still requires that a spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling of a LESSEE be of no less than 25% Hawaiian ancestry to succeed to the lease in question. THIS BILL HAS NOT TAKEN EFFECT YET AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE IT WILL Why was this legislation proposed? The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) receives many requests from LESSEES in older homestead communities to reduce the blood quantum requirement for SUCCESSORS or individuals who can SUCCEED to a homestead lease upon the death of a LESSEE. The reason LESSEES have been asking for this reduction in the blood quantum for SUCCESSORS is the simple fact that their descendants are lacking the required 25% blood quantum. As these communities experience a dilution of the blood quantum due to inter-racial marriage, aging, etc. they risk losing the homestead lease that has been within the family for several generations. This legislative amendment will provide DHHL LESSEES with greater flexibility and the opportunity to retain homestead leases within their families. Does this new legislation apply to applicants? No, it does not. HB451 only applies to LESSEES. This legislation DOES NOT change the present requirements for those wishing to apply for DHHL leases. An APPLICANT must be: 1) At least 18 years of age; AND 2) A native Hawaiian (i.e., of no less than 50 percent Hawaiian ancestry). In contrast to the option of lease successorship for certain family members at only 25% Hawaiian ancestry, all SUCCESSORS to lease applications must be of no less than 50% Hawaiian ancestry (i.e., requirements mirror those of the application process). Click HERE for a PDF (downloadable) version of the FAQs. HB451: Text, Status Hawaii prof demands that colleges stop hiring white cis men A University of Hawaii professor recently claimed that universities should stop hiring white cis men until the problem goes away. Mathematics professor Piper Harron never gets around to specifying which "problem" would be solved by culling cis white males from academia, but insists that "real solutions require women of color and trans women." by Anthony Gockowski, Campus Reform, May 17, 2018 (UPDATE: Response from US Pres Lassner posted below) A University of Hawaii professor recently claimed that universities should stop hiring white cis men until the problem goes away. In a recent American Mathematical Society blog postunsubtly titled Get Out The WayUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa "temporary assistant professor" of mathematics Piper Harron argues that white, cisgender males should immediately resign from their positions because actual solutions require women of color and trans people. Stop hiring white cis men...until the problem goes away. Tweet This Not to alarm you, but I probably want you to quit your job, or at least take a demotion, Harron begins her manifesto. If you are a white cis man you almost certainly should resign from your position of power. Thats right, please quit. At the very least, Harron suggests, members of the white cis demographic should, as a first step, resign from their hiring committee, [their] curriculum committee, and make sure [theyre] replaced by a woman of color or trans person. She then goes on to assert that the only real solutions (to which problems, she does not specify) require women of color and trans people, clarifying that she means to exclude white cis women from that category. Having white cis women run the world is no kind of solution, she declares, providing an unattributed graph purporting to show that 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. In an effort to strengthen her case, Harron launches into a digression on how the traditional family structure is partly to blame for societys inequalities, noting that most of us have seen families where one person was allowed to be more human than the other, but because everyone was IN LOVE people had warm fuzzy feelings about the inequality. She then asks what can be done when every role model, when every concept you have, is steeped in sexism, but says she has no relationship advice to offer, boasting that she and her husband are both exceptionally reasonable and good-intentioned people who think sexism is bovine poop. Harron has no shortage of suggestions for universities, though, outlining the various ways that she would like administrators to subordinate all other concerns to the goal of diversifying their faculties. Stop hiring white cis men (except as needed to get/retain people who are not white cis men) until the problem goes away, she instructs university officials, adding accusatorily that if you think this is a bad or un-serious idea, your sexism/racism/transphobia is showing. According to Harron, those serving on hiring committees should think long and hard before hiring even a stellar white male applicant, contending that a faculty members actual output is less important than their intangible contributions to the school community. When you hire a non-marginalized person, you are not just supporting this one applicant whom you like, you are rewarding a person who has been rewarded his whole life, she writes. You are justifying the system that makes his application look so good. You are not innocent. Harron concludes her post by assuring readers that this is not about shame or guilt because those things are useless, but is rather about shifting perspective, reiterating that while she knows that most white people wont actually quit their jobs, she wants them to understand that they should. Not to alarm you, but statistically speaking you are the problem. Your very presence, she tells her cis white readers. I cant tell you what is the best strategy for you to stop blocking my path. I can just ask that you please get out of my way. Campus Reform reached out to Harron for comment on the post, and is currently awaiting a response, though she did briefly address criticisms on social media. The terrible people are coming out of the woodwork to tell me how awful (racist and sexist) I am for writing this post, she laments in a Facebook post, then invites those who dont find her arguments to be trash to leave comments. ---30--- From: Office of the UH President Date: Fri, May 19, 2017 at 1:04 PM Subject: UH stands committed to free speech and equal opportunity To: announce@hawaii.edu Aloha UH ohana, Some of you may have heard about a personal post by of one of our faculty members in a blog, managed by a major national professional association, that has received media attention. As a reminder, the opinions of individual faculty members exercising their free speech rights on open blogs do not necessarily represent the positions of the University of Hawaii. In addition, as I have repeatedly affirmed, most recently this past February - http://go.hawaii.edu/Zwj - the university stands firmly committed to providing a safe and inclusive work and learning environment, free of discrimination and intolerance. We are also committed to the protection of constitutional rights of free expression and to diversity, including diversity of opinion. These commitments are stated plainly in our policies, including our employment policies, and have been longstanding and deeply held. I call on the entire UH community to help us all fulfill these commitments. David Lassner UH President This Past February: Lassner: In Spite of Trumps Reversal, UH Remains Committed to Putting a Tranny in Every Bathroom Im pleased that the return co-operation with Afghan authorities has proven effective, she stated after her meeting with Hekmat Karzai, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, on Tuesday. The co-operation between Finland and Afghanistan in encouraging unsuccessful asylum seekers to return to their home country is bearing fruit, rejoices Paula Risikko (NCP), the Minister of the Interior. Finlands priority is to ensure that as many unsuccessful asylum seekers as possible return to their home country voluntarily, reminded Risikko. The Finnish government has recently faced criticism from both opposition parties and human rights watchdogs for its insistence on deporting unsuccessful asylum seekers. The debate surrounding the issue flared up in early April following reports that a group of failed asylum applicants had been deported from Finland to Afghanistan. Several members of the opposition took part in a series of impromptu protests against the deportations. Risikko and Karzai on Tuesday also discussed the political situation in Afghanistan, according to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior. Their meeting represents a continuation the dialogue that began with a delegation led by Paivi Nerg, the permanent state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, visiting Afghanistan in May, 2016. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Search parties have located the debris of a small plane carrying two adults and two young children after it went missing while flying over the Bermuda Triangle on May 15, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The recovered debris and parts of the plane were found 15 miles east of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. On board was a 40-year-old CEO from New York and her two sons, aged 3 and 4. A 52-year-old pilot was also on the plane. None of the four people have been found. The plane was scheduled to fly from Puerto Rico to Florida, but disappeared from the radar three hours after it took off and never arrived at its destination, Miami Air Traffic Control reported. THE Prime Minister opened a new 590,000 parish and community hall at St Andrews Church in Sonning. Theresa May and her husband Philip, who live in the village, attended a special opening service with about 400 guests. Mrs May was shown around the building, which is known as the Ark, before unveiling a plaque. She said it would be a wonderful addition to the facilities at St Andrews. Mrs May then had to leave because of her election campaign commitments but her husband stayed on her behalf while Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, dedicated the building and the new parish office. The churchs junior choir and pupils from Sonning Primary School sang O What a Wonderful Scene from the musical Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo and head junior chorister Kate Rennie gave a reading. Ruth Harper, 10, who attends the school and is a member of the churchs Sunday Club, read prayers based on the story of Noahs ark which she had written herself. The Ark stands next to the churchyard and has a large main hall with a curved arch ceiling as well as a modern kitchen and toilet. New lawns and shrubs have been planted including a yew hedge to separate it from the churchyard. More planting will take place over the coming month and parishioners are being encouraged to make donations in memory of loved ones. The parish has raised 521,000 towards the project over the past three years, including donations totalling 150,000 from the Cayo Foundation and the David Brownlow Charitable Foundation. It also received 50,000 from Lafarge Tarmac, which owns the Sonning Works gravel pits. Parishioners organised a range of fund-raising events and hope to raise the rest in collections among the congregation. Rev Jamie Taylor, vicar of Sonning, said: We need space for our growing Sunday school and our new outreach programme, which will include a pensioners lunch club and youth club. The Ark has given us the facilities we need. A RESTAURANT chef who was fined more than 4,000 for serving customers unsafe food has said it was a one-off. Stephen Luscombe, who runs the Golden Ball in Lower Assendon, admitted serving undercooked calves liver in August 2015 when he appeared at Oxford Magistrates Court on Thursday last week. The court heard that two diners suffered food poisoning and others suffered symptoms after eating a dish containing the meat. Luscombe, who admitted two food safety charges, was fined 4,434 and ordered to pay 5,284 costs and a victim surcharge of 120. Since the incident, the restaurant has improved its Scores on the Doors food hygiene rating from one out of five to five. Luscombe, who has run the restaurant since 2008, said he regretted the incident and vowed there would be no repeat. He told the Henley Standard: This was a one-off incident that I very much regret. I accept the courts position and I have learned from this and have taken all appropriate steps to ensure that nothing of a similar nature will happen in future. The court commented on my exemplary safety record and my long-term commitment to consistently high standards and service and therefore imposed a reduced fine. I am proud of my restaurant and I am grateful to have so many faithful customers. I will continue to serve delicious food with pride and responsibility. In court, Luscombe admitted serving food that was unsafe as it had been inadequately cooked and failing to implement and maintain legally required food safety procedures, including those for the safe cooking of high-risk foods. The magistrates heard that environmental health officers from South Oxfordshire District Council investigated after a member of the public who had eaten at the restaurant suffered campylobacter food poisoning. This is caused by bacteria found on raw or undercooked meat, unpasteurised milk and untreated water. The officers carried out an unannounced inspection at the Golden Ball and found the calves liver offered on a set menu had been cooked at too low a temperature. The restaurant was found to have no protocol to ensure high-risk items such as this were cooked according to recommendations from the Food Standards Agency. It also failed to complete required monitoring records for almost three months, meaning it was failing to meet its legal requirements for food safety. Diane Moore, food and safety manager at the council, said: This case demonstrates how important it is for businesses to follow food hygiene rules and make sure food is safe to eat. Liver is a well-publicised potential source of campylobacter food poisoning, which in some cases can be fatal. It is essential that high-risk products like this are thoroughly cooked. We take food safety very seriously and while well always work with food businesses to secure good standards, whenever there are serious breaches of food hygiene rules then legal action will always be considered. Luscombe was as executive chef at Leander Club in Henley in the early 2000s and was also the chef for the Team GB rowing squad at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Earlier in his career, he cooked under celebrity chefs Marco Pierre (Photo/CRCC) China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has won the bid for construction of Africa's highest building, which will be located in Morocco, the company announced on May 17. According to CRCC, the company will cooperate with the largest Moroccan contractor, The General Construction Company of Casablanca (TGCC), to build the project that will tower 250 meters above Morocco's capital city of Rabat. The monumental building will become the highest building in all of Africa. CRCC would take 60 percent of responsibility for the construction, leaving TGCC with the remaining 40 percent. Their cooperation defeated seven other competitors in three rounds of bidding. (Photo/CRCC) The construction contract was for $380 million, with a designated total floor area of 86,000 square meters. The building could be used as office space, hotels or high-end apartments. It is being designed and will be constructed in an environmentally friendly way. Once completed, it will become a landmark building in Morocco and Africa, broadcasting Morocco's economic prosperity. CRCC said in its announcement that the construction contract, which was finalized just after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, will not only positively impact Morocco's skyscraper technologies, it will also help to promote economic and cultural exchanges between Morocco and China. SOCIAL Protection Minister Leo Varadkar is the favourite with the bookies to succeed Enda Kenny, though he is in a close race with Cabinet colleague Simon Coveney. Mr Varadkar (left) was last night at odds of 4/9 with Paddy Power Betfair, while Mr Coveney was at 13/8. In distant third is Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, whose odds were at 22/1 last night. The two frontrunners in the Fine Gael leadership battle believe their campaigns will be energised by a series of high-profile endorsements from ministers and TDs in the coming days. Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney will today step up their efforts to succeed Enda Kenny in a race that senior party figures fear will become deeply personal and divisive. Supporters of both candidates last night ramped up their negative campaigning, which has been intense and constant despite public denials from both ministers. Wealth Mr Coveney's camp has accused Mr Varadkar's supporters of "dirty tricks" following claims that the Cork TD will use his family's personal wealth to fund his election campaign. However, senior sources in Mr Varadkar's inner circle say Mr Coveney's camp is intent on "attacking" his character. One source said Mr Varadkar is braced for further negative campaigning, adding: "They're getting very desperate." Mr Varadkar expects a flurry of TDs and senators to publicly endorse him in the coming days, following the decision by Mr Kenny to step down as Fine Gael leader overnight. All eyes will be on Cabinet heavyweights such as Paschal Donohoe, Michael Noonan, Heather Humphreys and Charlie Flanagan, all of whom have refused to publicly declare. Education Minister Richard Bruton will also make a much-anticipated statement. He has refused to rule himself out of the race, with some in the party describing him as the "compromise candidate". Mr Varadkar has no public events scheduled over the next 24 hours but sources say this could change. Last night, the Dublin West TD tweeted: "Thank you Enda. FG's most successful leader. Brought FG from decline to success, Ireland from brink of bankruptcy to prosperity." Mr Coveney is due to address the media before attending events in Clare and Cork tomorrow and Saturday. The Housing Minister described Mr Kenny as "a towering figure in modern Irish history". Majority The electorate for the Fine Gael contest is split on the following grounds: Parliamentary party (65pc), rank-and-file members (25pc) and councillors (10pc). This means that securing the support of the majority of TDs, senators and MEPs is crucial to the outcome. According to declarations to date, Mr Varadkar is ahead in terms of the parliamentary party. His known supporters include: Junior ministers Eoin Murphy and Sean Kyne, TDs John Paul Phelan, Noel Rock, Michael D'Arcy, Josepha Madigan, Pat Deering, Jim Daly, Tom Neville and Brendan Griffin, and senators Neale Richmond and Catherine Noone. Others expected to back Mr Varadkar include ministers Mr Donohoe, Paul Kehoe and Joe McHugh, as well as Galway deputy Ciaran Cannon, MEP Brian Hayes and senators Martin Conway, Frank Feighan, Maria Byrne and Ray Butler. While Mr Coveney has fewer declared supporters in the parliamentary party, he is known to have won the backing of Health Minister Simon Harris. Junior ministers Damien English and Dara Murphy are leading figures in his campaign, along with TDs Kate O'Connell and Maria Bailey and senators Tim Lombard, Paudie Coffey and Jerry Buttimer. He is also believed to have the support of the party's remaining three MEPs Deirdre Clune, Sean Kelly and Mairead McGuinness. Meanwhile, Independent Alliance minister Finian McGrath confirmed he has spoken to both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney amid concerns that the change of Taoiseach could trigger an election. Mr McGrath added he and other Independent ministers have their own "shopping lists" and that these will be discussed with the successful candidate. "Both of them have said they would be very interested in sticking to the three-year plan - to implement as much as possible the Programme for Government," he said. Demands Mr McGrath thinks an early election is unlikely but said: "You never know in politics." Asked if the Alliance would have fresh demands for the next taoiseach, he said: "We'll be sitting down with the new taoiseach and we will be pushing forward the projects that we have in mind." His own list includes a new Accident and Emergency unit for Beaumont Hospital. A woman who "walked into the ceiling" of her hotel room and knocked herself out has lost a 60,000 damages claim against the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. Julie Dowson, of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, northeast England, told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that when she hit the low slanting ceiling she was knocked unconscious. Ms Dowson, a part-time hairdresser, said she had visited Dublin in October 2013 to celebrate her daughter's birthday and had booked into a dormer-type room on the top floor of the Ashling. She said she was preparing to go down for breakfast with her husband and walked towards a locker to pick up her handbag. Paralysed "I just banged my head and I was knocked out," Ms Dowson told the court. She said her husband had tried to talk to her after she recovered consciousness. "I was feeling numb and thought I was paralysed. I remember saying, 'I can't feel my body'," she said. She told the court she was taken by ambulance to the Mater Hospital and was released that afternoon. She said she decided to make the best of the family break and later went out for walks around Dublin. Ms Dowson told barrister Adrianne Fields, for the hotel, that when she returned home she went to see her own doctor and a specialist. She had claimed more than 5,000 for loss of earnings as a result of her injuries. She said she had not seen the dormer part of the alcove ceiling as it was all the same colour. Ms Dowson said that, before the accident, she had suffered from pain in her neck, right arm and her shoulders, but it had become much worse since. Ms Fields said Ms Dowson had not provided any medical reports from her doctors that would show evidence of her injuries being directly related to having walked into the ceiling. Judge Jacqueline Linnane, in dismissing Ms Dowson's claim, said the low clearance of the ceiling was plain to see from photos provided to the court. "It seems Ms Dowson wasn't looking where she was going and possibly was rushing to retrieve her bag as her husband was waiting," the judge said. Costs were awarded against Ms Dowson. The body of Benny Whitehouse lying in the street on September 25, 2014; A Dublin father carried his daughter's school bag as he walked her into her classroom minutes before he was shot dead, an inquest heard. Benny Whitehouse (35), of Balbriggan, Co Dublin, walked his two daughters into their respective schools with his partner Natasha White on September 25, 2014. "Benny went into class with our daughter. He carried her school bag for her," Ms White said. "We didn't stop and talk to anyone. We were flirting and playing. Benny was in good form." Dublin Coroner's Court heard that the couple got back into their car and were putting on their seat belts when a gunman approached and opened fire. "I heard a loud bang and the driver's window smashed," Ms White said. "I saw Benny turn to the window and put his hands up to protect himself. Then I heard three or four loud bangs. I jumped out of the car." Blood She saw the gunman over the top of the car and said he was tall with a black hat "like something a hunter would wear". Ms White told of her fear and panic, and of suddenly realising they had been shot. "I noticed there was blood on my boots and my leg. I realised someone had shot Benny," she said. "I screamed and rang 999 and then someone told me to sit down and put pressure on my leg. "It all happened so fast. Benny got out of the passenger seat and the man walked up the road. "He wasn't going fast or anything, and then he got into a Ford Focus and the car pulled away. It just drove normally. "I could see the wounds on Benny's stomach and back but there was no blood coming from them," she added. "Someone said his pulse was weak. I could see them cover him with a blanket, but not his face, so I thought there was hope. "Then the gardai and ambulance arrived. I could hear someone say 'will we pronounce?'" Witness Michael Brophy watched the shooting unfold as he drove down Clonard Street, Balbriggan, at around 9.20am. "I saw a man hunkered down, carrying a handgun in his right hand. I couldn't see his face," he said. "There were two people sitting in a VW Polo car putting their belts on. "As he reached the VW the man raised the gun. "He shot through the window of the car about four or five times. I saw the driver flinch and turn away from the person with the gun." Witnesses heard screeching tyres as the Mayo-registered Ford Focus sped off. It was later found burnt out. Garda Gerard Moroney, of Balbriggan Garda Station, said he attended the scene along with members of Balbriggan Fire Brigade after receiving an emergency call at 9.20am. Attempts to resuscitate Mr Whitehouse failed and he was pronounced dead at 10.41am. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, according to a post-mortem conducted by Dr Michael Curtis. A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who directed no prosecution owing to a lack of evidence. Det Sgt Dave Kemp said the case remained open but gardai "have exhausted all current lines of inquiry". The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown. Speaking to the Herald after the murder, Mr Whitehouse's family said the dad-of-two had been under siege from a Traveller family because he refused to sell drugs for them. Suspects They said a campaign of intimidation by a group within the Traveller community, which started a year before his murder, was behind the fatal attack. The gang believed to have killed Mr Whitehouse are also the chief suspects in the suspected murders of Tallaght man Willie Maughan (34) and his partner Anna Varslavane (21). The young couple were last seen in the Gormanston area of Co Meath on April 14 last year. A trust crisis is looming large if Trump can't control damage soon WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday pushed back against a new wave of media allegations that US President Donald Trump might have tried to obstruct justice by asking then FBI director James Comey to end a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. "I hope you can let this go," Trump told Comey at the time, according to a New York Times report, quoting two people who read the memo Comey wrote shortly after meeting with Trump in the Oval Office one day after Flynn resigned over a Russia-related scandal in February. Comey, who was fired by Trump last week, detailed his conversation with the president in the memo immediately after the meeting, said the report. Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Tuesday that he is requesting the FBI to submit all the files and recordings involving any communications between Comey and Trump. However, the White House quickly denied the report, claiming it is "not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr Comey". "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," the White House said in a statement. "The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations," it said. Despite the denial, the latest allegation immediately feeds fresh fuel to the flames that have been grilling the White House since Trump's firing of Comey last week, distracting his agenda while plunging his administration into a fast accumulating credibility crisis. On Monday, it was alleged that Trump relayed highly classified information from a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria during his meeting with senior Russian officials last week. 'Absolute right' Trump tweeted that he has "the absolute right" to share certain information with Russia but also didn't specifically say whether he spilled highly classified information to Russian officials. Indeed, as US president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that such disclosures broke the law. However, a trust crisis is looming large if the Trump can't control damage soon. The White House is in a "downward spiral" and needs to do something to get "under control", Republican Senator Bob Corker has said. "On a day when we thought things couldn't get any worse, they have," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. "The country is being tested in unprecedented ways." Though Republican lawmakers have so far generally backed Trump, a new mood was evident on Capitol Hill, a Politico report commented. Also on Tuesday, a new poll showed that 48 percent of US voters said they would support Trump's impeachment, while only 41 percent would oppose such charges. (File photo/CGTN) Frequent passengers aboard planes operated by Dutch airlines KLM might have just discovered that they could have been served by the King of the Netherlands during their journeys in the past years. King Willem-Alexander has recently revealed to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he has been flying twice a month as a co-pilot of the airlines for the past 21 years. The 50-year-old monarch is a qualified pilot who had flown KLM passenger flights before acceding to the throne in 2013, and has been flying Fokker 70 aircraft for KLMs Cityhopper service -- aimed at business travelers heading to European destinations, such as the UK, Germany and Norway. I find flying simply fantastic, he told the newspaper. The King said flying helps him shift his focus on something else, and it was the biggest way of relaxation for him. You have a plane, passengers and crew and you are responsible for them. You can't take your problems with you off the ground, he said. The Fokker 70 aircraft are being replaced by Boeing 737 this year, and the King said he intends to spend the next few months learning how to fly the new airplanes. He said he was rarely recognized by passengers while in uniform and wearing KLM cap, as he usually flew the plane incognito. He said passengers were more likely to recognize him before the 9/11 attacks, as the cockpit door was unlocked at the time. "Before September 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there," he said. The Dutch king is not the only royal member who flies an aircraft. Britains Prince Charles is a qualified pilot, and his son, Prince William, who has been flying with the East Anglian Air Ambulance as a helicopter pilot since 2015, is expected to quit his job to become a full-time royal in the summer. William's younger brother, Prince Harry, used to serve in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter co-pilot. The jail sentence recently handed down to a farmer who was apprehended picking wild orchids has stirred up controversy in China, highlighting ambiguous wildlife protection laws that plague endangered species protection. The man, surnamed Qin, was reportedly given a three-year suspended prison sentence and fined 3,000 RMB for illegally collecting endangered plants in April. The Chinese public and media outlets have been up in arms about the injustice of the verdict, as the boat orchids Qin dug up are not under State-level protection. They can only be found in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which China is a signatory. This is not the first time such a case has drawn public attention. In 2016, around 100 scalloped hammerhead sharks were spotted piled up for sale at a fish market in Sanya, Hainan province. Although the valuable shark species, often exploited for its fins, was included in CITES, a local court struggled to come up with a proper penalty for the fishermen, as sharks in general are not counted as an endangered or protected species in China. Chinas current animal protection laws are not very effective, and their compatibility with international laws still needs to be improved, Wang Yamin, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and assistant professor at Shandong University, told the Peoples Daily Online earlier. Legal ambiguities In China, it is common practice to list the endangered animals in Appendix II of CITES as protected species in China, but there is no specific law requiring this, which routinely causes problems in law enforcement and the judiciary, said Wang. According to China Business News, an official at Chinas State Forestry Administration said there is no law stipulating that authorities should treat endangered plants listed in CITES as protected species in China. Li Changqing, a Beijing-based criminal defense attorney, also said the verdict lacks a legal basis, as boat orchids are not protected by Chinese law. However, other legal experts think differently. Based on a judicial explanation released by the Supreme Peoples Court in 2000, endangered animals as specified by Chinas Criminal Law include those listed in CITES. So technically speaking, the verdict is not based on CITES, but domestic law, said Lin Jiaping, a Beijing-based lawyer. Lin added that various interpretations of the law lead different judges to different conclusions. In addition to legal ambiguities, Lin also noted that a lack of public knowledge about zoology is a factor in the illegal trade and poaching of wildlife, but that supplementing this deficiency is a very complicated mission. Even some frontline law enforcers are unable to tell the difference between ordinary plants and protected species, let alone the public, said Lin. Praise from the international community International wildlife protection organizations have welcomed the verdict, saying that China has shown itself to be a responsible and great nation. [Were] pleased to see that China is taking more strict measures to protect endangered plants and animals listed in CITES. With the development of Chinas national power, the country has been actively offering support and help to other nations in the fulfillment of CITES, and its latest move has earned praise from the international community, an official from CITES told Thepaper.cn on May 16. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. With mosquito season ramping up, Tennessee Department of Health officials said Wednesday they dont expect the Zika virus to be an issue in Northeast Tennessee this summer. But Northeast Tennessee Regional Medical Director David Kirschke and Tennessee Department of Health Vector-Borne Disease Program Director Abelardo Moncayo believe its important for cities and counties to be proactive and plan ahead just in case. The Tennessee Department of Health is looking to Miami-Dade County, Florida, as an example of how to battle a Zika outbreak. Kirschke said more than 200 cases of the virus were transmitted locally by mosquitoes in Miami last year, where it was eradicated thanks to quick action by government officials. Moncayo highlighted how the feat was accomplished for local medical, health department and government officials at a meeting Wednesday at the Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Office in Johnson City. Pesticide for mosquitoes was sprayed off trucks and from airplanes. Environmental specialists also went house to house in neighborhoods to conduct daily inspections for any standing water and to spray pesticide, if needed. They also talked to residents to educate them about the virus. I think the risk, hopefully, is much less here in Tennessee than it is in the Deep South in the U.S. Texas, Louisiana, Florida, said Moncayo. He added that he is concerned about vector-borne diseases those transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas because of the mild winter and early spring and summer. From Jan. 1, 2016, through March 29, 2017, there were 66 confirmed cases of Zika virus reported in Tennessee, according to Kirschke. Seven were confirmed in Northeast Tennessee. All of the cases were contracted by Tennesseans who traveled to Central America, South America or the Caribbean. If those people come back infected with Zika virus and we have mosquitoes that are active, there could be some local transmission of Zika virus, said Kirschke. Were working with county and city mayors just to do some planning on what our response would be. Theres a health department response and then thered be a potential response from municipalities in terms of mosquito control. The states health department has hired environmental specialists who can be sent to areas of the state as needed to inspect properties for mosquito susceptible areas and to spray pesticides. The department is continuing its Fight the Bite! campaign to educate the public on preventive measures to take to avoid being bitten by a mosquito. Zika can also be sexually transmitted. Free testing is available at state and local health departments. There is no vaccine for the virus. Pregnant women are at the highest risk for complications from contracting the Zika virus because it is known to cause birth defects. For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/zika or www.tn.gov/health/topic/zika-virus. BRISTOL, Va. Bath and Body Works is closing its Bristol Mall location next month. L Brands, which owns Bath and Body Works, confirmed that the store located at 500 Gate City Highway will close on June 3, a communications official said in an email Wednesday. The store joins a list of businesses that have left the mall in recent months. Sears, the last remaining anchor store at the mall, closed in late March. Smaller retailers, GameStop and Misty Mountain Designs, also closed in recent weeks. After Bath and Body Works closes, KSS School Supplies, Belmeade Formal Wear and Bounce Bristol will be the only tenants left in the mall, which is owned by Sunstar Keshav LLC group. Bath and Body Works employees and mall management would not comment on the closing. A sign posted on the stores window said it will be merging with the Pinnacle and other stores and we will not be having liquidation or special promotions due to the closing. The chains other store at The Pinnacle retail development off Interstate 81s Exit 74 in Bristol, Tennessee, will remain open and will not be impacted by the closing, according to L Brands. With just three stores remaining, the mall has reduced its hours to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1st R) pose for a photo with Argentine President Mauricio Macri (2nd L) and his wife in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2017. Xi held a welcome ceremony for Macri before their talks. Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said her country plans to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). She made the announcement on May 17 during a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, CCTV reported. A statement on the website of China's Foreign Ministry confirmed that South America's second-largest economy has voiced intentions to join the bank, diversifying its financing for infrastructure projects. China is willing to assist in Argentina's admission, the statement read. If the plan is actualized, Argentina will be the 16th G20 country to join AIIB. Argentina and China previously reached a reciprocal agreement to grant 10-year multiple-entry business and tourist visas, CCTV reported. Argentinean President Mauricio Macri, currently on a state visit to China from May 14 to 18, attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which concluded on Monday. Over the course of his visit, the two countries signed cooperation and financing agreements for investments in Argentina, mainly in the areas of energy, infrastructure and agriculture, Xinhua reported. The deals were worth a total of $15 billion, Argentinatoday.org reported. The agreements are connected to projects including Argentina's planned fourth and fifth nuclear reactors, as well as three solar photovoltaic parks in the country's northwestern Jujuy province, according to Xinhua. An agreement to build the fourth and fifth nuclear power plants in Argentina was signed on May 17, witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentinean counterpart President Macri in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. According to the agreement, construction will be started on a 700,000 kilowatt CANDU-6 pressurized heavy water reactor and a million-kilowatt Hualong-1 reactor in 2018 and 2020 respectively. The project will be jointly carried out by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and Argentinas Nuclearelectrica. CNNC has exported eight nuclear power units to foreign countries to date. The group predicts that the newest agreement will create exports worth over 30 billion RMB ($4.4 billion). Hualong-1 reactors meet all relevant technology requirements and possess full Chinese intellectual property rights as well as good export potential. They are currently being used for domestic construction while also being promoted to overseas markets. Four Hualong-1 reactors are situated at the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province. They have also been deployed at another plant in Fangchenggang in southwestern Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Argentina is home to three pressurized heavy water reactors. However, the third-generation technology, which uses light water reactors, is considered safer and more efficient than previous designs. Maryland election 2022: Dan Cox concedes governor race to Wes Moore Republican Dan Cox conceded the election, calling Governor-elect Wes Moore. But throws jabs at Hogan, more. Google DeepMinds AlphaGo is set to compete against Chinese Go master Ke Jie in an upcoming match. Although the pairing has attracted as much attention as the AIs first match-up with a human, there is much less optimism surrounding the latest go-around. Go, an ancient Chinese board game popular throughout East Asia, involves two contestants moving black and white stones on a square grid with the aim of seizing the most territory. From May 23 to 27, Ke will play three rounds against AlphaGo in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. A team match will also be held between AlphaGo and five Chinese players. This event marks the second DeepMind Challenge Go match, after AlphaGo defeated South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol 4-1 in a best-of-five series in March 2016. Even though Ke bragged last March that AlphaGo would not defeat him, his supporters are palpably less confident than in the past as they wish him good luck. Gu Li, a national Go champion who provided commentary on the AlphaGo-Lee match, said that he gives Ke only a 10 percent chance of winning even one of the three rounds. If the human loses again, we may be able to foresee future Go AI development, like how to make them play against each other. It may also change the rules of Go, Gu told Chinese Business View. Earlier this year, AlphaGos master version recorded 60 victories in a row when playing against Chinese Go players, Gu recalled. Even that was not AlphaGo's best performance. It would be very hard for Ke to play against it, but then again, Ke has also been working extremely hard to change his methods in preparation. I hope he can play well, Gu said. Ke, 20, turned professional in 2008, and has been hailed by media as a Go prodigy. He is the youngest person in history to win three major international Go tournaments, according to the Global Times. Chang Hao, a third-time world Go champion, also said that Ke would face a tough game, and that he hopes Ke can at least win one of the three rounds, Jiefang Daily reported. Computer Go players used to lag far behind professional human players. It was very suspicious when AlphaGo challenged Lee, but their first game changed my view. I was a bit scared and disappointed, because Go is seen as the last fortress of [superior] human intelligence, Chang said. Yet he also acknowledged that a rising AI Go champion could help to raise the traditional game's profile. More than 500 security guards working at Peking University (PKU) have sat for examinations in pursuit of a better education and life over the past 20 years. Some have even acquired master's degrees and become university professors. According to Wang Guiming, head of security at the university, most of the 500 guards currently working on campus hold associate degrees. Some of them have graduated from universities, and 12 even hold master's degrees. Zhang Juncheng, who used to be a security guard at PKU, was admitted to the university's law school after independently studying for the necessary examinations in 1995. Now he is principal of a vocational school in Changzhi, Shanxi province, and he plans to build the first private college in Changzhi within 10 years. Another example is Gan Xiangwei, a security guard at the university who was raised in rural Hubei province. He came to PKU to work in 2007. A year later, he began studying at the university's Department of Chinese Language and Literature. He is now a published author and a frequent public speaker. There is a joke that every security guard is really a philosopher because they constantly ask people about their identities, origins and destinations. Yet behind that joke lies a stark contrast between the guards' lack of formal education and their high intelligence. The successes of PKU's former security guards has contributed immeasurably to subverting harmful prejudices. "China has become an important destination for tourists worldwide, and traces of Chinese tourists can be found in every corner of the world," said Tony Wheeler, co-founder of the world's largest travel guide series, Lonely Planet. Wheeler made the statement on his 20th trip to China, just before the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation kicked off in Beijing. The 71-year-old told the People's Daily that China has experienced a dramatic transformation over the past 30 or 40 years. Wheeler has become something of a China expert after his many trips to the country; he knows the best place for roast duck in Beijing, and loves to ride around Beihai Park on a bicycle. Before arriving in China, Wheeler traveled through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos in a 40-year-old vintage car. His route approximately followed the "Belt and Road" route, starting from Xi'an and Urumqi, and stretching all the way to Kazakhstan. Wheeler's travels first started in 1972 when the newly married man decided to spend a year touring the world with his wife. With a shared passion for travel, the two set out from the U.K., ultimately arriving in Australia after crossing Asia. "There were barely any channels to receive information at that time," Wheeler said, adding that they felt obliged to share their travel experiences with other people when they finished the trip. That was how Wheeler came to establish Lonely Planet. Wheeler said that traveling is the process of discovering the world. New places offer excitement while old ones trigger nostalgia. "There are so many places in the world waiting for us to discover," he added. A number of dilapidated houses in the village of Fanyang in Hainan province have been transformed into brand new houses, as the government carries out a program to lift local villagers out of poverty by 2018. Out of the 767 families in the village, mainly belonging to the Li ethnic minority, 775 people are classified as impoverished. The government helped 44 families to build new houses in 2016, and plans to assist another 40 before the end of 2017. The new homes bear almost no resemblance to the old ones. Many of the villagers expressed gratitude for China's poverty reduction policies, without which they could not have afforded new homes. They added that they will continue to work to shake off poverty and become prosperous in the future. The people of the 10th District and the country at large owe a big debt of gratitude to Congressman McHenry for his role in the passage of the AHCA by the House. While there is credit to go to Speaker Ryan for corralling moderate Republicans, Mark Meadows for bringing home the Freedom Caucus, and President Trump for closing the deal, it is the whip team that makes the call when the bill is set to pass. Thanks to McHenrys diligence, the bill passed with one vote to spare, 217-213, meaning Obamacares days are numbered. Much has been written about the AHCA and its implications for Americans, some of it false. First the bill does not strip away peoples coverage based on a preexisting condition. It allows for states to apply for a waiver to Obamacares onerous community rating requirement. This requirement forces insurance companies to cover circumstances largely inapplicable to peoples circumstances, including coverage for birth control to 60-year-old women. And an insurance company cant force people with preexisting conditions to pay more unless their coverage has lapsed for more than 62 days. Obamacare has entered its death spiral, and McHenry and his fellow Republicans are to be commended for their work to repeal and replace it with a system that works. Just last week, Iowas biggest insurer stated its intent to pull out of the states marketplace, leaving 93 out of 99 counties with only a single insurance provider. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Maryland has requested a 59 percent premium hike for next year, and its Virginia affiliate is calling for a 35 percent hike. The continued premium spikes year to year are unsustainable, and the average deductible for the cheapest Obamacare plan is $6,000. This must end, and Im grateful to Congressman McHenry and his House colleagues that voted to repeal and replace Obamacare. Obama and the Democrats left a mess in the health care industry that President Trump has vowed to clean up. The Democrats will cry for single payer, conveniently omitting that single payer crashed and burned in Bernie Sanders home state of Vermont. Congressman McHenry still has much work ahead as the Senate will be debating the AHCA and sending over their version for another House vote. But as promised, McHenry is helping to deliver the end of Obamacare with a return to free market principles. Promises made, promises kept. Carlton Huffman Granite Falls Rep. Hardister touts budget surplus It was recently announced that North Carolina has a $580.5 million budget surplus for the current fiscal year. This shows that our economy is strong and that our economic policies are working. While many other states struggle to balance their budget, we are showing that tax reform and pro-business policies are the keys to stabilizing budget revenue. To further verify our strong economic standing, Site Selection ranked North Carolina number one in their 2017 "Prosperity Cup." The report cited our simplified tax code, a strong work force and an overall positive business environment as reasons for the ranking. This recognition is evidence that we are serious about job creation and that North Carolina is open for business. North Carolina's economy has produced over 500,000 new jobs since this time in 2011 and we are one of only a few states that has a AAA credit rating from all agencies. We have the 23rd largest economy in the world. This is news that we should all celebrate, regardless of our political views. Let's stay the course and further establish the Old North State as the best place to live, work and raise a family. Rep. Jon Hardister NC House Majority Whip This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ Wang introduces the brikcs to visitors. A 70-year-old man in central Chinas Hubei province plans to build a museum that will showcase his collection of over 5,000 ancient bricks, all retrieved in the past four to five years. The bricks were used to build city walls in the ancient towns of Junzhou and Yunyang during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The walls were eventually dismantled and the bricks became construction material before the two towns were drowned during the construction of a dam in the 1960s. As time passed, some of the bricks were destroyed and others were left to decay. The bricks, the oldest of which date back over 600 years, will be collected in a museum in Danjiangkou, a city in Hubei, according to Wangs plan. The museum will host over 30,000 treasures. Wang's collection Wang has been engaged in the research of Junzhou history and culture for nearly 20 years. He said the biggest brick from the city wall could weigh as much as 30 kilograms, beating its unearthed Ming Dynasty peers in both size and weight. Wang has gone into heavy debt collecting the bricks, but he refuses to dwell on that issue. The walls of ancient Junzhou and Yunyang, though underwater now, are an important part of Chinese city wall history, he emphasized. DMH 11 (Dhara Mustard Hybrid) is the Genetically Modified (GM) version of Mustard that was recently given a nod for commercial cultivation in India by the apex transgenic products regulatory body of the government. DMH 11 is produced by an Indian government institution and said to be commercialised by an Indian company; thus addressing the concerns of farmers of a corporate capture of agriculture. The variety has two main functions that could be attributed to its genetic modification. The first is it makes hybridisation for mustard easier, since mustard is a self-pollinated plant and it is not easy to produce hybrids for mustard. Second, it has a gene that provides the plant with herbicide tolerance. There are speculations and concerns about what it would mean to approve the cultivation of the first genetically modified food crop in India. Till now, Bt cotton, a non-food crop, has been the only GM crop cultivated in India. Similar attempts were made in 2009 to commercially release Bt brinjal, but were stalled by a moratorium in 2010 by the then minister of MoEF Jairam Ramesh. From the Bt Brinjal consultation and moratorium to the nod for commercial cultivation of GM Mustard, what really has changed in the Indian agricultural biotechnology landscape that would give sufficient reasons for common citizens and farmers in remote villages to choose GM mustard this time? Scientists have made claims about the increased productivity of GM mustard, but these claims are not fully supported by available scientific data. On the contrary, civil society organisations have claimed that given the right inputs, some local varieties can produce the same amount of yield with lower farm costs that the GM varieties. The detrimental impacts of synthetic chemicals in the form of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilisers are becoming prominently visible for environment and human health. The increase in the cases of cancer in certain farming regions of Punjab is one such example. In this case, just like in the case of Bt cotton (an insect resistant crop), bringing in a herbicide tolerant crop would increase the tendency of farmers to spray chemicals on the crops and jeopardizing their own health as well as that of water bodies, flora and fauna. This means that even if the yields from GM mustard increases, it is highly unlikely that farm incomes would increase proportionately, as a large amount of money would go in buying more herbicides. Also, weeds will develop herbicide tolerance, leading to even more spraying of herbicides. Many scientists suggest that there should be rules to regulate herbicide spray by farmers, which means they could be penalized or jailed for excessive spraying of chemicals. A similar attempt has been made in the case of farmers who burn agricultural residues on their fields. I met some of these farmers while conducting research, and found that criminalising farmers in this way has a huge negative impact on their dignity and self-esteem rather than changing the practice in any considerable way. Many scientists also claim that commercialisation is the only way to test the viability of GM mustard and it should be left to farmers and consumers to decide what they actually want. This means that scientists want the market mechanism to facilitate the choices of farmers and consumers rather than the democratic system. Markets operate on the principles of monopoly, persuasion, and asymmetry of information and it would not take a genius to guess that intellectual and property rights could be easily transferred to multinational companies as and when required. The acquisition of well performing domestic companies by big multinational is a routine phenomenon in the pharmaceutical industry. The mandates of the Bt brinjal consultation were to develop institutional structures and capacity to ensure safety to environmental and human health, farmers and consumers rights and inclusive decision making for GM crops. Not a single attempt has made in this direction after the Bt brinjal consultation. It remains to be seen whether the government decides on the commercialisation of GM mustard on the basis of half-baked scientific facts and expectations or engages all stakeholders in a more inclusive and democratic manner. Poonam Pandey is postdoctoral fellow, Maastricht University Science Technology and Society Program (MUSTS), The Netherlands The views expressed are personal Central Indias first pride parade was organised by sexual and gender minorities and their supporters on Wednesday in Bhopal to give a befitting reply to doctors and sorcerers who claim that LGBTQIA community people are ill and can be cured by a shock treatment and black magic respectively. The parade was organised on International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia to focus on equal rights, freedom and acceptance of transgender in the society. A community member Deepanshu Goswami said, In small cities like Bhopal when youngsters disclose their orientation in front of their family members, they are taken to sorcerers and doctors for treatment. Now, the understanding among doctors towards LGBT community has increased but black magic practitioners are still harassing us. LGBT community member along with supports waveing Rainbow flag during central India`s first pride parade taken out to mark the International day against Homophobia and Transphobia in Bhopal. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo) A good number of community people from Bhopal participated in the parade in the traditional clothes to make people aware that they were not influenced by western culture and that the community existed in the Indian mythology too. Sumit Pawar from Mumbai, who was dressed like Kamdev, said, Our mythological books and architecture prove that LGBTQIA community existed in the ancient India too. In Khajuraho, architects freely made sculptures of lesbian and gay but now people feel awkward in discussing such issues. Many disclosed their gender orientation for the first time in the parade. A student from a reputed college of Bhopal realised recently that she was bisexual. I recently realised that I am bisexual. I was trying to gather courage to tell others. This parade is really a big platform for people like me to disclose their sexual orientation. According to Kakoli Bhattacharya, one of the organisers, the event is meant to bring awareness in society towards the rights of LGBTQIA community and promote their social acceptance irrespective of gender, caste and status. LGBTQIA stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual communities. The Bhopal Pride Parade voluntary group and NGOs-Mitra Shringar Samiti and Anmol Sewa Sanstha. YINCHUAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China, have discovered 13 sites that have hundreds of Neolithic artifacts, Xinhua was told Thursday. The 13 sites, in the city of Guyuan, include tombs, kilns and cave dwellings, human bones, and pottery utensils and fragments of red and black pottery. "The sites have been linked to the Qijia culture, around 4,000 years ago, which was a transitional period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age," said Ma Qiang with the Ningxia Regional Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. "The discoveries at the sites will be used to inform research into the Qijia Culture," he said. The sites were found during a month-long project. Archaeologists also discovered 10 sites containing artifacts and tombs from the Zhou Dynasty (1046-221 BC), which could be used by researchers concerned with the relationship between ethnic minorities and the Great Wall. Ma told Xinhua that the team had applied for an excavation license. Actor Ali Fazal was on cloud nine when he got the offer to play the lead alongside Hollywood star Judi Dench in a biographical dramaVictoria and Abduldirected by Stephen Frears. The actor, who recently finished shooting for the film says that Judi is in love with India and considers the country her second home. Judi is very keen on visiting India again. Its on her priority list. She calls India her second home. After having spent a considerable time here for the shooting of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), she fell in love with the country. She also wants to promote our film [Victoria and Abdul] here in India, says Ali, adding that he has had the best time of his life sharing screen space with Judi. With my Queen. And our two friends . A post shared by ali fazal (@alifazal9) on Oct 27, 2016 at 4:43am PDT The Fukrey (2013) actor has already decided the places where he will take the actor for sight-seeing. I am actually looking forward to taking her around places I know she would like for sure. I have even told her that whenever she lands here, I will make sure she experiences Indian life, culture and food, he smiles. Ali, who has earlier been a part of the Hollywood film Furious 7 (2015), says after the biographical drama by Stephen Frears, he has got a couple of offers for international projects through a renowned UK based agency, which handles the likes of Judi, Jude Law and Daniel Day Lewis. I have already met two-three directors and also received two scripts. I am currently reading them. If things fall in place, then I may sign one of these films, adds Ali. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Now we know what makes Boman Irani emotional. The actor recently broke down during the shoot of the reality show, Sabse Bada Kalakar, when the makers decided to surprise him with a video of his mother talking about him. Boman was really touched by the gesture. In the audio-visual, Jerbanu, Bomans mother spoke at length about the hardships he has faced and how he had come a long way. She praised him for being her obedient son, who has always been there and is a family person. Jerbanu also said that she is proud of Boman and feels blessed to have a son like him. These kind words from her mother brought tears in Bomans eyes and his co-judges, Raveena Tandon and Arshad Warsi, and anchor, Jay Bhanushali, consoled him. He also got a standing ovation from everyone on the set for being such a good son. Shot 6 images on the new Huawei P9 phone that we just launched. This 1st image is of my mom. Will post the other 5 too. Would love to know your reactions. Hope you like it. . #huaweip9 #mom #mother A post shared by Boman Irani (@boman_irani) on Aug 17, 2016 at 3:37am PDT My mother actually means the world to me. She was pregnant with me when I lost my father. She has been my pillar of strength and has encouraged me in every sphere of my life from my education to my journey of becoming an actor. Today, whatever I am, it is all because of her. Even today, she is there to guide me whenever I need someone by my side. With her, I still feel childlike, young and energetic. She truly is my inspiration, says Boman, who is known for his films such as, Main Hoon Na (2004), Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (2005), Heyy Babyy (2007), Housefull 3 (2016). The Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003) actor also shared that how her mother took him to watch good films and explained cinematography and other nuances about films. I am a grandfather now, but still my mother keeps a check on me and even gives me pocket money. She makes me feel young at times, he adds. My little Ziaan illuminating the frame with his darling profile! . #eyeboman #iphone A post shared by Boman Irani (@boman_irani) on Mar 30, 2017 at 2:42am PDT Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Veteran actor Reema Lagoos sudden death has left everyone shocked. The actor, 59, died today morning after suffering a cardiac arrest. In her career spanning almost four decades, Reema had worked with several leading names from the film industry. One of her most memorable roles was in the 1994 film Huma Aapke Hain Koun...!! where she played the role of a mother to actors Madhuri Dixit and Renuka Shahne. Remembering Reema, Renuka took to Facebook and shared an emotional post for the actor along with some beautiful black and white pictures, which she clicked while they were shooting together for a film. In her post, 51-year-old Renuka has shared memories of meeting Reema for the first time and the kind of bond she shared with the senior actor. In the ode, Renuka also recalls how Reema would be protective about her and take care of her like a close friend. Renuka Shahane worked with Reema Lagoo in a Marathi film as well. Reema, who has acted in several Bollywood and Marathi films, was mostly known for her motherly roles in films and her characters in comedy television shows such as Tu Tu - Main Main and Shriman Shrimati. She reportedly complained of chest pain at 1am on Wednesday night, and was rushed to Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai. She passed away at 3.15 am after a cardiac arrest. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Bhagyashree, who worked with late actor Reema Lagoo in the film Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), says the news of her untimely death came as a shock to her. The 48-year-old says that no matter what, Reema was always happy and brightened up the sets. My first memory of her is her peach complexion and light eyes. She reminded me so much of my mother. It didnt take me long to get close to her. She was one person who was always smiling. We would often sit and just chit-chat, says Bhagyashree. The actor says that she has fond memories of the Sooraj Barjatya directorial , thanks to Reema . I remember the shoot of Maine Pyar Kiya. She was a mother-in-law anyone would want. She was always so lively, she says. Bhagyashree regrets not keeping in touch with her. Such times make you think that you meet so many wonderful people in your life, but our personal lives take over. It gets tough to keep in touch. Then when you get such news, you feel lost. She was such a lovely person and I feel why didnt I keep in touch with her. I hope God gives her peace, she says. Reema Lagoo died of cardiac arrest on Thursday morning. She was 59. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Reema Lagoo, who died Thursday morning after a cardiac arrest in Mumbai, is best known as the onscreen mom of Salman Khan in Maine Pyar Kiya. Apart from her award-winning roles in Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Aashiqui, she has worked in a few movies that may not be on top of recall value among her fans. Heres a look at some of her roles in films lesser-known films: Rihaee (1988) Reema played a mother to two boys in the film that starred Naseeruddin Shah, Vinod Khanna and Hema Malini in lead roles. Rui Ka Bojh (1997) Reema played the daughter-in-law to Pankaj Kapur. Kapur is a self-respecting, wise old man who divides his property amongst his family. After staying with his youngest son and daughter-in-law for some time, he does not get along with them and renounces the mortal world forever, shifting to a temple. It is on his way to the temple that he changes his mind and recalls the affection which his family gave him and comes back. Aunty No 1 (1998) She played a small role of the real Maharani Kanaklakshmi of Kanda. Before her graceful entry, Govinda takes upon the persona of the queen and tries to help his friends. Contrary to her usual roles, Reema had a small romantic sequence with Saeed Jaffrey in the film . Vaastav: The Reality (1999) This may not qualify as little-known but is clearly one of the strongest characters Reema played in her Bollywood career. Main Hoon Part-Time Killer (2015) Previously titled Main Hoon Rajinikanth, the film was a spoof that faced legal troubles due to the name that was eventually changed before the release. Reema played herself in the spoof in the film directed by Faisal Saif and parodied her own characters. Follow @htshowbiz for more Sushant Singh Rajput believes that his fans give him constant support and thats what keeps him going. Its their love that has made him what he is today. May be thats why, Sushant never misses a chance to interact with his fans and make them happy. Recently, the 31-year-old not just obliged his fans with photos and autographs, but also treated them with great food. A few days back, while returning home after a rigorous gym session, Sushant saw a bunch of fans outside the gate of his housemostly college students, who had been waiting for long to catch a glimpse of their favourite actor, who has been a part of films such as Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), PK (2014), Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) and M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). Sushant surprised them by stepping out of his car and meeting them in person. He in fact, interacted with each one of them, and clicked photos and signed autographs too, informs a source, close to the actor. But fans were in for a pleasant surprise when Sushant treated them with home-cooked food and gave them water bottles, as they were waiting for him in the scorching heat for hours. They were completely overwhelmed with his gesture. Anyway, Sushant enjoys interacting with his fans, and even has regular conversations with them on Twitter. He never takes them for granted and thanks them all the time for their support, the source adds. Qusoor hai ya koi ye fitoor hai Kyun lage sab kuch andhera hai Bas yeh hi noor hai Kuch toh hai tujhse #raabta A post shared by Sushant Singh Rajput (@sushantsinghrajput) on May 5, 2017 at 10:16pm PDT Sushant, who would be seen romancing Kriti Sanon in his next film Raabta, recently announced his decision to provide education to underprivileged children. My team at the moment is shortlisting few schools, where they will organise merit tests. We plan to provide the education cost for a year for those, who will pass the test, the actor was quoted as saying. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias environment minister died on Thursday, depriving Prime Minister Narendra Modis government of a key figure as it considers whether to approve the countrys first genetically modified food crop. Anil Madhav Dave, 60, died in hospital after complaining of feeling unwell, a day after attending a cabinet meeting. The two-term lawmaker from Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, a veteran of Hindu-nationalist umbrella group the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was named last year as minister for the environment, forest and climate change. Dave had been due to take a final decision on an application for an indigenously developed GM crop of mustard, which is similar to rapeseed. A ministry panel recently recommended allowing commercial cultivation of the oilseed. Modi has chosen Harsh Vardhan, the current cabinet minister for science and technology and earth sciences, to take on the additional portfolio of the environment, forest and climate change ministry, the presidents office said. India on Thursday proposed a new legislation to confiscate assets of offenders who leave the country to escape legal actions, in a move aimed at punishing high-profile defaulters such as Vijay Mallya. The finance ministry has prepared a draft Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill and sought public comments. It is widely felt that the spectre of high-value economic offenders absconding from India to defy the legal process seriously undermines the rule of law in India, the ministry said in a statement. It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed. In his Budget speech on February 1, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government was considering to introduce legislative changes or even a new law to confiscate the assets of such absconders till they submit to the jurisdiction of the appropriate legal forum. In the recent past, there have been instances of big time offenders, including economic offenders, fleeing the country to escape the reach of law. We have to ensure that the law is allowed to take its own course, Jaitley had said. All necessary constitutional safeguards will be followed in such cases, he assured lawmakers. Accordingly, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill has been drawn up. The move comes days after the Supreme Court found troubled liquor baron Mallya guilty of contempt and asked him to appear before it on July 10, an order expected to help Indias case to seek his extradition from the UK. The 61-year-old businessman had failed to submit details of all his assets, upholding a plea by a consortium of banks to which he owes more than Rs 9,000 crore. The money is owed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012. India has impressed upon the UK to expedite the request for extradition of Mallya and other Indian fugitives. Indias air traffic rose 17.7% in January-April as nimble-footed private carriers such as Indigo and SpiceJet gained market share while state-owned Air India continued to slip. Indian carriers flew 364.13 lakh passengers during the first four months of 2017, as against 309.35 lakh a year ago, the ministry of civil aviation said in a release. In April, the airlines carried 91.34 lakh passengers, shade higher than 90.46 lakh in March but 15.2% higher than a year ago. Passenger Growth Passenger Load Factor OTP at Four Metro Airports Air India flew 11.8 lakh people in April, which is almost the same as March. Private players carried 79.54 lakh passengers in April, compared to 78.66 lakh in March. The market share of Air India slipped to 12.9% in April from an average 13.6% during January-March. Private players on the other hand grabbed 87.1% in April compared with an average 86.4% in the first three months of 2017. Indigo increased its dominance in the Indian sky by hiking its market share to 41.4% in April from 39.9% in March, while Jet Airways cornered 15.2%. SpiceJet caught up with Air India by increasing its market share to 12.9%, while Go Air had 8.1%. New entrants Air Asia had 3.3% and Vistara 3.2% in the fiercely competitive Indian airline sector. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Wednesday said it will approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge the Italian Supreme Courts decision upholding the ban on Sikhs carrying kirpan (a ceremonial dagger) in public. A Sikh migrant had appealed against a lower courts decision ordering him to pay $2,195 (Rs1,40,700) for carrying a kirpan. Addressing a press conference here, SGPC president Kirpal Singh Bandugar said that court decision is a matter of great concern and they have decided to file a petition in ICJ to the safeguard Sikhs rights to wear its religious symbol. In the petition, we will request ICJ to allow the Sikhs to wear their religious symbols across the world, he said. He said the SGPC has already taken up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to intervene in the matter and to take up it with the Italian counterpart. He said the Italian courts decision is against the basic tenets of Sikhism, which has a distinct identity because of special religious symbols, which Sikhs wore. On the issue of alleged distortion of facts in Sikh Mahan Kosh, a Punjabi language encyclopedia, he said the matter is already in the high court. The SGPC will not tolerate any change in proven facts, which some Punjabi University employees had made while publishing the encyclopedia. About the selection of new vice-chancellor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib University, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bandugar said a screening committee has been formed to shortlist Sikh academicians to take call on this. He said former chief secretary RS Mann will head the committee. He said the SGPC has started activities by dividing the state into three parts to promote Sikhism. BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The top economic planner said Thursday that it had approved 12 fixed-asset investment projects with total investment reaching 141.6 billion yuan (about 20.56 billion U.S. dollars) in April. The projects were mainly in the areas of energy, water conservation and transportation, according to Meng Wei, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Of the 12 projects, five were related to energy, according to Meng, who pointed to one project on the east route of the of China-Russia natural gas pipeline as an example. The pipeline project, which commenced in 2014, will diversify China's natural gas imports and ensure a steady natural gas supply domestically, said Meng. Under a 30-year contract, the east route pipeline will export 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to China annually from 2018. China's investment in fixed assets rose 8.9 percent year on year in the first four months of 2017, down from 9.2 percent in the first quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Earlier this month, Indias attorney general Mukul Rohatgi had to respond to criticism at the United Nations Human Rights Council over recent episodes of anti-African violence in the country. He insisted that, as the land of Gandhi and the Buddha, India could not have a racist mindset. It was a wishfully optimistic statement and, of course, not remotely true. Having grown up outside of India, Ive always been struck on my trips home by the perverse obsession with colour. The glorification of fair skin is a recurring and inescapable feature of Indian life. Just last week, a fringe Hindu group won global attention for promising to customise fair offspring for dark-skinned parents. I live in the United States, which of course has its own long and shameful history of racism. But in the 21st century, no single skin tone is venerated there. Thats in part because in American public culture, there is an increasingly broad representation of racial and cultural types. From comic books to advertisements to movies, its growing more common to see a diverse range of people, including dark-skinned Indians. A fine actor like Sendhil Ramamurthy would never pass through casting calls in Mumbai. Likewise, when the Indian American model Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America 2014, some Indians mused correctly that she would be too dark to ever win the equivalent prize in India. Yes, theres still much progress to be made in the West. Several years ago, black actors threatened to boycott the Oscars because the major nominations had all gone to white actors. Offensive stereotypes also remain pervasive in much of the TV and film industry. But at least there is the recognition that because Americans are multiple, so too must American visions of beauty be multiple. In India, we worry about racism against Indians in places like Australia and the United States, but we dont consider our daily biases towards our compatriots to be racist. Were hesitant to apply the term racism or race at all. Arent we all Indians? Former BJP MP Tarun Vijay said in April that Indians werent racist because the nation included South Indians. But actually, there was an admirable honesty in Vijays earlier clumsiness. He had violated the piety that prevents us from accepting that India is not just a multicultural society, but a multiracial one. I dont mean to use the word multiracial to denote specific, coherent races. Rather, I use it to recognise the great spectrum of complexion that exists in India. Indians do come in all manner of colours, a reflection of millennia of migrations and cultural mingling. We arent Indians in any simple, single way. And yet we uphold only a single standard of beauty. The leading lights of Bollywood are so much fairer than the average Indian. Advertisements in magazines and roadside hoardings all promote a vision of excellence based on light skin. To the hundreds of millions of Indians who can never aspire to this ideal, their own skin is often a source of embarrassment or frustration, something to scrub away with chemicals or doggedly hide from the sun. Several Bollywood actors have campaigned against fairness creams and the cosmetic industry that valorises light skin. But the pressure should be on directors, curators and advertising executives to bring Indians of all colours into the limelight. The only way to beat endemic racism and chip away at our prejudices is through representation, through elevating a wider spectrum of Indians in public culture. Kanishk Tharoor is the author of Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Animal rights activists have questioned a court of inquiry ordered by the Indian army against a Dehradun-based officer who allegedly beat three puppies to death and injured another two at Nature Road area over a week ago. Activist Puja Bahukhandi, who lodged a complaint against Major Manish Thapa, alleged that the basic charge of killing the four-month-old puppies as mentioned in the first information report (FIR) did not even figure in the court of inquiry. She further accused the Army of trying to absolve the accused of his offence. According to Bahukhandi, the incident occurred when the puppies began barking at Major Thapas German Shepherd on the night of May 11. In a fit of rage, the Army officer killed the animals and disposed of their bodies. Bahukhandi lodged an FIR against him with the Dehradun Cantonment police the next day. The Army officer did not respond to calls by HT. I have serious doubts if the Army is interested in taking action against Major Thapa, the animal rights activist said, adding that the crux of the inquiry dwells on a dispute between the Army officer and a female Lt Colonel in his neighbourhood. The woman officer had reportedly taken exception to the accuseds act. Bahukhandi alleged that despite repeated attempts, she was not allowed to visit the general officer in command of the Dehradun Cantonment to hand over a copy of the FIR. The Dehradun police, for their part, are still investigating the case. The Army officer has been booked under sections 428, 229 and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The matter is under investigation, and we will not hesitate to take stern action against him, said Dedhradun superintendent of police (city) Pradeep Rai, adding that several witnesses have been questioned. DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government will reduce royalty charges on collection of river bed material as part of its efforts to check illegal mining. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also ordered officials to constitute a joint task force comprising officers from forest, mining, transport and police departments to monitor and to check illegal mining along river banks. The current fee of about Rs 20 for per quintal on river bed material can now go down to Rs 10, officials said. However, the transit fee will be increased from Rs 15 to Rs 50. At a review meeting in the capital on Thursday, the chief minister directed officers to take all steps for keeping a check on illegal mining. Rawat flayed the previous Harish Rawat-led Congress government, saying the transit fee was brought down from Rs 50 to Rs 15 for granting personal favours. To favour a section, Harish Rawat minimised transit fee to Rs 15, which will be now increased to Rs 50. We realised one of the main causes of illegal mining is the royalty sum which is about Rs 20 per quintal. This will be brought down to facilitate legal mining, forest minister Harak Singh Rawat told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the meeting. Meanwhile, the chief minister directed officials to draw a policy to check the menace of monkeys and boars. He stressed on boosting drive to sterilise of monkeys. The Chidiapur rescue centre at Haridwar is the lone facility where sterilisation of monkeys are done in Uttarakhand. Rawat was informed that the forest department has sought permission from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) to provide extension for culling wild pigs. The department has asked the central government to allow hunting of wild boars till 2020 for safeguarding crops in agricultural lands adjoining forested areas. The CM advised officials to make necessary arrangements so that culling could be done after due permission. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a case of revenge killing, a 17-year-old youth out on parole and his four adult friends allegedly murdered two men in west and central Delhi within a gap of two hours. Just a week before the double murder, the boy had been released from a juvenile justice home on parole in a snatching case, said a senior police officer. The boy had been apprehended at least thrice in the past for various street crimes. Ever since he was out on parole, the boy had been allegedly seeking revenge against his two rivals, Sunil and Rahul, who had stabbed him around a year ago following a series of quarrels over petty issues. On Friday night, the boy allegedly called his 22-year-old friend, Manoj, and three others and decided to get his revenge. Together, they visited Sunils locality in west Delhis Khyala area and called him out to a park on the pretext of resolving their issues. But soon after Sunil reached the park, he was allegedly stabbed with a knife and left to bleed to death. They even allegedly snatched Sunils gold chain before leaving the murder spot. The alleged killers then headed out to kill Rahul who lived in Nabi Karim. Manoj, however, decided not to accompany them as he got a call from his family asking him to be home. With the remaining of his friends, the boy allegedly barged into Rahuls home in Nabi Karim around two hours later. They dragged him to an isolated spot near his home and stabbed him over 20 times, killing him on the spot. Having got their revenge, the killers parted ways even as the police of both the districts formed teams to crack the murder cases. Manoj was arrested by the west Delhi police team within hours. At his instance, the central Delhi police team managed to nab the boy too on Saturday. The gold chain robbed from murdered Sunil too has been recovered. The police are yet to nab the other three persons involved in the double murder. They have been identified but remain on the run. A bus stand on the Ring Road in Lajpat Nagar became the first in Delhi to be air-conditioned. The initiative, reported PTI, was part of a marketing campaign by an AC manufacturer. People on social media platform Twitter praised the project, hailing it as timely for coming at a time of the year when temperatures soar to 40-plus levels. Wednesday saw the maximum settle at 43Celsius in some parts of the city. The bus stop was covered with transparent plastic curtains, and photos showed a large AC unit installed inside, secured with a chain. PTI quoted an unnamed government official as saying the installation was done by a Japanese multinational firm in cooperation with a private agency that has advertising rights on Delhi Transport Corporations bus stands. Advertisements for the companys products were also put up. It was not immediately clear how long the project will continue. Delhis bus stops have seen such installations in the past. In December, a telecommunications service provider installed air purifiers at several stops . That project coincided with a period when air pollution is usually high in the Capital as farmers burn crop residue in surrounding states. In a grim reminder of the Rohtak rape case, a six-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather in south Delhis Saket area on Tuesday. She has been admitted to a hospital with internal injuries. The police have arrested the man who allegedly tried to rape the girl twice before. The matter came to light on Wednesday after the girl complained about pain in her private parts to her mother. Though her mother ignored it, a woman in the neighbourhood later saw the girl bleeding. She said when she confronted the girls mother, she was told that it was their private matter and they did not want her to interfere. The girl often played with my children. On Wednesday morning when I was sitting outside my house, I saw the girl in pain. She was bleeding and throwing up. When I asked her if she informed her mother about it, she said her mother had refused to take her to a doctor, the neighbour, who is not being named to protect the identity of the victim, said. The woman then called up Delhi governments woman helpline number - 181 - and also informed the police. The police then took the girl for a medical examination, which revealed that she had been sexually abused. The mother wanted me to keep quiet, the neighbour alleged. When I tried to talk to the girl in front of her stepfather, she told me that she fell from the stairs and got injured, she said. According to the woman, when the girl tried to speak to her, her stepfather slapped her and confined her to the house. Thats when she decided to report them to the police. In her statement, the girl alleged that her stepfather took her to a house in Saket where he worked as a cook and allegedly sexually assaulted her. She alleged that he told her he was doing it for her good. She said when she tried to raise an alarm, he threatened her of dire consequences. Following the information, the man was arrested on Thursday. A case of rape has been registered against him, a senior police officer said. According to the police, the man had allegedly attempted to rape the girl earlier too. On Tuesday, he took her with him on the pretext to show her his workplace. Police said he knew that he would be alone at home as his employers were out. He took that opportunity to assault the girl. He told her he would kill her and her mother if she dared to reveal it to anyone, a police officer said. The girl is now undergoing treatment. She is in a state of shock. After she recuperates, we will rope in an NGO for her counselling, a police officer said. The couple has five children. We received a call on womens helpline 181 and a counsellor was sent to the victims house. Police were informed. The girls condition is very serious. Her private parts are infected with pus and according to the doctors, she will have to undergo surgery. We will monitor the case, officials from the Delhi Commission for Women said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a curious turn of events in the Aam Aadmi Party funding controversy, a resident of east Delhi, Mukesh Sharma, on Thursday claimed he owns the four companies that had donated R 50 lakh each to the party in April 2014. As the AAP leadership, including chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, promoted a report related to the individual on social media, sacked minister Kapil Mishra claimed he would expose the man and links of AAPs funding with hawala operators on Friday. The AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), a breakaway faction of AAP, had in February 2015 alleged that the four donors --- Sky line Metal & Alloy Pvt LTD, Sunvision agencies Pvt LTD, Infolense software solutions LTD, Goldmine & buildcon Pvt LTD --- were shell companies. It accused the AAP of accepting illegal money. The alleged expose had provided AAPs political opponents an opportunity to hit the party just ahead of the 2015 assembly polls. The income tax department had initiated a probe into the matter, which is still to be closed. In a repeat of the allegations, sacked water minister Kapil Mishra said on Sunday that the AAP had been accepting illegal money through shell companies, including the four firms, over the past three years. Sharma, a resident of Ganga Vihar near Gokulpuri in east Delhi, told Hindustan Times that he finally decided to reveal his identity as he realised Kapil Mishra was making wrong allegations on AAP funding even as he underlined that he was no way connected to the Kejriwal-led party. Sharma, who claimed to be in tobacco and property business, said he is already being probed by the income tax department and was open for further questioning. He challenged Mishra to prove him wrong legally. I had donated through cheque. I didnt come out in public for two reasons. Firstly, being a brahmin, I dont do charity for anything in return. Also, initially when the issue first came in media I was in Rajasthan and panicked, Sharma said. On the allegation that neither he nor any business enterprise was found at the registered address of the companies when the matter came to light, Sharma claimed he had directed the occupants of the previous address not to reveal his identity as he was worried about the fallout. All four companies are operational. Three are registered in Karawal Nagar, one is registered in Alipur, he said. A yagya (a ritual conducted in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras) will kickstart a day-long seminar on Nationalistic Journalism in Current Scenario: Media and Myth, at Delhis Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) on May 20. After the yagya, which will be a private affair as per the organizers, a session on Nationalistic Journalism in Current Perspective will be held during which IIMC director general KG Suresh will be one of the speakers. The session was earlier scheduled to be moderated by Hitesh Shankar, editor of Panchajanya, a mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), but event organizers said that Shankar wont be coming due to prior engagements and instead an anchor from a news channel has been invited. The event has garnered sharp reactions from a section of former and current students who have criticized the institute for allowing a religious activity to be held at the campus. However, Suresh has clarified the institute is not organizing the event and is only letting out its premises. IIMC is a public funded institute and organizing any religious activities on its campus is not right. The state cannot promote any one religion, said Avinash Chanchal, a former student and a former member of IIMC Alumni Association. Another student Rohin Verma said, Our opposition to the yajna is because educational institutions should not have religious activities of any kind. IIMC is neither a Saraswati mandir nor a madrassa. Verma, interestingly, had been earlier suspended by the institute for violating IIMCs code of conduct after he wrote an article on sacking of a faculty member. His suspension was later revoked. Some students have also raised objection to the presence of former Bastar inspector general of police SRP Kalluri in one of the sessions. It is ironic that a person who has been sent notice by NHRC is coming to IIMC to give a talk, said Vikas K Sahu, a former student from Chhattisgarh. Ashish Anshu from Media Scan, one of the organizers of the event, said Kalluri too is yet to confirm his participation. The IIMC director general said, We are not organising the event or the yagya; none of our students or faculty members will be asked to attend. The event is being organised by a media organisation and as a media institution we are only extending support by letting out the premises, he said. Suresh said IIMCs role is limited to offering their auditorium, which is why the invitation card shows the institutes logo. If this is being dubbed as Hindutva, then what would you call the step by the UPA government to install an idol of Goddess Saraswati on the premises? Saraswati Puja is held every year in JNU and at the IIMC campus, Suresh said. He also said the institute organizes Holi, Diwali and Raksha Bandhan festivities for foreign students to understand Indian culture. How is this saffronisation? he said. After missing multiple deadlines, seven multilevel parking projects in North Delhi seem to be finally on track. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has completed tendering process for two multilevel parking sites in Rani Bagh and Shiva Market. For remaining ones in Shastri Park, Idgah, Gandhi Maidan, Rajendra Nagar and Shalimar Bagh, works have been expedited and tendering will be completed in two months, said a senior official of North Corporation. On the instructions of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, officials of the North Corporation held a meeting, after which the works were speeded up. December 2019 was fixed as the deadline for all the projects, the NDMC official said. The facilities will have space to park 5,600 cars 600 in Rani Bagh, 500 in Shiva Market, 600 in Shastri Park, 1,000 in Idgah, 1,000 in Gandhi Maidan, 700 in Rajendra Nagar and 200 in Shalimar Bagh. The Rani Bagh multilevel car parking site, to be developed at cost of Rs 60 crore, will be spread across 4,000 square metres and will be nine floors high. Shiva Market too will have a nine-storied parking lot, which will be spread across 2,600 square metres and will cost around Rs 50 crore. We have struck a deal with private players, under which they will develop these two parking lots. They will pay a fixed amount to the corporation. In return, they can use an equal space that they have developed for parking, for commercial use and earn money through it, the NDMC official added. It has also been decided that Gandhi Maidan and Idgah multilevel parking sites will be developed by the corporation itself. Others are likely to be developed by private players, the official said. The car parking site at Idgah would be of 27,990 square metres and would be of three floors; the one in Gandhi Maidan would be around 6,000 square metres. Details for other projects will be chalked out in a months time. Most of these multilevel parking projects have missed multiple deadlines. Rani Bagh and Shiva Market projects were conceived in 2012 and others were proposed in later years. Existing parking projects in North Delhi The North Corporation presently has parking lots in Gandhi Mela Ground with a capacity of 1,600 cars; Church Mission Road that can accommodate 600 cars; Asaf Ali Car has space for 2,000 cars. In Model Town II, the multilevel parking site has space for 105 cars; Parade Ground 1,000 cars; Kamla Nagar 828 cars. In Kamla Nagar, the parking lot remains underutilised, as the waiting time is more due to the facility being automated. In Model town, people mostly prefer surface parking over multilevel one. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias gambit of approaching the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case has paid off. Passing interim orders, the court has directed Pakistan to ensure that Mr Jadhav - accused and convicted of spying and subversive activities - is not executed till the case is finally decided. From here on, it would take a year of more for the court to conclusively decide the issues raised by India. The order is historic. This is because the last time in 1999, when the two countries went to the world court over shooting of a Pakistani military plane by India the ICJ said that it had no authority to decide the case. But 18 years on, the ICJ in changed circumstances has come to a different conclusion. For India, this verdict is a victory. India has not only saved its citizen from the gallows but also its image of not being the meddlesome actor in Balochistan in Pakistan. Mr Jadhav was allegedly arrested from Balochistan. Theres a flip side to the story too. After this ruling, nothing stops Pakistan in future from approaching the world court for consular access for Pakistan terrorists arrested by the Indian security forces. And if read with the world courts dismissal of Pakistans argument that Vienna Convention on Consular Relations doesnt apply to people suspected of terrorism, there are implications for India. For Pakistan, this verdict could trigger fresh round of bickering between the Nawaz Sharif government and the military. While the military establishment wants to send Mr Jadhav to the gallows, the civilian government is under an international obligation to protect him till the case is finally decided. This verdict also poses a serious challenge for the already strained India-Pakistan relations. The ruling may have come in Indias favour but theres a gap that this order does not address. On the core issue of granting consular access to Mr Jadhav, the court is silent and in the days to come the only comfort for him will be that he will not be hanged soon. BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China will hold the 40th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and 20th Committee for Environmental Protection meetings from May 22 to June 1, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday. Hua made the announcement at a daily press briefing, saying that Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a speech. The ATCM is an annual decision-making mechanism established under the the Antarctic Treaty. China acceded to the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and became a consultative member two years later. "This is the first time for China to hold the consultative meeting," said Hua. Some 400 delegates from 42 countries and 10 international organizations have already signed up for the meetings. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will hold a welcome banquet and give a speech, said Hua. The main focuses of the meetings will include the operation of the Antarctic Treaty system, climate change, tourism and Antarctic's special protection and management regions. "We will issue a press communique as the host country to present main achievements of the meetings," said Hua. "We will also hold a special meeting, issue 'China's Antarctic Undertaking' and sign MOUs with the United States, Russia and Germany," said Hua. It was a step which was long overdue. The Union cabinet has cleared amendments to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act to ensure that our parliamentarians and bureaucrats dont use their clout to flout accommodation norms. The amendments will ensure that ministers, Members of Parliament and bureaucrats do not continue to overstay their welcome in government bungalows even after their term is over. Theyll also have to pay steep penalties. Anybody overstaying beyond five months, for instance, will have to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh. At present, a former minister can hold on to official accommodation for a month after demitting office. Once the stipulated time to vacate the house is over, the urban development ministry takes about two months to begin eviction proceedings. This gave ample time to squatters to get a stay and stall eviction. The amendments will ensure that the ministry begins eviction proceeding within three days after the stipulated time given to a former MP or a retired official is over. About 70 officials have moved the courts and continue to occupy government premises for two years beyond the due date for vacating them. Former ministers and senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Kumari Selja are among those whove unsuccessfully tried to get relief from action against overstaying. Around the world, in most democracies, the concept of official accommodation, except for the president or prime minister, is unheard of. In India, on the other hand, not only do politicians and bureaucrats take this perk for granted, they also shamelessly squat on official accommodation long after eviction notices are served. Last year, a Right to Information reply revealed that as many as 60 parliamentarians owed close to Rs 1 crore as rental charges for overstaying in government accommodation long after leaving office. Since it assumed power in May 2014, the NDA government has evicted about 1,500 officials and MPs. It is a departure from earlier governments that chose to ignore the transgressions of VIPs holding on to prime real estate in Lutyens Delhi. Although moves such as banning the red beacon on politicians vehicles and evicting netas are mostly symbolic, they go a long way in sending out the signal that the government is gradually doing away with the culture of undue perks and privileges for VIPs. Students of Delhi government schools will have to write the compulsory Class 10 board examinations based on the complete syllabus. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rejected the AAP governments demand that students should be judged on half the syllabus on the semester exam format. Sources said the CBSE the countrys largest education board has written to the Delhi government, saying norms cannot be diluted just for one state. The Delhi government had written to the CBSE, arguing that Class 10 students should be evaluated on only half the syllabus for two years as they arent ready enough to face the tough test. The CBSE had last year made Class 10 examinations compulsory from this next academic session (2017-18) after widespread criticism of the earlier system of optional tests and automatic promotion. After receiving their request, we sent them a letter saying we cant allow this at this juncture as board exams have been made compulsory. We cant have different rules for different states. They will have to follow the same system, said a senior CBSE official. The board officials said a semester-based assessment couldnt be called a board examination, which had to be based on an annual syllabus. More than 15 lakh students study in over 1,000 Delhi government schools. Delhi government officials maintained that they supported board exams but as the students are used to the semester system, they had requested the CBSE to assess them on that format. In a letter to the Central Board of Secondary Education in January, the Delhi education department said students of Class 9 and 8 who will face the first and second editions of the compulsory examination in 2018 and 2019, respectively should be given a breather for two years. The letter said these students were used to the semester system under which pupils are examined every six months and so, they should be assessed only for one semester in their Class 10 exams for two years. This effectively meant a halving of the syllabus as the board examinations assess a candidate on a years learning. We had only requested that the semester system should continue for Class 9 and 10 students for an interim of two years as they had to go through various experiments of no-detention policy, CCE (continuous and comprehensive evaluation) among others, and will find it (board exams) difficult to adjust. We didnt ask this for our students only but for everyone, said a senior DoE official. Last December, the CBSE made Class 10 exam compulsory in its schools, doing away with a policy formed five years ago that offered a choice to students to opt for the board-conducted finals or let the institution assess their performance. The previous policy was roundly criticised for lower performance levels among children and blamed for falling test scores. The decision was taken by the governing body of the CBSE, which runs more than 18,000 schools in the country, including government schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas and private institutions. A Central Board of Secondary Education notification earlier this month said students appearing for the Class 10 exam will have to study the complete years syllabus and score 33% in both theory and internal assessment to pass. To roll out compulsory Class 10 board examination in 2018, schools will have to start internal assessment from this year. Unlike other states, Delhi does not have its own education board and is affiliated to the CBSE. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pranay Varada, a 14-year-old Indian-American student, has won the prestigious $50,000 National Geographic Bee competition, maintaining the dominance of the community in the contest. I was absolutely sure I could win that challenge, Varada said soon after bagging the coveted competition, which for the past one decade has been dominated by Indian- Americans. Having done this for such a long time and winning it now, its just a feeling of satisfaction, Varada, an eighth grader from Texas, said. A runner up last year, Varada this time did not want to give any chance. He was declared the winner as he won the first tie breaker question when he correctly identified the Kunlun Mountains as the 1,200 mile range that separates the Taklimakan Desert from the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, he gets $50,000 in scholarship and other prizes. Veda Bhattaram another Indian-American from New Jersey finished third at the finals held here last night, while Thomas Wright from Wisconsin was declared the runner up. Wright received $ 25,000 and Bhattaram got $10,000 in scholarships. This year, six of the 10 finalists were Indian-Americans. Indian-Americans have won the National Geographic Bee competition for the last six consecutive. Last year, Rishi Nair, a sixth grader from Florida, had won the contest. For her second appearance at the Cannes Film Festival (the first was in 2010), Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone went for a plum-hued dress by label Marchesa and she decided to romance risque in sheer tulle. The label in the past has been favoured by many Bollywood celebrities including Shraddha Kapoor, Sridevi, Parineeti Chopra and Aditi Rao Hydari. Its co-founder, Georgina Chapman, visited Mumbai in April to attend a charity event, and, she later took out time to mingle with the some stars too. Celebrity stylist Elizabeth Saltzman, who has also styled Hollywood stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Uma Thurman, is behind Deepikas look. While international media was mostly mum on Deepika, back home, she created a buzz. Love her look. The colour is unusual but suits her well. She has the body to wear something cutting-edge, just like this dress. Also, she looks relaxed and comfortable, which is the most important, says designer Ritu Beri. Queen walking RED CARPET @deepikapadukone #bollywood #deepikapadukone #deepikaatcannes #cannes2017 A post shared by DEEPIKA (@deepikaslays) on May 17, 2017 at 11:30pm PDT The look is hard to fault the sheer, fluid style is very now, says, designer Rina Dhaka, adding that a softer blush tone would have worked even better. She is a rage! Put her in a rag and shed still look like a million bucks. But for me, while the jewels and the gown work, the makeup was pretty underwhelming, says designer Anand Bhushan. STUNNING #deepikaatcannes A post shared by DEEPIKA (@deepikaslays) on May 17, 2017 at 9:24am PDT For Suneet Varma, the colour wasnt a winner. Her hair and makeup is always on point, but, Im not a big fan of the dress its too muted. She looks far better in vibrant, brighter jewel tones. However, the sheer and leg show is sexy and works at Cannes. Here are some of her other looks from the French Riviera. Got a favourite? Nailed it @deepikapadukone #deepikapadukone #bollywood #deepikaatcannes #cannes2017 #lifeatcannes A post shared by DEEPIKA (@deepikaslays) on May 18, 2017 at 1:36am PDT Stealing hearts since day one #Loreal #Cannes2017 #DeepikaPadukone A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikafc) on May 18, 2017 at 1:22am PDT taking it all in... #Cannes2017 @lorealmakeup @lorealhair A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on May 17, 2017 at 5:55am PDT Hello Morning... #Cannes2017 @lorealmakeup @lorealhair A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on May 18, 2017 at 12:12am PDT SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Police in Gurgaon are planning to induct officers from the northeastern states so that complaints of people from those states are understood and acted upon in a better manner. The department has written a letter to the Haryana DGP, seeking 16 mid-level police officers from the northeastern states to be brought on deputation to Gurgaon. DGP B S Sandhu said that a proposal would be sent to the state government to appoint them as nodal officers to tackle problems faced by people from the seven north-eastern states currently living in Gurgaon and Faridabad. Read | A mini Northeast in heart of Gurgaon The objective is to reduce the communication barrier that crops when people from these states go to police station with complaints. The language gap often hampers the investigation. Also a large number of crimes against north-east residents go unreported because victims have little confidence in the department. Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar plans to change this situation. I had written a letter two weeks ago seeking induction of personnel from north-east. This will give more confidence to the complainants and also improve the response mechanism. Gurgaon has a diverse population and the police must develop capacity to handle different situations, Khirwar said. The police department, in fact, is also planning to seek induction of officers expert in Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Pashto languages, considering that a large number of foreign nationals are part of Gurgaons population. The move would ease their interaction with police, the commissioner said. The decision by Gurgaon Police is on the lines of Delhi Police, which had initiated an even larger programme to resolve problems faced by people from north-east. We recruited 450 constables from north-east, a separate unit was set up with funds of Rs 24 crore, as well as land, to make it more effective, said Robin Hibu, a nodal officer of the special unit. Delhi Police also conducts compulsory sensitisation programmes by victims of racial discrimination. There has been a marked improvement in the behaviour of officers of all ranks after this move was initiated, Hibu said. Francis G Kharsiing, another IPS officer from Meghalaya Police posted in Delhi, said that this move could help both the Gurgaon Police as well as residents of the north-east. To understand a proble, it is important to understand the culture and language as well. This will help both sides, said Kharsiing. It is to be noted that Delhis hiring of residents from north-east in 2014 happened after a hiatus of almost 17 years. In 1997, the Delhi Police stopped recruiting constables from other states, whereas earlier, considering the cosmopolitan culture of the city, people from across the country could join the department. Read | Manipur man assaulted by employers, Northeast members meet Delhi police nodal officer The move by Gurgaon Police assumes significance as a number of crimes against residents from north-east are reported, but the complainants mostly allege that response from police has been less than satisfactory. On Saturday, a woman from Sikkim was gang-raped by three men. Officials from Gurgaon Police, who have been investigating cases pertaining to residents from north-east, admit that differences in language, culture and background impacts the reaction of their men. Sometimes not only the complainant, but even the accused is from north-east. In such cases, we face problems in questioning, said an official, who preferred anonymity. Read | Northeast man brutally assaulted in Gurgaon, accused at large Deepak Saharan, DCP (east), who is also the nodal officer of the north-east cell, said that people from north-east have their apprehensions and are hesitant to confide in local police officers. This move will definitely help, he said. Currently, there are around 10,000 people from the seven northeastern states living on rent in Sikanderpur, Sukhrali, Chakkarpur, Nathupur, MG Road, DLF phase 3 and Patel Nagar. A majority of them work in call centres, malls, restaurants and other service industries. Activists and representatives of north-east residents in Delhi and NCR have welcomed the move, but said it shouldnt be a cosmetic. Just recruiting police officials from diverse backgrounds will not be sufficient, although it is a positive move. The mindset needs to be changed. The issue of non-compliance of rules by officials at thana level should addressed, said Maya John, convenor, Centre for Struggling Women. Read | Hate crime: 2 northeast men beaten up in Gurgaon Meanwhile, students from north-east, who met the Gurgaon police commissioner in the wake of Saturdays gang rape, said the culture of compromise should be brought to an end. The victims are not confident to complain. They are scared to report. Many incidents go unreported as the level of confidence is low, said Pranesh Chettri, president of Sikkim Students union. Lakpa Lepcha, secretary of Delhi-NCR Gorkha Brothers, said police should stop asking the victims to write complaint in Hindi. Police should allow victims to write complaints either in English or regional languages. Most people are not comfortable in Hindi, Lepcha said. The Gurgaon-based activists working on women safety too appreciated a more diverse police force, which is sensitised and less biased. The police should be in tune with Gurgaons cosmopolitan culture. There should be more programmes, seminars to spread awareness among the police officials. Somehow, the cultural baggage needs to be shed to resolve this problem, said Kalpana Vishawnath, founder of the NGO Safetipin. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It was in 1988 that a young sea captain received a call from a close friend. The most amazing place in Gurgaon is soon going to be ready, the friend said. Thats the place we should live. Thirty years is a long time; a score and half, a quarter-of-a-century. My friends coaxing and my having finally relented, was one of the best decisions of my life The early days were raw and hard. In a Maruti Gypsy (the only few seen now are the Gurgaon Police driving on their beat). it took 22 minutes from Hauz Khas to drive down to the border, and then no time to get to my condominium. Arriving late at night, we drove past a sea of mustard fields in the winter, their bright yellow flowers swaying to cold winds from Rajasthan. In the morning, which still remains the best part of the day, there would sometimes be camels and elephants on the narrow dusty road seemingly going everywhere. The road was soon aptly named the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. Things have changed in Gurgaon. From a sleepy little farming village to an expanding metropolis, it strives to carve a slice of the pie in a new, emerging India. Traffic is getting out of control; road non-sense and road rage are on the rise. Stress to find a place to park. Stress to make it big. Stress to be the first to flash the newest smartphone. In the middle of all this, the buzz of Gurgaon is buzzing the world. Many years after I first got here, Gurgaon is the most sought-after place to be, to live in, to dream in. Despite many twists, turns and stumbles the VTM (Village Turned Mod) houses CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, all living in their state-of-the-art condos. The Gurgaon experiment is now the Gurgaon achievement. As for me, the vibe of Gurgaon gets me going. The cross -section of folks arriving from everywhere, some by choice, some by compulsion, all mingling and making new friends in new ways. There are theatrical groups where professionals quote Shakespeare at each other, places to chill, the best places to eat. There are parts of the new city that never sleep. Its true that the garbage can be obnoxiously rude to the nasal and visual senses, that potholed roads beyond the major arterials can be a nightmare to drive on. Yet, despite these irritants, communities work together, in tandem, to clean their act, to harvest rainwater, to make the city safer, to be proud Gurgaonans . Or should we say Gurgaonites? There is activity: the bio-diversity park where a million saplings have been planted, and the amphitheatre which hosts the best of Indias culture. There is nature: Gurgaon is where a million sparrows thrive, where parrots make a racket, where robin red breasts and nightingales shelter among lush, green trees . On board the Metro, watching the ever-changing face of Gurgaon, one can see how much more the city planners wish to achieve. I often think of how far we have come, and how much farther we are set to go. This is my Gurgaon, my Sugar Ville, embedded in todays challenging and changing world. (Capt Vivek C. Bhasin is a radio presenter, soft skills and etiquette training expert) With water going scarce in many parts of the city, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has issued an advisory to caution public that if they are found wasting drinking water, then their water connections will be cut. The advisory is in force till June 30. The city has been reeling under a water crisis owing to shifting of pipelines, maintenance, and leakages in main pipelines over the past two months. Due to increased demand of drinking water in summer season, the watering of lawns, washing of courtyards, etc. is prohibited wastage and misuse of water shall invite penalty along with disconnection (of water supply), the advisory read. MCG officials added that as per provisions of water supply bylaws, citizens can be penalised for washing of vehicles and courtyards, watering of lawns, overflowing overhead or underground water tanks, leakage from water meter chamber, installation of water booster pumps or non-installation of bib taps. Last year, the MCG had levied a fine on domestic users found wasting water. A first-time offence would incur a penalty of Rs500 and Rs1,000 for subsequent instances. Similarly, commercial establishments found wasting water had to pay Rs 2,500 for the first instance and Rs 5,000 for subsequent instances. MCG officials did not divulge details on the number of fines issued last year but maintained the penalization rates will remain the same this year as well. The citys two water treatment plants (WTP) Chandhu Budhera and Basai get water from river Yamuna near Sonepat, which is carried to Gurgaon through a 70km water channel. The two WTP supply 90 million gallons of water daily. However, maintenance, breaches, shifting of water pipelines for the construction of underpass on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and faulty vaults have led to regular disruption in water supply. External factors causing water supply disruption are not foreseeable. However, it is the responsibility of residents to control water usage and ensure they conserve water, SS Rohilla, MCG spokesperson, said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Swedish doctor, who performed the worlds first successful uterus transplant surgery, warned on Thursday the womb transplant being attempted by surgeons at a Pune hospital is with no proper preparations at all and will put the patients at a very high risk. A team of 12 doctors at Galaxy Care Laparoscopy Institute (GCLI) will conduct Indias first womb transplant on Thursday when they transfer a mothers uterus to her 21-year-old daughter, who does not have a uterus. What is planned in Pune is a dangerous escapade of surgical cowboys wanting to be the first in their country and to get (worldwide) publicity and fame easy, Dr Mats Brannstrom, the head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Swedens Sahlgrenska Academy under University of Gothenburg, told the Hindustan Times. Dr Brannstrom led the worlds first womb transplantation in Sweden in 2012 and the first baby, born to the recipient in 2014, was delivered prematurely through a caesarian section and was healthy. The Swedish professor said his team was assisted by a number of skilled and talented physicians, scientists, and support staff from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Stockholm IVF in Sweden, the University of Valencia in Spain, Australias Griffith University and the Cleveland Clinic, Florida. Dr Brannstrom said excessive bleeding in the donor and dangers of the recipient catching an infection are among the possible downsides. The surgery in the donor takes 10 to 13 hours and the recipient 4 to 6 hours. Not to mention, it is considered the most difficult live donor surgery by transplant surgeons, he added. Experts from Pune told HT that the surgery will last for almost 8 hours with the first phase of the donor surgery taking 6 and that on the recipient two and a half hours. Dr Brannstrom added a transplant surgery needs to be registered as a clinical trial and that a similar attempt in China by the countrys top laparoscopy surgeon 2 months ago failed. The first 4 cases in the United States also failed despite the fact that the team included renowned experts in transplant surgery and who had trained in animals. The USA performed its first such transplant surgery in 2012. Dr Brannstrom said they trained on animals, including sheep, pig and baboon, for 15 years before taking their first case, which the Indian doctors have ignored completely. That is the great difference. We advise all groups around the world to chose one large animal for team and surgery training (before performing it on humans), he said. Sweden scenario After careful planning by Brannstrom, 9 women received a new uterus from transplantation in 2012 in Sweden, where approximately 2,000-3,000 women are childless because of a dysfunctional or missing uterus. In September 2014, the first transplanted woman delivered a baby a healthy and normally developed boy. Phases of the surgery Phase 1 Psychological analysis: Doctors talk to the donor and the recipient to make them understand the risks of the surgery and evaluate if they are physically fit. Phase 2 Donors surgery: Uterus is removed from the donors womb. The surgery performed under prolonged anaesthesia has a risk of cardiovascular and respiratory complications. There is a possibility of excessive bleeding as well. Phase 3 Transplant: Doctors attach the uterus, after preserving in ice, to the recipient. The recipient is kept under a heavy dose of immunosuppressants so that the body doesnt reject the organ. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more New Delhi: The opposition to genetically modified or GM Mustard reached the gates of the environment ministry on Wednesday with a demonstration at the ministrys Delhi office against the approval granted to the GM crop by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, Indias apex regulator for GMOs. With the GEAC approval, the decision to allow commercial plantation lies with the environment ministry. If approved GM Mustard will become the first GM food crop to be commercially grown in the country. Till now only one GM crop, Bt Cotton, is grown in Indian fields. The only other food crop to receive all approvals was Bt Brinjal. However, then environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, blocked its introduction and placed an indefinite moratorium on it. It is a conspiracy against farmers, the environment and the public, one of the speakers at Wednesdays demonstration held under the banner of Sarson Satyagraha, said. We do not want GM Mustard, the crowd of about a hundred chanted. In the name of science, they are doing it will make farmers slaves, in the name of science they are trying to double the income of multinationals, Kavita Kuruganti, an activist associated with the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, said. If the government brings this variety farmers will have to buy seeds from these companies every year. Timeline for GM Crops Mar 26, 2002: India approves Bt cotton, Indias first Genetically Modified (GM) crop. It is adopted widely by Indian farmers. The long-term impacts of the introduction are still being studied. India approves Bt cotton, Indias first Genetically Modified (GM) crop. It is adopted widely by Indian farmers. The long-term impacts of the introduction are still being studied. 2005: Activists file petition in Supreme Court against GMOs Activists file petition in Supreme Court against GMOs 2009: The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), Indias apex regulator for GMOs, approves Indias first GM food crop BT Brinjal The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), Indias apex regulator for GMOs, approves Indias first GM food crop BT Brinjal 2010: After nation-wide consultations, UPA government blocks commercial planting of Bt Brinjal After nation-wide consultations, UPA government blocks commercial planting of Bt Brinjal Aug 10, 2011: GEAC allows trials for second generation GM food crops. The move is seen as the UPA governments bid to promote biotechnology to tackle Indias food security problems GEAC allows trials for second generation GM food crops. The move is seen as the UPA governments bid to promote biotechnology to tackle Indias food security problems 2013: Environment ministry stops GM trials based on a Supreme Court-appointed panel recommendation Environment ministry stops GM trials based on a Supreme Court-appointed panel recommendation 2014: BJPs election manifesto says GM crops would not be allowed without a study of its "long-term" effects. BJPs election manifesto says GM crops would not be allowed without a study of its "long-term" effects. July 18, 2014: Narendra Modi government allows field trials despite opposition from RSS-affiliates. Narendra Modi government allows field trials despite opposition from RSS-affiliates. Aug 11, 2014: The government tells parliament that there is no "credible scientific" proof yet to show that GM crops pose any "risk" to human health. The government tells parliament that there is no "credible scientific" proof yet to show that GM crops pose any "risk" to human health. Oct 2014: The environment ministry reveals in an RTI that it permitted a Delhi University research group to conduct trials for a GM Mustard variety and Maharashtra-based Bejo Seeds Pvt Ltd to test Bt Brinjal The environment ministry reveals in an RTI that it permitted a Delhi University research group to conduct trials for a GM Mustard variety and Maharashtra-based Bejo Seeds Pvt Ltd to test Bt Brinjal Sep 24, 2015: The DU research group files an application with the GEAC for its GM mustard variety The DU research group files an application with the GEAC for its GM mustard variety May 21, 2016: Modi government revamps the regulatory framework that guides how agricultural biotech companies such as Monsanto can do business in India, placing restrictions on royalties and making it compulsory for companies to give their technology to anyone willing to license it at state-fixed prices. Modi government revamps the regulatory framework that guides how agricultural biotech companies such as Monsanto can do business in India, placing restrictions on royalties and making it compulsory for companies to give their technology to anyone willing to license it at state-fixed prices. Sep 7, 2016: GEAC releases an assessment report of GM Mustard on its website for public comments. GEAC releases an assessment report of GM Mustard on its website for public comments. Oct 7, 2016: SC places a stay on the commercial release of GM Mustard in India and asks the central government to invite public comments on the issue. SC places a stay on the commercial release of GM Mustard in India and asks the central government to invite public comments on the issue. Oct 24, 2016: Centre files affidavit with SC, says curbs by the top court on field trials of GM crops harmed the "competitiveness" of the countrys public-funded agriculture programmes and negatively impacted private investments Centre files affidavit with SC, says curbs by the top court on field trials of GM crops harmed the "competitiveness" of the countrys public-funded agriculture programmes and negatively impacted private investments May 11, 2017: Central biotech regulator grants clearance for commercial cultivation of GM mustard; approval from Centre is pending. India has struggled for many years with this issue, with a deep divide between dissenters and supporters. There is vehement opposition from some farmer groups that it will lead to industrialisation of food production, compromising the food security of the nation without leading to the promised increase in yields. Both sides accuse the other of misleading the public. This is all nonsense, Deepak Pental, a professor of genetics at the University of Delhi who led the research team that produced the GM variety called DMH-11, said. They are trying to fool the public that there are no yield increases by comparing data from different trials. One of the sticking points is that the GM seeds are sold by big multinationals at prices that are many times higher than the seeds that the farmers use now. Global agriculture giant Monsanto produces the Bt cotton seeds that are used in India and earns royalties for it. Over 95% of cotton cultivation in India is Bt cotton today. There is an important difference between the Bt Cotton case and this GM mustard variety because it has been developed by a publicly -funded Indian institution rather than a foreign multinational. Proponents argue that higher yields from GM variety make the investment worth it, especially as a growing population puts pressure on the food production. Pental said the seeds will be available to farmers are much cheaper rates than other GM crop seeds. There are also biosafety fears associated with it, once introduced there is uncertainty about how a modified gene will impact the larger food system. Opponents argue that it may contaminate other species. Pental maintains that all biosafety considerations were evaluated over 3-4 years and only then was an application was submitted. The aim was to ensure that only the desirable character was changed and that all other characteristics remained the same as the parent variety. Rajinder Choudhury, a former professor of economics who is now an advisor to the Kudreti Kheti Abhiyan in Haryana, which supports organic farming, said that his problem was that no independent evaluation was conducted to assess the impact of introducing the GM variety. India is heavily dependent on imports to meet its enormous demand for edible oils including mustard oil. Edible oils are used in generous amounts in Indian cooking. The country produced 5.8 Million Tonnes (MT) of Mustard seeds in 2015-16, while in 2016-17 it is expected to go up to 6.5-7 MT. Incremental gains in productivity may not be enough to feed the countrys growing population. Pental expressed exasperation at the opposition. Partly it is ideological, partly it is a lack of understanding, we are more emotional than scientific, he said. What is the anguish? Your productivity will remain low, you will only encourage malnutrition and hunger. The GEAC approval puts the Modi government in an unenviable position with some RSS affiliated groups standing in opposition to the introduction of GM food crops. The Modi government turn towards portraying itself a pro-farmer party in the wake of demonetisation may suffer a setback if they are seen as compromising the interest of small and marginal farmers. This government which keeps talking about organic farming is bringing poison into the country, why are they forcing the country to eat poison, Badrinarayan Choudhury, General-secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the RSS farmers wing, who was part of the demonstration, said. We will go from village to village to raise awareness among farmers, we will bring them to the streets in protest, he said. The Rabi sowing season starts in October if the approvals go through the GM variety might be in Indian fields as early as this year. Ultimately it is a critical decision whether the country wants GM Mustard or food crops, Pental said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Doctors at a Pune hospital will conduct Indias first womb transplant on Thursday when they transfer a mothers uterus to her 21-year-old daughter, who is unable to conceive a child. A team of 12 doctors at Punes Galaxy Care Laparoscopy Institute (GCLI) will conduct the procedure on a Solapur resident, who does not have a uterus. We will start to retrieve the uterus at around 9 am from the donor and transplant it in recipient, Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director, GCLI, told HT, adding that the entire procedure would take around eight hours. The surgeons will retrieve the uterus using a laparoscopic technique, which is expected to shorten the duration of the procedure. The hospital will conduct another womb transplant on Friday on a 24-year-old woman from Baroda who suffers from Ashermans Syndrome (scar tissue in the uterus) and will receive her mothers womb. Surgeons at GCLI will transplant a womb in a third woman, who is suffering from cervical cancer, at a later stage. The hospital has been preparing for womb transplants over the past few months and recipients were made to undergo ovulation stimulation through IVF. Frozen embryos are implanted in the womb after transplantation for the couple to conceive. The first two womb transplants will be done free although the cost of the procedure is around Rs 7-8 lakh. According to Dr Puntambekar, the transplantation is not known to harm the recipient or the baby despite the use of anti-rejection drugs (immuno-suppressants) and the multiple surgeries involved. He cited data on kidney transplant patients successfully delivering babies despite being put on immuno-suppressants in support. If the surgery is successful, both the recipients will be able to conceive using in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and have children. Both donor and recipients undergo screening procedure post which the uterus is retrieved and transplanted in the recipient, who undergoes three surgeries. If the recipient conceives, she will deliver the baby through Caesarean-section and has to take immno-suppressants for the rest of her life to prevent rejection of the donor uterus The success of the transplant can be assessed after a month when recipient will undergo sonography and other tests to ensure the fitted uterus is functioning properly or not, said Dr Puntambekar. The Maharashtra directorate of health services granted GCLI the license to carry out womb transplantation for five years after inspecting its facilities in April this year. The hospital decided to go ahead for the procedure on Wednesday after they obtained final approval from district level committee at government run Sassoon hospital. We now have all the approvals in place, Dr Puntambekar said. Besides GCLI, Bangalore-based Milann International Institute for Training and Research in Reproductive Health has also received approval from Indian Council of Medical Research for womb transplantation on two women, but no dates have been announced yet. Womb transplantation was first done in Sweden in 2012 and the first baby, born to the recipient in 2014, was delivered prematurely through Caesarean section, and was healthy, according to the British medical journal The Lancet. Earlier, Dr Puntambekar said the surgical team went to Sweden to learn about the transplantation procedure before practising on human cadavers in Germany and the US. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: The Western Australia (WA) will promote its finest during an upcoming trade delegation to Azerbaijan, says an article published by the West Australian on May 18. The trade delegation, which will arrive in Azerbaijan in late October, will also include representatives of a winery. The trip has been organized by Azerbaijans honorary consul, Aydan Rzayeva, who is seeking to boost trade ties between the two sides. According to the article, the friendship is based on some striking similarities between the two regions, both rich in iron ore and natural gas, and with residents who appreciate decent wine. In Azerbaijans case, it is also seeking to boost its livestock quality an area where the Western Australia has achieved a world reputation. Rzayeva said she had fielded increasing interest from big businesses, such as Foster Wheeler, wanting to investigate opportunities in Azerbaijan. Lawyer John Hammond, who is a consultant to the honorary consul and is helping to organize the trip, said several WA shipbuilders had contracts in Azerbaijan, and there were opportunities for local businesses involved in dairy, livestock, tourism, wine and mining and resources. Surgeons in Rajasthans Udaipur have operated upon a 15-day-old infant, who weighed just 470 grams and was the size of a palm, for a congenital heart defect. Doctors say the child was the lightest and the youngest Indian to undergo the surgery in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The babys mother conceived after several years of marriage through in vitro fertilisation and delivered in the 24th week of pregnancy. The size of the child and the premature delivery made the May 5 procedure more challenging. The child is recovering well and is expected to grow up normally, his weight having already increased to 600 grams. Doctors said the babys low weight prompted them to perform the surgery in the neonatal Intensive Care Unit because shifting him to the operation theatre could have been fatal. Dr Sunil Jangid of Jeevanta Hospital, who looked after the pre-term baby born on April 20, said the infant had difficulty in breathing immediately after birth. Echo-cardiogram diagnosed him with a condition in which two major blood vessels of heart, aorta and pulmonary artery, were connected. Doctors said this connection present in the womb snaps automatically after birth. If this doesnt snap, the condition is treated with medicines. But the baby did not respond to medicines, leaving doctors with no option but to put him under the knife. Dr Sanjay Gandhi, a cardiac surgeon, whos performed the surgery on an infant weighing 700 grams in a Jaipur hospital, was called to look at the baby. The baby could not be shifted out of the NICU so the surgery was performed there only. We used cautery machine and surgical instruments to stop the connection between two vessels, said Dr Gandhi. In half hour, the surgery was complete. Its really a very difficult procedure because very small and specific instruments are needed to operate on such small babies and resuscitate from a complex heart disease, said the surgeons and anesthetists who assisted Dr Gandhi on the procedure. The team comprised Dr Ankur Gandhi, Dr Kalpesh Mistry, Dr Manmohan Jindal and Dr Dharamchand. Its really encouraging that babies so young and measly weight of less than 500 grams can be operated, said Dr Gandhi and Dr Jangid. The baby was born with weak muscles, rib cage and immature lungs. Brain, kidney, liver and heart were weak. I cannot say for sure but this seems to be the smallest baby in the world to undergo this surgery, said Dr Gandhi. Shankersinh Vaghela is one of Gujarats most senior politicians, but no one seems to have any clue about his whereabouts. Since the Congress leader and leader of opposition in the state assembly unfollowed several of his followers, including party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on the micro-blogging site Twitter, speculations have swirled over what the wily politician is up to. The mystery has further deepened with Vaghela virtually vanishing from the public spotlight. His personal staff says he is on a tour and is unavailable. Vaghelas vanishing act has fuelled rumours that the former chief minister, once a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is upset with the Congress leadership for refusing to name him the chief ministerial candidate and may ditch the party for greener pastures. His son, Mahendrasinh, is a Congress MLA and there is talk that he too may be exploring political options. Crucial assembly elections in Gujarat are due by year-end, but speculations over the Vaghelas have already infused some excitement in the poll-bound state. For the moment, the Congress is pretending that nothing is amiss within its ranks. Vaghela has been a Congress leader for 20 years and would remain so. Media should stop worrying about the issue, said Congress unit chief Bharatsinh Solanki. But it has failed to scotch the rumours and many believe that Vaghela is set to quit the Congress. His game plan is to become the chief minister. He also seems to be weighing the option of going back to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), pointed out political analyst Hari Desai. Vaghela had set the rumour mills agog after he met BJP president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad some months ago. Some say he has been under pressure since the CBI registered a case against him over a land scam during his tenure as the Union textile minister. But the more pressing reason for his present unhappiness is said to be his desire to be the chief ministerial face in the next elections. Some posters calling for him to be made the chief minister surfaced in the city of Vadodara only a few days ago. He is also said to have met unhappy Congress MLAs at his sprawling Vasant Vagdo mansion in Gandhinagar to pile pressure on the Congress leadership. Those close to him say the Congress has not given Bapu as he is affectionately known his due. It was in 1998 that he joined the Congress by dissolving his Rashtriya Janata Party created after he quit the BJP in 1996. Two decades later, he is still waiting for his due, pointed out a Congress legislator. A one-time ally of Modi during his Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) days, Vaghela is one of the most-seasoned politicians with a wide network of contacts across the state. He believes the Congress stands a good chance to win the elections in Gujarat which has been ruled by the BJP uninterruptedly since 1998. His optimism is not shared by many. But his loyalists say he is the only who can match Modi in political astuteness. However, to Vaghelas dismay, the Congress leadership does not seem to subscribe to the view. Ashok Gehlot, the Congress in-charge of the state, reiterated last month that the party would fight the elections sans a CM face, something that might have prompted Vaghela to do the vanishing act. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Kajol faces possible removal from the board of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati for not attending its meetings, say government sources. The issue is currently being examined by the information and broadcasting ministry. Prasar Bharati, comprising Doordarshan television network and All India Radio, is an autonomous body that comes under the ministrys administrative jurisdiction. The actor who was appointed as a part time member of the board in February 2016 has not attended the last four meetings, which makes her liable for removal from the position. As per its rules, a member is deemed to have vacated office if absent for three consecutive meetings of the Board without the leave of the chairman. Kajols spokesperson Jaiveer told HT: Kajol, unfortunately, has not been able to attend the last three-four meetings due to prior professional commitments and also due to a family emergency on medical grounds through most of this year. Prior to this, she attended the meetings. She regrets that she has been unable to attend the last few meetings. A source told HT that the actors absence without permission was discussed at the last board meeting, with several members pointing out the aberration and seeking action. A report was subsequently sought by the ministry about the actors absence. Kajol was in the news recently after she sought to clarify that a meat dish, she was photographed eating, was not beef. A notice will be sent to the actor on her absence and subsequent action will be decided by the ministry, said an official source. HT has sought Kajols reaction over the issue, but she is yet to respond. Members are paid airfare, hotel and travel payment and an allowance for attending the board meetings. Prasar Bharati is governed by the Prasar Bharati Board, which comprises a chairman, an executive member, a member each for finance and personnel matters, six part-time members, a representative of the ministry and the directors general of All India Radio and Doordarshan as ex-officio members. Following a security assessment, the US embassy here has barred visitors from carrying laptops, tablets or iPads in the American Centres in the national capital, Mumbai and Kolkata from Thursday. All kinds of electronic devices are already banned at the Chennai centre. The US, which undertook such security exercise at all its government establishments worldwide, said the safety of its guests and personnel is paramount. The restriction on personal electronics will apply to all models of laptops and tablets, including netbooks, chromebooks, iPads, Kindles, and MacBooks, a US embassy statement said. This change was made as part of an assessment of security in US government facilities worldwide. The safety of our guests and personnel is paramount, a US Embassy spokesperson said. However, the visitors will be allowed to carry mobile phones in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, unlike in the Chennai centre. The statement also emphasised that there will be no facility for visitors to store these devices. Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on Thursday at the age of 60. Here are five things we can recall about the late Union minister: 1- Anil Madhav Dave was the first leader from Madhya Pradesh BJP who made it to Rajya Sabha for a third consecutive term. An RSS worker, who remained a bachelor, Dave did his post-graduation in commerce from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore. He was widely known for his work for conservation of Narmada river through his NGO Narmada Samgra, where he was the secretary. 2- A commercial pilot licence (CPL) holder and intellectual face of the ruling party, Dave had covered the Narmada stretch aboard a small plane and also a raft. He had also authored several books. 3- Dave held several international conferences on Narmada bank at Hoshangabad to draw the attention of people to the condition of not only the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh but other rivers across the globe. 4- Keeping himself away from controversies and challenges to top leaders in the party, the government was the forte of Dave. He played a major role in electioneering of the ruling party during the assembly elections since 2003. He headed the partys war room in association with Vijesh Lunawat and Shailendra Sharma whereas MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the party in the field. 5- He was one of the architects behind success of World Hindi Conference held in Bhopal in September 2015 and also the ideological conference (Vaicharik Mahakumbh) held during Simhastha at Ujjain this year. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was said to be greatly influenced by Daves work on environment which earned him the berth of minister of state (independent charge) for environment in Narendra Modis cabinet. After three decades, the Indian Army is all set to receive its first heavy ordnance as the first two guns out of the 145 M777 ultra light artillery guns it ordered from the US are expected to arrive, a month ahead of schedule, over this weekend, said a company statement. In fulfilment of the United States Foreign Military Sale of 145 M777 ultra light weight howitzer to India, we are pleased to confirm that the first two weapon systems will land in India ahead of schedule over this weekend, a BAE Systems spokesman said in a statement. We continue to support the US government in integrating this new weapon system with the Indian Armys artillery modernisation program, he added The guns were expected to arrive in the June. On November 30, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to purchase 145 M777 ultra-light artillery guns, through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The Union Cabinet on November 17 approved the much-awaited deal, which would add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army, especially against China in eastern front. The air portable 155mm/39 calibre gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems. The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million. Out of 145 guns, BAE will deliver 25 guns and rest 120 will be assembled in India by Mahindra. The ultra light howitzer is being purchased primarily to deploy on mountains in eastern border with China to provide the much-needed fire power to the Indian Army in the region. The last artillery guns that India purchased were the much-controversial Swedish Bofors guns in mid-1980s. The government approved on Wednesday amendments to a law that will allow construction of public infrastructure such as highways, bridges and airports within 100 metres of protected monuments. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 prohibits any construction around 100 metres of a historical building or place accorded protection under the law. The restriction has stalled over the years projects such as flyovers, underpasses, subways, metro stations and bus terminals to be constructed on land within the prohibited area. And engineers had to redesign their projects to go around a monuments restricted periphery. The India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) realigned its 1.1km Mathura Road-Ring Road underpass cutting through Pragati Maidan as the project was too close to Purana Quila and Sher Shah Suris fort. The original layout failed to evade the 100-metre cap. The amended law will do away with such stumbling blocks, but only for projects approved and sanctioned by the Union government. Prime Minister Narendra Modis cabinet cleared on Monday a proposal to amend the law in Parliament, following reports that the restriction is affecting the governments development projects. The Archaeological Survey of Indias joint director general (archaeology), RS Fonia, said the amended law will allow important public projects. But the countrys watchdog for heritage monuments cautioned that the government must ensure adequate safeguards before allowing constructions. A heritage impact assessment study must be conducted before allowing a project near a protected monument. The study must ensure no harm will come to the monument, said Major General (retired) LK Gupta, chairman of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). Amend the law carefully, and consider projects on a case-by-case basis, he suggested. No blanket approval. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Lucknow, was about to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees of Congress-led government in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said in the state assembly on Thursday. His response came amid allegations from opposition benches that Anurag Tiwari (36), posted as commissioner in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. It is true that the body of the officer was recovered yesterday (Wednesday). The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved, the parliamentary affairs minister said. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high security area, thus exposing tall claims of government over law and order. SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked members to return to their seats. Leader of the opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the murder of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress legislature party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Khanna assured the House that a probe was on in the matter. However, dissatisfied with the reply, SP, Congress and BSP members staged a walkout from the assembly. Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead on Wednesday, which also happened to be his birthday. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Deepak Kumar said a postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination, he said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Tiwaris father, however, alleged that his son was eliminated. My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered, BN Tiwari had said in Bahraich, his native place. SIT to probe case A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted on Thursday to probe the death. The SIT has been asked to submit its report within 72 hours, Kumar said. We have constituted a five-member SIT under Circle Officer Hazratganj to probe death of the young IAS officer, he said. They (family members) told us that Anurag was not allowed leave by seniors in Karnataka but the police is probing the matter professionally, looking at all the angles, the SSP said. Kulbhushan Jadhav gained a temporary reprieve on Thursday as the International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan not to execute the former Indian Navy officer convicted of alleged espionage and terrorism, rejecting Islamabads argument that the UNs top legal body did not have jurisdiction in the case. Pakistan sought to play down the significance of the order, saying it amounted to maintaining status quo in Jadhavs case and that it was determined to take the matter to its logical end. It added Jadhav would be provided every opportunity and remedy to defend his case and had ample time to petition for clemency. Three days after India and Pakistan presented their arguments, Ronny Abraham, president of the United Nations highest court in The Hague, read out the order: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order. External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the order was unanimous, clear and unambiguous and would will help remedy the violation of Jadhavs rights. He noted the ICJs order was internationally binding. However, the ICJ has no means to enforce its rulings and they have sometimes been ignored. The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 In provisional measures adopted unanimously, the 12-judge tribunal said it would remain seized of the matters in its order until it gives a final judgment. At the hearing on Monday, India described Jadhavs trial as a serious miscarriage of justice because Indian diplomats were not granted consular access to him and he wasnt allowed to choose his defence lawyer. India argued these restrictions amounted to a breach of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Pakistan claimed the ICJ did not have the jurisdiction to take up Jadhavs case as it was a national security issue, and that the court did not need to issue an order to stay the execution because it wasnt imminent. However, the ICJ concluded on Thursday it had prima facie jurisdiction as Pakistans alleged failure to provide consular notifications about Jadhavs arrest and to allow communication and provide access to him fell within the scope of the Vienna Convention. Indias contention about the violation of Jadhavs rights to consular access are plausible, the ICJ added, without making it clear whether Pakistan must now allow Indian diplomats to meet him. The ICJ also agreed with Indias arguments about the urgency of Jadhavs case, saying the mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The ICJ noted that Pakistan had indicated that any execution would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the court has given its final decision in the case. The court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Mr Jadhav will not be executed before the court has rendered its final decision, it said. Former attorney general Harish Salve, Indias lead lawyer at the ICJ, was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sushma Swaraj for his strong defence of Jadhav. Modi telephoned Swaraj to thank her and appreciate the efforts of Salve, officials said. Salve, who took a token fee of Re 1 to appear in the ICJ, told a TV news channel: I felt a positive energy when I was arguing the case. I felt judges were connecting. I felt gratified. I did not feel that connection when the other side was arguing. He added, It was a complicated subject. We worked hard and prima facie got acceptance on all our points. We are now a lot more emboldened and a lot more invigorated. Pakistan says Jadhav, 46, was arrested in March last year in the restive Balochistan province. In April, a military court sentenced him to death for alleged involvement in spying and subversive activities. India has contended he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar and his secret trial was a farce. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistan on Thursday reacted to the International Court of Justices order not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national convicted of espionage and terrorism, by saying it is determined to pursue the case to its logical end. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan had already made it clear it doesnt accept the United Nations highest courts jurisdiction in national security matters. The attorney general contended the ICJs order amounted to maintaining the status quo in Jadhavs case. The two officials reacted after The Hague-based ICJ ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav, 46, till it gives a final decision on Indias petition to annul his death sentence. The ICJ also rejected Pakistans stance that it does not have the jurisdiction to take up the case. A statement from the attorney generals office said the ICJ wanted the status quo (to) be maintained in Jadhavs case and the provisional measures were without prejudice to the final determination of the case. Pakistan attended the hearing at the ICJ because of its conviction that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues is through peaceful means, it said. Pakistan had also assured the ICJ that Jadhav would be provided every opportunity and remedy available under the law to defend his case and he still has ample time to petition for clemency, the statement said. We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end, it added. Talking to state-run Pakistan Television after the order was issued, Zakaria said India was trying to hide its real face by taking Jadhavs case to the ICJ. The real face of India will be exposed before the world, he said, adding Jadhav had confessed to his involvement in sabotage, terrorism and subversive activities. Zakaria also told Dunya TV channel Pakistan does not accept the ICJs jurisdiction in matters related to national security. Pakistan, he added, will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the international court. Earlier, he told a weekly news briefing said India was trying to portray Jadhavs case as a humanitarian issue to divert the worlds attention from his role in fomenting terrorism. Pakistan says Jadhav was arrested in March last year in the restive Balochistan province. In April, a military court sentenced him to death for alleged involvement in spying and subversive activities. India has contended he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar and his secret trial was a farce. Analysts and observers blamed Pakistans legal team for the setback caused by the ICJs order. Some argued Pakistan was unable to present its case forcefully because of its weak legal team and others said the country should not even have appeared at the World Court. Former attorney general Irfan Qadir said he was shocked by the decision. I think this decision is a violation of the principle of natural justice. I am shocked as to why Pakistan went there and presented their position and gave it in such a rush, he said. Shaiq Usmani, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, told a newspaper the decision was alarming because the ICJ does not have jurisdiction. He said, It is Pakistans mistake to have appeared there. They shouldnt have attended. They have shot themselves in the foot. He added, Until the ICJ gives it verdict, the case will go on in Pakistan. But (Jadhav) cannot be executed until the stay order is there. London-based barrister Rashid Aslam said Pakistan was ill-prepared and did not make full use of the 90 minutes it had to make its argument at the ICJ. He contended that under the Vienna Convention, a spys human rights are forfeited. Lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said the issue was one of consular access which Pakistan should have given in the first place. Another lawyer, Farogh Nasim, said Pakistan should not have conceded to the ICJs jurisdiction. India did not give consent to the Kashmir issue going to the ICJ, then why did Pakistan give consent to the Jadhav case? Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: Since the occurrence of large scale fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh in April 2016, resulting in some Azerbaijani gains, there has been a widespread fear that this crisis could easily escalate out of control drawing in not only the two belligerents but also Russia, wrote Stephen Blank, senior fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council, in his article published by the Central Asia Caucasus Analyst biweekly. Armenias response to the visible enhancement of Azerbaijans military capability has marked a qualitative escalation of the crisis military potential. Moreover, it has further unmasked the Russian policy of abetting the crisis rather than trying to resolve it, even though Moscow professes to be against renewed hostilities and to want a solution, noted the author. According to Blank, last year, Russia and Armenia have taken major steps to enhance the latters military and thus deterrence potential vis-a-vis Baku. These actions include the establishment of a joint Russo-Armenian air defense for the Caucasus and joint forces to ensure security in the Caucasus region of collective security; ongoing modernization of Russian bases in Armenia; Armenian lobbying to increase the effectiveness of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); a new agreement on new weapons transfers to Armenia and the development of overall military-technical cooperation; and most significantly the transfer to Armenia of the Iskander-M missile a dual-use missile that comes in both cruise and ballistic missile variants, says the article. To add fuel to this fire, Armenian officials claim that they received the Iskander from Russia at subsidized prices and that it is entirely under Armenian control. Whether or not this is truly the case it is admittedly a rather inconceivable proposition that Russia would be unable to assert control of the system this marks the first time Moscow has ever transferred an Iskander missile abroad and therefore another reckless step taken by Moscow in the military sphere, said Blank in his article. Although Moscow undoubtedly sought to upgrade Armenias deterrence capability, the terms under which Armenia claims to have received the Iskander and President Sargsyans stated readiness to use it have not calmed things down but infuriated Baku. Baku has given notice that it is contemplating its own ripostes, either by acquiring foreign missile defenses for example from Israel or by developing or acquiring its own offensive missiles to raise the ante on Armenia. Thus a new escalatory spiral and arms race appears to be taking place over Nagorno-Karabakh, noted the author. Beyond strengthening Armenias deterrence capability and its own standing in Yerevans eyes, Moscow has also strengthened its position in Armenia and throughout the Caucasus by deploying the Iskander along with troops and other arms systems to its base in Gyumri, Armenia, says the article. It has clearly intervened on behalf of Yerevan and Foreign Minister Lavrov subsequently announced that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not merely an Azerbaijani or Armenian one, meaning that Russia will weigh in on its resolution, added Blank. According to Blank, Moscow has qualitatively escalated the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenias claim to have both unlimited control and command of the system and willingness to use it have already further heightened the tension in the Caucasus, underscoring the recklessness of transferring such systems even if legal loopholes exist for doing so. Of course, the transfer to Armenia also shows that Moscow is not a neutral arbiter between Baku and Yerevan, quite the opposite, he said. Blank said Moscow has once again demonstrated a lack of good judgment, which is a fundamental legitimating factor in its claims to dominate the former Soviet space. These developments raise several questions, said the author. Beyond the Caucasus, we now must reckon with the possibility of Moscow selling versions of the Iskander missile to other partners and customers, including China and Iran, noted Blank. Moreover, beyond threatening Azerbaijan, Russias deployments throughout the Caucasus also threaten the Middle East, including Turkey, says the article, they isolate both the Caucasus and the larger Black Sea Basin, as well as parts of the Middle East from NATO military power. According to Blank, these issues furnish ample incentive, if not justification, for US and Western involvement in formulating and implementing a viable resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The widespread belief that this conflict will not remain frozen and that the consequences of that unfreezing will be catastrophic, not only for Armenia and Azerbaijan, appears to have even greater validity due to the Russo-Armenian escalation, noted the author. In other words, what happens in the Caucasus does not stay in the Caucasus, he added. India on Thursday received its first artillery guns in almost 30 years after the Bofors scandal unfolded in the late 1980s, hitting the modernisation of the Indian Army. The two M777s that arrived in New Delhi are part of a $750-million contract with the United States for 145 ultra-light howitzers. The contract was signed in November 2016. Here are five things you should know about the new guns: First visuals of the M777 ultra-light howitzers that landed in Delhi today. Video sourced from Indian Army. @htTweets pic.twitter.com/VGR2PGABLx Rahul Singh (@rahulsinghx) May 18, 2017 Make in India The two guns are part of the 25 ready-built weapons that will be supplied by the US over the next two years. The remaining 120 howitzers will be produced in the country under the Modi governments ambitious Make in India initiative. Manufactured by BAE Systems, the guns will be built in India in collaboration with Mahindra Defence. Forty Indian companies will be eligible to be a part of the supply chain. Capability The 155 mm/39-caliber howitzers have been bought to increase the armys capabilities in high altitude. The M777s will be deployed in the northern and eastern sectors. The armys new mountain strike corps, being raised in West Bengals Panagarh, will be equipped with the new guns. Aimed at countering China in the Northeast, the government will spend around Rs 40,000 crore on the new corps that is likely to be fully operational by 2025. Ultra-light The howitzers weigh only 4,218 kg, providing them superior tactical mobility. In contrast, 155mm towed howitzers weigh twice as much. The howitzers can be underslung from helicopters and swiftly deployed at high-altitude areas. The M777s are built with titanium and aluminum alloys. The guns have been bought under the foreign military sales programme of the US government. Field results More than 1,090 M777s are in service globally. The howitzers have been used during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. India will be the latest user of the howitzers operated by the US, Australian and Canadian militaries for accurate artillery fire support. The two guns that arrived on Thursday will be taken to Pokhran firing ranges in Rajasthan for trials. More guns The M777s will be followed by new 155mm/52-calibre tracked self-propelled guns. Private sector defence major Larsen & Toubro and South Koreas Hanwha Techwin (HTW) on April 21 signed a $720-million contract for the artillery gun programme. The army will be supplied 100 K9 VAJRA-T guns. L&T plans to begin production of the guns at Talegaon near Pune in Maharashtra and is expected to deliver them within three years. An improved version of HTWs K9 Thunder, the K9 VAJRA-T, has been designed to meet Indian requirements, including those of its desert formations. Tough regulations and a market slump for handmade 12-bore double- and single-barrel guns have hit Jammus private, licenced gunmakers. But they wont bite the bullet yet. Business went downhill when armed militancy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s, prompting the government to strictly regulate norms for giving arms licence to people. In the restive Kashmir Valley, gun production was banned. Jammus gunmakers faced hard restrictions that pushed seven of 26 units to close shop. Besides, manufacturers couldnt make guns above a strict production ceiling. Today, 19 units are trying to ply the trade they call a tradition. A majority of gun factories either had to shut or shift base after the government clampdown in the 1990s following the spike in militancy. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo) We are the pioneers in India in manufacturing 12-bore double-barrel and single-barrel shotguns, said Sumit Kumar, the owner of Santokhoo Gun Manufacturers, established in 1952. His factory makes between 30 and 40 guns a month, depending on the demand. In our troubled state, getting an arms licence is an uphill task. Most of our clients now are former soldiers who come to us for a gun to get jobs as private guards, or to keep a firearm for security at home, he said. Jammus guns are appreciated for their quality and their clientele ranges far and wide Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and Bihar. The butts are made of Kashmiri walnut wood while the barrel, trigger and other metal parts come from Punjab and New Delhi. The weapon goes through rigorous tests before its sold. The barrels are sent to ordnance factories in Jabalpur and Kanpur for inspection. We have a team of experienced and professional gunsmiths. Our team ensures the product meets the standards, Kumar said. Jammu became the second largest gun manufacturer in India after gun makers moved to the region post 1990s. Only about 1500 guns are made annually. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo) A double-barrel shotgun costs up to Rs 20,000. The single-barrel is cheaper at Rs 14,000. But the protracted insurgency has almost killed a flourishing trade, and thrust around 1,300 workers and their families into an uncertain future. Kumar said the government should ease norms in issuing gun licences to people a debatable demand but legitimate for people from the trade. Gun makers consider the business a tradition, and are unwilling to give up on the craft just yet. At present there are just over 20 factories that operate. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo ) The tough licence norms and production cap wont go away too soon, given the situation the restive Valley. A state home department official hinted as much, besides saying the 12-bore shotgun has become virtually obsolete now. Gunmakers like Kumar has little option but stick to their guns. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The CBI will soon send summons to Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, for alleged irregularities relating to foreign direct investments received by INX Media in 2007, owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are in jail for the murder of Sheena Bora. According to sources in the CBI, besides Karti, other people and entities named in the FIR will also be summoned. Read more | CBI raids Karti Chidambarams office on Sohna Road in Gurgaon The CBI has alleged that Karti used his influence in the finance ministry to help INX Media get an approval to receive foreign investments from three Mauritius-based investors. On Monday, the CBI filed an FIR against Karti, INX Media Pvt Ltd through its director Indrani, INX News Pvt Ltd through its director Peter, Advance Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL) through its director Padma Vishwanathan and other officials of the ministry. The investigation agency said INX Media allegedly received approval from (FIPB) for Rs 4.62 crore investment but received Rs 305 crore by sale of shares at a premium of Rs 800 per share instead of Rs 10 as mentioned by the media group in their application. Moreover, the company went against the decision of the FIPB and made a downstream investment of 26% of its capital share. FIPB had asked INX to seek permission from the ministry of information and broadcasting before making investments, said Vineet Vinayak, joint director of the CBI. The CBI alleged that after the income tax department sought clarifications from FIPB, INX Media roped in Kartis Chess Management Services Pvt Ltd to get the issues resolved by influencing officials of the FIPB. The officials said the accused, including Karti will be examined in the same matter and summons asking them to be present in the agency headquarters here will be sent in the next few days. Agency sources also told HT that other than those booked by the CBI on Monday, individuals classified as person of interest will be examined by the probe agency. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As many as 18 people were injured in two separate incidents of violence in Kashmir on Thursday. Four people including three policemen were wounded in a grenade attack on a Srinagar police station that afternoon. Somebody lobbed a grenade into the Safakadal police station compound. Two special police officers, a constable and a civilian were injured in the explosion. Fortunately, none of them are in a critical condition, said a police officer. In another incident, 14 people were injured when pellets and tear gas shells were fired in the course of a clash between security personnel and college students in the main town of south Kashmirs Kulgam district. The students, who hailed from the Government Degree College there, were agitating against the detention of their colleagues by state agencies. The Kulgam police control room said it has received clear instructions from superintendent of police Shridhar Patil to not interact with the media. Attempts to contact Patil and deputy superintendent of police (operations) Zaheer Abbas were unsuccessful. The Kulgam chief medical officer said 14 people injured in the clashes were treated at the district hospital. Most of them were students with pellet injuries. One of the students, who was hit in the eye, was referred to Srinagar hospital, he added. Police later released a press statement. Miscreants pelted stones at Kulgam market, forcing shopkeepers to down shutters. Police reached the spot and chased the miscreants away. Nobody suffered serious injuries, and the shops were reopened soon afterwards. The general public is requested to help police deal with miscreants, it said. According to sources, a video journalist covering the clashes was also injured. PDP leaders brother found dead The brother of a lower-rung PDP leader was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room at Dalgate, Srinagar, on Thursday. Identifying the deceased as 36-year-old Reyaz Ahmad Dar from Handwara in north Kashmirs Kupwara district, police said a case has been registered under section 174 of the Ranbir Penal Code. The body was handed to the victims next of kin after the completion of legal formalities. A family court in Kerala on Wednesday denied divorce to a petitioner seeking legal validity for his talaq sent by a registered post. This comes amid a raging debate in the country over the practice under which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by simply uttering the Arabic word thrice. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Muslim practices of polygamy, nikah halala and triple talaq. Several Muslim women moved the court saying the practice is discriminatory, against gender justice and dignity of women. The court in Malappuram observed due procedure as prescribed by the Quran was not followed by the petitioner. It said the petitioner failed to produce any evidence of him going through due procedure of the talaq and also failed to cite any specific reason for seeking the divorce. Malappuram resident Ali Faizi had moved the family court seeking legal validity for talaq. Though the petitioner sent the talaq to his wife in 2012, the respondent did not accept the letter sent by registered post. The court citing earlier orders of the Kerala and Karnataka high courts held that there should be a reasonable cause for talaq. Taalq should be given only after conciliation attempts by husband and wife failed. No such attempts were initiated here so the petitioner is not entitled to get the declaration as prayed for, judge Ramesh Bhai said dismissing the petition. Besides this, no valid cause was cited for talaq, the judge said. Since the petitioner failed to meet the due procedure as per the Quran and Islamic laws, his talaq carried no legal validity, the court observed. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Thursday Pakistan cannot hang Kulbhushan Jadhav for now. The world court ordered Islamabad to give consular access to Jadhav. Pakistan shall take all measures to ensure that Jadhav is not hanged until a final decision by the court, said ICJ judge Ronny Abraham. The circumstances of his arrest are in dispute... India should have been given consular access as per Vienna Convention. Pronouncing the courts order, Abraham said the ICJ had jurisdiction in the matter. Below are the highlights of the ICJ hearing and reactions after it concluded: 6.45pm: In the annals of international law, this judgment is a great victory of the rule of law, says finance minister Arun Jaitley. 6.31pm: Its a great vindication of Indias stand and the entire Indian team at The Hague deserves to be congratulated, says Jaitley 6.29pm: I hope concerned authorities in Pakistan have heard, ICJ said that this order creates legally binding international obligation: MEA Spox pic.twitter.com/03GMPFptMB ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 6.09pm: Govt will do everything possible to save the life of Kulbhushan Jadhav, says ministry of external affairs 6.07pm: MEA hopes the ICJ provision order will hopefully address egregious violation of rights of Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan. 6.05pm: ICJ order is unanimous and unambiguous, is essential first step in Kulbhshan Jadhav getting justice, says MEA at press briefing. 6.03pm: Pakistan must inform ICJ of all measures taken to implement its order: MEA 5.56pm: We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. 5.49pm: Pakistan must learn from its own mistakes, says Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh who died in a Pakistan jail in 2013. 5.46pm: Friends of Kulbhushan Jadhav celebrate in Mumbai on Thursday. (AP) 5.38pm: India is desperately tried to divert the worlds attention by presenting Kulbhushans case from a humanitarian angle, says Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson 5.36pm: India is trying to defend a person whose actions led to killing of scores of innocent Pakistanis-Pak Foreign Ministry Spox #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/BiZ7dG4Gm8 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 5.22pm: Pakistan will present solid evidence against KulbhushanJadhav in the International Court: Pakistan foreign office spokesperson. 5.15pm: India has been trying to hide its real face by taking Jadhavs case to ICJ, says Pakistan foreign office spokesperson. 5.13pm: It is a victory for India and a big blow for Pakistan, says former defence minister AK Antony. 5.12pm: Head of Pakistans delegation at the ICJ, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, terms the order staying Jadhavs execution as a basic ruling. 5:00pm: Finance minister Arun Jaitley praises former solicitor general Harish Slave, who represented India at the ICJ Well done! #HarishSalve - you have done India Proud. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 18, 2017 Relief and satisfaction as the #ICJ order has come- Rule of Law has won. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 18, 2017 4:55pm: The ICJs decision to stay the execution of Shri Kulbhushan Jadhav gives the people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief, tweets home minister Rajnath Singh 4:50pm: Celebrations outside Kulbhushan Jadhavs residence in Powai. (HT Photo/Prashant Waydande) 4:30pm: PM NarendraModi expresses satisfaction at the judgement of ICJ in KulbhushanJadhav case, reports PTI GoI must use the ICJ decision as a trigger to bring #KulbhushanJadhav back. ICJ has given a favorable decision: Manish Tewari, Congress pic.twitter.com/6ZL7p10LN3 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 4:26pm: I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav, tweets Swaraj Victory of crores of Indians & the truth. I want to congratulate Govt: Dalbir Kaur (Sarabjit's sister) on #ICJ verdict on #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/DUFEr6G2mo ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 4:10pm: The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India, tweets external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj Hope that final decision also comes India's way and we can see Mr.Jadhav come back home: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/FUpmHzJESj ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3:54pm: Pakistan shall inform the court of all measures taken in implementation of the final order, says ICJ 3:53pm: 150 day period for clemency given by Pakistan which ends in August suggests execution can happen immediately thereafter: ICJ 3:52pm: The court says Jadhav will not be executed before the court has given its final decision 3:51pm: ICJ stays Jadhav death sentence, says he will not be executed before August 2017. 3:49pm: The mere fact that he may be executed is sufficient to demonstrate that there is a risk of irreparable damage 3:47pm: It appears that the rights invoked by India in the present case are plausible, says Judge Abraham. 3:45pm: All parties under Vienna Convention have rights to provide consular assistance to their nationals, says ICJ. 3:43pm: ICJ rules it has prima facie jurisdiction to take up the case of Jadhav. 3:41pm: The court considers that the alleged failure by Pak to provide requisite consular assistance as well as alleged failure to allow communication appear to be falling under the provisions of Vienna Convention, says Judge Abraham. 3:40pm: Jadhav should have been given consular assistance under Vienna Convention, says Judge Abraham. 3:38pm: India requested consular access, says Judge Ronny Abraham. 3:35pm: Pakistan had sought Indias assistance in investigation, observes Judge Ronny Abraham. 3:34pm: The Hague: International Court of Justice to pronounce order in #KulbhushanJadhav case, shortly. pic.twitter.com/0UZM6t4cJN ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 3:32pm: Judge starts reading out the verdict. 3:30pm: The 11-judge bench has arrived and the verdict is expected to be delivered shortly. 3:05pm: At The Hague, India has demanded immediate suspension of Jadhavs death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ concludes. 2:45pm: India approached the ICJ on May 8 and accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by persistently denying consular access to Jadhav and conducting a farcical trial without a shred of evidence. 2:35pm: India challenged Jadhavs sentence last week, basing its arguments around what it says have been violations of the Vienna Conventions rules on giving countries access to their citizens accused of crime on a foreign soil. 2:15pm: Jadhavs childhood friend Arvind Singh said he was hopeful that the ICJ would give a verdict in Indias favour. We all are praying that he is delivered justice. Almost everybody here is praying for him. We have been campaigning on various fronts for his safe return. We are very hopeful that the verdict is going to be in our favour. The way Salve ji has put his point, we are very hopeful, he told ANI. 2:10pm: Prayers are being offered for safe return Kulbhushan Jadhav at a temple in Kandivali. (HT Photo/Prashant Waydande) 2:05pm: Ahead of the verdict, prayers are being held in several cities across the country for Jadhavs safe return. 2:00pm: The verdict will be announced at 3.30 pm Indian time, three days after the United Nations highest court in the Hague heard arguments by India and Pakistan. Please stop publishing such rumours that we people eat human meat, said Alagba Touchukwu, a 24-year-old from Nigeria studying medical science at Sharda University. You are not helping. Please refrain from publishing rubbish. It was a sentiment my colleague Vinit Koneru and I heard from many African students while we were covering the recent racial attacks in Greater Noida. The students were dismayed at the manner in which some vernacular dailies had quoted allegations of cannibalism from local residents who had called for Africans to leave Greater Noida. Even two years back, media had reported that few Nigerians attacked an auto-rickshaw driver and they ate him, said Touchukwu. One month later, the driver was found alive and well. Do you now understand the damage this does? Hysteria of this kind led to the evening of March 27 in Greater Noida, where a candle-lit march in sympathy with a gravely ill teenager transformed into an enraged mob that perpetrated multiple vicious attacks on African citizens. A video showing two African students being beaten up by steel chairs and dustbins subsequently went viral. A sleepy industrial suburb suddenly found itself under the spotlight for harbouring what appeared to be a hate crime. We interviewed scores of local residents, African citizens, police personnel, administrative officials, lawyers and politicians to make sense of this night of chaos. What struck us was not the question of how a candle march of local activists turned into a bloody riot in a matter of minutes. It was, instead, the realisation that this incident had revealed the prejudice that is all around us. We had seen it in the forms of the caste system and communal bigotry, and now we were witnessing it in the form of racism and xenophobia. Indian government will never declare this as hate crime because that attracts immense criticism, said a senior police officer who has been based in Greater Noida. We live in a country where a Brahmin doesnt consider another caste Hindu as his equal and a backward Hindu doesnt consider Dalits as worthy of living. We live in a society fragmented by hundreds of castes and this attack will also be considered as one among the hundred divides that we have created. These divides were evident in many of our interviews. Pramendra Bhati, a lawyer representing one of the accused in the rioting, asked us to report positively in our stories. Asked how he defined positive reporting, Bhati replied, You should publish how they eat human meat. We have heard of many such cases where habshees have cut ears of children and eaten them. They are a nuisance here. We heard the allegation that Africans indulge in cannibalism in numerous other interviews, and we werent the only ones. Ilma Hasan, a TV reporter for India Today, was continually interrupted while interviewing an injured Nigerian national by a bystander who yelled, You people cover only them. They eat human flesh! In addition to widespread claims of cannibalism, local residents also blame Africans for encouraging party culture in their neighbourhood and for corrupting their children. They drive huge cars and drink liquor at public spots, their women wear skimpy outfits and often they indulge in drunken brawls. They sell drugs to our kids. They are well built and they fear no one. We dont want them here, said Bhati. Fear of the physique and appearance of African citizens seems to be common. Many locals told us that they fear Africans because they are huge and it would take at last six to eight Indians to deal with one of them. While recounting the vicious attack on the Nigerian brothers, Endurance Amarawa and Precious Amalcima, at Ansal Plaza Mall on March 27, one policeman told us how the brothers survived the severe blows because they were well built. These prejudices and fears make it hard for many students to live here. Mukesh Bhati, a local property agent, told us that he provides housing to African and Kashmiri students in vacant towers of unfinished housing societies. This way, he said, they can stay in large numbers without causing much inconvenience to the builders. Builder can ask them to vacate the flats when he manages to sell them or if he wishes to develop a planned residential society, he said. Till the time the building is under construction, it is easy money for the owner if he rents it out. Ghost societies is a common phrase in Greater Noida for the residential complexes that are stuck in the phase of construction for years due to legal tussles and market conditions. Visiting these ghost towers, Ive seen hundreds of Africans living in them. Such places are likely home to a large fraction of the population of roughly 4,000 Africans living in Greater Noida. Read more | We wont be bullied by violence: Nigerian students on Greater Noida attacks Nonetheless, the suburb is an attractive destination for foreign students; there are over two dozen colleges in Knowledge Park. David, a student of African descent at Kiroli Mal College of Delhi University and a resident of the suburb, told us he was dejected over the recent violence and a subsequent order by the police that Africans living in Greater Noida not leave their houses for any reason without a police escort. I am acquainted with places such as Munirka, but I have never liked staying in Delhi, he said. It is full of people. Greater Noida was an isolated yet inclusive place for us because people never interfered in our lives. I like this place Since police start permitting Africans to move freely again in Greater Noida in early April, the level of tension in the suburb has been slowly decreasing. Such incidents have still left disturbing memories for African citizens staying in a country that boasts of its divine treatment of guests. It is reasonable to expect fewer students to choose to live in Noida and fewer Africans to study in our country at all. But more than anything, the attacks have revealed an uncomfortable truth about us that weve been trying to avoid the truth about our contempt for certain different cultures, disdain for the living and eating habits of some foreigners, and our inability to function as a mutually inclusive society. All this falls under the classic definition of racism, yet we arent doing much about it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A year after prohibition was enforced in Bihar, illegal liquor traders have made it easy for Bacchus lovers to search for their favourite booze by using a new liquor lingo. So dont be surprised if you are asked to savour Jehangir, Ghafoor, chota and bada syrup or even Nepal. These are some of the code words for liquor being used by traders to carry out their clandestine business. Superintendent of police (SP) of Bhojpur district in south central Bihar, Kshatranil Singh confirmed that persons involved in the business of purveying illegal alcoholic drinks were using code words to convey information related to the proscribed item. The matter came to light after the arrest of a soft drink seller, who had been allegedly supplying alcoholic beverages in Ara town, about 55 km west of state capital, Patna, after receiving orders for such items in code words , he said. Demand for delivery of one litre milk at home will mean that the customer has ordered for a large bottle of liquor, said another police officer, on the condition of anonymity. Liquor is easily available. Only, you need to know the right code word to procure it, said a man who had managed to lay his hands on Jehangir, the name for India made foreign liquor (IMFL), in Araria district, 320 km north-east of Patna. Apart from Jehangir, one can also have easy access to Fakruddin, code word for the banned codeine- based Corex cough syrup, which is widely used as intoxicant, at Jokihat, some 20 km from Araria, said the man, who did not wish to be identified. Thats not the end. Countrymade liquor is available as Ghafoor and ganja is sold as Bechara at Jokihat, he added. Moving north from Jokihat, Nepal is the code word for booze at Jogbani and Forbesganj, two towns in the district sharing border with the Himalayan nation. You just need to convince illegal liquor traders that you wanted to visit Nepal and you will be handed over a bottle of IMFL, locals at Forbesganj, 293 km east of Patna, said, adding that cold drink was another code. However, Araria police dont have any information in this regard. Jokihat police station SHO MA Haidri, however, said he had no information of illegal liquor traders using code words. We will definitely act if such complaints are made, he added. In Rohtas and Kaimur districts of western Bihar, bordering Uttar Pradesh, liquor of all brands are just a phone call away. Dial the number, and it will be delivered at your doorstep in maximum 20 minutes. All you need is to get your phone numbers registered with the suppliers use the correct code word, said a man at Bhabua, 197 km south west of Patna, in Kaimur district. When you ask for Fruity, you will get IMFL in tetrapacks. The suppliers will deliver a small bottle if you demand chota syrup and a large bottle if you ask for bada syrup, he said. Bihar became a dry state on April 5, 2016. Under the states prohibition law, consuming, keeping or dealing in liquor is an offence, which attracts imprisonment up to 10 years. A 25-year-old naval cadet died on Thursday after falling off a building at the Indian Naval Academy in north Keralas Ezhimala on Wednesday evening. The body of Suraj was found near a high-rise building at the academy. His relatives, however, alleged foul play and sought an inquiry. Police registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body for post-mortem examination at the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital. Suspended from the naval academy on disciplinary grounds, Suraj was re-admitted after the Kerala high court gave a verdict in his favour. Surajs brother alleged that he was mentally tortured by seniors after he was re-admitted. According to relatives, Suraj who joined the navy at a young age wanted to appear for the cadets examination. However, some senior officers allegedly denied him permission. When he approached the Kerala high court, the seniors took action against him on disciplinary grounds. Later, the high court directed the authorities to allow him to appear for the test and he cleared it. The navy is yet to react to the incident. UPDATE: The INA released a statement detailing the sequence of events from the time Sooraj was found. They said his body was spotted on Wednesday evening, and taken to the Naval medical centres ICU. He was shifted to Pariyaram hospital where he died after a cardiac arrest. This story initially mentioned that Sooraj was found dead on Thursday morning and was updated to reflect the sequence of events stated by the Navy. The police has not contradicted it. The jawans of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), early Thursday, apprehended a Nepal national on the Indo-Nepal border, in north-eastern Bihars Araria district, while he was carrying 1 kg of narcotics, suspected to be premium quality Double Tiger heroin of Thailand. The powder, estimated to be worth Rs 6 crore in the international market, along with the man caught smuggling it into India from Nepal, has been handed over to the police at Jogbani in Araria district. The man smuggling the narcotics into India has been identified as Lal Bahadur Sardar of Mayaganj, ward No 9, under Rangeli police station of Morang district (Nepal). The arrest and seizure came about after jawans of the 56th battallion of SSB, posted at Border Outpost Amabachi, in Araria, received specific information about the movement of an illegal consignment of narcotics, at a particular place at a particular time. A special operation was launched and a man was spotted on the porous border with two bags. He tried to flee when challenged by the SSB jawans. The jawans, however, managed to apprehend him and seized the bags he was carrying. SSB's Deputy Commandant Maninder Kumar told HT that the value of the seized heroin was estimated to be around Rs 6 crore in international market. The suspect, Lal Bahadur, claimed this was his first consignment, but it is suspected that he may have smuggled heroin into Bihar, earlier too. Sources said the unprecedented increase in seizure of narcotic drugs and other banned items is due to enforcement of prohibition in the state. The NCB officials said the figures may inflate as several agencies are yet to submit their data. Excise department data shows that after prohibition rules were imposed in the state, 6,674.88 kg bhang, 1,272 kg marijuana and 73.87 acres of opium plantation were seized during various raids. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: International community is well aware that Armenia, while continuing the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and, as a result, changing the status quo, is impeding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman of Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry, said. The recent statement made by the Armenian leadership in the parliament testifies to this again, Hajiyev told Trend May 18, adding the statement fully contradicts the updated Madrid principles. He said the first paragraph of the updated Madrid principles, stipulating a gradual settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, envisages the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied areas adjacent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Here the logic is to ensure peace in exchange for the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Hajiyev said. He added that the situation of Armenians residing in Azerbaijan presented by the Armenian leadership as self-determination has nothing to do with the right to self-determination, which is reflected in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. Abusing the supreme principle of international law the right to self-determination the Armenian leadership is trying to conceal their attempts to occupy the territories of neighboring Azerbaijan by using force, he said. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday directed the Assam government to compensate families of 36 victims killed by Bodo militants three years ago. At least 36 people including women and children were killed and many others injured in three separate incidents in Kokrajhar and Baksa districts on May 1 and 2, 2014, days after voting for Lok Sabha polls in the state. The attacks were reportedly carried out by the Songbijit faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). All the victims were migrant Muslims. Many houses were also burnt down by the militants in several villages forcing survivors to flee and seek shelter in relief camps. Families of 36 victims would get an amount of five lakh rupees each and five seriously injured would receive three lakhs each, NHRC chairman Justice HL Dattu told journalists here on Thursday. The team also heard a case of address crisis of nearly 4,000 residents of Bamunjhar village in Assam. According to electoral rolls, the village falls in Tamulpur sub-division in Baksa district, but the police station is Sipajhar and revenue circle in Patharughat - both in Darrang district. With the state government too failing to provide any conclusion to where the village falls, development work has got affected, forcing residents to threaten mass self-immolation. We discussed the matter and have asked the Assam chief secretary to inquire into it and submit a report within the next three months, Dattu said. The NHRC team was in the state capital after a gap of five years to conduct camp sitting/open hearing of a total of 43 cases from Assam and Meghalaya for two days. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As India struggles to beef up its fighter aircraft fleet due to slow induction of new jets, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is narrowing the gap with the Indian Air Force. The IAF has 33 fighter squadrons compared with almost 25 units, including those for training, of the neighbouring country, translating into a combat ratio of 1.3 to 1, defence experts say. A squadron usually has 16 to 18 fighters. That is a significant dip from 3 to 1 in IAFs favour in the 1980s. Five years ago, the figure stood at 1.6 to 1. I dont recall the combat ratio being below 1.8 to 1, says air chief marshal Fali Major, who headed the IAF during 2007-08. He, however, said a squadron-to-squadron comparison wasnt fair. The more important thing is how many aircraft are available for missions at any given time. The IAFs serviceability is way better than the PAFs, he said. The IAF hopes to strengthen its combat units with the induction of the Tejas light combat aircraft, more Sukhoi-30s, Rafale warplanes, Indo-Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and possibly a medium-weight fighter that could be built in India in collaboration with a foreign player. Up in the air The upgrade plan, however, has hit a few hurdles. The fate of the FGFA appears uncertain. While a government panel is to submit its report on the viability of the multi-billion dollar programme to develop the stealth fighter with the Russians, IAF sources said budgetary constraints could come in the way. We do need the platform but where is the money, an IAF officer said on condition of anonymity. There is a sense within the IAF that the FGFA programme is too expensive for the force. A final decision would be taken by the government after the three-member panel, conducting the cost-benefit analysis, submits its report. Plans to build single-engine and twin-engine fighters in collaboration with foreign military contractors are yet to take off. These proposals are covered under the governments strategic partnership model that is still being fine-tuned. The 36 Rafale fighter planes ordered from France after a long delay also fall short of the IAFs original requirement of 126 medium-weight fighters. Days before he retired in December 2016, former IAF chief air chief marshal Arup Raha said the 36 Rafale warplanes ordered for $8.7 billion were not enough and India needed at least 200 such fighter jets to sharpen its military edge. The Rafale, equipped with latest weapons and tailored for Indian needs, will be delivered to the IAF between 2019 and 2022. Tech edge The IAF fleet has 14 squadrons of ageing MiG-21and MiG-27 fighters that will be retired in phases by 2024. The IAF has ordered 123 Tejas aircraft that would be delivered by 2025, if all goes to plan. Fighters such as the Rafale, Su-30, and the upgraded Mirage-2000s were superior to any fighter in the Pakistani arsenal, former chief Major said. The PAFs planes such as the F-7s and older French Mirages arent relevant today. In terms of technology, they really dont match us, he said. The PAF operates more than 80 F-16s, including second-hand F-16A/B Block 15 jets bought from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Bulk of the Pakistani fleet consists of older F-16A/B fighters, now upgraded to Block 52 standards in Turkey. It also has 18 F-16C/D Block 50/52 planes. Block refers to the F-16 evolution, with a higher number representing technological upgrades. The PAF is also inducting JF-17 Thunder fighters, sometimes compared with the Tejas. Developed jointly with China, the PAF has nearly 90 JF-17s in its fleet. Air vice-marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd) said India needed to act fast to retain the superiority it has traditionally enjoyed over the PAF. The IAF has conveyed the urgency to the government and it understands. We have been slow but if the planned inductions progress smoothly, theres not much to worry, said Bahadur, a distinguished fellow at New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Air Power Studies. The Madhya Pradesh governments big ticket scheme to distribute smartphones to undergraduates has allegedly turned out to be a phony business with students getting sub-standard phones. Before the 2013 assembly elections, the BJP had promised free phones to woo young voters. The government delivered its promise last year, becoming the first state with such a scheme. Initially, there was a multinational company engaged to supply the phones, which did its job for a year. Later, another company won the bid. Sources from the higher education department said many students who got the phones made their complaints known. The problems include 3G-enabled phone with data download speed worse than 2G-enabled phones, heating up of battery, and data getting automatically deleted due to low memory space, students alleged. The Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) had signed an agreement with Hyderabad-based Karvy Data Management Service Limited (KDMSL) for the supply of 3.75 lakh smartphones at Rs 2,159.75 apiece. About 1.30 lakh phones have been supplied. The tender was floated in July 2016 and the company was to get the phones from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Forstar Chinas unit in India. But KDMSL later assigned it to Forstar Techno Solutions Private Limited (FTSPL), which has existed merely for two-and-a-half years and which had no previous experience in manufacture of smartphones, documents with HT show. Akshay Hunka, a Right to Information (RTI) activist, said FTSPL assembled the phone Amosta 3G5 in IT Park, Gwalior, from October 2016 after getting most of the parts from China. But the phone carries a Made in India logo. Vijay Agrawal, a former office-bearer of CII, says a product must use at least 90% Indian raw materials in order to be certified Made in India. When FTSPL began its journey in a room in 2014 in Raipur, it had zero turnover for two years, alleged Hunka. It is now dealing with a Rs 78-crore project of MP government. Hence, under the scheme, the government has provided the benefit to a company, not students. Documents show Forstar China didnt comply with a tender condition of having a Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) quality certification for manufacturing of phones when the agreement was signed in September 2016. FTSPL, which delivered the phone on behalf of KDMSL, got a BIS certification in February 1 this year after the distribution of phones was started. KDMSL e-governance director Sriniwas Varma and KDMSL CFO K Pandu said FTSPL MD Vivek Prakash would answer the queries. When asked about FTSPLs credentials, Varma didnt reply. Prakash said, KDMSL has assigned us the project. We are assembling the phones by procuring products from different OEMs. Assembling can also be called manufacturing. We have received only one complaint from MPSEDC. On the use of the Make in India logo without DIPP permission, Prakash said, The current project of distribution of mobile phones is a state government initiative and MPSEDC has taken this up to promote local manufacturing in the state. The corporation runs the project on behalf of the higher education department. Ashish Upadhyaya, principal secretary of the department, said, They (the company) cannot use any logo on our behalf. Even we are not satisfied with the quality of smartphones but we cant do anything as we are just distributing it. Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, MP higher education minister, held the science and technology (S&T) department responsible for the poor quality. S&T minister Umashankar Gupta said, We just floated the tender. The KDSML neither has authorised service centres in Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar and Rewa nor support centres at every district headquarter. Students allege that most of the contact numbers mentioned on the box cover were either switched off or unavailable. I feel cheated, said Sachin Tyagi, a student from Guna, who failed to get a response from the service centre. Akshay Pratap Singh, a student from Rewa, sold his phone through OLX because support centres and service centres were nowhere in the picture. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Doctors at a Pune hospital successfully conducted Indias first womb transplant on Thursday by transferring a mothers (44) uterus to her 21-year-old daughter, who is unable to conceive a child. A team of 12 doctors at Punes Galaxy Care Laparoscopy Institute (GCLI) retrieved the womb to fit it into Solapur resident, who does not have a uterus. We retrieved the uterus from mother and successfully transplanted it in daughter. Both donor and recipient are doing fine and are under observation, Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director, GCLI, told HT. The recipient, who is married to an industrialist, hails from Solapur. The surgeons retrieved the uterus using a laparoscopic technique, which shortened the duration of the procedure, bringing it down from normal 12 hours to nine. Whether organ transplanted in recipients body is working properly will be assessed only after 15 days, said Puntambekar. The hospital had earlier planned to conduct another womb transplant on Friday on a 24-year-old woman from Baroda who suffers from Ashermans Syndrome (scar tissue in the uterus) and will receive her mothers womb. However, it became unclear whether doctors will go ahead for second transplant given the extended hours went in operating first procedure. Surgeons at GCLI will transplant a womb in a third woman, who is suffering from cervical cancer, at a later stage. The hospital has been preparing for womb transplants over the past few months and recipients were made to undergo ovulation stimulation through IVF. Frozen embryos are implanted in the womb after transplantation for the couple to conceive. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Passenger train tickets could see a marginal hike if the government decides to implement a safety cess to shore up revenues of Indias biggest transporter, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has hinted. The cess could be fixed at less than 2% of the total fare amount, officials said. The state-run behemoth is reeling under mounting losses, a Rs 32,000-crore debt burden and galloping operating ratio, the calculation of paisa spent against every rupee earned. A safety cess on passenger tickets is under consideration, Prabhu told reporters on Tuesday. He, however, did not say when the cess was likely to be introduced. An official told HT the railways was considering various options including the possibility of effecting an incremental increase, so that the pain (of raised fares) remains gradual for low-income passengers in particular. Indian Railways operates 19,000 trains daily and carries an estimated 23 million passengers, a number equal to the population of Australia, on its network of tracks running to nearly 64,000 kilometres. But it also has a poor safety record with hundreds of accidents leading to the death of a total of more than 3,000 passengers in a ten-year period between 1999-2009. A safety cess was last levied in 2002 during Nitish Kumars term as the railway minister to service a special fund of Rs 17,500 crore. The fund was set up to take up several tasks, including restoration of old bridges, besides signaling and track modernisation works. Officials said passenger services have remained heavily subsidised, with losses in this segment estimated at Rs 30,000 crore this year. While higher class fares - AC-I and AC-2 - have been gradually raised in the past few years, tariffs in the non-reserved classes and suburban trains have largely remained untouched. Approximately 94% of the passengers travel in the unreserved second class. Volumes (in terms of revenue generation) can come only when fares of the unreserved class are hiked, the official added. In this years budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced a Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) or the Rail Safety Fund with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore, envisaging an annual spending of Rs 20,000 crore for the next five years on safety upgrade schemes. For the current fiscal, the finance ministry sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the fund, while directing the railways to raise additional Rs 10,000 crore required for executing RRSK tasks this year. Last fiscal, the transporter logged an operating ratio of 96.96%, the highest ever in the last decade. This means the transporter spent 96.96 paisa for every rupee it earned. During the year, losses of Rs 4899 crore were reported in freight transportation, while passenger earnings increased by a mere 5%. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair a first security review meeting on May 20 with Chief Ministers of five Himalayan states on the India-China border during his three-day visit to Sikkim, an official said on Thursday. Mehbooba Mufti, Virbhadra Singh, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling, and Pema Khandu, who are Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh respectively will attend. The meeting organised by the Home Ministry will be held on Saturday in Gangtok, a Ministry official said. The Home Minister will leave Delhi for the Sikkim visit on Friday. The objective is to strengthen coordination of the Ministry with these five states so as to improve overall border security, he said. The official said that border infrastructure work undertaken by the Home Ministry, border area development programme and coordination issues between the states and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will also be discussed in the meeting. The ITBP is responsible for the security of 3,488 km-long India-China border in Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km), and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km). The Home Ministrys move comes days after India refused to participate in Chinas One Belt, One Road conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lamas visit to Arunachal Pradesh. During his three-day visit to Sikkim, the Minister will also visit Nathula Pass and ITBP border post at Lachung to meet the troopers deputed on the India-China border. Rajnath Singh will also visit the Sashastra Seema Bal battallion headquarters at Geyzing and Yuksam, besides flying over the border guarding forces border posts at Uttarey, Kumukh and Bajrajadhara on the India-Nepal Border on May 21. He will also interact with troopers at a Sainik Sammelan at Geyzing before attending a civic action programme at Pelling in Sikkim. Soft spoken, passionate environmentalist, prolific writer and an ardent Narmada devotee. Thats how Anil Madhav Daves contemporaries in the Rashtriya Svyamasevak Sangh (RSS) remember him. Dave who died Thursday morning was an RSS pracharak till the time he was loaned to the BJP to assist the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti. As news of his death spread, Sangh functionaries paid glowing tributes to the man credited for his role in reviving rivers and crusading for environment protection. They also shared their memories of late environment minister, who was also an amateur pilot. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat condoled his passing away and said he fulfilled his responsibilities as an RSS pracharak as well as a party member. He was my contemporary, while I was the pracharak in Ahmedabad. He held the same position in Bhopal and we met often. He was studious with a deep commitment towards environment and the Narmada. His studies on rejuvenation of rivers were exhaustive, RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya told HT. Read more: Daves last wishes: Plant tree, preserve rivers but dont use my name He said Madhavs love for the environment seeped into his private life as well. His home in Bhopal is called Nadi ka Ghar (House of the river), Vaidya recalled. The late ministers interest in statecraft culminated in a book, Shivaji Va Suraj, which has a foreword by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A long term associate and a friend of the late minister, Atul Jain said Dave was interested in examining how the governance model followed by the Maratha ruler could fit in the contemporary times. One June 9, he was scheduled to deliver a lecture on integral humanism, and the good governance model followed by Shivaji at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussoorie, said Jain who is the general secretary of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Research Institute, a Sangh affiliated think tank. Jain also recalled his love for rejuvenating rivers and said he made concerted efforts to organise international river festivals on the banks of the Narmada. He treated rivers like people and spoke of their rights much before the courts did. He was a worshipper of Naramada. Hindu mythology advocates parikrama of the Naramada; he did it thrice, once on foot, once on a raft and then flew his own plane across its 1300 kms length, Jain said. And when he chose to take a break from his duties as a party member and then as a Rajya Sabha MP, the late minister would retreat to his cottage Shivneri on the banks of the river he had dedicated his life to. In his will, Dave had left instructions for a simple cremation ceremony near Shivneri, where the river festival is held; he has also asked for trees to be planted in his memory. He had an organic relationship with the Narmada and it is only fitting that he is being given his final rites on the banks of the river, Jain told HT. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has thrown his weight behind BJP MP Varun Gandhis demand for a right to recall law, stating that a legislation to this effect will revolutionise Indian democracy. In a private-member legislation moved in the Lok Sabha in March, Gandhi had proposed an amendment that would provide for the recall of elected representatives within two years if 75% of the voters were unhappy with the ruling dispensations performance. The two-time parliamentarian had requested the BJP leadership to initiate a debate on the matter. Such a move will help increase political accountability and deepen democracy for all, Gandhi tweeted on Thursday, sharing a two-page letter from the activist with his followers. Honoured to have Shri Anna Hazarejis support for the Right to Recall Bill that I introduced in Parliament. The anti-corruption activists letter pointed out that he had been demanding a similar legislation since 2008. What we also need is a right to reject unsuitable candidates (before an election), it further stated. If a majority of the voters opt for the right to reject, voting should be cancelled and fresh elections ordered with new candidates. The introduction of the NOTA (none of the above) option was an incomplete job on the part of the election commission, Hazare said, adding that it will not help bring true democracy into the country. The activist had spearheaded a massive public movement against the Congress-led UPA government in 2011, demanding the establishment of the Lokpal an independent anti-corruption watchdog to keep an eye on government machinery. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Puducherry governor Kiran Bedi were the key faces of the movement, which helped the BJP-led opposition build a strong case against alleged corruption in the then Manmohan Singh government. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Modi government would review the security cover of former prime ministers and their families at a meeting later this week to reduce the burden on the special protection group (SPG), home ministry sources said. Set up in 1985, a year after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, the SPG is tasked with protecting the prime minister, former PMs and their families based on threat perception. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the SPG guards seven other people -- former PM Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his foster-daughter Namita Bhattacharya, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her two children Rahul and Priyanka. In the meeting, the threat these seven protectees face would be assessed and their security decided accordingly, sources said. The review comes at a time when the security establishment is debating handing over the security of some of the protectees to any of the central paramilitary forces. But the government would have to navigate political sensitivities attached to security cover. The SPG cover for all except the prime minister is extended for a year after getting a feedback from security agencies. Last year when SPG protection for Manmohan Singh and his wife was reviewed, there was a talk of a paramilitary force taking over the duties due to a negligible threat, an official involved in the exercise told HT. But the move lost steam when it was pointed out that only two years had passed since Singh demitted office while his predecessor, Vajpayee, was under the SPG protection even after leaving office 12 years ago and he doesnt even move out of his residence, the officer said. The 92-year-old BJP veteran has been in poor health, largely restricting him to his New Delhi home. Last year, Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma shot down his teams suggestion to hand over Priyanka Gandhis security to another force, the official said. SPG chief Arun Kumar Sinha, IB director Rajiv Jain and secretary (security) in the cabinet secretariat RK Kini, who is the administrative in-charge of the SPG, will be among those attending the meeting. At any given time, the SPG has 10,000 personnel who are on deputation from state police and paramilitary forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force. Given the nature of the job, the government doesnt share the break-up of personnel deployed with a protectee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The International Court of Justice has stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage. The ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all necessary measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Minutes after the ICJs order, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: We are grateful to Mr. Harish Salve for presenting Indias case so effectively before ICJ. On Monday, Swaraj had tweeted to say Salve charged the government a token one rupee fee after he argued Indias case at the International Court of Justice against the death penalty to Jadhav by Pakistan. The minister had to step in after a tweet said India could have picked up a less expensive lawyer to defend the former Indian navy officer at the world court. Sixty-one-year-old Salve is one of Indias most expensive lawyers who charges anything between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for a court appearance. The chartered accountant-turned-lawyer, who according to media reports is partial to Apple products, specialises in tax law but is equally comfortable in criminal and constitutional matters. Perhaps that explains his list of clients that includes business tycoons Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata and Sunil Mittal. Veteran politicians Mulayam Singh Yadav and Parkash Singh Badal, too, have used Salves services, so have actor Salman Khan and IPL founder Lalit Modi. While he has successfully handled several high-profile corporate cases, Salve played a big part in the Supreme Court striking down the draconian section 66A of the information technology act that made posting offensive comments online a crime punishable by jail. The senior advocate helped law student Shreya Singhal defend freedom of speech and expression in the virtual world as well. Environment is a cause close to the heart of the Delhi-based lawyer who enjoys playing piano. Salve, who was advising the Supreme Court as an amicus curie, had suggested all buses in Delhi switch to cleaner CNG fuel to fight air pollution. The suggestion was highly unpopular but was accepted. It is on his recommendation that diesel-guzzling luxury cars and SUVs with engine capacity of 2000 cc cant be sold or registered in Delhi. Diesel cars are big contributors to air pollution. He was also the amicus curie in 2002 Gujarat riot cases, including that of Bilkis Bano. The Bombay high court early this month upheld life imprisonment awarded to 11 men for raping Bano. Salve, who was named the solicitor general of India when he was 43, comes from a family of lawyers and politicians. His father NKP Salve was a senior member of the Congress and his mother Ambriti a doctor. Salves grandfather was a successful criminal lawyer. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elena Kosolapova - Trend: The status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unsustainable, reads a Report on the Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Review of the European Commission and the High Representative on the Implementation of the ENP Review. The EU continues to support a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the report said. The conflict does not have a military solution and needs a political settlement as soon as possible in accordance with international law. The EU continues to fully support the mediation efforts and proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, according to the report. The report authors said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict saw a serious escalation in 2016. The EU continues to call on both sides to respect the ceasefire, tone down rhetoric and engage in substantive talks towards peace under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Frequent visits of the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) to the region are supporting the Minsk Group Co-Chairs' efforts and ongoing peacebuilding activities and are a demonstration of the EU interest and stake in the peaceful resolution of this protracted conflict, reads the report. The EU supported ongoing dialogues on the conflicts affecting Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan with the aim of reaching peaceful and sustainable solutions, said the report. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was set to rule on Thursday afternoon on Indias appeal to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage. India has charged Pakistan with showing scant regard to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) and asked the ICJ, the primary judicial branch of the United Nations also known as The Hague after the city in which it is seated, to immediately intervene. Past cases of a country going to the ICJ to stop the execution of its citizens by another: LaGrand Case (Germany vs United States) On January 7, 1982, German nationals Karl-Heinz and Walter Bernhard were involved in an armed robbery in Marana, Arizona in the United States. They were convicted of killing a man and severely injuring a woman and subsequently sentenced to death. Germany moved the ICJ weeks before their executions, securing a provisional stay from The Hague. But the US gave a lethal injection to LaGrand on Feb 24, 1999 and executed Bernhard in a case chamber a week later. In 2001, the ICJ rejected United States arguments based on domestic procedure and law and ruled in favour of Germany. Avena case (Mexico vs US) On January 9, 2003, Mexico took the United States to The Hague for violating VCCR in the trial of 54 Mexican nationals who were sentenced to death. Mexico requested the court to order a stay on the executions till it took a final decision on the matter, relying heavily on the ICJs judgment in the LaGrand case. Cesar Roberto Fierro Reyna, Roberto Moreno Ramos, and Osvaldo Torres Aguilera were among those at risk of execution in the next few weeks, Mexico contended. The ICJ concluded that in 51 of the cases, excluding those of Reyna, Ramos, and Aguilera, the US breached the provisions of VCCR. But the matter didnt end there and the US Supreme Court held that the United States Congress had not implemented enabling law to address violations of the VCCR. Escalation: Going to UNSC Parties have moved the United Nations Security Council to challenge an ICJ order. In 1986, Nicaragua, proceeded took the US to Hague accusing it of supported a rebellion to destabilise the country. ICJ ruled against US, which cancelled the declaration of ICJs compulsory jurisdiction and moved the UN Security Council against the order successfully. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a democracy there cannot be pre-censorship, the Delhi High Court told the AAP government regarding its policy on display of advertisements on auto rickshaws on Thursday. In a democracy it (pre-censorship) should not be done. What is the need for pre-censorship or prohibition of any political advertisement? How can you do it? A citizen can be political, a justices S Ravindra Bhat and Pratibha M Singh said. AAP had said that if an advertisement appears to be communal or obscene, then the government needs to take action against the person as per the law in existence. The Delhi government, meanwhile, told the court that it is coming out with a new policy regarding display of advertisement on public service vehicles (PSVs) including auto rickshaws in which the prohibition against political ads would be removed. However, they also said that pre-censorship was required to which the court did not agree. The bench listed the matter for hearing on August 9 giving time to the government to place its policy before the court. It was hearing a PIL by filed by some auto unions against the then Delhi governments August 2014 policy on display of advertisements on PSVs, particularly the bar on political ads and the provision allowing pre-censorship. The high court had in 2015 reserved its verdict in the matter, but had taken it up again last year as it wanted to know whether the government on its own would address the issues raised by the petitioners. However, since July 2016, the Delhi government had been seeking more time on each date for placing its revised advertisement policy before the court. Earlier in September 2014, the high court in an order had raised three questions - whether political advertisements should be allowed on PSVs, the need for pre-censorship, and whether ads ought to be allowed only for vehicles having GPS and GPRS systems. In June 2013, the then Delhi government had banned advertisements on PSVs after auto rickshaws started sporting AAP posters in the run-up to Delhi assembly elections. Thereafter, the high court had stayed the ban. In May 2014, the city government had informed the court that it was in the process of finalising the general guidelines for allowing advertisements on PSVs and was awaiting approval of the Lt Governor. On August 1, 2014, the government had placed before the court its latest guidelines for display of advertisements on PSVs, as per which ads containing political, ethnic, religious or sectarian text would not be permitted. The policy also stated that advertisements cannot be displayed without prior approval of municipal bodies and would be allowed only for vehicles which have installed GPS/GPRS systems and was challenged in the PIL. The malicious WannaCry ransomware virus, which has paralysed computers across the world, has also hit the systems at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), one of the richest Hindu shrines in the world. The breach took place on Wednesday. According to official sources, as many as 30 computer systems were found to be affected by the virus. However, all these systems belong to the administration wing of TTD and were attended to by the engineers of the IT department immediately, TTD official spokesman T Ravi told Hindustan Times. He said there was no impact on the hardware or software related to the pilgrim services of the TTD, including online booking for darshan, accommodation, prasadam and offerings to the Lord. The IT experts ensured that none of the systems pertaining to pilgrim services was affected by the Wannacry virus. Even those systems affected in the administration wing were also old systems and there was a back-up data. By evening, the experts could isolate these systems and retrieve the data, Ravi said. TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal held an emergency meeting with IT experts and all department heads and discussed the possible impact of the malware affecting the systems. However, the authorities assured him that there was no major loss to any of the systems in the TTD. Meanwhile, there were reports that at least 20 computer systems in Andhra Pradesh secretariat in Amaravati were affected by ransomware attack. Blocks 4 and 5, mostly in the Revenue department, were hit by the virus on Wednesday. However, the IT department staff swung into action and managed to save the data from crashing. They could retrieve the lost data and re-write the CDs to clear the virus. Wherever necessary new hard disks would be installed, sources said. The IT department was also briefing officials of various departments on the measures to be taken to protect their systems from hacking. On May 13, a section of computers of the Andhra Pradesh Police Department were affected by the global cyberattack. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress finally got a foothold in a region that had been out of its grasp the north Bengal hills where it won the Mirik civic polls. Ever since she first swept to power in West Bengal in May 2011, chief minister Mamata Banerjee set her sight on conquering two regions Jangalmahal where the writ of the Maoists ran, and the Darjeeling hills, the strongholds of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). Within six months of assuming charge, she had succeeded in taming the red belt after rebel leader Kishenji was eliminated, but the hills remained beyond her clutch. All that changed on Wednesday. The Trinamool Congress not only managed to secure a toehold in the hills, but also brightened the prospect of being the first political party from the plains of enlarging it base there. Special thanks to Mirik for reposing faith in us. We will work sincerely for you.After so many decades we begin a new era in the hill. After so many decades we begin a new era in the hills. .. The hills are smiling, Banerjee wrote on Twitter. Special thanks to Mirik for reposing faith in us. We will work sincerely for you.After so many decades we begin a new era in the hills 3/4 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 17, 2017 The hills are smiling #VerdictOfBengal 4/4 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 17, 2017 The TMCs success is commendable given that even the mighty Left Front could never get its own candidates elected from the hills until the 1993 bypolls. That year, two CPI(M) candidates won in Assembly bypolls from Darjeeling and Kurseong mainly because the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) stayed away from the contest. It is against this backdrop of Trinamool Congress victory in Mirik municipality has to be seen. The success of Bengals ruling party goes far beyond the symbolic value even though Mirik is the smallest civic body in the hills where the GJM is riven by factional fights and where the Trinamool got the benefit of GNLF votes. The victory is the proof of the charisma of Mamata Banerjee and the benefits that her development programme has delivered. The victory in Mirik is historic, said Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee. The significance of the Trinamool victory increases when one takes into account the partys vote shares. In Mirik, it secured 44% of the vote. In Kurseong which has 20 wards, it won 39% of the votes and in the largest civic body Darjeeling, where the party won only one ward out of 32, it cornered about 27% votes. The results are likely to boost the morale of Trinamool workers at a time when the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is preparing for an aggressive push in Bengal following its massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Mamata Banerjee had launched a long-term strategy to make inroads in the hills spread over three Assembly constituencies (Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong) that been discomfortingly outside the Trinamools influence. The strategy was to match the identity politics in the hills by Gorkha parties with her brand of development politics. She made dozens of visits to the hills, often taking a number of top bureaucrats with her to drive home the point that the entire administration was available at the doorsteps of the people. She also set up 15 development boards for different communities such as the Tamangs and Lepchas for their uplift and allocated about Rs 120 crore for these. Voters say the party could have performed even better in the civic polls in the state if minister of state Indranil Sen did not make the controversial comment during a campaign rally on May 12 about dispatching GJM leaders such as Bimal Gurung, Roshan Giri out of the hills in steel trunks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two politicians belonging to the opposition Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party were shot dead in separate incidents in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, police said. Samajwadi Party corporator Ravindra Gujjar, 38, was shot dead by four unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Bhawaniram area of Jalaun while he was taking a late evening walk. He was rushed to a nearby medical facility where he was pronounced dead. Senior police officials rushed to the crime spot. BSP leader Kailash Chandra, 40, was shot dead at his house in Tigariya Bhood area in Amroha. Police said a pistol owned by him was found near the body. Tweets sent out three days ago by the youth wing president of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) about chief minister Mehbooba Mufti meeting young entrepreneurs would have been innocuous, had the situation been normal in Jammu and Kashmir. But the state has been under a social media ban since April 26, and Waheed-ru-Rehman Paras 140-character post on the micro-blogging site drew an immediate caustic response from rival National Conference spokesperson Junaid Mattu. Mattu retweeted Paras tweet, adding: Hasnt the CM banned Twitter in Kashmir? Isnt your tweet the irony of ironies. Para did not respond. Mattu, however, was least embarrassed when asked how he could manage to tweet in the time of the ban. He, instead, blamed the state government and its officials for circumventing the ban. Its not only hypocritical but outright evil of a government to have laws and then circumvent them as per convenience. Its tragic and goes on to show how they have lost the plot in Kashmir, he riled. Paras silence and Mattus broadside shone the light on what has been an open secret in Kashmir: That the social media ban enforced to quell rumours and violent protests has been more of a joke with almost everyone turning to the Virtual Private Network (VPN) technique to access blocked sites. The VPN masks a users location, letting them access websites banned in a particular area. The Whos Who of Kashmir is continuing to post on Facebook and Twitter. The PDP and its social media handles are still vigorously promoting the chief minister and her welfare activities while opposition leader Omar Abdullah is as active as ever in disseminating his views on the happenings in Kashmir on social media. Equally active are some ministers, bureaucrats and senior police officials. At a recent official meeting in Srinagar, the summer capital, a source recounted officials in attendance discussing alternatives to circumvent the ban since one particular VPN had stopped working. Government officials are also humans, you have to understand, remarked an official rather sheepishly. The brazenness with which the ban is flouted has assumed bizarre proportions. When news broke this Tuesday of the chief minister being heckled by women at an event, PDP officials requested journalists to check out the videos uploaded on Twitter by rural development minister Abdul Haq Khan that seemed to show otherwise. Khans tweets drew instant sarcasm. Which VPN does the minister use, many asked. Meanwhile, Mehbooba Muftis verified Facebook page is regularly being updated with her daily activities by administrators based in Srinagar, even as the United Nations continue to press for immediate revocation of the social media ban. The gag is a collective punishment, the UN high commissioner for human rights said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kulbhushan Jadhav case: ICJ verdict on death sentence by Pakistan today The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on Thursday give its ruling on Indias appeal to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The verdict will be announced at 3.30pm Indian time, three days after the court in The Hague heard arguments by India and Pakistan. A brief statement posted on the ICJs website said: A public sitting will take place at 12noon at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, will read the courts decision. Read the story here. Part of a larger strategy: Cordon-and-search ops are back in Kashmir after 15 years Cordon-and-search operations are back in Kashmir after 15 years, the state police chief said on Wednesday, as a sharp rise in the number of local youth joining militant ranks forced security forces to change their anti-insurgency strategy in the valley. Officials said the cordon-and-search operations -- which involve security personnel going door to door -- was launched overnight at Heff and Shirmal villages in Shopian district, where an Indian Army officer was abducted and killed by suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants last week. The operations concluded on Wednesday morning. Read the story here. Triple talaq is not a community but a gender issue, Centre tells Supreme Court Triple talaq is not a battle of the majority and minority communities but a tussle between Muslim men and women, the government said on Wednesday, as it mounted a fierce defence of its call for scrapping the controversial practice of instant divorce. Attorney general Mukul Rohatgis comments before the Supreme Court was in counter to the All India Muslim Personal Law Boards (AIMPLB) argument that laws governing Hindus protected the communitys customs but the government was not doing the same for minorities. Read the story here. UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson faces flak for talking about whisky in gurdwara British foreign secretary Boris Johnson was confronted by a woman during an election visit to a gurdwara in Bristol on Wednesday after he highlighted the possibility of a large increase in exports of Scotch whisky to India after a free trade agreement is forged following Brexit. Known for wit and humour not always appreciated by many, Johnson reportedly said: What are the consequences of having so many Sikh relatives, and I hope I am not embarrassing anybody, is that whenever we go to India, to Mumbai or to Delhi, we have to bring clinkie in our luggage. Read the story here. Wanted to float new party but never wanted to join BJP: Amarinder Singh Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday that he wanted to float his own party due to differences within the Congress two years ago, but never toyed with the idea of joining the BJP. It is absurdity, he said, brushing aside reports that he wanted to join the BJP. They have produced stale news. This is two years ago when there were differences in the Congress and I said I will form my own party. Where is the question of joining the BJP? I think there are too many channels and there is too little news, he said. Read the story here. Cabinet changes law to stop overstay of MPs, bureaucrats at government bungalows The Centres push to rid its limited living spaces of squatters got a fillip on Wednesday with the Union cabinet clearing amendments to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971. The amendments to the law will ensure that ministers, Members of Parliament and bureaucrats, dont overstay in government bungalows once their term is over. They will also have to shell out stiff fines. For instance, if they overstay beyond five months, they will have to pay up to 10 lakh. Read the story here. Hyderabad police detain three Islamic State suspects for questioning The Hyderabad police on Wednesday detained three men suspected of having links with the Islamic State (IS). The three suspects Mohammad Abdullah Wasim Basith, Abdul Hannan Qureshi, Salman Mohiuddin were brought to the Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) for questioning following intelligence inputs that they had connections with the IS. Hyderabad CCS deputy commissioner of police Avinash Mohanty told HT that they were picked up for questioning and no formal arrests have been made so far. Read the story here. No politician in history treated more unfairly, than me, say Trump President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at his critics and naysayers following more than a week of negative news coverage beginning with his sudden decision to fire James Comey as FBI director. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, Trump said. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down. You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams, Trump said to graduates of the US Coast Guard. Read the story here. Liberal Democrats to reinstate post-study work visa, hold another Brexit referendum Positioning itself as the party of Remainers, the Liberal Democrats on Wednesday promised to hold another referendum on Britain leaving the European Union, and held out the prospect of reinstating the post-study work visa popular with Indian students. The visa that allowed Indian and other non-EU students to work for two years after completing studies was abolished in 2012, when the Liberal Democrats were in a coalition with the Conservatives. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told Hindustan Times: It is ludicrous that we take in Indian students, train them, and then as soon as they are skilled and ready to work, the Conservatives boot them out of the country. Read the story here. IPL 2017 Eliminator: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 7 wickets Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in a rain-marred match as they chased down a reduced 48-run target in 5.2 overs in their eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad could manage just 128 for the loss of seven wickets at the end of their innings. Kolkata Knight Riders will now take on Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier on Friday. Read the story here. With a place in the final of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) on offer in Fridays Qualifier 2 clash between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, HT takes a look at five key player battles which could decide the fate of the match. Gautam Gambhir vs Jasprit Bumrah Gautam Gambhir will be high on confidence after the performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was a game in which he could do no wrong. After handling his bowlers brilliantly, he took his chances to power his team past the finishing line. He was severe on any width, paying special attention to the pacers. Jasprit Bumrah is Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharmas go-to bowler and he will again be banking on the pacer to put the shackles on KKRs key batsman, Gambhir. READ | Rain made me nervous: Gautam Gambhir after Kolkata Knight Riders win v Hyderabad Rohit Sharma vs Sunil Narine Rohit Sharma (L) and Sunil Narine will both be key to the two teams chances. (HT Photo/Agencies) Rohit has not been at his best this season, but he has always been the key wicket for any opposition. He has a good record against KKR and his team will need him to be at his best in the crunch game. The Mumbai Indians captain has been uncharacteristically vulnerable against spinners this season and KKR will be looking to test him with their main tweaker, Sunil Narine. Even bowling with limited variety, Narine has been effective and it will be a battle to watch out for. READ | Class will prevail in IPL playoffs, irrespective of prayers or jargon | Opinion Umesh Yadav vs Parthiv Patel Umesh Yadav (L) and Parthiv Patel are likely to face off, given that they open their teams bowling and batting attacks, respectively. (HT Photo/Agencies) It will be an interesting contest as both are in form and will look to set a platform for their sides early on. While Parthiv, whose half-century went in vain against Rising Pune Supergiant on Tuesday, is the leading run-getter for Mumbai Indians, Umesh has been in stellar form, running through opposition line-ups. He had an impressive outing in the last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, strangling the explosive opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner during powerplay. READ | Kolkata Knight Riders didnt find it easy in IPL playoff vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Chris Lynn vs Lasith Malinga Lasith Malingas (L) face-off against Chris Lynn could be key in the opening exchanges during KKRs innings. (HT Photo/Agencies) Although Malinga has been a shadow of himself this season, few can match his firepower at the death. His toe-crushing yorkers and slow bouncers keep batsmen in check during the powerplay overs as well, which is when Lynn gets into the groove and begins hitting bowlers into the stands at will. On Friday, the winner of this clash might actually lead his side to victory. READ | KKR skipper Gautam Gambhirs gambit proves why he is the best brain in IPL 2017 Kieron Pollard vs Kuldeep Yadav/Piyush Chawla Kieron Pollard (R) will be aware of the threats posed by KKR spinners. (HT Photo/Agencies) With the riches Kolkata Knight Riders have in their spin department, its not sure if both Kuldeep and Piyush will don the jersey in the crunch game, but Pollard has to ensure he gets in early. He usually comes lower down the order, the period where Gambhir throws the ball to his spinners to dry up runs and chip in with vital wickets. Although Mumbai Indians have won both their matches against Kolkata Knight Riders this season, Pollard will be aware of the threat KKRs spinners pose. The most significant of the Trinamool Congress four victories in the West Bengal civic body elections is the hill municipality of Mirik. The states ruling party won six of the nine wards and chief minister Mamata Banerjee devoted special attention to Mirik, calling it the beginning of a new era in the hills. Heres why the win is important: 1. Trinamool Congress became the first party from the plains in 30 years to win in the hills. Its the first victory of a non-ethnic party that is against Gorkhaland, the separate state demanded by hill parties. 2. It will pave the way for the expansion of Mamata Banerjees party before the election of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) that is the autonomous body in charge of the north Bengal hills. The polls to the 42-member GTA will take place later this year. 3. It is also an electoral validation for the development programme of Banerjee, who visited the hills dozens of times in the past few years and deployed many heavyweight ministers in Mirik. Banerjee also trounces the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha that has bitterly opposed her. 4. Banerjees masterstroke of announcing land patta (land rights) to the inhabitants of Mirik municipality contributed to the Trinamool victory. In seven wards out of nine, many house owners dont have land rights. 5. Earlier this year, Banerjee also upgraded Mirik from a block to a subdivision, as a result of which residents dont need to travel to the subdivision town (earlier it was Kurseong about three hours away) for various administrative work. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Barely a day after Syed Noor-ur Rehman Barkati was removed as Imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid by the mosques custodian committee, the controversial cleric was injured in a scuffle between his supporters and people from the local Muslim community who want Barkati to vacate office immediately. To stop the tension from escalating, a police contingent was deployed outside the mosque which stands at the heart of Chowringhee Square. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 was also enforced by the Kolkata Police. Read: Kolkata imam Barkati who warned of jihad against India sacked by mosque board To add to Barkatis woos, Tahaffuz- E- Masjid Committee, the highest body of mosque committees in West Bengal, demanded legal action against Barkati if he did not vacate the Imams office within the seven-day deadline. Noor -ur Rehman Barkati was an influential figure who owed his clout to the proximity with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He also enjoyed police protection. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO) The scuffle between Barkatis supporters and local people started soon after the completion of the Asr Namaz (afternoon daily prayer) on Thursday. In the midst of the scuffle, Barkati was allegedly hit on the head by one of the protesters. Later, Barkati told media persons that the protesters and the man who assaulted him were outsiders who had some vested interest. A pious Muslim can never assault an Imam. The protesters were all outsiders and it is possible that they were appointed by the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh, Barkati told reporters after the scuffle. Earlier, Maulana Sharafat Abrar Qasmi Dinajpuri, the convener of Tahaffuz- E- Masjid Committee, an association of 494 mosque committees, said that legal provisions should be enforced against Barkati if he does not vacate the imams office even after termination of service. Read: Police complaint against Kolkatas fatwa imam Barkati for not giving up red beacon If he has some self-respect he should vacate the office instead of inviting legal action against himself. His anti- national comments has embarrassed the entire committee. He has insulted the post of imam by speaking against a particular political party. He is an Imam for all namazis who may have different political beliefs. If he wants to enter active politics he must discontinue as imam, said Abrar. He also condemned Barkatis fatwa against Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. After all he the Prime Minister of the country and his chair should be respected, said Abrar. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Margot Ellis, acting assistant administrator for US Agency for International Developments (USAID) Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, arrived in Azerbaijan on May 16 for a four-day visit. She met with Khalaf Khalafov, deputy minister of foreign affairs, Azay Guliyev, chairman of the Council for State Support to NGOs, and other government representatives, to discuss bilateral cooperation in development between the US and Azerbaijan. Ellis also met with international organizations and institutions represented in Azerbaijan, including the EU, the UN, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to learn firsthand about the foreign assistance provided in Azerbaijan. Ellis also met with representatives of civil society organizations. USAIDs goal is to have a strong, positive relationship with Azerbaijan and to assist Azerbaijanis who want their country to become a stable, prosperous, and democratic country, Ellis said during her visit. On May 19, Ellis will travel to Goranboy, Shamkir and Samukh districts to meet with community members and beneficiaries of the projects supported by USAID and the government of Azerbaijan. She will also visit Ganja city to meet with local women in order to discuss womens empowerment in the rural areas of Azerbaijan. Margot Ellis has more than 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian response. She joined the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia in August 2016 as senior deputy assistant administrator. Ellis previously served as acting assistant administrator for the USAID Asia Bureau from 2008-2010 and as mission director in Uganda for three years. Ellis held leadership positions for six years in USAIDs Mission to the West Bank and Gaza from 1999 to 2005. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business with an MBA in finance and from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in economics. Around 10 am on Wednesday, Asadul Islam, Congress candidate in Domkal municipality, was told that he won the election from ward 9. It took him less than a minute to emerge from the counting hall Domkal Girls High School and declare in front of the waiting mediamen that he is joining Trinamool Congress. Murshidabad Congress leaders have decided to return the embarrassment by writing to the Guinness Book of World Records authorities to enlist Islam for the fastest political defection in history. We are getting the letter drafted by a lawyer. We will send it to the Guinness Book authorities in a day or two, Murshidabad district Congress president Abu Taher Khan told HT. Read: Bengal civic polls: TMC wins four civic bodies, GJM-BJP alliance bags three Domkal was one of the seven municipalities where elections were held on May 14. The defection of Asadul Islam and CPI(M)s Rafikul Islam (ward 20) was widely criticised in Bengal as the harbinger of an undesirable political trend in the state. Asadul Islam with Soumik Hossain (in white kurta), who is likely to be the chairman of Domkal municipality. (HT Photo) But the man at the centre of the controversy appeared unfazed. I knew I will win and I was in touch with the TMC leaders. I switched camps for the sake of development. I couldnt fulfill the expectations of the residents of my ward as a Congressman, said Islam, 46, who is a businessman by profession and a father of two. He was always a Congress worker but became a CPI(M) supporter for a brief period in 1996. Adhir Chowdhury (state Congress president) and his men have gone mad. Therefore, they are taking these steps. They have no supporter in this district, Murshidabad TMC spokesperson Ashok Das said. Read: 5 reasons Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress is celebrating Mirik civic poll win In Domkal that went to its first civic polls, TMC candidates won 18 wards in the 21-ward municipality. CPI(M) leaders, however, have no plans like district Congress leaders. TMC workers celebrating civic poll victory on Wednesday. (HT Photo) It took me barely a minute to walk out of the counting hall and meet the journalists. I gave them the news of my victory and informed them of my decision to join TMC. Now I will work under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Soumik Hossain, he added. We dont know whether there is provision in Guinness Book for fastest political defection. But we have decided to approach the authorities as it seems attractive, said Abu Taher Khan. I havent heard of anyone defecting immediately after his victory in an election. The councilor breached the trust of all who voted for him. If his name is included in the Guinness Book, the world will come to know of his misdeed, remarked West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Jayanta Das. Read: Larger Supreme Court bench to hear anti-defection case The councillor announced his decision to join TMC even before he was handed over his winning certificate by the returning officer, said Das. Asadul Islam, a resident of Velurchak village, bagged 1,660 votes defeating his nearest candidate from TMC, Tajimuddin Khan, who bagged 1,152 votes. BJP candidate Bibek Mondal got only 35 votes and three independent candidates bagged 58 votes between them. In the past one year TMC has purchased most of the Congress and Left Front members of the rural and civic bodies in Murshidabad to get the control of those bodies. Asadul Islam is the latest addition to the list, remarked Abu Taher Khan, who is also the Congress MLA from Nawda. Sources said the lone Congress councillor of Domkal, Bilal Sheikh (ward 21) is likely to join TMC soon. If it happens there will be no opposition in the municipality. Doctors at a Pune hospital will perform the countrys first uterus transplant on a 21-year-old woman on Thursday. They will also perform the second such transplant a day later. Both cases will have mothers donating their uteruses to their daughters, like the worlds first uterus donor did in Sweden in 2012. A team of gynaecologists from Sasoon Hospital visited the patient in Galaxy Care Hospital in Pune and approved the surgery after assessing her. We have been waiting for this for the past two-and-a -half years. A team of 12 surgeons with nursing and medical staff has been anxiously waiting for the surgery, said Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, laparoscopic cancer surgeon and director of Galaxy Care Hospital. The team that will perform the surgery comprises cardiovascular surgeons, gynaecologists, intensivists, immunologists and a nursing staff. Doctors have psychoanalysed the recipients and the donors to confirm that all are in the best medical state for the surgeries. Doctors said that the recipient of the first transplant was born with a condition known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome, a disorder that causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent, but the external genitalia are normal. The surgery will take place in two phases. In the first one we will remove the uterus from the donors womb which will last for four to five hours and in the second, we will transplant it into the womb of the recipient which will take two-three hours, added Dr Puntambekar. The doctors will perform the second surgery on a 24-year-old on Friday. She is a resident of Vadodara and will receive the uterus of her 41-year-old mother. Based on the success of the two surgeries, we will take up the other cases of the same syndrome and schedule their surgeries, Dr Puntambekar said. The hospital has procured high-tech equipments and trained the staff multiple times over the procedure. We have worked very hard on it and we want to be 200% sure, he said. There are around 20 patients on the wait list for a similar procedure and doctors are hoping this surgery provides them with a reliable option. The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police crime branch arrested a 25-year-old man on Wednesday night for peddling 370 grams of meow meow or mephedrone (MD) worth Rs7.4 lakh in Kandivli. The police also recovered cash worth Rs7.92 lakh from him. The accused, Suraj Gupta, is a resident of Kalusing chawl in Khar (East), said Shivdeep Lande, ANC chief and director general of police. He was nabbed near the Goregaon check naka. The police registered a case under section 8(c) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 22 and 29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Gupta will be produced before a magistrate court on Thursday. Why is there so little support for child sexual abuse victims and why are cases piling up in courts? The problem, said experts working in the field, was that the law to punish offenders is strong, but precious little is being done to use it well. Two of the four child welfare committees in Mumbai do not have a chairperson. There have been a spate of resignations and committee members said they were overworked and underpaid. Many social organisations HT spoke to claimed police officials often do not immediately inform the welfare panels about cases. Under POCSO, any such case has to be reported to the CWC within 24 hours of an FIR being filed. Support staff to help a victim are not appointed properly. In several cases, there have been gaps in the process of their appointment, said Priti Patkar from the NGO Prerana. READ: Maybe your child is not just acting funny Ashoka fellow and child rights activist Maharukh Adenwala said, The POCSO Act says child victims of sexual offences should be given support while journeying through the criminal justice system. There is a provision to appoint a support person both at the police station level and the special court level, but sadly most of the children do not have any support. Soon after the FIR is registered, the police have to inform the CWC. In a lot of cases, this is not happening too. Despite these challenges, however, the CWC has been trying to make things work. The only member at their one-room Dongri office said the law could be implemented better if the committees had more staff. We are facing troubles, but we try to do the best we can, the member said. And they do. In one hearing HT came across, a committee member asked a 14-year-old boy if he will continue studying, now that the trial was over. The child nodded happily. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress had offered Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to become the Oppositions candidate for Presidential elections but he had turned it down, an NCP leader said on Wednesday. In a meeting on April 27, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked Pawar to consider contesting presidential elections on behalf of the Opposition, but he refused. He, however, told Soniaji that he would work towards getting an Opposition candidate elected as president,said NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik. He added, Pawar saheb has been insisting on a joint Opposition candidate and will make an effort for the elections. Read more: Not in the race for President, NCP doesnt have enough strength, says Sharad Pawar Pawar had earlier appealed to the ruling BJP to talk with the Opposition about getting the next president elected by consensus. The Congress president has been talking to various opposition party leaders to field a common candidate opposite the BJP nominee for presidential polls. Meanwhile, sources in the NCP said that the party was not convinced that the Opposition could manage to mobilise enough votes to get its candidate elected. Between the ruling and opposition parties, it is the former that has better chances of winning presidential election,said a party leader. However, he also said that the NCP would vote for the Opposition candidate. Read more: Shiv Sena wants NDA to consider RSS chief Bhagwat as President of India The academic future of a seven-year-old rape survivor is at risk because of bureaucratic red tape. The Class 2 student in an Andheri school might be forced to drop out because she cannot afford to pay her school fees, and the education department is unwilling to admit her under the Right to Education (RTE) quota, which offers free education to students from weaker sections until Class 8. Last year, two entrepreneur sisters, Simi Srivastava and Sanjita Prasad, enrolled the girl in a private school in Andheri after she was brutally and repeatedly assaulted sexually by a family member. Following the incident in 2015, she had dropped out of another school. The sisters had noticed her playing near their office complex where her father was employed as a security guard. On learning of her trauma, they volunteered to admit her to school, but missed the deadline for quota admissions by a few days. An Andheri school took her in the regular category, charging annual fees of Rs40,000 and later sought to transfer her to the quota under which they had vacant seats. But the education department refused to accept the transfer, said school authorities. All the documents required to admit her to the RTE quota were in place. The only problem was she did not apply through the online admission process, said a school spokesperson. The school requested the education department to make an exception given what the child had suffered. Read more: Mumbai has 13,000 vacant RTE seats, but no place for rape survivor Alls not right with RTE: More misses than hits Coming to her rescue, the sisters sponsored her education for one year in the hopes that she will seek admission under the RTE quota this year. But once again, the department turned down her application stating RTE admissions can only take place in kindergarten or Class 1. We cannot help it. The rules state RTE admissions have to be done online. As the girl did not apply on time, she cannot claim the seat, said Prakash Charrate, deputy education officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which conducts the admissions. Her family, however, cannot afford to continue in the same school without the quota her father earns Rs4,000 a month and her mother was recently employed part-time by the sisters. Most of their annual income of Rs90,000 is spent on rent and utility bills. The school is helping the girl cope with her past; hence the parents dont want to move her to a new one. She likes it there, the teachers are good to her, and she has made new friends, said her mother. She said schooling has helped the child regain confidence, which was shattered after the incident. She had turned violent and hysterical after the rape. She couldnt sit still or talk properly. But school has brought a tremendous change in her disposition, she said. The sisters, who are currently paying her tuition fees, said they are shocked by the departments callous attitude towards the child. Its unfair that the child is deprived of her right on a technicality when the Indian government has made a constitutional provision to provide free education to students from poor families, and there are seats available under the quota then, said Prasad. Read more: RTE admissions over, more than 6,000 seats lie vacant in Mumbai SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While commuting in Nagpur is set to get more eco-friendly as 200 electric taxis will hit the citys streets next week, Mumbai commuters must brace for traffic snarls as work on the Metro-3 line begins today. Meanwhile, a Swedish doctor who performed the worlds first successful uterus transplant surgery has warned that the proposed Pune transplant may put the patient at high risk. 1. Rare, protected turtle weighing 85kg rescued from Mumbai suburb In what can be seen as the second such rescue of a rare and protected reptile from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), a two-and-a-half-year-old female Leiths Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia leithii), weighing 85 kgs, was rescued by forest officials and a wildlife rescue team on Monday. 2. First in India: 200 electric taxis to run on Maharashtras roads on May 26 Fancy taking a ride around Nagpur in an electric taxi sometime soon? As many as 200 of these taxis the first of their kind in the country will hit the citys streets on May 26. 3. Is the Fadnavis-Thackeray friendship over? Trouble could be brewing between Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his main ally, the Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray. The two have always been cordial towards each other, whatever the troubles between their parties. The Sena rarely targeted Fadnavis personally even when it pulled no punches taking on the BJP and its top leaders, including prime minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah. For his part, Fadnavis was always mindful of Thackerays sensitivities, even when his partymen were not. 4. South Mumbai braces for traffic chaos as Metro-3 work begins. Avoid these routes Work on Mumbais Metro-3 line (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) began today, May 18, and so have restrictions on travel in South Mumbai. 5. Indias 1st womb transplant dangerous escapade of surgical cowboys, warns doc A Swedish doctor, who performed the worlds first successful uterus transplant surgery, warned on Thursday the womb transplant being attempted by surgeons at a Pune hospital is with no proper preparations at all and will put the patients at a very high risk. Have you noticed the recent increase in cases of email ID hacking, obscene emails and online lottery fraud? Dont worry, the Maharashtra government has too. To tackle the rise in cases of cybercrime, the state government on Wednesday earmarked Rs14.59-crore to set up four cyber cells, employ 186 police staff and construct a cyber-training centre that will train 100 personnel in Mumbai. The cells will investigate the creation of fake profiles on social media, fake email IDs, cases of defamatory emails, credit and debit card fraud, fraudsters posing as internet banking officials, SIM card fraud and cases of hacking. There has been massive development in the Information Technology sector. The internet is used to share information, carry out financial transactions, shop online and use social media. However, there has been an increase in cases of cybercrime related to online fraudsters and obscene messages, reads the government resolution. The cyber-training center will be set up at the Mumbai police commissionerate. The government will also rope in two assistant police commissioners, 24 police inspectors, 40 assistant police inspectors and 120 police constables to tackle cybercrime. This year, the Mumbai police registered 356 cases of cybercrime till May 14. Last year, the Mumbai police registered 928 cases, while 912 cases were registered in 2015. Currently, the Mumbai police have a cyber police station at Bandra-Kurla complex and a cyber cell at the Economic Offences Wing office. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Even as the Central government looks to give a boost to affordable housing, the 20-35% hike in prices of raw material, which would in turn hike the cost of construction, is likely to make houses unaffordable in Mumbai. The price of bricks has now risen to Rs6,200 for 1,000 pieces, from Rs4,500 a month ago. Price of cement too has peaked to Rs350 for a bag from Rs300 last month and Rs250 in February. Price of steel has increased to Rs42,000 a tonne from Rs38,000 in the past two months. Builders claim the cement cartel is making the projects unviable by increasing the prices. The construction industry will be hit badly if this continues. We will be unable to fulfill the governments promise of housing for all, said Rajan Bandelkar, vice-president, National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), West. Bhavesh Sanghrajka, chairman and managing director, Shraddha Lifescapes, said, Builders constructing affordable houses operate on thin margins. A hike in price of raw material will impact the final sale price. Real estate experts say the government needs to intervene. The government needs to provide a subsidy for raw material at least for those constructing affordable houses, said Ajay Chaturvedi, a real estate expert. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Trouble could be brewing between chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his main ally, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. The two have always been cordial towards each other despite the trouble between their parties. The Sena rarely targeted Fadnavis personally, even when it pulled no punches to take on the BJP and its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah. For his part, Fadnavis was always mindful of Thackerays sensibilities, even when his partymen were not. However, developments in the past few days show things might be changing. It began with the Sena targeting Fadnavis pet scheme, the Jalyukta Shivar Yojna, under which water conservation projects are implemented in villages across Maharashtra to reduce farmers dependability on the monsoon. The scheme is now at the centre of allegations of corruption in its implementation. In an unusual gesture, Thackeray himself targeted the scheme. Robbers have sneaked into the project, he remarked bitterly, while speaking at a public meeting last week. Senior Sena minister Ramdas Kadam has been publicly criticising the scheme and making allegations of irregularities in it. If that is not enough, the Sena has also started putting pressure on the Fadnavis government to announce a farm loan waiver a tricky subject for Fadnavis considering his governments weak finances and the Centres unwillingness to provide funds to write off farmers loans of more than Rs30,000 crore. Thackeray himself will launch a campaign by addressing a rally at Nashik on Friday. The Sena has also declared Thackeray will lead a march to the legislature in Mumbai in July when the monsoon session is held. On Wednesday, the Senas ministers in the government wrote a letter to Fadnavis opposing the state cabinets decision to hike in stamp duty on conveyance deeds and gift deeds. The Sena argued that the decision aimed at increasing revenue would hit the middle class. The Sena had called a truce with the BJP after the latter supported it unconditionally to win power in the Mumbai civic body in February this year and Thackeray attended a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance hosted by Modi. However, it has now turned out to be a brief lull with the Sena getting more and more aggressive, with indications that the `political understanding between Fadnavis and Thackeray is more or less over. So, what has gone wrong again? The basic reason is that both the parties share mostly the same voter base except in Mumbai where the Sena is limited to the Marathi votebank. It is inevitable that the two parties will contest the next assembly elections separately. The Sena is worried that its base will shrink if it continues to play second fiddle to the BJP, says a senior BJP minister, on condition of anonymity. Further, the Sena leadership is wary of the BJPs plans. It suspects the BJP is waiting for the right time to either engineer a defection of its MLAs or dissolve the assembly to call early elections. As such, it is trying to create a negative atmosphere against the government whenever possible. If certain sections like the farmers are angry with the government, the BJP will reconsider its adventurous moves, feels the Sena top brass. A Sena minister also said the Opposition Congress-NCPs campaign for a farm loan waiver is getting some response. The farm loan waiver was originally our demand. Now, if the Opposition is taking it across the state and the state government is not keen to consider, we have no option but to raise it again. That way, we will also get some opposition space, which may come in handy in the next assembly elections, he said. The coming days will probably see the Sena leadership getting more aggressive against the BJP governments in the state and at the Centre. So far the BJPs response has been cautious. The party is also looking at the Senas votes it would need for the presidential elections to be held in July. However, the relations between the two parties have again become shaky and there is no guarantee the BJP will remain patient for very long. In the past two years, it was the personal friendship or understanding between Fadnavis and Thackeray that ensured stability in the government even as the two parties kept sparring. Both leaders knew and respected each others political compulsions and were united on the need to keep the Congress-NCP out of power. In fact, it was at the behest of Fadnavis that the BJP decided to extend unconditional support to the Sena in the Mumbai civic body after he had led the party to an unprecedented 82 seats in the municipal corporation, just two less than the Sena. So now if Thackeray is trying to corner Fadnavis, things may not remain the same. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Vugar Babayev, director of High Technologies Park of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, attended the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which took place May 14- 18 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting that attracted over 2,000 participants discussed connecting education to labor market requirements, sharing experiences and best practices, initiatives in this sphere and strengthening partnership with the private sector in member countries. During the visit, Vugar Babayev met with Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO & General Manager of Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector. Vugar Babayev spoke about the activity of ANAS High Technologies Park. He said that ANAS High Technologies Park, which was established by a decree of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, is of great importance in transformation of scientific research to innovative products and commercialization of them. To expand national innovation system, the implementation of successful projects and strengthening the flow of investment in this area is necessary, said the director of ANAS HTP. He added that to contribute to national economic development through science, technology and innovation is the main priority of the organization. The purpose of ICD is to promote the economic development of, and to encourage the flow of investments among, its member countries by encouraging the establishment, expansion, and modernization of private enterprises, said Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO & General Manager of ICD. Then, a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation was signed between ICD and ANAS HTP. Ecstatic cries of Vande Mataram echoed in Lower Parel in Mumbai, as the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage. Friends of Jadhav, who grew up in Parel and whose family stays in Powai, also burst firecrackers. Residents of Mumbai held pujas to pray for a favourable verdict in the morning Tulsidas Pawar, Jadhavs friend, said,We knew the verdict would be in our favour. We are happy the government didnt let us down. I am grateful to our countrymen and all those who supported our fight against the execution. We are with the Jadhav family and will not rest until we get him back home. Jadhavs childhood friends in the city had started a campaign to put forward his case. They are meeting prominent politicians in the state and country to keep the pressure on the government. Jadhav grew up in Parel and the family currently stays in Powai in the city. Pakistan claims Jadhav, 46, was arrested in March last year in the restive Balochistan province. In April, a military court sentenced him to death for alleged involvement in spying and subversive activities. India has contended he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar and his secret trial was a farce. His childhood friends in the city had started a campaign to put forward his case. They would be meeting prominent politicians in the state and country to keep the pressure on the government. Jadhav grew up in Parel and the family currently stays in Powai. Read more: Kulbhushans friends in Mumbai remember him: He was generous, taught us English Kulbhushan Jadhavs Mumbai friends call intl courts stay on death sentence boost to morale Students will have a lot of options to choose from during the upcoming first-year junior college (FYJC) admissions. As many as 13,808 seats are available across Mumbai colleges this year, with the number of overall seats shooting up to 2,92,090 from 2,78,282 last year. This is owing to an increase in the intake for science and commerce streams, coupled with the inclusion of technical courses for the first time in the online process. Of the total intake capacity, 1,59,682 seats belong to the open category and will be filled online, while the remaining, 1,32,408 seats are distributed across in-house, minority, and management quotas. Students opting for these seats will have to sign up online, but admissions will be conducted at the college level. Around 39 newly opened colleges and inclusion of 6,030 seats for minimum competency vocational courses (MCVC) has led to a rise in the number of seats, said education officials. These are the two major reasons for growth in the intake capacity this year, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region. Until last year, MCVC admissions were done separately at the college-level. But officials suspect many of these seats will not find any takers. Every year, we observe that students prefer established colleges, especially those attached to degree colleges, said Chavan. Most of the seats in new colleges remain unfilled at the end of the admission rounds. Quota seats have increased significantly by nearly 8,000 this year from 1,24,448 last year to 1,32,408. This is good news for students, said principals, because those taking admissions in the quota will not be able to apply online. A zero round will be conducted for the quota seats before other rounds begin. Students who secure confirmed admissions in this round will be unable to apply for online admissions through the general category. This will ease the pressure from general category students because there will be less competition, said Chavan. He said until last year, students who secured admission through quota were also applying for online admissions in the hopes of getting a better college. Across streams, the maximum number of seats has increased in the commerce stream in keeping with the trend of the past few years. Commerce seats have shot up to close to 1.6 lakh this year, from 1.61 lakh last year. Whereas, intake seats in the arts stream have fallen to 34,180 from 35,269, showing a dip in its popularity. "Today's youngsters are oriented towards enterprise hence commerce courses have become popular," said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal, Vaze Kelkar College, Mulund. He said schools also do not take up initiatives to create awareness about careers in arts. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Though around 13,000 seats in the Right to Education (RTE) quota in Classes 1 to 5 are still vacant despite the end of the admission process, the education department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will not come up with a way to fill them. Under the RTE Act, 2009, unaided, non-minority schools are supposed to keep 25% of their seats for students from the economically and socially weaker sections. These students are taught for free from classes 1 to 8, and schools are later reimbursed by the government. Read: Denied RTE seat, 7-year-old rape survivor from Mumbai may have to drop out of school The quota seats at the entry-level in KG and class 1 are filled through a centralised online admission process conducted by the BMC but the civic body has no system to allot unfilled seats. They lie vacant throughout the year and even get carried forward to the next year, according to the states notification in 2013. Although schools have been told to not admit any non-RTE student to the unfilled quota seats, it is not even allowing them to fill these seats with RTE students approaching them. Also, it will not hold another admission round for them. What officials say If schools have not filled the RTE quota seats in Class 1, they can carry forward these seats to Class 2, but they have to mention this while registering on the RTE admissions website, said Prakash Charrate, deputy education officer, BMC. Activists, who have moved Bombay high court over this cause, said according to their calculations and information acquired through an RTI query, the number of unfilled quota seats stood at 7,000 in 2016. Adding to this, the recently-concluded admissions for 2017 left 6,000 seats vacant. The government is neither clearing the backlog nor allowing schools to admit other students to these seats, said Sudhir Paranjape, member of the Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti, a non-government organization, which filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the court last year. He added that these seats can be filled through a simple process. The department can allow schools to admit any student, who is eligible for the quota throughout the year, said Paranjape. The NGO complained that they know of at least 300 students who are eligible for the quota but missed out on admissions for various reasons. The RTE Act states that students should enjoy free education from Class 1 to 8, but in reality, the government is only applying the RTE quota to entry level, said K Narayan, another activist. The NGO has suggested that the government organise a centralised admission process for the unfilled seats too to help poor students benefit from the Act, but did not receive any response. Officials told us to send an e-mail to the deputy secretary of education, but she is yet to respond, said Narayan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With no word from the Bhartiya Janata Party-led state government over loan waiver for distressed farmers, the Opposition has now decided to launch a pan-Maharashtra protest to keep the heat on the government. The Opposition has decide to launch its pan-Maharashtra protest by holding three rallies across Nanded, Ahmednagar and Bhandara-Gondia. The call for protest comes after the Opposition concluded its Sangharsh Yatra at Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district last Thursday. We have decided to hold rallies at three districts that werent covered during the Sangharsh Yatra. The protest rallies will begin by the end of this month, said Jitendra Awhad, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. Sources said the protests will start at district-level, which will witness participation of senior leaders of the Opposition parties. We are also planning to raise the issue during the three-day special session of the state legislature called for clearing Goods and Service Tax (GST) ratification bill on May 20. The strategy for which will be finalised in a day or two, said a senior Congress leader. Sena to hold rally in Nashik seeking loan waiver Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP in the state government, will be holding a farmers rally in Nashik today. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray and Raju Shetti, chief of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana (SSS), another ally of the BJP in the state, will take part in the rally to demand loan waiver for farmers. Sena has also announced to similar rally at Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai, during the monsoon session of the state legislature in July. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Reimburse the fees of economically weaker students pursuing vocational courses this is what the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) has requested the Maharashtra government to do. The DVET estimates that the plan will cost the state around Rs56.25 crore a small fraction of Rs3,000 crore that the state spends on its reimbursement scheme every year. Currently, the state reimburses only the tuition fees of students from marginalised sections who are pursuing only professional courses, such as engineering, medical, management, pharmacy, agriculture, animal husbandry and dairy business. The fees of scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST), nomadic tribes (NT), vimukta jati (VJ) are reimbursed. As much as 50% fees of the students belonging to the other backward category (OBC), special backward category (SBC) and economically backward category (EBC) are reimbursed. Read: 58 polytechnic diploma courses to shut in Maharashtra However, students enrolled in skill development courses in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are exempted from this scheme. DVET officials said financial aid will entice more students to join ITIs, which will boost the state and Centres push for skill development among the youth. Government ITIs charge between Rs800 and Rs1,200 a year as training fees, whereas private institutes charge between Rs20,000 and Rs30,000, depending on the course. By comparison, the annual fees in private diploma engineering colleges (polytechnics) in the state range from Rs15,000 to Rs1 lakh. In other professional courses, such as hotel management and medicine, the fees usually run in several lakhs. Read: Maharashtra sees 15% rise in ITI applications Currently, there is no educational assistance available for students pursuing one and two-year long courses offered by private ITIs. However, students from the reserved categories are not charged fees to attend government-run ITIs. Instead, along with EBC students, they get a monthly stipend. They get Rs60, while EBC students get Rs40. DVET officials said the vocational courses are most deserving of the states reimbursement scheme because a large proportion of students in these courses belong to the weaker sections of society. They said ITI courses are one of the most sought after, with as many as 3.23 lakh students 2.75 times the intake capacity applying for these courses across the state. Many of the candidates for ITI courses come from economically and socially backward sections. They lack the financial capacity to pursue higher education and prefer to purse employment opportunities rather than education. They wait till the final round of admission with the hope of getting into government ITIs. Only those who are well off seek admission to private ITIs, reads the proposal. The officials said the scheme will also benefit the private institutes, as it will ensure that most of their seats are filled. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced that it had appointed retired IAS officer Gautam Chatterjee to head the three-member Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority, which will be responsible for implementing the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) that came into effect from May 1. The authority comprises Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, additional chief secretary, public health department and retired judge BD Kapadnis. A committee headed by the Bombay high court chief justice and comprising the principal secretary of housing and law and judiciary department had short-listed three names for each of the authoritys posts. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis handpicked three names from the recommended list. Chatterjee had earlier been appointed interim head of the authority, which is expected to hear the complaints of Mumbaiites from July 1. The three men will work from the Slub Rehabilitation Authoritys office in Bandra (East). Though the authority currently has responsibility at the state level, the government is considering forming two or three similar authorities at the divisional level, based on the number of complaints received. Rules under RERA make the registration of real estate projects, promoters and real estate agents mandatory. Developers must provide all the details of their projects on a website, register their flats after a certain number are booked and deposit the money collected from buyers in a dedicated account. Developers have also been barred from discriminating among buyers based on caste, creed, religion, food habits and language. Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi has taken over the city-based Islamic International School (IIS), run by controversial preacher Zakir Naiks banned Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). The controversy surrounding Naik had put a question mark over the fate of around 200 students studying in IIS. The school, which conducts classes from nursery to class X, was staring at a shutdown. Now, it will be run by Azmis Niyaz Minority Education and Welfare Trust and will be renamed Avicenna International School. Confirming the development, Azmi said, I was pained to see that the future of almost 200 children studying in this school was hanging in the balance. All of them belonged to good families and deserved proper protection. So I decided to take care of their future and take over the management of the school in Mazgaon. I have taken over the school by completing the procedural formalities. Now, the school will be run by a trust called Niyaz Minority, Education and Welfare Trust and it will be renamed as Avicenna International School, in memory of a well-known scientist, he said. Azmi, who represents Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency in Mumbai, had set up the Niyaz welfare trust in memory of his father. Last year, Azmi had requested the Maharashtra government not to close down the IRF-run school saying doing so will jeopardise the future of students enrolled there. Azmi had made the request to state Education Minister Vinod Tawde. Azmi has decided to continue with the same school staff and not change the syllabus and timeline of the academic sessions. Owing to the controversy and the ban on IRF, some students have left the school and currently only 135 are left. But we are going to bounce back and hope to get the students back. We are not going to bring any major changes in the teaching staff and the curriculum. The school will function as it was doing earlier, except that we would be doing periodic appraisals of the teaching staff, the SP leader said. In November last year, the IRF was banned by the Union Home Ministry for five years under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for its alleged involvement in terror acts. The Delhi high court had recently upheld the decision to immediately ban IRF saying the organisation and its president and members were indulging in unlawful activity. Besides the IRF, Naik is also the founding trustee of the IRF Educational Trust and the Islamic Dimensions Trust. The speeches of Naik are banned in the UK, Canada and Malaysia. Naik has rejected all allegations of involvement in terror-related activities and opposed the ban on the IRF. Dr Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) has issued a notice to 450 colleges across the state on Thursday evening about irregularities in admissions. Officials said most cases pertain to fake or incomplete documents submitted by 5,250 students in the academic year 2016-17. A total of 50 colleges in Ghaziabad and 35 colleges in Gautam Budh Nagar have also been issued notice by the university administration for submitting 615 and 215 irregular forms, respectively. A total of 900 colleges are affiliated with AKTU across UP and of these, 168 colleges are located in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. The university administration said it will take legal action against 13 colleges for allegedly fudging marks of students. Two colleges in Greater Noida Prince Institute and DNIT institute of management and two in Ghaziabad RN Institute and DNS Institute will also face action. A total of 37 Students from 13 colleges were given admission after fudging their marks. Such colleges will face legal action, said Dr Vinay Pathak, vice chancellor, AKTU. The universitys vice-chancellor said that institutes stand to lose their affiliation if grave wrongdoings are found in their probe. Many colleges had submitted incomplete forms during the admission process in 2016 and in many colleges, students who were already enrolled in a college were found taking admissions. These colleges have been issued a notice asking the reason behind submitting admission forms with irregularities. We will continue our probe and colleges found to be responsible will face strict action, said Dr Vinay Pathak, vice-chancellor, AKTU. In January, the university had conducted a probe of the admission documents submitted by 82,241 students during the start of academic session 2016-17. They found that a total of 19,834 students had submitted forms with irregularities. The university administration had then given eight days in February to colleges concerned for submitting the completed forms of the students to avoid cancellation of admission. The university administration had then come up with a list of 5,250 students whose documents could not be verified as their colleges had not sent any representative to Lucknow campus. This is the first time that the university has made public the list of guilty colleges. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 65-year-old man was severely injured on being stabbed by a group of men in New Hindon Vihar area of Sahibabad on Thursday morning. Sources said that the victim had denied the group permission to occupy a plot in the vicinity of his residence on Wednesday. In an earlier incident, the same group had allegedly molested the victims 22-year-old niece and attempted to rape her. An FIR was also lodged in this regard. The mans family said that during the previous incident that took place on May 15, the group allegedly molested, stabbed and beat up the niece of the victim, Lal Khan. An FIR under sections of rape, molestation, rioting and criminal intimidation was lodged at Sahibabad police station. My uncle (the victim) had intervened when the men in the group were beating up my sister brutally. She was also stabbed and suffered seven stitches on her back. The group comprises outsiders who frequently come to our locality and indulge in hooliganism. On Monday, they also broke the CCTV cameras installed in our house, said Sameer Khan, Khans nephew. On Wednesday, my uncle objected when the group was trying to undertake illegal construction on a plot of land in the area. My uncle called up the plot owner who stopped construction on the land. In retaliation, the group approached my uncles dairy on Thursday and stabbed him, due to which he has suffered severe injury to his intestines. He is being operated upon, Khan said. The victim was brutally beaten up after which locals rushed him to the hospital. The police, on the other hand, said that the incident pertained to a rivalry between the two groups over the plot of land. A complaint will be registered soon into the incident. Sahibabad circle officer is undertaking the investigation in the case. The man was stabbed and initial reports of firing in the incident are wrong, Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city), said. An FIR under sections of voluntarily causing hurt with means of an instrument and rioting was registered at Sahibabad police station in connection with Thursdays stabbing incident. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The BJP has appropriated Shivaji, an icon that has been part of the Sena lore for 50 years, by inserting Maharaj in the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus name In March 1996, the name of the imposing headquarters of the Central Railway in Mumbai was changed from Victoria Terminus to Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus. The colonial name, it was decided, had to go and in its place came in the Maratha heros. Recently, the Centre gave its clearance to a proposal by the state government to rename it again - now it will be called the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Delhi also gave its nod for the renaming of Elphinstone Road railway station in Mumbai to Prabhadevi. Politicians now and then get afflicted by the enthusiasm to change names. After independence, streets and neighbourhoods were stripped of names given by the Raj to honour grandees and even small, local officials. Then came the trend of renaming cities: Poona became Pune, Cawnpore turned into Kanpur. The demand to rename Bombay to Mumbai was pending for a long time, but it was the ever-accommodating Narasimha Rao who finally said yes. Since then, Bangalore and Calcutta have turned into Bengaluru and Kolkata, both words commonly used in local languages Madras, which was an entire presidency during the Raj, became Chennai in 1996. But what the politician proposes is not always what the populace practices. Connaught Place still continues to be called by its old name and in Mumbai, asking a cabbie to take you to Gopalrao Deshmukh Marg will get you blank looks, though Pedder Road, the older name, will work instantly. At one time, the emphasis was to revert to native names. Now, it is not merely to remove the vestiges of the past but also to impose names that fit an agenda, however ludicrous it may be. Aurangzeb, the Mughal everyone loves to hate, gave way to APJ Abdul Kalam in a swift move. In Mumbai, this pandering has reached ludicrous levels. The BJP is demanding changes not just of railway stations named after colonial officials but in other instances where the names are evocative of local history. Take Marine Lines, a station on the western railway suburban network that got its name from the nearby Marine Battalion Lines which now belongs to the Indian Air Force. A BJP leader wants it named Mumbadevi, after a temple located quite a distance away. Temples seem to be foremost on the minds of those who want names changed. Elphinstone Road, named after Lord John Elphinstone (Governor of Bombay 1853-1860) after Prabhadevi, a temple that is nowhere near the station. If at all it had to be dedicated to something relevant, the government should have thought of naming it Girangaon (mill village) in honour of the mill workers who lived and worked in the area and whose hard work built modern Bombay. The BJP in Mumbai is doing everything it can to snatch away the Marathi manoos plank from the Shiv Sena. It has appropriated Shivaji, an icon that has been part of the Sena lore for 50 years, the insertion of Maharaj in the railway terminuss name was not a Sena demand. At the same time, the constant invocation of temples a brand new station has been called Ram Mandir fits in well with the partys stated Hindutva agenda. Where will this lead to? The possibilities are limitless. There is no dearth of Moghul (and other Muslim rulers) names all over the country. Ditto British colonials. At the same time, there are temples and deities galore and mythical legends of the hoary past. Less than two years ago M Venkiah Naidu suggested that Delhi could be renamed as Indraprastha or Hastinapurit is casual airings like this that eventually become policy. Ahmedabad to Karnavati too is an idea that has been floating around for a long time. In Maharashtra, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad could be prime candidates for a name change. At one level, the impulse to do away with colonial names is understandable, but to do it indiscriminately is short sighted. We cant wish away the past. Besides, many of the officials contributed to the development of the towns and cities where they worked. And how far does this go back? Are we going to rename the Taj Mahal because it was built by Shah Jahan, who, according to the Sangh way of thinking, was an invader? Sidharth Bhatia is a senior journalist The views expressed are personal Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: Russian citizen Marat Ueldanov, convicted in Azerbaijan, may be extradited to serve his sentence in Russia, Spokeswoman of Foreign Ministry of Russia Maria Zakharova said at a briefing May 18. Zakharova added that the Russian embassy in Azerbaijan is in constant contact with both the Russian citizen and his lawyer, as well as with the Azerbaijani authorities. The Russian embassy in Azerbaijan is making every effort to protect Ueldanov's rights, she said. The Baku Grave Crimes Court held a hearing April 28 on the criminal case regarding Marat Ueldanov, the Russian citizen of Armenian origin, who was arrested in Baku. Following the proceedings held under the chairmanship of Judge Samir Aliyev, Ueldanov was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. Ueldanov was arrested July 28, 2016 in Azerbaijan on charges under Article 234 of the Criminal Code (illegal fabrication, production, acquisition, storing, transportation, transfer or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or precursors). Senior BJP leaders on Thursday joined their supporters in burning the effigies of chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Patna and at various other places across the state to protest the attack on the party office on Wednesday. Later, in the evening, a delegation of senior leaders, including Sushil Kumar Modi, Nand Kishore Yadav, Prem Kumar and state president Nityanand Rai, called on Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind to seek his intervention in the face of growing lawlessness in the state. The BJP leaders also drew the Governors attention to the attack on the BJP office and workers, on Wednesday and delay in arrests in the case. On Wednesday, several persons sustained injuries and vehicles were damaged in an attack on the BJP office on the Beer Chand Patel Marg, which resulted in a violent clash between the RJD and BJP workers. To prevent further escalation, there was additional police deployment, along with anti-riot vehicles, in the area, on Thursday. In the morning, BJP leaders, including leader of opposition in the state assembly, Prem Kumar and state president Nityanand Rai, led hundreds of party workers to the Dak Bungalow crossing in the heart of the city. There, angry BJP workers shouted slogans against the chief minister and RJD chief. Modi said the governor was also apprised of the activities of DSS (Dharmnirpeksh Sevak Sangh), headed by Lalu Prasads son and health minister Tejpratap Yadav. Recently, he took out a procession up to the Miller School ground on Beerchand Patel Marg, with tongas and motorcycles, through a prohibited zone in which political parties are not allowed, while the police watched, he added. Modi said that the same thing was happening again, as the police were playing a partisan role and equating attack on the BJP office with the resultant retaliation. Police say they are studying both FIRs. The question is if anyone enters your house, what do you do? You react and retaliate. But the police, which was moving with the RJD procession, are trying to shield the RJD goons, he added. Modis salvos at Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad also continued through social networking site twitter . Nitish says raids are not visible anywhere, which is akin to saying why in Delhi, carry out raids in Patna so that the people could see. Laluji says raids are a sham. Then, why did he get BJP office attacked by the RJD goons? he asked. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After its defeat in Punjab assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has started gearing up for municipal corporation (MC) elections in the state, which are scheduled to be held in July. The party has constituted screening committees in Patiala to select probable candidates from 50 wards falling in Patiala (urban) and Patiala (rural) assembly segments. AAP co-president Aman Arora held a meeting with party volunteers and workers of Patiala, to mobilise them for civic body elections, besides taking their feedback on partys poor performance in recently concluded assembly elections. We have formed screening committees, which will work in coordination with district and zonal bodies to select candidates for better prospects of the party in civic body elections, Arora said. He added that AAP leaders and workers, who are already working in Patiala rural and urban constituencies, have been asked to strengthen the party in their respective areas. The required strategy to contest the civic body elections in the state will be prepared after re-structuring of party at zonal, district and local levels, the process for which is already on, Arora said. He said party leaders are also trying to ascertain what went wrong during the assembly elections. DIALOGUE WITH REBELS On the issue of infighting in the party, Arora said AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has been requested to initiate dialogue with party rebels, including Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi and Fatehgarh MP Harinder Singh Khalsa. Both of them are respected leaders of the party and no dialogue has actually been initiated so far to convince them to work for the party. Kejriwal has been requested to seriously consider state units request to have dialogue with both these leaders, he said. Arora admitted that the contribution of both these leaders to the party and society has been ignored. On the alleged interference of central AAP leaders in Punjab affairs, Arora said the state leadership of the party is capable enough and taking all the decisions on their own. The partys state unit is taking decisions independently, without any interference of the partys high command in Delhi, he said. Meanwhile, the local bodies department has commenced the process of delimitation of municipal wards in Patiala. A five-member team from the department is conducting a door-to-door survey of population before taking a final decision on delimitation. The department has planned to come up with five new wards. With no extension in the MC limits on the cards, the five new wards will be carved out of present wards. The civic body in Patiala got elevated to corporation in September 1997. The elections to the corporation were held for the first time in June 2002. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bathinda police on Thursday arrested the patwari who was on the run after being booked for abetment in suicide case of a farmer in Lehra Bega village in the district. With the arrest of all the three accused in the case, the family members of deceased Jaswant Singh and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) finally cremated his body after over a weeks protest. The protesters were demanding the arrest of accused patwari Jagjeet Singh as a pre-condition for the cremation of the farmer who had consumed poison on May 10, holding a suicide note accusing the patwari of harassment and blocking his land acquisition payment of Rs 34 lakh. Jagjeet Singh, who remained absconding as per the police version for over a week, was arrested from Fatehabad in Haryana. The arrest came only after he was denied anticipatory bail in a Bathinda court. After Jaswants cremation, his family now awaits the long pending Rs 34 lakh that the state administration owed to the deceased for his land acquired for the upcoming grain market near Bhucho. Bathinda deputy commissioner (DC) Diparva Lakra is scheduled to convene a meeting with the family and BKU activists on Friday to discuss the payment of the land acquisition dues and the comensation that the protesters had demanded for the farmer who was forced to commit suicide, BKU Bathinda district chief Shinghara Singh Mann said. The other two accused, Tirlochan Singh and Raj Singh, who were patwaris conduits, were arrested earlier. The three were booked under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (act done by several persons under a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Bhucho police station. Taking suo moto cognizance of the death of a seven-year-old child due to heat wave outside the school in Jalandhar, state commission for protection of child rights commission has written to the education department to pre-pone summer vacations in the state in view of heat wave in the region. The letter sent to the education department states that the commission had taken serious notice of the incident and perceived the heat wave to be the cause of the childs death. Even the meteorological department has forecast intense heat wave that could adversely affect health of small school-going children. It is recommended that either vacations be pre-poned or school timings be changed so that no student falls victim to the heat wave, the letter reads. Class 2 student Priyansh Sharma (7) died outside his school after taking the English exam on May 15. A student of St Joseph Convent school, he fell unconscious after he came out of the school and was taken to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. A district-level committee was also formed by deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, led by sub divisional magistrate Rajiv Verma. Civil surgeon Maninder Kaur Minhas and education officers of primary and secondary wing are also a part of the committee. After the investigation, Rajiv Verma submitted the report to DC on Wednesday and said the child died due to a heat stroke as he could not bear the intense heat waves. In the report, I have suggested that the timings of the schools be changes at the earliest as children cannot bear the high temperature. Also, first aid should be available and doctors should be present in all schools, he said. When contacted, education minister Aruna Chaudhary she said that she will consider this suggestion positively. Right now, there is no change in the schedule of vacations but if everyone is in favour of the decision, I will consider it, she said. Schools stick to decade-old vacation plan Schedule of summer vacations, that start from June 1, is at least a decade-old from a time when the state did not witness high temperatures in April and May. KK Aeri, former meritorious school principal, said, The government should change the vacations schedule. Gone are the days when scorching heat would start in June or July, as now the temperature starts to rise in April- May itself. Punjab government will provide free Wi-Fi facility in all government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), polytechnic institutions and engineering colleges, state technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Thursday. Channi said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for providing free Wi-Fi internet in the above-mentioned campuses had been signed between Reliance Jio and the Punjab government. We will provide free internet facility to the students for their academic needs and will also encourage a system of cashless transactions and digitisation, he said. Channi said Reliance Jio will set up the infrastructure and provide its services free of cost. Reliance Jio will also bear the cost of equipment and electricity required for functioning of the Wi-Fi and will also block all objectionable websites as per Government of India directions. All the college principals have been directed to provide suitable space and security for Wi-Fi installation and other relevant network equipment, the technical education minister added. A local court on Wednesday sent an employee of a five-star hotel Taj, Sector 17, to judicial custody for raping a guest on Monday. Sunny Kumar,29, was produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Akshdeep Mahajan wherein the investigating officer had also sought judicial custody for the accused which was granted . Sunny, a Himachal Pradesh resident, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping a guest of the hotel and stealing Rs 23,000 from her room. The accused had been working with the hotel for the last five years in the food and beverages section, said police. Talking to mediapersons outside the court, Sunny claimed that he had been falsely implicated in the matter calling it sheer harassment since whatever happened was with the girls consent after she wished to celebrate her birthday on the day of the incident. When asked about the money stolen from the girls room , he told HT, I didnt take any money, rather I gave her. When asked to elaborate, he said he had given the 24-year-old victim Rs 40,000 so that she would withdraw the case. Read More | Chandigarh: Hotel staffer arrested for raping guest The case According to the police, the victim, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, had been working with a reputed IT company in Jaipur. She was here on an official trip and was putting up in the hotel. The victim told the police that she had come in contact with Sunny during her stay in the hotel. She had checked in the hotel only on Monday. She had accompanied him to his house in Sector 22 on Monday evening. She alleged that the accused raped her at his house and later she found that Rs 23,000 she was carrying was missing from her room. The victim called the police on Tuesday morning, alleging that she was raped. The police went to the hotel and nabbed the accused. The victim has told the police that she had accompanied the accused to his house to celebrate her birthday. A case under Sections 376 (rape) and 380 (theft) against the accused was registered at the Sector-17 police station. After assembly poll loss, Punjab AAP braces for MC elections, wants dialogue with rebels On the issue of infighting in the party, Aman Arora said AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has been requested to initiate dialogue with party rebels, including Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi and Fatehgarh MP Harinder Singh Khalsa. Read more Move to make Punjabi a national language in Pakistan hailed in India too The Pak senates standing committee on law and justice approved a constitution amendment bill on May 11 to give the status of national language to Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi, too, alongside Urdu, which is the only language that has the status there at present. Both Punjabs have similar dialects but different scripts for Punjabi. Read more Free Wi-Fi in ITIs, engineering colleges: Punjab govt signs pact with Jio Punjab government will provide free Wi-Fi facility in all government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), polytechnic institutions and engineering colleges, state technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Thursday. Read more After death of 7-yr-old due to heat, child rights body asks Punjab govt to advance summer break Even the meteorological department has forecast intense heat wave that could adversely affect health of small school-going children. It is recommended that either vacations be pre-poned or school timings be changed so that no student falls victim to the heat wave, the letter says. Read more Work on Chandigarhs first flyover to start by year end In June 2016, Member Parliament Kirron Kher had taken up the issue with Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari and the project was approved. Read more In pics | A visit to Chandigarhs Sector-10 museum | Click to discover the treasures For more stories, visit www.punjab.ht and follow us on Twitter and Facebook With Pakistans senate panel approving a proposed legislation to grant national language status to Punjabi, lovers of the shared language on the Indian side of the border are elated. Pak senates standing committee on law and justice approved a constitution amendment bill on May 11 to give the status of national language to Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi, too, alongside Urdu, which is the only language that has the status there at present. So far, Punjabi has been considered as marginalised language in Pakistan despite the fact that Punjabi-speaking people are in majority there, said Dharam Singh, former head of the Punjabi department at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Pakistani Punjabis are thus deprived of the language as a subject in school education. Dharam, who has written several articles for Punjabi journals published in Pakistan, added, If this bill becomes law, it will help in reducing illiteracy among people of Pakistani Punjab, because Urdu is the medium of instruction in educational institutions. It is a fact that mother tongue as the medium enhances literacy rate. Both Punjabs have similar dialects but different scripts for Punjabi Gurmukhi in India, and Shahmukhi in Pakistan. Prof Manjinder Singh of GNDU opined, Like India, Pakistan is also multicultural and multilingual country. Replacing the mother tongue of the people with some other language, such as Urdu, is a hit to the society of Pakistan. With the recent bill, there is a ray of hope of restoration of the lost glory of Punjabi and other regional languages in the neighbouring country. Deepak Bali, a mother tongue activist, said the step has been taken late, but in the right direction. It will pave the way for Punjabis promotion there, and also help the Punjabi society in many respects as it is the mother tongue that forms the literature, music, rituals, and religious beliefs of cultural groups. Also read | Ive seen Lahore, I have been born He also hoped that this will help in getting people of both Punjabs closer to each other. Ultimately, it will leave a positive impact on India-Pak ties that are going through a turbulent time these days due to tension on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The objective of the bill is to recognise all languages in the Pak constitution and set an example of having acceptance for all Pakistanis speaking any language and belonging to any corner of the country. Not everyone is as hopeful, though. In India, regional languages, including Punjabi, enjoy a status equal to that of Hindi, but these arrangements are only on paper, and Hindi is promoted as the sole national language of the country, said Surinder Bangar, a Punjabi writer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday sent a notice to the external affairs ministry on a petition seeking a direction to the Centre to file a case in International Court of Justice (ICJ) for repatriation of a Bathinda soldier, Havaldar Dharma Pal Singh, who took part in the 1971 war with Pakistan. The notices happened to come on a day when the ICJ at The Hague ruled that Pakistan should not hang, for now, former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is death row on spying charges in the neighbouring country. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings, the top United Nations court said in a decision that it termed unanimous and binding. Havaldar Dharma Pal Singh was captured by the Pakistani army on the Bangladesh border and was later declared as martyr by the Indian government. However, Dharmas widow Pal Kaur came in contact with one Satish, an armyman who was released from Pakistani jail, in 2016 and the latter told him that her husband was housed with him at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Pakistan from July 1974 to 1976. Satish said he was later shifted to a different prison. He also gave Pal Kaur an affidavit on her husband being captured alive by the Pakistani army following which the woman moved the HC. In her petition, Kaur has sought direction to the Centre to start process to get Dharma back from Pakistan. Appropriate proceedings, if necessary, could be filed in the ICJ for seeking his release under the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan for the release of prisoners of war, said Kaurs lawyer Hari Chand Arora. Arora also cited the recent case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian navy officer, in whose case the India has moved the ICJ. Popular southern actor Raai Laxmi, who was last seen in a minor role in Sonakshi Sinhas Akira, is eagerly looking forward to her next big Hindi release, Julie 2. She plays the titular role in the film and it is believed she will be seen in her most glamorous avatar yet. Apparently, its a film she carries on her shoulder, and she had to do a lot of homework for her role. I had to lose and gain weight every two months for the shoot, which was a shock for my body. I lost around 11 kg for my role, and then had to gain 17 kg immediately for another phase of my character in the film. And again, I had to lose 8 kg for the films photo shoot. Being a foodie, it was a complete shock for my body. I went through a phase of depression, and I went into a shell. I suffered a lot mentally and physically because of all this, and that is why the shoot of the film was delayed, too. I even had a leg injury during the shoot, and it was so difficult for me. I was getting irritated with everyone and everything. I came out of it only because of my parents and friends, she said. Laxmi mentioned how it was a challenge to knock off those extra kilos. Talking about the bikini look in an interview to the Times of India, Laxmi said, I lost a lot of weight to sport a bikini, and it was challenging for me. I literally starved for months. Getting a bikini body is not a joke, as you need to get that structure first to sport one. I hope I look good, and it has come out really well. I never thought I will put it off. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: The 23rd Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition kicked off in Baku May 17 and will run till May 19. Some 331 companies from 28 countries have attended the exhibition this year, 70 percent of which are foreign exhibitors and 30 percent - local. This year Polands stand is represented by 10 companies, four of which Metal-Fach, SaMASZ, Farmtrac and POM Augustow are producers of agricultural machinery. At the same time, six more Polish companies - SweetBrands, Kaskat, EkoAronia, Maspex, Malwa and Contimax, operating in the food industry, are also represented at the exhibition. The Polish companies focus on the Azerbaijani market and the exhibition gives a good chance to analyze the market, Polish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Marek Tsalka told Trend. "Polands stand is not very big at the Azerbaijani exhibition this year, but it is still interesting," he said. We organized the visit of the representatives of several different Polish companies to Azerbaijan to find a niche here. The representatives of four Polish companies engaged in the production of agricultural machinery, namely, tractors, various harvesting machines, etc. arrived in Azerbaijan, he said. There are a lot of land plots difficult for processing in Azerbaijan and I think that this agricultural machinery is perfect. When money is no obstacle, and the world is your pearl-studded oyster, wealthy travellers are more apt to jet off to Italy than any other destination. Thats according to the luxury travel agency network Virtuoso, which looked at the most popular destinations sought by their wealthiest clients in the US at member agencies around the world. For the list, experts looked at bookings made for this summer through their network which, so far, total more than $39.7 billion in transactions. South Africa is also a favourite among travellers, notably for safaris and wilderness retreats. (Shutterstock) The list of the 10 most popular destinations is dominated by Europe, with the quartet of traditional favourites Italy, the UK, France and Spain topping the ranking. Along with offering natural and cultural attractions among the most important priorities for affluent globetrotters the strength of the US dollar against the euro and the British pound are making Europe a particularly appealing destination for 2017. South Africa is also a favourite for travellers looking to strike off bucket-list dreams, notably safaris and wilderness retreats. This year, Canada has also become top of mind as the country celebrates its 150th anniversary with a slew of events planned from coast to coast. July 1 is Canada Day. Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are also popular, particularly for ocean and river cruisers. Canada has also become a popular destination this year as the country celebrates its 150th anniversary with a slew of events planned from coast to coast. (In picture: Spirit Island in Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada) (Shutterstock) Heres where wealthy American travellers are most likely to jet off to this summer, according to Virtuoso: * Italy * United Kingdom * France * Spain * South Africa * Germany * Ireland * Canada * Netherlands * Denmark Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. American television broadcast network, CBS, has released the trailer of their spin-off to The Big Bang Theory (TBBT). Titled Young Sheldon, the series takes us to the childhood of Sheldon Cooper, currently played by actor Jim Parsons. Child actor Iain Armitage will play the nine-year old Sheldon. The trailer shows his love for locomotives, his dysfunctional family and his germophobia. In the trailer, little Sheldon is shown as a brilliant student, way younger than most of the other kids in class, who joins his elder brother in high school. The show will premier right after TBBTs fall schedule, on September 25 at 8.30 pm. Meet #YoungSheldon: Scientific genius, high school student, nine-year-old boy. Watch a preview of the new comedy coming to CBS this fall! pic.twitter.com/ToFe8B7pNU YOUNG SHELDON (@YoungSheldon) May 17, 2017 See how the mind we've come to love on #BigBangTheory grows up in the new comedy #YoungSheldon this fall on CBS! pic.twitter.com/t4rTxCSgZj YOUNG SHELDON (@YoungSheldon) May 17, 2017 The 10th season of the series concluded on May 11, and has left audiences with a cliffhanger. It is shown that Sheldon flies to new Jersey, where Amy (his on-screen girlfriend) is offered a position as a guest researcher at Princeton. Sheldon proposes to her, asking her to marry him. The bosses at CBS hope that the show will run for 12 seasons. Meanwhile, this spin-off has garnered mixed response from the audience. @YoungSheldon I expected awful... And I like it already!! Hope it stays at this level. Little Sheldon is perfect casting Candice M (@candicane1957) May 17, 2017 So freaking excited for the legendary story of Dr Sheldon Cooper this fall thank you #ChuckLorre & thank you @CBS #YoungSheldon pic.twitter.com/Qal9MVi1dz Sid (@Sid4Shriya) May 18, 2017 Tell us how you feel about #YoungSheldon. Till then, heres a picture of young and adult Sheldon Cooper together: Iain took this picture with Mr. @charlierose and got photobombed by all sort of wonderful people! Nice to meet you, Miss @GayleKing ! pic.twitter.com/l32Rco3QcI Iain Armitage (@IainLoveTheatre) May 18, 2017 For more, follow us @htshowbiz SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Maine Coon cat named Omar may take the title of worlds longest domestic cat after Guinness World Records saw a picture of the feline on Instagram and contacted his owner. Omar stretches out to 1.2 metres and weighs in at 14 kg, according to the cats owner, Stephy Hirst, from Melbourne. We were expecting about a nine kilo cat, said Hirst, who told the Maroondah Leader that the Guinness World Records had reached out to her about Omar. He got to that before he was one-year-old and thats when we sort of realised that hes not nearly done yet. The current record holder at 118.33 centimetres is Ludo, a Maine Coon cat living in the United Kingdom. Omar eats dry cat food and kangaroo meat and has a relaxed life lounging around the house with dogs Rafiki and Penny, Hirst told Australias Seven Network. Guinness World Records has yet to confirm if Omar takes the title. Maine Coons are one of the largest breeds of domesticated felines in the world. They derive their name from the US state, where it is the official state cat. China has urged Windows users to protect themselves against a new ransomware virus similar to the WannaCry bug that wreaked havoc worldwide last week. UIWIX encrypts and renames files through a bug in the Windows operating system, Chinas National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned in a public announcement on Wednesday, telling users to install the latest Microsoft update. The warning comes on the heels of the WannaCry cyberattack, which has hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide. While no UIWIX infections have yet been detected in China, the virus has spread in other countries and prompted a security alert last week from the Danish cybersecurity company Heimdal Security. UIWIX ransomware is picking up where the first WannaCry wave left off, without a kill switch domain and the same self-replicating abilities that enable it to spread fast, the firm said in a statement. Heimdal cautioned that the new bug could be more powerful than WannaCry due to the absence of a kill switch domain that could contain the viruss distribution. But other analysts have noted that UIWIX appears to be spreading at a much slower pace. Global cybersecurity firm Proofpoint warned on Wednesday about another large-scale, stealthy cyberattack linked to WannaCry called Adylkuzz. Map shows extent of Wannacry ransomware attack that has hit more than 300,000 computers worldwide. (AFP) The extent of Wannacrys impact in China remains unclear. On Sunday, Qihoo 360, one of Chinas leading suppliers of anti-virus software, said more than 29,000 institutions ranging from government offices to ATMs and hospitals had been infected by Wannacry, singling out universities as particularly hard-hit. But the Education Ministrys China Education and Research Network denied that there had been widespread damage to computer systems, saying only 66 out of 1,600 Chinese universities were affected. Sarah Larson, a politics and cybersecurity researcher at the University of New South Wales, told AFP that Chinas preemptive alert about UIWIX may indicate that WannaCry sent the government reeling. Larson said China is particularly vulnerable to malicious code because the majority of the countrys computer users are reliant on pirated software. Until now the government has done little to encourage the use of legitimate software, she said. This reluctance is largely caused by a type of cyber sovereignty directed at the dominance of US tech companies like Microsoft. A screenshot shows a WannaCry ransomware demand, provided by cyber security firm Symantec. (REUTERS) Severine Arsene, an Internet expert at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China, said the announcement, which noted the virus was detected abroad, is in line with Chinas current rhetoric around cybersecurity. China has long claimed that they are a major victim of cyber attacks every year, Arsene told AFP, whereas they are essentially portrayed as a source of cyberattacks by foreign media. The warning is intended to publicly show that they are taking responsibility to help maintain security and stability online. The government will implement on June 1 a controversial cybersecurity bill tightening restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposing new rules on online service providers. Fifty-four international trade groups signed a letter Monday calling on China to reconsider the law, arguing that it would create significant obstacles for foreign businesses. As Tehrans notorious traffic slowed, the waiting campaigners pounced, pushing posters with the smiling face of Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, through the open windows of trapped cars, pleading for votes and shouting slogans as drivers edged away. They were determined to make every minute count in the last days of a campaign in which Rouhani began as favourite, but has ended locked in a bitter and close-run fight with a conservative rival. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani staked his political future on opening Iran ever so slightly to the outside world and overcoming hard-liners opposition to secure a historic nuclear deal in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions. Hell soon find out if voters think its enough to keep him in the job. His supporters streamed into downtown Tehran streets thick with police for rallies that lasted into the early hours Thursday, just ahead of a 24-hour no-campaigning period before the vote. Wearing Rouhanis signature purple on ribbons and loosely draped headscarves, they honked, cheered and chanted slogans in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of two Iranian opposition leaders under house arrest since 2011 who back Rouhani. The rallies were largely peaceful even as Rouhani supporters faced off against smaller crowds supporting his main rival, hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, though police rushed reinforcements to break up Rouhani rallies that grew large enough to block traffic. A girl holds posters of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2017. Picture taken May 17, 2017. (REUTERS Photo) A supporter of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, right, holds his poster as the other one holds a poster of his main rival Ebrahim Raisi during a street campaign. (AP Photo) A supporter of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wears a T-shirt with his image as she attends a street campaign ahead the May 19 presidential election in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. (AP Photo) Supporters of Iranian President and election candidate Hassan Rouhani distribute brochures ahead of the Iranian presidential election in the streets of the capital Tehran on May 17, 2017. (AFP Photo) Supporters of Iranian President and candidate elections Hassan Rouhani distribute brochures ahead of the Iranian presidential election in the streets of the capital Tehran on May 17, 2017. (AFP Photo) Iraqi Shia paramilitaries captured an air base from Islamic State militants on Thursday, gaining a strategic foothold in the western desert as they push towards the Syrian border. While regular Iraqi security forces engage in gruelling urban combat inside Mosul, the paramilitaries have been advancing against Islamic State through thinly populated terrain to the southwest. Last week, the paramilitary groups, known collectively as Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), or Hashid Shaabi, launched an offensive to retake the Qairawan district, around 95 km west of Mosul. The Sahl Sinjar airbase is around 65 km east of the Syrian border. After rehabilitation, the air base will be an important base for Hashid troops and Iraqi helicopters to transport fighters and arms, said Karim al-Nuri of the powerful Badr Organisation. The air base will help chasing the terrorists in the open desert with Syria. The head of the PMF, Falih al-Fayyadh, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Thursday and discussed close and direct military cooperation against Islamic State along their shared border, Syrian state media said. Unlike regular Iraqi security forces, the PMF does not receive support from the U.S.-led coalition, which is wary of Irans influence over the most powerful factions within the body. Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia militiamen are fighting in Syria on behalf of Assads government, which is backed by Iran, although the PMF is not officially involved across the border. Officially answerable to the government in Baghdad, the PMF were formed when Islamic State overran around one third of Iraq including Mosul nearly three years ago and Iraqi security forces disintegrated. The Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages in central Syria on Thursday, capturing at least one of them that left 52 people dead including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were beheaded, as well as Syrian troops, state media, medical officials and an opposition monitoring group said. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, raising fears that the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The villages are located near the town of Salamiyeh and the highway that links the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, but state media said traffic was not affected. The attacks come as government forces are on the offensive against the extremists in other parts of Syria, mostly in the northern province of Aleppo, the central Homs region and to the east. US - backed and Kurdish-led forces meanwhile, are marching toward the extremists de-facto capital of Raqqa, in northern Syria. State news agency SANA said that militants were able to storm homes in the southern part of the Aqareb al-Safi village, adding that the government forces repelled them, pushing them back towards the desert. The head of the National Hospital in Salamiyeh, Dr. Noufal Safar, said that the hospital received 52 bodies, including 11 women and 17 children. He also mentioned that some of them were beheaded while the others had their limbs amputated. They were brought with all forms of deformations but most of them appear to have died as a result of gunfire, Safar told The Associated Press by telephone. He added that most of the dead and wounded were brought by ambulances. Safar quoted some of the wounded people as saying that the extremists began storming homes and beheading women inside. Rami Razzouk, a coroner at the hospital who inspected the bodies, said that the children brought in were mostly dismembered, while most of the men died from shelling or heavy machine gun fire. He said that at least nine children were beaten with heavy objects such as bricks or stones on their heads or necks. Razzouk said that there were a couple of children whose heads were fully dismembered because of the beating. Two of the children had most of their limbs removed and had to be carried in blankets and two men were shot in the eye, he said. He said 120 people were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 52 people were killed in the fighting, with the dead including 15 civilians, 27 Syrian soldiers and 10 unidentified people. SANA said that 40 people were wounded. The IS - linked Aamaq news agency said that the group captured Aqareb al-Safi and Mabouja. It identified residents as members of President Bashar Assads Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shia Islam. The Sunni extremists view Shias as apostates deserving of death. IS has massacred thousands of Shias and other opponents in Syria and Iraq, often boasting about the killings and circulating photos and videos of them online. Aamaq claimed that 100 Syrian troops and pro-government gunmen were killed in the fighting. Dozens of people are missing but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh, said the Observatorys chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said that the IS deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi. State TV said that wo people were wounded in the IS shelling in Salamiyeh. SANA also reported on Thursday that Assad met with Iraqs national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad to discuss steps to improve coordination between their countries militaries in the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border. After a night on the streets, the pack of young boys move into Maiduguris abandoned amusement park in the early morning to play on the broken-down rides. Shoeless and wearing ragged clothes, they sprint to the merry-go-round, its chipped candy-coloured paint bleached by the scorching sun. The horses are motionless but the boys laugh like theyre in Disneyland, forgetting their troubles in a brief moment of joy. They are among thousands of children orphaned by Boko Haram Islamists now living in the capital of Borno state, in northeast Nigeria. They are internally displaced persons (IDPs) but they are not in camp, said Salisu Ismail, a 42-year-old who works near the amusement park. There is no care for them, so they come here and play. They arent supposed to be here, they should be in school but they dont have any access. Its really painful to see. Without education, theyll consume us Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri by a charismatic preacher who advocated a fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran and denounced Western influence in Nigeria. Rampant poverty, high unemployment and government corruption attracted increasing numbers of followers even before the group turned to violence. With those factors drivers for radicalisation, officials fear the city will remain a fertile breeding ground for extremism if the masses of orphans arent taken care of. Yet today they face the dilemma of how to get thousands of homeless children back to school in a desperately poor region where education has never been prioritised but is the key to preventing another jihadist uprising. We have an official number of over 52,000 orphans in Borno state, governor Kashim Shettima told AFP. Unofficially, the orphans may number over 100,000. Half of them may be in Maiduguri. Without educating these youth, they will be monsters that consume all of us. Its a very huge challenge. Children orphaned by Boko Haram Islamists play on a merry-go-round in an abandoned amusement park in Maiduguri, Nigeria. In Maiduguri, where the population has doubled to over two million as a result of Boko Haram insurgency, thousands of children are homeless. (AFP) Relentless assault Even as the Nigerian Army reclaims the last of the territory held by Boko Haram, whose name roughly translated from Hausa means Western education is sin, their relentless assault on education continues to restrict development. In some of the far-flung camps on the border of Niger and Cameroon, where the battle is still raging, there are no schools at all. In Maiduguri, whose population has doubled to over two million due to those seeking shelter from the conflict, thousands of children are slipping through the cracks. A lot of children have never been to school, said UNICEF child protection specialist Samuel Manyok. Its as bad as (the situation in) Somalia and South Sudan combined. File photo from August 2016 file photo shows a general view of one of the biggest camps for people displaced by Islamist extremists in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Camps for thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram will have to stay open beyond the end of this month as Nigeria's military continues to fight the extremists in so-called liberated areas, officials say. The governor of the northern state of Borno, Kashim Shettima, told reporters on May 16, 2017 it is not yet safe to return people to their homes in many places across the region. (AP) Harrowing stories Getting children whose lives have been shattered by Boko Haram into class is just one hurdle to reintegrating them back into society when many have suffered traumatising experiences. Sitting at a concrete table in the amusement park, 15-year-old Aisha not her real name says she was the only one of her family to survive when Boko Haram invaded her village in 2015. When her parents refused to let her marry a Boko Haram fighter, the militants shot her father on the spot and tossed her mother into a makeshift prison full of urine and faeces. Days later and starving, she finally let her daughter go. He forced himself on me, Aisha said of her new husband with whom she lived in Sambisa Forest, Boko Harams stronghold in Borno state. He would bring bombs and tell me to pour water on them, so they didnt explode. Wearing a white hijab with two ruby studs in her nose and a wary look in her eyes, Aisha says she saw militants strapping explosives to young girls and boys. The rebels gave them 50,000 naira ($158, 145 euros) for their families and told them they would go to heaven. If they refused to blow themselves up, they would be shot, she said. In December, the Nigerian military invaded Sambisa Forest and rescued Aisha. She now lives with a man from her village in an IDP camp in Maiduguri. But she isnt going to school. Asked what she wants to do in the future, she doesnt seem to know. Clothes make me happy, she eventually replies. File photo from August 2016 shows a child playing in a makeshift tent camp for people displaced by Islamist extremists in Maiduguri, Nigeria. (AP) A time bomb Schools were only officially reopened in Maiduguri and accessible areas of Borno state late last year after closing down in 2014. Hundreds of others across the state are waiting to be rebuilt after being destroyed by Boko Haram. To address the orphan crisis, Shettimas goal is to build 20 mega-schools across the state. His government has also floated plans to build a massive orphanage for 8,000 children. Whether construction begins depends on how much the Borno government receives from the federal government, a notoriously unreliable benefactor. It is also counting on the generosity and courage of international donors. The destruction of schools, the displacement and loss of school years, and the abduction of school children has reduced the level of access to education in a safe environment, said Oge Chukwudozie, manager of humanitarian organisation Plan International Nigeria. Given that the crisis directly targeted schools, non-government organisations had to play it safe so that children will not be exposed to direct attack by Boko Haram. Nigerias government is unlikely to resolve the school shortage quickly. But without urgent intervention, the risk of renewed violence increases. They need a second chance at life, said UNICEFs Manyok. Otherwise they become a destabilising factor. Its just a time bomb. Two staffers of Pakistans embassy in Kabul were detained for hours by Afghanistans intelligence officials, prompting a strong protest from Islamabad, a media report said on Thursday. The two men were in a stationery shop at a market when they were picked up by the sleuths of Afghanistans National Directorate of Security (NDS) and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassys official vehicle. The staffers were identified as Hassan Khanzada, visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah, staff driver, the Dawn reported. Khanzada was manhandled during the detention, the report quoted a source as saying. The Pakistan embassy approached the Afghan foreign ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Pakistan also summoned Afghanistans deputy head of mission in Islamabad, Zardasht Shams, on Wednesday to lodge a protest over the detention. The Afghan foreign ministry, reportedly after a bit of dilly-dallying, conceded that the two men had been taken into custody by the NDS, the report said. Khanzada and Shah were released after three hours, it said, adding it was unclear why they were detained. The incident served another blow to already fraught ties between the two countries. It happened amid latest efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan aims to develop its agricultural potential and France is ready to provide support in this, Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez said May 18. She made the remarks in Baku at a press conference attended by representatives of French companies specializing in horticulture, viticulture and winemaking. Despite the fact that currently, economic relations between the two countries are mainly concentrated in the energy sector, we see that Azerbaijan aims to diversify its economy and specifically, develop agriculture, Bouchez said. About 18 percent of all agricultural products made in the EU account for France, she noted, adding her country is ready to share its experience in agriculture with Azerbaijan. The envoy said that representatives of seven French companies, specializing in horticulture, viticulture, winemaking and production of labels, came to Baku to participate in an agricultural exhibition. "Tomorrow, members of our delegation will go to Azerbaijans regions to get acquainted with plants," Bouchez said, adding that in future France is ready to develop cooperation with Azerbaijan not only in winemaking but also in other sectors of agriculture. The World Food Azerbaijan 2017 and CaspianAgro 2017 exhibitions are being held in Baku on May 17-19. A rare meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping was held in Beijing on Monday, reflecting the growing diplomatic contacts and cooperation among the three countries. The News daily quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the informal meeting took place at a picturesque lake resort where leaders were attending the Belt and Road Forum hosted by China. It was held after the conclusion of the leaders roundtable summit of the forum. The newspaper speculated that the meeting "would pave the way for facilitating a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi next month on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit at Astana. Pakistan and India will both become members of the SCO at the summit. The Russian and Chinese presidents will be present in Astana. The newspaper said Pakistani officials have indicated this could be the first joint attempt by the Chinese and Russian leadership to address tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi. A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler during a clash near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry and security sources said. The clash near a military post erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to cross a crowd of Palestinian protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire, Palestinian security sources said. The Palestinian killed was identified by the health ministry as Muataz Bani Shemsay, 23, from a village near Nablus. He was shot in the head, it said. A photographer with Associated Press news agency was also wounded by gunfire but was in stable condition, medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a violent riot broke out that saw Palestinians throw rocks at passing cars. Soldiers responded with riot-dispersal means. One of the Israeli citizens whose car was damaged from the rocks fired into the air. The spokeswoman confirmed one person was killed and another wounded. From what we understand it is not from (soldiers) fire, but the incident is still under review, she said. Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered at an Israeli military checkpoint at Huwara, south of Nablus and the regular site of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers. The protest was held in support of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails on hunger strike since April 17. An Israeli settler attempted to drive into the crowd, the security sources said, and was surrounded by protesters who threw stones at the car. He then got out of the car and opened fire along with soldiers who deployed, the sources said. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 264 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, the Israeli authorities say. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has subsided in recent months. Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trumps campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former US officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the US presidential election and contacts between Trumps campaign and Russia. Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Sergei Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the United States, and Trump advisers, including Flynn, Trumps first national security adviser, three current and former officials said. Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the November 8 vote as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the US national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current US officials said. In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time. The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Flynns lawyer declined to comment. In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration. Separately, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors. The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016 as hackers engaged in what US intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to discredit the vote and influence the outcome of the election in favour of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Those discussions focused on mending US-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China, the sources said. Members of the Senate and House intelligence committees have gone to the CIA and the National Security Agency to review transcripts and other documents related to contacts between Trump campaign advisers and associates and Russian officials and others with links to Putin, people with knowledge of those investigations told Reuters. The US Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential campaign and possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia. Mueller will now take charge of the FBI investigation that began last July. Trump and his aides have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia. In addition to the six phone calls involving Kislyak, the communications described to Reuters involved another 12 calls, emails or text messages between Russian officials or people considered to be close to Putin and Trump campaign advisers. One of those contacts was by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and politician, according to one person with detailed knowledge of the exchange and two others familiar with the issue. It was not clear with whom Medvedchuk was in contact within the Trump campaign but the themes included U.S.-Russia cooperation, the sources said. Putin is godfather to Medvedchuks daughter. Medvedchuk denied having any contact with anyone in the Trump campaign. I am not acquainted with any of Donald Trumps close associates, therefore no such conversation could have taken place, he said in an email to Reuters. In the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasised a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside, the sources said. Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional. Its rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power, Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters. FLYNN FIRED Beyond Medvedchuk and Kislyak, the identities of the other Putin-linked participants in the contacts remain classified and the names of Trump advisers other than Flynn have been masked in intelligence reports on the contacts because of legal protections on their privacy as American citizens. However, officials can request that they be revealed for intelligence purposes. US and allied intelligence and law enforcement agencies routinely monitor communications and movements of Russian officials. After Vice President Mike Pence and others had denied in January that Trump campaign representatives had any contact with Russian officials, the White House later confirmed that Kislyak had met twice with then-Senator Jeff Sessions, who later became attorney general. Kislyak also attended an event in April where Trump said he would seek better relations with Russia. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, also attended that event in Washington. In addition, Kislyak met with two other Trump campaign advisers in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention. Trump fired Flynn in February after it became clear that he had falsely characterized the nature of phone conversations with Kislyak in late December after the November 8 election and just after the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia. Flynn offered to testify to Congress in return for immunity from prosecution but his offer was turned down by the House intelligence committee. There were 10 Indian-origin MPs in Britains last Parliament, but there is increasing unease in the community over the low participation by most of them on issues related to India, amid mixed views on whether they should defend India in parliament or not. The 10 MPs (five each from Conservative and Labour parties) are for all purposes British MPs, but given their origins and links to India even if via third countries in Africa there is an expectation that they have a greater understanding of Indias interests. The contingent includes MPs elected from constituencies with large and small electorates of Indian origin Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra (large), and Rishi Sunak, Lisa Nandy and Priti Patel (small). An analysis of parliamentary records since the May 2015 election shows that except for Keith Vaz and Virendra Sharma (both Labour), India figured low in their engagements. Alok Sharma was Minister for Asia, which led to his making the most contribution on India. The most disappointing occasion from Indias perspective was the January 19 debate on Jammu and Kashmir, when over 20 MPs came down heavily on Indias record there, but the only Indian-origin MP present and defending the country was Virendra Sharma. The so-called Indian origin MPs are expected to have a better understanding of the ground situation, and ensure that vested interests do not distort Britains relations with India. But perhaps many of them have to prove they are not Indian and feel they dont owe India anything, a senior community leader said. We often find British, non-white MPs more forthcoming and understanding of Indian positions, the Leicester-based leader added. In constituencies with large number of Indian-origin voters, candidates for the June 8 election are being queried about the lack of engagement with Indian issues in Parliament. The 10 sitting MPs are comfortably placed and are likely to be re-elected. However, Dibyesh Anand, professor of politics at the University of Westminster, said the fact that many Indian-origin MPs focus on domestic matters and the concerns that affect their constituents, it should not be a matter of surprise or concern that they do not defend Indias interests in Parliament. In fact, expecting them to defend Indias interest when Indian government may be pursuing policies that are seen as majoritarian or Hindu nationalist in recent years will be expecting them to betray the values of British democracy. The MPs represent Britain and not India, he said. Sunil Chopra, councillor and former mayor of Southwark, said: Perhaps they dont want to upset some voters in their constituencies, and dont defend India openly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also reach out to them on his global tours and convince them of the new India story. Community leaders say the India record of the 10 MPs is in sharp contrast to the pro-active group of MPs of Pakistan origin. Compared to sharp reaction faced by the latter within the community and back home, there is said to be no fear of facing anger or reaction from the Indian community for the former group. None of the 10 Indian-origin MPs signed an early day motion in March moved by Bob Blackman (Conservative), criticising Pakistans plan to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province. Blackman was also the only MP apart from Sharma speaking for India in the January 19 debate on Jammu and Kashmir. Blackman told Hindustan Times: One notices that the pro-Pakistan lobby in the UK is extremely effective and they make sure their MPs turn up in their support via all possible parliamentary contributions. The debate on Jammu and Kashmir was a classic example. It was just me and one other MP speaking in support of India. Hardly anyone speaking on the day spoke of the human rights violations by Pakistan and ignored the series of violations by them over the years. The Conservative party has fielded 13 Indian-origin candidates in the forthcoming elections; Labour has 14. Given their nominations in constituencies considered safe or marginal, the Indian-origin group in the next Parliament is likely to increase from the current 10, which, from the British perspective of encouraging minority participation in politics, would be a new record. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON US immigration arrests increased nearly 40 percent in early 2017 as newly emboldened agents under President Donald Trump detained more than 40,000 people suspected of being in the country illegally with a renewed focus on immigrants without criminal convictions. The numbers released by Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan provide a snapshot of how the new president is carrying through on his campaign promises to make immigration enforcement a top priority. Some highlights in the numbers: 41,300 immigrants were arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally between Jan. 22 and Apr. 29, up from 30,000 from Jan. 24 to April 30 last year. 30,500 of those arrested had criminal convictions, compared to 25,800 for the earlier period. 10,800 did not have criminal convictions, compared to 4,200 in the previous period. Overall, 41,300 people were arrested for deportation, a 38 percent increase from a comparable period last year. Nearly 11,000 had no criminal convictions, more than double the number of immigrants without criminal convictions arrested during a comparable period last year. Homan said the increase in arrests stems from stepped up immigration enforcement, adding that morale has improved among agents under Trump because they are allowed to do their job. Their job is to enforce the law, and that is exactly what theyre doing, he said. Even so, deportations were down from late January to late April compared with a year ago despite the new presidents stepped up immigration enforcement pledge. The increase in arrests of people without criminal convictions has generated outrage across the U.S. from Trump opponents who believe otherwise law-abiding families are being rounded up. The report was made public as the Trump administration seeks to promote its accomplishments despite a growing scandal over the firing of the FBI director and the sharing of intelligence with Russian officials. The president puts this out to distract from the real affairs of our country, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. It is unfortunate that he basically is using the pain and destroying our families as a way by which to give red meat to his base. Immigration enforcement operations have generated headlines nationwide since Trump signed an executive orders on immigration on Jan. 25. Many of them targeted violent offenders with felony records on crimes ranging from assault to murder. But other immigrants have also been caught up in enforcement efforts, including people who received leniency under the Obama administration. Silvia Avelar-Flores, a 31-year-old mother of three from Utah, was picked up by immigration agents enforcing an old deportation order last month while she was shopping with her 8-year-old daughter in a Salt Lake City suburb. She was released and given three months to plan her return to Mexico, a country she left as a young girl. She plans to take her youngest daughter, age 2, with her and leave her 10-year-old-son and 8-year-old daughter with her husband, who has permanent US residency. I dont think its fair, Alves-Flores said in an interview. I understand that they want to fix everything, you know, but they are going after the wrong people. Trump said he was just going for the criminals, and thats not happening. Other examples highlighted by advocates include an Indian taxi driver in Southern California recently arrested during a routine check in with immigration authorities and a Mexican man facing deportation after nearly two decades in the US Jose Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo, who was living in Michigan, is being held in a Louisiana detention facility while lawyers try to block his deportation. Immigration arrests doubled in the Miami and Dallas metro areas. They rose 5 percent in and around Los Angeles and dropped slightly in the San Francisco area. While arrests of immigrants rose, the number of deportations fell 12 percent during the period, Homan said. He attributed the drop to a decline in arrests on the US-Mexico border where immigrants are usually sent home quickly and a lengthy backlog in US immigration courts that issue deportation orders. In a sudden escalation in the ongoing Russia controversy swirling around this White House, the US department of justice appointed Robert Mueller, a highly regarded former FBI director, as special counsel to investigate links between Trump campaign and Russian government and entities. Muller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has direct oversight over the FBI and whose recommendation was initially cited for President Donald Trumps firing of Jim Comey last week as the agencys director. He did not clear the appointment with his boss and Trump ally Attorney General Jeff Session or the president. Appointment of a special counsel is rare the last one was more than a decade ago and can be dangerous potentially as the office comes with very broad powers, with the mandate to look under every stone and pebble that can turn up unexpected results such as Monica Lewinsky during the unrelated investigation of President Bill Clinton by a special counsel in 1998. There is already a daily dribble of fresh revelations. According to news reports, the Trump transition team knew FBI was probing Michael Flynn before he was named national security advisor and there were at least 18 previously undisclosed contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians officials or those with Kremlin contacts. Flynn, for his part, has refused to honour the Senate Intelligence Committees subpoena seeking documents, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing the panels Republican chairman. Rosenstein said in a statement that based upon the unique circumstances and in public interest he determined the investigation had to be placed under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command and who will have have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation. Muellers brief, as stated with the announcement, is to investigate any links and or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and (significantly, the reason why the White House would be worried) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. After a sober first statement on Wednesday, Trump lashed out with characteristic aggression on Thursday morning. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel (sic) appointed! he wrote on Twitter, adding, This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump, who was told of Muellers appointment after it had been signed, said in a statement on Wednesday, As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. The special counsel appointment came a day after reports surfaced of the president asking fired FBI director James Comey to end the investigation of Flynns interactions with Russians at a meeting in the Oval Office, the day after Flynn was fired in February. I hope you can let this go, Trump had told Comey, according to notes of that meeting kept by the latter. Muellers appointment was welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans, in a testimony to his reputation. Former director Mueller is exactly the right kind of individual to serve as special counsel in the Russia investigation, Chuck Schumer, leader of Democrats in the Senate, said in a statement, adding, I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead. Preet Bharara, former US attorney for Southern District of New York, gave Muller a glowing review as well. Having known him for years, I believe special counsel Mueller is a very good thing. He is one of the best -- independent and no-nonsense, he wrote in a post on Twitter. Mueller, who was appointed to head the FBI by Republican president George W Bush in 2001 taking charge just a week after the September 11 terrorist attacks went on to serve for 12 years, is known to have stood up to the Bush White House. That was to resisting the extension of a post-9/11 domestic spying programme, together with then attorney General John Ashcroft and his deputy Attorney James Comey. Now he will, as special counsel, carry forward Comeys investigation of Trump campaigns Russia links, if any. Mueller is said to have built the present FBI swatting away attempts to dismember the investigating agency by those looking for men, women and institutions to blame for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Special Counsel unbundled What is a special counsel? A special counsel, or special prosecutor, is a lawyer appointed by the justice department according to a system in place since 1999 to pursue a specific case outside the usual chain of command, with independent powers to take the investigations through any course deemed necessary. Some famous Special Counsels Archibald Cox, a law professor appointed by President Richard Nixon to investigate his White House in the Watergate scandal. The president could appoint one back then, a process that has undergone multiple changes since. Then, Ken Starr who investigated President Bill Clinton. Why this could get tricky for Trump With broad powers to steer the investigation into any direction deemed necessary, special counsel can often times stumble upon unexpected findings. White House intern Monica Lewinskys relationship was discovered during the unrelated probe of President Clinton. Muller could, experts are arguing, ask for Trumps tax returns, for instance, which he has refused to release. The storm is passing. The last year and a half has been rough sailing in so many ways. One r His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco chaired on May 15 the signing ceremony of agreements related to the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project and the Moroccan-Nigerian cooperation in the field of fertilizers, said the message from Moroccos embassy in Azerbaijan. The starting phase of these important projects took place at the Royal Palace in Rabat in the presence of Moroccan officials, representatives from many African countries, international experts as well as representatives of sovereign funds and major international energy companies. This important event received wide international media coverage. King Mohammed VI is personally involved in the implementation of this projects which will considerably contribute to the development of a dozen African transit countries. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR was represented in this event. The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline is a gigantic project, about 5000 km long, a dozen countries crossed and tens of thousands of jobs created and important new economic opportunities that will positively transform the life of 300 million people. The pipeline will be designed with the aim of speeding up electrification projects in the whole West African region, serving as a basis to set up a competitive regional market for electricity, to develop integrated industrial hubs in the sub-region in sectors as industry, food-processing and fertilizers and to improve local transformation of natural resources available for national and international markets. Morocco will provide Nigeria with more than two million tons of fertilizers under the strategic partnership established between the Moroccan "OCP Group and Nigerian "Dangote", which aims at building a large fertilizer plant and a phosphoric acid unit. Benefiting from Moroccan expertise and know-how in this field, this partnership will cover the entire agricultural value chain in Nigeria, and will put in place fertilizing solutions at lower cost and adapted to the nature of the soil, the climate, the environment as well as the cultures of the whole region. This agreement also includes accompanying measures to local farmers. The fertilizer plant will not only meet the high demand of Nigerian domestic market, but also will allow exportation of fertilizers to other parts of Africa. By concluding these agreements, only few months after the visit of King Mohammed VI to Nigeria, Morocco once again reaffirms its commitment to the development of Africa, by setting up concrete projects in productive sectors, stimulating economic growth, job creation and achieving sustainable food security impacting directly the lives of citizens and establishing lasting stability in the continent. W hile London tenants have been welcoming the news that rents are finally falling across the capital, huge demand for homes in the most affordable areas is sending rents rising across south-east London. Rents in north, west and east London have dropped by an average of one per cent since 2016, however the latest rental index from SpareRoom.co.uk found that in pockets such as Blackheath and Dulwich, rents have gone up by two per cent, an average of 57 a month. South-East London is the focus of Londons growth now. Its historically been the capitals cheapest area, largely due to its reliance on trains rather than tubes. Thats all changed in recent years, with the Overground extensions through Forest Hill and Peckham bringing more people South East in search of cheaper rents, said Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom. The rise was led by Blackheath, where average monthly rents rose by 96 to hit 704 per month. Dulwich, Forest Hill and Herne Hill were also among the 10 postcodes with the biggest rent increases. With the average rent for a room in the area calculated at 506 per month, Abbey Wood, which spans the boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley, is the cheapest place to rent a room in the capital. Nearby Thamesmead is second cheapest with average monthly rents of 528. Top 10 London areas where rents have risen the fastest: Area Annual increase Average monthly room rent Blackheath, SE3 16% 704 Dulwich, SE21 13% 672 St Paul's, EC4 12% 1,297 Holland Park, W8 12% 1,079 Forest Hill, SE23 11% 646 Canning Town, E16 8% 772 Herne Hill, SE24 7% 711 Bloomsbury, WC1 7% 925 Strand, WC2 7% 1,046 Mortlake, SW14 6% 712 Average rents dropped three per cent in EC postcodes, the most expensive part of London where a room in Clerkenwell, Old Street and parts of Shoreditch now costs an average 916 each month. North London experienced a similar price drop, with a room in renters' favourites Islington and Stoke Newington now costing 747 a month. While this may appear to be a positive development for financially stretched tenants, the wider figures mask a worrying affordability trend, according to the report. Rents might be coming down in more expensive areas but, as long as they continue to rise in cheaper areas, those on middle and low incomes will carry on feeling the squeeze, said Hutchinson. Weve reached the point where Londons last affordable pockets are fast disappearing. News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits. Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 7 p.m. Orr Area EMS Open House Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798. Orr Fire Hall 4540 Lake St., Orr Tuesday, October 25, 12 6 p.m. Essentia Health Job Fair Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org. 901 9th St. N., Virginia In any love story there is that balancing point where each individual has the feeling of sharing a single plenitude, wherein there is no desire to take advantage of another's weakness. In life and business alike this quest for balance feeds discussions between partners; sometimes they are discreet, other times they are more tumultuous, as love stories are wont to be. Over the ages, relations between hotel operators and owners, franchisers and franchisees, operators and distributors have been supported by balances of power and a regular shifting of this balancing point. Long after their American counterparts, today French franchisees want to shift the balancing point to implement governance of brands that takes their concerns better into account. While the primary motivation remains an equitable sharing of commitments and associated costs, today we are beyond simple economic reasoning. There is now a political dimension, in the sense of the "government of the city", motivating the franchisees, perhaps a bit late, but better later than never... Let's be clear, for many years, franchisees rarely complained about a situation that was mostly to their advantage. Within an expanding hotel market, with moderate supply growth, the contribution of the brand, of its attributes, of its commercial strength have fulfilled entrepreneurs big and small, who have modeled a good share of the modern hotel industry. Then they were confronted with the evolution of models, caught between groups with a generally vertical strategy, preferring operational management, organic development, marketing innovation; on the other hand groups focusing on asset light, franchise development, brand marketing and distribution tools; and especially the irruption of mega online distributors that charge the high price for their near stranglehold on digital marketing and digital channel. Anesthetized by the initial benefic effects of the intervention of OTAs, hoteliers have taken their time to notice perverse effects. Accustomed to comfort, a dash of paternalism, relations with their franchisers, franchisees did not take care to organize themselves as a credible and efficient opposition. That is the purpose of their quest for balance today. Nothing requires it to be conflictual, quite the contrary, everything aims to make it constructive. In the United States, the three major organizations of owners/franchisees (AHLA, AAHOA, NABHOOD) are powerful, respected and constructive counterpoints. They represent nearly all operators - both individual and institutional, without the limitations of groups or brands, and are able to enter discussion with major brands with full transparency of the contracts of each. Nothing can be done without shared consensus, but the combined strength of owners and hotel groups makes it possible to be heard at the highest levels, regarding strategic questions, such as distribution and the sharing economy. Is this totally inconceivable in France? Is the syndrome of division and individual chapels stronger than the common interest and the quest for a new balance? This deserves some rapid thinking and setting aside of dissensions and egos because time is short and the landscape will undoubtedly be upset once again in the months to come. The late organization of franchisees is an opportunity to snatch up and demonstrate imagination and develop new, efficient and lasting governance. And why not take advantage of it to make the initiative European, as the subject also affects Europe. Georges Panayotis Chairman & CEO +33 (0) 1 56 56 87 87 Hospitality ON View source Introduced in 2016 as Google's response to other mobile publishing platforms like Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles, Google's AMP (short for Accelerated Mobile Pages) began to spark interest amongst online retailers across industries. In hospitality, some website developers have been trying to convince hoteliers that they need to have AMP version of their website. What is Google AMP? It is an open platform with the sole objective to help publishers create mobile content (articles and commentary, quick opinion postings, etc.) that download fast on mobile and other devices. AMPs are characterized with stripped down mostly textual content and simple, no-clutter page layouts, and are hosted by Google, which at least in theory ensures fast downloads. Google has restrictions on what type of content can be included on AMPs, utilizes special HTML and coding, and allows only very basic styling (read: Design) of the page. What should hoteliers do about Google AMPs? It is immediately clear that AMP pages feature simple, textual/blog-like page layout with stripped-down content. Obviously, the mere objective of the hotel website as the main "digital face" of the hotel and its product and services, and the main direct booking source for the property, goes beyond what an AMP layout can offer. Today's hotel planning and booking customer journey is becoming increasingly complex in this multi-device, multi-channel and multi-touch point environment we operate in. On average, the travel consumer goes through 19 different touchpoints before making booking (Google Research). Each one of these touchpoints presents an opportunity for the hotel to build a brand connection, influence intent, and be there for every step of the way. Nine out of ten people are "cross-device" Internet browsers and researchers, using multiple devices sequentially (mobile, desktop, laptop, tablet, wearable devices, etc.) and moving from one device to another at different times. This is the reason why travel consumers and hoteliers alike prefer fully responsive hotel websites that feature the same in-depth content (visual, textual, promotional) on every device. Having an AMP version of the hotel website for mobile users goes against today's best practices and is like going "back in circles" and moving away from fully responsive website to the old days of adaptive websites with separate versions for desktop, tablet and mobile. Here are only a few questions hoteliers must consider before contemplating AMPs: Did you invest time and money on a unique website design that best reflects your property, its locations, services and amenities? Your custom design won't go with you if you move to AMP. These design elements are critical to the hotel website, and they cannot be compromised without missing out on online revenue. Does your website feature rich media in the form of videos, slide shows, photo galleries, storyboard page layout with content and image blocks, etc.? These are typical features of today's hotel website that help present well your product, services and amenities and "sell the dream" of experiences awaiting at your hotel. AMP might be able to load the text content quickly, but the rich media content will lag behind. Does your current website feature deep, relevant and visually appealing content? A typical hotel website for a 4-5 star property should have a minimum of 35-40 pages of unique and highly visual content (including content blocks, high res visuals, videos, floor plans, etc.), describing and illustrating the hotel product, services and amenities, positioning your hotel as the perfect choice from the perspective of your main market segments (corporate transient, groups, leisure, family, social event planners, etc.), as well as establishing the hotel as the "hero" of the destination. This content serves dual purpose: provide information and visualize to potential guests everything they need to know about the hotel, as well as provide tremendous SEO value. This high impact content value, the prerequisite for customer engagements and conversions on the website, will be lost in the AMP stripped-down version of the website. Does your website feature any third-party integrations? Because AMPs forces websites to feature as few capabilities as possible to ensure fast mobile downloads, this new format favors only stripped down page layouts and functionality. Removing third-party capabilities and elements such as reservation widgets and other technology integrations like Reservation Abandonment Applications, live rates or customer review feeds, promotional banners, slides and lightboxes, social media integration, RFP forms/sign-ups, etc. will affect negatively user engagements, website conversions and revenue. Does your website feature "live" rates and promotional banners with real-time availability and pricing for tonight's rate or specials for the upcoming weekend? Since AMP content is cached, such live rate feeds will be lost. One of the most promoted features of AMPs is that it promises fast download speeds on mobile devices. We believe that fast download speeds are no longer an issue with today's CMS technology and in this day and age of 4G LTE and cloud hosting. Any fully responsive hotel website, supported by up-to-date cloud hosting and CDN (Content Delivery Network) and advanced CMS technology should have no issues with download speeds. As an example, here at HeBS Digital we do not launch a hotel website with lower download speed of 95/100 in the Google Page Speed test, even without being an AMP site. In other words, you do not need an AMP site for your property website to download fast. Conclusion AMPs are not designed to maximize hotel's direct online revenue. A stripped down, Google hosted version of the hotel website (i.e. AMPs) goes against the mere objective of what the hotel website is all about. Hotel websites are not news sites or blogs, but complete ecommerce websites featuring rich visual content that have the singular objective of presenting the hotel product in the best possible light, engage the online traveler and generate maximum direct bookings. ABOUT NEXTGUEST NextGuest provides hoteliers with everything they need to thrive in the digital world, with bespoke technology solutions developed to meet the needs of luxury hotel clients coupled with elegant design capabilities that bring brands to life. We marry the power of data with brand discovery to uncover unique strategies that apply to everything from website design, content marketing, CRM, and more, helping the world's top hotel brands maximize ROI as they acquire, convert, and retain guests throughout the travel planning journey. While each of our services is available on its own, the integrated technologies, marketing, and consulting offerings work together to increase digital engagement and generate revenue for hoteliers, allowing them to focus on what matters most serving their guests. www.nextguest.com | [email protected] Mariana Safer SVP Global Marketing NextGuest merged with Cendyn View source When Barry Sternlicht founded Starwood Hotels in the 1990's, no one could have predicted its future status as a premier worldwide hotel brand. Last year, Starwood was acquired by Marriott for $13 billion, and its innovative culture was largely to thank. Starwood was successful because the team took risks, embraced collaboration, and dared to stand out. Its unique culture was most apparent in its W Hotel brand. "Starwood's legacy is really heavily shaped by W. It took a real disruptive, startup mentality. It used to be a separate business from the rest of the company, so it could flourish with its own culture and push the boundaries of hospitality," said Anthony Ingham, a global brand leader for W Hotels. Here are three ways to instill an innovative, startup mentality into your hospitality company culture: 1. Incentivize employee innovation. Your biggest source of ideas won't come from data or management, but rather from your coworkers on the frontlines. Every day, hotel staff interacts with guests in a multitude of ways, providing employees with valuable experience to recognize opportunities for improvements. That's why hospitality companies like Carlson Hotels build innovation into its corporate bonus plan. When staff members are encouraged to not only share their transformative ideas but also have a hand in implementing them, it gives them a sense of purpose and influences workplace culture. As former Two Roads Hospitality CEO Niki Leondakis said, "Creativity happens when our employees are empowered and they are not feeling any fear." 2. Diverse employees bring diverse ideas. Offering a varied set of hotel locations is often the goal for many hospitality companies. However, those locations are only as impressive as the diversity of workers that occupy them. International business travelers and tourists now expect the hotels they visit to have an inclusive and diverse workplace culture. Employers are also able to acquire the best talent by considering candidates from the largest pool possible. Bjorn Hanson, a clinical professor with the NYU Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism, claims one of W Hotel's key advantages was the new "caliber of hospitality employees" they hired. 3. Communicate management buy-in and support. Submitting a new idea to your manager can be intimidating. Many employees worry their ideas will fall on deaf ears or be rejected on the spot. For any hospitality organization looking to incorporate innovation into its culture, it must be made abundantly clear that failure will not only be tolerated but accepted. Managers must shift the risk from the employee to management, allowing for a free flow of ideas and feedback. This buy-in from management must be regularly communicated to the staff. For example, Bill Marriott Jr., Executive Chairman of Marriott International, is known for randomly dropping into Marriott locations and talking to employees. This kind of personal touch is the best way to encourage your colleagues to communicate their suggestions. Knowing Marriott's commitment to its staff, it's clear Starwood's innovative culture is in good hands. If you want to make innovation a part of your company's cultural DNA, start by communicating that to your employees and proving you mean it. ABOUT BEEKEEPER Beekeeper empowers frontline businesses and their workers with the digital solutions they need to do their best possible work. Founded in 2012, Beekeeper's mobile-first platform was designed and built for deskless employees who despite representing 80% of the global workforce have been chronically underserved when it comes to workplace technology. With Beekeeper's Frontline Success System, companies can automate paper-based processes, communicate with employees in real-time from anywhere, and improve the engagement, productivity, and safety of frontline teams. Website: www.beekeeper.io, Blog: www.beekeeper.io/blog, LinkedIn Corey McCarthy VP Marketing Beekeeper It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: For present, Russia has reduced its oil output by 300,000 barrels per day, as stipulated in the Vienna deal signed between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters May 18. On average, Russia cut its oil production by 260,000 barrels per day in April, as in early April, it was reduced by 200,000 barrels per day and then by 300,000 barrels per day as of late April, RIA Novosti quoted the minister as saying. In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce the output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 barrels per day. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn During the Columbus stop of his Be Encouraged Tour with King Louie & DJ Oreo, Chicagos Chance the Rapper decided to take time out of his set and have some fun by spitting a little freestyle over Futures smash hit Mask Off. With a drink in hand & standing alongside King Louie on stage, watch Chano from the 79th deliver a drunk mask off rendition of the Metro Boomin-produced single. This performance surfaces just hours before Chance took over Teen Vogue with Beyonces sister Solange. Check it out (below) and look for Chano in a city near you on the Be Encouraged tour (see dates here). Chance Hollywood star Jude Law discusses his cracking new historical romp, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, his fruitful working relationship with director Guy Ritchie, and the film's resonance in the current political climate. Interview by Roe McDermott This article can only be read with a Premium Account Please Log In or Subscribe to continue reading There's only 12 days to go until the premiere of the new series of House of Cards, with season 5 of the hit show arriving on Netflix from May 30th. In the latest teaser clip, First Lady Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) addresses the nation, with statements about the media which may seem to echo a certain real-life president. Season 5 sees the Underwoods battling for reelection, and attempting to establish a totalitarian drip on the United States, judging by Frank's dialogue in the official season 5 trailer. Nick Anderson Poor snowflake Donald Trump complained today, "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly." Really? Not counting the ones who were assassinated? Should we count the one whom Trump himself tried to undermine with the lie that he was born in Kenya, and therefore an illegitimate president? Trump can fire James Comey, the former head of the FBI, but he can't repeal the rule of law. He has autocratic instincts, but sooner or later his reckless impulses will destroy his administration. It remains to be seen whether the Republican Party decides to go down with the ship or not. Click the gallery below to see many more cartoons by Nick Anderson. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: The oil producers that signed an agreement to cut production in late 2016 have become hostages of that deal, Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst with Russias Finam Investment Company, told Trend via email. In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 barrels per day. Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce the output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months. If they [oil producers] do not extend the agreement [at a meeting in late May], this will have a significant negative impact on the energy market oil prices can drop below $40 per barrel, Zvarich said. Meanwhile, in case the agreement is extended even for nine months, this will only ensure the markets stability and the further growth of oil production in the countries that did not accede to the agreement, explained the analyst. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FRESNO, Calif. - The bee industry is abuzz over the arrest of a man accused of stealing thousands of hives worth nearly $1 million from California's almond orchards in one of the biggest such thefts on record. The case has thrown a spotlight on a business many city slickers probably never knew existed: Beekeepers in the U.S. move their colonies around the country by truck and rent them out to farmers to pollinate their flowering crops. In California, which relies on bees brought in from such places as Missouri, Montana and North Dakota to produce more almonds than any other place in the world, hives began to vanish overnight across several counties three years ago. The break in the case came in late April, when a tip led authorities to a ramshackle "chop shop" of stolen beehives on a corner lot outside Fresno. They arrested 51-year-old Pavel Tveretinov, a beekeeper from suburban Sacramento, on suspicion of possessing stolen property, investigators said. "Bees are big money," Sgt. Arley Terrence of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office agriculture crimes unit said this week. "There's a lot of motive to steal." The unexplained mass die-offs of bees in recent years and booming demand for almonds have helped drive up the value of hives. Almonds have increased in popularity amid a marketing push urging health-conscious Americans to eat them in energy bars, crunch on them raw, sprinkle slivers on their salads or pour almond milk on their cereal. Almond growers rent hives for a few weeks when their trees blossom, allowing the bees to pollinate the flowers as they fly from tree to tree. The blossoms then turn into nuts. Investigators say Tveretinov, the prime suspect in the thefts, went to work at night, removing the hives when the bees are dormant. One of the biggest single thefts came in January, when more than 700 hives vanished from two orchards north of Sacramento. They were recovered in Fresno, more than 200 miles to the south. In total, Tveretinov is responsible for stealing 2,500 hives and equipment worth $875,000, investigators say. He was released on $10,000 bail after his arrest April 28. He could not be reached for comment. It was not clear whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges. The tip came from a beekeeper who needed a place to store his hives and came across the lot used by Tveretinov. There, the beekeeper recognized hive boxes belonging to a friend of his in Missouri who had fallen victim to theft, sheriff's Detective Andres Solis said. Beekeepers customize their boxes to make them unique, imprinting identification numbers and painting them different colors with their logos. Investigators showed up at the lot and found Tveretinov at work amid a field of mismatched hive boxes. "It's like a chop shop for beehives," Solis said. "They're scattered all over the place." Investigators asked California beekeeper and almond farmer Ryan Cosyns to help sort through the case. He said it was obvious that Tveretinov had sloppily painted over the boxes with his own brand and used a grinder to remove identification numbers. "The average person isn't going to be able to look at a box and realize it was stolen," Cosyns said. "Or they're renting at a price where nobody is asking any questions." Beekeeper Yelena Storojenko of Colusa County, who has now recovered some damaged hives filled with dying bees, estimated her family's business lost $200,000 in rental income, equipment and queen bees, which are necessary for breeding. Each hive is rented out for $175. "We didn't get everything back," Storojenko said. "The beehives are in horrible condition." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Halliburton will have a new chief executive in June after longtime CEO Dave Lesar steps down from the day-to-day operations of the Houston energy services company. Halliburton President Jeff Miller is adding the CEO job to his title at the world's second-largest energy services provider, while Lesar will continue to serve as the executive chairman of the board through 2018. Lesar took over as CEO in 2000 when his predecessor, Dick Cheney, agreed to serve as George W. Bush's running mate. Analysts said the departure of Lesar, who turns 65 next year, was largely expected, as was the elevation of the 53-year-old Miller, who was groomed as Lesar's successor. Miller, who joined Halliburton 20 years ago, was promoted to president in mid-2014. Miller will assume the leadership of a company reshaped by the two-year oil bust and a failed merger with Houston rival Baker Hughes, and facing new competion in a changing energy services industry. Halliburton axed more than 35,000 jobs - about 40 percent of its workforce - during the bust as its net profit swung from a $3.5 billion gain into a loss of $5.8 billion in 2016. After the collapse of the merger just over a year ago, Baker Hughes found a new partner in General Electric. The merger of GE's oil and gas division with Baker Hughes will create a company that supplants Halliburton as the world's second-largest oil field services company behind Schlumberger. Schlumberger, meanwhile, bought much of the North American fracturing business of Weatherford International, the No. 4 energy services company, to form a new venture that could create more formidable competition for Halliburton, recognized as the leader in North American fracking. Still, oil prices are recovering and drilling and hydraulic fracturing activity has picked back up, especially in the onshore U.S. shale fields. Halliburton, which increased its North American market share during the bust, recently hired 2,000 U.S. employees to beef up its field crews to help keep up with surging demand in the oil patch. "Halliburton is really just starting to hit its stride again," said James West, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI. Like Lesar, Miller is considered highly ambitious. But he's known more for his behind-the-scenes relationships with customers than a gregarious public personality, West said. "His personality maybe isn't as big as Dave's, but Dave's is larger than life," West said. Under Lesar's extended leadership, Halliburton captured unprecedented growth but also dealt with its share of controversies. The Halliburton name became infamous during the Iraq War because of its ties to Cheney and for allegations of war profiteering. Halliburton also was implicated in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy, although BP took the brunt of the blame and charges. In a prepared statement, Lesar praised the appointment of Miller. The two men have a long relationship: They worked together at the now-defunct accounting giant Arthur Andersen before joining Halliburton in the mid-1990s. "I have known and worked with Jeff for almost 30 years and have great confidence that he is the best choice to be the next Halliburton CEO," Lesar stated. Any doubt that Miller would succeed Lesar fell by the wayside when Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum left in March to become CEO at struggling rival Weatherford International. In recent months, Miller, a Dallas native who went to McNeese Sate University in Louisiana on a rodeo scholarship, has taken on an increasingly larger role as the public face of a leaner energy giant. He has said Halliburton's goal is to dominate the "last mile" of oil and gas production - the fracking, cementing and other processes that bring a well into operation. The key is helping producers churn out oil for fewer dollars per barrel. "It's not sexy, but man, execution is where it happens," Miller said in an interview last year. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Demand for oil is flattening in North America, Europe and China, so most oil companies are expecting growth to come from poor people in poor countries burning more gasoline and diesel. India, home to more than 1.2 billion people, holds the most promise, according to OPEC projections. India's oil consumption is expected to rise 7 percent to 8 percent this year, outpacing China's demand growth for the third consecutive year, according to Platts Analytics, an energy data firm. Past performance, though, will not be indicative of future results if Indian officials get their way. And that could spell big trouble for big oil. RELATED: Few boom cycles are left for the oil industry "The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country," India's coal and mines minister Piyush Goyal told the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session 2017 in New Delhi, according to The International Business Times. "We are going to introduce electric vehicles in a very big way," he added. Goyal said the government is ready to subsidize the development and sale of electric cars and to help Indian companies install electric charging infrastructure. The government is already investing heavily in new electric power generation, from both coal and renewable sources, and Indian energy companies are exploring greater use of natural gas. Before dismissing the government's push toward electric transportation, spend a few weeks in one of India's major cities. India's air pollution is now worse than China's, and Indians are demanding the government do something about it. When I visited India last year, I wrote about choking on the smog and the horrible traffic jams. I also saw more electric and natural gas vehicles in New Delhi than I've seen anywhere else in the world. This transition away from liquid-fueled cars is already underway. RELATED: Failing to protect air quality is bad for the economy Indians themselves want to stop burning oil so their children can breathe easier, and this is what the government is responding too. This is a case of voters demanding change, not the government trying to enforce it. China is also moving quickly to electric vehicles for the same reason. After years of allowing people to pollute freely in the name of economic development, the government is listening to urban Chinese who are complaining about their children growing up with asthma. Electric cars are becoming cheaper and easier to use every year. The auto industry is responding with new models, and many experts say oil companies are underestimating how quickly people will adopt them. RELATED: Auto industry can feel electricity in the air Most oil company forecasts dismiss predictions of the demand for oil peaking anytime before 2040. Except for one: Royal Dutch Shell. CEO Ben van Beurden said it could happen in the late 2020s, and that's why he's investing in finding more natural gas as a fuel to generate electricity. Some transformations take generations. Others can happen in a decade. What is becoming clear is that the oil industry's demand forecasts could be radically wrong, and investors and workers need to be cautious. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Donald Trump's first overseas trip as president kicks off this weekend with a visit to Saudi Arabia, where participants will tout the kingdom's growing ties to Houston energy companies. The visit will coincide with the first Saudi-U.S. CEO Forum, where the CEOs of top U.S. companies like General Electric and Dow Chemical Co. are expected to speak. State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco is expected to sign agreements with top Houston energy services companies that already have existing partnerships or contracts with Aramco. Most of the agreements will likely just continue these existing partnerships, analysts said. "This is purely a symbolic overture," said Bill Herbert, a senior energy analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. "My sense is it's effectively business as usual with the exception of the president making his first trip abroad and to Riyadh." Herbert said he doesn't expect any major new deals to come from the visit. The idea is to promote trade between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as well as create more private-sector jobs within the kingdom. Frayed relationship It's common knowledge Saudi Arabia's relationship with the United States was frayed somewhat during the Obama administration, especially because of the nuclear accord reached with Iran, Saudi Arabia's rival in the Middle East. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Iran deal. Among the major energy companies expected to participate in the Saudi visit are Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, KBR, Nabors Industries, Weatherford International, McDermott International and Rowan Companies. Saudi Aramco, which is worth close to $1 trillion, is in the process of modernizing and is planning to sell 5 percent of the company to the public in 2018. Likewise, Saudi Arabia plans to diversify its economy and increase its non-oil revenue through its "Vision 2030" reforms. That in part means it will increasingly rely on international companies for its oil and gas services. Within the kingdom As such, the trend is for American energy services companies to increasingly commit to building facilities within Saudi Arabia and hiring more locals, said Byron Pope, an energy analyst with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in Houston. On Wednesday, Houston-based National Oilwell Varco said that it broke ground on two manufacturing plants for piping and coating products in Saudi Arabia near the city of Dammam. Houston offshore engineering company McDermott International confirmed that its CEO, David Dickson, will travel to Saudi Arabia this weekend. McDermott, which has a long-standing relationship with Aramco, committed in March to build a fabrication and marine complex in Saudi Arabia. It's unclear whether Trump will play up such agreements as newly announced deals, as he has in the past. For instance, in March, Trump took credit for Exxon Mobil touting $20 billion in expansions along the Gulf Coast, although many of the company's projects had been announced years prior. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Uber is starting to drive changes at Houston's large high-end apartment complexes. Real estate company Greystar, for example, has launched a partnership with the ride-sharing giant to put designated pickup and drop-off spots outside 75 local residential properties. When a resident calls for a ride, the app will guide the driver and passenger to a parking spot with an Uber sign, instead of trying to orchestrate a rendezvous somewhere within a labyrinthine complex. The first spaces popped up in late April. Houston is among the first U.S. cities where Uber is testing the concept. The local partnership is another example of how real estate companies are catering to the tech-driven lifestyle based on services like Uber, which grew over several years into a $62 billion company that is important for urban mobility in many metro areas. Designated ride-share parking spots were named among top emerging innovations in apartment living during an April symposium held by the University of Houston's Stanford Alexander Center of Excellence in Real Estate. "We believe this is something that has staying power," center director Keith Richards said. More for you Senate committee OKs House version of Uber, Lyft rules His graduate student research group concluded that such amenities would be a key selling point for a tech-minded generation. The idea for the designated spots got started when Uber's Texas team received feedback from drivers in Houston about the challenges of picking up and dropping off riders at large apartment complexes, spokesman Travis Considine said. Drivers often spent time wandering around or doing loops in search of their passengers. So the team started reaching out to real estate management companies across Houston, asking who was interested in designated Uber spots, and found a willing partner in locally based Greystar. "We're constantly looking to simplify our residents' lives," said Mack Armstrong, Greystar's senior managing director of real estate. "We know innovation is the key to our continued business success." The company, he said, has a dedicated team looking for and developing relevant innovation. "To say it's a focus is an understatement," Armstrong said. "It's more of an obsession, and it's also fun." Now at the Elan Memorial Park apartments near Washington and Westcott, one of the Greystar complexes debuting the Uber spaces, residents calling for Uber rides will select one of three pickup spots: Cohn Street, Union Kitchen or the leasing office. These partnerships can be complex, Considine said, because the pickup spots have to be coordinated with each individual property, then coded into the app. Uber said the partnership represented a first step toward another one of the company's goals, a concept called Uber Central, in which apartments would offer residents $200 in Uber credit in exchange for not having parking spots. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN FRANCISCO - A rare order from a federal judge alerting prosecutors to possible criminal misconduct by Uber or a key executive deepens the turmoil swirling around the ride-hailing company at a time when it's grappling with other legal and image problems. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco referred a civil case filed against Uber by Waymo to the U.S. Attorney's Office "for investigation of possible theft of trade secrets." It threatens to trigger a second U.S. government investigation of a company that has pushed the legal boundaries through most of its eight-year history. At stake is Uber's estimated $68 billion valuation, a possible public stock offering and the future of its self-driving car program, which its CEO has said is the key to the company's future. Waymo, a self-driving car company owned by Google parent Alphabet, sued Uber in February alleging that Uber is using stolen self-driving technology to build its own fleet of autonomous cars. The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco didn't respond to requests for comment. Experts say prosecutors are likely to follow up on Alsup's order and launch an investigation. The probe, combined with other legal and image woes, will reduce Uber's value and in the worst case could threaten the San Francisco company's existence if investors leave, criminal charges bring huge fines and legal action stalls autonomous car research, the experts say. Uber wouldn't comment Friday on a possible criminal probe. Federal prosecutors already have requested information from at least two cities about use of phony software to thwart city officials looking at whether Uber was following local regulations. Alsup wrote in his order that he wasn't taking a position on whether prosecution was warranted. Alsup, 71, has gained a reputation as a no-nonsense judge since he was appointed to the bench in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. The Harvard Law graduate has experience in trials involving high-profile technology companies, including a 2012 patent and copyright infringement case pitting Oracle against Google. For a judge to take such a public step, he must have more than just a whiff of criminal activity, legal experts say. Prosecutors get many tips, but rarely do they come from a judge who is familiar with evidence and the legal elements of what is a crime. "This is not some private informant that slipped an envelope under the door at midnight. This is public, and it's a judge," said Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan. An investigation would siphon executive resources at Uber just as CEO Travis Kalanick faces many other challenges, said John Coffee, a Columbia University law professor who specializes in white-collar crime and corporate governance. "The possibility that you could get criminally indicted would be exactly the wrong thing for Uber," Coffee said. In addition to the apparent inquiry into the software called "Greyball" to impede city inspectors, Uber still has to deal with Waymo's high-stakes espionage lawsuit. It alleges that Uber is using trade secrets stolen by a former Google engineer, Anthony Levandowski, who formed his own company which was bought by Uber for $680 million. After that deal, Levandowski began to oversee Uber's self-driving car division. Waymo contends that before leaving Google early last year, Levandowski downloaded 14,000 documents with details of a navigational tool called Lidar that robotic cars need to see what's around them. Uber has vehemently denied using Waymo's ideas, maintaining that its Lidar is radically different. Levandowski recently agreed to step down as Uber's top self-driving car executive, though he still works at the company. The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has focused on increasing deportations, building a wall on the Mexican border and forcing local law enforcement agencies to turn over undocumented immigrants to federal officials, as my colleague Lomi Kriel examined this week. Another method, the citizenship authentication system known as E-Verify, is much cheaper and more effective but it hasn't worked well in all states that now require it, new research shows. First, some background. For many years, under what was known as the "Texas proviso" for the state's large employers that depend on the immigrant workforce, it wasn't illegal to employ undocumented workers. Congress changed that in 1986, but to little effect. "All this did was create an industry of fake documents," says Pia Orrenius, an economist at the Dallas Federal Reserve who studies immigration. "And employers, of course, looked the other way. It's a transaction that benefits both parties." A 1996 law required the creation of a system that allowed employers to quickly and easily check worker-provided documents against federal databases. Over the past decade, eight states have made that system now known as E-Verify mandatory for all employers. Now, over half of new hires nationwide are vetted by that system. Related: The latest U.S. immigration wave is (probably) over By and large, as Orrenius and research partner Madeline Zavodny found in an earlier paper, the states that required E-Verify saw drops in their undocumented immigrant populations. Word gets around quickly that jobs are only available to citizens, and workers go to other states or return to their home countries. Along with the great recession, those laws probably played a role in the recent decline in the number of people living in the U.S. illegally. But Orrenius and Zavodny have found that most states haven't enforced their E-Verify mandates very strictly. In Utah and North Carolina, for example, less than 15 percent of employers use the system. Compliance tops out at about 40 percent in Arizona and Alabama. (Texas, and a handful of other states, currently only require E-Verify for government employers.) So, does compliance with E-Verify mandates have an impact on illegal immigration? Probably. Arizona and Alabama saw substantial decreases in their undocumented populations, compared to how large they would been without the laws, according to Orrenius and Zavodny's model. But other results are less conclusive. Mississippi and Utah, which had some of the lowest compliance rates, also saw substantial drops in their undocumented populations, while states with high compliance, such as Georgia and South Carolina, saw no change. Orrenius suspects this may be because industries that employ the largest number of unauthorized immigrants, like construction and hospitality, are the ones that ignore the mandate. Related: Trump's immigration proposals could be a nightmare for Texas Other effects of E-Verify are worth considering. Orrenius also finds that the poverty rate for undocumented immigrants rose in Arizona after the passage of its mandate in 2006, since many were either locked out of the job market or pushed into underground employment. Employers often protest E-Verify requirements because they make it difficult to fill workforce demands. Immigrant advocacy groups usually say that any use of E-Verify must be paired with a path to citizenship for those who have been living and working in the United States. Still, if your goal is to reduce the number of people coming to the United States for jobs, it appears to have more bang for the buck than elaborate border security measures, and perhaps less collateral damage on public safety than turning local police officers into immigration agents. That is, of course, if you think the U.S. is hurt by having those workers around, which evidence suggests is not true. The city of Magnolia will not float a $2 million loan to the developers of the master planned community Magnolia Ridge after the issue died for lack of a motion during a Magnolia City Council meeting. With little discussion Mayor Pro Tem Richard Carby called for a motion following a short executive session with City Attorney Leonard Schneider regarding the issue, but no council member responded. City Administrator Paul Mendes said issuing the loan to the developer would be "no benefit to the city." The developers of Magnolia Ridge, located off FM 1488 near Buddy Riley Boulevard, requested $2 million from the city as part of a public improvement district agreement set up more than 10 years ago with the city. Magnolia Ridge is a 580-acre development within the city limits that will, once complete, include residential, commercial and medical development. A PID, Tom Sage, with Houston-based Andrews Kurth, bond council for the city, explained during the council's April 11 meeting, allows the city to levy an assessment within the designated PID boundaries to pay for infrastructure in the development. He noted it is not a tax but an assessment. Currently, the development is netting about $1.7 million a year. The city collects those dollars from residents in the development and submits yearly payments to the Magnolia Ridge developers for infrastructure. However, several council members said they were uneasy with the request. "My fear is, this is the city issuing bonds," Mayor Todd Kana said. "When you say it like that, you get a negative feeling until there is an explanation on how it works. It will never fall back on the city." The agreement would not affect the property tax rate, water and sewer funds or utility fees, Sage said. Jim Gilley, managing director with U.S. Capital Advisors and financial adviser for the city, said credit agencies would not penalize the city if the debt falls into default or penalize the city for the issuance of the debt. The debt, Sage said, would not be the city's debt. But Kana was not convinced. "I don't get a warm, fuzzy feeling about it," Kana said. Representatives with Magnolia Ridge did not attend the meeting. In other news: Annexation The council set a public hearing for June 6 regarding the annexation of 56 acers at FM 1774 and FM 1486. According to Mendes the site will be developed in a service station. Loan The council accepted a $1 million state infrastructure ban loan to relocate the city water and sewer lines out of the Texas Department of Transportation right of way between the Magnolia Industrial Park and the intersection of FM 1486. New server The council approved $11,525.28 to GB Tech for the replacement the city's server. Mendes said the city's server no longer has the capacity needed for city operations. The funding will come from about $13,000 left over after the council canceled elections this month due to no contested races. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN JOSE, Calif. - On many mornings, with a few puffs of pot - and one cannabis-laced chocolate-covered blueberry in the afternoon - Richelle has been able to stop the severe nausea that has accompanied her third pregnancy. The regimen not only ended the constant vomiting, but the San Jose mother can now finally eat an entire cheeseburger - and keep it down. "The medical field frowns on pregnant women using marijuana," said the 27-year-old bookkeeper, who lost 30 pounds early on in her pregnancy because of her condition, called hyperemesis gravidarum, which also causes dehydration. "But I possibly would not have kept the pregnancy without it," said Richelle, who is now in her 25th week and asked that her last name not be used because she does not want to be publicly attacked for her beliefs. After two decades of allowing its medicinal use, California is now one of eight states that have legalized recreational marijuana for people 21 and older. Public health officials, however, say the implications surrounding its consumption by some people - like pregnant women and adolescents, who may be more vulnerable to its potential harmful effects - still must be addressed. Some states - including Alaska, Washington and Colorado - require warning labels saying the product should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women. But California does not. Surveys show that most Americans don't like the idea of pregnant women using marijuana. A Yahoo News/Marist College poll of 1,222 adults released this month found that 67 percent of Americans think it's safer to use marijuana than opioids to relieve pain. But 69 percent said it's not acceptable for pregnant women to use marijuana to reduce nausea or pain. Half of cannabis users - and 60 percent of those who have tried it - also don't think pregnant women should use marijuana, according to the poll. Research on ADD Dr. Ira Chasnoff, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and a leading researcher in the development of children prenatally exposed to alcohol and drugs, said a range of studies supports those concerns. "The general belief is that it's not harmful," Chasnoff said of cannabis consumption. "But there are all sorts of aspects of cognitive function - the way the brain works - that are impacted by marijuana exposure." He pointed to research that shows low birth rates in babies born to women who have consumed pot during pregnancy, as well as data on higher rates of Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as they get older. Other research has shown that those offspring later in life have problems with "executive functioning," or the ability to plan and complete tasks, Chasnoff said. That's why he believes guidelines that communicate the risk and discourage the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women - or women considering pregnancy - must be established. Research indicates that more U.S. women are now using marijuana during pregnancy, most often to treat morning sickness - which most physicians say can be better treated with more established medications. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that in 2014 nearly 4 percent of pregnant women between 18 and 44 reported having used marijuana in the past month, compared with 2.4 percent in 2002. Chasnoff strongly disagrees with patients who tell him that cannabis is natural and organic. That doesn't mean it can't potentially harm a fetus, he said. "We know that marijuana's THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) crosses very readily from the blood into the brain, so even a small amount has the potential for crossing over into the fetal brain," Chasnoff said. Impact on breast milk The chemical is drawn to fat, he said, and because the fetal brain is almost all fat, the drug remains there longer. It's one reason why marijuana, unlike other drugs, can be detected in a person for three days to three weeks afterward, depending on the amount and concentration of cannabis consumed. Marijuana also crosses readily into a mother's breast milk, said Chasnoff, adding: "We have been able to measure the level of marijuana in the baby's urine." Dr. Frank Lucido, a primary care physician in Berkeley who for two decades has recommended medical marijuana to his adult patients if he determines it will benefit them, doesn't believe there is enough significant research to warrant pregnant women avoiding cannabis. "With anything in medicine, you weigh the benefits and the risks," said the 69-year-old physician. "Nobody has ever died from cannabis, but we know women die from hyperemesis gravidarum." Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 17 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: A meeting with the delegation of France took place in the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, the migration service said in a message May 17. Following the exchange of views on the possibilities of the Turkmen-French cooperation, a mutual desire was expressed to establish closer contacts between the two countries in the sphere of migration, said the message. Turkmenistan was one of the first countries in the Central Asian region to issue e-passports to its citizens. These passports meet international standards and guarantee Turkmenistans protection of its citizens both inside and outside the country. In this context, the Turkmen side was acquainted with the skills of the Identite division of the Oberthur Technologies company in the field of manufacturing passports, IDs, the message said. During the meeting it was noted that the large-scale infrastructure projects, which are being implemented in Turkmenistan, and the course for integration into the global economic system, cause interest of leading French and, in general, European companies for cooperation. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Harris County grand jury has declined to indict the sheriff's deputy who fatally shot an inmate during a 2016 outside medical trip. Ricky Lynn Hall, who had a long history of mental health problems, was being treated for seizures at Ben Taub Hospital when he snatched a sharp-edged object and used it to take a medical student hostage in October. A deputy working an overtime security job heard the woman's scream and rushed to the scene on the fifth floor, where he found the 46-year-old with his arm wrapped around the woman's neck and a sharp object pressed to her throat. The stand-off moved out into the hallway, where Hall threatened to kill his hostage unless the deputy shot him, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said at the time. In response, the deputy fired two shots, wounding Hall. The inmate was rushed into surgery but died less than two weeks later, when his grief-stricken mother had him taken off life support. Afterward, the the Houston Police Department's homicide unit, the Harris County District Attorney's office and the sheriff's office internal affairs division all launched investigations into the shooting. The Houston Chronicle later found that the sheriff's office may have violated its own policies by leaving Hall unattended in the moments before the shooting. On May 2, a grand jury declined to indict sheriff's deputy Adriel Hinojosa, who was never charged in the case. Although the sheriff's office was set to examine whether any policies had been violated, a spokesperson Thursday did not respond to questions about whether that investigation had been completed. Although the family has not taken issue with the shooting, they've questioned the circumstances leading up to the gunfire and whether better adherence to department procedure could have avoided Hall's death. "As far as I'm concerned it's like the blue wall of silence, nobody is held accountable," said Hall's uncle Ben Hogan. "None of us are trying to get the cop in the trouble - Ricky was not a good guy - but if somebody does something wrong they ought to be held accountable." WASHINGTON - In a heated confirmation hearing for then-Georgia U.S. Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democrats raised pointed questions about the congressman's trading in stocks of companies regulated by the House committees he serves on. One in particular, Innate Immunotherapeutics, a small Australian biotech firm, generated particular attention because it had sold nearly $1 million in discounted shares to two House members: Price and New York Republican Chris Collins, who turned out to be the firm's biggest investor. Amid the controversy in January, Price said everything he did was "ethical, aboveboard, legal and transparent," though he agreed to divest himself of that and other stocks that could raise ethics questions. Collins also denied any wrongdoing, though he is now reportedly being investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics for his role in touting the stock to investors from the halls of Congress. But the public heat did not dissuade two Texas congressmen from quietly buying into the Australian company Jan. 26, two days after the Price hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, records show. John Culberson of Houston and Mike Conaway of Midland, are among at least seven Republican House members who have invested in the company. The two Texans bought in at what was then close to a 52-week peak in the stock price on the Australian Securities Exchange. The transactions were first reported by Politico. Since the criticism swirling around Price and Collins, the stock has dropped by more than half, from $1.77 in Australian dollars on Jan. 25, to 64 cents a share on Thursday. The elected officials involved say they did nothing wrong, but the stock purchases have been roundly criticized by watchdog groups and ethics experts who question whether they took advantage of insider knowledge in violation of the STOCK Act, a 2012 law that bars government officials from using non-public information derived from their official positions for personal benefit. Unusual buy Culberson's stock buy, which he valued at between $1,000 and $15,000, was particularly unusual, because by the congressman's own account, he is not an active stock trader. Beside his stake in Innate Immunotherapeutics, his most recent financial reports to Congress list holdings in Apple stock and some past investments in "military collectibles." In a statement, Culberson offered this motive for the stock purchase in the fairly obscure foreign company that works to develop treatments for multiple sclerosis: "One of my father's best friends died of MS, and we have a family friend with multiple sclerosis, so I'm always on the lookout for breakthroughs on treating MS. This one looks promising. I rarely buy or sell stock." He declined interview requests this week and staffers offered no details about the exact amount and timing of his stock purchase, which coincided with that of Conaway. Nor have they explained why Culberson waited until April 6 to report the stock buy, well beyond the 30-day window required to inform the House clerk's office. Through a spokeswoman, however, Culberson dismissed Democrats' accusations that he might have used non-public information. "Representative Culberson originally learned of the company through press reports," his spokeswoman, Emily Taylor, said Thursday. "He continued his own research on their promising MS treatment, which is an issue important to him, and that led to the purchase." Conaway's office did not respond to a request for comment. Republicans contend the criticism is purely partisan. But the nexus of congressional stock purchases and the potential for conflicts of interest among lawmakers who both shape health care policy and federal spending has drawn criticism from a number of good-government groups. 'Sweetheart' deals Concerns have mostly centered on Price and Collins, who were offered discounted shares in Innate Immunotherapeutics last summer when the company's stock price was on the way up. The deal, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, immediately raised questions about "sweetheart" deals and insider trading. Collins' subsequent role in pushing the stock - reporters heard him in a cell phone call off the House floor bragging about "how many millionaires I've made in Buffalo" - also raised questions about STOCK Act violations. "From the outside, it looks like they're using their positions and their ties in Congress to build portfolios and make trades using information that average Americans don't have access to," said John Morgan, a an analyst with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Democrats have accused Collins of giving Price and others stock tips about the Australian company. Collins dismissed the charge of insider trading in a January appearance on CNN. "There was nothing done that was insider trading or unethical," he said. "I never said 'buy it' or 'it's a great stock.' I talked to them about the great work this company is doing." Stock buyers questioned This week, the Office of Congressional Ethics had staffers in Upstate New York interviewing investors who had been persuaded by Collins to buy the stock, according to the Buffalo News. A spokeswoman for the office said Thursday she could not confirm or deny the report. Congressional stock trades are not in themselves unusual. A recent Politico investigation found that about a third of U.S. House members have traded stocks in the past two years, though the vast majority of trading takes place among a dozen wealthy lawmakers. The top trader: Texas Republican Michael McCaul. Besides Culberson and Conaway, the other lawmakers with Innate Immunotherapeutics stock are Doug Lamborn of Colorado, Billy Long of Missouri and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who bought his stock before the Senate confirmation battle over Price in January. Price, a former orthopedic surgeon and outspoken critic of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, was confirmed by the Senate as President Donald Trump's health secretary on a 52-47 party-line vote. While Price is in the process of divesting himself of the Australian company's stock, Culberson has given no indication he'll give up his stake, which analysts were predicting last summer could go up as high as $2 a share. Voters 'deserve answers' But, like Collins, Culberson has come into the cross-hairs of the Democrats' campaign arm, which has seen him as increasingly vulnerable since November, when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton narrowly carried his upscale west Houston district. "If Congressman Culberson has nothing to hide, he should honestly answer how much he was trading and what insider information he had access to," said Cole Leiter, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "If Congressman Culberson wants to support MS research, he should make a donation to an organization engaged in groundbreaking research instead of inserting himself into an ongoing scandal by buying stock in an obscure, controversial overseas pharmaceutical company." In his district, Culberson also has run afoul of the anti-Trump grass-roots group Indivisible Houston, which picketed Culberson's Houston office Wednesday night with a petition supporting efforts to make Trump release his tax returns. Daniel Cohen, one of the group's founders, also called for Culberson to be more forthcoming about his stock trade. "He should act 100 percent above board," he said. "He's not just some citizen. He's a member of Congress, and his constituents deserve answers, especially in matters of personal ethics." WASHINGTON Amid murmurs of impeachment, Democrats went on the attack Wednesday over reports that before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, he asked him to squelch an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Even as Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a review of a damaging memo implicating Trump, he said he still had confidence in the president. At the same time, the Senate Intelligence Committee said it wants Comey to testify, and Democrats including Houston's Sheila Jackson Lee rallied for still long-shot legislation to name an independent commission to investigate alleged Trump-Russia ties and potential obstruction of justice. Reaction by Republicans was publicly muted, though some expressed private frustration about the onslaught of allegations surrounding Trump's handling of classified information and his sacking of Comey, who was leading the agency's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, went beyond most Republicans, amplifying on an earlier statement last week that had called Comey's firing "troubling." "Even more troubling," Hurd said Wednesday, "are reports that just months before his firing, James Comey a man who in spite of our disagreements I have the utmost respect for may have come under pressure by the president in an attempt to influence an ongoing FBI investigation." Hurd, who sits on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he supported the committee's request for Comey's memos and for the former FBI director to appear in front of the committee to testify. "These are the important first steps to determine whether a special prosecutor is necessary," Hurd added in a statement. The memos reportedly stem from leaked accounts of private notes Comey took of his conversations with Trump in February. Their existence was reported by the New York Times and the Washington Post, both citing associates of Comey who had seen the notes. At least one other Republican, Michigan's Justin Amash, told reporters Wednesday that if the allegations about Trump's pressure on Comey are true, they would warrant impeachment. Amash added, however, "everybody gets a fair trial in this country." Meanwhile, Houston Democrat Al Green became the first member of Congress to go to the House floor to call for impeachment, citing Trump's alleged request to Comey to "let go" an inquiry about Flynn, and the president's subsequent warnings to Comey via Twitter that he "better hope there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" "There is a belief in this country that no one is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States of America," Green said. "Our Democracy is at risk This offense has occurred before our very eyes." San Antonio Democrat Lloyd Doggett also took to the House floor to decry Republican silence about the Comey affair. While several Houston Republicans have publicly backed Comey's firing, several others have remained silent in the eight days since Comey's dismissal. Among them: John Culberson, Ted Poe, Pete Olson and Michael McCaul. None of them responded Wednesday to requests for comment. "It would appear that some of our Republican colleagues are in a witness protection program," Doggett said. "At long last we wonder what will awaken these Republicans from their partisan stupor." While stopping short of calling for impeachment, Doggett said "Our Republican colleagues need to decide whether they want to be accessories to Trump's obstruction of justice as he continues to endanger national security." While many Republican were silent, Democrats were eager to put them on the spot at home. Debra Kerner, one of at least nine Democrats challenging Culberson in his west Houston district next year, called on him to break with Trump over the Comey affair. "Culberson must put aside blind party loyalty and urge his colleagues to move for the impeachment of the president based on Trump's obstruction of justice," she said. Republicans, however, were being urged to show restraint and not rush to judgment. Ryan reportedly told GOP members during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that they "need the facts." "There's been a lot of reporting lately," Ryan said, referring reports that Trump pressured Comey to end the Flynn investigation, which centered on his firing for misleading White House officials about his phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Ryan also questioned Comey's version of events. "I'm sure we're going to want to hear from Mr. Comey about why, if this happened as he allegedly describes, why didn't he take action at the time." Trump, speaking at Wednesday's U.S. Coast Guard commencement, sounded combative, though he did not directly address the political whirlwind around him. "You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted," he said. "But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight." He also said that no other president has been treated "worse or more unfairly" than he has. But Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain, a Republican, compared the obstruction of justice allegations against Trump to those made against President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. White House spokesman Sean Spicer, talking to reporters returning from the Coast Guard Academy, refuted media accounts of Comey's memo, but offered no details. "The president has been very clear that the account that was published is not an accurate description of how the event occurred," he said. "I'm not going to give any other comment on that." Green, a former NAACP leader in his 12th year in Congress, joined a chorus of Democrats including California's Maxine Waters who have talked about Trump's impeachment. But he was the first to do so from the House floor. Green's speech delivered, he said, with a "heavy heart" also comes a day after Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, suggested on CNN that Trump could be headed for impeachment after allegedly asking Comey to end his inquiry of Flynn. "I have to say," King said, "simply because obstruction of justice is such a serious offense." Green also cited obstruction of justice as a grounds for impeaching Trump. "I do not do this for political purposes," he said. "I do this because I believe in the great ideals that this country stands for: Liberty and Justice for all." While recent revelations about Trump's sacking of the FBI director have alarmed Democrats, actual impeachment proceedings would require the participation of Republicans who control both chambers of Congress. Green acknowledged that his impeachment call might seem a long shot. "I am a voice in the wilderness," he said. "But I assure you that history will vindicate me." WASHINGTON - The Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, as special counsel on Wednesday to oversee the investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian officials, dramatically raising the legal and political stakes in an affair that has threatened to engulf Trump's 118-day-old presidency. The decision, by the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, came after a cascade of damaging developments for Trump in recent days, including his abrupt dismissal of the FBI director, James Comey, and the subsequent disclosure that Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Rosenstein, who wrote a memo that the White House initially cited as the rationale for Comey's dismissal, had been under escalating pressure from Democrats, and even some Republicans, to appoint a special counsel. By appointing Mueller, a former federal prosecutor with an unblemished reputation who once stood up to President George W. Bush on the legality of his domestic wiretapping program, Rosenstein could alleviate questions about the government's capacity to investigate the swirl of questions surrounding the Trump campaign and the Russians. Rosenstein said in a statement that he concluded that "it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authorities and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter." "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted," Rosenstein added. "I have made no such determination." In a statement, Trump said, "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." Rosenstein's announcement came on a day when Republican lawmakers joined calls for Comey to testify publicly, with some committee chairmen requesting he appear before their panels and share more information about his encounters with Trump. Lawmakers also asked the FBI to turn over the memo that Comey is said to have written that suggested the president asked him to quash the investigation into Flynn. Mueller to have autonomy While Mueller remains answerable to Rosenstein - and by extension, the president - he will have greater autonomy to run an investigation than a U.S. attorney. As a special counsel, Mueller can choose whether to consult with or inform the Justice Department about his investigation as it goes forward. He is authorized to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump," according to Rosenstein's order naming him to the post, as well as other matters that "may arise directly from the investigation." He is also empowered to press criminal charges, and he can request additional resources, subject to the review of an assistant attorney general. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions were notified only after Rosenstein signed the order Wednesday afternoon. Sessions was at the White House on an unrelated matter. Rosenstein, who until recently was U.S. attorney in Maryland, took control of the investigation because Sessions recused himself after acknowledging he did not disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, when he was an adviser to the Trump campaign. As the announcement was being made, Rosenstein and the acting director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, were briefing the leaders of the Senate and the House and the heads of the congressional intelligence committees. The lawmakers said nothing afterward. It was only the second time that the Justice Department has named a special counsel. The first was in 1999, the year the law creating the position took effect. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, to investigate the botched federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco in 1993 that killed 76 people. Character, record praised Mueller's appointment was hailed by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, who view him as one of the most credible law enforcement officials in the country. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Mueller's "record, character, and trustworthiness have been lauded for decades by Republicans and Democrats alike." Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the "choice of Robert Mueller was solid and shows the seriousness Mr. Rosenstein brought to this decision. Rather than 'make this go away', Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has taken an important step toward restoring the credibility of the DOJ and FBI in this most serious matter." Mueller served both Democratic and Republican presidents. President Barack Obama asked him to stay on beyond the normal 10-year term until he appointed Comey in 2013, the only time a modern-day FBI director's tenure has been extended. Mueller and Comey are close - a relationship forged while standing up to a president's use of executive power. Mueller backed up Comey, then the deputy attorney general, in March 2004 after he threatened to resign when the White House overruled the Justice Department finding that domestic wiretapping without a court order was unconstitutional. "He's an absolutely superb choice," said Kathryn Ruemmler, a former prosecutor and White House counsel under Obama. "He will just do a completely thorough investigation without regard to public pressure or political pressure." Investigated Ray Rice case In recent years, Mueller investigated the NFL's handling of accusations that a Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, assaulted his fiancee. He also mediated a $14.7 billion settlement with Volkswagen on claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal. Last month, he was named to oversee a nearly $1 billion fund set up to compensate victims of defective air bags manufactured by Takata of Japan. The appointment is certain to soothe nerves at the FBI, where agents have felt under siege amid Comey's firing and Trump's repeated criticism of the Russia investigation. Mueller is known inside the bureau for his gruff, exacting management style - and for saving the institution. After the Sept. 11 attacks, there were calls to break up the FBI and create a separate domestic intelligence agency. Mueller beat back those efforts and is credited with building the modern FBI. He led investigations into al-Qaida while transforming the agency into a key part of the national security infrastructure. Mueller is renowned inside the Justice Department for being a senior prosecutor under George H.W. Bush, and then returning years later as a working-level prosecutor in Washington. "He came in as a line assistant and he was legendary. He was the first guy there every single day," said Preston Burton, a Washington defense lawyer who served in the U.S. attorney's office with Mueller. SAN ANTONIO - State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, sat sullen and in handcuffs at a U.S. court hearing after turning himself in to the FBI around 8 a.m. Wednesday - the morning after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on 13 criminal charges in two separate cases. The hearing was short, just 20 minutes. But whatever the outcome, the arrest will leave a permanent scar on Uresti's long record as a Texas lawmaker. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee, for which he's vice chairman, was holding a meeting right about the time of Uresti's arrest. His absence from the day's meeting of the full Senate was excused with the traditional wording that he was attending to "matters of personal business" - in this case, appearing at the courthouse in shackles to answer the fraud and bribery charges against him. It was the first time Uresti, an attorney, was sitting on the defense side in his own criminal case. Two alleged co-conspirators - Stanley Bates, 45, and Gary L. Cain, 60, - also turned themselves in around 8 a.m, federal law enforcement officials said. All three were arrested and in handcuffs at the hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad. The three men were escorted by federal marshals to the courthouse in handcuffs and leg irons. Bemporad ordered all three to turn in their passports, restricted travel outside the U.S. and advised the men not to speak about their case to avoid perjuring themselves. They were released with unsecured bonds set at $50,000 apiece. Uresti was additionally ordered to refrain from "excessive use of alcohol." They are facing a combined 22 felony counts that each carry a maximum of between 10 years and 20 years in prison and between $250,000 to $5 million in fines if found guilty. The U.S. is also demanding forfeiture of any ill-gotten gains from all three. They're scheduled to appear in court again May 31 when they are expected to formally plead not guilty. Uresti, 53, disputed fraud charges relating to his involvement in bankrupt San Antonio oil-field services company FourWinds Logistics and public corruption in Reeves County. He could face more than 200 years in prison if convicted on all counts. "Although my lawyers have asked me not to talk to the press, I think it's very important that I tell the people that I am innocent of the charges. I look forward to my day in court when all the facts come out and the truth and not just what's been written in the press," Uresti told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing. He appeared shaken as he left with his wife. "In the meantime, I have a job to do. I am headed back to the Capitol today to do what i was elected to do by the voters, and that's to fight." Elena Mejia Lutz contributed to this report. John Cornyn: We feel your pain. Texas' senior senator had to watch his congressional buddy, U.S. Sen. John McCain, cast a decisive vote to maintain an Obama-era regulation on methane leaks last week. Cornyn's "come on, dude" reaction, as Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel described it, makes sense from a guy who represents a major oil and gas state and doesn't want regulations getting in the way. That gut reaction to support the petroleum industry comes naturally to Houstonians, too - without oil and gas, we're just Cleveland with worse humidity. But we wouldn't be surprised if some energy investors responded to the vote with a little more cheer. They know the industry needs to burnish its green credentials if it is going to compete on a worldwide scale and remain a key player in the clean energy future. Thirty institutional investors, who manage more than $3 trillion in assets, are working on a new initiative to encourage oil and gas companies to measure, report and reduce methane emissions, David Hunn reported for Fuelfix.com last week. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and a major contributor to climate change. In fact, the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that methane alone is responsible for a quarter of all global warming. Emissions from venting, flaring and pipeline leaks are among the largest man-made sources. The oil and gas industry and its supporters in government need to confront the reality that policies good for the environment are increasingly good for business. And as anemic prices show, the U.S. has no problem on the production side, with or without new anti-pollution regulations. The real challenge is connecting buyers with sellers. Massive infrastructure projects, like pipelines, gas liquefaction plants and shipping ports are key to growing our domestic industry. That's an area where oil and gas boosters aren't exactly in pain. New pipelines have been built to connect growing production in the West Texas Permian Basin with refineries and ports on the Gulf Coast. The new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Sabine Pass is already changing the face of global energy trade, and six more new export terminals are under construction in the United States. Occidental Petroleum is even planning to test a massive supertanker - too big to pass through the Panama Canal - at a Texas port for the first time. However, other sorts of pipelines are still awaiting federal approval from Washington - the diplomatic kind. We're still pleading for the Trump administration to change its mind on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That 11-nation trade deal would connect the Pacific Rim in a U.S.-led free trade agreement and help lower barriers for oil and gas exports. Trump tossed the TPP in the trash. Instead, he's worked to open LNG exports for the Chinese market - the fastest growing and third largest in the world. But energy analysts have warned that the Chinese market is saturated with LNG from Qatar and Australia. Meanwhile, the largest LNG market - Japan - has already ratified the TPP along with Canada and New Zealand. Trade deals like the TPP once sat at the core of the energy agenda. Now, thanks to Trump, they're essentially a pipe dream. And for oil and gas Republicans like John Cornyn, that's gotta hurt. Who are the 4-year-olds living in Houston today? Besides being curious about everything she sees and hears, a typical 4-year-old is likely to be disadvantaged and Hispanic. Come August, along with the rest of the high school graduating class of 2030, this 4-year-old will be counting down the days until she becomes a big girl and goes off to kindergarten. But if past years are any guide, odds are less than 50-50 that she and her peers will enter kindergarten, prepared to succeed. Having basic social, emotional and academic skills aids learning in kindergarten. If a child is not ready to enter kindergarten, then she's more likely to drop out, have behavioral problems, and less likely to participate in higher levels of education. The solution - improving access to pre-K - is well-known and proven. It's even a legislative priority for Gov. Greg Abbott. But both the state House and Senate didn't fully fund Abbott's high quality pre-K program. From just about any angle, not the least of them the state's economic future, lawmakers' obduracy is short-sighted. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has set an ambitious goal for 60 percent of the state's 25- to 34- year-old workforce to earn a postsecondary credential by 2030. Abbott has gotten behind the "60x30" goal, asserting that its achievement is essential to ensure the economic prosperity of the state. Our hypothetical 4-year-old will be 17 in 2030. If the state is to maintain its goal, more than 60 percent of her class needs to graduate from high school and be poised to apply to a college, university or community college in 2030-31. Yet among the poorest eighth-grade students in Texas, only roughly 10 percent were attaining a post-secondary degree as of 2013. Given this dispiriting statistic, lawmakers should be trying to edge up the number of children who are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten. Pre-K is the answer. If instead of dropping the 4-year-old off at a babysitter, her parents enrolled her in pre-K at Houston Independent School District, she would become three times more likely to be ready for kindergarten than her peers who do not attend, according to a March research brief from Rice University's Education Research Consortium. It's far cheaper to intervene with these 4-year-olds before they enter kindergarten than in 2029 when they may be flunking out of high school. But it's also easier for lawmakers to set distant goals than it is to act on each step necessary to meet them. Educators should contact the respective chairs of the House and Senate Education Committee, Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, and Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, or their legislators. It must be made clear to lawmakers that it would be judicious and a future advantage for the state to ensure that children are ready to learn going into kindergarten. Parents who understand the value of pre-K also need to engage; they should contact their own legislators to tell them that if Texas is going to meet and sustain its 60x30 goal, quality pre-K programs must be in lawmakers' budget plans. By 2030, today's lawmakers will likely have gone on to other endeavors. Will they have left the state broken, or with the bright future that pre-K can help to ensure for Texas? Their budget priorities will determine the direction. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 18 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has appointed Deputy Chairman of Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov as co-chair of the Turkmenistan-Pakistan Joint Intergovernmental Commission, reports the online newspaper Nebit-Gaz. The intergovernmental commission is being created for further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Pakistan. The two countries seek to use cooperation potential, first of all, in the fuel and energy sector, as well as in transit and transportation. The two countries are discussing projects to create new international transport and communication corridors, electricity supply to Pakistan, as well as participating in construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the report said. Closing a prison in Texas was a laughable proposition a decade ago in my home state of Texas. However, it was recently announced that the Lone Star State may close up to four prisons this year, on top of the four units that have been closed since 2007. It was during my time as governor that Texas shifted its mentality on corrections and sparked a nationwide, conservative criminal-justice movement. What happened to spark such a turnaround? In 2007, it was estimated that 17,000 additional prison beds would be needed over the next five years due to the way we were punishing offenders throughout the criminal justice system. This new construction and costs would come at a price tag of at least $2 billion. Now, if this was necessary to protect the public, then so be it. Money well spent. However, when we began to look at the system, it was evident that this wasn't a wise or effective way to maintain public safety. Prison was leaving some offenders worse, thus increasing the chances they would commit another crime after they did their time. We decided to invest a portion of the money we would have had to spend on new prison costs toward the expansion of treatment programs tackling the underlying causes of many of the offenders' criminogenic behavior. This investment effort had remarkable results on public safety and government corrections costs. Incarceration rates fell, while, and most important, crime rates continued to fall more than the national average. Parolees were committing fewer offenses while being better-supervised due to more specialized and lower caseloads for officers; revocation rates for probationers fell as well. I'll be the first to admit I was skeptical at first, but the evidence was undeniable: Indiscriminately locking up offenders leaves us less safe and at a higher cost. Texas continued to lead on the issue during my time as governor, advancing smart reforms that have seen even greater reductions in the Lone Star State's prison population by rate and by actual numbers. This is especially remarkable considering Texas' rapid population growth. However, Texas cannot rest on its laurels. Many states have looked at Texas as a model for their own overhaul of their criminal justice system. Dozens of states have deeply examined their corrections system and then implemented common-sense reforms as did Texas, and have experienced similar success. If Texas does not continue to advance reform, many other states may go stagnant as well. There are many smart reforms being advanced through the Legislature now that tackle specific issues facing the Texas criminal justice system. For example, a bill to allow certain offenders to seal their criminal records is currently moving within the Legislature. The bill would only be for certain first-time offenders after they have proven they are ready to live a law-abiding life. The bill still allows law enforcement to use the crime just like any other conviction should there be a subsequent offense. This is a smart, balanced, conservative approach to tackle the major issue of trying to find steady housing and a job with a criminal record. Texas is also looking at right-sizing the initial line of defense to the criminal justice system: the grand jury. The grand jury has turned from a protection from the state for the accused into a system entirely run by the government. A bipartisan bill that was heard recently in a Senate committee would address some of the biggest problems facing the system today, such as a requirement for the government to introduce exculpatory evidence, providing the defendant a transcript of the proceeding, and allowing counsel in the room while their client is testifying. The news that more prisons could be closing in Texas' near future ought to encourage the Legislature to continue to improve the criminal justice system. When Texas acts, the rest of the nation takes notice. Perry is the former governor of Texas and our nation's 14th Energy Secretary. From the very start of her life, our daughter Sully faced obstacles that not every child has to endure. Sully has Down syndrome, had open-heart surgery at seven weeks and has a feeding tube surgically implanted in her stomach. She is beautiful, loving, courageous, strong and silly, but at 19 months, our child cannot crawl, walk, talk and most important, cannot drink liquids - things that most children can do at her age. Our daughter needs intense developmental, occupational, physical and speech therapy on a weekly and sometimes twice-weekly basis to catch up and meet these milestones. Texas lawmakers are debating right now over whether they will restore funding to Texas' Medicaid acute-care therapy and early childhood intervention programs. In the last legislative session, lawmakers cut hundreds of millions from this therapy program and while Sully is still receiving care, other families in situations like ours have lost or are still waiting for care. This session, the Texas House budget partially restored funding and canceled changes in policies that further cut reimbursement to the therapists who treat Sully and kids like her. We travelled to Austin in January to testify before the Senate Finance Committee about the need to restore funding to the therapy program. At that hearing, Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the chair of the committee, told us: "I absolutely want to make sure that your daughter and all of these other children receive these services. It was never our intent to take away services." Despite Nelson's promise to us and to dozens of other parents there that day, the Senate did not restore funding in its budget and left the harmful policies in place. The therapy providers in our area made temporary adjustments after the cuts last session and continued providing services to Sully. More recently, we were advised by our therapist that if Medicaid cuts are not reinstated, they likely will not remain open because they serve only pediatric patients, many of whom receive Medicaid. Sully cannot achieve and be successful in life without pediatric therapies. She needs the expertise and qualifications of each of her therapists to learn to do the most important things in life - crawling, walking, talking and drinking. Without the intense developmental therapies that Sully requires, she will not be able to grow into a successful and independent member of society, who will not have to depend on the government to be cared for as an adult. Every day, Sully does something that she wouldn't have done without the help of the consistent therapy she receives. The squealing and the whining Sully makes that causes people to turn around and smile at us, or others annoyed, is only possible because of her speech therapy. Without occupational therapy, she could not pull on our ears or hair, and without physical therapy she could not lift her head to smile at us. To achieve more milestones like these, Sully must have access to care, which will continue to be threatened if the funding is not restored in the state budget. Sully will not be able to receive occupational therapy where we live if the therapists in our area stop providing service. This will not only affect Sully, but also every other child who receives occupational therapy in the area. Our only option would be to drive over 70 miles one way three to four days a week for therapy appointments - over 420 miles a week - which the state considers appropriate access to care, but is impossible to do with both of us working. We will be left to choose between life-improving therapy for Sully or providing for our family. We never imagined being in a position where we would have to depend on the government for our daughter to succeed in life. Our other children did not need the approval and funding to reach their basic milestones, but we cannot say the same for Sully. She needs the government's approval and the Medicaid funding cuts to be restored for her to achieve her basic milestones. The Texas Senate can now keep its promise to the thousands of families and Texas children receiving therapy care by restoring the funds they cut from the Medicaid budget so that Sully and thousands of other kids like her can receive the care they need to thrive and survive. The Drakes live in Livingston. The Missouri Department of Revenue announced it would be granting an extension for the renewal of drivers licenses and license plates for those affected by recent flooding, including Texas County. The severe flooding across much of the state has impacted many lives and created challenges that prevented citizens from being able to make it into a license office, Director of Revenue Joel Walters said. Were just giving people a little more time to get their lives in order. In addition to extending deadlines for drivers licenses and license plates, Walters, acting under the authority granted to him by Gov. Eric Greitens Executive Order 17-16, has also granted an extension for the renewal of non-driver licenses, certificates of vehicle ownership, vehicle registration receipts and license plate tabs issued by the Missouri Director of Revenue. A resident of one of the affected counties whose drivers license, non-driver license, certificate of vehicle ownership, vehicle registration receipt, or license plate tabs expire between April 29 and May 26, now has until May 31, 2017, to renew without penalty. For those affected, Walters also directed license offices to issue replacement licenses, titles and plates that were lost or damaged due to flooding without charge as long as the citizen is otherwise eligible for the replacements. License offices must waive all state fees and charges otherwise due for such duplicate or replacement. Additionally, penalties normally assessed for late vehicle registration transactions and title penalty fees will be waived for those affected by the recent floods until May 31. Local office processing fees may still apply. These floods were difficult on everyone, Walters said. We, as Missourians always do, pulled together to help each other out as best we can. The Department of Revenue is trying to do its part. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 18 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Moldovas President Igor Dodon has accepted an invitation of his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to visit Turkmenistan in September 2017, the press service of the Moldovan president said in a message. The message is about the visit of a Turkmen delegation to Chisinau, which includes representatives of the countrys leadership, businesses and cultural figures. According to the message, Moldovas president held a meeting with Deputy Chairman of Turkmenistans Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov. The sides discussed the development of cooperation in several areas, in the spheres of agriculture, energy and in the field of intercultural cooperation. There is big potential for development of the Moldovan-Turkmen relations. We are consistently expanding the circle of our partners both in the West and in the East, said Dodon, according to the message. Meanwhile, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message that Moldovas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration hosted political consultations between the delegations of Turkmenistan and Moldova. The Moldovan delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Lilian Darii. Particular attention was paid to issues of cooperation within authoritative international organizations and structures, said the message. During the meeting, the parties also exchanged views on a number of topical issues of regional and international policy, according to the message. A number of bilateral documents were signed between the two countries during the high-level talks in Ashgabat in April 2015. There are memoranda in the field of agro-industry and transport, in financial sphere and an agreement on trade and economic cooperation among them. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. A restructuring economy Finding workers with the right skills, quality, and fit Managing cost pressures These forces create headwinds and challenges for SMEs to navigate and grow their businesses, said the minister. He was speaking at the launch Supply Chain and Logistics (SCL) Corporate Network, which aims to develop a sustainable support and sharing platform for organisations across all industries. Teo said companies can be more profitable, grow quickly, and expand their employee pool with new talent when they innovate their supply chain processes with the fastest and most cost effective means to deliver their products or services. The cost of training workers is also reduced through development programs and support from Supply Chain and Logistics Academy (SCALA) and tripartite partners, he added. For example, SCALAs Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Logistics Officer and Executives supports hiring and training costs by 70 to 90% over a 12-month period. Teo said companies can also receive additional salary support of $700 to $35,000 a month from the Career Support Programme (CSP) when they hire retrenched or unemployed Singaporeans. We are seeing more and more PMETs facing challenges with employment, and are encouraging them to go to sectors that are still hiring. The logistics and supply chain sector is one such sector, said Teo. Its about being trained in one function, for that function to be applied across all sectors, not just the logistics sector. I was excited by the shortlist we put in front of our employers, and even more excited by the calibre of the people they selected, said Sainsbury. David Jones, GM of business growth and innovation at the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency, says the LookSee Team will be giving candidates a guided tour of the city. Just as these people will do their best to impress Wellington employers, the team aims to give them an impressive taste of our world-leading quality of life, he said. Well also provide them with the practical information theyll need before relocating, especially those with partners and children, who will have plenty of questions. The candidates represent 28 nationalities, with the US, Canada and UK the top countries of origin. They will interview with a range of Wellington businesses for mid-to-senior-level roles such as software engineer, systems analyst, ICT project manager and chief information officer. Another employee reported being charged for customer drive offs and the employer seeking a premium in exchange for supporting their visa both of which are illegal in New Zealand. The business, situated on State Highway One in Ruakaka, has already paid more than $14,500 in arrears to four employees and late last month the Employment Relations Authority ordered the gas station to pay a further penalty of $14,000. I consider a final total penalty of $14,000 sufficient to both punish and deter this company and its owners, and to deter other small businesses from similar activities, member of the authority Nicola Craig wrote in her decision. Loua Ward also warned businesses that failing to meet employment law not only results in fines, it could also damage a companys reputation. Every person employed in New Zealand must be provided with their minimum employment entitlements anything less is unacceptable, she said. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 18 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: Constitution Day in Turkmenistan is widely and solemnly celebrated May 18. A national holiday - Day of Revival, Unity and Poetry of Magtymguly Fraghi (Pyragy) [a Turkmen spiritual leader and philosophical poet] is also celebrated in Turkmenistan on May 18. A ceremony of laying flowers at the Monument to the Constitution is being held in the Turkmen capital, a concert and poetry evenings will also take place. The current version of the Constitution of Turkmenistan was adopted in September 2016. Turkmenistan has the status of permanent neutrality on the basis of the law. For adventurous lovers, the arrival of warmer weather means more opportunities to get frisky in the great outdoors. But is having sex outside legal in Canada? And if so, should you do it? According to Toronto criminal defence lawyer Stephen Hebscher, having sex outdoors isnt illegal per se, but there are consequences to having sex in public. Advertisement Essentially its got to be done in the presence of one or more other persons [for it to be considered an offence], and that doesnt include the people who are committing the act, obviously, Hebscher told HuffPost Canada. If its done in the presence of one or more other persons, or theres a reasonable likelihood that its going to be seen by one or more other persons then youll be in trouble with the law, he explains. That means couples can be charged with an indecent act under section 173 of the Criminal Code of Canada if they have sex within public view. The maximum sentence, according to the Toronto Sun, is 18 months in jail. Advertisement So should you or shouldnt you have sex outdoors? While outdoor sex is taboo, Dr. Jessica OReilly, sexologist and creator of the Sexual Pro Webinar series, says the act has its benefits. For one, it can help people live out their sexual fantasies. The thrill of exhibitionism is a common fantasy, Dr. Jess told HuffPost Canada in an email. According to a Quebec-based study of over 1,500 adults, location is a key element of our top sexual fantasies and over 80 per cent of Canadians fantasize about having sex in an unusual place like a public restroom or at the office. Another benefit of outdoor sex is that the thrill of getting caught can augment excitement and sexual response and the fresh air can help couples have a stronger orgasm. Fresh air (and temperature shifts) against your naked skin can heighten sensation to produce a stronger sexual and orgasmic response, Dr. Jess explains. Advertisement The best spots for outdoor sex It makes sense that Canadians would want to spice up their sex lives by taking things outdoors. After all, the Great White Norths beautiful landscapes provide plenty of unique places for couples to make love outdoors. In fact, one of the most uniquely Canadian places to have outdoor sex is in a canoe. Believe it or not, eight per cent of Canadians have done this, according to a 2013 nationwide sex survey conducted by Playtex and Environics Research Group. But if having sex in a canoe isnt for you, Dr. Jess suggests trying a balcony or a porch. The balcony or porch is the most popular spot, according to my clients, she says. The balcony offers a balance of exhibitionism and security youre technically outside, but you can quickly retreat to the comfort of your home (or hotel room) should you be struck with stage fright. Another popular place is a tent. While this doesnt necessarily count as outdoor sex, it still gets you close to nature. Dr. Jess explains, Youre close enough to hear the wind, feel the outdoor temperature and hear its sounds (and add your own!), but you have the privacy and assurance that youre not being watched. Advertisement On Reddit, a number of people have revealed their favourite spots for outdoor sex. Getting frisky on a trail at a local park, one user said of their favourite experience. It's always fun when there's the possibility of someone walking up on the two of you. Plus you have the added security of being able to see someone coming down the trail before they see you. Another added, Balcony/fire escape of my apartment. There was a corrugated steel divider between my neighbor's balcony, but it didn't block any noise. Had some artificial grass and a towel to lay on. Good times. Stay On Top Of The Trends Get the biggest lifestyle news sent to your inbox Also on HuffPost A newly introduced government bill that purportedly supports air passengers' rights does nothing of the sort, says one consumer rights advocate. On Tuesday, Transportation Minister Marc Garneau introduced a passenger bill of rights as part of a package of amendments to the Canada Transportation Act. The bill follows an incident last month when an United Airlines passenger was violently dragged from a plane in Chicago after he refused to leave his seat on an overbooked flight. Advertisement Bill C-49 asks the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) to set up clear standards for how passengers can be treated, including situations where they are denied boarding, their baggage is lost or they're delayed on the tarmac. "This bill is smoke, mirrors and no teeth," passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs told CTV News. Lukacs is concerned the bill doesn't lay out any specific penalties for companies that mistreat customers. The bill also specifies that complaints can only be filed by the person affected, and Lukacs worries that means advocates and organizations can't take legal action against airlines or the industry for a widespread problem like overbooking. "This strikes me as an an attempt to shield airlines from complaints and further prevent the public from ensuring their rights," Lukacs said in an interview with CBC News. Advertisement The Facebook page Air Passenger Rights, run by Lukacs and other advocates, published a list of concerns with the proposed legislation on Wednesday. "Bill C-49 contains no provisions about the enforcement of the rights of travellers, nor any new sanctions against airlines that break the rules," reads the post. "It passes the buck to the Canadian Transportation Agency to establish standards at some point in the future." "Bill C-49 contains no provisions about the enforcement of the rights of travellers, nor any new sanctions against airlines that break the rules." The reputation of Canadian airlines lags behind others in North America. An air passenger satisfaction survey earlier this month ranked Air Canada at the bottom of North America's traditional carriers, and WestJet came second-last in the low-cost carrier category, HuffPost Canada reported. The number of complaints against Canadian carriers more than doubled between 2011 and 2016, according to the CTA. Sixty countries have some form of passenger rights legislation, and both the U.S. and E.U. have compensation rules for passengers that get bumped from flights, according to the BBC. Also on HuffPost How To Get Over Fear Of Flying See Gallery When it seems like the world is falling apart and every piece of news you read is just straight up sad, it can be hard to stay positive. Don't try to deny the fact that shade is thrown around these days like confetti. You, a young adult in this questionable world, are just trying to get by and have a nice time in the process. But people are haters. Mean guy at the coffee shop, mean woman at the gym, mean hangry people at work. Mean, mean, mean humans everywhere. Advertisement So how can you stay compassionate and considerate when others are killing your vibe? It's a hard question to answer, right? A post shared by The Gracious Book (@thegraciousbook) on Feb 15, 2017 at 4:03pm PST "But wait! Why should I be kind?" you're asking us. Well, good sir/madame, when you go out into the world with an intention of being gracious (which Kelly says is being present to the humans around you), you will be treated the same way. Recognize everyone's desire to be seen and noticed (so yes, get off your phone), because as Kelly says, goodness is what we want people to have. Advertisement Check out Kelly's tips below! "My friend thinks of mean people as jellyfish, just sort of floating around stinging people," the New York Times-bestselling author told HuffPost Canada. "You can't reason with a jellyfish ... that's when you just have to be like, 'she's a jellyfish! That's what she does.' Think of yourself as a non-stick pan." One of Kelly's friends gave a great tip on dealing with a hater: "It's always really important to remember I have no idea where that person is coming from and that could be in the last 20 minutes or the last 20 years." At the end of the day, it's important to be kind to people, especially when you don't feel like it, because having the satisfaction to just walk away from a situation where you don't know a person's story and where they're coming from with their anger, is a very good skill. "Here's the beauty about thoughts," Kelly tells us. "You can have them and you probably don't necessarily control them." That urge to be rude to someone back? Kelly says take a pause before you do something you'll regret. If you really feel the need to insult someone, do it in your head. All you are in your life are your choices, so choose to be nice. For more marvelous and kind tips from Kelly Williams Brown, check out the video above! Also on HuffPost How To Be Kind See Gallery When nine-year-old Sofia Smith decided to shave off her never-before-cut blond locks at a Calgary event last month, she hoped to raise $250 for charity. Her father Dallas told his daughter she should stretch her goal to $500. Tearfully, she climbed up on stage at Elboya School on April 21, while a hairdresser buzzed away the hair she'd been growing out her entire life. Advertisement Sofia breaks down while having her head shaved during a Kids Cancer Care Shave Your Lid for a Kid event on April 21, 2017. (Photo: Brangwyn Jones) On Thursday, almost a month post-shave, her fundraising total climbed just above the $25,000 mark. She decided to depart with her hair in support of her older brother, Rand, who was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year. "I want him to know I love him very much and I believe in him as he goes through this," she wrote on her donations page on the Kids Cancer Care website. Advertisement Sofia Smith poses for some before and after photos. (Photo: Brangwyn Jones) She also dedicated the shave to her mother, Tatiana, who died of cancer when Sofia was four. It's no surprise to Gail Corbett, manager of communications with Kids Cancer Care, that people have been touched by Sofia and her family. "That a young girl, so young really, would have that in her, to be able to do that it's very inspiring." Seventy other students also had their heads shaved that day, but Corbett called Sofia's shave "one of the most emotional" in the charity's history. "I want him to know I love him very much and I believe in him as he goes through this"." Corbett says website visits to Kids Cancer Care have gone up since word of her brave act circulated worldwide. Advertisement News agencies as far away as Australia, Europe and Syria have picked up the story. Sofia's bravery has touched hearts worldwide and news agencies in Switzerland (left) and Australia (right) have reported on her story. "Sofia is so happy she was able to facilitate the fundraising. She is now excited to see all the hairstyles she can try as her hair grows out," her father told Global News. Both Sofia and her brother will be heading off to Camp Kindle this summer, a camp designed for kids with cancer and their siblings. Recent economic dips in Calgary have caused the Shave Your Lid for a Kid program to suffer, said Corbett. Advertisement "It's just now that we're starting to see a bit of a recovery." Also on HuffPost: Noting the tendency of Canadians to retort, "At least we're not like Americans!", when faced with evidence of Canada's racist treatment of black and racialized people and the ongoing structural oppression of indigenous life, Junot Diaz recently noted that such a proclamation is akin to saying "At least I'm not like my murdering cousin!" --- meaning the United States. It might be very well and good that we are not like our murdering cousin down south, but how does that do anything to make us more accountable to our own shit? Obviously, it doesn't, and that's precisely why this retort circulates so widely and so effectively: it obscures the very real problems we have here in Canada, making it near impossible to have a real conversation about our own complicities in the suffering ofothers. Advertisement Canadians are eager to proclaim how much better we are at racial sensitivity, yet the events of the past week make crystal clear that not only do Canadians have an unreasonably lofty sense of their moral compass that is not supported by the facts or by history, many of our most important cultural leaders and shapers have no idea what an old concept originating from the 1980s like "cultural appropriation" even means. Howf**kingembarrassing. Announcing their eagerness to brazenly support the creation of an "Appropriation Prize," some of the leading executives, editors-in-chiefs, and writers in Canadian media demonstrated not only their callous arrogance but their incredible stupidity. The fact that so many of the gatekeepers of Canada's media institutions have no clue what cultural appropriation actually means -- the most charitable reading of their late-night Twitter shenanigans -- is absolutely mind-boggling. Of course, since these people are marinating in privilege, they felt no qualms about broadcasting such callous ignorance for the world to see. In the ensuing dust-up, while debating Jesse Wente on CBC, Jonathan Kay noted that there is a very real conversation to be had about the limits to the imagination placed by "identity politics fundamentalists." Right. Except this is not what people who decry cultural appropriation are against, because that is not what cultural appropriation is. Advertisement As Scaachi Koul noted, "no one, in the history of writing books, has ever suggested that white people are not allowed to write thoughtful portrayals of Indigenous people or people of colour, namely in fiction." Cultural Appropriation is not the expansive, empathetic imagining of the other -- it is rather, the theft of other's stories as if they were your own. How, possibly, could this be so difficult to understand? It isn't, of course, but it sure helps to be this obtuse when it comes to holding on to one's privilege. In an earlier op-ed for The National Post, Kay wrote: What takes priority -- the right of artists to extend their imagination to the entire human experience, or the right of historically marginalized communities to protect themselves from possible misrepresentation. Personally, I land on the side of free speech: I'm fearful that, as at many points in history, small acts of well-intentioned censorship will expand into a full-fledged speech code that prohibits whole categories of art and discourse. Following the tired, pathetically reductive, dog-eared logic of privileged people everywhere, Kay is far more concerned with centring this discussion on the theoretical fears of people like him in the future than he is with the ongoing, violent and unending dispossession (read: appropriation) of indigenous life, land and freedom. This is true for all of the gatekeepers who signed onto the appropriation prize: their fear of theoretical censorship in the future is just so much more hand-wringingly worrisome to them than anything else other people might actually be experiencing in this country right now. My initial reaction to hearing about the appropriation prize was feeling like I was being slapped in the face. I now realize the Twitter revelations are actually incredibly affirming: they let me know that I am not just imagining things; that Canadian media really is incredibly hostile to the voices of indigenous, black and people of colour; that the gatekeepers of these institutions would rather pay out of their own pockets to have someone like them tell our stories than to pay us to tell our own. Advertisement For once, Canadian politeness wasn't able to mask the insidiously pervasive feelings of hostility so many indigenous, black and racialized people face in Canadian media. How many times have we been told that there is simply no money to tackle the stories of indigenous, black and people of colour? Particularly when it comes to paying racialized journalists and storytellers to tell these stories? Yet somehow, the same people in charge of these decisions have no qualms about forking over their own money to make sure Canadian media continues to look only like them. Echoing Jesse Wente's conclusion in a tearful segment with Matt Galloway over the weekend: let's hope none of us has to live through another episode like this again. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook A boy scuba dives in a coral reff. (Photo: Adobe Stock) My family has booked a cottage on Georgian Bay this summer. To my kids' delight, there are shipwrecks lurking beneath the waters just offshore. Eleven-year-old Gavin is longing to see those wrecks close-up. It's created some tension in our home. Gavin can't understand why I haven't yet said "yes!" to scuba diving. I'm still reading all the safety regulations for diving companies in Ontario. I want to ensure that anyone we consider puts children's safety first. Advertisement But in many regions of the world, child divers have no such protection. In Honduras, child workers risk death to hunt for treasure under water. They do it without equipment, training or supervision. And the treasure they're seeking isn't gold -- it's seafood. Starved of Food and Oxygen The day he reported to work for the first time, Ariel was just seven. Although he lived quite near the ocean, and despite sharing a name with a famous mermaid, he didn't know how to swim. But Ariel had to learn -- and learn quickly. His livelihood depended on it. Ariel paddles the boat he uses to gather seafood. (Photo: Chelsea Maclachlan) Now at 14, Ariel is something of an expert in his field. Like other child divers in the region, his work is dependent on the patterns of the ocean tides. Although his shifts can last up to 24 hours, Ariel mostly works at night. Advertisement When the shift is over, Ariel has usually earned about six dollars -- but must subtract his costs for boat rental and gasoline. There's no time in his schedule for school. There are other costs to this job. The innocence of Ariel's childhood has been replaced by night dives deep into the murky blackness. My sons love reading novels about descending into the darkness, to explore abandoned ships. But for Ariel and other child divers, it's a real-life nightmare. "My only light is a flashlight, tied up in a plastic bag," says Ariel. Gasping for air Ariel says he can hold his breath for five minutes underwater. But he describes a time when he nearly drowned after swimming too deep. "My body forced me to breathe while I was still far below the surface," says Ariel. "When I came to the surface, the boat had moved. I had to swim while choking." Even if Ariel's estimate -- five minutes under water -- is high, his brain is likely gasping for oxygen on a regular basis. Brain cells are very sensitive to lack of oxygen, say medical experts. Some cells start dying less than five minutes after their oxygen supply disappears. An invisible fate Here in Canada, children learn to scuba dive for fun. They're supported by teams of qualified adults, who are never more than a few feet away. Advertisement But in Honduras, Ariel's work is largely invisible. Tourists tucking into a seafood meal just down the shore from his boat -- perhaps raising a glass of wine at sunset -- likely have no idea who hauled up their dinner from the ocean floor. And although the work is sometimes deadly, child divers' deaths aren't registered in the country's national statistics database, says a leader in Ariel's community. When children drown, their stories die with them. Ariel casts his net. (Photo: Chelsea Maclachlan) "If a child dies, the lobster company will often pay the parents to keep quiet," says Maria Santiago Martinez. Although they give up their childhoods to help support their families, there's no official record of their sacrifices. Speaking up for Ariel Honduras is one of the countries from which Canada imports the goods you might see in your grocery store, and seafood is one of the products that Honduras exports to the world. Is it possible that Ariel's sacrifice has ended up on your dinner table? Advertisement A young girl sorts shrimp in Bangladesh, another place where products are at risk of involving child labour. (Photo: Sophia Hsin) Ariel's family may not hold the power to advocate for their son. But we do. You can speak up for Ariel, and millions of other children like him. Let's start by holding Canadian companies with overseas factories accountable for the way their products are made. World Vision Canada is meeting government officials and asking them to respond to the risks of child labour in our goods, but we need your voice to help them take the next step. Sign the petition asking Canada's leaders to require that companies report publicly on how they are addressing child labour in their global supply chains. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 18 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Turkmenistan on May 19-20 at the invitation of his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the Uzbek national news agency (UzA) reported May 18. President Mirziyoyev, during his visit to Turkmenistan, is expected to discuss topical issues of bilateral relations in political, trade and economic, investment, transport and communication, cultural and humanitarian and other spheres. Meanwhile, an exchange of views will be held on regional and international agenda. The Uzbek president will visit the Avaza national tourism zone, where children from the regions of Uzbekistan, who are the most affected by the consequences of the Aral ecological catastrophe, receive sanatorium treatment. After the two presidents negotiations, it is planned to sign a number of intergovernmental, interdepartmental and other documents aimed at further development of cooperation in various fields, according to the report. During the visit, the two countries business circles are also expected to conclude several mutually beneficial commercial contracts and agreements. Zephyr18 via Getty Images Hard disk file locked with monitor show ransomware cyber attack internet security breaches. Malware lock file concept for security article i.e. WannaCry or WannaCrypt attack all over the world The worst cyber security threats are malicious, persistent and wormlike in their ability to spread havoc. One such threat was unleashed on the world last week, which has come to be known as WannaCry. The unprecedented global cyberattack crippled IT infrastructure for more than 230,000 organizations across 150 countries, including Britain's National Health Service, Spain's Telefonica, FedEx Corp and Canada's Universite de Montreal, holding computer systems hostage for ransom. Advertisement The culprit behind this attack is a new variant of ransomware called WannaCryptor, also referred to as Wcrypt or WannaCry. This crypto-ransomware works by infecting a user's files and making them inaccessible until a ransom is paid, in money or Bitcoin, with a threat that failure to pay will result in the data being destroyed. WannaCry has been dubbed the greatest cyberextortion scheme in history, and is believed to have spread by hackers exploiting a security vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows systems called "EternalBlue," which was stolen from the U.S National Security. WannaCry is unique in what Michael Aguilar, a business security specialist at ESET, describes as its "wormlike capabilities," which allow it to spread rapidly by itself. In our interconnected age where we depend on technology more than ever, this unparalleled cyberattack has resulted in a worldwide wake-up call for IT users and businesses alike to make IT security a top priority. Advertisement While the damage of WannaCry seems to have been limited by a "kill-switch" discovered by British computer expert, Marcus Hutchins, security experts warn that new versions of WannaCry could still proliferate. All of which begs the question: How can Canadian businesses protect themselves against falling victim to the next worldwide ransomware attack? Here are a few suggestions: Don't open that weird link. Just don't. Educate and remind employees to prevent ransomware attacks by not clicking on suspicious links or attachments on webpages, in chat messages, and in emails -- especially if the sender is unfamiliar. If the email is from a trusted sender, recommend that employees analyze the wording to make sure it's not suspicious or full of errors. Often fake emails have incorrect spelling or strange subject matter. Ultimately, regularly advising employees to follow their intuition and avoid opening that weird link will decrease the risk of a ransomware attack. Advertisement Install anti-malware software. Ensure that a reputable anti-malware software is installed across all of your company servers, computers, and any other piece of the IT stack. For example, the ESET network protection module was already protecting its clients and blocking ransomware attempts at the network level before WannaCry was created. Never assume that your current antivirus software provides protection against ransomware, as it could be an outdated version that doesn't offer ransomware blocking. Dig further into the information provided about your product to see if it's listed among the features. If not, install a dedicated anti-ransomware program immediately. Update on a regular basis. Regularly updating your company-wide servers and Windows systems with the latest security patches is key to thwarting the threat of ransomware attacks. IT users and businesses alike should consistently patch their machines with updates from Microsoft, especially those who are using older versions of the operating system. For Windows Vista to Windows 10, Microsoft issued this patch that protects users against the EternalBlue in March 2017, but didn't issue these patches for some of its older versions until May 12, 2017. Patching is ultimately the best remedy against ransomware attacks like WannaCry, as it targets the root of the vulnerability. Advertisement Put greater preventative measures in place. The deep-seated dependence of worldwide businesses on interconnected technology means that greater IT security systems need to be put in place to protect their data against cyberattacks. Nowadays, it's important for companies to get security intelligence from the widest range of sources, extending their reach from their local network to the global cyberspace. IT Security providers, including ESET, offer specialized products like ESET Threat Intelligence, which equip companies with the deeper information needed to better defend themselves against targeted attacks and ransomware threats like WannaCry in a timely manner. Back-up constantly. To ensure that sensitive, company confidential or any important files are safe if a company does get infected by ransomware, securely back them up to a remote, unconnected backup or storage facility on a regular basis. Periodically testing these backups to make sure your data is safe is also highly recommended. Cloud storage services like Backblaze personal backup are cost-effective and they let you store, retrieve and share data at any time while protecting your work from an attack. The death of traditional media has been greatly exaggerated, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say it's on life support. Before you think I'm writing this out of anger or resentment, I promise you, I'm not. In fact, more than anything, I'm sad. Not for myself (companies come and go) but for the Canadian media industry, and more importantly, the consumers who are tired of the same old story. Advertisement It's no secret that traditional media is struggling. Subscribers are down across the board -- in fact, there's an entire generation who refuses to even consider picking up a magazine or paying for a cable connection ("skinny basic" or no "skinny basic"). But to lay all the blame on changing consumer habits is unfair. Those CEOs sitting in their big towers need to look at their own business models to see what they can do better. In addition to building my own media brands, I've also been an advertiser. While I've had my share of ups and downs, I'm proud of the standards I've set both on the editorial and sales sides. Here are three things I've learned along the way: The "how" is just as important as the "what" One of the key ingredients of Sweetspot's success (and now The Bullet's) was the tone. Not only were we recognized as the arbiter and filter for lifestyle information, we delivered it in a way that was easily digestible by readers. Our light-hearted, conversational tone resonated with them. It was easy to read (and easy to love). While Canadian newspaper brands carry a lot of credibility when it comes to the breadth and depth of their reporting, I would sooner use them as a sleep aid than a tool to keep abreast of what's going on in the world. Stories are often too long, dry and boring. (Did I mention boring?) Advertisement Don't be so quick to blame it on the Internet or millennials. Give people what they want, not what you want While this could apply to my last point, I'm now talking about sales. The strategy for my media properties has always been about working with brands to develop custom content that engages our readers, while achieving advertisers' objectives (whether that's awareness, education, conversion, etc.). When that is done well, all parties -- advertiser, publisher and reader -- win. What I've observed is that many traditional media outlets offer up what they want to sell because it's cheaper and easier. (Don't get me started on what I think of display ads.) Anything that requires innovation or thinking outside the box, sends them running for the hills (and by "hills" I mean the mountain of excuses about why it just can't be done that way). Let me tell you something: it can be done. So, as one of my favourite brands says, just do it. Make the sale If you actually want to generate revenue, you need sales. Seem obvious? I think so, but apparently many sales people that work in media don't think so. While looking for outlets to promote The Bullet, I've been shocked and dismayed at the number of times I've reached out to a company for information on their advertising options, and gotten radio silence. Literally. Nobody calls or emails me back. I wish I could say it happened once, but it's happened many times -- with the biggest companies in the country. Do they think I'm too small? Maybe, but they don't know how much I'm willing to spend because they didn't take the time to ask. Regardless of size, I would think a basic tenet of being a sales person is that if a lead lands in your lap, you should take it. My sales people have been trained to respond to everyone within 24 hours -- always and with no exception. That's probably why my companies have generated disproportionate revenue to our audience size. We don't just act like we care, we do care. So the next time you read about mass layoffs or publications shutting down at the big media companies, don't be so quick to blame it on the Internet or millennials. Neither of them are going away, but if the big guys don't start doing something differently, they will. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Dear Madam Premier Kathleen Wynne: My name is Karen Lin. I am a former school trustee candidate, a well-known community activist and a political organizer in the Chinese community. I am writing to you today in support of Bill 79: An Act to proclaim the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day. The events of Second World War in the Pacific are well known around the world. Canadian students learn about the horrible tragedy that happened when the U.S. army dropped atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Unfortunately, Ontarians have not had the opportunity to learn and understand the series of events leading up to the military action conducted by the U.S. army in Japan. Neither have Ontarians had the opportunity to learn about the tragedies of the killing of many innocent lives in China, Korea, the Philippines and many other East Asian countries by a brutal Japanese military occupation. Advertisement The Nanjing Massacre, commonly known as "The Rape of Nanking," was an infamous war crime committed by the Japanese military in and around the then capital of China, Nanjing, after it fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on Dec.13, 1937. The Nanjing Massacre saw 300,000 innocent civilian lives killed by the Japanese army within six short weeks. During the occupation of Nanjing, the Japanese army committed numerous atrocities, such as rape, looting, arson and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians. To this day, the Japanese government still routinely denies the Nanjing Massacre and many other atrocities such as drafting under-aged women into sexual slavery as "comfort women" during the Second World War. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution calling on Japan to acknowledge the fact that it drafted comfort women from Asian countries, including Korea, and accept responsibility and educate future generations about this crime against humanity. Advertisement We believe it is equally important for Ontario to become the first province in Canada to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre. Ontario is home to some of the largest Asian communities in Canada. This letter is widely endorsed by more than 100 registered Chinese Canadian Organizations, registered Chinese Canadian Cultural Groups and Associations, various associations from different ethnic communities as well as many labour unions across the province. Almost 100,000 signatures have been collected in petition to pass Bill 79 so far. There is a genuine and organic desire within the Asian communities to pass Bill 79. We have a moral obligation to tell future generations about the carnage, terror and tragedies that happened in the Second World War. Passing Bill 79 also has a broader Canadian context. During the Second World War, Canada played a vital role in defending Hong Kong against the Japanese military invasion as part of the commonwealth. In 1941, Canadian soldiers in Hong Kong fought against overwhelming odds and displayed courage and tenacity. The Canadian soldiers had virtually no chance of victory, but refused to surrender until they were overrun by the enemy. Those who survived were captured as prisoners of war. They endured torture and starvation by their Japanese captors. The experiences of these Canadian POWs captured by the Japanese were difficult and sometimes deadly. The Canadian POWs from the Defence of Hong Kong suffered a particularly heavy toll, as more than 260 did not survive the harsh conditions of the Japanese prison camps. Advertisement The Canada Remembers Program of Veterans Affairs Canada does not place enough emphasis on the education of our children about the sacrifices and achievements made by Canadian soldiers in the wars in the Asia Pacific region. Bill 79 will provide a unique opportunity not only to remember the innocent lives that were lost during the Nanjing Massacre, it also invites Canadians to become involved in remembrance activities that will help preserve their legacy for future generations. Many prominent Japanese Canadians such as Joy Kogawa have spoken out in support of Bill 79. The intention of Bill 79 is not to blame the Japanese people for Japan's war crime. We bear no ill will towards the Japanese people. We believe the path to truth and reconciliation is through open and honest dialogue. As our communities mobilize and organize in support of Bill 79, we are also actively reaching out to the Japanese communities in Canada. We have a moral obligation to tell future generations about the carnage, terror and tragedies that happened in the Second World War. At the same time, we must also be champions for tolerance, acceptance, forgiveness, and most importantly, peace. With no exemptions, we were all victims of war. Ontario prides itself on being the leader of social justice, human rights, inclusiveness and welcoming to all in Canada. We hope with the passage of Bill 79, we can start on a journey of remembrance, dialogue, healing and, most significantly, understanding. We are deeply committed to including the Japanese communities and any other communities who wish to take part in this dialogue. Advertisement In the spirit of truth, reconciliation and peace, Karen Lin Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: W6 via Getty Images five months old asian twins You are so excited! You are expecting and you are headed in for your first ultrasound. The first glance of your baby. Then the ultrasound tech makes a "hmmm" sound and your heart drops. You are worried, scared, when just moments before you were elated. Then the tech says, "do multiples run in your family?" Surprise! It's twins! The idea of bringing home multiples can be staggering. Do you really need two of everything? Will they come early? Are they identical, and how will you tell them apart if they are? Once you discover you are having multiples, your prenatal care will likely change. If you are registered with a midwife, your care may be transferred, or plans may be made to transfer you at 28 weeks. If you are scheduled to see an OB, you might be moved to a multiples or high risk prenatal clinic. You will definitely have more appointments, more ultrasounds, and possibly more tests. Advertisement But none of that helps you to figure out what to do when you bring two, or more, babies home. So what are the tips from the experts? #1: Friends in High Places These organizations often have clothing and gear swaps and sales, classes for parents of multiples, discounts, and the latest scoop on the best places to go with multiples. It also helps to make friends with other parents who are in the same boat! #2: Pink and Blue? Whether your babies are fraternal, identical, same sex, or not, assigning colours will help you to keep things organized, especially in those early and sleep-deprived days. This is especially helpful if one of your babies has extra needs such as additional sterilization procedures, medication, or special formula. Colour coding bottles, pacifiers, and even car seats will mean less questioning, and less adjusting of straps. Nail polish is a great way to colour code items, especially if you want to also paint your little ones' toe-nails to help you remember. #3: Do They Come With Extra Hands? Unfortunately, multiples do not come with an extra set of parental hands any more than singletons do. The good news is, the extra help that is offered from friends and family often lasts longer when you are bringing home multiple babies. Take advantage of those offers! And while many of those people will want to hold your babies, do not be afraid to have a list of things you need help with such as dishes, meal preparation, laundry, or pets. Advertisement #4: Dinner By Five Many parents expecting twins, triplets, or more want to know how to get their babies on a schedule. The idea of feeding, burping, changing, and soothing more than one baby can seem daunting. How you feed your babies is up to you. It is possible to exclusively breastfeed multiples, although you should work with your children's doctor to ensure that they are getting enough. Having an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) you can get in touch with easily can help with this if you are planning to exclusively breastfeed. Many parents however, choose to introduce bottles at some point. If that is the case, you can explore some of the options to make feeding more efficient, such as a twin feeding chair. Many parents also find that, breast or bottle, getting multiples on a schedule is the most important thing to do. When one baby is ready to eat, wake the other and feed them too. That helps to ensure that your babies are eating on a similar schedule, and you get a break (however short) between feedings. #5: Seeing Double You probably don't need to buy double of most of the things that you are looking at. Two car seats and a double stroller are important. And you will need more diapers than you can currently imagine. BUT you likely won't need multiples of swings, bouncy chairs, bumbos, or toys. Instead, look at having one of a variety of different types of toys, chairs, and exercise gyms for your babies. That way they can experience a variety of different types of stimulation, and you don't have to figure out how to fit two large swings and play mats in your living room! It seems overwhelming now, but it won't take long for you and your babies to get settled. Multiples may be double (or triple) the trouble, but they are also double the love. Advertisement Australia and Canada share many characteristics, but Canadians may not know one of them is that Australia's universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, was modeled on Canada's -- albeit adapted to account for constitutional differences between the two countries. A recent conference in Toronto addressed whether Australia has anything to teach Canada about how Canadian medicare might evolve. There are a number of areas where Australia's experience might prove helpful. The first is the public funding of pharmaceuticals. Advertisement Australia has had a national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme since the late 1940s. It now provides comprehensive coverage against the cost of pharmaceuticals for the whole population. The scheme, though, requires patients to make a modest co-payment for each prescription. For people on income support (retirees, unemployed) the co-payment is $6.30; for the rest of the population, it is $38.80. There is a safety net, which drops the price to zero or $6.30 after about 50 to 60 prescriptions a year. The upside of the scheme is obvious: medicines -- even the most expensive of the new formulations -- become affordable to most people. The prices paid in Australia are about one third of those paid by Canadian provinces. Drugs are listed on the scheme only if they have been shown to be cost-effective. This helps to ensure the costs of the scheme are commensurate with the benefits. The scheme pays more than some other countries for listed drugs -- for example, New Zealand and the United Kingdom pay less. But the prices paid in Australia are about one third of those paid by Canadian provinces. One downside of the Australian design is the mandatory co-payments. About one in 12 Australians who used medication say they have deferred filling or did not fill a prescription because of cost. Among the 20 per cent of Australians with the lowest incomes, that figure rises to one in 10. Advertisement Another area where Canada can learn from Australia is in-home care. Australia has a national home-care program that aims to keep people in their own home as long as possible and out of more expensive residential aged-care facilities. The program has grown over the past 50 years, with a major enhancement in the 1980s. It provides funding support for a wide range of services, from low-intensity programs such as "meals on wheels," through to intensive in-home nursing care. The program is being transformed, so funding will no longer be provided to organizations but rather to individuals who need what is described as "consumer-directed care." A third area where lessons may be learned is in efficiency. The Australian hospital sector is more efficient than Canada's and further efficiency is being driven by national adoption of activity-based or case-mix funding. Under this arrangement, hospitals are paid for the work they do -- up to a cap. The price per patient reflects average national costs, with marginal adjustments for such factors as whether a patient comes from a remote area. Case-mix has replaced a variety of other schemes such as "area funding," which was problematic in metropolitan areas where a significant number of patients came from outside the local area, and "global budgets," which were associated with substantial variations in efficiency between hospitals, with no evidence that higher-cost hospitals were providing higher quality services. Advertisement There is no evidence that subsidizing private care has had any benefit on the public hospital system. Canadians should not get the impression, however, that all is rosy in Australia. Australians have to pay relatively high out-of-pocket costs, not only for pharmaceuticals as discussed above, but for medical services. This hits the poor hardest. Australia also has a mixed public and private system, with physicians permitted to work in both sectors. Private health insurance for private hospital care is subsidized -- at about 25 per cent of the cost of premiums -- and there are tax penalties on middle-to-high income earners who do not have private insurance. Contrary to the original political justification for the subsidies, there is no evidence that subsidizing private care has had any benefit on the public hospital system. In fact, waiting times for public hospital care and proportion of care in the private system are directly rather than inversely related. In other words, more private care is associated with more public waiting. Canadians can learn from Australia's health care policies -- both in terms of what to adapt and what to avoid. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Like many parts of Toronto, Parkdale is changing. Fast. While a Starbucks-on-every-corner is being kept at bay, many of the area's residents are being squeezed out. Fast. They aren't the first. In 1878, long after the Mississauga peoples were pushed out, Parkdale was incorporated as a village. It became populated by mansions for the city's wealthy which were converted into rooming houses throughout the 20th century. These units became a key part of the area's affordable housing plan. This plan is changing. With a full-court press, gentrification is giving property owners the opportunities to make millions. Fast. Advertisement Of the estimated 198 rooming houses in Parkdale, 28 have already closed. Fifty-nine are at risk of closing. This means that almost 1,500 residents have lost their homes, will lose their homes or are in danger of losing their living space. Ninety per cent of Parkdale residents are renters. So with home and property values exploding, the threat of housing insecurity is very real. Around 2007 (don't quote me), I remember hearing Richard Florida speak. At the time, he was advocating a process of urban development by which artists and queers naturally navigate towards neighbourhoods and properties in need of re-development. Our presence tends to increase community ties, crime decreases and possibilities amplify. Our tendency to find potential and profit for what mainstream economic development has cast aside would cue a process that, if cities played it right, could bring new prosperities. But to whom? After artists and queers reinvigorated a neighbourhood, property values would increase as more and more people wished to live, work and visit these areas. A "creative class" would move in. Young and hip creatives flush with cash would be on the lookout for the next trendy enclave. Restaurants would appear. Galleries would open. Boutiques would spring up. In no time at all, big capital would move in with large-scale condo and retail development. From what I've seen, the reality seems more like a gated community -- one whose gates are invisible, but just as material as iron. Advertisement Sitting in the audience, I remember the moment it hit me what Florida was saying. I went cold. The audience cheered. What was to happen to those displaced by these creatives? What makes a "creative?" Am I a creative? I was living in Parkdale at that time and could see this process beginning to take shape. It was only a matter of time before we were next on the firing line. We had only to fall under the wheels of a developer bulldozing our large shotgun apartment over a family owned shoe store to make way for a Gap. Not surprisingly, Florida sought to soothe the discomfort by suggesting that those displaced would move onto other areas in need of development. Cold comfort. To be fair, Florida has since recanted his creative class idea after seeing that the percentage of people actually moving into newly hip areas is quite small and that the number of those displaced to the 'burbs or elsewhere has grown. In any event, Toronto has an affordable housing crisis on its hands. Parkdale has an emergency. Last weekend, Larisa Gutmanis' The Parkdale Experience took on the challenge of raising awareness of the area's housing crisis in order to demonstrate that art and community may offer solutions that the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and the city seem to find intractable. The experience led five "families" of 15 strangers along a yellow-brick road scavenger hunt stretching over a kilometre. Advertisement Along the way we faced eviction, lack of housing and toxic plots of land while being confronted (and educated) by actors from Luis Fernandes' Unit 102 theatre company. The project required us to work together. It fostered inclusivity, communication, interdependence, connection and care -- the very values many of us hope to find in our communities. While throwing seed "bombs" into toxic plots of land, we learned which housing and other resources are available; which might be available after a one- or two-month waiting period; and that by coming together as a community we can come up with solutions to seemingly intractable solutions. Rent strikes, land trusts, food networks and co-ops are fighting back. And hard. This process, Gutmanis advises, is exactly what is happening within the Parkdale community. Rent strikes, land trusts, food networks and co-ops are fighting back. And hard. Parkdale has an authenticity that most of its residents wish to protect. This authenticity reflects who the community is and its residents as they are, not the aspirational facade of corporate and brand-dictated homogeneity. But, Gutmanis explains, not everyone is on board with the push back against gentrification. Some business owners and residents she interviewed see the neighbourhood changes as positive developments. New shops and new businesses bring new customers and new sources of income. This increases the property value and tax base of the city, which in turn increases the availability of resources for social services and resources for those who lack. That's the argument. Almost 40 years into the neo-liberal revolution brought to bear by the likes of Reagan, Thatcher, Mulroney and Ontario's Mike Harris, we know that resources don't always trickle down. Florida, for instance, now argues that we face a crisis of gentrification, affordable housing, segregation and inequality. Hence, my chills back in 2007. Advertisement What may be missing from the urban development models are fresh approaches for community involvement in planning and development models. The consults we use with neighbourhood residents don't seem to be cutting it. Here in Toronto, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hears appeals by developers faced with what they see as resistance among City Councillors and residents. Facing resistance, the OMB often gives approval. From 2009 to 2011, 72 per cent of development applications refused by the city were then approved by the OMB. The province claims to be making efforts to reform the OMB's adversarial nature but it doesn't seem that the voices of those who are being displaced have a substantive seat at the table. In part, because what kind of mechanism can include the homeless, the mentally ill, the newcomers, the insularity of our urban tribes? Questions such as this are what the Parkdale Experience and other activism in Parkdale (and elsewhere) seeks to address. Gutmanis has plans to bring the the Parkdale Experience to future venues while raising awareness, educating and fostering solutions to pressing problems by working together. While a community-based scavenger hunt may not be the most efficient problem-solving tool, its principles are. Through thoughtful consideration of needs and resources, compassion towards others and taking actions that foster inclusivity and wellness, our cities have a shot at thriving -- together. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: The five things you need to know on Thursday, May 18 This morning's fully costed Waugh Zone is by Ned Simons. Paul is away. 1) MAYNIFESTO The Conservative Party, sorry, Team Theresa, launches its manifesto in Yorkshire morning. Her battle bus may have broken down last night, but from what we know so far of the manifesto, it seems like the prime minister is going somewhere. Advertisement Winter fuel payments will be means-tested in order to help fund health and social care. Elderly people can have 100,000 in assets before they are asked to pay towards their care but this now includes the value of their homes. No one will have to sell their house to pay for care - until they die. Andy Burnham said when he proposed something similar it was dubbed a "death tax". Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, health secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected that claim. "No tax is going up before people die or after people die," he said. "Its not a tax. Labours proposal was to increase inheritance tax." The pensions triple-lock, which guarantees that state pensions rise each year by whichever is the highest out of the consumer price index, average earnings or 2.5 per cent, is axed. The tax lock, which committed the government not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions, is also binned. The target of keeping immigration below 100,000, which has not ever been met, will be kept. Hunt said the cabinet was "completely united" behind the target. But George Osborne used an editorial in the Evening Standard to claim "none of its senior members supports the pledge". Universal free school meals will stop. The policy was a Lib Dem favourite in the coalition government. And the party says while "Margaret Thatcher was know as the 'milk snatcher'. Theresa May will go down as the lunch snatcher." Michael Gove is doing the rounds on TV this morning to defend the prime minister's agenda. Asked if he was hoping for a cabinet comeback, he told Sky News: "I'm always ready to do anything in the name of public service" Advertisement Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson writes for HuffPost this morning. "As Prime Minister, she mustnt be allowed to get away with publishing a fictional manifesto that nobody reads," he says. "The Tories cant be allowed to float through their manifesto launch untouched. Just two years ago they made a series of impossible promises and got away with it. Now they want to do it again." "Forward, Together," is the name of the manifesto. Do subscribe to our Commons People podcast. This week's episode, out later today, has a quiz about historic manifesto names. 2) LIB DEM DISCO The Lib Dems held their manifesto launch party last night. Party activists filing into the the venue in east London were greeted by sweeping disco lights and a (pay) bar. The UK's Eurovision entry, Never Give Up On You by Lucie Jones, was played loudly as Tim Farron made his way to the stage. The Lib Dem leader gave his pro-EU speech standing on a platform painted with half a British flag and half an EU flag. Do read The Independent's Tim Peck's review of night. Yet despite the prediction of a Remainer-fuelled surge, the party appears to be struggling to make a significant dent in the national polls. Farron's views on social issues are under the spotlight again. He has been forced to defend his views on abortion. In a 2007 interview he said: Take the issue of abortion. Personally I wish I could argue it away. Abortion is wrong.". He now says: I am pro-choice. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal and that the limit should be set by science. 3) HEAD-TO-HEAD-TO-HEAD-TO-HEAD-TO-HEAD This evening at 8pm ITV holds its first general election TV debate. The leaders of the SNP, Lib Dems, Ukip, Plaid Cymru and the Greens will all be there. But there will be no Theresa May and no Jeremy Corbyn. Instead, The Guardian reports, the Conservatives and Labour will send spin doctors to push their party messages to journalists in the room. Advertisement BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAREd Miliband reading out bingo numbers. 4) BORIS' BOOZE BLUNDER The worshipper who stood up to Boris Johnson after his reference to alcohol in a Sikh temple has branded him ignorant. Balbir Kaur, 62, hit out at the Foreign Secretary over his remarks on Wednesday about free trade of alcohol with India during a visit to a Gurdwara in Bristol, which was described as a sensational gaffe. Speaking after the incident on Wednesday evening, the grandmother said: How can Boris Johnson help the Sikhs? He cant help them. The Tories are the ones that sent spies to bomb the Golden Temple, now they are trying to kill them by pouring drink in. Sikhs who vote for him are ignorant of their own religion. They dont know about the history of their ancestors. 5) TRUMP'S RUSSIA TIES TARGETD One week after President Donald Trump fired the head of the FBI and raised fears about the future of the agencys investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, the US Department of Justice has appointed a widely admired former FBI director to lead an independent inquiry. The newly named special counsel, Robert Mueller, was James Comeys predecessor as FBI director. He and Comey drew widespread attention, and admiration, in an infamous showdown during the George W. Bush administration. Trump himself last night said "no politician in history" has "been treated worse or more unfairly" than he has. Which seems easily disprovable given there have been about twenty attempts to kill a sitting US president. And four have been assassinated. If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox. The five things you need to know about the Tory 2017 manifesto 1) ENEMY LINES Locations for election manifesto launches always tell you a lot about the ambition (or lack of it) of a party leader. Theresa May chose Halifax very deliberately indeed, as it sums up both sides of the May personality the safe Theresa and the bold Theresa. Advertisement Safe, because Labour MP Holly Lynch has a tiny majority of just 428 votes and the barest puff of wind from a Tory swing would turn it Tory. But Halifax was a bold choice too because it is deep inside Labours West Yorkshire heartland, a very visible symbol of all those tougher bits of the political map that she wants to turn blue after decades of being red. No wonder there was literally trouble t mill as she was confronted with protesting Labour and union activists on her arrival at Dean Clough Mill. True North was the huge sign hung over the nearby former carpet factory. By regularly staging daring raids behind enemy lines, May forces Jeremy Corbyn to use his thin resources on defending the defensible rather than more vulnerable marginals, or even offensive targets of its own. Yet the much bigger picture is the PMs belief that Labour supporters who backed Leave in the EU referendum (Halifax was 55% Leave to 45% Remain) will vote for her party for the very first time to ensure Brexit is definitely delivered. After he called the general election in 2015, David Cameron raced from the steps of No10 to Chippenham in the South West to launch his Tory campaign. His intention couldnt have been clearer: he wanted to wipe out all those Lib Dem seats needed to get him that longed-for majority. The tactic worked, but key bits of northern England stubbornly resisted. Cameron did visit Halifax to launch his much-mocked road movie poster, but the town wasnt impressed enough to ditch Labour. In fact, the last time a Tory MP was elected in Halifax was in 1983 (and before that 1959). Which was, of course, the last time the Leader of the Opposition was as unpopular as Corbyn, with a left-wing policy manifesto to match. If May gets the Brexit bounce she expects, even bigger northern targets could fall. Advertisement 2) THE QUEEN IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN The President May strategy was fully on show as the PM took the stage. The Cabinet were in front of her, not alongside her, reduced to spectators as much as the rest of us. Tory handlers were so reluctant to allow any contact between the media and the Cabinet that there was even a buffer zone of several rows of Tory activists placed between us. After the event was over, ministers were whisked away before any microphones could be shoved in their faces. Mays speech was crammed full of May too-ism, repeating the Government I lead again and again, as well as other me-myself-I lines like every vote for me and my team, join me on this journey, come with me as I lead Britain stand with me as I deliver for Britain. In the questions afterwards, she was asked several times if this manifesto with its stress on state intervention and limits to markets was a rejection of Thatcherism. Her line There is no Mayism, there is good solid Conservatism gave a nice soundbite for the TV news, but no one believed her. The very word Conservative has been reduced to the small print (literally on leaflets and her battlebus), while her own political vision has been put in banner headlines. And the manifesto itself makes plain she is trying to place her tanks firmly on the centre ground, or her version of it. One of the most fascinating sections of the 84-page document is this sentence: Rather than pursue an agenda based on the supposed centre ground defined and established by elites in Westminster, we will govern in the interests of the mainstream of the British public. That sounded like a UKIP-lite attempt to define herself as the pre-eminent anti-globalisation, pro-Brexit, anti-elitist politician of our times. Its also a message that explains just why UKIP is all but dead. Advertisement Thatcher herself won big majorities by redefining what the centre meant. And despite ducking the question today, Mays version of the centre is not Mrs Ts. The manifesto rejects the ideological templates provided by the socialist left and the libertarian right and instead embrace the mainstream view that recognises the good that government can do. Thats a long, long way from Thatcherism (and Reaganism). And in case we didnt get the message, the manifesto added: we do not believe in untrammeled free markets, we reject the cult of selfish individualism. In her speech she slammed rip-off energy tariffs, attacked the privileged few and vowed to tackle injustices based on race, gender, mental health or disability. Fifteen years after May first denounced the nasty party, itself a less than veiled reference to the excesses of Thatcherism, the message to fellow Conservatives was clear: well do it my way. 3) JUNK CHOP If May has tried to shy away from Thatchers legacy, she has positively buried David Camerons. In many ways, the 2017 Tory manifesto feels like the PM trying to free herself from the shackles of the Cameron-Osborne years. She has junked lots of her predecessors straightjackets: the tax lock that rule out rises in income tax, VAT and national insurance (itself a classic Cameroonian wheeze dreamed up simply to fill a media grid); the triple lock that guaranteed pensions went up 2.5% every year; a universal winter fuel allowance for pensioners (a Gordon Brown ploy that Cameron refused to tackle). Buried in the manifesto is the blink-and-you-miss-it line about aiming for a balanced budget by the middle of the next decade. In 2010, Osborne promised to wipe the deficit by 2015. That was put back to 2020. Then Philip Hammond suggested in his last Budget it would slip to 2022. And now it looks like we will next be in the black by 2025. Thats a weaker trajectory than anything Ed Balls suggested, but it gives May some invaluable headroom in case there are new economic shocks. Advertisement Plenty of other policies are binned or trimmed, from a redefinition of the 0.7% aid target (to include military spending inevitably and maybe even some Eastern European subsidy) to axeing a Cameron pledge to eliminate child poverty (not exactly a mainstream aim?) And it what seems like a trolling of the Cameroon era, May even vows to reform the honours system that the ex-PM debased when he sprinkled knighthoods, CBEs and peerages on his cronies before qutting No.10 last year. Perhaps the most intriguing of all the breaks with the past is on the oil industry. North Sea oil provided Thatcher with invaluable income during the 1980s, but May has a big plan to decommission the industry on a grand scale making the UK into a world leader in dismantling oil rigs. 4) BREXIT MEAN TIME May's much-derided 'Brexit means Brexit' catchphrase did actually mean something valuable to many Leave voters: a reassurance that what they voted for would actually happen. Curiously, however, given its supreme importance in this election, Mays manifesto tells us absolutely nothing more about her plans for quitting the EU in 2019. With all the zealotry of a Remainer convert to the Leaver cause, she chanted the Brexit mantra today with a pledge to take control of our money, take control of our borders and take control of our laws. Yet the vague lines about new rules for EU migration remain just that, vague. The manifesto repeats her White Paper promise to leave the EU single market. Some Remainers who want a soft Brexit may try to draw comfort from the way May listed her priorities, with Brexit coming second to the need for a strong economy. Advertisement Yet she offered them little comfort when I asked her if David Cameron was deluded to think that the bigger her majority, the stronger her hand in facing down her party in getting a deal that was not a hard Brexit. She airily dismissed any distinctions on our quitting the EU, from soft-boiled to half-baked. Still, she did smuggle into the small print a line that Britain is prepared to pay a "reasonable" contribution to the EU divorce bill, an amount described as a "fair settlement". The size of that will prove crucial in keeping Brexit voters onside. For now, it seems the PMs main hope in avoiding any betrayal narrative over Brexit is to repeat the infamous Tory pledge to cut net migration under 100,000 a year. She couldnt answer obvious questions about just how many billions in lost economic output such a cut would cost (the CBI warned her levy on firms hiring foreigners was Mays Achilles heel. Instead, it seems almost as if the global migration target is a shield against any accusations of backsliding on EU migration. In fact there was a shocking absence of any real costings in the manifesto. Aides simply said crunchy detail would be answered in the usual way in Budgets and autumn statements. The blithe, bordering on arrogant, assumption was that the party would back in power soon enough and we could get all our answers then. At least May did warn that the road ahead could bumpy. The next five years will be among the most challenging in our lifetime, she said. Even the dark blue cover of her manifesto does not feature any smiling pictures of her or her Cabinet as Camerons did. It instead looked like funeral parlour handbook. The message seemed to be: there could be grim times ahead but it will be worth it. Which brings me back to those repeated references to acting in the interests of the mainstream of the British public, and how my mainstream government will deliver for mainstream Britain. I remember in 1996 a new group was founded to promote centre ground Tory policies with a strong pro-EU message. Its chair was a certain Damian Green (close ally and longtime friend of the PM). Its name? Conservative Mainstream. Plus ca change Advertisement 5) GENERATION GAME May deserves credit for sketching out some of the big challenges facing any government right now, from the ageing population to the looming inter-generational inequalities as younger people miss out on things like their own home, secure work or secure pensions. The decision to admit defeat on school cuts, shelving the schools funding formula and pumping 4bn into the classroom, was necessary and overdue. The figure of 8bn for the NHS ensures that spending will rise per head until 2022, a big win for chief executive Simon Stevens, though aides were strangely unforthcoming about how much new money that entailed. It will be front-loaded but could be mere hundreds of millions, not billions, in extra cash. Even more odd was the fact that the PM trumpeted the most ambitious programme of investment in technology and buildings the NHS has ever seen, without any price tag at all, let alone how any explanation of how it will be paid for. Surely not through borrowing? With this PM, even thats possible. Axeing benefits-for-all like free school meals and winter fuel allowance (the latter raking in a huge 1.7bn by restricting it to the very poorest) certainly offers a clear difference with Corbyns own universalism. It remains to be seen just how wise it was to unveil a big policy on social care, which could hit many families hard. But speaking of generations, the most chilling line for Labour MPs in the entire speech today was Mays claim that it offered a vision for Britain not just for the next five years, but for the years and decades beyond. Advertisement Thatcher tempted fate by talking about going on and on. The new Queen of the Eurosceptics clearly thinks she will be an historic premier in her own right. And this manifesto may be just her first. If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox. During the last few days, we have seen a new ransomware with code name WannaCry spread rapidly all over the world, infecting thousands of computers and causing crisis in a wide range of industries, with spotlight on the National Health Services (NHS) in England. Ransomware is a malicious software that prevents affected users from accessing their devices (or part of it). Now that the biggest wave of ransomware attack has come to an end (probably), we can analyse what went wrong and learn the lessons. Lesson 1: We Lack Security Awareness One of the most common single point of failures when building security software is the human factor. IBM observed that 95% of all security incidents involve some kind of human error. Furthermore, 60% of these attacks were carried out by insiders, people who either acted deliberately or inadvertently helped an attacker from outside the organisation. Regarding the WannaCry ransomware attack, we read that the attack probably begun when a NHS employee clicked on a malicious link (phishing attack). Moreover, the attack spread widely easily since large numbers of NHS organisations failed to act on a critical notice from Microsoft two months ago - a software patch that if installed would have prevent the attack. There is no doubt that the impact of WannaCry could have been much smaller or could have even been avoided if NHS employees were properly prepared. The lack of security awareness plays a key role in ransomware. Let's hope that now, after the severe consequences of the attack, employers will put the necessary efforts in advancing employees' knowledge about cyber security. Otherwise, without advancing end-user knowledge, it is highly unlikely that security levels will improve. Advertisement Lesson 2: Healthcare Data Are Prone To Cyber Attacks The healthcare industry is one of the biggest targets for cybercriminals. The main reason for that is the fact that medical data and personal health records can be sold to medical insurance companies for a significant amount of money. In addition to that, stealing patients' data is relatively easy since healthcare has been slow in adopting proper security mechanisms, especially when compared to other sectors like banking where customer information is also sacrosanct. Lesson 3: Secret Services Can be a Real Threat Confronting Memories is a solo exhibition by Wang Ding-Yeh that is currently being staged at VT Artsalon in Taipei, the city in which Wang was born. Confronting Memories is dedicated to Yuanfang Wang, the artist's grandfather who was murdered during White Terror. White Terror refers to the years between 1947-1987 in which thousands of Taiwanese were imprisoned, tortured, and executed for their real or supposed opposition to the Chinese Nationalist Party. This forty year period of martial law was one of the longest in history, surpassed only by Syria. The aftershocks of the bloody trauma continue to reverberate in the modern Taiwanese psyche, and in the island nation's relationship to mainland China. Advertisement I spoke to Wang about the show, and how he conceived the artworks in it. It has been three decades since White Terror and authoritarianism ended, and yet truth and justice remain evaded. There has been no non-partisan recognition that this terrible period of history took place: why was now the right time to create the exhibition? I started my series 'family history' two years ago. I was invited to Penang, Malaysia, to attend DA+C Digital Art Festival, and only then did I realise that my grandmother was born there in 1920. I wanted to know about her, about her life. I asked all my relatives to write their memories of my grandmother, and during this process we started piecing these scraps of memories into something whole. It was a period of bonding and conversation for the entire family, and the process meant a lot to me. That was the starting point of this series. I like the process, the act of remembering: I gather my family together, they write down their memories: the process is instant. When the memory is fragmented or damaged, other family members will mend it. It is cathartic, and powerful. Taiwan is still healing. What do you think is the best way for Taiwan and the Taiwanese people to confront the bloody trauma of White Terror, and heal? Does this period of history need to be faced to be resolved? Advertisement Time may be a way of healing, but it is also a way of avoiding, ignoring. The other way is to face it, talk about it, and understand it. For me, to face it with my work is the only way forward. History has taken place: all we can do is to learn from it. Taiwan is in many aspects unique in terms of its international position and identity; its history is distinctive, and its ideology is certainly influenced by the politics of being an island - this makes confronting history difficult. Human rights abuses are globally pervasive, and those that occurred in Taiwan continue to haunt the country. What is the role of the artist in tackling issues like this? The issue of human rights abuses is complex, and I certainly don't think I have the capacity to solve it. In this exhibition I tackle this issue head on, being aware that if I don't, it can easily become a form of file or document. My method is to trigger the life of an individual and the history of a family through flashbacks, and with poetry. The viewer can connect to their own experience's through the work, and link it to the history of Taiwan. Many think that documents detailing civilian executions and the identities of victims have been destroyed, and proof of atrocities hidden. Text is very important in the show. Where are these textual fragments from, and how did you select them? Advertisement I use dust and red soil to create sentences about memory and affection. 'I will die twice, first my soul left, second is that I disappear from one's memory': with this sentence I try to piece my family's memories together, and make my grandfather exist again, in another form. I converted Taiwanese mother tongue into the Roman alphabet - another process of re-forming occurs. Your previous work deals with social truths, and the present condition of contemporary society. This show delves into the past. How was the experience of working different? There is no difference: all of my grandparent's history will eventually return to the present. The past will cycle to the present to form the future. This is why most of these works are about forming a connection between the family's ancestry and the family today. In this sense, the series does deal with the question of contemporary society. The exhibition is very emotive, and gives body back to a lost voice. How much of what informed the show is personal, and related to your grandfather? Did you do any research into other families who had experienced similar tragedies? Advertisement It is a very personal show, and I have only understood the history in a general sense. It is, however, my hope that those who come to the exhibition will share their own experiences of White Terror. For one work I converted a video recording of my family describing their old house, and the days leading up to my grandfather being forced to leave with the government. He died three months after. The works in the show are fragmented, or partial - what was the idea behind this? I treat the whole exhibition as a work, and every single piece seems like a puzzle to put together, and when it comes together as one it represents my poetic side of life, my affection for my family, and the scent of history. The concept of the ephemeral often informs your work, yet in this show we find that permanence has considerable weight. How did you balance these two things? My method is to casually create a very strong emotional response. The media I use, sentences, dust, soil, video recording, light, all provide a very faint scent, and I let this scent accumulate in our sense. I intend to use soft movements to create internal force, and it works like qi-gong. Advertisement Confronting Memories is on at VT Artsalon until late May. VT Artsalon was founded by a guerilla art collective. China said on Thursday it had lodged a complaint with the United States after it imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program, Reuters reported. China has complained repeatedly to the United States about unilateral sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies linked to either Iran or North Korea's nuclear or missile programs. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under a 2015 international nuclear deal even as he imposed the new penalties. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China followed local rules and regulations and closely adhered to its responsibilities to the international community. "China is opposed to the blind use of unilateral sanctions particularly when it damages the interests of third parties. I think the sanctions are unhelpful in enhancing mutual trust and unhelpful for international efforts on this issue," she told a daily news briefing. "China has lodged representations with the United States and hopes the U.S. side can on the principle of mutual respect resolve non-proliferation issues through dialogue and communication," Hua added. China has close economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran, but was also instrumental in pushing through a landmark 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. Eaz lost both his legs when a bomb hit his home in Syria. He fled to Jordan but soon found himself stuck without proper medical treatment. In the end, he turned to smugglers to get him to Europe. He told Unicef, "I wanted to come by plane because the journey is hard for someone like me. I waited for refugee status for three years, but didn't hear back. Finally I came by sea with smugglers." Eaz's story is sadly not unusual. The global number of refugee and migrant children moving alone has reached a record high, increasing nearly five-fold since 2010. At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were recorded across 80 countries last year. Advertisement It is not only the numbers of unaccompanied children that are on the rise, millions of children generally are on the move across international borders - fleeing violence and conflict, disaster and poverty, and in pursuit of a better life. There are lots of factors that motivate children to undertake these journeys, but wherever they are, we have a duty to protect them. A child is still a child wherever they may be, but while on the move, first and foremost they need protection. The Convention on the Rights of the Child protects every child, everywhere. All children regardless of legal status, nationality and statelessness have the right to be protected from harm, obtain essential services like health and education and to be with their families. Yet in practice, this is not happening. For children on the move, trafficking is a serious risk. In Unicef's latest report, A Child is a child, recent surveys indicated that 75% of children aged 11-17 arriving in Italy via the Central Mediterranean migration route had been exposed to one of the five indicators associated with trafficking, such as being forced to work or being held against their will. Children also make up two-thirds of detected trafficking victims in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. Advertisement These new statistics are truly shocking - but there is something we can do about it. One child moving is one child too many and this is why ahead of the G7 summit in Italy next week, Unicef is calling on governments to adopt a six-point agenda for action to protect these children and ensure their well-being. As one of the destination countries for children on the move, there is also much that the UK Government can do so that these children are safe and protected. This is why at Unicef UK, we have been asking the UK Government to build on the work done to bring children to safety from Calais last year, by improving its immigration rules on family reunion. By making it possible for children to safely reach their family members in the UK from countries of origin or transit, rather than having to first make the dangerous journey to Europe, we can prevent these children from falling into the hands of traffickers and smugglers. By also working with partner countries on cross-border protection for children and putting in place resettlement schemes beyond the current 2020 cut-off, the UK can play a leading global role in ensuring that all unaccompanied children have the stability and support they need to rebuild their lives. Advertisement Welcome to Sweden, one of the happiest countries in the world. A country consistently listed in the top ten in the World Happiness Report. This mentality has been fundamental to Sweden becoming a bastion of entrepreneurship, with some of the hottest tech companies emerging, including Skype, Spotify and King (Candy Crush's parent company). If you delve into a number of typical Swedish companies, some key qualities recur that I believe we can all learn from. Engineering success Sweden's "happy country" label is something that's relatively well known, but perhaps something less highlighted is the well-established engineering background which goes back as far as some of the early pioneers of mobile space with Ericsson. Advertisement It's this engineering first attitude which has now proliferated into newer, more agile tech businesses. This, combined with a 'do good' mentality, has meant that many of the successful businesses born out of Sweden put a major focus on customer value and experience, rather than purely commercial gain. Some great examples of this include Spotify, iZettle and Klarna. If you look at what these companies stand for, it's all about fundamentally changing the way consumers engage for the better, be it the way we access music, the way we can make payments or the way we checkout in store. In each case these aren't small changes to the norm, there is a fundamental shift to a better way of doing things for consumers. Credit: Pixabay Getting - and keeping - your priorities straight The psyche and attitude towards building a company "in a Swedish way" means that the customer is placed - and remains - at the centre of the business. This attitude is something that's really driven Swedes to think differently and is reflected in consumer attitudes and expectations. Advertisement Unfortunately, when I look more globally at how businesses approach customer experience there is a strong focus on superficial look and feel rather than actual substance. Consumer Research carried out last year revealed customers' frustration with being bombarded by irrelevant communication from service providers. In fact, 86% of customers who left their bank, energy, mobile or insurance provider in a six month window said they would have been more content if they were contacted in a different way. When questioned about their reasons for leaving, relevancy and timeliness had the biggest impact on loyalty. Nearly one in five (17%) complained that they never received relevant information. This makes grim reading, and surely the time for change is now. Being and staying positive With such a strongly tech driven country, the latest advancements to facilitate the "customer first" mentality, understandably feature innovative technology at the core. Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean it is now possible for businesses to communicate with people at scale but retain a human aspect, delivering intelligent customer dialogue. Combining AI with customer data means you can create smart, service oriented messages that respond to our behaviour, in real time. Take Scandinavian Airlines , which used smart communications to reach inactive account holders. People were given relevant information that enabled them to start collecting loyalty points again, providing a positive service that would benefit consumers long term and encouraged them to reengage with the brand. This focus on keeping people happy is crucial. Advertisement How can we be more Swedish? We have reached a point whereby we have to fundamentally change our approach to how we treat people. It's little wonder that smaller more agile challenger brands are taking significant market share, based purely on a genuine customer centric approach. Leon Neal via Getty Images I was proud to be in Bradford earlier this week for the launch of Labour's manifesto. Quite rightly, it's been subjected to forensic analysis and scrutiny from the media and from our political opponents. I welcome that - it's what politics is about, and any party that seeks to govern needs to have its ideas tested. As the Conservatives publish their own manifesto, it's vital that it's given the same treatment. Theresa May has been running a safety-first campaign, in which she's spent more time hiding from voters than putting herself in front of them. She's tried to reduce the entire Conservative offer to the words "strong and stable" and the hope that voters will be bored into submission. To be fair, it certainly bores me. Advertisement But the Tories can't be allowed to float through their manifesto launch untouched. Just two years ago they made a series of impossible promises and got away with it. Now they want to do it again. Let's just remind ourselves what the Tories' 2015 offer consisted of. A pledge to move to a budget surplus in 2019-20 that has already been abandoned. A promise to find 12billion in welfare savings which ended up causing the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary as it proved impossible to deliver without hitting disabled people in a way he said was "not defensible". A commitment to cut net migration to the tens of thousands which Theresa May, in six years as Home Secretary, was utterly incapable of delivering. A so-called "tax lock" which Philip Hammond tried to break in his recent budget, and which was described by one of David Cameron's own advisors as "probably the dumbest economic policy" possible. Add to that a pledge to give the NHS 8billion which the House of Commons Health Select Committee says is not being met, a pledge to give 30 hours free childcare to three- and four-year olds which isn't even close to being delivered, and a pledge to raise living standards which has been undermined by news of falling wages just this week, and the Tories' 2015 manifesto starts to look like a document to run away from, not run on. And the less said about the Tories' solemn 2015 manifesto commitment to safeguard Britain's interests in the single market, the better. Advertisement I'll be interested to see how many of these 2015 promises - published in a document with Theresa May herself pictured prominently on the cover - make it into Theresa May's 2017 manifesto. If she chooses to keep them, I hope she will be asked serious questions about how she'll deliver them, given her government's abject failure to do so up to now. If she drops them, I hope people will ask themselves why, if commitments solemnly made just two years ago are so easily abandoned, we should take seriously whatever commitments replace them. Ten years ago, Theresa May told the House of Commons that "the idea that a lot of voters read manifestos is purely fictional... in the case of some parties, their manifestos are pure fiction". As Prime Minister, she mustn't be allowed to get away with publishing a fictional manifesto that nobody reads. I look forward to seeing it get the scrutiny it deserves. Jason Bean valued being able to become bowl eligible with Kansas Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fatih Karimov Trend: The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) has signed a cooperation document with Finnvera, Finlands official export credit agency. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Kamal Seyyed Ali, head of the EGFI and Topi Vesteri, deputy CEO and group chief credit officer for Finnvera, on the sidelines of the Berne Union Spring Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Ministrys SHATA news website reported. Under the MoU, the parties will cooperate in exchange of economic, banking, and insurance information. The memorandum also envisages cooperation in the fields of reinsurance and joint insurance in third countries as well. The EGFI has signed similar documents with Germanys Hermes, which offers export credit guarantee (ECG), and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) as well as the Hungarian Export Credit Insurance Plc (MEHIB), the Portuguese export credit agency(COSEC), Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Slecic) and Brazilian Guarantees and Fund Managements Agency (ABGF) in recent months. During the meeting, Seyyed Ali called for upgrading Irans risk rating, saying the current rate is not satisfactory. Vesteri, who is also the president of the Berne Union, said the related committees would consider positive factors of Irans economy for assessing the risk ranking in the future. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has classified Iran at Level 6, though Iranian officials expect an upgrade to Level 4. The Berne Union, also known as the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers, is an international non-profit association and community for the global export credit and investment insurance industry. Iran became a member of the Berne Union in May 2016. How To Grow Your Online Music Brand In 24 Hours While the ways in which you can "make it" in the music industry have certainly changed, it still requires a concerted effort to stand out from a sea of other talented artists. This piece looks at how you as an artist can work to develop your brand online brand and reach out to fans. ________________________ Guest post by Paul Loeb of the TuneCore Blog [Editors Note: This is a guest blog written by Paul Loeb. Paul has been at the intersection of music and tech for 20 years. He is founder and CEO of DropTrack, a music promotion platform for independent artists. His goal has always been to give musicians like himself the tools to stand out from the rest, get heard, and make deals.] Whether youre pursuing music full- or part-time, youve likely been asked by family, friends, or perfect strangers about how you plan to make it in the music industry. Annoying, sure, but its a fair question. Its a tough industry to crack and success takes much more than musical talent. Unlike in the past, however, making it big as a musician isnt just about who you know. The good news is, with a bit of marketing, you can start to set yourself apart from the musicians who simply continue to hope the right person happens to walk into a near-empty bar for a listen. Here are a few quick tips for building your music brand so you can stand out amongst the competition. It Starts With a Conversation If youre a member of a band, its important to start the branding process with all members present. If youre a one man or woman show, you can get started immediately. Youve probably already talked or thought about how you define your music, but for branding purposes, lets focus on what makes your story different or unique. There are thousands of hopeful indie rock artists, but are you in a band with your siblings? Did you learn to play the saxophone from your grandpa? Even if youre convinced theres nothing special about your background, theres an interesting story behind any true passion. If youre still unsure of how best to tell your story, look to the musicians who inspire you. Odds are, theyre paying marketers big bucks to help with this process, but reading a few of their stories can help provide a template to follow. Teasing that story out is the first step to successfully branding yourself. Tell Your Story Concisely & Authentically Now that youve done the hard work in getting to the root of what makes your music brand unique, its important to create a few variations of that story. Youll need your quick, 30-second elevator pitch as well as a more detailed version for things like your website, talking to press, etc. The more concisely and consistently you can tell your own story, the catchier it becomes. Also be sure that youre telling an authentic story and building a connection between you and the listeners. Think about the musicians you love: there are likely certain storiesthe love story behind the lyrics of your favorite song or the random way in which the guitarist met the drummerthat stick with you because of how well, and how consistently, theyre told. Which part of your story would you want to stick with a music blogger? With your biggest fans? It may seem redundant because these narratives are surely in your head, but getting them onto your website or into an email is critical in transferring how you see your music brand to how others understand you. Be Consistent Across Channels Now that you know your story and can tell it effectively, youll want to make sure its updated across all your channels, from your website to various social media platforms. Youll want to make sure that a music blogger who checks out your Facebook page has the same experience there as (s)he does on your website, Twitter, and Instagram. Your messaging and the visuals that support it should all reflect the story you want to tell. Create a List of Influencers Once youve gained direction with the story you want to tell, it will be easier to find bloggers and publications who might be interested in your vision. You can use free, online tools like Buzzsumo to quickly search for relevant influencers. Broaden your reach by thinking about your story from a couple of different angles. If youre a New Orleans-based funk band, look for bloggers who cover other funk bands, but also look to local New Orleans publications who might be interested in the local, hometown aspect of your story. You should cater your message to these two types of writers differently, but send promos easily and track which aspect of your story might be having a greater impact. Make a List of Resources You Need Ok, so it might be hard to do a total rebrand in 24 hours. But, now that you know the brand image you want to portray, have updated media to the extent you can, and made a list of the people with whom you want to connect, its time to jot down where you can go the extra mile in completing the branding process. Maybe your visual aesthetic isnt telling your story as effectively as it could be. Scheduling a photoshoot or reaching out to a designer about a new logo are proactive steps you can take today toward a complete, successful online branding. Now that youve put some serious effort into building your brand, its time to make sure youre getting in front of the right people. Music bloggers and industry influencers will be more likely to give you a listen when you present yourself in a unique, consistent manner. (Remember, your demo isnt enough, but your new branding will help you get the email open or link click-through.) Theres also no time like a rebrand to ramp up your marketing emails and connect with your fanbase with an email marketing campaign through Droptrack. Youve done the work; now, go get your brand in front of the right people. Share on: Haiti - Invitation : Celebration 214th of Flag in Chicago Lesly Conde, the Consul General of Haiti in Chicago, made it his duty to remind fellow of all the Midwest that this Thursday May 18, 2017 brings back the 214th anniversary of the creation of the Haitian flag. In the spirit of the commemoration of this anniversary, the Consulate will collaborate on Saturday 20 May with the Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti at the 11th Annual Gala of this organization, whose theme will be "All haitians for a better Haiti" which will be held at the Edwards Hotel Penthouse, located at 6600 Manheim Rd., Rosemont, Il. During this Gala, dedicated to our bicolour, the Consul Conde will speak to emphasize the importance of our bicolor and the place that it occupies in the history of humanity. On Sunday, May 21, the Haitian Catholic Mission of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Consulate General of Haiti invite all the brothers and sisters of the Community, of all religious denominations, to a Solemn "Te Deum" Mass to be celebrated at 5:30 pm at Notre-Dame de la Paix Church, located at 7801 South Jeffery, Chicago. After the religious ceremony a reception will be offered in the basement of the Church. The Consulate General of Haiti in Chicago encourages all Haitians and friends of Haiti to come in great numbers to pay tribute to our national emblem, symbol of our fraternity and resilience. IH/ iciHaiti The Iranian Foreign Ministry has stressed that the country will never accept any UN document that even minutely goes against the countrys beliefs and religious values, PressTV reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the remarks on Wednesday in relation to a UN document, dubbed as the Education 2030 agenda, which charts out development goals for world nations. He noted that Iran has officially notified UNESCO that any part of the document which is against the countrys cultural, religious, social and moral beliefs is not executable. Our country has no commitment whatsoever to its execution, he said, stressing that this is Irans "unchangeable stance" on the subject. On May 7, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the document had been prepared under the influence of world powers. Iran signed the document in 2016, but Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic will not submit to it. A hushed signing and implementation of this document is definitely not permissible and the related bodies have been notified of that," the Leader said. Iran's education planners say the UNESCO document is not in tune with the country's educational standards, adopted by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. They have warned that submitting to the UNESCO agenda would require Iran to share its educational information which could end up in wrong hands. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under a 2015 international nuclear deal even as he imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program, Reuters reported. The dual actions, announced by the Departments of State and Treasury, appeared intended to signal a tough stance on Iran even as Trump continued predecessor President Barack Obama's pact under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. While Trump criticized the nuclear agreement as a presidential candidate - at one point saying he would "dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran" - Wednesday's actions demonstrated that he has decided, at least for now, to keep it. "The United States continues to waive sanctions as required to continue implementing U.S. sanctions-lifting commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," the State Department said in a statement, referring to the deal by its formal name. The United States brands Iran a "state sponsor of terrorism." It says Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war, Houthi rebels in Yemen's civil war and the Hezbollah Shi'ite political party and militia in Lebanon, have helped destabilize the Middle East. Separately, the Treasury Department said it had sanctioned two senior Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company, a Chinese man and three Chinese companies for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. The designation of the seven Iranian and Chinese people and companies blocks any assets they might have in the United States and bars Americans and non-Americans from doing business with them, at the risk of being blacklisted by the United States. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It was a ferocious early morning scrummage to get into the first Cannes screening of Todd Hayness Wonderstruck. The security was even more draconian than normal, the screening started late and the audience was unusually restive and bad-tempered. The hope was that Hayness film, adapted from the young adult novel by Brian Sezlnick (the author of The Invention Of Hugo Cabret), would transport them away from their everyday cares. After all, this is a fantastical tale that plays as a silent movie at times; that spans 50 years, switching from black and white to colour, and that even includes some animated sequences. The magic, though, wasnt really there. The film deals with bereavement, sudden deafness and with the abandonment issues that cloud the lives of its young protagonists. It has one of those plots so heavily reliant on coincidence that youre half surprised when the unexpected doesnt happen. We start in Minnesota in 1977. Ben (very well played by Oakes Fegley) is a likeable, shaggy-haired kid who has Starsky & Hutch posters on his wall and who loves to day dream and to collect old bric a brac. He doesnt know the identity of his father. Was he an astronomer, the boy asks himself. Maybe thats why I like outer space so much. Bens mother has died in an automobile accident. He is grief-stricken, has recently lost his hearing, and is prey to strange nightmares about wolves. He resolves to run away to New York in search of his dad. From 1977, were whisked back to the black and white 1920s and to another story of a deaf child heading to New York in search of a parent. This is Rose (Millicent Simmons), and shes obsessed, for reasons that are soon revealed, with the great Lillian Gish-like movie star, Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), star of sweeping melodrama Daughter Of The Storm. Haynes recreates 1920s New York in highly inventive fashion. As he has shown in films such as Far From Heaven and Carol, he knows just how to celebrate (and to subvert) old Hollywood melodramas. Here, as Rose watches Mayhew on screen, we get to see a few scenes of Moore giving a diva-like performance in Daughter Of The Storm, acting very expressively as a cabin blows away nearby. Its a frustration, though, that her screen time is so fleeting. She plays two characters in Wonderstruck but neither is seen for long. Nor do we get more than a few minutes of Michelle Williams as Bens mother. (Williams still manages to register very strongly.) Wonderstruck stars Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore at the Cannes premiere on Thursday (Reuters) Another of the pleasures here is the directors recreation of late 1970s New York: the bustling, garish, rubbish-strewn city full of hustlers and low-lifes we know from Taxi Driver and countless cop movies. The elegant cinema that once showed Lillian Mayhew pictures has become a seedy, run-down porn theatre showing flicks like Captain Lust. Ben arrives in New York, looking for Kincaid Books, a shop whose address he has stumbled on in bizarre circumstances. He has money from his mothers rainy day fund but theres very little chance of him being able to hold onto it. Wonderstruck stands as an advertisement for Hayness chameleon-like qualities as a director, his ability to change storytelling styles and his visual imagination. He also uses sound in very subtle fashion. The deafness of the two kids seems to heighten their other senses. We see the city through their eyes. As Haynes cuts between the 1920s and 1970s, we all know that the twin stories must be interconnected. What isnt clear until very late on is exactly how theyre linked. We thus have the sense that we are watching two separate movies. In its more banal moments for example, in the sketching of the friendship between Ben and a boy he meets on the streets and then meets again at the Natural History Museum the film plays like just another kids tale. Certain moments, for example the New York City blackout, dont have the impact that might have been expected. There is also a mawkishness here that you dont find in any of Hayness other movies. Wonderstruck has its grace notes but there arent quite enough of them. The shifts in time and storytelling style risk becoming a distraction and blunt the force and coherence of the film. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Paris Agreement on global warming is irreversible and non-negotiable, the European Union has said in a blunt warning to climate science denier Donald Trump. The EU and 79 developing countries in Africa, the Pacific and Caribbean issued a statement in which they reaffirmed their commitment to the landmark deal and called for others to do the same. The Trump administration is currently considering whether to withdraw from the agreement, which committed the world to keeping global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. The US President has laughably described climate change as a hoax perpetrated by China, a suggestion one of his advisers later described as an exaggeration. Without specifically mentioning Mr Trump, Miguel Arias Canete, the European Commissioner for climate action and energy, said: Today more than ever, Europe stands by its long-term partners most vulnerable to climate change. We, developed and developing countries together, will defend the Paris Agreement. We are all in, and our joint commitment to this agreement today is as in Paris: irreversible and non-negotiable. And Patrick Gomes, Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), said: The longstanding, ongoing cooperation between the ACP group and the EU shows we are serious about addressing the impacts of climate change. Implementing the Paris Agreement is not only about ensuring the very survival of the 79 ACP countries, but also about building sustainable, resilient and prosperous economies and societies worldwide. They made the call at a United Nations climate change conference taking place in Bonn, Germany, ahead of forthcoming meetings of the G7 and G20 groups of world leaders. The EU announced it would provide 800 million euros (about 680m) of support to ACP countries with about half to be used to address climate change. The Paris Agreement contained pledges and aspirations but work is still being done to develop actual action that this achieve the goals. The Trump administration is believed to be split over whether to withdraw the US as a signatory to the Paris Agreement. Some, like Defence Secretary James Mattis are believed to recognise the dangers posed by climate change something that has been taken seriously by the Pentagon for years, given the threats to global security. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Others are thought to be in favour of staying in so that the US simply has a seat at the table during future talks and to avoid paying a diplomatic cost of withdrawing from a major international agreement. When the US and China jointly ratified the deal, Barack Obama suggested it could become regarded as the moment humanity finally decided to save itself. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} McDonalds may boast that all the beef in the burgers sold in its British stores comes from the UK and Ireland. But anti-deforestation activists are calling on the fast food giant to demonstrate that the cattle are not being raised on a soy-based feed blamed for causing the widescale loss of trees in the Amazon and other parts of South America. In a report in February, campaign group Mighty Earth revealed how land was being cleared to make way for soy plantations in the Brazilian Cerrado and Bolivian Amazon. Now, in a follow-up report, they said large industrial farms were still selling to major global food companies that supply household names like McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Kelloggs and Kraft Heinz. Glenn Hurowitz, chief executive of Mighty Earth, told The Independent: McDonalds has to make sure its burgers arent destroying rainforests. Despite the positive past steps McDonalds has taken, everything we know about their suppliers suggests theyre still chock full of deforestation. The report, called Still At It, said McDonalds had expressed a desire for collective joint action with its suppliers about the problem. The company had not provided information about its supply chain but publicly available data shows that it is Cargills biggest customer in Europe, the report added. While Cargill is hardly well known, it is the largest private firm in the US in terms of revenue. The Mighty Earth report in February used satellite images, drones and mapping information to find evidence of significant deforestation in areas of Brazil and Bolivia where Cargill and another major company, Bunge, buy from farmers. If McDonalds isnt using responsibly produced British feed, it should at least make sure its not getting foreign feed from companies like Cargill. Issuing general statements isnt enough, Mr Hurowitz said. He said it was outrageous that McDonalds suppliers knew how to provide products to help make Big Macs and McNuggets without cutting down trees but were still refusing to do it. Mr Hurowitz said there was more than enough degraded land available for use for such plantations so there was no need for further deforestation. This is a view shared by the United Nations, many countries and major companies around the world. The New York Declaration on Forests in September 2014 pledged to end deforestation by the private sector by 2020 and stop it entirely by 2030. In February, The New York Times spoke to local farmers in Bolivia in the areas covered by the first Mighty report and was told by ones who had cleared forest areas that they had sold soy to Cargill. Cargill and Bunge the former is a signatory to the New York declaration, the latter is not both said Mightys report seemed to inflate their role in deforestation in the area, the Times reported. At the time, Cargill insisted if a farmer has burned down its forest well not source from that grower and promised to investigate, saying it would honour our obligations and our commitments. Weve committed to ending deforestation and to do our part in ending deforestation. Our word is our bond, Cargills chief executive David MacLennan told the Times. In an emailed statement, Cargill pointed to its own Report on Forests and said: "Cargills commitment is to end deforestation in our agricultural supply chains. Cargill was the only agricultural commodities company to endorse the New York Declaration on Forests in 2014 and we are committed to delivering against global and private-sector targets to protect forests. "We work alongside a number of organisations who share our goal of ending deforestation. "Some are critical, some are supportive; but in all cases, we benefit from these interactions as we work toward a common purpose. "We have a proven track record protecting forests and are proud of our progress. Yet we know we have more work to do. Recent reports highlight some of the hurdles on this journey, particularly in Brazil and Bolivia." It added it was "advancing sustainable solutions" in the Brazilian Cerrado and, in Bolivia, Cargill said it was "applying our experience from other regions and evaluating our sourcing to ensure we are aligned with our commitments". "Our work on deforestation is also connected to our goals of increasing food security and improving farmer livelihoods, which is why we are being thoughtful about our approaches and timetables," the statement said. McDonalds UK did not respond to a request for comment. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Consumers are increasingly wising up about the ingredients and transparency about where their skincare products come from. This has led to many people seeking out the brands labelled natural, organic, GMO and pesticide-free, and even vegan. However, actually finding organic products is difficult. Organic is not a legal term in skincare, so brands are free to use it as they like, even if they only contain a small amount of one organic ingredient. For full assurance, look for products bearing a certification label, such as the Soil Association in the UK. Brands will have had to meet strict criteria including a certain percentage of organic ingredients (typically at least 95 per cent) in order to carry the label. However, there is even variation in standards between certifiers. In skincare, it is almost impossible to make 100 per cent organic formulas; ingredients such as clay or water, for example, are both natural and harmless, but cannot be farmed and therefore cannot be called organic. Some of the brands weve listed arent certified but claim to use organic ingredients wherever possible. All our choices contain high proportions of natural, organic and high-quality ingredients, even if they are not fully certified, and all give results that compete with more mainstream, less clean brands. Weve applied the same standards as we always do to testing skincare, looking at experience of use, long-term results and price. You can trust our independent roundups. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent. Pai camellia and rose gentle hydrating cleanser and cloth All of Pais products are certified organic and natural by the Soil Association, and are also vegan and cruelty-free, so you can order without having to work out which products ticks which box. Its gentle cleanser is a cream formula, which wont strip natural moisture from your skin, and contains omega-9 and vitamin E-rich camellia oil, as well as nourishing rose otto oil. Use it as a second cleanse with the face cloth included. Buy now 40 John Lewis & Partners {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Neals Yard wild rose beauty balm Neals Yard was doing organic long before it was trendy; it has been certified by the Soil Association since 1991. We love the bestselling multipurpose rose beauty balm, which is a blend of organic rosehip (rich in vitamins A and E), geranium and patchouli oils. Not only does it smell divine, but it nourishes wherever it is used. Try it as a cleanser with a flannel, as a deeply moisturising mask left on for 20-30 minutes, to moisturise dry elbows or cuticles, or to add glow to cheekbones or lips. Its versatility makes it a great choice for when youre travelling. Buy now 40 Neal's Yard {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Akin certifed organic rosehip oil Australian brand Akin is vegan and its list of ingredients is clearly marked with exactly which ones are organic: in this case, both its two ingredients are simple. This rosehip oil is nourishing and hydrating, light enough to absorb fairly quickly, and improves the appearance of pretty much everything scars, uneven tone, even stretch marks, thanks to its minimum 80 per cent concentration of essential fatty acids. Buy now 25.60 Feelunique {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} De Mamiel intense nurture antioxidant elixir De Mamiel doesnt label each product as certified nor list its organic ingredient percentage, but it does promise that each product contains the purest natural and organic ingredients possible. Its elixir is a real powerhouse of antioxidants to protect your skin from environmental damage and support cell turnover, topped up with refining and collagen-boosting samphire and hydrating hyaluronic acid. We found skin to be softer, clearer and less irritated within a week of daily use; apply after cleansing and before moisturising. Buy now 88 Cult Beauty {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Conscious Skincare make-up melt This simple, light blend of organic sesame and castor oils dissolves all make-up, including waterproof eye products, without irritation or rubbing. It also contains rosemary, eucalyptus and myrtle, which are essential oils to clarify and even out skin. It is certified vegetarian and cruelty-free, is suitable for vegans, and is completely plastic-free if you choose to order without the plastic pump. Buy now 14 Conscious Skincare {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Bamford refining exfoliator Bamford, founded by the owner of Daylesford organic farm, is all about natural and organic beauty. Its refining exfoliator is made from 86 per cent certified organic ingredients, and uses enzymes from apple, lemon and grape to exfoliate chemically, while fine volcanic particles exfoliate manually. It is gentle enough to be used every day to keep skin soft and glowing. Buy now 55 Bamford {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Dr Haushcka renewing night conditioner Dr Hauschka has been making natural cosmetics since 1967, when there was no certification, and still pledges to make its products with as many certified-organic ingredients as possible. Its renewing night conditioner is a 28-day treatment course of serum ampoules; applied every evening. Its blend of witch hazel, lily, rose and sunflower helps to balance skin and encourages its natural renewal processes. Two weeks in, our tester found redness had noticeably reduced around the nose and cheeks and dryness had been improved. Buy now 42 Feelunique {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Evolve Beauty hyaluronic serum 200 Evolve Beauty products are made in small batches in Hertfordshire, so are local and fresh. Its hyaluronic serum is a good example of a product thats fairly low in the organic percentage (36 per cent) but still labelled organic. But if you can get over that it is 99 per cent natural it gives results that easily compare to more mainstream brands. Hyaluronic acid can hold more than 1,000 times its weight in water, so this serum locks moisture into parched skin, leaving it soft and plump. Buy now 30 Evolve Beauty {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Irene Forte apricot face peel Irene Fortes ingredients are grown at its very own 230-hectare, organic farm in Sicily. This at-home peel (not as scary as it sounds) contains natural enzymes from red grapes, lemons and apples to smooth textures, remove impurities and brighten dull skin, as well as apricot seed powder for light manual exfoliation. It only takes five minutes to work, so its a perfectly feasible step to add to your routine a couple of times a week. Buy now 70 Liberty London {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Kypris moonlight catalyst overnight serum Kypris makes vegan, natural and organic products that easily compare with the results of mainstream brands. Moonlight catalyst is a nice alternative to a night-time retinol: it uses pumpkin enzymes for really gentle exfoliation and brightening, plus EGF (a protein that accelerates cell turnover), which encourages healing and slows thinning of the skin. Theres no denying that its expensive, but for those with mature skin looking for an organic, gentle treatment, its excellent. Buy now 113 Naturisimo {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: No matter who is elected at the May 19 presidential election in Iran, the nuclear deal between the country and P5+1 will be upheld, Kenneth Katzman, a senior analyst at the Congressional Research Service, which conducts research and analysis for the US Congress, believes. "However, if [conservative candidate Ebrahim] Raisi is elected, US-Iran tensions likely will increase even further than is the case now," Katzman told Trend. Meanwhile, the analyst expects that Raisi would not violate the Iran nuclear deal and, as long as the deal is upheld by Iran, likely any new sanctions would focus mainly on Iran's missile program, not on its oil and gas industry or banking industry. But, the expert noted that the polls and chances still favor incumbent President Hassan Rouhanis re-election at this point. "However, there is potential for the regime to use the Revolutionary Guard and security forces to work on behalf of Mr. Raisi in the election, which could help that candidate prevail," Katzman said. President Hassan Rouhani, the custodian of Razavi holy shrine Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, former culture minister Seyed Mostafa Agha Mirsalim and reformist politician Mostafa Hashemi-Taba are campaigning for the upcoming presidential election. During the previous presidential election in June 2013, Rouhani garnered 50.7 percent of over 36 million votes. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Its the season of getting wet and muddy. Granted, wed much prefer sunshine and rainbows right now, but there are still some beautiful outdoor adventures to be had even when the weathers a bit bleak. With proper footwear and a can-do attitude, you can tackle everything from muddy fields to puddle-strewn streets without a care in the world. Enter the trusty wellies. Wellies have come a long way from the bog-standard sludgy-green pair your dad would keep in the garden shed. Not only is there a pair to suit every terrain, but they now also come in different lengths and a range of styles. Some are so stylish you could easily get away with wearing them as an everyday boot. No, really. How we tested We pulled on various styles, shapes and fabrics in the rain, wind and snow to give you the best wellie breakdown. We tried them out on all types of surfaces and walked for a range of distances to analyse comfort and durability. Read more: The best wellies for 2022 are: Best overall Lakeland red wellington boots: 49.95, Lakelandfootwear.co.uk Lakeland red wellington boots: 49.95, Lakelandfootwear.co.uk Best ankle boot Boden Chelsea wellington boots: 60, Boden.co.uk Boden Chelsea wellington boots: 60, Boden.co.uk Best quilted boot Joules coniston comfort wellies: 99.95, Joules.com Joules coniston comfort wellies: 99.95, Joules.com Best knee-high boot Hunter original tall wellington boots: 115, Hunterboots.com Hunter original tall wellington boots: 115, Hunterboots.com Best for spring walks with the dog Regatta lady harper ankle wellies: 25, Next.co.uk Regatta lady harper ankle wellies: 25, Next.co.uk Best lace-up boots Joules Ashby premium lace-up chelsea boots: 44.95, Joules.com Joules Ashby premium lace-up chelsea boots: 44.95, Joules.com Best lined boots Seasalt Cornwall storm chaser wellies: 45, Seasaltcornwall.com Seasalt Cornwall storm chaser wellies: 45, Seasaltcornwall.com Best printed boots Wilton wellingtons: 49.95, Barbour.com Wilton wellingtons: 49.95, Barbour.com Best zip-up boot Madewell zip rain boot: 35.74, Zalando.co.uk Lakeland red wellington boots Best: Overall Rating: 9/10 Sadly, wellies arent particularly eco-friendly. Theyre hard to make, and finding a pair made from environmentally friendly materials is even more challenging. Natural rubber from renewable resources is a good step in the right direction, but there are usually non-renewable materials added into the process, and the mixing of these materials means they cant be recycled. So, a completely eco-friendly wellington boot is not a thing, yet. But we do live in a country where rain and snow make waterproof footwear a necessity, so we need to compromise and instead look for ethically produced wellies. We introduce to you Lakeland Footwear. Its boots are made from FSC certified natural rubber and lined with organic cotton. They are ethically made in Sri Lanka, using plantations that have reforestation and social responsibility at their core. This is a great essential pair of wellies, and they are super comfy, too, thanks to contoured footbeds. But most importantly, Lakeland seems to be a brand that cares, and takes steps to ensure the production of their wellies impacts the earth and the community as little as possible. Buy now 49.95 Lakelandfootwear.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Boden Chelsea wellington boots Best: Ankle boot Rating: 8/10 Boden may not be the first brand that springs to mind when youre considering purchasing a pair of wellies, but they may well be when it comes to style. The brand is known for its eccentrically British flair, with ditsy florals and twee knits (very apt for rural settings), so when they started doing wellies, it just seemed to make sense. Of course, these werent your average wellies. The chelsea wellington boots are clearly inspired by the very British chelsea boots, making them an incredibly stylish pair. Sitting at a practical ankle height with a slight heel and featuring the chelsea boots iconic elasticated panels, they are an easy pair to pop on. The upper part of the boot is rubber with a matte finish, meaning they can easily pass for a normal boot (they wouldnt look out of place with your fave jeans), but this also means theyre easy to clean. Theyre a snug fit, but theres enough room to add a thick pair of socks if needed. What surprised us the most, however, was the comfort. We first tried them with a relatively thin pair of socks, and the cushioning made it feel like we were walking on a cloud. We walked for about an hour in these on a frosty morning, and they were comfortable throughout, while the grip saw us through any slippery patches without a worry. Buy now 60 Boden.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Joules coniston comfort wellies Best: Quilted boot Rating: 7/10 Joules is a brand you can rely on for outdoor wear. It knows its way around a rainy weekend and produces the perfect attire to get you through. Its brightly coloured raincoats are super popular, and its wellies tick all the boxes too. New to the brands range is the coniston comfort wellies. Traditional wellington boots arent known for their warmth, which is why we resort to piling on the socks. But with this pair, the warmth of a million layered socks comes in the form of a fleece insulated lining. The quilting around the calf is thick but soft to give you flexibility, and the foam insole gives a cosy, cushioned tread. These are perfect for walking through snow or for horribly chilly days where the cold seems to get through to your bones. However, they do come up quite snug and can take some effort to get on, but its a bug in a rug scenario once youre in. There are also adjustable toggles at the top to stop even the slightest breeze from getting in. Youll be so toasty you wont want to take them off. Buy now 99.95 Joules.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Hunter original tall wellington boots Best: Knee-high boot Rating: 8/10 These are the OGs of wellies. A classic style we know and love, and for good reason too. There are no bells and whistles with this pair, but they get the job done and sometimes thats all you need. At the heart of the Hunter brand since 1956, this style has stood the test of time. Worn by the chicest of celebs at festivals such as Glastonbury and Coachella, theyre even considered a fashion item and bring a surprisingly trendy touch to a raincoat and leggings. This classic style is available in a wide range of colours, allowing you to coordinate your look (we adore the red) and fits true to size. But if you sit in between sizes, have a wider calf or want the option of wearing thick socks, we recommend you go for a size up. The cleated sole and slight heel protect your feet from the harshness of the ground, creating a comfy cushioning, while the curve of the foot and contouring panels allow for natural movement and prevent stiffness. The adjustable strap is also handy to avoid the classic wellie slap at the back of the calves and ensure a perfect fit every time. Sitting at the more expensive end of the scale, we see these as an investment pair. Not only will the style forever be on-trend, but the craftsmanship and two-year warranty ensure you will get your moneys worth. Buy now 115 Hunterboots.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Regatta lady Harper ankle wellies Best: For spring walks with the dog Rating: 7/10 Low styles like these are perfect for spring. Warmth isnt that much of a worry, and the weather has eased up a bit, allowing you to reduce the coverage and slip on a pair of ankle boots for a quick dog walk or mooch around the park. Still sporting a chunky heel and cleated sole for grip, as well as a patent finish for cleaning purposes, this pair is a handy addition to your outdoor wardrobe. What makes them extra special is the EVA footbed, which has special cushioning properties to ensure every step is gently absorbed, making every walk a dream. Buy now 25 Next.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Joules ashby premium lace-up chelsea boots Best: Lace-up boots Rating: 9/10 Joules are at it again with another brill pair. The ashby chelsea boots bring a unique feature to the wellington laces. It makes so much sense when you think about it. This pair sits at a nice ankle height, and the addition of laces allows you to tighten for extra ankle support. The grooved outer sole provides grip, and the sturdy gold eyelets not only look expensive but give a stronghold to the laces, meaning they wont loosen as you walk. We also love the print on this pair. We didnt think it was possible to make wellies look pretty, but the subtle floral print gives them a lovely bohemian touch. Theyre perfect for festivals and look brilliant with a long flow boho dress. Buy now 44.95 Joules.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Seasalt Cornwall storm chaser wellies Best: Lined boots Rating: 8/10 Warmth has been a theme in this round-up, so a lined pair of wellies had to make it on here. And these from Seasalt Cornwall are divine. Theyre minimal, which actually makes them look quite chic, and they are available in black, navy and khaki. But its the fluffy lining that makes these so special, mimicking shearling. Teamed with the deep treaded soles and extra comfy insoles, these feel like walking on memory foam. There is still room for added socks if you like, but one look at these and venturing outside doesnt seem so bad anymore. Buy now 45 Seasaltcornwall.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Barbour wilton wellingtons Best: Printed boots Rating: 8/10 If youre looking for outdoor wear thats strong and tough, look to Barbour. Renowned for pieces designed to withstand the elements of the British countryside, you know a product from this brand will see you through a lifetime of adventures. The wilton wellingtons are a great pair of boots. Theyre hardwearing with a durable sole that can easily tackle most terrains and are lined with cotton twill to prevent feet from sweating. Theyve even added a nifty kick spur on the heel to make them easy to take off (genius). Prints are a clever way to bring a fashionable twist to your wellies, and with Barbours signature tartan, youll always look the part. Buy now 49.95 Barbour.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Madewell zip rain boot Best: Zip-up boot Rating: 9/10 We are delighted to find that zip-up wellies are officially a thing. Say farewell to the struggle of pulling your feet out of a rubbery vacuum. Just unzip, and youre done. These are not only a breeze to get on and off, but theyll win you bonus fashion points too. The colour block makes these a great statement piece to have in your winter wardrobe, and the neutral colours mean theyll go with almost anything. Plus, the chunky cleated sole and rounded toes match that of the biker boots that are everywhere at the moment. With a pair that look this good, youll probably be tempted to wear them on dry days too. Buy now 35.74 Zalando.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} From Primarks sell-out Beauty and the Beast Chip Purse to Vans Toy Story slip-ons, Disney collaborations are nothing new in the fashion world. But just when you thought youd seen it all, someone goes and launches an entire range of Minnie Mouse inspired high-heels. Recommended Platform heels are stacking up this spring Whether youre a hardcore Disney fan or not, this pair of shoes guarantees to appeal to your inner 8-year-old self. Subtly designed, what initially looks like a standard heel in the front transforms into a wistful trip down memory lane in the back. Sold by shoe label Oscor Tiye and designed by Italian designer Muaddi, the heels have been cleverly crafted into two styles so customers can choose between a high stiletto and a low-heeled sandal. Released as part of the brands spring/summer 2017 collection, theyre also available in a range of colourways. From goes-with-everything black to all-over glitter gold, denim blue and gold and red, there really is a style to suit everyone. But, they come with a catch. Unfortunately, the adorable shoes will set you back anywhere between 415 and 690 depending on which option you choose. Causing a frenzy on social media, Tiyes Instagram page has been inundated by Disney fanatics since sharing images of the range with one post racking up more than 3,000 likes. Recommended Disney sets release date for Frozen 2 I have to get these! My husband and I got married in Disney World, one person wrote. Another added, I've been tagged on all social media sites by at least 15 pals for these shoes. Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Brunching out.. Within minutes of arriving at Asia de Cuba, the central London eatery specialising in Chino-Latino cuisine, our waiter brought us a Bellini to commence our Bottomless Cocktail Brunch experience. It would be the first thing to touch my stomach since dinner the night before, but I needed some help in opening my mind to the fusion style menu. Its not that I dont like Chinese or Cuban food individually, its just a term that Im suspicious of after all, all food is fusion, just look at fish and chips but I was willing to give it a go. We started with plantain and malanga chips with black bean hummus, followed shortly after by a cigar box of guava and cream cheese pastelitos, shrimp churros, mini Cuban sandwiches, chicken chicharrones and ropa vieja spring rolls. Recommended Aqua Shard brunch review For the main we chose the breakfast tortilla; the crispy calamari salad with banana, chayote, cashews, hearts of palm and orange-sesame vinaigrette and the mojo duck confit with brown rice, orange, basil, chilli and a poached egg. If this wasnt enough, there was the option of unlimited Mexican donuts, pleasant enough to linger over with a coffee. The menu was a fun break from the usual brunch options even if the robust Latin flavours overwhelmed any of the more delicate Asian accents. A highlight of the visit was endless stream of cocktails, with the option to make your own Bloody Mary at the bar, rendering you unable to do anything productive with your day, but what else are Saturdays for? Brunch is served Friday Sunday, 12-2.45pm. The Bottomless Brunch for 35 includes unlimited cocktails, starters and a choice of one main course from the a la carte menu. The Premium Bottomless Cocktail brunch for 45 includes a champagne upgrade. Another possibility is the Cuba Roast Upgrade for 10 extra per person. 45 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4HX; 020 7300 5588; asiadecuba.com Brunching in... Tenderstem Scandi open sandwich Brunch like a champion with this Scandi-inspired smorrebrod recipe. The Scandi sandwich is all about going topless, stacking a delicious combination of avocado, smoked salmon and steamed tenderstem broccoli on a slice of wholesome dark rye or pumpernickel. This is guaranteed to get your day off to a delicious start. Prep time: 5 mins Cooking time: 5 mins Serves 2 Approx. 120g of tenderstem broccoli 50g creme fraiche 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill, plus extra to garnish 2 tsp horseradish sauce 2 slices of dark rye or pumpernickel bread 1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced 100g smoked salmon Small bunch of watercress Lemon wedges and freshly ground pepper to serve Place the broccoli in a steamer and steam for 3-4 minutes. Mix together the creme fraiche, chopped dill and horseradish sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Lightly toast the rye bread or pumpernickel. When you are ready to serve, divide the creme fraiche, horseradish and dill mixture between the two slices of toast and spread evenly to cover. Arrange the avocado slices on top and then add the smoked salmon slices. Top with the lightly steamed tenderstem broccoli, a few sprigs of watercress, dill and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately with lemon wedges. For more tenderstem recipes, visit tenderstem.co.uk For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It rains a lot in Taipei. The last few metres of the journey to HTCs glossily efficient, sci-fi white Taipei HQ are a lolloping dash through puddles and driving showers under grey umbrellas HTC-branded, of course. Inside, the central atrium (cooled by the natural flow of air rather than aircon, Im told) is dominated by a huge video screen that is playing a video loop of ketchup being squeezed, a bulging bicep being squeezed, a rubber toy being squeezed, a well, you get the idea. Im here to see the new HTC U11, a mobile phone that you can squeeze. In the next 40 minutes, execs from the Taiwanese manufacturer describe why squeezing the sides of a mobile is a natural gesture that adds innovative functionality to the new handset. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty HTC is a company that has delivered a huge number of firsts in its exactly 20-year history, including the first Android phone, a range of Windows Phone handsets when that platform launched, and more. HTC had twin cameras on its HTC One (M8) in 2014 and now almost every high-end smartphone has them. And the hugely popular Live Photos on the iPhone are really just a (better-communicated) version of Zoe, a three-second photo and video snippet feature which HTC introduced in 2014. So it shouldnt be a surprise that the company is introducing a new interface on the HTC U11. After all, the company has a lot riding on this phone. HTC sprang seemingly from nowhere to huge commercial success worldwide with its HTC Desire phone in 2010, so popular it made the company the third biggest phone maker after Apple and Samsung. But more recently, though its handsets have been admired and respected, they havent flown off the shelves. The squeeze is just the next step after the touchscreen interface we use all the time and has certain advantages, HTC says. For instance, when you squeeze the phones sides, the pressure sensors hidden underneath the glass edge register your touch and launch the phones camera. If you squeeze again, itll take a photo. This has a neat and entirely natural feel. And it has certain advantages. If youre outside, wearing thick gloves against the cold, a capacitive touchscreen wont automatically register your touch, but the HTC U11 can feel the squeeze. Or if youre planning on taking photographs underwater the U11 is waterproof the squeeze interface will work there as well. Ive been trying the phone for a few days now and at first you notice a slight lag between squeeze and shoot. Thats deliberate because the squeeze action moves the phone and it needs to settle for a fraction of a second to get the sharpest shot possible. Ill be reviewing it in due course but first impressions are that the camera is tremendous. In fact, the independent camera rating organisation DxOMark has just given the phone its highest ever score for a mobile. There are other innovations which sound interesting, like the built-in Amazon Alexa voice assistant, and the capability to wake the phone with your voice. The design is also exotic and attractive, with a glass back that has been treated in such a way it gleams in different colours as you move it. Solar Red, out later in the year, turns from sunset red to golden yellow. Ill reserve judgement until Ive finished testing it but the phone is certainly impressive from the moment you pick it up. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} During the past 18 months, three openly transgender women have taken their own lives in custody in England: Vikki Thompson, Joanne Latham and Jenny Swift. Their deaths speak of the difficulties that transgender people face behind bars. The ongoing inquest into Thompsons death sheds some light onto those experiences. In her new book, Transgender Behind Prison Walls, Sarah Baker has added her voice to this conversation. As a transgender woman serving time in a mens prison, Baker is all too aware of the lack of help, advice or information for transgender inmates or the staff responsible for their safety and well-being. Drawing upon her more than 25 years in custody, Baker seeks to help fill this gap. She has also spoken to me as part of my ongoing research into LGBT prisoners. Bakers personal story of life behind bars is shared in the books postscript. She describes in detail the discrimination, verbal, physical and sexual abuse that she has experienced since coming out as trans while in prison. Some of it makes for harrowing reading. Complaints she has made about her treatment have fallen on deaf ears. She alleges that she was blamed by an official for provoking attacks via her lifestyle choice, and finds herself unable to prove discrimination without a paper trail. The Ministry of Justice was contacted about these allegations by The Conversation but said it did not comment on specific cases. Recommended First openly transgender ballet dancer passes RAD exam In 2013, various newspapers wrongly reported that Baker had received gender confirmation surgery paid for by the NHS sensationalist and transphobic coverage that Baker challenges in her book. Instead, she says that a gender identity clinic denied her both a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and any treatment while she is in prison. Baker writes that she was told that she must first live in her affirmed gender for two years outside of prison and, since she is serving a life sentence, this could be a number of years and depends on when she gets parole. Ministry of Justice guidance on the care of transgender prisoners states that: The prison GP must refer all applications for gender reassignment surgery to a consultant specialising in gender dysphoria and will ordinarily accept advice from the consultant about whether gender reassignment surgery is considered appropriate in a particular case. Having lived openly as a woman for five years in prison, Baker says in the book that in early 2017 she resorted to removing her own testicles with a razor in her prison cell. She explains that this self-administered medical procedure felt like her only option, given her longstanding and ongoing inability to access any treatment via official channels. In my own correspondence with her, Baker told me that she later went to hospital, and needed two operations. Growing tolerance Despite these distressing experiences, Baker is keen to emphasise that most staff and prisoners have been kind, and that prisons have come a long way since she first arrived in 1985, when there was no public interest in diversity and equality. Transgender in Pakistan Show all 16 1 /16 Transgender in Pakistan Transgender in Pakistan Dancing at Shakeela's party, an event to celebrate a transgender life in middle-age Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Venue staff members watch people dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Security searches guests as people arrive at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Members of the transgender community dance at Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela, a member of the transgender community, works in the kitchen at home in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan 'It's the first time a transgender party has been held openly,' says activist Farzana Jan Transgender in Pakistan Farzana Jan, a member of the transgender community, poses for a photographer ahead of Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Guests at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Money thrown by the guests is used by people to help them start a new business or project Transgender in Pakistan Rani smiles from behind her make-up as she prepares for the party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Shakeela resting at her home in Peshawar Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A photo hangs on the wall in the home of members of the transgender community in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Make up lies on the floor as members of the transgender community prepare for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Transgender in Pakistan A guest counts money she plans to throw at Shakeela's party Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Bubbly helps Shakeela with her dress as members of her own family watch on Reuters Transgender in Pakistan Chahat, a member of the transgender community, prepares for Shakeela's party in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters Baker is aware that transgender prisoners are a diverse group, and that her story cannot be taken as entirely representative. She emphasises, for example, that: As a pre-op male-to-female transgender prisoner within the male prison system, I can only speak confidently about the environment that I live in. Yet she does contextualise her experiences, sharing excerpts of letters sent to her by three other prisoners. Transgender women Nicola and Deanne share similar experiences to Baker of being unable to access a diagnosis of gender dysphoria while in custody. Transgender man, Laura, received a diagnosis in the community but has not told prison staff about his gender identity, instead choosing to live as a woman while incarcerated in a womens prison. Useful tips Bakers book acts in part as a guide for transgender prisoners, with information such as how they can formally change their name. Baker also offers practical advice for transgender women in prison, with tips on clothing and footwear. Some of her advice might seem overly prescriptive or conservative. She counsels, for example, in the interests of female etiquette and decorum, always cross your legs when sitting down, and do not wear anything that draws negative attention from other prisoners. However, this is pragmatic guidance based on her experiences. As she explains: Unfortunately, the clothes that we choose to wear will affect the way in which we are treated by others. Baker also summarises and comments on the Governments new legislation on transgender prisoners, which stipulates that prisons must recognise gender-fluid and non-binary inmates, and improves the procedures for making prison allocation decisions. Baker fears that security concerns will continue to trump claims to gender-affirming clothes and accessories, let alone housing in gender-appropriate prisons. She also predicts that prisoners will still struggle to receive diagnoses of gender dysphoria, let alone any necessary treatment, while in custody. This is Bakers second book, and she has a third on the way. By introducing much-needed information about what it is like to be transgender behind bars, it helps us to understand why so many transgender prisoners self-harm or take their own lives. On the publication of her first book in 2013, Baker received a barrage of abuse from the media and people on social media about her transition. I have corresponded with Baker through my research into the experiences of LGBT prisoners, and I sincerely hope that her new book will be received with the interest and respect that it most thoroughly deserves. Mia Harris is a PhD candidate, University of Oxford. This article first appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com) Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} What if I want to be a trophy wife? asks a woman in the audience at the Sugar Baby Summit at the plush Ham Yard hotel in central London. Self-confessed sugar baby Clover Pittilla, who is addressing the room at a podium on stage, pauses for a moment and replies I say do it. Just live your dreams. Pittilla is a 21-year-old pharmaceutical student, and one of the speakers at the third Sugar Baby Summit event organised by dating app and website Seeking Arrangement. The app enables sugar daddies, and some mummies, to seek out so-called sugar babies to shower with gifts, cash and luxury experiences. In return, sugar babies knowingly provide a pretty face and good company. Today, both experienced and wannabe sugar babies have paid 150 to learn how to attract high-net-worth-individuals. Theyll put these skills into practice at a party in the evening. The competition is intense, as Seeking Arrangement permits sugar daddies to have four sugar babies at once. And this complicated world of course has its own vocabulary. The sugar babies are told that vanilla, or conventional, relationships are not what sugar daddies are into. And salt daddies are men who just want attention but dont want to part with their cash. To some, the oh-so-romantically named Seeking Arrangement is empowering women and men to be brutally clear about what they want in their relationships. The website and the summit are places where they can find one another and forge, more often than not, relationships with massive age gaps without judgement. It offers privacy for the 40 per cent of sugar daddies and mummies who are married. Sugar babies, meanwhile, find lovers, friends and mentors. Others might argue that Seeking Arrangement users might pretend that the power balance between babies and daddies is equal, but in a world where it lies with the person with the fattest wallet it is therefore, well, creepy as hell. Stood on stage in a short blue gingham dress and glittery silver stilettos, her long blonde hair swept to one side, Pittilla fits the ultimate stereotype of a sugar baby. She tells the around 70 people in the audience that her sugar daddies have enabled her to travel the world and study without having to resort to eating beans on toast to make her student loan stretch. Her spiel mirrors the adverts on the Seeking Arrangement website, which invite students to sign up and lessen the load of their crippling debt. Students are given further incentive to join with free premium membership. But the crowd is more varied than one might assume. The (mainly) women here are of all ages, body-types and ethnicities. Some, like Pittilla, are dressed in stunning, hyper-feminine clothes, with towering heels, long hair and spotless makeup. But there are plenty of women in casual clothes that wouldn't be out of place in an office. And one guy with blonde hair dressed in black with a man bun. And they're hanging on Pittillas every word. When at one point she scrolls quickly through her presentation slides, one woman shouts youre going too fast! Other panels cover cyber-security, fashion and making a first impression, staying motivated, and how to manage finances. Clover Pittilla advised shared her tips at the Sugar Baby Summit First off, Pittilla stresses to the audience that being a sugar baby isnt sex work and that the men are not paying them. She then reels off bullet points on from her presentation which unintentionally highlight that finding and keeping a sugar daddy is a little complex. Have your own life and dont put everything aside for a man, but be flexible, she says. Be honest and assertive, but dont be argumentative. Perhaps hint at what you want and dont ask for money outright because youll seem entitled, and no one likes that. If he doesnt call you or doesnt text back, dont be argumentative because no one likes that, either. Make him feel needed, because guys like to be needed, she adds. Hes paying you, Pittilla lets slip during her presentation, quickly correcting herself to add well, no hes not. Hes definitely not paying you. What he gives are gifts. Emma Gammer, a 28-year-old sugar baby who married and divorced a sugar daddy, follows Pittilla's presentation. Gammer advises women to include keywords in their profiles that attract sugar daddies. "Student, model, nurse." Some professionally shot sexy and sassy photos to send to potential sugar daddies are also useful, but she urges the audience to avoid men who talk too much about sex and ask for photos but never to meet. Those who flake repeatedly are also a waste of time, she adds. Some will even go as low as pretending theres been a family death to avoid meeting you. Recommended Controversial therapist prescribes sex with strangers Doesnt it all make dating seem a bit cold and businesslike? But thats the beauty of it, suggests Seeking Arrangement founder Brendon Wade, who thinks hes nailed the formula for successful relationships. Asked why people should become sugar babies rather than finding a match the conventional way he tells The Independent: You could do that. You could make numerous mistakes and you could fail that way. Ive been married and divorced three times. Or you could learn the faster way. A lot of sugar babies are teaching the newbies the sorts of mistakes they have made and what they've found to be the most successful way to finding relationships that they truly enjoy. Wade adds that hes going through a messy divorce so hes using the website himself at the moment. As the founder, hes the original sugar daddy, he adds. As a younger man, he was shy, dateless and incapable of finding a woman he recalls. His mother told him that if he concentrated on his studies and became successful, women would flock to him. But when I was in my thirties I had a Bachelor degree and an MBA and I was still dateless. I tried to solve that and date. I was not successful. I would create profiles on dating apps and write hundreds of message but still had no luck. So I thought 'why not base a concept on my mother's idea?' Recommended Breadcrumbing is the latest depressing dating tactic Wade compares using Seeking Arrangement to honing your career skills. Your career is very important. Thats why you create a CV. But romantic relationships are equally important. But people arent using the same goal oriented approach. Most of us beat around the bush, date, and don't specify what we want. We fall in love, and then perhaps months or years later we realise wow this is a mismatch. What we need is to do is teach people how to date effectively, he argues. After all, he goes on, in the past parents would set up arranged marriages based on what their child had to offer on paper, so whats the harm in modernising that approach? Among the women taking a punt on Wards idea is Natalie Wood, a 31-year-old beautician. She has has been using Seeking Arrangement for a few years. One man whom she met on the website flew her to Indonesia to meet him, gave her 10,000 and money for shopping, she says, beaming. Unfortunately, that relationship broke down a few months in because of the mans circumstances, but he continued to look after her afterwards, she says. At the summit after-party she hopes to pin down some sugar daddies who might otherwise be too busy to meet her. Natalie Wood was given 10,000 by a sugar daddy (Seeking Arrangement) I really like this website because you can be honest about what you want. I want someone successful, an older mentor. Someone who doesn't mind spending their money, and enjoys a luxury lifestyle. And if hes not in London I can go on this website and find him internationally. In the end, she hopes to find a man to help her set up a salon and, ultimately, someone to marry. Her friends recommended that she try the website in the first place, and shed happily do the same, she adds. Others are more nervous about people knowing that they are at this event, presumably because of the stigma attached to unconventional relationships based around money. I want someone successful. Someone who doesn't mind spending their money Natalie Wood, beautician and sugar baby Donna Summer, a 32-year-old beauty therapist based in Hastings, says shes nervous about being here today, and hasnt told her friends or family that shes using Seeking Arrangement. I was very apprehensive before I came here that there would be more beautiful women than me, she says quietly. I'm going to the party after this and I'm a bit nervous. Summer was scared the event would be dodgy, but is now happy to seek advice from veteran sugar babies on whether or not she needs to declare the money she is given for tax, and other financial questions. Im getting older I dont have much time left to find someone, so I thought lets just take the plunge and do it. Lifes too short, and youll probably end up in some horrible relationship anyway. So why not do this? she reasons. One 26-year-old from London, who asks to be identified as Nina Sky, has been using Seeking Arrangement for four years, and forged one two-and-a-half-year relationship, and one which lasted under a year. Ive been to many countries, gotten gifts. You name it: bags, pets, furs. Loads of things, she says. Recommended An unrepentant man on why he ghosts women Sky has always been attracted to older men, and is foremost looking for a gentleman. A man who is settled emotionally, financially and mentally. She doesnt have an age limit, but draws the line at someone with poor hygiene. I had a Tinder profile up until recently but I just think this is so much better for me. Im very direct and I like to know where I stand from the beginning. It just avoids confusion, she says. But Sky disagrees that she takes a businesslike approach to dating. Its not a business. Its finding a mutually beneficial agreement and if it leads to love, then amazing. But I think you need to know what you want. The women add that they are unfazed by people who want to judge them, or accuse them of being gold diggers. And of course the sugar daddies arent here to defend themselves against anyone who might accuse them of taking advantage of people. Theyre at the party, where the press arent allowed. I would say to someone who might call me a gold digger that Im reaching out to find what I want. If I want a better life and to make my life the best, I will, says Wood. Maybe they're just jealous of my fantastic lifestyle. And who said romance is dead? For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A buy-to-let tycoon who banned coloured people from his properties because of curry smells is facing legal action brought by the equality watchdog. Millionaire Fergus Wilson, who reportedly owns close to 1,000 properties in Kent, sent an email to a local letting agency informing them of the ban. The email was uncovered in March and on Wednesday the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced it has brought legal action against Mr Wilson for alleged racial discrimination. Commission chief executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said: We have asked the court if it agrees with us that Mr Wilsons lettings policy contains unlawful criteria and, if so, to issue an injunction. As this is now formal legal action we will release further information at a later date. When Mr Wilsons policy was first revealed in March, Ms Hilsenrath labelled it truly disgusting. The landlord's latest criteria instructs letting agents not to rent to "battered wives", single parents, low income and zero hours workers, or plumbers. Mr Wilson reportedly said on Wednesday that he stands by his ban on Indian and Pakistan tenants and will fight the EHRC in court. He told The Guardian: I personally find Indian and Pakistani people, and also coloured people in general to be extremely intelligent people. And I know quite a number. We had a problem with a tenant who had dogs, which fouled the carpet. I say no pets and no smoking, and no one gets upset about that. I tacked on to the email no coloured people because of curry smells. When you rent a property, no one is going to take it if it smells of curry. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. He also said he believes any legal action will fail because his policy has not caused any damage. He claims he has not had any applications from Indian or Pakistani prospective tenants since 2012. Anti-racism charity HOPE Not Hate told The Independent in March that the ban was an unacceptable throwback to the 1960s. You simply cannot treat people like this and deny them a place to live due to their skin colour, a spokesman said. This is the unacceptable face of the housing crisis. There is something broken in the system when such a powerful figure can get away with such an appalling policy. Fergus Wilsons comments would seem laughably offensive, a throwback to the Alf Garnett era, if they werent so serious in their implication. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The most expensive sunscreen in a poll of leading high-street brands failed to provide the protection it claims, according to a consumer watchdog report. Laboratory test by Which? assessed a total of 14 sunscreen products from high-street brands that claimed to have a sun protection factor or SPF of 30, testing both their SPF and their protection against UVA rays. Avons Sun+Multi Protection Moisturising Sun Lotion SPF30, which at 10 was the priciest product tested, was the only one that failed to stand up to its claims. The consumer group labelled it a Dont Buy. The other products, including by brands such as Hawaiian Tropic and Nivea, but also high street own brands from the likes of Morrisons and Superdrug, passed the standardised SPF and UVA tests. Aldi's 2.79 Lacura Suncare Spray SPF30 200ml was the cheapest sunscreen on the list that passed the testing. Avon told Which? that it was confident that its own testing followed internationally recognised protocols and was conducted by external laboratories with specific expertise. Failing to provide the right protection suggests that consumers could be at risk of sunburn, a concern for British holidaymakers stocking up ahead of summer holidays. According to Cancer Research UK, too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or sunbeds is the main cause of skin cancer. In the UK more than 8 in 10 cases of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, could be prevented by using sunscreen and avoiding using sunbeds. The cancer research and awareness charity advises using sunscreen and staying in the shade or covering up to minimise the risk of too much exposure to UV rays. The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe Show all 13 1 /13 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 13. Menorca, Spain 74.40 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 12. Corfu, Greece 72.26 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 11. Marmaris, Turkey 70.81 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 10. Kefalonia, Greece 68.49 Shutterstock The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 9. Porec, Croatia 65.19 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 8. Zante, Greece 64.65 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 7. Crete, Greece 63.16 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 6. Costa Blanca, Spain 62.29 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 5. Gijon, Spain 61.01 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 3. Limassol, Cyprus 51.82 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 2. Algarve, Portugal 47.04 The 13 cheapest destinations for a beach holiday in Europe 1. Sunny Beach (Slanchev Bryag), Bulgaria 41.55 Richard Headland , Which? magazine editor, said: "Sunscreens are a key part of sun safety so it's important to pick a product you can rely on. "It's disappointing to see that, although most sunscreens passed our test, one didn't provide the claimed level of protection. "Manufacturers should only be selling products that live up to their claims which is why Which? will continue to monitor and challenge the industry." Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} We are the party of the NHS. Philip Hammonds claim may have rung hollow for the more than 100,000 patients who were made to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E last year, but with the release of their manifesto, the Conservatives are again hoping to convince voters the health service is safe in their hands. However this phrase coined by the Chancellor in March as he announced the Budget has not been repeated incessantly by Theresa May and her party, unlike other Tory mottos strong and stable and, in 2015, long-term economic plan. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is perhaps better known for silence than soundbites. It took him three days to respond to the devastating cyber attack that hit the NHS last week, and last winter, when ambulances were queuing outside hospitals, causing the Red Cross to declare a humanitarian crisis, he bolted down the street rather than take questions from a reporter. The Conservatives know voters care about the NHS, which consistently tops polls on what makes people most proud to be British. But years of austerity, pay freezes and the threat of hospital closures makes it a thorny issue the party would often prefer to avoid mentioning altogether. A recent poll for The Independent found three in four people believe the NHS is in a bad condition, with 51 per cent of people saying the Tories bear the most responsibility for the current problems facing the NHS. With this in mind, they have promised an extra 8bn over the next five years for the health service. While some might point out this falls well short of the 350m a week promised by the Leave Campaign, its a clear attempt to woo back voters from Labour, who have pledged a real-terms spending increase of 11.6bn by 2022-23, a reduction of one million from waiting lists, and a pay rise for NHS staff. The Liberal Democrats have said they will raise income tax by 1p to fund a real-terms increase in health spending of 8.5bn in the same time period, according to analysis by health think thank the Nuffield Trust. Health experts have called the Conservative manifesto which, if you believe the polls, could soon become policy deeply disappointing, with the Health Foundation predicting it will create a funding gap of 12bn in the next four years. The 8 billion in additional funding over the next five years does little more than extend the squeeze on NHS finances for another two years and will not be enough to meet rising demand for services and maintain current standards of care, said Chris Ham, Chief Executive of The Kings Fund. The manifesto says important targets such as 95 per cent of A&E patients being seen in four hours, and no waits of longer than 18 weeks for non-urgent surgery, will be retained if the Conservatives win but this may prove a challenge without a funding hike, Mr Ham told The Independent. Its likely to be a real struggle for the NHS to deliver on key targets, he said. We welcome funding, it will help the NHS to maintain existing services, but it leaves no margin. Theres very little money left over to invest in other priorities like parity of esteem for mental health or giving support to GP practices struggling under the strain of rising patient demand. Theresa May launches the Conservative manifesto The British Medical Association (BMA) has accused the Government of using smoke and mirrors to extend current levels of funding, which were set out in a 2015 spending review. Back then, the Department of Health promised a real-terms funding increase of 10bn by 2020-21 along with 22bn of savings made through efficiencies, which have proved contentious as they translate into cuts to services and ward closures. The Conservatives have been in power for the last seven years, yet this manifesto will do nothing to reassure patients and NHS staff that they have the vision the NHS needs or will deliver the funding to ensure its survival, said Dr Mark Porter, the BMAs council chair. The extra 8bn touted in this manifesto for the NHS is smoke and mirrors rather than extra money, this essentially extends the funding already promised in the 2015 spending review for another two years and falls far short of what is needed. The NHS is already at breaking point, and without the necessary investment patients will face longer delays, care will be compromised and services will struggle to keep up. These so-called illusions are nothing new, according to Sally Gainsbury, senior policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust. Firstly, the promise of an extra 10bn made in 2015 measures the increase from the previous year, so the true figure is actually 8bn, she says. Secondly, Jeremy Hunt has managed to fund this increase in spending to the quango known as NHS England partly through cuts to Department of health spending by 3bn, impacting other important aspects of healthcare such as doctor training and public health initiatives. This clever wordplay has been employed again this time round, she told The Independent. As expected, the Conservatives 8bn extra pledge only refers to spending defined as NHS England, meaning there is 10 per cent of the Department of Health (DH)s budget which is unknown. At the Spending Review in 2015, the Conservatives made a similar pledge to increase NHS spending by 8bn but it turned out that 3.5bn of that was actually funded through cuts to the 15bn worth of the DHs budget that sat outside NHS England. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Doctors have warned deep cuts to public health budgets, enabled by this change in terminology, mean the NHS faces a ticking time bomb unless funding is drastically increased. The BMA said swingeing cuts of 400m by 2020-21 and failure to curb persistently high levels of obesity, smoking and binge drinking will plunge the NHS further into the red, while condemning patients to suffer from preventable diseases. Gainsbury added that the overall figure the health service receives may also turn out to be be lower than expected. The Conservatives are saying that details on the remaining 10 per cent of the DHs budget would only be set out in a spending review after the election. So this leaves some uncertainty. It means that at the most, total DH spending, in real terms, will be 8bn higher in 2022-23, she said. But if, for example, a Conservative government chose to freeze spending on the remaining 10 per cent of the DH budget, then the over real terms increase for the DH could be nearer 7bn. The manifesto promises to make it a priority that the 140,000 staff from EU countries are able to continue to work in the NHS after Brexit but many have already decided to leave, health bodies report, while low pay and morale fuelling staff shortages and the possibility of the first nursing strike in history. The party is also proposing a new GP contract, with family doctors expected to come together to provide greater access, more innovative services, share data and offer better facilities, which ensuring care remains personal. Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said Tory claims on money they allocated to the NHS has been blown apart by independent experts. However, Labours promises to fund the health service by taxing the rich may not have convinced everyone, said Mr Ham. If they arent persuaded by what the Conservatives are saying, would they be persuaded by what the other major parties are saying? For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The message seems to be pretty clear. For the first time in more than a decade, Time magazines front cover has abandoned a cover line and instead given over the space to a drawing of Donald Trumps White House, morphing into St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square. The cover was published after a flurry of news that shook Washington, including the claim that he leaked sensitive information to the Russian foreign minister, sacked FBI Director James Comey, asked Mr Comey to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn. On Wednesday, it was announced the Department of Justice had appointed Robert Mueller as a special counsel to take charge of the probe into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Times executive editor Matt Vella, wrote on Twitter: Our new cover this morning, its been a decade since @TIME did not have a cover line. Update: An earlier version of this story stated the Time cover showed the White House transforming 'into the Kremlin'. This has been corrected to 'St Basil's Cathedral', which sits next to the seat of Russian government on Red Square in Moscow. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fatih Karimov Trend: The Islamic Republic underlined that will not stop its missile program amid a new round of sanctions imposed by US on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. Irans foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the country will continue its missile program in line with its inalienable and legal right to upgrade the countrys defensive capabilities, the ministrys spokesman Bahram Ghasemi wrote on his Telegram channel May 18. US President Donald Trump on May 17 extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under the 2015 international nuclear deal. Trump imposed narrow penalties on seven Iranian and Chinese people and companies regarding the Islamic Republics ballistic missile program. The Iranian foreign ministry statement underlined that the Islamic Republics missile program does not violate any of Irans international commitments as well as the 2231 resolution of UN. Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015), adopted by the UN Security Council on July 20, 2015, endorsing the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal), calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads, including launches using such ballistic missile technology. As a counter-measure to new US sanctions, the Islamic Republic imposed sanctions on nine US companies and individuals for human rights violations through direct or indirect cooperation Israel in committing crimes against humanity or other terror acts, participation and assistance in supporting terrorist groups in the region and repression of people in the Middle East and participation in acts against the national security of Iran, the Iranian foreign ministry statement said. The updated list of sanctioned people and companies will be released after obtaining approval by relevant Iranian authorities. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Religious people are less intelligent on average than atheists because faith is an instinct and clever people are better at rising above their instincts, researchers have claimed. The theory called the 'Intelligence-Mismatch Association Model' was proposed by a pair of authors who set out to explain why numerous studies over past decades have found religious people to have lower average intelligence than people who do not believe in a god. A 2013 analysis by University of Rochester found a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity in 53 out of 63 historic studies. A negative correlation between intelligence and religion makes sense if religion is considered an instinct, and intelligence the ability to rise above one's instincts, say researchers Edward Dutton and Dimitri van der Linden in their new paper published today. Writing for Springers journal of Evolutionary Psychological Science, the authors who are based at the Ulster Institute for Social Research and Rotterdam University respectively explained their model is based on the ideas of evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa. Mr Kanazawa's 'Savanna-IQ Principles' suggest human behaviour will always be guided by the environment in which their ancestors developed. Mr Dutton and Mr van der Linden argue in keeping with this that religion should be considered an 'evolved domain' or instinct. Rising above instincts is advantageous, they said in a statement, because it helps people to solve problems. If religion is an evolved domain then it is an instinct, and intelligence in rationally solving problems can be understood as involving overcoming instinct and being intellectually curious and thus open to non-instinctive possibilities, explained Mr Dutton. According to the 2013 review, the more intelligent a child is even during early years the more likely it is to turn away from religion. In old age, above-average-intelligence people are less likely to believe in a god. World's most popular religions Show all 7 1 /7 World's most popular religions World's most popular religions Christians Source: Pewforum Getty Images World's most popular religions Muslims Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Hindus Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Buddhists Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Folk Religions Source: Pewforum Getty Images World's most popular religions Other religions Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Jews Source: Pewforum Getty Mr Dutton and Mr van der Linden also investigated the link between instinct and stress, and the instinctiveness with which people tend to operate during stressful periods. They argue that being intelligent helps people during stressful times to weigh up their options and act rationally rather than give in to knee-jerk responses. If religion is indeed an evolved domain an instinct then it will become heightened at times of stress, when people are inclined to act instinctively, and there is clear evidence for this, said Mr Dutton. It also means that intelligence allows us to able to pause and reason through the situation and the possible consequences of our actions. The researchers believe that people who are attracted to the non-instinctive are potentially better problem solvers. This is important, because in a changing ecology, the ability to solve problems will become associated with rising above our instincts, rendering us attracted to evolutionary mismatches, said Mr van der Linden. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government has been accused of silencing scientists during the election campaign by misapplying purdah rules designed to prevent civil servants from making political points. In a letter to Sir Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, a group of leading scientific organisations said they were unaware of any election in which purdah had been extended so far into the daily work of researchers and academics. For example, scientists had felt unable to comment on the Governments controversial air quality plan because of instruction from Government that their membership of a Scientific Advisory Committee made them subject to the rules. Other experts had also been made nervous about discussing climate change and drought, the letter said. In response, the Cabinet Office said the Governments pre-election guidance had not meant to be about restricting commentary from independent academics. The letter, signed by groups including the Royal Statistical Society, Royal Institution of Great Britain, British Pharmacological Society, British Science Association and Association of Medical Research Charities, strongly suggested this had been happening. We the undersigned write to seek urgent clarification around the application of purdah to scientists, the letter to Sir Jeremy said. We cannot remember an election where purdah extended so far into the daily work of research-active scientists and we are extremely concerned that the public are being denied access to the best experts at the time they are most needed. We have seen examples of researchers declining to provide comments on a new study on climate change, scientists from several arms-length agencies and research council institutes nervous about talking proactively about the drought, and university researchers feeling unable to provide comment to journalists on the Governments draft UK air quality plan because of instruction from Government that their membership of an independent Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) on air pollution made them subject to purdah. The groups said they understood the need for civil servants to keep the airwaves free for electioneering and to avoid announcing investments or new initiatives that could sway voters. We do not believe, however, that purdah was ever intended to stop research-active scientists from commenting on breaking news or critiquing important new studies, they wrote. These activities are an important part of the scientific process, are not political, and should not be interrupted by an election without good reason. Journalists will report on issues like drought, pollution and climate change irrespective of an election and it benefits nobody for the best experts to be removed from the public debates on these issues. They suggested many senior scientists believed that the confusing guidance on purdah was being applied in an ad hoc and arbitrary way which is not in the public interest. The letter asked Sir Jeremy to make clear that purdah does not apply to scientists employed by universities. They should be free to speak to the media and the public, even if they are funded by a research council or they are a member of an independent SAC, as long as they comment with their university affiliation, it said. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary Scientists carrying research on non-department Government bodies, such as research council institutes, should also not be forbidden from speaking out publicly. We call for early clarification of the guidelines for the current general election, and for a full consultation and review on purdah rules directly afterwards, the letter said. It is clear that there is widespread confusion and unease about purdah rules as applied to science and we believe that such a review would be in the public interest and warmly welcomed by the research community. The Cabinet Office felt it was able to provide a statement despite the purdah rules, although it fell somewhat short of what was requested in the letter. A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: The pre-election guidelines published by the Cabinet Office provide guidance to Government departments and arms-length bodies on their activities during the pre-election period. They maintain the impartiality of the Civil Service and provide assurance about the appropriate use of official resources. Their application is for individual Government departments but they are not about restricting commentary from independent academics. The other signatories to the letter were: the Science Media Centre, Association of British Science Writers, Campaign for Science and Engineering, Sense about Science, Medical Journalists Association, The Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, and Full Fact. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britain could still continue make payments to the European Union after it leaves the bloc, the Conservative manifesto has confirmed. The Tory document, launched on Tuesday, neither rules out Britain paying a one-off divorce bill to the EU to settle outstanding arrears and commitments. The EU section of the manifesto appears to allude to such a one-off payment and says that a fair settlement will be reached. It spells out Tory policy on the EU and collates comments by Theresa May and her ministers together for the first time. There may be specific European programmes in which we might want to participate and if so, it will be reasonable that we make a contribution, the manifesto says. We will determine a fair settlement of the UKs rights and obligations as a departing member state, in accordance with the law and in the spirit of the UKs continuing partnership with the EU. The principle, however, is clear: the days of Britain making vast annual contributions to the European Union will end. Theresa May and Boris Johnson have previously said that Britain would stop paying huge sums of money to the EU, though they have implicitly not ruled out a continued contribution. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Speaking at Brussels summit in March when asked about making any continued contribution, Ms May said: Boris was clear and I am clear, when people voted on June 23 for us to leave the European Union they voted for us in the future not to pay huge sums of money to the EU every year, and of course when we leave the EU that will be the case. Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has previously balked at suggestions the UK could pay for access to the single market. However the Tory manifesto confirms the partys policy of taking Britain out of the single market and customs union a 180 degree reversal of the partys 2015 policy. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa Mays social care package fails "to tackle the biggest problem facing elderly people, the man who carried out the coalitions review into service in England has said. Sir Andrew Dilnot's castigation of the policy comes as the Prime Minister prepares to publish the Conservative manifesto for the general election, pledging to significantly raise the threshold of personal assets at which people will be eligible for state help with residential care costs from 23,250 to 100,000. David Cameron had proposed a cap of 72,000, delayed until 2020, but Ms May will now argue that limit proposed by Sir Andrew, in an independent review in 2011 is no longer needed. On the election campaign trail the PM had said politicians could no longer duck the issue and that the Government had been working on a long-term solution for the needs of an ageing population. But Sir Andrew said he was very surprised by the new thinking from Downing Street. New thinking that Id argue shows a less than full understanding of the problems when there is a green paper that is due to come out later this year, he added. Speaking on BBCs Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Dilnot, who is also a former head of the UK Statistics Authority, said: The disappointment about these proposals that were expecting to hear in the Conservative manifesto later is that they fail to tackle what Id argue is the biggest problem of all in social care, which is at the moment people facing a position of no control. There is nothing you can do to protect yourself against care costs, you cant insure because the private sector wont insure it and by refusing to implement a cap, the Conservatives are now saying that they are not going to provide social insurance for it so people will be left helpless knowing that what will happen is that if they are unlucky enough to suffer the need for care costs they will be entirely on their own until they are on their last 100,000. Mr Dilnot said he was very disappointed by the proposals in the manifesto due to be released later on Thursday. Not personally. I feel very disappointed for all of us the millions of people who are very, very anxious about this, he added. Citing Ms Mays conference speech last October at the Conservative conference, in which she outlined the good that government can do and her willingness to intervene in dysfunctional markets when they are in need of repair, Mr Dilnot continued: This was an absolute open goal for that kind of approach and it seems to have been missed. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Asked whether people would be better off under the Conservative plans to overhaul social care, Mr Dilnot added the new means test will help some people the majority of people getting care in their own home will find themselves worse off. The changes are not bad in themselves, he said. Its just that they fail to tackle the central problem that scares most people. Responding to the proposals, Barbara Keeley, Labours shadow social care minister, said: In their last manifesto they promised a cap on care costs. But they broke their promise, letting older and vulnerable people down. Its the Tories who have pushed social care into crisis; their cuts to councils have meant 4.6bn axed from social care budgets between 2010-2015, leaving 1.2 million people struggling to get by without care. Sir Andrew also told the BBC he was unaware of the proposals from the Conservatives until they appeared in the media. "The analogy is a bit like saying to somebody you can't insure your house against burning down, if it does burn down then you're completely on your own, you have to pay for all of it until you're down to the last 100,000 of all your assets and income," he said. "There's been some work going on in the Cabinet Office recently to think about what might come next, there's the proposal for a green paper after the election." Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May wants to change the international legal definitions of asylum and refugee status, the Conservatives manifesto reveals. The Party's manifesto pledges to reduce the number of asylum claims to the UK but "ensure Britain remains a place of sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers". It argues the current system is "geared towards people who are young enough, fit enough, and have the resources to get to Britain, rather than those who are most in need of our help." The manifesto claims the Government will offer asylum and refuge "to people in parts of the world affected by conflict and oppression, rather than to those who have made it to Britain." Theresa May says there is no 'Mayism' as Tory manifesto launches It continues: "We will work to reduce asylum claims made in Britain and, as we do so, increase the number of people we help in the most troubled regions. "We will continue to work with other countries in Europe, and the United Nations, to review the international legal definitions of asylum and refugee status." The legal definition of a refugee is enshrined in the Refugee Convention, which sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum. Maurice Wren, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: Almost 66 years ago in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War, the UK led the international community in drafting the Refugee Convention. "In doing so we made a promise that never again would refugees be left without anywhere to go or without the protection they needed. Now, when more people have been forced to flee their homes than ever before, is not the time to break that promise. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. "Instead the next UK Government should aspire to do everything in its power to welcome and enable more refugees to rebuild their lives in safety here, and encourage other countries to do likewise. Ms May also supported a change in the international definition of what counts as a refugee when she was Home Secretary. She said some refugees and asylum seekers were more deserving than others and so narrowing the scope of people allowed would allow help to be more targeted. Speaking at the Conservative Party manifesto launch in West Yorkshire today, Ms May also said the UK will remain signatories to the European Convention of Human Rights for the next Parliament. The ECHR protects freedoms such as the prohibition of torture, slavery, the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Labour has cut the Conservatives' poll lead again as support for Jeremy Corbyn's party reached its highest point of the general election campaign so far. The Tories are on 45 per cent, down four points since last week, while Labour was on 32, up one point - leaving Theresa May's party with a 13-point lead. The YouGov poll, conducted for The Times, was taken on 16 and 17 May, when Labour's manifesto was making news. Recommended Theresa May refuses to compare herself to a Harry Potter character Labour has climbed from 29 points to 32 since early this month with YouGov, the highest during the campaign so far. In the days after Theresa May announced June's snap election, Labour was polling only 25 per cent to the Tories' 48. According to The Times, the poll showed voters appeared to trust Labour to manage the NHS, schools and housing, rather than the Conservatives. That was reversed on the economy, immigration and unemployment. The poll found 46 per cent of voters wanted Ms May in Downing Street after 8 June, compared to 23 per cent for Mr Corbyn. It comes after Len McClusky, head of the Unite union and one of Mr Corbyn's biggest backers, said on Tuesday he thought it would constitute a "successful campaign" if Labour won 200 seats at the general election, down from the 232 it currently holds. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Mr McCluskey claimed traditional Labour voters considering the Conservatives for the first time were having "their mind turned by the constant attack of the media on Jeremy Corbyn and the image that theyve pinned on Jeremy". A separate poll found that fewer people would consider voting Labour if Tony Blair were in charge instead of Mr Corbyn. The current leader was also more popular than Ed Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Ukip candidate took a photograph of her black husband to a hustings, in an apparent bid to prove the party is not racist. Catherine Blaiklock, who is standing on behalf of the far-right, Eurosceptic party in Great Yarmouth, has said she wants to be the new face of Ukip. Addressing a local sixth form college, Ms Blaiklock said her current husband is Jamaican, and her ex-husband is from Nepal using the framed photograph as evidence. The event on Wednesday was the guest house owners first hustings since being selected to stand for the party earlier this month. Ms Blaiklock, who has two children from her first marriage and runs a charity called Nepal in Need, said she wanted to help the party shed its negative image. Ukip has repeatedly been accused of racism, including by David Cameron who said in 2006 that the party was full of fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists". During the Brexit campaign last summer, the party then led by Nigel Farage was widely condemned for a billboard poster showing a queue of refugees below the slogan Breaking Point. The poster was reported to the police for inciting racial hatred and breaching UK race laws. Ms Blaiklock told VICE magazine it is also unfair to label Brexit voters racist. There are millions of people who voted out and are not racist, including myself I sleep with somebody who is black, who is, you know, of Jamaican origin! she said, adding that she is 100 per cent not racist. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA She denied that Ukip mobilises the issue of race to win votes, pointing out that the party is the only one that vets against people who've been in the BNP. She said the parties anti-immigration agenda was not to do with race Well, I think we would have an issue if we decided to take 3 million South African whites as well, she argued. Ukip's Great Yarmouth candidate Catherine Blaiklock poses (George Ryan/ Great Yarmouth Mercury) Despite the lengths she went to to avoid being labelled racist, Ms Blaiklock told VICE she had never. Never. Never. Absolutely never, actually been accused of racism. She added: I just want to say it's important to shatter stereotypes. I know numerous people who voted Leave. We have Jewish people, all sorts of races, who want to be out. Ukip lost seats to the Tories in last months local elections and polling indicates the party will lose even more seats in the general election this June, with pundits describing a "collapse" of the party as a political force. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have been criticised for ducking a primetime election leaders debate and not being able to defend their policies live on television. The Prime Minister was accused of being too scared to defend her record by Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, one of the five opposition leaders taking part in the ITV clash. Ms Wood was joined by Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats, Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP and Paul Nuttall of Ukip. The politicians debated subjects ranging from Brexit to social care, the economy, education and the environment in the two-hour back-and-forth. Mr Nuttall accused Ms May and Mr Corbyn of having not bothered to turn up while Ms Lucas said she felt let down by the leaders for the no-show. In her absence, Ms May was accused of taking the electorate for granted by assuming she would win the election without debating the issues on television. Ahead of the debate ITVs political editor Robert Peston described the no-show by the two leaders as pathetic. The Prime Minister in particular has taken criticism since calling an election for running a highly stage-managed campaign with limited access to the public. The leaders debated for two hours (ITV) The long and thorough exploration of the smaller parties policies was punctuated by lighthearted moments when the Ukip leader appeared to forget the name of Ms Wood. He twice called her Natalie. The 8 June election is increasingly turning into a two-horse race if the polls are to be believed with Labour and the Tories squeezing the smaller parties vote shares in a manner not seen in decades. When asked why Mr Corbyn did not attend, Labour said British voters had a right to see a head-to-head debate between him and Theresa May. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Jeremy will not take part in an opposition leaders debate. The British people have the right see a head-to-head debate between the only two people who could form the next government - and the Prime Minister's refusal is a sign of weakness, not of strength, a spokesperson told The Independent. The Conservatives did not respond to a request for an explanation on why the Prime Minister was not taking part. Both Labour and the Tories press office social media accounts however sniped at those debating from the safety of their respective headquarters. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} MPs and political staff have been targeted by cyber attacks, security experts have said. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) made the revelation as it released guidance for politicians on staying safe online in the run up to the election. The phishing attacks are likely to continue, the NCSC said. Recommended How to stay safe from the Google phishing attack sweeping the internet Less than 10 people were targeted by the emails, which used personal addresses rather than official government accounts, The Telegraph reported. Concerns about cyber attacks have been heightened after a ransomware bug shut down thousands of NHS computers and froze IT systems across the world. The WannaCry bug is believed to have been spread by a phishing attack, which is believed to have been criminal in nature. Phishing emails attempt to trick users into giving out their password and other sensitive details by posing as genuine messages from service providers. The NCSC said: Attackers might send legitimate-looking password reset emails, urgent-sounding messages about financial problems, account change notifications requests, or links to documents that require you to log in with passwords. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The emails are very convincing and could arrive at an individuals personal or work email account, perhaps even appearing to come from someone known to the recipient. Following hacks on election campaigns in the US and France, security experts have warned a similar politically motivated cyber attack could be launched against the UK as it prepares for its national poll. Russia-linked actors have been blamed by the American and French intelligence services. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The man in charge of Britain's economy got the cost of a high-speed railway wrong by at least 20bn in a radio interview. Philip Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that HS2 will cost the taxpayer 32bn, when in fact it is expected to cost more than 52bn. The Chancellor had been attacking Labour's policy costings, which he claimed "don't add up", when he made the ironic gaffe. Social media users pointed out the mistake, which happened yesterday, was not immediately reported by most major news outlets, with some commenters suggesting the Conservative Party had a "free pass" with segments of the press. In contrast, shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was vilified by journalists earlier this month when she got confused about the cost of recruiting 10,000 new police officers live on LBC radio. Ms Abbott gave varying estimates for the cost of the new recruits, ranging from 300,000 to 80m both of which host Nick Ferrari said did not make sense. However some people said Ms Abbot's poor sums paled in comparison to Mr Hammond's, especially given that he has been in charge of Tory spending for almost a year already. Just answer this question, asked John Humphrys, who presents the flagship news and current affairs programme, on Wednesday morning. How much is HS2 costing? "Thirty-two billion?" Mr Hammond replied. "About 32 billion pounds." Mr Humphrys responded: "Thirty-two? Not 52 billion?" "There's a huge amount of contingency built into the funding for these projects," Mr Hammond argued. "Indeed it is and it is usually met, that contingency, isn't it?" retorted Mr Humphrys. "Because almost always things cost more than we expect." Without addressing his mistake directly, Mr Hammond tried to justify the cost of building the 250mph rail line linking London, the West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester 'as spread over 15 years as part of our infrastructure investment plan'. It is possible Mr Hammond got confused about the cost of HS2 because it has been revised upwards several times since the controversial plan was first announced. In 2015, an analysis by The Daily Telegraph found HS2 to be the most expensive high speed project in existence. The price estimate at the time of 42.6bn put it at more than ten times the cost per kilometre of some global counterparts the estimated price tag has since risen by 10bn. Jeremy Corbyn has said the Labour party will re-nationalise the railways "line by line" with ticket prices expected to fall as a result. But Labour was criticised after the release of its manifesto earlier this week for providing detailed costings for all of its policies except for its re-nationalisation plans which could run into the tens of billions of pounds. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA Under the party's own rules, it has to balance day-to-day spending and aim for an operational surplus by 2022, but it can borrow for infrastructure spending. The leadership argue the one off costs of buying back assets like the railways and postal service will be recouped in the long run. Mr Humphrys shot Mr Hammond down for saying the rival party's sums "did not add up". The presenter said: "I understand that that is the mantra, that they 'don't add up', but the fact is when you look at it they [Labour] have covered the running costs, the things people will really like to see a bit of money spent on like scrapping tuition fees, investment in schools, NHS, reversing benefit cuts and so on. The sort of things people will say yes I want to see that happening. And they have covered that, they have told us how they are going to pay for that." Mr Hammond's mistake came on the same day that Theresa May refused to say if he would be kept on as Chancellor if the Tories are re-elected next month. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fatih Karimov Trend: The Islamic Republic underlined that will not stop its missile program amid a new round of sanctions imposed by US on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. Irans foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the country will continue its missile program in line with its "inalienable and legal right" to upgrade the countrys defensive capabilities, the ministrys spokesman Bahram Ghasemi wrote on his Telegram channel May 18. US President Donald Trump on May 17 extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under the 2015 international nuclear deal. Trump imposed narrow penalties on seven Iranian and Chinese people and companies regarding the Islamic Republics ballistic missile program. The Iranian foreign ministry statement underlined that the Islamic Republics missile program does not violate any of Irans international commitments as well as the 2231 resolution of UN. Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015), adopted by the UN Security Council on July 20, 2015, endorsing the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal), calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads, including launches using such ballistic missile technology. As a counter-measure to new US sanctions, the Islamic Republic imposed sanctions on nine US companies and individuals for "human rights violations" through direct or indirect cooperation Israel in committing "crimes against humanity or other terror acts," participation and assistance in supporting terrorist groups in the region and repression of people in the Middle East and participation in acts against the national security of Iran, the Iranian foreign ministry statement said. The updated list of sanctioned people and companies will be released after obtaining approval by relevant Iranian authorities. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May will take the controversial step of taking away winter fuel payments of up to 300 from wealthier pensioners but also drop plans for an overall cap on costs payable by those receiving care. Unveiling the Conservative manifesto, the Prime Minister will claim she is finally getting to grips with what she will call the fundamental unfairness of Britains social care system. If re-elected, the Tories would do what David Cameron never dared, by means-testing the annual fuel payments so popular with the pensioners who are the bedrock of the partys support, with the cash diverted to social care. Recommended Lib Dems pledge to take winter fuel allowance from rich pensioners But Ms May will also risk a backlash by dumping the Conservative commitment to restrict the maximum amount the elderly must pay for their care, designed to prevent them from having to sell their homes to pay the bills. Mr Cameron proposed a cap of 72,000, delayed until 2020, but the Prime Minister will now argue that limit proposed by Sir Andrew Dilnot, in an independent review in 2011 - is no longer needed. Instead, she will pledge to significantly raise the threshold of personal assets at which people will be eligible for state help with residential care costs from 23,250 to 100,000. This will prevent people with modest or medium wealth from catastrophic costs and allow them to pass on their wealth to their families, the Tories will argue. However, Sir Andrew had argued for both an overall cap and a higher threshold to protect assets and a more generous one, at 118,000. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images The Conservatives are certain to face criticism that the new policy, while more generous than currently exists, will not prevent people from eventually having to sell their homes to meet high costs. While no-one receiving care will have to sell their home during their lifetime, or the lifetime of their surviving partner if they live together, this may have to happen at a later stage to meet care bills. Charities such as Age UK have argued that a cap is necessary because people worry about losing everything. According to Labour, one in ten people reaching the age of 65 face lifetime care costs of more than 100,000, with some homeowners paying the entire value of their properties. Supporters may argue that a policy leading to more elderly people selling their homes will be a boost to social mobility. However, the Conservatives are not expected to say how much extra cash will be put into easing the day-to-day care crisis, after 4.6bn of cuts since 2010 depriving around 1.2m older people of the care they need. Speaking in West Yorkshire unveiling a manifesto called Forward, Together - Ms May will not pretend the policy offers everything that people wished for. Instead she will say: People are rightly sceptical of politicians who claim to have easy answers to deeply complex problems. It is the responsibility of leaders to be straight with people about the challenges ahead and the hard work required to overcome them. General Election round-up: May 17 The Prime Minister will add: This is my plan for a stronger Britain and a prosperous future. It is a declaration of intent: a commitment to get to grips with the great challenges of our time and to take the big, difficult decisions that are right for Britain in the long term. Ms May will attempt to sweeten the pill by allowing people receiving care at home to defer payments until they, and their partner if they have one, have died. Recommended May grimaces when journalist accuses her of Brexit causing wage squeze This right is currently only available to people moving into residential care, under instructions to local councils made compulsory a few years ago. The Conservatives will argue this is a guarantee that no-one will have to sell their home to pay for care costs in their lifetime, or that of their surviving partner living in the family home. Only last week, it was reported that the manifesto would include a cap on lifetime care costs, but possibly set at 85,000 rather than 72,000. However, that would have cost at least 2bn a year, more than is likely to be raised by means-testing the winter fuel allowance. In 2015, the Tory manifesto read: We will look after you as you grow older. We will cap charges for residential social care from April 2016.so no one has to sell their home. Labour has pledged to put 3bn a year into social care by the later years of the next parliament, but has not said at what level a cap on care costs would be set The Liberal Democrats have backed the 72,000 figure proposed during the Coalitions years in power, to be funded from 1p extra on income tax. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An unmarried couple has been stoned to death by jihadis in Mali as groups linked to al-Qaeda intensify a bloody campaign to establish an Islamic state. An official said local residents in Taghlit, Kidal region, were invited to take part in the public punishment for allegedly violating Islamic law. The Islamists dug two holes where they put the man and the woman who lived maritally without being married, he told AFP. They were stoned to death. Four people threw stones at them until they died. Tuesdays execution is the first reported stoning in the west African nation since France launched an intervention to drive Islamists and separatist Tuareg rebels back from northern regions in 2013. It came shortly before Frances new President Emmanuel Macron visits Mali on his first foreign tour, where he is due to meet French troops fighting insurgents throughout lawless swathes of desert in the north. Members of al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar Dine previously stoned a couple accused of having children outside of marriage to death in nearby Aguelhok in July 2012. Malian fighter admits guilt in destruction of Timbuktu sites An initially successful counter-offensive saw key cities including Timbuktu and Gao brought back under government control, following months of extremist rule that saw anyone breaking an imposed version of Sharia law brutally punished with whippings and amputations. Despite the deployment of 11,000 UN peacekeepers since Frances intervention, Islamist groups have been re-gaining strength in recent months, launching a series of attacks on the military as they push south. At least one peacekeeper killed in an assault on an army base earlier this month, following more than 300 reported deaths in militant attacks since the start of 2017. The latest large-scale operation was claimed by Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims or al-Qaeda in Mali), a newly formed alliance of jihadi groups including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Mourabitoun, Ansar Dine and the Macina Liberation Front. The UN Security Council condemned the attack on its Minusma mission in Timbuktu, calling it a potential war crime and demanding those responsible are held accountable. The members of the Security Council expressed their concern about the security situation in Mali, a statement said. They urged the Malian parties to fully implement the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation without further delay. In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Show all 20 1 /20 In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack People run to flee from the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali. The company that runs the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital says assailants have taken hostages in a brazen assault involving grenades AP In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Security force personnel escort people fleeing from the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian troops take position near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Security personnel, right, attend close to the scene of an attack on a hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian security forces evacuate two women from an area surrounding the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Security forces drive an armored vehicle near the Radisson hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Security forces, center left, escorts a man, center right, from the Radisson Blu hotel entrance area were gunmen attacked in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Onlookers gather near the Radisson Blu hotel after gunmen stormed the building in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian security forces take position near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako In pictures: Mali Radisson hotel attack Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako The peace deal was signed two years ago in the hope of stopping successive uprisings by ethnic Tuareg rebels who launched an advance in 2012, bolstered by the free flow of militants and weapons from the Libyan civil war. But the separatist rebellion was hijacked by powerful Islamist groups, who turned on Tuareg militias and pushed them out of their major cities, and now refuse to negotiate with their rivals or the government. Mali's parliament has extended a state of emergency until October in response to the renewed insurgency, handing increased powers to security forces and restricting public gatherings. The killings have made Mali the worlds deadliest country for peacekeepers, while human rights groups have warned of a deepening security vacuum increasing suffering and displacement for civilians already facing widespread poverty and starvation. The insecurity has undermined efforts by the Malian government and its international partners to strengthen the rule of law and deliver basic health care, education, and humanitarian assistance, Human Rights Watch said in its 2017 world report, which also warned of arbitrary arrests, executions and torture by state security forces. Militant attacks have spread into Burkina Faso and Cote dIvoire, while Islamists have also launched terror attacks in the southern capital of Bamako, where 20 hostages were killed at the Radisson Blu hotel in November 2015. Al-Qaeda-linked groups have also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a Swiss missionary in Timbuktu, an elderly Australian doctor in Burkina Faso and an American aid worker in Niger. All are believed to be held in Mali. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Polish authorities are investigating whether a young woman was caught up in trafficking or sexual exploitation on a trip to Egypt before she died in mysterious circumstances. Magdalena Zuk, 27, died in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam after falling from the first or second storey of a hospital. Ewa Weglarowicz-Makowska, the lead Polish investigator, has now said she is pursuing suspicions of murder. Ms Zuk flew to the resort on 25 April and died five days later. She had planned to go with her boyfriend but, in the event, he did not accompany her. The pair kept in touch by phone. Two days into the trip he became worried by her behaviour and Polish diplomats in Cairo agreed to help schedule her early return home. But due to her worsening health condition she was taken to hospital in Hurghada, some three hours north of Marsa Alam, accompanied by a friend and a tour guide. At some point later she returned to Marsa Alam, where she fell from a height and died from her injuries, Polish officials said. Prosecutors in Jelenia Gora, Poland, pushed to be included in the investigation after the failure of Egyptian law enforcement to conduct an autopsy for some days after Ms Zuk died, they said in a statement. The procedure was eventually carried out on 9 May in the presence of a Polish forensic expert, according to the Polish foreign ministry. Polands justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro spoke with Egypts attorney general for 40 minutes by phone last week and the Egyptian official agreed to take personal oversight of the case, the Polish justice ministry said. A spokesman told The Independent: Egypt's attorney general has declared his readiness to cooperate fully with the Polish prosecutor's office, including the questioning of witnesses in Egypt. He also assured that the Polish side would be kept informed about the conduct of the investigation by the Egyptian prosecutors. In a Polish media report referenced by the justice ministry spokesman, Mr Ziobro said investigators were examining claims Ms Zuks death was related to human trafficking and organised crime. They will also consider suggestions which appeared to have spread on social media and were posted on a white supremacist website that sexual violence and drugs were involved, according to the report on Onet. The Polish foreign ministry did not address the rumours in its statement to The Independent. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty A report on the website of Egypts biggest newspaper, Al Ahram, cited a security source as saying Ms Zuk was drunk and in an agitated state the day she died. She took her own life, the report claimed. Polish authorities have demanded access to Ms Zuks medical documents. The Egyptian embassy in London said it could not comment until the investigation had finished. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The United States has denied visas for roughly forty gay Chechens currently in hiding fearing severe persecution for their sexual identity. The individuals are hiding in various locations around Russia after a wave of kidnappings, torture, and disappearances of gay people were reported in Chechnya, a semi-autonomous region in southern Russia that borders Georgia. A US State Department official declined to confirm or deny if the individuals had been denied visas, telling the Independent that visa records are confidential under US law and that they are unable to discuss individual visa requests. A spokesperson for the Russian LGBT Network had confirmed the visa denials to Buzzfeed News. Recommended Man who likened Obama to Hitler says he will join Trump administration Just two individuals have been able to secure visas to safe countries since the revelation last month by independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that dozens of gay Chechens were being abused in Chechnya. Thats in spite of assertions from Western countries, including the US, that the events in Chechnya are revolting. The United States continues to be concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where credible reports indicate at least 100 men have been detained on the basis of their sexual orientation, the State Department official said. Credible reports further indicate that some of those men have been tortured and even killed. The United States categorically condemns the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or any other basis. Other reports have indicated that as many as several hundred men may have been abducted during the crackdown. There are at least six secret prisons being used to detain men suspected of being gay. Purges strike fear in new Chechnya Show all 6 1 /6 Purges strike fear in new Chechnya Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234121.bin Mari Bastashevski Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234123.bin AP Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234124.bin Mari Bastashevski Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234125.bin Mari Bastashevski Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234126.bin Mari Bastashevski Purges strike fear in new Chechnya 234127.bin GETTY The man who rules Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has denied any crackdown on gay people has occurred because Chechnya by saying that his province doesnt have non-traditional sexual orientation. Mr Kadyrov has also been accused of hunting his critics down both within Russia and outside its borders and the journalists who wrote the story detailing the crackdown have left Russia for safety after they were labelled enemies of the country. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} US army private Chelsea Manning has posted a new photo of herself after being freed from a Kansas military prison and a 35-year sentence for leaking classified materials. The transgender soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning took to Twitter and Instagram on Thursday, posting a portrait photograph of her with short-cropped hair, bright red lipstick and a dark outfit with a plunging neckline. The 29-year-old, from Oklahoma, included the caption: "Okay, so here I am everyone!!" Recommended Chelsea Manning celebrates freedom with moving Instagram post Ms Manning was released early on Wednesday from confinement at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, having served seven years behind bars for giving classified materials to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. She and her lawyers have refused to divulge her post-prison whereabouts or immediate plans. In an earlier post, she wrote "First steps of freedom!!" alongside a photograph of her feet. Barack Obama, in his final days in office, commuted the final 28 years of Ms Manning's 35-year sentence. She announced her gender transition while the US Army was keeping her in the men's prison and forcing her to wear a male haircut. Chelsea Manning freed from prison - a timeline of events In a statement Ms Manning said she appreciated the support she had received from people all over the world. "The past will always affect me, and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point not my final destination," the statement said. Ms Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq "out of a love for my country. Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A murderer wolfed down a 5,500-calorie final meal before he was executed, including a steak wrapped in bacon and an entire 2,000-calorie "blooming onion" that had been battered and deep fried. J W Ledford, who stabbed an elderly doctor to death in 1992, told witnesses to his death they could "kiss my white trash ass" after he had polished off a filet mignon steak with bacon and pepperjack cheese, fried chicken, pork chops and chicken goujons. He had also ordered side dishes including hot chips and a pecan pie with ice cream, and washed it all down with a Sprite. Ledford was given a lethal injection in a prison in Jackson, Georgia, on Wednesday. His time of death was 1.17am. He was the first person executed in Georgia this year. The 45-year-old was convicted of murder in the January 1992 stabbing death of Dr Harry Johnston in Murray County Recommended Mystery of how Polish woman died while on holiday at Red Sea resort He smiled broadly as witnesses entered the viewing area. When given a chance to make a final statement, he appeared to quote from the movie Cool Hand Luke. "What we have here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach," he said, later adding, "I am not the failure. You are the failure to communicate." "You can kiss my white trash ass," he added, continuing to smile. As the warden exited the execution chamber at 1.09am, Ledford began talking again, but the microphones had been cut off so his words weren't audible. Records from past executions show the lethal drug generally starts flowing within a couple of minutes of the warden exiting the execution chamber. Ledford raised his head to look at his right arm right after the warden left and about a minute later appeared to speak to a guard to his right. He then rested his head, closed his eyes and appeared to take several deep breaths before falling still within two or three minutes of the warden leaving the room. Ledford told police he had gone to Johnston's home on 31 January, 1992, to ask for a ride to the grocery store. After the older man accused him of stealing and smacked him, Ledford pulled out a knife and stabbed Johnston to death, according to court filings. The pathologist who did the autopsy said Johnston suffered "one continuous or two slices to the neck" and bled to death. After dragging Johnston's body to another part of Johnston's property and covering it up, Ledford returned to Johnston's house with a knife and demanded money from Johnston's wife, according to court filings. He took money and four guns from the home, tied up Johnston's wife and left in Johnston's truck. He was arrested later that day. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Ledford told police he had had several beers and smoked marijuana in the hours before the killing. His lawyers had asked the parole board to spare him, citing a rough childhood, substance abuse from an early age and his intellectual disability. After holding a hearing Monday, the board declined to grant clemency. Following its normal practice, the board did not give a reason for its denial. Ledford's lawyers also tried to get the courts to stop his execution. The challenges were appealed all the way up to the US Supreme Court, which rejected them shortly after 12.30am on Wednesday. Because of changes in brain chemistry caused by a drug Ledford has been taking for chronic nerve pain for more than a decade, there was a high risk that the pentobarbital Georgia planned to use to execute him would not render him unconscious and devoid of sensation or feeling, his lawyers wrote in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. That would violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment enshrined in the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, the lawsuit said. When challenging an execution method on those grounds, a US Supreme Court precedent requires inmates to propose a known and available alternative. Ledford's lawyers, therefore, proposed that he be executed by firing squad, a method that is not allowed under Georgia law. Ledford's lawyers also asked a state court judge to halt the execution because he was only 20 and his brain wasn't finished developing when he killed Johnston. Just as juvenile offenders are considered less culpable and not the "worst of the worst" for whom the death penalty is reserved, the execution of those under 21 is also unconstitutional, Ledford's lawyers argue. The state executed nine inmates last year, more than any other state and the most Georgia had executed in a single calendar year since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume 40 years ago. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy - made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump, McCarthy, Republican-California, said, according to a recording of the 15 June 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Representative Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican-Wisconsin, immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy's assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the US Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions. News had just broken the day before in The Washington Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home. Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy's comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: Swear to God. Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: No leaks...This is how we know we're a real family here. Recommended Former FBI Director Robert Mueller appointed to oversee Russia probe The remarks remained secret for nearly a year. The conversation provides a glimpse at the internal views of GOP leaders who now find themselves under mounting pressure over the conduct of President Trump. The exchange shows that the Republican leadership in the House privately discussed Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and Trump's relationship to Putin, but wanted to keep their concerns secret. It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally. The House leadership has so far stood by the White House as it has lurched from one crisis to another, much of the turmoil fuelled by contacts between Trump or his associates with Russia. House Republican leaders have so far resisted calls for the appointment of an independent commission or a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference, though pressure has been mounting on them to do so after Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and the disclosure that the president shared intelligence with Russian diplomats. Late Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced he had appointed Robert Mueller III, a former prosecutor who served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013, as special counsel to oversee the Russia probe. Evan McMullin, who in his role as policy director to the House Republican Conference participated in the June 15 conversation, said: It's true that Majority Leader McCarthy said that he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking. McMullin ran for president last year as an independent and has been a vocal critic of Trump. When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: That never happened, and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false. After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humour. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What's more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia's interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity. This was a failed attempt at humour, Sparks said. Ken Grubbs, a spokesman for Rohrabacher, said the congressman has been a consistent advocate of working closer with the Russians to combat radical Islamism. The congressman doesn't need to be paid to come to such a necessary conclusion. When McCarthy voiced his assessment of whom Putin supports, suspicions were only beginning to swirl around Trump's alleged Russia ties. At the time, US. intelligence agencies knew that the Russians had hacked the DNC and other institutions, but Moscow had yet to start publicly releasing damaging emails through WikiLeaks to undermine Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. An FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence the presidential election would open the following month, in late July, Comey has said in testimony to Congress. Trump has sought to play down contacts between his campaign and the Russians, dismissing as a witch hunt the FBI and congressional investigations into Russian efforts to aid Trump and any possible coordination between the Kremlin and his associates. Trump denies any coordination with Moscow took place. Presidential candidate Trump's embrace of Putin and calls for closer cooperation with Moscow put him at odds with the House Republican caucus, whose members have long advocated a harder line on Russia, with the exception of Rohrabacher and a few others. Among GOP leaders in the House, McCarthy stood out as a Putin critic who in 2015 called for the imposition of more severe sanctions for its actions in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. In May 2016, McCarthy signed up to serve as a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, breaking ranks with Ryan, who said he still was not ready to endorse the candidate. McCarthy's relationship with Trump became so close that the president would sometimes refer to him as my Kevin. Trump was by then the lone Republican remaining in the contest for the nomination. Though Ryan continued to hold out, Trump picked up endorsements from the remaining GOP leaders in the House, including Representative Steve Scalise, the majority whip from Louisiana, and Republican Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Washington) - both of whom took part in the 15 June conversation. Ryan announced on June 2 that he would vote for Trump to help unite the party so we can win in the fall but continued to clash with the candidate, including over Putin. While Trump sought to cast Putin as a better leader than then-President Barack Obama, Ryan dubbed him an aggressor who didn't share US interests. On the same day as Ryan's endorsement, Clinton stepped up her attacks on Trump over his public statements praising Putin. If Donald gets his way, they'll be celebrating in the Kremlin, she said. Ukrainian officials were unnerved by Trump's statements in support of Putin. Republicans, they had believed, were supposed to be tougher on Russia. When Trump named Paul Manafort as his campaign manager in April 2016, alarm bells in Kiev started ringing even louder. Manafort was already well known in Ukraine because of his influential role as a political consultant to Viktor Yanukovych, the country's former Kremlin-friendly ruler until a popular uprising forced him to flee to Russia. Manafort had also consulted for a powerful Russian businessman with close ties to the Kremlin. Ukraine was, in a sense, a testing ground for Manafort, said Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets, who became a grudging admirer of Manafort's skills in the dark arts of political stagecraft while Berezovets was working for one of Yanukovych's political rivals. At the urging of Manafort, Yanukovych campaigned with populist slogans labelling NATO a menace and casting elites in the Ukrainian capital as out of touch, Berezovets said. Trump struck similar themes during the 2016 campaign. The FBI is now investigating whether Manafort, who stepped down as Trump's campaign manager in August, received off-the-books payments from Yanukovych's party, US officials said. As part of that investigation, FBI agents recently took possession of a newly discovered document that allegedly details payments totaling $750,000. Ukrainian lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko, who first disclosed the new document, declined to comment on his contacts with the FBI. A spokesman for Manafort has said that Trump's former campaign manager has not been contacted by the FBI. Manafort has also disputed the authenticity of the newly discovered document. Groysman, on an official visit to Washington, met separately with Ryan and McCarthy on 15 June at the Capitol. He told them how the Russians meddled in European politics and called for unity in addressing the threat, according to US and Ukrainian officials. Ryan issued a statement after the meeting saying, the United States stands with Ukraine as it works to rebuild its economy and confront Russian aggression. Later, Ryan spoke privately with McCarthy, Rodgers, Scalise and Rep. Patrick McHenry, Republican-North Carolina, the deputy whip, among others. Ryan mentioned his meeting with Groysman, prompting Rodgers to ask: How are things going in Ukraine? according to the recording. The situation was difficult, Ryan said. Groysman, he said, had told him that Russian-backed forces were firing 30 to 40 shells into Ukrainian territory every day. And the prime minister described Russian tactics that include financing our populists, financing people in our governments to undo our governments. Ryan said Russia's goal was to turn Ukraine against itself. Groysman underlined Russia's intentions, saying, They're just going to roll right through us and go to the Baltics and everyone else, according to Ryan's summary of the prime minister's remarks in the recording. Yes, Rodgers said in agreement, noting that the Russians were funding nongovernmental organisations across Europe as part of a wider propaganda war. Maniacal, Ryan said. And guess, guess who's the only one taking a strong stand up against it? We are. Rodgers disagreed. We're not... we're not... but, we're not, she said. That's when McCarthy brought the conversation about Russian meddling around to the DNC hack, Trump and Rohrabacher. I'll guarantee you that's what it is... The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump, McCarthy said with a laugh. Ryan asked who the Russians delivered the opposition research to. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images There's... there's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump, McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. Swear to God, McCarthy added. This is an off the record, Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that. No leaks, all right?, Ryan said, adding: This is how we know we're a real family here. That's how you know that we're tight, Scalise said. What's said in the family stays in the family, Ryan added. Copyright The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Michael T. Flynn told President Donald Trumps transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case. Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Flynn of the inquiry, Trump made Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Flynn access to the President and nearly every secret held by US intelligence agencies. Flynns disclosure, on 4 January, was first made to the transition teams chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Flynns lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported. His legal issues have been a problem for the White House from the beginning and are at the centre of a growing political crisis for Trump. Flynn, who was fired after 24 days in the job, was initially kept on even after the acting attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, warned the White House that he might be subject to blackmail by the Russians for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington. Recommended Former FBI Director Robert Mueller appointed to oversee Russia probe After Flynns dismissal, Trump tried to get James B. Comey, the FBI director, to drop the investigation an act that some legal experts say is grounds for an investigation of Trump for possible obstruction of justice. He fired Comey on 9 May. The White House declined to comment on whether officials there had known about Flynns legal troubles before the inauguration. Flynn, a retired general, is one of a handful of Trump associates under scrutiny in intertwined federal investigations into their financial links to foreign governments and whether any of them helped Russia interfere in the presidential election. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images In congressional testimony, the acting FBI director, Andrew G. McCabe, has confirmed the existence of a highly significant investigation into possible collusion between Trumps associates and Russian operatives to sway the presidential election. The pace of the investigations has intensified in recent weeks, with a veteran espionage prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, now leading a grand jury inquiry in Northern Virginia that is scrutinising Flynns foreign lobbying and has begun issuing subpoenas to businesses that worked with Flynn and his associates. Copyright The New York Times Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's campaign made contact with Russia at least 18 times during his presidential race, according to a new report. The interactions had previously been kept secret by the campaign but are now being reviewed as part of the FBI and congressional investigation into Trump's relationship with Russia. Conversations between members of Trump's team and high-ranking officials including setting up a special backchannel for communications between the President and Putin, Reuters reported. That would allow the two talk without involving US national security officials. Will Donald Trump be impeached? Such discussions accelerated after Donald Trump won the election, in November. The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016 as hackers engaged in what US intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to discredit the vote and influence the outcome of the election in favour of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Those discussions focused on mending US-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China, the sources said. In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time. The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Flynn's lawyer declined to comment. In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration. In the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasized a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside, the sources said. Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional. "It's rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power," Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters. Additional reporting by Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} News broke Tuesday evening that then-FBI Director James B. Comey had written notes in February indicating that President Trump had asked him to end an investigation of former White House national security adviser Michael T. Flynn. It was big news to the rest of us. To Matthew Miller, it was as predicted. Five days before the New York Times broke that story, the former top Justice Department spokesman tweeted this: One thing I learned at DOJ about Comey: he leaves a protective paper trail whenever he deems something inappropriate happened. Given that foresight - and Miller's experience in the DOJ during the Obama administration - I thought it worthwhile to find out what else he saw coming down the pike. As you'll see below, he thinks that this is the tip of the spear and that former FBI Director James Comey's actions suggest he may have been building a legal case against the president of the United States. Below is our conversation, edited lightly for clarity and length. Q: You were pretty prescient in noting that the Comey memos would come back to bite Trump - saying stay tuned. How widely known are Comey's note-keeping habits? Is it exceptional in some way? A: I don't think it's exceptional either for an FBI director or for anyone at the FBI or at the Justice Department. If they have a conversation with someone where the other person raises something inappropriate, it's a pretty standard practice to then write a memo to the file, basically, putting that down. There were times when I was at Justice when I got phone calls from people that would make inappropriate requests of me, and I would usually tell them, That's an inappropriate request; I can't do that. And then I would send an email to my deputy after the conversation describing it, so if anyone ever asked about it, there was a record of exactly what happened and that I didn't do anything wrong. Recommended Former FBI Director Robert Mueller appointed to oversee Russia probe Q: And so you would generally not only write the memo, but you would talk to somebody about it in real time? A: I think people do it different ways. You can either just send a memo to the file and just kind of keep it to yourself, or the safer thing is to actually memorialise it, either in a conversation or a written record with someone else at the Justice Department. Q: What kinds of things are usually in these notes? Is it a pretty straight recounting of the conversation, or will they also include things like, Well, I think this may have been illegal? A: I think it completely depends on the conversation and the person you're having it with. It's a very different thing if someone outside the Justice Department calls you and asks you to find out the status of an investigation, and you tell them no. That's one thing - versus the president of the United States telling you to quash an investigation. In the orders of magnitude of wrongdoing and impact, they're two very different things. I guess my point is, there's not a great parallel between conversations with the president and anything else - mostly because it's pretty infrequent that the FBI director would be having one-on-one conversations with the president. Something that's important here is that it was inappropriate for Trump to have any conversations with Comey about the status of this case - let alone to make the kind of request that we now know he did. Q: So that would definitely raise a red flag for Comey. A: Yeah. And Comey - he might have had two motives here. One is, when you're put in this situation, you want to make a record, so if the other side ever tells their story, you can pretty clearly demonstrate with contemporaneous records that you acted appropriately. I keep wondering - something in the back of my head keeps saying to me - maybe Comey was actually trying to build an obstruction-of-justice case against the president here. You know what I mean? Because Comey could handle this one of two ways: The president makes this request, and the first time Comey might say to him, You know, Mr. President, it's inappropriate for us to have this conversation, and I would appreciate if you would not make a request like this to me again. That's a way to handle it that says very clearly to the president that this should never be repeated. But if you're trying to build an obstruction-of-justice case, you might want the president to keep talking, because everything he does is digging a deeper legal hole for himself. Q: And that would be, ostensibly, a reason for him not to resign after that first conversation, as some people have suggested he should have. A: That's exactly right. You have to remember, the president in that letter firing Comey said, You told me three times I wasn't under investigation. We have no idea if that's true or not. But I think it's also a little bit of a red herring, because the president's campaign is under investigation. He is obviously the head of his own campaign, and when the Justice Department investigates any organisation - whether it be a Mafia organisation, a cartel or just a corporation - you're always investigating and looking to make a case against the highest person possible. So they would always have in their minds, We have no idea where this is going, but at the end of it, it could reach the very top of the campaign. So in that particular circumstance, Comey might have wanted him to keep talking to see what he says. Q: A lot of this could come down to how much Comey wants to fight this battle with the president. Is there anything in his past that leads you to believe he would willingly and proactively want that fight? A: Yes. Look, there's one thing I agree with the president on: That Comey is a showboat. You just look at his actions in the [Hillary] Clinton case, where he made himself the central player when there was no reason for him to be the central player. That aside, his entire history shows that he likes to be at the centre of attention. You look at the Ashcroft bedside incident where that unfolded in one of the most dramatic congressional hearings in history. And it was pretty clear at the time that that hearing had been pretty well planned by Comey and by Preet Bharara - to uncover real wrongdoing by the Bush administration - but also to present Comey in a very favourable light. Q: It had the bonus of that. A: Right. And honestly, I think that's what he had in mind with his July press conference on the Clinton emails last year. I think he is a man of integrity, but he also thinks of himself very much as a man of integrity and likes the spotlight that highlights that. And he's going to enjoy the spotlight of a congressional hearing when he inevitably testifies. We have no idea who made the decision to leak this, whether it was Comey himself or it was people at the FBI. And we don't know what their complete strategic goals are. But if you were really looking to damage the president, you wouldn't leak the most damaging memo first. So who knows what comes next? Q: Are there other instances in recent years, whether with Comey or anybody else, where these contemporary notes were really important? A: There's one involving Comey that I actually had in mind when I sent that tweet last week. In 2005, the Bush administration was authorising - or reauthorising - waterboarding and other torture tactics. And Comey had signed off on it as a deputy attorney general. But in addition to signing off on it, he had a meeting with Attorney General [Alberto R.] Gonzales and laid out why he thought it was a bad idea for the government to torture people and how it would make the government look bad and call into question the credibility of everyone involved. And not only did he have the meeting, but he memorialised it in a meeting with his chief of staff, where he said exactly what he had laid out to the attorney general. We know this because in 2009, when the Office of Professional Responsibility at the DOJ was investigating this issue and the New York Times wrote a story about it, magically Comey's email to his chief of staff appeared in that story - and made its way to OPR. I was at DOJ at the time, and what it told me was Comey had the presence of mind to write the email in the first place, print a copy of it when he left the department, sit on it for four years and be ready to give it to a reporter when someone questioned why he had signed off on torture.... I remember watching it and thinking, This is very instructive of how Comey operates inside a bureaucracy. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Q: What reason might these notes or memos not become public? A: One of the tests of the next few days is whether DOJ will try and block the FBI from turning these over to Congress. I think we can guess that the FBI, left to its own devices, is going to want to turn them over, but Sessions and [Assistant Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein may try to block that. They could cite a number of privileges. They could cite the fact that this is an ongoing investigation, and so they won't turn them over. That would be the argument that the underlying investigation into Russia is an ongoing investigation... They could also cite executive privilege that these are conversations between the Department of Justice and the president, and that they were covered by executive privilege and shouldn't be turned over. That will be a, politically, very tough argument for the DOJ and the White House to make, I think. Copyright The Washington Post Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Veteran Iranian politician, Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri has resigned from his post in Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis office to join President Hassan Rouhanis election campaign. IRNA news agency quoted an informed source as saying that Nategh-Nouri has resigned as the head of the supreme leaders Inspection Office, but his request has not been accepted yet. Nategh-Nouri decided to support Rouhani in his ongoing presidency campaign, so submitted his resignation to Khamenei a while ago, the source said, adding that the 72-year-old politician believes that having a position in the leaders office contradicts his decision to join a political campaign. Nategh-Nouri seriously believes that the valuable position in the supreme leaders office should not be used by political groups for their goals, the source added. The source also rejected rumors about Nategh-Nouris dismissal by Khamenei. Iranians go to the polling stations on May 19 to elect their president. Irans incumbent President Rouhani backed by reformists is seeking re-election against his hardliner rival, Ebrahim Raisi. During the previous presidential election in June 2013, Rouhani garnered 50.7 percent of over 36 million votes. According to Ali Asghar Ahmadi, the head of the Interior Ministrys State Elections Committee, over 56.4 million Iranians can cast their ballots in the election tomorrow. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against Isis that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy news service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the Isis stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasn't reported, but Turkey has long opposed US military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces. At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department. News about Flynn's activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. Recommended Trump team knew Mike Flynn was under investigation before appointment On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the US presidential election. Mueller will have sweeping powers, including the right to bring federal charges. House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating. Trump fired Flynn in February on other grounds that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US. McClatchy's reporting reflects previous reports in The New Yorker and other media outlets about Flynn's work on behalf of Turkey. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images The military plan against the Isis stronghold was eventually approved, but not until after Flynn had been fired. Copyright Associated Press Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 15-day-old baby was found covered in up to 100 rat bites and needed reconstructive surgery to repair an open wound on its head. Police said the infant's arms, fingers, face and hands were covered in rodent bites. Officers found the baby's cot covered in bloody rat footprints, WKBN reported. The father, 18-year-old Charles Elliot, is said to have told his mother he was afraid to take his child to hospital in case it was taken away. Recommended Durham Police to use AI to predict future crimes of suspects Mr Elliot and his partner Erica Shryock, 19, of Magnolia in Arkansas, were arrested after police were called by doctors who treated their child. They have been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. The pair admitted knowing their house had a rat problem but did nothing about it, WKBN reported. All three of their children have been taken into protective custody, according to KARK. According to WKBN, Ms Shryock put her baby to sleep at 5.30am on Sunday and was woken by its screams two hours later. She and her partner noticed their child was covered in blood but they waited for Mr Elliot's mother to arrive, at 9am before going to hospital. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Their roommate told police she could not understand how the parents did not wake earlier, given the baby's cot was next to their bed. Doctors told police that the "severe skin destruction" the baby suffered would have taken place over the course of hours, and that its parents must have been either absent or incapacitated to have failed to respond to its distress, WKBN said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Republican House Leader who claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying Donald Trump has insisted his comments were a joke. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said his assertion that both the US President and Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, who is a staunch defender of Mr Putin, were being paid by Moscow was just a bad attempt at humour. He had originally denied making the comments but later backtracked when it was revealed the Washington Post had obtained a recording of the 2016 conversation with fellow Republican leaders. There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trumpswear to God," the Post reported him as saying. Mr McCarthys spokesperson Matt Sparks originally denied the exchange ever took place, saying: The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false. However his aides quickly u-turned before the transcript of the conversation was released. Mr McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday: "It was a bad attempt at a joke. "That's all there is to it. No one believes it to be true." The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images When questioned as to why he would joke about that, he said: You don't have a sense of humour anymore? People aren't supposed to be able to laugh? "There's a reason why I'm not a comedian." Another GOP House leadership spokesperson said: The speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russias interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity. It came as the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He will be tasked with probing any potential ties Trump campaign officials may have had with Moscow. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was charged with appointing the special prosecutor after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe because he had lied about meeting with Kremlin officials. The decision by Mr Rosenstein follows a week of intensifying pressure on the Justice Department to make sure that its investigation into the White House is independent. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Roger Ailes, the founder and former CEO of Fox News, died on 18 May at the age of 77. The news tycoon had suffered from a blood-clotting disorder called haemophilia since childhood. Family friends report he died of complications stemming from a blood clot. His poor health, however, did not stop Mr Ailes from becoming one of the most successful and infamous businessmen in the industry. Recommended Fox News founder Roger Ailes dies aged 77 For these reasons, and many more, Mr Ailes legacy will likely long outlast 20-year term at Fox News. 1. He started as a Republican political operative Ailes got his start in politics working for none other than Richard Nixon. He is credited with repackaging Nixon for television; pioneering the idea of a staged town hall in which planted audience members asked the candidate soft-ball questions. He is also credited with helping to hide Ronald Reagans mounting Alzheimer's, giving him simple, one-line talking points to repeat. He was later known as the go-to man on George HW Bushs presidential campaign. "He was the premier guy in the business," former Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins told Rolling Stone of Mr Ailes. "He was our Michelangelo." 2. He is said to be behind some of the most controversial ads on television Rumours have circulated for years that Mr Ailes had a hand in creating the infamous Willie Horton ad, which focused on the case of a Black, convicted felon in order to portray Mr Bushs opponent as soft on crime. The creator of the ad, which has been widely criticised as racist, worked for Roger Ailes shortly before creating the ads. According to the Federal Election Commission, Mr Ailes may have implicitly communicated to the ads creator about the need for more attack ads. Mr Ailes has denied involvement in the making of Willie Horton ad. But that same year, he ran a similar spot focusing on the release of prisoners for weekend breaks. In the ad, the camera focuses on a lone Black prisoner, who bears a striking resemblance to Horton. The only question, Mr Ailes later told Time Magazine, is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it. Mr Ailes was later hired by the tobacco industry to develop ads to take down Clinton administration health care reform. 3. He built Fox News as a political machine Mr Ailes started Fox News in 1996. Former Fox commentators describe the network as his vision and a reflection of him. He reportedly handpicked all of his hosts and anchors, and dictated what they would say on air. Theres a chain of command, and its followed, one former news anchor told Rolling Stone. Roger talks to his people, and his people pass the message on down. According to former employees, Mr Ailes directives almost always had a political aim. In 2000, that aim was to elect George W Bush and it succeeded. As study of voting patterns by the University of California found Fox News convinced roughly 200,000 votes to vote Republican in areas where they had access to the network. In 2008, Fox News and Ailes motive was to take down the Obama administration. Fox was one of the first networks to claim Mr Obama was raised as a Muslim and educated in an Islamic religious school. At one point, Fox viewers Viewers were found to be 31 points more likely than the average viewer to doubt President Obamas American citizenship. I see this as the Alamo, Mr Ailes reportedly said of Mr Obamas presidency. 4. ...and made it extremely successful Viewership at Fox News has skyrocketed since Mr Ailes launched it more than 20 years ago. In 2016, Fox News was the most popular of any cable news network despite having one-third the staff of CNN. In 2011, 19 per cent of Americans said they turned to Fox as their main source of national and international news, compared to CNNs 15 percent. The network is also extremely profitable: In 2010, it made more money than CNN, MSNBC and the evening newscasts of NBC, ABC and CBS combined. "Fox News is one of the most important media properties in the industry, analyst Brian Wieser wrote in 2016. More than a source of influence for some (and agitation for others), it is a highly profitable entity that accounts for a large share of its parent company's value. 5. He was accused of sexually harassing more than two dozen women Last summer, former Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson opened the floodgates for claims against Mr Ailes when she accused him of sexually harassing her throughout her career at Fox News. Among other things, Ms Carlson accused Mr Ailes of telling her that they would both be better off if they had engaged in a sexual relationship. At least two dozen women came forward with similar accusations in the following months. One woman said the CEO had encourage her to lay with the big boys. Another accused him of psychologically tortur[ing] her throughout her tenure. 21st Century Fox quickly hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims. The company asked Mr Ailes to step down from the network he had created in July of last year. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 26-year-old student claims that a bodyguard of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan choked her and threatened her life in what has been described by Washingtons police chief as a brutal attack on peaceful protesters. Ceres Borazan, a Kurd from Turkey who came to the United States in 2013, had travelled to Washington from New Jersey to protest Mr Erdogans visit to the US when she was caught up in a brawl with Turkish security detail that injured at least 12 people, including a police officer. They attacked women, children and the elderly with reckless abandon, Ms Borazan wrote in a Facebook post. I ran in the opposite direction from our friends and got caught by one of the security guards. He put me in a headlock to the point where he popped a blood vessel in my eye. After he threatened to kill her, Ms Borazan was able to get free and was let into a nearby car. I swear that man saved my life, she wrote of the motorist. That attack has been condemned by the US State Department and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, who wrote a letter urging the secretary of State and US attorney general to hold the attackers accountable. Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara Show all 13 1 /13 Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The unnamed gunman gestures after shooting the Russian Ambassador to Turkey AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman opened fire at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was delivering a speech when the gunman opened fire AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman addressed the room after shooting the Russian Ambassador AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman spoke in Arabic after opening fire on the Russian ambassador to Turkey AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman stands over the body of Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara People in the art gallery react moments after the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara Turkish police secure the area near the art gallery where Andrei Karlov was shot REUTERS Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman reportedly shouted "Aleppo" and "revenge" after shooting Mr Karlov dead AFP/Getty Images Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman stands over the body of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara The gunman, a Turkish policeman, can be seen standing behind the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, before he opened fire AP Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara An ambulance leaves the area near the art gallery where the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot dead REUTERS Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara Guests leave as the gunman holds his weapon behind them AFP/Getty Numerous news reports indicate these individuals were members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail who accompanied him on his official state visit this week, Mr Royce wrote. Alarmingly, this behaviour is indicative of the broad crackdowns on political activists, journalists and religious freedom in Turkey that have greatly harmed Turkish democracy in recent years. Ms Borazan wrote that her experience proved that those concerns present a real threat for her and other Kurds. Todays experience has shown us that as Kurds we are not even safe from Turkeys racism and terrorism here in the United States, she wrote. However that will never stop our spirit and struggle for freedom for our people here and in Kurdistan. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has attacked the appointment of a former FBI director to investigate alleged ties between his campaign team and Russia. "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel [sic] appointed!" the President wrote on Twitter. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Mr Trump did not elaborate on the "illegal acts", but appeared to be referring to the closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for government communications, including classified information. He was reacting to the Justice Department's appointment of James Comey's predecessor, Robert Mueller, as a special counsel to lead the federal investigation into claims the Trump campaign collaborated with Moscow to sway the 2016 election. Mr Mueller, whose arrival came as a surprise following months of calls for an outside prosecutor, will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. His broad mandate gives him not only oversight of the Russia probe, but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation" - potentially including the removal of Mr Comey. Donald Trump: No politician has been treated worse or more unfairly Mr Mueller, a former federal prosecutor who took up his FBI days before 9/11, is highly valued by Republicans and Democrats and was asked to extend his term by Barack Obama. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the appointment was necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. The Justice Department's move has escalated the legal stakes and potential damage for Mr Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed the scandal as "fake news" and a "hoax". In a written statement, Mr Trump insisted again that there were no ties between his campaign and Russia. A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, he said. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. His White House has been embroiled in a series of controversies that escalated last week with the dismissal of Mr Comey, who was previously leading the Russia investigation as head of the FBI. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images A leaked memo written by Mr Comey generated further alarm after claiming the President asked him to end a probe into ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn. His removal came shortly before Mr Trump met Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak - whose discussions with Mr Flynn resulted in the latter being fired. Reports denied by the White House claim the President disclosed classified information from a foreign intelligence partner on Isis during the closed-door meeting. Vladimir Putin dismissed the claims, saying he had a transcript that disproved the allegations amid concern international cooperation could be damaged. Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked ongoing FBI and congressional investigations and blamed "leakers" inside US intelligence agencies for sabotaging him. Addressing the US Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, he claimed: No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. "You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams...the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face. Additional reporting by AP Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A former FBI Director has been appointed special prosecutor to take over the Justice Department's investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. Robert Mueller will probe any potential ties Trump campaign officials may have had with Russians. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was charged with appointing the special prosecutor after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe because he had lied about meeting with Russian officials. The decision by Mr Rosenstein follows a week of intensifying pressure on the Justice Department to make sure that its investigation into the White House is independent. Mr Rosenstein was identified by the White House as having played an influential role in Mr Comey's firing, though Donald Trump later said that he would have fired him with or without a good reason being presented from the deputy attorney general. "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that prosecution is warranted," Mr Rosenstein said. "I have made no such determination." Mr Trump responded to the appointment of a special prosecutor by saying the investigation will confirm there was "no collusion" with the Kremlin. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said in a statement released by the White House. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." Mr Trump's surprising decision last week to fire former FBI Director James Comey - and subsequent reports that the President had allegedly asked Mr Comey to stop the FBI's Russia probe - sent Washington into a frenzy and resulted in several members of Congress calling for special prosecutors to look into the matter. Pundits on cable television hailed the special prosecutor appointment as a major development in and those who have worked with Mr Rosenstein - including former US attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Mr Trump - said that Mr Mueller is one of the best choices possible to run the investigation. "Based on the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command," Mr Rosenstein said. Mr Mueller is a respected figure in American law enforcement circles. He headed the FBI from 2001 to 2013 and served under Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. Mr Obama asked him to stay on at the FBI past the usual 10 year mark. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images As special prosecutor, Mr Mueller would still be answerable to Mr Rosenstein, who is answerable to the president, but he will have greater autonomy to run the investigation than if he were usual US attorney. Separate investigations are ongoing in Congress. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn will not honour a congressional subpoena request, his lawyer said, according to the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator Richard Burr told reporters that the committee is not surprised. Congressional and federal investigators are currently probing whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election. Recommended Trump team knew Mike Flynn was under investigation before appointment Well figure out on General Flynn what the next step, if any, is, Mr Burr said, according to the Associated Press. But later, Mr Burr backtracked his comments, Politico reported. His remarks may have been premature, he said, and that there may be a day or two left until the deadline to respond to the subpoena. We have not gotten the definitive answer, Mr Burr clarified. Michael Flynn has not cooperated with the committee up to this point. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US. Mr Flynn previously said he would testify before Congress in exchange for immunity from prosecution. However, the New York Times reported that investigators were unwilling to broker a deal with Mr Flynn. News accounts this week said Donald Trump tried to get former FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into Mr Flynn, according to a memo reportedly written by Mr Comey. The White House said that the memo is not an accurate portrayal of the conversation between Mr Comey and the president. Along with the broader probe into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, there is a separate federal investigation into Mr Flynn. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} US intelligence officials have praised the appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller as the special prosecutor responsible for investigating the Trump campaigns alleged collusion with Russia. The appointment, following fresh controversy over the firing of FBI director James Comey, was hailed by politicians on both sides of the aisle, as well as members of the security community. It is the latest twist in a saga which has embroiled Donald Trump since the election in November. Last week, the New York Times reported that Mr Trump had asked Mr Comey to drop the probe into the alleged links between his former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn and Russian agents. Gen Flynn was forced to resign just weeks into the job after it emerged he had met with Russian officials to discuss policy in the days before the inauguration. Mr Muellers appointment was described as taking Mr Trump from the frying pan into the fire by former top counsel for the NSA and the CIA, Robert Deitz. Mr Deitz told Business Insider: "I have enormous respect for Bob. We worked together when I was at the NSA. The Russia investigation will continue apace with no loss of momentum." Known for his independence, Mr Mueller was originally sworn in as FBI Director in the days before the 9/11 attacks but threatened to resign in 2004, along with Mr Comey who was serving as Deputy Attorney General at the time, over plans to revive warrantless NSA surveillance without any legal protections. After leaving the FBI in 2013, the 72-year-old returned to the private sector where he became co-managing partner at the WilmerHale law firm which represents associates of the President such as his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Upon being appointed to head the Russia probe he immediately resigned from the position to avoid a potential conflict of interest, but a spokesperson for the firm told legal blog Lawfare that he had never had anything to do with these clients. Former Assistant Attorney General for national security, David Kris, wrote an op-ed for Lawfare saying Mueller is experienced, knowledgeable, capable. He said: He is utterly incorruptible. He cannot be intimidated. At this stage in his career, he has nothing to prove, no reputation to burnish, no axe to grind. He is ramrod straight in his integrity. Last week, Mr Trump appeared to admit he had fired Mr Comey over this Russia thing but denied that he had asked him to drop the investigation instead saying he was merely unhappy with his work. It also emerged that Mr Trump had allegedly revealed classified information from another countrys, believed to be Israel's, intelligence services to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a meeting at the White House. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke has said he will join the Trump administration as an assistant secretary to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr Clarke a prominent, controversial Trump surrogate during the 2016 campaign made the announcement to conservative radio host Vicki McKenna. Mr Clarke said he will work in the Office of Partnership and Programs, which coordinates outreach efforts to local authorities. "I'll be a liaison with state and local governments, with the private sector and one that's really near and dear to me liaison to state and local and tribal law enforcement," Mr Clarke said. A former Obama-era DHS official, Phil McNamara, tweeted on Wednesday that he was being replaced by Mr Clarke. "My job was to work with state and local officials. Clarke says he wants to strangle #Democrats," Mr McNamara wrote. The DHS website, however, currently lists the assistant secretary position as vacant. A DHS spokesperson told CNN that "no such announcement with regard to the Office of Public Engagement has been made." The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Aside from his role as Milwaukee county sheriff, Mr Clarke is perhaps best known for his controversial political statements. He maintains a prolific Twitter account, where he has encouraged Americans to take up pitchforks and torches against the government and suggested that Black Lives Matter will soon join hands with Isis to bring down America. At one point, Mr Clarke compared former President Barack Obama's management of the Department of Justice to Adolf Hitler consolidating all police forces under one commander. In his memoir, Mr Clarke suggested that anyone suspected of terrorism should be treated as an enemy combatant, and held indefinitely. He expanded on this viewpoint on his radio show, The People's Sheriff, where he suggested arresting anyone who expressed pro-terrorist sentiments and sending them to Guantanamo Bay, the United States offshore military prison. At the time, Mr Clarke estimated the number of people who should be detained at Guantanamo Bay could be up to maybe a million. We're at war. This is a time of war, he said. Bold and aggressive action is needed." The Milwaukee County jails Mr Clarke oversees are currently under investigation for four deaths transpiring in 2016. In one case, a mentally ill inmate died of dehydration after being denied water for seven days. In another case, a mother and her newborn baby died after allegedly being denied care. Peter Koneazny, an attorney with Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee who is involved in litigation against the jails, says he is concerned about the management of the jail, the quality of care, and the treatment of inmates. The deaths do raise a lot of questions in terms of the training and supervision of people within his department, and theyve had a lot of staff turnover, Mr Koneazny told the Huffington Post. In response to the allegations, Mr Clarke has said, We'll see them in court. Mr Clarkes DHS role, unlike a Cabinet nomination, will not require Senate confirmation. He said he plans to assume the role in June. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Emil Ilgar Trend: In retaliation of imposing sanction on Iranian companies, involved in missile program by Washington on May 18, Iran has in turn blacklisted US citizens and companies. According to a report, released by Irans Foreign Ministry, nine new American companies and citizens were blacklisted due to their cooperation with Israeli, supporting extremist Muslim groups, suppression of regional nations and posing threats to Irans national security. The total number of sanctioned companies by Iran reached 23. Number List of US companies, blacklisted by Iran 1 Huntington Ingalls Industries 2 Booz Allen Hamilton 3 Horacio D.Rozanski (CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton) 4 KingFisher Systems 5 Roy L. Reed (CEO of KingFisher Systems) 6 McAlester Army Ammunition Plant 7 The BIRD Foundation 8 The BSF Foundation 9 DynCorp International 10 BENI Tal 11 RAYTHEON 12 ITT Corporation 13 Re/Max Real Estate 14 Oshkosh Corporation 15 Magnum Research Inc 16 Kahr Arms 17 Military Armament Corporation 18 Lewis Machine and Tool Company 19 Daniel Defense 20 Bushmaster Firearms International 21 O.F. Mossberg & Sons 22 H-S Precision, Inc 23 M7 Aerospace The Islamic Republic underlined that it will not stop its missile program amid a new round of sanctions imposed by US on Iranian and Chinese figures for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. Irans foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the country will continue its missile program in line with its inalienable and legal right to upgrade the countrys defensive capabilities, the ministrys spokesman Bahram Ghasemi wrote on his Telegram channel May 18. US President Donald Trump on May 17 extended wide sanctions relief for Iran called for under the 2015 international nuclear deal. Trump imposed narrow penalties on Iranian and Chinese people and companies regarding the Islamic Republics ballistic missile program. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has said he fired James Comey as FBI Director because he was '"unpopular", during a press conference with the Colombian president. "Director Comey was very unpopular with most people," Mr Trump claimed, adding that he thought his firing would be a "bipartisan decision". "Look at all the people on the Democratic side, not only the Republican side, who were saying such terrible things about Director Comey," he said. The comments are the latest addition to a growing list of White House rationale for Mr Comey's firing. Initial statements from the White House said Mr Trump had fired Mr Comey on the recommendation of the Justice Department, due to his handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. Later, the president claimed he had fired Mr Comey after deciding that the FBI investigation into his campaign's possible ties to Russia was baseless. "When I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,'" Mr Trump told NBC's Lester Holt. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Mr Trump on Thursday piled onto his mounting reasons for firing Mr Comey, mentioning his "very poor performance" at a recent Senate hearing, and the FBI's declining reputation. "All over the world, no matter where you go, the FBI is special," Mr Trump said. "The FBI has not had that special reputation [after] what happened in the campaign; what happened with respect to the Clinton campaign and even, you could say, directly or indirectly, with respect to the much more successful Trump campaign." Mr Trump on Thursday also denied ever asking Mr Comey to shut down the FBI's investigation into his former national security adviser, Mike Flynn. The New York Times had recently reported on a memo, allegedly written by Mr Comey, claiming Mr Trump had asked him to drop the investigation during a private meeting at the White House. "I hope you can let this go," Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Comey. When a reporter attempted to ask about the reports on Thursday, Mr Trump quickly denied them, saying, "No. No. Next question." In fact, Mr Trump denied any wrongdoing in regards to Russia, saying he engaged in "zero" collusion with the foreign superpower. Russia is fine, but whether its Russia or anybody else, my total priority, believe me, is the United States of America," Mr Trump said. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Republicans are beginning to grapple with the prospect that Donald Trump could be impeached, following reports that the president asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Republican congressman Justin Amash told The Hill that if reports were true about Mr Trumps pressure on Mr Comey, it would merit impeachment. In an interview with CNN, Republican representative Carlos Curbelo compared Mr Trump allegedly pressuring Mr Comey to drop the Flynn inquiry, to the obstruction of justice cases that led to impeachment proceedings for former presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Obstruction of justice in the case of Nixon, in the case of Clinton in the late 90s, has been considered an impeachable offence, Mr Curbelo said. Both congressmen have criticised Mr Trump and did not vote for him in the 2016 presidential election. The fact that Republicans are now beginning to ponder impeachment demonstrates the reverberating effect the latest Trump scandal has had on Washington. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images According to the New York Times, Mr Comey wrote in a memo that the President told him: I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. The existence of the memo, which was reportedly written by Mr Comey himself, suggests that Mr Trump had attempted to influence investigations into his associates and Russia. There is a broader probe into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as a separate investigation into Mr Flynn. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. The Times reported that Mr Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with Mr Trump immediately after their meeting, which took place the day after Mr Flynn resigned. The White House maintains that the memo is not an accurate portrayal of the conversation between Mr Trump and Mr Comey. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Concerns over Donald Trumps mental status are taking hold in Washington and the media after the latest report that he leaked classified information to Russian officials. Reporters and television news programme pundits have been diving into comments from sources close to the president that speak to his mental health and mood in a way that has not been done with other presidents. However, the recent news about Mr Trump is also somewhat unprecedented. The Washington Post recently reported that Mr Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak during a meeting in the Oval Office. The meeting took place just one day after Mr Trump unceremoniously fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into alleged ties between Russia and Mr Trumps campaign team. Also, the New York Times reported that Mr Trump asked Mr Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Mike Flynns alleged Russia ties, adding that Mr Flynn hes a good guy. I hope you can let this go. On MSNBCs Morning Joe programme, co-host Joe Scarborough commented that People on the inside say he keeps getting worse and mentally, keeps getting worse. In another report, the Washington Post said their sources called into question Mr Trumps state of mind. Carl Bernstein, the legendary journalist who uncovered the Watergate scandal and corruption within the Nixon presidency, argued that reporting on Mr Trumps mental fitness is valid. We have many reporters, myself included, who have talked to numerous people, Republicans on Capitol Hill, who in private will tell you they doubt the stability of this president, he said. President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters However, those speculating are not trained mental health professionals. The American Psychiatric Associations code of ethics states a psychiatrist may share with the public his or her expertise about psychiatric issues in general. However, it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement. The clause, dating back to 1973, has been dubbed the Goldwater Rule, named after the 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Over 2,000 psychiatrists responded to a magazines 1964 survey asking if Mr Goldwater was psychologically fit for the presidency in their estimation and the majority said he was not. The magazine then published nearly 40 pages of the psychiatrists responses shortly before the election. Mr Goldwater lost the election and sued the now-defunct Fact magazine for libel and won. Psychiatrists are medical doctors and can prescribe medication as necessary. Psychologists usually have doctorate degrees but are not medical doctors. Still, the American Psychological Association issued a statement regarding their version of the Goldwater Rule during the 2016 presidential campaign given the number of media outlets calling them to weigh in on Mr Trumps psychological fitness to become president. Our Code of Ethics clearly warns psychologists against diagnosing any person, including public figures, whom they have not personally examined, President Susan H. McDaniel, PhD wrote. Some professionals, however, are disregarding the Goldwater Rule because they feel Mr Trump's position and behaviour make him an exception and that they have a duty to weigh in. Thirty-five psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers - some of them retired - have signed a letter to the editors of the New York Times expressing their concern over Mr Trumps profound inability to empathise. They wrote people with this trait distort reality to suit their psychological state, attacking facts and those who convey them. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has said that no politician in history...has been treated worse or more unfairly than him. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, the US President told cadets graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down. He added that the graduates should never ever, ever give up, before telling them: Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Mr Trump gave his speech amid fallout from news reports alleging that he asked former FBI Director James Comey to drop an inquiry into ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Mr Trump is also alleged to have spontaneously disclosed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Mr Kislyak during a meeting at the White House last week. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Both issues continue to consume Washington, with several Democrats calling for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Moscow. The president has also been heavily criticised by members of his own Republican Party. Mr Trump, who has personally not made any public comments regarding the Comey memo, did not address either scandal in his speech to cadets. But he did tell them that the the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face. Mr Trump went on to list what he claims to have accomplished during his short time as president, such as job growth, historic investment in our military, and the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A white teenager was arrested after allegedly painting a swastika and a racial slur on a black familys New York home before setting it on fire. The 15-year-old, from Schodack, has been charged with multiple felonies, including arson and reckless endangerment, but will not be charged with a hate crime because of his age, according to the Houston Chronicle. Police Chief Joseph Belardo said: We still consider it to be a hate crime. Laquan Madison, his wife Jennifer and their five children, managed to escape the blaze that destroyed their garage and left their house with substantial damage, according to police. Mr Madison said he woke up at 11:40pm to find his house on fire and covered in racist graffiti, including the N-word, and swastikas. It's not going to force me to move. People are going to be who they are. My hope is they understand life is not a joke. You can't toy with people, he told Times Union. Ms Madison said: We're OK. This is just something I accept. This is the world that we're living in. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The Red Cross has helped the family find temporary accommodation while their house was being repaired, according to police. "Our agency is standing with this family during this trying time. We want them to feel like they can live here and be safe, Mr Belardo said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump would have 10 minutes to decide whether to launch a retaliatory attack against North Korea should Pyongyang ever be able to fire a missile that could reach the US mainland, experts said. In the event of an incoming missile, the US President will have little time to ponder over what he could or should do. The timelines are short, said David Wright, a senior scientist and co-director of the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Even for long-range missiles, there are a lot of steps that go into detecting the launch and figuring out what it is, leaving the President with maybe 10 minutes to decide whether to launch a retaliatory strike," he said. If Mr Trump did decide to hit back, land based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) could be in the air within five minutes and submarine-based missiles in 15 minutes. Once these are launched, they cannot be recalled. But as far as experts can tell, North Korea still does not have the capacity to launch a missile that could reach the US, although Pyongyang is saying otherwise. On Sunday, North Korea tested its most powerful missile yet with some suggesting the missile, if proven in further tests, could reach Alaska and Hawaii if fired on a normal, instead of a lofted, trajectory. Observers remained sceptical when Pyongyang claimed the missile can carry a heavy nuclear warhead. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 (Mars-12) (KCNA/Reuters) On Thursday, President Trump told South Korea's presidential envoy that Washington was willing to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through engagement but under the right conditions, South Korea's foreign ministry said. Mr Trump said "a major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible but that he wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically. This comes after Admiral Harry Harris, the top US military officer in the Pacific warned against a sense of complacency in the face of increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Speaking to the Associated Press, Mr Wright and Rocket analyst Markus Schiller, of German company ST Analytics, described what would happen in the immediate aftermath of a North Korea attack on the US. According to the experts, a missile launched from North Korea could hit West Coast cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles in under 30 minutes and San Francisco in 33 to 34 minutes. New York and Washington, which are less than 11,000 kilometres away, could be hit within 30 minutes according to Mr Shiller and 38-39 minutes for Mr Wright. In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video To overcome the distance problem, North Korea is developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles and it tested its first one last year. But experts say it will take years before these could be used in an attack. For those living in the South Korean capital Seoul, there would be even less time to prepare should Kim Jong-un decide to target its neighbours. Mr Schiller and Mr Wright have estimated people would have between zero and six minutes, from the moment the missile is launched to the time it reaches its target, to find cover. That time would increase to 10-11 minutes before a missile could reach Tokyo. The experts say Pyongyang cannot, as it has claimed, reduce Seoul to a sea of ashes before a counterattack, but it could make considerable damage to the city, which reportedly has porous defences. North Korea could also hit the South with chemical or biological warheads, making the city of Busan, a major port sometimes used by US Navy, a potential nuclear target. There are also concerns of the possibility of a swarm attack of several incoming missiles at the same time on South Korea and Japan with medium-range Scud ER missiles, which were tested in March. Mr Schiller used caution when describing nuclear scenarios. He said it remains unknown whether Pyongyang actually has a working nuclear warhead, not just some nuclear device that goes boom in a tunnel, under laboratory conditions". For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One of Australia's top anti-fraud tax officials faces charges after his son and eight friends were arrested in raids that netted cash, luxury cars, two small planes, guns and vintage wine in a A$165m tax fraud, police said on Thursday. Police said Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston was an unwitting participant in fraud after he accessed tax office systems at the request of his son, Adam. We're alleging that he has publicly abused his position as a public officer and senior official of the Commonwealth, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Leanne Close told reporters in Sydney. We don't believe at this point that he had any knowledge of the actual conspiracy and the defrauding, she said. Michael Cranston has not yet been charged but has been summoned to attend court next month in connection with perhaps the biggest white-collar tax fraud in Australian history. Police allege that Adam Cranston, 30, and his eight friends diverted funds from legitimate payroll-processing companies, which were earmarked for tax liabilities, to numerous subsidiaries, in the process defrauding the ATO of A$165m ($123m) in unpaid taxes. They were arrested on Wednesday and charged with offences including fraud and money laundering. More than 100 bank accounts and shared trading accounts were frozen as part of the investigation. Police impounded more than 25 cars, along with two planes, and 12 motorbikes. They also seized guns, jewels, paintings, and Grange hermitage wines, one of the world's top vintages. Raids involving almost 300 police across Sydney also found A$1m in bank notes in a safe deposit box, Close said. She said the scheme was the largest yet uncovered in terms of the number of conspirators and the amount of money involved. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty White collar crimes of such magnitude are relatively uncommon in Australia, although Reuters reported last month that Michael Cranston was leading a tax office probe into hundreds of secret Swiss bank accounts linked to Australians as part of a global tax evasion and money-laundering investigation. This is very much to be regretted, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Brisbane after hearing of Thursday's arrests. Copyright Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police missed multiple chances to arrest the Berlin attacker before he carried out his massacre and may have attempted to a cover-up to disguise their failings, it has emerged. Anis Amri killed 12 people in a rampage at a Christmas market in the German capital after pledging allegiance to Isis, managing to evade authorities for four days in five countries before being shot dead by police in Milan. German authorities swiftly turned the blame on Tunisian authorities for hampering Amris deportation, but it has since been revealed that they had numerous chances to detain the jihadi for either terrorism or a range of serious crimes. Andreas Geisel, Berlin's state interior minister, said a newly surfaced document from showed the Tunisian was known for large-scale drug dealing. In the view of experts, this information would have been sufficient to secure an arrest warrant from prosecutors, he added. To put it plainly, on this basis of an arrest it might have been possible to prevent this attack. The file, detailing evidence from telephone taps and surveillance by Berlins state criminal police office (LKA), dated back to 1 November seven weeks before Amri launched his attack. Video surfaces of Berlin attack suspect Anis Amri Mr Geisel said authorities were examining a possible cover-up that allegedly saw LKA officers deliberately withhold or even tamper with information exposing their failings following the massacre. The state government has filed a criminal complaint against unnamed officers suspected of the obstruction of justice. "We owe this to the victims, the relatives and the survivors, Mr Geisel told Berlins parliament on Thursday. "We cannot have any interest in concealing anything. If there are weaknesses, then you have to name them." A second LKA document was created on 17 January but apparently backdated to 1 November, mentioning drug dealing on only a small scale. The new information was unearthed in an investigation by Bruno Jost, a former federal prosecutor appointed to examine possible errors by authorities in the case. Investigations by German newspapers have revealed authorities had multiple chances to detain Amri, who managed to slip through gaps created by the countrys federal policing structures. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA Federal prosecutors apparently believed there was insufficient evidence to bring Amri in on terror charges, but he could also have been detained for offences including drug dealing, welfare fraud, assault and providing false identities. When the 24-year-old arrived in the country as an asylum seeker in July 2015, he was already wanted at home in Tunisia after being sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated robbery. Amri fled during the 2011 Arab Spring on a smugglers boat to Italy, where he lied to police about his age and gained temporary protection as an unaccompanied minor. Known for smoking and drinking, there were early hints at radicalisation when Amri ripped down Christian crosses from walls and once installed a black flag that has since become the symbol of Isis as a desktop wallpaper. After a dispute with social workers, he later set a bed on fire and was jailed for four years a period where his family believe his radicalisation intensified between bouts of violence with prisoners and guards. Italy attempted to deport him at the end of his sentence in 2015 but in a scenario that would repeat itself a year later in Germany, Tunisia failed to respond to requests for identity documents and Amri was feed after the maximum time in custody allowed under Italian law. Weeks later, he arrived in Germany, where Italys failure to enter the Tunisians fingerprints into an EU database meant the countrys authorities were not immediately alerted to his criminal past. He started moving swiftly around the country using at least 14 aliases, multiple nationalities and fake documents, raising the alarm within months but frustrating investigations as he hopped between separate jurisdictions in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. Walid Amri poses with a portrait of his brother of Anis outside the family house in the town of Oueslatia, Tunisia (AFP) Amri was flagged as a potential terrorist at a meeting of the Joint Counterterrorism Center in February 2016, having spoken about carrying out an Islamist shooting attack within earshot of an informant, Die Zeit reported. Amri had joined a now-banned group of Salafists headed by an Isis recruiter known as Abu Walaa in the town of Hildesheim, but the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) concluded that there was no imminent danger. The day after the meeting Amri was arrested by police in Berlin who confiscated his phone as he arrived on a bus from Dortmund a move that apparently alerted to him to surveillance, causing intensified efforts to throw police off the scent. Assessment of Amris phone showed he had been communicating with Isis fighters in the groups Libyan stronghold of Sirte using an encrypted app, discussing his intention to marry a jihadi bride and commit a suicide attack. In March 2016, Berlin prosecutors launched another investigation into Amri following a tip from federal security agencies, who warned that he might be planning a break-in to finance the purchase of machine guns for an atrocity. The ensuing surveillance operation exposed Amris drug dealings and a bar fight, but no evidence was found to substantiate the original warning. Terror suspect Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A, known as Abu Walaa, in an online sermon (YouTube) Germany formally rejected his asylum application in June but was unable to deport him because, again, Tunisia did not provide the necessary proof of his nationality. The most violent incident came the following month, when Amri stormed a cocktail bar in Berlin, hitting a man in the face with a hammer as an associate stabbed another with a kebab knife in a turf war over drug dealing. Recommended How Isis is turning young criminals into new brand of terrorist Amri was found to be a large-scale dealer working primarily out of the Kleiner Tiergarten and police requested an arrest warrant, but a public prosecutor unaware of his history and terror links declined after witnesses refused to testify. As well as the violence, German authorities failed to act on mounting evidence of his radicalisation frequently seen hand-in-hand with criminality among Isis militants including the Paris and Brussels attackers. They ignored repeated warnings from Moroccan intelligence services, who contacted their counterparts four times detailing Amris links with Isis-linked jihadis and attack plans, even naming his roommates and giving his phone number as recently as October. Investigators have since revealed that he recorded a video pledging allegiance to Isis in that same month, when he removed himself from the drugs scene and stopped watching an extensive porn collection on his phone all indications he was preparing for martyrdom. But still he was not arrested, leaving him free to shoot a Polish lorry driver in the head and steal his vehicle on 19 December, ploughing it into the Breitschiedplatz Christmas market in Germanys deadliest Isis attack. Additional reporting by AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A suspected cannibal is on trial for attempted murder after biting off a teenagers ears, cutting off his eyelids and stabbing his eyes in a brutal and bizarre assault. The 18-year-old victim survived the ordeal in the German town of Schluchtern but was left blind and with permanent injuries. A court in Hanau heard the assailant, 20, set upon the teenager with two knives at his flat in October. Prosecutors said he stabbed the victim in the neck, bit off both his ears, cut off his eyelids and stabbed him in the eyes a with pen, The Local reported. A neighbour heard screams coming from the apartment and called police, who then broke down the door to stop the mutilation. A police officer testifying at the ongoing trial on Wednesday told the court the victim said his attacker claimed he was going to eat his flesh during the attack. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Another officer who was called to the scene said it immediately reminded him of cannibalism and ritual behaviour, Hessenschau reported. The brutal attack was originally assumed to result from a financial dispute between the two young men, who arrived in Germany as unaccompanied minors in 2013. The victim, from Somalia, became friends with the Eritrean defendant at accommodation for young asylum seekers in Bad Soden-Salmunster and later moved to Schluchtern. Judge Susanne Wetzel said the brutal and bizarre act must have been motivated by more than money. The latest case comes after a former German police officer was convicted of killing a willing victim for a cannibalistic ritual after meeting his victim on a fetish website. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Egypts authoritarian Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first world leader to get a phone call when US President Donald Trump entered office. Warm congratulations were offered to Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the result of a national referendum which will probably see him stay in power until 2029. And Mr Trump holds Vladimir Putin in such high regard he was apparently willing to share classified information with the Russian Foreign Minister last week. The latest international strongman or dictator, as the rest of us would put it who Mr Trump could possibly have been rubbing shoulders with is Sudans Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, including genocide. Donald Trump: No politician has been treated worse or more unfairly Sudans Foreign Minister had previously confirmed the president's attendance, but Sudanese state media reported on Friday that he has belatedly decided against attending a summit in Riyadh designed to bring 50 Muslim leaders together during Mr Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The national reports said "personal reasons" were to blame, but did not elaborate on the circumstances. Bashir had the removal of sanctions finally which were imposed by the US on Sudan [and] how to combat and how to fight terrorism on the top of his agenda, ruling National Congress Party colleague Rabie Abdul Atti said before it emerged his office had cancelled the trip. Sudan's lost boys find their way home Show all 3 1 /3 Sudan's lost boys find their way home Sudan's lost boys find their way home TREVOR SNAPP Sudan's lost boys find their way home TREVOR SNAPP Sudan's lost boys find their way home EPA Bashir, who has ruled the country for almost three decades, is officially blacklisted by the US for presiding over a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as his role in the Darfur conflict for which he is wanted by the ICC on multiple charges. He has consistently denied any culpability in the violence which has killed at least 300,000 in Sudans east since 2003. Human rights advocates had expressed outrage that any kind of meeting could take place between the two leaders during the weekend's activities. The concern is that any kind of meeting, handshake or photo-op between President Trump and President Bashir will send a dreadful signal to victims in Darfur and victims of crimes worldwide, Richard Dicker, the director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, told Newsweek. Mr Trumps administration had condemned the 73-year-old leaders invite to the talks. We oppose invitations, facilitation, or support for travel by any person subject to outstanding ICC arrest warrants, including President Bashir, a spokesperson from the US Embassy in Khartoum said. Sudan was one of the six countries targeted by President Trumps failed Muslim ban earlier this year. It is one of only thee along with Iran and Syria to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism. The week before Mr Trump entered office, Barack Obamas administration announced that progress in reducing the level of violence in several restive regions and efforts to counter terrorism would be rewarded by the lifting of certain sanctions against the country. The US Presidents nine-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and the Vatican, which begins on Saturday, is his first foreign trip since entering office. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elena Kosolapova - Trend: Construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline, which envisages Russian gas supplies to Turkey and further to Europe, will have negative effect on the prospects of realization of Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, expert of the British University of Glasgow focusing on the Central Asia, Luca Anceschi believes. The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project involving laying of a 300-km gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, could deliver gas from Central Asian and in particular from Turkmenistan, which is the fourth in the world in terms of gas reserves, to Azerbaijan. Further Turkmen gas will be pumped through existing infrastructure to Europe and thereby decrease EUs dependence on Russian energy supplies. Any progress on Turkish Stream would modify the structure of the demand for Caspian gas, making the Trans-Caspian pipeline even more irrelevant, Anceschi told Trend. Russian Gazprom started construction of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream pipeline in early May. According to Anceschi, one would have expected that, given the current crisis, Ashgabat would consider changing its energy policy, moving towards smaller [with a capacity of 7-8 billion cubic meters] transit projects, in a scenario that would be ideal to enhance Trans-Caspian cooperation. This scenario is however yet to crystallize, the expert said. Trans-Caspian gas pipeline is optimal for the delivery of Turkmen energy resources to the European market. The project may be implemented as a part of huge Southern Gas Corridor project designed to transport gas from the Caspian region to European countries. The negotiations on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline among the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan began in September 2011. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump cancelled a planned visit to the ancient fortress of Masada in Israel after he was reportedly told he could not land his helicopter on top of the Unesco-listed site. The US President was due to give a speech at the top of the rocky plateau in the Judaean Desert but instead will deliver his address at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Initial reports said the cancellation of the trip to Masada was due to the hot weather but Israels Channel 2 claimed the cancellation resulted from the fact helicopters are not allowed to land on the top of Masada, network Israel National News reports. Mr Trumps aides were reportedly told landing a helicopter on the summit of the site, which is described by Unesco of majestic beauty, could damage the archaeological artefacts due to the wind movement generated. Earlier this week, Eitan Campbell, director of Masada National Park told The Jerusalem Post: The Americans will land in the Bar Yehuda landing strip. They will go up to the mountain by cable car. Previously both Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton took the cable car to visit the historic site, but Mr Trumps aides reportedly refused the invitation and cancelled the trip altogether. The US Department of State told The Independent this was a matter for the White House, which has been approached for comment. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also declined to comment on Mr Trumps schedule. According to The Jerusalem Post, helicopters were banned from landing at the top of the countrys most famous archaeological park after some of the ruins were damaged when in 1997 an Israeli Air Force helicopter carrying then-US Air Force commander General Michael Ryan landed in the middle of Masada. Mr Campbell said a helicopter landing would be allowed at the site only in the case of an emergency. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Masada was built by the King of Judaea, Herod the Great, during his reign between 37 4 BC. Unesco describes it as a symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, when Jewish soldiers defended the fortress from the Roman army in 73 AD. The camps, fortifications and attack ramp, which encircle the monument constitute the most complete Roman siege works surviving to the present day. Mr Trumps visit to Israel on Monday has already turned into a diplomatic test after one of the Presidents staff questioned whether the Western Wall, one of the holiest Jewish sites, was part of the West Bank and of Israel. Mr Trumps administration has reportedly refused to allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accompany him to the Western Wall, where Jewish worshippers pray. The trip is also overshadowed by accusations that he shared classified information concerning an Isis plot with visiting Russian diplomats last week. An Israeli official described the leak as the countrys worst fears. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The days before the presidential election are a tense time at Qom, the bastion of Shia theocracy, a place intrinsically linked to Irans Islamic Revolution. After years in opposition, there is now optimism among the hardliners that the legacy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, betrayed, they charge, by the reformists, will be restored. The conservatives suffered a humiliating defeat in last years parliamentary elections to the liberals. They just did not see what was coming; the election day sermon by Qoms leader of Friday prayers, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Mohammed Saidi, had shown no understanding of the desire for change, focusing instead on the greedy, dishonest US, the wily fox Britain, and warning people not to be seduced by irreligious modern thinking. Fifteen months on, many of the conservative clergy are more careful, but predict that their favoured candidate, Ebrahim Raisi, will defeat the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani by focusing on social and economic issues rather than religious ones. One avenue of attack has been the nuclear deal that Mr Rouhani signed with international powers which was supposed to end sanctions and lead to prosperity. The situation is not good for ordinary people; the promises Rouhani made he cannot keep; that is his real weakness, says Imam Haidar Abbasi. People are angry about this, especially in rural areas, and this is going to be a big issue. I think Raisi has raised this successfully with the voters. But Qom is also a home of entrenched reaction. The clergy and Islamic scholars of the citys seminary are up in arms over remarks made by the governor-general of the province of South Khorasan, which they vociferously claim have undermined the basic tenet of Islam. A letter of bitter protest has been sent to President Rouhani demanding the sacking of the official and claiming that the inappropriate rhetoric used by yourself and your colleagues had contributed to this scandalous state of affairs. So what was the remark so offensive by governor-general Seyyed Ali Akbar Parvazi? It was that Islam would not be harmed if men and women danced together. Faced by the wrath of Qom and the revolutionary clergy in his own province mounting sit-ins, Mr Parvazi had hastily sought to clarify his position. He apologised profusely for showing any disrespect: I had brought an example from another province. Words which have been attributed to me which do not conform with my personality. I do not approve of such behaviour. It would have been better if the issue had not been politicised. The carapace of religion in the city leads to some unusual juxtapositions. Hamid Ibrahimi, 26 years old, produces maddahi religious songs set to techno music. Sitting at a cafe near Bastani Square, where photographs of Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino and Charlie Chaplin share the walls with ones of Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khameini, he explained why it was natural for him and other modern young people to back Mr Raisi. Hamid did not believe there was any overreaction by the clergy to the governor-generals remarks. You must understand there is a lot of sensitivity over Islam, people must be careful about what they say. People should not be insulting about religion, any religion, it is a matter of respect, was his view. The reformists have focused on Mr Raisis past. He was once a judge in the death commissions which sent thousands of political prisoners to the gallows and firing squads. How could people support someone like that? It was a very difficult time, the revolution was under threat from people trying to sabotage it. What the courts did was harsh, but popular at the time, says Hamid. He is still very popular now. There was a big crowd when he came to Qom. Thousands had indeed turned up, chanting their support and likening him to the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. But it is another populist, the most powerful in the West, who may have a say in Irans election. Donald Trump, who had declared during his election campaign that the nuclear deal was the worst in history and that he was determined to dismantle this disastrous mistake, is embarking on his first presidential foreign trip, taking him to Saudi Arabia and Israel, two states that view Iran as the enemy. Israel considers Tehran an existential threat and the Sunni Saudis are fighting proxy wars against Shia Iran across the region. Mr Trump is due to make a landmark speech in Riyadh on Sunday. It will, according to the American media, deliver a belligerent line on Iran, from the nuclear deal to reiterating the accusation that Iran is exporting terrorism. The reformists fear that Mr Trump will be aiding the hardliners, giving strength to their argument that the nuclear agreement is flawed and the West, and especially America, cannot be trusted. That President Rouhani had compromised national security for little in return. In his latest pronouncement on the issue, Mr Raisi demanded to know: Where in the world does a government weaken its defensive potentials; missiles for preventing wars? Mr Trump, for 29-year-old Ayatollah Hassan Habibi, is just the human face of an aggressive state. Trump is worse than George Bush, but America has been hostile towards Iran for a long time, he said. This is just an extreme form of this. He is allying himself with certain Sunnis who have their own agendas. But I dont think it will come to a war, the rest of the world will stop him. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty There are plenty of wars in the region and Irans Revolutionary Guards have played their parts in them, especially in Syria and Iraq. The guards have begun to establish bases in mosques in the city and these sometimes house members of the Basij, an affiliated militia. We will defend Iran and our holy shrines if the Americans attack, or get their puppets to carry out attacks, declared Mahmoud Hooshang, a Basij member. But this is Qom, everyone you will meet here, who comes here, supports Raisi. That may not strictly be the case. Ali Reza, a 22-year-old history student who had waited for a cleric to finish saying that he backed Mr Raisi, wanted to stress just because I live in Qom does not mean I am conservative. Most in our generation understand that Mr Rouhani must be allowed to go on with his reform and need another term. And we really want to be open to the world, we want to meet people of my age in other countries, we want to travel. Please mention this. At the other end of the age spectrum, 74-year-old Sabbatallah Bahadouri had made the pilgrimage to Qom a number of times from his home near the Iraqi border. He remembers life in the Shahs reign. We had more money and more freedom in some things, but there were lots of restrictions on religion. Of course those days will never come back, he reflected. I am going to vote and I am going to vote for Rouhani we need more freedom in Iran, not less. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At least 50 people have been killed in an Isis attack on government forces and pro-regime villages in central Syria. The surprise offensive targeted pro-government troops at positions on the main road linking the capital of Damascus to Aleppo, UK-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. Several Shia-majority settlements were also attacked and the village of Aqareb al-Safi captured, raising fears that the Sunni militants may massacre its residents. The extremists have killed Muslims they regard as heretics after capturing territory on countless occasions across Syria and Iraq. Fifteen of the dead have so far been identified as non-combatants and 27 as pro-government fighters, the Observatory said. Around 15 Isis fighters were also killed. While there are reports several government positions were captured and fighting is still ongoing, Syrian state television said that the regime gunmen managed to repel the attack and launched a counteroffensive in the form of air strikes. "Dozens of people are also missing, but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh, said the Observatorys chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said Isis deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi. At least two more civilians were injured in Isis shelling in the nearby town of Salamiyeh. Five-year-old boy called Messi kidnapped by Isis and forced to change 'infidel' name Isis, meanwhile, claimed via its news channel Amaq it had killed 100 government troops and captured two villages in Thursday's violence. The militant organisation now controls just a fraction of the territory it held at the peak of its power in 2015, but it is still capable of inflicting death and destruction around the country. Government forces are mainly on the offensive against Isis in the country's north. US-backed Kurdish troops are also closing in on the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqqa. News agencies contributed to this report For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US-backed battle for Mosul may be reaching its endgame, but for the millions of Iraqis whose lives have been ruined by Isis, the struggle to rebuild and recover is just beginning. About 480,000 remain trapped in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and while thousands have been able to return to liberated areas, on Thursday the UN said it feared an exodus of another 200,000 people from the bitter fighting for the last few Isis-controlled neighbourhoods of the city. Having fled their homes with often nothing other than the children in their arms, thousands of IDPs are now facing the prospect of years-long stays in UN and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) administered camps. Children of Mosul describe life under Islamic State Whole neighbourhoods have been flattened by US-led coalition bombing, or littered with mines left by retreating militants, meaning many have no homes to return to. Yet there is another less obvious but just as important issue trapping civilians in camps missing legal papers. An unexpected result of Isiss devastating sweep across Iraq in the summer of 2014 has affected children born in the so-called caliphate, who are effectively stateless; while the extremists issued their own versions of marriage and birth certificates, they are not recognised by the Iraqi authorities. It is a bureaucratic nightmare for the people involved official identification papers are needed for everything from food and medical rations, registering a child for school, to moving freely throughout the country. Families who dont have the right documents for their children are also not allowed to leave IDP camps to go home and get on with their lives. While its impossible to know exactly how many people are affected, a November 2016 report from the Quilliam Foundation estimated that 31,000 women across Isiss territory in Syria and Iraq had become pregnant under the extremists rule. In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty At least one person in every family currently living in a camp has some sort of documentation problem, says Chris Holt, an information, counselling and legal assistance specialist with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) working in the region. The situation is further complicated by the fact that under Iraqi law both a maternal and paternal identity must be confirmed before a childs birth certificate is issued. Many women arrive at camps as single mothers, either because their husbands are missing, dead or stuck in Isis-controlled territory. More still are either the willing or forced wives of Isis fighters, who hold back the identity of the father for fear of reprisals or social stigma. In some cases, women raped by militants may not even know the name of the man who left them pregnant. Before Isis overran the city, births, deaths, marriages and divorces were registered in person at a directorate in Mosul. Now, thats impossible. The court systems around Nineveh [province, where Mosul is located] are overwhelmed dealing with the demand, says Melany Markham, NRCs media coordinator for northern Iraq. While the Nouri al-Maliki government formed in 2006 after the fall of Saddam Hussein progressively rewrote existing family law to ensure that children can inherit nationality through their mother as well as their father, proof of paternity is still required for birth certification meaning single-parent families without documents still end up with stateless children. In the meantime, Iraqi and international humanitarian legal teams are trying to get mobile courts and judges to visit IDP camps to work through the huge registration backlog, which in worst case scenarios stops families from accessing vital services. One judge can settle up to 500 cases a day, but considering some camps are home to upwards of 60,000 people, it will still take some time to process everyone who needs their help. Organisations such as NRC are providing awareness sessions as well as one-to-one legal counsel for more complicated family and property rights cases for those displaced or otherwise affected by the fighting. It really is crucial we act now to stop these kids growing up stateless, Holt says. Post Isis, this is one of the most critical structures to put in place. Mosul father calls for help to adopt his child In the long term, children who grow up without civil identification papers will not be able to enter legal relationships, own or rent property, or even move through the many checkpoints in the heavily militarised country. The problem is still unfolding, NRC says, and will be a future issue in Syria and other countries across the Middle East and North Africa in which Isis has a foothold. This generation shouldnt be punished for the crimes of their fathers; that will just lead to a more insecure Iraq, Holt continues. We and the Iraqi authorities need to develop a proactive solution and its essential that we act now. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A refugee camp in Jordan has become the first in the world to be powered by renewable energy. About 20,000 Syrian refugees living in the desert camp of Azraq will be able to use electricity generated by a solar plant. The new $9.6m (7.49m) two-megawatt solar plant was built by the Ikea Foundations Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign and is expected to save $1.5m (1.15m) a year, which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will be able to use to improve sanitation, shelters and organise activities around the camp. Today marks a milestone, said Kelly T Clements, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner. Lighting up the camp is not only a symbolic achievement; it provides a safer environment for all camp residents, opens up livelihoods opportunities, and gives children the chance to study after dark. Above all, it allows all residents of the camps to lead more dignified lives," he said. Mr Clements praised the plant as a remarkable example of cooperation between the government of Jordan, private solar company Mustakbal and UNHCR. The clean energy is due to be expanded to the 36,000 refugees living in the camp in Jordans barren northern desert by early next year. For the past two and a half years, refugees living in Azraq were reliant on portable solar lanterns to light their homes and had no means of preserving food or cooling their shelters in the extreme desert heat. Electricity was first introduced in January and changed the way of life in the camp. Fatima, a 52-year-old single mother from rural Damascus, who has lived in the camp since 2015 with her two adult sons, said electricity in the camp had enabled her family to preserve leftover food, have a cold glass of water and continue daily activities after sunset. In Syria we were used to a particular lifestyle, and then we were disconnected from it when we became refugees. For someone who is used to having electricity, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to live without it, she said. Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Show all 6 1 /6 Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Assembly of Better Shelter prototype, Hilawyen Refugee camp, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia Better Shelter Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Assembly of Better Shelter prototype, Hilawyen Refugee camp, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia Better Shelter Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Riyad with sons, daughters and mother in law inside a Better Shelter prototype, Kawergosk refugee camp, Iraq Better Shelter Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Hussein with daughters and grand daughter, Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Erbil, Iraq Better Shelter Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Lukhman with daughter, Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Erbil, Iraq March 2015 Better Shelter Ikea's refugee shelter - in pictures Better Shelter Interior of a Better Shelter prototype in Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Erbil, Iraq. Better Shelter More than 50 refugees from the camp also benefited from training and were employed under the supervision of Jordanian solar company Mustakbal to help build the plant. Mohammad, 20, from the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, was one of those who worked to build the frames that support the solar panels and installed the plants electrical circuits. Now he hopes his new skills will enable him to help rebuild Syria after the war. He said: I wasnt able to finish my education because of the war and then exile, but this has given me a practical skill that I can hopefully use in the future. If we return to Syria, the infrastructure is all destroyed, but this is a technology that we could use to rebuild. Azraqs solar plant is connected to Jordans national grid and the surplus electricity will be sent back for local communities to use for free. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A US airstrike has hit pro-Syrian government forces in southern Syria, US officials say. The war in Syria has been underway for more than six years, fought primarily between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and various forces opposing the government. The airstrike targeted the Syrian regime forces after they breached a "de-confliction zone", according to CNN. The US-led coalition commander first attempted to get the pro-Assad forces out of the zone by dispatching two US aircraft as "a show of force". When the forces did not respond, the commander called for an airstrike. The strike was near a base in An Tanf, which is used by the coalition to train vetted Syrian opposition to help fight against Isis. The coalition is generally not fighting the Syrian government, with the exception of a US cruise missile strike that was launched in retaliation for Assad's chemical weapons attack against civilians. According to USA Today, an official explained Thursday's strike as a defensive action that does not change the US policy of focusing military efforts on battling Isis. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Clad in a traditional kilt, knee-high socks and a crisp white shirt and clutching a set of bagpipes, Ross Jennings makes a refreshing change to mainstream cookie-cutter travel Instagrammers with their identical, perfectly filtered snaps and beach blond hair. For while his pictures follow the beautiful, wish-you-were-there trend, there is an element of the absurd to them. Here he is holding his kilt down so he doesnt end up flashing on the windy coast of Portugal. There he is grinning on a pair of skis in Slovakia, still dressed in his kilt and sporran. There he is in Qatar, playing on a sandy white beach and looking bemused while a local man tunes his pipes for him. Jennings journey started in 2014, when a trip to an adventure travel show in London inspired him to impulsively quit his job and travel the world. The aim? To be the first person to play the bagpipes in every country. So far Im up to 60, he tells The Independent. Combining two things, travel and bagpipes, with a world record, seemed like an ambitious enough idea. However, I very quickly realised the record wasnt the most important part. My reasons have changed since I first started its the experiences and encounters I have along the way that fuel my desire to keep going. Of these experiences, playing to a nature reserve was among the most memorable. I was in Nairobi and asked if I could visit a giraffe sanctuary with my pipes, says 27-year-old Jennings. Two minutes of playing and Id managed to assemble an audience of giraffes and totally empty the neighbouring sanctuary. They came close enough to feed! Visiting countries, popping on traditional Scottish garb and giving a few blasts on the bagpipes might seem like a gimmick simply a cleverly crafted USP for Jennings to snare his almost 20,000-strong following on social media. But for the Edinburgh-born piper, his modus operandi gives him a unique perspective on the places he travels to and the people he meets there. For some reason whenever I pipe, the bagpipes open up this exchange where people seem to feel more open with me and consequently Im more open with them, he says. The kilt-bagpipe combo has a brilliant knack of breaking down barriers and getting me in situations that I wouldnt have otherwise been in. Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Show all 12 1 /12 Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Dubai Travel blogger Ross Jennings, aka the First Piper, is aiming to play the bagpipes in every country in the world. Here he is playing in the Dubai desert. Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Malaysia Ross lugged bagpipes and a kilt for seven hours up Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia. Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world India Ross says: "Two years ago I never even contemplated the idea of piping in India let alone in front of one of the worlds' most iconic sites. The Taj Mahal is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and to have her as my subject for the day was one for the bagpipe bucket list." Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Bahrain In Bahrain, women wearing the niqab asked Ross to pose with them. Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Singapore Ross says: "Some of the most impressive types of buildings in this country have to be the HDBs (the buildings behind me!), which are apparently the Singaporean equivalent to council housing. Sad to think these colourful ones are soon to be knocked down." Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Kuwait Ross says: "Apparently there's a strict noise law in Kuwait, but I'm yet to be subject to it, so I'm having a blast." Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Kuala Lumpur Ross says: "Serenading the twins... Couldn't have been more excited to pipe at the top of the Petronas Twin Towers!" Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world India Ross visited the Hawa Mahal, an elaborately designed palace in Jaipur that was built for royal women to spy on people in the street. Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Laos Ross says: "Based on a few recs from travellers and locals, I headed North from Luang Prabang to a riverside gem called Muang Ngoi, where the sunsets were incredible and the stars at night were totally out of this world." Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Liberia Ross says: "Apart from the alarmingly jet-black rock, my beach walk and bagpipe session felt thoroughly Scottish as the rain kicked in and we ran for cover. Much of the Liberian coastline is like this but there are some beautiful beaches which one day (I hope) brings more tourists!" Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Lisbon "Forget Paris and Rome they say?! Head to Lisbon eh?? Couldn't agree more!" says Ross Jennings. Ross Jennings Travel blogger bagpipes his way around the world Nairobi Ross's trip to a Nairobi nature reserve brought an audience of giraffes. Ross Jennings Three years ago after piping in the Vatican, I was swiftly removed by a group of armed police, but the mood wasnt aggressive, rather inquisitive and even ended in a couple of group photos! I still keep in touch with one of the guards that I met as well. In Bahrain, I often found myself being asked for photos by women in the full abaya and niqab, which Im told is not too common. Clearly his innovative way of seeing the world has captured peoples imaginations he was recently crowned overall winner in Flight Centres 2017 Travel Blog Awards for his travel and photography site thefirstpiper.com, beating out stiff competition. The bagpipes can be something of an acquired taste, but according to Jennings reactions to him and his instrument have been largely positive. He says: Other than the guards at the Temple of Heaven the other day in Beijing, Ive not really had a negative reception. Many people I meet are aware of the bagpipes existence, but they are still shocked by how loud it is. The reactions have usually led to smiles. Recommended Indonesian village gets a rainbow makeover People in the Middle East have been the biggest bagpipes fans, says Jennings. Bagpipes supposedly originate in the Middle East so everyone you bump into absolutely loves the sound. Whether they already like the Great Highland pipes (aka GHB, the most well-known pipes) or whether they love the numerous types of Arab pipes (Gerba, Jerba or Mezoued) and are familiar with the sound, Ive always been welcomed with plenty a yulla and mashallah! In Qatar earlier this year, I was piping by the inland sea when a 4x4 launched over the dune behind me. Out stepped a Qatari man who approached me as if to tell me to stop. I finished up my tune, looked up at him and he said, Yani! Your drones arent tuned correctly, yulla, again! He proceeded to stand behind me and tune the drones as I piped. Turns out he was one of the pipe majors for the Royal Qatari Pipe Band! Wearing a kilt in Qatar makes for a sweaty performance, but its essential for the showmanship element of Jennings quest. When youve got about 8ft of wool wrapped around you and youre piping in 35 degree heat with 100 per cent humidity it is not too pleasant. When I practise I tend not to wear my kilt, but for performing its a must. In these troubled times, the only issue that arises from travelling with bagpipes is getting through security. I always put them in hand luggage, says Jennings. Theyre a temperamental instrument with plenty of wood, which means humidity and heat arent too kind. Carrying them on board has its complications, and I usually allow for an extra 30 minutes just in case. Ive had many a confused security team question its purpose. Is it a shisha pipe? gets asked a lot, or What type of medical instrument is this?. Which usually leads to an amusing interaction... Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} European negotiators have dissuaded US security officials from imposing a ban on electronic devices in the cabins of flights to America at least for the time being. Donald Trump and the US Homeland Security Secretary, John Kelly, are known to be concerned that terrorist cells are planning to attack passenger aircraft. In March, the Department of Homeland Security rushed out a ban on electronic devices in hand luggage on flights from eight countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Anything bigger than a mobile phone cannot be carried into the cabin of an aircraft flying from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the UAE. Donald Trump's in-flight electronics ban explained Soon afterwards the UK followed suit, except that Morocco, Qatar and the UAE were subtracted from the list and Lebanon was added. Another oddity of the prohibition is that Emirates passengers to the US who travel on one of the flights that touches down en route in Milan or Athens are not affected by the ban. Washington was determined to close that loophole, and has already briefed the three big US carriers American, Delta and United about the imposition of a ban. At present they are not affected, because only Middle Eastern and North African airlines fly the specified routes. But European aviation safety officials are alarmed at the prospect of large numbers of electronic devices powered by lithium batteries being carried in the holds of passenger aircraft. Fires ignited by lithium batteries have been implicated in downing two cargo planes. The British Airline Pilots Association said the US plan was potentially catastrophic. A ban would also have placed immense strain on European airports, particularly Heathrow, at the start of what promises to be the busiest-ever summer. At a four-hour meeting in Brussels, the US agreed not to impose a blanket ban. Further talks are to take place next week in Washington DC. Aviation sources say that Europe will seek to placate American concerns by promising closer scrutiny of laptops at the gate of US-bound flights, including routine electronic-trace detection. If an agreement is reached, it will raise questions about the necessity for the US and UK bans on electronics flying in from specific countries. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} As I sipped a cafe con leche in the Es Far restaurant in Palma, I clicked on the Pay button. Monarch Airlines promptly collected 19 from my credit card: about 16. Six hours later, I took off from the Mallorcan city, paying less for the 836 miles to Sussex than the fare for the 28 miles of the Gatwick Express to central London. May is an excellent time to be an airline passenger, which means its a rubbish time to be an airline. The Monarch flight, aboard a comfortable Airbus A321 with friendly cabin crew and great pilots, was the most expensive of three flights I have taken in the past fortnight. From Luton to Copenhagen, I paid 10, while Hamburg-Stansted was 13, both on Ryanair Boeing 737s with friendly cabin crew and great pilots. Recommended Why Alitalia airline is too Italian to fail I'm equally adept at spending way over the odds. Earlier this month I paid 1,377 for a London-Perth return, roughly double the going rate, to ensure I was on the first scheduled UK-Australia flight next March. But the pricing model for short-haul scheduled airlines seems broken right now. Normally fares soar in the last few days and hours before departure. Anyone booking so late is probably desperate to travel, goes the argument, and will therefore tolerate a high price. Airlines provide a solution for someone making a distress purchase and, reasonably, extract the most they can from the seat. Indeed, before I started searching for flights I reckoned the privilege of booking so late would cost at least 100. Instead, I paid one-sixth as much. So whats happening? Intense competition, thats what. In a crowded marketplace, with potential travellers attention distracted by the election and their appetite for adventure dimmed by political uncertainty, its a buyers market. Which is handy if, as I was, you are on an assignment of indeterminate length rather like the Thomson refurbishment project I had gone to examine at the AluaSoul Hotel in eastern Mallorca. Underlining the pain in Spain, and every other European destination: this week easyJet revealed that for every passenger it flew between October 2016 and March 2017, it lost an average of 6.27. Britains biggest budget airline did amazingly well at filling its planes, with nine out of 10 seats occupied right through the winter. In the olden days of high fares and lazy airlines, seven was regarded as adequate to the detriment of the environment, passengers and investors (usually governments). But dont gloat about the market power that allows us to fly at short notice for small change. On the passenger/airline see-saw, as soon as the schools break up, the airlines are back in command. A Monarch flight from Gatwick to Preveza in Greece and back in August has takers at over 800 return. Excessive? No, meeting demand. No one is forced to pay more to fly to the Med than to Melbourne, and if Monarch can earn those fares, good luck to it. But if weak demand and strong competition outside the school holidays continues, the market will self-correct for next summer: airlines will take out capacity in a bid to eliminate the need to offer silly fares, and as a consequence that 800 ticket to Preveza and back could rise to 1,000. And summer 2019? No one knows what the European air map will look like after Brexit. Airlines from the UK and Ireland seized the advantage of open skies in the 1990s and now dominate in European aviation; the Irish giant, Ryanair, has its most important operations in Britain. It would be comforting to think that all 27 EU countries will agree to allow the status quo to prevail. But while Spain, Portugal and Greece are happy to see any airline bringing in tourists, France, Germany and Italy may perceive gains in cutting the aviation venturers from far North-west Europe down to size. So while the sun shines on the British passenger, make hay and press Pay. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With the general election just three weeks away, politicians across the country are scrambling for local visits and photo opportunities. Anything that can help them connect with their audience is seen as a good thing, but sometimes a lackadaisical approach towards proper research can backfire spectacularly. Boris Johnson discovered precisely that when his mutterings about whisky tariffs in a gurdwara in Bristol found him unwittingly offending an entire religion. Within the Sikh faith, people initiated into the Khalsa tradition are prohibited from taking any intoxicants, including alcohol. All gurdwaras have signs up as soon as you enter the building which say that you shouldnt come in if you are under the influence or if you have alcohol or tobacco on you. The approach is very clear. Alcohol and faith doesnt mix within the Sikh context. In the customary Twitter-storm following any political gaffe, many people condemned Boris for the inappropriate subject matter for his speech. However, several non-Sikhs commented that they had been to the wedding receptions of Sikh couples and seen alcohol consumed by the gallon by guests at a free bar. As far as they were concerned, a Sikh wedding is just one massive booze-up. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images The reality couldnt be more different. Over 95 per cent of Sikhs in the UK can trace their heritage to the Punjab region in the subcontinent, and as such, it can be difficult for some to determine what is Punjabi culture and what is Sikh religious practice. However, theres a strong distinction between what is perhaps considered to be common behaviour within the Punjabi community and what is theologically acceptable to Sikhs. The Punjabi community has a strong drinking culture, with many lyrics within Bhangra songs (a Punjabi musical genre) literally singing the praises of getting totally wasted with the lads. Alcohol abuse is rife, and much like the woman who took Boris to task about his comments, I know of relatives who have died from alcohol-related illnesses such as liver failure. Its an emotive subject for many, but it has nothing to do with the religion. At least Boriss ignorance has put a spotlight on alcohol abuse within the Punjabi community. This disconnect between culture and faith can be found in many other areas. For example, Punjabi culture is notoriously misogynistic, while the Sikh faith was preaching total and immediate gender equality in the 16th century, over 200 years before Mary Wollstonecrofts A Vindication of the Rights of Women was published. General Election polls and projections: May 18 Boris isnt the first to confuse culture with faith, and he certainly wont be the last. However, any basic research on the topic would have shown him it wasnt appropriate for that venue or audience. After all, you wouldnt hear a politician giving a speech about family planning at a Catholic church or indeed about alcohol tariffs in a mosque, even if some of the congregation use contraceptives or like a drink. No topic should ever be off-limits within any community. Its just a simple question of being respectful about the surroundings you find yourself in. The word Sikh means to be a student. As students, we are all constantly learning new things, both about ourselves and others. Sikhs dont condemn, they simply want people to educate themselves. Politicians of all political parties will always be welcome to gurdwaras. All that the Sikh community asks in return is for a little respect and humility while there, and a careful think about what theyll be saying before they get there. Surely thats not too much to ask for, even in the depths of an election campaign? Jasvir Singh OBE is the founding chair of City Sikhs Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Orkhan Quluzade Trend: Ankara failed to persuade the US not to support the Democratic Union Party (PYD), listed by Turkey as a terrorist group, says Ismail Hakki Pekin, former head of intelligence at General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. The US will support PYD by providing it with arms, he told Trend May 18. US officials said PYD will participate together with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in the operations to liberate the Syrian city of Raqqa, which is the main stronghold of the IS, Pekin said. The US support for PYD will negatively affect the Ankara-Washington relations, he said. However, closing the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey or imposing other sanctions against Washington arent yet matter of discussion. Pekin added that Washington will continue to support Turkey in the fight against the IS and in operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group in northern Iraq. Washington may also cooperate with Ankara to expand security zones and humanitarian corridors in Syria, he said. The Turkish Armed Forces cannot carry out new military operations in the direction of Syrian northwestern city of Idlib as this territory is declared a de-escalation zone. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently met with US counterpart Donald Trump for the first time. During the meeting, the main topics of discussions were bilateral relations and regional issues. Special attention was paid to the settlement of the Syrian crisis. Erdogan told Trump about Ankara's concern over Washington's support for PYD. Earlier, President Trump approved a plan for providing PYD with arms in Syria despite Turkey's objections. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UKs poor performance in the KidsRights report - measured against the UNs Committee on the Rights of the Child - is alarming but should not come as a surprise. The research shows the UK dropping from 11th to 156th in global rankings and in areas relating to discrimination, respect for a childs views and how countries promote childrens best interests. Reasons for such failings in wider society are likely driven by multiple factors but one of the reasons for the UKs poor ranking is seen through its continuing recruitment of teenagers into the army. The UK, alongside Belarus, are the only two countries in Europe which allow 16-year-olds to join its armed forces. The continued policy of recruiting school-aged children has long been used by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a means to bulk up army numbers, placing their own institutional interests above that of those who sign-up. According to the MoD, 22.2 per cent of new arrivals were under 18 between 2015 and 2016. Enticing school-aged children in to the army, many of whom come from working-class or troubled backgrounds, is key for Michael Fallons MoD as it scrambles to increase recruitment. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty The MoD has said that recruiting teenagers is favourable compared to persuading adults to sign-up for infantry roles and that enticing juniors presents an opportunity to mitigate standard entry shortfalls particularly for the infantry. The reality of army life is often a far cry from the glossy marketing campaigns. Fatalities in the British infantry were seven times higher in Afghanistan than other areas of the armed forces. New recruits are thrust into a life of intense physical training and psychological conditioning. More than one-third of 16- and 17-year-olds who enlist drop-out before training is complete. This contrasts with 28 per cent of adult trainees. The likelihood of injury is far greater among the militarys minors, with research showing a lack of physical maturity a common cause. Training for teenagers is severe and involves learning how to kill, what weapons to use and where best to maim an opponent. Such experiences can cause long-term immense psychological damage and studies show that these are often heightened when carried out by the youngest recruits. Mental health problems are far more likely among younger recruits and there is a 64 per cent increased risk of suicide among under-20 male army recruits compared to their peers in general population. And although the MoD stresses that teenage recruits are not selected for combat until they turn 18, there have been several instances when under-18s have been sent to war. Again, it is a case of the army prioritising its own needs above that of its teenage trainees. Despite international pressure, the MoD refuses to implement a total ban on deploying teenagers. All this is achieved at an age before you can vote, watch certain films or legally play the latest Call of Duty video game which are deemed too violent or distressing for under-18s. It is clear that in a military context the rights of children are not being protected. As an organisation seeking to end the recruitment of children by national armies and armed groups globally, Child Soldiers International believe it is critical the MoD readdress its recruitment policies. The fact that some individuals enjoy a career in the armed forces cannot be used to justify a policy which sidesteps the rights of hundreds who sign-up at 16. It is time for that to change. Rachel Taylor is senior programme manager at Child Soldiers International. Child Soldiers International is an international human rights organisation which seeks to end the military recruitment of any person under the age of 18. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} This week may come to be seen as a moment when the American President, Donald Trump, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, each began to move decisively towards their very different destinies, to the extremes of success and failure. Both came from outside conventional politics to seize the highest office in the land. So today the one resides in the Elysee Palace while the other occupies the White House. As a result they will remain forever in the history books. Other than that, however, they share very few things in common. Now many of us note every move that President Trump makes because his actions are often so extraordinary, but we should watch President Macron with equal attention. Yesterday, for instance, he announced the membership of his first government. It contains 12 men and 11 women, so there is virtual parity between the genders. In comparison the British Cabinet has 22 members, of which eight are women, including the Prime Minister. President Trumps cabinet has four women out of its 25 members. But what puts Macron into a class of his own is that he has formed what we would call a national government, that is one comprising members from each of the political parties. In Britain this happens only during wartime. Yet Macrons cabinet list includes two members of the main part of the right, Les Republicains, plus three socialists and two members of Far Left parties. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says that he was joking that Russia pays Trump He has also attracted the centre, with Francois Bayrou, becoming minister of justice. And finally, not least in significance, he has also drawn from civil society a human relations specialist, a doctor, a university chief, a former Olympic champion and a well-known publisher. While Macron is reshaping French politics, Trump is bringing American politics to a crisis point. On Tuesday, the US Senate Intelligence Committee invited the former FBI director James Comey to testify on reports that President Trump asked him to scuttle the investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser. And Representative Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican, added that if the allegations were true, they constituted grounds for impeachment. Then came the devastating news that the Justice Department had appointed Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, as special counsel to oversee the investigation into ties between President Trumps campaign and Russian officials. Trump had no warning of this decision. Impeachment would be the classic remedy if the case against the President is convincing but there is a growing body of opinion that argues that, because Trump is a sort of man-child, impeachment would be inappropriate. The New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat, has made this point. He wrote that it is a child who blurts out classified information in order to impress distinguished visitors. It is a child who asks the head of the FBI why the rules cannot be suspended for his friend and ally. It is a child who does not understand the obvious consequences of his more vindictive actions like firing the very same man whom you had asked to potentially obstruct justice on your say-so. Douthats fellow columnist, David Brooks, headed his column in the same edition, When the World Is Led by a Child. Trump claims he's the worst treated politician in history Douthat argued that, instead of impeachment, the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which deals with succession to the presidency, should be used. This allows for the removal of the president if a majority of the cabinet informs the Congress that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office and (should the president contest his own removal) a two-thirds vote by Congress would confirm the cabinets judgement. Macrons constitutional innovations are of quite a different order. He sees a weak presidency, especially during the time of his predecessor Francois Hollande, who ended up with a 4 per cent approval rating. It has not lived up to the classic notion of being a position where the nations leader is able to will, to decide and to act. At the same time, he wants to revive what he calls the vitality of French democracy. Citizens should be able to make their voices heard. And, finally, he believes the left/right cleavage is outdated. In short, while America struggles with its man-child President, France waits a bit apprehensively to see how far Macron intends to go in shaking up Frances constitutional arrangements. Macron may be the most important president since De Gaulle and Trump the most notorious since Nixon. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Maybe it is all going to come apart for Frances youngest elected head of state between now and the second round of the legislative elections. And nothing would suit his variegated opponents more than a National Assembly with no majority for his new movement turned party, Republique En Marche, able to thwart his every move for change. But dont bet on it. After Emmanuel Macron announced the appointment of Edouard Philippe, the centre-right mayor of Le Havre, as his prime minister, one of those who might have laid claim to that job in a pre-Macron world accused the new President of not wanting the parties to realign, but to dynamite them. Dynamite them is not an expression that fits comfortably into Frances hitherto rather undramatic political vocabulary. Still less might it be expected from the lips of Francois Baroin, a cautious centre-right politician who rose to prominence as the youthful spokesman of former prime minister Alain Juppe more than 20 years ago and subsequently the go-to politician for centre-right governments in urgent need of a safe ministerial pair of hands. His reliability in a crisis is why, or partly why, Baroin now finds himself with the thankless task of running the centre-right Republican Partys parliamentary campaign at a time when the party can no longer be sure of its moorings in French politics. Some Republican politicians have defected to Macron and his brand of centrism. Many more have insisted they will fight on as a concerted opposition. By persuading Philippe to head his government, however, Macron has cut some of the ground from beneath their feet. The centre right, like the centre left, and indeed the National Front of Marine Le Pen have all been left divided perhaps fatally so by Macrons victory and uncertain about their response. Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte walk through Elysee palace after inauguration The onlookers consensus, following Philippes appointment, was that it was largely tactical, designed to sow disarray in the traditional parties on the eve of the parliamentary elections. And the impression was reinforced by the composition of the new government, which includes a broad representation of right and left, plus a scattering of non-politicians and a celebrity environmental campaigner whom previous governments had tried in vain to co-opt. But there is more than tactics to what Macron is doing, and when Baroin talked about Macron dynamiting the old parties, he may have been closer to the whole truth than perhaps he knew. Everything that Macron has said, and the whole way he has conducted himself since his election, suggests that he is not interested in tactics for their own sake, or even for the sake of maximising his new partys representation in the new Parliament, but because he wants to transform France into a model fusion of economic efficiency and social responsibility. Consider the 24-hour delay in announcing the new government. The reason given was that each new ministers credentials (and tax position) had to be checked. The clear purpose was to pre-empt the sort of scandals that beset former President Francois Hollandes government in its early days and the exposes about jobs for family members that blighted the presidential campaign of the Republican candidate, Francois Fillon. Each member of the government, Macron has stipulated, will have to sign an ethics commitment and jobs for the family are ruled out. This is not only sensible politics in the light of recent French political history, but it sends a forceful message in two directions: to the voters that the new President and his government are trying to be different, but also to the politician establishment, including MPs, that the old ways must come to an end. Such an undertaking, of course, is only effective until the next scandal. But if the onus has shifted from the party machine to the individual politician and the expectation of voters, underwritten by the head of state, is that French politics from now must abide by certain rules, demands for a clean-up could filter down, eventually reaching even entrenched local fiefdoms. This in itself would be a considerable achievement and inspire trepidation among many. But the extent to which Macrons decisive victory, the failure of established parties and the proximity of the parliamentary elections have combined to produce a comprehensive meltdown of French politics can hardly be exaggerated. Macron: If I was 20 years older than my wife, no one would have questioned my relationship It is true that the mainstream right in France has long taken a shifting shape, with party names changing and personal rivalries counting for almost as much as the politics. This presidential election, though, saw the rout of both mainstream left and right, and a weaker showing than many envisaged for the far-right National Front. Even the proposition that a failed Macron presidency could bring a National Front victory next time around, however, is by no means certain. Le Pen may claim that her party now leads the only serious opposition to Macron, but her ambitious niece, Marion Marechal-Le Pen, resigned all her political offices within hours of Macrons victory. We shall see what the legislative elections bring. Partly because Macrons party is so new, and partly because of the hostility of the mainstream, many are forecasting a divided National Assembly intent only on blocking anything that Macron wants to do. Whatever the make-up of the new parliament, however, this may not be the effect. Recommended This is what Labour can learn from Macron about winning an election What is already apparent is that, for a good number of his 39 years, Macron has watched and learned. He knows about the pitfalls of cohabitation, when the President and the parliamentary majority are from different parties and perpetual disputes result. But his government is less party political than any of recent times. What he seems to be aiming for is a government of national unity, French-style, or what in Germany is called a grand coalition. There are dangers here that the dissatisfied move to the extremes but opportunities, too. The UKs coalition government avoided at least some of the traps of one-party government not least, it could be argued, the EU referendum because controversies were thrashed out in Cabinet. Angela Merkel, has by and large, been more successful as head of a grand coalition than of the centre and free-market right. With his multi-party government, and its mixture of veterans and novices, Macron could perhaps use Frances generally weak parliament in a different way, seeking ad hoc coalitions for particular policies. Nor need this be a recipe for stalemate. It could finally breathe some life into a relationship between president, government and parliament that has rarely seemed to work. Dynamiting, in other words, rather than realignment, could provide just the political shock that France and not just France needs. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elections are a time to debate differences between parties. But sometimes it is important to highlight shared commitments. The confirmation of continued cross-party support for international development symbolised and substantiated by spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid is noteworthy. Aid isnt delivered perfectly: we need more rigorous gathering of evidence about what has the greatest impact, more innovation and better coordination. But relentless and disproportionate attacks from parts of the media and the hard right overlook the good that aid does, the lives that it saves, day in day out. A commitment to aid is a stake in the ground for internationalism and human dignity, and a welcome blowback against the forces of nativism and selfishness that call for charity to end at home. There are three reasons why this continued commitment to British aid targeted at those who need it most matters. General Election polls and projections: May 18 First is the difference that aid makes to people who live in poverty, conflict or fear of persecution. Despite British aid spending being only one-tenth the NHS budget, it is transformative for people facing starvation in South Sudan, for children dying from cholera in Yemen, and for Syrians fleeing death and destruction. These are people just like us, with homes, families, jobs and ambitions. In the last year alone British aid immunised 67.1 million children against preventable disease and provided vital food and nutrition for 30 million pregnant women and children under five. In 2016, British aid allowed the International Rescue Committee to educate 11,000 Syrian children and provide health consultations for a further one million Syrians. Many of these people have lost their homes, they have fled to already fragile and resource-poor countries like Lebanon and Jordan, and British aid has a vital, stabilising effect. But more importantly it is humanising and it is dignifying. To suggest that Britain would abandon these people now should be unthinkable. When we can help people, we do; we dont turn away when there is suffering. The second reason why this standing commitment to aid matters is that it gives the government predictability, enabling it to plan and deliver aid more effectively, and to react immediately when a disaster strikes. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images The reality is that while humanitarian aid is often driven by crisis, it deals with challenges that are by nature long-term, from migration and climate change to the spread of disease. Too often, aid programmes are cut short before the results are seen. Humanitarian grants can last a matter of months, despite the fact that people forced to flee their homes are unlikely to be able to return for at least a decade. Knowing the budget for the next parliamentary term ought greatly to assist the governments ability to make headway when facing long-term challenges. It is vital too that an independent Department for International Development oversees the allocation of the standing commitment, to ensure that it serves the best interests of people in need and isnt diverted for other aims. Third is the positive impact that aid has on Britains global standing at an anxious time for our country. Aid plays a crucial role in building a truly global Britain. Aid commitments are visible proof of Britains goodwill and humanity but also proof that, as the worlds fifth largest economy, we take seriously our associated responsibilities to the rest of the world, and we care about the influence and reach this earns us. Britains commitment to aid offers great strength and stability. Aid helps to guarantee that, wherever Brexit leads, Britain will in this area, at least, hold its head high and make a practical contribution to the drive for a more secure and sustainable global order. This is about head and heart together. Whatever the election result, the Brexit negotiations ahead hold much uncertainty. British aid should be a source of pride. It is also a practical demonstration of what it means to understand interdependence as well as independence in the modern world. David Miliband is president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. Andrew Mitchell is the former International Development Secretary and a leading humanitarian and development expert Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} New Jersey almost banned child marriage this week. But then Governor Chris Christie had a think about it and decided to veto the bill on the grounds that it does not comport with the sensibilities and, in some cases, the religious customs, of the people of this state. To which the only sensible response it to say duh, given that, according to the organisation Unchained At Last which campaigned for a change in the law, most marriages involving at least one minor are indeed religious arranged marriages. This law was not supposed to comport with religious customs; the entire point of it is that religious customs such as these are very bad indeed. While the median age of marriage in the US has crept up into the late twenties and early thirties, the laws that allow children to be married have stayed on the books and, sickeningly, in use. In New Jersey, 16- and 17-year-olds need parental consent to get married, but with the approval of a judge, its possible to be contractually locked into a lifelong sexual relationship at even younger ages. Between 1995 and 2012, 163 children aged between the ages of 13 and 15 were given judicial approval to get hitched in New Jersey. But it could be even worse: the current law has no minimum age at all. (Christies proposed alternative would ban marriage for under 16s, and require judicial consent for the marriage of 16- and 17-year-olds.) 'Child marriage' held in Surrey Actually, lets not say children. Lets say girls, because thats who this is happening to. And lets be very honest about the fact that the men these girls parents are consenting for them to marry are very much men, often decades older than the wives offered up to them. What is actually happening in child marriage, of course, is coercion. Girls being bullied. Girls being compelled. Girls who have learned, through a lifetime of abuse, that its better to guess whats expected of them and give the impression of enthusiastic compliance than to risk the punishment they know theyll receive for resistance. You can call a marriage dictated for a child by a parent arranged if you like, but it would be better to call it forced, because what power does a child have to say no? And if you have no power to say no, yes becomes an empty syllable. A forced marriage, of course, also means forced sex, which is rape although, since the age of consent in New Jersey is 16, many of these marriages are by definition the approval of statutory rape as well. Recommended The United Nations is turning a blind eye to child rape One source of opposition to the new law came from anti-abortion politicians and activists, who want pregnant teens to be able to marry so they can bring their babies into the world with a patriarch safely attached. Christie in fact mentioned abortion in his veto message, calling it disingenuous to outlaw marriage for 16-year-olds while its possible for them to obtain terminations. The logic in making an analogy between allowing a minor to make a responsible decision not to have a baby and preventing adults from sexually exploiting minors within the legal structure of marriage is hard to see but only if you think female liberty is of any account. Married off, up the duff, safely tethered to a life of reproductive work these are the sensibilities and religious customs that child-bride America holds dear for its girls. Simon Coveney, pictured, and Leo Varadkar are the contenders to be the next Taoiseach with Mr Coveney firing the opening salvo on the steps of his party HQ Leo Varadkar, pictured, and Simon Coveney are the contenders to be the new Taoiseach The battle to be the next taoiseach has come down to Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney as both camps put on a show of strength on day one of the Fine Gael leadership contest. While Mr Varadkar is expected to personally launch his bid on Saturday, Mr Coveney fired the opening salvo on the steps of his party headquarters and declared he was not going to engage in sound bites and glib put-downs. "For me, I'm in politics to be positive and constructive," he said. "I want to lead a party and a country that can heal many of the divisions that have opened up over the last decade or so." The two challengers were left to fight it out as Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Education Minister Richard Bruton ruled themselves out of the race. Mr Bruton declared his support for Mr Varadkar, as did Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and those endorsements are expected to be backed by several other cabinet members in the coming days. Others in the ministerial ranks to back the Social Protection Minister were Joe McHugh, Minister for the Diaspora and International Development, who joined Mr Varadkar in Gweedore, Co Donegal, last weekend, and Eoghan Murphy and Sean Kyne. Helen McEntee, another junior minister in Mr Varadkar's camp, said: "Look at the fresh new approach he has taken to politics, look at how he interacts with people, look at his vision for a more forward-thinking and open Ireland. This country needs a leader for the 21st century and Leo is that person". On the other side of the battleline, Health Minister Simon Harris flanked Mr Coveney as he set out his stall. "Politics and society have become very fractured and Simon wants to reunite communities and reunite this country. That is precisely what we need right now and I believe Simon Coveney will deliver on this," Mr Harris said. The Coveney camp also made a big play on his own admission that he had asked to be Minister for Housing in the midst of an unprecedented homelessness and housing crisis. He set himself a deadline of the end of June to end the practice of putting up homeless families in long-term accommodation in hotels and B&Bs. There are still about 600 families in that position. Mr Harris added: "Simon Coveney certainly doesn't shirk challenges; he confronts them." Senator James Reilly announced he was stepping down as deputy leader of Fine Gael while plumping for Mr Coveney. Junior ministers Damien English and David Stanton are also in the camp. Mr Coveney denied that he has made any promises on cabinet jobs in return for support for his leadership bid and the TDs who came out gunning for Mr Varadkar also claimed they had been given no assurances. In the midst of declarations, Michael Noonan announced he would retire from politics at the next election. The Finance Minister said he did not want to be considered for another cabinet job and would not stand again for the Dail. "I believe now is a good time for a new finance minister to take up office. Ireland is the fastest-growing economy in Europe, the budget is almost balanced and we are on the cusp of full employment," he said. "I will continue to carry out my duties as Minister for Finance until a successor is appointed." Mr Kenny's successor is due to be elected by the parliamentary party, rank-and-file members and councillors on June 2 with the new leader to be voted in as taoiseach in the Dail in subsequent days. Mr Coveney's camp later claimed to have the support of 90% of the councillors in Cork and Kerry. The Fine Gael leadership is decided by an electoral college that gives the parliamentary party, made up of TDs, senators and MEPs, 65% of the vote. The rank-and-file members of the party have 25% and councillors 10%. Ibrahim Halawa was jailed after Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013 and his case has been adjourned more than 20 times President Michael D Higgins has said the four-year trial in Egypt of 21-year-old Ibrahim Halawa needs an urgent resolution. Mr Halawa was incarcerated after being detained during Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013 and hearings in the case have been adjourned more than 20 times. The President raised the controversial imprisonment during a meeting with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church, Pope Tawadros II, at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin. A spokesman for the Mr Higgins said: " The leaders emphasised the crucial value of human rights, including the freedom of religion and the rights of prisoners. "President Higgins made particular reference to the pressing case of Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, which he described as needing an urgent resolution." Mr Halawa, the son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin, Sheikh Hussein Halawa, was imprisoned after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood protested over the removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013. He has been tortured and gone on hunger strikes during his imprisonment. Pope Tawadros II also held talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan and Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who also discussed Mr Halawa's incarceration. Egypt's ambassador to Ireland, Soha Gendi, attended the meeting with President Higgins along with a number of other Coptic Christian bishops. The President's spokesman also said Mr Higgins conveyed his condolences on the loss of life following recent attacks on two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday. "Both leaders also highlighted the importance of inclusive political dialogue in seeking to bring an end to the conflicts which now prevail and are threatening humanity in so many parts of the world, and the urgency of achieving new means of ensuring stability, democracy and sustainable development," Mr Higgins' spokesman added. Earlier this week, the latest court hearing in the case was adjourned after a number of witnesses failed to show up. It is due to be mentioned again in July. Mr Halawa's family said he has asked for a transfer to the Tora prison after being assaulted by a guard. They also said a lawyer has warned them that the case may run for up to another two years. Outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny has written a letter to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pleading for Mr Halawa's release on humanitarian grounds. Mr el-Sisi said he could be released, but only once the trial has run its course. The first rule of negotiation is you don't show your hand - or if you do, do it selectively and with forethought. The Government is keen to get the message out there that it strongly wants to host the EBA, so any suggestions that it could potentially be prepared to give it up once secured sends out mixed signals. And that, frankly, is unhelpful. To be fair, there is no suggestion that this represents Government policy, at least not yet. It is the job of civil servants to present options, but it's equally important that Ireland's strategising doesn't give up hostages to fortune - and that messaging going out from here is clear and consistent. The Government has been banging the drum for Ireland to host the European Banking Authority since the autumn of last year. The charge has been led by Financial Services minister Eoghan Murphy. His colleague in Government, Simon Harris, is also heading up the State's bid for another jewel in EU land, the European Medicines Agency, with both bodies shifting operations out of London due to Brexit. With a combined workforce of around 1,000, securing either would be a major coup for the Government, which is fighting to secure opportunities from Brexit in terms of FDI displaced from London. Arguably the EMA would be more valuable, given that it brings with it the bulk of the jobs. But the EBA would bring a level of prestige to Dublin's offering as a financial services hub. Ireland faces stiff competition, with Frankfurt the favourite - and as we know it is a formidable competitor. Ireland's interest in hosting the EBA, which has to be moved from London after Brexit, was flagged by Finance Minister Michael Noonan last autumn. Photo: iStock Officials have flagged the potential to use a bid to be the home of the European Banking Authority as a bargaining chip in Brexit talks, the Irish Independent has learned. The move suggests authorities here could be willing to give up the prize for concessions elsewhere in Brexit talks, though how that could work is unclear. The Government's bid for the EBA affords the State flexibility in the Brexit negotiations, the Department of Finance has said in notes seen by the Irish Independent. A senior source familiar with the bid process insisted the State's bid to host the EBA is genuine, but also that securing the agency for Ireland would not, in itself, be a big enough win to trade for something else in the national interest. "I don't see how it can be used on a chessboard like that," the source added. Ireland's interest in hosting the EBA, which has to be moved from London after Brexit, was flagged by Finance Minister Michael Noonan last autumn. Formal bid documents are expected to be finalised within weeks. The minutes of a meeting of senior officials in the department noted the benefits to Ireland of hosting the agency, including as a signal to the global financial sector of the importance that Ireland places on financial services. But the minutes also state: "In addition, a formal bid for the EBA would afford the State flexibility in the Brexit negotiations." The view was contained in a paper presented at the meeting of the Executive Board of the Department of Finance in March. It was prepared by officials within the department who have expertise in European banking legislation and have frequent dealings with the EBA. It is understood the thinking behind the statement is that if Ireland was being seriously considered as a location for the body, it could potentially be put on the table to give the Government extra leverage in the formal Brexit negotiation process. Read More But the idea has not been fleshed out beyond that, as the negotiations have yet to begin, and the department said the statement in the minutes has not been adopted as formal Government thinking. It isn't clear what degree of flexibility the officials believe winning the agency, which employs 159 staff, would provide to the Government as it fights to ensure weighty issues such as the Border, the threat of customs controls and potential disruption to trade flows are robustly addressed in the talks process. The Executive Board of the Department of Finance is made up of senior officials including secretary general Derek Moran, second secretary general Ann Nolan, assistant secretary general in the financial services division Aidan Carrigan, chief economist John McCarthy and Paul Ryan, who leads the department's international finance division. It is unclear if the Executive Board shared the view about the bid presenting the Government with flexibility, but it was agreed that a memo was to be prepared for Government setting out the progress in the bid. The minutes, which have been published by the Department, were signed off by Mr Moran. The minutes also state that the feedback from the European Commission and the EBA has been positive with regard to Ireland hosting the agency. Meanwhile, the EU has ruled out Brexit talks being held in secret, in a rebuff to British appeals to keep positions confidential. An Irish developer intends to construct up to 500 apartments on RTE's Donnybrook headquarters if it succeeds in the bidding war for the coveted 75m site. At the Cairn Homes' annual general meeting in Dublin yesterday, Michael Stanley, chief executive officer, confirmed the company was pursuing the prime development land. But he claimed the 8.9 ~ acres, marketed for sale by Savills, were best suited to apartments. "It is what is needed," he said. He added that while there "may be" scope for 10 to 15 houses, his preference was for the construction of 400 to 500 apartments. The number of apartments means the residential blocks will fall within the "five storeys" height restrictions imposed on residential developments. However, he cautioned that 'Project Montrose' is among a "number of potential acquisition opportunities" that Cairn is exploring. He signalled that the company would abandon the hunt if it was felt the site became too expensive. The London-listed Irish-based company, which will shortly dual list on the Dublin stock exchange, has concentrated chiefly on affordable family homes since its 2015 initial public offering. But Mr Stanley said that Dublin needed more apartments to cater for the influx of new employees post-Brexit, as well as to accommodate increasing demand from people looking to downsize. He said that "housing needs change and the market evolves". Mr Stanley claimed Cairn ranked as "one of the few companies that can build apartments today in Ireland and with the continuing employment in Dublin, I think they are badly needed". He also claimed that Ireland needed more large-scale developers if the country is to rapidly alleviate the housing crisis. Details added (first version posted on 12:04) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Orkhan Quluzade Trend: A bus carrying Russian tourists has overturned in the Mugla Province of southwestern Turkey, the countrys media reported May 18. As many as 18 people were injured in the accident, and 16 of them are Russian citizens. The injured were taken to the hospitals of the Mugla Province. The bus was carrying the tourists to the Denizli Province, where the ancient city of Hierapolis and the hot springs of Pamukkale city, a popular tourist attraction, are located. THE cattle trade over the last few weeks has been marked by strong prices, as marts report no slippage in the trade. Over the past fortnight weve seen some prices dip, others battle back in the bullock section. Over the past week the averages have fallen in the 500-599kg section, which also fell by 1-5c/kg or from 5-30/ hd two weeks ago. This means the overall average price in this very important section, which traditionally provides a big proportion of spring stock to go to grass for autumn slaughter, has fallen by 4c/kg or from 20-24/hd in two weeks. The better quality stock suffered a 7c/kg fall which adds up to a reduction among the best cattle at this weight of 35-42/hd. Expand Close Lot 121 . 2 off. Weight 568 Kg, DOB 24/10/14. PRICE 1200. Breed SIX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 121 . 2 off. Weight 568 Kg, DOB 24/10/14. PRICE 1200. Breed SIX. Photo Roger Jones. However, the poorer quality bullock at this weight has remained largely stable, indeed taken together his average has actually improved by 1c/kg or 54-6/hd over those same two weeks. Why is this animal that is the backbone of many grass based summer grazing systems appearing to go into reverse at this traditionally very important buying time? Expand Close Lot 412. weight 604 Kg, DOB 5/04/15. PRICE 1350. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 412. weight 604 Kg, DOB 5/04/15. PRICE 1350. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. Factory prices It comes at a time when beef prices are improving, with the sellers to the factories reporting 4.10/kg for bullocks. The Ringside figures for the last two weeks show the overall average for the 600kg+ bullock is up by 5c/kg or 30/hd at a minimum. The better quality bullock remains static but the poorer quality at this weight was up an average of 10c/kg over the same fortnight thats 60+/hd. It adds more confusion as to why the 600kg+ bullocks replacement of choice 500- 599kg bullock is having such a mundane time. Expand Close Lot 43. weight 555 Kg, DOB 1/02/15. PRICE 1185. Breed LMX PTX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 43. weight 555 Kg, DOB 1/02/15. PRICE 1185. Breed LMX PTX. Photo Roger Jones. However, it does support the idea that suitable numbers of better replacement stock are just not there on the ground at this weight. Perhaps, the prices for the 400-499kg animals were beginning to be influenced by the increased numbers of dairy type stock coming on the market from a burgeoning dairy sector. There the averages remain more or less stationary. The story among the heifers is more positive however with the exception of the poorer quality 600kg+ heifer who fell out of bed last week to the tune of 22c/kg or 132/hd. Expand Close Lot 40 . weight 6444Kg, DOB 22/03/15. PRICE 900. Breed heX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 40 . weight 6444Kg, DOB 22/03/15. PRICE 900. Breed heX. Photo Roger Jones. Leaving her aside, overall averages from 350-599kgs are up by 1-3ckg or from 4-18/hd with the bottom quarter in both the 400-499kg and 500-599kg sections seeing increases of 7and 6c/kg respectively or from 28-36/hd. While the poorer animal in the 600kg section fell that 22c/ kg last week the good news was that the better animal at this weight gained 8c/kg or 48/ hd which helped offset that 22c/kg loss. Expand Close Lot 415. weight 575 Kg, DOB 14/04/15. PRICE 1235. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 415. weight 575 Kg, DOB 14/04/15. PRICE 1235. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. Mart Roundup 1 NENAGH Up to 2,000/hd was paid for the better quality continental cows suitable for the suckler herd as some suckler men continue to resist the lure of the dairy dollar. Mart manager Michael Harty reported that prices for cull cows from the dairy sector ran from 1.80-2.05/kg. Among the bullocks, your good middle of the road Friesian was getting 2.00/kg or a shade more. Hereford and Angus bullocks saw prices top out at from 2.00-2.20/hd. 2 KILKENNY Expand Close Lot 41 . weight 491 Kg, DOB 13/03/15. PRICE 1170. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 41 . weight 491 Kg, DOB 13/03/15. PRICE 1170. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. Manager Michael Lynch noted more numbers in his yard than the previous week but by the conclusion of the days business he was satisfied that there had been no slippage in the trade and he noted that short keep cattle were strong. Averages across all weights in the bullock section were as follows: Friesian 1.70-2.10/kg, Continental 2.20-2.80/kg with Hereford/ Aberdeen Angus on 2.00-2.50/kg. Among the 600kg+ cull cows, Friesians ranged from 1.30-1.70/kg with Continentals making from 1.70-2.30/kg. 3 DELVIN Thomas Potterton described the sale as a good day for business. Lighter dry cows made from 1.15-1.49/kg with 1.37 the average, while heavier stock ranged from 1.26-1.73/kg. In the bullocks your good light store made from 1.30-2.82/kg. Once you went above 500kgs, prices ranged from 1.74-2.27/kg. The heavier trade was very brisk with those under 300kgs averaging 2.53/kg to a top of 3.00/kg while the 300-400kg heifer ranged from 1.78-2.89/kg with the 400-500kg animal making from 2.31-2.67/kg. Expand Close Lot 51 . weight 419 Kg, DOB 11303/15. PRICE 1170. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 51 . weight 419 Kg, DOB 11303/15. PRICE 1170. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. 4 BALLINROBE There was a return to big numbers but prices remained strong as the large number of farmer buyers present went about filling their summer grazing quotas. Youd have had to do better than 2.52/kg to land that 595kg Charolais bullock, while if you dropped down the weights youd be the under bidder at 2.95/kg for four 385kg Limousins which made 2.96/kg. In the heifer ring, a 395kg Limousin made 3.04/ kg while a 345kg Angus hit 3.12/kg before the hammer fell. 5 BALLYMOTE Expand Close Lot 53 . weight 636 Kg, DOB 04/06/14. PRICE 1450. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 53 . weight 636 Kg, DOB 04/06/14. PRICE 1450. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. There was a strong trade all round with a price of 2.65/kg being paid for a 360kg Charolais with a 355kg Angus not much further back at 2.56/kg. A 550kg Charolais sold for 2.54/kg and a 500kg Angus hit 2.60/kg. 6 MOUNTBELLEW Prices were reported as holding firm for all stock. At the heavy end of the bullocks, a 600kg Charolais made 2.16/kg with a 470kg Limousin going for 2.46/kg. In the heifer ring samples included a 485kg Belgian Blue at 2.56/kg and a 500kg Limousin at 2.36. Looking at the weanling trade there were 345kg Charolais heifers at 2.68/kg, while Charolais bulls from 240- 285kgs made from 2.73-3.12/kg. Expand Close Lot 52 . weight 446 Kg, DOB 15/05/154 PRICE 910. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lot 52 . weight 446 Kg, DOB 15/05/154 PRICE 910. Breed LMX. Photo Roger Jones. 7 GORTATLEA Trade at Gortatlea was still very firm with the cow trade going through the roof according to manager Maurice Brosnan. Continental cows made from 2.00-2.20/ kg with Friesians on 1.65-1.85/kg. Top of the pile money wise was a 950kg Limousin cow who made 2,050. Maurice noted that a scarcity in quality 350-450kg bullock has seen average prices across the entire 350- 450 spectrum rise over the last month to between 2.50-2.70/kg. And as the saying goes a rising tide lifts all boats, as the Friesian bullock has also risen in that time by around 100/hd. Farmers in Northern Ireland have hit out at a Vegan campaign which they say seeks to denigrate farmers to advance the cause of a 'tiny minority' opposed to livestock farming. The comments come as a group known as Go Vegan World claimed one of their campaign posters has been vandalised. In an open letter to the people of Northern Ireland, Go Vegan World said it is the organisation that has erected the Dairy Takes Babies ad and other posters, as part of its international educational campaign. It has come to our attention that people have threatened to paint bomb or remove some of our ads; indeed, as the photo shows, someone has already attempted to do so. Go Vegan World is not against farmers or farming or food producers. We are against animal use, it said. However, Ulster Farmers Union president, Barclay Bell, says he sympathises with the many farmers across Northern Ireland who have criticised an anti-farming campaign being run by Go Vegan World. The UFU president says he believes the campaign is dishonest in its message and seeks to mislead consumers. He has also questioned how a product made from plants can be fairly described as milk. This campaign seeks to denigrate farmers to advance the cause of a tiny minority opposed to livestock farming. This is a small special interest group that seeks publicity. Less than one per cent of the UK population is vegan but those supporting this lifestyle choice are well funded and adept at attracting media attention, said Mr Bell. The UFU says it would never criticise those who for ethical reasons have adopted a vegan lifestyle, but Mr Bell said it is unacceptable to seek fresh recruits by attacking farming. This time the campaign is about dairy farming, but past campaigns and their publicity has focused on other aspects of livestock farming. This is one-sided and unfair. Farmers supply the needs of the 99pc of the population happy to eat eggs, meat and dairy products. "It is unfair to denigrate farming families who do a great job producing affordable food on high welfare, environmentally friendly livestock farms across Northern Ireland, said Mr Bell. Farmers have been urged to attend Glanbia Co-ops Special General Meeting today to make crucial decisions on the important proposed changes to the Glanbia structure. Glanbia Co-op proposes to pay 112m to acquire a 60pc shareholding in the Plcs Dairy Ireland division, which consists of Glanbia Consumer Products and Glanbia Agribusiness. Glanbia Ireland will combine Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, Glanbia Consumer Products and Glanbia Agribusiness, as a joint venture 60pc owned by the Co-op and 40pc owned by the plc. This builds on the Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) joint venture established in 2012. The Glanbia Co-op proposal will also distribute by way of 'spin-out' c.5.9m shares in Glanbia plc to all members of the Co-op and to create a 40m Member Support Fund. The value of the share 'spin-out' is an estimated 100m based on the Glanbia plc closing share price of 17.13 on Friday 17 February 2017. This would be worth approximately 6,637 for a member with the average shareholding. For active dairy farmer members, the average value of the spin-out would be 10,791. Making the call IFA President Joe Healy said it is welcome that the proposals increase farmers control and ownership of Glanbia consumer foods, including liquid milk, and agri-business in Ireland. The proposals also recognise the need for a more sustainable mechanism to support farmers through volatile product prices, while funding important investment to process additional milk output, Joe Healy said. While the company structure is of major importance, the key issue for farmers into the future is that Glanbia consistently pays leading base prices for milk and grain, and that inputs are competitively priced. Joe Healy said Glanbia is one of the most important operators in Irelands agri-business sector, and its ongoing success is of vital importance to all Irish farmers. Following a meeting of ICMSA officers in the Glanbia region to discuss the Glanbia Ireland proposal, the President of ICMSA, John Comer said that after a long debate on the merits and demerits, the view of the meeting was that ICMSA would support the proposal with the benefits and potential benefits outweighing the concerns that were expressed. Comer confirmed that a number of specific issues were raised at the meeting, notably the costs of inputs supplied by Glanbia Agribusiness, the future of liquid milk producers and a very clear view emerged from the meeting that there can be absolutely no link between the price of milk to suppliers and the purchase of inputs from Glanbia Agribusiness. Farmers operate in a competitive environment where every euro counts and they must be free to purchase their inputs from the most competitive outlets available so the proposed new entity cannot and must not - put any barriers to such competition and freedom to purchase from any source. I "ICMSA has raised these matters directly with Glanbia who acknowledged the concerns and were confident that, if approved, the new entity will address these issues, said Comer. In the event of Glanbia suppliers following the ICMSA recommendation and subject to the provisios mentioned going on to approve the proposal then its crucial that the new entity delivers for farmers in terms of milk prices and competitively priced inputs and vindicates the farmers decision to support the proposal, concluded Mr Comer. Larger Irish businesses will spend on average 190k on cloud technology and services in the next 12 months, a study by Equinix, the global interconnection and data centre company, has found. The survey of senior IT decision-makers in Ireland also found that approximately 85pc of businesses are deploying cloud technology, while more than half of those surveyed already have plans to increase the deployment of cloud technology in the next year. When asked to list their main reasons for using cloud technology, 48pc said it provides them with the ability and flexibility to scale, while 34pc said it helps with speed of deployment. "Cloud is essential for all businesses today not just IT companies. In fact, its quite hard not to be utilising the cloud in some form or another these days. However, businesses must ensure that they are using the cloud in a secure, efficient and innovative way that enhances their business and helps them compete in the digital era," Maurice Mortell, managing director for Ireland and emerging markets, Equinix, said. Read more: Our PCs are hopelessly dated and left vulnerable Despite the clear competitive advantage of using cloud, businesses face barriers to adoption, or increasing their adoption, Equinix has said. When responding to the top barriers of using cloud technology, security risks featured strongly, with 60pc of respondents citing it as a barrier to using cloud technology. Other factors which features strongly were loss of control of data and governance, cited by 50pc of those surveyed as a barrier to using cloud technology, while 38pc of those surveyed said that the high costs associated with deployment of cloud was a barrier to using the technology. As the General Data Protection Regulation deadline approaches, businesses are exercising caution with regards to where their data in the cloud resides. More than half of those surveyed said the legal jurisdiction in which their data is held 'always' affects their choice of cloud service provider, while 27pc said it 'sometimes' does. Bulmers and Magners owner C&C is under no pressure from shareholders to sell its US operations, after slashing the value of its assets there by 129m during its last financial year, according to CEO Stephen Glancey. The company said the carrying value of its US assets is now 45m. Mr Glancey said the long-embattled US arm is operating at break-even and is stable, but conceded that the group still has no visibility on when its market there might recover. C&C's North America revenue slumped 33.6pc to 24.5m in the latest financial year, with volumes having also tumbled by 33.6pc. Mr Glancey told analysts that recovery in the US will be slow. "Retailers are rationalising their range. Regaining share on lost listings will be challenging for our US brands in this environment," he said. "Our intention is to play a long game on it," Mr Glancey told the Irish Independent. "We think that rather like we've seen in the UK, the big international brewers will come and go into the cider category and will focus more on beer and craft beer. "There will be a loss of shelf space, we get that, but there will be a shake-out and in the longer term, the Magners brand will be successful." "We intend to keep the business," he added. "Our shareholders just look at the US as optionality. I don't think there's any pressure from shareholders. We are patient investors." C&C, which also owns brands including Tennent's, has had a difficult number of years in the US where it now has a distribution partnership with domestic brewer Pabst. That agreement was signed in 2015, and Pabst also has a long-term right to buy C&C's US cider brands. Last year, it also rationalised its business closer to home, consolidating plant activity in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and at its Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow. Reporting full-year results yesterday, C&C said that its net revenue fell 6.9pc to 559.5m in the 12 months to the end of February, while its operating profit was virtually unchanged at 95m. The results were in line with expectations. In Ireland, its net revenue declined 4pc to 242.3m, but operating profit rose 3.6pc to 48.6m. Bulmers accounted for 25.5pc of its volume sales in Ireland during the last financial year. Mr Glancey said the Irish market has seen an aggressive challenger brand enter the market in recent years, with the arrival of Heineken's Orchard Thieves. "However, the Bulmers brand remains in rude health and close to the affections of Irish people of all age groups," he said. "We're investing from a position of strength." C&C will increase its marketing spend for Bulmers in Ireland by 4m this financial year. Last year, the group revamped its UK Magners brand (the Bulmers brand there is owned by a rival), resulting in a 10.9pc uplift in volume sales of the drink in that market. Dalata Hotel Group, Irelands largest hotel operator, has agreed to acquire parts of the Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane in Dublin 2 and the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley in a deal worth 62.5m. It is expected that Dalata will complete the deal with the receiver for certain freehold interests of the hotels by June 2017. The deal is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Dalata will acquire the freehold of the ground and lower ground floors of the Clayton Hotel on Cardiff Lane, which contain the reception area, bar, restaurant, leisure centre and back of house facilities, 170 bedrooms and vacant ground floor area. The company, which already owns a number of Clayton hotels, will hold a lease on the hotel areas until 2040, at an annual rent of 2.5m a year, subject to upward only rent reviews at five year intervals. This transaction will bring the total number of bedrooms owned by Dalata in this hotel to 193 out of 304. Meanwhile, the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley is a 4 star 353-bedroom hotel located to the west of Dublin adjacent to the M50 motorway and Liffey Valley shopping centre. Dalata has agreed to buy the freehold of the core hotel, which has 159 bedrooms, a leisure centre, meeting rooms, reception, bar & restaurant, car-park and two vacant retail units. Dalata currently manages this hotel under a short-term management agreement for the receiver, Kieran Wallace. In 2016 the hotel generated 500k in management fee income alone. The hotel has an additional 194 rooms which are owned by individual investors and not included in the sale. Dalata also announced the acquisition of the freehold interest in its 90 room Portlaoise Malrdon Hotel costing 6.8m. The hotel contains a leisure centre as well as bar, restaurant and meeting room facilities. The rise of Amazon and online retailing poses fundamental questions for the future of traditional jobs in the sector. Stock image Online retail giant Amazon floated on the stock market 20 years ago this week. To say it would have made a good investment punt at the time is a gross understatement. If you invested $100 in Amazon shares back in 1997, your stake would be worth $64,000 today. A $5,000 investment 20 years ago would be worth over $3m today. Amazon has been at the forefront of a retailing revolution. The fallout from the success of the retail giant and other online shopping empires continues. Online retailing poses a massive threat to conventional bricks and mortar retailers and it is inevitable that in the years to come major job losses will occur. Of course Amazon and other online retailers create jobs and facilitate job creation in logistics, IT and delivery systems. They have also been incredibly innovative. But some estimates suggest that only one ecommerce job is created for every three retail jobs lost. The challenges from online retailing have led to jobs carnage in the US. Since Donald Trump took over as president, 89,000 retail sector jobs have been lost. It isn't Mr Trump's fault (on this occasion) but it is down to an oversupply of retailing malls in middle America as well as the rise of online shopping. Credit Suisse recently estimated that up to one fifth of US retail space is likely to close in the coming years. The closures are being led by big retail names like Macy's, Sears and JC Penny, but often in their second tier locations. Even the world's biggest retail chain, Walmart, has not been immune. It is closing 154 stores after experiencing its first year of revenue decline since 1980. The closure of 154 stores is small beer for Walmart and represents less than 1pc of its shop floor space. However, it will have a large impact in the smaller towns in which stores close, many of which lost their own local shops when Walmart arrived in town a couple of decades ago. Rather than paint the online retailers as the bad guys, they are in fact simply winning the commercial battle, providing an innovative service at a competitive price. However, the scale of job losses in the US raises a bigger question about the impact technology will have on jobs in general and in retailing in particular. Certainly, America seems to have been saturated with second and third tier shopping malls, and that oversupply is affecting the rate of jobs carnage there. Some have estimated that America could lose one-third of its 16m jobs in retail by the end of President Trump's term. The obvious question is what will all those people do? Many are going into home health help and logistics jobs but it seems inevitable that without the correct upskilling and training, many will not find work at all. Controversy over pay and conditions of online giants like Amazon suggests they won't always find a better or equal job. This poses its own challenges for the Trump administration which if anything is likely to make things worse by talking of implementing an import tax which would hit the performance of retailers even more. But this isn't just an American problem or a retailing issue for the future. There is a tendency to use retail sales figures only as a barometer of economic confidence. The associated jobs figures are rarely highlighted. It seems unimaginable that Ireland will not be impacted in some way by this same drive towards online retailing. Figures for online shopping in Ireland are a little sketchy. A survey published in 2014 said that Irish online shoppers were spending 4bn per year buying from retailers in other countries. Another survey published in 2015 said Irish shoppers will spend around 2bn with foreign online retailers by 2016. And a survey published in September 2016 said Irish shoppers will shell out 14.1bn online by 2020 with around half of that going to retailers outside the country. Either the figures are somewhat muddled or the growth in just a couple of years has been exponential. The pattern is clear and it will have repercussions further down the road. At the moment, on a macro level the situation looks pretty bright for retailing and jobs in the sector in Ireland. Ibec's retailing group, Retail Ireland pointed out in its monitor for Q1 2017 how the economy is growing, consumer confidence is rising and unemployment is falling. But Retail Ireland also said, if you scratch below the surface a pattern of significant deflationary pressures emerges with heavy discounting in most categories. "Of the 32 major retail categories tracked by the CSO, 25 saw price deflation in March when compared to the same period in 2016", Retail Ireland said. So there is deep discounting with retailers afraid to put up prices because they might lose business. What's wrong with that? It is good for consumers and good for competitiveness in the economy. However, part of that price competition is driven by the rise of online. If retailers have to keep cutting prices to stay afloat, they will have to cut costs and that might mean cutting jobs further down the road. Thankfully, Irish consumers love to shop, both online and in stores and as the economy continues to grow, the retailer sector is hiring more staff, not letting them go. Employment numbers in retailing have risen in the last two years, but not as fast as sales growth. This suggests that margins remain tight for retailers and they are trying to find efficiencies. Some parts of retailing in Ireland remain buoyant. Even in the US where there is jobs carnage, 'Class A' retail malls continue to do very well. In Ireland, there is a stark contrast between the demand for floor space on Grafton Street versus small town main street. Irish retailers will increasingly use new technology available to reduce their cost base and stay relevant which could also have an impact on total job numbers in the future. Online giants like Amazon will continue to expand and utilise other new technologies to improve their efficiency. There is clearly room for both but one is winning the mass market battle. One option is for traditional retailers to raise their online game. Some are doing this effectively, but smaller players are struggling. Equally, brands are increasingly looking to move online. Yet of all of the growth in ecommerce sales last year, 53pc of it went to Amazon, with the rest of the industry sharing the other 47pc. Just before it floated in 1997, Amazon had sales of $15.8m. Twenty years later, sales now amount to $136bn. Amazon overtook Walmart in terms of stock market value for the first time in 2015. Now its market value, at $450bn, is almost double that of Walmart. If there is trouble ahead for employment for jobs in retailing, across the US, Europe, the UK and elsewhere, why should we care? As consumers, the online revolution may mean better value for money. The problem is if we don't have enough people working, we won't be doing very much shopping, online or not. There are fundamental questions about employment levels in traditional retailing in five-to-10 years from now. Surely, government should be thinking about training people for the impact of these sweeping changes. If half of what the nerds tell us about driverless vehicles in the future is true, what does it mean for the thousands of truck drivers in Ireland? What are their future job choices? Those in the technology industry say that driverless vehicles are not a distant pipe dream but they are coming. The financial advantages of the online versus traditional retailing business model, would increase not diminish with these developments. Yet, when you look at the prices being paid for massive retail centres like Blanchardstown and Dundrum, you would certainly think traditional retailing is going to be buoyant for the next 20 years. In a year when retailers are cutting prices to remain competitive, investors are piling billions into shopping centres. New retail schemes are being planned, along with refurbishment and extensions of existing retail centres. The return for these investors is based on the level of rent their retail clients can sustain over a 15-to-20-year period. Higher rents are on the way, at a time of downward pressure on the prices retailers are charging. The overall buoyancy in the Irish economic recovery is enough to keep all of these financial balls in the air for commercial property investors and retailers - just about. But if that buoyancy dips, the Government should already be weighing up the consequences. A girl kidnapped by Islamist militants from a school in the Nigerian town of Chibok three years ago has escaped her captors, an aide to the Nigerian president told media on Wednesday. Femi Adesina, the presidents adviser on media, told the BBC broadcaster the girl came across government troops after escaping Boko Haram, an Islamist group active in the region. The girl was one of the 276 female students that were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen from a state-run secondary school in 2014, Adesina confirmed. Of those kidnapped, 57 escaped over the first few months, 24 were either released or found over the next three years, and 82 were freed earlier this month in a prisoner exchange. Boko Haram militants launched large-scale attacks in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and bombed a UN office in Abuja in 2011, killing 21 people. They have kidnapped thousands of people during the years of insurgency to fund their efforts at establishing an Islamic "caliphate" in the region. Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons; Martin Murray, executive director Asia Matters; Dr Yue Xiaoyong, Chinas ambassador to Ireland and INM Group Business Editor Dearbhail McDonald at the Asia Matters conference in Cork IRELAND needs a direct flight to China and needs to be "visa friendly" to tap into a potential $442bn Chinese tourism boom, according to the head of Tourism Ireland. Speaking at a conference on building win-win strategic partnerships between Ireland and Asia, Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons revealed that Tourism Ireland has submitted marketing proposals via the Dublin Airport Authority to team up with a Chinese airline to help bring direct flights here. "That direct flight is absolutely vital, that is number one," said Mr Gibbons who said that the US and Japan were now offering 10-year visas to Chinese citizens to boost tourism numbers from the country. China's ambassador to Ireland, Dr Yue Xiaoyong, told the Asia Matters conference in Cork that bilateral trade between Ireland and China was picking up "dramatically" this year after experiencing a 13.75pc growth last year. He also urged Ireland to build more quality hotels to accommodate increased tourism visits from Chinese nationals. By 2020, Chinese overseas tourism is set to grow from 135 million global visits to 200 million, a $261bn market that is set to grow to $442bn during that period. The conference, organised by Asia Matters, Ireland's only Asia-focused think tank, also heard that last year 20pc of new foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland came from Asia. The spate of recent frauds and the fear of more cases promoted the Central Bank to commit to ramping up its monitoring of credit unions. (Stock picture) There will be more cases of credit unions being hit by staff raiding member accounts, experts have warned. The stark warning comes after a second credit union in a week has admitted it has dismissed a staff member and reported losses of member money to gardai. The spate of recent frauds and the fear of more cases promoted the Central Bank to commit to ramping up its monitoring of credit unions. Gurranabraher Credit Union in Co Cork is understood to have lost 200,000 and will now have to make an insurance claim to refund members. It comes after a similar suspected crime at Synergy Credit Union in Fermoy, Cork, and huge losses in Rush, Co Dublin. Now credit union auditors fear that it will emerge that accounts of members have been raided in more credit unions. They are also worried that it will emerge that false insurance claims have been made for members who have died, and are fictitiously listed as members in a bid generate a payout. Credit unions have only recently started to carry out intensive internal audits, a move which is flushing out insider theft that has been going on for years in some cases. The Irish League of Credit Unions, which represents the lenders, admitted credit unions have been strengthening their systems of internal control. One senior credit union expert, who did not want to be named, said this meant there will be more uncovering of insider theft, something that is likely to have been going on for years. "Internal auditors are finding historic cases of fraud, but they are only finding them now. There will be more," he said. He explained that although credit unions have been required to have internal auditors and compliance officers since 2012, it was only now that the systems were up and running. Credit union members who die also have their loans wiped out, with suspicions insider fraudsters are making loan insurance claims for people who were are not members of the credit union. Last month the Central Bank-based regulator for credit unions Anne Marie McKiernan warned that standards of regulatory compliance were too low. Ms McKiernan said: "Regrettably, standards of regulatory compliance are still well below those required to credibly safeguard members' funds and position credit unions to tackle business model development." Is losing 300,000 customers in five years a sign of poor performance from an Irish mobile operator? Not necessarily. This week, Vodafone Ireland's financial results showed that it now has 1.95m mobile customers, almost 300,000 off its peak of 2.24m mobile customers in 2012. The slide is part of a downward trend that may see the country's biggest mobile operator kiss goodbye to its benchmark 2m mobile customer mark for the foreseeable future. But is losing 13pc of your customer base in a few years a sign of something endemically troubling? In this case, arguably not. Vodafone's profitability, one of the key metrics that sustains jobs and investment, is actually doing quite nicely. Its margins are fairly healthy too. Furthermore, although the company won't specify exactly which customers it has lost, it's understood that the 300,000 are largely prepaid customers. These are nowhere near as profitable as 'contract' customers, which now make up a large majority of Vodafone's Irish base. And then there is the inevitability of losing customers because of extra competition. Five years ago, Ireland was a market sewn up by three operators. Today, at least four new operators have cumulatively grabbed 10pc of the market, or some 500,000 customers. Tesco Mobile alone has over 7pc. Those customers had to come from somewhere. So it seems that a large chunk of them - maybe half - have been siphoned away from Vodafone. But they're probably the lowest-yielding chunk of Vodafone's customers, those who are motivated overwhelmingly by price. So losing 300,000 prepaid customers, as regrettable as it might be on paper, isn't really a competitive disaster in a market where you had a 45pc share and three new well-funded players have just entered. Besides, Vodafone has been busy developing other projects. It now has some 325,000 fixed line customers divided into 260,000 broadband customers and 65,000 fixed voice customers. Granted, these services are delivered over Eir-owned landlines which means they're barely profitable to Vodafone. Nevertheless, the landlines give the operator an opportunity to offer 'bundles', which a hefty chunk of the market now looks for. Vodafone even has a TV service now for its bundle, although it seems that there is very low take-up of this so far. (Vodafone won't disclose the actual number of TV customers it has in Ireland, a tactic usually deployed by operators for metrics that are a little meagre.) The company also has ambitious horizons for its own long-term fixed telecoms infrastructure. It's investing over 200m in a joint venture with the ESB to roll out proper fibre lines in up to 50 large regional towns. Several of them, including Tralee, Dundalk and Carlow, are already done. The operator plans 500,000 homes and businesses to be connected in this way over the next couple of years, even if its 2018 deadline now looks unrealistic. That's a solid business bet for the future and one that no competitor bar Eir and Virgin can match. So regardless of whether or not it proceeds with its National Broadband Plan bid (Siro is having significant doubts), Vodafone will have a more diversified telecoms business in Ireland than that of five years ago or many of its current competitors. In this context, losing 300,000 prepaid mobile customers isn't the end of the world. To be sure, Vodafone faces further competitive pressure in future. When Three completes the integration of its O2 network, leaving behind its service issues, its network will be a formidable competitor for customers on Three, Virgin, iD and Tesco, all of which use Three's network. Right now, Vodafone holds an edge over Three in the minds of many corporate users because of the lack of the disruption that Three has experienced in its integration process. But if Three catches up on perceived network performance, it has cheaper package options, especially considering its superior data allowances. Data allowances are increasingly a key metric that mainstream users look to. As Three gets closer to Vodafone in network performance, Vodafone will be forced to gradually raise its data caps to compete. It has already had to do this and won't be able to avoid it in future. Ultimately, Vodafone's loss of these prepaid mobile customers underlies a highly competitive, healthy mobile telecoms environment. Although sometimes taken for granted, Ireland has one of the highest rates of telecoms investment-per-capita in the world. Those who live in cities or large towns are spoiled for choice on network quality and price. So Vodafone's loss of its prepaid customers isn't really a sign of its weakness. It's a sign of the market's growing strength. The judge considered the issues relating to the 'distinctive character' of a four-finger Kit Kat KitKat maker Nestle has been foiled again, after a UK Court of Appeal ruled that the consumer goods giant cannot trademark the shape of its popular four-fingered chocolate bar. The ruling is the latest in a long running legal battle between the Swiss-based company and its rival Cadbury. Nestle argues that the KitKats shape is iconic and should be protected by law but Cadbury objects. On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Cadbury, dismissing the claim. Despite the setback, Nestle hinted that it could now take its claim to a higher court. In a statement the company said: Nestle is disappointed by the court of appeal judgment and is considering next steps. KitKat is much loved around the world and its four-finger shape is well known by consumers. Nestles four-finger shape has been granted trademark registration in many countries of the world, for instance Germany, France, Australia, South Africa and Canada, further protecting it from imitations. A spokesperson for Cadbury's owner, Mondelez, said the company was pleased with the decision. "As we have previously stated, we do not believe the shape of the KitKat bar should be protected as a trademark in the UK," the spokesperson said. Read more: Nestle sales of 19.6bn beat analysts estimates Tania Clark, partner and trade mark attorney at intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers said the ruling means rival manufacturers could start making and selling products that look similar, with a reduced risk of litigation. This case highlights the difficulties that often accompany attempts to obtain commercial protection for the shape of a product. To secure trade mark protection, it would be necessary to prove that the shape of a product alone is enough to denote a brand in the mind of the consumer, she said. In December, an EU court dismissed Nestle's attempt to register the KitKat shape. The General Court in Luxembourg ruled against Nestle, arguing it was not enough for the firm "to show that a significant proportion of the relevant public throughout the EU, merging all the member states and regions, perceives a mark as an indication of the commercial origin of the goods designated by the mark" A decade-long dispute between Nestle and Cadbury began when the latter sought to trademark the colour purple for its brand. Nestle succeeded in overturning that trademark in 2013. Sally Britton, Intellectual Property lawyer at Mishcon de Reya said the court's decision sets a high bar for the registration of shape marks. This case is interesting as it examines the type of use and consumer recognition required to obtain monopoly protection over a shape mark. Businesses seeking to protect non-traditional trademarks such as shapes or packaging will need to provide evidence that consumers are relying on that trade mark to identify the origin of the product, she said. Flybe boss Christine Ourmieres-Widener said the airline billed as the UKs largest regional carrier has no need to secure an alternative air operators certificate (AOC) as it faces into a post-Brexit environment. The former CityJet CEO also said that Flybe is still working on some opportunities with franchise partner Stobart Air, which also operates the Aer Lingus Regional service. In an interview today with the Irish Independent, Ms Ourmieres-Widener said that Flybe has no need for an additional AOC because it does not operate intra-EU flights outside the UK. The airline has a franchise agreement with Dublin-based Stobart Air, which already operates some routes on behalf of Flybe under a wet lease arrangement, where Stobart supplies the aircraft and crew and flies in Flybe livery. Last December, after Stobart Air pulled the plug on a planned takeover by CityJet, Stobart Air and Flybe announced that they had inked an agreement that will see Stobart launch 12 routes this summer from London Southend Airport under the Flybe brand. The airport is owned by the Stobart group. Those Flybe routes are across Europe, to destinations such as Lyons, Budapest, Prague and Vienna. Stobart is also set to relaunch a Flybe service between Dublin and Southend this October. Ms Ourmieres-Widener declined to comment on the plan, however. Flybe already operates a number of services to Dublin from the UK. From the summer, Stobart Air will be headed by Warwick Brady, a former Easyjet executive who was once in the frame to take over as Aer Lingus chief executive when former CEO Christoph Mueller announced his departure in 2014. It was really refreshing to meet Warwick and its very interesting to work with him, said the Flybe boss, who started with the airline earlier this year. She said that the pair have discussed network opportunities and finding the right aircraft for the right route. So far, we are working how we can move our partnership from where we are today. Its a work in progress. They want to grow. Were still working on opportunities and finalising the network. Earlier this month, Flybe placed two of its Embraer 195 jets with Stobart Air, which uses turboprop ATR aircraft to operate its Aer Lingus Regional service. Ms Ourmieres-Widener said the operational risk remains with Stobart Air, but that Flybe needs to ensure it has a strong IT platform in order for the franchise to work optimally. Flybe, which releases full-year results next month, expects to post a small loss for the last financial year due to the impact of poor weather, fare competition and air traffic control strikes. Molly Keane (18) has made it into the final 12 on Sky Arts series Master of Photography An 18-year old Leaving Cert student from Donegal has beaten stiff competition from thousands of amateur and professional photographers from across Europe to make the final 12 on Sky Arts series Master of Photography. Molly Keane is the youngest contestant on the second series of the show which is offering one photographer the chance to win 150,000. Her eight portraits wowed the producers and the judges - renowned documentary photojournalist Darcy Padilla, Guardian picture editor Caroline Hunter and Italy's Oliviero Toscani - who had the ultimate decision on whittling down the final 12. "It's such a prestigious jury - it was amazing to know that those three people chose me based on my photographs," says Molly, who applied online before facing a Skype interview and then a further wait to hear if she was selected. Expand Close Self portrait. Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Self portrait. Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography "The Skype interview was incredibly daunting," she says. "Our Skype wasnt working properly. I live in the Barnsmore Gap in Donegal and our internet is a bit dodgy at the best of times! I couldn't see them but they could see me! But it was actually a good interview in the end." Dodgy internet aside, Molly clearly impressed as a week later, while sitting in music class at Abbey Vocational School in Donegal, she found out she was heading to Rome for the competition. Expand Close Suspend. Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Suspend. Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography The series takes place over eight weeks culminating in a final in which four photographers vie for the prestigious prize. Each week the contestants face a series of tasks which test their abilities, skills and instincts in a range of styles and disciplines including street photography, travel photography, celebrity portraiture and erotica at a variety of locations including London, Hamburg, and Sicily. Expand Close Old famine workhouse Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Old famine workhouse Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography Molly was up against professional photographers, some who had won World Press Photo Awards, had had exhibitions, or years of hard graft experience. However, she felt she had an advantage in some ways. "I'm only 18 so I'm not tied to a particular genre of photography," she says, "My style is still developing so I kind of saw that as an advantage. Obviously my lack of experience is a slight disadvantage but I felt I was more kind of open to exploring different genres." Expand Close Old famine workhouse Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Old famine workhouse Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography Molly had just two weeks to prepare for the series so she felt like she was "on a bit of a whirlwind". "It was really crazy knowing I wasnt going back to school after Christmas but not knowing for how long. It could have only been a week or it could have been two months." Expand Close Dogs legs Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dogs legs Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography Video of the Day Of course, Molly can't reveal how far she went in the competition, but win or no win she had to return to school after her stint on the series. She had missed her mock Leaving Cert exams and had some catching up to do, although she says her teachers were incredibly supportive as were her parents, radio documentary maker mum Alison and television director dad Gary. Expand Close Cobalt mirage - Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cobalt mirage - Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography "In terms of coming back to school it was a really strange experience," she admits. "I had been living completely independently in Rome in an apartment just being completely immersed in photography so it was difficult to come back to school. "But my teachers were really great and helped me out on anything I had missed, anything that was stressing me out." Expand Close Cobalt mirage 2 - Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cobalt mirage 2 - Photo: Molly Keane, Sky Arts Master of Photography Molly, who has two brothers (Eddie, 15 and Tom, 11) admits she's "not too worried" about the Leaving Cert exams as she applied to IADT Dun Laoghaire - where her parents both studied television and met and where her boyfriend is now currently studying - to study photography and earned the maximum 600 points for her portfolio. "Im debating now about whether or not to go to college or just move up to Dublin from Donegal and try to actually make a stab at working as a photographer for a year and see how it goes. Im not 100 per cent sure what to do," she says. Since Master of Photography she has set up a website and is getting quite a lot of work. Whilst speaking to Independent.ie she was travelling to Dublin for two photoshoots. "Ive been more proactive about working since I came back from Rome," she says. "I travelled up to Derry to Martin McGuinnesss funeral. I'm interested in photojournalism. Ive sent my photos to different publications and set up my website which I update with new material every week or two and that has helped me get jobs." She adds, "I got so many amazing opportunities to work with other photographers through Master of Photography. I might be going to New York at some stage to work with a photographer which would be amazing. "Theres actually so much I took away from the whole experience. It really was a life changing experience in so many ways. I met so many photographers who I will stay in contact with for my whole life between the jury and the other 11 contestants themselves who I really admire. It's amazing." Master of Photography airs weekly on Sky Arts from Thursday 25 May 2017 at 8pm Irish actor Aidan Gillen poses for a photograph upon arrival at the European Premiere of "King Arthur: legend of the Sword" in London on May 10, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVASDANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images Aidan Gillen has admitted he has little faith in a proposed American rehash of Love/Hate. Bestselling author Dennis Lehane, who wrote Mystic River and Shutter Island, expressed interest in remaking the show for US audiences, but Aidan isn't sure the uniquely Irish show could work in another country. "I don't know. It's a particularly Irish story of its time and place so I'm not sure how it would work in an American setting," he said. Aidan thrilled and chilled as gang boss John Boy in the acclaimed drama. Prior to winning the role, the actor had been living in London and was thrilled to be given the chance to return to Dublin. Expand Close Aiden as John Boy in Love/Hate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Aiden as John Boy in Love/Hate "It was really nice for me to come back to Ireland and do Love/Hate," he told The Last Word with Matt Cooper on Today FM. "There hadn't been a history of RTE doing really good dramas. People weren't going out of their way to come back to Ireland or take lead roles in RTE. The script was really good." The Drumcondra man currently stars as Petyr Baelish in Game Of Thrones, a role he has played since 2011. "It's brilliant, it's an adventure. We knew it would be good because the production values were high and the resources were there," he said. "It became so mainstream around the world. It's a well-oiled machine at this point. "I'm very happy to be part of it. This season isn't based on the books so there's huge intrigue and anticipation over what's going to happen," he added. With a Boyzone tour in the offing and a new gig as the petrol head presenter of Supercar Megabuild, Shane Lynch is in ebullient form. This is the week that Boyzone is finally meeting with their record company to tease out the details of next year's 25th anniversary tour, and Shane Lynch has a lot of questions. Speaking to Independent.ie the 40-year-old Dublin star describes the get-together as "a great gathering of minds" and says he and fellow band members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, and Mikey Graham will finalise their plans regarding the upcoming tour and a new album. "What are the dates, what arenas, are we doing a world tour, what is the album sound going to be, are we bringing old school names like Elton John in or are we bringing in new school people, will it be Boyzone or Boyzone and Westlife?" he asks. Expand Close Boyzone (from left to right) Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Ronan Keating performing / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boyzone (from left to right) Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Ronan Keating performing "The one thing I know for sure, regardless, is Boyzone will be on tour next year for our 25th anniversary." He may have been the shy, silent one in the early days of the band, but a rather different Shane will be hitting the road this time around. And if he has his way, Westlife will be on board too. "I'm so disgusted and so disappointed with Irish artists and I say that because I care deeply," he says. "Why the f*** are we not all saying, 'We're big artists, why are Boyzone and Westlife not doing stuff [together]?' Or Westlife and The Script? Or The Script and Boyzone? Could you imagine The Cranberries working with Sinead O'Connor? Everyone would be like, 'Oh my God I can't wait to hear this! Expand Close DELOREAN, TEXAS - Shane outside DeLorean with car doors up. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DELOREAN, TEXAS - Shane outside DeLorean with car doors up. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) "We can own the American charts, the global charts, if we had half a bleeding idea. What is this whole Irish thing of, 'Oh, we wouldn't do that with them.' It's weird, stupid, immature bullshit. Why don't we just take over and own the f***ing world? Let's do business people!" He laughs about his epic rant or "rantation" on the subject but he's only half joking. Expand Close TUCSON, ARIZ. - Shane Foley in front of the Drag Car. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp TUCSON, ARIZ. - Shane Foley in front of the Drag Car. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) It's clear he admires the success Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden are enjoying with Boyzlife, their Boyzone/Westlife hybrid show. He recently joined them on stage in Birmingham and he says he "had the best night I've had in a long time singing Westlife leads, singing the hell out of the place". Expand Close LA MANS, FRANCE - Dan, Jodie and Shane on the bonnet of the car. (photo credit: National Geographic/Dan Tapster) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp LA MANS, FRANCE - Dan, Jodie and Shane on the bonnet of the car. (photo credit: National Geographic/Dan Tapster) Video of the Day Read More Despite his excitement about performing again, however, it's not his main passion in life these days. That's reserved for cars. He's a world famous rally driver with several garages and custom shops across the UK and Poland and now he has landed the perfect gig as the presenter of the second series of Supercar Megabuild on National Geographic. Expand Close TIJUANA - Shane and Victor working on the cab. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp TIJUANA - Shane and Victor working on the cab. (photo credit: National Geographic/Hassan Ghazi) The show challenges Shane and Dan Barruffo to dismantle supercars and engineer them to the max. The first episode sees them converting Jode Kidd's family saloon Maserati Ghibli into something that can do 200 miles an hour and embraces the style of the Maserati Tepo from the 60s. They have just three weeks to complete the projects with Dan as fabricator and Shane testing/racing the finished product. It doesnt always go to plan," he reveals. "There are some rocky moments of real doubt, moments of real triumph, moments where Im real scared, moments where Im real happy. Its a bit of a journey through each programme. "Im driving these cars out of the garage literally at the last minute, were out of time, the client is standing around the corner, and Ive to drive it straight out and make it perform. "Stuff breaks down, stuff goes wrong when you do custom builds. Im driving out in a million pound car or a car without a budget and maybe it breaks down or it doesnt go so well in a given moment. But when it works it's amazing!" It's clear Shane is in his natural habitat with Supercar Superbuild as he reveals his "bloodline is in motorsport and mechanics". "My mother had me in the Coombe in Dublin and about two days later my dad was racing so I was two days old at my first race track. I was born into it and I grew up with race cars in the driveway and hanging around the workshop at my dad's garage. "As a kid age 11 I was a petrol pump attendant and then a tyre fitter and then working on motorbikes. I was int cars and that was where I was going in life. I was heading down the road of taking over the family business as a mechanic." It's been 24 years since that fateful Late Late Show appearance kicked off Boyzone's career but Shane admits he never felt particularly at ease in that world. "I was rather unsure of my position which was one of the reasons why me as a person took a step back in the world of Boyzone, never spoke too much, never put the head up or asked a question and reverted into this dark sinister character that in later years got a hold of me but I came out the other side of that," he says. "I think the first time around was such a confusing time, in 1993 being a car mechanic and then going on to this world, the world of music which is not my domain and is not what I did. There was no stage school. I wasn't in the garage playing music, I was pushing bikes, covered head to toe in oil, and went from that to this squeaky clean boy in a band. "In the early time of Boyzone it was a frightening time. What am I doing in this place? I took a lot of steps back and a lot of steps back more because I was in many ways expressing these darker areas of me as an individual. "So it was good to take a break and understand who I am as an individual character. Being part of a group you don't know who you are or what you like anymore, what food you like. Do you really like that restaurant or do you just go and eat because you've TV to do? "It's been good to take a step back and find out who is Shane Lynch again and be an individual person again and now go back into that room with a lot more control and understanding and discipline." That's not to say he didn't enjoy life in the band. He describes singing on stage with Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey as "like an out of body experience", one he's undoubtedly hoping to replicate when they take to the stage again next year. Supercar Megabuild kicks off on National Geographic on Thursday 25th May at 8pm THERE was blood everywhere, on the floor and on the walls, when a man at a party in a residents club was glassed in the face by an unknown psychopath, a judge has been told. Anthony Cervi, who had to have 10 stitches in his face, was giving evidence in support of a claim in the Circuit Civil Court by his brother, Gerard Cervi, whose left hand had been gashed in the attack. Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke heard the glassing of both brothers happened at a 30th birthday party attended by about 100 people in Grange Woodbine Residents Association Club in December 2009. Edward Higgins, who had thrown the 30th birthday party for a friend, told barrister John Nolan, counsel for the club, that there were tables and chairs being thrown and people hitting each other left, right and centre. Higgins told Mr Nolan, who appeared with Newman Solicitors, that he had been meeting and greeting party-goers and there had been an exchange of verbals for a number of minutes between two men who had bumped into each other on the floor. Then a guy came over and grabbed Anthony Cervi, picked him up and crashed him off the wall. He tried to break his back off it, Higgins said. Expand Close Anthony Cervi pictured leaving the Four Courts. Photo: Collins Courts / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anthony Cervi pictured leaving the Four Courts. Photo: Collins Courts He said the unknown assailant had the neck of a broken bottle in his hand and had pushed it several times into Anthony Cervis face. Part of Anthonys face skin had been hanging off. Gerard Cervi, a 30-year-old steel fixer, of Russell Avenue, East Wall, Dublin 3, who sued the Grange Woodbine Club, said the man with the glass had also attempted to hit him in the head. He put up his left hand to save himself and had been struck between his index finger and thumb. Anthony Cervi said: There was blood everywhere. I was bleeding and I remember being covered in blood. There was blood on the walls and on the floor. I was taken to hospital by ambulance and had to have 10 stitches in my face. All of the witnesses said there were only one security man, a club member, on duty. They said an adequate security presence could have sorted out the initial verbals and avoided the assault. Anthony Cervi told Mr Nolan the incident happened out of the blue and no-one could have foreseen it happening. Judge Groarke, dismissing Gerard Cervis 60,000 damages claim against the club, said it did not appear to him that it would be reasonable to determine that the assault on him was either foreseeable or expected. The judge said the club had such a good and peaceful reputation that it may have been lulled into a false sense of security. It would not, however, be reasonable to expect it to have anticipated that a person, who had been described as psychopathic, would have emerged to repeatedly assault Mr Cervi and his brother. He made no order as to costs against Gerard Cervi. A speeding car slammed into pedestrians in New Yorks Times Square on Thursday afternoon, leaving one dead and at least 22 injured, New York mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference, TASS reported. The incident is not connected to terrorism, the mayor said, Reuters reported. According to available data, the driver of a red sedan was going at high speed against the flow of traffic before he drove onto the sidewalk, striking pedestrians. A witness, cited by Reuters, said that the ramming attack seemed to have been deliberate. The car driver has been detained and taken into custody, according to Fox News. The motives for his actions haven't been established yet. CNN reported, citing informed sources, that earlier this person had already been arrested for driving a car while in a state of intoxication. Police closed off the area. US President Donald Trump has been informed about the incident. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has arrived at the site of the incident. A store manager at a retail chain shared three videos of a disabled employee at work on a staff WhatsApp group for the amusement of colleagues. In the case, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has ordered that the Irish-owned Mr Price Branded Bargains pay 7,500 in compensation to the employee in a discrimination case brought by the man under the Employment Equality Act. The sales assistant's disability arises from a road traffic accident in 2004 where he sustained an acquired brain injury resulting in reduced motor skills. On becoming aware on December 1 2015 of the circulated video on a WhatsApp group at work, the un-named worker became traumatised and had to go on work-related stress leave and hasn't returned to work since. The Adjudication Officer in the case, Ray Flaherty, found that three video recordings of the man at work were shared by the shop manager with staff "who had no operational need or entitlement to review the material". Mr Flaherty stated that it was also clear from the footage "that the recordings of the complainant gave rise to some merriment among those who were viewing it". In his ruling, Mr Flaherty found that it was clear "that not only was the complainant discriminated against on the grounds of his disability, but his basic right, and that of any employee, able or disabled, to the provision of dignity at work was seriously undermined". KNIVES and machetes were found at a Dublin property which the High Court had ordered be handed over to a bank-appointed receiver. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan heard the items were discovered at the Annesley Bridge Road, Fairview, property. Thirteen families, including a dozen children, had been living in several units at the premises which the court had previously ordered be vacated and handed over to the receiver, Simon Coyle. The judge had also referred the case to the gardai after two of the residents said the families have each been paying up to 200 per week rent to a man only known as "Brian". This man has no connection with either the receiver or the owner of the property, John Farrelly, the court heard. When the matter returned before the court on Thursday, Declan Wade Bl for the receiver, said Mr Coyle had taken possession of the property. There was a fear that some of the residents may try to regain access to the property as they had only taken light possessions with them and other items remained. Counsel said the receiver's agent had discovered "weapons" on the property including "knives and machetes." This had put the matter on a "more sinister footing" and the find had been reported to the gardai, counsel added. The court also heard from Detective Sargent David McGinty, of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau who said an investigation had been opened into claims the residents had been paying rent the person called Brian. Dermot Sheehan Bl, for Mr Farrelly, said his client has been willing at all times to cooperate with the receivers and was not responsible for those who had been residing at the property. The court previously heard that Mr Coyle was appointed receiver over the property by Bank of Ireland in January 2015. He brought proceedings against the residents and Mr Farrelly because he was unable to take possession of the premises. In November, Mr Coyle secured an injunction preventing Mr Farrelly and all those occupying the premises from interfering with, trespassing on, dealing with or taking possession of the property. The receiver claimed those orders were not complied with and has sought orders for the attachment and committal of Mr Farrelly and any others residing there for alleged contempt of court. Noting that the the receiver has vacant possession, and that the gardai are investigating the matter, the judge adjourned the matter for a week. A man who stole over 6000 of perfume, cosmetics and health supplements from city centre stores was concerned for his safety due to his gambling debt, a court has heard. Craig Bergin (31), who made no attempt to disguise himself during the thefts, was captured on CCTV footage of the incidents. He was wearing distinctive blue casts on his two broken arms. Bergin, formerly of Griffith Court, Marino, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft at Boots and at Holland & Barrett, both on Grafton Street, Dublin 2 on dates in October 2015. Garda Bernard Maguire told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that staff at Boots reported that bottles of perfume and aftershave, and on one occasion cosmetics, were taken from the shop on six dates between October 7 and November 17, 2015. The value of the stock taken was 6,000. Staff at Holland & Barrett reported health supplements valued at 883 had been stolen. Bergin's home was searched but none of the stock was recovered. He identified himself on the footage and told gardai he had just taken the stock and run out of the shops. He said he had problems with alcohol and gambling debts and was concerned for his safety. Gda Maguire agreed with Sandra Frayne BL, defending, that Bergin had been respectful to gardai. He accepted Bergin had gambling and drug debts that he would have been motivated to pay off. Ms Frayne handed in a psychiatry report on her clients behalf and said he had been suffering with mental health issues including anxiety. He was released from a previous sentence in February and then spent some time in St Vincent's Hospital, Fairview before being discharged last month. Bergin has 52 previous convictions but has not come to recent garda attention. The court heard Bergin was linking in with The Simon Community who had provided accommodation for him at their Carmen's Hall hostel. He is attending a daily mental health clinic and is on prescribed medication. Ms Frayne said Bergin was doing well and was anxious to prove himself to the court. Judge Elma Sheahan adjourned the case for one year and put Bergin under probation supervision. A Kerry school has won a national competition for their work on water conservation and is set to represent Ireland in the global Water Explorer finals later this year. Castleisland Community College told competition judges today that they had successfully influenced 376 people to change their water usage habits and had saved a total of 1.5 million litres of water. The secondary school students were competing in the national Water Explorers competition, which is run by Global Action Plan and took place in Axis, Ballymun. Water Explorers acts as an online educational resource for school students around the country and encourages students to make simple changes to conserve water. Environmentalist Duncan Stewart was one of three judges assessing the students efforts and praised their work, saying people had to act now in relation to water conservation. He said: We know that there are a number of threats to global water supply and that the impact of climate change means greater water scarcity and pollution. That is why we need to act now. By each of us making our own small but vital contribution, together we can make a big difference to the world in which we live. Before I'd even finished reading yesterday's newspaper headline, the flashbacks had begun. 'Home abortions' using pills and online support are 'safe and effective' the headline read. 'Home abortions' - the words making my stomach lurch right back to September 2012, when I was given abortifacients by a hospital consultant, to take at home to induce a 'missed miscarriage'. They were a safe and effective option to make my body pass the baby, I was told. "But if you have any excess bleeding, call us." Today, a study of 1,000 women in Ireland has concluded that an online home abortion service had outcomes that were "safe and effective". These "home abortions" involved women taking abortifacient medication sourced from the Women on Web online group. The new findings come from a study undertaken by the University of Texas. Researchers there analysed questionnaire responses to a telemedicine clinic by 1,000 women in the Republic and the North. The women had used the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol to end an early pregnancy four weeks earlier. Almost all of the interventions were "successful". Read More Seven women had to have blood transfusions and 26 had to be administered antibiotics. A small number, by anyone's standards. Find yourself with an unwanted pregnancy in Ireland and whether desperate, or simply mildly put out by the event, you would definitely take your chances with this. "How much blood is too much?" I asked my husband the night I took the abortion pills and bled out over the bathroom floor. Earlier this year, writing in the Irish Independent's series on miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death, I detailed how I took myself off to hospital in a taxi, sitting on a towel to soak up the blood, while my husband remained at home with our sleeping children. I couldn't even contemplate grieving the loss of a baby. I was terrified. I still live in terror of what might have been, if I hadn't acted in getting myself to A&E, if I hadn't already been a patient at the hospital I subsequently attended, if I hadn't had a cloak of respectability about me when I called the midwife to say I was coming in. The pills had been given to me by an Irish hospital consultant to enable my body to release a baby who had already died. I'm not sure I would have been so keen to rush to hospital had I procured the pills online to commit an illegal act. However, many years of a Repeal the Eighth movement later, I don't feel we've moved on hugely in how society en masse judges women who have abortions. Which brings me to a new terror: the thought of women in Ireland rushing towards an abortion service that conducts free medical consultations and posts out eligible women the pills. Why am I terrified of this? Well, because there was nothing in my medical history to indicate I was not an eligible woman - but still, there I was, bleeding to death in the back of a taxi. To opt for telemedicine to end an unwanted pregnancy could be to play Russian roulette with your life, in the hope that you'll know how much bleeding is too much, that you will have the courage to present to A&E, and will meet a sympathetic doctor who doesn't make a judgment call on your actions, and who will work swiftly to save your life. Is self-sourced medical abortion really where we're at? Is this the best we can do for women in crisis situations? Handing them a packet of pills, clapping them on the back and saying get on with it? "Women of all social classes in a legally restricted yet high resource setting have equitable access to a reasonable alternative: medical abortion guided by physicians through telemedicine," the study's researchers wrote. In the absence of safe and equitable abortion care, it's definitely something. It's also terrifying. Overweight and obese children in Ireland have a higher than normal consumption of sugary fizzy drinks. A study of the food and diaries of more than 1,000 children aged 8-11 years old found the average intake of sugar-laden drinks was greater among those with weight problems. The consumption was 383ml per day for overweight and obese children - a standard fizzy drink has 328ml. The consumption of their slimmer peers was 315ml a day, according to Dr Janas Harrington of University College Cork. The study presented to the European Congress on Obesity in Portugal yesterday said that taxing these drinks - in combination with other public health measures - could help in the fight against childhood obesity. The sugar tax is due to come in next April. Although the worldwide epidemic has many causes, links between the consumption of sugary drinks and excessive weight gain in children have been observed. The researchers found that almost one-fifth of children with normal energy intake were overweight or obese, compared with one-quarter of the total sample. The majority of children drank fizzy drinks. Dr Harrington said: "While no single measure will reverse current trends in obesity, given the high level of consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the lack of nutritional value of these products, action needs to be taken to reduce consumption, particularly in children. "There is a compelling case for the introduction of public policy to reduce sugar-sweetened drink consumption in the population. "The introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in combination with other public health interventions has the potential to have a measurable effect on the scale of the epidemic of childhood obesity." The research group is now set to monitor consumption of these drinks in the run-up to the introduction of the tax, and to assess the impact of the tax following its introduction. Dr Harrington added: "It is unlikely that the introduction of the tax will have a direct short-term impact on obesity levels." It is more likely to have indirect impacts such as reducing the consumption of these beverages. This includes increasing consumption of sugar-free. It could lead to re-formulation of sweetened drinks and change public attitudes, he added, making it a fascinating experiment. Tributes have been paid to an Irish woman who has tragically lost her life in Lanzarote. Elaine O'Donovan, originally from Waterford but now living in London, was on holiday when she drowned on Tuesday. Ms O'Donovan, who was in her 40s, had studied engineering in Cork. She worked as an environmental engineer and had travelled the world with her work. Fianna Fail councillor Adam Wyse said that people in Waterford had been left stunned by news of her death. Shock While Mr Wyse did not personally know Ms O'Donovan, he said that he had heard that she was a kind and caring individual. "It's a very sad time for her family and friends. "The whole city is talking about this, people are just shocked," he told the Irish Independent. "I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to her loved ones at this time. "People have been saying that she was a real family person. "It's so sad to think that she was away on holiday and trying to enjoy herself, it just shows you never know what can happen. "It's tragic, I think the fact she was on holiday means people can really relate to this." Sinn Fein councillor Breda Brennan echoed these sentiments, describing the incident as 'heartbreaking'. "It's going to be a very sad time for her family and friends, it's heartbreaking," she said last night. "I just want to send my condolences to them." The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the Irish Independent that it is aware of the case. A spokeswoman said it is providing consular assistance to her family but won't be commenting further. A friend of Ms O'Donovan took to Facebook to express her condolences, describing her as "one of a kind". One person wrote: "Such sad news. Gorgeous girl with great humour." Another friend commented: "Beautiful lady inside and out. Always smiling." The tragic news comes a week after an Irish man was stabbed to death at an apartment in Morocco. The victim was discovered with stab injuries. The man, who was in his 60s, was moved to Hassan II Hospital in Agadir where he died as a result of his injuries. Six PKK terrorists were killed in an airstrike in southeastern Hakkari province late Wednesday, authorities said, Anadolu reported. The terrorists were located during a joint operation of gendarmerie and police forces in the rural area of Kavakli village, according to a statement from the provincial governor's office, The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed an armed campaign against the Turkish stste in July 2015. The terror group has since been responsible for the deaths of 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including numerous women and children. Five year old *Yasmiin is screened by Hashim Jelle of Concern Worldwide, nutrition centre in Mogadishu, Somalia. Irish people have raised over 1 million to help save starving children from dying in East Africa, charity Concern has revealed. The Irish charity's Director of Public Affairs, Richard Dixon.The Irish public have been helping us tackle extreme poverty and hunger since 1968 and now in 2017 the public continues to dig deep. We thank them and the Irish government most sincerely." An East Africa Appeal was launched to help over 20 million people facing starvation in Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia. The 1.01 million received directly from the public is on top of the 4.06 million in emergency funding donated to Concern this year by the Irish governments overseas development programme, Irish Aid, which is spent in countries like South Sudan. The declaration of famine and the fact that millions of children are facing starvation implores us to respond and to do what we can. said Dixon Famine has already been declared in South Sudan while Kenya and Ethiopia are experiencing serious food shortages. These crucial donations prevent children from dying due to a lack of food and water, the absolute basic necessities, said Mr Dixon In Somalia, 6.2 million people, more than half the countrys population, are in need of urgent food assistance. Last month, Concern Worldwides Regional Director for the Horn of Africa, Carol Morgan, described the food emergency in Somalia as the worst she had ever seen. Every child I saw was malnourished, she said referring to the starving children she saw dying on roads as they travelled to emergency feeding centres. Concern Worldwide has over 1,200 staff in South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia providing life-saving support to 1.8 million people. As the crisis persists in East Africa, Concern is continuing to respond and fundraise. The wreckage from the accident is removed from the scene in Mullagh, Co Cavan. Photo: Steve Humphreys One of the six young people involved in a horrific car crash in Cavan last weekend has died in hospital. Cormac Murphy of Cloughbally Upper, Mullagh, lost his fight for life earlier today at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital. The 20-year old is sadly missed by his parents Fergus and Bernie, sister Andrea and step sister Rachel Cormac was seriously injured in the accident alongside five others when their car hit a ditch at Rantavan, near Mullagh at 5.30am last Sunday. The friends were travelling in a black Volkswagen saloon car along the Claddagh Road when the crash happened. Friends Pete Rogers, Mark O'Brien, Edward O'Brien and Cormac Murphy, from Moynalty, Co Meath, were treated at hospitals in Dublin. Their friends, Shauna Daly, from Kells, Co Meath, and Noel Lynch from Kingscourt, Co Cavan, were treated at Cavan General Hospital. Local FF councillor Shane P. OReilly from Mullagh said Cormacs death has hit the tight-knit community hard. Cormac was full of life. He was a wonderful young man, he told Independent.ie He comes from an amazing family. His loss this afternoon has hung a very large, dark cloud over our community, he said. We also have to think about the other five young people in that car. People still have a long way to go, he said of their injuries. Friends of Mr Murphy have already being paying heartbroken tributes on his Facebook page. One friend posted: "Rest in peace Cormac. Such a lovely, bubbly lad, taken too soon." Another added: "Heaven gained an angel, sleep tight." Funeral arrangements are being finalised Elaine O'Donovan was on holiday in Lanzarote when she tragically drowned on Tuesday. Tributes have been paid to an Irish woman who tragically died on holidays. Elaine O'Donovan was on holiday in Lanzarote when she tragically drowned on Tuesday. The Waterford woman, who was in her 40s, had studied engineering in Cork before moving to London. Tributes have poured in for Ms O'Donovan on Facebook with family and friends describing her as "kind-hearted, fun and loving". Fianna Fail Councillor Adam Whyse said that people in Waterford were stunned by the sad news. He said: "I know she lived in an estate that's only 30 seconds away from where I lived but I don't think I knew her myself. "It's a very sad time for her family and friends, the whole city is talking about this, people are just shocked. I would just like to extend my deepest sympathies to her loved ones at this time." He continued to say: "People have been saying that she was a real family person. "It's so sad to think that she was away on holiday and trying to enjoy herself, it just shows you never know what can happen. "It's tragic, I think the fact she was on holiday means people can really relate to this." Read More Sinn Fein Cllr Breda Brennan echoed these sentiments. She said: "It's going to be a very sad time for her family and friends, it's heartbreaking. "I just want to send my condolences to them." The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed to Independent.ie that they are aware of the case. A spokeswoman said they are providing consular assistance to her family but won't be commenting further. It has been reported that the woman was aged in her 40s and had been living in London. The two frontrunners in the Fine Gael leadership battle believe their campaigns will be energised by a series of high-profile endorsements from ministers and TDs in the coming days. Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney will today step up their bids to succeed Enda Kenny in a race that senior party figures fear will become deeply personal and divisive. Supporters of both candidates last night ramped up their negative campaigning, which has been intense and constant despite public denials from both ministers. Mr Coveney's camp has accused Mr Varadkar's supporters of "dirty tricks" following claims that the Cork TD will use his family's personal wealth to fund his election campaign. But senior sources in Mr Varadkar's inner circle said Mr Coveney's camp is intent on "attacking" his character. One source last night said Mr Varadkar is braced for further negative campaigning, adding: "They're getting very desperate". Mr Varadkar expects a flurry of TDs and senators to publicly endorse him in the coming days, following the decision by Mr Kenny to step down as Fine Gael leader from midnight. Read More All eyes will be on Cabinet heavyweights such as Paschal Donohoe, Michael Noonan, Heather Humphreys and Charlie Flanagan, all of whom have refused to publicly declare. Education Minister Richard Bruton will also make a much-anticipated statement. Mr Bruton has so far refused to rule himself out of the race, with some within the party describing him as the "compromise candidate". Mr Varadkar has no public events scheduled over the next 24 hours, but sources say this could change. Last night, the Dublin West TD tweeted: "Thank you Enda. FG's most successful leader. Brought FG from decline to success, Ireland from brink of bankruptcy to prosperity." Mr Coveney is due to address the media, before attending events in Clare and Cork tomorrow and Saturday. The Housing Minister described Mr Kenny as "a towering figure in modern Irish history". Meanwhile, Independent Alliance minister Finian McGrath confirmed he has spoken to both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney amid concerns that the change of Taoiseach could trigger an election. Mr McGrath added that he and other Independent ministers have their own "shopping lists" and that these will be discussed with the successful candidate. "Both of them, in fairness to Simon and Leo, have said they would be very interested in sticking to the three-year plan - to implement as much as possible the programme for Government." Mr McGrath said his judgment is that there won't be an early election, but added: "You never know in politics." Asked if the Alliance would have fresh demands for the next Taoiseach, he replied: "We'll be sitting down with the new leader and the new Taoiseach of course and we will be pushing forward the particular projects that we have in mind. "We all have our own little shopping lists. "That's the reality of politics. But we will be highlighting certain key issues that need to be implemented and we need to add a bit of impetus." His own list includes seeking to get the proposed new accident and emergency department in Beaumont Hospital into the Capital Plan for this year. HOUSING Minister Simon Coveney has said he doesnt believe a Taoiseach needs X Factor, saying they need to deliver. Mr Coveney launched his bid for the Fine Gael leadership today with declarations from ministers Simon Harris, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Damien English and David Stanton. His message will be built around strong, positive government with big ideas. As far as Im concerned Im fighting for the soul of this party, he said. Shortly after Mr Coveneys media appearance at Fine Gael headquarters in Dublin city centre, Leo Varadkars team called a doorstep where nine of the partys 19 senators declared their support for the Social Protection Minister. Senator Catherine Noone said he was the best man for the job. Mr Varadkars campaign also got an early boost as Education Minister Richard Bruton endorsed his bid but the candidate has still to make a public appearance since Enda Kennys decision to stand down. Mr Coveney said he believes the new leader should not just manage an economy but also focus on making peoples lives better. He said his manifesto will be an attempt to re-balance this country away from the dominance of Dublin so that rural people and rural parishes can believe in their futures again. Asked whether he has the X Factor, Mr Coveney said: That depends on what you describe as the X Factor. For me its about honest, strong, deliver. I dont think that a family living in a hotel room this evening is looking for a Taoiseach with X Factor. They are looking for a Taoiseach wholl solve their problems. He refused to give any indication of what his future Cabinet might look like and even to guarantee Leo Varadkar a place in it. Leos a talented guy. Hell be involved in the future of the party one way or the other. Im not going to start naming Cabinet positions, he said. CHILDREN'S Minister Katherine Zappone has become the first independent member of the Cabinet to comment on Fine Gael's leadership struggle. But Ms Zappone kept her cards close to her chest and declined to name her preferred successor to Enda Kenny. Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney are the two main candidates for the position. "I'm glad to see now that it's off, the leadership contest. And, I have very good relationships with both of the gentlemen who are running and I'd look forward to working with either of them," she told Independent.ie. "I think they both have great capacity and skills and I think will bring strong leadership to the post," she added. "I do not," she said, when asked if she had a preferred candidate for the job. "I will not be doing that. As an independent, it's obviously really something for the Fine Gael party." Ms Zappone, commenting before a speaking engagement in Trinity College Dublin today, also said she was happy in her ministerial position and hoped she could keep it, regardless of the victor. "I am very happy where I am and I've begun what I consider to be a radical new approach to childcare in this country. And I want to stay where I am," she said. Fine Gael leadership contender Simon Coveney "lies awake at night thinking about how hes going to try fix Ireland", first-time TD Kate OConnell has said. Click here subscribe to the Floating Voter on iTunes The Dublin Bay South TD told the Floating Voter podcast that the Housing Minister is a divil to work and hell reply to you at nearly any of the night if you text him. Ms OConnell said she decided months ago to back Coveney over Leo Varadkar in the Fine Gael leadership but she insisted there was no promise of a job in return. If you dont really expect anything youll never be disappointed, she said. Ms OConnell described the Cork TD as bluer than blue, saying it matters to her that the party leader has Fine Gael roots. Being genetically Fine Gael is very important for me, she said. Mr Coveney inherited his late fathers Dail seat, whereas Mr Varadkar is a first generation TD. Ms OConnell also lamented the fact Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald has decided not to contest the leadership. Its very unfortunate that Frances made that decision. I really did think when I went in to Leinster House first that she would be one of the people running. "Its a pity we dont have a woman candidate. She never approached me at any stage to support her, she said. Each week on the Floating Voter, INM's political team discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics, bursting the bubble around Leinster House. New episodes on iTunes and Independent.ie every week. FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan is set to step down from the role. He says he does not wish to be considered for cabinet by the candidate who succeeds Enda Kenny as Taoiseach. "Following the Taoiseachs announcement yesterday, I want to state that I do not wish to be considered for Cabinet by his successor, whoever that may be," he said. "I have been honoured to serve as Minister for Finance since March 2011 and have introduced 6 annual budgets and one supplementary budget. "I believe now is a good time for a new Finance Minister to take up office. Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe, the budget is almost balanced and we are on the cusp of full employment. "I will continue to carry out my duties as Minister for Finance until a successor is appointed. Expand Close Finance Minister Michael Noonan Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Finance Minister Michael Noonan Photo: Steve Humphreys "I will not be seeking re-election to Dail Eireann at the next General Election. It has been a privilege to represent the people of Limerick since I was first elected in 1981 and I look forward to continuing to do so until an election is called." For the last 36 years, Noonan's political career has been characterised by highs and remarkable lows. Noonan has been a minister in every Fine Gael-led government since 1982, serving in the cabinets of Garret FitzGerald, John Bruton and Enda Kenny. He won national prominence in December 1982 when Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald appointed him Justice Minister and he managed the fallout from the Fianna Fail phone-tapping scandals and other controversies. He was later Industry Minister and in the 1995-97 Rainbow Coalition he served as Health Minister, a job which was to give him much subsequent political grief. Noonan had won the leadership in February 2001 as part of the 'dream team' with the late Jim Mitchell, as they ousted former Taoiseach John Bruton. However, he did not connect with voters and Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fail had a burgeoning economic boom. Noonan vainly tried to introduce quality of life issues into the 2002 election campaign with the slogan 'Vision With Purpose'. He had also promised the biggest of all tax giveaways, worth 2bn. On the evening of May 18, 2002, he resigned as Fine Gael leader after an electoral meltdown, with the loss of 23 Dail seats leaving them at a low last experienced in 1948. However, his biggest campaign publicity came when he was struck in the face with a custard pie in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, on April 30, 2002. He took the defeat squarely on the chin. After eight years as a backbencher, during which time he served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Enda Kenny appointed Noonan to his front bench in 2010 as spokesperson on finance. At the 2011 general election, he was re-elected as a TD and was appointed Minister for Finance. Brendan Howlin TD, Leader of the Labour Party has said: I note the announcement this morning by Minister of Finance Michael Noonan of his intention to stand down at next election, and not to seek appointment to the next cabinet. Having worked closely with Michael over five difficult years, I have learned to admire his political skills and respect his manifest competence. I wish Michael well for the future. Meanwhile, Dr James Reilly has said he is quiting as deputy leader of the Fine Gael party. He also said that he will support Simon Coveney in the leadership battle. ADS ADS We are in Egypt, 600 years before Christ. The Pharaohs wise men have just developed a new instrument for reading the time. It is called the Merkhet. Its original construction allows it to read the time even after sunset. With this invention, man can start to tell the time even in the black of night. And this will allow him to improve the precision of time reading. Nowadays this story seems outmoded or confined to archaeology books. There is light everywhere and the time can be read in any conditions. Even at night, the light shines But things have not always been so. Not so long ago, in fact, the ability to read the dial of a watch was of crucial importance. And, as is so often the case, it was war that created this need. On the night of 20th December 1914, the French Farman MF 11 were the first bombers to fly at night. The ability to read flight instruments in complete darkness thus became a strategic priority. From 1917, the American Defense Department decided to order luminescent watches from the US Radium Corporation, which used radium paint for the luminescence. History recalls above all the struggle of the radium girls, who spent their days painting watch dials with radioactive substances, with the health effects that we can imagine. But at the time, this production was strategic and it remained so for a long time. At the dawn of the second world war, such instruments that were readable at night were no longer needed just in the air. Night could also appear in the middle of the day you just had to dive under water. We now move to Italy, where a few men understood that underwater combat could offer a precious advantage in the case of conflict. They followed the example of two of their predecessors, Major Rossetti and Lieutenant Paolucci, who became the first combat swimmers in history, when they sunk an Austro-Hungarian cruiser in the port of Pola in November 1918. Inspired by this feat, their comrades wanted to dive discreetly, swim towards their targets, destroy them and then disappear. They became the first combat swimmers of the 10th MAS flotilla. In order to operate at night and underwater, the members of the MAS flotilla needed equipment that was both reliable yet innovative, including genuine divers watches that were both water resistant and legible. And it was this latter aspect that needed the most work. One of the officers in the flotilla heard about a watch workshop in Florence. He visited it and met Guido Panerai. Together, they decided to develop a watch that would meet the requirements for future operations by the Italian swimmers. Once again, radium was called to the rescue. Panerai developed a water resistant watch with two superimposed dials: one was hollowed out with large 12, 3, 6 and 9 numerals and the other was covered with radium. They were fitted into an oversized case that was 47mm in diameter and housed a Rolex movement. The Radiomir was born. This is where the story starts. Italys combat divers started operations. Their exploits inspired navies all over the world. And they wore new versions of the Radiomir. By the end of the conflict, Panerai had produced just over a thousand watches, but this remained a military secret for years to come. In order to keep its market share, the Florentine brand improved its Radiomir models and looked to other countries that called upon the services of former combat divers from Italy. But the technical specifications did not change: legibility and water resistance. The dangerous radium was soon replaced by a new substance based on tritium: luminor. The water resistance of the newer divers watches was also improved by a new crown protecting bridge, which is today affectionately known among fans as the bottle opener. But it is once again an aspect of light that gave the new watch its name: the Luminor. Still today, the Luminor and Radiomir models dominate the Panerai catalogue. They are no longer military secrets but they still keep their unmistakable DNA, a mixture of industrial design, operational simplicity and Latin charm. Luminor or Radiomir. The choice appears simple. Yet it is decidedly complicated. In the end, I opted for a Luminor that is particularly dear to my heart: the PAM 590. It is the link between the past and the present, bearing a seal that is famous in the brands history, and was launched this year as a limited edition. It is the embodiment of what I think a true Panerai should be. Why Panerai ? The Luminor and Radiomir are the two emblematic models of the brand, which was relaunched in 1993 and incorporated into the Vendome group in 1997 (which later became the Richemont Group). Officine Panerai has since experienced an astonishing rise to fame. Even though its history is not as long as that of many of the famous Swiss brands, Officine Panerai has managed to exploit it in an almost unique way, using the techniques of Hollywood to build up its muscled up Radiomir and Luminor models in the style of the Expendables, order its collections like sequels or even prequels and grab the attention of an appreciative and particularly expert audience by developing its models in very small steps. The brand has not only imposed its unique style, it has also liberated wrists by daring to offer 44mm diameter cases from the start of the 1990s, then relaunching the original 47mm cases at a time when 39mm was the norm. Furthermore, Officine Panerai probably invented the concept of special editions and still today manages to generate both excitement and frustration among fans and yet still be forgiven! Although the concept is now found in overabundance among its competitors, whose initiatives are not always successful, the Officine can delve into its history and the abundance of prototypes and variants in its production to surprise and constantly nurture the legend. The Panerai Luminor PAM 590: From the US with love! The first version of the Luminor dates back to 1950. At the time, this divers watch had a diameter of 47mm and a case that was rounder than that of the current 44mm Luminor models. In order to highlight the difference, a few years ago Panerai produced a version similar to the original model: the PAM 372. But lets get back to our contemporary Luminor. It means a lot in the recent history of the Officine, because Panerai re-entered the watch market with a similar model in 1993. Before 1997 and the acquisition by the Vendome Group, which later became Richemont, Panerai produced several versions of its Luminor with a concession to its predecessor: its size shrunk from 47mm to 44mm. Offering a 44mm watch in 1993 was already very audacious. Panerai would wait a few more years before re-issuing its legendary 47mm model. In order to lure future customers, the teams at Panerai decided to recreate the Luminor. The task was entrusted to Alessandro Bettarini, who designed a new case that was more angular than the original and had slightly reduced proportions. The success of this new version was such that Paneristi (as fans of the brand are known) call it the Bettarini. The Bettarini is still listed in the Panerai catalogue but at the SIHH in 2014 the brand presented a new version, still at 44mm diameter, but with a more refined profile. The PAM 590 uses this new case. Another major change is the movement. Since 1993, Panerai had been using Unitas movements in its Luminor models, which fitted well with its image as an assembler of tool watches. But, following its competitors, the brand presented its first in house movement, the P2002, in 2005. A long series of new movements followed until the hand-wound P5000 movement was launched in 2014, with an eight-day power reserve. Thinner than the Unitas, this movement allowed the Bettarini case to shed some weight. It is the impressive power reserve that makes the Panerai PAM 590 so interesting. It bears the inscription 8 giorni brevettato on the dial, which first appeared in 1950 on a Luminor Submersible produced for the Egyptian navy. At the time, the watch was fitted with an Angelus calibre. The 8 Giorni name stuck and still gets collectors salivating. Panerai has only launched a few models with this logo on the dial. The PAM 590 is one of them, which gives it even more charm. The dial hides another interesting feature of the 590. Like all Panerais it is simple and loyal to the principles of legibility. The 9 is replaced by a small seconds counter. But if you look closer you will see that the colour of the hour markers is different from the colour of the Luminor Panerai text or the 8 Giorni logo. The hour markers are orange, the text is white. In Panerai culture this is known as a non-matching dial. It is an allusion to the first watches of the pre-Vendome period (before the acquisition by Richemont), on which some white luminous hour markers would quickly change colour on exposure to the sun, creating a difference in colour between the (non-luminescent) inscriptions on the dial and the hour markers. What was originally a quality issue thus became a genuine Holy Grail. Some dials were replaced but other owners kept their watches as they were, thus creating a buzz about non matching dials that now makes them sought after because they are original. The Panerai PAM 590 takes on this characteristic and therefore has a dial inspired by vintage models. Another reason to fall for it. In summary, our Luminor has a Bettarini case, a non matching dial and an 8 Giorni inscription. At the start of this review, these terms may not have got your attention. But now that you have become Paneristi, you know why this Panerai PAM 590 is so special. And if I add that in 2014 it is only available in the USA, I create both frustration and expectation. Welcome to the world of Panerai! What does the devils advocate think? A Panerai is recognisable, easily identifiable. This is both its strength and its weakness. The uninitiated will quickly say OK, its a Panerai. But the strength of the brand is in the subtlety of the changes it has made to its models from one year to the next. And this subtlety is sometimes too subtle! You need time to appreciate the difference in colour of the hour markers, the orange of some numerals compared with the sandy yellow of others. Or the shape of a hand that recalls a particular model of 1942, compared with one from 1943! And there are numerous other examples. A Panerai, therefore, is not just a watch. It is an object that you have to get to know, and that takes time. It will help you to get to grips with a phrase that angers any enlightened fan: they are all the same!. What image does the wearer of this Panerai project? A Panerai is a tool watch, an instrument for work invented to serve a particular purpose. It was born to be functional and effective, not to please. And that is precisely why it does please! If the wearer of this PAM 590 is able to explain the distinguishing features of this model compared with another Luminor, he will already have come a long way and will be considered an expert rather than someone who has simply given in to a particular fashion. Another point that is specific to Panerai watches: their ability to accept all kinds of leather straps. The Luminor is particularly versatile in this regard and has helped to build up a strap culture that is specific to the brand. So if you really want to show that you are an aficionado, nothing could be simpler: forget about the strap supplied with the Panerai 590. Its not that its ugly in any way, just that you should not keep it! Thats the way it is. Choose a 74 instead, which will suit it very well. You dont know what a 74 is? Then you still have some ground to cover in your Paneristi education! Its up to you to find the answer Housing Minister Simon Coveney has hit back at critics who labelled him as "boring" by having a go at Donald Trump, saying: "The US voted for someone with the X-factor, look how that's turning out." Mr Coveney also had a dig at UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson. "Britain decided to vote for Boris Johnson. Do you think Boris Johnson would make a good Prime Minister in the UK? I dont think so," he said on RTE's Prime Time. In an interview on why his party colleagues should vote for him to be the next Fine Gael leader, Coveney said he "wants to change the country". Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar and the Housing Minister are the two frontrunners to replace Enda Kenny as party leader following his resignation on Wednesday. Twelve TDs, including junior minister Helen McEntee, all formally declared their support for Varadkar today. "None of the names who have declared for Leo are a surprise for our team, so we are quite relaxed about that. We still have to take it to the 20,000 members and the 232 councillors that combined have 35pc of the say here. This is a two-week process and we think at the end of that process I look very good," he said. When asked about his wealthy background and how that would affect his "appeal" factor, Coveney said he would make "no apologies" about where he came from. "I am who I am, I am someobdy who has been very lucky, very privileged in life. When I grew up, I never wanted for anything. "I had almost the perfect parents but I also was brought up in a very competitive household and when you get everything that life can give you at an early age, well I believe there is a responsibility that comes with that." Among the twelve TDs who declared for Varadkar today were Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe. Earlier this evening, Fine Gael revealed the battlegrounds of the leadership contest between Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney. Dublin, Carlow town, Ballinasloe in Co Galway and Cork will be the locations for the hustings face-offs between the two contenders. Fine Gaels National Executive met this evening to finalise the logistics and ground rules for the leadership contest. The head-to-head debates begin next Thursday, May 25 in the Red Cow Hotel Dublin, Mr Varadkars home city, before concluding with another event in Mr Coveneys native Cork on Monday May 28 held in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs, Cork. In between will be two other hustings events in the Barrow Centre at IT Carlow town on the Friday and in the Shearwater Hotel Ballinasloe the following night. The debates will be streamed live on Fine Gaels Facebook page. A four-member ethics committee will be empowered by the executive to act as a referee during the leadership contest to ensure that all campaigns comply with the partys code of conduct, which candidates will be required to sign up to. It is understood that Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran and chairman Martin Heydon TD are two of the members of the committee. Under the partys electoral college system, TDs and senators are apportioned a 65pc weighting in the vote, councillors have 10pc and rank-and-file members have 25pc. Voting for the partys councillors and almost 21,000 broader membership will take place from Monday, May 29, to Thursday, June 1, at 26 polling places around the country. TDs and senators will vote on Friday, June 2. All votes will be brought to a National Count Centre in Dublin on Friday, 2nd June, where they will be will be verified and counted under the supervision of the National Returning Officer, Gerry OConnell. Independent.ie understands that the goal is for the votes to be counted and the new leader to be announced in time for 6pm news bulletins that day. Nominations to become a candidate close at 5pm this Saturday, though its unlikely anyone else will join Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney in the race. Advantage Leo. There's still a long way to go and leadership contests are hugely unpredictable affairs, but right now Leo Varadkar seems to have a slight edge over Simon Coveney in the race to succeed Enda Kenny. With many TDs and senators keeping their cards close to their chests though, nobody knows for sure. Some party figures estimate the Social Protection Minister might currently be five, and even as high as 10, votes ahead among the 73-strong parliamentary party. But the Coveney camp dismiss this and insist both sides are in the low 30s, with up to 10 PP members still left to declare or make their minds up. How those undeclared choose will be crucial. There may be an electoral college but, with 65% of the vote, the parliamentary party is the constituency that matters. Each PP member's vote is worth 20 times an individual councillor's vote and more than 700 times that of each ordinary Fine Gael member. Read More Unlike Fianna Fail, Fine Gael also remains very much a top down organisation - a lot of the membership will be guided by what way the ministers and TDs in their constituencies vote. And, for reasons of career advancement, those ministers and TDs will in turn be keen to be on the winning side when the new leader emerges on June 2. So making a good start is crucial. As of now, Mr Varadkar seems to have the momentum, thanks in no small measure to the way he has worked the party circuit. "Leo has been preparing for this for the past two years - travelling the country, addressing events, meeting people - Simon for the past two months," was the verdict of one parliamentary party member last night. A few months ago, the belief was that Mr Varadkar would struggle to gain support among the Cabinet. But it hasn't turned out that way. Paschal Donohoe, Mary Mitchell O'Connor and Heather Humphreys are all seen as being in camp Leo. Donohoe and Humphreys carry big influence in the party. Mr Coveney will have the highly regarded Simon Harris, and for geographical reasons Michael Creed should also be with him. Neither the Taoiseach nor Finance Minister Michael Noonan will declare for either candidate but most expect them both to vote for the Housing Minister. All eyes will be on Richard Bruton. He clearly would love to run himself and should get the required eight signatures to secure a nomination. But while Mr Bruton has been taking soundings in recent days, he's not expected to be a candidate. Given the obvious strengths and appeal of both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney there appears to be little appetite in the party for a 'compromise candidate' emerging between the two of them. Both would obviously love to have Mr Bruton's endorsement. The Coveney and Bruton families are Fine Gael bluebloods which points to the Education Minister backing Mr Coveney, but don't rule out the Dublin factor coming into play for Mr Varadkar. However, while a Bruton declaration for either candidate would be significant, it would not be a game changer. He will not be a king maker and neither will Frances Fitzgerald nor Charlie Flanagan, who have yet to show their hands. Neither vote can be guaranteed for Mr Coveney. The reality is that there will be 73 king makers. Mr Varadkar's camp believes it can win 40-plus votes from the parliamentary party, though not surprisingly Mr Coveney's people dispute it. They believe it'll be more evenly split. They need to be right. Forty votes in the PP equates to a lead of six percentage points in the overall vote. If Mr Varadkar was to get that number, Mr Coveney would need the votes of councillors and ordinary members to break 60-40 his way. A huge ask. Anything can happen in the run-up to June 2, but right now the bookies odds of 2-1 on for Mr Varadkar, versus 6-4 for Mr Coveney, look about right. Shane Coleman presents Newstalk Breakfast weekdays at 7am. SOCIAL Protection Minister Leo Varadkar is expected to be supported by at least five Cabinet ministers, including Paschal Donohoe, in his bid to become the next leader of Fine Gael. Last night Arts and Rural Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys declared that she was backing her Mr Varadkar to take over as leader of the party. Speaking on the RTE Six One news Ms Humphreys said: "He's decisive, he's courageous, he's hard working he has all the skills that I believe are necessary not alone to lead the Fine Gael party but also to lead the country." Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor also pledged her support for Varadkar. She said his leadership would be "energetic and inspiring". She described the Dublin West TD as someone with "the capacity to make bold decisions and the political courage to tell people what they need, not necessarily just they want to hear". "He is man of integrity, of ability, of passion and of steel. He is a man who is guided by strong principles. That work should be rewarded, that opportunity should be equal and that big ideas are required to deal with big problems. Expand Close TDs declaring their support for Leo Varadkar at Leinster House. Picture: Niall O'Connor / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp TDs declaring their support for Leo Varadkar at Leinster House. Picture: Niall O'Connor "He is right person to lead this party, and more importantly, this country," she said. Ms Mitchell OConnors constituency colleague Maria Bailey is backing Simon Coveney. Read More Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe have declare their support for Leo while Education Minister Richard Bruton has also thrown his political weight behind his fellow Dublin minister. Speaking outside the Department of Education in Dublin, Mr Bruton admitted that he carefully considered throwing his own hat in the ring for the leadership. But he said believes Mr Varadkar and Housing Minister Simon Coveney are best placed to succeed Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael. Mr Flanagan, the foreign affairs minister, has also pledged his support to Mr Varadkar, saying he "undoubtedly reflects a changing Ireland, a diverse Ireland". Speaking to RTE's Morning Ireland, Mr Flanagan said that Mr Varadkar is "courageous, dynamic and hard-working". "I believe he has all the qualities to make a very good leader. We're fortunate to have two candidates of superior quality. "Simon Coveney has been a great minister and he will continue to be, but I'm opting for Leo Varadkar." Mr Flanagan said that Mr Varadkar is a "straight talker" who has the "capacity to reach out". Read More On Thursday afternoon a spokesman for Leo Vardkar's campaign confirmed names of 12 sitting TDs who are backing his campaign including junior Ministers Sean Kyne, Helen McEntee, Eoghan Murphy and Joe McHugh. Other TDs listed are Colm Brophy, Peter Burke, Ciaran Cannon, Michael DArcy, Pat Deering, Brendan Griffin, Josepha Madigan, Noel Rock, Alan Farrell, Jim Daly and John Paul Phelan. Helen McEntee said: "Leo Varadkar is the person to lead Fine Gael. He has the experience, determination and courage to lead our party. Look at the fresh new approach he has taken to politics, look at how he interacts with people, look at his vision for a more forward-thinking and open Ireland. This country needs a leader for the 21st century and Leo is that person." Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor has now also publicly backed Leo Varadkar in the Fine Gael leadership race. The Dun Laoghaire TD said this afternoon that she believes Mr Varadkar is the person to deal with the challenges facing the country. She said his leadership would be "energetic and inspiring". The other ministers are expected to announce their intentions either later today or tomorrow. Housing Minister Simon Coveney has so far received the backing of Health Minister Simon Harris. Tanaiste and Justice Frances Fitzgerald announced she would not be running but has so far not revealed who she will be supporting. I have been touched by the encouragement and support I have received, she said. Ms Fitzgerald issued a statement saying she looks forward to the campaign and the bright future ahead for Fine Gael. She did not indicate who she would be supporting. Varadkar campaign sources said it was unclear how Agriculture Minister Michael Creed will vote. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Finance Minister Michael Noonan are not expected to reveal who they will vote for. Around 15 backbench TDs and junior ministers are shortly expected to announce they are backing Mr Varadkar. Mr Coveney launched his bid for the Fine Gael leadership today with declarations from ministers Simon Harris, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Damien English and David Stanton. His message will be built around strong, positive government with big ideas. As far as Im concerned Im fighting for the soul of this party, he said. Mr Coveney said he believes the new leader should not just manage an economy but also focus on making peoples lives better. He said his manifesto will be an attempt to re-balance this country away from the dominance of Dublin so that rural people and rural parishes can believe in their futures again. Asked whether he has the X Factor, Mr Coveney said: That depends on what you describe as the X Factor. For me its about honest, strong, deliver. I dont think that a family living in a hotel room this evening is looking for a Taoiseach with X Factor. They are looking for a Taoiseach wholl solve their problems. Earlier, various TDs and Senators told Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio 1 who they were backing in the race for the next leader of Fine Gael. Fine Gael's Deputy Leader, James Reilly is supporting Simon Coveney and has submitted his resignation to the parliamentary party. "I believe he has the temperament, a hardworking ethos, a sense of collegiality, not afraid to take on the hard issues of housing and Irish water," he said. "He's an experienced negotiator, he manages to be polite but firm, he doesn't antagonise people. The new leader needs to be able to negotiate with the Independence Alliance and Fianna Fail." Damien English, junior minister at the Dept of Housing, unsurprisingly confirmed that he will support Mr Coveney. Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes told the show that he would be supporting Mr Varadkar for leader, saying he feels he will appeal to a younger generation. "He has grown into a politician of some standing in recent years since his election and, I think, more than anything else he really appeals to a diverse Ireland; and Ireland that is rapidly changing and I think at him at the helm he will do very well," he said. It's early days in the contest but other prominent TDs to have made their allegiance known include Galway East TD from FG, Ciaran Cannon, Alan Farrell from Dublin Fingal and Pat Deering from Carlow-Kilkenny who said they will be backing Mr Varadkar. Among those supporting Mr Coveney are Maria Bailey, TD for Dun Laoghaire and Kate OConnell from Dublin Bay South. A number of Senators have come out this lunchtime to say they will support Mr Varadkar. They are: Sen. Paddy Burke, Sen. Ray Butler, Sen. Maria Byrne, Sen. Martin Conway, Sen. Frank Feighan, Sen. Maura Hopkins, Sen. Michelle Mulherin, Sen. Catherine Noone and Sen. Neale Richmond. Fine Gael to open polling station in Brussels as voting preparation underway FINE Gael will install polling booths in every constituency in the country, as well as in Brussels, to allow members to vote in the upcoming leadership contest. Its understood the hustings - which allow candidates to make their pitches to Fine Gael members - will run over the course of days. Voting for members will be held from Monday May 29 - Thursday June 1 with the ballot stations open from 6pm-10pm. Fine Gael members of the parliamentary party will attend a special meeting on Friday June 2, during which they will cast their votes. The parliamentary makes up 65pc of the vote, followed by the wider membership (25pc) and councillors (10pc). The count itself will take place in Dublin. Fine Gael is to put in place an ethics committee to oversee the election process. There will be at least one polling booth in every constituency outside of Dublin, with two being opened in the capital - one northside and one southside. Two in Dublin: one northside and one southside There will also be a polling station in brussels, with many Fine Gael members living and working in the EU Parliament. Mike Nesbitt on the floor of the Stormont Hotel. Photo: Sunday Life Her politician husband has found himself in controversy over a photo which showed him face down on the ground in a hotel foyer. But former broadcaster Lynda Bryans seems more concerned with headlines on the British Labour Party's election manifesto. Former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said a photo taken of him sprawled across a hotel foyer, seemingly after a punch, was "only a bit of fun" . The picture showed Mr Nesbitt lying face down in the lobby of the Stormont Hotel with Marie Hyland, a women in her 70s from west Belfast, standing over him. Ms Hyland, who is the grandmother of boxer Paul Hyland, has said media reaction to the photo has caused her upset. She said it was a joke that's been blown out of proportion. Expand Close Former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt with his wife Lynda Bryans. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt with his wife Lynda Bryans. Photo: PA While the picture has been doing the rounds since it was first published last week, Mr Nesbitt's wife, media expert Ms Bryans, has remained silent. Instead she has been focusing on matters on the other side of the Irish Sea. The former UTV presenter, a current lecturer in journalism in Belfast Metropolitan College, yesterday retweeted a post praising the headline on an article by financial magazine The Economist. "Old McDonnell has a plan. He eyes IOUs," it said. The humorously headlined piece was about the British Labour Party's manifesto and the ideas of its leader Jeremy Corbyn and his shadow chancellor John McDonnell. When contacted by the Irish Independent yesterday, Ms Bryans (55) declined to comment about the photo of her husband, with whom she has two children. "I'm sorry I can't say anything, I'm not permitted to," she said, when asked if she had a view on the image which was apparently the result of a jovial meeting between Ms Hyland and Mr Nesbitt. Earlier this week, Mr Nesbitt broke his silence on the photograph. He said while he was reluctant to make a statement about an incident in which "nothing untoward" took place, the son of a wedding guest at the hotel on the night had contacted him to say his mother was distressed after being contacted by the media. "Her son tells me she confirmed to the journalist all that happened was just a bit of fun, banter and play-acting. He then asked me if I would make a public statement to that effect. "For that reason, and that reason only, I wish to clarify that my engagement with the wedding party was only a bit of fun, and has been blown totally out of context by the publication of the photograph," he said. Brook Beach in Portrane was detected as having water quality which has deteriorated to below acceptable levels for swimming Picture: Caroline Quinn Six beaches have failed to meet minimum mandatory health standards for swimming, a new report has revealed. Most beaches in Ireland have "excellent" water quality for swimming, but the Environmental Protection Agency report lists six places that have been classified as "poor", where local councils must advise the public not to swim at those locations. Brook Beach in Portrane, Co Dublin, and Clifden and Tra na bhForbacha beaches in Co Galway were detected in 2016 as having water quality which has deteriorated to below acceptable levels for swimming. Poor They join three other beaches than have remained on a "poor" quality list since the previous year - Merrion Strand in Dublin Bay, Loughshinny in north Co Dublin, and Ballyloughane in Co Galway. Some 93pc of bathing waters around Ireland met minimum EU health standards for swimming. Almost three-quarters of all identified bathing waters (102 of 140) were classed as "excellent" - one more than 2015. A further 18 were classed as "good", which was five more than in 2015. The assessment of water quality for 2016 was undertaken using data covering the 2013-2016 bathing seasons. Cllr Paul Mulville, an independent member of Fingal County Council whose home is beside the beach in Portrane, said: "We're very disappointed, because Portrane is a popular place for visitors in the summer. "Portrane has two main caravan parks and a number of smaller caravan sites. We had a blue flag at the beach for years. But the regulations have got tougher now. We want our blue flag back." He said the council has a notice advising people not to swim at the beach, but the quality is not so bad that it has issued an outright swimming ban. "The council has a plan to improve the water quality, and we will be looking at a number of factors to make the improvements," he said. Protection Speaking about the nationwide beach study, Dr Matt Crowe, director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Evidence and Assessment, said: "All bathers are entitled to feel that they and their loved ones are safe from harm from the water they swim in when they spend a day at the beach. "More needs to be done to provide a greater level of protection for bathers at beaches and other bathing areas vulnerable to pollution. "It is simply unacceptable to have popular bathing areas classified as being of poor quality." Bathing waters are evaluated using a four-year assessment period. Local councils, in conjunction with Irish Water, have plans in place to tackle the main pollution risks at the six beaches that failed the tests. Current information about bathing water quality is available from June to September on the national bathing water website, splash.epa.ie. A Twitter notification service, @EPABathingWater, is also available to provide incident alerts and information of interest to bathers. A suspect in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl was identified after his DNA was taken when he was arrested for a traffic offence. The breakthrough in the case was revealed in a report by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI), which detailed several examples of how the DNA database introduced 18 months ago is helping solve crimes. The girl went missing in November 2014 while socialising with friends. She underwent a medical examination after she was found and traces of semen were discovered. The DNA profile from the semen was unknown at the time. But it was entered into the DNA database when it became operational in November 2015, and three months later investigators got a match after a swab was taken from a man who had been detained for a traffic offence. In a separate case, gardai were able to identify a suspect in the armed burglary of the home of an 80-year-old in June of last year after a blue latex glove was left at the scene. Gardai had no suspect for the burglary until a DNA sample taken from the glove was matched with a sample given by a man who was arrested two months earlier for a public order offence. Expand Close Swab team: A technician at Forensic Science Ireland examines a crime scene sample; and inset, Dr Geraldine O'Donnell, director of DNA at FSI. Photo: Kyran O'Brien / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Swab team: A technician at Forensic Science Ireland examines a crime scene sample; and inset, Dr Geraldine O'Donnell, director of DNA at FSI. Photo: Kyran O'Brien Read More Details of the cases were revealed in FSI's annual report for 2016. It said one out of every five crime scene samples taken had been linked to an individual since the DNA database became operational. FSI said it achieved 428 hits in 2016, which helped in the investigation of 625 cases. These matches led to 385 people being linked to specific offences. Some 77 of the matches related to multiple crimes. The cases included two murders, five sexual assaults, 295 burglaries, 42 robberies and thefts and 57 cases of criminal damage. "The database is proving itself to be a very valuable tool," said FSI director Sheila Willis. Some 9,048 DNA profiles were uploaded on to the database by the end of 2016. Profiles are currently being uploaded at a rate of almost 1,000 a month. The report said DNA profiling played an extensive role in helping investigations into gangland crime in the second half of last year. FSI has been deeply involved in the investigation of murders in the Kinahan-Hutch feud gangland feud. The work has included taking DNA and firearms residue from weapons and clothing. Dr Willis said forensic scientists were also seeing many new synthetic drugs emerging on to the Irish drugs scene. Some 27 new synthetic recreational drugs were encountered last year. In some cases the drugs were 100 times more toxic than similar drugs. The report outlined difficulties encountered by scientists in identifying certain types of synthetic drugs. One particular case involved a house party in Cork after which 18-year-old Alex Ryan died. Gardai arrived at the house to find a number of young people heavily intoxicated, partially clothed and dancing on broken glass. Initial reports indicated partygoers had consumed a designer drug called 2CB. However, FSI identified the drug as N-Bomb, a highly toxic hallucinogenic rarely seen in Ireland. As the partygoers thought they were taking a different drug, they ended up taking a hundred times the normal dose. The office of Egypts prosecutor-general announced said it has handed over the files and records - requested in March by Italian prosecutors - of the investigation into the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016 to Romes assistant public prosecutor. Romes assistant public prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco had arrived in Cairo Tuesday on a two-day visit with a delegation of Italian officials to hold talks with Egyptian counterparts about the latest developments in the Regini murder investigation. The Egyptian and Italian prosecutions issued a joint statement on Wednesday saying that the two sides conducted a thorough evaluation of all pending questions in the investigation and exchanged information during their meeting. Egyptian and Italian reaffirmed at the end of the meeting their absolute determination to continue their cooperation to find those responsible for abducting, torturing and killing Regini, the statement read. Egyptian prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek told the Italian delegation that before the end of May Egypt will hand over footage from security cameras at Cairo metro stations after data recorded by cameras is retrieved, according to the statement. Regeni, who was a PhD student at Cambridge University, had been in Cairo conducting research on independent trade unions for several weeks before he went missing on 25 January 2016. His body was found on 3 February 2016 on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo, bearing signs of torture. Egypt has been conducting an investigation into Regini's murder since his death. This is the sixth meeting between Egyptian and Italian officials on the Regeni investigation. The last meeting between the officials took place in December 2016 when Sadek visited Rome to discuss updates in the investigation. Search Keywords: Short link: Pictured sampling spices at the Youghal ClockGate Tower are US journalists Jessica Benavides Canepa, New York and Leslie Patrick Moore, California. Picture: John Sheehan Photography. US writers Karen Loftus, The New York Daily News; Margo Bigg (freelance including National Geographic) and Larry Bleiberg (USA Today) at Newgrange with Failte Ireland. Photo: Pat Moore. National Geographic Traveler readers are wild about Ireland," says George Stone, Editor-in-Chief of the US travel bible. "They look to Ireland as a place of natural beauty, cultural depth, personal warmth, heritage, and the sort of awe that comes from feeling at home far away." Stone is one of a select group of super-influential travel media attending this week's Travel Classics International Writers Conference in Kilkenny. Running from May 18-21 at Lyrath Estate Hotel, the event brings together writers, influencers and editors from publications including National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveler and Harpers Bazaar... household names throughout the US. Landing it is a big win for Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, who teamed up to outbid international competition in hosting the event. The attendees represent publications with a combined circulation of 87 million in North America, it says. After they leave Kilkenny, the writers will be whisked away on a wave of media trips showcasing the Wild Atlantic Way, Irelands Ancient East and Dublin. Expand Close Pictured sampling spices at the Youghal ClockGate Tower are US journalists Jessica Benavides Canepa, New York and Leslie Patrick Moore, California. Picture: John Sheehan Photography. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pictured sampling spices at the Youghal ClockGate Tower are US journalists Jessica Benavides Canepa, New York and Leslie Patrick Moore, California. Picture: John Sheehan Photography. Ireland, with its friendly people and stunning landscapes, will provide fantastic copy for the travelling writers," said Paul Kelly, CEO of Failte Ireland. "The story almost writes itself." Ireland attracted record North American visitor numbers last year, a figure it aims to grow by six per cent in 2017, says Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. International media coverage plays a big role in inspiring visitors, with media regularly invited to hosted press trips all over the island. It's rare for so many high-profile editors and writers to land at once, however. "I do think it's a coup," Stone told Independent.ie Travel. "The Conference comes at a fascinating time in travel writing and travel content production, because there are more distribution platforms than ever before" - a theme the National Geographic editor will address in his keynote presentation. "But that just makes the quality of the storytelling, the ideas and what the travel writer brings even more important... Consumers are getting to the point of being saturated with junk, and really longing to have well crafted, meaningful stories across all platforms." Creatively engaging visitors For North American visitors in particular, Stone says Ireland offers the "optimal geographical location; in that it's accessible yet rewarding." Irish heritage, and the fact that English is spoken, he also sees as advantages over other destinations. In the future, he suggests that sustaining the growth and interest of North American visitors will need ever more initiatives and experiences that creatively engage the visitor, as opposed to "passive tourism" based on traditional sight-seeing. In a world with such a clatter of messages, technologies and platforms, personal connections are more important than ever, Stone believes. His own Irish connections include an Irish step-grandmother, Lorraine Edna O'Brien, and a grandmother-in-law from the Irish Quarter in New Orleans. "It's a very palpable and enriching experience when you land," he says. "You feel part of it." It's not all one-way, of course. Visitors need to engage beyond big hits and traditional itineraries, and travel publications play a huge role in encouraging that. "They can't just show up and get a magical experience.' Read more: Some may take the view that democracy has gone mad, but among the proposals for a parent and student charter to govern the entire family of school relationships is that pupils have a seat on the board of management. The charter is envisaged in legislation currently making its way through the parliamentary system, aimed at putting relationships between schools, students and parents on a new footing, including a requirement for all schools to publish and operate a parent and student charter. The overall goal of the legislation is to embed better communication, accountability and transparency cultures in schools. While the legislation will set a general framework, the fine detail of the charter will be teased out between the Department of Education and representatives groups, such as the national parents' councils, both primary and post-primary, and the Irish Second Level Students' Union. It is through that working party that the proposal that second-level schools should go beyond having a consultative student council and put a pupil on the board will be considered. It provides scope for lively discussion on any such involvement, and how it might work. Unsurprisingly, the proposed legislation has triggered a national conversation: it is the subject of hearings by the Oireachtas Education Committee, it has its watercooler moments in staff rooms, and the National Parents Council-Post Primary (NPC-PP) is currently conducting a survey on its website to gather views of parents to bring to the working party. Paul Beddy and Paul Rolston of the NPC-PP told the Oireachtas committee that parents feel excluded from having an input into the system at second-level and want to be consulted on all aspects of children's education and development. A few years ago, a survey by the National Parents Council-Primary (NPC-P) found that 96pc of parents listed fundraising as an activity of their school's parent association, but only 31pc reported any encouragement from the school to become more involved in their child's education. According to the NPC-PP, the majority of queries it receives relate to grievance procedures, with many parents unaware of how to pursue a problem, and fearing reprisal if they do. It says that many parents feel intimidated by the process. Current complaints procedures in schools are not underpinned by legislation and there can be a confusing variation in practice. The charter will change that, but the big goal is a culture that will avoid grievances emerging in the first place and, where they do, to resolve them informally. A parents' seat on boards of management, parent associations and student councils have all been part of the education landscape for years, but the charter will provide unprecedented legislative underpinning to the rights of parents and students. One of the charter's goals is to ensure that all schools have a healthy "listening culture", with feedback from parents and students on issues such as teaching and learning and how money is spent. A subtle, but significant, shift encompassed in the legislation will be a change in focus of the student council from being one of promoting the interests of the school, to promoting the interests of the student. The Ombudsman for Children and the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) agree that the charter should be renamed the Student and Parent Charter. The issuing, recently, of a Department of Education circular setting a requirement for schools to consult with parents on costs such as uniforms and books is an example of the type of engagement envisaged. In the case of uniforms and books, many schools say they already do this. Some will greet the bestowal of additional rights to students and parents with a certain hesitancy, but the philosophy behind the charter is that it will benefit every stakeholder in school communities. Patricia Gordon, principal of Stratford College Rathgar, Dublin, is very open to the charter idea and recently hosted a panel discussion in the school giving various stakeholders an opportunity to air their positions. Stratford has a tradition of open engagement stretching back over 20 years, which has formalised to become an annual meeting between the board of management, student council and parents' association. She says "such engagement has always been a positive. I see no threat from a parent and student charter, more an enhancement of existing relationships, embedding both rights and responsibilities. "In my experience, the more involved students and parents are in school life, the better understanding they have of how much work is involved." But she says that resources, training and a robust set of guidelines will be needed to steer a path. Teacher unions support schools adopting best practice in their dealings with parents and student, but also caution about the need to balance the rights and responsibilities of all parties and are concerned about any "misconceptions" that may be driving changes. They also insist it will have to be backed by resources. When she addressed the Oireachtas committee recently, as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), Joanne Irwin said the TUI disputed the assumption that a large volume of complaints and grievances were not being adequately addressed. She noted that the Ombudsman for Children's office recorded 4,000 complaints about schools in the past 14 years. This, she said, amounted to fewer than 300 complaints per year in the context of 4,000 schools, serving 917,000 students. "Viewed objectively, this constitutes a very low rate of complaint," she said. Moira Leyden, assistant general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers' Ireland (ASTI) describes the legislation as a timely and judicious response to aspects of the education system that are not perceived to be working as well as they might be, but she warns that the cultural change it is seeking cannot, and will not, succeed - unless schools are given adequate resources. Listening to the voice of scholars The pupil voice is clearly heard at Stratford College, Rathgar, Dublin where a vibrant student council is consulted on issues such as the length of classes. It is a two-way process and the council also raises matters of concern to students with the principal. The council, currently made up of 13 members, drawn from all years, meets weekly and, more often, as necessary. Council member Cormac Kelly (17), a fifth year pupil, highlights the role the council has played, and continues to play, in the school's transition from 40 minute to one hour classes, a current trend at second-level schools. "We got feedback to see how students were coping with the change. I think most people believe that one hour classes are more beneficial than 40 minute classes, but we were able to put some ideas about a short break between them, to allow people to get focussed again." Sixth year student Moya Richardson McCrea (18), who chaired the council last year, recalls raising "small things, like access to the microwave at lunchtime, and I was asked to ask if the boys could wear earrings, but there were bigger things as well. "It is nice to know, if you go to Ms Gordon, you will get an answer and, hopefully, a change." She says one of the benefits of being on the council was that it equipped her for public speaking: "I think I was a lot quieter before and now I don't mind doing it." Fifth year pupil Ryan Baker (17) is on the council and also acts as liaison officer between it and Stratford's highly-commended Green Schools' programme, about which he is passionate. "At council meetings, I would suggest something and the rest of group would agree or disagree," he says, and they take it from there. History and CSPE teacher Venita Kenny, who facilitates the weekly meetings, also organises leadership training for members. She describes the council as a "structured opportunity for students to engage with each other and to discuss issues, but also to propose alternatives and to make suggestions for management, for teachers or for each other". Premium What will it take to unite Ireland? Opinions are divided There are those for whom Northern Ireland is a geographical fragment of the UK holding true to empire on its western flanks, and those for whom partition is a century-old wrong that must be overturned. Somewhere in the middle are the persuadables people willing to accept either unity or union, so long as the justification is logical. One way or another, the unity conversation is in the air. Elaine Crowley arriving on the red carpet for the IFTA Gala Television Awards at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel, Dublin. Photo: Michael Chester Elaine Crowley arriving on the red carpet for the IFTA Awards 2017 at the Mansion House, Dublin. Photo: Michael Chester Host: be3's launch was underplayed while Elaine Crowleys chat show got a lot of PR Elaine Crowley at the TV3 New Season AW16 launch at The National Concert Hall, Dublin Elaine Crowley has revealed she is trying to embrace turning 40 later this year - and has posing in the nude down on her bucket list. The TV3 presenter admitted she had a "meltdown" when she turned 30, but she's trying to be more positive about her next milestone birthday. "I'm trying to bucket list as much as I can. I'm 40 in August and there's loads of things I want to do. I'm trying to embrace it," she said. "It's a scary number. It feels like yesterday I was 30 and I had a massive meltdown then. Expand Close Host: be3's launch was underplayed while Elaine Crowleys chat show got a lot of PR / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Host: be3's launch was underplayed while Elaine Crowleys chat show got a lot of PR "I want to get a tattoo and a piercing and I want to pose in the nip for a nice tasteful shoot. There's all these things you should be when you're a grown-up. Whatever about being a grown-up when you're 30, you have to be one at 40." Elaine made a promise to a friend that she would brave the pain and get inked. "Emma Hannigan, the author, has cancer. When she's done her chemo, herself and myself are getting tattoos because I promised her I would," she said. "I'm possibly going to get a tattoo of a unicorn or an elephant. Expand Close Elaine Crowley / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Elaine Crowley "I want a small one, but it might end up covering half my a*se, like Cheryl's." The Cork native competed on Celebrity Operation Transformation last year and lost an impressive 22 pounds. Video of the Day She has since kept up her fitness regime and attended a military-style bootcamp in the UK with former Army members who had trained Prince William and Prince Harry. "I went to No.1 Bootcamp to clear my head. It was pretty tough," said Elaine. Expand Close Elaine Crowley arriving on the red carpet for the IFTA Awards 2017 at the Mansion House, Dublin. Photo: Michael Chester / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Elaine Crowley arriving on the red carpet for the IFTA Awards 2017 at the Mansion House, Dublin. Photo: Michael Chester "You're getting up at six in the morning to exercise and you finish at six o'clock in the evening. "Being able to exercise and get away from the day-to-day stresses of life is a good thing." However, Elaine has sworn against the weighing scales, preferring to go by how well her clothes fit. "I'm trying to stick to it. I'd like to be a bit fit. When I feel unhealthy is when I get fed up with everything," she said. "I don't weigh myself," she told the Diary. The TV host is busier than ever since her self-titled chat show replaced Midday this year after a major shake-up to the station's schedule. Serving as both producer and presenter has meant her hands are full, but another of Elaine's birthday wishes is to learn to take a breather. "It's all melted into one. Nobody has just one job any more with the way the media industry has gone," she said. "I do love it. Sometimes it would be nice to kick back. I'm trying to be less of a control freak." Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney attend the "Money Monster" premiere during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 12, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Clemens Bilan/Getty Images) George and Amal Clooney, coming to Ireland for holidays - and a bit of legal work George and Amal Clooney attend the Netflix special screening and reception of The White Helmets hosted by The Clooney Foundation For Justice with George and Amal Clooney, at the Bvlgari Hotel on January 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix ) US actor George Clooney (L) and his wife British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Clooney pose as they arrive for the 42nd edition of the Cesar Ceremony at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on February 24, 2017. / AFP / bertrand GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images) George Clooney and Amal Clooney attend the Cesar Film Awards 2017 ceremony at Salle Pleyel on February 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images ) George and Amal Clooney are busy nesting in the English countryside as they prepare for the arrival of their twins next month. The Oscar-winning actor (56) and human rights lawyer (39) are settling in Amal's native England, at their 12m Sonning mansion, to be closer to her family. It's reported the Gravity star is "nervous in an excited, good way" waiting for the twins' arrival, which may be earlier than the June due date,according to Us Weekly. "George is staying put in London until Amal gives birth. Theyll figure out their schedules after that. For now, theyre just hunkering down." Expand Close George and Amal Clooney attend the Netflix special screening and reception of The White Helmets hosted by The Clooney Foundation For Justice with George and Amal Clooney, at the Bvlgari Hotel on January 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix ) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp George and Amal Clooney attend the Netflix special screening and reception of The White Helmets hosted by The Clooney Foundation For Justice with George and Amal Clooney, at the Bvlgari Hotel on January 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix ) The couple, who wed in Venice in 2014, have been busy renovating their Oxfordshire home in recent months, but have reportedly avoided decorating their nursery. And while George revealed in February that they would be avoiding conflict zones like South Sudan or Iraq when they become parents, Amal will continue her work - which includes representing Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad in a case against Isis - when she returns from maternity leave. "She plans to be back at work around six months after giving birth, but her schedule will be greatly different than before - a lot of time spent working at home. She has a great office setup at the Sonning house," the insider added. The couple currently have homes in Lake Como, Italy, Los Angeles and the UK, but said they would need to settle down in one place when it came time to their children attending school. Expand Close George Clooney and Amal Clooney Photo: Getty / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp George Clooney and Amal Clooney Photo: Getty "We have the chance to live between three countries: Italy, America and England. But as soon as the children go to school, itll be necessary to choose where to settle. In the meantime, we will continue to move according to our respective schedules," George told Paris Match magazine. "People think we are never together, but we have not been separated for more than a week." Video of the Day The late best-selling author Jackie Collins poses with her fiancee Frank Calcagini at her Beverly Hills home March 21, 1998. (Photo by Paul Harris/Online USA) Actress Joan Collins (right) and writer Jackie Collins arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California, in this February 22, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok/Files Author Jackie Collins in the entrance foyer of her Beverly Hills home, which she says she designed herself. (Photo by Iris Schneider/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) An auction of Jackie Collinss estate fetched nearly 3 million, with her huge diamond ring being sold for over 170,000. The late British writers champagne-coloured 2002 Jaguar XKR with the personalised number plate LUCKY77, in a tribute to her character Lucky Santiago, was bought for over 39,000. The six-carat diamond and platinum ring was among her jewellery collection which amassed more than 1.8m on Wednesday at the auction of the contents of her Beverly Hills home. Collins, who sold more than 500 million novels in more than 40 countries, died from breast cancer aged 77 in 2015. After the auction closed, daughters Tracy, Tiffany and Rory said in a statement: Our mother would have been delighted that her much-cherished collections of art, antiques and jewellery have found new homes and that her legacy lives on all around the world. Collinss diamond and 14-carat gold collar fetched 58,000 while one of her paintings by British artist Beryl Cook sold for 25,000. Expand Close Actress Joan Collins (right) and writer Jackie Collins arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California, in this February 22, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok/Files / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actress Joan Collins (right) and writer Jackie Collins arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California, in this February 22, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok/Files Furniture, statues and desks where she wrote her novels were also sold to the highest bidders during the two-day sale. None of the tourists were critically injured Sixteen Ukrainian tourists have been injured after their bus tipped over in western Turkey. The Mugla governor's office said the bus was travelling from the popular tourist destination of Bodrum to Denizli province when it skidded on a rainy road and tipped over. The group's Turkish guide was also injured. The governor's office said there were no critical injuries and all are receiving medical treatment in Mugla. Footage from the private Dogan news agency showed a white overturned bus on a winding road. Earlier, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported 10 Russian tourists had been hurt in the accident. Another bus accident on Saturday killed 24 Turkish citizens when a bus flipped over on a bend in Mugla. Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain still has confidence in its intelligence-sharing relationship with the US despite reports that President Donald Trump shared sensitive information with Russia. Fears over the safety of spies and informants have led to questions about allies passing intelligence to the US after the 'Washington Post' reported that Mr Trump had revealed highly classified information from a US intelligence partner about an Isil plot. "We continue to share intelligence with the US," Mrs May told reporters in London yesterday. "We continue to work together and we have confidence in that relationship between us and the US." Mrs May, who is campaigning for Britain's general election on June 8, has been criticized for her relationship with Mr Trump. She was the first foreign leader to meet him in the White House following his inauguration in January. Yesterday, she refused to comment on the details of allegations against the president. Important "Decisions about what President Trump discusses with anybody in the White House is a matter for President Trump," Mrs May said. "We have a very special relationship with the United States of America, this is the most important defence and security relationship we have around the world." While White House National Security Adviser HR McMaster dismissed the "premise" of the 'Washington Post' article as "false", the president himself said on Twitter that he "wanted to share with Russia...which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining...to terrorism and airline flight safety" because he wants Russia to "greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism." The president and Mrs May were photographed holding hands during her visit to the US and Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, has accused her of seeking to "build a coalition of risk and insecurity with Donald Trump". He pledged "no more hand-holding" with the president if he wins on June 8. "Britain deserves better than simply outsourcing our country's security and prosperity to the whims of the Trump White House," Corbyn said in a speech on May 12. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said in an interview with national newspapers editors that talk of whether he would run for another term as president is premature and affirmed Egypt's strong ties with its long-time allies Saudi Arabia and the US. The president made his remarks during an interview with the editors-in-chief of the countrys state-owned papers. "Let's leave the matter to its time," El-Sisi said in the second part of the interview, published in Al-Ahram Daily on Thursday. On Egypt's regional and international ties, El-Sisi said that cooperation with Saudi Arabia is currently "at its highest," point. The president is set to take part in an upcoming summit in Riyadh between US President Donald Trump and heads of state from across Muslim-majority nations. El-Sisi reiterated his praise for Trump, with whom he has demonstrated some rapport. "I have great trust in President Trump, his abilities and promisehe's a very unique and great person." Trump and El-Sisi have exchanged phone calls in the past months, often vowing support and trading praise. El-Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump on his election victory. In response to a question about efforts to revive long-stalled negotiations between Palestine and Israel, El-Sisi said Trump is the "decisive player" in the matter. "I believe he does not take time in resolving mattershe's a capable person who doesn't work like others," El-Sisi said. Among the key areas of common interest between Cairo and Washington is Egypt's battle against an Islamist insurgency centred in the North Sinai, which has killed hundreds of police and military personnel in roadside bombings and insurgent attacks in recent years. Egyptian authorities frequently announce successful raids to kill and capture Islamists in North Sinai and elsewhere in the country. The president said the country's counter-terrorism situation "has significantly improved." El-Sisi said the government is drawing up a law to create a supreme council to combat terrorism and extremism. The president announced this initiative in April following two deadly bombings on churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria. The president said that the cabinet is currently holding meetings to discuss its formation, responsibilities, strategy and the legislation to regulate it. The presidency has said that the council would comprise government officials supported by committees of public figures and experts in various fields. In the interview, El-Sisi also reaffirmed Egypt's strong ties with Sudan and Ethiopia. Search Keywords: Short link: The degree to which Republicans have continued to ignore or excuse US President Donald Trump's reckless behaviour, which now can be seen as endangering national security, has not surprised politics-watchers. If Republicans were willing to tolerate his call for Russian hacking, his defence of vile dictators, his abuse of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the 'Access Hollywood' tape, his assaults on the intelligence community, his (thankfully) inept attempts to ram through a Muslim ban, his attacks on judges, his hiring as national security adviser of Michael Flynn without vetting him, and his firing of the FBI director, why should blurting out secrets reportedly entrusted to the US by Israel to Russian officials move them over the edge? Then came the news that former FBI director James Comey had documentation of his meeting with Mr Trump, in which Mr Trump asked him to step back from the investigation of Mr Flynn. ("I hope you can let this go,'' Mr Trump said.) That shook loose Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who told the press: "I've asked Comey to come before the Judiciary Committee to tell his side of the story. I think it would be good for him if he did. It would be good for the country." Even Republican House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, who has been less than enthusiastic in pursuing potential wrongdoing in this administration, shot off a letter to the FBI demanding all Mr Comey memos documenting conversations with the president. Might the presentation of a credible witness with contemporaneous notes break the logjam? We can only hope. Until now, there have been few exceptions to the rule of partisan loyalty. We did see freshman Representative Mike Gallagher, who has been tweeting up a storm, calling for a full investigation of Mr Comey's firing and now the scandal reportedly involving Israeli intelligence given to Russia. "Our allies and partners must have the utmost confidence that sensitive information they share with us will not be disclosed," he tweeted. He continued: "Regardless of what was shared in the meeting, it's dangerous to believe that Russia can be a reliable counterterrorism partner." Last week he told a local TV interviewer: "I think the timing of the firing is indeed suspicious. It does raise a lot of questions and I think, like most American and most Wisconsinites, I just want the truth." Really, if a freshman can refuse to spin for the White House, why can't lawmakers with years of seniority in no danger of losing their seats? There was also Representative Barbara Comstock, who voted against the dog's-breakfast health-care bill, who put out a statement when Mr Comey was fired, which read in part: "I can't defend or explain tonight's actions or timing of the firing of FBI director James Comey. The FBI investigation into the Russian impact on the 2016 election must continue. There must be an independent investigation that the American people can trust." On the Russia debacle she said: "Once again we are faced with inexplicable stories coming from the White House that are highly troubling. We need to have immediate classified briefings on what occurred at this meeting so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders and know the impact on our national security, our allies, and our men and women protecting our country." Oh, she's just trying to save her swing seat, you say? What is the excuse, then, for silence from safe members? Late on Monday, before news of the Comey memo surfaced, Senator John McCain weighed in as well. "The reports that the president shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials are deeply disturbing. Reports that this information was provided by a US ally and shared without its knowledge send a troubling signal to America's allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingness to share intelligence with us in the future. I continue to believe that we need a select congressional committee to fully investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Sanctions - not intelligence-sharing - should be our course of action." Then, in a telling sign the temperature was going up, he said at a GOP dinner on Tuesday night that the Mr Trump situation has reached "Watergate size and scale". Whether Mr Comey's documentation proves to be the tipping point for Republicans is unclear. The 'Washington Post' reports that Mr Comey's memo and Mr Trump's disclosure of classified information to the Russians are "forcing a change in everyone's calculations". Republicans will begin to realise that their agenda is going nowhere and that their political survival depends on Mr Trump's political demise. Now, we've seen the Republicans fall into line behind Mr Trump too many times to expect swift, definitive action. But more Republicans, I suspect, will figure out that they have a better chance of political survival if they follow Graham, Gallagher, Comstock and McCain (and belatedly, Chaffetz). They might consider that it was the GOP leaders who went to tell Richard Nixon in 1974 that the jig was up, not the dead-enders, who went down in history as patriots. ( Washington Post syndication) When US President Donald Trump claimed no politician had been treated worse or more unfairly than him, there were probably a fair few historians tearing their hair out. Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, said Trump at a speech to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down, he continued. You cant let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. Well, historian and TV presenter Dan Snow was one of those experts baffled by the US presidents claims, so he took to Twitter to set a few things straight. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Trump has endured a difficult time since entering office, facing protests, opposition to healthcare plans, and an inquiry into campaign ties with Russia. Further to that, Democratic congressman Al Green has called for the impeachment of Trump from the floor of the House. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Even so, Snow gave plenty of examples to show Trump that other leaders had probably had it worse than him. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The examples used by the 38-year-old were particularly grisly. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference And it wasnt just Snow that felt the need to provide some evidence to the contrary of Trumps statement historian, writer and presenter Simon Schama shared a gruesome piece of history as well. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Hopefully nobody was having their breakfast when they read that. Chelsea Manning has posted a new photo of herself, after being freed from a Kansas military prison and a 35-year sentence for leaking classified materials. The transgender soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning took to Twitter and Instagram, posting a portrait photograph of her with short-cropped hair, bright red lipstick and a dark outfit. The 29-year-old Oklahoma native included the caption, Okay, so here I am everyone!! We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Manning was released early Wednesday from confinement at Kansas Fort Leavenworth, after having served seven years behind bars for giving classified materials to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning and her attorneys have refused to divulge her post-prison whereabouts or immediate plans. In an earlier post, she wrote First steps of freedom!! alongside a photograph of her feet. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference She also took to social media to share a photo of her first pizza and toasted to a new beginning. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Hours after being released, Manning said: Im figuring things out right now which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me. I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past. US actress and member of the feature film jury Jessica Chastain and Spanish director and president of the feature film jury Pedro Almodovar pose for photographers ahead of the opening ceremony of the 70th Cannes Film Festival in France. Photo: Loic Venance/AFP The 70th Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday under sunny Cote D'Azur skies and the high-wattage smiles of stars, including Will Smith and Marion Cotillard - but a brewing storm over Netflix's place at the world's most prestigious film festival continued to steal the spotlight. Optimism is high at this year's festival, which features a line-up widely considered to be well-stocked with heavyweight filmmakers, including Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, Michael Haneke and Lynne Ramsay. But controversy has dogged the preamble to Cannes, and its opening day. For the first time, Cannes selected two Netflix releases - Bong Joon-ho's 'Okja' and Noah Baumbach's 'The Meyerowitz Stories' - for its Palme d'Or competition. French theatres, which have strict rules regarding streaming service films, rebelled at the thought of a movie that will not play on the big screen winning the Palme d'Or - the biggest film award next to an Oscar. The festival relented and next year will not accept streaming-only films. Pedro Almodovar, who is presiding over this year's competition jury, said: "I personally do not conceive, not only the Palme d'Or, any other prize being given to a film and not being able to see this film on a big screen." The comment was striking, coming from the head of the jury that will decide the award, potentially meaning that the Joon-ho and Baumbach films are already out of luck. "The size of the screen should not be smaller than the chair you're sitting in. It should not be part of your everyday setting," said the Spanish filmmaker. But Smith, a member of the jury that also includes Jessica Chastain, Paolo Sorrentino and Park Chan-wook, stuck up for Netflix. Later this year, Netflix will debut the $90m (80m) fantasy thriller 'Bright', in which Smith stars. "In my house, Netflix has been nothing but an absolute benefit," Smith said of his children's viewing habits. "They get to see films they absolutely wouldn't have seen. Netflix brings a great connectivity." Islamic State militants have attacked several government-held villages in central Syria in violence which left 52 people dead, including more than two dozen women and children - some of whom were beheaded. The attack in the central Hama province targeted villages where most residents belong to the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, raising fears the extremists might massacre them, as they have in other minority communities in Syria and Iraq. The villages are located near the town of Salamiyeh and the highway that links the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, but state media said traffic was not affected. State news agency SANA said militants were able to storm homes in the southern part of the Aqareb al-Safi village, adding that government forces had repelled them, pushing them back toward the desert. The head of the National Hospital in Salamiyeh, Dr Noufal Safar, said the hospital received 52 bodies, including 11 women and 17 children. He said some of them had been beheaded, while others had their limbs removed. Dr Safar said: "They were brought with all forms of deformations but most of them appear to have died as a result of gunfire." He quoted some of the wounded people as saying the extremists began storming homes and beheading women inside. Rami Razzouk, a coroner at the hospital who inspected the bodies, said the children brought in were mostly dismembered, while most of the men died from shelling or heavy machine gun fire. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 52 people were killed in the fighting, with the dead including 15 civilians, 27 Syrian soldiers and 10 unidentified people. SANA said 40 people were wounded. The attack on Aqareb al-Safi came as government forces are on the offensive against the extremists in other parts of Syria, mostly in the northern province of Aleppo and the central Homs region and to the east. US-backed and Kurdish-led forces are meanwhile marching toward the extremists' de-facto capital of Raqqa, in northern Syria. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the group had captured Aqareb al-Safi and Mabouja. It identified residents as members of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shia Islam. The Sunni extremists view Shias as apostates deserving of death. IS has massacred thousands of Shias and other opponents in Syria and Iraq, often boasting about the killings and circulating photos and videos of them online. Egypt supports ongoing efforts to preserve the unity of Libya and its territorial integrity, the Egyptian army's Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazi told Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar during a Wednesday visit to Benghazi. In an official statement by the Egyptian armed forces, spokesman Tamer El-Refai said Hegazi discussed domestic and international developments with the Libyan commander, as well as current challenges faced by Libya and the region. The visit was announced as the first by an Egyptian military official, who also went to congratulate Hafter on the third anniversary of Operation Dignity. The two army officials also discussed coordinating efforts between their two armies, including on border control and procedures to stop illegal movement and smuggling. Hegazi told Haftar that Egypt was keen to support the interests of their Libyan "brothers," expressing his confidence in the ability of Libya's state institutions to harmonise and build a modern democratic state.. Haftar said he valued Cairo's support for the Libyan National Army, referring to the exchange of experience and training with their Egyptian counterparts in various fields. He also praised Cairo's ongoing support for solving the Libyan crisis and ending terrorism in the country. According to the statement, the visit came as a "continuation of Egypt's role in finding a political solution to the Libyan crisis, with a resolution based on communication between Libyans so that the country may enjoy stability and security." Hegazi's visit comes only a few days after Haftar visited Cairo to meet with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. During the meeting, El-Sisi reiterated that Egypt encourages political dialogue to end the Libyan crisis, as well as amendments to the Skhirat agreement, which was signed in Morocco in 2015 and mandates a peaceful transition and the establishment of a national unity government. For his part, Haftar expressed his gratitude for Egypts support in this effort, the statement added. Egypt has been hosting a series of negotiations in Cairo since late 2016 between the rival Libyan factions with Hegazi facilitating. Egypt has stressed in these meetings the need for a political consensus to end the war. Since that time, Egypt has been acting as a mediator, along with the UAE, to bring the factions together. Search Keywords: Short link: Chelsea Manning has posted a picture of herself online a day after she was released from a military prison. Private Manning, the soldier who was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison for giving classified materials to WikiLeaks, took to Instagram this evening where she posted a picture of her new look. She wrote: "Okay, so here I am everyone!!" Following her release on Wednesday Pvt Manning, in an emailed statement, said: "I'm figuring things out right now - which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me." She tweeted a picture of her feet in trainers - with the caption "First steps of freedom!!" - after walking away from the Fort Leavenworth lock-up in Kansas having spent seven years behind bars. Pvt Manning's immediate plans, including living arrangements, remained unclear. She tweeted after then-President Barack Obama granted her clemency in January that she planned to move to Maryland, where she has an aunt. Pvt Manning originally comes from Crescent, Oklahoma. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference "After another anxious four months of waiting, the day has finally arrived," Ms Manning said in Wednesday's statement. "I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past." Pvt Manning, who is transgender and was known as Bradley Manning before she transitioned in prison, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Pvt Manning, a former intelligence analyst in Iraq, has acknowledged leaking the materials, which included battlefield video. She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the US military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians and that she released information that she did not believe would harm the US. Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation's most-sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to help some of those people move to protect their safety. Several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures. Pvt Manning, who was arrested in 2010, filed a transgender rights lawsuit in prison and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers. "We can all finally truly celebrate the strength and heroism she has shown in surviving and sharing her truth and life with all of us," Chase Strangio, Ms Manning's attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in Wednesday's statement that included her post-release comments. "Through extended periods of solitary confinement and up against the government's insistence on denying her medical care and existence as a woman, Chelsea has emerged with grace, resilience, and an inspiring amount of love for others," Mr Strangio added. "I am humbled to fight alongside such a fierce advocate for justice." President Obama's decision to commute Pvt Manning's sentence to about seven years, including the time she spent locked up before being convicted, drew strong criticism from members of Congress and others, with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan calling the move "just outrageous." In a statement last week - her first public comments since Mr Obama intervened - Ms Manning thanked that former president and said that letters of support from veterans and fellow transgender people inspired her "to work toward making life better for others". "For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea," she said. "I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine." Her lawyers have said that Ms Manning was subjected to violence in prison and argued the military mistreated her by requiring her to serve her sentence in an all-male prison, restricting her physical and mental health care and not allowing her to keep a feminine haircut. The Department of Defence has repeatedly declined to discuss Pvt Manning's treatment in prison. The Army said that Pvt Manning would remain on active duty in a special, unpaid status that will legally entitle her to military medical care, along with commissary privileges. An Army spokeswoman, Lt Col Jennifer Johnson, said Ms Manning will be on "excess leave" while her court-martial conviction is under appellate review. Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that US President Donald Trump had not divulged any secrets during a meeting in Washington with Russian officials and offered to prove it by supplying Congress with a transcript. But a leading US Republican politician said he would have little faith in any notes Mr Putin might supply. Two US officials said on Monday that Mr Trump had disclosed classified information about a planned Isil operation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they met last week, plunging the White House into a fresh controversy just four months into Mr Trump's tenure. Mr Trump, whose administration has been dogged by allegations that Russia helped him win the White House and that he and his allies are too cosy with Moscow, has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with the Russians after media reports of the meeting alarmed some US and foreign politicians. Mr Putin deployed his trademark sarcasm yesterday to make clear he thought the accusation that Mr Trump had divulged secrets absurd. "I spoke to him [Mr Lavrov] today," a smiling Mr Putin told a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. "I'll be forced to issue him [Mr Lavrov] with a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. "Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's intelligence services. It was very bad of him." Mr Putin, who still hopes Moscow can repair battered ties with the United States despite a deepening political scandal related to Mr Trump's purported Russian links, said Moscow had rated Mr Lavrov's meeting with Mr Trump highly. If the Trump administration deemed it appropriate, Mr Putin said Russia could hand over a transcript of Mr Trump's meeting with Mr Lavrov to US lawmakers to reassure them that no secrets were revealed. A Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, later told reporters that Moscow had a written record of the conversation, not an audio recording. US Republican senator Marco Rubio was unimpressed with Mr Putin's offer and alluded to alleged Russian hacking of Democratic groups during the US presidential election. "I wouldn't put much credibility into whatever Putin's notes are," Mr Rubio said on Fox News. "And if it comes in an email, I wouldn't click on the attachment." Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is among those probing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, called Mr Putin's offer "quite amusing". "The last person Trump needs to vouch for him right now is Vladimir Putin," Mr Schiff said in an interview with CBS News. "If they want to send something, you know, hats off. Send it our way... Its credibility would be less than zero." Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the US election. Mr Trump is also under pressure over accusations he asked then-FBI director James Comey to end the agency's investigation into the Russia ties of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. The allegation stems from a memo written by Mr Comey and seen by a source familiar with the contents of the memo. Complaining about what he said was "political schizophrenia" in the United States, Mr Putin said Mr Trump was not being allowed to do his job properly. "It's hard to imagine what else these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next," said Mr Putin, referring to unnamed US politicians. "What surprises me is that they are shaking up the domestic political situation using anti-Russian slogans. "Either they don't understand the damage they're doing to their own country, in which case they are simply stupid, or they understand everything, in which case they are dangerous and corrupt." Russia has repeatedly said that Mr Trump's opponents are trying to damage him and Moscow by making what it says are false accusations about the billionaire president and the Russian government which initially had high hopes of a rapprochement. Officials have told Reuters that Mr Trump's alleged disclosure of classified information to Russia's foreign minister is unlikely to stop allies who share intelligence with Washington from co-operating. As the backlash over Donald Trump's various controversial decisions escalates - the firing of FBI director James Comey and divulging classified secrets to Russian officials, just to name two - his critics are starting to use the "i" word more and more. California Democrat representative Maxine Waters said last month that she will "fight every day until he is impeached". Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal said last week that Mr Trump's actions "may well produce impeachment proceedings". Other Democrats have repeatedly echoed their thoughts. And now it's not just Democrats; Michigan Republican representative Justin Amash was asked by reporters yesterday whether, if reports that Mr Trump asked Mr Comey to drop his investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn are true, Mr Trump's actions are grounds for impeachment? Mr Amash paused and responded: "Yes." Mr Amash's comments weren't a full-throated call for impeachment, but they're significant, coming from a conservative congressman from the Midwest. But while some Democrats, and Mr Trump's opponents in general, might be clamouring for an impeachment, it isn't as simple as Democrats deciding they don't like him. There are two big reasons for that. First, impeachment is actually a relatively lengthy legal process - and no president has ever actually been removed from office. Second, removal from office requires a vote of two-thirds of the Senate, and Republicans still broadly support him. Let's be clear: Mr Trump hasn't been accused of any crimes. His opponents say he's unfit for office, but that's a judgment call, not a standard by which presidents can be impeached. Legal analysts say Mr Trump may have obstructed justice if he asked Mr Comey to drop his investigation of Mr Flynn, but caution that proving intent is key in obstruction of justice cases. In the end, it comes down to members of Congress deciding that Mr Trump did something that meets constitutional requirements for impeachment. The US constitution states that "the president, vice president, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours". But how those high crimes and misdemeanours are defined is largely up to House members themselves. Actually removing a president from office is a three-step process. First, a majority of the House of Representatives would have to vote in favour of impeachment. That means at least 218 out of 435 members of the House would need to cast ballots to impeach the president. As of today, Republicans hold 238 seats while Democrats hold 193, and four seats are vacant. That means Democrats would need to persuade 25 Republicans to vote to impeach Mr Trump, which doesn't seem likely. Second, the president would face trial in the Senate. Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr would preside. Third, the Senate would vote on whether to convict or acquit Mr Trump. Two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote in favour of conviction for Mr Trump to be removed from office - a pretty high bar, given that it's hard for either party to get even the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster these days. And history is on Mr Trump's side. Only two presidents have been impeached, and none has ever been removed from office. Andrew Johnson became the first president to be impeached in 1868. Mr Johnson clashed with Republicans who wanted Southern states to pay a higher price to rejoin the union. They eventually impeached him for attempting to replace his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, without congressional permission. Mr Johnson's impeachment went to trial in the Senate, and he escaped being removed from office by a one-vote margin. Bill Clinton became the second president to be impeached, in 1998, as the Monica Lewinsky scandal unfolded. He was charged with four counts, two of which he was impeached for: perjury and obstruction of justice. When it came to the Senate trial, all 45 Democrats voted to acquit him of both charges; they were joined by 10 Republicans in acquitting Mr Clinton of the perjury charge, and five in the obstruction of justice charge. In perhaps the most famous presidential scandal in US history, the president wasn't impeached. When Richard Nixon left office in 1974, he faced almost certain impeachment, and likewise almost certain removal from office. But he chose to resign instead, handing the presidency to Gerald Ford. Mr Johnson, Mr Nixon and Mr Clinton were all publicly accused of transgressions for which there was publicly revealed evidence. While scandal swirled around all three, and political opponents howled for their removal from office, none was removed by the political process laid out in the Constitution. And as long as Mr Trump retains the backing of Congress, he's unlikely to be removed either. ( Washington Post syndication) House Speaker Paul Ryan said he still has full confidence in US President Donald Trump but that lawmakers must "follow the facts wherever they lead" as he sought to damp down Republican unease over the turmoil engulfing the White House. "Now is the time to gather all the pertinent information," Mr Ryan told reporters yesterday after a private meeting of House Republicans. "Our job is to be responsible, sober and focus only on gathering the facts." Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is scheduled to meet privately with all members of the Senate today to discuss his role in the firing of FBI chief James Comey last week. Lawmakers of both parties are demanding that Mr Comey testify before them in public, though the time and place haven't been determined. The Senate Intelligence Committee asked Mr Comey yesterday to testify before the panel in public and in private. It also asked the FBI for any notes or memos written by Mr Comey about his communications with administration officials about the Russia probe. "It is obvious that there are some people out there that want to harm the president," Mr Ryan told reporters. "But we have an obligation to carry out our oversight regardless of which party is in the White House." Mr Ryan said lawmakers want to hear from Mr Comey about "why he didn't take action at the time" if his allegation that Mr Trump asked him to stop investigating ex-National Security advisor Michael Flynn is true. A day before Mr Comey's meeting with Trump, Mr Flynn had been ousted for what the White House said were misleading accounts of his conversations with Russia's US ambassador. Republicans in Congress are trying to project a business-as-usual approach. At their news conference, Mr Ryan and other House Republican leaders talked about their plans to overhaul the tax code before reporters raised questions about the controversies. "We're going to keep doing our jobs, we're going to keep passing our bills, we're going to keep advancing our reforms," Mr Ryan said. Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende said Mr French does not face any charges back home (AP) A Norwegian-British man freed from a life sentence in a Congo prison for murder will not be tried back home, Norwegian authorities said. Joshua French "has no conviction against him here", foreign minister Borge Brende said. Mr French returned to the Scandinavian country on Wednesday. The development came after an adviser to Congolese president Joseph Kabila told the Norwegian daily Dagbladet that Congo's government was expecting "French would meet the judicial system in Norway and would continue his sentencing there". Mr Brende said it was a "Congolese decision" which led to Mr French being transferred to Norway after eight years in prison. In 2014, Mr French was found guilty of strangling fellow Norwegian Tjostolv Moland. Both had been found guilty in 2009 of murdering their driver in Congo. An Indian boy watches as television channels show news about the case of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav (AP) The International Court of Justice at The Hague has ordered Pakistan not to execute an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage and terrorism. The UN court said Pakistan should not carry out the death penalty on Kulbhushan Jadhav pending the outcome of a case filed by India alleging that Pakistan breached his right to consular assistance following his arrest last year. Court president Ronny Abraham said the court unanimously ordered Pakistan to "take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed". Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, and Jadhav's death sentence has further strained ties. India called Jadhav's trial a "serious miscarriage of justice" because he was not allowed to see Indian diplomats or choose his own defence lawyer. Indian lawyers argued that those restrictions amounted to a breach of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Pakistan argued that Jadhav's rights were not breached and that the court did not need to issue an urgent order to stay his execution because it was not imminent. A lawyer for Pakistan added that a bilateral agreement allows either country to decide on consular access in cases involving "political or security" issues. Pakistani representative Mohammad Faisal showed judges a copy of an Indian passport he said Jadhav was carrying at the time of his detention, which bore the name Hussein Mubarak Patel, calling it an "obvious indication of covert and illegal activity". He said Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan". The case will take months or years to settle at the United Nations' highest judicial body, so judges issued the order to ensure Jadhav is not executed before the case ends. Rulings by the court are final and binding on the countries involved. An Egyptian criminal court upheld on Thursday the acquittal of Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem on charges of corruption in exporting gas to Israel at less than the standard international price. "The last remaining case against Salem is on money laundering charges in connection with the gas export deal, and is scheduled for next July, Salems lawyer Mahmoud Kebbiesh told Ahram Online, adding that it is certain that the court will acquit Salem in that case, as it has already acquitted him [on charges of corruption in the export deal]. In 2012, Salem was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia after being convicted in the gas deal case, though he was acquitted in a retrial in 2015; a ruling the prosecution later appealed. Shortly after the 2011 revolution that ousted long-time president Hosni Mubarak, Salem, who has held Spanish citizenship since 2008, fled to Madrid, where he still resides. Since 2011, Salem has been sentenced to several prison terms on convictions of corruption, money laundering, seizing state lands, bribery, and squandering public funds. However, in 2013, he filed several requests with the prosecution to reconcile with the Egyptian state by paying large amounts of his wealth in exchange for dropping charges against him and his family members. In mid-2016, the Egyptian government agreed to settle with Salem and his family members in three corruption cases upon the condition that Salem pay EGP 5.3 billion, which Salems lawyer says is 75 percent of the familys wealth. In February, an Egyptian court unfroze the assets of Salem and his family. On Salems ability to return to Egypt, his lawyer Kebbiesh says that Salem had the option of returning after the reconciliation deal with the government in 2016, though Kebbiesh added that he has no information on when Salem would return. Search Keywords: Short link: Former N.C. Sen. Fletcher Hartsell Jr. of Concord has been sentenced to eight months in prison for misusing campaign funds. Hartsell was sentenced Tuesday, May 16, in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem. In a plea arrangement, Hartsell pleaded guilty to two tax-related charges and one mail fraud charge. He had been charged with five counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering, which could have carried a sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Investigators said Hartsell, 70, had used $210,000 of campaign funds for personal use, such as haircuts, vacations, theater tickets and club memberships. The offenses were from 2007 to 2015. Prior to 2006, state elections laws allowed campaign funds to be used for virtually anything. The sentencing comes after Hartsell pleaded guilty in February. He still faces three state charges of filing false campaign reports. Those charges could to be resolved in Wake Superior Court Friday. Hartsells attorney Richard S. Glaser Jr. argued for probation and no prison time, asking the court to consider his many years of service to the community. The Raleigh News & Observer reported more than a dozen family members and 30 others stood in support of the former senator at the four-hour-long hearing. The Cabarrus Health Alliance building in Kannapolis is named for Hartsell. He has been praised for his work in helping establish the N.C. Research Campus and many other community and church projects. Prosecutors said Hartsell should serve time because of his lack of respect for the law. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder handed down the sentence after scolding Hartsell for his actions. Court records said Hartsell is expected to report to Federal Bureau of Prisons July 17. Hartsell represented Cabarrus in the N.C. Senate from 1991 through 2016. He did not seek re-election. Sen. Paul Newton of Mount Pleasant now represents that district. WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans want to start Act Two in the Obamacare overhaul saga, but they're in danger of getting upstaged by the unfolding White House drama. The latest twist had the Justice Department naming Wednesday night former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and alleged links between aides to President Donald Trump and the Kremlin. That news came one day after a bombshell report that Trump asked ousted FBI Director James B. Comey to call off his investigation of former national security adviser Michel Flynn. Oh, and then there was the Post's scoop Wednesday night in which House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in June 2016 that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Vladimir Putin. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., swore those in attendance to secrecy, according to a taped conversation heard by the Post (a House GOP leadership aide, after initially denying the reports, said the whole exchange was "clearly an attempt at humor."). But what concerns us here at The Health 202 is how all of this affects health care. Does it make Senate negotiations easier or harder? On one hand, nothing else can gain any oxygen with the happenings on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. But on the other, a little less of the spotlight could help intransigent lawmakers come to terms on the thorniest legislative issue before them. Senate Republicans are driving hard toward coming up with their own proposal to replace much of the Affordable Care Act. The Senate Finance Committee is currently drafting several different versions of a health-care bill, with the goal of having a menu for moderate and conservative senators to chew over and decide where they might be able to compromise. Republicans met Tuesday and Wednesday - and are meeting again Thursday - to specifically discuss insurance premiums and how to stabilize the individual market in 2018 and during a transition away from Obamacare. "Health-care discussions are open to the entire caucus - everyone has an opportunity to be at the table as members work to get a consensus to rescue Americans from a health care law that is currently in collapse," a Senate Republican aide told The Health 202. McConnell is pretty darn determined to ultimately hold a vote on a health-care bill, members, aides and lobbyists have told me. Dissension among the Republican ranks would have to be virtually insurmountable to deter the majority leader from his quest to bring legislation to the floor, allowing Republicans to say they've fulfilled their Obamacare repeal promises. But as Republicans try to accelerate toward some kind of credible measure, the Trump controversies are getting in the way. On Wednesday, members insisted they can keep moving forward on health care and other policy goals. But many admit White House blunders are dampening the entire effort, especially as lawmakers fear what new, troubling news report could be coming next. "I think policy initiatives are sort of parked right now until we get the Comey thing dealt with," said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Senate is "certainly able to handle more than one issue at a time" but acknowledged news surfacing in rapid succession about Trump makes things harder. "We've been discussing health care in lunches and private meetings and so that work continues, but obviously as there's new revelations every day coming in the press concerning the White House it makes it more difficult for us to pursue an agenda here," she said. Trump did contribute in a very general way to the health-care bill the House passed last month. He put major pressure on Ryan to get it done after an initial legislative meltdown in March, and dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to the Hill on multiple occasions to sweet talk conservatives in the Freedom Caucus. But the president doesn't have a great track record on legislation overall, and particularly health care. He was mostly ineffective as the House struggled toward consensus, and even aggravated tensions with some ill-timed and misinformed tweets. So it was already highly questionable whether the president would have been helpful at all in bringing senators together on tricky questions of how quickly to phase out Medicaid expansion (or whether to do so at all), how to structure insurance subsidies and how much of the ACA's insurance regulations to try to repeal. "We're working on it as a Senate, not working with the president," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Other Republicans worry the high drama is distracting Americans from the efforts to replace Obamacare, especially at a time when marketplace insurers are again seeking big rate hikes for next year. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said senators are focusing on health care in "nearly every meeting" lately, but fears that's getting lost on the public. "That really gets waylaid by the day-to-day issue of the hour," Rounds said. SALISBURY The next meeting of the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees is scheduled for Monday, May 22 at 4 p.m., on the colleges North Campus. The North Campus is located at 1333 Jake Alexander Boulevard, South in Salisbury. Highlights at the board meeting include the recognition of outgoing 2016-2017 SGA President Latosha Tulloch and introduction of 2017-2018 SGA President-Elect Liana Walker, recognition of the Automotive System Technologies Instructor Carl Smith as the 2017 NC SkillsUSA Post-Secondary Advisor of the Year and recognition of the AT&T Digital Literacy Grant. In addition to the highlights mentioned above, the Board of Trustees meeting agenda includes: Approval of the Early College High School Memorandums of Agreement, Information on the North Carolina Community College System 2017-2019 Budget Priorities. An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2019 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of i... By Bradley Dunseith Effective May 1, 2017, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) will regulate all land development bodies (public and private) that develop real estate for the general public. This includes both residential and commercial real estate. RERA is an ambitious attempt by Indias federal government to regulate the countrys real estate sector a sector notorious for its corruption and lack of transparency. The maximum penalties for non-compliance under the Act range from a fine equivalent to ten percent of the property in question or up to three years of imprisonment. RELATED: Establishing a Business in India Offices, Partnerships, and Companies In order to enforce the rules of the Act, RERA aims to establish a Regulatory Authority (RA) in each state. This is because land is a state-subject in India and regulations impacting land come under the jurisdiction of state governments. Thus, individual states will have the final authority to interpret and implement RERA. To ensure the Act is effectively not diluted, Indias federal government has drafted the model rules for states and Union Territories (UT), which each state can adapt from when developing their own version of RERA. In this article, we highlight some of RERAs major regulations and discuss its implications for key stakeholders in the real estate sector buyers, developers, and real estate agents. Scope of RERA All building projects with an area of more than 500 square meters or more than eight apartments are subject to the provisions of RERA. RERA prohibits all firms who fall into this category to sell or even promote a building until the developer (alternatively referred to as the promoter) registers their building with the local states Regulatory Authority (RA). RERA provisions also apply to the developers of ongoing and under-construction projects, who must register with their states RA by July 31, 2017. The registration is especially important for firms whose ongoing projects are without a completion certificate. A completion certificate asserts that a building is compliant with all the safety regulations outlined in the National Building Code of India, 2016 and is issued by municipal authorities. RELATED: Pre-Investment, Market Entry Strategy Advisory Registering with RERA Building developers To register, a real estate firm must provide their state RA with the following information: Name and contact information of the building developer; Description of projects launched by the firm in the last five years (including their current status); All land approval forms; Number of homes and types of homes for sale within the given project; Exact size and layout of each home within the given project; Names and addresses of all affiliated contractors, real estate agents, architects, and structural engineers; and Any police complaints currently against the building developer. Upon the submission of all these documents, the RA will have 30 days to approve or reject the firms application. In the case of approval, the RA will provide the firm with a unique login ID and password to make an account on the RAs website. Subsequently, RERA rules require the developer to upload a similar set of documentation onto the RAs website. This information will be available to the public and will additionally include: Payment schedules; Schedule of completion; and Quarterly updates on the projects status. Firms must register each real estate project individually. If, for example, a developer plans on releasing a housing project in phases, then each phase must be individually registered with the states RA. Real estate agents RERA also requires real estate agents colloquially known as brokers to register with their state RA. Real estate agents will have to register under each specific project they are authorized to sell and will, subsequently, have to provide their unique registration number for every new sale. RERA mandates that agents document all sales they make; agents who are caught spreading misinformation to homebuyers can face fines starting at US$150 (Rs 10,000) or even a year in jail time. RELATED: Corporate Establishment Advisory Transparency and accountability in Indias real estate sector Indian home and commercial estate buyers have long struggled to discern the reliability of building developers promises. Many developers exaggerate the features of their properties or advertise unrealistic move-in timelines when buildings are still under construction. RERA provisions ensure transparency and accountability by making critical and updated information easily accessible to buyers, which minimizes their risk of being misled or cheated by both developers and real estate agents. RERA regulations also direct developers to include their RERA registration numbers on any material used to advertise buildings; this must not contradict information uploaded to their RA webpage. Furthermore, RERA mandates that developers can sell a home only in carpet size. Carpet size refers to the actual size of a given apartment, excluding exterior walls, areas under service shafts, and balconies. Previously, developers inflated the dimensions of advertised property by including spaces inaccessible to actual buyers. RELATED: Business Strategy & Operation Advisory Regulating construction time In the past, when a homebuyer made a payment for a new home, developers would immediately invest it into other projects. This practice led to unreasonably long construction delays, and homebuyers were given no assurance that their money was used for the construction of their property. The RERA curbs this practice by requiring building developers to deposit a minimum of 70 percent of all funds paid for the completion of a specific building project into a state-supervised bank account, which firms can only use to cover the unique costs of that building project. Additionally, RERA caps the maximum amount that buyers can pay building firms to ten percent of the overall cost for the possession of their property. Previously, developers were free to demand huge payments without having built anything. Further, any changes to the buildings layout plan from what the firm has documented on their states RA website has to be agreed upon by a majority of the future home owners. If the developer fails to meet the timeline stated on the website, then they are obliged to pay interest to the homebuyers. Building developers will also be required to fix any defect in their buildings free of cost within the first five years of buyers receiving their homes. RELATED: Legal & Financial Due Diligence Advisory Judicial recourse RERA mandates that each state establish its own Appellate Tribunal that will oversee real estate related grievances. Earlier, Indias courts did not have a separate route or judicial mechanism for real estate disputes, meaning that a case against a developer could drag on for years. RERAs implications for homebuyers The Real Estate Act (RERA), 2016 is decidedly pro-buyer legislation. It introduces much needed accountability in an industry that is plagued with corruption and outlines serious consequences if building developers default on their promises to buyers. As building developers recalibrate their operations to align with RERA rules, homebuyers can anticipate an increase in property prices. Developers will almost certainly transfer their new compliance-related costs to homebuyers. However, the long term benefits of buying a home in a transparent environment and as per RERA standards should offset this initial cost increase for buyers. RELATED: Prospects in Indias Infrastructure Sector RERA: Challenges in implementation Indias real estate sector one of the most popular avenues through which domestic money laundering is facilitated is facing a sharp increase in government scrutiny and compliance enforcement. Small and mid-sized developers will face difficulty in suddenly conforming to these new regulations. As more states enact real estate legislation under RERA, the number of housing projects launched may reduce. The federal Ministry of Housing has given building developers until July 31 to register existing real estate projects with their state RAs. However, only nine states and six UTs have enacted their own rules of implementation under RERA, raising concerns that building developers and real estate agents will not have the ability to meet the Ministry of Housings deadline. Homebuyer rights groups have already criticized the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab for watering down their state versions of RERA and providing too much leeway to developers. Similarly, many developers and real estate agents themselves struggle to understand how to properly comply with the Act. Ultimately, the defining strength of RERA will be contingent on state interpretation and enforcement. Image: Subhodeep Sardar/IBNS Kolkata, May 18 (IBNS): At least four persons were killed when a small boat capsized due to bad weather in River Ganges at Shimultala area under Baishnabnagar Police Station limits in West Bengal's Malda district on Wednesday night, reports said. According to reports, the small boat, ferrying as many as 9 people, suddenly capsized and sunk in the river due to storm and heavy shower. Five of them somehow managed to reach the bank while remaining four persons drowned in the water. Locals and police rushed to the scene and rescue operators recovered three bodies from the water at late night and another on Thursday morning. A local police official told IBNS that the deceased have been identified as Ruhul Sheikh (22), Tahidur Sheikh (14), Masidur Sheikh (30) and Asraf Sheikh (12), who were from Jeyarattala village nearby. (Reporting by Deepayan Sinha) New York, May 16 (Just Earth News): The United Nations human rights chief on Tuesday expressed grave alarm over the spread of violence by armed groups against the civilian population in several parts of the Central African Republic in recent months, as well as attacks against UN peacekeepers in the country's southeast. Violence and rising tensions are spreading to areas of the Central African Republic that had previously been spared the kinds of terrifying violence seen in some other parts of the country this is highly worrying and should set off loud alarm bells, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in a news release from his Office (OHCHR). The hard-earned relative calm in Bangui and some of the bigger towns in CAR risks being eclipsed by the descent of some rural areas into increasing sectarian violence, with defence less civilians as usual paying the highest price, he added. The latest in a series of attacks was an incident this weekend in Bangassou, in which armed men used heavy weapons to attack the base of the UN mission in CAR, known by its French acronym MINUSCA. The armed men also attacked the Muslim neighbourhood of Tokoyo where numerous civilians were killed and others wounded. Investigations by MINUSCA's Human Rights Division suggest that between March and May 2017 more than 121 civilians and six peacekeepers were killed, excluding figures in the two latest incidents. Zeid also noted the fact that the Special Criminal Court is preparing to start its work is a strong signal by the authorities and the international community that the continued climate of impunity is unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Security Council issued a statement to the press overnight, strongly condemning the violence by anti-Balaka elements in Bangassou on 13 and 14 May 2017 that targeted MINUSCA's field office, civilian populations from particular communities, as well as humanitarian personnel. The 15-member body reiterated that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes and reminded all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law. The Council called on the Government to swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. Photo: UNICEF/Jan Grarup (file) Source: www.justearthnews.com Islamabad, May 18 (IBNS): Four hardcore terrorists were executed by Pakistani authorities in Pakistan on Thursday, officials said. "Today another 4 hardcore terrorists, who were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies are executed at Jail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," Pakistan's ISPR said in a statement. These convicts were tried by military courts. Detail of each case is attached. 1. Muhammad Ibrahim S/O Maseen. The convict was an active member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in killing of a civilian, destruction of a bridge and attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan which resulted in death of civilians and a soldier. He was also in possession of explosives. The convict admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded death sentence. 2. Rizwan Ullah S/O Taj Mir Khan. The convict was an active member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in killing of a civilian, kidnapping WAPDA employee and attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan which resulted in injuries to an officer and a soldier. He was also in possession of fire-arms and explosives. The convict admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded death sentence. 3. Sardar Ali S/O Muhammad Akram Khan. The convict was an active member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and destruction of educational institution which resulted in injuries and death of soldiers. He was also in possession of explosives. The convict admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded death sentence. 4. Sher Muhammad Khan S/O Ahmed Khan. The convict was an active member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He was involved in killing of a civilian and attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan which resulted in death and injuries to soldiers. He was also in possession of fire-arms and explosives. The convict admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded death sentence. A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler on Thursday during clashes near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and security sources said. The clashes near a military post erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to cross a crowd of Palestinian protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire, Palestinian security sources said. The Palestinian killed was identified by the health ministry as Muataz Bani Shemsay, 23, from a village near Nablus. Search Keywords: Short link: Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors. KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary. No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account." www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others. Moving the observance of Black history beyond the shortest month to be recognized 365 days a year is a desire shared by many who are proud of our culture and heritage. Brooke Starks, a 23-year-old Indianapolis resident, decided to join her love of Black history with a recent entrepreneurial endeavor, 12months Soaps. Ive always been really interested in Black history and minored in it in college, said Starks who graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Arts Management last spring. I went to a lot of protests and wasnt practicing self care. I just really wanted to educate and encourage self care at the same time. Starks is currently seeking her masters in urban education from IUPUI. The 12months Soaps product line currently features naturally fragrant, colorful bars that honor Civil Rights activists Ruby Bridges and Huey P. Newton, legendary soul and funk band Earth Wind and Fire, and several African-American sororities. Each soap is accompanied by an informational postcard. Starks shared that her intent is to not only help folks get fresh and clean but to promote positive portrayals of Blacks in America. Its important to see more positive portrayals of African-American life, she said. A lot of media focuses on Black on Black crime, slavery and other things that arent so joyous and prideful. Its important to have positive things highlighted and give people role models to look up to. The business owner also gives back to the local community. Since starting 12months Soaps this past fall, Starks has taken all the excess soap from her batches to create bars that are then donated to the Julian Center. Its a cause I value and believe in. Often times they dont get the supplies they need in terms of body care and feminine hygiene. I wanted to give them the pick me up feeling of having a luxurious shower or bath, she said. She shared that eventually she would like to have her product featured in museum gift shops and have the brand be on par with other natural beauty brands like Lush. This month, Starks started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money for the business. The funds, will go directly toward buying supplies and booth space at trade shows across the Midwest. Supporters of the fundraiser will receive a signature 12months Soaps calendar, exclusive scents, and handmade art. To learn more about 12months Soaps, search for the company on kickstarter.org and check out the products available for purchase at 12monthssoaps.com. When an individual wants to learn about their family history, they typically join an ancestry site and begin questioning family elders. Though relatives may be able to offer names of deceased kin, their life stories are often hard to come by. When Charles Simmons wanted information about his deceased mother, Ella, he and his children took a different approach to uncovering the truth. When Simmons was an infant, his mother was the victim of an accident that cost her life. As a child, Simmons inquired about the incidents that lead to her death, but felt he never understood the full story. I had heard talk (regarding my mothers death) from my grandmother on my fathers side. They told me bits and pieces, but as I got older I figured it must have been really painful for them to talk about or to remember. I grew up with this mystery, thinking I might know what happened, but not having all of the pieces put together, said Simmons. As an adult, Simmons often spoke of his desire to learn more about his mother. Eventually, his children took it upon themselves to help their father discover the events surrounding Ellas death. As I was growing up, he spoke of his wishes to know more. He spoke of it all of the time, said his daughter, Faye Carpenter. We thought, if anyone would cover his mothers story it would be the Recorder, because it is a story about our people. Carpenter and her siblings began researching information online, but when they failed to find many news stories from the 40s posted on the web they went to the public library to continue their research. Eventually, they discovered a story written in August of 1940 regarding Ella Simmons death at the age of 24. She died after a hit-and-run accident in which a large truck backed over a curb and hit her. The fugitive was sought on manslaughter charges. The (Indianapolis) Recorder was the only paper we could find who covered her story. It did our father good to actually see something that spoke of his mom and what happened to her, because he has nothing. Just a story, and it brought things to life for him. It let him know that somebody thought enough of her to let people know what happened, said Carpenter. Due to Carpenters research, Charles Simmons discovered that he and his mother attended the same high school, Crispus Attucks. At a class reunion, he discovered a picture that featured Ella on the wall and realized he had walked past an image of his mother for years without realizing who she was. Carpenter isnt the only Indianapolis resident who has used newspaper archives to learn more about family history. John Moore has been collecting information using decades-old issues of the Recorder that he found online at Hoosier State Chronicles. Operated by the Indiana State Library, Hoosier State Chronicles is a free collection of local newspapers with issues dating back to 1804. S. Chandler Lighty, director of the Indiana Historical Bureau, said Recorder content is the one of the most used content collections on the Hoosier State Chronicles site. Since January 2016, 8 percent of all the page views on Hoosier State Chronicles have been of Recorder content, which considering the dozens of titles and nearly 1 million pages we have available, thats a very impressive percentage of the traffic, said Lighty. On Moores website, edwards-moore-family.net, he links to over 20 Recorder articles that mention his relatives. The information he found ranges from a relative winning a prize in a radio contest to a relatives community service work with Flanner House. Those who work for Hoosier State Chronicles have advice on using the site for those looking to do genealogical research. Suggestions include narrowing the search by decade, year, or individual title and putting names and other search terms in quotes. Moore has additional advice for people looking to uncover information. The big thing I share with people in my genealogy group is to search for information by address. They would write so and so at 12th and New Jersey did this or that. Also, try to search by initials. I had trouble finding my father when I searched for Albert Moore, but when I searched A.A. Moore, I found him. Carpenter was pleasantly surprised by the amount of history she discovered in newspaper archives. After finding information about Ella, we went on to find information about my dad and his father in the Recorder. I found it amazing that all of these generations would continue to be covered. Its so incredibly important to know your history. Everything from your heath, to your ethnicity, to your emotions is impacted. To search through the archives of over 122,000 issues of local papers, visit newspapers.library.in.gov. Loving father, accomplished artist, mentor and friend William George Ryder, Jr. was known by many for his unyielding creativity and love of community. He departed this life on May 5, 2017. Born February 25, 1935 in Baskett, Kentucky to William George Ryder Sr. and Nannie Marie Pickle (both deceased), Ryder grew up in the southern Indiana town of Evansville, IN. As a child, he was active in many activities including soap box derby racing. In 1953, he graduated from Lincoln High School in Evansville with a major in industrial arts. He was the vice-president of his senior class. After high school, Ryder joined the Air Force. While in the military, he worked as an aircraft electrician and competed as a middleweight boxer. He held an undefeated 12-0 record during his career. He later married Betty Hill. The pair were involved in a host of social and civic activities and were even featured in Life magazine for being a successful young Black professional couple. Their son Mark was the only child. Ryder lived all across the nation, moving from Michigan to the Mojave Desert and even to Los Angeles. He settled in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1966. It was here that he became the first African-American to be employed by International Harvester as a stationary engineering apprentice. He later became the first African-American to receive a full scholarship to John Herron Art Institutes evening program. Ambitious by nature, Ryder took 15 credit hours while working 40 hours a week. Upon graduation he opened Ryder Graphics, INC in 1970, a complete graphic, typesetting and print shop. After experiencing much adversity due to corruption and racism, Ryder left the business and began managing his frustration by creating sculptures at the age of 60, thus beginning his artistic career. The work he created reflected his life experience as a Black man growing up with limited wealth. His creations often consisted of items that had been discarded and deemed useless. He found joy in being able to re-purpose junk items and give them a new life. Ryders art captures the joy, pain, triumph, struggles and despair of Black life in America, through depictions of religion, jazz music, street life and other topics. Ryder would find solace in nature, spending hours in the woods with his art absorbing the colors created by God or out in front of his home so that the neighborhood children could see him at work. Ryder remained diligent, spending upwards of 9 years on some pieces, working with them until he found they were complete. He created so many pieces that they filled the entire first floor of his home, transforming it into a personal gallery. Ryder was recognized by publications across the state of Indiana and his work was showcased in galleries around the city of Indianapolis. A creator to the end, he continued making art until his last day. Ryder leaves behind a son Mark Ryder (TaJuana Laquicia Ryder, spouse), siblings Dora Edmonds, Sally Yates and Mary Ryder Taylor along with a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He is joined in death by his parents and siblings Virginia Ryder, Laureen Edwards, Carlos Bowman, Shirley Bowman and David Bowman. A public viewing will be held on Monday May 22 at Light of the World Christian Church from 10 a.m. until noon. Ryder will be laid to rest at the Marion National Cemetery. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is known to be charming to his ladies. Weather it's from the film fraternity, his fans or his family, Akki knows how impress his people. Indicine Remember when he sang for Twinkle Khanna on Koffee With Karan. Well, looks like there was a time when he used to interact with his fans also in a very old school way. One of Akshay Kumar's fan recently tweeted a letter, Akshay Kumar had written to her way back in 1995. @akshaykumar ..I had written to you in 1995 ; and you had replied! From letters to tweets- evolution of fan interaction! @mrsfunnybones pic.twitter.com/yYKkx3voEF Vaishali Bhutani (@VaishaliBhutani) May 17, 2017 Vaishali Bhutani, who is currently in Netherlands, is a huge fan of Akshay and has still kept the letter she got from the superstar 22 years ago. Twitter Khiladi Kumar, who is now active on social media, was so touched by her gesture, that he replied to her once again, this time on Twitter, and thanked her for good old days of fan mails. This is some serious #throwback, gold old days of fan mail :) Love and prayers always https://t.co/AuDrXddLPS Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 17, 2017 The letter says, "Dear friend, Thank you for your letter of appreciation. These words of appreciation from our well wishers like you will definitely give impetus to an artist to strive for better performance. My forthcoming films are as follows, Sabse Bada khiladi, Baazu, Angaare, Zulmi, Lakshara, Mere Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahi, Tu Chor Main Sipahi, Keemat, Akshay, Vidrohi, Sapoot." Hello Siri, are you Jeff Goldblum? We all are guilty of asking Siri ridiculous questions, and we all have done it more than once. But have you ever imagined what it would be like if Siri was a male voice instead of a female one? apparently, Jeff Goldblum was supposed to be the voice of Apple's Siri. Funzine.hu The smart yet nerdy guy that we know from the classic Jurassic Park as well as Independence Day, Jeff Goldblum, was offered to be Siris voice by Steve Jobs. But sadly, the actor rejected the offer, and heres why: Steve Jobs called me up a few decades ago to be the voice of Apple. That was early on, and I did not know it was Steve Jobs, he was quoted as saying at Today Show in Australia. Sadly, the collaboration never came to pass and Susan Bennett was later chosen as the voice of Siri. wordpress.com Fun Fact: Goldblum has, however, has been a part of the voiceover world. He had lent his voice to several shows including Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Siri would have held a totally different meaning if it was a male voice; wouldnt it? The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is headed by Pahlaj Nihalani who has become 'infamous' for its conservative 'sanskari' attitude. Youtube screengrab With Priyanka Chopra making her mega debut with Hollywood film, Baywatch, the Board is worried about showcasing it in India. Baywatch poster Speaking to DNA, a source close to the Censor Board said, It is a duvidha, a dharm sankat that beats all recent dilemmas. How do we grade the bikini festival in Baywatch? Guidelines clearly indicate that unnecessary nudity must be curbed. A lot of the Baywatch fans are under-age kids. In our films a big deal is made of bikini shots. Blame the producers for making the bikini look like a phenomenal happening. Youtube screengrab However, Priyanka Chopra is not worried about how her Hollywood debut in India will be perceived. "I am not worried. Baywatch is a comedy film....I don't know. It is a certification board and hopefully we get certified," she said. Directed by Seth Gordon, Baywatch is based on the 1989 TV series of the same name. It will on May 25 worldwide and June 2 in India . Priyanka plays a negative role in the film. "I did Aitraz, Saath Khoon Maaf....I enjoy doing villain roles and that's why I did "Baywatch". But it's a comedy film," she said. "I play Victoria....Lifeguards have to protect themselves and the beach against Victoria who wants to destroy them," she further added. India registers only 10 percent of all deaths that occur in the country, which is far way behind other countries such as USA or Canada who comply a 100 percent, revealed the World Health Organisations (WHO) World Health Statistics Report of 2017. alsaa.net According to WHO, having a definitive measure of how many people die every year and the reason they do is important for assessing the effectiveness of a countrys health system. Its also an important measure as it gives an insight into the diseases and injuries that affect people enabling countries to better focus their attention on specific issues. thetoc.gr So what is killing Indians according to the report? Maternal Mortality 174 per lakh live births Child mortality (children under the age of 5) 47.7 per thousand live births Air pollution- 133.7 per lakh live births Lack of hygiene (unsafe water and sanitation)- 27.4 per lakh live births Non-communicable disease- 23.3 per lakh live births Road traffic injuries- 16.6 per lakh live births Suicide- 15.7 per lakh live births Homicide- 4 per lakh live births Unintentional poisoning- 1.9 per lakh live births Natural disaster- .2 per lakh live births indiatoday.intoday.in The number of Indians impacted by some of the most common diseases HIV- .11 per thousand live births TB- 21.7 per lakh live births Malaria- 18.6 per thousand live births Hepatitis B- 97 per lakh live births Neglected people requiring medical intervention- 497,396 (actual number) An Iraqi envoy met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Thursday to explore direct military cooperation against Islamic State (IS) militants, Syrian state media said. The Syrian state news agency SANA said Iraqi national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad and Assad discussed "practical measures for military coordination on both sides of the border in light of the victories the Iraqi army is achieving in Mosul". U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been chipping away at the remaining districts of Mosul under IS control, seven months into a campaign to recapture Iraq's second largest city. "They (Assad and Fayad) explored the prospect of direct cooperation soon between the Syrian and Iraqi armies to fight terrorism collectively," SANA said. Iraqi warplanes have hit IS inside Syria in coordination with Damascus. IS holds swathes of territory in northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, but has lost considerable ground to U.S.-backed military offensives over the past year. In Syria, IS is fighting hard against several separate enemies, including Russian-backed Syrian government forces, trying to reinforce its presence as it is being pushed back in neighbouring parts of Iraq. Search Keywords: Short link: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has stayed Kulbhushan Jhadhavs death sentence, which was awarded to him by a Pakistan military court. This ruling came after India started proceedings against Pakistan at the court accusing Islamabad of egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in relation to Jhadavs death ruling. Twitter Heres a timeline of everything that has happened so far: March 2016 Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested. Pakistani army claimed that he was an agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW. March 26, 2016 AP Pakistan Foreign Office called the Indian High Commissioner to discuss the issue and subsequently issued the following statement: The Indian High Commissioner was summoned by the Foreign Secretary today (Friday) and through a demarche conveyed our protest and deep concern on the illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of Indias Ministry of External Affairs, responded by saying: The said individual (Kulbhushan Jadhav) has no link with Government since his premature retirement (he is said to have retired from the Indian Navy in 2002 and was a businessman since then) from Indian Navy. We have sought consular access to him. India has no interest in interfering in internal matters of any country and firmly believes that a stable and peaceful Pakistan is in the interest of all in the region. Following this India was denied consular access to Jadhav which could have given India a chance to speak to the accused. Also read: Curious Case Of Kulbhushan Jadhav: Everything To Know About Former Indian Navy Officer Who's In A Pakistani Jail March 29, 2016 AP Pakistan government released a video of Jhadhav purportedly making a confession. In the video, he said that he was an Indian Navy Officer and also a RAW agent. However, India continued to say that Pakistan authorities must have used coercive methods to extract a confession. April 2016 The provincial government of Balochistan filed a FIR against Jadhav on charges of terrorism and sabotage. December 7, 2016 AP Sartaj Aziz, advisor of foreign affairs to the Pakistani Prime Minister, said that the dossier on Jhadhav did not have enough evidence against him. But he did not deny Pakistans allegation of Jhadhav being an RAW agent. March 3, 2017 Aziz retracted his previous statement on insufficient evidence on Jadhav. And instead told the Pakistan senate that he will not be extradited to India under any circumstances. Also read: India Warns Of Consequences If Kulbhushan Jadhav Is Executed, Govt Promises To Do Everything To Get Him Justice April 4, 2017 BCCL Jadhav was sentenced to death in a secret trial. May 9, 2017 India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ)and asked it to intervene. In the statement, it accused Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention on consular relations and not giving Jadhav his right to defend himself. May 10, 2017 The ICJ acted on Indias petition and told Pakistan to temporarily hold off on the Jadhavs execution. This move by the ICJ gives India an international backing with which India can put pressure on Pakistan to conduct a fair trial of Jadhav. Meanwhile, according to reports, Iran has also sought access to Jadhav because Pakistan claimed that he entered its territory through Iran. How things go from here, only time will tell, but for now ICJ has put breaks on the false claims of Pakistan. Other than quick replies and being one of the coolest official government handles, if you're following Bengaluru City Police on Twitter, you're in for some savage insults. indianexpress Their twitter handle definitely offers more than just usual help. After spreading awareness about road safety, online fraud and driving, Bengaluru Police is back with their A-Game, this time, it's on drugs. If your dealer did not reach you with your stash, this is probably why. Don't worry, you can come to the Police Station and collect it. pic.twitter.com/wqxPvmvxQo BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 1, 2017 With their highly chucklesome pop-culture references, they're now targeting drug sellers in the city. Roses are red Violets are blue, Heard you're selling drugs, We'll come visit you. pic.twitter.com/z5DIsngG7B BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) May 18, 2017 The quirky and conspicuous tweet has got everyone re-tweeting, liking and talking about it. Check it out! 1. Bengaluru City police and Mumbai police twitter accounts are hitting the nail straight on the head !k (@abhip22) May 18, 2017 2. @BlrCityPolice Please give a bonus to the person running your SM account. Podaaaanga (@Podaaaanga) May 18, 2017 3. 4. @amritabhinder @BlrCityPolice hired a professional twitter operator who's into Netflix . Sanjiv Das (@SanjivDas74) May 18, 2017 5. @BlrCityPolice Roses are red Violets are blue, Drug traffickers of all shades and hue No matter who you are, We are coming at you. Hameed Pasha (@whitecrescent) May 18, 2017 6. @BlrCityPolice @CPBlr haha , ultimate ROFL. what a punch from Narcos . Whoever running your twitter account , has cool sense of English serials . Vijay Sriram Iyengar (@Sriram_sv) May 18, 2017 7. 8. @BlrCityPolice Here is the proof of Engineers are working in Police services too... Abhinav Singh (@abhinavkis2608) May 18, 2017 9. @BlrCityPolice First GOT, now Narcos.. I hope the person who is running this handle doesn't start watching korean series (@avinaashbhat) May 18, 2017 10. @BlrCityPolice Narcos reference for your anti-drug peddling drive. Thats a Sixer - BCP. Varadraj (@varadadya) May 18, 2017 11. @BlrCityPolice Beautiful great message. Red, violet & blues _ A LOT IN NLO Kindly recall my tweets with photo evidences. Visit them before they outgrow. pic.twitter.com/MytxoRy2Ru Rajan Iyer (@iyerrajang) May 18, 2017 What a laughter riot! Today, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) presented its verdict to Pakistan and India regarding the death sentence given by Pakistan to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. The world court ruled in favour of India and stayed Jadhav's sentence. It also overruled Pakistan's objections and said this matter was, in fact, under the jurisdiction of the ICJ. The court added that there is "urgency in the present case" and there should not be "any execution before the final decision". An 11-judge bench gave the verdict today at a public sitting in The Hague, Netherlands. Earlier on May 15, India and Pakistan both presented their arguments to the ICJ on the death sentence. indian express Both sides had got 90-minutes for their arguments. India argued that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by declining New Delhi any consular access to Jhadav. Harish Salve, lawyer who represented India at ICJ, also said that the court should ensure that all necessary measures are taken to prevent the execution of Jhadav till the verdict is announced. india today Mohammad Faisal represented Pakistan at ICJ and said that Indias complaint was political theatre. He also accused India of time-wasting and political grandstanding besides asking the court to decline jurisdiction on the matter. Faisal told the court that Jadhav confessed to being an Indian intelligence officer, a confession recorded on video. daily mail Islamabad also showed the court a picture of passport it claims was found in Jadhavs possession. Faisal said India has been unable, or perhaps unwilling to provide an explanation for this passport, which had a completely different and Muslim name. Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016. India maintains that he is a retired navy officer. Pakistan claims that they arrested him from the India-Pakistan border, but India says that he was abducted from Iran. An Army officer, who has been accused of beating three stray dogs to death and causing severe injuries to two others at the Garhi Cantonment area, has proceeded on leave. bccl/representational image A police investigation and an Army court of inquiry are looking into the charges which are grave enough to have created a major controversy among defence personnel and civilians, with dog-lovers even appealing to the Army Chief, Gen Bipin Rawat, to act on the matter. On the evening of May 11, according to the FIR filed after the incident, Major Manish Thapa of the Intelligence Corps was out for a walk when he came across a Lieutenant Colonel feeding stray dogs on the street. He then allegedly attacked the dogs with an iron rod, killing three of them and severely injuring two others, in front of shocked eyewitnesses. bccl/representational image One of the witnesses, on condition of anonymity, told TOI, "At around 11pm, we heard dogs yelping in pain. We rushed outside and saw the officer chasing and beating the dogs with a rod. We tried to stop the attack but by the time we found them, three dogs were dead. The officer then managed to dispose of the dogs. A fourth dog was unconscious while a fifth was injured." Early on May 12, after being informed of the vicious attack, animal rights activist Puja Bahukhandi arrived at the spot and took the injured dogs with her and filed an FIR against Maj Thapa. "We have questioned witnesses, including the officer's neighbours. We have seen the two injured dogs, one of which had suffered a severe head injury. It was evident that they had been beaten. We have not located the bodies of the three dogs so far," said inspector N D Pandey, office in charge of the investigation. bccl/representational image Maj Thapa, said the police officer, had gone on leave and was not in the city. "His phone is also not reachable. However, it is still a case of cruelty against animals. We have been informed that he will return and be available for questioning shortly," Pandey added. A court of inquiry has been instituted by the Army to look into the incident, while a storm of criticism has erupted against the accused officer. Two Chennai medical students who allegedly threw a puppy from the third floor of a building in July 2016 had been tracked and arrested after a public outcry. A similar backlash is now brewing against Maj Thapa. A petition on Facebook urging Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat to take action against Thapa has already got 2,000 signatures. "An altercation does not justify killing dogs. Even if the bodies are not found, authorities should take strict action against Thapa," said Bahukhandi. India has now exorcised the ominous Bofors ghost haunting its artillery modernisation plans for the last 30 years. In the first modern 155mm artillery guns to be inducted by the Army since the 1980s, two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers ordered from the US will touch down here on Thursday morning. reuters Defence sources on Wednesday said the two howitzers, which will come in a chartered aircraft from the UK, will be taken to the Pokhran ranges for testing and "compilation of the firing tables" for subsequent use. "The firing tables, with the guns being tested for different kinds of Indian ammunition with bi-modular charges, will take some time to be formulated," said a source. The delivery schedule for the air-mobile howitzers, being acquired under the $737 million deal inked with the US in a government-to-government deal, will quicken from March 2019 onwards. "Five guns will then be delivered every month till all 145 are inducted by June 2021. While the first 25 guns will be imported, the rest 120 will be assembled in India with artillery-manufacturer BAE Systems selecting Mahindra as its business partner here," he added. reuters The arrival of the M-777 guns, which are primarily meant for the front with China, comes soon after the government also inked a Rs 4,366 crore contract with engineering conglomerate L&T for the supply of 100 self-propelled howitzers in collaboration with its South Korean technology partner Hanwha Tech Win. These 155mm/52-calibre tracked guns called K-9 Vajra-T, in turn, are to be delivered within 42 months, as was earlier reported by TOI. The 13-lakh strong Army has not inducted a single 155mm artillery gun since the Bofors scandal brought down the Rajiv Gandhi government, and derailed all plans for technology transfer and indigenous manufacture. reuters Subsequent scandals revolving around other global artillery manufacturers, like South African Denel and Singapore Technology Kinetic's, further punched gaping holes in the Army's long-range, high-volume firepower. Interestingly, the original Swedish Bofors company is now owned by BAE Systems. The Army has been demanding 155mm/39-calibre ultra-light howitzers like the M-777s, with a strike range from 24 to 40-km depending on the kind of ammunition used, for almost 15 years now as part of the overall plan to build robust conventional deterrence against China. reuters Weighing just over 4-tonne due to the use of titanium, the M-777 can swiftly be airlifted to high-altitudes areas up to 16,000-feet in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control with China. The M-777 howitzers will equip the new 17 Mountain Strike Corps, which the Army is raising by cannibalising its existing reserves, for the China front. With two infantry divisions geared for mountain warfare, and associated artillery, air defence and armoured brigades, the 17 Corps will be fully in place with 90,274 troops by 2021. Lebanon is all set to become the first Arab country to celebrate gay pride. However, the opening event in a landmark run of festivities was cancelled after Islamists threatened violence. Proud Lebanon, a non-profit group promoting equal rights, was due to host a cultural event last Sunday as a kickoff to the entire week, but said it was dropped by the venue after threats from the Association of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon, a Salafist group. AFP Beirut has witnessed a steady increase in gay rights movement, but the homosexual acts are still punishable by up to a year in prison. Bertho Makso, director of Proud Lebanon, said the week marked a watershed in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender life, despite the threatened violence and some local opposition. BCCL Most countries in the region do not tolerate an open celebration of LBGT life, with few Middle Eastern countries according rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender citizens. Many risk fines, jail and even death, with reports of social exclusion and abuse commonplace. Turkey hosts a gay pride parade in Istanbul each year and Israel holds a week of events in Tel Aviv every June. Pride events are typically held during June - LGBT Pride Month - or at a time that commemorates a turning point in a country's own LGBT history. On the third anniversary of the launching of Operation Dignity Galal Nassar speaks with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, general commander of the Libyan National Army Benina International Airport, which serves Benghazi, was closed three years ago in the wake of Operation Dignity. Later, it was almost completely destroyed in the fighting that broke out between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and radical Islamist militias in May and June 2016. Al-Ahram Weekly arrived with a delegation of journalists at dawn on Thursday 11 May aboard the first civilian flight to land at Benina since it was closed. On the way to interview Khalifa Haftar, the general commander of the LNA, my escort showed me a picture that seemed to encapsulate the plight of the people of Benghazi. It was a photograph of four young men who had enlisted in the army. One lay dead on the ground. The second was clearly in a state of distress over his companion. The third was trying to console him while the fourth stood guard, weapon ready. My escort told me that all four would eventually lose their lives in Operation Dignity, the military campaign launched to regain control of Benghazi. The Weeklys interview with Haftar took place in the headquarters of the LNAs general command. Haftar began by asserting that within five days Benghazi would be completely liberated from the Qatari, Turkish and Sudanese supported Islamic State (IS). IS forces, he said, were now surrounded in two locations in the centre of the old city, including along the Al-Sabri district access which opens onto the Mediterranean and is one of IS major supply routes. The third anniversary of the launching of Operation Dignity comes, said Haftar, after a period of struggle in which the LNA had succeeded in liberating eastern Libya, its oil fields and oil exporting ports. The LNA has also gained control of cities towards the west and south of Libya. The campaign began three years ago with just 300 troops: it soon attracted soldiers and volunteers from across Libya, making it possible to rebuild the army and air force and re-establish military training institutes and colleges from which the first class of officers graduated on 15 May. Haftar warned, however, that the LNAs success was likely to be met with a rise in terrorist attacks targeting the Libyan people and its army. On his meeting in Abu Dhabi with Fayez Al-Sarraj, chairman of the interim Presidency Council and prime minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), and his subsequent meeting with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo this week, Haftar told the Weekly he had presented Al-Sarraj with a set of principles that must constitute the framework for any political process. The principles are: Libya is a single, indivisible state and the LNA its sole armed force; every individual with a legally issued military identity number is a member of the LNA and subject to military regulations; the government has no authority over the army; international intervention in the structuring of the Libyan army or supervision of security arrangements is unacceptable; the LNA is solely responsible for the protection of Libyas land, resources, people and borders; Al-Qaeda, IS, Ansar Al-Sharia, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Benghazi Defence Brigades must be designated terrorist organisations; and the executive authority must be free of all ideological, partisan, regional, tribal or militia influences. Haftar added that all militias must be dissolved in accordance with the law and that there can be no peace without reversing the proliferation of weapons outside the authority of the state; all measures taken outside the framework of the Constitutional Declaration and its amendments must be deemed invalid and the war against terrorism continued until terrorism is eliminated, and the Libyan Central Bank, the National Petroleum Authority and the National Investment Organisation should be treated as sovereign institutions, not subordinated to the government. Haftar said he had asked Al-Sarraj to amend the Libyan Political Accord to allow the Presidency Council to be reduced to three members the speaker of the House of Representatives, the general commander of the army and the chairman of the Presidency Council. The council would be responsible for performing the duties of the president and of the supreme commander of the armed forces, appointing the prime minister, ratifying the composition of the cabinet, appointing ambassadors heads of diplomatic missions abroad and accrediting foreign ambassadors to Libya. To demonstrate flexibility, Haftar revealed he had suggested the Presidency Council could be formed without the general commander, but only on condition the authorities of the supreme commander of the armed forces be transferred to the general commander. But what if a positive response to his demands is not forthcoming or the negotiating process with Al-Sarraj collapses? Any political action or alternative, says Haftar, must serve the higher interests of the Libyan people, express the will of its elected parliament, respect Libyas territorial sovereignty and be capable of reviving autonomous government institutions the executive, parliament, the Central Bank, the National Petroleum Authority and National Investment Organisation. He stressed that the LNA cannot be subordinate to any authority that is not freely and directly elected by the Libyan people. Sources say Presidency Council Chairman Al-Sarraj will be unable to act independently of the militias and armed groups that have proliferated in western Libya, and in Tripoli in particular, and they are almost certain to reject Haftars principles for the completion of the interim political process. Al-Sarraj is effectively a hostage of the militias and the groups to which they are affiliated, the Muslim Brotherhood foremost among them. He is, in addition, beholden to the foreign powers, led by the UK, which support the current political and military dispensation in western Libya. Tellingly, London dispatched its Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to Tripoli immediately after the meeting between Haftar and Al-Sarraj to forestall any possibility of Haftars proposals being accepted and to secure the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated militias in any solution to Libyas political and security crisis. According to sources, London wants a leading role in Libya and plans to secure it through the Muslim Brotherhood and/or other Islamist groups. The UK holds a number of cards it is willing to play towards this end. They include the presence in Libya of militias affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the deployment of British troops at the military base in Sirte and the Lockerbie card the compensations Libya is required to pay to the victims of the Lockerbie airplane bombing and of the Irish Republican Army which was once supported by the Gaddafi regime. A committee in the British House of Commons currently oversees 9.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets in the UK, assets that afford the British government considerable leverage in Tripoli. From day one the Muslim Brotherhood has served as a Trojan horse, bringing foreign combatants into Libya after they had received training in regional and Western capitals and cities, Haftar told the Weekly. The Muslim Brotherhood provided them with entry visas or Libyan identity papers, furnished them with weapons and offered logistical support. Haftar said the 30 June 2013 Revolution in Egypt provided inspiration to us to rid ourselves of the group [the Muslim Brotherhood] some parties want to see controlling the regional political scene and influencing countries across the Arab world with Western, Qatari, Turkish and Sudanese support. The battle against terrorism in Egypt and Libya is one and the same. We are confronting the same enemy and the same sponsors, he said. Former Libyan national security advisor Khaled Al-Tarjuman told the Weekly the Muslim Brotherhood, aided and abetted by Ankara and Doha, was behind the shipment of arms from Libya to Syria and Sinai. On Haftars meeting with Al-Sisi, sources in Cairo say it was intended to convey three important messages. First, that the Egyptian position on the Libyan crisis is constant and all talk of partition is hot air given Egypts commitment to the territorial unity of Libya. Second, Al-Sisi reaffirmed to Haftar the importance of lifting the international ban on arming the LNA. Al-Sisi has repeatedly said equipping the army is a basic prerequisite of the fight against terrorism. Third, it is essential to halt the flow of funds, weapons and fighters to terrorist organisations and to foil attempts by foreign parties to dictate the fate of the Libyan people. In the aftermath of the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime militias proliferated in Libya and have been fighting one another against a backdrop of acute political and institutional divisions. Currently, three governments are competing for legitimacy. Two the GNA and the National Salvation Government are based in Tripoli while the third, the interim government initially formed by the House of Representatives in Tobruk, is now based in Al-Bayda in northern Cyrenaica. *This story was first published on Al-Ahram weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. A drama teacher had an unscripted run in with the law while allegedly performing a sex act on an underage pupil in her car during the middle of the night. Pamela Stigger, 33, claimed she was only trying to mentor him but the 15-year-old told police she had told him to go to the back seat where they took off their trousers and underwear and had sex. The aspiring actress then reportedly got dressed and was performing oral sex on him when he told her a sheriffs deputy was walking towards the car. The female officer swooped in Tamarac, Florida, after a call about a suspicious looking vehicle obstructing traffic with no one in the front seats at approximately 2am. She said she saw Stigger in the back with the boy who was naked from the waist down. Sheriffs spokeswoman Gina Carter said: When she was questioned about what they were doing and if they had, in fact, engaged in sexual acts, she denied being engaged in these sexual acts despite the fact that the young man was undressed. Stigger faces two charges of sexually assaulting the student who was in her drama class at Forest Glen Middle School in Coral Springs during the academic year 2015-16. She is also accused of lewd and lascivious activity on a minor. The lad told investigators Stigger was driving him home when she pulled over and started kissing him in the early hours of Thursday morning. Stigger, who, according to investigators, has a custodial relationship over the teen, is said to have denied having sexual contact with him. She initially accused him of attempting to seduce her before changing her story, said Carter. The sheriffs spokeswoman added: She did say that she was in the process of mentoring this past student of hers, even though it was two oclock in the morning, and they were in the back seat of a car. On Friday a court banned Stigger from having any contact with the boy and she must wear an ankle monitor while out on bail. Source: Naijaloaded A female suicide bomber in Borno State killed two soldiers at a military checkpoint in Konduga, Borno State, the police said on Thursday. According to a statement released by the spokesman, Victor Isuku, of the Police Command in Borno state, the female suicide bomber, detonated the explosive strapped on her at a military checkpoint just in front of an Internally Displaced Persons camp. Isuku said that the information received from Police in Konduga has it that on Wednesday, 17/5/17, at about 7:30 pm, a female suicide bomber detonated explosive strapped to her body at Mashimari by military checkpoint behind internally displaced persons camp at Konduga. The police spokesman said the woman was lost in the attack which claimed two soldiers. He said the scene of the crime was visited by team of EOD of the police. Isuku said normalcy has been restored even as the situation continued to be monitored. Source:( Punch Newspaper ) Two kidnap victims have been rescued from the hands of their abductors by the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Delta Safe, in Bayelsa State. The Commander, ODS, Rear Admiral Apochi Sulaiman, made this known on Wednesday during a briefing at the headquarters of the command in Igbogene, Yenagoa. Sulaiman said the victims were rescued during raids on identified camps of pirates and kidnappers at Oluwasiri and Agbidama creeks in the Brass and Ekeremor local government areas of Bayelsa State respectively. The commander did not indicate if any arrests were made during the operations. He said, During the operation in Oluwasiri particularly, the troops rescued two kidnap victims. One of the victims sustained gunshot injuries during crossfire. The injured victim is currently receiving medical attention in one of our facilities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The commander added that items recovered during the raids were one HK 21E rifle, one rocket propelled gun launcher, four AK-47 rifles, three pistols, and 61 pieces of 12.7/108mm ammunition. Other recovered items, according to the commander, were five empty rifles magazine, one empty pistol magazine, 36 pieces of 7.62mm ammunition, 15 pieces of 9mm ammunition, among others. Sulaiman warned criminal elements to shun criminalities in their own interest, stating that the military would not shirk its responsibility towards ensuring peaceful socio-economic environment for businesses to thrive. He also said the military was continuing in its clearance operation in Southern Ondo to rid the area of criminals. We were vindicated when the Ondo State Governor (Rotimi Akeredolu) visited the creeks in Southern Ondo following reports that troops sacked residents and destroyed houses; it was evident that no house was torched. We are after the criminals and we are raiding their hideouts. We need the support of the people to isolate the criminals in the ongoing operation, he said. One of the freed victims, Sulaiman Yinusa said he was kidnapped at Abonima in Rivers State while returning from a business trip. He said he was held hostage at a militants camp in Bayelsa State for 50 days. He said, They had demanded N10m and my people could not raise N1m; they negotiated ransom down to N100,000, but my people could not raise the money. They had told me that I would be killed today (Wednesday), but we were rescued last Sunday. The Ogun State Police Command , on Wednesday, has vowed they would that they will arrest the killers of Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abdulsalam Yusuf and members of his family. Police Public Relations Officer in the Sate, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, made the pledge during a visit to the residence of late Yusuf in Atiba. He said the commissioner promised that the command would not relent in its efforts to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the entire family. Oyeyemi stated that there were no traces of broken doors or windows in the house. He said the commissioner assured the relatives of the victim that those who murdered their son and his entire family would be apprehended soon. The commissioner and other senior officers have visited the scene and are going to strategise on detecting those behind the crime. So, we are thinking it has to do with something internal and we are trying as much as possible to unravel the mystery behind it, he said. Oyeyemi gave the names of the deceased children as Latifat, 10, a set of twin, Hamad and Muhammad both 8 years old and Ramat, 2 years old. Governor of Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom has reportedly empowered the youths of the state with wheelbarrows tyesterday. Photos of the wheelbarrows have since gone viral on social media with many asking why he has chosen to empower the Youths of Benue State in such way! Meanwhile, the governor has given his opinion on how to end the farmers-herdsmen crisis in Nigeria. Speaking in Abuja while He said banning of open grazing and the provision of infrastructures for cattle ranching are the only lasting solutions to the crisis between farmers and herdsmen in Nigeria. Benue state is an agrarian state the food basket of the nation and we have no industries. We have no other means of livelihood except farming so it becomes very tasking to support open grazing and farming together. The increase in Nigerias population has led to increase in human activities; more road networks, more hospitals, more settlement, more farming etc. And the land is not increasing proportionately. For us in Benue state, today, if you go there today, there are no empty lands for grazing. So, when herdsmen come to do open grazing, there is no way, no matter how hard they try to control their animals, (these are animals; they are not human beings) they derail to peoples farms and then crisis ensue. Source: Yabaleftonline Some 2,300 migrants headed for Italy in 22 barely seaworthy vessels were rescued off the Libyan coast on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said. Coastguard and military vessels joined forces with others chartered by humanitarian organisations to come to the rescue of the migrants, who were packed into 10 wooden boats and 12 rubber dinghies. "About 2,300 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean today," the coastguard said in a statement. Prudence, a vessel chartered by medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres, picked up 770 people, many of them young children -- one a baby aged just six weeks, it said. SOS Mediterranee's and MSF's Aquarius vessel rescued 560 people and Phoenix, chartered by Maltese NGO Moas, hauled in another 360. Some 46,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year even before Thursday's drama, around a third up on the same period last year, according to the Italian interior ministry. At least 1,229 people have drowned making the perilous trip, according to the International Organization for Migration -- one death for every 39 persons rescued. The latest wave of people picked up comes as Italy beefs up security ahead of next week's G7 summit at Taormina in Sicily. The summit poses a challenge given that local authorities on the island have banned migrants from disembarking at Sicilian ports. Southern mainland ports or and those in the of Sardinia will instead take the strain. Search Keywords: Short link: Prison officials have been left completely dazed following a jailbreak which saw as many as 3000 people escape from jail. Security sources have revealed to the BBC that more than 3,000 prisoners are believed to have escaped from the main prison in Democratic Republic of Congo. The authorities say only around 50 prisoners got away when armed men attacked the prison on Wednesday. The security sources also said dozens of people were killed during the attack on Makala prison. Ne Muanda Nsemi, leader of the political-religious sect Bundu Dia Kongo, is among those who escaped. A police spokesperson told a local radio station, Radio Okapi, that the prisoners were dangerous, and called for anyone who saw them to tell the authorities. The sources say that around half of the prisons inmates fled during the attack. Government officials say a police officer and at least five attackers were killed, while several sources say that up to 100 died. The authorities accuse supporters of Mr Nsemis supporters of being behind the attack, although the group has denied this. Mr Nsemi is a self-styled prophet seeking to revive the ancient Kongo kingdom. Bundu Dia Kongo is campaigning to restore a monarchy in parts of DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and Gabon. Mr Nsemi was an MP when he was arrested in Kinshasa after police accused him of inciting violence The European Commission has added Medview airine to its EU air safety list thereby banning the airline from its airspace. Barely 18 months after commencing the Lagos-London route, the lone Nigerian carrier on the European route, Med-View Airline has been barred from entering European airspace. The European Union cited safety reasons for barring of the airline from entering the Europe airspace. European Commission said that its aircraft, Boeing 767 that operates to Gatwick London is not airworthy and advised the carrier to change the aircraft or suspend flight operations to its airspace until it is able to provide another aircraft for its operations. A statement released by the commission on Tuesday said that a total of 181 airlines have been banned from EU skies. Today the European Commission updated the EU air safety list, the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union, the statement read. Following todays update, all airlines certified in Benin and Mozambique are cleared from the list, following further improvements to the aviation safety situation in these countries. On the other hand, the airlines Med-View (Nigeria), Mustique Airways (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) were added to the list due to unaddressed safety deficiencies that were detected by the European aviation safety agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation. Additional information available on the EU transport and mobility website explained that airlines subjected to operating ban can operate in the EU using leased aircraft of another airline. Airlines subjected to an operating ban could be permitted to operate within the European Union by using wet-leased aircraft of an airline which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with. The aircraft being used in such operations could be branded as if it belonged to the fleet of the banned airline. It would be recalled that Med-View commenced the Lagos-Gatwick route on November 20, 2015, with fanfare. The airline commenced the three weekly frequencies to London with a Boeing 767 aircraft but changed the aircraft to Boeing 747 last year when the Boeing 767 went on maintenance check abroad. However, when the aircraft returned from checks abroad, the management deployed the aircraft to the European country again and moved the Boeing 747 for its annual hajj operations. Besides, due to lack of passengers in recent time, the airline reduced its frequencies to two weekly and last December had issues with passengers whose luggage were left behind in London. The carrier last year was enlisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and on Wednesday, held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) where investors expressed displeasure over the management of the airline, and expressed fear that the airline may go the way of others if the management didnt change its style of leadership. An evil man has been caught after he brutally murdered his wife and confessed that he is happy that she is dead. A heartless man has boasted after killing his wife that he was satisfied with her death. I am satisfied that she is dead and I dont regret killing her. Now the police can do whatever they want to do with me. 32-year-old cleaner arrested for allegedly killing his wife at Labadi, a suburb of Accra said. According to reports by DAILY GUIDE, Rex Kpanor, a cleaner at the Cardio Thoracic Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, was arrested on May 14 at the Police Hospital after allegedly butchering his wife to death. The victim, Christiana Ohenewa Anim a mother of three was purportedly killed following a misunderstanding between her and the suspect. Rex is currently in the custody of the Labadi police assisting in investigation. The body of the deceased has been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation. Narrating the incident the Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, La District Police Commander, said on May 11, 2017, at about 12pm, a woman rushed to the police station to report that a man had butchered his wife in a house close to her restaurant. Police proceeded to the scene but were told the victim had been rushed to the La General Hospital for treatment. He said when police followed up at the hospital, they were told the victim had died and so the body had been conveyed to the Police Hospital. Rex Kpanor, who is the father of the three children, was later identified as the person who butchered the woman The family of the deceased was asked to help apprehend the suspect who had gone into hiding after allegedly committing the act. According to Chief Superintendent Oduro Anning, on Sunday, May 14, a family member received a phone call from the suspect and in the course of their conversation, he asked how the wife was faring. The family member allegedly told him that his wife was on admission at the Police Hospital and so the man proceeded to the hospital (with alleged intention to finally kill the wife) when he was apprehended. At the police station, Rex, who reportedly claimed he was not remorseful about what he had done, told the police that he was satisfied that the wife was dead. Further information gathered by this paper indicated that Rex had co-habited with the woman for about 11 years and that their first born is ten years old. The couple was living at Sukura near Mamprobi when a misunderstanding ensued between them. Madam Christiana then relocated to live with a family at Nima but her husband managed to trace her to her new place. This compelled the woman to further move to live with an aunt at La, but the man reportedly kept pestering her with calls. On Thursday, May 11, Rex reportedly traced Christiana to La and in the course of their conversation, a fight ensued between them, which eventually led to the alleged murder of the woman. The first gazetted Nigerian actor, Abdullahi Abubakar Song, who was popularly known as Baban Larai, has died in Yola. He passed away on Sunday after a brief illness at 84. Baban Larai is survived by four children, including Jummai Bashir, who is the permanent secretary, Adamawa State Ministry of Youths and Sports. He began his acting during the colonial era and appeared in several shows broadcast on publicity mobile cinema and on television. A veteran journalist, Abdullahi Isa No-Sweat, has described the death as a monumental loss to the nation. Abdullahi Song joined the Northern Nigeria Ministry of Information after his middle school studies and he was asked to intensify campaign for cotton growing because the British colonial masters wanted cotton for their industries in Manchester. He travelled in Land Rover vehicle to cotton growing areas including Kano and Funtua for awareness campaign. Then he was asked to produce a film but he could not find actors. He approached many people but all of them declined. So, the white man directed him to become the actor. He played a cast Baban Larai and Maman Shata played the background music, he said. Source: Dailypost For daring to subject a little girl to brutal torture, a man has been served with the capital punishment in Oyo State. Yusuf Nasiru, a 30-year-old man, has been sentenced to death by hanging by an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday for strangulating and hacking to death a six-year-old girl. Justice Eni Esan held that the evidence before the court proved that Nasiru was guilty of murder. Mr. Esan said the prosecutor, Abdualah Olawale, was able to prove the charge of murder against the accused. The accused is an evil man that deserves no mercy for terminating the life of a six-year-old girl; he deserves the full wrath of the law. He is hereby sentenced to death by hanging until he dies Mr. Esan said. Mr. Olawale had earlier told the court that Mr. Nasiru committed the offence on March 12, 2014, at Isale Awero, Moniya area of Ibadan. He said Mr. Nasiru had picked up the victim from a road close to her school and killed her. After the accused killed her, he cut her body into several pieces and put them in a sack. The remains of the body were discovered after three days in the house of the accused in Moniya area of Ibadan after his neighbour noticed that a bad odour was oozing from his house, he said. Mr. Olawale said the accused ran away when he discovered that his neighbour had reported the matter to the police and was later arrested in Sokoto State. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the convict, who was represented by Adewale Adesanya, was arraigned on a one-count charge of murder for contravening the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol II, Laws of Oyo State 2000. He had pleaded not guilty and was remanded in Agodi prison until Wednesdays conviction. A hired machinery who came to write examination for a candidate has confessed after he was nabbed in Niger State. The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says it has arrested a suspected impersonator in the just-concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). We have arrested one Mohammed Sani Musa suspected to have been hired to write the examination for another candidate at the Ibrahim Babangida University centre in Lapai, the Commandant, Mr Philip Ayuba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Ayuba, who spoke on Thursday in Minna, disclosed that the suspect was arrested by officers stationed at the centre. We have interrogated the suspect and he has confessed to being hired from Nasarawa State by one Abdullahi Isa, who is still at large, he said. He said that the command was digging into the matter so as to bring those involved to justice . Ayuba, however, said that the exercise was hitch-free across the 14 centres in Niger. Welcome to the first installment, I look forward to have fun with you on my journey and make it even more pleasurable with freebies and gifts. The first comes from Lufthansa German Airline with up to $500 discount codes on ticket purchases. See details at the end and link in my bio if you are too impatient :). I had just got back from Abidjan and Liberia when I got a call that I had to be in Kenya in two days. I had looked forward to spending the next three days in Lagos before heading to the UK for my speaking engagement at the Said Business School, Oxford but not anymore. I spoke to a friend and mentor who was also billed to speak at the same conference and (thankfully) he said Hey, come ride with me on my plane. Cool, I thought. So I would return from Nairobi on Friday morning to catch three meetings in Lagos then jump back on his plane at 6 p.m. to arrive London by 11 p.m. ahead of the conference in the morning. Seemed like a good plan. On Wednesday, I got a text Hey, Sorry, Ive had to go to London today to be back tomorrow. Wont be making the conference anymore. He offered to get me back in on Thursday but I wont arrive Nigeria till Friday. Shoot! I reached out to my friend, Shade Ladipo of Avienti Travels and in conjunction with my office, they set out to find me an itinerary that was affordable (Important much ) and will get me there in good time. After a few hours, I received tickets for Lufthansa. I hadnt flown Lufthansa for about six years but I still remember the very professional service I received the last time except for the quite unfriendly lady at a restaurant in Frankfurt; I had missed my connecting flight and they put me back on for free. Six years after and the people are much nicer, everyone seemingly going about their business with courtesies as necessary. Leaving Lagos, the check in was smooth and easy with the usual dedicated desk for business travelers and a concierge assistant of some sort. The lounge, except for the spiral staircase, was calm and comfortable something quite important to me. On my trip four days prior, I had the option of the SDS lounge which I hear has a lot of food (I wont say great food as I havent tried it) or another lounge that was quiet and peaceful with little or no food. I took the bold step to take a peep in the SDS lounge and the chaos that hit me sent me straight into the latter. The lounge, though not a Lufthansa exclusive, attracted a high profile clientele and good array for nibbles and drinks. My flight was 11:50 and in my usual style I left the lounge at 11:25. They cant leave me, I always tell myself. The flight is obliged to make three announcements of my name and as far as I get there before 15 minutes to departure, I am very alright else they get a lawsuit. In true business fashion, the seats were compact and straight up but soon as we took off, I activated the stretch buttons and it sucked me in like a new duvet. I received the menu and was excited by the items listed. A seafood dinner looked like a good idea but before I could say Jack Robinson, the comfort of the seats overpowered me and not only did I miss dinner, I missed breakfast. Beat that! I woke up to the voice announcing We are now descending Seafood dinner gone. My first thought was Lufthansa has to pay me back for missed meals but I have to admit, the sleep was restful. I had been slightly dizzy and shaken before boarding (the several connecting flights seemed to have been taking a toll) that I considered even cancelling the trip but somehow I woke up energized. We arrived Frankfurt and I proceeded straight to the lounge which was right at my gate. Took a long hot shower (I never understand lounges that dont have showers) and changed clothes as I had to head straight to the conference soon as we land london. Im sure no one would have noticed the change since I came out looking almost the same except the fresh smell from the bathroom gel trying to overpower my perfume. I settled for a small slice of wheat bread, jam, some scrambled eggs, a banana and a latte macchiato with a shot of espresso. Ready, set, go! We strolled back on board to London. I find Lufthansas stopovers to be impressively short hence the business-like nature of the lounge and many of their services. The flight from Frankfurt to the UK is about 40 minutes and we were there in no time. On this travel blog, Ill bring you freebies and gifts to aid your travel. Lufthansa German Airline is our first friend to give out goodies with discount vouchers of $100 off Economy Class, $200 off Premium Economy and $500 off Business Class Download your voucher now as we only have about 25 up there. http://lufthansa.verify-centre.com/LufthansaBusinessTraveler See you soon! Love, Your #AfricanTraveller. Supporters of businessman and oil tycoon, Ifeanyi Ubah have rallied to vent their anger over his continued detention by the DSS. About 500 supporters of oil tycoon and businessman Ifeanyi Ubah protested in court on Thursday as the Department of State Services again failed to produce Ubah before Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Thursday, reports Authority. According to a report, this is in flagrant disregard of the May 12, 2017, court order given to the DSS by Justice Idris, to produce Ubah in court today. The detention of Ubah has left many of his supporters bitterly angry. Leading the pack of those who have condemned the DSS continued detention of Ubah are Pan-Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC); the National Association of South East Nigeria Students (NASENS), HURIWA, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and affected workers of Capital Oil and Gas. Speaking to journalists, a Staff of Capital Oil, Mr. Tony Ogundipe expressed his frustration at the impasse. We, Capital Oil workers are disappointed with the nonchalant attutude of the Federal Government in the resolution of this matter that has left over 2,000 of us temporarily jobless and redundant. The failure of the FG to call the conspirators to order is a blatant slap on the face of our democracy and sheer insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians, he lamented. Another staff of Capital Oil and Gas called on the FG to intervene in a bid to avert the impending starvation of their families. The injustice meted on Dr Ifeanyi Ubah is negatively affecting over 2,000 workers of Capital Oil. The FG should be mindful of the implications on our families who are gradually been forced to starve, he concluded. With this latest failure to produce Ubah in court today, Justice Idris adjourned the matter for ruling on Thursday, May 25, 2017 The UN's top court on Thursday ordered Pakistan to stay the execution of an Indian national convicted of spying, in a decision hailed by New Delhi. Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav must not be executed by Islamabad until they have had time to pass final judgement in the case. Jadhav was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistani officials claim he has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services. He was convicted last month by a military court and sentenced to death. But India has maintained he is not a spy, and lodged a case against Pakistan earlier this month, accusing Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking international human rights law. New Delhi also appealed for the court to impose emergency measures to suspend Jadhav's execution until the legal battle in The Hague has concluded. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," said the court's president Ronny Abraham. He also ordered Pakistan to inform the tribunal that it has implemented the decision, and stressed that ICJ decisions are binding on all member states. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the ruling and said in a Tweet that it was "a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India". "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav," he said in another Tweet. Outlining the reasons for its decision, Abraham said Pakistan had "given no assurance" Jadhav would not be executed before the court delivered its final decision. "The mere fact that Mr Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India," he added. Therefore the court was "satisfied" of the "urgency" of the case. The case -- a rare foray for the two South Asian nations into the international courts -- has highlighted the recent sharp upsurge in tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The ICJ was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between nations in accordance with international law. The tribunal has not yet decided whether it has jurisdiction to hear India's case, and a final ruling could take months, if not years. Outside his former home in Mumbai, a group of friends let off firecrackers in celebration as the decision was made public. "We are very happy with the world court's verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case. Justice has been served and it is proven that Pakistan's courts are mere kangaroo courts and nothing else," one friend Sachin Kale told AFP. Jadhav reportedly joined India's prestigious National Defence Academy in 1987 and was commissioned as an engineer in the Indian Navy in 1991. The son of a retired police office, his neighbours in Mumbai where he lived with his wife and two children, remember him as a shy but helpful man who was good at sport and academic, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. Indian lawyer Deepak Mittal had told the ICJ in a day-long emergency hearing on Monday that Jadhav was "an innocent Indian national" who had been held incommunicado "for more than a year on concocted charges". But Pakistani representatives accused New Delhi of "political grandstanding" and told the court Jadhav "has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan". The last time India and Pakistan took a dispute to the ICJ was in 1999 when Islamabad protested against the downing of a Pakistani navy plane that killed 16 people. But the tribunal decided in 2000 that it was not competent to rule in the dispute and closed the case. Search Keywords: Short link: Alfred Aderibigbe,the man who administered several injections on Osun senator, Isiaka Adekele, shortly before his death, has testified before the Corona inquest into the lawmakers, saying he was only one of many nurses the politician had in Lagos and Abuja. Giving evidence at the inquest on Thursday in Yoruba, Mr. Aderibgbe said Mr. Adeleke consulted him for the past 20 years on matters relating to his health. He was led in evidence by his counsel, Lekan Alabi. According to Mr. Aderibigbe, he first met Mr. Adeleke 20 years ago while working as a nurse at the State Hospital, Ede. He said he had attended to Mr. Adelekes daughter who was rushed to the hospital under convulsive condition, adding that the senator then appreciated his effort with a cash gift. Mr. Aderibgbe explained that after the incident, he visited the senator regularly on his instruction. After a while, I started treating him, he said. Whenever he was given prescription and he probably didnt complete his treatment in Abuja, I would administer the remaining. He had other nurses in Abuja, and some in Lagos. Im his nurse in Ede. I dont know any of other nurses, but I know that whenever he was given injection by those nurses, he would show me in order to know the new area to inject him. He was hypertensive and he had gouty arthritis. I was close to him. I used to advise him to rest for him to be okay. He stopped smoking for a long time. He drank alcoholic drinks. The Chief Medical Director of Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, LAUTECH, Wale Lasisi, had testified before the inquest on Monday, saying the information available to him indicated that Mr. Aderibigbe had no medical status, either as a doctor or as a nurse. He also said the Mr. Adeleke was injected with Analgin, an analgesic outlawed by the National Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, several years ago. Mr. Aderibigbes testimony was deferred to Thursday following pleas by his counsel that he was emotionally unfit to stand in the witness box. Source: ( Premium Times ) Some men of the Nigerian Army has continued in their attitude of mal- treating civilians majorly for wearing a carbon copy of the military uniform. Popular comedian, Ali Baba has called out the Nigerian Army for treating army brutality of civilians with kid gloves. The comedian posted a photo showing a military man stepping on a civilian in a puddle, whip in hand, while a crowd of onlookers watch. Bloody civilian! How dare you challenge an officer. And after investigation, it would be an #unknownSoldier. Bloody civilian, he wrote as caption to the post. Though the time and location of the events were not stated, the photo appears to have been captured beside the rail track in front of the Nigeria Army Shopping Arena, Oshodi, Lagos. See Ali Babas post below Microsofts Cortana voice-based personal assistant has always seemed a little out of place in the enterprise. Its a useful tool for search, for reminders, and for letting you know when you need to leave to get to that meeting on time. But compared to Amazon Alexas growing list of skills, its lagging in the personal assistant race. Yes, it connects to Office 365 and LinkedIn to give you some insight into your work, but then again so does Alexa. But if Microsoft delivers the Windows promises made last week at its Build 2017 developer conference, thats all going to change. As part of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadellas rearticulation of his original mobile first, cloud first vision as one of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge, Cortana is getting a promotion. More than a basic piece of personal assistant software, with the next release of Windows 10 it will be the face of the intelligent agents that will populate Microsofts new blurring of the cloud and PC worlds. Cortana gets new skills Patty Maes at the MIT Media Lab came up with the idea of software that acts as an intermediary for its users back in the 1980s, but its taken time for the industry to deliver on her original vision. Conversational user interfaces like Cortanas are part of an agent model, giving users something tangible to use as a basis for interactions. Behind the scenes, however, are tools like Microsofts cognitive services, as well as new ways of managing how we interact with information and our devices. One of Build 2017s big announcements was the launch of new tools that let you add your own new skills to Cortana, alongside its built-in actions. Launching with new skills from familiar services like Microsoft Using its newfound skills in Windows 10 Creators Fall Update, Cortana will respond to requests and connect you to services, such as in the Dark Sky weather app shown here. , as well as surface relevant information from requests as part of your day-to-day interactions with the service. Although Cortana skills are likely to be focused on consumer scenarios, offering a new route for B2C interactions, it should be possible to deploy private enterprise skills using the same approaches used to build private bots for Microsoft Teams and Skype. The initial release of skills includes enterprise apps like the Tact sales tool and the Knowmail email management service. Building your own Cortana skills Its not hard to build new skills for Cortana; if youve played with Microsofts Bot Framework, announced at Build 2016, youre already building Cortana skills. Cortana is just another channel for the Bot Framework, so you can quickly repurpose existing code. APIs from Microsofts cloud-hosted Cognitive Services add natural language processing capabilities to your code, helping you understand just what users are asking; you can also use Cortanas own speech recognition tools to launch your new skill. Microsofts own bot tools arent the only way to build a Cortana skill: Youll also be able to migrate Alexa skills to Microsofts platform. Itll be interesting to see just how that migration works, because itll entail moving code from Amazons AWS Lambda serverless tools to Microsofts Azure equivalent, Azure Functions. Initially available on PCs running the Windows 10 Creators Update, skills should quickly move cross platform to the iOS and Android Cortana apps. What Cortana learned from Apple Cortanas planned new features go well beyond bots, as its a key element of the second Windows 10 release of 2017, the coming Fall Creators Update. The Build 2017 keynote showed Cortana driving a new pick up where you left off feature, similar to Apples Continuity and Handoff technologies. Here, documents and applications can follow you from device to device, so an email youve started editing on a PC can be finished on a phone with Cortana installing the application you need if its not present. Thats a useful model: I can see it stopping me quickly dashing off emails before I rush to catch a train. Instead Ill be able to write a draft and then polish it on my phone while on my way to a meeting. Its just one of a series of upcoming Windows 10 features that aim to change how we work with Windows. The key word here is work; because its our work that will follow us around, with Windows 10s Timeline feature giving us an expanded Task Switcher view that gives us the option of seeing what we were doing an hour ago, a day ago, or even further back, so we can quickly switch context to pick up yesterdays work alongside all the applications we were using. Timeline, as shown at Build 2017, is specific to a Windows PC. But Cortanas pick up where you left off is more general, a cross-cross-platform way of working thats like Apples Continuity. But where Continuity limits you to sharing between iOS and MacOS, Microsofts solution will work across Windows, Android, and iOS. (But not MacOS.) Project Rome: A new way of work Under the hood is something that Microsoft calls Project Rome. Its a set of SDKs that give your apps the ability to share information with each other, both cross-platform and cross-location. Using a Microsoft Account or Azure Active Directory as your identity, Project Rome adds your devices to Microsoft Graph. With documents and applications already nodes on Microsoft Graph, devices give applications a new set of nodes to traverse and a new source of intelligence about what youre doing and how youre doing it. Its a smart approach to solving an old problem, taking advantage of the capabilities of both the cloud and your devices. If you remember a Ray Ozzie-era Windows project called Live Mesh, youre already familiar with some of the underlying concepts. Live Mesh let you connect PCs and smartphones so they could share files without being on the same network, using a peer-to-peer connection and Microsofts early cloud storage tools. Its file-sharing tools were useful, but they were only part of the story. One small part of Live Mesh shared settings from device to device, so your Office dictionaries and signatures would be the same wherever you logged in, along with the list of files youd recently worked on. Its that last, almost forgotten, part of Live Mesh that Project Rome is building on. With files now almost by default stored in cloud file systems, Project Rome shares pointers of where you are in a document, so when you stop editing on a smartphone, you can pick up right where you left off on a PC. Similarly, by understanding what applications you were using, Project Rome can recommend installing missing apps on your PCs, with links to the appropriate app store. A more intelligent Windows in a more intelligent cloud The result of all these changes should be a more intelligent Windows, part of Nadellas new intelligent edge, that works with Microsoft Graph in the intelligent cloud. With a focus on work, its all part of how Microsoft aims to reinvent productivity tools for how we work now, rather than how we worked way back when the first word processors arrived on our desks. Microsoft clearly has a vision, now we just have to wait a few months (or for a new Insider Windows build) to start seeing how that vision actually works. WEAT, 9.05 target ONE44 Analytics - Wed Nov 9, 6:36PM CST Educational and Actionable! WEAT : 8.35 (-2.22%) ***Market Wrap-up Nov 9 RJO Futures - Wed Nov 9, 6:01PM CST Summary of today's events, Stocks/Bonds (Sorry no election talk) Hogs Mixed Mostly Lower Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Hogs close with a 30 cent loss in the Dec contract, but 2 to 65 cent gains in the other nearbys. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price for Wednesday was $0.48 higher to $87.70. The CME Lean Hog Index... HEZ22 : 85.275s (-0.35%) HEJ23 : 94.625s (+0.45%) KMZ22 : 95.450s (-0.55%) Cotton Ends Red on Wednesday Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Cotton futures faded on report day with losses of 36 to 118 points. USDA reduced their average farm price for cotton by a nickel to 85 cents/lb. Monthly USDA projections had a 13 lb/acre cotton yield... CTZ22 : 86.27 (-0.27%) CTH23 : 84.20 (-0.63%) CTK23 : 83.25 (-0.64%) Cattle Futures Fade on Wednesday Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Live cattle futures ended the day with 25 cent losses in the August 23 contract to 62 cent losses in the Feb. Dec cattle dropped by $1.47 on the day to close at $151.57. USDA confirmed some moderate... LEZ22 : 151.575s (-0.96%) LEG23 : 154.150s (-0.40%) LEJ23 : 157.775s (-0.30%) GFX22 : 177.725s (-0.31%) GFF23 : 179.650s (-0.14%) Soybeans Close Higher on Strong Soy Oil Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Soybean futures had a wild roller coaster day for the midweek trade, leading the Jan contract back and forth within an impressive 24 1/4 cents (from +11 to -13 cents). Ultimately the board ended the session... ZSX22 : 1459-0 (unch) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.2141 (+0.53%) ZSF23 : 1450-0 (-0.14%) ZSH23 : 1454-2 (-0.21%) Wheats Drop on Report Day Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Wheat futures ended the session with some double digit losses. Notably, Dec SRW was down 2.5% to the lowest print since Sep 6th, the $8 mark did hold at the low. KC HRW futures traded 1.3% to 1.7% lower... ZWZ22 : 807-0 (unch) ZWH23 : 828-4 (unch) ZWPAES.CM : 7.3919 (-2.76%) KEZ22 : 930-6 (unch) KEPAWS.CM : 8.8808 (-1.74%) MWZ22 : 938-2 (unch) Lower Close for Midweek Corn Market Barchart - Wed Nov 9, 4:48PM CST Corn futures printed a volatile intra day chart, leading to a 14c range from +5 to -9 1/2. Ultimately, corn futures closed the day 3 to 5 cents in the red. New crop December weakened by more, leaving the... ZCZ22 : 663-6 (unch) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6266 (-0.41%) ZCH23 : 669-6 (unch) ZCK23 : 669-2 (-0.19%) U.S. Senator John McCain, one of the leading foreign policy voices in Congress, on Thursday urged the expulsion of Turkey's U.S. ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during President Tayyip Erdogan's recent visit. "We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America ... This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically," McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, adding that legal action could also be pursued. Search Keywords: Short link: Update 6/8/17 Police have arrested Michael Anthony Davis Jr. in connection with the assault and robbery of a self-storage employee in May. Officers with the El Paso County Sheriffs Department found Davis on May 31 in a motel room in El Paso County, Colo., according to the source. Davis appeared in court on Tuesday and waived his right to an extradition hearing. Hes scheduled to be transported to Orange County, Calif., this week to face charges of attempted murder, auto theft and robbery, the source reported. His bail was set at $500,000. Police are seeking a transient who allegedly beat up and robbed an employee last week at a self-storage facility in Placentia, Calif. The May 13 attack at the property in the 500 block of Porter Way occurred at about 8:50 p.m., according to the source. The robber hit the victim in the head with a metal object several times, rendering him unconscious, said Placentia Police Department Capt. Eric Point. When the victim awoke, he was tied up, with tape over his mouth and a plastic bag over his head, the source reported. The suspect escaped in the victims car, which police found on Sunday in Tustin, Calif. The victim, whose name is being withheld, was able to free himself and call police. He was treated at a hospital for moderate head wounds, Point said. The suspect has been identified by police as Michael Anthony Davis Jr. A warrant has been issued for the 40-year-old man, who frequents Anaheim, Fullerton, Placentia, Santa Ana and Tustin and Santa Ana., Calif. Anyone with information is being asked to call 714.993.8151. Davis is considered dangerous and shouldnt be approached, police said. Update 8/3/17 StorageVault has closed on the 24 self-storage facilities that were part of the Sentinel Storage portfolio. In addition to paying for the assets through the issuance of company shares, cash on hand and mortgage financing, the company used funds from a new revolving credit agreement of up to $270 million, which was advanced at the closing of the transaction, according to a press release. The credit agreement, led by The Bank of Nova Scotia, also includes the Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canadian Western Bank, National Bank of Canada, Raymond James Finance Company of Canada Ltd. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. We are very happy with the credit agreement and its strong sponsorship, said Iqbal Khan, chief financial officer. It provides us with the flexibility to apply StorageVaults operating system to the acquisition and the ability to reduce our cost of debt. 6/27/17 StorageVault has officially acquired one of two Montreal self-storage facilities it agreed to buy last month. The $8 million purchase was made with funds on hand. The company is also negotiating a purchase agreement with Access Self Storage, a major shareholder of StorageVault, to buy six Access facilities for $34.2 million, according to a press release. Those properties are in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The deal with Access is subject to approval by TSX Venture Exchange, the Toronto stock exchange. It would be paid for by issuing up to $7.5 million in common shares at $2.80 per share, along with cash and financing, the release stated. The deal is expected to close around Aug. 15. StorageVault has been actively acquiring Access properties. The deals include five assets that changed hands for $48 million last September. 5/17/17 StorageVault Canada Inc. has agreed to purchase $429.2 million in self-storage assets in recent weeks. The agreements include all 24 Sentinel Storage locations across Canada, two unrelated facilities in the Montreal market and the third-party management business of Access Results Management Services Inc. (ARMS), a related entity to StorageVault, according to company officials. StorageVault signed an agreement in March to acquire Sentinel by purchasing the outstanding shares from private company TargetCo ULC for $396.6 million. The portfolio is spread across Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. The purchase will be made by issuing $20 million in StorageVault shares at $1.70 per share, with the remainder paid with cash, debt assumption and mortgage financing, according to a press release. Its expected to close by June 30. StorageVault has also signed agreements to buy two unrelated self-storage properties in Greater Montreal for $16.6 million. The facilities will give the operator 10 assets in the local market. One purchase price of $8.6 million is payable by issuing $500,000 in common shares at $2.50 per share, with the remainder paid with cash and financing. The second asset is being acquired for $8 million through cash and financing, officials said. Both deals are expected to close by July 31. In March, StorageVault also agreed to bring the management of its 50 locations in-house and acquire the third-party management contracts for more than 55 self-storage facilities from ARMS for $16 million. The purchase was expected to close March 31 and is being paid for by issuing $11 million in common shares at $1.70 per share and cash. The hold price for the shares expires Aug. 1. The third-party management platform is an important acquisition funnel for StorageVault, and it provides a separate and valuable revenue stream, officials said in a press release. StorageVault operates several self-storage facilities and more than 3,200 portable-storage units in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. LONDON, ON (May 17, 2017) Delaware Speedway is excited to bring the NASCAR PINTYs Series to London, Ontario for an exciting race experience on Saturday June 3. Prior to race day there will be an Ultimate NASCAR Fan Engagement Event at Victoria Park on Saturday May 27, 10am-6pm. Admission to the Fan Engagement Event is FREE! Fans will have the opportunity to view race cars up close and personal as well as talk to the drivers. There will also be a number of race specific fan engagement activities including the Pit Stop Challenge, Bone Stock Teardown, Photo Engagement Areas, Heavy Equipment Displays from Toromont CAT, KIDZONE area with Bouncy Castle and Delaware Speedway mascot Dipstick, Official Pace Truck and Safety Truck. We are excited about bringing NASCAR back to Delaware Speedway, says Jonathan Urlin, director of operations for Delaware Speedway. We have so many dedicated and loyal race fans that come out to the track on a regular basis, however we are really looking forward to also engaging people that arent necessarily race fans, to come out and enjoy the family friendly environment that racing has to offer. There will also be many Give-Aways and Prizes with the opportunity to win the Grand Prize of joining in on the pre-race drivers meeting at the track on June 3. Interested Drivers and Volunteers: Delaware Speedway is looking to add more drivers and volunteers to its growing lineup for this day. Any interested drivers or volunteers can contact Ryan Beliveau at ryan@beliveaumarketing.com for information on load in times and more. The event will run from 10:00am 6:00pm. For any Media Enquiries please contact Ryan Beliveau at ryan@beliveaumarketing.com 519-619-0931 Will technology make insurance obsolete? That was the stark question posed by William Hartnett, a former Microsoft and ACORD executive, in his opening address to the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium, April 26-27 in Des Moines. The annual event is sponsored by a coalition of Iowa insurers, reinsurers, system vendors, university insurance departments, and the states insurance department. Citing the exponential growth and declining cost of computing power, Hartnett said a lot of technology today is getting to the point where its essentially free. Harnett, who led Microsofts financial services operation for more than two decades, projects that, by 2023, a sum of $1,000 will be able to purchase all the cognitive capability of a human brain. Just two years later, in 2025, that $1,000 will be able to purchase the equivalent of the cognitive capabilities of all the human brains on earth. The implications of this for insurers, Hartnett said, is that risk control will be embedded in smart devices that will monitor and regulate where we live and work, and how we travel. Eventually, the level of an individual risk will be identified with such precision that the law of large numbers, long the foundation of insurance pricing, may become irrelevant. We can get down to a risk pool of one, Hartnett said. That doesnt sound like insurance to me. If were not doing insurance anymore, lets just admit it. An example of how insurance becomes one component in a package of personalized risk management services was provided by speaker Matteo Carbone, founder of the Connected Insurance Observatory, an insurance innovation organization based in Milan, Italy, but with participants throughout Europe and North America. According to Carbone, an Italian auto insurer is utilizing advanced networked technology to achieve what he calls the four Ps of success: productivity, profitability, proximity (to customers), and persistence (account retention). Carbone said the carrier offered a discounted rate plus a package of optional services to customers who would voluntarily accept telematic monitoring devices in their vehicles, which was still a novelty at the time. There was an immediate boost in risk selection productivity, he said, as drivers with relatively good risk profiles willingly self-selected for telematics-based coverage, providing an account base with nearly 20 percent fewer claims than the market average. Information provided by the telematics then contributed to a 7 percent reduction in average claims costs, Carbone continued. With real-time, in-depth information on accidents, the carrier has had more time to compare and manage repair costs, and to challenge estimates by body shops and inflated claims. For example, he said, monitors in insured vehicles can measure and record the impact of a crash, allowing the company to challenge inflated claims of bodily injury and property damage arising from a low-impact accident. The program contributes directly to company profitability and customer proximity, he added, as most of the customers opt to pay for the comprehensive package of services available through the program. The services, accessible through a smart phone, cover every phase of a driving experience. They provide, among other things, alerts regarding traffic and weather, as well as the drivers own speed and braking. There is even information on hazards at parking locations, including a feature for summoning a bodyguard to walk you from the car. The result, he concluded, has been less churn and more persistence (higher retention) for the programs accounts than for counterparts among other Italian auto insurers. Topics Tech New England is drought free. Thats according to the latest weekly report issued by the U.S. Drought Monitor. While conditions in about a quarter of the state of Connecticut remain abnormally dry, no portion of the six-state region is considered to be in moderate, severe or extreme drought. Thats a far cry from the beginning of 2017. In Massachusetts at that time, 98 percent of the state was at some level of drought status. More than half of the state was considered in extreme drought last September, prompting pleas for water conservation from Massachusetts officials. Precipitation in the region has returned to normal levels Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics USA A New York woman has sued the Target corporation after one of its two-ton red balls rolled into her drivers side door. Eileen Grady claims in her lawsuit that the company knew or should have known the concrete balls would come loose and create a hazard. The Pearl River resident is seeking more than $100,000 in damages. The lawsuit cites a security video captured Nov. 22 which allegedly shows the ball getting loose at a New Jersey store after being grazed by a pickup truck. whose The ball then rolled into the store parking lot and crashed into Gradys 2015 Nissan Rogue. Grady says the damage to her car was more than $3,300 and she suffered both physical and psychological injuries. A Target representative declined to comment on the suit. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Auto New York A county in New York state has sued Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers, accusing them of engaging in fraudulent marketing that played down the risks of prescription opioid painkillers, leading to a drug epidemic. The lawsuit, which also named units of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Endo International Plc as defendants, was announced on Monday by Orange County, New York, which is located in the southeastern part of the state. The case, filed in a New York state court on Thursday, is the latest lawsuit by local and state governments seeking to hold drugmakers accountable for a national opioid epidemic. The lawsuit claims the drugmakers through deceptive marketing misrepresented the dangers of long-term opioid use to doctors, pharmacists and patients. Those misrepresentations about drugs like Purdues OxyContin and Endos Opana ER led Orange County to incur health care, criminal justice and other costs related to addiction, the lawsuit said. Orange County, which has a population of about 379,000, said it recorded 943 opioid-related emergency department admissions in 2014 and 44 deaths from overdoses involving opioid pain relievers in 2015. Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said in a statement the county has been working with non-profits and doctors to increase awareness to opioid-related problems. At the same time, we want those responsible to compensate the taxpayers for the public funds the county has had to pay to address opioid addiction, he said. The lawsuit also named four physicians as defendants. J&J in a statement called the allegations unfounded and noted its drugs carry U.S. Food and Drug Administration-mandated warnings. Purdue said it shares officials concerns about the opioid crisis and is committed to working collaboratively to find solutions. Endo did not respond to a request for comment. Teva declined to comment. Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed over 33,000 people in the United States in 2015, more than any year on record, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Orange Countys lawsuit is the fourth since August by a New York county seeking to recover costs related to opioid addiction. Several other counties are also considering suing. Drugmakers also face lawsuits by Santa Clara and Orange counties in California, the city of Chicago and Mississippi over their marketing practices. Some state attorneys general have started similar investigations. J&J this month said New Jerseys attorney general had issued a subpoena related to opioid marketing. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker) Topics Lawsuits USA New York Drugs Days after the global cyber attack, U.K. police are trying to figure out whether it was an established network of criminals, state-backed hackers or bored teenagers that crippled the countrys health service. The malware campaign affected more than 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries, locking users out of systems at Chinese government agencies, Deutsche Bahn, automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Renault, logistics giant FedEx Corp., and hospitals around the world. As security experts gain the upper hand in containing the infection, police have begun the hunt for its creators. The response is beyond anything Ive seen before, said Steven Wilson, the head of Europols EC3 cyber crime unit. The picture is starting to emerge slowly. This could be something that is going to take us a considerable period of time. Finding and locking up hackers may be the toughest job in law enforcement. Criminals can use the darkweb the subterranean layer of the internet untouched by conventional search engines to disguise their activities, and make use of a complex online ecosystem of black market services that is global in nature. Suspects are often in Eastern Europe, Russia or other hard-to-reach jurisdictions for U.S. or European police. The U.K. and Russia were among the worst hit, making them the likely leaders in any investigation. Absolutely Focused We are absolutely focused in finding out who the criminals behind this attack are, said Lynne Owens, director general at the National Crime Agency, known as the U.K.s FBI. At this moment in time, we dont know whether its a very sophisticated network or whether its a number of individuals working together, Owens said in an interview posted on the agencys website. Unlike being hacked by clicking on a malicious email or link, the WannaCry virus replicated itself, spreading for computer to computer automatically and demanding that computer users pay a ransom in bitcoin, an online currency that is extremely difficult to track. It takes a colossal amount of time, resource, knowledge, skill and effort to look through all the data and follow it through all the encrypted steps, said Brian Lord, a former director at the U.K.s signals intelligence agency, GCHQ. Lord, now an executive at security firm PGI Cyber, said it takes strategic patience and that law enforcement agencies with all of their competing priorities and demands rarely had such qualities. Robust Investigation This time it may be different, given the widespread damage caused by WannaCry, according to Thomas Brown, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New York who supervised a cyber crime unit. The wealth of available evidence given the vast scope of the attack, as well as the fact that there will probably be very strong international cooperation in light of the huge number of affected countries (including Russia), indicate that the investigation will be extremely robust, he said. The probe will likely feature a combination of high-tech evidence gathering and traditional gum shoe techniques, such as interviewing suspects and confidential sources, said Brown, a managing director at Berkeley Research Group. An NCA spokeswoman said the agency would use its international liaison officers, based in 120 countries, to work with overseas forces. Leading the NCA operation is Oliver Gower, a former civil servant who speaks fluent French and who has spend the past five years helping build a coordinated government response to cyber crime, according to his LinkedIn profile. Cyber criminals may believe they are anonymous but we will use all the tools at our disposal to bring them to justice, Gower said in a statement last week. Teenage Kicks The NCA has made progress in dismantling the online systems that distribute viruses, and recently arrested suspected cyber money launderers. Unlike U.S. authorities, it doesnt have a track record of extraditing overseas hackers or, in one instance, seizing them while on holiday in the Maldives. The NCAs cyber division is probably best known for an advertising campaign trying to dissuade teenagers from breaking computer laws. The NCA can also call on the U.K.s new National Cyber Security Centre, a GCHQ division created last year to be the public face of the famously secretive data collection agency. The NCSC coordinated the immediate response to the ransonware attack, its first major incident. Over the weekend, the center made contact with some of the worlds largest private cyber security companies, including Secureworks Corp. and FireEye Inc., compiling information about the ransomware and how to contain it. This is the NCAs biggest challenge to date, said Alex Mendez, joint founder of Remora, a London-based computer security firm. The agency could potentially work together with other countries but in practice it can be hard to agree on operational actions due to the underlying political environment, he said. Related: WannaCry Ransomware Hackers Threaten to Release More Malicious Code Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Cyber Russia Europe Law Enforcement XL Catlin has added two new members to its Canadian environmental insurance team: Marc Estrada as environmental team lead and Brian Hughes as assistant vice president, environmental underwriting. Estrada and Hughes are based in Toronto and report to Joseph Madigan, environmental regional manager for Canada. Estrada joins from AIG where he focused on underwriting contractors pollution liability and combined general liability and pollution liability risks. Prior to AIG, Estrada spent six years at Hub International HKMB brokering multiple lines of coverage including environmental, construction and D&O. Hughes joins from Zurich where he spent 16 years underwriting environmental coverages, including contractors pollution and professional liability and fixed site pollution liability. While other insurers have shied away from the pollution insurance market, were reinforcing our resources and talent to meet our clients environmental risk management needs and keep us on our path of profitable growth, said Matt OMalley, president of North America environmental insurance. Nick Greggains, CEO and country manager for XL Catlin, Canada added, Increasingly, our clients and their brokers are looking for new, innovative solutions for evolving exposures. Effective environmental risk management takes considerable knowledge and technical skill. Marc and Brian add a wealth of experience that I am certain will strengthen our existing relationships and expand our reach in the market. Source: XL Catlin Topics Pollution Canada AXA XL The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) has issued a Cease and Desist Order against Adam Michalik, also known as Adam Heaphy, of Harrison Township, Michigan. DIFS says Michalik has been using the agency name Detroit Premier Insurance Agency to sell fraudulent auto insurance policies to Detroit residents. DIFS said that between Oct. 10, 2016, and Feb. 2, 2017, it received three business-to-business complaints and two consumer complaints about Michaliks alleged unlicensed activity. An investigation revealed that neither he nor his agency is licensed in Michigan but were advertising and selling fraudulent insurance certificates in the state, according to the cease and desist order. Source: Michigan DIFS Topics Michigan A group of about a dozen Republican governors is pushing for its own set of national healthcare reforms, flexing its considerable muscle in the national debate over the future of Obamacare as the U.S. Senate begins writing its bill. Led by Governor John Kasich of Ohio, the governors are using a nine-page proposal they crafted in February as the platform to shape what they think a critical portion of an Obamacare replacement law should look like, according to a half dozen people who helped write the plan. Among the groups recommendations for the Senate include maintaining the expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, while also limiting federal spending for certain populations, according to a copy of the proposal. Members of the group, which include governors from Utah, Tennessee and Michigan, are also now looking to form a bipartisan coalition of states to propose reforms for the individual insurance market, according to one source, that they hope the Senate will also use. They have not yet met or decided on specific reforms about the individual insurance market, but the goal is to address issues such as how to make insurance more affordable and stabilize the markets. The House of Representatives narrowly passed its national healthcare bill earlier this month, called the American Health Care Act, which would slash federal Medicaid funding by more than $800 billion over the next decade. It has prompted fierce criticism from both Republican and Democratic governors. Kasich recently called the bill inadequate, and said it would leave millions of people without affordable coverage and living in the emergency rooms again. Pressure is building from their constituents. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which has been tracking public opinion on health care issues for the past several years, has found that Republicans are more supportive than they were in 2013 of benefits including expanded Medicaid and insurance subsidies for low-income families and a government requirement that small businesses provide insurance for their employees. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English across the United States and gathered responses from 2,126 adults, including 887 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2 percentage points for the entire group and 4 percentage points for Republicans. The governors group is looking to the Senate for massive changes as they begin writing their own bill. Several groups, from insurers and hospitals to medical groups and patient advocates, are trying to influence the Senate. But the governors carry extra weight because they will ultimately be responsible for implementing whatever healthcare overhaul is signed into law, and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly spoken about the need to have fewer federal regulations apply to Medicaid and commercial insurance. Under Obamacare, more than 30 states, including about a dozen Republican-led states, expanded Medicaid. One of the thorniest issues Republicans have grappled with is treating both expansion and non-expansion states equally. Governors from both types of states united to craft Medicaid proposals in the hope that their voice would carry added weight and provide a surer path for lawmakers. The governors are also in the same boat politically as U.S. senators because both are elected statewide, rather than in smaller districts as House representatives are. So many governors and their senators have been better aligned on what healthcare reform should look like, several of the sources said. Several governors and their staff said they have been in regular contact with their senators, and will be pushing for the Senate to use the governors set of reforms as a framework in writing its bill. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio wrote in an op-ed Monday that he and other senators tasked with writing a healthcare bill have continued to engage with governors, many of who share my concerns about Medicaid but who also want more flexibility to ensure they can design health care programs that meet the individual needs of their states. He added that the Senate will continue to work with governors on healthcare reform. They are definitely hearing our concerns and questions. They have been very attentive to our interests, said Nathan Checketts, deputy director of the Utah Department of Health. UNIFIED VOICE The group of Republican governors has worked to have a unified voice to reconcile needs among a diverse set of states, including Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Nevada. Its leaders, which also include Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan and Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona, deliberately chose some participants from states with influential Republican senators who would become key players in a federal healthcare overhaul. A 13-member Senate panel has been tasked with writing a healthcare bill, and at least five of its senators are from states from the Republican governors group, including Portman, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Mike Lee of Utah and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Other Republican senators with governors in the group including Dean Heller of Nevada and Jeff Flake of Arizona are up for reelection in 2018. As Senate Republicans take up the bill, one of the most complicated policy and political issues they must grapple with is Medicaid reform. States that expanded Medicaid, such as Ohio and Michigan, have said a healthcare overhaul must protect those who gained coverage under Obamacare. Non-expansion states, meanwhile, have said they do not want to be penalized with less federal funding because they did not expand and therefore cover fewer people. The governors proposal recommends maintaining Obamacares Medicaid expansion and giving other states the opportunity to expand, but capping federal spending on certain populations through either block grants or per capita caps. It would provide states the option to phase in other groups, such as parents and children, to per capita caps or block grants, and it recommends reducing federal regulations on states and their Medicaid programs. (Additional reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Caroline Humer and Edward Tobin) Topics USA Legislation Michigan Ohio Arizona Politics There is a wide variation in the percentage of claims with worker attorneys involvement across state workers compensation systems, according to the latest research from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). According to the study of 18 states, the percentage of claims with worker attorneys ranged from 1314 percent in Wisconsin and Texas to 4952 percent in New Jersey and Illinois, for 2013 claims with more than seven days of lost time and experience through March 2016. The median of the 18 states was at nearly 30 percent. The study, Worker Attorney Involvement: A New Measure, indicates system features may be responsible for at least some of the interstate variation. The report focuses on the two states among the lowest on this measure (Wisconsin and Texas) and the two states among the highest (Illinois and New Jersey), and discusses the system features that may be contributing to these states results based on findings from WCRIs CompScope Benchmarks studies. This study helps inform policymakers and stakeholders about whether worker attorney involvement in their state is lower, near the middle, or higher relative to other states, said John Ruser, WCRIs president and CEO. It also helps facilitate discussions about why workers compensation systems vary in attorney involvement. The different system features weighed by the authors include rules and procedures around rates and hours for attorney involvement, lump sum settlements, the administrative dispute settlement process, speed to first payment, and clarity of standards for awarding and terminating certain benefits. The 18 states included in this study are Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. WCRI said it chose these states because they are geographically diverse, represent a range of system features, and represent the range of states that are higher, near the middle, and lower on costs per claim. The analysis in this report uses data from 24 data sources, including national and regional insurers, claims administration organizations, state funds, and self-insured employers. The authors of this study are Rebecca (Rui) Yang, Karen Rothkin, and Roman Dolinschi. Topics Texas Workers' Compensation New Jersey Illinois Wisconsin A federal judge on Thursday dismissed two lawsuits seeking to hold Facebook Inc. liable for supporting terrorist groups by letting them use its social media platform to further their goals, including violence against Jews. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn dismissed a $3 billion damages lawsuit by relatives of American victims of Hamas attacks, saying the federal Communications Decency Act regulating internet content immunizes Facebook from liability. That law prevents courts from entertaining civil actions that seek to impose liability on defendants like Facebook for allowing third parties to post offensive or harmful content or failing to remove such content once posted, Garaufis wrote. Garaufis also dismissed a lawsuit by roughly 20,000 Israeli citizens who feared harm from future violence. He said they had no legal right to seek changes to Facebooks platform because they could not show any actual or imminent injury. The decision is a setback to efforts to hold operators of online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter Inc. liable for failing to better police speech by their users. Robert Tolchin, a lawyer for both sets of the plaintiffs, said Garaufis appeared to sidestep limits under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act toward aiding groups such as Hamas, a Palestinian group that the Department of State designates a foreign terrorist organization. There is a clash between statutes that the court needed to reconcile but ignored, Tolchin said in an interview. We are planning to appeal because we see major errors in the decision. At a hearing last September, Facebook deputy general counsel Paul Grewal assured Garaufis that the Palo Alto, California-based company had a very serious interest in keeping terrorism content off its platform. Facebook did not immediately respond on Thursday to a request for comment. Congress passed the Communications Decency Act of 1996 to regulate online pornography, but the law has been applied in other contexts. Garaufis said those applications have arguably undermined incentives for internet service providers to remove any content, despite Congress intent, but that it was enough for now to show that the focus of that law was to limit liability. The lawsuits drew notice after Facebooks law firm Kirkland & Ellis initially assigned a junior associate to represent the company, prompting Garaufis to ask whether it took the matter seriously. Grewal, a former federal judge, was flown in thereafter to Brooklyn from California. The cases are Cohen et al v. Facebook Inc., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 16-04453; and Force et al v. Facebook Inc. in the same court, No. 16-05158. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Steve Orlofsky) Related Topics Lawsuits Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Legislation Legislation backed by the insurance industry and some Texas business groups that curtails the ability of policyholders to sue insurance companies over property claims following extreme weather events has passed the state Senate and is headed for the governors desk. On May 17, the Texas Senate approved House Bill 1774 by Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-League City), which limits liability for insurance companies sued by policyholders following storm damage. The measure was passed by the House earlier this month. In its original form, the legislation only addressed claims lawsuits following hailstorms. It was later amended to include other severe nature-related events including including earthquake, wildfire, flood, tornado, lightning, hurricane, wind, snowstorm, or rainstorm. HB 1774 curbs lawsuit abuse by requiring notice before a suit can be filed in order to permit the insurer to address any outstanding claim issues, according to the American Insurance Association (AIA), a national insurance company trade organization. Attorneys fees may not be awarded if the court finds the insurer was entitled to but not provided with pre-suit notice. The bill cuts penalties for insurers sued for offering too little money on storm claims, including wind and hail damage, while making it harder for those suing to collect attorneys fees, the Associated Press reported. Under the bill, an insurer may elect to assume any liability an insurance agent, adjuster or company employee may have in regard to a relevant property claim if the policyholder is given notice of that assumption. Evidence of an agents actions may be presented at trial and the agent must be made available for deposition if required by the court. The property insurance industry in Texas has been pushing for this protection as a reaction to an increase in post-severe weather event litigation particularly following hailstorms in the past several years. Supporters of the legislation say the increase in lawsuits has led to insurers decreasing and even declining to insure homes against hailstorms in the areas with the most lawsuits. The Texas Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions (TCAIS), which represents major homeowners insurance companies doing business in Texas, praised the passage of HB 1774. In a statement released by that organization, TCAIS Executive Director Beaman Floyd said that abusive claims lawsuits are imperiling the availability and affordability of homeowners insurance in state where consumers suffer more loss from natural hazards on an ongoing basis than anywhere else in the country. Senate passage of HB 1774 establishes good sense protection from lawsuit abuse in the Texas marketplace while preserving rights and recourse for homeowners. Similarly, the AIA applauded the bills passage. In a statement, Fred C. Bosse, AIAs Southwest region vice president, said it is an important step toward ending rampant hailstorm-related lawsuit abuse. Weather-related lawsuit abuse was not only creating an insurance claims crisis in parts of Texas; it was also subjecting homeowners to predatory adjusters and trial lawyers. HB 1774 prohibits this practice and provides a 60-day window for insurers to address any outstanding claims issues. Opponents, including trial lawyers and consumer advocacy organizations, say the legislation limits the ability of property owners to hold insurers accountable for underpaid claims or poorly handled claims investigations. Testifying at a senate hearing in March on SB 10, the companion bill to HB 1774, Bryan Blevins, representing the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, said in many cases insurance company practices have led to the increase in weather-related claims litigation. We recognize the concern about increased lawsuits, we also believe that there are insurer conduct issues that may be responsible in part for the problem, Blevins said. He cited Texas Department of Insurance data that shows that insurance companies are taking less time or not doing their due diligence in investigating claims before they close them. Therefore, Blevins said, insurers are having to re-open one out of every three claims they close. According to the consumer advocacy group, Texas Watch, the legislation will force many claims cases into federal court, where it takes twice as long to receive justice, and adds cost and uncertainty for property owners who attempt to legally challenge insurers decisions. In an announcement released by Texas Watch, Executive Director Ware Wendell said that under HB 1774, many insurance companies will pay property owners as little as late as possible. Texans can expect only more delays and denials from the for-profit insurance industry. The harmful effect of this legislation for homeowners, businesses, churches, and schools will be felt all across our state. This is not the first time Texas lawmakers have considered legislation intended to limit litigation against property insurers. A bill introduced in 2015 that the insurance industry said would help curb litigation related to property insurance claims failed in the waning days of that legislative session. Its likely that Gov. Greg Abbott will sign HB 1774. In his state of the state address at the end of January, he called lawsuits against insurers following hailstorms the newest form of lawsuit abuse. He also said he wanted to see legislation on his desk that limits abusive hailstorm litigation. Related: Topics Lawsuits Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Legislation Texas Claims Property Market Homeowners A bill that would preempt local regulations for ridesharing companies in Texas and replace them statewide standards has passed the Texas Senate. It now heads to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. HB 100, sponsored by Georgetown Sen. Charles Schwertner, sets statewide operating standards, including insurance requirements, for transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. These companies currently are regulated on a city-by-city basis in Texas. Major TNCs have clashed with cities over local ordinances, particularly over requirements to fingerprint drivers. Uber and Lyft still operate in Houston and San Antonio, where fingerprinting is required, but left Austin in 2016 after voters there approved similar standards. Other major cities, like Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso dont require driver fingerprints. Schwertner said the inconsistent patchwork of regulations is a problem. Regulating these services at the city level will always be challenging for the simple fact that people dont live, work or play in only one city, Schwertner said in the Senates release. Transportation, by its very nature, is a regional concern that routinely crosses municipal boundaries. Schwertner added that 40 other states already regulate ridesharing at the state level. Under HB 100, local ordinances already in place would be preempted by state regulations, meaning TNCs wouldnt be required to fingerprint drivers in any city. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation would oversee TNCs and would have the power to revoke licenses to operate in the state if the businesses dont comply with state rules. The bill includes a number of provisions aimed at protecting customers. It would require that ride sharing drivers undergo a yearly criminal background check, not be on the sex offender registry, and carry auto insurance. TNCs would have to provide an electronic receipt to customers, and would have to maintain records for all rides within the past five years. The bill would specifically prohibit discrimination based on disabilities, and would require licensed TNCs to implement pilot programs in one of the four largest cities in the state specifically to serve customers with disabilities. Source: Texas Senate Topics Legislation Texas Politics Independent insurance agents in Oklahoma have honored CompSource Mutual Insurance Co. with their company of the year award. The Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma presented CompSource with the 2017 Company of the Year award at IIAOKs recently held 110th Annual Conference and Trade Show. The award is voted on by the entire IIAOK membership and recognizes the company that has made a difference in the agent community by providing excellent products and services to independent agents and the independent insurance agency systems. It is an honor to be recognized as the 2017 Company of the Year from the IIAOK. We continually strive to maintain competitive rates and improve our processes; ensuring agents and policymembers receive the best customer care. We understand the critical role independent insurance agents play in helping to keep Oklahomas workforce safe; we are incredibly proud to be recognized as their trusted partner for providing workers compensation insurance, Jason Clark, president and CEO of CompSource Mutual Insurance Co., said in a statement released by the company. Denise Johnson, president and CEO of IIAOK, said CompSource has been an active partner of IIAOK for many years and has made a positive impact on our industry. We congratulate them and look forward to their continued efforts in support of the independent agent community. Source: CompSource Mutual Insurance Co. Topics Agencies Oklahoma FCCI Insurance Group (FCCI), a provider of commercial property and casualty insurance, has promoted Tiffany Hawkins to regional vice president, and Trey Stone to assistant vice president in the Gulf Coast Regional office located in Ridgeland, Miss. In her new role, Hawkins will oversee agency relationships, underwriting, claims and risk management operations, working from the regional office in Jackson. Stone will continue to manage the Alabama office and will oversee FCCIs state directors and marketing underwriters in the Gulf Coast Region. Hawkins joined FCCI in 2012 as a senior marketing underwriter. She has since been building agency partnerships in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee, quickly earning the state director role for those three states. Hawkins began her insurance career at the St. Paul Companies and later joined the Travelers Insurance Company in Mississippi as a Sales Executive. From Marks, Miss., Hawkins graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in risk management. She will be relocating to Jackson, Miss. Stone joined FCCI in November 2009 as a senior marketing underwriter and was quickly promoted to state director of Alabama. In June 2016, he was promoted to managing director of the Alabama branch office. He began his insurance career at Travelers Insurance Company in Birmingham, Ala., and has worked for State Auto, AmTrust and Companion Property and Casualty Group. A graduate of Auburn University with a degree in Business Administration, Stone currently resides in Birmingham. Tom Quaka, who led the region for the past 20 years, will remain an integral part of FCCIs leadership team. He will assist Hawkins and Stone through the transition, then work with Chairman of the Board, President & CEO Craig Johnson on company-wide initiatives. According to Quaka, both Hawkins and Stone have contributed greatly to the success of the Gulf Coast Region. Working through independent agents in 18 states, FCCI provides commercial property and casualty insurance to more than 18,500 policyholders and commercial and contract surety to more than 19,000 bonded principals. Established in 1959, FCCI is headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., and has regional and branch offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia. Topics Property Casualty Leadership Mississippi Alabama A US military veteran with a criminal past -- but no apparent terror motive -- plowed a vehicle into a crowd of people in New York's Times Square on Thursday, killing one person and injuring 22 others. Although the mid-day incident sparked jitters after deadly car-ramming attacks in London, Berlin and the French city of Nice, authorities said there was no evidence that the car crash in the heart of America's most populous city was terror-related. "Based on the information that we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the scene. City authorities were nevertheless deploying extra police from anti-terror units to key locations around the US financial and cultural capital, home to 8.5 million, out of "an abundance of caution," the mayor said. Richard Rojas, a 26-year-old from the Bronx stopped on two previous occasions for driving under the influence, plowed his Honda into pedestrians onto the sidewalk at 11:55 am (1555 GMT), smashing into people for three blocks. The vehicle collided with a pole and came to a stop at 45th Street and Broadway, police said. Smoke and flames spewed out of the hood as the injured littered the ground and passers-by sobbed, an AFP photographer said. A young woman was killed and 22 other victims were taken to hospital, De Blasio told reporters at the scene just steps from New York's famed Broadway theater district. Four people were in critical condition, officials said. Rojas was arrested. "He's a United States citizen and a former member of the armed forces with the United States Navy," the mayor said. Officials said Rojas was arrested in 2008 and 2015 for driving under the influence, and in 2016 for menacing in different areas of New York. Famous across the world for its bright lights and advertising billboards, Times Square -- in the heart of Midtown Manhattan -- is typically packed with tourists and office workers. Thursday's incident began at the start of the lunch hour. Rojas's maroon sedan vehicle, travelling at high speed, crashed into the group of people and ended up flipping onto its side on the sidewalk, before ambulances and police descended on the area, the AFP photographer said. The vehicle was on fire and one person lay covered up with a white cloth, he said. Police directed traffic as passers-by looked on anxiously. Times Square was the scene of the most serious security alert in America's most populous city since the September 11, 2001 attacks when Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant, planted a car bomb at the intersection on May 1, 2010. His explosive device failed to detonate and he was arrested shortly after boarding a flight to the Middle East. He pleaded guilty and said he was aiming to avenge deaths from US missiles fired from drones operating over Pakistan. He was sentenced to life behind bars. Search Keywords: Short link: Alabamas workers compensation law, ruled unconstitutional by a county judge last week, will remain in effect for the immediate future. The Alabama judge who on May 8 declared the states workers compensation act unconstitutional has issued an indefinite stay to his decision, leaving the current system in place until he rescinds the stay or lawmakers enact reforms. The move came in part because the original order was issued just days before the state legislature was about to close its session, meaning there would not be time for lawmakers to change the provisions of the state law the judge criticized. On May 8, Judge Pat Ballard of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County in the Clower v. CVS case found fault with two provisions of the Alabama Workers Compensation Act, thus rendering the entire act unconstitutional. He found fault with a provision capping recovery for workers permanently but not totally disabled at $220 a week, and with another capping attorney fees at 15 percent. The decision was a response to a lawsuit brought by Clower against CVS Caremark Corp. in 2013 after she suffered a lower back injury on the job. The $220 cap was established in 1987, but attorneys for Clower successfully argued that the amount was not commensurate with todays cost of living standards. In his May 8 ruling, Ballard issued a 120 day stay for the workers compensation act to give the Alabama Legislature a chance to enact reforms. Given that the 2017 session is to end May 22, it was widely viewed that the legislature would not take up the issue this year, leaving many to question what would happen next. On May 17, Ballard issued a revised order for an indefinite stay to his decision. Ballards original decision was met with much concern over what would happen with the states workers compensation system. But legal experts said that because the judgment came from a county trial court judge, and not an appellate or state court judge, the constitutionality finding actually only applied in the Clower case and not to other workers compensation cases statewide. This was just one district in Alabama saying the law was unconstitutional, but it wasnt across the state, said Charley Drummond, attorney at Birmingham firm Fish Nelson & Holden, the Alabama member of The National Workers Compensation Defense Network. Drummond said for the ruling to be extended beyond this one Alabama district, it would have to be appealed by CVS and the appellate court would have to weigh in. CVS has yet to indicate if it will appeal, but the judges original decision could have made it so Clower didnt receive any award from CVS if the company didnt appeal the ruling, Drummond said. They have taken the position that the act is unconstitutional, and if it is unconstitutional in that one case she gets nothing, he said. Drummond said he believes the judges May 8 order was an attempt to put pressure on state lawmakers to enact reforms. But after it became clear that wouldnt happen in the final days of the session and after the implications of the constitutionality ruling on pending workers comp cases also became clear, the judge wrote his May 17 order. This Court is very aware of the substantial interest and concerns that have arisen as a result of that Order as it relates to the practical impact of that Order on the administration and handling of pending workers compensation claims in the state, Ballard wrote. The Order of May 8, 2017, given the legislative schedule for the current session, is hereby stayed pending further order of this Court rather than for the 120 days stated in the May 8, 2017 order. Ballard said the amended order would allow the legislature sufficient time to remedy the Constitutional insufficiencies in the Act addressed by the prior Order. In the interim, Ballard said the court would continue judging any pending workers compensation claims in accordance the current law. But he added that upon the motion of any party, upon action of the legislature, or upon this Courts own determination that the legislature is either unwilling or unable to take legislative action on these issues, the court will make any further order deemed necessary to implement in full the terms of the prior order regarding the constitutional invalidity of the Alabama Workers Compensation Act. What Now? What happens in the interim could be decided by CVS, according to Trey Gillespie, senior workers compensation director at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). If CVS decides to appeal the decision and bring the case to the state appellate level, it could motivate lawmakers to take up reforms. We are hopeful the case will proceed on through the appellate court process so the issues can be readdressed by a reviewing court and we can better understand if there are issues that need to be addressed by legislature at a later date, Gillespie said. Joseph Ammons, general counsel for the Alabama Department of Labor, which regulates and enforces state workers compensation laws, said in an email his department expects that an appeal will be filed to stop the judges ruling, and whatever the final disposition may be, we will honor and enforce it. My guess and hope is that this will force business and labor to get together to draft legislation in 2018 that both sides can agree on. Time will tell, Ammons said. Drummond, however, doesnt think this one case will be enough to change the states entire system. Its a good thought, if you are plaintiffs lawyer, that this one situation could change it and bring the system to its knees but its not likely, he said. There are a lot more moving parts and risks involved than I think anyone is willing to put on this one case. In the meantime, there wont be any immediate impact on workers compensation rates in Alabama, according to Dean Dimke, marketing communications director for the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which files loss costs for state workers comp carriers. NCCI is carefully reviewing the decision, being mindful of any potential appeals or corrective legislation that may occur, he said in a statement to Insurance Journal. Once issues become more clear we will be in a better position to act. Topics Legislation Workers' Compensation Talent Alabama Anthony Manzitto, chief operating officer of Calabasas, Calif.-based Topa Insurance Group, is resigning at the end of this month to pursue another opportunity, according to a letter from President and CEO John Donahue that is being sent to employees on Thursday morning. No specifics were made available on where Manzitto is headed or what he will be doing. Manzitto joined Topa nearly three years ago. In 2016 he was promoted to COO from chief underwriting officer. Prior to Topa, he was head of U.S. broker casualty treaty reinsurance at SwissRe. He was an actuary at CalFarm Insurance Co. before that. In three short yearsas Chief Underwriting Officer and later as Chief Operating OfficerTony brought discipline to our risk selection and pricing, secured added financial strength through improved reinsurance agreements and laid the foundation for what is becoming an enviable portfolio, Andersons letter states. Whats more, he recruited and retained some exceptional talent and helped us all maximize our capabilities. The letter also announced that Chris Homewood, Topas senior vice president of commercial auto underwriting, has been promoted to chief underwriting officer. He will oversee underwriting, products, and reinsurance & programs. Homewood has more than 20 years of industry experience in underwriting, product management, product development, and reinsurance at companies including Progressive, Farmers and Swiss Re. Topa Insurance Group is a specialty insurance platform comprised of Topa Insurance Co., Topa Insurance Services and Dorchester Insurance Co. Topics California Underwriting Reinsurance Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a measure that bans holding hand-held devices while driving. The measure, signed by Inslee in Tacoma Tuesday, prohibits holding an electronic device, including phones, tablets and other electronic devices, while driving, including while in traffic or waiting for a traffic light to change. Inslee vetoed a section that had the measure take effect in 2019. He said it was too important to wait for the provisions to become law. The law will now take effect in mid-July. Under the measure, the minimal use of a finger to activate, deactivate, or initiate a function of a personal electronic device while driving will still be allowed. Current law in Washington state only prohibits texting or holding a phone to the ear while driving. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Washington Personal Auto Britain's opposition Labour Party is seeking to take on the incumbent Conservatives in next month's snap general election with a headline-grabbing proposal for what is popularly hailed as a Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions. In reality, it is simply an extension of the existing stamp duty. But will it really raise billions of pounds? Will it cause banks to flee? And is it ever likely to see the light of day? Salman Shaheen, managing editor of International Tax Review, discussed these questions and more with TalkRADIO's Julia Hartley-Brewer. Listen here. Under the Basel Accord, a bank has to maintain a certain level of cash or liquid assets as a ratio of its risk-weighted assets. The Basel Accords are a series of three sets of banking regulations that help to ensure financial institutions have enough capital on hand to handle obligations. The Accords set the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to define these holdings for banks. Under Basel III, a bank's tier 1 and tier 2 assets must be at least 10.5% of its risk-weighted assets. Basel III increased the requirements from 8% under Basel II. Key Takeaways Under Basel III, a bank's tier 1 and tier 2 assets must be at least 10.5% of its risk-weighted assets, up from 8% under Basel II. Tier 1 capital is the primary funding source of the bank. Tier 1 capital consists of shareholders' equity and retained earnings. Tier 2 capital includes revaluation reserves, hybrid capital instruments and subordinated term debt, general loan-loss reserves, and undisclosed reserves. Tier 2 capital is considered less reliable than Tier 1 capital because it is more difficult to accurately calculate and more difficult to liquidate. Tier 1 Capital vs. Tier 2 Capital: An Overview A bank's capital consists of tier 1 capital and tier 2 capital, and these two primary types of capital reserves are qualitatively different in several respects (there was formerly a third type, conveniently called tier 3 capital). Tier 1 capital is a bank's core capital and includes disclosed reservesthat appears on the bank's financial statementsand equity capital. This money is the funds a bank uses to function on a regular basis and forms the basis of a financial institution's strength. Tier 2 capital is a bank's supplementary capital. Undisclosed reserves, subordinated term debts, hybrid financial products, and other items make up these funds. A bank's total capital is calculated by adding its tier 1 and tier 2 capital together. Regulators use the capital ratio to determine and rank a bank's capital adequacy. Tier 1 Capital Tier 1 capital consists of shareholders' equity and retained earningsdisclosed on their financial statementsand is a primary indicator to measure a bank's financial health. These funds come into play when a bank must absorb losses without ceasing business operations. Tier 1 capital is the primary funding source of the bank. Typically, it holds nearly all of the bank's accumulated funds. These funds are generated specifically to support banks when losses are absorbed so that regular business functions do not have to be shut down. Under Basel III, the minimum tier 1 capital ratio is 10.5%, which is calculated by dividing the bank's tier 1 capital by its total risk-weighted assets (RWA). RWA measures a bank's exposure to credit risk from the loans it underwrites. For example, assume a financial institution has US$200 billion in total tier 1 assets. They have a risk-weighted asset value of $1.2 trillion. To calculate the capital ratio, they divide $200 billion by $1.2 trillion in risk for a capital ratio of 16.66%, well above the Basel III requirements. Also, there are further requirements on sources of the tier 1 funds to ensure they are available when the bank needs to use them. Tier 2 Capital Tier 2 capital includes undisclosed funds that do not appear on a bank's financial statements, revaluation reserves, hybrid capital instruments, subordinated term debtalso known as junior debt securitiesand general loan-loss, or uncollected, reserves. Revalued reserves is an accounting method that recalculates the current value of a holding that is higher than what it was originally recorded as such as with real estate. Hybrid capital instruments are securities such as convertible bonds that have both equity and debt qualities. Tier 2 capital is supplementary capital because it is less reliable than tier 1 capital. It is more difficult to accurately measure due to its composition of assets that are difficult to liquidate. Often banks will split these funds into upper and lower level pools depending on the characteristics of the individual asset. In 2019, under Basel III, the minimum total capital ratio is 12.9%, which indicates the minimum tier 2 capital ratio is 2%, as opposed to 10.9% for the tier 1 capital ratio. Assume that same bank reported tier 2 capital of $32.526 billion. Its tier 2 capital ratio for the quarter was $32.526 billion/$1.243 trillion = 2.62%. Thus, its total capital ratio was 16.8%(14.18% + 2.62%). Under Basel III, the bank met the minimum total capital ratio of 12.9%. Tier 3 Capital Previously the tiers of capital included a third layer. Tier 3 capital is tertiary capital, which many banks hold to support their market risk, commodities risk, and foreign currency risk, derived from trading activities. Tier 3 capital includes a greater variety of debt than tier 1 and tier 2 capital but is of a much lower quality than either of the two. Under the Basel III accords, tier 3 capital is being completely abolished. The governmental committee tasked with appraising and seizing the funds of members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group seized on Thursday the funds of 28 Brotherhood leaders, as well as 12 companies affiliated with the group. In a Thursday statement, the committee, which was formed in 2014 and is headed by Mohamed Yasser Abo El-Fotoh, said that it confiscated the funds 11 members of the family of leading Brotherhood figure and businessman Hassan Malek, including the funds of his five children. In November 2016, the committee said it had seized the assets of more than 1,370 people as well as 1,125 companies and NGOs since March 2014, with a total of at least $34 million in seized Brotherhood assets. The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in November 2013. Malek has been in jail since October 2015 pending investigation into charges of harming the country's economy and financing the banned Brotherhood. His assets were seized by the committee in September 2014. Earlier this month, a Cairo Criminal Court ordered Malek's release on an EGP 20,000 pending trial. However, after prosecurtors appealed the release order, a judge renewed his detention for 45 days. The 12 firms seized by the committee today mainly operate in real estate investments, contracting, transportation and import and export, according to the committees statement. The committee added that it has informed both the administrative and general prosecutions of financial and administrative violations in nine schools also seized by the committee. Search Keywords: Short link: Last weekend's ransomware attack on global computer systems was a "wake-up call" for users to be more security-conscious, a new investor in Northern Ireland's burgeoning cyber industry has said. US-based internet security firm Anomali will create 120 new jobs with the opening of its European Research and Development Labs in Belfast. More than 300,000 machines in 150 countries have been infected with the WannaCry virus, crippling organisations from government agencies to multinational companies. Anomali chief executive Hugh Njemanze said it was one of the easiest attacks to insure against by backing up data. He said: "The prevailing mentality has been, 'it will happen to someone else before me'." He acknowledged the rapid expansion of the virus had surprised people. "It is a very strong wake-up call for people to understand that... it probably will happen to me. "This will result in people taking the threat and preparations more seriously." He said the danger had been known about for three or four years but the delivery mechanism for WannaCry was new. With global headquarters in Redwood City, California, Anomali provides cyber security solutions to help organisations identify and respond to security threats. The firm gathers intelligence about the threat posed and delivers it to organisations. Taoiseach Enda Kenny was in sombre mood this morning, responding to questions about whether he has any regrets about his time in power by saying: "Je ne regrette rien", writes Fiachra O Cionnaith of the Irish Examiner. Speaking to reporters at a Healthy Ireland launch at Dublin Castle this morning, Mr Kenny quoted the infamous French phrase, which means "no, I have no regrets". The soon to be departing Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, who will be replaced in both positions by June 2 and June 13 respectively, attended the event at the Printworks buildings, stopping to pose for photographs and to sign a promotional image of the event. Asked how he was feeling after confirming he was "retiring", Mr Kenny simply responded: "Lovely morning, [there's] sunshine." When he was subsequently questioned on whether he has any regrets over what happened, he turned around to reporters, paused, and said "je ne regrette rien". Mr Kenny attended the Healthy Ireland event alongside Health Minister SImon Harris and junior health minister Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, both of whom are supporting Housing Minister Simon Coveney's leadership bid. After meeting a number of members of the public at the event, including posing for photographs with seven and a half month old baby Lexi McKeon from Rathfarnham in Dublin, before taking to the stage alongside former Ireland rugby captain Keith Wood. "Mr Woods runs up hills [for training]. It's easier going up them than coming down," he mused, before Mr Harris publicly thanked Mr Kenny for "an awful lot" in his career. Mr Kenny had earlier attended a separate event at the RDS in Dublin, where he responded to media questions about his departure by saying "I'm feeling very well, it's a beautiful morning". Weapons knifes and machetes were found at a Dublin property which the High Court had ordered be handed over to a bank appointed receiver, writes Ann O'Loughlin. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan heard the items were discovered at 16 Annesley Bridge Road, in Fairview, Dublin 3. Thirteen families, including a dozen children, had been living in several units at the premises which the court had previously ordered be vacated and handed over to the receiver Mr Simon Coyle. The Judge had also referred the case to the Gardai after two of the residents said the families have each been paying up to 200 per week rent to a man, known as Brian. This man said to have no connection with either the receiver or the owner of the property Mr John Farrelly. When the matter returned before the court today Declan Wade Bl for Mr Coyle, said his client had taken possession of the property. There was a fear that some of the residents may try to regain access to the property as they had only taken light possessions with them. A lot of items remain in the property. Counsel said the receiver's agent had discovered "weapons" on the property including "knifes and machetes." This had put the matter on a "more sinister footing" and the find had been reported to the Gardai, counsel added. The court also heard from Detective Sargent David McGinty from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau. He said an investigation had been opened into claims the residents had been paying rent to a person said to have no connection with either the receiver or the owner. The detective said the Bureau and Clontarf Gardai would be looking into the allegations. Dermot Sheehan Bl for Mr Farrelly said his client has been willing at all times to cooperate with the receivers and was not responsible for those who had been residing at the property. The court previously heard that Mr Coyle was appointed receiver over the property by Bank of Ireland in January 2015. He brought proceedings against the residents and Mr Farrelly because he was unable to take possession of the premises. In November Mr Coyle secured an injunction preventing Mr Farrelly and all those occupying the premises from interfering with, trespassing on, dealing with or taking possession of the property. The receiver claimed those orders were not complied with and has sought orders for the attachment and committal of Mr Farrelly and any others residing there for alleged contempt of court. Mr Farrelly denies being in contempt and said he has nothing to do with the property for some time. He has previously told the court that the residents were squatters and he has no connection with 'Brian'. Noting that the the receiver has vacant possession, and that the Gardai are investigating the matter, the Judge adjourned the matter for a week. A new website to support families of gender-diverse and transgender young people will launch today. It will provide details, facilities and information to help family members cope when someone they know is experiencing issues with their gender. Those behind the website say the aim is to get greater wellbeing in the long term for transgender people. Danika Sharek is a PHD student at Trinity College in Dublin and outlines what the website will include. "These are areas that families and young people identified as important themselves and these include - gender identity basics, family basics, life-stage issues, social issues, health and wellbeing, schools, legal and administrative issues, and the future. "There's been a lot of movement in the last few years, particularly with the Gender Recognition Bill being passed," she said. Overweight and obese children tend to drink more sugar-sweetened soft drinks than normal weight children. And taxing such drinks, in combination with other public health measures, could help contribute to the fight against the child obesity epidemic. However, a study of soft drink consumption patterns of more than 1,000 schoolchildren in Cork, suggested it was unlikely the introduction of a 'sugar' tax would have direct short-term impacts on obesity levels. But the authors of the study, led by Dr Janas Harrington of University College Cork, said more likely a tax would "have more indirect impacts such as reduction in consumption of these beverages; increased consumption on non-sugar beverages such as water; product re-formulation by manufacturers and changes in public attitudes and discourse." The government plans to introduce a tax next year on sugar-sweetened drinks (SSD). Data from 1,075 schoolchildren aged 8-11 years was obtained for the Cork Childrens Lifestyle Study which was conducted in primary schools. The researchers found 18% of children with plausible energy intake were overweight (16%) or obese (2%) compared with 25% of the total sample. Of those with plausible energy intake, 82% were SSD consumers. Mean calories from SSDs increased incrementally between weight categories: SSD contributed 108 kcal for normal weight children and 155kcal for overweight/obese children, equating to 5.8% and 7.6% respectively of total daily calories. The next steps in the research will be to monitor consumption of such drinks in the run-up to the introduction of the tax and to assess the impact of the tax following its introduction. The obesity epidemic remains a public health crisis with the potential to reverse recent favourable trends in life expectancy and undermine the financial viability of health systems. Though the epidemic has many causes, links between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and excessive weight gain in children were observed. Furthermore, excessive consumption is associated with increased prevalence of dental caries. The authors, in this new study, aimed to provide evidence of the magnitude of the consumption of SSDs in Ireland and to explore the association between SSD consumption and overweight and obesity. Dr Harrington said: "While no single measure will reverse current trends in obesity, given the high level of consumption of SSD and the lack of nutritional value of these products, action needs to be taken to reduce consumption, particularly in high consumer groups, including children. "There is a compelling case for the introduction of public policy to reduce SSD consumption in the population. The introduction of a tax on SSDs in combination with other public health interventions has the potential to have a measurable effect on the scale of the epidemic of childhood obesity." Children as young as six are carrying knives in the capital, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick heard as she discussed the devastating impact of the weapons with community leaders, victims and reformed gang members. Ms Dick vowed to get to the root of knife crime as she visited a youth centre in Putney, south-west London, where she met the family of a young man stabbed to death last year. The capital has seen a wave of knife attacks in recent weeks, with more than a dozen people left dead or seriously injured. Earlier this month, Scotland Yard launched the latest phase of Operation Sceptre, its campaign to crack down on knife crime. But despite more than 70 arrests over possession of offensive weapons and knives, within a week three more people had been fatally stabbed. Meeting with community representatives at the Ashburton Youth Centre in Wandsworth, Ms Dick said the area has been "profoundly affected" by knife crime. Three young people have been fatally stabbed in the borough in 2017, as many as the whole of 2016. Ms Dick told them Wandsworth "is generally a safe borough, London is generally a very safe city", but she said the level of knife crime is "unacceptable". But the commissioner was told violent attacks are becoming more frequent, and young people are carrying knives more and more often. One woman told Ms Dick the issue is affecting children far younger than the teenagers and young men normally associated with carrying knives. The woman said: "You are talking about teenagers carrying knives, but on the housing estate it's six-year-olds that are carrying knives, because they think they won't be stopped. "You need to start there, in the primary schools - you need to tell much younger people." The commissioner agreed the anti-knife message needs to reach much younger children, saying: "I am sure we - not necessarily the police, because we're not the best people often to give these messages, but possibly the police - we need to start at an early age." Josh Osbourne, a mentor at the youth charity Carney's Community, said: "The feeling that I'm getting from a lot of the young people that I work with is a feeling of fear. "They can't even cross the road because they're at odds or in a dispute with somebody else from literally the same postcode but across the road." When Ms Dick asked him which age groups are affected, Mr Osbourne said: "From the age of as young as 10 or 11, from what I've witnessed, up until the age of mid-20s." - PA Two men arrested following an explosion which injured 33 people have been released pending further investigation. Several buildings collapsed in the explosion in New Ferry, Wirral, on Saturday March 25. British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the Cabinet is "completely united" behind Theresa May's pledge to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. Mr Hunt said it was important that politicians listened to last year's Brexit vote and took control of Britain's borders, adding that Mrs May was a Prime Minister who would listen to voters. The comments came after years of Conservative failure to reduce net migration to below 100,000 people, which it has pledged in two previous election manifestos. Former chancellor George Osborne, now editor of the London Evening Standard, also tweeted a link to an editorial in the newspaper on Wednesday which said no senior Cabinet ministers support the Tory target and the goal should be scrapped. Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think you'll find the Cabinet, and including me, are completely united behind Theresa May on this because we believe that the worst possible thing we could do is to take that Brexit vote and to pretend that we were listening to it, and then not actually listen to the real message which is that many people have concerns about immigration, that they think the political establishment has ignored for a very long time. "What Theresa May is saying is well I'm not going to ignore those concerns, I'm going to listen to those concerns because that is the kind of Prime Minister she wants to be." He added: "The reason we are making this promise again is because we are listening to the message that people gave the political establishment on June 23 last year, which said that they wanted control of the border, of our borders, and they wanted immigration reduced." The event runs in parallel to his exhibition at Cairo's Mashrabia Gallery Cairo's Mashrabia Gallery announced an upcoming Artist Talk by Egyptian artist Adel El-Siwi, in conversation with Yousry Nasr-Allah and Wael Abdel El-Fattah, on El-Siwis most recent body of work titled In the Presence of the Animal. The exhibition -- currently on display at Mashrabia until Wednesday 31 May -- is comprised of 280 works, including paintings, assemblages, drawings and mono-prints, all rigorously selected among hundreds of the artist's pieces. One of the most renowned Egyptian artists, El-Siwi was born in 1952 in the city of Beheira. While studying medicine at Cairo University from 1975 to 1976, he also enrollled at the faculty of fine arts between 1974 and 1975. The artist lived and worked in Italy between 1980 and 1990, after which he returned to Cairo where he has been based ever since. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions in Cairo and around the world, El-Siwi was featured at the the Cairo Biennale in 1996 and 2008, the Sharjah Biennial in 1997 and the Venice Biennale in 2009. He was invited by Le Laboratoire: Sculpture Urbaine to project his artwork onto historical buildings in Brazil (1996), France (2000), and Algeria (2003). Some of his notable group exhibitions include Rencontres Africaines at Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Modernities and Memories at the Venice Biennale; and Word into Art: Artists of Modern Middle East in Dubai, which was organised by the British Museum, Dubai (2008), among others. The Artist Talk event will take place at Mashrabia Annex, an adjunct location to the gallery. Programme: Wednesday 24 May from 7pm to 8.30 pm Mashrabia Annex, 15 Mahmoud Bassiouny street, beside Le Grillon passage For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: C&C reported a net loss of just under 73m for the year to the end of February down from a profit of 47.4m a year earlier largely driven by a further 129m write-down in the value of its US business. While this was recently flagged, it follows a 150m writedown of US value two years ago, which led to institutional investors calling for a sale of the American business. C&C has been selling its Magners cider brand into the US for 17 years, but upped its US presence with the 233m purchase of the Vermont Hard Cider company in 2012, but has continued to struggle. US revenues fell by nearly 34% last year. But, despite admitting that its US investment hasnt worked, Mr Glancey said C&C, which also owns Tennents lager, is not heading for a sell-out in the US and will take a long view on its business there and work at creating good value and returning it to growth in the coming years. He did, though, note a fiduciary duty to maximise shareholder value. Since the end of 2015, Los Angeles-based brewer Pabst has held exclusive US distribution rights for C&Cs cider brands, plus a long-term option to buy C&Cs US operations outright. Overall C&Cs annual net revenues fell by 6.9% to 559.5m, in its latest financial year, while pre-exceptional operating profits fell by 8m to 95m due to the effect of a weakened post-Brexit referendum sterling. Revenues fell in each of the groups core markets of Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. However, management noted volume growth in its core brands amid a tough trading environment, a strong balance sheet it upped its full-year dividend to shareholders by 5% to 14.33c and an improving sterling as reasons to be relatively cheerful. After this year of consolidation, we are in materially better shape to meet the ongoing challenges and opportunities within our industry, Mr Glancey said. While he warned that the group remains cautious regarding the outlook for consumer spending in its core markets, he added that our core brands of Bulmers, Magners and Tennents are well-positioned to convert their volume momentum into revenue and value growth. C&Cs share price one of the worst performers on the Iseq in the last 12 months and down by over 4% since January was down by over 1.4% at 3.55 yesterday. C&C also saw volume growth of 60% in its growing premium/craft beer and cider portfolio in the last year, with the division now accounting for 2% of the groups own brand volume and starting to make a meaningful contribution to bottom line. Our ambition is to grow this portfolio to 5% of group branded volumes over the medium-term through a combination of in-house product development, new agency wins and partnering with leading local craft brewers, the company said. Management also said it is happy with the groups staff numbers of around 1,200 following the cutting of around 260 jobs from facility closures in Tipperary and the UK last year. Analysts remained cautious on C&C, however, given market conditions. Niall MacCarthy was speaking as airport leaders from around Europe gathered in Cork for a conference to discuss the fallout of Brexit for regional airports across the continent. Director general of conference organiser, Airports Continental International Europe, Olivier Jankovec said the eyes of the regional aviation world were on Cork ahead of the launch of flights by Norwegian Air to Providence in Rhode Island in July. Mr Jankovec said that as the threat of Brexit loomed, regional airports were looking to see how Cork would perform. Cork is at the forefront, it is pioneering in long-haul low-cost flying. The eyes of the regional aviation world are certainly on it. Of course the location of Ireland gives it an excellent advantage to develop that market. Cork is a fine example of all the innovation and an airport really fighting its corner when it comes to traffic growth and destinations. The long-haul route will take it one step further, he said. Olivier Jankovec, director general, ACI Europe, speaking at ACIs Regional Airport Conference. Picture: Joleen Cronin While Norwegian will fly to Providence in July, the airline said last month it was unlikely its Boeing 737Max aircraft could currently reach New York from Cork as originally planned. Despite Norwegians revelation, Mr MacCarthy said he was confident an airline would use Cork to fly to New York. There has been big demand for Cork to New York and I believe we will see it in the near future, he said. Boeings rival Airbus has already begun flying its A320Neo aircraft, with analysts predicting an airline could fly from an airport like Cork to New York using it. Claire Nash, Nash 19, Patrick OShea, President UCC and Darina Allen, Ballymaloe at the gala dinner in Castlemartyr Resort. Picture: Joleen Cronin Mr MacCarthy said Brexit was such a serious threat that aviation and tourism could seriously suffer without free movement of goods and people. He said that equivalency in security and safety standards has to be defined, as well as EU agreements such as Open Skies. Marketing Irelands brand in the UK had to ramp up, while state aid rules had be to fair, he said. Mr MacCarthy said support from all of Munster was crucial if Corks US route was to be a success. Cork Airport is far too large just to serve one county. I am confident that Providence will succeed and Norwegian has done an excellent marketing job. The winter especially will be crucial, he said. Kathleen Walshe, Cork Airport, Cllr. Des Cahill, Cork Lord Mayor, and Conor Healy, chief executive Cork Chamber at the gala dinner. Ireland South MEP and member of the EU Transport committee Deirdre Clune had told the conference secondary airports in rural Ireland were being largely ignored. She said policy focus must be on balancing growth away from Dublin Airport and focusing instead on balanced regional growth to secondary airports. Europes secondary airports account for over 260m passengers per annum. Air traffic in Europe will nearly double by 2030. Thats a big opportunity for rural Ireland to connect with these people, she said. Standard Life already has an operation in Dublin and is unusual among British life insurers in having thousands of customers in the EU. Standard Lifes choice comes after high-profile insurers AIG and Lloyds of London picked Luxembourg and Brussels for their new bases. Standard Life shareholders will vote next month on the firms 11bn (12.8bn) merger with rival Scottish fund firm Aberdeen Asset Management. Dublin, which got approval from Wall Street investment banking giant JPMorgan, could also secure the EU offices of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, the Irish Examiner has reported. The Irish Examiner understands one of four Air Corps whistleblowers met with Mr Kehoe last week, and showed him copies of documents that have prompted allegations in the Dail of a cover up in the force. This newspaper revealed yesterday that the Department of Defence refused a Freedom of Information request from the Irish Examiner for the release of the reports on the grounds that it cannot locate the documents sought. Opposition TDs, who also saw the documents, say they raised concerns about Air Corps members exposure to toxic chemicals over 20 years ago. The State is defending High Court cases taken by former Air Corps staff who say that they suffer chronic illnesses as a result of working conditions in Casement Aerodrome. Last October, the Health and Safety Authority threatened the Air Corps with legal action unless it addressed shortcomings that the HSA had identified. Whistleblowers had previously warned the Government of the dangers. Sinn Feins Aengus O Snodaigh previously told the Dail that the reports have been covered-up because of the failure of the Defence Forces to implement the changes that were recommended. Yesterday he said that both Mr Kehoe and the Department of Defence need to explain why the documents cannot be located. It is appalling these health and safety documents have gone missing, and it is obvious they were never acted upon, he said. It raises the question as to whether they have been purposely disposed of because of the failure to act on their recommendations, Mr O Snodaigh said. The minister and the department have questions to answer, he said. The Irish Examiner has established that former State agency Forbairt carried out inspections in Casement Aerodrome in the 1990s. Enterprise Ireland, which assumed Forbairts duties when it was dissolved in 1998, said that it no longer kept copies of the technical reports but sent copies of the documents to the Department of Defence before it had the records destroyed. However, the department told this newspaper that it cannot release the records as they cannot be found. The department has not responded to queries as to whether or not the department has any copies of the documents in question, other than the copies it received from Enterprise Ireland. It has also yet to respond to queries relating to Mr Kehoes meeting with the whistleblower last week. Mr O Snodaigh has submitted a parliamentary question to Mr Kehoe calling on him to address the issue of the missing reports in the Dail. The analysis is one of the first to compare young people (aged 15-24) and adults (aged 25-34) in terms of socio-democratic factors, substance abuse and method characteristics. The study was conducted by researchers attached to the National Suicide Research Foundation in University College Cork, the universitys Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and St Patricks Mental Health Services in Cork. The study looked at 61 suicides of young peopleand 60 of adults between 2007 and 2012. Toxicology tests showed that 80% of the total sample had used either alcohol or drugs at the time of the death. The study, published online in the academic journal PLOSone, showed alcohol was found in toxicology tests of 52% of people. It said the results did not reveal a significant association between alcohol and age among those who died by suicide with similar rates between young people and adults. Approximately 50% of individuals who died by suicide had alcohol detected at the time of death, said the report. This finding can contribute to informing governments and policy makers about suicide prevention efforts. The report said that more than 70% of young people and more than 60% of adults had a history of alcohol and/or drug use. The survey found alcohol consumption among young people was more likely to occur during weekends and drinking may exacerbate depression and depressive symptoms. It said: Even though alcohol use is not the only risk factor for suicide, it increases disinhibiting thoughts and behaviour and depressive symptoms, impacting on the other risk factors for suicide. Therefore, alcohol use may increase the likelihood that suicidal behaviour will occur. The research called for programmes promoting positive mental health in education settings with the aim of increasing emotional competence and personal skills to cope with personal difficulties and stress. In addition, these programmes could specifically highlight how the use of alcohol and illicit drugs might increase personal difficulties, addressing the common myth that they help to reduce stress, said the report. Almost nine out of 10 young people were male and eight out of 10 adults were male. Just over seven out of 10 young people lived at home with their parents, compared to three out of 10 adults. Almost two-thirds of adults lived with a partner and/or children. Some 35% of adults were unemployed, compared to 38% of young people. The study also examined in detail the methods used in the suicide cases. It said there was a major public health challenge in preventing the suicides, but, said that nevertheless urgent actions are needed. Given the impact of reporting in this area, researchers called for closer collaboration with the media. If you or someone you know has been affected by mental health issues you can contact: The database, established in November 2015, can match a crime stain from one scene to a crime stain from another scene suggesting the same person committed multiple crimes or can match a crime stain to an individual, suggesting a link between a person and a crime. The database, operated by Forensic Science Ireland, identified 428 hits in 2016, which assisted 625 cases. The FSI annual report for 2016 shows that these 625 cases comprised 43 cases where crime scenes were linked to each other, including 11 cases where there were clusters of crimes. Forensic Science Ireland Annual Report 2016 - The DNA Database by numbers.... pic.twitter.com/4246BEzQSh FSI (@ForensicSci_Ire) May 17, 2017 The 43 cases made up 105 investigative links, comprising some 55 burglaries, 15 unlawful takings of vehicles, 10 robberies/thefts, four murders, two firearms cases, and two assaults. There were 385 person-to-stain matches 308 involving single cases and 77 linking a person to multiple cases, providing assistance to 212 investigations. One person, a burglar, was linked to 13 different crimes. The database is a very strong intelligence tool as you are able to link people to crimes and the intelligence hits are followed up on the ground, said Geraldine ODonnell, the FSIs director of DNA. At the launch of the report yesterday, she said that in 625 cases, the database has given gardai information they would not otherwise have had, particularly the 520 cases where they have linked a particular person to a crime. Dr Sheila Willis speaking at the Forensic Science Ireland Annual Report 2016 launch today at Farmleigh House pic.twitter.com/wzo4b9ZhlU FSI (@ForensicSci_Ire) May 17, 2017 She said it would take a while for these cases to end up in the courts. The 520 cases involved 295 burglaries, 57 criminal damage, 42 robberies/thefts, 37 unlawful taking of vehicles, five sexual assaults, eight assaults, two murders, and 20 drug cases. Dr ODonnell said that in one case, last August, a balaclava was found near the scene of a shooting and a cigarette lighter was found in a car. When they were compared, a profile was generated and when it was put into the database it matched somebody for a road traffic offence. FSI director Dr Sheila Willis said: The fact that the database has been operating for just over a year and yet it is already linking one in every five crime scene samples to individuals is really encouraging. She said 9,048 DNA profiles from suspects, convicted criminals, and sex offenders were uploaded to the database by the end of 2016, a figure now running at a rate of 1,000 profiles a month. In relation to all of the work of the FSI, the report states that because of backlogged cases due to staff shortages, the FSI did not reach its goal of meeting delivery times to gardai for the vast majority of cases. Dr Willis said they are waiting for new staff members to come in and that by the end of next year there should be a big difference. The report says DNA was used extensively in major drug seizures and investigations into gangland murders last year. Thats according to financial adviser and consumer champion Eddie Hobbs who said the revelations relating to Gurranabraher Credit Union and Synergy Credit Union in Fermoy showed a clear failure of internal auditing. Earlier this week, it emerged a credit union staff member was dismissed after the discovery of alleged financial irregularities of up to 200,000 at Gurranabraher Credit Union. It came less than a week after it emerged that 400,000 was stolen from members accounts at Synergy Credit Union in Fermoy in a series of unauthorised transactions. Both credit unions have referred investigations to both the gardai and the Central Bank. Responding to the revelations, Mr Hobbs said an external review of governance was needed in order to get to the bottom of the matters. There was clearly a failure of internal auditing here and some people within the credit union have to take responsibility for that fact. The fact that these issues came up raises questions about the standard of internal auditing. What needs to happen now is an external review of the governance of the credit union. Whatever reports are produced needs to be circulated to the members and the members should decide on what actions need to be taken going forward. Only then will people be in a position to move on, he said. However, Mr Hobbs praised the credit union movement as a whole and said the lack of incidents involving fraud were a clear sign of how well it operates. Were very lucky in Ireland that there havent been more incidents like these. We are very, very lucky to have the quality of credit unions that we do here. The relative damage done in terms of fraud and bad lending by credit unions is infinitesimally smaller than what was done by the banks. "Infinitesimally smaller. The credit union sector in terms of how it dealt with non-performing loans and bad debts has performed very well and it has to be seen in that context, he said. However, both institutions have also declined to answer a series of questions relating to the irregularities. In the case of Gurranabraher Credit Union, it is understood that the investigation is focussing on a staff member who was allegedly engaged in misappropriation of members funds for a number of years before being exposed. However, it has declined to elaborate on the nature of the investigation, the amount involved, or the number of accounts that may have been affected. It did confirm that none of the 15,000-plus members had been exposed to a loss as a result of the matter. Synergy Credit Union confirmed that the 400,000 was stolen from some 29 member accounts. However, it declined to specify the period of time over which this occurred. It also declined to say whether the insurance policy of the credit union was used to replenish the 29 affected accounts or if the original monies recovered. As there are still various third-party processes underway, we cannot comment in any greater detail on this matter, except to say that an individual has accepted responsibility, co-operated with the investigation in full, said a statement. It also remains unclear if there are other similar investigations ongoing in any other credit unions around the country. A spokesperson for the Irish League of Credit Unions said that in relation to other investigations, each credit union is autonomous and deals directly with any such matters. Members money safe, says credit union body Credit union members around the country have been assured their money is safe and secure after it was revealed over 500,000 was raided from accounts at two Cork branches. Alleged financial irregularities of up to 200,000 have been discovered at Gurranabraher Credit Union and last week it emerged over 400,000 was stolen from 29 member accounts in Synergy Credit Union in Fermoy. The Irish Examiner put these questions to the Irish League of Credit Unions: How safe is your money in a credit union? Members savings continue to be safe and secure in Irish credit unions. The movement is extremely well capitalised and holds over 2.3bn in capital reserves, with 914m in excess capital above the 10% requirement. Assets currently stand at over 14.5bn. Furthermore, credit union members savings continue to be guaranteed by the Government Deposit Guarantee Scheme; up to 100,000 per member. What protections are in place in credit unions when issues like the above emerge? With the increasing threat of financial crime in all organisations, credit unions continue to evolve and strengthen their fraud-prevention control frameworks. As well as the pre-existing controls in place in credit unions, since 2013 each credit union must now have a compulsory risk function, Compliance function and an internal auditor to enhance the existing structures. What type of monitoring systems are in place to ensure that incidents like these do not happen or are caught at the earliest possible opportunity? Are these being strengthened? Most recently, credit unions have also moved to fund the widespread roll-out of an enhanced risk and compliance support service, under the Credit Union Compliance Centre (CUCC). The CUCC will work with credit union compliance and risk functions to implement a more consistent framework in compliance and risk management. Credit unions will continue on this process to ensure risk and compliance systems and processes are as effective as possible. What type of insurance cover is in place for incidents like these and is the cost of this passed onto members? All credit unions carry insurance to deal with matters such as fraud or theft. How many other investigations are ongoing across the credit union network currently? While instances such as these are extremely regrettable, they remain isolated. As credit unions are democratic and fully accountable to their members, where such incidents occur it often comes to public attention. This is distinctly different to other financial institutions where such incidents may be dealt with via a closed internal process. In relation to other investigations, each credit union is autonomous and deals directly with any such matters. Long record of service but not without controversies Gurranabraher Credit Union has been serving the people of the northside of Cork City since its foundation in 1963. Gurranabraher Credit Union was the subject of an almost year-long investigation by the Registrar of Friendly Societies in 2000. In 2002, its manager and deputy manager were dismissed. Established in the basement of the Church of Ascension by a handful of people, by 1970 it had moved to what remains its current address on Bakers Road. By 1992, it had begun the computerisation of member accounts and its membership grew solidly. To accommodate this increase in services, its new building was completed in 2006 and its Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill Office opened in 2009. While it has celebrated its 50th anniversary, it has a chequered history and has hit the headlines on numerous occasions in recent years. In 2000, it was the subject of an almost year-long investigation by the Registrar of Friendly Societies. The investigation raised concerns about expense claims and a 7,000 junket to Killarney for, inter alia, members of the board of directors, the supervisory committee and management. There were also concerns around bullying and harassment of staff. In 2002, the manager and deputy manager were dismissed following an exhaustive investigation. This week the Irish Examiner revealed that a staff member at the credit union has been dismissed after the discovery of alleged financial irregularities of up to 200,000. Following the discovery of the irregularities, which are believed to have been ongoing for a number of years, it has referred the matter to both the gardai and the Central Bank. From humble beginnings members grow to 16,000 Fermoy Credit Union was founded in the mid-1960s and grew out of the Fermoy Civic Action Group which had three aims: to set up a public swimming pool, a toastmasters group, and a credit union. Fermoy Credit Union, which last December changed its name to Synergy Credit Union. It was recently disclosed that 400,000 was stolen from member accounts. From a humble membership of less than a few dozen, it quickly grew to over 600 by the end of the decade. The branch hired its first full-time employee in 1968 and, by 1971, the common bond was extended to the neighbouring parishes of Castlelyons, Rathcormac, Glanworth, Kilworth and Watergrasshill. By 2005, savings had topped 63m with loans in excess of 38m. But the financial crisis of 2008 impacted badly. Loan repayments stalled and it was forced to reschedule loans, reduce repayments and, in worst case scenarios, freeze interest and write off loans. It also lost an investment of 1m with Anglo Irish Bank. Last December, it changed its name to Synergy Credit Union, chosen by members to reflect the north Cork credit unions momentum and to help achieve its vision for the future. It is, once again, boasting a surplus. Membership has swelled to over 16,200 members and the report for 2016 shows combined savings increased by 3,642,348 to over 53.2m. Assets increased by 7.3% to 62.4m. Its current chairman is Denis Granville.However, a recent disclosure in the report showed 400,000 was stolen from member accounts in a series of unauthorised transactions. The gardai and the Central Bank were informed and accountancy firm Grant Thornton was commissioned to carry out an independent investigation. The sale of the six-acre Harolds Cross stadium in Dublin 6, under an agreement announced by Education Minsiter Richard Bruton a fortnight ago, is key to helping the greyhound board Bord na gCon clear its 20m debts. But ahead of the board returning to give evidence to the Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about its finances this morning, the Irish Examiner has learned that the sale might not go ahead if the appropriate zoning is not secured first, for schools to be built on the site. When he announced on May 2 that an offer was accepted by Bord na gCon, Mr Bruton said that his departments plans to build schools there for a growing local population would require a change in the current zoning. In response to questions about whether it would be tied into the expensive deal even if the necessary planning changes were not made, the department said a condition of the purchase would be to have the zoning changed first to reflect its intended educational use. The site is currently zoned for amenity and open space usage, under the Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017. Officials from this department have had preliminary discussions with officials from Dublin City Council regarding the zoning of the site, a spokesperson said. The department intends to seek a change in zoning prior to contract closing, hence the contracts will reflect that the acquisition is subject to a change in zoning to facilitate school development, he said. Fianna Fail education spokesperson Thomas Byrne welcomed the stipulations but cautioned that a change in zoning would not guarantee success for any subsequent planning application for schools on the site. My party on the council, and I as party spokesperson, will be very supportive of the Department of Education in any plans it puts forward, because the most important thing is to provide school places for children, Mr Byrne said. The sale is also subject to approval by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe. Mr Bruton acknowledged at the Oireachtas Select Education Committee on Tuesday that the Harolds Cross site was a significant, expensive site, but said that his department is facing rising land acquisition costs for school building projects. Around 30m of this years 515m school capital budget is set aside for land costs to facilitate developments. PAC chairman Sean Fleming said last night that members will be asking Bord na gCon representatives what effect the intended sale would have on the organisations ability to address its financial difficulties. Bord na gCon officials have written to the PAC seeking to have increased security measures in place today, after grassroots greyhound fans jostled and criticised officials during a break in their meeting a fortnight ago, and after they finished giving evidence. The block is engraved with the cartouche of the 30th Dynasty King Nectanebo II, who is known for his construction projects An Egyptian archaeological committee from Al-Belinna inspectorate in the Sohag town of Abydos found a stone block engraved with the cartouche of the 30th Dynasty King Nectanebo II during the inspection of an old house in the Beni Mansour area, under which the owner was carrying out an illegal excavation. The Tourism and Antiquities Police caught the suspects conducting the illegal excavation red-handed and have confiscated the house until the completion of investigations, according to Hani Abul Azm, the head of the Central Administration for Antiquities of Upper Egypt. Abul Azm added that the block may have been part of King Nectanebo II's royal shrine or an extension of a wall of a temple built by the king. Nectanebo II is well-known for his construction projects in Abydos. Abul Azm said that after the completion of the expropriation procedures, more excavation will take place at the site. Ashraf Okasha, director-general of Abydos Antiquities, pointed out that the newly discovered block measures 1.40x40 cm, but the high level of subterranean water has made it difficult to determine whether it was part of a shrine or a temple wall. Okasha added that the archaeological committee inspected the site at the two-storey mud brick house where the illegal excavation was underway, with the block discovered at the bottom of a four metre-deep hole. Search Keywords: Short link: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 (12:33 pm) - Score 2,801 The Conservative Party has today joined Labour (here) and the Liberal Democrats (here) by publishing their own Manifesto for the 2017 UK General Election, although anybody looking for PM Theresa May to surprise us with a set of bold new pledges for broadband and mobile will be disappointed. As the current party of Government we already know more or less everything about the Conservatives broadband policy, which is currently working via Broadband Delivery UK to make fixed line superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds available to around 97% of UK premises by 2020 and pushing for a 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) to help tackle those in the final 3%. On top of that theyve recently committed 600m to boost full fibre (FTTP/H) deployments, aim to support future 5G mobile services and have introduced 100% business rates relief on new full-fibre infrastructure for a 5 year period; the latter is somewhat of a catch-22 because the relief doesnt apply to existing infrastructure. All of this and more was summarised as part of the Budget 2017 (click for details) announcement. Unsurprisingly this means that todays Manifesto doesnt offer any major surprises for digital infrastructure and merely rewrites much of what the Government has already promised, as well as a few things that wed expect the private sector to achieve on its own (e.g. 5G for most of the population by 2027). 2017 Conservative Manifesto Broadband and Mobile Pledges We will deliver the infrastructure the road, rail, airports and broadband that businesses need. We will make doing business online easier for companies and consumers. We will give businesses the right to insist on a digital signature and the right to digital cancellation of contracts. We will oblige all digital companies to provide digital receipts, clearer terms and conditions when selling goods and services online and support new digital proofs of identification. We will give consumers the same protections in online markets as they have on the high street. For broadband customers, we will make broadband switching easier and pricing more transparent. We will ensure that consumers and businesses have access to the digital infrastructure they need to succeed. By the end of this year, 19 out of 20 premises will have access to superfast broadband and our Universal Service Obligation will ensure that by 2020 every home and every business in Britain has access to high speed broadband. We will work to provide gigaspeed connectivity to as many businesses and homes as possible. We will introduce a full fibre connection voucher for companies across the country by 2018 and by 2022 we will have major fibre spines in over a hundred towns and cities, with ten million premises connected to full fibre and a clear path to national coverage over the next decade. We have similar ambitions for mobile phone coverage. By 2022 we will extend mobile coverage further to 95 per cent geographic coverage of the UK. By the same date, all major roads and main line trains will enjoy full and uninterrupted mobile phone signal, alongside guaranteed WiFi internet service on all such trains. We will continue to release more spectrum from public sector use to allow greater private sector access and begin the roll-out of a new 5G network, providing gigaspeed connection to your smart phone. We plan to have the majority of the population covered by a 5G signal by 2027. Suffice to say that were a little disappointed as the party has once again missed a golden opportunity to make a solid commitment towards delivering universal coverage of superfast broadband, which is something that both Labour and the LibDems have proposed (both by 2022); thats not even hugely radical, unless its done as a legally-binding USO. Most other EU countries have already made a commitment to 100% coverage (here). On the other hand the Conservatives will no doubt feel as if their approach is economically prudent, particularly at a time of increasingly harsh austerity, and theyll perhaps be hoping that the electorate will be pleased with the progress that has been made on broadband connectivity over the past few years. The side mention of 10 million full fibre premises does perk our ears but the private sector may already be getting close to this by 2022. Elsewhere its no surprise to find that theyre also pushing for tougher rules to tackle online bullying and horrific content, which always sounds fair on the surface but often ends up overlooking the realities of how the internet / ISPs actually work and human behaviour. The language used is very generalised and so well need to see some more detail before being able to judge. Lest we forget that they also pushed through (with Labours support) the somewhat controversial Investigatory Powers Act (IPAct), which requires UK ISPs to snoop on the Internet activity (not content) of all their customers and store that data for a year (here and here). As weve said before, you should always take any political pledges, from any party, with a big pinch of salt. Mind you its always easier to judge such things when the party concerned is currently holding office. Thursday, May 18th, 2017 (8:29 am) - Score 2,537 Broadband providers Vodafone, TalkTalk and Sky Broadband have complained that Ofcoms delay to the introduction of their recently proposed wholesale price reduction on Openreachs (BT) 40Mbps (10Mbps upload) Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) service could cost consumers 140 million. On 31st March 2017 the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, launched their 2017 Wholesale Local Access Market Review and as part of that they proposed to make a number of changes to help promote competition and protect consumers from high prices (here). One of those changes involved imposing a significant price reduction on Openreachs 40/10 FTTC fibre broadband product, which Ofcom described as being the most important package for consumers. The news should have been good but three of the markets largest telecoms operators Sky Broadband, Vodafone and TalkTalk have complained via the FT that Ofcoms decision to delay the start of their review, until after a deal had been struck with BT over the future of Openreach, meant that their FTTC proposals arrived about a year late and this carries a cost. A Vodafone Spokesperson said: As a result of the 12-month delay in implementing this initial charge control and the subsequent delay in further reductions, UK consumers are being over-charged by around 140m. This windfall gain will allow Openreach to invest in FTTP to cover a city the size of Cardiff. Openreach has already complained that the regulators proposed price cut does not appear to incentivise more investment in full fibre networks (Ofcom hopes to foster more FTTP/H with their wider selection of regulatory changes) and they believe that their current prices are fair. The regulator has promised to evaluate the new claim, although off-hand we cant recall many occasions in the past where rivals have complained about the hypothetical impact of a delayed review in quite this way. It will be interesting to see if the Ofcom makes any related changes when they issue their final statement during early 2018. Separately the regulator has also launched a probe into BTs compliance with their 2016 Business Connectivity Market Review (here), which imposed a number of quality of service requirements. One of these, known as the upper percentile limit, required that no more than 3% of orders for relevant wholesale Ethernet services completed in the period 28th April 2016 to 31st March 2017 should be delivered in more than 159 working days (subject to a number of adjustments, such as taking account of customer caused delays). Ofcom is now examining whether BT has complied with this obligation. UPDATE 3:33pm One of the ISPs has responded to our hails and clarified that the 140m claim may reference a new charge control that would have regulated MPF (LLU) prices from this April, which now wont hit until April 2018. The information appears to be confidential and Ive been asked not to share the details, although current MPF pricing stands at 85.29 +vat per year (Openreach price list) and the ISPs appear to be saying that, following Ofcoms own analysis, this should be reduced to around 80 (i.e. if this is not done then the providers claim BT would unfairly profit by up to 140m due to the delay). How computers actually work is a mystery to many people. How quantum computing works is a mystery to just about everyone. Indeed, putting the word quantum in front of anything renders it incomprehensible to a vast majority of people. In short, traditional computer operations are binary. They are based on the oft-mentioned ones and zeros of computer language. A bit in a traditional computer at any specific point in time represents either of these. Quantum computing features qubits, which allow both one and zero to be represented simultaneously. This capability exponentially multiplies the computing capacity of the machine. During the past few years, quantum computing has gone from science fiction to the real world. ITWorld reported today that IBM has put a 16-qubit computer online for its cloud platform. A 17-qubit system is in the lab. Since nothing about quantum computing makes sense, it is not surprising that a 17-qubit system offers twice the performance of a 16-qubit device. That 5-qubit system is capable of calculations on 32 different inputs simultaneously. To date, IBM says, 300,000 experiments have been done on the platform. Big Blues quantum research is being conducted by IBM Q, an initiative announced in early March. The goal is to use cloud-based quantum computing to vastly extend the capabilities of IBM Watson. A caption to a photo accompanying the initial press release announcing the initiative and some of the elements of the project said that one of the first applications that will be looked at relates to chemistry. It is possible, the release said, that new medicines and materials will result. Whether it makes their heads spin or not, long- and medium-range planners need to begin considering how quantum computing will affect their businesses. David Schatsky, the managing director of Deloitte LLP, posted a commentary today at Computerworld noting that $147 million in venture capital and $2.2 billion in worldwide government funding has been invested in quantum computing research during the past three years. In addition to Microsoft, big names such as Google and Microsoft are mentioned in the story. Startups and quantum computing-specific companies mentioned include Rigetti computing, 1Qbit and Cambridge Quantum Computing. The piece also lists D-Wave, a company that claims to have developed the first quantum computer. The area is so complex that nobody can say definitively whether the claim is true or not. The devices are especially well suited to solve problems that involve finding needles in massively huge haystacks. Quantum computers, for example, might be able to find distant habitable planets, the cure for cancer and Alzheimers disease or revamp complex airline flight schedules, Schatsky wrote. Investments of more than $2.3 billion make one thing clear: Very smart people think quantum computing is the next step. Planners must take this seriously. Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk. To mark its 20th anniversary, HTC has already unveiled U11 as its new flagship phone. The HTC U11 is titled as the world's first-ever "squeezable" smartphone, which gives users a new way to interact with their mobile device. As of today, Samsung Galaxy S8 is the reigning best smartphone of 2017. However, with the unique feature offered by the HTC's flagship phone, will the supremacy be transferred? Design And Display Comparison HTC U11 and Samsung Galaxy S8 kicked their aluminum and plastic prototypes to the curb for an all-glass design pattern on the front and back, then metal frames in between. According to TechRadar, HTC U11 doesn't follow the trend of a smartphone having an all-screen. It just sticks with the tried-and-true front-fingerprint sensor home button. Both devices are the best-looking smartphones from each company, but Samsung's "Infinity Display" gives a larger display. The edges of the HTC U11 are pressure-sensitive. Thanks to its squeezable feature, a user is able to squeeze the phone in order to launch a certain application from either the home or lock screen, as long as it is installed. The so-called "Edge Sense" technology does have some useful purposes and it gives the device a unique selling point over the Galaxy S8. Galaxy S8 has 5.8-inch Quad HD+ display, which is roughly the same size as the Galaxy S7. The fingerprint sensor is on the back of the phone and offset from the rear camera. On the other hand, HTC U11 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen. The fingerprint scanner is still located on the front part. Other Significant Comparisons HTC U 11 has top hardware and a collection of interesting features that arent available on other smartphones. According to BGR, HTC's flagship phone is able to outperform not just Galaxy S8 but Google Pixel and Nexus phone, too! In fact, the HTCHTC U11 got 90 points in its thorough camera review, which is a score that headed to top the former leading device. Samsung and HTC are beginning to launch brand new designs for their respective smartphones. The Korean tech giant produced a lot with its first-ever all screen phone, while the Taiwan-based company is trying to promise users more unique features. Both are worthy to buy and try since the two smartphones have the real bomb on their own. Intel has reportedly sealed a deal with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc, or most commonly known as AMD. The agreement between the two firms is for Intel to license Radeon graphics technology from AMD. This collaboration comes after the rumors enclosing a graphics licensing agreement with Intel and AMD had been circulating for more than a month. The Past Of Intel And Nvidia Back in 2011, Intel signed a graphics licensing contract with NVIDIA. The deal included a $1.5 billion dollar payment, which is made over five years. Both tech companies confirmed that the deal was never intended to enable Intel to make any graphics chips with NVIDIA technology, but it merely served as a protection against patent infringement litigation. Intels previous licensing agreement with NVIDIA ended in March, according to WCCF Tech. In order to prevent any litigator gaps from happening, the chip giant has reportedly begun paying licensing deal to AMD. This new announcement is expected to take place at the Q2 earnings releases of the two companies. The New Graphics Licensing Agreement As reported by Market Watch, CEO Lisa Su already laid out AMD's plans and expectations for the coming years. At the Financial Analyst Day of AMD last Tuesday afternoon, Su also shares how the multinational semiconductor company endured a roller-coaster ride. She also showed off the upcoming "Epyc" CPU offering, as well as Radeon GPU product for data-center servers. Just like the original technique, the main objective of the new graphics licensing agreement is to protect Intel from patent trolling. Both AMD and NVIDIA have a massive portfolio of patents acquired over years of defining modern graphics architectures. However, because of the complexity of modern graphics chips to build its own legal minefield, Intel needs to make the right choice. And with AMD, the company sees much more potentials and good reasons. Google I/O 2017 is done and people are talking about the many things that the company announced. Attendees at the annual developer conference bore witness as top Google executives explained new innovations and technology. Google By The Numbers The conference started off with Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealing that an estimated 2 billion people are now using an active Android device. Pichai also mentioned that there are about 800 million people are actively using Google Drive while 500 million people are Google Photos users. These users of Google Photos are also responsible for uploading a whopping 1.2 billion photos each day. Google Lens As Tech Crunch pointed out, the main theme of the Google I/O is artificial intelligence which accounts for the unveiling of the new Google Lens. Google Assistant is now capable of analyzing its surroundings through a smartphone camera thanks to Google Lens. The technology can tell what the name of a plant is or get information about a restaurant just by pointing the camera at the subject. Another brilliant use of the Google Lens is that users can log on a Wi-Fi network just by aiming the camera at the login credentials. Google Home Google's smart speaker now comes with the "proactive assistance" feature that notifies Google Home owners on reminders they have set. The feature will also inform them of delayed flights, traffic situations, and other important information. To alert the owners, the light ring of the Google Home will begin spinning. The owners then need to ask, "OK Google, what's up?" to find out the notification. Google Home can also now make calls direct to mobile phones and landlines in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, the smart speaker can only call another Google Home. Other improvements of the Google Home include a new TV interface, the ability to set reminders as well as entries on the calendar while it can now stream HBO Now, Hulu, SoundCloud, and Deezer. Google Assistant Google's digital assistant can now be installed in iOS devices particularly the iPhone and iPad. The Verge reported that LG and GE have also added support for Google Assistant on their smart home products such as refrigerators and ovens. Google also launched the Google.ai initiative where the company can help further artificial intelligence by sharing what it can to the AI community. The latest iPhone 8 leak reveals what the Apple flagship smartphone actually looks like in real life. The device in the said leak is actually a mock-up of the iPhone 8 but despite being fake, it does impress in terms of the final design and layout of the features. BGR got an exclusive look at the iPhone 8 as it got its hands on some photos of the mock-up. The fake iPhone was made based on the supposedly final design. The schematics used in the faux-iPhone 8 do not include a fingerprint scanner at the back. There are no other clues, however, which prove that Apple did integrate the feature in the display. Another rumor that the dummy iPhone confirms is the vertical layout of the dual lens camera. The camera is conspicuously bulky which may indicate that the LED flash and microphone are also already integrated into the feature. The photos also indicate that the iPhone 8 will sport slightly curved 2.5D glass panels and a stainless steel rounded midframe. The iPhone 8 in the leak indicates one important thing regarding Apple iPhone line-up. The iPhone 8 will sport a completely new design that is different from the company's previous iPhones. Apple has not changed the design of the iPhone since 2014. This means it's been three years since the tech giant used the design that we now see with the iPhone 7. If the dummy is actually the real thing in terms of the iPhone 8's final design, the leak still leaves out a few important details such as price and release date. CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley sent out a report saying the iPhone 8 will not be delayed. This contradicts a number of other rumors including the one that came from Apple leakster Ming-Chi Kuo. The company's ongoing patent battle with erstwhile partner Qualcomm may also prove disadvantageous for Apple and the iPhone 8. Qualcomm insists Apple should pay for its designs used in iPhones but the tech giant argues that the demand is unreasonable. If this issue drags on and Qualcomm's rumored move to block Apple from releasing any device using its patents pushes through, then the iPhone 8 is in danger of missing its traditional September release date. Samsung's refurbished Galaxy Note 7 will no longer be known as such. Reports are saying the supposed Galaxy Note 7R will be officially known as the Galaxy Note FE. According to Android Headlines, the "FE" stands for "Fandom Edition". Samsung apparently decided to scratch the rumored Galaxy Note 7R name and go with the one that pays tribute to Samsung diehards. The new FE moniker supposedly means that the refurbished smartphone is meant for true fans of Samsung and the Note 7. Another probable reason for the name change is that the Korean conglomerate wants to take out the "7" to at least lessen the stigma of its fiery past. Apple Insider reported that the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 has already received Bluetooth SIG certification on May 12. This bit of news is also indicative of the Note FE's nearing release. The Samsung device also got certification from the FCC and the Wi-Fi Alliance early in the month while it was recently submitted to the National Radio Research Agency or NRRA in South Korea also for certification. The Samsung Galaxy FE will still come with the impressive features of the Note 7 though it has one major difference - the battery has been replaced with a smaller one. Instead of a 3,500mAh battery, the refurbished Note 7 will pack a smaller 3,200mAh one. This hopefully solved the exploding battery issues of the device. Many surely still remember that the controversial phablet was recalled due to risks of the battery catching fire. Samsung investigated the matter for months before finding out that the explosions were caused by a design flaw and some manufacturing issues. Samsung is releasing the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 or the Galaxy Note FE in selected markets particularly in china and South Korea. It is expected to cost around $520, lower than the Galaxy S8's price. If you're going out for a beer run, it's best to leave your Dodge Challenger behind. If you must insist, just don't crash it through the store. This is what one man unfortunately did early morning of May 7 which was a Sunday. Robert Mason, 45, drove his Dodge Challenger through a convenience mart while running 40 miles per hour. The Rocky River, Ohio native cashed his car through security poles and ended up inside the Hilliard boulevard store. Mason did not just waste one gorgeous car but he also practically destroyed the said convenience store. Photos of the scene along with video from responding police authorities' body cameras showed the devastation caused by the crash. The store clerk escaped with minor injuries after he was hit by the rampaging Challenger. The impact pushed him and the deli case about ten feet backwards. In what Rocky River police Chief Kelly Stillman described as a stroke of luck, the deli case actually saved the man's life. Stillman stressed that had the Dodge went two more feet forward, the employee could have been hurt bad or may have even died. According to the clerk, who can be seen in one of the police videos trapped by debris from the crash, Mason got out of his Challenger and asked him for beer. The driver then proceeded to go inside the mart's beer cooler. The clerk and the responders also noted that the intoxicated Mason was naked from the waist down. Reports say that when the police arrived, Mason barricaded himself in the cooler. The authorities attempted to resolve the matter peacefully despite Mason challenging the responders to shoot him. Mason was eventually subdued after he was shot with a taser. Mason is facing charges of OVI or Operating a Vehicle while under the Influence. He was also charged with reckless operation. Fox News reported that Mason was going through a rough patch after encountering problems concerning his military service and his work with the Federal Protective Service where he is an officer. The man was so distraught that he didn't care about his Dodge Challenger or the fact that he could've hurt someone just to get a beer. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. Close Feds laud $83M to better Pell Bridge The congressional delegation of Rhode Island was in Jamestown to celebrate an $82.5 million grant to upgrade the bridge that connects Conanicut Island to Newport. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a... Local author, illustrator collaborate on book A local woman has turned her digital cross-country teatimes with her granddaughter into a childrens book. Tuesday Tea, written by Debby Furness Saletin and illustrated by Maryann England, both of... Local group asks for rental rules changes A group of residents is expected to present its recommendations on how to improve the ordinance that governs short-term rentals. Member Ron Ratcliffe said the item is scheduled to be... By continuing to browse or by clicking "Accept," you agree to our site's privacy policy. Two days after a report revealed that Forsyth County had the highest increase in opioid deaths among urban counties in the state over a 10-year period, leaders from several agencies involved in the epidemic gathered for a roundtable discussion with Attorney General Josh Stein. The 90-minute session, moderated by District Attorney Jim ONeill, yielded no quick fixes, to the surprise of no one with knowledge of this complex issue. But there was some consensus that expanding treatment is critical. Treatment involves a detoxification period of about four days, ideally followed by a longer stay in a residential rehabilitation program. We need more treatment resources because I dont think anything else is going to work, said Lee Garrity, Winston-Salem city manager. Stein said that one in 10 addicts gets treatment. Would we accept 90 percent of cardiac patients or people with AIDS not getting health care? he asked. Yet that is the situation in North Carolina. Steins trip to Winston-Salem was scheduled in advance of Mondays report from the governors office that showed a four-fold increase in the number of opioid deaths in Forsyth County from 13 in 2005 to 53 in 2015. Thats a bigger jump than Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford and Durham counties. Representatives from law enforcement, the judicial system, the medical field, emergency medicine and government were among those who gathered to share their expertise on the opioid epidemic, with the hope of future collaboration. The idea is to bring together community leaders and partners dealing with the epidemic on a daily basis, hash out some ideas and learn what people are seeing and doing, ONeill said. Stein has been touring the state to learn more about the epidemic. Accidental drug overdoses were the leading cause of accidental deaths in 2015 in North Carolina, replacing automobile accidents, he said. And the primary driver of that is this opioid problem, Stein said. Its a problem that is affecting people in all corners of the state. I am convinced people of goodwill from all the perspectives you represent can get together and talk about ideas and we can turn the tide on this crisis and save lives, he said. Thats our imperative. He emphasized a three-prong attack that looks at education, treatment and enforcement. I have heard time and time again that we will not arrest ourselves out of this problem, Stein said. He made a pitch for a piece of legislation known as the STOP Act that would address some issues, including making some derivatives of fentanyl illegal. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that is frequently mixed with heroin. The legislation would also tighten the prescribing of opioid painkillers. It is awaiting action in a Senate Rules committee. Dr. Mitchell Sokolosky, who works in emergency medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said there is more awareness among health-care workers on prescribing opioid painkillers. Years ago, there was a push to treat pain, and the pendulum has completely swung, he said. People who once came to the emergency department in hopes of getting an opioid prescription no longer show up, knowing that it is easier to find such drugs on the street, he said. Sally Randall, the director of Re4Him, a nonprofit group in Greensboro that works with addicts, talked about the changing perception of heroin. The idea in the 70s was of someone going in a dark alley and shooting up, she said. Its more likely the 17-year-old kid next door to you. Voter ID is dead in North Carolinaor is it? U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts pronouncement on the matter raises many questions, and whereas opponents of the 2013 Voter ID law were quick to celebrate victory, they might have been premature. Essentially, Roberts said the highest court wouldnt consider the appeal of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals verdict - that the law discriminated against African American voters - because the court wasnt sure who was speaking for the plaintiff (state) in the appeal. In fact, he urged us not to take the decision as a comment about the substance of the law. It is no wonder the Supreme Court might be confused. Following the lower courts ruling, then-Attorney General Roy Cooper stated he would not appeal the decision, leaving Governor McCrory to make the appeal to the Supreme Court. Shortly after becoming governor, Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein withdrew the states appeal. Just who is the plaintiff in the appeal? We have many questions. First, what is wrong with asking voters to present some identification when they vote? 32 states currently have some form of voter ID laws. If, however, the motivation for voter ID is to intimidate or disenfranchise certain groups from voting, that is clearly unconstitutional and just wrong. It would be equally wrong to ascribe intent to our lawmakers, but based on their efforts in redistricting and discrimination, a reasonable person might conclude they werent merely interested in just preventing voter fraud, most especially since evidence of voter fraud is minimal. Justice Roberts question is valid and timely in the voter ID case, namely who does and should represent the state? Our constitution envisions it to be our Attorney Generals office, but does this constitutionally-elected officer have the prerogative to decide which laws will or will not be defended? In a perfect world one would hope that the legislature would involve the AG in considering legislation, but we know this doesnt always happen. Previous AGs have determined not to defend certain laws, so some precedent has been established, but if the AG will not defend legislation do the Governor and/or the legislature have the authority to hire their own attorneys at taxpayer expense? When our long-standing system breaks down, especially when the AG, governor and legislative leadership might belong to different political parties, how can we avoid overt partisanship? This is a good government question. Assuming there was no confusion about who is officially representing the state in the voter ID case would the Supreme Court have considered the appeal? The 4th circuit decision declared the 2013 law (later amended), with almost surgical precision, targeted African Americans. The state was unable to convince that court to the contrary. Previous court decisions at many levels have come down solidly against discrimination and restriction of voting rights, however we now have a new Supreme Court and it remains to be seen how this new court might rule. Legislative leaders declare they will pass new voter ID legislation. While we have no objection to verifying our identity when voting, we suggest lawmakers consult the other 32 states to determine how to do so in a way that will both pass court scrutiny and not discriminate against certain voters. Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of NC SPIN, a weekly statewide television discussion of NC issues airing in the Triad Sundays on WXLV at 7:30am. JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, discusses the legal framework of a potential Trump impeachment Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has responded to the crescendo of outrage by appointing former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation as well as any other matters within the scope of the Department of Justice (DOJ) regulation on special counsel appointments. In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter, Rosenstein stated. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, Rosenstein added. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr thought he had substantial and credible evidence against President Bill Clinton in 1998. Starr turned over the results of his investigation to the House of Representatives, who then initiated impeachment proceedings. Evidence of a Cover-up by Trump As evidence of President Donald Trumps malfeasance emerges, the old adage that the cover-up is worse than the crime may once again prove true. There is circumstantial evidence of improper contact between members of the Trump administration and Russian operatives during the presidential campaign. At this point, however, we have seen no concrete proof of criminal conduct. But evidence of a cover-up continues to mount. Trump has admitted the Russia investigation motivated him to fire FBI director James Comey. Trump asked Comey to end the investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump made veiled threats to Comey about possible tapes of their conversations. Trump demanded that Comey pledge loyalty to him, but Comey refused. And Trump defensively fixated on Comey telling him three times that Trump was not an object of the investigation. These acts constitute probable cause that Trump engaged in obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Both of these crimes are felonies. They are high crimes and misdemeanors, the constitutional standard for impeachment. In addition, according to the Washington Post, Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak, and Russian reporters. Although this may not amount to criminal behavior, it could still constitute a high crime and misdemeanor for impeachment purposes. What are High Crimes and Misdemeanors? Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 65 that offenses are impeachable if they proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. When the president obstructs justice or tampers with a witness, that violates the public trust and injures societys right to the fair administration of justice. The New York Times reported that Trump revealed to Lavrov and Kislyak classified information he learned from Israel. The president does have the power to declassify classified information. But CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou told Democracy Now! that the proper procedure for a president to declassify information is that it goes back to the CIA, to the originating office. The CIA will pull the relevant information out of the report, put it on a new blank sheet of paper and then type at the top, Secret releasable to Russia. That way, nobody gets in trouble, no sources and methods are revealed, everybodys happy, and we can establish something of a liaison relationship to the Russians. Thats not what the president did. Former CIA director Michael Hayden cautioned in the Washington Post: The information reportedly derived from another countrys intelligence service, so its revelation would have violated the near-sacred third-party rule of intelligence: Information from one country cannot be shared with another without the agreement of the originator. Break that rule often enough and your intelligence begins to dry up. Indeed, US intelligence officials told the Post that the disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. Moreover, Hayden noted, Reportedly, National Security Council staffers were concerned enough about the revelations that they felt compelled to warn the CIA and the National Security Agency. Clearly, someone in government was concerned about potential damage. Trumps revelation to the Russian officials endangers the future security relationship between the US and one of its allies, which is a significant purveyor of intelligence about the Middle East. That could injure US national security, and thereby, the society itself. Trump revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies, a US official told the Post. The Judiciary Committees impeachment inquiry staff during the Nixon impeachment wrote in 1974 that impeachment is to be predicated only upon conduct seriously incompatible with . . . the proper performance of constitutional duties of the presidential office. Under the Constitution, the president has a duty to take Care that the laws be faithfully executed. There is strong evidence that Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors to support an impeachment investigation. Mueller will undoubtedly uncover a great deal more. The new special counsel should send the results of his investigation to the House of Representatives, where impeachment proceedings take place. Obstruction of Justice The articles of impeachment in the cases of both Nixon and Clinton contained allegations of obstruction of justice. The federal obstruction of justice statute punishes anyone who corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede . . . the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress. A conviction of obstruction of justice requires acting with an improper purpose, personally or by influencing another. Trump asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step out of the Oval Office before the president requested that Comey drop the investigation of Flynn. The president didnt want Pence or Sessions to hear what he had to say to Comey. This is evidence that Trump made the request to Comey for an improper purpose. If Trump did fire Comey because the latters investigation was getting too close to incriminating Trump, it would be a cover-up, and strong evidence of obstruction of justice. Witness Tampering The federal witness tampering statute punishes anyone who knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to influence, delay or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding A person also engages in witness tampering if he otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so or intentionally harasses another person and thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades any person from attending or testifying in an official proceeding. Comey reported that Trump asked him for his loyalty. Although the FBI requires its officials to pledge fealty to the Constitution, not to any individual leader, Trump sought to elicit a personal loyalty oath from the FBI director. This may be evidence of intimidation to prevent Comey from testifying against Trump. And Trumps veiled threats to Comey about tapes of their conversation, ostensibly to keep Comey quiet, may also amount to witness tampering. Regulations on Appointment of Special Counsel The attorney general (AG) has the authority to appoint and remove special counsel to investigate top government officials. The AG exercises power over indictments and other prosecutorial actions. The special counsel remains accountable to the AG, who can block any investigative or prosecutorial step he deems inappropriate or unwarranted. In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation because during his confirmation hearing, Sessions had failed to disclose contacts he had with Russian officials. Thus the authority to appoint a special independent counsel falls to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. DOJ regulations call for the appointment of an outside special counsel when (1) a criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted, (2) the investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a US Attorneys Office or litigating division of the DOJ would present a conflict of interest for the Department, and (3) under the circumstances it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter. When these three conditions are satisfied, the AG must select a special counsel from outside the government. Mueller, a former government official, is expected to resign from his law firm in order to serve as special counsel in this investigation. Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her most recent book is Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues. Visit her website at http://marjoriecohn.com/ and follow her on Twitter @MarjorieCohn. Suggested citation:Marjorie Cohn, Did Trump Commit High Crimes and Misdemeanors?, JURIST Forum, May 17, 2017, http://jurist.org/forum/2017/05/Marjorie-Cohn-trump-high-crimes-and-misdemeanors.php This article was prepared for publication by Dave Rodkey, Managing Editor for JURIST. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org Chelsea Manning was released from US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, a military prison, on Wednesday. In 2013 Manning was convicted of stealing 700,000 documents and releasing them to WikiLeaks [advocacy website] while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange [BBC profile], who is under criminal investigation in the US and Sweden, has agreed to accept extradition if Manning was freed. Manning, who was once known as Private First Class Bradley Manning, was the first service member [CNN report] to undergo gender reassignment surgery while detained in military prison. Amnesty International [official website], who campaigned for Mannings release, issued a statement [press release] saying, While we celebrate her freedom, we will continue to call for an independent investigation into the potential human rights violations she exposed, and for protections to be put in place to ensure whistleblowers like Chelsea are never again subjected to such appalling treatment. Manning served 7 of her 35 year sentenced term, an unprecedented sentence [NYT report] for disclosing secret files. In one of his last acts in office, President Obama commuted [JURIST report] the remainder of her sentence. In September Manning was sentenced [JURIST report] to two weeks of solitary confinement over a suicide attempt she made while transitioning and the possession of a banned book. Earlier in September, Manning ended a five-day hunger strike after the Army agreed to allow her to undergo gender reassignment surgery [JURIST reports]. In May Manning appealed [JURIST report] her 35-year prison sentence. In 2013 Manning filed for a presidential pardon of the 35-year sentence. In February 2013 Manning pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to 10 of the 22 charges against her for providing classified materials to WikiLeaks. The European Parliament [official website] passed a resolution [text, PDF] Wednesday accusing Hungary of engaging in actions which have resulted in the serious deterioration of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights. The organization particularly focused on human rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees as well as freedom of education. It calls for [press release] the Hungarian Government to repeal laws tightening rules against asylum-seekers and non-governmental organisations, and to reach an agreement with the US authorities, making it possible for Central European University to remain in Budapest as a free institution. They are also requesting that any EU funds to Hungary be monitored by the European Commission. The resolution was passed by a vote of 393 to 221, with 64 abstentions. Hungary has been several investigations in recent years. In April, the EU opened [JURIST report] an investigation into Hungarys recent Higher Education law that was meant to close the Central European university. The International Federation for Human Rights had urged [JURIST report] the EU in November to better address Hungarys sustained attack on human rights. In February 2015, Human Rights Watch had condemned [JURIST report] the EU for not taking action against Hungarys laws and practices relating to human rights. In 2013 the Hungarian government enacted constitutional amendments [JURIST report] after receiving criticism over its 2012 amendments. HRW and other human rights groups criticized [JURIST report] the changes as largely cosmetic, highlighting a lack of resolve over issues surrounding weakened human rights protections in the country. European Union (EU) antitrust regulators fined [press release] Facebook [corporate website] 122 million dollars on Thursday for misleading information regarding a deal for WhatsApp [corporate website]. The European Commission [official website], found that in order to avoid anti-trust concerns, Facebook stated that it could not automatically match users between Facebook and WhatsApp when it purchased the company in 2014. The European Commission states that the technology to automatically match users existed in 2014 and that Facebook staff were aware of that. Facebook alleges that the missing information in the 2014 merger deal was not intentional. Facebook was founded [official profile] in 2004 and is one of the most popular social media networking websites today. Its popularity has subjecting it to numerous lawsuits. In May the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand [official website] ordered [JURIST report] Facebook to remove a video of King Maha Vajiralongkorn or face legal action. In April the New York Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that law enforcement can seize private Facebook account information. In March Facebook settled a class-action [JURIST report] lawsuit levied against it for its prior practice of scanning private messages to aid in ads. [JURIST] The US District Court of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday began hearings on the restructuring of Puerto Ricos debt. The hearing stems from Puerto Rico filing for bankruptcy protection [JURIST report] under Article 3 of PROMESA [text] for its $70 billion debt earlier this month. Chief Justice Roberts appointed [text, PDF] Judge Laura Taylor Swain two weeks ago to hear the case as she has an extensive history [NYT backgrounder] in large debt cases. While proceedings opened up this morning, reports have emerged that the main creditors are interested in mediation talks [Reuters report] to resolve the debt. Puerto Rico has been seeking multiple avenues to solve the debt issue and have faced numerous problems with the debt. In February Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello approved a law [JURIST report] to hold nonbinding referendum that would allow the US territory to vote on statehood. The referendum is to be held in June. The Governor Ricardo Rossello signed into law [JURIST report] in January a heavily-debated labor reform bill. The same month the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that bondholders [JURIST report] of Puerto Ricos Employee Retirement System deserve a hearing to determine if their case has merit to proceed. Last June the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust that Section 903(1) of the Bankruptcy Code preempts Puerto Ricos Recovery Act. The US District Court for the Western District of Washington [official website] on Wednesday granted [order, PDF] a temporary restraining order to allow legal aid groups to continue to provide certain kinds of assistance to undocumented immigrants. Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) [advocacy website] filed NWIRP v. Sessions [case summary] after being informed by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) they could no longer provide legal advice to individuals unless they offered full representation of the clients. NWIRP argued the EOIR enforcement would leave them unable to assist the immigrates as there were too many to provide full representation for. The group had previously agreed to inform the court if they worked on a case in any capacity by including a note on all documents they had assisted with. The Court finds that NWIRP met its burden to show that it is immediately and irreparably harmed, and will continue to be so harmed, as a result of EOIRs enforcement against NWIRP attorneys These harms are significant and ongoing, and the Court therefore finds that entering this TRO against the Government is necessary to maintain the status quo until such time as the Court may hear and decide the matter of a preliminary injunction. NWIRP stated [press release] they are pleased with the ruling. Immigration legal issues continue in the judicial systems. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard [JURIST report] arguments Monday on the Trump administrations revised ban on travelers coming into the US from selected majority Muslim countries. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan [official website] on Thursday ordered [JURIST report] the Trump administration to disclose the draft of the so-called Muslim ban executive order. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed [JURIST report] into law a bill [SB 4, text] last Sunday banning so-called sanctuary cities in the state. Former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed [DOJ statement] as special counsel to the investigation of Russias involvement in the 2016 presidential election on Wednesday. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued the order [text, PDF] in place of Attorney General Jeff Session who recused himself after admitting [NYT report] he had failed to disclose meetings he had with a Russian ambassador while he was serving as an advisor to the Trump campaign. Mueller is authorized to investigate any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump with or without consulting the Justice Department [official website]. As special counsel, Mueller will be able to [BBC report] issue subpoenas, bring criminal charges, and can prosecute anyone who interferes in his investigation through crimes including perjury, destruction of evidence, obstruction of justice, and intimidation of witnesses. Mueller can only be fired by Rosenstein for good cause which includes dereliction of duty, misconduct, conflict of interest, incapacity, and violation of department policies. This is only the second time the Justice Department has appointed a special counsel, the first being in 1999 when the law which created the position took effect. The White House issued a formal statement [text] from Trump following the appointment: As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. On Thursday morning, Trump called the investigation [Twitter post] the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Robert Mueller served as director of the FBI under both Presidents Bush and Obama. He took the position of director just one week before the 9/11 attacks and is credited with rebuilding the FBI during the aftermath. Mueller worked closely with fellow former FBI director James Comey who was dismissed [JURIST report] last week. Mueller is viewed as one of the most reliable and credible law enforcement officials in the country by both democrats and republicans, although some are still calling [WP report] for an independent commission to lead an investigation as well. California Representative and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff [official website] said [Twitter post] Both are warranted because An independent commission has a very different purpose than an independent prosecutor. Others are concerned with Muellers employment with WilmerHale [official website], the law firm that represented Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Mueller is expected to announce his resignation from the firm. The US House of Representatives passed a bill [press release] Wednesday to impose sanctions on supporters of Syrias Assad regime. Bill 1677 [text, PDF], also known as Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, is hoped to encourage negotiations to end violence and promote the prosecution of war criminals. Chairman Ed Royce delivered a speech on the House floor urging members to vote on the bill and recounted the atrocities people face in Syria. Chairman Royce further stated that, Syria cant keep going on and on like this. Thats not in our humanitarian interest, the interest of the region, or Americas national security interest. This has to change. Supporters of the bill assert that it will halt Assads power and end the violent conflict that has led to about 500,000 lives being taken. The bill must still pass the US Senate and be signed by the President before becoming law. The war in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] continues to have a devastating impact on the country. In April the UN Security Council [official website] conducted emergency talks regarding an alleged chemical attack in Syria that killed numerous civilians [JURIST report]. That same month, Russia vetoed [JURIST report] a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Syrian president Bashar al-Assads use of neurological gas against a Syrian town. Also that month, the US military attacked Syria-government airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles [CNBC News]. In February, according to HRW [advocacy site], the Syrian government conducted [JURIST report] coordinated chemical attacks on rebel-controlled portions of Aleppo. In the same month, more than 13,000 prisoners were hanged [JURIST report] in extrajudicial executions over a 5-year period at Saydnaya prison. The International Court of Justice on Thursday instructed [press release] Pakistan to withhold the execution of an Indian national until after the courts final decision his case. The Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan) [ICJ docket] centers on alleged violations of consular rights that predated the death sentence [JURIST report] of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, who is accused of being a spy. India brought the case before the court arguing they have no knowledge of the charges against Jadhav, nor are they aware of the judicial proceedings against him. The ICJ noted they have jurisdiction to hear the issues and indicated Pakistan did not promised to suspend the execution as justification for their ruling. The Court concludes by indicating the following measures: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. The execution is scheduled for August. Pakistans use of the death penalty since December 2014 in both the civilian and military courts has faced widespread criticism. When the countrys six-year death penalty moratorium was lifted [JURIST report] that month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [official profile] said the death penalty would only be applied to terrorism-related cases. However, in March of last year the Pakistan Ministry of Interior lifted the countrys moratorium on the death penalty, permitting hangings for all prisoners [JURIST report] who have exhausted all possible appeals. The UN estimates that several hundred of the 8,000 inmates on Pakistans death row are minors [JURIST report]. The Turkish Parliament [official website] elected seven new members [vote counts;Bursada Bugun report, in Turkish] to the countrys 13-member Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) in an overnight vote Wednesday under changes made to the constitution in a referendum last month. The HSK has broad judicial power [Reuters report] in Turkey, overseeing the appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplining and dismissal of judges and prosecutors. The new members are all candidates of President Tayyip Erdogans [official website] ruling AK Party or its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party [official websites, in Turkish]. Critics of the move, including members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party and the secularist Republican Peoples Party [official websites, in Turkish], say the changes to the constitution which allow the appointments are illegitimate, and give too much power to Erdogan and the AK Party. Supporters of Erdogan say the expansion of his power [JURIST report], as well as the expulsion of 4,238 judges and prosecutors who were politically aligned with US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, is necessary to combat Kurdish and Islamist militants. Since the failed coup in Turkey in July, where Turkish military forces tried to overthrow the government, the Turkish government has taken several controversial steps to strengthen its power. Last month, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said [JURIST report] the Turkish Constitutional Court [official website] would reject any opposition challenge to the referendum that expanded Erdogans powers, and the European Court of Human Rights had no jurisdiction on the matter. In March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report [JURIST report] describing a plethora of human rights violations committed by the Turkish government between July 2015 and December 2016. Also in March around 330 individuals were put on trial [JURIST report] for alleged involvement in an attempted coup. In November Turkey significantly restricted the activities of NGOs like human rights organizations and childrens groups and arrested opposition party leaders [JURIST report] alleging they were connected to terror organizations. In October Human Rights Watch warned [JURIST report] that the emergency decrees put in place after the failed coup, had resulted in serious human rights violations. PSA Group reportedly is in talks to build Toyota-owned supplier Aisins automatic gearboxes at one of its own plants. The combined scale of PSA and Opel has added impetus to negotiations with Aisin, three Reuters sources told the news agency, helping to overcome the Japanese companys reservations. Toyota has a small car building joint venture with PSA in the Czech Republic and builds engines and transmissions for its French and English assembly plants in Poland. The Opel acquisition announced in March, which valued the General Motors business at EUR2.2bn (US$2.44 billion), brings a larger sales volume and therefore more profitability for an investment, one Reuters source said. Reuters said PSA currently buys in six- and eight-speed Aisin gearboxes made in Japan and China for its Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands. Assembling the six-speed (referred to as EAT6 by Peugeot) in France would secure a competitive supply, reduce currency risk and help fill its own plants. For Aisin, 34%-owned by Toyota and affiliates, it would establish a first European production base amid growing demand for automatic gearboxes which currently equip about 20% of PSA cars sold, the news agency said, noting that automatics are less popular in Europe than in the US but growth is set to accelerate with tighter emissions rules and demand for electric, hybrid and increasingly automated cars, to which manual gearboxes are unsuited. PSA and Aisin both declined to comment to Reuters which noted Aisin has previously signalled an openness to partnerships. Were absolutely not averse to joint programmes with non-Toyota companies, the suppliers president Yasumori Ihara said in January, the same month that PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares told workers at his companys Metz transmissions plant an unspecified production deal was under consideration. But the proposal had made little headway until the tie-up with Opel, the Reuters sources said. An agreement could now be finalised within months, subject to successful closing of the Opel acquisition later in the year, and PSA managers may discuss the plans with unions in works council meetings next month. The Reuters sources said PSA-owned production under licence was likely, reflecting the Japanese suppliers wariness over investing. That could evolve into a joint venture or outright sale once the plan had proved its worth. The production investment would pit PSAs Tremery factory near Metz, eastern France, against the northern Valenciennes which has more automatic gearbox expertise though Metz has more spare capacity, the sources said. Theres easily enough room on the Metz site, Christian Lafaye, an official with the Force Ouvriere union, told Reuters. They can come and install their tooling tomorrow if they want. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter Boca Raton, FL, USA, 05/18/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/ Traffic jams can slow us down, upset our schedules and force us to be late for appointments. As annoying and time wasting as they are, traffic jams can also be the scenes of serious accidents, not only because theyre caused by accidents, but because the backups themselves may lead to accidents. Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne says drivers not paying attention often lead to secondary accidents in traffic jams. According to Nationwide Insurance, There are four million miles of public roadways in the US, enough to circle the Earth about 160 times. US drivers collectively drive about three trillion miles each year. Traffic jams lead to the waste of about 1.9 billion gallons of gas each year, cost each US driver about $713 annually and the average urban commuter spends 34 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion. The top causes of traffic jams are: Bottlenecks 40%, Traffic accidents 25%, Bad weather 15%, Work zones 10%, Poor traffic signaling/timing 5%, and Special events 5%. From 1980 to 1999, the number of highway miles increased by 1.5% while the number of miles traveled by drivers increased by 76% according to The Hartford insurance company. Because of this imbalance there are more traffic jams and more car accidents. This isnt just a problem for major cities. The Federal Highway Administration reports that traffic delays are becoming more common in small cities and some rural areas as well. The Brookings Institute doesnt see traffic congestion as a problem, but the solution to our basic mobility problem: too many people want to move at the same times each day. The efficient operation of our economy and school systems require that people work, go to school and run errands at about the same time so they can interact with each other. That cant be changed without crippling our economy and society. The same problem exists all over the world. Because of Floridas rapid growth over the years, highways and roads have been built and expanded. But they dont keep up with the demand and better, less congested roads and highways encourage more growth and development, resulting in more drivers getting behind the wheel and clogging Floridas streets and freeways. These traffic jams are more than a waste of time, they are potential threats to your health. A 24-year-old St. Augustine woman was killed last month in St. Johns when her car was crushed between two tractor-trailer trucks, reports the St. Augustine Record. She was driving south on I-95 when traffic started slowing ahead of her but the commercial truck behind her failed to slow down, rear ending her car. The truck then pushed her car into the back of another truck in front of her. If you or a loved one suffered an injury caused in congested traffic, contact Boca car accident lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 800-4011 or fill out this online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your injuries. Press Contact: Personal injury lawyer Joseph Osborne 561-800-4011 source: http://www.oa-lawfirm.com/traffic-jams-can-dangerous-warns-boca-car-accident-lawyer-joe-osborne/ Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution SubmitMyPressRelease.com Like Us on Facebook It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print What Pet Sitters Need To Know About Dog Bites As Vacation Season Approaches Philadelphia, PA, USA, 05/18/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/ As the weather warms up, more and more people will be out and about. To some, this means travel plans, and to others, it means short weekend get-a-ways to escape the daily grind. To pet owners, the spring thaw means finding a pet sitter to stay with their four-legged companions while they travel. Sadly, during the travel season, pet sitters are often the victims of bites of the very dogs they are caring for. In fact, dog bite claims accounted for over 1/3 of homeowners insurance claims last year. The cost to cover those claims exceeded $6 million. Most often, owners hire pet sitters because they think their dogs are friendly. They have no history of biting. But, the stress of owners not coming home while they are on vacation can cause pets to act out of character. This is often what leads to pet sitters getting bit. According to the Pennsylvania dog bite law, dog bites from dogs who have never bitten before fall into two categories. The first is a severe bite. In severe bite cases, lacerations and/or broken bones occur because of the bite. Attorney Joel Kofsky, a Philadelphia accident attorney, explains the difference between severe injuries and injuries that are not considered serious. According to the law, if you are severely injured, you are entitled to compensation for all of your expenses. If you are not severely injured, you are only entitled to compensation for medical expenses. Its wise for anyone who wishes to dog sit to learn about dog language. There are subtle ways that dogs communicate their anxiety to people. When pet sitters are aware of these cues, it can keep them safe. Urinating in house Barking or howling Constant tongue flicks Excessive yawning Chewing Digging Pacing Salivating Pet sitters who understand these signs of anxiety can quickly head off an accident or stress bite before it occurs. Despite prevention strategies, dog bites still occur. If you are a pet sitter who has been bitten by a dog, its important to understand Pennsylvanias dog bite laws. When you know the laws, you can better prepare yourself for what may follow any pet bite accident. The most important thing to remember about any dog bite is that you need to seek legal assistance immediately following the incident. By reaching out to an attorney, you will be forcing the owner to at the very least register the dog and exercise caution for the remainder of the dogs life. Social Media Tags:dog bites, dog bite lawyer, pet owners, pet sitting, house sitting, dogs, animal attacks Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution SubmitMyPressRelease.com Like Us on Facebook It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print Nebraskans who arent already sweating bullets over President Trumps mentions about renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement should be gravely concerned. Thats because the United States partners in NAFTA Canada and Mexico are this nations largest customers. As far as Nebraska is concerned, NAFTA isnt broken and doesnt need fixing. Thanks to NAFTA, Mexico is the top importer of U.S.-grown corn. In fact, no other country buys more Nebraska corn than Mexico. In 2015, Nebraska sold $287 million of corn to our southern neighbors, accounting for about one-third of our states $987 million in corn exports that year. Similarly, Canada is a huge customer, and its demand has grown even faster than Mexicos. Its for legitimate reasons that we in farm country are nervous about Trumps renegotiations talk. Hes created an environment of doubt and instability. Merely suggesting that NAFTA should be trashed drove up U.S. grain prices, a situation that harmed Mexican importers who couldnt afford the spike. Somebody needs to tell the president to bite his lip next time he thinks it would be wise to renegotiate NAFTA. Its not broken so lets not try to fix it. If there is a problem, its that some U.S. workers and professionals have been left behind in the new global economy. These Americans have a right to complain if theyve lost their jobs. The answer to these Americans dilemma is clear. They need to be retrained to perform jobs of the future. If the president believes NAFTA has harmed some Americans, he ought to first look at the U.S. map and understand how far and wide farm country stretches. Most of his base supporters reside in farm country, but theyll change their tunes if Trump undermines NAFTA with his off-the-cuff comments. Rather than retooling the trade pact, the president needs to expand training opportunities and provide them for Americans who are under-educated and unprepared to survive in the new global economy. Trump placed his concerns about NAFTA and the Trans Pacific Partnership front and center during his campaign. He now leads a divided nation in which urban ex-factory workers expect action and ag producers in rural regions like things just as they are, favoring the export of their ag products. President Donald Trump said he was giving churches their voices back with an executive order, issued on the National Day of Prayer, directing the IRS to limit restrictions on political activity by churches. The order affects the Johnson Amendment of 1954, sponsored by then Sen. Lyndon Johnson, which bars electioneering and outright political endorsements from the pulpit. IRS policy does allow advocacy on a wide range of advocacy on political issues, however, and only one church is known to have lost its tax-exempt status as a result of the rule. Trump is also directing federal agencies to consider new regulations to accommodate religious groups that object to paying for contraception under Obamacare. The American Civil Liberties Union initially threatened to sue, but then called Trumps action an elaborate photo-op with no discernible policy outcome. While many of us view a place of worship as a sanctuary from political conflict, its unrealistic to expect churches to keep political, social and moral issues completely isolated. Any effective sermon will invariably affect the way church-goers make political decisions. While politics and religion can be taboo dinner table topics, theres no argument with an act of kindness theres no record of any of the 3,000 or the 5,000 turning up their noses at the loaves and fishes. Churches, service groups and individuals dont need IRS permission to work to improve the lives of their fellow man. McCook Daily Gazette Crown Prosecutor Lloyd Stang speaks to media after day one of the sentencing trial for a teen who killed four people, in Meadow Lake, Sask., on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Brothers Drayden Fontaine, 13, Dayne Fontaine, 17, teacher Adam Wood, 35, and teacher's aide Marie Janvier, 21 were killed during the shootings in La Loche, Sask., on January 22, 2016 and 7 others were injured. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Family, friends and mourners filled up the Diepkloof Hall in Soweto on Wednesday for the memorial service of slain Karabo Mokoena. The 22-year-old was found dead days after she was reported missing and her remains set alight in Lyndhurst on April 29 allegedly by her boyfriend. Her family only learnt of her death last week after searching for her and pleading for assistance in finding her on social media. A red carpet was laid out in the hall. A large black and white portrait of smiling Mokoena stood on a canvas in the front on the hall. A white candle covered with a pink ribbon was placed on the stage which was adorned with fresh white flowers. Soft music was playing in the background as row by row seats began filling up. Government dignitaries including Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi were among those in attendance at the memorial service held in honour of the young woman. Mokoenas funeral service will be held on Friday, May 19th. from 8 a.m to 10 am before proceeding to Westpark Cemetery. More photos below New forces for economic growth From:Agencies | 2017-05-16 10:25 President Xi Jinping expressed ambitious hopes for Asian and European governments working closely on finance, law enforcement and a broad range of other issues under a China-led trade initiative as leaders of 30 countries yesterday ended a meeting to promote the effort. The Belt and Road project calls for expanding trade across Asia, Africa and Europe by investing in ports, railways and other facilities. Xi said the project has no political agenda. He expressed the hope that governments taking part will coordinate policy in areas from finance and law enforcement to technology and education. It is our hope that through the Belt and Road development, we will unleash new forces for global economic growth, Xi said at a brief news conference at a conference center in the hills north of Beijing. The two-day meeting included President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with the presidents or prime ministers of Italy, Hungary and Greece, as well as most of Chinas Asian neighbors. Britain, France and Germany were represented by finance or trade officials. The US delegation was led by the Asia director of President Donald Trumps National Security Council. Xi acknowledged the initiative is in its early stages and faces daunting obstacles. One single feather does not make a bird fly high, the president said. Xi said China wants the Belt and Road project to improve cooperation in formulating industrial and financial policy, speed up development of infrastructure, make trade and investment flow more easily and improve interaction on education and other people-to-people ties. Other governments welcome Chinese investment in a region that the Asian Development Bank says needs to spend US$7 trillion this decade on ports, railways and other trade-related facilities to keep their economies growing. Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is meant to be an open and inclusive platform for development. Earlier in the day, the Chinese leader appealed in a speech to visiting foreign leaders to pursue greater openness and cooperation and to reject protectionism. Xi urged major multilateral institutions to join the initiative, stressing the importance of rejecting protectionism in seeking global economic growth. Xi said it was necessary to coordinate policies with the development goals of institutions including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, ASEAN, the African Union and the European Union. On Sunday, Xi pledged US$124 billion for the new Silk Road which expands links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond. We need to improve policy coordination and reject beggar-thy-neighbor practices, Xi said. This is an important lesson that can be drawn from the global financial crisis and is still very relevant to the development of the world economy today, he said. We need to seek win-win results through greater openness and cooperation, avoid fragmentation, refrain from setting inhibitive thresholds for cooperation or pursuing exclusive arrangements and reject protectionism. Belt and Road is seen as part of Chinas answer to the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, a regional trade pact involving Pacific Rim countries, but excluding China. The TPP, touted by the previous US administration of President Barack Obama, has effectively been killed by Trump. In contrast, Xi said Chinas Belt and Road plan would be inclusive and open to all. He said deep-seated problems in global development had yet to be addressed effectively, with international trade and investment sluggish, and economic globalization encountering headwinds. In a world of growing interdependency and challenges, no country can tackle the challenges, also the worlds problems, on its own, Xi said. Also yesterday, the Philippine defense minister, who was at the Beijing meeting, said he signed a letter of intent with a Chinese military contractor to purchase weapons for Manilas army, navy and air force. Premier Li Keqiang hailed the cooperation prospect between China and Argentina when meeting with visiting President Mauricio Macri of Argentina on May 17. Premier Li said the China-Argentina relationship has seen steady progress over the past 45 years. China is willing to maintain mutual respect, improve political trust and expand common interests. As both are emerging economies, China is willing to promote a balanced bilateral trade by further opening its market to Argentina, and to push forward free, convenient global trade and investment with Argentina, the Premier said. Both countries can expand cooperation in various fields, including infrastructure construction, industrial capacity, energy, mining, agriculture, finance and small and medium sized enterprises (SME), he said. China supports Latin American economic integration, and is willing to work with Argentina and other countries to promote China-Latin America ties, so as to contribute more to regional and world peace and development, the Premier added. Macri said developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between Argentina and China is of great importance to Argentina. The economies of the two countries are highly complementary, with great potential for mutual beneficial cooperation. Argentina is willing to quicken the pace of cooperation with China in sectors of infrastructure construction, agricultural products, nuclear power, finance and tourism, to promote the balanced growth of trade and realize common development, Macri said. He also welcomed Chinese enterprises to go to Argentina for investment, and said that he is willing to facilitate the various forms of economic and trade cooperation between the Southern Common Market and China, to promote the in-depth development of relations between Latin America and China. Classes at United High School were briefly interrupted on Thursday due to a bomb threat. We are told students exited the building while officers from the Laredo Bomb Squad searched the campus. Several of the students we spoke to say they believed it was a fire or a drill, but quickly realized it was a bomb threat. The United Independent School District says no bomb was found inside the campus, and classes resumed as normal. We in Laredo have been observing National Police Week with several memorials and special events. And as part of this observance, Congressman Henry Cuellar has announced more than $834 million in support of law enforcement professionals throughout the country. Cuellar says the funding includes programs to reduce violence against police, and to help them survive life-threatening encounters with suspects. Among the programs getting more than half of the funding are the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and the Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program - which helps build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve in an effort to improve security for everyone. El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes met with the others listed on the lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott in regards to Senate Bill 4. Last Friday, Reyes traveled to Maverick County to meet with the county judge and constable to discuss the lawsuit. Reyes says because the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit belong to law enforcement agencies, they are concerned about any possible repercussions. "I sensed concern. I sensed hesitation from one of the plaintiffs. It's totally understandable. I don't have to be an attorney to understand. This is their livelihood," Reyes said. According to the attorney who is representing the mayor, along with the other plaintiffs, they are requesting to have the first hearing set for June. One year has passed since a mother of nine children was found dead at Seven Flags Park. The body of Jannette Escamilla Jaramillo, 34, was found by park employees. Police told KGNS Jaramillo was clothed, but was partially undressed - meaning sexual assault is not ruled out yet in this homicide. The Medical Examiner confirms Jaramilllo was asphyxiated or strangled. She was last seen walking with an unidentified man by nearby surveillance cameras. If you have any information that can help in this case, you are encouraged to call 795-2800. Premier Li Keqiang asked governments at all levels to publicize a detailed list concerning enterprise fees within the year and crack down on any arbitrary charges. Authorities should never add new charge items on enterprises, no tricks are allowed! he said at the State Council executive meeting on May 17. The meeting decided to further reduce operational service charges for enterprises, logistics and energy costs, and planned to carry out a batch of new measures to further reduce corporate burdens. It is expected to help enterprises save about 120 billion yuan annually. Can the related departments make it? Its really a matter of interests, Premier Li asked meeting participants. After receiving a positive answer, the Premier said, Thats settled then. We also will examine the implementation of the policy. At a press conference at this years two sessions, Premier Li promised to make greater efforts to cut taxes and fees during the year. The amount of tax and fees reduced will strive to reach 1 trillion yuan, he said at the meeting on May 17, while pledging to reduce the logistics costs of enterprises by promoting reform of the provincial grid transmission and distribution, and reducing its prices and operational service charges. The meeting also decided to cut unreasonable business fees collected by trade associations, regulate charges by financial institutions and reform commercial auto insurance. Premier Li said lowering corporate costs will help upgrade manufacturing and the real economy. Although improvements in the Chinese business environment have been recognized by the international community, some unreasonable business fees are still confusing and make enterprises uneasy, he said. Currently many countries are planning for tax deductions, so we should also do something on that issue in order to enhance market confidence. The Premier urged related departments to release more targeted measures. It will not only lift the burden on enterprises, but also promote economic development and increase peoples income, he added. One of the region's farm leaders, thinks, from Prince Charles' demeanour, that the heir to the British throne is anti-Brexit. John Bambrick, chairman of Kilkenny IFA, made it clear that the prince never actually mentioned Brexit to him when they met at Kilkenny Castle on Thursday of last week. However, from his demeanour and the way he was talking, I thought he doesn't think much of Britain leaving the EU, Mr Bambrick said. He is very concerned over the impact Brexit will have on agriculture in Britain, Mr Bambrick added. The Prince is one of the largest landowners in Britain and has a great affinity for farming and had asked before his visit to Kilkenny, to meet with some people from the agricultural community. The duty of presenting the various people to the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall was left to Mr Bambrick One of those he introduced to the couple was his opposite number in the rival farm organisation in Kilkenny, John Robinson, Callan of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA). Also present was Henry Corbally, the chairman of Glanbia Plc. Bill Connolly of Connolly's Red Mills, Goresbridge also met the prince as did Mrs Maureen Mullins, widow of the late, great Paddy Mullins who trained mare, Dawn Run to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle. Also there was Mrs Mullins, grandson, David Mullins, who rode, Rule The World, to win the Grand National last year. The Duchess of Cornwall had a great chat with showjumper Marian Hughes and the final member of the agri-party to meet the couple was the IFA's Regional Development Officer, Joe Kelly who is based in Kilkenny. Funding of 87,700 has been confirmed for a programme of interim measures to help alleviate traffic safety problems at the Tower Road junction on Piltowns N24 bypass. The works will involve improving advance warning signage such as illuminated SLOW signs, additional distance countdown signs, and retrofitting roadmarkings. The scheme will also include general road marking and signage enhancements, minor localised widening of the hard shoulder, and the provision of a hardstanding area either side of the junction to facilitate roadside speed enforcement. In her recent report to local councillors, Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council Colette Byrne outlined that the works aim to increase driver awareness of the junctions layout, and resultingly, reduce the risk of accident. However, it is acknowledged that this is an interim measure, and the ultimate goal remains the construction of a full Tower Road overbridge. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has approved the proposed works, which are set to begin in June, and have provided a funding allocation for their design and implementation. At the May meeting of Kilkenny County Councillor, south Kilkenny councillors welcomed the funding allocation, but reiterated that an overbridge should be the definitive solution. Cllr Tomas Breathnach added that engagement with the TII was crucial. One of the best meetings we ever had asa council was with the TII last September, he said. We should be teeing up the next meeting with the TII and have the N24 on the agenda. A local councillor is calling for His Holiness Pope Francis to be invited to Kilkenny to see the new bridge, which has been named The St Francis Bridge. On Monday, when the name was approved and confirmed by local councillors, Cllr Joe Malone said he was delighted with it. The Fianna Fail councillor noted that the Pontiff is expected to visit Ireland next year, and says Kilkenny is just a short hop from Dublin by helicopter. He suggested the council write to the Vatican inviting the worldwide head of the Catholic Church to come to Kilkenny and see the bridge, which shares his papal name. Speaking to the Kilkenny People today, the Cllr Malone described the choice of name as a good day for the Catholic church at a time when he said religious values were under threat, citing a recent push to scrap the Dail prayer and a debate over whether crucifixes are appropriate in council chambers. Chair of the councils naming and memorial polic committee, Fidelis Doherty, said that the council was delighted with the interest generated in the naming of the bridge and the fact that so many people made genuine submissions during the process. There were many worthy names suggested which were connected with the general area and the adjacent former brewery site, she said. The committee will facilitate these further in the naming of streets within the Abbey Quarter over the coming years. St Francis whats in a name? The Franciscan Friary (also now known as St Francis Abbey) was established under the patronage of Richard Marshall (brother of William Marshal the younger) around 1234. The Franciscans were part of the order established by Francis of Assisi. St Francis Well is located close to the friary. Friar John Clyn (d.1349), associated with the Friary, wrote a widely read first-hand account of the Black Death, which killed nearly half the inhabitants of Kilkenny in 1300s. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 1500s, the Friary fell into disrepair. The Franciscans returned to the monastery in the 1600s but moved into parish work in the 1700s. By the early 1800s no Friars were left in Kilkenny. Today, only the 13th Century choir, the 14th Century tower, and the restored sacristy remain above ground. The Friary gave its name to St Francis Abbey Brewery founded by the Smithwick family in 1710, and by 1854 the brewery expanded to include the Friary buildings. There was an air of shock and disbelief in the village of Freshford this evening as people from all walks of life gathered to pay their respects to Rita Apine, a young mother who died in tragic and terrible circumstances, on Sunday. Over 400 people attended the vigil at the community hall in Freshford. People queued in silence in the rain before signing a book of condolences and entering the hall. Candles were lit and prayers said in memory of a woman who the local community considered one of their own. A Lativan poem, translated into English, was also read as men, women and children reflected on her short life and untimely and tragic death. Noel Cleere, chairman of the local community group, Acorn said that there is 'sadness and grief at the loss of such a beautiful young woman and mother'. "Rita was known to most of us by a wave or a smile, Rita lived among our community, in a very quiet manner. "It was her wish to make Ireland her home, Rita loved this country and last week she was making enquiries about child care facilities here in Freshford, so she had plans to stay among us for a very long time. This simple candle lighting vigil, is our way of letting Rita's family know that they are in our prayers, and she will not be forgotten and it is hoped that us gathering together will show the family that people in our community do care. "A member of our community has died in terrible circumstances and it is only proper that we should do this," he said. Yann Mereszkins, a friend of Rita's described her as 'a good and careful mother'. "I knew Rita from the moment she came to Ireland. She was always kind and helpful and tried to help everyone. I can't believe that she is gone. "She was always positive, I have never seen her negative. She went through rough stages but always stayed positive and kept her troubles to herself. It is a big shame that she is not with us," he added. Mr Mereszkins thanked people for attending the vigil. "I appreciate it with the whole of my heart that you showed up and the respect you have shown for Rita." Rita is survived by her two children Armaud (10) and Alina (2). A pair of multimillion-dollar lawsuits involving Johnny Depps assets and their protection, or lack thereof, has brought to light the importance of having a strong estate plan with asset protection built in. With 15 million lawsuits filed annually in the U.S., protecting your familys legacy and assets has become increasingly important if you have high net worth. This is what happened to Depp: In 1999, the star of Pirates of the Caribbean, Edward Scissorhands and other iconic Hollywood films hired The Management Group (TMG) to handle his expenses as his business manager. By then Depp had become an established, very wealthy actor who led a lifestyle that included 14 homes, a $75 million yacht and $30,000 a month for wine. Depps lifestyle cost him in excess of $2 million per month, which was exceeding his cash flow, his business managers later alleged in court documents. In January 2017, Depp hired a new business manager and conducted a financial analysis of his assets. He claimed to have discovered serious investment losses made by his former manager, and filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court, seeking damages of about $25 million. Subscribe to Kiplingers Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Save up to 74% Sign up for Kiplingers Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sign up TMG then hit back with a countersuit alleging that earlier in his career, Depp borrowed $5 million from TMG to cover the expenses of his lifestyle and had allegedly defaulted on this loan. The countersuit sought to recover his loan by foreclosing on some of Depps assets. As an attorney looking at these law suits, it is unclear to me as to the validity underlying the basis of the original lawsuit, given Depps joie de vivre. There is sometimes speculation about why these types of lawsuits are initiated. Some lawsuits are filed to curtail the collection and foreclosure proceedings on an outstanding debt as a tactical or strategic move to settle the case for less. Was there a legal basis for the claim? The courts will have to sort that out. Regardless, there are lessons to be learned from Depps experiences and its not that the rich are different from you and me. If Depp were $5 million in debt when he first filed the lawsuit against his former manager, the countersuit brought against him could endanger further the ownership over his personal assets. If Depp had established an asset-protection plan, he could have ensured that his personal wealth was protected from any potential lawsuits. In effect, it would have placed Depps assets under the ownership of a trust. Depp would not legally own the assets, as they would be owned by the trust itself protected from any lawsuits brought against him. Since we know just how litigious our country can be if you have significant assets, it is prudent to create effective asset protection for them. Consider placing them into a protective trust. There are many to choose from. A Dynasty Trust: a trust established to remain in effect over multiple generations. a trust established to remain in effect over multiple generations. A Directed Trust: a trust where the trustee may delegate the investment activities to investment professionals. a trust where the trustee may delegate the investment activities to investment professionals. A Foreign Asset Protection Trust: a self-settled trust established in a non-U.S. jurisdiction under laws that are more protective than domestic trusts from lawsuits and other third-party claims. Make certain that the trustee has hired a reputable investment manager for its assets. It is always best to separate your financial dealings with your investment professionals from a personal manager to avoid any conflicts of interest. After all, a manager may not be an investment expert. When establishing an integrated estate and asset-protection plan, be mindful that the professionals and fiduciaries selected by the client have the requisite checks and balances. The trustee should not also be doing the asset management for the trust. Selecting a state that allows for Directed Trusts (e.g., Nevada, South Dakota and Alaska, to name a few) will ensure that the fiduciary (trustee) will be providing oversight of the asset managers and vice versa. Avoid the trustee/asset managers entering into personal loans and other dealings with conflicts of interest so that if the personal relationship goes sour, the assets being managed and administered do not get tied up in the fracas. Theres a lesson in the Johnny Depp saga: Protecting your assets and familys legacy should always be an important part of any comprehensive estate plan. Measuring the efficiency of a storage system. (Photo: KIT) Many elements are required for making the energy system more sustainable. Among them are smart solar storage systems, smartly interconnected energy grids, and electricity-based synthetic fuels (e-fuels). KIT studies the related technologies and will present latest findings and outlooks at the Intersolar and ees Europe exhibitions (May 31 to June 02, 2017, Munich). The main topics covered at the KIT booth will be the Helmholtz Energy Lab 2.0 research platform, the SafetyFirst project for efficient home storage systems, and experience gained from the operation of Germanys largest solar power storage park for research at KIT (hall 1B, booth B1.154 and special exhibit Smart Renewable Energy). SafetyFirst and the Solar Power Storage Park The lower the costs of home storage systems are, the more are they used in private households. The technology is about to enter mass market. But are the systems as good as promised by the manufacturers? It is not only the purchase price that significantly influences current costs of home storage systems, but also quality, i.e. performance in operation. Within the framework of the SafetyFirst project, we measure the performance of 20 commercial storage systems, project head Nina Munzke, KIT, says. Performance is determined by the efficiency of the system components as well as by standby consumptions, the storage systems speed of response to changes of load and production, and the intelligence of the overall system control unit. Our measurements reveal: Home storage systems on the market differ considerably. For better comparability, we have set up a checklist with the most important criteria and the results measured by KIT as benchmarks. This checklist is to enable customers and craftspeople to ask the right questions to storage system manufacturers and suppliers. KITs experience gained from the SafetyFirst project has also been incorporated in the Effizienzleitfaden fur PV-Speichersysteme (efficiency guidelines for photovoltaic storage systems) of the German Energy Storage Association (BVES) and the German Solar Association (BSW Solar). These guidelines were published in March to standardize measurements of energy efficiency of PV storage systems. The SafetyFirst project does not only cover the quality of storage systems, but also transport and functional safety as well as their contribution to grid stability. Based on the results, development recommendations can be made for the benefit of all grid and storage system operators as well as for the consumer. The SafetyFirst project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy with about EUR 4 million and coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research in Ulm. At Intersolar and ees Europe 2017, the lessons learned from comparative tests of performance, safety, and contribution to grid stability will be presented. In addition, latest results obtained from the solar power storage park of KIT will reveal how energy power self-supply can be maximized. Visit our KIT booth B1.154 in hall B1. For more information and the checklist, click: http://www.competence-e.kit.edu/english/eeseurope2017 https://www.competence-e.kit.edu/downloads/Li-Ionen_Checkliste_EN.pdf Special Exhibit Smart Renewable Energy: From Individual Solutions to a Smart Integrated System The energy transition is a big challenge: Increasing amounts of electricity from the fluctuating renewable sources of sun and wind have to be used efficiently and affordably, with the required grid stability and supply security being ensured. For the energy transition to be successful within the terms envisaged, we now have to analyze the entire energy system and to interconnect the different energy sources much more efficiently than today, Roland Dittmeyer of KIT says. He heads the Energy Lab 2.0 project. I am convinced that we will have to courageously apply existing technologies and to develop new technologies to maturity. With the Energy Lab 2.0, we can support this development in an ideal way. The Energy Lab 2.0 as a real-world laboratory and simulation platform allows to test new approaches to integrating various technologies into the energy system. For the first time in Europe, larger experimental facilities are interconnected. Among them are facilities for the production of renewable electricity, systems for storage and conversion into heat, synthetic natural gas, and synthetic fuels (e-fuels) with minimum pollutant production, and plants for fuel- and load-flexible power production from easily storable chemical energy carriers. Designs of a cellular, smart overall energy supply system are derived and studied comprehensively. Apart from the interconnection of electric, thermal, and chemical energy flows and the integration of storage systems, particular attention is paid to the development and testing of new information and communication technologies for the control of these smart energy grids. The project partners of the Energy Lab 2.0 are Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Forschungszentrum Julich (FZJ), all of which are members of the Helmholtz Association. The project is funded by the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as well as the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). At Intersolar and ees Europe 2017, the Energy Lab 2.0 will present its research activities at the special exhibit Smart Renewable Energy. Visit the Energy Lab 2.0 at booth B2.140 in hall B2. Further information is available at: http://www.elab2.kit.edu/english/index.php/ http://www.intersolar.de/en/program/special-events/smart-renewable-energy-special-exhibit.html Smart Renewable Energy Forum Parallel to the Smart Renewable Energy special exhibit, experts will present current research efforts for the energy transition at the KIT-organized presentation series Beschleuniger der Energiewende: neue wegweisende Forschungsinitiativen (accelerator of the energy transition, new trendsetting research initiatives) at the Smart Renewable Energy Forum on Thursday, June 01, 10 am to 12 am in hall B2, booth B2.131. Program: Gruwort (Welcome address), MinR. Dr. Christoph Rovekamp, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Leiter des Referats 722 Grundlagenforschung Energie Energy Lab 2.0 - Eine Forschungsplattform fur intelligent verknupfte Energiesysteme (Energy Lab 2.0 Research platform for smartly interconnected energy systems), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roland Dittmeyer - Leiter des Institutes fur Mikroverfahrenstechnik am KIT, Projektleiter Energy Lab 2.0 Kopernikus-Projekt ENSURE (Kopernikus project ENSURE), Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Knebel, Bereichsleiter Maschinenbau und Elektrotechnik am KIT, Mitglied des Direktoriums des Kopernikus-Projektes ENSURE Power-2-X Grundlage der Sektorkopplung (Power-2-X Basis of sector coupling), Prof. Dr. Kurt Wagemann, Geschaftsfuhrer der DECHEMA Gesellschaft fur Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V. und einer der Koordinatoren des Kopernikus-Projektes Power-to-X Das SINTEG-Projekt C/sells (The C/sells SINTEG program), Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Wolf Fichtner, Leiter des Instituts fur Industriebetriebslehre und Industrielle Produktion (IIP), Lehrstuhl fur Energiewirtschaft, am KIT, Vorstandsmitglied der Smart Grids-Plattform Baden-Wurttemberg e.V. The program can be found at: http://www.intersolar.de/de/conference/session/smart-renewable-energy-forum-beschleuniger-der-energiewende-neue-wegweisende-forschungsinitiativen-1599.html (in German only) Other KIT Presentations at the Exhibition Performance benchmark: battery home storage systems put to the test, Nina Munzke, KIT ees Europe Conference, May 30, 2017, 12.30 am, ICM - International Congress Center Munich, hall 13 A Performance von Heimspeichersystemen: aktuelle Ergebnisse (Performance of home storage systems: Latest findings), Bernhard Schwarz, KIT ees Forum, May 31, 2017, 11.20 11.40 am, booth B1.151 More about the KIT Energy Center: http://www.energy.kit.edu Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. By Hanna Paul May 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Thursday as Westpac Banking Corp traded ex-dividend, posting its worst day in nearly eleven months, while a slump in Wall Street due to the worsening White House turmoil added to the gloom. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 1.3 percentage, or 77.2 points to 5,709.8 by 0330 GMT. The benchmark fell to its lowest in 8 weeks at one point in the session. The bourse slipped 1.1 percent on Wednesday. All sectors were in the red with bank stocks accounting for more than half of the losses on the benchmark. The benchmark index of financial stocks sagged to its lowest in over three months and was on track for a third day of losses. The country's second-biggest lender Westpac dived as much as 4.7 percent to a 6-month low as it traded ex-dividend. "Our banks are quite stretched, with the ex-dividend cycle and the effects of the bank tax. A lot of the economy is facing real challenges," said Mathan Somasundaram, Market Portfolio Strategist at Blue Ocean Equities, referring to a new tax on banks in this month's federal budget. "It's also a follow-on effect of what we're seeing out of U.S. politics," he added. Wall Street tumbled as concerns mounted over U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to deliver on his tax, banking reforms and infrastructure spending policies, following reports he inerfered with a federal investigation. Global miner BHP Billiton joined the top losers in the bourse, falling 1.3 percent, at one point. Activist investor Elliott Management said a meeting with BHP's chief executive this week was 'constructive'. The fund is urging the miner to make strategic changes. The world's top fibre cement building materials maker James Hardy Industries dropped as much as 5.7 percent to its lowest in over a month despite reporting positive results. If the Fed keeps moving rates higher there will be pressure on the U.S. housing cycle and the local housing cycle. So James Hardie will be threatened at these multiples, said Somasundaram. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.6 percent or 45.80 points to 7376.70. The index was set for its biggest single-day fall in nearly 6 weeks despite reports of growing consumer confidence in the country in May. Materials and healthcare stocks led losses with Fletcher Building , down as much as 3.1 percent among top losers on the benchmark. (Reporting by Hanna Paul; Additional Reporting by Susan Mathew; Editing by Richard Pullin) TOKYO, May 18 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said on Thursday that no decision has been made on how the central bank will eventually withdraw its monetary stimulus programme. "It's true that raising interest the BOJ pays on excess reserves (that financial institutions park with the central bank) could be among tools" the BOJ might use when it exits ultra-easy monetary policy, Iwata told parliament. "But no decision has been made on specific ways to exit," he said. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Christopher Cushing) U.S. President Donald Trump told South Korea's presidential envoy that Washington was willing to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through engagement under the right conditions, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. Trump has said "a major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible and all options were on the table but wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically and peacefully, possibly through the use of economic sanctions. South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in who took office last week has campaigned on a more moderate approach toward the North but he has said North Korea must change its attitude of insisting on arms development before dialogue was possible. Moon's envoy to Washington, South Korean media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, said Trump spoke of the willing to use "engagement" to create peace on the Korean peninsula, Yonhap news quoted Hong as saying. But the United States will not have any dialogue with the North for the sake of dialogue and the use of pressure was the premise in the approach to Pyongyang, Hong quoted Trump as saying, according to Yonhap. Trump's comments could not immediately be independently verified. North Korea conducted its latest ballistic missile test on Sunday in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying it was a test of its capability to carry a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead." The North has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States. But a senior North Korean diplomat has said Pyongyang was open to having talks with Washington under the right conditions. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Sandra Maler) (Adds comment from Green Party leader) By Ethan Lou and John Tilak CALGARY, Alberta/TORONTO, May 17 (Reuters) - British Columbia could become a minefield for Kinder Morgan Inc , with provincial election results expected to complicate the U.S. company's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and plans for a Canadian initial public offering. The Canadian province's pro-energy Liberal Party won the May 9 election but lost its majority in the legislature. This has forced it to woo the environmentalist Green Party to govern, raising potential for concessions. In the worst scenario for the Liberals, the Greens could form their own majority government with the second-place New Democrats, who like the Greens oppose Trans Mountain. While final electoral results can change with the compiling of absentee votes and recounts by May 24, a provincial government unfriendly to development could mean major obstacles to Trans Mountain, even though the federal government has approved it. The expansion of the crude pipeline from oil-producing Alberta to the B.C. coast nearly triples its capacity. The election is expected to cast a shadow on Kinder Morgan's proposed $1.3 billion IPO for its Canadian unit, set to be the nation's fourth-biggest, filed one day after the election. "The really close B.C. election vote puts pressure on the Kinder Morgan IPO," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. "You run the danger of the whole thing getting stalled for years or going into limbo." The Trans Mountain project said in a statement on Tuesday that the expansion continues to advance. Kinder Morgan has said in IPO filings that changes in government could disrupt or delay projects such as Trans Mountain, causing "significant" increased costs. "While the provincial government cannot undo the federal authorization to construct and operate the Trans Mountain pipeline, they could create some potential issues at a local and provincial level," said Alan Ross, managing partner of law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP's Calgary office. "To the extent not done so already, any Kinder Morgan Canada IPO would need to price in political risk related to the B.C. election," he said. Given those political risks, Kinder Morgan may have to offer a more attractive dividend yield, said Ian Nakamoto, equity specialist at wealth manager MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, a division of Raymond James. Based on IPO documents, Kinder Morgan Canada's dividend yield would work out to 3.1-3.4 percent. That compares with 3.8 percent at Hydro One , which filed Canada's third-biggest IPO in 2015. Even if recounts grant Liberals a majority, it would be slim, making it hard for them to unilaterally get their way as before. Liberal leader and incumbent Premier Christy Clark said she will collaborate with rivals and work across party lines. Green leader Andrew Weaver said on Wednesday the regulatory approval process for Trans Mountain was "rigged" and that his opposition to the project was "on the table" in talks with Liberals. The New Democratic Party (NDP) reiterated a commitment to use "every tool" against the project. STRATEGY COULD INVOLVE DELAYS Neither party has specified in detail how the British Columbia government would oppose Trans Mountain. Any pushback would have to overcome the federal approval already granted, which constitutionally trumps provincial opposition. The province could delay Trans Mountain and wear down the will of Kinder Morgan's investors, said University of British Columbia law professor Jocelyn Stacey. British Columbia can revoke the environmental assessment certificate it granted, decide not to contest a current legal challenge against it or deny routine construction permits, resulting in years-long court battles with the federal government, she said. A less energy-friendly British Columbia will also embolden activists, many of whom voted Green or NDP, with Greenpeace expecting more protesters and possibly holding more civil disobedience workshops, said Keith Stewart, who heads the organization's Canadian climate and energy campaign. "We have people coming to us every day saying, 'How do I lie down in front of the bulldozers?'" (Additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman) ZURICH, May 18 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse shareholders on Thursday approved the Swiss bank's plan to sell around 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.1 billion) in new shares to raise funds for a revamp and get its financial strength on a par with rivals. The capital raising plans, announced last month, received 99.35 percent of the votes at an extraordinary general meeting in Zurich. "The capital raise of 4 billion Swiss francs will allow us to meet our regulatory commitments and requirements," Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam said at the meeting. "It will strengthen our balance sheet, allow us to continue our ongoing restructuring and, importantly, to implement successfully our growth plans." ($1 = 0.9790 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank needs to focus on reviving its brand before it can reap the benefits of recent restructuring, Chief Executive John Cryan said on Thursday. "In the past few years, we've done a lot of planting and a lot of sowing," Cryan told shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting. Before realizing the benefits of those efforts, "We have to breathe life into the Deutsche Bank brand," he said. (Reporting by Tom Sims and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan) PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - New Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said on Thursday France would seek to reduce the share of nuclear in the power mix to 50 percent by 2025 and would close its oldest nuclear power plant. "In 2025, the share of nuclear (power) compared to what it was yesterday and not tomorrow must be 50 percent," Hulot told France 2 television. He confirmed that the Fessenheim nuclear power reactor would be closed after consultations. (Reporting by John Irish) By Oludare Mayowa LAGOS, May 18 (Reuters) - General Electric (GE) plans to launch a gas turbine assembly plant in Nigeria next year and has invested over $100 million as it seeks to tap growing demand for gas-fired power plants in Africa's biggest economy, its local CEO said on Thursday. Lazarus Angbazo said GE wants to support the development of Nigeria's gas reserve which is largely untapped, adding that the U.S. company has invested in some local power plants. Nigeria privatised its electricity sector in 2013, aiming to end decades of blackouts which have hampered economic growth. Most of the plants it sold were gas-fired, operating below capacity due to inadequate gas supply. Officials say demand for gas in Nigeria is estimated to rise to 3 billion standard cubic feet (scuf) per day by 2017 from 1.2 billion scuf per day in 2015, ten times the 300 million of eight years ago. OPEC member Nigeria has the world's ninth largest proven gas reserves at 187 trillion scuf. Last month state-oil firm NNPC said it wanted to more than triple gas supply for local use by 2020. Angbazo said construction work on the plant which is located in the southeastern Nigerian city of Calabar is expected to be completed in December. Operations will start in the first quarter, the company told Reuters by email. GE has made a bid for a $2 billion railway project to connect Nigeria's northern cities to the south of the country and could expand its plant to include locomotive assembly. "We are already in talks with major haulage companies in the country to secure their buy-in on the project," Angbazo said. (Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha, editing by Ed Osmond) DUESSELDORF, May 18 (Reuters) - Germany's federal cartel office upheld on Thursday a complaint brought by German Naval Yards against an order from the defence ministry for five new military corvettes valued at over 1.5 billion euros, after the ministry skipped an open procurement. The ministry had argued that the quickest way to meet the navy's urgent military needs in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas would be to buy more of the ships already produced by a consortium including Luerssen Werft and ThyseenKrupp . However, the cartel office agreed with German Naval Yards that the need for competition took priority, confirming reports on Wednesday by two German newspapers. An appeal may be lodged within two weeks. (Reporting by Anneli Palmen; Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Thomas Escritt) ATHENS, May 18 (Reuters) - Greece picked Austrian banker Martin Czurda as the new Chief Executive of its bank bailout fund HFSF, an official at the Fund told Reuters on Thursday. "The appointment was published in the government gazette today," the official said. The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund had been looking to fill the post for months. It owns stakes in the country's four main lenders after taking part in their recapitalisation. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos) BUDAPEST, May 18 (Reuters) - Hungary will keep up tough laws on immigrants and the fence along its southern border in place despite a call by the European Parliament to repeal laws tightening rules on asylum-seekers, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday. The European Parliament on Wednesday condemned what it called a "serious deterioration" in the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary. "The resolution passed by the European Parliament yesterday contains issues that, in our opinion, the European Union or the European Parliament have nothing to do with," Janos Lazar told a news conference. "The Hungarian government will not satisfy the European Parliament's request to repeal the legal and physical barriers at the border." (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Sandor Peto Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.) WARSAW, May 18 (Reuters) - The Polish zloty's current exchange rate is broadly in line with macroeconomic fundamentals, Anna Ilyina, the head of the International Monetary Fund mission to Poland said on Thursday. The Polish currency has firmed around 7 percent against the euro since December on the back of gross domestic product (GDP) growth picking up speed, higher investment and an improved situation on international forex markets. "The real effective exchange rate (of the zloty) is broadly in line with fundamentals," Ilyina told a news conference. Earlier on Thursday, the IMF urged the Polish government to tighten fiscal policy as soon as possible to take advantage of a strong cyclical upswing in the economy, (Reporting by Marcin Goettig; Writing by Lidia Kelly) MUMBAI, May 18 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday that companies must be rated by at least two credit rating agencies to be eligible to issue debt under the country's partial credit enhancement programme. Partial credit enhancement allows low-rated corporates to obtain a guarantee from lenders when issuing debt, lowering the cost for issuers and attracting more investors. For the full release, click on: ( ) (Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Rafael Nam) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. By Huw Jones LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Forcing banks to move euro-denominated trades from London to Frankfurt would be costly, and continental companies would ultimately foot the bill, an industry body said on Thursday. The European Union's executive European Commission is due next month to set out a draft law on how derivatives denominated in the single currency should be cleared and supervised. Clearing stands between a buyer and seller of a security, ensuring the transaction is completed even if one side goes bust. EU policymakers and the European Central Bank want direct oversight over potential risks to euro zone financial stability . Currently, most trades are processed or cleared in London at LCH , but Britain is set to leave the bloc in 2019, putting it out of reach of EU regulators. Simon Puleston Jones, head of Europe at the Futures Industry Association, said forced relocation of clearing would mean closing LCH positions and opening corresponding ones at Eurex in Frankfurt. Eurex would require margin or cash against the trades and ask its members to bump up contributions to the default fund, Puleston Jones told a conference in London organised by the banking industry body Association for Financial Markets in Europe. "Is there enough capacity in the market to take the other side of the trade when you are trying to close out your position?" he said. Eurex would require its margin before a bank could get back cash posted with LCH. "You've got a day-one funding issue, which is going to be a big number," he said. Stripping the UK position of euro-denominated swaps would also reduce "offsets" and force LCH to ask for more margin. "The ultimate people who are harmed by this are the EU27 firms," Puleston Jones said. But Niels Tomm, an executive director at Eurex's owner, Deutsche Boerse, said eventual costs would hinge on what regulators decide. "The big question is what happens to the liquidity if there is a stricter measure. Will liquidity then move, which is possible," Tomm said. "The EU27-based clearing houses are capable and have scalable systems. That is true for us," Tomm said. There are also other types of offsets banks could benefit from to avoid margin hikes, he added. Puleston Jones said it was unclear if actual trading of swaps by EU customers must shift to the continent after Brexit, since starting in January 2018 banks must trade on a platform recognised by the bloc. The LSE has warned that losing euro clearing would mean thousands of jobs being lost in the UK. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Larry King) LILONGWE, May 18 (Reuters) - Malawi's economic growth is forecast at 7 percent this year from 5.1 percent in 2016, helped by a recovery in the agriculture sector, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said on Thursday. Gondwe told Reuters that good rains have led to an improvement in maize output, after a drought last year weighed on production. (Reporting by Mabvuto Banda Editing by Jeremy Gaunt; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. WARSAW, May 18 (Reuters) - Poland sold five different series of treasury bonds worth 3 billion zlotys in total at a tender on Thursday, all on offer, attracting investor demand worth 6.86 billion zloty, the finance ministry said. The sale included: 253 million zloty in the paper due April 2019, 972 million in bonds due April 2022, 383 million zlotys in bonds due November 2022, 403 million in paper due January 2026, and 990 million in bonds due July 2027. The ministry said it would not carry out a supplementary tender on Thursday. For more details about the auction please go to the ministry's pages in the Reuters system: (Reporting by Marcin Goettig; Editing by Marcin Goclowski) MOSCOW, May 18 (Reuters) - The Russian central bank said on Thursday it expected a structural liquidity surplus in the banking sector of between 0.5 trillion roubles and 1 trillion roubles ($8.66 billion-$17.31 billion) at the end of the year. On the last working day of every month, the banking sector could temporarily swing back to a liquidity deficit, the central bank said in a monthly report on the banking sector and financial markets. ($1 = 57.7626 roubles) (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Alexander Winning) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. * Russia hopes to raise 30 bln roubles from sale * No strategic or anchor investors wanted - sources * State anxious to maintain control of group By Gleb Stolyarov and Jack Stubbs MOSCOW, May 18 (Reuters) - Russia plans to sell part of state shipping firm Sovcomflot next month, hoping to draw in a wide range of small-stake investors rather than a strategic buyer who could threaten Moscow's control of the group, banking and industry sources say. The current era of low tanker market prices is far from the ideal time for Sovcomflot to raise revenue with a share offer, as freight rates were at their highs in 2015. Sovcomflot operates the world's second largest fleet of oil tankers. But the tangled history of Russian privatisations has often been driven as much by political and personal factors as commercial ones. Sovcomflot is led by Sergei Frank, once transport minister under President Vladimir Putin, whose privatisation programme is an effort to replenish state coffers hit by the oil price collapse and Western sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. The firm has long-term contracts with major energy producers, making it one of the jewels in the programme. Analysts say the deal could be especially favourable for investors, because low oil prices are likely to push down the current price of shares, with the prospect of big returns later. A banking source close to the deal, and a government source, said that the latest plan calls for a wide range of investors, with no strategic or anchor investors involved. "A strategic investor will ask for the right to be involved in the management, one day or another. This is not what Sovcomflot needs," a government source said. The banking source said that the plan is to attract as wide number of investors as possible, including foreigners. Both declined to identify any potential bidders. People familiar with the sale said there were plans for an initial public offering in Moscow in June. In emailed comments to Reuters, Sovcomflot declined to comment on the details, saying that it was for the shareholder, the Russian state, to decide. The Economy Ministry, which is overseeing the privatisation, said in emailed comments: "There is a high interest seen from both Russian and foreign institutional investors." TIMING Russia is selling 25 percent of Sovcomflot, and hopes to earn as much as 30 billion roubles ($533 million) from the sale, according to the finance ministry. The firm ships oil from remote locations not connected to the Russian pipeline system. These include some of Russia's biggest fields, such as Gazprom Neft's Prirazlomnaya platform in the Pechora Sea, or the ExxonMobil-led Sakhalin-1 project. Sovcomflot also has the contract to ship liquefied gas from Russia's newest liquefied natural gas plant, Yamal LNG. "When you have 30-, 25-, 20-year-long contracts, it is an easy-to-sell story, especially via IPO," the government source said. First mooted in 2009, the launch of the privatisation has been repeatedly stalled. The initial plan was to list Sovcomflot in New York and Moscow, but the U.S. listing was dropped because of sanctions, another banker said. Sovcomflot itself is not subject to sanctions but "there is an understanding it is better to do the deal here," the banker said. The state budget is set to retain 75 percent of the funds raised and the rest should go to the company to finance its further development, two government sources said. One of the government sources and two banking sources close to the process said the aim was to close the sale by the end of June. Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital, investment banking units of Russia's two biggest and state-controlled banks, are arranging the deal. Three shipping analysts said Moscow would get a better price if it put off the sale for another year or two, when they see rates for crude transport recovering after more than halving since 2015. "The best time to sell the Sovcomflot stake was 2015 and the Russian government has already missed it," said Nikesh Shukla, lead tanker shipping analyst at Drewry Financial Research Services. But Russia's government, with a budget deficit projected at 3.2 percent of GDP for 2017, needs the revenue. Estimates of what could be raised by privatisations this year vary widely, running as high as 200 billion roubles. The state has said it aims to sell off or reduce its holdings in almost 2,000 companies in 2017-2019. The privatisations of old Soviet industries in the 1990s brought accusations that state assets had been transferred at bargain prices to "oligarchs" in exchange for political favours. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC: Global tanker rates and fleet size vs oil prices ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Olga Popova, Kira Zavyalova, Polina Nikolskaya, Darya Korsunskaya and Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Katya Golubkova and) Keywords: RUSSIA SOVCOMFLOT/SALE LJUBLJANA, May 18 (Reuters) - Slovenia has sold state-owned car parts maker Cimos to TCH, part of Italy's investment fund Palladio Holding Group, state-owned bad bank Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC), which coordinates privatisations, said on Thursday. It said Palladio paid 100,000 euros for Cimos and ensured another 18.3 million euros of capital that would be partly used to modernise production and partly for repayment of some of Cimos's debt. Later in May Palladio will give Cimos a further injection of fresh capital to the value of 15 million euros, BAMC said. Slovenia has been reluctant to sell its major companies and banks in the past so the government still controls about 50 percent of the economy. However, it plans to sell 50 percent of its largest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka, which was rescued by the state in 2013, through an initial public offering by the middle of June. (Reporting By Marja Novak, editing by David Evans) FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - A Slovenian proposal to put its central bank under limited supervision violates European rules, the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in a legal opinion published on Thursday. Euro zone member Slovenia moved last month to authorise the Court of Audit to have some oversight of the Bank of Slovenia's business activities and let it review its past supervisory decisions, including a past restructuring of the bank sector. The law would also allow investors bailed in during the restructure to seek damages. But the ECB said having to pay damages by the bank violates EU rules prohibiting monetary financing while a requirement to disclose confidential information was also against the law. "Therefore, the draft law should be amended to ensure that Banka Slovenije does not assume any liability of the State, including, in particular, in cases where both Banka Slovenije and the State are severally liable," Draghi said. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; editing by Ralph Boulton) HANOI, May 18 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0442 GMT. May 18 USD/VND mid-point 22,368 USD/VND interbank 22,690/22,700 USD/VND unofficial 22,700/22,720 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.50/36.72 Interbank offered rates Overnight 3.8-4.5 1 week 4.0-4.6 1 month 4.2-4.8 3 months 4.4-5.0 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) JOHANNESBURG, May 18 (Reuters) - South Africa's Sibanye Gold will tap shareholders for funds at a discount of 60 percent in a $1 billion rights issue, the mining company said on Thursday. Sibanye will use the rights issue to repay a portion of a $2.65 billion loan facility it used to acquire U.S. platinum producer Stillwater . The company will offer new shares at 11.28 rand each, a discount of 60 percent to its closing price on May 17, it said in a statement. Shares in Sibanye fell more than 6 percent after the announcement, but narrowed losses to 2.3 percent at 27.83 rand by 1003 GMT, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange's gold mining index . Sibanye, a portfolio of South African gold mines spun out of Gold Fields in 2013, has bought several platinum mines in its home market. Stillwater is its first foreign venture. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; editing by Jason Neely) COLOMBO, May 18 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee ended steady on Thursday, erasing gains from earlier in the day on investor concerns that the currency would fall after the central bank set a target for buying dollars directly from the market in a bid to boost reserves. Rupee forwards were active, with spot-next forwards closing steady at 152.85/90 per dollar. One-week forwards also were steady at the close of trade, at 152.95/153.00 per dollar. Sri Lanka's central bank is targetting $1.2 billion in direct market purchases of dollars to boost the island nation's reserves this year, said Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the monetary authority's chief, on Thursday. That comes after Sri Lanka missed its end-December reserves target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.5 billion, 36-month loan. "The move will definitely put pressure on the rupee at a time when the central bank is not defending it and the market is determining the exchange rate," a currency dealer said asking not to be named. The spot rupee did not trade on Thursday. The central bank fixed the spot rupee reference rate at 152.50 on May 5. The central bank has allowed the currency to gradually depreciate since mid-December, revising its spot reference rate multiple times. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath) STOCKHOLM, May 18 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank bought 1.5 billion Swedish crowns ($171.04 million) in nominal bonds in a reverse auction as part of its quantitative easing programme, it said on Thursday. It bought 750 million crowns of 2020 bonds at an average yield of minus 0.428 percent and the same amount of 2023 bonds at 0.082 percent. Investors offered to sell the Riksbank 2.3 billion crowns and 1.55 billion crowns in the two bonds respectively. ($1 = 8.7697 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. PRAGUE, May 18 (Reuters) - The Czech Finance Ministry sold 45.8 million crowns ($1.91 million) worth of 0.00/22 government bonds in the second, non-competitive round of an auction on Thursday. Issue status: REOPENED, 2nd tranche Maturity: February 24, 2022 with 0.00 percent annual coupon Settlement date: May 19, 2017 AUCTION DATE 17/05/17 22/02/17 AVG. ACCEPTED YIELD -0.002 --- AVG. ACCEPTED PRICE 100.010 --- HIGHEST ACCEPTED YIELD -0.002 --- LOWEST ACCEPTED YIELD -0.002 --- TAIL (max yield less avg. yield) 0.000 --- ALLOCATION AT THE CUT-OFF PRICE (%) 100.000 --- TOTAL INVESTOR BIDS (bln crowns) 2.147 0.000 NON-COMPETITIVE BIDS (bln crowns) 0.046 0.000 SOLD (bln crowns) 0.846 0.000 FINMIN (RETAINED "+"/SOLD "-" FROM 0.000 5.000 OWN PORTFOLIO) BID-TO-COVER RATIO (1st auction leg) 2.626 --- AMOUNT OUTSTANDING AFTER NEW SALE 5.846 5.000 (bln crowns) NOTE. In the second round, bonds are allotted to primary dealers at the average price and yield set in the first round. Dealers are not required to buy any bonds in the top-up round. Details of the government's debt auctions can be found on page . ($1 = 24.0070 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Mirka Krufova; Editing by Jason Hovet) By Phil Stewart and Suleiman Al-Khalidi | WASHINGTON/AMMAN The U.S. military carried out an air strike on Thursday against militia supported by the Syrian government that posed a threat to U.S. and U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the country's south, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday. The militia, who numbered in the dozens and drove a tank and a small number of construction vehicles, ignored warning shots from U.S. aircraft and, according to a U.S.-led coalition statement, even "apparent Russian attempts to dissuade" their advance. One of the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, speculated that the group might have been trying to establish a position near the garrison in Syria used by U.S. and U.S.-backed forces around the town of At Tanf. "They were potentially probing to see how close they could get to At Tanf," the official said. A member of the U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces told Reuters the convoy comprised Syrian and Iranian-backed militias and was headed toward the Tanf base when they clashed with some rebel forces. The militia were struck after they had advanced to about 17 miles (27 km) from the base. "We notified the coalition that we were being attacked by the Syrian army and Iranians in this point, and the coalition came and destroyed the advancing convoy," said Muzahem al Saloum of the Maghawir al Thwra group. Since they appeared defensive in nature, Thursday's strikes did not suggest a shift in the U.S. military's focus in Syria, which has been on battling Islamic State militants. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said America's role in Syria's conflict was unchanged. "No. We are not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war. But we will defend our troops," Mattis said, when asked about the strikes. UNDER PRESSURE But the latest move showed that the area around the Tanf garrison in southern Syria could be under pressure. Tanf is part of a region known as the Badia, which consists of vast, sparsely populated desert territory that stretches all the way to the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and was declared a military priority by Syria's foreign minister earlier in May. Two months of U.S.-backed rebel advances against Islamic State militants have allowed them to secure swaths of territory in the Badia, alarming the Syrian government and its allies. But rebel sources had warned last week that the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militia moved hundreds of troops with tanks to the town of Sabaa Biyar, which is in the Badia, and is near the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway. That highway was once a major weapons supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria. A Western intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike sent a strong message to Iranian-backed militias that have been spearheading the advance that they would not be allowed to reach the Iraq border from Syria. The U.S.-led coalition did not signal it would cede ground around Tanf. "Coalition forces have been operating in the At Tanf area for many months training and advising vetted partner forces engaged in the fight against ISIS," according to a statement by the U.S.-led coalition, using an acronym for Islamic State. U.S. officials said an agreement existed with Russia on a so-called "deconfliction" area around Tanf garrison, meant to avoid an accidental clash of forces. The statement by the U.S.-led coalition acknowledged a zone but did not offer any details about it, other than to say it was still active. "The agreed upon deconfliction zone agreement remains in effect," the statement said. A commander in the alliance fighting in support of Assad called the strike a "warning raid," adding it was not aimed at causing casualties but instead stopping the advance. Still, the strikes would be the first against fighters aligned with Syria's government since the United States launched cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base in April. The April strikes were ordered in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that Washington blamed on Damascus, and were described as a one-off measure to deter any future chemical weapons use. (Additional reporting by Ellen Francis in Beirut; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Richard Chang) (Adds background) LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Commerzbank is to close its physical precious metals business in the next year, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The businesses that will be discontinued by Germany's second-biggest listed bank include physical precious metals trading and related services, the source said. "The trading in physical precious metals and related activities comprising refinery services, vaulting and transportation of precious metals will be terminated within the next year," the source said. Commerzbank had no comment to make on the matter. No decision has been made over jobs, the source said, with some employees within the business potentially moving internally. The physical precious metals business is largely based in Luxembourg, where a team of seven is headed by managing director for Luxembourg Adrien Biondi. The bank also has a precious metals trading desk in Singapore. No change is expected to the bank's unallocated products business, the source added. The bank has recently restructured its investment banking operations, which have been folded into its corporate bank. (Reporting by Jan Harvey,; additional reporting by Arno Shuetze in Frankfurt; editing by Jason Neely and Ed Osmond) (Adds background, details) By Davide Barbuscia DUBAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Oman has appointed banks to arrange a global fixed income investor call ahead of a potential dollar sukuk issuance which would be the first public international sale of Islamic bonds by the Gulf state. The planned sale, expected to raise around $2 billion, would be in addition to a $3.6 billion syndicated loan that Oman is in the process of agreeing with Chinese lenders. Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the Sultanate to "junk" status last week, citing the erosion of the country's external reserves and Oman's vulnerability to potential volatility in oil prices. Despite its budget deficit and the weakening of external buffers, Oman issued in early March a successful $5 billion international bond -- its largest ever -- which drew orders in excess of $20 billion. Oman has mandated Al Izz Islamic Bank, Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank for the planned seven-year sukuk. The banks will arrange a global investor call on May 22. The offering could also include a 12-year tranche, a document issued by one of the banks leading the deal showed. Oman returned to the international debt capital markets last year for the first time since 1997. It raised a total of $4.5 billion through five- and 10-year conventional bonds in June, followed by a tap of those bonds in October. It also sold a $500 million six-year sukuk in June under a private placement. In March, the sovereign raised debt at maturities of five, 10, and 30 years. Oman is rated Baa1 with a stable outlook by Moody's, BB+ with a negative outlook by S&P, and BBB with a stable outlook by Fitch. (Editing by Catherine Evans) * Low sulphur diesel likely to receive boost - trade * EFS hits three-year low in March * 10ppm sulphur diesel premium hits record low in March By Jessica Jaganathan and Jane Chung SINGAPORE/SEOUL, May 18 (Reuters) - West Africa's move towards cleaner fuel from July could open up opportunities for Asian traders and mop up excess supply of low sulphur diesel in the region, traders and refining sources said. West African countries including major importers like Ghana and Nigeria plan to slash the sulphur content of diesel to 50 parts per million (ppm) from July 1 from the current 3,000 ppm. Asia exports about 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes a month of high sulphur diesel - mainly from South Korea - to West Africa, although shipments are irregular and depend on how profitable the trade route is, traders and shipbrokers said. This meets about one sixth of West Afria's total import demand, they added. Europe is currently the main supplier of gasoil to West Africa given its proximity, with shipments travelling from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub. However, with Europe short of low-sulphur diesel, Asia and the Middle East - whose newer refineries produce large volumes of the higher quality fuel - could step up supply to the region as demand increases, traders said. The specification change will also coincide with a seasonal increase in demand for Asian supplies in the third quarter as Europe prepares for winter, said Nevyn Nah, an oil analyst with consultancy Energy Aspects. Shipments from Asia usually become profitable at times of higher demand and higher prices in Europe, with traders dealing in the exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) contracts to hedge against cargo movements from east to west. "The EFS has been very strong this year, so Asian cargoes haven't been able to flow to the west that much, but once West Africa moves to low sulphur, it should be supportive and ease the 10ppm (sulphur) supply glut," a South Korean refining source said. The EFS hit a three-year high of $7.03 a tonne in March this year before easing to minus $4.98 a tonne on Wednesday, Reuters data showed, but only becomes profitable for Asian traders to ship cargoes east to west at about minus $15 a tonne or lower, a level it hasn't hit this year. This has caused a build-up in Asia in the supply of 10ppm sulphur diesel, with premiums for the grade hitting a record low in March. However, a second South Korean refining source cautioned that South Korean refiners could face competition from Indian and Middle East refiners for the West African market, where diesel is used for power generation and transport. Refiners in both regions are major exporters of low sulphur diesel. The switch in many West African countries will leave Indonesia as the main importer of high-sulphur diesel. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan and Jane Chung; Editing by Richard Pullin) The Herald reports: One of the worlds most notorious killers, Moors Murderer Ian Brady, has died in the UK at the age of 79. Brady and Myra Hindley tortured and murdered five children in the Yorkshire Moors in the 1960s. They later confessed to two other murders. Hindley died in prison in 2002. Bradys death was confirmed by the NHS. You can now donate to Kiwiblog The American people have made clear they expect Republicans to work with me as well, US President Joe Biden said. By Yoon Ja-young Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman nominee Kim Sang-jo said he will apply laws more strictly to the nation's top four conglomerates. "I think it is crucial to give a consistent message to market players for any policy to be effective. My message is please do not break the law," said Kim Sang-jo, an economics professor from Hansung University, at a press briefing Thursday. President Moon Jae-in nominated him as FTC chairman the previous day. Kim said the anti-trust watchdog will focus on the country's top four chaebol Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG. "Chaebol reform has two objectives. One is to block concentration of economic power and the other is to improve governance structure. However, past regulations have been ineffective with top conglomerates while they turned out to be too much for smaller businesses," he said. The four conglomerates have two thirds of the total assets of the top 30 groups, he said. "It is more effective and sustainable to focus on the four." Kim said the domestic economy has lost vitality due to the concentration of economic power on chaebol and their "unhealthy" governance structure. Nicknamed "chaebol sniper," the reform activist has dedicated himself to small shareholder activism, calling for structural reform of the country's conglomerates. While the nomination drew expectations that chaebol will face tough pressure, Kim stressed that he doesn't want to dismantle or ruin them. "I have kept talking about chaebol reform over the past 20 years, but I have never said that they should be demolished," he said, acknowledging their contribution to the economy and the job market. "Conglomerates are also valuable assets for the Korean economy. It is important to help them induce change for better development." He said the FTC will create a better economic ecosystem by setting up a fair market economic order, which will create more and better jobs. Regarding the circular shareholdings of conglomerates, he said this was not a crucial issue. In circular shareholding, affiliates hold shares in each other in a circular form, such as affiliate "A" holding shares in "B," "B" holding shares in "C," and "C" holding shares in "A." Chaebol owner families have been using this system to control all affiliates with only a small stake. "Five years ago, there were 98,000 circular shareholdings in 14 conglomerates. Last year, however, the number decreased to 96 shareholdings in eight groups, and it further fell to 90 in seven groups of late. The situation has changed a lot," he said. "I am not saying that it is unnecessary to get rid of the circular shareholding structure. It is just not a priority," he added. Participants dressed up as seonbi scholars gather at Seonbichon Village during last year's Seonbi Culture Festival. / Courtesy of Yeongju City Government Yeongju City to host Seonbi Culture Festival May 26-29 By Jung Min-ho YEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province There is no doubt that the ideas of Chinese scholar Confucius have had a profound influence on East Asia. But how the ideas were adopted and practiced in Korea are, in many ways, uniquely Korean. A good example is the character of "seonbi," which refers to a virtuous scholar who pursued a simple and graceful lifestyle during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The term was initially used for Confucian scholars, but its meaning later expanded to include people who followed a strict code of conduct with or without a government post to lead society in the right direction. The spirit of seonbi still lives on, affecting a big part of Korean culture. The Seonbi Culture Festival, which is scheduled to be held at Seonbichon from May 26 to 29, will offer a glimpse into what it was like to live as a seonbi hundreds of years ago with many colorful events. The main theme of this year's festival is "seonbi's love," which will be featured in traditional paintings, stage plays and other art forms. "About 80,000 people came for the festival last year, and we are expecting more visitors this time," Mayor Jang Wook-hyeon said in an interview. Performers of traditional music put on an exuberant show. The opera, "Seonbi: The Noble and Wise Man," was staged at Carnegie Hall last year and has won a number of honors including the grand prix award at the Korea Opera Awards. One of many events prepared for the festival, it is a tale of love with the message that true happiness comes from a righteous spirit. A musical about Jeong Do-jeon, a revered seonbi who was born in the city, is another much-anticipated event. Quizzes, comedy shows, puppet plays and the augmented reality game called "Seonbi World Go" have also been arranged for children. Moreover, there are opportunities to dress up in hanbok (traditional Korean attire) and learn the centuries-old craft of making hanji (Korean traditional mulberry paper) from master artisans. "The festival will be a fun party for everyone," the mayor said. A view of Seonbichon Village Seonbichon, or the scholars' village, is a place that reenacts the living culture of seonbi. The place, where visitors can see different types of tile-roofed and straw-roofed houses, was set up by the Yeongju City Government in 1997 to foster the understanding of values and spirit of seonbi. Just next to the venue, there is Sosu Seowon, Korea's first state-approved private academy established in 1542 for cultivating future seonbis. Surrounded by plenty of trees and graced with a pond, the whole area is perfect for taking a stroll. Walking on Jarak Trail, which is just behind Seonbichon and Sosu Seowon, is a pleasant experience. The route runs through Sobaek Mountains, situated in Yeongju and the neighboring city Danyang in North Chungcheong Province. Hikers climb Mount Sobaek decorated with royal azaleas. Those who want to see more of the beautiful natural landscape of Yeongju also can join the Sobaeksan Royal Azalea Festival, which will be held around Huibangsa Temple on Mount Sobaek from May 27 to 28. By late May, the hills on the mountain are decorated with the gorgeous royal azalea in full blossom, which fascinated many seonbis, including Yi Hwang who described the hiking there as "walking though a colorful silk curtain." Mt. Sobaek's slopes, in general, are gentle and hikers may also find grassy meadows on high elevations. In October, Yeongju, known as a producer of quality apples and ginseng, will host Yeongju Ginseng Festival to provide visitors with an opportunity to taste cuisine made with ginseng and learn how to make them. How to get there If you live in Seoul, buses and trains to Yeongju are available at the Central City Terminal in southern Seoul and Cheongnyangni Station, respectively. On arrival, consider renting a car or take a taxi to Seonbichon, or you can go to Yeongju Bus Terminal and take the bus bound for Sunheung and get off at Sosu Seowon. During the festival, the city government will operate free shuttles from the terminal area to the event venue. Upcoming festivals in Yeongju Sobaeksan Royal Azalea Festival May 27-28 Ginseng Festival Oct. 21-29 Korea Forest Expo Oct. 20-29 Apple Festival In fall (schedule undetermined) Yeongju Mayor Jang Wook-hyeon speaks during a recent interview. / Courtesy of Yeongju City Government By Jung Min-ho YEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province Like Buddhism thrived in other parts of the world beyond India where it originated, Korea is often referred to as a more Confucian society than China or any other country in the world. Christianity, now the religion of nearly 30 percent of people living in Korea, has affected the country greatly in terms of its belief system over the past century, but Confucianism remains strong in the way people live their daily lives. "Seonbi," the term used to indicate a Confucian scholar, is now used for any intellectual who is also ethical. Mayor Jang Wook-hyeon reckons this is a unique Korean cultural product that deserves greater attention. "Like the Japanese have Bushido (the samurai way of life), Koreans have the seonbi spirit," he said. "A seonbi is an intellectual who continues to learn and has a great sense of responsibility for society, which is exactly the sort of intellectual our age needs." Over the past few decades, Korea has grown much economically but has paid a heavy price for material prosperity, including the loss of traditional values and national identity, he said. "Yeongju will be the main guardian and transmitter of the seonbi spirit, which is to pursue social justice through tenacity and knowledge," he said. Starting this year, students at all public elementary and middle schools have been required to learn etiquette for at least five hours a year. Special lecturers from education institutions, such as Seonbi Spirit Campaign Center and Humanism Education Leaders Association, teach them traditional virtues like filial piety and loyalty. The Yeongju City Government is also building a major cultural theme park near Seonbichon, a cultural village where visitors can see many types of traditional houses, and Sosu Seowon, Korea's first state-approved private academy. The Korea Culture Theme Park, which is expected to open in 2020, is for people who want to learn about Korean history and culture. Once the construction is done, it will complete the golden triangle of "exploration of seonbi" in the tourist area, Jang said. The project is expected to boost the number of visitors there, which was about 360,000 last year, according to the city government. Ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which will be held Feb. 9 to 25 next year, the city government is also stepping up its efforts to promote tourism. "Yeongju is only an hour and a half away from the host city. I think many visitors, especially those from Southeast Asia, would love to see the breathtaking views of Mt. Sobaek, which is always beautifully decorated with snow during the winter season, and discover our city's seonbi spirit," the mayor said. Lee Tae-gon / Korea Times file By Lee Han-soo Actor Lee Tae-gon will not forgive two men who have been charged with making false accusations and assaulting him, according to a hearing at the Suwon District Court on Wednesday. Lee, 40, who was at the hearing filed by prosecutors, said forgiving the men was pointless and he wanted them punished. "I have suffered financially and psychologically after the defendants tried to drag out the case by making false statements that the incident harmed both sides," Lee said. "If they had apologized from the beginning, I would have forgiven them." Lee last month filed a compensation lawsuit against the two for 390 million won ($346,000). On Jan. 7, the men allegedly assaulted Lee after they tried to shake his hand without permission outside a Yongin restaurant. The actor's refusal triggered a scuffle that turned violent and abuse was exchanged. Lee suffered a nose fracture. The men claimed both parties provoked the fight, but police cleared Lee of all charges in March. Lee Young-ryeol, left, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Ahn Tae-geun, a deputy minister for criminal affairs / Yonhap By Jung Min-ho A team of 22 inspectors will look into bribery allegations involving two of the most powerful figures that control the prosecution a sign that President Moon Jae-in has begun to reform the institution as he promised. The targets of the inspection, which the president ordered Wednesday, are Ahn Tae-geun, a deputy minister for criminal affairs, and Lee Young-ryeol, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The two offered their resignation, Thursday, after allegations surfaced that they exchanged suspicious money envelopes over dinner on April 21, four days after the end of the Choi Soon-sil scandal investigation. But Cheong Wa Dae will not let them get away. A senior official at the presidential office told reporters that their resignations won't be accepted until the inspectors finish their job. With Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam already gone, many experts see the inspection as the beginning of sweeping prosecution reform from the top. The joint inspection team from the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will look into why Ahn met Lee, who led the Choi scandal investigation team until he passed the baton to an independent counsel, at a restaurant in southern Seoul. Two senior ministry officials and six prosecutors from the team were also present. At the dinner, Lee and Ahn gave envelopes containing cash to each other's staff, which they have admitted to doing. Each envelope reportedly contained 700,000 won to 1 million won ($620-$890). In fear of getting into trouble later, the ministry officials returned the money to Lee the next day, while the prosecutors did not. Lee and Ahn say the money came from the ministry's "special activity budget" of 28.7 billion won, and insist they did not violate any laws by giving and taking the money. But many experts disagree. They say that the money Ahn gave to the prosecutors can be considered bribes, given his friendship with Woo Byung-woo, one of the key suspects in the scandal. From July to October, when the corruption scandal involving Choi and former President Park Geun-hye was making headlines, Ahn exchanged more than a thousand phone calls with Woo, who was a senior presidential secretary at the time. All the key suspects in the scandal, including the former president, were eventually arrested and jailed. But Woo, a former prosecutor who has wide connections within the prosecution, remains free. Many people suspect prosecutors did not try hard enough to investigate the man, who knows many of their "dirty secrets," in order to conceal their own wrongdoings. Special activity budgets are money that can be spent freely without reporting to higher institutions for security reasons. The National Intelligence Service received 486 billion won for its budget in 2016, followed by the Ministry of Defense (178.3 billion won), the National Police Agency (129.8 billion won) and the justice ministry. The inspection may lead to an age-old debate on whether such money is necessary and, if so, how much is the proper amount. Some experts believe that the ministry officials and the prosecutors have also violated the sweeping anti-graft law, which came into force last year to ban all government officials from offering and receiving 1 million won or more for any reason whatsoever. The prosecution has long been criticized for going easy on cases involving its own people and being "too political" in cases involving people close to powerful figures who can sway influence over its personnel matters. Moon promised to reform the institution during his presidential campaign by removing all or part of its investigative powers and establishing an independent body that can investigate and indict high-ranking government officials. An elderly Korean-Chinese woman cries during a protest by the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea at the Gwacheon Government Office in 2014 against policies to regulate and deport foreign workers. / Korea Times file By Eom Da-sol Jeju Special Self-governing Province (JSSP) is supporting moves to fight the growing number of cases of illegal foreign workers not being paid. The province held a conference Wednesday to discuss the issue following an increase in complaints. JSSP has had 75 complaints about overdue wages from unregistered foreign workers. Most of the workers are from China, according to the island province. It is thought that employers believe they can get away with not paying the workers because they are not legally registered. And the increasing number of illegal workers on the island has worsened the problem. The conference at the provincial office building in Yeon-dong was held after a request from the Chinese Consulate-General on the island. Nine organizations, including JSSP, the Jeju Island Immigration Office and the Chinese Consulate-General, attended. The conference concluded that regular meetings on the issue should be held and the role of the Jeju Island Immigration Office expanded. It also designated JSSP as a control tower to regulate overdue wages. "Wages should be paid to all workers, with no exception, to protect fundamental human rights," a province official said during the conference. "Illegal workers also should not be discriminated against in the workplace in terms of payment." By Kim Se-jeong The Seoul Metropolitan Government will invite 280 city residents interested in exploring a mountain in Seoul and studying plant, bird and insect species. The exploration is scheduled for June 10 and 11, and will take place at Mount Surak in Nowon, northeast Seoul. It's open to anyone living in Seoul and online registration will open at 10 a.m. Friday. This year's exploration is the third since 2015. Experts from the Korea National Arboretum will lead groups to assist participants. Insect and bird spotting will take place at night and early morning and those interested should specify their interest during the registration process. "Through the program, we hope people discover biodiversity on the mountains in Seoul and be reminded of the importance of it," said Choi Kwang-bin, the chief of the Green Seoul bureau. Rock star Jeon In-kwon performed at the Moon Jae-in administration-endorsed ceremony commemorating the May 18 Gwangju Uprising in the southwestern city, Thursday, conveying a message of unity. Earlier during the presidential race, Jeon had publicly stated his support for Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party, who had been a rival of Moon. Jeon reportedly said he was contacted only a few days before the ceremony, but "decided to take to the stage as the ceremony is a meaningful event commemorating the spirit of the May 18 pro-democracy movement." Jeon performed the symbolic pro-democracy song "Imeul Wihan Haengjingok" (March for the Beloved), which was sung in unison by the attendees. In 2011, former President Lee Myung-back had the song performed by a choir, but after President Moon took office, he promptly called for the song to be sung by all participants at the ceremony. President Moon seeks parliamentary approval of THAAD By Kim Rahn U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue through engagement, a presidential special envoy said Thursday. Former media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, who is visiting the U.S. as President Moon Jae-in's special envoy, said the U.S. government was looking forward to working closely with Moon to resolve the North Korean issue. This was the first time for the U.S. president to mention engagement, and could be interpreted that his hard-line stance toward the North may turn softer during talks depending on how Pyongyang reacts. "President Trump said although we are at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he is willing to make peace through engagement if certain conditions are met," Hong told reporters after a 15-minute meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. This was the first time for Trump to meet a South Korean official since taking office. Hong quoted Trump as saying that he would not hold talk for talk's sake but do so when they can produce a good outcome. Trump also said he hopes to attain that through close cooperation with Moon in resolving the nuclear issue, adding he is looking forward to next month's summit, according to the special envoy. "He said we can achieve an outcome through the strong unity of the alliance and international cooperation," Hong said. Also attending the meeting were U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The changed stance is expected to harmonize with that of the new Korean President, who calls for both pressure and dialogue in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, contrary to his predecessor Park Geun-hye who took a sanctions-only approach. THAAD ratification During his visit, Hong also talked about the Moon government's stance that National Assembly ratification is required for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here. By officially mentioning it to the U.S., the Moon administration has virtually started seeking parliamentary approval for THAAD. Moon and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have claimed the new government should deal with the contentious deployment, which was pushed through by the previous administration, and that it requires a public consensus and the Assembly's consent. Hong said he talked about this in a separate meeting with McMaster. "I told him that in Korea we have a controversy over the procedural problem of the THAAD installation, and I talked about the need to have the issue discussed at the Assembly," he said. In response, McMaster said the U.S. "acknowledges" and "respects" the controversy in Korea, according to Hong. Moon's predecessor, Park, pushed ahead with the deployment last year despite protests from the then-opposition parties, liberal civic groups and residents of the planned site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The DPK has claimed the deployment requires Assembly ratification, according to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), because it involves providing land to the U.S. Forces Korea. New DPK floor leader Woo Won-shik also said in an interview Wednesday that any issue related to land provision should get parliamentary approval. Woo went further by saying, "If there were legal procedural problems, we have to reconsider them, including sending the battery back to the U.S." But it is yet to be seen whether the Assembly will review and ratify the deployment because conservative parties oppose this. By differently interpreting SOFA, the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the former ruling party, said the government can decide on the deployment on its own without Assembly consent. "Will parliamentary approval be needed every time Korea and the U.S. plan to deploy strategic items for security?" LKP Rep. Kim Seon-dong asked. Even the liberal People's Party said it was wrong for the government to seek parliamentary approval without first clearly disclosing its stance over whether it approves or opposes the deployment. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, the special envoy to China, delivered Moon's personal letter to high-ranking Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Lee delivered Moon's will to resolve the conflict between the two countries that has arisen from the THAAD installation. China opposed the move and instituted economic retaliation. Earlier in a phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Moon said that he understands China's concerns and that the two nations would discuss the issue soon. By Kim Hyo-jin Park Sung-choon Former Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Sung-choon may face an investigation over his alleged mishandling of veterans affairs during his six-year tenure. He was one of the two Cabinet members of the previous Park Geun-hye administration who President Moon Jae-in dismissed the day after his inauguration. The other was Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. This indicates that Park was the highest priority on the President's sacking list. Park has been viewed as a controversial figure spurring ideological division in the country. He has been a stalwart supporter for a ban on singing the pro-democracy song, "March for the Beloved," during a government-led ceremony commemorating the May 18 democratic uprising in Gwangju in 1980. The conservative Lee Myung-bak administration had the song performed only by a choir beginning in 2011. Liberal lawmakers and bereaved families of victims in the Gwangju uprising called on Lee's successor to designate the song to be sung by all participants at the memorial service. But they were ignored while then Minister Park remained a strong defender of the ban, calling the song "one for North Korean sympathizers." In a 2014 a report submitted to the National Assembly, the veterans ministry interpreted that its lyrics were to praise North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung and socialist revolution, the same logic presented by far-rightists. The opposition parties proposed a motion to sack the ideologically-biased minister three times in 2013, 2015, and 2016. The latest motion was caused by his plan to have the 11th Airborne Troop participate in a parade in Gwangju during a ceremony commemorating the Korean War. The unit was the one engaged in the bloody suppression back in the 1980s movement. The controversy surrounding Park has yet to be resolved. Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the Bareun Party claimed Thursday that the Board of Audit (BAI) and Inspection should investigate the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs for fanning ideological division based on a "false reason." He pointed out North Korean defectors testified that the song has even been banned in the North, dismissing the ministry's logic that it glorifies the North Korean regime. "It is inevitable to inspect the ministry that has sabotaged national unity by distorting the pro-democracy song," he said. There is much room for his rightist move to be stretched to punishable illegality, observers say, as it is linked to abuse of authority. The BAI revealed earlier that Park wielded undue influence in having the former head of the presidential security team Ahn Hyun-tae, who worked for former President Chun Doo-hwan, at the national cemetery. Chun is believed to have ordered the bloody suppression of the Gwangju Uprising, a democratization movement held against his military coup. Park fed much controversy, calling Ahn, Chung's security head, "General." Park is also accused of overlooking lax management of the Korea Veterans Association, the organization under the ministry's oversight, and a corruption scandal involving the association head. In 2011, soon after taking the post, Park distributed controversial DVDs where pro-democratization movements were described as activities by North Korea sympathizers. Pi Woo-jin, the new minister of patriots and veterans affairs, burns incense during her visit to the Daejeon National Cemetery, Thursday. She was inaugurated on Thursday. /Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong Pi Woo-jin, tapped Thursday as the first woman to lead the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, is exceptional in many ways. She retired as an army lieutenant-colonel in 2009 and her rank was lower than her predecessors who were usually lieutenant-generals or higher. She is a breast cancer survivor and had her breasts removed to make herself fit for pilot training. In 2005, she was forced to retire due to the surgical removal of her breasts but fought to get back in. She won the case and returned to the Army in 2008. What also makes her name dance on many people's lips is how she dealt with witnessing sexual discrimination in the military to root it out. Two anecdotes are the most known. The first incident happened in 1988 when she was an army captain. She was ordered to send a female soldier to a nightclub where a four-star commander was drinking. This is the eighth in a series of suggestions about new President Moon Jae-in. ED. By Hyeongwoo Kim After the ruling on the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye in March, Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election by a landslide on Tuesday, May 9. The new president said his victory was the result of the Korean people's desire for a regime change and he would accomplish the two main tasks, reform and national unity. Mr. Moon is facing an array of domestic challenges, including rising youth unemployment and torpid economic growth. He has also promised to reform the chaebol. Besides domestic issues, Moon's foreign policy towards North Korea is getting worldwide attention. Mr. Moon's position on North Korea is expected to depart greatly from that of Ms. Park. He has argued that the hardline stance and economic sanctions have failed to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Moon has pledged to play a more active role in the multilateral negotiations with North Korea and to bring a more conciliatory approach while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage the North to change. During his campaign, Mr. Moon often argued that South Korea must embrace the North Korean people. Also, he advocated re-opening the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in North Korea which was shut down by Park who claimed that it has been used to channel dollars to Pyongyang. Moon's new approach seems to be a revival of the so-called Sunshine Policy of the liberal governments from 1998 to 2008, which stands in stark contrast to U.S. president Donald Trump's stance toward the North. It is important to open dialogue with North Korea to ease severe tensions on the Korean Peninsula. However, diplomatic politics of the new government on this matter should be undertaken very prudently, making sure they are not damaging either the international cooperation or the imposition of economic sanctions against North Korea. For example, even proposals of re-opening the KIC now will disrupt joint efforts to stop the North, causing a serious breach in Korea's relationship with the U.S. Additionally, strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance would help relieve potential conflicts in trade issues. In 2016, China's trade surplus in goods with the U.S. was $347 billion, which corresponds to 46.3% of the total deficit. However, I do not believe that the Trump administration will stay hawkish on China because the U.S. needs China's cooperation to counter North Korea. Further, starting a trade war against China will cost Mr. Trump a lot politically, because China's retaliation can eliminate many jobs in the U.S. Furthermore, rising import prices will add a greater burden on low income consumers who spend more money on necessities. They won't fight Japan either due to similar reasons. On the other hand, Korea could become a scapegoat. Korea was the 8th largest trade surplus country last year and has met two of the three criteria to be officially named a currency manipulator by the U.S. Treasury Department. Engaging in trade conflicts with South Korea will not create much damage to the U.S. economy, but it may provide substantial political gains to Mr. Trump for his next election in four years. Amidst a political vacuum since the impeachment of Park, Mr. Trump has ignored the South Korean government in recent discussions about the North Korea problems with Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, even though Pyongyang poses a direct threat to the South. It is not pleasant to admit this but it would be crucial for the new government to maintain harmonized strategies to join the discussion and to play an active role in seeking peaceful solutions to these problems. Dr. Hyeongwoo Kim is an economics professor at Auburn University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and his B.A. and M.A. from Seoul National University. He has published over 25 SSCI journal articles since 2009 in the areas of macroeconomics, financial economics and economic forecasting. He can be reached at gmmkim@gmail.com. For starters, President names female veterans affairs minister Former lieutenant-colonel Pi Woo-jin is making headlines after becoming the nation's first female veterans affairs minister. The appointment was a huge surprise not just because she is the first woman to serve in the post, but also because it had previously been filled by retired generals and others from top-ranking positions. Her pioneering efforts to break the glass ceiling and eradicate the military's outdated practices have regained the spotlight. The 61-year-old is the first Korean woman to pilot an Army helicopter. She fought the widespread discrimination and sexual harassment of women in the military. In 2006, she was discharged from service after having both of her breasts removed in a breast cancer operation. She claimed she was wrongfully discharged due to outdated regulations and fought her way back into the army. The announcement Wednesday to name the first female chief of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs was made by Cho Hyun-ock, senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs. Cho is also the first woman to serve in this post. After naming Cho and other key appointments last week, President Moon Jae-in had lunch with them and took a coffee break on the grounds of Cheong Wa Dae. Their main topic of discussion was the inclusion of more women in the Cabinet. Previous administrations had few female ministers and they were mostly restricted to areas like gender equality and family, or environment or culture. The Moon administration should significantly increase the number of female ministers and also give them the chance to head ministries that have formerly been led solely by men, such as foreign affairs, defense or justice. It has become a global trend for new leaders to create gender-balanced cabinets. The new French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled his cabinet this week, naming women to 11 out of 22 posts. It was noteworthy that the young French leader appointed women to lead key ministries such as defense, labor and health. Upon taking office in 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formed Canada's first gender-balanced cabinet by naming women to 15 of 31 posts. Korea still lags behind OECD members in the number of women in high government positions. Moon pledged to create a gender-balanced cabinet during his term, starting by naming women to 30 percent of minister posts. The appointment of a woman as veterans affairs minister shows Moon is serious about nurturing female leaders in government. Having more female ministers, however, does not mean Korean women's overall status and well-being have significantly improved. The Moon administration should also do its utmost to encourage women to break the glass ceiling in various sectors and help women balance their careers with motherhood. President Moon Jae-in has named Kim Sang-jo, a progressive university professor, to lead the anti-trust agency. "The president tapped Kim as the right person to carry out proposed reform policies for big businesses as chairman of the Fair Trade Commission," said a senior presidential aide. Kim, dubbed the "chaebol sniper," won fame for his shareholder activist movement, spearheading lawsuits against family-run conglomerates. In particular, he criticized Samsung's dubious transfer of father-to-son managerial leadership. He helped draft Moon's chaebol reform pledges during his campaign. After his nomination was announced Wednesday, he rightfully told reporters, "I will do my best to rebuild fairness and order in the market to revitalize the economy." Kim's appointment reflects Moon's strong determination to rein in chaebol, which have grown rapidly by amassing wealth over decades. He is expected to focus on curbing the power of the country's four biggest conglomerates _ Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG. On his campaign trail, Moon vowed to mitigate the concentration of economic power in the hands of large conglomerates and improve their governance structure to boost transparency and fair competition. Specifically, the former human rights lawyer promised to strengthen the anti-trust regulator to crack down on unfair deals and cozy relations between politicians and big business. Moon's policy direction is right, given that removing these cumulative evils in the corporate sector will help reignite our waning growth momentum. The problem is that the new liberal government's blind anti-chaebol policy might hamper the progress of Korea Inc. This could put a damper on exports which have been gaining momentum recently thanks to a global economic recovery. It's valid if one claims that competition cannot revive and innovation cannot start without taming the conglomerates reasonably. But the stark reality is that chaebol still form the backbone of our economy. Kim was realistically right when he said in a press interview that "I don't think chaebol reform will be achieved overnight merely with government regulations." Despite all their problems, the conglomerates are assets to Korea Inc. that offer decent jobs. We hope that Kim will deal with the issue with a down-to-earth perspective. By Donald Kirk Would Kim Jong-un mind giving Moon Jae-in a break? More than any other South Korean leader in years, Moon would like nothing better than to be the one to bring about North-South reconciliation. Wouldn't it be great, Moon's newly appointed former activists must be saying, if Kim Jong-un invited Moon to Pyongyang instead of awaiting "the right conditions." It would be so easy for Kim to outfox the Americans, who clearly think Moon will settle down, mute his pronouncements about talks with the North and cooperate as did his predecessors. But no, right away, Kim Jong-un opted to turn Moon's dreams into nightmares, directly challenging him by launching an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,500 kilometers. Nor was this one just another mid-to-short-range shot. It soared an incredible 2,111 kilometers above earth, indicating it could easily have reached U.S. bases anywhere in Japan or, for that matter, the U.S. territory of Guam, home of the strategic Andersen Air Force base from which U.S. B1B bombers fly now and then over South Korea. Any hopes Moon may have of "engaging" the North in dialogue seem certain to run afoul of Kim's refusal to stop testing missiles capable some day of carrying nuclear warheads to the U.S. mainland. With 59 percent of Korean voters in favor of someone other than Moon, he has no mandate to jettison the pro-American policies of Korean presidents since the founding of the Republic of Korea under Syngman Rhee in 1948. Given the depth of conservative and moderate sentiment, Moon cannot show weakness in the face of North Korean threats. The rise of a liberal in South Korea, moreover, still leaves relations between Seoul and Washington in flux. Moon is not going to be as enthusiastic about the U.S.-Korea alliance as would a conservative, but he cannot so easily turn against agreements made between the U.S. and the previous conservative regime. How can he call for removal of the THAAD counter-missile battery even as Kim Jong-un is challenging him with missile tests? Although hardly a rabble-rousing leftist, Moon faces opposition from possibly a majority of his countrymen and will have difficulty mustering support in the National Assembly for reformist legislation if badly divided conservatives join forces. Under these circumstances, Moon has not only endorsed the U.S.-Korea alliance but is going to Washington in the near future to meet President Trump after having been widely quoted during his campaign as saying that he would like first to see Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. Considering Moon's eagerness for negotiations with the North, Trump and his team have to deal carefully with him in order to preserve the U.S-Republic of Korea alliance. One sensitive issue: those annual U.S.-RoK war games that infuriate North Korea. Military commanders say they are essential. How else, they ask, can the 28,500 U.S. troops in Korea be ready "to fight tonight" on behalf of their South Korean ally? Moon's relationship with the U.S., moreover, will be complicated by some of Trump's remarks. South Korea under any president, conservative or liberal, would not consider paying $1 billion as Trump suggested was owed for THAAD. Trump is fueling the controversy by calling for a renegotiation of the KORUS FTA, the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, in view of America's rising trade deficit with South Korea. Neither conservatives nor liberals would be inclined to renegotiate the KORUS FTA. Obviously, Moon will resist Trump's demands. More importantly, Moon's response to still more North Korean missile tests, or a sixth nuclear test, will be a clear indication of his basic outlook. How willingly will he enforce sanctions or adopt other stringent measures for dealing with the North? And what if North and South Korea came to blows again in the Yellow Sea, the scene of bloody North-South battles in recent years? Washington has repeatedly vowed to rush to Seoul's aid in a showdown. South Korea and the U.S. over the years have developed extremely close military ties on a working level. U.S. and Korean forces coordinate under a "combined command," while the South acquires much needed military equipment, including fighter planes, from the U.S. While conservatives keep close watch on whatever Moon is doing, he should place a high priority on these relationships amid North Korean threats and testing. Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering the ups and downs of the confrontation of forces in the region for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com By Lee Min-hyung LG Electronics is moving to tighten its artificial intelligence (AI) drive by partnering with Google, the Seoul-based company said Thursday. At Google's developer conference for this year, the high-tech giant unveiled its partnership with LG by showcasing an LG SIGNATURE premium air purifier equipped with Google Assistant voice recognition assistance. This comes as the smart home system is becoming the talk of the AI town, with electronics makers and software giants competing head to head to pre-empt the potential-laden area. Under the partnership, other SIGNATURE appliances including a refrigerator and washing machine will also be powered by user voice commands. For example, an LG washer user can track wash cycle times by voice command. Google Assistant also enables more detailed voice commands. An LG refrigerator owner can monitor ice supply and command the device to make more. LG Electronics said it is going to extend its product lineup into non-premium devices such as ovens and robot vacuum cleaners. The company plans to launch the premium smart consumer electronics in the United States this month, expanding its sales channels into the company's other key markets. "LG will continue to tighten partnerships with other global companies, in a bid to offer our advanced smart home solutions," Song Dae-hyun, president of LG's home and appliance unit, said in a statement. Walter Galinat, CEO of Merck's performance materials business sector, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Grand Hyatt Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Merck By Kang Seung-woo As organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology is taking center stage in the global materials industry, Korea is being thrust into the limelight thanks to its world-renowned tech firms Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics' commitment to it for their products, including high-end smartphones and TVs. Plus, OLED is said to have the potential to become the technology of the future for displays and lighting, helping to elevate the nation's reputation as well. Those are the points why Merck, a global leader in performance materials, makes much of the Korean market. "Personally, I think Korea is still an important market for us. These days, we talk a lot about China and other places. But I think the innovation power in Korea is still very high and we also have huge customers here," Walter Galinat, CEO of Merck's performance materials business, said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Wednesday. "So I am pretty positive about the potential in Korea. There are some challenges that every nation has to face when salaries rise, but Korea will cope with this and will continue to be a big industrial player." He said Samsung and LG, among others, are the most prominent customers for displays, while Merck also does business with Samsung for semiconductors. As part of its efforts to offer highly efficient OLED materials, Merck launched the "HyperOLED" project last month, in the form of a five-way consortium. "The idea is to develop a next-level OLED material to make better OLEDs and also enhance the brightness of the color," Galinat said. "We are very happy to be a leader in this project and this is exactly in line with our strategy to be always at the forefront of the development." Along with the project, Merck, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, has continued to invest heavily in OLED technology. "Last year, we built a new fabrication plant for OLED materials (in Darmstadt) and we are investing in Korea to double the capacity, which will be finished in six weeks, to serve our customers here in Korea," he said. According to Merck, the new production plant in Germany enables production capacity to be increased fivefold. In addition, Merck built an OLED Application Center in May 2015 in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to strengthen its commitment to OLED research. "Since Korea is leading in the development of OLED, we do not have comparable facilities outside of Korea. It makes no sense to build such facilities in another country," the CEO said. Although OLED is gaining in importance today, its successful predecessor, or liquid crystal display (LCD), will not disappear anytime soon and both will exist in parallel, Galinat predicted. "There is no doubt that OLED technology will become more important -- in particular for mobile devices," he said. "However, the question here is can they (OLED) completely replace liquid crystal technology? My personal assumption is no." He added that it is different from a competition between LCD and plasma in the beginning of the flat panel display era, in which LCD eventually prevailed and plasma TVs completely disappeared. "I can't imagine that one or the other technology will disappear because you have to consider a lot of dedicated production capacity around both technologies. You just can't give them up," he said. Currently, many Korean materials companies are globally gaining traction and Galinat, with a 40-year career in materials under his belt, provided some advice. "In order to be a big player or a strong player in the market, you need to have global reach, so you must be everywhere your customers are located in all parts of the world," he said, adding that companies also need the power to stay on top of the technology. "You also need infrastructure. That means in every country where your customers are located, you should have a facility like the application center because otherwise the time to support your customers and exchange information takes too long." By Lee Min-hyung Chiefs of the nation's major internet companies are often described as "hermit CEOs" as they make relatively few public appearances despite their reputation and social status. This is because the Korean IT industry has developed faster than any other countries, making them focus mainly on their internal corporate workloads to catch up with the rapidly changing industry, sources said Tuesday. "The IT industry in the United States has also developed fast, but took enough time to build infrastructure to rev up the rapid growth," a game industry source said. "But this is not the case for Korea where the internet and other emerging IT industries began only about two decades ago." For this reason, founders and CEOs of such leading internet companies as portal giant Naver and messenger service operator Kakao have had to concentrate more on survival and ways to grow their companies, he said. "Promoting the companies or themselves at the forefront may have been secondary to them." This is why media often call them hermit CEOs, which observers say include Naver founder Lee Hae-jin, Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-soo, NCSoft founder Kim Taek-jin and Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju. Another mobile industry source said it is true that successful IT industry CEOs here are generally reluctant to promote themselves in public. "Many of our top IT industry leaders have studied IT and engineering in colleges, so their expertise does not lie in aggressive speaking skills or public relations," the mobile industry official said. "That is why it seems that they hold onto the image of a hermit CEO." Kakao Chairman Kim admits this. "Many IT companies' heads are engineers, who tend not to speak out," Kim said in a recent interview with a local magazine. As another reason, he also picked the "tall-poppy syndrome" very specific to Korean society. In other words, domestic entrepreneurs do not want to be the "tall poppy that gets cut down," by appearing many times in public. Korea is infamous for a culture where people of high status are sometimes resented and criticized. Some say that Naver founder Lee is different. One of the first-generation internet industry moguls, he is hardly ever seen in public. There are even rumors that he lacks social skills. This, however, may be due to his major role as a founder keeping the firm on a stable track by searching for growth engines here and abroad, as Lee said in a press conference in 2013. With Naver beginning to dominate the local portal market and turning itself into one of the most successful IT venture firms, Lee showed a different stance. Last year, Lee held three public conferences to introduce and share the firm's vision. By contrast, Kakao Chairman Kim, who cofounded Naver with Lee, seems to be naturally media shy as he has hardly met journalists even after his companies became stable. But the serial entrepreneur, who left Naver to create another startup, is not an introvert he often socializes with many people, but not in the public eye. A model promotes LG Display's 65-inch ultra high-definition wallpaper OLED television. / Courtesy of LG Display By Yoon Sung-won Samsung Display and LG Display won awards for their organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products from an international display society, the companies said Thursday. The Society for International Display (SID) presented Samsung Display's quad-edge flexible OLED with the Display Industry Award (DIA) and LG Display's 65-inch ultra-high-definition wallpaper OLED television panel with the Display of the Year award. The quad-edge flexible OLED has been used for Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones. It was the world's first mobile display to have all four edges in curved form, providing the smartphone with a better grip when held, according to the SID. "Samsung Display has released products based on cutting-edge flexible OLED technologies. It is an honor to take the leadership in the display market with the quad-edge flexible OLED," said Jeon Seok-jin, head of Samsung Display's marketing team. Established in 1962, the SID is the world's largest industrial society dedicated to display products and technologies. More than 6,000 companies worldwide are members of the society. The SID holds the Display Week event every year to share ideas on the latest display technologies. The society will host the SID 2017 event at the Los Angeles Convention Center May 21 to 26. LG Display said the 65-inch wallpaper OLED television panel is thinner than 1 millimeter. Even when the panel is assembled as a complete television set, it is only 3.55 millimeters thick and weighs 7.4 kilograms. The company said the society commented on the panel that it provides not just superior picture quality but also high applicability in terms of design. "LG Display will continue to concentrate on developing next-generation technologies as the world's leading company in the display sector," said Yoon Soo-young, vice president and head of LG Display Laboratory. LG Display said its 65-inch wallpaper OLED television panel received an innovation award in January at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017. The company will also release 28 technical papers on display technologies including 4K OLED television, standardization of high dynamic range (HDR), virtual and augmented reality and transparent displays during this year's SID event. Samsung Display and LG Display are the world's largest display makers. Sistar's Soyou is indeed showing the other side of herself as she has just donated a generous amount of money to Korea's Red Cross. Just last May 11, reports have it that Soyou has donated a 10 million won, which is equivalent to around $9,000. It was given to the Korean Red Cross and is directed to the unfortunate and underprivileged people of their society. It is worth noting that Soyou has been one of the major sponsors of the Seoul branch of the Korean Red Cross way back in 2015. According to Koogle, she has been one of the most consistent sponsors that helped in donating money to the youth who are homeless and doesn't have a sufficient supply of food. Aside from that, the people that she usually helps are the bread winners of families that don't have a good economic status. However, she's not the only member of the hit K-pop girl group, Sistar, to have helped the community through the giving of donations. The group also has a track record of charitable sponsorships over the past years, which are focused on helping the poor and starving children of South Korea. They have also helped even the abandoned and homeless animals. According to Soompi, Sistar has even used their proceeds from last year's K-pop Hallyu festival for the purchasing of sanitary napkins of women who are having financial problems. With this, one can clearly see that Soyou does not only have a pretty face and has a lot of talent, but she also has a kind heart. She is indeed one of the best examples of what a tru K-pop idol should be. Let's wish Soyou and the rest of Sistar the best of luck in their career. They really are beautiful inside and out. Marie Claire Korea has revealed their June cover girl and it's none other than "The Heirs" star Park Shin Hye. For its summer feature, the magazine took the actress to the streets of Paris where she strolled around looking designer label chic. According to a report by All Kpop, Park Shin Hye looked trendy wearing a coat accessorized with an oversized belt, giving her a classical look. On the cover, the actress showcased a pink beaded dress lined with fur, giving her sophisticated yet soft look befitting her youthful appearance. The Marie Claire Korea issue featuring Park Shin Hye highlights beauty and travel features as long as what's hot in the fashion scene. Unlike other fashion editorials, it focused on an out of the country getaway rather than a beach themed of a tropical inspired fashion shoot. Most recently, Philippine clothing brand Bench also signed Park Shin Hye as one of its brand endorsers. Park Shin Hye follows her "The Heirs" co-star Lee Min Ho, Super Junior's Donghae and Siwon who also became the local fashion line's brand ambassadors before because of their strong popularity in the Asian market. Most recently, Park Shin Hye was also voted as the most popular Korean drama actress in the US, ABS-CBN reported. While Park Shin Hye is taking a break from acting in Korean dramas after the success of her recent series "Doctors" also known as "Doctor Crush" opposite Kim Rae Won, she is focusing on her film career and recently completed filming for the thriller "Silent Witness" or "Silence" where she stars with Choi Min Sik and Ryu Jeon Yeol, Soompi reported. Park Shin Hye's new movie is an adaptation of a Chinese film of the same name wherein an influential businessman's fiancee is murdered and his daughter becomes the prime suspect. Park Shin Hye is said to play the role of the tycoon's daughter. Following a presentation on the increase in airplane noise in La Jolla, the La Jolla Town Council (LJTC) at its May 11 meeting, created a sub-committee to address the issue and represent the Town Council at applicable meetings. La Jolla resident and San Diego Airport Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) subcommittee representative Chris McCann and La Jolla resident Matthew Price spoke about how the noise problem has increased since this time last year, and the combination of factors that lead to the current state. We have a confluence of factors, including changes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing, the amount of air traffic going in and out of San Diego Airport, and the equipment the airplanes are operating all creating a problem that literally wasnt there a year ago, said McCann. Price reported in August 2016, when ANAC reviewed complaint data, La Jolla was not on the map nor list of areas from which complaints were registered. But by December 2016, though La Jolla was still not on the map, the number of complaints registered were listed. Come February, when data from the preceding two months was discussed, there were 1,566 complaints from Bird Rock; 193 from La Jolla; 85 from La Jolla Mesa; and 72 from La Jolla Shores. The trend continued, with ANAC reporting number of households that filed a complaint rather than individual complaints at its April meeting. And that represents a small portion of those who are bothered by it but dont lodge a complaint, Price said. Among the changes implemented that lead to the noise increase, McCann said there are new flight plans designed to improve efficiency. One of the driving factors in this is something called NextGen, which is part of a national FAA plan to make air space more efficient, get more traffic in the air space so you can have more options for flights, have planes fly more efficiently and use less fuel. Those are all great things, but there has to be a balance with the quality-of-life issues for those who live here. Were not getting that balance right now, he explained. With NextGen, planes fly using GPS navigation systems and satellite-based navigation that is accurate within centimeters rather than miles (as was the case) with the old system. So now the air traffic that was once spread out is on a laser line. So the concentration of traffic is one problem. Further, the new paths associated with NextGen allow for flights to be closer to the coast and at a lower altitude. Another problem, he noted, is that planes are bigger and flights are fuller. The fuller the airplane, the heavier it is. The heavier it is, the longer it takes to climb higher, so that is another problem. As a solution, Price pleaded with LJTC for something official to show the severity of the impact on residents. We need a formal voice from the community. Citizens need to continue to complain, but the ANAC does not recognize that theres a problem in La Jolla. We ask that this board write a letter to ANAC, the FAA, and the City Council to say there is a problem that needs to be addressed, Price said. LJTC president Ann Kerr-Bache offered to form a sub-committee authorized to write the letter on behalf of LJTC and have her sign it, as LJTC president. We can charter you as a sub-committee of the Town Council representing the Town Council to ANAC and we can task you with writing what needs to be said and we will support it. A motion to create the sub-committee passed unanimously. To contact McCann regarding noise problems, e-mail info@airnoise.io In other LJTC news: Trustees Term-out: As the terms of LJTC trustees Cindy Greatrex, Charles Hartford and Brandon Heesse ended this month, representatives from the offices of City Council member Barbara Bry and Congress member Scott Peters thanked them for their service with special commendations. Greatrex was not in attendance. By way of parting words, Hartford called upon fellow La Jollans to come forward and be of service before next months board elections. It has been a great privilege to be on this board. I encourage anyone who wants to advocate for our special community to step up and volunteer your time. We are in a crisis situation right now in La Jolla. Jimmy Buffet once said, fins to the left, fins to the right and youre the only bait in town, well, we have sea lions to the left, short-term vacation rentals to the right, and airplane noise up above. It is a critical time for La Jollans to advocate for their community and the special people who live here. June 8 Election: The LJTC annual election will be held during the next meeting, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 8 at La Jolla Rec Center, 615 Prospect St. An application to become a trustee is available at lajollatowncouncil.org and the deadline to apply is May 19. Ballots will be counted ahead of the meeting. Potential trustees must be at least 16 years old and have a residence or business in La Jolla. KITCHEN SHRINK: In keeping with the spirit of the end-of-school season, I thought it apropos to give a food-related final exam for your amusement and amazement. Check out next weeks column for the answers and please, no cheating! True or False 1. Since baking soda and baking powder are both white, powdery leavening agents, they can be used interchangeably. 2. All fruits and vegetables continue to ripen after picking. 3. Nectarines are a hybrid cross between a peach and a plum. 4. The eyes that sprout on potatoes can be toxic. 5. Tomatoes have more cancer fighting lycopenes when cooked. 6. Avocados are loaded with artery clogging, trans fatty monsters. 7. Braising and sauteing are similar cooking methods for tenderizing meats. 8. Sweet potatoes, a Thanksgiving favorite, are also called yams. 9. The peanut is botanically a legume, not actually a nut. 10. To shock green vegetables means to place them in an icy bath to halt the cooking process so they can maintain their bright hue and al dente texture. Multiple Choice 1. Cage free eggs come from: a) chickens that are raised on organic and hormone free feed; b) chickens that nest in free cages donated by animal activists; c) chickens that stretch their legs and roam in the barn; d) chickens that romp freely outdoors. 2. The most widely consumed fish throughout the world is: a) salmon; b) sardines; c) herring; d) tuna. 3. Authentic mozzarella cheese from southern Italy with protected designation of origin status is made with milk from: a) cows; b) goat; c) sheep; d) water buffalo. 4. The Dirty Dozen refers to: a) a Robert Aldrich World War II flick; b) 12 foods with high pesticide residues like strawberries, spinach and apples that should be substituted for their organic equivalents; c) a carton of eggs with bloodshot yolks; d) 12 poppy seed bagels. 5. A good digestive aid is: a) mustard seeds; b) fennel; c) cumin; d) fresh ginger; e) all of the above. 6. Aioli, derived from the Occitan language spoken in parts of Spain, Italy and southern France translates to: a) mayonnaise; b) garlic oil; c) almond paste; d) oil free. 7. A splash of this liquid prevents cut apples from oxidizing and turning brown, while keeping guacamole green: a) lemon juice; b) orange juice; c) cider vinegar; d) apple juice. Match the numbers with the letters 1. The protein found in common grains and their hybrids 2. Surprisingly an herb, and sibling to carrots, cumin, parsley and cilantro 3. This gourd contains 95 percent water 4. It has the highest smoke point of oils, making it ideal for sauteing and frying 5.This type of butter is free of common dairy allergens, along with the milk sugar lactose, hydrogenated oils, additives, preservatives and trans fats 6. A rich store of minerals in this seasoning boost the immune and skeletal systems, along with libido, and regulate heartbeat, fluid levels, and sleep patterns 7. Having more Vitamin C than oranges, and as much calcium as milk, this anti-cancer warrior is most potent when eaten raw 8. The authentic Greek salad also called a rustic salad is a Mediterranean blend of tomato chunks, sliced onions and cucumbers, feta cheese and Kalamata olives tossed in an olive oil vinaigrette without this popular ingredient used in the Americanized version a) pink Himalayan salt b) Romaine lettuce c) broccoli d) gluten e) cucumber f) celery g) Ghee i) safflower oil. Recipe: Greek Salad for 2 Ingredients: 1/2 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, cut in chunks; 2 large heirloom tomatoes, cut in chunks; 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced; 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted; 4 ounces feta cheese, cut in cubes or crumbled; 2 mini red peppers, sliced. For the dressing: 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup red wine vinegar; juice from half a lemon; 1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano; salt and pepper to taste. Method: In a large salad bowl, combine vegetables and cheese. In a small mixing bowl, whisk dressing ingredients. Pour desired amount over vegetables and toss well. Catharine Kaufman can be reached by e-mail: kitchenshrink@san.rr.com Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of... An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at... PRESS RELEASE South Korea Will Take the THAAD Issue to the National Assembly May 17, 2017 (EIRNS)The National Assembly floor leader for the Democratic Party of newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Woo Won-shik, said today that the Assembly will review the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system implemented under the deposed government of Park Geun-hye. "We have to look into issues including the possibility of sending back THAAD [to the United States], if it has not properly undergone domestic legal procedures," Yonhap news agency quoted Woo as saying during a radio interview. President Moon consistently said that the deployment of the THAAD system, which is strongly opposed by China and Russia, and serves no effective purpose against North Korea other than as a provocation, must be decided by the elected representatives of the nation. Five years ago, Texas voluntarily gave up $30 million a year in federal funding for womens health programs, just so it could exclude Planned Parenthood from the roster of approved providers. Instead, the state established its own so-called Healthy Texas Women program in which it could set its own rules. Now, staggering under the cost of the program and hopeful that the Trump administration will see things its way, Texas is applying for a restoration of the federal subsidy under the same terms. Signals from the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services suggest the state might succeed. If so, some other states may follow, and the cause of womens reproductive health will suffer a major blow. Clearly this administration is hostile to reproductive health, and clearly they are interested in reviewing this application, says Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, which concerns itself with reproductive health. Advertisement The Texas initiative comes in the form of an application for a demonstration waiver from Medicaid officials. It seeks $405 million in funding over five years, without giving up several features of its family planning program that run counter to Medicaid law and policies. Clearly this administration is hostile to reproductive health. Elizabeth Nash, Guttmacher Institute The state seeks permission to favor childbirth and family planning services that do not include elective abortions or the promotion of elective abortions that is, any abortions not deemed necessary for the health of the mother and to avoid the direct or indirect use of state funds to promote or support elective abortions. Thats coded language aimed at Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion services. Texas also wants to retain its requirement that women aged 15 to 17 obtain parental consent to participate in the program. Thats a rule not present in any other Medicaid program nationwide, Nash says, and one that would discourage some sexually active teenagers from obtaining medical services. And it wants to exclude emergency contraceptives such as morning-after pills from coverage, a provision that makes only political, not medical, sense. The program is expected to be covering 775,000 women and infants by 2023. The Texas application is only one of several waiver proposals percolating in conservative states. According to a list compiled by Governing magazine, they include the following: In Arizona, a request to add a lifetime benefit cap and a work requirement to Medicaid. This is part of a nationwide conservative crusade that overlooks that the vast majority of Medicaid enrollees already are employed or are ill, disabled, going to school, or caring for family members at home. Its an ideologically punitive rather than practical policy. Kentuckys GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, a sworn enemy of the Affordable Care Act even though its implementation under his Democratic predecessor, Steve Beshear, was one of the most successful in the nation, also wants to add a work requirement to the ACAs Medicaid expansion. In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has asked to roll back the eligibility for enrollment in Medicaid expansion under the ACA to 100% of the federal poverty limit, rather than the laws 138% ceiling. Its unclear where the 60,000 Arkansans thereby snuffed from the Medicaid rolls would obtain their coverage. Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott wants to convert his own Medicaid program to a block-grant, ostensibly to give the state more flexibility in spending. But critics observe that block grants typically dont keep pace with a programs expenses. Maines GOP Gov. Paul LePage wants to subject Medicaid recipients to an asset test and bar those with more than $5,000 to their name. Asset tests are illegal under current law. He wants to charge some enrollees premiums, drop coverage for 90 days for those who miss payments, and limit benefits to 36 months for the unemployed. Wisconsins GOP Gov. Scott Walker wants to drug-test Medicaid enrollees, an enormous waste of money when applied to any public assistance program. Its unclear whether any of these proposals will be approved, although HHS has said it will be more indulgent toward waiver requests than the Obama administration, which tended to be a stickler against work requirements and any but very minimal premiums or cost sharing. The Texas proposal is both more far-reaching and more ideological than any of these. Nevertheless, state officials told the Houston Chronicle that theyd been encouraged to ask the Trump HHS to reverse the Obama administrations refusal to allow them to exclude Planned Parenthood from the womens health program. They wouldnt say who delivered the encouragement, stating only that the sentiment is that the federal government may be open to new ideas. Texas lost federal Medicaid funding for its reproductive health program in 2012, when the Obama administration rejected its demand to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving funds. The ban violated Medicaid law, which mandates that patients be permitted to receive treatment from any provider of their choice. Texas then established a fully state-financed program, starting Jan. 1, 2013. The effect of the change on low-income Texas women was marked, and not in a good way. Researchers at the University of Texas found that womens use of contraceptives, especially long-acting reversible methods such as IUDs and injectable contraceptives dropped sharply in counties with Planned Parenthood clinics, which had to charge patients a fee for services that previously had been free. At the same time, the percentage of women giving birth covered by Medicaid which pays for more than half of all births in Texas shot up. It is likely that many of these pregnancies were unintended, the researchers concluded, since the rates of childbirth among these women increased in the counties that were affected by the exclusion and decreased in the rest of the state. In other words, the states campaign against Planned Parenthood increased both state and federal healthcare costs. The study attributes some of the increase in births to the effective cutoff of access to long-acting contraceptives. The introduction of additional barriers to access to [those] methods by the exclusion of skilled, specialized family-planning providers, the researchers reported, was associated with a shift toward methods that have lower rates of efficacy and continuation. Contraceptive use in counties that didnt have Planned Parenthood clinics didnt change, but remained consistently lower than in those with those clinics. The systematic exclusion of Planned Parenthood from Texas publicly funded healthcare system has had broader impacts on women in the state. There simply werent enough alternative providers with adequate Medicaid practices or expertise in family planning to take up the slack after Planned Parenthood was barred, according to Modern Healthcare, which reported that out of 298,000 providers registered in the Medicaid program, only 5,000 are a part of the Healthy Texas Women program. If you exclude Planned Parenthood, Nash says, women might have to travel long distances for service or wait weeks for appointments. Federal law already bars the use of federal funds to perform abortions, but doesnt exclude providers from receiving reimbursements for other services just because they do perform abortions. Texas policy is echoed by the Obamacare repeal measure passed last month by House Republicans in Washington, which aims to forbid premium subsidies from being paid to any insurers who cover abortion. That provision would come into direct conflict with state laws in California and other states, which require all health plans to cover abortion. The Department of Health and Human Services may have to twist itself into legal knots to approve the Texas waiver without violating the law allowing Medicaid patients to choose their own medical providers. HHS will have to figure out a workaround, but clearly that is something they are interested in doing, Nash says. Nor will Texas be the last state to apply. Missouri kissed off more than $8 million in annual Medicaid funding this year when it enacted a similar anti-abortion law and Iowa is planning the same sort of measure. Restrictions on womens health services in individual states may be just the start: If HHS approves the Texas waiver, Nash says, its hard to imagine that this kind of exclusion wouldnt be applied to Medicaid generally. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. A record 234.1 million passengers are expected to fly on U.S.-based carriers this summer, apparently not dissuaded by a series of customer-relations blowups in recent weeks. Airlines for America, which represents the airline industry, attributes the projected 4% increase in summer travel to improving economic conditions, higher household net worth and lower airfares. To accommodate the increase of about 100,000 more fliers a day, airlines plan to add 123,000 extra seats a day, according to the trade group. Advertisement John Heimlich, chief economist for the airline trade group, said the organization has spoken to various airlines to gauge whether Donald Trumps election as president or recent passenger incidents have had any effect on bookings. There is no detectable, no palpable changes in booking patterns, he said during a conference call Thursday. Viral videos put airlines on the spot Airlines have suffered several embarrassing controversies recently all caught on video that went quickly went viral that have raised disturbing questions about passenger treatment. Among them: A doctor was dragged off a United Airlines flight after refusing to give up his seat to make room for a flight crew. The incident forced United to overhaul its policies and training and prompted several other carriers to examine their overbooking practices. A family flying home from a Hawaiian vacation was booted from a Delta Air Lines flight after a dispute over seating for an infant. Violence erupted at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida after Spirit Airlines canceled several flights because of a labor dispute with pilots. The airline groups forecast echoes AAAs prediction this week that 39.29 million Americans will travel for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, a 2.7% overall increase compared with last year, with air travel expected to rise 5.5%. The Auto Club of Southern California forecast that 3.03 million people in the Southland will get away for the long weekend, a 3.4% increase over last year. That would be a record and the sixth year in a row that the number of Memorial Day travelers has grown over the previous year. Most of the vacationers 2.52 million are expected to travel by car, up 2.9% from last year, with Las Vegas, San Diego, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco and Yosemite National Park expected to be the top destinations. Gasoline prices are expected to hold steady around $3 a gallon, the second-cheapest average price for a Memorial Day holiday weekend since 2009. Filomena Andre, the Auto Clubs vice president for travel, said the increase in air travelers suggests that vacationers are planning to take more time off work and travel farther from home. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. A San Francisco federal judge is leaning toward rejecting some of the terms of a $142-million settlement aimed at ending a bevvy of class-action lawsuits against Wells Fargo & Co. over its sham accounts scandal. In a filing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria asked attorneys on both sides for more information about claims made last week by plaintiffs attorneys that as many as 3.5 million bogus checking, savings and credit card accounts may have been created by the bank. That figure is far more than the 2.1 million accounts the bank had estimated when it reached a $185-million settlement with regulators in September. Advertisement Chhabria, in a request for additional information, questioned whether the parties have the ability to accurately estimate the number of bank customers who may be eligible to participate in the settlement. If so, what are those estimates and how were they reached? If not, why not? asked Chhabria, who will preside over a hearing on the proposed settlement Thursday. The estimate of 2.1 million was based on a review by the bank of accounts created between May 2011 and July 2015, while the new figure is an estimate of unauthorized accounts created between 2002 and this year. The higher figure was predicated on a recent internal investigation by the bank that concluded the practice of opening unauthorized accounts may have started as early as 2002. Bank spokesman Ancel Martinez has called the higher figure an unverified estimate that is based on a hypothetical scenario. Chhabria has other issues with the proposed settlement too, suggesting that some terms will have to be changed. For instance, attorneys representing clients in a separate class-action lawsuit over improper bank overdraft practices argued in a filing this week that the terms of the unauthorized accounts settlement could force their clients to give up their claims against the bank. Chhabria said he thinks the settlement agreement should be rewritten to make clear that the overdraft claims are separate and not covered by the unauthorized accounts settlement. Alexandra Lahav, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, said Chhabrias demand for additional information from the parties suggests theres at least a chance the settlement could be in trouble. I think the judge is signaling that he sees problems, Lahav said. This sometimes happens and the parties fix the settlement. However, depending on the answers the lawyers give, he may reject the settlement. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not respond to a request for comment. Martinez said the bank supports the settlement as is. We believe this agreement is an important step in our journey to make things right for our customers and rebuild trust, he said. We are reviewing the questions from the court and preparing a response. james.koren@latimes.com Follow me: @jrkoren Qualcomm Inc. filed a breach of contract lawsuit late Tuesday against four Taiwanese contract manufacturers that build iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc. the latest salvo in an escalating war between two tech giants over patent royalties. Qualcomms court action is in response to Apples steps last month to block its contract manufacturers from paying Qualcomm for use of its cellular patents in iPhones and iPads. Apple is definitely behind this, and certainly what the contract manufacturers would say is the reason they are not paying, said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomms general counsel. Our response to that is: You are big, sophisticated companies. You have contractual obligations. You have license agreements with us that dont involve Apple. You are responsible for paying that. Advertisement The San Diego companys lawsuit names iPhone/iPad assemblers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., known as Foxconn; Pegatron Corp.; Wistron Corp.; and Compal Electronics all of which are based in Taiwan and have manufacturing operations in China and elsewhere. All have long-standing patent license agreements with Qualcomm and continue to pay patent royalties to Qualcomm on smartphones and tablets that they make for other companies besides Apple, said Rosenberg. The lawsuit seeks unpaid royalties of at least $1 billion and damages, as well as attorney fees and other costs. What they are saying is, Apple is not paying us, so we are not paying you, and Apple has told us not to pay you, said Rosenberg. And we said, That is interesting, but that is between you and Apple. Over the last eight months, Qualcomms patent licensing business has been under fierce attack by anti-monopoly regulators and technology giants including Apple, Samsung and Intel. The Korea Fair Trade Commission fined Qualcomm more than $850 million and seeks to dismantle the way it licenses its patents. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm in January on similar grounds, and Samsung and Intel have filed friend of the court briefs supporting the FTCs case. It is a complicated dispute. Apple based in Cupertino, Calif. reimburses Foxconn and the other contract manufacturers for patent royalties owed to Qualcomm. Early this year, it withheld $1 billion in reimbursements on the grounds that Qualcomm had reneged on a separate royalty rebate agreement with Apple in retaliation for Apples cooperation with antitrust regulators. Then, last month, Apple quit reimbursing Foxconn and the others altogether for Qualcomm patent royalties saying it couldnt pay until the dispute was resolved. As a result, Qualcomm slashed its financial forecast for the year. Qualcomm pioneered a good portion of 3G/4G cellular radio technology and holds thousands of patents on its inventions. Its technology is inside nearly every smartphone. The company licenses patents based on the price of the entire device, and it has agreed to provide certain patents under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms because they are included in wireless industry standards. Qualcomms royalties top out at 5% of the device price, but they typically come in lower depending on each licensing agreement negotiated with handset makers. Apple and regulators allege Qualcomm abuses its market power to overcharge for standard-essential patents and block competition. They are pushing for patent royalties based on the cost of the cellular modem chip instead of the entire phone, and they want Qualcomm to agree to license not only smartphone makers but also rival chip outfits such as Intel and Samsung. Asked about Qualcomms latest lawsuits, Apple referred to comments that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook made this month during the companys earnings call. The reason that were pursuing this is that Qualcomms trying to charge Apple a percentage of the total iPhone value, Cook said in the call. And they do some really great work around standards-essential patents, but its one small part of what an iPhone is. Its not it has nothing do with the display or the Touch ID or a gazillion other innovations that Apple has done. And so we dont think thats right, and so were taking a principled stand on it. Qualcomm has countersued Apple, is appealing the Korea Fair Trade Commission decision and has asked a Northern California federal judge to dismiss the FTC case. A hearing on the dismissal motion is slated for mid-June. Qualcomms stock fell 1.1% to $55.36 a share Wednesday. Apple shares sank 3.4% to $150.25. The lawsuit filed this week falls short of more drastic moves that media outlets speculated Qualcomm might pursue against Apple including seeking to ban imports of iPhones and iPads into the U.S. Last week, Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, reported that Qualcomm would ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to issue an injunction prohibiting iPhone imports. Rosenberg declined to comment on why Qualcomm chose instead to file a lawsuit in San Diego Federal Court. We dont like suing our licensees, said Rosenberg, adding that in the last decade Qualcomm has brought just one patent infringement case against a smartphone maker. And we wont unless we are really put in a corner and forced to do that, and we are forced to do that here. mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com In The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage, the poet and playwright Dan OBrien dramatizes a mystery of his past. His fictive alter ego, also named Dan OBrien (played by Brian Henderson), is a writer in his late 30s whose parents recently, with no explanation, severed ties with him. OBrien has a theory about the breach, and desperate to confirm or disprove it he starts reaching out to estranged siblings, tracking down relatives he hasnt seen since he was a child and contacting private detectives and even psychics. Tantalizing clues emerge the name Mickey, an image of a broken palm tree but so do more questions, and his extended family closes ranks. OBrien might as well be trying to crack the Da Vinci code or return the One Ring to Mordor for all the help anybody will give him. Even the friendliest relatives advise him to drop the whole thing: Nobodys going to talk to you. One of his sisters emails his agent, complaining that in the memoir hes rumored to be writing hes not being truthful. Yes, it would be disconcerting to learn that a relative was planning to include you in his dramatis personae, but the real-life OBriens might have felt better about the situation if theyd known that Tim Cummings would be playing them in this two-person show, now in its world premiere at the Theatre @ Boston Court in Pasadena. A virtuosic performer, Cummings transforms himself, using only his body and his voice, into all of the men and women OBrien encounters in his lonely, exasperating journey. Advertisement Among many others, Cummings is Skip, a step-uncle, once a role model for OBrien, now middle aged and sad; Regina, the second wife of OBriens grandfather (whose New York estate is the house of the title); OBriens depressive older brother, Paul, whose childhood memories throw his own into question; and finally his uncle Brian, who resurfaces decades after a mysterious disappearance. These portraits arent necessarily flattering, but they arent lampoons either: Cummings brings to each a palpable and unique humanity. His characters may all wear the same baggy cardigan and grizzled beard, but each of them is living a full, independent life. They say things only they would say. Meeting them is continuously surprising, disarming and mystifying, and the best realized of them stick in the memory the way real people do. Director Michael Michetti moves the action from one disconcerting tete-a-tete to the next seamlessly, at a bracing pace. Elizabeth Harpers lighting and Tom Ontiveros dreamlike projections, a mixture of photographs and line drawings, economically establish time and place, leaving us free to focus on the lyrical, authentic dialogue. In every jocose remark and offhand revelation, OBrien captures an enigma of our species: We continuously broadcast our true selves our deepest desires, fears and convictions to anybody willing to listen. Yet we cant figure out one another for the life of us. Cummings role is the showier of the two, but it falls to Henderson, as straight man and observer, to provide a through-line. His OBrien is apologetic but driven: Hes essentially stalking these people. We sympathize with him anyway, so strongly that were willing to sit with him through however many uncomfortable encounters he must endure to get what he needs. But like so many literary quests, OBriens changes along the way, becoming more about the journey than the truth. This transformation may frustrate audience members whove gotten caught up in the detective story and would appreciate a little more closure. I admit to having been one such audience member. Its even possible that I grouched in the lobby afterward about poets and their ambiguities. But after my thirst for resolution receded, I decided that the ending of The House in Scarsdale was more satisfying than Id recognized. The answer isnt ever as compelling as the journey. And on his, OBrien discovers a companion one he didnt expect not to mention a play. The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage Where: The Theatre @ Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends June 4 Tickets: $39 Information: (626) 683-6883 or www.bostoncourt.com Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter Support coverage of the arts. Share this article. ALSO They Shoot Mexicans, Dont They? leads a monthlong look at Latino representation And you thought your contractor was bad. Meet The Monster Builder at South Coast Rep Family resentments roar to the surface in The Lyons Kiss at the Odyssey: A rising Chilean playwright explores what gets lost in translation Sex, consent, gender, race: A potent cocktail in Actually An experimental composer who once created a new piece of music every day for a year. A video artist whose surprising work grapples with complex issues relating to the human mind. And a choreographer whose ritualistic pieces explore the nature of the human body. Those are just some of the recipients of the 2017 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, granted by the Santa Monica-based Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts. The five recipients, announced Thursday, are theater director Daniel Fish, choreographer luciana achugar (who spells her name in all lowercase letters), artist Amy Franceschini, composer Eve Beglarian and video artist Kerry Tribe. Each winner a mid-career artist producing important, experimental work receives a $75,000 grant as part of the award. It supports work that is often more experimental and less commercial, says Irene Borger, who oversees the awards. Its not about being lockstep with what everyone is doing. It has a kind of freedom in it. Advertisement Now in its 23rd year, the Herb Alpert Award has handed out a cumulative total of 115 prizes more than $7 million since it first launched in 1995. Each year, the award honors artists working in five fields: dance, music, theater, visual arts and film or video. Borger says that supporting boundary-breaking work at this political moment is more important than ever. I think one of the things that has always been part of the Herb Alpert awards is an awareness of what has been going on in the world, but this time it felt more crucial, Borger says. I think its interesting that everyone here is interested in making these artistic communities, even if those communities only last as long as a performance. The theater productions of the New York-based Fish, for example, examine issues of violence and justice and have been known to break down the physical space between performer and audience. Belgarian, who also lives in New York, is known for her many collaborations with poets, artists, filmmakers and members of rural communities. Franceschini, based in San Francisco, is a founder of Futurefarmers, a collective that works internationally to get people to reconsider their relationship with nature. And achugars dances often invite viewers to become part of her dance process. Tribe, the lone winner from Los Angeles, is known for creating films and film-inspired installations that ruminate on issues of science, perception and the mysteries of the mind. In 2015, she created a video installation at 356 Mission in Boyle Heights that explored aphasia, a language disorder that can hamper a persons ability to communicate a work that Times critic Christopher Knight described as among her most resonant. The recipients will be honored with a special lunch at the Herb Alpert Foundation offices in Santa Monica on Friday. For more on the recipients and the awards, visit herbalpertawards.com. Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter carolina.miranda@latimes.com @cmonstah ALSO Ford Theatres announces new collaborations for summer 2017 season Joining eastward march, Berggruen Institute plans second location in MacArthur Park Genevieve Gaignard turns the self-portrait into a mirror of culture yet again Herb Alpert Foundation to donate $10.1 million to LACC making studies for music majors tuition-free Danny McBride has a special flair for playing obnoxious loudmouths the kind of outwardly cocky yet inwardly tragic jerks that hes brought indelibly to life in films like The Foot Fist Way, Pineapple Express, This Is the End and the HBO series Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals. So when he was first approached about joining the cast of Ridley Scotts new sci-fi horror film Alien: Covenant, he had a pretty good idea what the gig would entail. Or at least he thought he did. When I got the script, I was like, Im sure theyre just going to make me tell a bunch of jokes and then Ill get my head ripped off, McBride said. He was sitting in the offices of Rough House Pictures, the production company he co-founded with two longtime film school friends, directors Jody Hill and David Gordon Green, as a home for projects too left-of-center for the mainstream studios. The offices are decorated with suitably defiant knickknacks, such as a statue of a hand giving the finger and a painting of a devil on the toilet. Advertisement But as it turned out, McBride was totally wrong. For the latest installment in the long-running Alien franchise, Scott gave McBride the kind of part he almost never gets: a sweet-natured character for whom you only wish the best. As a colonization-ship pilot named Tennessee, McBride shows off his dramatic chops in a performance that is devoid of a single crude joke, bong hit or moment of cringe-inducing, Kenny Powers-style hubris. Id seen Danny on TV and in other things, Scott said, and he reminded me somehow of Slim Pickens, who most memorably played a B-29 bomber pilot in Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove. I thought, Lets give this a little bit of a nod to Stanley. I thought it would give him a different characterization than you normally find in this kind of film. Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride and Michael Fassbender star in the trailer for Ridley Scotts Alien Covenant. McBride, as it happens, is full of surprises. Over the course of an hourlong conversation, the 40-year-old actor, gamely fighting off a cold he had picked up from one of his two young kids, revealed a few things even his many fans might not know about him. 1. When he was growing up, comedy wasnt his thing. Comedy was probably the genre I watched the least, said McBride, who was raised in Virginia and went on to attend film school in North Carolina. I was never someone who was out there trying to cut up for my friends. That kind of stuff would actually annoy me. When we were at the North Carolina School of the Arts, we film-school guys would purposely sit away from the drama people in the cafeteria because those people were always doing bits and performing and I was like, Ecch. 2. Contrary to what you might think, he is nothing like the egotistical redneck bullies he plays so well. I get it all the time: People assume that its not a performance, that Im just this guy, McBride said. (That he played a boorish, self-absorbed actor named Danny McBride in 2013s This is the End probably didnt help.) But I wasnt a dude, like, running around with a shotgun, hunting. I grew up around lots of those guys but it wasnt who I was. I was the kid running around in middle school and high school with a video camera, making movies. Danny is not like Kenny Powers at all, said Hill, who co-created Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, in which McBride plays a fairly loathsome and vindictive school administrator. Hes one of the smartest guys I know. The rest of the world knows him as a certain type of performer but Ive always known Danny as a great talent. 3. He doesnt even swear around his parents. I grew up in a religious house where I had perfect attendance at Sunday school, McBride said. I went to a Baptist church, and my parents did puppet ministries there. When he started appearing in R-rated comedies, he said, I think for my mom it was a moment of, Whoa, hes doing this stuff on-screen and I dont know if Im ashamed of him or not. 4. He is a lifelong horror buff. When I was a kid, all my sister and I would rent were horror movies, he said. Youd go to the video store and look at the covers and decide what you wanted to be scared by that night. The original 1979 Alien was a particular favorite. I dont remember the first time I saw it but I can remember being afraid of the idea of something like that chest-bursting scene happening to me at a very young age, he said. Every time there was a grumble in your stomach, youd be like, Is it going to be that? Getting cast in Alien: Covenant, then, was a dream come true for McBride, says Green, who has directed the actor in films like Pineapple Express and Your Highness. When Danny told me about Alien, I just started laughing, Green said. Were still just 11-year-old nerds on the inside, geeking out about what we get to do for a living. Green and McBride are currently working on the screenplay for a new Halloween movie, which Green will direct later this year. Theres no comedy in this at all, McBride said. Its just a straight horror movie. 5. He was traumatized at a young age by Gremlins. I remember when Gremlins came out, I wanted to watch it so badly and my parents were like, No way, McBride recalled of the 1984 horror-comedy. Id draw pictures of Gizmo and put them on the refrigerator and leave them on their pillow and just be like, Please, please can I see this? Finally I broke them down. I sat in the movie theater and as soon as the gremlins started multiplying and Spike came out, I was scared [silly]. I just sat there, like, Oh my God, I wish Id never come to this movie. But I couldnt admit it. 6. The whole comedy-stardom thing has just been one long, unexpected detour from his first love of writing and directing. Back in film school, McBride only began acting in projects for friends like Hill and Green because he happened to be around and had a surprising knack for it. I never envisioned a career in acting, he said. I never really thought about it. Now that he has built up some clout in the industry, hes looking to use it to nurture other filmmakers. Rough House became an extension of what Jody and David and I did as friends back in film school finding filmmakers or scripts that we like, sharing them and trying to figure out if we can help get them made, he said. Rough House has produced offbeat indie comedies like The Catechism Cataclysm, Donald Cried and Flower, which premiered last month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Now the company is expanding into new offices and production facilities in Charleston, S.C., where McBride and his family will be relocating next month. Having directed a couple of episodes of Vice Principals, which returns later this year for its second and final season, McBride is also looking to helm his first feature film soon. Im just finishing a script that I want to direct when Halloween is done, he said. I wrote it as a vehicle for an actress that I think is funny as hell. Its a mother-son story that has a nice heart but also is funny. Its sort of inspired by movies like Paper Moon and Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore. 7. He has a script for a fantasy epic involving dragons sitting in a drawer thats either completely terrible or Hollywoods next blockbuster franchise. Right when we got out of college, my friend Ben Best and I wrote this script called The Draven, McBride says. It was about a half-man, half-dragon, and he was a hunter who had to hunt other dragons. Its a straight-up fantasy-action movie. There is not one moment of levity in the whole thing its disastrously serious. But I cracked it open recently and I was like, You know what? As lame as this is, its actually written kind of well! The right person could actually make this pretty cool. He laughed. The Draven. The Draven 2. You could do 30 of them! josh.rottenberg@latimes.com Twitter: @joshrottenberg Director Raz Degan dives into the world of ayahuasca in his debut documentary The Last Shaman, exploring the possibilities of this hallucinogenic brew for mental health treatment. Degan follows James Freeman, a young American tormented by suicidal thoughts and depression. When traditional medicine, including pharmaceuticals and electroconvulsive therapy, offers no relief, James sets off for Peru to experiment with alternative forms of spiritual treatment. He works with several shamans, including an American ex-con named Ron, who makes his money cock-fighting and offers ayahuasca ceremonies on the side. But James truly connects with Pepe, a shaman from a remote village. It may be the medicinal plants, the isolation, or village life, but James transforms, physically and mentally, rewiring his brain and liberating himself from the intense pressures to define his personal success through stringent Western ideology. The film is a fascinating and sometimes terrifying introduction to ayahuasca. Surreal sequences mimicking the hallucinogenic experiences during the ceremonies are unnecessary and pale in comparison to the real transformation we witness. It ultimately presents a Utopian, if oversimplified, view of the drug as a cure for mental illness. While James does come out sunnier on the other side, its clearly a complex and deeply involved process that one film cant fully address. Advertisement ------------- The Last Shaman Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 17 minutes Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Hollywood loves a Cinderella story, and Stella Meghie has a real one. In 2009, Meghie quit her job as a publicist for fashion and beauty brands to go back to school and follow her dreams of being a writer/director. In 2011, she completed her screenwriting degree at Londons University of Westminster; the years that followed have been a film students dream. For the record: A earlier version of this article suggested that Meghie has a larger deal with Warner Bros. She was hired to direct Everything, Everything, a co-production between Warner Bros. and MGM. Shortly after graduating, she sold a number of TV projects. Then she directed and found financing for her first film, Jean of the Joneses, which she originally wrote while in school. In 2016, she managed to squeeze it into the South by Southwest Film Festival as a late entry. The film premiered to rave reviews, with The Times calling it a movie that is both fresh and refreshing, at once familiar and new. Advertisement Then her life changed in what looks like an instant. A month after Jeans debut, Meghie signed with CAA. The script, inspired by her family of Jamaican women, served as a calling card that led to deals with BET and VH1. In just another month, a script by J. Mills Goodloe was in her mailbox. A little over a year after Meghie finished her first film, her second, Warner Bros. and MGMs Everything, Everything, premieres in theaters everywhere. Everything, Everything director Stella Meghie. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) That sort of movie-deal whirlwind doesnt often happen to women, let alone black women. But as the film industry roils with conversations about representation and diversity in front and behind the camera, Meghies long-gestating talent was perfectly positioned to rise. Theres a conversation thats happening right now that is helpful, said Meghie. But things are [only] going to change when projects like [Everything, Everything] are made and they hire more women and minorities to direct and write. Otherwise, itll be up to us, like I did with Jean, to do it for ourselves. An adaptation of the bestselling YA novel by Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything stars Amandla Stenberg (Rue of The Hunger Games) as a teen with a medical condition that requires her to stay inside her germ-free, super-antibacterial home. But when a cute boy, played by Jurassic Worlds Nick Robinson, moves in next door, shes willing to risk her life just to swim in the ocean. Anika Noni Rose and Ana de la Reguera also star. Initially, Meghie was more interested in making another indie than taking on a studio film, but after some nudging from her manager, she read Goodloes script and Yoons book. I basically did a New York walk-and-talk film with jazz music, she said. I didnt think this would be my next film, but the book had so much humor and quirk to it. Ten pages in I was like, Im supposed to do this. After meeting with Yoon, the two made a play for Stenberg, who they felt would best capture the essence of the books biracial main character. Yoon, who is black and married to a Korean American, wrote a character in which her daughter, who is mixed, could see herself reflected. Featuring, but not about, a biracial couple, and with four black women Yoon, Meghie, Stenberg and Rose at its core, Everything, Everything is an outlier in more ways than one. Its singularity, however, positions the picture at once as progressive and sobering. It certainly isnt the sort of movie Hollywood typically produces. Perhaps this is why Meghie and Stenberg have made the Internet meme Joanne the Scammer the patron saint of the film, introducing the the messy [chick] who lives for drama, as the character played by Branden Miller describes herself on Twitter, to others on set. Joanne achieved cyber fame by chronicling her scams online, like joking about switching the best picture cards at the 2017 Oscars or tweeting out inspirational tidbits such as, Scam today before today scams you. Neither Meghie or Stenberg could believe what was happening. Plainly put, black women, unlike their white male counterparts, dont get these types of opportunities at this level at such an early juncture in their careers if ever. A scam must be afoot. Stella and I would just look at each other and there was this unspoken thing between us, said Stenberg with a smile, where we felt like, Were out here making this and they have no idea what it is. They dont know what they have their hands on. They let us make this? Meghies unique vantage point, Stenberg said, can be seen in the black girl hair moments her character has in the film or the shots of melanin peeking out of an unzipped top or the sneaky game wed play in terms of handheld camera shots. Robinson added that Meghie was perfectly suited for the film because she had a really good grasp on her audience and her voice. It was what I was hoping it would be, he said about the filming process, noting it was Meghie who convinced him to take the role over a lunch. As for whats next for Meghie, she wants to continue telling unique, honest stories. Whether thats in the studio system or back on the indie streets, only time will tell. Some stories dont fit in the studio system, and Im going to want to tell some of those, she said. And if there is something right in the studio system that I can bring something to, then thats where youll find me. Continuing to scam, in the best, most representative way possible. Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com. You could be forgiven for ascribing an abiding, cheerful normality to the domestic situation on display in The Commune, Thomas Vinterbergs bittersweet drama about a gang of chummy middle-aged adults (and two kids) experimenting with under-one-roof living in mid-70s Copenhagen. For one thing, communes were faddishly popular then in Scandinavia, and Danish filmmaker Vinterberg who grew up in one clearly has a fondness for the spice mix of personalities that can lead to spirited dinners, spontaneous nudity and a dedicated tolerance for human eccentricities. (One character in the film likes to burn personal possessions left in the main living area overnight as a stand against bourgeois ownership, to no apparent condemnation from the others.) But Vinterberg, the onetime Dogme 95 adherent, has also been a critic of social insularity, as shown in his most well-known features, The Celebration and The Hunt, each of which turn on accusations of sexual misconduct and how they fracture close-knit circles. Here, he bursts the bubble of idealism with a more commonly destructive (and not criminal) family crisis infidelity and if the results arent as tonally engrossing as those other two films, the pinging psychological electrons give it a certain adult spark. Advertisement The hopeful origin of the suburban collective in Vinterbergs and co-writer Tobias Lindholms screenplay arises from a problem-solving womans sanguine approach to an empty physical space: fill it with people. Bequeathed a handsome but impossibly large house by his dead father, brooding architecture professor Erik (Ulrich Thomsen) sees a crushing financial upkeep. His loving-if-restless news anchor wife Anna (Trine Dyrholm), however, sees an opportunity to offset her husbands midlife-crisis sullenness by inviting friends and select applicants to move in and share the expenses. With their watchful, impressionable teenage daughter (Martha Sofie Wallstrm Hansen) on board, Erik and Anna welcome in tart-tongued radical pal Ole (Lars Ranthe) the aforementioned leftist pyro a cash-strapped immigrant odd-jobber (Fares Fares), a free-spirited single woman (Julie Agnete Vang) and a couple (Magnus Millang, Anne Gry Henningsen) with a 6-year-old son who has a heart condition and who precociously disarms all strangers by announcing hell be dead in two years. Between bickering over beer consumption, boisterous holiday togetherness and a fraught night pertaining to the boys health, its a bumpy but warming cast of roomies, even if outside of the core Erik/Anna family theyre mostly drawn in the broadest of strokes. But then Erik, newly loosened up, starts an affair with a student, wide-eyed blond Emma (Helene Reingaard Neumann), and in the spirit of openness casually informs Anna in bed one night as if rehashing a long day at work. With that initial crack in the base, the health of the commune, the desires of a patriarchally minded man and the emotional needs of a slowly crumbling wife come into stark relief. For all the ways The Commune is built like your typical dissolution-of-a-marriage story, just with wide collars and flared pants, its got some weird rhythms, as if sitcom-y humor, maudlin sentimentality and domestic drama were themselves testy cohabitants vying to be equal partners. (The subplot involving the afflicted boy is especially problematic as a convenient life-or-death contrast to an imploding relationship.) Vinterbergs surest thematic thread, on the other hand, is in outlining the many ways humans relate their physical spaces to their inner selves. For Erik, sturdily played by Thomsen, its a tendency toward king-of-the-castle outbursts when things dont go his way, and turning the university into a love nest away from home. In Annas case, as heartbreakingly rendered by Dyrholm, her increasing discomfort everywhere is compounded by the fear that even her own body is suddenly an undesirable location. As an ensemble movie, The Commune isnt the most gripping, but when it zeroes in on Dyrholms affecting portrayal, its like Tolstoys famous line about the uniqueness of unhappy families, poignantly adapted for group living. ------------- The Commune In Danish with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes Playing: Laemmle Royal, West L.A.; Laemmle NoHo, 7, North Hollywood; Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com As the vote totals trickled in Tuesday night and his opponent conceded defeat, Nick Melvoin grabbed a microphone and told his supporters that, by electing him to the Los Angeles school board, they had awoken a sleeping giant. He described himself as just the conduit, the person who was crazy enough to put my name on the ballot. It was not the triumphant victory speech one might expect from a 31-year-old candidate who had just defeated the school board president and brought about an unprecedented shift in local education politics in the most expensive school board race in the nations history. Advertisement On election day, when Melvoin and Kelly Gonez, 28, won seats on the seven-member board, they formed its first-ever pro-charter majority. They did so with the backing of groups funded by wealthy charter school supporters, who spent more than $9 million on the campaigns. The results amounted to a stunning defeat for the incumbent, teachers union-backed school board President Steve Zimmer. Despite public employee unions spending millions in his defense, his reputation didnt survive months of assault by better-funded outside groups. Voters decision to oust the board president, replacing him with an untested candidate who taught for two years in public schools seven years ago, has set L.A. Unified on an uncertain path at a time when its future is widely viewed as imperiled. A day after the election, the outcome was still sending tremors through the regions education community. Many skeptics wondered if, after years of suing the school district and rallying parents to protest at board meetings, charter school advocates and the candidates they backed are prepared to lead the nations second-largest school district. Its one thing to be a reformer on the outside, said Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at UCLA. I dont think any of them would want to be on the board when the system collapses and they would be responsible. They will have to be much more creative than simply authorizing more charter schools. The Los Angeles Unified School Districts problems are daunting. Enrollment in traditional public schools has been falling for more than a decade, partly because of competition from charter schools and partly because of declining birth rates. The loss of students, coupled with a large number of administrative positions and mounting pension and retiree healthcare costs, is sending the district hurtling toward a financial reckoning. Under its current leadership, in which union-supported board members have a narrow majority, the board has avoided making the difficult decisions some say are needed to stabilize the districts finances. Melvoin and Gonez, voted in under a mantle of reform, could find themselves spending their five-year terms not expanding art, music and college counseling programs as promised but searching for ways to lay off staff and cut services. Some allies of the movement that wants to bring elements of the free market to education have cautioned against expecting major changes from the new charter-majority board. When you are the board of a traditional district, theres only so much you can do to advance dramatic system change, said Andy Smarick, an education fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Laws governing teacher tenure and seniority rights, after all, are made by state lawmakers, not school board members. Even if you have charter authorizing authority, you are also responsible for directly operating scores or hundreds of traditional district-run schools, Smarick said. So you are always mindful of not bringing about too much change. The relentless nastiness of the campaign rhetoric and the record level of spending also could have a lasting effect on the districts governance. The profound split that already existed in education politics over charter schools, the growing influence of extraordinarily wealthy people who often dont send their children to public schools, and the role of teacher unions has only been widened. Melvoins campaign and the outside groups that directed much of the spending to promote him painted a picture of Zimmer as a failed, small-minded politician. In mailers and advertisements, they portrayed L.A. Unified as a district in ruins, delivering year after year of poor results with few consequences for inept teachers and administrators. They chose not to remind voters of the years-long role of charter allies, such as current board members Monica Garcia and Ref Rodriguez and former Supt. John Deasy, in shaping the direction of L.A. Unified. Zimmer gained little traction when he spoke of the districts slow and incremental progress and highlighted its rising graduation rate, improving test scores and declining suspension rate. Melvoin received 30,696 votes, 57.4%. Zimmer received 22,766 votes, 42.6% Going forward, the more problematic legacy of this campaign may be the attacks on the district itself, said UCLA education professor John Rogers. In effect, they say, Things are terrible, trust us and well make it better, Rogers said. But denigrating the district does not lead to consensus about a dramatic new way forward, he warned. A likely result will be further instability and further erosion of public support for public education. And that will not serve any of us well. Melvoin and his supporters say they are ready to lay down their arms and to work with everyone union leaders included to improve the education system. Thats a tough sell for those who suddenly find themselves out of power, bruised by what they saw as unfair, dishonest tactics. When these candidates get supported by billionaires to privatize schools, undermine democracy and set up a system of separate and unequal education, then there is no opportunity for rapprochement, said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. His strategy, he said, involves doubling down. Supt. Michelle King faces an especially difficult future, Caputo-Pearl added. This is going to be a real challenge for Michelle King because shes going to have a board majority that frankly is going to be led by Nick Melvoin, a majority that will be fundamentally undermining the district theyre supposed to represent. There is no doubt that some charter school leaders are ready with a list of demands. Many have complained that the process for getting district approval to open a new charter school is needlessly burdensome, bureaucratic and time-consuming. While some charter operators lease or buy private space, others have lobbied the board for more access to L.A. Unified campuses and classrooms. The district already has a process for making unused space available to charters, which is required by state law, but there have been years of litigation over the details. Leaders of traditional public schools often complain that charter schools are offered space that they are using and need, such as rooms set aside for tutoring, computer labs, music instruction, dance or enrichment programs. Without these, they say, their schools become less attractive to parents and students, thus worsening the enrollment slide. Charter leaders say that they dont get enough space and much of what they do get is poorly located. Charter advocates also want a larger share of board-controlled school-construction bonds, an issue they sued over and lost. But nothing would stop the newly charter-leaning board from changing its mind and providing more dollars. Charter advocates also could gain some traction with the new board over their objection to investigations of charters by the districts inspector general. Some charter leaders want to halt these investigations entirely, or sharply restrict their number and scope. Such police work, they say, should be left to law enforcement agencies. Its a very different view from that of those, such as the teachers union, who worry that charter schools are expanding too quickly, without adequate oversight or regulation. To read the article in Spanish, click here anna.phillips@latimes.com Twitter: @annamphillips ALSO One L.A. campus, divided between traditional school and charters, may offer window into future Charter backers win their first L.A. school board majority Major changes could come to L.A. schools after charter school movements big win The head of a now-defunct South L.A. charter school has been charged with embezzlement and money laundering, accused of funneling roughly $200,000 from the school to a company she owned, prosecutors said Thursday. Kendra Okonkwo, 51, was charged with misappropriation of public funds, grand theft by embezzlement, money laundering and keeping a false account, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office. Her son, 29-year-old Jason Okonkwo, is accused of approving fake invoices to further the plot and faces the same charges, prosecutors said. Kendra Okonkwo founded the Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists near the Watts neighborhood in 2006, but the school quickly became a target of regulators and lost its charter in 2016. She and her son were arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday morning and remain jailed in lieu of $145,000 bail, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Dana Aratani, who is prosecuting the case. Advertisement From January 2012 to March 2014, approximately $201,000 was transferred from the school to an unnamed business run by Okonkwo, according to the district attorneys office. The money was then transferred to her personal bank account, prosecutors said. Her son approved a number of fake invoices, purportedly for the purchase of school supplies and food from his mothers shell company, that documented the transfer of money, prosecutors said. Okonkwo did not immediately return a call seeking comment, and it was not immediately clear if she or her son have retained attorneys. Both face up to six years in prison if convicted. A court date has yet to be scheduled. The school operated under the authority of the Los Angeles Unified School District until 2011, when the district declined to renew the schools charter, citing violations of education code and conflicts of interest. Okonkwo agreed to step down as the schools director as part of an agreement with the county to stay in operation, but she named several relatives and associates to key positions at the school. That move, according to the findings of a 2014 state audit, allowed her to retain control and benefit from transactions at the academy. According to the audits findings, Okonkwo, her family members and close associates received about $2.6 million in payments from the school. None of the employees in question indicated any financial interest in school affairs on required conflict-of-interest statements, the audit said. Among the audits findings, the organization leased two properties owned by Okonkwos holding company, paying more than $1 million in rent over six years. The school also paid Okonkwo $228,665 in severance, unused vacation and a vehicle lease despite a lack of documents to support the amount. The audit also found the school had paid more than $158,800 to a company owned by a relative of Okonkwo. The payments were supposedly for school supplies, but state auditors could not confirm that the school received any of the materials for which it paid. Aratani said prosecutors began reviewing Okonkwos conduct and business dealings after the audit results were released. An arraignment could take place as early as Friday, he said. Last year, Okonkwo agreed to pay $16,000 in fines as part of a settlement with the states Fair Political Practices Commission after she was found to have established leases for the school at buildings she owned and used public funds to renovate those properties. In this matter, Okonkwo engaged in a pattern of violations in which she made, used or attempted to use her official position to influence governmental decisions involving real property in which she had a significant financial interest, the commission said last year. When the county began the process of revoking the schools charter in 2014, Okonkwo claimed she was being slandered. Im not a soldier; Im not a politician. Im just an educator, she said at the time. Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California. Reeling from a major defeat at the polls, a handful of police accountability groups called Wednesday for Los Angeles city leaders to overhaul the process used to select civilians who review allegations of serious officer misconduct. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Black Lives Matter and other organizations said they want the City Council to conduct a comprehensive review of the disciplinary process at the Los Angeles Police Department, providing more transparency and developing a new set of criteria for the civilians who review officer termination cases. The call came one day after voters decisively approved Charter Amendment C, a union-backed measure to allow three-member LAPD disciplinary panels known formally as Boards of Rights to be composed entirely of civilians. Under the current system, each board consists of one civilian and two LAPD command staff ranked captain or above. Advertisement Activists point to a recent city report that concluded that civilian panelists have been consistently more lenient than their sworn counterparts at the LAPD. In the wake of Tuesdays vote, they said the city should scrap its list of civilians and develop a new pool of candidates for the Boards of Rights that is more reflective of the city. We refuse to let the police union and Police Commission distort the meaning of civilian and stack the deck in favor of bad officers, said Karren Lane, vice president of Community Coalition, an organization based in South Los Angeles. City Council President Herb Wesson, a backer of the ballot proposal, had already launched a series of hearings on ways of bringing reform to the LAPD. One of those hearings, held last week, featured two hours of testimony from an array of Charter Amendment C opponents. Wesson said he wants a new council committee to hold meetings across the city not just on changes to the Boards of Rights, but also other policing issues, such as efforts to bring more transparency to disciplinary matters. Theres not one subject I want to duck, he said. I want to look at every aspect of this. Charter Amendment C was championed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents about 9,800 rank-and-file officers, and backed by both Wesson and Mayor Eric Garcetti. Proponents said it would expand civilian oversight at the LAPD and make disciplinary proceedings more fair toward officers. The union contends that high-level officers on Boards of Rights feel pressure to follow the police chiefs recommendations, undermining the integrity of the disciplinary proceedings. Its both shameful and absurd. Craig Lally, police union president, about criticism of the campaign for Charter Amendment C Under the current system, civilian members of the Boards of Rights are required to have seven years of experience with arbitration, mediation or similar work. Foes of the measure say those criteria exclude residents of communities that care most about police misconduct. They also contend that voters backed Charter Amendment C out of a mistaken belief that the proposal would result in greater oversight of problem cops. We believe that the majority of people who voted for the measure fell victim to the deceptive language and a campaign that cast it as civilian oversight when it is nothing of the sort, said Melina Abdullah, an organizer with Black Lives Matter, in a written statement. Craig Lally, the police unions president, said those comments amount to sour grapes. Rather than accepting the will of the voters, these so-called advocates for police accountability would rather drive a wedge between the public and their police officers, because that advances their disingenuous narrative and thats what keeps their coffers filled, he said. Its both shameful and absurd. The union spent nearly $1.3 million to secure passage of Charter Amendment C, sending mailers featuring endorsement messages from Garcetti, Wesson and County Supervisor Janice Hahn. Opponents, who relied heavily on social media to get their message out, said they were outspent 50 to 1. Foes of the measure struggled throughout the campaign, failing early on to put an argument against Charter Amendment C on the ballot. A decision by U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) to oppose the measure was not announced until a day before the election. Opponents also had technical difficulties with a robocall that featured a message from Bass. david.zahniser@latimes.com For more news on Los Angeles City Hall, follow me on Twitter: @DavidZahniser A Sacramento County woman who drizzled nacho cheese from a gas station dispenser onto her Doritos has been hospitalized for nearly a month after contracting botulism, a serious illness caused by bacteria that can cause paralysis, breathing difficulty and, potentially, death. Lavinia Kelly is so sick that she cant speak or breathe on her own and spent her 33rd birthday this week in an intensive care unit, the Sacramento Bee reported. Now, Sacramento County health officials say, Kelly is one of at least five people sickened in a botulism outbreak that has been linked to the nacho cheese at Valley Oak Food and Fuel in the Sacramento suburb of Walnut Grove. Advertisement All five people whose botulism has been confirmed have been hospitalized, the Sacramento County Health and Human Services Department said in a statement. Health officials are investigating three other probable cases and one suspected case, according to the Sacramento Bee. County officials halted the sale of prepared food at Valley Oak Food and Fuel on May 5, according to the health department. On Tuesday, Kellys family filed a civil lawsuit against Valley Oak Food and Fuel, alleging negligence, strict product liability and breach of implied warranty, Sacramento County Superior Court records show. Kelly, a mother of three, was driving home from work on April 21 when she stopped at the gas station for a snack. Within hours of eating the nacho-cheese sauce, she felt tired, her partner, Ricky Torres, told the Bee. The next day, Kelly had double vision and an unsteady gait, according to court records. She went to Sutter Medical Center, where she is currently staying, but was sent home. By April 23, Kelly could barely breathe and had trouble speaking, court records show. Torres rushed her back to Sutter Medical Center, where doctors put her on a ventilator and admitted her to the intensive care unit. She cant open her eyes, so when she wants to see who has come into a room, family members lift her eyelids and sometimes use tape to keep them open, Torres told the Bee. We just dont understand why this happened over a bag of chips and nacho cheese, Torres said. Really? How does that happen? Kellys prognosis, according to the lawsuit, is uncertain. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson ALSO Man arrested in stabbing deaths of two homeless men in Anaheim Man convicted in 1988 killing of Inglewood cop to be set free over objections of family and law enforcement Drones, dogs and horses help search for signs of missing boy in South Pasadena Two Texas men were sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for severely beating a Sikh man in Richmond, Calif., and cutting off some of his hair last year, officials said. Chase Little, 31, of Beaumont, and Colton Leblanc, 25, of Winnie, pleaded no contest to felony assault and committing a hate crime against Maan Singh Khalsa during the Sept. 25 attack. The arrangement was part of a plea deal, according to Simon OConnell of the Contra Costa County district attorneys office. OConnell said the beating wasnt just an attack. Little and Leblanc, the prosecutor said, went out of their way to cut Khalsas hair, which he maintained unshorn as part of his Sikh faith, making this so clearly a hate crime. Advertisement We want to think that crimes like this only occur elsewhere and dont happen in our community. They do, OConnell said. Reducing the frequency of hate crimes starts with recognizing that we need to do a better job of embracing our differences. Khalsa, 42, appeared before Judge Patricia Scanlon during the hearing in Martinez, Calif., and recalled details of the frightening attack. Attorneys released his statement after the hearing. Cutting a Sikhs hair is one of the most humiliating things anyone can do to a Sikh, he said. By cutting my hair, the attackers did not just attack my body; they attacked my dignity, my spirit, my faith, my religion and my entire community. Khalsa was driving home on the night of the attack and stopped at a red light in Richmond, near Berkeley, when a white Ford F-150, occupied by five people, pulled up next to him, authorities said. As beer cans were thrown at Khalsa, a motorist nearby called 911. When the light turned green, Khalsa drove off and called 911 as the truck followed him. While stopped at another red light, two men got out of the truck, ran up to Khalsas car, reached into the open window, repeatedly punched his face and yelled profanities. Khalsa tried to explain to his assailants, saying, There is a misunderstanding; I am your brother. He said he didnt even think about rolling up the window when they approached him. My attackers hit me with their fists, knocked off my turban, and yelled, Cut his hair, he said in his statement. They yanked my hair through the window and used a knife to saw parts of it. As Khalsa tried to shield his hair, his right pinky was stabbed. His finger eventually was amputated. When the light turned green, Khalsa drove to a gas station and waited for emergency responders. But the harm was done, he said, and his life is forever changed. He had a swollen black eye, cuts and bruises, and his teeth were damaged. Khalsa, an IT specialist at the Social Security Administration, said he emigrated from India in 2003 and always considered himself an American like everyone else. He spent most of his time volunteering, rock-climbing with his 8-year-old daughter, working out and horseback riding. I had never worried about being a victim of prejudice, Khalsa said. However, the actions of Little and Leblanc, he said, have greatly affected every facet of my life; they have transformed my day-to-day experience and my very outlook on the world. Since the attack, Khalsa said he has trouble sleeping and remembering protocols needed for his job, sometimes resulting in mistakes. After losing his finger, Khalsa said, he struggles to type an important part of his job. He cant lift heavy objects and rock climb with his daughter. Along with the financial and physical toll, Khalsa said he suffers from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. Its difficult for me to go outside now without having pepper spray with me, Khalsa said. Now, when I interact with strangers, I am not as open as I used to be. I am more likely to view others not as my brothers, but as possible threats to my safety. Since the 9/11 attacks, there have been more hate crimes against the Sikh community, according to the Sikh Coalition. In the days after Khalsas assault, the coalition urged the Richmond Police Department and the district attorney to investigate the incident as a hate crime. Acknowledging that this bias-based attack is a hate crime under state law both recognizes the deep dignitary harm to Mr. Khalsa, and ensures that we, as a society, confront the problems of Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia that make the Sikh community a target for violence, Sikh Coalition attorney Pawanpreet Kaur said in a statement. According to OConnell, a lead prosecutor in the case, Little and Leblanc had no affiliation with hate groups and had no remorse to their prison sentences or Khalsas statement. In his statement, Khalsa spoke directly to his attackers, saying he still considered them brothers. I hope that you will learn about me and my community and one day consider me you brother too, Khalsa said. Khalsa said it will take years, possibly the rest of his life, to recover from the attack. But the recognition of the attack as a hate crime as harm to my dignity and my entire community is the first step in the process, he said. veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA As Air Force One approached Ben Gurion International Airport, with a biblical landscape spread out below, the U.S. president aboard likely considered himself imperiled, under siege. His hosts felt the same way. For Richard M. Nixon, making the first visit to Israel by a sitting U.S. president, it was less than two months before the slow-grinding wheels of the Watergate scandal would drive him from office, the first president in American history to resign. In Israel, not even a year had elapsed since a war that had brought the still-young state to the brink of oblivion. It was June 1974, a moment when both Nixon and his Israeli hosts sensed the weight of history, the untold dangers of the future, and the nearly unbearable tensions of the present. Advertisement As Nixon did on that journey, President Trump leaves behind a White House gripped by scandal. On Thursday, the eve of his scheduled departure on his first trip abroad as president, Trump alluding to the appointment of a special counsel to probe links between his presidential campaign and the Kremlin tweeted angrily about a witch hunt against him. Like Nixons 1974 itinerary, Trumps trip was to include a visit to Saudi Arabia. But the late presidents six-day travels in the region also took him to Syria now in the midst of a bloody and ruinous six-year war along with Egypt and Jordan, now the only Arab states to have peace treaties with Israel. The Israel of today hyper-modern, bustling, cosmopolitan bears little resemblance to the near-garrison state in which Nixon landed. But almost half a century later, many of the same wounds still fester. Nixon wouldnt be the only U.S. leader whose sojourn in the Holy Land took place under a political cloud. One of Bill Clintons four official visits, in December 1998, came only days before the House of Representatives voted articles of impeachment against him for perjuring himself in connection with the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clintons presidency survived, though his Mideast peacemaking efforts ultimately foundered. When Nixon landed, Israel was still reeling from the 1973 war, which Israelis call the Yom Kippur war because it broke out as the country was marking the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar. Israeli forces, caught off guard, were nearly overrun by an Arab army before rallying, with crucial supply aid from Washington. The price was heavy: Israel suffered 2,500 military fatalities, another 7,500 soldiers were wounded, and its people felt they had gazed into an existential abyss. Amid months of wrenching recriminations over Israels state of readiness, Israels elder stateswoman Golda Meir was forced to step down as prime minister. The feeling was of a hangover from the war, said Abraham Rabinovich, a Jerusalem-based journalist. People were attending funerals and recovering bodies. There was anger people asked, How did this happen? Yitzhak Rabin, himself to fall from an assassins bullet, was sworn in as prime minister only days before Nixons visit. Israel was in economic shambles, forced into austerity by war expenditures and the global energy crisis. U.S. aid accounted for 15% of Israels economy. During Nixons 24-hour visit, there was delicate diplomacy afoot. The president and U.S. officials were trying to prod Israel to pull back from parts of the Sinai Peninsula, which it would return to Egypt in 1982. Though contentious, Nixons agenda was perhaps not as herculean a task as Trump has assigned himself. Earlier this month, after a White House meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump mused he might succeed where others had failed. Its something that, I think, is frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years, the president said of Mideast peacemaking. Then, as now, U.S. and Israeli officials had some clashes over presidential-visit protocol. The Jerusalem Post reported at the time that Nixon did not want to wear a kippa, or Jewish skullcap, during a visit to the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem. Planning for Trumps visit also brought arguments over Yad Vashem, including how long to stop there. While some in Trumps entourage privately fretted about travels toll on a 70-year-old man, the president may need less physical grit to get through the visit than Nixon did. When the late president visited, he was suffering from phlebitis. The entire time that Nixon was here he was in agony, and on the verge of going to the hospital, said Michael Oren, a historian and a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. It was a mess. Still, Nixons landmark visit paid some political dividends, and paved the way for future journeys by other sitting U.S. presidents: Jimmy Carter, Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Trump. But the clock was running out on Nixons presidency. He left Israel on June 17, 1974. By Aug. 9, disgraced and defeated, he was boarding a military helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House, bound for his long twilight in California. Special correspondent Mitnick reported from Tel Aviv and staff writer King from Washington. laura.king@latimes.com @laurakingLAT Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met Thursday with President Trump, hoping to secure guarantees for a continuation of millions of dollars in U.S. aid as his country emerges from a half-century of civil war. Publicly, Trump gave no such commitment during a joint news conference with Santos in the White House East Room. Trump did not mention Colombias hard-fought peace process until a reporter asked about it. He then praised Santos efforts. Theres nothing tougher than peace, Trump said, and we want to make peace all over the world. Advertisement Trump focused on fighting drug trafficking and on potential trade deals, as well as the wall he has promised to build along the border with Mexico. Santos listed his countrys needs for post-war reconstruction, including rebuilding roads and other infrastructure, resettling displaced peasants and demobilized guerrilla fighters, creating new judicial mechanisms and eradicating coca crops. Colombia last year signed a peace accord with the leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ending the longest-running military conflict in the world. More than a quarter million people were killed in the 50-year war. The United States has supported the Colombian government with $10 billion over the last decade or so, under the auspices of so-called Plan Colombia. Much of the money was aimed at fighting drug trafficking. The Obama administration backed the peace accord last year and pledged to shift aid to development, social and judicial areas. A first tranche of $450 million was allotted for this year, but Colombia says it needs at least that much every year. With Trumps vow to slash foreign aid, Colombia suddenly sees its recovery prospects in jeopardy. The only people who will benefit are the drug traffickers if U.S. aid is cut, Juan Carlos Pinzon, the Colombian ambassador in Washington, told reporters before Santos visit. Much of the aid would support rural development in areas considered the breeding ground of rebels and drug traffickers. There is broad support in Washington, from Capitol Hill to human rights organizations, for continued aid to Colombia. Colombia is a critical partner in achieving a secure and prosperous Western Hemisphere, a necessity when countries like Venezuela are teetering on the edge of collapse, said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Supporting Colombia is an investment in U.S. security. Blunt was co-sponsor with Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of a new report on U.S. post-conflict engagement with Colombia. This historic opportunity to end the Western Hemispheres longest-running conflict must not be lost, the Latin America Working Group, an advocacy organization, and several faith-based groups said in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Santos, who won last years Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the war, has scheduled meetings with members of Congress and think tanks to press his cause. Some conservatives, here and in Colombia, oppose the peace treaty because they contend that it makes too many concessions to the former guerrillas and allows them to return to civilian life, unpunished. And some members of Congress and the Trump administration are alarmed at record levels of coca production, which is making a comeback after years of decline. A State Department study released in March estimated coca crops at 470,000 acres last year, 50% more plantings than estimated in 1999, before the United States began dispersing aid under Plan Colombia. Special correspondent Kraul reported from Bogota, Colombia. Times staff writer David Lauter in Washington contributed to this report. tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter. President Trump takes off Friday for Saudi Arabia, the initial stop on his first overseas trip as president, where he can expect a 21-gun salute and an elaborate welcome by the Saudi royal family that speaks to their hopes he will crack down on a joint enemy Iran. The Obama administration invested years on a high-stakes gamble to negotiate a deal to limit Irans nuclear program in return for easing international economic sanctions. But to the Sunni Muslim leaders in Riyadh, that suggested an unacceptable concession to their regional Shiite Muslim rivals in Tehran, and relations with Washington soured. Although the Trump administration waived those sanctions again this week, as required by Congress to keep the nuclear accord intact, it added a new raft of penalties aimed at Tehrans ballistic missile program, which is not covered under the deal. Advertisement Moreover, the presidents oft-stated opposition to the 2015 Iran deal and his sweeping aside Obama administration concerns about Saudi airstrikes on civilian targets in Yemen has the Saudis willing to overlook Trumps strident language about Muslims during the presidential campaign. This visit will be considered by history as a crucial turning point in opening relations between the Arab world and the West, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir told reporters Thursday at the palatial Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh. For his part, Trump hopes to leave the swirl of political scandals behind in Washington with the pomp of a two-day visit to a longtime ally that fulfills his vision of reasserting American power around the globe after what he considers a retreat by the Obama administration. While recent presidents have made their debut foreign trip to Canada or Mexico, Trump wants to return the U.S. strategic focus to the Middle East, and to restore the previous American tilt toward Sunni power in the region after President Obamas so-called pivot to Asia and his outreach to Iran. During his time in Riyadh, Trump is expected to emphasize a shared commitment to fighting Islamic State, Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks including those backed by Iran and to back it up with a major new package of weapons sales for the Saudis. The U.S. is considering selling thousands of precision guided bombs, howitzer artillery pieces, and the sophisticated antimissile system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, according to U.S. officials. The cost could reach a staggering $100 billion. This is a huge deal for the Saudis because I think they largely felt that what the previous administration had done is unleashed Iran on the region, said James Carafano, a Heritage Foundation analyst who advised Trumps campaign and transition team. The Saudis really look at this as a major political, diplomatic shift that puts them back on the top, and they want to do everything they can to make that U.S.-Saudi relationship seem as strong and as resilient as possible, he added. The Pentagon has already resumed sharing certain intelligence, including satellite imagery, with the Saudi military fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemens civil war, Saudi officials said. The Obama administration had cut back cooperation with the Saudi-led military coalition after human rights groups said Saudi warplanes had bombed medical facilities and had used cluster munitions, which are banned by most countries, against civilian targets in Yemen. The shift came in part as new domestic energy sources and technologies allowed the United States to ease its decades-old reliance on Saudi oil and gas. That reduced Saudi influence in Washington just as Obama was seeking to wind down Americas military involvement in the regions wars. But several of Trumps top advisors want to tilt U.S. policy in the Arab world back toward Sunni power, led by the Saudis, as a counterweight to Shiite Iran. Defense Secretary James N. Mattis acknowledged what he called the past frustrations during a visit to Riyadh last month. He stood beside Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman, who had visited Washington in March to meet Trump. I think that what is important today is that we identify practical steps as we take this relationship forward, Mattis added. Trump, who heads to Israel after he leaves Riyadh on Monday, could claim a significant diplomatic victory if he can nudge the two countries to make mutual gestures toward ultimately normalizing relations. Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington who how is a deputy minister for diplomacy, said mutual antipathy toward Iran could be the key. Today, Israel and the Sunni Arab states have a greater confluence of interests than at any time since Israels creation, he said. Saudi officials laid the groundwork for what they call a reset in relations with Washington soon after Trumps election, ultimately forging a close relationship with Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and a senior White House advisor. Meeting reporters on Thursday, Jubeir said Trumps trip to the birthplace of Islam shows his commitment to mending ties with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations, which will gather for a summit with Trump on Sunday. Jubeir said Arab leaders want to work with Trump on fighting extremism, blocking financing for terrorist groups, and countering Iranian-backed proxies or allies in conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. We see them supply weapons to the Houthis including ballistic missiles that are fired at our cities, Jubeir said. We see them doubling down in Syria. We see their heavy involvement in Iraq. We see them supporting terrorism. We see them now having contact with the Taliban. We see them trying to undermine countries throughout the region. The Trump administration is very cognizant of the dangers Iran represent to the region, he said, and will work to contain Iran. Jubeir said the kingdom has arrested several thousand people as members of Islamic State, and said he hopes for greater U.S. cooperation on counter-terrorism issues. Trump will visit a new Global Center for Combating Extremest Ideology in Riyadh during his visit. Iran holds its presidential elections on Friday. Polls suggest President Hassan Rouhani, who supported the negotiations that led to the Iran deal, is facing a strong challenge from a hard-line cleric, Ebrahim Raisi, who has criticized the accord and is far more suspicious of the West In Washington, Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said there is growing bipartisan concern in the Senate about the Trump administrations unconditional level of support for the Saudis and their military operations in Yemen. The Saudis are our friends, he said. But they are also funding a version of Islam that ends up becoming the building blocks for the extremist groups that were fighting. Khaled Maeena, the Jeddah-based former editor of the Arab News and Saudi Gazette, said Arab leaders should hold Trump accountable for his harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric and his attempts to impose a travel ban on select Muslim-majority countries. Trumps election rhetoric really frightened a lot of people, even moderate Muslims like me, Maeena said. He noted that Saudi Arabia severely restricts freedom of expression and religion, and do not allow the construction of Christian churches. In the Middle East there are so many minorities like Christians and as a Muslim I am appalled at what is happening to them, he said. Trump talks about that, but only when he talks to evangelists at Liberty University, and even that he didnt do well. Times staff writer W.J. Hennigan contributed from Washington and correspondent Josh Mitnick contributed from Tel Aviv michael.memoli@latimes.com For more White House coverage, follow @mikememoli on Twitter. ALSO Presidential visit to Israel, 43 years after Nixons, stirs memories of another era Colombian President Santos goes to White House to seek aid guarantees Health insurers and state officials say Trump is undermining Obamacare, pushing up rates A Las Vegas police officer used a stun gun seven times and a mixed martial arts chokehold to subdue an unarmed man who died after a foot chase through a casino over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday. Officer Kenneth Lopera, who thought the man had tried to carjack a pickup truck with two people inside, fired the stun gun in a series of staccato bursts and used the chokehold a tactic that is not approved by the department early Sunday at the Venetian resort, Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said. McMahill showed video from Loperas body camera during a news conference on the incident. He did not release the footage and it was unclear how much editing had been done. Advertisement Dont move! Get on your stomach! Lopera can be heard telling the man, whom the Clark County coroner identified as Tashii S. Brown. Police have used the name Tashii Farmer. He reportedly also used the names Tashi Sebastian Farmer and Tashii Farmer-Brown. I will! Brown can be heard saying. The video then shows Brown on his back with his arms raised before another jolt from the stun gun makes his body stiffen. Brown cries out, Please! Please! Lopera, who is white, and Brown, who is black, then wrestle as the officer attempts to handcuff him. Lopera punches Browns head and neck from behind as Venetian security guards join the effort with other police officers arriving. Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Associated Press there was no indication that race played a role in the incident. Browns cause of death has not been determined; an investigation is ongoing. McMahill said Lopera was heard saying he used a rear naked choke, a prominent mixed martial arts chokehold that differs from a department-approved technique that some departments call a lateral vascular neck restraint and others refer to as a carotid artery hold. Department officials said previously that the officer had used the approved technique, which is banned in many other cities. McMahill said Lopera held Browns neck for more than a minute far longer than the seven to 10 seconds it might take for an approved carotid restraint to render a person unconscious. Lopera, 31, has been a Las Vegas police officer for five years, McMahill said. He is on paid leave pending departmental and district attorney reviews of the incident. Lopera is being represented by the Las Vegas Police Protective Union. Steve Grammas, union executive director, declined to comment, saying he had not seen all the video from the incident. Lopera has not provided a statement about the incident to department investigators. McMahill said Brown was sweating and appeared disoriented when he initially approached Lopera and a partner in a casino coffee shop, said people were chasing him, and ran into an employee-only area, down hallways and outside to the parking area. Brown grew up in Hawaii, where records show he was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and was released from prison in January 2016. In Las Vegas, he pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor driving under the influence. Brown was a father of two children in Hawaii and lived with his mother in Las Vegas, where he had a business selling shoes, hats and clothing, according to Tynisa Braun, a cousin in Honolulu. Clark County Dist. Atty. Steve Wolfson said there would be a public use-of-force review to air the findings of investigations into Browns death. The sheriff said the reviews could take several months and asked for patience from the public. Well be fully transparent and we will look at this event with a very critical eye, Lombardo said. Browns mother, Trinita Farmer, said she didnt want to see the video of the struggle that left her son dead. I dont want to look, she said. I just want to bury my son. ALSO In Montana, miles from Trumps Russia crisis, theres no clamor to impeach Chelsea Manning leaves prison after serving 7 years for handing U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks Alex Jones settles Chobani lawsuit and retracts comments about refugees in Twin Falls, Idaho A jury on Wednesday acquitted a white Oklahoma police officer who says she fired out of fear last year when she killed an unarmed black man with his hands held above his head. The family of Terence Crutcher burst into tears and expressed outrage after jurors found Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16 shooting. About 100 demonstrators later gathered outside the courthouse and some briefly blocked a main street. Let it be known that I believe in my heart that Betty Shelby got away with murder, Crutchers father, Rev. Joey Crutcher, said after the verdict was announced. Advertisement A lawyer for Shelby said the officer was elated that the jury found her not guilty. Shes ready to get back to her life, Defense Attorney Shannon McMurray said. Shelby looked stone-faced when the verdict was read, but Crutchers family was quickly ushered out of the courtroom sobbing and wailing. At least four of the 12 jurors were crying as they left the courtroom and they did not look at either the family of Crutcher or Shelby. The jury comprised eight women and four men and included three African-Americans. Shelby testified that she fired her weapon out of fear because she said Crutcher didnt obey her commands to lie on the ground and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. Crutcher was unarmed. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted. They noted Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasnt combative part of which was confirmed by police video taken from a dashboard camera and helicopter that showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby, hands held above his head. Shelbys attorneys argued that in the two minutes before cameras began recording the encounter, Shelby repeatedly ordered Crutcher to stop walking away from her and get on the ground. Shelby also said she feared Crutcher was under the influence of PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic known as Angel Dust that makes users erratic, unpredictable and combative. An autopsy showed PCP was in Crutchers system, and police said they found a vial of it in his SUV. Crutchers family said police attempted to demonize Crutcher over the drug possession to deflect attention from the fact officers didnt find a gun inside his SUV. The killing of 40-year-old Crutcher was among a spate of officer-involved shootings in recent years that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted calls for more police accountability. About 100 demonstrators gathered in a plaza outside the courthouse Wednesday evening to protest the verdict. They chanted: No Justice, No Peace. No Racist Police. A smaller group later briefly blocked a major downtown road but dispersed peacefully. Police kept a relatively low profile, standing about a block away. Marq Lewis, organizer of the local civil rights group We The People Oklahoma said the verdict was a blow to Tulsas black community. When is it going to stop just officer-related shootings? When will the police change policy? he asked. Tulsa has a long history of troubled race relations dating back to a 1921 race riot that left about 300 black residents dead. In 2015, a poorly trained white volunteer deputy, Robert Bates, shot and killed a black man after Bates said he mistakenly reached for his gun rather than a taser. The shooting led to the departure of the sheriff. Six days after the Crutcher shooting, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Shelby. An affidavit accused her of becoming emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted. Defense attorney McMurray argued that prosecutors rushed to charge Shelby for political reasons, fearing civil unrest like the angry street protests that erupted in Charlotte, N.C., after the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott four days after Crutcher was killed. But the reaction in Tulsa was more muted, with protests but no violence. ALSO Texas announces lawsuit against local officials considered hostile toward sanctuary cities ban Whats at stake as Trump gets to see you in court in two major travel ban cases Trumps multiple residences, large jet-setting family and commuter marriage drive up first family travel and protection costs UPDATES: 11:10 p.m.: Updated with demonstration, quotes. This article was first published at 8:35 p.m. In announcing Wednesday that he would appoint a special counsel to supervise the Justice Departments investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and related matters including possible collusion by members of President Trumps campaign Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein emphasized the need for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Talk about stating the obvious. Rosensteins action is welcome, his reasoning is sound and the lawyer he has asked to assume responsibility for the investigation, former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, is a reassuring choice. But Rosenstein had no alternative, if he wanted to salvage his reputation. The belated decision to appoint a special counsel is almost certainly the result of the clumsy firing last week of FBI Director James B. Comey and the administrations cynical, deceptive use of Rosenstein to justify it. Advertisement The White House originally portrayed Comeys dismissal as its response to a memo by Rosenstein criticizing the way Comey handled the investigation of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. That explanation collapsed when Trump himself admitted that he would have fired Comey regardless of Rosensteins advice and that, moreover, when he decided to fire Comey he was thinking about the made-up story of allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. The administrations use of Rosenstein to justify Comeys dismissal made it imperative that the deputy attorney general withdraw from the Trump-Russia investigation. (Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who as a senator from Alabama was an enthusiastic supporter of Trumps candidacy, had already recused himself from the matter in March.) Why did Rosenstein wait until Wednesday to hand over the Russia investigation to someone else? Perhaps he was jolted into action by shocking news reports suggesting that Trump had asked Comey to shut down an investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Better late than never, Rosenstein decided that the public needed to be assured that an investigation of Trump connections with Russia would be free of political influence. Mueller will now be responsible for supervising investigations of any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump. including, presumably, any questionable activities by Flynn. Mueller wont have total independence; under Justice Department regulations, Rosenstein could still countermand some of his decisions if he deemed them inappropriate or unwarranted under established departmental practices. But Mueller will enjoy considerable autonomy bolstered by his own high standing in the department and in Congress. A thorough investigation by the FBI and the Justice Department, important as it is, will proceed mostly in secret and cant answer all of the questions the public has about Russian meddling in last years election. Thats why its vital that Congress do its duty to investigate these events in public to the greatest extent possible. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Charter Amendment C, which voters approved Tuesday, undermines a key component of the Los Angeles police discipline system by granting officers an option to choose a historically more lenient group of judges when theyre accused of violating department policies. Worse, though, is that it locks out a range of smarter, more thoughtful reforms that policing experts have recommended over the course of more than two decades to make the disciplinary process more transparent, more effective and more just. Police discipline is an urgent topic here and around the nation amid public demands for more accountability and more civilian oversight in response to shootings and other contentious uses of force. Despite the increased scrutiny of police, the politically powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League had the smarts and the clout to get Mayor Eric Garcetti, the City Council and ultimately the voters to rebalance the system in favor of officers accused of serious misconduct, rather than the city at large. Blame lies squarely with Garcetti for brokering a closed-door deal with the union to propose the amendment, which he then heavily marketed to voters. City Council President Herb Wesson added insult to injury with his comical promise to hold hearings on discipline reform not before drafting the ballot measure and putting it to voters, but after. Testimony in the first hearing, held just a week before the election, showed that at least a few council members failed to grasp that their reform would make discipline for accused officers more lax, even though that likelihood was clearly set forth in their staffs analysis. Advertisement Much now depends on how open and inclusive the promised hearings are, and on how in-depth are the councils examination of the issues. On first blush, continuing the hearings might seem pointless. The measure authorizes the council to make reforms within only the narrowest of parameters. For example, it cant increase the role of the chief or the police commission, steps that experts have urged in the past. It can only offer a new choice to officers accused of serious misconduct have your cases heard, as they are now, by a Boards of Rights consisting of two police command staff and one civilian; or a board composed solely of civilians. Studies dating back to at least 1999 show that civilian Board of Rights members are far more likely than police command staff to excuse or minimize punishment for misconduct. Under the guise of more civilian oversight, the union appears to have made it more likely for misbehaving officers to escape firing or other serious discipline. Still, it may be possible to salvage some modicum of constructive reform if the council applies itself to the issue in a way it has not yet done. It theoretically could decline to move forward with an ordinance implementing Tuesdays measure, but thats unlikely. The council clearly does have the power to flesh out the selection process and criteria for civilian Board of Rights members. It should now reexamine the criteria for selecting those eligible to hear cases. Nothing stops the council from requiring that many, most or even all potential hearing officers be retired law enforcement officers, for example, or at the other end of the scale, advocates for increased police accountability. The council should consider those options, among others, just as it should consider whether to stick with the current standards that require at least seven years experience in mediation or arbitration. Much now depends on how open and inclusive the promised hearings are, and on how in-depth are the councils examination of the issues. Wesson said he hoped the vote would mark the start of a very serious conversation about policing in Los Angeles. Whether it does is now largely in his hands, as he will shape the belated council hearings. Much depends as well on the degree to which those organizations and activists that opposed Charter Amendment C but failed to organize an effective campaign or even to submit ballot arguments against the measure improve their own game. Some of them have advocated for civilian review boards to administer police discipline but have failed to make clear what that means or how such boards would be different from what voters just adopted. Charter Amendment C opponents are unlikely to stop the council from moving forward with boards made up solely of civilians, but they can press hard for a selection process that results in boards that arent quite so lax on discipline. And they can lay the groundwork for a new and better reform at the next possible opportunity on the 2020 city ballot. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook I follow the president. This means that I receive his tweets when he tweets them. Which is all the time. Its a lot of stuff, may I say? He tweets as two people, first of all: Donald J. Trump and President Trump. Donald T. tweets more than President T., but often they tweet the same thing. Both are tweeting as the chief executive of the United States. Its not as if Donald T. tells us personal things about his grandchildren and President T. tells us things about foreign policy. There is no serious distinction between the personal and the presidential accounts. The presidents tweets range from defensive bullying and outright attacks on his detractors (recently Cryin Chuck Schumer and Sen. Richard Cried like a baby Blumenthal) to photos with teachers and police officers. His twitter habit may seem insignificant in comparison to his policy preferences, but its damaging the national discourse, to say the least, and the technology should be off-limits to him as well as future presidents. Advertisement Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, "I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp President Trump (@POTUS) May 10, 2017 Political leaders have, of course, always found ways to communicate directly with the masses. The time-honored method, the low-tech method, is to gather a crowd in a public place, rouse them up and get them on your side, like Roman and Greek leaders in the agora, without the benefit of loudspeakers. Once the printed word came into play, you could post bills around the capital city and in the countryside via horseback. Later, there were fireside chats on the radio, from respected leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt. Or Hitlers massive rallies that were broadcast on the radio to his people and beyond, in dozens of countries, with simultaneous translations. Back then, there was so much material coming out of the effervescent fascist that people began to suffer what has been called Fuhrer fatigue. But Twitter is different. Trump may or may not prove to be hugely and permanently dangerous. These are early days. But this little man has chosen this little medium as his major means of communication with the American public because he understands that it brings him direct access to them. Radio was bad enough, but at least to hear a radio broadcast, people had to gather around the radio and turn it on and know what time it would happen and then they had to listen to understand the message, and the message was not reduced to a simple 140-character splat. Social media posts are more personal, more immediate, than traditional media: They proceed straight from the individual in power to the individual citizen. I feel fuhrer fatigue every morning when I receive the first blast of presidential tweets. Could there be anything more Orwellian than this onslaught of speech projected into everyones hand? The leader speaks seemingly individually to each receptor. Once youve signed on to follow him, the tweets come willy-nilly. You can block them, but then you are no longer in touch with what passes for the presidential mind. And its not just Trump whos a menace with his thumbs on a keypad, its any hotheaded leader. What might happen if a tweeting dictator-president prompted his followers to, say, a purge or pogrom? A national flushing of the enemy, from sea to shining sea. Even the word follower in this guise is ominous. Imagine the Khmer Rouge with Twitter. Forget the nightmare scenario, though; the simple everyday scenario is disturbing enough. A celebrity president with a big personality, like Trump, can use Twitter to drum up support for the wackiest of political ideas, and then the government and the rest of the country must deal with that, in one way or another. While his critics laugh, the presidents tweets direct our political and policy flow. Traditionally, Americans have mocked countries with state-controlled media, like the darkly named Pravda (Truth) of the USSR. But Twitter gives a leader who is so-minded the ability to control the national narrative, to assert his own lies as truth, to slander his enemies and to go on political rampages on a daily, nay hourly, basis, without calling it state-run media. In fact, the presidential Twitter feed is a step beyond state-run media. State-run implies a state, running things, whereas Trumps tweets leave his high-level advisors racing to untangle the web the president wraps them in. With Trumps tweets, we get the embryonic dictator unleashed. No bureaucracy, no counselors, are mediating them, as far as we know. As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017 Thats what makes his tweets so nefarious: They are the speech of a powerful leader masquerading as the taunts and whines of an individual. Thus, Americans, who would sneer at a diktat printed in a government outlet, may accept a demagogic tweet as real truth or simple honesty. Perhaps we should demand that presidential tweets come from a clearly identified White House account, and not from @realDonaldTrump or @POTUS. Depersonalize them, and relieve them of the full weight of the celebrity presidential persona. If the president wants to write some of them, fine, just not under his own name. The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, claims that Twitter is good for democracy. After 240 years of this not being the case, Dorsey suddenly believes that its really important to hear directly from our leadership. Its really important for Twitter, perhaps. But for the rest of us, the opposite is true: Its really important not to hear directly from the leadership. Bad enough that we watch occasional lying advertisements and listen to occasional lying speeches and news conferences. But to hear the big lie daily on Twitter right from the fearless leaders mouth is even more debilitating for the republic. With all the power vested in him, a president can withstand having his access to social media curtailed for his years in power. He has enough access to Americans without this new, especially direct kind. Let America take the lead in limiting this form of executive speech that is certain to cause more problems than it already has. Ensure that people receiving these tweets know that they are official messages from the White House, the executive branch of the government, and not from the celebrity host of The Apprentice or whoever the next president might be. Amy Wilentz is the author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier and other books. She teaches in the literary journalism program at UC Irvine. Follow @amywilentz. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: Whig lawmaker Horace Manns noble sentiments, turned into action in the 19th century, that education should be universal, free and unencumbered by forces that demanded mere recitation of lessons and the enslavement of intellect for the purposes of commercial wants, must now take a turn to the right as the idea of for-profit education is elbowing aside a long-standing institution. (Charter backers win their first L.A. school board majority, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education President Steve Zimmer was so reviled by the moneyed interests of his opponent, which spent millions to defeat him, that even I, a hard-shelled Boston Democrat, am appalled. I expect next that schools will be re-named from Horace Mann to those chosen from the Fortune 500 list. Carleton Cronin, West Hollywood Advertisement .. To the editor: Its time to get the money out of politics. We now have a plutocracy rather than a democracy. If the $14 million spent to elect Nick Melvoin to the school board had been put toward smaller classes, higher salaries to attract creative, bright young teachers, and after-school programs, our children would be better off. If Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of hedge-fund billionaire and President Trump supporter Robert Mercer, had not urged Trump to appoint Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, we would also be better off. Its time to reconsider the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision. I am also sickened by the invitations that cost tens of thousands of dollars to dine with Hillary Clinton. Lynne Shapiro, Marina del Rey Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: The purpose of the recent ransomware attack that appears to have emanated from North Korea was clearly not to extort a few thousand dollars from the victims. One possibility is that it was a threat, letting the world know that North Korea has the power to hold computer systems and economies hostage if they cross dictator Kim Jong Un. (North Korea: A land of few computers and many hackers, May 16) A scarier possibility is that this was a test, to see whether it is possible to prevent retaliation in kind, by disabling communication and control systems in the event of a nuclear first strike by North Korea. Either way, all countries, and the U.S. in particular, need to develop plans to protect themselves from cyberterrorism. Now that North Korean missiles may be capable of reaching Alaska, the matter is urgent. Advertisement Eleanor Egan, Costa Mesa .. To the editor: As an IT guy, I clean up the messes others make. But why should our tax dollars go to a National Security Agency that hides system vulnerabilities from us and Microsoft because it thinks it can wreak havoc on only the bad guys? The WannaCry malware got nowhere with my clients PCs because they paid extra for protection from just this sort of threat. Not fair. Not smart. Not sustainable. Dan Henrickson, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: President Trump saying to FBI Director James Comey, I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy, is the cause of all the hysteria? (Comey memo says Trump asked him to drop FBI investigation of Michael Flynn, May 16) It sounds like something I would say about a likable coworker who found himself or herself in trouble. Trumps use of the word hope would indicate that it was not an order but rather an expression of concern. The president obviously understood that it was up to Comey to determine whether or not the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynns contact with Russian officials should continue. Advertisement As Flynn is still under investigation, we can assume that no great injustice has occurred. People need to get a grip. Nathan Post, Santa Barbara .. To the editor: So here we go again. We have elected a president who has no idea of how to go about the job, and we are aghast when he demonstrates it. Enough of our electorate, a minority strategically located in certain states, participated in a knee-jerk decision to bring in an outsider, and we are now in a dangerous mess. Our members of Congress are ill-equipped and disinclined to do anything about it. In a Groundhog Day existence, they wake up each day either looking for blood or looking the other way, depending on their party affiliation. Dont expect anything to change, because our dangerously deficient leader is far too narcissistic to seek competent help, assuming he even knows where to look for it. Alan Abajian, Alta Loma .. To the editor: Despite his administrations descent into incompetence, Trump continues to enjoy the support of most people who voted for him. Its almost as if they take pride in remaining deluded. Still, I predict that Trumps credulous base inevitably will succumb to what might be termed the Nixon distancing syndrome. In 1972, President Nixon won reelection by 18 million votes, the largest ever margin of victory. Yet after Nixon resigned in disgrace two years later, voters who would admit to having backed him were difficult to find. Once Trump leaves office, it may be even harder to find someone who voted for him. Gene Martinez, Orcutt, Calif. .. To the editor: Sometime last week, my stomach quit churning with worry about what the Trump presidency means for the country and the world. Now Im queasy contemplating what Mike Pence can accomplish as president with the Republican Congress. Carole Cooper, Manhattan Beach .. To the editor: Thank God for the free press. Its taken on the job that the other branches of government should be doing: protecting the Republic. Nato Flores, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook President Trumps troubles deepened Wednesday as two congressional committees intensified their oversight, seeking memos and testimony from fired FBI Director James B. Comey. The stepped-up investigations, along with the appointment of former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to serve as a special counsel, signaled that the crisis was not going away anytime soon. But the moves also helped provide some political cover and breathing space for anxious Republicans, who can now point to the formal inquiries as evidence of their action and a reason to reserve judgment until investigations are complete. Advertisement Many Republicans continued to rally around the president. "I dont get all wee-weed up about this, said Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa). People in Iowa care about jobs. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said he was not going to respond to speculation or innuendo from the torrent of allegations swirling around Trump. It is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president, Ryan said after a meeting of House Republicans at GOP headquarters on Capitol Hill. There are a lot of unanswered questions, Ryan acknowledged. The last thing Im going to do is prejudge anything. Im a person who wants to get the facts .... and follow the facts wherever they may lead. Two House Republicans, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a libertarian-leaning member of the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who represents a swing district in Florida, became the first Republicans to publicly concede that if Trump did indeed obstruct justice, it could be an impeachable offense. But those lawmakers were outliers among Republicans . Many others said they would wait for the committees to conduct their inquiries. Were not going to do this on the basis of newspaper stories, said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senates No. 2 Republican. Were going to do our own investigation get to the bottom of this. The White House is under fire on several fronts, including allegations that Trump wanted Comey to halt the FBI investigation of former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn was forced to resign after misleading other White House officials about his contacts with Russian diplomats. Trump is also facing questions over his campaigns possible links to Russians amid their alleged interference in the 2016 election and the presidents sharing of highly classified intelligence about an Islamic State terrorist threat with Russian officials at the Oval Office. The administration has denied any wrongdoing, saying the president was wholly within his authority to share the intelligence with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister. The White House also denied that Trump intervened in the Flynn investigation. On Wednesday, both the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the FBI to turn over all memos between Comey and the president. The intelligence panel invited the fired FBI director to testify, and the judiciary panel is expected to do the same. Weve reached out, said Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We dont lack for questions, said Democratic Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia. I dont think I know of any member Ive talked to publicly or privately Democrat or Republican that doesnt think that Jim Comey deserves a chance to tell his side of the story. The House also stepped up its scrutiny as House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) asked the FBI to submit all memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings between Trump and Comey. Chaffetz also invited Comey to address his panel next Wednesday. That could force the White House to respond to developments in the domestic crises while the president is in the middle of his first foreign trip. The problem is, all this stuff here at home is going to follow him overseas, said Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican. My advice to him is to just stay disciplined, stay focused, and deliver on the world stage. Democrats, meanwhile, were split over whether Trumps actions could result in impeachment, preferring instead to pressure Republicans to look deeper into the questions surrounding the president. They do as little as humanly possible just to claim that theyre doing something, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said of Republicans. Several Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for an independent committee to investigate, the latest being Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who has been critical of Trumps overtures to Russia. But when Democrats forced a House floor vote Wednesday on their bill to initiate such a panel under a special procedure, it failed along a largely party-line vote. House Republicans said they didnt spend much time discussing Trump during their first meeting after a weeklong recess, and instead focused on upcoming special elections for vacant GOP seats that are facing stiff challenges from Democrats. Freshman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said Trump was sometimes a victim of his off-the-cuff style. He jokes a lot, said Comer, who has spent time with the president. This is a guy that doesnt measure everything he says like most politicians, and this is the kind of leader Americans voted for, and I think he deserves a chance. Some, though, were more forthcoming with their concerns. I believe the administration needs to reboot its efforts, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). The president needs to listen to his advisors. Lets just take a deep breath, said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). Thats what Im going to do. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has remained circumspect about the news swirling from the White House. This is all about finding out as much as we can, Rubio said. We need as many facts as we can [get]; then well make a decision. We could do with less drama, it would be nice, said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Oversight committee. We have enormous challenges facing this nation and we should be focusing on those. Said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): We need to get the issue completely resolved. It is a serious issue. Times staff writers Michael A. Memoli and Katherine Skiba contributed to this report. lisa.mascaro@latimes.com @LisaMascaro evan.halper@latimes.com @evanhalper ALSO Trump wants a border wall, but few in Congress want to pay for it Trumps election has mobilized a resistance like no other, but will Democrats answer to the tea party divide the ranks? More coverage of Congress More coverage of politics and the White House The Justice Department on Wednesday named a special counsel, former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, to take over the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Russian agents and associates of President Trump. The move heightened the legal and political stakes for the president and his young administration. It came after days of allegations against Trump himself raised new questions about whether administration officials could oversee an inquiry that has the president at its center, facing new suggestions he may have tried to obstruct the FBIs investigation. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that prosecution is warranted, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein said in announcing the appointment. I have made no such determination. Advertisement But, he said, a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome of the investigation. The public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, Rosenstein wrote. The president, in a statement, reiterated his innocence of any wrongdoing. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity, Trump said. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Justice Departments Russia investigation because Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself, did not inform either the White House or Sessions about the decision until after he had signed the order appointing Mueller, according to a Justice Department spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity. About half an hour before the order was made public, a Justice Department official informed White House Counsel Donald McGahn. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer abruptly left a scheduled meeting with reporters as White House aides huddled to decide their response. As recently as Monday, Spicer had insisted that theres frankly no need for a special prosecutor when reporters pressed him about calls in Congress for such an appointment. Mueller, a former federal prosecutor who served as U.S. attorney in San Francisco under President Clinton and was named FBI director by President George W. Bush, is well regarded as a nonpartisan figure. He was FBI director for 12 years, kept on by President Obama. In the Bush administration, Mueller worked with James B. Comey, who would become his successor as FBI director, and who was fired last week by Trump. His appointment drew praise from Democrats who have been demanding an independent counsel. Rosenstein has done the right thing. Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said. I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco offered more measured approval. A special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last, she said. He cannot take the place of a truly independent, outside commission that is completely free from the Trump administrations meddling. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who knows Mueller well from his years in the Bay Area, her base, said there was no better person who could be asked to perform this function. He is respected, he is talented, and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing. Former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, who worked closely with Mueller in the Bush administration, praised the choice in an interview. Its impossible to think about Washington without politics blowing people off course, Ashcroft said. But if anyone can stay on course and not be deterred by the whims of politics, its Bob Mueller. He wont be swayed by the barking dogs. Hell go after the facts. Some Republicans, however, were less enthusiastic. Its fine, said Rep. Peter King of New York, who called Mueller a solid guy. I just dont think there is any need for it, he added. Pressure on Rosenstein to name a special counsel built quickly last week after Trump fired Comey. It mounted even further on Tuesday when news broke that Trump had asked Comey in February to drop the investigation of Michael Flynn, his former national security advisor, according to a memo that Comey wrote after he and the president met. Mueller will be able to hire a staff and request funding from the Justice Department. To avoid conflicts of interest, he will resign from his law firm, WilmerHale. Hours before the news, Trump had defiantly signaled that he would fight any allegations against him. No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly, he told graduates in an aside during a commencement speech Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy. The people understand what Im doing, and thats the most important thing, he told cheering cadets at the New London, Conn., ceremony. I didnt get elected to serve the Washington media or special interests. I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women of our country, and thats what Im doing. One of Trumps closest allies, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in an interview before the Mueller appointment, called this a surrender or fight moment for Republicans who control Congress. He implored them to come to Trumps defense or else see their power lost to Democrats. Republicans in general not just Trump are in a crossroads, said Gingrich. And if they dont get their act together, Pelosi is going to become speaker and shes going to impeach Trump. Gingrich, who as speaker led the impeachment of Clinton, said congressional Republicans are totally rattled. He suggested the White House should stop engaging with the media completely, ending daily press briefings, an idea Trump has floated on Twitter. White House aides and surrogates were notably absent from cable television programs on Wednesday, and Spicer, whose job is widely reported to be at risk, conducted his press briefing off camera for the second day in a row. He spent fewer than five minutes responding to questions and was joined by Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House advisor, who sat silently behind him during a briefing aboard Air Force One for reporters traveling with the president. On Wednesday, besides traveling to Connecticut, Trump interviewed candidates to replace Comey, including former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a hawkish Democrat-turned-independent. Trump departs on his first overseas trip as president this weekend, making the almost constant air of crisis around the White House even more problematic. Trump is scheduled to visit the Middle East and Europe over eight days that will test his abilities on the world stage and measure how deeply his many political problems have damaged his stature abroad. His domestic travails are sure to follow him and cloud the diplomatic trip. On Wednesday, two Senate committees the Intelligence and Judiciary panels requested all memos at the FBI related to Trumps contacts with Comey. According to Comey associates, he kept notes of his meetings and phone conversations with Trump, in part because he was worried that their interactions could be improper amid the FBIs investigation begun last summer into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. The Senate Intelligence Committee also asked Comey to testify, and a House committee likewise has begun an investigation. Comeys testimony could take place as early as next week, setting up a scenario in which Trump could be responding to allegations of misconduct even as he meets with fellow heads of state. Staff writers Lisa Mascaro, Michael Memoli and David Lauter contributed. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman President Trump could contain his anger for only so long about 14 hours before lashing out on Twitter on Thursday to protest the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! But in attacking Wednesdays appointment of former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III as a special counsel to head the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and any role that Trumps associates may have played, the president risks alienating potential supporters in his own party. He could create an enemy out of a prosecutor who commands both a vast army of investigators and bipartisan respect. Advertisement And, yet again, he has undercut advice from top Republicans inside and outside the White House who say that an independent investigation could help Trump. If only he could control his evident anxiety about the case, the secrecy of a special counsel investigation could keep the story out of the daily headlines, they say. And Muellers credibility could provide exoneration for the president and his aides if the investigation finds that they have done nothing wrong. The mix of grievance, hyperbole and defiance in Trumps response, however, was hardly surprising at this point in his public life. His statements fit a pattern he long ago established of fighting back against enemies real or perceived and of seldom letting go of a grudge. In a second tweet, Trump complained that President Obama and Hillary Clinton had not been subjected to the same treatment. With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed! he wrote. He initially misspelled counsel as councel before sending a corrected tweet. Trump did not specify what he meant by illegal acts. During a lunch with television anchors ahead of a nine-day foreign trip that is scheduled to begin Friday, Trump continued to criticize the special counsel appointment. He called the investigation a pure excuse for the Democrats for losing the election. It hurts our country terribly, he said. It shows were a divided, mixed-up, not unified country. At a joint news conference later in the day with the visiting president of Colombia, Trump took a slightly more muted tone. I respect the decision to appoint Mueller, he said, before adding that he believed the entire thing was a witch hunt. Theres no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign but I can always speak for myself and the Russians zero, he said. He appeared to mean that he could only speak for himself. There is no collusion, he repeated several times. He also emphatically said, No, no, when asked whether he had urged then-FBI Director James B. Comey to back off an investigation of Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Comey, in a memo reportedly written for his files, said that Trump had made such a request at a meeting in the Oval Office on Feb. 14. Trumps lashing out is not unique. President Clinton, for example, was known to rage about what he saw as the unfairness of the long-running special prosecutor investigations his administration faced. Clinton, however, kept his red-faced fury to private conversations, and, of course, Twitter didnt exist. But neither is Trumps very public display of anger a completely irrational move. Trump and some of his advisors clearly see anger over the investigation as a way to unite his core supporters against a common enemy at a time when at least some of his voters have begun showing signs, in polls, of wavering. In fundraising emails Thursday, Trump boasted that he had set a new postelection high for his campaign in online money raising despite unrelenting and unprecedented political attacks against a sitting president by the media and political establishment. The American people sent President Trump to Washington not to get along with the establishment but to repair the damage done to our economy and our prestige around the world by their policies and practices, he wrote. Trumps instinct to battle, however, and the political desire to use the fight to unite his supporters is at odds with the strategy that many of his advisors would prefer one closer to the approach other administrations have used of trying to insulate the White Houses daily functions from scandal. Clintons press office hired an outside agency to handle questions about the investigation that eventually led to his impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair. Although it did not end the saga for him, it did take some of the pressure off his White House staff, allowing them to speak more about policy during public briefings. Wednesday night, the White House seemed to be inching toward a similar goal, issuing a statement that offered muted approval of the investigation and urged a speedy conclusion. Congressional Republican leaders appeared to be following that playbook Thursday. After Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein briefed senators on the investigation, several Republican lawmakers suggested that with Mueller in place, the time had come for congressional committees to scale back their investigations, which involve highly public hearings, and allow the special counsel to carry out his probe, which can be expected to offer fewer headlines until it reaches a conclusion. The appointment of Mueller has really limited what Congress can do, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). This was a counter-intelligence investigation. It is now a criminal investigation. Trumps advisors have been frustrated that he has so often failed to stick to such strategies. Clearly theyre not on the same page, but I dont know why, said Barry Bennett, a former advisor to Trumps campaign who has friends serving in the White House. Bennett said Trump continues to rely mostly on advice from his New York buddies friends closer to his age and wealth whom he respects more, but who lack experience in politics and communications. Like others, Bennett expects Trump to shake up his staff, dispensing with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, upon his return from the foreign trip. Anxiety over a potential staff shakeup, Bennett said, has left those inside with even less clout to advise the president. Its a combination of his frustration and peoples exhaustion, he said. But another person in close contact with White House staff, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue, said many of Trumps aides remain devoted and united behind the task of defending him. The stress staffers are feeling is endemic to any White House, the person said. Anybody thats surprised by Trumps disdain for listening to his press team and political advisors should have been paying attention to the campaign, the person said. To think it would be any different in the White House makes you dumb. With the rush of events at home, Trumps overseas trip now promises to be even more fraught for the new president. Trump would like the trip to be shorter, a White House official said. His son-in-law and close advisor, Jared Kushner, orchestrated the stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, which lengthened a trip that originally was designed to go only to Italy and NATO headquarters in Brussels. Trump liked the broader mission, but being away from a familiar bed for more than a week is difficult for him. He is often teased by his children as being a homebody, the official said. One person who will be staying behind is Trumps strategic advisor Stephen K. Bannon. He has stepped back from foreign policy in the last two months as Kushner showed he had more influence with the president in that arena. The last several days offered a preview of how the current distractions, combined with Trumps disdain for scripted protocols, could leave the president ill-prepared for his debut abroad. On Tuesday, Trump repeatedly mispronounced the name of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the Turkish president stood beside him. He also appeared bored or distracted when Erdogan spoke, coming to life when the Turkish president injected some fulsome praise for Trump and his election victory. On Thursday, he appeared to struggle to keep focus while Colombias president, Juan Manuel Santos, was speaking. Over the last two weeks, Trumps official schedule was relatively light as aides made time for him to cram on geopolitics for a trip that will take him from the complexities of the Middle East to summit meetings with skeptical-to-hostile leaders in Europe. Presidents usually sit through pre-trip briefings galore before foreign visits, said Michael Allen, who was an advisor to President George W. Bush. Before Bush traveled, his White House chief of staff would carve out extensive time for senior directors on the National Security Council and other experts to brief the president. Allen said the briefings could get quite precise: This is what you will see, what they will say, what you might discuss, what you need to know. But with Trump, said a Republican who formerly worked in the White House, the trouble will be if he goes off script. Trump cant control himself. At the same time, the official said, everywhere he will be treated to respect and pageantry. Trump will eat of lot of that up. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman Times staff writer Michael Memoli contributed to this article ALSO: Arrests on civil immigration charges go up 38% in the first 100 days since Trumps executive order Meet Robert Mueller, the former San Francisco lawyer chosen to lead the Trump-Russia investigation Rod Rosenstein heads to Capitol Hill after appointing special counsel UPDATES: 2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with quotes from President Trumps news conference and other additional details. This article was first published at 7:30 a.m. The No. 2 official at the Justice Department told senators Thursday that he knew President Trump wanted to fire James B. Comey before he wrote a letter criticizing the FBI director. In an unusual closed-door briefing with the full Senate, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein offered a few new details about a frenetic nine days that have thrown the White House into crisis, beginning with Comeys firing and climaxing in Rosensteins decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III as a special counsel. In that role, Mueller will head an investigation into Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with figures in the Trump campaign. At Trumps request, Rosenstein last week wrote a letter that laid out the case for Comeys firing, focused on what Rosenstein said was Comeys improper handling of the 2016 Hillary Clinton email investigation. Initially, the White House claimed Trump fired Comey based on Rosensteins recommendation, though Trump later said he planned on removing the FBI director regardless. Advertisement Though some have suggested Rosenstein was used by the White House as a pawn to justify Comeys firing, senators said Rosenstein told them Thursday he was aware of Trumps plans. He knew that Comey was going to be removed prior to him writing his memo, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told reporters after emerging from the session. He knew the day before, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. On May 8 he learned. Rosensteins visit to Capitol Hill was originally planned to discuss Comeys firing and the future of the Russia investigation, but the meeting was quickly dominated by Rosensteins surprise decision Wednesday evening to appoint Mueller. According to Durbin, Rosenstein said he named Mueller to make certain the American people thought this would be handled fairly and justly. Rosenstein was careful not to address some other recent revelations in the fast-moving controversy, senators said, including reports that Comey wrote his own memo detailing a private conversation he says he had with Trump when the president asked him to end an investigation into Michael Flynn, just after Flynn had been pushed out as national security advisor for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Trump on Thursday denied he asked Comey to drop the Flynn investigation. Both Republicans and Democrats were clearly relieved by the appointment of Mueller, a 12-year FBI director with a solid reputation for probity and thoroughness. But the naming of a special counsel has also raised questions about how to proceed with a number of Russia-related investigations already underway in Congress. The shock to the body is this is now considered a criminal investigation, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who had opposed naming a special counsel. And Congress ability to conduct an investigation of all things Russia is severely limited. I think a lot of members wanted the special counsel to be appointed, but dont understand youre pretty well knocked out of the game. Graham said some potential witnesses might refuse to cooperate out of concern for self-incrimination. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.) indicated Thursday that Flynn may not willingly meet the committees subpoena request for information, though Democrats vowed to push the issue. I am going to go to the mat go to the mat to make sure that this subpoena with Mr. Flynn is carried out, said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Comey, senators believed, would be a more willing witness who would work with Mueller as well as the oversight committees on Capitol Hill. At some point I believe he has a responsibility he will honor to come before the Judiciary Committee and tell his story to the American people, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). He owes the American people his story, and from all I can see he has no reluctance to tell it. Democrats and some Republicans insisted that the congressional panels would not take a back seat to Muellers work. After this meeting it is clear as ever that the Intelligence Committee in the Senate should continue its work and it should continue full throttle ahead, said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). And the need for former Director Comey to come testify soon in public is as great as ever. Democrats also are pressing for an inquiry into Trumps statements that may have revealed secret intelligence to two top Russian officials. Three Democratic senators on Thursday asked Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to conduct a damage assessment on whether Trump may have compromised sensitive intelligence methods. Before Mueller was named, Rosenstein, a career federal prosecutor, was overseeing the inquiry because Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself over his failure to disclose in his Senate confirmation hearing that hed had meetings with Russias ambassador to Washington. But Rosenstein came under intense pressure from Democratic lawmakers to step aside and name an independent prosecutor after he became embroiled in the political fight over why Comey was fired on May 9, a battle that raised questions of whether Rosenstein was sufficiently independent of the White House. Under the special counsel law, Mueller will enjoy what Rosenstein called a degree of independence from the normal chain of command in the Justice Department. But Rosenstein, as acting attorney general for purposes of the Russia investigation, also maintains some control. Mueller will decide the scope of his investigation, including whether it will take charge of a federal grand jury in Virginia that has subpoenaed documents involving Flynn. Under the law, Mueller will have authority to choose his own staff and within 60 days request his own budget, which Rosenstein approves. Rosenstein will not directly supervise Muellers work but can request that he explain any steps hes taking and may overrule them as inappropriate or unwarranted. If he does, though, the law requires him to notify the judiciary committees in Congress. And the law says Rosenstein should give great weight to the views of the special counsel. joseph.tanfani@latimes.com Twitter: @jtanfani ALSO Special counsel is named to take over investigation of Russia and Trump associates Heres what you need to know about the newly appointed special counsel Opinion: Naming Robert Mueller as special counsel isnt enough because Trump can get rid of him UPDATES: 3:55 p.m.: The story was updated with details about Rosensteins briefing with the Senate. The story was originally published at 3 a.m. The way Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to spend or not spend the hefty new tobacco tax is an example of why citizens are so cynical about government and politics. In fact, its the sort of thing that contributed to the election of President Trump. No, Brown isnt to blame for this White House misfit. But voters who felt kissed off by the political establishment were Trumps electoral base. By a landslide, California voters roughly 9 million approved a $2-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax last November. Much of the new revenue was supposed to go toward raising fees for doctors and dentists who treat poor patients on Medi-Cal, the states version of federal Medicaid. Advertisement But Brown has refused to allocate any of the new money for that, despite the glaring need. During the recession, Sacramento cut the already miserly Medi-Cal provider rates by 10%. And those cuts havent been rescinded, even as the economy has recovered and income tax rates have been increased on the wealthy. Consequently, Californias Medi-Cal rates are shamefully about the lowest in the nation, at 48th. So what? So providers arent fools. Theres no law forcing them to treat Medi-Cal patients. And many are refusing to. The only providers required to treat everyone are hospital emergency wards. And thats where patients who cant find traditional care wind up, clogging waiting rooms and costing more to treat. Most of us pay the cost through stiffer private insurance premiums. Californias liberal state government has generously increased eligibility for Medi-Cal and added benefits. But because its stingy with provider rates, it has simultaneously reduced the patients access to treatment. There are now around 14 million people on Medi-Cal, more than one-third of the state. They include, as an example of recent generosity, 183,000 immigrant children here illegally. Medi-Cal expansion through Obamacare has added 3.9 million recipients. But its all hollow if they cant find doctors and dentists to treat them. Heres an example of why theyre shunned: In the Sacramento region, a routine doctor visit would bring in $16 for treating a Medi-Cal patient, but $46 for someone on Medicare. An average Medi-Cal patient would gross the doc $37 a visit, compared to Medicare paying $103. If youre getting reimbursed $16 an office visit, its awfully hard to keep the practice going, says Dustin Corcoran, chief executive officer of the California Medical Assn. The paperwork dealing with Medi-Cal bureaucrats would be enough alone to prompt a doctor to reject a potential patient. One provider that can accept poor patients because of major private donations is the Childrens Dental Health Clinic of Long Beach. Most dentists would rather do procedures for free than deal with [Medi-Cal], says Dr. John Blake, the Long Beach clinic director. A lot of them are fed up with the rates and the burdensome way of processing reimbursements. Dentists arent greedy, but they at least want to know they can pay their bills. The California medical and dental associations each put up $1 million to help bankroll the tobacco tax hike, Proposition 56. The California Hospital Assn. kicked in a whopping $10 million. Updates from Sacramento The hospitals werent looking for higher reimbursements. They were hoping doctors would get them so theyd be willing to treat more Medi-Cal patients and keep them out of hospital emergency rooms. When they cant go to a doctor, they show up in an emergency room, says Jan Emerson-Shea, spokeswoman for the hospital association. Thats not good for the patient and not good for the hospitals. When they can see a doctor, theyre not coming to an ER for a sore throat or earache and sitting in the waiting room for four or five hours. In recent years, Brown and the Legislature have poor-mouthed even while dramatically increasing spending and claimed they didnt have enough money to boost Medi-Cal fees. So the providers formed a coalition with anti-smoking activists and passed Proposition 56, despite being greatly outspent by the tobacco industry. But Brown shrugged off the election result. He proposed giving Medi-Cal $1.2 billion in tobacco taxes, largely to pay for recent benefit and enrollment expansion, but not one dime for provider fees. There is only a certain amount of money, the governor told reporters. If the state boosted fees, it would have to cut Medi-Cal eligibility or benefits. Brown called what he did the least harmful, least painful way to go. Its fair to say were upset, Corcoran says. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Finance Department, notes that Brown did propose a 2% increase for Medi-Cal managed care plans. Those plans and the provider networks can negotiate higher rates if they wish, he said. And 80% of Medi-Cal patients are now covered by plans. But thats not what the provider groups expected and the voters were told. Its sort of another bait-and-switch only not switched by the baiters, in this case, but by the controlling politicians. Brown also wants to make sure that any fee hikes would prompt more doctors to open their doors to Medi-Cal patients. Theres about a month to negotiate. The Legislatures deadline for passing a budget is June 15. You never know what people will be able to persuade me of as we get down the road, Brown said. The people he should listen to are the millions who voted for Proposition 56. He might keep some of their cynicism in check. george.skelton@latimes.com Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter ALSO While California spends liberally, the governor talks like a penny-pincher This lawmaker learned to revere education after her parents fled Jim Crow. Now shes tackling teacher tenure Activist Ron Kovic says disabled parking cheats just arent thinking. Or do they just not care? Boy Scouts: Top leaders didnt call Trump to praise speech as the president said By Associated Press The Boy Scouts denied Wednesday that the head of the youth organization called President Donald Trump to praise his recent politically aggressive speech to its national jamboree. Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday, I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. Politico published the transcript of the interview. We are unaware of any such call, the Boy Scouts responded in a statement. It specified that neither of the organizations two top leaders President Randall Stephenson and Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh had placed such a call. The White House had no immediate response to the Boy Scouts denial. Surbaugh apologized last week to members of the scouting community who were offended by the political rhetoric in Trumps July 24 speech in West Virginia. Other U.S. presidents have delivered nonpolitical speeches at past jamborees. To the dismay of many parents and former scouts, Trump promoted his political agenda and derided his rivals, inducing some of the scouts in attendance to boo at the mention of former President Obama. I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree, Surbaugh said. That was never our intent. Surbaugh noted that every sitting president since 1937 has been invited to visit the jamboree. Stephenson told the Associated Press two days after the speech that Boy Scout leaders anticipated Trump would spark controversy with politically tinged remarks, yet felt obliged to invite him out of respect for his office. Hoping to minimize friction, the Boy Scouts issued guidelines to adult staff members for how the audience should react to the speech. Any type of political chanting was specifically discouraged. Stephenson, who did not attend Trumps speech, said the guidance wasnt followed impeccably. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mayor of London again calls on Trump to cancel state visit By Christina Boyle (AFP/Getty Images) The mayor of London has reiterated his calls for President Trumps state visit to Britain to be canceled in the wake of the citys terrorist incident, saying his policies go against everything we stand for. The war of words between the two leaders intensified further Monday evening after Trump criticized Mayor Sadiq Khans response to the London Bridge terrorist attack in two tweets, and the mayor said Trump should not be welcomed in the capital. Since Saturday Ive been working with the police, with the emergency services, with the government and others to deal with the horrific attack on Saturday, Khan said Monday evening. I just havent got the time to deal with tweets from Donald Trump. But when pressed on whether he thinks a state visit for later this year should go ahead as planned, Khan was unequivocal. My position remains the same. I dont think we should be rolling out the carpet to the president of the United States in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for, Khan told Channel 4 news. When you have a special relationship, it is no different to when you have a close mate: You stand with them in times of adversity, but you call them out when theyre wrong. And there are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong. Trump initially criticized Khan hours after the London attack posting on Twitter: At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is no reason to be alarmed! Khans office soon pointed out that the president had, in fact, misquoted Khan, who actually said that Londoners should not be alarmed by the increased armed police presence on the streets. Trump took to Twitter again on Monday to slam the London mayor once more. Pathetic excuse by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who had to think fast on his no reason to be alarmed statement. MSM [Mainstream media] is working hard to sell it! the president wrote. This is not the first time Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital city, has called for Trumps state visit to be banned. He previously branded Trumps policies on immigration and proposed travel ban on people entering the U.S. from predominantly Muslim countries cruel. An online government petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn also gathered more than 1.8 million votes. The visit was first announced during Prime Minister Theresa Mays trip to Washington, where she became the first foreign leader to meet the newly-inaugurated president. State visits are personal invites from the British monarch and involve a significant amount of pomp and ceremony, and usually a state banquet. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He helped bring down President Nixon. He thinks President Trump is even worse. By Mark Z. Barabak (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) John Dean is a connoisseur of coverups, a savant of scandal, so he can more than imagine what its like inside the Trump White House right now. Its a nightmare, he said, presiding in a high-backed leather wing chair off the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Not just for those in the headlines political strategist Steve Bannon, jack-of-many-duties Jared Kushner but for their unsung assistants and secretaries as well. They dont know what their jeopardy is. They dont know what theyre looking at. They dont know if theyre a part of a conspiracy that might unfold. They dont know whether to hire lawyers or not, how theyre going to pay for them if they do, Dean said in a crisp law-counsel cadence. Its an unpleasant place. Dean was a central figure in Watergate, the 1970s political scandal against which all others are measured, serving at the tender age of 32 as President Nixons White House attorney. In that capacity Dean worked to thwart investigators after the clumsy break-in at Democratic Party headquarters, then flipped and helped sink Nixon by revealing the presidents involvement in the coverup. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Two decades ago, Washington state Republicans repealed and replaced a healthcare overhaul there. It didnt end well By Noam N. Levey Republicans in the state of Washington didnt wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state. Coming off historic electoral gains, the GOP legislators scrapped much of the law while pledging to make health insurance affordable and to free state residents from onerous government mandates. It didnt work out that way: The repeal left the states insurance market in shambles, sent premiums skyrocketing and drove health insurers from the state. It took nearly five years to repair the damage. Two decades later, the ill-fated experiment, largely relegated to academic journals, offers a caution to lawmakers at the national level as Republicans in the U.S. Senate race to write a bill to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act. Its much easier to break something, said Pam MacEwan, who led a Washington state commission charged with implementing the law in the mid-1990s and now oversees the state insurance market there. Its more difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And thats when people get hurt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office echoed that warning last week, when it concluded that the healthcare bill passed by the House last month would destabilize insurance markets in a sixth of the country and nearly double the number of people without health insurance over the next decade. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Companies accelerate hiring, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs, ADP says By Jim Puzzanghera A now hiring sign is seen in Baton Rouge, La., on May 5. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Companies accelerated their hiring last month, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs in a sign the labor market remains healthy and the economy is strengthening after a weak winter. The private-sector job creation figures reported Thursday by payroll firm Automatic Data Processing far exceeded analyst expectations and was well above the downwardly revised 174,000 net new positions added in April. Job growth is rip-roaring, declared Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, which assists ADP in preparing its report. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print All jokes aside, Trumps covfefe tweet sparks questions too By Brian Bennett President Trump sparked a global kerfuffle over covfefe with his bizarrely truncated tweet just minutes into Wednesday, spawning countless jokes across Twitter but also more serious questions for which the White House gave no answers. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, during an unusually short 11-minute briefing in which he insisted he not be on camera, declined to give any explanation for Trumps tweet posted just after midnight. Nor would he translate what the president was trying to say in the garbled message that broke off midsentence. But Spicer told reporters that the public should not be concerned that the president sent what the questioner called somewhat of an incoherent tweet. The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant, Spicer said. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Biden launches new PAC, keeping the 2020 door open By David Lauter (Steven Senne / Associated Press) Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching a new political action committee, a platform that will allow him to provide help to favored candidates and, inevitably, boost speculation about a possible run for the Democratic nomination in 2020. The organization, which Biden is calling American Possibilities, will be staffed by a former top political aide to the vice president, Greg Schultz, who is also a veteran of President Obamas reelection campaign. The PAC will allow Biden to raise money that he can use to travel the country, contribute to candidates in governors races this year and congressional and state races in 2018 and generally do the sorts of things that aspiring politicians do to keep their names in the headlines. All that cant help but nurture questions about whether Biden, 74, will try yet again to attain the office he first started running for in 1987. In public appearances, which have taken him to electorally important states, and interviews since the 2016 election, Biden has been sharply critical of the Trump administration, but has also pointed to flaws in his own party. In one interview, he pointed to a bit of elitism thats crept in to the partys approach to working-class voters. At the same time, he has given carefully ambiguous answers when asked about his plans. At a conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, he responded to the question about a presidential run by saying: Could I? Yes. Would I? Probably not. In the announcement for the new group, Biden said that the negativity, the pettiness, the small-mindedness of our politics drives me crazy. Its not who we are. Its time for big dreams and American possibilities, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S., regions foreign ministers debate Venezuela By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The United States and foreign ministers from across the hemisphere met in Washington on Wednesday to attempt to force Venezuelas leftist government and its angry opposition into talks. Hunger and violence have pushed Venezuela to the brink of humanitarian disaster, diplomats say. But Wednesdays meeting of the Organization of American States faced unlikely prospects for success: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro does not trust the organization and has said his nation will withdraw its membership. Some OAS nations, including several U.S. allies in the Caribbean, have criticized the regional bodys efforts as intervention promoted by Washington. But U.S. officials are hoping the sheer weight of the crisis will unite the region to put pressure on Venezuela. Theres more and more concern about what were seeing, and so more and more countries have gotten over their reluctance to question or go against the wishes of the Venezuelan government, a senior State Department official said in a briefing for reporters. Its really hard to stand by and do nothing in the face of the kinds of institutional steps weve seen in Venezuela, and the increasing humanitarian suffering, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with frequent administration practice. Although the OAS periodically brings its members foreign ministers together, this is the first time a meeting has been convened to deal with a single topic, U.S. officials said. At the conclusion of Wednesdays session, diplomats said they had discussed two resolutions. One, promoted by Caribbean nations, called on Venezuela to reconsider withdrawing from the OAS. A second more pointed resolution authored by the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Panama and Peru urged the Maduro administration not to go ahead with a constituent assembly that would rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. Many fear it would dissolve the few democratic institutions that remain and favor the ruling Socialist Party. Separately, the Venezuela opposition, emboldened by a string of increasingly massive street demonstrations, sharply criticized Wall Street for extending what it called a lifeline to the Maduro government. At issue is the purchase by Goldman Sachs of Venezuelan government bonds for a reported $865 million, a major discount for paper originally worth $2.8 billion. Goldman Sachs confirmed the purchase of the bonds, issued in 2014 by the state oil company PDVSA, after it was reported in the Wall Street Journal. We are invested in PDVSA bonds because, like many in the asset management industry, we believe the situation in the country must improve over time, Goldman said in a statement. The firm added that it made the purchase through a secondary dealer to avoid direct interaction with the Venezuelan government. That distinction meant nothing to the Venezuelan opposition, which accused Goldman of making a buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people. The Trump administration previously has targeted the Maduro government, slapping economic sanctions on its vice president and pro-Maduro Supreme Court justices. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI director spoke with new special counsel and is cleared to testify before Senate panel By Joseph Tanfani The special counsel investigating possible links between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign has cleared former FBI Director James Comey to testify before a congressional committee about his contacts with President Trump, according to an associate close to Comey. Comey met with Robert S. Mueller III, whom the Justice Department appointed on May 17 to investigate any Russian ties to the Trump campaign, and Mueller said he had no problems with Comeys testifying, the associate said. Trump abruptly fired Comey as head of the FBI on May 9. The president later said in an interview on NBC News that he was concerned about the FBI investigation into what he called the Russia thing. Comey reportedly wrote internal memos after his meetings with Trump. In one, he wrote that the president had requested he ease up on the FBI probe of Michael Flynn, who served as Trumps national security advisor until he was ousted in February for lying about his contacts with Russian officials. The Senate Intelligence Committee announced on May 19 that Comey had agreed to testify after the Memorial Day holiday. The hearing has not been scheduled. The FBI separately declined a request from the House Oversight Committee to turn over Comeys memos. The bureau said it would need to consult with Mueller before making any decisions. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the committee chairman, said in response that he would not push the matter. The focus of the committees investigation is the independence of the FBI and the events leading to Comeys firing, he wrote. In a separate development, a senior Justice Department lawyer with experience in complex financial fraud investigations has agreed to join Muellers investigation. Andrew Weissman has led the fraud section at Justice, where he oversaw probes into corporate wrongdoing at Volkswagen and Takata. Weissman also is a veteran of the FBI. Weissman is the highest-ranking Justice Department official to join the special counsel office being set up a few blocks from the main Justice building in downtown Washington. Mueller also hired two colleagues from the WilmerHale law firm, where he worked, and brought on a former Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, to handle media inquiries. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Analysis: In President Trumps wake, divisions mark both Democratic and Republican parties By Cathleen Decker Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez address a crowd at the California party convention in May. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Six months after President Trump breached long-standing political boundaries to win the White House, the nations major political parties still muddle in his wake. On the sun-swept lawn of the Hotel del Coronado two weeks ago, national Republican leaders sipped cocktails and listened to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, one of the partys brightest lights in the most populous state, praise a brand of moderate Republicanism that looks nothing like the versions coming out of Washington either the populism of the president or the more orthodox conservatism of congressional leaders. A week later, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez talked in a Sacramento interview of the remarkably constructive debate underway in his party, characterizing its divisions as largely in the past. Within hours, he and other party leaders were booed as they welcomed delegates to a state convention that would be filled with persistent internal warfare on healthcare and other issues. No political party is immune to disagreement; indeed the path to power often relies on combustible ideological diversity. But Democrats and Republicans alike seem particularly adrift and quarrelsome these days. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump preparing to pull U.S. from Paris climate accord, amid last-minute lobbying By Evan Halper President Trump hasnt made a final decision on whether the U.S. will quit the Paris Accord on climate change, but White House officials indicated Wednesday that he was headed in that direction, setting off a worldwide reaction. A flurry of leaks, counter-leaks and public statements thrust back into the spotlight a decision that has been agonized and untidy even by the standards of a White House known for internal drama. Wednesday morning, when officials told some news organizations that Trump had settled on pulling out of the climate agreement, seemingly everyone in the world jumped in to try to influence or spin his decision, from the Chinese government to the coal industry to the state of California. That offered a foretaste of the reaction Trump likely will receive if he does follow through on his vow to pull the United States out of the 195-nation pact, which President Obama hailed in 2015 as one of his major achievements. Other nations have swiftly moved to take over the leadership role on climate that the United States would be abandoning. Some states have followed suit, promising they would break with Washington to work with other countries in their efforts to contain global warming. During Trumps recent overseas trip, U.S. allies warned him that Americas broader diplomatic influence would be undercut if the administration gave up its seat at the climate negotiating table. All the public lobbying on Wednesday moved Trump to weigh in himself. He knocked down reports that he had decided to withdraw with a tweet announcing that he was still making up his mind. The mixed messages coming out of the White House left open the possibility that the original news reports reflected the views of officials who were aiming to steer the final outcome by presenting withdrawal as a done deal. Trumps schedule for the day includes meetings with advisors hoping to talk him into staying in the agreement, at least to some extent. If Trump does withdraw the U.S. fully from the Paris pact, scientists warn it will be a tremendous setback to the worldwide effort to contain temperatures from rising an average of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The consequences for the United States would extend beyond global warming. It will be a very big deal all over the world, said Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate negotiator during the Obama administration. There will be consequential blowback with respect to our diplomatic position across the board. UPDATES 9:27 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with staff reporting and additional details. 6:23 a.m.: This post was updated with Trumps tweet. 6:04 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with additional details. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. Supreme Court makes it harder to sue police for barging into homes By David Savage The U.S. Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4-million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday. The money was awarded to a homeless couple who were startled and then shot when the two sheriffs deputies entered the shack where they were sleeping. The unanimous ruling rejected the so-called provocation rule that some lower courts have used. Under that rule, police can be sued for violating a victims constitutional rights against unreasonable searches if they provoked a confrontation that resulted in violence. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump lashes out at Germany over NATO spending and trade after Merkel questions the U.S. commitment to its allies By Brian Bennett (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump took aim at German trade practices and defense spending Tuesday following pointed criticism from Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany may not be able to rely on its allies. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change, Trump wrote in a tweet. Last week, White House spokespeople had denied that Trump criticized German trade practices after the German newspaper Der Spiegel quoted him as having done so. Trump unsettled Merkel and other allies during the recent NATO summit when, during his remarks, he did not mention the central commitment members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization make to defend each other. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017 Trumps policy toward climate change is another point of contention with many European countries. Trump promised during the election to tear up the landmark Paris climate accord. Merkel said the conversation with the U.S. on climate change last week during the G-7 meetings in Sicily, which followed the NATO summit, was extremely difficult. During a campaign speech in Munich on Sunday, Merkel said Germany must rethink how much it can rely on its allies. The era in which we could rely completely on others is gone, at least partially, Merkel said. I have experienced that over the last several days. In a 2014 meeting, NATO defense ministers agreed that each state would move toward a goal of raising military spending to 2% of its annual economic output by the year 2024. German defense spending is below that goal. The U.S. trade deficit with Germany shrank to $65 billion in 2016 from $75 billion the year before. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Consumers spend at fastest pace in four months in a sign of spring economic rebound By Jim Puzzanghera (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Americans ratcheted up their spending in April at the fastest pace in four months, in a sign the economy has rebounded this spring after a lackluster winter. The new data also could help push Federal Reserve officials to hike a key interest rate again when they meet in two weeks. Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.4% in April, up from 0.3% the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Americans had more money to spend, with personal incomes also rising 0.4% twice the pace of growth in March. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House communications director Michael Dubke resigns By Associated Press White House Communications Director Mike Dubke listens as a reporter asks a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on April 20. (Shawn Thew / EPA) White House communications director Michael Dubke has resigned. Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, told The Associated Press that Dubke handed in his resignation before President Donald Trump left for his international trip earlier this month. In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke made very clear that he would see through the presidents international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House. Dubke issued a statement Tuesday morning: It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration. It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments. A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February after campaign aide Jason Miller Trumps original choice for communications director withdrew from consideration. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising. -- 6:03 a.m.: Updated with Dubkes statement Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Should Jared Kushner keep his security clearance? Adam Schiff isnt sure By Laura King The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), says hes not sure that President Trumps son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, should retain his security clearance. The California Democrat, who has been a sharp critic of Trump, also said in an interview aired Sunday that national security advisor H.R. McMaster, a highly respected military officer, had been tarnished by his association with the White House. Schiffs comments, on ABCs This Week, came amid growing questions about Kushners contacts with Russian officials before Trump took office. Trump has denounced the latest round of news reports, saying that some of them could be based on fabricated sources. Top Trump aides, including John F. Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, pushed back Sunday against the suggestion that there was anything untoward about establishing back channel communications with the Russians during the presidential transition. Schiff said he regretted that McMaster had done so as well, saying he believed the White House used the solid reputations of people like him to back up dubious actions. Sadly, I think this is an administration that takes in people with good credibility and chews them out and spits out their credibility at the same time, said Schiff, who acknowledged that what McMaster said about back channel communications was true in the abstract. I think anyone within the Trump orbit is at risk of being used, he said. Kelly, in separate talk-show appearances on Sunday, said there was nothing untoward about an incoming administration establishing communications with a foreign power in order to lay the groundwork for better relations. Schiff declined to discuss the substance of the allegations regarding Kushners contact with Russian officials during the transition and whether Kushner had been forthcoming about them, but said enough questions had been raised that his access to top-secret intelligence should be scrutinized. I think we need to get to the bottom of these allegations, Schiff said. But I do think there ought to be a review of his security clearance to find out whether he was truthful, whether he was candid. If not, then theres no way he can maintain that kind of a clearance. Schiff was also critical of continuing involvement in aspects of the Russia probe by fellow Californian Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who stepped aside from the probe earlier this year after the House Ethics Committee began investigating whether he had improperly revealed classified information. Nunes remains involved in decision-making about the issuance of subpoenas, Schiff said, adding: I dont think that he should, given that he has stepped aside or recused himself. The committee is investigating Russian entanglements by figures in Trumps circle, including fired national security advisor Michael Flynn, who has been the target of multiple subpoenas. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump still wide open on climate change, Pentagon chief says By Laura King With President Trump set to make a decision this week about whether the U.S. should remain part of the landmark Paris climate accord, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Trump remains wide open on the issue. During a visit to Europe that ended Saturday, Trump dismayed European allies by refusing to commit to remaining in the 2015 accord during talks with European Union officials in Brussels and at the Group of Seven gathering in Sicily. The president said in a tweet that he will make a decision this week. Mattis, who was present at some of the Brussels talks, said that Trump is still making up his mind, and that he has been inquisitive about other leaders opinions. The president was open he was curious about why others were in the position they were in, his counterparts in other nations, the Defense secretary said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. And Im quite certain the president is wide open on this issue as he takes in the pros and cons of that accord. During his European trip, Trump met privately at the Vatican with Pope Francis, who presented him with a copy of his papal encyclical on environment and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Trump in Brussels, also said he had pressed the issue with the U.S. president, though the White House did not mention that appeal in a summary of their meeting. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Homeland Security secretary defends Jared Kushner, blasts Manchester intelligence leaks By Laura King There is nothing inherently wrong with an incoming presidential administration establishing back channel communications with a foreign power such as Russia, Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly said Sunday. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kelly was asked about reports by the Washington Post and other outlets that President Trumps son-in-law and close advisor, Jared Kushner, sought to set up secret lines of communication with Russian officials prior to Trump being sworn in. The retired general did not confirm the reports, but said the principle of establishing secretive contacts during a presidential transition doesnt bother me and is a legitimate means of building relationships. I think that any channel of communication, back or otherwise, with a country like Russia is a good thing, he said. Kelly did not address a central element of the reports that Kushner discussed the possibility of using Russian communications channels from a Russia diplomatic outpost to shield from U.S. intelligence surveillance whatever discussions Trump transition officials wanted to have with Moscow. The FBI, a special counsel and multiple congressional committees are probing Russian interference in the presidential campaign and whether the Trump camp colluded in it. The U.S. intelligence community says Russian cyberattacks were meant to boost Trump and harm his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In a separate interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Kelly defended the integrity of Kushner, whose involvement in communications with Russia has brought the investigation closer to Trump personally than has previous scrutiny of others in his campaign circle or the White House. Calling Kushner a great guy, a decent guy, the Homeland Security secretary said the presidents son-in-laws No. 1 interest, really, is the nation. Also in the NBC interview, Kelly excoriated intelligence leaks in the wake of last weeks deadly bombing in Manchester, England. British officials including Prime Minister Theresa May were angered by disclosures about details of the investigation, including the release of the dead attackers name and detailed photos from the bomb scene that were published by the New York Times. Several outlets cited unnamed U.S. officials as the source of the information including the bombers identity. The Times did not say how it obtained the photos. Britain routinely shares intelligence with close allies like the United States with the expectation that it will be kept confidential. Kelly said that failing to keep such secrets could seriously damage intelligence-sharing arrangements with other nations. I believe when you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked - high, high level of classification I think its darn close to treason, Kelly said. It is not clear what level of classification, if any, the information about the British investigation would have had. Trump himself, who recently caused controversy when he passed sensitive intelligence on Islamic State to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the location of U.S. nuclear submarines with the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has denounced the Manchester leaks and vowed to track down the source or sources. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In tweets, Trump says stories based on White House leaks are fabricated By Laura King President Trump is back and tweeting. In a Sunday morning series of posts on Twitter, the president repeated his denunciations of the fake media, celebrated the Republican victory in a Montana special election and declared his overseas trip a success. Trump returned to the White House late Saturday after a swing through the Middle East and Europe, the first foreign trip of his presidency. During it, he tweeted only sparingly. While Trump was away, controversy continued to swirl around his White House, with media reports focusing on son-in-law Jared Kushners role in Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. The GOP healthcare plan and Trumps budget also came under withering scrutiny during the presidents absence. In Sundays tweets, Trump said cascading leaks from within his administration were in fact fabricated lies by news organizations based on sources that did not exist. One tweet was corrected to fix the spelling of exist. It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017 Trump also complained that the special congressional election in Montana, called to fill the seat vacated when Ryan Zinke became his Interior secretary, was such a big deal to Dems & Fake News until the Republican won. The V was poorly covered, he said, referring to the Republican victory. The victory by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte received extensive coverage. It was widely expected, given Montanas significant Republican edge, but made more suspenseful on the eve of the election when Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault for an incident in which he struck a reporter who had asked him a question. The president received mixed reviews for his inaugural overseas venture. He was praised by some for his outreach to Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, but continued his administrations practice of making no public criticism of serious human rights violations. In Europe, he rattled allies by declining to explicitly endorse the NATO alliances bedrock common defense pledge or pledge to adhere to the Paris climate accord. Whatever the commentary surrounding the trip, Trump counted it a success. Hard work but big results, he wrote. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trumps international trip underscored what America First looks like on the world stage By Michael Memoli Donald Trump made no secret during the presidential campaign of his disdain for Americas trading partners, his skepticism of longtime alliances and his eagerness to refocus U.S. foreign policy on the single-minded pursuit of American security. That was the largely the president the world got as Trump made his way through the Middle East and Western Europe over the last nine days, Trumps first foreign trip may have produced memorable, and at time cringe-inducing, images of the new president, whether grasping a glowing orb in Saudi Arabia or shoving the prime minister of Montenegro at a NATO meeting in Brussels. But perhaps most profoundly, the trip underscored what America First, as Trump has branded his governing philosophy, looks like on the world stage. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says hell decide on Paris climate deal next week By Associated Press Seven wealthy democracies ended their summit Saturday in Italy without unanimous agreement on climate change, as the Trump administration plans to take more time to say whether the U.S. is going to remain in the Paris accord on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The other six nations in the Group of Seven agreed to stick with their commitment to implement the 2015 Paris deal that aims to slow down global warming. The final G-7 statement, issued after two days of talks in the seaside town of Taormina, said the U.S. is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics. Trump tweeted he would decide his stance on the Paris agreement next week. The announcement on the final day of the U.S. presidents first international trip comes after he declined to commit to staying in the sweeping climate deal, resisting intense international pressure from his peers at the summit. I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2017 Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who chaired the meeting, said the other six wont change our position on climate change one millimeter. The U.S. hasnt decided yet. I hope they decide in the right way. Gentiloni said climate was not a minor point and that he hoped the United States would decide soon and well because the Paris accords need the contribution of the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron also chimed in on the climate issue, praising Trumps capacity to listen. Macron said he told Trump it is indispensable for the reputation of the United States and the interest of the Americans themselves that the United States remain committed to the Paris climate agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was more downbeat, calling the G-7 climate talks very unsatisfactory. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Everyones a winner! Or what to take away from that special congressional race in Montana By Mark Z. Barabak Republicans were celebrating Friday, and relieved, and it was easy to see why: The party hung on to Montanas sole congressional seat even though its candidate faced a freshly lodged criminal charge for physically assaulting a reporter on election eve. Though they fell short in yet another special election Greg Gianforte won handily, 50% to 44% Democrats also found reason to be pleased: Their candidate, flawed as he was, continued a pattern of polling better than might be expected over-performing, to use the political parlance, and that could hold future promise. Its possible, as elections analyst Nathan Gonzales put it, to lose and still have momentum. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In commencement address, Hillary Clinton remembers fallout from Nixon, makes subtle jab at President Trump By Kurtis Lee Hillary Clinton delivers the commencement address at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., on Friday. (Josh Reynolds / Associated Press) Hillary Clinton delivered a subtle dig at President Trump on Friday, offering some parallels between his presidency and that of former President Nixon. While delivering a commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College, a private womens liberal arts school in Massachusetts, Clinton, without naming Trump, recalled how many young people in the 1970s reacted to Nixons reelection and later battles with the Justice Department. We were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice, she said, pausing to note she was referring to Nixon. Actually, Nixon was not impeached, though many in Congress, including members of his own party, called for it. Clinton said Nixons resignation came after he fired the person heading the investigation into him at the Department of Justice. In 1973, Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire a special prosecutor who was looking into taped conversations recorded in the Oval Office as part of the Watergate investigation. A year later, in August 1974, Nixon resigned. Some political observers mostly Democrats -- have compared Trumps recent firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, who was overseeing an investigation of possible collusion between Russians and Trumps campaign, to Nixons actions. Last week, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) called for Trump to be impeached. Clinton, who has made few public appearances since Trump defeated her in last years presidential election, also assailed the Republicans new budget proposal. She called the budget, which proposes cuts to education and Medicaid, an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us the youngest, the oldest, the poorest and hard-working people who need a little help to gain or hang on to a decent, middle-class life. In a statement, the Republican National Committee said Clinton was lashing out after her election loss. Clinton graduated from Wellesley in 1969 and last delivered a commencement address at the school in 1992. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement At G-7 Summit, a day of clarification for the White House By Michael A. Memoli (Sean Gallup / Getty Images) As President Trump met with leaders of the worlds leading economies here Friday within miles of an active volcano, the White House was working to ease a pair of diplomatic eruptions. Trump was due to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in this coastal Sicilian resort town, amid tensions between their countries, longtime allies, following leaks to U.S. media outlets involving Britains investigation of the Manchester terrorist bombing. Separately, a top White House adviser partially confirmed reports that Trump had said Germany is very bad during Thursdays NATO meetings in Brussels, but clarified that the president was referring only to German trade policies. Trump said, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel, See the millions of cars they are selling to the U.S.? Terrible. We will stop this. Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, acknowledged that Trump made the remark but added that the president doesnt have a problem with Germany. He said his dad is from Germany. He said I dont have a problem with Germany, I have a problem with German trade, Cohn said. Press access to the G-7 meetings has been extremely limited, though the surrounding setting has produced abundant compelling visuals. Editorial press access extremely limited for G7 meetings. But man, pretty pictures & good times for Taormina Chamber of Commerce (via AP) pic.twitter.com/WT2EdKrwJ5 Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 26, 2017 Trump tweeted that he expected to spend the day focused on economic growth, terrorism and security. The summit, and Trumps eight-day inaugural foreign trip, ends Saturday. Other allies here were likely to press Trump on another issue: climate change, specifically whether Trump will carry out his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate deal. Trump was hoping to better understand the European position, Cohn said. White House officials have said the president will make a decision once he is back in the United States. He knows that in the U.S. theres very strong opinions on both sides but he also knows that Paris has important meaning to many of the European leaders. And he wants to clearly hear what the European leaders have to say, Cohn said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As Trump wavers over Paris climate accord, European leaders give him an earful By Evan Halper Mining operation near Grevenbroich, Germany. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) With President Trump balking on his vow to shred the Obama-negotiated Paris agreement on climate change, the last place the pacts staunch opponents wanted to see the president is where he will be this weekend meeting other world leaders unanimous in their warnings that withdrawal from the accord would seriously damage Americas economy and world stature. Trump has repeatedly delayed fulfilling his campaign pledge to move against the agreement. The longer the White House deliberates over Paris, the more Trump seems to be searching for a face-saving excuse to walk back his previous position. The White House indecision over the climate accord which has the support of every nation except Syria and Nicaragua reflects a deeply divided worldview in a Trump inner circle now packed with establishment Republicans. The issue also presents yet another policy reckoning for Trump. On the campaign trail, he vowed to strike blows against the existing world order. But on the Paris agreement, as on other matters, he is finding that political backup for such pledges can fade quickly when the moves lack robust support from major U.S. companies or majority voting blocs. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Overcoming assault charge, Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana congressional seat By Mark Z. Barabak Republican Greg Gianforte overcame a last-minute assault charge to win Montanas special congressional election Thursday, keeping its lone House seat in GOP hands and dealing Democrats a setback in their bid to gain a red-state toehold ahead of the 2018 midterm election. Gianforte, 56, a wealthy businessman who ran unsuccessfully for governor in November, had long been the front-runner against Democrat Rob Quist, a professional bluegrass musician making his first run for public office. With more than 90% of the votes counted, Gianforte was holding a healthy lead with just over 50% support. Appearing at an exuberant victory rally in Bozeman, the congressman-elect hushed the crowd and apologized to the reporter with whom he tangled on election eve, reversing his campaigns initial assertion that the journalist was to blame. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement FBI investigating Kushner meetings, report says; House leader seeks more Comey documents By Associated Press (Andrew Harrer / Getty Images) The chairman of the House Oversight Committee asked the FBI on Thursday to turn over more documents about former FBI Director James B. Comeys interactions with the White House and Justice Department, including materials dating back nearly four years to the Obama administration. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the FBI is investigating meetings that President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had in December with Russian officials. The FBI and the Oversight Committee as well as several other congressional panels are looking into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump fired Comey on May 9 amid questions about the FBIs investigation, which is now being led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director. Kushner, a key White House advisor, had meetings late last year with Russias ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. The Post story cited anonymous people familiar with the investigation, who said the FBI investigation does not mean that Kushner is suspected of a crime. Kushners attorney, Jamie Gorelick, released a statement saying: Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry. Earlier Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that he wants records of Comeys contacts with the White House and Justice Department dating to September 2013, when Comey was sworn in as FBI director under President Obama. In a letter to McCabe, Chaffetz said he is seeking to review Comeys memos and other written materials so he can better understand Comeys communications with the White House and attorney generals office. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Banks want higher debit-card swipe fees, but an effort to allow them has crumbled By Jim Puzzanghera Banks had hoped Congress would let them charge merchants higher fees to process debit card purchases, but an effort to allow that has crumbled a victory for retailers and, possibly, shoppers who might have had to shoulder those costs. In the latest chapter of a long-running fight, a repeal of federal limits on so-called swipe fees no longer will be part of a House financial regulation bill, said the legislations author, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he decided to strip the provision from the bill because many lawmakers are balking at removing the limits. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Appeals court rules against Trump travel ban By David Lauter A federal appeals court has ruled against President Trumps travel ban, upholding a nationwide injunction barring the administration from enforcing the executive order. The ruling is the latest legal setback for Trump on the travel issue and, like several previous court rulings, the outcome rested heavily on his own words. Trumps order restricting travel from six majority-Muslim countries speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination, Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in his ruling. Read the 4th Circuits decision to uphold the block on Trumps travel ban The 10-3 ruling included numerous citations to campaign statements in which Trump called for a ban on Muslims immigrating to the United States. The plaintiffs who have challenged the travel order have argued that it is a disguised version of the Muslim ban that he called for during the campaign. Trumps statements provide direct, specific evidence of what motivated both EO-1 and EO-2, the court said, referring to ther first and second versions of the travel order: President Trumps desire to exclude Muslims from the United States. The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., is one of two appeals courts that have recently heard arguments on the travel ban. A similar case is pending before the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama, in Berlin with Merkel, says world cant hide behind a wall By Erik Kirschbaum Hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Brussels to meet with President Trump and other NATO heads of state, she rekindled an old acquaintance with Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. About 70,000 people packed an avenue by Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate on Thursday to hear the two leaders speak, with cheers and chants of Barack, Barack! breaking out when the former president took the stage. Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama spoke of the need for universal healthcare and a nuanced approach to immigration in response to security threats. This is a new world we live in we cant isolate ourselves, the former president declared, with Merkel looking on. We cant hide behind a wall. Obama spoke of this weeks deadly bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England, saying leaders had to find ways to balance security fears and fundamental rights. One of the biggest challenges is how do you protect your country and your citizens from the kinds of things that we just saw in Manchester, he said. And how do you do it in a way that is consistent with your values and your ideals? Making his first European speech since his presidential term ended, Obama told the crowd he had spent the last four months trying to catch up with my sleep and devoting more time to his family. Im very proud of the work I did as president, he said to more cheers, adding that he considered healthcare reform a signature achievement. Republicans are now in the midst of trying to dismantle his Affordable Care Act. My hope was to get 100% of people healthcare, he said. We didnt quite achieve that, but we were able to get 20 million people healthcare who didnt have it before. Obamas speech was not timed to coincide with Trumps first visit to Europe as president, aides said. The invitation was extended before Trumps trip to Brussels the fourth leg on multi-stop tour was scheduled. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Macron says he pressed Trump on climate accord By Catherine Stupp French President Emmanuel Macron, who met President Trump for the first time on Thursday, said he urged the U.S. leader to respect the Paris climate accord. The White House, however, did not mention the issue in its readout on Trumps working lunch in Brussels with the newly elected French president. Macron told reporters as he headed into the meeting that climate change would be one of the issues he raised, along with concerns about terrorism and the economy. Afterward, at a news conference, the French president said that in his talk with Trump, he reiterated the importance of the landmark climate accord. No hasty decision on this subject should be taken by the U.S., Macron said. Our collective responsibility is to make sure this commitment remains a global commitment. Referring to the agreement, he added: Its one of a kind. In its readout, the White House said Trump urged Macron to meet NATO commitments on French defense spending and help ensure that the alliance is focused on counter-terrorism. It also said the two leaders talked about the importance of defeating Islamic State and other vital issues. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump lawyers ask Supreme Court to reject 2nd Amendment claim by men who lost gun rights over nonviolent crimes By David Savage President Trump speaks at an NRA event in Atlanta in April. ( Scott Olson / Getty Images) Trump administration lawyers are urging the Supreme Court to reject a 2nd Amendment claim that would restore the right to own a gun for two Pennsylvania men who were convicted more than 20 years ago of nonviolent crimes. The case of Sessions vs. Binderup puts the new administration in a potentially awkward spot, considering President Trumps repeated assurances during the campaign that he would protect gun ownership rights under the 2nd Amendment. But the Justice Department under Trump has embraced the same position in this case that was adopted under President Obama: to defend strict enforcement of a long-standing federal law that bars convicted criminals from ever owning a gun, even when their crimes did not involve violence. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Sen. Joe Lieberman withdraws from FBI director search By Associated Press (AFP/Getty Images) Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has withdrawn his name from consideration for the role of FBI director. Lieberman interviewed last week with President Trump, who publicly identified him as a leading candidate. But in a letter sent to the White House, Lieberman says hes pulling out. He says he wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, given Trumps hiring of one of Liebermans law partners to represent him in the investigation of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The White House declined to comment. Several other people interviewed for the job have also withdrawn from consideration. Trump fired former FBI Director James B. Comey earlier this month. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print At NATO celebration, Trump tells allies to spend more on defense By Michael A. Memoli (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump used his first NATO meeting to rebuke member nations who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliances defense spending target, saying American taxpayers unfairly are left to pick up the slack. Speaking at dedication ceremonies for NATOs new headquarters, Trump noted that the defense budgets of 23 of the 28 members dont meet a target equal to 2% of each respective nations economic output, while the United States has spent more on defense in eight years than the other 27 combined. Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years, he said. We have to make up for the many years lost. By his scolding, Trump was directly delivering to NATO allies the criticism that was a staple of his nationalist campaign for president. But his lecture came at an event intended to be celebratory, showcasing unity and resolve for the nearly 70-year-old alliance: the dedication of its shining, glass-enclosed new headquarters in Belgiums capital. The ceremony also was meant to call attention to the fact that the only time NATO has invoked its collective defense agreement was on behalf of the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Trump stood beside a section of wrenched steel from the downed World Trade Center Towers, a relic NATO calls the Article V artifact, to signify that post-9/11 invocation of the NATO charters article holding that an attack on any one member would be considered an attack on all. Speaking to reporters before the president arrived, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged that the alliance had a long way to go to meet its goals. But its much better than it was just two years ago, he said. The reality is that when we decrease defense spending when tensions are going down, as we did after the end of the Cold War, we have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions are going up. And now we see that tensions are going up. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch: Trump lectures NATO leaders on defense spending By L.A. Times staff As NATO leaders looked on, President Trump told NATO members that they must finally contribute their fair share of defense payments. President Trump lectured members of the NATO alliance on Thursday, urging them to pay their fair share on defense. As NATO leaders looked on during a ceremony at the alliances new headquarters, Trump said that member nations must finally contribute their fair share and meet their obligations. The president has been urging NATO leaders to live up to a 2011 decision to increase spending on defense to 2% of GDP by 2024. Trump said 23 of the 28 member nations are not paying what they should and that the situation is not fair to the people of the United States. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print President Trump promises to review Manchester investigation leaks after anger from Britain By Noah Bierman Trying to head off a diplomatic rift with Britain, President Trump on Thursday issued a statement promising a complete review of possible intelligence leaks related to this weeks deadly terrorist attack at a Manchester concert. Some British officials have suggested that U.S. officials are leaking sensitive information to American media outlets about the investigation into the attack. The New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing, which upset British officials. Whether the photographs were provided by U.S. officials or came from some other source is not publicly known. Trump avoided questions earlier Thursday about the possible leaks. His statement came just before he was set to address NATO at its new headquarters in a speech considered pivotal to his first trip abroad as president. British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to confront Trump over the issue when they meet later in the day. May told reporters as she entered the NATO gathering that she would make clear to Trump that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. We have a special relationship with the USA. Its our deepest defense and security partnership that we have, she said. Of course that partnership is built on trust, and part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently, and I will be making clear to President Trump today that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. In his statement, Trump said that the alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling. These leaks have been going on for a long time, and my Administration will get to the bottom of this. The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security. The statement continued with a promise to request the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Trump also reiterated said there is no relationship we cherish more than the special relationship between the two countries. Separate leaks within his own administration and related to investigations of his campaign ties to Russia have also been a source of anger to Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Montanas congressional election: that assault charge, the Trump factor, and why is it on a weird day (Thursday)? By Mark Z. Barabak Its election day in Montana after a wild 24 hours, with voters deciding who will fill the House seat vacated when Republican Ryan Zinke left to head the Interior Department under President Trump. The contest Thursday has drawn nationwide attention and an extraordinary amount of money and that was before the GOP front-runner was accused of attacking a national political reporter. The events have turned the contest into one of the strangest in memory. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump ignores questions about intelligence sharing ahead of NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Peter Dejoing / Associated Press) President Trump refused to answer questions Thursday about concerns among key allies on intelligence sharing with the United States, just as he prepares to join many of them here to inaugurate the new NATO headquarters. During a brief photo opportunity at his first meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Frances newly elected president, Trump for a second time remained silent as a reporter asked about a potential breakdown in the U.S.-United Kingdom intelligence-sharing relationship. British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to press Trump on the issue when they meet later Thursday, after the New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing. The acting U.S. ambassador to Britain told the BBC that the leaks were deeply distressing. Speaking to reporters at the site of a NATO leaders meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also deflected questions about whether the incident has led him to reevaluate his nations intelligence-sharing arrangements. We will continue to work with all our allies to keep Canadians and all citizens around the world safe, he said. Ahead of a working lunch with Macron, Trump said terrorism was at the top of the agenda, while also offering his congratulations to the 39-year-old for his tremendous victory. All over the world, theyre talking about it, he said. In addition to terrorism and the economy, Macron said he planned to discuss climate change and energy. His nation hosted the climate summit that produced the agreement under which countries pledged to reduce their carbon emissions, of which the Trump administration is considering dropping out. Trump also ignored a question about whether former national security advisor Michael Flynn should cooperate with the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has no news conference scheduled with reporters for the entirety of his eight-day foreign trip, which ends Saturday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump visits European Union headquarters; EU leaders cite some differences By Catherine Stupp Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said Thursday that differences remain between the Trump administration and the European Union on Russia, energy and trade. I am not 100 percent sure that we can say today that we have a common opinion about Russia, Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who is sometimes called the other Donald, said after a meeting with President Trump at EU headquarters. Tusk added that while some issues remain open, like climate and trade, the leaders agreed first and foremost on the need to combat terrorism. EU officials were skeptical in advance of Trumps visit. Their concerns were driven in part by the U.S. leaders positive stance on Britains vote last year to leave the bloc. Trump at the time called it a great idea. However, he has since spoken of the importance of European unity. European officials are also concerned that the Trump administration might withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming, and turn away from trade arrangements with the EU. Trumps visit to Brussels marked the fourth leg of his first overseas trip. Before heading into the talks with Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, he spoke enthusiastically about his earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and at the Vatican. His ceremonial welcome last week in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Trump told the European officials, was beyond anything anyones seen. The Saudis staged elaborate festivities including a traditional sword dance. And the president called his private encounter with Pope Francis on Wednesday very impressive. The president and the pontiff met privately for half an hour, and Francis presented Trump with gifts including a copy of a papal encyclical on climate change. The pope was terrific, Trump said. After the visit to the EUs sprawling new headquarters, Trump headed to a luncheon with the newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron. The two men were meeting for the first time. During the French presidential campaign, Trump had praised Macrons far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for her tough positions on immigration and borders, but he had stopped short of endorsing her. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Manchester attack makes terrorism the focus of Trumps NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) The deadly suicide bombing in Britain and threats of more attacks thrust counter-terrorism to the top of President Trumps agenda for talks with NATO leaders here on Thursday, buttressing his bid to enlist the alliance he had called obsolete to join the fight against Islamic State. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, anticipating the alliance meetings, told reporters flying with the president to Brussels from Rome, where Trump met Pope Francis earlier Wednesday, that Mondays attack in Britain is going to strengthen the resolve in this fight against terrorism. Tillerson stopped short of predicting that NATO would agree to formally join the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but said it would be a really important step if the alliance did so. The attack, which killed 22 people at a pop concert and was said to be the work of a 22-year-old British man whose family is from Libya, also figured in Trumps brief meeting with the pope at the Vatican. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Analysis says 23 million more people would be uninsured by 2026 under GOP healthcare bill By Noam N. Levey (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) An analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that the Republican healthcare bill that passed the House earlier this month would nearly double the number of Americans without health insurance over the next decade. The report likely will complicate Republican efforts to get the controversial bill through the Senate. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement By throwing Americas lot in with Sunni Arabs, does Trump miss opportunities with Iran? By Tracy Wilkinson On his first official trip to the Middle East, President Trump has resoundingly thrown Americas lot in with Sunni Arab states and cast Shiite Iran as a global pariah, even as Iranians reelected a president who has offered to work with the West. During his two days in Riyadh, Trumps full-throated support for the autocratic monarchies in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as well as his fierce denunciation of Iran, allowed him to claim an historic new coalition of interests. In the next two days, in Jerusalem, he doubled down and argued that Israel and the Arabs should join forces against Iran and along the way, resolve Israels conflict with Palestinians in a grand bargain that has eluded diplomats for decades. But as he departed for Rome on Tuesday, Trump had little to show beyond lofty rhetoric, symbolic visits and a shower of flattery from kings, potentates and a prime minister. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fed officials appear ready for another interest rate hike and are considering how to reduce assets By Jim Puzzanghera Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press) Most Federal Reserve monetary policymakers indicated they were ready for another small interest rate hike -- perhaps as soon as next month -- if economic data strengthened as expected following a weak winter, according to an account released Wednesday of their most recent meeting. Fed officials also considered a plan to start reducing the $4.5 trillion in Treasury and mortgage securities and other assets the central bank has purchased since 2008 in an attempt to stimulate the economy. The plan, which they said likely would begin later this year, would involve slowly allowing some of the maturing securities to be cashed in instead of reinvesting the money in new securities, the meeting minutes showed. The goal would be to avoid roiling financial markets and causing interest rates to jump. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print So whats with the president and Melania Trump holding, or not holding, hands? By Tom Kington First Lady Melania Trump does not say much in public, but her actions seemed to speak louder than words or at least sent tongues wagging when she appeared to rebuff the presidents proffered hand as the couple descended from their plane in Rome late Tuesday. As President Trump looked to take her hand on the steps of Air Force One, Melania Trump quickly moved it out of reach, raising it to her head to adjust her hair. That made for two such episodes in two days. She had appeared to brush Trumps hand away at the airport in Tel Aviv during the previous stop in the presidents foreign tour. Video of that scene, often accompanied by snarky commentary, quickly went viral. Compare that to Melania Trumps positively hands-on visit on Wednesday to a Rome childrens hospital, Bambino Gesu, following the couples visit with Pope Francis. After praying to a statue of the Madonna at the entrance to the hospital, the Catholic first lady smiled cheerfully and chatted to children, posing for selfies and providing a very happy, maternal presence, according to one onlooker. Great visiting you! Stay strong and positive! Much love, Melania Trump, she wrote in the visitors book. Staff at the hospital said Melania Trump had been buoyed by her meeting with Pope Francis, and further proof came when photos emerged of the Trumps quick visit to the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. As the president and first lady stood together to admire Michelangelos 16th century fresco, the Last Judgment, they held hands. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print House Intelligence Committee will subpoena Michael Flynn, Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire The House Intelligence Committee is preparing to issue subpoenas to President Trumps former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, according to the committees ranking Democrat, following the lead of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said the House subpoenas will be designed to maximize our chance of getting the information we need for the committees investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. I think we need to use whatever compulsory [processes] necessary to get the information that he possesses, Schiff said. Earlier this week, Flynns lawyers said he would refuse separate Senate subpoenas for any records about his former business dealings with Russia, citing his constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. The Senate committee then issued separate subpoenas to two of Flynns businesses, which the panel said were not entitled to 5th Amendment protections. A federal grand jury in Virginia also has issued subpoenas regarding Flynns business dealings with Turkey and Russia, and the newly appointed special counsel investigating the Russia matter, Robert Mueller III, is expected to focus on Flynns role as well. Given the criminal investigations, Schiff said the House panel is highly unlikely to grant Flynns earlier request, through his lawyers, for immunity in exchange for his testimony. He said the panel would need more information about what Flynn would say and whether the testimony would be truthful. It also would need to ensure that granting immunity wouldnt affect the special counsels ongoing investigation, he said. Thats not somthinge I think we would entertain until far later, if at all, said Schiff, a former prosecutor. Certainly count me as very skeptical that we would get to that point. Trump forced Flynn to resign as national security advisor in February after news accounts revealed Flynn had misled White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Russian officials. Schiff spoke to reporters at a breakfast Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch live: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies on Trumps budget Follow live coverage from Times education reporter Joy Resmovits: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Israel acknowledges pinpoint change needed after Trump intelligence disclosure By Joshua Mitnick After a week of silence, Israel publicly acknowledged for the first time, though in oblique terms, that it was the source of sensitive intelligence that President Trump shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week in a White House meeting. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israels army radio on Wednesday that Israeli officials had carried out an internal pinpoint correction after discussing and reviewing the episode. Lieberman did not elaborate, and declined to confirm or deny whether Trumps remarks had endangered an agent of Israel. But he said his government considered the matter resolved. Everything that needed to be clarified with the friends in the U.S. was done, he said. All of the conclusions we had to draw it was all done. The Israeli defense ministers comments came the day after Trump wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank. When word of Trumps disclosure to Lavrov emerged in U.S. news reports last week, the defense minister and other Israeli leaders confined themselves to expressing public confidence in the two countries intelligence cooperation. Israel did not comment more directly, presumably to avoid embarrassing the U.S. president just before his visit. But Trump himself mentioned the controversy anyway, in an awkward on-camera moment during the trip. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu biting his lip alongside, Trump volunteered to reporters being hustled out of a news appearance: Just so you know, I never mentioned the word or name Israel. Never mentioned it during the conversation. News reports, however, had not said the president mentioned Israel in connection with the intelligence, only that the specificity of his remarks to Lavrov would in all likelihood have allowed the Russians to determine the source. The White House at first denied Trumps disclosure to Lavrov had occurred as reported, but then the president himself tweeted about it, saying he had the right to share information as he deemed fit. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump calls meeting with Pope Francis an honor By Michael A. Memoli "A very great honor," Trump says to the pope when they began their meeting in the pope's private study pic.twitter.com/NGsbsahAyT Carol Lee (@carolelee) May 24, 2017 President Trump held a half-hour private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, declaring it a great honor despite their past public dissension. The unconventional Republican and the first Jesuit pontiff made for an unlikely pair in the Vaticans Apostolic Palace, where Catholic leaders have presided or centuries and American presidents have come or decades. Francis was silent as the two sat across one another at the popes wooden desk to begin the audience at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time. Exactly a half-hour later, the ringing of a bell signified the end of the private encounter. For the White House, the Vatican stop caps a tour through key sites of the worlds three major religions, following stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, designed to promote tolerance and a united approach to terrorism. When you put it all together, youre really showing that this problem of radical extremism is one of the great problems of our time, a senior Trump aide told reporters Tuesday en route from Israel to Rome, briefing anonymously as is common White House practice. By putting everybody together you can really build a coalition and show that its not a Muslim problem, its not a Jewish problem, its not a Catholic problem, its not a Christian problem, it really is a world problem. In an exchange of gifts after their private meeting, Francis offered the president a medal by a Roman artist of an olive, a symbol of peace. We can use peace, Trump responded. Where Trumps and Francis interests may align on peace and combating terrorism, they disagree sharply on issues like immigration and poverty. Like Trump, the Argentine pope has shown a predilection for unscripted comments that have shaken the staid Vatican bureaucracy, as when he criticized candidate Trumps proposed stricter immigration policies including a border wall as not Christian. Trump fired back, calling the popes remarks disgraceful. Any animosity was not apparent Wednesday, as a meeting between Francis and a larger U.S. delegation ended. Thank you. I wont forget what you said, Trump said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Proposed budget would deeply cut State Department and its programs By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The State Department leadership voiced support for President Trumps proposed budget, which would impose deep cuts on spending for diplomacy and foreign aid, but critics vowed to fight to restore the funds in Congress. In a statement, the department said the presidents $37.6-billion request for it and for the U.S. Agency for International Development would support a leaner, more efficient government in line with Trumps America first mantra. If approved by Congress, that would represent a reduction of roughly 30% from the current fiscal year. Nongovernmental agencies that receive State Department support to carry out humanitarian and other work around the globe expressed deep alarm. The State Department statement said its new priorities would include efforts to counter terrorism, support Israel, promote border security and battle transnational crime and the spread of infectious diseases. The statement makes no mention of women-empowerment programs or efforts to fight climate change, issues that rose to prominence under the Obama administration. The proposed budget would allow the United States to remain engaged in the United Nations, but officials would seek a more fair distribution of the funding burden, the statement said. And it would eliminate direct funding for quasi- and non-governmental organizations that serve niche missions. The American Jewish World Service, which fights poverty all over the world through 450 local organizations, said much of its work would be jeopardized. At a time when poverty, human rights abuses, famines and conflicts are wreaking havoc globally, said the groups president, Robert Bank, the United States must not abdicate its long bipartisan tradition of providing development assistance and diplomatic support to the most vulnerable people around the world. Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based development and advocacy organization that works in 40 countries, said gutting development programs was short-sighted and absolutely shameful and could put millions of lives at risk. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the budget cruel and mean-spirited and said it would force the United States to abandon our global role as a champion for freedom, democracy and the rule of law. If President Trump thinks the United States can shrink into a defensive crouch without long-term repercussions, hes sorely mistaken, Engel said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Sessions first proposed budget: A crackdown on immigration and violent crime By Joseph Tanfani Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In the first budget proposal under President Trump and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department is seeking hundreds of millions in new funding to pay for an immigration crackdown on the border and a surge in resources to fight violent crime. Like the Department of Homeland Security budget, which includes billions for expanded immigration detention, more border agents and technology to catch those crossing the border illegally, the Justice Department budget is a reflection of the new get-tough policies promised by Sessions. The budget asks for another 300 federal prosecutors 230 to focus on violent criminals and gangs, and another 70 to concentrate on filing criminal charges on those crossing the border illegally. The shift in the spending priorities are in line with other policy changes ordered by Sessions, including a renewed focus on seeking stiff mandatory minimum sentences for drugs and other crimes. The $27.7-billion budget seeks 450 new attorneys and support workers for the immigration courts, which are now clogged with a backlog of 560,000 cases. There would also be another $50 million for increased immigration detention, plus 40 new U.S. marshal jobs to help take care of the expected increase in immigrants heading to federal court. With Trumps immigration initiatives tied up in federal court, the budget seeks another 15 lawyers to handle that litigation, plus 12 more to help handle property acquisition needed for Trumps promised Southwestern border wall. Violent-crime enforcement would get another $198 million, with the largest amount, $70 million, going toward setting up more anti-violence and gang task forces. Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein said more resources are needed because of what he called an alarming increase in the rates of murder and other violent crimes. The department is also asking for another $40 million for more drug enforcement to combat the opioid epidemic, which he said is spreading havoc throughout the United States. Sessions new policies should lead to an increase in prison population, so the budget contains funding to fully open a new supermax prison in Thomson, Ill., with room for 1,500 to 2,000 inmates. The department also wants to put more resources behind the FBIs efforts to counter cyber attacks and to figure out ways around encryption technology, along with another 50 agents to counter foreign intelligence and threats from homegrown terrorists. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Economists say Trumps budget proposal doesnt add up By Don Lee President Trumps inaugural budget proposal claims to eliminate the nations deficit in 10 years, thanks largely to faster economic growth that it projects will come from the presidents sweeping tax cuts. Never mind the overly optimistic projections on economic growth. Or that Trumps tax overhaul has not happened yet. Even allowing for both, economists say Trumps budget still does not add up. The administration is counting on generating $2.1 trillion in additional revenue over 10 years from better economic growth. But Trumps budget proposal leaves out the cost, or the revenue lost, from the massive tax cuts. In other words, the economic gains that the administration has said it would use to pay for tax reform is apparently also being counted on to pay for deficit reduction. Some people call that double-counting. You cant use the same money twice, said Marc Goldwein, a senior vice president for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that advocates keeping government budgets under control. Lawrence Summers, former Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration and top economic advisor to President Obama, called it an elementary but egregious accounting error. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said the proposal did not necessarily mean there was an outright omission or a double-counting. Its possible that the administration is looking for such strong economic growth to drive significantly extra revenue from payroll taxes, he said, or it could be that Trump officials were using different base lines from which they were drawing their results. But on the face of it, he said, the budget and tax-plan numbers dont seem to match. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that Trumps plan to cut corporate and individual taxes would cost the federal government about $5.5 trillion over 10 years, adding more than $6 trillion to the national debt. Details of Trumps tax overhaul, however, are still being developed, and its possible that the administration is assuming a revenue-neutral tax plan although experts say big tax cuts never pay for themselves. On Tuesday, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps budget chief, did not provide a direct answer or explanation to questions about double-counting. Instead, he told reporters that you have to make assumptions about a budget. He went on to say that one of the assumptions that was not made was to take into account the uncollected taxes every year, which he said amounted to $486 billion last year. And we dont assume an additional penny of that being closed as part of our tax reform, said Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Of the 3% annual economic growth assumption, Mulvaney responded that the Obama administration in its first couple of years had based its budget on growth of 4.5%. In fact, Obamas first budget proposal as president, in May 2009, assumed economic growth of between 4% and 4.6% for the budget years 2011 to 2013. Since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009, the U.S. economy has been growing on average about 2% a year, and the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve and most private economists see the economy advancing at about 2% annually over the next 10 years. Alice Rivlin, a former Fed vice chair and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Clinton, said its true that the Obama administrations growth assumptions proved too optimistic. But she noted that those projections were not unreasonable for that time and period in the economic cycle. Then, there was greater potential for growth with unemployment high and many more people than today available for work. Today, the economy is nearing its eighth year of expansion, and the jobless rate is 4.4%, at or near full employment. With the aging of baby boomers, labor force growth slowing, and lackluster productivity gains, economists see the current moderate growth persisting for the foreseeable future. This has been a very long period of growth and were at the high end already, Rivlin said. If we are so lucky to have continuous, steady growth, its not likely to be at 3% or 4% or 5%. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Who wins and who loses in Trumps budget The White House Office of Management and Budget sent Congress the presidents inaugural budget today, projecting spending and revenues over the next 10 years. The fiscal package, which include a partial skinny budget from March, reflects President Trumps priorities for the nation, but lawmakers are sure to reject many of the deep cuts in domestic and foreign affairs programs. The departments of State, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Education and Housing, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, are the biggest losers. The winners are the Pentagon and Homeland Security programs. Even with the increases in defense spending and large tax cuts, the administration projects that economic growth spurred by tax cuts will erase annual deficits by 2027. Take a look at some of the numbers released today. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement What that Montana special congressional race will and wont tell us about Trump and his political problems By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Rob Quist is a quintessential cowboy who doesnt seem to relish campaigning in Montanas special congressional election. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) On Thursday, the political world will eagerly look to Montana and a closely fought congressional race for the latest test of Democratic strength and Republican resilience in the turbulent age of Trump. The major candidates and outside groups have sunk more than $8 million into the contest, a huge sum in a state where $250,000 pays for a robust week of television advertising. But for all that money and all the outside interest, the election will turn less on national trends than circumstances close to home: on the personalities and histories of the main contestants, their different campaign styles and, perhaps most of all, on who is regarded as the more authentic Montanan. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Terrorist attack in England has conservative media focused on safety of allies By Kurtis Lee (Dave Thompson/Getty images ) Its a sight witnessed all too often: an explosion, screams, people sprinting to safety. Late Monday night, this was the scene at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, after a man with possible ties to Islamic State militants set off a suicide bomb, killing 22 people and, once again, setting in motion a global discourse on how to fight terrorism. President Trump, while visiting Bethlehem, said the attack was committed by evil losers in life. Throughout the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump has said defeating the Islamic State is a top priority. (He reiterated that point in a speech Sunday in Saudi Arabia, urging Muslim leaders to plot their own course in combating terrorism.) In recent months, with attacks in Berlin, Paris and London, conservative media have questioned the safety of Europe and warned that the United States could face similar attacks. With the latest attack, some on the right are again homing in on the safety of our allies. Here are some of todays headlines: 2017 has seen a terror attack attempted in Europe every nine days (Breitbart) The attack in Manchester blankets the home page of the right-wing website. Europe has indeed been the location of high-profile attacks this year. In Paris last month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Champs-Elysees in which a man fired an automatic weapon, killing a police officer. And in March, a man plowed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, near the British Parliament in London, and then fatally stabbed a police officer. In all, four people were killed and dozens injured in what police called a terrorist attack. The Breitbart piece is an analysis of different terrorist attacks attempted and carried out in Europe since January. Attacks and attempted attacks have taken place in Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Germany, on average every nine days, the piece says. Pences message of civility and open debate lost on those who most needed to hear it (Weekly Standard) The debate over free speech on colleges campuses continues. In recent months, conservative speakers have canceled speeches on college campuses in the face of anticipated protests. And others, who have opted to speak, have faced vocal backlash. On Sunday, as Vice President Mike Pence began to address students at the University of Notre Dame commencement, several dozen stood and walked out of the ceremony. In his speech, Pence talked about civility and open debate, and this piece argues that the m Fatal shootings of civilians by police officers are less common in states with stricter gun laws than they are in states that take a more relaxed approach to regulating the sale, storage and use of firearms, new research says. A study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health has found that fatal police shootings were about half as common in states whose gun laws place them in the top 25% of stringency than they were in states where such restrictions ranked in the bottom 25%. The new findings draw from an analysis of 1,835 firearms-related deaths involving a police officer in the United States all such fatalities reported in the 22 months following Jan. 1, 2015. It found that, of 42 laws enacted by states, the ones most strongly linked to lower fatal police shootings were those that aimed to strengthen background checks, to promote safe firearm storage, and to reduce gun trafcking. Advertisement We suspect that because these states have more robust gun laws, theyre better able to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people, said the studys lead author, University of Indianapolis psychology professor Aaron Kivisto. The likely result, he suggested, is that police in such states are just less likely to encounter people in circumstances where they shouldnt have a gun. The association held up even after researchers accounted for state differences in the density and demographics of its citizens. The study results add to a broad pattern of findings about states rates of gun ownership, which largely rise and fall along with gun-related suicides, accidental firearm injuries and domestic violence deaths. New Mexico, Wyoming, Alaska, Oklahoma and Arizona led the country in rates of fatal police shootings, which were calculated as the number of such deaths per 1 million state residents. All but Oklahoma had among the most relaxed gun laws on their books. Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois were among the states with the lowest rates of officer-involved fatal shootings. All had gun laws that placed them among the nations most restrictive states. But not all states fit the pattern. California was especially unusual, Kivisto said: Though the state claimed the No. 1 position for stringency of gun laws, its rate of fatal police shootings during the study period was much higher than the national average. In fact, the rate of officer-involved gun deaths in California fell between those of South Dakota and Alabama, two states with some of the scantest restrictions on the sale, ownership and use of guns. Kivisto suggested that for some states, including California, statutory efforts to staunch the supply of guns on the streets were likely being undermined by gun trafficking from neighboring states. Arizona and Nevada have gun laws that are among the nations least restrictive (as well as rates of fatal police shooting that are well above the norm). A state can have the strongest gun laws possible, but it cant stop gun from flowing across state boundaries, Kivisto said. One of strongest arguments for federal gun laws would be that some uniformity may be needed to stop guns flowing in from other states. Other states bucked the national pattern by maintaining both few gun restrictions and low rates of officer-involved fatal shootings. This group included Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Indiana. Kivisto and his co-authors did not rely on Justice Department statistics of police-related shootings, since states are not required to report those and dont necessarily do so routinely. Instead, the researchers relied on a running tally of officer-involved fatalities maintained by the British newspaper The Guardian, a source that is considered comprehensive. In addition to verifying and chronicling the time, location and circumstances of the shootings, The Guardians database, called The Counted, also documents the victims gender, race or ethnicity, whether he (96% of all victims during the study period were male) was armed, and by what mechanism the victim was killed (for instance, by taser, by firearm or struck by a car). Of 2,021 fatalities during the 22-month study period, 1,835 were killed with a police officers gun. And in 53% of those cases, the person killed was also armed with a gun. One in 10 were thought to be entirely unarmed at the time of the fatal shooting. Individuals from racial or ethnic minority groups made up slightly more than one-third of all victims. melissa.healy@latimes.com @LATMelissaHealy ALSO Scientists get closer to making personalized blood cells by using patients own stem cells Experts measure food waste not in dollars or tons, but by calories, vitamins and minerals Rising sea levels could mean twice as much flood risk in Los Angeles and other coastal cities Mothers. Daughters. Sisters. Friends. Women from Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego are invited to a one-day wellness event in Anaheim on June 1 that will focus on delivering a message of greater productivity, increased energy and improved life satisfaction. The Whole Purpose, an Irvine-based health-conscious company providing individuals and corporations an approach to physical and emotional well-being, partnered with the newly renovated House of Blues Anaheim for a conference, Me.Life.Balance. The daylong affair will begin with Acai breakfast bowls, a lunch buffet, snacks, a happy hour featuring drinks mixed with cold-pressed juices and a lineup of speakers promoting healthy living. Nutritionist and New York Times best-selling author Kimberly Snyder will deliver the keynote speech, Emotional Wellbeing and Keeping Emotional Balance through Proper Nutrition. Snyder, a graduate of Georgetown University, is the creator of Glow Bio, an organic smoothie, juice and cleanse company. She has worked as nutritionist for celebrities, including Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore and Channing Tatum. The event will also feature a Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian expert panel moderated by Dr. Allyson Brooks, chief quality officer, and the Ginny Ueberroth, executive medical director and endowed chair of the Hoag Womens Health Institute in Newport Beach. Jenny Ross, a chef who specializes in vegan raw food, will discuss, Balancing Your Energy through Superfoods and Healthy Quick Meal Planning, and Emmy Award-winning television journalist and former Miss USA and KTLA news anchor Lu Parker will present, Kindness Wins. Thats So Retrograde podcast hosts Elizabeth Kott and Stephanie Simbari will host an onstage moderation with nutritionist Elissa Goodman for Detoxing the Mind. The Whole Purpose will continue to host events at House of Blues Anaheim throughout the year, including one with Mallika Chopra, founder of intent.com, author of Living with Intent and the daughter of spiritual guru Deepak Chopra. Im hoping women learn more about how to make themselves and their communities healthier, said Kelly Lam, a Newport Beach resident who founded The Whole Purpose. My goal is create a community where everyone can find like-minded friends wanting to help each other. There doesnt need to be competition. Lets all work together. Me.Life.Balance will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1 at House of Blues Anaheim, 400 Disney Way. For more information, visit thewholepurpose.com/event/me-life-balance kathleen.luppi@latimes.com Twitter: @KathleenLuppi Thirty-two Newport-Mesa Unified School District high school seniors got a surprise Friday when they were presented with tools for success in college by a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit. ----- For the Record, 11 a.m. May 26: The original version of this article stated incorrectly that six of the 32 students were from Newport-Mesa. In fact, all 32 were. ----- Share Our Selves handed out laptops, $50 Amazon gift cards for textbooks and $40 gift cards to Grocery Outlet during a ceremony at the SOS Community Health Center. Seniors attending a community college also received a backpack with school supplies, while students who plan to live on campus got luggage with dorm room supplies such as towels, sheets, hangers and hygiene kits. In addition, students received a sweater from their university or college. The 32 recipients are: Newport Harbor High School: Jamary Calderon, Sergio Castaneda, Natalee Ceron, Yoan Gadzhev, Jennifer Gonzalez, Raul Guerrero, Itzel Hernandez, Sophia Martinez, Elizabeth Torres and Kenia Uribe Costa Mesa High School: Kate Chavez, Adrian Delgado-Garcia, Ileana Hernandez, Crystal Henriquez, Brittany Ka, Anise Potjes, Lizandra Ruiz, Xally Varela, Jessica Vazquez, Tatiana Vazquez and Kathy Villa Estancia High School: Nathalie Acevedo, Valeria Cruz Anaya, Salma Diaz Lopez, Pablo Guerrero de Anda, Kimberly Hernandez, Alyssa Morales, Alexander Moya, Bryan Nava, Sharon Ozuna Crispin, Fatima Santiago and Adriana Vazquez Morales For eligibility, a school administrator recommended students based on their determination to overcome difficult circumstances to succeed. Students submitted an application, a personal statement explaining why they should be considered for the project and confirmation of attendance at a college or university in the fall. In preparation for Friday, the nonprofit sent the 32 seniors to the Working Wardrobes Career Center, an Irvine-based nonprofit, to choose professional attire for the event and for future job interviews and formal occasions. Priscella.Vega@latimes.com Twitter: @vegapriscella Area school districts made gains in the rates of vaccinated students because of a change in state law that eliminated personal exemptions as a reason not to immunize children, according to an Orange County Grand Jury report released earlier this week. Each district planned well in advance of the change and acted early and successfully in their efforts, said the report, which listed year-by-year vaccination rates for 24 school districts in the county dating to the 2013-14 school year. Districts that already had high percentages continued to achieve those results by relying on tried-and-true methods. Districts that started with lower percentages made use of trained staff, direct mail and a variety of outreach methods to educate parents about [Senate Bill] 277, and significantly increased their numbers of vaccinated students. The law, which took effect on July 1, 2016, requires all children enrolled in day-care facilities and public or private schools in California to be fully vaccinated against several communicable diseases including diphtheria, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza type B, measles, mumps and pertussis, according to the report. Students entering kindergarten and seventh grade are now required to have up-to-date vaccinations. Medical exemptions are still allowed and require a physician to provide the school district with a letter certifying certain medical concerns. Fountain Valley School District had the largest percentage of area students vaccinated with 97.4% in the 2016-17 school year, an increase from 93.6% in 2015-16, the report said. The percentages correlate to enrolled kindergarten students. Ocean View School District had 95.9% vaccinated kindergarten students in 2016-17 compared with 92.2% in the prior year. Newport-Mesa Unified School District had 94.8% vaccinated students, an increase from 85.6% in the 2015-16 year. Huntington Beach City School District had 93% vaccinated students in 2016-17, an increase from 85.3% in 2015-16. Laguna Beach Unified School District had 86.5% of vaccinated students, an increase from 81.2% in 2015-16. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommended herd immunity rate is 92%-94%, according to the Grand Jury report. Under the law, personal belief exemptions submitted before Jan. 1, 2016, remain valid until a student reaches seventh grade, according to a Laguna Beach Unified release. Laguna Beach Unified has 241 students with grandfathered personal exemptions. The report noted that the number of enrolled kindergarten students countywide countered a prediction of some people that public school enrollment would decline because of parents placing their children in home schooling to avoid the new law. The California Department of Public Health reported that 42,389 students enrolled in kindergarten in 2016-17, an increase from 42,007 in 2015-16. To read the full report, visit ocgrandjury.org. bryce.alderton@latimes.com Twitter: @AldertonBryce Erwin Chemerinsky, a leading constitutional scholar and the founding dean of UC Irvines 9-year-old School of Law, has accepted a position as dean of UC Berkeleys law school. Chemerinsky will serve a five-year term beginning July 1, according to a UC Berkeley announcement. Dean Chemerinsky is an acclaimed researcher, gifted teacher and accomplished administrator, Carol Christ, Berkeleys interim executive vice chancellor, said in a statement. And I believe he will be a phenomenal leader for our law school, someone who will ensure that Berkeley Law remains not only a powerhouse of legal scholarship and training but also a community built on mutual respect and inclusion. Replacing Chemerinsky as interim dean at UC Irvine is L. Song Richardson, a UCI law faculty member since 2014. She is senior associate dean for academic affairs. Richardson begins the interim post July 1. I want to express my enormous gratitude to Dean Erwin Chemerinsky for all he has contributed to the success of the law school and the entire university during his tenure as dean, UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman said in a statement. Im very grateful that Song Richardson has agreed to serve as interim dean, knowing that she will work with the law school community to maintain our extraordinary momentum. According to Chemerinskys biography on UCIs website, he is the author of 10 books and more than 200 law review articles. He has argued cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and earlier this year was named by National Jurist magazine as the most influential person in legal education in the United States for 2016. The magazine also gave him the honor in 2013. bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint When Fareed Farukhi toured the Fish Interfaith Center at Chapman University about a year ago, he noticed that something was missing from its display of holy scriptures. They showed me the Book of Mormon, a Bible from the Chapman family, and a Torah from Lithuania, he said. I said, We have all these beautiful scriptures, but I dont see the Koran, which completes the Abrahamic faiths. Youve got two out of the three. So Farukhi, who founded Universal Heritage and Research Center an Orange County group promoting cross-cultural understanding decided to do something about it. He assisted the university in developing a new exhibit for the Fish Interfaith Center that features a 15th-century illuminated Koran from Syria inside a custom designed seven-foot tall display cabinet with intricate wooden inlays of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic geometry. The exhibit was officially unveiled May 16. This display of the Koran and the cabinet shows how beauty can be expressed through religion, using arts, culture and language, said Farukhi. The Koran exhibit, which will include a rotation of several copies of the Koran, is now the fourth scripture on display at the Fish Interfaith Center. It joins the Bible of C.C. Chapman, the universitys founder who died in 1944, the Book of Mormon donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Lithuanian Torah that survived the Holocaust. Each of the scriptures is housed in an elaborate wooden cabinet designed by Los Angeles artist William Tunberg, who specializes in marquetry, a form of woodwork in which smaller, colored pieces of wood are inlaid to create a design. Tunberg, who is Presbyterian, said he had little exposure to Islamic art and architecture before embarking on this project, but he ended up finding familiar ground. Ninety-nine percent of Islamic design is geometric, and that goes right down my alley because I also use geometry in my sculptures, he said, noting that Islamic architecture also relies on many of the same styles the ancient Greeks and Romans used. To ensure the cabinet had a distinctive Islamic character, Tunberg said that he immersed himself in Islamic art, architecture and calligraphy, just as he studied Judaism and Mormonism to make cases for the Torah and Book of Mormon. I try to make it comfortable for people in that religion to look at and appreciate the objects inside, he said. Each one of these things is like getting a new education. In the center of the cabinet, an eight-pointed star is formed out of Islamic calligraphy spelling Allah, the Arabic word for God. On the cabinets outside panels are other geometric designs that also contain the word Allah in the curved Thuluth script. On top of the Koran cabinet is a sculpture of the Dome of the Rock, the mosque in Jerusalem where the prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended into heaven with the angel Gabriel. Beneath the dome is a third form of Islamic calligraphy, the angular Kufic script, which reads, bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim, in the name of God the most gracious, the most merciful, a phrase that is recited before each chapter of the Koran. Gail Stearns, dean of the Wallace All Faiths Chapel at Chapman, said that its Tunbergs commitment to understanding each religion that sets his work apart. The thing that I love about Bills work is that he spends an enormous amount of time to educate himself about what hes building, she said. He spent a lot of time learning about Islam and building this to make it authentic, but also unique and creative. Together, the four scriptures and cabinets send an important message, Stearns said. When you see these displays side by side, you see what we have in common, the scripture and how important it is and some of the marquetry work moves from one cabinet to the next, said Stearns. And it also shows the distinctiveness. And thats the beauty to have both our uniqueness and also our commonality. Fish Interfaith Center at Chapman University is at 1 University Drive, Orange. For more information, call (714) 628-7289. CAITLIN YOSHIKO KANDIL is a contributor to Times Community News. Re. Commentary: Barbara Boxers desalination plant lobbying betrays her legacy, (May 5): Delay and debate over desalination in Orange County have gone on too long the time for action is now. Poseidons proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach will deliver a sustainable solution to Orange Countys long-term drought and water security issues. Will it be expensive? Yes. Are there environmental risks? Yes. But the costs and impacts of this desalination plant will be minor compared to the consequences of not taking action to secure Orange Countys water supply. Poseidons plant is an insurance policy. Critics of the long-term take-or-pay agreement fail to appreciate this. Poseidons desalinated water will ensure that Orange Countys community and economy remain vibrant and prosperous in times of drought. Like any insurance policy, it costs money even when its not needed. One doesnt wait to buy homeowners insurance until ones house is in flames. Paying for a drought-proof water supply works the same way investment now will protect the county in the long run. No solution to county water needs is completely without environmental impact. The Poseidon plant has two environmental impacts affecting the ocean near Huntington Beach: (1) brine discharge, and (2) marine life impingement and entrainment. But by cleverly utilizing the seawater-handling infrastructure from the existing Huntington Beach power plant, these desalination impacts will be minimized. Furthermore, desalination impacts are less harmful than the damage that dams and aqueducts inflict on fragile river and estuarial ecosystems. Desalination is not a silver bullet, but it is the best, most practical and most robust water supply solution for Orange County. It will protect community vitality and prosperity in times of drought better than alternatives, and will do so at lower economic and environmental cost. Innovation is never free, and there are always those who argue against and seek to delay progress. But the county needs act now in order to have a secure water supply come the next drought. The Poseidon Desalination plant at Huntington Beach is in the best interest of Orange County, its economy, its future vitality and its citizens. The project should proceed without further delay. Randy Carlson San Diego The writer is director of the board of the SolRio Organization for Climate Change Mitigation Inc. Embrace, rather than alienate, the other As the nation becomes more and more divided, othering becomes the way we sort ourselves out politically and culturally. A few examples highlight the problem. To those on the ideological right, these are othering words: leftist, anything-goes, tree-hugger, gay-rights supporter, socialist, evolutionist, secular humanist. Those on the left have their own set of alienating words: right-wing extremist, homophobic, fundamentalist, anti-immigrant, militarist, gun nut, climate-denier. Once we brand someone with an othering label, we put them in an alien world that to us is suspicious, threatening, un-American and, in many respects, evil. We dare not discuss politics with the other or cooperate with them. The other is an object of contempt and must at best be tolerated in the spirit of the First Amendment. At worst, we hate the other and have little regard for their well-being. And sometimes hate leads to anger and violence, as in the case of the KKK, ISIS recruits or the anti-facists. At the root of othering is a culture of suspicion and fear. The other is threatening to ones way of life politically, morally, ethnically, financially. Many conservatives, for example, fear that Muslim immigrants will make Sharia (Islamic law) a part of our legal system or that the gay-rights agenda will lead to moral decay. Liberals, for their part, fear that withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, as the president has threatened, dashes any hope of curtailing a warming planet. Or they worry that government defunding of Planned Parenthood will seriously jeopardize the health of poorer women. The problem is that othering keeps us from reaching out to those with different world views and becoming wiser for doing so. We can continue down this path and become one nation divisible, or start listening to the other and finding better solutions on immigration and health care, for example for the building of a more perfect union. Benjamin J. Hubbard Costa Mesa How to get published: Email us at dailypilot@latimes.com. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length. Although a Metropolitan Transportation Authority report studying the benefits and impacts of the proposal to connect the Long Beach (710) Freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway concluded last week that a freeway tunnel is the preferred alternative to address projected traffic congestion in the area, an ad hoc committee voted Wednesday to recommend to the Metro board another option. The May 10 report advocating a single-bore freeway tunnel was a status update to the State Route 710 North Project environmental process, which examined various alternatives to improve transit with the fewest negative impacts in an area that extends more than 100 square miles to include East Los Angeles and the west San Gabriel Valley. Studies completed over the past few years clearly capture the mobility benefits included in the Single Bore Freeway Tunnel, with tolls and truck restrictions, the MTA report said. This alternative reduces regional and local congestion...and delivers the best transportation performance. The study is the latest update on a joint effort by Metro and Caltrans that began in 2011 to review the environmental impacts of a possible 4.5-mile 710 freeway tunnel that is expected to carry a price tag of at least $5.6 billion, alongside four other alternate scenarios that included the expansion of rapid transit systems and bus lines, and a series of systemic traffic improvements. On Wednesday morning, Metro staff presented an update to the Metro Board of Directors Ad-Hoc Congestion, Highway and Roads Committee. During the meeting, the five-member ad-hoc committee passed a motion, 3-2, submitted by MTA Board Chair John Fasana, which instead recommends adopting the Traffic Systems Management/Traffic Demand Management alternative designed to upgrade local street systems. Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Janice Hahn had the dissenting votes. Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, who represents the North County/San Fernando Valley sector on the MTA board and is vice chair of the ad hoc committee, has opposed the 710 tunnel proposal since its inception. He said the Fasana motion is a clear statement of the intent of the MTA board not to fund any money for the tunnel. Its the first time any motion passed that could potentially kill the tunnel if this recommendation is adopted by the full board, Najarian said. The motion represents the capitulation the San Gabriel Valley representative, Fasana, to give up on this whole tunnel advocacy. Both the status update and the Fasana motion will head to the May 25 Metro board meeting for consideration. The motion requires votes by seven of the 13 board members to pass. Critics of the proposed 710 tunnel include the cities of Glendale, La Canada Flintridge, San Marino, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and South Pasadena, all of which cite concerns over health, cost and sustainability. As a joint coalition formed to analyze and respond to Metros environmental impact report for the 710 alternatives, those municipalities previously proposed greener alternatives such as rapid transit upgrades, improved bus services and free transit passes for area students. Alhambra and Monterey Park have been the most outspoken supporters of the extension, along with a group known as the 710 Coalition, whose members said last weeks Metro status update validates the coalitions position. The people in our city and the San Gabriel Valley have suffered enough from the traffic and population increasing, so obviously Im going to support [the 710 tunnel], said Alhambra Mayor Dave Mejia. He added that the recommendation that came from Fasana Wednesday isnt inclusive of the neighboring cities such as San Gabriel and Rosemead. If [the Metro status update] would have come back with a suggestion to try a different transportation system I would have supported that, but Im fully supportive of what the study said, he said. Chinese authorities have banned dog meat sales at the countrys notorious Yulin dog-eating festival, two U.S. nonprofit organizations reported Wednesday. The annual festival in Yulin a prefecture-level city in southwest Chinas Guangxi province has in recent years emerged as a lightning rod for animal rights activism, granting the sleepy city a degree of global infamy. Activists say thousands of dogs some of them abducted pets are slaughtered at the festival each year; theyre served alongside lychees and grain alcohol to mark the summer solstice. The Yulin government has banned the citys dog meat vendors from selling the meat for one week starting June 15, the U.S.-based Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project and Humane Society International (HSI) said in a joint statement, citing unidentified local contacts. The 10-day festival is slated to begin on June 21. Advertisement Even if this is a temporary ban, we hope this will have a domino effect, leading to the collapse of the dog meat trade, Andrea Gung, executive director of the Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project, said in the statement. I have visited Yulin many times in the last two years. This ban is consistent with my experience that Yulin and the rest of the country are changing for the better. The organizations attributed the change to Yulins new Communist Party secretary, Mo Gongming, who reportedly wants to improve Yulins national and international image. Penalties, they said, include a fine of up to $14,500 and jail time. The report could not be independently verified. A man who answered the phone at the Yulin municipal government, has never openly supported the festival, denied that it even existed. Theres never been a dog meat festival in Yulin, said the man, who only gave his surname, Luo. (The festivals existence is well-documented). People in parts of southern and northeastern China have prized dog meat for centuries, considering it a delicacy with heating qualities that make it comforting on cool days. Yet, as China becomes wealthier and more exposed to foreign ideas its attitudes toward dogs are shifting. Dogs have become popular pets among the countrys burgeoning middle and upper classes; in major cities, its common to see poodles, Pekingese, golden retrievers and huskies bouncing through public parks, some dressed by their owners in doggie clothing. It is embarrassing to us that the world wrongly believes that the brutally cruel Yulin festival is part of Chinese culture. It isnt. Qin Xiaona, director of the Capital Animal Welfare Assn. charity, a Chinese animal welfare group Peter Li, a China policy specialist at HSI, said that the festivals dog meat sales have dropped each year since 2014, but will probably continue despite the ban. It wont be public resistance like, you dont want us to sell, but we still will but theyll probably do it secretly, he said. Theyll probably sell it at night, or theyll supply dog meat to restaurants. They just wont sell it at the market. He added that the organization received oral notice of the ban from local dog meat traders, as well as three visitors to a local market. He had not seen documentation of the ban. Most Chinese people desire an end to the controversial festival, Chinas official New China News Agency reported in June 2016, citing a survey. It is embarrassing to us that the world wrongly believes that the brutally cruel Yulin festival is part of Chinese culture, Qin Xiaona, director of the Capital Animal Welfare Association charity, a Chinese animal welfare group, told the agency. It isnt. But the Yulin government is reluctant to completely shut the festival down, said an employee of a Chinese animal rights group that has been communicating with local officials for years they consider it a proud local tradition. The employee requested anonymity as her organization, like many activist groups in China, is under close scrutiny from national authorities. Although the officials have no problem considering cats and dogs as sustenance, she added, some still oppose the festival, as its mass, public slaughter of dogs violates food safety regulations. Hollywood celebrities including Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara have pleaded for China to ban the festival. Last year, several animal rights groups, including Duo Duo and HSI, amassed 11 million signatures on a petition calling for its cancellation. Carrie Fisher, the late actress of Star Wars fame, helped deliver it to Chinas embassy in London. These poor dogs need us to fight for them, she said at the time, accompanied by her beloved French bulldog, Gary. Every single one of them is as precious as my dear Gary, every one of them is someones best friend. Nicole Liu in the Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com For more news from Asia, follow @JRKaiman on Twitter Ukraines new blocking of popular, Russian-owned social media sites has been met with opposition by human rights groups who consider the move to restrict access to information more in line with authoritarianism than democracy. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, compared the ban ordered this week by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to censorship by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. When will Ukraine learn that emulating Russias repression is no way to distinguish itself from Russia, Roth said on Twitter. Advertisement Sergei Leshchenko, a former investigative journalist who was elected to Ukraines parliament in 2014, posted on his Facebook page that the new ban had much more in common with authoritarian regimes than with the struggle against Russian propaganda. Poroshenko this week ordered Ukrainian Internet providers to block Vkontakte and Odnoclassniki. The sites are similar to Facebook and are two of the most popular social networking sites in the former Soviet space. More than 25 million Ukrainians, in a country of about 43 million people, use the Russian sites to connect with friends, join groups and use the online messaging systems. Poroshenko said the new restrictions were necessary to further protect Ukraine from Kremlin hybrid warfare, including disinformation campaigns, propaganda and military attacks. The two neighbors and former Soviet republics have been embroiled in a brutal, three-year war that has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced about 1.7 million eastern Ukrainians. Supporters of the ban said it would also protect Ukrainians from the Russian security services ability to monitor and gather metadata from the sites users. Ukrainian government officials said the sites are closely monitored by Russias FSB, the successor agency to the KGB. Putin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the ban was another manifestation of an unfriendly and short-sighted policy of Kiev towards Russia. He added that the Kremlin had not ruled out the idea of reciprocity. Poroshenko, who had accounts on both social networking sites until May 16, defended the ban in a statement on his Vkontakte page. He and his team had joined the Russian social networks as a tool to counter Kremlin propaganda, but in the aftermath of the recent global cyberattacks around the world, which he linked to the Kremlin, Poroshenko said it was time for Ukraine to act differently and more decisively against Russias propaganda. Hybrid warfare demands adequate responses to challenges, the Ukrainian president wrote before closing his account. The latest ban includes anti-virus companies Kaspersky Labs and DrWeb, both Russian owned, as well as the popular Russian search engine Yandex. Email accounts with Mail.ru, the parent company of Vkontakte and Odnoclassniki, will also be blocked. Ukraine first banned Russian media in 2014, when it placed sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals in retaliation for Russias annexation of Crimea and its support for the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. In the lead-up to the annexation of Crimea and the war with Russian-backed eastern separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, Russian state media helped whip up anti-Ukrainian sentiment via news stories targeting Russian-speaking audiences to portray the anti-government protests in Kiev as a Western-orchestrated, fascist coup. Russian social media sites have played a big role in both mobilizing separatist, pro-Russia sentiment in the Ukraines eastern regions and in disseminating anti-Ukrainian hate speech, said Eugen Fedchenko, the director of the journalism school at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kiev. Fedchenko is a founder of a media fact-checking organization called StopFake, which works to dispel fake news stories and disinformation campaigns. I cant imagine seeing a group calling for the killing of Ukrainians on Facebook, but that is very common on Vkontakte, Fedchenko said. Sure, these groups could try and mobilize again using Facebook. But Facebook has stricter guidelines and protocols for stopping hate speech. These Russian sites dont. Other supporters of the ban said the government should have implemented the blockage of Vkontakte and Odnoclassniki three years ago, at the onset of the war. To be honest, its surprising to me that the Ukrainian society is not more accepting of this policy, said Sergei Solodkyy, an analyst at the Institute of World Policy, a think tank in Kiev. We have to keep in mind that Ukraine is at a stance of war with Russia. Of course, its a delicate balance with the freedom of information, but for Ukraine, security and defense comes first. Twitter: @sabraayres Ayres is a special correspondent. Brazils political crisis deepened sharply on Thursday with corruption allegations that threatened to topple the president, undermine reforms aimed at pulling the economy from recession and leave Latin Americas largest nation rudderless. Stocks plunged, both chambers of Congress cancelled sessions and President Michel Temers office canceled his planned activities Thursday in the wake of a Globo newspaper report that he had been taped endorsing bribery of a former lawmaker. Protests were planned in several cities, and opposition politicians took to Twitter and local news channels to call for Temer to resign or be impeached, arguing his government no longer had legitimacy Advertisement I cant see how Temer survives this, said David Fleischer, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia. There are just too many people against him now. The countrys main Ibovespa stock index dropped 10% within 90 minutes of opening and trading was stopped for 30 minutes. The Brazilian Real lost 8% of its value against the U.S. dollar in the first half of the day. The scandal deepened at dawn Thursday as police searched the Rio de Janeiro home and Brasilia office of Sen. Aecio Neves, who nearly won the presidency in 2014 and planned to run again next year. Neves is being investigated in several corruption cases related to the Car Wash probe into kickbacks to politicians. He has denied wrongdoing. Late Wednesday, Globo reported that Neves had been recorded asking JBS meat-packing company executive Joesley Batista for $700,000 to pay for his Car Wash defense. On Thursday, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the countrys highest court, suspended Neves from office indefinitely. Neves whereabouts Thursday were not known. Attempts to reach him for comment were not successful. Globo also reported that Batista had recorded Temer endorsing a bribe to silence former Speaker of the House Eduardo Cunha. In a statement late Wednesday, the presidents office said Temer did not participate or authorize any attempt to keep Cunha from reaching a plea bargain with Justice (officials). If confirmed, the tape could prove devastating for Temer, whose administration has lurched from one crisis to another since he took office just over a year ago. Cunha led the impeachment fight that removed Dilma Rousseff from the presidency last year and put Temer, then the vice president, into power. Cunha was later imprisoned on a 15-year sentence for corruption. The statement from Temers office confirmed that the president met with Batista in March. According to the Globo report, Batista secretly recorded the conversations with Temer and Neves and gave them to justice officials as part of plea bargain negotiations. The report said that when Temer was told Cunha was being paid to keep silent, the president responded: You have to keep that up, all right? Globo did not release the recordings or say how they were obtained. JBS representatives did not respond to emails sent by The Associated Press seeking comment. Temer and Cunha are members of the same party and were previously allies. However, they appear to have had a falling out amid a growing investigation into corruption involving the state oil giant Petrobras. Since launching three years ago, the Car Wash probe into billions of dollars in kickbacks has put several top businessmen and politicians in jail. Many believe that Cunha, who was widely viewed as Brazils most powerful politician before being ensnared in several corruption cases, could provide damaging testimony about dozens of others if he reaches a plea bargain with investigators. Soon after Wednesdays report, both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies stopped sessions that included work on legislation that Temers administration is pushing in hopes of pulling Latin Americas largest economy out of its worst recession in decades. This climate isnt one in which to work, Rodrigo Maia, president of the lower chamber, told Globo News. Globos reports are the latest in numerous scandals that have plagued Temer, whose approval ratings are hovering around 10%. In April, it came to light that eight of his Cabinet ministers were being investigated in cases related to bribery or accepting campaign donations from Brazilian constructor Odebrecht, one of the central companies in the kickback scheme at Petrobras. The Eurasia risk consultancy said the new allegation threatens Temer. If the allegations are proven true, President Temer is unlikely to finish his term, Eurasia wrote, adding that at the very least the matter will delay major reforms Temer is proposing. ALSO Iran convicted two U.S. citizens of espionage. Their relatives are pressing Trump for help Trump campaigned on America First. Now hes getting ready for his first trip overseas Jordan looks to repeal long-reviled rape-marriage law UPDATES: May 18, 12 p.m.: This article was updated with new details of stocks plunging, both chambers of Congress canceling sessions and President Michel Temers office canceling his planned activities. This article was originally published May 17 at 8:45 p.m. A United Nations court on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute an accused Indian spy pending its final verdict in a case that has gripped the rival countries. In a provisional win for India, the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer whom Pakistan arrested last year and convicted of espionage. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings, the court at The Hague said in a unanimous order. Advertisement The judges said India had a plausible argument that Pakistan violated international law by refusing to grant consular access to Jadhav. The court rejected Pakistans claim at a hearing on Monday that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations did not apply because the case involved an alleged spy. Over the coming months, the court said, it would hear both countries arguments on whether Indian diplomats should be allowed to visit Jadhav before issuing a verdict. India said it took the rare step of appealing to the U.N. court after Pakistan denied 16 requests for its diplomats to visit Jadhav, and because it felt Jadhavs execution could be imminent. Sushma Swaraj, Indias external affairs minister, said the court order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Outside Jadhavs childhood house in the coastal city of Mumbai, friends and well wishers celebrated by setting off firecrackers and distributing sweets. The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 Pakistans attorney generals office said the order did not affect the final outcome of the case. While not commenting specifically on the order to halt the execution, the office said in a statement that Jadhav still has ample time to petition for clemency. As far as Pakistan is concerned, the courts decision today has not changed the status of Commander Jadhavs case in any manner, the statement said. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scheduled a national security meeting on Friday to discuss the court order. Opposition politicians signaled frustration at the outcome and criticized Sharifs government over its handling of the case. Pakistan alleges that Jadhav was working as an Indian spy when he was arrested in the southwestern province of Baluchistan in March 2016. The Indian government has denied the allegation, saying Jadhav was arrested in Iran, where he was on a business trip, and later convicted on the basis of a forced confession. The case is being closely watched in both countries, nuclear-armed rivals that have fought three wars since 1947 and accused each other of fomenting violence over the past year in the disputed Kashmir territory. While Indian partisans celebrated the court order, experts said Pakistans powerful military could still take the high-risk decision to proceed with the execution and defy the court for which there is precedent. In 1998, a Paraguayan man was executed for murder in Virginia despite the international courts order urging the United States to halt his execution in a similar case involving the right to consular access. The court order was not legally binding in the U.S. Special correspondent Parth M.N. reported from Mumbai and special correspondent Sahi from Islamabad, Pakistan. Peru has lacked the ingredients to make it a global agricultural powerhouse. But investments in irrigation projects and negotiations of trade agreements are changing everything All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. May 18, 2017, 1:07pm ET BMW, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda pay $553M to settle Takata claims The settlement will help pay for consumer outreach, loaner-car programs and out-of-pocket cost reimbursement. A group of four automakers has agreed to a $553 million settlement to resolve economic loss claims from Takata defect lawsuits. The settlement will compensate owners and increase outreach programs aimed at increasing recall completion rates. "Given the size, scope and severity of the Takata recall, these automakers are the first to agree to a settlement structure to fund consumer outreach, rental car/loaner programs and out-of-pocket cost reimbursement," the automakers said in a joint statement. A court-appointed settlement administrator will be tasked with determining the types of reimbursable costs and eligibility. The deadly defect has affected more than 42 million vehicles in the US. Shrapnel injuries from exploding airbag inflators have been associated with at least 16 deaths and many more injuries. Other automakers, including Honda and Ford, are involved in related litigation that will presumably lead to additional settlements. May 18, 2017, 4:28am ET Spied: Hyundai Kona crossover The Kona is aimed at the Toyota C-HR and the Honda HR-V. Hyundai's upcoming entry-level crossover has a name: Kona. Amateur spy shots taken in Portugal have revealed the soft-roader before its official debut. The South Korean automaker promises the Kona -- which is named after a district on Hawaii's Big Island -- features "true SUV genes, progressive design, and premium features." That's not a lot to go on, but the spy shots (which were published on a Facebook page named Ferd) shed more insight. The Kona receives a bolder style than many of its stablemates. The LED daytime running lights are positioned a little bit higher than the grille, while the headlights are much lower. These styling cues create a look reminiscent of Nissan's Juke, Jeep's Cherokee, and a handful of recent additions to the Citroen lineup. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Laois homeowners who signed up for a shared ownership mortgage with Laois County Council but now want to switch to a full mortgage, are waiting up to four months for their applications to be processed. So claimed Cllr Willie Aird at the April council meeting, with a motion asking what the timeframe is to transfer Shared Ownership Loans to Annuity loans. Younger people after twenty years paying, hadnt one shilling paid off their loan. Its a very sad situation. Ive one chronic case which staff have told me will take three to four months to process. All Im asking is, in the interests of fair play, that this small group of people with shared ownership loans, could you deal with them in a month, when they come in looking to switch, he asked the councils Director of Services for finance, Gerry Murphy. Cllr Paschal McEvoy agreed with Cllr Aird. When people took these on, it could have been the only way they could get a loan. To be fair there is a lot of work going on, but it would be good to get it done faster, he said. Mr Murphy agreed to take the request on board. The Shared Ownership loans were taken up by people on low to middle incomes, who could not otherwise afford to buy a home. They shared the price of a home with the local authority. At least 40 percent of the loan being their mortgage, the rest being rent payments to the council. In Laois 384 of the loans were granted. Of those, 179 remain active, and 169 have been redeemed. There are currently 24 applications being considered for a switch to a full mortgage by Laois County Council. Enda Kenny is leaving on a 'high' and he should be replaced by Simon Coveney, according to the Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council and Fine Gael councillor Tom Mulhall. Speaking to the Leinster Express Cllr Mulhall praised his outgoing leader and Taoiseach and wished him well on his retirement. "He was good for the party," the Emo councillor said of the Mayo TD. He said that like any politicians, Mr Kenny had "his highs and lows" but he praised general his performance over two governments. "I would say our Taoiseach is going out on a high. He is well respected all over Europe and wider world," he said. Cllr Mulhall did not believe that Mr Kenny could be held accountable for the backlash Fine Gael councillors felt at the 2014 local elections. Some 100 council seats were lost nationally while the party's majority on Laois County Council was wiped out and the seat number cut from 12 to six. "Fine Gael came to power at a terrible bad time for the country and had hard decisions to make. That landed us as local councillors in the local elections in 2014 with a hill to climb...It was tough campaign but I wouldn't blame that on Enda," he said. As to the future Cllr Mulhall said the party has "two good candidates" in Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney and there was talk of a third candidate. He is throwing his weight behind the Housing Minister. "I will be supporting Coveney," he said. Cllr Mulhall said the rural connection and Minister Coveney's time in the Department of Agriculture is a factor in his choice of the Cork TD over the Dublin TD. "He did a good job when he was in Agriculture. It is a tough portfolio. He has a very tough job at the moment as Minister for Housing. He is taking that seriously and dealing with it. "He would be a quite capable of leading the party and the other man Leo Varadkar would as well...but I would be sticking my neck out and saying I would be supporting Coveney," he said. Cllr Mulhall said he would support whatever candidate is elected and Minister Varadkar would also make a good leader. He said he did not see any major failings with Minister Varadkar and his choice was more down to Minister Coveney's attributes and work in the past. Cllr Mulhall said the country could not afford a "long winded campaign". As to which man could make the current Government last, Cllr Mulhall felt Minister Coveney would be the candidate to "steady the ship". Fine Gael's highest vote-getter in Laois is leaning toward backing Leo Varadkar in his party's leadership race. Speaking to the Leinster Express, Portlaoise-based Cllr Willie Aird, said that, while it was very early in the process and he had not heard the view of the public, he was leaning toward the Dublin TD. "If I was to vote today, I'd say I'd vote for Varadkar," said Cllr Aird. He insisted that he had his mind made up and wanted to gauge public opinion before deciding which man to back. But the Laois county councillor, who as topped the poll in the Portlaoise area in a number of elections, said his early view was motivated by view that change of direction is needed and political geography. Cllr Aird said Minister Simon Coveney shares the same constituency in Cork as Fianna Fail's leader Michael Martin and its finance spokesman Michael McGrath. He said Minister Varadkar is Dublin-based. "Traditionally, a Taoiseach based in the captial - Dublin - carries weight as regards swaying a seat and that is going to be a factor," he said. He said the public can be 'nervous' of what Minister Varadkar has to say which can go down will with some. On the other hand he believed that people know where they stand with Simon Coveney. While Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar dealt with the fall out from the controversy that engulfed Portlaoise hospital. He traveled to Portlaoise on a number of occasions meeting bereaved parents and staff at lenght. He also met a delegation of Laois politicans on the future of the hospital. Cllr Aird said he would want to hear from both candidates what there view they have the future of the hospital. Cllr Aird praised the Enda Kenny for his common touch but also his constant connection and availability to county councillors. Coillte's planned Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trail, which Laois and Offaly communities are counting on to attract thousands of tourists a month, has been thrown into fresh doubt this week. The project that would install 73km of challenging offroad bike trails across the Slieve Blooms, attracting recreational tourism and creating local jobs, has been in the pipeline since 2010. It received planning approval from both Laois and Offaly county councils last February 2017. However this week, Failte Ireland stated that it has not even considered whether to fund the project, originally estimated to cost 4 million. ""Failte Ireland is working with Coillte as a strategic partner on a number of projects. This project only recently got planning, and Coillte will be working with the local authorities to put together an operational plan. They haven't agreed how to operate it. Once that is started, we will be happy to sit down and discuss feasibility. We will look objectively at it. Key is does it have strong tourism potential, will it bring overseas visitors. If it does then of course we will be well disposed to it," a Failte Ireland spokesperson told the Leinster Express. No timescale was given however, and Failte Ireland's website says applications are closed for its grants scheme for 'Large Tourism Projects 2016 to 2020'. Coillte had originally planned to open the first section of the trail this summer. Following concerns raised by local businesses, a meeting is understood to be planned in the coming fortnight including Failte Ireland, the local authorities and Coillte. The trail would have a hugely positive impact, says Chris Byrne from the Slieve Bloom Rural Development Society. "It is a very important project for the whole midland region, these are high end tourists with expensive bikes spending big money. At the moment there aren't enough trails in Ireland for a week's holiday and this would make it worth their while to come to Ireland, it would benefit the whole economy, and people's health. Locally there would be employment in food, bike repairs and accommodation. It would mean real rural regeneration," she said. She is confident that Minister Charlie Flanagan is "doing his best". "We feel we have been neglected for years by government bodies. Whatever department this comes from, it needs to be funded," Ms Byrne said. Laois County Council CEO John Mulholland has assured that the project will happen. "LCC considers the Slieve Blooms Bike trail a critically important project to sustain and enhance the tourism and recreation business in Laois. While the Council cannot speak for Failte Ireland it is currently working with all stakeholders and prospective partners to ensure the delivery of the trail. To this end the Council is adamant the project will not fail. Furthermore the Council sees no reason why it cannot proceed as planned," he told the Leinster Express. Laois County Council has applied to the ESB to connect street lights at Mountrath School which has been opened for eight years, according to Laois County Council. Executive Engineer Farhan Nasiem (in a written reply) told councilors for the Laois town today that application has been lodged. We have applied for a new connection with ESB Networks for these lights. Once connection is completed these lights will be energised," was the reply given to Cllr James Kelly at the Mountmellick Borris-in-Ossory Area Municipal District meeting. The Independent councillor urged the Council to reconnect as a matter of urgency 12 street lights at the community school and St Fintans graveyard. The area was unsafe in winter and the students had submitted a petition on the issue, he added. Subsequent to the meeting Cllr Kelly made further enquiries about the issue. It turns out that the operation of the lights were part of the school building project but it is unclear if the builders ever applied to the council to have them switched on. Cllr Kelly said he has learned that subcontractors working on behalf of Laois County Council have identifed a connection to the electricity mains meaning that supplying power is not the reason for the hold up. Cllr Kelly told the Leinster Express that he suspects that county hall's application to the ESB for a power connection may be the first ESB has received. Students at the school begun a campaign this year to have the lights switched on to improve safety for pupils and parents. Some 700 people signed a petition which was submitted to council demanding action. Complaints were also lodged by the students with the Road Safety Authority. The students pointed out that there is 'mayhem' at the school during the winter with buses and cars. The problem gets worse when there is a funeral. There are 700 students in the school and up to 60 staff. The Leinster Express contacted that ESB but it has so far declined to comment. A former Fine Gael candidate for Laois believes the party faces a choice between a 'traditional' and 'modernising' candidate. Thomasina Connell ran in the 2016 General Election in the new three seat Laois constituency. She hopes to be on the ticket the next time voters are asked to chose a Government. In the meantime, she is an active member of the party and is looking forward to the campaign. Ms Connell told the Leinster Express that she expects a 'really interesting' contest between Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar but she has not made up her mind yet as to who she would back. She said Brexit would be the deciding factor. "I want to see who will negotiate the best deal for Ireland on Brexit," she said. The solicitor's opinion was that Minister Coveney represented 'traditional Fine Gael' while Minister Varadkar could be seen to represent to those who wish to 'modernise the party' reaching out to new voters in the process. The Ballybrittas native said regardless of the outcome she said both would make excellant leaders. She added that both were pragmatic and practical and would work with each other regardless of the outcome. As to the future of her former running mate Charlie Flanagan as a senior Minister, Ms Connell said it would not be good for Laois if he loses his seat at the cabinet table in a reshuffle. She said he had done an excellant job as Minister for Foreign Affairs. She praised his work on Brexit and in Northern Ireland. Ms Connell came fourth out of six candidates in Laois at the last General Election. Her constituency office in Monasterevin was opened by outgoing leader and Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. Ms Connell praised Mr Kenny saying he had a 'massive impact' in Ireland over the past 15 years. On a personal level she found him to be always encouraging, kind and optimistic while retaining a steeliness needed to succeed in politics. Enjoy a little sinful fun worth confessing to your friends this weekend, when local band The Cardinal Sins take to the stage of The Square Bar in Portlaoise. The Cardinal Sins are a Celtic Rock group from Laois-Offaly that formed in 2013 with six members making up the Holy Synod of Wayne Brereton, Stephen Murphy, Darren Cahill, Trisha Mulraney, Theodore Stones and Reece Wardrop. The band come with a high pace, high tempo list of contemporary and traditional songs played in their high energy style with influences including The Pogues, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys, to name a few. 2016 was the biggest year for The Cardinal Sins as they embarked on a tour of Italy in March taking in Milan, Bologna, Parma, Cuneo & Pesaro along with a sold out headline concert in the prestigious Portalen Theatre in Copenhagen in April. In August they co-headlined the Volmarstein Folk Festival in Dusseldorf along with Irish Music Legends De-Danann. The Cardinal Sins will be returning to the festival circuit in Germany this summer and plans for the 2017 Irish tour are currently be put in place and will take in venues across the country so be sure to have your throats cleared to sing along, because who needs heaven when you have The Cardinal Sins. The Cardinal Sins will play The Square Bar this Saturday, May 20. A meeting of South Kildare school Principals, which was held in Kildare Education Centre last week, highlighted a number of issues with schools such as funding, a need for more autism units and access to psychologists and overcrowded class rooms. Hosted by Deputy Fiona OLoughlin, the meeting was a follow-up to an educational survey sent out to South Kildare schools. Following a really positive response to the survey, a report was compiled on the results and was delivered last Monday evening to assembled Principals, she said. An overwhelming number of survey responses highlighted the challenges facing educators in providing high quality education in the county. The chronic under funding of Irish schools emerged as the most significant cause for concern among school principals with 81% of respondents highlighting it as their biggest issue. Lack of ASD units, little or no access to NEPS psychologists, overcrowded classrooms and insufficient capitation grants are just some of the problems Principals wished to discuss. Sixty two percent of Principals highlighted curriculum overload as a serious challenge in Irish education. Schools feel constant increased curricular demands are being foisted on them without resources or training. They are struggling to engage with host of new initiatives and maintain quality of education provision. On the positive side, 65% of school principals see their staff as their greatest strength and praised the excellent teaching being provided by caring, committed, motivated and professional staff. Parental involvement, competent Boards of Management and good community support emerged as the second greatest strength of schools at 48%. This is especially important given the increased societal pressures being placed on young people and this issue was discussed in detail by Principals at the meeting. Following the meeting Deputy OLoughlin said the views of Kildare Principals will be raised in the next meeting of the Education and Skills Committee. Naas stunner Alannah Beirne is down to the last three in Britains Next Top Model. The final, which airs tonight (May 18), sees Alannah go head-to-head with 18-year-olds Olivia Wardell from Southampton and Londoner Jennifer Malengele. Alannah was the only Irish contentant in the popular competition. SEE ALSO: WATCH: Glamorous Naas mum and daughter wow on the Ray D'Arcy Show The Eadestown native works in Dunleas of Kilcullen and is a face behind her local bar Graces pub, Naas. Alannah took to her blog last night saying: I've made it to the FINAL 3! What an emotional rollercoaster this journey has been. I am SO excited for Thursday nights show, the very last episode of this years BNTM and of course the crowning of the 2017 champ!. Alannah filmed a TV advert for popular clothes site Boohoo.com. She said: finding out we were going to be doing a real TV advert for Boohoo.com was one of the most exciting moments in my life! Each week just kept getting better and better. The final airs at 9pm tonight on Lifetime TV. Best of luck, Alannah! Check out a teaser of the finale: Courtesy of Britain's Next Top Model Fianna Fail TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc Mac Sharry says community projects are being put at risk because funding, which has been approved by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, is not being spent. Figures released to Fianna Fail reveal that less than 4m of 40m which was carried over from the Departments 2016 budget, has been spent in the first quarter of the year. Deputy Mac Sharry commented, It seems ridiculous that at a time when communities across the North West are crying out for funding for local projects and there are tens of millions of euro lying unspent. There are serious questions to answer with regard to the administration of these schemes and the current delays, which are completely unacceptable, must be addressed without delay. I have grave concerns that this problem will continue into this year. This money was due to be spent last year. Were almost half way through 2017 and its still lying unspent the Department has serious questions to answer. 28m was allocated to local authorities to ensure that projects, which were due for completion before the end of 2017 would be finished. However, less than 3m of that money was spent in the first quarter of the year. What has caused these delays? Where is the accountability? This is completely unacceptable and could threaten the future of community schemes here in the North West, and right across the country. At the end of the day the buck stops with Minister Heather Humphreys. She must take charge of the situation and ensure that projects, which have been allocated funding, are being undertaken and completed in a timely manner. It is extremely important that all the allocated money is spent this year to ensure that communities benefit from the projects that have been approved, and to avoid unnecessary carry-overs into the future. www.leitrimobserver.ie wants to know who you think will be the next leader of Fine Gael? The race is now on for the new leader of Fine Gael as Enda Kenny announced that he was stepping down on Wednesday evening. BoyleSports can report support for Simon Coveney on Thursday morning and as a result, the Cork native is now 6/4 from 7/4 to be the new Fine Gael leader. Dubliner Leo Varadkar remains the odds on favourite to get the job but following the support for Coveney, he has been eased to 8/15 from 2/5. Richard Bruton is the outsider at 14/1. In the Next Taoiseach market Micheal Martin remains favourite but has been eased to 4/6 from 1/2 whilst Leo Varadkar has seen his price shorten into 2/1 from 9/4 with Simon Coveney also seeing his price halved into 3/1 from 6/1. Liam Glynn, BoyleSports spokesperson said Now that Enda Kenny has finally decided to throw in the towel, the race is on to see who will succeed him as leader of Fine Gael. All the money has been for Simon Coveney on Thursday morning and he is now 6/4 from 7/4 with Leo Varadkar eased to 8/15 as a result. He added Simon Coveney has also seen his priced halved into 3/1 from 6/1 to be Taoiseach after the Next General Election and judging by the momentum behind the Cork native over the past 24 hours, he certainly cannot be ruled out. Our place to talk an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires. This past weekend, Kiev, Ukraine hosted the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, an event referred to by some as Gay Christmas, with the theme Celebrate Diversity. In celebration of this theme, the Friendship of Nations Arch was to be redecorated to form a rainbow as a symbol of equality. Unfortunately, due to protests from far-right groups, the arch was never fully covered in a rainbow, and yet somehow has become, I feel the most poignant and apt depiction of the state of Equality in our society. On one side, the one facing the city of Kiev, the rainbow is about half complete, the bare steel a reminder of the distance left to travel. On the other side, less visible, there is much less rainbow and much more steel, a great reminder that under the surface there is much further to go, with many people here in the UK still suffering from Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia at home, at work and in the street. Even our healthcare system is failing the community in many ways, with many of my trans friends waiting months on end for GIC visits, and some finding their own GPs lacking in the skills, training or compassion to effectively assist with their condition. Some have even resorted to travelling abroad to have treatment done privately. There is also the blatantly discriminatory blood ban, which effectively stops myself and many other gay and bisexual men, and their partners, from donating blood at a time where we are constantly bombarded with radio and television ads calling out for new donors. The European Convention on Human Rights, in addition to EU laws, provide massive and welcome protections to members of the LBT+ community, and the Conservative Brexit government want a blank slate to write a brand new British Bill of Rights after leaving the EU. Who knows what protections will be included (or missed)? In the wider world there are still over 70 countries in the world where homosexuality is illegal (the exact number varies depending on your definition of a recognised country), and 12 where it is punishable by death. When compared to the 22 countries in which same sex marriage is legal in some form, there is a long way to go. In America there has been a struggle for marriage equality, which has been apparently settled by the supreme court but still subject to backlash from conservative communities, and in many states members of the trans community are faced with gender policing and possible arrest for using the wrong bathroom. Trump positioned himself as an advocate of LGBT+ rights during his campaign but despite his penchant for executive orders, actions are sadly lacking. One of the most worrying developments for the LGBT+ community is the news coming from Chechnya, where troubling reports suggest that Gay men are being rounded up and taken to compounds scarily similar to the concentration camps of WW2, and other reports suggesting that families are being forced to kill their own children for being gay. This is happening not in the far off, Daesh controlled Islamic state in the middle east but IN EUROPE. The Liberal Democrat manifesto has made commitments to making the UK a safe harbour to those fleeing Syria, pledging to take in more Syrian refugees than any other party. I would ask that our party, and all parties should also pledge to make the UK a safe harbour for anyone fleeing from persecution because of their sexual or gender identity, and that we should be taking action against the dangerous actions of the Russian and Chechen administrations. I am proud to be part of a party which is Open, Tolerant and United, and it was one of my proudest moments to speak in Brighton at the almost unanimously approved PrEP motion. Lets not stop there. Lets make a commitment to protecting the LGBT+ community around the world and at home. * Fraser Graham is an Executive member of LGBT+ Lib Dems. WELL-KNOWN convicted Limerick criminal Anthony Kelly, who has survived up to 12 assassination attempts on his life, is to lead tributes to the late solicitor John Devane at his funeral Mass this Thursday. Kelly, 56, of OMalley Park, Southill, was acquitted of killing Limerick brothers Thomas and Sammy McCarthy in a row at a pub at Thomondgate in 1982. In 2011, a jury again found Kelly not guilty of possession of a semi-automatic pistol with intent to endanger life, arising from a shooting incident in Southill in 2009. Me and John were very close. He was more of a brotherly friend to me than a solicitor. We go back an awful long way. He represented me in an awful lot of cases and to the best of my recollection he never lost a case. He represented me for 23 years and he always represented the deprived and under-privileged in Limerick, Kelly told the Limerick Leader this Wednesday ahead of the funeral mass. He is due to pay tribute to Mr Devane, 54, who represented some of Limerick's most notorious criminals during his 20-year career, at his funeral mass in Parteen this Thursday. Among this other clients were John Dundon, who was convicted of the murder of the innocent Garryowen rugby player Shane Geoghegan, 28, who was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity in Limerick on November 9, 2008. He also represented Vincent Collopy, of St Marys Park, following his extradition from Bulgaria to face a charge of threatening to kill a State witness, who later assisted him in court in a wheelchair as Mr Devane's health declined. I used to have very good fun with John, continued Kelly. We went on holidays together to Spain with our families, and he'd often come over to my house for dinner. When his health was bad, he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. He was never a burden to us. He will never be forgotten by me or my family. It was unfortunate the health battles he had to face, but he fought them with dogged determination, and he did come back to court, he said. Kellys convictions date back date to when he was 16, when he received an eight-year sentence for hijacking a taxi, and served time in Limerick Prison, St Patrick's, Arbour Hill and Mountjoy prison. He, however, claimed he was innocent. The father of six, whose son Tony is currently serving a prison sentence, said Mr Devane was a solicitor unlike any other. He often represented people for free, or gave his clients a few bob going home if they didn't have any money. He'd look after people; he was very generous. Kelly has survived a number of assassination attempts on his life, estimating up to a dozen attempts, including one incident when he was shot five times from a semi-automatic handgun. He made a full recovery. His brother, the late Limerick city councillor Michael Kelly was also investigated by gardai for alleged interference with the course of justice, but no prosecution arose. Michael Kelly died in June 2004, four weeks after he was found with a gunshot wound to the head at his mothers home. Despite claims by Anthony Kelly and other family members that he was murdered, gardai ruled out any foul play in his death. Anthony Kelly even had his brothers coffin and remains exhumed to prove that no gun had been buried with his brother. He has other convictions for public order offences, including possession of illegal tobacco and operating a shebeen from his home, which he described as a great spot. He was convicted at Limerick District Court in 2009 of occupying an unlicensed premises contrary to the Intoxicating Liquor Act of 1962. He received a fine of 63.49 - the maximum penalty available from the then District Court Judge, Tom O'Donnell. Son Tony Kelly was sentenced in July 2016 to five and half years in prison for his role in a in a seven-hour crime spree across large parts of county Limerick in May 27, 2015. He has numerous previous convictions for assault, theft, robbery, criminal damage, burglary, and possession of drugs. THE Department of Education has said that information received from those who have signed confidential severance agreements with the University of Limerick will be treated with the utmost confidence by the investigator leading a new review into a series of allegations. Six protected disclosures have been made by current or former staff of UL to the Higher Education Authority (HEA), it has confirmed, as well as well as a litany of other allegations. A number of other former UL staff are understood to be seeking assurances from the department that no legal action will be taken against them if they outline their grievances to the review, having signed six-figure confidential settlements. Each case will be treated with the utmost confidence by the investigator who will endeavour to the largest extent possible provide the assurances sought, said a spokesperson for the Department of Education. A dedicated email address will be set up to allow people make submissions. The independent review, to be led by Dr Richard Thorn, former president of Sligo Institute of Technology, will commence in the coming weeks. A UL lecturer who received a 150,000 settlement, after complaints that he inappropriately touched students and made inappropriate sexual remarks, was among those who made a protected disclosure to the HEA, after signing a confidentiality clause with UL. Documentation from the HEA outlines that the lecturer alleged that there were flawed processes and implementation of HR procedures in respect of an investigation of student complaints against him resulting in personal, professional and financial consequences for him. Another disclosure by a member of the public to the HEA alleged that a person employed in ULs Graduate Medical School has previously been dismissed from employment in a local hospital due to serious clinical concerns and probity issues. In its response, UL advised that the allegations against the person concerned were being reviewed by the HSE and that his employment in UL does not involve contact with patients. It advised that there were no complaints against the person in question in his role as a tutor. The HEA said that other allegations against UL are broadly linked by a common theme of poor HR management practice within the university, including disciplinary proceedings against staff and the use of confidentiality agreements. These included promotion procedures, the recruitment of an existing employee as a contractor, a complaint from a staff member that he was given sabbatical leave after raising issues and concerns, and complaints regarding a number of confidential, severance agreements. The two suspended whistleblowers in ULs finance department hope to have their suspensions lifted and resume their jobs, after the new review is completed by September next. The two women, who remain suspended on full pay for two years next month, said they are looking forward to co-operating fully with the review, which will examine governance, human resources and financial practices and procedures at UL. The UL employees raised a number of concerns in relation to the payment of expense claims, among other matters. They refused to sign a severance settlement with UL, which included a confidentiality clause, of nearly 60,000 each. All we have ever wanted is to be able to do our jobs properly and feel supported by the university in the use of public funding, said the women in a statement. We sincerely hope that this review has a positive outcome for all who have highlighted issues of concern. This situation has been extremely stressful for us and we really do hope that we are nearer towards a resolution. We note with interest that the new president of UL has repeatedly indicated the willingness of the university to cooperate with the process and his concern to protect the reputation of the university. We have long been concerned about the universitys reputation and support the presidents sentiments. However, we are equally concerned that our personal and professional reputations need to be considered and protected. UL has confirmed that the employees - referred to Person B and C in the Mazars report - have been replaced by agency staff so that in the event that B and C were to return to work the agency staff are retained on a one week notice basis. The first agency staff person commenced on September 7, 2015 and the second person commenced on November 16, 2015. If the agency staff replacing Persons B and C are excluded then there has been a reduction in staffing arrangements in UL since 2012, due to increases in other areas in response to changing business needs. The offer of these severance packages will be addressed by the inquiry, along with a number of other severance settlements, which were accepted by employees in other departments, which amount to over 600,000. These include three severance packages of 220,331, 231,506 and 150,000; the latter was offered to a lecturer accused by three students of inappropriate touching and making inappropriate sexual remarks. A UL spokesperson said that the announcement of the inquiry follows a call by the new president of UL, Dr Des Fitzgerald, for the department to oversee an independent review of all the issues raised. RESIDENTS have been left scratching their heads after road workers dug up two parts of a newly-surfaced road running past Mungret College. A spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said that the second resurfacing is all part of the schedule of works, but locals are frustrated about traffic disruptions. We were told by local councillors last week that it was near completion, and since this Tuesday it was all dug up again. Its an absolute joke, said chairperson of the Sli Na Manach residents association, Claire Keating. They have a stop/go system in place again this week. There was some disruption earlier in the morning. Plus, my car is quite low to the ground, and its quite damaging because theres a bit of a drop where they have it dug up. Its absolutely ridiculous now, and we thought that it was all over last week, added Ms Keating. Road works around the newly developed area near Mungret College have been taking place sporadically for at least a year, as the village undergoes urbanisation. Locals had hoped that the stretch of road would be finished by last Autumn. Its very annoying for everybody, especially if youre a resident and youre trying to get out in the morning, trying to get to work on time, or to an appointment, theres a delay one way or the other, she said. One morning to the next you dont know whats facing you. Ms Keating added that the residents just want to know whats going on, even if more time is needed to complete the works. Its very frustrating, she said. Fine Gaels Cllr Daniel Butler told the Limerick Leader that the works were expected to be completed by Wednesday night, and was supposed to be done last week. Two sections of it need to be taken up and relaid. Its part of the snagging process, said Cllr Butler. The main thing is that they are off Quinns roundabout so you are not seeing the same level of Limerick traffic anymore, its just people that are accessing Mungret, he added. When contacted to comment on the continuing works, a council spokesperson said: The vast majority of the works have been completed and the project is nearing completion in the coming weeks. Disruptions are being kept to a minimum. The works are to take into account the new schools which will open in the coming years, and the new houses to be built in the area, continued the spokesperson. They are also being carried out to improve the quality of life for local residents. There are cycle and pedestrian pathways involved as part of the works to encourage more people to walk and cycle. FINANCE minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that he will not seek a role in the new Cabinet being formed under a new leader of Fine Gael and will also not seek re-election in the future. In a statement issued this Thurday, the long serving Limerick TD has announced that following Taoiseach Enda Kenny's decision to step down as party leader - thus sparking an election to succeed him - Mr Noonan does "not wish to be considered for Cabinet by his successor, whoever that may be. "I have been honoured to serve as Minister for Finance since March 2011 and have introduced 6 annual budgets and one supplementary budget. "I believe now is a good time for a new Finance Minister to take up office. Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe, the budget is almost balanced and we are on the cusp of full employment. "I will continue to carry out my duties as Minister for Finance until a successor is appointed." The 73-year-old Loughill native also said he will "not be seeking re-election to Dail Eireann at the next General Election. It has been a privilege to represent the people of Limerick since I was first elected in 1981 and I look forward to continuing to do so until an election is called." Tributes have been coming in from across the political spectrum following the news the veteran TD is to retire from politics. His close political confidant, Senator Maria Byrne said: "Over the last 40 years Minister Noonan's commitment to Limerick, Fine Gael and the country has been exemplary. Due to Minister Noonan Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe, the budget is almost balanced and we are near full employment." She added: "Minister Noonan has served the people of Limerick honourably and his work will have a lasting effect on both Limerick City and County. On a personal note having worked very closely with Minister Noonan for many years I would like to thank Minister Noonan for his service and being a great mentor to me throughout my political career and I wish Michael and his family the best for the future." Cllr Elenora Hogan, a former chairperson of Fine Gael's Limerick City constituency, added: "In his term as Minister for Finance he has represented Ireland and Limerick well, overseeing our emergence from a deep recession. He has always been a great representative for Limerick City and County and we are now reaping the benefit of his hard work. I would like to wish Michael and his family all the best in the future" Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan, who has served Limerick East and latterly Limerick City alongside Mr Noonan since 1998, added: "Michael Noonan will be remembered for his contribution to the economic recovery of this country as Minister for Finance, working alongside Brendan Howlin as Minister for Public Expenditure." He has also made a substantial contribution to Limerick, and as Minister I found him to be a constructive and supportive colleague in Cabinet. We worked together on many issues that matter to Limerick and its people over the years, and I wish Michael well in the future," said the former Education Minister Metropolitan mayor, Cllr Michael Hourigan added: "We have been campaigning together since the 1980s. He has become a colleague and a friend. He has devoted all his time and energy to the people of Limerick. He was an excellent representative in Dail Eireann and much of the work done in Limerick he can take the credit for. His footprint will be very hard to replace." His deputy, Cllr Daniel Butler tweeted that Mr Noonan will be "a huge loss to #Limerick having that strong voice at the cabinet table. Let's hope the jobs and investment can continue in his absence." Huge loss to #limerick having that strong voice at the cabinet table. Let's hope the jobs and investment can continue in his absence. https://t.co/Xijyy9JPSs Cllr Daniel Butler (@DanielButlerFG) May 18, 2017 Thanks @MichaelNoonanTD for your service to our Country, Limerick and @FineGael https://t.co/w3d1PrPU0E Tom Neville TD (@VoteTomNeville) May 18, 2017 @Limerick_Leader #MichaelNoonan has been great 4Limerick. Council reorganisation / purchase of prime sites fro Nama & #Limerick is on the way up.THX due 2him AMKavanagh (@lucky1017) May 18, 2017 Statement by Michael Noonan, T.D., Minister for Finance https://t.co/ZZJ5GOpVBU pic.twitter.com/zsJevaoUNN Dept of Finance IRL (@IRLDeptFinance) May 18, 2017 The steady hand Michael Noonan brought to our public finances and to @FineGael was remarkable. A giant of Irish politics. Alan Farrell TD (@AlanFarrell) May 18, 2017 Min Noonan's ex-cabinet colleague @JanOSullivanTD: 'He made substantial contribution to #Limerick. I found him constructive and supportive' pic.twitter.com/vqwD8x3kDS Nick Rabbitts (@Nick468official) May 18, 2017 Speaking on Min Noonan's retirement: @senatormbyrne : 'Over last 40 years commitment to #Limerick, @FineGael and country has been exemplary' pic.twitter.com/zQg28uUaDh Nick Rabbitts (@Nick468official) May 18, 2017 For more updates, stay with www.limerickleader.ie throughout the day. THERE wasnt a hose in sight as firefighters stopped a blaze that would have engulfed hundred of acres of forestry and killed wildlife. The call came in that gorse was alight at Grageen Bog, Cappamore in the Slieve Felim mountains at 10.15am on Thursday, May 11. Members of the fire service were only stood down after eight hours of tacking the flames. John Mulready, Cappamore fire station chief, said up to 25 fire fighters backed up by 20 Coillte staff were on the scene. Due to the remote location appliances were barely able to make it up the pot-holed track, not to mind a water tanker. It was like a tinderbox. The gorse when you were trying to beat it dust was coming off it, it was that dry. Water is always a problem. If we can get water on the fire it is usually near the roadway or an area we can get access to water. We were using what we call beaters - they are like flaps with large handles. You have to get up close to the fire. It causes extreme heat on the firefighters. It is very physically demanding. You would be hoping the wind would come to your aid but it didnt turn until late into the evening, said Mr Mulready. At its peak three units Cappamore, Newport and Limerick city were all involved, as well as a helicopter dropping water. Our main focus was on protecting the forestry. It goes all the way back as far as Murroe from that area - it is interlinked all the way back. You would be talking hundreds of acres of forestry. Our main aim was to prevent it from getting in there because if it did it would have been devastating. A lot of wildlife would have been killed. The gorse fire got within 15 feet and it actually got in to the forest at one location. Thats where the helicopter was invaluable because you couldnt put out a forestry fire with beaters you need water for that. Coillte called in the helicopter. It was a great assist to us because in the areas we found hard to access they were able to hit that for us with water. From 6pm we got control of the fire. By 7pm we started to stand down crews and we were out of there for 8pm. It was a long day trying to refresh the crews and get water for them to drink was difficult due to the location, said Mr Mulready, who doesnt know if it was started on purpose. The gardai will investigate all possibilities. There isnt people working up there cutting turf like years ago. Whether it is malicious or not I wouldnt be able to say. The gardai will be carrying out their own investigations to look in to that, said Mr Mulready. While they were in the bog they still had to be conscious that their service might be required elsewhere. It was a logistical nightmare trying to get people up and down there without even dealing with the fire. It was difficult to get on top of the hill. We had two appliances, a van and two four by fours ferrying people in and out and bringing in water for the crews welfare. You couldnt get a water tanker up there. Even taking appliances up there is very difficult because the road isnt built for it. The potholes are so big they could be seriously damaged. We were trying to maintain cover in case there was a road accident or a house fire or something else serious. We have to have an appliance ready to respond, said Mr Mulready. All in the day in the life of a firefighter. The Department of Agriculture announced this Wednesday they were investigating all of the recent incidents of illegal burning of land. CONVICTED criminal Anthony Kelly, who has survived up to 12 assassination attempts on his life, led the tributes to the criminal defence solicitor John Devane at his funeral Mass today. Taking to the altar of St Patricks Church in Parteen, Co Clare, Kelly, 56, praised the solicitor who represented him for 23 years, for the heights he would go to to prove his clients innocence. John was like my brother. He was a very, very good friend of mine, and meant an awful lot to me. Today is not Johns funeral its a celebration of his life, I believe, said Kelly, who was acquitted of killing Limerick brothers Thomas and Sammy McCarthy in a row at a pub at Thomondgate in 1982. Against all the odds he became a solicitor, said Kelly, noting Mr Devanes trajectory from barman, to brief stint in the Army, and going on to become one of the highest paid legal aid solicitors in Limerick. People said he was the poor mans solicitor of Limerick, but any client who came to John, he gave them his 100% representation. Every case John had, whether people were rich or poor, no matter what they had, or if they couldnt afford legal fees, he represented them. His true vocation was as a solicitor and fighting peoples causes. Some people hadnt a penny in their pockets when they were leaving court, and he always made sure that they were alright [financially]. On many, many occasions I saw people in court for the first time, who wouldnt be used to the system, and mothers crying, and John was always there for people as a shoulder to cry on. He didnt want thanks for it or anything. He regaled the congregation with stories of the funny times he shared with Mr Devane, and the late Brendan Nix SC, a great man, who represented him at Circuit Court level. John will be deeply missed. He will be missed by everyone. The Southill man received rousing applause from the congregation after hailing Mr Devane as a brilliant man and someone whom he was proud to say was my friend and like a brother to me and will never be forgotten in my house. Senior gardai, members of the judiciary, including solicitors and barristers from Limerick Circuit and District Court, attended the funeral Mass of Mr Devane, who was regarded as one of the most colourful, controversial and divisive legal eagles in Limerick city. As a mark of respect, no cases were heard in Limerick Circuit Court, and cases at Limerick District Court were postponed until later in the afternoon. A number of Mr Devanes other clients were among the mourners, including Matt Larkin, who famously claimed that Fianna Fail deputy Willie ODea, the then Minister for Defence, punched him in the stomach before grabbing him by the throat in a Limerick city pub in 2009. Mr Devane, 54, represented some of Limerick's most notorious criminals during his 20-year career including John Dundon, who was convicted of the murder of the innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan in 2008, and Vincent Collopy, who has been charged with threatening to kill a State witness. His daughter Jemma described her father as a kind, loving teddy bear, who adored his family. I take after my dad in so many ways our cheekiness, sense of humour and good looks. She said she and her sister Jessica were often interrogated with every question possible about their boyfriends by their father, who always reminded us that he was a lawyer and knew the law. He isnt really gone. Hes in our hearts, she said. School children from Parteen National School formed a guard of honour as his coffin was shouldered from the church, with Kelly among the pall-bearers. He is survived by his wife Julieann, daughters Jemma and Jessica, brother of the late Tony and Michael, sisters Marie, Aine, Joan and Paula. He will be buried will be in St. Brendan's Cemetery, Milltown, Dingle, Co Kerry later this afternoon. May 18, 2017, 9 AM Two British stamps honoring Charles Babbage were found by searching on the CollectGBStamps website. Great Britain issued the first stamp in 1999, and the second one in 2010. Computers and Stamps By William F. Sharpe Collectors of British stamps can find a wealth of information at the website CollectGBstamps. This comprehensive site is well-organized and contains many philatelic links. You can view all stamps issued by Great Britain at the site. Scroll down on the right column of the home page to select a year of interest (from 1840 to 2017) or search for an item of interest. Clicking on the small image shown will display a larger view of the stamp. Many of the stamp issues include a link to the Wikipedia article about that subject. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter My search for Babbage gave me two results. Neither stamp shows a good picture of Charles Babbage. The first one, the 22-penny stamp in Great Britains 1999 set honoring scientific achievements (Scott 1361), includes numbers on Babbages head. Want to learn more about CollectGBstamps? William F. Sharpe offers a full breakdown of the website, featuring an in-depth look at the ins and outs of the site, as well as various ways to maximize its efficiency. The site features blogs that offer a fascinating assortment of content for collectors to dive into. Subscribe to Linns Stamp News to read all about it! We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. An image taken on April 4, 2017, by the imager aboard the Landsat 8 satellite shows lines of foam that formed in the shallow lagoon called Garabogazkol in Turkmenistan. Glistening threads that look like dainty cracks in a blue-hued glass can be seen snaking across a shallow lagoon near the Caspian Sea in a new satellite image. These "cracks" are enormous strands of foam that appear to be about 100 feet (30 meters) long. The image, captured on April 4 by the Operational Land Imager on NASA's Landsat 8 satellite, shows a portion of the Garabogazkol lagoon in Turkmenistan. A narrow channel connects the shallow lagoon to the Caspian Sea, the Garabogazkol's only source of freshwater, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. The foam is the result of surfactants (think dish soap) in the water that get churned up by the wind or other processes to form foamy bubbles, according to Kim Martini, a physical oceanographer at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington in Seattle. "In the lagoon in the image, the surfactants could be broken-down algae or [could] come from a terrestrial source, or in some limited cases, pollution," Martini said. [Earth from Above: 101 Stunning Images from Orbit] As for how the foam got bunched up into these meandering structures, Martini suggested the water beneath them may be the culprit. A close-up of the satellite image shows the foam separating two masses of water in the Garabogazkol lagoon. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory) "Lines of foam form where you have convergent currents, when water gets pushed together at the surface," Martini told Live Science in an email. "The water has nowhere to go, so it goes downward (downwelling). But the foam and other floaty bits at the surface are too buoyant to follow the water, so they just bunch up into the lines you see at the surface." The converging masses of water may also further agitate the water to create more foam, Martini added. The foamy chain could last "until surface-wave and wind action disperse them, which could take a couple of hours or a couple of days," Martini said. At one point in the history of the lagoon, which is also called Kara-Bogaz Gol or "lake of the black throat" in Turkish, the water completely disappeared. That happened in 1980, when the Soviet Union built a dam blocking water between the Caspian and the lagoon, according to research published in 2006 in the journal Quaternary International. Shortly after that, however, high water levels in the Caspian Sea led officials to release water back into the lagoon. Then, in 1992, the dam was taken down, according to the Earth Observatory. The Landsat 8 satellite was launched on Feb. 11, 2013; it images the entire Earth every 16 days, according to NASA. Original article on Live Science. #lending rules S. Korea to begin eased lending rules next month South Korea will carry out eased lending rules for first-time homebuyers and owners of one home next month as the once-hot housing market appears to be entering a downturn amid ris... #football Son Heung-min says ready to play at World Cup with protective mask As he recovers from a recent facial surgery, South Korean football icon Son Heung-min said Wednesday he will play at the upcoming FIFA World Cup with a protective mask. The Tott... EAT ME. A Plasticine caterpillar glistens with moisture while waiting for a predator to strike, in the forest of Tai Po Kau, Hong Kong. Scientific discovery takes patience, determination, focus and perseverance. And sometimes, it also takes 2,879 bright-green, Plasticine caterpillars. An international team of researchers attached thousands of diminutive clay caterpillars to plants in 31 sites across six continents, from the Arctic Circle to Australia. The faux caterpillars were designed to tempt insect-eating predators in a study of global feeding patterns. After the scientists assessed their caterpillar "casualties" at locations in both hemispheres, an intriguing pattern emerged: Even when a caterpillar's a dummy, it stands a much higher chance of being eaten if it's at a lower elevation or closer to the equator. The researchers were even able to tell by the marks left in the soft clay if the predator was an insect, bird or mammal. [No Creepy Crawlies Here: Gallery of the Cutest Bugs] It's widely recognized that biodiversity is greater in ecosystems near the equator, but scientists in the new research wondered how that might affect predation peril, compared with other ecosystems where biodiversity is lower. So, the study authors turned to tiny artificial caterpillars for answers. The caterpillars were squeezed from a tool resembling a garlic press, study lead author Tomas Roslin, a senior researcher with the Department of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Helsinki in Finland, told Live Science in an email. A total of 40 scientists from 21 countries equipped with Plasticine "inchworms" in protective tubes and glue to attach them to plants placed the fakes in position for periods of four to 18 days, checking in to see if the caterpillars showed signs of being attacked. Sculpting caterpillars to entice predators isn't new, but it's a method that researchers typically use for very localized investigations. This new study scaled up that effort significantly, to monitor predation in a wide range of environments, Roslin explained. The study authors used bite marks on the caterpillars to identify the predator. In this case, the Plasticine caterpillar has been repeatedly pinched by the wedge-shaped beak of a bird. (Image credit: Tapani Hopkins) Prior to this study, Roslin had used dummy caterpillars for research in northeast Greenland, but he decided that they didn't work because "no one ever got eaten," he said. Roslin was therefore surprised to hear from a colleague, study co-author Eleanor Slade, a researcher with the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford in England, that when she used the same type of caterpillar lures in southeast Asia, "essentially everyone got eaten." "We felt maybe these are the extreme points of a global pattern," Roslin explained. In the new study, the researchers discovered that the farther their testing sites were from the equator, the lower the chance that a predator would strike; the daily odds of being eaten decreased by nearly 3 percent with every degree of latitude away from the equator, either to the north or to the south, the authors wrote. The findings reveal that more types of species, and more organisms in general, near the equator really do equate to more mouths to feed, the researchers said. When Roslin saw the data, he was flabbergasted, he told Live Science. "I simply jumped out of my socks," he said. "There was the pattern and not vague, but entirely clear!" But there was another surprise in store for the researchers. A colleague reviewing their study suggested testing to see if the pattern held up across changes in elevation in habitats in addition to across latitudes, Roslin said. Sure enough, the same pattern emerged. The odds of predation dropped by 6.6 percent with every 328-foot (100 meters) increase in elevation, the study authors noted. "Again, the pattern was very clear once we understood to look for it," Roslin said. "That was probably the most helpful advice ever offered to me during the peer review of any paper." The findings underscore the importance of large-scale comparative studies investigating how species engage with each other, so that scientists can better understand both the individual and group dynamics of animals in a range of ecosystems, Roslin said. "In nature, it is really not 'each species on its own,' but everyone affected by a large multitude of friends and foes their food, their enemies, their diseases and parasites," he explained. "To understand the larger picture, we need to understand how species interact with each other, rather than stay staring at individual species. Focusing on predator-prey interactions is thus aimed at measuring one interaction type in this bigger whole," Rosin said. The findings were published online today (May 18) in the journal Science. Original article on Live Science. Startup activity has fallen in the Houston area, according to a report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Its 2017 Startup Activity Index ranked the Houston area No. 9, down from No. 6 last year. Miami, Austin and Los Angeles had the most startup activity. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate City Council members unanimously OKd a tax incentive package Thursday to lure the Massachusetts parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls to build a $150 million distribution center on the city's South Side. Officials say TJX Companies Inc., the parent company of the off-price retail chains, will create 1,000 jobs over five years on the citys South Side. Construction on the 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. San Antonio beat out the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Louisiana for the project, District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran said. The agreement reached by TJX and the city brings an opportunity that had not been realized in that area, in our area before, Viagran said in an interview after the vote. TJX spokeswoman Erika Tower said in an email the company is pleased with Thursdays vote and remains optimistic that the company will buy the 1,200 acres needed for the distribution facility. "T.J. Maxx is very excited about the prospect of bringing this project to San Antonio, which would create jobs for residents of the city and surrounding communities, and becoming part of the greater San Antonio community," Tower said. The city agreed to not annex, for at least 15 years, the 1,200 acres near Mission Espada where TJX plans to build the warehouse, a move intended to keep the company's property taxes low. That translates to about $11.3 million in tax savings for the company, according to estimates provided by the citys Economic Development Department. The 1,200-acre lot currently owned by Redus Texas Land land falls outside of city limits so its ineligible for city incentive funds and tax abatements. The site will be bounded by Loop 410 on the north, Goeth Road on the south, the San Antonio River on the east and U.S. 281 on the west. TJX has not yet purchased the land, Viagran said. The council nominated the project to become a Texas Enterprise Zone, giving the project access to state incentive funds through Gov. Greg Abbott's office. The governor's office will have to approve the designation, Viagran said. TJX has told the city it intends to pay employees at least $10 an hour and provide health and retirement benefits for eligible, full-time employees. The company is expected to coordinate with Workforce Solutions Alamo, SA Works and Goodwill Industries to hire from areas with high unemployment. The company has also said 26 percent of workers will earn at least the citys living-wage level of $11.83 per hour. Some managers are expected to receive pay of more than $50,000 a year. Thats too low to qualify for tax incentives from Bexar County, said David Marquez, executive director of the countys economic development department. To receive county incentives and abatements, companies must initially commit to paying 100 percent of its employees San Antonio areas living wage, Marquez said. By the end of the first year of receiving incentives, companies must pay at least 70 percent of its employees $15.68 an hour, the areas median wage. Marquez said TJX has not sought county incentives and the county doesnt intend to offer the Massachusetts company an incentive package. Its just not the type of enterprise we would want to target with an incentive, even though were supportive of the jobs coming here and the investment, Marquez said. Under the plan, TJX will donate up to 20 acres to the Southside Independent School District for a new school and more than 3 miles of property to the city for a bike-and-pedestrian trail route known as the Espada Trail Connection. The route will bridge 13 miles on the Medina River Greenway to 14 miles along the San Antonio River, creating a trail of about 31 total miles. Southside Independent School District approved a freeport tax exemption, which applies to shipments of inventory, for the company at its April 6 meeting. TJX is also expected to partner with local organizations to preserve about 300 acres of flood plain that would shield the area south of Mission Espada, one of the World Heritage Site missions, from future development. Once completed, the distribution center will join several others operated by major retailers in the area. Dollar General opened a $100 million, 1-million-square-foot distribution center in June in East Bexar County a project that received tax abatements from the county. Last summer, Amazon opened a distribution center in San Marcos after San Marcos City Council members approved an incentive package that would refund the company 85 percent of personal property taxes and 40 percent of real property taxes for a decade with a possible five-year extension. In 2012, Amazon received $7.6 million in direct tax incentives from Schertz, Guadalupe County and the Schertz Economic Development Corp. for a 1.25-million-square-foot center. The building, which opened in September 2013, cost about $150 million to build. Amazon also operates a sortation center on the citys West Side and another center on the citys Northeast Side that fulfills orders for the Seattle-based retailers two-day delivery subscription service Prime Now. TJX, a Fortune 100 company, operates more than 3,600 stores worldwide under six retail brands including five T.J. Maxx stores in San Antonio and New Braunfels and six Marshalls locations in San Antonio. The Massachusetts company reported almost $31 billion in sales last year. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The health of Texas' poor is worse - at times significantly so - than those who live in two Southern states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A report Wednesday in Health Affairs, a health policy journal, examined four years of medical outcomes in Texas, Arkansas and Kentucky and found that health measurements in the latter two states, both of which expanded Medicaid, dramatically improved in nearly all categories. The improvements included steep drops in the uninsured rate among the poor, less reliance on emergency rooms for routine care and fewer people skipping their medication because of cost. In Texas, whose leaders have steadfastly opposed Medicaid expansion, the research told a different story. While the health of the state's poor improved slightly in some categories between 2013 and 2016, it has declined in others, punctuating a stark health divide between states that has been shaped at least in part by politics. RELATED: Texas, Arkansas take opposite directions insuring their poor For instance, the number of Texans who delayed care because of cost rose to more than one in three, climbing to 34.4 percent in 2016 from 31.7 percent in 2013. There was also a drop in the number of Texans who sought regular care for chronic conditions, which health experts say leads to poorer health and more expensive treatment down the road. At the same time, as hundreds of thousands of people gained coverage in Arkansas and Kentucky, low-income residents have reported better overall health and are more likely to keep chronic conditions at bay, the study showed. The rate of low-income people delaying care because of cost in those states fell to about 29 percent in 2016 from about 40 percent in 2013. The numbers laid out in the academic study alarmed health advocates in Texas who also worry it could signal what is to come if people lose coverage under the proposed Republican health-care replacement plan. The American Health Care Act narrowly passed the U.S. House and is now before the U.S. Senate. "Numbers don't lie," said George Masi, president and CEO of Harris Health System, one of the largest public health systems in the nation. READ MORE: The journal Health Affairs has posted the findings Dr. Arthur "Tim" Garson, director of the Texas Medical Center's Health Policy Institute, was more blunt. "It is no surprise that Texas lags behind other states that did expand Medicaid," he said Wednesday. "If you go without health care coverage you eventually get sick and your chance of dying significantly increases." Critics of the ACA, known as Obamacare, have long said that with more choices anyone who wants health coverage will have access to it and ultimately health outcomes will not suffer. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands and one of the architects of the replacement bill, has called dire predictions that millions could become uninsured under his plan are overblown. Two weeks ago, when the measure he has championed passed, he said in a statement "our proven conservative solutions will move us away from the government-centered Obamacare model and toward a patient-, family- and state-drive approach that will lower costs, expand choices and increase access to care." The three states in the Health Affairs study were picked because each had very high uninsured rates among their poor in 2013. They also had similar health demographics, were in the same census region and each had highly restrictive Medicaid thresholds prior to implementation of the ACA, said Dr. Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health and economics at the Harvard University's School of Public Health and lead author of the study. While one of the original provisions of the ACA was for each state to expand its Medicaid to capture more low-income enrollees, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that individual states could decide for themselves whether to expand their programs. Kentucky enacted a traditional Medicaid expansion. Arkansas forged a type of hybrid system which used the federal expansion dollars to pay for people to enroll on ACA's federal exchange. Texas is one of 19 states that has refused to expand the program. After implementing their expansions, the uninsured rate among the poor in Arkansas and Kentucky dropped swiftly and dramatically. In Kentucky, the rate plummeted among its poor residents to just 7.4 percent in 2016 from 40.2 percent in 2013. In Arkansas, the rate fell to 11.7 percent last year from 41.8 percent in 2013. Texas, too, showed improvement among its poor, as the rate dropped to 28.2 percent in 2016 from 38.5 percent in 2013. RELATED: Read the Chronicle's 2016 special series on this topic, 'Uncovered' It is unknown what will happen in states like Arkansas and Kentucky under the proposed health-care replacement plan that seeks to discontinue Medicaid expansion. Sommers said his study is especially timely as the fate of health-care reform continues to roil Congress and the White House. He said Arkansas could provide a good model to the idea of giving states creativity to craft their own system to help cover the poor. But he worries about the proposal to cut $800 billion from Medicaid funding over the next decade. "State flexibility can be effective," he said, "but they have to be funded." Masi found the study crucial to discussions about the future of health care because too often the conversation begins and ends with uninsured rates. Instead, discussion needs to look deeper into whether coverage translates into quantifiable health gains. "What's interesting and exciting is that you can see that there is remarkable improvement in Kentucky and Arkansas," he said. "I wish Texas was in as good a position," he added. In Kentucky and Arkansas, more people had checkups and saw a personal doctor, and dramatically fewer reported trouble paying their medical bills. In Texas, the number who had checkups remained mostly unchanged as did those who said they had trouble paying their medical bills. But the number of people who had a personal doctor dropped from 52 percent to 44.9 percent. Cheasty Anderson, senior policy associate at the Children's Defense Fund-Texas, is hopeful Texas lawmakers will take the findings to heart. "While it's great news that there has been some improvement in Texas," she said, "there is also heartbreak in seeing how much better it could've been." Goethe: Life as a Work of Art By Rudiger Safranski. Translated from the German by David Dollenmayer Liveright. 651 pp. $35 --- Two centuries ago, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was, with the possible exception of Lord Byron, the most famous writer of his time. His 1774 short novel, "The Sorrows of Young Werther"- about a poetical young man whose unrequited passion for a married woman ends in suicide - had swept across Europe, elevating its youthful author into a cultural celebrity. Napoleon, no less, claimed to have read it seven times. Yet Goethe was even more accomplished as a poet. Just think of his chilling ballad "Der Erlkonig" (The Erl-King), the limpidly beautiful "Heidenroslein," (Heather Rose) or "Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) - all of which provided the texts for some of Schubert's most beautiful lieder. Not least, Goethe's verse drama "Faust" - in which a Renaissance magus sells his soul to the devil - stands high among the world's classics. Needless to say, all this sounds very impressive, but is Goethe still read outside of an ever-diminishing number of college courses in German literature? I suspect he isn't, which is why I hoped Rudiger Safranski's "Goethe: Life as a Work of Art" might reintroduce this great writer to American readers. Alas, the book, though excellent in its way, won't do that. Safranski - the author of biographies of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and a philosopher himself - focuses on Goethe's evolution as a thinker and artist at the expense of narrative excitement and anecdote. Given how little of the German's work most Americans have read, we don't really need analysis so much as enthusiastic cheerleading. In the past W.H. Auden - who himself aspired to be "a minor Atlantic Goethe" - championed this "last universal genius" in several characteristically brilliant essays. More recently, the scholar-critic Edward Mendelson declared that Goethe's capacious imagination can be likened to that of Dante and Shakespeare. At least James Joyce would agree with this judgment, since he links the trio together as Daunty, Gouty and Shopkeeper in "Finnegans Wake." Nonetheless, when you finish Safranski's pages on, say, "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," you will certainly understand this novel better if you've already read it, but if you haven't, you probably won't be eagerly rushing out to find a copy (ideally in the translation by my one-time teacher Eric Blackall). I don't know if much can be done for Goethe's poetry, which tends to sound flat and rather bland in English, though translator David Dollenmayer does his best. Is this ambitious book, then, a failure? Not at all. Neophytes will certainly be bored, yet Goethe aficionados will learn a lot. As his subtitle indicates, Safranski argues that Goethe approached his life as a work of art, requiring that any experience further his personal growth and development. You didn't think he kept chasing women just for the fun of it, did you? Other important experiences included pietism, a fascination with alchemy, Shakespeare's plays, helping govern the small duchy of Weimar, studying nature, exploring the science of color, travel in Italy, philosophical and political discussions with contemporaries (including Herder and Schiller), working in the theater and, of course, wide reading and constant writing. For this polymath, art was never limited to copying reality, but could instead function as a thought experiment, a form of self-realization. As Safranski stresses, to Goethe "art creates a new nature: an artificial, incomparable, original, and surprising nature. It has no need to measure itself against what already exists, but should be judged according to its own inner truth. Thus Goethe opposes the principle of imitation of nature with the principle of creative expression." In a characteristically insightful discussion of "The Sorrows of Young Werther" Safranski points out that "it is not the pain of love but rather Lebensekel - revulsion at or weariness of living - that is at the center of the novel."This taedium vitae, he explains, grows out of Werther's reading: The soulful proto-Romantic mediates the world through books rather than taking part directly in life. Among others, Don Quixote and Madame Bovary famously suffered from this same malady, but it's only a myth that "Werther" itself inspired an epidemic of copycat suicides. While the young Goethe was handsome, charismatic, sentimental and callous, the older Sage of Weimar all too often resembles a statue of himself: Even Safranski speaks of his being "encased in political frost." Yet Goethe's actual work - whatever the author's age - tends to be more thrilling than it is given credit for. Take the stirring lines - borrowed from his play "Egmont"- with which he closes his autobiography, "Truth and Poetry": "As if lashed by invisible spirits, the solar horses of time bolt off with our fate's flimsy wagon, and there is nothing left for us but to calmly and bravely keep hold of the reins and steer the wheels clear of a stone on the right, a precipice on the left. Where are we going? Who knows? We hardly know whence we've come." Let me end with a recommendation. If you've never read Goethe, try his novel "Elective Affinities." This is an elegant book, with something of the stylized formality of a baroque opera or one of Watteau's paintings of a fete galante. In it a middle-aged couple, Eduard and Charlotte, invite their friend the Captain and Charlotte's young niece Ottilie to visit them on their estate. In due course, Charlotte and the Captain are drawn to each other, even as Eduard and Ottilie fall deeply in love. Because they are all good and kindly people, each tries to do the right thing - with ultimately tragic results. To me, "Elective Affinities" ranks with Theodor Fontane's "Effi Briest" as the finest German novel of the 19th century. There are admirable translations by R.J. Hollingdale and David Constantine, though my favorite is that by Elizabeth Mayer and Louise Bogan. Ernest Hemingway By Mary V. Dearborn Knopf. 738 pp. $35 --- Ernest Hemingway is the macho face of 20th-century prose. His birth in 1899 marked the arrival of a man who wanted to dissociate literature from the taint of femininity it had acquired under the influence of Oscar Wilde and align it instead with a kind of hairy masculinity. Lilies and wallpaper were finished. In their place? Blood, battle, sex, hunts, death. Manly things. And to treat manly things properly, literature would require an appropriately manly style. Out with girly adjectives, rapt similes, elaborate metaphors, ethereal ruminations. In with curt observation, plain sentences, icy repetition. Wilde thought that all art had to be useless. Hemingway knew better: It was a duty. And it had, moreover, to be "true." These beliefs, which placed Hemingway under the obligation to write what he experienced and experience what he wrote, help to account for the intensity with which the obsessions and traits we find in his work occur in his life. To encounter Hemingway as an adult was to be faced with a man whose appetite for supposedly masculine pursuits was so assiduously cultivated as to border on parody. He liked to shadowbox while walking down the street. He would routinely chivy his friends into the ring in order to engage in tests of strength. He developed obsessions with bullfighting, hunting, heroism, warfare, bodily exudations (blood being a particular favorite). He nursed a lifelong fear of being thought gay. He could be cruel and violent to women. In her balanced and well researched new biography, Mary V. Dearborn makes use of a host of hitherto overlooked material - much of which she discovered in a collection of his mother's papers held by the University of Texas. She explores what made Hemingway cultivate the image he did, and whether there is more to her subject than such a portrait allows. The result is a work in which "the Hemingway legend" - a phenomenon in which Dearborn has "no investment" - emerges more or less intact. Only here it is presented with an array of qualifications that cast Hemingway as a more troubled, complex and tragic figure than most previous biographies have allowed. Dearborn begins her examination of Hemingway's sensibility by attending to the curiosities of his childhood at Oak Park, Ill. His father was a puritanical doctor with a love of the outdoors (he taught his son how to hunt), a propensity for violence and severe manic-depression (he would eventually commit suicide). His mother could be a loving parent, but she was weirdly controlling and capable of alarming episodes of irresponsibility. When Hemingway was a baby she would hold him in her arms while firing a pistol (she once reminded him how he "always loved to cuddle in my neck when the gun fired"). And she insisted on treating him and his sister (18 months his senior) as twins, dressing them as both boys and girls as her whim dictated. Dearborn considers this habit a source of Hemingway's subsequent (and largely private) preoccupation with gender fluidity, of his concomitant insecurity about his masculinity, and of the hatred he would feel for his mother in later life. Following high school and a series of journalistic apprenticeships, these formative influences, helped along by his recklessness and desire for action, would recur in Hemingway's life with devastating force. Dearborn guides us engagingly through his traumatic experiences working for the Red Cross in the Great War (during which he was shot and almost killed); his attempt to establish himself as a writer in Paris in the 1920s; the suicide of his father; his experiences in the Spanish Civil War; his involvement spying against the Nazis (and for the Russians) during the Second; his literary success; his marriages to his four wives; his debilitating head injuries; his boozy retreat to a Cuban finca; his collapse into the madness, dipsomania and infirmity that would lead to his suicide in 1961. As Dearborn tells his story, we see Hemingway comport himself with compulsive nastiness, congenital dishonesty and staggering petulance. If he wasn't getting his way with women, he would threaten to commit suicide. If a friend had helped him with a literary matter (F. Scott Fitzgerald being the most notable case in point), that friend would almost always be disposed of. If his wives failed to behave with suitable deference, they would be subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Minor slights were routinely treated as gross transgressions. Animals were both revered and treated with terrible cruelty. He once boasted of shooting a dog in such a way as to ensure it would take days to bleed to death. Seldom does Dearborn soft-pedal such behavior. But she does situate it in the context of Hemingway's struggle with an increasingly aggressive form of manic-depression, and of the alcoholism, paranoia and insecurity that exacerbated and accompanied the condition. She quotes Zelda Fitzgerald to the effect that everybody regarded him as self-evidently "bogus." "Nobody," said Zelda, "is as male as all that." And she was right. In private, as Dearborn shows, Hemingway would talk with his wives about his desire to transgress conventional gender boundaries - about his wish to be their girls. And they would sometimes allow him to explore the impulse. Dearborn explores these corners of his sensibility more fully than previous biographers, and she does so with subtlety and insight - qualities that are also present in her discussions of Hemingway's work. She is refreshing when she describes "Death in the Afternoon" as "rambling and sometimes inane." And she can be funny, too, as when she documents the stylistic infelicities - the relentless use of "truly," "thee," "thou" - of "For Whom the Bell Tolls." But Dearborn is not always convincing when writing admiringly. Her claim that Hemingway was uniquely adept at transforming life into literature is unverifiable, and vulnerable to the example of countless other writers (Saul Bellow among them). And her prose can be inattentive: We learn that Hemingway had his "heart in his mouth"; "was spoiling for a fight"; "jumped at the chance" to move to Chicago where he discovered that the best writers must learn "to push the envelope." On the whole, though, this is an admirable, affecting and thoughtful biography, distinguished by a scrupulousness and good sense that animates its subject with vigor. Hemingway once said that to capture real life on the page it is necessary to include "the bad and the ugly as well as the beautiful." Dearborn has taken that observation seriously. In doing so she has produced the most fully faceted portrait of Hemingway now available. And moved us closer to an understanding of his love, and his fear, of the truth. --- Adams is a British writer who contributes to the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement and the Irish Times. Paradise Lost: A Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald By David S. Brown Belknap. 397 pp. $29.95 --- In "Paradise Lost," the new biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, David S. Brown announces that he will treat the author as "a cultural historian." After all, Fitzgerald named the '20s the Jazz Age and perfectly captured the opulence and depravity of the decade in "The Great Gatsby." He then addressed the despair of the Depression in works such as "My Lost City." But Brown argues that Fitzgerald was no mere commentator. He became, Brown writes, "a national and even an international interpreter in the company of such contemporaries as Gertrude Stein, John Maynard Keynes, and Pablo Picasso." Fitzgerald possessed a heritage that allowed him to appreciate the nation's history. His father, born near Rockville, Md., was raised amid memories of the Civil War. A distant relative was Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner"; another was Mary Surratt, part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. "Fitzgerald," Brown argues, "was able to write as powerfully as he did about historical change in America because he identified with it in such a personal way." Born in St. Paul, Minn., Fitzgerald nevertheless identified with his Southern legacy. This "hauntedness of home," as Brown puts it, produced a troubled life. At Princeton, Fitzgerald left without a degree, but the First World War, and his induction into the Army, "gave [him] an honorable out from his scholastic dead end." An uninspired soldier, Fitzgerald never made it to the war in Europe, but while stationed near Montgomery, Ala., he met 18-year-old Zelda Sayre, known "as a flirt and a free spirit." Their stormy engagement ended with a wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral once Fitzgerald proved he could earn a living - Zelda's stipulation before marrying him - by selling his first novel "This Side of Paradise" (1920) to Scribner's. That novel was a surprise best-seller. However, Fitzgerald's second novel, "The Beautiful and Damned" (1922), which "finds Fitzgerald experimenting with naturalism," sold modestly. "The Great Gatsby" (1925), described by Brown as a "commercial disappointment," barely earned back its $4,000 advance. "Tender Is the Night" (1934) appeared briefly on the best-sellers list. Fitzgerald's novels may not have been moneymakers, but he earned "a small fortune" writing short stories for the popular magazines of the day. He published regularly in the Saturday Evening Post, which paid him well and, because it had an enormous circulation, made him famous. Most heartbreaking in Brown's account is Fitzgerald's marriage to Zelda. With daughter Scottie in tow, they were constantly on the move - from Manhattan to Europe, Ashville to Hollywood. They drank heavily, had affairs, fought. Brown reports that one argument "literally drew blood." Unable to cope, Zelda suffered a series of breakdowns in the 1930s and was eventually institutionalized. At no point was Fitzgerald's life more haunting than at the end. Living in Hollywood and writing for the studios, working on a novel he would not finish, he died of a heart attack in 1940. Brown quotes one reporter who described Fitzgerald's memorial service: "There lay American genius [and] not a soul was in the room. Except for one bouquet of flowers and a few empty chairs, there was nothing to keep him company except his casket." Fitzgerald was 44. In Brown's telling, it was this life - defined by status and money but also by alcoholism and madness - that made him perfect to chronicle "the boom twenties and the bust thirties." Brown relies on archival material, and some chapters read more like expository essays than biography, but "Paradise Lost" does succeed in depicting Fitzgerald, whose life was as full of pathos as any of the sad young men about whom he wrote, as "an artist immersed in his times." As cultural historian, Fitzgerald documented his America, ultimately concluding that, despite the nation's flaws, "the best of America was the best of the world." Fitzgerald never lived to see his real success. Then in 1951, two books - Alfred Kazin's "F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Man and His Work" and Arthur Mizener's "The Far Side of Paradise" - triggered a boom that saw books by and about Fitzgerald rack up startling sales. Soon, "Gatsby" - finally hailed as the brilliant novel it is - was adopted by academia. Sales climbed until, by 2013, the novel was estimated to have sold 25 million copies. Books by Fitzgerald published after his death - "The Last Tycoon" (his unfinished novel), "The Crack-Up," "The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald" - benefited from this newfound interest. And over the years, other books by Fitzgerald have continued to appear. The latest is "I'd Die for You." Sanctioned by the Fitzgerald estate and edited by Anne Margaret Daniel, this collection contains character portraits, screenplay treatments and unpublished short stories. Many of the stories remained unpublished because Fitzgerald reached a point in his career when he refused to allow his work to be edited by the magazines that might have bought them. Now, here they are - a welcomed addition to the Fitzgerald canon. In "The Couple," an estranged affluent couple reconciles through their dealings with a trouble-causing husband and wife they hire to work for them. In "The Pearl and the Fur," a young woman named Gwen bestows an act of kindness on a young man "out of a pity that was so deep in her that she could never even tell [her friend] Dizzy about it - never told anyone at all." And, in the title story, intrigue swirls around movie people shooting a picture in North Carolina as, in true Fitzgerald fashion, the cinematographer falls in love with his star. Some of these stories easily compliment those for which Fitzgerald is best known, such as "Winter Dreams" and "Babylon Revisited." Sadly, they are also testimony to the tragedy of Fitzgerald's all-too-early death. --- Alexander is the author of, among other books, "Rough Magic," a biography of Sylvia Plath, and "Salinger," a biography of J.D. Salinger. Has Thomas Vinterberg, with his latest film, found himself? While still in his 20s, the Danish prodigy won a student Oscar for his 1993 film-school thesis "Last Round." In 1998, Vinterberg's "The Celebration," which dealt with child sexual abuse, was met with shock and acclaim when it tied for the Jury Prize at that year's Cannes Film Festival. "The Celebration" was the first film to be released as part of the "Dogme" movement, a half-serious, half-tongue-in-cheek experiment dreamed up by Vinterberg and his fellow Dane and artistic provocateur, Lars von Trier. As part of Dogme's stated "vows of chastity," films made under that banner had to be shot using only handheld cameras and natural light and observe other restrictions. What followed, however, were many years in the creative wilderness. Until Vinterberg's Oscar-nominated film "The Hunt." But as powerful as that 2012 film is - with, again, a child-molestation theme - his new movie "The Commune" may be his most personal project yet. Based on Vinterberg's childhood in Copenhagen, where he and his parents lived for many years in an upscale commune with a group of journalists and academics, the new film centers on architect Erik (Ulrich Thomsen) and his TV-newscaster wife, Anna (Trine Dyrholm), who move into a sprawling group home with their teenage daughter Freja (Martha Sofie Wallstrom Hansen) while wrestling with infidelity, jealousy and divorce. Vinterberg, who turns 48 this month, took a break from shooting the movie "Kursk," a drama about the 2000 Russian submarine disaster, to reflect, by phone, on the long, strange trip of his career. Q: "The Commune" explores the theme of growing up, growing older, perhaps growing a bit disillusioned as well. Were you intentionally trying to hammer home those themes by casting Ulrich and Trine, with whom you first worked almost 20 years ago in "The Celebration"? A: That's a beautiful way of analyzing it. I'm not sure I'm ready to say "disillusioned," but yeah, growing older, the loss of innocence and what life brings when you come of age, is a very important theme of this movie. And, yes, I was deliberately thinking of the casting. The possibility of bringing Ulrich and Trine back together appealed to me, because we had established that young, loving couple 20 years ago. I thought it would be interesting to see where they are now. It may appear that I'm disillusioned by my time in the commune, but the truth is I'm actually missing it and longing for it. Q: How did the spirit of Dogme inform your work after "The Celebration"? A: The Dogme movement was very parallel to the commune I grew up in. It was a bunch of people doing something that hadn't been done before, jumping off a cliff, holding each other's hands. When my parents moved into this house, they felt very naughty. Q: What happened to that house, by the way? A: I'm actually sitting in that house, in my old bedroom, right now. I'm in Copenhagen for 20 hours for a funeral. But to go back to your question, the Dogme movement - being a part of a film crew - in many ways, these experiences paralleled my childhood. I've always been attached to communities of people who are willing to explore and to move themselves onto thin ice, because I grew up like that. There was definitely a mix of playfulness and arrogance with Dogme. We were narcoticly obsessed with the courage that we enjoyed sharing. Everybody warned me against making the first Dogme film. They said, "It's suicide. It will kill your career." And yet it was so enlivening. I actually considered, at one point, making "The Commune" a Dogme movie. It has much in common with "The Celebration": a bunch of people around a table telling truth to each other, loving each other, being a family. But then I realized, in thinking a little more, that Dogme was all about revolting against something. Back in 1998, at Cannes, Dogme became a kind of overnight fashion. Now it's an old dress. To make this movie a Dogme film would have been like putting on a uniform. Q: There are two children in "The Commune" - a little boy and an older teenage girl, Freja. Which character is you? A: I connect with Freja. I made her a girl, and I changed a lot of things. In writing this film, I saw many things through her eyes. Having said that, like the character of Erik, I also divorced my wife (Maria Walbom) after 20 years and married a younger woman (the actress Helene Reingaard Neumann, who plays Erik's lover, Emma). So I also saw the story through Erik's eyes. Q: Erik and Anna seem a little square to be starting a commune. Why did you decide to avoid the stereotype of the hippie? A: I wrote what I experienced. On my street, there were, I think, 32 houses, and eight of them were communes. This is in North Copenhagen, the posh, rich area of Copenhagen. Academics could only afford to live there by living together. And in this village of communes, each one was different. There was a much more hippie-ish, hash-smoking, idealist house right across the street. We shared parties and all that with them. But my particular commune was more of an extended family. It was pretty establishment: well-off academics eating together every night. Of course, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, dinner developed into a party. But our house was the reasonable place in the village. So I leaned up against my memories while also steering away from campfire singing and hash and red flags. I remember as a child hearing political debates. They were always very boring. Q: Speaking of politics, the character of the immigrant Allon, played by the Lebanese-born actor Fares Fares, is the subject of some bigotry when he's being interviewed to live in the house. Does a film about the 1970s have anything to say about Danish society today? A: Denmark, along with most of the countries of Europe, has closed its borders since then. We've always been a fearful little shire here that shivers when it receives foreign objects. But now, that fear has been overtaken by a hostility and a brutal way of receiving foreigners. (Still,) things have changed. Back then, Denmark was a very white country. You can see that reflected in some of the humor against Allon. You saw that in "The Celebration" as well. When I was a child, if you were black and your name was George, you would be called "Black George." Q: You've said, in reference to your 2003 film " It's All About Love" - an English-language romantic sci-fi thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes that is considered a flop: "It's my troubled child: the dearest one to me, but also the one who behaves the worst socially." What did you learn from that mistake? A: The years after "The Celebration" were adventurous but also very painful, because I had to refind myself. With "The Celebration," I had gone down a path that went no further. I felt I had made the ultimate film in that direction. So I turned, walked another way and started all over. That was very, very difficult. I found myself free-floating at first. Everything was torn apart: my career, my financial situation, my marriage, my relationship to my (former production) company (Nimbus Films). I left everything. "It's All About Love" is a fable that comes from a very honest and worried and beautiful place, actually. As a narrative, as a piece of drama, it's pretty dysfunctional, I guess. Only one person in 10 gets it - on a good day. Q: "The Commune" began in 2011 as a play at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Tell me about that journey from stage to screen. It sounds like theater might have saved you, as a filmmaker. A: Let's zoom out. Several years ago, someone flew up here asking me to do theater. Having destroyed my career and my financial situation, I said no at first, because I don't know how to do theater. But I was without my company. I was without my monthly paycheck. This guy said to me, "This is what I will pay you." Then I said yes before knowing what to do. It was a very creatively liberating thing for me to stop making work for money. I hadn't tried that before. He said, "What do you want to do?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Tell me about yourself." The minute I told him about the commune and my upbringing, he was like: "I insist you do that play. Write it with the actors. Write six or seven scenes, and improvise the rest. See if it works, and if you like it, go do the movie." On opening night, there was crying and a standing ovation. I felt a warmth, like coming back to my childhood. A renewed fascination for true crime and unsolved mystery stories - particularly in serialized formats on podcasts and boutique TV - has taken us to deep, dark places that traditional journalism used to avoid, sometimes on legal advice. Old rules about accusing someone of a crime and jumping to conclusions have grown a bit fuzzy as a more "Scooby-Doo" approach meanders and occasionally blunders or supposes its way into new details, dramatically playing up potential evidence. Audiences are understandably engaged by this invigorating spirit of transparency. The heroic amateurs who sleuth around in Netflix's absorbing and emotionally gripping documentary series "The Keepers" (streaming Friday) are two unassuming women in their 60s, Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub - good Catholic girls who were classmates at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore almost 50 years ago and have always wondered about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and murder of their favorite teacher, Sister Cathy Cesnick, a 26-year-old nun. On a Friday evening in November 1969, Cesnick left the apartment she shared with another nun, planning to run some errands. Her haphazardly parked car was found the next day, but it was another eight weeks before her bludgeoned, decomposing body was discovered on the hillside of a vacant lot. Although Baltimore journalists over the years have taken pretty good swings at shedding new light on this unsolved case, Hoskins and Schaub are driven to find justice for Sister Cathy, undeterred by their lack of detective experience. They started a Facebook group and began meticulously revisiting every scrap of records and leads in the case. And yes, this is the same unsolved murder that compelled Baltimore County police earlier this year to exhume the body of the Rev. A. Joseph Maskell, who had served as the high school's chaplain in the late 1960s and early '70s. Although police said Wednesday that DNA results from Maskell's body do not link him to crime-scene evidence, Maskell was accused by several former students at Keough and elsewhere of sexual abuse. Although he died in 2001, the Archdiocese of Baltimore finally paid settlements to some of his alleged victims last year. Hoskins and Schaub, who had no inkling that anything was ever amiss at their idyllic high school, serve as ready-made characters through which "Keepers" director Ryan White ("The Case Against 8") can sort through a story that is painfully tangled up in broader, awful details of ritual rape and a coverup by both church officials and local police. "The Keepers" also offers a thorough contextual study of the fervent Catholicism that plays a substantial part in Baltimore's history and identity. Schaub describes herself as "the intellectual," preferring to dig through records and hunt for documents, while Hoskins, she says, is "the bulldog," willing to knock on doors and ask tough questions. "Whoever murdered (Sister Cathy) has gotten away with it," Schaub says. "And she has never gotten justice." Blessedly short on theatrics, "The Keepers" skillfully walks viewers through the many details of the case while following Schaub and Hoffman's progress. (If you're a fan of how Marylanders pronounce their "o's," then you've come to the right seven-episode docu-series.) Zeroing in on Haskell's involvement (the working theory is that he got someone else to murder Sister Cathy because she was going to reveal the abuse of girls at Keough), "The Keepers" gets embroiled in a tragically familiar narrative in which victims came forward in the 1990s only to find themselves silenced by church authorities and statutes of limitation. In addition to giving these victims enough time and empathy to tell the story that others refused to hear, "The Keepers" takes its own initiative to seek out some potential witnesses and documents on Schaub and Hoskins' long to-do list. At occasional points, the series also looks at another unsolved murder of a young Catholic woman that happened around the same time. Like all serialized podcasts and documentaries, "The Keepers" sometimes grows redundant, partly in service to helping its audience keep the details straight and partly so it can float some rumors and theories without seeming irresponsible. Pacing is difficult in a project like this, but an urgent momentum takes over right where it's most needed, creating the sense that a solution is within grasp. Near the end, however, we begin to see some of the weaknesses of dragging the story out too far. At times "The Keepers" seems overly eager to turn its camera suspiciously on those who have already been as forthcoming as they can be - including Gerry Koob, a former priest who also taught at Keough. Judging from letters and poems that went back and forth, Father Gerry and Sister Cathy came close to leaving their vocations and getting married. Koob's alibi for the night Sister Cathy vanished (he was seeing "Easy Rider" at a theater with another priest) is at first presented as airtight; it's never clear why "The Keepers" feels a need to circle back and probe it further, to such a degree that Koob's present-day wife has to explain why she trusts that her husband is telling the truth. The problem is that, by this point, obsession has set in for everyone involved, including the viewer, who now shares the frustration of dead ends. By the final moments, it's impossible not to be outraged over missed opportunities and blind eyes that were turned. So, yes - dig up whomever and whatever still needs to be dug up; unseal whatever documents are still being hidden. Schaub and Hoskins are absolutely correct: Sister Cathy still needs and deserves our help. --- "The Keepers" (seven episodes) begins streaming Friday on Netflix. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Before heading out to serve the medical community, graduates from Laredo Community Colleges Associate Degree Nursing Program were honored during a special pinning ceremony Tuesday in the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center theater. Before an audience of family, friends and instructors, the graduates participated in a traditional ritual where they received their nursing pins from their instructors, and then lit their Lamps of Knowledge and recited the health professional covenant. During the ceremony, several students were honored by their classmates with the presentation of the Mary Alice Lopez Award and the Merit Award. Each year, members of the graduating class nominate a peer who best demonstrates what it means to be a nurse. The 2017 Mary Alice Lopez Award was presented to two students this year- Ricardo Rodriguez II and Claudia Rios. READ MORE: 'Don't drink too much and golf': Texas man tumbles off 2nd story Topgolf ledge on video Additionally, Jorge Alvarez from the two-year ADN program and Karina Gutierrez from the transitional ADN program were presented with the Merit Award in recognition of their academic achievements. The pair earned the highest grade point average. Throughout their rigorous course of study, and in addition to their lectures, these students participated in a hands-on clinical experience at the local hospitals, nursing homes and other health care sites throughout Laredo. As graduates of the program, these students are now eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to become registered nurses (RN). The ADN program enjoys an above-average passage rate on the NCLEX at both the state and national level, with 96 percent of students passing in 2016 and 100 percent in 2015. The Associate Degree Nursing Program at LCC is fully accredited by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. There are two options for students hoping to become registered nurses: the two-year traditional program and the transition track. The transition track is for students who have previous healthcare experience, such as vocational nurses, emergency medical technicians or those with degrees in other healthcare professional fields. Applications for admission to the ADN program are available at the LCC ADN Office, located in Lopez Nursing Building, room 126, or online at www.laredo.edu/nursing. Admission is competitive and based on specific admission criteria. Registration for summer sessions 1 and 2, as well as the fall 2017 semester, is under way. For more information about the Associate Degree Nursing Program at LCC, call 721-5252. The 2017 graduates of the Associate Degree in Nursing are This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A human smuggler was sentenced to eight years in prison for leading Webb County Sheriff's Office deputies on a chase that ended with a two-vehicle crash, leaving six people injured, authorities said. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo sentenced Jovanni Rodarte to 97 months in prison. Rodarte, of Rio Bravo, was convicted of conspiring to transport immigrants and causing serious bodily injury after pleading guilty Dec. 8 "HSI is dedicated to working closely with all of our law enforcement partners to effectively in identify, arrest and prosecute individuals involved in exploiting people," said in a statement Shane Folden, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Field Office. "Criminals who illegally smuggle people into and throughout the country place personal profit ahead of public safety. For this reason, HSI will continue to utilize its broad authorities to dismantle human smuggling organizations." READ MORE: Mother of slain 3-year-old in Laredo motel murder case admits she lied to detectives Rodarte, 20, was also ordered to pay $192,997.20 in restitution to the victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. During sentencing, the court heart that Rodarte has been involved in gang violence while incarcerated and has had prior encounters with authorities for human smuggling. "The government also described the incredible injuries that Rodarte inflicted on multiple innocent people. The court also heard from a victim's wife who described the tremendous pain her husband has endured since the crash and the toll the crash has taken on her entire family," the prosecution said. Marmolejo added "that despite given multiple opportunities, Rodarte had done nothing good with his life, but had instead immeasurably impacted multiple innocent peoples' lives, including a mother and her son." Chase The case occurred Oct. 5, 2016. A deputy attempted to pull over Rodarte's Ford Expedition for a traffic violation. Instead, he sped off and led authorities on a chase through El Cenizo. Authorities said Rodarte reached speeds of 100 mph in the residential area. Rodarte, who was transporting three immigrants, allegedly tried to strike the deputies with his vehicle as they attempted to deploy a tire-deflation device. Rodarte crashed into a school fence and a white Chrysler minivan occupied by three people at the corner of Pena and Espejo Molina in Rio Bravo. Rodarte and six other people sustained injuries. RELATED: 36 remarkable photos show Nuevo Laredo through the years "Law enforcement performed first-aid at the scene, but several of the vehicles' occupants needed to be air-lifted to hospitals in Laredo and San Antonio," the prosecution said. "The three occupants in the vehicle Rodarte struck all sustained serious injuries that will require years of ongoing treatment." Rodarte was first arrested Oct. 13 and charged with one count of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, six counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault with deadly weapon on public servants. Information on the state charges were not available. Federal authorities would later take over the case. Louisiana has the nations highest incarceration rate. But this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards struck a deal to reduce sentences and the prison population, saving millions annually. If lawmakers approve the changes, Louisiana will be following more than 30 states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, that have limited sentences, expanded alternatives to incarceration such as drug treatment, or otherwise reduced the reach and cost of the criminal justice system. Many of those states say they have saved money while crime rates have stayed low. In Washington, though, the nations top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has charted the opposite course. He said last week that federal prosecutors should aim to put more people in prison for longer periods, adopting the sort of mass-incarceration strategy that helped flood prisons during the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. His move alarmed critics who feared that the Trump administration was embracing failed, even racist, policies. Even more, Sessions approach conflicted with one of the few major points of bipartisan national agreement over the past decade, that criminal justice could be more effective by becoming less punitive to low-level offenders, treating root causes of crime like drug addiction, and reserving more resources to go after serious, violent criminals. But if Sessions appointment has dampened the hopes of those wishing for congressional action to reduce incarceration, advocates say it has had little effect on state efforts. There was a lot of speculation that with the rhetoric from the presidential campaign, there would be a drop in momentum, but we havent seen that, said Marc Levin, policy director for Right on Crime, a group at the fore of conservative efforts to reduce incarceration rates. There have been so many successes in the last several years, particularly in conservative states, that it continues to fuel other states to act, Levin said. The consensus began with a cold, objective judgment that taxpayers were not getting a good return on investment for money spent on prisons. Bloated corrections budgets took money that could be spent on schools, roads or tax breaks, while many of those who went through the prison system went on to offend again. Among Republicans and Democrats alike, concern also grew that too many nonviolent criminals who were no threat to society were being imprisoned and given little chance to reform and re-enter mainstream society. Recently legislators in a few places, such as Florida and West Virginia, have gone against the tide, pushing for tougher sentencing related to the epidemic of painkiller addiction haunting many communities. But Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said: Thats the only fly in the ointment. Its a bit of a throwback. Richard A. Oppel is a New York Times writer. Volunteers with Texas Equusearch are searching Thursday a southeast Houston neighborhood near Pasadena for a missing, 33-year-old Houston man. The man - Thomas Jordan Cody - was last seen at 1:30 a.m. Monday in the 8000 block of Ogden, near the Gulf Freeway and Sims Bayou. He was wearing a white shirt with "Jordan" printed on it in silver letters. He had on silver shorts and white, gray and black shoes. He has a large scar on his stomach from surgery. Volunteers with Equusearch started looking for him on Wednesday. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the Houston Police Department at 832-394-1840 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer / / Erwin Chemerinsky, an influential legal scholar, author and founding dean of UC Irvine School of Law, was named the dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, officials said Wednesday. Chemerinsky, 64, is a constitutional law scholar and will serve as Berkeley Laws 13th dean, replacing interim Dean Melissa Murray, who took the job after Dean Sujit Choudhry resigned in March 2016 amid sexual-harassment allegations. CARO A town hall meeting on renewable energy will be conducted from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday at Caro High School, 301 North Hooper St. State Rep. Gary Glenn, chair of the Michigan House Energy Committee, will be there, and other legislators from Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola and Lapeer counties have been invited. The meeting is expected to focus on future development of wind energy in the Thumb, but Glenn said in a press release that anyone wishing to speak either in favor of or opposed to future wind projects or on any other energy-related policy is welcome to participate. Glenn, of Larkin Township, represents Michigans 98th District. He is also the associate speaker of the house pro tem. I strongly oppose our state government dictating to local communities and mandating that they must build a certain type of energy source, Glenn stated in the release. More broadly, I believe that requiring energy providers to compete and letting homeowners, business owners, schools, and all other ratepayers choose where they buy their electricity will help hold down our electricity rates and keep Michigan competitive for new industry and jobs. Im particularly interested Friday to hear the views of citizens in the region of our state thats recently been in the bulls eye of public debate over the role wind projects in particular will play in Michigans energy future, he added. Officials from Glenns office said Wednesday that Rep. Edward J. Canfield, who represents Huron and Tuscola counties, is unable to attend. The state last year increased Michigans mandate for renewable energy. The law calls for requiring electric providers to produce 15 percent of their power from wind or other renewable sources by the end of 2021, up from 10 percent currently. The law also set a non-binding goal of meeting 35 percent of Michigans power needs by 2025 through a combination of renewable energy and energy conservation. Current state law mandates that only 10 percent of electricity sold in Michigan can be purchased from sources other than the states two major utilities Consumers Energy and DTE Energy. Glenn favors lifting that 10 percent cap and allowing all electricity users to choose where they buy electricity. Huron County leads the state in wind energy production. By years end, its expected that there will be 473 turbines producing electricity here. Earlier this month, residents in county-zoned townships turned down two proposed wind farms by a 2-to-1 margin in Huron County. DTE Energy had proposed a 70-turbine wind farm for Lincoln, Dwight, Sigel and Bloomfield townships. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC had proposed a wind farm in Sigel and Sherman townships. And in Sand Beach Township, a measure to restrict wind turbine noise was approved, making it impossible to develop NextEras planned turbines for that township. NextEra had planned on building a total of 60 turbines, some of which were also to be located in self-zoned Delaware Township in Sanilac County. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KIEV, Ukraine - A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy - made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy, R-Calif., said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy's assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the U.S. Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions. News had just broken the day before in The Washington Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home. Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy's comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: "Swear to God." Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: "No leaks. . . . This is how we know we're a real family here." The remarks remained secret for nearly a year. The conversation provides a glimpse at the internal views of GOP leaders who now find themselves under mounting pressure over the conduct of President Trump. The exchange shows that the Republican leadership in the House privately discussed Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and Trump's relationship to Putin, but wanted to keep their concerns secret. It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally. More for you Lawmakers demand FBI, White House records as Trump... The House leadership has so far stood by the White House as it has lurched from one crisis to another, much of the turmoil fueled by contacts between Trump or his associates with Russia. House Republican leaders have so far resisted calls for the appointment of an independent commission or a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference, though pressure has been mounting on them to do so after Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and the disclosure that the president shared intelligence with Russian diplomats. Late Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced he had appointed Robert Mueller III, a former prosecutor who served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013, as special counsel to oversee the Russia probe. Evan McMullin, who in his role as policy director to the House Republican Conference participated in the June 15 conversation, said: "It's true that Majority Leader McCarthy said that he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking." McMullin ran for president last year as an independent and has been a vocal critic of Trump. When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: "That never happened," and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: "The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false." After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: "This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What's more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia's interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity." "This was a failed attempt at humor," Sparks said. Ken Grubbs, a spokesman for Rohrabacher, said the congressman has been a consistent advocate of "working closer with the Russians to combat radical Islamism. The congressman doesn't need to be paid to come to such a necessary conclusion." When McCarthy voiced his assessment of whom Putin supports, suspicions were only beginning to swirl around Trump's alleged Russia ties. At the time, U.S. intelligence agencies knew that the Russians had hacked the DNC and other institutions, but Moscow had yet to start publicly releasing damaging emails through WikiLeaks to undermine Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. An FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence the presidential election would open the following month, in late July, Comey has said in testimony to Congress. Trump has sought to play down contacts between his campaign and the Russians, dismissing as a "witch hunt" the FBI and congressional investigations into Russian efforts to aid Trump and any possible coordination between the Kremlin and his associates. Trump denies any coordination with Moscow took place. Presidential candidate Trump's embrace of Putin and calls for closer cooperation with Moscow put him at odds with the House Republican caucus, whose members have long advocated a harder line on Russia, with the exception of Rohrabacher and a few others. Among GOP leaders in the House, McCarthy stood out as a Putin critic who in 2015 called for the imposition of "more severe" sanctions for its actions in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. In May 2016, McCarthy signed up to serve as a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, breaking ranks with Ryan, who said he still was not ready to endorse the candidate. McCarthy's relationship with Trump became so close that the president would sometimes refer to him as "my Kevin." Trump was by then the lone Republican remaining in the contest for the nomination. Though Ryan continued to hold out, Trump picked up endorsements from the remaining GOP leaders in the House, including Rep. Steve Scalise, the majority whip from Louisiana, and Republican Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) - both of whom took part in the June 15 conversation. Ryan announced on June 2 that he would vote for Trump to help "unite the party so we can win in the fall" but continued to clash with the candidate, including over Putin. While Trump sought to cast Putin as a better leader than then-President Barack Obama, Ryan dubbed him an "aggressor" who didn't share U.S. interests. On the same day as Ryan's endorsement, Clinton stepped up her attacks on Trump over his public statements praising Putin. "If Donald gets his way, they'll be celebrating in the Kremlin," she said. Ukrainian officials were unnerved by Trump's statements in support of Putin. Republicans, they had believed, were supposed to be tougher on Russia. When Trump named Paul Manafort as his campaign manager in April 2016, alarm bells in Kiev started ringing even louder. Manafort was already well known in Ukraine because of his influential role as a political consultant to Viktor Yanukovych, the country's former Kremlin-friendly ruler until a popular uprising forced him to flee to Russia. Manafort had also consulted for a powerful Russian businessman with close ties to the Kremlin. "Ukraine was, in a sense, a testing ground for Manafort," said Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets, who became a grudging admirer of Manafort's skills in the "dark arts" of political stagecraft while Berezovets was working for one of Yanukovych's political rivals. At the urging of Manafort, Yanukovych campaigned with populist slogans labeling NATO a "menace" and casting "elites" in the Ukrainian capital as out of touch, Berezovets said. Trump struck similar themes during the 2016 campaign. The FBI is now investigating whether Manafort, who stepped down as Trump's campaign manager in August, received off-the-books payments from Yanukovych's party, U.S. officials said. As part of that investigation, FBI agents recently took possession of a newly discovered document that allegedly details payments totaling $750,000. Ukrainian lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko, who first disclosed the new document, declined to comment on his contacts with the FBI. A spokesman for Manafort has said that Trump's former campaign manager has not been contacted by the FBI. Manafort has also disputed the authenticity of the newly discovered document. Groysman, on an official visit to Washington, met separately with Ryan and McCarthy on June 15 at the Capitol. He told them how the Russians meddled in European politics and called for "unity" in addressing the threat, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. Ryan issued a statement after the meeting saying, "the United States stands with Ukraine as it works to rebuild its economy and confront Russian aggression." Later, Ryan spoke privately with McCarthy, Rodgers, Scalise and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the deputy whip, among others. Ryan mentioned his meeting with Groysman, prompting Rodgers to ask: "How are things going in Ukraine?" according to the recording. The situation was difficult, Ryan said. Groysman, he said, had told him that Russian-backed forces were firing 30 to 40 shells into Ukrainian territory every day. And the prime minister described Russian tactics that include "financing our populists, financing people in our governments to undo our governments." Ryan said Russia's goal was to "turn Ukraine against itself." Groysman underlined Russia's intentions, saying, "They're just going to roll right through us and go to the Baltics and everyone else," according to Ryan's summary of the prime minister's remarks in the recording. "Yes," Rodgers said in agreement, noting that the Russians were funding nongovernmental organizations across Europe as part of a wider "propaganda war." "Maniacal," Ryan said. "And guess, guess who's the only one taking a strong stand up against it? We are." Rodgers disagreed. "We're not . . . we're not . . . but, we're not," she said. That's when McCarthy brought the conversation about Russian meddling around to the DNC hack, Trump and Rohrabacher. "I'll guarantee you that's what it is. . . . The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump," McCarthy said with a laugh. Ryan asked who the Russians "delivered" the opposition research to. "There's . . . there's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. "Swear to God," McCarthy added. "This is an off the record," Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that. "No leaks, all right?," Ryan said, adding: "This is how we know we're a real family here." "That's how you know that we're tight," Scalise said. "What's said in the family stays in the family," Ryan added. - - - The Washington Post's Andrew Roth in Moscow, Michael Birnbaum in Brussels and Robert Costa in Washington contributed to this report. - - - Video: The 2016 conversation Paul Ryan wanted to keep private The Post's Adam Entous discusses a 2016 conversation between GOP leaders in which House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made an explosive claim about Donald Trump. (Bastien Inzaurralde / The Washington Post) Short URL: http://wapo.st/2pY7eFF Embed code: For all the fallout from the damning news surrounding President Donald Trump this past week, Republicans calling for more investigations was not one of them. As the world learned that Trump suddenly fired his FBI director, as the world learned the president told state secrets to the Russians, as the world learned that the fired FBI director said the president asked him to drop the FBI's investigation into one of the president's allies, the vast majority of Republicans in Congress didn't budge. No, they didn't think a special counsel was necessary. No, they didn't think there would need to be any other kind of independent investigations. The ones going on in Congress (and the leaderless FBI) were sufficient enough, thank you. It turns out Trump's own administration didn't agree. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Wednesday that he was appointing a special counsel - Robert Mueller III, head of the FBI from 2001 to 2013 - to investigate Russian meddling in the presidential election. Mueller will have wide latitude to investigate Russia's involvement, whether the Trump campaign helped, Trump's interactions with the FBI and anything else he wants. "In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter," Rosenstein said in a statement. (Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Trump ally, has recused himself from all Russia investigations.) This is exactly the opposite of what most Republicans in Congress had been saying needed to happen. At the time Rosenstein appointed a special counsel, only five Senate Republicans had publicly said they were open to the idea of a more independent investigation than what Congress and the FBI were undertaking. None of them explicitly supported a special counsel. (Only the Justice Department has the authority to appoint an independent investigator, but many Democrats have been publicly urging the department to do it.) For months, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had been saying Congress should set up a special congressional committee dedicated solely to investigating Russia, but he did not touch on the idea of a special counsel. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he'd support a special counsel only if there was a criminal matter: "If it ever becomes a criminal investigation," he said on Fox News after Trump fired Comey, "then we'll talk about a special prosecutor. You don't need a special prosecutor for counterintelligence." Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., told reporters there should be a special counsel only "if" the committees in the Senate and House investigating Russia "cannot get to answers." Those are hardly ringing endorsements for what the Justice Department just decided to do. In fact, up until this point, Republican leaders in Congress were saying no extra investigations were necessary: "Today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor the day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, "which could only serve to impede the current work being done." "We have a bipartisan commitment to get to the bottom of this Russian investigation," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Senate's No. 2, said on Fox News the same day. "Nothing will change by virtue of Director Comey's termination." Even Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who is leading the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russia and said he was "troubled" by the firing of Comey, didn't make a move toward supporting a special counsel. In the House of Representatives, we count 10 GOP lawmakers who were open to an independent investigation or special counsel, but almost all of them had already supported one before. In other words: The majority of Republicans saw no need to escalate investigations into Russia - and, inevitably, to risk escalating their tensions with Trump - by supporting more investigations. The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end? This is all despite the fact numerous polls found that a solid majority of Americans don't trust Congress to conduct its investigations fairly. A late-April NBC-WSJ poll found that 73 percent of Americans want an independent investigation. Of course, now that the decision has been made for them, Republicans suddenly seem supportive of the idea of an independent lawyer with license to investigate what he wants for however long he wants. As the news broke, Burr told reporters: "I think this is a good decision. By having someone like Bob Mueller head whatever investigation assures the American people that there's no undue influence, be it here or be it at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, or within the Justice Department or FBI." Perhaps the most vivid 180: Just hours before the announcement, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., was chatting with a Post reporter about why he thought a special counsel could be counterproductive. (Curbelo supports a special congressional committee dedicated to only Russia.) "What if you get someone like Ken Starr, who is erratic and really takes away credibility from the process?" he asked. "That's very dangerous." Minutes after the announcement, Curbelo was on MSNBC with this: "This is something every American should be celebrating today. This will get us many steps closer to the truth." That's not how a majority of Republicans in Congress felt before Wednesday's announcement. Given the current state of U.S.-Russia relations, and multiple investigations into President Donald Trump's team's ties to Moscow, and the way in which Russia scares are permeating the American public discourse (see the latest Time cover, where the White House morphs into St. Basil's Cathedral) pity the task facing Russian human rights advocates in the U.S. capitol. Sergei Davidis of Memorial, Russia's oldest human rights organization manages Memorial's political prisoner support for the group. He was in Washington to try to draw attention to his cause - and though he acknowledged that renewed interest in his country the very week he happened to be in town was "a coincidence," it was not an entirely unhappy one. Davidis thinks that added attention to Russia, and in particular to its subversive tactics overseas, could convince U.S. lawmakers to put more pressure on Moscow for its repressive domestic policies. Memorial's political prisoners program has, at present, 116 prisoners on its list; 66 of whom, Davidis says, were persecuted for religious reasons. The laws under which they're imprisoned are quite new - and quite vague. For example, Article 148 says insulting the religious feelings of believers is punishable with up to one year in prison, or three years if the insult is committed in a place designated for worship. "Probably, it is not good to insult religious feelings," Davidis says. But it's also probably not good to get a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence, as Ruslan Sokolovsky, a 22-year-old blogger did, for playing Pokemon Go in a church. Davidis, for his part, hopes that Washington can lean more on Moscow when it comes to domestic treatment of critics, journalists, and activists. Russian authorities, he concedes, "will not do everything they're asked to do. But if they're not asked for anything, they will do nothing." And as Ekaterina Petrikevich, a consultant with Memorial, said that even if international pressure doesn't make Russia behave better, it can keep it from behaving worse, forcing authorities to release political prisoners, or at least to make sure that their whereabouts are made public and that they are not tortured. She points to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who called for the release of activist Ildar Dadin in January. Dadin, coincidentally or otherwise, was released the next month. But Trump administration, for its part, has made no public mention of human rights abuses in Russia, and has explicitly divorced its foreign policy approach in general from promoting human rights. And when Congress speaks of Russia these days, it is of whether its officials colluded with the Trump campaign to interfere in the 2016 election, not how to support rights in Russia. Memorial, however, hopes that the one might lead to the other. "Uncontrolled external policy," he said, is directly connected to repression. If a country does not have a civil society that can hold its authorities accountable, it can more easily do things like invade other countries and meddle in foreign elections, as Russia has been doing in recent years. If lawmakers don't want Russia to keep doing such things, Davidis said, perhaps they can "see a step further" and use their big soapbox to highlight rights abuses in Russia. For now, Congress is taking baby steps - but it's a start. On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed a bill to designate the area in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington as "Boris Nemtsov Plaza," named for the opposition figure shot dead in plain view of the Kremlin in 2015. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The murder exactly a year ago that claimed the life of Josue Flores energized his Northside neighborhood as mournful residents came together Wednesday evening in the 11-year-old's memory. The gathering was the latest example of how his death has transformed the community where parents, neighbors and police now band together to protect children traveling on foot to the cluster of nearby schools. Following the May 17, 2016, murder, dozens of mothers organized a volunteer patrol that became Safe Walk Home Northside in the name of Josue. City, county, rail and Houston Independent School District law enforcement started coordinating. The Houston Police Department created a bike squad whose members spend most of their time in Near Northside and central division officers started meeting monthly with residents. At Wednesday night's vigil, strains of mournful mariachi music drifted into the darkening sky. Clutching a white rose as tears slid down her face, Maria Flores stared at the ground. This was the spot where her son was brutally murdered just blocks from his home. "I still remember him every day," Flores said. But this week the Houston mother was surrounded by family, friends and city officials who joined in her memories as they gathered to honor the Marshall Middle School student slain on his way home from school. "Josue, we know you are watching and smiling because you see such community spirit - this is all for you," Councilwoman Karla Cisneros, whose District H includes Near Northside, told the crowd of more than 100 congregated near the Holy Name Catholic Church. "And we will be with you while we walk through the valley of justice, and we will make sure that our justice system works on your behalf." In early June 2016, police charged Andre Timothy Jackson Jr. in the boy's killing. Jackson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who previously lived at a transitional housing center for homeless veterans, was arrested at The Salvation Army. He had been staying there since mid-April of last year, according to authorities. The 28-year-old is now in the Harris County Jail on $100,000 bail. Josue, a sixth-grader, was walking the seven blocks home from Marshall Middle after staying a little late for a Science Club year-end party when witnesses said he was attacked by a man who stabbed him repeatedly, then fled on foot. Since the slaying, residents have successfully petitioned to get the city's civility ordinance enforced in their neighborhood and made sure that the area was designated one of the mayor's five "Complete Communities" targeted for more investment and resources. A bill to expand a program that provides extra transportation money for Texas school districts to keep children out of "hazardous traffic conditions" to also cover areas with a "high risk of violence" has been authored by State Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston. "I live in the area. It's just tragic what happened to him, and I think it's imperative that the state do everything we can to ensure that our kids can walk safely to and from school without fear of bodily harm or death," the Democrat said. The bill passed the Texas Senate on May 8 and had a public hearing in the House on Tuesday. The legislation remains pending in the Public Education committee. "I'm told that it's expected to get out and hopefully will get on calendar and get voted out later this week or next week," Garcia said. Parents are vigilant Josue was attacked two blocks away from the church where Rosa Medrano walks her three children ages 12, 13 and 14 to a catch a bus to a charter school 3 miles away. "Some parents are very scared for their kids now, and there's still the situation with the homeless in the neighborhood," said the 46-year-old, who also grew up in the area. "I speak with parents and a lot of them are walking their kids to school." Once her kids board the bus, Medrano watches out for other children by patrolling between the church and Marshall Middle before heading to work. "The bad thing is that a tragedy had to happen in the neighborhood for us to come together as a community," she said, adding that she is one of the Safe Walk volunteers who took first response training. "Now I am 100 percent sure that I can do something for someone. I'm not going to stand there with my arms folded. If one parent can save a life, it's worth it." Lt. Megan Tien with HPD's central division, which includes Near Northside, said the agency increased visibility and patrols. "We are working alongside the people who live in the area and the business owners. They are the eyes and ears of the police department. If they have a problem, they bring it to us," she said. Drives in from Humble Safe Walk Home Northside's founder, Stella Mireles Walters, lives in Humble but grew up in the neighborhood and had the vision for a community surveillance program that now has hundreds of people connected as volunteers, advocates and Facebook friends. The 62-year-old mother of two grown sons, now an empty-nester with her husband, drives in many mornings to put her own eyes on children as they make their way to campuses. "I'm almost retired. Do I take care of my flowers and go play bingo or hang out with my girlfriends or do I really answer the need in a community that is suffering so badly?" she said in explaining why she decided to plunge into the lives of school-age children. "I could not go to sleep at night peacefully knowing that this was happening to this neighborhood and I didn't answer to that call." On Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner thanked the community for its efforts to protect their children and remember Josue. "He wanted to be a doctor and I want you to know that he is still saving a lot of lives," Turner said. After officials finished offering somber remarks outside the church, the growing crowd made the short trek to the site of Josue's death, now a colorful roadside memorial. Flores and her family grieved quietly in the center of everything. "I'm grateful because everybody reminds me that they're still here for me," she said in Spanish, flanked by her surviving children. The evening ended with a solemn balloon release. Dozens of white orbs climbed over the church roof and floated over the Near Northside neighborhood. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On Tuesday evening, Lewisville resident Lavinia Masters went for a walk on her neighborhood trail and a chilling message scribbled on the ground stopped her in her tracks. "Help me" was written on the sidewalk in front of a bench where Masters had just seen a woman pause during her walk with a man. HARSH REALITY: Human trafficking on the rise across the nation "I'm coming back and I see this man and this lady and the guy was ahead of the lady with a dog and the lady was behind him. She stopped over at the bench - scribbling something and messing with trash on the ground. He turns and she quickly picks up the trash around her and walks back to him," Masters says during a Facebook Live video. Periodically, Masters said the woman would look back at her and make eye contact. Once Masters got to the bench and saw the "help me" message, she realized why. "I felt completely helpless and that is one of the worst feelings in the world," Masters said, recalling the moment she realized that this woman could be a victim of human trafficking, domestic violence or assault. Masters wanted to run to the woman to save her, but she didn't want both of them to be injured. The couple crossed the street and "vanished." Masters called the police in hopes that they could help her find the couple. MAJOR TIME: Boy, 14, could face life as sex offender for sex with girlfriend, 12 Fifteen minutes later, officers with the Lewisville Police Department arrived to do a wellness check on the area, but didn't find the couple. Though the couple was not found and the message wasn't confirmed as legitimate or as a prank, Masters is still determined to use her experience to raise awareness. "We have got to learn how to pay attention to the things that are happening around us," Masters said. "We have got to recognize when someone may be in distress or if something just doesn't feel right - or something doesn't look right. "You just never know what people are going through and we have to pay attention to our surroundings. We have to pay attention when it seems like someone is in distress. It doesn't hurt to dial 911. It's okay to let the police know." Captain Scott Haynes of the Lewisville Police Department told Chron.com that he fears there may have been a delay in her call to the police. "We did respond to her and listen to her concerns," Captain Haynes told Chron.com. "For us, we always recommend to be aware of their surroundings. She did the right thing in calling the police, but unfortunately it was too late." After a search of the park by the officers, the couple was never found by the police. According to a recent University of Texas report, there are nearly an estimated 160,000 minors who are sex trafficking victims. Click through the gallery above to learn the numbers behind human trafficking, both labor and sex victims. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: 313,000 Texans are now human-trafficking victims GALVESTON The number of endangered Kemps ridley sea turtle nests discovered on the Texas Gulf Coast has surpassed 236 nests, exceeding the previous record of 209 nests in 2012, a National Parks Service official said. The record number found midway through the nesting season offers hope that the states official sea turtle may be on the rebound following a decline after the 2010 BP oil spill that fouled turtle feeding grounds and killed untold numbers of juveniles. We are very happy. We have exceeded the previous record number of nests found on the Texas coast overall, said Donna Shaver, the NPS sea turtle science and recovery division chief at Padre Island National Seashore. Its still the nesting season, and we expect many more nests to be found, Shaver said Wednesday. Maybe we will get up to 300, we hope. At least 30 more nests had been found by Wednesday morning, she said. Shaver, however, cautioned that it would take two or three more nesting seasons to know whether the uptick in discovered nests this year was a fluke or a genuine indication that the Kemps ridley is coming back. Its a long-term effort, Shaver said. We do caution that we dont know what the numbers will be like next year, and we dont know if we will return to the exponential increase we were seeing before 2010. The Kemps ridley was near extinction before U.S. and Mexican government efforts begun in the late 1970s saved the species. The Kemps ridley numbers increased slowly until the early 2000s, when its nests were increasing exponentially. Then came the 2010 oil spill. The main nesting grounds are in Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas state, but Shaver has headed an effort by the parks service since 1998 to establish a secondary nesting site at the Padre Island National Seashore. The number of nests discovered Tuesday at the national seashore reached a record 144 nests, surpassing the previous record of 117 in 2009. AUSTIN -- An allocation of nearly $800 million to make for a shortfall in Medicaid funding was approved Thursday by the Texas Senate's budget-writing panel. In an unanimous vote, the Senate Finance Committee approved the expenditure of state funds, to be matched by $1.6 billion in federal money, to cover a shortage in the health insurance program for poor Texans. The funding was included in a supplemental appropriations bill that will next go to the full Senate for approval, likely this weekend. The supplemental bill is designed to cover shortages in the current budget that were unanticipated or unfunded when the state budget was approved two years ago. "This bill protects the most vulnerable among us: our children," Committee Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said in a statement. "It puts Texas in a strong position to meet the challenges ahead." In addition to the Medicaid funding , $160 million in state and federal funds was added to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' budget being hired to reform the state's troubled child protection programs. It also adds $80 million to the budget for state prison healthcare. While the Senate measure is similar to a House version, the Senate bill does not include funding to restore cuts in state therapy services to children with disabilities that were made in 2015. The House version restores some of that funding. The Senate vote drew immediate criticism from children's advocacy groups. "It's devastating to see that senators are still dragging their feet on restoring therapy funding for kids with disabilities," said Stephanie Rubin, CEO of Texans Care for Children. "For almost two years, parents have been pleading with legislators to restore this funding for their kids, but so far senators just aren't listening to them. Kids with autism, speech delays, Down syndrome, and other disabilities are counting on legislators to reverse the cuts when they finalize the budget." Eric Gay/STF AUSTIN -- The Texas House on Thursday unexpectedly delayed debate until Friday on a key property-tax reform bill, triggering speculation that the legislation might be in trouble. If the bill fails to pass, House and Senate leaders conceded privately that a special session is almost a certainty because Gov. Greg Abbott has made it clear that the legislation is a must-pass measure. 1 West Bank clash: A Palestinian protester has been killed during a clash in the northern West Bank, and an Associated Press photographer was shot and wounded while covering the unrest. Palestinian witnesses say an Israeli settler opened fire on a crowd of Palestinian protesters after his car was attacked by demonstrators Thursday. They say the crowd converged on the car after it struck some protesters. Palestinian medical officials say a 20-year-old man was fatally shot in the head, while AP photographer Majdi Mohammed was shot in the hand. 2 Court order: The International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage and terrorism, in a case that has further strained relations between the Asian neighbors. The U.N. court ruled unanimously that Pakistan shouldnt carry out the death penalty on Kulbhushan Jadhav pending the outcome of a case filed by India alleging that Pakistan breached Jadhavs right to consular assistance following his arrest last year. Jadhav was convicted in Pakistan and sentenced to death on April 10. A pig farmer who told two repossession men to strip naked and get into a pen with an agitated boar has been jailed for 12 months following an unsuccessful appeal last Friday against his conviction. Donal Connaughton (58), from Elfeet, Newtowncashel, Co Longford, was found guilty by a jury at Longford Circuit Criminal Court of two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of threatening to cause serious harm, assault causing harm and two counts criminal damage at his piggery in Co Longford on April 29, 2010. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Patrick Mulvey and Justin Tighe, employees of repossession company, Assets Security, had told the jury that they feared for their lives after going to JAC Pigs Ltd in Co Longford to repossess items on behalf of GE Money. Connaughton was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment by Mr Justice Tony Hunt on November 11, 2013. He was granted bail that same month pending an appeal against conviction which he lost last Friday. Giving judgment in the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham said Connaughton had entered into a financial arrangement with GE Money in relation to a generator and some power washers. He did not adhere to the repayment schedule and eventually owed 2,500. On the day in question, Mr Mulvey and Mr Tighe, two repossession men, arrived in a truck with a view to taking possession of the property or securing payment. Mr Mulvey approached Connaughton and an argument developed. Much of the incident was captured on an iPhone. It was not really disputed, Mr Justice Birmingham said, that the two men were threatened in a very aggressive manner and told "their heads would be ripped off". There was reference to a boar and it was suggested they'd be put in a pen with him. They were told to get on their knees and pray, which they did, and they were ordered to strip naked. Mr Mulvey said he was punched and prodded with a screwdriver by an employee of Connaughton who pleaded guilty and got a suspended sentence. Connaughton alleged that while matters were at trial he was approached by an individual to whom his son owed 3,500. Connaughton claimed this man told him that "he had someone on the jury" and if the debt was cleared "he could talk to the juror". Needless to say, Connaughton did not inform his lawyers of these approaches. According to Connaughton, he gave 1,000 to the man who approached him telling him the balance would be paid in January, which it subsequently was. Connaughton claimed he had a phone conversation with the juror in question on January 21st 2013 and the juror is alleged to have called to Connaughton's home two days later. The juror is alleged to have explained how he kept the alleged middle-man updated during the trial. He discussed what was happening with others including his son who warned him to be careful as he was exposing himself to a five year jail term. This meeting was video recorded, Mr Justice Birmingham said. However, when a Garda investigation was launched it emerged that the recording had been edited, described as cutting and pasting. Counsel for Connaughton, Colm Smyth SC, who was not Connaughton's counsel at trial, submitted that his client's conviction was unsafe and unsound, that a reasonable and fair-minded observer would think there was a risk at least one juror was not following the trial judge's directions and so the verdict was tainted. Dismissing his appeal, Mr Justice Birmingham said the suggestion there was anything untoward happening came from Connaughton. "It is a striking feature of the case that on Connaughton's own account, he was a party to whatever impropriety was occurring. In those circumstances , the court would be reluctant in the extreme to reward clear wrongdoing." "If there were concerns that the verdict was unsafe that would be the price that would have to be paid." However there were a number of factors present which "provide reassurance that the verdict was in fact a safe and proper one". First of all, the incident in the piggery was audio recorded and the sentencing judge commented: "I'm not sure what Mr Connaughton expected the jury to do with that evidence, in accordance with their oath". The repossession men's account was "corroborated by the ear of" the iPhone, the sentencing judge had said, and it was "crystal clear". Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Edwards, said the fundamental question the Court of Appeal had to ask itself was whether there were any concerns in relation to the safety of the verdict. In all the circumstances of the case, the Court of Appeal was in no doubt that question can be answered with an unequivocal no. In the circumstances, the court dismissed the appeal. Connaughton was then lead away to serve his prison sentence. At the sentence hearing, a statement prepared by Connaughton was read to the Circuit Court, related to the incident on his farm on the day in question. What else would anybody in my position do? This inflamed environment ensured that, regrettably, things went too far. I didn't always get it right. I made mistakes too. I never attempted to justify the extent of my behaviour towards these men, nor do I now; I've merely tried to explain it. I never deliberately set out to cause pain for my fellow man and have always been sorry for each and every occasion that I may have inadvertently done so. I do not harbour grudges. In expressing regret, I speak only for myself. Others may also, or otherwise decline but I truly wish that the incident that was visited upon me and my family in my yard never took place. I truly wish too that I had not reacted to the extent that I did, and for this I'm truly sorry. Having regard to Connaughton's expression of remorse, the sentencing judge said he would impose a 12 month sentence rather than the 16 months he had in mind. The perpetrators behind the latest spate of indiscriminate fires to hit one of Longford town's most densely populated estates have been branded "animals" by one irate local politician. Cllr Gerry Warnock said he was apoplectic with rage after learning of how the greater Ardnacassa area had last night once again been hit by criminality. "Im absolutely livid to see the recent spate of illegal bonfires in the Ardnacassa area," he said. The Independent representative said a number of local residents had informed him of how several items of refuse waste had been deposited on predominantly open green areas before being set alight. Cllr Warnock said the latest episode of suspected arson in the area was threatening to undermine the diligent efforts of the vast majority of local residents and county council officials in cleaning up the area. "I have had communication with some residents who informed me that the material is being dumped by an antisocial element and the fires started by kids. "Not that long ago through Council resources and the hard work of decent civic minded residents significant inroads were made in trying to eradicate fly tipping, and this latest activity is completely unacceptable," he added. Not stopping there, Cllr Warnock launched a strongly worded rebuke at the culprits behind last night's unsavoury incident. "Those responsible are little better than animals and have absolutely no consideration for the respectable families they continue to plague on a daily basis with their intimidation and illegal activities. "Not a week goes by that Im not approached by some resident in the area adding to the list of woes." Cllr Warnock, who also occupies the position of Longford County Council's Joint Policing Committee (JPC) referenced the body's recent decision to adopt a more tough handed approach towards criminality. He said an agreement to set up a dedicated multi-agency operation "to counter these gurriers" would only intensify following the events of last night. "Providing a decent quality of life for decent people must be front, back and centre in our efforts or we are lost as a society," he warned. After the great reception received by the Tain March as they passed briefly through County Longford last May, they have decided to extend their visit to the county which is something to be celebrated and encouraged for years to come. This year they are arriving in Clondra on Saturday the 20th, marching from Clondra to Longford town on Sunday the 21st where they hope to wait a while before they continue their march from Longford town to to Balinalee on Wednesday, May the 24th and from there to Granard on Thursday, May the 25th. They will march out of Granard and County Longford on the next stretch of their journey on Friday, May 26th. They want lots of people to join them on the various stages of their march. Anna Delaney is the County Longford contact person. Before the March we should probably have a very quick revision session of the story of An Tain. I have made an attempt at retelling the story as briefly as possible so we can all be very wise on their arrival. It all started with a husband and wife having an argument. Maebh and her husband Ailill were having a grand ould time in Cruachanai admiring their armies and wealth til they started a "mine is better than yours" quarrel that got out of hand. "I'm better than you" said the man. "No, you're not" said his wife in return "I'm better than you." "I have more than you" says he. "No you don't, I have more than you". In fact they were equal in all except that Ailill had a bull and Maebh did not. "Ah but I have a bull and you don't" said Ailill. "That is really my bull, you just took him." "No I didn't, he preferred to be with me so Finnbhennach (The name of the Bull, the white one) is mine and now I have more bull than you." "So you do but I can get one of my own and I will" and off she went on her travels to Cooley to rent the great bull Donn Cuailinge (the brown one) and thereby have as much bull as her husband. And she nearly did ....... Until her servants let the cat out of the bag, in their merrymaking and partying at Cooley,in Ulster that she would have taken the bull by the horns with or without his owner Daire mac Fiachna's permission. He didn't like that and he chased them home with their tails between their legs and no bull. Maebh being proud and not one to let it go, got her armies together with Fergus mac Roich and headed off to take the bull from Daire. Unfortunately for the men of Ulster they were taken ill thanks to Macha putting a curse on their king because he wasn't very nice to her, and that's a nice way of putting it but it's another story for another day. The only one able to fight was the young hero Cu Chulainn who was too busy horsing around instead of guarding the border so he never noticed the army coming in to capture the bull. He and Laeg, his charioteer, (Did you know they had great chariots, better than any roman ones?) waged guerrilla warfare against the army and when that didn't work he fought champion after champion in single combat for a very long time, I mean, a very very long time, a very very very long time and Maeve still got the bull. Poor Cu Chulainn had a hard old time. The fairy folk played with him The Morrigan, a powerful Goddess, pretended to be a beautiful young woman and offered to love him but he was a bit too busy for love at that time and said no. She got angry and messed with him in his next fight. She became an eel who tripped him, a wolf who stampeded the cattle and then a heifer at the head of the stampede. Cu Chulainn wounded her each time and once he won his fight Morrigan appeared as an old woman milking a cow with three wounds in the places Cu Chulainn had wounded the eel, the wolf and the heifer. She offered him milk and he gladly took it being thirsty after his battle and each time he took a drink, (funny enough three times) he blessed her and each blessing healed her wounds. Lugh, a great and mighty God visited him during a really heavy fight and announced he was Cu Chulainn's father, timing is everything! Lugh put him to sleep for guess how many days... three, imagine that, and he healed his wounds while he slept. While he was sleeping the young warriors of Ulster came to help in the fight but were killed. He woke up and was very angry and turned into The Incredible Hulk, oh sorry that's another story, but his body did twist in his skin in anger and he became a monster full of rage and went after the Connacht camp, killing six for every one of his friends that were killed. Nasty!! Once he calmed down he began the one on one battles and the rounds were short and full of knock outs like McGregors. Maebh didn't stick to the rules at times and sent lots of men at once for the fight but he still won because he is Wolverine, oh I mean Cu Chulainn. Now you all know he had just met Lugh, his father so that means he wasn't brought up by Lugh but had a foster-father, and this man's name was Fergus, the one mentioned before so you now know that unfortunately Fergus was on the Connacht team and not the Ulster team. Fergus was sent out to fight his foster-son whether he wanted to or not. They make a pact to take turns winning with Cu Chulainn agreeing to yield to him on the condition that Fergus yielded the next time they meet. Now remember that!! The fighting went on and on for miles and miles and up and down the country, along the path of An Tain March that we are going to join in, aren't we? Finally there was a How many days? Yes you guessed it, a three-day duel between the hero, who is the hero? Cu Chulainn and his foster-brother and best friend Ferdiad, who he grew up with and trained with and loved. Cu Chulainn won and killed Ferdiad. Then, when it was too late for Ferdiad, just like in the films, the Ulstermen started to get better, one by one at first, then all of them and the final battle began. Cu Chulainn was a bit tired and sore so sat down. Fergus , his foster father was about to kill Conchobar, a king of Ulster, but Cormac, Conchobar's son stopped him so Fergus chopped the top of, how many? Yes, three hills off in rage. Cu Chulainn got fed up watching and joined in and confronted Fergus, reminding him of their deal. Do you remember their deal? Fergus yielded to Cu Chulainn and his allies from Connacht panicked and so Maebh had to retreat, ah but.... She got the bull! Maebh brought the brown bull back to Connacht but the white bull wasn't happy and they fought another long battle. The brown bull killed the white bull but he was wounded too and wandered around Ireland creating placenames before going home to die. Some people say that Cu Chulainn was wounded by Ferdiad and was tied to a post facing his enemies standing while he died but actually that's another story too. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 18 2017 Cuomo: "This year, across New York, we are offering drop-off locations statewide to ensure that old, worn American flags can be retired with respect and honor." Albany, NY - May 18, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Office of General Services will collect worn and tattered flags at locations statewide so that they can be properly retired. The collected flags will be disposed of as part of the Memorial Watchfire hosted by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 103, on Sunday, May 28th, 2017 at the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY. Information on the Watchfire can be found Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Office of General Services will collect worn and tattered flags at locations statewide so that they can be properly retired. The collected flags will be disposed of as part of the Memorial Watchfire hosted by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 103, on Sunday, May 28th, 2017 at the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY. Information on the Watchfire can be found here "This year, across New York, we are offering drop-off locations statewide to ensure that old, worn American flags can be retired with respect and honor," Governor Cuomo said. "If you or any of your friends or neighbors are in possession of a tattered flag, I encourage you to visit one of our various drop-off locations across the state to allow the flag to be properly disposed of." The Office of General Services has set up drop-off locations across the state for businesses and individuals to bring their flags. All flags collected will be properly folded prior to disposal. The drop-off locations will be collecting donations from Thursday, May 18 to Thursday, May 25. Bill Martin, Watchfire Committee Chair, said, "We are thrilled Governor Cuomo is collecting flags for the Watchfire this year. The Watchfire provides the community a place to respectfully retire unserviceable American flags." Eric J. Hesse, Director of the New York State Division of Veterans' Affairs, said, "All Servicemembers and Veterans raised their right hands and pledged to defend the values and ideals that the American flag symbolizes. Through these efforts to retire the American flag with proper care and respect it continues to demonstrate Governor Cuomo's and New York State's efforts to preserve this symbol of patriotism." OGS Commissioner RoAnn Destito said, "As the home of the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Program established by Governor Cuomo, the Office of General Services is honored to help citizens properly dispose of their unserviceable American flags." The drop-off locations are as follows: Alfred E. Smith Building, 80 South Swan St., Albany New York State Capitol, Washington Avenue, Albany Empire State Plaza Main Concourse, Empire State Plaza, Albany Corning Tower, Empire State Plaza, Albany Agency Buildings 1,2,3,4 - Empire State Plaza, Albany Legislative Office Building Empire State Plaza, Albany Robert Abrams Building for Law and Justice Empire State Plaza, Albany Swan Street Building, Core 2 and Core 3, Empire State Plaza, Albany Harriman Campus Buildings 5, 6, 7, 7A, 8, 12 Harriman Campus, 1220 Washington Ave., Albany Ten Eyck Building, 40 North Pearl St., Albany 50 Wolf Road, Albany 625 Broadway, Albany Hampton Plaza, 38-40 State St., Albany 44 Holland Ave., Albany 328 State St., Schenectady Senator John J. Hughes State Office Building, 333 E. Washington St., Syracuse Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St., Watertown Utica State Office Building, 207 Genesee St., Utica Homer Folks Facility, 28 Hill Street, Suite 327, Oneonta Eleanor Roosevelt State Office Building, 4 Burnett Blvd., Poughkeepsie Henderson-Smith State Office Building, 107 Broadway, Hornell Binghamton State Office Building, 44 Hawley St., Binghamton Senator Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building, 65 Court St., Buffalo Perry B. Duryea State Office Building, 250 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building, 163 West 125th St., New York City Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building, 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn Afghan security forces claimed to have beaten back a Taliban assault on several districts in the remote northeastern province of Kunar, while the Taliban said it launched a full-scale operation that was successful. The Taliban began its assault on the districts on the evening of May 15. The Afghan military claimed it killed 22 Taliban fighters and wounded five more, while suffering no casualties of its own. The military also said it had repelled the jihadists attacks on security posts located in Shegal, Watapur, Chapadara, Marwara district and several other areas, Khaama Press reported. In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban boasted that it killed as many as 22 puppets, or Afghan security personnel, and wounded a large number of them during a full-scale operation in eastern Kunar province. The Taliban claimed that five of its fighters were killed and three more were wounded. According to the Taliban, it targeted military units, bases as well as government facilities in the provincial capital of Kunar province and other district [sic]. The Taliban maintains a significant presence in Kunar, and routinely overruns district centers such as Marawara and Dangam. As of late March, the Taliban did not claim full control of any of Kunars 15 districts, but did say it controlled 80 percent of Marawara, Khas Kunar, Sarkano, Shegal, Dangam, Asmar, Nari, Nurgul, Tsukai, Narang, Watapur and Chapa Dara, and 20 percent of the provincial capital of Asadabad. FDDs Long War Journal has assessed the Talibans claim of territorial control to be credible. Withdrawal from Kunar fed the Taliban insurgency Kunar province has remained both a battleground and a haven for the Taliban and allied jihadist groups such as al Qaeda, Laskhar-e-Taiba, and Jamaat ul Dawa al Quran since US forces withdrew from the province in 2010. US government designations of Laskhar-e-Taiba and Jamaat ul Dawa al Quran operatives indicate that these two groups maintain training camps in Kunar to this day. The US withdrawal from Kunar in 2010, which took place as US forces were surging in Afghanistan in an effort to defeat the Taliban, was influenced by a July 2009 report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), entitled Kunar and Nuristan, Rethinking U.S. Counterinsurgency Operations. In the report, ISW claimed that the US presence in Kunars remote valleys, and not the jihadists based there, was driving the insurgency, which was being carried out by locals. The presence of US forces in the Korengal generates violence and undermines US efforts to bring stability and security, according to the reports summary. The resistance in this area is confined to locals in the valley. It does not accelerate the insurgency beyond the valley. However, this premise was quickly disproved as US forces withdrew from remote areas such as the Korengal and Pech valleys. The Taliban and allied forces began to assault military bases and district centers throughout the province. Following the American withdrawal, the US killed numerous al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders and fighters in airstrikes throughout Kunar, including in areas where ISW claimed that the insurgency was driven by local Afghans. Additionally, the ISW report gave weight to the idea that the remote districts in Afghanistan are not as important as the population centers. Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan requires less interdiction on the borders and greater security in the population centers, the ISW summary noted. During the surge, the US followed this approach, and focused its efforts on key areas, primarily in southern Afghanistan, while leaving the Taliban alone in more remote districts (for instance, the district of Baghran in Helmand remained under Taliban control even as US forces flooded the province). The Afghan and US militaries have placed an emphasis on securing population centers at the expense of ceding control of remote districts to the Taliban. In its most recent report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) noted that the the Afghan military is placing less emphasis on less vital areas. Previously, the US military justified the loss of territory to the Taliban by claiming the Afghan governments new Sustainable Security Strategy calls for abandoning districts that are not important. The Taliban, on the other hand, has said that it relies on its bases in the remote districts to put pressure on Afghanistans more populous districts. [See FDDs Long War Journal reports, Taliban seizes a district in Uruzgan, and Capturing Sangin an important victory, Taliban says] The result of the Afghan and US strategy is that, according to SIGAR, 40 percent of Afghanistans districts are controlled or contested by the Taliban. The Taliban claims it controls or contests 50 percent of the country. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Bahrains rulers have long sought confirmation from Washington that their country faces a terrorist threat sponsored by Iran. In March, the US finally validated them by sanctioning two Bahraini individuals as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. One of those sanctioned individuals evidently resides in Qom, the ideological center of Irans revolutionary regime. The US designation comes amid increasing evidence showing that Tehrans regional terrorist network is targeting the island kingdom, which hosts Americas most important naval base in the Middle East. The State Department announced the sanctions on Mar. 17, describing the two individuals as linked to the Ashtar Brigades, a Bahraini group that it said has carried out terrorist acts targeting Bahraini, Saudi, and Emirati security officials. As such, the sanctions were also an important signal of support to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, whose leaders visited Washington just three days before the State Departments announcement. The designations are even more important given a Washington Post report last month that Western intelligence agencies believe Iran has attempted to smuggle into Bahrain enough C-4 explosives to sink a warship, as well as equipment to manufacture explosively formed penetrators that can tear through tank armor. Mortada al-Sanadis Radical Politics The State Department was relatively terse in its description of the two newly designated terrorists, merely calling the more prominent one an affiliate of the Brigades, which it said receives money and other support from the government of Iran. However, by validating Manamas argument that this individual, Mortada al-Sanadi, is linked to the Brigades and confirming the groups Iranian sponsorship, the US significantly bolstered Bahrains narrative about Sanadi, the Brigades, and the broader terrorist threat it faces. Sanadi is spokesperson and a central committee member of the Islamic Loyalty Movement (ILM), a radical Bahraini political faction. The Movement is virulently anti-American, with its recent messages on social media calling the US the mother of terrorism, setting fire to images of President Donald Trump and the American flag, and displaying a cartoon of crosshairs targeting the Capitol Building. (The image can be seen above.) In 2016, Bahrains government accused Sanadi and the ILM of having links to the Bahraini terrorist cell called the Basta Group, which ILM denied. According to Bahraini authorities, Basta also had ties to the Ashtar Brigades and Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Bahrains government alleged that Bastas leadership constituted the ILMs armed wing, with terror capabilities under Sanadis command. By accusing a leader of the ILM of links to terrorism, the recent US action seems to confirm that some of Bahrains more radical political opposition is also complicit in acts of violence against the state. Disrupted Terrorist Plots If Bahrains claims about Sanadis activities are correct which the new US action appears to at least partly corroborate then he is a key leader in the countrys terrorist insurgency. Ten days after the US sanctioned Sanadi, Bahraini authorities accused the cleric of co-directing a terrorist cell linked to a February bus bombing that injured five police officers. That bombing came shortly after Sanadis announced that his movement was beginning a new stage by seizing the public square and grasping the trigger. Manama alleged that the cells fourteen members plotted political assassinations and traveled to Iran nearly 70 times in three months. Six cell members are accused of receiving IRGC training in Iran, and five others are accused of being trained in Iraq by the US-designated, Iranian-proxy terrorist group Kataib Hizballah. According to Reuters, the Brigades announced an alliance with Kataib Hizballah earlier this year. Previously, Bahraini authorities have accused Sanadi of playing a prominent role in terrorist plots in 2015. One was a July 2015 bombing that killed two policemen and injured six others. Bahrains Interior Ministry identified him as one of the plotters, calling him a religious leader for several Bahraini terrorist groups, and asserted that he receives monthly payments from the IRGC. Weeks earlier, Manama described Sanadi as one of the IRGCs coordinators for a plot to smuggle explosives from Iraq into Bahrain, and from there into Saudi Arabia. Tehrans Ideological and Military Fingerprints The ideology of Sanadis Islamic Loyalty Movement reflects Irans efforts to export its revolution. For example, Sanadi told a pro-Hizballah Lebanese newspaper in 2014 that the ILMs ideology is modeled after that of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic. The ILM website features 30 statements from Khomeinis successor Ali Khamenei that are described as golden commandments for a jihadist administration. The group also promotes a book by Lebanese Hizballahs deputy leader, which teaches its approach to military jihad and vilayat-e faqih, the Iranian regimes draconian system of clerical rule. In speeches delivered in Qom in 2015 and 2016, Sanadi himself embraced vilayat-e faqih and recognized Khamenei as amir al muminin, or leader of the faithful. He also authored an anti-American article on Khameneis official website in December 2016. Other than a brief appearance in the Iraqi city of Karbala in late 2013, virtually all of Sanadis public appearances for propaganda purposes seem to have been made from Qom, including as recently as March of this year. Last year, Sanadi gave a lecture on Bahrain to the Masoumieh Religious Seminary, a top institution for training clerics to serve in Irans military and security services, including the IRGC. According to Reuters, Sanadi was even allowed in September 2016 to deliver a Friday sermon at the most prestigious mosque in Qom. His activities in Qom highlight the overlap between Irans extremist ideology and his Bahrain-oriented activism. Iran has been known to host other IRGC-backed violent extremists in Qom, including Abu Dura, an Iraqi national designated by the US Treasury who was known as the Shiite Zarqawi, a reference to former al-Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Laith Khazali, an Iraqi who was imprisoned on charges of leading an operation that killed five American soldiers in the Iraqi city of Karbala, reportedly was hosted in Qom immediately upon his release in 2009. Another suspected leader in the 2007 Karbala attack, Azhar al-Dulaimi, purportedly received his training beforehand from Lebanese Hezbollah under IRGC supervision near Qom. Militarily, the Ashtar Brigades appear linked not just to the IRGC but also other IRGC terrorist proxies throughout the region. Manama claims Sanadi co-directed Bahraini terror cells in 2015 and 2017 with Qassim Abdullah Ali, who it said is based in Iran and Iraq, where he allegedly coordinates the training of Bahraini terrorists by Kataib Hizballah. Manama also asserts that leaders of the Ashtar-linked Basta Group received $20,000 from Lebanese Hizballahs chief Hassan Nasrallah to support the ILM and launch attacks in Bahrain. Bahrains broader landscape As these allegations suggest, Sanadi is not the only Bahraini individual Manama accuses of playing a top role in the Ashtar Brigades, and the group is not the only Bahraini extremist group aligned with Iran. For example, the State Department indicated in its 2013 Country Reports on Terrorism that Manama intercepted a speedboat with arms and explosives linked to Iran and thought to be bound for the 14 February Youth Coalition, a radical Shiite opposition faction that has praised Khamenei. Other Bahraini groups such as the Saraya al-Karar and the Revolutionary Struggle Organization have used imagery based on the IRGC logo of a hand reaching up to grasp a Kalashnikov rifle, according to Caleb Weiss. Weiss adds that another Bahraini terrorist group, Saraya al-Mokhtar, has demonstrated support for numerous IRGC proxies inside Iraq. When the State Department sanctioned Sanadi, it took care to discourage Manama from perceiving its action as carte blanche for a domestic crackdown on the countrys Shiites, who form the majority of the population but are marginalized by its Sunni monarchy. Indeed, the announcement urged Bahrains government to clearly differentiate its response to violent militia groups from its engagement with peaceful political opposition. This is particularly relevant given that the head of Bahrains main opposition party, al-Wefaq, is serving a four-year prison sentence for acts the US describes as peaceful expression. However, the State Department could undermine its own message if it moves ahead with its plan to drop human rights conditions from a proposed $2.8-billion sale of US fighter jets to Bahrain. Bahrains regime has yet to address its serious domestic challenge from nonviolent Shiite opposition groups and a disaffected Shiite-majority public. But it also faces a genuine security threat from violent extremists. Washingtons recent counterterrorism sanctions against Sanadi and its confirmation of Tehrans support for the Ashtar Brigades confirms one of the pivotal pieces in the Bahraini governments narrative about Irans role sponsoring terrorism inside the kingdom. But if Bahrains rulers dont find a constructive outlet for legitimate Shiite dissent, then they risk driving more of the opposition into Irans arms. David Andrew Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He specializes on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Amir Toumaj is a Research Analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Culture / Art Republik ART|JOG returns this year with a new theme that provokes artists to bring fresh perspectives to their works in hopes of getting art closer to the public. May 18, 2017 | By Art Republik ART|JOG is back again this year. The annual art fair that has made Yogyakarta a barometer for the development of Indonesias contemporary arts will return for its 10th edition this year from 19 May to 19 June. 74 artists from Indonesia and abroad are expected to exhibit hundreds of artworks for this years event that will take place for the second time at Jogja National Museum, following a successful exhibition at the same venue last year. Previous editions had taken place at Taman Budaya. Joining this years fair are top local artists like Agus Suwage, Angki Purbandono, Nyoman Masriadi Tromarama and Agan Harahap with each of them featuring new artworks for the event. Artworks that should not be missed include interactive guitar installations by Soni Irawan and knitting installations from artist Mulyana Mogus. There will be also several collaborations, including Angki and actor Nicholas Saputra, where they will show an artwork on an elephant sanctuary in Sumatra where Nicholas volunteers. For this years commissioned work, the organiser has appointed young artist Wedhar Riyadi, known for his strong lines, bright colours with graphic pop/pulp imagery. For ART|JOG 10, he will build giant balloons installations that resemble eyes to be put in giant ponds. His piece is expected to change the main facade of the building where the event is held, a unique feature of ART|JOG since its inception. In addition to local artists, ART|JOG will also feature a number of international artists from other countries like Singapore, Japan, Poland, China, US and Australia. ART|JOG curator Bambang Toko Witjaksono says the exhibitions of international artists were made possible due to cooperation with various galleries abroad.The foreign artists participating in this years fair are Alexandra Walizewzka from Poland, Geng Xue from China, Hiromi Tango from Japan, Robert Zhao from Singapore and Zen Teh from China. The highlight will be Geng Xues video artworks on ceramics. Both local and international artists will showcase their artworks under the theme Changing Perspective. Another curator, Ignatia Nilu explains that the theme was meant to encourage artists to dismantle old paradigms in their creative process so they could create artworks that would represent the public, thus attracting them to come to the fair. Nilu believes that generally artists current creative processes are still heavily influenced by two contradicting paradigms based on Western and Eastern perspectives that have somehow created distance with the public. We bring this new theme Changing Perspective because we want the artists to be able to clash their own perspectives so they can reveal paradoxical elements, she says, and come up with something creative. With the changed perspectives, Nilu hopes that the artists will deliver their artworks using more communicative languages that would relate with the public. As the public becomes more connected with the art, the art event has become everyones event and not only for art communities, so in the end, more people will come to the event, Nilu adds. In the local art scene, many artists tend to live in their own ideal creative bubbles, which has entrenched a detachment of their works from the public. Since 2015, ART|JOG has been trying to close this gap. Introducing the concept art not for art only, but art for public, the event has been holding various popular art events, involving celebrities and social media. This effort has earned ART|JOG a reputation as a popular art fair compared to similar events in Indonesia such as Jakarta Biennale or Yogyakarta Biennale. For this year, the organiser targets to draw at least 75,000 visitors, significantly more than the 50,000 people who visited last year. Implementing the spirit of art for the public, Bambang says ART|JOG 10 will continue targeting young people by arranging some exhibitions that would be of the interest to millennials. For the opening night, the fair will offer a musical performance featuring popular musician Implementing the spirit of art for the public, Bambang says ART|JOG 10 will continue targeting young people by arranging some exhibitions that would be of the interest to millennials. For the opening night, the fair will offer a musical performance featuring popular musician Tompi. This years programme will also include the screening of Garin Nugrohos silent movie Setan Jawa (Java Satan). In addition to that, the organiser will hold Open Air Cinema, playing the best films for ART|JOGs loyal audience to enjoy. There will also be the Merchandise Project, for which top artists like Eko Nugroho will create special merchandise to be sold during the event. This article was written by Ika Krismantari and originally published in Art Republik. Culture / Auctions Sothebys dramatically withdrew from sale an early Schiele nude valued at $30-40 million, the star lot of its flagship impressionist and modern art auction in New York on Tuesday May 18, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews The female nude, Danae which Austrian artist Egon Schiele painted when he was just 19 years old, had adorned the cover of the catalogue for the sale and was the background image on Sothebys Twitter account. The auction house was tight-lipped on what happened, confirming only that it had been withdrawn at the request of the consignor prior to the auction. Simon Shaw, Sothebys co-head of impressionist and modern art, had earlier this month described it as the artists first large-scale nude and Schiele as one of the great rock stars of modern painting. Partially inspired by Klimt, Schiele used metallic industrial paint and the mythical figure lies in a near fetal position. Sothebys holds the auction record for work by Schiele, set in 2011 at $40 million. The evening sale fetched a total of $173.8 million against a revised estimate of $147-210.4 million, well short of Christies haul of $289 million at its impressionist and modern art evening sale Monday. The two houses founded in 18th century London are chasing combined sales of at least $1.1 billion in offering for auction hundreds of contemporary, modern and impressionist works of art this week. Sothebys top lot Tuesday was Russian painter Kazimir Malevichs 1915 Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection which sold for $21.2 million. The sale also broke auction records for lesser known European artists, Jean Arp at $4.9 million, Germaine Richier $3 million and Diego Giacometti for $6.3 million, Sothebys said. Much of the art being offered this season is fresh to market Sothebys says nearly two-thirds of its lots in Tuesdays evening sale and Thursdays contemporary sales have never sold at auction before. One of my favorite parts of traveling to a new area is trying new foods and traditions around dining. What I found while visiting the state, sponsored by Arkansas Tourism, frankly was confusing and exciting at the same time. While I expected BBQ and soul food, what I found alongside those staples was completely unexpected such as cheese dip, fried tamales, and chocolate gravy! Like the music that came from the Arkansas Delta region, it's food too is a mixture of influences from different areas of the country as well as the blending of historically white and black traditions combined with innovation that comes from necessity to create delicious dishes that don't cost a lot of money. Chocolate Gravy and Biscuits Let's just start right here. The concept of putting chocolate on your biscuits might sound repulsive and when the idea was suggested to me initially, I thought my host was just kidding. Apparently though it is a tradition tracing it's origins back to the people in Arkansas's Ozark Mountains region as a treat for Sunday morning breakfast. It is essentially a thick chocolate sauce that is poured over biscuits and sometimes people add crumbled bacon or other items as well. When we had it at the Edwardian Inn it was a fantastic treat that frankly tasted very similar to a not too sweet chocolate donut. Absolutely this is something you should try at least once while traveling through Arkansas! Fried Tamales I'm a huge fan of tamales and I'd always associated it with Mexican immigrants and something often times purchased out of the back of a truck or stand. In Arkansas though, virtually every restaurant we went to (especially bars) offered a variation. While a couple places offered it as "fried tamale" bites, another served it smothered in brown gravy. At no point did any of them have the standard corn husk that is so familiar in the rest of the country. Another major difference compared to traditional tamales is that these were smaller and had less masa and more meat as a percentage of volume. They were also typically smaller and in the case of "tamale bites" were chopped up resembling tortino pizza rolls. While there is significant variation from one place to the next I'm told that Delta-style tamales are also made with corn meal and simmered in spicy water rather than steamed in a corn husk. Cheese Dip Cheese Dip is famous in Arkansas to the point where the Arkansas Tourism page actually has organized a "Cheese Dip Trail". In our experience though, these cheese dips that we tried - while good - weren't really different than anything you'd find in any Mexican restaurant around the country simply labeled as "queso". That being said though, I love queso! So congrats Arkansas, here's one more reason to visit this great state. Fried Bologna Sandwiches OK, so this is something pretty common throughout the south as a cheap food that makes a super tasty lunch. We found a truck serving this along with other BBQ items on the side of the road one day because we did a double take after driving by the first time. Yes, you read that correctly - One Stop Candy Shop and Grill. Being one that loves exploring, I was forced to stop and order lunch here. What I found inside was fantastic. In a land known for BBQ and famous "must visit" shops dotting the landscape, this was hands down the best ribs and a perfect fried bologna sandwich with a nice thick piece of meat. BBQ Ribs At different parts of the state you are going to find different styles of BBQ since Arkansas sits between different traditions. In the Eastern part of the state, the Delta region typically has a style of ribs referred to as "black ribs". No, that's not a racial influence, but rather it has a mix of dry rub and sauce that has been reduced to a glaze and caramelized, giving it a dark color. That being said, every place does things a little different and our rib tips at another BBQ joint had a similar "glaze" but were also soaked in a thin BBQ sauce. That's sort of the fun of BBQ - every does things a little bit differently. BBQ Pork Sandwiches The one thing that was consistent with BBQ across the state was their love for pulled pork sandwiches. These were all fairly similar with minor variations. However Kreme Kastle in Blytheville does deserve a shout out for a very simple but excellent version. Theirs featured coleslaw and hot sauce instead of BBQ sauce so it had a nice clean flavor with the perfect accent of heat. Fried Catfish If there's one thing besides biscuits that every southern cook knows how to do well - it's fry stuff. Arkansas is no different, but we experienced one of the best friend catfish dinners I've ever had here at Katfish Kastle also in Blytheville and by the same owner. The fish was perfectly cooked, with a light breading that was crispy but not greasy at all. Ozark Turtle Sundae Once again, there was a surprise here ... while it wouldn't be shocking to have ice cream shops throughout the state, I wasn't expecting custard to be popular. However there it was ... during our visit to Jonesboro we came across Andy's Frozen Custard and had to stop. While it turned out that this is actually a national chain with locations 10 states I'm still going to include it here because it was darn good and made for a fun stop. It reminded me of the old timey custard shops you'd find in Milwaukee like Leon's but with a modern twist. A Democrat involved with Indivisible New River Valley will oppose Del. Nick Rush for the 7th District House of Delegates seat. Flourette Flo Ketner, a stay-at-home mom and member of the national organization that actively opposes President Donald Trumps agenda, seeks to represent the district composed of Floyd County and parts of Montgomery and Pulaski counties. Ketner, 34, is a Floyd native and Radford University graduate. She lives in Christiansburg with her husband and their three children. She, like many non-incumbent Democrats emerging in House races, first got involved in politics after the 2016 presidential election. Upset with Trumps win, Ketner participated in the Womens March on Washington. Afterward, she was hooked on civic engagement. I got a greater sense that people arent happy, she said. People arent OK with this [administration], but we can do something even if we cant fix whos in power. Then she joined Indivisible New River Valley, and decided to run for office when she realized Rush, R-Christiansburg, would run unopposed for re-election. Ketner is opposed to the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, something state lawmakers have little control over. She also wants to improve broadband and increase educational opportunities in the rural district. Exercising what little control state officials have over the project regulated by the federal government, Rush has voted for legislation to increase oversight and safety of natural gas pipelines. Elected in 2011, Rush, 49, is a former member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. He has not faced a Democratic opponent since 2013. Hes an Army veteran who works as an investment adviser for INVEST Financial Corp. Rush announced his re-election bid with several campaign stops through the district last month. At the Floyd County Courthouse, he talked about some of his successful legislation, like a bill this session to offer tax incentives for venture capitalists investing in Virginia and bills introduced in previous years to curb voter fraud. What you dont do is you dont rest on your resume, you build on it, he said. Thats what Im going to try to do for the next two years, if Im lucky enough to be re-elected. Rush had $43,974 in campaign funds as last reported at the end of March, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Ketner has not yet reported any campaign donations. All Roanoke and New River valley delegates face challengers this election cycle except for Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke. MARTINSVILLETen local law enforcement officers were on the minds of local residents, as they gathered on Wednesday. More than 50 people came for the ceremony, held in the Martinsville City Council Chambers, as Martinsville and Henry County paid tribute to officers who were killed or died in the line of duty over the last 100 years. Its very emotional, said Peggy Phillippi, widow of Virginia State Police Sgt. James Michael Phillippi, after the ceremony. In this day and time, you dont get a lot of this, she added, referring to the issue of respect for law enforcement. The Collinsville resident described the ceremony as something great they do for fallen officers. Peggy said her husband loved every day that he worked for the State Police 42 years. Its hard on families of people serving in law enforcement, she added. When (an officer) leaves home, you dont know when theyre coming back," Peggy said. "But you have to have respect for what he does. Sgt. Phillippi died Jan. 11, 2014, following a single-vehicle crash while on duty, according to previous Martinsville Bulletin reports. Other officers honored at the ceremony include Paul Edward Grubb, George Melvin Brown, Willis Herman Ferguson and John Hughes Mitchell from the Henry County Sheriffs Office. According to previous Martinsville Bulletin articles and other sources, Grubb was shot July 2, 1989 during a drug raid; Brown was killed June 26, 1984 in a car accident while transporting an inmate; Ferguson was killed March 18, 1975 by a hit-and-run driver while he was helping a stranded motorist with a flat tire and Mitchell was shot and killed May 4, 1922 in an ambush after seizing illegal whiskey. Also, George S. Frame from the now defunct Bassett Police Department was honored, as was John J. Johnston from the defunct Fieldale Police Department. Frame was shot March 18, 1923 by a suspected moonshiner and Johnston was killed January 27, 1945 in a car wreck. From the Martinsville Police Department, the group honored George F. Carter, who was killed June 14, 1919 while he was attempting to apprehend gamblers and Jonathan W. Bowling. Bowling, who served as both a Martinsville police officer and Marine Corps reservist, was killed Jan. 26, 2005 when his units convoy was ambushed in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Finally, the ceremony also honored Virginia State Police trooper Charles Eugene Morris, who was killed in 1962 while assisting the Patrick County Sheriffs Office with an arrest. Paying tribute The ceremony began with a prayer by Chaplain Mark Parkinson, in which he raised questions about death, life and lives ended way too soon. Parkinson said loved ones left behind by fallen officers may be looking for answers, and they may not get answers in this lifetime, but they should have hope. Our trust and hope are in You (God), Parkinson said. Parkinson recognized fallen officers, their families and law enforcement officers who continue to serve. Martinsville Police Chief Sean Dunn gave the welcome and recognized Martinsville city, Henry County and Virginia officials who were on hand. Deborah Bell of the Virginia Attorney Generals Office expressed condolences to families of fallen officers. Martinsville Mayor Gene Teague read a proclamation by Martinsville City Council declaring May 15 at Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 14-20 as National Police Week. The resolution says the men and women of the Martinsville Police Department and Martinsville Sheriffs Office are instrumental in creating peace of mind to all the citizenry through their many efforts to enhance public safety; that it is incumbent upon citizens to recognize and understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards, dedication and sacrifices of law enforcement officers; and it is incumbent on law enforcement officers to serve the public by safeguarding life and property, protecting against violence and disorder, and protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression. The resolution says the Martinsville Police Department and Martinsville Sheriffs Office are professional organizations that remain abreast in the latest scientific applications of criminalistics. The resolution also calls on citizens to honor men and women who, through their dedicated service and courageous deeds, have lost their lives or been disabled in the performance of their duties. It also calls on citizens and patriotic, civic and educational organizations to observe May 16-20 as National Police Week with appropriate ceremonies in which all our people may join in recognizing the women and men, both past and present, who by their faithful and loyal service and devotion to their charge have rendered a dedicated service to our community and the citizens within it, and in performing these duties have established an enduring reputation for preserving the rights and security for all the citizens of Martinsville. Debra Buchanan, vice chair of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, read a proclamation by the board designating May 14-20 as National Police Officers Memorial Week in Henry County. That resolution says: The Board of Supervisors, our families, our friends and our neighbors all have the good fortune to live in Henry County. A major reason for that peace of mind is the quality law enforcement provided by the men and women of the Henry County Sheriffs Office who help create and maintain the wonderful quality of life we enjoy, and put themselves at risk each day so that the citizens of Henry County can enjoy without fear the opportunities afforded them in this great community. The resolution also says: The Board realizes that while a mere thank you in inadequate to convey the true feelings of this community toward the Henry County Sheriffs Office, the hope is that these heroic men and women accept our deepest devotion and admiration for themselves their profession and their six brethren who made the ultimate sacrifice. Representatives of the honor guards of the Martinsville and Henry County sheriffs offices, Martinsville Police Department and Virginia State Police presented the colors, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. First Sgt. M.C. Davis of the Virginia State Police read the names of the area officers killed in the line of duty, and David Cameron tolled a bell after each name was read. Katie Gilbert played taps. Bob Norris played Amazing Grace on bagpipes. Major Eric Winn of the Henry County Sheriffs Office recognized family members. Bishop Joe Gravely gave the closing prayer. Light refreshments followed. Martinsville City Council member Jennifer Bowles said in an interview said she cant imagine the pain families felt after losing officers in the line of duty. She added that her grandfather Albert Pettie, who lives in Martinsville, worked for the Martinsville Police Department for more than 20 years. Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com. We ask them to step in when things are at their worst. After all, nobody needs a policeman when everything is normal. They're called in when an argument gets out of hand or to find a member of the family that's gone missing. We ask them to solve murders, mediate fights, crack down on the drug problem and stop a speeder or two, if they have the chance. And in all this, too often we dont acknowledge the sacrifices made. On Wednesday, the community gathered in the Martinsville City Council chambers to honor the fallen, as part of Peace Officers Memorial Day. Over the last 96 years, 10 local law enforcement officers gave their lives in the line of duty. There was George F. Carter here in Martinsville, who was killed on June 14, 1919. Henry County Deputy George Melvin Brown died on June 26, 1984. John J. Johnston was a member of the now defunct Fieldale Police Department when he was killed January 27, 1945. These are people who gave all they had, even their own lives, in order to protect and serve their community. Its that last part we seem to forget at times. These men and women protect our community, making sure that laws are enforced and keeping criminals off the streets. We all have expectations about the places we live. We want them to be safe, locations where we feel comfortable going with our families. That doesnt happen automatically, however. It takes hard work. When we complain about people speeding through our neighborhoods, the police are the ones setting up checkpoints and cracking down. When we raise concerns about potential drug deals going on nearby, its the officers who do the investigation, collect evidence and make arrests. The same goes for murder investigations or searching for the people behind the telephone scams that keep plaguing this area. We expect these things to be handled, but are quick to offer advice or how we would deal with situations if the case isnt solved in the timeframe that we want. We also tend to forget to thank the people working on these cases. None of those things are easy. Each of them takes hard work and effort to see through. And yet, we criticize when a murder isnt solved in the course of a week. After all, CSI staff members can do it in the span of an hour on television, right? We complain when, four days later, an arrest hasnt been made in a local rape case. We dont seem to get is that this isnt television. Those results that show up just in time to solve the latest case on tv can in fact take weeks or months to get back from the state lab. We get upset when an officer hands us a ticket, but then turn right around days later and yell that another driver should have been arrested when we see them doing the same thing. We end up criticizing the officers when theyre just doing their jobs. We do all this and then turn right around and ask them for help. We hit them with trash, we make comments and generally make their work lives at times downright unpleasant. And yet, being the people they are, each of these officers suit up the next day and do it all over again. Thats dedication. For each of those men and women who either currently serve or have been law enforcement members in the past, we say thanks. We know its not an easy job, but were thankful youre ready to answer the call. The Bulletin Editorial Board consists of Brian Carlton, Ben Williams and Trisha Long Published in Pravda No. 49, May 18 (5), 1917. Elections to the district councils being close at hand, the two petty-bourgeois democratic parties, the Narodniks and the Mensheviks, have come out with high-sounding platforms. These platforms are exactly the same as those of the European bourgeois parties who are engaged in angling for the gullible uneducated mass of voters from among the petty proprietors, etc., such as, for instance, the platform of the Radical and Radical-Socialist Party of France. The same specious phrases, the same lavish promises, the same vague formulations, the same silence on or forgetfulness of the main thing, namely, the actual conditions on which the practicability of these promises depends. At present these conditions are: (1) the imperialist war; (2) the existence of a capitalist government; (3) the impossibility of seriously improving the condition of the workers and the whole mass of working people without revolutionary encroachment on the sacred right, of capitalist private property; (4) the impossibility of carrying out the reforms promised by those parties while the old organs and machinery of government remain intact, while there exists a police force which is bound to back the capitalists and put a thousand and one obstacles in the way of such reforms. For example: House rents is in war time to be controlled, such stocks to be requisitioned for the public needs (that is stocks of foodstuffs kept in stores or by private individuals) communal stores, bakeries, canteens, and kitchens to be organizedwrite the Mensheviks. Proper attention to be paid to sanitation and hygiene, echo the Narodniks (the Socialist-Revolutionaries) Excellent wishes, to be sure. The trouble is that they cannot be carried out unless one stops supporting the imperialist war, stops supporting the loan (which is profitable to the capitalists), stops supporting the capitalist government, which safeguards capitalist profits, stops preserving the police, who are bound to obstruct, thwart, and kill any such reform, even if the government and the capitalists themselves did not present an ultimatum to the reformers (and they certainly will, once capitalist profits are involved). The trouble is that once we forget the harsh and rigid conditions of capitalist domination, then all such platforms, all such lists of sweeping reforms are empty words, which in practice turn out to be either harmless pious wishes, or simple hoodwinking of the masses by ordinary bourgeois politicians. We must face the truth squarely. We must not gloss it over, we must tell it to people in a straightforward manner. We must not brush the class struggle under the carpet, but clarify what relation it bears to the high-sounding, specious, delightful radical reforms. Comrade workers, and all other citizens of Petrograd! In order to give the people all those pressing and essential reforms of which the Narodniks and the Mensheviks speak, one must throw over the policy of support for the imperial 1st war and war loans, support for the capitalist government and for the principle of the inviolability of capitalist profits. To carry out those reforms, one must not allow the police to be reinstated, as the Cadets are now doing, but have it replaced by a peoples militia. This is what the party of the proletariat should tell the people at elections, this is what it must say against the petty-bourgeois parties of the Narodniks and the Mensheviks. This is the essence of the proletarian municipal platform that is being glossed over by the petty-bourgeois parties. Foremost in this platform, topping the list of reforms, there must be, as a basic condition for their actual realisation, the following three fundamental points: 1. No support for the imperialist war (either in the form of support for the war loan, or in any other form). 2. No support to the capitalist government. 3. No reinstatement of the police, which must be replaced by a peoples militia. Unless attention is focused on these cardinal questions, unless it is shown that all municipal reforms are contingent upon them, the municipal programme inevitably becomes (at best) a pious wish. Let us examine point 3. In all bourgeois republics, even the most democratic, the police (like the standing army) is the chief instrument of oppression of the masses, an instrument making for a possible restoration of the monarchy. The police beats up the common people in the police stations of New York, Geneva, and Paris; it favours the capitalists either because it is bribed to do so (America and other countries), or because it enjoys wealthy patronage and protection (Switzerland), or because of a combination of both (France). Separated as it is from the people, forming a professional caste of men trained in the practice of violence upon the poor, men who receive somewhat higher pay and the privileges that go with authority (to say nothing of gratuities), the police everywhere, in every republic, however democratic, where the bourgeoisie is in power, always remains the unfailing weapon, the chief support and protection of the bourgeoisie. No important radical reforms in favour of the working masses can be implemented through the police. That is objectively impossible. A peoples militia instead of the police force and the standing army is a prerequisite of effective municipal reforms in the interests of the working people. At a time of revolution this prerequisite is practicable. And it is on this that we must concentrate the whole municipal platform, for the other two cardinal conditions apply to the state as a whole, and not only to municipal governments. Just how this peoples militia can be brought into existence is something which experience will show. To enable the proletarians and semi-proletarians to serve in this militia, the employers must be made to pay them their full wages for the days and hours they spend in service. This is practicable. Whether we should first organise a workers militia by drawing upon the workers employed at the large factories, i.e.. the workers who are best organised and most capable of fulfilling the task of militiamen, or whether we should immediately organise general compulsory service for all adult men and women, who would devote to this service one or two weeks a year and so on, is not a question of fundamental importance. There is no harm in the different districts adopting different proceduresin fact, it would make for richer experience, and the process of organisation would develop more smoothly and come closer to lifes practical requirements. A peoples militia would mean education of the masses in the practices of democracy. A peoples militia would mean government of the poor by the people themselves, chiefly by the poor, and not by the rich, not through their police. A peoples militia would mean that control (over factories, dwellings, the distribution of products, etc.) would be real and not merely on paper. A peoples militia would mean distribution without any bread queues, without any privileges for the rich. A peoples militia would mean that quite a number of the serious and radical reforms listed also by the Narodniks and the Mensheviks would not remain mere pious wishes. Comrades, working men and women of Petrograd! Go to the district council elections. Protect the interests of the poor population. Come out against the imperialist war, against support of the capitalist government, against the restoration of the police and for the immediate unqualified replacement of the police by a peoples militia. Source: Marxist Internet Archive. Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Wolfe peels back the mystique of Silicon Valley, where hordes of young entrepreneurs are hoping to strike it rich while changing the world, in her new book Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story. She follows the exploits of three promising young entrepreneurs who received $100,000 each to drop out of school and start a business through a program by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook. Wolfe paints a startling and sometimes hilarious picture of the goings on among techies in Silicon Valley. "It was so much more colorful than I imagined," she said. Wolfe, the daughter of Tom Wolfe, New Journalism pioneer and author of the seminal The Bonfire of the Vanities, talked about her book on the [email protected] show, which airs on SiriusXM channel 111. Full Story: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/silicon-valley-a-peek-behind-the-veil-of-young-entrepreneurs/ As California Mulls Retail Electricity Choice, Utilities Are Losing Customers in Droves According to California regulators, 85 percent of customers in the state will source electricity from entities other than investor-owned utilities by 2020. Its forcing them to take a hard look at retail choice. by Jeff St. John Full Story: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/california-utilities-are-losing-customers-in-droves?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=GTMDaily MONTANA Montana Governors Office of Economic Development http://business.mt.gov/ should be your first stop. Business Registration: Register online with the Montana Secretary of State https://www.montanasos.com/ , or find the forms you need via their site. Business Permits & Licenses: The Montana Department of Labor & Industry http://bsd.dli.mt.gov/ has information about licenses, as do the Montana governments official site http://revenue.mt.gov/licenses and the Montana Small Business Development Center https://sbdc.mt.gov/Resources/Licensing#One-Stop-Licensing-525 . Tax Registration: The Montana Department of Revenue https://revenue.mt.gov/home/businesses has the tax forms you need. Local Permits & Licenses: Directories for Montana county offices and city offices http://www.mtcounties.org/counties/county-information/montana-counties-contact-information are available. By Alexander Huls Full Story: https://sba.thehartford.com/finance/how-to-start-a-small-business-in-all-50-states?cmp=EMC-SC-SBA-07199486 The logo of China Eastern Airlines is seen on a plane that flies in the sky in Sanya, Hainan province, Feb 27, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines has operated more than 270 flights between Shanghai and Prague since the route connecting the two cities opened, with the average occupancy rate being above 80 percent, an indication of the huge business potential in the Belt and Road Initiative. The State-owned carrier said it will be supporting the major initiative by developing "a Silk Road in air," a flight network with Shanghai as its core hub while Kunming of Yunnan province and Xi'an of Shaanxi province being the secondary hubs and Beijing acting as a pivot. According to China Eastern's plan, Xi'an will reprise its role as the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, albeit in the air. The airline has already launched long-haul international flights from Xi'an to Sydney and Moscow, with new flights to St Petersburg, Irkutsk, Prague, Vancouver and Saipan expected to debut this year. In 2014, China Eastern operated 118 flights to 19 nations and 38 cities related to the Belt and Road Initiative. These figures grew to 128 flights to 20 countries and 41 cities in 2015, before increasing further to 131 flights to 21 countries and 45 cities in 2016. China Eastern Airlines said that its total capacity in the countries included in the Belt and Road Initiative has increased more than 45 percent in the past three years. Description "Resilience, Empowerment, and Self Care for Community Activists" hosted by non-profit Project Presence with the support of the Millennial Think Tank of Patchogue, The Golden Sparrow, and Slow Food North Shore offer the following course for community activists. May 11, 18, and 25-6:00pm-9:00pm 15 Oak Street Patchogue, NY 11772, $100.00 for all three sessions-$40.00 for individual session (registration is required) Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resilience-empowerment-and-self-care-for-community-activists-tickets-33818192123 This training equips activists with the essential practices they need to continue to provide a sustainable service to their community. This training includes mind body medicine approaches to self-care. These practices are known to support overall health and wellness and deepen individuals and groups empathic and compassionate responses to the world. May 11: Sustainable Systems of Care: Burnout and compassion-Fatigue May 18: What does it mean to bring Presence into my community? May 25: How do I practice Compassion in an Unjust World? If you would like to donate to Project Presence or learn more about their mission check out their website at www.projectpresence.org Faculty A continuing look at recently hired faculty who embody Cornell's collaborative vitality Eve De Rosa: Neurochemicals on the mind Students surreptitiously texting from the back of the classroom while half-paying attention to the lecture probably think professors don't know what's going through their minds. Eve De Rosa, associate professor of human development and an expert in the neurochemistry of cognition, knows precisely what's coursing through those multitasking brains: the neurochemical acetylcholine. As De Rosa explains: "Acetylcholine is best known for its role in Alzheimer's disease, but we're learning more about its contributions to cognition in people of all ages." "The guiding hypothesis for the work I do," she adds, "is asking whether something like Alzheimer's, generally thought to be a memory disorder, is actually an encoding disorder, with information not getting 'packaged' and not reaching memory centers of the brain in the first place." One task for the rats in De Rosa's lab is to use their noses to choose particular symbols on a touch screen. They learn this trick quickly and efficiently unless their brains are short on acetylcholine. De Rosa came to Cornell in 2013 and says that from the start, she could detect a certain "collaborative energy" in the air. "I'd been at University of Toronto for a decade when I guest lectured about my rat work to researchers in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior," she recalls. "After the talk, people asked about acetylcholine in human cognition, so I continued to speak about my work with children and the elderly. A few weeks later, faculty from human development contacted me and said, 'Have you ever thought of moving?'" Happily ensconced at Toronto, De Rosa was reluctant to accept the invitation until she recalled her interactions with Cornellians. "There was so much palpable, collaborative energy and creativity here," De Rosa says, "and that's what attracted me to Cornell." De Rosa's teaching responsibilities include pre-med courses, like Neurochemistry of Human Behavior, where undergraduates learn about the Nobel Prize-worthy discovery, in 1915, of acetylcholine. The phenomenon of nerves using chemicals to communicate was deduced from acetylcholine's action on the heart. Among her collaborators is spouse Adam Anderson, also an associate professor of human development and a neuroscientist specializing in the role of emotion in human faculties. Their research project? How the heart and mind are connected through chemistry which has led to further collaboration, with electrical and computer engineering's Bruce Land. H. Roger Segelken Geoffrey Pitt: Cardiovascular research pioneer Despite recent advances, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, killing 17 million people each year. But Dr. Geoffrey Pitt, director of Weill Cornell Medicine's new Cardiovascular Research Institute, is leading a massive clinical and research effort to change that. Pitt is a forward-thinking clinician-scientist who was recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine as the Ida and Theo Rossi Distinguished Professor of Medicine. He's charged with hiring and leading a team of about 60 scientists who will conduct basic and translational heart research to improve outcomes for people who have experienced heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure or another serious cardiac condition. The goal is to take areas of investigation that are at the most basic level today like figuring out how to turn stem cells into heart cells so that they can be used to repair heart attack damage, or determining why the use of targeted cancer drugs often results in cardiovascular side effects and move them toward a place where they're valuable to the people who need them. "I've always felt strongly that basic and translational work leads to the foundation for future therapies," says Pitt, who also is a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "I hope that what we discover here will eventually lead to improvements in the way we treat patients." As he builds the Cardiovascular Research Institute with a focus on leveraging Weill Cornell Medicine's expertise in areas like precision medicine and cancer research, Pitt also will continue to pursue his work on the genetic and molecular basis of irregular heartbeat, called arrhythmia biology. Specifically, he'll continue to focus on the little machine-like substances, or proteins, that respond to heart cells' electrical activity, called voltage gated ion channel proteins. Pitt has been studying ion channel proteins and the proteins that regulate them for two decades; they control the heart's pumping function. If they don't work properly, heart palpitations, fainting episodes and even sudden death can result. His basic research in this field has already led to significant advances in understanding the root cause of arrhythmias, which might be translated to help treat patients with heart valve problems. He's hoping to promote this approach in the institute and pursue research based on what he and other physicians have seen in the clinic. "Coming to Weill Cornell Medicine has given me this great opportunity to build an interdisciplinary team in a much-needed area," he says. "My goal is for us to make serious contributions to the newest and most exciting areas in cardiology." Anne Machalinski Sunita Sah: Conflict-of-interest contradictions Financial advisers or physicians who disclose conflicts of interest with their products or services are more likely to give biased recommendations to their clients. And clients who receive such disclosures may be more likely to follow that biased advice. While those conclusions may contradict conventional wisdom, they illustrate the unintended consequences of conflict-of-interest disclosure, according to research conducted by Sunita Sah, assistant professor of management and organizations in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. As a former physician and consultant in the pharmaceutical industry, she has a distinctive perspective on the nature of medical conflicts of interest. Growing up in Yorkshire, England, Sah became a doctor for the United Kingdom's National Health Service after earning a medical degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, but quickly realized that clinical work would not be her life's passion. In London, where she earned her MBA, she began working for a company focusing on pharmaceutical marketing. Sah studied how certain messages and events from pharmaceutical companies changed physicians' prescribing behavior. She became fascinated with the issue of conflict of interest and decided to pursue a Ph.D. in organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon University. "I really became interested in how physicians make decisions and the rationalizations they use in order to accept gifts and compensation from the pharmaceutical industry," Sah says. Those perks can range from free meals and travel expenses to branded gifts and sponsored research. Her first paper described the sense of entitlement physicians use to accept industry gifts. She found that junior doctors who were reminded of the sacrifices they had made to pursue their medical education were more likely to justify pharmaceutical gifts. In her current research, Sah is examining why managers from a variety of professions who rate themselves highly in their ability to be objective and make impartial decisions are actually more likely to accept gifts that could compromise their decision-making. "This work is important because it is precisely those who believe they are the least vulnerable and most professional who are more likely to accept conflicts of interest," Sah says. "They demonstrate increased bias with a lack of awareness of being biased." Sah, a Balen Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow, joined the Johnson faculty in 2015. "Cornell offers a great place to conduct interdisciplinary research with scholars from across campus," she says. Sherrie Negrea Paul Davis: Studying the impact of layoffs Most of the millions of people laid off in the past 30 years have gone on to other jobs, says Paul Davis, assistant professor at the ILR School and a human resource management expert. Yet, virtually no research has examined the consequences of these layoffs on their victims' future work behaviors. In his research, Davis examines victims' reactions to layoffs, hoping to shed light on the long-term labor market impacts of an economy in which layoffs have seemingly become status quo. In a first step toward unpacking how layoffs impact the broader American labor pool, Davis, along with colleagues Charlie Trevor, Ph.D. '98, of the University of Wisconsin and Jie Feng of Rutgers, studied the employment patterns of a national sample of U.S. layoff victims. Their conclusion? Layoffs encourage quitting. Individuals are 65 percent more likely to quit a job that follows a layoff, according to their research. And, for those who have been laid off multiple times, quitting can be up to six times more likely. Although workers may face lower pay, fewer hours and depressed job satisfaction in post-layoff employment, it is not declining job quality spurring them to quit. Davis, instead, points to an altered sense of loyalty. "Layoffs weaken the psychological tethers that bind individuals to future employers, freeing an otherwise contented employee to pursue better job opportunities," he said. Conceding that employee replacement costs can be significant, Davis nevertheless cautions executives and other managers against shunning job applicants who have layoffs in their past. That, he explains, "not only ignores an increasingly substantial segment of the national labor pool, it discounts a group expected to seek new skills and improve on past performance as a measure of protection against the trauma of additional layoffs." The study, published in the "Journal of Applied Psychology" in 2015, sampled 2,439 individuals working 12,035 jobs between 1978 and 2010. The number were collected as part of the National Longitudinal of Youth, a panel maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Davis, who came to Cornell in 2015, has spent five years studying how layoffs affect workers and organizations. "With the entirety of the ILR School faculty focused on work, employment and labor policy, I cannot imagine a better home for a human resource management scholar," he said. Trevor isn't just a colleague; he is Davis' mentor and "received his education here at ILR, so I have firsthand experience with the impact our graduates make," Davis said. "To now be in a position to help develop those future leaders is a real privilege." Mary Catt Back to top An international study led by Monash University has discovered the molecular mechanism by which the potentially deadly superbug 'Golden Staph' evades antibiotic treatment, providing the first important clues on how to counter superbug antibiotic resistance. 'Superbugs' are bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics, presenting a global health threat. To tackle this global challenge, researchers from Monash's Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) are collaborating with Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, and the NTU Institute of Structural Biology in Singapore. Now, the Monash BDI researchers have identified the first important clues on how to 'retool' antibiotics to counter the strategies bacteria enlist to evade the life-saving drugs, with the findings published in the journal mBio. Researchers used the latest generation electron microscopes at the Monash Ramaciotti Centre for Electron Microscopy to image at the molecular level - for the first time - the changes that take place in superbugs that have become resistant to the most modern antibiotics. Examining bacterial samples of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or 'Golden Staph' taken from a hospital patient, they compared data of a non-resistant strain with their counterparts overseas. These included Shashi Bhushan from NTU, and Zohar Eyal and Nobel Laureate, Professor Ada Yonath from the Weizmann Institute who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. "Using the combined data we could rationalise how the bacteria escapes drug treatment by a really important hospital antibiotic and describe in molecular detail how it becomes like a superbug," said Monash BDI scientist and lead researcher Dr Matthew Belousoff. "The bacteria mutates or evolves to change the shape of the molecule to which the antibiotic would bind so the drug can no longer fit there," Dr Belousoff said. "Knowing what your enemy is doing is the first step to the next phase of new drug design," he said. "We've developed a technique that others can use that might help us speed up the arms race of antibiotic development." Dr Belousoff said Monash BDI researchers are now using this new tool to investigate other drug-resistant bacteria. The research, involving the expertise of Monash microscopist Dr Mazdak Radjainia and mentoring of Professor Trevor Lithgow, was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Article: Structural Basis for Linezolid Binding Site Rearrangement in the Staphylococcus aureus Ribosome, Matthew J. Belousoff et al., mBio, doi: 10.1128/mBio.00395-17, published 9 May 2017. Nutritious Foods For Your Baby Gradual introduction of liquid, soft and solid foods to an infant after 6 months of age along with usual milk feeds is called ''complementary feeding''. It is a transition from exclusive breastfeeding to family foods. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants should be exclusively breast-fed for the first 6 months of life and then complementary foods should be introduced. Infants who are formula milk fed should also be introduced to complementary foods at 6 months of age. Once in a while, we all walk down memory lane to reminisce the good ol college days, but with our preferred filters in place. Honestly, none of us wants to remember the number of punishments we received for bunking classes, or the threatening letters our parents received from the college and hostel authorities. But most importantly, we specifically dont want to remember the times when we barely managed to touch the passing grade and rejoiced more than the guy who topped the class. BCCL Well, blame it on the popularity of superstars; but often it becomes difficult for celebrities to dodge the latter part from the gawking eyes of fans. After years, it seems that Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khans college days have come to haunt him after his admission form was leaked online. People are losing their sh*t over the marks that he mentioned in the Hans Raj College admission form. Why? Because the star who holds a firm grasp over the English language scored 51 in that subject. Well, what did we achieve after scoring 90 marks? Twitter The moment this picture started circulating, people went berserk, some were even trolling the star stating how they got better marks than the actor. Well, clearly, all the inspirational statements he made, the amazing TED Talk he delivered in Vancouver, Canada; have gone for a toss because he scored less in English. You can watch his inspirational TED Talk titled Thoughts on humanity, fame and love here. To be fair, we are not trying to spark any debate here, we are just curious why he is being judged by some people because of his marks. Why cant we take it as lesson that at the end of the day, hard work is what really matters. Thankfully there are some people who think this way. However, looking at this from the point of view of the students who will be entering college soon, they arent completely wrong in wondering why they didnt get admission even after scoring 95%. Well the time gap is what you missed, fellas. In those days, even 10 rupees had more value than 1000 rupees. According to a report published in Pinkvilla this picture was shared by a student-run online portal, Delhi University Times and although the source of the picture is still unknown, it is being considered as an authentic image. On a lighter note, since actor Shah Rukh Khan proved his mettle in Bollywood with his hard work, he can get away with 51 in English. But, for you, unless you have realized your true calling and proved your worth; you will be welcomed with brooms, flying chappals, rulers or house arrest when you show your marksheet or report card with poor marks. People would do anything for love, even if it means giving up their royal status. Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Emperor Akihito, is set to give up her royal title in order to marry Kei Komuro, a commoner. They both met while they were students at Tokyos International Christian University. Pintrest As of now, Komuro works as a paralegal at a law firm, but he is still remembered for appearing in a tourism campaign for Japan, in which he played the Prince of the Sea. Twitter So since that doesnt technically make him an actual prince, Princess Mako must give up her royal status in order to marry him. Even though women ultimately cannot inherit Japans Chrysanthemum Throne, this is still a reality for all female members of the imperial royal family. Due to this, Princess Mako was never even in line for the throne. But her father, Prince Akishino, is the brother of Crown Prince Naruhito, which puts him second in line to the throne, as Prince Naruhito has only one daughter. And, Princess Makos younger brother, Prince Hisahito, is third in the order of succession. Reuters But this new system is comparatively new. Before 1947, female members of the Imperial family could inherit the throne and were not required to leave the royal family after they married. Before this, the last female member of the Imperial family to give up her royal status in a similar situation was Princess Makos aunt, Sayako, formerly known as Princess Nori. The news of this impending engagement has revived the debate about this law and has also raised concerns about the future of the monarchy. Twitter Komuro, when asked about the news by reporters, said, I would like to talk about it when the time comes. Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias is in Nicosia to participate in the 127th Meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which starts this evening, with an informal dinner, and concludes tomorrow. The Meeting will be chaired by the Republic of Cyprus and focus on issues of longstanding interest to the Council of Europe, including rule of law, human rights and democratic freedoms, while there will also be a discussion of current challenges, such as terrorism, racism and migration. The U.S. Air Force bombed the Islamic State at a record level in March and the most since the air campaign began in 2014, figures show The service dropped nearly 4,000 munitions during that period, according to the latest Air Forces Central Command statistics. The Air Force unleashed more than 3,000 bombs in November 2015 and again the following month -- an increased level of activity following the Paris terrorist attacks that killed over 100 people. The U.S. air campaign remained fairly steady in the succeeding months, hovering at around 2,500 weapons released. Then again in June, the Air Force found itself in another busy month, with 3,160 weapons dropped over Iraq and Syria. Operations last summer, in which fighter jets and strategic bombers were focused on Fallujah and Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria, hit an all-time high for the service. RELATED: Air Force 'Flexible' on B-1s Return to Fight Against ISIS The service has deployed a wide variety of aircraft to the missions in both countries, including fighters and bombers such as the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-52 Stratofortress, F-22 Raptor, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft armed with Hellfire missiles, such as the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. The coalition launching airstrikes -- the United Kingdom, Australia, Iraq, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Jordan, among others -- has focused on backing Iraqi ground forces as they fight to liberate western Mosul from ISIS. The push, which began in October, has expelled the majority of ISIS fighters. The militants now only control a small stronghold in the city limits, Reuters reported Tuesday. During the Mosul liberation, the Pentagon in March launched an investigation into a collateral strike. Mosul residents at the time said an airstrike killed more than 100 civilians sheltering in a house in the western part of the Iraqi city that was also being used by IS fighters. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told The Associated Press following the incident that the coalition's anti-ISIS operations remain "the most precise air campaign in history." RELATED: 'Intense' US Bombing in Mosul Meant Strike Every 8 Minutes "But all the tactics, techniques and procedures and plans that we have, all these things are executed by people," Dorrian said, "and what that means is, it's not going to be perfect, it's going to be as good as we can possibly make it." Although watchdog groups such as Airwars have maintain the coalition has claimed more than 3,530 civilian lives, the Pentagon acknowledged in April that at least 352 civilians have been killed by coalition strikes since the start of the air campaign. Between Aug. 8, 2014, and May 8, 2017, U.S. and partner-nation aircraft have flown 152,208 sorties in support of operations in Iraq and Syria, according to the Defense Department. The U.S. so far has spent more than $12.5 billion on the campaign. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, where the U.S. continues to fight insurgents such as the Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS, the Air Force dropped more than 200 munitions in March -- relatively high thus far for the year, AFCENT says. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. The Coast Guard's decision to suspend its practice of wounding and triaging live animals in trauma training was the right one, Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told members of Congress on Thursday. In his first public comments on the matter since it was reported in April that the Coast Guard was suspending "live tissue training" for at least six months, Zukunft indicated the choice was ethical more than practical. In the training, animals can be stabbed or shot to provide realistic practice for emergency medical training. After training is complete, the creatures are killed humanely. "Like you, I found that -- quite honestly -- abhorrent in terms of meeting our mission requirements," he told Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, a California Democrat and outspoken critic of the practice, during a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee. While the suspension has been framed as temporary to allow the Coast Guard to complete a six-month study of training alternatives, the admiral's remarks suggest the era of live tissue training has come to an end for the service. The replacement trauma training will be simulation-driven, Zukunft said, and will most likely be a service provided via contract, just as the legacy live tissue training was. "[The simulation] may be more expensive, but for us it will be the right thing to do to prepare our Coast Guard members who may be deployed to theaters where they may encounter traumatic injuries," he said. Live tissue training has been used across the military services, a practice heavily criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other advocacy groups. In late 2014, Pentagon officials announced that the training would be significantly scaled back in favor of simulators. In an opinion piece published by Roybal-Allard in The Hill on April 27, she praised the Coast Guard for its decision and cited a Defense Department-backed study that showed simulation-based training could be cheaper than live tissue training in the long run. "The Coast Guard is taking a step in the right direction that I hope will lead to a permanent end to live tissue training," she wrote in the op-ed. " ... I couldn't be prouder of the men and women of the Coast Guard, who give us their best efforts every day. It's time for us to ensure that our Coasties get the best medical simulation training tools we have to offer." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. Related Video: The Air Force does not plan to increase its bomber presence in the Pacific region even as North Korea continues to threaten the United States and its allies, a general said Wednesday. Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said there are no plans at this time to add more strategic bombers to the theater. The aircraft are often flown to act as a deterrent against the hostile nation. Any formal changes to plans in the Pacific would be under the purview of Adm. Harry B. Harris, head of Pacific Command, "because we're providing those forces that combatant commanders [need]," said Rand, who spoke Tuesday at an Air Force Association Mitchell Institute event in Washington, D.C. "When we're there, we're under their operational control," he said. The command is responsible for the nation's three intercontinental ballistic missile wings and the Air Force's entire bomber force, which includes the B-52, B-1 and B-2, and eventually will include the the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber program, which is currently in production. Earlier this month, two Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew near the Korean peninsula, days after North Korea conducted another ballistic missile launch. The U.S. military has maintained a deployed strategic bomber presence in the Pacific since 2004. How the U.S. military intends to respond to North Korean provocations remains unclear. When asked if the U.S. may be gearing up to shoot down the next North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test, Rand said, "I don't have any information on that." The general also said he was "not familiar with the specifics on the missile tests" that North Korea has conducted in recent months. U.S. Strategic Command, of which Global Strike is a subordinate component command, tracks missile tests. Harris, the Pacom chief, has said he believes Hawaii needs more missile interceptors given the growing threat. "I do believe that the numbers could be improved. In other words, we need more interceptors," Harris said before a House Armed Services Committee last month. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sen. Daniel Scott Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing that he's willing to introduce a bill increasing U.S. missile defenses. "A madman could possibly be threatening three million people" or more, Sullivan said of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's regular threats against cities across the U.S. The lawmaker also said he's tired of hearing that cost is what stands between protecting the American people and assurance that is needed now. Newly minted Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson; Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein; Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, Space and Missile Systems Center commander; and Gen. John Raymond, commander of Space Command, testified before the panel. Raymond and Wilson -- making her debut before Congress in her new job -- said they're in constant contact with the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency regarding North Korea. But Sullivan said more needs to be done. Based "from the testimony, you'll appreciate what we're trying to do here in the Senate," he said, stopping short of saying when a bill may be debated on the floor. Rand also declined to comment on the Pentagon's nuclear posture review that kicked off April 17. He told reporters at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in February he would not participate in the posture review -- designed to determine what the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy should be -- because it is a policy -- not operational -- matter. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. 1999_10_0950.JPG A big brown bat found in Ingham County is this year's first animal confirmed to be carrying the infectious disease rabies. (AP) LANSING, MI - A big brown bat found in Ingham County is this year's first animal confirmed to be carrying rabies. Rabies, a viral disease of mammals transmitted through bites or scratches of an infected animal, recently was discovered in the bat through testing, causing the state to issue a public warning about the danger, according to a Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development press release. If not properly treated, rabies can be fatal to humans. Bats and skunks are the most common carriers of rabies in Michigan, according to the release. In 2016, there were 41 cases of rabies in Michigan wildlife, consisting of 37 rabid bats and four rabid skunks. Pets and domestic animals also can be easily infected if bitten. The State of Michigan recommends taking the following precautions for dealing with rabies. For people: People should avoid contact with wild animals. Do not keep wild animals as pets. Wild animals can carry rabies without showing clinical signs. If a wild animal appears sick, please report it to the Department of Natural Resources online or at 517-336-5030. If you are bitten or scratched by an animal, seek medical attention and alert the local health department. A directory of local public health departments is available at www.malph.org. If you find a bat in your home, safely confine or collect the bat if possible and contact your local health department to determine if it should be tested for rabies. More information on how to collect a bat safely can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. If you are unable or would prefer not to confine or collect the bat yourself, you may consider hiring a bat/wildlife removal service. For animals: Talk to your veterinarian about vaccinating domestic pets and livestock. Vaccination is important to protect your pet from rabies and it also provides a barrier of protection if a wild animal bites your pet. If your animal is bitten or scratched by a wild animal or if you believe there has been unsupervised contact with wildlife, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Even if your animal currently is vaccinated against rabies, additional actions may need to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus. If possible, safely confine or capture the wild animal without touching the animal and contact your local animal control officer, local health department or veterinarian, as the animal may need to be tested for rabies. DETROIT, MI - Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears brought back the 80s to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit at the second to last concert ever at the old venue. The two duos performed at The Joe on Wednesday night, May 17, 2017. Tears for Fears: English rockers Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith surprised a lot of fans by kicking things off with one of their biggest hits "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." When people in the concourse heard it, they rushed down the dangerous Joe Louis Arena stairs to their seats, spilling ounce after ounce of beer. Both Roland and Curt sounded great. Their setlist featured all of their hits including: "Sowing the Seeds of Love," "Mad World," "Pale Shelter," "Break it Down Again," "Head Over Heels," and for the encore, "Shout." The band also performed a cover of "Creep" by Radiohead, a very popular 90s hit. Their setlist lasted about an hour and 10 minutes. The duo, who formed in 1981, played each song true to how it sounded on their albums. Just the way fans remembered. They received a standing ovation as they left the stage. Hall and Oates: One of the top selling music duos of all-time continue to be a treat to see live. This was my fourth time seeing them, and it's non-stop fun each and every time. Like the previous three times I saw them, they played big hit after big hit while mixing in some smaller hits and a lost track or two. They played four minor hit songs at this concert which I hadn't heard at previous shows with: "Family Man," which kicked off their setlist, "Did it in a Minute," The Righteous Brothers cover "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'," and "Wait for Me." The rest of the concert was pretty much non-stop hits with: "Maneater," "Out of Touch," "Say it Isn't So," "One on One," "She's Gone," "Sara Smile," and "I Can't Go for That." In case fans forgot how many big hits they had, the encore featured four more with: "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," Private Eyes," and "You Make My Dreams." Hall is now 70 and Oates is 69. The two are flawless on stage together with their terrific band, which includes two percussion players, keyboard, sax, bass and guitar. Hall also plays the keys and piano. Oates plays guitar. They pretty much keep each song true to how it sounded on the album, with a change of the intro to most of the songs. It's almost like a game trying to figure out what the hit song is in the first few seconds. It's a nice way to update their hits and change things up without taking away from what fans love the most... their great music. They also received a standing ovation as they said goodnight for the last time at The Joe. Concert notes: Hall and Oates' only deep track of the night was "Is It a Star," an early song of theirs from their 1974 album "War Babies." Hall and Oates said some parting words to Joe Louis Arena: "We've been coming here for years," said Oates, "and now it's the end of an era, right? But, you know what, it's the beginning of a better era, I have a feeling, which is cool." "One door closes, another door opens," said Hall. When introducing "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'," Oates told the crowd: "So, in this great music city in America, Detroit, Michigan, here's one of the great rock n' roll songs of all-time." Detroit Red Wings TV announcer Ken Daniels sat in the row behind me. This is the second to last concert at The Joe and the third to last event. The last concert is on July 8 featuring Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and more. The last event is a WWE house show on July 29. Little Caesars Arena is scheduled to open in September. Here is everything announced there so far: HOWELL, MI - One person has been released and two others remain hospitalized after a two-vehicle crash that killed five in Livingston County last week, police say. Albert Boswell, 39, of Oakland County had been released by the afternoon of Thursday, May 18, said Michigan State Police Sgt. Michael Sura. Boswell initially was hospitalized in critical condition following the crash on about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, at M-59 and Argentine Road in Oceola Township, near Howell. He is the first person to be released from the hospital. Two others - Matthew Jordan Carrier, 21, of Fenton and and his passenger Kyle Eugene Lixie, 23 - remain in stable condition, Sura said. Circumstances of the crash remain under investigation, but police believe Carrier was driving southbound on Argentine Road when he failed to stop at a stop sign at M-59 and struck a vehicle driven by Boswell. Neither driver had a valid driver's license, according to state records. Boswell's vehicle was returning from the Michigan Department of Corrections' Employee Appreciation Banquet in East Lansing where his girlfriend, Candice Lynn Dunn, 35, of Oakland County, was honored as the MDOC's 2017 Parole/Probation Agent of the Year. Dunn, her mother Linda K. Hurley, 69, of Macomb County and Hurley's boyfriend, Jerome Joseph Tortomasi, 73, of Macomb County, were all killed in the crash. Carrier's two other passengers, Justin Andrew-Humberto Henderson, 18, and Preston Taylor Wetzel, 24, both of Fenton, also were killed. Sura said it may take between one to three weeks for a decision to be made on charges in the case, as accident investigators continue to evaluate the case and prosecutors need to review it. Shams Tabriz arraignement Shams Tabriz is pictured on a television monitor as he is arraigned on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree home invasion and two counts of assault and battery at the Washtenaw County Service Center 14A-1 District Court on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News (Melanie Maxwell) PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - A 30-year-old Ann Arbor man man accused of raping a University of Michigan student had a bench warrant issued for his arrest when he didn't show up to a court hearing Thursday, May 18. Shams Tabriz was free on a 10 percent of $200,000 cash or surety bond, officials said. The bond was set by Magistrate Elisha Fink at Tabriz's arraignment. Plymouth-based defense attorney Brian Stacey appeared without his client in the 14A-1 District Court for a probable cause hearing. He didn't have an explanation as to why Tabriz didn't show, and told Judge Richard Conlin that he spoke with Tabriz and his family Wednesday night. "I just have a very bad feeling about this," Stacey said, adding that Tabriz suffers from depression. The attorney did not elaborate. Conlin issued the bench warrant and revoked bond, so if Tabriz is arrested he would not be able to post any amount to get out of jail. Stacey told Judge Conlin that Tabriz -- who holds both Canadian and Bangladeshi citizenship -- turned over his travel papers to Ann Arbor police. Tabriz is facing charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree home invasion and two counts of assault and battery. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in the Landmark apartments, 1300 block of South University Avenue, about 2 a.m. May 6. Tabriz, who lives in the same apartment building, was reportedly seen staggering down the hallway trying different doors before gaining entry into the woman's apartment, where she was asleep with two other roommates, police said. He is accused of inappropriately touching two of the women, though they didn't wake up, before sexually assaulting the 19-year-old woman, according to police. The woman woke during the assault and scared off the assailant, police said. AT&T announced in a recent release that it has completed deployment of its nationwide LTE-M network ahead of schedule. The network is designed to enable a new generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications. The LTE-M network is now live across the U.S. on the companys nationwide 4G LTE network, following software upgrades. The LTE-M deployment marks another step forward on the path to 5G and IoT and has been deployed with global, 3GPP standardized technology using licensed spectrum for carrier-grade security. Further, AT&T said it plans to deploy LTE-M across Mexico by the end of 2017 to create a North American LTE-M footprint covering 400 million people. The full suite of rate plans for LTE-M, will include monthly plans starting at $1.50 per month per device. Further discounts will be available for yearly and multi-year plans, as well as volume commitments. LTE-M modules will be available from suppliers for as low as $7.50 each, including a SIM card. That's half the cost of the LTE Cat-1 module AT&T launched in 2016. Current IoT starter kits with M14A2A modules will be software-upgradeable to LTE-M with an upcoming firmware update. "Our nationwide LTE-M deployment is another example of AT&T's continued investment and leadership in IoT," said Chris Penrose, President, IoT Solutions, AT&T. "We can now reach new places and connect new things at a price that's more affordable than ever before. Our LTE-M starter kit will also spur developers to open the doors to IoT innovation." LTE-M supports large-scale IoT deployments such as smart city services, smart metering, asset tracking, supply chain management, security and alarm monitoring and personal wearables. It has been embraced by leading global carriers. That helps build a broad base of ecosystem partners, devices and applications for global markets. Edited by Maurice Nagle live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on May 18, 2017 has, inter-alia, transacted the following businesses:- Recommended for approval by members at their ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM), payment of dividend @ Rs. 1.20/- per equity share (12%) of Rs. 10/- each for the financial year ended on March 31, 2017.Source : BSE live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Please find herewith Audited Financial Results of the Company along with Auditors Report and Form B, for the quarter/year ended 31st March 2017, duly approved by the Board of Directors in conformity with the Listing Regulations are enclosed. Annual General Meeting: The 31st Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on Tuesday, 19th September 2017 at A-31, MIDC Industrial Area, Butibori - 441122, Nagpur, Maharashtra. Book Closure: The Register of Members and Share Transfer books will remain closed from Tuesday, 12th September 2017 to Tuesday, 19th September 2017 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of 31st Annual General Meeting.Source : BSE live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The meeting of the Board of Directors of Indrayani Biotech Limited would be held on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 11.30 a.m. at the Registered Office of the Company, at 1133/5, F C Road, Opp. Police Grounds, Pune 411 016 to approve the Audited Financial Results for the year and quarter ended March 31, 2017 and to transact other businesses of the Company.Source : BSE Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Ceat is not a buy right now. While it remains in a strong uptrend, I think if it gets below Rs 1,650 thereabouts, that is a good buy zone. Yes, strong uptrend, but you can't buy right now." "What is happening in IT is very interesting, it is up 2 percent in a weak global situation. Generally you expect IT to do poorly in a weak global situation. I think these are conspiracy theories, if Trump gets weakened, then maybe he does not move on H1B, etc. - market has its own logic. So, I am more optimistic on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) than Ceat," he said. "Hexaware Technologies is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 250 and target of Rs 265. Lupin is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 1,295 and target of Rs 1,340," he said. "Voltas, you can try to sell with a stop loss of Rs 423 and target of Rs 400. I dont think there is a great sector trigger there. However, yes, MRPL is moving higher; possibly you can get Rs 165-170." "I think something is changing on IT and from a kind of avoid, you can say that is coming back into a buy zone. Pharmaceutical I had spoken of last week that it is possibly trying to make a bottom. I think both these external facing sectors, people who want value, etc. are good buys for those guys." The Joint Lender Forum (JLF) is meeting with JP Associates as they have accepted the debt restructuring deal offered by the company to reach a consensus on the repayment of dues between banks, reports CNBC-TV18. JP Associates-UltraTech deal has got the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) clearance. About Rs 10,000 crore of debt will be transferred to the books of UltraTech and this account will become standard in the books of banks. The banks also estimate that Rs 6,000 crore debt in the book of JP Associates can be sustainable. As for the remaining debt, banks are willing to accept land in lieu of debt as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. Banks can monetise the land by selling it off in the next seven or eight years. A part of the JP Associates debt will get restructured and the other part will go for a long-tenured bond. Banks having a large exposure to JP Associates loan include ICICI Bank at 27.63 percent, State Bank of India at 11.88 percent, IDBI Bank at 9.78 percent and Punjab National Bank at 4.35 percent. Maruti Suzuki is in focus as the company's retail sales trends have been very strong on back of the success of Ignis and Baleno, which help boost their average monthly run rate. RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki said the way the market and the economy is growing there is a need for more and more capacity. He said all the capacity expansion is done by Suzuki Motors in Gujarat, which is a 100 percent Suzuki subsidiary. The first line of Gujarat Plant has been commissioned and the second line work is underway. Each of the lines has an installed capacity of is 2.5 lakh units per year. Once the third line (unit) is in place the capacity would be 7.5 lakh units but if one goes by the experience the company had in Manesar then they could stretch the capacity to 8-8.5 lakh units as well. He confirmed that the retail sales trends currently were excellent. According to him, in India the cars below 4 meters will remain dominant. He also confirmed that the company plans to move from smaller cars to bigger cars. However, the new smaller cars could be better equipped with electronics and connectivity gadgets etc, so their value would likely go up. The cars will remain in the sub-4 meter segment. The company will also look at manufacturing cars bigger than 4 meters, he said. Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Latha: If you can tell us about your expansion plans, we understand now that Suzuki as well has invested and you are making preparations for another plant in Gujarat, can you give us some outline as to what the plans are there? A: As you know, the expansion of capacity is all being done by Suzuki in Suzuki Motors Gujarat which is a 100 percent Suzuki subsidiary. So, while we are not directly involved in those investments in the management, we naturally are very much interested in the capacity which is being created. The first line has been commissioned and the second line work is underway. The present target for the second line commissioning is early 2019, but we have now been requesting Suzuki to see if that can be advanced by a few months so that it can actually happen in 2018. As soon as that part is underway, then I think the work on the third line will be necessary because the way the economy is growing and the market is growing, there is need for more and more capacity. Sonia: Can you tell us a little bit about what the eventual capacity will be once the third line comes on stream as well compared to what the capacity is now? A: Each of these lines is 2,50,000 units a year. So, three lines would mean 7,50,000 units installed capacity. However, our experience in Manesar is that usually with three lines of 2,50,000, instead of producing 7,50,000, the production can be stretched to something between 8,00,000-8,50,000 units in a year. Anuj: The market is betting on Maruti slowly moving up from entry level cars to more mid-level cars and higher level cars with much higher realisations. Do you think that is a progression which Maruti will be able to achieve over the next five or six years? A: No, I dont think we have ever indicated that we are moving up from the smaller cars to bigger cars. That has never been part of our program. In fact our belief is that in the Indian market, the cars below 4 meters will remain the dominant part of the market. It is true that in this category the cars will be better equipped with electronics, and a whole lot of other connectivity gadgets and such things, so, their value will go up, the cars will remain still in the small entry-level segment or the sub 4 meter segment. There will be growth above 4 meter also which is happening like with the Ciaz and the Ertiga, but we have no plans of making anything bigger than that at the moment. Sonia: I wanted to ask you a little bit about the retail trends because post demonetisation, Maruti has seen the best in class volume growth. Is it only because some of these new products have been doing well or are you seeing generally in the industry a big sign of recovery? Also what would your volume estimates be for the full year because a lot of people are talking about the possibility of even a 15 percent growth here? A: 15 percent growth is I think a little bit too optimistic because we will not get the capacity to grow at 15 percent. Last year we produced a little bit over 1.5 million cars. A 15 percent growth means an addition of something like 2,25,000-2,35,000 cars. I dont think Gujarat can add that much volume in the first year. Latha: Just to go back to Anujs question, what is the percentage of sub 4 meter cars to over 4 meter cars now and what may be the ratio say two years down the line? A: At the moment sub 4 meter cars are I think a little bit over 70 percent of the total and I dont see that changing significantly even two years on. Sonia: You did speak about a 15 percent volume growth being very optimistic for FY18. You were telling us also about what the trends are looking like now over the next few months? A: The retail trends have been excellent and in fact the inventory with the dealers are much lower than what is actually the optimum inventory which we would like to keep with dealers. Normally we like to keep about a months inventory with the dealers. A months inventory means something like 1,25,000-1,30,000 cars and at the end of December inventories had fallen to 30,000-35,000 cars. Even today these inventories are about 80,000 cars. So, actually the problem is that we are not able to keep up with the retail sales by meeting the sale numbers as well as replenishing inventory. Granules India Ltd. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Drug price regulator NPPA has initiated action against various firms, including Abbott Healthcare, Zydus Cadila and Dr Reddy's, for non-compliance with provisions for new drugs under the price control regime. In a notification issued , the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said that various companies have launched formulations by altering a scheduled formulation with strength dosage other than as specified in the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013. Some companies have also launched new drugs in combination with other non-scheduled medicines without even applying for price approval from the NPPA, it added. "Any contravention of the provisions of the DPCO 2013 is punishable in accordance with the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955," the NPPA said. Accordingly, it has been decided to take action against these pharma companies under the provisions of DPCO 2013, it added. The NPPA has asked the companies, which include Alkem Laboratories, Glenmark Pharma, Lupin, Novartis India, Sanofi India, Wockhardt, Unichem, Zydus Cadila, Glaxosmithkline Pharma, among others, to furnish batch-wise production and sales details along with the corresponding MRP along with reasons for non-compliance with the provisions by June 15. "If the replies are not received by the stipulated time, NPPA will proceed for taking further action in the matter as per DPCO 2013 and Essential Commodities Act, 1955," NPPA said. Comments from the companies could not be obtained immediately. The list of drugs issued by the NPPA contains 201 formulations marketed by various drug firms in multiple strengths. Forum for IT Employees (FITE), a trade union representing IT sector employees, is slowly taking steps to fight on behalf of individuals who have been laid off by companies. While the union's members run into a few hundreds only, it is still early days for mass movement, according to human resource officials. FITE, which as per its website, has representation from employees in 50 companies in the IT/ITeS sectors, is looking to build its member base. FITEs Vice President Vasumathi told Moneycontrol that once they have sufficient members, they will look at regular interactions with employers to have an employee-friendly workplace. The forum has said that the employees of IT/ITeS sector have been a significant contributor to Indias growth history. Though we are connected via social networks, we are individuals while facing breach of our work rights and oppression by corporates, it added. This forum is run by a collective of IT professionals from different IT/ITeS companies. On one hand, while large-scale layoffs across IT companies have led to a scramble for new jobs, many of the fired employees are of the view that the manner in which they were let go has been unjust. With respect to the layoffs at Cognizant, in the conciliation meeting that happened in Chennai which was chaired by Tamil Nadu Joint Commissioner of Labor Ravishankar, members and representatives from FITE explained the concerns of IT employees with regards to the ongoing layoffs. In a press statement, FITE said that the Cognizant management was represented by 4 people headed by Dharmaraj & Thenmozhi, AVP, HR Department, Chennai. FITE said that it submitted supporting documents regarding the issues faced by employees. "Thenmozhi of Cognizant requested time to go through the documents and said if there had been any mistakes from their side they will reconsider the terminations, said FITE. Overall, the clout enjoyed by trade unions, which could once influence management decisions for workers and also successfully create roadblocks if demands were not met, is slowly reducing. With younger people joining the workforce each year and overall compensation structures seeing an improvement, trade union activities have come down. In this scenario, human resource experts are of the view that this is the right time to engage in skill-building activity. A senior human resource official at a mid-size IT firm said that unlike factory labourers who have been facing harsh conditions, IT employees are up against a different issue. This situation has got to do with individual company positions and stress on their books. Unions can only achieve limited success in this scenario, he added. Some governments like the one in Karnataka have also barred unions from being formed for sectors like IT. FITE is looking to take this up with the legal authorities to look for a solution. Rituparna Chakraborty, Executive Vice President, TeamLease Services said it is important to be constructive in this situation and focus on the areas that can re-skill themselves in. They could get together and find out what skills are needed and help people equip themselves better. This will be far more productive and beneficial for the entire sector, she added. India moved closer towards a country-wide Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Thursday with the GST Council fixing tax rates on of 1211 items, most of which will likely become cheaper as the new rates will be lower than the current effective levies. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said in Srinagar that sugar, edible oil, normal tea and coffee (not instant tea or coffee) will attract a GST rate of 5 percent, down from the current effective rate of 4-6 percent. Hair oil, toothpaste and soaps will be taxed at 18 percent under GST, significantly lower than the present effective rate of 28 percent. Coal will be taxed at 5 percent under GST, compared to a current effective rate of 11.7 percent, raising prospects of lower power tariffs. Cereals have been kept under the exempt category, signs that food grain prices could come down after GST kicks-in from July 1. Gur (jaggery) has also been kept under the exempt category. READ: The illustrative guide to how transactions will take place after GST Sources told Moneycontrol that GST rates have not been yet been finalised on six categories of productsbio-diesel, beedi and cigarettes, footwear, textiles, agricultural implements and gold. Separately, within the "food" category a final decision on GST rates on branded cereals and packaged food including packaged fruit juices will likely be taken on Friday. A decision on GST rates on services will likely be taken on Friday, the second and the last day of the councils meeting in Srinagar. Adhia said that 14 percent of the 1211 items will attract a GST rate of 5 percent, another 17 percent will be taxed at 12 percent, 19 percent of the items will be taxed at 28 percent, while 7 percent will be on the exempt list. Over the last six weeks, an officers panel had been working towards the fitment or classification exercise an exhaustive list specifying the tax rate of goods and services, which was presented at the Council meeting. The overall impact is non-inflationary. The tax burden hasnt increased in any commodity, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. In many commodities, there is a reduction, particularly as tax on tax has gone. On some (goods) we have deliberately brought the tax rate down, Jaitley said. The fitment panel has been working on the principle to fix tax rates closest to the present incidence of taxation on good or services. The final rates have been fixed in a way such that the impact on inflation as well as revenue to the government is near neutral. Read Moneycontrol's full coverage on GST here The two-day GST Council meet began on Thursday in Srinagar, as ministers and officials from 29 states and Union Territories, along with Jaitley and senior finance ministry officials converged in the Jammu and Kashmir capital to decide and fix rates on a long list of goods and services. GST, billed as Indias most ambitious reforms move, will stitch together a common national market, dismantle fiscal barriers among states and consolidate a patchwork of local and central duties into a single levy. The Council had earlier agreed on a four broad slab structure - 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent - along with a cess on luxury and demerit goods such as tobacco, pan masala and aerated drinks. The states would receive provisional compensation from Centre for loss of revenue due to abolition of taxes such as VAT (value added tax), octroi and implementation of GST. The compensation would be met through levy of a 'GST Compensation Cess' on luxury items and sin goods like tobacco, for the first five years. The cess on luxury goods have been capped at 15 percent. While the effective cess on goods such as luxury cars will 12 percent, the Council has decided to fix a cap to give headspace for expansion in the future. "Sin" goods such as tobacco (cigarettes) and pan masala will attract cess rates of 290 per cent and 135 percent respectively, although the impact on current effective consumer prices will be negligible. Based on the recommendation of the fitment panel, the Council is also likely to examine the option of placing services under two tax slabs12 and 18 percent. The move will likely even out the overall price impact on consumers who now pay tax of 15 percent on all services. The original plan was to have a single tax rate18 percentfor services under GST that would have made most services costlier under the new system. A rate of 12 percent is also under consideration, especially for those services that would be regular for the common man such as air travel services, restaurants and renting of hotels. Most services, except those in the negative list of essential services such as healthcare and education, will come under GST. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written to the Centre today demanding that the application for cultivation of GM mustard be cancelled. "I strongly urge you that this GM mustard application must be rejected instantaneously," Kumar said in a letter to Minister of State (Independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave. "No decision on GM crops should be taken in haste, which can harm the interests of the farmers and the people of the India at large," he said in the letter. Kumar wrote the letter on the basis of media reports that the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has accorded regulatory clearance to GM mustard's commercial cultivation and the matter now awaits the Environment Minister's decision. The Bihar CM referred to his earlier letter to the Prime Minister on October 10, 2016 and said "our concerns and objections to this proposal for GM food crop cultivation remains un-resolved. I had already raised the issue of how state governments will be forced to bear the adverse consequences of this technology if the Centre approves such GMOs for cultivation, whereas agriculture is a state subject." The said technology is likely to be commercialised by the multinational seed companies, which will be highly monopolistic and leave millions of farmers in the hands of seed companies. Further, the present Seed Act does not have adequate provisions for liability and compensation. If such risky technologies fail it will cause damage to farmers and the environment, he said. Besides, the issue is still pending in the Supreme Court, which has given status quo order on GM mustard's approval by the Central government. The Central government has to address the issues and make its submission to the apex court before taking a final decision, Kumar wrote in the letter to Dave. business No relief on 28% rate for small cars, says Thomas Isaac As India gets ready for the July 1st rollout of the good and services tax (GST), the two-day GST Council meet kicks off today in Jammu & Kashmir's capital, Srinagar. The Indian IT industry "rightly" should be in "panic" mode as it has not kept pace with the fast-changing innovation, India-born former McKinsey head Rajat Gupta has said. He said industries today "have to constantly move with innovation" as basic IT work gets automated and advanced innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cloud computing overtake the technological world. "Code writing and testing is the most inefficient industry that existed," he said at a panel discussion here yesterday organised by the New York Tri-State chapter of Pratham USA, one of the largest non-governmental organisations. "The Indian IT industry is in panic and rightly should be because technology is overtaking them and they haven't invested in it," Gupta said. Gupta, who was a former director at Goldman Sachs, was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of insider trading charges. A free man now, Gupta has been gradually re-entering the social and philanthropic world. Last year, he assumed the role of Chairman of WHEELS Global Foundation, a US-based non-profit started by IIT alumni that focuses on applying technology to uplift rural communities and provide technological solutions to global challenges. Experts are warning of prolonged layoffs in the Indian IT sector as digitisation and automation become the new normal and a wave of protectionism in major markets like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand closes the door for IT engineers from India. Gupta said there is urgent need for "revolution in education" where imparting knowledge has to move from being in lecture mode to being more interactive, digital and participatory. "A fundamental revolution in education needs to be taking place," he said. He also voiced concern at the huge youth unemployment in India and other major countries. "India needs to create 20 million jobs a year and it is no way near that. Most of our skilling efforts in India are failures because certain elements are not built into it. It becomes a government scheme. Are (the youth) really skilled when they come out. No," he said. On the recent increase in hate crimes targeting Indian- Americans, Gupta said there has to be heightened awareness among the community through educational programs about their rights. The Indian-American community, unlike other minority communities, also does not have a legal defence fund that can be used to bring cases and prosecute those responsible for such crimes. Market There is no stopping for this red hot bull market which is making record highs on a daily basis. However, Thursday may well turn out to be the day of bears and bulls might take a back seat. The chart structure was giving some hints about possible consolidation or correction because most of the momentum indicators were signalling overbought levels. Indian market is likely to come under pressure tracking weak handover from Wall Street. Asian market fell as reforms promised by US President Donald Trump take back seat as uncertainty mounts over his future as President following reports that he tried to interfere with a federal investigation. The Dow and S&P 500 both sank about 1.8 percent overnight following reports that Trump tried to influence a federal probe, said a report. Indian market witnessed a record high in the previous trading session and market participants were waiting for a trigger to book profits. It will be a great opportunity for investors to buy quality stocks on decline because the macro story for India remains intact. The index rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday despite some profit booking. The S&P BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 30,692.45 while Nifty50 climbed 9,532.25. For some experts, the rally has just started and investors can get into stock markets at current levels while some fear a correction anytime because much of the rally is hope based and any disappointment globally or locally could lead to a sharp drop in prices. Indian equities are at the bottom and there are plenty of stocks which can give 5-10 bagger returns from current levels, Porinju Veliyath, Equity Intelligence India said. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, the ace investor, known for spotting small and midcap stocks at the right time and right price, said that Indian investors are staring at a golden opportunity of stocks picking which can continue for 3-5 years. Most analysts are not afraid of a drop in markets because much of smart money is waiting on sidelines to avail that opportunity. Dont be scared to invest at current levels, because the long-term trend is on the upside unless there is something major happens in globally. The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have made their presence felt after a long time in India equity markets which was historically speaking driven largely by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) flows. DIIs have poured in close to Rs 14000 crore in Indian stocks market compared with over Rs 30,000 crore poured in by FIIs so far in the year 2017. The risk-to-reward ratio might not be that high if somebody wants to invest at current levels, while for those who are already holding long positions, this rally can stretch to mount 10K. However, if somebody is planning to make a fresh entry, they should come with an investment horizon of more than a year to make a decent return. As the famous quote says better late than never if somebody has missed the opportunity of the fastest rally then he can still make money despite market trading at its lifetime high, Achin Goel, Head Wealth management and financial Planning of Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, told moneycontrol. We are eyeing Nifty at 10,000 levels by FY18, and we feel there is still room for 5% on the broader index that investors can capitalized on. FIIs have turned net buyers after turning net sellers for the entire month of April, he said. Goel further added that though equity market is subject to risk and such high valuations it is certainly very risky but we emphasize investors to look at stock specific story rather than playing on the macro story. Analysts do not foresee a big drop unless something happens globally. US Fed rate hike is largely factored in and any knee-jerk reaction will get bought. However, if geopolitical concerns escalate, crude oil rises are some of the factors which could trigger a risk-off sentiment in the market. On the domestic front, below normal monsoon, failure of a pickup in earnings growth could lead to some bit of correction in markets. The correction in the stock market could be either due to global or local factors. On the global front, the biggest cause for worry at the current juncture is the geopolitical tension between the US and Korea and a significant escalation on this front could lead to FIIs lightening their positions across emerging markets, including India, Jayant Manglik, President - Retail Distribution, Religare Securities told moneycontrol. As far as the domestic triggers for a correction are concerned, any significant disappointment in earnings over the next couple of weeks could lead to some pull-back in the Indian stock market. And, any significant deviation from the IMD forecast could affect market sentiments in June-July 2017, he said. After a sharp run-up in prices of midcaps, replicating returns of 30 percent might be little tough but mutual funds (MFs) can still deliver a return of 12-15 percent over the next 5 years, still higher than other asset classes. Sundaram Select MFs gave a return of nearly 30 percent over the last 5 years. The primary objective of this fund is to achieve capital appreciation by investing in diversified stocks that are generally termed as 'mid-caps'. Going forward, it will be difficult to reproduce 30 percent kind of return over the next 5 years; however, one can safely expect 12-15 percent kind of equity return from mutual funds and that is post tax. It will be good for any investors given the return expectations from other asset classes, S Krishna Kumar, CIO-Equity, Sundaram MF said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. We are moving into a phase where the economic cycle is in an upturn which is bringing in a lot of cyclical growth to industries which are rate sensitive and play on an economic turnaround, he said. Kumar further added that fund managers are moving away from high-quality high growth companies to cyclical growth companies which have potential to outperform the market which is available at reasonable valuations. Top stocks in Sundaram Select MF include companies like Bajaj Finserv, Sundaram Clayton, FAG Bearings, UPL, SRF, Ramco Cements, Indian Bank, Federal Bank, IGL, etc. among others. Kumar says that we are focussed on economy related sectors in which reforms are taking shape. The issues which were bogging Indian economy have been infra, power, developers, PSB lenders, and steel and steel ancillary sectors. The government has brought many reforms in the last 2-3 years in sectors such as Coal, as well as power & steel sector. A lot of problems of these sectors are addressed and some of these sectors are looking attractive for a longer term potential, said Kumar. If one believes the India reform story, PSU banks will be a reformed lot in the next 5 years, thanks to govt, bank bureau. There is a lot of value in this sector, he added. Positive on cement: The government has been pushing investments in infrastructure investment and what could be a better than cement sector to play the infrastructure as well as housing sector theme. In the last two nearly 6 lakh crore tender have been floated and many were awarded, and push for housing for all scheme give confidence about the cement demand which is likely to remain robust, said Kumar. Cement will continue to be a long-term play for any fund house because cement demand growth is likely to pick up in the next 3 years to double digits, he said. Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Latha: How would you first look at this global turmoil? Would you use it as an opportunity to add to your positions? A: A lot of things have not gone right for the US President and there have been a lot of reversals of his expected action and this is probably one more issue that has cropped up which potentially disrupts markets and creates some volatility for some time. So, as you mentioned, it is a great opportunity for long-term investors to use this correction to buy as many investors have been expressing concern about the one-way move in the markets for the last couple of months, so whatever little bit of uncertainty and correction or a consolidation that this brings in would be very good for funds to use this to rotate into stocks that they would like to own for a medium-term. Sonia: I was going through your funds and you have had a relatively large exposure to the cement space over the past many years. Names like J. K. Cement, India Cements, Ramco, etc. this is a space that has perhaps come back into the limelight with the ACC-Ambuja merger as well as now, volume growth in the cement sector after a long time. Is this is a multi-year bull cycle that you are seeing? How would you read it? A: The last 2-3 years, the government has been really pushing ahead on infrastructure investments and you are seeing that in the last two years about Rs 6 lakh crore of tenders have been floated and many even awarded. Along with that, the recent push for affordable housing schemes, etc. also give a lot of confidence in terms of the cement demands. So, very sound way to play the infrastructure and the housing sector could be through the indirect beneficiary like a cement sector and here if you would see non-south capacity utilisation levels are pretty much upwards of 80 percent and there is a lot of tightness that is there in the markets. On the south again, we have seen that there has been a lot of discipline amongst the players given that utilisation levels are lower and they need to be profitable. So, there is a fine balance that has been established in the various markets and cement being a regional play, we have chosen to play stocks which have strength in markets that they dominate. So, that is how we play cement and cement will continue to be a good long-term exposure fund house given the kind of growth that we will see because we are yet to see the growth take off. Till now, whatever has happened has been normal growth, but we will see in the next three years, a huge acceleration on the cement demand side to double digits. Anuj: The space that has made most money for you has been in the chemicals, specialty chemicals. You have SRF in your portfolio, Navin Fluorine International, UPL as well. As bottom-up stock pickers, are you adding more into these names? Do you think the story has to still play out? A: We have created a fairly significant position in these specialty chemicals space and in agro-chemicals space. We believe that the last six months and the next couple of months could be a lot more softer in terms of demand globally and that is what has been playing out for these companies too. But, the commentary from global majors is clearly positive that in the next 12-24 months there is a good optic in demand that one expects. So, these sectors would continue to deliver good growth and definitely one can continue to be optimistic on these sectors and growth potential. The need is to pick up a lot more stocks which are yet undiscovered in this space. That is the challenge. Latha: Non-baking finance companies (NBFC) have also made money for you and it has been a mixed bag in terms of the numbers of the fourth quarter. For instance, Bajaj Finance seems to have delivered, but Bajaj Finserv, there were some hiccups in terms of the insurance premium growth and several other parameters, basically growth parameters. How have you assessed the NBFC sector itself? A: Like we discussed in the past, this is going to be a space that one needs to be invested in across a longer period of time, definitely in the quarters from around the demonetisation side, there were some instances where different companies had stress building up, etc. And also on the agriculture insurance side, there have been some issues that has come up when you talk about insurance, etc. So, while we will look at these numbers closely on a quarterly basis, but we would like to look at them as long-term place where the penetration that they can establish could be pretty significant and the kind of high return ratios that these companies do bring in will mean that there could be substantially long periods of 20-25 percent kind of growth without any equity issuances, etc. which make it very attractive from an investor's perspective. Sonia: Coming back to the overarching theme, you have been investing in midcaps for years and some of your funds have given great returns. A five year return of almost 30 percent in your Sundaram Select Midcap Fund. But, now it has gotten a bit tougher to find those value stories. So, do you think that these kinds of returns can be replicated even over the next five years? A: While it will be difficult to comment on a 30 percent kind of a return over the next five years, one can safely expect 12-15 percent kind of an equity return from mutual funds broadly and that is post tax. So, that is going to be significantly good for any type of investor given the return potential of the other asset classes at this point in time. We do believe that there has been a phase where high quality, high growth companies have commanded premium multiples and have delivered significantly in the last 5-8 years and we are moving into a phase where the economic cycle is on an upturn and at an inflection point. This is bringing in a lot of cyclical growth to industries which are rate sensitive and which are a play on the economic turnaround. So, the fund managers typically are moving away a little bit of the portfolio from high quality, high growth companies to cyclical growth companies which have potential to outperform the markets and also available at very reasonable valuations. So, that is the broad fundamental shift in portfolio strategy that we have also been adopting over the last quarter or two. Latha: Give us some examples of what you mean by these economy facing attractive valuation stocks. Do you mean steel, do you mean PSU banks? What are you hinting at? A: Definitely, the issues clogging the Indian economy have been our own infrastructure sector, be it the roads, the power or the developers and also the lenders like PSU and corporate lenders like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, etc. and the other sectors that have problems have been the commodity sectors like steel and steel ancillaries so to say. So, if you look at what the government has done in the last 2-3 years, they have brought in a lot of reforms on the coal and power side, on the power distribution side and lastly on the coal. Yesterday, we had a new policy on coal. That is also going to be very helpful and the steel policy was there a couple of month back. So, a lot of the problems of these sectors have been addressed to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders and so, we do find that some of these sectors are very attractive from a longer term potential and the lenders, especially the corporate lenders, not just the PSU banks, but also those who have a higher bias towards the corporates are significantly good positioned at this point in time. And if one believes the India reform story, the PSU banks definitely will be a reformed lot in the next five years. We have to give it to the government and the RBI and the Banking Bureau to take those reforms forward and I am sure that they will compete as fiercely as a private sector bank in the next five years. So, there is a lot of value there. Dhruv Sarin Choosing travel insurance could be difficult in case you have pre-existing medical conditions due to the scarcity of insurance plans available for such scenarios. Many consumers even try to hide their medical history from their insurers in order to get better or less costly travel insurance. What you need to know is that disclosing your pre-existing diseases (PED) would not result in premium loading, there is no premium loading per se but the insured member has to undergo a pre-policy check-up. An undisclosed medical condition can severely affect your insurance coverage in case of a claim for medical reasons. If you are suffering from PED and going on a holiday, treat your insurer as the doctor who needs to know everything about your disease. From your medical history to existing health situation, it is wise to inform your insurer about your pre-existing condition. While travelling to a foreign land, getting the right kind of travel insurance is necessary. Travel insurance ensures that you get the best quality care and treatment if and when necessary but any small evidence of fraud can land you in big trouble. Telling your pre-medical condition will only help you get the best plan basis your need. For example, if you are a heart patient and need medical attention far away from your homeland then it could prove to be a high-priced affair. But for some special medical condition if you have a PED covered travel insurance then the same condition could have met with much efficiency and financial assistance. Disclosing a pre-existing disease while opting for travel insurance can help you in many ways, like: Can save you from claim rejection There is a very well known fact in the insurance industry; if you hide anything important from your insurer and try to make a claim for same, chances are, it might get rejected. If you are having any pre-existing disease, you are expected to unveil it while opting for insurance and your premium will be fixed accordingly. Hiding will only be unlawful and can result in claim rejection. Travelling basically takes you from one kind of atmosphere to another, this could escalate some of your diseases at a fast pace and therefore it is advisable to take travel insurance cover which includes coverage for your pre-existing disease if you dont have any other kind of existing policy. Also remember, travel insurance is not a replacement of health insurance policy or life insurance policy nor should it be treated like one. It is necessary to give a full run-down to your insurer because different insurers have their own list of conditions and informing them beforehand could save you from a lot of trouble. For example, a normal heart surgery can cost you nearly around USD 12,000 in a country like the US which charges USD 8,713 per capita for medical services. If you have full information, in the beginning, you could choose a plan with appropriate coverage depending upon your PED. Therefore, always choose a travel insurance policy according to your needs and do not try and hide condition like a pre-existing disease which might get your claim rejected. The following table highlights the medical cost of various ailments and their treatments in different countries as compared to India. (Source: www.policybazaar.com) Guidance to nearest specialized medical facility Every insurer has a network of specialized medical facilities spread over its reach zone. This means that for any critical illness which exists as a pre-existing one or not, you will have guidance or a list of hospitals to go to in case of emergency. This could help you get better medical treatment providing the facility of either cashless hospitalization or reimbursement. But in order to get all these benefits, you need to be true with your insurer. Tell them about your situation and requirement properly so that your insurer can offer you the best insurance plan. Travel insurance is not a substitute for any kind of existing insurance policy that you may have but it plays an important role when you dont have one and travelling on a long route for a longer time. Also, it is better to be doubly secured as atrocities can hit you anytime, what you have to make sure is that dont try and ignore to mention the pre-existing disease (PED) while taking the policy. If you choose not to tell your insurer about the PED then it will remain excluded under your policy. It is wise to stay honest with your insurer in order to protect yourself from losing out on a good product. (The writer is Head of Health and Travel Insurance of Policybazaar.com) To bring about transparency and put an end to fraudulent practices prevalent in the real estate sector such as multiple registrations of a single property, some state governments are planning to go in for Aadhaar linked e-registration of property documents from the comfort of the homebuyers home. Currently, both parties buyers and sellers have to be physically present in the registrars office along with two witnesses to get the property documents registered. The use of Aadhaar card to register properties can serve two purposes. First, it can serve as an identifier. It confirms the identity of the person the transaction is being entered with. Second, Aadhaar can be used for certain transactions where the title of the property does not get transferred such as the leave and license agreement, says Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). To do away with the process of calling in witnesses for proof of identity, the Maharashtra Government has recently proposed an amendment in Rule number 69 of the Registration Act and recommended inserting the word Aadhaar linked in it. This would enable individuals to register property documents sitting in their comfort of their home, says a senior official at the Department of Registration and Stamps, Government of Maharashtra. Once the amendment is through, confirming the identity of buyers and sellers of properties will be possible by simply matching the biometric information. It will help them register properties from their homes. Why is an amendment required in the Registration Act? Presently the Registration Act, 1908, does not have any provision making it mandatory to link Aadhaar card for registration of documents for immovable properties. Section 32A of the Act only provides for affixing of photographs and finger prints as mandatory for registration of documents relating to immoveable properties. In order to make provisions for linking the Aadhaar card with the registration of documents relating to immovable property an amendment may be required in Section 69 of the Act. Section 69 of the Act grants power to Inspector- General to make rules on the subjects provided under Section 69(1)(a) to (J). By an amendment in Section 69, another sub-clause in Section 69(1) may be inserted to empower Inspector General to make rules for linking the registration of documents relating to the immoveable property with the Aadhaar card. Subsequent to an amendment in the Act Inspector Generals of states will be able to make rules to link Aadhaar card with the registration of documents, " explains Sunil Tyagi, senior partner Zeus Law. Maharastra first to offer e-registration facility for rental agreement Maharashtra currently allows for e-registration of property documents for leave and license agreements and for some new residential projects. Property owners can fix an appointment with a third-party service provider that offers this door-to-door facility for a small fee. This facility is available in all five major cities such as Pune, Thane, Mumbai and Nasik. The service provider visits the property owners house (where the tenant can also be present) with a webcam and a thumb scanner. The officer verifies the parties names and addresses with Aadhaar. The Department of Registration and Stamps officer then approves the leave and license agreement digitally and sends it to the parties, explains a senior official with the department. This facility can be used for two locations within the five cities, he says. For registration of new properties, the e-registration service has been provided in some private developer/society projects with more than 200 flats. For this we have installed computers in the offices of the societies, provided them access to the server and technical support for e-registration, he says. The service started in February 2014.The total number of e-registrations till date stand at 3,24 lakh out of which online first sale of flats are 2,293 while the rest are all leave and license agreements. Will Delhi introduce e-registration measures? Delhi is a city state with multiple authorities. No urban land records can be maintained as is the case in other states because of the absence of a unified body, say top sources in the revenue department, Government of Delhi. In 2010, the Government of Delhi had proposed to the Centre to establish an agency to maintain urban land records. This draft legislation is still under consideration, they say. In Delhi it is not possible for citizens to verify who is selling property to whom. It is for this reason that e-registrations of property documents will be difficult. We are working on it but it is in the initial stage. We may at best introduce a facility called anytime registration which means a person from South Delhi can register the property at the nearest registrars office, they say, adding We are currently in the process of examining the legal ramifications of this scheme. In Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Orissa, homeowners can apply for an encumbrance certificate that gives buyers information on transactions that taken place on that particular property over a period of time. While some states issue a computerised copy duly signed by the registrars office. others issue hand written copies. In Andhra Pradesh, property details since 1983 can be viewed online, for Tamil Nadu since 1987, for Maharashtra since 1985 and for Jharkhand since 1970. Buyers can pay for certified copies of registered copies of property documents, says G Shyam Sunder, practicing advocate and author of the book Property Registration, Land Records and Building Approval. Chandigarh Housing Board has also decided to link all housing board properties with the Aadhaar numbers of the allottees. May 18, 2017 / 08:56 AM IST Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest. Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well. This week, Kunal Saraogi, Sumeet Jain and Vishvesh Chauhan battle it out for top honours. Below their top stock picks and analysis: Kunal Saraogi of Equityrush Buy South Indian Bank with a stoploss at Rs 25.50 and target of Rs 27 Buy Ceat with a stoploss at Rs 1820 and target of Rs 1880 Buy Indiabulls Housing Finance with a stoploss at Rs 1070 and target of Rs 1150 Buy DLF with a stoploss at Rs 211 and target of Rs 219 Sumeet Jain of Destimoney Securities Buy Coromandel with a stoploss at Rs 414 and target of Rs 452 Buy JK Tyre with a stoploss at Rs 175.50 and target of Rs 188 Buy DCM Shriram with a stoploss at Rs 385 and target of Rs 414 Sell Capital First Future with a stoploss at Rs 737 and target of Rs 694 Vishvesh Chauhan of Monarch Networth Capital Buy MRF with a stoploss at Rs 66170 and target of Rs 70300 Buy Just Dial with a stoploss at Rs 513 and target of Rs 555 Buy Canara Bank with a stoploss at Rs 363 and target of Rs 395 Buy Infibeam Incorporation with a stoploss at Rs 963 and target of Rs 1100 A pedestrian walks past the logo of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) at its headquarters in Mumbai, India, October 14, 2015. Hindustan Unilever Ltd, India's largest consumer goods firm, said price cuts for key products including soaps and detergents dragged down its profit in the second quarter, missing market estimates despite improved sales. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade - RTS4FM6 live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shares of Hindustan Unilever swung between gains and losses through the morning session despite steady Q4 results as the global selloff could have rubbed on to the stock. Profit booking due to stellar run in the past few sessions could also have dragged the stock. The FMCG major had posted 6 percent rise in its March quarter net profit at Rs 1,183 core against Rs 1,114 crore posted during the corresponding quarter of last year. Its volume growth came in much ahead of what analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 had accounted for. Analysts have largely cheered the results and have given positive views on the stock. The ones with positive views see an upside potential of 17 percent, while analysts with bearish tones see 27 percent downside. Brokerage: Macquarie | Rating: Outperform | | Target: Rs 1,062 | Upside: 6.4% The brokerage observed that HULs domestic volume growth of 4 percent was supported by re-stocking the trade channel. A higher volume growth also becomes the key catalyst for the stock, it said. Macquarie also increased earnings by over 2 percent for FY18/19 on higher margin. The rating of outperform is based on recovery prospects in FY18 and margin rise, driven by parent strategy. Brokerage: Jefferies | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,150 | Upside: 15% Jefferies said that the FMCG major remains its top pick in the large cap consumer space. Analysing its results, it said that robust growth in sustained refreshments such as tea delivered broad-based, double-digit growth. Meanwhile, modest growth in packaged goods such as Knorr growth was impacted by a strong comparator. Weakness in demand and increase in competition can put pressure on earnings estimates, the brokerage firm added. Brokerage: Nomura | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 1,057 | Upside: 4.7% Nomura observed that a sequential improvement in volume growth signifies recovery post demonetisation. It also sees pricing action returning to the portfolio. The global research firm maintained revenue growth estimates at over 13.5 percent for FY18 and FY19, while margin estimates were increased to build in over 70 basis points improvement in margins to FY19. Having said that, Nomura sees a challenge in further potential upside from current levels. Its top picks from the sector include Emami and Dabur India. Brokerage: Citi | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 1,050 | Upside: 14% Citi said that while results were better than other companies, better value was seen in ITC and Emami. It tweaked revenue growth by over 1 percent for FY18 as it dialed back some expected price hikes. The target multiple, Citi said, is pegged to the trailing 3-year average. Brokerage: Bank of America Merrill Lynch | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,110 | Upside: 7% Monsoon, buyback or special dividend and GST-linked gains in the second half are key triggers to the stock. Price hikes will support margin. The global investment firm does not expect large valuation de-rating, given the improving earnings growth trajectory. Brokerage: JPMorgan | Rating: Neutral| Target: Rs 1,025 | Upside: 17% Broad-based growth witnessed across categories was impacted by high base, JPMorgan observed. The downside risk is on topline growth if the volume growth recovery is slow. It recommends buying into dips. Brokerage: Morgan Stanley | Rating: Underweight | Target: Rs 795 | Downside: 21% The global brokerage firm said that an important lever of margin expansion will be brand and marketing investments savings. It sees a risk of de-rating if the market doubts volume growth recovery with respect to the company. Brokerage: Credit Suisse | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 1,100 | Upside: 13% Credit Suisse said that FY18 margin can expand over 100 basis points as the company has many tools to save margin. It sees consumer demand is improving but still subdued. The global brokerage firm also sees a disruption in Q1 on the back of a GST roll out. It raised earnings estimates by over 2 percent on expectation of better margin. Brokerage: Goldman Sachs | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 788 | Downside: 27% Goldman Sachs increased FY18-20 earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 6-8 percent to reflect higher sales growth and margins. Faster rural recovery, higher GMs are the key upside risks, while high input costs and competition are the key downside risks. At 15:16 hrs Hindustan Unilever was quoting at Rs 987.20, down Rs 19.15, or 1.90 percent on the BSE. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,014.00. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said opposition parties were in the process of zeroing in on a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential poll, and Gopal Krishna Gandhi was among the probable choices. "One round of discussions were held with all parties. We, the opposition parties, are now trying to follow it up and zero in on one candidate...to sponsor him," he told reporters here. Asked about whether Gopal Krishna Gandhi, a former bureaucrat who also served as the governor of West Bengal, was being considered, he replied in the affirmative. "He is also under consideration. I had spoken to him about two months ago. We told him 'you are a good candidate'. He said he will consider if all (opposition parties) approached him together. So, he will be there," Yechury said. He, however, refused to name others being considered by the opposition for fielding a joint candidate against the ruling NDA nominee, saying the individuals concerned might face problems. "I am not telling names because you (media) had written that (L K) Advani would be the president. We did not say, of course. Two days after writing that, Babri (Masjid) case got revived. So, don't ask names. It will be dangerous for those individuals. Such a government is there," he said. He assailed the BJP for not trying to build a consensus around a candidate for the post of the president, and alleged it indicated that the ruling party wanted a "communal supervision of the Constitution". "Nitish Kumar (the Bihar chief minister) said there is no objection if Pranab Mukherjee becomes a consensus candidate. The ruling party has to take an initiative if a consensus candidate is to emerge. They are not taking any initiative. So, it is clear that they want a communal supervision of the Constitution," he said. Citing the election of APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil as examples, he said the ruling party normally reaches out to the opposition whether the latter agrees to its proposal or not. Yechury evaded a direct reply when asked about the likely timing of announcement of the joint opposition candidate, saying let the notification come first. "Let the notification of election come. The whole point is that now there will be a situation where the ruling party and the government are waiting for the opposition to announce the candidate. So, they will do the counter. "So, we should also wait. Let's see. The ruling party has to take the initiative," Yechury said. Devendra Fadnavis Stacy Periera After a 6-year-long wait, Mumbai's Coastal Road Project finally got a nod from the Environment Ministry and CM Devendra Fadnavis did not lose a day in patting his governments back, along with taking a pot-shot at the previous government for its incompetency. https://twitter.com/Dev_Fadnavis/status/862653048765722624 https://twitter.com/Dev_Fadnavis/status/862653552589758465 Political mileage apart, for Mumbaikars battling daily traffic nightmares along the Western Express Highway, the last hurdle crossed on this 30-km stretch of coastal road comes as a big relief. An 8-lane, toll-free road which could possibly reduce commute time between North to South Mumbai by almost 70 percent, is something Indias maximum city badly needs. With all the decks cleared now, the Rs 15,000-crore project will be implemented by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). The project will be taken up in 2 phases- Phase 1 connecting Nariman Point to Bandra Carter Road which will include an under ground tunnel and 2 bridges. Phase 2 will see bridging Bandra with Kandivali in the northern part. The MCGM is confident that the project will see no further delays. "We have done a very detailed study keeping every stakeholder in mind and so the project will stick to the timeline and we hope to complete it within 4 years of its commencement," says Sanjay Muhkerjee, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), MCGM . Approvals for the Coastal Road Project have come amidst many protests and allegations as well. People have raised concerns on the destruction of mangroves that this project could cause. Theres also a possible displacement that the fishing community can face. Larger criticism by urban planners has been that the project benefits a very small percentage of Mumbai's population. "This is a very narrow way of thinking, unless there is a dedicated BRTS along the route and open spaces for people to access, this project will not be a success," laments, Sudhir Badami, an Urban analyst. But among the cheers and complaints are also real-estate stakeholders who are closely following the progress of this project. While the MCGM has made it clear that there is no room for commercial or residential development along the reclaimed land as per the CRZ norms, the fact that this project will improve connectivity has got everyone enthused. "The government is investing Rs 15,000 crore on this project; this goes to show that it will have greater implications for real estate along the corridor," says Jagannarayan Padmanaban, Director, CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory. Developers, too, are placing their bets on these infra project to help boost Mumbai's efficiency. "The Coastal Road is an essential ingredient in completing Mumbai's 4 biggest infrastructural needs, namely the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link Road (MTHL), the Navi Mumbai International airport and the various Metro Phases," according to Niranjan Hiranandani, CMD- Hiranandani Group. He hopes that this project will help Indias Financial capital, reclaim its position as a commercial leader, a spot it has lost to the NCR region due to its lagging infra. For now, the coastal road project seems to have reached the starting line and Mumbaikars are eagerly waiting for the finish line. bhujbal Former Maharashtra PWD Minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said he would take legal action against the activist Anjali Damania for making false allegations that he was getting illegal facilities in the Arthur Road jail here. Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal are in jail after the Enforcement Directorate arrested them last year in money laundering cases. Prison authorities had said yesterday that they had ordered inquiry upon Damania's complaint that Bhujbals were getting TV, non-vegetarian food in the jail and they could even use mobile phone. Chhagan Bhujbal said in his statement, issued from the prison today, that these allegations were baseless, and Damania only wanted to malign their image and influence the judicial process. The prison has jammers and CCTV cameras, and there was no question of using a mobile phone, he said. business It was a diplomatic compulsion for India to boycott OBOR Summit: KC Singh All of India's neighbours except Bhutan were in attendance in Beijing when the "New Silk Route" took shape. Even the US attended the summit after initial reluctance, India was a major absentee. India's refusal to attend the summit raises a few key questions, CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan discusses those with a panel of experts. Kulbhushan Jadhav The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the death sentence given by a Pakistan military court to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad claims is a spy. Minutes before the verdict was due, a Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson said that ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear case of the Indian RAW agent as it pertains to the security of Pakistan. However, the judge said while reading out the verdict that the court has jurisdiction under the Vienna Convention, which he said does not exclude spies. It said Pakistan should ensure that no execution takes place until the final hearing by the court and that Pakistan shall inform the court of all measures taken in implementation of the final order. The court also said that the circumstances in which Jadhav was arrested remained disputed. India had approached ICJ just 10 days ago seeking immediate suspension of the death sentence. A public sitting took place at 12 noon at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, read the court's decision. The judge said that the rights invoked by India in the case are plausible and that all parties under Vienna Convention have rights to provide consular assistance to their nationals. India, whose request for consular access to Jadhav was turned down 16 times, had approached the ICJ on May 8, accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a "farcical trial" for convicting Jadhav without a "shred of evidence" following which the court had stayed his execution. During its submission to the ICJ on May 15 at a public hearing, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. India is represented by its 'Agent' Deepak Mittal, who is the head of the Pakistan division in the external affairs ministry and the case is argued by its lead attorney Harish Salve. The India team is expected to be present at the time of the verdict. On its part, Pakistan told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case. It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. (With PTI inputs) Tamil superstar Rajinikanth today declined to answer any political questions, amid speculation over his possible political plunge. "Please don't ask political questions," he said when reporters asked him about his recent comments on entering politics. Expressing joy over meeting his fans after an eight-year gap, the actor said the next round of meeting with his fans will be finalised in the coming days. Asked what message he had for his fans, the 66-year-old superstar said, "take care of your family. Give up all vices." Close Related stories India plans unity theme for G-20 as PM Modi balances global powers SC adjourns to November 24 pleas against 2016 demonetisation by govt Will take care of citizens in every aspect: CJI DY Chandrachud He had said he had no desire to join politics, but if he did, he would show the door to all "money-minded" people. "My life is in the hands of God. I'm not sure what he has in store for me. But I will always perform the duty that he bestows on me. So, don't feel disappointed if I don't enter politics," he had told his fans here. The actor had given the same advice to fans on Monday, asking them not to touch cigarettes and alcohol. Kulbhushan Jadhav The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the death sentence given by a Pakistan military court to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad claims is a spy. Minutes before the verdict was due, a Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson said that ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear case of the Indian RAW agent as it pertains to the security of Pakistan. However, the judge said while reading out the verdict that the court has jurisdiction under the Vienna Convention, which he said does not exclude spies. It said Pakistan should ensure that no execution takes place until the final hearing by the court and that Pakistan shall inform the court of all measures taken in implementation of the final order. Below are the key observations the court: On jurisdiction The court noted that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of - 2 - the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. On consular access It observed that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. Validity of measures India sought The Court then focused on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. Jadhav's executive risk The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observed that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also noted that Pakistan has given no assurance that Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. India yesterday skipped the inaugural One Belt One Road (OBOR) renamed as Belt and Road Initiative summit in Beijing indicating a strong disapproval at the inclusion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) an area, which India claim as its own territory. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Gopal Baglay in response to query related to OBOR/BRI said: We had received formal invitation to participate in the 6 separate forums that China is organizing as part of the Belt and Road Forum being held in Beijing on May 14-16, 2017. We are of firm belief that connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognized international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency and equality. Connectivity initiatives must follow principles of financial responsibility to avoid projects that would create unsustainable debt burden for communities; balanced ecological and environmental protection and preservation standards; transparent assessment of project costs; and skill and technology transfer to help long term running and maintenance of the assets created by local communities. Connectivity projects must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity. India shares international communitys desire for enhancing physical connectivity and believes that it should bring greater economic benefits to all in an equitable and balanced manner. We are working with many countries and international institutions in support of physical and digital connectivity in our own immediate and near neighbourhood. Expansion and strengthening of connectivity is an integral part of Indias economic and diplomatic initiatives. Under the Act East policy, we are pursuing the Trilateral Highway project; under our Neighbourhood First policy we are developing multimodal linkages with Myanmar and Bangladesh; under our Go West strategy, we are engaged with Iran on Chabahar Port and with Iran and other partners in Central Asia on International North South Transport Corridor. BBIN initiative is aimed at enhancing logistics efficiencies in South Asian region. We are also actively considering acceding to TIR Convention. Guided by our principled position in the matter, we have been urging China to engage in a meaningful dialogue on its connectivity initiative, One Belt, One Road which was later renamed as Belt and Road Initiative. We are awaiting a positive response from the Chinese side. Regarding the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is being projected as the flagship project of the BRI/OBOR, the international community is well aware of Indias position. No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity. What is OBOR? Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 launched an ambitious project named Silk Road Economic Belt which focuses on connectivity and cooperation among Europe, Asia and Africa. The slowdown in the Chinese economy and excess production of steel, cement and machinery that it cannot consumed has forced the Chinese government to search for new markets for its products. Xi had pledged USD 124 billion in financial assistance for OBOR. It plans to develop six economic corridors across parts of Asia and Europe including CPEC. Scepticism over OBOR Experts has doubted serious concerns as major part of the contracts and jobs will be given to Chinese firm and people. There has been serious reservation and protest by people in different countries over the implementation of OBOR. Debt trap Analysts have pointed how China is pushing countries in its debt trap by giving loans to countries for unviable projects and increasing Beijings leverage. Pakistan is already fallen victim of the Chinese debt trap as it has taken USD 50 billion dollar at the market which is going to balloon to USD 90 billion over a 30 year period. Similarly countries like Sri Lanka and Cambodia has fallen in the Chinese debt trap. Sri Lanka has borrowed from USD 301 million from China at 6.3 percent for Hambantota Port, whereas soft loans from World Bank and Asian Development Bank comes at 0.25-3 percent. The recent decision by Sri Lanka to hand over 99-year lease of Hambantota Port has caused huge public outcry and 80 percent ownership in the project. Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity Friends In Pink is still on the radar and growing every year Looking at everyone raving about it, it's definitely on my shopping list when I go to Costco. 5 hours ago Municipal code violation A resident of Taylor Avenue reported that a neighbor was working on a commercial fishing boat that was parked in the street, in violation of the citys municipal code. Police contacted the boat owner and said he would be moving the vessel back into his yard in a few minutes. The neighbor who reported the violation called police again to report the boat owner was running around his yard with a chainsaw, threatening to cut down his trees in retaliation for calling police on him. The incident was reported 5:11 p.m. May 12. Fraud Someone broke into a vehicle that was parked in Gilroy, and stole credit cards. The victim later reported her bank statement showed an unauthorized charge for $26 at Carls Jr., 16995 Condit Road in Morgan Hill. The fraud was reported 8:27 p.m. May 12. A thief or thieves stole a womans purse from her shopping cart while she was shopping at Wal-Mart, 170 Cochrane Plaza. In the purse were credit cards and about $35 cash. The suspect or suspects used one of the credit cards to make a $59 purchase at the same store. The crime was reported 7:41 p.m. May 13. An unspecified number of suspects used counterfeit $20 bills to pay for about $120 worth of merchandise at Big 5 Sporting Goods, 150 Cochrane Plaza. The crime was reported 5:23 p.m. May 5. Accident An allegedly drunken driver crashed his vehicle into a tree near the Morgan Hill Library, 660 West Main Ave. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Someone drove a black sedan into a fire hydrant on the corner of Monterey and Cochrane roads, causing water to spray into the air uncontrollably. The drier fled the scene. The accident was reported 12:15 a.m. May 8. Vandalism Graffiti including a swastika, upside-down crosses and foul language was reported at the Downtown Amphitheater, 17000 Monterey Road. The vandalism was reported 1:26 p.m. May 15. Someone broke into the pool and clubhouse area of the Jackson Oaks subdivision on Oak Hill Court, and set fire to two restrooms, burned the trash cans and caused other damages. The crime was reported 11:50 a.m. May 13. A vandal or vandals slashed all four tires of a Nissan Versa parked on the street outside Hill Haven Mobile Home Park, 17975 Monterey Road. The crime was reported 9:58 a.m. May 14. Burglary Two men entered Your Eyes Image, 419 Vineyard Town Center, and stole four or five frames. One of the suspects distracted the store employee while the other stole the items. The crime was reported 1:16 p.m. May 13. Auto burglary Two vehiclesa red Honda Cruz and a gray Audi Q3were broken into and ransacked on the 18200 block of Hale Avenue. The crime was reported 3:11 p.m. May 14. Someone broke into a white Suburban parked on San Pedro Avenue. The crime was reported 4:46 p.m. May 14. A thief or thieves broke into a 1995 Honda Accord parked at Executive Inn Suites, 16505 Condit Road, and stole an iPad, amplifier, Air Jordan sneakers, headphones, social security cards and birth certificates. The crime was reported 7:33 a.m. May 9. Someone smashed the window of a white Toyota Rav4 parked at Red Robin, 1045 Cochrane Road, and stole a cell phone, two laptop computers and a suitcase. The crime was reported 9:28 p.m. May 9. Suspicious circumstances A group of unknown subjects walked into a home on Serra Place and told the resident they were there to pick up a water bottle left there by the cleaning company. The resident called the cleaning company, who said they did not know the subjects. The subjects left the home. The incident was reported 4:25 p.m. May 11. Stolen vehicle A thief or thieves stole a blue 1998 Ford Mustang from a home on Del Monte Lane. The crime was reported 5:02 a.m. May 8. Petty theft Someone stole car keys and a phone from a vehicle parked in the downtown parking garage on East Fourth Street. The crime was reported 12:58 p.m. May 8. Bullying A parent of a student at Britton Middle School called police to report her son has been bullied repeatedly at the school since January. The parent said she has told school staff about the bullying numerous times but nothing is being done. The parent called police 2:37 p.m. May 8. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records. Five of seven trustees bucked Morgan Hill Unified School District staffs recommendation and instead banked on the long-term sustainability of the Charter School of Morgan Hill at its current location in a show of support May 16. Trustees Gino Borgioli, David Gerard, Teresa Murillo, Tom Arnett and Mary Patterson voted in favor of allowing the local charter school to submit an application for nearly $6 million state rehabilitation funds through its Office of Public School Construction made available by the passing of Proposition 51 in November. This school supports a very healthy learning environment in our community. We will be improving the school and our community by going forward with this, said Borgioli, who noted charter as being one of the highest performing schools in the district. Nothing tells me in any way, shape or fashion that they are going to leave this site. Board President Donna Ruebusch and Vice President Ron Woolf backed the districts stance that the risk was too steep if CSMH somehow closed or moved locations before the loan portion of the potential transaction was paid off. If CSMH gains the state funds, it will have to put up an equal amount of money to complete the projectlikely through a loan, according to school staff. I guess Im going to play devils advocate here, said Woolf who followed Borgioli in the discussion. I really have more questions than answers.I do have concerns about what if charter (abandons the site). Ruebusch described the issue as an extremely difficult situation, but leaned on the district staffs expertise. She noted the districts coveted triple A bond rating (which could be impacted by the loan) and the boards support of CSMH in other ways such as through Measure G, which issued $5 million for the new multipurpose room. We lose complete control of the facilities and the land in a time of scarce land and facilities for this district, Ruebusch added. Im not able to support this at this time. With the boards approvalsomething that was mandatory in the states application process since the board is the charter authorizersCSMH officials intend to apply for funding for an $11,577,416 project that includes modernization of four restrooms and nine permanent classrooms as well as modernization or replacement of 11 portable classrooms, according to the May 16 agenda. As part of that deal, CSMH officials are seeking a 50 percent match from the state at $5,788,708, with the additional funds coming via a loan from the California School Finance Authority, according to district staff. I truly thought that the district staff would have viewed this as a win-win for all parties, said CSMH Executive Director Paige Cisewski as she addressed the school board May 16. Its astounding to me how much time, effort and money has been wasted trying to derail our efforts to contribute to the improvement of the learning environment at our site. Strings attached to funds? Superintendent Steve Betando followed up his staffs recommendation, summarized by Assistant Superintendent Kirsten Perez, with his own comments about Prop 51, which designated half a billion in funds for charter schools statewide. He met with CSMH President Brian Sullivan and urged him to look into it after the election. However, Betando and staff later did a closer examination of the measure that realized unfavorable stipulations. I was disappointed to see that (legislators) manipulated it to create obligations for districts that were unreasonable financial obligations, said Betando, also calling it dicey as to whether or not the district can get the land back if we need it to use for a school after the construction is done, and if for some reason CSMH leaves the property. District staff was also worried about how the proposed routes for the High Speed Rail could impact the CSMH campus, but charter leaders said they would not make any plans until the HSR routes were finalized. There were some tense moments at the May 16 school board meeting, highlighted by Arnetts near departure from the boardroom prior to the boards vote. The item was moved up to the first order of general business because Arnett needed to catch a flight out of state, he said. Arnett was all packed up and had one foot out the door when charter supporters in the audience loudly pleaded for him to stay until there was a vote. At the same time, Ruebusch was trying to piece together a lengthy motion on the issue that eventually died without a second. Audience members shouted that she was trying to stall the vote so Arnett would not get the chance to take part in it. Arnett obliged and, with Gerards motion and Borgiolis second to support charter in their efforts to acquire state rehabilitation funds, the board approved that action 5-2. A loud applause erupted from charter supporters who just as quickly vacated the boardroom following the vote as Arnett did to catch his flight. If we are looking at improving education for the community as a whole, this is really a win, said Arnett, revealing his support of CSMHs request prior to the boards vote. It is now the CSMHs responsibility to submit the state application with no guarantee that the school will receive any or all of the funds requested to rehabilitate the debilitated campus and former Encinal School site that they lease from MHUSD. CSMH in need of repairs CSMH, located at 9350 Monterey Road in the northern outskirts of Morgan Hill, recently received a five-year renewal from MHUSD as well as $5 million in Measure G funds to build its newly constructed multi-purpose facility. However, charter leaders have constantly pointed to the poor state of the student restrooms, portable classrooms and staff areas. Gerard confirmed the inadequate conditions during a campus tour of CSMH, he added. We are one of your schools. We are one of your assets, Cisewski continued. We want to continue to cultivate and build a partnership of mutual respect between Charter School of Morgan Hill and Morgan Hill Unified. Cisewski and CSMH Board President Brian Sullivan remained in the audience following the vote since there was another board action involving their charter. The board voted 5-0 (with Arnett gone and Patterson abstained) to approve a Memorandum of Understanding for 2017-18 in accordance with Proposition 39, which mandates allocation of facilities to charter schools by the district. In that agreement, the district receives a 3 percent oversight fee for providing rent-free facilities that adds up to about $130,000 annually. After the meeting, Cisewski said: It is refreshing to work with a board that supports the best interest of all public schools. Several employees and employers within Burke County and the surrounding counties were honored with several different safety awards at the annual N.C. Department of Labor awards ceremony Tuesday evening. The event was co-sponsored by the NCDOL and the Burke County Chamber of Commerce. The banquet was held at the First United Methodist Church in Morganton. Its an honor for me to travel throughout North Carolina and recognize these employers who are making a commitment to their employees safety and health, Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said in a press release. Over the past 16 years, North Carolina has experienced a declining injury and illness rate, which now rests at an all-time historical low of 2.6 per 100 full-time workers for private industry. These employers are helping to make our states workplaces some of the safest in the country. Berry spoke to attendees on the importance of safety in the workplace and how nothing is more important than people being kept safe. Thank you for all your hard work, Berry said at the banquet . The awards honor outstanding on-the-job safety achievements during 2016, which were given only if specific requirements were met. Recipients are located in Bakersville, Boone, Hudson, Jefferson, Lenoir, Marion, Monroe, Morganton, Newland, North Wilkesboro, Pineola, Taylorsville, Union Mills, Valdese and West Jefferson, the release said. Two different levels of awards were given including gold and silver. The gold award criteria is when departments have rates for days away from work and job transfer or restriction that are at least 50 percent below the industry average. The silver award is based only on cases with days away from work. They are recorded when the worker misses at least one full day of work, not including the day of the injury, the release said. Under the program rules , and in order for department to be awarded, they must not have had any fatal accidents at the site. Those that were given the silver award are as follows. First Year City of Morganton, Electric Department; Continental Inc. and the Hammary Distribution Center. Fifth Consecutive Year City of Morganton, Recreation Department. Those that were given the gold award are as follows. First Year American Roller Bearing Company, Grinding Department; American Roller Bearing Company, Maintenance Department; American Roller Bearing Company, Morganton; Blue Ridge Energies LLC, Burke District; City of Morganton, Cemetery and Grounds; City of Morganton, Street Department; City of Morganton, Water Distribution & Collection; Lexington Home Brands, Plant 15; N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, N.C. Forest Service Bridge; N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, N.C. Forest Service Morganton Forestry Center; Town of Valdese, Waste Water Department; Valdese Weavers LLC, Circa 1801 and Valdese Weavers LLC, Crescent Facility. Second Consecutive Year American Roller Bearing Company, Machine Shop Department; Bernhardt Furniture Company, Plant #3; Caterpillar Inc., Morganton PEC; City of Morganton, Sanitation; Metal Industries; N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, N.C. Forest Service District 2 and the Town of Valdese, Fire Department. Third Consecutive Year American Roller Bearing Company, Shipping and Assembly Department; Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp, Alleghany/Sparta District;Broad River Forest Products Inc.;City of Morganton, Community House and Mainstreet Office; City of Morganton, Development and Design; Fairfield Chair Company, Plant No. 2; N.C. Department of Commerce, Divison of Workforce Solutions, Morganton Workforce Office and the Town of Valdese, Police Department. Fourth Consecutive Year American Roller Bearing Company, Heat Treat Department; City of Morganton, Administrative Departments; Town of Valdese, Triple Community Water Department and Vulcan Construction Materials LP, Mideast Division Morganton Quarry. Fifth Consecutive Year American Roller Bearing Company, Inspection Department and the City of Morganton, Municipal Auditorium. Sixth Consecutive Year American Roller Bearing Company, Administrative Department. Town of Drexel; Town of Valdese, Community Affairs and Recreation Department. Seventh Consecutive Year City of Morganton, Waste Water Treatment Plant. Tenth Consecutive Year Town of Valdese, Public Works Department. 18th Consecutive Year Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, Corporate Office; Brinkley Lumber Company Inc. and the City of Morganton, Water Treatment Plant. 29th Consecutive Year Town of Valdese, Administrative Department. Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at jbobak@morganton.com or 828-432-8907. I am amused at conversations about leadership Ive see on television over the past month or so. The debaters hit all around the topic, but never really defined the term. Leadership, so I was taught, is predicated on the willingness to lead. That means making decisions you sometimes dont want to make, taking sides you may not want to take, and stepping up when you really want to step away. When we think of leaders, we most often look to the past. We readily embrace the deeds of George Washington, Molly Pitcher and the Patriots at Ramseurs Mill. The closer we get to 2017, we seem to be a little more unclear who to call a great leader. Its that way with many generations. Remember, not everybody at the time liked Theodore Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ronald Reagan. Maybe distance is an influence on deciding who really leads and who plays at leadership not that any of the aforementioned Americans shrank from real leadership. Its easier to identify leadership in the people around us because these are people we know or are the most familiar to us. We see their strengths and foibles. We see who stands up, when and for what. I do not want to sound overly harsh about the fruitless discussions I watched, but the participants were not satisfied at the end of the show and neither was I. The mouths that simply talked louder as if decibels have the quality of substantive engagement seemed to think they carried the day. As my grandfather used to say, too many folks talk just to hear their heads roar. I wanted to push a magic button and break in to tell them their rejoinders could be markedly improved with a bit of wisdom from Daffy Duck. I figured they could use it. Once, in a woebegone fix, Daffy exclaimed, This looks like a job for the Masked Avenger! But hes not here, so Ill just have to take his place. I wanted to tell the group that the cartoon attitude correctly and vigorously applied, is closer to leadership than the stuff they were spouting. For those who simply want to be seen and heard, the pose of wisdom is merely arrogance. They probably would think Im daffy and making fun of them. We all know real leaders. Thank God for them. As for television and the praiseworthy and pretenders who graze there, I will continue to watch with interest, keeping in mind the words of Shimon Peres: Television makes dictatorship impossible, but democracy intolerable. You may update this sentiment as you wish regarding smarty phones and social media. I remain an ardent adherent of democracy, in spite of the challenges. The Highway Patrol conducted a memorial service earlier this week to honor the 62 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty since 1929, the year SHP was born. A ceremonial wreath was placed for each member at the Highway Patrol monument in Garner. SHP officers assigned to Catawba County have had their share of scrapes with death over the years. Two died. A.B. Smart was killed in a traffic accident March 2, 1939. D.B. Searcy died Oct. 15, 1960, when his vehicle was hit by a semi truck while he was assisting another officer. For more about N.C. State Highway Patrol officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, go to thepatrolstroll.org. It is part of SHPs web presence. The news from the Highway Patrol made me wonder about other fallen officers in our area. Records may be incomplete throughout the decades, but we know the Catawba County Sheriffs Office has suffered three deaths in the line of duty as have the Watauga and Burke County sheriffs offices. One death each occurred with Ashe, Avery and Lincoln sheriffs offices; three with Lenoir Police Department; two with Blowing Rock, Mooresville and Old Fort police departments; and one each with Statesville, Boone, Hickory and Taylorsville police departments. In North Carolina, at least 311 officers have been killed by gunfire. These statistics are at Officer Down Memorial Page (odmp.org). Its a nationwide web page with all states represented. Click on The Officers and choose Browse By State. Each name listed is a link to a brief explanation of the officers death. ODMP also has a national initiative called No Parole for Cop Killers you may find interesting. Every day, we are reminded about the risks faced by those who have chosen to protect us and maintain civil order. They werent drafted or coerced. They chose to do this with eyes wide open, as have firefighters and all the men and women of the several agencies who are there for us in an emergency. Thanks to all for honorable service. Reach Larry Clark at wryturlc@yahoo.com. When Mark Mobius joined Franklin Templeton in 1987 as president of the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund there were only six countries he could invest in; Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand. Now, there are more than 80 countries open to Mobius and lead portfolio manager of TEMIT Carlos Hardenberg. Of those 80 their preferred markets for investment today are Romania, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Peru, where they are seeing encouraging reforms and supportive demographics. Over the past five years the global environment has been very fragile, says Hardenberg. We have had issues in South Africa, Argentina, the Middle East and now Trump and Brexit. We take the pulse of countries to work out where to invest. How easy is it to get a license to do business? What is the impact of the internet? Is there a brain drain? Are the demographics supportive of economic prosperity? Mobius added there were big opportunities in Africa in particular, where landmass was larger than the majority of other emerging markets combined, describing the continent as a treasure house of natural resources, with oil, gas, timber, agriculture and precious metals. Of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world, eight of them are African. African companies make up 20% of the Templeton Frontier Markets fund run by the pair. The team also highlighted an unlikely source of future returns Iran. Saudi Arabian companies are exemplifying what we like to see in frontier markets, said Hardenberg. Liberalisation, reform and opening up to foreign investment. Mobius added: We are potentially very excited about Iran, in 10 years time we will be investing there for sure. It will be a bigger market than Saudi. If sanctions were lifted it would have a transformative effect. Embracing Privatisation In the week that Labour Partys manifesto in the UK reveals plans to re-nationalise Britain's water companies, energy industry, railways and Royal Mail, Mobius talked of the benefits to economic development that privatisation has brought across emerging markets. We have always encouraged more privatisation, wherever we have done business, he said. In Romania in particular with have been instrumental in this process. Privatisation encourages greater corporate governance, companies pay attention to shareholders, shareholder are rewarded with income and gains and economies become more efficient. Impact of Passive Funds in Emerging Markets Passive funds cause considerable market volatility in emerging markets, says Hardenberg. In June 2013, MSCI announced plans to upgrade both Qatar and the UAE to emerging market status, at the time HSBC estimated inclusion in MSCIs Emerging Market Index could attract near $1 billion inflows into the two countries markets as index tracking funds were forced to include the markets in their emerging market funds and ETFs. While this had a short-term positive impact on the markets they rose in excess of 60%, they then went into a prolonged dramatic correction. This is a casino development, said Hardenberg. I am not sure how you solve it. The TEMIT team do not use MSCIs classification for emerging and frontier markets, instead creating their benchmark where no country can make up more than 10% unlike a market cap weighted index which sees China dominate with 35%. Passive funds have a tremendous impact on our industry and on the market, continued Hardenberg. You will end up with a big divide between the truly active managers and passive funds. You will see more active managers accused of index tracking, and passive funds will take that market share. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced the grand opening of a new affordable rental building in Toronto Wednesday. Our Government is investing in affordable housing here in Toronto and across Canada to help create jobs and improve the quality of life for those who need it most, Judy Sgro, Member of Parliament for Humber River-Black Creek, said. Thanks to the combined efforts of our partners, we are able to give a helping hand to individuals in need, and in doing so, we are contributing to the economic and social well-being of the entire community. The homes at Casa Emery Village will be in a mixed-use facility consisting of 348 units designated for seniors and new Canadians. Premier Kathleen Wynne, along with Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, announced Ontarios Fair Housing Plan -- which includes 16 new housing policies -- in Toronto in late April. Many are meant to addressing affordability through increasing rental supply. Ontario continues to be a strong partner to the City of Toronto, delivering efficient, people-centred housing programs for residents so they can continue to put down roots in the neighbourhoods they love, Chris Ballard, Ontarios Minister of Housing and Minister Responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy, said. Working together, we can ensure that every family has an affordable place to live in the city they call home. The Government of Canada contributed nearly $36.7 million in funding to the project and the City of Toronto contributed an additional $7.1 million. I want to thank the team at Medallion Corporation for their dedication to building quality affordable housing in Toronto, Ana Bailao, Chair, City of Toronto Affordable Housing Committee, said. It is only through strong and ongoing commitments from our provincial, federal and development partners that the City can succeed in providing suitable housing for all residents. To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. Taipei, May 18 (CNA) CTBC Bank (), the banking flagship of CTBC Financial Holding co. (), confirmed on Thursday that it has agreed to work with U.S. high-tech giant Google Inc. with the aim of becoming the first bank in Taiwan to provide Android Pay digital wallet services. A New York non-profit will have to overhaul its policies and boot two of its officers as part of a settlement over housing discrimination, according to the state attorney generals office.Long Islands German American Settlement League was being investigated by the office for discriminating against non-white, non-German people in its housing policies, according to a news release. The settlement, announced Wednesday, ordered the GASL to end its historical exclusion of non-white, non-German individuals from membership and home ownership in its community, located in Yaphank, Long Island.According to the attorney generals office, the non-profit was in violation of Fair Housing laws, which prohibit discrimination based on race or national origin.The GASLs discriminatory practices were a remnant of a disgraceful past that has no place in New York or anywhere, said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. This agreement will once and for all put an end to the GASLs discrimination, ensuring that all New Yorkers are afforded equal access to housing opportunities regardless of their race or national origin. My office will continue to uphold and protect all New Yorkers fundamental right to equal access to housing.Under the agreement, the non-profit has agreed to cease its housing discrimination based on national origin and race; immediately replace its president and treasurer; report to the AG for three years to show its compliance to the agreement; publish notices within the Yaphank community that it has changed its housing policies towards housing equality; and to have a written record retention policy to document and ensure its compliance with fair housing. Midland people need to fight back. Thats the message from FrackNation co-director Phelim McAleer for the Permian Basin while he was here ahead of the documentarys screening on Wednesday. FrackNation was screened at Cinergy Cinemas in Odessa and was hosted by the Texas Tech University School of Law Energy Law program. Visiting professor Bill Keffer helped arrange the event and bring McAleer and co-director Ann McElhinney to the area for a Q&A after the showing. The documentary made its debut in January 2013 amid an unprecedented oil and gas boom fueled by the innovation of combining horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Gasland, a documentary highly critical of hydraulic fracturing, was released in 2010. Hydraulic fracturing is a well completion method by which large amounts of water, proppant and chemicals are sent downhole under high pressure to crack shale formations in order to release oil and natural gas. Gasland claims fracturing pollutes groundwater. In perhaps its most famous scene, a Dimock, Pennsylvania, homeowners tap water is set on fire because it contained methane. Longtime journalist McAleer confronted filmmaker Josh Fox at an event in Chicago and presented evidence that methane in water has long been a problem in the area, citing a 1976 report that stated an alarming amount of methane was in the aquifer. According to a video of the confrontation available on YouTube which Fox sued to have removed but which is still available Fox admits that methane in the water table has long been a problem but that it wasnt included in Gasland because he felt it wasnt relevant to the Dimock incident. This spurred McAleer to make his own documentary in an attempt to debunk what Gasland presented as fact and louden the voice of opposition. Eventually I said this guy is lying and hes trying to shut me up. Im from Northern Ireland, and no one tries to shut me up, he told the Reporter-Telegram ahead of Wednesdays screening. George Orwell once said, Journalism is something that someone somewhere doesnt want published. I thought this guy doesnt want this published and theres a good story here. I need to let him know he cant shut me up. McAleer said the anti-fracturing movement has only grown in the years since FrackNation was released. The anti-fracking movement has spread rather than (have gotten) smaller. Its an international virus now based on emotion, misrepresentation and anecdote, not any scientific facts. Still, he said his message has been successful. One of my proudest achievements is I finally killed the fracking makes your water go on fire myth. Actually, its not a myth its a lie. The sad thing is, Josh Fox knew he was lying. Hes an unethical journalist, and Gasland is an unethical documentary. McAleer said oil companies are picked on because theyre easy targets and they should fight back. Oil companies that embrace environmental extremists are embracing their own enemy. They need to stand up for themselves and fight against the lies. Theres a slight tendency nowadays for some oil companies to portray themselves as some kind of friends to the green movement. Winston Churchill said something like appeasement is feeding a crocodile and hoping hell eat you last. Wednesdays Q&A was one of many McAleer and McElhinney have participated in over the years. The single-most question asked has been about motivation. People want to know what the motivation of people like Josh Fox is. Why did they lie? Why do people who claim their water was polluted when it wasnt, why did they lie? Its a mixture of greed. McAleer called Fox a fossil fuel ideologue and also said anti-fracturing advocates have a 15-minutes-of-fame motivation, citing vocal celebrities such as Yoko Ono, Mark Ruffalo, Jimmy Kimmel and Lady Gaga. The Northern Ireland-natives message doesnt change when hes in areas such as Midland and Odessa, which are steeped in the oil and gas industries. People say dont preach to the choir. The choir needs to practice. They may sound good on Sunday, but they practice on Tuesday and Thursday, he said. McAleer said he didnt come to West Texas to lecture its residents. Rather, his mission is to get its residents motivated because there is a lot on the line in the nations largest oil patch. I know youre working very hard and that youre busy, but this anti-fracking and anti-fossil fuel movement and ideology is an existential threat to your livelihood and to the prosperity of America and the prosperity of the world, he said. You need to get more screenings like this; get it into schools and universities. FrackNation isnt McAleers and McElhinneys only effort. This year, they released the book Gosnell: The Untold Story of Americas Most Prolific Serial Killer, the story of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and his conviction and life sentence for killing several infants and two women. Their film Gosnell: Americas Biggest Serial Killer is expected to be released this year. Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. A new presidential administration has brought with it a new focus on the nations oil and gas industry. The Trump administration is offering support for expanding oil and gas production (that) replaces federal keep it in the ground regulations, said Susan Ginsberg, vice president, crude oil and natural gas regulatory affairs with the Independent Petroleum Association of America. The Obama administration aggressively moved to federalize oil and gas production, Ginsberg said Thursday during the annual Environmental Regulatory Seminar. It left a legacy of policy decisions and regulations rushed through in its final days. It also left a legacy of lawsuits contesting proposed regulations on Waters of the U.S., revisions to Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, Bureau of Land Management drilling rules, methane rules and flaring and venting rules. Following Congressional Review Act moves, the House and Senate have both repealed regulations requiring disclosure by oil and gas companies of foreign payments under Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act and the BLMs resource management plan. A move to repeal the BLMs venting and flaring rule failed in the Senate. The Environmental Protection Agency has also delayed implementation of Quad Oa regulations governing emissions from oil and gas sites, whether a drilling site, production site or storage site. Despite a friendlier president and lead regulatory agencies, Ginsberg said that challenges continue to be mounted on a variety of fronts: -- environmental groups that generate grassroots opposition, pressure Congress to implement regulations, file lawsuits and petitions and pressure state regulators to replicate federal regulations; -- bureaucrats who may delay regulatory reforms or fail to adequately justify reforms; -- judges, who determine conditions that must be met to settle pending litigation; and -- Congress, where Democrats may thwart legislation through filibusters, where environmental and energy policy cant be addressed by the budget reconciliation process and where Republicans may not always support regulatory rollbacks. While President Trump has called for eliminating two regulations for every new regulation enacted, Ginsberg said that eliminating a regulation is as difficult as enacting one. And while he wants to delegate regulatory authority to the states, Ginsberg said states must seek to have that authority delegated, and Congress may not fund state-run programs. She called on the industry to maintain an active role in litigation, expand its presence in the regulatory arena and support delegation of regulatory authority to the states. She advised developing a grassroots response to counter aggressive environmental efforts to increase state regulation and opposition to permits. The new administration is a little bit of a role reversal, she said after her presentation. Previously, the industry had to submit comments on proposed regulations or file lawsuits over what it considered unreasonable regulations. Now, she said, the Trump administration wants to do all it can for industry, and now environmentalists are filing lawsuits to pressure Congress. It shouldnt be assumed that states with a heavy energy industry presence will automatically support the industry, she said. She cited New Mexico as an example, noting that it depends heavily on the oil and gas industry to fund its budget, its schools, yet has a tremendous level of opposition to the industry. Such opposition doesnt necessarily harm Big Oil, but could harm small businesses, Ginsberg said. Quad O is an example, she said. The proposed changes had to do with new sources of emissions, she explained, and the EPA originally said the revisions would exempt marginal wells. Well, environmental groups submitted studies that showed marginal wells were super-emitters, she said. So the EPA included marginal wells. Now, hopefully that can be undone, but I would have never fathomed it would be changed in the final rule. Marginal wells are not only a significant source of production, but including them in the new rules made it a small business issue, Ginsberg said. Those wells are largely owned and operated by small businesses. The IPAA tried to stress that marginal wells are not only a source of production but for small business. Return to New York | Reflecting on the very first New York Pro Written by Peter McGough 18 May 2017 Return to New York - Reflecting On the Very First New York Pro Every May New York plays host to an invasion of ridiculously tanned freaks with cartoonish dimensions, making grandiose boasts, striking outrageous poses, as they strive to vanquish their peers so as to be recognized as number one in their field. But enough of the Donald Trump lookalike contest, the focus for bodybuilding fans at this time of year is the New York Pro being staged on Saturday May 20, by IFBB/NPC stalwarts Bev Francis and Steve Weinberger. This Big Apple muscle bash was established by Steve and Bev back in 2005 and as we await the commencement of the 13th rendition of the east coasts biggest contest heres a review of the comings and goings at that first ever New York Pro. THE MORE THINGS CHANGE .? Shortly before the 2005 New York Pro, which took place on May 21st, the IFBB issued an edict addressing the growing number of swollen midsections and funny bumps appearing onstage. It stressed in part, that what should be exhibited was, Proportion and overall flow of the physique, a dramatic V-taper, a streamlined waist and a flat muscular abdomen; balance between upper and lower body and left and right sides; lack of distended abdomen or distorted muscles. The circular concluded, Athletes and judges are advised that muscle size at the expense of symmetry and aesthetics will not be assessed favorably. Twelve years later, the same problem exists? 2005: CHARLES THE FIRST The winner of the inaugural New York Pro was Darrem Charles who won a straight firsts victory, ahead of Ahmad Haidar, with perhaps surprisingly, Victor Martinez in third. Given the IFBB edict it was interesting that Darrem came in at his heaviest ever, 231 pounds, with much comment on his increase in bodyweight. It must be added that he was still in proportion and great shape with none of that stuff the athletes had been warned against. Trinidad and Tobagos best ever bodybuilder was known as the King of The 10 Grand Shows as he won eight second tier contests that awarded such level of prize money in his pro career, which spanned 1992-2013. Hold the presses, as well as the side laterals, Darrem is now back in action competing in the newly minted Classic Physique division. KAI WHO? Lurking as predators do -- in 14th place, was an unheralded Kai Greene launching his pro career which just about everybody thought held less promise than a gnats jock strap. At 220 pounds he was still a couple of years from crashing into Olympia contention. No one knew the storm that was coming. May 12, 2007, was the day the storm started brewing. It was the occasion of that years New York Pro and 19 athletes had assembled to dispute honors. Kai Greene was number 18 and just before the Big Apple masses would have their first a look at him the press gang were busily compiling their top six from what theyd previously seen. Kai Greene was next, but hell be an also ran was the consensus. Then the also-ran walked out and elbows began to be nudged. Wow, Kai sure packed on some muscle was the collective murmur. He sure had, being about 240 pounds 20 pounds heavier than normal. The talk of the contest was Kais improvement; He was a revelation. In the end he was placed sixth, but should have been higher. Interestingly two places above Kai at the 2005 New York Pro was, his now contest prep advisor, George I flush out more water than the Hovver Dam Farah. BOB-BING ALONG Also in the lineup was Bob My threads are so loud they need a volume control switch Cicherillo in eighth place. Bob, affectionately known as Chick, would round out his career by winning the 2006 Masters Pro World staged in tandem with that years New York Pro. He has gone on to be the Energizer Bunny of the bodybuilding emcee field, partaking in 30 plus shows a year, with the highlight being his annual auditory duties at the Olympia Weekend. CHRIS COOKED & MURRAYS HURRY In sixth place was the highly touted Chris Cook making his pro debut in a career that would end in 2006. Today he is happily married to long time love Denise. They have two gorgeous children and this Dave Draper of the 21st Century is now a high-flier in the finance industry. Another rookie making his pro debut was Capreise The Mutant Murray, of whom great things were expected. However, in finishing fifth, this was both the beginning and end of his pro career although he did enter a Mens Physique show in 2013. LUKE WOOD: RIP In seventh was the ill-fated Luke Wood, whose career would end in 2008, and who would draw his last breath on August 31, 2011, at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, in his native Australia. The popular Luke (he was, as are most Australians, an affable laid-back guy, well liked by his fellow pros) died 11 days after he underwent kidney transplant surgery and it seems he was not given proper treatment in the aftermath of the operation, although a coroners inquest determined he would not have survived anyway. Rest in peace, big man. MUSTAFFA MEDDLING In tenth was, he of the Platz-like quads, Mustafa Mohammad. The Jordanian would retire at the end of the 2006 season. My abiding memory of Mustafa occurred a few months earlier at the 2004 Mr. Olympia contest. After being judged 17th at that Olympia, a carb and water-depleted Mustafa suddenly began to act a little erratically. Upon seeing several of his fellow Olympia competitors wearing commemorative medals he began demanding of officials that he receive one as well. Despite being assured he would receive a medal of his own, he approached David Pecker (AMI CEO) and began to harangue him about that much-sought medal. I worked for Weider at the time and my boss, Vince Scalisi, interjected and got Pecker away from the disturbance, which was getting more heated, and then he had to put up with a tirade from Mustafa. Vince, is a pugnacious but somewhat diminutive individual, so I in turn hustled him away and tried to deal with the angry competitor. He became a little teary, more so when the medal was finally placed around his neck. A short time later he collapsed due to dehydration and rushed to hospital as Vince Scalisi, Jim Manion, Kevin Levrone and Kris Dim followed the paramedic ambulance. The stricken bodybuilder was released a few hours later, with his medal still around his neck. When David Pecker heard Mustafa had been rushed to hospital his first thought was that Scalisi had punched him out. Today, much streamlined, Mustafa runs a great gym in Vienna, Austria. OUT OF SIGHT IN ADMIRATION One of the great recollections of that contest was the humbling and inspirational experience of watching Greg Rando, 2001 overall, Team Universe champ, and Ricky Welling, 2002 overall British champ, competing. Although neither made the top 15, they stole the show and proved that they were perhaps the greatest champions on that stage. Both are legally blind. Incredible! For full coverage of the New York Pro this coming Saturday, May 20, stay tuned to musculardevelopment.com. Look forward to more articles, interviews and videos as we ramp up our coverage of the 2017 New York Pro. Then over the weekend there will the usual on site video interviews, reports, contest wrap-ups and play-by-play commentary in real time. Stay tuned for unrivalled coverage. DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE ON THE MD FORUM SEE ALL OF OUR 2017 PRE-SHOW CONTENT SEE PHOTOS & VIDEOS FROM THE 2016 NY PRO FOLLOW MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT ON: FACEBOOK: MuscularDevelopment Magazine TWITTER: @MuscularDevelop INSTAGRAM: @MuscularDevelopment YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/2fvHgnZ We are collating signatures to petition ... GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. A recent drug crackdown in Volusia County continues to expose the growing heroin problem across Central Florida. More than 2 dozen suspected drug dealers arrested in Volusia Months-long undercover operation targeted street-level dealers Investigation highlights growing heroin problem in the area Volusia County Sheriff's Office detectives targeted street-level drug dealers on the west side of the county working off tips and complaints from the community in a months-long undercover investigation. Detectives on Tuesday made a series of arrests of dealers of heroin, cocaine and other drugs. The sweep across the DeLand area targeted more than 30 individuals with arrest warrants issued as a result of the investigation, deputies said. Sixteen people were arrested in the operation, with nine others previously arrested in the days leading up to Tuesday. In addition to the 25 arrests, 12 more suspects are still wanted on outstanding warrants related to street-level drug sales. Officials with the Stewart-Marchman-Act in Daytona Beach said heroin use is on the rise in Flagler and Volusia counties. "The addiction to heroin is very powerful and, physically, very addicting," said Nicole Sharbono, of Stewart-Marchman. Stewart-Marchman is a behavioral drug treatment center in Flagler and Volusia. Experts at the center said there's a direct correlation with the increase in heroin use and the crackdown on pill mills. Sharbono said pain pills were the drug of choice when they were readily available before states like Florida started shutting down the so-called mills in 2011. "But now, they are moving onto something thats more readily available," Sharbono said. "Which, as heroin moves into this area, it's becoming much more available than it was before." There's an even larger danger on the horizon, though. Treatment centers are noticing a mixture of heroin and other drugs that are already proving to be lethal in other parts of the nation. "When you look at the pentanol and carphentanol that is being mixed with the heroin, that is presenting the largest risk for overdoses because it's significantly more potent," Sharbono said, adding that the mixture can be deadly. Stewart-Marchman officials said families can intervene if their loved ones are addicted to opioids. For more information, go here. For body-cam footage of Operation Crack of Dawn, including a full list of the people arrested, go to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page. In honor of Senior Corps Week on May 15-19, 2017, we salute our many volunteers who give of their time, talents, wisdom and experience. Each of our communities are grateful for the positive difference that you make throughout our region. In one year throughout the nation, 245,000 Senior Corps volunteers served 74 million hours making a difference for generations. Last year, Texas Senior Corps volunteers provided 4,332,244 hours to improve our communities. The independent sector values volunteer time at the rate of $25.11 per hour. Texas Senior Corps volunteers contributed more than $107,782,646 of service throughout Texas. A disturbance call about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 900 block of West 27th resulted in the arrest of a 34-year-old man for four outstanding municipal warrants. He was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on bonds totaling $800 for expired registration, disregarded stop sign, failure to maintain financial responsibility and failure to appear. --A known person reportedly threatened another with imminent bodily injury about 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Canyon. --Identifying information of another person was used for fraudulent purposes between May 5-16. --A 30-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $1,500 bond for driving while license invalid with previous conviction and without financial responsibility. He was arrested about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of Denver. --An individual assaulted another resulting in bodily injury about 3:30 p.m. Monday in the 1500 block of Quincy. The crime was reported about noon Tuesday. --A 23-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on bonds totaling $2,900 for failure to identify as a fugitive intent on giving false information and outstanding municipal warrants for possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to appear. He was arrested about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 2500 block of West 26th Street. --Between $100 and $750 damage occurred between 11-11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a residence in the 900 block of West 28th Street. The individual suspected in the criminal mischief was transported from the scene by ambulance for treatment of self-inflected injuries. --A shoplifting incident reportedly occurred about 8 a.m. Tuesday in the 1400 block of Columbia. The stolen property is valued at under $100. --A 39-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on $1,500 bond on charges of driving while license invalid with no insurance. He was arrested about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday in the 1800 block of West Fifth following a traffic stop. --A residence in the 1400 block of Portland was burglarized between 10:30 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. Wednesday. --A 58-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $1,500 bond for public intoxication with three prior convictions. He was arrested about 1 a.m. Wednesday in the 1000 block of Houston by officers investigating a possible prowler. --A vehicle in the 1100 block of Lexington was damaged about 5 a.m. Wednesday in a hit-and-run traffic mishap. --A 34-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday for an outstanding warrant for failure to maintain financial responsibility. Bond had not been set. He was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2700 block of Joliet following a traffic stop. (Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Nearly 600 students from seven San Francisco elementary schools fanned out at Ocean Beach on Wednesday, wearing plastic gloves, toting trash bags and hunting for anything yucky. In a field trip with a positive environmental twist, the second and third graders participated in the 24th annual Kids Ocean Day Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup. For more than two hours, the children combed the beach for Styrofoam, discarded paper wrappers, tin cans and any other pieces of garbage marring the beach. Though many got bored and abandoned their quest for trash to build sand castles and dig holes, the students get the gist of a statewide effort to educate them on how littering can have a bad effect on nature. For most of the students, theyve never been to the ocean, which is kind of mind-blowing. Its always amazing the amount of children that have not been out here or the amount of children who dont understand how the trash gets here, said Tiff Murzi-Moyce, a spokeswoman for the Marine Science Institute, which organized the event. Students ran in small groups, rolling in the sand, squealing, as they dug their hands into the damp beachfront. Rocks are not trash, one of the chaperones yelled. Five kids from Alamo Elementary School in the Richmond District squatted in the sand at least 20 feet from the water. Kristina Kalinovski, a 7-year-old second-grader, wore a pink San Fran hat as she dug furiously into the sand. We are trying to reach the water. Maybe there will be some trash there, Kristina said, holding a near-empty trash bag. We found a lot of things, mostly crab shells, Kristina said. As some kids continued scavenging for debris and others basked in the sun, 8-year-old Natalie Kurpuis waited patiently for the end of the field trip when she and the others gathered in the formation of a sea creature, and posed for an aerial photo while holding a sign reading, Come Together. The design was inspired by Natalies drawing of a starfish, which won the San Francisco Kids Ocean Day Art Contest. I was really surprised, but really happy, Natalie said of her winning drawing. I think its interesting how (sea stars) can regrow their body parts and how they can coordinate their tube feet thats the little thingies they use to move apparently. Though Natalie chose to draw a starfish, she said her favorite marine animal is the sea otter. I just think theyre super, super cute, she said. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Paul Chinn/The Chronicle A person trespassing on the tracks in Pinole was struck and killed by an Amtrak train early Thursday an incident that caused major delays for the railroad at the height of the morning commute, officials said. Capitol Corridor train No. 520 struck the pedestrian about 7 a.m. shortly after departing from Oakland, officials said. The train, which was headed to Sacramento, hit the pedestrian near Tennent and Railroad avenues, about a block from Bayfront Park, officials said. Fewer entrepreneurs are flocking to the Bay Area to start companies; instead, more are heading to metropolitan areas like Miami, Austin and Los Angeles, a new report shows. Startup activity which refers to the number of companies started within the past year is near a record high in the U.S., according to a report released Thursday by the Kauffman Foundation. But the Bay Area, a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, has seemingly lost some of its luster over the past year. While the Bay Area still dominates venture capital dollars and IPOs, that's not the whole picture, said Arnobio Morelix a senior research analyst for Kauffman, a nonprofit that promotes entrepreneurship. The report tracked startup activity across the top 40 U.S. metropolitan areas by population. San Francisco fell 10 spots in the rankings, to 14th, while San Jose dropped seven spots, to 16th. The metro areas with the biggest jump in activity from 2016 to 2017 were St. Louis, Cincinnati and San Antonio. Technology startups, the Bay Areas specialty, are only one component of the rankings, which also count activity in everything from restaurants to yoga studios. In the Bay Area, frustrations about housing prices and traffic have become so pronounced that confidence in the local economy has sunk to its lowest level in four years, according to a survey released by the Bay Area Council last month. The Bay Area also failed to create more jobs than it lost for the first time in four years, according to analysis of state jobs data by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. Still, the region is home to thousands of startups and the countrys most valuable companies, including Apple, Alphabet and Facebook some of them only a decade or two removed from being startups themselves. The Kauffman Foundation found that 30 percent of entrepreneurs who started a business in the U.S. over the past year were immigrants, the highest percentage in two decades. This comes as President Trump promises to clamp down on foreign work visas. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani Just how significantly technology has altered the Permian Basins oil and gas riches was made clear with the release of the U.S. Geological Surveys just-completed assessment of the Spraberry formation. The USGS estimates the Spraberry formation, located solely in the Midland subbasin, holds an estimated 4.2 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and 3.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. To say the estimate is higher than the 2007 assessment would be an understatement. Its way up, Stephanie Gaswirth, research geologist, said in a telephone interview from her Denver office. She said the 2007 assessment was for 500 million barrels. The jump is similar to the situation with the Wolfcamp, she said. Gaswirth led an assessment that found the Wolfcamp formation in the Midland subbasin holds 20 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Companies are using technology horizontal drilling, fracturing and extracting more and more resources, she said in explaining the dramatic jump in resources. In addition to the technology, she said companies are gaining a better understanding of the formations. The more wells drilled, the more data, she said. When the Wolfcamp assessment was released in November, it was the largest assessment of continuous oil the USGS has ever assessed, nearly three times larger than the 2013 assessment of Bakken-Three Forks resources. That, plus the success producers were having with their Spraberry wells, prompted the agency to reassess the area, Gaswirth said. Technology was a reason to go in and look at an area with a fresh set of eyes, she said. There is definitely a renaissance in the Permian Basin, she said. Steve Everley, spokesman for Texans for Natural Gas, agreed. No one will be surprised to hear that Texas has a lot of oil. But even for us, a more than 700 percent increase in undiscovered oil in one of the most prolific fields in North America is pretty amazing. Fracking has helped turn the United States into a global energy superpower, and assessments like these confirm that we won't be relinquishing that status any time soon, he said via email. The geology-based assessment was conducted using two continuous and one conventional assessment unit: the Middle Spraberry and Lower Spraberry Continuous Oil Trend units and the Northern Spraberry Conventional Oil Trend unit. The Middle and Lower Spraberry continuous units are identical in extent and are bounded to the west by the Central Basin platform, to the east by the Eastern shelf basin margin, to the north by the approximate southern edge of the Horseshoe atoll and to the south by the Val Verde Basin. The Middle Spraberry unit covers the interval of the informal middle Spraberry, while the Lower Spraberry unit consists of strata of the informal lower Spraberry interval and includes the industry-termed (informal) lower Spraberry shale and Jo Mill siltstone. The Northern Spraberry unit encompasses the entire Spraberry Formation across the Horseshoe atoll and into the northern part of the basin where conventional Spraberry fields exist. It is bounded by the shelf margins of the Midland Basin to the north and east and includes the extent of Spraberry drilling to the west. The majority of these recoverable resource estimates are within the Middle and Lower Spraberry continuous units. Gaswirth said the USGS is conducting a continuous assessment of the Delaware subbasin, with some results expected in 2018. A new type of malware is quietly spreading throughout computer systems that may hit more people than the large-scale ransomware attack that shut down machines around the globe Friday, cybersecurity firm Proofpoint said. Called Adylkuzz, the computer virus runs silently in the background on computers, zapping their power to use for themselves, Proofpoint said in recently-published analysis. And so far statistics suggest it may be larger in scale than WannaCry, the report said. Instead of a flashy attack that locks a computer down and demands ransom like the WannaCry attack, Adylkuzz slows computer performance. For now its unclear which regions have been hardest hit by the attack, but Moscow cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said Wednesday most of the attacks it has found so far are in Russia. Some researchers say Adylkuzz may spread farther than WannaCry, but most users wont know that their computers been hijacked. Average home users, or small-to-medium-sized businesses are particularly vulnerable to this type of malware, said Brad Morrison, CEO of Innove, LLC in San Antonio. If you look at the general populace, I think that target demographic of older generations that may not be as computer savvy, there could be more issues there, Morrison said. Innove is a technology and cybersecurity consulting provider that serves both the federal government and commercial critical infrastructure clients. Technology is moving so fast that there is always going to be a workaround by hackers to exploit technology, Morrison said. WannaCry hijacked a users computer and threatened to delete files unless a ransom was paid using Bitcoin, a form of digital currency that allows both parties to remain anonymous. When WannaCry began spreading rapidly last week, local firms were on pins and needles seeing how it propagated, said John Dickson, principal at San Antonio-based application security company Denim Group, Ltd. And while his company didnt get any reports from clients that WannaCry impacted them, he noted that nobody in the IT world right now is doing a victory lap, because these things will mutate, these things will morph. Adylkuzz is different from WannaCry in that it is much more stealthy, with a different goal, McAfee Chief Technology Officer Steve Grobman said Wednesday via email. Adylkuzz allows hackers to hijack computing power from other systems to generate a type of digital currency called Monero, which is similar to Bitcoin. One difference between Adylkuzz and WannaCry is that it is advantageous for Adylkuzz to remain undetected and run as long as possible to maximize the amount of time a machine can be used for mining, Grobman added via email. This creates an incentive for the cybercriminals of Adylkuzz to cause minimal damage and fly under the radar whereas WannaCry loudly informs the user that a compromise has occurred and causes massive destruction to the data on a platform. WannaCry infected more than 300,000 computers in about 150 countries across the globe, Tom Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said on Monday. And Proofpoint says Adylkuzz has hit hundreds of thousands of PCs and servers worldwide so far. Proofpoint also found in their analysis that the attack started before WannaCry: at least on May 2 and possibly as early as April 24. Adylkuzz may have in fact limited the spread of last weeks WannaCry infection, Proofpoint said. To be sure, Kaspersky Lab said Wednesday that so far Adylkuzz does not appear to have infected as many systems as WannaCry. Kaspersky Lab said via email on Wednesday it is continuing to monitor the threat. The company has detected and blocked (Adylkuzz) attacks on 2,300 unique users during the last two weeks, most of them (70 percent) located in Russia, the lab said in a statement via email. Other affected countries include Ukraine, India, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Mexico, Tunisia, Italy and South Africa. Morrison surmised the U.S. had not seen the impact as much because its core information technology infrastructure is more advanced than other countries. And Chris Gerritz, founder of San Antonio-based Infocyte, said via email that he thinks the impact of the attack will be limited compared to WannaCry, noting that WannaCry denied use of 200,000-plus systems, including systems being used for surgeries. Stealing people's extra CPU cycles will likely not be noticed by most infected, and due to how far and wide it is spreading, it is well captured by the security community and industry, so mitigation is being implemented, said Gerritz, whos a retired Air Force officer. Gerritz implemented the branchs first interactive defensive counter cyberspace practice. While Morrison hadnt personally seen the malware attack any of his clients, he said its another reminder that people and businesses should focus on updating their systems as fast as possible. Things like this are wakeup calls you do kind of question: are people taking this serious or not? he said, adding, Is there a breaking point where people will finally say, yeah this is definitely something I need to pay more particular attention to? McAfees Grobman said WannaCry and the Adylkuzz attack show how important security patches are in building and maintaining those effective defenses. The two recent attacks are the most recent reminders, he said, that the way companies analyze risk to decide whether to patch needs to be rethought within organizations worldwide. sehlinger@express-news.net Fans of TV's "M*A*S*H" know her as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, a role Loretta Swit won two Emmys for during the show's CBS run from 1972 to '83. But what people may not know about the actress is this: She's a passionate animal activist and talented artist, and has been since the age of 6. While lawmakers are busy trying to make breakfast taco the official breakfast food of Texas, some business owners are putting unique touches on another morning favorite doughnuts. Travel website Wide Open Country compiled a list of the 10 must-try doughnut shops to stop by in the Lone Star State, one of which is in San Antonio's own backyard. Albany Following a spate of high-profile missteps by New York colleges, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ordering a statewide review to see if campuses are fully compliant with his signature 2015 state law governing the handling of sexual assault, stalking and dating violence on campuses. The "Enough Is Enough" law required the state's institutions of higher education to adopt a set of comprehensive procedures around reporting, investigating and otherwise handling such cases, including a uniform definition of affirmative consent. It also gave students the option of reporting sex or dating-related crimes to state police, and required institutions inform students of this right. The review was prompted by anecdotal evidence that suggested colleges had not been taking the law seriously, said Alphonso David, counsel to the governor. Just last month, the president at Niagara County Community College abruptly resigned after recordings of him blaming and calling a sexual assault victim "stupid" were released. And last fall, the private, Staten Island-based Wagner College came under fire after local media revealed an alarmingly high number of reported sexual assault crimes, including at least eight rapes, had resulted in no arrests, criminal records or registered sex offenders over the years. "We've also heard from students who say they may not have been made aware of all their rights under the law," David said. "So the governor wants to make sure every student and every college understands their rights and obligations under this law." All of the state's nearly 200 public and private schools will be audited as part of the review, which will be conducted by representatives of the State Police, Division of Criminal Justice Services, Education Department, Department of Health, Office of Victims Services and Division of Human Rights. Officials will start this summer with a review of college websites and documents, and issue a preliminary report by Sept. 1. Under the law, colleges were required to distribute and post on their website a number of documents, including written rules and procedures for complying with the law, standard disciplinary procedures, and a Students' Bill of Rights in the event of an assault. Documentation should exist to back up other requirements, too, like student and staff training and sexual assault prevention campaigns. "That is the first phase," David said. "We don't know what we will find, but we suspect we'll find some are in compliance and some are not in compliance." Schools that aren't will be subjected to a more intensive review this fall that will include an examination of any investigations that have occurred since the law went into effect, and whether or not they were conducted properly and treated seriously. Since the law took effect, a specially created State Police Campus Sexual Assault Victims Unit has investigated or assisted in more than 115 cases. It has also visited nearly every college and university campus in the state, conducted more than 300 educational presentations and participated in nearly 90 training events. State Police also set up a statewide hot line for victims to report crimes at 844-845-7269. BRIDGEPORT - A local lawyer has won a $20 million verdict against a prominent rabbi accused of sexually abusing a teenage student in 2002. A federal court jury deliberated nearly two days before ordering New Haven Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva of New Haven on Thursday to pay the plaintiff, Eliyahu Mirlis, now 28, $15 million plus $5 million in punitive damages. The justice system works, said Mirlis lawyer, Antonio Ponvert III, of the local law firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder. My client came forward showing great courage to right a wrong and to protect other children. Child abuse in all its forms must end and this is a step in that process. The lawsuit claims that beginning in the fall of 2002 and continuing for the entirety of the victims sophomore, junior and senior high school years, when he was 15, 16 and 17 years old, Rabbi Greer repeatedly and continuously sexually abused, exploited, and assaulted him. Rabbi Greer forced (the minor) to engage in acts of sex with him, including forced fellatio, anal sex, fondling and masturbation, the lawsuit states. He frequently gave the youth alcohol and showed him pornographic films at the time of the rapes and assaults, the lawsuit adds. The lawsuit was filed in federal court because the victim resides in New Jersey. HARTFORD Foreign-born students here without legal permission continued what has become a weekly presence in the State Capitol on Thursday, lobbying lawmakers to approve legislation that would give them access to the institutional aid but for which they are ineligible. However, Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives said that support still falls short of approval, with less than three weeks remaining in the legislative session. During a news conference in the Capitol, Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers and foreign-born students Thursday morning and said opening up the institutional aid to non-native students is fair, because they pay into the aid pools with their fees. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Jessica Hill / AP Photo /Jessica Hil Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Carol Kaliff / Carol Kaliff Show More Show Less 3 of 3 We have a lot of these students in our system now, Ojakian said, stressing that private colleges can offer the same students similar assistance, which can lure them away. We dont want to have our students have to look elsewhere. Camila Bortolleto, a Brazilian-born Western Connecticut State University graduate who is the campaign manager for CT Students for a Dream, said that the lobbying campaign is focusing on a simple issue of equal access in legislation that will increase enrollment and tuition revenue, and is an investment in Connecticuts economy that comes at zero fiscal cost to the state. But legislative leaders say that the political reality is that the bill is in trouble. It has support in the House, said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. Currently its a few votes short. I know theyve been working really hard and talking to folks and trying to get the votes necessary for passage. Well see what happens in the coming week or so. The reality is we have about a week and a half to two weeks to pass our big bills. After that were up against the calendar and the clock and House Republicans have a say-so on the agenda. House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, noted that a similar bill is sitting on the Senate calendar and he has been in communication with senators to see where a floor debate should - or could - begin. kdixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Trial for a man accused of slaying a 3-year-old girl and burying her body in a north Laredo lot continued Wednesday with further testimony from the child's mother, who said she doesn't know what occurred in the moments before her boyfriend ran into a local motel bathroom with her daughter's unconscious body in August 2014. Cristian Yepez faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence in relation to the death of his girlfriend's daughter, Jasleen Valdez. Yepez denies the allegations. His defense counsel said the prosecution will not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he beat Valdez to death. Yepez's girlfriend, Janette Pantoja, testified about what allegedly occurred after the child's death and addressed some discrepancies in her statements to police. READ MORE: Mother of child allegedly beaten to death in Laredo motel testifies against boyfriend Laredo police, with assistance from Pantoja, 23, and Houston Police Department detectives, discovered the child's body buried in a shallow grave in the 7300 block of Springfield Avenue. Pantoja, a co-defendant in the case, also faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence. Pantoja and Yepez's cases are being tried separately, meaning the jury is solely focusing on charges against Yepez, 27. Pantoja provided testimony Tuesday about Yepez locking her inside a motel bathroom where she began to panic and yell for someone to open the door. Shortly thereafter, Yepez allegedly came rushing into the bathroom with Valdez unconscious in his arms. On Wednesday, Pantoja said she doesn't know what happened in that room before Yepez came into the bathroom. Yepez's defense counsel, Uriel Druker, noted discrepancies in statements Pantoja made to police regarding events that allegedly occurred after her daughter's death. Pantoja testified about Yepez placing her daughter's body in a car seat and driving them to K-Mart for clothes and Home Depot for a shovel. RELATED: Top 20 best Netflix original series, ranked from great to phenomenal Pantoja did not tell Houston or Laredo police about the Home Depot trip, Druker said. During a recorded interview, Pantoja told Houston police that Yepez stayed in the driver's seat of the truck they were in while an unknown man exited the vehicle and buried her daughter in the lot. Her testimony changed on the stand as she told the jury she lied to the detective. "Cristian and the other guy got out (of the truck) and buried her. They got out together," she said. The defense further questioned Pantoja on the exact order events occurred and specific time and dates for events she alleges to have happened. Throughout the course of her two days testifying, Pantoja repeatedly said she can't remember the chronological order of what occurred before, during and after her daughter's death. She said she can only remember certain events and often said she can't remember what day or specific time they occurred. Chicago The Chicago Police Department became involved in Valdez's case when her father and maternal grandparents filed a missing person's report. Audi Manaois, a Chicago police detective, was assigned to conduct an investigation into a missing person's report on Valdez on Aug. 20, 2014. Valdez's biological father, Miguel Valdez, filed the report. "We learned that Janette Pantoja had just returned from the state of Texas and the family was alarmed to learn Jasleen Valdez was nowhere to be found," Manaois said. Through interviews with Pantoja's mother, Silvia Pantoja, Manaois said he learned Janette Pantoja was making up different stories about Valdez being kidnapped in Texas, abducted, held for ransom, taken across the border and also claiming that a gang was trying to kill them. RELATED: Laredo mayor calls city manager's retirement 'convenient for both sides' The Chicago Police Department obtained a phone number for Janette Pantoja and had her phone pinged, discovering she was in the Houston area. Houston PD later contacted Chicago police and notified them that Pantoja had surrendered herself, claiming Yepez had killed Valdez, Manaois said. Houston police said Pantoja claimed she had been abducted and held against her will with no ability to make calls, according to Manaois. He said he told Houston police that Pantoja had provided them with inaccurate information since her location had been traced through phone calls she made. The surrender Yepez and Pantoja were in an altercation on the day Pantoja told police her daughter had been killed. "That day is when I just snapped and I started yelling and being defensive ... I yelled if someone could call the police," Pantoja said. She said she remained terrified of Yepez, who allegedly continued to threaten and assault her while in Houston. After the argument, Yepez fled the scene while Pantoja yelled for someone to call the police and told bystanders that Yepez had killed her daughter and kidnapped her. Through interviews with Houston police, Pantoja provided enough information for local police to discover Valdez's burial site. Valdez's body was reduced to a clump of hair, pile of bones and rotting clothes by the time it was discovered on Sept. 11, 2014, Assistant District Attorney Linda Garza-Martinez said. Several more police officers, witnesses and experts are expected to testify before the prosecution rests its case. One particular Girl Scout is gleaming with pride. D'Avion Fraley, a 12-year Girl Scout and senior at Cy-Fair High School, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting. The prestigious award, which challenges girls to change the world or community, was earned by Fraley because of cancer awareness week she hosted at Arnold Middle School. Less than five percent of Girl Scouts earn the award. "What inspired me to host the cancer awareness week was one of my friends she had a scare because she thought she had cancer," Fraley said. "It turns out she didn't, but she still needed to worked on. So, I (thought) if that could happen to adults, why not teens." The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes girls in grades 9 through 12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through sustainable and measurable community service projects that require a minimum of 80 hours to complete. Latosha Fraley is the leader for Girl Scout Troop 826 and is D'Avion's mother. The troop leader is proud her daughter set a goal and accomplished it. "It was a struggle at first because you have to step back as troop leader because its an independent project, so you can't be involved," Latosha said. "It's hard because mom always wants to be involved, (but) I had to step back and let her do her own thing. I was pleasantly surprised to see her mature and do that on her own." During Fraley's cancer awareness week, which focused on childhood cancers, had a particular day that focused on a different cancer, its symptoms and treatment. Through her presentations during students' advisory period and student council meeting, the student council was inspired to continue cancer awareness week as part of its annual community service requirement. To further educating students about childhood cancers, Fraley created informational posters and fact sheets that were distributed to students during lunch. Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of more than 2.6 million girls and adults. The organization aims to provide girls with courage, confidence, and character in efforts of making the world a better place. "I think Girl Scouts is important for all girls, especially girls in the African American community, gives them an opportunity to be exposed to things that they wouldn't ordinarily be exposed to. Our troop was able to go to robotics competitions, astrology, camping, horseback riding, and the girls were even able to learn about financial literacy," Latosha said. "I think it is important for the community to know that Girl Scouts is more than just cookie sales. Our girls are out there and giving back to the community. They are learning about themselves and financial literacy. It is just a great organization to grow in." The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council, which is where Fraley's troop belongs to, is a United Way agency, one of the largest Girl Scout councils in the country serving more than 58,000 girl members and 16,000 adults in 26 southeast Texas counties. Fraley has also completed her Bronze and Silver Awards. After graduation, Fraley plans to attend Sam Houston State University and major in forensic chemistry and double minor in criminal justice and biology "By hosting the cancer awareness week, I learned how to budget and be a proper leader. So, if I were to host a project at a job I had, I know that I would be able to do that," Fraley said. "I learned how to handle speeches and not get stage fright. In my troop there weren't many girls who went for the Gold Award Project, but I would say to Girls Scouts is to go for it. You can do whatever you set your mind to, and I know a lot of girls can earn the Gold Award." Girl Scouts: www.girlscouts.org Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Houston, Texas 77098-4508 (713) 292-0300 (800) 392-4340 - Local Toll Free Phone Email: info@sjgs.org Website: http://www.gssjc.org Facebook: http://facebook.com/gssjc Twitter: http://twitter.com/girlscoutsgssjc A lawsuit filed in July 2016 against the City of Fremont was dismissed today. Fremont Mayor Scott Getzschman and the Fremont City Council declared the South Fremont Industrial Redevelopment Area as blighted and substandard on July 12, 2016. Following the declaration, a lawsuit was filed by three residents with the District Court of Dodge County contesting the blighting of farmland, the future location of the Costco-Lincoln Premium Poultry chicken processing plant. James A. Jaksha, Wesley L Schiermann and Pamela Kay Allen filed the suit on July 25, 2016. The City has maintained that the declaration of blight and substandard complied with the legal requirements of the State of Nebraska. Today the City was notified that the plaintiffs attorney had filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice the suit, Jaksha vs. City of Fremont, with the District Court of Dodge County. We are pleased to hear the decision of the plaintiff to dismiss this case. This paves a clear path for Costco to move forward with their project, Getzschman said in a release. The economic impact of this project will affect Fremont, Dodge County, and the State of Nebraska for years to come. An amended complaint was filed with the Nebraska District Court of the Sixth Judicial District in January after new plans submitted to the City included an increase in square feet from the original plan. Plans submitted in early January to the Fremont Planning Department indicated the processing plant, proposed on 400 acres southeast of the city, would grow from 250,000 square feet to 360,000 square feet. An associated hatchery would grow from 75,000 square feet to 85,000. New plans also call for a 32,000-square-foot feed mill. The expansions would increase the projected cost of the facility from $180 million to $275 million. Based on the new cost, the development would be eligible for more than $18.3 million in tax-increment financing, almost $5 million more than originally projected. A Fremont city staff report states that the new estimate of tax base added to Fremont and Dodge County increases from $63 million to $93 million based on the new cost. A Nebraska Communities United news release decried the plant expansion and an increase in TIF money for the project. Shortly after the amended complaint, Bold Nebraska filed multiple complaints with the Nebraska Accountability Disclosure Commission alleging conflicts of interest within the City of Fremont and Dodge County governments. Specifically, complaints were filed against Getzschman; Leslie Leech, a member of the Greater Fremont Development Council; and Paul Gifford, a member of the Fremont city board of public works. Bold Nebraska alleges in a release that, the individuals failed to disclose financial interests and conflicts, which may have influenced government policy and decisions. The complaints remain under investigation by the NADC. WESTPORT After much delay, medical marijuana dispensaries could soon be allowed to set up shop in town. An amendment that would permit medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in town a measure that has been delayed five times by the zoning board is set to be decided on Thursday. If passed, pot shops providing palliative care would be constricted to opening in non-residential districts and must be at least 1,000 feet away from any school, public park, public building, public recreation area or place of worship. Katherine Daniel, deputy planning and zoning director, wrote in her April memo to the commission that the text amendment would apply to approximately 60 eligible properties. The memo went on to say that after holding multiple subcommittee meetings to gauge the publics opinion, it found: Westport residents testified that they would like to be able to purchase the medical marijuana products prescribed for them by qualified medical doctors without having to travel to other towns. The bill allowing medical marijuana dispensaries was signed in 2012 and the first six dispensary facilities were opened in September of 2014, according to Lora Rae Anderson, state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) communications director. The DCP put out a request for application in 2015 and of 17 complete applications, they issued three licenses in January of 2016. The department has yet to issue another request for application. More Information Connecticut Medical Marijuana Dispensary Facilities (via CT Department of Consumer Protection) Arrow Alternative Care, Inc. 92 Weston Street, Unit #16, Hartford, CT 06120 Arrow Alternative Care #2, Inc. 255 West River Road, Milford, CT 06461 Bluepoint Wellness of Connecticut 471 East Main Street, Branford, CT 06405 Caring Nature, LLC 237 East Aurora St, Waterbury, CT 06708 Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut/D&B Wellness, LLC 4 Garella Road, Bethel, CT 06801 Prime Wellness of Connecticut, LLC 75 John Fitch Boulevard, South Windsor CT, 06074 Southern CT Wellness & Healing, LLC 318 New Haven Avenue, Milford CT, 06460 Thames Valley Alternative Relief, LLC 1100 Norwich-New London Turnpike, Uncasville, CT 06382 The Healing Corner, Inc. 159 East Main Street, Bristol, CT 06010 See More Collapse Requirements for patients to qualify for a medical marijuana certificate are limited to state residents over the age of 18 with medical conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer, glaucoma and Parkinsons Disease. Children under 18 can qualify as patients if they have a select debilitating medical condition such as cerebral palsy or cystic fibrosis. Often times these are veterans with severe PTSD who are in severe pain, Anderson said. First Selectman Jim Marpe is in favor of the amendment being passed because it would set up guidelines and rules if a dispensary owner applies to open up shop in town, Weve been relying on our moratorium activity for a number of years, he said. I think its important that we define what the rules are if someone were to come to the town with the idea of opening a dispensary in town. Marpe does have concerns about security. Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, banks cannot do business with marijuana dispensaries and they only accept cash, making them vulnerable to robberies. Chip Stephens, a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said that there was not a large public presence at the subcommittee meetings. We had multiple meetings at the subcommittee level to find out what the temperature of the town was to allow a dispensary or not. I had anticipated some boisterous meetings and there was no passionate outcry, he said. As a result of low public participation, Stephens said Thursdays vote will be more mechanical. It would have been helpful if there was more public participation in the process. All we can deduce from that is that theres not passion on either side and its more of mechanical kind of vote and where to put it and where its allowed within the town, Stephens said. Even if the amendment gets the OK from the Planning and Zoning Commission, DCP would still have to grant a dispensary facility license to a prospective owner looking to do business in Westport. The DCP has only granted nine licenses and can do so at their own discretion, according to Aaron Romano, a criminal defense attorney and medical marijuana advocate. I dont think theyre (the DCP) planning anytime soon to award new licenses. So whether or not the P & Z approves the amendment, this will not have an immediate effect on the town, Romano said. Its completely at the states discretion. Romano said this arbitrary license issuing has resulted in adverse effects for patients, effectively creating a monopoly and pricing many patients out of medicine. The only people it benefits by creating the monopoly are the people who own the businesses, not the patients. The prices for cannabis in Connecticut are higher than the neighboring states. There are no patient rights to grow at all. And these are people who cant afford the medicine. I know people going to neighboring states because and the illicit market, he said. Anderson said medical marijuana is treated the same way as pharmaceuticals are in Connecticut and are aware of the pricing issue. We have heard that the medicine is expensive. We dont regulate prices. There are four producers and 9 dispensary facilities in the state. They set their prices just like CVS does or a pharmaceutical company does, Anderson said, adding that she encourages patients who observe price gouging or other issues to file a complaint with her office. Democrats in the General Assembly are looking to legalize marijuana in order to mitigate their budget woes with the taxation of marijuana sales, the CT Mirror reports. @chrismmarquette; cmarquette@bcnnew.com WASHINGTON - The Justice Department appointed a special counsel Wednesday to investigate possible coordination between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian officials - a clear signal to the White House that federal investigators will aggressively pursue the matter despite the president's insistence that there was no "collusion'' with the Kremlin. Robert Mueller III, a former prosecutor who served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013, has agreed to take over the investigation as a special counsel, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced. The move marks a concession by the Trump administration to Democratic demands for the investigation to be run independently of the Justice Department. Calls for a special counsel intensified after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey last week. "In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,'' Rosenstein said in a statement. "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command." Mueller, often described by those who worked for him as a stern and press-averse disciplinarian, issued a characteristically terse statement: "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability.'' Trump reacted to the news by saying "a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." The White House did not learn of Rosenstein's decision until just 30 minutes before the public announcement was made. Rosenstein called White House Counsel Donald McGahn at 5:30 p.m. to inform him, at which point McGahn walked downstairs from his second-floor office to the Oval Office to notify Trump. Trump summoned his senior staff to the Oval Office, and together they drafted a statement reacting to the decision, coming from the president, that was distributed to reporters shortly after 7 p.m. One senior White House official who was present for the discussions described Trump as "unbelievably calm and measured." "I expected him to be ranting and raving, but he was like, 'Fine, let them do what they have to do, but we'll be focused on our agenda,'" said this official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. Democrats cheered the announcement as a step forward in resolving the unanswered questions about Russian meddling in last year's presidential election - and whether the president or anyone at the White House has interfered with the investigation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Mueller "has the expertise and experience, guts and backbone to uncover the truth.'' He said Mueller must be given all the resources necessary to "pursue the facts wherever they lead,'' including whether anyone may have tried to obstruct justice. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, cheered the choice, writing on Twitter: "Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted." But some Democrats said Mueller's appointment does not preclude the need for an independent commission to examine Russian interference in the election. "An independent commission doesn't govern the FBI investigation, an independent commission doesn't make charging decisions," said Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own probe of Russian meddling. "The value an independent commission adds is you have a body that is truly independent of any political consideration. And also has all the resources it needs and a single focus on the oversight of what Russia did, how we need to respond in the future, and it brings that political independence and staff and resources on task. So those are two different needs, and I think they're complementary, not in competition with each other." The special counsel law grants Mueller the authority to probe possible attempts to stymie his investigation. The decision to appoint a special counsel comes a day after revelations that notes taken by Comey in February recount a conversation with the president in which Trump asked him to drop an investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Associates of Comey said he took detailed notes of multiple conversations with the president, and lawmakers are now demanding access to those memos and any other related records held at the FBI. The decision also comes amid intense pressure on the senior official who has been overseeing the Russia probe, Rosenstein, to appoint a special counsel. Rosenstein was put in charge of the Russia probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Democrats have challenged Rosenstein's impartiality in the Russia probe because he wrote a memorandum initially used as the rationale for Comey's firing. In the memo, Rosenstein said Comey had violated long-standing Justice Department practices in his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, but shortly after the announcement of the firing, the president said he had decided to fire Comey before he received the recommendation from Rosenstein. Rosenstein is scheduled to brief the full Senate in a closed session on Thursday. Former colleagues said Rosenstein's move may help restore his battered reputation among current and former government lawyers. "He got absolutely pummeled by people that he knows," said a former senior Obama administration lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly. "I think this move, as so often happens in Washington, where there is the opportunity to wash away your sins, was a thorough scrubbing." Under the order signed Wednesday by Rosenstein, Mueller is tasked with investigating "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump'' as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation'' and any other matters that fall under the scope of the Justice Department regulation covering special counsel appointments. It wasn't immediately clear from the language of the order where Mueller might draw the lines as to which matters are related to the Russia investigation. That language seems to suggest that Mueller could also take over ongoing investigations into leaks of classified information connected to the Russia probe. As the FBI director, Mueller assiduously discouraged leaks by his subordinates and oversaw investigations that sought to criminally charge leakers of government secrets. "If the special counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the special counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters,'' the order states. Another potential legal complication could arise from the law firm where Mueller worked until his appointment as special counsel. That firm, WilmerHale, has represented Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has been under investigation relating to his work and payments for advising Ukrainian government officials. Officials referred questions about possible recusals on those subjects to Mueller, who didn't respond to requests for comment. Officials said the appointment was being made under a Justice Department statute that has only been used once, in 1999, although the Justice Department has made other special counsel appointments more recently under different authority. Peter Zeidenberg, who has worked for a past special counsel, called Mueller an "inspired choice'' because he comes to the job with automatic credibility among both parties. "He's nominally a Republican, but he's really not a political person at all,'' said Zeidenberg, a lawyer now in private practice, who cautioned that such an investigation is likely to take a long time and may not ultimately satisfy the public's demand for a full accounting. "People are waiting for public answers to what happened, but that's not his job. There won't be a report or a press conference at the end of this from him, that's not his role.'' When he was FBI director, Mueller worked closely for a time with Comey - who as deputy attorney general was nominally Mueller's boss during the George W. Bush administration - and while the two men agree on much, they have very different personalities. Mueller was a harsh taskmaster who eschewed expressions of warmth with his staff. Comey, in contrast, has written holiday greetings to staff that have been described as moving. The special counsel gets money and personnel from the Justice Department, but Mueller can ask for specific individuals to join the case. WilmerHale lawyers James Quarles and Aaron Zebley also stepped down from WilmerHale Wednesday, and a firm spokesman said they were expected to join Mueller. Zebley, a former FBI agent and assistant U.S. attorney, was Mueller's chief of staff at the FBI. Quarles was an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. Given the extremely sensitive nature of the counterintelligence probe, it is likely that Mueller will also work with many of the current FBI agents assigned to the case, although the decision is ultimately his to make. The budget for the investigation will still have to be approved by Rosenstein. In his new role, Mueller answers to, and in theory could be fired by, Rosenstein, but in practice a special counsel is not subject to daily supervision by any Justice Department official. And given that Mueller's appointment came about largely because of the firing of the FBI director, it would probably touch off a new political firestorm if Mueller were ever dismissed. - - - The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Ellen Nakashima and Julie Tate contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans and Democrats praised the Justice Department's decision to appoint Robert Mueller III as special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia in the 2016 campaign - sparking a rare moment of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill over a politically charged issue. Nevertheless, the Senate and House committees conducting their own inquiries pledged to move forward, setting up a complex landscape of potentially conflicting investigations - and competing goals. Democrats have accused Republicans of making a show of investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Several of them, along with some Republicans, said Wednesday that the news of a special counsel investigation should not slow down Congress's work - and Republican leaders pledged that it wouldn't. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., whose panel is conducting one of five congressional probes that are directly or indirectly looking into Russian activity, was among those who hailed the news while also declaring that "our task hasn't changed." "By having someone like Bob Mueller head the investigation assures the American people that there's no undue influence, be it here or be it at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, or within the Justice Department or FBI," Burr said. Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was more forceful. "The appointment of a special counsel is not a substitute for a vigorous investigation in Congress and the House Intelligence Committee will take steps to make sure our investigations do not conflict and ensure the success of both efforts," he said. "We will also want to make certain that the special counsel has all the resources it needs to undertake this important task." The announcement came toward the end of a day in which a growing number of congressional Republicans expressed fresh concerns about the news that President Trump had leaked highly classified information to Russian officials - and the report that he had urged former FBI director James Comey to drop his investigation into former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. Throughout the day, lawmakers sounded some of their most aggressive notes toward Trump since he took office. Some GOP lawmakers drew parallels to Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate scandal that sunk his presidency, while others raised the possibility of impeachment if Trump's conversation with Comey is determined to have been an obstruction of justice. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., who has often clashed with Trump and other GOP leaders, replied "yes" when a reporter asked whether there could be grounds for impeaching Trump, if Trump's request of Comey was confirmed. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees asked the FBI for documents related to Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian interference in the election before Trump fired him last week. The widespread approval of Mueller's appointment followed several weeks during which many congressional Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), declined to call for one. Before Wednesday, many of them touted the congressional investigations as sufficiently independent entities. But in the hours after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the move, Republicans spoke mostly about it in positive tones. "My priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead," Ryan said in a statement. "That is what we've been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice." By Wednesday evening, McConnell had not commented on Mueller's appointment. Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who is leading the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian meddling, said his panel's investigation will continue. "If we find criminal things . . . we'll definitely refer those to Justice," he said. "But the importance of our investigation I don't think is diminished in the least." That sentiment was echoed by many lawmakers already participating in ongoing investigations. "This effort should in no way be allowed to impede the ability of the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct and conclude its investigation into the same subject," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. "It is my hope that these investigations will now move expeditiously." Lawmakers also heaped praise on Mueller's credentials. "Mueller is a great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted," tweeted House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., one of his party's most imperiled lawmakers in next year's elections, said Mueller "has got a good background in terms of not being partisan and I hope he gets down to the bottom of what really is a growing list of allegations." Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., another embattled incumbent, tweeted that appointing Mueller was the "Right thing to do and the right choice." But senior Democrats cautioned that Mueller should be permitted a wide berth as his investigation commences. "A special prosecutor is the first step, but it cannot be the last," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. She reiterated her caucus's support for an independent commission to also probe the matter, saying that Mueller "does not negate the need for vigorous congressional investigations." Pelosi called on the Justice Department to allow Mueller to review "Trump's attempt to intervene" on behalf of Flynn. Similarly, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said Mueller's probe "should extend to the circumstances that led to the president's abrupt dismissal of James B. Comey, and to other critical matters that arise." Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the generally pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, was one of the few lawmakers to offer some caution about Mueller's appointment. Although Meadows called the appointment "a prudent move," he also suggested that Mueller "comes with more credibility on the Democrat side than on the Republican side," a remark he said was based on "sworn testimony that he's given here on Capitol Hill since I've been here." Earlier in the day, Republicans were leveling serious criticism against Trump over his controversies and edging closer to acquiescing to long-standing Democratic demands for an independent investigator. Still, many rank-and-file GOP members said Wednesday that they were not alarmed by the explosive reports about the president's conversations with Comey and Russian officials. Ryan and McConnell spent much of the day trying to direct public attention beyond the firestorm. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., was among the lawmakers who claimed to be untroubled by the developments. "It's very clear there are a lot of people who want to see the president distracted," said Aderholt, adding that back in Alabama, there is "a lot of frustration that they're not allowing him to do his job." The uneven response has fueled widespread anxiety on Capitol Hill about the future of the ambitious agenda Republicans embarked on after assuming control of Congress and the White House in January. Republicans recognize that if they turn fully against Trump, they will lose their most critical legislative partner. But they are also showing increasing worry that sidestepping a president blanketed in controversy is no longer tenable. "It is a serious issue the way other scandals have been serious issues," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who the previous evening had compared the current imbroglio to the Watergate saga. "What I was saying was that these scandals need to be completely - all the information needs to get out as quickly as possible so we can resolve the issue and move forward," said McCain. The revelation that Comey had written in a memo that Trump pressured him to drop an investigation into Flynn compounded earlier worries about Trump's decisions to share highly classified material with Russia and abruptly oust his FBI chief. Asked if the allegations facing Trump concern potentially impeachable offenses, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said, "I don't want to go there. I don't know yet." But the beginnings of the scandal that ultimately prompted Nixon's resignation, Simpson said, "was a lot similar to what was going on now: Ah, 'fake news,' 'bad reports,' 'that didn't happen,' etc., etc., etc. Well, yeah, this did happen, and then the next day something else happens, and pretty soon you've got an avalanche of stuff." Asked about GOP lawmakers making comparisons to the Watergate scandal, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was focused on his visit Thursday with the Colombian president and preparing for his trip to the Middle East and Europe that begins on Friday. --- The Washington Post's Paul Kane, David Weigel, Karoun Demirjian, Kelsey Snell and Amber Phillips contributed to this report. PLATTSMOUTH Plattsmouth Community Middle School will offer free meals to children this summer as part of a statewide food service program. Plattsmouth Superintendent Dr. Richard Hasty told school board members at this months meeting that PCMS will be a feeding site for the Nebraska Department of Educations Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). All children ages 1-18 will be able to receive free breakfast or lunch through the program. Children will be required to eat the meal at the PCMS cafeteria but no other questions will be asked of participants. Hasty said he was excited that the school will be able to offer the service. Opaa! Food Management Inc. will provide meals as part of its regular food contract with the Plattsmouth district. With the SFSP route that we went with through Opaa! for the summer, we can become a feeding site for any kids ages 1-18, Hasty said. Anybody in those ages can get a free meal that is healthy, which is something that is great for everyone. I think this is something that will benefit students and will benefit the whole community. The Nebraska Department of Education and United States Department of Agriculture offer the SFSP to provide healthy meals to students during summer months. The goal of the program is to deliver nutritious food to students when PK-12 schools are not in regular session. Hasty said Plattsmouths program is scheduled to take place June 5-30 at the middle school. There is a possibility it will continue into July. Well evaluate how things are going throughout June, Hasty said. If there is high attendance then we may extend it into July. Were not sure what the response will be yet, but were hopeful that we have good attendance for this. Hasty said operation times for the summer food service are still being determined. He said meals will likely be offered from 8:30-11:30 a.m., as those are the hours when summer school classes are in session. The district is deciding whether the feeding hours will be extended into the afternoon. At Fort Sumter, he ordered the attack that opened the Civil War. At Manassas, he helped rout the Union army and send its rookie soldiers fleeing back to Washington. And after the battle there in 1861, he championed use of the distinct Confederate flag that would vex the nation for generations after he died. He was Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the Confederate States of America's first mega hero, and early Wednesday morning a statue of him astride his horse was removed from its pedestal in New Orleans under the watchful eye of mounted police and police snipers. Before Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, and Jefferson Davis, the South had P.G.T. Beauregard. He was handsome, and dashing, with carefully slicked hair, a neat moustache and chin whiskers. As he got older, it was said, he dyed his hair. Raised in the slave-owning Louisiana aristocracy, he had grown up speaking French on a sugar plantation in St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans. He attended a French school in New York founded by two men who had served with Napoleon, then went to West Point. He fought in the Mexican War with West Point classmates Lee and future Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and had been appointed superintendent at West Point when the war broke out. He threw in with the cause of the Confederacy, and was sent to command in Charleston, South Carolina, where he besieged and attacked Fort Sumter, starting the war. He was an instant Southern hero -- 43 years old and glamorous in his tightly buttoned uniform with its embroidered collar and sleeves. A special march was later composed for him, according to Encyclopedia Virginia, and he was welcomed by large crowds when he was summoned to Richmond. On July 21, 1861, at the chaotic Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run as it was known in the North, his southern forces were victorious. But there confusion on the battlefield because some northern soldiers wore gray uniforms and some rebel forces wore blue -- the reverse of the eventual uniform colors of blue and gray. And, crucially, some officers mistook the red, white and blue American flag for the red, white and blue "Stars and Bars" Confederate flag. After the battle, Beauregard lobbied for a more distinctive Confederate ensign to avoid further battlefield confusion. The result was the red banner with the blue St. Andrew's Cross that most people recognize today as the Confederate flag. Beauregard's record later in the war was mixed. He bickered with superiors, especially Confederate President Davis, and was moved among several different commands. That feud with Davis continued after the war, and in 1889 when Beauregard was asked to lead the cortege at Davis' funeral, he refused. The New Orleans statue, unveiled in 1915, depicted him on horseback, as he might have been at the height of his fame at Manassas. But late last year, the city council voted to remove monuments to Beauregard, and other Confederate figures. "The statues. . .were erected decades after the Civil War to celebrate the 'Cult of the Lost Cause,' a movement recognized across the South as celebrating and promoting white supremacy," the city said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Mitch Landrieu added: "Today we take another step in defining our City not by our past but by our bright future. While we must honor our history, we will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans." Iranians will vote on Friday for their next president. In the history of the Islamic republic, no incumbent has failed to win a second term. But this time, President Hassan Rouhani faces a tricky contest whose result may have major implications for the future of the country's politics. The race has essentially boiled down to a two-person battle between Rouhani and hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Although polls place Rouhani in the lead, a significant proportion of voters remain undecided. Rouhani's bid has been hampered by widespread frustration among ordinary Iranians, who have yet to see the dividends of the country's nuclear deal, inked with world powers in 2015, trickle down to them. Rouhani "oversold the nuclear deal, he did not manage expectations well," Nasser Hadian-Jazy, a political scientist at Tehran University, told the Christian Science Monitor. "He was so much concerned about selling it, he didn't think about the future and delivery and managing of expectations." Raisi is counting on populist promises to lift him above Rouhani. There are also genuine concerns that the regime's conservative establishment - anchored by the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps - may tamper with ballots to rig the vote in favor of Raisi, who is believed to be their preferred choice. This would mirror what seemed to take place in 2009, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won reelection under murky circumstances, prompting protests that eventually led to two leading reformist candidates being placed under house arrest that continues to this day. "Rouhani seems to be positioning himself as the anti-establishment candidate who dared to negotiate with the enemy," wrote my colleague Carol Morello. She noted that if Rouhani wins reelection, he "would be welcomed by Europeans who desire more business dealings with Tehran and who would likely resist or ignore any U.S. efforts to slap nuclear sanctions back on Iran. But if Raisi wins, both Iran and the United States would be led by presidents who considered the deal a bad one and are inclined to demonstrate military strength over the soft power of diplomacy. In that case, the orphaned deal could have a short life span." That's something anti-Iran hawks in Washington would welcome. "If Rouhani wins, it won't change their perceptions of Iran," said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, speaking to Morello about the regime's critics. "If Raisi wins, it makes their case easier to portray Iran as the malign actor in the region." That perspective was on full display in an op-ed written by Elliott Abrams, a national security official under former presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, in which he said he was "rooting" for Raisi. "Raisi is the true face of the Islamic Republic, while Rouhani is a facade," wrote Abrams. "Rouhani has shown himself powerless to effect any change in the regime's conduct and his only role is to mislead the West into thinking 'moderates' are in charge. We are far better off, as we were when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president, when there are no illusions about Iran's regime and the men who lead it." He concluded: "If Raisi wins, two things will happen. First, it will be evident - especially to Iranians - that the election was stolen, so the Iranian people will be that much more alienated from their rulers. The day the regime falls will have been brought that much closer. And second, the entire world will have a much clearer view of the nature of that regime today." (This, ironically, is quite similar to the view of staunch leftists who believed President Trump's election victory would reveal the "empire" for what it is and lead to its implosion.) Rouhani, who has ties to Khamenei, is not a real reformist. But, particularly during the election campaign, he has taken a striking line, attacking Raisi for his own role as a prosecutor in decades-old mass executions and berating the Revolutionary Guard for its anti-Israel sloganeering. He is appealing to a significant segment of the country's population that is eager for political change in the country and rapprochement with the wider world. Human rights activists and leaders from ethnic minorities in Iran have come out in his support. For that reason, perhaps, Rouhani has seemed at odds with elements of the regime in recent years. He and his allies, including the Western-educated foreign minister, Javad Zarif, can do little as authorities arrest and arbitrarily detain foreigners and brutalize dissidents. If he wins, the backlash from more conservative forces may be swift. "Every time they lose, they arrest more people in Iran, crackdown even more on the press, and become even more hostile against the West," wrote Meir Javedanfar, an expert on Iranian affairs, referring to Iran's hard-liners. "Why? Because they know that these are the areas which the reformists and the moderates want to improve. Therefore they will try to weaken them and make them look feeble in front of their voters by doing things which the winning camp has stood against." Outsiders may be justifiably cynical about Iranian democracy, but when Iranians vote in their greatest numbers, they do so for reformist politics. "Reformist President Mohammad Khatami won in 1997 and 2001 with 79.9 percent and 66.8 percent voter turnout, respectively. Rouhani won four years ago with 72.9 percent turnout and 18.6 million votes. In contrast, no hardline presidential candidate has ever exceeded Ahmadinejad's 17.2 million votes in 2005," wrote Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council. "If voter turnout is anywhere near 2013 levels, a Raisi victory would require an electoral feat that hardliners have never before accomplished." And if that happens, Iranians will once more have to confront how their political game is rigged. Mental health services. Civics and arts programs. International education and language studies. Anti-bullying activities. Gifted and talented initiatives. Full-service community schools. These are some of the K-12 education programs that President Donald Trump is proposing be eliminated in his first full budget, as explained in a Washington Post story. The story, based on documents obtained by the Post, details the $10.6 billion in cuts the administration wants to make in federal education initiatives, and how it wants to reinvest part of the savings into efforts to promote school choice. Here are some details that aren't in the story. First is a list in the budget documents of proposed discretionary programs targeted for elimination, which the documents say will save $5.9 billion, and following that are the given justifications for each. They were targeted, the documents say, because they "achieved their original purpose, duplicate other programs, are narrowly focused, or are unable to demonstrate effectiveness." The president's budget also eliminates funding for a program known as Title IV, meant for academic enrichment and student support. Why are these being cut? Here is the rationale for each, from the budget documents. The amounts are in millions: 21st Century Community Learning Centers ... $1,164.5 This program makes formula grants to States, which award local subgrants to support before, after, and summer school programs that provide safe spaces and opportunities for academic enrichment for nearly 2 million students at roughly 11,500 centers. This program lacks strong evidence of meeting its objectives, such as improving student achievement. Alaska Native Education ... $32.4 This program supports supplemental education services for a very high-need student population facing unique challenges in obtaining a high-quality education. The Alaska Native Education program largely duplicates services that may be funded through the $260 million in other Federal elementary and secondary programs that support Alaska as well as State, local, and private funds. American History and Civics Academies ... $1.8 This program supports efforts to improve the quality of American history and civics education through grants for intensive workshops for teachers and students and for evidence-based instructional methods and professional development programs. The program has limited impact, with American History and Civics Academies grants reaching only a small number of teachers and students. (Each academy may serve no more than 300 teachers or students annually.) Arts in Education ... $26.9 This program supports arts education projects and programs for children and youth, with special emphasis on serving students from low-income families and students with disabilities. Arts in Education has limited impact and funds activities that are more appropriately supported with other Federal, State, local, and private funds. Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) ... $15.1 The CCAMPIS program subsidizes campus-based child care services for low-income parents in postsecondary education programs. While the CCAMPIS program provides an important service that benefits low-income student parents, subsidizing expenses associated with child care is not consist with the Department's core mission. The Administration maintains funding for existing child care programs within the Department of Health and Human Services. Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants/Striving Readers ... $189.6 This program awards competitive grants to States, which make competitive subgrants to local entities to improve literacy instruction from birth through grade 12. The program has limited impact, with only 6 State grants in the most recent cohort, and duplicates activities that may be supported with other Federal, State, local, and private funds. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants ... $731.7 This program allocates money to institutions using a statutory formula; the institutions then use the money to award need-based aid to students. This program duplicates the Pell Grant program and its allocation formula is not targeted efficiently, basing most of the allocation on prior allocation levels. Full-Service Community Schools ... $10.0 This program supports projects that involve a school as the locus for the provision of comprehensive academic, social, and health services that respond to the needs of students, their families, and community members. The program has limited impact and largely duplicates activities that are more appropriately supported through other Federal, State, local, and private funds. Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property ... $66.7 This authority provides payments to local educational agencies without regard to the presence of federally connected children and thus does not necessarily support the provision of educational services for federally connected children. Most districts that receive these payments have been funded for 40 years or more - plenty of time to adjust to the removal of Federal property from their tax rolls. Innovative Approaches to Literacy Program ... $26.9 This program makes competitive grants to improve literacy through support of school libraries, professional development for school librarians, and the provision of high-quality books to children and adolescents in low-income communities. School districts and schools that choose to focus on libraries and the provision of free books as part of their early literacy strategies may use Title I funds for this purpose. International Education and Foreign Language Studies Domestic Programs ... $65.0 This program is designed to strengthen the capability and performance of American education in foreign languages and in international studies. This program supports activities that are better advanced by other agencies whose primary mission is national security. International Education and Foreign Language Studies Overseas Programs ... $7.0 This program improves secondary and postsecondary teaching and research concerning other cultures and languages, training of specialists, and the American public's general understanding of the peoples of other countries. This program supports activities that are better advanced by other agencies whose primary mission is national security. Javits Gifted and Talented Education ... $12.0 This program supports research and other activities to build local capacity to identify gifted and talented students and meet their special educational needs. Limited Federal education dollars should be focused on our most disadvantaged children, and programs for gifted and talented students can be supported with State, local, and private funds. Native Hawaiian Education ... $33.3 This program supports supplemental education services for a very high-need student population facing unique challenges in obtaining a high-quality education. The program largely duplicates services that may be funded through the $127 million in other Federal elementary and secondary programs that support Hawaii as well as State, local, and private funds. Preschool Development Grants ... $249.5 The Preschool Development Grants competition supports State efforts to (1) build or enhance a preschool program infrastructure that would enable the delivery of high-quality preschool services to children, and (2) expand high-quality preschool programs in targeted communities that would serve as models for expanding preschool to all 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families. Note that this program was funded at the Department of Health and Human Services in FY 2017. Ready to Learn Programming ... $25.7 This program supports the development and dissemination of high-quality educational television programming. The program is less relevant and necessary with the rise of the internet and the increasing number of private providers that create and disseminate programming, online games, and "apps" that are both educational and entertaining. School Leader Recruitment and Support Program ... $16.3 This program grants fund activities to improve the recruitment, preparation, placement, support, and retention of effective principals and other school leaders in high-need schools. This small program has limited impact and effectiveness and duplicates other Federal funds that may be used to support local efforts to recruit, train, and retain effective school leaders. Special Olympics Education Programs ... $10.1 This program supports a directed grant award to a not-for-profit organization. Funds are used to expand the Special Olympics and the design and implementation of Special Olympics education programs. Such activities are better supported with other Federal, State, local, or private funds. Strengthening Institutions ... $86.4 This program provides funds that may be used to support a wide variety of institutional support activities, including construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement of instructional facilities. The program duplicates activities that may be supported with other Federal funds, including $492 million in the Higher Education Act Title III and V grant programs. Supported Employment State Grants ... $27.5 Through this formula grant program, State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies receive supplemental funds to assist consumers with the most significant disabilities in achieving the employment outcome of supported employment. As supported employment is now an integral part of the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program, there is no longer a need for a separate funding stream to ensure the provision of such services. Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants ... $2,345.4 This program provides funding for grants to national non-profit organizations for projects that are supported by at least moderate evidence to recruit, select, and prepare or provide professional enhancement activities for teachers, principals, or both. The Title II-A program is largely redundant and duplicative. Virtually all other ESEA formula grant funds (e.g., Title I, Title III), as well as funding from competitive grant programs, may be used for teacher or staff professional development. Teacher Quality Partnerships ... $43.0 The TQP program supports partnerships that enhance professional development activities and training for current and prospective teachers and staff. The statute places unnecessary burden on grantee activities, limiting their ability to design the programs that work best for local schools. The budget documents show that the administration is also proposing $400 million in cuts to student support and academic programs that were combined in a Title IV fund by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Lawmakers actually authorized as much as $1.65 billion for this but the administration's fiscal year 2018 budget gives no money at all to these programs. What are they? According to this explanation on the Education Department website, the money is meant to be spent for these reasons: 1) To provide all students with access to a well-rounded education 2) Improve school conditions for student learning 3) Improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students. The programs include mental-health services, anti-bullying initiatives, physical education, Advanced Placement courses and science and engineering instruction. Congress created the fund, which totals $400 million this fiscal year, by rolling together several smaller programs. WASHINGTON - Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the many layers of controversy facing President Donald Trump will not impede House Republicans from pursuing their agenda, the day after the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to probe possible collusion between associates of Trump and Russian officials. Ryan sought to project an aura of calm while speaking with reporters Thursday as a growing sense of scandal engulfs the White House. "It's always nice to have less drama," he acknowledged during a news conference. "I realize there's a lot in the media these days. That doesn't seize up Congress. That doesn't stop us from doing our jobs. He gave tax reform, a major GOP priority, as an example, vowing it would not slip into next year. "Drama is not helpful in getting things done," Ryan said, "but we're still getting things done. . . . I feel very comfortable we'll meet this goal." The comments came amid a second chaotic week on Capitol Hill in the wake of Trump's dismissal of FBI director James Comey. New revelations about Trump - including his disclosure of highly classified information to Russian officials and his attempt to pressure Comey into dropping an investigation into the former White House national security adviser - have left Republicans reeling and increasingly frustrated by the president's behavior. Asked about private chatter among some Republicans that Vice President Mike Pence would be a better chief executive than Trump, Ryan projected disgust. "I'm not going to give credence to that," he said. "I'm not even going to comment on that. There's not even a point making a comment on that." Attention on Capitol Hill quickly returned Thursday to Comey's firing, as committees awaited a response to invitations for him to testify and senators prepared to receive a briefing from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. "Mr. Comey was central to the events of the past few weeks," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday morning on the Senate floor. "We still need to hear from him." Comey has received invitations to testify from the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He has not stated publicly whether he will appear. The appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel took the pressure off many lawmakers, who felt increasingly pressed in the past month to support an independent commission or a special prosecutor to look into the Russia matter. Still, Mueller's appointment does not end the investigations already taking place on Capitol Hill, and lawmakers expressed a firm commitment to continuing their efforts. The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday became the latest panel to request documents from the Justice Department about the Russia investigation and Comey's conversations with Trump. The Senate Intelligence Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have already made similar requests. "We're going to keep doing our jobs -- keep our Russia investigations going," said Ryan, who had rejected calls for a special counsel. Those efforts are taking place against a continually shifting backdrop of news and controversy involving the Trump White House. Earlier this week, The Washington Post revealed that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian officials during a meeting in the Oval Office. A day later, the New York Times reported that Trump had pressured Comey to drop an investigation of former White House national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, based on a memo Comey wrote summarizing their meeting. The Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena last week to force Flynn to turn over documents relevant to its Russia probe. Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., stated Thursday that Flynn's attorneys had not yet "indicated their intentions" but expressed hopes they would cooperate. "Michael Flynn has not cooperated with the committee up to this point," Burr told reporters on Capitol Hill. "We have not gotten the definitive answer." Congressional committees have sent multiple requests to the FBI and the White House to obtain any records of Trump's conversations with Comey, as well as other Russia-related documents. Among them was the House Oversight Committee, whose chairman appeared on television Wednesday night and disputed whether the Comey memo actually exists. "I'm not even sure these memos exist," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said in an interview with Fox News Channel. "I'm not even sure they're real. I just don't know . . . I do think it's worthy of investigation. I think they should pursue it." Partisan differences also began to emerge on the matter of the special counsel. While praising Mueller for being "as good as it gets," Chaffetz said he ultimately disagreed with the Justice Department's decision. "They shouldn't have actually appointed somebody," he told Fox News. "They're feeling the political heat. Maybe they're watching a little too much television and reading too many newspapers and whatnot." He added that he had not seen "any evidence of actual collusion" between Trump associates and the Russian government. "Where is the actual crime they think they need a special prosecutor to investigate?" Chaffetz said. "I haven't seen that." In a separate Fox interview, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., cast doubt on the report Trump had disclosed classified information to Russian officials, saying he spoke with someone who was in the meeting who had denied it. "They vehemently and repeatedly denied that the president said or did that would have compromised U.S. intelligence, its sources, its methods or our intelligence relationships around the world," Rubio said on Fox and Friends. "Before we form opinions . . . we need to know what the facts are," he said. The Senate and House intelligence committees are the primary centers of investigation on Capitol Hill of the Russia matter, and Chaffetz has been criticized for not using his power to investigative Trump. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the oversight panel, called on Chaffetz to subpoena documents from the White House after the New York Times reported that Trump's presidential transition team was aware of investigations of Flynn before naming him national security adviser. "There is no longer any excuse to allow the White House to continue stonewalling," Cummings said Thursday in a statement. "The Chairman either needs to subpoena the White House or let the Committee take a vote." Cummings elaborated in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We need to look at the vetting process and how it takes place in the new administrations, whether they're Democratic or Republican," he said. "I'm hoping Chairman Chaffetz and I can work together to get some things done." Outside of the issue of Congress's investigations, Democrats are expressing concerns about the possibility of improper influence by the Trump administration on Mueller's investigation. Several members of the party, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said Mueller's appointment must be followed by the creation of an independent commission to oversee its own Russia probe. "A special prosecutor cannot take the place of a truly independent commission," she said. "There's reason to believe that the president was engaged in some very inappropriate activities." Asked if America's allies should be nervous about information being leaked by the president, Pelosi said the answer was obvious. "Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you be nervous?" she said. Democrats' other pressing concern is the search for Comey's replacement. "The next FBI director must be someone who is nonpartisan, independent, fearless and unimpeachable," Schumer said Thursday, ruling out a politician for the role. "Anyone who suggests a lack of impartiality should not be considered." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not mention any of these issues during his morning remarks on the Senate floor, focusing instead on health care. "The entire Senate Republican Conference has been at work debating ideas and making progress," McConnell said. "I hope our friends on the other side of the aisle will join us in bringing some relief to all these families who desperately need it." - - - The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, Sean Sullivan and David Weigel contributed to this report. Gay Russian men are attempting to flee their country amid a wave of detention, torture, and killing in the country's southern region of Chechnya. Now Lithuania has become one of the first countries to grant two of those persecuted refuge, while the United States denied their visa requests. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Baltic News ServiceWednesday that Lithuania granted visas to "two natives of Chechnya who suffered persecution because of their sexual orientation." He called on other European Union countries to follow suit. Lithuania made the announcement on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, an annual observance to raise awareness of violence and discrimination against LGBTI people. While Lithuania opened itself to those fleeing persecution, the United States slammed its own door shut. On Wednesday, Buzzfeed News reported the State Department denied visas to gay Chechens fleeing persecution, even while LGBTI groups in Russia frantically search for ways to get them out of the country. The Russia LGBT Network said there are still about 40 survivors of Chechen prison camps currently in hiding and trying to flee the country. The Chechen government, run by controversial strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, vehemently denied reports his government was rounding up gay men in prison camps. Still, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on May 11 to investigate the reports amid a firestorm of international outrage. However, after Israeli press covered the issue extensively, the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv released a statement the same day of Putin's announcement suggesting the investigation was already over and nothing happened. "There are no victims of persecution, threats or violence," the statement, sent to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, read. It went on to call the reports "the excuse for the beginning of a propaganda campaign against Russia around the world." Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta first reported the imprisonment and abuse of gay Chechens in April. While the reports drew widespread condemnation, including sharp rebuke from U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, the White House was conspicuously quiet on the matter. The White House gave no indication the issue came up during President Donald Trump's now infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 10, and said it was "not aware" if Trump was even briefed on the issue. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On a weekend celebrating mothers, two daughters made an even more special occasion of it. Lamar University betstowed degrees on two mothers and their daughters during Saturday's commencement ceremony. Bridget Simmons walked across the Montagne Center stage with her daughter by her side to receive the same degrees. "I think the crowd was more excited than we were," said Simmons, who graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing. Simmons and her 29-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Davis, were one of two mother-daughter duos crossing the stage together at Lamar's spring commencement. Simmons, who had Davis when she was 16, asked that she and her daughter walk side by side. "Many frowned down on me as a teenage mother, but I didn't let that stop me for reaching my goals," said Simmons, a hospice nurse for the past 15 years. She said she decided to become a nurse shortly after her mother passed away from breast cancer in 1995. After Simmons became a licensed vocational nurse in 2001, she persuaded Davis to follow in her footsteps. Davis, who originally was interested in business management, said she was skeptical about going into nursing straight out of high school. Davis became a licensed vocational nurse in 2007 and graduated with an associate's degree in nursing in 2012. She is currently a home-care pediatric nurse. She said her mom was more excited as they crossed the stage. "Jocelyn is definitely the more low-key one," Bridget said. Because they were enrolled in Lamar's online nursing program and didn't have face-to-face interaction with classmates, Davis said she and her mother relied on each other for support. "I work night shifts, and she works evening shifts so it was hard to study together," Simmons said. "We kept each other motivated." Simmons said her ultimate goal is to own and operate a nursing staff agency with Davis and her 21-year-old daughter who is also a nurse. It started with a speeding ticket. But that night in 1965, Moostash Joe got more than a ticket. He gained a name that became well known among thousands of polka fans, radio listeners and travelers. And whether they danced to his music or took one of his tours, many people knew Moostash Joe Spellerberg. On Wednesday, the polka and travel legend died at The Monarch at Eastmont in Lincoln. He was 83. Spellerberg, who had a polka band, played for dances around the world. He hosted a free, annual Big Band Polka Party at Fremont City Auditorium and launched Moostash Joe Tours, a company that remains in his family to this day. And for almost 60 years, the area music icon hosted a big band and polka show every Sunday afternoon on KHUB Radio. My dad was one of those guys who was a one-of-kind personality, said one of Spellerbergs sons, Joey. He brought so much joy to other people in his life and that was from his love of music and his love of the tour business. Joey Spellerberg described his father as an active, enthusiastic man, who enjoyed life. Anyone who met the elder Spellerberg always remembered that meeting. Theres not many people who are able to connect like that, Joey Spellerberg said. An unexpected meeting provided Spellerberg with a moniker hed have for the rest of his life. That night in 1965, Spellerberg was driving just outside of West Point on the way to a dance job when he noticed the flashing lights of a patrol car in his rear view mirror. Patrolman Clarence Mayhew wrote a speeding ticket for Spellerberg. But Mayhew was also a fan of what then was called The Polka Show. Mayhew thought the show needed a better name. He noticed Spellerberg had a mustache. So Mayhew suggested the show be called The Moostash Joe Polka Show not Mustasche Joe but Moostash Joe. The name stuck and Mayhew and Spellerberg became and remained good friends until the Mayhews death in 1993, the tour company website states. Spellerberg loved his children and music, Joey said. He was a great father and he wasnt afraid to show that affection and he was always 100 percent honest and would tell us things we needed to hear and was always willing to help no matter what, Joey said. Joey recalls trips to the radio station. He would take us to the radio station when we were kids and we would sit next to him and listen to the music and hed let us talk and those are good memories of him and his show, Joey Spellerberg said. His show meant a lot to him and a lot of people. The longtime musician and businessman started Moostash Joe Tours, in 1975, and for the next 15 years served as a tour company that served people wishing to travel abroad. That first tour occurred because he was approached by members of the travel group Intertrav to promote a tour to Oktoberfest in Germany through his band, The Moostash Joe Polka Band. People traveled to Czechoslovakia, Australia, China and throughout Europe. He promoted it through his band and he had a huge following with his band, Joey Spellerberg said in an earlier Tribune article. He used his name for that and it worked. The first year they got 50 people to go, and the next year he got 150 and then in 1977 he got 300 for the same tour. Throughout the following years, Moostash Joe searched for tours he thought people would enjoy. And as more people started taking tours, more locations continued being added. From 1975-1990, 95 percent of all customers traveled to foreign countries. Now, the destinations have reversed, with 95 percent of people traveling in the United States. The company offers more than 90 tour destinations annually, and since its founding has served more than 30,000 tour guests, making it an elite Midwest tour company. Ill always remember him guiding tours and being in the back of the motor coach and watching him entertain people, Joey Spellerberg said. He was an entertainer. People always gravitated toward him and his personality, and that was fun to see. Two of Spellerbergs children, Joey and John, run the tour business. Joey is president and John is vice president. Joey said he and his brother want to continue doing everything in their power to honor and recognize the legacy their father created. We have the utmost respect for dad and what was already established for us. Its a big responsibility for me, and its something I feel every day, because I want to maintain and continue what was already established, Joey Spellerberg said. In May, Joe Spellerberg was inducted into the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. He was involved in numerous events and organizations throughout the years, always directing others to stay Fremont-oriented, stated Chamber information. Spellerbergs true contribution is being a beloved ambassador of Fremont, said Bill Vobejda, vice president of Fremont Health Medical Center, during the Chamber Hall of Fame gala this month. Along with the thousands of lives he has touched, and the life long memories he has helped create along the way, his contributions are truly immeasurable. Its hard to have a bad time listening to polka and big band music, he said. Every aspect of it is happiness, Joey Spellerberg said. The old saying goes, Its happy music for happy people, and thats true nothings downtrodden about it. Its all just great up-tempo music. The funeral will start at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Patricks Catholic Church in Fremont with the Rev. David Belt officiating. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Monday with a rosary at 7 p.m. at the church. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Fremont. Moser Memorial Chapel in Fremont is in charge of arrangements. Earlier this spring, the Department of Homeland Security issued a rule requiring people traveling to the United States from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries to put electronics larger than a smartphone in checked baggage. While the Trump Administration was reportedly weighing whether to expand the reach of that ban to flights to the United States out of Europe, officials have decided not to do so -- for now. Were it to go into effect, it could have potentially led to significant logistical and financial concerns for passengers and airlines. WASHINGTON - The race is on to see which congressional committee can land the first public appearance of James Comey, the ousted FBI director who has stayed out of the spotlight since President DonaldTrump fired him May 9. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, operating the highest profile investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential campaign, are trying to reschedule a hearing with Comey after he declined their request to appear in private Tuesday. On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a formal request for Comey to come before the panel to discuss the FBI investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia and Hillary Clinton's handling of classified material while secretary of state, and how those played into Comey's dismissal. Not to be outdone, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the outgoing chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced on Twitter that he had scheduled a hearing for Comey next week - even before he had actually made contact with the ex-FBI director. Who will go first? "That's a very good question," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Thursday. Then Collins wondered whether the Justice Department's appointment of Robert S. Mueller III to serve as the special counsel overseeing the criminal and counterintelligence investigation on Russia might prompt a request for all congressional committees to stand down. That's the one thing that brings unanimity from committee leaders, because every panel believes Comey should still testify. Each panel is operating under the auspices of conducting forthright oversight of a critical investigation, but lawmakers can barely hide their ambition at landing what would be a grand media spectacle. It's a lot like Barbara Walters and other TV personalities fighting over the first interview with a Hollywood starlet beset by scandal. If you're on the Intelligence Committee, you think Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va., the chairman and ranking member of that panel, should decide the order of appearances by Comey. "That sounds like a Burr-Warner responsibility - to figure out how to set a standard of which committee should get the first crack at these witnesses," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the intelligence panel, said Thursday. Other committees think they have just as much a right at the first hearing. "This is not exclusive. They have one part of this," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said of the Intelligence Committee. She suggested her panel is a more traditional landing spot for Comey: "We are the oversight for the FBI." It's understandable why Comey is in such demand. He is the man of the moment, whose allies leaked word that he kept meticulous memos of all his interactions with Trump. But he also has an unmistakable flare in his appearances that makes for great storytelling. Trump mocked Comey as "a showboat" and a "grandstander" in an interview last week with NBC News, admitting that Comey's handling of the "Russia thing" played a role in his dismissal. What Trump might see as a negative, however, lawmakers see as made-for-TV moments from which they get to reflect in the attention that he draws. A native of Yonkers, north of New York City, the 6-foot-8-inch Comey has an authoritative voice and is a more appealing figure for daytime cable television than another five-person roundtable chewing on current events. He unwinds stories from the witness table with the timing and style of an Irish writer, slicing through moment-by-moment narrative. His most famous appearance, as a civilian, came 10 years ago this week, when the Senate Judiciary Committee was conducting an investigation into the Bush White House's dismissal of U.S. attorneys in 2005. Comey had been deputy attorney general in 2003 and 2004, overseeing those federal prosecutors, but that day he unfurled a story only indirectly related to the inquiry at hand: the moment in 2004 he rushed to the hospital bedside of John Ashcroft, the attorney general, to prevent President George Bush's top advisers from getting Ashcroft to overrule his deputy's decision on a surveillance program. Asked a key question at the hearing, he paused for six seconds and stammered for another 10 seconds, before finally saying: "I've actually thought quite a bit over the last three years about how I would answer that question if it was ever asked, because I assumed that at some point I would have to testify about it." He then delivered a spellbinding account, punctuated by the first public admission that he and Mueller, then the FBI director, were willing to lead a mass resignation of Justice and FBI officials if they were overruled. After succeeding Mueller as FBI director, Comey continued to command the hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. On March 20, appearing before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey explained that the Justice Department and FBI never acknowledge a criminal investigation is happening unless "it is in the public interest." He then delivered the gut punch that would be played over and over again, confirming the investigation into any links from the Trump campaign to Russian operatives and pausing at just the right moment for effect. "This is one of those circumstances," Comey said. "I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm [pause] that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating [pause] the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election." That's why congressional committees are jostling to get the first crack at Comey. Collins said that she believes that, even if Mueller wants to wall him off as a fact witness in his investigation, Comey should at least be permitted to come testify about the memo he wrote about a mid-February meeting with Trump in which the president appeared to ask him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. First reported by the New York Times and confirmed by The Washington Post and other outlets, that memo is out in the public already, Collins said, and his discussion of it "would not tip off a witness." With so much demand, for Comey and other witnesses in the multiplying investigations, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was pressed whether he would referee the disputes. "I'll leave it up to the committees to determine that," he said. PORT AUSTIN A few years ago, a group of local artists formed a co-op and opened a store in Port Austin that offered an assortment of artistic works. It was a success. Over the course of three years, the store Mermaid's Cove provided numerous art lovers with a site that filled many shelves and walls with art work and made for hours of browsing by patrons planning their next purchase. Unfortunately, the building they were using no longer fit their needs and they were unable to open for business in 2016. This year is a different story. They have a brand new building, located at 8685 Lake St., in downtown Port Austin. Now called The Cove, they are committed to supplying the artistic needs of the Upper Thumb for years to come. They are having a grand re-opening event from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday. "The building is delightful. It's a jewel," said Laurie Conger, one of the partners in the store. "Hopefully, it'll be interesting enough that people will take notice." Conger, along with her partners, Lynne Wiencek and Dave Thuemmel, have put together a huge selection of artistic pieces that should assuage any art lover's needs. With that in mind, they have solicited a number of Michigan artists to join them in the store. "We are running this as a co-op," Conger said. "So, there are opportunities for people that have artwork here, to work some days and reduce their consignment fee. I think that's going to work out well for us. I'd say there are at least 30 artists represented in the store right now, and we're always looking for new artists. It will take a majority of partners to agree for someone to be juried into the store. " This process will ensure The Cove will continuously offer a wide variety of quality artwork to the community. "We have every kind of medium in the store that you can imagine," Conger said. "We have wood. We have fiber. We have clay. There's acrylic paint, and water colors. We also have new work using alcohol-based paint. I'd say about 95 percent of the artists are from the tip of the Thumb. They're all Michigan artists we like to support artists that work right here in the area." In an effort to serve the community, they are also offering a line of art supplies. "If you need watercolors or watercolor paper, or alcohol inks, they'll be available here," Conger said. A benefit of having a newly-constructed building, one built specifically to house a business of this nature, is that The Cove has room to offer art classes. "It's something we tested during the winter, and there's been good reception from the community," Conger said. "We did a little bit of everything. We did painting, fiber, and clay. The biggest draw was alcohol inks, which is a rage right now." Classes are being scheduled according to interest. They can accommodate from five to seven people. "We have to be sensitive to the artist's schedules, because they change all the time," Conger said. "Our class coordinator is Charlotte Thuemmel. If you're interested in a certain medium, contact her by email at daveandchar@echoicemi.com. She'll put you on a list for classes." The Cove offers an environment for art lovers. Browsing the store is an experience worth repeating. "The store is always changing," Conger said. "If you come in one week, you could come back the next week and see new things." Their new store also boasts a large back patio where special events will take place. They hope to have pop-up tents outside during the Farmers Market, and will host the Thumb Arts Guild's Seconds Sale on Memorial Weekend. Their spring hours are noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. These hours may change during the summer months, and they will also be open on Wednesday and Thursday during the tourist season. The grand re-opening will be an opportunity not only to see the work of the artists represented in The Cove, but there will be some artists on hand to answer questions about their work. Light refreshments will be available. The new building housing The Cove will be a showcase for the work the partners began a few years ago. Their plan is to offer quality ambience and art work for years to come. For more information about The Cove or the grand re-opening, call 989-582-9090. You can also keep in touch via their Facebook page The Cove-Local Arts. RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the party's gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last year's Democratic presidential race, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll. Democratic likely voters say Perriello's endorsements by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., icons of the national progressive movement, carry at least as much weight as Northam's support from Gov. Terry McAuliffe and nearly all other Virginia Democrats in Congress and the state legislature. With less than one month before the June 13 primary, 40 percent of likely Democratic voters support Perriello, while 38 percent support Northam, a difference that is well within the survey's range of sampling error. Perriello is a former congressman, and Northam is the state's lieutenant governor. More than 2 in 10 Democratic voters are undecided or have no current preference, a sign of fluidity leading into the final weeks before the June 13 primary, according to the poll co-sponsored by The Post and George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government. "I like both the guys," said Shantanu Sharma, 46, of Sterling. "I'm torn between the guy with the establishment backing versus the guy with Bernie Sanders's backing." Among the broader group of Democratic-leaning registered voters, Perriello holds a slight edge over Northam, with 35 percent support to Northam's 29 percent. Northam's supporters are more apt to fit the profile of likely voters, though - a factor that could prove decisive given that fewer than 10 percent of voters have participated in nonpresidential primaries in the past decade. Age is a clear dividing line in support, with Perriello, 42, leading Northam by 20 percentage points among Democratic-leaning registered voters ages 18 to 39, while Northam, 57, leads by 16 points among those ages 65 and older. The two run more evenly among voters in between. As one of only two gubernatorial races nationwide this year (the other is in New Jersey, which is less competitive), Virginia has drawn national attention as a proving ground for how Democrats move forward after Hillary Clinton's defeat in November. Perriello's upstart candidacy has attracted national money and national media as he bashes President Trump at every opportunity, while Northam has patiently built support within the state and has campaigned on his ability to work with the Republican-controlled legislature. Opposition to Trump clearly resonates with Virginia voters, only 36 percent of whom approve of his performance, according to the poll. Bridget Hewlett, 48, of Richmond, said she has been distraught and disillusioned with politics after watching how Trump's administration is playing out. "I am not that type of Democrat who is hateful. I want him to succeed," she said. "But he is getting on my nerves, and he is acting too childish. I want a governor who will come in and help the country calm down. I want the country to feel better again. I don't feel happy." Hewlett said she is leaning toward Perriello but hasn't made up her mind. Perriello leads by 18 points among Democratic-leaning registered voters who wanted Sanders to win the party's presidential nomination last year, while Clinton voters split 35 percent for Northam and 34 percent for Perriello. Judging from last year's outcome, a Sanders strategy would seem risky in Virginia. Clinton beat Sanders by nearly 30 percentage points in the state's primary, though voters then were also split along generational lines. Exit polling showed Sanders won nearly 7 in 10 voters under age 30, while Clinton won clear majorities of older voters. But the poll suggests that Perriello's Sanders-like approach is finding traction. A 57 percent majority of Democratic likely voters say the Sanders and Warren endorsements make them more inclined to back Perriello. That's slightly higher than the 50 percent who say the support from McAuliffe and other Virginia Democratic officials makes them more likely to back Northam. That might suggest a shift in the state party. "In the past, the Democratic Party of Virginia has always proudly bucked against the more progressive trends on the national party side," said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School. "They've always had their success when they projected a more moderate image than the national party. I think things have flipped in some respects. We're seeing a much more progressive wing of the Democratic Party active in Virginia." Lucas Atkins, a 19-year-old college student from Roanoke, said he was drawn to Perriello after reading about his plans to increase taxes on the wealthy to expand social programs and learning he had the endorsements of Sanders and Warren. "That means a lot to me personally because Bernie and Elizabeth Warren aren't the average Democrat. They are not the same old centrist Democrat," said Atkins, who said the election of Trump should send a signal for Democrats to embrace the party's progressive wing. "I'd like to be optimistic and say some people might have learned the lesson that centrist establishment Democratic policies are not necessarily what the American people want." Northam and Perriello agree on most major issues and are seen by voters to possess similar attributes. But Perriello has a slight edge in the perception that he could stand up to Trump (38 percent to 30 percent), while Northam has a similar edge in perception that he could work with state Republicans (38 percent to 31 percent). Still, those results are within the poll's range of sampling error. There are a couple of key regional differences. Perriello enjoys a massive advantage in the southwest part of the state, where 58 percent of Democratic-leaning registered voters say they support him compared with 20 percent for Northam. Perriello is from Charlottesville and represented the rural 5th District during his single term in Congress. Northam, who represented Norfolk in the state Senate, holds a smaller edge in the Hampton Roads region, with 40 percent support compared with 28 percent for Perriello. Between his career in the legislature and heavy TV advertising in Hampton Roads, Northam is a far more familiar figure in that part of the state. "I haven't had much knowledge of Mr. Perriello, no advertisements, nothing that would make me kind of think maybe I would prefer him," said Sandra Wilson, 58, of Norfolk, who said she supports Northam. The two are running virtually even in Northern Virginia, with 28 percent favoring Perriello and 26 percent for Northam. But more than one-third of those voters remain undecided, making the vote-rich area a major opportunity in the final weeks before the primary. One part of the national story line that doesn't hold up: Perriello has been claiming the progressive mantle, but registered voters who identify as "very liberal" are about equally split between the two. Similarly, Northam has been portrayed as the more conservative of the two, but Perriello has a statistically insignificant lead among moderate and conservative Democrats, 35 percent to 27 percent. The two are vying to take on one of the three Republicans running for that party's nomination in the primary. Those candidates are former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, state Sen. Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach and Prince William County supervisor Corey Stewart. The poll found Gillespie with a commanding lead in that primary battle. The Post-Schar School poll was conducted May 9 to 14 among a random sample of 1,602 Virginia adults reached on cellular and landline phones. The margin of sampling error for individual percentage results is plus or minus 4.5 points among the sample of 654 Democratic-leaning registered voters and six points among the sample of 351 likely primary voters. The range of sampling error for the difference between candidates' support is 10 points among likely voters. As concerns grow over the condition of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which has endured widespread coral bleaching in the past several years, scientists are finding similar damage on reefs all over the world, including in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Now, a recent expedition to the Chagos Archipelago, a collection of at least 60 small islands in the Indian Ocean, has revealed devastating coral bleaching and coral death there, too. "In shallow water, above 15 meters and in places down to 20 meters, we've seen a lot of coral mortality - probably somewhere in the region of 90 percent," said John Turner, a professor at Bangor University in Wales, who led the recent expedition. "It's a very upsetting thing to see, when these reefs have developed so well, and to see them being essentially reset, if you'd like." The reef is believed to have suffered back-to-back bleaching events in 2015 and 2016, Turner told The Washington Post. These events were brought on by unusually warm conditions, likely influenced by climate change and an unusually severe El Nino effect in 2015. Scientists have found that coral reefs all over the world have been affected by these conditions, though not all have fared as badly as those in the Chagos area or the Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching doesn't automatically mean death for coral reefs. It's a natural reaction to environmental stress, such as high temperatures, that causes the corals to expel the tiny algae that live inside them and give them their brilliant colors. Given enough time, the coral will regrow its algae and return to normal. But bleaching events can weaken the reefs, making them more vulnerable to disease. And if stressful conditions last long enough, the coral may begin to die. Before the more recent bleaching event in the Chagos Archipelago, an El Nino effect in 1997 and 1998 caused a severe one. It took until about 2012 before the Chagos reef appeared to have recovered. Now, Turner says, the Chagos area has suffered so much coral death that "the reefs have basically been set back to the '97-'98 cover levels of coral." This raises alarm about the archipelago's future, especially amid concerns about rising global sea levels. "If the reefs begin to die off in any way or erode, then of course these atolls are at risk," Turner said. "Erosion will begin to exceed growth, and we will see these islands begin to recede. . . . That's the natural way with atolls." The Chagos Archipelago includes a collection of coral atolls. One of them, the Great Chagos Bank, is the largest coral atoll in the world. It sits in the middle of the Indian Ocean, midway between the eastern coast of Africa and Singapore and about 300 miles south of the Maldives, the closest island nation. The archipelago's original inhabitants were expelled in the 1960s and moved to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for military bases, and there's an ongoing sovereignty dispute over the islands between Mauritius and the United Kingdom. Only one island in the archipelago - Diego Garcia, the largest - is inhabited by humans, mostly military personnel and contractors. Until recently, the area around the Chagos Archipelago was the largest marine protected area in the world. (It has since lost the title to other marine reserves designated in the past few years). Because of its protected status, Turner said, "one would hope these reefs were pristine." In fact, he said, a major part of the archipelago's scientific significance is the fact that most of the islands are nearly untouched by human influence. That makes the site something of a reference point for researchers - a place where the ongoing effects of processes like climate change might be observed without all the extra noise that comes with human activities like fishing or construction. "But actually, what we have learned is that the big bleaching events that are caused by ocean warming have affected these reefs just like any other," Turner said. Coral sampling during the expedition showed that about 90 percent of all the coral in the archipelago's shallow waters - at depths above 50 feet or so - have died. In deeper waters, most of the corals are surviving, although there's widespread evidence of bleaching, researchers said. Turner remains optimistic about the reef's ability to bounce back. "We're seeing lots of juvenile corals beginning to grow on these reefs," he said. "So that's a good sign." Still, one point of concern is that many of these young corals are settling down on the frames of dead corals, which may eventually break down, Turner said. In the longer term, more bleaching events in the coming years could further devastate an already weakened reef. As climate change is expected to cause severe warming events to become more frequent in the future, scientists are beginning to worry that many reefs around the world won't have adequate time to bounce back between bleaching events. This is one of the issues facing the Great Barrier Reef. Turner noted, however, that because the Chagos Archipelago is so remote and has enjoyed protection over the years, it has been spared some of the other damaging effects of human influence - such as overfishing or damage from boats and divers - that have plagued other reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef. As a result, he said, there's hope that the coral there may be hardier than in other places. "We do make the point that this is resilient and there is a good possibility of recovery," he said. - - - Chris Mooney contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - Former District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson routinely helped well-connected parents - including two senior aides to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) - bend or break the rules of the District of Columbia's notoriously competitive school lottery to enroll their children at coveted schools, according to a confidential report obtained by The Washington Post. The report, based on an investigation by the D.C. Inspector General's Office, shows in remarkable detail how Henderson used her power as head of the school system to place the children of those with political clout at campuses they could not otherwise access through the random lottery, which every year leaves thousands of families on waiting lists for their desired schools. Inspector General Daniel Lucas found Henderson had misused her authority by giving preferential treatment to seven of 10 people who requested special school placements for their children during the 2015 lottery season. The investigation did not examine the rest of Henderson's tenure from November 2010 to September 2016. Henderson openly acknowledged in interviews with investigators that she gave special treatment to the children of government officials. Asked about the help she gave City Administrator Rashad Young, a top Bowser cabinet official who earns a $295,000 salary, Henderson said D.C. officials "do not necessarily get paid as much as we should." The former chancellor bestowed such favors even as she dismissed pleas for special consideration from those with less influence, such as a deaf Vietnamese immigrant whose request that her daughter be allowed to attend a school where she could practice sign language was rejected. The findings could shake public confidence in the District's school lottery, which has been held up as a national model. It also raises troubling questions for Bowser, whose defense of her cabinet officials' roles in the scandal is undercut by details in the report. Henderson did not return calls for comment. A nationally prominent educator, Henderson stepped down at the start of the current school year. She sits on the board of New York City's Robin Hood Foundation and was recently named a superintendent in residence at The Broad Academy, a professional-development group funded by Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad. According to the report, she told investigators she was "thoughtful and judicious in her decisions and did not hand out the discretionary placements 'like candy.' " Henderson said she "understood the appearance of impropriety" but "believed she had the discretion to place any student in any DCPS school." In an interview Wednesday, Bowser insisted that her top deputies did nothing wrong. "This is not an investigation of any parent," the mayor said. "Where the inspector general was pointing to and we have recognized - and have acted - is on a system that is too loose and needs to be tightened up." Bowser's office issued a 30-day moratorium on "discretionary" school transfers while Chancellor Antwan Wilson, Henderson's successor, crafts new rules that could include seeking approval from the city's ethics board before issuing a discretionary placement for a child of a public official. Now in its fourth year of operation, D.C.'s single, citywide school lottery offers parents a chance to win a spot in a school outside their neighborhood if it has unfilled seats. In a city where the quality of public education varies wildly, the opportunity to switch schools is prized, particularly outside of a few areas west of Rock Creek Park and on Capitol Hill where residents are guaranteed access to high-performing neighborhood schools. The city's traditional public schools and most charter schools participate in the lottery. The system - designed by a Nobel Prize winning economist to level the playing field for families regardless of address, income or connections - is an annual ritual for families in the nation's capital. Every spring parents find themselves talking lottery numbers and waiting-list rankings; many walk away unsatisfied. More than 22,000 students entered the lottery this year, and about 13,000 ended up on a waiting list. The schools chancellor has the power under D.C. regulations to place students directly into schools, regardless of their lottery results, but that authority is supposed to be limited to cases when it "would be in the best interests of the student" and "promote the overall interests of the school system." Lucas did not conclude that Henderson committed any crimes, but said she violated guidelines and forwarded his findings to the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability for further action. Investigators were focused on Henderson and did not address whether the public officials she helped had abused their positions. The report does not name the parents who benefitted from Henderson's VIP treatment. However, a former city official with knowledge of the school placements provided documents identifying four of them as Young, D.C. Deputy Mayor Courtney Snowden, former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Roberto Rodriguez, who served in the White House as an education advisor to former President Barack Obama. The former official provided the information on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. Fenty and Rodriguez could not be reached for comment; Snowden and Young referred questions to the mayor's office. Lucas shared his confidential report with the mayor and D.C. Council members but has refused to make it public, arguing that could jeopardize the privacy of the children involved. The Post reported last week that Snowden was probed over her son's placement at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, a DCPS school with a waiting list of more than 1,000 students. At a news conference last week, Bowser said Snowden had not skirted any rules. She also said that the inspector general's office had made a "mistake" in its apparent references to Young, who Bowser maintains had enrolled his children in school in 2015 through the normal lottery process without special favors. The investigative report casts doubt on both assertions. According to the inspector general, Snowden's child was placed at the Capitol Hill school in a grade that had no open seats, and despite the fact that he did not appear to have prior Montessori schooling - a requirement for admission. The placement was made in a matter of hours after Henderson sent a note to her chief operating officer, inquiring if there was room for the child. Henderson told the inspector general that she granted a so-called "discretionary" placement to Snowden, who was earning $196,000 a year as the deputy mayor for greater economic opportunity, because she was "paying a lot" to send her son to a private school where he was unhappy. However, the inspector noted that Snowden had won a spot for her son through the lottery for another campus, Watkins Elementary School, but declined to take it. A confidential source with knowledge of the episode told investigators that " 'special' children, those of city officials, did not have to go through any process to be enrolled at" Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, the report states. Henderson herself acknowledged a different standard for top government employees, saying that "when officials have their children in DCPS schools, it shows trust in the DCPS system, where there is a crisis of confidence," according to the report. Henderson also waived the rules for Young, who participated in the 2015 lottery and was apparently offered a seat at a school but did not enroll his children by the May 1 deadline. In mid-July, Henderson "authorized a discretionary transfer" to allow Young access to Murch Elementary School, a public school in Northwest Washington with a waiting list of nearly 800 students. The inspector general's report does not say if Murch was the school where Young's children were originally matched. If they were, however, the report notes that they would have forfeited their spots when they did not enroll by May 1 and that the school should have moved on to other students on the waiting list. Last week, Bowserinsisted that Young had not received preferential treatment. "Rashad Young's children participated in the lottery," she told reporters. "They were matched in the lottery. And his children attend a school where they were matched." The mayor's office shared emails with reporters from a school-lottery official stating that Young's children had been made "proper" wait-list offers from the school they attend. Henderson acknowledged to investigators that she gave Young special treatment, telling them that she "has given discretion to a lot of government officials" and "if she could help these government officials feel safe about where their children attend school, then she should extend that courtesy." Fenty and Rodriguez, Obama's deputy assistant to the president for education, had children specially placed by Henderson at Mann Elementary School, one of D.C.'s most sought-after campuses. Mann had a waiting list of 788 students after this year's lottery. Fenty, who served a single term as mayor from 2007 to 2011, previously came under fire for his children's special placement at Lafayette Elementary School by former schools chancellor Michelle Rhee in 2009. The other people Lucas said received special treatment in 2015 were a principal in the school system, the director of a foundation that works with the school system and one of Henderson's classmates from graduate school at Georgetown University. The same year, Henderson rejected requests for special school placements from a D.C. agency director and a deaf woman who wanted her daughter to attend Brent Elementary School, where she said there would be greater opportunity for the child to use sign language with several children of other deaf parents. Henderson also dismissed out of hand a request from a teacher at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan - the same school where she enrolled the deputy mayor's son - who wanted her child to attend classes at the same campus where she worked. "I must say, I was somewhat taken aback by this request and your endorsement of it," Henderson wrote in an email to the school's principal, who had followed up on the teacher's request. "Is there some reason that I don't know about that makes you think I should intervene in this particular case, but not in any other case of teachers or parents who don't get the result they want in the lottery?" Henderson wrote in an email that was quoted in the investigative report. "How would I explain to other teachers or to anyone why (this) child deserves a spot over any other parent who followed the rules that we all agreed on for enrollment in a limited number of seats? What am I missing here?" Emma Brown and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Thursday denied ever asking FBI Director James Comey to back off his agency's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and the role played by former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Asked whether he urged Comey to ease up on the Flynn investigation, Trump said at a news conference, "No, no," before ordering the media to move on to the "next question." Earlier this week there were several news reports that Trump made the request regarding Flynn during a February meeting in the Oval Office - these accounts were based on a memo Comey drafted at the time, the contents of which were described by officials familiar with the memo. Trump fired Comey last week. At the news conference, the president also reiterated his claim that the Justice Department's decision to appoint a special counsel to look into possible collusion with Russia was "a witch hunt," saying he had never colluded with the Russians. "I respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt, and there is no collusion between - certainly myself and my campaign, but I can only speak for myself and the Russians. Zero," Trump said, at a joint news conference Thursday afternoon with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia. "Believe me, there's no collusion. Russia is fine, but whether it's Russia or anybody else, my total priority, believe me, is the United States of America." Trump lashed out in the morning on Twitter at the news that the Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor, former FBI director Robert Mueller, to oversee the investigation, calling the move a politically motivated "witch hunt" by his Democratic rivals. The president's anger contrasted with a more measured written statement released by the White House on Wednesday evening, when he declared that a thorough investigation would find "no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity." The president's frustration has been building since he abruptly fired Comey. Trump said he acted because Comey, who had been overseeing the Russia investigation, "wasn't doing a good job" leading the agency, calling him a "showboat" and a "grandstander." But a report in the New York Times this week that Trump allegedly asked Comey to end the investigation undercut the president's rationale and has led to accusations from some in Congress that Trump was attempting to obstruct justice. Another report, in The Washington Post, that Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats in a meeting in the Oval Office last week has amplified concerns about the president's dealings with Moscow. During a speech at the Coast Guard Academy commencement Wednesday, an aggrieved Trump aired his mounting frustrations, declaring that "no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down, can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams." And earlier in the day, during a private lunch of television anchors at the White House, Trump said he believes the decision to appoint a special counsel "hurts our country terribly" and called it "a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election." "It shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country," Trump told the group. "I think it shows division, and it shows that we're not together as a country. And I think it's a very, very negative thing." Trump is scheduled to leave Washington on Friday on his first foreign trip, a nine-day sojourn with stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium, as well as a visit to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis. NAIROBI, Kenya - A Trump administration order took effect this week barring U.S. aid for global health organizations that discuss or provide referrals for abortion. But the new policy put another program in the crosshairs: America's global HIV/AIDS effort. Since 2003, the U.S. government has spent more than $70 billion to combat the global epidemic, with tremendous results. The annual number of AIDS-related deaths has fallen by more than 40 percent. Under President Donald Trump's expansion of the so-called global gag rule, however, many HIV/AIDS organizations funded by the United States stand to lose their funding, putting at risk the possibility of eliminating the epidemic by 2030, a commitment established at the U.N. General Assembly last year. About $6 billion in U.S. HIV/AIDS funding could be affected. "Reaching those ambitious targets could now be placed in real jeopardy," said Divya Bajpai, the director of programs at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. HIV/AIDS organizations could lose their U.S. funding not because they provide abortions, but because they offer counseling that includes the mention of abortion, or a referral to an abortion provider. The health organizations - most of which are in Africa, the region most affected by AIDS - will be able to keep their U.S. assistance only if they agree not to mention abortion services to their patients. Past Republican presidents implemented versions of the global "gag rule," but they affected only about $600 million in family-planning funds and did not apply to groups fighting HIV/AIDS. President George W. Bush, whose administration launched the multibillion-dollar President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is credited across much of Africa for his role in tackling the epidemic. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, which consists of 32 local organizations, offers a window into how the new policy will play out. The alliance receives a total of $130 million in annual funding - 20 percent of which comes from the United States. Each of the alliance's members will now have to decide whether to keep its U.S. assistance by cutting any mention of abortion from its services. "This is going to drive girls and young women away from treatment," said Bajpai. Thanks in large part to U.S. funding, hundreds of community health organizations treating HIV/AIDS have emerged across the developing world. Many of them, such as Family Health Options Kenya, offer a range of services, from antiretroviral treatment to contraceptive distribution and abortion counseling. With 17 locations, Family Health Options Kenya treats hundreds of HIV-positive women in some of the most remote parts of the country. But nearly half of its $400,000 budget comes from the United States. Already, the organization is trying to decide which services to cut and which locations to close. "We are being forced to reduce our operations," said Amos Simpano, the executive director for clinical services. "That means women won't have access to services. And for those on antiretrovirals, what will happen to them? Will they die?" Simpano says the organization has tried to look for a new funding stream, but without success. "There's a lot of pressure on us now," he said. Experts say Trump's policy could especially affect girls and young women, who are now the most likely people to contract the disease. "Girls and young women account for 74 percent of new HIV infections among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa," according to PEPFAR's fact sheet. Some of those girls and young women contract the disease after a violent sexual encounter, which in some cases also results in an unwanted pregnancy. A recent United Nations study said that in some regions, women who had experienced physical or sexual abuse by their partners were 1.5 times more likely to acquire the disease than those who had not. The Trump administration has said that the new policy does not ban referrals for ending a pregnancy caused by rape or incest. "The Trump administration is dead set on denying women the benefit of scientific evidence that shows for highest impact, HIV treatment and prevention should be delivered alongside sexual and reproductive health services," said Asia Russell, the executive director of Health GAP, a group that campaigns for access to HIV/AIDS treatment. The administration has named the expanded policy "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance." Officials said they don't expect the overall amount of health assistance to decline but that funding would be "redirected" to other organizations offering similar health services. "This executive order does not cut a single penny from U.S. aid; rather, it simply ensures our hard-earned tax dollars are used by other health-care entities that act consistently to save lives, rather than promoting and performing abortion. Abortion is not health care," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which backs politicians who oppose abortion. But given the rural environments in which many health organizations operate in Africa - where there is often only one HIV/AIDS treatment provider in a particular place - it's unclear how existing providers would be easily replaced. What does it take for a church to continue for 160 years? The Rev. A. David Paul believes it takes perseverance, something First Congregational Church, UCC, in Fremont has demonstrated. We have survived two world wars and other wars, a stock market crash, two recessions and three church buildings, said Paul, the pastor. The church, which started on Aug. 2, 1857, was the first church in Dodge County. Its the second oldest United Church of Christ congregation in Nebraska. This year, the church will celebrate its 160th anniversaries with a variety of activities including a Memorial Day observance at 10 a.m. May 28 outside of the building at 16th and Broad streets. Church members, past and present, whove served in the military will be recognized. The courtyard will be decorated with 160 American flags, said member Carol Smith. The observation will become part of a churchs history that not only spans decades, but has touched hundreds of lives. Church documents and news articles detail the congregations lengthy past. Historical accounts indicate the Rev. Isaac Heaton was the first pastor. After responding to an appeal for workers in the newly opened territory of Nebraska, Heaton closed his work in Wisconsin and sold his farm. He outfitted his wagon with a years provisions and traveled to Omaha. He learned a city called Fremont was being laid out about 40 miles west of Omaha on the Platte River. Heaton, his wife and two daughters made their home in Fremont. Heaton preached in several homes until August 1857, when he organized the church with seven charter members. Trees were cut down and lumber secured for a church. The structure was being built when sparks from a nearby fire ignited the building and consumed the lumber. The group then bought a house on Eighth and C streets for use as a church. A 20-foot by 40-foot wooden church, reminiscent of a one-room school house, was built in 1868 at Military and Broad streets. E.H. Barnard (for whom Barnard Park is named) donated lots for the building. Printed accounts indicate the church had a modest steeple and Fremonts first bell which years later was rung to celebrate the end of World War I. Church membership had so increased by 1884 that the first structure was removed from the site and preparations made to build a new church. A new church was dedicated in 1885. It was a red brick church built in the shape of a cross with stained glass windows. The Rev. Albert Becker, who was pastor from 1953-68, led the congregation which voted to build a new building. Heatons granddaughter, Belle Rogers, gave the congregation a full block of land at 16th and Broad streets. Art Gifford built the parsonage on the propertys southeast corner. The first service in the new building took place on Nov. 23, 1958. The church has a pipe organ. Bronze bells housed in a bell tower were given by the Womens Fellowship group. The first couple married in this building was Eli and Shirley Harrah, who wed in August 1959, and are still members. Generations of families have attended the church, which offers a host of activities and programs. Some include: vacation Bible school, confirmation classes, chancel choir, ukulele orchestra, puppet ministry, youth groups, mens fellowship and youth groups. It has a strong womens group called LIFT Ladies in Fellowship Together, Paul said. For more than 70 years, the church has had its annual Christmas Bazaar, which features the unique and sought-after jars of mincemeat. Were known for the mincemeat, because were one of the few places people can buy homemade mincemeat, said member Sandy Fischer. In fact, we might be the only place. Hundreds of cookies are sold by the pound at the bazaar and a ham loaf dinner has been a longtime event tradition. The church recently added a Wednesday evening youth ministry called ROKC (Raising Our Kids Christian) with 15 to 20 students. A recent class of confirmands had 20 students. Paul attributes that to the covenant relationship the Fremont congregation has with the Arlington Community Church. Besides serving the Fremont congregation, Paul also became pastor of the Arlington church as well last year. In a couple weeks, 26 youth and nine adults will take a mission trip to Des Moines, where theyll work at a homeless shelter and food pantry and go to an Iowa Cubs game. The church also has put in a new library with more than 1,000 donated books. Members appreciate the people of the congregation. The people in this church are all special and we have wonderful kids, Fischer said, adding that the congregation is very welcoming to new people. Smith added: The talent, dedication and determination of the member is keeping this church alive and going and growing. These folks really love and care for each other, Paul said. Theyve been through a lot and it really is a church family. In 2004, then-FBI director Robert Mueller famously threatened to resign if President George W. Bush reauthorized a warrantless wiretapping program that Justice Department lawyers had deemed unconstitutional. After a dramatic confrontation at the foot of the attorney general's hospital bed, Bush acquiesced, and the program was altered. The episode - held up as a testament to Mueller's integrity and independence - was widely recounted after Mueller on Wednesday was tapped to oversee the probe into possible coordination between President Trump's associates and Russian officials. But it wasn't the only time during his 12-year tenure as FBI director that Mueller threatened to leave office in protest. A second, less publicized showdown with the White House came two years later. It wasn't as clear cut as the confrontation over warrantless wiretapping, but it was every bit as tense. Under Mueller, who led the FBI from 2001 to 2013, the agency was conducting a corruption investigation of William Jefferson, a Democratic representative from Louisiana. Jefferson was suspected of having accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for promoting a range of business ventures in Africa. In May 2006, the FBI obtained warrant to search Jefferson's congressional office in Washington, as The Washington Post reported at the time. It was an extraordinary move, the first time in U.S. history that the FBI had conducted a physical search of a congressman's office. But it was necessary, the FBI argued, because other options had fallen short. The search of Jefferson's office, which lasted 18 hours, set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill. Congressional leaders from both parties accused the FBI of violating the separation of powers. They demanded that the seized documents be returned immediately. White House officials also objected, among them Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, as The Post reported. During a heated back-and-forth, White House aides ordered the FBI to give the materials back to Jefferson. Mueller, along with then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputy, threatened to resign in protest, as The Post reported. The search was legal, they said, backed by a search warrant signed by a judge. During a prior search of Jefferson's house in New Orleans, the congressman was seen stuffing documents into a blue bag in his living room, the FBI said in an affidavit justifying the raid on his office. On top of that, the affidavit said, a search of Jefferson's Washington apartment had uncovered $90,000 in cash hidden in a freezer. Both sides deadlocked. In the meantime, members of the House called a hearing in which constitutional scholars blasted the raid. One of them, Bruce Fein, testified that the FBI had run afoul of the Constitution's prohibitions on questioning members of Congress for "Speech or Debate in either House." "Let them resign," Fein said of Mueller and the others. "I am astonished that the president would not have fired them for undertaking this action without consulting him in advance." Ultimately, the White House backed down. As a compromise, Jefferson's documents were placed under seal for 45 days. Some of the materials would remain there for much longer, tied up in litigation. In 2009 Jefferson was convicted of nearly a dozen corruption charges and is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence. Mueller did not comment publicly on the Jefferson raid, as Barton Gellman wrote in a 2011 Time Magazine profile. When asked at the time about what principle was at stake, Mueller hesitated: "I think you've perhaps hit on a -" Mueller says, then stops. "I'm just going to stay away from it. I was close, but I've just got to stay away from it." The International Court of Justice has ordered Pakistan to halt the execution of a former Indian naval officer pending a final decision in the proceedings. India took Pakistan to the court over the death sentence handed down to Kulbhushan Jadhav for alleged espionage and sabotage activities, in a case that has raised tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. Both India and Pakistan are signatories to the ICJ. The unanimous order from the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, was read out by Judge Ronny Abraham. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order," the court ruled, according a statement. It found that accusations of espionage did not void India's claim to consular access under the Vienna Convention. The judge also stated that the severity of a death sentence provided necessary urgency for the court to implement provisional measures. "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India," said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Prime Minister Narendra Modi "will leave no stone unturned to save" Jadhav, she tweeted. The office of Pakistan's attorney-general Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the ICJ's measures had no bearing on the final decision of the court. "We had assured the court unambiguously that Commander Jadhav would be provided every opportunity and remedy available under the law to defend his case," the attorney general's office said in a statement. "Commander Jadhav still has ample time to petition for clemency." Pakistan had proposed to the court on May 15 that a final hearing be held on the merits of the case as early as possible, according to the statement. "We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end." Argued at The Hague, the case has strained already tense relations between the two countries, which have fought several conflicts since the partition of British India in 1947. "Pakistan will find it difficult to send Jadhav to the gallows before a full trial at the ICJ is conducted," said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor with King's College London. The ICJ "has sided with India that there is evidence of a danger of Jadhav being executed before the hearing is complete -- this makes life difficult for Pakistan." Islamabad accused Jadhav of carrying out "terrorist activities aimed at destabilizing Pakistan" on behalf of India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing. India's foreign ministry said Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, the military trial in Pakistan was "farcical" and the death sentence -- if carried out -- would be treated as a case of premeditated murder. India had repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought consular access to Jadhav before taking the case to the ICJ. "For time being it will bring Pakistan under some political pressure as the Indians now have an ICJ stay order in hand," said Shaista Tabassum, chairwoman of the international relations department at the University of Karachi of the court's decision. She said it was a positive step that India had shifted from "bilateralism to multilateralism in its dealing with Pakistan-related disputes." --With assistance from Chris Kay Ismail Dilawar and Candice Zachariahs April 21, 2017 -- May 13, 2017 Halle Rose Yount, newborn daughter of Seth and Sara (Ottun) Yount, went to the arms of Jesus on Sunday, May 13, 2017. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday at All Faiths Funeral Home in Grand Island. Celebration of Life service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Peace Lutheran Church in the Life Center. The Rev. Mike Reiners will officiate. Burial will follow at Grand Island City Cemetery. To honor Halles young life, her family has requested everyone wear bright colors. If any of her young friends would want to share a butterfly or rainbow drawing, there will be a special place to display all of the artwork in the Life Center. Halle was born on April 21, 2017, at Grand Island. Her memory is cherished by her parents, Seth and Sara; brother, Owen; sister, Nora; grandparents, Virgil and Barb Ottun of Sargent and Larry and Peggy Yount of Fremont; aunt, Julie Ottun of Sargent; uncles, Craig (Beth) Ottun of Sargent, John Ottun of Holdrege; along with numerous extended family and friends. In her short time on earth Halle was able to touch many people and encourage everyone to embrace their Hallelujah moments. Memorials are designated to the family to be designated at a later date. Words of comfort and encouragement may be left for the family at www.giallfaiths.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A 14-year-old junior high student is facing the possibility of life as a registered sex offender after being arrested for having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend, according to his attorney. The teen, who was in seventh grade, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His girlfriend was a sixth-grader at the time. "He had consensual sex with his little girlfriend and he loved her. They were boyfriend-girlfriend," the teen's mother told the Chronicle. "And because he turned 14, they want to make him a sex offender, put him on the registry with pedophiles and child molestersreally sick and dangerous people." CRIMINAL HISTORY: Arlington man added to Texas' most wanted sex offenders list The law carves out a defense for juveniles having consensual sex with someone within three years of their age, sometimes called a "Romeo and Juliet" rule, which would allow a 17-year-old to legally have sex with a 14-year-old. But in Texas that does not apply if one of the parties is under 14. "The idea that a 14-year-old who has sex with a person just a little bit younger then him or her would be treated as the worst of the worst in our society and placed on the sex offender registry is really sick," said the teen's attorney, Joseph Gutheinz. He spoke about the case on the condition that his client not be identified. FUGITIVE NABBED: Texas sex offender from '10 most wanted' list arrested in Florida More Information At a Glance Age of Consent: 17 Romeo and Juliet law: In Texas, the law provides a legal defense for consensual sex between a minor who is 14 or older but still under the age of consent (14, 15 or 16) and someone older who is within three years of that age. Criminal responsibility: A person has to be at least 10 years old to be charged with a crime. See More Collapse The Harris County District Attorney's Office did not return calls for comment. The case illustrates the gray area of criminal responsibility for teens having sex before they are legally able to consent at the age of 17. Gutheinz said the injustice is that the same 14-year-old who is now a defendant, would not have been charged if the teens were the same age. And he would be considered the victim if the other person was 18 or older, he said. "If he has sex with someone who is younger by just days but is still 13 years old, he could be charged with one of the most serious offenses we have," he said. "It just blows my mind." He said the discrepancy thwarts the intent of the law. "It defeats the whole purpose of the Romeo and Juliet defense where you have two people relatively close in age and maturity," he said. "You would think the law would be more sympathetic as you go younger, because both parties are immature." The teen's mother said her family "is going through hell." "Because he was 14 by two months, they want to ruin his life," she said. "What kind of life is he going to have if he's a sex offender?" Experts said charges being filed for a consensual sexual relationship between minors is not unusual in Harris County, even for teens and tweens. "I had that exact fact pattern that I fought for a year," said Jackie Stewart Gravois, an attorney with the Harris County Public Defender's Office. "They ended up dismissing it because, ultimately, everyone agreed it was a consensual act." In her case, the two students were also in junior high and he was 14 and she was 12. After prosecutors were assured that there was no violence or threat of force, it was dismissed. She said similar cases seem to be on the rise over the past few years. Gravois was not familiar with the teen's legal battle and spoke generally about those types of cases. "Usually, if the prosecutors can prove that it was consensual and it was not forced in any way, they typically don't file these cases or they end up dismissing them," she said. "That's going to be up to the discretion of the prosecutor." She noted that Harris County's juvenile judges have wide discretion over whether a teen will have to register as a sex offender. "Very rarely do the juvenile judges in Harris County force anyone to register," she said. "They usually delay it and send them to sex offender treatment and then make a decision." Jay Jenkins, an attorney for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, which is pushing to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Texas, has studied prosecution disparities because of age. He said he is aware of several criminal cases filed against Houston teens accused of having sex with tweens. "That's the arbitrary nature of our sexual offense laws," he said. "There's very little rationality to those laws." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Simmering beneath the surface of the District 1 runoff between incumbent city councilman Roberto Trevino and challenger Michael Montano, amid familiar rhetoric about crime and neighborhoods, are questions about Montanos arrest in 2002 in New Haven, Connecticut, on felony charges of voter fraud. On the night of the May 6 election, the incumbent said the public deserved a full explanation - with documents - of how Montano escaped the charges without penalty or a criminal record. Trevino, 46, an architect, led Montano, a lawyer, by 17 percentage points yet fell 113 votes short of a majority. Montano, 36, interviewed among boisterous supporters that night, called it ridiculous and an act of desperation for Trevino to bring up the 2002 charges. Montano and his New Haven attorney, Mark Goodman, both have confirmed Connecticut newspaper accounts that Montano, then a senior at Yale University, admitted to nine counts of providing false statement(s) in absentee balloting after his arrest in October, 2002. Working for candidates seeking minor Democratic Party offices in that years primary, Montano depending on ones perspective either tripped on complicated regulations or got caught in a low-level vote-rigging operation that was not unprecedented in New Havens highly factionalized politics. Specifically, Montano told a judge he signed applications for absentee ballots - not the actual ballots - falsely attesting that he witnessed the voters signatures. He said he just followed a clerks instructions. The applicants variously told police they didnt know Montano, could not read or write, didnt live in the district or hadnt signed any ballot applications. The low-level state felony charges carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Goodman and Connecticut officials say the charges were expunged and all the case records destroyed because the judge granted Montano accelerated rehabilitation, in which a defendants usually minor criminal history is cleared following roughly a year of good behavior. Other Yale students were swept up in the investigation and a fellow campaign worker, Angelo Reyes, was convicted on a more serious case of voter fraud. It was a very big deal, with lots of publicity and the police interviewing everyone, recalled Sally Brown, then the deputy city clerk and a veteran of Democratic politics there. It was very embarrassing to the Democratic Party in New Haven. Trevinos willingness to make an issue of Montanos arrest and association with Reyes is likely to make the runoff even more personal and contentious than the crowded general election. We will make sure the people know who our opponent is, Trevino said. Its a prospect that caused state Rep. Diego Bernal, a Democrat who knows both candidates and was the District 1 councilman before Trevino, to reluctantly weigh in. Id love for a third party to put this all to rest, Bernal said, because otherwise the campaign becomes about this and not serving the people. Montanos supporters say the dismissal of the case without a penalty - not even a fine or community service, as the candidate himself has pointed out was appropriate due to his age, expressions of regret and his explanation that a city clerk gave him bad instructions. Brown is dubious about Montanos assertion that he didnt understand the rules. I liked the Yale kids, she said. They worked very hard. Michael was very smart. He was contrite, but Michael knew what he was doing. Another Yale student, Shonu Gandhi, who worked for Mayor John DeStefanos 2001 campaign, was tasked with the same job as Montano, turning in absentee ballot applications to the city clerks office. But she refused to sign them, knowing that would be fraudulent, she told investigators. Gandhi is now a program director at the University of Texas at Austins Dell Medical School and owns a home in Austin with a former Yale student who also had worked to elect DeStefano, Julio Gonzalez. He gave $500 to Montanos current city council campaign, finance records show. Gandhi did not respond to several interview requests. Gonzalez spoke to a reporter at length but declined to comment publicly. Clearly, Shonu reacted one way, and Michael reacted the other way, DeStefano, a friend of both and now a New Haven bank president who was mayor for 20 years, said when reached by phone this week. All of them were in the Yale Dems club, DeStefano said. They were extraordinary students. Michael was very mission-driven and cared about issues. He said he did not question the lenient outcome. At 20, 21, Michael had unbounded enthusiasm and energy, but was undisciplined by maturity, DeStefano said. He knew how to read. He made a mistake. He has been called out in front of the community and now hes still answering for it 15 years later. I hope an important life lesson has been learned. Some familiar with the case have speculated that DeStefano, preparing to run for governor against a popular Republican, might have intervened in the case to downplay publicity about two of his associates, Montano and Reyes. DeStefano flatly denied it. None, zero, nor would I intervene, he said. DeStefano said he has stayed in touch with Montano and recently gave $500 to his San Antonio campaign, but said he declined Montanos request that he host a fundraiser. Reyes received a 5-year suspended sentence and probation, according to court records. He was later convicted of arson and is free on bond while appealing it. Reyes did not respond to an interview request, nor did investigators from the agencies involved in the 2002 probe: the Office of the Chief States Attorney, the state Elections Enforcement Commission and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Two U.S. Postal Service letter carriers had observed Reyes examining mail they left at various addresses in Fair Haven, a largely Hispanic neighborhood, and suspected him of attempting to intercept absentee ballots being delivered to potential voters, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. bselcraig@express-news.net William Luther /San Antonio Express-News AUSTIN The proposal to crack down on cyberbullying thats known as Davids Law is headed to a conference committee to negotiate differences between the House and Senate versions of the measure. The Senate on Wednesday declined to agree to House changes to Senate Bill 179 on a motion by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio. He expressed concern that the changes could cost support among senators. AUSTIN A Senate proposal requiring that a crime victim have access to an attorney when prosecutors lock them up to ensure their testimony at trial won near-unanimous support from the House on Wednesday. However, a minor change means the bill needs final Senate approval before going to the governors desk. The House on Wednesday signed off on Senate Bill 291 with a 139-4 vote, but not before Democratic Rep. Harold Dutton of Houston added an amendment shortening the time frame in which a witness held by police may request a hearing regarding whether their continued confinement is necessary. The bill, which the Senate approved in a unanimous vote in April, originally said the person would have to wait five or more days. Duttons amendment changed that to at least 24 hours. That just takes too long, Dutton said Tuesday. If it was a criminal, for example, hed have 48 hours. Since this is just a witness, we changed that to 24 hours. The bill requires that a person or witness held in jail must receive a court-appointed attorney, which must be done during a public court hearing instead of in a judges chambers. It also requires a re-hearing of the case after 15 days. Since the House changed the bill, it will head back to the Senate, which can concur with Duttons amendment and send SB 291 to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature or veto. Senators also may request a conference committee to iron out their differences. SB 291 is called Jennys Law in honor of a Houston rape survivor who Harris County prosecutors jailed to ensure she would testify against her attacker, serial rapist Keith Edwards Hendricks. He had been accused of raping women for nearly eight years; police had arrested him and released him several times. The case brought national attention to last years Harris County district attorney race after the Houston Chronicle revealed the extent to which the district attorneys office kept Jenny, who for years suffered from mental illnesses, behind bars. Before the Houses vote, Democratic Rep. Carol Alvarado of Houston, who sponsored the bill in the House, was pressed by a fellow Democrat who said he was concerned about the Legislature passing a statewide policy for a problem that plagued Harris County. Alvarado said she was unaware of similar situations elsewhere. This bill is designed to prevent this horrific event from reoccurring in this state again, she said. Its unfortunate that we have to bring a bill like this. In 2015, prosecutors jailed Jenny to secure her testimony against Hendricks, which she had already agreed to do. However, during a court hearing where she testified, she had a psychological breakdown that sent her to the hospital. When doctors discharged Jenny, she was jailed for nearly a month on the recommendation of prosecutors who feared she would decide not to testify at Hendricks January 2016 trial. She has since sued Harris County in federal court, claiming county officials violated her constitutional rights and that her jailing amounted to being re-raped. District Attorney Kim Ogg, who defeated former DA Devon Anderson in November, spoke in favor of the bill earlier this year. These victims have committed no crime, and should not be brutalized by the system, Ogg told a Senate committee in March. There has been a practice in Texas of jailing some witnesses, and this bill will ensure their legal rights are protected. Four artists will transform the San Pedro Creek walkway with colorful murals, officials said at the Bexar County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday. Construction on the $175 million San Pedro Creek Improvements Project broke ground in September with speakers and performances. Now, four local artists have been selected to help beautify portions of a wall along the creek downtown. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Family members of two San Antonio victims who died in last summers hot-air balloon crash that killed 16 people near Lockhart are launching a petition to the White House that calls for tougher federal oversight of balloon pilots, who are currently exempt from drug tests and medical exams. We dont want all those victims to have died for nothing, said the petitions primary author, Patricia Morgan, whose daughter and granddaughter from San Antonio both died July 30 when a commercial hot air balloon piloted by Alfred Skip Nichols struck high-voltage power lines. Morgan said she has little confidence the Federal Aviation Administration will do anything to make hot air balloons safer, and she had tried with no success to discuss her concerns with Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Ted Cruz and other Texas lawmakers. The lack of a response by Cruzs office was particularly frustrating, she said, because Cruz is a member of an aviation subcommittee that oversees the FAA. RELATED: Investigation into deadly S.A.-area balloon crash shows FAA did nothing to improve safety Morgan said Cruzs deputy chief of staff, James Christoferson, finally called her Thursday morning after the San Antonio Express-News asked Cruzs office why no one had contacted her. Morgan said Christoferson expressed his condolences and said the senator is interested in working with the FAA to enact stronger safety measures for the balloon industry. Christoferson told her no one responded to her email because a privacy form hadnt been filled out. Im glad somebody has reached out, Morgan said. But she also wondered why lawmakers arent already doing more. I feel like, why do they even have to react to my email? Why isnt something being done? Its almost been a year and we havent heard anything. Libby Hambleton, a spokeswoman for Cornyn, said the senators staff members plan to speak with Morgan after learning she had tried to get in touch with them. Sen. Cornyn visited the site of the hot air balloon crash days after the incident with Caldwell County Judge Ken Shawe and Sherriff Daniel Law, Hambelton wrote in a statement to the Express-News. Sen. Cornyns staff was working with the National Transportation Safety Board every step of the way, and his staff engaged with local officials and attended the victims memorial on the Senators behalf. RELATED: Heartbreaking selfies emerge of San Antonians killed in worst hot air balloon crash in U.S. history The balloon crash near Lockhart was the deadliest in U.S. history. A San Antonio Express-News investigation published in March found that hot air balloons suffer higher crash rates than other types of aircraft. But unlike most pilots, balloon pilots arent required to undergo drug testing or take medical exams. Nichols wasnt legally allowed to drive a vehicle because of a string of DWI convictions and he never reported the infractions to the FAA. But even when the agency found out about his criminal history, officials didnt discipline Nichols and they allowed him to keep his commercial pilots certificate. After the crash, federal investigators discovered Nichols had been on prescription medications that included oxycodone, Valium and Prozac. Several of those drugs had warnings not to operate heavy machinery and were prohibited by the FAA. But for balloon pilots, the agency relies on an honor system to make sure theyre fit to fly. Morgan said the petition is an attempt to prod officials to beef up FAA regulations governing balloons that date to the 1930s. Morgans daughter, Lorilee Brabson, and her granddaughter, Paige Brabson, died in the balloon crash. If antiquated FAA rules were brought up to date, this accident was totally avoidable, the petition states. Hot air balloon pilots are not required to be drug tested nor have medical exams as other tour operations. It is time for FAA to ensure all tour passengers have oversight and the same safety benefits as passengers of helicopter and airline tour operations. All Lives Matter. RELATED: Tributes pour in for San Antonio couple killed in balloon crash The White Houses online petition system, called We the People, was launched by the Barack Obama administration in 2011 and touted as a way for the public to draw attention to important issues. If a petition received 100,000 signatures within 30 days, it often received an official response. But its unclear whether the Trump administration will respond to future petitions or even continue the program. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order in January requiring federal agencies such as the FAA to eliminate two regulations for every regulation they enact. Before the crash, the FAA had rejected calls by the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA safety inspector Wayne Phillips to increase oversight of commercial hot air balloons, some of which can carry enough passengers to fill a commuter plane. Two lawmakers have called for greater oversight of the balloon industry and have openly criticized the FAA: Texas state Rep. John Cyrier, R-Lockhart, and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. Morgan said she hasnt yet spoken with them but plans to send them the petition. Morgan said she doesnt know if the Trump administration will take the petition seriously. But if it helps prod officials to make ballooning safer, she said its worth a try. What else can we do? she asked. jtedesco@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN A significant overhaul of the states controversial driver responsibility program and the elimination of its points-based system appears increasingly likely this year. The current Driver Responsibility Program helps fund trauma centers across the state by using a system of surcharges on traffic violations that forces drivers to either pay additional fees for years after theyve settled traffic violations or face automatic suspension of their licenses. The system, which has been derided as a form of double jeopardy, has been blamed for causing some Texans to lose their jobs. Over the years, there have been at least 2 million drivers license suspensions as a result of the program, with more than 1.2 million drivers currently affected. Even the sponsor of the bill that created the program in 2003, former State Rep. Mike Krusee, has expressed regrets over the impact of his legislation and has called for reform or repeal to make it less punitive. House Bill 2068 would formally repeal the current Driver Responsibility Program and replace part of it with with an across-the-board increase to the states portion of traffic tickets from the current $30 to $50. The bill passed the House earlier this month and was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday after some debate among lawmakers. As of Thursday, it was on track to be voted on by the Senate before the end of the session. Im really hoping that we will take this seriously enough and do something, said committee chair Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville. The Driver Responsibility Program came about as a way to help cover part of the states massive $9.9 billion budget shortfall back in 2003 by adding surcharges payable to the Texas Department of Public Safety. These came on top of the usual fines and other costs associated with traffic infractions. For points-based violations, such as speeding tickets, drivers must currently pay a $100 annual surcharge if six points are accumulated within a three-year period, with another $25 charged for each additional point on the drivers record. Points stay on the record for three years. Each violation incurs two points, or three if it results in a crash. Conviction-based surcharges, such as for driving while intoxicated and driving without a license or insurance, can be much steeper up to $2,000 for a high level of intoxication and are assessed annually for three years. Drivers who lose their licenses for failure to pay often continue to drive, subjecting them to more convictions and more surcharges, and there is no time limit on those license suspensions. Its a self-perpetuating cycle, Emily Gerrick, a staff attorney with the Texas Fair Defense Project, said at a Senate Transportation Committee hearing last month. She noted that a second conviction for driving without a license can land a driver in jail for up to six months, exacerbating the situation. Opposition to the driver responsibility program includes elected officials from both parties, advocates for the poor, judges, local governments, and conservative groups. But because trauma centers rely on funding from the program, it has been difficult for repeal efforts to make progress without injecting funds to offset the loss of revenue for emergency services. Even with the low rate of compliance, the program has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the years. Revenue from the driver responsibility program is split between the general revenue fund and a special fund for the states trauma centers, which helps them offset the costs of providing care to patients who cannot afford to pay. There are nearly 300 medical facilities in Texas that rely on funding from the program to offset the costs of uncompensated trauma care, according to the Texas Medical Association. We need a once all solution that maintains the funds to the trauma funding, the bills sponsor, Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, said at a House committee hearing on the bill last month. Under HB 2068, the current point system would be abolished, although it would retain the steep added charges assessed on DWI convictions and drivers who fail to carry insurance as extra fines, under the rationale that drivers guilty of those offenses are more likely to create conditions that require care at trauma centers. According to a fiscal note attached to one of the bills calling for a full abolition of the surcharges, such a move would cost the general revenue fund and trauma center fund roughly $75 million apiece in 2021, when the full impact of the programs abolition would be felt. However, currently only about 40 percent of the surcharges are ever collected, resulting in an estimated $2 billion in lost revenues. Critics of the program have noted the programs shortfall in anticipated revenue, along with its failure to improve public safety, and the financial and emotional toll on those who cannot afford to pay the fees as reasons why it should be scrapped. The program has come up as a target for an overhaul, if not outright repeal, every legislative session, though only minor changes have been made over the years. This time around, 16 bills related to the program were filed in the by lawmakers in the House and Senate. Its kind of like a groundhog day event every session, said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. But in the last 14 years, only incremental changes have been made to the program, such as introducing relief for poorer drivers to have half or more of their surcharges waived and offering short-term amnesty programs. But critics argue that the application processes for these programs are confusing and cumbersome, and relatively few of the eligible drivers have taken advantage of them. Phillips HB 2068 is the first major reform of the driver responsibility program to progress from one chamber of the legislature to another. HB 2068 has the advantage of preserving revenues for the trauma fund and general revenue, and could even offer an increase, according to projections from the Legislative Budget Board. It would also remove much of the administrative costs associated of the current system, which is outsourced by the Department of Public Safety, by shifting administration to local courts. Local governments have expressed some concerns that they will lose out on revenue if judges continue to fine drivers at current levels or extend leniency based on what they consider to be fair punishments. However, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts estimates that their revenue would increase by about $7 million per year. Another issue raised at Wednesdays hearing was HB 2068s lack of a sufficient waiver opportunity for poor drivers, an issue that committee lawmakers indicated they would be willing to address in a floor amendment when the bill goes to the full Senate. The bill could also face a constitutional challenge in Texas courts, warned Ted Wood, an assistant public defender with the Harris County Public Defenders Office in Houston. In March, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that fees charged as court costs that were diverted to state programs unrelated to criminal justice were unlawful and violated the separation of powers. The decision marked the first time a high court in the state found some court fees unconstitutional and is likely to bring more lawsuits in its wake. Taxing is part of the executive branch and what was essentially happening was that you had the judicial branch collecting taxes, said Wood. If HB 2068 is passed, it will be challenged too. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Bexar County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Bexar County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SAN ANTONIO Two men arrested Wednesday are accused of stealing about $3,300 in beer from various businesses over the course of several months, according to court documents. Dominic Marshall, 28, and Julian Brothers, 27, were charged with a state jail felony charge of theft. Tom Reel /Staff file photo Across San Antonio this month, high schools, colleges and universities are holding graduation ceremonies. These educational milestones are special moments in life that evoke great pride and bring families together. At the University of Texas at San Antonio alone, more than 4,000 students crossed the commencement stage recently to receive their bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. As they join an alumni network of more than 116,000, these outstanding students are well prepared to enter the workforce and become a new generation of leaders. Since President Donald Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey, one question has been repeated over and over: With Democrats lacking any real governing power, are there a few good elected men or women in the Republican Party who will stand up to the presidents abuse of power as their predecessors did during Watergate? And this question will surely get louder with the report that Trump asked Comey in February to halt the investigation into the presidents former national security adviser. But we already know the answer: No. The GOP never would have embraced someone like Trump in the first place an indecent man with a record of multiple bankruptcies, unpaid bills and alleged sexual harassments who lies as he breathes if there was any possibility for the answer to ever be yes. Virtually all the good men and women in this partys leadership have been purged or silenced; those who are left have either been bought off by lobbies or have cynically decided to take a ride on Trumps Good Ship Lollipop to exploit it for any number of different agendas. There will be no GOP mutiny, even if Trump resembles Captain Queeg more each day. Thats why the only relevant question is this: Are there tens of millions of good men and women in America ready to run and vote as Democrats or independents in the 2018 congressional elections and replace the GOP majority in the House and maybe the Senate? Nothing else matters this is now a raw contest of power. Trump and his enablers are not afraid of, and indeed enjoy, exercising raw power against their opponents. They are not afraid to win by a sliver and govern as if they won by a landslide. Democrats and independents need power. If you are appalled by what Trump is doing backed by House and Senate Republicans then you need to get out of Facebook and into somebodys face, by running for Congress as a Democrat or an independent, registering someone to vote for a Democrat or an independent, or raising money to support such candidates. Nothing else matters. The morally bankrupt crowd running todays GOP are getting their way not because they have better arguments but because they have power and are not afraid to use it, no matter what the polls say. And they will use that power to cut taxes for wealthy people, strip health care from poor people and turn climate policy over to the fossil fuel industry until someone else checks that power by getting a majority in the House or the Senate. Im more conservative on issues of free trade, business, entrepreneurship and use of force than many Democratic candidates. I think the country would benefit from having a smart conservative party offering market and merit-based solutions for our biggest challenges from climate to energy to education to taxes to infrastructure that was also ready to meet Democrats halfway. But there is no such GOP today. The party has lost its moral compass. Just think about that picture of Trump laughing it up with Russias foreign minister in the Oval Office, a foreign minister who covered up Syrias use of poison gas. Trump reportedly shared with him sensitive intelligence on ISIS, and Trump refused to allow any U.S. press in the room. If Hillary Clinton had done that, they would have shut down the government. Thats why for me, in 2018, the most left-wing Democratic candidate for House or Senate is preferable to the most moderate Republican, because none of the latter will confront Trump. And Trumps presidency is not just a threat to my political preferences, it is a threat to the rule of law, freedom of the press, ethics in government, the integrity of our institutions, the values our kids need to learn from their president and Americas long-standing role as the respected leader of the free world. Thats why there are just two choices now: chicken or fish a Democratic-controlled House or Senate that can at least deter Trump for his last two years, or four years of an out-of-control president. This GOP is not going to impeach him; forget that fantasy. Either Democrats get a lever of power, or were stuck emailing each other SNL skits. Its chicken or fish, baby. Its just chicken or fish. Texas Sen. John Cornyn has dropped out of the running for FBI director. This is good for the country and for him. It is not that we dont believe Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, couldnt have brought a measure of integrity to the job. But that title, Majority Whip, would have made him a problematic nominee. He is also the former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, working to get Republican senators elected. These are as partisan positions as can be had. The American people should reasonably expect a guarantee of no partisanship from the next FBI director. Consider also: Top GOP leaders, for partisan reasons, have not been vocal in their criticism of President Donald Trump over 100-plus days of severe missteps. The latest involved firing the FBI director leading the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election (and possible collusion by the Trump campaign), and then the president outing an important intelligence source to Russian visitors in the Oval Office. But Cornyns response to the firing of Director James Comey was to accuse the Democrats of hypocrisy because they had been critical of Comey during the FBIs investigation of Hillary Clinton. So, what would Cornyns response have been had President Barack Obama fired Comey in the midst of investigating the Democratic nominee for president? Of course, the ouster would have been viewed as an attempt to squelch an ongoing investigation, just as Trumps firing of Comey clearly was. And hypocrisy? Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just lauded Judge Merrick Garlands qualifications to be FBI director. OK, but not qualified to be a U.S. Supreme Court justice, a nomination he stalled? Cornyn also expressed confidence not universally shared that the Senates investigation will be bipartisan and that the deputy FBI director who provided the memo that justified the firing could oversee a fair investigation. But Cornyns decision not to pursue the FBI directorship is good for the senator himself. As history takes stock of the Trump presidency, there will be chapters devoted to the people who served or enabled the president. If his entire term (or terms) are as drama-laden as now, reputations and careers will be ruined. For a variety of reasons, Cornyn was wise to decline this opportunity. Who knew that Keith Toneys endorsement was so valuable? As Express-News Metro columnist Brian Chasnoff reported, after losing in his most recent (and hopefully last) bid for the District 2 City Council seat, Toney sought compensation from another candidate, William Cruz Shaw, for his endorsement. Shaw is in a runoff against incumbent Alan E. Warrick II. Witnesses at the meeting said Toney requested $15,000 to pay off campaign debt and provide continued support for a failed music festival called LaborFest, which owes the city of San Antonio $52,000. Shaw said no, and Toney endorsed Warrick. Toney and Warrick said there is no quid pro quo. But then again, maybe there is. Warrick left the door open to paying off Toneys debt, and Toney said he wouldnt mind a fundraiser. Sigh. We regret recommending Toney for the seat. He briefly served as an unelected councilman. The good news for District 2 voters is they can make this a nonissue in the runoff by supporting Shaw, a lawyer with a strong understanding of city issues and, apparently, the ethical good sense to say no to Toney. Warrick has been utterly feckless on council. He voted against improving VIA Metropolitan Transit service. He once advocated for killing more stray dogs, which is not a solution to the challenge of roaming animals in our city. He proposed dividing the Martin Luther King Jr. March, and he once loaned his nonprofit $15,000 in campaign cash, a legal but ethically dubious maneuver. Sixty percent of voters in his district rejected Warrick in the first round of voting. We guess that well all learn just how valuable Toneys endorsement is in the runoff. A 70-year-old school bus driver, Tendzin Parson, has been charged with negligent motor vehicle manslaughter in connection with the dragging death of a 9-year-old Massachusetts girl. Girl Became Trapped in School Bus Door According to reports, the incident occurred last October as third-grader Summer Steele attempted to exit a school bus in Plainfield. The school bus closed on her, and she was dragged a short distance before the bus struck her. Summer was rushed to Berkshire Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Parson told police that as he had dropped of two children at the stop, but failed to ensure that Summer was clear of the doors after seeing the other child run up her drive way. The tragic accident has resulted in calls for sensors that would ensure riders have fully cleared school bus doors before the doors can close. School Transportation Accident Statistics According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 1,344 people killed in school-transportation-related crashes recorded between 2004 and 2013. This averages to 134 fatalities per year. Of the 1,344 fatalities, only 8 percent were occupants of school transportation vehicles. Most (71%) of the people who lost their lives in these crashes were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crashes. Nonoccupants, including pedestrians, bicyclists, etc., accounted for 21 percent of the fatalities. Among the 106 occupants killed in school transportation vehicles between 2004 and 2013, 45 were drivers and 61 were passengers. An Experienced School Bus Accident Attorney Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys are available to respond to school bus accidents at any hour, day or night. Our lawyers understand that the immediate acquisition, or acquiring, of evidence is paramount to understanding how the accident occurred. Remember, your choice does matter. If your child was injured in a school bus accident, contact our offices we are available 24/7, nights and weekends and we represent clients/victims all over the country. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. ARLINGTON, Va. One of the worlds largest retailers is getting ready to open its first of 20 stores in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. This week, European grocer Lidl announced its first U.S. store will open on Thursday, June 15, in Virginia. With 20 stores planned to open this summer, by next summer Lidl says it will open 100 stores across the East Coast, creating a total of 5,000 U.S. jobs. "We are excited to open our first stores in the United States in a few short weeks," said Brendan Proctor, president and CEO of Lidl U.S. "Lidl is grocery shopping refreshed, retooled and rethought to make life better for all our customers. From our selection of sustainable products, like our certified fresh and frozen seafood, to top-quality wines from around the world available at market-beating prices, our team puts extra effort and attention into each product we put on our shelves. When customers shop at Lidl, they will experience less complexity, lower prices, better choices and greater confidence." A press release notes that Lidl will offer a simple and efficient approach to grocery retailing, where shoppers can expect goods and groceries at up to 50% less than other supermarkets in the United States. They can also expect the following: Easy-to-shop layouts: All Lidl stores opening this summer will be newly constructed facilities, featuring a manageable, easy-to-shop layout of 20,000 square feet with only six aisles. Fresh baked goods: Breads and pastries will be baked fresh throughout the day. A bakery will be located at the entrance of each store. Healthy, sustainable choices: Lidl is committed to offering a wide range of healthy and sustainable options. All fresh and frozen seafood in Lidl's assortment will be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, Best Aquaculture Practices or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Lidl's private-label products will not have certified synthetic colors, trans fats or added MSG. Organic and gluten free options: Lidl will carry a variety of organic and gluten-free items including organic fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and packaged food items, available at the lowest possible prices. About 90% of the groceries available at Lidl will be exclusive brand products. The retailer also offers a changing selection of non-food products each week that will be in stores for a limited time, such as fitness gear, small kitchen appliances, toys and outdoor furniture, among other non-food items. Lidl operates about 10,000 stores in 27 countries throughout Europe. Lidl first established its U.S. headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia, in June 2015. Since then, it has announced regional headquarters and distribution centers in Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Alamance County, North Carolina and Cecil County, Maryland. MADISON, N.J. Drug use in the American workforce, fueled by illicit drugs, reached the highest positivity rate in 12 years, according to an analysis of more than 10 million workforce drug test results released this week by Quest Diagnostics. "This year's findings are remarkable because they show increased rates of drug positivity for the most common illicit drugs across virtually all drug test specimen types and in all testing populations," said Dr. Barry Sample, senior director, science and technology, at Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions. "Our analysis suggests that employers committed to creating a safe, drug-free work environment should be alert to the potential for drug use among their workforce." As more states legalize or consider legalizing marijuana, Quest data indicates that marijuana positivity continued its upward climb in both the federally-mandated, safety-sensitive and general U.S. workforces. In oral fluid testing, marijuana positivity increased nearly 75%, from 5.1% in 2013 to 8.9% in 2016 in the general U.S. workforce. Marijuana positivity also increased in both urine testing (2.4% in 2015 versus 2.5% in 2016) and hair testing (7.0% in 2015 versus 7.3% in 2016) in the same population. In Colorado and Washington, the first states in which recreational marijuana use was legalized, the overall urine positivity rate for marijuana outpaced the national average in 2016 for the first time since the statutes took effect. The increase was more pronounced in Colorado, which increased 11% (2.61% in 2015 versus 2.90% in 2016), than in Washington, which increased 9% (2.82% in 2015 versus 3.08% in 2016). The national positivity rate for marijuana in the general U.S. workforce in urine testing increased 4% (2.4% in 2015 compared to 2.5% in 2016). We have been tracking the trends in marijuana positivity in states that have passed medical and recreational marijuana use statutes for several years now. 2016 is the first year since Colorado and Washington approved recreational use that the rates of year-over-year change were sharply higher than the national average, said Sample. The Wall Street Journal reports that another concern for employers is the continuing rise in cocaine positives, particularly in drug tests conducted after workplace accidents. The Journal writes that of U.S. workers tested by Quest, traces of cocaine were found in 0.28% of tests. The share of positives from post-accident tests was more than twice as high as the rate from pre-employment assessments. While a test cant tell you whether or not the use of cocaine is what caused that incident, it certainly raises the level of concern that cocaine may have had some impact, Sample said. A bright spot of the Quest data found that the use of prescription opioids like oxycodone appears to be declining. The Journal notes that in 2016, heroin positives also leveled off, indicating reversal of a previous pattern. By Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development and Anis Chowdhury, former Professor of Economics, University of Western Sydney, who held various senior United Nations positions in New York and Bangkok. Originally published at Inter Press Service Advocates of genetically engineered (GE) crops have long claimed that genetic engineering is necessary to raise crop yields and reduce human exposure to agrochemicals. Genetic engineering promised two major improvements: improving yields affordably to feed the world, and making crops resistant to pests to reduce the use of commercial chemical herbicides and insecticides. Genetic modification of crops through natural evolution or artificial crossbreeding has been happening for millennia, giving rise to more productive or resilient crop species. Thus, the term genetic engineering more accurately refers to the artificial introduction of genetic material to produce new GE varieties. Trans-Atlantic Divide A report by the United States National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine picked up by the New York Times found that US GE crop yield gains have slowed over the years, leaving no significant advantage in yield gains compared to non-GE plant varieties. Over two decades ago, Western Europe largely rejected GE crops while North America the United States and then Canada embraced them. More than twenty years later, US crop yield gains are not significantly higher than in Western Europe. Since the adoption of GE crops, US use of herbicides has increased. In the US, decreasing use of some herbicides has involved large increases in the use of glyphosate, a key ingredient in herbicides used for GE crop cultivation. This is in contrast to France, which bans GE crop cultivation, where overall use of herbicides has been reduced due to EU efforts. Glyphosate-resistant GE crops survive herbicide spraying while killing non-resistant weeds. However, rising weed resistance to glyphosate has led to the application of larger doses. For example, although land planted with GE soybeans has grown by less than a third over the last two decades, herbicide use has doubled. Herbicide use for maize production was declining before the introduction of GE crops, but has increased since 2002. Glyphosate was assessed as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization. Some glyphosate-based herbicides also contain other more toxic herbicides such as 2,4-D, a key ingredient in Agent Orange, the infamous Vietnam War defoliant to increase their efficacy against resistant weeds. Diversity Declining GE crops, typically with traits which tend to result in monoculture, have been promoted as more productive than non-GE crops. As farmers adopt GE crop varieties, others varieties are abandoned, and access to such seeds are increasingly in the hands of giant transnational seed companies rather than government facilities. But when farmers lose confidence in GE crops or wish to turn to non-GE varieties for other reasons, they are no longer able to simply revert to their old non-GE varieties or to crossbreed them. Instead, they now need to buy seeds from these very same monopolistic transnational seed companies. Similarly, the impact on ecological diversity, important for maintaining fragile ecosystems, cannot be underestimated. Biodiversity reduction fundamentally transforms ecosystems. Rich, diverse traditional farmer knowledge of the use of plants and other natural resources to maintain soil and plant health, and to conserve water and other natural resources is also being ignored in favour of hi-tech, genetically-engineered, agro-chemical and other industrial solutions, which invariably engender new problems. For example, pesticides are intended to be toxic only to pests, but not to others, but most are carcinogenic or otherwise dangerous to human health. While GE crops offer some benefits, unclear productivity advantages and rising pest resistance are reducing the edge it once claimed over conventionally developed crops. GE crops seem to be harmless, but there is still much uncertainty over their longer-term effects, including increased pesticide resistance and reduced diversity. The scientific ethic advising precaution in the face of uncertainty seems to have been abandoned in favour of profitable expediency, ostensibly to increase productivity and reduce agro-chemical reliance, neither of which have been achieved. Corporate Power Growing As many of the same corporations or conglomerates sell both GE seeds as well as the agro-chemicals needed to increase yields, the potential for other types of innovation is inevitably diminished. Recent mergers and acquisitions have further consolidated oligopolies selling both seeds and agrochemicals, exemplified by the acquisition bid for Monsanto by Bayer. Not surprisingly then, companies have less incentive to develop new traits, or to invest heavily in tackling other problems when greater pest resistance increases sales of their pesticides and overall profits. All this is often justified in terms of the urgent need to feed the hundreds of millions of hungry people in the world. However, although there already is enough food being produced to feed everyone in the world, the real problem is one of access, as most of the hungry do not have the means to buy or produce the food they need. Therefore, while US agribusiness has long claimed that GMOs will save the world, there has been little compelling evidence to this effect after two decades. Proponents select evidence to support their exaggerated claims that GE varieties meet many needs in different parts of the world, although their actual track records are much more modest and chequered. Much of the resistance against GE crops is due to the interests and methods of the agribusiness transnationals dominating food production, both directly and indirectly through their control and promotion of seeds, agrochemicals, etc. Cannes Film Festival: Will Smith and Pedro Almodovar clash over Netflix BBC. I pretty much only see movies at theaters because I too really like the big screen experience. Daryl Bem Proved ESP Is Real, Which Means Science Is Broken. Slate (Dan K). Over a decade ago, a friend who started up Dunn & Bradstreets operation in Moscow told me about a book published in Russian, by a former senior scientist in the USSR. The USSR had spent a lot of time and money researching parapsychological phenomena to see if it could be used for military purposes, like long distance messaging or mind control. The book also claimed the US had a similar research program (and not of The Men Who Stare at Goats sort, which I suspect was allowed to continue to provide cover in case word of the serious program somehow got out). The Russians concluded some people have psychic abilities way way above chance, and the population with the highest proportion of aptitude was red-headed female peasants. They found they could teach people to read blindfolded through their fingertips. However, they determined that none of what they found was reliable enough to use for military purposes. Social butterflies are more apt to stick with physics PhysOrg A new book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. The results are surprising. Vox (UserFriendly) A Bot Is Flooding The FCC Website With Fake Anti-Net Neutrality Comments In Alphabetical Order Techdirt (martha r). From last week, still important. The currency of the future has a settlement problem FT Alphaville (vlade). Izzy strikes again. Facebook tweaks its News Feed to take another swipe at clickbait Poynter (furzy) Apple starts assembling iPhones in India in play for the worlds fastest growing smartphone market TechCrunch Pulitzer prize winner blocked from Facebook after series of corruption facts posts Times of Malta (Chuck L). Nothing like having good old Faceborg stand behind corrupt officials! The older the doctor, the higher the patient mortality rate, study finds ars technica Mr. Market Has a Sad China? China Creates Own Insurance Monster Bloomberg Vestager set to sanction Facebook Politico Brexit Brazils President Temer hit by bribery allegations Financial Times Home Capital woes spark fears on Canada property market Financial Times Syraqistan US complains to Turkey over embassy violence BBC Big Brother is Watching You Watch WIKILEAKS ATTORNEYS BLAST CITIZENFOUR MAKER POITRAS Newsweek (martha r). Good for Newsweek for running this piece. Notice they are all women, which is significant with respect to some of what follows. Chelsea Manning Is a Free Woman: Her Heroism Has Expanded Beyond Her Initial Whistleblowing Intercept (martha r) Trump Transition Chasing Red Squirrels in DC Counterpunch (martha r) Get A Grip Ian Welsh The Imperial Bureau Jacobin (martha r). .the prevailing discussion around Comeys departure suffers from an extreme ignorance about the basic structure of the FBI. The FBI cannot plausibly be considered a check on the imperial presidency. Why Bernie Sanders Wasnt Invited to CAPs Ideas Conference Nation (UserFriendly) Howard Dean to help lead Hillary Clintons new organization VTDigger. Martha r: Deans animosity toward Sanders is common knowledge in VT. CNN Debate: Bernie Sanders vs John Kasich Full Town Hall Debate, May 16th 2017 YouTube (martha r). 71K views so far, which is not bad. But all about Russia and Bernie apparently hewed to the standard Dem position. U.S. Yanks Scathing Report Blasting DHS for Catching Less than 1% of Visa Overstays Judicial Watch (SS). Judicial Watch has a hard-core right wing agenda, but they also have a reputation for not making stuff up. What this might suggest is that the Administration is loath to fan anti-immigrant fires now that it seems to be checked on key initiatives like The Wall and cracking down on sanctuary cities. Why the radical center must be the future of American politics The Hill. Martha r: This guy who ran in a Maryland Dem primary says a radical center is needed but under a different name. and radical center does not represent compromise between right and left but TRANSCENDENCE OF right and left. As Macron is doing. wow! maybe this could save us. But how to come up with a better phrase than radical center? That will be very hard to do. Moi: Radical Center = Third Way. The dogs already rejected that dog food. The Democrats Battle for Montana Rolling Stone (martha r). With national Democrats on the sidelines, the Republican Party is sparing no expense to win in Montana on May 25th. The Democratic Old Guard Jackson Free Press (martha r) Water bill deadline looms for 8,000 Flint households WSWS (martha r) Ex-Baylor student sues school, says gang raped by football players Reuters (martha r) DAPL Coalition Disrupts JPMorgan Chase Shareholders Meeting: Demand they Defund Tar Sands Lessons from the Dakota Access Pipeline RealClearEnergy (UserFriendly) Americas Largest Pension Fund Has Dumped a Fortune Into Monsanto Stock Alternet. CalPERS board member Priya Mathur has made herself the public face of CalPERS supposed leadership in ESG, as in Environmental, Social and Governance investing (see here for details). If you are a CalPERS beneficiary or California taxpayer, and see CalPERS investment in Monsanto as inconsistent with its policies, drop her a line at: priya.mathur@calpers.ca.gov. When tech negatives begin to outweigh tech positives FT Alphaville (vlade) Trumps Glass-Steagall May Be Less Onerous Than Big Banks Fear Wall Street Journal Cisco revenue forecast disappoints; says to cut 1,100 more jobs Reuters (martha r) Class Warfare Antidote du jour (Timotheus). Looks to be auditioning for the FBI director post: And a bonus video. Richard Smith (who as a glider pilot is even better positioned to appreciate this clip than most people): He picks out the boss at 1:40, latest, and folds his wings. He is maybe 1/3 of the way down the tower at the time. In other words he is picking out a specific person, waving his hands a bit, from above, from a crowd, from around 1800ft: incomprehensible visual acuity. See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. All water users are being urged to take precautions after confirmation of an outbreak of Crayfish Plague on a stretch of the River Suir downstream of Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir. It comes after large numbers of dead freshwater crayfish were reported on the river earlier this month. DNA analysis has now confirmed that the cause of death was Crayfish Plague. The kill has only impacted White-clawed Crayfish and other freshwater animals are not affected. This is a characteristic feature of the disease, which only infects species of crayfish but causes 100% mortality. More news... Tipperary councillors back Simon Coveney in Fine Gael leadership race . All agencies including the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Tipperary County Council will be working to contain the outbreak to this stretch of the River Suir. Given the experience of outbreaks elsewhere, a total kill of the population is expected, which will have major consequences for the ecology of the river. Crayfish are very common in the Suir and are important in maintaining its ecology. Anyone using the river is being urged to observe the Check, Clean and Dry protocol once they leave the river and before using it again. This means that all wet gear (boats, clothing and equipment) should be checked for any silt or mud, plant material or animals before being cleaned and finally dried. Disinfectant or hot water (over 40 degrees Celsius) should be used to clean all equipment and this should be followed by a 24 hour drying period. The drying period is especially important in ensuring that all equipment is clear of infectious organism, including the removal of any water inside the boat. The crayfish plague organism can be carried on wet equipment to new sites and containment of the outbreak is essential to prevent its spread to other unaffected populations in Ireland. This is the second confirmed outbreak of the disease in Ireland following one in Cavan in 2015. There is no indication of how the disease reached the Suir, although a link to the Cavan outbreak is considered unlikely as the disease there appears to have run its course. This outbreak on the River Suir is of great concern, as the stretch of river affected is popular with anglers and canoeists. The White-clawed Crayfish is a globally-threatened species and Ireland holds one of the largest surviving population. It is the only freshwater crayfish species found in Ireland and is present in lakes, rivers and streams over much of the island. Throughout its European range, this species has been decimated by the impact of Crayfish Plague, which spread to Europe with the introduction of North American species of crayfish. Until 2015, Ireland was considered free of the disease and it remains the only European country without any established non-native crayfish species. If Crayfish Plague becomes established there is a high probability that the White-clawed Crayfish, which is currently protected under Irish Law and the EU Habitats Directive, will be eliminated from much of Ireland. If non-native crayfish are found to be established in Ireland this could have a severe impact on habitats, as they can destabilise canal and river banks by burrowing. It could also impact other freshwater species, such as salmon and trout fisheries. At this time, however, there is no evidence that non-native freshwater crayfish have been introduced in this country. As well as being asked to follow the Check, Clean and Dry protocol when using the river, the public is also asked to alert the authorities to any mass mortality of crayfish, as well as sightings of unusual crayfish (e.g. red claws, large size) by e-mailing Colette OFlynn - coflynn@biodiversityireland.ie - at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford. Independent County Councillor for Clonmel/ Cahir Borough District, Martin Lonergan has welcomed the approval by the Borough District of the Taking in Charge of Ashfield Manor Estate in Ardfinnan and Monroe, Lisronagh. His comments come after a report on the Taking in Charge of Estates was brought before the May monthly meeting of the Borough District with recommendations from the Director of Services that the two developments, Ashfield Manor, Ardfinnan and Monroe, Lisronagh had now been progressed to the Taking in Charge stage. Commenting on the approval Cllr Lonergan said, Following procedure under Section 11 of the Roads Act 1993 which was initiated on the 23 February last by the publication of a newspaper notice advising that is was proposed to declare the roads in the estates to be public roads. Representations in relation to the declaration were invited on or before 19 April and as there were no objections or representations received during the consultation period both estates were brought before us Elected Members for approval. This now means that it is declared that public roads, open spaces, car parks, sewers and water mains within the developments will be Taken in Charge by the County Council and Irish Water respectively! Continuing Cllr. Lonergan added, There are however, many more estates within the Borough District to be progressed to this stage and I would hope that they can be progressed as expediently as possible. Many have been in the process for a number of years but now with a dedicated Taking in Charge team within the Council, I would hope that these can be brought to the stage of been Taken in Charge in the near future. However, on this occasion, the residents of Ashfield Manor, Ardfinnan and Monroe, Lisronagh can breathe a sigh of relief now that the responsibility for the estates has been secured with the Local Authority. In particular, issues in Ashfield Manor had been brought to my attention since I ran for Council in 2014 and I am now delighted that it has finally progressed to this stage and the various works that need to be completed in the estate can be so as to bring it up to standard, concluded Cllr. Lonergan. Two new daily rural bus services connecting rural communities in South Tipperary with Thurles, Tipperary, Cahir and Cashel will commence this summer. Local Link Tipperary, which manages public bus services in rural areas and within towns, is to provide the bus services, which will run on the five weekdays. One service will link Ballingarry, Killenaule and other east Tipperary communities with Thurles and the other will run between Tipperary Town, Cahir and Cashel. Anthony Moroney, Manager of Local Link Tipperary, said the tendering process to sub-contract the two new bus routes to private bus operators will take place over the next four to six weeks and they aim to have the new services up and running in July/August. Mr Moroney said the two new bus services, along with a third new service for Roscrea town, represented a significant investment by the National Transport Authority under its Rual Transport Programme. It's planned that two Local Link buses will run twice daily from Ballingarry to Thurles with two evening return services to Ballingarry. The buses will stop in Killenaule and also in Ballynonty, Glengoole and Littleton before reaching Thurles. The proposed timetable for the service is that the first will leave Ballingarry at 7.50am daily and arrive at Thurles IT at 8.57am and also stop in Thurles town centre. The second bus will leave Ballingarry at 12.20pm and arrive in Thurles at 1.30pm. The return bus will leave Thurles at 2pm with arrive in Ballingarry at 3.05pm while the second return bus will leave Thurles at 5.45pm and reach Ballingarry at 6.50pm. Mulllinahone Independent Cllr Eddie O'Meara, who is Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District's representative on the board of Tipperary Local Link, has welcomed the new Ballingarry to Thurles route and said it will be ideal for college students commuting to LIT's Thurles campus and people working in Thurles. He pointed out that one of the bus' two stops in Thurles will be at the LIT Thurles campus. The other will be in Thurles town centre. Cllr O'Meara said the new bus service will also provide an important social service for people without private transport in these East Tipp communities that will enable them to travel from rural areas to Thurles to shop, access social welfare, medical and other services. Meanwhile, four buses will operate on the Cashel-Cahir -Tipperary route. Mr Moroney said it was proposed that the first bus will leave Abbey St. in Tipperary Town at 7.30am daily and go first to Limerick Junction Rail Station then return to Tipperary and travel to Cahir via Bansha. It will arrive in Cahir in time for passengers to connect to the Cahir to Waterford Bus Eireann service. The bus will then travel to Cashel via New Inn and arrive at Cashel around 8.50am. It will leave Cashel at 9am and return to Tipperary via Golden and Kilfeacle, arriving at 9.35am in time for passengers to connect to Bus Eireann's Tipperary to Limerick bus. The final leg of the route will be another trip to Limerick Junction and back to Tipperary. Mr Moroney said it was proposed that other buses on this route will leave from Tipperary at 10.30am, 2pm and 4.45pm. He stressed the timetables he had outlined for the two new routes were only proposed and not finalised at this stage. Mr Moroney pointed out that the Free Travel Pass will be accepted on both bus services and that the bus on the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel route will be wheelchair accessible. Local Link Tipperary currently provides about 50 different public transport services providing up to 150 bus trips a week. As a valued NATO Partner, Finland will host the 13th Annual NATO Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-proliferation from 29 to 30 May 2017 in Helsinki. This is one of NATOs largest outreach activities, held with increasing success since 2004, involving Alliance member states and partners from around the world. Participants from five continents and major international organisations will gather together for this informal event. The conference will be opened by Timo Soini, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland. A statement will be delivered by NATOs Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller. Following the repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria and nuclear and ballistic missile tests in North Korea, as well as the discussions in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and UN framework on new disarmament instruments, this dialogue between NATO Allies with NATO partners around the globe is important to ensure a better understanding of the global security challenges. Reinforcing non-proliferation NATOs Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, will chair this forum which provides an opportunity for open and informal dialogue. The conference will address topical issues, such as: The state of play and future of the multilateral non-proliferation regimes and initiatives in view of a changing international security environment; regional proliferation challenges in the Middle East and in Asia, including in Syria and North Korea; NATOs contribution and other international organisations efforts in the area of WMD arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. More than 100 participants from nearly 50 NATO and Partner countries and international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union will gather in Helsinki, among them many senior non-proliferation officials from around the globe, including Assistant Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and Directors-General. Dr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) will be a keynote speaker at the opening of the conference and Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu, Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, will address the conference with a keynote speech at dinner. Previous conferences on the challenges of WMD proliferation were held in Rome (2004), Sofia (2005), Vilnius (2007), Berlin (2008), Warsaw (2009), Prague (2010), Bergen (2011), Budapest (2012), Split (2013), Interlaken (2014), Qatar (2015), and Ljubljana (2016). NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the progress being made in closer cooperation between the Alliance and the European Union in a meeting with EU Defence Ministers on Thursday (18 May 2017). He highlighted that this cooperation has reached a new level. The Secretary General highlighted cyber defence as an example of tangible progress. During the recent ransomware attacks, NATO issued a warning to all Allies, as well as the EU, and exchanged information with the EU. The EUs cyber security hub CERT-EU has also been granted access to NATOs Malware Information Sharing Platform. Now NATO and the EU are able to share information in real time on cyber-attacks, said Mr. Stoltenberg. The Secretary General and High Representative Mogherini will report on the progress of NATO-EU cooperation to the Councils of both organisations next month. This cooperation will also be highlighted at the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on May 25. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised Bulgarias contributions to NATO in talks with the Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ekaterina Zaharieva, on Tuesday (16 May 2017). Welcoming Minister Zaharieva to NATO headquarters for the first time since her appointment, the Secretary General thanked her for Bulgarias strong contributions to NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, as well as its support to partners, including Ukraine. Calling Bulgaria a highly valued Ally, the Secretary General welcomed Sofias plans for increased investments in defence. Mr. Stoltenberg and Ms. Zaharieva also discussed Black Sea security and the importance of cooperation between NATO and the European Union. They discussed preparations for the meeting of NATO leaders on 25 May, where burden sharing and NATOs role in the fight against terrorism will top the agenda. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announces the opening of the newly-built 174-room and 25 suites Holiday Inn Express & Suites Monterrey Valle hotel located within the Plaza Tanarah complex in the citys exclusive Valle area. The new design solution offers travelers staying at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Monterrey Valle property enhanced technology and improved service delivery for a simple, smart travel experience. Gerardo Murray, Regional Vice President, Brands & Marketing, Mexico, Latin America and Caribbean, IHG said: IHG is always looking for opportunities that offer the winning combination of a great hotel in the best location. We are excited to work with a strong partner like Visus Grupo Hotelero S.A.P.I de CV. who shares our vision of creating a smart lodging experience in Monterrey. With its prime location at Av. Jose Vasconcelos 345, Col. Santa Engracia, San Pedro Garza Garcia and close to high-end restaurants and shopping, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Monterrey Valle hotel offers spectacular views of the Sierra Madre mountain range and the Country Club of San Pedro Garza Garcia. The property is less than one mile from several multinational corporate offices and from the Santa Engracia Industrial Park, eight miles from UDEM University and 3.7 miles from TEC Milenio University Complex. The hotel offers a 24-hour fitness center, on-site guest laundry facilities and five small meeting rooms. Guest rooms feature modern styling, a comfortable queen, king-sized or two double beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair, 43 TV Flat Screen, minibar, microwave and an in-room coffee machine with complimentary coffee. The hotels 25 suites are further equipped with a small sink. The complimentary Desayuno Express bar features a full range of breakfast items, including a rotation of egg and meat selections, pastries, yogurt, fruit, coffee, juices, and regional dishes such as carne asada tacos. Known as The City of Mountains, Monterrey is ringed by tall peaks and gives both leisure and business travelers many opportunities to explore and enjoy with old town Monterreys 18th century homes built from ashlar. Its variety of museums provide great diversity for travelers: the Monterrey Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Mexican History, and the Regional History Museum in the Palace of Obispado. Another of the citys attractions is the Macroplaza which houses the citys main government buildings, museums, theatre, and central library. Other activities around Monterrey worth a visit include the numerous natural areas such as the Cerro de la Silla, El Cerro de las Mitras, and La Sierra Madre, where the famous area known as "Chipinque" is located. Owned and managed by Visus Grupo Hotelero S.A.P.I de CV., the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Monterrey Valle hotel is franchised by an affiliate of IHG and is part of IHGs diverse family of brands in nearly 100 countries and territories. The scale and diversity of the IHG family of brands means that its hotels can meet guests needs whatever the occasion whether an overnight getaway, a business trip, a family celebration or a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-HOLIDAY or by going to IHG.com/HolidayInnExpress. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites brand participates in IHG Rewards Club. The industrys first and largest hotel rewards program is free, and guests can enroll at IHGRewardsClub.com, by downloading the IHG App, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHGs more than 5,200 hotels worldwide. The hotel also participates in IHG Green Engage and offers unique programs to ensure sustainability. IHG currently has more than 2,500 Holiday Inn Express hotels worldwide, 51 of which are located throughout Mexico. IHG has hotels in nearly 100 countries, with 220 hotels and more than 37,500 rooms throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. (Natural News) Theres a show my family particularly likes watching called Tiny House, Big Living, which depicts savvy young people making the choice to scale down and simplify their homes in order to keep their living costs down. Their houses may be small generally under 400 square feet but they are usually beautiful, warm and cozy. While the idea of going that small might be too much (or too little) for many people to contemplate, the tiny homes depicted in the show are positively palatial compared to the minuscule sub-divided homes lived in by over 200,000 of Hong Kongs residents. The tiny rooftop shacks, metal cages and 10- to 15-foot wooden bunk homes stacked one on top of the other are referred to as coffin homes by their inhabitants because of their size and appearance. Describing life in such a home, one resident said, Im not even dead yet but Im already living in my coffin four walls and nails. Hong Kongs booming real estate market and skyrocketing rentals have forced hundreds of thousands of the 1.2 million people living in poverty to live in these cramped, unsafe and unsanitary cubicles. Houses in the high end of the Hong Kong property market sell for as much as a staggering $10,550 per square foot. To put that into perspective, according to Business Insider, property in Manhattan, New York, sells for around $1,538 per square foot, and is considered outrageously expensive. A buyer could pick up a property in Detroit for just $12 per square foot. [RELATED: Is Chinas massive property boom coming to an end?] One single mom, Li Suet-wen, pays $580 (U.S.) a month for the tiny 120-square foot home she shares with her two children. She has been forced to cram a bunk bed, small couch, washing machine, fridge and small table into the precious available space. And this family is considerably better off than those that have to live in the even smaller coffin homes. To add insult to injury, poor people are paying more per square foot to rent these unsanitary rabbit hatches than their fellow city dwellers pay for Hong Kongs beautiful high-end properties. In some instances, over two dozen people live in tiny bunk bed homes in which they cannot even stretch out their legs, and must share a combined kitchen and a single toilet. They have absolutely no privacy. The coffin homes, stacked one on top of the other, with illegal wiring strung openly across the walls, are a health and safety nightmare. And as one resident, who gave his name simply as Mak, said, There have been close calls over the years. Were stacked like sardines, and there are no regulations. Wed all be dead if a fire were to start. An email to CNN by Home Affairs Spokesperson Elain Chu seems to indicate that the government is well aware of the problem but is choosing to do nothing about it; for the most part, they appear to be washing their hands of the whole situation. Chu noted that although there is an ordinance requiring that any apartment with 12 or more bed spaces obtain a special license, the Ordinance was not formulated to prohibit or illegalize bedspace apartments, and was simply put in place to try to ensure that such apartments meet fire and safety codes which most clearly do not. The government is making no effort to offer the citys poorest residents any other options. As Mak said, Its not that the H.K. government cant help people like me who are part of the low-income society and need help. Its that they dont want to help people like us and solve problems like this. The United Nations has condemned the appalling conditions in these truly tiny homes, calling them an insult to human dignity. (Photo credit: Associated Press) Sources: Edition.CNN.com News.com.au TheNational.ae DailyMail.co.uk BusinessInsider.com (Natural News) Let me start out by saying that I have no political agenda. Like most of you, Im just a regular, straight-down-the-middle person living my life. That said, I am open-minded and believe that getting different perspectives and listening to many viewpoints is important in shaping my own views. The world would be a bleak place, indeed, if we were all forced to accept only one side of any given equation. And yet, that is what we are increasingly being bullied into doing, as evidenced recently by the totally over-the-top reaction by many to filmmaker Cassie Jayes documentary The Red Pill. In the movie, Jaye, an investigative journalist and self-proclaimed feminist, decided to go down the rabbit hole of the Mens Rights Activism (MRA) movement, described by Urban Dictionary as an organization of men and their women allies who draw attention to the ways in which misandry (anti-male attitudes and actions) and gynocentrism (women-privileging) harm men. The film sets out to examine what MRAs really stand for, what they believe theyre fighting for, and what their attitudes really are towards women. In spite of the movies huge commercial success, Netflix has refused to air it. In theaters in Canada, Australia and the U.S., feminists have come out en masse to protest viewings, and independent theaters have been under huge pressure not to show it. [Related: Discover what else they dont want you to see at Censored.news.] CBC News recently reported that theater patrons and sponsors in Canada have threatened to stop doing business with theaters that dare to go ahead with scheduled screenings. Gavin McInnes of Rebel Media calls this type of pressure economic terrorism, and makes the interesting point that many of the people who protested so vehemently against the film have never even seen it. McInnes argues that many recent documentaries have been very biased toward one particular viewpoint, and some like An Inconvenient Truth, have been scientifically flawed and totally one-sided, yet have been accepted as fact and allowed to mold the thinking of many. On the other hand, with The Red Pill, Cassie Jaye does what true journalists should do, she insists. You set out with no agenda and you dont end up where you thought you would. And judging by the content of the trailer, that is just what Jaye does. While providing the perspective of the MRAs, and highlighting some of their most pressing issues, she also speaks to prominent feminist activists and journalists to get their take on those issues. The interviews Jaye conducts for the documentary highlight issues like men having virtually no rights when it comes to custody disputes, and the fact that if a woman should decide to abort her baby, her spouse or partner would have no say in the matter. The documentary also highlights the fact that 93 percent of workplace fatalities affect men, and that 4 out of 5 suicides are men. [Related: Men have to pay more at the pharmacy now as a gender inequality tax.] As one of the interviewees notes, men are suffering, but, Society doesnt want to hear their pain. We value female life more than we value male life. Dr. Warren Farrell refers to a big hole in the area of compassion for boys and men, and Paul Elam, president and founder of A Voice for Men, notes that the anti-men message is a subtle subtext in statements like stop violence against women, rather than simply, stop all violence. In her video diary, Jaye looks really confused and says shes unsure if the MRAs are simply duping her to convince her of their out-there theory that men are discriminated against, and women have the advantage. The trailer also shows her listening to many feminist voices, including that of Katherine Spillar, executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, who insists that it is indisputable that women are still oppressed physically, financially and economically, and that in the political and business halls of power, men are advantaged over women. All in all, the trailer certainly depicts a balanced, thought-provoking documentary that shows both sides of the issue. Its hard to understand what all the furor is about. But then, perhaps Harry Crouch, president of the National Coalition for Men summed it up best when he said, We just dont seem to respect each other for who we are. Watch the documentary, and decide for yourself. Sources for this article include: TheRalphRetort.com NorthernStar.com.au UrbanDictionary.com YouTube.com YouTube.com CBC.ca (Natural News) If you live in Australia and want to exercise your right not to vaccinate your kids, youd better be prepared to pay for that privilege. The new federal budget will see parents who dont vaccinate losing AUD$14 per week, which equates to around USD$10.49 at todays rate, from their family tax benefit payments. The measure will be set in motion starting July 2018, and it is expected to raise millions of dollars while punishing those who dont want to vaccinate their kids. Health Minister Greg Hunt and Social Services Minister Christian Porter have said that taking this approach rather than withholding a supplement at the end of the year would be a good way to constantly remind parents that they need to vaccinate their kids. It will also apply to families who do not get their four-year-olds a health check, which presumably is yet another way to try to push vaccines on kids. Families who want to catch up on their vaccines will be able to do so for free under a $14 million program. The government will also spend $5 million to promote the benefits of vaccination in areas that have lower immunization rates, such as the far north coast of New South Wales. Australia is a hostile place for anti-vaxxers Most countries take a dim view of those who oppose vaccines, but Australia is a particularly unfriendly place for them. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls No Jab, No Play policy excludes kids who havent been vaccinated from going to preschool or childcare unless they have an official medical exemption. Vaccine objection would not be considered a valid reason to skip the shots under the proposal. Laws that prevent unvaccinated children from going to school already exist in some parts of Australia, including Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Meanwhile, the recently updated vaccination standards of The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia urged members of the public to report any midwives and nurses who are sharing beliefs that could be construed as opposing vaccination. In addition, some Australian children are being denied medical treatment because their immunizations are not up to date. A poll of more than 2,000 parents found that one out of every six children who were not current on their vaccinations had been refused care. According to that study, 95 percent of the countrys children were fully vaccinated despite the fact that a third of parents had concerns and one-tenth of parents felt vaccines could be behind autism. Vaccine injury reports average at 125 per day in our nation, which is hardly a drop in the bucket. In 2016, more than 45,000 adverse events following vaccinations were reported, some of which were life-threatening. This only pertains to the cases that were actually reported; many are never reported because the parents dont understand the process or have been convinced by medical professionals that doing so is not necessary. Vaccines are loaded with dangerous chemicals, chemical adjuvants and other toxins that can cause many adverse effects, including death. While the Australian government seems to think this financial punishment will serve as quite a deterrent, its safe to assume that many parents will be all too glad to part with AUD$14 to avoid having to shoot their children up with formaldehyde, aluminum and mercury, among other toxins. Sources: News.com.au NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Vaccines.news ABC.net.au HeraldSun.com.au A 15-day-old baby girl was discovered with 100 rat bites in a blood-soaked crib. The parents of the newborn infant are teen couple Erica Shryock, 19, and Charles Elliott, 18. The couple was charged with child endangerment after the five-pound baby severely suffered from 100 rat bites. Reports say that the baby's skull was even visible through the wound. Both Shryock and Elliott were charged with first-degree child endangerment. "Detectives told Erica that [the baby] would have had to been screaming for a while due to the amount of bites. Erica stated that she knew there were rats in the house, but admitted that neither she or Charles did anything to address the rodent issue," the police said in a statement. The police were called upon last Sunday, May 14, 11:30 a.m., at the Magnolia Regional Medical Center about the case of a baby with 100 rat bites. After conducting examinations, authorities discovered that the baby suffered from about 75 to 100 rat bites all over her body including her fingers, arms, hands and face. However, the medical report cited that the worse injury is on the baby's forehead that exposed part of her skull. Shyrock revealed to the police that the baby girl was placed in the bassinet at 5:30 a.m. next to their bed; the baby started crying two hours later. Elliott, the baby's teen dad, said that he even saw bloody rat footprint in the crib. In the report, the police said that the young parents were aware of the rat infestation in the house but failed to address the problem. Despite the charges, the baby's grandmother revealed that Elliott is scared to lose custody of his daughter. However, it was established that Elliott did not immediately bring the baby to the hospital as instructed by his mother. The baby already underwent reconstructive surgery to close the injury on the head that exposed her skull due to 100 rate bites. Meanwhile, a report from Arkansas Children's Hospital said the baby suffered from severe skin destruction due to rat feeding. Teenage parents Shyrock and Elliott are currently detained at the Columbia County Justice and Detention Facility. It's a mystery that piqued the curiosity of the world: a monstrous 49-foot carcass washed up on the shores of Seram Island, Indonesia. By the time it was found, the marine animal was rotting and beyond recognition, so it seemed like a monster from another world. The first reports from Jakarta Globe called the mysterious creature a giant squid, but further observations by experts say otherwise. According to a report from Huffington Post, three marine experts have determined the species of the creature appears to be a baleen whale. "Giant squid are invertebrates and there are clearly bones visible (jaw, skull, vertebrae) so I am very comfortable saying it's some type of rorqual whale," Whale and Dolphin Conservation executive director Regina Asmutis-Silvia said. "Certain species of baleen whales (rorquals) have 'ventral grooves' which run from their chin to their belly button. It is stretchy tissue that expands when they feed." Ocean Research & Conservation Association CEO and senior scientist Edith Widder agreed, saying that while it's difficult to know for sure from videos and photos, some of the images do indeed show something that looks like baleen plates. "Trying to identify huge ocean creatures half a [world] away from a grainy video is tough to do; but once people start sharing specific information that begins to narrow in on defining characteristics of the creature, the identity begins to come into focus," Ocean Conservancy chief scientist George Leonard explained. The animal was so huge that the first witnesses who stumbled onto the carcass actually thought it was a boat. Even several days after its discovery, researchers are still uncertain what caused the whale's death. It's also quite difficult to determine the cause because of the state of the remains. Because the animal is already beginning to decay, residents asked the government to help them remove the remains. New Zealand's Otago Peninsula is often called the wildlife capital of the country with an assortment of fur seals, sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins. Unfortunately, their numbers are dwindling, especially the latter whose population is alarmingly nearing extinction. According to a report from Popular Science, the penguins have declined by 76 percent in the period between 1996 and 2015. If their conditions continue in the current trajectory, scientists predict that the yellow-eyed penguins could be locally extinct by 2043. The warming of the waters in the South Pacific in the 1940s should have caused a population decline in the penguins, but the pristine records of school teacher and amateur ornithologist Lancelot Eric Richdale showed that their numbers increased instead. He suggested that the conditions of the era - a lot of the citizens fighting in the Second World War -- led to the decreased activity in New Zealand. "In terms of agriculture and fisheries it was down to the bare essentials," lead author Thomas Mattern, an ecologist at the University of Otago, explained. "The penguins benefited from the reduced activities of humans." Richdale's records suggest that climate change isn't the only reason behind the yellow-eyed penguins' deaths. While more individuals died in years with high temperatures, Matten pointed out that if the rising climate was the only reason, the animals would have adapted. "Climate change is not the end of a species alone," he explained. "We just can't say all of the species are disappearing because the climate is changing. We also have to look at all of the other pressures that we're putting on these species, particularly regional pressures." Mattern and his team used population data from two periods: 1937 to 1948 at Kumo Kumo Whero, and 1982 to 2015 at Boulder Beach. They found out that a third of the yellow-eyed penguin's population disappeared due to warming temperatures. The other two-thirds is certainly significant, but while climate data is readily available, there is little quantifiable information on fisheries impact, rate of pollution, the impact of tourism and others. Mattern said, "We can't add these factors to our model, which inevitably means we end up with research that says climate change has this impact on population, which deflects from the problem that there are several factors at play here." One of the factors that may contribute to the dramatic decline of yellow-eyed penguins is the use of gillnets, which are used to trap fish but can also entangle and drown other animals. The study was published in the journal PeerJ. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is one step closer to securing a $70 million state grant for a controversial expansion of the West County Detention Facility in Richmond. A Board of State and Community Corrections steering committee approved the sheriff's grant application Wednesday in Sacramento. The proposal will now move forward for a full and final vote before the entire board on June 8. The application seeks $70 million out of SB-844 funding, which is money the state set aside to improve mental health facilities and fund jail construction across California. If approved, the behemoth project which would add more than 120,000 square feet to the Richmond jail will cost Contra Costa County $25 million and another $5 million per year to operate. The Wednesday meeting was flanked with about 30 people from a coalition opposing the expansion, who expressed their concerns about the proposal during public comment. The coalition members, many of whom are Richmond residents, have been protesting and writing opposition letters for months. We feel like they didnt hear our voices, said activist Claudia Jimenez, who has been a lead organizer with the Services Not Cells opposition campaign. We spoke, we sent many, many letters, but they didnt hear us. Jimenez and other critics have argued that the expansion is a poor use of scarce county resources. They believe that overcrowding in jails could be addressed by releasing nonviolent offenders, as well as severing the sheriffs contract with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, in which 200 beds at the Richmond jail are leased to ICE. Meanwhile, Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston has maintained that the expansion is a crucial step to reduce overcrowding and stop the double bunking practice at the Martinez jail, a decrepit facility that is operating at double capacity nearly every day. He said the expansion is ultimately about protecting and providing resources to inmates who are mentally ill. "Today was a good day for those who care about public safety in Contra Costa County and also want to see treatment for mentally ill offenders as I do," Livingston said in a statement. "The State's Steering Committee saw the value of our jail and mental health treatment project and voted to fund it. Livingston also claims that the expansion will not add to the net number of beds at the Richmond jail a requirement for any jail that leases to outside entities, including ICE, that receives funding under SB 844. But Jimenez and other detractors are skeptical of that claim, and say the existing ICE contract creates substantial trust issues between the Sheriffs department and the immigrant community. The Services Not Cells coalition plans to continue their opposition at the May 24 Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors meeting, and they will also attend the June 8 Board of State and Community Corrections meeting. Were not giving up, not at all, Jimenez said. Its a moral thing. This is about our future and our values. Thailand-based, global hospitality company Dusit International soon will have a hotel in Nepal. The first Dusit-branded property in Nepal, Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort & Spa, is located in the heart of Nepals central region, just over an hours drive from Kathmandu and Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM). The luxurious mountaintop resort will comprise 44 well-appointed guest rooms and 20 exclusive villas, each providing magnificent views of the majestic Himalayan range. The new property will have a wellness spa concept created by Dusits signature Devarana Spa, which provides luxurious, personalized treatments designed to promote emotional and physical well-being. Other facilities will include an all-day-dining restaurant, a bar and lobby lounge, meeting facilities and a swimming pool. Namo Buddha, a small village which houses the ancient Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery, one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal, is less than ten minutes away by car. Dhulikhel, the administrative centre of Kavrepalanchok District, whose old town is home to many Hindu shrines and Buddhist stupa, is also located nearby. The extension of the highway which links Dhulikel to Kathmandu is expected to complete by 2020, reducing travel time from the capital to the resort to under 45 minutes. See and book hotels in Kathmandu Two Texas men on Thursday pleaded no contest to hate-crime charges that stemmed from them beating a Sikh man in the Bay Area last year. Colton LeBlanc, 25, and Chase Little, 31, were sentenced to prison for three years apiece. The pair were former contractors at the Chevron Richmond Refinery. Investigators say they viciously attacked Maan Singh Khalsa at a Richmond stop light in September. The Texas men's attorneys downplayed the attack. "I don't think he's hated by the clients. I think this is a very unfortunate incident," defense attorney Joseph Tully said. "I don't think it was motivated by the differences in religion or culture or anything like that." The men first threw a beer can at Khalsa's car and cursed and yelled at him. Then they followed him, pulled his head out of the window, forcibly removed his turban and snipped off his long hair, authorities said. "My attackers hit me with their fists, knocked off my turban, and yelled, 'Cut his f****** hair.' They yanked my hair through the window and used a knife to saw parts of it off," Khalsa said in a statement issued after the sentencing on Thursday. Khalsa's finger was amputated after it was severely injured during the attack. He told police that he believes the men targeted him because they mistook him for a Muslim, according to a police report. "The actions of Mr. Little and Mr. Leblanc have greatly affected every facet of my life; they have transformed my day-to-day experiences and my very outlook on the world," Khalsa wrote in the statement. Khalsa added that he wishes people could just treat each other as equals despite their differences. He said he hopes his attackers will change their ways. "I am blown away by Mr. Khalsa's dignity and humanity," deputy DA Simon O'Connell said. "He is a gentle spirit and something we all need to find within ourselves in these times." Sheriff's deputies also arrested Dustin Micheal Albarado, 25, of Louisiana, on felony assault charges. He has been cleared of criminal liability and will not be charged, the District Attorney's Office said. Khalsa immigrated to the United States from India in 2003. An IT specialist for the Social Security Administration, he is the father of an 8-year-old girl and volunteers his time to aid the Bay Area's Sikh community. Reflecting on his life before the Sept. 25 assault, Khalsa, described being "care free." His interests included horseback riding, working out and rock climbing with his child. "I always assumed the best in others, like when I tried to explain that, There is a misunderstanding, I am your brother as the defendants followed my car and cussed at me. Like when I didnt think to roll up the window as the defendants came toward my car to punch me through my window," he wrote. Reliving Little and LeBlanc using a knife to hack off parts of his unshorn hair a symbol of Sikhs' love for God Khalsa described feeling humiliated. "By cutting my hair, the attackers did not just attack my body; they attacked my dignity, my spirit, my faith, my religion and my entire community," Khalsa stressed. Even though he was able to drive away from his attackers and get help from police, Khalsa said his life is no longer the same. "Immediately after the attack, I had suffered damaged teeth, a black eye, and cuts and bruises, including a gash on my right pinky finger," he said. "Nearly eight months later, there are lasting impacts on my health I have trouble with short-term memory, I have lost a body part (my pinky), I struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression, and it is difficult for me to sleep at night." The physical effects have affected Khalsa's psyche and reduced his productivity at work. The ambush robbed him of some of his favorite activities he can no longer saddle a horse, lift weights, hoist himself up rock climbing walls or type easily. Khalsa is now also faced with a mountain of medical bills, forcing him to get a second job and cut back on volunteering. Worse, though, is the fact that he no longer trusts easily, Khalsa admitted. "It is difficult for me to go outside now without having pepper spray with me," he said. "Now, when I interact with strangers, I am not as open as I used to be I am more likely to view others not as my brothers, but as possible threats to my safety." Aware that it will take years, maybe the remainder of his life, to truly recover from the anguish he suffered, Khalsa said he takes solace from the fact that LeBlanc and Little's actions were viewed as hate crimes. He is also turning to his Sikh faith, which underlies the importance of treating all people as equal, no matter one's background. "Mr. Little and Mr. Leblanc, I hope that one day you will come to share this view. I still consider you my brothers, and I hope that you will learn about me and my community, and one day consider me your brother, too," Khalsa concluded. From aldermen to workers in social service agencies, frustrations are high as Illinois lawmakers continue to inch toward yet another session without getting a new budget deal worked out by May 31. The General Assembly has been in a no change mode and its hurting everything, Governor Bruce Rauner told a meeting of business leaders on Thursday. The General Assembly has moved toward a budget deal in fits and starts, but with a deadline looming at the end of the month, no agreement has been reached as the state continues to operate without a budget. In the face of the discussions, key individuals and groups are voicing their concerns, including Democratic candidate for governor Amaya Pawar. Were going to every single county in the state and talking about the issues around criminal justice reform, universal child care, and education funding, the alderman told NBC 5. While Pawar will lay out his case to voters in a series of public events beginning this weekend, other candidates in the governors race are already opening up their pocketbooks. Both Rauner and J.B. Pritzker are running advertisements in the race, and Rauner got a substantial $20 million contribution from Chicago businessman Ken Griffin this week. Even amidst the war of words escalates, there is still some hope that a deal can get done. We should never give up on getting a balanced budget, Rauner said. Reaction from the Illinois congressional delegation is rarely unified but there is bipartisan agreement over the decision by the Department of Justice to appoint Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate allegation of Russian involvement int he 2016 election. GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger was the first member of the state's Republican delegation to shift his view stating his support early this morning for a special prosecutor. Now that Mueller has accepted his new post, Kinzinger says "Bob Mueller is a well-respected and trusted veteran of the FBI. The American people deserve answers, transparency and most importantly, the truth." Several hours after Mueller was appointed, 6th District Congressman Peter Roskam who had not yet called for a special counsel changed his view. Roskam released a statement saying "the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the inquiry ... is a welcome development." Roskam says he has "complete confidence" in Mueller. Democratic members of the Illinois delegation had supported a special prosecutor after former FBI director James Comey was fired by President Trump. Wednesday night, Senator Dick Durbin says "this is a critical step and I'm glad Mr. Rosenstein took it. The past 48 hours have shown the lengths that the President and his Administration will go to hinder and halt this investigation." Senator Tammy Duckworth says the special counsel "is a positive step to help protect our democracy." Also weighing in, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, in a printed statement, says "I still firmly believe in the for a 9/11 style commission on Russian interference. " Krishnamoorthi says "there is a need for broader fact finding in areas where the letter of the law may not have been violated, but important questions of national security still lie in the balance." Democratic candidate for governor JB Pritzker went a step further. He supports calling for beginning the Impeachment process of President Trump. Pritzker says "I believe is necessary to protect our country's national security and preserve our democracy." Pritzker was a top fundraiser and close adviser for HIllary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky says "in order for the investigation to be effective, it must be fully independent and have the resources necessary to carry out its important duty." Alan Reed contacted NBC Connecticut Responds after a Windsor-based fence company, Hartford Wire Works, suddenly closed its doors for good after almost 150 years in business. Reed installed a fence June 2016 from Hartford Wire Works because, at a $2,300 price tag, it was the most affordable. I saved for two years for that, Reed said. And I didnt put my boat in the water last summer because its such a big expense. The fence went up just in time for Reeds Fathers Day cookout, but a few months later, it started to sag. I wasnt really concerned with it because I figured Id let it settle for the winter, Reed said. And (Id) just have them come out and straighten it out in the morning. Reed followed up with the company this past March and said an employee came right over to take a look. It was too wet to do the repairs, but Reed still wasnt concerned. Theyve been around forever, said Reed. Theyre not going to leave me high and dry. Then, when Hartford Wire Works suddenly closed, a representative told Reed the company would not be back to fix the fence. NBC Connecticut Responds contacted a few local companies and explained Reeds situation. One of those companies agreed to do the fix for free. Hartford Wire Works owner also said he would reach out to Reed to make it right. Since March 2017, Connecticut has experienced a handful of deaths connected to a new designer drug. It is an especially potent form of fentanyl the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency has yet to call a controlled substance and technically, that means it is not illegal. Regular fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid, about 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the DEA. Experts now say acrylfentanyl might be even more dangerous. And what is scarier is that doctors are worried the drug commonly used to counteract overdoses might be resistant to this new strain. From the suburbs - including two connected deaths in Bristol and one in Canton - to the cities, with two deaths in Hartford - acrylfentanyl has arrived in Connecticut. "Acryl fentanyl is one of the synthetic opioids," said Dr. J. Craig Allen, the medical director at Rushford, part of Hartford Healthcare in Meriden. "It's very frightening, it's terrifying." Since March, five fatal overdoses have tested positive for acrylfentanyl in Connecticut. Allen said the chemicals were developed and researched, then shelved to avoid human use. "But they're now being re-circulated, and the problem is, they're very, very potent, Allen said. This is causing users looking for a fast fix to quite possibly drop dead. "The risks are that people who think they're getting heroin, or think they're getting something that is less potent, may use the same amount of this new substance and it will shut down their respiratory drive and with fentanyl and acrylfentanyl that happens so much quicker than it does with heroin," Allen said. Officials are also worried acrylfentanyl might be resistant to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, which is commonly known by its brand name, Narcan, which has saved hundreds of lives across Connecticut. "The problem is, as these synthetic opioids become more and more potent, they attach with a much greater stronger affinity to the receptor and they hold on for longer periods of time. So you may need multiple doses of naloxone in order to knock those substances off. And there's a possibility that the naloxone even with multiple tries, it might not work so it's really, really important to remember to call 911 before you do anything, Allen said. Like witnesses did in both fatal overdoses in Hartford. We understand the Narcan might not work on every case of fentanyl overdose and we're certainly trained on how to address that and generally with more doses of Narcan, we're prepared to do that," Hartford Police Deputy Chief Brian Foley said. Foley said his department, like many others NBC Connecticut spoke with, shares acrylfentanyl intelligence among local law enforcement, and across state lines. In fact, Vermont authorities just issued a bulletin that was shared with all Hartford police personnel. "We have to notify our user population and keep them constantly updated as to what is going on, and you're seeing everyone that can reach out to the user population, are doing that. Unfortunately it's a sickness and despite the toxicity and different types of fentanyl, users are going to use," Foley said. Mark Jenkins, who founded the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition, is armed with generous supplies of Narcan and needles to help those in need. Jenkins said that if the naloxone doesn't work, you should question what else is in somebody's system. Poly-substance abuse or poly-substance use is so common, so we don't know if there was alcohol? Also, in the toxicology, benzos on board? That may make it more resistant to the naloxone," Jenkins said. Dr. Allen said families facing addiction at home, really need to make sure they can perform CPR and not forget to call 911 immediately in an emergency. By email, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA New Haven told NBC Connecticut, As of right now Acryl Fentanyl is not yet a scheduled substance but DEA is in the process of making it a scheduled substance. In order to do this DEA must make notifications to the public to give individuals the right to fight it if they can prove there are legitimate needs for this drug. Sometimes this can take upwards of a few months. This makes our job very difficult because we are trying our best to stay on top of all the different forms of fentanyl being produced out there (mostly from China) and all it take is for these so called chemists out there to switch one molecule in the drug and it now makes it a different strain of fentanyl which would then not be a controlled substance yet, ASAC Brian Boyle said. DCS interim Superintendent Leatha Mullins says she will ask law enforcement to investigate a $25 million land deal exposed this week in an exclusive report by NBC 5 Investigates. There are questions about who profited from that deal and about campaign donations made to the DCS board president, Larry Duncan, who announced Wednesday he's stepping down from that post after 14 years. Duncan's term as president was up Wednesday, and he elected not to seek another term in that role but will remain on the board. Longtime Dallas County Schools Board of Trustees President Larry Duncan was replaced Wednesday after announcing he was not seeking reelection as president amid ongoing investigations into a $42 million budget gap, the agency's controversial stop-arm camera program and a sale-leaseback land deal that will cost taxpayers millions. In a hearing Tuesday for the Texas House Committee on Public Education, State Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Terrell) called on Mullins to contact law enforcement after Gooden read the report from NBC 5 Investigates. "Because this article is very serious, I can't impress that enough," Gooden said. BREAKING: DCS board secures bond re-financing that will allow agency to continue operating and paying its bills @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/8JYgi8oqyN Scott Friedman (@ScottNBC5) May 17, 2017 NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman asked Mullins on Wednesday if she would definitively call on law enforcement to investigate. "I am. I am," Mullins said. "Who will you call and what will you ask them to do?" Friedman asked. "Now, I don't know who I am going to call. I am trying to get through our legal counsel and their opinion on who," Mullins said. Texas lawmakers have tough questions for Dallas County Schools on the heels of an exclusive NBC 5 investigation into land deals by the bus agency. NBC 5 Investigates reported Monday that DCS sold land to get quick cash, but the deal involved two men tied to a program that put DCS in financial trouble in the first place. One profited from the land sale and both gave campaign donations to Duncan, who has said all donations were legal and ethical. On Wednesday, Duncan stepped aside from his role as board president. "It is clear to me now, that we have to make a full commitment to the future, because there's nothing we can do to repair the past. I love this organization with all my heart, but I have made a decision not to run for re-election as its president. There is a lot of work to do," Duncan said. Duncan will remain as a board member, but now at-large trustee Gloria Levario is leading the board. As Dallas County Schools began to sink into financial trouble, NBC 5 Investigates has learned the agency sold taxpayer-owned land to get fast cash. But in return, that land deal has obligated taxpayers to cover a huge long-term price tag. Additionally, CW Whitaker, Precinct 3 Commissioner and trustee, was named Vice President and replaces outgoing VP Dr. Paul Freeman. The board also announced Wednesday that it has secured bond refinancing that will allow the agency to continue operations. Without that restructuring deal, DCS would have been out of cash to pay the bills by next week. But the restructuring plan comes with more years of bigger debt payments for taxpayers. The embattled school bus agency is looking to restructure $44 million in debt; DCS' general obligation debt rating is now at Ba3, according to Moody's, a level that is below investment grade or what is considered junk bond status. NBC 5 Investigates' Eva Parks contributed to this report. What to Know HB2329 passed the Texas House Committee on Ed., but it's not yet a law. Must pass the full House and Senate before it can be signed. SB1122, which would put DCS' future up for public vote in November, passed the Senate May 4 and is currently pending in a House Committee. DCS' board president stepped down Wednesday; interim superintendent says they've secured bond refinancing that will allow them to continue. The Texas House Committee on Public Education passed a bill Thursday that could shut down Dallas County Schools . The House committee passed HB 2329 on an 8-2 vote. The bill will next be presented to the entire House where it must pass before being handed over to a Senate committee. The bill, known as HB 2329, was originally filed by State Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale) in February. HB 2329, if passed, would strip DCS of its ability to tax people in Dallas County. Then it would be up to local school districts to decide if they want to partner with DCS for bus service. If fewer than 75 percent of students in Dallas County end up receiving services from DCS the agency would be dissolved. #BREAKING : Bill that could shut down troubled school bus agency DCS passes Texas House Education Committee on 8-2 vote. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/RS6F2xnYDw Scott Friedman (@ScottNBC5) May 18, 2017 A committee would take over running the agency until it's shut down. Thursday afternoon, DCS' interim Superintendent Leatha Mullins issued the following statement regarding the state legislature's actions. "At this moment, I dont know how to respond. In an exhausting seven weeks, we have met, or are in the process of completing, every single demand from the Legislature," Mullins said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "Our team has done the impossible to complete the audit, refinance the bonds, reorganize procedures and theres a complete team of new leadership including the Board of Trustees. I am prayerful something can be done to stop the runaway train thats poised to slam Dallas County Schools, even though weve truly transformed DCS and are moving forward." HB 2329 is one of two proposals in the legislature that could ultimately shut down the agency. The other, SB 1122, was authored by State Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) and would put the agency's future up for public vote in November. SB 1122 passed the Senate on May 4 and is currently pending in a House Committee. Thursday morning, Huffines tweeted, "Great news for students, schools, & taxpayers in Dallas! A corrupt & dangerous bureaucracy is one step closer to being shuttered. #txlege" https://twitter.com/DonHuffines/status/865216676488466432 On Wednesday, DCS Board President Larry Duncan's term expired and he announced he would not seek re-election, saying he was "truly hopeful this will redirect the focus to the work that lies ahead." The DCS board voted quickly to elect at-large trustee Gloria Levario, who then thanked Duncan for his service. Longtime Dallas County Schools Board of Trustees President Larry Duncan was replaced Wednesday after announcing he was not seeking reelection as president amid ongoing investigations into a $42 million budget gap, the agency's controversial stop-arm camera program and a sale-leaseback land deal that will cost taxpayers millions. Following reports by NBC 5 Investigates on a controversial $25 million sale-leaseback that will cost Dallas County taxpayers millions, Mullins said Wednesday she will ask law enforcement to investigate the land deal. DCS interim Superintendent Leatha Mullins says she will ask law enforcement to investigate a $25 million land deal exposed this week in an exclusive report by NBC 5 Investigates. Board president Larry Duncan, who is named in that report, announced Wednesday he's stepping down from his post after 14 years. Mullins announced earlier in the day that DCS secured bond refinancing that will allow them, for now, to continue to operate. NBC 5 Investigates' Scott Friedman and Eva Parks contributed to this report. If you think all sunscreens are created equal, think again. Consumer Reports has released its annual list of top sunscreens as well as a warning about the SPF number on some bottles: If you put too much faith in them, you could be putting your skin at risk. SPF, which stands for sun protection factor, measures how well a sunscreen guards against ultraviolet B (UVB) rays, the chief cause of sunburn and a contributor to skin cancer. For the fifth year in a row, Consumer Reports found some sunscreens during testing failed to provide the level of protection promised on the package. In fact, of the more than 60 products tested, 23 were found to have less than half of the labeled SPF number. The Food and Drug Administration requires manufacturers to have their products tested to determine the SPF because sunscreens are classified as over-the-counter drugs. However, the agency doesnt routinely test sunscreens itself and manufacturers dont have to report their results to the FDA unless the agency requests them. According to Consumer Reports, an FDA official at a public meeting in June 2016 said the agency only had the resources for 30 employees to cover more than 100,000 over-the-counter drugs, which limits what they can do to oversee sunscreens. "Manufacturers test sunscreens for SPF before their products hit the market, but unless they are reformulated, that may be the only testing they do. Thats one reason CR tests sunscreens," Trisha Calvo, Consumer Reports Health Editor, said. The agency found a number of sunscreens that provide solid protection against sunburn, skin cancer and wrinkles and are also a good value. Below are 14 recommended sunscreens that received excellent overall ratings: Running more than 1,200-miles across our state's southern border with Mexico, the Rio Grande is the first line of defense for law enforcement protecting the Texas border. "The Texas doctrine is you don't secure the border from Austin, you secure it at the river," said Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "You get right in the cartel's face." The cartels use the river to sneak people and drugs into the United States. "There's nothing that crosses that river cocaine, meth, heroin or people that isn't treated like a commodity," McCraw added. Texas State Troopers patrol the river in boats, protected by Kevlar panels and armed with 30-caliber machine guns. They're intimidating, though critics call them excessive. "They're obviously not from Texas if they think it's overkill," McCraw said. "Since we've been operating around the clock 24/7, as we do with those boats, nobody from Mexico has shot at us, and that's the whole point. We don't want to use it. We're not doing it to shoot at people; we're doing it to not get shot at." Along with McCraw and Texas Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels), who chairs the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs & Border Security, NBC 5 toured the river to see how Texas tax dollars are being used. "We fund the missions that they bring to us," Campbell said. "Is there something we can do more? I'm leaving that up to the teams that have the experts, but what I can say is that we can't back away, and I think the legislature knows that." Since 2005, Texas has spent nearly $1.7 billion on border security; roughly $400 million will be spent this year alone. "It's unfortunate that the state government has to come in and secure the border where the federal government won't. I know that's not very popular among certain circles, but it's true," said Chris Cabrera, spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council. Without our state's help, Cabrera claims the border "would probably be a lot more lawless than it is right now." Our tax dollars are also used in the air. Texas State Troopers monitor the border in helicopters and work closely with agents on the ground when something suspicious is spotted. "We can't afford to step back and let the border be porous," Campbell added. Technology plays a big role in securing our Southern border, where the state has hidden thousands of game cameras, valued at about $300 each, in trees. Once a camera is tripped, the GPS coordinates are sent to every trooper and agent on duty. "There's not enough Border Patrol agents, Texas State Troopers, Texas Rangers, special agents or police officers in Texas to secure the Texas-Mexico border without leveraging technology," McCraw said. "You don't have to go out and spend $100 billion on technology. You can find things that the private sector has developed and leverage those things and build a network." Undocumented immigrant traffic in the Rio Grande Valley is trending downward. Border Patrol statistics show in 2014, there were 256,393 people were caught. The same report shows 186,830 people were apprehended in 2016, but since January, when President Donald Trump took office, the numbers have dropped significantly in the same region. "In January we had a little under 10,000 apprehensions. In February, cut that in half to just about 4,000, and in March we were under 2,000," said Cabrera. "And this is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the Border Patrol. This is when most people are coming back from Mexico or some of the more southern countries to work the fields." "Nothing changed in Central America, nothing changed in Mexico," McCraw points out. The only thing that's changed in Texas is lawmakers have dedicated more money to fight the problem. "As we secure Texas, we're securing America," Campbell said. "It's very evident the funds are not wasted. They're being used efficiently." INTERACTIVE: NBC 5's media partners at The Dallas Morning News created a special interactive feature on the Borderland Project. You can explore the border as it cuts across New Mexico and Texas, read stories and watch coverage of border issues along the way. Find it here on The Dallas Morning News. Days before the release of his latest film, "Alien: Covenant," director Ridley Scott sank his hands and feet into cement in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday. Several cast members from the latest "Alien" film were on hand for the event, as was Harrison Ford, who appeared in Scott's gritty science-fiction classic "Blade Runner," and will reprise his role in an upcoming sequel. Ford praised Scott's work on the original film, saying it was one of his greatest learning experiences as an actor. Scott poked fun at Ford, calling the actor "a flipping nightmare" to work with, drawing laughs from the crowd. Scott said he used to live in a boarding house near Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street and would often walk through the Chinese Theatre forecourt. "I never, ever could have dreamed this (would be) happening right now, so this is beyond an honor. It's a dream," he said. "... It's a rare honor to be alongside such greats." Susan Monroe/KNBC-TV Scott told the crowd he is "still learning and still curious after 40 years in film, which honestly has felt like a blink in time for me. I don't feel I've ever worked a day in my life. I think to me it's one big holiday. I just adore it." In addition to "Alien" and "Blade Runner," Scott's other film credits include "Black Hawk Down," "Thelma & Louise," "Gladiator," "Robin Hood," "American Gangster" and "The Martian." Born Nov. 30, 1937, in the English coastal town of South Shields, Scott graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1963, then was hired by the British Broadcasting Corp. as a trainee set designer. He began directing episodes of television series for the BBC in 1965. Scott and his brother, Tony, founded the film and commercial production company Ridley Scott Associates in 1968. Scott directed many commercials in the 1970s, including one in 1974 for the British flour and bread maker Hovis that was selected in a 2006 poll as the United Kingdom's favorite television commercial. Scott returned to commercial production in 1983 with the groundbreaking commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer, "1984." The first feature film Scott directed, "The Duellists," was released in 1977. It starred Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as French cavalry officers during the Napoleonic Wars whose quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter feud spanning 15 years. It brought Scott the best first film award at the Cannes Film Festival. Scott received best director Oscar nominations for "Black Hawk Down," "Gladiator" and "Thelma & Louise." His other memorable films include "Hannibal," "Prometheus," "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "The Counselor." Scott received a knighthood in 2003. Scott was also an executive producer of the critically acclaimed CBS legal drama "The Good Wife" and an executive producer of the made-for-television movies "Killing Lincoln," "Killing Kennedy" and "Killing Jesus." UC Irvine Law School's founder and dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, will take the helm of the UC Berkeley School of Law on July 1, it was announced Wednesday. The renowned constitutional legal scholar's new appointment comes nearly 10 years after his hiring as dean at UCI and several months after National Jurist magazine honored him as the "most influential person in legal education in the United States." Chemerinsky told City News Service that he had planned to step down next year as UCI law school dean. "Ten years, I think, is generally the right amount of time to be a dean,'' Chemerinsky said. "There's a long learning curve in any learning institution and then it takes time to learn, it takes time to implement things, and then at a certain point it's time to let someone else take over and examine things and see whether it should be taken in a new direction.'' Chemerinsky said he is proud of how UCI's law school has progressed. U.S. News and World Report ranked it as the 28th best law school in the country, he noted. "And just yesterday, a blog came out saying it's seventh in placing students as federal judicial clerks,'' Chemerinsky said. "We're second only to Stanford in California.'' The biggest challenge at his new job will be funding, he said. "I think they've got great faculty, students. The important challenge for the new dean is revenue generating." That's true of all of the UC schools, which are "all suffering financially," he said. Carol Christ, interim executive vice-chancellor and provost at UC Berkeley, believes Chemerinsky is up to the task. "Dean Chemerinsky is an acclaimed researcher, gifted teacher and accomplished administrator, and I believe he will be a phenomenal leader for our law school, someone who will ensure that Berkeley Law remains not only a powerhouse of legal scholarship and training, but also a community built on mutual respect and inclusion," she said. Former UCI Chancellor Michael Drake hired Chemerinsky in September 2007 to head and found the university's new law school. Then, following pressure from some who thought he was "too liberal," Drake rescinded the offer, but then reversed course a week later when that decision drew howls of protest from the legal community. Chemerinsky found himself again generating headlines locally when he led a group of legal scholars calling on the U.S. Department of Justice in November 2015 to investigate the use of jailhouse informants in Orange County following allegations of violations of constitutional rights of defendants in criminal cases. Last year, Chemerinsky represented the Orange County Superior Court in the Fourth District Court of Appeal in a legal battle over mass disqualifications of Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals by prosecutors following his ruling to recuse the Orange County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting Scott Dekraai, the worst mass killer in the county's history, based on violations of the rights of defendants in the confidential informant system in the Orange County jails. Chemerinsky lost that case, but the justices said they agreed the mass "papering" of Goethals was wrong and called on lawmakers to change the law on judicial disqualifications. Chemerinsky is one of the legal scholars who filed a federal lawsuit in New York challenging the Trump administration on the emoluments clause, which prohibits the receiving of gifts from foreign powers. The plaintiffs are awaiting Trump's motion to dismiss, Chemerinsky said. Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy news service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasn't reported, but Turkey has long opposed U.S. military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces. At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department. An attorney who represents Flynn did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC. News about Flynn's activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Mueller will have sweeping powers, including the right to bring federal charges. House and Senate intelligence committees are also investigating. Trump fired Flynn in February on other grounds that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. McClatchy's reporting reflects previous reports in The New Yorker and other media outlets about Flynn's work on behalf of Turkey. The military plan against the Islamic State stronghold was eventually approved, but not until after Flynn had been fired. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for a family aboard a Florida-bound plane that disappeared near the Bahamas. U.S. Coast Guard officials searched by sea and air until 9 p.m. Thursday, after debris that was found in the ocean east of the island of Eleuthera was determined to have come from a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft, the type that air traffic control lost contact with as it traveled from Puerto Rico to Florida on Monday. "This was a swift and significant loss and its impact has reverberated through everyone that participated in the search," said Christopher Eddy, search and rescue mission coordinator. "Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the families involved." The father of the two young children who were on board spoke out for the first time Thursday. "The debris does match up with that style of aircraft and we have notified the family," said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman. #BreakingNews @USCG suspended the search at 8:45 p.m. for 4 people 15 mi E of Eleuthera, Bahamas. Read more at https://t.co/e7rrfskIgX USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) May 19, 2017 The people on board the plane were identified as Nathan Ulrich, 52, of Lee, New Hampshire, and Jennifer Blumin of New York, 40, along with her 3- and 4-year-old sons. Architect James Ramsey, longtime friend of Blumin and father of her two children, told the New York Daily News Wednesday he had lost what he loved most. "I keep hoping its not real and Ill wake up," Ramsey told the paper. "Wouldnt wish this pain on the worst person in the world." Blumin is the founder and CEO of Skylight Group, which provides event space around New York City, specializing in the fashion industry. The company released a statement confirming that she and members of her family were on the plane. "Her family is working with investigators and we politely ask that you respect their privacy at this time," it said. Ulrich served as a Coast Guard Auxiliary pilot out of Air Station Cape Cod from 2005 to 2014 and is co-owner of a company that manufactures kick scooters and folding bicycles. The family issued a statement that read, in part, "Nathan is our beloved son, brother and uncle and we wish for resolution as the Coast Guard search continues." The Coast Guard said it had covered more than 8,200 square miles over 30 hours in a search that was centered about 15 miles east of Eleuthera. Officials say Blumin's plane was east of Eleuthera when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact. It was en route from Puerto Rico and never made it to its destination of Titusville, on the northeastern coast of Florida. The National Transportation Safety Board said it would be investigating the incident. A former Secret Service officer at the White House got a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sexting with teenage girls. Thirty-eight-year-old Lee Robert Moore of Church Hill, Maryland, learned his fate Wednesday from a federal judge in West Palm Beach, Florida. Prosecutors say Moore maintained a profile on a social media site called "Meet24." Delaware State Police detectives posed there as a 14-year-old girl. Investigators found Moore also communicated inappropriately with real underage girls in Florida, Texas and Missouri. The married former U.S. Marine was assigned to the White House when he was arrested in 2015. He pleaded guilty to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and attempting to send obscene material to a minor. His wife asked for leniency, citing their two children. A South Florida man charged with running a health car fraud scheme at his treatment centers was sentenced to 27 and a half years in prison Wednesday. Kenneth Chatman's sentencing nearly doubles the recommended sentence given to the court by the plea agreement made between federal prosecutors and Chatmans defense attorneys. Chatman pleaded guilty in March to running the scheme at his treatment center Reflections treatment facility in Margate and Journey to Recovery in Palm Beach County. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and human trafficking. At Chatmans sentencing, several families gave testimony and made a plea to Judge Donald Middlebrooks to give Chatman the maximum sentence. One parent testified about his sons experience in Chatmans sober home and called it an addiction brothel. You should sentence this man for as long as it takes to bring back their children back, plus a day, said Dr. Jerry Smith as he referred to family members who lost their loved ones to overdoses during or after they were in Chatmans care. One woman, who wrote a handwritten letter to the Judge, told her story under Chatmans care. In her letter, she says Chatman kidnapped her and brought her to a house where she was strapped to a bedpost and raped for weeks. Men came in and paid him money to rape me. He had me extremely intoxicated on unknown sedatives and substances that I was going in and out of consciousness but was completely aware of myself being raped, molested, emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually abused and verbally demeaned. I recall close to 150 in total different faces of rapists abusing me daily over a period of 3 to 4 weeks," she wrote. The 22-year-old woman told Judge Middlebrooks she was unrestrained for brief periods of time to be cleaned up. During a moment she was unrestrained, she said she jumped out of a window and flagged down a car and escaped. One mother said her son Ryan overdosed and died while under Chatmans care. Tina Pekar said she asked Chatman to send her his clothes and belongings so she could take in the scent of her son. When she received a box from Chatman she said it contained womens clothing and four used heroin needles. Pekar said she was furious and called Chatman about what he had mailed to her and said his response was 'Ryan Who?' In court Wednesday morning Pekar turned and asked Chatman, Do you remember my son now? Pekar said the Ryan who? comment is what has kept her going to make sure justice was served. Chatman was given the chance to speak but refused. "Hes accepted responsibility and it appeared that there are some people that came our of the woodwork in the 11th hour that we really didnt know much about," said Chatman's attorney Saam Zanganeh who said he did not have a chance to investigate allegations made in federal court by families Wednesday. Following Chatmans sentencing, his wife Laura Chatman was also sentenced after pleading guilty to health care fraud. Laura Chatman buried her face in her hands in court while hearing testimony from families of clients at Reflections Treatment Center. She gave a brief emotional statement in court. I had no idea that he could do this. I dont know what I can do to help your families, but I am truly sorry. I am truly sorry for your losses. "I dont feel any sympathy or remorse for her, her apology meant nothing to me," said Sandra Hinkle who lost her daughter to an overdose. Hinkle sent her daughter Katie to Chatman's treatment facility hoping it would cure her addiction. "When I brought her home for Christmas to spend it with her little boy she begged me not to send her back. She said Im afraid Im never going to see you again," said Hinkle. Hinkle said her daughter died a few days after leaving the treatment center. Judge Middlebrooks sentenced Laura Chatman to 3 years in federal prison following 3 years of probation upon release. Her attorneys requested her prison sentence begin in 90 days due to having to make arrangements for her children. She is scheduled to begin her sentence in prison on August 15th. Click here to read more about where to find certified sober homes. This story is courtesy of our news partner WPTV. The fallout from the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal continued to unfold in a federal courtroom Wednesday, weeks after two former aides to Republican Gov. Chris Christie were sentenced. Attorneys were in court in a long-running lawsuit stemming from the political retribution scheme that culminated in two convictions and a guilty plea and helped to derail Christie's presidential campaign and his hopes for a major role in the Trump administration. The suit filed more than three years ago seeks damages for people and businesses who were inconvenienced by widespread gridlock in the town of Fort Lee over a four-day span in September 2013. Former Christie staffer Bridget Kelly and former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive Bill Baroni were convicted of conspiracy, fraud and civil rights violations and sentenced in March. Former Port Authority official David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty, testified the traffic jams were meant to punish Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing Christie. Wildstein faces sentencing next month. Christie isn't a defendant in the lawsuit, which names the Port Authority, the state of New Jersey and Christie's re-election campaign along with Baroni, Kelly and Wildstein. None of the three attended Wednesday's proceeding. The suit is the first attempt to hold the state, which employed Kelly, and the Port Authority, which operates the bridge, accountable. While several counts against some of the defendants have been dismissed, a judge has allowed conspiracy and civil rights charges to proceed. The state of New Jersey filed a motion last week to dismiss the remaining count against it, claiming it can't be held liable for crimes committed by its employees. The Port Authority has claimed in court filings that even though Baroni and Wildstein "conspired with others to alter bridge operations and did temporarily alter those operations," they didn't have final policymaking powers at the authority as required to find the agency liable. Barry Epstein, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, noted after the hearing that neither Wildstein, the Port Authority's director of interstate capital projects at the time, nor Baroni, the deputy executive director, were low-level employees. Wildstein testified at Baroni's and Kelly's trial that he conceived a bogus traffic study and sold it to officials at the Port Authority as legitimate. "This was connected to his job," Epstein said. "He gave the order, with the authority to give it." A trial in the lawsuit likely won't happen until next year at the earliest. What to Know A Coast Guard statement says air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with the twin-engine plane east of Eleuthera The plane was en route from Puerto Rico to the small city of Titusville on the east coast of Florida when authorities lost contact Monday The people on board the plane were identified as Jennifer Blumin and her young sons, all from NY, and Nathan Ulrich of New Hampshire The exhaustive oceanic search for a well-known New York City designer, her 3- and 4-year-old boys and a pilot friend continued Thursday, three days after their plane vanished in the Bahamas on its way to Florida. Aircraft debris matching a twin-engine MU-2B, the same kind of plane 40-year-old Jennifer Blumin, her young sons and 52-year-old Nathan Ulrich of New Hampshire were on when it disappeared, was discovered Tuesday afternoon in the search area 15 miles east of Eleuthera. Though officials have not confirmed the plane is Blumin's, family and friends of the entrepreneur fear the worst. Architect James Ramsey, longtime friend of Blumin and father of her two children, told the Daily News Wednesday he had lost what he loved most. "I keep hoping its not real and Ill wake up," Ramsey told the paper. "Wouldnt wish this pain on the worst person in the world." Officials say Blumin's plane was east of Eleuthera when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact. It was en route from Puerto Rico and never made it to its destination of Titusville, on the northeastern coast of Florida. More than 8,200 square miles were covered in the first 30 hours of the search, Coast Guard officials said. The investigation is ongoing, and the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted Wednesday it was joining the probe. Blumin is founder and CEO of Skylight Group, which provides event space around the city, specializing in the fashion industry. The company released a statement Tuesday confirming she was on plane and asked for privacy. The plane was at about 24,000 feet when air traffic control lost contact, but authorities said adverse weather was not considered a factor. Ulrich was listed as the pilot but it was not known who was flying it at the time, the spokesman said. Blumin owned the plane through a consulting company, according to New York State and aviation records. Blumin's Twitter bio bills her as a "seeker of forgotten architecture hidden in urban grit. Believer that history should inspire the future." The description ends simply: #Entrepreneur. The Cornell grad founded Skylight Group in 2004; the firm specializes in re-imagining historical spaces and developing them for high-end use, whether for the biggest icons in fashion or some other client. The firm's website pledges "access to the previously inaccessibly by creating and operating venues in unprecedented locations," and media praise suggests weight to the claim. One 2014 New York Times article says, "If you have attended runway shows for Ralph Lauren, Prabal Gurung or Edun, or been to parties for the Whitney Museum of American Art or Google product debuts, youve been to an event held with the Skylight Group." Skylight's New York portfolio includes One Hanson and Moynihan Station. Ulrich is from Lee, New Hampshire, and is the ex-husband of Canadian-American actress Rae Dawn Chong, daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong. Ulrich's brother, Karl, released a statement earlier this week saying the family was "devastated and shocked" to learn of the missing plane. "Nathan is our beloved son, brother and uncle and we wish for resolution as the Coast Guard search continues," the statement said. "Our prayers and thoughts are with the Blumin family and James Ramsey in this difficult time." What to Know Video shows the train cruising along the tracks with an open door Rider Jeffrey Spitery said the train barreled along like that at least from Newark to Metuchen NJ Transit said in a statement the train was pulled out of service and it is conducting a full investigation A New Jersey Transit train barreled down tracks on its journey from New York City to Trenton Tuesday night for roughly eight stops -- about a 30-minute ride -- with an open door, video obtained by NBC 4 New York shows. Rider Jeffrey Spitery said the Northeast Corridor train stopped at Newark Penn Station for 5 to 10 minutes while a conductor searched for an open door on the left side of the train. Eventually, the train pulled out and continued on its way. Spitery says that he walked up toward a vestibule as his train approached his stop in Metuchen and noticed "a door wide open with people standing next to it while we were thundering down the track." Spitery recorded cell phone video of the train cruising along the tracks with the door ajar. Passengers are seen moving about the vestibule, the wind generated from the moving train whipping their hair. "It took me the entire distance of the rest of the train (about half) to find a conductor," Spitery said. "This is obviously not a safe way to operate a commuter train." NJ Transit said it immediately pulled the train out of service and is investigating. The transit agency told News 4 that a train is not supposed to move if a door is open. "We strongly encourage customers to immediately report this type of incident to a crew member on board the train," a spokesperson said. Selecting the perfect keynote speaker for your next conference, meeting or event is very crucial for a memorable event. Keep in mind that a big-name keynote speaker may not be enough to inspire meeting attendees. The research carried out by Imago Venues measured whether the meetings industry is doing enough to inspire the business leaders of tomorrow, and was conducted in conjunction with Loughborough University and The Right Solution. One of the key questions asked delegates and organizers what made an inspirational speaker and respondents were unanimous in what matters most to them. Passion and enthusiasm came out top of the list with 98% of organizers, 98% of delegates and 93% of students stating this was what they were looking for in a speaker. This was followed by their relationship and interaction with the audience, innovation and new ideas, relevancy and storytelling. The results also showed it was important for the speaker to have the ability to focus on what really matters and to keep sessions short and tightly focused. Responses from meetings attendees included; If you see the speakers emotion and the sincerity in what they are saying then it becomes more believable. Inspirational speakers are hard to come by. In 20 years, I can count on one hand the number of inspirational leaders I have encountered. When he was talking, you could literally hear a pin drop. He had everyone so captivated very emotive and very personal. He was one of the best speakers. Emma Boynton, Head of Sales and Marketing at Imago Venues, comments: Choosing a speaker can be daunting for organisers. A big-name may draw in attendees purely on their profile but they must be able to deliver well and leave delegates inspired. And, as our research has found, delegates are looking for a speaker to reinforce their passion and enthusiasm for their career. The required standards from a speaker are succinct delivery, simple, clear language and an opportunity to connect. Too many times meetings and events have used the services of a renowned speaker but in reality, they didnt meet the high expectations of the audience. It highlights the importance of researching the speaker so delegates leave feeling invigorated by what they have heard. We are lucky that through our links to Loughborough University we can support event organisers in their quest to motivate the audience and achieve their objectives. A copy of the research can be downloaded from http://go.welcometoimago.com/is-the-meetings-industry-doing-enough-to-inspire. An 18-year-old tourist from Michigan was the one fatality in a car crash that injured dozens in Times Square on Thursday. Alyssa Elsman of Portage, Michigan was killed in the midday accident, NBC affiliate WDIV in Detroit reported. A man driving a car drove his on a sidewalk in Times Square, injuring at least 22 people and killing one, police say. Checkey Beckford reports. Her Facebook profile said she had attended the local high school and was a waitress at a fast-food restaurant. Police audio from after the Times Square crash captures the panic after a car ran through crowds. "Alyssa was a really thoughtful, really bright very pleasant young lady that every interaction I had with her was positive," Portage Central High School Principal Eric Alburtus said. "I am, to honest with you, kind of struggling with the whole thing to be honest with you." A tour bus ticket salesman was just one of the New York bystanders who jumped into action to help after a man drove a car into pedestrians in Times Square Thursday. Chris Glorioso reports. Elsman was visiting New York with her 13-year-old sister. She was also hit, but survived. Sunita Prasee and her family, visiting from Guyana, were marveling at the sights when the car came toward them. She pushed her children, 3 and 6, out of its path. "I just pushed the child away, because I don't want him to get hurt," Prasee said. But an uncle, Thomas Henry, was struck on the head by a pole dislodged by the vehicle, relatives said as they left the hospital where he was being treated. "I turned around and I saw he was under the car," Prasee said. "I was traumatized, I don't know what to do." Henry, 72, miraculously walked out of the hospital several hours later. "Thank god I'm alive," he said. "I'm a Christian and I am proud." [NATL-NY] In Pictures: Car Slams into Crowd in Times Square The driver of the car, Richard Rojas, appeared to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, authorities said. Police and civilians teamed to corral him after he fled the scene when his car crashed into a metal pole at 45th Street and Broadway shortly before noon Thursday. The suspect in the horrific crash in Times Square was high on drugs and had a history of mental illness, sources said. Jonathan Dienst reports. He blew a 0.0 when tested for alcohol at the precinct, but drug tests are pending. A law enforcement official told News 4 New York that Rojas was likely under the influence of something ingested via smoking. Law enforcement sources said he has a history of psychiatric problems and that he told police he was hearing voices. Police audio from after the Times Square crash captures the panic after a car ran through crowds. Police charged Rojas with a slew of charges, including second-degree murder, 20 counts of second-degree attempted murder and five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, authorities said. A convicted felon has pleaded guilty to shooting a suburban Philadelphia police officer who was responding to a report of a drug deal last June. Donte Brooks Island pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a law-enforcement officer and gun offenses in the shooting of Officer Christopher Dorman. Dorman, then 25, was shot in the face, leg and groin in Folcroft as he approached people suspected of smoking marijuana behind an apartment building. Island fled after the shooting, prompting a three-hour manhunt. The 34-year-old was later arrested at the same apartment complex. Dorman has recovered after multiple surgeries and returned to police duty. Island served about nine years in federal prison on a gun conviction before his release in 2013. Island will be sentenced July 17. Students and parents are learning about an investigation of a Methacton High School employee. A spokesperson for the Methacton School District told NBC10 they were in the process of conducting an internal investigation into a matter that was brought to their attention Tuesday. They did not reveal the reason for the investigation or the identity of the employee but say he or she is currently on administrative leave. Students and parents at Methacton High School told NBC10 the employee is a teacher. School officials have not yet confirmed this however. Investigators say the investigation surrounds possibly inappropriate texts between a student and teacher. No charges have been filed and Pennsylvania State Police are currently investigating along with the school district. As promised, Philadelphia immigration advocates have started a campaign to force the resignation of Latina CEO Carolina DiGiorgio, who was spotted last month sitting front row at President Donald Trumps Harrisburg rally. Footage showed the head of Congreso de Latinos Unidos clapping and taking photos with her phone as Trump decried unauthorized immigration and promised to build the wall. After Philadelphia Weekly first reported on the incident, local immigration leaders immediately called for her removal. Now, an open source campaign has been created on Mijente, a crowdfunding platform that is self-described as pro-Black, pro-woman, pro-queer, pro-poor. She is seen nodding her head and as [Trump] continues to criminalize Latinos, immigrants and all communities of color, the online petition reads. Many of us in Philadelphia are heartbroken and disappointed. It is the duty of the board of directors of any nonprofit to hold its leadership accountable and to ensure the fulfillment of its mission. We the undersigned do not have faith that Congreso's CEO, Carolina Cabrera DiGiorgio, is able to adequately enforce this mission or to lead one of the nation's largest Latino organizations given her affiliation with President Donald Trump and his racist attacks on our community. We ask that Congreso's Board of Directors listen to the community it says it serves and ask for Carolina's resignation immediately. DiGiorgios husband is the chairman of Pennsylvanias Republican party. She was born in Honduras but came to the United States with her family in the 1980s. Supporters told NBC10 that DiGiorgios politics have never been a secret and do not interfere with her ability to run the citys largest Latino-serving organization. A separate letter from local immigration organizations is forthcoming this week asking for DiGiorgio to step down. A call to DiGiorgios office for comment was not immediately returned. Surveillance video shows an SUV that police say was stolen, crashing through a Philadelphia deli and nearly striking a pregnant clerk. In the video, 19-year-old Genesis Dejada Torres, who is 5-months pregnant, and a co-worker are seen sitting behind the counter of the Frankford Deli at Frankford Avenue and Tioga Street around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Suddenly, a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder crashed through the wall, causing shelves of merchandise to rain on top of them. NBC10 obtained surveillance video of an SUV that police say was stolen, nearly striking a pregnant woman after it crashed through a Philadelphia deli Tuesday night. Amazingly the four people inside, including the pregnant woman, were not seriously injured. Check out surveillance video from outside the store here. Miraculously, Torres and three other people in the store escaped serious injury. Torres told NBC10 her unborn baby was not harmed. "Really crazy though," she said. "I was so nervous yesterday. Like what the heck happened here?" Torres said she had sat up at just the right time and avoided a more serious injury. "If she had been sitting down closer [to the counter] it could have pushed her onto the register," co-worker Israel Maldonado told NBC10. NBC10 obtained surveillance videos of an SUV that police say was stolen crashing through a Philadelphia deli Tuesday. These two videos show the crash from the outside of the store. Four people who were inside the deli, including a pregnant woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Check out surveillance video from inside the store here. Police say an 18-year-old man was behind the wheel of the Pathfinder, which was reported stolen in Philadelphia Monday. The suspect was allegedly driving about 100 mph northbound on Frankford Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into several other cars before slamming into the deli. The driver was arrested at the scene, but police are still searching for other suspects who may have also been inside the stolen vehicle. As police continue to investigate, Torres is thankful both she and her baby are okay. "It's like I won the lottery," she said. Workers say the deli will likely be closed for several more days as they continue to make repairs. San Diego police are investigating a double homicide after two men were found dead Wednesday morning outside a store in an Otay Mesa strip mall. The men were found at approximately 2:45 a.m. at the CVS shopping center at the intersection of Palm Avenue and Beyer Way. A patrol officer was doing a routine check of the area when he noticed there was no movement from the two men. A power washer nearby saw the men laying outside the store but believed they were sleeping, police said. "I went there to ask them to move, so I could pressure wash, you know. They didn't move, just like any other person who is sleeping. They don't want to leave," said the man, who only wanted to be identified as Miguel. Both men suffered "visible trauma" according to Lt. Mike Holden. Police said both men were known to sleep at the plaza. The deaths are considered to be suspicious and homicide investigators say they are considering the crime a double homicide at this time. NBC 7 spoke to a military veteran who said he comes to the plaza every morning to give out food and coffee to the homeless people. He said he knew the two men and that they always slept outside that store. "When they get up, they ask for lose change so they can ride in the trolley," said volunteer Ed Coluna. "We were nice to those people, that's why we are concerned." Coluna added that one of the men had mental health issues and was on medication. Investigators have not identified the men but described them as white men, ages 56 and 61. No cause of death has been released. No one is in custody. A Ramona man faces two murder charges in the hit-and-run death of a woman and her unborn child. Andrew Milonis, 44, pleaded not guilty through a public defender at his arraignment. He was ordered held on $3 million bail. Milonis is facing 10 total counts that include murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI. The victim Jessica Foderingham, 29, was eight-months pregnant. She and her unborn baby were killed on Mothers Day. Investigators say Milionis rear-ended her car, forcing it to slam head-on into a tree on San Vicente Road in the San Diego Country Estates community. Milonis allegedly drove away from the scene, eventually taking a Lyft ride to a bar. At the arraignment, several dozen friends and family members of Foderingham held back tears, as Milonis appeared via closed circuit television. He did not speak and did not look up. After the short hearing, Foderinghams husband said he struggles to explain what happened to her two children from previous relationships. "My little one, he still doesnt believe its true. He asks me every night, whens mommy coming home,'" said Christian Foderingham, who married Jessica last August. Christian Foderingham says he was driving in front of his wife at the time of the accident. They were driving to her grandmothers home. All I heard was a big slam, and the vehicle raced past me on the right side, swerving. And I turned to make sure my wife was still behind me, and I see her hit a tree, said Foderingham. The victims mother also had strong words for the suspect. I wish we were in a state where they give the death penalty because thats what this guy deserves. He maliciously took two lives, two lives that belong on this earth still, said Regina Townel. Milonis is also facing two misdemeanor charges. He was driving on a suspended license from a prior DUI according to the prosecutor. Court records also show he was convicted in 2010 on drug charges in Colorado. In 2008, Milonis was severely injured in a mining accident in Wyoming, eventually winning an undisclosed settlement which could explain why the prosecutor asked for a high bail. Top congressional Republicans are demanding the Trump administration take swift and severe action against the Turkish government in response to violence involving members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail, with one saying the U.S. "should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America." Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, expressed outrage Thursday at a video that appears to show Erdogan's bodyguards violently breaking up a protest earlier this week outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington. "We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America," McCain said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." McCain said, "this kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically." He suggested that lawsuits should be filed if the responsible bodyguards can be identified. McCain and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told Erdogan in a letter they sent Thursday that the "actions of your staff violate the constitutional protections of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly enjoyed by all Americans.'' They said they expected "conduct more appropriate' from Turkey, a member of NATO and a key U.S. ally. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he wants "people prosecuted." "If there were any Turkish Embassy officials involved in beating up these protesters, I will call for them to be removed from the country,'' said Graham, the GOP chairman of the Senate subcommittee that controls the foreign affairs budget. The State Department confirmed Thursday it briefly detained two members of Erdogan's security detail and the guards have since been released. The department also said it summoned Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic to discuss the altercation and the ambassador met Wednesday with Tom Shannon, the acting deputy secretary of state and highest-ranking career U.S. diplomat. The State Department said Wednesday that "violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest." The U.S. is declining to say whether the security agents were granted diplomatic immunity or under what conditions they were released. The U.S. says there's an ongoing investigation that will allow the U.S. "to hold the responsible individuals accountable." The remarks from Graham and McCain come after Rep. Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the Trump administration to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted against any of the bodyguards. Royce detailed his request for an inquiry in a letter sent Wednesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He wrote that bodyguards with Erdogan on his official state visit to Washington 'viciously beat multiple individuals, throwing them to the ground and kicking them in the head." The incident occurred after Erdogan arrived after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another person wrenches a woman's neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. In all, nine people were hurt. Several other Senate Republicans, including Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, called on the Turkish government to immediately apologize for the violence. In a statement, the Turkish Embassy blamed the violence on the demonstrators, saying they were "aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the president. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense and one of them was seriously injured." Tensions between Washington and Istanbul are running high after the Trump administration announced plans to arm Kurdish Syrian militants fighting the Islamic State group despite intense opposition from Turkey, which considers the Kurds as terrorists. The decision is meant to accelerate the operation to recapture the key Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa. But Erdogan's government views the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG as an extension of a Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey. Trump and his national security team say the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, is the most effective battlefield partner against the Islamic State in northern and eastern Syria. Five firefighters were injured in a fire that destroyed four three-story multi-family homes in a Waterbury neighborhood on Wednesday night and displaced 32 people. Flames tore through home after home on Lounsbury Street just before 7 p.m. Wednesday as Waterbury firefighters and crews from surrounding towns poured thousands of gallons of water on the structures. Despite all those efforts, Waterbury Fire Chief David Martin said, the four buildings are a total loss. Three of the buildings will be torn down Thursday. Martin said it appears up to 20 families will be displaced. One of those families is Corey and his 9-year-old and 3-year-old daughters. Corey said they just moved into the second floor of one of the homes and dont have renters' insurance. "I was in the house and the house next door caught on fire. I had my daughters in there, and I grabbed them and I got out," said Corey, who did not want to give his last name. "By the time I got outside, the whole roof was on fire, and within minutes, the whole thing was on fire. So we barely made it out." The fire chief said it appears everyone who lived in the four buildings managed to escape but that they were not able to enter the homes to do a thorough check late Wednesday night. Martin said three of the homes were already fully involved when they arrived just after 7 p.m. He said the home in the middle caught fire first and then spread to both houses next door before embers lit the house across the street on fire. "During the course of setup, some of the embers and burning debris flew across the street and started another three-family wood frame on fire," Martin said. While fighting the fire, four firefighters were rushed to the hospital, Martin said. It appears the injuries were caused by exertion and exhaustion. "Three (firefighters suffered) smoke issues, one with cardiac issue," Martin said. "Certainly the heat for the four in the hospital, three if not all four, were probably a product of the heat." Another firefighter suffered a hand injury. Two firefighters were kept overnight for observation and are expected to be OK. In addition to that, Martin said gaining access to the fires was tricky, and it also quickly became clear there was too much fire and not enough water. "We also had a little issue given the fact that we had four separate structure fires. We had water supply issues, and that hindered our ability to get them down there as quickly as we would have liked," said Martin. On a neighboring street, dozens stood outside after being forced to evacuate. Many stood there praying their homes wouldn't be next. "That house went up quick, the first house. And then the second house. That's when I started screaming," said neighbor Alma Jones. As the buildings crackled and burned, leaving only empty shells behind, those who live in the affected homes could only stand there and watch. "All my stuff is gone. Everything. Everything's gone," said Corey. No cause has been given at this time. The fire remains under investigation. The manager of a Dunkin' Donuts in Brockton, Massachusetts, was assaulted by a customer who also shot out the drive-thru window on Thursday. The incident occurred at the Dunkin' Donuts store at 532 Westgate Drive. Police said the manager tried to intervene in an argument between an employee and a female customer who was in a vehicle at the drive-thru. Police said the argument stemmed over a sandwich. The customer then punched the manager and fired two shots from a BB gun, shattering the drive-thru window. Police said the black Infinity sedan, which had four other passengers, fled the area. Witnesses said they saw the vehicle peel out and make a left turn, initially on the wrong side of the street. The vehicle has not yet been found. Kelly Hoen has been appointed the area general manager for Outriggers two iconic beachfront properties in Waikiki Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort. In this role, she is responsible for sustained operational excellence at both properties, as well as direct oversight of sales strategy, market planning and revenue management. The position also includes day-to-day leadership at Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, serving as its on-property general manager. Hoen brings more than two decades of luxury hotel leadership to Outrigger Resorts. Most recently, she served as the general manager for The MODERN HONOLULU, a high-energy luxury lifestyle hotel at the gateway of Waikiki. Prior to this, she was the general manager of The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort where she led the $80 million renovation and rebranding of this historic Waikiki Beach hotel. Before that, she was the general manager of Princeville Resort, a Luxury Collection Resort and was directly involved with the design and development what is now The St. Regis Princeville Resort. A native of Hawaii, Hoen attended La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls in Honolulu, then went on to receive her bachelor of fine arts from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She has a penchant for professional development and holds the reputation of being one of the best mentors in Hawaiis hospitality industry. She is a member of the La Pietra board of trustees, a member of the Aloha United Way board of directors, a member of the Easter Seals Hawaii board of directors and is the past chairperson of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association board of directors. Thursday was another day of record-breaking temperatures for Vermont, according to the National Weather Service. Burlingtons 93 degree afternoon reading smashed a previous high temperature for the date of 89 degrees. Thursdays warm-up brought safety advisories that apply for the next several weeks and months, and saw work to improve recreational fishing opportunities in Vermont this summer. Burlingtons North Beach was busy Thursday afternoon, as groups of friends celebrated their college graduations. Mom, if youre looking at this, I wore sunblock, joked David Shektman, a recent graduate of St. Michaels College. Despite the sun and warm air Shektman and his buddies were enjoying, the water in Lake Champlain is still only in the mid-40s and will take weeks to gradually warm up to more comfortable levels. The United States Coast Guard issued warnings to boaters, paddle boarders, and others, telling them that life vests are a must when participating in recreational activities on water that remains so cold. A tumble into chilly water could mean hypothermia quickly, the Coast Guard warned, and a life vest could greatly improve chances of a successful rescue. At the Central Vermont Humane Society in East Montpelier, shelter operations director Erika Holm was spreading another safety reminder. She demonstrated with her thermometer how dangerously hot it can get in parked cars. Readings with her device on cars in the sunny parking lot ranged from 105 to 126 degrees, depending on their location, how long they sat parked, and whether they had windows cracked. Those numbers should demonstrate why it is so critical for pet owners to ensure they do not leave their animals in parked cars on hot days, Holm said, because pets experience the heat even more intensely with their fur coats. Its very serious and very quickly becomes serious, especially on a bright sunny day like today, Holm said of the heat in parked cars. So when its hot outsidewith sunits exponentially hotter inside [a vehicle]. In Waterbury, a bucket brigade worked in the heat Thursday to prepare for all the other warm days still to come. Volunteers helped the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department add roughly 700 large rainbow trout to the Winooski River, aiming to boost summer recreation that connects families to nature. Vermont has endless opportunities when it comes to hunting, fishing, and going out wildlife watching, said Adam Miller, the fish culture operations manager for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Hopefully with this great weather, were going to see a lot of people going out into Vermont and having a good time outdoors. Miller said the state stocks approximately 1-million fish into waterways across the state, both to contribute to species conservation and to improve fishing opportunities that generate economic activity while boosting the publics engagement with the natural world. After two straight days of record-breaking heat, necn meteorologists say Vermonters can expect more typical temperatures over the next week. A large search took place Wednesday for a man in Walpole and Sharon, Massachusetts, according to police. Authorities confirmed that the suspect, Jesus Reyes, has several outstanding felony warrants for armed robbery and initially fled from the Route 1 Econolodge in Sharon. According to the Walpole Police Department, a woman reported that Reyes threatened to take her hostage. She said she was in Reyes's car but exited it because she felt unsafe. Sharon police were also involved in the manhunt along with the Massachusetts State Police. Walpole police Chief John Carmichael said the suspect may have been spotted in the area of Old Post Road near Route 1, traveling on foot. Reyes was also possibly seen on Squire Court in Walpole, jumping fences to travel through backyards. Authorities searched by air and on the ground with flashlights and a K9 unit. At this time, Reyes is still at large. Norwich mother celebrates her namesakes sainthood Norwich mother celebrates her namesakes sainthood A Norwich mother-of-two, who was named after a Portuguese shepherd girl, was celebrating this week after Pope Francis canonised St Jacinta of Fatima. Jacinta Goode, a Eucharistic Minister at St Georges Catholic parish in Norwich, was named after the shepherd girl who was one of three young children that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared to in a series of visions, 100 years ago. Jacinta Marto, along with her brother Francisco were proclaimed as saints by Pope Francis on Saturday May 13 in a huge Mass attended by around 500,000 at Fatima in Portugal. Back in 1917, aged 7 and 9, they were tending the family sheep with their cousin Lucia (aged 10), when a vision of Our Lady appeared, asking them to pray the rosary for world peace and to make sacrifice for sinners. More visions followed, and they have together become one of the Catholic churchs most important events of the 20th century. It means they are the Catholic churchs youngest saints who did not die as martyrs. Jacinta Goode, who is a qualified hypnotherapist and flute teacher, said: Its not every day that the person you were named after becomes a saint. Many Catholics might be named after a saint, but my mother was so drawn to the message of Fatima that she wanted to name me after Jacinta even before the Church confirmed her presence in Heaven. It was very moving to join with the Pope via Youtube to pray the rosary at the vigil and to feel part of the Mass on Saturday. The warmth, and the feeling of the power of prayer, during the service at St Georges was palpable. It is a day that I will always remember. Jacinta celebrated by organising a well-attended service to recite all 40 decades of the rosary at St Georges in Norwich. The celebrations continued with a cake and a well-earned drink after the service. Pictured above is Jacinta Goode with the celebration rosary cake made by her son Jamie. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved a new, transparent coal allocation policy for the power sector called Shakti or Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India-2017. The CCEA also gave its nod to the signing of fuel supply agreements with power companies, which would eventually help these firms pay back their loans to banks. As of December 2016, bad loans exceeded Rs 6 lakh crore and for the full fiscal FY17, gross NPAs are pegged at around Rs 7.5 lakh crore. Roughly 50 per cent of the bad loans pertain to sectors like infrastructure, power, roads, and telecom companies. Shakti will help the sector and promote competition, the provisions in the scheme will also ensure that power companies can operate in a true open market environment, which should help in repayment of huge loans, said S K Chowdhary, former CMD of Coal India Ltd. The approved framework ensures that all projects with linkages are supplied coal as per their entitlement, said a government release. Allocation of linkages for the sector shall be based on auction of linkages or through power purchase agreement based on competitive bidding of tariffs except for the state and the central power generating firms. The new FSA allocation policy introduces transparency in the allocation of linkage coal to independent power producers. This will eliminate the current tedious process and dependence on linkage committee. It also provides some assurance to stranded assets without FSAs. One of the biggest beneficiaries will be thermal power plants with imported coal-based PPAs. This will help them migrate to domestic coal, reducing their exposure to price vagaries of imported coal, said Abhishek Poddar, partner and head, energy and process industries, A T Kearney India. Allocation of linkages in future will be transparent and bidding-based, barring some exceptions as per tariff Policy. CCEA gives nod for several road, railway projects NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a slew of railways and road-related projects. It has approved the construction of double line with electrification between Guntur-Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh. The total length of the line will be 401.47 km and the estimated cost of the project is H3,631 crore which will be funded through cost sharing of 50:50 by the state government and the railway ministry. The CCEA also cleared the construction of the 160-km electrified third line between Manmad and Jalgaon in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of H1,035.16 crore. In a bid to boost discovery research for biopharmaceuticals and boost industry-academia work, CCEA gave its nod to Innovate in India empowering biotech entrepreneurs and accelerating inclusive innovation. The H1,500 crore project will run for five years with 50 per cent cost for the Mission Programme from World Bank loan and rest by the government. NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved a new, transparent coal allocation policy for the power sector called Shakti or Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India-2017. The CCEA also gave its nod to the signing of fuel supply agreements with power companies, which would eventually help these firms pay back their loans to banks. As of December 2016, bad loans exceeded Rs 6 lakh crore and for the full fiscal FY17, gross NPAs are pegged at around Rs 7.5 lakh crore. Roughly 50 per cent of the bad loans pertain to sectors like infrastructure, power, roads, and telecom companies. Shakti will help the sector and promote competition, the provisions in the scheme will also ensure that power companies can operate in a true open market environment, which should help in repayment of huge loans, said S K Chowdhary, former CMD of Coal India Ltd. The approved framework ensures that all projects with linkages are supplied coal as per their entitlement, said a government release. Allocation of linkages for the sector shall be based on auction of linkages or through power purchase agreement based on competitive bidding of tariffs except for the state and the central power generating firms. The new FSA allocation policy introduces transparency in the allocation of linkage coal to independent power producers. This will eliminate the current tedious process and dependence on linkage committee. It also provides some assurance to stranded assets without FSAs. One of the biggest beneficiaries will be thermal power plants with imported coal-based PPAs. This will help them migrate to domestic coal, reducing their exposure to price vagaries of imported coal, said Abhishek Poddar, partner and head, energy and process industries, A T Kearney India. Allocation of linkages in future will be transparent and bidding-based, barring some exceptions as per tariff Policy. CCEA gives nod for several road, railway projects NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a slew of railways and road-related projects. It has approved the construction of double line with electrification between Guntur-Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh. The total length of the line will be 401.47 km and the estimated cost of the project is H3,631 crore which will be funded through cost sharing of 50:50 by the state government and the railway ministry. The CCEA also cleared the construction of the 160-km electrified third line between Manmad and Jalgaon in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of H1,035.16 crore. In a bid to boost discovery research for biopharmaceuticals and boost industry-academia work, CCEA gave its nod to Innovate in India empowering biotech entrepreneurs and accelerating inclusive innovation. The H1,500 crore project will run for five years with 50 per cent cost for the Mission Programme from World Bank loan and rest by the government. The Expedia group announced that its hotel partners in Barbados have increased their package demand with nearly 15% growth in 2016 YoY. According to the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Board, the destination welcomed more than 630,000 tourists in 2016 a 6.7% increase compared to 2015. In conjunction with Expedia reports, top source markets for the small Caribbean nation came from the U.S., followed by Canada, UK and other Caribbean markets. New data from the Expedia group also indicates that the United States remains the key feeder market for Barbados with a reported growth of more than 20% YoY in 2016, followed by Canada with more than 15% and Brazil with nearly 25% YoY. Mobile demand also increased to Barbados, particularly from the U.S. at 55%, UK at 35% and Canada at nearly 40% YoY in 2016. Package bookings, which combine components like flights and hotels, typically capture the attention of higher quality travelers that spend more money, have longer lengths of stay, and book further in advance. Some destinations within Barbados that experienced noteworthy increases in package demand in 2016 included Christ Church with nearly 30% YoY and St. Peters with nearly 50%. Value Add Promotions has allowed the local Expedia team to provide better synergies with the tourist board to benefit hotel partners. Using the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.s summer campaign Brilliant Barbados Kids as a base, the local Expedia team was able to work with the Tourism Association to expand this offer to include exclusive Expedia discounts on major attractions for non-family travel for properties participating in the overall destination campaign. The addition of Value Added Promotions resulted in the doubling of property participation in the main destination program. The Expedia group seeks to continue to add more properties to its portfolio in 2017 and to support tourism growth in Barbados and the Caribbean region. By working with the Expedia group, hotels in Barbados gain exposure to the more than 200 websites in more than 75 countries worldwide in 35 languages, in addition to a myriad of mobile sites and apps, from brands such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire, Egencia, Expedia Affiliate Network and others. Pramod Thomas By Express News Service KOCHI: The Indian coir sector has the potential to grow globally aided by modernisation, according to Coir Board Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Talking to Express about the future plans of the Board, he said the Board has a target to generate Rs 25,000 crore revenue from exports by 2024 compared to Rs 2,290 crore now. We are giving full thrust to Coir Industry Technical Upgradation Scheme. Under this, 25 per cent subsidy will be given to entrepreneurs who modernise the industry. It is under the consideration of the central government and we expect to get approval soon, he said. The Coir Board targets Rs 2,700 crore through exports in FY18. We want to change the entire outlook of the coir industry in the country. In 2016-17, export quantity and value of Coir Geotextile grew 37.6 per cent and 26.9 per cent compared to a year ago. The key markets for this products are the US, Europe and China. Competition is low as SriLanka is the only larger player, said the chairman. Radhakrishnan said, Coir Board is in talks with the Kerala government to collect coconut husk from home to home. The discussions are at an advanced stage and the plan is to employ Kudumbashree workers to collect the husk, he said. When asked about the idea of merging Coir Board and Coconut Development Board, Radhakrishnan said I think they should become one board. Without coconut there is no coir. Besides, it is good for the industry. But how this can be done that I do not know. KOCHI: The Indian coir sector has the potential to grow globally aided by modernisation, according to Coir Board Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Talking to Express about the future plans of the Board, he said the Board has a target to generate Rs 25,000 crore revenue from exports by 2024 compared to Rs 2,290 crore now. We are giving full thrust to Coir Industry Technical Upgradation Scheme. Under this, 25 per cent subsidy will be given to entrepreneurs who modernise the industry. It is under the consideration of the central government and we expect to get approval soon, he said. The Coir Board targets Rs 2,700 crore through exports in FY18. We want to change the entire outlook of the coir industry in the country. In 2016-17, export quantity and value of Coir Geotextile grew 37.6 per cent and 26.9 per cent compared to a year ago. The key markets for this products are the US, Europe and China. Competition is low as SriLanka is the only larger player, said the chairman. Radhakrishnan said, Coir Board is in talks with the Kerala government to collect coconut husk from home to home. The discussions are at an advanced stage and the plan is to employ Kudumbashree workers to collect the husk, he said. When asked about the idea of merging Coir Board and Coconut Development Board, Radhakrishnan said I think they should become one board. Without coconut there is no coir. Besides, it is good for the industry. But how this can be done that I do not know. By Reuters MUMBAI: India's drug pricing regulator has issued a notice seeking explanation from companies found to be selling new versions of essential medicines without government approval on their pricing, a statement released on its website late on Wednesday showed. The move could result in penalties for several drugmakers, and is the latest in a series of recent actions by India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) towards tightening control of drug prices. More than 300 medicines that India defines as essential are currently under a government price cap, and the law requires companies to seek approval of the NPPA before launching new dosage forms or combinations of such drugs. Yet, a high number of companies are flouting this rule, the NPPA said in its notice, adding that it has sought details from such companies on the sales and pricing of their drugs by June 15, 2017. "It is also not clear whether these formulations have the approval of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and whether these are rational or irrational combination drugs," the NPPA said, referring to India's main drug regulator. Roughly half the medicines sold in India are so-called fixed-dose combination drugs - cocktails of two or more medicines in fixed dosages. The health ministry banned hundreds of such drug cocktails last year saying they lacked therapeutic efficacy, were potentially harmful, and did not have the central drug regulator's approval. The industry filed hundreds of lawsuits against the government, obtaining stay orders on the ban, and the cases will collectively be heard by the Supreme Court starting July. The NPPA, which comes under India's chemicals ministry, can in the meantime fine the offending companies and recover the overcharged amount from them, according to India's drugs law. MUMBAI: India's drug pricing regulator has issued a notice seeking explanation from companies found to be selling new versions of essential medicines without government approval on their pricing, a statement released on its website late on Wednesday showed. The move could result in penalties for several drugmakers, and is the latest in a series of recent actions by India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) towards tightening control of drug prices. More than 300 medicines that India defines as essential are currently under a government price cap, and the law requires companies to seek approval of the NPPA before launching new dosage forms or combinations of such drugs. Yet, a high number of companies are flouting this rule, the NPPA said in its notice, adding that it has sought details from such companies on the sales and pricing of their drugs by June 15, 2017. "It is also not clear whether these formulations have the approval of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and whether these are rational or irrational combination drugs," the NPPA said, referring to India's main drug regulator. Roughly half the medicines sold in India are so-called fixed-dose combination drugs - cocktails of two or more medicines in fixed dosages. The health ministry banned hundreds of such drug cocktails last year saying they lacked therapeutic efficacy, were potentially harmful, and did not have the central drug regulator's approval. The industry filed hundreds of lawsuits against the government, obtaining stay orders on the ban, and the cases will collectively be heard by the Supreme Court starting July. The NPPA, which comes under India's chemicals ministry, can in the meantime fine the offending companies and recover the overcharged amount from them, according to India's drugs law. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank on Tuesday said its blockchain solution has cut trade financing time to a couple of hours from over 30 days. The bank has partnered with consulting firm Deloitte and JP Morgan Singapore to use the blockchain technology for completing the crucial process of issuing a Letter of Credit (LC) to prospective borrowers. While instant money transfers have progressed significantly, trade finance in India has a lot of catching up to do. Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology has emerged as an object of intense interest, said K V S Manian, President, Corporate, Investment and Institutional Banking, Kotak. Blockchain solution is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called blocks. Other Indian lenders, including ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank have previously disclosed using the blockchain technology in their operations. He added that Indian banks were experimenting with blockchain applications in various areas including paper-intensive processes of trade finance and supply chain financing segments, which are ripe for disruption. This transaction is the beginning of a journey on integrating Blockchain and moving towards full-scale adoption, thus giving Indian importers, exporters and domestic traders, the best solution, he said. LC, a negotiable instrument, is a critical document in both domestic and international trade finance and also one of the most tedious documents to process in banking. The time involved in completing the process deprives exporters from utilising their sale proceeds efficiently. The verifying, approving and documenting process takes time given that multiple parties from different countries with varied regulatory frameworks are involved in the process. MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank on Tuesday said its blockchain solution has cut trade financing time to a couple of hours from over 30 days. The bank has partnered with consulting firm Deloitte and JP Morgan Singapore to use the blockchain technology for completing the crucial process of issuing a Letter of Credit (LC) to prospective borrowers. While instant money transfers have progressed significantly, trade finance in India has a lot of catching up to do. Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology has emerged as an object of intense interest, said K V S Manian, President, Corporate, Investment and Institutional Banking, Kotak. Blockchain solution is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called blocks. Other Indian lenders, including ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank have previously disclosed using the blockchain technology in their operations. He added that Indian banks were experimenting with blockchain applications in various areas including paper-intensive processes of trade finance and supply chain financing segments, which are ripe for disruption. This transaction is the beginning of a journey on integrating Blockchain and moving towards full-scale adoption, thus giving Indian importers, exporters and domestic traders, the best solution, he said. LC, a negotiable instrument, is a critical document in both domestic and international trade finance and also one of the most tedious documents to process in banking. The time involved in completing the process deprives exporters from utilising their sale proceeds efficiently. The verifying, approving and documenting process takes time given that multiple parties from different countries with varied regulatory frameworks are involved in the process. Ram M Sundaram By Express News Service CHENNAI: For more than a year, all that D Viswanathan could do was scurry back and forth to get his course completion certificates. All thanks to the red-tapism that exists in the Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University (TNTEU). Viswanathan, who cleared his BEd special education course in 2016, has not been able to apply for a job without the certificates but has been forced to repay his educational loans after threats from the bank for defaulting on payments. The first generation graduate from Namakkal joined National Institute for Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIPMD), Chennai, in 2014. His batch was the last one to study BEd as a one-year course since the government revised it thereafter, adding one more year. He wrote his arrear exams on June 2016 and cleared them. However, he did not receive his mark sheet, without which the provisional certificate could not be prepared. While provisional certificates were more than enough for regular BEd graduates to get a job, BEd special education graduates need a cumulative mark sheet, in addition to this. Special education graduates are required to upload these two documents onto the Rehabilitation Council of Indias (RCI) online portal, failing which they can be arrested or penalised for teaching differently-abled students in schools. I have filed several complaints regarding the delay with the college grievance cell, university authorities and chief ministers special cell. The authorities replied that they were willing to dispatch the certificates only when the first batch of two-year BEd students completed their course in September 2017, Viswanathan told Express. But by this time, Viswanathan would have to compete with numerous other graduates from different States when the courses end this month. With no support from his parents, Viswanathan had turned to a service bank which rejected his application for an educational loan of Rs 45,000. However, his chance meeting with a bank manager from a different branch during his frequent visits to the district library helped him secure a loan. I received the loan only after writing the final exams and after the one-year grace period, I started receiving threats from banks and legal notices. So, I started knocking the door of local moneylenders to pay the interest (close to Rs 1,000 per month, he said Adding insult to injury, the university authorities asked him to personally appear on Monday to cross-check his identity. This was completely unnecessary, as my previous mark sheet had my photo affixed. However, I managed to reach Chennai despite exorbitant fares demanded by buses due to the State-wide transport union strike. Despite making a personal appearance, he was made to run from pillar to post to get a copy of his college identity card and bonafide certificate. Even after producing it, the university authorities refused to provide him with the certificates. I was humiliated every time I set foot into the university, he added. Viswanathan is among the 1,300 BEd graduates from government and private self-financing teacher training colleges across Tamil Nadu awaiting their certificates despite clearing the course. Some have been waiting since 2011. Admitting that there was a delay, the TNTEU vice chancellor S Thangasamy said that efforts were taken to dispatch provisional certificates to these students within a weeks time. The university authorities attributed the delay to automation of the certification process. The provisional certificate is prepared based on both the semesters marks and this was delayed with the new automated system in place, Thangasamy added. CHENNAI: For more than a year, all that D Viswanathan could do was scurry back and forth to get his course completion certificates. All thanks to the red-tapism that exists in the Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University (TNTEU). Viswanathan, who cleared his BEd special education course in 2016, has not been able to apply for a job without the certificates but has been forced to repay his educational loans after threats from the bank for defaulting on payments. The first generation graduate from Namakkal joined National Institute for Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIPMD), Chennai, in 2014. His batch was the last one to study BEd as a one-year course since the government revised it thereafter, adding one more year. He wrote his arrear exams on June 2016 and cleared them. However, he did not receive his mark sheet, without which the provisional certificate could not be prepared. While provisional certificates were more than enough for regular BEd graduates to get a job, BEd special education graduates need a cumulative mark sheet, in addition to this. Special education graduates are required to upload these two documents onto the Rehabilitation Council of Indias (RCI) online portal, failing which they can be arrested or penalised for teaching differently-abled students in schools. I have filed several complaints regarding the delay with the college grievance cell, university authorities and chief ministers special cell. The authorities replied that they were willing to dispatch the certificates only when the first batch of two-year BEd students completed their course in September 2017, Viswanathan told Express. But by this time, Viswanathan would have to compete with numerous other graduates from different States when the courses end this month. With no support from his parents, Viswanathan had turned to a service bank which rejected his application for an educational loan of Rs 45,000. However, his chance meeting with a bank manager from a different branch during his frequent visits to the district library helped him secure a loan. I received the loan only after writing the final exams and after the one-year grace period, I started receiving threats from banks and legal notices. So, I started knocking the door of local moneylenders to pay the interest (close to Rs 1,000 per month, he said Adding insult to injury, the university authorities asked him to personally appear on Monday to cross-check his identity. This was completely unnecessary, as my previous mark sheet had my photo affixed. However, I managed to reach Chennai despite exorbitant fares demanded by buses due to the State-wide transport union strike. Despite making a personal appearance, he was made to run from pillar to post to get a copy of his college identity card and bonafide certificate. Even after producing it, the university authorities refused to provide him with the certificates. I was humiliated every time I set foot into the university, he added. Viswanathan is among the 1,300 BEd graduates from government and private self-financing teacher training colleges across Tamil Nadu awaiting their certificates despite clearing the course. Some have been waiting since 2011. Admitting that there was a delay, the TNTEU vice chancellor S Thangasamy said that efforts were taken to dispatch provisional certificates to these students within a weeks time. The university authorities attributed the delay to automation of the certification process. The provisional certificate is prepared based on both the semesters marks and this was delayed with the new automated system in place, Thangasamy added. By Express News Service CHENNAI: More than half of the doctors have uncontrolled hypertension despite taking hypertensive medicines, and many of them face risk of cardiovascular conditions, revealed a study conducted by Indian Medical Association (IMA) along with Heart Care Foundation of India and Eris Lifesciences. As much as 56 per cent had irregular BP at night and 21 per cent had masked hypertension, found the study which was conducted to raise awareness about doctors health and diagnosis of hypertension on World Hypertension Day (May 17), Dr K K Agarwal, national president of Indian Medical Association, and president, Heart Care Foundation of India, told Express. We have conducted this study in 33 cities where we have IMA chapters, including Chennai. The study also reveals that the doctors are under stress, Dr Agarwal added. The researchers attempted to record the maximum number of ambulatory blood pressure readings among the medical fraternity in a single day. For this, over 20,000 readings were taken from 533 doctors in these 33 cities. The aim was to raise awareness about the benefits of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for the timely and correct diagnosis of hypertension, said a press release from the group which conducted the study. The study also revealed that 21 per cent of the doctors surveyed had masked hypertension or isolated ambulatory hypertension. Masked hypertension is associated with an increased long-term risk of sustained hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. In addition to this, 56 per cent of the doctors suffered from irregular BP pattern at night, making them prone to future adverse cardiac events. Also 37 per cent doctors have nocturnal hypertension, which can never be diagnosed through clinical BP measurement. CHENNAI: More than half of the doctors have uncontrolled hypertension despite taking hypertensive medicines, and many of them face risk of cardiovascular conditions, revealed a study conducted by Indian Medical Association (IMA) along with Heart Care Foundation of India and Eris Lifesciences. As much as 56 per cent had irregular BP at night and 21 per cent had masked hypertension, found the study which was conducted to raise awareness about doctors health and diagnosis of hypertension on World Hypertension Day (May 17), Dr K K Agarwal, national president of Indian Medical Association, and president, Heart Care Foundation of India, told Express. We have conducted this study in 33 cities where we have IMA chapters, including Chennai. The study also reveals that the doctors are under stress, Dr Agarwal added. The researchers attempted to record the maximum number of ambulatory blood pressure readings among the medical fraternity in a single day. For this, over 20,000 readings were taken from 533 doctors in these 33 cities. The aim was to raise awareness about the benefits of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for the timely and correct diagnosis of hypertension, said a press release from the group which conducted the study. The study also revealed that 21 per cent of the doctors surveyed had masked hypertension or isolated ambulatory hypertension. Masked hypertension is associated with an increased long-term risk of sustained hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. In addition to this, 56 per cent of the doctors suffered from irregular BP pattern at night, making them prone to future adverse cardiac events. Also 37 per cent doctors have nocturnal hypertension, which can never be diagnosed through clinical BP measurement. Thushara Ann Mathew By Express News Service CHENNAI: I come from a small village in Tuticorin district and got into this field because of my father who wanted to start a business and suggested we open a bakery. So I did a years course in bakery and confectionary, before I got placed at Taj Coromandel. I worked there for almost seven years and then was sent to Taj Hotels in Maldives, which was a milestone for me because I learnt all that I wanted to about baking there. They squeezed, sculpted and shaped me (laughs). I mastered all the European recipes while I was working in Maldives. I believed in the give-and-take policy For every recipe I shared with my colleagues there, I learnt one from them. And that is how I grew as a chef. The microwave-oven and dough-kneader were the only kitchen equipment we had when I started off as a chef. But today, all the equipments are available at our fingertips and makes cooking a lot easier. I must agree that the growth of the industry has been tremendous. Everybody is a food critic today; they know what good food tastes like. My specialities are bakery and confectionary and apart from that, I have specialised in salads and carvings too. I have got a lot of appreciations for my carvings. Once I had made a sugar carving and a man started asking me questions about how I had carved it and how much time it took. Later, I got to know he was a gold medallist in sugar carvings and he was impressed with my work (grins). I like to cook healthy. These days, most ingredients and products we use in cooking have chemicals, and as a chef I believe in serving my customers healthy food. So far I have succeeded. And I hope to do so in future too. Summer Food Gateau bake at home! Lots of chopped tropical fruits For the cream Milk 1 Litre, Cornflour 120 gram, Sugar 400 gram, Butter (unsalted) 450 gram First, boil the milk. Dilute the cornflour with little water, keep aside. When the milk is boiling, add the sugar into it and mix well. Into this, add the cornflour mixture. Let the mixture cool and when in room temperature, add the butter. Keep the mix aside. For the sponge Sugar 100 gram; Eggs 3; Flour (maida) 100 gram; Baking powder tsp Beat the eggs. Add sugar little by little into it. Sieve the flour along with the baking powder well and add it into the egg. Pour the batter into a baking tin. Bake at 150 C for 35-45 minutes. Icing Bring sponge to room temperature and then slice it into three layers. Apply the milk cream mix in each of the layers and fill it with chopped tropical fruits. Decorate the cake well. Tips Medicine is food. Every traditional ingredient has its own medical value. We need to ensure to give our body the right kind of ingredients in the right amount. Rice is our staple food, especially in South India. We should ensure to not go against this food cycle. It is good to have ginger in an empty stomach in the morning. It is good for health. Each of our spices and vegetables has so many hidden values. Steaming cakes, rather than baking it in the oven, ensure that the cake is moist and can be stored for longer time. CHENNAI: I come from a small village in Tuticorin district and got into this field because of my father who wanted to start a business and suggested we open a bakery. So I did a years course in bakery and confectionary, before I got placed at Taj Coromandel. I worked there for almost seven years and then was sent to Taj Hotels in Maldives, which was a milestone for me because I learnt all that I wanted to about baking there. They squeezed, sculpted and shaped me (laughs). I mastered all the European recipes while I was working in Maldives. I believed in the give-and-take policy For every recipe I shared with my colleagues there, I learnt one from them. And that is how I grew as a chef. The microwave-oven and dough-kneader were the only kitchen equipment we had when I started off as a chef. But today, all the equipments are available at our fingertips and makes cooking a lot easier. I must agree that the growth of the industry has been tremendous. Everybody is a food critic today; they know what good food tastes like. My specialities are bakery and confectionary and apart from that, I have specialised in salads and carvings too. I have got a lot of appreciations for my carvings. Once I had made a sugar carving and a man started asking me questions about how I had carved it and how much time it took. Later, I got to know he was a gold medallist in sugar carvings and he was impressed with my work (grins). I like to cook healthy. These days, most ingredients and products we use in cooking have chemicals, and as a chef I believe in serving my customers healthy food. So far I have succeeded. And I hope to do so in future too. Summer Food Gateau bake at home! Lots of chopped tropical fruits For the cream Milk 1 Litre, Cornflour 120 gram, Sugar 400 gram, Butter (unsalted) 450 gram First, boil the milk. Dilute the cornflour with little water, keep aside. When the milk is boiling, add the sugar into it and mix well. Into this, add the cornflour mixture. Let the mixture cool and when in room temperature, add the butter. Keep the mix aside. For the sponge Sugar 100 gram; Eggs 3; Flour (maida) 100 gram; Baking powder tsp Beat the eggs. Add sugar little by little into it. Sieve the flour along with the baking powder well and add it into the egg. Pour the batter into a baking tin. Bake at 150 C for 35-45 minutes. Icing Bring sponge to room temperature and then slice it into three layers. Apply the milk cream mix in each of the layers and fill it with chopped tropical fruits. Decorate the cake well. Tips Medicine is food. Every traditional ingredient has its own medical value. We need to ensure to give our body the right kind of ingredients in the right amount. Rice is our staple food, especially in South India. We should ensure to not go against this food cycle. It is good to have ginger in an empty stomach in the morning. It is good for health. Each of our spices and vegetables has so many hidden values. Steaming cakes, rather than baking it in the oven, ensure that the cake is moist and can be stored for longer time. By Express News Service CHENNAI: A heart harvested from a young man, who was declared brain dead by doctors in a private hospital in Coimbatore, was airlifted by a team of doctors from Chennai and transplanted on a 16 -year-old boy who was suffering with end stage heart disease, on Wednesday. According to Fortis Malar Hospital, a team of doctors rushed to Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital in Coimbatore after they received the message about availability of the organ on Tuesday. The donor was Navaneeth, a 22-year-old from Coimbatore, who met with a road accident on Monday and suffered severe head injury. He did not respond to treatment. The family came forward to donate the organs. Doctors harvested the organ and started from Coimbatore in a commercial airliner around 11.10 am. They landed in Chennai at 11.40 am, reached the hospital by 12.05 pm and transplanted the organ on the youngster. CHENNAI: A heart harvested from a young man, who was declared brain dead by doctors in a private hospital in Coimbatore, was airlifted by a team of doctors from Chennai and transplanted on a 16 -year-old boy who was suffering with end stage heart disease, on Wednesday. According to Fortis Malar Hospital, a team of doctors rushed to Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital in Coimbatore after they received the message about availability of the organ on Tuesday. The donor was Navaneeth, a 22-year-old from Coimbatore, who met with a road accident on Monday and suffered severe head injury. He did not respond to treatment. The family came forward to donate the organs. Doctors harvested the organ and started from Coimbatore in a commercial airliner around 11.10 am. They landed in Chennai at 11.40 am, reached the hospital by 12.05 pm and transplanted the organ on the youngster. By Express News Service Tom Holland says he has come up with an idea that would allow him to continue as Spider-Man for a while, and that his plans are being considered by the studio. Peter Parker is a character we see (in the comic books) as a 15-year-old boy and then as a 35-year-old man. So I have an idea of what Id like to do. Ive pitched it, and its already been taken into the boardroom. It would be really cool if it pans out because that would mean Id be Spider-Man for a very long time. The 20-year-old British actor was introduced as Spider-Man last year in Captain America: Civil War. Holland is now looking forward to his first solo movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, which will release in India on July 7. He will also be seen in Avengers: Infinity War, which is slated for release in 2018. Holland will then follow up his act in Avengers 4, after which a second solo outing is also planned. Tom Holland says he has come up with an idea that would allow him to continue as Spider-Man for a while, and that his plans are being considered by the studio. Peter Parker is a character we see (in the comic books) as a 15-year-old boy and then as a 35-year-old man. So I have an idea of what Id like to do. Ive pitched it, and its already been taken into the boardroom. It would be really cool if it pans out because that would mean Id be Spider-Man for a very long time. The 20-year-old British actor was introduced as Spider-Man last year in Captain America: Civil War. Holland is now looking forward to his first solo movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, which will release in India on July 7. He will also be seen in Avengers: Infinity War, which is slated for release in 2018. Holland will then follow up his act in Avengers 4, after which a second solo outing is also planned. By Express News Service The teaser for the Kangana-starrer Simran was unveiled recently to overwhelmingly positive response. The teaser and the poster both credited Kangana Ranaut with additional story, screenplay and dialogues, and ahead of Apurva Asrani, who wrote the story. This has irked the writer who took to social media to express his disappointment. Apurva went on Facebook to say the placement of the credits did not bother him so much, but that there was something bigger that he noticed that he could not make sense of. Ms Ranaut has been claiming that Hansal Mehta (director of Simran) approached her with just a one-line screenplay of the film. She says that the story was a dark and gritty thriller at that stage and that she herself developed it into a light, fun film. This completely discredits me and my efforts, and I have to call out this lie, he says. The writer went to say that the source of inspiration for the story was a news article sent by Hansal Mehta about a woman in the US who crossed the line of the law. I saw Simran as an opportunity to have some fun, says Apurva. Talking about how the project started taking shape, he says, I signed a contract with Hansals company Karma Features, developed the idea into an original story and wrote a one-line screenplay. Hansal loved it, and took me to meet Kangana. She heard the narration and told us she would do it. Apurva says he then went to the US to research the subject and began writing upon his return. The writer contends that at no point was there any indication that Kangana did not like the tone or direction of the script. In fact, she used to jump with glee when I finished my narrations, he claims. When the shooting was complete and he was present during the edit, Apurva says he was thrilled to see that it was exactly the story and screenplay that I had registered at the Film Writers Association. I noticed that Kangana had improvised many dialogues, and I thought those improvisations were excellent; in keeping with the lines/thoughts I had written. He further says, At no stage did I see this new narrative of theirs coming. It was only the day after I finished the first cut of the film that Hansal informed me nervously that Kangana is turning director and therefore has demanded a co writer credit. The writer goes on to say he felt shocked and betrayed by this but refused to give in. For two months, he (Hansal) and his co-producer Shailesh tried to arm-twist me into giving her a co-writer credit. I finally agreed to an additional writing credit, but only because they claimed the film would be stuck if I didnt do so. But I refused to give her a co-writer credit, and we signed a letter where they promised me the same, he says. Today I also saw Kangana on her Facebook Live event yesterday claiming that she had written the film (with Hansal) from a one-liner he gave her. The aggrieved writer goes on to say he will fight it out. The teaser for the Kangana-starrer Simran was unveiled recently to overwhelmingly positive response. The teaser and the poster both credited Kangana Ranaut with additional story, screenplay and dialogues, and ahead of Apurva Asrani, who wrote the story. This has irked the writer who took to social media to express his disappointment. Apurva went on Facebook to say the placement of the credits did not bother him so much, but that there was something bigger that he noticed that he could not make sense of. Ms Ranaut has been claiming that Hansal Mehta (director of Simran) approached her with just a one-line screenplay of the film. She says that the story was a dark and gritty thriller at that stage and that she herself developed it into a light, fun film. This completely discredits me and my efforts, and I have to call out this lie, he says. The writer went to say that the source of inspiration for the story was a news article sent by Hansal Mehta about a woman in the US who crossed the line of the law. I saw Simran as an opportunity to have some fun, says Apurva. Talking about how the project started taking shape, he says, I signed a contract with Hansals company Karma Features, developed the idea into an original story and wrote a one-line screenplay. Hansal loved it, and took me to meet Kangana. She heard the narration and told us she would do it. Apurva says he then went to the US to research the subject and began writing upon his return. The writer contends that at no point was there any indication that Kangana did not like the tone or direction of the script. In fact, she used to jump with glee when I finished my narrations, he claims. When the shooting was complete and he was present during the edit, Apurva says he was thrilled to see that it was exactly the story and screenplay that I had registered at the Film Writers Association. I noticed that Kangana had improvised many dialogues, and I thought those improvisations were excellent; in keeping with the lines/thoughts I had written. He further says, At no stage did I see this new narrative of theirs coming. It was only the day after I finished the first cut of the film that Hansal informed me nervously that Kangana is turning director and therefore has demanded a co writer credit. The writer goes on to say he felt shocked and betrayed by this but refused to give in. For two months, he (Hansal) and his co-producer Shailesh tried to arm-twist me into giving her a co-writer credit. I finally agreed to an additional writing credit, but only because they claimed the film would be stuck if I didnt do so. But I refused to give her a co-writer credit, and we signed a letter where they promised me the same, he says. Today I also saw Kangana on her Facebook Live event yesterday claiming that she had written the film (with Hansal) from a one-liner he gave her. The aggrieved writer goes on to say he will fight it out. By Express News Service BHOPAL: An environmentalist at heart, a meticulous political strategist and gentleman politician is how union minister of state for environment Anil Madhav Dave is remembered, both by political allies and opponents. Born on July 6, 1956 in a family with a strong RSS background at Barnagar in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain district, 60-year-old Dave passed away in Delhi early on Thursday, just three days after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched the action plan to save river Narmada a cause closest to Daves heart. The cause of river conservation, particularly the river Narmada, was best accentuated by his three-storey building Nadi ka Ghar (river house) in Bhopal where he run the Narmada Samagra, an NGO for conserving the river Narmada. Weeks before MP chief minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Narmada Seva Yatra in December 2016, my Rajya Sabha colleague and then the union minister of state for environment discussed with me in parliament an ambitious plan to conserve river Narmada. Since I also come from Jabalpur, situated on the banks of river Narmada, Dave took time out to discuss his planned public movement for the river, which was to be totally non-political, recounted Congress Rajya Sabha member and legal eagle Vivek Tankha. With Daves demise, weve lost a gentleman politician, who was well known for his commitment towards the river Narmada, added Tankha. In his last wish penned in an official letterhead in July 23, 2012, he mentions a desire for his cremation at Badrabhan on the banks of river Narmada in MPs Hoshangabad district. Anil Madhav Dave has built an ashram here and used to organise the international river festival to generate awareness about river conservation. In the July 2012 letter called, My Wish and Will, Dave has also urged for no memorial, event, award or statue in his memory. Instead he added that "if any work is to be done in my memory, it should be zeroed on tree plantation and conservation of water bodies, but my name shall never feature in those efforts." Even as a Rajya Sabha member, before becoming a minister in July 2016, he served as Member of Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change and represented the country at various international environment meets. A picture of his official letterhead titled My Wish and Will, written in July, 2012. | Praveen Bajpai Before assuming charge of minister of environment in New Delhi during July 2016, Anil Madhav Dave was well known for his work on Narmada conservation. Dave who held a private pilot license, flew the Cessna 173 aircraft to perform parikrama (circumambulation) of river Narmada in air. He also completed a 1300-plus km journey on the river by raft in 19 days and his mortal remains will be cremated at Badrabhan, venue of the river festival, on Friday. National BJP vice president and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha said, In the 35 years of association with Dave, Ive seen him totally committed to the cause of river and environment conservation, particularly the Narmada river conservation. One of the books Amarkantak to Amarkantak, exemplifies his love for the river considered Madhya Pradesh's lifeline. Besides being an environmentalist at heart, Anil Madhav Dave was also considered a key political strategist and is accredited with bringing back the BJP to power in MP after 10 years of the Digvijaya Singh-led Congress government rule through his meticulous booth level management and planning. He only believed in winning. It was Daves meticulous planning from a small bungalow in Bhopal, which largely paved the passage for BJPs return to power after 10 years of Congress rule in MP. Since then he was the spine of all successful elections till date in the state, said Jha. A postgraduate in commerce from Indores Gujarati College, Anil Madhav Dave inherited the legacy of RSS from grandfather Dadasahab Dave and turned a full-fledged pracharak after completing higher education in Indore. Ahead of the 2003 assembly polls in MP, the Sangh deputed Dave to the BJP and his meticulous planning led the BJP to power in the state after a decade. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and had been on various committees, including chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013. He also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference during the Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela in Ujjain in 2016. He was one of my closest friends right from college days in Indore. While I was an NSUI leader at Christian College in Indore, he was an ABVP leader in Gujarati College, but clash of ideologies never hurt our friendship. He was a gentleman, respected even by his sworn political opponents, said MP Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra. Owing to his proximity to PM Narendra Modi, union minister Anil Madhav Daves name often did the rounds in political circles as possible successor to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP, but Dave himself always ruled out such a possibility. Anil Madhav Dave penned seven books in Hindi and English, spanning from Srijan se Visarjan Tak, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sambhal ke Rahna Ghar mein Chupe Gaddaron se, Shatabdhi ke Paanch Kaale Panne, Narmada Samagra (Yatra Vritant) and Samgra Gram Vikas (all in Hindi) to Amarkantak to Amarkantak and Beyond Copenhagen (both in English). BHOPAL: An environmentalist at heart, a meticulous political strategist and gentleman politician is how union minister of state for environment Anil Madhav Dave is remembered, both by political allies and opponents. Born on July 6, 1956 in a family with a strong RSS background at Barnagar in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain district, 60-year-old Dave passed away in Delhi early on Thursday, just three days after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched the action plan to save river Narmada a cause closest to Daves heart. The cause of river conservation, particularly the river Narmada, was best accentuated by his three-storey building Nadi ka Ghar (river house) in Bhopal where he run the Narmada Samagra, an NGO for conserving the river Narmada. Weeks before MP chief minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Narmada Seva Yatra in December 2016, my Rajya Sabha colleague and then the union minister of state for environment discussed with me in parliament an ambitious plan to conserve river Narmada. Since I also come from Jabalpur, situated on the banks of river Narmada, Dave took time out to discuss his planned public movement for the river, which was to be totally non-political, recounted Congress Rajya Sabha member and legal eagle Vivek Tankha. With Daves demise, weve lost a gentleman politician, who was well known for his commitment towards the river Narmada, added Tankha. In his last wish penned in an official letterhead in July 23, 2012, he mentions a desire for his cremation at Badrabhan on the banks of river Narmada in MPs Hoshangabad district. Anil Madhav Dave has built an ashram here and used to organise the international river festival to generate awareness about river conservation. In the July 2012 letter called, My Wish and Will, Dave has also urged for no memorial, event, award or statue in his memory. Instead he added that "if any work is to be done in my memory, it should be zeroed on tree plantation and conservation of water bodies, but my name shall never feature in those efforts." Even as a Rajya Sabha member, before becoming a minister in July 2016, he served as Member of Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change and represented the country at various international environment meets. A picture of his official letterhead titled My Wish and Will, written in July, 2012. | Praveen Bajpai Before assuming charge of minister of environment in New Delhi during July 2016, Anil Madhav Dave was well known for his work on Narmada conservation. Dave who held a private pilot license, flew the Cessna 173 aircraft to perform parikrama (circumambulation) of river Narmada in air. He also completed a 1300-plus km journey on the river by raft in 19 days and his mortal remains will be cremated at Badrabhan, venue of the river festival, on Friday. National BJP vice president and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha said, In the 35 years of association with Dave, Ive seen him totally committed to the cause of river and environment conservation, particularly the Narmada river conservation. One of the books Amarkantak to Amarkantak, exemplifies his love for the river considered Madhya Pradesh's lifeline. Besides being an environmentalist at heart, Anil Madhav Dave was also considered a key political strategist and is accredited with bringing back the BJP to power in MP after 10 years of the Digvijaya Singh-led Congress government rule through his meticulous booth level management and planning. He only believed in winning. It was Daves meticulous planning from a small bungalow in Bhopal, which largely paved the passage for BJPs return to power after 10 years of Congress rule in MP. Since then he was the spine of all successful elections till date in the state, said Jha. A postgraduate in commerce from Indores Gujarati College, Anil Madhav Dave inherited the legacy of RSS from grandfather Dadasahab Dave and turned a full-fledged pracharak after completing higher education in Indore. Ahead of the 2003 assembly polls in MP, the Sangh deputed Dave to the BJP and his meticulous planning led the BJP to power in the state after a decade. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and had been on various committees, including chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013. He also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference during the Simhastha (Kumbh) Mela in Ujjain in 2016. He was one of my closest friends right from college days in Indore. While I was an NSUI leader at Christian College in Indore, he was an ABVP leader in Gujarati College, but clash of ideologies never hurt our friendship. He was a gentleman, respected even by his sworn political opponents, said MP Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra. Owing to his proximity to PM Narendra Modi, union minister Anil Madhav Daves name often did the rounds in political circles as possible successor to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP, but Dave himself always ruled out such a possibility. Anil Madhav Dave penned seven books in Hindi and English, spanning from Srijan se Visarjan Tak, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sambhal ke Rahna Ghar mein Chupe Gaddaron se, Shatabdhi ke Paanch Kaale Panne, Narmada Samagra (Yatra Vritant) and Samgra Gram Vikas (all in Hindi) to Amarkantak to Amarkantak and Beyond Copenhagen (both in English). By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The BJP is embarking on a major organisational expansion in West Bengal, with the saffron outfit designating 1500 workers to spread the party footprints in the state. With the BJP chief Amit Shah having signalled saffron push in the eastern state by launching the campaign from the Nuxalbari this month. The BJP will be following up on the successful campaign of the party chief. As many as 1500 party workers will camp at various polling booths in the state for 15 days as part of the expansion programme. Besides spreading awareness about the ideology of the party ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the 1500 workers will enlist new members in the party, said Kailash Vijayvargia, the BJP national general secretary and in-charge for West Bengal. The BJP leader stated that the party will give voice to the tribals, Dalits and marginalised in the state. Incidentally, the tribal couple -- Raju Maheli and Geeta Maheli who had hosted Shah over lunch in Nuxalbari had afterwards joined the Trinamool Congress. The fact that the tribal couple was pressurised to join the TMC after Shah visited them in Nuxalbari show that the tribals and Dalits do not enjoy freedom in the state. The BJP will strongly work for the rights of the tribals and Dalits in the state, added Vijayvargia. The BJP leader also hoped that the ruling TMC will not be able to unleash political violence at the times of elections conducted by the Election Commission of India unlike the local body polls. NEW DELHI: The BJP is embarking on a major organisational expansion in West Bengal, with the saffron outfit designating 1500 workers to spread the party footprints in the state. With the BJP chief Amit Shah having signalled saffron push in the eastern state by launching the campaign from the Nuxalbari this month. The BJP will be following up on the successful campaign of the party chief. As many as 1500 party workers will camp at various polling booths in the state for 15 days as part of the expansion programme. Besides spreading awareness about the ideology of the party ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the 1500 workers will enlist new members in the party, said Kailash Vijayvargia, the BJP national general secretary and in-charge for West Bengal. The BJP leader stated that the party will give voice to the tribals, Dalits and marginalised in the state. Incidentally, the tribal couple -- Raju Maheli and Geeta Maheli who had hosted Shah over lunch in Nuxalbari had afterwards joined the Trinamool Congress. The fact that the tribal couple was pressurised to join the TMC after Shah visited them in Nuxalbari show that the tribals and Dalits do not enjoy freedom in the state. The BJP will strongly work for the rights of the tribals and Dalits in the state, added Vijayvargia. The BJP leader also hoped that the ruling TMC will not be able to unleash political violence at the times of elections conducted by the Election Commission of India unlike the local body polls. By Express News Service MUMBAI/AURANGABAD: Aurangabad police on Wednesday arrested 27 engineering students, teachers and a Shiv Sena corporator for operating an exam cheating racket from the house of the corporator. The principal and the trustees of the college were also arrested. Video footage of the raid has gone viral on social media. The second year civil engineering students from Sai Institute of Engineering and Technology were found filling the answer sheets for an exam that was conducted on Tuesday in Shiv Sena corporator Sitaram Sures residence. They were copying answers from textbooks. The students had kept their answer sheets blank while appearing for the exam the previous day. Sures son Kiran, too, is pursuing engineering from the same college. He, along with the other students and teachers, came up with this plan. The college management was also reportedly involved in the racket. Every student was charged Rs 5,000 per paper for rewriting, while the principal facilitated the business under the pretext of delay from the university in collecting the answer sheets. Police are now investigating the role of university officials in the case. MUMBAI/AURANGABAD: Aurangabad police on Wednesday arrested 27 engineering students, teachers and a Shiv Sena corporator for operating an exam cheating racket from the house of the corporator. The principal and the trustees of the college were also arrested. Video footage of the raid has gone viral on social media. The second year civil engineering students from Sai Institute of Engineering and Technology were found filling the answer sheets for an exam that was conducted on Tuesday in Shiv Sena corporator Sitaram Sures residence. They were copying answers from textbooks. The students had kept their answer sheets blank while appearing for the exam the previous day. Sures son Kiran, too, is pursuing engineering from the same college. He, along with the other students and teachers, came up with this plan. The college management was also reportedly involved in the racket. Every student was charged Rs 5,000 per paper for rewriting, while the principal facilitated the business under the pretext of delay from the university in collecting the answer sheets. Police are now investigating the role of university officials in the case. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away Thursday after suffering a heart attack. He had been hospitalised in AIIMS after he complained of breathlessness and discomfort. Dave, a Rajya Sabha MP who took charge of the environment ministry in July, 2016, was active till his last day and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Wednesday. He was 60. Born in Badnagar in Madhya Pradesh, Dave has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss, Prime Minister tweeted. PM said that Dave will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 On Wednesday, Dave met a delegation of civil society groups who protested against the approval of GM Mustard. The final nod was to come from Dave and he had assured the activists that no decision will be taken in haste. WATCH VIDEO: The minister was to go to Coimbatore for an official event but it was cancelled after his hospitalisation, said Daves close aide. Known for his contribution in the Narmada aandolan, Dave had not keeping well since January as he had pneumonia attack followed by viral fever. His sugar levels had also been high, but he worked from home during the budget session. Even when he was very sick, he used to sign files and complete important official work from home, said a senior environment ministry official. Dave was unmarried. Former environment minister and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar was stepping in his place during question hour in both the houses of parliament. Anil Madhav Dave ji was a real nature lover , had a vision of protecting environment & ensuring development. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2017 He used to spend maximum time in the office and worked till late hours. He was very efficient and issues related to the environment were important to him, said another official. (With inputs from PTI) NEW DELHI: Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away Thursday after suffering a heart attack. He had been hospitalised in AIIMS after he complained of breathlessness and discomfort. Dave, a Rajya Sabha MP who took charge of the environment ministry in July, 2016, was active till his last day and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Wednesday. He was 60. Born in Badnagar in Madhya Pradesh, Dave has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss, Prime Minister tweeted. PM said that Dave will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 On Wednesday, Dave met a delegation of civil society groups who protested against the approval of GM Mustard. The final nod was to come from Dave and he had assured the activists that no decision will be taken in haste. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTM2NTk4fHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); The minister was to go to Coimbatore for an official event but it was cancelled after his hospitalisation, said Daves close aide. Known for his contribution in the Narmada aandolan, Dave had not keeping well since January as he had pneumonia attack followed by viral fever. His sugar levels had also been high, but he worked from home during the budget session. Even when he was very sick, he used to sign files and complete important official work from home, said a senior environment ministry official. Dave was unmarried. Former environment minister and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar was stepping in his place during question hour in both the houses of parliament. Anil Madhav Dave ji was a real nature lover , had a vision of protecting environment & ensuring development. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2017 He used to spend maximum time in the office and worked till late hours. He was very efficient and issues related to the environment were important to him, said another official. (With inputs from PTI) By PTI NEW DELHI: Two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers will arrive in India from the US on Friday. It will be the first induction of the howitzers after the Bofors scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. The scandal had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. An official from BAE Systems said the first two guns will land in India ahead of the schedule over the weekend. The howitzers are being procured for the Indian Army and will be deployed along the India-China border. India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around USD 700 million. As per the deal, the first 25 guns will be bought directly from the US and the rest will be assembled in India. "We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Indian Army's artillery modernisation programme," the official said. NEW DELHI: Two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers will arrive in India from the US on Friday. It will be the first induction of the howitzers after the Bofors scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. The scandal had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. An official from BAE Systems said the first two guns will land in India ahead of the schedule over the weekend. The howitzers are being procured for the Indian Army and will be deployed along the India-China border. India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around USD 700 million. As per the deal, the first 25 guns will be bought directly from the US and the rest will be assembled in India. "We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Indian Army's artillery modernisation programme," the official said. On May 5th, perpetrators of the Nirbhaya gang rape incident were given a death sentence by the Supreme Court. One would think the severity of the punishment meted out to the Nirbhaya convicts would discourage people from engaging in such crimesand yet two equally horrifying incidents have been reported in the last ten days near the national capital. This article aims to study the changes in narratives, social attitudes, laws and policies since the Nirbhaya incident in December 2012. Why did the Nirbhaya rape outrage the nation to the point where legal and judicial reforms were almost immediately implemented? Are women safer now? Why has there been relatively little outrage against equally heinous rapes post-2012? Has anything changed since then? Narratives and Power: Social narratives on rape, ranging from caste to communalism, are reflections of power relations, and define not only how society responds to a rape, but also why rapists think they can get away. Neither the perpetrators nor the judges of the Nirbhaya case saw it for what it wasan expression of power and not a crime of lust. This power can be expressed in many waysas an upper-caste man abusing a Dalit woman because the police are unable or unwilling to punish him, or as a man exerting his dominance over an educated, empowered woman who rejected him. Victim-blaming continues to be common in sexual assault cases, especially when the man has a position of some authority or is a relative of the victim. In rural areas, notions of preserving family honour often lead to khap panchayats, thus keeping incidents out of courts. Even if a case reaches the courts, the judiciary itself gets wrapped up in patriarchal narratives and tends towards victim-blaming. Using lust (but not power) as the primary lens through which rapes are seen is deeply rooted. This is dangerous because lust leads to the idea that the victim, by exciting her rapists passion, was somehow at fault. Social Attitudes: Nirbhayas story, of a girl from a disadvantaged background with dreams of making it big through education, struck a chord with Indias aspirational class. Part of the public backlash was because it was easy to identify with her story. Massive protests and media outrage have been lacking for rapes of low-caste women in rural areas or citizens from the North-Eastern states, because the audience doesnt identify with these stories. This lack of attention can be ascribed to classism and racism. Post-2012, Nirbhayas ghost hangs over the Indian media. It has become a convenient term under which all rape cases are lumped. After the most sensational rapes, the victim is named after Nirbhayathe latest being Rohtaks Nirbhaya. In todays world, where public attention and outrage waxes and wanes with news cycles, the media should hold lawmakers and law-enforcers to account. To be fair, attitudes towards the recognition of sexual assault as a problem have changed. An analysis of English media reports from 2010 until 2014 has uncovered a marked difference in the terms used to describe rape, with an increased use of terms such as gruesome and horrific. Post-Nirbhaya reports have been more accepting of the victims side of the story. Perhaps it is this recognition of the problem that has led to more rape cases coming to light. But, mere recognition is not enough. Social attitudes and legislation have a long way to go. Laws and Policies: Within a week of the Nirbhaya incident, the then government appointed the Justice Verma Committee to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law. This led to the passing of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, which broadened the definition of rape and strengthened the punishments for sexual crimes. Later, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provided that juveniles between 16-18 years of age involved in heinous offences be tried as adults. But other recommendations of the Verma Committee, such as inclusion of marital rape in the definition of rape and removal of the gender biased language in Criminal Law were not accepted. Six additional fast-track courts were set up in Delhi to hear cases of sexual assault. Nearly 15 months after they were set up, 1374 cases were pending in these courts with new cases piling up each day. With these courts not being empowered with additional infrastructure and judges, it is anybodys guess how fast these fast-track courts really are. The government had also announced a `3000 crore Nirbhaya fund for initiatives to ensure women safety. These funds remain underutilised, with policies aiming to improve the capabilities of law enforcement agencies remaining promises on paper. Moreover, capability alone is not enoughthe police are hardly a credible deterrent, especially since they continue to be handicapped by political interference, and (especially in rural areas) are dominated by the same upper castes which are the primary perpetrators of violence against low-caste women. What next? Social narratives justify rape before and after the act, feeding an individuals propensity to commit a crime. This is reinforced by the lack of capability and credibility of the law and order system, perpetuated by the lack of political will. Politicians in India are generally not held to their promises. The public is convinced that advocacy and lobbying do not lead to changes in the system. Yet without political will, the system wont changeand political will is not confined to politicians, but to the voting public as well. A day of selective outrage on news channels is not enough. It is the societys action or inaction that allows rape. People might be more aware of assault and report it better, but without lasting social change, leading up to sustained political will, India will continue to lose her daughters to senseless violence. On May 5th, perpetrators of the Nirbhaya gang rape incident were given a death sentence by the Supreme Court. One would think the severity of the punishment meted out to the Nirbhaya convicts would discourage people from engaging in such crimesand yet two equally horrifying incidents have been reported in the last ten days near the national capital. This article aims to study the changes in narratives, social attitudes, laws and policies since the Nirbhaya incident in December 2012. Why did the Nirbhaya rape outrage the nation to the point where legal and judicial reforms were almost immediately implemented? Are women safer now? Why has there been relatively little outrage against equally heinous rapes post-2012? Has anything changed since then? Narratives and Power: Social narratives on rape, ranging from caste to communalism, are reflections of power relations, and define not only how society responds to a rape, but also why rapists think they can get away. Neither the perpetrators nor the judges of the Nirbhaya case saw it for what it wasan expression of power and not a crime of lust. This power can be expressed in many waysas an upper-caste man abusing a Dalit woman because the police are unable or unwilling to punish him, or as a man exerting his dominance over an educated, empowered woman who rejected him. Victim-blaming continues to be common in sexual assault cases, especially when the man has a position of some authority or is a relative of the victim. In rural areas, notions of preserving family honour often lead to khap panchayats, thus keeping incidents out of courts. Even if a case reaches the courts, the judiciary itself gets wrapped up in patriarchal narratives and tends towards victim-blaming. Using lust (but not power) as the primary lens through which rapes are seen is deeply rooted. This is dangerous because lust leads to the idea that the victim, by exciting her rapists passion, was somehow at fault. Social Attitudes: Nirbhayas story, of a girl from a disadvantaged background with dreams of making it big through education, struck a chord with Indias aspirational class. Part of the public backlash was because it was easy to identify with her story. Massive protests and media outrage have been lacking for rapes of low-caste women in rural areas or citizens from the North-Eastern states, because the audience doesnt identify with these stories. This lack of attention can be ascribed to classism and racism. Post-2012, Nirbhayas ghost hangs over the Indian media. It has become a convenient term under which all rape cases are lumped. After the most sensational rapes, the victim is named after Nirbhayathe latest being Rohtaks Nirbhaya. In todays world, where public attention and outrage waxes and wanes with news cycles, the media should hold lawmakers and law-enforcers to account. To be fair, attitudes towards the recognition of sexual assault as a problem have changed. An analysis of English media reports from 2010 until 2014 has uncovered a marked difference in the terms used to describe rape, with an increased use of terms such as gruesome and horrific. Post-Nirbhaya reports have been more accepting of the victims side of the story. Perhaps it is this recognition of the problem that has led to more rape cases coming to light. But, mere recognition is not enough. Social attitudes and legislation have a long way to go. Laws and Policies: Within a week of the Nirbhaya incident, the then government appointed the Justice Verma Committee to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law. This led to the passing of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, which broadened the definition of rape and strengthened the punishments for sexual crimes. Later, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provided that juveniles between 16-18 years of age involved in heinous offences be tried as adults. But other recommendations of the Verma Committee, such as inclusion of marital rape in the definition of rape and removal of the gender biased language in Criminal Law were not accepted. Six additional fast-track courts were set up in Delhi to hear cases of sexual assault. Nearly 15 months after they were set up, 1374 cases were pending in these courts with new cases piling up each day. With these courts not being empowered with additional infrastructure and judges, it is anybodys guess how fast these fast-track courts really are. The government had also announced a `3000 crore Nirbhaya fund for initiatives to ensure women safety. These funds remain underutilised, with policies aiming to improve the capabilities of law enforcement agencies remaining promises on paper. Moreover, capability alone is not enoughthe police are hardly a credible deterrent, especially since they continue to be handicapped by political interference, and (especially in rural areas) are dominated by the same upper castes which are the primary perpetrators of violence against low-caste women. What next? Social narratives justify rape before and after the act, feeding an individuals propensity to commit a crime. This is reinforced by the lack of capability and credibility of the law and order system, perpetuated by the lack of political will. Politicians in India are generally not held to their promises. The public is convinced that advocacy and lobbying do not lead to changes in the system. Yet without political will, the system wont changeand political will is not confined to politicians, but to the voting public as well. A day of selective outrage on news channels is not enough. It is the societys action or inaction that allows rape. People might be more aware of assault and report it better, but without lasting social change, leading up to sustained political will, India will continue to lose her daughters to senseless violence. S Gurumurthy By Both Karti Chidambaram and his father P Chidambaram have been lying for the last year-and-a-half, since The New Indian Express began exposing both from September 2015, on the critical subject of who owns Advantage Strategic Consultancy Private Limited (Advantage India), with its subsidiary in Singapore (Advantage Singapore), which gets questionable money and owns huge global wealth. Now straight to the core issue. The only issue that stands between Karti and jail today is whether Advantage twins are indirectly owned or controlled by Karti or not. Karti denies he indirectly owns Advantage. And his father defends him. The FIR filed by the CBI on 15th May last as reported in the media says that Karti had brokered for the Peter and Indrani Mukherjee couple-owned INX Media Private Limited (INX) for issue of foreign investment permits by his fathers ministry, for which payments were made by INX to Advantage. If Karti is proved to own Advantage indirectly, he will face jail, perhaps accompanied by his father too in view of the alleged bribe payments by INX. Advantage twins then are the smoking gun. In which owners hands it is found ultimately, will decide who is the offender. After the CBI action against Karti in INX Media, it is necessary to recall The New Indian Express exposes and see who holds the smoking gun - namely who indirectly owns and controls the Advantage twins. NIE exposes virtually corroborate the CBI case against Karti and his father in the INX affair. In the hands of Karti? Undeniably Karti was the owner of two-thirds of Advantage on record from March 2006 to May 2011 through Ausbridge Holdings and Investments Private Limited (Ausbridge), which he owned almost entirely. In 2011, Karti transferred the ownership of Ausbridge to Mohanan Rajesh, his close friend. Karti did this because the media had begun probing his business interests. In May 2012 media published how Karti had owned Advantage from 2006 to 2011. Since 2011, the ultimate shareholders and directors of Advantage have been Kartis close friends and associates. If they are benamis of Karti, then, in law, Karti will be the true owner and controller of Advantage twins and the smoking gun will be found in his hands. The three articles that had appeared in the NIE (Sept 17, 2015, Oct 15, 2015 and April 26, 2016) had brought out these facts and exposed who really owned Advantage. The last article had also revealed that Advantage had acquired properties and wealth in some 20 countries all over the world. Benamis secretly give back shares The final article (NIE April 26, 2016 titled Will Chidambaram stop lying at least from now?) proves that the friends of Karti who hold the shares of Advantage are his benamis, and now fixes the father and son in the CBI case in INX matter. Out of the five lakh shares of Advantage India, three lakh shares (or 60% ownership) were held in the names of four persons - C B N Reddy, known as Kartis shadow (211430 shares), Padma Viswanathan and Ravi Viswanathan (32600 shares) and Bhaskararaman (17400 shares), Kartis other friends. The four had executed Wills giving the entire 60% ownership of Advantage India to Chidambarams granddaughter and Kartis daughter, Aditi Nalini Chidambaram. As Advantage India fully owns Advantage Singapore, the gift to Aditi implicitly includes the global wealth of hundreds of crores of rupees held by the latter. All Wills were uniformly executed on the same day - 19th June 2013, identical in language and content. In three of them, the first witness is C B N Reddy. In C B N Reddys Will, Ravi Viswanathan is the witness. The second witness for all four Wills is one V Murali. All Wills divide the properties into two parts. One, the Will writers own assets and the other, the shares in Advantage and other companies. They give away their own properties, which are relatively worth very little, to their spouse and children. And Will away the Advantage shares worth hundreds of crores of rupees not to their children but to Chidambarams granddaughter and Kartis daughter! Wills prove Kartis control of Advantage In their Wills the four benamis explain why they have given away such massive wealth, of all persons, to Chidambarams grandchild. C B N Reddy, who has gifted over 42% of global empire held by Advantage India and Singapore twins, says that late Dr B Rangarajan - Kartis father-in-law and Chidambarams sambandi - was his friend, philosopher and guide to whose family, he felt, deeply indebted, and therefore as a token of his love for Rangarajan family, he was giving to Rangarajans beloved granddaughter and daughter of Srinidhi his shares in three companies listed by him, namely, Advantage (211430 shares), Kriya FMCG (22500 shares) and Rochester Technology Solutions P Ltd (5000 shares) - worth several hundreds of crores of rupees. A note on the company Kriya FMCG on Reddys list. It holds 38570 shares in Advantage, which was originally entirely owned by Srinidhi and Aditi Nalini Chidambaram. They had transferred it in its entirety to C B N Reddy in 2008. And in 2013 Reddy Wills them back to Aditi! Why did Kartis wife and daughter transfer their shares to Reddy in 2008 and Karti got it Willed back from him in 2013? This was obviously to distance Advantage from the Chidambarams on record and take it back off the record. Like C B N Reddy, Ravi Viswanathan repeats the friend, philosopher and guide line in his Will. Bhaskararaman and Padma Viswanathan say, in their Wills, they recognise the contribution made by Dr Rangarajan to their life, which is immeasurable. All four Wills significantly avoid mentioning that Aditi was Chidambarams granddaughter or Kartis daughter. But the four persons choose Karti as the all important Executor of the Wills. Why? In law, once a person executing the Will dies, Karti as the Executor will step into his or her shoes and own and control the Advantage shares. Open and shut proof Normally is difficult to get an open and shut evidence to prove benami holdings as the true owner will normally trust the benamidars so much that there will not be any formal documentation of benamis. But here, by getting the four benamidars to execute Wills so that the Advantage shares did not go to their heirs if any of them died, Karti has provided an open and shut proof of benamis in Advantage holdings. And more, the Wills were found to be in the custody of Karti during the raids by Income Tax and Enforcement authorities on his and his friends premises in December 2015, implying that he got them executed. Photocopies of these Wills were printed in the NIE along with the article. The Wills account for three lakh (60%) shares of Advantage. What about the balance two lakh shares (40%) of Advantage held by Ausbridge? The ownership of Ausbridge was with Mohanan Rajesh, a neighbour and friend of Karti. Rajesh transferred his ownership of Ausbridge to Karti in 2006. Karti transferred it back to him in May 2011. Obviously Rajesh is a name lender for Karti - he gives the shares to Karti and takes it back as per Kartis wish and needs. It needs no seer to say that the entire Advantage shares are held for the benefit of the Karti-PC family by Kartis benamis. The CBI, when it probes, will get the evidence of the benamis who hold the shares for Karti. Chidambaram backs out Now come to how Chidambarams responses to the NIE exposes establish his complicity. Till the deadly fact of Wills and benami were brought out, Chidambaram kept denying the facts exposed. He termed the first story of the NIE (17.9.2015) as so ridiculous and laughable that he thought it was not necessary to issue a rebuttal. But as some other media had carried the same report recklessly, he could not remain silent and would place the papers with lawyers to act. On the same day the NIE responded saying that it stood by its report and welcomed him to sue. Chidambaram remained silent and thereafter virtually backed out. On October 23, 2015, the NIE brought out the affidavit of the Commissioner of Income Tax before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which nailed Chidambarams lies. Chidambaram still remained silent. When the Income Tax and Enforcement departments raided Karti in December 2015, Chidambaram condemned the attempt to link Kartis friends to his son and to harass them. He said: If the government wants to target me, it should do so directly adding he and his family were quite prepared to face the malicious onslaught of the government. But after the NIE put out the Wills in April 2016 and established that the shares of Advantage were held benami for Karti, Chidambaram fell totally silent. Why doesnt he simply sue the NIE if its exposes have been false and if the Wills are not true? Even now, he is welcome to sue the NIE as he had threatened us on September 21, 2015. The test in the FIR filed by the CBI is that if Advantage is indirectly owned by Karti, he will be found holding the smoking gun. That will seal the fate of both father and son. Wills prove the CBI case The FIR filed by the CBI action against Karti in the case of the Peter-Indrani Mukherjee couple media outfit INX Media Private Limited alleges that Karti had brokered for the Mukherjees to get illegal FIPB permits by leveraging his relation with his father who was the Finance Minister in 2007 and got paid for it in Advantage. The FIR says the payment was made to Advantage to conceal the fact that it was quid pro quo for Kartis brokering services, which will fix him and his father. At that time in 2007, Karti was actually owning over 75% Advantage through Ausbridge as brought out by the NIE. After Karti divested himself of the ownership of Advantage on record, he got the benamis to execute Wills in favour of his daughter and kept the Wills in his possession. Neither Karti nor his father has, even after a year, denied the Wills or that they were found in Kartis possession. Chidambaram, who had no guts to sue the NIE then, now says that the Modi government is so afraid of his weekly articles against it that it had put the CBI on him to shut his mouth. The simple truth is that both father and son are done in by the Wills, which prove the CBI case. As an astute lawyer Chidambaram cannot be unaware of it. (The author is a well known political and economic commentator) Both Karti Chidambaram and his father P Chidambaram have been lying for the last year-and-a-half, since The New Indian Express began exposing both from September 2015, on the critical subject of who owns Advantage Strategic Consultancy Private Limited (Advantage India), with its subsidiary in Singapore (Advantage Singapore), which gets questionable money and owns huge global wealth. Now straight to the core issue. The only issue that stands between Karti and jail today is whether Advantage twins are indirectly owned or controlled by Karti or not. Karti denies he indirectly owns Advantage. And his father defends him. The FIR filed by the CBI on 15th May last as reported in the media says that Karti had brokered for the Peter and Indrani Mukherjee couple-owned INX Media Private Limited (INX) for issue of foreign investment permits by his fathers ministry, for which payments were made by INX to Advantage. If Karti is proved to own Advantage indirectly, he will face jail, perhaps accompanied by his father too in view of the alleged bribe payments by INX. Advantage twins then are the smoking gun. In which owners hands it is found ultimately, will decide who is the offender. After the CBI action against Karti in INX Media, it is necessary to recall The New Indian Express exposes and see who holds the smoking gun - namely who indirectly owns and controls the Advantage twins. NIE exposes virtually corroborate the CBI case against Karti and his father in the INX affair. In the hands of Karti? Undeniably Karti was the owner of two-thirds of Advantage on record from March 2006 to May 2011 through Ausbridge Holdings and Investments Private Limited (Ausbridge), which he owned almost entirely. In 2011, Karti transferred the ownership of Ausbridge to Mohanan Rajesh, his close friend. Karti did this because the media had begun probing his business interests. In May 2012 media published how Karti had owned Advantage from 2006 to 2011. Since 2011, the ultimate shareholders and directors of Advantage have been Kartis close friends and associates. If they are benamis of Karti, then, in law, Karti will be the true owner and controller of Advantage twins and the smoking gun will be found in his hands. The three articles that had appeared in the NIE (Sept 17, 2015, Oct 15, 2015 and April 26, 2016) had brought out these facts and exposed who really owned Advantage. The last article had also revealed that Advantage had acquired properties and wealth in some 20 countries all over the world. Benamis secretly give back shares The final article (NIE April 26, 2016 titled Will Chidambaram stop lying at least from now?) proves that the friends of Karti who hold the shares of Advantage are his benamis, and now fixes the father and son in the CBI case in INX matter. Out of the five lakh shares of Advantage India, three lakh shares (or 60% ownership) were held in the names of four persons - C B N Reddy, known as Kartis shadow (211430 shares), Padma Viswanathan and Ravi Viswanathan (32600 shares) and Bhaskararaman (17400 shares), Kartis other friends. The four had executed Wills giving the entire 60% ownership of Advantage India to Chidambarams granddaughter and Kartis daughter, Aditi Nalini Chidambaram. As Advantage India fully owns Advantage Singapore, the gift to Aditi implicitly includes the global wealth of hundreds of crores of rupees held by the latter. All Wills were uniformly executed on the same day - 19th June 2013, identical in language and content. In three of them, the first witness is C B N Reddy. In C B N Reddys Will, Ravi Viswanathan is the witness. The second witness for all four Wills is one V Murali. All Wills divide the properties into two parts. One, the Will writers own assets and the other, the shares in Advantage and other companies. They give away their own properties, which are relatively worth very little, to their spouse and children. And Will away the Advantage shares worth hundreds of crores of rupees not to their children but to Chidambarams granddaughter and Kartis daughter! Wills prove Kartis control of Advantage In their Wills the four benamis explain why they have given away such massive wealth, of all persons, to Chidambarams grandchild. C B N Reddy, who has gifted over 42% of global empire held by Advantage India and Singapore twins, says that late Dr B Rangarajan - Kartis father-in-law and Chidambarams sambandi - was his friend, philosopher and guide to whose family, he felt, deeply indebted, and therefore as a token of his love for Rangarajan family, he was giving to Rangarajans beloved granddaughter and daughter of Srinidhi his shares in three companies listed by him, namely, Advantage (211430 shares), Kriya FMCG (22500 shares) and Rochester Technology Solutions P Ltd (5000 shares) - worth several hundreds of crores of rupees. A note on the company Kriya FMCG on Reddys list. It holds 38570 shares in Advantage, which was originally entirely owned by Srinidhi and Aditi Nalini Chidambaram. They had transferred it in its entirety to C B N Reddy in 2008. And in 2013 Reddy Wills them back to Aditi! Why did Kartis wife and daughter transfer their shares to Reddy in 2008 and Karti got it Willed back from him in 2013? This was obviously to distance Advantage from the Chidambarams on record and take it back off the record. Like C B N Reddy, Ravi Viswanathan repeats the friend, philosopher and guide line in his Will. Bhaskararaman and Padma Viswanathan say, in their Wills, they recognise the contribution made by Dr Rangarajan to their life, which is immeasurable. All four Wills significantly avoid mentioning that Aditi was Chidambarams granddaughter or Kartis daughter. But the four persons choose Karti as the all important Executor of the Wills. Why? In law, once a person executing the Will dies, Karti as the Executor will step into his or her shoes and own and control the Advantage shares. Open and shut proof Normally is difficult to get an open and shut evidence to prove benami holdings as the true owner will normally trust the benamidars so much that there will not be any formal documentation of benamis. But here, by getting the four benamidars to execute Wills so that the Advantage shares did not go to their heirs if any of them died, Karti has provided an open and shut proof of benamis in Advantage holdings. And more, the Wills were found to be in the custody of Karti during the raids by Income Tax and Enforcement authorities on his and his friends premises in December 2015, implying that he got them executed. Photocopies of these Wills were printed in the NIE along with the article. The Wills account for three lakh (60%) shares of Advantage. What about the balance two lakh shares (40%) of Advantage held by Ausbridge? The ownership of Ausbridge was with Mohanan Rajesh, a neighbour and friend of Karti. Rajesh transferred his ownership of Ausbridge to Karti in 2006. Karti transferred it back to him in May 2011. Obviously Rajesh is a name lender for Karti - he gives the shares to Karti and takes it back as per Kartis wish and needs. It needs no seer to say that the entire Advantage shares are held for the benefit of the Karti-PC family by Kartis benamis. The CBI, when it probes, will get the evidence of the benamis who hold the shares for Karti. Chidambaram backs out Now come to how Chidambarams responses to the NIE exposes establish his complicity. Till the deadly fact of Wills and benami were brought out, Chidambaram kept denying the facts exposed. He termed the first story of the NIE (17.9.2015) as so ridiculous and laughable that he thought it was not necessary to issue a rebuttal. But as some other media had carried the same report recklessly, he could not remain silent and would place the papers with lawyers to act. On the same day the NIE responded saying that it stood by its report and welcomed him to sue. Chidambaram remained silent and thereafter virtually backed out. On October 23, 2015, the NIE brought out the affidavit of the Commissioner of Income Tax before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which nailed Chidambarams lies. Chidambaram still remained silent. When the Income Tax and Enforcement departments raided Karti in December 2015, Chidambaram condemned the attempt to link Kartis friends to his son and to harass them. He said: If the government wants to target me, it should do so directly adding he and his family were quite prepared to face the malicious onslaught of the government. But after the NIE put out the Wills in April 2016 and established that the shares of Advantage were held benami for Karti, Chidambaram fell totally silent. Why doesnt he simply sue the NIE if its exposes have been false and if the Wills are not true? Even now, he is welcome to sue the NIE as he had threatened us on September 21, 2015. The test in the FIR filed by the CBI is that if Advantage is indirectly owned by Karti, he will be found holding the smoking gun. That will seal the fate of both father and son. Wills prove the CBI case The FIR filed by the CBI action against Karti in the case of the Peter-Indrani Mukherjee couple media outfit INX Media Private Limited alleges that Karti had brokered for the Mukherjees to get illegal FIPB permits by leveraging his relation with his father who was the Finance Minister in 2007 and got paid for it in Advantage. The FIR says the payment was made to Advantage to conceal the fact that it was quid pro quo for Kartis brokering services, which will fix him and his father. At that time in 2007, Karti was actually owning over 75% Advantage through Ausbridge as brought out by the NIE. After Karti divested himself of the ownership of Advantage on record, he got the benamis to execute Wills in favour of his daughter and kept the Wills in his possession. Neither Karti nor his father has, even after a year, denied the Wills or that they were found in Kartis possession. Chidambaram, who had no guts to sue the NIE then, now says that the Modi government is so afraid of his weekly articles against it that it had put the CBI on him to shut his mouth. The simple truth is that both father and son are done in by the Wills, which prove the CBI case. As an astute lawyer Chidambaram cannot be unaware of it.(The author is a well known political and economic commentator) By Express News Service BENGALURU: A Lokayukta special court on Wednesday granted interim anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy in a mining case in which a serving IAS officer was arrested on Monday. Judge Y Vanamala Anandrao, in-charge of Lokayukta special court, granted the interim bail for seven days, imposing certain conditions. Kumaraswamy has been asked to appear before the investigating officer as and when required and not leave the country without the courts permission. The judge said Kumaraswamy could be released on executing a Rs 5 lakh bond and two sureties in the event of his arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Kumaraswamy is one of the accused in a case registered by the SIT based on then Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegdes report on illegal mining in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy was accused of pressurising IAS officer Ganga Ram Baderiya, the then Commissioner of Mines and Geology, to allow Vinod Goel of Janthakal Mining Company to lift iron and manganese ore dumped in Chitradurga in 2007, based on forged letters purportedly issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The judge adjourned the hearing to May 23. Baderiya, who is presently serving as Secretary, Revenue Department, was the first IAS officer arrested by SIT on Monday, for allegedly getting Rs 10 lakh from Janthakal Mining Company Pvt Ltd through his sons account, for allowing the company to lift about 1 lakh tonnes of low grade iron ore and manganese in Chitradurga. In his order, Baderiya stated, Honble CM (H D Kumaraswamy) has given ultimatum that the permission should be given within TWO HOURS, without loss of time. Therefore permission should be issued and directions should be given to the DD/Chitradurga to allow lessee to lift old dumps as it is already permitted by the Government of India (alleged forged letter), Ministry of Environment & Forests, letter dated August 27, 2007. Govt trying to fix me, says HDK H D Kumaraswamy said he will appear before SIT on Thursday. They want to arrest me at least for one day so that it can create confusion about me. I am aware of the efforts being made by some people in the government, he told reporters. I am working hard to build the party and that is the reason why they (Congress) want to stop me by using SIT. Baderiya hospitalised IAS officer Baderiya was hospitalised on Wednesday after he complained of discomfort in the chest. SIT officials said his health condition is stable. BENGALURU: A Lokayukta special court on Wednesday granted interim anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy in a mining case in which a serving IAS officer was arrested on Monday. Judge Y Vanamala Anandrao, in-charge of Lokayukta special court, granted the interim bail for seven days, imposing certain conditions. Kumaraswamy has been asked to appear before the investigating officer as and when required and not leave the country without the courts permission. The judge said Kumaraswamy could be released on executing a Rs 5 lakh bond and two sureties in the event of his arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Kumaraswamy is one of the accused in a case registered by the SIT based on then Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegdes report on illegal mining in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy was accused of pressurising IAS officer Ganga Ram Baderiya, the then Commissioner of Mines and Geology, to allow Vinod Goel of Janthakal Mining Company to lift iron and manganese ore dumped in Chitradurga in 2007, based on forged letters purportedly issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The judge adjourned the hearing to May 23. Baderiya, who is presently serving as Secretary, Revenue Department, was the first IAS officer arrested by SIT on Monday, for allegedly getting Rs 10 lakh from Janthakal Mining Company Pvt Ltd through his sons account, for allowing the company to lift about 1 lakh tonnes of low grade iron ore and manganese in Chitradurga. In his order, Baderiya stated, Honble CM (H D Kumaraswamy) has given ultimatum that the permission should be given within TWO HOURS, without loss of time. Therefore permission should be issued and directions should be given to the DD/Chitradurga to allow lessee to lift old dumps as it is already permitted by the Government of India (alleged forged letter), Ministry of Environment & Forests, letter dated August 27, 2007. Govt trying to fix me, says HDK H D Kumaraswamy said he will appear before SIT on Thursday. They want to arrest me at least for one day so that it can create confusion about me. I am aware of the efforts being made by some people in the government, he told reporters. I am working hard to build the party and that is the reason why they (Congress) want to stop me by using SIT. Baderiya hospitalised IAS officer Baderiya was hospitalised on Wednesday after he complained of discomfort in the chest. SIT officials said his health condition is stable. By Express News Service SAMBALPUR: At least five members of a gang were arrested by Sambalpur police for indulging in extortion by posing as Maoists on Wednesday. Another member is still at large. Police seized two country-made pistols, as many mausers, a single bore gun, masks, besides five mobile phones, a hard disc and two motorcycles from their possession. They were arrested while attempting to extort Rs 10 lakh from a stone crusher unit owner at Ghusuraguda under Jamankira police limits after committing dacoity in the unit. Those arrested have been identified as Sambhu Narayan Deo alias Lulu (29) of Babusahi; Tikeswar Sethy alias Kalia (30) of Asurkhol, both in Deogarh; Oman Baba alias Nanu (35) of Panposh in Rourkela; Sameer Kerketa (28) of Taperbasa under Birmitrapur police limits and Ashok Lugun (24) of Tendra Bargaon under Bonai police limits, both in Sundargarh district. Though the dacoity had taken place in April, complaint was lodged on May 4. Another accused Bhima alias Baya Nahak (26) of Asurkhol in Deogarh district is absconding and efforts are on to arrest him. Addressing mediapersons, Sambalpur SP Akhilesvar Singh said, a group of masked men laced with firearms reached the stone crusher unit of Rajesh Nayak of Ghusuraguda on April 16 midnight. Since Nayak was not present, they locked all the staff in a room at gun-point and left with seven mobile phones and hard disc of CCTV. They asked the staff to tell Nayak not to operate the crusher until he spoke to them. They also took the mobile number of Nayak before fleeing from the spot. Later, they called up Nayak identifying themselves as Maoists and demanded Rs 10 lakh. They also threatened him with death if he refuses to cough up the amount. Although Nayak was initially reluctant to inform police, the latter took him into confidence after which he lodged complaint on May 4 which helped the police nab the accused. All the accused have criminal antecedents and are wanted in different cases, Singh revealed. SAMBALPUR: At least five members of a gang were arrested by Sambalpur police for indulging in extortion by posing as Maoists on Wednesday. Another member is still at large. Police seized two country-made pistols, as many mausers, a single bore gun, masks, besides five mobile phones, a hard disc and two motorcycles from their possession. They were arrested while attempting to extort Rs 10 lakh from a stone crusher unit owner at Ghusuraguda under Jamankira police limits after committing dacoity in the unit. Those arrested have been identified as Sambhu Narayan Deo alias Lulu (29) of Babusahi; Tikeswar Sethy alias Kalia (30) of Asurkhol, both in Deogarh; Oman Baba alias Nanu (35) of Panposh in Rourkela; Sameer Kerketa (28) of Taperbasa under Birmitrapur police limits and Ashok Lugun (24) of Tendra Bargaon under Bonai police limits, both in Sundargarh district. Though the dacoity had taken place in April, complaint was lodged on May 4. Another accused Bhima alias Baya Nahak (26) of Asurkhol in Deogarh district is absconding and efforts are on to arrest him. Addressing mediapersons, Sambalpur SP Akhilesvar Singh said, a group of masked men laced with firearms reached the stone crusher unit of Rajesh Nayak of Ghusuraguda on April 16 midnight. Since Nayak was not present, they locked all the staff in a room at gun-point and left with seven mobile phones and hard disc of CCTV. They asked the staff to tell Nayak not to operate the crusher until he spoke to them. They also took the mobile number of Nayak before fleeing from the spot. Later, they called up Nayak identifying themselves as Maoists and demanded Rs 10 lakh. They also threatened him with death if he refuses to cough up the amount. Although Nayak was initially reluctant to inform police, the latter took him into confidence after which he lodged complaint on May 4 which helped the police nab the accused. All the accused have criminal antecedents and are wanted in different cases, Singh revealed. By Express News Service HYDERABAD : The incidence of swine flu cases in Telangana has come down when compared to other southern states. In second week of April, officials in the state were anxious about the flu cases being reported even in summer, which generally is unlikely. From the second week of April to May 14, the number of swine flu cases in Karnataka increased by 237. As many as 189 cases were reported in Tamil Nadu as against 164 in Telangana. However, the highest increase was recorded in Maharashtra where the number touched 479. As many as 196 swine flu related deaths were reported in Maharashtra from January till May 14, which is the highest in the country. Meanwhile, 17 deaths were reported in Telangana during the same time. While cases are still being reported, officials from the state heaved a sigh of relief as mortality rate has been low: one death was reported in 32 days. As cases were reported in summer too, it was suspected that the virus might have undergone mutations. However, even after a month, authorities are not yet cleared as they did not receive results of the samples they sent for tests to National Institute of Virology in Pune in the first week of April. Usually, it takes 20 to 30 days to receive reports, the officials in the health department noted. Meanwhile, Institute of Preventive Medicine, who sent the samples, denied of receiving any report regarding the issue. We did not receive any reports yet, said Dr Shiva Leela, director of Institute of Preventive Medicine. HYDERABAD : The incidence of swine flu cases in Telangana has come down when compared to other southern states. In second week of April, officials in the state were anxious about the flu cases being reported even in summer, which generally is unlikely. From the second week of April to May 14, the number of swine flu cases in Karnataka increased by 237. As many as 189 cases were reported in Tamil Nadu as against 164 in Telangana. However, the highest increase was recorded in Maharashtra where the number touched 479. As many as 196 swine flu related deaths were reported in Maharashtra from January till May 14, which is the highest in the country. Meanwhile, 17 deaths were reported in Telangana during the same time. While cases are still being reported, officials from the state heaved a sigh of relief as mortality rate has been low: one death was reported in 32 days. As cases were reported in summer too, it was suspected that the virus might have undergone mutations. However, even after a month, authorities are not yet cleared as they did not receive results of the samples they sent for tests to National Institute of Virology in Pune in the first week of April. Usually, it takes 20 to 30 days to receive reports, the officials in the health department noted. Meanwhile, Institute of Preventive Medicine, who sent the samples, denied of receiving any report regarding the issue. We did not receive any reports yet, said Dr Shiva Leela, director of Institute of Preventive Medicine. By PTI WASHINGTON: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has urged Donald Trump to cancel daily White House press briefings, accusing the media of being a "corrupt institution" and "dishonest opponents" of the US president. "I am personally offended by the American news media. I think it is destructive and disgusting. It is a danger to the country right now," Gingrich, a staunch supporter of Trump, was quoted as saying by Politico. Gingrich said the press should be banished to a nearby Starbucks and that the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer should take questions from the American people. Gingrich said Trump should treat news media as "dishonest opponents pretending to be reporters," Politico reported. "Just say to the American people, you get to choose," he said. Gingrich asserted that Trump as the US President has a right "to declassify anything he wants to," and that Presidents for centuries have disclosed sensitive information in chats with foreign officials. Closing the press briefing room would send a message to the country "that the media is a corrupt institution and he is tired of being harassed by people whose only interest is making him look bad." He also said that reporters shouldn't print information they couldn't attach a name to, the report said. "You guys are nuts," he said as he described the Trump's communication team as one of the best. "There are people here who read this crap and thinks we should be afraid. You have a national defence team of Mattis, Kelly and Tillerson. This is the best team since Eisenhower," he said. "These people around the world read you as though you're real. The damage the news media is doing to the United States is despicable," Gingrich said. Trump has previously accused news media of being "the enemy of the American people," which journalists have rejected. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) on Friday pushed back on Trump's threat to cancel future White House briefings, noting that "White House briefings and press conferences provide substantive and symbolic opportunities for journalists to pose questions to officials at the highest levels of the US government." "Doing away with briefings would reduce accountability, transparency, and the opportunity for Americans to see that, in the US system, no political figure is above being questioned," Jeff Mason, WHCA president said in a statement. "The White House Correspondents' Association would object to any move that would threaten those constitutionally- protected principles." WASHINGTON: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has urged Donald Trump to cancel daily White House press briefings, accusing the media of being a "corrupt institution" and "dishonest opponents" of the US president. "I am personally offended by the American news media. I think it is destructive and disgusting. It is a danger to the country right now," Gingrich, a staunch supporter of Trump, was quoted as saying by Politico. Gingrich said the press should be banished to a nearby Starbucks and that the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer should take questions from the American people. Gingrich said Trump should treat news media as "dishonest opponents pretending to be reporters," Politico reported. "Just say to the American people, you get to choose," he said. Gingrich asserted that Trump as the US President has a right "to declassify anything he wants to," and that Presidents for centuries have disclosed sensitive information in chats with foreign officials. Closing the press briefing room would send a message to the country "that the media is a corrupt institution and he is tired of being harassed by people whose only interest is making him look bad." He also said that reporters shouldn't print information they couldn't attach a name to, the report said. "You guys are nuts," he said as he described the Trump's communication team as one of the best. "There are people here who read this crap and thinks we should be afraid. You have a national defence team of Mattis, Kelly and Tillerson. This is the best team since Eisenhower," he said. "These people around the world read you as though you're real. The damage the news media is doing to the United States is despicable," Gingrich said. Trump has previously accused news media of being "the enemy of the American people," which journalists have rejected. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) on Friday pushed back on Trump's threat to cancel future White House briefings, noting that "White House briefings and press conferences provide substantive and symbolic opportunities for journalists to pose questions to officials at the highest levels of the US government." "Doing away with briefings would reduce accountability, transparency, and the opportunity for Americans to see that, in the US system, no political figure is above being questioned," Jeff Mason, WHCA president said in a statement. "The White House Correspondents' Association would object to any move that would threaten those constitutionally- protected principles." By Associated Press PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has chosen from the left and the right, an equal number of men and women, for his new cabinet. A glance at some of the key figures he picked Wednesday to help steer France out of economic stagnation and chronic unemployment: INTERIOR MINISTER GERARD COLLOMB Gerard Collomb has been a prominent Socialist since becoming mayor of Lyon, France's third biggest city, in 2001. He remains one of the longest-running mayors in France, but has never held a top government post. The 69-year-old represents the moderate, centrist wing of the party and was elected to the French National Assembly aged 34 in 1981, when Macron was a toddler. He's been seen as a behind-the-scenes mentor for Macron, pledging his support even before he launched his presidential campaign. He has won praise for implementing an influential system of video surveillance to fight crime, and for a successful bicycle sharing initiative in Lyon that was aimed at reducing congestion and pollution. ___ FOREIGN MINISTER JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN Popular Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian had barely left his post of defense minister under President Francois Hollande when he was handed the vital portfolio of foreign affairs and Europe. Le Drian, who had been defense minister since 2012, is considered a political heavyweight and is best known globally for successfully leading the military campaign to take back Northern Mali from Islamic extremists The 69-year-old is also considered France's super salesman selling Rafales fighter jets to Egypt, India, Qatar and submarines to Australia. Le Drian's weakness could be his links to the unpopular Hollande. ___ ARMED FORCES MINISTER SYLVIE GOULARD Sylvie Goulard is the highest-ranking woman in the new government. The 52-year-old German-speaker is a prominent pro-Europe politician and was elected a member of the European parliament in 2009. Goulard's appointment signals that Macron wants to follow through on his calls for deeper European cooperation and intelligence-sharing following recent extremist attacks on European soil. She had never been a lawmaker in the French parliament and has no government experience both attributes that could be either a strength or weakness for Macron's fledgling government. ___ JUSTICE MINISTER FRANCOIS BAYROU Before Macron's rise, Francois Bayrou was France's most well-known centrist politician and a three-time failed presidential candidate. Like Macron, Bayrou has a penchant for the literary and is the author of over a dozen books on history and politics, including one on French King Henry IV, who was famed for his contribution to the arts. In 2007, Bayrou's unexpected popularity winning nearly 7 million votes in the first round took the French establishment by surprise. The 65-year-old came close, but ultimately failed, to destabilizing the battle that was fought between the Socialist's Segolene Royal and future President Nicolas Sarkozy. Like Macron but with less success he launched a new centrist party, the MoDem. He backed Macron earlier this year. ___ ECOLOGY MINISTER NICOLAS HULOT Nicolas Hulot is a prominent environmental campaigner and documentary journalist whose television series promotes environmentalism while showing off beautiful landscapes. The 62-year-old worked as an adviser to Hollande to prepare for the historic Paris climate agreement in 2015. Hulot launched a failed bid to be "Green" party candidate in France's 2012 presidential elections. French president's Cabinet mixes old and new, left and right French President Emmanuel Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right Wednesday to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labor protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending. The most senior Cabinet job the post of interior minister went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the long-time Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macron's presidential bid. Collomb said his duty will be to protect the French people, to fight terrorism and to prevent youth from falling "in the grip" of the Islamic State group. A few hours after taking office, Collomb made an unexpected visit to Paris' grand Champs-Elysees avenue, where a police officer was shot to death by an Islamic extremist last month. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, who led France's military operations abroad as former President Francois Hollande's defense minister, will stay on in Macron's government as foreign minister and also be in charge of European affairs. Le Drian, another Socialist, brings deep experience that could prove valuable to the untested 39-year-old president. Le Drian vowed to promote the country's "key role" in the international community, noting continuity between his previous position and his new diplomatic job. The armed forces will now be led by Sylvie Goulard, the most senior woman in the government. Goulard, 52, is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will be expected to champion Macron's push for joint European military operations. In an important gesture to the right-wing Republicans party ahead of parliamentary elections next month, the crucial Economy Ministry will be run by prominent conservative Bruno Le Maire, 48. The Cabinet includes 18 ministers and 4 junior ministers, half of them women and half men. Center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Macron tapped named Monday, is to lead the government at least until the elections. Members of civil society without government work on their resumes were appointed to some ministerial posts. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition. His portfolio includes energy and transportation. Muriel Penicaud, the new labor minister, previously worked for food corporation Danone and French telecommunications group Orange. Since January 2015, she led Business France, a public agency in charge of promoting French companies abroad and attracting foreign investments. Penicaud will have the daunting task of supervising the reform of labor protections, a part of Macron's agenda that already has prompted outcries from unions. Culture minister Francoise Nyssen is CEO of French publishing house Actes Sud. Macron is known as a passionate literature lover. The youngest person selected to work in Macron's government was Mounir Mahjoubi, 33, who was named junior minister for digital economy. As Macron's campaign digital chief, Mahjoubi was responsible for cybersecurity. The announcement initially planned for Tuesday was pushed back a day while authorities dug more deeply into candidates' tax records and financial assets for signs of potential conflicts of interest. Macron has pledged to fight corruption after tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government. The new government may only serve for a few weeks. If Macron's party doesn't win a majority in the June 11 and 18 parliamentary elections, he might have to form a coalition and adjust the makeup of the government. He also could end up with a government led by an opposition party. Macron hosted European Council President Donald Tusk at the Elysee Palace for a private dinner on Wednesday night, a sign of his determination to shore up European unity. Before their meeting, Macron said he wants a Europe that is both more conducive to investment and more protective of workers. Macron wants European militaries to join efforts and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules. He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU, to deter others from trying to leave Speaking with Tusk by his side, Macron said he's advocating "a less bureaucratic and a more political Europe" and relying on Tusk to "go even further in this work of re-shaping and setting in motion again a European ambition." Tusk approved the goals proposed by Macron and said "words such as security, protection, dignity and pride must return to our political dictionary." PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has chosen from the left and the right, an equal number of men and women, for his new cabinet. A glance at some of the key figures he picked Wednesday to help steer France out of economic stagnation and chronic unemployment: INTERIOR MINISTER GERARD COLLOMB Gerard Collomb has been a prominent Socialist since becoming mayor of Lyon, France's third biggest city, in 2001. He remains one of the longest-running mayors in France, but has never held a top government post. The 69-year-old represents the moderate, centrist wing of the party and was elected to the French National Assembly aged 34 in 1981, when Macron was a toddler. He's been seen as a behind-the-scenes mentor for Macron, pledging his support even before he launched his presidential campaign. He has won praise for implementing an influential system of video surveillance to fight crime, and for a successful bicycle sharing initiative in Lyon that was aimed at reducing congestion and pollution. ___ FOREIGN MINISTER JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN Popular Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian had barely left his post of defense minister under President Francois Hollande when he was handed the vital portfolio of foreign affairs and Europe. Le Drian, who had been defense minister since 2012, is considered a political heavyweight and is best known globally for successfully leading the military campaign to take back Northern Mali from Islamic extremists The 69-year-old is also considered France's super salesman selling Rafales fighter jets to Egypt, India, Qatar and submarines to Australia. Le Drian's weakness could be his links to the unpopular Hollande. ___ ARMED FORCES MINISTER SYLVIE GOULARD Sylvie Goulard is the highest-ranking woman in the new government. The 52-year-old German-speaker is a prominent pro-Europe politician and was elected a member of the European parliament in 2009. Goulard's appointment signals that Macron wants to follow through on his calls for deeper European cooperation and intelligence-sharing following recent extremist attacks on European soil. She had never been a lawmaker in the French parliament and has no government experience both attributes that could be either a strength or weakness for Macron's fledgling government. ___ JUSTICE MINISTER FRANCOIS BAYROU Before Macron's rise, Francois Bayrou was France's most well-known centrist politician and a three-time failed presidential candidate. Like Macron, Bayrou has a penchant for the literary and is the author of over a dozen books on history and politics, including one on French King Henry IV, who was famed for his contribution to the arts. In 2007, Bayrou's unexpected popularity winning nearly 7 million votes in the first round took the French establishment by surprise. The 65-year-old came close, but ultimately failed, to destabilizing the battle that was fought between the Socialist's Segolene Royal and future President Nicolas Sarkozy. Like Macron but with less success he launched a new centrist party, the MoDem. He backed Macron earlier this year. ___ ECOLOGY MINISTER NICOLAS HULOT Nicolas Hulot is a prominent environmental campaigner and documentary journalist whose television series promotes environmentalism while showing off beautiful landscapes. The 62-year-old worked as an adviser to Hollande to prepare for the historic Paris climate agreement in 2015. Hulot launched a failed bid to be "Green" party candidate in France's 2012 presidential elections.French president's Cabinet mixes old and new, left and right French President Emmanuel Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right Wednesday to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labor protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending. The most senior Cabinet job the post of interior minister went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the long-time Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macron's presidential bid. Collomb said his duty will be to protect the French people, to fight terrorism and to prevent youth from falling "in the grip" of the Islamic State group. A few hours after taking office, Collomb made an unexpected visit to Paris' grand Champs-Elysees avenue, where a police officer was shot to death by an Islamic extremist last month. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, who led France's military operations abroad as former President Francois Hollande's defense minister, will stay on in Macron's government as foreign minister and also be in charge of European affairs. Le Drian, another Socialist, brings deep experience that could prove valuable to the untested 39-year-old president. Le Drian vowed to promote the country's "key role" in the international community, noting continuity between his previous position and his new diplomatic job. The armed forces will now be led by Sylvie Goulard, the most senior woman in the government. Goulard, 52, is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will be expected to champion Macron's push for joint European military operations. In an important gesture to the right-wing Republicans party ahead of parliamentary elections next month, the crucial Economy Ministry will be run by prominent conservative Bruno Le Maire, 48. The Cabinet includes 18 ministers and 4 junior ministers, half of them women and half men. Center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Macron tapped named Monday, is to lead the government at least until the elections. Members of civil society without government work on their resumes were appointed to some ministerial posts. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition. His portfolio includes energy and transportation. Muriel Penicaud, the new labor minister, previously worked for food corporation Danone and French telecommunications group Orange. Since January 2015, she led Business France, a public agency in charge of promoting French companies abroad and attracting foreign investments. Penicaud will have the daunting task of supervising the reform of labor protections, a part of Macron's agenda that already has prompted outcries from unions. Culture minister Francoise Nyssen is CEO of French publishing house Actes Sud. Macron is known as a passionate literature lover. The youngest person selected to work in Macron's government was Mounir Mahjoubi, 33, who was named junior minister for digital economy. As Macron's campaign digital chief, Mahjoubi was responsible for cybersecurity. The announcement initially planned for Tuesday was pushed back a day while authorities dug more deeply into candidates' tax records and financial assets for signs of potential conflicts of interest. Macron has pledged to fight corruption after tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government. The new government may only serve for a few weeks. If Macron's party doesn't win a majority in the June 11 and 18 parliamentary elections, he might have to form a coalition and adjust the makeup of the government. He also could end up with a government led by an opposition party. Macron hosted European Council President Donald Tusk at the Elysee Palace for a private dinner on Wednesday night, a sign of his determination to shore up European unity. Before their meeting, Macron said he wants a Europe that is both more conducive to investment and more protective of workers. Macron wants European militaries to join efforts and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules. He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU, to deter others from trying to leave Speaking with Tusk by his side, Macron said he's advocating "a less bureaucratic and a more political Europe" and relying on Tusk to "go even further in this work of re-shaping and setting in motion again a European ambition." Tusk approved the goals proposed by Macron and said "words such as security, protection, dignity and pride must return to our political dictionary." By AFP SEOUL: South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In vowed Thursday to reopen a probe into a 1980 massacre of pro-democracy activists that remains a traumatic landmark in the fight to end decades of military rule. The president wiped away a tear at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the crackdown in Gwangju, which left more than 165 people dead and over 70 missing and cemented General Chun Doo-Hwan's grip on the country. "The new government will make greater efforts to reveal the whole picture of the massacre ... to find out who is responsible for issuing the order to open fire on protestors," Moon said in comments broadcast live on television. His promise to restart investigations came after Chun denied responsibility for the events in a memoir published last month, saying he was made a scapegoat after democracy was restored in a bid to draw a line under the bloodbath. As a student, the current president was arrested for leading a protest against the authoritarian rule of the earlier dictator Park Chung-Hee -- the father of Moon's ousted predecessor Park Geun-Hye, many of whose supporters sought to paint the uprising as a communist-inspired rebellion. "The Moon government stemmed from the Gwangju pro-democracy uprising," the president said. More than 10,000 people came to the ceremony at the Gwangju cemetery where victims of the clashes are buried. Moon wept as one victim's daughter told the crowd how her father was killed by troops as he was making his way to the hospital where she had just been born. Chun seized power in 1980 through a military coup, taking advantage of the vacuum left by the assassination of Park in 1979 by his own spy chief. Protests then broke out in the southern city. Chun's martial law troops bludgeoned, stabbed and later shot at protestors during the 10-day long turmoil between May 18 and 27. Chun was arrested in 1995 after democracy was restored and sentenced to death for his role in the coup and its fallout. But the death sentence was commuted to life and after serving two years in prison, he was pardoned. SEOUL: South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In vowed Thursday to reopen a probe into a 1980 massacre of pro-democracy activists that remains a traumatic landmark in the fight to end decades of military rule. The president wiped away a tear at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the crackdown in Gwangju, which left more than 165 people dead and over 70 missing and cemented General Chun Doo-Hwan's grip on the country. "The new government will make greater efforts to reveal the whole picture of the massacre ... to find out who is responsible for issuing the order to open fire on protestors," Moon said in comments broadcast live on television. His promise to restart investigations came after Chun denied responsibility for the events in a memoir published last month, saying he was made a scapegoat after democracy was restored in a bid to draw a line under the bloodbath. As a student, the current president was arrested for leading a protest against the authoritarian rule of the earlier dictator Park Chung-Hee -- the father of Moon's ousted predecessor Park Geun-Hye, many of whose supporters sought to paint the uprising as a communist-inspired rebellion. "The Moon government stemmed from the Gwangju pro-democracy uprising," the president said. More than 10,000 people came to the ceremony at the Gwangju cemetery where victims of the clashes are buried. Moon wept as one victim's daughter told the crowd how her father was killed by troops as he was making his way to the hospital where she had just been born. Chun seized power in 1980 through a military coup, taking advantage of the vacuum left by the assassination of Park in 1979 by his own spy chief. Protests then broke out in the southern city. Chun's martial law troops bludgeoned, stabbed and later shot at protestors during the 10-day long turmoil between May 18 and 27. Chun was arrested in 1995 after democracy was restored and sentenced to death for his role in the coup and its fallout. But the death sentence was commuted to life and after serving two years in prison, he was pardoned. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: U.S. officials strongly criticized the Turkish government on Wednesday as video appeared to show its president's security forces pushing past police and violently breaking up a protest outside their diplomatic residence in Washington. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another wrenches a woman's neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. In all, nine people were hurt. The clash happened at the Turkish ambassador's residence Tuesday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency labeled the protesters Kurdish "supporters of terror." It said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that Erdogan's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene." A Voice of America video showed police officers struggling to protect the protesters and ordering the men in suits to retreat. Instead, several of the men dodge the officers and run into the park to continue the attacks. "Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms." Politicians weighed in as well. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called it a "violent attack on a peaceful demonstration," and said it "is an affront to DC values and our rights as Americans." "This is the United States of America. We do not do this here," Sen. John McCain commented while retweeting the video. "There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." Sen. Patrick Leahy's tweet said "We've got to come back to American values." Two men were arrested at the scene, and police intend to pursue charges against others involved as well, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday. "The actions seen outside the Turkish Embassy yesterday in Washington, D.C. stand in contrast to the First Amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect each and every day," the police statement said. "We will continue to work with our partners at the United States State Department and United States Secret Service to identify and hold all subjects accountable for their involvement in the altercation." There may be issues with diplomatic immunity, Police Chief Peter Newsham said at a news conference Wednesday. He said police were examining video to identify those responsible. The background of the two men arrested wasn't immediately clear. Ayten Necmi, 49, of Woodside, New York, was charged with aggravated assault, police said, after a woman who was thrown to the ground and kicked identified Necmi as her attacker. Jalal Kheirabadi, 42, of Fairfax, Virginia, is charged with assaulting a police officer, who refused treatment for lacerations to his face. Kheirabadi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he joined the demonstration, saying "Erdogan is a terrorist" and "Mr. Trump, please say no to Erdogan," when Turkish security staff "just attacked us." "It happened really fast," he said, insisting that he was trying to defend himself and to protect a police officer, not attack one. Kheirabadi said he is a Kurd who passed through Turkey as a refugee and is now a U.S. citizen. Court paperwork spells his name Kheirabaoi, but he said that is incorrect. The document says he struck an officer in the face while the officer was trying to separate protesters and that he "engaged in a physical confrontation" with the officer. Online court records say he must return to court June 1 and Necmi on July 12. The biggest dispute between Turkey and the U.S. recently has been the Trump administration's plans to arm Kurdish Syrian militants fighting the Islamic State group. The U.S. sees the Syrian Kurds as their best battlefield partner on the ground in northern Syria. Turkey insists that these YPG militants and their PYD political party are tied to the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey known as the PKK, which the U.S., the European Union and Turkey all consider a terrorist organization. At their meeting Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. would re-establish its military and economic partnership with Turkey, committing to backing Turkey's defense against both Islamic State and the PKK. Such groups will "have no safe quarter," Trump said. Erdogan responded that there is there is no place for any Kurdish "terrorist organizations" in any agreement about the region's future. WASHINGTON: U.S. officials strongly criticized the Turkish government on Wednesday as video appeared to show its president's security forces pushing past police and violently breaking up a protest outside their diplomatic residence in Washington. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another wrenches a woman's neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. In all, nine people were hurt. The clash happened at the Turkish ambassador's residence Tuesday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency labeled the protesters Kurdish "supporters of terror." It said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that Erdogan's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene." A Voice of America video showed police officers struggling to protect the protesters and ordering the men in suits to retreat. Instead, several of the men dodge the officers and run into the park to continue the attacks. "Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms." Politicians weighed in as well. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called it a "violent attack on a peaceful demonstration," and said it "is an affront to DC values and our rights as Americans." "This is the United States of America. We do not do this here," Sen. John McCain commented while retweeting the video. "There is no excuse for this kind of thuggish behavior." Sen. Patrick Leahy's tweet said "We've got to come back to American values." Two men were arrested at the scene, and police intend to pursue charges against others involved as well, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday. "The actions seen outside the Turkish Embassy yesterday in Washington, D.C. stand in contrast to the First Amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect each and every day," the police statement said. "We will continue to work with our partners at the United States State Department and United States Secret Service to identify and hold all subjects accountable for their involvement in the altercation." There may be issues with diplomatic immunity, Police Chief Peter Newsham said at a news conference Wednesday. He said police were examining video to identify those responsible. The background of the two men arrested wasn't immediately clear. Ayten Necmi, 49, of Woodside, New York, was charged with aggravated assault, police said, after a woman who was thrown to the ground and kicked identified Necmi as her attacker. Jalal Kheirabadi, 42, of Fairfax, Virginia, is charged with assaulting a police officer, who refused treatment for lacerations to his face. Kheirabadi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he joined the demonstration, saying "Erdogan is a terrorist" and "Mr. Trump, please say no to Erdogan," when Turkish security staff "just attacked us." "It happened really fast," he said, insisting that he was trying to defend himself and to protect a police officer, not attack one. Kheirabadi said he is a Kurd who passed through Turkey as a refugee and is now a U.S. citizen. Court paperwork spells his name Kheirabaoi, but he said that is incorrect. The document says he struck an officer in the face while the officer was trying to separate protesters and that he "engaged in a physical confrontation" with the officer. Online court records say he must return to court June 1 and Necmi on July 12. The biggest dispute between Turkey and the U.S. recently has been the Trump administration's plans to arm Kurdish Syrian militants fighting the Islamic State group. The U.S. sees the Syrian Kurds as their best battlefield partner on the ground in northern Syria. Turkey insists that these YPG militants and their PYD political party are tied to the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey known as the PKK, which the U.S., the European Union and Turkey all consider a terrorist organization. At their meeting Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. would re-establish its military and economic partnership with Turkey, committing to backing Turkey's defense against both Islamic State and the PKK. Such groups will "have no safe quarter," Trump said. Erdogan responded that there is there is no place for any Kurdish "terrorist organizations" in any agreement about the region's future. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: A memo detailing President Donald Trump request to shut down an FBI investigation of his ousted national security adviser is a powerful piece of evidence that could be used to build an obstruction of justice case against him. But criminal charges of interfering with an investigation are difficult in ordinary circumstances, several former federal prosecutors cautioned Wednesday. And it's an open question whether a sitting president can even face criminal charges, or whether attempts to hold him accountable for wrongdoing can only proceed through impeachment. The White House has denied fired FBI Director James Comey's account of a conversation he had with Trump in February, recorded in a memo seen by Comey associates. Still, to a prosecutor building an obstruction of justice case, the facts are compelling. First, Comey says the president asked for his loyalty. Then he asked Comey to back off the FBI's investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, according to Comey's memo. Then Trump fired Comey, declaring in a television interview that it was at least partly because he was bothered by the FBI's probe of potential coordination between Russia and his presidential campaign. "I'm hard pressed to find a prosecutor who would just look at this and say, OK, just move along," said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor. "It's not a two-foot putt, but is it a viable prosecution? Sure. But not against a president." Whether a sitting president can be indicted for a crime is a question that is not answered by either the Constitution or by Supreme Court cases, but many legal scholars believe impeachment is the only way to hold a president accountable for misconduct. Justice Department lawyers under presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton also concluded a president can't be indicted because it would interfere with his constitutionally assigned duties. Eric Freedman, a Hofstra University law professor, has long believed that a president can be prosecuted while in office. "It's a disputed constitutional issue. We know specifically that the framers argued about this," Freedman said. "They were undecided." Even if possible, a criminal prosecution would have its hurdles. Obstruction of justice charges often come down to whether prosecutors can show a person "corruptly" intended to interfere with an investigation. "Since we can't read people's minds, proving intent is very difficult," said Carole Rendon, who served as the chief federal prosecutor in Cleveland until March. And Trump could argue he was not corrupt in raising an issue of concern for Flynn, a longtime associate. Proving Trump's mental state would be a tall task, but prosecutors could have some clues. For one, he asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room before speaking privately with Comey about Flynn, according to a Comey associate. And in firing Comey, Trump claimed the FBI director told him three times he was not under investigation, which could be a sign that they were repeatedly having such conversations, said Daniel Petalas, a defense attorney who formerly worked in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section. "If he's pressuring repeatedly and won't take no for an answer, that becomes evidence of intent," Petalas said. Comey's response could also be an indication. "If in fact it's true that the FBI director immediately wrote a memo to the file, it indicates that he thought something was amiss," Rendon said. The memo itself would be "significant evidence," because Comey has a "sterling reputation for truthfulness," said Paul Charlton, another former federal prosecutor. "I don't know that you could say the same about the president." Both presidents who were subjected to impeachment proceedings, Clinton and Nixon, were accused of obstructing justice. Yet impeachment would not be without its own difficulties, Petalas said, because the House and Senate decide for themselves whether the standard is met. It takes a majority of the House to impeach a president and a two-thirds vote of the Senate to remove him from office. Republicans control both houses, as well as the presidency. Nixon resigned before the Democratic-led House could vote on impeachment and Clinton, while impeached by a House run by Republicans, survived a Senate trial. In theory, prosecutors can pursue charges against a president after he leaves office. President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon in 1974 to spare him and the country from having to re-live the Watergate scandal in a historic trial of a former president. Days before he left office, Clinton reached a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray that spared Clinton possible indictment after leaving office. Clinton acknowledged that he had made false statements under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and surrendered his law license in Arkansas. WASHINGTON: A memo detailing President Donald Trump request to shut down an FBI investigation of his ousted national security adviser is a powerful piece of evidence that could be used to build an obstruction of justice case against him. But criminal charges of interfering with an investigation are difficult in ordinary circumstances, several former federal prosecutors cautioned Wednesday. And it's an open question whether a sitting president can even face criminal charges, or whether attempts to hold him accountable for wrongdoing can only proceed through impeachment. The White House has denied fired FBI Director James Comey's account of a conversation he had with Trump in February, recorded in a memo seen by Comey associates. Still, to a prosecutor building an obstruction of justice case, the facts are compelling. First, Comey says the president asked for his loyalty. Then he asked Comey to back off the FBI's investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, according to Comey's memo. Then Trump fired Comey, declaring in a television interview that it was at least partly because he was bothered by the FBI's probe of potential coordination between Russia and his presidential campaign. "I'm hard pressed to find a prosecutor who would just look at this and say, OK, just move along," said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor. "It's not a two-foot putt, but is it a viable prosecution? Sure. But not against a president." Whether a sitting president can be indicted for a crime is a question that is not answered by either the Constitution or by Supreme Court cases, but many legal scholars believe impeachment is the only way to hold a president accountable for misconduct. Justice Department lawyers under presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton also concluded a president can't be indicted because it would interfere with his constitutionally assigned duties. Eric Freedman, a Hofstra University law professor, has long believed that a president can be prosecuted while in office. "It's a disputed constitutional issue. We know specifically that the framers argued about this," Freedman said. "They were undecided." Even if possible, a criminal prosecution would have its hurdles. Obstruction of justice charges often come down to whether prosecutors can show a person "corruptly" intended to interfere with an investigation. "Since we can't read people's minds, proving intent is very difficult," said Carole Rendon, who served as the chief federal prosecutor in Cleveland until March. And Trump could argue he was not corrupt in raising an issue of concern for Flynn, a longtime associate. Proving Trump's mental state would be a tall task, but prosecutors could have some clues. For one, he asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room before speaking privately with Comey about Flynn, according to a Comey associate. And in firing Comey, Trump claimed the FBI director told him three times he was not under investigation, which could be a sign that they were repeatedly having such conversations, said Daniel Petalas, a defense attorney who formerly worked in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section. "If he's pressuring repeatedly and won't take no for an answer, that becomes evidence of intent," Petalas said. Comey's response could also be an indication. "If in fact it's true that the FBI director immediately wrote a memo to the file, it indicates that he thought something was amiss," Rendon said. The memo itself would be "significant evidence," because Comey has a "sterling reputation for truthfulness," said Paul Charlton, another former federal prosecutor. "I don't know that you could say the same about the president." Both presidents who were subjected to impeachment proceedings, Clinton and Nixon, were accused of obstructing justice. Yet impeachment would not be without its own difficulties, Petalas said, because the House and Senate decide for themselves whether the standard is met. It takes a majority of the House to impeach a president and a two-thirds vote of the Senate to remove him from office. Republicans control both houses, as well as the presidency. Nixon resigned before the Democratic-led House could vote on impeachment and Clinton, while impeached by a House run by Republicans, survived a Senate trial. In theory, prosecutors can pursue charges against a president after he leaves office. President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon in 1974 to spare him and the country from having to re-live the Watergate scandal in a historic trial of a former president. Days before he left office, Clinton reached a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray that spared Clinton possible indictment after leaving office. Clinton acknowledged that he had made false statements under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and surrendered his law license in Arkansas. By Associated Press ISTANBUL: Turkey has told the United States it will not join in any military operations that include Kurdish fighters in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, while vowing to strike the US-backed Kurds if they threaten Turkey's security. Turkey's foreign minister also demanded that a US envoy be removed for allegedly backing the Kurds, but the State Department said Brett McGurk has the "full support" of the Trump administration. Speaking in Istanbul two days after meeting President Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan criticised the US decision to ally with "terror organisations" for the long-awaited operation to capture Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS. "We said we would not be in such an operation with you where you ally with terror organisations and so we said good luck," Erdogan said. Turkey considers the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria a terror organisation and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a threedecade-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Erdogan said he warned Trump that Turkey would combat YPG if the group posed any security threat. "We are already telling you in advance, our rules of engagement give us this authority, we will take such a step and we won't discuss it or consult with anyone. Because we have no time to lose," he said. Citing a cross-border offensive Turkey launched against IS and the YPG in Syria last year, Erdogan said "we won't hesitate to launch similar operations if we see the need". Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Trump administration understood Turkey's position against the YPG. "They did not say anything negative about this issue and treated it with understanding," he said. In April, the US had criticised Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq. Cavusoglu said Trump's administration seems more understanding about Turkey's security concerns. He went on to plead for the replacement of Brett McGurk, the US presidential envoy for the global coalition against IS. "This McGurk is definitely supporting the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial for this person to change," he said, accusing the diplomat of carrying on Obama-administration policies. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said McGurk has done "tremendous work" in coordinating and leading the international coalition against IS, and has the support of the White House and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The US respects Turkish concerns about its "by, with, and through" approach to the Syrian Democratic Forces led by the YPG, and will continue consulting with Ankara as the focus on combating IS continues, Nauert said. Cavusoglu said Turkey received US assurances that arms sent to the YPG would be used only against IS, without explaining how this would be monitored. "The weapons provided will only be used in Raqqa and its south, they will absolutely not be used against Turkey, this will not be allowed," Cavusoglu said. "Turkey and the US will together run an active combat against the PKK." A ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed in July 2015 after a two-and-a-half year hiatus in fighting, leading to clashes in Turkey's southeast and round-the-clock curfews as well as airstrikes on alleged PKK camps in northern Iraq. According to the International Crisis Group, at least 2,798 people, including state security personnel and Kurdish militants, have been killed in Turkey. The death toll includes nearly 400 civilians. The PKK is considered a terror group by the US and Turkey's Western allies. ISTANBUL: Turkey has told the United States it will not join in any military operations that include Kurdish fighters in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, while vowing to strike the US-backed Kurds if they threaten Turkey's security. Turkey's foreign minister also demanded that a US envoy be removed for allegedly backing the Kurds, but the State Department said Brett McGurk has the "full support" of the Trump administration. Speaking in Istanbul two days after meeting President Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan criticised the US decision to ally with "terror organisations" for the long-awaited operation to capture Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS. "We said we would not be in such an operation with you where you ally with terror organisations and so we said good luck," Erdogan said. Turkey considers the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria a terror organisation and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a threedecade-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Erdogan said he warned Trump that Turkey would combat YPG if the group posed any security threat. "We are already telling you in advance, our rules of engagement give us this authority, we will take such a step and we won't discuss it or consult with anyone. Because we have no time to lose," he said. Citing a cross-border offensive Turkey launched against IS and the YPG in Syria last year, Erdogan said "we won't hesitate to launch similar operations if we see the need". Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Trump administration understood Turkey's position against the YPG. "They did not say anything negative about this issue and treated it with understanding," he said. In April, the US had criticised Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq. Cavusoglu said Trump's administration seems more understanding about Turkey's security concerns. He went on to plead for the replacement of Brett McGurk, the US presidential envoy for the global coalition against IS. "This McGurk is definitely supporting the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial for this person to change," he said, accusing the diplomat of carrying on Obama-administration policies. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said McGurk has done "tremendous work" in coordinating and leading the international coalition against IS, and has the support of the White House and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The US respects Turkish concerns about its "by, with, and through" approach to the Syrian Democratic Forces led by the YPG, and will continue consulting with Ankara as the focus on combating IS continues, Nauert said. Cavusoglu said Turkey received US assurances that arms sent to the YPG would be used only against IS, without explaining how this would be monitored. "The weapons provided will only be used in Raqqa and its south, they will absolutely not be used against Turkey, this will not be allowed," Cavusoglu said. "Turkey and the US will together run an active combat against the PKK." A ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed in July 2015 after a two-and-a-half year hiatus in fighting, leading to clashes in Turkey's southeast and round-the-clock curfews as well as airstrikes on alleged PKK camps in northern Iraq. According to the International Crisis Group, at least 2,798 people, including state security personnel and Kurdish militants, have been killed in Turkey. The death toll includes nearly 400 civilians. The PKK is considered a terror group by the US and Turkey's Western allies. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: The United States and Israel are publicly brushing aside President Donald Trump's reported sharing of a highly classified tip from Israel with Russia, but spy professionals on both sides are frustrated and fearful about the repercussions to a critical intelligence partnership. "I know how things work in Israeli intelligence," said Uri Bar-Joseph, a professor at Haifa University in Israel who has studied and written widely about the Jewish state's spy operations. "I have some friends I talk with. They're upset. They are sincerely frustrated and angry." Meeting Russia's foreign minister and ambassador to Washington in the Oval Office last week, Trump shared intelligence about an Islamic State threat involving laptops carried on airplanes, according to a senior US official who wasn't authorised to talk about the sensitive material and spoke on condition of anonymity. US and Israeli officials have tried to allay concerns. National Security Adviser HR McMaster told reporters that Trump's disclosure was "wholly appropriate". Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted that the allies will continue to have a "deep, meaningful and unprecedented" security relationship. But some of the people who've spent years safeguarding that relationship say there will be consequences. Trump made "two very serious mistakes", former CIA director John Brennan said today at a financial industry event in Las Vegas. "We shared a lot of sensitive intelligence about terrorism operations that were planned against the Russians," he said. "But we shared it through intelligence channels, and you also make sure that the language of what you are sharing is not going in any way compromise your collections systems. Mr Trump didn't do that." Shabtai Shavit, former chief of Israel's Mossad spy agency, told The Associated Press that his "gut feeling is that anyone who belongs to the professional club is very angry". Danny Yatom, another ex-Mossad boss, told an Israeli radio station that if reports were accurate, Trump likely caused "heavy damage" to Israeli and American security. Bar-Joseph, the writer, said: "I won't say they won't share secrets anymore, but when it comes to the most sensitive information, there will be a second thought." Of Trump, he added, "If you can't count on the president, who can you count on?" Both nations gain much from the exchange of information. Israel, which lives in close proximity to Arab enemies and Iran, has human spies in parts of the volatile Middle East where the US doesn't. It also has robust cyber capabilities, enabling it to sometimes get word of plots that the United States doesn't know about. Washington, in turn, provides Israel with financial and military assistance, and intelligence that US agencies collect on threats far beyond Israel's immediate borders. WASHINGTON: The United States and Israel are publicly brushing aside President Donald Trump's reported sharing of a highly classified tip from Israel with Russia, but spy professionals on both sides are frustrated and fearful about the repercussions to a critical intelligence partnership. "I know how things work in Israeli intelligence," said Uri Bar-Joseph, a professor at Haifa University in Israel who has studied and written widely about the Jewish state's spy operations. "I have some friends I talk with. They're upset. They are sincerely frustrated and angry." Meeting Russia's foreign minister and ambassador to Washington in the Oval Office last week, Trump shared intelligence about an Islamic State threat involving laptops carried on airplanes, according to a senior US official who wasn't authorised to talk about the sensitive material and spoke on condition of anonymity. US and Israeli officials have tried to allay concerns. National Security Adviser HR McMaster told reporters that Trump's disclosure was "wholly appropriate". Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted that the allies will continue to have a "deep, meaningful and unprecedented" security relationship. But some of the people who've spent years safeguarding that relationship say there will be consequences. Trump made "two very serious mistakes", former CIA director John Brennan said today at a financial industry event in Las Vegas. "We shared a lot of sensitive intelligence about terrorism operations that were planned against the Russians," he said. "But we shared it through intelligence channels, and you also make sure that the language of what you are sharing is not going in any way compromise your collections systems. Mr Trump didn't do that." Shabtai Shavit, former chief of Israel's Mossad spy agency, told The Associated Press that his "gut feeling is that anyone who belongs to the professional club is very angry". Danny Yatom, another ex-Mossad boss, told an Israeli radio station that if reports were accurate, Trump likely caused "heavy damage" to Israeli and American security. Bar-Joseph, the writer, said: "I won't say they won't share secrets anymore, but when it comes to the most sensitive information, there will be a second thought." Of Trump, he added, "If you can't count on the president, who can you count on?" Both nations gain much from the exchange of information. Israel, which lives in close proximity to Arab enemies and Iran, has human spies in parts of the volatile Middle East where the US doesn't. It also has robust cyber capabilities, enabling it to sometimes get word of plots that the United States doesn't know about. Washington, in turn, provides Israel with financial and military assistance, and intelligence that US agencies collect on threats far beyond Israel's immediate borders. Food Scene: Newport County options that have Thanksgiving covered Staying home or hitting the road, theres one foolproof way to make sure your Thanksgiving feast is both easy and memorable. An ambitious study led by San Diego State University researchers has investigated various factors that contribute to air pollution inside the house. Not surprisingly, cigarette smoke emerged as a major source of airborne particles in homes with smokers, but cleaning products, candles, frying food and marijuana smoking also jumped out as in-home air polluters. The findings are especially relevant to families with children living in low-income households; these kids are at greater risk of health problems resulting from poor air quality. "Our primary goal was to figure out what's happening in houses that leads to higher air particle levels and, in turn, to unhealthy environments for kids," said study coauthor John Bellettiere, a graduate student in the SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health. A research team led by SDSU environmental health scientist and lead author Neil Klepeis, behavioral health researcher and principal investigator Melbourne Hovell, and co-investigator Suzanne Hughes recruited into the study nearly 300 families living in San Diego with at least one child aged 14 and younger and one smoker. They installed a pair of air particle monitors in each of the homes, one in the area of the house closest to where smoking usually occurs and one in the child's bedroom. The monitors continuously scan the air for fine particles between 0.5 and 2.5 micrometers in size--a range that includes dust, fungal spores, auto emissions and combustion byproducts. It's an important size range to human health, as these particles are of a size that can reach deep into the lungs, where they can influence a variety of health complications including breathing and cardiovascular problems. Over the course of three months, the monitors transmitted air quality data from the homes back to the researchers. On two occasions, the team conducted interviews to ask about what activities were occurring in the house at various times, such as cooking, cleaning and smoking. Finally, the scientists correlated the households' activities with their respective air quality monitor data and a clear picture emerged. Homes that reported cigarette smoking indoors had a median particle level that was close to double that of homes without indoor smoking. These particles contain nicotine and combustion byproducts well known to be dangerous to people's health, especially children's. Interestingly, marijuana smoking contributed to in-home air pollution about as much as tobacco smoking--the first time such a finding has been reported. Finally, burning candles and incense, frying food in oil and spraying cleaning products also increased the number of fine particles in the air. The researchers reported their findings today in journal PLOS ONE. "The aim of our research is, ultimately, to find effective ways to promote smoke-free homes and also to find good strategies, in general, for reducing exposure to household pollution," Klepeis said. "The findings from our work will allow for better education and feedback to families." Bellettiere says the team will follow up on its marijuana findings to find out whether the elevated air pollution that results from smoking marijuana translates into increased exposure to combustion byproducts and cannabinoids in nonsmokers living in the house. Klepeis added: "Our research team is continuing to develop novel monitoring devices and approaches that consumers can use to understand their air quality, and to explore ways that work for them and their families to reduce unhealthy pollutant exposures, especially for kids." Source: http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=76764 Physical pain--often "self-medicated" without help from healthcare professionals--is an important contributor to non-medical prescription opioid (NMPO) use by young adults, suggests a study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. Young men with severe untreated pain are at especially high risk of frequent NMPO use, according to the new research, led by Brandon D.L. Marshall, PhD, of Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Marshall comments, "Sex-specific patterns of pain and experiences interacting with health professionals could conceivably impact the way men and women report pain to health care providers, and thus the way young adults with severe physical pain are treated." Risk Factors for Frequent NMPO Use Differ for Young Men and Women The study included 199 young adult NMPO users enrolled in the Rhode Island Young Adult Prescription Drug Study (RAPiDS), an ongoing study of opioid overdose prevention. Non-medical prescription opioid use refers to using opioids without a prescription or in a way other than prescribed. The NMPO users were a racially/ethnically diverse group; about two-thirds were male. About one-third had a previous opioid overdose. One hundred nineteen participants reported using NMPOs at least weekly. Dr. Marshall and colleagues evaluated history of pain, pain treatment, and other factors associated with being a frequent NMPO user. Eighty-five percent of young adult NMPO users said they had experienced some type of injury or health condition that put them in severe pain--most commonly leg or back pain. Consistent with previous studies, most participants said they had used NMPOs to treat physical pain. For the subjects reporting pain, there was evidence of inadequate pain treatment. About one-fourth of males and one-third of females said that a health professional had denied them medication to treat severe pain. Of those who did not seek medical treatment, many said they could "self-medicate" their pain and/or believed they would be denied prescription pain medications. Others said they didn't like seeking medical help or didn't have health insurance. After adjustment for other factors, young men with higher pain scores were significantly more likely to report frequent NMPO use. White race was also a risk factor for frequent NMPO use among men. For women, older age and non-medical use of benzodiazepines--a class of sedative drugs--were risk factors for frequent NMPO use. In contrast, established risk factors for opioid use disorder (OUD), such as mental health disorders or street drug use, were not associated with frequent NMPO use. The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic--one study estimated 20,000 deaths related to prescription opioid overdose in 2015 alone. Young adults who are frequent users of NMPOs are at especially high risk for overdose. Recent studies have found high rates of untreated physical pain among patients with OUD. This study provides new evidence that physical pain--and using prescription opioids for self-treatment of pain--is common among young adults with NMPO use. The factors associated with frequent NMPO use appear to differ by sex: severe pain is an important risk factor in young men, while benzodiazepine use is a more important factor in women. The study also provides insights into the reasons why some young adult NMPO users don't seek medical care for severe pain. Especially if labeled as "drug seekers," they may have difficulty receiving recommended pain treatment, or may self-medicate without asking for help. Dr. Marshall adds, "Harm reduction and pain management interventions for young adults may need to account for sex-specific drivers of frequent NMPO use, including self-medicating with prescription opioids to manage severe pain." Source: http://wolterskluwer.com/company/newsroom/news/2017/05/pain-linked-to-non-medical-prescription-opioid-use-in-young-adults.html A new study from the University of Birmingham has presented evidence that could settle the debate over whether people can be obese and healthy at the same time. The study, which is the largest of its kind, involved an analysis of electronic patient records for 3.5 million people across the UK between 1995 and 2015. The results showed that obesity increased the risk of heart disease by half, even when blood pressure and cholesterol levels were normal, as well as significantly increasing the risk of stroke and heart failure. For the study, a team from the Institute of Applied Health Research checked GP records for markers of metabolic health, normal blood pressure, the absence of diabetes and a healthy cholesterol level among people who classified as obese. All individuals were aged 18 years or older and were initially free of cardiovascular disease. The researchers then tracked how many individuals suffered from one of the following four cardiovascular conditions: coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease and heart failure. The results, which were presented at the European Congress in Porto, Portugal earlier this week, showed that obese individuals who were considered healthy were at a 49% increased risk of coronary heart disease, a 7% increased risk of stroke and a staggering 96% increased risk of heart failure, compared with people of normal weight. Even when factors such as smoking were taken into account, these figures remained the same. Previous research has suggested that being obese doesnt necessarily make you unhealthy, based on the fact that up to one third of obese people have an apparently normal health profile, despite having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. Terms that have emerged for this concept include healthy obesity and fat, but fit. Lead author of the study, Rishi Caleyachetty, says: Metabolically healthy obesity is not a harmless condition, and it would be incorrect to think so Its actually better not to use this term as it can create a lot of confusion. The priority of health professionals regarding these patients should be to promote and facilitate weight loss, as it is with any other obese patient, concludes Caleyachetty. Sleep is important, but if there is something more important or interesting to do -- for example, taking care of a baby, finishing a grant proposal before a deadline, or reading a fascinating book -- we may stay up late. Sleep in fruit flies is a lot like human sleep, and like humans, flies can keep themselves awake if there is something important to do. In research published on May 16th in eLife, researchers report discovery of neurons that allow male fruit flies to suppress sleep so they can court female flies. "The idea that sleep and courtship might compete with each other is intuitive but had not been studied experimentally, and the underlying neural mechanisms had not been explored. We wanted to know how the sleep drive and sex drive compete to determine behavior," says Kyunghee Koh, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and senior author on the study. Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today The researchers found that whereas a male fly normally spends much of the night awake and courting if there is a female nearby, a male that has recently mated several females (and therefore has low sex drive) ignores the female and goes to sleep. They discovered that a small number of neurons (termed MS1 for male specific 1) release octopamine, a neurotransmitter similar to human noradrenalin, to keep male flies awake in a sexual setting. Silencing MS1 neurons allows males to go to sleep even when there is a female around, while artificially activating MS1 neurons keeps males awake even when they are alone. Interestingly, although females have the same neurons, their activation has no effect on female sleep. MS1 neurons do not belong to a previously identified group of neurons important for male sexual behavior, but instead communicate with them to keep males awake so they can court. It is unclear whether similar mechanisms are at work in humans, but Dr. Koh says "it is known that noradrenalin promotes wakefulness in humans. Our work suggests noradrenalin may be especially important for suppressing sleep when we have to engage in other urgent activities". However, the first goals for her team are to identify specific neurons that communicate directly with MS1 neurons and examine how their activation leads to sleep suppression and how MS1 neuronal activity is regulated. Source: Thomas Jefferson University There are a number of huge challenges facing the global auto industry, but two of the biggest are reducing pollution and developing replacements for fossil fuel-powered vehicles for a more sustainable future. It has to be said it's early days yet, but some scientists in Belgium have come up with a way of potentially killing both of these incredibly difficult birds with one stone.Scientists from the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven (University of Leuven) in Belgium have developed a device that uses light and a special catalyst to clean polluted air, but at the same time produces hydrogen that can then be used to power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The device utilizes a process called, "heterogeneous photocatalysis," which has been used previously to siphon hydrogen from water and nullify gas-based pollutants. However, it's rarely been used to do both at once, but the team now appears to have managed it thanks to what's called a "photoelectrochemical cell," which makes use of solar cells to produce hydrogen in a similar way to electrolysis water-splitting.According to Professor Sammy Verbuggen, the two processes are performed in the one device in what are being referred to as two individual "rooms," which are separated by a membrane to isolate them from each other. On one side of the device air is purified with a photoanode, while in the other side of the device hydrogen is generated from "a part of the degradation process" thanks to a cathode that's been tucked behind the solid electrolyte membrane.The key to the team's success so far is the choice of catalyst. Professor Verbuggen explains, "In the past, these cells were mostly used to extract hydrogen from water. We have now discovered that this is also possible, and even more efficient, with polluted air."But before we get too carried away, the team is quick to point out this apparent wonder device is at a very early stage of development. They insist that what they have come up with so far is little more than a "proof-of-concept," which they also admit has "ample room for improvement." The device so far only measures a few square centimeters, so it's hardly up to powering fleets of vehicles or counterbalancing our carbon emissions. Every exciting development has to start somewhere though, and this definitely looks to be very encouraging at least. Japanese automobile manufacturer Isuzu is gradually ramping up component sourcing from India for its global operations as it develops local vendors. The company has already roped in around 100 suppliers which are primarily meeting local requirements for rolling out pick-up truck from its plant in Andhra Pradesh."We are already doing it," Isuzu Motors India (IMI) Deputy Managing Director Hitoshi Kono toldwhen asked about the company's plans to source components from India for global operations. While it is too early to quantify how much components are exported from India, he said Isuzu is looking to source components across the board from the country for its global operations. Isuzu's vendor development in India has been done with a long-term strategy of meeting global component requirements."When we look at parts suppliers, we don't look at their ability to supply only for India. We look at their ability to supply for us in the long run even for our global requirements," IMI Senior General Manager Communications Shankar Srinivas said. On the company's role in vendor development in India, he said: "To some extent, we advise and guide their engineering to level-up with our requirements."Giving an idea of the potential for component sourcing from India, Srinivas said Isuzu has operations in 100 countries, out of which it has leadership in 35. It is a question of how much of those volumes can be tapped from the Indian market as there are suppliers elsewhere in the world as well, he added. A vendor from India would have to first meet quality requirements, he added."We are not in a hurry to push for volumes but we are ready to ensure that quality is up there," he added.Isuzu is already planning to export vehicles from India to around 15-20 countries as part of its plans to make the country a hub of its global manufacturing operations. The company, which has invested Rs 3,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh to set up a manufacturing facility, has already started exporting vehicles to Nepal. General Motors CEO Mary Barra talks about the new 2016 Chevy Cruze vehicle at the Filmore Theater in Detroit, Michigan, June 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) Its pretty much evident from the data how badly GMs sales has trounced. To put things in perspective, GM India was contributing less than 0.3% of the global sales. Even if we keep global market share aside, GMs domestic market share was less 1% of the Indias 2.5 million annual car market. I still remember my first drive in the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. Those few hours spent driving the premium sedan were so intense that I still recommend the car to anyone and everyone looking forward to buy a car in that price bracket. Sadly, nobody won't be able to buy any of the Chevy's cars anymore as General Motors has announced to seize its sales operation in India.The move has caused a major uproar in the industry since the worlds 3largest car manufacturer couldnt sustain it more in the country. Was this a knee-jerk reaction or a thoughtful move? Was it necessary to pull-out completely from India or they could have given a thought for something else? Heres our take on why GM took such drastic step that could affect the livelihood of hundreds!It will be a bit unfair to tell you the history of GM, since GM itself is a big contributor to the history of automobiles. Started more than a century ago in the U.S, GM started its operations in India in 1928. By 1996, the American auto giant emerged as a full-fledged manufacturer who started producing Opel cars in its Halol facility. In 2003, production of Chevrolet cars started at the same location.As of today, GM runs a Technical Centre in Bangalore, has a manufacturing plant in Talegaon and exports 90% of its production to countries like Mexico, Chile, Peru and other South American countries. They have already announced to seize the domestic sales, meaning the Talegaon plant will be producing export-only vehicles.General Motors is a very big brand and when we say big, it means GM is the third largest car producer in the world. GM sold close to 10 million cars in 2016 alone, a little less than Volkswagen and Toyota. When it comes to the domestic sales, the situation is worse than ever, with only 28949 units (Data sourced from Team BHP ) retailing in 2016. But its the last 5 year trend that worries us the most. Here are the annual sales figures from 2011 onwards-2011 111056 units2012 92063 units2013 86825 units2014 57565 units2015 36518 units2016 28949 unitsFor a business of this magnitude, 0.3% is not enough to keep a company afloat.Theres no denying the fact that Cruze was one of the best drivers cars, not only in its own segment, but across all segments. Also, Beat was the face of funky hatchbacks for youths and Tavera was the first choice of fleet owners before Innova arrived. Meaning, Chevrolet had a good portfolio with 9 cars to choose from in 2016, yet 6 out of the 9 cars couldnt even sell more than 1000 units a month.Heres the model-wise sales figures from 2016-Beat 9793 unitsCaptiva 22 unitsCruze 1025 unitsEnjoy 5708 unitsSail 4070 unitsSail U-VA - 2218 unitsSpark - 614 unitsTavera - 11320 unitsTrailblazer 144 unitsEven their latest and ambitious product, Trailblazer SUV couldnt sell more than 150 units in 2016.When you compare Chevrolets business to that of other manufacturers who are not doing that good in India, you will be surprised to see that Chevrolet is still not the worst performer. Manufacturers like Nissan, Skoda, Fiat and Mitsubishi are even below the GM in terms of sales numbers. Heres a lowdown on sales of these manufacturers from 2016Nissan 14725 unitsSkoda 13370 unitsFiat 6642 unitsMitsubishi 743 unitsWhile it will be foolish of us to compare these manufacturers, theres a bit of relevance in discussing sales of these manufacturers. Unlike GM, who only sells Chevrolet in the country, Nissan is in alliance with Renault and Skoda is in alliance with Volkswagen, or rather owned by Volkswagen. So these manufacturers can sustain a bit of loss in terms of monetary value. What they are getting in return is brand recognition.When asked about keeping afloat domestic sales like these manufacturers, Kaher Kazam, President and CEO, GM India said Every OVM has a different strategy to run the business and has different footprints. Ours is a decision in-line with global brand strategy. Its all based on the capitalization of funds and we decided to keep the export only structure.It is pretty much evident from the data above that GM was in a dire situation, a situation that didn't erupt all of a sudden. For what we feel, GMs product placement, marketing efforts and strategy proved fatal for this global brand. Leaving apart a couple of products, none of the cars could match the competitors package. As much as our heart goes out for the iconic manufacturer, its probably in the best of the interest of the American car manufacturer to stop the sales and concentrate on exports! New Delhi: Three decades after the controversial Bofors purchase, the Indian Army is all set to receive its first heavy ordnance as the first two guns out of the 145 M777 ultra-light artillery guns it ordered from the US are expected to arrive this weekend, IANS reported. "In fulfillment of the United States' Foreign Military Sale of 145 M777 ultra-light weight howitzer to India, we are pleased to confirm that the first two weapon systems will land in India ahead of schedule over this weekend," a BAE Systems spokesman said in a statement. The guns were expected to arrive in the June. On November 30, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to purchase 145 M777 ultra-light artillery guns, through the foreign military sale (FMS) route. The Union Cabinet on November 17 approved the much-awaited deal, which would add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army, especially against China in eastern front. The air portable 155mm/39 calibre gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems. The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million. Out of 145 guns, BAE will deliver 25 guns and rest 120 will be assembled in India by Mahindra. The ultra light howitzer is being purchased primarily to deploy on mountains in eastern border with China to provide the much-needed fire power to the Indian Army in the region. The last artillery guns that India purchased were the much-controversial Swedish Bofors guns in mid-1980s. However, our experiment failed and the elephant continues to destroy houses, damage paddy fields. Finally with a series of killings, we have decided to take suggestions from a veterinary doctor in this issue, forest department sources said. We have only 2% of India's elephant population in Bengal and in last three years, a total of 14 elephants have been killed in retaliation, either by the forest guards or by the villagers, sources said. Therefore, to check the human-animal conflicts in these areas, the department has decided to construct toilets in every household situated in the vicinity of forests in all the subdivisions. : Concerned over eight deaths by an elephant at Jaldapara National Park in West Bengal, the state Forest Department officials are in consultation with a veterinary doctor whether to kill the animal or not.Speaking to News18, state forest minister Binay Krishna Barman said, The matter was referred to me and we have asked for a report from a veterinary doctor on what should be done with elephant.We have a provision in the law to take extreme step if an elephant turns in to a killer or a destroyer. But so far, we have not taken any decision unless we are getting an experts suggestion in this matter. Therefore we have asked a report from a government empaneled veterinary doctor.The elephant was named Vanya (forest) Ganesh and recently the elephant had killed an elderly man in Madarihat a village in Alipurduar district.After receiving several complaint from the local villagers, the state forest department used a female elephant, Urvashi, to tame Vanya Ganesh.As per norms, if veterinary doctor give his/her suggestion to kill the elephant, then the forest department have to convince the District Magistrate, stating that the elephant posing threat to human lives and as per law the elephant will be shot dead.As per state forest department statistics, from 2015 to 2016, nearly 100 people were killed and approximately 90 injured by wild elephants in the Bengal.Recently, state government in an attempt to reduce conflict between human and wild animals took up an elaborate scheme to construct toilets for the people living in forests and adjoining areas.After conducting a thorough research, Forest Department officials have found that in many cases, villagers died after being attacked by elephants and other animals while entering the forest for open defecation.The project has already been completed in the Baikunthapur forest division in North Bengal, where 350 households in forested areas have had toilets constructed in their homes. The suggestion was made to her at the highest level on multiple occasions that perhaps a different CM would help in containing the dissatisfaction in the Valley, but she did not agree, said the source. Some Kashmiris believe that Mufti betrayed them by aligning with the BJP. We dont regret the alliance one bit. It was the most logical thing to do after the mandate. People who lost in the elections National Conference and Congress are the one who are criticising us in the hope that they can come to power, Jitendra Singh said. Commenting on the matter, Farooq Abdullah, Srinagar MP and senior National Conference leader, said such an arrangement is bound to fail. I dont think its going to work This is BJP-PDP government and if the PDP is not delivering, how will the BJP do it? Can a Bharatiya Janata Party-appointed chief minister be an answer to the cycle of violence in Kashmir? Top sources in BJP say, yes. The idea has gone beyond proposal stage and has been discussed with CM Mehbooba Mufti, whose Peoples Democratic Party is in alliance with the BJP.Sources told CNN-News18 that during Mehbooba Muftis recent visit to Delhi, the idea of rotating the CMs post between the alliance partners every six months was discussed.When asked for his comments on the proposal, Jitendra Singh, MoS in the Prime Ministers Office, who is MP from Udhampur, said, No decision in this regard has been taken yet but the BJP is an organisational party. It is not a kitchen coterie. The decision will be taken at the highest level in due course.Mehbooba Muftis popularity has seen a constant downfall ever since Burhan Wanis death last year. On Tuesday, Mufti was forced to withdraw from a public function after pro-Pakistan slogans were raised there. One of the reasons being given for the unending cycle of violence in Kashmir is the PDP-BJP alliance.When asked if he feels that a BJP CM is the answer to Kashmirs problems, Singh said people in his constituency and elsewhere in Jammu and Ladakh region did not want to suffer because of terrorism and violence in the valley.Calling for Governors Rule in the state, Abdullah said dialogue needs to be started with all the parties involved.We are living in a fools paradise if we are going to change the chief minister. What is needed is dialogue with everyone, said Abdullah.On Mufti, he said, She is not going to leave the chair. Let there be Governors Rule and then there can be elections. She should leave the CMs post and admit that she is not able to do anything. India has around 140 days to save Jadhav from the gallows. News18 spoke to a few experts who believe the best way to go about the case would be keep making their point at the ICJ. There are others who believe Indias neighbor cannot be trusted to respect the ICJ judgment. "Pakistan could simply undertake such review and reconsideration under its domestic legal system. There is obviously no guarantee that such review by Pakistan would lead to Jadhav's release, as desired by India. At this stage, therefore, it would probably be in Indias interest to stretch the ICJ case as long as possible, as this would at least ensure that, in accordance with todays order, Jadhav is not executed by Pakistan while the case is pending before the ICJ," Shashank told News18. "Procedurally, the President of the Court will now meet with the representatives of the parties to fix the time-limits for the filing of written submissions on the substantive aspects of the case. Pakistan may choose to object to the jurisdiction of the case. In such an event, the Court may address Pakistan's preliminary objections to its jurisdiction, before moving on to the merits of India's case. The ICJ will then schedule hearings in the case, with the possibility of separate hearings for the jurisdictional and merits phase. Following the hearings, the ICJ judges will hold internal deliberations, before a final judgment is issued in the case," he said. : As the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan to take all measures to ensure that Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of the court, experts told News18 that the only way India can save Jadhav is "to stretch the case at the ICJ as long as possible."The president of the court, Ronny Abraham, who read out the decision, rejected Pakistan's arguments that the court did not have jurisdiction and stated that it would hear the case and seek arguments from both the sides.Even Right of Clemency, which is guaranteed under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan, will expire on Friday. The clause allows an appeal within 40 days, and Jadhavs 40 days end on May 19, 2017.Shashank Kumar, a Geneva-based public international lawyer who has also previously served as a law-clerk at the ICJ, told News18 that it would be in the best interest for India if it "stretches the case at the ICJ as long as possible.""Now that the easy part of the case is over, the Court will consider many of these issues in greater detail. Importantly, a reversal of Jadhav's conviction and sentence and his subsequent release the relief requested by India is far from a foregone conclusion, as the ICJ may simply require Pakistan, as it has in the past cases of this kind, to "review and reconsider". Jadhav's case by means of its own choosing, taking into account the violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations rights. Pakistan could presumably carry out such review and reconsideration under its domestic legal system. At this stage, therefore, it would probably be in India's interest to stretch the case at the ICJ as long as possible, as this would at least ensure that Jadhav is not be executed by Pakistan while the case is pending before the Court," said the legal expert.Shashank added that substantively, Indias ultimate request is that the ICJ sets aside or reverses Jadhav's conviction and orders his release."It is, however, far from clear whether the Court can and will consider such a request by India. In past cases concerning denial of consular access, the Court has usually ordered the respondent country to undertake a "review and reconsideration" of the sentence and conviction by a means of its choosing, e.g., through the domestic judicial process, taking into account the violation of the rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," he said, adding that there was no guarantee that such a review would be taken seriously by Pakistan.Ashok Behuria from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses agreed with his opinion."Placing trust on Pakistanis has to be looked at carefully. We are still uncertain whether Pakistan will abide by the jurisdiction," said Behuria, adding that the fact that Jadhavs time for clemency is up tomorrow, India should be wary of how Pakistan moves on the 41st day after the conviction.Pakistans Dawn News quoted Justice (retired) Shaiq Usmani, who called the decision alarming because "ICJ does not have any jurisdiction." The retired judge said that the case will continue in Pakistan. "Until the ICJ gives it verdict, the case will go on in Pakistan. But he cannot be executed until the stay order is there. The proceedings will continue.""I think 40 days are over and the time to appeal is over. But if they want they can accept the time. The FGCM court can extend the time if they want," he added.Shashank, who has worked as a law-clerk at ICJ, laid down the expectant procedure.According to the official statement of Pakistan's Attorney General, the nation believes that ICJ has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case. "The provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the Court to have full consideration at a later hearing... In addition, Pakistan attended because of its conviction that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues is through peaceful means. We are confident that India would not be able to hide the subversive activities it is trying to carry out through its agents like Commander Jadhav. India has no substance in the case. As far as Pakistan is concerned, the Court's decision today has not changed the status of Commander Jadhav's case in any manner... We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end," he said. Reading out the verdict, the ICJ court dismissed Pakistan's reservations and held that it had jurisdiction in the case because of Vienna Convention. "Prima facie, a dispute exists under the Vienna Convention," held the court. "Acts alleged by India fall in the Vienna Convention, which guarantees the state to be given access to its citizen," said the ICJ verdict. All states that are party to Vienna Convention have right to consular access in another state. "It appears that rights invoked by India are plausible consular access under Vienna Convention are recognised under Article 36-1.... the right invoked by India," said the court. India pulled off a legal coup on Thursday as the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav the former Indian Navy officer that Pakistan alleges to be a spy and accepted New Delhi's demand that it be given consular access to Jadhav who is currently lodged in a Pakistani jail.Instructing Pakistan to "take all measures at its disposal" to make sure that "Jadhav is not prosecuted", the ICJ ruled in favour of India's plea and said no execution of Jadhav should be allowed until the court disposes of the case.The court said it considered that Pakistan's failure to provide consular access to India was under the scope of Vienna Convention.In another blow to Pakistan, the court said that the circumstances in which Jadhav was arrested remained "disputed".In an important remark, the ICJ verdict said that Vienna Convention, which insists on consular access to the accused citizen, "doesn't exclude those found guilty under terror and espionage charges".According to Pakistan law, the earliest it could have executed Kulbhushan Jadhav would be May 19, exactly 40 days after the announcement of his sentence.In March 2016, Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani officials and was accused of being a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was also accused of aiding separatists in Balochistan. India, on the other hand, said he was kidnapped by Pakistan in Iran while Jadhav was there for business purposes and added that he had retired from Indian Navy in 2002. India was denied consular access to Jadhav despite repeated attempts.In April, a Pakistani military court awarded death sentence to Jadhav after a secret trial. According to an official statement by Pakistan, Jadhav was tried under Section 59 of the Pakistan Act 1952 and Section 3 of Official Secrets Act 1923.Soon after the verdict, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit saying that the proceedings were 'farcical'. Pakistan, however, said that the proceedings leading to the verdict were transparent and were based on Jadhavs confession.A month later, India moved the International Court of Justice, which stayed Jadhav's death sentence. Days later, India represented by a battery of top lawyers, including Harish Salve, presented its case at The Hague, saying that Jadhav's conviction was a gross violation of the Vienna Convention. Pakistan gave counter arguments, maintaining that Jadhav was a spy and his passport was fake. Jaitley was reviewing the security situation in the state at a high-level meeting and asked the forces to deal firmly with the inimical elements but ensure safety of the innocent people, PTI quoted officials as saying. The Defence Minister was also apprised of various measures to strengthen the counter-infiltration grid along the Line of Control (LoC), where Pakistani forces have been indulging in shelling and attacks. He also impressed upon the commanders to maintain strict vigil along the LoC and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has asked the Army to remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across the border, days after the bodies of two Indian soldiers were mutilated by the Pakistani Army which crossed the Line of Control (LoC).The meeting, where newly-appointed Defence Secretary Amit Mitra and Army chief General Bipin Rawat were also present, took place against the backdrop of spurt in militant attacks and incidents of stone-pelting in Kashmir and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC.Jaitley "lauded the valour, sacrifice and patriotic fervour of every soldier who is serving in these challenging situations for national integrity", saying the entire country is proud of them, the officials said.Jaitley, who also holds the finance portfolio, will preside over the GST Council meeting in Srinagar on Friday. He is also likely to meet Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.Pakistani troops have also been repeatedly violating the ceasefire on the LoC and have been shelling Indian Army posts and civilian areas. The Kashmir Valley has witnessed a spurt in incidents of violence and militant attacks in the last couple of months.The Pakistani troops were involved in 67 ceasefire violations in the first four months of 2017, with maximum of 26 incidents reported in April, according to Army sources. They said a total of 27 militants were killed between January and April in counter-insurgency operations.(With PTI inputs) We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 In a series of tweets, she said, "The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India." The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the familly of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 18, 2017 She also complimented the team of officers from her ministry for their tireless efforts and hard work put up in the matter. In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body in the case, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending a final decision by it. : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday termed as a "great relief" the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan and asserted that the government will "leave no stone unturned" to save him.She also thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve who India's attorney at the Hague and argued the case before the global court.Swaraj said, "We are grateful to Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save (him)."The ICJ at the Hague stayed the execution of 46-year-old Indian Navy officer Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on Thursday afternoon rule on Indias appeal against the death penalty handed to former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court.During its submission to the ICJ on May 15 at a public hearing, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over.The ICJ has in the past decided such appeals against the United States when Paraguay, Germany and Mexico approached The Hague against death penalties awarded to their respective nations. In two of these cases, however, the US went ahead with the executions.In April 1998, Paraguay had dragged United States to the ICJ alleging that the state of Virginia had violated Vienna Convention by failing to inform Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan, of his right to contact the Paraguayan consulate for assistance after his arrest.A report in Firstpost , said The Hague had called on the US to "take all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Breard, pending a final decision in the proceedings instituted by Paraguay. However, Breard was executed on April 14, five days after the verdict. Paraguay later withdrew the case.German national Walter LaGrand and his brother Karl were arrested in US state of Arizona in 1982 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. In 1999, Germany instituted proceedings against the US for allegedly failing to inform the duo of their right to consular access, guaranteed by the Vienna Convention. The appeal was filed on the eve of the brothers execution. However, Karl was executed before the case started and Germany demanded that the US compensate his family and halt Walters execution till proceedings were pending. In its verdict the following day, the ICJ asked the US to ensure Walter was not executed during proceedings.However, the US executed Walter on the very same day. Germany then modified its complaint, charging the US with violating international law by failing to implement the provisional measures. The US argued that the Vienna Convention did not grant rights to individuals, only to states. The ICJ ruled in favour of Germany on June 27, 2001.In January 2003, Mexico took the US to the ICJ over a dispute concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention with respect to 54 Mexican nationals who were sentenced to death in the US. They requested the court to ensure that the US should not execute or set execution dates for any Mexican national before the court passed judgment.After establishing that it had jurisdiction to hear the case, the ICJ ruled that its jurisdiction lay only in establishing whether the US breached its obligations as listed under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention and not functioning as a court of criminal appeal.The court, however, stressed that no execution dates should be fixed in any of the cases before it had ruled. It noted that three Mexican nationals were at risk of execution in the coming months, or possibly even weeks, and that "their execution would cause irreparable prejudice to any rights that may subsequently be adjudged by the court to belong to Mexico".After deliberating for months, the court concluded that in 51 of the cases, the US had, in fact, breached their obligation by not informing the appropriate Mexican consular post without delay about the judicial process. By not doing so, the US had also deprived Mexico of the right to provide assistance to its nationals. The US was ordered to provide review and reconsideration of the judgments regarding the Mexican nationals and implement specific measures to ensure non-repetition. With the International Court of Justice staying the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav until the final verdict, India has emphatically won the first and the most important round of its legal battle against Pakistan at the global arena.This, without a shred of doubt, is the most important reprieve at the moment since stalling Jadhav's execution was an imminent need. Without a stay on the execution, the entire purpose of invoking ICJ's jurisdiction would have been frustrated and the exercise would have been rendered an academic one to examine issues of jurisdiction, conventions etc.India has been very meticulous and succinct in asking for a limited relief. What it prays for now is a stay on Jadhav's execution. If the stay is granted, not just that main relief will have to be adjudicated, but India will get time to look for a diplomatic and political solution.: India's claim for the limited relief at this juncture is justified on the principles of international law. The execution has to be stayed until we finally decide the matter on aspects of jurisdiction and applicability of Vienna Convention.India's counsel Harish Salve has aptly pre-empted Pakistans argument on the 2008 bilateral treaty between the two countries. While Pakistan contends India cannot be allowed to invoke Vienna Convention in the wake of the bilateral treaty, Salve has maintained that bilateral treaty cannot affect India's right to protect its citizens under the Vienna Convention. Salve was unequivocal that bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan is supposed to supplant other conventions in line with their common objectives and cant frustrate the goals.: The 2008 treaty per se doesn't oust our jurisdiction nor was it a specific bar on India's right to ask for consular access from another country under the Vienna Convention.Pakistan's argument that consular access is a matter of discretion for a law enforcement agency when the foreign national has been accused of spying has also been met by India. India has questioned various facts of the case, including how Jadhav was abducted from Iran, why India's repeated requests for consular access were shot down by Pakistan, trial was conducted without informing Jadhav and without supplying copy of the chargesheet or even the judgment. The moot point that India has appealed: Graver the charges, greater the need for continued adherence to the Vienna Convention, for it would involve life of people and relations between States.: India has been seeking consular access for Jadhav for almost a year, but to no avail. Pakistan said it would consider India's request only after Indian authorities help them in providing evidence to hold Jadhav guilty of espionage.Pakistan has complained India is unwilling to explain the false passport, which bore a Muslim name and was found in Jadhav's possession. But if Pakistan wants India to explain this, then why not grant the consular access thereby accepting India's role in the adjudication process. Pakistan may just fall in a trap of its own, should the ICJ accept this argument.: Indian High Commission has time and again accepted Jadhav as an Indian national and has also given documents to the Pakistani counterpart in corroboration.Pakistan has claimed that Jadhavs legal remedies have not exhausted and hence there is no "urgency" to seek "Provisional Measures". But India has successfully demonstrated there is no stay on Jadhavs execution and he could be executed any moment, necessitating the urgent intervention.: India has successfully established links between 'provisional measures' and India's rights to claim so. India has rightly invoked urgency clause and that irreparable prejudice to India's rights will be caused if Jadhav is executed.International law is as good a law as countries consider it to be. It is, after all, a law without direct sanctions and Pakistan may even choose to defy the order since it's in favour of India. But it will do so at the peril of its international stature, obligation and future remedies that it may seek for its citizens.Although Pakistan had told the ICJ that Jadhav's execution won't happen before August 2017, the ICJ did not only issue a specific order staying the execution till the proceedings before it are over, but also reminded Pakistan that it must be restrained in accordance with international obligations and global commitments to ensure free and fair justice to all. India, whose request for consular access to Jadhav was turned down 16 times, had approached the ICJ on May 8, accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a "farcical trial" for convicting Jadhav without a "shred of evidence" following which the court had stayed his execution. While India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will pronounce its verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at 3:30pm IST on Thursday, just 10 days after India approached it demanding immediate suspension of the death sentence given to its former Navy officer by a Pakistan military court."The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by India in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan), tomorrow on Thursday 18 May 2017."A public sitting will take place at noon (3:30pm IST) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, will read the court's decision," the international court said in a release on Wednesday.During its submission to the ICJ on May 15 at a public hearing, India had demanded the immediate annulment of Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over.Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities.India is represented by its 'agent' Deepak Mittal, who is the head of the Pakistan division in the external affairs ministry and the case is argued by its lead attorney Harish Salve.It is after 18 years that the two neighbours were fighting it out at the ICJ. Last time, Pakistan had moved the ICJ seeking its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft.(With PTI inputs) In a big win for India, the International Court of Justice has stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav and has upheld Indias right to consular access to the former naval officer. Pakistan should not execute Jadhav till proceedings are on in this court, said judge Ronny Abraham, president of the court. Stay tuned for updates: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. Moazzam Ahmad Khan, head of Pakistan's delegation at the ICJ, said that what the court had pronounced was "very basic." "The court has said nothing on the merits or the maintainability of the case against Jadhav," he said. Ali also said that the stay order will not change the stand of Pakistan vis-a-vis Kulbhushan Jadhav in any manner. : Hours after the International Court of Justice stayed the execution order of a Pakistani military court in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan Foreign Office responded by saying the ICJ had "no jurisdiction in the matters of national security".Accusing India of "hiding its face", spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan will present solid evidence against Jadhav in the international court. "India desperately tried to divert the world attention by portraying the entire case from a humanitarian angle."Meanwhile, the Pakistan Attorney General, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, in a statement, said that the ICJ has suggested, by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case.Emphasising that this provision had no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the court, Ali said: "The provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the Court to have full consideration at a later hearing.""To recall, we had, in our presentation, on 15 May, proposed to the court that a final hearing is held on the merits and maintainability of the case as early as possible. We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end."However, Gopal Bagley, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, said that the ICJ decision was unanimous, favourable and unambiguous."It's a matter of great relief," he said adding that he didn't want to respond to Pakistan Attorney General's assertion that the court's verdict was not binding on anybody. However, Bagley hoped Pakistan had "read the order". "It is legally binding."The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas.The court today instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. New Delhi: In a major win for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday announced that Pakistan must make sure that it exercises every measure to ensure that Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen accused of being a spy by Pakistan, is not executed, pending the final decision of the court. Heres a look at how the entire case unfolded and how India succeeded in getting a favorable order. May 2017: India moves ICJ, which stays Jadhavs death sentence. Days later, India represented by a battery of top lawyers, including Harish Salve, presents its case at The Hague, saying that the Jadhav episode was in gross violation of the Vienna Convention. Pakistan gives counter arguments, maintaining that Jadhav was a spy and his passport was fake. ICJ rules in favour of India and stays Jadhavs execution. April 2017: A Pakistani court gives death sentence to Jadhav. An official statement says that he was tried under Section 59 of the Pakistan Act 1952 and Section 3 of Official Secret Act 1923. Soon after the verdict, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar summons Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit saying that the proceedings were farcical. Pakistan, however, says that the proceedings leading to the verdict were transparent and were based on Jahdavs confession. India, on its part, submitted a plea to Pakistan on behalf of Jadhavs mother against his sentence. They also sought visas for his family and consular access to him, which were denied. Pakistan also refuses to share Jadhavs health report, death sentence copy or the copy of the chargesheet against him. March 2017: Aziz says Jadhav wont be extradited to India. December 2016: Advisor to Pakistan PM Sartaj Aziz says Jadhavs file merely has statements and says his countrys authorities will need more evidence to prove their case against him. March 2016: Jadhav is arrested by Pakistani officials and is accused of being a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing. He is also accused of aiding separatists in Balochistan. While Pakistan says he was arrested in Saravan, Baloch leader Sarfaraz Bugti says he was picked up from Balochistan. India, on the other hand, says he was kidnapped by Pakistan in Iran while Jadhav was there for business purposes and added that he had retired from the Navy in 2002. India is denied consular access. About 20 days later, Pakistan releases a video showing Jadhav confessing to his crimes. India questions the authenticity of the video and accuses Pakistan of torturing Jadhav. Heres how the case might pan out from here on: The 40-day period within which Jadhav can appeal against his death penalty ends on May 19 which means the ICJ order comes at the right time for Jadhav in case he did not or could not file his first appeal to the appellate court. If the appellate court in Pakistan denies appeal on May 19, he may lodge a mercy petition (to the army chief) within 60 days of the decision by the appellate court by July 18. If the mercy petition is denied on July 19, he may lodge a mercy petition to the President of Pakistan within 90 days after the decision (of the army chief) on the mercy petition by October 16. I have worked on river and water conservation before I came into politics and not merely because I am a politician. And when I will leave Delhi bag and baggage, I will continue to work on the subject, he told the Lok Sabha amidst a loud applause from the Treasury Benches. Though Dave was nominated to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, he was closely associated with Gujarat and its politics. A close aide of Prime Minster Narendra Modi, he was regular visitor to Gandhinagar when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. His biggest challenge perhaps would have come in the days ahead. On approval for commercial use of genetically modified (GM) crops. Anil Madhav Dave was an environmentalist, an author, an amateur pilot, and lastly, a politician.Of all the different hats he donned seamlessly in the 60 years that he spent on this planet, Narmada and its ecology were always at the core of his work. Even as a Union minister, he yearned to remain connected with where he belonged Narmada, the river whose name means the Giver of Pleasure.During one of those rare interventions in Parliament last year, he said it in as many words.Narmada was Daves passion. The river and its surrounding habitat. Every year, he would return to it during winters the biennial River Festival he helped organise. He founded Narmada Samagra an organisation which worked for the conservation of river and its catchment area. He flew a Cessna aircraft, circumambulating the river; and traversed the entire course on a raft, 1,312 km in 19 days, to flag conservation issues.Dave did his masters in rural development and management from Indore. Associated with the RSS, he was active in student politics and participated in the Jayaprakash Narayan movement. He worked on social-political issues, but soon made Narmada and its catchment area his karmabhoomi.The first book that he authored was on the river and its journey from its origin to the Bay of Bengal Amarkantak se Amarkantak tak.Environment was his passion. For instance, pollution and encroachment on Bangalore lakes was something that he earnestly looked into soon after taking over as the minister, said a BJP leader.The RSS affiliates were up in arms against the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) for having cleared GM Mustard. Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) was livid, and had called it a complete sellout to the multinationals.Dave was not keeping well since January this year. He hardly attended the Budget session. Last week, a common friend said that Dave had recovered and would be meeting journalists soon. I also had a few questions in mind, a small interview perhaps, on the GM controversy.But all of a sudden, on Thursday morning, the news of his passing away came. "The Hague, 18 May 2017. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today indicated to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must "take all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, of Indian nationality, is not executed pending a final judgment of the Court in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan). India filed its request for the indication of provisional measures on 8 May 2017, the same day that it initiated proceedings against Pakistan in a dispute concerning alleged violations of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 with respect Jadhav, sentenced to death in Pakistan. The Court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court was composed as follows: President Abraham; Judges Owada, Cancado Trindade, Xue, Donoghue, Gaja, Sebutinde, Bhandari, Robinson, Crawford, Gevorgian; Registrar Couvreur. : India on Thursday scored a major diplomatic victory as the International Court of Justice told the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take "all measures at its disposal" to prevent the execution of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, an Indian national, pending final judgment of the Court.In its order indicating provisional measures, which was adopted unanimously, the Court also stated that the Government of Pakistan shall inform it of all measures taken in implementation of that Order. It further decided to remain seized of the matters which form the subject of the Order until it has rendered its final judgment.The Court begins by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalls that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over "disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the Vienna Convention". In this regard, the Court notes that the Parties do indeed appear to have differed, and still differ today, on the question of India's consular assistance to Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction.The Court then turns to the question whether the rights alleged by India are at least plausible. It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognised in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible.The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Judah is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case."Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order."Judge Cancado Trindade appends a separate opinion to the Order of the Court; Judge Bhandari appends a declaration to the Order of the Court. Addressing the five-judge bench led by Chief Justice JS Khehar, the counsel said, AIMPLB, the male dominated and patriarchal board, should get rid of its beliefs. Triple Talaq is a sin. Getting married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, is not the solution. Even the Parliament cannot solve this. I think the best place to solve this is the court, which is the custodian of Constitutional and fundamental rights, argued the counsel, adding that the practice is not protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. After six days of a historic hearing in the triple talaq case, the Supreme Court on Thursday concluded arguments and reserved its verdict, which is expected to come out in July.Earlier in the day, Shayara Banos Counsel Senior Advocate Amit Chadha asked All India Muslim Personal Law Board to accept that the practice is a sin.Chadhas arguments came close on the heels of the statements made by Kapil Sibal, the counsel for AIMPLB, two days ago when he defended the practice of unilateral instant divorce, saying it was a matter of faith and belief.Shayara Banos counsel also attacked the very reasoning put forward by the board.We all have debated that this practice is not part of the Quran and even the board has said that this practice is an undesirable practice. It has been declared irregular, patriarchal, and sinful by many schools of Islam, still we think it should not be touched by the court, said Chadha, adding that the remedy was only to go to court with the matter, which was the guardian of the Constitution.Article 25 will only uphold what my religion upholds. This practice is abhorrent in Islam and bad in theology and hence there is no violation," said Chadha.Chadhas statement made Justice Nariman intervene, who stated that the counsels words meant that the practice was not part of religion at all. Chadha replied in affirmative. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 Anil Madhav Dave ji will be remembered as a devoted public servant. He was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 I was with Anil Madhav Dave ji till late last evening, discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2017 Congress president Sonia Gandhi condoled the news of his death. Shocked by his sudden demise, Gandhi said adding that Dave was a soft spoken and gentle human being. He will be fondly remembered for his humble personality, she added. Gandhi also conveyed her condolences to members of Daves family as well as his admirers and supporters. Deeply shocked & saddened by demise of my colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. May God render peace to the departed soul. Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 18, 2017 Absolutely shocked to hear about Anil Daveji's demise. Soft spoken,passionate about environment, literature, culture, he was always kind. Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) May 18, 2017 Deeply shocked and saddened at the sudden demise of my dear colleague,Anil Madhav Dave ji.My sincere condolences Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) May 18, 2017 I offer my heartfelt condolences to the members of Shri Anil Dave's family. May God give them strength to bear this huge loss. 3/3 Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 18, 2017 Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on Thursday morning soon after he was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted the news on his verified account.Dave, whose interests included working for the conservation of Narmada River and being an amateur pilot, was 60 years old.He was born in Ujjain and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in his youth. He was deputed to the Bharatiya Janata Party before the Madhya Pradesh elections in 2003. He was appointed the Minister of State (MoS) independent charge of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on July 5 last year.A prolific writer, he penned nine books in Hindi that reflected his varied interests, including conservation of the Narmada River and freedom fighter Chandrasekhar Azad. His books have been translated to Marathi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Kannada. He also wrote a book in English named Beyond Copenhagen.Some of his other books are: Yes I Can, So Can We; Creation to Cremation; Rafting Through a Civilization: A Travelogue; Shatabdi ke Paanch Kaale Panne; Sambhal Ke Rehna Apne Ghar Me Chhupe Hue Gaddaron Se; Mahanayak Chandrashekhar Azad; Roti Aur Kamal ki Kahani and Samagra Gram Vikas.Dave was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and was currently in his second term in the Upper House of Parliament. Beyond party politics, Dave was a multifaceted personality. He expressed an opposition to big dams and an admiration for Tripuras CPI (M) chief minister Manik Sarkar for his simplicity.Dave was as much an activist as a politician he once walked the length of the Narmada river in the memory of Chandrasekhar Azad from its source to its mouth and flew a Cessna plane over it. As an MP he was part of several Parliamentary Committees, including Chairmanship of the Select Committee on The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, Select Committee on The Real Estate (Regulations & Development) Bill and the Select Committee on The Coal Mines (Special Provision) Bill.Daves cabinet colleagues also expressed condolences on Twitter.His smiling demeanour, pat on the back when things got rough, his encouraging words will be sorely missed (sic), Irani said. As I had predicted in my earlier tweets the ICJ decision was a foregone conclusion. We did not have to go to ICJ to begin with but we did Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) May 18, 2017 Following the verdict of the International Court of Justice, news channels and websites across the border are calling Pakistans strategy at the ICJ a mistake, saying the jurisdiction argument was weak and damaging.Dawn Newspapers website said the verdict had caused shock and disappointment in Pakistan.Retired Pakistan judge Shaiq Usmani told Dawn.com that Pakistan had shot itself in the foot.Its Pakistans mistake to have appeared there. They shouldnt have attended (the ICJ hearing). He further said that the proceedings against Jadhav will continue in Pakistan, except that he could not be executed till the ICJ gave its verdict.Politician Shireen Mazari also said that going to the ICJ was a mistake.London-based lawyer Rashid Aslam told Dawn News that Pakistan was grossly unprepared and did not utilise the 90 minutes it had to make its argument. Pakistan had 90 minutes of argument time, but we wasted 40 minutes. I was surprised why we finished our arguments in such little time. I think Khawar Qureshi didnt consume all the time that was afforeded to him.Politician Sherry Rehman, a Pakistan Peoples Party member, said that Pakistans case was weak. We based our case on jurisdiction and it proved weak. More arguments should have been made regarding espionage.Lawyer Feisal Naqvi said the issue was a question of consular access. The question is not whether he should be hung the questions are different. The question is whether he can get consular access, Naqvi told Dawn. Buy the latest look to experience #LifeAtCannes! Tint caresse Peach Blossom, La Palette Gold, True match Lumi Rose Powder, Superstar mascara pic.twitter.com/alBzzukwtQ L'Oreal Paris India (@LOrealParisIn) May 18, 2017 Looks like there is no stopping actress Deepika Padukone. The ravishing star is winning hearts at the Cannes International Film Festival 2017 one outfit at a time. And this time the gorgeous diva sported a smart and casual pink dress for her outing to the L'Oreal beauty studio and to soak in the warm sun on the mesmerising Cannes beach.The Bollywood beauty was seen hanging out at the beach with actress Elle Fanning, who is also one of the global brand ambassadors of L'Oreal Paris. While Deepika looked lovely in pink, Fanning looked pretty in a powder blue, high-neck dress.Deepika's colourful heels and decision to go without accessories, excluding her earrings, gave her look the perfect touch. Her makeup which included Tint caresse Peach Blossom, La Palette Gold, True match Lumi Rose Powder and Superstar mascara was spot on.Deepika surely is having a great time flaunting one outfit after another at the stunning resort town of Cannes. From red, lilac pink, dark purple to pink, Deepika is leaving no stone unturned in experimenting with colours and trying new look each time she makes an appearance in the beautiful French city.Take a look.After Deepika won hearts with her first red carpet appearance as L'Oreal paris brand ambassador at the Cannes Film Festival in a dazzling Marchesa gown, we cannot wait to see what she will be wearing for the red carpet later this evening. A post shared by VOGUE India (@vogueindia) on May 18, 2017 at 9:06am PDT Exquisite make up and hair Elegant outfit and with all this elan, ready to stun the red carpet again! @deepikapadukone #LifeAtCannes pic.twitter.com/SmdUtT3QvV L'Oreal Paris India (@LOrealParisIn) May 18, 2017 Deepika's Makeup decode: Lips: Color Riche Moist Mat Beige couture, Face: Lumi highlighter liquid in gold #LifeAtCannes #DeepikaAtCannes pic.twitter.com/Ol5K356rJe L'Oreal Paris India (@LOrealParisIn) May 18, 2017 A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 3:57am PDT A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 2:03am PDT A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 5:36am PDT A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 4:22am PDT A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 3:14am PDT A post shared by Deepika Padukone fan club (@deepikafans.page) on May 18, 2017 at 2:52am PDT If you thought actress Deepika Padukone's Cannes red carpet look couldn't get any better after she dazzled in a jewel toned, sheer maroon Marchesa gown on Day 1, well she just proved you wrong. The actress chose to go even more glamorous for her red carpet appearance on Day 2 of the esteemed Cannes event.Deepika who sported an emerald green Brandon Maxwell one-shoulder gown with a long train looked like a dream in the ensemble. The 31-year-old star aptly teamed her stunning outfit with heels by Chloe Gosselin and accessories by de Grisogono. Her makeup included L'Oreal's color riche moist mat beige couture for the lips, lumi highlighter liquid in gold for the face and lumi powder in gold (for highlighter), le smoky smudged in antique green eyeshadow and superstar mascara for the eyes.Deepika's high bun and statement earrings, a bracelet and risque thigh-high slit looked just perfect on her.The 31-year-old actress, who walked the Cannes red carpet in the capacity of L'Oreal Paris's global brand ambassador, is turning out to be a true style diva, pulling off some of the best outfits from her wardrobe with elan.The dazzling diva exudes charm and elegance and has the looks that could bewitch anyone.The gorgeous beauty truly looked phenomenal in her impressive garment.Deepika's fashion choices, be it her recent Met Gala 2017 satin slip gown or outfits that she has sported over all these years that she has been in the industry, have always managed to impress fashion connoisseurs. And as far as this particular look of hers is concerned, Deepika proved that no one can do style better than her!The beautiful actress is leaving no stone unturned in creating a strong style statement at Cannes and she looked nothing less than a goddess in her classy ensemble as she walked down the red carpet on Thursday. Take a look.Earlier in the day Deepika was seen flaunting her curves in a bright yellow, body-hugging, pencil-fit midi dress and she looked like a ray of sunshine in the mesmerising French resort town of Cannes.(Photo: Genesis Burson-Marsteller)For her second look on Day 2 Deepika sported a pretty pink Balenciaga dress and enjoyed her time at the L'Oreal beauty studio and had a gala time at the beautiful Cannes beach with actress Elle Fanning.We loved all of Deepika's outfits that she sported in the last two days. What your your thought on her choice of ensembles, let us know in the comments section below. New Delhi: Congress leadership is unhappy with Kapil Sibals decision to defend triple talaq on behalf of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in the Supreme Court, top party sources told News18. The senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP defended triple talaq on the grounds that it is an age-old tradition and could not be considered unconstitutional, leading to criticism on social media and other platforms. Highly placed sources in the party told News18 that the top brass was upset with Sibal for defending AIMPLB, which was in stark contrast to the partys stand on the issue. Sources said Sibals stand was an embarrassment to Congress, which came at a time when the party was trying hard to shed its appeasement tag and come across as a progressive unit. Congress has always said that the issue of triple talaq was about the basic rights of women. Sibal countering that taints Congresss image. The party high command has not approached Sibal to withdraw from the case yet. But, it is worried what his defence might do to the partys image, a source told News18. This is not the first time when Congress leaders have acted out of the partys stand on issues or worked in ways that are in contradiction to the partys policies. In 2010, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had fought on behalf of the lottery operators in Kerala, which irked the Kerala Congress since the party was fighting election in the state on its stand against the lottery mafia. Singhvi later withdrew from the case. Singhvi had also defended Rajeev Chandrashekhar against the Akrama Sakrama scheme of the Karnataka government, which allowed regularization of unauthorized construction in the state. Sibal, too, has had run-ins with the party in the past. He had, earlier this year, defended the Trinamool Congress in the Sharada scam, at a time when the Congress had just worked up its alliance with the Left ahead of the Bengal polls. Ahmed Patel, Congress supremo Sonia Gandhis political secretary, was asked to convince Sibal to drop the case. Sibal told the party that he was not going to back off since he was a lawyer too, who had to perform his professional duties, a source told News18. The Bengal Congress unit was visibly upset and threatened to boycott Sibal and not allow him to attend any official events organized by it. Its a mixed feeling. Our battery of lawyers help us fight cases like the National Herald, and yet they also embarrass us by fighting cases which are against basic rights of women, a senior Congress leader told News18. Its not only the Congress which has had to face embarrassment because of its lawyer leaders. Ram Jethmalani, for instance, fought for Kanimozhi during the high-profile 2G scam at a time when his party, the BJP, was making it a campaign issue for the 2014 polls. Jethmalani eventually left the saffron party. A lawyer-politician combination clearly hasnt looked like the order of the day in Indian politics. Science and Technology, Earth Sciences Minister #HarshVardhan to hold additional charge of Environment Ministry. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2017 Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, has been given additional charge of the Environment Ministry, following the demise of Anil Dave.Press Trust of India tweeted the news.Anil Madhav Dave, the incumbent minister of Environment, passed away this morning after he was brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi after he complained of uneasiness. He was 60 years old.Dave, an RSS activist since his college days, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2009 and renominated for a second term. He was a river conservationist, as evidenced by his travels and writings about the Narmada river.Dr. Harsh Vardhan, by contrast, was a practicing ENT surgeon before entering public life in 1993. He was elected to the Delhi Assembly that year from Krishna Nagar constituency in east Delhi and went on to retain that seat in subsequent elections. In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha election for the first time and was elected from Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi.A longtime RSS activist, Dr Harsh Vardhan was appointed as the health minister when the Narendra Modi government came into power in 2014, a post he held for 5 months. Restaurant search and discovery giant Zomato on Wednesday announced that 17 million user records were stolen from its database.In a blog post, Zomato said that account information (including name, email address and hashed password) of millions of users were compromised.As a precaution, we have reset the passwords for all affected users and logged them out of the app and website. Our team is actively scanning all possible breach vectors and closing any gaps in our environment. So far, it looks like an internal (human) security breach some employees development account got compromised, the company wrote in the blog post.Zomato assures that the hashed passwords of the users cannot be decrypted or converted back into plain text in any way. Meanwhile, it also encourages users sharing the same password across other platforms to change their passwords for complete security promise.The firm further said that payment related information on Zomato is stored separately in a highly secure PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) vault. It further asserted that no payment information or credit card detail had been stolen/leaked, adding that it was actively working to plug any more security gaps that it may find in its system.Zomato now plans to enhance its internal security measures for all user related information stored in its database. Also, the Chief Technocrat of the company, Gunjan Patidar, also the author of this blog post, assured that they are working on adding another layer of authorisation for its internal teams. This is aimed at avoiding the possibility of any future human breach. The Justice Department's appointment of Mueller as a special counsel is an acknowledgment of growing public demands to place the politically charged inquiry into the hands of an outside investigator with bipartisan support. "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability," Mueller said in a statement. The mandate extends beyond any specific Trump-Russia connection to cover "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." That language suggests Mueller could also explore whether the firing of Comey who publicly revealed the existence of the investigation to Congress in March and a conversation Comey has said he had with the president weeks earlier represented efforts to obstruct or derail the FBI's work. "By having somebody like Bob Mueller head whatever investigation assures the American people that there's no undue influence, be it here, be it at the other end of Independence Avenue or within the Justice Department or FBI," said Burr, whose committee is conducting its own investigation. As special counsel, Mueller will have all the same powers as a U.S. attorney, though he will still ultimately report to Rosenstein. Still, he is not subject to the day-to-day supervision of the Justice Department. He can keep the same investigators in place, or request new or additional staff including from outside the department. Former FBI director Robert Mueller was given sweeping power on Wednesday to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, with a broad mandate that could encompass any questionable actions of President Donald Trump's associates and possibly even the circumstances of last week's abrupt firing of James Comey.It follows weeks of questions about the Justice Department's independence from the White House and comes two months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself because of his own undisclosed Russian contacts during the campaign.In a statement released by the White House, Trump said: "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly."As special counsel, Mueller will direct an FBI counterintelligence investigation examining whether Russia coordinated with Trump campaign associates to influence the election in his behalf, and he will have authority to charge those involved in any crimes uncovered.In appointing Mueller, the Justice Department selected a seasoned law enforcement veteran who guided the FBI through the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and led its terror-fighting efforts over the next decade. A former federal prosecutor who served under presidential administrations of both parties and became director days before the attacks, Mueller was so valued that President Barack Obama asked him to stay on two years longer than his 10-year term.Lawmakers praised the announcement. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Judiciary Committee Democrat, said there was "no better person who could be asked to perform this function."Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, called the appointment a "good decision."The White House counsel was notified after the special counsel order was signed. A senior administration official described Trump's reaction to Mueller's appointment as "measured." The official said there was widespread agreement among staff that the appointment of Mueller provides Trump and his aides with the opportunity to "commit ourselves to doubling down on the agenda."The appointment seemed meant to quell mounting questions about the Justice Department's ability to independently oversee the investigation.Last week, a memo drafted by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was held up by the White House as justification for the firing of Comey, who had been leading the investigation.Then came Tuesday's revelation that Comey had written in a memo that Trump, in a February meeting, had asked him to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The White House denied that account.Rosenstein, who at his confirmation hearing would not commit to a special counsel appointment, seemed to acknowledge the public outcry. He called Mueller's selection "necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome."The public interest, he said, "requires me to place this investigation into the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command."The Justice Department said Mueller has resigned from his job at a private law firm, WilmerHale, to take the job. That firm is also home to Jamie Gorelick, who has also represented Trump's daughter, Ivanka.Another partner, Reginald Brown, is representing Paul Manafort. Manafort is Trump's former campaign chairman, and has been an important focus of the US investigation of Trump's associates and Russia.He will request a budget that includes personnel.Rosenstein appointed Mueller under a statute that was used in 1999, when John C. Danforth was appointed to investigate allegations of government wrongdoing in the siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.Danforth's investigation cost millions of dollars and included hundreds of interviews and a restaging of the final hours of the 51-day standoff with federal agents. He ultimately produced a 150-page report clearing then-Attorney General Janet Reno and other top government officials of any responsibility.A similar appointment came in 2003 when the Bush Justice Department turned to Patrick Fitzgerald, then the top federal prosecutor in Chicago, to investigate who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA officer. That appointment was made by Comey, deputy attorney general at the time. Comey gave Fitzgerald complete discretion to conduct the investigation, bolstering the special counsel's independence. CEDAR RAPIDS | Although lawmakers softened the impact of mid-year budget cuts with a slight increase for the coming fiscal year, community college need continuous support to help meet Iowas education and workforce needs, a key Democratic legislator said Wednesday. The $1.6 million increase for general funding of the states 15 community colleges begin July 1 after $4.7 million in cuts during the current budget year takes Iowa in the wrong direction if you want to grow the economy, Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said after touring industrial technology labs at Kirkwood Community College. Iowas shortage of skilled workers is holding our state economy back, Hogg said. Inadequate funding is hampering Iowas attempts to close the skills gap between the labor force and employers needs. We need to do a better job connecting Iowans to careers. Kirkwoods 17 industrial tech programs enroll about 800 students each year, according to Andrea Ewers, industrial tech program coordinator. The students are a mix of recent high school graduates, college graduates, non-traditional students and employees of local industries upgrading their skills. Enrollment is limited in many programs and Industrial Technology Dean Dan Martin said he would like to be able to hire more faculty to teach more classes. Welding is the largest industrial tech program with 85 students. Kirkwood offers classes in the morning, afternoon and evening to meet demand. Most programs run nine months to two years. Some are pre-apprenticeship programs. In nearly all cases, Ewers said, those who complete their Kirkwood program have job opportunities waiting for them. As a result of the budget cuts and limited state funding over the past decade, community college funding has increased by just 1.7 percent Kirkwood is considering raising tuition from $154 per credit hour to $162 and $5 a year after that, Ewers said. Hogg blames majority Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate for inadequate funding. Republican legislators made that problem worse this spring when they repeatedly cut community college funding, he said. Democrats understand that helping Iowans improve their skills is one of the ways we build a stronger, higher wage economy. Thats a false choice spend irresponsibly or raise taxes, according to Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock. Those are the Democratic policies Iowa voters have rejected and led to Republicans picking up six Senate seats and a 29-20-1 majority, Dix said. Senate Republicans operated the state budget like the family budget: When revenues were down, we reduced spending, he said. Citing falling state revenues, Republicans approved a fiscal 2018 budget that increased spending by $9 million to $7.269 billion. Legislative Republicans softened the community colleges cuts proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad, said Colin Tadlock, spokesman for House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake. Additionally, while most areas of government are going to see budget reductions in the next fiscal year, we made community colleges a priority and gave them an increase of $1.6 million, he said. Islamabad: Two staffers of Pakistan's Kabul embassy were detained for hours by Afghanistan's intelligence officials, prompting strong protest from Islamabad, a media report said on Thursday. The two men were in a stationery shop at a market when they were picked up by the sleuths of country's premier intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) and taken to one of their detention centres along with the embassy's official vehicle. The staffers were identified as Hassan Khanzada, visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah, staff driver, the 'Dawn' reported. Khanzada was manhandled during the detention, it said, quoting a source. The embassy approached the Afghan foreign ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Pakistan summoned Afghanistan's deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams yesterday to lodge protest over the detention. The Afghan foreign ministry, reportedly after a bit of dilly-dallying, conceded that the two had been taken into custody by the NDS, the report said. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, it said, adding that it was unclear why the staffers were detained. The incident serves another blow to the already fraught ties between the two countries. It happened amid latest efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Turkey called on Thursday for the ouster of the US diplomat who coordinates the international coalition fighting against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, accusing him of backing Syrian Kurdish militia. Washington and Ankara are bitterly at odds over US support for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, a faction that Turkey considers a front for banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists. "Brett McGurk is definitely giving support to PKK and YPG. It would be useful if this person was replaced," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the private NTV television. New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday pulled out the Vienna Convention when two of its staffers in Kabul were detained for hours by Afghanistan's intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS). The two men were picked up by NDS from a stationery shop at a market, Dawn reported. The incident comes at a time when Pakistan has refused to adhere to the Vienna Convention in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Pakistan has maintained at the International Court Justice (ICJ) that the Convention didn't apply to "spies", referring to Jadhav. The staffers detained in Kabul were identified as Hassan Khanzada, visa assistant at the embassy, and Syed Munir Shah, staff driver. Pakistan accused Afghanistan of violating Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961). It was emphasised that such incidents undermined the constructive engagement which the two countries envisaged for strengthening of bilateral ties, Dawn quoted Pakistan Foreign Office as saying. The embassy approached the Afghan foreign ministry and sought immediate release of the two staffers. Pakistan summoned Afghanistan's deputy head of mission Zardasht Shams on Wednesday to lodge protest over the detention. The Afghan foreign ministry, reportedly after a bit of dilly-dallying, conceded that the two had been taken into custody by the NDS, the report said. Khanzada and Shah were finally released after three hours, it said, adding that it was unclear why the staffers were detained. The incident serves another blow to the already fraught ties between the two countries. It happened amid latest efforts by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to mend fences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (With inputs from PTI) An alert went out at 1 p.m. Wednesday, notifying the local chapter of the American Red Cross it only had two hours to get two shelters up and ready to welcome more than 200 people. We did it in an hour and a half, said Ralph Lawson, disaster program manager at the Virginia Region of the American Red Cross. Our rule is we should have it set up by two hours, and within four hours, everybody should be able to lay their head down on a cot. The exercise event was meant to train local Red Cross volunteers and employees on how to open a shelter and prepare to respond to a disaster. We have wonderful volunteers who are trained, Lawson said. We get them to hurry up and be trained, like Hurry up, hurry up, be ready, but wait. So they dont get to put their skills to action We want to keep people active and involved. Really its about the volunteers, to be trained and ready when our community needs us. And Lynchburg has felt that need in the past. The Red Cross is known for sheltering all across the country, he said. Were fortunate we dont have [many disasters] here. Were very lucky. As a matter of fact, the last time one was open in Lynchburg was the derecho in 2012, so that was a long time ago. The June 29, 2012, derecho, a term used to describe a high-speed, long-lived wind storm, left 20 dead and millions of dollars in damages in its wake across the country, according to the National Weather Service. The storm caused a power outage in the Lynchburg region, which lasted more than 10 days in some areas, amid a heat wave, prompting the opening of shelters to help keep people cool. Lawson said the Red Cross opens independent shelters anytime more than 30 families are displaced, such as in the case of an apartment fire, which was Wednesdays scenario. Partnered with the Virginia Department of Health, Horizon Behavioral Health and the Lynchburg Animal Control Unit, the group set up shelter for 55 people at Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church at 5810 Fort Ave. and for 150 people at Chestnut Hill Baptist Church at 5225 Fort Ave. Volunteers at Quaker Memorial buzzed about, moving tables and chairs to increase the dormitory space. Lindsey Cawood, community health planner and public information officer for the Virginia Department of Health, sat nestled in a pew next to the health services area. In the event of an emergency, the Central Virginia Health District will partner with the Department of Social Services, the American Red Cross and other emergency management partners to ensure that the health of our shelter population is protected, Cawood said. The states Central Virginia Health District serves the city of Lynchburg and Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell counties. The epidemiology department would help with disease surveillance, and the environmental health department would ensure food and water safety, make sure proper sanitation practices and standards are met and provide any needed information or services related to rabies, she explained. This event is important because practice is important, she said. At the health department, we truly strive to give exemplary service to the public, and this is one of the ways we can ensure that happens. We are collaborating with partners, we are setting up an emergency shelter and in doing that, we are practicing those key collaborative components [and] giving our employees practice so that if an actual disaster emergency does happen, we are prepared, we are equipped and we all are well-versed in what were supposed to do. Michelle McCormick, executive director of the Blue Ridge chapter of the American Red Cross, said the importance of the event was in the lessons learned. We could house people right now if we had to, were definitely functioning, she said. But the point of any exercise is to train yourself to be better so this is a training exercise for us to do what we want to do the very best, and thats open a shelter and be a safe place for our community. More than 90 percent of the Red Cross workforce is made up of volunteers, Lawson said, and those volunteers practiced the drill Saturday, though no citizens were there to take part. People have a stigma about shelters, you know, Lawson said. First thing is you say, I hear a shelter is open. I dont want to go to that. Ill go somewhere else or stay with family. But these are really nice places to come, and very wonderful people work them. People shouldnt be afraid of staying in a shelter, Lawson said. The Red Cross shelters set up in Lynchburg on Wednesday afternoon offered a mobile pet shelter, food, health checkups, a dormitory, childrens play area, comfort items and more. While public safety officials practiced Wednesday, Cawood encouraged the public to have their own safety plans. The public should take their own measures to be prepared as well, Cawood said. You know, were doing what we can on this end, but the public should have their own emergency plan. They should have an emergency kit with necessary supplies and a way to reach their family members should they get divided. So there are emergency precautions that we can all take to ensure that we are prepared for a disastrous event. MASON CITY | A man who police say acted with another to scam a North Iowa woman out of nearly $11,000 by pretending to be with the IRS has been ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution. Eduardo Cruz, 41, of Grapevine, Texas, also was ordered this week to spend four days in jail for misdemeanor third-degree theft, but was given credit for four days already served. A $625 fine was suspended, but Cruz was ordered to pay a $125 surcharge. He also must pay $4,986 restitution. North Iowan swindled by men claiming to be IRS, police say MASON CITY | Two men police say scammed a North Iowa woman out of nearly $11,000 by pretendi Co-defendant Coty Lee Phillips, 22, of Eufaula, Alabama, was sentenced last month to third-degree theft and was sentenced to 85 days in jail. He also was ordered to pay $69 restitution. Posing as IRS agents, Phillips and Cruz called a North Iowa woman and threatened her with arrest if she didn't pay them money they claimed she owed the government, according to the Mason City Police Department. Assistant Cerro Gordo County Attorney William Hoekstra said the total amount of restitution ordered was less than the total amount stolen because the banks that processed the transactions were able to stop most of the transfer of the victim's funds to Phillips' account before the transaction became final. Both Cruz and Phillips originally were charged with felony second-degree theft, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of third-degree theft. When Lynchburg actor Janice Benejan learned about the Academy Center of the Arts upcoming production of A Raisin in the Sun, she knew she wanted to be one of the first in line for auditions. Benejan had performed in three previous productions of the play, the first of which was at the former Fine Arts Center in the late 90s, and she wanted to make this one her fourth. When she steps onstage and says her first line for the Academy productions opening night on Thursday, she says it will feel much like she has come full circle. I'm just happy to see we are doing productions like this where a lot of community actors can come in and become more involved in it, says Benejan. It allows black actors to showcase themselves and actually give a voice to our stories. Its so important for each of us to be able to tell our stories in order for each of us to understand each other a little better. The Academys production of Raisin is the first step in a new program that the arts organization will launch later this year. This new program, Community through Theater, aims to use the creation of theater as a bridge-building device by producing community-led performances that are reflective of the various demographics in Lynchburg, says the Academys Executive Director Geoff Kershner. Were living in divided times, I think, along a lot of lines political lines, racial lines, economic lines and we feel that theater is a great way of bringing people together in a collaborative process, he says. Lorraine Hansberrys critically-renowned play A Raisin in the Sun follows the Youngers, a black family living in Chicago as they try to better their lives in the aftermath of their patriarchs death. Faced with an incoming $10,000 insurance check, the family tries to decide what to do with the money invest it in a business, put it toward education or buy a new house, all different sides of the perceived American Dream. When it debuted on Broadway in 1959, Raisin challenged its audiences perceptions about race relations and the value of dreams while also compelling them to examine such ideas as the obstacles society places on minority communities. It just blew everybody away, especially white audiences who watched this and, for many of them, Id say most of them, had no personal experience with a black family, says the productions director Jim Ackley. In the Youngers, white audiences saw a reflection of their own lives instead of the differences many expected to see. It was a real eye-opener, says Ackley. There are many people who believe the production of Raisin in the Sun was kind of like the start of the Civil Rights movement in America. It opened the doors that needed to be opened so people could see that a lot of our stereotypes and prejudices were unfounded. Partly to add to the intensity of the experience, Ackley chose to stage his production of Raisin in the round as opposed to in a traditional proscenium arrangement. When you do a show in the round, it forces the audience to be virtually part of the action, he says. It brings a level of intensity to a performance that's not there lots of times when it's traditional proscenium. Its like youre in somebodys living room. Between acts, audiences will have a chance to view the Blue Ridge Photographic Arts Societys (BRPAS) exhibit A Dream Deferred, which hangs in the theater lobby through the month of May. The Academy has been trying to find where the activities in our facility can be working in conjunction with one another, says Kershner. Weve been looking at where we can find thematic collisions. The photography exhibit centers on the theme of deferred dreams, thematically drawn from the Langston Hughes poem Harlem, which is also the source for the title of Hansberrys play. Its not the most uplifting photography series, but thats OK. I think they are honest photographs. I think they are showing subject matters and subjects that are in distress and pain, Kershner says. Before the show, at intermission, after the show, for [audiences] to be reflecting on what it is to struggle, what it is to face obstacles, I think is a great addition to the overall experience of the show. The Academy hopes the production, which has been organized to coincide with a staged reading of Clybourne Park, will touch a wider audience than its current theater season is reaching, says Kershner. We never know what way the theater or the arts in general can touch somebodys life and make it better for them, Benejan says. When I stepped on the stage and did A Raisin in the Sun for the first time, I knew I was supposed to be there and it saved my life. I think thats what [theater] can do for people. It can save their life. Academy staging reading of 'Clybourne Park' as companion piece In addition to A Raisin in the Sun, the Academy has arranged a staged reading of Clybourne Park, a spinoff of Hansberrys 1959 play, which loosely depicts historical events in Chicago. Clybourne Park really deals with a lot of current events and issues that are really relevant in many ways to Lynchburg right now, says Academy Executive Director Geoff Kershner. Clybourne Park deals with gentrification and deals with the shifting demographics of communities and residents within communities. Lynchburg has seen an uptick in urban development, especially downtown, and with that has come changes to the population in those areas. Its complex and its not always easy to talk about, Kershner says. The play attempts to examine how we talk about race, and how we deal with race and how clumsy we really are [in our discussions]. Written in 2010 by Bruce Norris, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play centers around a house in the fictional neighborhood of Clybourne Park the same house that the Younger family moves into at the end of A Raisin in the Sun. The first act, set in 1959, deals with a couples plan to sell their home in the white, middle-class neighborhood to a black family the Youngers and their neighbors attempts to stop the sale so the community can maintain its status quo. The second act, set in 2009, sees Clybourne Park, which has become a predominantly black neighborhood over the ensuing 50 years, entering a wave of gentrification as seen through a white couple that wants to buy the Youngers home, raze it and rebuild. While gentrification and racism are central themes of the play, director Jennifer Petticolas says there is more to it than that. This play has so many themes and one of the huge themes of this play is communication, is words. Its how we use words and how we dont use words, how we dance around things, she says. It's also who's perspective, who's point of view is it? The Academy first pitched the idea of staging Clybourne Park to Petticolas before the 2016 presidential election. After the events of November, Petticolas says she wasnt sure she could still do it. All of a sudden 2017 turned into 1959, she says. No one, no one can live with rose-colored glasses on and think there is no racism because Obama became president. The racisms still there, but all of a sudden the respect was gone. Im going, I dont want to deal with it. But you have to deal with it. In order for change to take place, you have to deal with it. Even though it feels like were going backwards, in order to keep going forwards, you have to deal with it. Following the reading, Petticolas and her actors will join the audience in a talkback, what Kershner says the Academy hopes will be a constructive and eye-opening discussion on changes to Lynchburg communities and how negative aspects of these changes can be battled, as well as on race. Im hoping the community will come out and talk, Petticolas says. I want people to be able to talk and Im hoping they will be able to walk away with something more than they came with, something positive. -- Emma Schkloven Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Ghana seeks TT expertise In an exclusive interview with Business Day on May 12, Ghanas Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng, summed up the five days of high-level meetings, May 8 to 12, as having been very fruitful and extremely useful engagements. (For example), during our meeting with officials from the Ministry of Finance, we discussed matters beyond oil and gas. We went into areas of taxation, not just for the petroleum sector but for all sectors and Im confident that our two ministries would benefit from the engagements weve had. Kwarteng was accompanied by colleagues from his ministry as well as by officials from the Petroleum Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority. During their five days in TT, the delegation spoke with senior officials from the Energy Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Central Bank, the National Gas Company (NGC) Group of Companies and Republic Bank Limited (RBL). RBLs parent company, Republic Financial Holdings Limited, became the majority shareholder in HFC Bank (Ghana) in May 2015 with a 57.11 percent equity stake. One of Kwartengs first meetings was with Energy Minister, Franklin Khan, on May 8 at the ministers Portof- Spain office. In a statement issued the following day, the Energy Ministry said the Ghanaians were here to discuss best practice for revenue capture along the petroleum value chain as well as the spin -off industries, at the midstream level of the value chain that would contribute to gross domestic product (GDP). Khan was quoted as saying, We have a fairly good structure in Trinidad and Tobago and we are more than happy to share our history and experience in the energy sector with our Ghanaian counterparts. The ministry said Khan urged the delegation to secure its growing energy sector through proper succession planning, whereby young people would be properly incorporated into the energy industry. In response, Kwarteng thanked Khan for the opportunity to meet and expressed his appreciation for the guidance provided by the Energy Ministry. This is not the first time a delegation from the West African nation has visited TT. On August 23, 2016, Petrotrins president, Fitzroy Harewood, met with chairman of Ghanas Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), Ernest Benjamin Essamuah and managing director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR)/BOST, Kwame Awuah-Darko. That meeting occurred during the same week that BOST/TOR met with senior officials from NGC. The August 2016 visit was a follow-up to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys May 2016 official visit to Ghana, during which a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the TT and Ghana governments. NGC and BOST subsequently signed their own MOU in Port-of- Spain on August 24, 2016, which allows NGC to use its gas and gas pipeline expertise to the mutual benefit of NGC/TT and BOST/Ghana. Asked why he chose to visit TT last week, Kwarteng said, With the ever-increasing number of service providers in the petroleum sector, we found it necessary to have engagements with those economies who have been managing petroleum resources for a long time. TT was an obvious choice because we have had previous engagements, theres a rapport. So, we thought we should come here and get additional information on some of the issues we have to manage, such as strategies for improving revenue mobilisation. Kwarteng said revenue mobilisation would include matters such as how we collect taxes from businesses, from individuals. How to collect taxes from petroleum operators and to put in place the right systems for making it difficult for taxpayers not to comply with their obligations, (thereby) assuring that the private operators in the sector pay their dues to national coffers. He added that during their May 12 meeting with TTs Finance Ministry, discussions included a review of systems for the management of subsidies. We know subsidies was one of the issues highlighted in your countrys Mid-Year Review on Wednesday (May 10). So, we sought to understand the nature of TTs subsidies and the way you intend to manage it. Also, to share experiences from Ghana; the nature of that phenomenon in our economic management and to see what strategies are available for managing these. These were very engaging discussions and we thank the Ministry of Finance for the opportunity. Declaring that his delegation had picked up many strategies while in TT, Kwarteng told Business Day they hope to use these to reinforce the things we ourselves have been seeking to do. Most importantly, we go home with the assurance that TT and Ghana not only share historical ties, we have recognised that opportunity is fertile for economic co-operation, as we move into a more competitive global economic environment Is energy stifling the private sector? According to him 82 per cent of Trinidad and Tobago private firms were in decline. Meanwhile in the last eight years, this countrys average growth rate was -.01 per cent. Khadan said many, moreover, many in this country appeared undisturbed because they are expecting energy prices to go back up. We presume that the energy sector will recover and normalise the status quo. A status quo that is highly uncompetitive, highly uncompetitive and highly inefficient. He said however that energy prices were liable to remain depressed over the next five years. Moreover, he maintained that the role government has played in the economy has to change. Providing job opportunities, providing subsidies and social programmes targeted at various sectors of the population, support of inefficient public enterprises, just to name a few. These things can continue no longer. And this reality needs to set in quickly. Khadan said that what was needed was new ways to generate growth outside of the energy sector. Most including government turned to the private sector to fill this role, particularly when things were bad in the economy.However, Khadan argues that in its present form, the private sector is hardly able to do that. It could, if it were dynamic, employment generating, innovative and export oriented. But it is not, he said. Khadan said currently, only 14 per cent of firms were exporters, only 5 per cent of firms had an innovation department and they spend less on it than other firms across the region. He also noted that TT private sector firms spent seven times more on security. Meanwhile, senior management at private sector companies were likely to spend as much as 10 per cent of their time dealing with government bureaucracy in pushing through important works and projects. If you extrapolate that out to a year, the average firm would lose over 26 working days of senior managements time dealing with bureaucracy. As a result, Khadan said it was therefore no surprise that private sector investment is a quarter of what it is in other small economies across the Caribbean. If the countrys economy was to thrive, then private sector firms needed to urgently change its mindset concluded Khadan. What the private sector needs is a more pro-business environment characterized by incentives and disincentives toward one characterized as dynamic, innovative and export oriented. For the private sector to become that key player in the economy, it doesnt need lecturers nor to be given lectures, he said. During a panel discussion, subsequent to the presentation by Dr Khadan, participants, InvesTT chair, Moonilal Lalchan, Chamber president, Ronald Hinds, Professor Avinash Persaud and former TTMA president, Andrew Aleong, elaborated other problems that the private sector had in becoming what government and the country needed it to be. These issues included the overvalued foreign exchange rate and the challenges presented to the private sector by it, the mismatch between the supply and demand components of labour and the mistrust between the private and the public sectors. Speaking in tongues The cab driver seemed less than impressed that the journey was a mere short drop as we would say in Trinidad and Tobago, and began muttering in his native language. To compound this, he made a call, and began his terse conversation in his native language (not English). Unbeknown to this driver, I was somewhat familiar with his native tongue, and picked up that he had mentioned this is why he did not like dropping off these people. Readers who know me very well will no doubt fully appreciate how that story ended. Needless to say, there are several areas for constructive deconstruction in this scenario. The first being the matter of discrimination and labelling, and the second, being covert conversations. Covert conversations, as I choose to define it, are conversations held in the company of others, who choose with whom they wish to discuss a matter (be it you or another matter) in a language with which you may not be familiar. Have you ever been in the company of others, when for no specific reason one or two people chose to interact between themselves in a language foreign to you? When this occurs, the first thing that usually traverses the mind is that they are speaking about something that they may not want me to know about, or they are speaking about me. These thoughts and experiences can lead to many untenable scenarios for all parties involved. The other side to this experience understands the circumstances of the engagement. It may be very likely that you may be in a special circumstance, where the language that may be foreign to you is native to most guests or people at a special event. In this vein, it is perfectly understandable for the guests to interact in their native tongue. Examples of such events include diplomatic events, national commemorative events (native to the country of origin), even privately hosted events where the majority of guests may speak the same tongue. These special circumstances aside, if you are in the company of a small group at a standard social event or lime as we call it in Trinidad and Tobago, and in your presence people begin to speak in another tongue with which you may not be familiar, sends a very clear message that will be construed as being impolite and bordering on offensive. And while we do live in a global community with many various cross cultures, languages and customs, impolite behaviour crosses borders, and one should simply always attempt to understand what it would be like if the shoe were on the other foot. The other very important lesson learnt from my cabbie experience is to never underestimate anyone in any circumstance. As I mentioned, this driver perhaps felt comfortable in his assessment of me, with the logic that people like me may not be familiar with other languages, practices and principles, hence feeling comfortable enough to engage in his boorish behaviour, safely tucked away in his ignorance of what I may or may not know. It is very easy for us to make quick judgments based on our own life experiences. However, such judgments can be flawed and can lead to very intemperate circumstances. What transpired with my cab covert conversation experience? New York City may have gained one very schooled cab driver as I write. No face for mental illness Commenting on information provided by Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Vishwanath Partapsingh, Mahabir said 20 to 25 percent of the population could be afflicted with some form of mental illness. Mahabir, an Independent senator, claimed that the Mental Health Act is flawed as to how a mentally ill person is defined. He said, It is highly likely that someone is suffering a mental illness but he is not to be found muttering to himself or wandering. Based on the information provided by Partapsingh, Mahabir opined that three of the 15 people attending the hearing could have some type of mental illness. He said depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses are internal feelings and, really are not manifested in outward behaviour. Mahabir suggested the ministry launch a public campaign to educate citizens about mental illnesses. St Anns Hospital Medical Chief of Staff, Dr Hazel Ann Othello, said early detection is important but many people do not seek medical treatment because of the stigma of mental illnesses. Toco/Sangre Grande MP Glenda Jennings Smith expressed concern that the ministry could not provide information on the number of individuals who were admitted for treatment. Othello replied that while mental health officers are empowered by law to bring these people in for treatment, sometimes people disappear into the bushes when the officers come looking for them. Jennings Smith, a former police officer, was also concerned that some people use mental illness as a defence to avoid penalties when they commit certain acts. Othello replied, In our desire to treat, we must not cross certain boundaries. She explained that less than one percent of people diagnosed with mental illnesses are violent. She said because a person had a mental illness that, does not mean people should be afraid of them or be in a hospital all the time. Othello added that the vast majority of crimes committed in TT are done by people who are not mentally ill. DAbadie/OMeara MP Ancil Antoine was concerned about geriatric homes, being used as decanting centres for mentally ill patients. Antoine recalled that JSC members encountered a situation at one of these homes in north Trinidad. South West Regional Health Authority (RHA)specialist medical officer, Dr Celia Ramcharan, said efforts are being made to have people seek treatment through units at health centres as opposed to psychiatric hospitals. Othello said there are a sufficient number of general psychiatrists in the country but there is a shortage of specialists to address certain medical illnesses. We have only two people trained in child and adolescent psychiatry, she said. Othello added one of those individuals, is post retirement who continues to give her service on a part time basis. She also said, We do not have any geriatric psychiatrists in the government service. State counsel Mala Kowlessar told Mahabir she would have to check to see if mental cruelty could be a criminal offence. Mahabir noted that animal cruelty is already a criminal offence. However Kowlessar indicated that a draft Mental Health Act, with a more community based focused, is currently being worked on. In response to a question from Cumuto/ Manzanilla MP Christine Newallo Hosein, Othello said there are 25 mental health nurses that fall under the North West RHA. She said the Tobago RHA was responsible for treating with mental illness in Tobago. Othello said the current RHA system does not allow a professional from one authority to be reassigned to another in case of shortfall. Noting the Parliaments role in law-making, Mahabir suggested this is something which should be looked at in terms of continuity. TTEC looks into Straker Vlg issue Brasnell said when TTEC was made aware of the residents situation on May 11, it contacted Strake Village pensioner Oma Sandy on that same day to get details of the defective street lights which resulted in near total darkness on the street in the village at night. Repairs have been scheduled for the next available date for work in that area, which is the first week in June, Brasnell assured yesterday. Last week, residents called on TTEC to repair four defective street lights in their area. OSAGE | The president of an Osage egg processing equipment manufacturer says the company hopefully will resume production soon despite a fire caused by a lighting strike early Wednesday. Its a definite setback for the company, said Justin Enzinger, who purchased the National Poultry Equipment Co. nearly two years ago. However, all the computers and company records, including financial information and customer files, were safety removed from the office portion of the building, he said. Some of the equipment also might be salvageable, according to Enzinger. He said he will know more once the debris is removed from the building. Enzinger has been talking to the shop foreman about finding a smaller, temporary space for the business and getting some essential equipment so they can keep going. We will try to do as much as we can in this state, he said, but in the short term our production levels wont be near what we are used to. The company, which has six employees, manufacturers egg processing equipment for small and medium-sized egg producers. It has customers from all over the United States, as well as in Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe and Asia, who order parts on a daily basis, according to Enzinger. Firefighters were called to the business, located at 3290 Lancer Ave. south of Osage, at around 3 a.m., said Osage Fire Chief Kurt Angell. No one was inside the building, he said. Neighbors reported a lightning strike in the area at 1:30 a.m. "They heard a big boom," Angell said. The neighbors also said their internet service was disrupted, according to Angell. Officials believe lightning struck an internet line, found a path to the ground and hit a gas line, causing gas to burn close to the National Poultry Equipment Company's building. The burning gas heated the walls and started the fire, according to Angell. A passerby saw the gas burning and called 911, he said. The office portion of the building, which sustained some damage, according to Angell. As for the rest of the building, the roof caved in and the walls had to be torn down to get to the fire inside, but "some of the equipment might be all right," he said. No one was injured in the blaze. Firefighters remained at the scene until 7 or 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, but had to return several times due to the smoldering ruins, according to Angell. The insurance company for the business is sending an investigator to the scene, he said. Griffith: Keep a close watch The persons deported are not criminals, but they should be deemed persons of interest in that they may have information pertaining to matters of national security, whether it is aiding and abetting known terrorists and as such there whereabouts should be known at all times within the boundaries of the law. At the moment they are of no threat to our security but it would be important information to understand what their intentions were. Griffith added that while it was difficult to prevent nationals from migrating and joining terrorist organisations, such persons once identified, should be red-flagged and barred from returning to Trinidad or face jail-time upon their arrival. It is virtually impossible to stop persons from leaving Trinidad to go to other countries and participate in terrorist activities, but what should be done is that once these persons are positively identified. Griffith said that while the Ministry of National Security appeared to have the right ideas in the fight against terrorism, he lamented the absence of proper units within the Ministry to treat with the issue of domestic terrorism, adding that local law enforcement agencies were unprepared to tackle returning terrorist fighters and is concered that this may place authorities at a disadvantage to terror groups which may use Trinidad as a recruiting ground for fighters. In my tenure as the National Security Minister, I established the Special Operations Group and the Counter Terrorist Intelligence Unit (CTIU), which served to act in a way similar to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States, to deal with the issue of international terrorism and I was disheartened to learn that the Special Branch of the police service handled the interrogation and information gathering of these individuals, when they do not have the proper training or resources to do so. What I would urge is that the Minister play a more proactive role in the policy-making process and collaborate with the (Police) Commissioner in intelligence sharing. Last year 12 Trinidadian nationals were detained by security forces in Turkey as they attempted to enter Syria and were suspected of being affiliates of terrorist group ISIS. In April, the group including two children were deported to Trinidad where they were questioned about their activities and later released. There Was No Red Wave, 'That's for Darn Sure' MASON CITY | The Lime Creek Nature Center is holding a nature and outdoor activity photo contest. The contest is open to photographers of all ages. Photos may be from any time of the year that were taken at the Lime Creek Conservation Area or any other Cerro Gordo County Conservation areas. Initial submissions will only be accepted electronically via email until 11 p.m. on July 31. Send submissions to LimeCreekPhotoContest@gmail.com. No more than three entries per contestant are allowed. Email entries must include the following information: first and last name of the photographer, address, city, state, zip, phone number, email address, title of the photo, where it was taken, and age of the photographer (and grade in school) if 18 or younger. Photographers will be notified by email prior to Aug. 7 if their photo or photos have been selected for display and the second round of judging in the photo show. Ribbons and and cash awards will be given in three categories: youth grades K-8; youth grades 9-12; and adults. Call 641-423-5309 for more information. Fidget spinners, the hottest toy on the market, may also pose a serious choking risk. So says a mother in a Facebook post that's gone viral with more than 710,000 shares after her 10-year-old daughter swallowed one of the toy's weighted bearings. Kelly Rose Joniec, a Houston-area mom, had been driving home from a swim meet Saturday when her daughter Britton started to make "an odd retching noise in the back seat," she writes. When Joniec saw Britton's red face and drool in her mirror, she pulled over. After futile attempts to dislodge the piece, Joniec rushed her daughter to an urgent-care facility, which then helped arrange for an ambulance to a children's hospital, reports the New York Daily News. Fidget spinners boast nearly silent operation, but their weighted bearings, roughly the size of a quarter, must be cleaned on occasion, reports HuffPost. Britton had popped one in her mouth and it ended up lodged in her esophagus; she had to have it surgically removed on Monday, per the New York Post, but she's now doing fine. While some claim the toys help students with attention disorders, others are skeptical or at the very least annoyed, and the Daily News notes that some schools have banned them at lunch and in some classrooms. Still, versions of the toy fill the top 20 spots on the list of best-selling toys on Amazon. (See why the toy's inventor isn't making a penny off them.) The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, the New York Times reports. According to the Washington Post, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has tasked Robert Mueller with investigating any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." Mueller, a former FBI director, is authorized to prosecute any federal crimes the investigation uncovers and will have subpoena authority, USA Today reports. Mueller will answer to Rosenstein at the DOJ but have more freedom to run the investigation than would a US attorney. "I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authorities and appoint a special counsel," Rosenstein said in a statement. Rosenstein makes it clear that doesn't mean he's found evidence of criminal acts. In a statement following Rosenstein's announcement, Trump said a special counsel will only confirm what everyone already knows: there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia, the AP reports. Mueller served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, the longest term since J. Edgar Hoover. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz calls him a "great selection" with "impeccable credentials." (Read more Russia stories.) A Las Vegas police officer used a stun gun seven times and an unapproved neck hold on an unarmed man in a deadly foot chase at a casino over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday. The officer reported that he thought the man was trying to carjack a pickup truck before the officer used the stun gun and choking technique to subdue him early Sunday at The Venetian, Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said. Authorities say 40-year-old Toshii Brown shook off the effects of the stun gun. McMahill said the officer was heard on a body camera recording saying he used a "rear naked choke," a prominent mixed martial arts technique. it could take several weeks for a ruling on Brown's cause of death, the AP reports. Brown grew up in Hawaii, where records show he was released from prison in January 2016 after serving a sentence for assaulting his girlfriend. In Las Vegas, he pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor driving under the influence. Brown was a father of two children in Hawaii and lived with his mother in Las Vegas where he had a business selling shoes, hats, and clothing, according to Tynisa Braun, a cousin in Honolulu. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said there will be a public use-of-force review to air the findings of the investigation of Brown's death. (Read more Las Vegas stories.) An ex-admiral in the US Navy who served his country for nearly four decades was "tempted by parties and prostitutes" and ultimately chose "karaoke over character," US prosecutors say, and he's now been sentenced to 18 months behind bars for that choice. Reuters reports that 56-year-old Robert Gilbeau, the first active-duty admiral to be handed a conviction for a federal crime, had pleaded guilty in 2016 to lying when federal agents asked him if he'd received gifts from one "Fat Leonard"aka Leonard Francis, a foreign defense contractor in Singapore. Per a Justice Department statement, prosecutors say Gilbeau, who had a relationship with Francis that spanned two decades, was showered with fine dining experiences, stays at high-end hotels, and cash, and that the two men often partied together at karaoke bars and clubs, all on Francis' tab. In exchange, prosecutors note, Gilbeau awarded Francis lucrative contracts for services such as waste removal from US ships. Gilbeau reportedly started trashing files and documents tying him to Francis when he found out Francis and others had been arrested in 2013. In a San Diego federal courtroom on Wednesday, US District Judge Janis Sammartino told Gilbeau, "You dishonored your shipmates, the Navy, and the United States of America." The Washington Post says Gilbeau offered a shaky, "To the Navy, I want to say I am sorry." Gilbeau's attorney notes his client's Bronze Star and Purple Heart to Reuters and says: "We respectfully disagree with the court's sentencing decision." Gilbeau, now free on bond, will sign in at the Federal Bureau of Prisons on June 23. Francis, meanwhile, faces up to 25 years in prison on bribery and conspiracy charges. (Another military scandal, this one involving nude pictures.) Yet another twist in the Michael Flynn drama: President Trump's transition team knew weeks before the inauguration that Flynn was under federal investigation for links to a foreign power, but that was no obstacle to his hiring as national security adviser, sources tell the New York Times. The insiders say Flynn told the transition team's chief lawyer on Jan. 4 that he had been secretly working as a lobbyist for Turkey while advising Trump on national security issues during his campaign. He was hired in August by a Turkish businessman. Trump campaign officialsand the Justice Departmentbecame suspicious after Flynn wrote an Election Day op-ed in the Hill criticizing a foe of the Turkish government. The Justice Department investigation of Flynn's Turkey links is separate from the FBI investigation of his ties to Russia, an investigation that President Trump allegedly asked former FBI chief James Comey to drop, Slate notes. Flynn was paid more than $500,000 for his work representing Turkish interests, and McClatchy reports that just 10 days into the Trump administration, Flynn rejected a plan that would have involved Kurdish forces helping to retake Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital in Syria. The rejection, which was what Turkey wanted, halted an operation that had been months in the making. Trump revived the Raqqa plan weeks after Flynn was fired. (Flynn was warned about foreign payments years ago.) A Texas mom says her family is "going through hell" as they wait to see if a Harris County juvenile judge will label her 14-year-old son a sex offender. The seventh-grader's attorney, Joseph Gutheinz, tells the Houston Chronicle his client is being charged with aggravated sexual assault after having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend, who was in sixth grade at the time. Texas, where the age of consent is 17, has a "Romeo and Juliet" law, in which a legal defense is available for minors younger than 17 who have consensual sexas long as the two parties are within three years of age of each other. However, the law doesn't hold if one of the kids is younger than 14, even if the sex was consensual and even if, as the teen's mom says, "he loved her." "They want to put him on the [sex offender] registry with pedophiles and child molestersreally sick and dangerous people," she says. And that's the last thing we should be doing to kids caught in similar situations, Wisconsin Rep. Joel Kleefisch says, per WSAU. His state is trying to pass a bill that would deem consensual sex between kids ages 15 to 18 a misdemeanor and not require them to register as sex offenders. But even that law wouldn't help the Texas teen, and Gutheinz says "it just blows my mind" that his client could have sex with a 13-year-old just a few days younger and be in deep trouble, or be considered the victim if he had sex with an 18-year-old. "You would think the law would be more sympathetic as you go younger, because both parties are immature," he notes. Still, a Harris County Public Defender's Office lawyer says most judges look carefully at the facts of such cases and "very rarely" make teens register as sex offenders. (In Wisconsin, sex offenders may have lifelong GPS tracking.) The murder of a nun shook Baltimore in 1969. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik disappeared in November of that year before her body turned up in a field in January with blunt force trauma to the head. The murder remains unsolved, though a seven-part Netflix documentary series out Friday points the finger at Rev. A. Joseph Maskell, a counselor and chaplain at a high school where Cesnik taught. Some say he killed the 26-year-old after students told her about sexual abuse they'd suffered at Maskell's hands, reports the Baltimore Sun. Baltimore police have also explored this theory: On Feb. 28, Maskell's body was exhumed (he died in 2001) to see if his DNA matched a sample from the crime scene, per CNN. On Wednesday, police said it did not. That doesn't mean Maskell wasn't involved, only that current forensic technology can't provide a link, says a police rep. But Cesnik's former students hope Netflix's The Keepers will lead to tips, and ultimately a resolution. The series explores the power of the Catholic Church at the time, particularly over police, but centers on Jean Wehner, who claimed in 1994 that Maskell showed her Cesnik's body before it was officially discovered. By that time, Maskell had resigned and fled to Ireland as abuse allegations against him mounted, per the Sun. He was never charged with abuse, though the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore eventually paid $472,000 to 16 victims. Before his death, Maskell denied the abuse and any involvement in Cesnik's murder. (A 1970 murder case was just reopened.) Rene Lima-Marin may not be reunited with his family after all. The Colorado man freed from prison, rearrested, then ordered freed once again was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement just before he was due to walk free Wednesday and could now be deported, reports the Denver Post. The ICE said Lima-Marin, who moved from Cuba to the US when he was around 2 years old, was taken into custody "pending his removal to Cuba." It later cited a federal immigration judge's 2000 ruling that Lima-Marin be removed from the country. However, it isn't clear if Cuba will accept Lima-Marin, who could end up spending six months in ICE custody before being allowed to return home under supervision, per the Post. Lima-Marin's father says his son received legal residency but never applied for US citizenship. At a vigil outside the Aurora ICE Processing Center on Wednesday, an organizer said Lima-Marin had been trying to clear up his immigration status before he was thrown back in prison in 2014. His lawyer, however, says his status is "absolutely legal" and "everyone is completely devastated," per the AP. An immigration lawyer in talks with Lima-Marin's family is now urging Gov. John Hickenlooper to grant a pardon. Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature passed a motion urging Hickenlooper to do the same. In a statement, Hickenlooper says he hopes Lima-Marin will be reunited with his family soon, but he adds authorities are only following the law. (Read more Colorado stories.) An Islamic Shariah court in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province has sentenced two gay men to public caning for the first time, further undermining the country's moderate image after a top Christian politician was imprisoned for blasphemy. The court, whose sentencing Wednesday coincided with International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, said the men, aged 20 and 23, would each receive 85 lashes for having sexual relations, the AP reports. One of the men wept as his sentence was read out and pleaded for leniency. The couple was arrested after neighborhood vigilantes in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, suspected them of being gay and broke into their rented room to catch them having sex. International human rights groups described the treatment of the men as abusive and humiliating and called for their immediate release. "The prosecution is very harsh. The verdict is harsher," said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch. Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia allowed to practice Shariah law, which was a concession made by the national government in 2006 to end a war with separatists. Homosexuality is legal elsewhere in Indonesia, but a case before the country's top court is seeking to criminalize gay sex and sex outside marriage. (Read more Indonesia stories.) Protesters gathered on the streets of Tulsa Wednesday night after a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man whose car had stalled was acquitted of manslaughter. The jury took more than eight hours to deliver a not guilty verdict for Betty Shelby, who shot 40-year-old father of four Terence Crutcher on Sept. 16, 2016, after he walked away from her with his hands up, NBC reports. Earlier this week, the 43-year-old officer testified that she feared for her life when Crutcher reached into his vehicle. "I did everything I could to stop this," she said. "Crutcher's death is his fault." Her defense attorney said the fact PCP was found in Crutcher's system backed up her decision to treat him as a threat. Prosecutors argued that Crutcher was not aggressive toward police during the incident. Tiffany Crutcher, Crutcher's twin sister, said after the verdict that her brother was murdered and "corrupt" police tried to cover it up, the Tulsa World reports. She also criticized Shelby and other officers at the scene for failing to provide medical care in the minutes after the shooting. Around 100 protesters dispersed peacefully after marching from the courthouse to a hotel where they thought Shelby was staying, the AP reports. "When is it going to stopjust officer-related shootings?" asked Marq Lewis, organizer of civil rights group We The People Oklahoma. "When will the police change policy?" (Read more Terence Crutcher stories.) MASON CITY | Tula A. Zanios, 98, of Mason City, died Sunday, May 14, 2017, at Good Shepherd Health Center. Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, May 20, 2017, at the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, 1311 Second St. S.W. with the Rev. Joseph Mirowski officiating. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at the church. A Trisagion Prayer Service will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the church. Memorials may be directed to the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church or the Mason City Community Kitchen. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com. Stomatula Tula Ana Karrant Zanios was born prematurely, at home in Fort Smith, Arkansas, almost 99 years ago to John and Ana Karrant. The doctor predicted that she and her identical twin, Kula, would not survive a trip to the hospital, so they were placed in a drawer on the open oven door to stay warm. The twins showed their tenacity by thriving under the watchful care of four older siblings who took turns loving and helping nourish them. Tula met Tom Zanios at her familys restaurant, the Peoples Cafe, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Tom was stationed at Camp Chaffey during WWII. Nick Panos, Tulas brotherin-law, and his wife Mary met Tom in Little Rock. They told stories of Marys twin sisters and suggested Tom look them up when he got transferred to Fort Smith. After first taking Kula out, he ended up courting Tula, although we are not sure if he knew they had switched places. Tula won his heart with her Southern charm and adventuresome spirit. Later he realized he had married one, but had really got two. Tula would pack up her many suitcases and her two boys, Jamie and Tommy Jr. and board a train every summer to visit family in Arkansas or Florida. She loved eating in the dining cars with the white tablecloths, always befriending other travelers and staff. The boys had the run of the train, seeking out their own adventures. Tom Sr. would fly to join the family when they reached their destination. Toms sisters Marie and Stella took Tula under their wings when she moved to Mason City. They introduced her to the women at the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, where she endeared herself to the other Greeks with her endless energy and willingness to help with the prolific baking events. Tula and Tom were some of the first people through the door when friends or family suffered adversity. Sadly, their biggest heartache occurred in the early 70s when Tommy Jr. was diagnosed with cancer. After a long intense battle, with treatments and multiple surgeries in many states, Tommy lost his battle and his family lost a wonderful, creative son and brother. Following that tragic loss, Jamie married Nancy Smythe and they moved to Mason City in 1978. That move, followed by three grandchildren, brought joy back in Tulas life. While she never got over losing her son Tommy Jr., the joy of her Golden Treasures as she fondly called her grandchildren, brought her some of the best days of her life. She threw herself into their activities, reading at school, caring for them after school, taking them around town; she was a fully engaged Yaya. Recently, the addition of four great-grandchildren kept her young as she read them stories, sang to them and gave them love and gifts. Tula engaged with many organizations over the years; Jefferson School PTA, Womens Club, the Library, MacNider Art Museum and the womens philanthropic organizations at her church. Her strongest passion was for The Community Kitchen. She was always willing to serve, be it on the board, as a receptionist for doctor visits or on the food serving line. Her specialty was as greeter where she made everyone feel important and needed. She would wish to express a most appreciative thank you to all those who offered generous support to this cause throughout the years with their time, talent and donations to The Kitchen. They were an inspiration and it was a time of sharing. In 2000, the twins set out on a month-long bus trip to Alaska. It did not take them long to discover the microphone and from there the fun began. We did not hear much about the scenery or sites of Alaska (probably because the tour guide never got the chance to speak), but they sure did come back with stories of entertaining the other travelers. Tula and Kula had a telepathic ability to anticipate each others thoughts; they once sent each other letters that arrived on the same day one contained a question and the other had the answer. Most people never could tell them apart. The twins had fun changing places in school, on dates and even as grandmothers. Tula was the ringleader, but Kula was more than a willing participant. Tula and Kula were far more connected than just their identical features they loved being twins. Tula also had a special connection with her younger sister Christina who lived with Tula on and off for years. First Christina helped raise Jamie and Tommy Jr., then moved back to town to help with Thomas, Whitney and Parker, and finally moved in with Tula for good after Tom Sr. passed away in 1999. Tula packed a lot of energy and style into a small frame. Her dark glasses, fancy dresses, endless accessories and silver Lincoln with TJZ license plates were never hard to spot around town. Tula only knew one spot in life front and center. Whether it was in Church on Sunday, an event at NIACC or seeing a presidential candidate come through town, or being there for a friend in need, Tula always found her way to the front. As she transitioned from her home to Kentucky Ridge, then to the nursing home, Tula never lost her passion for life, positive attitude or ability to entertain friends, other residents or her caretakers. John Barron helped her maintain her social calendar after she was no longer able to drive herself and for that we will all be forever grateful. Tulas grace, compassion, style, gratefulness and unconditional love are inspirational. She warmed countless hearts and will be missed by many, but most of all by her family. May her memory be eternal. Tula was preceded in death by her parents, John and Ana Karrant, her two brothers Sam and Steve and four sisters, Anastasia (Lucile), Mary, Kula and Christina, her son Tommy Jr. and her husband Tom Sr. Living family are her son Jamie Zanios and his wife Nancy, three Golden Treasures and four great-grandchildren: Thomas, Emily, Eliza (5) and Maisie (3) Zanios of Rye, New York; Whitney Zanios Bishop, Otto (4) and Willa (4) of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; and Parker Zanios of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Arrangements: Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City, IA 50401, 641-423-0924, www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com. California's native fish are in serious trouble, a new report warns. Unless things change, nearly half of Californias salmon, steelhead, and trout species will disappear within the next 50 years and 74% within the next century, say the scientists from the University of California, Davis, in a news release. They cite an array of causes, including the broad one of climate change, but say other factors are at playincluding thirsty marijuana crops thanks to legalization, reports NPR. Chemicals used on food, wine, and marijuana crops are also polluting waterways, which become shallower as water is pumped out for irrigation. Meanwhile, dams are cutting off fish runs, per KCRA, contributing to a precipitous drop in the number of Coho salmon spawning in coastal streams over the last 75 years. Prized Chinook salmon also are at risk. The report is a follow-up to one published in 2008 that found five of 31 genetically distinct fish species in California faced extinction within five decades. That figure has now risen to 14 species, with 23 on track to vanish by 2117, says lead author Peter Moyle, who calls the report "an alarm bell." It shows "we must act now," adds a rep for conservation group California Trout, which contributed to the report. "Declining fish populations indicate degraded waters, which threaten the health and economic well-being of all Californians." What to do? The report calls for the removal of some dams, the conservation of spring-fed streams, and the restoration of flood plains and coastal marshes, which serve as key food sources, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. (Read more California stories.) Rep. Jason Chaffetz surprised the political world last month when he announced that he wouldn't run for re-election. Now the conservative from Utah apparently has another surprise: Sources tell Politico that he won't serve out his current term and will instead leave office on June 30. He's expected to make this announcement as soon as Thursday, reports the Washington Post. The move will have ramifications given that Chaffetz chairs the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the chamber's primary investigative body. In recent days, the panel had gotten aggressive in its investigation of President Trump, with Chaffetz telling the FBI to turn over any memos by former chief James Comey, including one that might get Trump into hot water. As with last month's coverage, there's no real explanation for why Chaffetz is leaving. He has said only that he wants to shift into the private sector, and Politico's sources think a spot on Fox News is a safe bet. Before Trump took office, Chaffetz had aggressively pursued investigations against Hillary Clinton and former President Obama. House Speaker Paul Ryan says Chaffetz hasn't filled him in on any pending departure, but the Salt Lake Tribune reports that it's already causing a political mess back in Utah in regard to picking a successor. (Read more Jason Chaffetz stories.) US officials say an American airstrike has hit pro-Syrian government forces in southern Syria as they were setting up fighting positions in a protected area. The officials say the strike Thursday near Tanf hit a tank and a bulldozer and forces there, but it wasn't clear if they were Syrian army troops or other pro-government allies, the AP reports. One official says the pro-regime forces had entered a so-called "de-confliction" zone without authorization and were perceived as a threat to US-allied troops there. The officials say the strike was a defensive move to protect the US allies; it wasn't clear if US forces were present. The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. The area has been a source of tension as both government forces and US-backed rebels advance there. Both the government forces and the rebels are trying to rout Islamic State militants from the area. Meanwhile, a Syria state news agency says President Bashar Assad has met with Iraq National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayad to discuss "practical" steps to improve coordination between their countries' militaries in the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border. Syrian state media and a monitoring group say at least 15 civilians were killed this week and dozens wounded in an ISIS offensive on the government-held village of Aqarab al-Safiyeh in central Syria. State news agency SANA says women and children were among the dead, and that some were beheaded. (Read more Syria stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region ROCKWELL | Twenty-five cars tumbled off the tracks when a freight train derailed near Rockwell Thursday afternoon. The cars went off the tracks in a jumbled pile about 1:10 p.m. a quarter-mile south of 190th Street No one was hurt. The scene was about three quarters of a mile west of Highway 65 near the boundary of rural Rockwell and Mason City. The Union Pacific train stopped blocking crossings at 180th and 190th streets. The Rockwell Fire Department and Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office responded to the scene. Union Pacific Spokeswoman Calli Hite said crews did not believe any hazardous materials spilled from the cars. They were still assessing the scene Thursday night. "Two derailed cars carrying liquid petroleum gas butane released vapor from a safety valve, but leaks have not been detected," Hite said via email. "These circumstances can change once we can fully assess the area." The 146-car train was on its way from St. Paul, Minnesota, to North Platte, Nebraska. It was carrying mixed freight, including sand. The cause of the incident remained under investigation Thursday night. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. New Delhi: India has finally come out of the shadow of three decades old Bofors scandal which had halted Indian Armys artillery modernisation plans. In the first modern 155mm artillery guns to be inducted by the Army since the 1980s, two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers ordered from the US will touch down in New Delhi on Thursday morning. It will be the first induction of the howitzers after the Bofors scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. The scandal had badly hit the artillery modernisation of the Indian Army. An official from BAE Systems said the first two guns will land in India ahead of the schedule over the weekend. The howitzers are being procured for the Indian Army and will be deployed along the India-China border. India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around USD 700 million. As per the deal, the first 25 guns will be bought directly from the US and the rest will be assembled in India. We continue to support the US government in integrating its weapon systems with the Indian Armys artillery modernisation programme, the official said. The arrival of the M-777 guns, which are primarily meant for the front with China, reportedly comes soon after the government also inked a Rs 4,366 crore contract with engineering conglomerate L&T for the supply of 100 self-propelled howitzers in collaboration with its South Korean technology partner Hanwha Tech Win. The 13-lakh strong Army has not inducted a single 155mm artillery gun since the Bofors scandal brought down the Rajiv Gandhi government, and derailed all plans for technology transfer and indigenous manufacture. Subsequent scandals revolving around other global artillery manufacturers, like South African Denel and Singapore Technology Kinetic's, further punched gaping holes in the Army's long-range, high-volume firepower. Interestingly, the original Swedish Bofors company is now owned by BAE Systems. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Visitors in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have been barred from carrying laptops or tablets at the American centres, starting from May 18 (Thursday). The US embassy has issued a statement that the restriction on personal electronics will apply to all models of laptops and tablets, including netbooks, Chromebooks, iPads, Kindles, and MacBooks. The reason behind the move is yet to be known. The visitors will be allowed to carry mobile phones at the centres in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. However, at the Chennai centre, all kinds of electronic devices are already banned. Moreover, there will be no facility for the visitors to store their devices, the statement added. With inputs from PTI. Also Read: White House calls Infosys plans to hire 10,000 Americans political victory for Trump For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union Minister Harsh Vardhan was on Thursday given additional charge of Environment Ministry following the demise of Environment Minister Anil Dave. Dave, a long-time RSS member best known for crafting the BJP strategy to unseat Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2003, died on Thursday. He was 60. The two-time Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh complained of uneasiness at his home this morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. The news of Dave, a bachelor, was broken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, who said he was with the minister until late last evening, discussing policy issues. Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend & a very respected colleague, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave ji. My condolences, he said in the tweet. The demise is a personal loss. Meanwhile, a senior doctor at AIIMS said, The minister (Dave) was brought to AIIMS, New Delhi at around 8.50 AM. He was brought in a state of cardiac arrest. All measures were taken to resuscitate him. He was declared dead at around 9.45 AM, he said. Sources said the body will be taken to his residence at Safdarjung road and kept there for a few hours after which it will be flown to Indore where the ministers brother lives. ALSO READ | Anil Madhav Dave, union environment minister, dies of cardiac arrest; 'personal loss', tweets PM Narendra Modi Union ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Thanwar Chand Gehlot, Harsh Vardhan and senior BJP leaders have reached AIIMS. Dave was sworn in as minister with independent charge of environment, forest and climate change last year. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009. He had a long-time association with the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the election strategy, leading to the defeat of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. President Pranab Mukherjee expressed shock at the sudden demise of the minister. Modi said Dave will be remembered as a devoted public servant who was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was saddened to learn of the demise of the minister. Dave was very active and sensitive to issues pertaining to environment. His dedication to work was highly appreciated. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the members of Anil Daves family, Singh said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also expressed grief over the demise of Dave. BJP president Amit Shah said Daves contribution to Indian politics and environment conservation was incredible. Shocked and deeply pained by the sudden demise of our senior leader Anil Madhav Dave ji. Deepest condolences to his family & friends. His organisational skills and connect with grassroots karyakartas (workers) was unparallelled. He always met me with a warm smile on his face, he said in a series of tweets. Union Law and IT Minister Ravishankar Prasad remembered Dave as a valued colleague and outstanding MP dedicated to cause of environment & sustainable development. BJP MP Anurag Thakur said Dave was a devoted and passionate environmentalist and conservationist who gave his life to public service. MoS Home Kiren Rijiju called him the perfect definition of a gentleman and good human being and added that he will forever miss his smiling character. Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan called him a noble intellectual soul. MoS Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore called him a a prolific worker and a wonderful human being. Congress vice President Rahul Gandhi too paid his tribute to the minister. V.sad to learn of the sudden demise of Union Min Anil Madhav Daveji. He worked tirelessly for Narmada conservation, he tweeted. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: UP minister Suresh Kumar Khanna on Thursday asserted in the state assembly that the Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances, was about to expose irregularities worth thousands of crores of rupees of Congress-led government in Karnataka. His response came amid allegations from opposition benches that Anurag Tiwari (36), posted as commissioner in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. It is true that the body of the officer was recovered on Wednesday. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said. The officer was found dead yesterday under mysterious circumstances on a roadside in the high-security Hazratganj area here, hardly a kilometre away from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling BJP over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high security area, thus exposing tall claims of government over law and order. SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the murder of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Also Read: 2007-batch IAS officer Anurag Tiwari found dead near Meerabai Guest House in Lucknow Khanna assured the House that a probe was on in the matter. However, dissatisfied with the reply, SP, Congress and BSP members staged a walkout from the assembly. Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead yesterday, which also happened to be his birthday. Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said the postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination, he said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Tiwaris father, however, alleged that his son was eliminated. My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered, B N Tiwari had said in Bahraich, his native place. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. MASON CITY | The threat of severe weather in Mason City on Wednesday night is now over, forecasters say. The National Weather Service in Des Moines canceled the severe thunderstorm warning for Cerro Gordo County about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, about a half-hour ahead of schedule. It was an anticlimactic end to a day that was expected to bring two more rounds of severe weather. A storm dodged the city completely early Wednesday afternoon, skirting to the east, and the system that hit around 6 p.m. fizzled out by the time it got to Mason City. Areas to Mason City's east and northeast continued to have severe weather warnings Wednesday night. Our earlier story: Update: More thunderstorms expected in North Iowa MASON CITY | Mason City skirted by heavy rain that fell just to the east Wednesday afternoon, but the forecast calls for more thunderstorms in the evening. The National Weather Service says there's an 80 percent chance of precipitation in Mason City Wednesday night. The main threat is expected to be weak, fast-moving and isolated tornadoes. The storms could have damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain. Much of the state, including North Iowa, is under a tornado watch until 7 p.m. Wednesday. Storms were moving through the Des Moines metro area as of 4:45 p.m. Check back at globegazette.com for more updates on this developing story. Our earlier story: Update: Tornado watch issued for parts of North Iowa MASON CITY | A tornado watch has been issued for much of North Iowa. The bulletin issued at 12:05 p.m. by the National Weather Service is in effect until 7 p.m. It includes Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hancock, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth and Wright Counties. Forecasters say two rounds of storms capable of producing tornadoes are expected to hit the area this afternoon. Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story. Our earlier story: Update: Car crushed, power lines knocked down in Mason City MASON CITY | Valerie Macumber parks in almost the same spot on Adams Street every night. Right at the end of the sidewalk leading to the house. On Tuesday, that spot was taken, so she parked about 20 feet away. Hours later, a big half-dead tree gave out in the storm and crashed onto the hood and windshield of her car. Roof and hood were crushed. Windshield cracked. Back window was shattered. I was ready to throw up, she said. Shed just got it back from the repair shop Tuesday afternoon. I just put in a new battery. I just put a new coil. I had the alternator replaced, she said, looking down at the crushed car. So, hundreds of dollars and nowWacko. Trees were down throughout Mason City. A big tree in Bob McGowans backyard cracked in half and fell on a power line strung across his backyard in the citys Rolling Acres neighborhood. It also hit his neighbors garage. McGowan and his wife, Beverly, found out Wednesday morning they were probably going to have to pay for all the damage themselves, because their insurance was ruling it an act of God. This wasnt what they had in mind when they planted the sapling 36 years ago. It was a handout from Pioneer Federal Savings and Loan, which gave them the tree when Bob McGowan opened a new account. On Wednesday, they werent thinking too highly of that free tree. We just had a tree removed, that big, on the other side of the yard last fall, Bob McGowan said. We took down the wrong one evidently. The McGowans were among the 718 Alliant customers in Cerro Gordo County who still didnt have power as of late Wednesday morning. Many more lost power when the storm rolled through the area around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, but in many cases service was restored around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. According to Alliants online outage map, many areas in Mason City are expected to have power back on by 1 p.m. Another round of severe storms with a similar roster of strong winds, large hail, weak tornadoes is expected to hit Mason City Wednesday afternoon. Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story. Our earlier story: Update: Storm damage reports from across North Iowa 9:30 a.m. Update MASON CITY | A strong thunderstorm blew down trees, damaged roofs and knocked out power to thousands in North Iowa late Tuesday and early Wednesday. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) logged the following damage reports for North Iowa: * Algona: 70 mph wind gusts, tree limbs down, pea-sized hail, large tree down and power outages. * Belmond: Debris blocking both directions of Highway 69. * Buffalo Center: 50 mph wind gust. * Charles City: 48 mph wind gust. * Clear Lake: 52 mph wind gust measured at the airport. * Garner: Shingles on road, trees down and branches down. * Grafton: 71 mph wind gust clocked by trained spotter. * Leland: 1-inch hail. * Mason City: tree limbs down throughout city, tree limbs across power line, tree limbs blocking road and power poles snapped. Power outages reported. * Nora Springs: Lots of trees down on west side of city. Power outages reported. * Osage: Trees blown down between Osage and Mitchell. * Wesley: 1-inch hail. Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story. Our earlier story: Power outages continue; more storms for North Iowa today 9 a.m. update: Power outages expanded Wednesday morning, affecting more than 1,000 Alliant Energy customers, and anticipated service restoration times were pushed back. The largest pocket in south Mason City was impacting more than 500 customers. Officials hope to have power back by noon. Notable incidents from Tuesday's storm included quarter-sized hail in Forest City and 71 mph winds in Grafton, according to reports to the National Weather Service. Check back at globegazette.com for more updates on this developing story. Our earlier story: Power outages linger; more storms for North Iowa today Original story: Close to 1,000 Alliant Energy power customers were without service Wednesday morning - most of those in south Mason City - after a line of thunderstorms dropped heavy rain, knocked down trees and snapped power poles. Officials expected service to be restored by mid morning. Up to 2 inches of rain fell in portions of Hancock, Cerro Gordo and Floyd counties, according to the National Weather Service. At least one-half inch fell across the rest of North Iowa. The NWS expects more storms this afternoon and evening, this time with the potential for "weak, fast-moving, isolated tornadoes." Another round of strong wind, large hail and heavy rainfall is also likely. New Delhi: The Delhi high court has refused to give directions to increase the size of statutory warning on liquor bottles and packaging. The high court said on Thursday that it is in the realm of policy making. A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice Navin Chawla, however, directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to consider the plea as a suggestion and take a firm view in this regard. "The subject matter of the writ petition and the prayers made are in the realm of policy making and it is the respondents who are best placed to examine the same and take a view. "Even otherwise, the matter complained of and the prayers made are in the nature of policy decision making which are beyond the writ jurisdiction of this court," the bench said. Read | Liquor ban along highways: Supreme Court likely to announce modification order on plea of hotels and clubs in July It disposed of the matter, saying if any action is required to be taken to mitigate the grievances pointed out in the petition, the same may be taken at earliest. The court was hearing pleas by Delhi resident Ved Pal and by an NGO Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD). They had file the plea suggesting written and pictorial warnings on liquor bottles against dangers of consuming alcohol and drunken driving. They have also sought directions to alcohol manufacturers to increase the size of the existing statutory warnings on the alcohol bottles. The petitions sought directions to the governments "to mandate all alcohol producers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, sellers, etc., nationwide to print in large font the dangers of consuming alcohol and driving". Read | Maintain distance between liquor shop, old age home, says Madras HC For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Over 100 people including patients and their relatives were evacuated after fire broke out at the store room of the multi-storey SAL Hospital in Ahmedabad on Thursday, officials said. No one was injured in the incident, they further added. Chief Fire Officer Rajesh Bhatt said that the fire was reported on Thursday evening at SAL Hospital located in Bodakdev area of the city. 27 fire tenders were rushed to the spot by the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES). "The blaze broke out in the store room of the hospital on the third floor and the smoke started spreading inside the building. Preliminary investigation has revealed that short circuit triggered the fire," Bhatt further said. "We evacuated around 100 people, including the patients, their relatives and staff members of the hospital. The fire was brought under control well before it spread further. The entire operation lasted for about two and half hours," he added. With inputs from PTI. ALSO READ: Gas leak in Delhi's Tughlaqabad: 450 girl students hospitalised, all out of danger For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a tragic mishap, two persons were killed and 50 injured on Thursday evening after a dilapidated Portuguese-era bridge collapsed at Curchorem village in Goa. The bridge caved in when the state Fire And Emergency Services personnel were rescuing a youth who had jumped into the river apparently in a suicide bid. The people gathered to watch the rescue operation which led the mishap. Around 30 people are still missing. Around 50 people had gathered on the bridge to watch the rescue operation, and all of them fell into the river as it collapsed, a police official said. Some of them managed to swim ashore, he added. Goa: Around 50 people fell of Portuguese-era Zuari footbridge. Incident happened when police was rescuing a youth who jumped off the bridge. pic.twitter.com/ZtHJSJdsg2 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 The rescue operation was in full swing. Nearly 35 people were rescued. Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar has also called Navy divers to assist in the rescue operation. Goa: Youth jumps into #Sanvordem river in suicide bid, over 50 gather to watch rescue ops & bridge caves in under weight; 2 dead, 30 missing pic.twitter.com/gfVRqH8OH1 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2017 The Fire And Emergency Services personnel started searching for others.(With PTI Inputs) Also Read | Watch Video: Mumbai-Goa highway bridge collapses; 2 dead, over 20 still missing For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a major victory for India, which had moved the UNs highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all necessary measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The ICJ said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer while noting that the circumstances of his arrest remain disputed. Heres the full text of ICJ verdict: Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan) Provisional Measures The Court indicates to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to prevent the execution of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, pending final judgment of the Court THE HAGUE, 18 May 2017. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today indicated to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that it must take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, of Indian nationality, is not executed pending a final judgment of the Court in the Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan). In its Order indicating provisional measures, which was adopted unanimously, the Court also stated that the Government of Pakistan shall inform it of all measures taken in implementation of that Order. It further decided to remain seised of the matters which form the subject of the Order until it has rendered its final judgment. History of the proceedings India filed its Request for the indication of provisional measures on 8 May 2017, the same day that it initiated proceedings against Pakistan in a dispute concerning alleged violations of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 with respect to an Indian national, Mr. Jadhav, sentenced to death in Pakistan. Reasoning of the Court The Court begins by considering whether it has jurisdiction prima facie to hear the case. It recalls that India seeks to ground its jurisdiction in Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention, which provides that the Court has jurisdiction over [d]isputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the [Vienna] Convention. In this regard, the Court notes that the Parties do indeed appear to have differed, and still differ today, on the question of Indias consular assistance to Mr. Jadhav under the Vienna Convention. It further notes that the acts alleged by India, i.e., the alleged failure by Pakistan to provide the requisite consular notifications with regard to the arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav, as well as the alleged failure to allow communication and provide access to him, appear to be capable of falling within the scope of the Convention. In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under Article I of the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral Agreement between the Parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction. The Court then turns to the question whether the rights alleged by India are at least plausible. It observes that the rights to consular notification and access between a State and its nationals, as well as the obligations of the detaining State to inform the person concerned without delay of his rights with regard to consular assistance and to allow their exercise, are recognized in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, and that India has alleged violations of this provision. In the view of the Court, therefore, it appears that the rights alleged by India are plausible. The Court then focuses on the issue of the link between the rights claimed and the provisional measures requested. It considers that the measures requested are aimed at ensuring that the rights contained in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention, are preserved. Therefore, a link exists between the rights claimed by India and the provisional measures being sought. The Court then examines whether there is a risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. It considers that the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The Court further observes that Pakistan has indicated that any execution of Mr. Jadhav would probably not take place before the month of August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case. The Court also notes that Pakistan has given no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision. In those circumstances, the Court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case. The Court concludes by indicating the following measures: Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order. The Court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seised of the matters which form the subject-matter of this Order. Composition of the Court The Court was composed as follows: President Abraham; Judges Owada, Cancado Trindade, Xue, Donoghue, Gaja, Sebutinde, Bhandari, Robinson, Crawford, Gevorgian; Registrar Couvreur. Judge Cancado Trindade appends a separate opinion to the Order of the Court; Judge Bhandari appends a declaration to the Order of the Court. Also Read: ICJ stays Jadhav's death sentence; here is what Judge Ronny said Concurring Opinion of Judge Cancado Trindade 1. In his Concurring Opinion, composed of seven parts, Judge Cancado Trindade begins by pointing out that, having concurred with his vote to the adoption of the present Order indicating Provisional Measures of Protection, there are certain aspects pertaining to the matter dealt with therein to which he attaches great importance. He feels thus obliged to append his Concurring Opinion thereto, so as to leave on the records the foundations of his own personal position thereon. He purports to address the selected points bringing them into the realm of juridical epistemology. 2. The points he proceeds to examine (part I) are: (a) rights of States and of individuals as subjects of international law; (b) presence of rights of States and of individuals together; (c) the right to information on consular assistance in the framework of the guarantees of the due process of law; (d) the fundamental (rather than plausible) human right to be protected: provisional measures as jurisdictional guarantees of a preventive character; (e) the autonomous legal regime of provisional measures of protection; and (f) the humanization of international law as manifested in the domain of consular law. 3. The present Jadhav case concerns alleged violations of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations with regard to the detention and trial of an Indian national (Mr. K.S. Jadhav), sentenced to death (on 10.04.2017) by a Court Martial in Pakistan. Keeping in mind the distinct lines of arguments advanced by the two contending parties (India and Pakistan) before the ICJ, he observes at first that the present case brings to the fore rights of States and of individuals emanating directly from international law under Article 36(1) of the 1963 Vienna Convention, as related to the U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (paras. 5-6). 4. Judge Cancado Trindade stresses that, in contemporary international law, rights of States and of individuals are indeed to be considered altogether, they cannot be dissociated from each other (para. 7). He recalls that, before the turn of the century, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights [IACtHR] delivered its pioneering Advisory Opinion no 16 on the Right to Information on Consular Assistance in the Framework of the Guarantees of the Due Process of Law (of 01.10.1999), advancing the proper hermeneutics of Article 36 (1) (b) of the 1963 Vienna Convention, reflecting the impact thereon of the corpus juris of the International Law of Human Rights (ILHR). 5. On that occasion, - he further recalls, -he appended a Concurring Opinion appended to that Advisory Opinion no 16, wherein he examined that impact, putting an end to the old monopoly of the State of the condition of being subject of rights, and demystifying the constraints of an outdated voluntarist positivism (para. 8). He then warned that those constraints had wrongly been indifferent to other areas of human knowledge, as well as to the existential time of human beings, with its obsession with the autonomy of the will of the States, and he added: It so happens that the very emergence and consolidation of the corpus juris of the ILHR are due to the reaction of the universal juridical conscience to the recurrent abuses committed against human beings, often warranted by positive law: with that, the Law came to the encounter of human beings, the ultimate titulaires of their inherent rights protected by its norms (...). In the framework of this new corpus juris, one cannot remain indifferent to the contribution of other areas of human knowledge, nor to the existential time of human - 2 -beings. (...) [T]he right to information on consular assistance (...), cannot nowadays be appreciated in the framework of exclusively inter-State relations, as contemporary legal science has come to admit that the contents and effectiveness of juridical norms accompany the evolution of time, not being independent of this latter (...). Thus, (...) Article 36 (1) (b) of the aforementioned 1963 Vienna Convention, in spite of having preceded in time the provisions of the two U.N. Covenants on Human Rights (of 1966), could no longer be dissociated from the international norms of protection of human rights concerning the guarantees of the due process of law and their evolutive interpretation (paras. 9-11). 6. Judge Cancado Trindade holds (part III) that States and individuals are subjects of contemporary international law; the crystallization of the subjective individual right to information on consular assistance bears witness of such evolution (para. 12). The ICJ itself took into account the ILHR in the case of Hostages in Tehran (Provisional Measures, Order of 15.12.1979) (paras. 12-13), and, much later, the presence of rights of States and of individuals together was acknowledged in express terms by ICJ in the case of Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Judgment of 31.03.2004 para. 40), where it stated that violations of the rights of the individual under Article 36 [of the 1963 Vienna Convention] may entail a violation of the rights of the sending State, and that violations of the rights of the latter may entail a violation of the rights of the individual (para. 14). 7. The present Jadhav case affords, in his view, yet another occasion to keep in mind the formation of an opinio juris communis to this effect (para. 16), corresponding to a new ethos of our times (para. 18). It has thus become indispensable to link, for the purpose of protection, he ponders, the right to information on consular assistance with the guarantees of the due process of law set forth in the instruments of the ILHR, bearing witness of the process of humanization of international law, as manifested in particular also in the domain of consular law nowadays (part IV). 8. Provisional measures of protection he proceeds have become true jurisdictional guarantees of a preventive character (paras. 7 and 22), safeguarding, to begin with, the fundamental and non-derogable (rather than plausible) right to life (in addition to the right to liberty and security of person, and the right to a fair trial) (part V). Judge Cancado Trindade draws attention to the importance of compliance with provisional measures of protection, as illustrated by the IACtHRs Orders in the case (of so-called mandatory death penalty) of James and Others versus Trinidad and Tobago (1998-2000), where the condemned individuals were not executed and the condemnatory sentences of the national tribunals were commuted (paras. 20-21). 9. Judge Cancado Trindade next considers the autonomous legal regime of provisional measures of protection (part VI), in its component elements, namely: the rights to be protected, the obligations proper to provisional measures of protection; the prompt determination of responsibility (in case of non-compliance), with its legal consequences; the presence of the victim (or potential victim, already at this stage), and the duty of reparations for damages (para. 24). He proceeds that, even though the proceedings in contentious case before the ICJ keep on being strictly inter-State ones (by attachment to an outdated dogma of the past), this in no way impedes that the beneficiaries of protection in given circumstances are the human beings themselves, individually or in groups, - as he pointed out also in his Dissenting Opinion in the case concerning Questions Relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or to Extradite (Order of 28.05.2009), and in his Separate Opinion in the case of Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of - 3 -the Financing of Terrorism [ICSFT] and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [CERD] (Order of 19.04.2017) (para. 25). 10. Judge Cancado Trindade comes to the last part of his Concurring Opinion addressing the ongoing historical process of the humanization of international law (part VII), manifesting itself, as in the present Jadhav case, in particular also in the domain of consular law. He recalls that, already in his earlier Concurring Opinion in the IACtHRs Advisory Opinion no 18 on the Juridical Condition and Rights of Undocumented Migrants (of 17.09.2003), he examined this process singling out the relevance, in its evolution, of fundamental principles, laying on the foundations themselves of the law of nations (le droit des gens, as foreseen by the founding fathers of the discipline), as well as of the emergence of jus cogens and the corresponding obligations erga omnes of protection, in their horizontal and vertical dimensions (para. 28). Those principles, - he added therein, form the substratum of the legal order itself, revealing the right to the Law (droit au Droit), of which are titulaires all human beings, irrespective of their statute of citizenship or any other circumstance (...). Without such principles, - which are truly prima principia, - wherefrom norms and rules emanate and wherein they find their meaning, the legal order simply is not accomplished, and ceases to exist as such (para. 29). 11. In his view, the great legacy of the juridical thinking of the second half of the XXth century (...) has been, by means of the emergence and evolution of the ILHR, the rescue of the human being as subject of the law of nations, endowed with international legal personality and capacity (para. 30). This was due he proceeds to the awakening of the universal juridical conscience, the recta ratio inherent to humanity, as the ultimate material source of the law of nations, standing well above the will of individual States (para. 30). And Judge Cancado Trindade concludes: That outlook has decisively contributed to the formation, inter alia and in particular, of an opinio juris communis as to the right of individuals, under Article 36 (1) (b) of the 1963 Vienna Convention, reflecting the ongoing process of humanization of international law, encompassing relevant aspects of consular relations. Always faithful to this humanist universal outlook, I deem it fit to advance it, once again, in the present Concurring Opinion in the Order that the ICJ has just adopted today, 15.05.2017, in the Jadhav Case. The ICJ has, after all, shown awareness that the provisional measures of protection rightly indicated by it in the present Order (resolutory point I of the dispositif) are aimed at preserving the rights of both the State and the individual concerned (...) under Article 36 (1) the 1963 Vienna Convention. The jurisprudential construction to this effect, thus, to my satisfaction, keeps on moving forward. Contemporary international tribunals have a key role to play in their common mission of realization of justice (paras. 32-33). Declaration of Judge Bhandari Judge Bhandari agrees with the decision of the Court to indicate provisional measures. However, he wishes to place on record his views concerning the requirements for indicating provisional measures in more detail. This case gives rise to questions pertaining to the basic violation of human rights through the denial of consular access during the pendency of court proceedings in Pakistan, which culminated with Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhavs death sentence. In his declaration, Judge Bhandari starts by outlining the facts pertaining to Indias Application instituting proceedings as well as to Indias Request for provisional measures. Subsequently, Judge Bhandari discusses the four requirements for the indication of provisional measures: (i) prima facie jurisdiction; (ii) plausibility; (iii) real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice; and (iv) the link between the rights claimed on the merits and the provisional measures requested. Each requirement is examined in turn. Concerning the facts of the case, Judge Bhandari underscores the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances in which Mr. Jadhav was arrested. He makes clear that the Parties do not agree as to where Mr. Jadhav was arrested, whether within or outside Pakistan. Judge Bhandari stresses the diplomatic intercourse between the Parties relating to Indias consular rights with respect to Mr. Jadhav. Despite thirteen Notes Verbales sent by India to Pakistan, Pakistan has not communicated to India either the charges against Mr. Jadhav, or the documents of the proceedings against him. He also outlines the court proceedings in order for Mr. Jadhav to obtain a revision of his death sentence or to be granted clemency. It is currently not clear whether any of these domestic remedies have been triggered by Mr. Jadhav himself, while it is known that his mother has filed, in an act of desperation, both for appeal under Section 133 (B) of the Pakistan Army Act 1952, and for clemency under Section 131 of the 1952 Act. Moreover, Judge Bhandari emphasizes that Pakistans denial of consular access has determined a situation in which India has no direct knowledge of the charges against Mr. Jadhav, as well as of the proceedings against him in the Pakistani military court. Before addressing the requirements for indicating provisional measures, Judge Bhandari analyses the role of the 2008 India-Pakistan Agreement on Consular Access. He agrees with the Court that there is nothing which prima facie suggests that the Parties, by concluding the 2008 Agreement, have limited or set aside their reciprocal obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On the contrary, the 2008 Agreement amplifies, confirms and extends the Parties reciprocal obligations relating to consular assistance, for which the Vienna Convention is a framework. Therefore, the 2008 Agreement does not exclude the Courts jurisdiction in the present case. Moreover, Judge Bhandari stresses that India did not rely on the 2008 Agreement, but only claimed the violation of the Vienna Convention. Specifically, India did not rely on the 2008 Agreement because: (i) Article 102, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Charter precludes the invocation before United Nations organs of treaties not registered with the United Nations, such as the 2008 Agreement: (ii) Article 73 of the Vienna Convention does not preclude the conclusion of treaties confirming, supplementing, amplifying or extending the provisions of the Vienna Convention itself; and (iii) Article 73 of the Vienna Convention does not allow the dilution of its provisions by means of the conclusion of subsequent consular treaties. On prima facie jurisdiction, Judge Bhandari recalls that India based the Courts jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute, read in conjunction with Article I of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention. Neither India nor Pakistan made any reservation to that Optional Protocol. He draws a parallel with LaGrand, in which the Court found to have prima facie jurisdiction based on the same legal provisions, to which both Germany and the United States of America had not made any reservations. Judge Bhandari states that the Court was right in following the previous jurisprudence in Equatorial Guinea v. France, in which it was held that, in order to find it has prima facie jurisdiction, the Court must satisfy itself that there prima facie exists a dispute between the Parties and that such a dispute prima facie falls within the scope of the treaty invoked. According to Judge Bhandari, the prima facie existence of a dispute is confirmed by the exchange between the Parties of Notes Verbales on the subject of consular access to Mr. Jadhav. Moreover, such a dispute falls within the scope of the Vienna Convention ratione materiae since the facts alleged by India all pertain to its consular rights guaranteed under the Vienna Convention, yet allegedly denied by Pakistan. With reference to plausibility, Judge Bhandari recalls the Courts test as recently restated in Ukraine v. Russia. According to Judge Bhandari, the rights claimed by India on the merits are plausible because they concern consular access to a person who is indisputably an Indian national, who has been arrested, tried and convicted in a foreign country. Therefore, it is plausible that India holds the rights it is claiming in the circumstances of the case, namely with respect to Mr. Jadhav. He recalls that the International Law Commissions commentary to the Draft Articles that became the Vienna Convention clearly stated that the right to consular assistance as provided for in Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Vienna Convention applies also in cases where a national court decision has become final. In the present case, it is possible that appeals against Mr. Jadhavs death sentence are still ongoing, and therefore rights to consular access plausibly apply. Concerning real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice, Judge Bhandari analysed the similarities between the present case and the previous death penalty cases: Breard, LaGrand and Avena. In all such cases, which involved facts comparable to the facts of Mr. Jadhavs case, the Court found that the execution of the foreign national would have irreparably prejudiced the rights of consular access claimed by the sending State on the merits. Moreover, Judge Bhandari clarified that it does not matter, for making a finding of urgency, how long a period of time is likely to elapse before Mr. Jadhav is executed. So long as there is a real risk that Mr. Jadhav would be executed before the final disposal of the case by the Court, there is urgency in the circumstances. On the link between the provisional measures requested and the rights claimed on the merits, Judge Bhandari again highlighted the continuity between the previous death penalty cases and the present case. In all such cases, the Court always indicated that the respondent State should not execute the person whose consular rights were at stake in the proceedings before the Court, and that the respondent State should inform the Court as to the measures taken in the implementation of the order. Therefore, Judge Bhandari agreed that the same provisional measures should be indicated in the present case. Judge Bhandari concludes that a clear case has been made out for the indication of provisional measures under Article 41 of the Statute. Consequently, during the pendency of the proceedings before the Court, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav shall not be executed. In addition to issues of consular relations, this is a case in which it regrettably appears, on a preliminary examination of the facts, that the basic human rights of Mr. Jadhav have been violated by not allowing India to have consular access to him after his arrest and during the pendency of the criminal proceedings against him in Pakistan. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed on Thursday Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhavs death sentence awarded by Pakistani military court over spying charges. The World Court in its verdict also asked Pakistan to provide India consular access to Jadhav saying the acts alleged by India fall in Vienna convention which guarantees the state to be given access to its citizen. The Court also asked Pakistan to inform ICJ of all the measures that were taken in the case and ensure Jadhavs safety. Also Read: ICJ's verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav case | Pakistan cant hang him till final order, Who said what Here is what Judge Ronny Abraham said: 1. Appropriate to say that Pak shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision. 2. Pak must inform ICJ of all the measures taken in this case. 3. 150 day period for clemency given by Pakistan which ends in August suggests execution can happen immediately thereafter. 4. Acts alleged by India fall in the Vienna convention which guarantees the state to be given access to its citizen. 5. Rights invoked by India under the Vienna Convention are plausible 6. The court considers it has prima facie jurisdiction in the case. 7. The circumstances of Kulbhushan Jadhav's arrest remains disputed. 8. Both India and Pakistan agree that Kulbhushan Jadhav is an Indian citizen. 9. India should have been given consular access as per Vienna convention. 10. The decision to stay Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution pending ICJ hearing is unanimous: ICJ President Also Read: ICJ order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: 'Don't execute him, India should have been given consular access as per Vienna convention' For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Hague: India scored a major diplomatic victory over Pakistan on Thursday as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) here stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. The UNs highest judicial body also asked Pakistan to take all measures to ensure that Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, was not executed till the court had delivered its final verdict on the issue. India welcomed the courts unanimous decision on Jadhav, 46, while Islamabad said it had informed the ICJ that it did not accept the courts jurisdiction in matters related to national security. I hope concerned authorities in Pakistan have heard, ICJ said that this order creates legally binding international obligation: MEA Spox pic.twitter.com/03GMPFptMB ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction with the verdict and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the order as a great relief. The two leaders thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed a battery of lawyers presenting Indias case at The Hague. ICJ President Ronny Abraham, a 63-year-old French academic and practitioner in public international law, asked Pakistan to keep the court informed of all measures taken in the implementation of the order. The 15-member bench backed Indias contention that there had been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhis requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times. The court, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhavs sentence on May 9, also noted that India and Pakistan were signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977. Jadhav would get a reprieve of at least 150 days since the sentence was announced, as Pakistan had indicated that the execution would probably not take place before August 2017. This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the court has given its final decision in the case, the court said, and asked Pakistan to ensure that courts order be followed. Also Read | Kulbhushan Jadhav row: Pakistan does not accept ICJ's jurisdiction in national security matters, says Foreign Ministry spokesperson It said, the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. The verdict came three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded the annulment of the sentence and described Pakistans trial to convict Jadhav as farcical. Pakistan, in turn, argued that Jadhav was a spy and Indias plea was misconceived. On the other hand, Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India , saying it was trying to hide its real face by taking the case to the ICJ. We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country, he was quoted as saying by a television channel. India is trying to defend a person whose actions led to killing of scores of innocent Pakistanis-Pak Foreign Ministry Spox #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/BiZ7dG4Gm8 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. The next day, the global court stayed the sentence as a provisional measure. Pakistan, which announced the sentence on Jadhav on April 10, claims its security forces arrested him from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Also Read | ICJ order in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: 'Don't execute him, India should have been given consular access as per Vienna convention' Jadhavs case is the latest flash-point in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pune: Indias first womb transplant will be performed today in Pune when doctors will transplant a mothers uterus to her 21-year-old daughter who is unable to become pregnant. The Solapur resident does not have a uterus. A team of 12 doctors at the Punes Galaxy Care Laparoscopy Institute (GCLI) will perform the procedure on her. We will start to retrieve the uterus at around 9 am from the donor and transplant it in recipient, Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, medical director, GCLI, told HT, adding further that the duration of the procedure would be eight hours. The uterus that is to be transplanted would be retrieved using a laparoscopic technique, which is expected to make the procedure less longer. The hospital will transplant another uterus on Friday on a 24-year-old woman who has Ashermans syndrome who will also receive her mothers womb. The presence of scar tissue on the uterus constitutes Ashermans syndrome. A third womb transplant will take place at the GLCI at a later stage on a woman who is suffering from cervical cancer. Preparations at the hospital for womb transplant have been going in the hospital for the last few months. The recipients underwent ovulation stimulation procedure through IVF. Post transplantation, frozen embryos would be implanted in the womb to enable conception. The first two uterus transplants will not be charged, although the cost of the transplant is about Rs 7 to 8 lakhs. ALSO READ | Premature babies? Artificial womb developed to improve their chances of survival Dr Puntambekar says that although the procedure involves the use of anti- rejection drugs also known as immune suppressants and multiple surgeries, it does not known to harm the recipient or the baby. He quoted data on kidney transplant patients who had successfully delivered babies despite being on immune suppressants for support. On successful completion of the surgery, both the recipients would be seeing in vitro fertilization techniques to conceive and have children. The transplant involves three surgeries on the recipient. Both the donor and the recipients are screened before the procedure, after which the uterus is retrieved and transplanted in the recipient. If the recipient conceives, the baby must be delivered through caesarean section and the recipient will also have to take immune suppressants life- long to prevent her body from rejecting the donor uterus. The success of the transplant can be assessed after a month when recipient will undergo sonography and other tests to ensure the fitted uterus is functioning properly or not, said Dr Puntambekar. GCLI has been granted a licence for 5 years to perform womb transplants after scrutinising and checking its facilities in April this same year. The hospital took the decision to go ahead with the transplants after they received a final approval and acceptance from the district level committee from the Sasson hospital which is government run. We now have all the approvals in place, Dr Puntambekar said. ALSO READ | Weight of baby in womb be predicted by the pregnant woman's urine sample Milann International Institute for Training and Research in Reproductive Health in Bangalore has also received the approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research for conducting womb transplantation on two women but as of now no dates have been finalized. The British medical journal the Lancet has reported that the first uterus transplantation was performed in Sweden in 2012, and the first baby was born in 2014 to the recipient. The baby was healthy though delivered prematurely through caesarean section. Dr Puntambekar said that the surgical team had studied and trained in Sweden about womb transplantation and had practiced on human cadavers in Germany and the US. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: International Court of Justice will announce its verdict on the contentious Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence case filed by India against Pakistan. The verdict is expected to be announced at 3:30 PM (IST). India had challenged the violation of Vienna Convention on Consular Access by Pakistan during the trial of former Indian Navy officer Jadhav, who has been subsequently sentenced to death by a Pak military court for alleged espionage. On Monday, India and Pakistan presented their arguments before the International Court of Justice with New Delhi demanding the immediate suspension of his death sentence and Islamabad accusing it of using the world body as a stage for political theatre through a misconceived plea. The two neighbourswho last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraftIndia took the Jadhav case to the world court, accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a farcical trial for convicting Jadhav without a shred of evidence. Read | Kulbhushan Jadhav hearing at ICJ: Indias charges and Pakistans defence in 10 points After hearing the arguments of the two sides, the court said it will issue its order on Indias request for provisional measures as soon as possible.The date on which this order will be delivered at a public sitting will be duly communicated to the parties, the court said. India demanded the immediate suspension of Jadhavs death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. However, Pakistan asserted that Jadhavs execution was not imminent, saying that a time frame of 150 days is provided for seeking clemency and in Jadhavs case even if it started on April 10, 2017, the date of his conviction, the period could extend to well beyond August, 2017. India made a forceful submission as the ICJ began hearing the case of the 46-year-old former Navy officer who was arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. Jadhav has not got the right to get proper legal assistance and the right to consular access. There is an immediate threat to him to be executed even before a decision is passed, joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Deepak Mittal told the court in his opening remarks. Representing India, lead attorney Harish Salve said, The execution of the death sentence cannot be done while this court is hearing the appeal. Else, it will be a violation of the Vienna Convention. Read | Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Know all about counsel Harish Jadhav and fees he charged India Following Indias arguments, Pakistan, in its submission before the UNs highest judicial body, said Indias application on Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities last month, was unnecessary and misconceived and must be dismissed. India has seen it fit to use the International Court of Justice as a stage for political theatre but we will not respond in kind, Mohammad Faisal of the Pakistan Foreign Office said in his opening remarks in response to Indias submissions earlier in the day. Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a spy involved in terror activities, Pakistan asserted. The ICJ also denied permission to Pakistan to play a purported confessional video of Jadhav at the public hearing in Hague. Later, after the hearings, Salve told a TV channel that the ICJ denying permission to Pakistan to play the confessional video was a setback to it. Representing Pakistan, lawyer Khawar Qureshi said India has sought to persuade this court that Pakistan intends to execute Jadhav within days. Simply by referring to the clemency process available as a right to commander Jadhav. A period of 150 days is provided for in this regard which even if (it) started on April 10, 2017, which is the date of conviction at first instance, could extend to well beyond August 2017. There is also of course the potential for the writ petition of the High Court to be invoked as we believe India must be well aware, he said.Earlier, Salve said Pakistan had denied India its 16 requests for consular access. The graver the charges, the greater the need for continued adherence of the Vienna Convention. Jadhav has been in judicial custody without any communication with his family, he said. The rights of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations are sacrosanct, Salve said, citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that recognises that no one can be arbitrarily be deprived of their lives. India had not been given the copy of the charges filed against Jadhav, Salve said. The need for a wholesome compliance is greater when charges are serious. We want appropriate legal representation for Kulbhushan Jadhav, he said. Not just had all requests for consular access fallen on deaf ears, the trial was conducted without providing Jadhav his rights. Pakistan did not even respond to Jadhavs mothers pleas to see her son, India told the court. Human rights treated as basics all over had been thrown to the wind by Pakistan and the trial had been vitiated, India argued. Though Pakistan says Jadhav has the right to appeal, two-star generals will hear his mercy plea, Salve stressed, questioning the impartiality of the process. India asserted that it wants the ICJ to annul Jadhavs death sentence and for Pakistan to ensure that no action is taken that may prejudice the rights of India or of Jadhav. On India invoking the Vienna Convention, Qureshi said, The Vienna convention article 36 which adopted to set up standards of conduct particularly concerning communications and contact with nationals of the sending state which would contribute to the development of the friendly relations among nations...the observation we made immediately is this is unlikely to apply in the context of a spy, terrorist send by a state to engage in acts of terror. Faisal, in his submission before the court, claimed that India had been unable or perhaps more accurately unwilling to provide an explanation for Jadhavs passport which has a Muslim name on it. We submit that Indias silence is telling. Indeed. India could and should have responded to a letter of request dated January 23, 2017, seeking Indias assistance to investigate the criminal activity and links with people of India which commander Jadhav has revealed, he said. Instead, India appears to have been in hyperdrive mode to brief its press that Jadhav took early retirement and was kidnapped in Iran from where he was brought to Pakistan to give a false confession presumably, Faisal alleged. Jadhav, the latest flash point in the tensions between Pakistan and India, was sentenced last month. On May 8, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On May 9, the highest court in the UN gave Jadhav a lease of life. India, in its appeal to the ICJ, had asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy. India denies that he has any connection with the government.Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province. (With Inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday asked Pakistan to grant India consular access in Kulbhushan Jadhav death penalty case. Live Updates # It's a matter of great relief for all the people of India. Order of #ICJ must be respected by the state of Pakistan: Anand Sharma, Congress # Big strategic win for India. We hope Pakistan will abide it (ICJ order): Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on ICJ order # Welcome this decision. Manner in which they (Pakistan) have conducted the trial is not the appropriate way: Kapil Sibal # It's a great vindication of India's stand and the entire Indian team at Hague deserves to be congratulated: Arun Jaitley on ICJ verdict # We hope it will help remedy egregious violations of Jadhav's rights & violations of international convention by Pak: MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay # It's essential and first step ensuring justice to Jadhav: Baglay # EAM ensured in parliament that govt ensure people of India that every necessary action would be taken to save jadhav: Gopal Baglay # This is matter of great relief and sure every Indian would have got great good relief. Kulbhushan Jadhav could not be executed : Gopal Baglay # ICJ unanimous favourable and unambiguous decision. ICJ has told pak to take all measure to ensure Jadhav not hanged till final decision taken : Gopal Baglay, spokesperson MEA # Nation is very happy. There is no evidence against #KulbhushanJadhav, trial against him is illegal, void & abusive: PP Chaudhary # India desperately tried to divert the world attention by presenting Kulbhushan's case from humanitarian angle: Pak Foreign Ministry Spokesperson # India is trying to defend a person whose actions led to killing of scores of innocent Pakistanis-Pak Foreign Ministry Spokesperson # Pakistan will present solid evidence against Kulbhushan Jadhav in the International Court: Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson # Pak does not accept ICJ's jurisdiction in national security matters, says Pak foreign ministry spokesperson # India has been 'trying to hide its real face' by taking the case of KulbhushanJadhav to ICJ: Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson # ICJ's decision to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav gives people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief: HM Rajnath Singh # PM expresses satisfaction at ICJ judgement in Jadhav case # Strongly welcome the ICJ stay on Kulbushan Jadhav's execution. Entire country is united in ensuring his safe release: Arvind Kejriwal # Comprehensive & unambiguous decision. We've managed to save K Jadhav from jaws of death: Tilak Devasher (Former Spcl Secy,Cabinet Secretariat) # GoI must use the ICJ decision as a trigger to bring #KulbhushanJadhav back. ICJ has given a favorable decision: Manish Tewari, Congress # PM speaks to EAM Sushma Swaraj, expresses satisfaction at today's order of ICJ, and the efforts of Harish Salve and the team: Sources #I compliment my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work: Sushma Swaraj # Victory of crores of Indians & the truth. I want to congratulate Govt: Dalbir Kaur (Sarabjit's sister) on ICJ verdict # I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav: Sushma Swaraj # We are grateful to Mr.Harish Salve for presenting India's case so effectively before ICJ: Sushma Swaraj # The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India: Sushma Swaraj # The entire thing was a charade, Pakistan completely blown by this decision.The decision is certainly binding for both states: AG Mukul Rohatgi # Hope that final decision also comes India's way and we can see Mr.Jadhav come back home: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi # Indian stand is victorious, congratulate all concerned persons, especially the External Affairs Ministry: AG Mukul Rohatgi # The 150 day period for clemency given by Pakistan which ends in August suggests that the execution can happen immediately thereafter: ICJ # The decision to stay KulbhushanJadhav's execution pending ICJ hearing is unanimous: ICJ President # Appropriate to say that Pak shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure KulbhushanJadhav is not executed pending final decision: ICJ # International Court of Justice stays death sentence given to KulbhushanJadhav by Pakistani military court until further notice # The circumstances of #KulbhushanJadhav's arrest remains disputed, says ICJ judge # Rights invoked by India under the Vienna Convention are plausible: ICJ Judge Ronny Abraham # India should have been given consular access as per Vienna convention: ICJ Judge Ronny Abraham # India has the right to access to its national: ICJ Judge Ronny Abraham # Acts alleged by India fall in the Vienna convention which guarantees the state to be given access to its citizen: ICJ # The circumstances of #KulbhushanJadhav's arrest remains disputed, says ICJ judge On Monday, India had presented its arguments in front of the highest judiciary body demanding an immediate suspension of the death sentence awarded to Indian citizen and former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistans military court, as the Jadhav was not allowed consular access during the trial. In its defence, Islamabad accused New Delhi of using the world body as a stage for political theatre through a misconceived plea. The two neighbourswho last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraftIndia took the Jadhav case to the world court, accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a farcical trial for convicting Jadhav without a shred of evidence. Also Read: ICJ's verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav case | Pakistan cant hang him till final order, Who said what After hearing the arguments of the two sides, the court said it will issue its order on Indias request for provisional measures as soon as possible. The date on which this order will be delivered at a public sitting will be duly communicated to the parties, the court said. India demanded the immediate suspension of Jadhavs death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at the ICJ was over. However, Pakistan asserted that Jadhavs execution was not imminent, saying that a time frame of 150 days is provided for seeking clemency and in Jadhavs case even if it started on , the date of his conviction, the period could extend to well beyond August, 2017. Following Indias arguments, Pakistan, in its submission before the UNs highest judicial body, said Indias application on Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities last month, was unnecessary and misconceived and must be dismissed. India has seen it fit to use the International Court of Justice as a stage for political theatre but we will not respond in kind, Mohammad Faisal of the Pakistan Foreign Office said in his opening remarks in response to Indias submissions earlier in the day. Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a spy involved in terror activities, Pakistan asserted. The ICJ also denied permission to Pakistan to play a purported confessional video of Jadhav at the public hearing in Hague. Read other stories here For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kolkata: President Pranab Mukherjee has termed as "unacceptable" attacks on doctors and vandalisation of hospitals by angry relatives of patients, saying they too have some responsibilities to ensure a better healthcare system. Mukherjee, however, rued that the concept of "service" was now taking the backseat in the medical profession. He urged medical professionals to bring in that "human touch", saying a smiling face can cure a thousand lives. Mukherjee was speaking on Thursday at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS), the first full-fledged healthcare institute dedicated to liver diseases in eastern India, set up by the West Bengal Liver Foundation in Sonarpur in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. Read | Resident doctors of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital call off strike after 5 days "Patients too have some responsibilities. Relatives of patients too have some responsibilities. Vandalising hospitals, beating up doctors (in case a patient dies) are not acceptable," he said. Mukherjee's comments assume significance as in March, health services in OPDs and general wards at government and municipal-run hospitals across Maharashtra were hit due to a strike by resident doctors across the state. The doctors went on a five-day protest after a series of assaults in various parts of the state on some members of the fraternity. Mukherjee also lauded the efforts of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was present at the event, to rein in private hospitals in Kolkata after complaints of exorbitant charges. In February, Banerjee met representatives of top private hospitals and nursing homes in the state and told them that they should not think of only making profit and "ignore" poor patients. A month later, the West Bengal government passed a bill aimed at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and taking steps to stop medical negligence. The state-of-the-art IILDS, spread over a four-acre plot, has a 100-bed inpatient section. It has a six-bed intensive therapy unit (ITU) and two theatres equipped to carry out all gastrointestinal and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeries inclusive of liver transplantation, besides an outpatient section. The outdoor section of the institute has been functioning since February 2016, drawing an average of 50-60 patients daily, said Partha S Mukherjee, project director and chief functionary of the West Bengal Liver Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation. This is the first institute in eastern India dedicated to liver and digestive sciences, he said, adding that the other two such facilities are in Delhi and Hyderabad. The institute will be a boon for people suffering from liver diseases, which claim an estimated 2,00,000 lives every year in India. The hospital aims at providing the best care to the people at a cost 30-40 per cent less than what is being charged by other hospitals now, Mukherjee said. Earlier, the president was received at the airport by state minister Purnendu Basu, the chief secretary and the DGP. Banerjee, who had been in Delhi, accompanied Mukherjee to Kolkata. Mukherjee is on a two-day visit to West Bengal. He will also receive the first copy of a book, titled 'Metaphysics, Morals and Politics', from Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former principal of the erstwhile Presidency College, Kolkata. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Reema Lagoo, who became a household name in 90's with her roles in serials like 'Tu Tu Main Main' and 'Shrimaan Shrimati' passed away at the age of 59 due to a cardiac arrest. The time of veteran actress' demise was 3 AM on Thursday. Lagoo complained of chest pain on Wednesday night and was rushed to Kokilaben hospital, a hospital official said. "We will issue a health report later in the day, after consulting with her family," hospital's Executive Director Ram Naraian told PTI. Lagoo's son-in-law Vinay Waikul said, "She was complaining of chest pain so we took her to the hospital around 1 AM. She passed away due to a heart attack around 3.15 AM. She was perfectly fine and had no health issues...so it is really shocking for all us that she is no more with us." She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, who is also a theatre and film actress and theatre director. Lagoo has worked in superhit films like "Maine PyarKiya", "Saajan", "Vaastav, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" and, "Hum Saath-Saath Hain" among others. Her acting career spanned over four decades and she was last seen in the television show "Naamkaran", aired on Star Plus. Reema has been seen and noticed a discernible change in the portrayal of mothers on the big screen. In movies like 'Hum Aapke Ke Hain Kaun' or 'Maine Pyar Kiya', the role of a mother. She has the unique record of playing to all the top 3 Khans of the industry Salman, Aamir and Shahrukh. Most Suraj Barjatya films featured her as a doting mother in Hum Apke Hain Kaun, Maine Pyar Kiya and several others. The actress was born on May 18 in 1958 and appeared in Marathi, Hindi films and television shows, serving the industry for nearly four decades. Also Read: 'Dangal' in China: Aamir Khan starrer beats Hollywood films to top box office With PTI Input For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted on Thursday to probe the death of IAS officer Anurag Tiwari. The issue generated heat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for the second consecutive day. The five-member SIT headed by Circle Officer Hazratganj to probe the young Karnataka cadre officer's death has been asked to submit its report within 72 hours, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deepak Kumar told PTI. On allegations by family members of the deceased that it was a case of murder, the SSP said they have not given any application for registration of an FIR yet. "They (family members) told us that Anurag was not allowed leave by seniors in Karnataka but the police is probing the matter professionally, looking at all the angles," Kumar said. Tiwari was found dead on Wednesday under mysterious circumstances on a roadside in the high-security Hazratganj area here, hardly a kilometre away from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He was cremated on Thursday at his native place in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, where large number of locals and bureaucrats were also present. As opposition members raised the matter vociferously in the Assembly, the government informed the House that the deceased was about to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees of the Congress-led government in Karnataka. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna's response came amid allegations from the opposition benches that Anurag (36), posted as Commissioner in the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in Bengaluru, was murdered. "It is true that the body of the officer was recovered yesterday. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of four doctors and as the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, his viscera was preserved," he said. The opposition members tried to corner the ruling BJP over the law and order situation soon after the House met for the day. Also Rad: Deceased IAS officer Anurag Tiwari was to expose big scam in Karnataka, says UP minister The matter was raised by the Samajwadi Party during Question Hour with its member Nitin Agarwal alleging that the IAS officer was murdered in the high-security area, thus "exposing tall claims of government over law and order." The SP members also jumped into the well of the House to raise the matter. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit, however, said the matter could not be raised during Question Hour and asked the members to return to their seats. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury said the "murder" of the IAS officer in VIP area was a serious matter. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Khanna informed the House that a probe was already on. However, dissatisfied with the reply, the members of SP, Congress and BSP staged a walkout from the assembly. The issue figured in the House again during discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor for his address to the joint sitting of the legislature. Leader of BSP Legislature Party Lalji Verma slammed the Yogi Adityanath government on the law and order front. "What is the plan for controlling crime...an IAS officer's body has been recovered and a film-style loot takes place in Mathura...," he said, stressing that incidents of crime have increased in the state ever since the present government came to power in March this year. Anurag, a 2007-batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. He was in his sleepwear when he was found dead on Wednesday, which also happened to be his birthday. The SSP said that the postmortem was carried out by a panel of four doctors. The cause of the death appeared to be asphyxia. "Hence, viscera and blood samples have been preserved for clinical analysis and the heart for histopathological examination," Kumar said. The samples have been sent to a forensic laboratory to find the exact cause of the death. Anurag's father B N Tiwari, however, alleged that his son was eliminated and his brother, Mayank demanded a CBI probe into the matter. "My son was very honest. Corrupt officers did not like him. They must have somehow got him murdered," he had said. Also Read: 2007-batch IAS officer Anurag Tiwari found dead near Meerabai Guest House in Lucknow For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Supreme Court on Thursday heared final the pleas related triple talaq on sixth and last day. After Thursdays hearings, the apex court reserved the judgement and is expected to announce it on a later date. Here are the highlights from the proceedings: #1:55 PM: Supreme Court reserves order in triple talaq case #12:05 PM: Lawyer Amit Chadha, appearing for the main petitioner, Saira Bano tells SC 'In my opinion, Triple Talaq is a sin and is between me & my maker' #12:01 PM: Lawyer Amit Chadha, appearing for main petitioner, Saira Bano arguing before the five-judge Constitution bench of SC On the fifth day of the hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala, the Centre told SC that triple talaq is neither integral to Islam nor a majority versus minority issue but rather an intra-community tussle between Muslim men and deprived women. The contentious issue is being heard by a five-judge bench comprising members of different religious communities including Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim. The bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, asked the Centre as to why it did not legislate to regulate marriages and divorce among Muslims. Read | Triple talaq not integral to Islam, it is intra-community tussle, Centre tells Supreme Court You (Centre) said if court quashes triple talaq then you will make a law but why the government did not make a law for last 60 years? the bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, asked. Rohatgi replied that the hallmark of a secular court was to reform without waiting for a legislation, when such matters come to it. I will do what I have to do but the question is what will you (court) do? I have given statement on instruction. I speak for the government and cant speak for parliament, he said reiterating that the top court was guardian of fundamental rights and has to see whether there was any violation of such rights. Earlier during the day, the bench asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) whether a woman can be given an option of saying no to triple talaq at the time of execution of nikahnama (marriage contract). Can it be made possible to give an option to a wife that she can say that she was agreeable to or not agreeable to it (triple talaq)? Is it possible to pass a resolution to all qazis to include this condition (giving right to woman to say no to triple talaq) in nikahnama? Give an option to wife to say no to triple talaq, the bench said. Former Union minister and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing the AIMPLB, said that he will respond to after talking to all the board members. The court can fill up the void by judicial pronouncements if there is no law on a particular issue, Rohatgi said, adding the guidelines on sexual harassment at work place were framed by it in the Vishakha case. Read | Centre to bring a new law in case all forms of divorce including Triple Talaq struck down Rohatgi referred to practises sati, infanticide, devdasi and untouchability among Hindus and said that they have been done away with. Did courts do it? These were abolished by legislations, the bench asked.Then why do the court goes into issues like Vishaka. The court cant say that it is helpless and it cannot step in. It is the guardian of fundamental right, Rohatgi replied. He said that India is secular country with a secular constitution which has kept core of all religions intact but they are subject to fundamental rights. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The WannaCry ransomware cyber attack which has wreaked havoc across the security networks of millions of computers worldwide, has severely impacted computer systems in establishments across India too. The dreaded virus which has rapidly spread its clutches across the global cyberspace over the last week has left the best of tech-experts found wanting to find a solution to the menace. The computer systems at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), one of the richest Hindu shrines in the world were the latest casualty of this dreaded virus attack, which has made the safety IT networks look vulnerable. The ransomware virus breached through the security of 30 computers at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Wednesday. TTD officials said that 30 systems, which were running on old version of operating system, were affected. According to official sources, as many as 30 computer systems were found to be affected by the virus. However, all these systems belong to the administration wing of TTD and were attended to by the engineers of the IT department immediately, TTD official spokesman T Ravi told Hindustan Times. He said there was no impact on the hardware or software related to the pilgrim services of the TTD, including online booking for darshan, accommodation, prasadam and offerings to the Lord. When IT wing noticed WannaCry in some computers, it immediately disconnected the systems. Officials said that they have taken all the measures including disabling the virus, which breaks the firewall and corrupts the systems."We have also loaded patches released by Microsoft for further protection of all the systems as advisories from agencies have said that even computers with the latest software may be affected," said officials. Also Read: After WannaCry ransomware, Adylkuzz Cryptocurrency spreads, generates digital cash from infected machines There were further reports that at least 20 computer systems in Andhra Pradesh secretariat in Amaravati were affected by ransomware attack. Blocks 4 and 5, mostly in the Revenue department, were hit by the virus on Wednesday. More than 48,000 attempts of ransomware cyber attack were witnessed in India, with West Bengal being the most hit by WannaCry, a cyber-security firm has said. Quick Heal Technologies has "detected over 48,000 MS-17-010 Shadow Broker exploit hits responsible for 'WannaCry ransomware' outbreak in India", the Pune-based company said in a statement. Zomato on Thursday admitted to a major security breach, where more than 17 million user records were stolen from its database. While disclosing the attack in a blog post, the company assured users that all payment data is stored separately from the stolen data, and that no payment information or credit card data has been stolen. "Our observation is that the attack is not focused towards any particular industry but it is widely spread across industries especially those organisations which are online and connected," Quick Heal Technologies' managing director Sanjay Katkar said. 60 per cent attempts of ransomware were targeted at enterprises, while 40 per cent on individual customers, the company said. Top five cities hit by WannaCry ransomware are Kolkata followed by Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Pune and Mumbai, while the top five states with maximum detections are West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, NCR (Delhi), and Odisha, it said. According to the company, it "successfully detected" the ransomware activity and "cleaned the malicious file responsible for file encryption from all the attacked systems". Also Read: Ransomware: Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai among top 5 cities hit by WannaCry; more than 48,000 attempts in India, says Quick Heal New Delhi: Zomato on Thursday admitted to a major security breach, where more than 17 million user records were stolen from its database. While disclosing the attack in a blog post, the company assured users that all payment data is stored separately from the stolen data, and that no payment information or credit card data has been stolen. According to Hackeread.com, a user by the name of "nclay" claimed to have hacked Zomato and is ready to sell data pertaining to 17 million registered users on a popular dark web marketplace. This is not the first time that Zomato has been targeted in a hacking attack. Reports claim that in 2015, the company was hacked by a white hat hacker who reported the details to Zomato. ALSO READ: Ransomware: WannaCry cyber attack may attack Indian banking system soon, says expert Zomato has claimed that it has reset passwords for all affected users, apart from logging them out of the app and website. According to Zomato, it is now investigating the breach to close gaps, and it noted that it seemed more of an internal security breach. The company doubts that either the account of an employee has been stolen, or these accounts were stolen by an employee. Although Zomato has said that it will actively work to improve it's security system, the breach has definitely left people bothered. The Zomato data breach comes on a wave of security breaches that have hit both private and government parties. Earlier IN 2017, the McDonalds India app was found to have potentially leaked the personal data of nearly 2.2 million users. READ: No substantial impact of WannaCry cyber attack on Indian IT system: Govt New Delhi: KalamSat, named after Indias nuclear scientist and former President, APJ Abdul Kalam, is the smallest satellite in the world that NASA plans to launch on June 21. The credit for creating this record-breaking satellite goes to a bright Indian student named Rifath Sharook, who is just 18-years-old. The Indian teenager, who belongs to Tamil Nadus Pallapatti, has made India proud by creating the smallest and lightest satellite in the world for USs National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The 18-year-old will break a global space record when NASA will launch the satellite that surprisingly weighs just 64 grams. It will be a proud moment for India on June 21 when a NASA sounding rocket will carry the KalamSat from Wallops Island, a NASA facility. History will be scripted when the teens experiment will be carried out by NASA for the first time. Rifath says the satellite will be a sub-orbital flight and the mission span will be 240 minutes post launch. The little satellite will operate for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space, he said. "The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre," Rifath told TOI. Rifath said he participated in a competition jointly organised by NASA and an organisation called 'I Doodle Learning' - Cubes in Space' - and his satellite was selected. The main challenge in the competition was to develop an experiment to be sent to space that fits into a four-metre cube weighing exactly 64 grams. "We did a lot of research on different cube satellites all over the world and found ours was the lightest," he was quoted as saying by TOI. Rifath said reinforced carbon fibre polymer is mainly used to create the satellite. "We obtained some of the components from abroad and some are indigenous," he said. ALSO READ | KalamSat: World's smallest satellite made by Indian student for NASA to be launched next month Rifaths project is the first to be manufactured via 3D printing. Speaking about his experience, Rifath added: We designed it completely from scratch. It will have a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation and the magnetosphere of the earth. The main challenge was to design an experiment to be flown to space which would fit into a four-metre cube weighing 64 grammes. An organisation called Space Kidz India funded the satellite, said Rifath. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Google on Wednesday announced two new features for iPhone users - Google Assistant and Google Lens. iPhone users can now utilise Google Assistant as a separate iOS app in order to handle complicated tasks. Although iPhone comes with Siri, Apples own digital assistant, Google Assistant is required to take care of more complicated tasks. Features and characteristics of Google Assistant: 1. Users can make quick phone calls 2. Put any query to Google Assistant 3. One can use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps 4. Users have the facility to send emails, SMS and iMessages 5. You can also set reminders and calendar events with the help of Google Assistant 6. Play any sort of music on Spotify App 7. One can interact with Assistant as if having a conversation However, Assistant cant be accessed from the home button and neither can it set alarms. The Assistant debuted in 2016 on Googles own hardware, and the company has gradually extended the tool to devices from other manufacturers running on its Android operating system. ALSO READ: Google announces digital assistant to iPhone, unveils Google Lens As far as iPhone users are concerned, they now have the choice of using Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa. The iOS Google Assistant can be downloaded from the App store and offers a good challenge to Siri. Earlier on Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had explained the company's progress with the Google Assistant. He had also announced another feature called Google Lens which can recognise objects by simply pointing smartphones camera at them. Google Lens is a powerful, AI-driven visual search app which can also enter wi-fi passwords simply by pointing the camera at the password text. Google Lens is a set of vision-based computing capabilities that allows your smartphone to understand what's going on in a photo, video or live feed. For instance, if point your phone at a flower and Google Lens will tell you, on the screen, which type of flower it is; or, aim the camera at a restaurant sign to see reviews and other information pop up. READ: Microsoft launches new selfie app for iPhone users Another exceptional feature of Google Lens is the ability to point your phone at a router's setting sticker and have it automatically connect to that network. In conjunction with Assistant, Google Lens also allows users to point their phone at a sign for a concert and automatically add that event to their calendars, or even purchase tickets right then and there. The Lens can also be integrated into Google Assistant. Through a new button in the Assistant app, users will be able to launch Lens and insert a photo into the conversation with the Assistant, where it can process the data the photo contains. New Delhi: One killed while 22 others received major injuries after a car ploughed into a group of pedestrians at New York's Times Square Wednesday, causing chaos at one of the most popular tourist spots. The police managed to arrest the accused with the help of civilians. The accused was reportedly found in the inabriated state, police said. According to preliminary information, at 1155 hrs a 2009 Honda Accord mounted the sidewalk at W.42St & 7th Avenue in which 1 person has been killed and 22 others received serious injuries.A The man who was driving the car, Richard Rojas, was a former US navy officer and had been arrested twice in the past over drink and driving charges. The 22 people injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals and NYPD detectives from multiple units are investigating the incident, said New York Police. There is no indication at this point that the incident in #TimesSquare is related to terrorism. More information to follow. a NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 18, 2017 More information will be provided when it becomes available.For updates check here & also https://t.co/U2lq25A6GN. #TimesSquare a NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 18, 2017 For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Reacting to the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaigns ties with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said a thorough investigation will prove that no such collusion took place. The Justice Department yesterday appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as the special counsel to oversee the investigation into the Russian interference in the last years presidential elections. As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly, Trump said in a statement. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country, he said. Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said, In my capacity as acting attorney general, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command, he said in a statement. ALSO READ | Did Donald Trump share sensitive information about ISIS with Russia? Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, Rosenstsein said a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly, he said. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result, he added. House Speaker Paul Ryan said his priority has been to ensure thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead. That is what weve been doing here in the House. The addition of Robert Mueller as special counsel is consistent with this goal, and I welcome his role at the Department of Justice. The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue, Ryan said. Cutting across party lines, top American lawmakers welcomed the Muellers for the investigation. The appointment of former FBI director and respected lawyer Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a positive development and will provide some certainty for the American people that the investigation will proceed fairly and free of political influence, Senator Richard Burr said and Mark Warner, chairman and ranking member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said. ALSO READ | US President Donald Trump fires FBI director James Comey Democratic Senatr Al Frankens said that appointing Mueller is an important step that will hopefully help restore the public trust and result in a thorough and comprehensive investigation. We owe it to the American people to find out what happened, and Im encouraged to see that the justice department has appointed a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election, Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said. The decision by the US Department of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor underscores the serious nature of the allegations of impropriety and abuse of power by President Trump, Congressman Joe Crowley said. While this is an important step forward, we still need a bipartisan, independent commission to carry out a public investigation into Russias interference in our election. The American people deserve answers, he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dakar (Senegal): Authorities have documented more than 300,000 children migrating alone worldwide over a two-year period, marking a dramatic escalation of a trend that has forced many young refugees into slavery and prostitution, the UN childrens agency has said. UNICEF on Wednesday said 170,000 of those children sought asylum in Europe in 2015-2016, many after making the treacherous trip across the Mediterranean Sea where hundreds of children are estimated to have drowned last year. Nearly 92 per cent of the boys and girls arriving by boat in Italy in 2016 and early 2017 came unaccompanied or had been separated from their relatives along the way, the report said. They came mainly from the African nations of Eritrea, Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea, UNICEF said. Ruthless smugglers and traffickers are exploiting their vulnerability for personal gain, helping children to cross borders, only to sell them into slavery and forced prostitution, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said. It is unconscionable that we are not adequately defending children from these predators. Read | 'All borders should be open to children': Satyarthi to Trump on refugee ban Those who survived the journeys recounted harrowing stories of abuse along the way, including a 17-year-old girl from Nigeria who told officials that she was raped in Libya by a man who had promised her passage to Europe. UNICEF said the girl spent months in Libya deprived of contact with her family back home until she finally was sent to Italy by boat. Upon arrival, she was rescued from a life of prostitution but she told the UN agency her prospects are dire. Now the people who paid for my trip are saying to my mother, its time for money, she said. They say I have run away, and that they paid for my trip and I owe them. They say that if I dont pay, they will put a curse on me to make me be deported. UNICEF said the number of recorded children traveling unaccompanied had risen nearly fivefold since 2010-2011, coinciding with a major increase in refugees worldwide. The figure includes only solo children who were registered at a border or as part of an asylum claim and the actual total is believed to be much higher. One-third of the children covered in the report 100,000 boys and girls were counted at the US-Mexican border, UNICEF said. Some 90,000 young migrants from the Horn of Africa were displaced either internally or across borders due to conflict in South Sudan and other regional instability. While some of the unaccompanied children are orphans, others are seeking to join relatives who already reached prosperous countries. Other times, relatives believe children would have a greater chance of being allowed to stay than adult migrants, the report said. UNICEF called on Wednesday on the countries where children have sought refuge to provide better services, saying many languish in overcrowded shelters, end up in makeshift camps or are left exposed to the dangers of life on the streets. Unaccompanied migrant and refugee children should not be placed in adult detention facilities and ideally should be in foster care, the report said. In March, Italys Parliament approved a law setting out comprehensive standards of care for unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in Italy by sea. The law includes a strict prohibition on turning unaccompanied minors away at the border. The law also set a 10-day window for officials to confirm migrant childrens identities, with the aim of reducing the amount of time they have to spend in preliminary welcome centers. The law also guarantees them access to health care. Among those hailing its passage at the time were the UNICEF and the humanitarian group Save the Children. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Deep Sea Supply is pleased to announce that the company has been awarded time charter contracts for the PSVs "Sea Supra" and "Sea Swan" for operations in South-East Asia. Each vessel has been contracted for two wells firm plus options with an expected duration of at least 255 days not including options, and will commence late May 2017. Limassol, 18 May 2017 Deep Sea Supply Plc This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Islamabad: Pakistan does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, its Foreign Office said on Thursday after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death in March by a Pakistani military court and India approached the highest UN judicial body with the plea to stay his execution. The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas. Read more: ICJ says Pakistan shouldn't execute kulbhushan Jadhav: Here's full text of verdict The court on Thursday instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Pakistan was in shock as it was confident that the ICJ will throw out the case on the grounds of jurisdiction. Talking to the state-run Pakistan Television after the ruling was delivered, Zakaria said India has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. "The real face of India will be exposed before the world", he said, adding that Jadhav has confessed his crimes of sabotage, terrorism and subversion activities not only once but twice. He said Pakistan has already informed the ICJ that it does not accept its jurisdiction in matters related to the national security. "We do not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to the national security of the country", he was quoted as saying by the Dunya TV. Read more: ICJ stays Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence in Pakistan; here is what Judge Ronny Abraham said However, he said Pakistan "will present solid evidence against the Indian spy in the International Court". Earlier, Zakaria said at the weekly press briefing that India was trying to portray Jadhav's case "as a humanitarian issue to divert the world's attention from his role in fomenting terrorism" inside Pakistan. "After India stood exposed in state sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle", he said. He said Pakistan's position was clear as it was a matter of national security. He said Pakistan's reply to ICJ was inline with Article 36 (2) of the Vienna Convention that Pakistan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this case. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday hanged four more Taliban terrorists convicted of different terrorism-related offences in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the second such execution in as many days in the restive northwestern province. Former Indian Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav is also imprisoned in Pakistan over the charges of undertaking espionage and terrorism-related activities in north-west frontier of Pakistan, impending execution. His death sentence, however, has been stayed by the International Court of Justice, which will give its verdict on Thursday over the matter. During the trial, India had raised concern that Jadhav may be executed even before the trial is over. Pakistan in its rebuttal ensured that these doubts were unfounded. Read | Kulbhushan Jadhav hearing at ICJ: Indias charges and Pakistans defence in 10 points The terrorists were hanged in a jail in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the worst hit due to violence by Taliban terrorists, taking the number of hanged terrorists to over 170 since the Peshawar terror attack in 2014. They were involved in different terror activities including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies, said army. The terrorists were tried by controversial military courts which work in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants, it said. The convicts were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Rizwan Ullah, Sardar Ali and Sher Muhammad Khan. All of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Four hardcore terrorists convicted of heinous terrorism-related offences were hanged in the restive northwestern province on Wednesday. Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students. Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack. Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 170 militants. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Oslo, Norway, 18 May 2017: Targovax ASA ("Targovax" or "the Company"; OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage company focused on developing immuno-oncology therapies to target treatment-resistant solid tumors, today announces that the abstract "A Phase I/II trial of TG01/GM-CSF and gemcitabine as adjuvant therapy for treating patients with resected RAS-mutant adenocarcinoma of the pancreas" will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting 2017 (ASCO). The abstract includes clinical data from the phase I/II clinical trial evaluating TG01 in resected pancreatic cancer and the data will be presented at ASCO at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, on 3 June 2017. Poster Session: Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM CDT. Abstract Number: 4119 The abstract can be found on http://abstracts.asco.org/. *** For further information, please contact: Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations Phone: +47 922 61 624 Email: renate.birkeli@targovax.com Media and IR enquires: Jan Petter Stiff - Crux Advisers (Norway) Phone: +47 995 13 891 Email: stiff@crux.no Julia Phillips/Simon Conway - FTI Consulting (International) Phone: +44 20 3727 1000 Email: Targovax@fticonsulting.com About Targovax Arming the patient's immune system to fight cancer Targovax is a clinical stage company focused on developing and commercializing novel immuno-oncology therapies to target, primarily, treatment-resistant solid tumors. Immuno-oncology is currently one of the fastest growing therapeutic fields in medicine. The Company's development pipeline is based on two novel proprietary platforms: The first platform, ONCOS, uses oncolytic viruses, an emerging class of biological therapy. ONCOS exclusively uses an adenovirus that has been engineered to be an immune activator that selectively target cancer cells. In phase I it has shown to immune activate at lesional level which was associated with clinical benefit. We expect proof of concept data for this platform in 2017 from a clinical trial of lead product ONCOS-102 in patients with refractory malignant melanoma. The second platform, TG peptides (TG), solely targets tumors that express mutated forms of the RAS protein. Mutations to this protein are common in many cancers and are known to drive aggressive disease progression and treatment resistance. There is a high unmet medical need for therapies that are effective against tumors that express these mutations. The TG platform's therapeutic potential stems from its ability to enable a patient's immune system to identify and then destroy tumors bearing any RAS mutations. In early 2017, key proof of concept data for the TG platform from a clinical trial of TG01 in resected pancreatic cancer patients showed encouraging overall survival and will give guidance for the future clinical development of this platform. Targovax's development pipeline has three novel therapeutic candidates in clinical development covering six indications. Both platforms are protected by an extensive portfolio of IP and know-how and have the potential to yield multiple product candidates in a cost-effective manner. Additionally, we have other products in early stages of development. In July 2016, the Company listed its shares on Oslo Axess. In March 2017, the shares were upgraded to Oslo Brs, the main Oslo Stock Exchange. About ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 The 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting is organized by American Society Of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and will be held during Jun 2 - 6, 2017 at McCormick Place - Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. The Annual Meeting brings together more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business billionaire Michael Bloomberg told a gathering of senior US business leaders that Bermuda plays a special role in the global economy. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1dbd7783-14fc-421b-a20d-8fdaf395677c http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/80407a72-d7c9-4b49-a455-f3f4b5dc2393 The three-term former New York mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP made the comment at an invitation-only forum at Bloomberg headquarters, co-hosted by the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) on Wednesday. Titled The Future of International Business Deals: How to Position for Long-Term Growth, the awareness-raising event brought together more than 150 senior US business leaders for in-depth panel discussions on issues important to the Bermuda market. Our company is always looking for ways to give people the information they need to make smart decisions and fuel growth, and one of the things were trying to do is bring people together to share ideas and learn something, Bloomberg said. The island plays a special role in the global economy; it helps to fuel growth and support jobs through trade and investments, so we have stake in Bermudas growth and also in some of the changes that are taking place in the world, he noted, adding he has owned a home in Bermuda for more than 20 years. Bloomberg introduced Bermuda Premier Michael Dunkley for a live, half-hour interview that launched the three-hour afternoon event aimed at raising Bermudas profile among New York-based corporate executives. Premier Dunkleys question-and-answer session with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Matt Winkler was staged before an audience of asset managers, hedge fund, private equity and institutional investors, and was streamed on all Bloomberg terminals. Their conversation covered the attraction of Bermuda to foreign investors, the island markets growth, high performance and recent diversification, and the safe harbour Bermuda offered amid geopolitical uncertainty triggered by Brexit and possible tax reform by the US Trump Administration. Foreign acquirers spent $9.55 billion, a record amount of money at least in the past 12 years, for assets in Bermuda last year, said Winkler, noting there were 25 Russell 3000 Index members currently domiciled in Bermuda, with a total market capitalization of $91 billion. The 39.4-percent premium the buyers had to pay was also the highest. So, the value of Bermuda is going up; its at an all-time high. Finance Minister ET (Bob) Richards and Minister of Economic Development Dr Grant Gibbons attended the event, along with senior representatives from Bermudas international business sector. Its an honour to have the opportunity to be at Bloomberg headquarters and to have the former Mayor introduce the event, said the Premier. The opportunity to talk about Bermuda in front of a first-class audience, with good panel discussions, and an awesome opportunity to network. It raised awareness and its clear people are excited about Bermuda. Premier Dunkleys interview was followed by panel discussions examining transformative forces impacting the global business landscape, including changes to regulations and tax policies. This event was a prime opportunity to heighten Bermudas profile as a top-tier jurisdiction and raise awareness about what our market offers US corporations, said BDA CEO Ross Webber. The high-profile nature of this forum, with the added benefit of Mike Bloombergs personal endorsement, has considerably strengthened awareness of Bermuda and differentiated us from other offshore domiciles. The afternoons first panel examined the effect of impending US tax reform on global investments, including global capital flows and the ways deals are structured and implemented. Panellists discussed ways investors could optimise their transactions and pursue strategic acquisitions. Featured speakers were: Kristi Kuechler, President, FOX Private Investor Center; Rodney Lawrence, Global Head for International Tax Services, KPMG; and Siva Subramaniam, Tax Partner, International Tax Services, PwC. A second moderated panel discussion looked at global regulatory changes and what overseas jurisdictions like Bermuda offered US-based companies considering foreign direct investments. Featured speakers included Howard Mills, Global Insurance Regulatory Leader, Deloitte; Torsdon Poon, Transaction Tax Leader, Ernst & Young; and Mark Strefling, General Counsel and COO, Whitebox Advisors. Panellists explored how global businesses could take advantage of international opportunities in a safe harbour such as Bermuda amid current geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties. Earlier, the Premier and Webber met with Kathryn Wylde, President of the Partnership of New York, a non-profit organisation whose members comprise corporate leaders from top companies in the US. They discussed their respective markets, including Bermudas renewed growth and innovation, ways the island could help global corporations, and potential opportunities for more US-New York business synergy. CONNECTING BUSINESS The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business in Bermuda smooth and beneficial. Multiple NFC Tag Options and Integrated Cloud-Based Platform Enable Turnkey Implementation of Smart Packaging Solutions Featuring NFC OSLO, Norway, May 18, 2017 - Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") (OSE: THIN), a global leader in NFC (near field communication) mobile marketing and smart packaging solutions using printed electronics technology, today announced the launch of its IoT-CNECT Box. An affordable, turnkey NFC mobile marketing solution "in a box," it provides brands and digital agencies with a quick and easy way to create, implement, and test 'intelligent packaging' programs that facilitate direct brand-to-consumer connections through the tap of a smartphone. Thinfilm is initially accepting pre-orders for the IoT-CNECT Box, with product shipments expected to begin in June. Contents of the IoT-CNECT Box include 1) Thinfilm's SpeedTap and OpenSense NFC tags in adhesive-label format 2) smart ElastiTag hangtags from Bedford Industries, 3) a quick-start guide, 4) an overview of innovative use cases, and 5) detailed information on Thinfilm's powerful cloud-based software platform, CNECT. Customers also receive a complimentary copy of NFC Mobile Marketing for Dummies, a useful educational and planning guide recently released by Thinfilm in conjunction with publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Customers that purchase the IoT-CNECT Box gain instant access to Thinfilm's CNECT partner portal, a multi-tenant software platform that seamlessly integrates with the NFC tags to enable remote tag management, custom content delivery, consumer activity tracking, and detailed analytics and reporting. By leveraging this end-to-end, turnkey solution to quickly create proof-of-concept campaigns, companies can easily begin to test and build unique mobile marketing programs that drive consumer engagement and influence purchasing decisions. SpeedTap and OpenSense tags are uniquely identifiable, virtually impossible to clone, and can be read with the simple tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone or device. Once tapped, each tag wirelessly communicates with a smartphone to facilitate an instant connection to the cloud, creating a versatile one-to-one mobile marketing platform from which brands can connect directly with their customers. Using IoT-CNECT, marketers can instantly deliver brand stories, promotional offers, product news, ecommerce functionality, and other contextual content. Thinfilm's NFC solutions also effectively address track and trace needs and other business-related use cases. "Having the ability to easily conduct proof-of-concept testing and measure the success of NFC mobile marketing campaigns is critical for brands exploring intelligent packaging solutions," said Erwan Le Roy, EVP & General Manager, NFC Solutions & Smart Sensors Products for Thinfilm. "IOT-CNECT provides digital agencies, packaging companies, and brands of all sizes with a quick-start mobile marketing solution that delivers unique consumer experiences, builds customer loyalty, and drives product sales." Thinfilm's CNECT software portal (portal.thinfilm.no) and its companion portal in China (thinfilmelectronics.cn) are hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Aliyun (Alibaba Cloud), respectively. "The market traction we are experiencing for our NFC solutions - among brands of all sizes in regions across the globe - continues to expand," said Davor Sutija, CEO of Thinfilm. "Our IoT-CNECT Box is a direct response to that growing interest and provides an effective way for brands to quickly evaluate and implement powerful mobile marketing programs with NFC as the centerpiece technology." To learn more, visit http://www.thinfilm.no/IoT-CNECT. About Thin Film Electronics ASA Thinfilm is a global leader in NFC mobile marketing and smart-packaging solutions using printed electronics technology. The Company creates printed tags, labels, and systems that include memory, sensors, displays, and wireless communication - all at a cost-per-function unmatched by conventional electronic technologies. Thinfilm offers end-to-end mobile marketing solutions that feature hardware, label/packaging integration services, and comprehensive cloud-based management, reporting and analytics. Collectively, these components deliver a powerful 1-to-1 digital marketing platform through which brands of all sizes can connect directly with consumers, all with the simple tap of a smartphone. The resulting disintermediation of search engines, online marketplaces, and social platforms empowers brands to control messaging, enhance consumer dialogue, build loyalty, increase engagement, and drive sales. Thinfilm's roadmap integrates technology from a strong and growing ecosystem of partners to bring intelligence to everyday, disposable items. Its mission is to effectively extend the traditional boundaries of the Internet of Things to fuel the Internet of Everything. Thin Film Electronics ASA is a publicly listed company in Norway with global headquarters in Oslo, Norway; US headquarters in San Jose, California; and offices in Linkoping, Sweden; San Francisco; London; and Shanghai. For more information, visit www.thinfilm.no. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to 5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act). For more information on Thinfilm please contact: Bill CummingsSVP Corporate CommunicationsThin Film Electronics ASA+1 408-503-7312 English Danish COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 18, 2017 - Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) announced today the initiation of a new share buy-back program, under which the Company intends to buy back 12,156 of its own shares. The purpose of the share buy-back program is to meet the Company's obligations arising from the share-based incentive programs for the Board of Directors and Executive Management, in accordance with the Company's remuneration policy and the general guidelines for incentive remuneration. The share buy-back program is initiated pursuant to the authorization granted at the annual general meeting on April 25, 2017, according to which the Company may purchase up to 10 % of the Company's share capital for the time being. The share buy-back program will be executed in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse and supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016, which together constitute the Safe Harbour Regulation. Bavarian Nordic A/S has appointed Danske Bank A/S Lead Manager of the program. Danske Bank A/S will buy back shares on behalf of Bavarian Nordic A/S and make decisions on trading with Bavarian Nordic A/S' shares independently and without influence of Bavarian Nordic A/S. The program will be implemented in accordance with the authorization within the following scope: A maximum of 12,156 shares will be bought back under the program. The maximum consideration for Bavarian Nordic A/S-shares bought back within the duration of the program is DKK 5.5 million. However, based on yesterday's closing price of Bavarian Nordic's share on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S, the total consideration is expected to be in the level of DKK 4 million. The program terminates at the latest on May 30, 2017. The maximum number of shares, which may be purchased per trading day, shall not exceed more than 25% of the average daily volume of shares in the Company traded on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S in the preceding 20 trading days. The shares may not be purchased at a price which is higher than the higher of the following: The price of the last independent trade. The highest current independent purchase bid on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S. Bavarian Nordic A/S may terminate the program at any time. If the Company determines to terminate the program, the Company shall give notice hereof. About Bavarian Nordic Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, based on the Company's live virus vaccine platform. Through long-standing collaborations, including a collaboration with the U.S. government, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of vaccines for infectious diseases, including the non-replicating smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE, which is stockpiled for emergency use by the United States and other governments. The vaccine is approved in the European Union (under the trade name IMVANEX) and in Canada. Bavarian Nordic and its partner Janssen are developing an Ebola vaccine regimen, which has been fast-tracked, with the backing of worldwide health authorities, and a vaccine for the prevention and treatment of HPV. Additionally, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of active cancer immunotherapies, including PROSTVAC, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The company has partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the potential commercialization of PROSTVAC. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com or follow us on Twitter @bavariannordic. Forward-looking statements This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law. Contacts Rolf Sass Srensen Vice President Investor Relations (EU) Tel: +45 61 77 47 43 Seth Lewis Vice President Investor Relations (US) Tel: +1 978 341 5271 Company Announcement no. 13 / 2017 BROOKFIELD Technology company Photronics reported second-quarter sales of $108.3 million, down 12 percent from last year, but flat compared to the previous quarter, the company announced Wednesday. The company also announced it expects third-quarter revenues between $110 million and $120 million. Brookfield-based Photronics manufacturers photomasks, which are key elements for making semiconductors and flat-panel displays. Second-quarter revenues were essentially flat as improving display photomask sales were offset by a decline in our high-end logic business in Taiwan, Peter Kirlin, CEO, said in a release. We were able to generate cash, building upon our already strong balance sheet. Kirlin said the company achieved three milestones since its first-quarter report. The first of two new writing tools is being installed to add (flat panel display) capacity, construction began on our new China (integrated circuit) facility; and we announced a new joint venture in China, he said. Photronics announced on Wednesday an agreement with Dai Nippon Printing, or DNP, to form a joint venture focused on serving semiconductor manufacturers in China. A subsidiary of DNP will acquire 49.99 percent of Photronics wholly foreign-owned entity in Xiamen, China. Photronics will maintain ownership of 50.01 percent. This combination is a testament to our great success in Taiwan and a strong desire by each party to extend this winning partnership into China for the benefit of local customers and the development of industry infrastructure, Kirlin said in a release. The growing importance of the China semiconductor market requires that we bring superior global resources and a broad spectrum of cutting edge technologies and methods in order to best ensure our customers success. The joint venture also provides an optimal solution for shareholders as we are able to improve capital efficiency while offering advanced process technology and a broad product portfolio. Sales of integrated circuits photomasks were $82.6 million, down 4 percent from the first quarter. Sales of flat-panel display photomasks were $25.7 million, up 10 percent from the first quarter. Net income was $1.8 million, compared with $1.9 million for the first. Heading into the third quarter, we are cautiously optimistic that we will achieve sales growth and margin expansion, Kirlin said. cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338 First-Ever Study on 2.0 mm DES, EuroPCR Late-Breaking Data Show Exceptional Deliverability and No Stent Thrombosis for the Resolute Onyx DES DUBLIN and PARIS- May 18, 2017 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today announced that the Resolute Onyx(TM) Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) met its primary endpoint of Target Lesion Failure (TLF) at one year for the treatment of coronary artery disease in extra-small vessels. Results from the RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study were presented today as a Hot Line/Late-Breaking Trial Session at the 2017 EuroPCR Annual Meeting and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Cardiovascular Intervention. It is estimated that approximately 65 percent of extra-small vessels are located in critical locations of the heart, making them significant lesions to treat.1 Designed specifically for extra-small vessels, Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm DES yielded excellent clinical outcomes in the study compared to a pre-specified performance goal with patients experiencing significantly low rates of TLF at one year (5.0 percent, p<=0.001). The study enrolled 101 patients with extra-small vessel sizes (2.0 mm - 2.25 mm) who received the Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm diameter DES across 20 sites in the United States and Japan. "Treating coronary disease in extremely small arteries presents a real clinical challenge, as these lesions tend to be located in difficult-to-reach areas of the heart, have greater restenosis rates, and until now, we lacked the right stents to treat them safely and successfully," said Matthew J. Price, M.D., interventional cardiologist at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. and principal investigator of the RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study who presented the one-year data at EuroPCR. "The excellent clinical performance we observed demonstrates the importance of designing stents like the Resolute Onyx DES that address a relevant unmet need. Thinner struts with enhanced radiopacity and a lower crossing profile provide excellent deliverability, and the stent can be over-expanded to treat tapered, challenging lesions." In the study, the events included in the TLF primary endpoint were low at one-year, as defined by low target-vessel MI (3 percent), low target lesion revascularization (2 percent) and no cardiac death. Additionally, Resolute Onyx DES showed no stent thrombosis. The Resolute Onyx DES is the first and only DES to feature Core Wire Technology, an evolution of Continuous Sinusoid Technology (CST). CST is a unique Medtronic method of stent manufacturing, which involves forming a single strand of cobalt alloy wire into a sinusoidal wave to construct a stent. This enables greater deliverability and conformability to the vessel wall. With Core Wire Technology, a radiopaque inner core is incorporated within the cobalt alloy wire to enhance visibility for accurate stent placement. Core Wire Technology also enables thinner struts while maintaining structural strength. "The RESOLUTE ONYX 2.0 mm Clinical Study builds on the positive body of evidence supporting the clinical performance of the Resolute Onyx stent," said Jason Weidman, vice president and general manager of the Coronary and Renal Denervation business, which is part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. "These initial results reinforce the unique design of the Resolute Onyx, providing physicians and patients around the globe with the gold standard in drug-eluting stents." The Resolute Onyx 2.0 mm diameter DES are for investigational use only in the United States. The Resolute Onyx DES received approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2017 and is now available for use in the United States for a broad range of sizes from 2.25 mm - 5.0 mm. It is also approved for use in Europe and other countries that recognize the CE (Conformite Europeene) Mark. In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world. About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 88,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. -end- MONTREAL, May 18, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - In the wake of the inauguration of M/T Damia Desgagnes, the very first Groupe Desgagnes vessel able to be fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz Metro, Sophie Brochu, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), Sylvie Vachon, praise Groupe Desgagnes' leadership and vision. By acquiring four vessels able to comply with the most stringent environmental standards, Groupe Desgagnes positions itself as a pioneer in its category for the development of LNG as a fuel for maritime transport in Quebec and Canada. In response to this desire to opt for an eco-friendly fuel, Gaz Metro and the Port of Montreal also announce that an LNG supply solution for marine fuel will now be available at the Port of Montreal. Groupe Desgagnes, Gaz Metro and the Port of Montreal joined efforts in developing an LNG supply system that will be operated by a Gaz Metro subsidiary. This system will be available to all shipowners in Quebec, including the fleets passing through the Port of Montreal. In short, this is an important milestone for the entire maritime transport sector. "I would like to commend the leadership and vision of Groupe Desgagnes, which was the first commercial shipowner to order vessels destined to navigate in Quebec able to use LNG as marine fuel. Quebec can be proud to have Groupe Desgagnes among its visionary companies, as was the Societe des traversiers du Quebec. LNG is currently one of the best solutions available to replace petroleum products in the maritime sector, due to its environmental assets. In particular, it respects new Canadian and international maritime transportation standards that aim to minimize the emission of air pollutants [NOx and SOx]," said Sophie Brochu. "I praise Groupe Desgagnes' forward thinking, which is very inspiring for Quebec's maritime industry," emphasized Sylvie Vachon. "The Port of Montreal shares this vision to exercise positive leadership in sustainable development practices and, in this context, the LNG fuel supply solution that will be available on our docks is another significant and concrete action toward making commercial shipping even more environmentally friendly." Gaz Metro and the Port of Montreal hope that the availability of LNG supply solutions will be a first step in encouraging shipowners to follow the lead taken by Groupe Desgagnes and, in turn, move toward this efficient, cost-effective and clean option. About LNG When cooled to -160C, natural gas changes from a gas to a liquid. In liquid form, it takes up 600 times less space than in its gaseous state. In the same space, it is therefore possible to store 600 times more energy with LNG than with natural gas in a gaseous statea definite advantage in terms of transportation and storage. Liquefied natural gas comes from Gaz Metro's liquefaction plant in the East of Montreal, in operation for 45 years. Once liquefied, natural gas is stored in the plant's cryogenic tanks. The plant has two loading docks for filling tanker trucks, which supply refuelling stations or service customers directly. LNG can then be distributed to customers within a radius of over 1,000 km from the LSR plant. About Gaz Metro With more than $7 billion in assets, Gaz Metro is a leading energy provider. It is the largest natural gas distribution company in Quebec, where its network of over 10,000 km of underground pipelines serves more than 300 municipalities and more than 205,000 customers. Gaz Metro is also present in Vermont, where it has more than 315,000 customers. There, it operates through its subsidiaries in the electricity production market and the electricity and natural gas distribution market. Gaz Metro is actively involved in developing and operating innovative, promising energy projects, including natural gas as fuel, liquefied natural gas as a replacement for higher emission-producing energies, the production of wind and solar power, and the development of biomethane. Gaz Metro is a major energy sector player that takes the lead in responding to the needs of its customers, regions and municipalities, local organizations, and communities while also satisfying the expectations of its Partners (GMi and Valener) and employees. About the Port of Montreal Operated by the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), the Port of Montreal is the second largest port in Canada and a diversified transshipment centre that handles all types of goods: containerized and non-containerized cargo, liquid bulk and dry bulk. It is a leading container port served by the largest container shipping lines in the world. The Port of Montreal has its own rail network directly dockside. It is connected to the two national rail networks and a highway system. The Port operates a passenger terminal. All other terminals are run by private stevedoring firms. Port activity supports 16,000 jobs and generates $2.1 billion in economic benefits annually. SOURCE Gaz Metro For further information: Media: Genevieve Couture, Public Affairs and Communications, Tel.: 514-598-3449, www.twitter.com/gazmetro, http://www.gazmetro.com/pressroom; For interview requests (Gaz Metro): Camille Rochon, Mobile: 514-688-2519, [email protected]; Melanie Nadeau, Director of Communications, Montreal Port Authority, Tel.: 514-283-7050, [email protected], www.twitter.com/PortMTL Related Links http://www.gazmetro.com OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Thanks to the generous support from Canadians, the Red Cross will provide direct financial assistance totalling $4 million to households impacted by the flooding in Quebec and Ontario over half of the funds raised to date. Eligible registered households will receive $600 to help purchase what they urgently need during this very difficult time. This amount includes over $3 million for more than 5,200 households in Quebec and close to $1 million for approximately 1,600 households in Ontario. Beginning next week, the distribution of direct financial assistance from the Red Cross will be provided to households through electronic banking transfers. Future Red Cross recovery assistance will be provided based on the generosity of Canadians and the specific needs of the families most affected by the floods, and will be determined through one-on-one needs assessments with impacted families and individuals. QUICK FACTS Households can register for Canadian Red Cross assistance online at redcross.ca/gethelp, by phone at 1-800-863-6582. Flood-impacted households who have already registered with the Red Cross are required to re-register as additional information is required for this assistance. Households who have not yet registered with Red Cross are still eligible for assistance now and in the future upon registration. The fastest and most effective way to get this help is to submit an email address during registration so that financial support can be channeled electronically. All households who register with the Canadian Red Cross for assistance and whose primary residence is verified within a recognized flood-impacted area are eligible, whether they evacuated or stayed in their homes. The direct financial assistance was made possible by the generosity of Canadians who have donated more than $7.4 million so far to the Red Cross Spring Floods Appeal, with $5.3 million raised for Quebec and $2.1 million raised for other affected regions in Canada . so far to the Red Cross Spring Floods Appeal, with raised for and raised for other affected regions in . Financial assistance provides a user-friendly, easily accessible method to help support emergency assistance based on unique personal needs. This method empowers those affected to determine for themselves exactly what is essential during this difficult time. QUOTES "Thanks to the generosity of Canadians, partners and businesses, the Red Cross is able to provide direct financial assistance to flooded or evacuated families. In the weeks to come, the Red Cross will provide recovery assistance for the people most affected by this disaster, based on their needs." - Conrad Sauve, president and CEO, Canadian Red Cross LEARN MORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Registration webpage: www.redcross.ca/gethelp www.redcross.ca/gethelp Donate to the Canadian Red Cross Spring Floods Appeal on redcross.ca on redcross.ca @RedCrossCanada | facebook.com/CanadianRedCross | redcross.ca/blog Red Cross donor inquiries: [email protected] or 1-800-418-1111 About the Canadian Red Cross Here in Canada and overseas, the Red Cross stands ready to help people before, during and after a disaster. As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement which is made up of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 190 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies the Canadian Red Cross is dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and throughout the world. SOURCE Canadian Red Cross For further information: English Media Line: 1-877-599-9602; French Media Line: 1-888-418-9111 Related Links http://www.redcross.ca Mercy For Animals Video Leads to First-Ever Jail Sentence for Animal Abuse After an Undercover Investigation; Provinces Urged to Adopt Dairy Code of Practice VANCOUVER, May 18, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - For the first time in Canadian history, three former dairy workers were sentenced to jail for malicious animal abuse after an undercover investigation by an animal protection organization. Earlier today, Jamie Visser, Chris Vandyke, and Travis Keefer were each sentenced to serve time in jail for violating the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Wildlife Act by the Honourable Justice Gary Cohen of the Chilliwack Law Court. Visser and Vandyke were each sentenced to serve 60 days in jail, and they are prohibited from having custody or control of any animal for three years. Keefer was sentenced to seven days in jail and he is prohibited from having custody or control of any animal for a year. These landmark sentences stem from a 2014 undercover investigation by international animal protection organization Mercy For Animals. Their jail time begins today. Visser, Vandyke, and Keefer are former employees of Chilliwack Cattle Sales, the largest dairy factory farm in Canada and the subject of the Mercy For Animals investigation. Video footage from the group shows the three defendants viciously beating and sadistically torturing animals. The defendants pleaded guilty to a total of 18 counts of animal cruelty and three counts of molesting a bird. This sentence marks the first time workers at a Canadian factory farm have been jailed for animal cruelty as a result of hidden-camera footage obtained by an animal protection organization. Last December, Chilliwack Cattle Sales and one of its owners were convicted of animal cruelty and ordered to pay fines totaling almost $350,000. Four workers were also charged. Their cases are set for trial later this month. Mercy For Animals praises the Crown and the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for pursuing justice for these abused and tormented animals. At the time of the investigation, Chilliwack Cattle Sales was a major supplier to Saputo, the largest dairy processor in Canada. After discussions with Mercy For Animals, Saputo adopted a new animal welfare policy for its global dairy supply chain that requires zero tolerance for malicious animal cruelty; elimination of painful tail docking; administration of pain control when dehorning cattle; and low-energy animal handling to reduce stress, especially for non-ambulatory cows. The investigation also prompted BC agricultural minister Norm Letnick to amend the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to incorporate the Dairy Code of Practice. The Dairy Code of Practice outlines minimum guidelines concerning the treatment and welfare of cows on Canada's dairies. Mercy For Animals is calling on all provinces, including BC, to give the Dairy Code of Practice the force of law in their provincial animal cruelty legislation. Giving the code the force of law will require the dairy industry to follow basic minimum standards for animal welfare. "Animal abuse runs rampant in Canadian factory farms, and the dairy industry is no exception," said Krista Hiddema, vice president for Mercy For Animals in Canada. "This isn't a case of 'bad apples,' but a rotten tree. This case graphically illustrates the need for lawmakers to protect vulnerable farmed animals from extreme cruelty by giving the Dairy Code of Practice the force of law in every province." To view the undercover video, visit CanadaDairy.MercyForAnimals.org. SOURCE Mercy For Animals For further information: Krista Hiddema: 416-666-3093; Vandhana Bala: 312-909-6051 FAIR Canada Issues White Paper Entitled "What About the Investors?" TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - FAIR Canada and CARP today announced that they believe the proposed cooperative capital markets regulator (CCMR) is not in the interests of ordinary Canadians. FAIR Canada and CARP are of the view that such a major change to the current system of securities regulation must represent an improvement for Canadians. The CCMR does not accomplish this due to its governance structure and substantive law. Ermanno Pascutto, Chair of FAIR Canada states that "the onus is on those proposing to repeal the existing regulatory system to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed CCMR to Canadians. To date, we remain unconvinced that the change will benefit Canadians." According to Wanda Morris of CARP: "For capital markets to function effectively, investors need complete transparency, competitive fees and confidence that their interests will be protected. These elements are not in place now and the proposals put forward for the new regulator do not address these concerns. CARP urges provincial regulators to go back to the table." OSC Leading Investor Protection The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is the leading securities regulator on investor protection issues in Canada and under the CCMR, it would be eliminated and replaced by a new regulatory authority. This is set to occur on June 20, 2018. Most recently, the OSC and New Brunswick's Financial and Consumer Services Commission have been alone in their public support to adopt a regulatory best interest standard to protect ordinary Canadians while the British Columbia Securities Commission (amongst others) have announced they do not support that financial services firms and their representatives should be required to act in the best interest of their clients. FAIR Canada and CARP believe the reforms led by the CSA and OSC (and supported by the Ontario government) are critical to Canadians being able to adequately accumulate savings and critical to their being able to receive professional, objective advice that is consistent with safeguarding and advancing their interests. FAIR Canada and CARP are concerned about the elimination of the OSC, particularly since the OSC has not only led regulators in substantive initiatives, but has also been at the forefront of establishing structures that ensure investor representation in policy making. This structural representation includes the OSC's Investor Advisory Panel and the Investor Office. The OSC has also adopted a whistleblowing program with financial incentives. No other securities regulator in Canada has taken these steps. FAIR Canada and CARP are of the view that, at present, the CCMR is not capable of fulfilling its purpose to "provide increased protection for investors" as set out in the Memorandum of Agreements signed by the Participating Provinces that led to its creation. FAIR Canada's notes that it has recommended reform of the CCMR to the federal and provincial governments, but has thus far met with no response that addresses concerns about the CCMR not being investor focused. White Paper on CCMR: "What About the Investors?" FAIR Canada decided to engage Professor Anita Anand to review the proposed CCMR and compare it to the OSC. In her white paper, "What About the Investors?", Professor Anand concludes that in both its governance structure and substance, the CCMR is less advantageous to investors than the current model of securities regulation and particularly initiatives led by the Ontario Securities Commission. FAIR Canada and CARP call on the Participating Jurisdictions to reform the governance structure and substantive law of the CCMR so that it can fulfil its purpose to "provide increased protection for investors" as set out in the Memorandum of Agreements signed by the Participating Jurisdictions. Otherwise Canada should retain the current model of provincial securities regulation. Professor Anand states, "I have long been in favour of a reformed model of securities regulation in Canada. But given the fundamental mandate of investor protection, any proposed model must have at least the same level, if not more, protections in place for investors. The CCMR is not there yet which is the key message of the white paper." Support from Other Organizations and Individuals "As the white paper highlights, the CCMR is a step backward in the process of enhancing investor rights and significantly waters down advancements made by the OSC." Stan Buell, President, Small Investor Protection Association (SIPA), in Letter of Support to FAIR Canada. "PIAC believes that this paper, written by Professor Anita Anand, is of major importanceAlthough PIAC historically has as well supported the national securities regulator, we are actively re-considering that position in light of the developments outlined in Professor Anand's paper." John Lawford, Executive Director and General Counsel, Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), in Letter of Support to FAIR Canada. "This report makes it clear what retail investor protections the new regulation should include. Without these provisions, there will be significant regression for Ontario investors." Ken Kivenko, President, Kenmar Associates. SOURCE Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights For further information: Professor Anita Anand, Special Advisor to the Board of FAIR Canada, [email protected]; Ermanno Pascutto, Chair, FAIR Canada Board of Directors, [email protected]; Wanda Morris, Vice-President of Advocacy, CARP, [email protected]; Marian Passmore, Director of Policy and COO, FAIR Canada, [email protected] Related Links www.faircanada.ca Updated analyses from the Kisqali pivotal Phase III MONALEESA-2 trial in hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer to be presented at ASCO JULIET trial of CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel) in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) to be presented at ICML New data from the CTL019 ELIANA trial in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory B- cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) at EHA New 96 week updates for Tasigna Treatment-free Remission (TFR) trials evaluating Ph+ CML patients in both first-line setting and after switch from Glivec at EHA Basel, May 18, 2017 - Novartis will present data from across its oncology portfolio at the upcoming 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), being held June 2-6 in Chicago; the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), being held June 14-17 in Lugano, Switzerland; and the 22nd Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), being held June 22-25 in Madrid. With more than 75 abstracts accepted, data will highlight research across 34 compounds in key disease areas, including breast and lung cancers, melanoma, leukemia and other blood disorders, and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). "Our presence at key medical congresses this year is marked by our innovation in targeted therapies and immuno-oncology in difficult to treat cancers," said Bruno Strigini, CEO, Novartis Oncology. "We are particularly excited to show the first data from the JULIET trial, which evaluates the use of CTL019 in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. These results, along with the data that led to our filing for CTL019 in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, demonstrate our commitment to research in this area." Novartis data at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting will highlight the following: Update on outcomes with Kisqali* (ribociclib) in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer: Updated Results from MONALEESA-2, a Phase 3 Trial of First-Line Ribociclib + Letrozole in Hormone Receptor-Positive (HR+), HER2-Negative (HER2-), Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) [Abstract #1038; Sunday, June 4, 8:00 AM CDT] Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of Postmenopausal Women with Hormone Receptor-Positive (HR+), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative (HER2-) Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) Treated with Ribociclib + Letrozole: Results from MONALEESA-2 [Abstract #1020; Sunday, June 4, 8:00 AM CDT] Data showing patient-reported quality of life outcomes for CTL019** (tisagenlecleucel), an investigational chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): Patient-Reported Quality of Life (QOL) Following CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients (pts) with Relapsed/Refractory (r/r) B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) [Abstract #10523; Sunday, June 4, 8:00 AM CDT] New data evaluating long-term outcomes with Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib) combination therapy in patients with BRAF V600-mutated unresectable or metastatic melanoma as well as data from patients with other tumor types: Five-Year Overall Survival (OS) Update from a Phase II, Open-Label Trial of Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients (pts) with BRAF V600-Mutant Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma (MM) [Abstract #9505; Sunday, June 4, 9:24 AM CDT] COMBI-MB: A Phase II Study of Combination Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients with BRAF V600-Mutant (mut) Melanoma Brain Metastases (MBM) [Abstract #9506; Sunday, June 4, 10:00 AM CDT] Updated Survival of Patients (pts) with Previously Treated BRAF V600E-Mutant Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) who Received Dabrafenib (D) or D + Trametinib (T) in the Phase II BRF113928 Study [Abstract #9075; Saturday, June 3, 8:00 AM CDT] Efficacy of Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients (pts) with BRAF V600E-Mutated Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (ATC) [Abstract #6023; Monday, June 5, 1:15 PM CDT] New data on Zykadia (ceritinib) as well as the investigational compound EGF816 which highlight continued investigations in the treatment of mutation-driven lung cancer: Ceritinib Plus Nivolumab (NIVO) in Patients (pts) with Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Positive (ALK+) Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) [Abstract #2502; Saturday, June 3, 1:39 PM CDT] Genomic Profiling of Resistant Tumor Samples Following Progression on EGF816, a Third Generation, Mutant-Selective EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI), in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) [Abstract #11506; Sunday, June 4, 9:48 AM CDT] Adjuvant treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and safety and efficacy of combination therapy in treatment of advanced RCC: Randomized Phase III Trial of Adjuvant Pazopanib Versus Placebo After Nephrectomy in Patients with Locally Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) (PROTECT) [Abstract #4507; Monday, June 5, 10:12 AM CDT] A Phase I/II Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Pazopanib (PAZ) and Pembrolizumab (PEM) in Patients (pts) with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (aRCC) [Abstract #4506; Monday, June 5, 9:36 AM CDT] Additional data presented at ASCO include: Phase III Study of Lapatinib (L) Plus Trastuzumab (T) and Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) vs T+AI vs L+AI in Postmenopausal Women (PMW) with HER2+, HR+ Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC): ALTERNATIVE [Abstract #1004; Saturday, June 3, 2:27 PM CDT] Everolimus (EVE) Plus Endocrine Therapy in Patients with Estrogen Receptor-Positive (ER+), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative (HER2-) Advanced Breast Cancer (BC): First and Second-Line Data from the BOLERO-4 Study [Abstract #1010; Sunday, June 4, 8:00 AM CDT] Cognitive Technology Addressing Optimal Cancer Clinical Trial Matching and Protocol Feasibility in a Community Cancer Practice [Abstract #6501; Monday, June 5, 8:12 AM CDT] Sandoz, a Novartis division, the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars, will present data for Zarxio, the company's filgrastim biosimilar: Safety and Efficacy of Alternating Treatment with EP2006, a Filgrastim Biosimilar, and Reference Filgrastim for the Prevention of Severe Neutropenia, in Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving Myelosuppressive Chemotherapy [Abstract #10116; Saturday, June 3, 1:15 PM CDT] Novartis data at the 14th Meeting of ICML will highlight data from the multi-center Phase II JULIET study evaluating the efficacy and safety of CTL019 in adult patients with r/r diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): Global Pivotal Phase 2 Trial of the CD19-Targeted Therapy CTL019 in Adult Patients with Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) - An Interim Analysis [Abstract #007; Wednesday, June 14, 3:40 PM CEST] Novartis data at the 2017 EHA Annual Congress will highlight the following: Data evaluating CTL019** outcomes in r/r pediatric and young adult patients with B-ALL: Global Registration Trial of Efficacy and Safety of CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): Update to the Interim Analysis [Abstract #S476; Saturday, June 24, 4:00 PM CEST] Analysis of Safety Data from 2 Multicenter Trials of CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) [Abstract #P517; Saturday, June 24, 5:30 PM CEST] CTL019 Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics in Pediatric Patients (pts) with Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) [Abstract #S477; Saturday, June 24, 4:15 PM CEST] New analyses of ENESTfreedom and ENESTop evaluating Treatment-free Remission (TFR) at 96-week follow-up in patients meeting rigorous criteria for treatment discontinuation: Durable Treatment-free Remission (TFR) After Stopping Second-line Nilotinib (NIL) in Patients (Pts) with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase (CML-CP): ENESTop 96-Wk Update [Abstract #P257; Friday, June 23, 5:15 PM CEST] Durable Treatment-free Remission (TFR) Following Frontline Nilotinib in Patients (Pts) with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase (CML-CP): ENESTfreedom 96-Wk Update [Abstract #P601; Saturday, June 24, 5:30 PM CEST] Pooled survival analysis of two clinical trials evaluating Rydapt (midostaurin) in adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis: Pooled Survival Analysis of Midostaurin Clinical Study Data (D2201 + A2213) in Patients with Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis (ADVSM) Compared with Historical Controls [Abstract #S788; Sunday, June 25, 9:00 AM CEST] New data in myeloproliferative neoplasms, including a long-term analysis evaluating Jakavi (ruxolitinib)*** in patients with inadequately controlled polycythemia vera in a less advanced phase of the disease: Ruxolitinib For The Treatment Of Inadequately Controlled Polycythemia Vera Without Splenomegaly: 80-Week Follow-Up From The RESPONSE-2 Trial [Abstract #S784; Sunday, June 25, 8:00 AM CEST] Comparing The Safety And Efficacy Of Ruxolitinib (Rux) In Patients (Pts) With DIPSS Low/Intermediate-1-, Intermediate-2-, And High-Risk Myelofibrosis (MF) In JUMP, A Phase 3b, Expanded-Access Study [Abstract #E1333; Friday, June 23, 9:30 AM CEST] Treatment and Management Of Patients With MPNs - Findings From the International MPN LANDMARK Survey [Abstract #P706; Saturday, June 24, 5:30 PM CEST] Perception Of Symptom Burden and Treatment Goals Between Physicians and Patients With MPNs: An Analysis From the International MPN LANDMARK Survey [Abstract #E1320; Friday, June 23, 9:30 AM CEST] Additional data presented at EHA include: Mediation by Patient-Reported Outcomes on the Association Between Film-Coated versus Dispersible Formulations of Deferasirox and Serum Ferritin Reduction: A Post-Hoc Analysis of the ECLIPSE Trial [Abstract #P286; Friday, June 23, 5:15 PM CEST] Crizanlizumab, a P-selectin Inhibitor, Increases the Likelihood of Not Experiencing a Sickle Cell-Related Pain Crisis While on Treatment: Results from the Phase II SUSTAIN Study [Abstract #S454; Saturday, June 24, 12:15 PM CEST] Throughout the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, ICML meeting and EHA Annual Meeting, Novartis Oncology will host dedicated content on the Novartis Oncology website (http://www.novartisoncology.com) that will feature unique insights and perspectives on emerging areas of cancer care and research. Product Information Approved indications for products vary by country and not all indications are available in every country. The product safety and efficacy profiles have not yet been established outside the approved indications. Because of the uncertainty of clinical trials, there is no guarantee that compounds will become commercially available with additional indications. For full prescribing information, including approved indications and important safety information about marketed products, please visit https://www.novartisoncology.com/news/product-portfolio. EGF816, CTL019 and crizanlizumab (SEG101, formerly SelG1) are investigational compounds. Efficacy and safety have not been established. There is no guarantee these compounds will become commercially available. Disclaimer The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "to be presented," "will," "upcoming," "excited," "commitment," "invesgitational," "emerging," "yet," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new indications or labeling for Kisqali, Tasigna, Tafinlar, Mekinist, Zykadia, Afinitor, Zarxio, Rydapt, Jakavi or the other products in the Novartis Oncology portfolio, regarding potential marketing approvals for CTL019, EGF816, SEG101 or the other development compounds in the Novartis Oncology pipeline, or regarding potential future revenues from such products and development compounds. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Kisqali, Tasigna, Tafinlar, Mekinist, Zykadia, Afinitor, Zarxio, Rydapt, Jakavi or the other products in the Novartis Oncology portfolio will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that CTL019, EGF816, SEG101 or the other development compounds in the Novartis Oncology pipeline will be approved for sale in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products and development compounds will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding such products and development compounds could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing and reimbursement pressures; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis and @Novartis Cancer at http://twitter.com/novartiscancer. For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com * Kisqali was developed by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) under a research collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals. ** Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine (Penn) have a global collaboration to research, develop and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies for the investigational treatment of cancers. *** Jakavi is a registered trademark of Novartis AG in countries outside the United States. Jakafi is a registered trademark of Incyte Corporation. Novartis licensed ruxolitinib from Incyte Corporation for development and commercialization outside the United States. # # # Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Rosemarie Yancosek Novartis Oncology Communications +1 862 778 9043 (direct) +1 862 505 9021 (mobile) rosemarie.yancosek@novartis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com Youth Ag-Summit participants selected: Youth Ag-Summit takes place from 9-13 October, 2017 in Brussels, Belgium in Goal is to generate concrete solutions for agriculture worldwide Final delegates selected from almost 1,200 applicants CALGARY, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Bayer, together with partners Groene Kring (GK) and Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs (FJA), is pleased to announce that 100 bright young minds have been selected to participate in the third global Youth Ag-Summit, which will take place in Brussels, Belgium from October 9-13, 2017. This year's Summit is themed "Feeding a Hungry Planet," and aims to address the UN Sustainability Goals of ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture. Four of the 100 chosen delegates will represent Canada at the Youth Ag-Summit. They are: Cassandra Hayward, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Brandon Hebor, Toronto, Ontario; Cameron Olson, Rocky View, Alberta; Alexis Wagner, St. John's, Newfoundland. Hailing from 49 countries and aged between 18 and 25, the chosen delegates share a passion for agriculture and a vision of a world without hunger. During the summit, they will share their diverse experiences and work together to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges. Across five days, delegates will undertake group projects and participate in industry tours, as well as learning from expert guest speakers. Their mission is to come up with concrete new ideas which can drive agricultural progress across the globe and be put into practice back home. "The agricultural industry can contribute strongly to achieving some of the key UN Sustainable Development Goals, but this also requires the active involvement of the next generation. The Youth Ag-Summit aims to give young leaders the opportunity to foster their ideas, share best practices and explore the role of modern agriculture in feeding a hungry planet," said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division. Participants selected through an essay contest To be considered for participation, prospective delegates were required to submit an essay of 1,500 words on the topic of food insecurity. A total of nearly 1,200 essays from 95 different countries were submitted; all of which were reviewed by a panel of industry experts. "The applicants put a lot of effort into their essays. We reviewed them based on their views on sustainable food security and agriculture. Reading them was a valuable experience. Their contributions will form the basis for discussion at the Youth Ag-Summit in October," said Giel Boey, national chairman of Groene Kring. Young people can help tackle global food security challenges This year's winning applicants focused their essay submissions on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the role of youth in helping to feed a growing world population. Ideas put forward related to improving education and awareness of best practices, increasing gender equality within the sector, changing consumption patterns, and mitigating the impact of climate change on crop yield, to name a few. "As a Belgian youth agricultural organization, we look forward to welcoming and introducing young leaders to local farming challenges and hearing their global and local perspectives. It will be a true pleasure to share ideas and thoughts with so many passionate minds," said Guillaume Van Binst, secretary general of the Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs. The delegates hail from the following 49 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. Visit www.youthagsummit.com to meet the delegates and to learn more about the Summit. Follow the latest news on @YouthAgSummit or https://www.facebook.com/YouthAgSummit/. About the Youth Ag-Summit The Youth Ag-Summit is a global bi-annual conference designed to inspire and connect the next generation of young leaders in agriculture and related disciplines. In 2017, 100 young leaders aged 18 to 25 will meet in Brussels, Belgium, to create an open dialogue on one of the world's most challenging questions: how to feed a hungry planet? Following previous editions hosted in Canada and Australia, this year's Summit is the first to be held in a European city. The Youth Ag-Summit is part of Bayer's Agricultural Education Program which aims to raise global awareness about farming and food supplies. Find out more about the Program at www.ag-education.bayer.com, https://www.facebook.com/BayerAgEdu/, or on Twitter @BayerAgEdu. About Groene Kring Groene Kring (GK) is an association for young farmers in Flanders, Belgium, which counts around 3,500 members. GK brings young farmers together via regular activities and events, organizes entrepreneurship education, and protects the interests of young farmers on a regional, national and international level. For more information, visit: www.groenekring.be About the Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs La Federation des Jeunes Agriculteurs (FJA) represents young farmers living and working in Wallonia, Belgium. FJA represents the views of 2,800 members, advocating on their behalf at a regional, national and European level. As an official education provider within the agriculatural sector, they also organize training courses. For more information, visit www.fja.be Bayer: Science For A Better Life Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2016, the Group employed around 115,200 people and had sales of EUR 46.8 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.7 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.cropscience.bayer.ca. Note to editors: Print-quality photos can be downloaded from our website at www.news.bayer.com TV and multimedia editors can download or order updated film footage about Bayer free of charge at www.tv-footage.bayer.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. SOURCE Bayer Inc. For further information: Komie Hossini, Communications Business Partner, Bayer Inc., Phone: 403.723.7485, Email: [email protected] TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, Heather Reisman, Chair & CEO of Indigo and Chair of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, Col. Chris Hadfield, Canadian Astronaut and Author, and Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Emerita of McGill University and Chairperson of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, are pleased to announce the launch of a new charitable foundation - the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation; Fondation pour l'alphabetisation des enfants canadiens.i The initial impetus for this initiative grew out of long discussions between Reisman and Munroe-Blum about their deep interest in the essential importance of early childhood literacy, and their respective exposure to childhood literacy research, dedicated NGO efforts, practitioners in the field of elementary education, and knowledge of "facts on the ground", particularly in high-needs communities. Over the course of 18 months the idea for the Foundation took shape, and an exceptional group of passionate Canadians committed to bringing the Foundation to life in honour of Canada's 150th birthday. The founders of the newly created Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation include: Ms. Heather Reisman , CEO of Indigo and Chair of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation , CEO of Indigo and Chair of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Ms. Heather Munroe-Blum , Principal and Vice-Chancellor Emerita of McGill University and Chairperson of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board , Principal and Vice-Chancellor Emerita of and Chairperson of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Former Prime Minister of Canada and Minister of Finance Col. Chris Hadfield , Canadian Astronaut and Author , Canadian Astronaut and Author Mr. Ellis Jacob , President and CEO of Cineplex , President and CEO of Cineplex Mr. David Walmsley , Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail , Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail Mr. Peter Mansbridge , Chief Correspondent at CBC News , Chief Correspondent at CBC News Dr. Alika LaFontaine , Anesthesiologist and past-President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada , Anesthesiologist and past-President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada Ms. Naomi Azrieli , Chair and CEO of The Azrieli Foundation , Chair and CEO of The Azrieli Foundation Mr. Daniel Lamarre , President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil , President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Mr. Domenic Pilla , CEO of McKesson Canada The Mission of the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation is: To ensure that ALL Canadian children are skilled, confident readers by the time they complete grade school thus making Canadian children the most literate in the world. The Foundation's core beliefs include the following: All Canadian children are deserving of access and opportunity to develop strong reading skills and become literate members of society. Literacy is currently spread unequally and unevenly across Canada, with significant pockets of low childhood literacy. ii Low literacy rates disproportionately affect lower income communities, iii and by extension, perpetuate multi-generational cycles of deep inequality. iv and by extension, perpetuate multi-generational cycles of deep inequality. Literacy development begins at birth and imprints in early childhood. v Children who have not mastered reading by the end of grade 3 will generally struggle with reading for the rest of their lives. vi Literacy is a fundamental factor in the economic strength and social health of our nation. vii In a technologically advanced world, strong literacy ability will become even more important to unlock doors of opportunity, build social understanding, and lift individual and societal quality of life. In a technologically advanced world, strong literacy ability will become even more important to unlock doors of opportunity, build social understanding, and lift individual and societal quality of life. Outstanding work already being done in Canada in the field of childhood literacy should be enabled. The Foundation's aim is to support and enhance these efforts and collaborate to achieve world-leading results. Key areas of focus will include: Outreach and support to organizations currently working in the field of childhood literacy; Direct funding enabling childhood literacy in under-resourced schools and communities; Financial support for research and dissemination of findings on childhood literacy from birth onward, including vocabulary acquisition and early reading; A broad literacy awareness campaign providing information on the key factors which influence and inspire a love of reading in early childhood; A special focus on charities that support obstetricians and pediatricians in helping young parents develop literacy in their children, and those charitable organizations especially targeting community physicians in areas with disproportionate literacy gaps. A long-time advocate of literacy for Canada's Indigenous Peoples, and founding member of this new Foundation, The Right Honourable Paul Martin, said: "It is well known that the ability to read and write by the end of Grade 3 is an essential condition for future success. We cannot ignore the literacy needs of the youngest and fastest growing segment of our population Indigenous children. We must act now." According to Munroe-Blum, "Low literacy skills condemn individuals to a relentless cycle of poverty, underemployment, higher likelihood of incarceration, and greater health problems, all of which impact their lives, their families, and the economic and social future of our country. But, the good news is, we can fix this problem. We simply have to decide to do it." Reisman added, "The economic and social rewards within our collective grasp are beyond exciting. It is nothing short of our responsibility to move forward boldly." Fast facts about the literacy crisis in Canada: Children who do not develop strong literacy skills are more likely to: drop out of high school, viii become teenage parents, ix be under or unemployed, x and end up on welfare. xi ,xii become teenage parents, be under or unemployed, and end up on welfare. Provincial support for Canadian school libraries and teacher-librarians is in serious decline. xiii 80% of those in prison are functionally illiterate. xiv A 1% increase in the national literacy rate would generate $32 billion in economic growth annually.xv Today, the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation launches its initial digital presence at childrensliteracy.ca. An executive search for the position of CEO of the new foundation is underway, led by Dr. Janet Wright, President, Janet Wright and Associates Inc. [email protected]. ________________________________ i The Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation is incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. It has submitted an application to the Canada Revenue Agency to become a charity and anticipates receiving charitable status in the next few months. ii TD Bank Financial Group, "Literacy matters: A call for action," (2013), https://canlearnsociety.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Literacy-Matters.pdf iii Andrew Heisz, Geranda Notten and Jerry Situ, "Insights on Canadian society: The association between skills and low income," Statistics Canada, (2016), http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2016001/article/14322-eng.htm iv Thomas G. Sticht, "Educated parents, educated children: Toward a multiple life cycles education policy," Canadian Education Association, http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/educated-parents-educated-children-toward-multiple-life-cycles-education-po v "National Strategy for Early Literacy," The Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, (2009), http://eyeonkids.ca/docs/files/national_strategy_for_early_literacy_report%5B1%5D.pdf vi "Read, speak, sing: Promoting literacy in the physician's office," The Canadian Paediatric Society, (2006), http://www.cps.ca/documents/position/read-speak-sing-promoting-literacy vii "Literacy skills of Canadian across the ages," Education Matters, (2008), http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2007006/article/10528-eng.htm viii "Early indicators of students at risk of dropping out of high school," Education Matters, (2008), http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2004006/7781-eng.htm ix Jessica Menard, "Reading deficits in pregnant teens: Implications for policy and practice," University of Windsor, (2010), http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=etd x "Painting a picture of literacy," Community Literacy of Ontario, (2013), http://www.communityliteracyofontario.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/literacy_why_it_matters.pdf xi "Policy brief: The promise and problem of literacy for Canada," Canadian Education Association, (2004), http://www.cea-ace.ca/sites/cea-ace.ca/files/cea-2004-literacy-for-canada.pdf xii Read Between the Lines. Documentary. Directed by Ric Bienstock. Canada: Good Soup Productions, Inc. 2017. http://www.loveofreading.org/ xiii Ken Haycock, "The Crisis in Canada's School Libraries," Association of Canadian Publishers, (2003), http://bccsl.ca/download/HaycockReport.pdf xiv Andre Picard, "The simplest, cheapest way to give your child a healthy start," The Globe and Mail, July 2014: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/pack-this-in-the-diaper-bag-a-good-book/article19472398/ xv Craig Alexander, Chief Economist, Conference Board of Canada, page 8 http://canlearnsociety.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Literacy-Matters.pdf SOURCE Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation For further information: Media contact: Janet Eger, Vice President, Public Affairs, [email protected]; Lauren Mugford, Account Executive, MSLGroup, [email protected] Local Treaty 7 play goes on national tour to Winnipeg and Ottawa for Canada 150 CALGARY, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - A local theatre production that explores the historical significance of the 1877 signing of Treaty 7 the founding event of modern southern Alberta is going on national tour. The Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society is pleased to announce that its theatrical performance, Making Treaty 7, has been chosen for the National Arts Centre's Canada Scene Festival to coincide with Canada 150 commemorations. Co-directed by Michelle Thrush and Blake Brooker, it will perform in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre on June 20th. Prior to that, the show visits Winnipeg for a performance on June 15th at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. "We couldn't be more pleased by the national interest in this production," says Lee Crowchild, the board chair and Chief of Tsuut'ina Nation. "This conversation is 140 years overdue. The production reflects the story of all Prairie Treaties entered into in the late 20th Century and will resonate with a Winnipeg audience," said Crowchild. The production has been recognized by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as an example of reconciliation, adds Michelle Thrush, Co-Director of the production. "Through the powerful medicine of the arts, we hope to share the stories that heal and empower. Stories that have been held deep in the land and are now being woken upstories that bring people together to build stronger community relationships and create much needed conversations. Making Treaty 7 tells heart stories.We hope the show inspires other projects across the country, and a similar production in Manitoba about the events leading up to the signing of their first treaty, the Selkirk Treaty." Tickets for both the Winnipeg and Ottawa performances are now on sale and may be purchased online at our website: http://www.makingtreaty7.com/ Making Treaty 7 Backgrounder The seeds of Making Treaty 7 were planted in 2012, the year Calgary was the Cultural Capital of Canada. Curator Michael Green was extremely moved by the relationships that developed over that year with members of the Cultural Capital's Aboriginal Advisory Circle, particularly with Narcisse Blood and Reg Crowshoe. The advisory committee was formed with First Nations, Metis and urban Aboriginal members, to help integrate the Aboriginal aesthetics and perspectives into the overall Calgary 2012 cultural program. Michael became aware that year of how little Calgarians truly knew about Treaty 7 the 1877 agreement between the First Nations of southern Alberta and the Crown, which basically set the stage for the development of what is today's modern Alberta. Michael's vision was to create a theatrical performance that re-enacted the 10 days at Blackfoot Crossing, which culminated in the signing of Treaty 7 on Sept. 22, 1877. He wanted to explore the true meaning and intent of the Treaty, through the Indigenous perspective. The committee created a legacy fund to get the project started. In December 2012, he met with elders from the Treaty 7 First Nations community, along with local historians, artists and cultural workers. That led to a residency at the world renowned Banff Centre in February, 2013, where a diverse group of 20 Aboriginal and non-native artists spent three weeks in collaboration. That culminated in the creation of an 80-minute performance that was presented twice to sold-out audiences. The Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society was then founded in March 2013, and registered as a non-profit Alberta society, with a mandate to reflect: an evolving nexus of activities that include themes of cultural literacy, education, historical commemoration, tourism, and a revitalized appreciation for First Nations identity and perspective. The society invites participation from a broad cross-section of groups and institutions. Over the next two years, the show went through a number of iterations before holding its world premiere in September 2014. Members of the audience came from across the country and around the globe. Despite tragedy in 2015, the show went on and the audience continued to grow. The play was staged that year at a bigger 650-seat venue and sold out all three performances. In 2016, the production got even bigger, and was held at the state-of-the-art Grey Eagle Resort and Casino Event Centre, which seats up to 2,900 people. Two school matinees for 3,000 students were held, along with an evening performance as part of a gala fundraiser. It was an outstanding success. This year, for 2017, the society is planning something even bigger to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the signing at Blackfoot Crossing on Sept. 22, 1877. Remembering Michael Green and Narcisse Blood We remember and honour co-founders Michael Green and Narcisse Blood, who died Feb. 10, 2015 while pursuing their commitment to the shared belief that we are all treaty people. They and Aboriginal artists Michele Sereda and Lacy Morin were travelling to Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan to help develop a similar production about Treaty 4, but never arrived. A fatal accident on the way took all four lives. Though grief stricken and uncertain, community leaders came together to ensure MT7 would carry on. Michael's powerful vision in 2012 was to bring people together from all backgrounds to explore the relationship between settlers and indigenous peoples. He imagined what our country might have looked like today if 150 years ago, indigenous and non-indigenous people had been able to sit across from each other and truly communicate. What would have happened if there was real dialogue, conversation and true and powerful exchange of ideas when those treaties were signed. His vision was to start a conversation and work together today, to create changes that make all of our lives better. We have carried on the conversation he started and it has been ongoing, growing louder and more wide-spread with every year we grow the show. There is no truly better way than that, to honour the lives we have lost. SOURCE The Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society For further information: For further information or to arrange media interviews, please contact: In Calgary: Paula Arab, Media Relations Consultant, [email protected], Cell: 403-889-9128; In Winnipeg: Joy Keeper, Communications, [email protected], Cell: 204.791.6824 Students present recommendations for addressing climate change in their communities. OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, participated in the Climate Action 150 virtual town hall along with more than 400 students from across Canada. This national youth-engagement initiative is part of the Climate Action 150 project established by the GreenLearning Canada Foundationa provider of online educational programs on energy and sustainability. On behalf of their classmates, students presented their findings on the effects of climate change in their communities, and the actions required to mitigate or adapt to those effects. The students compiled their research and recommendations into a report entitled Calls for Action that they presented to Minister McKenna. The Climate Action150 project is funded in part by Environment and Climate Change Canada. "It is inspiring to see the work and insight these Canadian high schoolers have brought to the challenges of taking action against climate change. All of us owe it to ourselves to create a strong and sustainable economy and to leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner environment. We can't do this without engaging youth." Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Quick facts Twenty-five high school classes across Canada investigated climate change in their communities: the effects and the actions required to mitigate or adapt to it. investigated climate change in their communities: the effects and the actions required to mitigate or adapt to it. During the academic year, the students met in a series of virtual seminars to present their work to experts from Environment and Climate Change Canada. Associated links Climate Action 150 Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Natural Resources in Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada For further information: Marie-Pascale Des Rosiers, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 613-462-5473; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll free) Related Links http://www.ec.gc.ca TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Moneta Porcupine Mines Inc. (TSX: ME) ("Moneta") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kevin B. Heather to the Board of Directors, subject to standard TSX approval. Ian C. Peres, President and CEO stated, "The addition of Kevin to the Board of Directors will add significant and relevant project exploration and development experience and in-depth technical knowledge to Moneta. We look forward to his contribution and insight on the continued exploration of Golden Highway and our overall land package." Dr. Heather commented, "I am excited to be joining the Moneta board to support the advancement of their exceptional land package to the next stage of discovery and value/wealth creation for all stakeholders. The Moneta land package is one of the last, large land positions along the world class Destor Porcupine structural corridor and already hosts a significant gold resource, but it is my firm belief that there is much more gold to be found and I look forward to contributing my technical knowledge to discover those additional ounces." Kevin B. Heather, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc., Ph.D., is an exploration geologist with 40 years of field experience in North and South America and has a demonstrated track record of delivering high-quality technical work that has led to value-wealth creation in the junior exploration sector. Dr. Heather is a Fellow, Councillor and Honorary Lecturer for the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and is a co-founder and Chairman of the Chilean-based charity "Fundacion Mineros Contra El Cancer". Dr. Heather was co-founder and is currently the Chief Geological Officer and Technical Committee Chairman for Regulus Resources Inc. (TSX-V: REG) and is responsible corporate oversight of the technical aspects of the company's exploration activities in addition to building a technical committee comprised of strong geological, metallurgical, and engineering professionals to advance the company's projects in Peru, Argentina and Nevada. Dr. Heather was also a founding officer and former Vice President Geology of Antares Minerals Inc. (TSX: ANM) where he directed the geological mapping, target generation, planning, supervision, and execution of exploration programs that led to the discovery of the high-grade Haquira East deposit in Southern Peru. He was also involved in the overall development of the Haquira Cu-Mo-Au porphyry project which was sold to First Quantum Minerals in December 2010 for C$650 million. From 1985-1992, Dr. Heather was employed as a Senior Geoscientist by the Ontario Geological Survey, where he was a team leader for various large, field-based regional- and mine-scale geological mapping programs in various Archean greenstone belts of Northern Ontario. During this time, Dr. Heather was part of a team specializing in the geology of Archean mesothermal lode-Au deposits and co-authored several publications. From 1992-1997, Dr. Heather was a Senior Geoscientist for the Geological Survey of Canada, based in Ottawa, and was responsible for a 5-year, multidisciplinary, regional geological mapping program in the mineral prolific, Archean-aged Abitibi-Swayze greenstone belt of Canada. This work formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation at University of Keele (2001). In 1997, Dr. Heather joined Barrick Gold Corporation in Chile (Barrick Chile Ltda.) as a Senior Exploration Geologist involved in exploration for high- and low-sulphidation epithermal Au deposits in the high-Andes of Chile and Argentina. From 1997-2002, Dr. Heather mapped and explored within the prolific El Indio-Tambo mineral district and the world-class Pascua-Lama Au-Ag project in central Chile. During 2002-2003, Dr. Heather completed a district-scale, geological/structural mapping and target generation program for Anglogold at their Cerro Vanguardia low-sulphidation Au-Ag deposit in Patagonia, Argentina. This work lead to the discovery of tens of kilometres of additional Au-bearing vein structures not previously recognized or drilled. About Moneta Moneta holds a 100% interest in 5 core gold projects strategically located along the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone in the world class Timmins Camp with over 85 million ounces of past gold production. The Golden Highway Project covers 12 kilometres of a highly prospective volcanic/sedimentary belt along the Destor Porcupine Fault Zone and currently hosts a NI 43-101 resource estimate of 1,091,000 ounces indicated (31.1 Mt at 1.09 g/t Au) plus 3,204,000 ounces inferred (83.3 Mt at 1.20 g/t Au), clustered within four kilometres. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com. For further information on the Company, please visit our website at www.monetaporcupine.com or email us at [email protected]. This news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the closing of the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering, future performance of our business, its operations and its financial performance and condition, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, fluctuating commodity prices, competitive risks and the availability of financing, as described in more detail in our recent securities filings available at www.sedar.com. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking-statements and we caution against placing undue reliance thereon. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements. SOURCE Moneta Porcupine Mines Inc. For further information: Ian C. Peres, President & CEO, 416-579-3040 (Toronto) / 705-264-2296 (Timmins), [email protected] Related Links http://www.monetaporcupine.com OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the eighth anniversary of the end of the war in Sri Lanka: "Today, we mark the eighth anniversary of the end of the war in Sri Lanka. I extend my deepest sympathies to those who were affected and their families, as we solemnly reflect and honour the lives that were lost during this 26 year war. "As we remember the trauma and loss, we must continue to work to heal the wounds of all those who have suffered, and to achieve long-term reconciliation and peace in the country. "I reiterate my call to the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that a process of accountability is established that will have the trust and confidence of the victims of this war. To this end, Sri Lanka should fulfill its international commitments by ensuring the involvement of Commonwealth and international investigators, prosecutors and judges. "I extend my deepest sympathy and support to Canadians of Tamil descent. As we mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, we recognize the contributions Tamil-Canadians have made to Canada and the adversity that they have overcome." This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca SOURCE Prime Minister's Office For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555 Related Links http://pm.gc.ca/ More connections between Quebec City and Ottawa New peak-hour stops in Saint-Hyacinthe Increased capacity in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor MONTREAL, May 18, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - After posting record results last summer, VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) expects an even busier 2017 season. Preliminary reservation data shows many Canadians will be taking the train to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary. VIA Rail's preparations for the summer season included increasing capacity on the trains most in demand and adding direct connections between Ottawa and Quebec City, as well as new stops in Saint-Hyacinthe during peak hours. "Our efforts are focused on offering a service that meets the needs expressed by our customers, so that more people choose to take the train. Over the next few months, VIA Rail expects to see a 5% overall increase in the number of available seats per mile compared to the summer of 2016. For Canada's 150th anniversary, we invite all those wishing to participate in the festivities to get on board our trains- it's the best way to see Canada," said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail. OTTAWA MONTREAL QUEBEC CITY Starting May 29, the number of direct connections on the popular Quebec City Montreal Ottawa route will increase once again this year. A new Sunday afternoon departure in both directions will be added to the schedule, offering another option for those wishing to return home at the end of the weekend. A daily direct connection to Quebec City will also be added to the schedule. Additional stops in Saint-Hyacinthe VIA Rail has listened to its passengers and added two more stops at Saint-Hyacinthe station during peak hours starting May 29. Passengers will now have a choice of three trains heading to Montreal and then on to Ottawa: 07:58*am, 11:09am and 8:20pm. Trains bound for Quebec City will leave the station at 7:00am, 9:43am (on weekends), 5:29*pm and 7:16pm. A new look on board These improvements are complemented by a style change for front-line employees, who began wearing brand-new accessories a few days ago. VIA Rail developed a new style for its accessories, in line with its updated, dynamic brand image, that features bright colours to make employees more visible to passengers needing assistance. About VIA Rail Canada As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,600 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years. For more information, visit: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail. * New stops Follow VIA Rail Twitter @VIA_rail Facebook viarailcanada Instagram @viarailcanada VIA: The Blog SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc. For further information: Mariam Diaby, Media Relations, VIA Rail Canada, 1 877 393-8787, [email protected] | [email protected] Related Links http://www.viarail.ca/ 1. India has approved the construction of ten indigenously designed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR). India approved the construction of ten 700 MWe units in a significant decision to fast-track Indias domestic nuclear power program. The Cabinets announcement did not give any timeline or locations for the new plants, but said the project would result in a significant augmentation of the countrys nuclear generation capacity. India has 6780 MWe of installed nuclear capacity from 22 operational reactors with another 6700 MWe expected to come on stream over the next five years, the cabinet noted. It said the ten new units would be a fully homegrown initiative, with likely manufacturing orders to Indian industry of about INR 700 billion ($11 billion). 2. China is to supply Argentina with two nuclear power reactors one a Candu pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR), the other a Hualong One pressurised water reactor (PWR). The contract was among 19 agreements signed yesterday in Beijing during a meeting of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Argentinean president Mauricio Macri. A general contract was signed between Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA (NASA), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and CNNC subsidiary China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation (CZEC) for the two reactors. The contract was signed by NASA president Omar Semoloni, CNNC board chairman Wang Shoujun and CZEC president Yang Chaodong. According to the agreement, CNNC and NASA will begin construction in 2018 of a 700 MWe Candu-6 PHWR and will start building a 1000 MWe Hualong One PWR in 2020. Estonian English Piret Paulus has worked in the financial sector for a long time and for the last six years, she managed Coop Finants AS, a joint venture of Inbank and Coop Eesti. Since December 2016, Paulus has been responsible for sales and marketing at Inbank. She has also worked as the head of the Small Financing Department of the Business Development Division of Swedbanks Baltic Banking, where she was responsible for the strategy and development of unsecured credit products and credit cards in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. She worked in Hansabank and Swedbank since 2004, where she managed the various areas of consumer financing. According to Priit Poldoja, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Inbank, Piret Paulus is a true consumer financing professional and people like her are very difficult to find in Estonia. We are very pleased that after launching Coop Finants, Piret decided to join the Inbank team to build a new kind of bank, said Poldoja. As a result of her work, Coop Finance grew from zero to a profitable company that meets the financial needs of hundreds of thousands of clients, Poldoja said. The management board of Inbank consists of four members: CEO Jan Andresoo, Chief Finance Officer Marko Varik, Head of Business Processes Liina Sadrak, and Head of Sales and Marketing Piret Paulus. In order to pursue the changes made in the operating strategy of Inbanks Latvian subsidiary late last year, a new manager, who is highly competent in the area of financing joined Inbanks Latvian team. The new Chief Executive Girts Ledins, who previously managed the area of leasing at Norvik Bankas, joined the Latvian team of Inbank in the middle of May. He has also managed the Latvian financial company Mogo and was one of the founders and the CEO at Motoro Leasing. Ledins has also worked in audit firms BDO and Deloitte. As a result of the changes in the management board of the Latvian company, Inbank will repurchase the 10% holding from the former head of Inbank Lizings and will then be the sole owner of the subsidiary. NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 18 May 2017 Recommended Combination of Mariana Resources Limited ("Mariana") and Sandstorm Gold Ltd ("Sandstorm") Publication and posting of Scheme Document On 26 April 2017, Mariana (AIM/TSX: MARL) and Sandstorm (TSX: SSL and NYSE: SAND) announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended combination of Mariana with Sandstorm (the "Combination"), pursuant to which Sandstorm will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Mariana that it does not already own. It is intended that the Combination will be implemented by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part VIII of the Companies (Guernsey) Law (the "Scheme"). Mariana is today publishing a circular (the "Scheme Document") to holders of Mariana Shares, together with the associated Forms of Proxy. The Scheme Document contains, amongst other things, a letter from the Non-Executive Chairman of Mariana, an explanatory statement from RFC Ambrian Limited, the full terms and conditions of the Scheme, notices convening the Guernsey Court Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting, an expected timetable of principal events and details of the actions to be taken by Mariana Shareholders. The expected timetable of principal events is attached as an Appendix to this announcement. If any of the key dates set out in the expected timetable change, an announcement will be made via a Regulatory Information Service. To become effective, the Scheme will need to be approved by Scheme Shareholders at the Court Guernsey Meeting and will require the passing of the Shareholder Resolutions at the Extraordinary General Meeting, as described in the Scheme Document. The Guernsey Court Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting will both be held at the offices of Watson Farley & Williams LLP, 15 Appold Street, London EC2A 2HB on 16 June 2017. The Guernsey Court Meeting will start at 10.00 a.m. and the Extraordinary General Meeting will start at 10.15 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Guernsey Court Meeting has concluded). If Scheme Shareholders pass the necessary resolutions at the aforementioned meetings, it is anticipated that the Guernsey Court Hearing to seek the Court's sanction of the Scheme will be held on or around 26 June 2017. The Annual General Meeting will be held at the offices of Watson Farley & Williams LLP, 15 Appold Street, London EC2A 2HB on 16 June 2017 at 10.30 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Extraordinary General Meeting has concluded). It is intended that dealings in Mariana Shares on AIM will be suspended at 7.30 a.m. on 26 June 2017 and that trading on TSXV will halt on 26 June 2017. The last day for dealings in, and for registration of transfers in Mariana Shares will therefore be 23 June 2017. If the Guernsey Court sanctions the Scheme it is intended that Sandstorm will procure that Mariana makes an application to cancel the admission to trading of Mariana Shares on AIM, to take effect on or around 30 June 2017, and it is anticipated that the Mariana Shares will be delisted from TSXV on or around 29 June 2017. The above dates are indicative only and will depend, among other things, on the dates upon which the Court sanctions the Scheme. Holders of Mariana Shares should carefully read the Scheme Document in its entirety before making a decision with respect to the Scheme. The Scheme Document will today be made available, subject to certain restrictions, on Mariana's website at www.marianaresources.com and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and Sandstorm's website at www.sandstormgold.com and will be posted by Mariana today to all Mariana Shareholders. If you have any questions about the Scheme Document, the Guernsey Court Meeting, the Extraordinary General Meeting or the Annual General Meeting or how to complete the Forms of Proxy, please call Computershare Guernsey between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Monday to Friday (except public holidays) on 0370 707 4040 (from within the UK) or +44 (0) 370 707 4040 (from outside the UK or (if in North America) Computershare Canada between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Monday to Friday (except public holidays) on 1-800-564-6253 (toll free Canada and US) or +1-514-982-7555 (outside North America) or by email on: corporateactions@computershare.com). Please note that calls may be monitored or recorded and that Computershare Guernsey and Computershare Canada cannot provide legal, tax or financial advice or advice on the merits of the Scheme. All references to time in this announcement are to London time unless otherwise stated. Capitalised terms in this announcement, unless otherwise defined, have the meaning given to them in the Scheme Document. For more information please contact: Mariana John Horsburgh, Independent Chairman and Non-Executive Director Glen Parsons, CEO Karen Davies, Head of Investor Relations +61 2 8437 4588 RFC Ambrian Limited (Financial Adviser to Mariana) Stephen Allen Bhavesh Patel +44 (0) 20 3440 6800 Raymond James Ltd. (Canadian Financial Adviser to Mariana) John Willet Craig McDougal +1 416 777 7000 Blytheweigh (PR Adviser to Mariana) Tim Blythe Camilla Horsfall Megan Ray +44 (0) 207 138 3224 Sandstorm Nolan Watson, President & CEO Adam Spencer, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Denver Harris, Investor Relations +1 604 689 0234 +1 416 238 1152 +1 604 628 1178 KPMG LLP (Financial Adviser to Sandstorm) Helen Roxburgh Michael Nicholson +44 (0) 207 311 1000 IMPORTANT NOTICE RFC Ambrian Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, is acting exclusively for Mariana and noone else in connection with the Combination and will not be responsible to anyone other than Mariana for providing the protections afforded to clients of RFC Ambrian Limited nor for providing advice in relation to the Combination or any other matters referred to in this announcement. Raymond James Ltd. is acting exclusively as Canadian financial adviser to Mariana and to the Mariana Independent Directors, and noone else in connection with the Combination and will not be responsible to anyone other than Mariana for providing the protections afforded to clients of Raymond James Ltd. nor for providing advice in relation to the Combination or any other matters referred to in this announcement. KPMG LLP, which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the FCA, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Sandstorm in relation to the Combination, and is not acting for any other person in relation to such Combination. KPMG LLP will not be responsible to anyone other than Sandstorm for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for providing advice in relation to the Combination or any other matters referred to in this announcement or otherwise. Further information This announcement is not intended to and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, pursuant to the Combination or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities of Mariana in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The Combination is being made solely by means of the Scheme Document, which contains the full terms and conditions of the Combination including details of how to vote in respect of the Scheme. Any vote in respect of the Scheme or other response in relation to the Combination should be made only on the basis of the information contained in the Scheme Document. Overseas jurisdictions The availability of the Combination to Mariana Shareholders who are not resident in and citizens of the UK or Guernsey may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions in which they are located or of which they are citizens. Persons who are not resident in the UK or Guernsey should inform themselves of, and observe, any applicable legal or regulatory requirements of their jurisdictions. Relevant clearances have not been, and will not be, obtained from the securities commission or similar regulatory authority of any province or territory of Canada. Further details in relation to overseas shareholders will be contained in the Scheme Document. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in or into jurisdictions other than the UK or Guernsey may be restricted by law and therefore any persons who are subject to the law of any jurisdiction other than the UK or Guernsey should inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable requirements. Any failure to comply with the applicable restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the companies and persons involved in the Combination disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of such restrictions by any person. This announcement has been prepared for the purposes of complying with English law, Guernsey law, certain applicable Canadian securities laws, the AIM Rules, the rules of the London Stock Exchange and the Code and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this announcement had been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside of England or Guernsey. Copies of this announcement and the formal documentation relating to the Scheme and the Combination will not be, and must not be, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in, into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction or any jurisdiction where to do so would violate the laws of that jurisdiction. Notice to US Holders, US Optionholders and US Warrantholders The Combination and the securities to be issued in connection with the Combination have not been approved or disapproved by the SEC or the securities regulatory authority of any state of the United States, nor has the SEC or any such state securities regulatory authority passed upon the fairness or merits of the Combination or upon the accuracy or adequacy of this announcement. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence. The New Sandstorm Shares to be received by Mariana Shareholders in exchange for their Mariana Shares pursuant to the Combination have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state, district or other jurisdiction of the United States, and such securities are intended to be issued in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act set forth in Section 3(a)(10) thereof on the basis of the approval of the Guernsey Court, which will be informed of the intention to rely upon such exemption, and similar exemptions under applicable state securities laws. This news does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Following the Combination, Mariana Options and Mariana Warrants will remain outstanding under their terms and any securities issuable upon exercise thereof have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. As a result, Mariana Options and Mariana Warrants may not be exercised in the United States or by or on behalf of a US Optionholder or US Warrantholder, as applicable, nor may any New Sandstorm Shares issued upon such exercise be offered or resold in the United States or to or for the account of such a US holder, except pursuant to the terms of such security and pursuant to a registration statement under the U.S. Securities Act or an exemption from applicable registration requirements or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Information in this announcement or in the documents incorporated by reference herein concerning the properties and operations of Sandstorm and of Mariana has been prepared in accordance with requirements and standards under securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. As such, certain information contained in the Announcement, the Scheme Document or in the documents incorporated by reference herein or therein concerning descriptions of mineralization and mineral resources under these standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by US companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC US Holders should be aware that the Combination described in this announcement may have tax consequences in the United States and should consult their own tax advisors to determine the particular United States tax consequences to them of the Combination in light of their particular situation, as well as any tax consequences that may arise under the laws of any other relevant foreign, state, local, or other taxing jurisdiction. The enforcement by investors of civil liabilities under the United States federal and state securities laws may be affected adversely by the fact that Sandstorm and Mariana are incorporated or organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than the United States, that some or all of their officers and directors are and will be residents of countries other than the United States and that all or a substantial portion of the assets of Sandstorm and Mariana are and will be located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for US Holders (including US Optionholders and US Warrantholders) to effect service of process within the United States upon Sandstorm or Mariana, as applicable, or their respective officers or directors or to realize, against them, upon judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon civil liabilities under the federal securities laws of the United States or applicable securities laws of any state within the United States. In addition, US Holders (including US Optionholders and US Warrantholders) should not assume that the courts of Guernsey: (a) would enforce judgments of United States courts obtained in actions against such persons predicated upon civil liabilities under the federal securities laws of the United States or applicable securities laws of any state within the United States; or (b) would enforce, in original actions, liabilities against such persons predicated upon civil liabilities under the federal securities laws of the United States or applicable securities laws of any state within the United States. Notice to Canadian Holders The enforcement by investors of civil liabilities under the Canadian securities laws may be affected adversely by the fact that Mariana is incorporated or organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than Canada, that some or all of Sandstorm's and Mariana's officers and directors are and will be residents of countries other than Canada and that all or a substantial portion of the assets of Sandstorm and Mariana are and will be located outside Canada. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for Canadian Holders to effect service of process within Canada upon Mariana or Sandstorm, as applicable, or their respective officers or directors or to realize, against them, upon judgments of courts of Canada predicated upon liabilities under Canadian securities laws. In addition, Canadian Holders should not assume that the courts of Guernsey: (a) would enforce judgments of Canadian courts obtained in actions against such persons predicated upon civil liabilities under Canadian securities laws; or (b) would enforce, in original actions, liabilities against such persons predicated upon civil liabilities under the Canadian securities laws. The New Sandstorm Shares to be issued pursuant to the Combination will be issued in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus requirements of securities legislation in each province of Canada. Subject to certain disclosure and regulatory requirements and to customary restrictions applicable to distributions of shares that constitute "control distributions", New Sandstorm Shares may be resold in each province and territory in Canada, subject in certain circumstances, to the usual conditions that no unusual effort has been made to prepare the market or to create demand, no extraordinary commission or consideration is paid and, if the selling shareholder is an insider or officer of Sandstorm, such shareholder has no reasonable grounds to believe that Sandstorm is in default of securities legislation. Canadian Holders should be aware that the Combination described in this announcement may have tax consequences in Canada and should consult their own tax advisors to determine the particular Canadian tax consequences to them of the Combination in light of their particular circumstances, as well as any tax consequences that may arise under the laws of any other relevant foreign, state, local, or other taxing jurisdiction. Disclosure requirements of the Code Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure. Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing. If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3. Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4). Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure. Publication on website and SEDAR In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement will be made available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Sandstorm's website at http://www.sandstormgold.com and Mariana's website at http://www.marianaresources.com by no later than 12 noon (London time) on the Business Day following this announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of these websites are not incorporated by reference and do not form part of this announcement. This announcement will also be available on SEDAR under Mariana's profile at www.sedar.com. Requesting hard copy documents In accordance with Rule 30.3 of the Code, a person so entitled may request a hard copy of this announcement by contacting RFC Ambrian Limited during business hours on +44 (0)203 440 6800 or by submitting a request in writing to RFC Ambrian Limited at Level 5, Condor House, 10 St Paul's Churchyard, London, EC4M 8AL. For persons who receive a copy of this announcement in electronic form or via a website notification, a hard copy of this announcement will not be sent unless so requested. You may also request that all future documents, announcements and information to be sent to you in relation to the Combination should be in hard copy form. Advisory Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The issuance of the New Sandstorm Shares, including those issuable on exercise of any Mariana Warrants and the Mariana Options on a post-closing basis, is subject to approval by the TSX and the NYSE MKT. APPENDIX EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS Latest time for lodging Forms of Proxy for the: Guernsey Court Meeting (purple form) 10.00 a.m. on 14 June 2017 (1) Extraordinary General Meeting (blue form) 10.15 a.m. on 14 June 2017(2) Annual General Meeting (white form) 10.30 a.m. on 14 June 2017(3) Scheme Voting Record Time for the Guernsey Court Meeting, the Extraordinary General Meeting and the Annual General Meeting 5.00 p.m. on 14 June 2017(4) Guernsey Court Meeting 10.00 a.m. on 16 June 2017 Extraordinary General Meeting 10.15 a.m. on 16 June 2017(5) Annual General Meeting 10.30 a.m. on 16 June 2017(6) The following dates are indicative only and are subject to change:(7) Guernsey Court Hearing 10.00 a.m. on 26 June 2017 Last day of dealings in Mariana 23 June 2017 Shares Dealings in Mariana Shares suspended on AIM 7.30 a.m. on 26 June 2017 Halt of trading of Mariana Shares on TSXV 26 June 2017 Scheme Record Time 5.00 p.m. on 28 June 2017 Effective Date(8) on or around 29 June 2017 Delisting of Mariana Shares from TSXV on or around 29 June 2017 Cancellation of admission of Mariana Shares to trading on AIM 7.00 a.m. on 30 June 2017 Listing of New Sandstorm Shares on TSX and NYSE Within 14 days of the Effective Date Crediting of the New Sandstorm Shares in uncertificated form to CDS accounts Within 14 days of the Effective Date Crediting of Sandstorm CDIs in uncertificated form in CREST Within 14 days of the Effective Date Despatch of definitive share certificates for New Sandstorm Shares in certificated form Within 14 days of the Effective Date Latest date for despatch of cheques and crediting of CREST and CDS accounts for cash consideration due under the Scheme Within 14 days of the Effective Date Long Stop Date(9) 31 August 2017 The Akwa Ibom Government has started planting two million coconut seedlings to support its planned coconut plantation and refining company.The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Etekamba Umoren, disclosed this on Wednesday in Uyo while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).Umoren said that the planned coconut refinery was one of the agro-based industries initiated by the administration of Gov. Udom Emmanuel.He said that the coconut plantation and refinery project would be a major boost to the industrialisation agenda of the state government.Umoren said that plantation, stretching over 11,000 hectares of land across Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and Eastern Obolo communities, would create more than 500 jobs.He said that the state government had imported mulching machines to assist in clearing land for the coconut plantation.He said that the project had already impacted on the communities positively with the engagement of some young persons from the communities as trainees on the machines operation.The secretary to state government said that the coconut refining technology would also be deployed in palm kernel oil refining.It is a multi-faceted technology that would refine both coconut oil and palm kernel oil.The technology will be the cool press, not hot which is even more expensive than the hot press.This is very spectacular as there is no such plant currently in Nigeria, Umoren said.He said that many prospective investors showed interest in the project because of its economic viability.Umoren said that the naira high exchange rate had been the major challenge to the industrialisation efforts of Gov. Emmanuel.He said that most of the industries conceived by the administration were based on public-private partnerships, but the volatile naira exchange rate had stalled early take-off of the industries.NAN reports that some of industries proposed by the government and had yet to start include a vehicle assembly plant, low energy display (LED) electric bulbs company and a meter manufacturing company.Umoren, however, expressed optimism that these companies would soon come on stream as naira exchange rate had started to stabilise. Reports that Israel was the source of highly classified information that President Trump shared with Russian officials last week has left a chill among current and former intelligence officials.Israeli intelligence officers are taking the matter seriously, a military intelligence officer said Tuesday.The officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said Israel was warned months ago to be careful about sharing information with Trumps staff, and now that warning has been realised.Israels vaunted intelligence service, known for an extensive network of human sources and technical collection throughout the Middle East, regularly shares detailed information with the United States, its closest ally.In January, the outgoing Obama administration warned Israeli intelligence officials that Trumps national security staff was inexperienced and should be handled with care.Last weeks incident will likely lead to some adjustments in the quality of intelligence shared in the future by Israel and other countries, said Michael Herzog, a retired brigadier general and former intelligence officer with the Israel Defense Forces.Herzog said the incident could damage the level of trust and ongoing collaboration between the United States and its allies.Countries will think twice before sharing sensitive information after an event like this, he said. Today there was some news from the Europeans, that they are thinking carefully before sharing delicate information. I dont want to overstate this, but it is real.The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel provided the classified intelligence about an Islamic State plot that Trump shared at the White House with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.The intelligence referred to Islamic State terrorism and airline flight safety that could impact both the U.S. and Russia, Trump said in a pair of tweets Tuesday.A senior European intelligence official told the Associated Press his country might stop sharing information with the United States.Such sharing could risk intelligence sources, the official told the AP, speaking on condition that neither he nor his country be identified, because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.It is a long-held rule among intelligence agencies that when you receive intelligence from an ally, you cannot give it to a third party without the explicit permission of the first party, Herzog explained.The disclosure could also hurt sources and the ability to collect information on the planning for a possible attack, he said.In the worst cases, someone planning an attack can become aware that his plan has been uncovered and can change plans and do it in another way. In those cases, your chance of preventing a terror attack can be severely impaired, Herzog said.Another concern about sharing intelligence is that Russia could pass the information to its collaborators in Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, which are Israels adversaries in the region.Yet, Israel and Russia already share information regarding Syria, so any risk could be small, said Paul Scham, executive director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has travelled regularly to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2015, when Russia began its air campaign to bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad.Israel also conducted several airstrikes in Syria to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Israel and Russia have not interfered with each others aircraft while operating close to the Israeli-Syrian border.The Russians and Israelis share aircraft codes so they dont shoot each other down, Scham said. Russia probably does not want to harm its relationship with Israel, because both of them have sort of an understanding that seems to have generally worked.Source: USA TODAY Islamic Bank to Make Nigeria Africas Operational Hub The Islamic Development Bank is planning to make Nigeria its regional operational hub in Africa.The move is part of efforts aimed at improving its efficiency and performance in its operations, as well as financing key projects on the continent.The President, IDB, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the 42nd meeting of the bank.The Nigerian delegation to the meeting was led by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse.Hajjar said the move to make Nigeria a regional hub was part of a five-year reform package, which would see the bank decentralise its operations.He stated that while financing infrastructure projects such as energy, water, universities, ports and airports was part of the new focus of the bank, the reform would vigorously seek new partners and transform competitors into development partners.A statement from the Director of Information in the Ministry of Finance, Salisu Dambatta quoted Hajjar to have said, We have completed an extensive study of decentralisation that included field visits to some development institutions that applied this approach to maximise benefits and avoid drawbacks.Greater powers will be devolved on regional offices to support them with specialised staff and the transfer there many operations from the main centre.The bank will enhance the development impact of its projects and programmes through comprehensive development solutions that integrate services and products in its member-countries.The Nigeria office, which was opened by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, earlier in the year, will coordinate the operations of the banks West and Central African member-countries, which constitute a majority of the 27 African countries in the institution.The office will serve Nigeria, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Republic of Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal, Djibouti and Guinea Bissau, among others.Nigeria is an active member of the bank and has benefitted from its development financing programmes.Recently, the governors of the northern states and the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, visited its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where they discussed areas in which the IDB could intervene in different sectors of social and economic development Acting President Yemi Osinbajo today announced the recovery of another Chibok schoolgirl by the Nigerian military.Osinbajo broke the cheering news at the Federal Executive Council meeting.It came barely 12 days after the release of the 82 abducted girls by their captors.Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, made this known to State House correspondents in Abuja.According to him, the affected girl has been brought to Abuja to join her colleagues who were rescued from captivity.Yes, at the Federal Executive Councils meeting, the Vice-President broke the cheering news to members of the cabinet and after that I have also spoken to defence people who confirmed it.The details are yet to fully unravel . But in terms of is it true- yes, it is true. I learnt she is already being brought to Abuja, but I have not seen herThe presidential aide expressed the hope that the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and other Nigerians in captivity would soon be rescued.He also dismissed the assertion that members of the Boko Haram sect had started regrouping in the Sambisa forest, saying that the Federal Government had the capacity to confront any security challenge arising from any part of the country.One thing you can be sure of is that this government has the capacity to confront any security challenge that arises.So, if they are regrouping they will be flushed out again.I believe that we have seen the worst of that insurgency. We are in a mopping up process and I believe the mop up would be completed.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 82 girls were recently released by their captors in exchange for five Boko Haram (commanders) suspects held by the federal government. Twenty one others were released in October last year and another three also regained their freedom, in separate circumstances.They were released to international negotiators who have been working in collaboration with the federal government for their safe return since they were kidnapped in April 2014. HOUSTON, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL) (Noble Energy or the Company) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to divest the holding company which owns a 50 percent interest in CONE Gathering, LLC (CONE Gathering) and 21.7 million common and subordinated limited partnership units to a portfolio company of Quantum Energy Partners (Quantum) for total cash consideration of $765 million. The limited partnership units represent a 33.5 percent ownership interest in CONE Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:CNNX) (CONE Midstream). CONE Gathering owns the general partner of CONE Midstream. David L. Stover, Noble Energys Chairman, President and CEO, commented CNNX has performed exceptionally well since its IPO in late 2014, exceeding forecasts despite a challenging macro-economic backdrop. Including this transaction, Noble Energy will realize more than $1 billion in total value from our Marcellus midstream business, which represents approximately three times our net invested capital. Going forward, our midstream efforts are focused on Noble Midstream Partners, supporting our DJ Basin and Delaware Basin growth areas. Dheeraj Verma, President of Quantum Energy Partners, said Quantum is excited to once again work with Noble Energy on a substantial acquisition. This transaction follows the recently announced sale of Noble Energys upstream Appalachia assets to a separate portfolio company of Quantum. We have a strong track record of sponsoring and growing both upstream and midstream companies across the Appalachian Basin and we look forward to partnering with CONSOL Energy Inc. in continuing the success of CONE Midstream. Noble Energys cumulative 2017 divestiture proceeds total approximately $2 billion, with the amount primarily representing an exit of the Companys Appalachia upstream and midstream businesses. Proceeds announced year-to-date are being utilized to cover the cash costs associated with the Clayton Williams Energy acquisition, to further strengthen the balance sheet through debt reduction, and to provide additional financial capacity and flexibility to support the Companys U.S. onshore oil development. Closing of the transaction is anticipated in the third quarter this year, subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as the sole financial advisor to Noble Energy on the CONE Midstream transaction and Vinson & Elkins LLP served as legal counsel. Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with a diversified high-quality portfolio of both U.S. unconventional and global offshore conventional assets spanning three continents. Founded more than 80 years ago, the company is committed to safely and responsibly delivering our purpose: Energizing the World, Bettering Peoples Lives. For more information, visit http://www.nblenergy.com. Forward Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law. Words such as anticipates, believes, expects, intends, will, should, may, and similar expressions may be used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and reflect Noble Energys current views about future events. They may include estimates of oil and natural gas reserves, estimates of future production, assumptions regarding future oil and natural gas pricing, planned drilling activity, future results of operations, projected cash flow and liquidity, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations. No assurances can be given that the forward-looking statements contained in this news release will occur as projected and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks include, without limitation, the volatility in commodity prices for crude oil and natural gas, the presence or recoverability of estimated reserves, the ability to replace reserves, environmental risks, drilling and operating risks, exploration and development risks, competition, government regulation, third-party litigation or other actions, the ability of management to execute its plans to meet its goals and other risks inherent in Noble Energys business that are discussed in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are also available from Noble Energys offices or website, http://www.nblenergy.com. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. Noble Energy does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances, managements estimates, or opinions change. Mainstream media in the U.S on Tuesday ran reports that Donald Trump shared information that put America's national security at risk And that the White House should release the transcript of Trump's meeting with Russian officials, but Putin has offered to release his government's transcript version of the meeting, describing describing the media reports on the issue as "political schizophrenia." Speaking at a press conference in Sochi, Russia, Putin said: Trump didn't share intelligence in the meeting, this media reports is political schizophrenia.' "We are prepared to go there and explain our point of view to Congress if necessary," Trump, has however said he deserves the right to share information with any head of state he chooses to as far as it doesn't affect national security, saying he talked about how terrorists plan using laptops to conceal bombs in airplanes. The Senate Intelligence committee has already asked members of Trump's administration who were present at the meeting with Russian officials to submit a briefing on what was discussed during the meeting. The White House, responding to the allegations said; 'It is wholly appropriate for Trump to discuss information with the Russians. "At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed and the President did not disclose any military operations that weren't already publicly known," Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters. "The premise of that article is false that in any way the President had a conversation that was inappropriate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security." Russian president, Vladmir Putin has offered to share the Kremlin's transcript version of the last week meeting between U.S President Donald Trump, top White House officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, where top-level secret information was allegedly shared. President Muhammadu Buhari may have got faceless and mischievous people peddling lies online that he has passed on like they did on Monday. But he is alive and not in short supply of well-wishers who are standing by him at this time of ill health. Unlike those behind the fake news, one of his supporters sent him a bouquet of flowers at the official residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner to the Court of St Jamess, Abuja House just before noon yesterday.I have a delivery of flowers, the courier lady told security personnel who responded to the entry buzzer. Within a minute, she went back to her van and handed over the flowers specifically addressed as President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Earlier, about 10:50 a.m., two family members came out of the house and were driven away by a waiting cab. But before they got inside, The Guardian approached them. One of the pair, a young man of about 25 years, received from a postman at least two letters, including a Royal Mail special delivery addressed to Buhari. Prodded on the current state of health of the president as he approached the waiting vehicle, he, however, declined comments.A minute earlier, a pretty young woman that strikes the resemblance of the president and that of his wife, Aisha, said Buhari was fine.Asked, How is the president doing? she responded with a smile, saying, he is fine. And just before shutting the door of the car, she was again questioned: Are you his daughter? She gave a no answer.About 1:00 p.m., an official of the High Commission, who was interrogated on the issue from outside the gate where this reporter was standing, said good and gave a thumbs up. But when further asked, when last did you see him? He did not answer.Meanwhile, movement in and out of the house was minimal till after 3:00 p.m. when The Guardian left. At least 106 Chibok girls and 11,894 others Boko Haram hostages have been freed so far through the efforts of the federal government and... At least 106 Chibok girls and 11,894 others Boko Haram hostages have been freed so far through the efforts of the federal government and the Nigerian army.The figure was made known on Thursday by the Minister for Defence Mansur Dan-AliThe minister spoke at a 2-day retreat organized by the ministry held at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos with the theme; Enhancing Civil-MilitaryRelations, A Panacea for promoting security and national developmentAccording to the minister, More than 12,000 Boko Haram captives have been freed; the figure includes the 106 Chibok girls that were abducted in 2014.But that figure of success not withstanding, more needed to be done to consolidate on the efforts to sustain the peace and security currently enjoyed.For more to be achieved, the military components of the ministry and the civilians must work hard, understand each other and have mutual respect and trust.The combined efforts of members of the armed forces had successfully degraded the Boko Haram insurgents, making it difficult for members to regroup and carry out organised attacks, he said.In his remarks, Plateau Governor Simon Lalong described the retreat, targeted at enhancing civil-military relationship, as apt and of great significance.Lalong said, Plateau had had its share of security challenges and had seen seen how collaborations between the military and civilians had ensured quick resolution of internal conflictsThe governor called for more bridges of understanding between the military and civilians, saying that such unity was key to effective discharge of constitutional duties.The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogora, in his remarks, declared that power was not in the barrel of the gun but in the content of the heart.Holding guns and ranks should not give anyone a sense of superiority over members of the society; it should be a humbling factor and be managed with a great sense of responsibility, he said.Dogara, however, urged civilians to respect constituted authorities and embrace regular dialogue on matters of national importance. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday confirmed that another Chibok schoolgirl had been found, barely 12 days after the release of... Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday confirmed that another Chibok schoolgirl had been found, barely 12 days after the release of the 82 abducted girls by their captors.Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who made this known to State House correspondents in Abuja, said the recovery of the girl was announced by the acting president during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday. According to her, the affected girl has been brought to Abuja to join her colleagues who were rescued from captivity.Adesina Yes, at the Federal Executive Councils meeting, the Vice-President broke the cheering news to members of the cabinet and after that I have also spoken to defence people who confirmed it. The details are yet to fully unravel . But in terms of is it true- yes, it is true. I learnt she is already being brought to Abuja, but I have not seen herAdesina The presidential aide expressed the hope that the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and other Nigerians in captivity would soon be rescued. He also dismissed the assertion that members of the Boko Haram sect had started regrouping in the Sambisa forest, saying that the Federal Government had the capacity to confront any security challenge arising from any part of the country.One thing you can be sure of is that this government has the capacity to confront any security challenge that arises. So, if they are regrouping they will be flushed out again. I believe that we have seen the worst of that insurgency. We are in a mopping up process and I believe the mop up would be completed.Adesina Newsmen report that 82 girls were recently released by their captors in exchange for five Boko Haram (commanders) suspects held by the federal government.Twenty one others were released in October last year and another three also regained their freedom, in separate circumstances. They were released to international negotiators who have been working in collaboration with the federal government for their safe return since they were kidnapped in April 2014. The British government believes that democracy is actually critical in Nigeria, the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, said on Wednesday. There are elections. If youre not happy with your leaders then you should change your leadership through the democratic process and through elections. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday arraigned two self-acclaimed whistleblowers, Buhari Fannami and Ba-Kura Abdullah... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday arraigned two self-acclaimed whistleblowers, Buhari Fannami and Ba-Kura Abdullahi on two separate charges before Justice M. T Salihu of the Federal High Court Maiduguri, for allegedly giving false information to the agency.The EFCC said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that Fannamit had misled the commission with the information about illegally acquired monies purportedly buried at the residence of one Baa Lawan but the information turned out to be false after the execution of a search warrant.The charge reads, That you, Buhari Fannami, on or about the 8th day of May, 2017 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did make statement to officers of the EFCC under the whistleblower policy to the effect that large sums of money being the proceeds of crime were buried in the residence Baa Lawan at Pompomari Layout along Pompomari Bypass, Maiduguri which information/statement you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under sections 39 (2) (a) and 39 (2) (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 respectively.Fannami pleaded not guilty to the charge. Counsel for the prosecution, Alkassim Jaafar, asked for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the accused person in the prison custody pending trial.Justice Salihu adjourned the matter till June 7 and 8, 2017 for hearing and ordered the accused to be remanded in the prison custody.On his part, Ba-Kura Abdullahi allegedly gave false information to the effect that large sum of money in naira and foreign currencies were buried in the residence of Baa Lawan.Justice Salihu adjourned his case till June 7 and 8, 2017 for commencement of trial and ordered the accused to be remanded in the prison custody. Nigerias government on Thursday retracted its announcement that another Chibok girl was free, saying she was not one of the 219 whose kidn... Nigerias government on Thursday retracted its announcement that another Chibok girl was free, saying she was not one of the 219 whose kidnapping more than three years ago caused global outrage. But Laolu Akande, spokesman for Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, later tweeted that the girl was a junior secondary school student from Chibok community. In a text message to AFP on Thursday, he said the 15-year-old was not part of the 219. Osinbajo is currently deputising for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is in London on medical leave. In the Nigerian education system, junior secondary school is for pupils aged between 10 and 15. The 219 Chibok girls were in their final year of senior secondary school (SSS3). The #BringBackOurGirls group, which has been campaigning for the release of the Chibok girls, also said the girls name was not in their records. Weve perused our list but cant find the name of the returnee said to be 1 of our #ChibokGirls, it said on its Twitter account. Whether 1 of our missing #ChibokGirls or not, we are excited over everyone who regains their freedom & we look forward to all returning. Boko Haram kidnapped 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote town in Borno state on the evening of April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven escaped in the hours that followed but 219 were not so lucky. Since then, 106 girls have been found, rescued or released, including 82 who were freed earlier this month in a prisoner swap deal for a number of Boko Haram suspects in custody. In May 2016, just hours after the first Chibok girl was found, the military said a second had been rescued. The girl later turned out to be a younger student at the same school, who was also kidnapped but not part of the 219. Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of young women and girls during its eight-year insurgency to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Young men and boys have also been forcibly recruited to fight in the jihadists ranks. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has debunked media reports claiming that he said the federal government doe... The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has debunked media reports claiming that he said the federal government does not know who will sign the 2017 budget.In a statement issued to newsmen on Wednesday by his Special Adviser, Segun Adeyemi, the Minister said he was misrepresented in the statement, maintaining that such statement was a malicious misrepresentation of what transpired at the post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing earlier today.Our attention has been drawn to a story in a section of the media quoting the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, as saying we dont know who will sign the 2017 budget.This quote is a malicious misrepresentation of what transpired at the post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing on Wednesday, 17 May 2017. When the Minister was asked a question relating to the signing of the 2017 Budget, his response was: When it is transmitted to the Presidency, the issue will be addressed. Anything beyond that response amounts to deliberate mischief and should be ignored. House of Cards star Robin Wright who plays a quietly Machiavellian First Lady in the hit Netflix series said Thursday that Michelle Obama should be the next US president.The actress told reporters at the Cannes film festival that Donald Trump has stolen all our ideas for the next series of the drama about a villainous head of state who stops at nothing to stay in the White House.Wright, a prominent activist, said a leader like Michelle Obama could galvanise liberals to get through the Trump years.We gotta see the hope somewhere, even if it is out there in the future, she said at a Women in Motion talk in Cannes.Everyone is talking around the (water) cooler saying, We have four more years of this! What are we going to do?'She added: In 2022 I want Michelle Obama there. She would be a great female president. It does take time to break the mould and change the psychology. Maybe its going to take a little more time for Michelle to get that message through.Wright, 51, who is starring this summer in Wonder Woman, which she called the first female superhero movie, also said, its time the film industry addressed its gaping gender imbalance.With only seven percent of films directed by women, according to estimates, she said the problem was obvious.There are women CEOs who are making billions and billions for their companies. Why cant we just implement that in the (film) industry? Its time.The problem today is that feminism has become a derogatory, diva-like word. Feminism means equality, period. Equal work for equal pay, Wright told the Women in Motion talk organised by the luxury group Kering.She said she first experienced blatant sexism early in her career. When I was 17 in Paris I went for a go see (audition). I thought they were just looking at my face, but the guy told me to lift up my top. I did, and he said, No, I like the other ones titties better.But she said feminism was about more than calling out crude discrimination.It is not just about Yeah, girl power! but love and justice, and that is a great message to spread to our little women.Wright, who has also directed House of Cards episodes while starring alongside Kevin Spacey, said she decided to ask to direct herself after Spacey was offered the chance, which he turned down.We are like brother and sister on the show. It is like, What are you doing? I want a bit of that.She ended up directing seven episodes in the last season and her first short film, The Dark of Night, a female vigilante movie set in the 1930s is having its premiere at Cannes this week. The burial arrangement of recently deceased Yoruba actress, Moji Olaiya is causing an unexpected rift within the family.The late actress was a practising Muslim who converted from Christianity as an adult, and certain members of her family are suggesting that she be interred today according to Muslim rites.However, her 20-year-old daughter, Adun is having none of that and insists that her mothers corpse be brought back for burial in Nigeria.Although family members ushered her into a secluded room to calm her down, the grieving young lady kept repeating that she wants to see her mother.She must be brought back, Adun said. I dont care what anybody says, I just want my mothers body.It could, however, be difficult to bury her the same day as internments are costly in developed countries.In Canada where she died, funeral costs can rise as high as $15,000. Flying her body back on the other hand could cost around half that figure.There is no concrete plan for her burial at this minute. News Release Lubrizol Announces Changes to Senior Leadership CLEVELAND, May 18, 2017 - The Lubrizol Corporation announces today changes to its senior leadership team. Bob Graf, currently corporate vice president of research and development, is named corporate vice president of data science and analytics, a new position for Lubrizol. Graf joined Lubrizol in 1985 and has held a variety of technical management roles throughout Lubrizol. He joined Lubrizol's senior leadership team in 2008. Graf earned his Doctorate and Master of Science degrees in macromolecular science and engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1985 and 1983 respectively, and his Bachelor of Science in polymer science from the Pennsylvania State University in 1980. With Graf's new role, Julie Edgar joins Lubrizol's senior leadership team as corporate vice president, research and development and chief sustainability officer. Edgar joined Lubrizol in 1995 as a research chemist at the company's regional development and marketing facility in Hazelwood, United Kingdom. She has held a number of technology management positions within the company, including leadership positions in the United States and Asia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and a Doctorate in chemistry, both from the University of Surrey. Tesham (Tesh) Gor joins Lubrizol's senior leadership team as corporate vice president, corporate strategy and consumer insights. Gor joined Noveon, Inc. in 2002, which was subsequently acquired by Lubrizol in 2004. He has held a variety of strategic, commercial and business management positions including a two-year assignment in Hong Kong. He has also served as vice president and general manager, Performance Coatings and most recently as vice president, Industrial Specialties. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Louisville and an executive MBA from Case Western Reserve University. These changes are effective June 1, 2017. "With this leadership team and all of the talented people we have around the world, Lubrizol is even better positioned to deliver valuable solutions to assist our customers in meeting the needs of their end users," comments Eric R. Schnur, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Additionally, by bringing together the many ongoing sustainability efforts across the company under the newly created position of chief sustainability officer, we will enhance our positive contributions to the lives of those who use the company's products and/or live in the communities in which Lubrizol operates." In addition, effective November 1, 2017, Tom Curtis, currently vice president of Engine Oils will be appointed corporate senior vice president and president of Lubrizol Additives, replacing Dan Sheets, who has announced his intent to retire at the end of 2017, completing his 33-year career with the company. Curtis joined Lubrizol in 1990 and has served in a variety of technology and commercial positions, including a five-year assignment in Hazelwood, United Kingdom. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from John Carroll University. "I thank Dan for his leadership, dedication and many contributions to Lubrizol," states Schnur. "With a company career spanning more than three decades, and having served as leader of our Lubrizol Additives segment since 2008, Dan has been a primary driver of the strong Lubrizol Additives performance over the past approximately 20 years. I am confident Tom has the experience and proven track record of accomplishments that make him uniquely qualified to successfully lead our Additives segment and further meet the needs of our customers." About The Lubrizol Corporation The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a market-driven global company that combines complex, specialty chemicals to optimize the quality, performance and value of customers' products while reducing their environmental impact. It is a leader at combining market insights with chemistry and application capabilities to deliver valuable solutions to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol improves lives by acting as an essential partner in our customers' success, delivering efficiency, reliability or wellness to their end users. Technologies include lubricant additives for engine oils, driveline and other transportation-related fluids, industrial lubricants, as well as additives for gasoline and diesel fuel. In addition, Lubrizol makes ingredients and additives for home care, personal care and skin care products and specialty materials encompassing polymer and coatings technologies, along with polymer-based pharmaceutical and medical device solutions. With headquarters in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,300 employees worldwide. Revenues for 2016 were $6.5 billion. For more information, visit Lubrizol.com. Media Contact Julie Young 440-347-4432 Website: www.lubrizol.com Headshots Bob Graf Julie Edgar Tesham Gor Tom Curtis Dan Sheets ### Tragedy struck at Surulere area of Lagos at the early hours of Thursday as fire burnt a mother and her three children to death. Tragedy struck at Surulere area of Lagos at the early hours of Thursday as fire burnt a mother and her three children to death.The tragedy occurred at DPO Olubi Street, Aguda, Surulere area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.It was gathered that several shops were also burnt in the inferno which left behind tales of weeping ad mourning.Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe confirmed the tragedy in a text message, saying that the mother and her three children were burnt to death in the inferno.He did not give details as to the cause of the fire.According to him: An outbreak of fire involving shops at DPO Olubi Street, Aguda, Surulere, consumes the lives of a mother and three children. The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and a former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Broderick Bozi... The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and a former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Broderick Bozimo, have said Nigeria cannot progress under the current political system which operates like a military unitary system.The former governor of Lagos State said this at the 91st anniversary of Daily Times newspaper and the Times Heroes awards in Abuja on Tuesday, while Bozimo stated this while speaking with journalists during the 90th birthday celebration of a former Federal Commissioner, Chief Edwin Clark..Tinubu, who was represented by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, said Nigeria was only a federation in name but was a unitary state in practice.He said, Let us streamline governance; federalism in word and deed. Our constitution declares Nigeria a federation of 36 states however we still grapple with the vestiges of our past under the military rule. In any case, we still function like a unitary state despite the constitution. More power and resources need to devolve to the states.The Federal Government is taking on too much. We cannot flourish with over-concentration of powers at the centre. Some of the 68 items on the exclusive federal list should be transferred to the residual list as it was in most federal constitutions.In the 1963 Constitution, there were extensive powers granted to regions which allowed them to carry out their immense responsibility as they then saw fit.Tinubu said Nigerias unitary political system only offered a deceptive and fake economic prosperity which was exposed when the oil price slumped.He said even if the current recession end, the prosperity that would follow would be short-lived except structural changes were made.He added, The fall in oil prices exposed this economic model for the life that it was. Now, we must fashion a new political economy. In due course, the current recession will end. This should come as a relief. In itself however, it is not a cause for celebration, far from it. The end of recession does not mean the beginning of prosperity.The APC chieftain said some items which ordinarily should be state matters like police, prisons, stamp duty, taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains, registration of businesses, incorporation of companies, traffic on Federal Government roads passing through states, trade, commerce among others were transferred from the concurrent to the exclusive list.He said this was at variance with the true spirit of federalism, describing the current unitary system as a monster.Tinubu added, Regarding electrical power we must move beyond limiting states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity to areas not covered by the national grid. Our problem is lack of power yet we preclude states from helping to resolve the chronic problem that stands at the very heart of economic development.It is not right to say states can generate power but cannot sell it where they want. Without yielding any contravening benefits, these policies suppresses the generation of needed power. Senior lawyers are pushing for a probe of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratais claim that some officers have been hobnobb... Senior lawyers are pushing for a probe of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratais claim that some officers have been hobnobbing with politicians.The lawyers suggested yesterday that the matter should not end with Gen. Buratai merely issuing a statement and warning those involved to retrace their steps.British High Commissioner to Nigeria Paul Arkwright, also yesterday, said: The British Government believes that democracy is actually critical in Nigeria.According to online newspaper Premium Times, the High Commissioner, who spoke at the sideline of an event in Abuja to present a report on corruption in Nigeria sponsored by the United Kingdom policy think-tank, Chatham House, said: There are elections. If youre not happy with your leaders then you should change your leadership through the democratic process and through elections.Gen. Buratai, according to a statement by army spokesman Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, has warned officers and soldiers to steer clear of politics or have themselves to blame.Buratai advised personnel, who were interested in politics, to resign their commission or apply for voluntary discharge forthwith.Brig.-Gen. Usman said the warning followed information received by Gen. Buratai that some individuals have been approaching some officers and soldiers for undisclosed political reasons.On the basis of that, the army chief, has warned such persons to desist from these acts.He also reminded them that Nigerian army is a thorough professional, disciplined, loyal and apolitical institution that has clear constitutional roles and responsibilities.Any officer or soldier of Nigerian Army found to be hobnobbing with such elements or engaged in unprofessional conducts such as politicking would have himself or herself to blame.Activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) described the statement as very disturbing.He added: It is hoped some officials of the Federal Government are not playing into the hands of anti-democratic forces. In particular, the government should stop giving the impression that there is political instability in the country. For instance, are we to wait for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on an indefinite medical vacation when Section 145 of the Constitution has transferred all presidential powers to the Acting President?The members of the ruling class should be warned not to truncate the political process. On its own part, the Federal Government is advised to involve the people in addressing the economic crisis and in the fight against corruption. At the same time, the government should comply with all court orders and embrace the rule of law in all its ramifications.Constitutional lawyer Ike Ofuokwu said Gen. Buratais warning was not enough.He said: Its not just enough for the COAS to warn his men to desist from hobnobbing with politicians and the allegation swept under the carpet.Its very imperative that further steps are taken through a process of proper and discreet investigation as to uncovering the reasons for this unholy alliance so as to nip it in the bud if it is inimical to our national security or if it will result in a breach to our democratic dispensation.It will be the height of political insanity and insensitivity for the political class to repeat the mistakes that brought to an abrupt end the Second Republic in December 1983.Ofuokwu spoke on how the matter should be investigated. He said: I am not advocating any probe or enquiry to be launched, as that in its own, would be another jamboree for political patronage and financial waste and nothing meaningful will come out of it.The military in itself, I believe, has enough capacity and intelligence apparatus to look inward and X-ray itself.Senior lawyer Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said the officers involved as well as the politicians should be identified.Ill advise the military to investigate properly and, if possible, set up a special panel over this matter, Ozekhome said.Whoever is approaching the military officers, they should find them out. It may be that it is the military officers that are reaching out to the politicians. It could either way a symbiotic relationship, he said.A former Minister of State (Defence) Senator Musiliu Obanikoro praised Gen. Buratai for the courage to speak out.Obanikoro said: I commend Buratai for being courageous enough to blow the whistle against those trying to lure military to meddle in politics. He has demonstrated that he is a professional and not a politician in uniform.As a nation, we are going through a lot already to be traumatised with news of military intervention. Our history does not support any intervention from the military because we have seen the best and worst of military rule.They threw the country into economic and political mess, compounded with social confusion. We suffered stunted growth mainly as a result of military incursion in government. As we speak, the military is engaged enough with unrest in almost every part of the country.I encourage Buratai and all military heads to continue to support democratic rule and ensure necessary discipline within the military.A former President of Igbo intellectual group, Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, said the Gen. Buratai statement should not be taken seriously.He said: I see the statement as one of grand standing. It was done to show loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari. I do not think any politician worth his salt would go to any officer.As it is today, there is no threat to the government of President Buhari. This is because there is no credible opposition.This is the longest unbroken system of government we have had for the past 18 years.We seem to have got it right. Any threat from the military would be unpopular. The statement should not be taken seriously.Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike urged the Army High Command to desist from posting soldiers to politicians. He described this as counter-productive and a threat to national security.He said Gen. Buratai should take action to check the disturbing trend.He said: Who are those approving soldiers to politicians? If they dont want soldiers to follow politicians, they should stop giving soldiers to politicians.It is only in Nigeria that soldiers follow politicians. They should stop soldiers from being security detail to politicians. Donald Trump gave vent to frustrations over his mounting political problems Wednesday, declaring that no president in US history had bee... Donald Trump gave vent to frustrations over his mounting political problems Wednesday, declaring that no president in US history had been treated more unfairly.During a commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump urged graduating cadets to follow his example and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, give up. Things will work out just fine.Look at the way Ive been treated lately. Especially by the media. No politician in history and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You cant let them get you down, he said.The outburst came amid intensifying pressure on the president in the wake of his firing of James Comey as director of the FBI last week, in the midst of a probe into whether Trumps campaign colluded with Russian attempts to tilt the US election in his favour.The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday that they have asked Comey to testify.The New York Times, citing sources close to Comey, reported on Tuesday that Trump asked the FBI director in an Oval Office meeting to drop its probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.A day earlier, the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat.AFP Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday signed three executive orders that will significantly change some of the ways government busine... Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday signed three executive orders that will significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country.A statement from Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Office of the Vice President said the executive orders were issued in exercise of the presidential authorities vested in the Executive arm of government.Specifically, Prof. Osinbajo signed three executive orders giving specific instructions on a number of policy issues affecting:*the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country,*timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government and*support for local contents in public procurement by the Federal Government.Akande noted that ahead of the signing, the Acting President held an interactive session at the old Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa with all relevant government officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of departments and agencies among others. The session was meant to directly engage government officials who would be implementing the orders and the new instructions. ENGLEWOOD -- A 37-year-old man living in Thailand was arrested this week after failing to appear for his arraignment years ago when he was indicted for allegedly possessing child pornography, officials said. Avi Kartin, 37 Avi Kartin, of Englewood, was charged with possessing child pornography and failing to appear for his arraignment. A bench warrant was issued in October 2015, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday. In 2013, officials investigated images of child pornography online and determined that Kartin possessed the photographs. He was found to be living in Thailand and a grand jury indicted him in 2015. On Wednesday, Kartin flew back to the United States. He was immediately put in custody at Newark International Liberty Airport after he flew in from Bangkok International Airport in Thailand. Kartin was released after making a first court appearance on Wednesday and is next scheduled to appear before a judge on June 26. Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde. A 26-year-old New Jersey woman alleges she was beaten in Washington, D.C by Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bodyguards during what began as a peaceful protest Tuesday, according to a BuzzFeed report. Ceren Borazan, who lives in East Rutherford, says a security officer put her in a headlock and threatened to kill her during a large altercation between protesters and Turkish security outside the embassy on Wednesday. The Turkish president had just returned to the embassy after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House when violence broke out as Turkish security pushed past police to confront protesters. PLEASE JOIN ME by asking 4 justice for those of us who were attacked yesterday by Erdogan's bodyguards. #ArrestErdogansBodyguards pic.twitter.com/NQWN8gV5Dx Ceren Borazan (@CerenBorazan) May 17, 2017 Borazan, a Kurd who emigrated to the U.S in 2013, was also thrown to the ground, punched and kicked by a bodyguard, a police report states. She said she escaped when a stranger let her into his car. Twelve people, including a police officer were hurt during the melee. "My Kurdish friends and allies were protesting peacefully against Erdogan being in Washington when were suddenly attacked by a group of Erdogan's official bodyguards and secret police," Borazan wrote on Facebook. "They attacked women, children and elderly with reckless abandon. U.S. officials strongly criticized the Turkish government. "Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms." Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking a different woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency labeled the protesters Kurdish "supporters of terror." It said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that Erdogan's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene." In a statement, the Turkish Embassy blamed the violence on the demonstrators, saying they were "aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the President. The Turkish-Americans responded in self-defense and one of them was seriously injured." .@TasneemN spoke to the woman in this photo about what Erdogan's goon told her https://t.co/Bjio1CeTWf pic.twitter.com/aGDTaGHs72 Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) May 18, 2017 Ayten Necmi, 49, of Woodside, N.Y., was charged with aggravated assault, police said, after a woman who was thrown to the ground and kicked identified Necmi as her attacker. Jalal Kheirabadi, 42, of Fairfax, Virginia, charged with assaulting a police officer, refused treatment for cuts to his face. The man who attacked Borazan has not been identified. The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEWARK -- A New York physician admitted Thursday to taking roughly $400,000 in bribes from a Morris County blood testing lab, becoming the 45th person convicted in a massive patient-referral scheme. Ricky J. Sayegh, 44, of Scarsdale, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to a charge of accepting cash bribes in violation of the federal travel act, according to a statement from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick. Prosecutors say Sayegh admitted accepting the bribes from Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, LLC from February 2010 through April 2013, in exchange for referring patients' blood specimens to the lab, generating more than $1.4 million in business for the lab. Sayegh is the 31st physician convicted in connection with the scheme, which prosecutors say landed BLS more than $100 million in payments from Medicare and private insurers. BLS as a company previously pleaded guilty in June 2016, and was ordered to forfeit its remaining assets. Just one physician charged in connection with the scheme, Bernard Greenspan of Saddle Brook, has taken his case to trial. A federal jury in Newark on March 6 found Greenspan, 79, guilty on all 10 counts of an indictment charging him with wire fraud and conspiracy, among other offenses. Greenspan, whose attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial, is scheduled to be sentenced June 20, according to court records. Sayegh faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to twice the profit from the crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. His sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 6, 2017 before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark. Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. BRIDGETON -- The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office announced they had located 14-year-old Thomas Williams of Vineland. Williams went missing on Monday. Both the prosecutor's office and Vineland Police were searching for the Vineland resident. Officials say Williams was found in Delaware and returned to Cumberland County. The prosecutor's office also stated that they are conducting an investigation into how Williams was able to travel to Delaware. Because there is an ongoing investigation, no more details were released. Chris Franklin can be reached at . Follow him on Twitter . Find . Nashville, TN., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTCPink: FCGD) announced today that they have started the process of leasing equipment and plan to start the reclamation work on their new coal lease in the next thirty to forty-five days. The Company also provided an update regarding the operating plan and the process to begin operations, which includes an initial phase of reclamation work. The coal lease, which is located at 12964 S. Hwy 421 Manchester, Kentucky 40964, will be primarily a surface coal mine operation focusing on the 102 acres already permitted. The site and operating plan will focus initially on the Haddix Seam which ranges in thickness from 48 inches to 55 inches and will be mined using the area mining method. This seam has an existing permit in place which includes 813,450 tons of coal. Jason Castenir, CEO of First Colombia Gold Corp. stated, We plan to announce the new leadership that will be overseeing this entire operation within the next week. We are very confident this team will be very effective in getting this mine up and running. The initial phase is expected to begin in the next 30-45 days and will involve the reclamation work necessary to being full scale operation. We have already begun the process of securing the equipment necessary to start this work. The company also stated that they plan to announce projections and revenue goals within the next week. Castenir continued, This is an exciting time as we turn the corner and really focus on sustainable long term coal operations both with this lease. We also look forward to acquiring additional leases as those opportunities present themselves. Investor Inquiries: Website: www.FCGDcorp.com Email: info@firstcolombiagoldcorp.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FirstColombiaGold Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FCGDCorp Disclaimer This release contains forward-looking statements that are based on beliefs of First Colombia Gold Corp. management and reflect First Colombia Gold Corp.'s current expectations as contemplated under section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When we use in this release the words "estimate," "project," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "plan," "predict," "may," "should," "will," "can," the negative of these words, or such other variations thereon, or comparable terminology, are all intended to identify forward looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of First Colombia Gold Corp. with respect to future events based on currently available information and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties pertaining to development of mining properties, changes in economic conditions and other risks, uncertainties and factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievement expressed or implied by such forward looking statements to differ materially from the forward looking statements. The information contained in this press release is historical in nature, has not been updated, and is current only to the date shown in this press release. This information may no longer be accurate and therefore you should not rely on the information contained in this press release. To the extent permitted by law, First Colombia Gold Corp. and its employees, agents and consultants exclude all liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of, or reliance on, any such information, whether or not caused by any negligent act or omission. This press release incorporates by reference the Company's filings with the SEC including 10K, 10Q, 8K reports and other filings. Investors are encouraged to review all filings. There is no assurance First Colombia Gold Corp. will identify projects of merit or if it will have sufficient financing to implement its business plan. There is no assurance that the Company's due diligence on the potential acquisition of oil and gas assets will be favorable nor that definitive terms can be negotiated. Information in this release includes representations from the private companies referred to which has not been independently verified by the company. A downturn in oil prices would affect the potential profitability of the proposed acquisition negatively. NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hunt Mortgage Group, a leader in financing commercial real estate throughout the United States, announced today it provided two Fannie Mae small balance loan facilities to refinance two multifamily properties in Arizona for the same sponsor. The total Hunt Mortgage Group investment was $10.3 million. The properties include: Urban 55 Apartment Homes . Urban 55 Apartment Homes is located at 5038 North 55th Ave. in Glendale, Arizona, and is a garden-style apartment property comprised of 12 residential buildings and a leasing office with a total of 209 units. The property was built in 1984 and is currently 99% occupied. Hunt invested $6 million to refinance this property. The new loan will have an initial three-years of interest only payments, followed by a 30-year amortization schedule and will be used to pay off the existing loan on the property with cash-out proceeds being used to continue remodeling the property. Urban 55 Apartment Homes has been in the borrowers family since 2006 and the current sponsor took over management approximately four years ago. She has operated the property successfully since then and it is currently performing very well. . Urban 55 Apartment Homes is located at 5038 North 55th Ave. in Glendale, Arizona, and is a garden-style apartment property comprised of 12 residential buildings and a leasing office with a total of 209 units. The property was built in 1984 and is currently 99% occupied. Hunt invested $6 million to refinance this property. The new loan will have an initial three-years of interest only payments, followed by a 30-year amortization schedule and will be used to pay off the existing loan on the property with cash-out proceeds being used to continue remodeling the property. Urban 55 Apartment Homes has been in the borrowers family since 2006 and the current sponsor took over management approximately four years ago. She has operated the property successfully since then and it is currently performing very well. Urban Edge Apartment Homes. Hunt Mortgage Group invested $10.3 million to refinance Urban Edge Apartment Homes, a garden-style multifamily property comprised of five residential buildings and a pool equipment room with a total of 124 units. The property is located at 4038 & 4116 East McDowell Road in Phoenix, Arizona, was built in 1979, and is 99% occupied. The new loan will also pay off the existing loan and be used to continue remodeling the property. The loan has a fixed rate for the initial ten years of the loan, followed by 10-years of floating rate payments. The loan will have an initial three years of interest only payments, followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. This property has an outdoor pool. The borrower is a repeat Hunt Mortgage Group and Freddie Mac client, and together we refinanced Arbor Creek Apartments in mid-2016, noted Owen Breheny, Director at Hunt Mortgage Group and part of the firms dedicated small balance loan team. These properties are perfect for a refinance under the Freddie Mac small balance loan program. The properties are in good condition and are backed by a quality, experienced sponsor. We were pleased to deliver on these loans to provide much needed quality affordable housing in the local market. About Hunt Mortgage Group Hunt Mortgage Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunt Companies, Inc., is a leader in financing commercial real estate throughout the United States. The Company finances all types of commercial real estate: multifamily properties (including small balance), affordable housing, office, retail, manufactured housing, healthcare/senior living, industrial, and self-storage facilities. It offers Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD/FHA in addition to its own Proprietary loan products. Since inception, the Company has structured more than $21 billion of loans and today maintains a servicing portfolio of more than $12 billion. Headquartered in New York City, Hunt Mortgage Group has 189 professionals in 20 locations throughout the United States. To learn more, visit www.huntmortgagegroup.com. SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cloudflare, the leading Internet performance and security company, today announced Argo, a service that intelligently routes traffic across the Internet for a faster, more reliable, and more secure online experience. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/68862f17-0677-481b-a1ed-ce0d00fa3a13 The Internet is inherently unreliable. Its massive collection of networks from different providers experiences delays and outages all the time. Internet users experience these problems as slowness reaching websites or sluggishness using mobile apps. Cloudflares Argo is like Waze for the Internet. Argo routes around traffic jams and broken Internet links by continuously monitoring the performance and reliability of the global Internet, making websites and apps respond faster and work more reliably. Argo combines connections between Cloudflares data centers into a virtual backbone that is always encrypted, optimized for performance, and massively redundant. In addition to accelerating requests for dynamic content, Argo provides tiered caching that increases cache hit rates, saving web application developers bandwidth and costly CPU time. Every second, Cloudflare sees traffic from nearly every eyeball network to every significant origin network on the Internet, explained Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. Argo uses real-time latency and packet loss data from Cloudflares existing traffic to continuously calculate the most efficient routes. The result is Cloudflares Argo can deliver a packet from any two points on Earth more effectively than any conventional Internet network. Cloudflares network of more than 115 data centers in 57 countries puts websites and APIs close to end users by caching content near to them, but before Argo, for uncached, dynamic content, requests still needed to traverse the Internet. Argo is a virtual backbone which finds the best route between any two points on the network, resulting in faster, more reliable websites, APIs, and apps. This translates into higher SEO rankings, better time to first byte (TTFB), and increased retention for Internet properties and applications, resulting in happier users. In tests across 50,000 Cloudflare customers, Argo reduced latency by an average of 35 percent while resulting in 27 percent fewer connection timeouts for Internet applications. Argo ensures that as Internet users become increasingly mobile, speed and reliability are maintained no matter where users or servers are located. With Argo, customers benefit from: Snappier Websites and Faster APIs: Cloudflare handles more than 10 percent of all HTTP/HTTPS Internet traffic, providing Argo with live intelligence on the fastest and most efficient routes across the globe. Cloudflare handles more than 10 percent of all HTTP/HTTPS Internet traffic, providing Argo with live intelligence on the fastest and most efficient routes across the globe. Reduced Costs: Argo reduces latency, server load, bandwidth usage, and per-request fees to storage providers. Argo reduces latency, server load, bandwidth usage, and per-request fees to storage providers. Increased Reliability: Argos live view of Internet outages enables it to route around cable cuts, packet loss, and congestion. Argos live view of Internet outages enables it to route around cable cuts, packet loss, and congestion. Ensured Security: All Argo traffic is encrypted across Cloudflares network, ensuring a high degree of confidence in its security. Metcalfes Law states that the value of a network is defined by the square of the number of nodes that make up the network, explained John Graham-Cumming, CTO of Cloudflare. This creates a chicken and egg problem when trying to deploy new, more efficient technologies on existing networks. Cloudflares Argo allows us to upgrade the core of Internet while every node remains connected, preserving its value while improving its performance and security. It means we can rebuild a better Internet the way we would have 30 years ago if wed known everything we know today. Consumer Sites Use Argo for Faster and More Reliable Connections for their Users With Argo, we decreased latency by up to 36 percent and saw 42 percent fewer timeouts, meaning more matches and better connections for our users, said Alex Dumitriu, CIO of OkCupid. Argo has improved the online experience for our users, making it easier than ever for them to make interesting and meaningful connections. Messaging Apps Are Improved with Argo "We're in a constant search for ways to improve our product experience at Discord, including improving responsiveness and reliability," said Stanislav Vishnevskiy, CTO of Discord. "Argo allowed us to cut our load times by an average of 33 milliseconds with no development effort by our team." Health Companies Reach More Customers Using Argo "Our main focus is providing the best natural and organic products from top wellness brands at affordable prices to help our customers lead healthy lives, said Sam Wolf, Founder and Chief Wellness Spreader at LuckyVitamin, an online health foods store of over 40,000 wellness products ranging from vitamins and supplements to organic beauty and skin care, natural foods and snacks, non-toxic cleaning products and more. With Argo enabled, weve seen request times to LuckyVitamin.com drop by 26 percent, translating into an improved shopping experience for our customers that helps us grow our online business." Online Learning Resources Need Argo for a Faster User Experience Argo allows us to deliver a top-notch user experience globally while keeping costs low and technical operations simple, said Matthew Glotzbach, CEO of Quizlet. International growth is a big focus for us, and with Argo, we've seen that students in Brazil are able to access Quizlet 47 percent faster; we believe this increase in speed will help us fulfill our mission of helping students practice and master what they're learning, no matter where they are in the world. To learn how Argo can help your web property, please visit the Argo product page or read our blog. *We are big fans of Waze, but to be clear, Argo is in no way affiliated with the Waze technology or application. About Cloudflare Cloudflare, Inc. (www.cloudflare.com / @cloudflare) is on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the worlds largest networks that powers more than 10 trillion requests per month, which is nearly 10 percent of all Internet requests for more than 2.5 billion people worldwide. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Web properties powered by Cloudflare have all web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with each new site added. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer, named the Most Innovative Network & Internet Technology Company for two years running by the Wall Street Journal, and ranked among the world's 50 most innovative companies by Fast Company. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cloudflare has offices in Austin, TX, Champaign, IL, Boston, MA, Washington, DC, London, and Singapore. NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Softwareparticularly cloud-based technologyis now creating roughly $1.4 trillion in economic value in the U.S. and is poised to grow even more, particularly as non-tech companies transform themselves into software businesses, according to a new report released today by global investment firm Battery Ventures. The figure represents nearly eight percent of U.S. GDP. The report was delivered by Battery General Partner Neeraj Agrawal at the inaugural CloudNY conference in New York. Based on earlier research by the BSA | The Software Alliance as well as new research by Battery, the report traces the history of todays software renaissance from the mainframe era in the 1970s through the client-server era, then into desktop software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and, finally, to todays cloud-first offerings delivered over the Web. People dont realize how big this industry actually ispartly because so much software is baked into everyday products we use at the office and at home, said Agrawal, a longtime cloud-software investor. But softwares time has come. The cost of starting a software company is lower than ever. And as spending on traditional software categories, like ERP and CRM, continues to growand as software seeps into newly smart products like cars, medical devices, and next-generation industrial toolswe are looking at a category that is a major component of our nations economy and a driver of jobs. Agrawal predicts that by 2020, software will represent 10 percent of GDP and could drive $2 trillion in value. The new Battery report, called Software 2017 and co-authored with Battery Vice President Logan Bartlett, said the U.S. software industry supports nearly 10 million jobs, according to figures from a 2016 BSA | The Software Alliance report. A little less than a third of these jobs represent people directly employed by software firms. The restabout seven millionare jobs indirectly tied to the industry, in fields such as construction, real estate or food service, which are created when software companies are started or grow. The CloudNY conference where the findings will be shared is a new, high-level, CEO- and founder-only gathering of cloud-software leaders organized by Battery and early-stage venture-capital firm FirstMark Capital. The event, which is expected to draw roughly 180 cloud leaders whose companies together employ about 50,000 people, is primarily a forum for company founders to learn from each other. Speakers include Jyoti Bansal, founder of AppDynamics*; Scott Dorsey, founder of ExactTarget*; Tobi Lutke, CEO and co-founder of Shopify; Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite; Ragy Thomas, founder of Sprinklr*; and many others. The event also highlights the growing importance of New York City as a software-startup hub. Enterprise-tech focused startups in New York raised $3.5 billion in funding in 2016, nearly double the $1.8 billion raised in 2015, according to the Work-Bench Enterprise Startups Funding Database, a research tool maintained by New York investment fund Work-Bench. *Denotes a current or former Battery portfolio company. For a full list of all Battery investments and exits, please click here. About Battery Ventures Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, Web infrastructure, consumer Internet, mobile and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to private equity and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Tel Aviv and London. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd (TSX-V:GQ) (the Company) is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of May 9, 2017 it has commenced work with its joint venture partner Salam Mineau on the details of the mining and trucking business. The contribution of Salam Mineau as an active and experienced operator in the north is crucial in understanding how to develop that business, given the unique dynamics that prevail in that remote part of Mali. Therefore the costs associated with that business have not yet been determined. The mining and trucking operations will start when the Company obtains the mining permit. The Company is currently working on an application for the mining permit, which includes a work program on the property, with a view to upgrade the current inferred resource to a measured and indicated status. About Great Quest Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the development of African agricultural mineral projects for local production of farm ready fertilizers. The Companys flagship asset is the Tilemsi Phosphate Project, encompassing 1,206 km in northeastern Mali, containing high quality phosphate resources amenable to use as direct application fertilizer. Great Quest is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GQ, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol GQM. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GREAT QUEST FERTILIZER LTD. Jed Richardson President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements that are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to vary materially from the targeted results. We seek safe harbor. The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts. French English Amsterdam, May 18, 2017 at 04:00pm - Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces that its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ("AGM"), held today in the Netherlands, approved all the resolutions proposed by the Board. Among these resolutions were: Adoption of the Company's 2016 financial statements. Distribution of a cash dividend of 0.50 per share in respect of the financial year 2016. The time schedule related to the dividend payment will be as follows: May 22, 2017: Ex-dividend date, i.e. the date as of which shares are traded without the right to the 2016 dividend. May 23, 2017: Dividend record date, i.e. the date on which the shareholder positions are recorded as per close of business in order to be entitled to the 2016 dividend distribution. May 24, 2017: Payment date of dividend. Gemalto shares will trade ex-dividend as from the beginning of the trading session on May 22, 2017. Holders of Gemalto shares on May 22, 2017 who would not have previously sold their shares will be able to freely trade their shares on the stock exchange as from such date and will not need to block their shares until the payment date of the dividend to benefit from such dividend. The dividend in cash is in principle subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax, which will be deducted by Gemalto from the dividend paid to the shareholders. Some shareholders may be eligible to claim a refund of the tax withheld, if certain conditions are met. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisor on their applicable situation with respect to any tax aspects relating to the dividend. May 22, 2017: Ex-dividend date, the date as of which shares are traded without the right to the 2016 dividend. May 23, 2017: Dividend record date, the date on which the shareholder positions are recorded as per close of business in order to be entitled to the 2016 dividend distribution. May 24, 2017: Payment date of dividend. Gemalto shares will trade ex-dividend as from the beginning of the trading session on May 22, 2017. Holders of Gemalto shares on May 22, 2017 who would not have previously sold their shares will be able to freely trade their shares on the stock exchange as from such date and will not need to block their shares until the payment date of the dividend to benefit from such dividend. The dividend in cash is in principle subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax, which will be deducted by Gemalto from the dividend paid to the shareholders. Some shareholders may be eligible to claim a refund of the tax withheld, if certain conditions are met. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisor on their applicable situation with respect to any tax aspects relating to the dividend. Reappointment of Mr. Alex Mandl as Non-executive Board member until the close of the 2019 AGM. Reappointment of Ms. Homaira Akbari as Non-executive Board member until the close of the 2021 AGM. Reappointment of Mr. Buford Alexander as Non-executive Board Member until the close of the 2019 AGM. Reappointment of Mr. John Ormerod as Non-executive Board member until the close of the 2018 AGM. Appointment of Ms. Jill Smith as Non-Executive Board Member until the close of the 2021 AGM. Amendment to the Articles of Association of Gemalto. Renewal of the authorization of the Board to repurchase shares in the share capital of the Company as well as extension of authorization of the Board to issue shares and to grant rights to acquire shares in the share capital of Gemalto with or without the power to limit or exclude pre-emptive rights accruing to shareholders. The agenda and other relevant detailed information concerning the AGM are available on the Gemalto's investor website at http://www.gemalto.com/investors/agm/agm-2017. Investor Relations Corporate Communication Media Relations Agency Winston Yeo Isabelle Marand Suzanne Bakker M.: +33 6 2947 0814 M.: +33 6 1489 1817 M. : +31 6 1136 8659 winston.yeo@gemalto.com isabelle.marand@gemalto.com suzanne.bakker@citigateff.nl Sebastien Liagre M.: +33 6 1751 4467 sebastien.liagre@gemalto.com This press release contains inside information as referred to in article 7 paragraph 1 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation). About Gemalto Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2016 annual revenues of 3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world. Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between. Gemalto's solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software - enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things. Our 15,000+ employees operate out of 112 offices, 43 personalization and data centers, and 30 research and software development centers located in 48 countries. For more information visit www.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter. Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/08b3f94b-0123-40ee-b983-74ebb34a862a Once elected, members of the Public Service Commission typically have an easy time hanging onto their jobs. Voters dont know much about them or their work, and the only real money in the campaigns has traditionally come from utilities and others Martha Bruckner will keep working with her successor as superintendent of the Council Bluffs Community School District albeit in a different capacity. Bruckner has accepted a position with the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium as the executive director of MOECs Achievement Plan, a collaborative effort bringing together Omaha-area school districts in Nebraska with Council Bluffs schools, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Iowa Western Community College and Metropolitan Community College. Bruckner will start on July 3, after incoming Council Bluffs Superintendent Vickie Murillo takes the reigns on July 1. In her new role, Bruckner will work on bringing together schools, business partners and others to make progress on common goals such as having students explore all their options and choose educational and training opportunities that meet their needs as well as those of the communitys workforce. Specific steps MOEC members might take include working on ensuring students have completed their federal student loan paperwork, so they can have access to financial support for post-secondary and training opportunities, and to address gaps in math education, where students often struggle as they transition from high school to trade or college programs. MOEC is based out of UNOs College of Education. Its membership includes the 11 school districts making up Omahas Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, as well as the Council Bluffs school district and, recently, the two area community colleges and the two educational service units serving Omaha Public Schools and the suburban Omaha districts. Nancy Edick, the dean of UNOs College of Education, said one of MOECs goals through its Achievement Plan initiative is to bring the community together as a PK-16 collective, which includes early childhood education and four-year post-secondary education to the traditional K-12 public school system. The initiative wants to build pathways to success for students, Edick said, as well as to foster the use of best practices to each of its member institutions. She said the aim is to create a network to reinforce collaborative work across the region. We have a very strong history and a strong foundation for collaboration, she said of the consortium. Its the next evolution. Bruckner said her role will be full time, but she doesnt expect it to be as demanding on her time as a superintendency although she expects challenges will be ahead. Its kind of a daunting idea that were all going to work together to make sure that everyone in our community has access to a really good education PK-16, Bruckner said. Edick said Bruckner will bring a proven record of fostering relationships, building on a network of efforts across the metropolian area. Community partnerships have just been integral to the progress that the Council Bluffs schools have made, Edick said. She is very good with making those connections. Creating a metropolitan area that takes a comprehensive approach to PK-16 education and workforce alignment is a lofty project, Edick said, and a lot remains to be decided as efforts progress including even the future name of the MOEC Achievement Plan. But Edick said hiring Bruckner will be a positive step. She is the perfect person for it, Edick said. Its very exciting. Sen. Chuck Grassley said he will be part of a bipartisan group of senators asking the acting FBI director and White House counsel for copies of memos written by former FBI Director James Comey about his interactions with President Donald Trump. I plan to exercise my constitutional right of oversight, the Iowa Republican told reporters during his weekly press call Wednesday morning. We need all the facts. We cant rely on selective leaks and facts. On Monday, the New York Times and Associated Press reported that on a memo Comey had written saying that Trump asked him to shut down the agencys investigation into ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn. The meeting occurred shortly after Flynn had resigned his post because of his ties to foreign governments, including Russia. A person who had seen the memo told the AP what Comey had written. The person was not authorized to discuss the memo by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The existence of the memo was first reported by The Times. The White House denied the account, the AP noted. Grassley said hell be briefed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today on the situation. He plans to make a decision on whether to hold hearings on the matter after that meeting, though the senator noted such hearings are likely. Asked if what Trump told Comey could be considered obstruction of justice, Grassley said, I have to see the memos first. Its just common sense that we read the whole memo. He added: If it was going to be interference, it seems to me Comey shouldve taken action on that interference. Asked if he trusts the president, Grassley said he generally trusts people until he finds out theyre lying. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Grassley said Trumps disclosure of classified information to the Russian ambassador to the U.S. last week was an effort to thwart terrorism. The New York Times reported the classified intelligence Trump divulged was provided by Israel. When the president makes a decision its no long classified. His speaking is tantamount to declassification. Hes trying to be helpful to people he wants to help fight ISIS, Grassley said, referring to the fight against the Islamic State, and also protect Americans in the process. Grassley said he felt each president has to make a judgement about when its appropriate to release information in the interest of national security. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said he wants to give the White House a chance to explain what happened. Burr said a president can share intelligence, although never things like sources and methods, and that he doesnt know if there is a transcript of the May 10 meeting, but somebody made notes. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is not worried that Trump disclosed classified information during discussions with senior Russian leaders. He said he had discussions Tuesday with three allies, including two who are NATO members, and said the issue never even came up. Grassley noted that some of the controversies of the Trump administration have been self-inflicted, while he questioned the motivation of the people in the White House that have leaked information, such as the Comey memo and Trumps disclosure to Russia. Grassley said Trumps scandals are nothing compared to what led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon or the articles of impeachment filed against President Bill Clinton. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Atlanta, GA, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ScottMadden, Inc., one of North Americas leading energy consulting firms, recently released its spring Energy Industry Update. For more than a decade and a half, the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update has served as the catalyst for strategic discussion, debate, and decisions. More than 10,000 executive leaders rely on it for thought-provoking insights on the energy utility industrys most important trends. This highly anticipated semi-annual report will give you bottom-line insights, distill recent events, and help you as you prepare to anticipate and respond to emerging trends. Themed Its the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), this report focuses on the strategic drivers propelling our industry, including trends in the natural gas industry such as infrastructure development and price risk management. Natural gas prices remain low for now across North America, continuing to be buoyed by prolific shale plays. Gas pipeline development continues as the industry tries to unlock those resources, although projects are proceeding at different speeds. In this favorable environment, some electric and gas utilities are looking at ways to hedge gas price risk. And, some regulators are questioning past hedging programsin some cases, ones that had previously been approved. We all want price stability and the lowest price possible. But those objectives can conflict. While locking in low gas prices is a key goal for utilities that deliver gas or use it as a power generation fuel, balancing price stability with target price levels is as much art as science, said Greg Litra, partner and energy, clean tech, and sustainability research leader at ScottMadden. It requires regulatory engagement, knowledge of hedging instruments and practices, and skill and experience to customize programs based upon local market dynamics and business objectives. If you have not already registered, we encourage you to join ScottMadden and Energy Central for the interactive webcast, ScottMaddens Energy Industry Update Its the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), on Friday, May 19, 2017, from 1:002:00 PM EDT. During this complimentary session, our industry experts will share their views and field questions related to solar curtailment, Australias response to distributed generation, and smart cities. Join us to hear from Chris Vlahoplus, partner and clean tech & sustainability practice leader at ScottMadden and Paul Quinlan, clean tech manager at ScottMadden. Stuart Pearman will serve as an additional presenter and the webcast moderator. Click here to read the latest Energy Industry Update. Contact us to schedule a discussion with our thought leaders. About ScottMaddens Energy Practice We know energy from the ground up. Since 1983, we have been energy consultants. We have served more than 400 clients, including 20 of the top 20 energy utilities. We have performed more than 3,000 projects across every energy utility business unit and every function. We have helped our clients develop strategies, improve operations, reorganize companies, and implement initiatives. Our broad and deep energy utility expertise is not theoreticalit is experience based. About ScottMadden, Inc. ScottMadden is the management consulting firm that does what it takes to get it done right. Our practice areas include Energy, Clean Tech & Sustainability, Corporate & Shared Services, and Grid Transformation. We deliver a broad array of consulting services ranging from strategic planning through implementation across many industries, business units, and functions. To learn more, visit www.scottmadden.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c0533f38-4727-4821-a314-59f8be796315 Gov. Terry Branstad declared Pottawattamie County a Home Base Iowa community Tuesday afternoon. The designation signifies the county as a place welcoming to military members returning to civilian life from the service. Its evident you have great support here from local elected officials, state representatives, businesses and the people of Pottawattamie County, Branstad told a crowd of about 80 people that packed the conference space at the Pottawattamie County Veterans Affairs building during a ceremony marking the certification. Its wonderful for our community and county to showcase that were a veteran-friendly community, said Lori Shields, director of marketing, communications and workforce development for the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, which played a key role in receiving the designation. We always knew we were; this is a step that certifies it and announces it to the state, she said. We agree with Shields. With the Veterans Plaza at Bayliss Park, numerous Honor Flights, strong turnout for Veterans Day parades and the Eagles of Honor project, among other things, Pottawattamie County has shown a strong commitment to military members both active and retired. The Home Base Iowa program connects veterans and transitioning service members with its partners and resources throughout the state, according to the programs website. The process to become a Home Base Community includes showing a commitment to veterans from businesses through job opportunities and incentives elected officials and others. The mayors of 14 cities and towns in Pottawattamie County pledged their support, making the county the only Home Base Iowa community with the backing of every city, Branstad noted. I think thats really great, Branstad said in an interview after the certification ceremony. Its something I think we should be proud of. We commend the committee of 11 people from the public, private and nonprofit sectors who worked together to make the Home Base designation a reality. In addition, were thankful to live in a county with so many businesses that offer discounts and incentives to veterans. The committee presented a list of 21 area businesses that offer everything from military rates or discounts to free memberships. Weve always known it, but now its official Pottawattamie County is a Home Base Community. The following editorial was published in the Fort Dodge Messenger on May 11: Egg production is big business in Iowa. The Hawkeye State has more than 50 major egg producers. The states nearly 60 million layers generate a remarkable 14.4 billion eggs each year, making Iowa the No. 1 egg-producing state in the nation. The Iowa egg industry is a big purchaser of Iowas other agricultural products. The states layers consume 57 million bushels of corn and 28.5 million bushels of soybeans every year. This industry also contributes mightily to a positive employment picture in Iowa. According to the Iowa Egg Council, egg producers are responsible for about 8,000 jobs that generate $424 million each year in income for employees and $19.3 million annually in general tax revenues for the state. Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California are the top five egg-producing states in the United States. Together, they account for 50 percent of this countrys egg production. In the nation as a whole, some 300 million egg-laying hens generate well over 200 million cases of shell eggs per year. Americans dont eat as many eggs as they once did. Even so, eggs remain a popular food choice and consumer demand remains high. Per capita egg consumption was 402 eggs per year at its high point in 1945. Today its in the neighborhood of 250 eggs per person each year and has been holding fairly constant in recent years. Most of the nations egg production goes toward meeting that demand, but egg producers also make a positive contribution to our nations export economy. U.S. eggs and egg products are sold worldwide. May is National Egg Month. The next time you consume this tasty product, enjoy the moment but reflect also on the egg industrys importance to Iowa. Dayton, Ohio, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MacAulay-Brown, Inc. (MacB), a leading National Security company delivering advanced engineering services, cybersecurity and product solutions, announced today that MacB President and CEO Sid Fuchs was recently selected among the list of Daytons Whos Who Top 100 in Aerospace and Defense for 2017 by the Dayton Business Journal. This is the third year in a row that Mr. Fuchs has made the list. A celebratory reception for all honorees will be held on Monday, May 22 at the Pentagon Tower Club in Beavercreek, Ohio. In addition to making Daytons Top 100 list this year, Mr. Fuchs was also named as one of the Top 25 Executives in Government Contracting by WashingtonExec in 2016 and 2017, and a finalist for GovCon CEO of the Year in 2013. He is a recognized and accomplished executive, National Security authority and published author. Mr. Fuchs has more than 30 years of experience leading companies and organizations ranging in size from $100M to more than $1.5B in annual revenue, which includes several successful turnarounds. Established in 1979, MacB is the largest defense contractor headquartered in the Dayton region. Mr. Fuchs was named MacB President and CEO in 2011. A quick snapshot of company growth through the years indicates a transition from predominately systems and technical assistance contracts, to more recent success delivering mission-critical solutions for the Department of Defense, Special Operations and the Intelligence Community. Today, MacB offers high-end research, testing and development services, technical engineering expertise, cybersecurity, intelligence and analysis, Integrated Laboratory capabilities and secure cloud engineering. Its an honor to be included among this impressive group of key leaders in defense and aerospace in the Dayton area, said Fuchs. In this challenging industry, we are ultimately responsible for helping drive regional economic growth by hiring and retaining talented employees, focusing on our commitment to valued customers and by taking a few calculated risks. Ive had the pleasure of leading MacB for the last six years, and will continue looking for ways to expand our success in terms of business rhythm, execution and focus. ABOUT MACAULAY-BROWN, INC. (MacB) For more than 37 years, MacAulay-Brown, Inc. (MacB) has been solving some of the Nations most complex National Security challenges. Defense, Intelligence Community, Special Operations Forces, Homeland Security and Federal agencies rely on our advanced engineering services, cybersecurity, and product solutions to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. With Corporate Headquarters in Dayton, Ohio and National Capital Headquarters in Vienna, Virginia, our more than 1,500 employees worldwide are dedicated to developing mission-focused and results-oriented solutions that make a difference where and when it matters most. Learn more about MacB at www.macb.com. Follow MacB ### Atlanta, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following is an article written by Dave Roegge of UPS. More people. More cars. More congestion. City planners and dwellers are gearing up for the 70 percent of the worlds population projected to live in urban areas by 2050. The solution to unlocking gridlock and making cities more livable is as complex as the infrastructures they seek to improve, according to new UPS research co-sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association. It will require commitment, consistency, community and collaboration between all public and private stakeholders. Smart cities where data and infrastructure combine for ultimate efficiency and better living impact our business, our customers and almost every aspect of our lives. In The Evolution of Smart Cities and Connected Communities, we sought to understand the driving forces behind smart cities and where we are in the journey toward a new day in urban living. We examined stakeholders, the changes theyre driving and what lies ahead for cities around the world. Heres what we learned: Meet the stakeholders A smart city needs to have a data-based infrastructure system, but to be truly smart, it must also integrate numerous city functions such as energy, buildings, mobility, government services, citizen involvement, healthcare and infrastructure. Governments worldwide are supporting urbanization to enable economic growth, but they need to change the concept of urban planning and functioning. So government agencies are teaming up with private companies to develop smart cities, which enable the seamless management of energy, water, transportation, health and education. Telecommunications providers are primary players telecom companies are working at a high level to make integration tools more available. A big step toward the success of smart cities will revolve around the implementation of 5G. Information and communication technologies (ICT), the proliferation of sensors through the Internet of Things and converging data standards are combining to provide new possibilities for the physical management and socioeconomic development of cities. Digital and mobile technologies are also making connections between service providers and users tighter, faster, more personal and more comprehensive. Additionally, transportation providers are aiming to ease congestion, arguably the top concern for city dwellers. Connected cars are poised to revolutionize urban mobility. Changing attitudes about car ownership, new and disruptive models of mobility and increased focus on the environmental impacts of driving and congestion are driving this transformation. Energy continues to be a driving force in smart-cities enablement. Electrification in cities offers remarkable possibilities for rapid change. Electrification of energy systems now reliant on natural gas or petroleum, such as building heating systems and personal transportation, is attractive for environmental reasons. Electric heat pumps (for both heating and cooling) and electric heaters with built-in thermal storage, which help manage the intermittency of renewable sources, can produce efficiency gains and competitive pricing. A snapshot of cities The global smart cities market is expected to hit $34 billion by 2020, according to industry analysts. This is a global effort, with Asia leading the way. Asia appears to be further along with smart city programs: China has 285 smart city pilot projects. Singapore aims to be the worlds first smart nation, leveraging one of the highest mobile and broadband penetration rates in the world. It is using an open data platform and a dynamic 3D Virtual Singapore model that will allow city planners to test concepts, analyze traffic and pedestrian flows and run simulations. India is planning 100 new smart cities and the overhauling of 500 cities under the countrys rejuvenation and urban transformation program. Seoul incorporates cutting-edge technology into every aspect of city life. OLEV (Online electric vehicle technology) was successfully developed and deployed there, allowing electric public buses to charge as they move across road surfaces. Asian countries have realized that public sector funding is inadequate to effectively address the scale of urbanization and are increasingly focused on attracting private sector participation to fast-track infrastructure and smart cities development. In North America, smart city investments are expected to grow from $3 trillion in 2017 to about $9 trillion by 2023. Technology investments will include sensors, wireless connectivity, instrumentation and control and cloud processing. For the first time in 60 years, walkable urban places in the 30 largest U.S. metros are gaining market share over their drivable suburban competition and showing higher rental premiums. Fifty U.S. cities have agreed to provide open data. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a $165 million investment in smart-city solutions and rolled out a smart-city challenge earlier this year, offering $40 million in grants to the winner. The DOT has been working with Flow a Sidewalk Labs Company which aims to help cities understand where citizens want to travel and how to transport them to those destinations more efficiently, fairly and safely. Europe is making progress as well: London is pioneering the use of open data to solve city challenges. The London DataStore (launched in 2010) is one of the first open-data platforms in the world. Its 500 data sets have resulted in transport apps, interactive maps, population and demographic projections and urban planning projects. Helsinki pilots smart city projects through its Smart Kalasatama district, a city innovation platform where new solutions can be developed and tested in a living urban environment. Smart work centers equipped with groupware and teleconferencing systems allow 30 percent of government employees to work closer to their homes. Looking ahead Development of smart cities faces many barriers globally, including tight municipal budgets, sluggish technology procurement guidelines at public agencies, privacy and cybersecurity concerns and a pressing need for more IT staff at municipal agencies. Several things need to happen next: Smart city development will require new technologies such as sensors, mobile and big-data analytics across infrastructure sectors, including transportation, energy, water supply, sewage plants and buildings. Technology partners can extract greater value from smart initiatives if projects are tied to other goals. For example, tying a smart transportation system to addressing issues of homelessness, housing access and affordability would produce results spanning many sectors. Cities and partners need to open more data sets to the public at large. Analytics campaigns are more effective when data from smart cities and private companies work in unison. Both parties must work together to create a transparent framework. Much work remains to realize the vision of a world with smarter cities. As I mentioned earlier, it all starts with the four Cs: commitment, consistency, community and collaboration between all public and private stakeholders. How can your organization contribute? Click here to view the UPS and Consumer Technology Association whitepaper, The Evolution of Smart Cities and Connected Communities Dave Roegge is Director of Marketing, High Tech at UPS. Reprinted with permission of Longitudes, the UPS blog devoted to the trends shaping the global economy. We welcome the re-use, republication, and distribution of this commentary - as long as you credit us. If you publish, please insert the tagline above, with embedded hyperlink to our site. Cincinnati, Ohio, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imagine a future where students could use holographic, interactive, 4D images to explore constellations throughout the Milky Way or craters on Mars. This is the image that student Sierra McLeod painted in her winning submission for KnowledgeWorks first-ever Imagine FutureEd student design challenge. Today, KnowledgeWorks and Teach the Future announced all winners and recognized a teacher for supporting the creation of two winning entries: Sierra McLeod, from Lake Norman Charter High School in Charlotte, N.C., imagined a story about a future classroom that used an interactive simulator to help engage students and encourage classroom participation. She imagined this future would have benefits for learners, including increased retention rates. McLeod also created illustrations to show how the simulator would work. She won a $150 VISA gift card and 32G iPad Air 2 for her story and illustration. Savannah Vangotum, from Trigg County High School in Cadiz, Ky., imagined a future where each student has a personal robot to help with learning. Vangotum created a story where students learn outside the classroom, meeting with the teacher and a small group of students once per week. For this entry, she won a 32G iPad Air 2 for a winning scenario about the future of education. Layne Shelton, from Trigg County High School in Cadiz, Ky., imagined a future classroom where paper and pencils are no longer necessary, because technology is prevalent throughout all learning. In this more dystopian-style entry, Shelton imagined the negative implications of increased technology and explained that some students will prefer to learn on computers, while others may not. Shelton won a 32G iPad Air 2 for this story. Michelle Strickland, a teacher from Trigg County High School in Cadiz, Ky., was awarded two $100 VISA gift cards for supporting Shelton and Vangotum in their entries. We are thrilled to honor these three students, as well as Michelle, for their submissions and creativity, KnowledgeWorks Senior Director of Strategic Foresight Katherine Prince said. Its incredibly valuable to teach students how to think about the future. We focus on history lessons in school, but most of us dont learn ways of using long-term thinking to guide our life decisions and our contributions to the world. Imagine FutureEd invited U.S.-based students to describe possible futures of learning through their eyes. Specifically, the design challenge provided students the opportunity to imagine what learning could look like in 10 years. KnowledgeWorks and Teach the Future sought to elevate students perspectives because many discussions about the future of education do not include young people. Students benefit from opportunities to practice problem-solving, leadership and creative thinking, which is what this student design challenge offered, KnowledgeWorks Chief Learning Officer Virgel Hammonds said. By creating space for student voice, we can learn from their expertise, knowledge and creativity, while bringing renewed relevance to classrooms and schools. At KnowledgeWorks, we work alongside schools to strengthen cultures that lift up student voice in support of personalized learning. There were two submission categories. All students submitted written scenarios telling stories about the future of education. Students could also submit artifacts from the future. Artifacts included images illustrating their stories. To assist in submission creation, there were five activities to use in classes, after school, with clubs or in other settings. Thinking about the future is more difficult than you might think. This is because youre thinking about the unknown and youre building upon predictions, Shelton wrote in the reflection section of her entry. We are all uncertain of what the future is going to be like. The winning scenarios, excerpts from other scenarios and interviews with the winners will be published on www.imaginefutureed.knowledgeworks.org and featured in blog posts on KnowledgeWorks website. KnowledgeWorks has been forecasting the future of education since 2006, when it released its first-ever future forecast, the 2006-2016 Map of Future Forces Affecting Education. The organization released the 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning in 2009 and Recombinant Education: Regenerating the Learning Ecosystem in 2012. The most recent future forecast, The Future of Learning: Education in the Era of Partners in Code, was released in 2015. As one of the only organizations focused on strategic foresight for education, KnowledgeWorks 10-year forecasts and related resources have been read by thousands of people throughout the world. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/26438c84-d929-4cca-adbb-21a464a3d9af Farm Credit Services of America donated life-saving grain bin rescue equipment to the North Platte Fire Department on Wednesday. The grain structure entry and rescue tube panels and accessory kit came from Outstate Data in Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Craig Berg, a company representative and instructor, took the local firefighters through a staged rescue at Ag Valley Co-op. I cant thank Farm Credit Services of America enough for all they do for everybody, Berg said. This year, just like last year, they are donating to 100 different fire departments across the five-state area. Berg demonstrated how the aluminum panels fit together to form a tube that protects the person trapped in a grain bin. These panels have been used 12 times over the past five years, Berg said. The first rescue using these panels was in 2012 and all 12 rescues have been successful. On Wednesday, a grain truck was filled with corn and Brian Gollner, an employee at Ag Valley, volunteered to be immersed in the grain. He was placed in the middle of the truck and grain was then dispersed from the bottom of the truck to allow Gollner to sink into the grain up to a few inches above his waist. The aluminum panels were then placed into the grain around Gollner as Berg instructed the firefighters on each step of the process. The first few steps, Berg said, are for the firefighters to test the air inside the bin and to make contact with the victim, evaluating the situation and remaining calm. For the average victim that gets trapped, when the grain gets above their knees, they cant move, Berg said. Depending on your grain, you may have to look out for signs of hypothermia. Berg said when grain gets cold, it stays cold for a very long time. You might also have to look out for compartment syndrome, Berg said. Compartment syndrome is a serious condition that involves increased pressure in a muscle compartment. It can lead to muscle and nerve damage and problems with blood flow, which happens as the grain begins to pack in tighter around the victim. Berg asked Gollner what he felt like throughout the training. Near the beginning of the exercise, Gollner said he did not feel much, but it didnt take long for that to change. Im starting to feel pretty cold, Gollner said. As Berg worked with the firefighters to install the rescue tube, the grain began to tighten around Gollners legs and waist. Despite the precautions taken, it was evident he was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Get me out of here as soon as you can, Gollner said. Within a few minutes, Berg and the firefighters had the tube in place and grain was moved out from inside the tube, releasing much of the pressure on Gollner. North Platte Fire Capt. Jeff Hankla emphasized how important this type of equipment and training is for the department. Any time we can get more specialized training as far as rescuing is concerned, it helps the people we serve in our community, Hankla said. In this part of Nebraska we are primarily agriculture and the potential for this type of rescue is very real. He said having the tools FCS donated is exceptional in helping the fire department be prepared for any situation. FCSAmerica is proud to make grain bin rescue equipment a community service priority, said Betty Van Boening, financial officer at FCS in North Platte. As a cooperative for farmers and ranchers, we understand the importance of farm safety. We see grain bin rescue equipment as one of the most worthwhile investments we can make in the rural communities we serve. Tuesday nights storm pounded Perkins County with hail and high winds. We had a brief tornado out of the storm in Perkins County about 2 miles west of Grant, said Darren Snively, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Platte. No damage was reported from the tornado. The hail accumulated on the ground in Madrid and Elsie. The largest reported hail was 1 inches and that was near Grant, Snively said. The storm clouds began to roll into North Platte from the southwest about 6 p.m. and by 8 p.m., the skies opened up. Thunderstorms moved out of Colorado and the Panhandle of Nebraska, Snively said. It started with spotty storms in the panhandle, then grew as they moved east. The strongest wind gust recorded in North Platte was 36 mph at the airport. The peak wind gust was 50 mph in Keith County, Snively said. Heavy rain started to pick up as the storm came into North Platte. Rainfall was recorded at 0.8 of an inch at the North Platte airport Rainfall reports around Lincoln County ranged from .75- to 1.25-inch, Snively said. The highest amount was 1.5 inches near Thedford and Mullen, he said, but some (unofficial) reports came close to 2 inches on the northwest side of North Platte. Dime-size hail was reported in North Platte. Looking ahead, Snively said temperatures will remain cool during the next three days. The highs will be in the 50s on Thursday and will barely be reaching 50 on Friday, Snively said. That is about 20 degrees below normal. The best chance for rain comes Thursday night through Friday afternoon, but the rain will taper off into Saturday. On Sunday, we will be pushing 70, Snively said. LINCOLN Opponents of legislation to expand the use of tax-increment financing for rural housing construction narrowly defeated the measure Tuesday, one day after it had won initial approval. Legislative Bill 496 had strong support in the Legislature, but it fell one vote short of the 33 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. On Monday, supporters beat the delay tactic, and the bill easily advanced on a vote of 31-8. State Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the sponsor of the bill, said Tuesday that he thinks some of his colleagues simply didnt understand how difficult it can be to build affordable housing in smaller communities. He will probably introduce the measure again next year, he added. It really saddens me to hear some of the commentary in perversion of the facts, Stinner said. On Tuesdays filibuster vote, the bill gained support from a couple of senators who abstained or were absent Monday. But it lost the votes of three senators who had supported it the day before: Joni Albrecht of Thurston, Bruce Bostleman of Brainard and Rob Clements of Elmwood. Albrecht said Tuesday that she supports efforts to build more rural housing but grew uncomfortable with a provision in the bill that would have allowed cities with populations up to 100,000 to use TIF. She also did not like that supporters of the bill were trying to add amendments when it came up again Tuesday. TIF is a subsidy that allows a municipal government to divert increased property tax revenue generated by a development to pay for the public infrastructure associated with it. The increased tax funds generated by a new building, for example, would pay for improvements to nearby streets, sidewalks or storm sewers. For up to 15 years, the extra tax revenue generated by the new buildings is directed to pay off the project cost, rather than going to taxing authorities such as schools, cities and natural resources districts. Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, who led the filibuster, said TIF was intended to generate renewal of substandard or blighted urban areas, not help housing developers or builders turn a profit. Supporters said TIF would help lessen the risk that developers and contractors face when trying to build homes in smaller communities. The bill would have excluded Lincoln and Omaha from using TIF for housing developments. At one point during Tuesdays debate, Stinner told Groene that the North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce and Development had emailed, saying its members strongly supported the bill. Blurting an abbreviation for an expletive, Groene replied that he did not care what the largest chamber in his legislative district thought. They didnt elect me, he said. CLEARWATER, Fla., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Florida Chapter of The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog organization established by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969 is hosting an open house at their center located at 109 N. Fort Harrison Avenue in downtown Clearwater for the purpose of raising awareness on the dangerous side effects of psychiatric drugs during Mental Health Month. CCHR Florida reported that according to information from IMS Health, a company that provides information, services and technology for the healthcare industry, there are over 78 millioni people taking psychiatric drugs. Here in the United States, more than a quarter of the adult female population is taking at least one psychiatric drugii and there has been a 22% increase overall in the number of adults on a psychiatric drug with more than one in five adults on at least one such drug in 2010. Alarmed by these statistics, the Florida chapter for CCHR is hosting an open house for Mental Health Month in order to raise public awareness on the dangers of psychiatric drugs. The public is invited to come to the center to learn more and for a tour of the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death museum tours are free and the center is open seven days a week. Since 1949, May has been observed as Mental Health Month for the stated purpose of educating people on mental health issues but when such things as exercising too much or too little are viewed as signs of potential mental illness and are promoted during the month it would seem that education is not the primary focus. Individuals interested in learning more about mental illness are driven via posters and social media to websites where they can take a series of quizzes called screening tools which are touted as the quickest and easiest way to determine if someone is experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. These quizzes are designed to generate more consumers for the $330 billion dollar a year psychiatric treatment industry, said Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. What these screens dont tell a person is that there are dangerous side effects to taking psychiatric drugs and that antidepressants can lead to suicide. Suicide rates are continuing to climb yet these drugs are still being prescribed in ever increasing numbers. iii In comparison to other developed countries, Americans use more medicines overall and rank first in the use of antipsychotics.iv Additionally, in the South Atlantic area of the country, which includes Florida, almost 18%v of the population is on at least one psychiatric drug and a report released in 2011vi from a two-year long investigation found that foster children in Florida were prescribed psychotropic drugs at rates 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than other children in Medicaid in 2008.vii The CCHR Florida Mental Health Month Open House runs for the entire month of May. Individuals are invited to the center to learn more about the dangers associated with psychiatric drugs as well as alternatives to medication. To learn more, please call 727-442-8820 or visit www.cchrflorida.org. About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org i https://www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/people-taking-psychiatric-drugs/ ii http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s19032en/s19032en.pdf iii http://www.medicaldaily.com/why-do-antidepressants-raise-your-suicide-risk-surprising-science-behind-paradoxical-reactions iv http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/americans-spend-much-pharmaceuticals/ v http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s19032en/s19032en.pdf vi http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d12270t.pdf vii http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/12/01/143017520/foster-kids-even-infants-more-likely-to-be-given-psychotropic-drugs You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. BP shareholders have voted to slash Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley's pay by 40 percent and have reduced the amount he can earn in coming years by $3.7 million a year. Activist shareholders revolted after Dudley got a $3.3 million raise in 2015, when the London-based energy company lost a record $6.4 billion and laid off 5,000 workers worldwide, including in Whiting for the first time in decades. Shareholders voted Wednesday to reduce Dudley's overall compensation to $11.6 million in 2016 and to limit incentives that boost his pay beyond his base salary, linking them more to the company's profitability. After the company's disastrous loss in 2015, BP fared much better last year, generating an underlying profit of $2.6 billion on operating cash flow of $17.6 billion. "Weve made a lot of progress. Weve continued to simplify the business with no let up on our priority of safe and reliable operations," Dudley said at the company's 2017 General Meeting. "Weve continued to be highly disciplined with how we spend our cash and capital and highly strategic at the same time. As a result, our business is well-positioned and in good operating shape." BP operates the BP Whiting Refinery, which employs more than 1,800 workers in Northwest Indiana and supplies gasoline to much of the Midwest. "2016 proved to be another good year for our Downstream business, with earnings up 25 percent compared with 2014, despite lower refining margins," Dudley said at the annual meeting. "That result includes $3 billion of underlying performance improvement delivered over the past two years as the business continues to grow and improve its competitiveness and its resilience to market volatility. We had a record year of earnings growth in lubricants, weve seen some recovery in our petrochemicals business, and our refineries were among the industrys top performers in terms of profitability per barrel." Houston, TX, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UCOR, the Department of Energy's (DOE's) cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation (the site of the Manhattan Project), has been awarded the prestigious 2017 EH&S Innovation Award at the Verdantix Summit this week. UCOR is a long-time client of Medgate, having first implemented Medgates Occupational Health suite in 2006. More recently, UCOR expanded their use of Medgate when they activated Medgates Industrial Hygiene suite, allowing them to take advantage of Medgates integrated platform. The Verdantix EH&S Innovation Award winners are selected by an independent jury of corporate EHS (Environmental, Health, and Safety) managers and the award is given to firms which have made innovative use of EHS technology to improve EHS outcomes. Nominations for the 2017 award were based upon a wide range of EHS technologies such as EHS data analytics, EHS software platforms, mobile devices running EHS mobile apps, and environmental data management, analysis, and modelling. Independent experts have assessed UCOR's EHS operations and culture and concluded that UCOR enjoys a healthy safety culture. UCORs highly skilled workforce operates in the extremely challenging environment left behind by the Manhattan Project. Maintaining employee health and safety is the primary goal of the Health Services Department. Medgates ability to perform trend analysis provides UCOR with the ability to proactively evaluate employee health and take action on a site and individual level. The Medgate solution provides UCORs medical professionals with a detailed picture of each employees health at each clinical visit. Based on this knowledge, specific evaluations and health teaching can address vulnerable conditions in order to maintain employee health and safety. Were very happy to see UCOR recognized for their innovation in the EHS space, said Medgate President and CEO Mark Wallace. Its great to see a long-time Medgate client receive recognition not only for their commitment to EHS but also for their use of software to achieve enviable EHS outcomes in such a unique and challenging work environment. About UCOR URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) is the Department of Energy's cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site). It is also engaged in cleanup and waste management activities at other Oak Ridge Reservation sites. About Medgate Medgate leverages its cutting-edge SaaS-based technology and broad EHSQ risk management solution to partner with organizations around the world to effect meaningful change in the way environmental, health, safety, and quality is managed. Medgate stands by its customers as they attain performance goals, reduce EHSQ risks, enhance corporate productivity, and create a healthier workforce. The company has received many accolades for its strong employee culture and outstanding growth rate including recognition as one of Canadas Best Managed Companies, being named by Aon Hewitt as one of the Best Employers in Canada, and being awarded Best New Product of the Year by Environmental Protection. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fb2814ec-6a37-47fc-9edf-bce3e6595e25 Beleaguered Strack & Van Til parent company Central Grocers is seeking to have the involuntary bankruptcy petition creditors filed against it transferred from a federal court in Illinois to Delaware, so it can go bankrupt and sell off its remaining assets on its own terms. Central Grocers' attorneys are asking Judge Pamela Hollis in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois to dismiss a petition by creditors trying to force the company into bankruptcy. Creditors such as Coca Cola, General Mills, Post Consumer Brands and Mars Financial filed a lawsuit in Illinois seeking to force the Joliet-based cooperative into bankruptcy and to liquidate its assets. Central Grocers responded by filing a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Delaware as it looks to sell off its 930,000-square-foot warehouse and remaining Strack & Van Til, Ultra Fresh Foods and Town & Country stores. The troubled cooperative, which has $225 million in debt, owns 80 percent of Highland-based Strack & Van Til, long a staple of Region life, and has closed 14 of its stores so far this year, mainly Ultra Foods discount supermarkets in the Chicago suburbss. Central Grocers is hoping to combine the two bankruptcy cases so it can go forward with a plan to sell 19 Strack & Van Til and Town & Country stores to Jewel Osco for about $100 million through a bankruptcy court-supervised auction process. The company still seeks a buyer for its distribution center and for Ultra Foods stores in Highland, Merrillville and Kankakee, Illinois. Hammond resident Mark Gordish was getting ready for his son to graduate from Purdue University the next day when he got the unexpected call that he had won a new 2017 Chevy Malibu. He put his wife Cindy on the phone, so she could hear the news. Gordish won the Chevy Malibu Sweepstakes sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Chevrolet Dealers and The Times Media Co., an annual car giveaway now in its ninth year. "It was a fun experience," he said. "My son was graduating from Purdue the next day, and I was getting ready to go help move him out. I'm a third-generation Chevy person. We won't buy anything else. We won't buy Ford." Chevy has been the top-selling brand in Northwest Indiana and the greater Chicago area for six straight years, and the Malibu is one of the automaker's most popular sedans. Interest in the Chevy contest was keen this year, to the point where some people entered 20, 30, 50 or even 100 times to boost their odds of winning. A total of 13,852 individuals entered the contest this year, up 5 percent from the 13,136 individual entries last year. "It's not every day you get to hand off the keys to a new car, though it is every year around this time," Times Publisher Chris White said. "We've had this partnership for years, and it gets better every year." Participating dealerships include Smith Motors of Lowell, Smith Chevrolet in Hammond, Mike Anderson Chevy in Merrillville, Harbor Chevrolet in Michigan City, Bosak Chevrolet in Burns Harbor, Team Chevrolet in Valparaiso, Christenson Chevrolet in Highland, and Wiers Chevy Sales in Demotte. Gordish, who's worked in the city of Hammond's engineering department for 26 years, has patronized some of those dealers before and was talking with Smith Chevrolet in Hammond about trading in the car he just won for a new truck or a large sedan. All four of his family's cars are Chevys, a preference he inherited from his father, John Gordish. "Retiree from Cargill, Vietnam era vet, almost six years in the military, lifetime member DAV chapter 7, Post 369 American Legion, and my first car was 1957 Chevy Bel Air," he said as Chevy dealers applauded in a Times conference room. Gordish hopes his son Ryan, the recent graduate from Purdue who accepted a job as a food scientist in Michigan City, and his girlfriend Courtney, a recent Ball State grad, will be the fourth generation of his family to own Chevys. "The deals are very good," he said. "It's American-built. I enjoy that. We try to buy American because of the jobs and everything like that. Also the dependability. We haven't had any problems. We bought a 2004 Impala off the lot that's still going. It has 150,000 miles on it, but we haven't had any problems other than a few dingers caused by other people of course." He said he's never won a prize as large as the new Chevy Malibu, though he's tried to win the lottery a few times. He's a Times subscriber who reads the paper online and has entered the contest a few times in past years. "It's awesome," he said. "It's been a whirlwind of a week. My son's graduating. My daughter had senior night last night at softball, and is graduating in a couple weeks. It's amazing. I never thought I'd win something like this." Any Hall and Oates performance is sure to be packed with an assortment of musical gems. Such was the case when one of the most popular duos in musical history took the stage recently at Allstate Arena in Rosemont. Hall and Oates' Allstate concert was just one of the stops on the duo's 29-city North American Summer Tour with British group Tears for Fears. Hall and Oates, who were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2014, delivered a first-rate show filled with notable songs from the duo's extensive catalog. They opened their set with the upbeat "Adult Education," followed immediately by crowd favorite "Maneater," and "Out of Touch." Hall and Oates still exhibit strong harmonies and regularly add different touches to their songs. Their set list highlighted extended versions of favorite tunes as well as creative arrangements of a number of hits. The duo shined in the musical spotlight with tunes such as "Say It Isn't So," "One on One," "You Make My Dreams," and a cover of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin.' " Hall and Oates also performed a standout jazzier, extended version of "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)."Audience members also sang along to the hit. In addition, Hall and Oates offered soulful leanings to "Sara Smile" and "She's Gone." The duo's encore featured spirited performances of "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," and "Private Eyes," a trio of tunes that have often appropriately ended their concerts. Performing prior to Hall and Oates was British pop group Tears For Fears, who received an enthusiastic welcome from concertgoers. The pop rockers offered a fine collection of tunes including "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," "Shout" and "Head Over Heels." For more information on the current tour, visit hallandoates.com and tearsforfears.com. HOBART Police say they are on the lookout for a Dyer man accused of fleeing a Petco store Wednesday with several hundred dollars' worth of flea and tick medicine. Police identified the theft suspect as Christopher Alan Schweitzer, 38, according to Hobart Police Lt. James Gonzales. Schweitzer entered Petco at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday before allegedly stealing "several hundred dollars worth" of Frontline flea and tick prevention medication and fleeing the scene in his red Ford Explorer. A Petco employee contacted Hobart police and notified them of the theft and provided a vehicle description. A Hobart police officer then pulled over Schweitzer in his Explorer on Route 30 in front of Petco, Gonzales said. While the officer spoke with Schweitzer, he allegedly drove off, prompting the officer to return to his squad car and follow him, according to police. Schweitzer was driving "very erratic, so the police chase was terminated, due to safety concerns for the public," Gonzales said. An employee interviewed by police said Schweitzer stole flea and tick medication two days in a row prior to Wednesday. The employee went out to his vehicle and took a picture of his license plate, but found the license plate covered by a piece of cardboard. Law enforcement confirmed the vehicle belonged to Schweitzer after conducting a check through Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles files. A check of a law enforcement database allowed police to positively identify Schweitzer as the person the Hobart officer had pulled over. Felony charges are expected against Schweitzer, police said. "It is encouraged that Christopher Schweitzer turn himself into the Hobart Police Department," Gonzales said. CROWN POINT Lake County officials will receive a national award for publication of a user's guide to their E-911 service. Lake County Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, issued a news release this week stating the National Association of Counties (NACO) will honor the county's innovative approach to enhancing public services at their 2017 annual Conference and Exposition on July 21-24 in Columbus, Ohio. Cid and Herbie Cruz, a former chairman of the countys E-911 board, composed the new guide to educate the public how best to use the countys 911 call center when they need police, fire or medical service. The publication, paid for with county funds, has been in distribution since last November at local police stations, libraries and other government buildings. Cid said they created the "Lake County Guide to Calling 9-1-1" as a comprehensive guide for residents to review prior to calling 9-1-1. She said she wanted to educate the public how clear and concise communication between the caller and the dispatcher during an emergency can be the difference between life and death. NANTES, France, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (ISIN: FR0012127173) (Mnemo:OSE) announced today that the Company will present at the upcoming Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum being held on June 2, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois, in parallel to the international annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Dominique Costantini, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, will provide an overview of the Company, its most recent accomplishments and future growth steps. She will focus on its original immuno-oncology portfolio, including combined neo-epitopes specifically activating T lymphocytes (Tedopi in phase 3 registration trial in Non-Small Lung Cancer) and new checkpoint inhibitor blocking myeloid suppressive cells associated to the tumor (OSE-172/Effi-DEM, SIRPa antagonist in preclinical stage). Both products have a strong interest in combination with the available T checkpoints as well as in case of escape to this line of immune treatment. Our franchise in immuno-oncology is positioned on T-cell specific activation by neo-epitopes and on suppressive cell blockage in the tumor microenvironment by a checkpoint. Tedopi and OSE-172 (Effi-DEM) are key assets to reinforce our visibility with clinicians, in particular in the United States, said Dominique Costantini. Details of the June 2, 2017, presentation: Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel Presentation track: B Presentation time: 11:30 AM Central Time About the Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum The 3rd Annual Sachs Immuno-Oncology: BD&L and Investment Forum is designed to bring together thought leaders from cancer research institutes, patient advocacy groups, pharma and biotech to facilitate partnering and funding & investment. Around 250 delegates and about 30 presentations by listed and private biotechnology companies seeking licensing & investment are expected. Numerous networking opportunities will be available via an online One-2-One meeting system with dedicated meeting facilities to make the event more transactional. ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registration trials to R&D: In immuno-oncology: Tedopi, a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Currently in registration Phase 3 trial advanced NSCLC HLA A2+ patients EU /US - Orphan Status in the US - Registration expected in 2019 - A Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in NSCLC is considered in 2017. to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Orphan Status in the US in NSCLC is considered in 2017. OSE-172 (Effi-DEM), new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP- receptor - In preclinical development for several cancer models. In auto-immune diseases and transplantation: FR104, CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - Phase 1 trial completed - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - to pursue clinical development. OSE-127 (Effi-7), interleukin receptor-7 antagonist - In preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune diseases. License option agreement with Servier for the development and commercialization. The portfolios blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present* and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018**. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln https://twitter.com/OSEIMMUNO https://www.linkedin.com/company/10929673 Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as expect, anticipate, believe, target, plan, or estimate, their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 28 April 2017 under the number R.17-038, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2016, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. HAMMOND Indiana State Police said on Tuesday Trooper Corey Adam rescued a pit bull mix that was running in traffic on the ramp from Calumet Avenue to Interstate 80 westbound. Police said Adam had to block traffic as he coaxed the dog to come up to him. The dog, a white female, was friendly, but scared, according to police. They said Adam was able to get the dog out of the roadway. Police said another good Samaritan stopped and held the dog so Adam could re-open the ramp to traffic. The female was then placed in the front seat of Adams police car. Police said the dog had no tags or identifying information on it and was turned over to the Hammond Animal Control. Police are asking those to contact the Hammond Animal Control at 219-853-6507 with any information on the owner of the dog. VALPARAISO Duneland Resale donated $500 in support of this year's Babapaloosa music festival set for Aug. 6 at Sunset Hill Park. The Chesterton-Porter Rotary Club is promoting and sponsoring the event in order to raise funds for See Change Foundation and also in support of local charitable giving. President Donald Trump has made only one trip back to his hometown since his inauguration. The latest NY1/Baruch College City Poll numbers may help explain his extended absence. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report. President Donald Trump lost New York City decisively last fall, and he has not made up much ground with New Yorkers. 64 percent of city residents disapprove of the job Trump is doing in Washington. Only 26 percent say they approve of his presidential performance. "I've accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short time as president." Only Republicans in the city say he is doing a good job. "He's extremely unpopular," said Doug Muzzio of Baruch College. "They are terrified of Donald Trump, and they don't like him. New Yorkers are firm in their opposition to Donald Trump." Many New Yorkers also say they feel less safe with Trump as the nation's president. 45 percent say they think a terror attack is more likely under Trump. 30 percent say it is just as likely and 15 percent say less likely. "He's not making America safe again, or at least not New York safe again," Muzzio said. City residents also want to see Trump's tax returns, which he has refused to release. Nearly three-quarters of New Yorkers say all public officials have an obligation to release their taxes. Just 21 percent say no. As for addressing immigrants living here illegally, New Yorkers are siding with Mayor Bill de Blasio over Trump. The city does not cooperate with federal immigration officials seeking to deport undocumented immigrants, except when certain serious crimes have been committed. 65 percent of New Yorkers say they support the mayor's approach to immigration, even if it ends up costing the city federal dollars. 25 percent oppose it. Again, Republican New Yorkers are the only group that opposes the mayor's policy. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal money from New York and other so-called sanctuary cities if they do not comply with federal immigration rules. But last month, a federal judge blocked the order. Protestors call on a South Jamaica lumber yard to do its part to make the community safer. Members of 'New York Communities for Change' rallied outside Metropolitan Lumber and Hardware on Merrick Boulevard Wednesday afternoon. The group says the wood is exposed to the elements and is stored on racks above the store's fences -- which can be dangerous in extreme weather. As part of their protest, the group spruced up neighboring playgrounds to show the importance of helping the community. "Just treat us right. Just make sure that our community is not being discriminated against. Just make sure it's attractive like all the other neighborhoods. That's all we are not asking for anything that is unreasonable," said New York Communties for Change member Pamela Hazel. We reached out to Metropolitan Lumber and Hardware but did not hear back. French English German Global Bioenergies is reorganising its OCABSA-based financing programme with Bracknor Investment Evry (France) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates), 18 May, 2017 - Global Bioenergies (Alternext Paris: ALGBE) announced, on condition of shareholder approval, the signing of a new debt issue agreement with Bracknor Investment to replace the first agreement signed in September 2016, which would then be terminated. The new agreement would consist of the issuance of 400 convertible bonds (obligations convertibles en actions) with a par value of 60,000 euros each (the "OCAs") and thus representing a total convertible bonds amount of 24 million euros, split into twenty tranches of 20 OCAs each, that will be accompanied by share subscription warrants (bons de souscription d'actions - "BSAs") (the OCAs and BSAs are together referred to as the "OCABSAs"). The Company notes that it will suspend this new contract after the first two tranches are drawn. Transaction objectives This transaction will cover the Company's financing needs until the end of 2018. During this period, the Company's main objectives will be to: Bring the Isobutene process close to commercial performance, and finalize its industrialisation at the Leuna demonstrator plant; Progress on the first commercial plant project by moving forward in the engineering studies and by organising the financing and the construction of this future unit; Identify additional plant projects based on the process and first generation feedstocks; Diversify the carbon-based resources usable in the process to second generation (waste biomass) and third generation (industrial effluent gas and CO 2 ) feedstocks. Francois-Henri Reynaud, CFO of Global Bioenergies, explained: "The first agreement signed in September 2016 contributed successfully to the financing of the Company, and allowed Bracknor and Global Bioenergies to build a strong relationship. Currently, out of the 15 tranches of the initial agreement, 10 have been issued, representing a financing of 7.5 million euros. 322,718 new shares were created by conversion of convertible bonds, while no BSAs were exercised." Tranche 11 will be issued in mid-June. The termination of this first agreement will take place after the General Shareholders' Meeting on 26 June 2017. The last four tranches planned in the first contract would therefore be cancelled." Pierre Vannineuse, Chief Executive Officer of Bracknor Investment, stated: "Since the beginning of our collaboration eight months ago, Global Bioenergies has delivered exactly as planned. We are now even more convinced by the technology and the concrete ambition of Global Bioenergies to become a leader in the energy and environmental transition. This is why we commit, subject to the conditions detailed below, to invest 24 million euros in Global Bioenergies over a maximum period of 30 months." Marc Delcourt, Chief Executive Officer of Global Bioenergies, adds: "The amount of each one of the new tranches was increased to 1,200,000 euros, compared to 750,000 euros in the initial agreement. This new agreement, whose terms are overall more favourable to Global Bioenergies, assures the Company's finances until the end of 2018. Having had good news these last few months - particularly, 4.4 million euros of financing from the European Union -, the Company does not need this rate of financing in the short term. We are therefore suspending the drawdowns, as specified in this new agreement, in early July. The first two tranches, which correspond to 2.4 million euros in financing, will be drawn down. The other tranches will remain available to the Company, but will not be issued unless they are necessary." Aboudi Gassam, Chairman of the Board and President of the Investment Committee of Bracknor Investment and Vice President in charge of Business Development for the MS Group, concluded: "The financing solution that we offer is flexible, and allows companies such as Global Bioenergies to continue their development under good conditions until the technology is rolled out on an industrial scale." The new agreement provides for the OCABSAs to be issued in 20 tranches (the "Warrants"), each in the amount of 1,200,000 euros, the preferential subscription rights being waived in favor of Bracknor Investment (the "Investor"). Each Warrant, issued free of charge to the Investor, shall commit the Investor to subscribe for a tranche of 20 OCABSAs, subject to certain conditions as described below in Note 1. The issue of these 20 Warrants to the benefit of the Investor (which will bring about the automatic cancellation of the existing agreement with the Investor) will be carried out subject to shareholder approval at the Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting of the Company that will be called on 26 June 2017. It is specified that the drawdown of each Warrant shall be exercised automatically upon expiration of a period of 20 trading days starting from the exercise of the previous Warrant. It is further specified that the Company will be able to suspend (then resume) the drawdowns at any time. It has moreover been agreed that in compensation of the partial payment of a fixed-rate commitment fee, the Company will issue an additional OCA with a par value of 60,000 euros (without attached BSAs), at the exercise of each Warrant. The transaction could result in an equity contribution of 31,200,000 euros: 24,000,000 euros corresponding to the subscription of the totality of the OCAs (not accounting for compensating with the commitment fee described above) and 7,200,000 euros corresponding to the exercise of the totality of the BSAs. It should be noted that the Warrants issuance agreement entered into with the Investor can, when requested by the Company, be renewed. The Company indicates that this transaction will create a dilution, whose future theoretical impact is shown in the table below. The impact of the issue of the OCABSAs (should all 20 tranches be issued) on the investment of a shareholder holding 1% of the capital of the Company prior to the issue and not subscribing thereto, calculated on the basis of the number of shares composing the capital at 18 May 2017, would be as follows: Theoretical investment in the capital of the Company based on daily prices On the basis of shares outstanding to date (3,615,189) Diluted base of diluting instruments issued prior to 18 May 2017 (4,185,264) As of 18 May 2017, before the implementation of the agreement subject of the present press release 1% 0.86% ESTABLISHMENT OF FINANCING BY ISSUE OF OCABSAs: Following the issue of 131,660 new ordinary shares of the Company issued only from the conversion of the first 2 tranches 0.96% 0.84% Following the issue of 28,348 additional new ordinary shares from the exercise of the BSAs attached to the OCAs of the first 2 tranches 0.96% 0.83% Following the issue of 1,184,940 additional new ordinary shares issued only from the conversion of tranches 3 to 20 0.73% 0.65% Following the issue of 255,132 additional new ordinary shares from the exercise of the BSAs attached to the OCAs of tranches 3 to 20 0.69% 0.62% The average weighted price used to calculate the dilution is the volume-weighted average price of the session of 8 May 2017, i.e. 20.1559 euros for the OCAs and that from the session of 11 May 2017 for the BSAs, i.e. 20.3275 euros. This dilution does not prejudice neither the final number of shares to issue nor their issue price, which will be set according to the market price listed in accordance with the procedures described below. It should be noted that this transaction will not lead to the establishment of a prospectus subject to AMF approval. The Company will duly inform the shareholders as and when the 20 Warrants are issued and exercised by maintaining an up-to-date table on its website summarising the outstanding Warrants, OCAs and BSAs, as well as the number of shares outstanding. Procedures and legal framework of the issue Main characteristics of the OCABSAs Each exercise of a Warrant will give rise to the issuance of twenty (20) OCABSAs, with a nominal amount of 60,000 euros each, thus representing a total nominal amount of 24,000,000 euros in the event of the exercise of all 20 Warrants referred to above. The Warrants will automatically be exercised, subject to certain conditions at an interval of 20 trading days, and each exercise of a Warrant will represent a nominal subscription amount of 1,200,000 euros. Thus, the exercise of all 20 Warrants referred to above will give rise to (i) the issuance of a total of 400 OCABSAs and 20 OCAs relative to the commitment fee, and (ii) the payment by Bracknor Investment to the Company of a total amount of subscription of 24,000,000 euros. Main characteristics of the OCAs: The OCAs will be issued at par value, i.e. 60,000 euros, and will not carry interest and will mature 12 months after their issue. On the maturity date, any outstanding OCAs must be converted into shares by Bracknor Investment. However, should a default occur, any outstanding OCAs at that date must be repaid by the Company at par value. The OCAs, which will be transferable only to the directors of Bracknor Investment and subject to the Company's prior approval, shall not be subject to a request for admission for trading on Alternext and shall therefore not be listed. The OCAs may be converted to shares when requested by their bearer, at any time, according to the conversion parity determined by this formula: N = Vn / P Where: "N": corresponds to the number of new ordinary shares of the Company to be issued on conversion of an OCA; "Vn": corresponds to the bond represented by the OCA (par value of an OCA); and "P": corresponds to 95% of the lowest volume-weighted average price of the Company's share at closing (as published by Bloomberg) over the ten (10) trading days immediately preceding the date a notice of conversion is sent. Main characteristics of the BSAs The number of BSAs to be issued following each exercise of a Warrant will be such that, multiplied by the exercise price of the BSAs (determined according to the conditions defined here below), the amount thus obtained is equal to 360,000 euros, or 30% of the nominal value of the subscription of 20 OCAs. The BSAs will be immediately detached from the OCAs. The BSAs, that will be transferable only to the directors of Bracknor Investment, subject to the Company's prior approval, as of the date of their issuance, shall not be subject to a request for admission for trading on Alternext and shall therefore not be listed. The BSAs may be exercised for a period of five (5) years as of their issuance date (the "Exercise Period"). Each BSA will grant its bearer the right, during the Exercise Period mentioned above, to subscribe for one new share of the Company (subject to legal obligations of adjustments). The exercise price of the BSAs will be equal to 125% of the lowest daily volume-weighted average price of the share of the Company at closing over the five (5) trading days immediately preceding the exercise of the Warrant giving rise to the issuance of the OCABSAs from which the BSAs are detached. According to the Black-Scholes model, depending on the share volatility assumption used (42.36%) and on the basis of the closing price of the Company's share on 17 May 2017 (i.e. 21.38 euros), the theoretical value of one BSA is equal to 6.74 euros. New shares resulting from the conversion of the OCAs or the exercise of the BSAs The new shares issued on conversion of the OCAs or on the exercise of the BSAs will bear immediate dividend rights. They will have the same rights as those attached to existing ordinary shares of the Company and will be subject to admission for trading on Alternext on the same listing line (ISIN FR0011052257). Note 1: Conditions for subscription of the OCABSAs by the Investor: No significant unfavourable change (material adverse change) has occurred; No authority (including the AMF) opposes the issue of the OCAs (or their conversion) or of the BSAs (or their exercise); No case of default exists on the day of the drawdown; The Company's shares are still listed and the listing of the Company's shares has not been suspended (and there is no identified risk of such a suspension); The closing price of the Global Bioenergies share must have been greater than 115% of the nominal value of the share during the 60 preceding trading days; The Company has an adequate number of authorised and available shares to meet the conversions of the OCAs that must be issued as part of the drawdown (and, as necessary, the OCAs still outstanding), i.e. at least a number of shares corresponding to the par value of this bond divided by the volume-weighted average price of the Global Bioenergies share at closing on the day of the drawdown. About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES Global Bioenergies is one of the few companies worldwide, and the only one in Europe, that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation. The Company initially focused its efforts on the production of isobutene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks that can be converted into fuels, plastics, organic glass and elastomers. Global Bioenergies continues to improve the performances of its process, operates its industrial pilot, , has started operations at its demo plant in Germany, and prepares the first full-scale plant through a Joint-Venture with Cristal Union, named IBN-One. Global Bioenergies is listed on Alternext, Euronext Paris (FR0011052257 - ALGBE), and is part of the Alternext Oseo Innovation index. Should you like to be kept informed, subscribe to our news feed on www.global-bioenergies.com About Bracknor Bracknor Capital Ltd is the Investment Manager platform of Bracknor Investment (A Dubai UAE incorporated investment vehicle). Bracknor's mandate is to invest globally in SMEs that bear unique competitive advantages and true short- and long-term growth potential, providing them with paramount working capital or growth capital needed to foster and ignite their growth. Bracknor, through its Chairman, Mr Aboudi Gassam, is backed up by the Saudi Group MS Group (Jeddah) -http://mscc.com.sa and aims to activate intra portfolio synergies to bring relevant opportunities and cooperative developments to Bracknor's portfolio companies particularly in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Region. Website: www.bracknor.com Contacts GLOBAL BIOENERGIES Francois-Henri Reynaud Chief Financial Officer Phone: +33 (0)1 64 98 20 50 Email: invest@global-bioenergies.com CLEARWATER, Fla., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Monday the 15th of May, 40 people gathered in the Scientology Information Center, downtown Clearwater for a presentation from a former gangster, Errol. The manager of the Center, Amber Skjelset said, We were all riveted to Errols story of shootings, robbery and prostitution, where the drug dealer is looked up to and prison or the grave the final destination for most. Errol told the audience that at 23 and his third time in prison with a 15 year sentence yawning before him, he saw his future in the face of an old convict, riddled with debauchery, crime and regret. Errol said, I dont want to be like that. Errol relayed how the next chapters of his life read differently. Early release for good behavior, a change of environment and friends, Errol told of his redemption in Clearwater and a little book a kind woman gave to him - The Way to Happiness. L. Ron Hubbard wrote the non-religious, non-political guide to better living, The Way to Happiness in the 1970s after visiting New York City and seeing what had become of that vibrant city. Your survival is important to me, reads the opening page of the book and from there 21 precepts point the way. Precepts such as: Dont do anything Illegal; Do not Steal; Be Worthy of Trust are elucidated in the book. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Corrections Florida prisons shows that 27.6 percent of inmates return to prison within three years of release. But as Errol told his audience, he was able to break free from prisons revolving doors, Now I have a new life and a new family that looks out for me. I feel that it is only going to get better. In my pursuit of happiness, it often escaped me. I finally found the key and now I want to share it with you. For more information, please contact The Way to Happiness Association of Tampa Bay (727) 467-6961. The Way to Happiness The Way to Happiness was written by L. Ron Hubbard and is available in 112 languages, with some 115 million copies distributed in 186 nations. The campaign to distribute the book has been embraced by more than 257,000 groups and individuals. It held the Guinness World Record as the single most-translated nonreligious book and fills the moral vacuum in an increasingly materialistic society. About the Scientology Religious Philosophy The Scientology religious philosophy was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was then formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, in 167 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this. Brandon Vezmar, a 37-year-old man from Austin, Texas, has become an overnight celebrity after he decided to sue his first date for texting too much during a screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. He is asking for $17.31, which is how much he paid for her ticket. Brandon and 35-year-old Crystal met on online dating app Bumble and went on their first and only date on May 6. Vezmar bought two tickets for the 3D screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, and he says everything was going good until 15 minutes into the movie, when his date took out her phone and started texting. At one point, it got too much for him to bear, and he asked the woman to either stop texting or go into the lobby of the theater. She left, and never came back, leaving without a ride home, as they had both arrived at the Barton Creek Square theater in her car. He later texted Crystal to ask for his money back, and when she refused to pay the $17.31 price of the ticket, he had no choice but to take her to court for it. Photo: Brandon Vezmar/Facebook It was kind of a first date from hell, Brandon told the Austin American-Statesman, adding that texting in a movie theater is one of his biggest pet peeves. In his court filing, he mentions that the defendant activated her phone at least 10-20 times in 15 minutes to read and send text messages, a claim that is disputed by his date. She says it was only a couple of time, and only because her friend had been in a fight with her boyfriend and needed support. I did have a very brief date with Brandon, that I chose to end prematurely. His behavior made me extremely uncomfortable, and I felt I needed to remove myself from the situation for my own safety, Crystal, whose last name has not been revealed, told KVUE-TV. He has escalated the situation far past what any mentally healthy person would. I feel sorry that I hurt his feelings badly enough that he felt he needed to commit so much time and effort into seeking revenge. I hope one day he can move past this and find peace in his life. Photo: video screengrab But Brandon is obviously not the kind of guy who lets this kind of thing go, especially since this isnt just about him, but about the plight of daters everywhere. While damages sought are modest, the principle is important as defendants behavior is a threat to civilized society, Vezmar wrote in his court filing. I filed my theater texting lawsuit because online dating etiquette is at such a low ebb it needs to be actively corrected. People know what I mean, which is part of why the story went viral. Enough is enough of the nut-job, self-centered, bizarro-land experiences, he later Tweeted. Photo: Brandon Vezmar/Twitter Although he sounds like the worlds worst first date, Brandon says he has received a lot of support on social media, including from many women. Never been called a hero so many times in my life, he tweeted. On the other hand, Crystal, who only learned about the lawsuit after being contacted by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, claims that she has done nothing wrong, and that Vezmar just blew the whole thing out of proportion. I am not a bad woman, I just went on a date, she told the newspaper. I had my phone low and I wasnt bothering anybody, it wasnt like constant texting. She chose to leave because her date was making her uncomfortable, and admits to receiving a call from him a few days later, asking for his $17.31 back. She refused to pay because he took me out on a date, but then he contacted her sister to try and get the money from her. He later also sent messages to people with the same last name on Facebook, to try and get her address for the court filing. Crystal said that his harassing behavior made her plan to file a protective order against Vezmar. In his court filing, Brandon Vezmar says that the defendant was in direct violation of the theaters policy and her actions adversely affected his viewing experience. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com News of the bizarre lawsuit reached James Gunn, the writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, who tweeted Why stop at suing? She deserves jail time! In a news update, the Statesman reports that Tim League, the CEO of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, offered Vezmar a $17.31 gift certificate to settle lawsuit. Look, I heard the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a pretty good movie, but isnt this a bit too much? Closing Arguments Begin In Trial Of Oklahoma Cop Who Killed Terence Crutcher Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When Closing arguments for the manslaughter trial of Betty Shelby are scheduled to begin Wednesday. Shelby, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer who fatally shot Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, back in September 2016, faces four years to life in prison if convicted of manslaughter. Shelby has reportedly taken the stand in her own defense throughout the weeklong trial, testifying that her training led her to shoot Crutcher because she believed he was reaching for a weapon from his car. Following the incident, it was revealed that Crutcher was unarmed and no weapon had been found in his vehicle. Three videos of the incident were also released after the shooting, two of which were dashboard cameras from the cop cars. According to Rodney Goss, a pastor at the Morning Star Baptist Church in north Tulsa, the footage contradicted claims that Crutcher was not complying with police officers. The video showed Crutcher only walking towards his vehicle and never reaching into it at all. Prior to that Crutcher had walked towards the officers with his hands raised to ask them for help after his car had broken down on the highway. Shelby has denied that the shooting was because of Crutchers race, saying that his behavior and refusal to listen to her commands is what led to her deciding to pull the trigger. However, prosecutors countered that drug use and ignoring commands does not justify the use of deadly force against a civilian by a police officer. Read a Discussion Between Chance The Rapper and Jordan Peele zo Zo is a staff writer at Okayplayer where he covers Longtime admirers and pioneers in their respective fields, Chance The Rapper and Jordan Peele, finally got together for a discussion in TeenVogues Volume II: Music Issue. The cover star and Get Out! director delved into their mutual fascination with Kanye West and Dave Chappelle, with Chano detailing his time working with West on The Life of Pablo and his own Coloring Book. Peele makes sure to pull all the threads, prying into a shared interest in remaining independent of labels in their pursuits and continuing to challenge any and all expectations by reclaiming their narratives as black creatives. They dissect Peeles historic horror film, Get Out!, and the inherent responsibilities of trail-blazers. In a standalone clip separate from the transcript, Chance tells the story of his first meeting with Barack Obama. Peele is explicit with his reverence for Chance and the rappers dedication to philanthropy and impacting his hometown, and how such a positive force can be such a subversive figure in hip-hop. Hit the link below to read the full discussion between Jordan Peele and Chance The Rapper. Scroll on to peep behind-the-scenes footage from the cover shoot. >>>Read the full discussion (via TeenVogue) Agricultural News Sonny Perdue Testifies Before House Ag Committee That Having a Vaccine Bank is a Wise Decision The House Committee on Agriculture, yesterday, called a hearing to discuss several topics relevant to the industry right now. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was there to offer his perspective on several of the issues brought up, including a few of interest to the livestock industry. One topic in particular, the need for a vaccine bank, to thwart the potential threat of an outbreak, such as Foot and Mouth Disease. "I guess the saying we have in Georgia - when the mule's out the gate, it's too late to close the gate," Perdue quipped. "You don't get the opportunity after an outbreak has occurred. So, I think you all are wise in considering a vaccine bank, whether it's Foot and Mouth disease, or whether it's hi-path Avian Influenza." Perdue mentioned that as a veterinarian by trade, he understands the benefits of vaccination and compared a vaccine bank to having insurance with a "priceless" policy. "The fact is, we cannot psychologically afford even a Foot and Mouth scare here at all," Perdue said. "We saw what BSE did to us. You got to have a vaccine availability ahead of the time so I look at it as a wise insurance program." Listen to more of Perdue's comments on disease prevention in the livestock industry and more with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz. The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today. Listen to more of Perdue's comments on disease prevention in the livestock industry, plus more, below WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News This Week on SUNUP - Kim Anderson Explains Why Egypt's Purchas of Wheat is Good News for US This week on SUNUP! - OSU's Dr. Kim Anderson joins host Lyndall Stout once again talking wheat prices and this time he says, there is some hope on the horizon that wheat prices could get an uptick as we move through harvest into the fall. "I think there's some hope in sight," he said. "If we have a good quality crop, I think we may see slightly higher prices." According to Anderson the price for wheat right now is hovering between $3.30 and $3.50 with a basis at -.95 to -.75 and the loan rate at $2.97. Meanwhile, the US has sold two different loads of HRW to Egypt this week, each contract for 60,000 metric tons, or roughly 2.2 million bushels for $5.08 and $5.05 at port. The freight to Egypt was $0.56 and $0.61/bu. totaling $5.64 and $5.66 on board at Egypt. "That's very good news for wheat," Anderson said. "It's been a while since we've sold wheat into Egypt." That price fell below that of other competing countries such as Russia, Romania and Ukraine, offering wheat within a range of $5.36 and $5.39. "Our price was the lowest, so that means we're competitive on the world market," Anderson said. You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below. Beyond their weekly chat with Dr. Anderson- the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend: This week on SUNUP, we come to you from the North Central Research Station near Lahoma. We start with a wheat update from David Marburger. - Then Brett Carver introduces us to the two newest OkState wheat varieties, Sprit Rider and Smith's Gold. - In the Mesonet weather report, Al Sutherland says warm temperatures are starting to impact cattle and crops. Gary McManus shows us where drought remains in Oklahoma. - Kim Anderson explains why Egypt's purchase of wheat from nearby countries impacted the price they paid for U.S. wheat. - Josh Lofton says plan for sugarcane aphids now and it may not be worth replanting missed sorghum in your field. - In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk has advice for preparing for your next calving season. - Finally, Derrell Peel says exporting U.S. beef actually increases demand for beef domestically. You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News IRVINE, Calif., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Residents from more than 4,800 cities across the United States took part in the 2017 Wyland National Mayors Challenge for Water Conservation, April 1-30, by pledging to save over 2.2 billion gallons of water over the next year. The annual month-long campaign to promote drought resiliency and water quality ended on April 30 with mayors from 38 states vying to see whose city could be the nations most water wise. The cities with the highest percentage of residents making pledges during the campaign included Laguna Beach, Calif., Flagstaff, Ariz., Athens, Ga., Aurora, Colo., and Dallas, Texas. Overall, residents around the nation, from Anchorage to the Florida Keys, made 421,891 pledges to change behaviors ranging from fixing home leaks to reducing pollution into local rivers and streams. The challenge, presented by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota, with support from the U.S EPA, National League of Cities, The Toro Company, Earth Friendly Products maker of ECOS, and Conserva Irrigation, addresses the growing importance of educating consumers about the many ways they use water. This years challenge took a hard look at things we can all do to reduce our impact on our lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, said marine life artist and founder Wyland. The more we can do to reduce harmful runoff into our water systems, the more we can provide long-term sustainable benefits to our communities. Residents from winning cities will be entered into a drawing for over $50,000 in water-saving or eco-friendly prizes, including the grand prize, a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-in Hybrid. Additional prizes include, "Greening Your Home" cleaning kits from Earth Friendly Products (ECOS), home irrigation equipment from the The Toro Company, EcoRain and Eco-Flow Showerheads from Waterpik, and more. A $500 home improvement store shopping spree will also be chosen from among the entire pool of U.S. participants. In addition to reducing water, challenge participants in 50 states pledged to reduce the use of millions of 4.7 million single-use plastic water bottles and eliminate 114,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds. By altering daily lifestyle choices, pledges also resulted in potentially 52.5 million fewer pounds in landfills. Potential savings of 14.6 million gallons of oil, 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, 156.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity, and $35.5 million in consumer cost savings rounded out the final pledge results. About the Wyland Foundation Founded in 1993 by environmental artist Wyland (best known for his series of 100 monumental marine life murals), the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, brings together communities to become more solution-oriented stewards of our global marine resources. The foundation reaches hundreds of thousands of people each year through traveling exhibitions, classroom art and science programs, digital media, and community events. Learn more at www.wylandfoundation.org. NEW YORK (AP) International air travelers might soon rediscover magazines, paperbacks and playing cards. Airline passengers have become hooked on their laptops and tablets to get work done or just kill time during long flights. But U.S. aviation-security officials appear determined to ban large electronic devices in the cabin of flights from Europe. Business travelers are worried about lost productivity, laptops in checked baggage being stolen or damaged, or even leaving the machine home if their employer wont let them check it on a plane. On Wednesday, U.S. and European Union officials exchanged information about threats to aviation, believed to include bombs hidden in laptop computers. Airline and travel groups are concerned about the possibility that a ban on laptops and tablet computers that currently applies to mostly Middle Eastern flights will be expanded to include U.S.-bound flights from Europe. The officials agreed to meet again next week. The airlines are still talking to government officials about how a laptop ban would look at European airports. It will require one set of screening rules for U.S.-bound travelers, another for people headed elsewhere. Nearly 400 flights leave Europe for the U.S. each day, carrying about 85,000 people, according to airline industry and U.S. government figures. The flights are popular with vacationers and critical to many business travelers, who often buy pricier tickets. The laptop ban in March covered far fewer flights about 50 on an average day and hurt Middle Eastern carriers by targeting their hub airports. Expanding the ban to Europe will hit American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines and their European partners, and it will affect many more travelers. Airlines fear that expanding the ban will lead to more flight delays and increase their liability for theft or damage to electronics devices in checked luggage. Safety advocates worry that putting devices with lithium batteries in the cargo hold will create a fire threat. Airline groups propose several alternatives to the laptop ban, including more use of machines that detect residue from explosives, turning devices on to demonstrate that they are not bombs, and sorting low-risk passengers from high-risk ones, presumably to let frequent travelers keep their laptops in the cabin. Business travelers are keenly interested in the outcome. Michael McCormick, executive director of the Global Business Travel Association, said he believes the threat identified by security officials is real, but the laptop ban will hurt business travel, at least in the short term. There are a certain amount of things you can do on your smartphone to stay in contact, McCormick said. For laptops that must be checked, he added, companies will take steps to better lock down information contained on them and then just deal with the short-term challenges and loss of productivity. The International Air Transport Association, a trade group for global airlines, said banning laptops in the cabin would cost passengers $1.1 billion a year, mostly in lost productivity for business travelers. Businesses will cancel trips rather than risk having laptops checked due to risk to confidential information, said the groups CEO, Alexandre de Juniac. Edward Pizzarello, an investor in a Washington-area venture-capital firm who also writes a travel blog, is holding off booking a July business trip to Germany and the United Kingdom until I figure out whats going on. David Lewis, who operates a human-resources consulting firm in Connecticut, said he would prefer closer inspection of his laptop over getting on a plane without it. I will wind up working four to five straight hours, which is like 15 in an office because of the lack of interruptions, Lewis said of his trans-Atlantic flights. Its going to have an adverse effect on how often Im going to make those trips. Rachel Winard, who owns a skin-care products company in New York, writes on her laptop during flights to and from Europe. She said she will use her cellphone those arent covered by the ban to answer emails. Its not a deal breaker, she said of not having her laptop, but it is definitely time that I would happily use for my work. Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. held a grand opening Thursday for its new Aerospace Division at the Lincoln Kawasaki factory. The factory will produce cargo doors for Boeings 777X aircraft, a passenger plane set to debut in 2020. Kawasakis continued investment in Nebraska is helping to grow our state with great opportunities, said Gov. Pete Ricketts, who attended Thursdays ceremony. Kawasakis decision to expand operations in Nebraska demonstrates our competitive position in the global economy and the importance of international trade missions to bringing investment to Nebraska. Ricketts visited with leaders from Kawasaki during a trade mission to Japan in 2015. Ricketts announced Thursday that he will make another trade mission to Japan from Sept. 10-16. Kawasaki is honored to continue this strong partnership here in Lincoln at Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., the company said in a press release. They look forward to being a strong and trusted partner on the 777X project and hope to continue to develop the relationship on future projects. Kawasaki is developing and manufacturing forward and mid-fuselage panels, main landing gear wells, pressure bulkheads and cargo doors for the 777X. For the production work of the cargo door at the Lincoln factory, Kawasaki will use an automated riveting machine and a painting robot that was developed in-house, according to the companys press release. The Lincoln factory began producing motorcycles in 1974 as a factory of Kawasaki Motors Corp. It later was independently incorporated as KMM in 1981. The factory produces, among other products, all-terrain vehicles, the Jet Ski personal watercraft and railway vehicles. When authorities searched Shanna Golyars apartment in Persia, Iowa, they found a black shower curtain with white flowers on it. The same curtain was listed on a Wal-Mart receipt purchased with Cari Farver's debit card, prosecutors said. Prosecutors allege that Golyar used Farver's debit card to buy the shower curtain and took other items from Farvers home in her continuing attempt to cover up that she killed Farver. Golyar, 41, is charged with first-degree murder in Farvers slaying and second-degree arson after her own home was set on fire. Nearly 100 exhibits were introduced Wednesday on the sixth day of trial. Almost all the exhibits were photos of Golyars apartment and her boyfriends Council Bluffs house, where she also had stayed. Authorities found several electronic devices, memory cards and other odd items when they searched the residences. Officials also found a small electronics case in Golyars apartment with a Sony video camcorder and a Nikon camera inside. There were a lot of items in the bedroom, and it wasnt very organized, testified Katie Pattee, a crime scene technician with the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office. Pattee took photos of and processed the items in the residences and Farvers car. Prosecutors introduced receipts from Nebraska Furniture Mart showing that Farver had purchased a Sony camcorder, battery and memory card on Oct. 12, 2012 about a month before she disappeared. Another receipt showed that Farver had purchased a Google Nexus tablet the same day. Authorities also recovered computers, routers, cellphones and tablets from Golyars apartment and her boyfriends home. In Farvers black Ford Explorer, Pattee found a hand-sized spot and three other small spots of Farvers blood on the front passenger seat bottom and a mint container with two fingerprints that matched Golyar. James Martin Davis, Golyars attorney, argued that no fingerprints or visible blood was found elsewhere in Farvers black Ford Explorer not on the dashboard or the outside of the vehicle. The mint container with Golyars fingerprints on it, he said, is a small item that could easily be transported from person to person. You dont know when that container was placed in the car, do you? Davis asked. You dont know who put it in the car? Youd agree with me, a mint container is portable, true? Pattee agreed. English French GTT's 2017 combined shareholders' annual general meeting summary Paris, May 18, 2017 - The combined shareholders' annual general meeting (AGM) of GTT (Gaztransport & Technigaz) met today at Domaine de Saint-Paul in Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse, under the chairmanship of Philippe Berterottiere, Chairman and CEO of GTT. All resolutions submitted to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) were approved, except the Sixteenth resolution related to the authorization to be granted to the Board of Directors to complete one or several capital increases reserved for employees, that GTT's Board of Directors proposed to reject. The shareholders approved in particular the financial statements for the fiscal year 2016 and the payment of a dividend of 2.66 euros per share, it being specified that an interim dividend amounting to 1.33 euro was paid on September 30, 2016. The AGM approved the co-option as director of Cecile Previeu, the renewal of the term of office of Andrew Jamieson as a director, the appointment of Didier Holleaux and Ana Busto as directors, and the appointment of Benoit Mignard as a non-voting director (censeur). The AGM issued a favorable opinion on the elements of compensation, for fiscal year 2016, of Mr. Philippe Berterottiere, Chairman and CEO, and of Mr. Julien Burdeau, COO. The AGM further approved the report on the principles and criteria for determining, breaking down and allocating the compensation of the executive officers for 2017. The AGM appointed the Cailliau Dedouit et Associes firm as statutoryjoint auditor for a term of 6 financial years. The results of the vote on each resolution will soon be available on GTT's website (www.gtt.fr) at Finance / Shareholders' meeting. Financial calendar May 29, 2017 : Ex-dividend date May 31, 2017 : Payment of the balance of the dividend (1.33 euro per share) for the financial year ended December 31, 2016 July 20, 2017 : Release of H1 2017 results (after market close) Investor Relations Contact information-financiere@gtt.fr / + 33 1 30 23 42 26 - + 33 1 30 23 20 87 Media Contact: press@gtt.fr / +33 1 30 23 42 24 For more information, visit the GTT website, www.gtt.fr. About GTT GTT (Gaztransport & Technigaz) is an engineering company expert in containment systems with cryogenic membranes used to transport and store liquefied gas, in particular LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). For over 50 years, GTT has been maintaining reliable relationships with all stakeholders of the gas industry (shipyards, shipowners, gas companies, terminal operators, classification societies). The Company designs and provides technologies which combine operational efficiency and safety, to equip LNG carriers, floating terminals, and multi-gas carriers. GTT also develops solutions dedicated to land storage and to the use of LNG as fuel for the vessel propulsion, as well as a full range of services. GTT is listed on Euronext Paris, Compartment A (ISIN FR0011726835 Euronext Paris: GTT) and is notably included in SBF 120 and MSCI Small Cap indices. Take a breather today from the last couple of rounds of precipitation, because there is more rain on the way. A KMTV meteorologist, Ryan McPike, said stormy weather will return to the Omaha area late tonight and run through Friday into early Saturday. Storms and rain should begin around 11 oclock tonight, he said, and he called for an 80 percent chance of rain Friday. Well see lots of rain, McPike said. Heavy, soaking rains for us. He said the Omaha area could pick up 1 to 2 inches of rain tonight through early Saturday. Any severe weather should remain south of the Omaha area, McPike said. Parts of central Kansas, including Wichita, will be under an enhanced risk for severe weather today, he said. Todays high temperature should reach the upper 60s, McPike said, and tonights low will dip into the lower 50s. Fridays high will be around 60, Saturdays high should be in the lower 60s and Sunday will be dry with a high around 70, McPike said. A 40 percent chance of rain returns to the forecast for Monday, when a high in the lower 70s is expected, he said. Elsewhere, counties in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri along the Missouri River south of Nebraska City remain under a flood warning today due to heavy rains in the areas Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service office in Valley said. A location in north Omahas Florence area reported a 24-hour rainfall total at 7 a.m. today of .05 inches and a 48-hour total of 1.60 inches. Other rainfall totals for the 24 hours ending at 7:30 a.m. today, according to the weather service: Albion, .28; Blair, .10; Columbus, .60; Falls City, .08; Fremont, .25; Lincoln, .51; Nebraska City, .17; Norfolk, 1.10; Offutt Air Force Base, .23; Eppley Airfield, .02; Millard, .03; Plattsmouth, .20; Tekamah, .17; Valley, 09; Wahoo, .61; Wayne, .68; Council Bluffs, .08; Clarinda, .13; Harlan, .07; Red Oak, .29; Shenandoah, .15. Control of Congress hangs in the balance as Democrats have shown surprising strength, defeating Republicans in a series of competitive races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Bidens low approval ratings would drag the party down. In the most heartening news for the party, Democrat John Fetterman flipped a Republican-controlled Senate seat that is key to the partys hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. It is too early to call critical Senate seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona which could determine the majority. In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many districts in states like New York and California have not been called. WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Dr. David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA), testified before officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) at a public hearing in Washington, DC to address significant trade deficits in the shrimp industry. For decades, our shrimp industry has faced surging imports of farm-raised shrimp produced overseas, Dr. Veal said. As a result, the U.S. trade deficit in shrimp is substantial and growing." Dr. Veals testimony will be considered in the drafting of an Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits, which will be presented to President Trump by the DOC and USTR. ASPA also submitted written comments. The U.S. trade deficit in shrimp totaled $4.49 billion in 2016. India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, China, and Malaysia are seven of thirteen countries with which the United States ran a significant overall shrimp trade deficit in 2016. These nations are also nations being investigated in the Omnibus Report. The deficit of $3.44 billion with these nations is 77 percent of the total shrimp trade deficit. And, the deficit in shrimp from those seven countries has increased 44 percent since 2012. The U.S. trade deficit in all seafood was a staggering $10.5 billion in 2016, greater than the deficit in either raw iron and steel or aluminum, Dr. Veal said in his testimony. The deficit, he added, is the result of unfair and illegal trade practices, including persistent dumping in the U.S. market and subsidization by foreign governments. On May 2, the International Trade Commission unanimously voted to extend the current antidumping orders on shrimp from China, India, Thailand and Vietnam for an additional five years. Those orders provide important discipline in the market, Dr. Veal testified, but have limited coverage and still allow large volumes of unfairly traded shrimp to enter the United States. Unfairly traded imports have distorted trade patterns and hindered the growth and future stability of the domestic industry, Dr. Veal said. ASPA is currently pursuing a policy agenda to help restore domestic job growth and promote balanced trade, and is optimistic those concerns will be addressed in the Omnibus Report presented to the President. The American Shrimp Processors Association, based in Biloxi, Mississippi, was formed in 1964 to represent and promote the interests of the domestic, U.S. wild-caught, warm water shrimp processing industry along the Gulf Coast with members from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. A collective voice of the industry, the ASPA's focus is to promote the interests of shrimp processors, other segments of the U.S. domestic wild-caught shrimp industry and the general public. Frey is a professor of family medicine at the Creighton University School of Medicine. Braden, a registered nurse, is a dean emerita of Creightons Graduate School and University College. The views expressed are their personal views. In his May 7 Midland Voices commentary, Nebraska U.S. Rep. Don Bacon assured us his vote for Trumpcare (the American Health Care Act) was a rescue mission. Apparently, Bacon was unaware of the detailed Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the acts state-by-state impact, especially its provision that older patients can be charged five times the premium of younger patients. Under Trumpcare, a Douglas County resident over the age of 60 making $30,000 per year would pay $10,860 in annual premiums an increase of 338 percent over current rates even with the bills tax credits. Thats 36 percent of this persons entire annual income. Some rescue. But theres more. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates this impact would be even more pronounced in Nebraskas 28 westernmost counties. There, a 60-year-old making $30,000 annually would pay a shocking $22,100 per year an increase of 791 percent, or 74 percent of their entire income. Trumpcare would do nothing to solve the problems that remain in our health care system it would just create new ones. It would undermine the ways the majority of hard-working Nebraskans can afford coverage by reducing the amount of premium tax credits most people would receive, and it would change who would receive them. Instead of making sure those who need the most help affording coverage receive the highest subsidies, Trumpcare would flip that structure and do exactly the opposite. This disastrous bill wouldnt impact just individuals. Operating high-quality, rural hospitals, which care for large numbers of the elderly, has never been easy. Under Trumpcare, with many uninsured elderly unable to pay, rural facilities would be stretched to the breaking point. Likewise, rural nursing homes, heavily dependent on the Medicaid funding that would be slashed by nearly $900 billion, would be at risk of closure. At a time when Americas uninsured rate has hit an all-time low and when unemployment has been dropping for years, how could legislation even merit consideration when it would cut benefits for our most vulnerable citizens, skyrocket premiums for our oldest patients, openly discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions and apparently cut another 24 million Americans from the insurance rolls (based on a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the earlier version of the bill), while providing massive tax cuts for the rich? The answer, of course, is that it didnt. Trumpcare wasnt even brought before the House when it was obvious that it lacked support from all Democrats and many Republicans. What changed? The insertion of the Upton-Long amendment, which would provide a bare $8 billion to help with pre-existing conditions, was enough to allow the bill to squeak by. Bacon now says this bill absolutely protects those with pre-existing conditions. In truth, this bill does no such thing. Insurers would be free to charge as much for pre-existing conditions as they would like. The Upton-Long dollars would make little difference. For all practical purposes, anyone with a pre-existing condition a farm accident, a car wreck, cancer, even an assault would be offered insurance, but at an unaffordable price. This is anything but protection. And those tax cuts that provide massive tax relief for most Americans and small businesses? According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, by 2022 Trumpcare would effectively raise taxes on the bottom 40 percent of Americans, while cutting taxes deeply for top wage earners. In his comments two weeks ago, Warren Buffett made clear he thought that such an approach would be bad policy. Twenty-four million more Americans uninsured. No meaningful financial protection for pre-existing conditions. Drastic slashes in Medicaid. A threat to the survival of rural hospitals. Its no wonder that every major medical group from the American Medical Association to the American Nursing Association to the American Hospital Association opposes this bill. They understand Trumpcare would be a disaster. So what about this rescue mission? If it was meant to rescue the rich through tax cuts, its a success. But if it was to rescue Nebraskas hardest-working and most vulnerable citizens, it has failed badly. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to build upon our recent progress, rather than support Trumpcares frightening leap backward. Americans can legitimately disagree about a lot of things, but one thing we all should agree on is that its out of bounds if a U.S. president or, for that matter, any public official obstructs justice. The New York Times and other news outlets reported this week that in a conversation in February, President Donald Trump allegedly asked James Comey, then-director of the FBI, to end the departments investigation of possible Russian connections to Michael Flynn, a former general whom Trump had just fired as head of the National Security Council. The Times article cited a memo written by Comey about the meeting. Trump fired Flynn after it was revealed he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about Flynns involvement with the Russian government. The news story continues to develop. But if the president did ask Comey to end the FBI investigation of Flynn, the request not only would be foolish and grossly irresponsible. It might be a crime that could justify impeachment. The president is known for his habit of aggressive and often off-the-cuff remarks, but this one if true raises the most serious of stakes. Ours indeed is a government of laws. Despite his enormous power, a U.S. president isnt a law unto himself. And no president should assert his authority to stand in the way of a criminal investigation by the nations top federal law enforcement agency. These points explain the stakes. But the central question remains: Did Trump actually make the request to Comey? The administration denies it. The decision Wednesday to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department's investigation was a sound one. In addition, Congress has an all-important responsibility to press ahead so that lawmakers and the American public receive full information in this matter. Actions taken in the House and Senate this week are encouraging, with formal requests to provide that documentation, including any pertinent Comey memos, to congressional investigative committees. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent letters to the acting FBI director and to the White House counsel officially requesting the material, including any audio recordings, by May 24. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is spearheading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, has requested that Comey testify in this matter during a public hearing and in a closed-door briefing. There should be no rush to judgment. Whats needed is a complete disclosure of relevant information so the facts can be laid before the nation and reasonable judgments rendered. Whats also needed is statesmanship that all-too-rare quality that seems to be missing in so many debates in Washington these days. Statesmanship that places country before party, truth before personal agendas. Congress should proceed in an energetic and fair-minded manner and be prepared, if needed, to use subpoena power to secure relevant documents. The Trump administration needs to forestall that prospect by cooperating fully. The last thing the country needs is executive-branch stonewalling and claims of executive privilege, which indeed would be reminiscent of the Nixon era and the Watergate scandal. The serious, troubling allegation raised this week about the presidents conduct makes it imperative that Congress pursue its investigation vigorously to see that the nation has complete information on which to make a judgment. Who is Dr Anantha Nageswaran? All you need to know about the new chief economic advisor 7th Pay Commission: Revised pay matrix table as notified by Finance Ministry India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Finance Ministry in its resolution dated May 16 said that the Government of India has accepted the recommendations made by the 7th Pay Commission. The Government has considered it necessary to make the following changes in the recommendations of the pay panel in respect of the certain categories of employees the resolution also said. Here are the categories: The Defence Pay Matrix, (except Military Nursing Service (MNS)), which has 24 stages shall be extended to 40 stages similar to the Civil Pay Matrix. The Index of Rationalisation (IOR) of Level 12A and 13 of Defence Pay Matrix shall be enhanced from 2.57 to 2.67. The Defence Pay Matrix (except MNS) shall, accordingly, be revised. To rectify the factual errors appearing in Level 10B and Level-12 of the pay matrix of MNS and in view of the changes in the IOR in the Defence Pay Matrix, the first stage of corresponding Levels of Pay Matrix of MNS shall also change. Accordingly, the Pay Matrix (MNS) shall be revised; The IOR of Level-13 of Civil Pay Matrix shall also be enhanced from 2.57 to 2.67. Accordingly, the Civil Pay Matrix shall be revised. The provision shall be revised to the extent that the benefit of pay protection in the form of personal pay of officers posted on deputation under Central Staffing Scheme, as envisaged therein, shall be given effect from 1st January, 2016 instead of 25th July, 2016. Further, this benefit shall also be extended to officers from Services under Central Staffing Scheme, coming on deputation to Central Government, on posts not covered under Central Staffing Scheme. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 8:39 [IST] After Capt Amarinder took charge of Punjab, 37 farmers committed suicide, says Survey India oi-Gulam Rabbani Chandigarh, May 18: After Captain Amarinder Singh took charge of the Punjab government on May 16, 37 farmers committed suicides, said reports. The reason behind the suicides was believed to be heavy debt burden. According to reports, the Punjab government is trying to waive off farmers loans in the upcoming budget session on June 15. However, farmer organisations, claim more than 50 farmers have committed suicides in two months. As per a survey by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar from 2000 to 2010, a total of 6,926 farm suicides were recorded in the state. On the other hand, farmer organisations have claimed that more than 50 farmers had taken the extreme steps in just two months. The Punjab Agriculture University' in Ludhiana, Punjabi University in Patiala and Amritsar's Guru Nanak Dev University's survey revealed that a total of 6,926 farmers ended lives during 2000 to 2010. Out of 6,926 deaths, 3,954 were of farmers and remaining were farm labourers. In last two months, Mansa Bathinda and Barnala districts of Malwa region have recorded the highest number of suicides. Eight farmers suicides were reported in Mansa and Bathinda each while six of such cases were reported in Barnala. Captian Amarinder Singh during his campaigns for Punjab Assembly Elections had asked the farmers not to end their lives and wait for his government to come into the power. He had raised slogans like 'Karja kurki khatam, fasal di poori rakam' (debt, land auction will stop, farmers to get full payment of crop). Reacting to the slogan in view of farmers suicides in the state former minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said that the slogans didn't work. Central University Punjab's eminent agriculture economist and chancellor Sardara Singh Johi said that all suicides are not debt-ridden but the diversion of money for marriages in the family or may be spending on purchasing vehicles, things with no return value mainly lead to the debts which lead to suicides of farmers. He added that the state government should form settlement panels in every district to tackle such situations, adding that this way the government can focus on the farmer's suicides due to debt. He also said that the farmers should stop spending a huge amount of money unnecessarily. Sukhdev Singh Kori, the general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan and Surjit Singh Phool, president of Krantikari Kisan Union said that the Congress government had failed so far to provide solace to the bereaved families. In the meanwhile, Satish Chandra, the additional chief secretary(development), administrative agriculture in-charge and allies sector said that the government is looking to address the farm debt waiver, adding that an expert committee is looking at steps to pull the indebted farmers out of financial crisis. The first committee meeting will be held next week, he added. Responding on the framer's suicides in the state, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal said that the government is committed to providing relief to farmers as promised during the campaigns before the elections, adding that a team of experts are finding ways to provide relief to farmers suffering from debts. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 13:42 [IST] Aircel Maxis: Court refuses to declare 2 Malaysian nationals as absconder India oi-Vicky By Vicky A plea by the CBI to declare Ralph Marshal and T Ananda Krishna as absconders in the Aircel-Maxis case has been rejected by a court. The Court adjourned sine die the case against the two accused Malaysian nationals. The CBI on approached the 2G court seeking that the Malaysian telecom company Maxis owners T Ananda Krishnan and Ralph Marshal be declared as proclaimed absconders. The petition filed under Section 82 of CrPC, said that both the accused chargesheeted in Aircel-Maxis scam and not yet appeared in the court for past three years after summons were served through proper channels. Supreme Court in January asked Department of Telecom to prepare for selling the assets of Aircel through auction, if the fugitive owners are not obliging to court's orders. The apex court Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar was acting on Prashant Bhushan's PIL for stopping Reliance Communications and Airtel to acquire the assets and spectrum of Aircel in "covert ways". OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 13:12 [IST] Why M777 Howitzers: Ever since the infamous Bofors deal 27 years ago, Indian Army didn't purchase a single gun. The guns are now expected to add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army, especially against China in eastern front. Gun's capability: The air portable 155mm/39 calibre gun, with maximum range of 30 km, is manufactured by BAE Systems. Out of 145 guns, BAE will deliver 25 guns and rest will be assembled in India by Mahindra. Weight of the M777 Howitzers: The howitzers weigh only 4,218 kg and is said to be ultra lightweight. These guns can be underslung from helicopters and swiftly deployed at high-altitude areas. More artillery guns in India Private sector defence major Larsen & Toubro and South Korea's Hanwha Techwin on April 21 signed a $720-million contract. The army will be supplied 100 K9 VAJRA-T guns. L&T plans to starts its project near Pune in Maharashtra and is expected to deliver within three years. About M-777 Howitzer guns BAE Systems, the manufacturer of the gun, the M777 is a highly portable gun in the defence arsenal of any country. The gun is portable by land, sea and air. The gun has a maximum unassisted range of 24.7 km and an assisted range of 30 plus km. Around 15,000 trees fell in Delhi in 3 years for development works 'Plant trees instead of building me a memorial,' Anil Dave's last wishes Anil Dave - A man passionate about river conservation India oi-PTI New Delhi, May 18: An expert in river conservation and a member of the parliamentary forum on global warming, environment was a subject close to the heart of Anil Madhav Dave who was appointed environment minister only last year. A two-time Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, Dave was known in the BJP as a man gifted with immaculate organisational skills. He had a long time association with the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and shot into prominence in 2003 when he crafted the strategy leading to the defeat of Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Following this, Uma Bharti who became the Chief Minister, made him Advisor to the CM. As an NCC Air Wing Cadet, he took his early flying lessons and found a lifetime passion. He was a holder of a private pilot licence and had once flown a Cessna aircraft around the banks of Narmada for 18 hours. As Rajya Sabha MP, he has served as Member of Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change. A post-graduate in Commerce from Gujarati College in Indore, Dave had keen interest in literature and had penned a number of books. Dave was born to Pushpa and Madhav Dave at Barnagar, district Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on July 6, 1956. He inherited the legacy of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh from his grandfather Dadasaheb Dave and volunteered to be a Pracharak fter completing higher studies. He rose in the Sangh echelons over the years and was deputed to the BJP, right before the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2003. The leader from Madhya Pradesh was key party strategist and served as chief of its election management committee for the three times during the state assembly elections in 2003, 2008 and 2013 and Lok Sabha elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was known for his booth-level management and planning. Dave was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009 and has been on various committees including Chairman, Select Committee on Prevention of Corruption Amendment Bill 2013. Dave had also organised the World Hindi Conference in Bhopal and an international conference on the occasion of Simhastha Kumbh MELA in Ujjain. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 13:28 [IST] Anna University convocation will go on, Madras HC dismisses plea seeking stay India oi-Anusha The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking a stay on Anna University convocation. Anna University Teachers Association had sought a stay on the convocation. They had also prayed that the resolution, passed by the syndicate committee of the university, to conduct the convocation on May 19 be declared illegal. The petitioner had sought for an interim injunction to stop the syndicate committee from conducting the convocation. A vacation bench of Justice M Govindaraj of the Madras High Court judge turned down the plea. "In the absence of any legal embargo, this court is of the view that the convocation can be conducted as concerted by the chancellor as on May 19," the judge said while dismissing the petition. The petitioner argued that only an academician should be the vice chancellor which was rejected by the Judge. "Nothing is in the statute to substantiate the arguments advanced by the petitioner's counsel that only an academician should hold the post of vice chancellor," the judge observed. The court also observed that the syndicate committee had the powers to conduct the convocation with any of the officers of the university. In their plea before the Madras High Court, the teachers' association had submitted that if the term of the Vice Chancellor was over and the next VC is to be appointed the principal secretary of state Education Department need not function as the VC. "A search committee has already been appointed to identify the possible candidates for appointment as the VC and the process has to be completed," the association said in its petition. The plea maintained that only a new VC should convene the convocation and confer degrees. The same, however, was rejected by the court OneIndia News OKOTOKS, Alberta, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of Mullen Group Ltd. (TSX:MTL) ("Mullen Group" and/or the "Corporation") announced today that it has declared a monthly dividend of $0.03 per Common Share payable to the holders of record of Common Shares at the close of business on May 31, 2017. The dividend will be paid on June 15, 2017. For Canadian resident shareholders, this dividend is designated as an "eligible dividend" for purposes of the enhanced dividend tax credit rules contained in the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any corresponding provincial and territorial tax legislation. Mullen Group is a company that owns a network of independently operated businesses. The Corporation is recognized as one of the leading suppliers of trucking and logistics services in Canada and provides a wide range of specialized transportation and related services to the oil and natural gas industry in western Canada - two sectors of the economy in which Mullen Group has strong business relationships and industry leadership. The corporate office provides management and financial expertise, technology and systems support, shared services and strategic planning to its independent businesses. Mullen Group is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MTL". Additional information is available on our website at www.mullen-group.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Mehbooba Mufti gets notice to vacate official bungalow 'meant for J&K CMs' Accession Day: Valley lights up on this day when J&K became part of India AAP "merely a party of UT Delhi", only Cong can challenge BJP in Gujarat, HP: Azad Arun Jaitley promises GST help for J&K in sync with special status India oi-PTI Srinagar, May 18: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday assured the Jammu and Kashmir government of all possible help in restructuring the GST rollout for the state while respecting its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. Jaitley promised that the Centre will do all it can in restructuring the GST implementation for Jammu and Kashmir keeping in mind the special status of the state, an official spokesman said here. As soon as the meeting got under way, Jaitley informed the gathering the demise of Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, the spokesman said. The session observed silence for two minutes in his remembrance. Drabu said that "the historic meeting will make Jammu and Kashmir part of the economic history aimed at reordering the country's federal polity." "We are now part of the national policy making which will be recorded in history," he added. The meeting will last for two days during which the participants will decide on tax bands for various commodities under the country's first major indirect tax reform. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 14:56 [IST] BSP leader shot dead in Uttar Pradesh India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar The Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kailash Thekedar was shot dead by unknown assailants in Amroha in district in Uttar Pradesh when killers of two Mathura jewellers are still on the run. Kailash Thekedar was a civil contractor who had joined the BSP recently. He was shot dead while sleeping. His body lying in a pool of blood was found on the second floor of the home. The UP police is investigating the matter. UP: BSP leader Kailash Thekedar shot dead by unknown assailants in Amroha pic.twitter.com/3wkMC1gkum ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 18, 2017 According to reports, Kailash's servant informed the police about the incident. The cause of the murder is not yet known. However, Kailash's brother has filed complaint against the second wife of Kailash. A day before , in a shocking incident, two jewellers were shot dead and two others critically injured in an attack by unknown assailants in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, the assailants attacked the jewellers around 8 pm and sped away with Rs one crore jewellery. The attack on jewellers occurred on the night after the Uttar Pradesh assembly's first session was disrupted by opposition parties over deteriorating law and order situation in the state. In fact, on May 12, Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma had said that a special cell to monitor crime will be set up in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's office and would be personally overseen by him. He also boasted that the Adityanath-led BJP government had ensured the security of the common man and checked crime in 50 days. (With agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 13:33 [IST] Chidambaram was Sonia Gandhi's personal 'money launderer', alleges Swamy India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer New Delhi, May 18: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy called former finance minister P Chidambaram as the "personal money launderer" for Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Swamy alleged that Chidambaram was the most corrupt politician of India. Talking to ANI, Swamy said, "As far as Chidambaram is concerned, he is perhaps the most corrupt. He has also been the money launderer for Sonia Gandhi. He has flouted every law for which he took oath of office to uphold." Swamy added that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board approvals were given by Chidambaram to benefit his son, Karti. "The FIPB approvals were given because it suited his son for getting a bribe. Such people have to be prosecuted so that in future, such ministers don't do such things. At least 16 of the FIPB clearances clearly indicate Chidambaram as having deliberately done an illegal act to benefit his son." Regarding Chidambaram's remarks that the government was trying to suppress his voice through the recent raids, Swamy said the BJP had no interest in his writing. "What voice does he have? He is not an intellectual as he writes research articles. His performance as a lawyer is only coming to get stay orders. This voice business is only giving himself airs without any reason. We have no interest in his writing," he said. "Why is he fretting and fuming and condemning the government. Come and prove that there is no substance and ingredients of the offence," he added. On Tuesday, the CBI raided Chidambaram's residence in connection with the FIPB approval in several cases. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 12:26 [IST] CUSAT CAT Ranks 2017: BTECH results published India oi-Vicky By Vicky The CUSAT CAT Ranks 2017 has been released on the official website today. In a notification the Cochin University of Science and Technology said that the ranks will be released on its website. The candidates can login to check their results. CUSAT has also published the MBA schedule of GD and Interview in the website. All the updates would be available on cusat.nic.in. CAT 2017 Ranks will be made available on May 18. In another update, CUSAT also said that the BBA/BCom, LLB, LLB/LLM Programmes - Schedule of GD/ Interview would be published shortly. Those candidates who are provisionally considered for the second phase of the admission procedure for the MBA Programmes offered by the School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, the Group Discussion and Interview which will be conducted from 29th May 2017 to 14th June 2017 at the School of Management Studies, CUSAT, Kochi. Candidates who attend the GD and Interview and find their names in the final rank list will be called for counseling to be held at School of Management Studies, CUSAT by the last week of June 2017. OneIndia News Five years of demonetisation: Notes in circulation on rise; so are digital payments Demonetisation deaths: Kerala govt to give Rs 2-lakh compensation to kin of victims India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Thiruvananthapuram, May 18: On Wednesday, the Kerala cabinet took the decision to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of those who died while trying to exchange their demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, or while waiting in queues at banks or ATMs. [Also Read: Wondering what happened to demonetised notes? Well, they're now designer products] According to the state government figures, four people have died waiting in queue to exchange their demonetised notes. "The Kerala Cabinet decided to give Rs 2 lakh each to families of four persons who passed away waiting in queue to exchange demonetised notes," reported ANI. On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation and thus scrapped high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Immediately after the announcement, people across the country spent hours to exchange their old notes in banks for several days. Moreover, for a couple of months, mostly till February this year, India reeled under cash crunch, as it took the Reserve Bank of India substantial amount of time to replace old notes with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes after the note ban was announced. In fact, it was the then Uttar Pradesh government under the Samajwadi Party which first announced compensation to families of "victims" who died due to demonetisation in January this year . Thus the Kerala government under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is not the first one to take the decision to compensate demonetisation-related deaths. During the peak of demonetisation, the opposition parties demanded that the Centre should give due financial assistance to the victims of note ban. According to figures around 75 people died across the country due to demonetisation. OneIndia News EC bribery case: Another hawala operator who helped Dinakaran arrested India oi-Anusha The Delhi Crime branch police have arrested another hawala operator who is suspected to have helped TTV Dinakaran and Sukesh Chandrasekhar in the Election commission bribery case. The accused has been sent to police custody till Saturday. A hawala operator identified as Babu Bhai was apprehended by officials of the crime branch on Thursday. The man who is now in the custody of the Delhi police is suspected to have worked as an agent with Naresh and helped in transferring Rs 10 crore from Dinakaran to middleman Sukesh. Naresh, who was arrested from Delhi in April is accused of routing money through illegal channels and helping Dinakaran transfer Rs 10 crore to Sukesh. Dinakaran's bail plea hearing adjourned A Delhi court that took up Dinakaran's bail plea for hearing on Thursday adjourned the same to May 22. Dinakaran whose judicial custody was extended till May 29 had moved court seeking bail. Dinakaran has spent close to a month in Delhi's high-security Tihar Jail. The Delhi crime branch police arrested Dinakaran and his aide Mallikarjuna in the election commission bribery case. He along with Sukesh Chandrasekhar face allegations of attempting to bribe election commission of India officials in the AIADMK symbol row to gain a favourable verdict. Dinakaran is also expected to be brought to Chennai on a 'prisoner on transit warrant' in June. Dinakaran in expected to be produced by the enforcement directorate in the Egmore court in Chennai for framing of charges in a FERA case. OneIndia News Municipality alone knows why bridge work handed to firm repairing watches, says former dy CM Fire breaks out at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, over 100 evacuated India pti-PTI Ahmedabad, May 18: A fire broke out at the store room of the multi-storey SAL Hospital in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening, following which over 100 people, including the patients and their relatives, were evacuated, officials said. Nobody was injured in the incident, they said. The fire was reported this evening at SAL Hospital located in Bodakdev area of the city, following which at least 27 fire tenders were rushed to the spot by the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES), Chief Fire Officer Rajesh Bhatt said. "The blaze broke out in the store room of the the hospital on the third floor and the smoke started spreading inside the building. Preliminary investigation has revealed that short circuit triggered the fire," Bhatt, who supervised the operation, said. "We evacuated around 100 people, including the patients, their relatives and staff members of the hospital. The fire was brought under control well before it spread further. The entire operation lasted for about two and half hours," he added. Apart from using hydraulic ladders to rescue the patients and others directly from the upper floors, firemen also went inside the hospital and helped people to come out through stairs. "We made prompt moves to contain the fire on the same floor and then evacuated people. No one was injured during the operation," Bhatt added. PTI With labour laws in UP, MP being suspended, here is how the hire and fire policy works First union of software professionals to be set-up in Tamil Nadu India oi-Prabhpreet India is no stranger to a union of workers with different trade and labour unions being in the news regularly, with many powerful groups calling for bandhs and hartals on issues which they feel harm the interests of their members. And now the country is witnessing an emergence of a new kind of a union, as around a hundred software professionals have come together and signed up as primary members of a union which will aim to safeguard the interests of employees in the information technology sector. The sector is one of the major source of employment for thousands of graduates passing out of the numerous engineering and management colleges in the country. India's IT and software industry is already suffering from due to various reasons such as HI-B Visa issue along with the recent lay-off of employees, which have worsened the already tough situation that employees from the sector are facing, with the visa restrictions having already hit the country's 150 million dollar outsourcing industry. The new union which is set up in the state of Tamil Nadu has come in the background of last week's demonstration by IT firing professionals following the sacking of employees by tech services giant Cognizant. According to reports of a national television news channel, the union is set to lobby for issues such as safety of women employees, and will also try to protect rights of IT employees by subjecting companies to labour laws and making sure of strict adherence to them. As per the report, Tamil Nadu has around 4.5 lakh employees in the IT sector, with major companies such as Infosys having 17,000 employees in Chennai alone, while Wipro has nearly 25,000 and TCS, which is the country's largest software exporter, has around 60,000 employees in 13 different centres in the state. But according to the report, many of the employees in the state who are working in the companies belonging to the sector are not willing to join the union as they fear being rejected for such acts and will end up giving them an image of trouble-makers, which might also lead to further issues. Tamil Nadu's neighbouring state of Karnataka, which is also a hub for such companies which employee a large number of IT professionals, has not allowed such trade unions for them and software companies. But powerful trade unions exist and are flourishing across the country in the manufacturing sector. OneIndia News Give us full AFSPA cover to tackle J&K issue: Army tells Centre India oi-Vicky By Vicky Authority over the central armed police forces, a positive social media outreach programme and full protective cover under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA is what the Indian Army has sought in a bid to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army which has put in place the counter-insurgency strategy said that a social media outreach programme is the need of the hour. It could have a positive effect on the youth of the Valley. It would be an outreach programme, the Army has suggested. Further the Army has also said that the problem is not across the Valley. The focus would be on five districts in the state which are most trouble-hit. While seeking authority over the CAPF, the Army has said that there is an urgent need to protect the force. Pictures of the personnel of the CAPF being targeted by the stone pelters and some youth of the Valley have been in circulation and this had a demoralising effect on the force. This needs to stop at once the Army has also said. The Army has also called for strict action against those who have been damaging government property in the Valley. Housing them in prisons alone would not be enough. They need to be booked under the appropriate laws, the Army has further suggested. The Army says that it needs to work under the full cover of AFSPA. The debate on this law is unnecessary at this point of time. The Army at times would need to act strongly and for this the cover of a law is necessary, the Army has further said. IN such situations, the Army cannot work under the fear of being summoned by the police for investigation which drags on for years. AFSPA is a necessity which would be used sparingly and in situations that mandate it, the Indian Army has further told the centre. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 6:05 [IST] GST meeting in Srinagar sends clear political message India oi-Prabhpreet Amid growing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir and the perception of its difference from the rest of the country, the government seems to be sending out a strong signal to everyone about not only the importance of the valley but also of the intent to bring back normalcy to it. This comes through the decision to hold a crucial meeting related to the new Goods and Services Tax regime that the union government is planning to implement from July 1, of this year, in Srinagar. With the state embroiled in protests since last year and growing incidents of violence, the location for the meeting is being seen as a strong political message. The two-day meeting to be held today and tomorrow will be chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and is to be attended by around 150 dignitaries including finance ministers and secretaries of all states along with those of three union territories. The meeting, for which additional forces have already been deployed, is to be held at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar, to take final decisions related to the new tax regime and finalise the rates of different commodities and services. The state government which is run by a coalition of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's PDP and the BJP, is keen to show the state's intent to be part of the growing national narrative which the GST is trying to achieve by uniting the country as a single market for trade, and has already taken other steps such as moving the financial year to January-December period and implementing a universal benefits policy. Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu is reported to have said, "We could look at agreements that the GST council is expected to reach during its consultations as a 'Srinagar Declaration'. All the finance ministers arriving here are struck by the potential of the state and its tourist attractions." Talking to leading national daily he said "In 1991 the entire economic regime was changed and no state was consulted. Today, even on a change in rate, everybody is consulted. This is the emergence of a new federal India." And he lauded the new the GST council as the first federal council and as a new concept which has to be seen in a new light. According to the minister the state will need to make some technical changes to be able to fit into the new regime as there exists a difference between the tax implementation in the state and rest of the country as all other states in India levy taxes under article 247 of the constitution of India and J&K levy taxes under section five of the constitution of J&K. As the state is marred by incidents of violence ever since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last year, and the following protests leading to repeated clashes between protestor and security forces and the continued aggression from Pakistan along the border, the meeting is being seen as a major effort by the government to push the narrative of socio-economic integration of the state with the rest of the country. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 11:03 [IST] English French Press release - Evian, May 18, 2017 INVESTOR SEMINAR - Evian, May 2017 Danone reaffirms its commitment to building a strong, sustainable and profitable model of growth and details its immediate agenda from 2017 to 2020 Danone held its Investor Seminar in Evian (France), detailing over these two days the key pillars of its growth journey and its unique position to become a leader in the Alimentation Revolution. "Danone 2020" started as a transformation journey in 2014. A volatile and complex economic environment alongside fast-moving shifts in consumer trends has been causing a transition of growth models in the global food and beverage industry. This shift has amplified in the course of the last 12 months. Danone confirms the full relevance of the Danone 2020 plan, in this context. The company is uniquely positioned with its healthier categories portfolio, the strength of its global and local brands, its people-centric culture, and its long stewardship of sustainability. Due to the acceleration of the shifting factors in the food industry, Danone will further reinforce and adjust its preparation agenda with a single objective: optimize its ability to capture long-term growth opportunities and efficiency. Danone therefore concluded the event by reiterating its commitment to building a strong, sustainable and profitable growth model. For 2017, Danone continues to expect a moderate sales growth and confirms a sustained improvement1 in recurring operating margin, including the integration of WhiteWave and a first delivery of the cost synergies, leading to double-digit recurring EPS growth at constant exchange rate. Between 2017 and 2020, Danone will pursue the decoupling of its mid-term growth and short-term efficiency agenda, accelerating growth sequentially and maximizing efficiency immediately, including the Protein program and the delivery of the synergies post the Whitewave acquisition. This will ensure a safe journey to deliver profitable sustainable growth, a consistent EPS growth and prepare for strong profitable sustainable growth. As part of its journey, Danone will focus on deleveraging its balance sheet and continue to improve its ROIC. Danone has therefore detailed its 2020 financial metrics: Danone targets overall like-for-like sales growth between 4% and 5%, including the following dynamics: a strong like-for-like sales growth above +5% for Essential Dairy & Plant-based (EDP) NORAM , Specialized Nutrition , Waters and, a like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 4% for Essential Dairy & Plant-based (EDP) International . Danone aims for a recurring operating margin of over 16% in 2020, driven primarily by: a structural improvement of margin in all categories, via more discipline and a stricter resource allocation process to guarantee profitable growth; the Protein program, which will generate over 1 billion savings by 2020, with at least 300 million net of reinvestment falling through into margin expansion by 2020 (100 million per year from 2018); a $300 million synergies program generated in 2020 at recurring operating income level through the acquisition of WhiteWave. Finally, Danone will continue to focus on growing its free cash flow, which will contribute to financial deleverage with an objective of a ratio of Net debt/EBITDA below 3 in 2020; Danone is committed to reaching a ROIC level around 12% in 2020. All presentations of the Investor Seminar are available on www.danone.com (See: Investors / News & Events / Investor Seminar) FINANCIAL INDICATORS NOT DEFINED IN IFRS Like-for-like changes in sales, recurring operating income and recurring operating margin reflect Danone's organic performance and essentially exclude the impact of: changes in consolidation scope, with indicators related to a given fiscal year calculated on the basis of previous-year scope; changes in applicable accounting principles; changes in exchange rates, (i) with both previous-year and current-year indicators calculated using the same exchange rates (the exchange rate used is a projected annual rate determined by Danone for the current year and applied to both previous and current year), and (ii) correcting differences caused by the exceptional volatility of inflation in countries that are structurally subject to hyperinflation, which would otherwise distort any interpretation of Danone's organic performance. Since completion of the acquisition, WhiteWave and Danone's activities have been combined and are generating synergies. Separate reporting of WhiteWave and Danone in their pre-acquisition forms thus no longer reflects their real performance. This being the case, Danone has decided to monitor and then report its performance by integrating the contribution of WhiteWave as a whole to its organic growth from the time of the acquisition by using an additional indicator - "like-for-like New Danone" changes. "Like-for-like New Danone" changes (or "Like-for-like including WhiteWave starting April 2017" changes) in sales, recurring operating income and recurring operating margin reflect the organic performance of Danone and WhiteWave combined. This indicator corresponds to like-for-like changes for Danone and WhiteWave combined, considering the activity of WhiteWave as a whole by integrating its companies during the fiscal years prior and following their acquisition in April 2017: from April 1 to December 31 for periods compared until 2017 included; from January 1 to December 31 for periods compared in 2018. Financial data related to periods prior to the closing date and used to calculate "like-for-like New Danone" changes are extracted from the historical income statements of, respectively, Danone (prepared in euros under IFRS) and WhiteWave (prepared in US dollars under US-GAAP). However, to ensure that these can be compared with the income statement of Danone and WhiteWave combined, they are adjusted as follows: WhiteWave's income statements for periods prior to the closing date have been restated to reconcile them with Danone's accounting principles; the effect on the income statement of the purchase price allocation of WhiteWave is also reflected in periods prior to the acquisition. Recurring operating income is defined as Danone's operating income excluding Other operating income and expenses. Other operating income and expenses is defined under Recommendation 2013-03 of the French CNC (format of consolidated financial statements for companies reporting under international reporting standards), and comprises significant items that, because of their exceptional nature, cannot be viewed as inherent to its recurring activities. These mainly include capital gains and losses on disposals of fully consolidated companies, impairment charges on goodwill, significant costs related to strategic restructuring and major external growth transactions, and costs related to major crisis and major litigations. Furthermore, in connection with of IFRS 3 (Revised) and IAS 27 (Revised) relating to business combinations, the Company also classifies in Other operating income and expenses (i) acquisition costs related to business combinations, (ii) revaluation profit or loss accounted for following a loss of control, (iii) changes in earn-outs relating to business combinations and subsequent to acquisition date, and (iv) certain income and expenses related to the purchase price allocation of WhiteWave. Recurring operating margin is defined as Recurring operating income over Sales ratio. Non-recurring results from associates include significant items that, because of their exceptional nature, cannot be viewed as inherent to the recurring activity of those companies and distort the reading of their performance. They include primarily (i) capital gains and losses on disposal and impairment of Investments in associates, and (ii) when material, non-recurring items as defined by Danone included in the net income from associates. Recurring net income (or Recurring net income - Group Share) corresponds to the Group share in the consolidated recurring net income. The recurring net income measures Danone's recurring performance and excludes significant items that, because of their exceptional nature, cannot be viewed as inherent to its recurring performance. Such non-recurring income and expenses mainly include other income and expenses, non-recurring results from associates, capital gains and losses on disposals and impairments of Other non-fully-consolidated entities and tax income and expenses related to non-recurring income and expenses. Such income and expenses excluded from Net income are defined as Non-recurring net income and expenses. Recurring EPS (or Recurring net income - Group Share, per share after dilution) is defined as Recurring net income over Diluted number of shares ratio. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Danone. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by forward-looking words, such as "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "forecast," "foresee," "likely," "may," "should," "goal," "target," "might," "will," "could," "predict," "continue," "convinced," and "confident," the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Danone's operation of its business including that of WhiteWave following completion of the merger, the expected benefits of the transaction, and the future operation, direction and success of Danone's business including that of WhiteWave. Although Danone believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the "Risk Factor" section of Danone's Registration Document (the current version of which is available on www.danone.com). Subject to regulatory requirements, Danone does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy Danone shares. Haryana govt orders to stop production of cough syrups by Maiden Pharma Tuesday is now No Meeting Day in Haryana and officers to be with people on Friday 30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning Haryana panchayat polls: Public holiday in several districts on Nov 9 and 12 Haryana govt acts against cops for lapses in Rohtak gangrape probe India oi-Vikas By Vikas Two police officers were suspended while another one was transferred by the Haryana government for lapses in the investigation of Rohtak gangrape case, said reports. A departmental inquiry will be initiated against them. In a savage crime reminiscent of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case, a young woman from Haryana's Sonepat district was abducted, gang-raped and brutally murdered. The woman, aged around 23, went missing on May 9. Her body was found on the outskirts of Rohtak town early on May 12. Her head and face were smashed with a blunt object and later crushed under the wheels of a vehicle. Two men, including her neighbour Sumit, were later arrested. The National Commission for Women sought a fair and speedy trial in the case. The Delhi Commission for Women had called for death punishment to rapists following the horrific crime. The incident came days after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence awarded to four convicts in the December 16, 2012, Nirbhaya gang-rape case. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 20:09 [IST] Karnataka: Governer is obliged to call the largest party first, says Mukul Rohatgi Wont appear for Chinese app against govt: Mukul Rohatgi refuses to appear for TikTok Arguing for Pilot, Rohatgi points out the malafide in Speakers disqualification notice Mukul Rohatgi set to return as the Attorney General of India Hope final decision also comes India's way: AG Mukul Rohatgi on Jadhav's verdict India oi-Madhuri In major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav till a final decision is taken. Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, reading out the court verdict also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order. [Also read: BIG win for India: Pakistan cannot execute Kulbhushan Jadhav says ICJ] The entire thing was a charade,Pakistan completely blown by this decision.The decision is certainly binding for both states:AG Mukul Rohatgi pic.twitter.com/dJKFX66d00 ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 India on Monday had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case. Meanwhile, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi on Thursday said that Indian stand is victorious and congratulates all concerned persons, especially the External Affairs Ministry. He said,''The entire thing was a charade, Pakistan completely blown by this decision. The decision is certainly binding for both states.'' Rohatgi further said,''Hope that final decision also comes India's way and we can see Jadhav come back home.'' The International Court of Justice on Thursday pronounced its verdict on India's appeal against the death sentence handed to former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court. OneIndia News How India won at the ICJ and stalled hanging of Kulbhushan Jadhav India oi-Vicky By Vicky The arguments by India at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case was crucial. India was aware that Pakistan would raise the issue regarding the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. In the legal circles there was a lot of worry about this point being raised and to overcome that various other options were used. BIG win for India: Pakistan cannot execute Kulbhushan Jadhav says ICJ The ICJ on Thursday stayed the execution of Jadhav by Pakistan. India had contended that he is a former naval officer while Pakistan accused him of being a spy India was represented by senior counsel, Harish Salve who according to Sushma Swaraj charged just Re 1 to fight the case. India raised some crucial points while putting forth its arguments. Read the Kulbhushan Jadhav order by ICJ here Consular matter is not about the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ over a matter, India had stated. Further India invoked the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). This international treaty has ICJ as the arbiter in disputes. India further said that the bases for jurisdiction are separate from what happened in 1999 where in an aerial incident, the ICJ had upheld the Indian view on jurisdiction. The Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict in 9 points The Indian side believed that that the bi-lateral treaty with Pakistan will not be a factor here. Islamabad has been arguing that this 2008 treaty exempts those cases that are related to national security. However in the UN charter it is stated that "no party to any such treaty or international agreement which has not been registered in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article (102) may invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the United Nations". By putting forth this argument, India was able to state that Pakistan will not be able to invoke the bilateral treaty in the ICJ. Further it was also pointed out that Pakistan had revised its declaration on compulsory jurisdiction, which spells out terms under which Islamabad accepts the ICJ on matters of dispute settlement. India moved the international court under 36 (1) of the ICJ statute, because both India and Pakistan are signatories to the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. OneIndia News 'IAS officer Anurag Tewari was to expose scams in Karnataka,' claims UP minister India oi-Anusha A day after the body of a Karnataka cadre IAS officer was found in Hazratganj, Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Kumar Khanna claimed that the officer was to expose scams in Karnataka. During the assembly session on Thursday, the minister claimed that Anurag Tewari was to expose scams worth thousands of crores of rupees by the Congress-led government in Karnataka. The Uttar Pradesh parliamentary affairs minister's claims came after the opposition attacked the BJP government over law and order situation in the state. Samajwadi Party's Nitin Agarwal alleged that the IAS officer was 'murdered' in the high-security area which "exposed the tall claims of government over law and order." Members of the Samajwadi party protested in the well of the house in an attempt to corner the BJP government when Suresh Kumar Khanna made such claims. While the autopsy report claimed that Anurag Tewari died of asphyxia, members of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh kept referring to his death as murder. Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also raised the matter while demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Even as the minister assured that a probe was underway, the members of the opposition staged a walkout from the assembly. Anurag Tewari, a 2007 batch IAS officer was found dead near a guest house in Hazratganj locality on Wednesday. He was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Tewari's family also raised suspicion over his death and alleged that he was 'eliminated'. The Uttar Pradesh minister's claims, however, were made without any proof to back the same. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 17:38 [IST] UP: Kanpur airport to get World-Class facilities by year end Indians offer prayers for safe release of Kulbhushan Jadhav India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Since the beginning of the trial in the International Court of Justice Indians are offering prayers for the release of Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court in connection with alleged espionage case. Mumbaikars on Thursday held a 'Hawan' ahead of the verdict in the afternoon. Members of 'Hanuman Jayanti Utsava' organised the 'hawan'. Earlier, people of Kanpur held prayers for the release of Kulbhushan Jadhav on the first day of the trial on May 15. Kanpur: People hold prayers for release of #KulbhushanJadhav , ahead of India's arguments before International Court of Justice, today pic.twitter.com/OenYs03943 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 15, 2017 The government pinned its hope on senior Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve who presented his arguments on May 15 at the ICJ. On the other hand, Indians are offering prayers for positive verdict in the case. Ek begunah aadmi ko maarna saari insaniyat ko marne ke barabar hai - Hadith (Hadis) #KulbhushanJadhav Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) April 12, 2017 It may be recalled that screenwriter Salim Khan had prayed for the safe release of Kulbhushan Jadhav. He even quoted Hadith-words of Prophet Muhammad-'' To kill an innocent is equivalent to killing entire humanity.'' OneIndia News No one knows what developments will take place after 2023 poll results: HD Kumaraswamy Janthakal mines case: Former Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy appears before SIT India oi-Anusha The former Chief Minister of Karnataka and state president of the JD(S) H D Kumaraswamy appeared before the investigating officials in the Janthakal mines case. Kumaraswamy who received an anticipatory bail on Wednesday appeared for questioning before the Special investigating team of the Lokayukta on Thursday. Kumaraswamy faces allegations of misuse of office, corruption and illegal grants of permission to a mining company when he was the Chief Minister in 2007. Kumaraswamy will appear for questioning in the Janthakal mines scam case days after a senior IAS officer, Gangaram Baderiya was arrested by the SIT. Also Read: The 'Encounter' Daya Nayak connection to illegal mining in Karnataka H D Kumaraswamy accused the Congress government of targeting him. "The SIT is filled with those from the state government. And they are being ordered by the government to ensure that I am behind bars for at least an hour. I am being targetted since I have a stronger base ahead of the 2018 elections," Kumaraswamy said. Armed with ana anticipatory bail that stops his arrest for a week, Kumaraswamy appeared before the SIT. The former Chief minister was questioned for about two hours. IAS officer Gangaram Baderiya, who was the then commissioner of Mines department, had made official notings accusing Kumaraswamy and his office of pressurising him to clear files that favoured Janthakal mining company illegally. OneIndia News IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list Lajpat Nagar of Delhi gets its first AC bus stands, Delhiites praises project India oi-Gulam Rabbani New Delhi, May 18: A big relief to the people of Delhi ad the national capital gets its first air-conditioned bus stand on the Ring Road in Lajpat Nagar. According to reports, the initiative was part of a marketing campaign by an AC manufacturer. The social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook etc are filled up praises on the project, lauding it as a timely project of the year as the national capital is reeling under the extreme heat and temperatures soar to 40-plus levels. The air-conditioned bus stop is covered with transparent plastic curtains with a large AC installed inside secured with a chain. Though a slight drizzling on Tuesday night brought relief to Delhiites in the morning but the Delhi saw the maximum temperature of 43 degree Celsius in some parts of the city. According to a government official, the AC was installed by a Japanese multinational company in collaboration with a private agency that has advertisement rights on Delhi Transport Corporation's bus stand. Advertisements for the company were also put up in the bus stand. It is not clear till how long the project continues. It is not something new as the Delhi bus stops had seen such installations in the past. Not the installation of AC but in December 2016, a telecommunication company installed air purifiers at several bus stops. The project came in when the city's air pollution was usually high as farmers burn crops residue in surrounding states. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 12:26 [IST] BJP wants Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, says Shah; asks other parties must make stand clear on the issue 'There is partnership between TRS and BJP', says Rahul Gandhi in Telangana Lalu, Nitish effigies burnt by BJP workers in Patna India oi-IANS By Ians English Patna, May 18: Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Thursday burnt the effigies of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the Bihar capital and other places in the state to protest an alleged attack on the BJP office and its workers. Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar led hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party members on a march from the party office to the busy Dak Bungalow square in the heart of Patna. Kumar said the protest by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has been staged at all district headquarters in Bihar against the attack on the BJP office 'by RJD goons'. "We have burnt the effigies of Lalu and Nitish in Patna to protest against what happened on Wednesday when RJD workers attacked BJP workers," Kumar told the media. He said a delegation of NDA leaders will meet the Governor soon in connection with the incident. However, there were few of the BJP's allies Lok Janshakti Party, HAM and RLSP leaders and workers during the protest. Angry BJP workers shouted slogans against Lalu and Nitish 'Lalu-Nitish murdabad'. They also shouted slogans against Lalu's two sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav. Tejashwi is the Deputy Chief Minister and Tej Pratap is Bihar Health Minister. On Wednesday, half a dozen persons were injured in a violent clash between RJD and BJP workers in Patna, a day after IT raids in connection with alleged 'benami' property deals involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family. The clash took place in front of the BJP state headquarters office on the busy Birchand Patel Marg near the IT square in the heart of Patna. Later both BJP and RJD workers lodged FIRs against each other in connection with the clash. IANS For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 14:07 [IST] Legendary actor Dr Rajkumar's wife put on ventilator, doctors say she is stable India oi-Vikas By Vikas Legendary Kannada film actor Dr Rajkumar's wife Parvathamma Rajkumar has been hospitalised and her condition is said to be critical. Doctors have however said that her vitals are within the permissible limits. The 78-year-old was admitted to MS Ramaiah Hospital on May 14 after she complained of breathing difficulties. She has been shifted to the intensive care unit. A statement by the hospital said her vitals were within permissible limits and that a team of five doctors are monitoring her condition. "She had difficulty in breathing on Wednesday night following which she was shifted to the ICU around 11.30 pm," the statement also read. The Bengaluru Police, in a Facebook post, said her condition was stable and urged people to not pay heed to rumours. "Health condition of Smt. Parvathamma Rajkumar is stable as per the Ramaiah Hospital Doctors. No need to panic. Please don't give credence to rumours," the FB post said. She has been accompanied by actors Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar. Under the production house named "Poornima Enterprises", Parvathamma Rajkumar produced successful films featuring Rajkumar and their sons Shiv Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar. She was hospitalised even in March this year due to diabetes and low blood pressure. OneIndia News White, but lotus nonetheless Rajinikanth is a known Baba devotee. In an attempt to pay his respects to his spiritual guru, Rajinikanth produced and acted in a film about 'Baba'. While the mudra of his spiritual guru is the highlight of the backdrop at the venue where Rajinikanth is meeting his fans, the white lotus atop which the mudra rests has caught everyone's attention. While the superstar himself has not attached any importance to it, questions of whether it was a subtle hint bothered many over the last three days. Despite it being white, the lotus has led many to draw parallels between Rajinikanth's sudden public announcements over politics and a national party's symbol and ideology. Media-conscious, no more For decades, journalists have found it hard to get an interview with the superstar. The man who is rarely seen on news channels and who had, at least till now, refrained from making public appearances or talk to the media, is today all over the place. Rajinikanth has been giving freewheeling interviews to every channel that flags his vehicle down or catches him exiting in entering a venue. The superstar, who on many occasions has zipped past the mics, showed a change of heart this time around. Rajinikanth spoke practically to every channel patiently taking the time to answer questions. A move is never-seen-before. It is clear that Rajinikanth wants to be seen, heard and taken seriously on his comments. Keeping his options open While Rajinikanth himself has refused to give straight answers about if and when he would join politics, it looks like he has kept his options open. Rajinikanth neither confirmed nor rejected the option of joining the BJP. His simple response was 'no comments'. On joining politics per say, the star claimed that a decision would be taken at the right time. BJP claims that Rajini's ideology matches with theirs The BJP in Tamil Nadu seems to be excited with the thought of Rajinikanth joining politics. The chief of BJP's Tamil Nadu unit Tamilisai Soundarajan on Wednesday claimed that Rajinikanth's ideology and that of the BJP matched on many levels. The lone BJP MP and union minister from Tamil Nadu Pon Radhakrishnan said that he would welcome it if Rajinikanth entered politics. However, Subramaniam Swamy, another BJP MP has vehemently opposed Rajinikanth's entry into politics calling it a 'joke'. Age or movies what is the concern? Fans who have been expressing their opinions on Rajinikanth joining politics highlighted his age as the biggest concern. The 66-year-old actor, many fans feel, may be too late to enter the political fray. Others, however, believe that talks of him joining politics are mere publicity gimmicks ahead of the release of his movies. Fans, baiters and the media have heard it one too many times, Rajinikanth joining politics has been a subject of debate for many years but now the actor has been dropping hints making speculations stronger that things are different this time around OneIndia News Boston, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recent government mandates that hold health systems responsible for the entire episode of care mean that hospitals must reach their patients beyond the traditional care setting. Forward-thinking hospitals are engaging with patients in their everyday lives before, during and after surgery, a medical procedure or treatment by connecting with them on digital devices in ways that acknowledge how people understand and process health information. U.S. adults are barraged with an average of 5,000+ advertisements and brand exposures every day. Only 12 of these actually make an impression. How do you cut through the noise and influence behavior change? With technology that seamlessly integrates into patients lives and content that engages them on an intrinsically human level, says Betsy Weaver, Ed.D, CEO and Co-founder of digital health company UbiCare. This means content that addresses the basic human needs for knowledge, expectations and feeling understood and supported. Hospitals that engage their patients in this way are impacting patient self-care management and decision-making as well as the hospitals' bottom line, Weaver says. Expanding care beyond the four walls is both a new responsibility and opportunity for hospitals and health systems. Guidance on using technology to impact quality of care, cost and health outcomes, while still engaging patients on a truly human level, can be found in the new white paper, A Digital Strategy for Succeeding in Care, Cost & Quality. Get the white paper here. About UbiCare UbiCare, a digital health company, provides engagement solutions enabling hospitals to be at the forefront of patient-centered innovation and value-based care. Through targeted education, mobile connections and real-time data, UbiCare's interactive SmarteXp platform improves your hospital's quality of care and operational efficiencies. For more information, please visit ubicare.com. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4b060925-22c7-4c27-a6d8-70865956aa19 MEA terms ICJ judgement as an 'essential first step' in saving Jadhav India ians-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, May 18: India on Thursday said the International Court of Justice's decision on Kulbhushan Jadhav is an "essential first step" in ensuring justice for him. "The provisional relief constitutes an essential first step in ensuring justice for Jadhav," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said at a briefing, hours after the ICJ asked Pakistan not to execute the alleged spy till final hearing of the matter. "This is a unanimous decision of the highest court, there is no unambiguity in this judgement. It is clear that as long as a final decision does not come Jadhav should be safe," he said, adding that the ruling would help in finding remedy to "violation of Jadhav's rights and also the violation of international convention by Pakistan". "This order creates legally binding international obligation," he said. Irked by International Court of Justice's ruling, Pakistan lashed out at India for presenting former navy officer's case from a humanitarian angle. Pakistan Foreign Ministry also accused New Delhi of trying to defend a person responsible for deaths of scores of innocent Pakistanis. The International Court of Justice on Thursday directed Pakistan not to hang Kulbhushan Jadhav until it rules on the merits of the case. The ICJ held that it would give a ruling on the merits of the case and until such time the former naval officer accused by Pakistan of being a spy cannot be hanged. The final order of the ICJ is expected in August. The court held that the circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remains disputed. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that no execution takes place until the disposal of the petition, the ICJ held. The ICJ held that consular access is a right and Pakistan should have accorded the same to India. Pakistan had contended that this would not be applicable in cases of espionage and terrorism. IANS When Madison Square erupted in laughter: At the much hyped event at the Madison Square, Modi had the crowd in splits for this statement, "Log bole rahe hain ye pradhan mantri hokar Lal Kile se toilet saaf karne ki, safai ki baat karte hain." (People say that me being the PM speak of toilets and cleanliness from the Red Fort). Modi was making a reference to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan he had just launched after becoming the PM. The Australian Parliament in splits: "I am the third head of the government you are listening to this week. I don't know how you are doing this. Maybe this is Prime Minister Abbot's way of shirt fronting you, he had said as the entire parliament erupted in laughter. The reference was made to Tony Abbot's comment where he promised to shirt front Russian President, Vladimir Putin over the incident. Life is short and uncertain: During the campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Narendra Modi had taken a dig at Akhilesh Yadav who was the chief minister at that time. He quoted right from the website of the UP government in which it was written, " life in UP is short and uncertain." He had latched on to a paragraph under the Health sub-heading in which there was a paragraph which began with "life in UP is short and uncertain." You may counter me, but your official website says this he said at a rally in Maharajganj. The AK-49 jibe: This was during an election rally in Delhi. Taking an obvious dig at Arvind Kejriwal often referred to as AK, Modi said, "three AKs are admired in Pakistan- AK-47, A K Antony (former defence minister of India) and the AK-49. The third one, AK-49 has just launched a political party, Modi had said while making a reference to Kejriwal. The RSVP model: A common feature during Modi's 2014 rallies was the attacks on Robert Vadra who was very often referred to as damad (son-in-law). Modi went on to explain a model of money making and called it RSVP. He said an American paper had presented a new paper in which it explains how to convert Rs 1 lakh to Rs 300 crore. This we call the RSVP model he said while explaining that this stood for-Rahul, Sonia, Vadra and Priyanka. OneIndia News Pakistan passes Bill to give right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav Kulbhushan Jadhav: Pak court allows India more time to appoint lawyer Pakistan gives Kulbhushan Jadhav right to appeal against death sentence Pakistan court asks India to appoint lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13 Netizens celebrate ICJ's verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case India oi-Deepika By Deepika New Delhi, May 18: Twitter was abuzz with congratulatory message for India as it marked a victory over Pakistan in Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Thursday. The International Court of Justice stayed the hanging of former Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan for alleged espionage. As soon as the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, netizens took to Twitter and hailed lawyer Harish Salve, who took up Jadhav's case. Many tweets celebrating India's win flooded the Internet while some targeting Pakistan were also posted. Here is how twitter reacted to ICJ's verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. #KulbhushanJadhav Huge victory for India Together we won . Congrats and you make us proud #harishsalve .You played well Karishma (@karry070193) May 18, 2017 My Salute to Indian Lawyer Harish Salve for Representing a strong case of #KulbhushanJadhav effectively before ICJ. You fought for justice Bhavesh Sapkale (@bhaveshsapkale) May 18, 2017 Netizens had all praise for Harish Salve, for his efforts in getting justice for the nation. Salve took Rs 1 and won billion hearts #KulbhushanJadhav this is what happens when kids in your country are given guns instead of pens. Bringing international shame for Pakistan. Chetan Goyal (@chetu95) May 18, 2017 Pakistan should stop this suicidal humiliation now. They try to poop in a wrong place agn & agn and get biten mercilessly. #KulbhushanJadhav Aishwarya Dabhade (@AishdAish) May 18, 2017 If Pakistan is Pak & have character, he should follow the verdict passed by #ICJ in #Kulbhushan Jadhav's case. Jai hind. Harendra Prakash Sha (@sha_harendra) May 18, 2017 Few, expressed anger over Pakistan, terming the decision as a big slap for Pakistan. @SushmaSwaraj Thank you mam!! I have full faith on indian govt. #KulbhushanJadhav A@$#!$# Manani (@aashishmanani33) May 18, 2017 It is nice 2 know that 4 our government #EveryLifeMatters. Thanku @SushmaSwaraj ji @narendramodi ji & all others involvd #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/X0gcV0GNS0 Girish Varma (@14_varma) May 18, 2017 We express our gratitude @SushmaSwaraj for relentless effort in securing justice for Kulbhushan Jadhav at ICJ. gautam mukherji (@gmukherji13) May 18, 2017 Twitteratis complimented Indian government for its initiative to save Jadhav #KulbhushanJadhav #kulbhushanverdict #ICJSlapsPakistan This is the same guy who got too many supplements in school exam and still fails pic.twitter.com/r6HSos0Ert Aniruddha (@AniruddhasT) May 18, 2017 This is what Harish Salvedid to Pakistani lawyer Khawar Qureshi. #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/L17B3hR7HB Godfather (@The_Godfather1) May 18, 2017 Meanwhile, trolls on Pakistan started doing the round on the internet. Two things which will haunt Porkistan for decades.#KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/cKmDNN0i2A ATC Farrago (@72hoors) May 18, 2017 Pakistan had denied India, consular access to Jadhav who was awarded a death sentence by Islamabad military court for alleged espionage activities. Jadhav was arrested Iran on charges of espionage. India, however, denied Pakistan's allegations, saying that he was a retired naval officer and a civilian, who had wrongly been tried. OneIndia News Next President of India: Here is why Sharad Pawar turned down the offer India oi-Vicky By Vicky For the united opposition, Sharad Pawar was the top choice for the post of next president of India. He however has turned down the offer politely and said that he does not want to be in the race for Rashtrapati Bhavan. "I will support any Presidential candidate other than myself, he said at a meeting with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Pawar held a meeting with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi regarding the presidential elections on March 10 and April 26. During the meeting apart from discussing a presidential candidate, the formation of a national front against the BJP too had been discussed. Pawar according to sources conveyed that he does not want to be in the race. He said that he enjoys good relations across the spectrum of political parties and wants that equation to remain intact. He also said that he had particularly good relations with NDA partners of the BJP and was capable to pulling them into the national front. Hence to be in the race for the next president of India would damage those equations, he also said. Another reason for him to turn down the offer was that he was not sure he could win the election. The NDA has the numbers to elect a candidate of its choice. He told his supporters in Sholapur, Maharashtra that he does not see the numbers adding up in his favour. If both the ruling parties and the opposition propose his name, then he may be willing to take up the offer, he also told his supporters. OneIndia News Power cut in Chennai on November 8: These areas will be affected Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government! No politics please! Rajinikanth, young fans make a great team together India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Chennai, May 18: Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday devoted his day to meet his young fans at Kodambakkam's Raghavendra wedding hall in Chennai. "Rajinikanth meets his young fans on the fourth day at Kodambakkam's Raghavendra Wedding Hall in Chennai," reported ANI. [Also Read: Yes, Rajinikanth wants to join politics, but not with 'wrong' people] The 66-year-old veteran actor also posed with the children as shutterbugs went on a clicking spree at the hall. Looking at these pictures, we must say Rajinikanth and his young fans look adorable together. They make a great team together. Since Monday, Rajinikanth is meeting his fans in Chennai. He is also gleefully obliging for picture and selfie requests from his fans. On the first day of his meeting with his fans, Rajinikanth hinted at joining politics. All he said that let god decide his political future. He did not divulge whether he would join an already established political party or form his own party. However, he cleared the air that if he ever joins politics, he won't let wrong people come close to him. Since then, speculations are rife if the actor is planning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. On Wednesday, when reporters asked him if he was considering joining the saffron party, Rajinikanth simply refused to comment. OneIndia News Sasikala Natarajan seeks questions in advance in FERA case, ED objects India oi-Anusha Advocates representing Sasikala Natarajan filed a petition in the Egmore court seeking that questions be handed prior to the hearing in a FERA case. Accused of violating Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, Sasikala Natarajan has asked for questions to be given to her before the hearing. The Enforcement Directorate has raised objections to the petition. The Egmore court adjourned the hearing after objections were raised by the ED. The interim General Secretary of the AIADMK was dealt a blow in the two-decade-old FERA case when the Madras High Court refused to discharge her from three cases filed by the ED. The case relates to payments made in US and Singapore dollars to foreign firms for hiring transponders and uplink facilities for J. Jay TV which was earlier telecast under the logo of JJ TV. Currently lodged in the Bengaluru central jail at Parappana Agrahara after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case, Sasikala Natarajan was allowed to appear in the FERA case through video conferencing. A Zakir Hussain, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offence) allowed Sasikala's plea to appear through video conferencing. He also directed her to furnish a declaration that she would not challenge video conferencing in the future on grounds of its quality or that she did not understand the proceedings. Sasikala's relative Bhaskaran is also an accused in the case. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 12:48 [IST] Triple talaq: SC reserves verdict as Muslim board assures advisory to all qazis India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea that challenged the constitutional validity of triple talaq. The Bench heard the matter on a day to day basis. Today on the concluding day of the hearing, the court granted each of the parties to make submissions for 20 minutes each. During the arguments, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said that it was ready to issue an advisory to all qazis to ascertain women's views on triple talaq and also put it in the nikhanama. The board however also said that while it was ready to issue the advisory, the court should not get into the validity of the customs. During the arguments the main petitioner said that triple talaq is a sin and is between me and my maker. The submission was made by the counsel appearing for the main petitioner who challenged the constitutional validity of the practise said. Amit Chadha made the submission before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on behalf of his counsel Saira Bano. On Wednesday the court had suggested that Muslim women must be given the option to say no to triple talaq. The Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, J S Khehar sought to know that if such an option could be given. The Supreme Court is likely to wind up the arguments tomorrow after giving each party a maximum of 20 minutes more to argue. The Bench also sought to know from the AIMPLB if an advisory by it would be followed by the Qazi at the ground level. To this the one of the counsel for the board said that an advisory by the AIMPLB is not mandatory for Qazis to follow. The Bench further said that instant talaq is not part of the Quran. It is a latter-day practise. If biddat is a sin, then why not triple talaq, the court also said. Sibal's contention: Kapil Sibal arguing for the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board said when the court takes a matter like this suo-motu it gives a wrong message. It is not as though Muslims wake up and give divorce. He further went on to say that a new modern nikhanama has been issued and we are working on social reforms with respect to triple talaq. Sibal while defending the practise of triple talaq also said it is the faith in the court that they have for 67 years is what brought them here. Sibal went on to quote the skies of Alaska. " Look at Alaska, it is massive in size. The golden eagle there is covering the sky, but the birds are comfortable in their nests. The faith of the minorities needs to be in the comfort of the nest, he also said. Sibal further went on to add that challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq could have a reviving impact on the dying practise. Triple talaq is practised by a small portion of the Muslim community and is dying. But if a secular court like the SC entertains its scrutiny suo motu and Centre pitches in for its ban, Muslim community may take a rigid stand. The Muslim community is gradually giving up triple talaq and polygamy. There is a good chance this may clam up fearing an onslaught by the government and judiciary, Sibal also argued. Government's contention: The government argued that the call to ban triple talaq is not a battle between the majority and minority community. It is a tussle between Muslim men and women. Women have questioned for centuries the hegemony suffered by them at the hands of their own men, the government also said. When the SC pointed out that as per the board, a legislation is the solution, the centre said, hallmark of a secular court is to reform without waiting for a legislation. The centre also pointed out that practises such as Sati and Devadasi among Hindus were stopped. The CJI then asked if the courts stopped these systems. No it was legislation that did, the CJI also pointed out. OneIndia News In this village at Arunachal Pradesh everyone is a crorepati $46 million discount on land acquisitions for Ramdev firm since BJP came to power: Reuters Telangana govt's amended Land Acquisition Act comes into force India oi-PTI Hyderabad, May 18: The Telangana government's plans to acquire lands for the development projects got a boost as its amended land acquistion Act came into effect on Wednesday. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Telangana Amendment Bill, 2016 became an Act with the state government issuing a gazette notification. Aiming to remove delays in land acquisition and to give compensation to oustees expeditiously, the state government had passed the land acquisition bill in both houses of legislature on December 28 last year. However, the Centre had suggested some changes in the Bill. The state Assembly and Council made the changes suggested by the Centre on April 30 in a special sitting and sent it back last month. The Centre in turn sent the Bill to President for his assent. The president gave his approval last Saturday and sent it to the state government, a release from the Chief Minister's office said. "With the gazette notification issued on Wednesday, the Act came into existence in the state. The oustees, whose land is taken for the construction of projects or other public utilities will get their proper compensation on time; and land acquisition will become easier. The Act assumes significance as there are many irrigation projects taken up in the State," the release said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 9:37 [IST] FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools Two injured in grenade attack on police station by militants in Kashmir India oi-Anusha One policeman and a civilian sustained injuries after militants lobbed grenades at a police station in Kashmir's Srinagar on Thursday evening. Militants attacked a police station in Safa Kadal. #Visuals from J&K: Grenade lobbed at a police station by terrorists in Srinagar's Safa Kadal pic.twitter.com/U2NBlesN6X ANI (@ANI_news) May 18, 2017 Officials said that special police officer Samir Ahmad was injured in the incident. The injured cop was shifted to the police control room hospital and his condition is said to be stable. Medical help was extended to the injured civilian as well. OneIndia News Woman to undergo Indias first womb transplant in Pune hospital India oi-Madhuri A 21-year-old woman will undergo India's first uterus transplant on Thursday at Pune hospital. The woman who suffers from congenital absence of uterus since birth, will be fitted with her mother's womb so that she would be able to conceive normally. A team of gynaecologists from Sasoon Hospital visited the patient in Galaxy Care Hospital in Pune and approved the surgery after assessing her. The team that will perform the surgery comprises cardiovascular surgeons, gynaecologists, intensivists, immunologists and a nursing staff. Doctors have psychoanalysed the recipients and the donors to confirm that all are in the best medical state for the surgeries. Though the surgery was planned since a m onth, the doctors were waiting for last minute approval from a district-level committee. Doctors have already extracted and cryo-preserved eight eggs from the woman's normally functioning ovary, which will be implanted in the transplanted uterus eight months after the complex surgery. According to the doctor who will conduct the surgery said that the surgery will be done in two phases. At first, they will remove the uterus from the donor's womb which will last for four to five hours and in the second, they will transplant it into the womb of the recipient which will take two-three hours. The recipient will remain in ICU for a week and another two weeks in general care. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 11:11 [IST] 18 May 2017 WENTWORTH RESOURCES LIMITED ("Wentworth" or "the Company") Notice of Annual and Special Meeting The annual and special meeting of common shareholders of Wentworth Resources Limited, will be held on 22 June 2017 at 10:00 a.m. (BST) at the offices of FTI Consulting, 200 Aldersgate, Aldersgate Street, London, United Kingdom. A complete notice and related documents have been sent to the Shareholders of Record as of 12 May 2017 and are also available on the Company's website: www.wentworthresources.com/filings.php. The Board of Directors has determined to fix the number of directors at four, and other than the four directors nominated for re-election as set out in the information circular, no other nominees are proposed for election as a director. -Ends- Enquiries: Geoffrey P. Bury Managing Director gpb@wentworthresources.com +1 403 993 4450 Wentworth Lance Mierendorf, Chief Financial Officer lance.mierendorf@wentworthresources.com +1 403 680 8773 Katherine Roe Vice President Corporate Development & Investor Relations katherine.roe@wentworthresources.com +44 7841 087 230 Crux Advisers Investor Relations Adviser (Norway) +47 909 808 48 Carl Bachke Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited AIM Nominated Adviser and Broker (UK) +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 Callum Stewart Ashton Clanfield GMP FirstEnergy Capital Broker (UK) +44 (0) 20 7448 0200 Hugh Sanderson FTI Consulting Investor Relations Adviser (UK) wentworth@fticonsulting.com +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 Edward Westropp Kim Camilleri About Wentworth Resources Wentworth Resources is a publicly traded (OSE:WRL, AIM:WRL), independent oil & gas company with: natural gas production; exploration and appraisal opportunities; and large-scale gas monetisation initiatives, all in the Rovuma Delta Basin of coastal southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking information. The words "expect", "anticipate", believe", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "forecast", "plan", and similar expressions are used to identify forward looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made in light of management's experience, current conditions and expected future development in the areas in which Wentworth is currently active and other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Wentworth undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcome will not occur, including some of which are beyond Wentworth's control.These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general such as operational risks in exploration, development and production, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures, the imprecision of resource and reserve estimates, assumptions regarding the timing and costs relating to production and development as well as the availability and price of labour and equipment, volatility of and assumptions regarding commodity prices and exchange rates, marketing and transportation risks, environmental risks, competition, the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources and changes in applicable law. Additionally, there are economic, political, social and other risks inherent in carrying on business in Tanzania and Mozambique. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could vary or differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. See Wentworth's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, available on Wentworth's website, for further description of the risks and uncertainties associated with Wentworth's business. Notice Neither the Oslo Stock Exchange nor the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange has reviewed this press release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. BIG win for India: Pakistan cannot execute Kulbhushan Jadhav says ICJ International oi-Vicky By Vicky The International Court of Justice to has directed Pakistan not to hang Kulbhushan Jadhav until it rules on the merits of the case. The ICJ held that it would give a ruling on the merits of the case and until such time the former naval officer accused by Pakistan of being a spy cannot be hanged. The final order of the ICJ is expected in August. Harish Salve charged just Re 1 to defend India in Jadhav case at ICJ The court held that the circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remains disputed. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that no execution takes place until the disposal of the petition, the ICJ held. [Read the Kulbhushan Jadhav order by ICJ here] The court reaffirms that its orders under provisional measures are binding and create a legal obligation," up countries that are signatories to the Vienna Convention, Ronny Abraham the President of the ICJ observed. [The Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict in 9 points] The court directed Pakistan not to carry out the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. India and Pakistan have been part of the Vienna convention and also to the optional protocol, the ICJ said in the order. The court said it had jurisdiction over the disputes arising out of the Vienna convention. India has maintained that Jadhav should have been afforded consular, Pakistan said that it could be given if India assist in the investigation, the court observed. The court said it had jurisdiction to entertain the dispute between the two parties. The ICJ held that consular access is a right and Pakistan should have accorded the same to India. Pakistan had contended that this would not be applicable in cases of espionage and terrorism. The arguments: India said that it feared that Jadhav would be hanged before the hearing is concluded. Hence an urgent order is needed. India also said that the trial against Jadhav was farcical and hence he was urging for provisional measures. Harish Salve representing India said in his arguments said that Pakistan had violated the Vienna pact. India repeatedly stated that over 16 requests for consular access were denied. Even Jadhav's mother appealed for access but the same was denied, Salve argued. The situation is grave and urgent, Salve also said. Further India refuted Pakistan's claim that Jadhav was a spy. He was kidnapped from Iran. The appeal has been filed as a desperate measure Salve said while calling for the suspension of the sentence. Pakistan during its arguments sought to broadcast the confessional video of Jadhav. The ICJ however did not permit the same. Pakistan said that there are flaws in the defence taken by India. It also said that the request made by India is flawed while seeking that India's application be dismissed. The ICJ had stayed the execution of Jadhav by Pakistan last week. India ie being represented by one its best advocates Harish Salve who had on the last date argued and obtained a stay. India has for the second time since 1971 moved the ICJ and this is an indicator of growing confidence in facing multilateral forums. India would argue that several requests for consular access had been rejected by Pakistan and hence the sentence be put off. India would also contend that Jadhav was sentenced on wrong evidence and hence the sentencing be set aside. Pakistan on the other hand would contend that Jadhav was sentenced on the ground that he was undertaking subversive activities. Pakistan would also question the jurisdiction of the ICJ in interfering in the matter. OneIndia News Pakistan passes Bill to give right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav Pakistan gives Kulbhushan Jadhav right to appeal against death sentence Pak slams India for presenting Jadhav case from humanitarian angle International oi-Vikas By Vikas Irked by International Court of Justice's ruling in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan on Thursday lashed out at India for presenting former navy officer's case from a humanitarian angle. Pakistan Foreign Ministry also accused New Delhi of trying to defend a person responsible for deaths of scores of innocent Pakistanis. "India desperately tried to divert the world attention by presenting Kulbhushan Jadhav's case from humanitarian angle," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said. The International Court of Justice on Thursday directed Pakistan not to hang Kulbhushan Jadhav until it rules on the merits of the case. The ICJ held that it would give a ruling on the merits of the case and until such time the former naval officer accused by Pakistan of being a spy cannot be hanged. The final order of the ICJ is expected in August. The court held that the circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remains disputed. Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that no execution takes place until the disposal of the petition, the ICJ held. The ICJ held that consular access is a right and Pakistan should have accorded the same to India. Pakistan had contended that this would not be applicable in cases of espionage and terrorism. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 17:59 [IST] Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how Pakistan hangs four Taliban millitants covicted by military court International oi-PTI Islamabad, May 18: Pakistan on Thursday hanged four more Taliban terrorists convicted of different terrorism-related offences by controversial military courts in the restive northwestern province, the second such execution in as many days. The terrorists were hanged in a jail in the Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province, the worst hit due to violence by Taliban terrorists, taking the number of hanged terrorists to over 170 since the Peshawar terror attack in 2014. "They were involved in different terror activities including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies," said army. The terrorists were tried by military courts which work in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants, it said. The convicts were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Rizwan Ullah, Sardar Ali and Sher Muhammad Khan. All of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Four 'hardcore' terrorists convicted of 'heinous' terrorism-related offences were hanged in the restive northwestern province on Wednesday. Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students. Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack. Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 170 militants. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2017, 12:50 [IST] 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure, joined forces with Harris Teeter to donate more than 80,000 pounds of protein to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. The donation, equivalent to more than 320,000 servings, will help families fight hunger across the Charlotte metro area where one in seven individuals are food insecure. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/699e4590-c4ac-418c-8b82-371083065689 Smithfield has been one of our strongest partners in helping feed hungry families in North Carolina, and is known for supporting food banks across the country through their Helping Hungry Homes program, said Kay Carter, CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. This donation is very timely as we approach the end of the school year, when many of the families we serve rely more heavily on the food bank as school meals are missing during the summer months. We appreciate the partnership and commitment of Smithfield to bring this substantial donation to our area. Smithfield and Harris Teeter representatives presented the donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina at the event this morning. Members from all three organizations discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation in helping the more than 480,000 individuals who face hunger each day in the food banks service area, one in five are children. Harris Teeter, much like Smithfield, is committed to ending hunger in the many communities we call home, said Lea Ramsey, communication specialist for Harris Teeter. Together, we are proud to support and give back to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, an organization that works each day to alleviate hunger and improve food security across the Charlotte metro area. Smithfields donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina was a part of the Helping Hungry Homes 2017 nationwide donation tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide large-scale protein donations to more than 50 food banks across the country. This donation adds to the more than 65 million servings of protein donated since 2011. At Smithfield, we know that we are stronger when we join forces with local organizations, like Harris Teeter, that share our passion to end hunger and improve food security across the country, said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. We hope this donation and its positive impact on the Charlotte community will inspire others to become further involved in local hunger-relief efforts by volunteering at the food bank. Following todays event, Helping Hungry Homes will visit Arnold, Pennsylvania Tuesday, May 23 and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Thursday, May 25. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. About Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina As part of Feeding America, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina - serves 19 counties in North and South Carolina. In FY2015-2016, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina distributed over 50 million pounds of food and household items to almost 650 hunger feeding agencies including emergency pantries, soup kitchens, senior programs, shelters and low-income daycares. About Harris Teeter Harris Teeter, with headquarters in Matthews, N.C., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR). The regional grocery chain employs approximately 30,000 associates and operates stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida and the District of Columbia. by Graham Pierrepoint Say what you like about US President Donald Trump his election campaign made no secret of his bombastic confidence and it is likely that this is what helped him to become the current Commander in Chief but even at the height of crisis and media conjecture into just how well he is doing as leader of the free world, the former Apprentice star continues to defy critics. This week, he has grabbed further headlines by stating that no politician in history had ever been treated worse or more unfairly. Trumps comments come after the President appeared to affirm why he shared certain data with Russia in a series of tweets earlier this week, and at a time when his administration is still trying to fight back flames licking up from his sacking of FBI director James Comey during an investigation into his staffs alleged involvement with Russian intelligence. Trumps administration, and of course Trump himself, continue to provide the media with a seemingly endless soap opera of shocks and truly bizarre moments. From launching a widely decried travel ban upon certain Muslim nations to enabling missiles to attack the Middle East, he is a President whom many will forget in a hurry and at the height of mania surrounding his alleged sharing of information with Russia which his team has advised the press is not inappropriate his latest soundbites captured in a speech to Connecticuts Coast Guard Academy perhaps dont help to soften the blow that his team has been dealing with this week. There have been further shockwaves reverberating in relation to Trumps alleged involvement with Russia as congressman Justin Amash advised that the President could face impeachment were certain allegations proven true. Certainly, many media outlets are reporting that impeachment may be on the horizon depending upon the scale of the President and his teams involvement with Russia. However, it is still far too early to say what will happen he still has the support of many Republicans including Paul Ryan, but even veteran Republican John McCain admitted this week that the current administration could be heading towards a scandal to rival that of Watergate. The Republican Party is facing a revolution of sorts and where it will all end? One things likely Trump will remain confident in his abilities as leader until the last. NEWPORT NEWS, Va., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has received a Health Champion designation from the American Diabetes Association. The designation recognizes companies that inspire and encourage organizational well-being and are part of the associations Wellness Lives Here initiative. To become a Health Champion, organizations must meet healthy living criteria in three different areas: nutrition and weight management, physical activity, and organizational well-being. Our employees are our greatest assets, and we want them to live healthier and less-stressful lives, said Susan Jacobs, Newport News vice president of human resources and administration. In order to help our employees, we have taken a holistic approach to ensure that our workforce and their families have access to the tools, information and education they need to help them make healthy lifestyle choices. A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=591ddbf92cfac229fd5bdf59. In 2014, HII launched a major benefits and wellness initiative designed to provide its employees with health and wellness options beyond primary care physician visits. Part of this initiative involved opening HII Family Health Centers at the companys Newport News and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. The Family Health Centers are operated by QuadMed, a third-party vendor, and are available to eligible employees and their dependents. These employees and dependents also have access to Teladoc, a telemedicine program that allows patients to talk to board-certified physicians via telephone, mobile app or computer. Another aspect of the benefits and wellness initiative is HIIs tobacco-free incentive program, which offers discounted health care rates for employees who do not use tobacco. The company also offers an on-site wellness program to its employees that is operated by Interactive Health. The program provides health screenings, healthy living learning opportunities and flu shots, and it facilitates company-wide physical challenges such as the annual NNS 5K Fun Run/Walk. More recently, HII initiated a financial wellness program that assists employees with financial evaluation, planning and budgeting. Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 37,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries bizjournals 04 Nov 2022 Chobani Inc. has added two women to its C-suite. Shari Eaton, formerly with Peloton, will take the role of chief people officer at.. Mediaite 08 Oct 2022 Maggie Haberman has dropped a new scoop: Trump wanted to barter the documents he took to Mar-a-Lago for the FBI's files on the.. MONROE, Mich., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) today announced organizational changes within its senior leadership team. Kurt L. Darrow, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, said: After a thorough review of our structure, we are taking steps to better align the organization to achieve our strategic objectives and drive accelerated growth throughout the business. We have a strong and talented team of executives in place to execute our strategies and develop longer term initiatives to deliver sustainable performance. With respect to our ongoing succession planning objectives, we believe these moves are appropriate to ensure the company has the correct leadership structure. J. Douglas Collier, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and President, International, has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer and President, International. In this position, he will have global responsibility for all facets of sales, merchandising and marketing for the La-Z-Boy branded business. He will continue to report to Darrow. Darrell D. Edwards, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, will expand his role. In addition to spearheading the supply chain strategy across the entire La-Z-Boy enterprise, including both upholstery and casegoods operations, all La-Z-Boy branded manufacturing, regional distribution centers, and research and development are under his area of responsibility. With these changes, he will assume the additional responsibility for the La-Z-Boy branded business customer experience and after-market operations and services. Edwards will now report to Darrow. Daniel E. King, President, La-Z-Boy Retail Division, which includes 142 of the 346 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, will now report directly to Darrow as the retail segment has become a larger component of the corporations consolidated sales and is expected to continue to grow through the companys 4-4-5 strategy as well as through potential acquisitions. Darrow continued, Throughout Dougs tenure, his responsibilities have spanned a number of diverse and far-reaching areas within the organization, including marketing, international and IT. In addition to meeting with success in each, they provided him with expertise in a unique set of disciplines that he will undoubtedly use in his new role as CCO to further develop our commercial strategy and set us on a course for continued growth and market share gains. Darrell has a proven track record within the La-Z-Boy branded operation. He was an integral part of the team that converted our plants to cellular production and he has developed a stellar supply chain strategy and team, with these initiatives continuing to drive efficiencies and improve profitability. As we further develop our integrated retail strategy, and grow our company-owned store base, Dan has done a very effective job over the past several years to develop a formidable team and strengthen the performance of this segment as it contributes to the profitability of the overall enterprise. Collier originally joined La-Z-Boy in 2002 and became Chief Marketing Officer in 2004. In that role, he has been responsible for all the companys marketing strategies, including the Live Life Comfortably campaign. In 2009, he assumed responsibility for all the companys international operations and partnerships. In 2011, he was promoted to the additional role of President of International, in which he significantly expanded the companys international presence, including creating a partnership with KUKA to build the La-Z-Boy brand in China and driving the acquisition of the companys distribution rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland resulting in the creation of La-Z-Boy U.K. In 2014, he was named Senior Vice President of La-Z-Boy Incorporated in addition to his other roles. Colliers expertise in branding and marketing, the international arena, digital, IT and consumer insight were built throughout his years at Whirlpool, GE Canada, Select Comfort and Iomega. Edwards joined La-Z-Boy in 2004 as General Manager of La-Z-Boy South and was named Vice President of La-Z-Boy South in 2005. In 2006, he became Vice President General Manager of La-Z-Boy Tennessee, where the company has a 1.2 million square-foot facility located in Dayton, making it one of the largest furniture manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2011, he was promoted to Vice President of Residential Manufacturing, responsible for all six of the La-Z-Boy branded manufacturing facilities, including the companys Mexico-based cut-and-sew facility. In 2014, he was named Chief Supply Chain Officer and Senior Vice President of La-Z-Boy Incorporated. Prior to La-Z-Boy, Edwards was a Plant Manager at Fieldcrest Cannon/Pillowtex. He recently earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from the Fox School of Business at Temple University. Edwards expertise lies in organizational strategy and operational excellence through lean manufacturing initiatives and team building. King, a seasoned retail executive, joined La-Z-Boy in 2008 when the company owned 70 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores and played a key role in the turnaround and growth of the retail division. Since that time, he has developed and executed numerous strategic initiatives within the retail operation to navigate the changing marketplace. He also built and led a team that has turned in consistent growth and overall improved performance for the segment, demonstrating the benefit of the integrated retail strategy to the organization. In addition to making a significant impact on the companys retail operation, Dan has contributed to our independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores by partnering with our dealers to share best practices across the business. Prior to joining La-Z-Boy, King spent numerous years as Vice President of Sales and Operations for Pep Boys and Staples. Additional Information This news release is just one part of La-Z-Boys financial disclosures and should be read in conjunction with other information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is available at: http://investors.la-z-boy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92596&p=irol-sec. Investors and others wishing to be notified of future La-Z-Boy news releases, SEC filings and quarterly investor conference calls may sign up at: http://investors.la-z-boy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92596&p=irol-alerts&t=&id=&. Background Information La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the worlds leading residential furniture producers, marketing furniture for every room of the home. The La-Z-Boy Upholstery segment companies are England and La-Z-Boy. The Casegoods segment consists of three brands: American Drew, Hammary, and Kincaid. The company-owned Retail segment includes 142 of the 346 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores. The corporations branded distribution network is dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy Incorporated products and brands, and includes 346 stand-alone La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores and 551 independent Comfort Studio locations, in addition to in-store gallery programs for the companys Kincaid and England operating units. Additional information is available at http://www.la-z-boy.com/. In late 2016, ABV began working with Brisbane-headquartered copper and gold producer, PanAust. PanAust supports community development initiatives at its operational and major exploration siteswith the goal of helping local communities to develop sustainable socio-economiclivelihoods that will continue beyond the life of the mine.In November 2016 two long-time ABV volunteers Christina Raddatz and AnthonySim, choppered into the Frieda River region of Papua New Guinea (PNG) fora three-week scoping assignment. In this mountainous and remote area inthe north-west of the country, PanAust is currently in the pre-development phase ofits Frieda River Copper-Gold Project.As part of its community outreach process, PanAust is working closely with the locallandowners so that they are included in, and benefit from, the project. Anthonyand Christinas role was to undertake a preliminary assessment of the potential for small business development projects focused on assisting landowners in villages close to the Project.Over a very busy three weeks the two volunteers visited 12 separate villages conducting meetings and interviews with community leaders. The result was a report on the prospects for small businessdevelopment in the communities within the project area. The report includes information about potential business opportunities, existing business facilities in the area as well as recommendationsabout business training requirements.The Frieda River Copper-Gold Project is still in the planning stages and is yet to be approved by the PNG authorities. However, if and when the project goes ahead, this report will be a valuabletool when working with PanAust on the design of a long-term community development plan.Source/Photo: ABV: Read more on http://www.abv.org.au/ Opalesque Industry Update - Agecroft Partners has pledged to donate $1 million from its Hedge Fund Leadership Summits to non-profit organizations that benefit children. Since 2013 Agecroft Partners has committed to improving the lives of children through donating 100% of their profits from conferences. This includes Hedgeopolis, (with which they are no longer involved) and their industry leading event Gaining the Edge - Hedge Fund Investor Leadership Summits. Through the end of 2017 Agecroft Partners expects to have given away over $500,000 from these conferences. For the second year in a row, Agecroft has chosen Help for Children / Hedge Funds Care as the primary beneficiary for Gaining the Edge - 2017 Hedge Fund Investor Leadership Summit taking place in New York City on November 2-3, 2017. Help for Children is a global foundation that provides grants to the most effective and efficient child abuse prevention and treatment interventions in six countries, making the world a safer place for children. In addition to supporting Hedge Funds Care, Agecroft has donated conference profits to over a dozen other organizations focused on troubled youth, children's health, and children's education. Agecroft Partners has provided not only financial support, but has also contributed their time, serving on the boards of more than half of these organizations. Like many firms in the hedge fund industry, Agecroft believes that it is important to give back to society and improve the lives of future generations. The mainstream media's negative bent towards hedge funds damages the industry's reputation as a whole. The fact that many hedge funds do not speak with the media in order to avoid violating SEC general solicitation rules creates a largely one sided, skewed perspective. In reality, the industry is extremely philanthropic, giving back to support many worthy causes. Agecroft Partners is proud of its commitment to giving back and applauds the many hedge fund professionals who share these values. Gaining the Edge - 2017 Hedge Fund Investor Leadership Summit will be comprised of panel discussions between some of the world's most influential hedge fund investors where the objective is to have candid, robust conversations and debates about various ways to enhance the risk adjusted returns of a diversified hedge fund portfolio. Speakers have just been announced on the website and will include decision makers at pensions, endowments, foundations, institutional consultants, and funds of funds. Hedge funds are not an asset class, but a fund structure that includes numerous strategies. Although both are important, choosing the right strategies in which to invest is more important than selecting the best managers for a diversified portfolio. Unlike most hedge fund conferences that feature hedge fund managers who are heavily biased toward their own strategy, this conference will showcase only leading hedge fund investors as panelists who will provide their independent view on which hedge fund strategies look the most attractive given current capital market valuations and economic forecasts. Panel discussions will also focus on key issues in performing industry leading, best practice hedge fund due diligence. Asia Pacific Mobile Protective Cases Market Estimated to Grow Impressively with a CAGR of 5.9% and Reach a Revenue of US$18000 Mn by 2026 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2894 http://www.mrrse.com/asia-pacific-mobile-protective-cases-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Albany New York, May 16, 2017: Recently, the Asia Pacific mobile protective cases business has risen due to the lowering prices of smartphones, increase in incomes and the increasing mobile devices usage. By looking to these key factors, a fresh study focusing the market current scenario and future growth prospects has been added to the enormous repository of online collection of Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE), with the title Mobile Protective Case Market: Asia Pacific Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162026. This study aims to present a clear analysis of the mobile protective cases market, acknowledging its major sections such as market value, trends, competitive regions, for the forecast period during 2016 to 2026.Request for Sample Report:According to this report, the Asia Pacific mobile protective case market is predicted to register a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period. In terms of value, the Asia Pacific mobile protective case market is estimated to create revenue opportunities worth US$ 9,000 Million while expanding 1.8 times between 2016 and 2026.The report begins with the market overview of mobile protective cases, and further segregates the sector in terms of price range, using the three levels such as premium, mid and low. Whereas, based on the distribution channel, the five stores namely multi-brand, organized, independent, online as well as single brand, are evaluated thoroughly. The market size and volume forecast are introspected in relation to the above distribution channels, to enable buyers to improve their business modules.Another useful facet of the study is the country-wise evaluation of the regional market to help companies identify the most investment-friendly regions in the world. Geographically, the countries analyzed are China, India, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Rest of Asia-Pacific. According to this report, China is expected to generate a huge revenue, while India is all poised to become an emerging market in the future. Additionally, the report offers valuable resources such as market drivers responsible for the growth of the Asia-Pacific region. By analyzing the market restraints hampering the Asia Pacific market, it helps buyers in the region to be well prepared for any challenges ahead. This section also evaluates the direct threats as well as it presents data about standardization, to offer high-quality business guidance. Besides this, it mentions the surge in payment options, as the reason behind the growth spurt in this market, and also describes about some of the big mergers. Using the combined effect of all these crucial evaluations the study predicts a bigger growth within the Asia Pacific market in the future.Finally, the study introduces the competitive landscape through the analysis of the top companies in this sector which are Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Reiko Wireless Inc., Pelican Products Inc., Moshi, Otter Products, LLC, Griffin Technology, Inc., Belkin International Inc., CG Mobile Ltd. and Incipio, LLC.Browse Full Report with TOC:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter- What is the potential of Kids Footwear Market in India? https://www.kenresearch.com/consumer-products-and-retail/textile-apparel-and-footwear/india-kids-wear-market-report/107201-95.html www.kenresearch.com Footwear production in India has been majorly propagated through manual and semi-mechanized processes. India domestically produces leather and other raw materials at abundance. The footwear industry in India is comprised of numerous small and medium scale enterprises which have utilized leather as the prime raw material for footwear in over ~ leather based manufacturing units spread across the country. The kids footwear industry has been considered as one of the most steadily growing segments in the country. The industry has expanded at a CAGR of ~% during FY2012-FY2017 and registered revenues of INR ~ billion in FY2017.India kids footwear market comprises of footwear products made up of leather, rubber, fabric, canvas, EVA, synthetic and other materials. Leather products were the most popular shoe type, contributing to about ~% market share in FY2017, in terms of revenues. Owing to the style quotient and comfort of these products, synthetic footwears occupied a market share of ~%. Crocs and slippers made mostly of rubber material are used widely as regular wear footwear products.Kids footwear industry has been largely an unorganized one, with organized brands comprising ~% of the overall market as of FY2017. Products manufactured by local players are much in demand due to their lower costs. Higher bargaining and lower prices for the customers have provided a boost to the dominance of the unorganized sector. Higher availability of raw material in the country has allowed the unorganized sector to flourish by offering products at affordable prices. Bata Liberty, Lancer, Relaxo, Nike, Reebok and others have been the prominent players in the organized branded wear market amongst others. However, most of these brands are characterized by poor penetration in rural areas and have their presence only in the urban, tier I and tier II cities.With inclining number of double-income households and formation of nuclear families, there have been an enough monetary surpluses that can be spent on kids, demand for kids wear is hence expected to rise. The kids footwear industry is estimated to grow at a faster face as compared to apparel at a CAGR of ~% during FY2017-FY2022 and register sales of INR ~ billion by FY2022.Source:Contact:Ken ResearchAnkur Gupta,Head Marketing & Communicationsquery@kenresearch.com+91-124- 4230204Ken Research is a Global aggregator and publisher of Market intelligence research reports, equity reports, data base directories and economy reports. Our market research reports provides market sizing analysis, insights on promising industry segments, competition, future outlook and growth drivers in the space. The company is engaged in data analytics and aids clients in due-diligence, product expansion, plant setup, acquisition intelligence to all the other gamut of objectives through our research focus.27A, Tower B-2, Spaze I Tech Business Park, Sohna Road, sector 49 Gurgaon, Haryana - 122001, India Corrosion Resistant Resin Market Global Industry Insights Forecasts up to 2024, Research Report - Coherent Market Insights https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/323 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/corrosion-resistant-resin-market-323 Resin is a highly viscous or solid substance which can be natural or of synthetic origin. Corrosion resistance resins are mainly formulated as isophthalic, vinyl ester, and terephthalic resins to impart desired property of corrosion resistance. Oil & gas, automotive, and marine industries have witnessed a surge in recent years. However, one of the major challenges faced by companies operating in these industries is corrosion. Corrosion leads to high monetary and property losses across the aforementioned industries. Corrosion resistant resin is witnessing increased acceptance in these industries, owing to its resistance to solvents, chemicals, moisture, and high temperature range. Corrosion resistant resin finds a wide range of application in glass containers, stainless steel, and painted steel, among others.Growing demand for composite materials is one of the major factors boosting growth of corrosion resistant resin market. Moreover, conventionally used metals such as carbon steel and aluminum are being replaced by composites due to their added advantages such as cost effectiveness and low maintenance. Corrosion resistance materials are anticipated to witness high demand in the chemical industry, where losses due to corrosion leads to significant revenue losses. Consumption of corrosion resistant resins for application in equipment, structures and machineries is expected to increase in the near future.Request a sample copy of this report:Corrosion Resistant Resin Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of product type, the global market is classified into:EpoxyPolyesterVinyl EsterPolyurethaneOn the basis of application, the global market is segmented into:CompositesCoatingsOn the basis of end use industry, the global market is classified into:ChemicalInfrastructureOil & GasMarineFood and BeverageAutomotive and TransportationOthers (power generation, paper and pulp)Epoxy resin product segment is expected to remain dominant in the global corrosion resistant resin market, due to its excellent corrosion resistance property, easy application and affordable cost. Epoxy coatings are widely used to prevent corrosion in manufacturing equipment, tanks for corrosive chemicals, underground storage tanks, industrial scrubbers, effluent management, and pressure transfer pipe. Vinyl resin is used in marine industry to prevent the blistering of the hull ships. Replacing the conventional methods of applying protective paints by resin is increasing rapidly in various end-use industries such as infrastructure, oil & gas, and automotive, among others. This is mainly attributed to the properties of composites such as easy installation, corrosion resistance, and ease of operation at elevated temperatures.Corrosion Resistant Resin Market Outlook - Increasing Focus on Cutting Losses due to Corrosion Expected to Propel Market GrowthAsia Pacific is expected to be the most potential market for corrosion resistant resin manufacturers. Asia Pacific is projected to witness relatively high growth in terms of value over the forecast period. Rapidly increasing industrialization, GDP growth, and demand for improved and modern infrastructure in the region is expected to fuel the demand for corrosion resistant resins in the region, which in turn is anticipated to augment growth of the corrosion resistant resin market. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)a trust by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Indiain FY2020 the Indian construction Industry is projected to be valued at US$ 5 billion. This is projected to create a highly conducive environment for growth of the market. Moreover growing foreign investments in industries such as infrastructure and transportation in growing economies such as India is expected to boost growth of corrosion resistant resin market in Asia Pacific. China is one of the major markets owing to its deep-rooted industrial base. Middle East and Africa are emerging markets for the corrosion resistant resins due to increasing application in the oil & gas industry. On the other hand, Europe and North America are expected to exhibit relatively slower growth in market size over the forecast period.Click here to know more about this report:Fluctuating prices of raw material is expected to be one of the restraining factors for the growth of corrosion resistant resin market over the forecast period. This is mainly due to fact that raw materials used for manufacturing corrosion resistant resins comprise majority of petroleum products. Some of the companies operating in the global corrosion resistant resin industry are Reichhold Inc., Huntsman Corporation, Olin Corporation, Scott Bader Company Limited, Ashland Inc., Aditya Birla Chemicals, Polynt Composites Inc.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com Sulphuric Acid Market Global Industry Insights Forecasts up to 2024, Research Report - Coherent Market Insights https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/326 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/sulphuric-acid-market-326 Sulphuric Acid Market OverviewSulphuric acid is denoted by the molecular formula H2SO4. It is categorized as a strong mineral acid with high corrosive abilities. The acid is a viscous liquid that is soluble in water, and its color varies from yellow to colorless, depending upon the concentration. The strong mineral mixture depicts varied properties with regards to varied concentrations. The nature of strong acidity enables it to cause corrosion of living tissues and metal surfaces. At high concentrations, it shows different properties including, strong dehydration, oxidization, and hygroscopic.Elemental sulfur is the most widely used raw material to produce sulphuric acid. While sulphuric acid finds varied application across a broad spectrum of industries, its single largest application is in the production of fertilizers.Request a sample copy of this report:Sulphuric Acid Market TaxonomyThe sulphuric acid market is classified on the basis of the following segments:Raw Material TypePyrite oreElemental SulfurBase metal smeltersOthers (from oil & petroleum refineries)ApplicationFertilizersPulp & PaperTextile industryChemical manufacturingMetal processingAutomotivePetroleum refiningOthers (industrial cleaning agent, drugs & medicines, wastewater treatment, electronics industry)Prevalent Scenario in Sulphuric Acid MarketSulphuric acid is utilized to manufacture phosphoric acid. This phosphoric acid is later employed for the production phosphate fertilizers including, ammonium phosphates and calcium dihyrogenphosphate. Increasing demand for fertilizers owing to rising agricultural activities is anticipated to positively drive the growth over the forecast period. Sulphuric acid is used in manufacturing a number of chemicals including, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, ammonium sulphate, and aluminum sulphate. The growing demand for industrial chemicals for manufacturing various commercial products is projected to propel growth of the market over the next few years. Sulphuric acid is utilized for pH adjustment, oil splitting and generation of chlorine dioxide in paper & pulp industry. Rapid growth in paper & pulp is projected to aid growth of the market over the foreseeable future.The acid, when at high concentration causes serious damage to human beings and can lead to skin irritation and even permanent blindness. Owing to hazardous effects of the strong acidic mixture, it is often subjected to strict governmental regulations. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), has categorized the acid as a carcinogen. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has listed sulphuric acid as a toxic chemical. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA 1998), has laid down guidelines for the permissible exposure limit (PEL), of the sulphuric acid to 1mg/m3. These regulations govern use of the strong acidic mixture in end-use applications and also the raw materials utilized to produce it. These stringent regulations coupled with the high raw material prices, are expected to hinder the growth of the market over the forecast period. North America and Europe are expected to account for the largest share in the market, on account of presence of major players in the region. The region of Central & South America is projected to witness a steady growth in its market share owing to the rapid industrialization in the region. Asia Pacific is projected to experience the fastest growth owing to burgeoning growth of various end-use industries in emerging economies such as China and India. Sulphuric acid is used in the most common hydrometallurgical processes to leach the ores in order to extract metals. Countries including South Korea and Japan, have a large number of metal smelters, and thus are anticipated to contribute towards the market growth in the near future.Click here to know more about this report:Fragmented MarketThe global market is highly fragmented due to the participation of many established and emerging players in the market. Major players involved in the market include PVS Chemical Solution and Phelps Dodge, CF Industries, The Mosaic, AkzoNobel N.V., Agrium Inc., Rhodia, Langeloth International, Honeywell International, Bayer AG, DuPont de Nemours & Co., Potash Corp (PCS Phosphate), Chevron Corporation, Lucite International, Chemtrade Logistics, Southern States Chemical, Climax Molybdenum Co., Big River Zinc Sauget, Cytec Industries, Tampa Electric, Solvay S.A., Evonik Industries, Chemtrade Refinery Services, BP Valero Energy, and The Doe Run.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com Pure Cotton Canvas Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast Report To 2022 Pure Cotton Canvas Market http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/report/global-pure-cotton-canvas-market-research-report-2017 http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/check-discount/295957 http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/send-an-enquiry/295957 Pure Cotton Canvas Market Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Pure Cotton Canvas Market basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on.Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc.In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Get Full Copy of this Report @The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Market;3.) the North American Pure Cotton Canvas Market;4.) the European Pure Cotton Canvas Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Some points from TOC:-Part I Pure Cotton Canvas Industry OverviewChapter One Pure Cotton Canvas Industry Overview1.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Definition1.2 Pure Cotton Canvas Classification Analysis1.2.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Pure Cotton Canvas Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Pure Cotton Canvas Application Analysis1.3.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Pure Cotton Canvas Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Pure Cotton Canvas Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Pure Cotton Canvas Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Product Market Development Overview1.6 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Pure Cotton Canvas Global Market Development Trend AnalysisAsk for Discount @Chapter Two Pure Cotton Canvas Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Market Analysis3.1 Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Product Development History3.2 Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia Pure Cotton Canvas Market Development TrendEnquiry before Buying @Market Research Globe is a competent consulting company in the field of Global Market Research. We provide our clients a wide range of customized Marketing and Business Research Solutions to choose from, with the help of our ingenious database developed by experts. We help our clients understand the strengths of diverse markets and how to exploit opportunities. Covering a diverse range of business scopes from Digital products to Food industry, we are your one- stop solution right from data collection to investment advices.We provide qualitative analysis of the current market scenario, latest market trends, price and cost changes, product growth rate and market share of the competitors through our exclusive syndicated research. Our comprehensive syndicated reports penetrate deep into micro levels of each target segment of the referred industry. We begin our journey into market research for every project through extensive primary data driven researches, from key suppliers in the industry.Liberty Society,Koregaon Park, Pune- 411001,Maharashtra, India. Hosted PBX Market in Canada to Experience an Exponential Growth at a CAGR Of 18.2% during the Forecast Period of 2017 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2909 http://www.mrrse.com/canada-hosted-pbx-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Albany, New York, May 17, 2017: With the increasing enterprise size, need for robust communication tools has also increases. Such factors have resulted in the increase in demand of hosted PBX market in Canada. The hosted PBX market in Canada is expected to experience higher demand during the forecast period 2017 to 2025. Considering this fact, a new research report titled Hosted PBX Market - Canada Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025 has been recently published on the huge online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). This report is a professional and in-depth analysis of the present situation as well as the future outlook of the Hosted PBX Market in Canada.Request for Sample Report:The report predicts that the Hosted PBX Market in Canada will surge at a remarkable CAGR of 18.2% during the forecast period 2017 to 2025, reaching US$1.75 billion by 2025. Factors responsible for this growth are rising demand for enterprise mobility and workforce and the multiple benefits offered by hosted PBX services such as elimination of additional set up costs and minimized operational expenses. Increasing adoption of wireless services in small, medium and large enterprises is also likely to fuel the demand for hosted PBX market in Canada.This report identifies the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, risks and opportunities that influence the present nature and future prospects of this market along with the major indicators and trends. An attractiveness analysis has also been included for each segment and sub-segment in the report, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the overall scenario in the hosted PBX market in Canada. Additionally, the study provides an overview of different strategies adopted by the key players operating in the Canadian market. It also provides all the vital information required to understand the major developments of different segments and sub-segments and companies business strategies to efficiently compete in the market.The hosted PBX market in Canada is broadly classified on the basis of enterprise size and end-use application. On the basis on enterprise size, the market is bifurcated into small and medium enterprises and large enterprises. Based on application, the major segments in the Canadian hosted PBX market are telecom and IT, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, government, hospitality, retail, education and others. The prominent vendors engaged in the hosted PBX market in Canada are 3CX, Bell Canada, BroadConnect Technologies Inc., Mitel Networks Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Alpha Telecom Services Inc., Allstream Inc., Birch Communications, Voysis IP solution Inc., AstraQom International, Ringcentral and Telus Communications. Details such as business strategies, SWOT analysis and product offerings have also been provided in the research report.Browse Full Report with TOC:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter- Solving the productivity puzzle with technology and training from Intertronics Solving the productivity puzzle with technology and training from Intertronics www.intertronics.co.uk/productivitypuzzle www.adhere.uk.com www.youtube.com/intertronicsadhere www.intertronics.co.uk www.adhere.uk.com With manufacturing productivity in Q4 2016 growing by 1.7% on the previous quarter* but overall growth still lagging behind the curve the UK economy continues to be haunted by the productivity puzzle. Engineering adhesives specialist Intertronics works with its customers to enhance their productivity in order to compete in both home and export markets.The latest Executive Survey from manufacturers organisation EEF clearly confirms a broad recognition of this need. Findings indicate that in order to achieve their business goals in 2017, UK manufacturers will achieve greater productivity in three ways: 1) process innovation 2) investment in technology and innovation, and 3) continued work to ensure flexible supply chains. Often the approach is quite holistic, tackling more than one of these considerations at a time.56% of survey respondents reported that they will be undertaking process innovations to increase productivity. Medium sized firms (those with 101-250 employees and quite possibly the unsung heroes of our manufacturing economy) are the most likely to do this, with seven in ten citing it as an action they will undertake. Half of companies surveyed said they expect to increase investment in technology and innovation in the next 12 months.Intertronics says that it is successfully helping both existing and new customers with process innovation in areas such as very fast light curing of adhesives and coatings using UV and/or visible light, and sophisticated mixing and degassing. They are investing in technology and innovation in the form of material application automation and precision, and surface treatment. Customers also enjoy reliable, fast delivery and, where required, flexible shipments, consistent with supply chain efficiency.Intertronics Managing Director Peter Swanson explains: Our focus is on the use of advanced engineering adhesives as an efficient and reliable fastening method suited to automated assembly, in the form of our latest materials dispensing and curing technologies. For example, UV/visible light cure adhesives that cure in seconds, THINKY mixing and degassing equipment, alternative dispensing technologies, our range of dispensing robots and advanced surface treatment techniques are all helping manufacturing companies at all levels of automation maturity to enhance their processes and productivity.Intertronics organises regular seminars to demonstrate how the latest technologies and products can play a major role in this. In addition, the companys Oxford-based Technology Centre is in constant use, enabling both design and production engineers to evaluate and compare adhesives, coatings, sealants and equipment in the context of their assemblies and processes enhancing competitiveness, product quality and reputation.For further information please seeor visit the Intertronics blog at also see*Source: Office for National Statistics"adhere from Intertronics provides quality adhesive solutions to high technology, high performance assembly industries, incorporating outstanding levels of technical support and customer service.The adhere concept covers their range of adhesives, encapsulants, coatings, sealants and tapes as well as the associated dispensing, curing and surface preparation equipment and materials used in the manufacturing and assembly processes. Also their Opti-tec brand of adhesives.Intertronics have been certified to ISO 9001:2008 standard demonstrating their commitment to customer service and quality in delivery. Certification proves that the Intertronics quality management system ensures consistency and a continuous improvement ethic, leading to high levels of performance and customer satisfaction.IntertronicsUnit 17, Station Field Industrial EstateBanbury RoadKidlingtonOxfordshireOX5 1JDTel: 01865 842842email: info@intertronics.co.ukblog:Press contact: Peter Swanson West Lafayette, Ind., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PSA Airlines and Purdue Aviation announced Wednesday (May 18) a partnership to fast-track Purdue University and Purdue Aviation flight students to become commercial airline pilots. Through the airlines Cadet Program partnership, Purdue Aviation will be designated a PSA Airlines flight training academy partner. PSA Airlines was among the first regional carriers to launch its industry-leading Cadet Program to help the most promising future pilots make a smooth transition from the classroom at top colleges, universities and flight schools to the cockpit. PSA Airlines is the fastest-growing regional airline in the country, and with a true pilot flow through agreement to American Airlines, a career as a mainline pilot for the largest airline in the world can start with this program. The airline industry provides incredibly well-paying careers for individuals that are willing to take advantage of this opportunity" said Scott Niswonger, Chairman of the Board of Purdue Aviation. The timing for this partnership is particularly good, given the challenging environment to find qualified pilots. Purdue Aviation is jointly owned by Purdue alum Scott Niswonger and the Purdue Research Foundation and is located in the Purdue Aerospace District. Purdue Aviation holds a part 141 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing them to train at the highest standards and in shorter time. The one-year intensive training by Purdue Aviation will be to airline-based standards and procedures making transition to commercial flight positions seamless. "PSA is delighted to partner with Purdue Aviation" said Christine Wampach, director of recruiting - flight operations for PSA Airlines. "The quality of students and training is exactly what we are looking for to supply well-trained pilots that can meet the high standards of PSA Airlines. PSA Airlines will offer unique pilot mentoring that will successfully prepare students for becoming a PSA pilot, access to the latest technology resources such as Coradine LogTen Pro X, and corporate visits inviting exposure into the PSA system. Upon completion of the students commercial, instrument, multiengine, and flight instructor certification and the required minimum hours of flight time as required by the FAA, they will be eligible for the opportunity to become PSA pilots. Purdue pilots accepting employment from PSA will receive a $16,520 signing bonus. The PSA Airlines and Purdue Aviation relationship is an accelerated program over the period of a year. Classes and flight training will be conducted by Purdue Aviation at the Purdue University Airport. About Purdue Aviation LLC Purdue Aviation, located at the Purdue University Airport, KLAF, in West Lafayette, Indiana, offers premium flight support including fueling, hangar space ground transportation and is a certified aircraft maintenance center. As a premier flight training providers Purdue Aviation provides pilot license training, fuel sales, aircraft maintenance, aircraft rental and aircraft sales. About PSA Airlines PSA Airlines operates an all-jet fleet consisting of exclusively Bombardier regional jet aircraft. The companys 3,000 employees operate nearly 700 daily flights to nearly 90 destinations. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, PSA also has flight crew bases located in Dayton, Cincinnati, Ohio, Knoxville, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina. PSA has maintenance facilities in Dayton and Canton, Ohio and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina. PSA operates 35 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft, 27 Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft and 54 Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft. The airline expects to add additional aircraft bringing its fleet count to 150. About Purdue Research Park Aerospace District Purdue Research Park Aerospace District is situated on the southwest corner of the internationally recognized Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The 980-acre aerospace district, under development by the Purdue Research Foundation, is a flagship for public and private aerospace research and development to advance aviation and aeronautics innovations. Plans for the aerospace district, which encompasses the Purdue University Airport, Purdue Aviation, Rolls Royce Aircraft Engine R & D Center and the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, include opportunities for aerospace companies that wish to collaborate with Purdue to build research and development facilities. The site has already been named an Indiana Certified Technology Park by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. About Purdue Research Foundation Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue South Africa Printing Inks Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2165 http://www.mrrse.com/burner-management-system-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Albany, New York, May 17, 2017: The rapid rise in the pace of industrialization in emerging countries such as China, India, Taiwan, and Korea is creating a staggering demand for energy. As a result, there is an uptick in the installation of power plants and a subsequent increase in the implementation of heating systems in industries and production facilities. This is further translating into the greater adoption of burner management systems (BMS) for control and safety purposes.Request for Sample Report:Moreover, the increasing stringency of government regulations, along with rising litigations for accidents, are promoting the installation of BMS. However, the reluctance of various operating companies in shifting from manual safety controls to burner management systems is limiting the global BMS market from realizing its utmost potential.According to a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the Global Burner Management systems (BMS) market had a valuation of US$4.58 bn in 2015 and is poised to reach US$7.39 bn by the end of 2024. Owing to all the aforementioned factors, the market is projected to progress at a CAGR of 5.6% between 2016 and 2024.Pressing Need for Safer and Cleaner Surroundings to Trigger Demand for Electricity-based BMSOn the basis of fuel, the global BMS market is classified into oil, electricity, and gas. Oil-based burners dominated the market in 2015, representing 41.1% of the overall market value. Electricity-based burners are estimated to register noteworthy growth over the review period owing to the soaring need for safer and cleaner environment in industries.Based on component, the market is divided into hardware and software. Hardware held the lions share in 2015, commanding for more than 54.0% of the overall market value. Owing to their significant functionalities and importance in meeting the design criteria for industry-critical operations, the segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period.Strong Presence of BMS Manufacturers behind North Americas LeadershipThe key regional market methodically examined are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. North America was the dominant segment in 2015, accounting for over one-third of the overall market value. A large number of key manufacturers are headquartered in the region, which is leading to the early introduction and acceptance of advanced burner management systems. Asia Pacific is anticipated to rise at a CAGR of 6.1% during the same period. The growth of this region can be primarily attributed to the growing population and rapid industrialization in countries such as India, Japan, and China.Browse Full Report with TOC:Key Players Focus towards Product Innovation to Stay AheadAs per the findings of the report, the top ten players in the global BMS market accounted for nearly 45% of the overall market in 2015. This indicates a highly fragmented nature of the market. The presence of a large number of international and local players in the marketplace is compelling companies to offer a diverse range of products at affordable prices. Key players are aiming at expanding their market shares and staying ahead of their peers through product innovation. Some of the leading players in the global BMS market are Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., Honeywell International, and Alstom.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter- Miller & Wynn, P.C. Adds Patricia Roy to Expand its Offerings in Business Litigation www.MillerWynnLaw.com www.MillerWynnLaw.com DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (May 16, 2017) Miller & Wynn, P.C., Attorneys at Law, continues to grow its practice through a partnership with civil litigation attorney Patricia Roy. The firms partners, Mike Miller and Christopher Wynn, specialize in personal injury and criminal defense, while handling a variety of additional cases. The West Georgia law firm has offices in both Douglasville and Carrollton.Joining the Miller & Wynn team is a great opportunity for me to continue focusing my practice on what I love to do, by expanding my practice to the West Atlanta community, said Roy. While I will maintain my Atlanta office, I look forward to serving the Douglasville and Carrollton communities where I live.Roy, a Douglasville resident, has more than 14 years of legal experience, most of which were spent practicing in some of Atlantas most respected law firms. She has handled a diverse civil litigation caseload representing businesses of varying sizes and individuals in contract, real estate, fiduciary, product liability and personal injury disputes.Patricia is a great fit for our firm, said Miller. She lives in our community and has a wealth of experience that is a perfect complement to the services for which were already known.Miller & Wynn has offices in Douglasville and Carrollton. For more information about the firm or if you find yourself in need of legal assistance, please contact Michael Miller or Chris Wynn at (404) 857-2960 or visitAbout Miller & Wynn, Attorneys at LawMiller & Wynn is committed to providing aggressive advocacy for our clients in Douglasville, Carrollton, Paulding County and throughout the state of Georgia. With a focus on personal service, attorneys Michael J. Miller and Christopher L. Wynn are Your Partners in Your Time of Need. The firm assists clients regardless of the size or value of their cases. Miller & Wynn serve as your advocate and focuses on protecting your rights following an auto collision or an arrest. Mike Miller serves the community through public leadership as a Douglasville City Councilman. The firm offers a free initial consultation at its offices, and for your convenience, schedules appointments on evenings and weekends. For more information, please visitor call 1-866-338-0555.500 Bishop St NwAtlanta, Ga 30318 CHETU TO EXHIBIT AT THE APA CONGRESS ROCKS THE WORLD IN ORLANDO, FL www.chetu.com/hcm.php Plantation, Fla. (May 8th 2017) Chetu is excited to announce that they will be exhibiting at the APA Congress Rocks the World in bright and beautiful Orlando, FL. The conference and expo takes place on May 16th through May 20th at the Orlando World Center Marriott on 8701 World Center Drive."The Annual Congress expo includes everything from workshops, keynote speakers, as well as a wide variety of exhibitors," said Christin Cluley, National Account for the Human Capital Management industry at Chetu." Our goal is to present Chetu's Human Capital Management software solutions to those looking for a viable alternative to the out-of-the-box solutions on the market that may not meet their business needs."The 35th Annual Congress offers four keynote speakers including Russell Simmons, workshops that will include topics such as: Payroll Processing, Wage Payments and Deductions, U.S. Taxation Forms, Government Affairs, Industry Specific Forms, Benefits and Compensation, Women in Leadership, Accounts payable, and many more.About Chetu, Inc.:Chetu optimizes development lifecycles by offering dedicated developers with specialized technology and industry expertise. Chetu's award-winning software development solutions span the entire Human Capital Management including e-learning for training, ACA Compliance, Payroll & Benefits Admin, HRMS/HRIS, Attendance and more. For more information, visit us at:About Congress:The 35th Annual Congress brings you workshops, networking opportunities, and recertification credits! At Congress you are able to choose from more than 200 workshops over 4-1/2 days and earn 26.5 RCHs, 2.65 CEUs, 26.5 CPE credits, and up to 25 HRCI credits under General HR! Congress offers a wide variety of educational workshops; the world's largest payroll, accounts payable, and finance Expo with over 100 exhibitors; and countless networking and motivational opportunities among 2,500 attendees.Media Contact:Ashley Stagray and/or Seth Burgerpr@chetu.com954-342-5676Chetu is a custom software development company servicing startups, SMBs & Fortune 500 firms worldwide with specialized technology solutions. We provide on-demand programming from senior-level software developers who are dedicated to advancing your business technology objectives.Chetu Inc.10167 W Sunrise Blvd,Suite 200, Plantation,FL 33322 80/20 Aluminum or Fully Welded Steel: How to Choose Your Furniture Frame 80/20 vs. Fully Welded Steel https://formaspace.com/articles/laboratory-furniture/chemical-resistant-countertop-good-lab-project/ https://formaspace.com/support/guarantee/ https://formaspace.com/industrial-workbenches/ https://formaspace.com/ https://formaspace.com/powder-coating-services/ https://formaspace.com/articles/industrial-furniture/8020-aluminum-vs-fully-welded-steel-frame/?utm_source=openpr&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=021417 One of the advantages of ordering furniture from Formaspace is that you are dealing directly with the manufacturer. This not only means you can be sure of getting high-quality American-made products, but you can also specify the materials and options best suited for your needs, including your choice between heavy-duty, fully welded steel frames or 80/20 aluminum extruded frames.In previous articles, we have presented guidelines on how to choose the best surface material for your workstation and tables ().Now it's time to look at the different options for the metal frame.Before we can put the Formaspace name on a piece of furniture, it has to be exceptionally strong and durable. Why? Formaspace builds our products with an eye toward industrial applications, where they need to be tough enough to withstand constant use and rough and tumble treatment. To reinforce our commitment, we guarantee all of our furniture products for a full 12 years (), even if you use them continuously, 24/7 (e.g. three shifts working around the clock).Formaspace tables and workstations have to be strong as well as tough.How tough are Formaspace tables and workstations?The load capacity of our Standard Duty benches (), tables and workstations is 1,000 pounds (evenly distributed), making them much, much stronger than typical office furniture. But is it overkill? Not really. If you are using lightweight furniture with an internal core built out of a paper-like honeycomb material that's held up by legs screwed into this same lightweight material (typical of many desks and tables from IKEA), you could have a serious, even life-threatening accident if the furniture were to collapse. How could this happen? Here are two common scenarios: too many workers sitting on desks and tables during a meeting, or workers stacking heavy boxes of books and paper on insubstantial benches, tables, or workstations.If you anticipate needing to support loads heavier than 1,000 pounds, talk to your Formaspace Design Consultant about our Heavy Duty furniture configurations. This furniture can carry up to 20,000 pounds (evenly distributed).How to decide between fully welded steel and 80/20 aluminum extruded framesNow that we've established that Formaspace benches (), workstations, and tables are strong and durable, let's look at the different options you have when specifying the metal frames for your new Formaspace furniture.Steel is by far and away the most popular material choice for Formaspace furniture frames (we only use American-made steel). Our Standard Duty frames are made from 1 1/2" square tubing, while Heavy Duty frames use a full 2" square steel tube. The joints at the corners are fully welded on the factory floor by skilled Formaspace craftsmen at our production facility in Austin, Texas. Once the steel furniture frames are welded together, they are typically powder-coated (), either in a clear color to preserve the 'industrial look' or a color of your choice.Because steel frames are fully welded at the factory, they won't need to be assembled or maintained (e.g. adjusted and/or tightened) during their lifetime at your office or facility. This is one of steel's key advantages over 80/20 aluminum extrusion frames, which we will discuss next.What are 80/20 aluminum extrusion t-slot frames?If the term extruded aluminum seems unfamiliar to you, you may be surprised to know that it's actually a very common material. You'll find that extruded aluminum is commonly used in most bathtub shower enclosures or in tracks supporting sliding patio doors.How's it made? When aluminum is heated to high temperatures, it can be forced (i.e. pressed or extruded) at a high pressure through a mold pattern to form long, straight material stock which can incorporate complex, cross-sectional designs.The type of aluminum extrusions used by Formaspace for building furniture frames have square cross-sections with a t-shaped slot (e.g. void) incorporated into each facing side. By design, these t-slots allow the fasteners that hold the frame sections together to pass through. During assembly, the fasteners are pushed down the slots to the correct position where they are held snug inside the slot rail. This makes it easy to tighten the fasteners only one tool is required.Where does the name 80/20 come from?The curious name "80/20" is actually the brand name of the manufacturer of the extruded aluminum stock 80/20, Inc.Why did they choose this name?Read more ...Formaspace advances the spirit of discovery and creation through the design and manufacture of custom business furniture. Our furniture marries form to function with flexible solutions for clients in the laboratory, industrial, and office environments.Formaspace serves over 80% of the Fortune 500, as well as universities, governments, small businesses, and individuals.Formaspace1100 E. Howard LaneSuite 400Austin, TX78753800.251.1505 Foldable Display 2017 Global Key Players Samsung, Evinoks, FM Digital, Konvision Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022 Foldable Display https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1287321-global-foldable-display-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1287321-global-foldable-display-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1287321 www.wiseguyreports.com Foldable DisplayReport Details:This report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the segment market details on different classifications and applications.Major Key PlayersSamsungEvinoksFM DigitalKonvisionClick here for sample report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Foldable Display in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoResolution Ratio:320240Resolution Ratio:640480Resolution Ratio:1024768OthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Foldable Display for each application, includingElectronicsConsumer GoodsAerospaceOthersSome Major Points from Table of content:Global Foldable Display Market Research Report 20171 Foldable Display Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Foldable Display1.2 Foldable Display Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Foldable Display Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Foldable Display Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Resolution Ratio:3202401.2.4 Resolution Ratio:6404801.2.5 Resolution Ratio:10247681.2.6 Others1.3 Global Foldable Display Segment by Application1.3.1 Foldable Display Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Electronics1.3.3 Consumer Goods1.3.4 Aerospace1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Foldable Display Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Foldable Display Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Foldable Display (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Foldable Display Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Foldable Display Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @7 Global Foldable Display Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Samsung7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Foldable Display Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Samsung Foldable Display Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Evinoks7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Foldable Display Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Evinoks Foldable Display Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 FM Digital7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Foldable Display Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 FM Digital Foldable Display Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Konvision7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Foldable Display Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Konvision Foldable Display Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview..ContinuedBuy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042Mail :info@wiseguyreports.com MobileBridge Expands Teams in U.S. and Europe, Appointing Chairman of Board and Regional Sales Directors for the UK, Americas and DACH www.mobilebridge.com Nashua, NH (May 17, 2017) MobileBridge is proud to announce key additions to its rapidly expanding global team as Ariel Luedi has been appointed Chairman of the Board, Denis Ehlicke accepts Regional Sales Director responsibilities for DACH region and veteran tech-sales specialists, Matthew Kelly and Shaun Slator assume Regional Sales Director positions for the Americas and United Kingdom respectively.2016 was a landmark year for MobileBridge as an organization as we were able to leverage our European successes in recent years to expand our global footprint and enter the North American market, said MobileBridge CEO, Eyal Oster. As we continue to evolve our advanced mobile solutions and increase our partner roster in North America and Europe, it is vital we acquire top talent internally to support this growth and I have the utmost confidence that we have done this with Ariel, Denis, Matthew and Shaun.Ariel Luedi brings 20+ years of experience to MobileBridge in holding executive posts at some of the worlds leading enterprise software companies including Hybris, SalesForce and Oracle, and is also MobileBridges primary investor as acting Founder of Hammer Team, a Swiss-based start-up incubator supporting early and growth stage B2B software companies. Luedi will continue his work as Hammer Team Founder while assuming Chairman of the Board responsibilities for MobileBridge. With MobileBridge, Luedi will liaise regularly with executive management on vital growth and operational practices and opportunities.To further fuel its global expansion, MobileBridge has hired additional Regional Sales Directors to cover key territories in the United Kingdom, Americas, and DACH region.Denis Ehlicke will be responsible for DACH expansion and will play a pivotal role in driving MobileBridges European sales and overall global expansion. Based in Germany, Ehlicke brings a wealth of software, SaaS sales and business development leadership experience to MobileBridge. Prior to assuming the role of Regional Sales Director for DACH, Ehlicke most recently held the position of Regional Director Central Europe for Return Path.Matthew Kelly, a New York City-based career tech sales specialist will assume the role of Director of Sales Americas, while the London-based Shaun Slator assumes Director of Sales UK.Kelly will spearhead MobileBridges growing presence in the Northeast region of the U.S.Most recently, Kelly held the position of Managing Director and Head of Global Partnerships at Yota Devices and also is Co-Founder/Advisor of innovative tech start-up, DisrupTech Inc. Slator, who will lead UK and European-based sales expansion, most recently held the position of Business Development Manager for mGage, one of the leading mobile marketing agencies, and prior to that acted as Employee Engagement & Leadership Developer for IBM.Ehlicke, Kelly and Slator will continue to expand MobileBridges global partner roster, bringing its innovative mobile engagement platform to various industry sectors providing total solutions. With a focus on building scalable sales processes and best practices for future organizational growth, collaborating with key brands to transform customer experiences through omni-channel journeys is top priority for all three in todays mobile-first society.About MobileBridgeMobileBridge is driving the next generation of mobile engagement for organizations worldwide. Our leading mobile engagement automation platform transforms the customer experience by creating true omni-channel journeys in a mobile first society. Providing marketers the ease and flexibility they need, our cloud-based platform delivers a fast time to market, and easily integrates with existing systems enabling the shift to execute genuine contextual one-to-one dialogs with customers. With offices in Boston, Amsterdam, and London, we help companies like Volkswagen, Pirelli, and Burger King fulfill the promise of mobile. For more information, visitDPA Communications256 Hanover StBoston, MA 02113 Spanish True Fleet positive...just, while Private market takes a tumble www.dataforce.de Spain is the only country from the EU-5 to see positive Total Market growth (numbers) for April. Spains Total Market finished at 105,000 registrations keeping it in the black by 1.6% over April 2016. The Private Market took a tumble, dropping by 14.5% but Spain was not alone as we saw a drop for the rest of the EU-5 also. True Fleet managed to remain positive for another month but only just with + 1.4% while Special Channels bore the most weight from the negative Private market and delivered + 30.5% keeping the Total Market month-on-month growth rate positive for the 44th (!) month in a row.The True Fleet Top 10 manufacturers had only one new entry for April but plenty of ranking changes. Renault kept the #1 spot for the 2nd month but was closely shadowed by VW with only 33 registrations separating the two. Peugeot retained their 3rd spot and BMW produced a + 15.7% to take the 4th position. Toyota was the biggest climber inside the Top 10 moving from 10th to 5th with the growth of 21.3% pushed along predominantly by the C-HR but also by the Yaris which more than doubled its month-on-month figures with a 120.2% growth.Ford, Mercedes, Audi and SEAT followed in the ranking with only Ford registering a positive growth. Helped in no small part by the Kuga whose strong numbers gave it almost 20.0% (19.9%) of the manufacturers volume for the month compared to only 7.2% last April. The 10th position was the new entry and it was Citroen that achieved it, moving from 12th place with an impressive growth of 57.7% (the highest inside the Top 10). The growth came mostly from the Berlingo, C3 and C4 which together made up 59% of the OEMs monthly volume.Our look into the Year-to-date True Fleet fuel segment rounds out our press release for April. Diesel remains king of the segment although its decline is pronounced in the YTD comparison. Last year diesel took a share of 82.4%, this year it stands at 77.5%. Diesels loss of almost 5 percentage points has gone mostly to petrol but 1.6% has ended up with the alternative fuels category with hybrid taking the lions share of that. It would come as no surprise to see Toyota at the top for volume growth in alternative fuels but what was surprising was that Toyota had the 2nd highest loss in the diesel segment behind SEAT. Now whether this is the first example of manufacturers moving away from diesel while further promoting other fuels (C-HR so far only available as Hybrid for Spain) remains to be seen but it may be something to keep an eye on.DATAFORCE Focus on FleetsDataforce is the leading provider of fleet market data and automotive intelligence solutions in Europe. In addition, the company also provides detailed information on sales opportunities for the automotive industry, together with a wide portfolio of information based on primary market research and consulting services. The company is based in Frankfurt, Germany.Richard WorrowDataforce Verlagsgesellschaft fur Business Informationen mbHHamburger Allee 1460486 Frankfurt am MainGermanyPhone: +49 69 95930-231Fax: +49 69 95930-333Email: richard.worrow@dataforce.de Aprils True Fleet feeling the effect from three negative elements www.dataforce.de With April bringing a triple combination of negative elements to effect the market it was perhaps a foreseeable downturn for the both the Total Market and True Fleet. Three less business days, the usual hangover from the UK plate change plus the somewhat confusing new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) all contributed to the less than stellar - 19.8% for the Total market. While True Fleet suffered with a - 25.1% it can possibly take some relief from the fact that last years April was its highest on record since Dataforce records began in 2004. The Private Market took the hardest hit with a - 28.5% and somewhat predictably the Special Channels had the highest April month on record with Dealership and Manufacturers contributing the most (setting their own record for April).Within the manufacturers Top 20 it was not doom and gloom, especially for three brands that were able to produce positive growth from what was obviously a challenging month.Mercedes moved itself two places into 3rd after producing a + 5.1%, no doubt helped by the new E Class more than doubling it numbers from last April. The Mercedes A-Class also took 1st place in True Fleet model ranking and while this was good news there was more to come, Mercedes is also showing the highest year-to-date volume growth for UK True Fleet market.Hyundai also performed well beyond last years April, pushing its growth rate to a + 41.0%, taking it inside the Top 10 (7th place) for the 2nd month in a row. Three individual models had triple-digit volume growth for the month, The Tucson, Ioniq and the i10. Touching on the Ioniq briefly we see that not only has it managed to outregister the iX20, i40, H1 and the Santa Fe year-to-date but is also currently 9th in the alternative fuels model ranking.The final manufacturer to produce positive growth was SEAT which posted a rise of 52.9% for April, the highest growth inside the Top 20 securing it 12th place. The upturn was powered mainly by the Ateca that secured 24.0% of SEATs volume, but the Leon and Alhambra are not to be overlooked, as they also managed three-digit volume gains. SEATs 2017 market share in True Fleet is also in need of mention, prior YTD share of True Fleet stood at 1.19%. This year they have more than doubled their share and currently stand at 2.45%, a pretty remarkable feat considering they have one of the UKs smallest model line-ups. So with the possible end-of-year-release of the Arona (Small SUV) helping expand the line-up, the brands fleet numbers should continue to swell.(437 words, 2,534 characters)DATAFORCE Focus on FleetsDataforce is the leading provider of fleet market data and automotive intelligence solutions in Europe. In addition, the company also provides detailed information on sales opportunities for the automotive industry, together with a wide portfolio of information based on primary market research and consulting services. The company is based in Frankfurt, Germany.Mario ZagarDataforce Verlagsgesellschaft fur Business Informationen mbHHamburger Allee 1460486 Frankfurt am MainGermanyPhone: +49 69 95930-229Fax: +49 69 95930-333Email: mario.zagar@dataforce.de Global LTE IC Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2020 www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/lte-ic-market www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/semiconductor-and-electronics www.psmarketresearch.com The growing demand of 3G and 4G LTE IC form Smartphones and tablets and other networking devices are fueling the growth of the global LTE IC market. The retail costs of smartphones are largely influenced by the cost of LTE IC integrated equipped in them. The LTE enabled phones are high in cost, since major smartphone manufacturers intend to increase profit, using LTE as a high-end differentiated feature. However, the established players of LTE IC in the market have very high proprietary learning curve, which is acting as a barrier for the new entrants. Qualcomm and Intel accounted for more than 80% share of the high end LTE IC market in 2014.To Browse Full Report Visit Here:The market is going through continuous product innovations. Recently, the 64 bit chip and octa-core chip are witnessing high penetration in the high end networking devices. The prices of 64bit are expected to fall during the forecast period, as more chip vendors are expected to launch such products. The competition among the vendors for the octa-core LTE IC market is high. In 2014, MediaTek Inc was the largest manufacturer of octa core chip. In 2013, the company launched 3G octa core chip MT6592, which has high market penetration, due to lack of competitor in the Chinese market. Moreover, MediaTeck launched MT6591 a six core 3G SOC chip, which was the first hexa core chip in the world. MediaTeck is expected to use hexa core chip, for relieving the price pressure on its Octa core chips.The increasing penetration of smart phone in developing countries has boosted the growth of the LTE IC market. The smartphone segment accounted for more than 70% share of the global market in 2014. By the end of 2017, the smart phone shipment is expected to reach touch 1.5 billion units, as compared to 1 billion shipments in 2013.Browse For Related Research Visit Here:Among the various geographical divisions, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market of Long-Term Evolution Integrated circuits market in 2014. The high production of smart phones and other networking devices from China, South Korea, and Japan are the leading factor behind the market dominance of Asia-Pacific. North America was the second largest market in terms of value, owing the demand of high end LTE IC leading electronics and networking device manufacturers in the region. Country wise, China, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, South Korea, Japan, India, France, Germany, and Brazil are the major Long-Term Evolution Integrated circuits markets.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:KundanManager Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Ophthalmic Optics Instrument Market Research Report: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast upto 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ophthalmic-optics-instrument-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11045 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Ophthalmology is the branch of science that is concerned with the physiology, anatomy and disease of the eye. Similarly, ophthalmic optics include any optics pertaining to eye such as contact lenses, intraocular lenses, spectacle lenses, refractive surgery and optical instruments that are used for the examination of eye. The ophthalmic optics instrument market has witnessed impressive growth in the past few years due to technological advancements which is helping the patients to regain their lost vision. Infections, inflammations and defects in the vision might result in partial or complete loss of vision. Thus, various ophthalmic instruments play a vital role in vision restoration as eyes are one of the most crucial sensory organs.The market for ophthalmic optics instrument can be segmented on the basis of type of surgery devices, diagnostic devices and vision care. The surgery devices segment can be classified into cataract surgery devices, refractive surgery devices, glaucoma surgery devices and vitroeretinal surgery devices. The diagnostic devices segment can be classified into tonometer, slit lamps, fundus cameras, autorefractometers, keratometers, optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems, gonioscopes, ophthalmic echography, fluorescein angiography, perimeters, pachymeters, specular microscopes, corneal topographers and others. Vision care segment can be categorized into spectacle lenses and contact lenses. Refractive surgery devices market can be further split into excimer laser, YAG laser, femtosecond laser and microkeratome. The market report on ophthalmic optic and instruments can be further classified into four geographies namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World.The market for ophthalmic optics and instrument holds an immense potential due to technological innovation and continuous rise in geriatric population. Furthermore, growing awareness among the patients for effective diagnostic platforms, improved healthcare infrastructure and increasing penetration of minimally invasive surgeries are also held as major reasons for the growth of ophthalmic optics and instrument market. The market is also being triggered by aging population which is more prone to eye disorders is further expected to boost the growth of this market. However, high cost, economic slowdown and issues with reimbursement policies are some of the reasons that are anticipated to hamper the growth of ophthalmic optic instruments market.View Report-Geographically, North America accounts for the largest share of the ophthalmic optic and instruments market followed by the European region. The dominance of these regions in this market is seen due to technological advancements and presence of well trained ophthalmologists. Further, increasing awareness among patient population, improved healthcare infrastructure and rising prevalence of cataract surgeries are other reasons due to which market is expected to show healthy growth. However, in the near future the U.S market is expected to decline its market share owing to market maturity. Asia-Pacific is expected to show healthy growth in the near future due to improving healthcare infrastructure in the regions of India, China, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. Additionally, aging population which is more prone to ophthalmic disorders and growing disposable income in the Asian region are also indentified as another major driver that is augmenting the demand of ophthalmic optics and instrument in this region.Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Alcon Inc. (A Novartis Company), Haag-Streit AG, Topcon Corporation, Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG, Nidek Co. Limited, Bausch & Lomb Inc, Shenzhen MOPTIM Imaging Technique Co., Ltd, Canon, Hoya Corporation, STAAR Surgical Company, SynergEyes, Inc., CooperVision, Essilor International and others are some of the major players operating in ophthalmic optics instrument market.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Ophthalmic Optics Instrument Market during 2016- 2023About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: AUSTIN, Texas, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jones Energy, Inc. (NYSE:JONE) (Jones Energy or the Company) announced today following its annual meeting of stockholders that the nominees for election of Class I Directors have been elected. Secondly, the proposal to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm was also approved. Further, the Company announced today that, prior to the annual meeting of stockholders, Mr. Howard Hoffen and Mr. Gregory Myers resigned from the Companys Board of Directors. The resignations were not the result of any disagreements with the Company. In connection with the resignations, the remaining members of the Board voted unanimously to reduce the size of the Companys Board of Directors from seven members to five members, consisting of Jonny Jones, Mike S. McConnell, Alan D. Bell, Hal S. Washburn and Robb L. Voyles. Jonny Jones, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Jones Energy commented, I want to thank our shareholders for their participation in our annual meeting, as we had approximately 98% of actual ballots cast voting to approve our Class I Directors who stood for re-election. I also want to thank both Howard and Greg for their eight years of service on our Board of Directors and for their continued support of Jones Energy. Since 2009, when they joined our Board, we have built a strong organization though hard work and dedication. Going forward, both Howard and Greg plan to focus their efforts on other demands and obligations. This is a turning point in the makeup of our Board of Directors and I am looking forward to our future as a Company, especially as we continue to execute on our 2017 goals. About Jones Energy Jones Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties in the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of Texas and Oklahoma. Additional information about Jones Energy may be found on the Companys website at: www.jonesenergy.com. Equine Veterinary Services Market Research Report: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast upto 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/equine-veterinary-services-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11483 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Equine Veterinary Services Market: OverviewGlobal equine veterinary market is observed to be a multi-billion dollar industry that consists of various equine activities such as horse racing, competitive riding and leisure. Thus, various veterinary services that supplement the growth of this market are vaccination, gynecological care, dental care, gastroscopy, lameness, respiratory care, colic assessment and treatment.The vaccination regime of horses is integral part of equine health against various clinical conditions like equine influenza, tetanus, strangles, ringworm, EHV (Equine Herpes Virus), EVA (Equine Viral Arteries) and West Nile Virus (WNV). Dental care services include the routine dental examinations and rasping service for horses, some of the complex problems are also diagnosed with an X-ray.The gynecological care comprises routine sampling of CEM (Contagious Equine Metritis) and EVA testing , fertility check accompanied with hysteroscopies, artificial insemination, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy follow-up, assistance during foal birth and umbilical scanning, bloodsampling for IgG estimation in newborn foal health management. Gastroscopy consists of use of 3 meter videoscope for diagnosis of gastric ulcers. Lameness is one of the most common cause that affects limbs of horses and is diagnosed with digital X-rays, ultrasound and thermal scans. Respiratory care includes services related with tracheal washing and broncho-alveolar-lavage.Equine Veterinary Services Market: Region-wise OutlookThe veterinary services provided in market by major breeding farms and equine veterinary hospitals. This is a very specialized sector and is limited to equine species healthcare management hence, overall its considered to be a premium sector because of the specific requirements. The major market shift is estimated to be observed in coming five years where due to economic downturn in Europe has forced the market to export the horses to slaughterhouses or to Asian countries as there is significant potential for horse racing and showcase in China. This is perceived to affect the North American and European global market share in equine veterinary market as the Asia-Pacific market is observed to be growing in case of horse population.As a constituent of Asia-Pacific, Australian equine market was observed to rank among the top three regional equestrian and equine veterinary services markets. After the European downturn and legal hindrances in North American market Australia turned out to be among the leading horse producing / breeding countries in the world. On the same basis, China was perceive to expand its investing and capacity in horse racing and betting by importing quality breeds from countries especially from European region.Thus, China intends to maintain particularly race-horse breeds; as race-horses require additional care and supervision thus equine veterinary services market is expected to grow significantly. According to a equine industry source, China is mounting the capacity and investing in horse racing and betting by importing quality breeds from North American and European countries. The equestrian racing infrastructure development comprises of horse race-tracks developed with an investment of approximately USD 2.0 billion with about 3,000 horses. Investment also comprises the cost of s developing trainers and riders in particular equine training schools.View Report-Equine Veterinary Services Market: Key Segments and PlayersThe major products observed in the industry are in-house diagnostics, reference laboratories, digital imaging and others. The in-house diagnostics segment is expected to account for the largest share in the global equine veterinary services market. Some of the key players having presence in the global equine veterinary services market are IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Medical Management International, National Veterinary Associates and VCA Antech, Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Equine Veterinary Services Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Veterinary MRI Systems Market Research Report: Industry Insights, Trends and Forecast upto 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/veterinary-mri-systems-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11891 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Veterinary MRI Systems Market: OverviewOver the years veterinary care has witnessed tremendous paradigm shift especially with respect to diagnostic imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging is a sophisticated 3D imaging technique which has been a widely used clinical diagnostic tool in last 2 decades. MRI measures and record changes in the magnetic property of the protons present in the cellular water. Unlike x-rays, MRI does not require the use of ionizing radiation. For imaging, MRI device uses radio waves and magnetic field such as pulsed electromagnetic fields in order to excite the protons in the region of interest.Until recently, MRI had limited applications in veterinary medicine primarily due to cost associated with the initial set up and high operational expenses. In developed regions such as the United States and Europe 7 Tesla and 11 Tesla MRI are among the widely used imaging technique. In veterinary MRI is now seen as a gold standard technique for brain and spinal examination such as spinal disk herniation, trauma of the brain and spine, brain tumors, strokes, and brain malformations.Additionally, MRI is also seen as a powerful technique for examining tendons and ligament related ailments. In case of chronic wounds and draining tracts MRI imaging helps identifying foreign bodies within the wound which has effectively contributed in increasing the application areas.Veterinary MRI Systems Market: TrendsIn research and development i.e. preclinical imaging the advent of 15.2 Tesla and 21.0 Tesla has drastically revolutionized the micro-MRI market in past few years. Micro-MRI devices are also capable of efficiently rendering information regarding tissue composition, perfusion, oxygenation, tissue elasticity and metabolic activities in a single acquisition. Pertaining to its safety and ease of use, micro-MRI procedure accounts for approximately 23% - 28% of all small animal procedures. Technological advancements pertaining to magnetic field and radiation free imaging are among the key drivers for the growth of veterinary MRI market across the globe. The advent of open MRI systems has also contributed to the growth and demand for MRI devices in veterinary. The only restraint to the growth of the market includes the high cost of the device. In emerging markets, increasing awareness about animal health and rising adoption of imaging modalities are latent growth opportunity for the market in forthcoming years.View Report-Veterinary MRI Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically in terms of revenue, developed regions such as the North America and Europe are major contributors owing to increased adoption rate for veterinary MRI devices. Moreover, large number of ongoing pre-clinical researches has also boosted the market in past few years. Despite a high adoption rate the market share of developed regions is expected to decline primarily due to increasing demand for veterinary MRI devices in Asia Pacific and Latin America region.The majority of the growth in the Asia-Pacific region is primarily driven by the increasing demand of diagnostic tests in the animal health industry in China and India. The growth in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions can be attributed to the increased disposable incomes leading to growth in the per capita animal health expenditure in these regions. However demand for pre-owned MRI devices a key restraint affecting the sales of devices in Middle East and Asia Pacific countries.Veterinary MRI Systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent players operating in the global veterinary MRI market include Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging Ltd., Esaote SpA, Imotek International Ltd., Universal Medical Systems, Inc., Bruker Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Mediso Ltd., MR solutions, Burgess Diagnostics Ltd, and others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Market SegmentsMarket DynamicsMarket SizeSupply & DemandCurrent Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedValue ChainRegional analysis includes:North AmericaLatin AmericaAsia PacificJapanWestern EuropeEastern EuropeMiddle East & AfricaRequest a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Veterinary MRI Systems Market during 2016- 2023About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Acute Lymphocytic/Lymphoblastic Leukemia Therapeutics Market Research Report by Share, Size, Growth & Forecast 2024 Illuminated by New Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/acute-lymphocytic-lymphoblastic-leukemia-therapeutics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14927 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) also called as lympholastic leukemia is a cancer that starts from the early version of white blood cells called lympholastic in the bone marrow. Over production of cancerous lymphoblast is the main reason behind this type of cancer. ALL is characterized by the over production of cancerous lymphoblasts. When a person is suffering from ALL, lymphoblasts are generally overproduced in the bone marrow and constantly multiply, causing damage to the bone marrow by restraining the production of normal cells such as platelets and red blood cells (RBC).View Report @These lymphoblasts are also called as leukemia cells. As the number of lymphoblast increases in the bone marrow and blood, there is less room for healthy RBCs, white blood cells and platelets. This may cause anemia, infection and bleeding. The cancer can also spread to the brain and spinal cord.Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Therapeutics market: CategoriesAcute lymphocytic leukemia can be categorized into two types, childhood acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia and adult acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia. Some of the signs and symptoms associated with acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia are weakness and fatigue, anemia, loss of appetite, fever, paleness, shortness of breath, bone and joint pain, bruising, petechiae, swollen glands in the groin, neck and under arms,enlarged lymph nodes, spleen and liver.Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Therapeutics market: Available treatmentsProper medications, including antifungals, antineoplastics, antimicrobials is necessary take as soon as the disease detects. Apart from this, radiation therapy, biological therapy and immunotherapy should be taken by patients of ALL.Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Therapeutics market: TrendsIn terms of geography, North America is the leading market for acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapeutics market owing to the large base of leukemia patients. The American Cancer Society, estimates that in 2016 in the U.S, about 6,590 new cases of acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia would be diagnosed out of which 3590 would be males and 3000 would be females. The organization also estimated that during the same year, almost 1430 deaths would occur in the U.S. from acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia. Such growing base of leukemia population would further contribute to the growth of the overall acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapeutics market. However, other market such as Asia-Pacific tends to witness high growth in this market owing to the increased incidence of cancer cases in the recent years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Acute Lymphocytic/Lymphoblastic Leukemia Therapeutics Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Currently, the global acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapeutics market is highly lucrative, and is primarily driven by the growing incidence and prevalence of leukemia. Moreover, other factors such as high demand for improved cancer therapies; along with focused towards addressing the unmet medical needs are also driving the growth of this market. Furthermore, increasing burden of cancer among geriatric population and increased focus on retaining superior quality of life are some of the factors contributing to the growth of this market. However, rise in overall healthcare expenditure and patent expiries of antineoplastic drugs are some of the major factors; that might hinder the growth of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapeutics market in future.The major companies involved with the acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapeutics market are Biogen Idec, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene Corporation, ERYTECH Pharma, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Genzyme Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited, Pfizer, Inc. and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Electrophysiology (EP) Laboratory Devices Market: Emerging Market Trends, Size, Share and Growth Analysis http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/electrophysiology-laboratory-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14987 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com An electrophysiology (EP) laboratory is an operating room or a theatre equipped with high-tech equipment used in the treatment of cardiovascular problems such as arrhythmia, fibrillation, congestive heart failure and stroke among others. EP lab offers patients the opportunity to have their arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, tested, diagnosed and treated. An irregular heartbeat can lead to heart complications, fatigue, congestive heart failure or stroke. The EP lab focuses on the electrical function of the heart and treats various conditions on the spot.View Report @Electrophysiology laboratory devices market: DevicesCardiac mapping can map and detect specific electrical activity of the heart in real time. Any electric irregularities can be immediately diagnosed and potentially treated. Ablation studies can identify a patients electrophysiological weaknesses and diagnose diseases to provide suitable preventive measures. This non-surgical, minimally invasive process involves threading a small catheter into the heart. Electric impulses are studied and then potentially blocked or treated to create a regular rhythm in the heart. Defibrillator implantation are for those with a dangerously irregular heart rhythm and a very high risk of cardiac death. In such cases, cardiologists may choose to implant a defibrillator. This device can detect a dangerous rhythm and shock the heart back into regular pace. The device is implanted into a small incision near the heart and connected electrically to the heart. Cardiac electrophysiology assists the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias which causes abnormal electrical activities in heart.Electrophysiology laboratory devices market: WHO reportAccording to World Health Organization, around 17.5 million people die every year due to cardiovascular diseases. It is expected that, by 2030 about 23 million people may die each year due to cardiovascular diseases. This increasing prevalence of cardiac diseases is expected to boost the electrophysiology market as more and more patients will need medical attention. The prevalence of cardiac diseases is higher in developing nations.With the potential of 12 million atrial fibrillation patients by the year 2050 and improvements in technology for atrial fibrillation ablation therapy, significant growth is predicted for the number of hospitals building electrophysiology labs. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 electrophysiology labs in the U.S. and 2,000 electrophysiology labs outside the U.S., each with an electrophysiology recording system costing an average of approximately $250,000.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Electrophysiology (EP) Laboratory Devices Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Since past few decades cardiovascular disease prevalence is rising in populated countries such as China and India. Thus indicating a large market in Asia-Pacific in near future. Mobile and modular EP labs are a growing demand due to rise in emergency medicine and unmet on-field military applications. The market for electrophysiology devices is also expected to benefit due to quick adoption of ablation techniques for treating atrial fibrillation. As the technology advances, patients are exposed to less radiation, making it diagnosis and treatment safer for patients.Electrophysiology laboratory devices market: Key playersCurrently University of Rochester Medical Centre, Jeffrey M. Carlton Heart & Vascular Institute, London Bridge Hospital and many others are equipped with electrophysiology laboratory set-up. Corporates are continuously trying to acquire market share in this competitive market. In August 2013, St. Jude acquired Switzerland based Endosense. The deal was valued at USD 331 million, where St. Jude will gain access to TactiCath technology. In November 2013, Boston Scientific completed acquisition of C.R. Bards electrophysiology business. Other players in the market include Philips Healthcare, Medtronic, Inc., and GE Healthcare.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Blood and Fluid Warmer Market Research Report Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/blood-fluid-warmer-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15197 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Normal human body temperature falls between 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit and 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The prolonged body exposure to cold temperature leads to hypothermia condition which drops the body temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Hypothermia can increase risk during surgeries and cause prolonged healing time. Proper patient temperature management is crucial during the patient's stay in hospitals to accelerate healing after surgeries. Therefore, hospitals and other treatment centers adopt blood and fluid warmer systems to monitor and control the core body temperature of a patient. Also, the conditions such as severe trauma, thyroid conditions, diabetes and consumption of abusive drugs can increase the risk of hypothermia. A blood and fluid warmer instrument is used to warm fluids or blood prior to transfusion to a patient during the temperature management treatment. This treatment is mostly used in operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency settings for hypothermia prevention. Blood and fluid warmer systems enable patient treatment by maintaining normal body temperature to avoid hypothermia.View Report @The demand for blood and fluid warming instruments is fuelled by increased burden of hypothermia cases. The incidences of hypothermia is high in cold countries. For instance, according to Center for Disease Control (CDC), in the U.S. there were around 1,301 annual deaths caused due to hypothermia. The incidence of hypothermia is high in geriatric and infant population. Worldwide a gradual increase in surgical procedures along with aging population is the major factor which is anticipated to fuel growth of the global blood and fluid warmer market during the forecast period. Also, the increasing consumption of abusive drugs, growing incidences of thyroid conditions and diabetes are the other hypothermia causing factors which are expected to boost the demand for blood and fluid warming instruments. Increase in mergers and acquisitions among the major global players is one of the major trend in the global blood and fluid warmer market. However, high research and development expenses in product development and the low awareness about blood and fluid warming instrument treatments in the developing countries is anticipated to hamper growth of the global blood and fluid warmer market growth.The global market for blood and fluid warmer systems is segmented on basis of product, end user, application and geography:Segmentation by ProductSurface Warming SystemIntravenous Warming SystemPatient Warming AccessoriesSegmentation by ApplicationAcute CarePreoperative CareNew Born CareHome CareOthers (Obstetrics and Gynecology Care, etc.)Segmentation by End UserHospitalsClinicsE-commerceBased on product type, surface warming segment is expected to contribute largest share in global blood and fluid warming market due to increasing adoption in developed countries such as U.S, Germany and U.K. The segment is expected to grow rapidly over the forecast with increased penetration in Asia Pacific. Hospital end user segment is expected to contribute the maximum share among end users. Based on application the acute care segment is expected to contribute the maximum share owing to rise in geriatric population with different diseases.On the basis of regional presence, global blood and fluid warmer market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the global blood and fluid warmer market in terms of value due to high demand from U.S.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Blood and Fluid Warmer Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Some of the major players in global human papillomavirus testing market are 3M Company, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Barkey GmbH, CareFusion, GE Healthcare, Smiths Medical, Meridian Medical Systems, The 37Company, EMIT Corporation, etc. The blood and fluid warming market is mostly dominated by some key global vendors and is expected to witness steady CAGR in terms of revenue owing to increasing adoption in the patients. This patient pool includes people suffering from chronic diseases such as thyroid conditions, and diabetes among geriatric population along with rising number of surgical procedures performed globally. The entry of existing players in emerging countries and product development with enhanced technology in the blood and fluid warming market is expected to create competition in the market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Single Port Surgical Platform Market: Global Markets & Advanced Technologies http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/single-port-surgical-platform-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15263 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Single port surgical platform (SPSP) is a minimal invasive laparoscopy technique in which, a single incision is made on the body through single trocar which have multiple ports or single skin incision site with multiple facial incisions that have an individual trocar, are used to conduct the surgery. Single port surgical platforms are also called Single Port Access Surgery (SPA), Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS), and Laparo-endoscopic Single-Site Surgery (LESS). Normally, in abdominal surgeries, large incisions are made to conduct the surgery. Although, they are effective but they usually cause postoperative pain, wound infections, and prolonged hospitalization. Current rate of incisional hernia is 4-18% and wound infections are 2-25% in the U.S whereas, in case of conventional laparoscopic surgeries, multiple incisions are made on the body to conduct the surgery. To overcome the above challenges, companies are focusing on developing the novel single-port surgical platform, which creates single incision on the body. This surgical platform also helps in speedy recovery, small incisions, and are less prone to infections and pain conditions. In addition to these, it does not leave any scars on the body after the surgery.View Report @The market is driven mainly by factors such as technological innovations, increase in adoption of SPSP, growing preference towards minimally invasive surgery process, and exploration of their utility in other applications Ex: General Surgery, Gastroenterology, Urology, Gynecology and Bariatric Surgery. Increasing preference towards scar-less slimming surgeries is a major factor responsible for boosting the market growth. This platform allows surgeons to conduct surgeries in the abdominal cavity by accessing through small holes. Furthermore, SPSP reduces treatment costs by reducing hospital stay of the patients. Hence, patients and surgeons are prefer SPSP as compared to others. The major constraints of this market are high cost, lack of skilled professionals, and triangulation problems. The single port surgical platform (SPSP) is segmented based on its application and technology.Segmentation by ApplicationGeneral SurgeryGastroenterologyUrologicalGynecologicalBariatricSegmentation by TechnologyRobot/ Remote controlled AssistedManual AssistedNew products are being launched into the market to alleviate the disadvantages of the current SPSP platforms. SPSP is a lucrative segment in the laparoscopic surgeries, due to its technical aspects and patient benefits. On the basis of application, SPSP is mainly used in Bariatric surgeries. However, they are gaining traction of the other application areas such as gynecology, urology, gastroenterology, and general surgery due to its advantages.On the basis of its technology, the manual assisted SPSP holds major market share as compared to robot-assisted. In future, robot/ remote controlled technology is expected to dominate the market because surgeons can perform the complex surgeries in a more accurate and flexible way than the conventional surgery process by using the robot/ remote controlled technologyGet accurate market forecast and analysis on the Single Port Surgical Platform Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Recently, Intuitive surgical, a U.S.-based company, received FDA approval for its da Vinci Sp single port robot-assisted surgical system.SPSP is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America is holds a major market share on the basis of application of the SPSP owing to factors such as spending power of the people and introduction of new technologies into the market. Asia-Pacific markets are growing relatively fast due to cost effective surgeries and advancements in healthcare infrastructure.Key players in this market are Covidien, Applied Medical, Ethicon, Olympus Gyrus-ACMI, Novare Surgical, Cambridge Endo, Karl Storz, Intutive surgical, Fortmedix Surgical, and Trans Enterix. The market is relatively dominated by major players however, new players are trying to hold a major part of the market share by developing innovative products.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Burkholderia Infections Market: Applications and Global Markets http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/burkholderia-infections-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15479 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Burkholderia cepacia is an aerobic gram-negative bacillus that can be found in soil and water. Burkholderia cepacia is an organism of low virulence and are often resistant to common antibiotics. Burkholderia cepacia is considered as a colonizing bacterium rather than infecting bacterium. Burkholderia cepacia is considered as less risky for healthy people, however, people with chronic lung diseases (asthma, CFTR and COPD) are at high risk for suffering from burkholderia cepacia infections.View Report @Signs and symptoms of burkholderia cepacia infection can vary from person to person with no symptoms to serious respiratory medical conditions. Burkholderia cepacia infection can be transmitted through contaminated medical devices, person-to-person contact and contact with contaminated surfaces. Other possible complications caused due to burkholderia cepacia include soft-tissue infections, surgical-wound infections and genitourinary tract infections. Burkholderia cepacia may also cause catheter-related infections in patients with cancer.Burkholderia Infections Market: Trends and DynamicsThe prevalence of chronic lung diseases (asthma, CFTR and COPD) is increasing at a rapid pace across the world. Exact cause for asthma and cystic fibrosis is unknown, but the risk factors include hereditary conditions (passed from generation to generation) and environmental pollution (UV ray, chemical irritant). On the other hand, COPD is mostly caused due to cigarette smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), North America accounted for the highest number of asthma and COPD cases in the world in 2012.Likewise, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology estimated in 2012, that more than 100 million people would suffer from asthma across the world by 2025. According to the U.S Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Europe accounted for the largest prevalence of cystic fibrosis cases in 2012. Moreover, prevalence of asthma is observed more in case of children and geriatric population compared to adults. According to an article published by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, in 2012, nearly 10% children and 8% adults in the U.S. were diagnosed with asthma.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Burkholderia Infections Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Thus, growing pace of chronic lung diseases drives the global burkholderia cepacia infections treatment market. Moreover, technological advancement in diagnostic test further accentuates the global market demand of burkholderia cepacia infections treatment. There is no significant sign and symptom has been identified for infection with burkholderia cepacia. Thus, lack of awareness among people about burkholderia infections might restrict the global market demand of burkholderia cepacia infections treatment.Burkholderia Infections Market: Region-wise OutlookNorth America dominates the global market for burkholderia cepacia infections treatment due to strong demand of diagnostic test in this region. Moreover, increasing awareness among people and initiative taken by the federal government also accounted for the market growth in North American region. Europe represents the second position in the global burkholderia cepacia infections treatment market due to the presence of large geriatric population base in European region. Asia-Pacific is considered as an untapped market due to lack of proper healthcare facilities in some Asian countries.Asian market growth will be fuelled by the presence of untapped opportunities due to extensive increase in healthcare infrastructure (healthcare cost, healthcare facility and healthcare budget). Similarly, Asia-Pacific is considered as an emerging market due to growing market penetration in this region. Rest of the world (RoW) holds fourth position in the global burkholderia cepacia infections treatment market due to poor economic and health condition in most of the African countries.Burkholderia Infections Market: Key PlayersVarious key players contributing the global market share of burkholderia cepacia infections treatment market include Novabiotics Ltd, Aridis Pharmaceuticals LLC, NanoBio Corporation, iQur Ltd. among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Cholera Treatment Market: Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cholera-treatment-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16190 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Cholera disease spreads because of contamination of water and food and is closely associated with poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water. The global disease burden is around 35 million cases and 100 000 130 000 deaths per year. In recent time the frequency of cholera epidemics has increased. The disease is caused by Vibrio cholerae a rod-shaped waterborne bacterium. The toxins released by bacterium causes loss of intravascular and extravascular fluids and essential electrolytes in the small intestines.View Report @Cholera disease is generally characterized as acute, profuse watery diarrhea of one or a few days duration. In extreme condition the patients may suffer severe dehydration within 34 hours. Rehydration is the mainstay of treatment of Cholera or antibiotics are indicated for severe cases only.According to reports published by W.H.O Cholera control should be the main priority in the endemic areas. Right now there are only two types of oral cholera vaccines available. These oral vaccines should be used in conjunction with other preventive measure in areas where the disease is endemic. The vaccination provides an immediate short-term response while to completely overcome the disease other interventions such as availability of clean water and proper sanitation should be put into place.To control endemic cholera vaccination should be targeted at individuals with higher risk, the best way to counter cholera can be periodic mass vaccination campaigns, for example such as pre-school and school aged children, HIV-infected individuals and pregnant women. Older age individuals may also be taken into consideration for cholera vaccination. Currently protection induced by current cholera vaccines is 2 years, therefore initial vaccination of 2 dose should be followed by a booster dose after every 2 years.In recent times W.H.O. and its partners are considering newer ways to complement the traditional methods. The oral cholera vaccines have proven to be effective against the disease, the evidence provided by the use of cholera vaccines has paved way for investigation for mass vaccination for protection against cholera disease. As of now there are three types of oral cholera vaccines available Crucell, Dukoral and ShanChol, which are approved by W.H.O. Out of these three vaccines one is monovalent and the other two are bivalent vaccines. Several other oral cholera vaccines are under development. Currently the demand for cholera vaccines is uncertain as it depends on the immunization strategy which may vary total demand requirement.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Cholera Treatment Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.The W.H.O strongly recommends monitoring for confirmed cases of cholera disease must be integrated in already existing surveillance programs so that the impact of the disease and vaccination could be monitored.The global market for Cholera Vaccines is segmented into type of product type, vaccines type, end-user and region:Global Cholera Vaccine market segmentation on the basis of product type:SuspensionInjectableGlobal Cholera Vaccine market segmentation on the basis of vaccine type:Monovalent VaccinesDivalent VaccinesGlobal Cholera Vaccine market segmentation on the basis of end-user:HospitalsDrug StoresRetail PharmaciesGeographically cholera disease is a rare disease in the U.S. and other countries who have good sanitation system and clean water, however it is more prevalent in other parts of the world like developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America which do not have such kind of sanitation system and clean water.Key players in cholera vaccines manufacturing are Janssen Global Services, LLC, Shantha Biotechnics Pvt. Ltd, EuBiologics Halfkin Bio-Pharmaceuticals Corporation Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Human Growth Hormone Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/human-growth-hormone-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16283 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Human growth hormones are responsible for the growth and maintenance of tissues and organs throughout the life. Human growth hormones are also known as somatotropin which is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell division, cell growth and cell regeneration in humans. These hormones are naturally secreted from the pituitary gland in the hypothalamus. Any deformity or damage to pituitary gland can impact the natural productivity of the hormone levels. The natural slowdown of the growth hormones results into underdevelopment of any organ or tissue which further triggers the usage of synthetic human growth hormones in order to get the desired growth. Benefits of using human growth hormone are increased muscle strength, better fracture healing, stronger bones, depression, improved erectile function, decreased obesity and many more. Over secretion of growth hormones causes disfiguration of the body parts like face, feet. Gigantism and dwarfism are also caused by the disproportionate secretion of the growth hormones. Human growth hormones are also been used in the treatment of cancer especially in the post cancer therapy for the hair growth, loss of muscles and decreased bone mass.View Report @The global human growth hormone market is segmented according to the type, end users and geography. According to the product type, the market is segmented into spray, injections and pill. Spray form of growth hormone is administered sublingually through the mucous membrane. Injections are the most common and oldest form administration of human growth hormone, it is the most potent form and contains real recombinant growth hormones. Pills used the form of growth hormones that are not actual human growth hormones but they stimulate the pituitary gland to produce natural human growth hormone in the body. According to the end users the market is segmented into hospitals and private clinics. Geographically, the human growth hormone market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.The global growth hormone market is driven by increased use of bio similar drugs, improved therapeutic options for diseases like Alzheimers, rising number of cancer cases, rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases, increase in incidence of human growth hormone deficiency disease, growing aging population, technological advancement in the development of recombinant growth hormone. Increased disposable income and the willingness for better living are also increasing the demand for the development of human growth hormone. Whereas there are few restraining factors for the development of the market such as stringent regulatory approvals for recombinant DNA technology, high cost of treatment and adverse effects associated with the usage of synthetic growth hormone.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Human Growth Hormone Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Geographically the U.S. leads the human growth hormone market due increase in the proportion of aging population as it is used as an anti ageing agent, high incidence of turner syndrome, human growth deficiency disorder. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market as there is increase in the healthcare expenditure, changing lifestyle due to increased disposable income thereby having accessibility and affordability for growth hormone injections and larger geriatric population in countries like India and China. Europe is a saturated market for human growth hormones. The expected growth in Europe during the forecast period can be only with innovation of needless injector devices. Latin America is expected to emerge as potential market for human growth hormone due increase in the disposable income and rising healthcare reforms. Middle East and Africa are slow emerging markets for human growth hormone due to low socio economic status in majority of the Middle East and Africa.The leading players in the Human growth Hormone market are Pfizer Inc., Novo Nordisk, Merck Sereno, Eli Lilly, Sandoz Intrnational, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Roche.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Healthcare Scanners Market:Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-scanners-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16211 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Healthcare scanner are used to Imaging of different body part which create visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues. The healthcare industry is continuously evolving as new and emerging technologies to improve and extend lives. Healthcare scanner market will play a key role in the future of medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Imaging systems enable medical professionals to make processes within the human body visible so that they can diagnose pathological changes and precisely target therapeutic procedures. Demand for such systems is expected to be particularly strong in developing economies. Scanners are used for different disease conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Parkinsons disease etc. According to American Academy of neurology Alzheimers disease is ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. 5.4 million Americans are currently diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and the number will triple to 16 million by the year 2050.View Report @Different type of scanner functions differently, such x-ray scanners use ionizing radiation for imaging whereas ultrasound scanner use sound wave to create images of the inside body. Other healthcare scanners use radio wave, magnetic field and radiopharmaceuticals for imaging of inside body. Effective, safe, and high quality imaging is important for medical decision-making. The growing focus on R&D to provide high-quality imaging for better diagnosis and treatment of diseases is a critical factor that drives the global demand for healthcare scanner market. The improved health care policy and increasing availability of medical equipment has been increased the global imaging-based procedures.The factors such as growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer etc., growing number of diagnostic imaging procedures, increasing number of geriatric population, improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging markets, technological advancement and growing awareness for early diagnosis will drive the overall healthcare scanner market globally. However, high cost of diagnostic imaging systems, procedures and risk of high radiation exposure, are some factors that will hinder the overall healthcare scanner market growth globally.Healthcare Scanners Market is segmented By Product Type, By Application, By End Users and By Geography. By Product type includes Positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanners, Computed tomography (CT) scanner, Ultrasound Scanner, X-Ray film Scanner. In medical imaging, especially X-ray based examinations and ultrasonography, are crucial in a variety of medical treatment. By Application includes cardiology, Neurology, Cancer, Respiratory and others. By End Users includes Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory surgery centers and Diagnostic centers. By Geography it includes North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Healthcare Scanners Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Geographically, the market is dominated by North America, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific. Growth in the North America segment is primarily driven by aging baby boomers, high end-user purchasing power, sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, and reimbursement policies. According to Epilepsy foundation the average incidence of epilepsy each year in the U. S is estimated at 150,000 or 48 for every 100,000 people. Asia pacific is expected to grow at a highest rate due to booming healthcare sectors, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, rising awareness about the benefits of early disease diagnosis, growing medical tourism in APAC countries, and increasing government initiatives will fuel the overall healthcare scanner market in Asia Pacific. Emerging markets, including China, India, Australia, South Africa and Brazil have become attractive destinations for companies engaged in the development and marketing of healthcare scanner products.Some of the Key players in this market includes General Electric Company, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Philips Healthcare, Toshiba Medical Systems, Mediso, Cubresa, Fujifilm Holdings, Shimadzu Corporation, Carestream Health, Hitachi Medical Corporation and others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: MIAMI, May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Commonwealth Institute (TCI) honored 50 Top Women-Led Businesses from the state of Florida at a luncheon held today at Jungle Island. TCI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance businesswomen in leadership positions in Florida and Massachusetts; they partnered with Kaufman Rossin to administer and analyze the 2017 Women-Led Businesses Survey. The survey gathers information about women-led businesses in the state, identifying trends and common concerns. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/92df933c-4c4a-4d3b-be93-f6a80fcddc15 TCI reports, National data shows that women-owned businesses are strong and getting stronger. According to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses report commissioned by American Express Open, they have grown faster in number, employment and revenue than businesses as a whole since the Great Recession. Of the women surveyed, more than 58% reported their businesses grew in 2016 and 77.5% expect the same in 2017. About Christina M. Parsons, CEO CEO of DAS Group, Christina M. Parsons, was recognized today as one of the 50 Top Women-led Businesses; DAS Group was ranked 20th. Parsons and the other female business leaders that were recognized are CEOs, senior corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and more from a wide variety of industries. They have dedicated themselves to creating and growing successful businesses, organizations and careers. Prior to working at DAS Group, Parsons was Director of Marketing & Electronic Media at Global Directories and Director of eStrategy at Saveology.com. A graduate of University of Miami, Bachelor of Business Administration (2003) and Florida International University, Master of Business Administration (2011), Parsons' hard work and dedication as a strategic and connected businesswoman has led her to this point in her career. Additionally, she is happily married and is the proud mother of four talented children. About DAS Group, Inc. Founded in 1980, DAS Group is a directional marketing company that specializes in lead generation utilizing interactive advertising, search engine marketing and local search engine placements, custom application, web development, and online yellow pages. We are a certified Google partner. DAS Group strives to bring customized solutions to our clients through unique lead generation and marketing efforts. We don't believe in a "one size fits all" solution. Clients have different needs and objectives that allow us to utilize the many options at our disposal to help achieve measurable results. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017 - Clinical Trials & Results, Patent and Other Developments www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/juvenile-idiopathic-arthritis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/juvenile-idiopathic-arthritis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis/toc-sample www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/pharmaceuticals https://www.psmarketresearch.com The expanding pipeline for juvenile idiopathic arthritis can be attributed to the increase in its prevalence. One of the major factor that stimulate the growth of pipeline and research is that the cause of juvenile idiopathic arthritis is not known. The juvenile idiopathic arthritis occurs mostly in children before 16 years of age. Since the disease occurs only in children, so the safety and efficacy concerns of the drugs is given preference so that it can be treated without any side effects. Some of the other factors driving the pipeline growth include, raising awareness of health issues among children and less number of drugs available for therapy against juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Currently, one in 1,000 child in the U.S. suffers with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Females are more susceptible to juvenile idiopathic arthritis than males.Explore Report at:Juvenile idiopathic arthritis can be symptomatized as swelling, joint pain, tenderness, stiffness and fever that last for approximately more than 6 weeks. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, mostly occurs when bodys immune system erroneously attacks its own healthy tissues and cells, which result in inflammation, pain, heat, redness and swelling. Researchers have studied that, either environmental factors or genetic tendency of child act as triggers for the occurrence of the disease. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects mostly joints in knees, hand and feet. Sometimes, severe complication can occur in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis such as eye inflammation. Currently, no medical test is approved for diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Physicians diagnose juvenile idiopathic arthritis by examining the medical history of the patient and the result of other tests that help in ruling out other morbidities.Request for Table of Content at:In 2011, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. collaborated with Shire Plc for the development and commercialization of M923, which is a proposed biosimilar of Humira (adalimumab) but the collaboration was later terminated. In June 2010, F Hoffman-la-Roche announced that RoACTEMRA (known as ACTEMRA outside Europe) is highly effective in improving the signs and symptoms of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which currently has no licensed treatments. RoACTEMRA is also well tolerated in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and has a safety profile similar to adults with rheumatoid arthritis.Browse Other Related Report at:Some of the companies having a pipeline of juvenile idiopathic arthritis therapeutics include, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer, Inc., Novartis AG.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:KundanManager Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Candidiasis Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017 - Clinical Trials & Results, Collaboration, and Other Developments www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/candidiasis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/candidiasis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis/toc-sample www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/pharmaceuticals https://www.psmarketresearch.com Candidiasis therapeutic pipeline is expected to witness increase in coming years due to rising prevalence of the disease resulting from use of corticosteroid medications, pregnancy, long-term use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and increasing health awareness. According to the data by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 46,000 new cases of candidiasis occur every year in the U.S. Also, nearly 75% of all adult women have had at least one "yeast infection" in their lifetime. Candidiasis has become common healthcare-associated infection globally. The incidence and the distribution of candida species causing infection vary significantly by geographic location and patient population. Candida infections are often associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity as well as increases in hospital cost for patients and duration of hospital stay. It affects mainly females and occurs very rarely in males.Explore Report at:Candidiasis is a type of common fungal infection caused by fungus known as candida. Candida lives in various parts of our body including mouth, skin or belly and cause no harm. But when it gets right environment it multiplies and grows uncontrollably, resulting in the occurrence of the infection, known as candidiasis. There are many different types of candidiasis like thrush (oropharyngeal candidiasis), genital yeast infection (genital candidiasis), diaper rash from yeast infection and invasive candidiasis. The symptoms of candidiasis include disfiguring lesions, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, sore and painful mouth, whitish patches on the oral mucosa, dysphagia, retrosternal pain, fever and chills. The diagnosis of candidiasis is based on the type of candidiasis. Mucocutaneous candidiasis is diagnosed by wet mount, microscope examination and gram stain, cutaneous candidiasis is diagnosed by wet mount, microscope examination and potassium hydroxide smears. Genitourinary candidiasis is diagnosed by urinalysis and urine fungal cultures while gastrointestinal candidiasis is diagnosed by endoscopy. The treatment of candidiasis includes the use of topical antifungal agents or fluconazole.Request for Table of Content at:Some of the companies having a pipeline of candidiasis therapeutics include Matinas BioPharma Nanotechnologies, Inc., Pfizer, Medinova AG, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., ProFem GmbH, Scynexis, Inc., Cidara Therapeutics Inc., Viamet Pharmaceuticals, Inc., NovaDigm Therapeutics, Inc., TGV-Laboratories.Browse Other Related Report at:About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:KundanManager Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Graves Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017 - Clinical Trials & Results, Collaboration, and Other Developments www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/graves-disease-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/graves-disease-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis/toc-sample www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/pharmaceuticals https://www.psmarketresearch.com Graves disease therapeutic pipeline analysis is expected to increase owing to the high prevalence of the disease. Growing number of cases for hyperthyroidism is a major factor driving the pipeline analysis for Graves disease . In addition, increasing awareness regarding health issues among people is another major factor contributing towards the pipeline for Graves disease. According to American Thyroid Association, the prevalence of Graves disease has increased with increasing hyperthyroidism patients.Explore Report at:Graves disease is the result of hyperthyroidism, which basically means overproduction of thyroid gland. Hyperthyroidism cause majority of symptoms of Graves disease and it can also be associated with eyes inflammation, swelling of the tissues around the eyes and eyes bulging known as Graves ophthalmopathy. The most common symptoms of Graves disease include eye disease and skin disease. Eye disease includes redness of eyes and irritation of the eyes while skin disease includes pretibial myxedema in which a reddish lump is formed in front of the shins. The other symptoms of Graves disease are weight loss, anxiety, erectile dysfunction, change in menstrual cycles, irregular heartbeat and bulging eyes. Graves disease is an autoimmune disease in which antibodies bind to thyroid cells which results in overproduction of thyroid hormones. This results in hyperthyroidism. Graves disease is diagnosed by clinical observation and confirmed by laboratory testing which includes measuring thyroid hormone (thyroxine, or T4, and triiodothyronine, or T3) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in patients blood. Also family history with thyroid or autoimmune diseases is analyzed. Some of the risk factors of Graves disease include age, family history, smoking, pregnancy and autoimmune disorders. Treatment includes anti-thyroid medications, beta blockers and surgery. It is treated using antithyroid drugs including methimazole [Tapazole] and surgery in severe cases.Request for Table of Content at:Some of the key companies having a pipeline of Graves disease therapeutics include AV7 Limited, Apitope International NV, Neothetics, Inc., Nova Therapeutics LLC, Novartis AG, Omeros Corp. and Rodos BioTarget GmbH.Browse Other Related Report at:About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:KundanManager Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017 - Designation, Collaboration, and Other Developments www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/multiple-sclerosis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/multiple-sclerosis-therapeutics-pipeline-analysis/toc-sample www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/pharmaceuticals https://www.psmarketresearch.com Multiple sclerosis therapeutic pipeline is expected to grow in future on account of increasing demands of drugs which can completely overcome the rising prevalence of the disease. Currently, multiple sclerosis is mainly impacting regions North America and Europe, some of the other geographies impacted with the disease include Eastern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, at very low rate. Major factors driving the growth of pipeline for multiple sclerosis are increasing incidences of multiple sclerosis, stress conditions related to depression, decrease in life expectancy in patients with multiple sclerosis and increasing awareness of health issues.Explore Report at:Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable disease of nervous system which leads to devastation and disabling communication between brain and other parts of the body. It was also considered as an autoimmune disease in which immune system attacks its own tissues. It mainly causes the disruption of myelin sheath in nervous system and mainly occurs between the age of 20 to 40. Some of the initial symptoms of the disease include, blurred vision or even blindness in one eye, muscle weakness, difficulty in coordination which further leads to the impaired walking and standing. Some patients also experience pain, tremor, dizziness and sometimes hearing loss. Some of the other problems related to the disease include mental and psychological problems such as lack of attention, concentration and poor memory and judgements.Request for Table of Content at:Sanofi Genzyme collaborated with John Hopkins School of Medicine for development of novel strategies. ChemoCentryx and Forest Laboratories entered into a collaboration for the development of CCR1 receptor antagonist for multiple sclerosis therapeutics. Numares AG and Oxford University are in the process of entering into a collaboration for the development of in-vitro diagnostic test to improve therapeutic decision making for patients with multiple sclerosis, with the help of magnetic group signalling technology.Browse Other Related Report at:Some of the companies having a pipeline of the growth hormone deficiency therapeutics include Teva Pharmaceuticals, Biogen Idec, Bayer Healthcare, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Merck, and Novartis AG.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:KundanManager Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Global LED Lighting Market Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends by Forecast to 2023 LED Lighting Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2860 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/led-lighting-market-2860 Market Highlights:In rapid advancement in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) the lighting sources for general lighting applications which is more efficient as compared to incandescent lighting. Such characteristics combined with their long working life and reliability has made them the suitable choice for next generation of lighting systems including emergency, backlight, automotive, indoor and outdoor.To ensure accurate operation and to control the light intensity, LEDs need an efficient driver, normally implemented by power electronics-based conversion stages to match the LED characteristics with the AC grid voltage and to generate a controllable and high-quality light.The LED lighting Market is growing rapidly over 14% of CAGR and is expected to reach approximately at USD 105 billion by the end of forecast period.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on LED Lighting Market - Forecast to 2023.Major Key Players: Phillips Lighting Holding B.V. (Netherlands) General Electric Company (U.S.) Osram Licht AG (Germany) Cree Inc. (U.S.) Cooper Industries, Inc. (Ireland) Virtual Extension (Israel) Dialight Plc. (U.K.) Zumtobel Group AG (Austria) Samsung (South Korea) Sharp Corporation (Japan)Request a Sample Report @Market Segmentation:The LED lighting market has been segmented on the basis of product type and application. On basis of application the LED lighting consists of indoor lighting, outdoor lighting.In outdoor lighting the fixture manufacturers developed models that integrate the electronic components of energy-efficient LEDs into their designs. The integrated LED fixtures are easier to find ever before. A few manufacturers invent high-tech technology by merging wireless controls with the models. The manufacturers made the components of the newest integrated LED fixtures replaceable to eliminate the need and cost. The outdoor lighting fixtures that accommodate incandescent light bulbs wont disappear even though the bulbs will, because those same fixtures also accept more-efficient CFL and LED bulbs.Market Research Analysis:Market Research Future Analysis shows that new adoptions of energy efficient and cost effective components result in sudden hike in LED lighting market. It has been observed that developments in LED lighting gives automotive designers an important new tool to differentiate their products. LED lighting market has encourage government to ban incandescent lamps and is expected to minimize the impact over the next few years.Regional analysis for LED lighting market is studied in different geographic regions as North America Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. The European market is expected to be one of the leading players because there is demand for new lighting technology and solution in LED lighting, the application of it in hospitality business, architectural sights and lighting regulating in animal, plant and human biorhythms. North America is one of the prominent player in LED lighting market and is expected to witness noteworthy growth in the near future. Regulation over energy efficient product and high disposal income will help to drive demand for LED lighting for architectural application in North America region.Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of LED lighting market is being studied for region such as Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Rapid infrastructure activities across different industries has driven the market of LED lighting market in Asia-Pacific region followed by European region. Europe held the largest share of the global LED lighting market and is set to dominate the world marketplace. This growth is mainly attributed to the rising demand for outdoor application paired with stringent energy efficiency regulation.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience: Networking and Communication Service Providers (CSPs) Investors and consultants System Integrators Government Organizations Research/Consultancy firms Technology solution providers IT Solution Providers Automobile Manufacturers Construction CompaniesTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Type2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Led Lighting Market, By Installation TypeTable 2 Led Lighting Market, By ProductTable 3 Led Lighting Market, By ApplicationContinued.List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 LEd Lighting Market: By Installation Type (%)Figure 3 Led Lighting Market: By Product (%)Continued.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Solutions, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureMarket Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Ketoprofen Market Expecting Worldwide Growth by 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3383 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3383 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Ketoprofen is an analgesic, under the class of medication known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Ketoprofen is used for the treatment of pain, fever and inflammation. Ketoprofen acts on cyclooxygenase enzyme, to reduce the levels of prostaglandin chemicals, which causes fever, pain and inflammation. Ketoprofen is effective in treating conditions such as osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylosis, gout, lower back pain, sprain, pain after surgery and rheumatoid arthritis. However, ketoprofen has various side effects such as loss of appetite, nausea, headaches, stomach pain, liver problems, vomiting and indigestion.Request to view Sample Report @In addition, ketoprofen may also cause fatal blood vessels and heart problems. Some of the medicines, such as aspirin, lithium, ACE inhibitors, ciclosporin, pentoxifylline, warfarin and methotrexate, interact with ketoprofen leading to various complications. Ketoprofen interacts with these medicines and causes complications such as blood pressure lowering and lithium toxicity.Europe dominates the global market for ketoprofen due to large number of aging population and increasing junk food habits and sedentary lifestyle. Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in the global ketoprofen market. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing ketoprofen markets in Asia-Pacific region. Some of the key driving forces for ketoprofen market in emerging countries are large pool of patients, increasing healthcare expenditure and rising government funding.In recent times there is increased use of ketoprofen due to increasing aging population. Increased healthcare expenditure, increasing sedentary lifestyle, increasing prevalence of obesity and increasing prevalence of bone and joint disorders are some of the key factors driving the growth for the global ketoprofen market. In addition, increasing healthcare awareness and increasing number of surgeries are also fuelling the growth of the global ketoprofen market. However, strict regulations for approval of the drug and side-effects of ketoprofen are some the major factors restraining the growth for the global ketoprofen market.Broaden application of ketoprofen would develop opportunity for the global ketoprofen market. However, introduction of new therapeutic analgesics and herbal products could lead a challenge for the global ketoprofen market.Request to view Table of content @Some of the major companies operating in the global ketoprofen market are Sanofi, Hubei Xunda, Boehringer Ingelheim, Schein Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Jiuzhou.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: The Program to Protect LCD-Monitors against Image Persistence and Further Damage is Available http://perfectscreen.net http://perfectscreen.net/download.php?id=setup GRG Software Company released PerfectScreen program for everyday use in order to prevent damages and to correct initial stage damages on LCD monitors (also with LED-lighting) caused by image persistence.According to studies, every second LCD monitor has insignificant damages because of the main disadvantage of LCD technology itself image persistence. It appears on the monitor screen after a long display of a static image, such as Windows taskbar, elements of Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop interface. Since wide-screen monitors were introduced to the market, this problem became especially significant, because due to their sizes not the entire screen is being used.PerfectScreen program allows to resolve the issue of image persistence and to protect the monitor screen from damages. The program runs automatically in the background, therefore the user does not need to do anything. It is also capable to inform the user that the image persistence limit has been attained. On top of image persistence, the program may be used to prevent the appearance of stuck pixels and to correct them.The program works in a few steps. While the user is working on the computer, the program collects real time image persistence statistics. As soon as the user stops working, the program removes the accumulated image persistence based on the collected statistical data. After all image persistence is completely removed, algorithms of normalization of monitor screen are being turned on. Straight after the user re-commences his work, the program goes back to stage one.The quantity of the accumulated image persistence is displayed on the icon of the program in system tray. If it is in the green zone, the user can switch off the computer without danger of damaging the monitor. Alternatively, he can use an automatic switch off function when the program has completely removed image persistence and turns off the computer by itself.The program also gives an opportunity to check, visually or with the help of a camera, whether there is image persistence on the monitor. The user just needs to upload a picture of the monitor screen from the camera, and the program will show the areas with image persistence. The user may also test his monitors capacity to accumulate image persistence within 20, 40 and 60 minutes.PerfectScreen contains highly optimized algorithms, which allows minimizing the use of the computer resources. The program is suited for both home users and companies who wish to protect not only their property but also the health of their employees because image persistence creates a significant discomfort for the users.Pricing and availabilityPerfectScreen is available for Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. The price of the full version for one computer is $29.95. Discounts are available depending on the quantity of an order.LinksWebsite:Download:GRG Software develops and distributes software for home and business users internationally. The company is constantly improving their products and services. They are fully tested to the highest quality standards.Contact person: RobertCompany: GRG SoftwareEmail: info@perfectscreen.netCA, USA Temperature Monitoring System Market: Latest Innovations, Drivers and Industry Key Events 2016 - 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12163 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12163 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Temperature Monitoring System Market: IntroductionMaintenance of air temperature in a controlled environment ranging from factory floors and storage areas to industrial scale freezers, ovens and walk-in refrigerators is a crucial element as far as longevity of the products and productivity of the manufacturing equipment is concerned. The temperatures to be maintained in these areas has to be precise and within the range as fluctuations in temperature can affect the shelf life of the product. These fluctuations in temperature is recorded and stored in the server in real time by the temperature monitoring system. Temperature monitoring system thus is a complex system assembled with different electronic devices comprising of a computer acting as a server, temperature sensors, data connectivity devices or interfaces between the computer and the sensors and an alarm system to notify the personnel when temperature reaches critical levels. The sensors are placed in temperature critical zones where fluctuations of temperature is the highest. Productivity, being one of the most important aspect of a manufacturing company, can be hindered by the slightest variations in the operating conditions of the factory floor by various factors including the fluctuations in ambient air temperature. Therefore, temperature monitoring systems has been increasingly adopted by manufacturing companies and warehouses in order to achieve improved levels of productivity.A sample of this report is available upon request @Temperature Monitoring System Market DynamicsThe growth of temperature monitoring system is directly related to the market fluctuations in the application area. One such application is its usage in manufacturing corporations. The manufacturing activities on a global level scale is on a steady rise in the current scenario and is estimated to grow at an accelerated pace in the future thereby positively influencing the growth of the temperature monitoring system. E-commerce is one of the fastest growing and widely accepted marketplaces requiring large number of warehouses and storage facilities, these storage facilities are controlled enclosures where temperatures has to be properly maintained by the temperature monitoring system. Therefore, the increase in number of warehouses and storage system is one of the important factor driving the growth of temperature monitoring system. Another application driving the growth of temperature monitoring system market is its adoption in food & beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry, which commonly deals with perishable goods and products, requiring stringent temperature monitoring and recording system.Temperature monitoring system is a capital intensive system that requires precise pre-planning and installation, skilled personnel with an extensive knowledge of sensing electronics are required so as to enable the temperature monitoring system to function normally. Low availability of such personnel coupled with high cost can hamper the growth of the temperature monitoring system.An important trend identified in the temperature monitoring system are miniaturization of the entire system by implementing wireless technologies for data transmission. Manufacturers of the temperature monitoring system have also tweaked the system by eliminating dedicated wireless data transmission devices for enclosures which already has a central wireless connectivity system in place.Temperature Monitoring System Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as: Wireless System, Wired System. On the basis of application, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as: Agriculture, Automotive Industry, Food & Beverages Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry, Logistics, Electronics Industry, Oil and Gas Industry.Temperature Monitoring System Market: Regional OutlookBased on the geography the Temperature Monitoring System Market is divided into seven key segments as North America, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle-East & Africa (MEA), and Japan. High adoption rates of temperature monitoring system is anticipated in the North America, Western Europe, and Japan region owing to maturity in manufacturing sector while the growth in Asia Pacific Excl. Japan (APEJ) and Latin America region is expected to be slow due to restricted usage of advanced technologies in the manufacturing companies and warehouses.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Temperature Monitoring System Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in the Global Temperature Monitoring System Market are: Banner Engineering Corporation, Cooper-Atkins Corporation, Vaisala Oyj, Fluke Process Instruments, Isensix, Inc., DeltaTrak, Inc., Imec Messtechnik GmbH, KTR Kupplungstechnik GmbH, Emerson Electric Company, Physitemp Instruments, Inc.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Earth moving Equipment Market: Key Players, Growth, Analysis by 2015 2021 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3723 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3723 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Earthmoving equipment is referred to heavy equipment (heavy-duty vehicles designed specially for executing construction operation, mostly which involves earthwork operation). These heavy equipments are used in the construction industry to move large amounts of earth or to dig foundations and landscape areas. Earthmoving equipments are known with different name in different region such as heavy trucks, heavy machines, construction equipment, engineering equipment, heavy vehicles and heavy hydraulics. Earthmoving equipment operates through the mechanical advantage of a simple machine where the ratio between input force applied and force exerted is multiplied. Most earthmoving equipment uses hydraulic drives as a primary source of motion. Technically skilled worker are able to operate heavy equipment, these individuals are provided with special training before they operate any heavy equipments.A sample of this report is available upon request @On the bases of operation performed by the machine the global earthmoving equipments market can be bifurcated into excavators (compact excavator, dredging, dragline excavator, front shovel and others), loaders (skip loader and wheel loader), construction tractors and others (grader, scraper, track loader, material handler and others). Earthmoving equipments are majorly applied in the construction industry (private or government). Other major application of earthmoving equipments includes mining, digging and other heavy duty work. Construction industry is expected to maintain its dominance in the global earthmoving equipment market.Asia-Pacific has the largest market share for earthmoving equipment accounting for more than two fifth of the global earthmoving equipments market, followed by Europe and North America. China leads the global earthmoving equipments market. Asia-Pacific region is expected to maintain its dominance in the forecasted period. Europe and North America region are expected to witness average growth in the coming future. Global recession hampered the construction industries particularly in the western countries. But the industry is expected to show growth in the coming future helping the global earthmoving equipments market.Growth in the construction industry after the global recession is driving the global earthmoving equipments market. Additionally, increasing urban population demands for better dueling facilities proving growth opportunity for the construction industry, which in turn increases the demand for heavy machines including earthmoving equipments especially in the developing countries such as India and China. According to the 2009 revision of World Urbanization Prospect, the level of urbanization in the world crossed the 50% mark in 2009. According to the United Nations, urban population is expected to increase from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion in 2050. Also, governments and private sectors across the globe are investing in better infrastructure facilities. Construction of roads, residential buildings, healthcare centers and educational institutes is expected to increase the demand for earthmoving equipments to some extent. For infrastructure development, the U.K governments public sector investment is expected to rise by USD 4.9 billion to about USD 77.7 billion in 2013-14 over 2012-13. It is further expected to increase to about USD 83.0 billion in 2014-15.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Increasing investment for improvement of infrastructure facilities in the countries governments and private sector are investing heavily in the construction industries, providing growth opportunity for the manufacturers to invest more in the global earthmoving equipment market. Some of the major players operating in the global earthmoving equipments market are Atlas Copco, Bobcat Company, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Ingersoll Rand, CASE, New Holland and Track Marshall.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Brazil medical devices market is expected to grow with a CAGR of ~9.0% from 2016 - 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2869 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-devices-market-2869 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/mobile-application-development-platform-market Market HighlightsBrazil medical devices market is expected to grow with a CAGR of ~9.0% during the forecast periodThe World Health Organization (WHO) defines medical device as any instrument, apparatus, machine, appliance, implant, software, material etc. intended to be used for medical purposes and which does not achieve its primary intended action by pharmacological, immunological or metabolic means, but which may assisted these function.The medical device industry of Brazil though one of the fastest growing is very import dependent with U.S. and Europe occupying the top slots. The market drivers for medical devices market are innovation, falling manufacturing costs and rising idle manufacturing capacity due to poor performance of defense electronic manufacturing in the U.S. Technology and product development remain the best market strategies with miniaturization and connectivity leading the way. Connected healthcare devices, healthcare mobile applications and internet of things seem to be the future of the sector. The market involves two sub segments one high-tech devices with extreme sophistication and another is the low tech improved devices. The Brazilian market is a cost conscious market and this fact is reflected in the greater growth of low tech medical devices as compared to hi-tech segment in the developed markets such as U.S. The greater growth of the low tech segment is a boon for another players such as China.Key Players for Brazil Medical Devices Market: Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, Medtronic, Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV., Baxter International, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co., Cardinal Health, Boston Scientific Corporation, St. Jude Medical Inc., Hitachi Medical Corporation, Siemens Ltd and others.Request a Sample Copy @The market constraints are poor regulatory framework, growing concern for data security, differential connectivity between the developed and inaccessible regions of in Brazil, high cost of imported medical devices and high sales tariffs etc. The standardization of protocols and data together with issues of cross integration and compatibility of devices manufactured by different manufacturers remain a high technical barrier.The market is extremely consolidated with only a handful of players and advanced products will extract a premium. For example silicone implants were rage when they were introduced and thus were quickly absorbed by the market with low marketing costs. Thus the medical devices segment prefer technological innovative companies with first comers at a considerable advantage.Brazil Medical Devices market:The Brazil Medical Devices market is expected to generate good growth in future. The Brazil medical devices market is expected to grow with a CAGR of ~9.0% during the forecast period. The growth will be primarily channeled by the rising public healthcare expenditure and growingTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Medical Devices Market Research Report- Brazil Forecast to 2023Segmentation:Brazil medical devices market has been segmentedOn the basis of product type which comprises monitoring devices, diagnostic devices, diagnostic molecular devices, drug delivery devices, surgical devices, bio implants and stimulation devices, automation and robotics and others.On the basis of therapeutic application; market is segmented into general surgery, diagnostic imaging, respiratory, orthopedics, cardiovascular, dental, neurology, ophthalmology, ear-nose-throat (ENT), nephrology and urology, and others.On the basis of end users; market is segmented hospitals, ambulatory and home.Full Report with TOC @Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Related ReportMobile application development platform Market on Market Information, by Deployment (Cloud (Public, Private, Hybrid), On Premises), by End User (SBUs and Large Business Units), by Verticals (Healthcare, Retail, Transportation, Logistic, Telecom) - Forecast 2016-2022.Know more about this report @At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com SMITHFIELD, Va., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield is proud to announce its yearlong partnership with award-winning chefs from across the country who will develop mouthwatering recipes featuring Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork, an all-natural premium line of hand-trimmed fresh pork. Each recipe will showcase the superior quality and versatility of the Smithfield Prime collection and inspire consumers to cook with only the best ingredients at home. This carefully selected group of pork-centric chefs includes James Beard Foundation award winners and nominees, renowned restaurateurs, and cooking competition show finalists, who will bring their own style and personal touch to each unique recipe. The acclaimed chefs include: Seamus Mullen (New York), Jose Garces (Philadelphia), Colby Garrelts (Kansas City, Mo.), Jose Mendin (Miami), John Tesar (Dallas), Michael & David Cordua (Houston), Seth Adams (Park City, Utah), Paul Virant (Chicago), and Tuffy Stone (Richmond, Va.). A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2e74eb2d-78d7-454c-a8d4-fe65e8a1b32e Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork is a line of premium, all-natural fresh pork that is certifiably 20 percent more tender than other leading brands of all-natural pork. The Smithfield Prime collection is hand-trimmed and sourced from Americas most trusted farms, using a specialty breed of Duroc hogs and some of the most stringent quality standards in the industry. Thus, Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork products naturally have exceptional color, increased marbling, and enhanced flavor, creating an elevated eating experience. Award-winning chefs understand the importance of cooking with high quality ingredients, especially when it comes to protein, said Dedra Berg, senior director of fresh pork marketing for Smithfield Foods. We are thrilled to partner with some of the best chefs in the country to inspire at-home cooks to create a premium meal experience using Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork. Not all pork is created equal, and Smithfield Prime is the best fresh pork to cook with because it is naturally tender and juicy. Smithfield Prime 2017 Chef Partners: Seamus Mullen (New York, NY): Owner and head chef of Tertulia and El Colmado. Mullen is a three-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: New York City nominee, finalist on Food Networks The Next Iron Chef, and James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant finalist for Tertulia. Owner and head chef of Tertulia and El Colmado. Mullen is a three-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: New York City nominee, finalist on Food Networks The Next Iron Chef, and James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant finalist for Tertulia. Jose Garces (Philadelphia, PA): Garces operates more than 15 restaurants across the country, including Amada, Distrito, Tinto, Village Whiskey, Garces Trading Company, JG Domestic, Volver, Rural Society, The Olde Bar, Buena Onda, 24 Wood Fired Fare, Olon, Okatshe, and Ortzi, as well as Bayamo and Pincho Tapas Bar on board Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape. Garces was the 2009 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award, as well as the winner of Food Networks The Next Iron Chef in 2009. Garces operates more than 15 restaurants across the country, including Amada, Distrito, Tinto, Village Whiskey, Garces Trading Company, JG Domestic, Volver, Rural Society, The Olde Bar, Buena Onda, 24 Wood Fired Fare, Olon, Okatshe, and Ortzi, as well as Bayamo and Pincho Tapas Bar on board Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape. Garces was the 2009 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award, as well as the winner of Food Networks The Next Iron Chef in 2009. Colby Garrelts (Kansas City, MO): Chef and co-owner of Bluestem and rye with his wife, Pastry Chef Megan Garrelts. Garrelts was the 2013 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award and was named one of the Top 10 Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 2005. His restaurant Bluestem was also a semifinalist for the 2017 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant award. Chef and co-owner of Bluestem and rye with his wife, Pastry Chef Megan Garrelts. Garrelts was the 2013 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award and was named one of the Top 10 Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 2005. His restaurant Bluestem was also a semifinalist for the 2017 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant award. Jose Mendin (Miami, FL): Founding partner and chef of Pubbelly Restaurant Group who oversees the culinary vision of Pubbelly Noodlebar (Miami Beach); Pubbelly Sushi (Miami Beach, Brickell City Centre, American Airlines Arena, Casa de Campo); Food Republic (aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape) and Pawn Broker (Miami). Mendin recently opened Pubbelly Ysla (Puerto Rico) and Pubbelly Sushi Market (Aventura), and is also opening a Pubbelly Sushi location in Dadeland later this year. Mendin is a five-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South award nominee and was also nominated for the Food & Wine Best Chef award in 2014. Founding partner and chef of Pubbelly Restaurant Group who oversees the culinary vision of Pubbelly Noodlebar (Miami Beach); Pubbelly Sushi (Miami Beach, Brickell City Centre, American Airlines Arena, Casa de Campo); Food Republic (aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape) and Pawn Broker (Miami). Mendin recently opened Pubbelly Ysla (Puerto Rico) and Pubbelly Sushi Market (Aventura), and is also opening a Pubbelly Sushi location in Dadeland later this year. Mendin is a five-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South award nominee and was also nominated for the Food & Wine Best Chef award in 2014. John Tesar (Dallas, TX): Owner and executive chef of Knife at the Highland Dallas hotel. Tesar appeared on seasons 10 and 14 of Bravos Top Chef. He is a four-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist and is also set to open Knife Burger and Knife Plano later this year. His first book, Knife: Texas Steakhouse Meals at Home, was published in May 2017. Owner and executive chef of Knife at the Highland Dallas hotel. Tesar appeared on seasons 10 and 14 of Bravos Top Chef. He is a four-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist and is also set to open Knife Burger and Knife Plano later this year. His first book, Knife: Texas Steakhouse Meals at Home, was published in May 2017. Michael & David Cordua (Houston, TX): The father and son duo are chefs and founding partners of Cordua Restaurants, whose brands include Churrascos, Americas, Artista, Amazon Grill, and Cordua Catering. Michael Cordua is a three-time James Beard Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist, was previously named by Food & Wine as one of the Top Ten Chefs in America, and was inducted into the prestigious Food & Wine Hall of Fame in 2008. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, David Cordua was named Up & Coming Chef of the Year by the Houston Culinary Awards, 40 Under 40 by the Houston Business Journal and Houston Truffle Chef of the Year by Les Dames d'Escoffier since becoming Executive Chef of Cordua Restaurants in 2009. The father and son duo are chefs and founding partners of Cordua Restaurants, whose brands include Churrascos, Americas, Artista, Amazon Grill, and Cordua Catering. Michael Cordua is a three-time James Beard Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist, was previously named by Food & Wine as one of the Top Ten Chefs in America, and was inducted into the prestigious Food & Wine Hall of Fame in 2008. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, David Cordua was named Up & Coming Chef of the Year by the Houston Culinary Awards, 40 Under 40 by the Houston Business Journal and Houston Truffle Chef of the Year by Les Dames d'Escoffier since becoming Executive Chef of Cordua Restaurants in 2009. Seth Adams (Park City, UT): Executive chef and co-owner of Riverhorse on Main. Riverhorse on Main has been awarded the AAA Four-Diamond Award, DiRoNA Award, and Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Rating. Adams has also served as the annual host for the James Beard Foundation Celebrity Chef Tour. Executive chef and co-owner of Riverhorse on Main. Riverhorse on Main has been awarded the AAA Four-Diamond Award, DiRoNA Award, and Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Rating. Adams has also served as the annual host for the James Beard Foundation Celebrity Chef Tour. Paul Virant (Chicago, IL): Chef and owner of Vie and Vistro. Virant is a four-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Great Lakes finalist, and was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine in 2007 and Best New Chef by Chicago Magazine in 2005. He also received the 2007 Jean Banchet Award for Culinary Excellence as Top Celebrity Chef and has competed on Food Networks Iron Chef America. His flagship restaurant, Vie, earned a Michelin star in 2011. Chef and owner of Vie and Vistro. Virant is a four-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Great Lakes finalist, and was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine in 2007 and Best New Chef by Chicago Magazine in 2005. He also received the 2007 Jean Banchet Award for Culinary Excellence as Top Celebrity Chef and has competed on Food Networks Iron Chef America. His flagship restaurant, Vie, earned a Michelin star in 2011. Tuffy Stone (Richmond, VA): Stone is a classically-trained French chef, accomplished pitmaster, and the owner of Q Barbecue restaurants and A Sharper Palate Catering. His professional barbecue team Cool Smoke has earned Grand Champion titles in nearly every major competition, including back-to-back wins at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, a win at the 2015 Kingsford Invitational, and in 2016, became the first team to win the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational three times. Stone served as judge and host on Destination Americas BBQ Pitmasters for six seasons, and was also the esteemed host of the James Beard Foundation Sizzling Summertime Barbecue event at The Beard House in 2016. To learn more about the award-winning chefs, the Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork line of products, and to view the chefs original recipes, visit www.Smithfield.com/PrimeChefs. About Smithfield A leading provider of high-quality pork products, Smithfield was founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, establishing the town as the Ham Capital of the World. From hand-trimmed bacon and slow-smoked holiday hams to marinated tenderloins, Smithfield brings artistry, authenticity and a commitment to heritage, flavor, and handcrafted excellence to everything it produces. With a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts, the company services retail, foodservice, and deli channels across the United States and 30 countries abroad. All of Smithfields products meet the highest quality and safety standards in the industry. To learn more about how Flavor Hails from Smithfield, please visit www.Smithfield.com, www.Twitter.com/SmithfieldBrand, and www.Facebook.com/CookingWithSmithfield. Smithfield is a brand of Smithfield Foods. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. Container Shipping Market: Key Growth Factor, Industry Analysis 2015 to 2021 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3798 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3798 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Containers are used to transport objects from one place to another. Unlike conventional shipping, container shipping uses containers of various standard sizes20 foot (6.09 m), 40 foot (12.18 m), 45 foot (13.7 m), 48 foot (14.6 m), and 53 foot (16.15 m)to load, transport, and unload goods or objects. As a result, containers can be moved by trains, ships and trucks. Most commonly and important container sizes are 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot container is generally referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) and the 40-foot container is known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU).A sample of this report is available upon request @Containers are generally made up of aluminum and steel . The size and type built of each container comply with specifications and regulations formulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).Shipping containers are of various types . The most important type of container is dry cargo . Dry cargo containers are often referred to as special containers. These special containers include open side, open end, open top, half-height, flat rack, refrigerated, liquid bulk, and modular. These containers are built as a same exterior lengths and widths as the standard dry cargo containers.In addition, open top containers are used for easy loading of cargo such as odd-sized goods and machineries. Flat racks are used for vehicles, boats, machineries and industrial equipment . Open side containers are used for transporting vegetables such as onions and potatoes. Tank containers are used to transport liquids such as chemicals, wine, and vegetable oils.Each container has its own unique unit number , often known as box number. Box numbers are used by crew members, ship captains, coastguards, customs officers, dock supervisors, and warehouse managers to identify the owner of a container and who is using it to ship goods, and to track the containers location across the world.The container sizes need to be standardized so that they can be stacked most efficiently. It transport one on top of the other in trains, ships, trucks and cranes at the ports can be specially fitted or built to a single size specification. Container size standardization is carried out by the ISO whose primary work is to set standard sizes for all containers .The most important step in container shipping is proper loading of containers in trucks, ships, and trains. Several government associations such as the World Shipping Council (WSC), together with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), published the Transport of Containers by Sea Industry Guidance for Shippers and Container Stuffers. It provides specific guidelines to shipping companies to transport containers in a safe and efficient way.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global container shipping market . This is due to improved transportation services in this region. The U.S. represents the largest market for container shipping followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Italy, and France hold the major share of the container shipping market. Asia is expected to witness high growth rates in the next five years, as many companies are constructing manufacturing facilities in this region. The rising number of manufacturing units would result in significant rise in demand for containers. Improving transportation services are boosting growth of the container shipping market in this region. Japan, China, and India are expected to be the fastest-growing container shipping markets in Asia.Increasing demand for transportation services is a key driver of the global container shipping market. Rising number of factories and manufacturing units has fueled growth of the global container shipping market. In addition, several government associations are also boosting growth of the global container shipping market by providing specific guidelines to shipping companies.However, high shipping freight rates obstruct growth of the global container shipping market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global container shipping market are China Shipping Container Lines, HANJIN, China Ocean Shipping Company, HAPAG-LLOYD, Mediterranean Shipping Company, and MAERSK.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Balancing Valves Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 Balancing Valves market http://www.globalinforeports.com/request-sample/244056 http://www.globalinforeports.com/report/global-balancing-valves-market-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022 http://www.globalinforeports.com/check-discount/244056 http://www.globalinforeports.com/send-an-enquiry/244056 "A balancing valve is a measurement and regulation device. Balancing valves are used in pressurized piping applications, such as HVAC and gas movement applications.The main purpose of a balancing valve is generally to create a consistent output pressure to a system from an inconsistent input pressure from a different system."Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Balancing Valves in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversIMI HydronicDanfossFrese A/SCaleffiVIR GroupCrane Fluid SystemsOventropIVAR GroupHoneywellArmstrongGrinnellNibcoMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversAutomatic Balancing ValvesManual Balancing ValvesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHAVCHeating SystemOthersBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Balancing Valves market.Chapter 1, to describe Balancing Valves Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Balancing Valves, with sales, revenue, and price of Balancing Valves, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Balancing Valves, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Balancing Valves market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Balancing Valves sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceCheck for discount @Some points from TOC:-1 Market Overview1.1 Balancing Valves Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Automatic Balancing Valves1.2.2 Manual Balancing Valves1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 HAVC1.3.2 Heating System1.3.3 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 IMI Hydronic2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Balancing Valves Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 IMI Hydronic Balancing Valves Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Danfoss2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Balancing Valves Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Danfoss Balancing Valves Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Frese A/S2.3.1 Business OverviewEnquiry Before Buying@About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products.Contact us:John+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.com Tyre Inner Tubes Market: Industry Trends and Developments 2015 to 2021 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4361 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4361 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Tyre inner tubes are the internal components of the primary tyre which are designed to sustain air pressure. Majority of the tyres which are used in motorcycles, bicycle, large vehicles such as tractors, heavy trucks, cars, and buses are designed for their application with inner tubes. These are made from impermeable materials such as synthetic, elastic, soft rubber for the purpose of avoiding air leakge and are torus shaped in nature. In addition, inner tubes which are larger in size possess the ability to be re used for other applications such as rafting and swimming. These tubes are large inflatable toruses which are manufactured for these applications while also offering a choice of decks, handles, fabric covering, colors and other various accessories, eliminating the protruding valve stem. Manufacturers such as Schrader International develop inner tubes for two wheeler vehicles which provide high performance to motorcycle tube tyres. The company provides valve vulcanization for inner tubes ensuring high quality rubber adhesion and leaks. Schrader International also provides inner tubes for other vehicles such as agricultural and industrial machinery, buses, trucks and cars.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global inner tube industry is dependent on raw materials such as rubber suppliers as well as the buyers which mainly include automotive manufacturers. More than half of the global rubber production goes into the manufacturing of automotive tyres. In addition, the inner tube and tyre industry serve as the largest application segment in the overall rubber industry. The Rubbers Manufacturers Association (RMA) represent the rubber industry where members of the association contribute to more than half of revenues generated in the rubber industry. The industry for inner tubes has always been dependent on the automotive industry. The degree of competition between the tyre inner tube manufacturers has been strong, specifically for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) among the tyre manufacturers. Due to the fact that automobile end users are more inclined towards purchasing replaced tyres of the same product which is originally sold on the car, tyre and inner tube manufacturers have to reluctantly reduce the prices and have to make the automobile manufacturers select their product, which leads to high bargaining power of buyers.Besides automotives, tyre inner tubes are used largely in the aerospace industry. Large scale corporations such as Goodyear, Bridgestone Corporation, and Dunlop are significantly involved in the manufacturing of aircraft tyres that are eco-friendly, more intelligent, economical, safer and less noisy. They are consumed in significant quantities for various civil and military applications, where military operation hold huge demand on aircraft tyres where loads can be highly substantial with speed going more than 225 miles per hour. Companies such as Dunlop have been involved in the industry as a key player which manufactures tyres used in military aircrafts from the well known Vulcan and Spitfire to the modern F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Heavy military aircraft such as C-130, the Tornado and the Hawk, and the latest A400M. The company serves various segments of the military aviation industry such as marine corps, naval forces and air forces across the world with tyres designed to give maximum operation characteristics in the fluctuating environmental conditions as well.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Bridgestone Corporation, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin, and Schrader International are some of the key players involved in the tyre inner tube industry.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Respiratory Disease Testing Market By Analysis of Major Industry Segments 2022 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/respiratory-disease-testing.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1288 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ A new Transparency Market Research report states that the global respiratory disease testing market stood at US$2.32 bn in 2013 and is anticipated to reach US$3.14 bn by 2022, by expanding at a CAGR of 3.40% from 2014 to 2022. The title of the report is Respiratory Disease Testing Market- Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022.The respiratory system plays a key role in the delivery of oxygen to the body and also removes carbon dioxide waste from the body. In addition, the system also eliminates toxic waste, stabilizes blood-alkaline balance (pH), and regulates temperature. Respiratory diseases inhibit this normal functioning of the respiratory system and may occur as a result of causes such as the inhalation of dangerous agents, smoking, and unhealthy lifestyles. A number of genetic factors, infections, and other factors impacting the development of the lungs, either indirectly or directly may also cause respiratory ailments.This 119 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the respiratory disease testing market. Browse through 10 data tables and 40 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:As per the report, the rising aging population raises the utilization of respiratory disease testing products, thus having a positive impact on the growth of the market. In addition, the increasing occurrence of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and cystic fibrosis also propels the growth of the market for respiratory disease testing. Furthermore, the rising technological developments will also have a positive impact on the development of this market. On the other hand, the report states that the decreasing adoption of advanced spirometers and digital radiography systems is a key factor impeding the growth of the market.In terms of test, the respiratory disease testing market is segmented into spirometry tests, imaging tests, blood gas tests, peak flow tests, lung volume tests, and other tests. Amongst these, the segment of imaging tests led the market in 2013. The reason for the dominance of this segment is the increasing demand for imaging tests such as X-rays, etc. Additionally, imaging tests have also emerged as the first-line diagnostic tests for a number of respiratory diseases.By end use, the respiratory disease testing market is segmented into physician offices, clinical laboratories, and hospitals. Amongst these, hospitals constituted the largest share in the market for respiratory disease testing in 2013. The reason for the dominance of this segment is the wide-ranging use of respiratory diagnostic instruments, particularly X-ray machines, within this segment. Furthermore, doctors globally have shown a high preference for in-house diagnostic tests for patients rather than relying on outside laboratory tests, thus resulting in an increased dominance of hospitals globally.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving respiratory disease testing market during 2014 - 2022:On the basis of geography, the report segments the market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Amongst these, North America constituted the largest share in the market in 2013. This is owing to the rising occurrence of respiratory diseases and the increasing demand for home healthcare services and devices here. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific respiratory disease testing market is predicted to rise at the swiftest growth rate in the coming years.As per the report, the chief players operating in the market are COSMED, CareFusion Corp., Carestream Health Inc., Futuremed America Inc., GE Healthcare, NIHON KOHDEN Corp., Perkin Elmer Inc., Philips Healthcare, SDI Diagnostics, Smiths Medical, and Siemens Healthcare, among others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Canada Home Healthcare Market size and key trends in terms of volume and value 2014-2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/canada-home-healthcare-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4898 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Transparency Market Research has published a new report on the Canada home healthcare market. According to the report, the Canada home healthcare market is expected to expand at an 8.90% CAGR from 2014 to 2020. The report, titled Canada Home Healthcare Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, states that the market stood at US$10.45 bn in 2013 and is expected to reach US$18.94 bn by 2020 owing to the rising incidences of lifestyle and chronic diseases and the technical advantages in home healthcare services.The Canada home healthcare market comprises a wide range of home healthcare services and devices to support people with chronic diseases. The prevalence and risk of chronic diseases are continually rising in Canada. This has led to the increasing acceptance of home healthcare services as hospital stays can be both expensive and inconvenient. The changing demographics in Canada are further expected to propel the Canada home healthcare market in the years to come. As per recent statistics, in Canada, there were around 5 million people aged over 60 years in 2011 and the number is predicted to reach 10.4 million in the next 25 years. Chronic diseases are more likely to be detected in elderly people. As the pool of aging people is expected to increase in Canada, the number of people affected by chronic diseases is expected to increase, thus benefiting the Canada home healthcare market.This 113 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Canada home healthcare market. Browse through 10 data tables and 42 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:The Canada home healthcare market is segmented on the basis of region, service, and device type. By device type, the Canada home healthcare market is classified into diagnostics and monitoring devices, home mobility assist devices, home healthcare devices, and medical supplies. In 2013, the diagnostics and monitoring devices segment held a share of 30% in the Canada home healthcare market. The Canada government is constantly taking efforts to spread awareness among people about various chronic diseases and illnesses such as hypertension, sleep apnea, and diabetes. Over the past few years, people have thus become aware of the benefits of home healthcare devices for the management of chronic diseases.Factors such as challenging regulatory restrictions and the lack of training to operate home healthcare devices are expected to restrict the growth of the Canada home healthcare market in the years to come. However, the constantly rising disposable income, the rising pool of patients with chronic diseases, the development of home healthcare technologies, and the untapped market are some of the factors expected to propel the Canada home healthcare market in the years to come.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Canada home healthcare market during 2014 - 2020:By service, the Canada home healthcare market is classified into telehealth and telemedicine, rehabilitation, infusion therapy, unskilled home healthcare, and respiratory therapy services. In 2013, the Canada home healthcare market was dominated by the unskilled home healthcare services owing to the rising geriatric population and the rising uptake of nonprofessional home healthcare services. The telehealth and telemedicine segment is expected to expand at an 11.0% CAGR from 2014 to 2020.Based on region, the Canada home healthcare market is divided into Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Rest of Canada. In 2013, the Canada home healthcare market was dominated by Ontario owing to favorable government policies towards various home healthcare services. Johnson & Johnson, 3M Healthcare, We Care Health Services, Home Care Ontario, Omron Healthcare, GM Healthcare, and The Canadian Home Care Association are some of the key companies operating in the Canada home healthcare market.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: U.S. Knee Implant Market: Emerging Trends and New Technologies Research 2016 - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/us-knee-implant-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=19649 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ U.S. Knee Implant Market: SnapshotThe U.S. market for knee implants a matured market and projected to witness steady growth over the forthcoming years. The technological advancements in knee implants, such as the usage of 3D printing, biocompatible materials, robotic-assisted surgeries, and navigation technology are likely to drive this market in coming years. Apart from this, the increasing health care expenditure and the rising population of geriatric individuals are also anticipated to contribute to the growth of this market significantly.The U.S. knee implant market stood at US$4.3 bn in 2015 and is expected to protrude at a CAGR of 5.30% between 2016 and 2024 and reach US$7.0 bn by 2024.This 100 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the U.S. knee implant market. Browse through 5 data tables and 22 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Hospitals to Remain Key End Users of Knee ImplantsHospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and specialized orthopedic clinics are the main end users of knee implants in the U.S. The demand for knee implants is much higher from hospitals than other end users. The hospitals segment held a share of more than 43% of the overall demand for knee implants in the country in 2015. With the presence of hospitals in a very large number, this segment is likely to remain the topmost end user of knee implants in the U.S.Ambulatory surgery centers are also expected to emerge as a lucrative end-use segment for knee implant manufacturers in the U.S. over the next few years. As these centers offer modern health care facilities and emphasize on providing same-day surgical care, including diagnostics and preventive procedures, which has begun to reflect positively on the demand for knee implants from these centers. Apart from this, the shifting preference of patients from hospitals to ambulatory service centers, owing to the after care services, cost-effective care, and minimally invasive surgeries provided by the latter, is also projected to influence the demand for knee implants from these centers in the near future.Midwest Region to Lead U.S. Knee Implant MarketThe U.S. market for knee implants has its presence across the Pacific region, the Mountain region, the South Central region, the Midwest region, the South Atlantic region, and the North East region. The Midwest region has been leading this market, thanks to a number of ambulatory surgical centers present in this region. The increasing uptake of new technologies is also supporting the progress of the market for knee implants in Midwest region.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving U.S. knee implant market during 2016 - 2024:The presence of a large pool of knee implant manufacturers and a widespread distribution channel are likely to maintain the growth pace of this regional market, ensuring its lead over the next few years. Indiana, followed closely by Virginia, has been generating higher revenues than other states in the U.S. The high number of hospitals and the mounting osteoarthritic burden due to the baby boomer population are the key factors propelling these domestic markets in the country.Led by Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., Stryker Corp., and Smith & Nephew, the U.S. market for knee implants is highly consolidated in nature. The other significant players operating in this market are B. Braun Melsungen AG, Exactech Inc., DJO Global Inc., ConforMIS, OMNIlife science, Inc., MicroPort Scientific Corp., and Arthrex.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Autologous Matrix-induced Chondrogenesis Market: Latest Trends & Insights 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/autologous-matrix-induced-chondrogenesis-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=19289 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Market: SnapshotAutologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC) applies bi-layer collagen membrane through microfracture surgery to fix the damage to the articular cartilage damage. The AMIC procedure is a one-step that uses the microfracturing method, which is an established first-line treatment. The growing demand for minimal invasive procedures and a high prevalence of bone and joint disorders are expected to drive the growth of this market across the globe. According to the research report, the global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market was valued at US$89.71 mn in 2015 and is expected to be worth US$186.38 mn by 2024. Between the years of 2016 and 2024, the global market is expected to progress at a CAGR of 8.6%.This 114 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market. Browse through 12 data tables and 41 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Collagen to Lead the Pack as its Usage Gains Value in Tissue Engineering SectorOn the basis of material the global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market segmented into hyaluronic acid, collagen, polyethylene glycol (PEG), poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PGLA) and others. Of these, the collagen segment held the largest share of this market in 2015, which was closely followed by hyaluronic acid. Collagen accounts for approximately 30% of all protein within the human body. Therefore, it is widely used for tissue engineering applications. High tensile strength and excellent handling properties of collagen are expected to drive the segments growth in the coming years.Several players operating in the global market are focusing on developing technologically advanced products, which will ensure swift uptake of autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis. For instance, In North America-based Geistlich Pharma, Inc. launched its line of bone harvesting instruments in February 2016. The line include products such as Geistlich SmartScraper, Geistlich SafeScraper TWIST, and Geistlich Micross.North America to Dominate Global Market with Massive Pool of GeriatricsIn terms of geography, the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market is fragmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America accounted for the largest share of the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in 2015, followed by Europe. Increasing prevalence of various bone and joint disorders such as arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis amongst the geriatric population is likely to support the growth of autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in North America.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market during 2016 - 2024:Autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in Europe, Germany, and France accounted more than 45% share of the total Europe autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in 2015. Asia Pacific is also expected to be the fastest-growing market, expanding at a phenomenal CAGR compared to other regions. Increasing demand for minimal invasive procedures and increasing disposable income, along with increasing prevalence of cancer is expected to boost the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in the region during the forecast period.The leading players operating in the global AMIC market are JRI Orthopaedics Ltd., BioTissue AG, Anika Therapeutics, Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Arthro-Kinetics, Geistlich Pharma AG, CartiHeal, Matricel GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc and Zimmer Biomet Holdings. The competitive landscape of the global market is fairly consolidated as just a few players hold a significant share in the overall market. In the coming years, these players are expected to focus on expanding their reach by penetrating into developing countries of Brazil, India, South America, and Mexico. The report indicates that this move comes as the companies are trying to bring down the cost of their products by using the cheaper skilled labor in these nations and benefit from their booming medical tourism industry.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Allergy Medicine Market Research Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1070148&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-allergy-medicine-market-research-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com In this report, the global Allergy Medicine market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Allergy Medicine in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Global Allergy Medicine market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingSanofiJohnson & JohnsonBayerMatrixx InitiativesAstraZenecaGSKPfizerChattemOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoTabletLiquidOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Allergy Medicine for each application, includingKidsAdultsDownload full Report with TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Allergy Medicine Market Research Report 20171 Allergy Medicine Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Allergy Medicine1.2 Allergy Medicine Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Allergy Medicine Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Allergy Medicine Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Tablet1.2.4 Liquid1.3 Global Allergy Medicine Segment by Application1.3.1 Allergy Medicine Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Kids1.3.3 Adults1.4 Global Allergy Medicine Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Allergy Medicine Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Allergy Medicine (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Allergy Medicine Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Allergy Medicine Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Allergy Medicine Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Allergy Medicine Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Allergy Medicine Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Allergy Medicine Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Allergy Medicine Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Allergy Medicine Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Allergy Medicine Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Allergy Medicine Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Allergy Medicine Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Allergy Medicine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Allergy Medicine Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Allergy Medicine Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Allergy Medicine Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Allergy Medicine Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Allergy Medicine Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Allergy Medicine Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Allergy Medicine Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Allergy Medicine Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Allergy Medicine Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Allergy Medicine Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Allergy Medicine Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.QYResearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Dolomite Market Key Players like Lhoist Group, Imerys, Specialty Minerals, Magnesita- New 2017 Report http://emarketorg.com/pro/global-dolomite-market-research-report-2017/ http://emarketorg.com/product-enquiry/?product-id=89998 https://twitter.com/emarketorg Dolomite market is expertly studied for growth rates, top companies, regional outlook, product types, industry trends and more in a newly released report now available with eMarketOrg.com.For this report, the Dolomite market value is provided for 2016 in USD millions, an expected CAGR % as well as USD million worth of industry in 2022. Regionally, the globe is segmented into United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and India to study their market size and local analysis. End user applications of Dolomite market covering Industrial and Agricultural are studied in this research. Share of Dolomite market is covered by applications as well supported with potential applications in the future.Buy the complete Dolomite report with Comprehensive table of contents @An extensive analysis methodology is involved for this Dolomite research report.The research methodology used to estimate and forecast the Dolomite market involves a primary and a secondary research. A systematic procedure has been used to arrive at the global size of the Dolomite market and present revenue of key players in the market. Accurate data has been collected by conducting extensive interviews with people holding key decision making positions in the industry such as CEOs, VPs, directors, and executives.Inquire for discount for this report @Industry chain analysis covering upstream raw materials and equipments of Dolomite market, their suppliers' information as well as analysis of downstream major consumers for Dolomite is provided to understand the complete industry chain structure. Overall market analyzed in this report is divided by regions, types and manufacturers/companies. The research estimates 2017-2022 Dolomite market development trends covering capacity, production and revenue forecasts as well as regional supply consumption forecasts. Towards the end, this report includes a feasibility analysis of New Project Investment covering SWOT analysis of Dolomite OR marketing strategy analysis and market effect factor analysis. Overall, the report provides factual insights collected and analyzed with detailed primary and secondary research on Dolomite market.The research compiles profiles of small and big Dolomite market companies covering their product details as well as important statistics on production, capacity, price and more. These active companies' numbers are supported with information on marketing traders and/or distributors of the Dolomite industry along with their contact information. This data gives valuable industry insights and direction to individuals and/or companies that are new entrants, eyeing to enter or grow in the Dolomite market. Some of the Key vendors profiled in this research include: Lhoist Group, Imerys, Specialty Minerals, Magnesita, Liuhe Mining, Omya Group, Sibelco, Nordkalk, Beihai Group, E. Dillon & Company, Graymont, Wancheng Meiye, Longcliffe Quarries, Jindu Mining, Carriere de Merlemont, Nittetsu Mining, Arihant MinChem, Dongfeng Dolomite, Jinding Magnesite Group, PT Polowijo Gosari, MINERARIA DI BOCA SR, Carmeuse, Danding Group, Multi Min, Shinko Kogyo and Samwha GroupPartial list of Tables and Figures for this report include:Figure North America Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Dolomite Revenue (Million USD) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Dolomite Capacity, Production (K Units) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Dolomite Major Players Product Capacity (K Units) (2012-2017)Table Global Dolomite Capacity (K Units) of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table Global Dolomite Capacity Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Figure Global Dolomite Capacity (K Units) of Key Manufacturers in 2016Figure Global Dolomite Capacity (K Units) of Key Manufacturers in 2017Figure Global Dolomite Major Players Product Production (K Units) (2012-2017)Table Global Dolomite Production (K Units) of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table Global Dolomite Production Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)Contact Details:Ronald Aldensales@emarketorg.cominfo@emarketorg.comAbout Us:eMarketOrg.com aims to provide businesses and organizations market intelligence products and services that help in making smart, instant and crucial decisions. Our database offers access to insights from industry leaders, experts and influencers on global and regional sectors, market trends, user behaviour, for companies as well as products. With data and information from reputable and trusted private and public sources, our clients are never short of statistics and analysis that are up to date.F/3, 4A Bharat Pushpa Apt.,Subhash Nagar, Shukrawar Peth,Pune 411002 Latin America Sugar Toppings Market is poised to reach $0.75 billion by 2021 http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/latin-america-sugar-toppings-market-1288/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/latin-america-sugar-toppings-market-1288/request-sample http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/latin-america-sugar-toppings-market-1288/inquire https://www.marketdataforecast.com/cart/buy-now/latin-america-sugar-toppings-market-1288 http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/global-anti-caking-agents-market-1503/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/global-baking-enzymes-market-1113/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/global-food-additives-market-1517/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/global-gourmet-salt-market-1036/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/global-sugar-substitutes-market-1070/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases According to the report Latin America Sugar Toppings Market published by Market Data Forecast, the Latin America market was worth $0.53 billion in 2016 and is projected to reach $0.75 billion with CAGR of 7.50% by 2021.For full report refer toFree sample for the report is available atSugar Toppings are the ingredient of bakery products that adds to its delicious taste and even make them look better. Sugar toppings are made of finely grained sugar which is mixed with normal granulated sugar and converted in powered form. It usually contains little amount of anti-baking agent which prevents clumping of cake and improves flow. It enriches sugary taste of the baker item and gives a decorative look to them. The demand of these sugar toppings is aggravating due to their use in hot and cold beverages.Increasing consumption of bakery goods and confectioners in the past decade, increase in the demand for ready-made food and increasing the population are the factors that are leading tis market to growth. Rise in the disposable income and people interest in delicacies adds to the growth of this market. Big food chain companies are investing in R&D to develop new innovative products which has also led to the growth of this market.Enquire more about the report atMarket Segmentation1) By Type Dry Sugar Toppings. Dried Icing Sugar. Sprinkles. Flavored Sugars. Moisture Resistant Icing Sugar. Wet Sugar Toppings. Beverage Sauces. Breakfast Syrups.2) By Channel Industrial. Grocery. Food service.J.M. Smucker Company, The Hershey Company, Pinnacle Foods, Inc., The Kraft Heinz Company, Baldwin Richardson Foods Company, Monin Incorporated, R. Torre & Company, Inc., W.T. Lynch Foods Ltd., Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, CK Products LLC, Quaker Oats Company, Regal Food Products Group Plc. are the major players of Latin America Sugar Toppings market.Buy now atThe Latin America Sugar Topping Market study offers following deliverables: Global Regional and country-level analysis and forecasts of the study market; providing Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions those are still untapped. Segment-level analysis in terms of technology, component, and type along with market size forecasts and estimations to detect key areas of industry growth in detail Identification of key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) in the market and their impact on shifting market dynamics. Study of the effect of exogenous and endogenous factors that affect the global market; which includes broadly demographic, economics, and political, among other macro-environmental factors presented in an extensive PESTLE Analysis. Study the micro environment factors that determine the overall profitability of an Industry, using Porters five forces analysis for analyzing the level of competition and business strategy development. A comprehensive list of key market players along with their product portfolio, current strategic interests, key financial information, legal issues, SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment. Competitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies. An executive summary, abridging the entire report in such a way that decision-making personnel can rapidly become acquainted with background information, concise analysis and main conclusions. Expertly devised analyst overview along with Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the market.Checkout other related studies in the Additives Segment:Anti-Caking Agents Market:Baking Enzymes Market:Food Additives Market:Gourmet salt Market:Sugar Substitutes Market:Visit Market Data Forecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @About usMarket Data Forecast is a firm working in the areas of market research and business intelligence. We have rich experience in research across major industry segments like Healthcare, Agriculture, Food & Beverages etc. and we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our research services contribute to key business areas like business process improvement, key decision making and developing appropriate corporate strategy. We are truly committed to our clients and other stakeholders for providing customized research services of the highest quality all the while being an organization thats trusted for its integrity, respected for its accountability, and admired for its excellence, by both clients and competitors alike.Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.com SMITHFIELD, Va., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield is proud to announce its yearlong partnership with award-winning Chefs Jose Garces of Philadelphia and Seamus Mullen of New York City who will develop mouthwatering recipes featuring Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork, an all-natural, premium line of hand-trimmed fresh pork. Each recipe developed by Garces and Mullen will showcase the superior quality and versatility of the Smithfield Prime collection and inspire consumers to cook with only the best ingredients at home. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dcd5eb27-1b29-464e-896d-9d0490a248f6 Jose Garces, renowned Latin-American chef, operates more than 15 restaurants across the country, 10 of which are in Philadelphia including Amada, Distrito, Tinto, Village Whiskey, Garces Trading Company, JG Domestic, Volver, The Olde Bar, Buena Onda, and 24 Wood Fired Fare. Garces also operates Amada in New York City and recently opened his second Manhattan-based restaurant, Ortzi. Garces was the 2009 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award, as well as the winner of Food Networks The Next Iron Chef that same year. He specializes in recreating the rich traditions of Latin-American cuisine and hospitality, but with a modern flare. Award-winning New York based chef Seamus Mullen is best known for his inventive yet approachable modern Spanish cuisine. Mullen grew up on a farm in Vermont where he learned the fundamentals of cooking and butchering at a young age. He is now the owner and head chef of Tertulia in the West Village and El Colmado in Hells Kitchen. Mullen is a three-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: New York City nominee, finalist on Food Networks The Next Iron Chef, and James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant finalist for Tertulia. We are honored to partner with two of the most talented and renowned chefs in the Northeast region, Jose Garces and Seamus Mullen, said Dedra Berg, senior director of fresh pork marketing for Smithfield Foods. These chefs understand the importance of utilizing high quality ingredients in their own kitchens, especially when it comes to protein. This is why we are working with Chef Garces and Chef Mullen to craft unique recipes designed to inspire at-home cooks to create restaurant quality meals using Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork. In Latin-American culture, pork plays a key role in many traditional dishes, said Chef Jose Garces. Its one of my favorite ingredients to work with because its versatile, flavorful and most importantly, easy to cook with. Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork is the perfect base whether youre creating Latin-inspired meals or dishes of any cuisine. Growing up on a farm, I was fortunate enough to cook and eat fresh foods, said Chef Seamus Mullen. I pride myself in using only the best ingredients, especially when it comes to my menu staples like pork. Not all pork is created equal, so Im excited to partner with Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork to help others create a premium meal experience at home. Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork is a line of premium, all natural fresh pork that is certifiably 20 percent more tender than other leading brands of all natural pork. The Smithfield Prime collection is hand-trimmed and sourced from Americas most trusted farms, using a specialty breed of Duroc hogs and some of the most stringent quality standards in the industry. Thus, Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork products naturally have exceptional color, increased marbling, and enhanced flavor, creating an elevated eating experience. Garces and Mullen are part of a larger group of pork-centric chefs nationwide who are partnering with Smithfield to develop recipes featuring Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork. This carefully selected group includes other James Beard Foundation award winners and nominees, renowned restaurateurs, and cooking competition show finalists, who will bring their own style and personal touch to each unique recipe. The full list of chefs includes: Jose Garces (Philadelphia), Seamus Mullen (New York), Colby Garrelts (Kansas City, Mo.), Jose Mendin (Miami), John Tesar (Dallas), Michael & David Cordua (Houston), Seth Adams (Park City, Utah), Paul Virant (Chicago), and Tuffy Stone (Richmond, Va.). To learn more about the award-winning chefs, the Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork line of products, and to view the chefs original recipes, visit www.Smithfield.com/PrimeChefs. About Smithfield A leading provider of high-quality pork products, Smithfield was founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, establishing the town as the Ham Capital of the World. From hand-trimmed bacon and slow-smoked holiday hams to marinated tenderloins, Smithfield brings artistry, authenticity and a commitment to heritage, flavor, and handcrafted excellence to everything it produces. With a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts, the company services retail, foodservice, and deli channels across the United States and 30 countries abroad. All of Smithfields products meet the highest quality and safety standards in the industry. To learn more about how Flavor Hails from Smithfield, please visit www.Smithfield.com, www.Twitter.com/SmithfieldBrand, and www.Facebook.com/CookingWithSmithfield. Smithfield is a brand of Smithfield Foods. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. Americas Gold Nanoparticles Market Overview, Growth, Share, Revenue and Forecast 2017-2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1129 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/blood-transfusion-diagnostics-market Market ScenarioThe market for Gold nanoparticles is increasing rapidly due to increasing advancement in nanotechnologies. The factors that influence the growth of Gold nanoparticles market; expanding medical diagnostics industry, increasing growth in advance healthcare technology, high advantages in medicinal imaging applications and many others.Key Players Cytodiagnostics (Canada), Goldsol (U.S), NanoHybrids Corp (Austin), Nanopartz Inc (U.S), Nanosphere (Canada), Nanostellar (U.S), NanoRods LLC (U.S), Sigma Aldrich (U.S),Request a Sample Copy @SegmentsOn the basis of types Nanorods Nanoshells NanocagesOn the basis of application Photodynamic therapy Diagnostics Medical imaging and othersOn the basis of End-users Medical Electronics CatalysisTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 120 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Americas Gold Nanoparticles Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027"Study Objectives of Gold nanoparticles To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Americas Gold nanoparticles market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Gold nanoparticles market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by Application, by End-users and its sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.The reports cover analysisAmericasNorth America US CanadaLatin AmericaThe report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Related ReportsGlobal Blood Transfusion Diagnostics Market Information by Type (Instruments, Reagents), By Application (Blood Grouping, disease Screening), By End users (Hospital, laboratories, Blood Banks, Plasma Fractionation Facilities) - Forecast to 2027.Know more about this report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Cloud computing market Analysis, Statistics, Trends, Forecast Report, 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/346 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/346 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/embedded-system-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com Cloud computing market size likely to witness significant gains from 2016 to 2023. Greater scalability coupled with faster access to infrastructure are anticipated to surge the demand growth.North America, especially U.S. cloud computing market size accounted for over 50% total share in 2015. SaaS services, including collaborations, content & communications along with customer relationship management is expected to boost regional revenue generation over the forecast period.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Cloud computing in an internet based technology that serves centralized data to remote devices connected through intranet or internet. It is a network where an application or program runs on a server and can be shared across several devices such as laptops, smartphones and personal computers. It ensures consumption-based billing and is also expected to witness significant adoption in several end use sectors. The above mentioned factors are likely to boost the industry demand over the forecast period. Strong outlook on the healthcare cloud computing market size, likely to exceed USD 13 billion by 2023, should drive industry demand.The technology enables exploitation of data in order to sustain business conclusions while maintaining the IT cost down. In addition, it enables companies to leverage platform as a service for application deployment. The technology is mainly deployed by key players in applications such as Google Inc. for Gmail, Drop box Inc. for their Dropbox Storage, Google auto back up, Facebook, Ever note and Skype. The technology is mainly utilized in social media and healthcare sectors as it facilitates the sectors to reduce their capital expenditure by eliminating the cost of IT Infrastructure.Large organizations makes use of private clouds in order to ensure reliability and security, while the smaller organizations requires public cloud services as they are cost efficient in nature. The conventional IT infrastructure involves developing, testing and deploying applications, which provides high investment as well as under utilization of resources. However, concerns regarding privacy, data access and security are the foremost factors hindering the demand growth over the coming few years.The industry can be segmented on the basis of deployment models which include public cloud, hybrid cloud and private cloud. The industry can also be bifurcated on the basis of services which include softw are as a service (SaaS), advertising as a service (AaaS), business process as a service (BPaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a-service (IaaS). The industry can be segregated by IT capability into business processes, application and system & application infrastructure. Key regions occupying significant cloud computing market share include Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, MEA and Latin America. Business processes can be further segmented into e-commerce, human resources and payment processing and accounted for more than 70% of the total industry share in 2014.Make an inquiry for buying this report @India cloud computing market size was valued over USD 1 billion in 2014. Advertising as a service market accounted for highest share owing to extensive usage in online advertising. Rising growth in e-commerce sector is also likely to boost the demand.Hybrid cloud accounted for around 58% of industry share in 2014. Public cloud accounted for over 30% and private cloud accounted for about 5% in the same year. Hybrid cloud computing service model provides solution by combining public and private clouds. It integrates in-house IT infrastructure with other services and products to accomplish unique needs of the customers.SaaS cloud computing market share accounted for over 49% revenue in 2014, IaaS accounted for around 28% and Paas accounted for over 18%. SaaS is utilized for the distribution of software so that the consumers can access over the Internet. It hosts the applications at its data center and a user contacts it with the help of any standard web browser.The major players holding the global cloud computing market share include Amazon, Akamai Technologies, Hewlett Packet, VM-Ware, Yahoo, CA Technologies, Caspio and Dell among others. Major competitors for PaaS include Microsoft, Google and IBM among others. Key SaaS players are Google, Cisco, Demandware, Adobe and Hotmail among others. IaaS providers include Akamai, Joyent and GoGrid among others.Browse Related Reports:Embedded System Market Size By Application (Automotive, Industrial, Consumer Electronics, Telecommunication, Healthcare, Military & Aerospace), By Product (Software, Hardware) Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis, Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2023About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Genome Engineering Market Research Report by Geographical Analysis and Forecast to 2023 Genome Engineering Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/genome-editing-engineering-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4671 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Genome engineering is the synthetic modification of chromosomal DNA by using molecular scissors. Current advances in genome engineering are based on the programmable nucleases that can modify eukaryotic genomes. The global genome engineering market report includes the current and future prospects of the market with an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot on various segments and sub-segments. This section also provides the overall information and data analysis of the global genome engineering market with respect to the leading market segments based on type of technology, application, end-user and geography.The market overview section of the report includes qualitative analysis of the overall genome engineering market including the factors determining the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities, along with Porters five forces analysis. In addition, various analyses such as market attractiveness analysis by geography and competitive landscape by key players has also been provided. The market attractiveness analysis explains the intensity of competition in the market in different geographies. The competitive scenario between different market players is evaluated through market share analysis. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the global market.This 85 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Genome Engineering Market. Unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:The global genome engineering market has been segmented on the basis of technology, application, end-user and geography. Based on technology, the genome engineering market has been categorized into two major segments: Clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), Transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) and other technologies, while the other technologies include antisense technology and recombinant AAV mediated genome engineering. Based on application, market has been segmented into Cell-line Engineering, Animal Genome Engineering, Plant genome engineering and Other Application. Based on end-user, the market is segmented into Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies, Academics and Clinical Research Organizations. Market revenue in terms of USD million for the period between 2013 and 2023 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2015 to 2023 are provided for all the segments, considering 2014 as the base year.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Genome Engineering Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Geographically, the genome engineering market has been categorized into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). North America comprises the U.S. and Canada. Europe comprises Germany, the U.K., and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific comprises China, India, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Rest of World comprises of Latin America, Middle-East & Africa. The recommendations section included in the report would assist existing players to expand their market share and new companies to establish their presence in the genome engineering market. The report also profiles major players in the genome engineering market on the basis of various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Major players profiled in this report include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Sangamo Biosciences, Inc., Lonza Group Ltd., Horizon Discovery Group Plc, and Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Zirconium Acetate Market - Global Industry Analysis By 2025 Zirconium Acetate Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/zirconium-acetate-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24449 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://marketresearchreports2017.blogspot.in Zirconium acetate is typically a clear colorless solution which is slightly acidic and has a strong smell of acetic acid. Zirconium acetate is used in the production of fibers and waterproof materials. Zirconium acetate is also used in the emulsion of wax. Zirconium typically forms a covalent bond between the cellulose-based wax and the carboxyl of the substrate. Zirconium acetate offers an ultimate function of cross-linking between the films of water-repellent wax and textile substrates. Moreover, zirconium acetate is utilized as a binder in the refractory industry.Furthermore, zirconium acetate is used in a variety of catalyst applications. The compound offers an ultimate source of concentrated zirconium ion and also it is sodium chloride-free. Due to such suitable properties, zirconium acetate is suitable for use in various applications as a catalyst. The growing demand for zirconium acetate from such a broad range of applications is expected to drive the global zirconium acetate market in the next few years.Browse Market Research Report @The metal and rare earth compound solutions are widely used in applications such as petrochemical cracking, automotive catalysts, water treatment, textiles, plating, research, optical applications and crystal, laser, and glass applications. Zirconium acetate is also used in the form of solutions. Zirconium acetate solutions are typically moderate to highly concentrated solutions of zirconium acetate. These zirconium acetate solutions are usually prepared in dilute acetic acid. The different concentrations of zirconium acetate solutions are widely used in applications such as the production of various types of fibers and several waterproof materials and as a catalyst in a wide array of applications. The demand for zirconium acetate solution in all such applications is rapidly rising all over the globe.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for zirconium acetate in the next few years. The major reason for this is the growing demand for zirconium acetate in developing Asian countries such as India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia and Thailand. In addition, growing consumption of zirconium acetate in applications such as the manufacture of fibers, waterproof materials and catalyst applications is likely to increase the requirement of zirconium acetate all over the globe. There is a massive market potential for textile and chemical industries in the countries such as India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brazil.Make an Enquiry @Owing to this, the demand for zirconium acetate application products is expected to grow at a notable rate in the next few years. This will eventually generate a huge demand for zirconium acetate in these emerging nations. The rapidly growing textile and chemical markets across the globe, especially in the emergent countries, are anticipated to drive the global zirconium acetate market in the next few years. In addition to this, the developed countries in North America and European region are progressively recovering from the sluggish economic conditions. Considering this outlook, the demand for zirconium acetate application products is expected to record an outstanding growth in the next few years. The major players operating in the zirconium acetate market are primarily focusing on the developing countries for tapping their gigantic market potential. These players are installing manufacturing facilities in the emerging countries to meet the growing demand for zirconium acetate solution. Therefore, the global zirconium acetate market is projected to experience a significant growth in the next six years.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market Research Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog: Zinc Phosphate Cement Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2017 - 2025 Zinc Phosphate Cement Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/zinc-phosphate-cement-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24446 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://marketresearchreports2017.blogspot.in Zinc phosphate is used as a coating for corrosion resistance on various types of metal surfaces. Zinc phosphate is applied on metal surfaces as part of an electroplating process or they are directly applied as a primer pigment. The zinc phosphate coating can be applied more effectively on a crystalline structure than a bare metal. The natural forms of zinc phosphate typically include minerals such as hopeite and parahopeite. Zinc phosphate is typically created from zinc phosphate cement. The compound is mainly used in dentistry.Zinc phosphate cement is one of the most extensively used cements, and is generally used as a base for dental restorations and for luting metal restorations. In dentistry, zinc phosphate cement is utilized for cementation of bridges, inlays, crowns and several other orthodontic appliances. Zinc phosphate cement is also used as a temporary restoration. Zinc phosphate cement is produced by mixing zinc oxide powders and zinc oxide with a liquid consisting of water, phosphoric acid and buffers. Zinc phosphate cement is used as a standard in dentistry. Zinc phosphate cement is used in dentistry since last many years and is still commonly used. The growing demand for zinc phosphate from rapidly growing dentistry applications across the globe is expected to drive the global zinc phosphate market in the next few years.Browse Market Research Report @Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for zinc phosphate cement in the next few years. The most noteworthy reason for this is the increasing demand for zinc phosphate cement in emergent Asian countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The main reason for this is the rising population and growing health awareness. Also, the countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Russia and South Africa are showing rapid growth in the zinc phosphate cement market the last few years. There is a mammoth market potential for dentistry in the countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Brazil due to rapidly growing population and rising health awareness.Owing to this, the demand for dentistry related products is expected to grow at a notable rate in the next few years. This will ultimately generate a huge demand for zinc phosphate cement in these emerging nations. The rapidly growing dentistry applications across the globe, especially in the emergent countries, are anticipated to drive the global zinc phosphate cement market in the next few years. Due to this, the demand for zinc phosphate cement is projected to record an amazing growth in the next few years. Moreover, there is a notable market potential for dentistry related application products in the rapidly emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil.For more information on this report, fill the form @The growing demand for zinc phosphate cement in dentistry and metal industry across different regions of the world, especially in the emergent countries, is anticipated to drive the global zinc phosphate cement market in the next six years. The major players operating in dentistry application products and metal industry are mainly focusing on the developing economies for tapping their huge market potential. These companies are installing production facilities in the developing countries to fulfill the swiftly rising demand for zinc phosphate cement. Therefore, the global zinc phosphate cement market is projected to experience a significant growth in the next six years.Bosworth is one of the major companies operating in the global zinc phosphate cement market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog: Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps (LRVP) Market Expected to Hit US$ 2,871.3 Million by 2024 Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps Market http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/liquid-ring-vacuum-pumps-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12991 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/12991 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Global LRVP market will witness promising growth in the first half of the forecast period (5.5% CAGR), which will incur a slight dip post-2020, (4.9% CAGR). However, the overall CAGR of the market estimated for 2016-2024 is estimated at 5.2%.Request to view Table of Content @ Research Analyst, Industrial Automation Domain, Persistence Market ResearchAccording to Global Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016-2024, the global liquid ring vacuum pumps market will reach US$ 2,871.3 Mn by the end of the forecast period.Regional analysis indicates that the US$ 535 Mn North American market will rule the roost with an estimated 6% CAGR over 2016-2024. Towards the close of 2024, this region is expected to attain revenues worth US$ 851.1 Mn. Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific are identified to be the next key markets for LRVP. North America, Europe, and APAC will collectively hold a whopping 75% share of the total market size in 2024.In developing economies within Asia Pacific, leading LRVP manufacturers are tackling the competitive pricing issue in order to deliver customer-centric products. Moreover, China and India host a swelling number of small manufacturers specifically serving pharma and chemical process industries. These factors will play a vital role in pushing the sales of liquid ring vacuum pumps in near future within Asian markets. Reaching a value beyond US$ 504 Mn, APAC market is likely to expand at a moderate CAGR of 5.3% over 2016-2024.LRVP market expanding at the backdrop of a slew of factorsIncreasing demand from oil & gas, and power industriesGrowing preference for high capacity-high cost liquid ring vacuum pumpsExtending applications in chemical and general process industriesConstant innovation by manufacturersStrict EPA regulationsPromising emergence of low water consuming pumpsBurgeoning M&A between key playersLucrative opportunities in Asia countriesSegment analysis: Consumption by oil & gas segment crossing US$ 931 Mn by 2024In terms of capacity, 500-1500 cfm segment will continue to lead with the maximum revenue sales, followed by < 500 cfm segment. However, < 500 cfm segment will possibly thrive fastest at a CAGR of 5.2%, followed by > 1500 cfm segment with an estimated 4.4% CAGR over 2016-2024.Considering material type, cast iron segment will continue dominance with over 60% value share, reaching a value of US$ 1,718.2 Mn in 2024. This segment will also demonstrate the fastest CAGR of 5.3% over the forecast period. Stainless steel segment will also grow moderately at 5%, attaining a value worth US$ 876 Mn in 2024.Sample of this report is available upon request @Based on the end-use industry, oil and gas sector will retain dominance over others, with over US$ 931 Mn by the end of 2024 in terms of revenues. Chemical processing and general process industries will continue to maintain the second and third largest segments respectively. Among these, general process industries will display a higher CAGR of 5.8% over 2016-2024, bagging the revenues of over US$ 511 Mn. Paper and pulp, and power segments are expected to grow steadily throughout the assessment period.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @Report analyzes the key company profilesDekker Vacuum Technologies Inc., Busch Vacuum Technics Inc., Flowserve Corporation, Tsurumi Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Atlas Copco Airpower N.V., Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Tuthill Vacuum & Blower Systems, and Graham Corp. are some of the key players that constitute the competitive landscape of the global liquid ring vacuum pumps marketplace. Persistence Market Researchs report includes in-depth profiling of key companies.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Personal Mobility Devices Market Analysis, Trends and Forecast by 2015 - 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/personal-mobility-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6715 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ Global Personal Mobility Devices Market: OverviewAn increase in the number of disabled population, either with permanent or temporary disability, is expected to boost demand for personal mobility devices, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR). Any device that assists in the transportation of human beings is a personal mobility device. It runs either manually or on a battery, and is usually designed for a single person.The report provides an in-depth analysis of key factors in the market for personal mobility devices, some of which include market size, market drivers and restraints, growth opportunities, forecasts, detailed overview, and key market trends. The value chain analysis, market attractiveness analysis, competitive landscape, and key market segments are also covered. Porters Five Forces analysis has been given along with a description of assumptions and research methodology. Each company has been studied in terms of financial overview, product portfolio, recent developments, and business strategies.According to the findings of TMR, in 2014, the global personal mobility market was estimated at US$ 6.65 bn. It is projected to exhibit a promising CAGR of 7.30% during the forecast period, attaining a revenue worth US$ 12.7 bn in 2023.Obtain Report Details @Global Personal Mobility Devices Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe steady increase in the aging population across the globe has been fuelling the demand for personal mobility market worldwide. Besides this factor, the rising number of care-giving services necessary for people with disability is also giving impetus to the market. The growing number of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, considerable increase in disposable incomes of people, and beneficial government policies, along with technological progress in the domain of personal mobility devices are factors contributing towards market growth.On the other hand, the market for personal mobility devices will face restraints on account of the high costs of these devices, coupled with low rate of adoption of digitized devices. However, conducive policies of governments and large scale grants from international organizations will aid in the expansion of personal mobility devices market over the coming years.On the basis of device type, the key segments of the personal mobility devices market include medical mobility aids and ambulatory devices and medical furniture and bathroom safety products. The medical mobility and ambulatory devices segment has been further segmented into mobility scooters, crutches, canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. The medical furniture and bathroom safety products segment has been further categorized into medical beds, showers and commodes, bars and railings, stair lifts, and patient lifts.Global Personal Mobility Devices Market: Regional OutlookBased on geography, the global market for personal mobility devices has been categorized into five regions: Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America, and Europe. These regions have been further segmented into chief countries responsible for market growth. These include Brazil, the U.K., China, Italy, Mexico, the U.S., China, France, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Canada, Spain, India, and South Africa. Each geographical segment has been studied in terms of volume, market size, product segments and forecast. The personal mobility devices will witness a surge in demand as the geriatric population in Asia Pacific (in countries such as India and China in particular) increases.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe key vendors operating in the global market for personal mobility devices discussed in the report include Permobil AB, Argo Medical, Ottobock Healthcare, GF Health Products, Inc., Invacare Corporation, Sunrise Medical LLC, Stryker Corporation, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Amigo Mobility International, Inc., ArjoHuntleigh, Patterson Companies, Inc., and Pride Mobility Products Corporation.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog: Global Automotive Crash Sensor Market 2017 : Magna, Yamaha Fine, Drive Right, Tecmaplast, McWane, Viair Automotive Crash Sensor http://bit.ly/2pW446a http://bit.ly/2qun8vd A market study based on the "Automotive Crash Sensor Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Automotive Crash Sensor Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Automotive Crash Sensor industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Automotive Crash Sensor market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research ReportDelphiBoschSensataDormanDaicelLoncoMT MicrosystemsEastjoylongFrauenthal AutomotiveMagnaYamaha FineDrive RightTecmaplastMcWaneViairIce IndustriesThe report studies the industry for Automotive Crash Sensor across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Automotive Crash Sensor market & dynamics of demand and supply of Automotive Crash Sensor into consideration. The 'Automotive Crash Sensor' research study covers each and every aspect of the Automotive Crash Sensor market globally, which starts from the definition of the Automotive Crash Sensor industry and develops towards Automotive Crash Sensor market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Automotive Crash Sensor market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Automotive Crash Sensor market. The geographical segmentation of the Automotive Crash Sensor industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Automotive Crash Sensor is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Automotive Crash Sensor market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Automotive Crash Sensor market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Automotive Crash Sensor market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Automotive Crash Sensor production volume, data regarding demand and Automotive Crash Sensor supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Automotive Crash Sensor across the globe.About Us :Business Worldwide are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Business Worldwide, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries such as Automotive and Aerospace, Medical Devices, Technology, Machinery & Manufacturing.Contact Us :Business WorldwideUnited States 4G Investment and New Market Entrants to Boost Burgeoning Telecoms Market in Myanmar | Latest Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=909445 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=909445 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Myanmar: 4G Investment and New Market Entrants to Boost Burgeoning Telecoms Market." to its huge collection of research reports.The telecom services revenue is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.0% during 2016-2021, driven by growth in mobile and fixed data revenues. In the coming years, operators plan to invest in network infrastructure and expand 4G services. Vendors will have significant opportunities to support operators' 4G rollout initiatives.Key Findings- The overall telecom service revenue in Myanmar is estimated to generate $3.1bn in 2016 and will expand at a CAGR of 4.0% during 2016-2021, supported by data segment growth.- Mobile revenue will account for 94.9% of the total telecom revenue in 2021, with the mobile data segment expected to experience significant growth.- 3G will be the most adopted mobile technology through 2021. Its share in overall mobile subscriber base will further increase during 2016-2021, as 2G customers will increasingly migrate to 3G networks for faster data rates.- The top two operators, MPT and Telenor Myanmar will account for nearly 84.2% share of overall service revenue in 2016.- Operators in Myanmar are increasingly investing in 3G and 4G network expansion, as demand for data increases.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @SynopsisMyanmar: 4G Investment and New Market Entrants to Boost Burgeoning Telecoms Market, a new Country Intelligence Report , provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Myanmar today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, and mobile, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Myanmar compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Myanmar.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Myanmar's telecommunications markets.Reasons To Buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Myanmars telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Myanmars mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Myanmars telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Myanmar.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ DNA Polymerase Market Set for Rapid Growth And Trend, by 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-801 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-801 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global DNA polymerase market has grown abundantly over the last few decades owing to the increasing demand for DNA polymerase in various industries such as biopharmaceuticals, diagnostic centers, research centers and many other.DNA is unique to everyone, it is more unique than a fingerprint. Hence DNA polymerase has also entered in the forensic industry as this uniqueness can be used to great advantages in this field. The DNA is analyzed from the drop of blood at crime scene and is compared with the DNA of suspects. This is possible by using polymerase chain reaction in which a small sample of DNA is multiplied and large samples are created.Request For Report Sample@The various advantages offered by DAN polymerase are anticipated to boost the demand for global DNA polymerase market during the forecast period 2015-2025. DNA polymerase is very important as it duplicates our genetic information. It is the most accurate enzyme, it creates an exact copy of the DNA every time making less than one mistake in billion times.Various reagents that have been widely used in DNA polymerase are antibodies, primers and buffers. And these various reagent segments are forecasted to grow with an effective CAGR during the forecast period.DNA Polymerase Market: Drivers & RestraintsSubstantial increase in demand for DNA polymerase market has been reported across the globe due to the prevalence of diseases like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and genetic disorders. As per the data suggested by WHO, cancer is among the leading causes of death all over the world and the number of cases of cancer is expected to increase by 70% over the next two decades. The increasing consumption of DNA polymerase by biopharmaceutical industry is another major driving force behind the growth of global DNA polymerase market as biopharmaceutical industry is experiencing a boom over the last few years.In addition, the Increasing usage of DNA polymerase in forensic industry is poised to propel the demand for global DNA polymerase market during the forecast period 2015-2025, owing to the rising growth rate of crimes across the world.DNA PolymeraseMarket: Market SegmentationThe DNA polymerase market is broadly classified into four segments on the basis of therapeutic applicationsCancerNeurodegenerative diseasesGenetic DisordersOthersThe DNA polymerase market is broadly classified into four segments on the basis of reagentsAntibodiesPrimersBufferOthersThe DNA polymerase market is broadly classified into four segments on the basis of End useBiopharmaceutical IndustryDiagnostic CentersForensic IndustryResearch centersDNA PolymeraseMarket: Regional OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global DNA polymerase market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2014 North America dominated the global DNA Polymerase market in terms of market revenue followed by Western Europe. The growing biopharmaceutical industry in countries like US are pulling the demand for DNA polymerase market in North America.Moreover, Asia Pacific is anticipated to show the effective growth in DNA polymerase market during the forecast period 2015-2025 due the growing forensic industry and diagnostic centers in this region.Visit For TOC@DNA PolymeraseMarket: Market PlayersThe global DNA polymerase market developing with significant growth rate. Some of the major players operating in global DNA polymerase market are Novus, Excell Bio, Biomiga, Stratagene, SYGNIS, Roche, Finnzymes, Cyagen, Tiangen, Genetimes and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: North America & Latin Americas Water Pumps Market to Approach US$ 13,412.8 Million by 2024 North And Latin America Water Pumps Market http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13618 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/north-and-latin-america-water-pumps-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/13618 www.persistencemarketresearch.com The demand for water pumps across North America and Latin America continues to grow in parallel with the growth in the regions population. More households emerging in countries such as the US, Canada, Brazil or Mexico will certainly require water pumps for domestic purposes. Concurrently, agricultural, administrative and industrial sector in these regions will also adopt such pumps to keep up with the surging demands of consumers. Water pumps being deployed in the residential sector of North America and Latin America are projected to grow as municipalities & county authorities from this region will strive to improve their drinking water facilitation and upgrade the wastewater treatment plants.Sample of this report is available upon request @Nevertheless, a recent study developed by Persistence Market Research projects that revenues garnered from sales of water pumps across Latin America and North America will soar at a moderate CAGR of 4% over an eight-year forecast period. After amassing an estimated US$ 9,422.9 million revenues in 2016, the water pumps market in North America and Latin America is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$ 13,412 .8 million by the end of 2024.Key Deterrents for Adoption of Water Pumps in North & Latin AmericaAvailability of cheap Chinese water pumps: North American and Latin American manufacturers of water pumps are constantly at risk of losing market presence to newly-entered Chinese pump makers. Consumers in these regions end up opting for cheap Chinese water pumps, which tend to go kaput in short span of time. On the other hand, availing Chinese water pumps becomes more practical for consumers with tight budget, especially for deploying them in agricultural activities.Durability & energy efficiency of centrifugal pumps: Manufacturers of centrifugal water pumps in this region are improving the operating life of their products. This has decelerated the rate at which water pumps get replaced. Low replacement rate has dragged down the aftermarket sales of water pumps in North America and Latin America, thereby impeding the aggregate market revenues.Budget limitations in industrial and agricultural sectors: Expenditure on water pumps fares on a tightrope in North America. Submersible pumps are also expected to impact the adoption of centrifugal water pumps in this region. Latin Americas industrial sector is likely to trim its gross expenditure, which will incidentally impact the sales of water pumps in this region. Low profit margins in North Americas agriculture industry have also slowed down the rate at which water pumps were being installed or replaced in farming activities.Request to view Table of Content @In the report, titled Water Pumps Market: North & Latin America Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016-2024, Persistence Market Research predicts that more than 90% of water pump revenues in Latin America and North America will be accounted by sales of centrifugal pumps. While over 936 thousand units of positive displacement pumps are estimated to be sold in the Americas during the forecast period, sales of centrifugal pumps will be raking in revenues worth over US$ 12 billion by the end of 2024. In 2016, centrifugal pumps worth nearly US$ 3 billion were estimated to be consumed by wastewater and water treatment plants across North America and Latin America. Oil and gas industries in this region have been predicted to have consumed over 200 thousand units of positive displacement pumps in 2016.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @Compared to Latin America, North America will continue to have a large share in their collective regional market for water pumps. In 2016, the US water pumps market accounted for more than two-third of North Americas water pump revenues, while Brazil and Mexico attributed to more than 50% growth in Latin Americas water pumps revenues. US-based companies Xylem Inc. and Flowserve Corporation are the leading native players in North America and Latin Americas water pumps market. The market will continue to witness higher participation from European water pump manufacturers such as KSB AG, Weir Group Plc., Grundfos, and Sulzer AG. Japanese water pump manufacturer, Ebara Corp is also observed to be a key participant as the company has established two manufacturing plants in North America and one in Latin America.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Hemostats For Wound Closure Market Value Share, Analysis and Segments 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-827 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-827 www.futuremarketinsights.com Historically wound types remain the same over the ages with only a slight exception being the emergence of femoral punctures associated with catheterization procedures. But with the advent of newer technologies the practice of closing those wounds are changed.These new products are commonly available on hospitals & trauma centers and have wide range of usage area. Among them Hemostat has become a very popular tool to be used as wound closure material with its excellent properties. When applied to a wound, quickly absorbs blood and other body fluids, transforms into a gel to seal the wound with a protective transparent layer, actively aids in stopping bleeding, and creates an environment for wound healing.Request For Report Sample@Treatment of damaged cardiac tissue in patients with high bleeding tendency can be very challenging. In this category of surgery Hemostat proved to be a very effective with the combination of collagen sponge for the management of a myocardial woundTopical hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives are used as an adjunct or alternative to standard suturing techniques to control bleeding or for wound closure.Hemostats for Wound Closure: Drivers and RestraintsWound closure has become a very frequent clinical practice which is growing very rapidly. The sophisticated procedures ensure rapid cessation of blood loss, prompt closure, strong adhesion of wound edges, tight sealing, reduced scarring, reduced risk of infection and more rapid healing. There is a pool of patients throughout the world which makes the market of this product is very lucrative. As the price is also very reasonable so acceptance of this product is gradually progressing.On the other hand some reports come which could restrict the growth. Surgical staples are emerging as the most useful tool on this wound closure segment. Also the market of suture which is there traditionally remains constant if not growing to some parts of the world. Few reports also suggested that patients may suffer with irritation, heat inflammation or redness on skin when hemostat are applied, though its not clear the exact reason for these.As the market is growing and price is low, so tough competitions will prevail in this segment too.Hemostats for Wound Closure: SegmentationGlobal market for wound closure products consist of hemostat are mainly driven the use of Fibrin which is the combination of thrombin & fibrinogen. Also collagen finds it use as hemostat though it still needs the approval of USFDA.Thrombin based HemostatsCombination HemostatsOxidized Regenerated Cellulose HemostatsGelatin HemostatsCollagen based HemostatsHemostats for Wound Closure: OverviewWith the rapid technological advancement in healthcare industry the Hemostats is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR in the forecasted period (2015-2025).Hemostats for Wound Closure: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the wound closure products market has been segmented into seven major geographical regions which include North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific exclude Japan, Japan & Latin America, Middle east & Africa. North America contribute the most in this market followed by Europe. With the new product approvals, change in regulatory policies encourages, patient acceptance helps the market to grow. Asia Pacific & Japan pose good growth potential too for wound closure products specially Hemostat.Visit For TOC@Hemostats for Wound Closure: Key PlayersWound closure product market is highly fragmented with presence of big & small companies. The market leaders in this area are Johnson & Johnson, Covidien, B. Braun, and 3M.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Private and Public Cloud Market in the Financial Services Industry 2016-2020 - Presents Key Companies Analysis ( AWS, CSC, Eze Castle Integration, Fujitsu, Google, IBM, Jack Henry & Associates, Microsoft, Oracle ) http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=800316 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=800316 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-private-and-public-cloud-market-in-the-financial-services-industry-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, May 18, 2017: Financial services are the services offered by the financial sector to help credit companies, insurance companies, account companies, banks, investment fund firms, and finance firms to manage capital. The financial services industry is shifting toward the adoption of cloud for business operations to avoid IT infrastructure costs and operational expenditure. Cloud improves performance, increases efficiency, and ensures the security of business operations and business data. There are many vendors offering cloud-based solutions to financial services based on their business requirements. Both private and public cloud solutions are used in the financial services industry. Private cloud solutions are used more often by financial institutions as they offer better security of financial data, flexibility when expanding their operations, and customization based on business requirements.The global private and public cloud market in financial services industry to grow at a CAGR of 13.12% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global private and public cloud market in financial services industry for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from solutions and the fee charged for subscription of the public and private cloud for financial services.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Private and Public Cloud Market in Financial Services Industry 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- AWS- CSC- Eze Castle Integration- Fujitsu- Google- IBM- Jack Henry & Associates- Microsoft- Oracle- Rackspace- Red Hat- Salesforce.com- VMwareOther prominent vendors- Accenture- Alibaba Group Holding- Box- EMC- Fiserv- HPE- Huawei Technologies- Infosys- SAPEnquiry at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Browse more details at:ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-862 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-862 www.futuremarketinsights.com Tissue sealants and Tissue Adhesive are agents which helps to surgeons to control bleeding during surgery. These agents play a prominent role in management of bleeding either mechanically or act by promoting coagulation cascade. Tissue sealants are the products those binds and close the defect tissues. Hemostasis is a complex phenomenon between Platelets, Plasma Proteins, Coagulation and fibrinolysis pathways. Constriction of blood vessel to reduce blood flow, Platelets are activated at site of injury and provide hemostatic plug and sequential activation of enzymatic reactions involve in coagulation process. Tissue sealants, tissue adhesives are advanced medical devices rapidly replacing conventional sutures for wound and incision closure. Advantages of tissue sealants, tissue adhesives over conventional suture involve minimal invasive application, these are take less time, prevention of leakage of non-blood fluids and reduced post-operative microbial infections.Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Drivers and restraintsTissue Sealing and Tissue Adhesive market is driven by increasing preference of these product among surgeons due to its efficacy to prevent bleeding during surgery. These tissue sealants diminishes post-operative bleeding. These tissue sealants are highly effective, ease of use and less prone to microbial infection after surgery. Factors such as aging the population and rising surgical procedures drive the growth of Tissue sealing and tissue adhesive market globally. The Stringent regulatory policies and high cost of the products are major restrains of tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market.Request For Report Sample@Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: SegmentationGlobal Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive market can be segmented as following typesBy Product:Tissue SealantsSynthetic Tissue SealantsNon-Synthetic Tissue SealantsFibrin Based Tissue SealantsCollagen Based Tissue SealantsProtein Based Tissue SealantsTissue AdhesivesCyanoacrylate Based Tissue AdhesivesOther Cross-linkable Polymer Based Tissue AdhesivesBy End Users:PhysiciansSurgeonsTissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: OverviewTissue sealants and adhesives are highly advanced medical devices so these are widely accepted for wound healings and surgeries to prevent blood flow. Increasing number of surgeries and subsequent demand for advanced wound closure devices minimize scars and post-operative infections. Tissue sealants rising demand for effectiveness and attracting the surgeons towards these products. Global tissue sealants and adhesive market has a tremendous growth rate in forecasting period.Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Region-Wise OutlookDepending upon the geographic regions global tissue sealants and adhesive market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and AfricaNorth America dominates Global tissue sealants and adhesive market due to significant spending power of population and technological advancement. Asia Pacific countries are anticipated to witness lucrative growth rate in tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market.Visit For TOC@Tissue Sealants and Tissue Adhesive Market: Key playersSome of the key players in global tissue sealants and tissue adhesive market are Baxter International Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Exapharma, Smith & Nephew, C.R Bard and Integra LifeSciences.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Carnauba Wax Market Driven by Increasing Inclination of Consumers towards Naturally-Derived Products http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/carnauba-wax-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24209 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Carnauba Wax Market: OverviewWaxes are extensively used by various end user industries. Natural waxes are obtained through ecological process of biogenesis without any involvement of chemical process. Natural waxes can be derived from plant as well as animal source and represents renewable source of wax. Thereby, gaining traction among wax manufacturers. Carnauba wax is plant based resin wax which is obtained from palm leaves of Copernicia prunifera, found exclusively in Brazil. The wax is attained by beating the dried leaves of palm and then refining it. Carnauba wax is considered to be naturally occurring hardest wax. Due to its durability and high melting point, carnauba wax finds extensive use in various sectors such as cosmetics, automobiles, pharmaceuticals among others. Carnauba wax is consist of various exclusive properties such as it swells when exposed to water, has potential to retain oil and exhibits prominent glossy characteristics differentiating it from other naturally occurring wax. Apart from natural source, carnauba wax can also be obtained organically by filtering the highest quality of untreated carnauba wax.Browse Market Research Report @Global Carnauba Wax Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing inclination of consumers towards naturally-derived products is driving the market for carnauba wax. Carnauba wax is hypo allergic in nature and easy to swallow hence finds extensive use in pharmaceutical industry for pills coating. As food & beverage industry is under continuous innovation, product such as carnauba wax that exhibit excellent emulsifying properties and binding capacity for oils, are gaining traction. Moreover, due to its high melting point and glossy characteristics it is becoming a desired natural additive choice among manufacturers of cosmetic industry for manufacturing of lip balms, lipsticks, mascaras among others. Thus, broad spectrum applicability of carnauba wax is propelling the market growth. Moreover, due to its hardness and viscosity modifier properties, it is extensively used as polish wax in automobile industry. Carnauba wax is gaining traction among consumers over the bee wax due to broad base of application hence accelerating the market growth.However, the tropical variety of carnauba wax may cause some side effects such as skin rash, contact dermatitis, inflammation of hair follicle. Thereby, restraining the growth of carnauba wax market. Moreover, owing to less commercialisation, carnauba wax market offers low profitability margins to the manufacturers across the globe.Make an Enquiry @Global Carnauba Wax Market: SegmentationWith widespread applications, carnauba wax is used in the manufacturing of chewing gums, coated chocolates, lip balms, lipsticks, and dental floss, owing to its glossy and stabilizing characteristics. Moreover, due to its hardness characteristics it is extensively used as polish wax for car, furniture and surf board.On the basis of end user, carnauba wax market is segmented into:-Food & BeveragesAutomobilesPersonal CarePharmaceuticalOthersOn the basis of source, carnauba wax market is segmented into:-NaturalOrganicOn the basis of form, carnauba wax market is segmented into:-PowderFlakesPelletGlobal Carnauba Wax Market: Region wise OutlookThe global carnauba wax market is categorised into seven regions, namely, Western Europe, Eastern Europe Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), , Japan Latin America and, North America. Brazil accounts for the major share of the market as it is exclusively cultivated in the North-eastern Brazil. Asia pacific region is considered to be prominent segment for growth due to opportunistic investment and manufacturing hub for various industries under which carnauba wax finds extensive use. North America exports its major share of carnauba wax from Brazil.Global Organic Hair Care Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent players identified in the global carnauba wax market includes:Strahl & Pitsch, Inc.Poth Hille & Co LtdKoster Keunen, LLC.CalwaxKahl GmbH & CO. KGFrank B. Ross Co., Inc.Akrochem CorporationAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Gourmet Salts Market Growth with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-898 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-898 www.futuremarketinsights.com Gourmet salts are unrefined and high quality salts used in cuisine in order to enhance taste and appeal of the food. Gourmet salts are used for to enhance the texture and flavor. In addition, these type of salts possess better solubility and also high mineral content. Gourmet salts are also blended with other type of herbs, spices and flavors in order to enhance the flavor and color of spices. Gourmet salts are used in various applications such as bakery, savoury, confectionery, poultry and sea food. Fleur de sel is one of the widely used gourmet salts, which is used in variety of food products such as roasted meat, vegetable dishes and salads. Gourmet salts are also used in for preserving canned food products in order to store food item for longer duration.Gourmet Salts Market: SegmentationGlobal Gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. Based on the product type segmentation includes fleur de sel, Himalayan salts, sel gris, and flake salts. Of which, fleur de sel is used widely in various food applications such as meat and salads. Fleur de sel is anticipated to be the dominating segment during the forecasted period, followed by other gourmet salts. On the basis of application, gourmet salts is segmented into savoury, bakery and confectionary, poultry and seafood products and others. However, among all the segments, bakery and confectionary segment is expected to contribute maximum revenue to the overall gourmet salts market. Global gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa and Japan. Gourmet salts market is dominated by European region, followed by North America and Asia Pacific excluding Japan. In Europe, France and Spain are expected to contribute maximum revenue share to the overall gourmet salts market. However North America is projected to witness fastest growth in the next four to five years owing to the high disposable income of consumers in this region.Request For Report Sample@Gourmet Salts Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global gourmet salts market is expected to witness vigorous growth during the forecasted period due to the rising awareness among consumers related to changing food or cuisine preferences among consumers .Globally, among all regions, Europe is expected to witness significant growth in the gourmet salts market and contribute maximum market share, followed by North America and Asia Pacific over the forecasted period. However, North America is expected to experience fast growth due the high disposable income of the consumers, which results in buying patterns for products rich in gourmet salt. Since, these products are expensive in nature.Gourmet Salts Market: DriversVarious factors that fuel the growth of gourmet salts market includes rising living standard of consumers, increasing commercialisation of food industry by various media shows and also awareness regarding benefits of gourmet salts in the traditional food. However, factors that hampers the growth of gourmet salts market are high price associated with gourmet salts in comparison to conventional salts. Other major factor that restraints the growth of gourmet salts market that hinder the growth of gourmet salts market is lack of awareness among consumers in developing countries. Companies operating in gourmet salts market are mainly adopting new product development strategy in order to enhance their product portfolio and also to expand into new markets.Visit For TOC@Gourmet salts Market: Key PlayersMajor companies that operate in gourmet salts market includes Cargill Inc., Morton Salt Inc., Murray River Salt, Alaska Pure Sea Salts Co., Infosa, Amagansett Sea Salt Co., Maldon Crystal Salt Co., Pyramid Salt Pty. Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Research report covers the Savory Ingredient Market share and Growth, 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-915 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-915 www.futuremarketinsights.com Savory ingredients are kind of flavor enhancer which possess the property to modify flavors in food without contributing to any separate flavor of their own. Savory flavors are primarily used while manufacturing processed savory products such and snacks, frozen savory meal and others. Savory ingredient enables to provide pleasant sense of taste and smell especially by reason of effective seasoning. Savory ingredient play an important role in enhancing the umami flavor of the product which is supporting its growth in the current scenario.Savory Ingredient Market SegmentationSavory ingredient market is segmented on the basis of form which includes liquid, powder, paste and spray dried. Among all these segments powder is expected occupy the major position on the pie. Easy usage and mixing properties with other ingredient is expected to drive its growth during the forecast period. Moreover, liquid is expected to show healthy growth in savory ingredient market in the near future. In addition spray dried savory ingredient is currently an emerging product in savory ingredient market, however it is expected to account for substantial growth within next five to six years.Request For Report Sample@Savory ingredient is also segmented on the basis of ingredient type which includes yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed animal protein (HAP), monosodium glutamate (MSG), nucleotides and others. Among all these segments monosodium glutamate is expected to contribute highest in terms of revenue. Monosodium glutamate properties such as it act as thickening and stabilizing agent in food products. Moreover it is cost effective which are supporting monosodium glutamate growth in the near future. In addition, yeast extract act as a fermenting ingredient. It also enables to reduce salt level from food content. Thus yeast extract is expected to account for substantial growth in next five to six years.Savory ingredient market is further segmented on the basis of application which includes food Industry pet food industry, others. Among all these segments food industry is expected to have a strong presence in savory ingredient market as compared to remaining segments. Increased consumption of processed savory and culinary food products across the globe is expected to be the prime factor driving the growth of savory ingredient market during the forecast period. Also, pet food industry is expected to show a substantial growth in the near future. Food industry is further sub-segment as dips, soups, instant noodle & sauces, meat & seafood, bakery products & savory snacks, others (baby food). Among all these sub- segment meat and sea food is expected to be dominant in terms of revenue contribution followed by savory snacks. Increased consumption of frozen and processed meat and sea food is predicted be the major factor contributing to the market growth of savory ingredient.Geographically, North America is expected to be the major contributor in terms of value followed by Europe. However these region is predicted to show a stable growth in the near future. Increasing awareness among the consumer regarding the ill effects of consuming processed food may affect the growth of savory ingredient in these regions. In developing countries of Asia Pacific region China is expected to dominate the market in terms of savory product consumption followed by India. Moreover Japan is expected to show a substantial growth during the forecast period. High volume consumption of sauces and noodles is predicted to be the supporting factor in the growth of savory ingredient market across the country.Savory Ingredient Market DriversRising disposable income in developing regions has led the consumer to get inclined towards processed savory and culinary food product which is predicted to support the growth of savory ingredient market in the near future. Moreover, savory ingredient is cost effective, due to which manufacturers is using it various reason such as stabilizer, emulsifier, thickening agent and others in food products which also expected to fuel its growth during the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Savory Ingredient Market Key PlayersSome of the key companies operating in savory ingredient market includes Tate & Lyle PLC, Kerry Group Plc., Lesaffre Group, Royal DSM, Synergy Flavors and Diana Group among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast Report To 2022 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/372973 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-alcoholic-beverages-craft-beer-market-research-report-2017 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/372973 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/372973 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com While it is difficult to define craft beer since beer is a very subjective and a personal experience, a craft beer is made in a non-mechanized or traditional method by a small brewery. It is usually made with tradition ingredients such as malted barley, and in some occasions non-traditional ingredients are commonly added for uniqueness of the craft beer. An American craft beer is small, independent and traditional; wherein small annually not more than 6 million barrels of beer is produced and the production attributes to the rules of changing proprietorship. Independent lesser than 25% of the craft brewery is controlled or possessed by a member of the alcohol beverage industry, this is not itself, a craft brewer. Traditional a brewery which consists of a larger part of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor comes from customary or creative brewing ingredients and the fermentation process. . Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers. Craft brewers have a propensity to be actively involved in their communities via product donations, event sponsorship, volunteerism and philanthropy.Request for sample of Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market researchreport @The Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market is predicted to witness considerable growth in the future and will register at a higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to increasing demand of craft beer by consumers over mainstream beer. Moreover, variety of flavors along with low Alcohol by Volume (ABV) is estimated to be the primary factors for many consumers to shift their preference from mainstream beer to craft beer. In 2014, the craft beer market in the United States alone accounted for 11% of the total beer market. Besides, it has been noted that consumers feel a sense of pride is linking themselves with a beer that has been produced in a specific region, and therefore they prefer locally produced beer. Additionally, the consumers get tempted by the unique flavors and styles of the craft beers. Another factor that is driving this industrys market to a lucrative edge is the increasing popularity of gluten-free beer. Gluten-free beers do not contain any ingredients that possess glycoprotein. The demand for low ABV and malt brews especially in Pacific countries is anticipated to embellish this industrys growth in the next couple of years. Also, more number of penetrations is certain countries due to the increasing consumer awareness with regards to varied styles of the beer are predicted to have a lucrative impact on the overall market.Browse full Report with table of contents and data tables For Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Report @Geographically, the global craft beer market has been segmented into regions such as is North America, China, Japan, Europe, Southeast Asia, and India. The key market manufacturers of the global market of this industry are The Gambrinus Company, Stone & Wood Brewing Co., The Boston Beer Company, Chimay Beers and Cheeses, D.G. Yuengling and Son, Vagabund, The Gambrinus Company, Feral Brewing Co., D.G. Yuengling and Son, New Belgium Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Bell's Brewery, and Anheuser-Busch. The product type of craft beer market has been split into off-premise and on-premise. Lastly, the end user applications of the global market of this industry are brewpubs, microbreweries, and regional craft breweries.Ask for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Research Report 20171 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer1.2 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 On-premise1.2.4 Off-premise1.3 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Segment by Application1.3.1 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Microbreweries1.3.3 Brewpubs1.3.4 Regional craft breweries1.4 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Alcoholic Beverages Craft Beer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Enquiry Before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:John+1-888-236-2744Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb- Better Healthcare Management Paves Way For Success Of Global Smoke Evacuation System Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/smoke-evacuation-system-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=18068 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Since the past decade, a large number of surgical procedures are moving out of the traditional ways, and they are replaced by minimally invasive techniques which is driving the market of smoke evacuation system globally. Use of electrocautery and electrosurgery devices is unavoidable in minimally invasive surgery which produces surgical smoke. Researchers have found more than 80 organic compounds in surgical smoke such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide that can cause upper respiratory infection, nausea, and other short-term symptoms. Smoke evacuation system has been developed to overcome this problem. The system is intended to remove smoke, aerosol, and noxious odors produced during electrosurgical procedure. Smoke evacuation systems are high-flow vacuum sources used to capture, at the surgical site, the smoke aerosols and gases generated during the use of lasers and electrosurgical units.Obtain Report Details @There are a number of factors that affect the growth of the smoke evacuation system market. Some of the key factors include growth in demand for minimally invasive surgical procedures; development and advancement of energy based electrocautery and ultrasonic devices; and rise in global geriatric population. Other key growth drivers include technological advancements in smoke evacuation system, increase in the number of cosmetic procedures, and high or sudden rise in the number of surgeries related to elderly population. The market is further witnessing restraints, or challenges in its path such as development of other non-invasive surgery technologies, alongside stiff competition among existing smoke evacuation system manufacturers. Moreover, product recalls and government regulations for reduction of overall health care cost are restraining the growth of this market.The global smoke evacuation system market is segmented on the basis of product, application, modality, end-user, and region. Based on product, the smoke evacuation system market is categorized into smoke evacuation filters, pencils & wands, smoke evacuation fusion products, and accessories. The smoke evacuation filters segment is further divided into ULPA filters, HEPA filters, charcoal filters, in-line filters, and pre-filters. The ULPA filters sub-segment is expected to hold a significantly large share of the smoke evacuation filters segment. A significant share of this segment is attributed to technological advancement and extraordinary evacuation capacity as compared to other filters. The smoke evacuation accessories segment comprises adapters, reducers, sensors, and smoke evacuation tubing. Among the accessories, the smoke evacuation tubing sub-segment is expected to account for a significant share in the near future. Rise in number of surgeries performed and recent product launches in this sub-segment is contributing to the large share in this market.On the basis of application, the smoke evacuation system market is divided into electrosurgical devices, electrocautery units, radiofrequency units, ultrasonic devices, laser units, and others. The electrocautery devices segment is anticipated to hold a significant share of the market during the forecast period. Increase in demand for minimally invasive surgeries and rise in geriatric population are expected to fuel the demand for the electrocautery devices segment during the forecast period.Based on modality, smoke evacuation systems are available in portable evacuation systems and centralized evacuation systems. High cost associated with maintenance of centralized evacuation systems and less efficiency as compared to portable evacuation systems are estimated to hamper the growth of the centralized evacuation systems segment. New launches and product innovation in portable evacuation systems are further expected to drive the growth of the market of this segment.On the basis of end-user, the smoke evacuation system market is segmented into hospitals, specialized clinics, and ambulatory surgery centers. The hospitals segment accounted for a major share of the market in 2015 due to increasing demand for electrosurgical devices from corporate hospitals. Globalization of health care and pharmaceutical standards is likely to support the growth of better hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America. This in turn is expected to propel the growth of the smoke evacuation system market in these regions.Geographically, the global smoke evacuation system market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the global smoke evacuation system market during the forecast period. Large geriatric and obese population facing cardiac and orthopedic problems and rise in incidences of cancer are anticipated to drive the market in this region. Asia Pacific has a high growth rate and is expected to offer growth opportunities in this market. Improved health care infrastructure and rise in health care spending by government are estimated to increase adoption of smoke evacuation system in this region.Fill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @Key players operating in this market include Bovie Medical Corporation, Medtronic, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus, Johnson & Johnson, Symmetry Surgical Inc., ConMed Corporation, KLS Martin, and Bowa-electronic GmbH & Co. KG.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: United States, EU, Japan, China, India And Southeast Asia Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Size, Status And Forecast 2021 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/897031 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/897031 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Data Analytics Outsourcing MarketThis report studies the global Data Analytics Outsourcing market, analyzes and researches the Data Analytics Outsourcing development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeGet Sample Copy of this report @IBMOptimization GroupInfinit OutsourcingMcKinseyAccentureFair IssacMu sigmaAnalyxGenpactCapgeminiFractal AnalyticsTCSWiproZS AssociatesCogneesolMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaView Report @Market segment by Application, Data Analytics Outsourcing can be split intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Table of ContentsUnited States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Size, Status and Forecast 20211 Industry Overview of Data Analytics Outsourcing1.1 Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Overview1.1.1 Data Analytics Outsourcing Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Data Analytics Outsourcing Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 32 Global Data Analytics Outsourcing Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Data Analytics Outsourcing Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 IBM3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Optimization Group3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Infinit Outsourcing3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 McKinsey3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Accenture3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Fair Issac3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Mu sigma3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Analyx3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Genpact3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Capgemini3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Data Analytics Outsourcing Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 Fractal Analytics3.12 TCS3.13 Wipro3.14 ZS Associates3.15 CogneesolMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. 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We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Peru PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis and Risk Analysis Market Research Report Launched Market Research Reports, Inc. http://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/peru-pestel-analysis-market-research-report http://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/peru-swot-analysis-market-research-report http://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/peru-risk-analysis-market-research-report http://www.marketresearchreports.com As per International Monetary Fund (IMF) Perus real gross domestic product is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.67% from its 2015 level of Sol 482.8 billion and reach Sol 621.19 billion by 2022.Peru had estimated population of 31.14 million in the year 2015 and expected to reach 33.59 million by 2022. Perus 6.44% of total labour force was unemployed during 2015, which we further expected to reach to 7% of total labour force by 2022.Perus GDP deflator was around 131.31 Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 6198.61 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 12903.09.In 2016, Peru governments revenue was sol 122.961 billion whereas the expenditure was sol 138.366 billion. This resulted German governments net lending / borrowing which was negative sol 15.405 billion in 2016 indicating negative and adverse situation of the economy.The current account balance for Peru was estimated to be at sol -5.463 billion for the year 2016 which indicates negative scenario for the economy. It is expected that in coming years the situation will remain same. The government net debt is also expected to grow to sol 127.92 billion till 2022 from sol 49.61 billion from 2016. This indicates the weak economic condition of Peru.The negative and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 0.56% and reach USD 291.342 by 2022. This positive current account balance indicates the Germany is net lender to the whole world.The newly launched market research reports featuring Perus PESTEL analysis, SWOT analysis and Risk analysis are aimed at providing insights about Peruvian economy and market.Scope of the Peru PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis and Risk Analysis Market Research Reports- These reports provide information about key macroeconomic indicators for Peru.- These reports provide PESTELE (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) analysis for Peru.- These reports provide SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis for Peru.- These reports provide risk analysis for Peru.For more information and to purchase Peru PESTEL Analysis Market Research Report please visit:For more information and to purchase Peru SWOT Analysis Market Research Report please visit:For more information and to purchase Peru Risk Analysis Market Research Report please visit:About Market Research Reports, Inc.Market Research Reports Inc. is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global ional markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.Mr. Sudeep ChakravartyDirector - OperationsMarket Research Reports, Inc.Tel USA: +1-302-703-9904 Global TruChoice Mouldings Market 2017: Focuses on top players Kronospan, Arauco, Juken New Zealand Ltd, Swiss Krono Group, Norbord TruChoice Mouldings http://bit.ly/2rtTsfg http://bit.ly/2pWJ0fS The TruChoice Mouldings research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global TruChoice Mouldings Market and comprises considerable insights, historical data, facts, and statistical and industry-validated data of the global market. Additionally, it consists of estimated data that is evaluated with the help of suitable set of methodologies and assumptions. The research report highlights informative data and in-depth analysis of TruChoice Mouldings market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of TruChoice Mouldings market is provided which covers the growth factors and restraints of the industry along with the key market competitors.To Request Sample Copy Of This Report:The report comprises precise information, comprehensive analysis in two waysqualitative and quantitativeindustry experts inputs, and information provided by industry analysts and industry participants involved in the entire value chain. The report highlights exhaustive study of major market and their present trends, along with corresponding market segments. The TruChoice Mouldings report also provides data regarding various market factors and their impact on the overall market and its segments.Global Research report analyzes the scope of TruChoice Mouldings industry including size, share, analysis, sales, supply, production, definition, specification, classification, demands, application, forecast trends, industry policy, and news. The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the TruChoice Mouldings market.Furthermore, the report evaluated major market points such as production, revenue, capacity utilization rate, gross, price, capacity, gross margin, supply, cost, demand, export, consumption, import, growth rate, market share, and so on.Browse Complete Report At:The global TruChoice Mouldings market report is a helpful source which assists manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and individuals and investors who have interest in this market.Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of TruChoice MouldingsRevenue, means the sales value of TruChoice MouldingsThis report studies sales (consumption) of TruChoice Mouldings in Global market, especially in United States, China, Europe and Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringKronospanAraucoJuken New Zealand LtdSwiss Krono GroupNorbordAbout Us:MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market Analysis- Size, Share, Growth, Industry Demand, Forecast, Application Analysis To 2017 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/375845 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-sulfur-in-oil-analyzers-market-professional-survey-report-2017-d-1336 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/375845 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/375845 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com The report on Global Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market is a professional report which provides thorough knowledge along with complete information pertaining to the Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers industry a propos classifications, definitions, applications, industry chain summary, industry policies in addition to plans, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, etc.The Global Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market Research Report 2017 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Industry on a global level that primarily aims the core regions which comprises of continents like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key countries such as United States, Germany, China and Japan.Download Free Sample Report @The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Report Includes:-The report cloaks the market analysis and projection of Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market on a regional as well as global level. The report constitutes qualitative and quantitative valuation by industry analysts, first-hand data, assistance from industry experts along with their most recent verbatim and each industry manufacturers via the market value chain. The research experts have additionally assessed the in general sales and revenue generation of this particular market. In addition, this report also delivers widespread analysis of root market trends, several governing elements and macro-economic indicators, coupled with market improvements as per every segment. Furthermore, the report contains diverse profiles of primary market players of Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Market. Horiba XOS Rigaku Oxford Instruments Peerflix Dani Instruments Yokogawa DC Scientific GalvanicTo Browse the Entire Report, Visit:The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations. The fact that this market report renders details about the major market players along with their product development and current trends proves to be very beneficial for fresh entrants to comprehend and recognize the industry in an improved manner. The report also enlightens the productions, sales, supply, market condition, demand, growth, and forecast of the Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers industry in the global markets.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Get Discount on this Report @Some points from TOC:-8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers8.1 Horiba8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Horiba 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Horiba 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 XOS8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 XOS 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 XOS 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Rigaku8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Rigaku 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Rigaku 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 Oxford Instruments8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 Oxford Instruments 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 Oxford Instruments 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 Peerflix8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 Peerflix 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 Peerflix 2016 Sulfur-in-Oil Analyzers Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Dani InstrumentsHave Any Query? Ask Our Expert:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Jia WangRoom B1510, ShijiKemao Building, No.66, Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China Global Nuclear Decommissioning Market Outlook to 2022-Market Analysis by Geography, Components, Competitive Landscape, Key Company Information-Growth Trends and Forecasts http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/280376 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-nuclear-decommissioning-market-outlook-to-2022-market-analysis-by-geography-components-competitive-landscape-key-company-information-growth-trends-and-forecasts http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/280376 The Global Nuclear Decommissioning Market has been estimated at USD XX billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD XX billion by 2022, at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022. The worlds focus is shifting towards clean energy sources, as the nations are moving towards energy efficiency. As a result, technologies such as solar photovoltaic and wind power generation are growing at a fast pace. Even though nuclear energy is considered a low carbon technology, nuclear power plant related accidents such as the Three-Mile Island accident, the Chernobyl disaster, and the recent Fukushima nuclear power plant accident have all been cause for concern to the public and to governments that have plans for nuclear power generation. Countries like Germany have already dropped the plans of having nuclear energy in their energy mix. As a result, many countries are shedding their nuclear power in order to move towards non-nuclear power generation programs. Moreover, there are certain reactors that retire from operation as they are economically not viable to produce power. Hence, the global nuclear decommissioning market is growing at a good rate.Download PDF Sample of Nuclear Decommissioning Market Report@Market DynamicsThe main concern regarding the nuclear decommissioning projects is the reliability of services offered. For example, in the case of decommissioning of the Brennilis Nuclear Power Plant, which is a 70 MW reactor, despite the huge costs of dismantling there have been reported leakages of radioactive elements into the lake. In addition, there are high investment costs involved in decommissioning a nuclear reactor. The dismantling of the Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Plant in Germany cost about EUR 140 million. However, these high costs will not prevent the market growth prospects as there will be an ongoing requirement for decommissioning of nuclear reactors.Browse Full Report with TOC:Market Segmentation & ScopeThe nuclear decommissioning market applies to different reactor applications such as the commercial power reactor, prototype power reactor, as well as, the research reactor. Hence, the market segmentation is done based on these categories. The market has also been categorized into five segments based on the type of the reactor, namely, pressurized water reactor, pressurized heavy water reactor, high-temperature gas cooled reactor, liquid metal fast breeder reactor. The XX reactor type of nuclear decommissioning accounted for the largest share with more than XX % of the total market share, in 2016. The market has also been geographically segmented into North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East & Africa and Latin America, with Europe occupying the largest consumer base in the world. XX and XX follow the list, respectively. The major companies dominating this market for its products, services, and continuous product developments have been listed in the report.Place Purchase Order for this Report@Scope of the Report: Global Nuclear Decommissioning Market Analysis, by Reactor Type Pressurized Water Reactor Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor Boiling Water Reactor High-Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor Liquid Metal Fast Breeder ReactorGlobal Nuclear Decommissioning Market Analysis, by Application Commercial Power Reactors Prototype Power Reactors Research ReactorsGlobal Nuclear Decommissioning Market, by Site Capacity Below 100 MW 100 1000 MW Above 1000 MWGlobal Nuclear Decommissioning Market Analysis, by Region North America Asia-Pacific Europe The Middle East and Africa South AmericaKey Companies AECOM Areva Babcock Bechtel CH2M Hitachi - GE Magnox Ltd. Sellafield Ltd. Westinghouse OthersKey Deliverables in the Study Market Overview - market analysis and identification of key drivers, restraints, and opportunities. Major trends and economic outlook. Supply chain analysis. Porters five forces analysis. A comprehensive summary of the industry sectors and regions poised for the fastest-growth. Generator sets market analysis by fuel type, region, capacity/rating, end-use, and application. Future outlook of the market. Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies, along with their estimated market share.Table of Content:1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology3. Market Overview3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Demand to 20213.3 Government Policies and Regulations4. Markets Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.1.1 Nuclear Reactors Reaching Operational Retirement4.1.2 Growth of Renewables4.1.3 Public Opposition Towards Nuclear Power4.2 Constraints4.2.1 High Investment Costs in Decommissioning Projects4.2.2 Long Project Life4.2.3 High-Risk of Environmental and Human Sabotage During Decommissioning4.3 Opportunities4.3.1 German Policy to Phase Out Nuclear Power4.3.2 New Improved Methods of Decommissioning5. Porters 5 Force Analysis6. Global Nuclear Decomissioning Market, by by Reactor Type6.1 Pressurized Water Reactor6.2 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor6.3 Boiling Water Reactor6.4 High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor6.5 Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor7. Global Nuclear Decomissioning Market, by Application7.1 Commercial Power Reactors7.2 Prototype Power Reactors7.3 Research Reactors8. Global Nuclear Decomissioning Market, by Capacity8.1 Below 100 MW8.2 100 1000 MW8.3 Above 1000 MW9. Global Nuclear Decomissioning Market Analysis, by Geography9.1 North America9.1.1 The United States of America9.1.2 Canada9.1.3 Others9.2 Asia-Pacific9.2.1 China9.2.2 India9.2.3 South Korea9.2.4 Taiwan9.2.5 Others9.3 Europe9.3.1 Finland9.3.2 France9.3.3 Germany9.3.4 Sweden9.3.5 Ukraine9.3.6 UK9.3.7 Others9.4 The Middle East and Africa9.4.1 Iran9.4.2 Others9.5 South America9.5.1 Brazil9.5.2 Argentina9.5.3 Others10. Key Company Players10.1 AECOM10.2 Areva10.3 Babcock10.4 Bechtel10.5 CH2M10.6 Hitachi - GE10.7 Magnox Ltd10.8 Sellafield Ltd10.9 Westinghouse10.10 Others11. Competitive Landscape11.1 Mergers & Acquisitions11.2 Joint Ventures, Collaborations and Agreements12. Appendix12.1 Disclaimer12.2 Contact UsOrbis Research is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com Floor Grinding Machine MarketHeaded for Growth and Global Expansion by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/15631 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/15631 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Global Floor Grinding Machine: Market Overview:Grinding is the way toward removing metal by the utilization of abrasives which are bonded to form a rotating wheel. At the point when the moving rough particles contact the workpiece, they act as tiny cutting tools. The floor grinding machine is utilized for roughing and finishing flat, cylindrical, and cone shaped surfaces; completing inward cylinders or bores; framing and sharpening tools, catching or expelling rough projections from castings and stampings; cleaning, polishing and buffing surfaces. Floor grinding is used for the removal of adhesives, imperfections, rain damage, coatings. Machines that granulate concrete floors are made to deal with a much more anxiety and will have more power to drive the unit as concrete has a substantially higher sliding friction than marble or granite which is likewise worked wet, along these lines with less friction. Some sorts of marble will spark when it is ground dry, making profound damage to the marble surface. Concrete grinding and polishing have recently become famous in industrial settings, because of the quantity of favorable circumstances and benefits that it brings. Floor grinding machine smoothens the down rough concrete surfaces to uncover a smooth and shiny surface. Essentially, an overwhelming obligation granulating machine is utilized on the surface of the concrete slab, to polish it and make it look significantly more attractive. The floor grinding machines are made in a simple and robust but yet stylish and functional design.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Floor Grinding Machine: Market Dynamics:Mainly industrial purpose drives the global demand of floor grinding machine market. The floor looks attractive, increases the durability of the floor, environment-friendly and saving a lot of money are the factors that further leads to a rising in demand of floor grinding machine. Simple design, robust construction, single speed, high quality, functional and price competitive are the factors that also propel the growth of floor grinding machine market. Rising industry in Asia-Pacific regions leads to a growth of floor grinding machine market. Owing to the wide range of its application in industry fuel the demand for floor grinding machine market. Floor grinding machine act as an essential device to organizations dynamic over the value chain and to the new entrants by empowering them to underwrite the opportunities and create business procedures.Global Floor Grinding Machine: Segmentation:Based on applications, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: Grinding and Polishing, Concrete, Marbles, Limestone, Cement plate, Wood-parquet floor coatings, Removal, Grease, Machine Oil, Paintings, Cleaning, Floor coatings, Removal of mud, Treacle and other loose dirt , Buffing and stripping. Based on floor type, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: Marble, Concrete, Granite, Limestone, Others. Based on end-use, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into:Industrial, Commercial. Based on the regions, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, The Middle East and Africa.Global Floor Grinding Machine: Regional Outlook:The global floor grinding machine market is segmented into seven geographic key regions includes North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Japan, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan and The Middle East and Africa. The developing economies such as Asia-Pacific region lead to a growth of floor grinding machine near future owing to the development of industries is followed by North America, Japan. The demand for global floor grinding machine is expected to rise in the near future.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Global Floor Grinding Machine: Key Players:The few prominent key players of global floor grinding machine are: Husqvarna AB, HTC Group, Blastrac, Klindex, Shanghai Tuomei, Xingyi Polishing, Scanmaskin Sverige AB, Superabrasive, Linax, Terrco, ASL Machines, Substrate Technology, Shanghai Qing, Roll Gmbh, Bartell Global, Weijie Environmental.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services Market 2017 - 2022 Alstom SA, Babcock & Wilcox Company, Babcock Noell GmbH, Burns & McDonnell, Inc, China Environment Ltd, Doosan Power Systems Ltd Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services http://bit.ly/2ri01VU http://bit.ly/2quMR6D The latest report Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services Market by QY Research added to it's database and brings to light the comprehensive study and factual information of global market. The report also provides the global market segmentation based on applications, end-users, technology, and geography. The Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services research report offers a comprehensive assessment of the Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services market and consists of historical data, scope, significant approaches and statistical data of the global market.Request for FREE SAMPLE Report @The report includes rigorous data, in-depth analysis in two ways, namely, quantitative and qualitative, industry professionals inputs and data given by the industry members and industry analysts involved in the complete value cycle. The report features thorough study of important market and their current trends, coupled with respective market segments. Information about the numerous factors and their influence on the global market and its segments is also mentioned in the Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services report.Browse Complete report With TOC available @The Industrial DeNOx Systems & Services report is a useful documentation that aids distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, customers, investors & individuals who are interested in this market.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market.Important changes in market dynamics.Market segmentation up to the second or third level.Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume.Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments.Market shares and strategies of key players.Emerging niche segments and regional markets.Focuses on top manufacturers in global marketAlstom SABabcock & Wilcox CompanyBabcock Noell GmbHBurns & McDonnell, IncChina Environment LtdDoosan Power Systems LtdFLSmidth & CO. A/SSplit by product typeSCRSNCRSplit by applicationUtilitiesIndustriesMRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Global Beverage Packaging Market expected to grow at 3.3% CAGR through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-196 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-196 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global beverage packaging market is expected to be worth nearly US$ 200 billion in 2017, up from US$ 186 billion in 2015. Demand will be sustained by increasing consumption of packed food and beverages and increase in the number of one-person households in key markets. Advances in packaging technology will continue to shape up the global market, with intelligent packaging expected to gain traction.Plastics to Account for Over 50% Revenue ShareBeverage packaging manufacturers will continue to rely on plastic for bulk of production, with glass, metal, and paperboard among other key raw materials. Overall, plastics will account for over 50% revenue share by raw material type, with metal a distant second at approximately 24% market share. Benefits of plastic packaging, such as low production costs, easy transportation, and lower weight will continue to make it a preferred raw material for manufacturers. PET, polystyrene, and polypropylene will remain the highest-selling plastics in the beverage packaging marketcollectively, they are expected to account for US$ 52.64 billion in revenues in 2017.Request Report Sample@Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) Largest MarketAsia Pacific (excluding Japan) will continue to be the largest market for beverage packaging in 2017. Increasing demand for packed food products will continue to fuel market revenues in the region. The APEJ beverage packaging market is expected to surpass US$ 50 billion in revenues by 2017 and continue to be the largest market for beverage packaging globally.North America and Western Europe the other leading markets for beverage packaging will continue to post moderate gains. Adoption of advanced packaging technology will witness higher growth in these two regions vis-a-vis APEJ. Collectively, North America and Western Europe will account for nearly half of global beverage packaging market revenues in 2017.CSD/soda manufacturers will remain the largest application segments in the global beverage packaging market, followed by dairy and juice/soft drinks. Demand for beverage packaging from CSD/soda segment is anticipated to be worth US$ 58 billion in 2017, up from nearly US$ 55 billion in 2015. Plastics will remain the largest product type for CSD/soda, followed by cans and glass bottles.Vendor InsightsLeading players in the global packaging market are focusing on creating functional and sustainable packaging that caters to the swiftly changing needs of consumers. Increasing investment in R&D to develop next-generation packaging solutions and strengthening of distribution networks in emerging nations remain key strategic endeavours of beverage packaging brands. The key players profiled in the report include Ampac Holdings, LLC, Amcor Limited, Alcoa Inc., Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings, Inc., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Rexam PLC, Reynolds Group Holdings Limited, SIG Combibloc, Ardagh Group S.A., Tetra Laval International S.A. and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.Send An Enquiry@Long-term Outlook: During the forecast period, 2015-2025, the global beverage packaging market is expected to grow at 3.3% CAGR through 2025, totalling US$ 257.5 billion in revenues. Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will remain the largest market for beverage packaging throughout the forecast period 2015-2025.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Smart PV Array Combiner Box Market Size by Residential, Non-Residential and Utility-Scale Applications 2022 https://goo.gl/AK4nlE https://goo.gl/wvF0qJ https://goo.gl/eMb0cR Global Smart PV Array Combiner Box Market 2017 report spread across 119 pages gives Market Segment Analysis by Key Manufacturers, Countries, Types and Applications. In a large solar photovoltaic (PV) array, multiple solar modules are connected in series in a string to build the voltage up to proper levels for the inverter. Multiple strings of solar modules are then combined together in parallel to multiply the string output currents to higher levels for input into the inverter.Complete report is available atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global Smart PV Array Combiner Box market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers: CFAT, XJ Group, Wuxi Longmax, Noark, Kingshore, Weidmuller, Schneider Electric, TOPBAND, Eaton, Jinting Solar, Kebite, TBEA, Huasheng Electric, EAST, Sungrow, FIBOX, Golden Highway, Surpass Sun Electric, Guanya Power, Temaheng Energy, Corona, Tongqu Electric, Ehe New Energy, Jingyi Renewable EnergyMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers: North America (USA, Canada and Mexico); Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy); Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia); South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.); Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers: DC Smart PV Combiner Box, AC Smart PV Combiner BoxMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Residential, Non-Residential, Utility-ScaleRequest for discount atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Smart PV Array Combiner Box market.Chapter 1 to describe Smart PV Array Combiner Box Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2 to analyze the top manufacturers of Smart PV Array Combiner Box, with sales, revenue, and price of Smart PV Array Combiner Box, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3 to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4 to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Smart PV Array Combiner Box, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11 to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Order copy of report atChapter 12 Smart PV Array Combiner Box market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15 to describe Smart PV Array Combiner Box sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.ReportsnReports.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 95 leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets.Ritesh Tiwari,+ 1 888 391 5441sales@reportsandreports.com Global Portable Oxygen Concentrators Market 2016-2026 anticipated to register value CAGR of 7.8% http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1061 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1061 www.futuremarketinsights.com According to a latest report published by Future Market Insights titled Portable Oxygen Concentrators Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026, the global portable oxygen concentrators market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.8% between 2016 and 2026 in terms of value.Portable oxygen concentrators supply oxygen to patients suffering from respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The concentrator separates nitrogen and oxygen from air in the environment and then supplies 95% pure oxygen to patients. POCs are easy to carry as they are smaller in size compared to stationary concentrators. Moreover, POCs are of great use to mountaineers and travellers in places where oxygen is inadequate.Request Report Sample@According to Future Market Insights, the global portable oxygen concentrators market is likely to witness substantial growth owing to increasing prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, growing consumer awareness for oxygen therapy devices, and a changing consumer lifestyle. Further, adoption of new technologies in medical devices, increasing government expenditure towards healthcare and medical devices development and production, and a rise in investment by companies manufacturing homecare products is likely to boost the growth of the global portable oxygen concentrators market during the forecast period (2016 2026). However, high product costs and stringent FDA regulations pertaining to medical devices are some of the factors likely to restrain the growth of the global portable oxygen concentrators market during the forecast period.Segmentation highlightsThe global portable oxygen concentrators market has been segmented on the basis of Product into Continuous Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator and Pulse Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator; and on the basis of End User into Hospitals, Homecare, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, and Travel Agents.The Pulse Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator product segment is projected to be valued at US$ 1890.3 Mn by 2026, registering a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast periodThe Homecare end user segment is projected to be valued at US$ 1820.5 Mn by 2026 and is likely to witness a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast periodRegional market projectionsThe global portable oxygen concentrators market is segmented into the seven key regions of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, MEA, and Japan. Growing geriatric population consequently increasing the requirement for homecare settings particularly in high income countries with increasing number of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases is expected to result in significant growth of the North America portable oxygen concentrators market. The North America region is expected to report incremental opportunity of US$ 781.7 Mn between 2016 and 2026. Evolution of health insurance system is expected to contribute largely to the revenue generation potential and attractiveness of the Eastern Europe portable oxygen concentrators market. Rising adoption of portable oxygen concentrators in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases patients for better care is expected to fuel revenue growth in the Japan portable oxygen concentrators market over the forecast period. High product cost of portable oxygen concentrators is expected to hamper sustainable adoption in the APEJ region. Lack of product awareness is expected to hamper market growth in the APEJ and MEA regions.Send An Enquiry@Vendor insightsThe report profiles some of the top companies operating in the global portable oxygen concentrators market such as Koninklijke Philips N.V., Inogen Inc., Chart Industries Inc., Resmed Inc., Invacare Corporation, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Precision Medical Inc., Besco Medical Co. Ltd., Oxus America, Inc. (Oxus), Foshan Keyhub Electronic Industries Co. Ltd., O2 Concepts LLC, and GCE Group. Key strategies adopted by leading market players in the global portable oxygen concentrators market include product approvals and commercialisation, efficient entry into markets in emerging countries, and adoption of latest innovative technologies in healthcare, thus strengthening regional proficiency and addressing customer needs effectively. New product launches, product innovation, and geographical expansion are anticipated to form the core of these strategies during the forecast period.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Sodium Ascorbate Market 2017- Parchem fine & specialty chemicals, Boc Sciences, Parchem, BroadPharm, Biosynth Sodium Ascorbate Market https://goo.gl/Q1zU3U https://goo.gl/egc6Bq http://marketreports.biz/ MarketReports.biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Sodium Ascorbate Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Sodium Ascorbate Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Sodium Ascorbate industry, and estimates the future trend of Sodium Ascorbate market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Sodium Ascorbate Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportParchem fine & specialty chemicalsBoc SciencesParchemBroadPharm BiosynthChemSceneGlentham Life Sciences Ltd.MolPortAurora Fine Chemicals LLCTCI (Tokyo Chemical Industry)Abcr GmbHChem-Space.com DatabaseApexBio TechnologyAmadis Chemical1717 CheMall CorporationAKos Consulting & SolutionsWutechMolepediaMedChemexpress MCE.The market research report explores the Sodium Ascorbate market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Sodium Ascorbate Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Sodium Ascorbate market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Sodium Ascorbate. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Sodium Ascorbate market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Sodium Ascorbate is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Sodium Ascorbate market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Sodium Ascorbate market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Sodium Ascorbate market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Sodium Ascorbate production volume, data pertaining to demand and Sodium Ascorbate supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Sodium Ascorbate along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Sodium Ascorbate across the world.About UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz Baby Feeding Accessories Market - Dynamics, Segments and Supply Demand 2017-2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/baby-feeding-accessories-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=21890 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Baby feeding accessories market are showing significant growth over the years due to the fact that nutritional wellbeing of a child is both an outcome and an indicator of national development. Appropriate feeding has become a crucial factor for healthy growth and development of infant. Moreover, due to the factors such as changing lifestyles, rising population and growing health concern especially for children is further booming the market of baby feeding accessories. The growing number of population aged between 1-3 years in Asia Pacific (APAC) and Latin American countries, , is primarily driving the baby feeding accessories market in these regions.Browse Market Research Report @The growing competition amongst various feeding accessories segments is forcing the manufacturers to focus on product innovation and better marketing activities. Baby feeding accessories market are gaining interest owing to the increasing popularity of breast pump accessories worldwide. Therefore, the demands for baby feeding accessories growing significantly and is expected a steady growth during the forecast period. Good nutrition is essential to the rapid growth and development that occurs during the babys first year. Providing the babies with correct food will promote good health and provides opportunity to enjoy new textures and tastes that will help to establish good eating habits. Positive and supportive feeding techniques are thus crucial in allowing babies to eat well and to develop healthy attitudes.The key players of baby feeding accessories such as Mothercare, Artsana USA Inc., Philips Avent, Tupperware and Novatex Inc among others are focusing on product innovation to suit consumers preferences and also to provide their customers with healthier options for infant care.. Moreover the large number of untapped market in Africa due to the economic slowdown is major opportunity for the baby feeding accessories market.For more information on this report, fill the form @The global baby feeding accessories market segmented into by product type, by distribution channel and by region. On the basis of different types of baby feeding accessories market is segmented into baby bottles and nipples. On the basis of distribution channel the global baby feeding accessories market is segmented into online distribution channel and offline distribution channel. Offline distribution channel is further segmented by retail store, hyper market and super market, departmental stores, specialty shop and others.On the basis of geographic split the market of baby feeding accessories is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America. The baby feeding accessories market also covers major countries in all the regions such as The U.S in North America, The U.K, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and Rest of Europe in Europe. The Asia Pacific market covers major countries such as China, India, Japan and Rest of APAC. Brazil covers in Latin America and U.A.E., South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) is Middle East and Africa. Developed nations such as U.S. and U.K. and others developed countries are expected to improve the industry in terms of volume and revenue. However, Asia Pacific is expected a high growth during the forecast period 2017 2025. This is mainly due to the increasing consumer disposable income, and changing lifestyle, especially in developing countries such as India, China and Japan.The global baby feeding accessories market is marked by some intense competition from the major players operating in this field. Frequent merger and acquisition joint venture and partnership product innovation and geographical expansion are some of the major strategies adopted by these players to ensure long term sustenance in this market. Global key participants in the global baby feeding accessories industry include Mothercare plc (Watford U.K.), Artsana USA Inc. (Pennsylvania, U.S), Philips AVENT (Sudbury, U.K.), Tupperware (Florida, U.S.), Novatex North America, Inc (Ohio, U.S.), Linco Baby Merchandise Works Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), Pigeon Corporation (Japan), Mayborn Group (U.K), Munchkin Inc.(U.S.) and Handi-Craft Company (Missouri, U.S.) among others.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Carbonated Ready-to-Drink Tea Market - Revenue, Opportunity, Segment and Key Trends 2017-2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/carbonated-ready-to-drink-tea-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=21899 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Ready- to- drink or RTDs are a type of beverages that are sold in packed form and ready for immediate consumption. It has been a recent trend in the western countries to consume beverages that are iced and carbonated in nature. The carbonated RTDs can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic and are usually mixed with tea to develop that flavor. The consumption of carbonates in many developed countries are diminishing, indirectly propelling the demand for other alternatives such as carbonated RTDs tea and other liquids. It has been established in the market that the taste of the carbonated ready-to-drink is refreshing and is available in the market in multiple flavor options. The sodas sold in the carbonated drinks have been stated to be unhealthy due to its presence of artificial flavors, colors and faulty sweeteners. This has heightened the demand for soft drinks manufacturers to allure its customer base with non-soda options for the health-conscious people.Obtain Report Details @The carbonated RTDs tea has been noted to be the most prosperous non-soda alternative that not only gives the drinker a fizzy vibe but is also known for its god health benefits. The growth of on this beverage is high even though it contains sugar or sweeteners and is accepted to be a healthier product that is full of antioxidants. The major driver for aiding the growth of carbonated ready-to-drink tea is the extensive investment on new product development. The new product launches are being copied by other manufacturers, helping the success of the caffeinated beverage in the market. The availability of carbonated RTD tea in variety of flavors and packaging bottles are driving the purchase of this drink in the market. However, in the Asian countries the tradition to drink a hot beverage, especially tea is more common as compared to any carbonated drinks. Due to the growing population of the Millennial in countries like India, China, Japan and few other Middle Eastern countries, the demand for consuming westernized products are increasing. Nevertheless, the carbonated RTD tea is full of antioxidants and contains low calorie, aiding the obese and diabetic consumers to choose as an alternative drink.The carbonated ready-to-drink tea is segmented on the basis of packaging and distribution channel. On the basis of packaging, this beverage is available as plastic bottled or in metal cans. The metal cans are ready-to-go packs and very useful for the individuals leading a fast paced life. The bottled form of the carbonated drink can be used repeatedly and bought for household bulk consumption. Based on the distribution channel, the carbonated ready-to-drink tea is available in offline retail stores as well as online grocery stores. The offline grocery stores include supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores and independent retailers. The supermarket and hypermarket stores is estimated to have an augmented growth in the future due to it stocking of variety of carbonated drinks, including different flavors and at different prices.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Geographically, carbonated ready-to-drink tea is consumed worldwide and is present in all the major regions like the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Amongst these, North America and Europe are the highest consumers of this type of beverage as they are reported to be more health conscious when compared to the other developing regions.The major players dominating the carbonate ready-to-drink market are Grupo LALA, Lactalis, Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Suja Juice, Starbucks, Tesco, Unilever, TeaZazz, Talking Rain and Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (SDBC) are a few among other leading producers of carbonated RTD tea in the world. These companies are constantly on the verge of experimenting with new product development in different countries and their localized tastes and preferences.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Market to reach $775mn by 2023 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/431 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/xray-photoelectron-spectroscopy-xps-market-report https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/431 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/ultrasound-device-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Market size is driven by mounting need for analyzing surface chemistry of materials the coming years. Escalating demand for XPS across pharmaceuticals, medical research, mining, chemical, and food sectors is expected to boost the industry trends. According to Global Market Insights, Inc., Worldwide X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market worth 475 million in 2015, is predicted to record a CAGR of 6% over the period of 2016 to 2023.Order This Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766.The differentiating factor of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy Market report by Global Market Insights, Inc. when compared with other, similar syndicated research studies includes a 360-degree synopsis of trends for a period of more than 10 years including historic information as well as future outlook. Business focussed multiple trends for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry are discussed along with regional trends to offer an overall view of the market. The industry insights chapter of this research provides the most comprehensive analysis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market covering segmentation, size, forecasts, ecosystem analysis and more. Industry impact forces (regional and global) that cover growth drivers and challenges, growth potential analysis, a strategy dashboard for competitive landscape of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market support this sector specific data and information points.Growing requirement for detecting defects such as dewetting, craters, etc., along with the need to identify the problems during automotive coatings will further propel the industry growth. Furthermore, favorable compensation policies, the presence of laboratories equipped with new technologies, and rising health awareness are other pivotal growth drivers of the industry.Request for a sample of this research report -X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has noteworthy usages such as empirical formula determination, element detection, density estimation and contamination detection. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market in the contamination detection will exhibit fastest growth rate of more than 6% over the coming years of 2016 to 2023. The growth can be attributed to its surging demand across pharmaceutical, semiconductor, biotechnology, and electronics industries. Density estimation, element detection, and empirical formula determination will also contribute substantially towards the industry growth.To access sample pages or view this report titled, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Market Size By Application (Healthcare, Semiconductors, Electronics, Aerospace, Automotive), By Usage (Element Detection, Contamination Detection, Density Estimation, Empirical formula Determination), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, India, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa), Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2023 in detail along with the table.Among the various notable applications such as bioengineering, automotive, electronics, semiconductor, aerospace, and healthcare of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry, healthcare application exhibited the eye-catching revenue and accounted for 40% of the global share in 2015. The escalating technological advancements and growing healthcare spending will further drive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry size in the bioengineering sector.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market size in the automotive sector will register an annual growth rate of 6.7% over the coming six years, primarily driven by its increasing use for finding defects and detecting contaminants.Geographically, Asia Pacific X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market share is anticipated to grow noticeably over the coming timeframe, owing to the developing infrastructure sector as well as expanding healthcare industry. China and India will be major revenue drivers for the APAC. India X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry will exhibit a growth rate of more than 8% over the coming years.Supportive government rules & regulations as well as availability of fully developed laboratories will fuel the UK X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry size over the period of 2016 to 2023.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @U.S. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy industry share is projected to surpass revenue of USD 250 million by 2023. The surging installation of the instruments, which are incorporated with new innovative and enhanced technology are expected to fuel the regional demand growth. In addition, favorable government norms along with the implementation of FDA approved health policies regarding drug safety and quality will influence the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market noticeably.Market giants are adopting various growth strategies like collaborations, mergers & acquisitions to maintain their business position across the globe. Intertek, Kett, Evans Analytical Group LLC, VG Scienta, Kratos Analytical Ltd, Yokogawa, Mitsubishi Electric, and Thermo Fisher Scientific are some of the noteworthy players in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy market.Browse Related Reports:Ultrasound Device Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2023About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market 2017 - BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, General Atomics, Elbit, Embraer Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market https://goo.gl/oVTnHd https://goo.gl/h55AUr http://marketreports.biz/ MarketReports.biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales industry, and estimates the future trend of Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. BAE Systems2. The Boeing Company3. General Atomics4. Elbit5. Embraer6. Finmeccanica7. Israel Aerospace Industries8. Lockheed Martin Corporation9. Northrop Grumman Corporation10. Textron11. ThalesThe market research report explores the Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales Market". 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The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sales across the world.About UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market 2017 Trend, Analysis and Forecast to 2021 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/global-automated-storage-and-retrieval-systems-market-2017-2021 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001758598/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001758598/buying Automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) is complex automated device having tall racks, stacker cranes, inventory in/out systems, automatic storage and retrieval equipment, and computer management systems. These systems are used for automated retrieval and placement of loads from different defined storage locations. ASRS can be of different types such as unit load, mini load, and tunnel style systems. These systems can be used in various industries such as automotive, retail, and food and beverage (F&B) .Publisher's analysts forecast the global automated storage and retrieval systems market to grow at a CAGR of 8.04% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global automated storage and retrieval systems market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed profiling of the market participants across the value chain of the global automated storage and retrieval systems market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Daifuku- Dematic- SSI Schaefer- Vanderlande IndustriesRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- BEUMER Group- Dearborn Mid-West Conveyor- Fives Group- FlexLink- Intelligrated- Kardex- KNAPP Logistics Automation- Legris Industries- Mecalux- Murata Machinery- Swisslog- TGW Logistics GroupMarket driver- Growing e-commerce industry.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Need for continuous support and maintenance.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- About 20% of manufacturing functions to be completely automated by 2021.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 IC-Substrate Consumption Market 2017 - Zhen Ding Tech, PJC Technologies Inc, Founder Group, Kinsus, Nan Ya IC-Substrate Consumption Market https://goo.gl/u3v5Q0 https://goo.gl/fNHDpL http://marketreports.biz/ MarketReports.biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "IC-Substrate Consumption Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "IC-Substrate Consumption Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global IC-Substrate Consumption industry, and estimates the future trend of IC-Substrate Consumption market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "IC-Substrate Consumption Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. Dow2. Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik3. Unimicron4. Simmtech5. TTM Technologies, Inc.6. TDK Corporation7. Daeduck8. Kyocera9. IBIDEN10. Atotech11. FUJITSU12. LinxensThe market research report explores the IC-Substrate Consumption market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "IC-Substrate Consumption Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. 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The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for IC-Substrate Consumption is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, IC-Substrate Consumption market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the IC-Substrate Consumption market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide IC-Substrate Consumption market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, IC-Substrate Consumption production volume, data pertaining to demand and IC-Substrate Consumption supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of IC-Substrate Consumption along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for IC-Substrate Consumption across the world.About UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz 2012-2022 Report on Global Window Film Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1014842&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2012-2022-report-on-global-window-film-market-competition-status-and-forecast-market-size-by-players-regions-type-application.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "2012-2022 Report on Global Window Film Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application" to its huge collection of research reports.A recently added report on the global market for Window Film furnishes an executive-level blueprint of the market. In order to study the market, the report classifies it based on various parameters such as type, applications, and geography. It examines the different categories of Window Film products/services in details to understand which segment holds maximum demand and why. It also sheds light on their sales and revenues, market shares, and growth prospects. The report tries to assess the demand for Window Film product/services across a spectrum of applications and which regions are key markets. Leveraging information sourced through primary and secondary research, the report draws refined growth forecasts for the market.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @The overview part of the report contains an in-depth analysis of the growth drivers, trends, restraints, and opportunities shaping the dynamics in the global Window Film market. The report leverages market-leading analytical tools of the likes of Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis to understand the strength, opportunities, weaknesses, threats, and possible roadblocks that the prominent companies in the market may come across.The report on the global Window Film market also contains succinct business profiles, a quick look at relevant recent events, developments, and collaborations, a peek into the popular business strategies, and a snapshot of the product and service portfolio of key companies in the market. It also studies the effect of current domestic and international policies on the markets trajectory.The report furnishes valuable recommendations to enable companies in the global Window Film market frame winning strategies. Overall, it packages exhaustive information intended to give a 360-degree view of the market for players keen on succeeding.Obtain Report Details @Table of Contents1 Window Film Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Window Film1.2 Classification of Window Film1.2.1 Solar Control Film1.2.2 Safety / Security Film1.2.3 Decorative Film1.2.4 Spectrally Selective Film1.3 Application of Window Film1.3.1 Commercial1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Others1.4 Window Film Market by Regions1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Asia Pacific Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Latin America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 MEA Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Window Film (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Window Film Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Window Film Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Window Film Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Window Film Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Window Film Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Window Film Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Window Film (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Window Film Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Window Film (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Window Film Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Window Film Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.4 Global Window Film (Volume) by Application3 North America Window Film (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 North America Top Country Window Film Sales and Value Analysis (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.2 Mexico Window Film Sales and Value Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 Canada Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.2 North America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 North America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 North America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Application4 Asia Pacific Window Film (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 Asia Pacific Top Country Window Film Sales and Value Analysis (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.2 Japan Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.3 Korea Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.4 India Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.5 Australia Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.2 Asia Pacific Window Film Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 Asia Pacific Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 Asia Pacific Window Film Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Window Film (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Top Country Window Film Sales and Value Analysis (2012-2017)5.1.1 UK Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.2 France Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.3 Germany Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.4 Spain Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.5 Italy Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Window Film Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Window Film Sales and Market Share by Application6 Latin America Window Film (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Latin America Top Country Window Film Sales and Value Analysis (2012-2017)6.1.1 Brazil Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.2 Argentina Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.2 Latin America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Latin America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Latin America Window Film Sales and Market Share by Application7 MEA Window Film (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 MEA Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.1.1 UAE Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.1.2 Saudi Arabia Window Film Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.2 MEA Window Film Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 MEA Window Film Sales and Market Share by Type7.4 MEA Window Film Sales and Market Share by Application9 Global Window Film Manufacturers Analysis9.1 3M9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Window Film Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Solar Control Film9.1.2.2 Safety / Security Film9.1.3 3M Window Film Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Solar Gard-Saint Gobain9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Window Film Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Solar Control Film9.2.2.2 Safety / Security Film9.2.3 Solar Gard-Saint Gobain Window Film Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Madico9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Window Film Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Solar Control Film9.3.2.2 Safety / Security Film9.3.3 Madico Window Film Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business OverviewQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Stone Paper Market segmentation by 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2133 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2133 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Stone paper is neither pulp nor synthetic made paper but it is a kind of extremely durable, highly strong and ecofriendly paper which is also known as rock paper, rich mineral paper, paper from waste marble. Density range of stone paper is 1.0-1.6, which equals to or more than ordinary paper, and a texture somewhat like peel of a boiled egg. The stone paper can be recycled re-formed into stone paper again, which is not recyclable but is photo degradable and compostable under commercial conditions. Stone paper is appropriate for packaging, bags, stationery, wrappers, adhesives, grease proof paper, containers and many other applications. Stone paper market has positive outlook as a result of packaging industries. The escalation in packaging industry attributed by need for effective labelling and high-quality option, to improve the aesthetics of the packaged product.Global Stone Paper Market: DynamicsStone paper is a new type of paper making technology that can be recyclable with modern technology in high polymer interface. Its main raw material is the most abundant in mineral resources calcium carbonate with high polymer material and variety of inorganic matter as auxiliary material. The increasing application scope of the product in the packaging, labeling, and self-adhesive paper is attributed to the slight ecological impacts, with regards to usage of energy, water, carbon emissions, and deforestation. The new product development along with investment in R&D for the advancement in manufacturing techniques have been the major strategy adopted by the manufacturers. The major issues faced by the industry are related to environment regulation on mining activities. The market is highly competitive owing to the presence of large number of suppliers worldwide.Request For Report Sample:Global Stone Paper Market: SegmentationThe global market of stone paper market can be segmented on the basis of material type, application and region. On the basis of material calcium carbonate, high density polyethylene and others. On the basis of application labeling papers, packaging paper, self-adhesive paper and others. Among all application, paper packaging is major application of respective product. After packaging application self-adhesive paper segment are expected to register impressive growth during forecast period. On the basis of region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Global Stone Paper Market: Regional OverviewDue to technology advancement in North America, this region is expected to witness higher growth rate during forecast period. Europe is also expected to account for second highest growth after North America due to demand of packaging application in European countries such as Russia and Germany. Asia pacific, dominated by China is expected to register highest growth in term of volume in global stone paper market during forecast year due to high demand of ecofriendly packaging, easy available raw material in this region, low cost of production and large numbers of manufacturers.Request For TOC:Global Stone Paper Market: Key PlayersThe main player of this market such are Stone Paper Company Ltd, Soluz Stone Paper S.A, Kapstone Paper, Taiwan Lung Meng Technology Co. Ltd., Gaia-Concept BV, Parax Paper, packaging corporation.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: 2012-2022 Report on Global Mattress Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1048036&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2012-2022-report-on-global-mattress-market-competition-status-and-forecast-market-size-by-players-regions-type-application.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "2012-2022 Report on Global Mattress Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application" to its huge collection of research reports.The global Mattress market is driven by the various factors, a detailed analysis of which is included in the report. The report provides valuable recommendation to the companies in order to help them adapt winning strategies. It comprises the information pertaining to the opportunities and threats that the global Mattress market is projected to witness during the forecast period. Industry-leading tools are used to provide detail information regarding the companies profiled. The report also provides in-depth analysis of the competition prevailing in the global Mattress market.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @The market study also offers a thorough overview of the competitive landscape in the market. The report analyzes the global Mattress market on certain criteria such as product, application, current condition, and geography. The report also sheds light on the current market trends and their impact on the global Mattress market. Analysis is conducted in order to find strengths and weaknesses of companies profiled. For this purpose. The report also discusses the prominent players competition on the global as well as domestic level.The report serves as an ideal tool for companies looking to survive and thrive in the global Mattress market. The performance of the leading companies have been studied in this report The study offers an informative outline of company profile, product portfolio, research, mergers, and growth strategies. The relative share of each segment in the global Mattress market is presented in the report. The historical and current development of each segment is charted in the report. This information helps clients gain a better understanding of the global Mattress market.Obtain Report Details @Table of Contents1 Mattress Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Mattress1.1.1 Definition of Mattress1.2 Type of Mattress by Product Category1.2.1 Global Mattress Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Types (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Mattress Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Innerspring1.2.4 Foam Mattress1.2.5 Bladder mattressesr1.3 Global Mattress Market by Regions1.3.1 Global Mattress Market Size (Value) Comparison by Regions (2012-2022)1.3.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) Mattress Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.3.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Mattress Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.3.3 Indian Subcontinent nations (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan) Mattress Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.3.4 South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia) Mattress Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.3.5 Australian and Island nations (New Zealand, CARIBBEAN NATIONS, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) Mattress Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Mattress (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.4.2 Global Mattress Revenue (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Mattress PlayersSuppliers Profiles and Sales Data2.1 Serta2.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors2.1.2 Mattress Product Category, Application and Specification2.1.2.1 Product A2.1.2.2 Product B2.1.3 Serta Mattress Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)2.1.4 Main BusinessBusiness Overview2.2 Sealy2.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors2.2.2 Mattress Product Category, Application and Specification2.2.2.1 Product A2.2.2.2 Product B2.2.3 Sealy Mattress Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)2.2.4 Main BusinessBusiness Overview2.3 Tempur-Pedic2.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors2.3.2 Mattress Product Category, Application and Specification2.3.2.1 Product A2.3.2.2 Product B2.3.3 Tempur-Pedic Mattress Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)2.3.4 Main BusinessBusiness Overview3 Global Mattress Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 Global Mattress Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2012-2017)3.2 Global Mattress Revenue and Share by Manufacturer (2012-2017)3.3 Market Concentration Rate3.3.1 Top 3 Mattress Manufacturer Market Share3.3.2 Top 6 Mattress Manufacturer Market Share3.4 Market Competition Trend4 Global Mattress (Value and Volume) by Regions4.1 Global Mattress Sales Volume, Value (Revenue) and Market Share by Regions4.1.1 Global Mattress Sales by Regions (2012-2017)4.1.2 Global Mattress Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4 Indian Subcontinent nations Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.5 South America Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.6 Australian and Island nations Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5 North America Mattress Sales Volume and Value by Countries5.1 North America Mattress Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)5.2 North America Mattress Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)5.3 USA Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4 Canada Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.5 Mexico Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6 Europe Mattress Sales Volume and Value by Countries6.1 Europe Mattress Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)6.2 Europe Mattress Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)6.3 Germany Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.4 UK Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.5 France Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.6 Russia Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.7 Italy Mattress Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)11 Global Mattress Sales Volume and Revenue Forecast (2017-2022)11.1 Global Mattress Sales Volume and Revenue Forecast (2017-2022)11.2 Global Mattress Market Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)11.2.1 Global Mattress Sales Volume Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)11.2.2 Global Mattress Revenue Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)11.3 North America Mattress Sales Volume and Revenue Market Forecast (2017-2022)11.4 Europe Mattress Sales and Revenue Market Forecast (2017-2022)11.5 Indian Subcontinent nations Mattress Sales and Revenue Market Forecast (2017-2022)11.6 South America Mattress Sales and Revenue Market Forecast (2017-2022)11.7 Australian and Island nations Mattress Sales and Revenue Market Forecast (2017-2022)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Global Antibody Library Technologies Market to Approach US$ 172.9 Mn in Revenues by 2026-End http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11155 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/antibody-library-technology-market/toc www.persistencemarketresearch.com Demand for antibody library technologies is expected to surge, as the arrival of advanced antibodies and their display technologies continue to reduce complexities of life science and biotechnology research. Persistence Market Research (PMR), in its latest report, projects that the global antibody library technologies market revenue will increase at a CAGR of 4.4% between 2016 and 2024. Some of the latest antibody library design and selection methods enable easy identification of any MAB with any specificity, which is why pharmaceutical companies are increasingly making use of such technologies in their facilities.Owing to the limitation and shortcomings of the conventional molecular display technologies, medical research organizations are now shifting towards new age display less technologies, capable of isolating antibodies up to subnanomolar affinities. Analyst, Persistence Market ResearchGlobal Antibody Library Technologies: Key Market TrendsAs the market becomes more competitive, players aim to offer additional services complementary to antibody libraries.Consolidation between technology developers and drug development organizations in order to increase the consumer base has been identified as a prominent trend in the global market for antibody library technologies.Widespread adoption of cell-free display platform will persist throughout the forecast period, owing to the compact nature of such contemporary display platforms. For instance, the popularity of cell-free ribosome display technology has grown significantly amongst end-users in recent years.Highlights of the Report IncludePhage display to remain as the predominant antibody library technology in 2017 and beyond. Moreover, constant technological advancement is expected to support its widespread adoption in the medium term. Phage display was the first in vitro technology developed for antibody selection and is extensively used by scientists all over the world. In 2016, sales revenue of phage display technology reached US$ 68.0 Million and is likely increase at 5% CAGR over 2024. Based on application, antibody library technologies are primarily used in drug discovery programs. Nearly US$ 81.3 Million worth antibody library technologies were purchased for drug development purposes in 2016. Meanwhile, biopharmaceutical companies remain the major end users of such technologies and are expected to create an incremental opportunity of US$ 44.Mn between 2016 and 2026 for the market.Amongst all the key regions, the antibody library technologies market in North America accounted for a massive revenue share of 57.5% in 2015. This is primarily due to the favorable government initiatives for development of cost-effective monoclonal antibodies in the US, which is driving the demand for antibody library technologies in the region. North America will continue to be most lucrative market over the forecast period followed by Europe and APAC.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @View Report Table of Contents, Figures, and TablesSome of the leading companies profiled in the PMR report include MorphoSys AG, Dyax Corp., Abzena Plc., XOMA Corporation, AvantGen Inc., Creative-Biolabs, AbCheck s.r.o., Philogen S.p.A, Adimab LLC, Invenra Inc. AnaptysBio, Inc., Abwiz Bio Inc., Abgent Inc., Vaccinex Inc., and AxioMx Inc. Collaborations and cross-licensing have been key market strategies for many of these companies having operations across the globe.Request to View Tables of Content @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Bearing Industry Vendors NTN Corporation, Schaeffler Group , NSK Ltd. , The Timken Company , JTEKT Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH and GKN plc https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2183 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/bearing-market Bearing Market are used majorly in automotive along with other movable devices. The bearing market is dependent on various installations such as engine bearing, steering system bearing, transmission system bearing and air-conditioner bearing. The major driver of growth in bearing mar ket is the growth in the automotive industry for achieving energy efficiency. Bearings are necessary for all applications that require motion such as in households, industrial machinery and automobiles, which in turn are contributing to the growth of the global bearing market.Request a Sample Report@Market Research AnalysisThe market is highly application driven. The automotive sector is dominating the bearing market because of increase in demand for technologically advanced vehicles. Many large automotive players are investing in R&D for developing innovative products to sustain the market growth. The regulation of electronic stability controls with support from vibration data collected by these devices is contributing to the growth of this market.Key Player NTN Corporation (Japan) Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB (Sweden) Schaeffler Group (Germany) NSK Ltd. (Japan) The Timken Company (U.S.) JTEKT Corporation (Japan) Robert Bosch GmbH (Japan) The Danaher Corporation (U.S.) GKN plc.(U.K.) Minebea Mitsumi, Inc. (Japan)Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific region is expected to dominate the bearing market with the highest CAGR due to the rapid industrialization in the region. The infrastructural developments in the region are also contributing to the growth of bearing market. Countries in APAC region such as Japan, and China are developing significantly in sectors such as automotive and wind energy which is expected to drive the bearing market. Global bearing market is expected to cross the market size of USD 180 billion by the end of 2022Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global bearing market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global bearing market by its products, application and region.By Product Plain bearings Ball bearings Roller bearings OthersBy Application Automotive Electronics Aerospace construction OthersBy Region North America Asia Pacific Europe Rest of the WorldBrowse Full Bearing Market @Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and figures spread in 140 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Bearing Market Information from 2016 to 2022"List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Engineering Plastic Market: By Product (%)Figure 3 Global Engineering Plastic Market: By Application (%)Figure 4 Global Engineering Plastic Market: By RegionFigure 5 North America Engineering Plastic Market, By Product (%)Figure 6 North America Engineering Plastic Market, By Application (%)Continued.Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology2.1 Scope of the Study2.2 Research Process3 Market Dynamics4 Global Engineering Plastic Market, By Products4.1 Plain bearings4.2 Ball bearings4.3 Roller bearings5 Global Engineering Plastic Market, By Application5.1 Introduction5.2 Automotive5.3 Electronics5.4 Aerospace5.5 construction6 Regional Market Analysis7 Competitive AnalysisAbout Market Research FutureAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research Future Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Food Contact Paper Market 2017 - Pactiv, Cascades, Intertek, Huhtamaki, Mondi Group, Glatfelter, Smurfit Kappa Food Contact Paper Market https://goo.gl/5qiHbT https://goo.gl/x3mCr6 http://marketreports.biz/ MarketReports.Biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Food Contact Paper Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Food Contact Paper Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Food Contact Paper industry, and estimates the future trend of Food Contact Paper market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Food Contact Paper Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportBurrows PaperInternational Paper CoCascadesPPG Industries, IncMondi GroupNordic Paper Holding ABSmurfit Kappa GroupPactivGeorgia-PacificGlatfelterHuhtamakiIntertekSeaman PaperperSmurfit KappaSun Chemical GroupThe market research report explores the Food Contact Paper market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Food Contact Paper Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Food Contact Paper market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Food Contact Paper. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Food Contact Paper market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Food Contact Paper is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Food Contact Paper market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Food Contact Paper market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Food Contact Paper market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Food Contact Paper production volume, data pertaining to demand and Food Contact Paper supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Food Contact Paper along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Food Contact Paper across the world.About UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz SaaS based SCM Market Research Methodology, Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/saas-based-scm-market http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000370 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000370 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPTE100000370 In the era of automation, programmed machineries play a vital role in reducing cost and time taken to produce goods or to cater services. The users of applications are enabled to have more control over the sensitive data with features like 24/7 monitoring and security. Rapid digitization has added pressures on the organizations today to rely on cloud based applications. A cloud based application can be used to easily scale up or scale down the operations as per the demand being currently witnessed in the market. It handles flexibility to the application users. Flexibility offered by the SaaS model for SCM applications gives competitive advantage to users by letting them to quickly adjust to the demands of their respective customers and incorporate the necessary changes in the operations efficiently. Users derive high efficiency through this with reduced cost pressures that makes them highly competitive in the market. SaaS has been integrated by major upcoming and leading SCM software companies with major adoptions witnessed by the SMEs. The advantage offered is the faster responsiveness to the rapidly changing customer demands.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the SaaS based SCM Market to 2025 @The global SaaS based SCM market is segmented based on deployment model as: private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. The SaaS based SCM market can be further divided by solutions into manufacturing Planning, Sourcing and Procurement, Supply Chain Planning, Warehouse Management, Transportation Management and Others (S&OP, Import/ Export Planning, EDI, Demand Planning). Various industry verticals are into adoptions of the SaaS based SCM solutions and they can be classified as Transportation & Logistics services, Manufacturing industry, Retail industry, public sector, and distribution industry. On the basis of end-user SaaS based SCM market can be further divided into small & medium enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises.The global SaaS based SCM market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22.6% during the forecast period 2016 2025 and accounts for US$ 36.72 Bn in the year 2025. In case of a centralized on-premise supply chain management solution for a large organization, if there is some problem at the central server, there can be a catastrophic loss to the entire data, while in case of cloud based service, the data is processed from servers to servers at a very fast speed. Even if one server collapses, there are other servers that ensure the continuity of the operations and thus reducing the downtime of services. Realizing the cost efficiencies, redundant services and the need to cater to ever increasing demands, customers are steadily making a shift to cloud based supply chain services.Request Sample Copy @Each customer has become a separate segment today. Demands of any customer rapidly change today and companies offering services to them have to respond quickly. Survival in a highly dynamic environment requires quick response and that is provided by SCM software. These factors have led to increased adoptions of SaaS based SCM software. IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Descartes Systems, Infor, JDA Software, Epicor, Manhattan Associates, Kewill and HighJump Software are some of the major players in the global SaaS based SCM market.Inquire about discount on this report @The report segments the global SaaS based SCM market as follows:Global SaaS based SCM Market By Deployment Model Private Cloud Public Cloud Hybrid CloudGlobal SaaS based SCM Market By Solutions Manufacturing Planning Sourcing and Procurement Supply Chain Planning Warehouse Management Transportation Management Others (S&OP, Import/ Export Planning, EDI, Demand Planning)Global SaaS based SCM Market By Industry Verticals Transportation & Logistics Services Manufacturing Retail Public Sector DistributionGlobal SaaS based SCM Market By End-user Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Large EnterprisesGlobal SaaS based SCM Market By Geography North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA) South America (SAM)Procure Full Report @About The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comAbout The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Report 2017 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/united-states-outbound-medical-tourism-services-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1007713&type=E Qyresearchreports include new market research report "United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Outbound Medical Tourism ServicesRevenue, means the sales value of Outbound Medical Tourism ServicesThis report studies sales (consumption) of Outbound Medical Tourism Services in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringApollo Hospital Enterprise LimitedRevenueProducts/Brand OfferingsCompany HighlightsBumrungrad International HospitalKPJ Healthcare BerhadChristus Muguerza HospitalWorldMed AssistMednamasteGlobal Medical Tourism Inc.Market Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisObtain Report Details @Split by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoMedical CareTourismSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Outbound Medical Tourism Services in each application, can be divided intoCosmetic Surgery TreatmentDental TreatmentCardiovascular TreatmentOrthopedic TreatmentCancer TreatmentFertility TreatmentWeight Loss TreatmentOthersFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Table of Content1 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Outbound Medical Tourism Services1.2 Classification of Outbound Medical Tourism Services1.2.1 Medical Care1.2.2 Tourism1.3 Application of Outbound Medical Tourism Services1.3.1 Cosmetic Surgery Treatment1.3.2 Dental Treatment1.3.3 Cardiovascular Treatment1.3.4 Orthopedic Treatment1.3.5 Cancer Treatment1.3.6 Fertility Treatment1.3.7 Weight Loss Treatment1.3.8 Others1.4 United States Market Size Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) of Outbound Medical Tourism Services (2012-2022)1.4.1 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion6 United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis6.1 Apollo Hospital Enterprise Limited6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Product Type, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 Apollo Hospital Enterprise Limited Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 Revenue6.2.2 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Product Type, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 Revenue Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Products/Brand Offerings6.3.2 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Product Type, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Products/Brand Offerings Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Manufacturing Cost Analysis7.1 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Key Raw Materials Analysis7.1.1 Key Raw Materials7.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials7.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials7.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials7.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure7.2.1 Raw Materials7.2.2 Labor Cost7.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses7.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Outbound Medical Tourism Services8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers8.1 Outbound Medical Tourism Services Industrial Chain Analysis8.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing8.3 Raw Materials Sources of Outbound Medical Tourism Services Major Manufacturers in 20158.4 Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders9.1 Marketing Channel9.1.1 Direct Marketing9.1.2 Indirect Marketing9.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend9.2 Market Positioning9.2.1 Pricing Strategy9.2.2 Brand Strategy9.2.3 Target Client9.3 Distributors/Traders ListList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Outbound Medical Tourism ServicesTable Classification of Outbound Medical Tourism ServicesFigure United States Sales Market Share of Outbound Medical Tourism Services by Type in 2015Figure Medical Care PictureFigure Tourism PictureTable Application of Outbound Medical Tourism ServicesFigure United States Sales Market Share of Outbound Medical Tourism Services by Application in 2015Figure Cosmetic Surgery Treatment ExamplesFigure Dental Treatment ExamplesFigure Cardiovascular Treatment ExamplesFigure Orthopedic Treatment ExamplesFigure Cancer Treatment ExamplesFigure Fertility Treatment ExamplesFigure Weight Loss Treatment ExamplesFigure Others ExamplesFigure United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Table United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Table United States Outbound Medical Tourism Services Sales Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Aircraft Health Monitoring Systems Market Report 2017, Trends, Analysis, Share, Estimates and Forecasts to 2022. http://www.strategymrc.com/report/aircraft-health-monitoring-systems-market http://www.strategymrc.com/report/aircraft-health-monitoring-systems-market According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Aircraft Health Monitoring Systems market is accounted for $2.35 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $3.90 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. Growing aircraft orders, price effective maintenance, decreased unscheduled maintenance and increase in air traffic are the key factors driving the market growth. However, lack of expertise, certification clearance and product lifecycle are restraining the market growth. The major challenge for aircraft manufacturers is to manufacture aircrafts at lower costs along with, standardization, damage detection and other environmental factors.The single-aisle aircraft segment is anticipated to witness rapid growth, during the forecast period. North America is expected to witness a slight refuse in the market share, during the forecast period, due to low aircraft deliveries, compared to other regions. Moreover, the increase in demand for commercial aircrafts in countries such as India, China, Africa, and Russia is expected to boost the market growth.Some of the key players in the market include Safran (Sagem), General Electric, Rockwell Collins, Honeywell Inc., Airbus Group, Boeing International, Ultra Electronics Holdings, United Technologies Corporation, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce Holdings, GE Aviation, Meggitt PLC, RSL Electronics Ltd, Acellent Technologies Inc and Infosys.For More, Please Visit:Applications Covered: Supplementary System Retrofit OthersAircraft Types Covered: Large body Aircraft Helicopters General aviation aircraft Narrow Body Aircraft Jumbo jets OthersSubsystem Covered: Airframe Structure Software system Aero-Propulsion System Control and Actuation systems Ancillary System OthersIntegrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Technology Type Covered: Diagnostics Adaptive Control Detection Prognostics OthersRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsFor More, Please Visit:We offer wide spectrum of research and consulting services with in-depth knowledge of different industries. We are known for customized research services, consulting services and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) services in the research world. We explore the market trends and draw our insights with valid assessments and analytical views. We use advanced techniques and tools among the quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the market trends. Our research reports and publications are routed to help our clients to design their business models and enhance their business growth in the competitive market scenario. We have a strong team with hand-picked consultants including project managers, implementers, industry experts, researchers, research evaluators and analysts with years of experience in delivering the complex projects.STRATISTICS MRC17049 King James Way, Gaithersburg,MD, 20877, USA Global Organic And Natural Feminine Care Market To Grow At A Cagr Of 7.09% During The Period 2017-2021 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/275695 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/275695 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research SummaryOrbis Research Presents Global Organic and Natural Feminine Care Market 2017-2021 has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts.DescriptionRecent Research Report Global Organic and Natural Feminine Care Market 2017-2021The Following Companies As The Key Players In The Global Organic And Natural Feminine Care Market: Bodywise, Corman, Maxim Hygiene, And The Honest Company.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Armada & Lady Anion, ALYK (LOLA), BON, COTTON HIGH TECH, Edgewell Personal Care, Wet & Dry Personal Care, First Quality Enterprises, GladRags, Kimberly-Clark, Lunapads, MedAltus, NutraMarks (Nutraceutical), NatraTouch, Bella Flor, Ontex, OI the Organic Initiative, P&G, Seventh Generation, Time of the Month, TOM ORGANIC, Unicharm, Veeda USA, and Vivanion.Commenting on the report, One trend in market is increasing demand for natural and organic products. There has been an increasing demand for natural and organic feminine care products due to their skin friendly and environment friendly nature. These products are made of non-Genetically Modified (non-GMO) certified organic cotton, which is free from artificial dyes, rayon, and fragrances.According to the report, one driver in market is growing awareness about hygiene and related products. Feminine hygiene care products such as menstrual pads, tampons, and pantyliners have been in the market for a longer period. But the awareness about the correct use of these products has been low. However, the rising advertisements and campaigns by vendors and governments worldwide, and growing educated population have helped to increase awareness about these products, the way of maintaining proper hygiene, and the correct way of disposal. For instance, The Great WASH Yatra (also known as Nirman Bharat Yatra in India) has been undertaken by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) in various countries to educate women about hygiene and convince them to replace the use of cloth menstrual pads with menstrual pads. This created a noteworthy influence on the demand for numerous feminine hygiene products, especially in emerging countries.Get a PDF Sample of Global Organic and Natural Feminine Care Market Research Report @:Further, the report states that one challenges in market is presence of counterfeit products. Counterfeit products are one of the biggest challenges in the market. Since they are cheap and fake, they affect the brand image and profits of company with the original products. For instance, counterfeit pads contain harmful substances that cause uterine cancer to women. In the US, in 2014, many law enforcement authorities seized counterfeited products of the Always menstrual pads. These products were openly sold in many retail stores in New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Also, Asia is considered as the largest source for counterfeit products, with China as the single largest source economy. In 2013, in China, more than 19 million counterfeited menstrual pads of P&G and Unicharm were seized along with raw materials. Similar incidents have occurred in South Africa, Lebanon, and Vietnam. Stringent laws are required to prevent the manufacturing of these counterfeit products.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Enquiry For Global Organic and Natural Feminine Care Market Research Report @:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn: Global Passenger Elevators Market 2017: Kone, Schindler Group,Hitachi, ThyssenKrupp, Mitsubishi Electric, Hyundai, Fujitec http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1057661 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1057661 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Passenger Elevators Market Research Report 2017 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"In this report, the global Passenger Elevators market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Passenger Elevators in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet Sample Copy Of this Report @Global Passenger Elevators market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingKoneSchindler GroupHitachiThyssenKruppMitsubishi ElectricHyundaiFujitecToshibaSuzhou DiaoYungtay EngineeringVolksliftCanny ElevatorZhejiang Meilun ElevatorNingbo Xinda GroupDongnan ElevatorSJECExpress ElevatorsHangzhou XioliftSicher ElevatorEdunburgh ElevatorSuzhou Shenlong ElevatorSANYOShenyang Brilliant ElevatorView Report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAC ElevatorsDC ElevatorsOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Passenger Elevators for each application, includingHospitalsLarge Shopping MallsSchoolsOffice BuildingsHotelsOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. 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We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Lewis Builders of Carmel Specializes in Designing and Building Custom Homes, Remodels and Aging-in-Place Renovations http://lewisbuilder.com http://lewisbuilder.com John Lewis found his calling as a college student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, though it wasnt how you might expect a career path to unfold.Carmel, CA, May 18, 2017 John Lewis found his calling as a college student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, though it wasnt how you might expect a career path to unfold.Flash forward to 2017, as Lewis is now the founder of Lewis Builders, which specializes in designing and building custom homes, doing design/build remodels and aging-in-place renovations for retirees, older people and those with health concerns. His firm employs 15 people and moved into new offices in The Barnyard Shopping Center in Carmel.We have a passion for helping those who are aging and just want to keep their dignity and independence in their own homes, says Lewis, who recently added two partners to the firm, Kenny Boyd as Chief Financial Officer and Scott Julian as Chief Operations Officer. We're trying to educate the public on design/build and aging-in-place.Design/build, simply put, is the same company doing the design and construction, from conception to completion, of a custom home or remodel. Design/builders have a better conception of the real costs of a project and how to fit that into a client's budget; it saves significant time in the overall project; and the construction team works collaboratively with the design team.Aging-in-place is customizing homes with innovative, aesthetically pleasing solutions that alleviate the physical challenges of aging or injury.It's not just a specialty, Lewis Builders is a credentialed expert in CAPS (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist). A program of the National Association of Home Builders, the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designation program teaches the technical, business management, and customer service skills essential to competing in the fastest growing segment of the residential remodeling industry: home modifications for the aging-in-place.When people discover that cost of living in an assisted-living facility can be $10,000 or $20,000 a month, making modifications to their own homes becomes a no-brainer," he says. The ultimate result is that people are able to live comfortably and safely in their homes into their later years, rather than moving into costly assisted-living facilities.Born and raised in Monterey County, the youngest of five children, Lewiss passion for the creative process of designing and building custom homes and remodels that started with small repair jobs in college, has now become his life's work.He realized that his passion and talents were for the entire creative process, seeing what others couldn't, taking on challenging design and construction issues, and developing his expertise at flipping homes successfully.Lewis' first construction job was in 1995 in Salinas, but his first significant project, one that launched him on the entrepreneurial side of the business, was in 2002 when he built a small, two-bedroom bed and breakfast unit for the owner of the winery where he worked in Templeton, California.That project resulted in a referral for another job. It also got him rethinking his career path.For the first time I was making more money in construction, than making wine, he says. But he kept at his viticulture studies and in time he moved to Napa to work at a winery. But he also became a licensed contractor and incorporated as owner of his own firm, JL Home Solutions.In Napa, he worked by day at the winery and vineyards and on construction on nights and weekends. Once again, he found he was making more money doing construction on nights and weekends than his winery job.He moved back to Monterey County in 2008, but the recession was hitting the country hard and construction jobs were few and far between, so Lewis started a business as a property inspector.And in order to establish himself in the community and build a foundation for his construction business that was temporarily dormant, Lewis dove into the business community, taking leadership courses and joining the boards of such agencies as the Central Coast Builders Exchange, Charitable Trust Committee for Monterey County Association of Realtors, Planning Commissioner, Rotarian, and Salinas Chamber of Commerce.It was as a property inspector that he met one of his partners, Kenny Boyd. Lewis met Boyd when he was tasked to inspect a duplex Boyd had purchased. The two, who both attended Cal Poly and were both majoring in ag business, not only hit it off, they partnered in a real estate project, which lead to more projects, and to eventually becoming partners in Lewis Builders.Lewis met Julian, who at the time owned his own medical equipment company, through his involvement in aging-in-place design and construction. Julian also recently became a partner in Lewis Builders.Lewis closest and most intimate partnership was the result of an almost chance meeting at a three-day financial seminar in San Diego. That's where Lewis and his future wife Tammy met when they were involved in a group exercise together.We both discovered we had found the one, says Lewis about the encounter. We went there to find out about financials and instead we found love.John and Tammy were married six months later and they now have two sons, 2 1/2 years old and six months old. And, Tammy, in addition to her primary duties as a mother, is now also Lewis Builders' Creative Director.Lewis Builders3706 The BarnyardSuite G-11Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923831-250-7168Contact:Marci Bracco CainChatterbox PRSalinas, CA 93901(831) 747-7455marci@chatterboxpublicrelations.com Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021: Infineon, Marvell, Spansion, Gooee, STMicroelectronics, TI Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 http://bit.ly/2qw5CHm http://bit.ly/2pOwC5u http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-smart-lighting-sensor-chips-market-2017-production.html The Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 is the cornerstone of the global development aspects and prospects, as the development of specific concept requires various technologically supported ideas, theories, methodologies. The Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 report explains the in-depth summary of current innovations, parameter, specifications, and creation. The Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 also delivers a full abstract of the economic ups and downs in terms of demand rate and fulfillment ratios.Request For Download Sample Report:The Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market comprise of a large number of reputed organizations, firms, vendors, manufacturer and we deliver an in-detail summary of the overall key players who hold major count in terms of revenue, sales, demand, through their reliable services, products, and post-sale processes. The Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 report provides a thorough analysis of the prominent driving factors that are identified based on the end user demands, variable market 2017 - 2022 changes, restraining elements and regulatory compliance.Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market each player in these regions, coveringNXP (including Freescale)InfineonMarvellTISpansionGooeeSTMicroelectronicsBright Power SemiconductorHangzhou SilanBrowse Inquiry for Buying Toc:The Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 research report also provides in-detail forecast predictions based on the current business trends and analytical techniques. Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Segments are broadly segmented based on the constant updates in the development parameters, quality parameters, reliability parameters, end user demands, and applications. The slight change in the product profile leads to major modification in the product prototype, production methods and development platforms, these overall factors that are related to production are very well explained in the global Global Smart Lighting Sensor Chips Market 2017 - 2021 research report.Browse Full Report With Toc:MRS Research Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. MRS Research Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, Global Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug Market 2017 - Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Beijing Continent Pharmaceutical, Cipla, Shionogi http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/50277/request-sample https://goo.gl/8qm7r1 www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com Global Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug market globally, providing basic overview of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure, Also Market report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug market size, share and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Download Sample Report @In this report, the global Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingRocheBoehringer IngelheimBeijing Continent PharmaceuticalCiplaShionogiGet Full Report With TOC @On the basis of product,GlucocorticoidImmunosuppressive AgentOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Drug for each application, includingHospitalClinicOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Global Magnesium Raw Materials Market 2017 - Grecian Magnesite, Calix, Magnesita, Baymag, Russian Mining Chemical http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/50295/request-sample https://goo.gl/vUOsof www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com Global Magnesium Raw Materials Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Magnesium Raw Materials market globally, providing basic overview of Magnesium Raw Materials market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure, Also Market report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. Magnesium Raw Materials market size, share and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Download Sample Report @In this report, the global Magnesium Raw Materials market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Magnesium Raw Materials in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Magnesium Raw Materials market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMagnezitQueensland Magnesia Pty. Ltd.Grecian MagnesiteCalixMagnesitaBaymagRussian Mining ChemicalGarrison MineralsPremier MagnesiaRamakrishna Magnesite MinesHaicheng MagnesiteLiaoning Jinding Magnesite GroupHouying GroupDandong JinyuanGet Full Report With TOC @On the basis of product,MagnesiteBruciteOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Magnesium Raw Materials for each application, includingDead-burned MagnesiaCaustic-calcined MagnesiaFused or Electrofused MagnesiaOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors Competitive Landscape, Pipeline and Market Analysis, 2017 DelveInsights report, PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors Competitive Landscape, Pipeline and Market Analysis, 2017 gives the comprehensive insights on the PD-1 and PD-L1 Inhibitors.The report provides the analysis on the worldwide therapeutic market of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors including information of Marketed molecules, detailed profiling of Pipeline assets and their pathways. The report covers the therapeutics assessment of pipeline molecules by the mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA), molecule type, along with latest updates. The report deals with the detailed epidemiology of all prevalent indications.Report also covers other Commercial Aspects such as the Current and Future Market, Barriers and challenges, SWOT analysis. Report describes the possible unmet needs covered by PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors, highlighting the side effects and toxic effects related to PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors which are major concerns in the market for the usage of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors.The report throws light on the combinations therapies with Immune-check point Inhibitors (PD-1 and PD-L1) and provides information on ongoing collaborations for the development of combinations regimens.Major active therapy areas include Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck, Metastatic Colorectal Cancer and Non-Small Cell lung cancer.DelveInsight Analysis predicts that PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors are among the highly growing fields in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. Most of these immunotherapeutic are being used in Oncology. There are 50+ active drugs in the pipeline. Companies have also gone in collaboration with different partners like for evaluating their drugs in combination with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (PD-1/PD-L1). There are approximately 40 companies which are active in the development of different drugs targeting PD-1 and PD-L1.The future competitive landscape of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors is estimated to be very strong. There are 3 marketed products of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. Treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and many others are able to fulfill the current unmet need to an extent. With 7 drugs in the Phase III pipeline of the PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors, the market looks promising in coming years as well.For more information please click here:https://www.delveinsight.com/pd-1-and-pd-l1-inhibitors-competitive-landscape-pipeline-and-market-analysis-2017-4186-p.phpAbout DelveInsight:DelveInsight is a Business Consultant company and serves as a Knowledge partner across the value chain of Pharmaceutical Industry. With the use of proprietary databases and analytical models, DelveInsight provides cutting-edge market and pipeline analysis and API intelligence across all therapy areas to the Pharma and biotech sector, helping clients to quantify market events and evaluate their impact on the valuation of products, portfolios, and companies.DelveInsight business research,A20, Sector 7, Near to Maxfort. School,DwarkaNew Delhi-110077, IndiaTel: +91-11-4568 9769 | +91 9650213330 Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021: Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli Snow Tyre Market http://bit.ly/2qzD6CI http://bit.ly/2qV92o4 http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-snow-tyre-market-2017-production-sales-supply.html The Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 is the cornerstone of the global development aspects and prospects, as the development of specific concept requires various technologically supported ideas, theories, methodologies. The Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 report explains the in-depth summary of current innovations, parameter, specifications, and creation. The Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 also delivers a full abstract of the economic ups and downs in terms of demand rate and fulfillment ratios.Request For Download Sample Report:The Snow Tyre Market comprise of a large number of reputed organizations, firms, vendors, manufacturer and we deliver an in-detail summary of the overall key players who hold major count in terms of revenue, sales, demand, through their reliable services, products, and post-sale processes. The Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 report provides a thorough analysis of the prominent driving factors that are identified based on the end user demands, variable market 2017 - 2022 changes, restraining elements and regulatory compliance.Snow Tyre Market each player in these regions, coveringMichelinGoodyearBridgestoneContinentalPirelliHankookSumitomoYokohamaMaxxisBrowse Full Inquiry For Buying Report With Toc:The Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 research report also provides in-detail forecast predictions based on the current business trends and analytical techniques. Snow Tyre Segments are broadly segmented based on the constant updates in the development parameters, quality parameters, reliability parameters, end user demands, and applications. The slight change in the product profile leads to major modification in the product prototype, production methods and development platforms, these overall factors that are related to production are very well explained in the global Global Snow Tyre Market 2017 - 2021 research report.Browse Full Report With Toc:MRS Research Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. MRS Research Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, Global Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid Market 2017 - Shandong Dongcheng, TSI, Focus Chem, SANXIN GROUP, Yibao Group, Jiaixng Hengjie http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/52304/request-sample https://goo.gl/Ug2GZI www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability also lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.This report studies Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid in Global market, especially in United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, Middle East and Africa,Request For Sample Report @focuses on the top Manufacturers in each country, coveringShandong DongchengTSIFocus ChemSANXIN GROUPYibao GroupJiaixng HengjieQingdao Green-ExtractIBSAQJBCHINANippon ZokiGGISummit NutritionalsMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Global into several key Countries, with sales, revenue, market share of top 5 players in these Countries, from 2012 to 2017 (forecast), like1 United States2 Canada3 Mexico4 Germany5 France6 UK7 Italy8 Russia9 China10 Japan11 India12 Korea13 Southeast Asia14 Australia15 Brazil16 Middle East17 AfricaAccess Full Report With TOC @Split by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type, can be divided intoFood GradePharmaceutical gradeSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid in each application, can be divided intoHealth ProductsAbout Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: High Voltage Capacitors Market Global Industry Analysis Forecast 2017 - 2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/high-voltage-capacitors-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24422 A capacitor is an impassive dual-terminal electrical component used to store energy electrostatically in an electronic field. The arrangements of capacitors differ widely, but each one of them contains at least two electrical conductors detached by a dielectric, which is also known as an insulator. Capacitors are widely employed in electrical energy systems and appliances.The basic working principle of capacitor used in an AC system provides lead to the voltage and it also provides reactive power addition which is often required to counter the reactive power absorption by the inductive devices.Browse Market Research Report @:Increasing demand for electricity is a major factor driving the expansion of this market globally, and the other factors such as reduction in transmission losses during bulk power transmission over long distances, supportive government regulations for energy trade and power grid interconnection, and moreover advancement in the technology are further fueling global demand for the capacitors. The increased power generation by renewable energy, and new technological up gradations from the power market, and the deteriorating environment favors the power transmission system up gradations increasing share of capacitors to used globally.Some of the other factors such as increasing electricity demand in developing economies such as India, Brazil, and China, are expected to impact due to the enhance grid infrastructure, and increase the electricity accessibility to the region's population. Additionally, the increasing demand from the various application industries, and regions are now generating several exciting opportunities for HV capacitors in the market. The emerging regions with high demand is Asia-Pacific which is projected to expand considerably due to the increasing investment in electricity sector, and the development of power transmission networks. In the APAC region, vast expanse of industrialization and urbanization has spiked power consumption capacities, moreover the distribution systems operating in the region is now adopting advanced technologies for reactive power compensation. Governments across several APAC countries are now inducing higher investment in their grid connection projects, while doing so, they are compelled to use efficient and reliable power transmission network systems.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @:However, the expansion of the global High voltage capacitor market is hindered by some factors such as the cost of raw materials. The manufacturing cost of the sub components such as plastic which is the most expensive material and increases the variable cost, thereby reducing the contribution margin in the overall capacitor manufacturing. In the recent years, capacitor manufacturers are declining to balance their raw material costs and component manufacturing costs, because they know that using a substitute raw materials can keep costs down and decrease the innovation. The critical requirement in capacitor manufacturing is its ability to hold a charge, which is determined by the existing surface area of the dielectric being used. Manipulation and innovations related to these dielectrics will impact the market in the future.The HV capacitors market is represent significant potential for the end-users, manufacturers for the next decade. Some of key players include Eaton Corporation PLC, ABB Ltd, RTDS Technologies, Alstom SA, Maxwell Technologies Inc., Siemens AG., General Atomics, Inc., Sieyuan Electric and Samwha Capacitor Co Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021: Renesas, Freescale, Microship, ST, Atmel, Infineon Tech Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 http://bit.ly/2pZuJOU http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-mcu-market-2017-production-sales-supply-demand.html The Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 is the cornerstone of the global development aspects and prospects, as the development of specific concept requires various technologically supported ideas, theories, methodologies. The Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 report explains the in-depth summary of current innovations, parameter, specifications, and creation. The Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 also delivers a full abstract of the economic ups and downs in terms of demand rate and fulfillment ratios.Request For Download Sample Report:The MCU Market comprise of a large number of reputed organizations, firms, vendors, manufacturer and we deliver an in-detail summary of the overall key players who hold major count in terms of revenue, sales, demand, through their reliable services, products, and post-sale processes. The Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 report provides a thorough analysis of the prominent driving factors that are identified based on the end user demands, variable market 2017 - 2022 changes, restraining elements and regulatory compliance.MCU Market each player in these regions, coveringRenesasFreescaleMicroshipSTAtmelInfineon TechNXPTIToshibaSpansionFujistuThe Global MCU Market 2017 - 2021 research report also provides in-detail forecast predictions based on the current business trends and analytical techniques. MCU Segments are broadly segmented based on the constant updates in the development parameters, quality parameters, reliability parameters, end user demands, and applications. TBrowse Full Report With Toc:MRS Research Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. MRS Research Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, Commercial Seaweed Market - Key Players, Growth, Analysis, 2017 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/commercial-seaweed-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=21512 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Commercial seaweed is finding significant uses in major fields across the globe. It relies on the system that offers special economic incentives to companies for achieving improvements in their health standards, agricultural growth, and medicinal values leading to both social as well as economic welfare.Browse Market Research Report @The commercial seaweed market can be segmented by type into the brown, red, and green varieties. Red seaweed is majorly attractive due to its increasing application in the food industry. Based on form, the market has been divided into the liquid, powder, and flake categories. Several countries have adopted commercial seaweed to improve their respective economies. Health standard norms, medicinal values, global acceptance, investments, and strategies are crucial factors on which this market depends. Commercial seaweed finds application in the health care, food & beverages, cosmetics, and agro-based industries.The increasing number of research and development activities to generate useful results in different sectors acts as a catalyst for the development of the commercial seaweed market during the forecast period, besides the rising awareness among countries about the prices of chemical fertilizers and the universal need to protect the environment backed by a certain consciousness with respect to health. The high success rate of improvements in the health standards and the surge in agricultural production featuring commercial seaweed are important drivers of this market. Its usage in the cosmetic and agro-based sectors and economic incentives serve as excellent opportunities too.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @The commercial seaweed market is distributed over Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe, of which Asia Pacific is a lucrative region and ranks first due to the magnifying demand for this product here. A brief study suggests that a substantial portion of this regions revenue is captured by the commercial seaweed market due to the environmental and medical benefits it offers besides the overall rising health consciousness and government initiatives to increase awareness and improve economic and social stability. The use of modern technologies and continuous research and development by different companies play a role as well.The markets in North America and Europe also exhibit steady growth and this trend is projected to continue over the forecast period on account of the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers on crops and the necessity to reduce their usage, apart from government rules and regulations on health standards in recent years. Furthermore, rising incomes, increasing population, and a global shift toward healthy lifestyles are contributing factors propelling the market for commercial seaweed across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. Major challenges faced by this market include environmental problems and asymmetric information regarding proper consumption of commercial seaweed products which creates obstacles in its global spread. Environmental protection is a major macroeconomic phenomenon which should be targeted so that this market reaches a considerable section of the global population.Key participants in the industry include Biostadt India Limited, Gelymar, Cp Kelco, Roullier Group, Acadian Seaplants Limited, Brandt, Seasol International Pty. Ltd, E.I.Dupont De Nemours And Company, Compo Gmbh & Co.Kg, Cargill Incorporated, and Dupont De NemoursAbout TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: The report covers the market share analysis along with the company profiles of Metabolomics Market 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2063 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2063 https://www.tmrresearch.com/metabolomics-market Global Metabolomics Market: OverviewMetabolomics refer to the study of the metabolites that exist within an organism, tissue, or a cell. Processes such as interpretation, quantification, identification, and profiling are used for the understanding the entire set of metabolites in a given biological system. This fairly new field of science is gaining attention as it is provides a comprehensive outlook of the phenotype of organelles, tissues, cells, organs, and whole organisms as compared to RNA, DNA, or protein profile.Global Metabolomics Market: Key TrendsSoaring investments in both private players and government bodies in research and development of efficient metabolomics. The global market is expected to be supported by the continuous technological advancements and the untapped potential of the emerging economies. Furthermore, the increasing expenditure on biotechnology research and development has also had a positive impact on the global market. Metabolomics have gained a prime spot in the field of medicine has they offer a deeper understanding of way diseases function. Furthermore, they provide accurate protein profiling. Today, bioinformatics-based metabolomics are being used in clinical research, pharmaceutical research, plant and animal phenotyping, nutrition research, food and beverage analysis, environmental science, and biofuel development.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Metabolomics Market: Market PotentialSeveral market players are focusing on mergers and acquisition to acquire newer talent and expertise to their existing pool. Companies are also expected to resort to collaborating with smaller and local players to expand their geographic reach. In line with the same sentiment, Metabolon Inc. recently announced that will take part in a larger studies that using metabolomics to understand large population health issues. For the same purpose, the Company has joined hands with Alex Forrest-Hay, Vice President of Population Health. This move is aimed at the maximizing the value of combining metabolomics and genomics to determine the risk of targets and facts for developing preventive healthcare.Thus, the ongoing collaborations and joint ventures are being targeted toward studying health conditions of large groups of people over a period of time to gain a valuable insight of the nature of diseases, disorders, and various evolving conditions. The field of metabolomics is expected find ample of scope for growth in this area has it is known to deliver precision-driven results.Request TOC of the Report @Global Metabolomics Market: Regional OutlookFrom the geographic point of view, the global metabolomics market is segmented into North America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The report suggests that North America is slated to dominate the global market in the coming years due to a robust research infrastructure and a growing demand for personalized medicines. The high acceptance of technologically advanced products is also anticipated to support the regional markets rise as a leading geographic segment in the global during the forecast period.The study mentions that Asia Pacific is also expected to crucial to the progress of the global metabolomics market. A huge pool of aging population, which brings with a range of illnesses has given the pharmaceutical companies in the region an edge over others. Additionally, the growing demand for improved healthcare and pharmaceutical products, investments in life sciences, and demand for access to healthcare facilities have collectively opened up new avenues for growth for the Asia Pacific metabolomics market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The chief operating players directing the progress and pace of the global metabolomics market are LECO Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Biocrates Life Sciences AG, Bruker Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Waters Corporation, Human Metabolome Technologies Inc., and Metabolon Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the Microgrid Market in correlation with the overall growth 2017 - 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2066 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2066 https://www.tmrresearch.com/microgrid-market Global Microgrid Market: OverviewA microgrid differentiates itself from traditional grid with its capability to work independently as a local energy grid during crisis times such as power outages and storms. Apart from providing a grid backup, microgrids can work to connect to unreliable or small-sized local resources, cut costs, and become more environment-friendly at times. Microgrids can operate indefinitely depending on the management of its fuel and other requirements. Renewable resources such as solar panels, batteries, and distributed generators can be employed to power microgrids.Global Microgrid Market: Key TrendsThe world microgrid market could expand at a double-digit CAGR during the forecast years as a result of a swelling demand from remote electrification projects undergoing expansions and economies concentrating on innovations. However, the world market is anticipated to experience a slowdown in growth on account of high initial cost of installation and the connection of multisite microgrids bordered by utility franchise rights. Nonetheless, market players can possibly make progress against the trials with opportunities birthed in various types of segmentation.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Remote or island microgrids are expected to grow in significance and vitally benefit the world microgrid market due to the decrease in power generation cost when compared to centralized power grids. Besides this, less generation of heat and smog and other environmental benefits coupled with a substantial drop in the prices of wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) sources are predicted to help the remote or island microgrids market grow remarkably.The soaring acceptance witnessed in the global microgrid market for software across utilities, municipalities, commercial and industrial sites, and university campuses is prognosticated to decently benefit manufacturers. With the help of load and weather forecasting, software as a service (SaaS) can allow the dynamic control and management of distributed energy resources.Request TOC of the Report @Global Microgrid Market: Market PotentialNot-for-profit open standards enterprise, EMerge Alliance has received business from one of the largest solar trade shows in North America, i.e. Solar Power International (SPI), to expand its footprint. The business expansion will incorporate microgrid ecosystems and a complete smart building in its Smart Energy Microgrid Marketplace. The facility will exhibit an ultimate connection between smart energy products and solar power with a fully-functioning live microgrid and associated products such as electric vehicle charging, automation products, and energy management systems. The SPI 2017 Smart Energy Microgrid Marketplace to be held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas Nevada in September is also expected to showcase solar panel manufacturers and energy storage providers.Global Microgrid Market: Regional OutlookForeseen to rise at a higher CAGR, the Asia Pacific microgrid market could gain an upper hand in the industry as players as well as regional governments take several initiatives to magnify the adoption of microgrid solutions. Other geographies such as Rest of the World, Europe, and the Americas are foretold to emerge as key markets for players to capitalize on. Howbeit, it all depends on how the regional markets face the odds and leverage the opportunities made available by the driving factors taking precedence therein.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Microgrid Market: Competitive LandscapeExelon Corporation, Siemens AG, Eaton Corporation PLC, General Electric, and ABB Ltd. are some of the dominating companies making their presence known in the global microgrid market. For the purpose of enhancing their revenue base, market players are envisaged to consider strategic expansions and launch of novel products. An integrated solar diesel microgrid was commissioned to be installed in Johannesburg, South Africa by ABB at its Longmeadow facility of 96,000 m2 capacity. The solution is aimed at covering all planned and unplanned power outages by ensuring an uninterrupted power supply with the help of off-grid and fully grid-connected functionalities.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Animal Feed Micronutrients Market - Global Industry Trends and Forecast Analysis For 2017 - 2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/animal-feed-micronutrients-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=21863 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global animal feed micronutrients market has witnessed a major transition in terms of quality control and demand, over the past few years. They are considered to be an important animal feed additive and are widely used for improving feed quality in order to enhance yield and the overall health of the cattle. Animal feed micronutrients support complex functions in animal production and help in the improvement of enzyme system operation which is expected to exhibit a positive influence on the growth of the market.Browse Market Research Report @Rising demand for protein food due to nutritional deficiencies is one of the key factors influencing the growth of the market at present. Increasing pet adoption is another key factor influencing the growth of the animal feed micronutrients market. According to the ACSPA, and approximate of 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted every year in the U.S. Further, according to the American Pet Products Association, an approximate of 78 million dogs and 85 million cats are owned in the U.S. This has called for an increase in expenditure on animal care combined with the success of animal feed micronutrients in fertility and growth in the animals has shown a positive effect on the growth of the market. Moreover, escalating demand of animal protein from meat and milk producing cattle combined with the recent disease epidemic in cattle is another major factor fuelling the demand for animal feed micronutrients market, globally.However, the market is likely to be restrained by the lack of awareness about such products and the benefits associated with them among poor and uneducated farmers. Critical dosage application is yet another major factor restraining the growth of the market at present.However, rising meat export and rapid urbanization rising export of meat is expected to retain the growth of the market in the coming years. Further, innovations taken up by the leading manufacturers operating in the field of animal feed micronutrients is yet another opportunity for the growth of the market.For more information on this report, fill the form @Based on micronutrients, the market is classified into zinc, iron, copper and manganese. Based on livestock, the market is classified into poultry, ruminant, swine, aqua and equine. Ruminant and poultry are expected to be the dominant segments and are expected to retain market dominance throughout the forecast period due to rising demand for the same from farm owners. Further, rising meat consumption coupled with a rapid shift towards poultry food is anticipated to complement the growth of the market.Based on geography, the market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. This is due to the large population of cattle in Asia Pacific. North America and Europe are expected to project fair growth during the forecast period. U.S. is the major market for animal feed micronutrients in North America while Argentina and Brazil are two of the major markets in Latin America. Asia Pacific however is the fastest growing region due to the increasing demand for the same from India and China. China and India are the major contributors to the growth of the animal feed micronutrients market in Asia Pacific.The global animal feed micronutrients market is marked by some intense competition from the major players operating in this market. Frequent mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships, product innovations and expansions are some of the key strategies adopted by these players in order to ensure sustenance in this market. Major players include Archer Daniels Midlands Company, Cargill Inc., Lallemand Inc., Novus International Inc., Nutreco N.V., Zinpro Corporation and Kemin Industries among others.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Aluminum Wire Market Research Report 2021 - Kaiser Aluminum, Baotou Aluminium, Vimetco, UC RUSAL, Southwire, ACL Cables, Southern Cable http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=792135&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies Aluminum Wire in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringKaiser AluminumBaotou AluminiumVimetcoUC RUSALSouthwireAlroHydroSouthern CableACL CablesLiljedahl Winding WireMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Region, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Aluminum Wire in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Contents1 Aluminum Wire Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Aluminum Wire1.2 Aluminum Wire Segment by Types1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Aluminum Wire by Type in 20151.3 Aluminum Wire Segment by Application1.4 Aluminum Wire Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Hyperloop Train Market - Industry Outlook & Industry Survey by 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2000 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2000 https://www.tmrresearch.com/hyperloop-train-market Global Hyperloop Train Market: OverviewWith rapid urbanization across the world, the need for quick and yet efficient modes of transportation is escalating. The concept of hyperloop train may be the answer to the increasing travel demands, as it promises to achieve speeds up to 800-mile-per-hour via transportation tube concept which was first introduced in 2013. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has been developing this concept for past few years and the stocks of Elon Musks hyperloop high-speed transportation system are now available in AECOM. Due to never ending demand for transportation and travel across developed as well as emerging economies, several investors are coming forward with their financial might to make the concept of hyperloop train a reality in near future. Consequently, the global market for hyperloop train is expected to expand at a rapid rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Hyperloop Train Market: Key TrendsSupport from several governments is the primary driving factor of this market. For instance, Slovakia has recently sealed an agreement with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to build the concept in Europe, connecting the Vienna in Austria and Budapest in Hungary with the capital city of Bratislava. If everything falls into place, the travel to Vienna to Bratislava would only take 8 minutes while Budapest to Bratislava can be covered in 10 minutes. In a car, these two journeys currently consume an hour and two hours respectively. This significant time-saving is expected to encourage several other European countries to invest in the concept of hyperloop train and thereby augmenting the demand in the market for the same.Along the same lines, the state of California in the United States is in process of permitting a five-mile test track in Quay Valley, with construction expected to begin sometime in 2017. Conversely, the concept of hyperloop train is yet to see the day of light, and its business model has not been completely realized. Moreover, the high cost associated with the construction is hindering the global hyperloop market from realizing its potential at the earliest.Request TOC of the Report @Global Hyperloop Train Market: Market PotentialThough Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is yet to open for traditional funding, CEO and founder Dirk Ahlborn has revealed that more than 600 institutional investors are willing to provide financial support. With donations worth more than US$600 mn in the form of wind chambers, land assets, and other engineering tools, hyperloop train market is expanding its horizons, also gaining support from several governments in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. According to Ahlborn, first few passengers to travel via hyperloop test train would be in 2018 or 2019 in the U.S.Global Hyperloop Train Market: Regional OutlookOwing to substantial finances required for the realization of the concept, the market for hyperloop train currently has most of the demand coming from the developed regions of North America and Europe, although the country of Middle East is also adamant of improving their infrastructure and is expected to invest financially as well as allot land for hyperloop train during the forecast period. Co-founder and COO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Bibop Gresta, says that six more countries in Middle East and Asia are ready to announce the adoption of the hyperloop train market in the next few months.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Hyperloop Train Market: Competitive LandscapeHyperloop Transportation Technologies is currently the only company working on the concept, although given its usefulness, several other technology and construction companies are expected to jump on the bandwagon during the forecast period.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Blood Products Sales Market Report 2017 - Baxter, CSL, Grifols, Octapharma, BPL, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Hualan Bio http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1068704&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Blood Products for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Blood Products market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Blood Products sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingBaxterCSLGrifolsOctapharmaBPLKedrionMitsubishi TanabeCBOPRAASHualan BioChina Biologic Products IncShanghai Kehua Bio-Engineering(KHB)Hualan Biological Engineering IncShanghai RAAS Blood ProductsBeijing Tiantan Biological ProductsZhenxing Biopharmaceutical and ChemicalJiangxi Boya Bio-PharmaceuticalSichuan Yuanda Shuyang PharmaceuticalShanghai Institute for Biological ProductsShanxi Kangbao Biological ProductOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoRed Blood Cells (RBCs)Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP)CryoprecipitatePlateletsWBCsImmune GlobulinsWhole BloodAutologous Red Blood CellsAlbumin and Plasma Protein FractionClotting Factors and CryoprecipitateOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Blood Products for each application, includingHospitalBlood StationOtherRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Contents1 Blood Products Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Blood Products1.2 Classification of Blood Products by Product Category1.2.1 Global Blood Products Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Blood Products Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Red Blood Cells (RBCs)1.2.4 Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP)1.2.5 Cryoprecipitate1.2.6 Platelets1.2.7 WBCs1.2.8 Immune Globulins1.2.9 Whole Blood1.2.10 Autologous Red Blood Cells1.2.11 Albumin and Plasma Protein Fraction1.2.12 Clotting Factors and CryoprecipitateQYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com The Physical Security Market is broadly segmented on the basis of applications, end use, and geography https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2072 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2072 https://www.tmrresearch.com/physical-security-market Global Physical Security Market: OverviewThe global market for physical security is likely to grow at a progressive rate in the next few years. The growing demand from a wide range of industries across the globe is estimated to benefit the key players operating in the global market. As a result, several new players are making notable efforts to expand their product horizon and enter the market in the coming years. Moreover, the increasing popularity of Internet of Things is expected to generate several growth opportunities for the market players.Global Physical Security Market: Key TrendsThe leading players in the global physical security market are focusing on technological developments and innovations, including video surveillance, which is estimated to contribute towards the development of the market. In addition, the current developments of smart cities and the increasing use of IP-based cameras is projected to supplement the growth of the global physical security market in the forecast period. Furthermore, the stringent rules and regulations and security compliances associated with physical security are likely to fuel the markets growth in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Physical Security Market: Market PotentialThe rising incidences of criminal activities and terror attacks are projected to fuel the growth of the global physical security market in the next few years. In addition, the rising need to protect employees, business assets, and consumers is considered as a major factor predicted to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future.On the contrary, the lack of synergy among security solutions and the reduced use of advanced technologies are estimated to restrict the development of the physical security market in the near future. Moreover, the key players in the market are expected to face several challenges, owing to the integration of physical and logical components of security. This is projected to hamper the growth of the market. Nonetheless, the rising use of Internet of Things is estimated to generate promising opportunities for key players in the global physical security market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Physical Security Market: Regional OutlookFrom a regional viewpoint, North America is anticipated to account for a massive share of the global physical security market in the next few years. The high growth of this region can be attributed to the growing need for security against illegal immigration, rising terrorist activities, and other criminal activities. In addition, several advancements in technology, including the introduction of video surveillance are projected to accelerate the growth of the North America market in the near future.On the flip side, Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit a considerable growth throughout the forecast period. The increasing investments by a large number of small and big organizations for physical security are anticipated to supplement the growth of the market in Asia Pacific in the next few years. In addition, the increasing contribution from Japan, India, China, and Australia is predicted to accelerate the growth of the market in the coming years.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Physical Security Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global physical security market is predicted to witness a high level of competition in the next few years. Some of the leading players operating in the physical security market across the globe are Bosch Security Systems, Inc., Pelco, Senstar Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Genetec Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., Stanley Security, Tyco International PLC, Anixter International Inc., and ADT Corporation.A tremendous rise in the number of criminal activities and terror attacks across the globe are anticipated to encourage the growth of the global physical security market in the coming few years. Technological advancements and the expansion of the product portfolio are projected to offer promising opportunities for key players operating in the physical security market across the globe.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Nigeria Infrastructure Development Trends and Forecast - Construction Market Report Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1070389 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/infrastructure-insight-nigeria-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=1070389 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ Report " Nigeria Infrastructure Insight " provides a detailed look into the infrastructure sector in Nigeria, including analysis of the state of the current infrastructure, the regulatory and financing landscapes and the major projects in the construction pipeline.The report covers all key infrastructure sectors: roads, railways, electricity and power, water and sewerage, communication, and airports and ports.Infrastructure expenditure in Nigeria is forecast to increase at a strong pace over the forecast period (20172021).Request Free Sample Report -According to Timetrics Infrastructure Intelligence Center (IIC), the infrastructure construction markets value increased from NGN2.5 trillion (US$8.2 billion) in 2011 to NGN4.9 trillion (US$16 billion) in 2016, and is projected to reach NGN6.5 trillion by 2021 (in nominal value terms).This is based on the assumption that a number of major infrastructure projects will proceed as planned, including the EastWest Road Dualization, the Coastal Railway Line, the 3050MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Plant and the Lekki Deepwater Port.ScopeA concise analysis of the administrative, economic and political context for infrastructure in Nigeria.An in-depth assessment of the current state of infrastructure in Nigeria, including roads, railways, electricity and power, water and sewerage, communications, airports and ports.A focus on main political and financial institutions involved in the infrastructure market, as well as the competitive and regulatory environment.For each infrastructure sector, an explanation of the key drivers of growth in new investment and an analysis of the project pipeline, with a detailed look at the prospects for major projects and the companies that have secured contracts.Reasons To Buy- Assess the current state of Nigeria infrastructure, and the main drivers of investment, including the key institutions and financing methods.- Investigate forecasts and gain an understanding of key trends in each of the main infrastructure sectors.- Analyze the main project participants operating in each sector, to better understand the competitive environment.- Identify top projects by sector, development stage and start date to inform expansion strategy.Browse Full Report with TOC -Key Highlights- Timetric is currently tracking 151 large-scale infrastructure construction projects in Nigeria, at all stages of development from announcement to execution. These projects have a total investment value of US$285.3 billion.- Rail projects account for the largest share of infrastructure projects in the pipeline, with a total value of US$133.6 billion. This is followed by electricity and power projects with a pipeline of US$121.6 billion. The pipeline value for road infrastructure projects amounts to US$16.2 billion, and for airports and other infrastructure construction projects it stands at US$13.5 billion. For water and sewerage infrastructure construction projects, the total work pipeline stands at U$457 million.- In the 2015-2016 World Economics Global Competitiveness Report, Nigeria ranked 133rd of 140 countries surveyed for the overall quality of infrastructure; well behind South Africa (59th), Algeria (101st) and Egypt (114th).- President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to concentrate on the rapid development of the countrys infrastructure, especially on critical ongoing infrastructure projects in the roads, railways, power and ICT sectors.Table of Contents1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2. CONTEXT2.1. Administrative Divisions2.2. Political Scene2.3. Public Finances and Credit Ratings2.4. Demographics2.5. Economic Performance2.6. Construction Output3. THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE3.1. Roads3.2. Railways3.3. Electricity and Power3.4. Water and Sewerage3.5. Communications3.6. Airports and Other Infrastructure4. THE COMPETITIVE AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE4.1. Roads4.2. Railways4.3. Electricity and Power4.4. Water and Sewerage4.5. Communications4.6. Airports and Other Infrastructure5. INSTITUTIONS AND FINANCING6. INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION6.1. All Infrastructure6.1.1. Construction outlook6.1.2. Project pipeline analysis6.2. Roads6.2.1. Construction outlook6.2.1. Key participants contractors6.2.2. Key participants consultants6.2.3. Project pipeline analysis6.3. Railways6.3.1. Construction outlook6.3.2. Key participants contractors6.3.3. Key participants consultants6.3.4. Project pipeline analysis6.4. Electricity and Power6.4.1. Construction outlook6.4.2. Key participants contractors6.4.3. Key participants consultants6.4.4. Project pipeline analysis6.5. Water and Sewerage6.5.1. Construction outlook6.5.2. Key participants contractors6.5.3. Key participants consultants6.5.4. Project pipeline analysis6.6. Communications Infrastructure6.6.1. Construction outlook6.7. Airports and Other Infrastructure6.7.1. Construction outlook6.7.2. Key participants contractors6.7.3. Key participants consultants6.7.4. Project pipeline analysis7. APPENDIX7.1. Definitions7.2. Methodology7.3. Further Information7.4. DisclaimerMake an Enquiry -Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite : FMI Releases New Report on the Regenerative Braking Systems Market 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-297 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-297 www.futuremarketinsights.com Increasing demand for fuel efficient vehicles, increasing efforts for mitigation of carbon emissions and rising cost of fuels, are pushing the Automakers to seek for development of energy efficient systems. This changing dynamics has significantly led to developments in regenerative braking systems market. Nowadays, energy recovery systems in vehicles are increasingly getting employed in passenger as well as commercial vehicles to improve fuel economy and reduce vehicular emissions.As a result for the need of better fuel-economy the regenerative braking systems market has evolved, which is gaining a significant growth in global automotive industry because of energy saving application.Nowadays, regenerative braking systems have become an important feature in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In these type of vehicles, regenerative braking systems are used to generate electricity by convertingmomentum loss during application of brakes. The amount of recoverable energy depends upon the vehicle speed and stopping pattern, 5% to 20% of transmitted energy can be saved by using regenerative braking systems. This energy is then transferred to on-board auxiliaries or comfort functions such as climate control. This energy can also be stored as electricity and then returned to the drive train during acceleration or whenever required. This energy can either be stored in batteries or banks of super capacitors. The energy saving features are one among the latent drivers of regenerative braking systems market.Request For Report Sample@The factors driving the growth of global regenerative braking systems market are growing concern for controlling vehicular emission, rising fuel cost and growing concern for advance technology. Although, factors such as increased overall cost of car and maintenance are the major challenges.The global regenerative braking systems market is geographically segmented intosevenkey regions which are, North America, South America,Eastern Europe, Western Europe,Asia Pacific, Japan andMiddle East & Africa. As of 2013, North America dominates the overall global regenerative braking systems market value, followed by Asia Pacific, Europe and others. Asia Pacific is projected to register a significant CAGR for the forecast period in global regenerative braking systems market. This growth is fuelled by increasing penetration rate of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in regions like Japan, South Korea and China.Growing concern for controlling vehicular emission in Europe region is also expected to drive the growth of global regenerative braking systems market for forecast period.On the basis of passenger vehicle type, the regenerative braking systemsmarket is segmented into three sub-segments, which are, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The hybrid vehicle sub-segment of global regenerative braking systems market is the predominant in terms of market value dueincreasing adoption of hybrid vehicles in regions like North America and Europe. The hybrid vehicle passenger sub-segment is forecast to have higher growth rate in regenerative braking systems market, followed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles.Request For TOC@Some of the key players in the global regenerative braking systems market include Continental AG, Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation, Robert Bosch GMBH and TRW automotive. Acquisitions and mergers are key strategies adopted by major companies to expand their geographical presence and market share in global regenerative braking systems market along with an enhanced customer base.In future, deployment of advanced regenerative braking systems with more efficiency and less prone to energy loss during transmission will provide a completive edge for automotive OEMs.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Chlorinated Polyethylene Resins and Elastomers (CPE) Market Forecast and Segments, 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-318 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-318 www.futuremarketinsights.com Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) resins and elastomersare thermoplastic polymers exhibiting enhanced physical and chemical properties. These are used as thermoplastic elastomer, modifier for various resins such as Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) andPolyethyelene(PE). Chlorinated polyethylene resins offer resistance against chemical, fire, heat, oil, weather, abrasion. Other properties of CPE include excellent mechanical and physical properties, high filler acceptance, tensile strength and low temperature performance. The applications of chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers include geomembranes, as impact modifier andflexible sheeting for automotive, roofing membranes, molded shapes, extruded profiles and cable jacketing and as a base polymer.Growing demand for chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers in impact modification application is expected to drive the market growth. Impact modification is the largest application of CPE in terms of consumption. It is widely used for impact modification of PVC for fence, deck, window profiles, pipes and vinyl siding.CPEs are added into formulations of PVC, PE and PP plastic products to improve impact resistance, low temperature performance, welding strength, and weatherability. In addition, growing demand from flexible sheetingelectrical wires and cables, roofing applications and rubber products for seals and shoe soles.Request For Report Sample@Flexible sheeting industry is experiencing high growth in Asia Pacific region due to growing construction and electrical industries. These two industries are driven by changing lifestyle and rising disposable income.Further, rising demand from automobile hoses and industrial hoses is expected to fuel the chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market growth. Owing to properties such as ozone resistance, chemical resistance, oil resistance and temperature resistance, CPE has become ideal choice for applications such as oil tubes, power steering tubes, delivery tubes of cooling fluids. It can be also used for vent and vacuum tubes in automotive. Automobile industry is driven by global demand for various types of automotives for variety of applications. Industrial hoses are used for chemical delivery and oil delivery in difference machineries of manufacturing plants.However, rising crude oil prices and hence volatility in raw materials prices are expected to hamper the market growth for chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers. Polyethylene is manufactured from crude oil derivatives and is subjected to availability and price variations. In addition, high cost of processing to develop the application specific elastomer or resin is expected to hamper the market growth.Development of new applications in healthcare and pharmaceutical are expected to provide opportunities for the players in the market. Due to non-hazardous nature of chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers, it can be used for manufacturing plants of pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.Asia Pacific was largest market for chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers in terms of consumption. China accounts for largest share in the global market in terms of production and consumption. Most of CPE in China is used for impact modifier and hoses application. Asia Pacific was followed by North America where the U.S. was the largest consumer. Demand from Europe and Rest of the World is expected to grow at moderate pace.Request For TOC@Global chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market is highly concentrated with few players dominating the market. Most of the players have their manufacturing plant in China and threat from Chinese players is moderate due to high cost of processing.Key players in Chlorinated polyethylene resins and elastomers market include the Dow Chemical Company, Sundow Polymers Co. Ltd., Lianda Corporation, Du Pont, Novista - Sanyi Chemical, WeifangPolygrandChemical Co.Ltd., Shandong SanyiIndustrial Co. Ltd., Cevo Industry Company Ltd. among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Agricultural Adjuvant Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-331 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-331 www.futuremarketinsights.com Agricultural adjuvant are used to enhance the effectiveness of pesticides such as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and other agents that are used to control or eliminate the unwanted pests. Adjuvant plays a crucial role in improving the efficiency of agrochemical and also for increasing the yield or productivity of the crop. Agricultural adjuvant includes ammonium fertilizers, surfactants and oils.Request For Report Sample@Agricultural adjuvant plays a key role in the global agrochemical market. The market has grown exponentially over the recent few years and this growth is expected to continue over the forecast period. Various factors such as ease of application, innovative product contributions, advanced production practices, increased accessibility and increasing attack of pests and diseases play a vital role in driving the overall agricultural adjuvant market. Adjuvants are slowly making their mark as the best tool for farmers used to improve application, achieve more cost-effective solution, facilitate the dosage, better-targeted and more environmentally acceptable pest control. A significant amount of the demand for agricultural adjuvants market is anticipated from countries such as France, India, Australia, Italy, U.S., Brazil and Germany among others. The global agricultural adjuvant market consists of activator adjuvants and utility adjuvant. Activator adjuvants include ammonium fertilizers, oils and surfactants while utility adjuvants consists of water conditioners, buffering agents, compatibility agents, buffers, anti-foam agents and drift control agents among others. Agricultural surfactant chemicals are the most dominating product which captures the maximum market share of the overall agricultural adjuvant market. North America is expected to be the largest market for agricultural adjuvant.Request For TOC@The leading players of agricultural adjuvant market includes Akzonoble N.V. (Netherlands),Adjuvant plus Inc. (Canada), Brandt Consolidated (U.S.),Momentive Performance Materials (U.S),Clariant International Ltd. (Switzerland), LambertiSpA (Italy),Solvay SA (Belgium), Croda Chemicals (India), Dow Croning (U.S.),Helena Chemical Company (U.S.) andTanatex Chemicals (Europe) among others. This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product types and distribution channels.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: The Shortenings Market is growing at a modest growth rate along with the Growth and Forecast 2017 - 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2084 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2084 https://www.tmrresearch.com/shortenings-market Global Shortenings Market: OverviewShortening is considered as a vital baking ingredient, thanks to which the global market is expected to exhibit a healthy growth in the next few years. The easy availability of shortenings and the increasing popularity of a wide range of baking products are anticipated to fuel the growth of the global shortenings market in the coming years. With these factors, the global market is likely to witness healthy growth and register a progressive growth rate in the near future.Global Shortenings Market: Key TrendsThe key players in the global shortenings market are projected to face several challenges in the near future. The rising demand for clean label products and the increasing use of shortenings substitutes are anticipated to restrict the growth of the overall market throughout the forecast period. Nonetheless, the growing demand for low-calorie products from consumers worldwide is estimated to offer promising opportunities for players in the next few years. Moreover, the expansion of the application base of baking ingredients is expected to augment global shortenings market in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Shortenings Market: Market PotentialA tremendous rise in the demand for shortenings in bakery products, owing to the rising popularity of baked food products is one of the important factors expected to augment the growth of the global shortenings market in the next few years. In addition, the changing lifestyle of consumers and their rising disposable income are estimated to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the forecast period.On the contrary, the rising health concerns associated with the excessive consumption of oils and fats are anticipated to restrict the growth of the global shortenings market in the coming years. In addition, the increasing health consciousness among consumers is predicted to hamper the development of the market in the near future.Request TOC of the Report @Global Shortenings Market: Regional OutlookIn the last few years, Asia Pacific led the global shortenings market with a key share on the basis of volume as well as value. The increasing contribution from China, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia is estimated to supplement the growth of the market in the forecast period. In addition, the rising purchasing power of consumers and the increasing population are some of the other factors predicted to encourage the growth of the market. As per the research study, Asia Pacific is expected to witness healthy growth and remain in the prominent position over the forecast period.Furthermore, the improving lifestyle of consumers in several developing nations and the increasing rate of consumption of bakery products are projected to accelerate the growth of the Asia Pacific shortenings market in the forecast period. The North America and Europe market for shortenings are estimated to register moderate growth rates in the forecast period.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Shortenings Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global shortenings market is highly competitive and fragmented in nature, with the presence of a large number of players. Some of the leading players operating in the shortenings market across the globe are AAK AB, Bunge Limited, Conagra Brands, Associated British Foods PLC (ABF), Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland Company, International Foodstuff Company Holdings Limited, Wilmar International Limited, Ventura Foods, LLC, and Manildra Group.The development of the food and beverages industries across the globe is one of the key factors encouraging the development of the shortenings market in the next few years. The key players in the market are focusing on marketing activities and tactics in order to enhance their presence and reach a large volume of consumers across the globe. In addition, the expansion of the product portfolio is likely to benefit the leading players in the near future.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com The report includes a descriptive examination of the Telecom API Market in terms of the multiple variables and constants https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2093 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2093 https://www.tmrresearch.com/telecom-api-market Global Telecom API Market: OverviewApplication programming interface (API) materializes the possibility of independently developing applications and services on a device, while functioning as a middleware between the application and device resources. Apart from creating mobile apps, APIs can enviably benefit the telecom industry in various ways. Humbug analytics API, StreamWIDE call screening API, offline geolocation, and Recharge My API are some of the popular instances of public APIs. Telecom APIs can improve workflows, automate the delivery of common transactions and data, and streamline communications over a period of time.Global Telecom API Market: Key TrendsExpected to rise at a commanding CAGR, the world telecom API market could heighten demand on the back of the monetization of services pertinent to telecom operation and excelling user experience for telecom API. The increment in the adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) equipment and towering demand for forward-looking telecom services utilizing the Internet are anticipated to shepherd the growth of the world market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @There are a few factors that could arrest the growth of the global telecom API market, such as certain government regulations and policies laid down for the telecommunications sector and commercial gap between developer needs and carrier products or offerings. However, the market holds the potential to offer opportunities on almost every parameter, viz. user and type.The partner developer segment by user type is predicted to elevate at a higher rate while riding on the accessibility it provides to solution developers for various APIs. These APIs can be employed to develop different applications and their extensions to formulate and develop more sophisticated solutions for customers. With the enhancement of mobile app developer experience, the telecom API market for SMS, MMS, and rich communication service (RCS) could gain an impressive traction. The magnifying trend of offering more contextual experience to clients using mobile devices is foretold to help the location API market grow to a telling level.Request TOC of the Report @Global Telecom API Market: Market PotentialOf late, there have been a number of partnership activities being implemented to achieve benefits on both sides of an agreement. For instance, the launch of Nexmo API extension by Vonage for Zohos customer relationship management (CRM) platform is considered to offer streamlined contextual customer connections with the help of seamless SMS and voice messaging. Vonage, on the other hand, could benefit commercially from the integration with Zoho CRM by keeping businesses connected with robust cloud communications solutions. This partnership is prophesied to set the tone for businesses in the way they communicate with customers and the way customers reach them.Global Telecom API Market: Regional OutlookAlthough the international telecom API market could span its growth across different regions, including Europe and Rest of the World, Asia Pacific is foreseen to showcase a higher growth rate during the course of the forecast period. For 2016, North America was projected to secure a larger share in the international market. Stakeholders in the Asia Pacific market could be handsomely advantaged with ballooning innovative technological developments. A widespread adoption of API technologies is foreseen to be witnessed by Asia Pacific on account of the augmenting usage of mobile applications and smartphones.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Telecom API Market: Competitive LandscapeWith a view to attain a tangible growth in the global telecom API market, players are prognosticated to rely on specific strategies, including new product development, mergers and acquisitions, agreements, and partnerships. Companies such as Telefonica, AT&T, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent, Twilio, Inc., and Vodafone Group PLC could be recognized among the leading players in the market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Eddy-Current sensor Industry: Worldwide Market Size, Growth, Trends and 2021 Forecast Report Reportsweb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001588932/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/world-eddy-current-sensor-market-research-report-2021 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001588932/buying Publisher's Eddy-Current sensor market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The players mentioned in our report:GEBruel&KjarLion PrecisionKamanMicro-EpsilonEmersonSHINKAWAKEYNECERockWell AutomationIFMOMRONPansonicRequest Sample Copy At:Global Eddy-Current sensor Market: Product Segment AnalysisSplit type Eddy Current Displacement SensorIntegrated Eddy Current Displacement SensorApplication Segment Analysis:Automobile electric powerPetroleumChemicalMetallurgicalAerospaceOther IndustrieRegional Segment Analysis:USAEuropeSouth East AsiaChinaIndiaFor More Information About This Report:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Eddy-Current sensor IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Eddy-Current sensor Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Eddy-Current sensor Market forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Sodium Cyanide Market Share, Trends and Analysis, Growth and Forecast 2022 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/4743/?utm_source=OPR-NL https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/4743 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-sodium-cyanide-market https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-sodium-cyanide-market-qy-research http://marketsizeforecasters.com/ 2017 Global Sodium Cyanide Market Status, 2011-2022 Market Historical and Forecasts, Professional Market Research Report a professional and in-depth study on the current trends and Future Forecast."Sodium Cyanide is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCN. Sodium cyanide, a white, water-soluble solid, is a kind of important basic chemical raw materials. Cyanide has a high affinity for metals, which leads to the high toxicity of this salt. Sodium cyanides main application is in gold mining, chemical intermediate. Also exploits its high reactivity toward other metals. When it is treated with acid, it forms the toxic gas hydrogen cyanide.In this report, we statistics the solid product of sodium cyanide, and the liquid product is converted into the solid product (100% sodium cyanide). For example, 10 MT of 30% liquid product is converted into the 3.33 MT of solid product (100% sodium cyanide)."Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Sodium Cyanide in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Global Sodium Cyanide Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Cyanco, DuPont (Chemours), Orica, Evonik (CyPlus GmbH), Australia Gold Reagents, Taekwang Industrial, Tongsuh Petrochemical, Korund, Sasol PolymersRequest a sample copy of Global Sodium Cyanide Market Research Report @Global Sodium Cyanide Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Global Sodium Cyanide Market Segment by Type, covers Solid Sodium Cyanide, Liquid Sodium CyanideThe listed pricing for this Global Sodium Cyanide Market report starts at $ 3480. Request Discount for Global Sodium Cyanide Market Research Report @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Mining Industry, Chemical Industry, Dye and Textile Industry, Electroplating industry, OthersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Sodium Cyanide Market Report @Related Reports: -Global Sodium Cyanide Market Research Report 2017This report studies Sodium Cyanide in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Australia and Korea, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production (K MT), price (USD/MT), revenue (M USD) and market share (%) for each manufacturer, covering - Australian Gold Reagents, Orica, CyPlus GmbH (Evonik), Taekwang Industrial, Tongsuh PetrochemicalMarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter Warehouse Robotics Market - Detailed Analysis of Restrain and Growth Factors https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1979 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1979 https://www.tmrresearch.com/warehouse-robotics-market Global Warehouse Robotics Market: OverviewWarehouse robotics is the use of robots to manage, control, and automate various warehouse operations with increased levels of performance and flexibility. The robots used in warehousing, also called autonomous mobile robotics are equipped with embedded intelligence and application software and serve several functions. They can be used to automate pick-and-package systems, or manage high-volume logistics, or can be specialized to perform high-speed sorting of parcels on the basis of their weights and dimension.Over the past few years, warehouse robotics systems have gained increased popularity due to the global boom in e-commerce and its consequent impact on order fulfillment requirements. Warehouse robotics are characterized to handle a high volume of small, multi-line-item orders. The system has come to occupy a vital role in warehouse automation by offering a viable and cost-saving alternative to traditional human labor.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Warehouse Robotics Market: Key TrendsThe warehouse robotics market is majorly driven by the rapid strides e-commerce has taken over the past few decades coupled with the need for bringing automation across supply chain processes. The pressing need for efficient warehouse operations across a diverse range of industriesautomotive, electrical and electronics, chemical, rubber, and plastics, and F&Bhas spurred the demand for robotics systems. In addition, the increased adoption of warehouse robotics by a large number of small- and medium-scale enterprises to reduce production costs and increase profitability has stimulated the demand for warehouse robotics.Spiraling investment by several start-up firms and established providers of warehouse automation, combined with an upsurge in investments by venture capitalists, is expected to propel the robotics warehouse market. However, the high costs incurred in total automation may restrain many small retailers from adopting warehouse robotics for their processes. On the other hand, the emergence of multi-robot fulfillment systems to assist humans in transportation opens up lucrative avenues in the market along the forecast period.Global Warehouse Robotics Market: Market PotentialGrey Orange, a fast emerging multinational technology company headquartered in Singapore has intended to exhibit its Butler robots in Sydney at SMART Expo to be held from March 2930 in 2017. The company that pioneers in advanced robotics and automation solutions for warehousing has helped various companies across Asia Pacific improve last-mile delivery in e-commerce, omnichannel retail, and supply chain sectors. The Butler robots are specialized to manage changing inventory profiles and order fulfilment patterns in real time resulting in enhanced productivity and unmatched accuracy. The event holds special significance for several supply chain and logistics industry players.Request for TOC of the Report @The next-generation warehouse robots have an extensive demand across companies of all sizes who are looking to modernize their logistics operations. More recently, the company has bagged numerous orders by various retail chains in Hong Kong and India. One of the most significant demands that merits mention is the one from the Nitori Holdings Group, the largest furniture and home furnishing chain in Japan. The Butler systems will be installed at the Home Logistics Osaka distribution center to automate massive inventory storage and picking functions. Lately, there is an emerging demand for the warehouse robotics solutions from retailers in Europe and North America.Global Warehouse Robotics Market: Regional OutlookThe Asia Pacific market is expected to witness substantial demand for warehouse robotics over the forecast period. The impressive growth in the regional market is fueled by the rising trend of online retail shopping and soaring number of startup technology players developing autonomous mobile robotics solutions. The burgeoning need for streamlining supply chains and shortening delivery times has stimulated the demand for warehouse robotics among small and medium-scale retailers in Asia Pacific. In addition, a burgeoning e-commerce sector is expected to propel the regional market in the coming years.Read Complete Report @Warehouse robotics systems are anticipated to witness significant adoption in e-commerce warehouses in developed markets of Europe and North America. The regional market will be driven by increased adoption of multichannel supply chain strategy and constant advances in industry automation software.Global Warehouse Robotics Market: Competitive AnalysisSeveral warehouse management providers are actively developing interactive and advanced mobile automation solutions that help early adopters optimize picking operations and gain competitive benefits. Prominent players eyeing for a sustained share in this market include ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa Electric Corp., ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc., Amazon, Honeywell International Inc., Fetch Robotics, Inc., IAM Robotics, and Omron Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Connected Car Market 2017: Comprehensive Analysis of the Current Trends and Future Estimations 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2048 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2048 https://www.tmrresearch.com/connected-car-market Global Connected Car Market: OverviewToday, connected car is the big buzz word in the automotive and car industry. A connected car is equipped with Internet connectivity to share information between devices within the vehicle or to share information with devices outside the car such as in other cars, office, home, or other physical spaces.Connected cars receive information pertaining to traffic, collisions, and other safety alerts in a timely manner. Connected car features can be categorized into safety, infotainment, payments, navigation, and diagnostics/efficiency.Typically, connected cars that have been introduced after 2010 has a head-unit, in-dash system equipped with a screen for the driver to view or manage operations of the connections, and an infotainment unit.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Connected Car Market: Key TrendsThe top factor driving the global connected car market include regulatory mandates on connected car modules. Moreover, rising demand for smartphone features in cars and real-time connectivity with cars to obtain vehicle data updates for vehicular safety is driving the connected car market.However, factors such as network coverage limitation and risk of misuse of customer data by cybercriminals for unscrupulous activities is challenging the markets growth.The connected car market is expected to be benefitted as connected car is considered to be a stepping stone for autonomous vehicles, consumer electronics providers for connected cars can offer telematics and infotainment devices at a cheaper cost, and insurance rate for connected cars is dependent on usage.Request TOC of the Report @The connected car market faces challenges with respect to disparity of product design procedures between OEMs, in-built solutions of cars, and smartphones. Also, the connected car market will benefit with reduced cost of telematics and infotainment equipment and services. In this scenario, creating an ecosystem that functions through cross-industry collaborations between OEMs, technology companies, and mobile network operators is poised to be the winning imperative for the industry.Global Connected Car Market: Market PotentialAt the recent Seoul Motor Show 2017, Hyundai Motors announced a multitude of future-vehicle initiatives, which includes connected cars and electric vehicles. Developed by a team of in-house experts Hyundais new Connected Car Service platform will diminish the lines between mobility, living, and working spaces by means of voice control and allow vehicle owners to connect their vehicles with global appliance service providers.Global Connected Car Market: Regional OutlookNorth America is the leading regional market for connected cars. The U.S. is the leading contributor to the North America connected car market due to regulations in place for monitoring telematics applications.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Furthermore, in the U.S., the transportation system is reaching its capacity thus alternatives need to be sought to address the increasing traffic congestion issues. The transportation network in the U.S. is nearing saturation and infrastructure expansion by means of traditional methods is not a viable solution. Connected cars equipped with telematics and navigation tools is an ideal solution to address this issue. Moreover, the U.S. being home to some of the worlds major automobile companies such as General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, and Tesla Motors Inc., along with the presence of software giants such as Microsoft Corporation and IBM Corporation and telecom providers such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and Sierra Wireless are favoring the growth of the connected car market in the region.Global Connected Car Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the key players in the global connected car market include Audi AG, General Motors Company, Google Inc.,Delphi Automotive Plc, AT&T Inc.,Robert Bosch GmbH, Wirelesscar, BMW AG,Tesla Motors Inc.,Volvo Car Corporation, Vodafone Group Plc., Denso Corporation,and Airbiquity Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market : The report includes drivers and restraints and their impact on the growth https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2165 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2165 https://www.tmrresearch.com/next-generation-sequencing-market Global Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market: OverviewThe global market for next-generation sequencing is likely to witness a progressive growth in the next few years, thanks to the rising adoption across diverse industries. In addition, several lucrative opportunities in untapped markets and the rise in the number of government initiatives are projected to contribute towards the growth of the market. Furthermore, the use of next-generation sequencing in biomarker and precision medicine discovery is expected to supplement the growth of the overall market in the forecast period.Global Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market: Key TrendsThe technological advancements in the sequencing platforms and the rising number of applications of next-generation sequencing are likely to encourage the growth of the global next-generation sequencing market in the coming years. In addition, the growing adoption of next-generation sequencing technologies among research academic institutes and research laboratories are projected to supplement the development of the market in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the contrary, the rising issues in the storage of sequencing data and the dearth of skilled professionals are likely to curtail the growth of the market in the coming years. Nonetheless, the increasing awareness among consumers regarding the advantages of next-generation sequencing through workshops and conferences are projected to fuel the growth of the market.Global Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market: Market PotentialThe integration of next-generation of sequencing with the new cloud-based technology is one of the key factors estimated to encourage the growth of the global market in the coming years. In addition, the rising focus on cancer research and the increasing level of competition are predicted accelerate the growth of the market in the forecast period.However, several concerns related to the security of next-generation sequencing data and the standardization and accuracy issues in diagnostic testing are estimated to pose as major challenges for the leading players in the coming years. Nonetheless, the rising use of cloud computing is expected to offer promising growth opportunities throughout the forecast period.Request TOC of the Report @Global Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market: Regional OutlookAmong the key regional segments studied in the research study, North America is anticipated to account for a key share of the global next-generation sequencing market in the forecast period. The presence of a large number of players in the U.S. and the favorable government schemes are the important factors that are predicted to accelerate the growth of the North America market in the coming years.Furthermore, Asia Pacific is estimated to grow substantially in the next few years. The improvement of the healthcare infrastructure in developing nations and the favorable initiatives by government are predicted to fuel the growth of the next-generation sequencing market In Asia Pacific in the near future. In addition, the launch of new and advanced next-generation sequencing services and products are anticipated to contribute substantially towards the growth of the market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Market: Competitive AnalysisSome of the prominent players operating in the next-generation sequencing market across the globe are Eurofins Scientific, Gatc Biotech AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Perkinelmer, Inc., Illumina, Inc., Qiagen N.V., Agilent Technologies, Inc., Macrogen, Inc., Beijing Genomics Institute, Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Ltd.The entry of new players in the global next-generation sequencing market and the rising number of collaborations and mergers are projected to encourage the growth of the market in the next few years. Additionally, the rising focus of key players on research and development activities are estimated to offer promising opportunities for the leading players in the next few years.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Apheresis Equipment Global Market, By Product & Data Validation, 2016 Analysis and Forecast 2022 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/apheresis-equipment-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001716578/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001716578/buying According to Publisher, the Global Apheresis Equipment market is accounted for $1.42 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $3.37 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2016 to 2022. Increasing incidence of cardiovascular disorders, demand for automated blood component separation procedures, adoption of technologically advanced automated products, government focusing on healthcare infrastructure and rise in the number of platelet donors are fueling the market growth. However, histocompatibility issues, high cost of equipment and lack of trained technicians will hamper market growth.For more information about this report:Plasmapheresis segment accounted for the largest market share of the apheresis procedure market due to growing incidence of hematological disorders. Apheresis disposable kits is the largest segment in the total apheresis equipment product market as single use products are in high demand along with high usage volume. Neurology segment is projected to witness the fastest growth under application as individuals are affected with multiple sclerosis. North America is the leading market because of the presence of sophisticated healthcare infrastructure. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing market due to Increasing prevalence of blood disorders and plasma products in China, Japan, Australia, Korea and India.Some of the key players in global Apheresis Equipment market are Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd., Fenwal, Inc., Braun Melsungen AG, Cerus Corporation, Fresenius Se & Co. KGAA, Medica SpA, Kaneka Corporation, Nikkiso Co., Ltd, Kawasumi Laboratories Inc, Therakos, Inc., HemaCare Corporation, Haemonetics Corporation and Terumo BCT, Inc.Technologies Covered:-Membrane Filtration-Centrifugation-Continuous Flow-Intermittent FlowProcedures Covered:-Erythrocytapheresis-Extracorporeal Immunoadsorption (ECI)-Leukapheresis-Plasmapheresis-Photopheresis-Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Apheresis-Plateletpheresis-Therapeutic CytApheresis Equipment-Other Procedures-Lipidpheresis-LymphapheresisRequest Sample Copy atApplications Covered:-Hematology-Neurological Disorders-Renal Disorders-Metabolic Disorders-Autoimmune Disorders-Cardiovascular Disorders-Other ApplicationsProducts Covered:-Apheresis Machine-Disposable Apheresis kitsRegions Covered:-North America-US-Canada-Mexico-Europe-Germany-France-Italy-UK-Spain-Rest of Europe-Asia Pacific-Japan-China-India-Australia-New Zealand-Rest of Asia Pacific-Rest of the World-Middle East-Brazil-Argentina-South Africa-EgyptCompany Profiling11.1 Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd.11.2 Fenwal, Inc.11.3 B Braun Melsungen AG11.4 Cerus Corporation11.5 Fresenius Se & Co. KGAA11.6 Medica SpA11.7 Kaneka Corporation11.8 Nikkiso Co., Ltd11.9 Kawasumi Laboratories Inc11.10 Therakos, Inc.11.11 HemaCare Corporation11.12 Haemonetics Corporation11.13 Terumo BCT, Inc.Inquire before Buying atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Reinsurance in Bahrain Market: Grow Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/684928 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/684928 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Latest industry research report on: Reinsurance in Bahrain Market : Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, ForecastsRequest For Sample Report @Timetrics 'Reinsurance in Bahrain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides detailed analysis of the market trends, drivers and challenges in the Bahraini reinsurance segment. It provides values for key performance indicators such as written premium, reinsurance ceded and reinsurance accepted during the review period (20102014) and forecast period (20142019).The report also analyses information pertaining to the competitive landscape in the country, gives a comprehensive overview of Bahrain's economy and demographics, and provides detailed analysis of natural hazards and their impact on the Bahraini insurance industry.Complete Report Details @The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise to enable reinsurers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and access profiles of reinsurers operating in the country.SummaryTimetrics 'Reinsurance in Bahrain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Bahraini reinsurance segment, including:The Bahraini reinsurance segments growth prospects by reinsurance ceded from direct insuranceA comprehensive overview of the Bahraini economy and demographicsDetailed analysis of natural hazards and their impact on the Bahraini insurance industryThe competitive landscape in the Bahraini reinsurance segmentScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the reinsurance segment in Bahrain:It provides historical values for the Bahraini reinsurance segment for the reports 20102014 review period, and projected figures for the 20142019 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Bahraini reinsurance segment, and market forecasts to 2019.It provides a detailed analysis of the reinsurance ceded from various direct insurance segments in Bahrain, and the reinsurance segment's growth prospects.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Bahraini reinsurance segment, and each category within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Bahraini reinsurance segment.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.Gain insights into key regulations governing the Bahraini insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key HighlightsBahrain is a hub for reinsurers, has favorable regulatory conditions, and is seen as one of the best countries in the GCC region in which to do business.The segments growth was primarily as a result of consistent growth in insurance business, growth in infrastructure projects and rising medical costs.Reinsurers are extending their operations by providing reinsurance services for various business classes.As of 2014, five conventional reinsurers and two retakaful firms operated in Bahrain.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Power Electronics Market Professional Survey Report 2017, Key Companies Profile, Supply, Demand, Manufacturing Process and Cost Structure Analysis https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2012 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2012 https://www.tmrresearch.com/power-electronics-market Global Power Electronics Market: OverviewPower electronics are solid state circuitry devices that convert and control electric power from the source to load. These devices ensure effective delivery of power, providing high security, reliability, and flexibility to the power system. They improve switching speed and also enable power management to prevent power loss. The materials commonly used for these devices are silicon, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and sapphire. Some of the common types of devices are transistors, diodes, thyristors, modules, and ICs. These devices find applications across industrial verticals such as information and communication technology, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, power, and aerospace and defense.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Power Electronics Market: Key TrendsThe rising awareness regarding the benefits of power electronics is boosting their uptake across different applications. Presently, about 30% of all power generation is carried out using power electronic devices, either at the stage of power generation or at the final electricity consumption point. It is anticipated that by 2030, up to 80% of the electricity produced will use power electronic devices. The burgeoning demand for energy-efficient battery-powered portable devices is also fuelling the global power electronics market. Moreover, the growing reliance on renewable energy resources is working in favor the market.Other factors such as improving power infrastructure and the increasing demand for energy harvesting technologies are stoking the growth of the global market. On the other hand, high complexity and cumbersome integration process of advanced technology devices make their manufacturing time consuming, which in turn negatively impacting the growth of the global power electronics market. Furthermore, the high initial costs of power electronics are hampering the growth of the market.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Power Electronics Market: Market PotentialMaterial forms the foundation of power electronic devices and thus, researchers are focusing towards developing materials that have higher efficiency and enable better power generation. A research by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in August 2015 proved the higher efficiency of gallium nitride over silicon. As a result, gallium nitride started emerging as the next generation semiconductor for power electronics and replacing conventional materials. Similarly, researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Utah announced that the conjoin of two oxide compounds, namely neodymium titanate (NTO) and strontium titanate (STO), makes an extraordinary conductive material that could be up to five times more conductive than silicon and can vastly improve power transistors. Another case in point is the development of organic thin-film, high-voltage transistors in March 2017 by a team of researchers at the Linkoping and Umea universities in Sweden. This transistor is estimated to be a breakthrough in the field of organic power electronics. Therefore, such developments are imparting significant momentum to the global power electronics market.Global Power Electronics Market: Geographical SegmentationGeographically, Asia Pacific is expected to be a prominent revenue contributor to the growth of the global market. The rapid expansion of manufacturing facilities along with the robust growth of the consumer goods sector is supplementing the growth of the region. Cost advantages and increasing initiatives taken by governments are boosting the domestic manufacturing of power electronics devices, thereby contributing to the growth of APAC. The growth of Europe can be attributed to countries such as the U.K. and Germany.Read Complete Report @Global Power Electronics Market: Competitive LandscapeThe presence of a large number of global and regional participants in the global power electronics market and low differentiation in their product offerings have rendered the arena highly competitive. The intensity of rivalry will remain high due to switching cost also. Some of the prominent companies operating in the market are Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V., ON Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics N.V., Microsemi Corporation, Vishay Intertechnology Inc., Texas Instrumentation Inc., Toshiba Corporation, and ABB Ltd.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market Research Study For Forecast 2025, Challenges, Demand, Woldwide Overview https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2024 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2024 https://www.tmrresearch.com/terrain-awareness-warning-system-market Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: OverviewTerrain awareness and warning systems (TWAS) are used to prevent controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. The technology provides an important layer of protection for aircraft navigation as it changes course as per the terrain and as per weather conditions.TAWS draws data from GPS pertaining to aircrafts position, speed, and direction as well data pertaining to aircrafts altitude and configuration. This information is used to compare data pertaining to Earths terrain and manmade hurdles.In the U.S., highly accurate GPS information is obtained as a combination of radar topography imagery captured by the U.S. space shuttle program, information from Department of Defense, and other data.Request a Brochure of the Report @Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Key TrendsThe global TAWS market is primarily driven by the paradigm shift in transport sector leading to the increasing number of commercial flights. Furthermore, mandates for aircraft to be equipped with TAWS as laid out by stipulations of aviation regulation agencies is driving the growth of the TAWS market. The directives for use of hi-tech systems for aircraft protection are largely in place in developed countries such as the U.S., and the U.K. among several other countries.However, high deployment cost is limiting the adoption of this technology only by countries that have a strong technical base and large budgets for enhancing aircraft security system. Lack of skilled personnel and integrators for TWAS is also challenging the markets growth.Request for TOC of the Report @Implementation of TAWS in private jets and cargo flights will extend growth opportunities to the TAWS market. The growth of international trade due to favorable business reforms in many countries worldwide is expected to benefit the markets growth.Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Market PotentialAcross the world, defense forces are vying for hi-technology systems to prevent CFIT accidents, which in turn, helps prevents loss of life and loss of property. In a breakthrough development, the Indian Air Force has announced about equipping its new convoy of six C-130J Hercules aircraft with TWAS, as per a solicitation by the U.S. Air Force.The U.S. Air Force, C-130J Division, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and Wright Patterson AFB has been seeking to identify potential bodies that possess the expertise, experience, and capabilities needed to enter a contract for six C-130J aircraft for a terrain awareness warning system. The subscription will be for 40 months commencing from May 31, 2017, through August 31, 2020.Prior to this, the Indian Air Force had procured six C-130Js, of which one was lost in an accident in 2014 and another damaged in February this year.Read Complete Report @Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Regional OutlookNorth America is currently the leading market for terrain awareness and warning system and is expected to retain its position over the next few years mainly due to the factors favoring the adoption of TAWS. In North America, high government funding for hi-tech aircraft safety systems as per Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandates, strong technical base, and the presence of key players in the region are favoring the regional markets growth. The presence of top companies for TAWS such as Universal Avionics Systems Corporation, L3 Technologies Inc., and Honeywell International Inc. enables the latest technical developments for aircraft navigation to be first implemented in the region.Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the key companies operating in the global terrain awareness and warning system market are Honeywell International Inc., Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems LLC, Avidyne Corporation, Rockwell Collins, Aspen Avionics Inc., Universal Avionics Systems Corporation, L3 Technologies Inc., Garmin Ltd., Sandel Avionics Inc., Mid-Continent Instrument Co. Inc., and Genesys Aerosystems.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Water Quality Monitoring Market Analysis, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1982 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1982 https://www.tmrresearch.com/water-quality-monitoring-market Global Water Quality Monitoring Market: OverviewWater quality monitoring makes use of water quality data to identify trends, characterize waters from various waterbodies, address emerging problems, assess the effectiveness of pollution control programs, and help formulate better pollution control policies, apart from responding to emergencies such as draughts and floods. The chemical, physical, microbiological, and biological characteristics of water are measured under water quality monitoring.By product type, dissolved oxygen analyzers, conductivity sensors, pH meters, turbidity meters, multi-parameter devices, flowmeters, and TOC analyzers can be some of the key segments of the market. Based on end-use applications, industrial, commercial, government, laboratories, agricultural, and residential can be the major segments of the global water quality monitoring market.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Water Quality Monitoring Market: Key TrendsThe rising demand for wastewater treatment, increasing incidence of waterborne diseases, and growing awareness about the quality of drinking water are some of the key catalysts of the market. More than 1.8 million people over the world drink faecally contaminated water, found a study conducted by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation.Moreover, according to the WHO World Water Day Report, nearly 3.4 million people, mostly children, fall prey to death due to the consumption of unclean drinking water worldwide. Typhoid, hepatitis A, and cholera, caused by bacteria in undrinkable water are some of the most common diarrheal diseases afflicting the third world countries. Therefore, the demand for water quality monitoring systems is likely to go up.Request for TOC of the Report @However, ignorance about the benefits of these systems and high costs of the devices used in water quality monitoring might impede the progress of the market. Despite these deterrents, the market is expected to gain from the development of cost-efficient smart water networks that deploy geographic information systems (GIS) and sensors to evaluate water quality.Global Water Quality Monitoring Market: Market PotentialWater quality monitoring is being increasingly acknowledged by government bodies of several nations worldwide. For instance, in Thailand a majority of large factories that generate 7,500 cubic meters of wastewater have been put under a real-time monitoring system. The Central government of India has also installed 44 real-time water quality monitoring stations (RTWQMS) in Ganga, the largest river of the Indian subcontinent during March 2017.Mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, and product development are some of the key business strategies adopted by companies. For instance, in March 2017, Ecolab Inc., in partnership with Microsoft Corp. and Trucost, announced the addition of new features to its financial-modeling tool. The advanced tool, Water Risk Monetizer, is designed to aid enterprises in the detection of unwanted elements in water, prediction of water expenses, and conservation of water.Global Water Quality Monitoring Market: Regional OutlookBy geography, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe are the key segments of the global market for water quality monitoring. Europe has emerged as one of the leading regional markets, driven by high awareness about water quality and the consequent implementation of water quality monitoring activities in Germany, France, the U.K, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, and Switzerland.Read Complete Report @Several government initiatives and laws have been promoting the adoption of water quality monitoring systems in North America. Israel in the Middle East, and India, Singapore, Japan, and China in Asia Pacific are likely to represent a significant portion of the market over the forecast period.Global Water Quality Monitoring Market: Competitive AnalysisOwing to the presence of several large players, the global water quality monitoring market has a highly fragmented vendor landscape. Some of the major companies operating in the global market for water quality monitoring are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Horiba, Ltd., General Electric Company, Shimadzu Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Honeywell International, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Mettler- Toledo International Inc., Stevens Water Monitoring Systems, Xylem, OTT Hydromet, YSI, Hydro International, Hanna Instruments, Sea-Bird Coastal, LaMotte Company, and OAKTON Instruments.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com New Trends of Thermal Energy Storage Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2180 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2180 https://www.tmrresearch.com/thermal-energy-storage-market Global Thermal Energy Storage Market: OverviewThermal energy storage systems consist of an insulating medium or combination of media that can hold on to captured heat for long periods. Thus, thermal energy systems are essentially thermal batteries that store energy in terms of temperature difference instead of potential difference.The rising awareness regarding the adverse effects of the use of greenhouse gases for energy generation has been one of the key drivers for the global thermal energy storage market in the recent past. While the use of renewable sources of energy has picked up steam in recent years, the renewable energy sector faces a considerable problem in the lack of consistent energy production from renewable energy sources. Thermal energy storage has been mooted as a solution in this regard and is likely to become a key part of the global renewable energy market in the coming years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Thermal Energy Storage Market: Key TrendsThe rising use of combined energy generation units, wherein energy is harnessed from two or more renewable sources simultaneously, is a prime driver for the global thermal energy storage market. Solar and wind energy generation can usually be conducted on the same site and often on the same device. However, both solar and wind energy suffer from the lack of a reliable energy storage mechanism, as both energy sources are available infrequently. A rising number of residential as well as commercial consumers, particularly in developed countries, have started to install combined energy generation systems on their own land, which is likely to drive the demand for thermal energy storage systems in the coming years.Utilities distributors are also playing an important role in the development of the global thermal energy storage market. While the use of smart grids will help distributors provide utilities uniformly, the installation of thermal energy storage can help further smoothen the process.Request TOC of the Report @On the other hand, despite the steady rise in the demand from the thermal energy storage market, the high cost of thermal energy storage technology is likely to hamper the growth of the market to some extent. Despite the rising demand for thermal energy storage technologies from the utilities sector, the thermal energy storage industry needs to achieve parity with other non-storage options.Global Thermal Energy Storage Market: Market PotentialDue to the high costs of developing and installing thermal energy storage systems, the market needs government support to enable widespread adoption. Developed countries such as the U.S. are likely to be at the forefront, with Maryland becoming the first American state to incentivize the use of energy storage with tax credits. The bill was passed in April 2017 and could be the first step in establishing a well-maintained and efficient power storage and distribution infrastructure that takes into account the variety of energy sources used in a modern economy.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Thermal Energy Storage Market: Geographical DynamicsThe global thermal energy storage market is expected to be dominated by the Middle East and Africa (MEA) in the coming years, as the region receives abundant solar power and is also home to a power-intensive industrial sector. Europe and Asia Pacific could also play key roles in the growth of the global thermal energy storage market in the coming years due to the rising emphasis on solar power in both regions.Global Thermal Energy Storage Market: Competitive DynamicsThe report also discusses the competitive landscape of the global thermal energy storage market in detail by profiling the leading players operating in it. The key companies examined in the report include Ice Energy, Calmac, SolarReserve LLC, and Abengoa Solar.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Seafood Market Dynamics, Top Players Analysis, Trend and Demand to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1971 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/seafood-market Global Seafood Market is Expected to Grow with the CAGR of more than 3% from 2016 to 2022Global Seafood Market OverviewSeafood remains major source of food, nutrition, income and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Fish supply reached a new record, thanks to dynamic growth in aquaculture industries, which now provides half of all fish for human consumption, and to a slight improvement in the state of certain fish stocks due to improved fisheries management. Moreover, fish continues to be one of the most-traded food commodities worldwide with more than half of fish exports by value originating in developing countries. A recent study report Global Seafood Market published by Market Research Future highlights the tremendous potential of the oceans and inland waters, and even more so in the future, to contribute significantly to food security and adequate nutrition for a global population expected to grow vigorously.The seafood prominently includes fish and shellfish. With the growing demand for protein rich food such as Seafood, the market for seafood is growing steadily. Moreover, with recent, prominent investments by the major players in growing market regions like APAC, Seafood market has shown a huge potential. Globally the market for seafood is expected to grow at A CAGR of about 3% during 2016 to 2022, predicts MRFR Research Analyst while commenting upon this deep diving study report, presented through more than 100 market data tables and figures, widely spread over 110 pages.Global Seafood Market Key PlayersThe global seafood market affected by local consumer tastes, regional and global economic conditions, and demographic trends, is subject to ever changing demands and preferences of consumers. The players of the market have to cater to the constantly changing demands and preferences of consumers according to their spending patterns. With the presence of numerous major and small key players in the market; the Seafood market is highly fragmented.Identified in the MRFR study report as key players, some of the major players of the global seafood market are Austevoll Seafood ASA (Norway) Cooke Aquaculture, Inc. (Canada) Dongwon Group (South Korea) Trident Seafoods Corporation (US) Lyons Seafoods Limited (UK) Thai Union Group PCL (Thailand) Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. (China) Princes Ltd. (UK) Tri Marine International Inc. (US) Amalgam Enterprises (India)Request a Sample Report @Global Seafood Market SegmentsSeafood market has been segmented in to 3 dynamics for an enhanced understanding;Segmentation on the basis of Main Type: Comprising - Fish, Roe, Shellfish, Molluscs, Echinoderms, Medusozoa, others.Segmentation on the basis of Process: Comprising - fresh seafood, dried seafood, salted seafood, smoked seafood, pasteurized seafood, pasteurized seafood and others.Segmentation on the basis of Application: Comprising - table consumption, personal care products, nutraceuticals, fast food chains and others.Global Seafood Market Synopsis & ScenarioSeafood is a protein rich food. It is one of the broadly consumed foods worldwide. Shrimp, tuna and crab are the most popular seafood all over the world. Shrimp have becoming highest growing seafood in recent year as it is easy to cook, consumers of all age group enjoy it cause of the premium flavor and texture.Recently there is an increase in the demand for cod liver oil as it is nutrient-dense source of essential vitamins including vitamin D and vitamin A as well as anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Fish oil supplement are in demand from the women going through menopausal years to maintain a proper level of estrogen and progesterone hormone.Frozen seafood products are easy to transport than the fresh seafood products. Now, in recent years there is high demand for convenient food as in ready to cook food, hence, seafood products have created huge opportunities in the market. This factor will play a key role to grow seafood market at CAGR of 3% during 2016 to 2022.The popularity of seafood in consumers among different age groups is supporting the growth of the market. Fresh fish and shrimp are being appreciated by all age consumer groups, hence has created huge potential in the market. Ready to cook seafood will be new opportunity in the seafood market.Browse Report @Global Seafood Market Regional AnalysisAPAC accounted for higher market share in the seafood during the period 2011-2015, with market value in millions of USD and is expected to grow further over the previous value by 2022. Major companies are targeting APAC as potential region for investments in the seafood market due to potential demand scenarioMarket Research Analysis: The demand for fresh seafood is increasing in Europe Top 5 importers of frozen fish are China, Japan, Thailand, Korea and SpainAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Development, Key Opportunity, Application & Gross Revenues 2017-2022 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/57548/?utm_source=OPR-NL https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/57548 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-aac-market https://marketsizeforecasters.com/north-america-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-aac-market http://marketsizeforecasters.com/ Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Industry research report also provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Aerated Concrete is a type of precast concrete composed of all natural raw materials producing great benefits and better energy efficient performance. As early as 1914, the Swedes discovered a mixture of cement, lime, water and sand, just like regular concrete but adding aluminum powder. This last material gives the Autoclaved Aerated Precast Concrete expansion properties.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Autoclaved Aerated Concrete in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Xella Group, Aercon AAC, H+H International A/S, ACICO, Masa Group, Eastland, Biltech, AKG Gazbeton, UltratechRequest a sample copy of Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Research Report @Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Segment by Type, covers Blocks, Lintels, Panels, OthersThe listed pricing for this Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market report starts at $ 3480. Request Discount for Global Autoclaved Aerated ConcreteMarket Research Report @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Industrial, Commercial, Residential, OthersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market Report @Related Reports: -North America Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022Aerated Concrete is a type of precast concrete composed of all natural raw materials producing great benefits and better energy efficient performance. As early as 1914, the Swedes discovered a mixture of cement, lime, water and sand, just like regular concrete but adding aluminum powder. This last material gives the Autoclaved Aerated Precast Concrete expansion properties.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter Major Applications Of Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Global Market In Healthcare (Tags, Readers, Middleware, Printers and Cabinets) During 2014 - 2020 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=222499 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=222499 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Major Applications Of Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Global Market In Healthcare (Tags, Readers, Middleware, Printers and Cabinets) During 2014 - 2020".Radiofrequency identification (RFID) is a system based on wireless technology which utilizes radio waves for collecting data from a tag attached to an object, for various purposes like automatic identification and tracking of objects. RFID technology has been applied in various sectors such as retail, supply chain, government, and manufacturing industries. Major applications of RFID technology include assess control and asset tracking. Application of RFID technology in healthcare is rather restricted and accounts for a smaller share in the overall RFID market. This report studies the RFID market exclusively for healthcare applications. Radiofrequency identification (RFID) market in healthcare has been studied from three main perspectives: RFID components, applications and geography.RFID components mainly include tags, readers and middleware. RFID printers and cabinets have assisted in expanding the market scope, especially in healthcare. RFID tags and readers market has been further segmented in to active and passive components. Active tags and readers have an internal power source such as battery, while passive components receive power from radio waves emitted by the tag or reader. Passive components are also studied according to frequency at which they operate. The passive RFID tags and readers market has been further segmented into low, high and ultrahigh frequency. Passive RFID technology dominated the RFID market with more than 70% of the market share. Radiofrequency Identification market in healthcare is expensively studied from the point of view of applications. The segments include equipment tracking, people identification and tracking, medical report, sample and blood transfer monitoring, medicine tracking, and supply chain. Increasing incidences of medical devices theft, drug counterfeiting and increasing need of effective supply chain management due to increased patient visits at hospitals are main drivers of the market. From the point of view of geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. Each of these geographies is further divided according to application areas, while also giving overall scenario of RFID Components market for each geographical region.Each of the market segments have been analyzed on the basis of their current and future market size for the period 2012 to 2020, in terms of revenue (USD million), considering 2012 and 2013 as the base years. The compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for each market segment has been provided for the forecast period 2014 to 2020 along with the estimations of market size.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Key players in the radiofrequency identification (RFID) market in healthcare report include Alien Technology, Applied Wireless Identifications Group, CAEN RFID, GAO RFID, Inc., Impinj, Intermec, Invengo, Motorola Solutions (now Zebra Technologies), Sato Holdings and STiD. Each of these players are profile in the report considering company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies and recent developments.RFID Market in Healthcare report gives a complete market analysis including Porters five force analysis, and value chain analysis. Market attractive analysis based on various macro and micro economic factors such as current stage of life cycle, market size, customer base, market competition, and annual growth rate reveals most lucrative geographical markets in the forecast period. Report also identifies important drivers and restraints for the RFID market in healthcare. Furthermore lucrative opportunities identified after in-depth market study have also been described in the report. The research methodology was based on primary as well as secondary research. Interviews and discussions with a wide range of key industry participants and opinion leaders revealed real time market scenario. This primary research represented the bulk of the research efforts, which was further supplemented by extensive secondary research. The 87 pages radiofrequency identification (RFID) market in healthcare reports described various market dynamics in 26 figures and charts and 13 tables.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Market Segmentation1.3 Research Methodology1.3.1 Secondary Research1.3.2 Primary Research1.4 List of Abbreviations1.5 Assumptions and StipulationsChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Global RFID Market in Healthcare, Market Overview3.1 Introduction3.2 Regulatory Scenario3.3 Market DynamicsMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Crop Sprayer Market Analysis and Foresight Report to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2867 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/crop-sprayer-market-2867 The crop sprayer market is expected to grow over the CAGR of around 4.68% during the period 2016 to 2022.Market HighlightsSprayers are generally used for spraying insecticides and pesticides on crops and plants. They are used in agriculture sector. Various government initiatives to increase the production of the agriculture and prevent the crop from harmful pest and disease will ultimately increase the demand of crop sprayers. Lack of awareness among farmers about the new technology may hamper the growth of the global Crop sprayer market.Global crop sprayer market is expected to reach USD 4,462.1 million by 2022 with 4.68% CAGR.Key Players Chafer Machinery Ltd (U.K) Zhejiang Ousen Machinery Co., Ltd. (China) CNH Industrial (U.K) Bucher Industries (Switzerland) Deere & Company (U.S.) Taizhou Sunny Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (China) Exel Industries (France) STIHL Holding AG & Co. KG (Germany) Hymatic Agro Equipment Pvt. Ltd (India) ASPEE Group (India)Request a Sample Report @Market Research AnalysisOn the basis of region, global crop sprayer market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW. Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share of 32.4% in the global crop sprayer market in 2015 mainly due to the countries such as India, China, and Indonesia are major agricultural promoting countries. North America was the second-largest market in 2015, valued at USD 919.7 million in 2015. North America is the major producer of wheat, corn and soybean, which require the use of agricultural equipment such as crop sprayer, thereby driving the growth of the market. The region is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.80% during the forecast period. Europe is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 4.30% during the forecast period.Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global crop sprayer market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global crop sprayer market by its product, capacity and region.By Product- Fuel-based- Electric- Hand-heldBy Capacity- Ultra Low Volume Sprayers- Low Volume Sprayers- High Volume SprayersBy Region- North America- Asia Pacific- Europe- Rest of the WorldBrowse Report @Intended AudienceManufacturing IndustriesDistributer & Supplier companiesconsultants and Investment bankersGovernment as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Home Healthcare Market By Device Types & By Services - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=222504 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=222504 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Home Healthcare Market By Device Types & By Services - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020".Home healthcare devices and services help the patients to be self-sufficient towards their health. This is been increasingly accepted by the patient population owing to its cost effective nature, less number of visits to hospital and patient comfort. The Latin America home healthcare market has witnessed significant growth in the past due to factors such as increasing number of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiac disorders, respiratory diseases and others. At the same time, economic instability and reimbursement issues related to home healthcare services are the factors restraining the market growth during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020.This report provides an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the Latin America home healthcare market on the basis of device types, services and the major Latin American geographies. In device types segment, the report covers different types of diagnostic and monitoring devices, therapeutic devices, medical supplies and home mobility assist devices that are used by the patients. Diagnostics and monitoring devices segment includes devices such as blood glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors, sleep apnea monitors, pregnancy test kits, pulse oximeters, heart rate monitors, temperature monitors, pedometers and coagulation monitors. Therapeutic devices segment comprises insulin delivery devices, nebulizers, ventilators and CPAP devices, IV equipment and dialysis equipment. The home mobility assist devices segment is further categorized as wheelchairs, cranes and crutches and other mobility assist devices and medical supplies segment includes feeding tubes and syringes. The market size and forecast for each device type has been provided for the period 2012 to 2020, considering 2013 as the base year. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for the forecast period 2014 to 2020 for each segment.Latin America home healthcare market, by services is segmented as rehabilitation services, respiratory therapy services, infusion therapy services, telehealth and telemedicine services and unskilled home healthcare services. The market size and forecast in terms of USD million for each service type has been provided for the period 2012 to 2020, considering 2013 as the base year. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for the forecast period 2014 to 2020 for each segment.Geographically, Latin America home healthcare market is segment as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and others. Additionally, market revenues of segments such as device types and services are estimated and forecasted for all the above mentioned geographies. The market size and forecast in terms of USD million for each geography has been provided for the period 2012 to 2020, considering 2013 as the base year. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for the forecast period 2014 to 2020 for each segment.Make an Enquiry of this report @The market overview section of the Latin America home healthcare market report discusses detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining the growth of the home healthcare market and future opportunities are provided in the report. PESTLE analysis has also been done while estimating individual geographies in order to provide current as well as future status. A list of recommendations for existing as well as new entrants has been discussed in the study to help in decision making. The report concludes with company profiles of key players operating in various segments of the market. Each company profile includes business overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies and recent developments of the respective company.Some of the prominent players in the Latin America home healthcare market that have been profiled in this report are Medtronic, Inc., Omron Healthcare, Inc., Phillips Healthcare, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Teleflex Corporation, Bayer Healthcare, ResMed, Inc., Praxair Technologies, Inc., GE Healthcare, Gentiva Health Services, Inc., Invacare Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Cardinal Health and others. Market players are profiled in this report on the basis of attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies adopted by the companies to ensure sustainability and maximize profits and product portfolio, and recent developments.The Latin American home healthcare market is segmented as follows:Latin American Home Healthcare Market, by Device TypesDiagnostics and Monitoring Home DevicesBlood Glucose MonitorsBlood Pressure MonitorsHeart Rate MonitorsTemperature MonitorsSleep Apnea MonitorsCoagulation MonitorsPregnancy Test KitsPulse OximetersPedometersTherapeutics Home Healthcare DevicesInsulin Delivery DevicesLatin American Home Healthcare Market, by ServicesRehabilitation ServicesTelehealth and Telemedicine ServicesInfusion Therapy ServicesRespiratory Therapy ServicesUnskilled Home Healthcare ServicesLatin American Home Healthcare Market, by GeographyBrazilMexicoArgentinaColombiaOthersTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Various Benefits Of Rubber Gloves In Global Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook From 2017 - 2021 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1064510 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1064510 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Various Benefits Of Rubber Gloves In Global Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook From 2017 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Rubber gloves are an important part of healthcare & foodservices industries, keeping its demand intact & consistent throughout the year. Rubber gloves are primarily used for the purpose of protection while performing tasks. They are broadly classified into latex or natural rubber (NR) gloves and nitrile or synthetic rubber (SR) gloves.Rubber gloves can be divided into several product categories on the basis of the material used for making them, each having their own advantages & disadvantages. Rubber glove manufactures worldwide have been adopting a strategy of aggressive expansion to lower down their cost of production & maintain price competiveness. This could lead to a possible supply glut in the future, which would further normalize with increased demand.Growth of the global rubber gloves market is likely to be driven by factors such as up-gradation of manufacturing efficiencies, increased penetration of rubber gloves in emerging economies, emergence of new threats and escalating ageing population. The market is majorly trending with shift in consumer preference towards nitrile gloves, which are thin and as comfortable as traditional latex gloves. Along with this trend, other major development that could been seen in the market includes, improving bargaining power of the consumers and increased capacity expansion & product differentiation.The report offers an in-depth analysis of the global rubber gloves market with focus on Malaysian rubber gloves market. The report profiles Top Glove Corporation, Kossan Rubber Industries, Hartalega, and Supermax Corporation.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of Content1. Market Overview1.1 Rubber Gloves1.2 Types of Rubber Gloves1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages1.4 Gloves Supply Chain2. Rubber Market Analysis2.1 Global Rubber Production & Consumption Volume2.2 Global Rubber Production & Consumption Volume Forecast2.3 Global Rubber Production & Consumption Volume by Type2.4 Malaysias Rubber Consumption Volume2.5 Malaysias Rubber Consumption Volume by Type3. Global Rubber Gloves Market Analysis3.1 Global Rubber Gloves Market Forecast by Value3.2 Global Rubber Gloves Demand Volume3.3 Global Rubber Gloves Demand Volume Forecast3.4 Global Rubber Gloves Demand by Region3.5 Global Per Capita Rubber Glove Spending by CountryMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Brown Sugar Market Development Trends, Competitive Landscape and Key Regions 2022 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/57549/?utm_source=OPR-NL https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/57549 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-brown-sugar-market https://marketsizeforecasters.com/united-states-blood-sugar-lancets-market http://marketsizeforecasters.com/ Worldwide Brown Sugar market report of 2017 provides a detailed market overview as well as industry analysis for / of companies, manufacturers and distributors covering data on gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, sale price and more.Sugar is just sucrose (C12H22O11), a molecule which occurs naturally in a variety of plants. Brown sugar is a colored refined sugar obtained when controlled amount of molasses are added to the white sugar. The intensity of the color of brown sugar is proportional to the amount of molasses added. Brown sugar has a distinctive taste and flavor due to the presence of minerals which also make it nutritionally superior to white sugar. This property of the brown sugar resulted in the formation of an alternative sugar market for health cautious population.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Brown Sugar in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Global Brown Sugar Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Sudzucker, Tate & Lyle, Imperial Sugar, Nordic Sugar A/S, C&H Sugar, American Crystal Sugar, Cargill, Domino SugarRequest a sample copy of Global Brown Sugar Market Research Report @Global Brown Sugar Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Global Brown Sugar Market Segment by Type, covers Light Brown Sugar, Dark Brown SugarThe listed pricing for this Global Brown Sugar Market report starts at $ 3480. Request Discount for Global Brown Sugar Market Research Report @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Bakery, Beverages, Confectionery, Ice Cream and Dairy, OthersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Brown Sugar Market Report @Related Reports: -United States Blood Sugar Lancets Market Report 2017In this report, the United States Blood Sugar Lancets market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter Busch successful at ComVac 2017 Buschs presentation at ComVac 2017 in Hanover was met with a great response www.buschvacuum.com The Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems trade show presentation received a great response from the nearly 30,000 visitors at the Leading Trade Fair for Compressed Air and Vacuum in Hanover, Germany. The interested trade show crowds were able to discover the varied world of vacuum at Busch and find out about highly energy-efficient and economical vacuum solutions.Numerous visitors from 47 different countries used the opportunity to talk to the Busch vacuum experts. They were particularly impressed by the countless possibilities that using vacuum has to offer in many industrial applications. Vacuum technology is often the key technology in production processes or in fields like research or environmental and medical technologies. At ComVac 2017, Busch presented a selection of these exciting and exceptional vacuum applications. Visitors were surprised, for example, that vacuum can be an important element when ensuring the drinking water supply with desalination plants, or that the mooring time of large container ships can be significantly reduced by using vacuum.At the Busch trade show booth, ComVac visitors also found out more about Buschs large product portfolio, which provides suitable solutions in the field of vacuum and overpressure technology for practically any industrial application. The topic of energy efficiency during vacuum generation was of great importance, particularly for visitors who deal intensively with energy management according to ISO 50.001 in their operations. According to the Busch vacuum specialists, it is important here that entire processes are analyzed from the perspective of energy so that the vacuum technology can be applied in ways that use resources as sustainably as possible. Busch offers so-called VacuumAudits as a service in which individual processes or even entire operations are audited and suggested solutions for increasing energy efficiency are submitted.Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems is one of the largest manufacturers of vacuum pumps, blowers and compressors in the world.With a lot of experience and top qualified personnel, we are forward-looking and strive to improve our products and ourselves. We are constantly at work developing innovative technologies that will define the vacuum world of the future.Our manufacturing plants utilize the most modern manufacturing techniques, machinery and equipment under very strict quality controls, which surpass DIN EN ISO 9001 requirements.As of 2016, Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems employs more than 3000 people and features the largest selection of vacuum pumps for the industrial applications in the world. Due to its immense line of vacuum pumps, expertise and experience in the building of vacuum systems and the extensive service network, Busch is capable of providing ideal comprehensive solutions.With more than 60 companies in over 40 countries and sales agents in over 30 countries, we are strategically positioned throughout the world to provide our customers with the essentials for success.Our goal always is to provide the customer with the highest possible return on investment. Personal consulting, choice of the optimum product and prompt service on site are key features of our comprehensive service that make the achievement of this goal reality. Our experience and know how in broadly diversified applications and product design furnish the basis.Buschs headquarter is located in Maulburg, Germany. Besides Busch Holding, the German manufacturing plant, Busch Produktions GmbH, the sales organization, Dr.-Ing. K. Busch GmbH and service company, Busch Dienste GmbH are headquartered here. In addition, Busch operates production plants in Switzerland, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Korea and the USA.Busch Dienste GmbHMarketing/Marketing ServicesUli MerkleSchauinslandstrae 179689 MaulburgTelefon: 07622/681-144E-Mail: Uli.Merkle@busch.de Global UV Sensor Market Size, Technology Advancement, Forecast Report 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/846525 This report studies UV Sensor in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringST MicroelectronicsLAPIS Semiconductor Co., Ltd.VernierScitec Instruments Ltd.Solar Light CompanyApogeeDavis InstrumentsSilicon LabsSkye Instruments LtdEMXWTWBalluffOptekTRI-TRONICSIl-metronic SensortechnikGenUVMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of UV Sensor in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanDownload Sample Copy Of This Report :Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoVisible blind UV sensorSolar blind UV sensorType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of UV Sensor in each application, can be divided intoMedical EquipmentElectronic ProductOthersTable of ContentsGlobal UV Sensor Market Research Report 20161 UV Sensor Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of UV Sensor1.2 UV Sensor Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of UV Sensor by Type in 20151.2.2 Visible blind UV sensor1.2.3 Solar blind UV sensor1.2.4 Type III1.3 UV Sensor Segment by Application1.3.1 UV Sensor Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Medical Equipment1.3.3 Electronic Product1.3.4 Others1.4 UV Sensor Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of UV Sensor (2011-2021)2 Global UV Sensor Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global UV Sensor Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global UV Sensor Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global UV Sensor Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers UV Sensor Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 UV Sensor Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 UV Sensor Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 UV Sensor Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global UV Sensor Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global UV Sensor Production by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global UV Sensor Production Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global UV Sensor Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Korea UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 Taiwan UV Sensor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global UV Sensor Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global UV Sensor Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Korea UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 Taiwan UV Sensor Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global UV Sensor Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global UV Sensor Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global UV Sensor Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global UV Sensor Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global UV Sensor Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)6 Global UV Sensor Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global UV Sensor Consumption and Market Share by Application (2011-2016)6.2 Global UV Sensor Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2011-2016)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Monorail Systems Market, Track Lighting, Systems Design, Hoist, Manufacturer, Cost, Suspended Monorail Industry Research Report 2025 monorail systems https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/monorail-systems-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/monorail-systems-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-customization/monorail-systems-market Monorail system is an advanced mode of transportation that runs on a single rail and offers solutions for urban transportation. However, the adoption of such system has been observed in amusements, for sightseeing, and agricultural purpose as they possess less space, commonly elevated and cost less than light rail systems.With the increase in urbanization, the global monorail systems market has witnessed growth over the years.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @:The market is segmented on the basis of type, propulsion, size and geography. Based on type, the market is divided into straddling monorail and suspended monorail. By propulsion, the market is categorized into electric monorail (monorail systems design market) system and maglev monorail system. On the basis of size, the global industry is broadly classified into small segment, medium segment and large segment. Geographically, the global market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA.Market Dynamics:Drivers: (monorail systems mining market) Low installation cost Easy operations and space optimizationRestraints: (monorail systems cost market) High installation cost of maglev monorail system Market penetration is lessMarket Players: (monorail systems manufacturer market)Key players in the global monorail systems market include Bombardier Transportation (Canada), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), Scomi Engineering Bhd. (Malaysia), Aerobus International, Inc. (USA), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan), Intamin Bahntechnik (Switzerland), Urbanaut Monorail Technology (USA) and research institutes such as the Japan Monorail Association (JMA), International Monorail Association (IMA), and The Monorail Society (TMS).For further inquiries, about Global Monorail Systems Market enquire here >>>>By Type Straddling monorail Suspended monorail (suspended monorail market)By Propulsion Electric monorail system Maglev monorail systemKey Point from Table of Content8. Company profiles8.1. Bombardier Transportation8.1.1. Overview (monorail systems material handling market)8.1.2. Financials and business segments8.1.3. Recent developments8.2. Hitachi, Ltd.8.2.1. Overview8.2.2. Financials and business segments8.2.3. Recent developments8.3. Scomi Engineering Bhd.8.3.1. Overview (how monorail works market)8.3.2. Financials and business segments8.3.3. Recent developments8.4. Aerobus International, Inc.8.4.1. Overview8.4.2. Financials and business segments8.4.3. Recent developmentsRequest for Customization:By Size (monorail speed market) Small segment Medium segment Large segmentBy Geography North Americao U.S.o Canadao Mexico Europeo UKo Germanyo Franceo Spaino Italyo Rest of EuropeAbout us:Progressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in India with an aim to deliver up-to-date executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain.Contact us:Antviews Global,Serve No. 721/1 Flat No 404,Sudhanshu co. op Housing Society,Shastri Road, Near Kalavati Devi Mandir,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030.help@progressivemarkets.com Impelsys Inc Appraised at CMMi Level 3 17th May 2015, New York: Impelsys Inc. today announced that it has been appraised at level 3 of the CMMI Institutes Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).The appraisal was performed by Concept QA Labs Pvt. Ltd. CMMI is a capability improvement framework that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.An appraisal at maturity level 3 indicates the organization is performing at a defined level. At this level, processes are well characterized and understood, and are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods. The organizations set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time.Impelsys Inc., a company founded in 2001, started with converting physical text books into digital copies. Currently the company is one of the global leaders in providing digital platforms and technology services to publishers and learning providers like professional associations and universities. iPublishCentral is their flagship digital infrastructure which caters to content delivery, e-learning and other related services like publishing workflow optimization, analytics, security and mobility.Sameer Shariff, Founder and CEO of Impelsys, acknowledges the importance of the appraisal, in his words, CMMI Level 3 is an important milestone for Impelsys. We believe that this is the recognition of a concerted effort of all the members at the organization. Impelsys, as a provider of value products and services believes in streamlining our processes to ensure quality and on-time delivery. We believe in continuous improvement - we will strive to achieve further excellence and leverage our position in providing world class products and services to the content and learning industry.About CMMI InstituteCMMI Institute (CMMIInstitute.com) is the global leader in the advancement of best practices in people, process, and technology. The Institute provides the tools and support for organizations to benchmark their capabilities and build maturity by comparing their operations to best practices and identifying performance gaps. For over 25 years, thousands of high-performing organizations in a variety of industries, including aerospace, finance, health services, software, defense, transportation, and telecommunications, have earned a CMMI maturity level rating and proved they are capable business partners and suppliers. To learn more about how CMMI can help your organization elevate performance, visit CMMIInstitute.comAbout ImpelsysImpelsys is a leading provider of technology solutions and services for educational providers, publishers and enterprises - managing content & learning delivery on their flagship platform iPublishCentral Suite, the Worlds Most Comprehensive Read-to-Learn Solution. Impelsys provides courseware development and content engineering services across digital product development lifecycle helping clients build new digital products ranging from eBooks to simulations to online courseware.166 West, 23rd Street,Suite 500,New York, 10011USA International Doctor Booking, LLC launches self-managed, free subscription online platform aims in connecting people and health specialists around the world One-Stop Platform Medical Appointment for Global Health Movement www.internationaldoctorbooking.com International Doctor Booking, LLC launches self-managed, free subscription online platform aims in connecting people and health specialists around the world. It is a contribution to the global health movement aims in providing the framework of joint preventing and managing emerging global health problems. The global health interventions are actively developed as the public health is becoming more and more global issues per the frequent and easy travels. Everyone in the world should be able to accede any health specialist and get advice and care as possible. With the telehealth possibilities, the global healthcare is becoming a reality.The tool is called IDOBOOKI and includes a portal for the health specialist subscription (free & unlimited) and self-management (publication of working times and locations). It has as well the clients/patients portal that has different types of health specialties (public health and clinical). It costs to users US$1 per the appointment by the international bank cards (credit and debit).International Doctor Booking, LLC is actively working to make effective global and equity health care. It publishes in February 2016, One Dollar Health Insurance at the major online markets in the forms of eBook and Print on the Demand. The current under development projects include the telehealth applications mobile and computer based.International Doctor Booking, LLC7403 Jodie Ct, New Carrollton, Maryland 20784, USAidobooki@internationaldoctorbooking.com+1 (240) 204-9089 Amorphous Alloy Transformer Market Forecast 2017 : Vijai Electricals, Powerstar, Wilson, Hitachi, China Power Equipment Amorphous Alloy Transformer http://bit.ly/2qrUNG8 http://bit.ly/2rq54zW Amorphous Alloy Transformer Market Research ReportA market study based on the " Amorphous Alloy Transformer Market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Amorphous Alloy Transformer Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Amorphous Alloy Transformer industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Amorphous Alloy Transformer market on the basis of this analysis.Ask For Sample Copy of Report :Top Manufacturers Companies Covered In This Research Report -1. Vijai Electricals2. Powerstar3. Wilson4. Hitachi5. ABB6. China Power Equipment7. STS8. BRG9. ZHIXIN ELEVTRICThe report studies the industry for Amorphous Alloy Transformer across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Amorphous Alloy Transformer market & dynamics of demand and supply of Amorphous Alloy Transformer into consideration. The ' Amorphous Alloy Transformer ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Amorphous Alloy Transformer market globally, which starts from the definition of the Amorphous Alloy Transformer industry and develops towards Amorphous Alloy Transformer market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Amorphous Alloy Transformer market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Amorphous Alloy Transformer market. The geographical segmentation of the Amorphous Alloy Transformer industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Amorphous Alloy Transformer is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Amorphous Alloy Transformer market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Amorphous Alloy Transformer market worldwide.Enquiry Here :The global Amorphous Alloy Transformer market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Amorphous Alloy Transformer production volume, data regarding demand and Amorphous Alloy Transformer supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tool of Amorphous Alloy Transformer such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in Amorphous Alloy Transformer market research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Amorphous Alloy Transformer across the globe.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Global Hybrid Cars and EV Market Data Analysis & Industry Forecast 2022 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/global-hybrid-cars-and-ev-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request-sample/?post=145760 https://www.reportsmonitor.com/make-enquiry/?post=145760 http://www.reportsmonitor.com This report studies Hybrid Cars and EV in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringTOYOTABYDTeslaNissanBMWMitsubishiVolkswagenRenaultBAICGMFordJACYutongSAICZhong TongZOTYEKANDIKing-longVOLVOMercedes-BenzCheryAudiBrowse Complete Report @By types, the market can be split intoHEVPHEVEVRequest Sample Copy @By Application, the market can be split intoHome UseCommercial UseTo enquire about this report visitTable of ContentsGlobal Hybrid Cars and EV Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Hybrid Cars and EV1.1 Definition and Specifications of Hybrid Cars and EV1.1.1 Definition of Hybrid Cars and EV1.1.2 Specifications of Hybrid Cars and EV1.2 Classification of Hybrid Cars and EV1.2.1 HEV1.2.2 PHEV1.2.3 EV1.3 Applications of Hybrid Cars and EV1.3.1 Home Use1.3.2 Commercial Use1.3.3 Table of Contents1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 IndiaReports Monitor is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. The prime focus is to get reliable data, Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.008, Mihir Co-operative,Above Bharat Suzuki showroom,Fatima Nagar,Pune,Maharashtra,India411013Jay MathewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite: OnPay Solutions Named One of "20 Most Promising Corporate Finance Tech Solution Providers 2017" www.onpaysolutions.com http://www.onpaysolutions.com http://www.onpaysolutions.com OnPay Solutions, a nationally accredited AICPA service organization and accounts payable payment automation company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, has been named by CIOReview as one of 20 Most Promising Corporate Finance Tech Solution Providers 2017.Jacksonville, Florida, May 18, 2017 -- OnPay Solutions, a nationally accredited AICPA service organization and accounts payable payment automation company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, has been named by CIOReview as one of 20 Most Promising Corporate Finance Tech Solution Providers 2017.OnPay Solutions is shortlisted as one of the 20 Most Promising Corporate Finance Tech Solution Providers 2017 by CIOReview magazine based on its expertise in providing innovative software solutions and the ability to delight customers and facilitating return on investments through strategic relationships, services and programs, said Jeevan George, Managing Editor of CIOReview, This recognition will bring more popularity to OnPay Solutions and positive attention from the several other companies.OnPay Solutions offers turn-key Accounts Payable payment automation solutions that not only integrates with any ERP, Accounting or Accounts Payable Workflow system, it greatly reduces accounts payable costs and fraud risk and can turn a companys payables into rebates revenue.By moving from costly paper check to automated electronic payment methods such as ACH, or single-issue virtual credit card (vCard) for vendor payments, costs are reduced, time is saved, risk is minimized and efficiencies are maximized, said Neal Anderson, President and CEO of OnPay Solutions.Fact: Paper checks are costly and time consuming.Checks cost on average $3.50 to print and mail and require staff time for printing, stuffing and mailing checks. Reducing the number of printed checks reduces overall cost and allows A/P staff to focus on what really matters finances.Fact: Risk is minimized when a company transitions from paper checks to automated ePayments.Checks are targeted for fraud more often than other payment methods by fraudsters. ePayments issued via OnPay Solutions systems provide greater security by directly linking a companys accounting system to their bank for ACH payments. Also, single-use virtual card (vCard) accounts add additional security via the controls on card number issuance, handling and specific dollar authorization amounts.Fact: With payment automation, a company has the ability to turn its accounts payable into rebates revenue.A company can earn on average greater than 1% cash back of the A/P spend that migrates to the virtual card. Typically, this can average between 25 - 45% of the total A/P spend.In addition to the benefits mentioned above, OnPay Solutions experts handle each customers integration and implementation. Onboarding is quick and there is very little impact on a companys IT department. This allows IT staff to manage an Accounts Payable Payment Automation Project with very little effort, providing time to focus on projects serving other departments as well.If you would like one of CIOReviews recognized elite group of finance tech solutions to work for you and reduce cost, reduce risk, and even earn cash back, with accounts payable automation, go toAbout OnPay Solutions:OnPay Solutions offers business-to-business payment software and payment web services to enhance efficiency and productivity for Accounts Payable.OnPay Solutions payment automation products and services help businesses make payments in the most efficient way possible all while allowing them to remain bank-neutral. OnPay Solutions provides software solutions, hosted solutions, consulting services and outsourced check printing services to help business achieve maximum efficiency and even a revenue stream back into their accounts payable department.For More Information Contact:Tessa Tavares CostaOnPay Solutions8382 Baymeadows Road, Suite 4Jacksonville, FL 32256904-786-6369tcosta@onpaysolutions.comOnPay Solutions payment automation products and services help businesses make payments in the most efficient way possible all while allowing them to remain bank-neutral. OnPay Solutions provides software solutions, hosted solutions, consulting services and outsourced check printing services to help business achieve maximum efficiency and even a revenue stream back into their accounts payable department.For More Information Contact:Tessa Tavares CostaOnPay Solutions8382 Baymeadows Road, Suite 4Jacksonville, FL 32256904-786-6369tcosta@onpaysolutions.com Retail Analysis - Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Industrial Trend and Market Demand Report 2016 Industrial Protective Footwear http://bit.ly/2qa7mFE "Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Market Report 2016" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-** Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Industrial Protective FootwearRevenue, means the sales value of Industrial Protective Footwear-- This report studies sales (consumption) of Industrial Protective Footwear in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Benelux and Spain, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringHoneywellRockyGeorgia BootLehigh Safety ShoesDurangoRocky 4EurSoleAriatBaffinBlack DiamondGet Sample Report With TOC @BlundstoneDan PostDr MartensFlorsheimImpactoIron AgeJustin WorkbootsKeenKodiakPumaReebokRockport WorksRoyerThorogoodTerraTingley-- Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Industrial Protective Footwear in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBenelux-- Split by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType III-- Split by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Industrial Protective Footwear in each application, can be divided intoChemicalConstructionFire ProtectionManufacturingMiningOil and GasSteel and MetalsWeldingOther-- Table of ContentsEurope Industrial Protective Footwear Market Report 20161 Industrial Protective Footwear Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Industrial Protective Footwear1.2 Classification of Industrial Protective Footwear1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Application of Industrial Protective Footwear1.3.1 Chemical1.3.2 Construction1.3.3 Fire Protection1.3.4 Manufacturing1.3.5 Mining1.3.6 Oil and Gas1.3.7 Steel and Metals1.3.9 Welding1.3.9 Other1.4 Industrial Protective Footwear Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Industrial Protective Footwear (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume) by Application3 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 France Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.4 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Application5 UK Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.5 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 UK Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Application6 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Value (2011-2016)6.1.1 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.2 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.6 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)6.2 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Russia Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Application7 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Value (2011-2016)7.1.1 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.2 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.7 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)7.2 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 Italy Industrial Protective Footwear Sales and Market Share by TypeResearchMoz 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Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Global MEMS & Sensors Market Trends, Outlook, Overview and Forecast to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1059 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/mems-sensors-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/request-toc/1059 Market Synopsis of MEMS & Sensors Market:Market ScenarioThe major growth driver of MEMS & Sensors Market includes growing demand for security in automobile industries, growing consumer electronics market, and innovative government regulations for energy efficient applications among others.Hence the market for MEMS & Sensors is expected to grow (2016-2027).However, functional and operational issues are one of the major factors which are hindering the growth of MEMS & Sensors Market.Request a Sample Report @Market SegmentationGlobal MEMS & Sensors Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Materials: Silicon, polymers, metals and ceramics among others. Segmentation by Components: Sensors (Pressure sensors, humidity sensors, temperature sensors, accelerometers) and Actuators among others. Segmentation by Application: Consumer electronics, healthcare, industrial, aerospace & defense, and automotive among others.Key playersSome of the major players in Global MEMS & Sensors Market include Texas Instruments (U.S), InvenSense (U.S.), Qualcomm (U.S.), Infineon (Germany), Honeywell (U.S.), Allego microsystems (U.S.), Bosch (U.S.), Asahi Kasei Microsystems (Spain), Mega Chips Corporation (Japan), Panasonic (Japan), Denso Corporation (Japan), Delphi Automotive (U.K.), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan) among others.Browse Report Details @Industry News Infineon has launched IoSense pilot line projects in Dresden on May 2016 to strengthen European microelectronic market. IoSense is derived from internet of sensors which is been developed to extend the Infineons position in the sensor technology market. Allergo Microsystems has announced on July 2016 about its new linear half-effect current sensors IC product with reverse battery protection. The sensors have 240 kHz bandwidth, high precision which is ideal for automotive applications.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Objective of MEMS & Sensors Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global MEMS & Sensors market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the MEMS & Sensors Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.Regional Analysis of MEMS & Sensors Market:Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the Global MEMS & Sensors Market with the largest market share due to growing automobile and consumer electronics sectors in the region, and is expected to grow by 2027. MEMS & Sensors Market in North-America market is expected to grow by 2027. The Europe market for MEMS & Sensors Market is expected to grow (2016-2027).AmericasNorth America US CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeWestern Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Western EuropeEastern EuropeAsia PacificAsia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificThe Middle East & AfricaAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Dental Consumables Market to Register Steady Growth USD 28,345.3 million and 6.5% CAGR Globally by 2024 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/statistical-reports/enquiry/2873 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/statistical-reports/dental-consumables-type-market-2873 Global Dental Consumables is segmented according to the types of dental consumables like dental implants, dental prosthetics, dental restorative material, dental regenerative material, and others. This market is studied including four major regions like America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East & Africa. Europe holds maximum market share followed by America. In 2015, dental implants had highest market share followed by Dental Prosthetics and Dental Restorative Material. Change in demographic trends, increasing awareness of oral health among people and increasing dental treatments are the reasons growth of dental consumables market globally. Increased competition has been observed between and within the countries as dental care units want to become first choice of patients for theirs dental treatment. Researches reveal that heart disease, flu transmission and low birth weight are associated with periodontal diseases thus underlining the importance of oral health.Make an Enquiry @Global Dental Consumables Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% and is expected to reach USD 28,345.3 million by 2024. In Global Dental Consumables Market, dental implants accounted for the largest market share in 2015.Global Dental Consumables market statistical report published by Market Research future contains a brief overview of Global Dental Consumables market. By country, the market has been segmented as America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East & Africa. Europe commands the largest share and is expected to grow continuously during the forecasted period of 2016-2024. The report analyzed the Global Dental Consumables market and presents systematic data of market share on the basis of segments and countries, and its growth rate for 2013 to 2017, along with forecast till 2024.Market Research future through this report aims to provide understanding of the Global Dental Consumables market on the basis of segments & countries, and also assists identification of ongoing trends along with anticipated growth during the forecasted period. For this report, extensive primary research was conducted to gain a deeper insight of the market performance. Various industry experts and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) were contacted and interviewed to get an idea of Global Dental Consumables market.Access Report Details @List of Tables Global Dental Consumables market value by region 2013-2024 US$ Million GLOBAL DENTAL RESTORATIVE MATERIAL MARKET, BY REGION, 2013-2024 (US$ MILLION) Global Dental Implants Market, By Region, 2013-2024 (US$ Million) Global Dental Prosthetics Market, By Region, 2013-2024 (US$ Million) Global Dental Regenerative Material Market, By Region, 2013-2024 (US$ Million) Global Others Market, By Region, 2013-2024 (US$ Million)List of FiguresFigure 1 Global Dental Consumables market value by region 2013-2024 US$ MillionFigure 2 Global Dental Consumables market share by region 2015ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Dental Consumables Market by types from 2016 to 2024 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Cameroon: Mobile Market To Fuel Overall Telecom Growth As Operators Focus On Network Expansion And VAS http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1070630 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1070630 "Cameroon: Mobile Market to Fuel Overall Telecom Growth as Operators Focus on Network Expansion and VAS", is a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Cameroon today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, and mobile, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.In 2016, Cameroon generated telecom service revenue of $1.1bn (equivalent to 3.5% of nominal GDP), an increase of 6.2% since 2015, primarily due to the growth in the mobile segment. The mobile market continues to be the largest contributor to the overall market revenue, accounting for 82.5% of overall telecom revenue in 2016. Mobile voice remained the major revenue-contributing segment in 2016, accounting for 64.3% of total service revenue. Mobile data will be the fastest revenue-contributing segment through 2021, driven by operators investments in 3G and 4G network expansion as well as growing adoption of mobile broadband services. Government and operator focus on improving fixed Internet penetration via submarine cables and fiber-optic expansion will improve broadaband connectivity in the country.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Cameroon compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Cameroon.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Cameroon's telecommunications markets.View Full Report :Scope- Overall telecom service revenue in Cameroon will grow at a CAGR of 10.6% during 2016-2021, mainly driven by growth in the mobile voice and data segments.- Mobile services revenue will account for 90.1% of the total telecom service revenue in 2021; mobile data will witness a CAGR of 22.7% during 2016-2021.- The top two operators, MTN Cameroon and Orange Cameroon, which both provide mobile voice and data services, accounted for 72.1% of overall service revenue in 2016. Operators will continue to focus on expanding their 3G/4G network coverage and service quality to remain competitive.- Over the next five years, operators should seize opportunities arising from increased demand for data services. Operators are focusing on 3G/4G network expansion and offering VAS to drive additional revenue, which presents opportunities for vendors and investors.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Cameroon's telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Cameroon's mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Cameroon's telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Cameroon.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz DRC: Network Coverage Extensions, Mobile Data And Fixed Internet To Drive Telecom Market Growth http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1070631 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1070631 "DRC: Network Coverage Extensions, Mobile Data and Fixed Internet to Drive Telecom Market Growth", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in DRC today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.GlobalData expects overall service revenue to grow at a CAGR of 9.9% during 2016-2021 to reach $1.9bn by 2021. Growth will be driven by the mobile data, mobile voice and fixed Internet service segments. Mobile data will benefit from the growing smartphone penetration and the increasing mobile broadband usage while fixed Internet will be supported by the developing national fiber backbone network.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Over the next five years, operators should seize opportunities arising from increased demand for data services. Furthermore, operator focus on 3G network expansion, on mobile data monetization, on development of fixed broadband infrastructure along with the forthcoming launch of 4G in the near future present opportunities for vendors and investors.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in DRC compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in DRC.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in DRCs telecommunications market.View More Details :Scope- The overall telecom services revenue in DRC will grow at a CAGR of 9.9% during 2016-2021 to reach $1.9bn by 2021. The fixed/mobile revenue split will be dominated by the mobile segment through 2021, with the share of the fixed segment to decline from 10.4% in 2016 to 7.6% in 2021.- Mobile data will grow at a CAGR of 22.0% during 2016-2021, benefitting from growing smartphone penetration and more affordable and highly segmented data plans spurring mobile data usage and adoption.- 2G remains the most adopted technology in DRC accounting for 94.0% of mobile subscriptions in 2016; however, we expect its share to decline to 87.8% by 2021, owing to customers migration to more advanced 3G technologies and the launch of 4G services in the near future.- The top two operators, Vodacom DRC and Airtel DRC, which provide mobile voice and data services, accounted for 59.6% of overall service revenue in 2016. Operators are focusing on expanding their 2G/3G network coverage and offering low-cost smartphones and affordable data and device plans to strengthen their market position.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of DRCs telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in DRCs mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Botswanas telecommunications market.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in DRC.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Smokeless Tobacco In Czech Republic, 2017 Market Size, extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1070629 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1070629 "Smokeless Tobacco in Czech Republic, 2017", is an analytical report by GlobalData that provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the Czech tobacco market. It covers market size and structure along with per capita and overall consumption. Additionally, it focuses on brand data, retail pricing, prospects, and forecasts for sales and consumption until 2025.The Czech market for smokeless tobacco is not large, although, as with some other East European markets, the last few years have witnessed an increase in sales. This has largely come from increased sales of chewing tobacco as opposed to snuff. Research into smoking habits in Czechoslovakia and subsequently the Czech Republic reported wide differences in smoking prevalence, probably partly reflecting differences in methodology or sampling variants rather than rapid and erratic changes in smoking trends.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :Scope- Smokeless volumes only account for only 0.1% of total tobacco sales in Czech Republic.- Demand has grown recently on the back of interest in chewing tobacco.- The market is currently dominated by the sale of chewing tobacco.- Overall sales are up by 407% between 2005 and 2015.- There is no local production of smokeless tobacco products in the Czech Republic.- Imports are principally from Europe although recently India has emerged as a significant supplier.- As of 1st July 2015 other tobacco products within the Czech Republic have attracted a specific excise duty equivalent to 78.83 per Kg or CzK 2,142 per Kg.- The forecast for the market is one of buoyant sales in the short-to-medium term followed by decline.- Smokeless tobacco products are subject to general health warnings that have been required since April 1998.View Full Report :Reasons to buy- Get a detailed understanding of consumption to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Identify the areas of growth and opportunities, which will aid effective marketing planning.- The differing growth rates in regional product sales drive fundamental shifts in the market.- This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes - prime intelligence for marketers.- Understand the market dynamics and essential data to benchmark your position and to identify where to compete in the future.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Wireless And Ambulatory Monitoring - Medical Devices Pipeline Assessment, 2017 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1070543 GlobalData's Medical Devices sector report, Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring - Medical Devices Pipeline Assessment, 2017" provides an overview of Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring currently in pipeline stage.The report provides comprehensive information on the pipeline products with comparative analysis of the products at various stages of development. The report reviews major players involved in the pipeline product development. It also provides information about clinical trials in progress, which includes trial phase, trial status, trial start and end dates, and, the number of trials for the key Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring pipeline products.This report is prepared using data sourced from in-house databases, secondary and primary research by GlobalData's team of industry experts.*Note: Certain sections in the report may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data in relation to the equipment type.Download Sample Copy Of Report :Scope- Extensive coverage of the Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring under development- The report reviews details of major pipeline products which includes, product description, licensing and collaboration details and other developmental activities- The report reviews the major players involved in the development of Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring and list all their pipeline projects- The coverage of pipeline products based on various stages of development ranging from Early Development to Approved / Issued stage- The report provides key clinical trial data of ongoing trials specific to pipeline products- Recent developments in the segment / industryReasons to buyThe report enables you to -- Formulate significant competitor information, analysis, and insights to improve R&D strategies- Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage- Identify and understand important and diverse types of Wireless and Ambulatory Monitoring under development- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies- Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying major players with the most promising pipeline- In-depth analysis of the products current stage of development, territory and estimated launch dateMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz United Kingdom Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Pancreatic And Biliary Stenting Procedures Outlook To 2023 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1070557 GlobalDatas new report, "United Kingdom Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023", provides key procedures data on the United Kingdom Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures. The report provides procedure volumes within market segments - ERCP Metal Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures and ERCP Plastic Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology based models to estimate and forecast the procedure volumes. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the procedure volumes.Scope- United Kingdom Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures volumes by segments - ERCP Metal Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures and ERCP Plastic Pancreatic and Biliary Stenting Procedures.- Projections for each of the market segments. Data is provided from 2009 to 2016 and forecast to 2023.Reasons to buy- Develop business and investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Botswana: Competition To Stiffen In The Mobile Market As Operators Focus On Affordable Data Bundles And VAS To Drive Revenue http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1068415 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1068415 "Botswana: Competition to Stiffen in the Mobile Market as Operators Focus on Affordable Data Bundles and VAS to Drive Revenue", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Botswana today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.The telecom services revenue in Botswana will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 0.02% (3.3% in local currency terms) during 2016-2021, due to currency depreciation and the impact of mobile and fixed voice revenue decline. Planned expansion of 3G/4G services and the subsequent rise in consumption of high-bandwidth content over mobile devices will drive mobile data revenue in the coming years. Along with mobile data, fixed Internet services will be a key growth driver for the market, expanding at a CAGR of 7.5% over 2016-2021.Get The Sample Copy Of This report :Over the next five years, operators should continue to focus on network investments and upgrades and tap into opportunities arising from growth in the mobile data segment. Expansion of 3G/4G networks and supporting the governments national broadband strategy will also present significant opportunities for both vendors and investors.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Botswana compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Botswana.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Botswanas telecommunications market.View more :Scope- The overall telecom services revenue in Botswana will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 0.02% (3.3% in local currency terms) during 2016-2021. The fixed/mobile revenue split will be dominated by the mobile segment through the 2016-2021 period and will account for 84.9% of overall service revenue by 2021.- Mobile data revenue will continue to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2016-2021, driven by the rise in 3G/4G and smartphone adoption and the increase in mobile data usage.- 2G continues to be the most used technology, accounting for 55.4% of total mobile subscriptions in 2016 but is losing share to 3G and 4G technologies, which will altogether represent 68.7% of the subscriptions by 2021. Being in its early stages of adoption, 4G is expected to record the fastest CAGR , at 71.5%, over the 2016-2021 period, to reach 433,000 subscriptions by 2021.- Mascom and BTC (the merged brand for BTCL and beMobile) accounted for 71.7% of total service revenue in 2016. Mascom will continue to maintain its leadership position in the telecom market through 2021. Both operators will seek to improve coverage and quality of their wireless networks in order to strengthen their position in the marketplace.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Botswanas telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Botswanas mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Botswanas telecommunications market.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Botswana.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Market Report 2017 top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1017349 This report studies sales (consumption) of Semiconductor Fabrication Software in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringpplied MaterialsCadence Design SystemsKLA-TencorMentor GraphicsSynopsysAgnisysAldecAnsoftATopTechFEIJEDA TechnologiesRudolph TechnologiesSigrityTanner EDAXilinxZukenMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Semiconductor Fabrication Software in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoDesign Software Tools (EDA Tools)Production Software ToolsDownload Sample Copy Of This Report :Split by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Semiconductor Fabrication Software in each application, can be divided intoComputerMobile Device ChipsSatellites ChipsOthersTable of ContentsEurope Semiconductor Fabrication Software Market Report 20171 Semiconductor Fabrication Software Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Semiconductor Fabrication Software1.2 Classification of Semiconductor Fabrication Software1.2.1 Design Software Tools (EDA Tools)1.2.2 Production Software Tools1.3 Application of Semiconductor Fabrication Software1.3.1 Computer1.3.2 Mobile Device Chips1.3.3 Satellites Chips1.3.4 Others1.4 Semiconductor Fabrication Software Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Semiconductor Fabrication Software (2012-2022)1.5.1 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Countries (2012-2017)2.3.2 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2012-2017)2.4 Europe Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume) by Application3 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.4 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Application5 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.5 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 UK Semiconductor Fabrication Software Sales and Market Share by ApplicationMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Yttrium Oxide Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/yttrium-oxide-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24443 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Yttrium oxide, also known as yttria, is an oxide of yttrium metal. The rare earth metal oxide is one of the most stable compound. Hence, it is used in applications in several industries. Yttrium oxide possesses several important properties such as high erosion resistance, high hardness, chemical inertness, and mechanical strength. Other ceramics do not exhibit these characteristics.Browse Market Research Report @Yttrium oxide also has very high thermal stability and resistance to molten metals. Thus, it is used in refractory materials. The oxide also demonstrates high stability against radiations, primarily UV and microwave radiation. Thus, it is employed as an additive in paints & coatings for high-temperature and radiation applications. Yttrium oxide is also used in the manufacture of yttrium iron garnets for microwave filters and sensors, which are used for gamma rays and x-rays. Another major application of yttrium oxide is in the manufacture of YSZ, i.e. Yttrium Stabilized Zirconia. Yttria is also used as a catalyst in (polymerization) manufacture of polymers.Yttrium oxide is a compound with exceptional chemical and physical properties. Thus, the market for this ceramic is expected to expand across the globe for niche applications. Yttrium oxide has several special applications and has virtually no effective substitute. The phosphor market is the key application for yttrium oxide. However, recent substitution of CRT displays with LED displays is hampering the yttrium oxide market.This is estimated to result oversupply, thereby leading to a decline in prices. On the other hand, demand for yttrium oxide is anticipated to rise in YSZ application. Thus, the global market for yttrium oxide is projected to expand as the price, supply, and demand is anticipated to stabilize during the forecast period.The yttrium oxide market can be segmented based upon purity and application. In terms of purity, the yttrium oxide market can be divided into 3N, 4N, and 5N. Purity plays an important role in application of yttrium oxide. Yttrium oxide is used to subdue oxidation; therefore, majority of applications require high purity yttrium oxide as any impurity may lead to oxidation and corrosion. Based on application, the yttrium oxide market can be classified into oil & gas, chemical intermediate, glass, ceramics, and others. Chemical intermediate is one of the key applications of yttrium oxide; yttrium stabilized zirconia is the key product in this segment. The oxide is also used in the manufacture of glass. Yttrium oxide has a high melting point; high strength; and good shock resistance, which are effectively transferred to glass resulting in a strong and shock resistant glass. Similarly, production of yttrium iron garnets also exploit the radiation resistance property of yttrium, for manufacture of microwave filters.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Yttrium Oxide Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @In terms of geography, the yttrium oxide market can be segregated into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is one of the leading consumers of yttrium oxide. Strong growth in the electrical & electronics industry in the region has created significant demand for yttrium oxide. In terms of consumption, China alone accounts for more than 40% share of the yttrium oxide market in Asia Pacific. The country is also a key producer of yttrium metal and yttrium oxide due to the presence of large number of reserves of the rare earth metal. North America and Europe are also significant markets for yttrium oxide due to the presence of a strong functional coatings market in these regions.Prominent players operating in the global yttrium oxide market are Jiangxi Rare Earth Corp., and Molycorp.IncAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Thermoplastic Pipes Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/thermoplastic-pipes-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24440 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Thermoplastic pipes are primarily used in the transportation of solids, liquids, and gases. They can withstand high temperatures, harsh chemicals, and long-term cyclic loading. Industries such as oil & gas, chemical, mining & dredging and others widely use thermoplastic pipes. Based on polymer types, thermoplastic pipes can be categorized into PE, PVDF, PVC, PA, PP, and others. The pipes industry is facing the challenge to meet the increasing demand all over the world while reducing the cost.Browse Market Research Report @Polyethylene (PE) is produced through the ethylene polymerization process and its properties include flexibility, chemical resistance, longevity, and overall toughness. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is known for its high-molecular-weight fluorocarbon that has superior dielectric properties, mechanical strength, and abrasion resistance. It is primarily used in chemical processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and production of high-purity water and UV-sensitive chemicals. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) offers excellent and consistent quality. Its uniform properties make it a preference material of thermoplastic pipes for custom houses. PVC pipes are highly resistant to alkalis, acids, alcohols, and other corrosive substances.PVC pipes are employed in irrigation systems and service piping and for distribution of various chemicals, waste water treatment, waste collection, and other industrial processes involving transfer of corrosive fluids. Polyamide (PA) has excellent mechanical properties, chemical stability, high strength, excellent toughness, and resistance to chemical degradation. Polypropylene (PP) belongs to the polyolefin group and it has lower density as compared to other categories. Three different types of PP thermoplastic pipes are used conventionally: PP-H pipes (used in the industrial sector), PP-R pipes (used in sanitary ware), and PP-B pipes (used in sewage piping systems).Based on application, the thermoplastic pipes market has been segmented into oil & gas, mining & dredging, chemical and others. Increasing drilling practices for offshore exploration of oil and gas are expected to drive the global thermoplastic pipes market. These pipes are used in drilling practices owing to their properties such as low maintenance cost, flexibility, high chemical resistance, low installation cost, ability to operate at high temperatures, and high resistance to mechanical damage. In the oil & gas sector, thermoplastic pipes witness rising demand for deep-water and ultra-deep drilling activities. Increase in the number of drilling activities especially drilling of horizontal wells with high energy demand in global market is considered to be the major opportunity for growth.Geographically, the thermoplastic pipes market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global thermoplastic pipes market during the forecast period, due to high demand of thermoplastic pipe in the chemical and other industry in this region. The markets in North America and Europe are expected to expand significantly during the forecast period. The markets in Middle East & Africa and Latin America are expected to witness high growth in the near future, due to increasing oil and gas exploration and production activities and the discovery of new oil and gas reserves. Acceptance of PP-RCT (PolyPropylene-Random Crystallinity Temperature) is driving the market in North America, which is making it easier for engineers and builders to replace traditional materials with thermoplastic piping systems.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Thermoplastic pipes market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Some of the key players operating in the thermoplastic pipes market are Chevron Philips Chemical Company, IPEX Inc., KWH Pipe, Prysmian Group, Technip, Advanced Drainage Systems Inc., National Oilwell Varco, Aetna Plastics, Airborne Oil & Gas B.V., and Georg Fischer Piping Systems Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Polyurea Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/polyurea-coatings-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24437 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A polyurea coating is formed by the reaction of a pre-polymer such as methylene diphenyl di-isocyanate (MDI) or hexamethylene di-isocyanate (HDI) with amine-terminated resins. Polyurea was developed in the 1980's for the automotive industry and was originally used as a truck-bed liner to form a lasting watertight layer. Polyurea coatings are now used for a wide variety of applications in building & construction, infrastructure, automotive, marine, and manufacturing industries. Polyurea coatings are elastomeric in nature. It is a more advanced technology than traditional coating technologies such as epoxy, vinyl ester, PU, and polychloroprene. Polyurea coatings are applied on infrastructure and building components such as tunnels, water reservoir containers, pedestrian footpaths, floor coverings, and sewage pits. Polyurea coatings are widely applied also on bridges, tanks, truck linings, and secondary containments. Due to its excellent resistance to hydrocarbons and corrosive gases, polyurea is employed as an industrial coating for highly demanding applications in oil & gas and chemical industries.Browse Market Research Report @Depending upon the method of formulation and application of polyurea coatings, different types of polyurea coatings can be formulated to attain an extensive range of properties. These properties vary from high elongation to high tensile strength and from a very hard material to a soft one. Polyurea coatings have superior water resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, durability, resistance to weathering, corrosion resistance, and mechanical strength. These coatings can be applied in a variety of designs and colors and they are available as water-based formulations also. One of the key advantages of polyurea coatings over other competing materials is their fast set characteristics. Cure times for polyurea coatings usually range from a few seconds to a few minutes as opposed to much longer cure times required for traditional coatings. Low set time ensures that a facility can be back in use without suffering revenue loss due to downtime.Polyurea coatings also form strong and durable bonds with different substrates such as metals, concrete, ceramics, and wood. Properties of polyurea coatings sustain over a wide temperature range and a variety of climatic conditions. However, polyurea coatings have some drawbacks with the most significant being higher cost of the material as compared to other substitutes. Also, the application of polyurea coatings requires the use of expensive equipment. However, polyurea coatings last substantially longer than their substitutes and hence, they are more cost-effective throughout the life of the coating.The global polyurea coatings market has witnessed rapid growth in the last decade and this trend is likely to continue in the near future. The building & construction industry is the leading consumer of polymer coatings. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in several parts of the world is likely to fuel the demand for polyurea coatings in the next few years. Polyurea coatings are also employed extensively in the industrial sector as protective coatings against corrosion. North America is the leading consumer of polyurea coatings accounting for more than 33% share of the global market. The ongoing recovery of the construction sector in the U.S. as well as the renewed focus on manufacturing in the country are factors likely to boost the demand for polyurea coatings in North America. Europe also accounts for a significant share of the plastic coatings market, owing to the rise in demand from automobile manufacturers concentrated in the region. Germany, the U.K., France, and Italy are the key consumers of polyurea coatings in Europe. Demand for polyurea coatings is expected to surge in Asia Pacific and the market in the region is expected to expand rapidly in the near future. Rapid industrial growth and boom in the construction sector in China are factors expected to provide high opportunity to the polyurea coatings market in Asia Pacific in the next few years. The polyurea coatings market in emerging economies such as India, Thailand, and Malaysia is poised to expand at a significant rate during the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Polyurea Coatings Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Despite the slowdown in the oil & gas industry, the outlook of the polyurea market appears positive, due to increasing use of protective coatings in the oil & gas industry; as companies are beginning to prefer condition-based monitoring over the breakdown maintenance approach. Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa are the other major countries for the polyurea market.Key players operating in the global polyurea market are PPG Industries, Nukote Coating Systems, Sherwin-Williams Company, VIP GmbH, Rhino Linings, Kukdo Chemicals, Versaflex Inc., Specialty Products, Inc., and Wasser Corporation.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Isopropyl Isocyanate Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/isopropyl-isocyanate-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24428 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Isopropyl isocyanate is an organic compound that belongs to the isocyanate group. Isocyanates is an important class of intermediates that belong to a family of compounds commonly known as heterocumulenes. The chemistry of these compounds is characterized by nucleophilic addition and cycloaddition reaction modes. Other common names of isopropyl isocyanate are propane, 2-isocyanato, 2-isocyanatopropane, and methyl ethyl isocyanate. Isopropyl isocyanate is a colorless liquid and it possesses strong pungent odor.Browse Market Research Report @The molecular formula of isopropyl isocyanate is (CH3)2CHNCO and its molecular weight is 85.11. A major route for the industrial production of isopropyl isocyanate is through the reaction of N-propan-2-ylcarbamoyl chloride with 2, 4, 6-trichlorophenol, which offers the product yield of around 88%. Isopropyl isocyanate is incompatible with several groups of chemical compounds and it reacts exothermally, releasing noxious gases.Isopropyl isocyanate is principally used as an intermediate for the manufacture of several industrial chemicals in industries such as fertilizers, pharmaceutical, and chemical. It is used as a reagent in the synthesis of O-aryl N-isopropyl carbamates. The compound is also used as a reagent in the manufacture of the androgen receptor antagonist used for treating prostate cancer. It is also used as a derivatization reagent in the stereo-isomeric analysis of secondary alcohols. Isopropyl isocyanate is employed to synthesize the selective dual inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin 1 and 2 (mTORC1 and mTORC2).Isopropyl isocyanate is toxic. It can cause skin irritation and is fatal if inhaled. Reactions of this compound with alkali metals, aldehydes, mercaptans, phenols, alcohols, amines, ketones, peroxides, strong oxidizers, or hydrides result in the release of extreme heat. These reactions can occur with explosive violence. Increasingly stringent regulations regarding the use of toxic chemicals across the world are anticipated to restrain the growth of the isopropyl isocyanate market during the forecast period.Demand for isopropyl isocyanate is strongly dependent on macroeconomic factors such as a regions GDP and purchase power parity (PPP). Asia Pacific is the leading producer and consumer of isopropyl isocyanate. China and Japan are the primary producers of the compound in the region. Asia Pacific is anticipated to maintain its dominant position in the global isopropyl isocyanate market in the near future, due to rising demand from key end-use industries such as fertilizers, chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology in the region. The recent surplus production of crude oil in North America caused by the emergence of a new technology to obtain shale oil has resulted in the decline in crude oil prices in the region. This factor is likely to drive the isopropyl isocyanate market in North America. U.S. and Canada are expected to significantly increase their production of isopropyl isocyanate market during the next decade. Demand for isopropyl isocyanate in Europe is expected to increase at a sluggish rate during the forecast period, primarily owing to the increasing number of stringent environmental regulations. Germany, Belgium, and France are the leading consumers of isopropyl isocyanate in Europe. Growth of the isopropyl isocyanate market in Europe is expected to be primarily promoted by the countries in Eastern Europe. Countries in GCC are increasingly investing in the manufacture of downstream petroleum products in order to leverage on the high rise in crude oil production. The market scenario in Latin America appears to be challenging due to slowdown in the economy of Brazil and political instability in several parts of the region.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Isopropyl Isocyanate Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Some of the key players operating in the global isopropyl isocyanate market are Beijing Hwrk Chemicals, TCI Japan, 3B Scientific Corporation, NovoChemy, Alfa Chemistry, J&K Scientific, Meryer Chemical Technology, Shijiazhuang Sdyano Fine Chemical, and HBCChem, and Waterstone Technology.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Stainless Steel Round Bar Market: Global Industry Analysis 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/stainless-steel-round-bar-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11027 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Stainless Steel Round Bar Market: OverviewThe swift growth in the automotive sector owing to the increasing vehicle production is predicted to fuel the stainless steel round bar market. Within the industry of construction, stainless steel round bars are highly utilized in structural parts that are exposed to bridge pins, tie rods, heavy load, and other load transfer devices. The rising penetration of stainless steel (SS) round bars within the construction industry is stimulating the development of the global stainless steel round bar market.Browse Market Research Report @This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the market by presenting the key dynamics impacting the overall growth of the market. These dynamics include drivers, challenges, and opportunities. The top segments present in the market are benchmarked on the basis of their growth rate, general attractiveness, and size in the market. Analysis tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters five forces model have also been taken into consideration while presenting the competition present in this market. In addition, the key trends and the market attractiveness analysis have been highlighted through this study.The top technological developments taking place in the stainless steel round bar market and their impact on the development of this market have also been presented. The regulatory scenario, and the micro and macro-economic indicators have also been presented in the purview of this report. The weaknesses and strengths of the key market vendors have been highlighted under the competitive landscape section of the reportStainless Steel Round Bar Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global stainless steel round bar market is highly utilized in the manufacturing of numerous products such as dairy equipment, anchor bolts, industrial nozzles & valves, food processing equipment, sanitary fittings & faucets, machine and automotive shafts, reinforcing bars, and various other hardware products. Hence, the increasing application areas of SS round bars will positively impact the development of the global SS round bar market. In addition, the increasing utilization of SS round bars in the sector of oil and gas in the offshore and onshore construction projects and the increasing employment in the application of heat exchangers will work in favor of the growth of the overall market.SS round bars present numerous excellent properties such as sustainability, fire resistance, toughness, magnetism, thermal and electrical conductivity, fire resistance, and high corrosion resistance, among others. The demand for SS round bars is on the rise due to these excellent properties exhibited by them, hence driving the growth of the overall market. On the other hand, the skyrocketing cost of nickel may negatively impact the development of the global stainless steel round bar market.Stainless Steel Round Bar Market: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of geography, the stainless steel round bar market was led by Asia Pacific in 2014 and this trend will continue all through 2023. This is owing to the swiftly rising human population, increasing infrastructure expansion, and the rising expending of governments in favor of SS round bars in this region. In Asia Pacific, Japan, India, and China are the top contributors driving the development of the market in this region. North America and Europe, respectively, trailed Asia Pacific in the same year. This is owing to the booming automotive industry and the increasing industrialization in these two regions.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Stainless Steel Round Bar Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Key players Mentioned in the Report are:The leading players in global stainless steel round bar market are ArcelorMittal, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, CRS Holdings Inc., Dongbei Special Steel Group Co. Ltd., Crucible Industries LLC, Garelick Steel Company, Shri Bhagavati Bright Bars Limited, J. H. Stainless, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, Valbruna Stainless Inc., Walsin Lihwa Corporation, and Tsingshan Holding Group Co. Ltd., among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Steel Processing Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/steel-processing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16658 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Steel Processing Market: Brief AccountPost the acquisition of a 30.0% stake in a group of companies currently focusing on constructing a steel processing unit in Vietnam, SY Panel is looking to gain a foothold in the industry by processing a wide range of steel plates. The South Korea sandwich panel producer will be facilitating steel processing for construction materials and household appliances.Browse Market Research Report @Seasoned analysts project the global steel processing market to be segmented according to material property, processing method, and product type. A study of the top segments can help players to make intelligent investments in the industry.The report presented here on the world steel processing market is a complete analysis of key trends, opportunities, restraints, and driving factors for players to gain a good insight into the industry.Global Steel Processing Market: Trends and OpportunitiesDespite the continuing effects of the 20072009 economic slowdown, the world steel processing market is prognosticated to show signs of advancement with an important momentum gained from industries such as automotive, consumer appliances, and construction. The demand in the global market could receive a strong boost from the recovery of the worldwide economy. Manufacturers of ships, automobiles, rails, and buildings are expected to aggravate the demand for steel as it boasts of a myriad of significant mechanical characteristics, including weldability, ductility, and core strength. Carbon and alloy steel are praised for their laudable material properties. While carbon steel flaunts a harder body due to the increased amount of carbon during processing, alloy steel tops anti-corrosion, toughness, and ductility properties.The demand for steel from consumers could be affected on account of the volatile environment in the global steel processing market. This is even anticipated to undesirably impact manufacturer inventories. Nonetheless, innovative ways for subduing this opposition in the market are predicted to be discovered by global manufacturers followed by a decrease in inventory cost. Moreover, steel is taking an indispensable place in peoples lives due to its sundry usages and less number of substitutes.Global Steel Processing Market: Geographical AnalysisAsia Pacific alongside North America is prophesied to set the tone for the international steel processing market. For the most steel manufacturers in Europe, Asia Pacific could be the go-to market for setting up their steel processing plants. Soon, the regional market is foretold to witness a large number of steel plant deployments. Availability of reasonable labor and inexpensive production cost could be the primary reasons for the untamable progress of the Asia Pacific market. In the near future, emerging countries are foreseen to exhibit a telling potential for industrial development. As a result, Asia Pacific could receive a high focus from leading providers of steel processing services and products.Even in other regions, the application of steel is envisaged to increase at a progressing rate. Thus, the global steel processing market could rake in a significant demand from various sectors such as heavy machinery equipment manufacturing, energy, and packaging.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Steel Processing Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Global Steel Processing Market: Companies MentionedHebei Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., Severstal PAO, Jiangsu Shagang Group Company Limited, ThyssenKrupp AG, and Steel Authority of India Limited are some of the leading competitors in the world steel processing market. In order to cater to the rising demands of consumers, regional players are envisioned to dominate the global market. Howbeit, the quality of products could vary between those offered by regional and global firms. Global players are expected to extend their market share in the steel processing industry with mergers and acquisitions.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Oryzalin Market - Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share 2023 | Research Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/oryzalin-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=6832 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Oryzalin is the member of the family named dinitroalinine chemical family. This herbicide was first introduced and reported in the year 1947 in the U.S. Dow AgroSciences LLC is the foremost company to introduce oryzalin in the market. Oryzalin is a surface-applied herbicide which is selectively used to control annual broadleaf weeds and grasses. It controls the growth of germinating weed seeds.Browse Market Research Report @Oryzalin is an active ingredient which is used for controlling grass and weeds in orchards, vineyards and row crops. It is also used as a pre-emergence herbicide which kills the seedlings as they germinate. They are also used for broadleaf leaves weeds in nut and fruit trees, citrus trees, berries and Christmas tree plantations among others. The other names by which oryzalin herbicide is known in the market include benzene sulfonamide, ryzelan, surflan, dirimal, rycelon, rycelan and dirimal among others. It is denoted by the formula C12H18N4O6S and has molecular weight of 346.360. Oryzalin is also used for applications in urban uses, agriculture and forestry uses.Oryzalin functions as an herbicide by killing young, growing plants by inhibiting the division of cells in the plant. When the cells divide, some protein molecules named tubulin combine to form microtubules which are long structures like fibers. These structures play a key role in division of cells in plants. Oryzalin when applied to the plants, do not allow the fiber structures to combine together, hence disturbing cell division. Some of the annual grasses that are controlled by oryzalin include barley, cupgrass, foxtails, guinea grass, love grass, goose grass, oat, fall panicum, sandbur, and Texas panicum among others. The broadleaf weeds controlled by oryzalin include carpet weed, Florida pulsey, henbit, knotweed, lambs quarters, cudweed among others. About 80% of the oryzalin is used on soybeans and the remaining 20% is being used in vineyards and field of grains and other crops.Growing demand for oryzalin from the agriculture industry is the major factor driving the growth of global oryzalin industry. For controlling growth of grasses in the forest, increasing demand from the forest division is also expected to fuel demand for oryzalin the market.The ill effects of oryzalin have expected to hamper the growth of global oryzalin market. This herbicide is reported to be hazardous to human health. Most of the herbicides containing oryzalin cause irritation to the eyes, leads to skin allergies to people who are exposed to oryzalin for a longer period of time. Chronic effects of oryzalin include anemia, caner and tumors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported oryzalin as a possible human carcinogen. It is also reported as a water contaminant. These factors are expected to hamper the growth of global oryzalin market in the near future.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Oryzalin Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Asia Pacific is expected to be the major consumer of oryzalin due to the rising demand from the growing agriculture industry in the region. Europe and North America is expected to experience steady demand for oryzalin due to growing demand from the forest division. The major companies profiled for global oryzalin market include: Adama, Alligare LLC, Rosi Chemical Co., Ltd., Uniphos Enterprises, MANA, Nufarm Americas Inc, United Phosphorus Ltd., JAI RADHE SALES, Southern Agricultural Insecticides, Inc., Southern Agricultural Insecticides, Inc. and BESSEN CHEMICAL CO., LTD, among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: User Interface Management Tool Market: Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored User Interface Management Tool Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/user-interface-management-tool-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20363 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com User interface management tool or user interface management system (UIMS) is a method used to separate domain logic in a computer program from graphical user interface (GUI) code. User interface management tools act as an intermediary between a user and an application. The users request for a certain action from the application and the applications request for data from the user travel with the help of user interface management tools.User interface management tools help improve the efficiency of the user interface and speed up the process of user interface interaction. UIMS support multilayer architecture by creating a boundary between the process and user interface. The current focus of user interface management tools is on implementation and maintenance but the designing and testing phase of user interface management tools is expected to grow in the future.User interface management tools have three components or layers: windowing system, toolkit and higher-level tools. The windowing system is the lowest layer that separates the screen into various sections, known as windows. The windowing system can be further segmented into two layers, window system or base layer and window manager or user interface. Window manager or user interface includes features which a user can see. Presentation and command are the two layers of window manager or user interface. Presentation includes pictures which are displayed by user interface whereas commands help the user manipulate the content in windows.Obtain Report Details @Toolkit is the layer above the windowing system. It contains widgets such as scroll bars, menus, text input fields, and buttons. The higher-level tools, which are present above the toolkit, help the designer in utilizing toolkit widgets.The difficulty and complexity involved in the design and implementation of user interface toolkits is one of the major challenges faced by developers. However, niche sectors such as multimedia, distributed systems and geographical information systems are expected to experience higher growth in demand for user interface tools.The two main advantages of using user interface management tools are enhancement in the quality of the interface and cost-effective and simplicity in creating and maintaining the interface.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the User Interface Management Tool Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@User interface management tools can be segmented on the basis of platforms. They can run on platforms such as Macintosh, OS X, and Windows. User interface management systems can be available either commercially or through open source. Some of the user interface management tools available for free are the xt toolkit provided by research organizations. Most toolkits, which are embedded in workstations and personal computers, are also available for free. Some of the toolkits are commercially available. The market for commercially available toolkits is highly fragmented due to the availability of many different tools provided by small and medium-sized suppliers.A few examples of the user interface management systems and models are HyperCard, Model - View - Controller, Model View Presenter, Picasso 3, and ProcSee. HyperCard is a programing tool for Apple Macintosh and Apple II series computers. It features Hyper Talk. Hyper Talk is a programming language for manipulating data and the user interface. Similarly, Modelviewcontroller is a programing tool to implement user interfaces on computers. It is used for desktop graphical user interfaces (GUIs).About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Digital Intelligence Technology Market: Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored Digital Intelligence Technology Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/digital-intelligence-technology-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20342 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Digital intelligence (DI) is the process of collating the big data of customers to analyze and develop insights. These insights can be used to deliver the best and the most relevant experiences to the customer during digital interaction. Digital intelligence technology includes understanding of customers and usage of the companys website by the customer either through the mobile site or mobile application. The company can use this data to optimize its experience irrespective of time, or place of interaction with the customer.Marketers are able to combine insights from existing, new, and emerging channels which allows them timely, customer-oriented decision-making. Hence, digital intelligence is essentially a modern competitive approach to assess customer expectations and needs. Digital intelligence technology has the ability to transform digital data into real-time data. In todays changing multi-device and multi-channel world, the digital data collected can be turned into actionable and customer centric insights. Digital intelligence technology is the backbone of customer experience management. Recent trends in digital intelligence technology are rise of the intelligent personal assistant at home, chatbots, data driven decisions and so on.Growth of the global digital intelligence technology market is fueled by factors such as increasing need to optimize customer experience management (predictive and real time data), increasing public, corporate, and government use of the internet and digital data, growth in voice and video communications on the Internet, and availability of cheap data storage and processing for the digitization of back offices.Obtain Report Details @These factors are expected to contribute to the growth of the digital intelligence technology market. Tools such as online testing, predictive analytics, and behavioral targeting are used by companies to understand web behavior in real time. There are few restraining factors for the digital intelligence technology market such as data security, linking the real time data, and data quality. There are chances of current technology getting obsolete in the mid to long term due to rapid advancements in technology and software in the market.In recent years, there is an increasing need for deeper understanding of products and its features used by customers and also customer interactions. This is helpful for companies to create the best website or mobile user experience. All this can be achieved through digital intelligence technology, which provides an end-to-end snapshot of customer interaction across various channels such as web, mobile, and offline.The digital intelligence technology market is segmented on the basis of deployment, end-use industries, and regions. The segmentation on the basis of deployment includes cloud and on premise. Cloud is further sub segmented into public, private, and hybrid. End-use industries of the digital intelligence technology market include aerospace and defense, information and telecommunications, retail and consumer goods sector, manufacturing sector, healthcare, energy, government and public sector, and others. The market is segmented into five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America. North America and Europe are the leading regions in the digital intelligence technology market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Digital Intelligence Technology Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Some of the key players in the global digital intelligence technology market include Accenture, Splunk, Inc., Simon Waller, SAS Institute Inc., AT Internet, Digital Intelligence, Inc., ACCESSDATA, Adobe Systems Incorporated, BlueAnt Digital Intelligence Pvt. Ltd., Emerson Electric Co., and so on.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Business Analytics Software Market: Business Analytics Software Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/business-analytics-software-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20516 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Business analytics software helps in interpretation and analysis of business data through continuous exploration and investigation of historical business performance to gain decisive insights for business planning. Through the application of statistical methods and tools in business performance data, a business analytics software conducts predictive analysis to derive decision making insights and inputs. A business analytics software thus helps an organization optimize its business operations and facilitates informed and strategic decision making. It also helps uncover patterns and relationships between data streams and leads to automation of tasks and processes for real-time responses in decision making. The outputs are mostly used by managers, security personnel, financial analysts, and key decision makers of organizations. Demand for cloud-based business analytics software is high in small and medium sized enterprises owing to its low cost and enhanced usability. Furthermore, demand for social media analytics, a part of business analytics, is also rising significantly due to the increase in popularity of social media marketing.Organizations are increasingly opting for business analytics software in order to gain strategic and competitive advantage over their competitors. This is one of the major factors driving the global business analytics software market. Additionally, the software aims to help organizations make quick and informed decisions through the analysis of the historical business data.Obtain Report Details @This has been driving the market for business analytics software. Currently, there exists need for quick decision making and immediate actions in response to situations considering the competitive nature of businesses. This highlights the importance of the business analytics software. Furthermore, increase in volume and diversity of data in organizations has given rise to the need for analytical software to derive meaningful patterns, relationships, and insights from unorganized data. The features of business analytics software meet such requirements, thereby boosting the growing demand and adoption of business analytics software across varying scales of companies. However, in order to efficiently operate, business analytics software require sufficient volumes of meaningful data. This requires effective data warehousing, which may be a challenge for small organizations to implement considering the high costs involved. These challenges are likely to hamper the market for business analytics software during the forecast period. Nonetheless, increase in social media marketing by organizations is expected to offer growth opportunities for the business analytics software market during the forecast period.The global business analytics software market has been segmented on the basis of deployment, end-use industry, application, and geography. In terms of deployment, the business analytics software market has been divided into cloud and on premise. Based on end-use industry, the business analytics market has been segregated into BFSI, government, manufacturing, IT and Telecom, retail, health care, capital markets, education, media, utilities, and others. In terms of application, the business analytics software market has been segmented into supply chain analytics, workforce analytics, spatial analytics, behavioral analytics, marketing analytics, risk and credit analytics, pricing analytics, transportation analytics, and others. Based on geography, the business analytics market has been divided into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and South America.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Business Analytics Software Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Major players operating in the global business analytics software market include SAS Institute Inc., Tableau Software, SAP SE, Oracle Corporation, Adobe Systems Incorporated, International Business Machines Corporation, Salesforce.com, Qlik Technologies, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Tibco Software, Fair Isaac Corporation, and JDA Software Group, Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Managed File Transfer Market: Developing Economies to be Key Determinants of Success for Managed File Transfer Technology Managed File Transfer Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/managed-file-transfer-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=11435 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Digitization, mobilization, globalization, and virtualization are bringing about a major change in the way many operations are executed, communications take place, and enterprises work. These changes are also churning out vast volumes of data, which is transferred across enterprise and even global boundaries. Maintaining the safety of critical business data while it is being transferred across diverse digital paths has made it imperative for organizations to have reliable file transfer solutions and mechanism in place. Managed file transfer (MFT) has come ahead as a viable alternative to conventional file transfer ways such as e-mails and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). TMR findings state that the global MFT market will exhibit a favorable 7.7% CAGR from 2016 to 2024 as companies increasingly embrace this file transfer mechanism. The market is expected to rise from a valuation of US$774.3 mn in 2014 to US$1,637.3 mn by 2024.The highly critical nature of data in the BFSI segment is vulnerable to security breaches such as hacking and phishing attacks, theft of storage devices, and employee frauds. Thus the BFSI industry has traditionally remained a major procurer of efficient MFT solutions, representing a dominant 20.82% of the global MFT market in 2015. Recent incidents such as the loss of HSBC Bank compact discs containing sensitive consumer information and the loss of back-up tapes of Zurich Insurances U.K. branch have affirmed the need for effective MFT solutions in the BFSI sector. The sector will continue to be a major driver for the market and represent over 21% in the global market by 2024.Obtain Report Details @Known to provide excellent security to data, on-premise deployment has traditionally been the most preferred way of deploying MFT solutions, especially across data sensitive fields such as BFSI and defense. On-premise deployment presently holds the largest share in the global MFT market. The segment is projected to remain a major contributor to the overall revenues of the market in the future years as well, owing majorly to revenues generated from maintenance and after sales services.However, cloud-based deployment is expected to emerge as the most preferred MFT deployment methods from 2016 to 2024. The rising awareness regarding cost and flexibility benefits of cloud-based deployment services, and the rapid enhancement being achieved in the field of data security are granting cloud-based deployment services an upper hand. The hybrid mode of deployment, allowing combined benefits of cloud and on-premise deployment modes, will also witness huge demand from small- and medium-sized companies over the said period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Managed File Transfer Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Set to revolutionize the MFT market dynamics, cloud-based deployment will expand at the highest, 9.0% CAGR and hybrid deployment will expand at an 8.7% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. On-premise deployment will achieve the least traction, and will exhibit a 6.8% CAGR over the same period.Rapid digitization of organizational processes across developing parts of Asia Pacific and Latin America has highlighted the need for effective safety mechanisms governing the digital file transfer routes and are thus driving the increased demand for MFT systems and solutions. Digitization is especially rampant in government organizations and the banking sector in Latin America and Asia Pacific. In response to this trend, major MFT vendors are aligning their strategies towards these regions and are expected to earn a major share in revenues from sales of services and solutions in these regions over 2016 to 2024. The MFT market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR of 10.3% over the said period. The MFT market in Latin America will witness growth at the second-highest pace, a 9.2% CAGR over 2016 to 2024.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: During the Vietnam War, Army photographer Charlie Haughey shot more than 2,000 black-and-white and color images from the field and behind the front lines. But when he returned to the United States, he put the images away, hoping that forgetting about them might help erase memories of the conflict. Then in 2013, after retiring to Portland, he was convinced to put some of his never-seen photos on display, in an exhibit called "A Weather Walked In." The collection of photos got national attention because they showed a different side of the Vietnam War, through the lens of a soldier, not a journalist. Haughey was a rifleman with the 25th Infantry Division, and his photos were meant to help boost morale and put a human face on the war. But they captured the grit and tension, too. On Friday, Haughey, 73, is unveiling 11 more never-seen photos in a follow-up exhibit, "A Weather Walked In 2017." The new exhibit features gelatin prints from original negatives, and marks the official release of a coffee table book featuring 117 of Haughey's war photos. Several members of the 25th Infantry are expected at the show's opening. It will be the first time they've seen the photos, and the first time they've seen Haughey since their Vietnam tours almost 50 years ago. Exhibiting the almost-forgotten photos has been bittersweet for Haughey. "It's been so rewarding on some level, but if I had it to do over again, I might just have left the photos in the box," he said recently. "The hardest thing is talking to veterans about the photos. I was not prepared for the emotional connection people have to them." Like the 2013 exhibit, the new batch of Vietnam photos contains images of a number of soldiers Haughey can't identify. While shooting the photos, he had to destroy hand-written notes identifying the soldiers and their locations, fearing they might fall into enemy hands. Haughey doesn't know whether these unidentified soldiers survived the war, and he hopes that sharing the images will help identify them. That happened with several photos from the first exhibit, and he's hoping it will happen this time, too. "It's been very exciting when we've located someone who's in one of the photographs," he said. "The memories just come flooding out." "A Weather Walked In 2017" opens May 19 at 1015 S.E. Stark St, with a 5-10 p.m. reception, featuring Haughey in attendance. The exhibit continues through June 5; hours: Noon-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Information on the show can be found on Facebook. Haughey's book is available for $55 from CrowdSupply. -- Grant Butler 503-221-8566; @grantbutler At least one Clark County sheriff's deputy shot and killed an inmate who was at a Vancouver hospital for treatment Thursday, an agency spokesman said. Clark County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Fred Neiman, didn't specifically say what prompted the shooting late Thursday morning at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, but said that the inmate "took action which resulted in an officer-involved shooting." The inmate went into surgery after the shooting and later died from his injuries, Neiman said Thursday afternoon. Two deputies were in a fifth-floor room guarding the 66-year-old man, Neiman said. It is unknown whether the patient had a weapon, Neiman said. The incident was contained to the man's room, and it's unclear whether any medical staff were present. Hospital spokesman Kevin Snyder said the shooting occurred on the hospital's Firstenburg Tower's fifth floor, a secure floor that requires anyone to be keyed in. He was unclear whether the man was on that floor because he was an inmate or for another reason. Snyder said normal operations have resumed on that floor and throughout the hospital, which is just west of Interstate 205 on East Mill Plain Boulevard. The man, whom officials said won't likely be identified until Friday, was being held at the Clark County Jail for charges of a parole violation from the U.S. Marshal Services, escape from community custody and possession of a firearm. He was receiving medical treatment at PeaceHealth, where he'd been since Wednesday morning, Neiman said. Vancouver Police are investigating. The deputies were placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure. No medical staff or deputies were injured, Neiman said. -- Samantha Matsumoto smatsumoto@oregonian.com 503-294-4001; @SMatsumoto55 Former Trail Blazer Cliff Robinson joined Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and city Commissioner Chloe Eudaly this week in supporting a bill that would allow social consumption of cannabis in Oregon. Senate Bill 307 would allow licensed lounges for marijuana consumption, meaning people could smoke or vape cannabis in a social setting outside their homes. While the bill originally included language allowing social consumption at special events, after pushback, lawmakers got rid of the event language. Rick Osborn, communications director for the Senate Majority Office, said Thursday over email that the bill in its current form would allow cannabis to be consumed in an "outdoor area," which is defined by the Oregon Clean Indoor Air Act as "no more than a roof and three walls." "Right now," Osborn said, "the bill is silent regarding the prospect of people bringing their own cannabis to these 'lounges' to consume. So that could happen, as the bill is written." "Any time that a vendor sells cannabis and operates one of these lounges, it has to be a licensed retailer," Osborn continued. "So if a retailer is licensed to sell cannabis, they can get a license to operate one of these." Portland officials called the bill "a commonsense approach" that would allow tourists and residents to consume legal cannabis, which they can now purchase but may not be able to use. "The same way Oregon and our city celebrate our craft beer and wine industry," reads the testimony letter from Wheeler and Eudaly, "Portland welcomes and wants to provide opportunities for our emerging craft cannabis industry." The bill, they said, would boost tourism while also helping Oregonians. "Oregonians living in apartments or a rented house may not be permitted to vaporize or smoke cannabis in their homes," reads the letter. "Absent a legal, regulated, and safe place outside the home to consume cannabis, these Oregonians may find themselves consuming cannabis in public view on sidewalks, on streets, in vehicles, and in parks." In his testimony, Robinson pointed out the racial disparity that exists in arrests and citations for marijuana use nationally, even in states with legal cannabis, and said establishing safe places for adults to consume marijuana could begin to address this inequity. "A study of Seattle police enforcement's arrest of public cannabis consumption found that African Americans made up 36 percent of those arrests, while only comprising eight percent of the city's population " his testimony reads. "Studies have shown that marijuana is used at the same rate across all races, so these arrest statistics are very troubling." "Senate Bill 307 is a sensible step forward to help avoid falling into the same pattern of African Americans disproportionately arrested and cited for marijuana," Robinson said. Opponents of the bill say that social consumption of cannabis exposes people to secondhand smoke and normalizes marijuana use for children. "A recent study from the Journal of the American Heart Association encourages secondhand smoke laws extend to marijuana because both tobacco and marijuana smoke impair blood vessel function similarly," the Oregon Nurses Association wrote in its testimony. "Like tobacco, studies have found that smoking marijuana can irritate the lungs and lead to breathing problems like cough, excess mucus, bronchitis, and worsening of conditions like asthma and cystic fibrosis." "By allowing for the social consumption of cannabis, Oregon risks the rollback of years of progress related to social norms around smoking," said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, health officer and state epidemiologist with the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority, in her testimony against the bill. Oregon isn't the only state facing the question of whether to allow social cannabis consumption. Colorado and Alaska have recently wrestled with the issue, weighing public health and individual rights. Mason Tvert, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project in Colorado, said Thursday that two Colorado municipalities, Pueblo County and the town of Nederland, allow the social use of cannabis. Tvert said Denver last year created a voter-approved pilot program for permitting venues for cannabis use. The process for ironing out how it would work has taken months but interested venues are expected to begin applying for permits in July. In Alaska, a law that passed in 2015 allowing legal recreational marijuana also allowed for on-site consumption, but as of now, the rules for how it would work are still being debated. Portland has its own conflicted history of social cannabis consumption. In February 2016, the World Famous Cannabis Cafe, a place for marijuana users to consume their own products in a social setting, was forced to close after public health officials said that the establishment was violating Oregon's Indoor Clean Air Act. Osborn said that the next steps for the bill are unclear. "It's not currently scheduled for a hearing or work session," Osborn told us, but added that because the Joint Committee on Marijuana Regulation "doesn't adhere to the same deadlines as other policy committees," SB 307 still has a chance to make it into law. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker Bushwick standby/my former neighbor Tandem Bar shuttered about a year and a half ago. Tandem was an early entry in the history of Bushwick's hip-ification, and though the neighborhood's bar scene has exploded in the years since, it was sad to see it go. But today, Tandem's space reopens as Mad Tropical, an offshoot of Greenpoint spot Tender Trap. Rejoice, patrons, but please note your voices carry quite loudly down Troutman Street. Bedford & Bowery reported earlier this week that Mad Tropical had a "soft opening" party but today is its official grand opening. If you stop by, you can expect "party size" 16-oz. cocktails; Latin-American inspired fare courtesy Donna Chiquita, an offshoot of Leif Huckman's popular Donna restaurant in Williamsburg, with menu items including cauliflower tacos and tlayuda; and, if you're me, some harrowing flashbacks to all the people I made out with in 2012. It also appears Mad Tropical will make use of Tandem's infamous back room space, with a number of DJs on the roster for last weekend's soft-opening. We reached out to the bar to get more information but were informed "emails are sometimes answered once a year," so don't hold your breath. Mad Tropical is located at 236 Troutman Street between Wilson and Knickerbocker Avenues in Bushwick, Brooklyn (madtropical.com). By Maria I. Rodriguez Our current political climate, with its divisive language and regressive policies on health care and reproductive rights, threatens all of us. Repealing the Affordable Care Act is an attack on Medicaid as well as access to sexual and reproductive health care, and will lead to more unintended pregnancies. In 2014, publicly funded family planning services provided by Title X, the country's only federal grant program dedicated to comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, helped prevent nearly 1 million unintended pregnancies. Those unintended pregnancies would have resulted in more than 400,000 unintended births and 300,000 abortions. Women with unintended pregnancies who are forced to carry to term are more likely to receive inadequate or delayed prenatal care and have poorer health outcomes, such as infant low birth-weight, infant mortality, and maternal mortality and morbidity. Medicaid is a critical source of reproductive health care for millions of low-income Americans and is a particularly important access point for young women and people of color. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that 20 million women in the United States are in need of publicly funded family planning: 77 percent (15.5 million) because they are poor, and 23 percent (4.7 million) because they are adolescents. A substantial body of research demonstrates that contraception is not just cost effective, but a cost-saving use of public funds. Every dollar spent on contraception saves more than $7 in Medicaid costs for pregnancy, delivery and newborn care. Research also has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of publicly-funded family planning for promoting individual health, along with broader social gains such as educational and workforce achievements, family income and stability. Restricting access to reproductive health care also has multigenerational consequences. Unintended pregnancy is an endemic problem. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended and that is associated with worse health outcomes and increased public costs. Restrictive politics continue to jeopardize the health and well-being of a particularly vulnerable element in our society: immigrant women and their children. Federal law restricts pregnancy coverage to a hospital admission for childbirth, but no prenatal care or contraception. My research shows that not only does lack of access have negative health consequences for women and their citizen children, it also is not cost-effective for the state. When we examined the costs and benefits of extending postpartum coverage to immigrant women in 10 states, we found that this policy change was a cost savings in all states, ranging from $260,000 saved in New Mexico to more than $40 million in Texas over a five-year period. Failure to cover postpartum care, in particular contraception, based on citizenship status is unjust, expensive and simply poor health care. Reducing unintended pregnancy is a national goal of the Healthy People 2020 initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multiple national organizations have also launched initiatives to address the complex and multifactorial causes of unintended pregnancy. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. After years of effort, we are finally beginning to see an improvement in rates of unintended pregnancy and birth in the U.S. The Affordable Care Act, with its expansion of Medicaid and no-cost contraception, has produced important gains in reducing unintended pregnancy and promoting health and equity. Reproductive rights and health care are fundamental to the health and well-being of individuals, their families and our communities. The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of contraceptive choice as essential to promoting the health of individuals and community development. There is no better time than during National Women's Health Week to raise awareness and recognize the critical role that access to health care, in particular family planning services, makes for better health outcomes for all. By Maria I. Rodriguez, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. I am an employee of OHSU, however this is a personal opinion. By Jennifer Rubin The degree to which Republicans have continued to ignore or excuse President Donald Trump's reckless behavior, which now can be seen as endangering national security, has not surprised politics-watchers. If Republicans were willing to tolerate his call for Russian hacking, his defense of vile dictators, his abuse of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the "Access Hollywood" tape, his assaults on the intelligence community, his (thankfully) inept attempts to ram through a Muslim ban, his attacks on judges, his hiring as national security adviser of Michael Flynn without vetting him, and his firing of the FBI director, why should blurting out secrets reportedly entrusted to us by Israel to Russian officials move them over the edge? Then came the news that former FBI director James Comey had documentation of his meeting with Trump in which Trump asked him to step back from the investigation of Flynn. ("I hope you can let this go,'' Trump said.) That shook loose Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., who told the press: "I've asked Comey to come before the Judiciary Committee to tell his side of the story. I think it would be good for him if he did. It would be good for the country." Even House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who has been less than enthusiastic in pursuing potential wrongdoing in this administration, shot off a letter to the FBI demanding all Comey memos documenting conversations with the president. Might the presentation of a credible witness with contemporaneous notes break the logjam? We can only hope. Until now, there have been few exceptions to the rule of partisan loyalty. We did see freshman Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who has been tweeting up a storm, calling for a full investigation of Comey's firing and now the scandal reportedly involving Israeli intelligence we gave to Russia. "Our allies and partners must have the utmost confidence that sensitive information they share with us will not be disclosed," he tweeted. He continued, "Regardless of what was shared in the meeting, it's dangerous to believe that Russia can be a reliable counterterrorism partner." Last week he told a local TV interviewer: "I think the timing of the firing is indeed suspicious. It does raise a lot of questions and I think, like most American and most Wisconsinites, I just want the truth." Really, if a freshman can refuse to spin for the White House, why can't lawmakers with years of seniority in no danger of losing their seats? There was also Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., who voted against the dog's-breakfast health-care bill, who put out a statement when Comey was fired, which read in part: "I can't defend or explain tonight's actions or timing of the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The FBI investigation into the Russian impact on the 2016 election must continue. There must be an independent investigation that the American people can trust." On the Russia debacle she said, "Once again we are faced with inexplicable stories coming from the White House that are highly troubling. We need to have immediate classified briefings on what occurred at this meeting so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders and know the impact on our national security, our allies, and our men and women protecting our country." Oh, she's just trying to save her swing seat, you say? What is the excuse, then, for silence from safe members? Late Monday, before news of the Comey memo surfaced, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., weighed in as well. "The reports that the President shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials are deeply disturbing. Reports that this information was provided by a U.S. ally and shared without its knowledge sends a troubling signal to America's allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingness to share intelligence with us in the future. ... I continue to believe that we need a select congressional committee to fully investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Sanctions -- not intelligence-sharing -- should be our course of action." Then, in a telling sign the temperature was going up, he said at a GOP dinner Tuesday night that the Trump situation has reached "Watergate size and scale." Whether Comey's documentation proves to be the tipping point for Republicans is unclear. The Washington Post reports that Comey's memo and Trump's disclosure of classified information to the Russians are "forcing a change in everyone's calculations." Republicans will begin to realize that their agenda is going nowhere and that their political survival depends on Trump's political demise. Now, we've seen the Republicans fall into line behind Trump too many times to expect swift, definitive action. But more Republicans, I suspect, will figure out that they have a better chance of political survival if they follow Graham, Gallagher, Comstock and McCain (and belatedly, Chaffetz). They might consider that it was the GOP leaders who went to tell Richard Nixon in 1974 that the jig was up, not the dead-enders, who went down in history as patriots. (c) 2017, The Washington Post By Brian Boquist The Oregon Health Authority is holding our veterans and their families hostage collecting ransom payments from providers. The so-called "certificate of need" is the go-ahead hospitals need from government before they can build new facilities. The health authority's process is bureaucratic terrorism. The application fee alone for a facility going through the "certificate of need" process is tens of thousands of dollars. For a $1.5 million facility that fee nears $35,000. And for a larger facility it could be more than $70,000. In addition to the application fee, though, a facility must own the property where it will build the new psychiatric unit, hire architects and others to complete the application and then go through an often years-long approval process with the Oregon Health Authority to obtain the right to build. In committee, Dr. Dana Selover, manager of the Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement Section for the health authority, shocked me when she said increasing the number of specialty hospitals that are "faster, cheaper and easier to build," would not be as "cost effective and beneficial." Selover testified on Senate Bill 1054, introduced in April, that would temporarily waive certain requirements for facilities providing psychiatric services to veterans and military families. The committee bill would remove the Oregon Health Authority's lengthy, time-consuming, and patient-harming process. And the need is clear. Last week, The Portland Mercury reported on Oregon's unmet need for inpatient psychiatric beds and its perpetuated problems with patient boarding. The 300,000 veterans living in Oregon, and their families, are being used as pawns by bureaucrats. Nearly 30,000 of the veterans in Oregon fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. Hundreds are homeless, and while veterans make up 8.7 percent of Oregon's population, they account for over 20 percent of suicides. Nearly one in four active duty members show signs of a mental health condition. Twenty percent of veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress and/or depression and 50 percent of post-traumatic stress is not treated. This is unacceptable. Oregon State University's College of Public Health and Human Services released a report that found nearly one out of every four severe psychiatric visits to emergency departments across the state resulted in psychiatric "boarding." Boarding refers to an emergency room stay longer than six hours. That report estimated that 2.1 percent, or nearly 30,000, of all emergency department visits from Oct. 2014 to Sep. 2015 were psychiatric boarding episodes. The study showed one of the solutions would be an increase in inpatient psychiatric care capacity. Instead, the number of available inpatient psychiatric beds were reduced. Elizabeth Hutter, chief executive officer at Cedar Hills Hospital and Outpatient Services, a free-standing psychiatric facility and outpatient service center in Portland, said that when there are not adequate inpatient services that their clients get caught in the legal system. Cedar Hills opened with just 36 beds and has grown to 89 beds over the last seven years. During this period, the hospital consistently ran at 90 to 95 percent capacity. She said they are continuously overwhelmed by the number of veterans and community members seeking treatment. We have people in need, we have people who can provide care, but the state is getting in between them for some strange reason. Oregonians should ask why. Republican state Sen. Brian Boquist represents Senate District 12. By Jim Akenson Wolf advocates have expressed great concerns ("Portland howls for the future of Oregon wolves," May 17) about the well-being of one Oregon species, wolves, which incidentally became established in the state through migration from an experimental population relocated from Canada to the Northern Rockies. Advocates need to be realistic and look beyond their immediate geographical reference of Oregon's borders. Just east of our state in the Northern Rockies region, there is a thriving population of well over 1,700 animals, forming 282 packs. Those wolves have spread across six states in just two decades. Yes, they are an impressive animal, but so are deer, elk, moose and several other species that wolves prey upon - and many generations of hunters utilize for food and recreation. Oregon's new five-year Wolf Plan must address future management options when both wolf numbers and conflicts will be increasing. Oregon need not look far for an example of what the future will hold in store for wolves. Take Idaho, currently supports an estimated 786 wolves at minimum and 108 packs. Wolves have been hunted there for six years and in 2014 and 2015, 256 wolves were killed. Before regulated hunting and trapping, Idaho's wolf population was around 900 individuals, and many Idahoans were lamenting the loss of cherished hunting opportunities. Now, with a managed wolf harvest in place, Idaho's coveted elk population is finally starting to recover. I witnessed the decline in Idaho's elk numbers while living in a remote part of Idaho in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, where I was researching cougars and wolves. The elk population decline was dramatic and many sportsmen who hunted elk there gave up their beloved pursuit to hunt in other states. This had a stinging effect on the central Idaho economy that depended heavily on revenue from elk hunters each fall. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. Now, Idaho has regulated hunting of wolves to manage their numbers, and its citizens have the intrinsic gratification of having this "apex predator" on the landscape, balanced with other wildlife values, including managed big game populations. Since its inception in 2005, the Oregon Wolf Management Plan has promoted this objective: "To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by Oregon law, while protecting social the economic interests of all Oregonians." Take note of that last comment: Oregon has a rich heritage of hunting, ranching and rural lifestyle. It is only reasonable to consider these factors -- Idaho did, and they now have another respected game animal to match cougars and black bears. It is a time to be reasonable and wise enough to manage wolves for the betterment of all Oregonians. -- Jim Akenson is conservation director for the Oregon Hunters Association. By Jonathan Bernstein Donald Trump has amply demonstrated he is not fit for the office he holds. But it would be a grave mistake to use the mechanism of the 25th Amendment to get rid of him, as a wide group of liberals have urged for a while, now joined by conservatives such as New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. Sorry, Congress: If you believe Trump needs to go, you're going to have to do it yourselves. At least if the goal is to protect democracy in the United States. The 25th amendment was adopted in 1967 as a remedy to several imperfections in the constitutional order of succession of the presidency by (among other things) finally making it a constitutional fact that vice-presidents are supposed to fill presidential vacancies and providing for filling any vice-presidential vacancy. The last two sections dealt with the Woodrow Wilson problem: What if the president should become incapacitated? Section 4, the relevant piece here, allows a majority of the cabinet to remove the president upon certifying that he or she cannot perform the duties of the office. The next bit, however, is a mess: "Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principle officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office." So if the Cabinet certified that Trump was unfit, and he then told Congress he was just fine, Congress would take a vote with a two-thirds standard to keep him removed. Now, why shouldn't this be used against Trump? I'll put aside the untried and unexplored nature of the provision, although just looking at it I can imagine multiple questions, potential loopholes, and challenges available to Trump if it's used against him. The main reason not to use it is that the chief complaint against Trump is that he threatens U.S. democracy not (chiefly) by breaking laws, but by undermining the norms that are just as important to democratic governance as the laws and constitutional provisions. Therefore, efforts to remove him should be especially careful to abide by those norms. The 25th Amendment is for use in Wilson-like cases in which the president is truly incapacitated. While mental illness could qualify, the many armchair diagnoses we've seen of Trump simply do not clear the constitutional bar. Douthat argues that Trump is so childlike that he is somehow incapable of actions which reach the level of "high crimes" for which the proper constitutional remedy is impeachment. Hogwash. Trump may or may not understand that what he's doing is wrong, but there are at least three articles of impeachment which could be drafted. The easiest one is obstruction of justice, based on his efforts to kill off the investigation into the Trump-Russia scandal. The second is his violations of the emoluments clauses of the constitution, his use of his position to enrich himself (through, for example, constantly advertising his properties), and the conflicts that arise when the interests of his business clash with the obligations he took by swearing the oath of office (he is exempt from criminal statutes, but not from the conflicts themselves). And it shouldn't be hard to put together an abuse of power article as well for a president so dismissive of constitutional norms. Should such charges be brought in the House? That remains a political question; suffice it to say that there is surely sufficient misconduct here to serve as a valid pretext should Congress believe that removal is necessary. No ugly new precedent would be established; no norms would be shattered. No future president would be given any additional reason to fear being deposed just because his or her Cabinet decided they preferred the vice president, and therefore no future president would have to choose them with that fear in mind. That's why if the threat of Trump is so great, the best remedy is the old-fashioned constitutional one. Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics. For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view. (c) 2017, Bloomberg View Thursday 18 May 2017 10:47am Former University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Skegg Canadas Queens University will next month confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Science on former University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Skegg. Professor Skegg, who is a graduate of Otago and the University of Oxford, held the Chair of Preventive and Social Medicine at Otago for many years. In its citation for his doctorate, Queens University notes that he is globally recognised for his research on epidemiology, breast and cervical cancer, contraception, drug safety and reproductive health. It describes him as a probing scientist, engaging mentor and inspiring teacher. The citation also describes Professor Skegg as a master of the art of university leadership, who successfully led Otago through a time of considerable change in government funding policy to become a first-ranked research-intensive university in New Zealand. Queens also notes that he has been an innovative strategic collaborator on international higher education, and the primary driving force establishing the Matariki Network of Universities. This is a group of leading, like-minded institutions that promote excellence in research-led education, while providing a high-quality student experience. Otago and Queens, along with universities in England, Germany, the United States, Sweden, and Australia are members of this collaborative network. Professor Skegg was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and has been knighted for his services to the advancement of medicine. He is a much sought adviser to governments, a consultant to the World Health Organization in Geneva, and a former President of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne says she is delighted that Professor Skegg is being honoured by Queens University. This is a very welcome recognition of David Skeggs enormous contributions as a widely respected epidemiology researcher whose work has had global impact, and as an accomplished university leader. Also, this accolade acknowledges his foresight in linking Otago with like-minded universities around the world that share common values in pursuing excellence in research and education. Professor Skeggs honorary doctorate will be conferred at the universitys Friday 2 June convocation ceremony. Thursday 18 May 2017 2:27pm Otago's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise, Professor Richard Blaikie and Hokkaido University President Toyoharu Nawa sign the MOU in Hokkaido this morning. Students and staff at the University of Otago and Hokkaido University will benefit from agreements signed in Japan this morning and exchanged in front of Prime Minister Bill English. Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise, Professor Richard Blaikie, and Hokkaido University President, Toyoharu Nawa, signed a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions and a student exchange agreement in Sapporo. The agreements will encourage research collaboration in any subject area, as well as allow for academic and professional staff exchanges, and up to six student exchanges each semester. Professor Blaikie says the signing cements relationships that have been growing between faculty members for years, some across many decades. Research and teaching collaborations are active across a number of areas of mutual interest, including geology, earthquake sciences, marine biology and fisheries. That reflects the common characteristics our two island nations share on the Pacific Rim. The agreement also aims to broaden relationships in other areas of shared strength and interest, including food science, agriculture, environmental sciences, psychology, medicine, business, arts and culture. Regular student exchanges will allow deeper cultural understanding between the universities, Professor Blaikie says. Our two universities share common characteristics of size, age and ambition to promote excellence in all our endeavours. It is through the personal relationships that will develop with these student exchanges, as well as the sharing of teaching, research, cultural and sporting activities, that the intent of the agreement will be put to true effect. Hokkaido University, also known as Hokudai, was founded as an agricultural college in 1876. It is now one of the national universities of Japan and has about 18,000 students. While in Sapporo, the Prime Minister will also witness the signing of the New Zealand-Hokkaido Partnership Agreement. If you have further queries, please contact: Jason Cushen Deputy Director, International Student Services, University of Otago Tel: 03 479 5670 Mobile: 021 991 628 Email: jason.cushen@otago.ac.nz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Dow Chemical Co. said on Thursday it submitted a formal request to the city of Midland to close about one mile of South Saginaw Road, which if approved would become part of Dows plant and be closed to the public. The section that could close is between Mark Putnam and Salzburg roads in the southeast part of town. In response to community feedback, Dow also announced it would offer a voluntary property purchase program to owners of affected residential property on Waldo Avenue south of Bay City Road. Dow says it wants to consolidate its Michigan Operations and Dow Corning chemical manufacturing facilities into one, unified site, and that making the section of South Saginaw an internal road would save the company $4 million per year. According to Dow, the closure is essential to the companys future investments in the transformation of Michigan Operations. Dow in April said it plans to invest $400 million in its Michigan Operations over the next decade. To vacate a road, the Midland City Council must first adopt a resolution to refer the matter to the planning commission and other city departments for a report and recommendation. When received, city council must adopt another resolution to declare its intent to consider the petition, and schedule and hold a public hearing within a month. After the hearing, city council may either choose to vacate the road, take no action or table the matter but if any objections are received, the street must not be vacated, abolished or discontinued except by a four-fifths vote of council members. The next city council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 333 W. Ellsworth St. The next planning commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the same location. If city officials approve Dows plan to close the road, traffic would be rerouted to Waldo Avenue and Bay City Road. The change would tax that intersection with about 600 more vehicles per hour at peak traffic times, according to Dow, which said it had hired DLZ of Michigan to complete a traffic study. The reroute would add about three-quarters of a mile onto the commute for drivers or about 90 to 180 seconds, depending on time of day and traffic light cycles, Dow says. The plan would bring changes to other intersections, too: Saginaw Road at Bay City Road: Upgrade signal, optimize timing for all directions Waldo Avenue at Salzburg Road: Convert all-way stop to signalized intersection Waldo Avenue at Bay City Road: All directions: upgrade signals, optimize timing; northbound: extend left turn storage lane by 100 feet, upgrade signals to allow protected left-turn phases; eastbound: reassign approach lane assignments to include one left-turn only lane, one through lane and one right-turn only lane, upgrade signals to allow for permitted-over eastbound right turn phase. Dow would pay for those changes, but we would have the city do what is required, Rich Wells, vice president and site director for Michigan Operations, said at a public meeting in April (story: http://bit.ly/2pZPKJe). Dow said it hosted 24 community input sessions and met with city officials and business owners, local civic organizations and other stakeholders. The city opened a survey on E-CityHall, its online public engagement platform, at http://www.midland-mi.org/125/E-CityHall with a 5 p.m. May 26 deadline to respond. Dow announced plans on Thursday to: Fund the cost of road reconstruction on Waldo Avenue to ensure it can withstand the impact of more traffic and to increase the roads lifespan Implement all of the traffic signal and turn lane upgrades recommended by traffic consultant DLZ Continue to partner with local emergency responders (EMS, fire, police) for mutual aid and to ensure response times are not delayed when using Saginaw Road Work with the city of Midland to pursue added safety measures to help enhance the safety of the Waldo Avenue neighborhood, including the addition of crosswalk caution lights, more speed limit signs, new children playing signs and signs directing trucks to use US-10 instead of Waldo Avenue Work closely with Cabot Corp. to ensure continued efficient operations Wells said Dow would begin design work later this year. Road and traffic signal improvements would start in 2018, with construction of new site entrances and fencing all pending city council approval. Construction could take eight to 12 months. Wells told the Daily News the most important reason for the closure is safety and security of the site and community. We have a major road that goes through the middle of our plant, he said. The Department of Homeland Security doesnt like that. Drivers coming into town on South Saginaw Road see a huge, rather nameless manufacturing site. So the closure would also serve an aesthetic measure, according to Wells. We dont advertise ourselves really well, he said. We plan to put an attractive gatehouse entrance off Saginaw. We envision using some of Alden Dows work to help show that Michigan Operations is the premiere manufacturing site in the Midwest. Wells lauded the plan in a Dow news release on Thursday. Dow remains committed to ongoing and transparent communications with residents and business owners as we proceed through the city of Midland process. We are proud of Dows heritage in Midland, including the new corporate headquarters building that will be opening soon, and we are looking forward to the significant investments in Michigan Operations that will spark growth, create new jobs and generate economic development in Midland and the Great Lakes Bay Region. For more Daily News coverage go to http://bit.ly/2qAEUeJ and for more info, go to http://www.dow.com/michigan/siteconsolidation (Part I of The Judd Keppel Story was devoted to his establishment of the business he called Judds Rental, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 6. Part II will tell the story of the two women who played major roles in Judd Keppels life: his mother, Anna Pellerin Keppel, and his wife, Jean Sorg Keppel.) When Anna Keppel woke up the morning of Oct. 12, 1918, she had no promotion that the day would end in tragedy. It was Indian Summer and the Duluth, Minnesota area was tinder-dry. Slash left by lumberjacks and pine trees, their needles parched for water, were easy prey for fire. The fire began on Oct. 10 when a Great Northern locomotive set a small fire at Milepost 62, northwest of Cloquet, which smoldered for two days before being fanned by a cold front into a raging inferno that consumed villages and towns over a period of 15 hours, leaving 453 dead and another 80 seriously burned. Anna, John and their baby were in a car when they realized they were doomed if they stayed in the car. They jumped into a dry four foot crock well to escape but sparks showered down on them. The baby suffered burns, which took her life. Anna, amazingly, was unscathed, but Johns lungs were seared inhaling the smoke. Annas story begins when her father, Odillon Pellerin, was born in Provence, France where his family owned a vineyard. When he was 18, he left home and traveled to Canada, married and had eight children: Ambrose, Fred, Conrad, Odillon, Anna, Mamie, Louise and Virginia. When Anna was a child, Odillon heard about property to be homesteaded in Larkin Township near a small town named Midland. He moved his family there shortly and to the Pellerin children, the farm in Larkin Township was always home. Anna worked her way through LaSalle University earning a business degree and became an overseas buyer for Marshall Fields in Chicago. In the summertime she returned to the Pellerin farm where she had grown up. Annas brothers Fred and Conrad worked on the railroad in Duluth, Minnesota, with a man named John Keppel. When the slack summer season came along, they invited John to return home with them to the farm in Larkin Township. John met Anna and fell in love. For two years John Keppel asked Anna Pellerin to marry him and received the same answer. No. Then John called her and said, This is the last time Im asking you to marry me... Anna replied, If you can be here (in Chicago) in 24 hours, I will marry you. John Keppel rode a train all night to get to Chicago. He had gone to college with the Cardinal of the Catholic Church in Chicago. John called him and asked him to make arrangements for them to marry. After their marriage, John took Anna back to Duluth, Minnesota to live. Their first child was a baby daughter they named Mary Jean. But their happiness was short-lived. The fire of Duluth-Clouet-Moose Lake changed their lives forever. After the death of their first baby in the fire of Oct. 12, 1918, Anna became pregnant with their second child and they named her Virginia. The next year they had a son, naming him John. But Virginia had trouble saying the word brother and said, judder. And thats how John became Judd. When John Keppel died in 1923, Anna decided to return home to Midland, arriving with two suitcases and two children. In 1924 she opened the Keppel Beauty Shoppe at 133 Rodd St. She was the first female licensed in Michigan to cut mens hair. With the death of her brother Ambrose, who had never married, Anna inherited his estate. Anna shrewdly decided to invest in real estate. Cambridge, Dartmouth and Princeton Court are a few of the streets she developed by bartering. She would go to one business and tell them she would give them so many lots if they would put the streets in for her. To another company she gave lots if they would put in the sewers for her. A single mother raising a son and a daughter, she was also a business woman in a time when it wasnt an accepted practice. Anna Keppel worked hard until she was 85 in 1966. She was at the Farmers Market, stepped off the curb and broke her hip. She spent the next 10 years in a nursing home, but even in the bad times she made plans for a new beauty shop, which never materialized. Anna Keppel lived a life filled with challenges finding peace at last when she passed away in 1976. Judd Keppel, the young man that Jean Sorg would marry in 1948, graduated from high school and entered Seminary but World War II came along and Judd dropped out of Seminary to join up. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946. Looking around for a good business to go into, he decided to buy the Sanford Hardware owned by Ed Sorg. Ed and his wife, Joyce, had three daughters, their oldest was Jean. Jean was born in Highland Park, Michigan. She was two years old when her family moved to the little village of Sanford. Jeans grandfather was Dr. Blakeley who had his medical practice in the Sanford area. Jean was in high school in Coleman at the time. She was 15 years old when her dad sold the hardware to Judd Keppel. Jean continued working in the hardware for Judd just as she had worked for her dad Ed. Judd and Jean had their first date when she was 17. She graduated in May 1948 and that night Judd proposed to her. They were married Oct. 18, 1948 in St. Brigids Catholic Church in Midland and began married life in a cottage on Peterson Drive on Sanford Lake that they rented for $25 a month. Michael came first, followed by Patrick, Timothy, Maureen, Kevin, Daniel and then twins Kathleen and Karen. Karen died when she was one day old but Kathleen lived until she was 9 in 1973. Jean said, It was so quick. One day she had a pain in her elbow and we took her to the doctor. It was cancer. In six months, she was gone. By the time Patrick was born, Judd sold the Sanford hardware and went to work on the new interstate highway doing construction work. They moved into Midland and were on Birchfield. Then the highway construction work was over and Judd needed another job. His mothers old beauty shop was vacant and Judd decided to go into the rental business, naming it Judds Rental. The business, now owned by son Tim and his wife, Patty, just celebrated 50 years in business. Jean Keppel, still a vital, active woman at 87, has embraced a life filled with both happiness and sadness. She gave birth to eight children, has 22 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. A man named F. A. Bucchianeri wrote, Its a blessed thing to love and feel loved in return. And Jean Sorg Keppel knows exactly what he meant. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Memories, not bells, rang out at the Midland Holiday Inn on Wednesday as supporters of the Midland Salvation Army gathered to celebrate the corps 75th anniversary in Midland. Corps Capt. Brian Goodwill kicked off the days events by setting the world stage with Canadian Universal newsreels that showed what the world was like when this chapter of the worldwide movement began in 1942. Scenes from the warfront in Europe, Guatemalan troops training at West Point, and the marking of Maritime Day in the U.S. with shipbuilders churning out multiple ships a day to support the war effort. Closer to home, Goodwill noted, 1942 was also the year that 10 acres was donated by Grace A. Dow for a new hospital at Sugnet and Sturgeon streets, and Alden B. Dow was selected as architect. Following the newsreels, photos of volunteers and staff over the years was the backdrop as Goodwill talked about the Salvation Armys role of meeting the needs of people in the community whether they be for monetary, emotional or more traumatic, while at the same time ministering to them. In all these ways the Salvation Army in Midland is trying to fulfill our vision to love, grow and serve, he said. Our desire is to be the place where we love the Lord our God and that love of the Lord extends to those around us, both in our congregation and community as well. He outlined a four-year-old program called Pathway of Hope, which has staff working with clients to try to break what Goodwill referred to as the immense challenges of generational poverty. The Pathway of Hope program is an intensive case management system that helps our clients look at their lives in a new way with a new level of hope, he said. They do this by identifying the challenges and obstacles they face and the resources they have to overcome those obstacles. To go on and do better things, he said. Not only for themselves but for their children. He talked about one family that came recently to the center seeking help for a utility bill, and the mother of was struggling to find a job and child care for her three boys. A caseworker talked with her about the Pathway of Hope. She became interested and began setting goals concerning her education, child care and a job, Goodwill said. Today, the mother has a job and is taking classes at Delta College, the Salvation Army is helping with the child care in afterschool and summer programs. Marching back in time, Goodwill introduced Sam Price, whose has long roots with the Salvation Army signature day camp, the SHARE program dates to 1981-82. That year, Major Warren Yoder came upon the idea after canvassing the neighborhood around the Salvation Army building, then on Bayliss Street. Initially, the acronym stood for Summer Help and Recreational Events, but it has since been rebranded, Goodwill said. The change to Sheparding Hearts and Relational Evangelism, he said, is more of what the program is about. Price, executive director of the 1016 Recovery Network and an ordained minister, said the SHARE program is a community program, begun with Yoders vision and the support of local churches throughout the community. Thats the beauty of SHARE, its not a Salv thing, its a community thing, its a faith community thing, he said. Price recounted his five years as a worker in various positions at the camp before entering college, then coming back for another. It just gets in your blood, he said. Thats the beauty of that program. Keynote speaker was Midland native Lt. Col. Mickey McLaren, a 1962 Midland High School graduate and Army veteran. In 1970, he and his wife, June, were commissioned as officers in the Salvation Army and a 40-year career began for both. June, too, holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. McLaren talked about where the Salvation Army career took the pair the U.S., Ghana, Iraq, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the surprises they encountered along the way. McLaren said it is good sometimes to come home, and he reminisced about growing up in the area around Patrick, Bayliss, and Jefferson streets, walking to Bay City Road and taking the bus downtown to watch a movie. The family then moved to Jefferson Street, and it was there he was introduced to the Salvation Army at the corner of Carpenter and Jefferson. He joined its Boy Scout Troop, which he said, taught him many honorable things. I will be forever grateful to three leaders of that troop, Carl and Howard Stickley and Bruce Bowers, he said. McLaren joked about his Midland accent as people in different places would quip, youre not from around here are you? He talked, too, about having to send his daughters home from Ghana because he thought they might be in danger, of preaching in an abandoned Catholic church in Iraq while being interpreted by a Muslim resident, and of the traffic in Indonesia. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Tuesday, May 16 8:53 a.m. An Ingersoll Township homes mailbox was damaged. 9:56 a.m. Police investigated a case of fraud in the 2000 block of Jenkins Drive. 12:11 p.m. Officers responded to the 3100 block of West Nelson Street to investigate a case of fraud. 2:52 p.m. Police investigated a case of fraud in the 600 block of Gerald Court. 4:08 p.m. A deputy was sent to a Mount Haley Township home after an 80-year-old woman suffering from dementia walked away. The woman was found and returned home. 9:49 p.m. An Ohio man, 72, was cited for keeping a bass out of season. 9:57 p.m. A Midland man, 23, was ticketed in Midland for driving without insurance. 10:47 p.m. A Lee Township woman reported her son, age 16, ran away. The boy was found at a hotel in Mount Pleasant and was returned home. 11:22 p.m. Police made arrests for drug possession and drunken driving at North Saginaw Road and Drake Street. Sunday, May 14 8:34 a.m. Deputies were sent to a Lee Township home after receiving a tip about a conditional bond violation and drug use. No bond violation was found, and no drug use was occurring. 11:09 a.m. A 20-year-old man was arrested in Lee Township for domestic assault. 5:12 p.m. A Mount Haley Township man, 42, was arrested in that township for driving while his license was suspended and on a warrant. He was cited for unregistered vehicle and no insurance. 6:41 p.m. A deputy responded to Midland Township to meet with an Auburn man, 29, who reported he might have found human bones while fishing. The bones were not from a human. 11:34 p.m. A Davison man, 20, was arrested in Midland for driving while his license was suspended. Saturday, May 13 3:50 a.m. A 22-year-old man was arrested for drunken driving and marijuana possession after he was found using a pickup truck to pull a car from a Midland Township ditch. 5:39 a.m. A 29-year-old man was arrested for drunken driving after a crash in Mills Township. 10:41 a.m. A deputy was sent to a Mount Haley Township home after an 80-year-old woman with memory problems walked away from home. She was found and returned home. 3:18 p.m. A deputy was sent to Lee Township for a report of a neighbor shooting exploding targets. The noise was caused by a firework that was set off as part of a baby shower/reveal party. 8:52 p.m. Drug paraphernalia was found at the side of a Jerome Township roadway. It was disposed of by a deputy. 10:32 p.m. A deputy was sent to a report of a loose dog in Jerome Township. The case was turned over to Animal Control because the dog might not be licensed. 10:37 p.m. Deputies investigated a noise ordinance violation in Lee Township. 11:39 p.m. A Jerome Township woman, 49, was cited for driving without insurance after she was stopped in Geneva Township for speeding. The Dow Chemical Co. made another commitment to Midland and Michigan when it outlined last week at its stockholders meeting that it plans to invest in the local economy. Midland remains in the long-range plans of the DowDuPont merger, which could be completed this year. The Dow Chemical Co. plans a sweeping, $400 million transformation of its Midland-based manufacturing operations, and will build a new $100 million innovation center in the city as part of a $12 billion investment in the U.S. over the next decade, Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris said at Dows 120th annual stockholders meeting. There has never been a moment, or an annual meeting, quite like this one, Liveris said. Because today, we celebrate not just a new Dow but a new dawn. Both the $400 million investment in Dows Midland-based manufacturing operations and the new $100 million innovation center to be built on the Dow Corning campus in the city, are parts of the $12 billion investment plan over the next decade. Dow expects to employ 5,500 workers at peak activity, and create 300 permanent jobs in the U.S., an effort that will roll out in phases starting in 2020. Dow plans to create 100 jobs in Michigan and bring another 100 jobs from other global facilities to Midland, where it says it already employs 1,200 researchers and developers. Dow has always been a big supporter of Midland, and Midland has always been an accommodating supporter of Dow. And while Dow has had opportunities to take its business elsewhere, it remains committed to the community built by the Dow family. Its a commitment that many people take for granted, but should not. We believe the agreement can continue as a win-win situation. And, Midlands future should remain robust for as far as the eye can see. To the editor: On May 9, the Midland Daily News reported on a meeting of local Republicans. It quoted state Attorney General Bill Schuette praising The Dow Chemical Co.s CEO, Andrew Liveris, for his support of local projects, including Dow Diamond, riverfront development and the Midland Country Club. Andrew, youve made Midland a bigger, better, finer community. Regarding Liveris, Schuette said, There is no American business leader that is more engaged, more at the White House ... than Andrew Liveris. For his part, Liveris stated, I have never, ever, ever seen such a pro-business government, ever, in any part of the world. ... He looked forward to the new pro-business administrations efforts to reform business policy, regulations, and the tax code. Then paraphrasing Calvin Coolidge, he stated, This government is in the business of business. By many accounts, business rules, regulations and taxes are in need of reform. However, both Schuette and Liveris would be wise to consider other actions of the new pro-business administration before they are so lavish in their praise. Is de-emphasizing aid to public education good for business? Is casting aspersions on scientific research good for business? Is denying climate change good for business? Is reducing support for renewable energy good for business? Is building luxury towers rather than affordable housing good for business? As leaders in the community, Schuette and Liveris should offer us a broader and better understanding of what is good for business, Midland and the American society. ERIC PETERSEN Midland Pastors Gene Jennings and Shane Williams discuss tapping into the desire to be part of something bigger. Whats the context of your ministry in North Augusta? Gene: Were right on the state line. Its the birthplace of the Southern Baptist Convention. So, there are lots of traditional Baptist churches around here, and I think people are just ripe and ready for something different and fresh. We were a portable church, meeting in the local high school for 10 years. A lot of people didnt consider us a real church until we built our new campus. But since moving into our building two years ago, our attendance has grown by 50 percent. How has connecting at TrueNorth changed over the past 13 years? Gene: We used to think that once you got involved in the church, the next logical step was to join a small group, and then youd begin to serve after that. Over time, weve found that its changed. Its the complete opposite. People are willing to serve before theyre willing to step into a small group. So, weve had to grab hold of that reality. It wasnt by design. How has that changed your job? Shane: Were just trying to find multiple ways to get them connected. If you want to serve, its not just fill out this form. Its not just go to the website. Its not just go talk to someone. There are a lot of avenues because we have a lot of different people with different backgrounds. We do something sporadically on Sundays called Text to Serve. People can just simply text in to a number, and were able to capture some information from them. Then they go into a pipeline, and we follow up with them, getting them plugged in to serving. A lot of times people will check multiple places where they want to serve. Then when we have a conversation, theyll say, I dont know where you need me. We always say, Well, its not as important where we need you as it is where do you need to be. We let people know, Hey, if you serve in kids ministry for three weeks and you realize you cant take the dirty diapers, its not a problem. We just want to find where you can serve that works for you because we believe everyone has a role. If someone visits TrueNorth, theyll surely notice some really bright, fun T-shirts. Shane: We have kind of a unique T-shirt culture. We do at least one T-shirt a year for our volunteers. The only way to get one is to be a volunteer. Its a really positive thing; our people love to be identified with volunteering. Theyre proudits kind of a badge of honor. And they wear it beyond Sunday. It says Volunteer Staff on the back, and it starts up conversations around town. People will see the shirt and say, Hey, TrueNorth Volunteer Staff. What does that mean? And then our people get to say, I get to do this. Im a part of this. Thats been something that we cant measure on paper but we know its had an impact. So many of our volunteers theyve caught the vision. To be honest, Im not sure all of them have bought in to Jesus. Im not sure that all of them have taken that step to be a Christ-follower. But they love the community that weve built and they love being a part of something big. So theyre fostering those relationships and people respond to that. TRUENORTH CHURCH North Augusta, South Carolina Website: TrueNorthChurch.com Launched: 2004 A 2016 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH Attendance: 2,237 Growth in 2015: +458 (26%) Fastest-Growing: 42 A zombie argument is one that seems to be long dead until somebody brings it back to life. Barack Obama's post-presidency has raised a zombie argument: How should ex-presidents dress and behave? "Barack! Get back here we need you!," somebody posted on Richard Branson's Facebook page after video went viral of Obama kitesurfing with the Virgin Group founder in the Virgin Islands. Another writer posted with more sarcasm: "Much easier to be on that boat than helping the poor black American in Chicago ... same old story, Democrat with elites and they say they are on the side of the little people, hypocrites." Right. If I believed that writer really cared about poor black people in Chicago, I might take that message seriously. Maybe. Instead, I expect public opinion about the lifestyles of ex-presidents to be like opinions of every other public issue these days: polarized along party lines. But regardless of party, I'm not going to begrudge any ex-president's right to take a vacation after eight years as leader of the free world. Yes, that includes the peculiar, yet not badly executed picture that former President George W. Bush painted of his toes sticking out of the water as he rested in a bathtub. Priceless. I'm not even upset, as even some of Obama's supporters are, over the huge speaker fees and book contracts hauled in by Barack and Michelle Obama, since neither of them holds a public office or other apparent conflicts of interest. Obama is slated to receive $400,000 for a speech to Wall Street bankers and earned an undisclosed amount estimated to be worth as much as $3.2 million (based on the price of the 3,500 tickets) for a recent speech at the Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan. And that's not including the estimated $60 million deal that the Obamas reportedly signed for their yet-to-be-written books. All of this buck-raking was described in a report on Fox News (where else?) as "deals that seemed to contradict his image as a champion of the 99 percent." Ah, yes, the image. That concern might hold more water if the Obamas were not also busily raising money for such projects as the Obama Foundation, the Obama Presidential Center to be built on Chicago's South Side and the $2 million the Obamas are donating toward two Chicago programs that provide summer jobs and apprenticeships. Like them or not, big speaker fees have become the norm for ex-presidents since at least 1989 when Ronald Reagan accepted $2 million (worth about twice that amount in today's dollars) for two speeches to a communications corporation in Japan. I will leave it to the Obamas to guard the integrity of their brand. It is up to them to avoid the conflicts of which Bill and Hillary Clinton were accused in operating the Clinton Foundation or for that matter, the questionable practices of which President Donald Trump has been accused, such as purchasing a six-foot portrait of himself with his charity's money. But of all the complaints that I have heard raised by a post-presidency, I find the fussiest fault-finding these days to be in the fashion media. As GQ's site headlined after Obama's Milan speech: "Barack Obama's post-presidency style called 'too casual.' " Why? Because the nation's 44th president wore a tailored suit with Gasp! no necktie and Double gasp! two of his shirt buttons left unbuttoned. The fashionista press went wild. New York Magazine hailed him as a "Street Style Star." But GQ's Max Berlinger tsk-tsked that 44 might just be getting "a little too casual." Berlinger sounded shocked at Obama's open collar, a "whole lot of open real estate in the chest region" and the "skin-to-seriousness ratio that's being broken here." "To wit," he wrote, "if you're going to wear a suit but go tieless, one undone button (and a shirt with a nice, stiff collar) is kinda the unspoken mandate." Indeed. Well, call me a slob (it wouldn't be the first time; ask my wife) but I applaud our former president's effort to break through the walls of fashion fascism. Maybe the man who used to be cool enough to be called "No Drama Obama" on the campaign trail can teach the fashionistas a thing or two. Good luck with your battle against the necktie, Mr. President. A nation of guys tugging at uncomfortable collars salutes you. Using the dysfunction in Springfield as an excuse for funding messes is such an easy target, the complaints can begin to feel like arrows puncturing the broad side of a barn. You can't miss if you complain, but the impact of the complaints can rarely be seen. Social services, public recreation spots, public schools and higher education regularly find themselves on the losing end when it comes to state budget negotiations not to mention the thousands of businesses that are owned millions of dollars for services rendered. Yet as we stumble toward a third year of budgetary ineptitude, incompetence and indifference from the state, it is the inability of our lawmakers to accomplish even the most simple tasks of lawmaking that begins to touch more and more of us. The unwillingness to even make an effort toward making Illinois more business-friendly has wide-ranging effects as well. These same political factors think it's tolerable to amass $12.6 billion in unpaid bills along with the myriad other financial problems piling up in this state. Moving forward in Springfield is impossible because of equal and opposing forces. Like it or not, Gov. Bruce Rauner takes much of the heat around the state for the lack of progress toward a budget solution. As governor, it is his responsibility to get the job done and he hasn't done it. Why? Mostly because longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan is an equally imposing roadblock to the state's progress. We can vote in candidates and pressure them to remove some of Madigan's power. But in reality, that will take the election of more Republicans to wrest control of the House from the Democrats and thus elect a new speaker, putting Madigan in a minority position. That's a tall task indeed. Meanwhile, too many state Democrats kowtow to Madigan and his dead-end, obstructionist style of government to the point that he will not be tossed from his position unless he decides to step down. And he's shown no inclination to do that. He likes the power too much. Still, a handful of Democrats have shown the willingness to buck Madigan, but a lot more are needed to find a solution to this embarrassing situation. This is not a partisan issue. Democrats and Republicans share the blame. Rauner appears as stubborn as Madigan when it comes to real compromise. Standing steadfast by your ideals is laudable, but not to the point of allowing ruin to take over. But, in the end, probably the biggest problems is that the state's power base, from Rockford to Cairo, is determined by a handful of state voters, those in Madigan's district who keep re-electing him. No term limit talk up there. Unfortunately, bravery and competence both seem in short supply in Illinois. Still. WEPA to Acquire Netherlands-based Van Houtum Van Houtum produces hygienic papers and innovative washroom solutions. The company has an annual paper production capacity of 42,000 tonnes per year. May 17, 2017 - WEPA on May 5 announced that it has signed a contract to acquire all shares in Van Houtum Group Holding B.V., located in the Netherlands. The acquisition is expected to be concluded in the coming weeks and is subject to the approval of the competition authorities. The contracting parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Van Houtum produces in Swalmen, in the Netherlands, with 200 employees exclusively for the Away-from-Home (AfH) segment achieving a turnover of EUR 60 million. With the Satino Black brand, Van Houtum has established a leading position in the market for sustainable product solutions. We are looking forward to further develop with Van Houtum an AfH-specialist rooted in tradition and the Satino brand in the WEPA Group, said Martin Krengel, CEO of the WEPA Group. The values of the family business are very similar and the product ranges complement each other well. WEPA intends on expanding the Satino brand and the private label offering, especially from the specialized AfH-locations in Muschede, Piechowice and Swalmen, as well as to offer from a single source, he explained. Henk van Houtum, Owner of Van Houtum, commented, I am very delighted that our family business is moving into such good hands this way. The Managing Director of Van Houtum, Bas Gehlen, added, I am convinced that the company Van Houtum and the Satino brand have a better perspective in the WEPA Group than today as an independent company. Van Houtum produces hygienic paper. Together with our 200 employees, we produce approximately 42,000 tonnes of paper each year. Our annual turnover is currently approximately 60 million euros. Van Houtum has been producing hygienic papers and innovative washroom solutions for more than 80 years. The company has an annual paper production capacity of 42,000 tonnes per year. The WEPA Group is one of the three largest providers in the European tissue market, with over 3,000 employees and a turnover of approximately EUR 1 billion. This takeover would also turn WEPA into a major player in the Away-from-Home sector, with a turnover of over EUR 180 million. SOURCE: WEPA Hygieneprodukte GmbH Radar Online released a video this morning of Jennifer Lawrence having a ball and dancing on a stripper pole at her best friend's birthday in Vienna, Austria. I mean really, can a girl live? Though the site sold the story as a "bombshell world exclusive," J.Law as usual was hardly fazed. "Look, nobody wants to be reminded that they tried to dance on a stripper pole by the internet," the actress wrote on her Facebook page. "It was one of my best friend's birthdays, and I dropped my paranoia guard for one second to have fun. I'm not going to apologize, I had a BLAST that night." She also clarified that she wasn't dancing in a bra but rather, an Alexander Wang top. A. Wang himself weighed in on the matter, captioning an Instagram of her post with, "my job is done." Free advertising for everyone. [h/t Harper's Bazaar] Images via BFA Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that delivers quite the punch. The inventions in the filing cover a new Apple Watch Design and a possible HDTV. Back in 2012 Patently Apple reported on the Corning's new highly flexible and strong 'Willow Glass as noted in our cover graphic' Apple notes in today's patent filing that "one exemplary flexible glass substrate is manufactured under the trade name WILLOW glass by Corning Incorporated located in Corning, N.Y." Kind of timely considering we just posted a report titled "Apple Awards Corning First Investment from their Advanced Manufacturing Fund as Promised." The mention of an HDTV is kind of timely as well considering that Foxconn is likely to announce a large panel display plant in the U.S. later this year, an idea that was first presented to President-Elect Trump back in early January. Possible New Apple Watch Design Apple notes that their patent covers exemplary system applications including wearable, rollable, and foldable displays. Starting with Apple's patent FIG 11 noted below we're able to see an all-new watch design that includes a single continuous flexible display covering both the face and the band. It's an idea that Apple has been working on since 2015. Apple further notes that in one embodiment, the wearable electronic device is a smartwatch including a watch face, band and clasp. A flexible display panel #215, #315 (noted above) may be integrated into the smartwatch so that it spans both the watch face and band. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a bezel width surrounding the display panels can be minimized, for example below 4-5 mm or even less than 1 mm, less than 0.5 mm, or eliminated. A module within the watch includes a processor and memory for managing the wearable electronic device and executing or interpreting instructions and commands for the wearable electronic devices. The module may also include a communication module. In one embodiment the communication module can further include wireless transceivers for Bluetooth, or WLAN connectivity, and can additionally include one or more WWAN transceivers to communicate with a wide area network including a cellular data network. In an embodiment, the operations further include receiving a configuration of the flexible display panel of the watch face and band, receiving a design from the derived data, (e.g. type of watch design including a watch face and watch band), and updating the flexible display panel spanning the watch face and watch band of the smartwatch with the received design. Apple's patent FIG. 5A is a schematic front view illustration of a display substrate including an array of LEDs #214 and microchips #216 in a display. Apple HDTV According to Apple, patent FIG. 17 noted below "illustrates a system diagram #1700 for an embodiment of a display system (e.g. a television) including a flexible display panel #1710." Whatever kind of "television" Apple is contemplating, it may not be conventional. For one thing, it'll contain a flexible battery. Apple specifically notes that "The system also includes a power module 1780 (e.g., flexible batteries, wired or wireless charging circuits, etc.), a peripheral interface 1708, and one or more external ports 1790 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), HDMI, Display Port, and/or others). Secondly, Apple notes that "In one embodiment, the display system includes a communication module #1712 configured to interface with the one or more external ports. For example, the communication module can include one or more transceivers functioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or other communication standards, and configured to receive and transmit data via the one or more external ports. Apple illustrates a television early on in the patent, but its reference is in context to what Apple wants to improve and not necessarily the design of their possible future TV. But it's clear that the invention covers a TV as they noted in the patent. For the record, the vast majority of the patent filing covers a smartwatch, with the TV only covering about 5% of the patent. So it's definitely not the priority of this invention. And one more thing, Patently Apple posted a report last month titled "Korea's Deep Paranoia is Setting in as Apple Considers a Supply Shift to China and Apple Watch 3 Shifts to Micro-LED." Today's patent filing covers Micro-LED as follows: "In one aspect, embodiments of the invention describe display panels and display module packaging configurations in which micro LED devices and/or microchips are transferred and bonded to a wiring using an electrostatic transfer head assembly." Apple's invention is noted as being filed in January 2017. It should be noted that this is not a design patent, so a possible new Apple Watch design doesn't have to look like the one illustrated in the patent filing. Utility patents only provide us with an overview concept and not the actual design. Apple has many design ideas for the Apple Watch as noted in our archives here. The concept displayed in today's published patent is just one of many, though extending a display through to the band is one of Apple's themes. Additionally, Apple acquired LuxVue regarding their Micro-LED technologies and ideas of how to implement this future display market. Earlier this month Patently Apple posted a report titled "Back in Samsung Seeks to Join the Micro-LED Display Race along with Apple, Sony and Oculus" In that report we noted that the Korea Herald had reported that "Samsung is seeking to acquire Taiwan's PlayNitide, a micro-LED maker for an estimated $150 million. The report notes that "Apple is reportedly considering using the display for its new devices, including Apple Watch, and ultimately for the iPhone." By their report, it's clear that the industry believes Apple is going to surprise them one day with a Micro-LED based Apple Watch or other products like a head mounted display. If Apple is to consider using Micro-LED displays for a future watch, then it would have to rely on LuxVue's expertise and technology as noted in today's published patent report. Apple knew this was a future trend and they acquired LuxVue in 2014. One of the key engineers from LuxVue is currently Apple's Director, Engineering and Product Development. Obviously Micro-LED's will play a future role in Apple's product line and with LuxVue's top engineer working on future products, we can safely assume that Apple Watch could be where it could first surface. Patently Apple presents a detailed summary of patent applications with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent application should be read in its entirety for full and accurate details. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. You can usually learn something new watching a developer conference, whether it's from Apple, Microsoft or yes, even Google. Last week we learned about Microsoft's updates to HoloLens, their new Digital Pen input and a new Windows 10 UI coming with subtle 3D effects this fall. If the new Windows 10 UI is successful, you could bet that 3D UI's from competitors are sure to follow. Today at Google I/O 2017 there was a lot of little things of mild interest, among them Google Assistant coming to iOS as noted in our cover graphic. That announcement received a lot of applause from a pro-Android developer audience which was both strange and interesting. Today's report provides our audience with the full Google I/O conference video along with a few highlights of new features of interest in the form of screenshots from today's keynote. Google Assistant 'Transactions' are Easier than Apple Pay With Google Assistant you can make online 'transactions' without having to use biometrics like Apple's Touch ID. Simple, simple, simple but I didn't quite catch the security feature to ensure that a user actually approved a purchase. But it's magic time, so everything is simple, simple, simple.They demonstrated this feature and without having to sign into anything, the purchase was made and the delivery of the meal confirmed just using voice. Android Powers 24 Top Smartwatch Brands Worldwide The Android OS chief told his audience that Android powers 24 of the top Smartwatches in the world. Keep in mind that Apple Watch was the #1 globally in Q1 2017 and no other "Top Brand" within the premium class brands noted in Google's slide matched or even came close to the Apple Watch. It has potential, but it's not there yet. New Features coming to Google Home I sure hope that the rumors about an Apple Siri based speaker device coming to life at their WWDC 2017 event, because Google Home just landed some serious punches with their new Google Home device. It may be a killer app for Google. Call anywhere in Canada or the U.S.A. for free when using Google Home. Google announced that free music streaming from Spotify will come with Google Home with other services being made available. Google's presenter stated that yes, you need a display with Google Home at times, but you don't need an integrated display because Google Home / Google Assistant will use any screen near you to display your content if needed. You can ask Google's Assistant to show you what's new on YouTube or any other TV service noted on their slide. You can ask Google Home to show you pictures of your recent holiday or call up maps by simply asking and the results could show up on your iPhone, iPad, Android devices or TV. Photo Books Why not take a page form Apple's playbook again and introduce something revolutionary like photo books. Android's Next Version of OS is 'O' The next version of Android coming this summer is brand named Zero. Okay, It's really 'O' as in the letter. Google introduced 'Picture-in-Picture' for Android 'O' which is a nice feature. You could be video conferencing, reduce the video, tap on your calendar or any app and work on it as you talk. You could be watching a YouTube video while writing a long email. You get the picture. Cut and paste now kills text-handles (Yeah). I hate Apple's cut and paste with text handles. They're so annoying. In Android 'O' you simply tap on the screen where the first dot goes and tap again for the second dot, done. You can double tap on an address, and it copies it all. You can tap on a phone number, and all of it's copied. You could also click on one extra button and you can call up a map for the address or make a phone call instantly from your highlighted text. Nice. Apple provides a dot above your mail to tell you how many messages are waiting or to tell you that there is an update ready. Android 'O' brings that feature to Android users calling it Notification Dots. Below is an example of a notification on my iPhone. Is it not a dot? Ha! Google Lens Google Lens could be a huge hit. The feature is like a precursor to Augmented Reality. A user could take a photo and with one click get information about it. You could be in Chicago taking a photo of the tallest building and in one click you'll see 'Willis Tower' labeled on your photo. Or you could be in a museum taking a photo of a favorite work and in one click it'll reveal the artist and other relevant information. Better yet, you could take a photo of a poster of an upcoming event and in one click you could have access to Ticketmaster and details of the upcoming event. This might be something coming to iPhone 8, so on that note it was interesting to see unfold today. Google is going to work this feature into other apps in the future. Kotlin Coming to Android The programming language Kotlin is coming to Android 'O' and that seemed to excite their developer base. Here's one testimony about Kotlin. I guess you have to be a programmer to appreciate that feature. And lastly developers far and wide can get their hands on Android 'O' beta as noted below. Our report ends on a somewhat funny note. Android has been the home of Malware forever. Google want's to shake off that image by introducing 'Google Play Protect.' Google's representative ranted off figures showing that they're the safest OS on the planet, but only Google believes that. At least they have a new shiny logo to show-off and make it seem real to those contemplating the purchase of an Android device. Of course I'm compelled to say "Buyer Beware." Nice logos don't protect anything. Google acknowledging that they had to at least make it appear that they're actually doing something to reverse their bad reputation on the malware front is a start. On another front, "Project Treble' is another attempt at getting Android smartphones updated in a timely manner. What is that now - attempt #409 and counting? Good luck. All in all there were a few interesting features brought to the table today at Google I/O. Yet the number one war front that became obvious this month was the invasion of AI-centric home devices. In the last few weeks Amazon, Microsoft and now Google have all made significant strides to advance their AI-based home devices. We have to hope that Apple will finally get a pawn on the chessboard in this very important game that they're close to being last to enter. I think they'll be a huge sigh of relief if Apple introduces their Siri based solution next month if not a roar of approval. Apple's WWDC can't come soon enough. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Auckland, New Zealand: A chapter was created in the history of New Zealand when nonresidents from the Indian state of Bihar and Jharkhand congregated and launched Bihar, Jharkhand Sabha of Australia and New Zealand at Sangam Indian restaurant Kumeu, Auckland, New Zealand yesterday. The members included prominent people from this region of India from Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, and Christchurch. The inauguration was done by one of their founding members from Bihar Mr. and Mrs. Nisheet and Sushma Prakash. The gathering was estimated to be thirty in numbers. The meeting was convened by prominent people from this region with the objective to connect their people in New Zealand. A leading non-resident from the region Mrs. Arati Prasad was the master of the ceremony. Mrs. Prasad in her introductory welcome speech expressed her sincere gratitude to all the members who had traveled from other cities to Auckland to be a part of this great event. She highlighted the activities of this group that includes family get-togethers, celebration of Diwali and Chhath, cultural activities, assistance to new migrant and cooperation with other Indian Associations. Mr. Sanjeev Prasad, an eminent businessman and a former official of the High Commission of India, Wellington, presided over the meeting. He appealed to all the members of the Sabha to make every effort in helping Bihar Jharkhand Sabha achieve its goals. The chairperson of Bihar Foundation, a recognized body the government of Bihar, Mrs. Ragini Sinha also addressed the congregation. She welcomed the formation of this Sabha and assured full cooperation from Bihar Foundation. She also talked about the work Bihar Foundation had been doing in helping the people of Bihar and encouraged the members of the Sabha to consider being a member of Bihar Foundation also. While Mr. Biren Mishra was elected unanimously by the members as the Chairperson of the Sabha, Mrs. Arati Prasad and Mr. Rajnish Rai were elected as the Cultural Secretary and Public Relations Secretary respectively. Mr. Rakesh Jaiswal was elected unopposed as the treasurer of the Bihar and Jharkhand Sabha, Auckland. Mr. Biren Mishra, the Chairperson who has his roots in Sitamarhi District of Bihar and is a civil engineer from IIT Delhi, assured his all possible efforts in making this Bihar-Jharkhand Sabha, Auckland a success. All valuable ideas and suggestions were given by several members, including Mr. Pavitra Roy, Mr. Rajeev, Mr. Chandan, Mr. Ronnie, Mr. Rahul Kumar, Mr. Rupesh, Mr. Nisheet Prakash and others. It was decided that the Bihar and Jharkhand Sabha should be incorporated as a society as soon as possible, the Sabha would hold a ceremony in collaboration with Bihar Foundation to honour any dignitaries from Bihar and Jharkhand official visit to New Zealand. The meeting, was concluded with a vote of thanks by the elected Secretary (Culture) Ms Arati Prasad followed by delicious Indian food prepared at Sangam Indian Cuisine. Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Patna on Wednesday lodged an FIR against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, and his two sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav for 'inciting' attack on the BJP office on Birchand Patel Marg and assaulting BJP workers with lathi leaving at least six people injured. The case was filed with the Kotwali police station. {gallery}newsimages2017/may/051717_2{/gallery}"RJD goons, after being directed by Lalu Prasad Yadav and his two sons, attacked our office and beat up several of our workers. We have met with the Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar and have demanded immediate arrests of all three RJD leaders. We have also asked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to sack both Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejsasi Yadav from the Bihar cabinet," BJP state President Nityanand Rai said. While Tej Pratap Yadav is the Health, Environment, and Forest Minister in Nitish cabinet, Tejaswi Yadav is the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. As reported before, hundreds of RJD workers carrying party flags and wooden batons attacked the BJP office with stones and bricks. BJP workers reacted by pelting stones at the RJD activists but were soon proven to be no match to the large gathering of the RJD workers who then crashed the gate of the BJP office and beat up those who happened to be there. They also damaged several cars in the area before police resorted to lathi charge to break up the riot. Calling the incident an assault on democracy, Rai said that the RJD had become the party of criminals and it was incumbent upon Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to get rid of Lalu's sons. The Wednesday assault on the BJP office and its workers came after the RJD chief, following raids at nearly two dozen properties belonging to him or his kins in Delhi and other areas by the CBI and the Income Tax department on Tuesday, signaled his base to go after the BJP when he said in a tweet that if the BJP went after Lalu Prasad Yadav, millions of Lalu Prasad Yadavs would be born to counter the saffron party. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi said that the BJP was very capable of delivering 'tit for tat' to the RJD thugs but unlike them, he would not respond by resorting to violence. Modi also accused the police of being hand in glove with the RJD saying the police were present at the Birchand Patel Marg but did not do anything to check the violence unleashed by the RJD workers until things really got out of hand. "How did the RJD-backed criminals walked into a no-entry zone and that too without any permit for protest? It is clear they had the support of the police in today's despicable attack on our office and our men," he said. The former Deputy Chief Minister also took shots at Kumar saying he was a huge fan of Lalu Prasad Yadav and had no intention of breaking ties with the RJD despite allegations of corruption circling over his head. "It was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who said he was in favor of demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes as a means to curb corruption but he thought it did not go too far when the NDA government did not do anything about 'benami' (purchased under fake or another person's name) properties. Now that Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members' properties valued at over Rs. 100 crore are being identified, Kumar remains complete silent on the subject," Modi said adding it was rather odd that the Chief Minister was not demanding to know where did Lalu and his children get the money to buy these properties. Patna: A day after hundreds of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) activists clashed with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers at the BJP state Headquarters on Birchand Patel Marg leaving at least six persons injured, the youth wing of the BJP took out a massive rally in Patna in protest and burnt effigies of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and Congress leader and a minister in Nitish cabinet Ashok Kumar Chowdhary. {gallery}newsimages2017/may/051817{/gallery}Members of the Bharatiya Yuva Janata Morcha (BYJM), led by senior party leader and the leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly Prem Kumar, took out a march to the Dak Bungalow Crossing where they burnt the effigies of the three leaders of the Mahagathbandhan in a sign of protest against attack on their party workers and assault on the party office on Birchand Patel Marg yesterday. The protest also got support from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi. Accusing Lalu Prasad Yadav and his two sons of inciting violence against the BJP members in the fallout of the CBI and Income Tax raids on a number of properties owned by the Yadav family in Delhi, Gurgaon and other areas, the BJP leaders demanded arrest of the father-sons trio while accusing Nitish Kumar of being a bystander who, they said, had no guts to keep the Yadav family in control. "RJD activists were attacking our workers and office at the behest of party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his two sons and Nitish Kumar failed to take any action. It is obvious that the Chief Minister has surrendered before the criminal elements," Prem Kumar said. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Rouhani and Raisi: Battle Unfolds Polarizing Iran's Presidential Election 05/17/17 Source: Radio Zamaneh As Hassan Rouhani continues to receive support from reformist leaders, the battle unfolds between him and the hardliner's candidate, Ebrahim Raisi who has now joined forced with Tehran Mayor, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Hassan Rouhani (R) and Ebrahim Raisi The two main rivals of Iranian presidential election In the meanwhile, Hardliners are attacking Rouhani accusing him of abusing power to purchase his residence in Tehran lower than the market price. They are also spreading rumors about Rouhani's son death, who died some twenty years ago. Reformists are Behind Rouhani Iran Green Movement leaders Mirhossien Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have announced their support for the re-election of Hassan Rouhani. Speaking from house arrest the two leaders extended a firm endorsement for the current government in Iran. The reformist Mohammad Khatami, the fifth President of Iran, has also sent out a video message urging voters to vote for the current president. Eshaq Jahangiri, senior vice-president under Rouhani and a reformist candidate in the current presidential race has dropped out of the race saying that he will dedicate all his abilities to support Rouhani in the election. The reformists support for Hassan Rouhani who in the first round of elections in 2013 was running a campaign based on non-radical moderate values, has polarized the 2017 election in Iran. Negative campaigning has become the norm of this election and both main candidate, Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi are viciously condemning each other. Hardliners Attack Media organizations affiliated with Iran's hardliners, like Tasnim and Fars, have published rumors about the current president's son death twenty years ago. The official narrative is that Rouhani's son committed suicide but the hardliners are saying Mohammad Fereydoun, Rouhani's son killed himself with his father's personal firearm. They are calling for an investigation into his death. Meanwhile, basiji plainclothes forces have attacked a number of Rouhani campaign centers in cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Qazvin, Babolsar and Isfahan. On Monday 16 May, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dropped out of the election. In his withdrawal announcement Ghalibaf said he stands with the hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi. The two of them are now campaigning together and are mainly criticizing the current government on economic grounds: both in terms of its corruption and in terms of voters' living conditions. On 16 May, Raisi said that the Rouhani administration do not recognize the fact that there is a recession. Ghalibaf and Raisi are also calling the nuclear dead ineffective, arguing that it has not increased the flow of foreign investment. Rouhani's Harsh Stance Towards his Rivals President Rouhani has also taken stance against his opponents in the coming presidential elections saying they are supporters of execution and oppression. In harsh words against his opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, Rouhani said that the people will not back those who support executions and oppression and those who oppose women's. Raisi in 1980s Iran was with the Judiciary and a member of the Death Committee that extralegally executed more than 4000 political prisoners. Rouhani addressing crowds at his campaigns has said that the significance of the vote in the last election was that the people showed they do not support violence and that they were against house arrests and the isolation of the country. Rouhani described the 2017 campaign as the continuation of his last campaign. Last week Rouhani called on Iranian youth to come out vote warning them that sitting at home could lead to walls in the sidewalks attempting gender segregation even when walking on the streets. "I know them (his opponents) well. Just as they came up with the gender segregation directive in workplaces, they have spoken of building walls in the sidewalks to separate men and women." He slammed the principalist (conservative) representatives saying their operating word is "ban" and all that they have practiced has been in the service of limiting people's freedoms. He went on to criticize the Mahmood Ahmadinejad administration that held power for eight years prior to the reformist victory in 2013 and said his current opponents were all from the same camp. Rouhani spoke of the inefficiency of the last administration leading to the squandering of billions in oil revenues. He accused the former administration of laying off 860 thousand women and creating an oppressive atmosphere in universities. Under the Ahmadinejad administration and following the controversial 2009 elections that millions of protesters said were rigged, many progressive lecturers were laid off from universities, activists were arrested and jailed and widespread anti-women policies in public workplaces as well as in general were put into action. Iran receives 4 new ATR planes 05/17/17 Report by Press TV; photos by Islamic Republic News Agency Iran has received the first batch of medium-range planes that it has purchased from Franco-Italian aviation player ATR. Four ATR 72-600 turboprop planes landed in Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport on a direct flight from the French city of Toulouse. The planes - the first from a total of 20 planes that are expected to be handed over to Iran - were handed over to national flag-carrier Iran Air on Tuesday. This brings the number of new additions to the Iranian aviation fleet to seven after earlier deliveries of three Airbus planes. One of Iran Air's new ATR plane at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. Iran expects to receive five more ATRs by the end of 2017. The value of the deal sealed with the company is estimated to be around $500 million. The planes - all ATR 72-600 - are twin-propeller aircraft that can carry 70 passengers. Iran Air's new ATR planes in a hanger in Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. Meanwhile, Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told IRNA state news agency that up to 20 percent of the prepayment had been made by Iran. The rest of the due payments, he added, would be made by foreign financers. Iran Air Managing Director Farhad Parvaresh told reporters in Tehran last month that his company had an option to purchase another 20 planes from the French-Italian company. Back in April, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi was quoted by domestic media as saying that the ATR planes would be mostly used for flights to Iran's small airports. Results of Iran's presidential election to be announced all at once: Interior minister 05/17/17 Source: Press TV Iran's interior minister says the results of the country's upcoming presidential election will be announced all at once, and not at different stages. Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli made the remarks in a televised interview on Tuesday, saying this has been enshrined in Iran's Presidential Election Law. I make miracles! How about you? Editorial by Iranian reformist daily Shahrvand on importance of participation in elections Given that some candidates have abandoned their bids and some alliances have been formed to strengthen certain campaigns, it is estimated that the polls would not head into a second round, he added. The electorate will head to the polls on Friday to choose among incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raeisi, who has served in different capacities at the Iranian Judiciary, Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, a current member of Iran's Expedience Council, and Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, a former vice president. Iranians will also choose members of Iran's City and Village Councils in separate elections on the same day. On Tuesday, Es'haq Jahangiri, the Iranian first vice president and presidential candidate, dropped out of the race to increase Rouhani's chances of victory. Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf had done so earlier in favor of Raeisi. "We are well prepared to hold the elections and have no concerns in the area," Rahmani-Fazli asserted. The minister said the voters can cast their ballots at more than 63,000 stations, and that about 1.5 million staffers, 70,000 monitors and 350,000 security enforcement personnel will be assisting with the election process. The candidates are also allowed to assign a representative to each polling station to observe the proceedings there. As many as 200 million ballots have been printed by Iran's Bank Melli using the type of paper used in printing out traveler's checks, he said. The official added that the ballot papers bear 14 types of codes, and, therefore, cannot be either independently produced or copied. "The ballot papers are now quarantined," Rahmani-Fazli said, and hoped that such measures would help avoid any voting irregularities. The number of security forces can be enhanced if need be, said Rahmani-Fazli, giving assurances that the authorities are closely monitoring the circumstances. cartoon by Kayvon Varessi, Ghanoon daily In a Wednesday press conference, Rahmani-Fazli called on the candidates, who have publicly announced their withdrawal from the race, to make this official by noon local time (07:30 a.m. GMT) so they could be removed from the final list of hopefuls. Wednesday, he said, marks the last day of campaigning, adding that any more electioneering would be considered illegal as of tomorrow. The voting is to begin at 08:00 a.m. local time (03:30 a.m. GMT) on Friday, according to Rahmani-Fazli. "As long as people turn up before ballot boxes and are not legally prohibited from voting, we are going to be at their service," he added. He, meanwhile, said 95 percent of the opinion polls predicting the outcome of the elections do not follow any rules, and are illegal and fictitious. US Extends Obama-era Nuclear Sanctions Relief for Iran, Adds Other Sanctions 05/18/17 Source: VOA The Trump administration has announced that it will continue nuclear sanctions relief for Iran, keeping in place an Obama-era deal. Under the 2015 deal, sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program were waived in exchange for Iran's commitment to roll back the program. But continuing the sanctions relief requires the renewal of a six-month waiver. The most recent waiver, issued by former Secretary of State John Kerry in December, was set to expire this week. But the administration also imposed unrelated sanctions on two Iranian defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program. "Iran continues to pursue missile related technologies capable of delivering a nuclear weapon," Washington's top diplomat for the Middle East, Stuart Jones, said, noting that the missile program is in breach of internationally backed U.N. Security Council resolutions. "The State Department will continue to partner with our colleagues at the Department of the Treasury to ensure our national security in the face of Iranian threats." Jones said the U.S. is still forming a "comprehensive Iran policy,'' alluding to President Donald Trump's assertion that he may tear up the deal after he finishes reviewing it. In the meantime, Jones said, the U.S. will keep implementing the deal, including the sanctions relief. Human rights still a concern The State Department also released a new report criticizing Iran for human rights abuses. Jones said the U.S. will continue to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses with new actions. "Whether it is imprisoning people arbitrarily, inflicting physical abuse and torture, or executing juvenile offenders, the Iranian regime has for decades committed egregious human rights violations against its own people and foreign nations, and this pattern of behavior must come to an end." He also called on Iran to immediately release Americans detained in the country. The announcements and the report comes just days before Iran holds presidential elections that pit President Hassan Rouhani against several conservative opponents. It also comes ahead of Trump's five-day trip to the region. Iran Responds to New US Sanctions With More of Its Own Iran announced plans Thursday to sanction nine U.S. individuals and companies in response to what it called an "unacceptable, illegal" decision by the United States to impose new sanctions in connection with Iran's ballistic missile program. An Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said those sanctioned violated human rights through direct or indirect links to Israeli government crimes in Palestinian territories or by supporting terrorists. It said their names would be announced later. Missile program Iran has insisted it was not working toward building nuclear weapons, and on Thursday reiterated its stance that its missile program is both legal and part of its right to self-defense. The announcement of new U.S. sanctions came as President Donald Trump extended relief from sanctions linked to Iran's nuclear program, as part of the 2015 international agreement to limit Iranian nuclear activity. Under that deal, sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program were waived in exchange for Iran's commitment to roll back its nuclear activity in ways that would ensure it could not develop nuclear weapons. The sanctions relief requires a waiver that must be renewed every six months. Jones said the U.S. is still forming a "comprehensive Iran policy,'' alluding to Trump's assertion that he may tear up the nuclear deal after he finishes reviewing it. In the meantime, Jones said, the U.S. will keep implementing the deal, including the sanctions relief. John Kerry, security experts team up to defend Iran deal from Trump 05/18/17 By Mohammad Homaeefar, Tehran Times Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry along with other top security experts have come to defend the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA, from the country's hardline President Donald Trump. Through a newly formed organization called Diplomacy Works, Kerry and several national security experts who served under former U.S. President Barack Obama are fighting to protect the nuclear agreement, The Independent reported. www.diplomacyworks.org "There are few better examples of the value of diplomacy than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)...," the group said. It came days before Trump's deadline to make a decision on whether to issue waivers temporarily suspending some anti-Iran sanctions. Reached between Iran and six world powers on 14 July 2015, the nuclear deal aimed at limiting some aspect of Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Though since Trump became president, fears have been raised over the future of the JCPOA, as he had called the accord "the worst deal ever" and promised to rip it up once in office. Despite the rise of warmongers to power, Washington could not deny the fact that Tehran has been fully committed to the JCPOA. In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Iran had complied with its commitments. However Tillerson said the White House will "evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] is vital to the national security interests of the United States." The International Atomic Energy Agency has also, on numerous occasions, verified Tehran's adherence to its commitments under the accord. Yet the Trump administration has not fallen short of coming up with new threats and accusations against the Islamic Republic, with Tillerson claiming Iran's nuclear program poses "a grave risk to international peace and security". Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif hit back at Tillerson, saying "worn-out U.S. accusations" could not "mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with the agreement. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif (cartoon by Keyvan Varessi, published in January 2016 by Iranian daily Ghanoon) Iran has also warned that it would restore its nuclear activities to the pre-JCPOA level, if the other side - especially the U.S. - fails to keep its end of the bargain. Amid growing tension between the two countries, Diplomacy Works has gathered top experts, most of whom part of the Obama administration, to reinforce the deal. One of its goals, as former Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning at the State Department Jon Finer told the Independent, is to "bring accurate, nonpartisan information about the deal at a time when the focus on Iran policy is increasing and there is widespread disinformation about what is in it and how it is working." The group has increased its activities ahead of Trump's first foreign tour, beginning with a trip to Riyadh and Tel Aviv later this month. Trump's upcoming Middle East tour is aimed at getting Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the region to stand in unity with Israel against Iran, according to Tillerson. Mainstream PC makers keep cranking up the dial on their gaming laptops. Lenovos Legion Y920 is proof of it: Announced Thursday, this new notebook is the companys most powerful attempt yet to appeal to enthusiasts. Lenovo loaded this beefy 17-inch laptop with your choice of a Core i7-7700HQ or the Core i7-7820HKIntels most powerful laptop chip. The GeForce GTX 1070 handles the Y920s graphics, paired with a 75Hz IPS 1080p G-Sync panel. Nvidias powerful GPU should have no trouble pushing that display to its limits, and because the screen rocks Nvidias G-Sync technology, you wont need to worry about tearing or stuttering in games. It looks like a recipe for a buttery-smooth gaming experience. Rounding out the Legion Y920s specs are an acceptable 16GB of DDR4 RAM and storage options that include a 512GB SSD plus a 1TB hard drive. Lenovo Lenovos Legion Y920 comes with a mechanical keyboard and per-key lighting. One of the Legion Y920s highlight hardware features cant be found on a spec sheet. This system marks Lenovos debut into mixing mechanical keyboards with laptops. The Legions keyboard features a 10-key pad and per-key RGB backlighting. Theres another bonus: If you buy the laptop with the Core i7-7820K, pressing the Y920s built-in Turbo key triggers a no-hassle factory overclock using the included Turbo Boost utility. Melissa Riofrio/PCWorld Lenovos Legion Y920 laptop includes an overclocking utility for cranking it up responsibly. Ports on the Y920 include full-size HDMI, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, an SD card reader, and gigabit ethernet. At 10.1 pounds, this laptop wont win contests for portability, but gaming notebooks usually only move between the den and bedroom anyway. More important is how a system this large manages its cooling. More space should allow for a quieter experience. We ran a quick graphics load on the Legion Y920 to see how loud the fans would get, and the preliminary spot check indicates that its not bad. The noise level is far from silent, but the fan acoustics were reasonable under load. Lenovo The Legion Y920 is well-vented, which helps keep the fan noise down. The price isnt quite as reasonable, bucking Lenovos reputation for giving gamers a lot of value. This notebook will set you back about $2,700 when configured as listed abovea heck of a lot more than other GTX 1070 notebooks like the Omen 17. HPs laptop has an older Skylake quad-core and lacks the fancy keyboard, but its about $900 cheaper. Lenovo may intend to pit the Legion Y920 against Alienwares 17 R4, which costs $2,400 when equipped with a similar load-out. Still, the Alienware 17 R4 is $300 cheaper. That much cash can buy a lot of games. The Government of Ghana is reviewing the debts incurred by the John Mahama administration to find out whether the loans were used for the purposes for which they were contracted, Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, has revealed. After the review of the debt situation, the findings will be made public to enable the Ghanaian people realise how their moneys were spent by the previous administration, Mr Marfo added. It is recalled that during the electioneering season, the then main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) accused the Mahama government of excessive borrowing but with little to show for it, an assertion the then governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) rubbished because they thought they had embarked on several infrastructural projects with those loans. Mr Marfo, speaking during the National Policy Summit on Tuesday May 16, said that the new government is investigating all the debts left behind by Mr Mahama. We are working on the numbers, the ministry of finance gives us the bulk numbers. But they do not all emanate from one source, we have some sitting in energy, some sitting in SSNIT and we are examining all as a government and we are doing it gradually and slowly because we must be accurate. We want to be sure that whatever comes out finally is accurate. The government owes it as a duty to keep the nation informed about these debts and what it was used for. Source: classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video ALMATY, KazakhstanOn May 2, 2017, a court in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, sentenced Teymur Akhmedov to a five-year prison sentence for performing his peaceful Bible education work, characterized by the court as inciting religious discord and advocating [religious] superiority. In addition to the prison term, the judge also imposed a three-year ban on Mr. Akhmedovs participation in Bible education activities. The decision places Mr. Akhmedov, 61, husband and father of three sons, in an especially precarious situation because he requires treatment for a bleeding tumor and has been denied the medical attention that he requires. Mr. Akhmedov will appeal the courts decision. The appeal is likely to be heard later in May or early June. The decision is the latest disturbing development in a legal drama that began January 18, 2017, when Kazakhstans National Security Committee arrested and charged Mr. Akhmedov under the controversial Article 174(2) of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan. Mr. Akhmedov was then held in detention for months and denied medical treatment. David A. Semonian, a spokesman at the Witnesses world headquarters, states: Jehovahs Witnesses around the world are deeply concerned over Teymurs welfare. We hope that the authorities will dismiss these unwarranted charges and finally allow this loyal, law-abiding Christian to be reunited with his family and receive the medical care he urgently requires. Jehovahs Witnesses view the actions of the Astana court as evidence that Kazakhstan is following the pattern of religious persecution set by Russia, particularly the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia. Mr. Semonian explains: As was the case with our worship in Russia, Teymur Akhmedov is a victim of a law ostensibly designed to guard against terrorism that is being misapplied to our worship. International bodies, including the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, have called on Kazakhstan to stop misusing such laws to persecute peaceful worship. He concludes: Our concern extends to all of our fellow worshippers in Kazakhstan, whom we hope will no longer be harassed for carrying out their Bible education work, which is known to help communities around the world. We will all be following this case closely. Media Contacts: International: David A. Semonian, Office of Public Information, +1-845-524-3000 Kazakhstan: Bekzat Smagulov, +7-747-671-45-01 Source: jw.org Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Attorney General says she did not order the discontinuation of the case involving members of the Delta Force who were standing trial for conspiracy to commit crime, assault on public officer among other charges. Gloria Akuffo has consequently ordered investigations into the circumstances under which the Principal State Attorney in Kumasi entered a nolle prosequi and got eight of the suspects discharged for lack of evidence. A statement released by the Information Minister said "preliminary investigations suggest that decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution and may amount to breach of internal procedures." The statement comes in the face of blistering attacks from the minority condemning the decision by the court to free the suspects. Abass Caesar, Ebenezer Opoku, Samuel Yeboah, Kofi Fosu, Christian Anokye, Kwame Frempong, Eric Kusi and Abdul Suleman Odudu were asked to go home today because the prosecution does not have evidence to prove its case of assault on a public officer and three other charges leveled against them. They attacked the court, intimidated the judge and freed 13 suspects who were at the time standing trial for attacking the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator. The 13 suspects were part of 20 others who budged into the offices of the Regional Coordinating Council and in a Rambo style drove the security coordinator out of his office. They said Mr Agyei had nothing to do in that office if he played little or no role in getting the NPP into office. Their action was condemned and they were arrested and arraigned before court. However during hearing, tens of angry members of the Delta Force besieged the court, insulted the judge and freed the suspects. Their action was captured on video which went viral on social media. The action received a wave of criticism from the Christian Council, the Ghana Bar Association as well as many identifiable groups. In the heat of the criticisms, the government through its Interior Minister as well as the president condemned the incident and promised to let the rule of law work. Days after the assurances, the 13 suspects who escaped from the court, voluntarily reported to the police and the eight others said to be behind the invasion of the courts were also arrested and detained. However, in a shocking turn of events, the eight persons were early Wednesday released by theKumasi Circuit Court for lack of evidence. The Prosecution filed a nolle prosequi which led to the judge discharging the suspects. The Minority, alarmed at the court's decision organised a press conference condemning both the Attorney General, the president and the government in general for "pandering to political pressure." The Minority Leader ordered a rearrest of the suspects and have them prosecuted again. In a rather interesting twist, the Attorney General has caused to be issued on her behalf, a statement suggesting she did not order the discontinuation of the case. The full statement is as follows; STATEMENT ON DISCONTINUANCE OF PROSECUTION The Attorney General's department is investigating circumstances under which a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi decided without recourse to advice from higher authority on a matter of high public interest of this nature to drop charges against persons arrested in connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Magistrate's court in April this year. Preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature. While the department awaits the full results of this investigation we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule of law is applied at all times and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute will be sanctioned and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic. Signed Information Minister Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Ghana would take advantage of the arbitrage in the West African electricity market to sell the excess power that would be generated from the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) signed under the emergency power programmme. Mr Boakye Agyarko, the Minister of Energy, who was addressing the National Policy Summit on Tuesday, said Ghana would have an excess of more than 5,800 Megawatts of power accruing from the 43 PPAs signed. The PPAs technically commit Ghana to more than 10,800 megawatts of power when the actual need is less than 5000 MW. If we allow this situation to proceed, it means that the capacity charges that this country will have to pay will amount to some 680 million dollars annually by 2020, he stated. Mr Agyarko said his goal as the Minister was to change the potential excess capacity in an export capacity by exporting it to Ghanas neighbours, including Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, at a lower price than what some these countries paid for. He said he had started discussions with these potential export destinations about Ghana producing power for their market at a lower cost than they currently bought theirs, adding, They seem very happy with it. Ghana, he said, generated power at 13-15 cents per Kilowatt hour, while Ivory Coast generated at nine cents per kilowatt hour and sold to Ghana at 11 cents. As soon as the 330 km line from Abode is completed into Burkina Faso; that is the direction we want to go, he said. Additionally, he stated that the operation of the West Africa Power Pool, when effective would harmonise power tariffs in the Sub-region and make it much cheaper. The World Bank during a briefing with media on the discussions at the World/IMF Bank Spring Meetings, in Accra, some weeks ago raised the issue of the potential excess capacity and recommended exporting to countries in the sub-region. However, it identified the challenge to achieving this as Ghanas high tariffs resulting from the PPAs, compared to others in the Sub-region. In an interview with Dr Mohammed Amin Adam Anta, a Deputy Minister of Energy (Petroleum) on how Ghana would export her excess power considering the relatively high tariffs, he conceded that the tariff rates of the PPAs signed were expensively, averaging about 15-17 cents per kilowatt hour compared to 11 cents in Cote dIvoire. Between now and the next five years, what we want to do is segregate the export market to our advantage, he said. Dr Anta said the Ministry had done the analysis and found that some countries like Burkina Faso and Mali had more expensive rates; with rates at 25 Cents per KW/h, making Ghanas cheaper. We want to take advantage of this second market where power is expensive while we wait for the West Africa Power Pool to come into proper effect and power and pricing regulated, he said. He explained, however, that power consumption in the target countries were not as high as it was in Ghana, thus there was the need to find other ways of using the excess that will remain after the export. He said the Ministry would rationalise the deployment of power using the competitive bidding processes to get the cheapest price and also introduce a wholesale electricity market where the cheapest power would be first to be deployed. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Ghana on, Wednesday, joined the rest of the world to mark the 2017 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), on the theme: Big Data for Big Impact. The World Telecommunication Day has been celebrated annually on 17 May since 1969, marking the founding of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. The theme for WTISD-17 is in line with ITU's work of highlighting the technological developments that have facilitated the emergence of Big Data, developing standards related to Big Data and identifying sources and uses of Big Data, including the use of Big Data technologies for developing and monitoring improvements in information societies. Mr George Andah, a Deputy Minister of Communications, in his address to commemorate the event, in Accra, noted that the world had become Information and Communication Technology (ICT) dependent, hence the need for the public to be security conscious in order not to expose their behaviour pattern online. The Deputy Minister, therefore, cautioned the public against leaving digital footprints as well as some data leakage when using the various technologies to generate extraordinary amount of data. He said the theme chosen for this years celebration was, therefore, timely because the world had already commenced discussions on the Internet of Things, and also social media had caught on fast with everyone and so much data was being churned out daily. Mr Andah explained that Big Data was a term that described large volume of data, both structured and unstructured and which also could be analysed for insights that led to better decisions and strategic inventions. He said the amount of data that was being created and stored on a global level was almost inconceivable and it kept growing by the minute. Within the healthcare, education and agriculture system, big data could make significant impact positively and uncover hidden insights for improvement in all these sectors, he said. The youth have embraced the technology so much so that it has become an efficient and faster mode of acquiring knowledge, sharing information and becoming aware, he stated. Mr Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General of the ITUs speech to mark the day, was read on his behalf by Mr Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, the Chairman of the National Communications Authority (NCA). Mr Zhao said the 2017 theme focused on the power of Big Data for development and aimed to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context. The insight brought on by advanced analysis can strongly complement the evidence-based nature of decision-making that can be leveraged at national, regional and international levels to drive success towards attaining all 17 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, he said. He said the event was also an occasion to take a closer look at the importance of governance and regulation, and the implications for personal privacy and security given the future exponential growth in data and connectivity. Countless opportunities will be identified as we learn to better perfect and harness big data, and understand the impact big data can have as a global good, he said. Activities undertaken by the ITU Membership will contribute towards building political momentum to embrace Big Data and leverage insights to identify new opportunities to creatively address sustainable development challenges, he said. Mr Sakyi-Addo, for his part said: I believe that it is time now, more than ever, to fully explore the possibilities of this concept, Big Data and the impact thereof. I am sure that this event today will be of benefit to all Ghanaians. He said he would work with his team of board members to advance the nations telecommunication industry, which was the bedrock of many industries. Ms Cynthia Prah, the National Information Officer of the United Nations Information Centre, who represented the UN Resident Coordinator, said data would play a significant role in the attainment of the 2030 SDGs. Data can and will transform our communities if we are able to understand and use it well, she stated Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Power Minister in the erstwhile Mahama administration, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has described the World Banks comment which claims the cost of power in Ghana has been high in the last 8 years as factually incorrect. According to him, it is erroneous impression being created by the World Bank Country Director that Ghana has signed so many agreements and also that over the last 8 years the power purchase agreements the previous government signed have had higher tariff, raising the cost of generation in Ghana. The World Bank has blamed Ghanas relative high cost of power on the adoption of sole sourcing in the granting of power purchase agreements under the past NDC administration. The Bank has also warned of some economic consequences following the countrys inability to sell off its excess power due to the high cost. The World Bank was compelled to cut back on its financial support to the private participation in the energy sector upon realizing that the country had signed more agreements than required. Currently the NPP is reviewing the agreements whilst it is seeking to reduce the cost of power. Commenting on the World Bank report, Dr. Kwabena Donkor on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show averred it is unfortunate that Ghanaians always accept any document emanating from the World Bank as if it is gospel. He however grimaced that the World Bank Country Director, Henry Kerali has a responsibility to be factual in all their releases and commentaries about Ghana. For example the Country Director alluded to the fact that over 30 power purchase agreements have been signed over the last couple of years and that is factually incorrect. The process of signing a power purchase agreement is only consummated when Parliament approves the agreement, he fumed. He elaborated that the Attorney General in the last administration advised that ECG and even the ministry should only initiate and then submit the negotiated initial document to Cabinet and thus it is only after Cabinet approves that it goes to Parliament; it is only after the approval of Parliament that it becomes a binding agreement on Ghana. " . . if ECG has some number of agreements, those agreements are still draft and they are not binding on Ghana to be bundled around as if Ghana has signed 30 agreements, because over the last couple of years Parliament has approved a number of agreements and they are less than 10. He vehemently cautioned the World Bank to be careful of their pronouncement; reminding them if ECG initial or signed some agreements, and Cabinet has not yet approved, it cannot be called an agreement. I think the World Bank Country director should know better. My other beef with the World Bank has to do with the statement that over the last 8 years; they were extremely selective in their political framework that the power agreements we have signed had been on the higher side in terms of tariffs. General Asogli Phase 1 was not signed within the last 8 years . . . in 2007 during the similar load shedding emergency the government signed an agreement with a company called Trans-Thermal at 29 cent per kilowatt hour, the highest in the history of thermal generation in Ghana. I will not have a problem with the World Bank if they say that our tariffs are generally higher than our major competitors in the sub-region, which happens to be Nigeria and Ivory Coast; if they said that I would not have any problem but when they go into political picking, specifying that in the last 8 years as if the years preceded that had lower tariffs, it is tantamount to political mischief by the World Bank Country office in my opinion, he chided. Former Power Minister pontificated that World Bank has a tendency of praising government when it is in power and immediately the government exits and a new one comes the World Bank condemns or demonizes the government that has just left office. It has become a tendency in this country and we think we should call the World Bank to order. If government comes up with a policy and the World Bank has any issue with it, they should say so while in office and not give the impression to the Ghanaian populace that they are working with the government; everything is cushier only for them to turn around to demonize the government when it exits, he posited. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video General Secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC), Atik Mohammed, has asked the Police Service to, as a matter of urgency, re-arrest the Delta Force members who have been discharged by the Attorney General. The suspects were standing trial at a Kumasi Circuit Court for conspiracy to commit crime and assault on public officer among other charges. Reports indicated that the Attorney General had discontinued the case against the eight members of the vigilante group, Delta Force, who were said to have aided the escape of the 13 of their members. The Prosecution filed a nolle prosequi which led to the judge discharging the suspects. Commenting on the issue on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Atik Mohammed registered his utter displeasure with the release of the suspects, stating emphatically that he believes there was a conspiracy to free them. According to him, the reason given by the Attorney General that the suspects were discharged for lack of evidence is unconvincing. Im beginning to suspect some conspiracy because it is abnormal. Its not how the Police usuallyIt is just a deliberate attempt to weaken this case so that they can free these individuals". He suggested that if indeed the State wanted to prosecute the suspects, there should have been an identification parade by the Police Service for people to identify the suspects who perpetrated the violent action on the court and its presiding Judge. Because, to him, the suspects didn't act in secrecy but in the full glare of the public and media present at the court; hence the identification parade would have been much helpful. Nonetheless, he held strongly that the AG cannot say there's lack of evidence in the case because they would find one if they delve deeper into the case. Atik Mohammed further took a swipe at the Nana Addo administration, saying he thought the Mahama administration was worse and so a change of government was necessary but it appears the current administration is compacting "what happened in 8 years in 4 months". He called on the government not to allow the suspects to go scot free because their actions may leave a blot on Ghana's history. "We cant allow this blot on our history. We must get this thing out of our history books. It cant be recorded in our history, he added. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Melbourne woman named Molly Hill has written an absolutely jaw-dropping Facebook post detailing a horror trip to Hawaii, during which she was allegedly detained in an actual prison after immigration officials suspected her of trying to immigrate illegally. Hill says she left for Honolulu on Monday to visit her American boyfriend. She had a tourist visa and a return flight, but since she was planning to be away for 88 days she had quit her marketing job to vacation in unencumbered freedom. She says she expected to pass through customs without too much hassle however: I was taken into an interview room and had every inch of my luggage searched. They understood that I have an American boyfriend and I spent about 6 hours in and out of the interrogation rooms. In the end they were convinced I wanted to immigrate illegally because my diary had notes like going away drinks and last day at work, things I got in order before expecting to be away for 3 months. Yep, immigration officials went through her shit, read her diary, decided that going away drinks was tantamount to leaving the country for good in order to live out my dream of being an illegal immigrant in Hawaii, and put her in jail for the night. Hill says the detention centre was a federal prison picture OITNB but with locked cells and on entry she was forced to undress in front of an officer and do a mortifying squat-and-cough routine. After a night with convicted felons (who actually all sound pretty nice), she was taken back to the airport, allowed to call home, and made to pay $620 for a flight back to Sydney. And you thought spending a couple days crouched over the toilet in Bali was rough. No word from US Customs and Border Protection as of yet, but were all keen to see how this latest bit of wildly overzealous, paranoid nationalism gets explained away. As for Molly, her last missive was 23 hours ago; we hope shes home safe by now, and that at the very least she gets a Netflix series of her own out of this utter debacle. Source: Facebook / News.com.au. Image: Facebook / Molly Hill. Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. military intelligence analyst arrested in 2010 for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified files regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been released from detention. Among the files Manning sent to WikiLeaks was a video captured from an Apache gunship, which showed the helicopter firing upon suspected insurgents in Baghdad. It was revealed those fired upon were actually civilians, including two Reuters journalists. However, the release of the files also brought considerable criticism from the U.S. military and intelligence community, some of whom described her as not a whistleblower, but a traitor. Just after her release, Manning took to social media to document her re-entry into public life. So, im already enjoying my first hot, greasy pizza ?? A post shared by Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea87) on May 17, 2017 at 9:34am PDT First steps of freedom!! ?? . . #chelseaisfree A post shared by Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea87) on May 17, 2017 at 6:39am PDT Manning, who faced hardships in the male detention facility as a transgender prisoner, also released a statement about her release earlier this week. In it, she wrote that for the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world. Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine. Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts. In January, the 29-year-old had the vast majority of her sentence for espionage, theft and fraud convictions commuted by President Barack Obama in one of his final substantive acts in the White House. As her sentence is still being appealed, Manning will technically remain an active duty member of the military, but has been placed in a special non-paid role. She will still be able to access military-provided healthcare benefits. Source: ABC / BBC. Snatched At Cinemark (R) Grade: C Goldie Hawns character Elise in First Wives Club summed up the glass ceiling for women in Hollywood. There are only three ages for women in Hollywood, said Elise. Babe, District Attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy. " Goldies babe days were in the sixties on Laugh-In where she go-go danced in a bikini and told dumb blonde jokes. Her District Attorney days ran through the 1970s and 1980s, when she both produced and acted in films. She won an Oscar for Cactus Flower and also was nominated for Best Actress for Private Benjamin, a film she produced. Over a couple decades the go-go dancer became one of Hollywoods most powerful women. So does that mean Goldie, now 71, has entered her Driving Miss Daisy phase? Hardly. She plays a mother trying to channel her inner go-go girl in Snatched. Snatched is Goldies first film in 15 years. Those of us who loved her on Laugh-In are delighted to see her back. Unfortunately, Goldie accepted a silly, shallow script for her revival. Despite a stellar cast of comediennes including Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack, Snatched is a quite lame comedy that doesnt do justice to the incredible talent. Whats more Goldie doesnt get to be Goldie Amy is the center of attention. Goldie is almost reduced to the straight woman who exists as a foil for the Amy-the-star. The story lives somewhere near the intersection of far-fetched and contrived. Amy Schumers lover dumps her after she buys vacation tickets to Ecuador. To keep from wasting these non-refundable tickets, Amy takes her mom, Goldie, on the trip. Once they arrive, they are kidnapped by bad dudes who send ransom notes back home. This is a comedy, of course, so there wont be killings not many, anyway. Well, actually, there is a harpooning and a shovel slaughter. Instead, our heroines will manage to escape and then try to find their way to an embassy across the border. Along the way, many annoying things will happen to our heroines. Amy will get a tapeworm, and will have it removed in a painful close up. The entire South American fiasco, complete with the predictable/regrettable casting of non-white non-Americans as nasty villains, is a waste. Despite being disguised as a terrorism comedy, Snatched has an ongoing body shaming theme in which Amy Schumers defends her right not to be thin. Thats a common Schumer motif. The Bridget Jones movies traveled the same road, but with more nuance. The script includes a number of scenes in which we are asked to laugh at Amy because shes not a model. A bartender tells her not to worry about being kidnapped because they only want young beautiful females. That is so rude, says Amy. Yes, Amy, it is rude but you have script control! The best performance in the film, sadly, is by a supporting actor who plays a state department official who is asked to send commandos to rescue Amy and Goldie. His ever-increasing exasperation with frantic phone calls provides a few chuckles. Great female comics overshadowed by a small supporting role? That cant be good. Snatched just doesnt have enough laughs or enough depth to deserve Goldie. Heres an appalling little shock for your Thursday evening Rolf Harris, the slimy fuck / disgraced entertainer convicted in 2014 of sexually assaulting several girls, will be released from British prison on Friday. Harris has been serving a sentence of five years and nine months in Stafford Prison for 12 counts of indecent assault. While in prison, hes done a series of fucked and weird things, including making toilet roll didgeridoos and writing a revenge album with highly disturbing lyrics. He is currently facing seven new charges related to the indecent assault of three women between 1971 and 2005. They were all teenagers at the time. According to Judge Deborah Taylor, Harris has been released on bail for these charges, and will be attending the trial in person when it resumes on Monday. He had previously been attending via video link, thanks to his age (hes 87) and, presumably, the weight of his own evil being too much for him to stand under. Heres hoping his jaunt out of jail is a brief one. Source: News.com.au. Image: Getty / Alex Huckle. The Department of Justice has appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein confirmed the appointment in a statement earlier today. In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter, he said in a statement. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place the investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from normal chain of command. It comes one day after the embattled Trump administration found itself in yet another scandal, as a leaked memo from former FBI director James Comey whom President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired last week alleged that Trump had urged him to drop the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Mueller, 71, was appointed FBI director by President George W Bush in 2001, and reappointed by President Barack Obama in 2011. He was Comeys immediate predecessor, and one of the longest-serving directors (after J. Edgar Hoover) in history. As special counsel, hell have the power to subpoena documents and prosecute crimes independent of Congress although as Vox points out, hell still be answerable to (and therefore able to be dismissed by) Rosenstein, who is in turn answerable to the president. His appointment comes as Democrats have increasingly called for a special prosecutor to investigate the Russian connection, with a growing number of Republicans also asking Congress to step up their game and dig deeper. Source: The Guardian / NY Times / Vox / ABC. Photo: Ann Heisenfelt / Getty. Armed robbers broke into A$AP Rockys home overnight and stole over $2 million worth of jewellery and other property, reports TMZ. According to the report, three male suspects got into the L.A. house via an unlocked window around 11:30pm local time. When A$APs sister walked in on them, they pulled a gun. She is reported to be uninjured. A$AP was not home at the time of the incident. The robbers bolted with USD $1.5 million (AU $2.2 million) in property. They also took a safe, but left it on the sidewalk. TMZ also reports that their source says this looks like a targeted robbery, rather than a random attack. Well keep you updated as this unfolds. Photo: Jamie McCarthy / Getty. First, a hypothesis: every time you drink in the presence of friends and excellent tunes, the likelihood of you dancing without care increases*. Thats not even a bad thing, because unbridled joy is actually something to be celebrated in these dire times. Jennifer Lawrence recognises this fact, cause shes hit back at critics whove latched onto a recently-leaked vid of the Hollywood mainstay delivering an impromptu pole dance routine. After video emerged** of the actor latching onto a pole at Viennas Beverly Hills Club and giving her moves a red hot crack, Lawrence took to Facebook to assure the world she simply DGAF. Look, nobody wants to be reminded that they tried to dance on a stripper pole by the internet, Lawrence writes. It was one of my best friends birthdays and I dropped my paranoia guard for one second to have fun. Im not going to apologize, I had a BLAST that night. In response to media claims that she was essentially just roaming around the club in a bra, Lawrence confirmed Ps thats not a bra its an Alexander Wang top and Im not gonna lie, I think my dancings pretty good. Even with no core strength. So, eat shit, fashion police. The leak of the video comes several months after Ryan Collins, the man convicted of the large-scale photo hack which saw nude images of Lawrence leaked online, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. Through that perspective, its pretty easy to see why Lawrence would choose to address the publication of footage taken without her knowledge, nor consent. FWIW, Lawrence was in town to film her new flick Red Sparrow, in which she portrays a ballerina who falls into a Russian spy agency. You can probably expect to see some of her (consensually-filmed) moves when that flick drops later this year. *The author of this article is not as excellent as Jennifer Lawrence, and consequently tries incredibly hard to reserve his inebriated movements to subdued headnods. **Weve chosen not to include the video here, as it was obviously shot without her permission, and released for the apparent purpose of making Lawrence feel shitty. If you want to see it, thats on you, pal. Source: Jennifer Lawrence / Facebook. Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty. A company that calls itself the largest bed pillow and mattress pad manufacturer in North America will consolidate multiple operations into one facility in Schuylkill County, and is expected to create 80 additional jobs. Hollander Sleep Products LLC, a bed pillow and mattress pad manufacturer, will expand its Pennsylvania operations by consolidating two operations into a single facility at the Highridge Business Park in Foster Township, Schuylkill County, Gov. Tom Wolf announced in a press release. Hollander will combine operations from two facilities in the Frackville Industrial Park, at Exit 124 of Interstate 81, into a single, modern 357,000 square-foot-facility in the Highridge Business Park at Exit 119 of Interstate 81. The project will allow the company to add six new production lines, equating to an increase of 40 percent of current output, the press release said. Hollander plans to invest $1,730,000 in the project, including renovations and leasehold improvements, and the purchase of machinery and equipment. The move will lead to the creation of 80 new, full-time jobs over the next three years and the retention of an additional 225 existing Pennsylvania positions, Wolf said. Hollander received a funding proposal from the Department of Community and Economic Development that includes a $125,000 Pennsylvania First Program grant, $36,000 in WEDnetPA funding for employee training, and $80,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits to be distributed upon the creation of the new jobs. The company was also encouraged to apply for a $337,000 low-interest loan through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority. The project was coordinated by the Governor's Action Team in collaboration with the Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation. Hollander started as a family-owned business in Newark, New Jersey in 1953 and has eight manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada, and a product development, sourcing and quality control office in China. Hollander is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, and operates its main showroom in New York City. Trade Talk showcases the businesses in the midstate and the people who make them work. From companies who make iconic products to the small family businesses and everyone in between, we have a little bit of everything in the midstate. Midstate companies keep the economy moving, people working and communities thriving throughout the midstate. You can find business news from around the midstate at www.pennlive.com/business. APPOINTMENTS Jon H. Kessler was named a shareholder at Gannett Fleming. Kessler is based in the firm's corporate headquarters in Cumberland County and currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Kessler is a member of the Gannett Fleming Affiliates board of directors. With more than 30 years of financial leadership experience, Kessler manages the financial aspects of the firm. Gannett Fleming named the following three associates as senior associates in recognition of their significant role in the future of the firm. This distinction recognizes each individual's excellent work efforts, commitment to client service, and leadership: Michael J. Mehaffey, serves as senior project manager and senior project engineer in Gannett Fleming's water practice. He performs and directs engineering services related to water resources and water utilities, including comprehensive planning studies, management studies, financial analyses and studies, and the design of projects such as water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, and transmission mains; Eric E. Rensel has served Gannett Fleming for more than 17 years and was recently named a vice president. He specializes in innovative ways for transportation agencies to mitigate congestion by improving roadway operational efficiency; Bryan Shober currently serves as manager of Transit & Rail Systems' MidAtlantic Overhead Catenary System group, consisting of 21 OCS engineers, designers, and technicians that service projects across North America. Shober has more than 15 years of experience working with railroad agencies. PROMOTIONS Dr. Krishnankutty (Krish) Sathian was named chair of the Department of Neurology for Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Sathian, who is currently professor of neurology, rehabilitation medicine and psychology at Emory University, will begin in his new role on July 1. He trained at Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, graduating as the class valedictorian. Sathian moved to the United States for postdoctoral training at Washington University in Missouri, then completed a residency in neurology at the University of Chicago. In 1994, he joined the faculty at Emory University. Sathian replaces Dr. David Good, the longtime chair of neurology, who chose to step down from that position last fall but continues to serve as a staff physician and professor of neurology. NEW HIRES Leah Warren of York was named insurance services account manager at Members 1st Insurance Services. Warren has four years of experience as a licensed multi-line insurance producer. She most recently was an insurance representative with Steve Horning Insurance Agency in York County. Nikki Otto of Carlisle has joined Erdman Anthony as a payroll/administration clerk in the firm's Harrisburg-area office. It was a gruesome discovery at a playground this morning in western Pennsylvania: A teen-age boy was found shot dead, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. UPDATE: As WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reports, it happened at Collingwood park in Swissvale, Allegheny County. Police tell the station a 911 caller reported the body at about 7:10 a.m. Thursday, touching off a massive police response. The name of the victim was not immediately released, and other details of the crime remain sketchy. WPXI reports the victim was age 17. Allegheny County homicide detectives are leading the investigation. A suspended sentence was revoked Wednesday for a 13-year-old arsonist who caused upwards of $3 million in damage to Helena High School. Less than 12 hours after the girl received the suspended sentence on May 3, she was with a group of other teens who stole beer from a local store. Although the girl denied stealing the beer, Judge Kathy Seeley said enough evidence showed the girl broke the conditions of her release. Seeley ordered that the girl be in the care of the Montana Department of Corrections until she turns 18. Her placement and potential early release will be determined by juvenile probation. The judge also ordered that the girl remain at the youth detention center in Great Falls until she is transported to a secure chemical dependency treatment facility. Her accomplice, a 13-year-old boy, was slated to change his plea in the arson case Wednesday, but his hearing was postponed for two weeks. He was scheduled to go to trial in July. On May 3, Seeley went along with a plea agreement and gave the girl a suspended sentence with the understanding the teen would go to inpatient chemical dependency treatment the next day. Restitution in the amount of $250,000 also was ordered. If found guilty, the boy will share responsibility for the restitution. At that hearing, Seeley turned the girl over to the responsibility of her father, who was to take a bus with the teen to a treatment center in South Dakota. About 11 hours later, around 3:30 a.m. the next day, the girl was at a Helena grocery store stealing beer with her brother and another girl, court documents state. The girl was intoxicated on malt liquor in November when she entered the high school with two others and started a fire in a janitor's closet in the math wing. Another part of a plea agreement says the girl, who was already expelled from middle school, is banned from stepping foot in Helena High School. At her sentencing hearing, juvenile probation officers voiced concern about the girl's record of repeatedly violating the law and not complying with orders. Her previous violations ranged from cutting off her GPS bracelet to stealing malt liquor from a local store on another occasion. The girl admitted to charges of arson, obstructing officers and alcohol possession. She told Seeley she started the fire in a custodians closet and ran when she saw police at the scene. All classes were canceled the next two days at Helena High due to the extensive smoke and water damage. Some classes had to be held at Helena College across the street while classrooms were repaired. It took nearly three months before classes resumed in the damaged wing of the building. One of her alleged accomplices, another teenage girl, has admitted to obstructing a peace officer, possession of an intoxicating substance and possession of tobacco products. A count equivalent to a felony charge of burglary was dropped. She is currently at a residential treatment center for at-risk youth, according to testimony. A restaurant barge that entertained guests on the Monongahela River in Washington County, Pa., is sinking after a massive leak. KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh writes that for many in the area, the California Boat Club was a small slice of Mon Valley history. Now the slowly-sinking restaurant is literally part of the river. Owners Nancy and Larry Victoria told KDKA there is also a marina, but it is removed from the water over the winter. "Thank goodness the marina wasn't there," Nancy Victoria told the station. "If there were boats there, they would have been devastated." It is not known if something in the river struck the steel hull of the barge or a tear developed overtime, KDKA reports, adding: The barge had been leaking recently, but there were pumps that the owners checked on daily. Today, the owners said they planned to salvage what they could. A ballot referendum allowing for liquor licenses in Camp Hill passed on May 16. But customers hoping to order a beer or glass of wine with their dinner at one of the borough's restaurants will likely have a long wait ahead of them. Despite the referendum passing by a ratio of nearly three to one of the borough's voters, there are still several obstacles in place for any establishment hoping to acquire a license. "Cumberland County is over quota, which means there are no new licenses to be had," said Elizabeth Brassell, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Each county is only assigned a certain number of licenses, so there are no plans to issue new ones at the moment. A Camp Hill establishment looking to serve alcohol would instead have to acquire a license that already exists. And to do that, there are two options. "Typically what happens is entities will have to find an existing license holder," Brassell said. The license can be transferred via a private sale, though the transfer would be supervised by Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and require a 30 day public posting. Merely finding someone willing to sell the license isn't the end of the story, though. "Depending on the complexity of the application, we need to look at the people involved, the licensing involved, the facility involved," Brassell continued. "We have license transfer applications that can take months." The other way to acquire a license would be in a state-run auction, which were authorized by the passage of Act 39. Expired licenses are thus re-circulated to businesses who apply and submit winning bids. Restaurant managers in Camp Hill might not be planning on tackling either approach anytime soon. "I don't think anybody can afford it." said Mike Milad Rhayem, manager of Cedars Restaurant. "The liquor license from Cumberland County are not less than $200,000 dollars. To be prepared for the liquor license, you need to spend another $100-$200,000 dollars to fix the place, and equipment, and, and, and, and." Rhayem's estimate, if anything, may be a bit conservative: one such license was purchased at auction by the grocery chain Giant for $556,000. Minimum bids, according to Brassell, are $25,000. Other expenses for renovations and expansions would be required for most establishments. For a restaurant, a minimum of 400 square feet of licensed space is necessary to be approved for a license. Furthermore, the restaurant must be equipped for seating for at least 30 people. Many restaurants in Camp Hill would be hard pressed to meet those criteria. "It's a very small area," said Rhayem. "I'm the biggest space in the restaurant area here in Camp Hill. There's no place in Camp Hill, if we're talking Market Street." Instead, restaurants in the borough are likely to continue their BYOB policy. Management of Dolce Vita and Cornerstone Coffeehouse were unable to immediately respond to interview request for this story. But Cedars, Nino's Bistro, Zag's Pizza, Cornerstone Coffeehouse and Dolce Vita all allow guests to bring their own alcoholic drinks. "The person who likes BYOB, he doesn't want to go out and spend six dollars for a glass of wine when he can buy the whole bottle for 10 bucks," Rhayem said. Rhayem added that his restaurant, and the borough in general, didn't have an atmosphere conducive to bars. And while he doesn't see the likelihood of Cedars or other local restaurants benefitting from the new ballot measure, he does see one clear beneficiary. "I believe all of these things happen over here because of Giant," he said. "Because Giant wants to be like Wegmans, and wants to have a liquor license." Brassell admits that the current laws, even after the passage of Act 39, are often complicated and antiquated. "The liquor code was written in the 1930s to limit and restrict alcohol," she said. "We're in a much different time, but those laws are still in effect." Auditor General Eugene DePasquale laid out his plans Thursday to scrutinize the state funds that helped subsidize last year's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. DePasquale, a Democrat, conceded that for some taxpayers there will be a certain amount of "trust me" that goes into this, given his close ties to many of the key players in the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale But he also said he believes he has earned that trust through his five-year record in the auditor general's office. Calls for audits were sounded within days of media reports last week that shined a light on the use of a $4 million in host committee surpluses to pay bonuses to its former staffers and make other charitable grants. The spending was outlined in a year-end report of committee activity with the Federal Election Commission, and first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer last week. State officials, including Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and Senate Republican leaders, were quick to express frustration that state's taxpayers weren't offered a refund of some of the $10 million appropriated in the state budget last year for convention prep work. DePasquale said Thursday the scope of his review will depend heavily on whether the host committee records show that the state dollars were always segregated from other revenues, including private contributions. That was a specific requirement of the July 2016 grant agreement. If so, DePasquale said, he will likely be restricted to looking at whether the specific uses of the public funds was in compliance with the purposes set out in the grant contract: infrastructure purposes including "rental and build out of the convention arena... transportation, communications and technology systems, necessary office space and event security." If the funds were mingled with income from other sources, "our work gets significantly more challenging, because now it (the taxpayer dollars) are mixed with another seventy-six million of funding that may have gone to other items that weren't part of the grant agreement." Some critics have said DePasquale's track record aside, the onus is squarely on the Auditor General in this case to either prove that he's asking the right questions and getting answers from former bosses and allies, or to hand the case over to someone who can. Drew Crompton, chief counsel to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, noted that Philadelphia 2016's executive director, Kevin Washo, was executive director of the state Democratic Party when DePasquale made his first run for statewide office in 2012. At that time, the state committee was the largest source of funding for DePasquale's campaign. Washo received a $310,000 bonus for his host committee work. DePasquale, prior to running for a York County state House seat in 2006, was an employee in former governor Ed Rendell's Department of Environmental Protection. Rendell was the chair of the host committee, and DePasquale noted Thursday, he has pledged his full cooperation with the audit. DePasquale was also a delegate to the Philadelphia convention. "At some point, you go: 'I'm not the right guy to do it,' and I think we're at that point." Crompton said, suggesting that at the very least that DePasquale should consider personally recusing himself from the probe. Crompton conceded that a large part of his frustration is based on the lack of accountability for the state funding to date. "We were told if we don' give this money, we cannot have a successful convention," Crompton recalled about last year's legislative debate. "We did that ($10 million appropriation) a little bit on faith, and now we've gotten burned." He and other critics of the bonuses have argued it's not just enough to show that the state grant monies stayed segregated, because when the host committee finished with a surplus, it can be argued that all sources of funding - whether segregated or not - contributed to that overage. At a minimum, Crompton suggested, the state should rightfully been reimbursed in proportion to its share of the overall budget. His Senate bosses have hinted that they may seek adjustments to this year's state budget - perhaps to appropriations that go to the City of Philadelphia - as payback. There have been cases where DePasquale has used the bully pulpit to encourage audit subjects to open their full books to his staff, like in a report on the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. He is not making that kind of up-front ask here. But he did pledge Thursday to provide answers, starting with a search for detailed records of where the state funds were spent, and whether there are any grounds for the state to try to recoup any of its funding. "All I can do is do the best job I can do and lay out the facts," DePasquale said. "I know Kevin (Washo). I like him. But at the end of the day the audit is what the audit is." If the grant rules were followed, DePasquale said his report will be focused on whether the state should tighten its tracking procedures and, perhaps, strengthen claw-back language to receive a share of end-of-project surpluses. PennLive's attempted to reach Washo, who now works in government relations for the Philadelphia law firm Cozen O'Connor, on Thursday. He referred us to a statement issued on behalf of the now-defunct committee. "The Host Committee is ready and willing to help the Auditor General in this review, and we will provide his office with whatever documentation it needs. "This morning, we sent a letter to the Auditor General's Office stating that we have directed the firm that compiled the original audit of how the state funds were spent to be available for an inquiry from his office. "We remain confident in our accounting and look forward to this additional review to clarify the matter." DePasquale said he hopes to have his findings complete by July. A New York man has a tentative deal to plead guilty to federal charges that he illegally bought a bald eagle carcass from a seller in Cumberland County. By consummating that transaction in February 2016, Daniel E Strachan, 60, of Depew, violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, according to the charges filed Thursday in U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg. U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler said Strachan bought the carcass through the mail. Strachan's plea agreement won't be valid unless it is approved by Senior Judge Sylvia H. Rambo. The tentative deal doesn't contain a sentencing guarantee. The crime carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The charges resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Audio from Lancaster County-Wide communications captured the initial response to a crash Wednesday morning where a school bus was struck by a sedan, flipping on its side. The video above contains an a portion of the 22-minute audio clip of the Lancaster County Fire/EMS dispatches posted on Facebook. The crash happened at around 7:50 a.m. Wednesday on Route 30 near the intersection of Route 896, close to Fulton Steamboat Inn in East Lampeter Township. The scene was cleared at around 3:30 p.m. One student was ejected from the bus and was airlifted to a pediatric hospital. Another student was taken by ambulance to Neumors Hospital for Children in Wilmington, said John Lines, Lancaster General Hospital spokesman. The bus driver and 13 other students sustained minor injuries and were taken to Lancaster General Hospital for treatment. All patients at Lancaster General Hospital have been released, Lines said. The Lancaster County district attorney's office said the driver of the white sedan was attempting to pass two tractor-trailers and their escort vehicles while heading east on Route 30. The sedan veered back into the eastbound lane, hitting the rear of the escort vehicle, which was pushed into the westbound lane and side-swiped the bus, causing it to yaw and hit one of the tractor-trailer's loads before tipping onto its side. An eye witness said the sedan hit the bus and not the escort vehicle. The male driver of the sedan continued heading east, investigators say. His car will likely have front-bumper damage. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident should call the East Lampeter Township Police, 717-291-4676. State House Republican leaders have joined the chorus of critics angered by the cash-out of surpluses in the accounts of the "Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee" for the Democratic National Convention. And, they went one step further, demanding Thursday in a letter to former Gov. Ed Rendell and Democratic National Committee Chair Thomas Perez that Pennsylvania get a portion of its $10 million appropriation back. "Pennsylvania taxpayers want and need our money back," the letter stated. "Without the $10 million contribution by taxpayers, the (host committee's $2.1 million) surplus would not have existed," the letter signed by the full majority Republican caucus's leadership team stated. "You prioritized bonuses and WAMs over the taxpayers of this Commonwealth. It is truly a slap in the face of every Pennsylvanian. "Respectfully, we don't have the funds to spend frivolously for unaccountable handouts," the Republicans concluded. "Please return the money that rightly belongs to the taxpayers." The House leaders joined a chorus of critics that has already included Gov. Tom Wolf, himself a Democrat who attended last July's convention, and the leaders of the Republican majority in the state Senate. The outrage has surfaced over revelations last week that the host committee disbursed a $2.1 million closing surplus through a combination of civic grants ($1.2 million) and staff bonuses ($900,000). Rendell, the one-time Philly mayor who chaired the host committee, suggested Thursday there's not going to be any refund. Rendell has vociferously defended Philadelphia 2016's disbursements in recent days, arguing all state funds were used precisely in accord with the terms of a contract agreement with the Wolf Administration. "Every penny of the state dollars was used for the goals that they specified in the contract," Rendell told PennLive Thursday, referring to a list that included construction, technology, security and other "infrastructure" expenses. He was also resolute in his insistence that the staff bonuses were paid from a separate pool of privately-donated funds. If the state wanted a share of any final host committee surplus, it should have specified so in its grant award. As it is, the former governor said, Pennsylvania taxpayers should rest assured that they got their money's worth from the four-day convention. Rendell pointed to a recent study pegging the convention as a $230.9 million economic booster shot to the Philadelphia region, not including an estimated $11 million in sales and other tax payments - most of which went to the state. Southeastern Pennsylvania got additional publicity that, if obtained through paid media, would have cost millions more. Rendell has pledged his full cooperation with state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who separately Thursday announced his intent to look into the use of the state convention grant. Rendell said he "may" respond to the Republican leaders directly, but added his first duty will be to make sure that DePasquale's audit team gets all the information it needs. A man who fractured a woman's skull with a pool ball during a wild bar brawl is right where he needs to be: in prison, a state Superior Court panel has concluded. This is a case where Esau Lashow Scott went into a foreign place without knowing the local customs. On Nov. 6, 2015, that unfamiliar place was a bar in Chambersburg. When he walked in the door, the 42-year-old Floridian didn't know about the unspoken rule that newcomers had to play and beat one of the regulars, a guy named Toby, before being allowed to use the pool tables. Scott broke that rule, argued with Toby and then punched him. That's when all hell broke loose. In the state court's opinion, President Judge Emeritus John Bender cited testimony that, after he found himself behind a barricade of bar security staff, Scott whipped a pool ball at Toby, who was brandishing a stool a dozen feet away. The ball missed its target and struck the female bystander. A Franklin County jury convicted Scott of simple assault and disorderly conduct in June 2016. He was sentenced to 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison. That penalty is "unduly harsh," Scott claimed in an appeal to the state court that even his lawyer deemed frivolous. Bender rejected Scott's arguments that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him and that he threw the pool ball in self defense. Instead, Bender cited the observations of county Judge Carol L. Van Horn, who imposed the prison term. Van Horn noted that Scott has a criminal record dating to 1991, and has been convicted and imprisoned in several states. Paul Mango has announced his candidacy for Pennsylvania governor in 2018. The 58-year-old former health care consultant made the formal announcement Wednesday night at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh. Mango has been saying for weeks that he planned to jump into the race. He announced last month that he'd make it official right after the primary. The suburban Pittsburgh resident promises to be a fiscal conservative who can improve the economy. He's a virtual unknown in politics other than as a donor to Republican candidates and causes at the federal level. In a video on his campaign website, Mango says he's running because he's not a politician, and blames Pennsylvania politicians for a sluggish state economy, high taxes and lagging school achievement. Mango is critical of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's fiscal policy and handling of the economy. But before Mango can challenge Wolf, he faces a GOP primary field that so far includes state Sen. Scott Wagner of York County and could grow to include state House Speaker Mike Turzai, also of suburban Pittsburgh. Police released this image, taken from surveillance video, of a car they are seeking that they believe triggered a crash involving a school bus on Route 30 in East Lampeter Township Wednesday. Lancaster County authorities on Thursday said they have video of the car that fled the scene of the school bus crash that seriously injured two students, and they are working on enhancing it to show greater detail. They further said they have surveillance video from several sources, but still urge truck drivers who were in the vicinity of the crash along Route 30 east in East Lampeter Township to check their dash cams for more footage. The accident took place around 7:45 a.m.on Wednesday near the intersection of Routes 30 and 896. Police are asking anyone with information to call 717-291-4676. Police on Thursday also gave an update on the two most seriously injured students, including a 6-year-old said to be "improving" but still in critical condition after being flown to a hospital in Philadelphia. A 16-year-old student is expected to be released from the hospital today. None of the 12 other Lancaster Mennonite School students on the bus were seriously injured, nor were the bus driver and a teacher on the bus. At a news conference Thursday, East Lampeter Township Police Chief John Bowman and county district attorney's office spokesman Brett Hambright wouldn't speculate on what charges the driver of the white Chevrolet Malibu which fled the scene might face. Rather, they said "We want a conversation with him ... get his version of what took place." According to witnesses and police, the white car executed a dangerous pass of a caravan of several flatbeds carrying modular homes. The white Malibu is believed to have struck the escort vehicle in the caravan and then the school bus, which was traveling in the opposite direction and which wound up on its side, with the critically injured 6-year-old thrown from the bus. Authorities say they believe the Malibu has a Pennsylvania registration. It likely has damage to the front and possibly the side, but isn't severely damaged. Regarding the sum of the clues police have to work with, Bowman said "We've got a lot of things we can track down." A look at the 50 lowest SAT-scoring high schools in Pennsylvania They have compelling common denominators: The majority are located in blighted urban centers and are plagued with high rates of crime and truancy. Most have high percentages of African-American or Hispanic student populations. Many struggle with chronic underfunding, budget woes and poor teacher attendance. We gave you the top 25 SAT scoring schools in Pennsylvania. Here are the 50 schools - among them public and charter schools as well as special interest schools - that posted the lowest SAT scores in the state, according to a report released by the state Department of Education. To be sure, these schools face insurmountable hurdles, now add to that list woefully low composite average scores on the SAT. Don't Edit Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia Located in the heart of north Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion High School was once considered not only one of the most dangerous schools in the state but the country. Its grim crime rate a few years ago attracted the attention of Diane Sawyer, who in an ABC News "Hidden America" report followed the daily lives of the school's students and faculty during the 2012-2013 school year. The security cameras and metal detectors are still in place, but in recent years the school has made strides to set its academic performance on track. The school has benefitted from the generosity of philanthropic strangers across the country, whose donations have helped fund scholarships and programs. Strawberry Mansion remains buffeted by budget cuts and dwindling faculty ranks. It came dead last on its SAT composite score: 955. Don't Edit John Bartram Officials at John Bartram High School in southwest Philadelphia have over the years endeavored to quell chronically high rates of violence, dropout, truancy and teacher absence, as well as consistently woeful student performance in state standardized tests. Bartram scored second to last in the state in lowest SAT scores. The school's composite average on the SAT: 958. Don't Edit Academy Charter School Located in Pittsburgh, the Academy Charter School is the nation's only licensed secondary charter school that admits an all-delinquent population. The school opened in 2005. The hard work continues. Composite average on the SAT: 974. The 50 schools on this list are not unique. SAT scores have declined nationwide in recent years, signaling what experts say are shortcomings in education reform efforts. But for students in at-risk communities and schools, the odds are stacked against them that they will fail. Already facing detrimental socio-economic factors, students who grow up poor leave school every year unprepared for college. Don't Edit Wilkinsburg Senior High School According to the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, 80 percent of the children who live in the Wilkinsburg School District live at 185 percent or below the federal poverty level. The small district serves the mostly African American community of Pittsburgh suburb Wilkinsburg. After years of dwindling enrollment and crushing debt, Wilkingsburg Senior High School last year closed its doors and transferred its students to Westinghouse Academy. Its composite average SAT score: 979. The enduring challenges in high school achievement for all schools and districts remain unchanged: poverty, language barriers, low levels of parental education, and crime and violence. Westinghouse Academy also made this list of 50 worst SAT scores by school. Don't Edit Don't Edit Schools in the Philadelphia School District The bottom rung of lowest scoring schools is disproportionately populated by schools from the Philadelphia City School District. Coming in between #46 and #42 are five schools from that district: 46: Edison High/Fareira Skills: 983 score 45: Sayre William Middle School: 984 44: A. Philip Randolph Career Academy: 984 43: Horace Furness High School: 997 42: Benjamin Franklin High School: 1003 The SAT,which underwent significant changes in 2016, is scored out of 1600. The national average SAT score is a 1083. The 25th percentile score (the cutoff for the lowest 25 percent of scorers) is a 950, and the 75th percentile score (higher than 75 percent of test takers) is between a 1210 and a 1220. According to PrepScholar.com: 1220 is a very good score nationally 1080 is an average score nationally 950 is a very low score nationally Don't Edit Photo: Media gallery from Imhotep Institute Charter High School, Philadelphia Vo-techs, charters, public schools Among the schools on this list are charter and vocational-technology schools, and special interest academies - such as performing arts, and business and finance. Most experts agree that it is an insurmountable task - given the short amount of time - to turn the academic tide for students who have transferred from failing public schools to charter schools. 41: Perseus House Charter School of Excellence in Erie got a composite average score of 1010 40: Dobbins Area Vocational-Technical High School (Philadelphia): 1011 39: Universal Audenried Charter School (Philadelphia): 1024 38: Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School (Philadelphia): 1024 37: Martin Luther King High School (Philadelphia): 1030 36: Frankford High School (Philadelphia): 1031 35: Olney Charter High School (Philadelphia): 1031 34: Imhotep Institute Charter High School (Philadelphia): 1031 33: South Philadelphia High School (Philadelphia): 1032 32: Kensington Urban Education Academy (Philadelphia): 1038 31: World Communications Charter School (Philadelphia):1041 Don't Edit From #30 to #20..among lowest scores Conditions in the Erie School District have gotten so bad, the district last year floated a proposal to close all four of the citys high schools. The community responded with negative outrage to that proposal, and at times, bordering on hostile and racist rhetoric. The district has decided to consolidate its schools instead, making two of its high schools middle schools. One of those schools is East High, which ranked 26th lowest in SAT scores with a composite average of 1046. The ranking from 30th lowest to 20th lowest: 30: Mastery Charter School (Philadelphia): 1042 29: Kensington Health Sciences (Philadelphia): 1044 28: Samuel Fels High School (Philadelphia): 1044 27: La Academia Partnership Charter School: 1045 26: East High School (Erie): 1046 25: Robenson High School for Human Services (Philadelphia): 1047 24: Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vo-Tech School (Philadelphia):1049 23: Helen Thackston Charter School: 1050 22: Pittsburgh Milliones (Pittsburgh SD): 1055 21: New Media Technology Charter School: 1055 20: West Philadelphia High School (Philadelphia): 1057 Don't Edit A school plagued by crime In recent years Overbrook High School in Philadelphia has dealt with an onslaught of crime and safety issues - including rampant fighting, gun violence and drug use among its students. School and district officials persevere in trying to lift up the students who want to learn and crack down on those who impede the school's progress. Overbrook is the alma-mater of NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar-nominated actor Will Smith, and the R&B band The Delfonics. Since 2003, students at the school have been required to wear uniforms. 19: Delaware Valley Charter School: 1060 18: Overbrook High School - Philadelphia: 1068 17: Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School: 1070 16: Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter High School: 1070 15: Kensington Intern Business, Finance & Enterprise - Philadelphia: 1075 14: Pittsburgh Westinghouse (Pittsburgh): 1079 13: Esperanza Academy Charter School: 1083 12: School of the Future (Philadelphia) 1084 11: Roxborough High School (Philadelphia): 1084 Don't Edit (AP Photo/ Karl DeBlaker) A Reading school faces possible termination Student performance at I-LEAD Charter School in Reading is so low that the Reading School Board is seeking to revoke its charter. Just this week the fate of the school was argued in front of the state Charter School Appeal Board. I-LEAD officials argue that the majority of students at the charter school - most of them at-risk students - are far behind where they should be academically and should get full public support not admonishment. 10: I-LEAD Charter School (Reading): 1094 9: School District of Philadelphia Virtual Academy: 1099 8: Propel Charter School-Homestead: 1100 7: Philadelphia Military Academy at Elverson: 1105 6: STEM at Showalter (Chester): 1105 5: Charter High School for Architecture and Design (Philadelphia): 1107 4: Lankenau High School (Philadelphia): 1113 3: Chester High School (Chester-Upland School District: 1114 2: Match Civics and Sciences Charter School (Philadelphia): 1116 1: Lincoln High School (Philadelphia): 1118 Don't Edit Don't Edit The upside of this list Low SAT scores should not deter young men and women from striving to succeed. A recent landmark study of students at colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores found that "virtually no difference" in the academic performance (measured in grades or graduation rates) of those who do and don't submit scores. The study -- involving 123,000 students at 33 colleges and universities -- found that high school grades do predict student success; this extends to those who do better or worse than expected on standardized exams. Students with low high school grades but high test scores generally receive low college grades, while those with high grades in high school, but low test scores, generally receive high grades in college. A growing number of colleges has gone test optional in recent years. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing maintains a list of more than 800 four-year colleges that do not require the SAT or ACT, although some of those colleges are not competitive in admissions. An executive vice president and university counsel for Eastern Kentucky University has been selected to become Shippensburg University's next president. The State System of Higher Education's governing board on Thursday voted to hire system alum Laurie Carter to fill the presidency at the 7,000-student university that was vacated in January by George "Jody" Harpster. Carter, 54, will start on Aug. 7 and will receive a salary of $253,000. Until she arrives, the university's former provost Barbara Lyman is serving as the school's interim president. "I am absolutely honored and thrilled to become part of the PASSHE and Shippensburg family," Carter said. "The opportunity to return to the system from which I came and to serve at this really critical time in higher education in the state and university means a great deal to me. Thank you for your confidence and I look forward to serving and moving this university forward." The other finalist considered for the job was Jonathan Levin, an English professor and former provost at the University of Mary Washington. Carter, who graduated from Clarion State College (now Clarion University), has been employed at the 16,000-student Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky. since 2014. Before that, she held positions at the New Jersey Performing Arts center and The Julliard School. She has a master's from William Paterson College; and a law degree from Rutgers. With that background, system board Chairwoman Cynthia Shapira said, "She is poised to lead Shippensburg University to new heights." Carter becomes the 17th person to head this 146-year-old public university that sits near the Cumberland-Franklin county line and the first woman to be named as its permanent president. Shippensburg is one of the 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education. FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2015 file photo, then-Secretary of State John Kerry listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on the Iran nuclear deal. The Trump administration said Wednesday, May 17, 2017, it will continue granting nuclear sanctions relief to Iran, keeping the Obama-era nuclear deal intact for now. The most recent waiver, issued by former Secretary of State John Kerry in December, was set to expire this week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 1, 2017. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government has agreed to create a so-called Magnitsky Act to expand Canada's international sanctions law to target gross human rights violators. In the House of Commons last night, Freeland said human rights are a non-partisan issue and she looks forward to working with the opposition on this initiative. Whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after accusing officials of a $230-million tax fraud. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Friends of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav celebrate the International Court of Justice order on Jadhav as they gather near a portrait of him in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 18, 2017. The U.N. court on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute the Indian naval officer convicted of espionage and terrorism, in a case that has further strained relations between the Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade) BILLINGS -- A small group of archaeologists are blazing a path into places like Wyomings Wind River Range, the Tetons and Montanas Beartooth Plateau, rewriting the understanding of prehistoric peoples use of what are now high elevation wilderness areas. We really need to be thinking about the Rocky Mountains in a way that we havent been thinking about them, said Bonnie Pitblado, an anthropological archaeology professor at the University of Oklahoma. By Clovis time (about 13,500 years ago), we have clear, clear evidence people are in the New World and they are in the Rocky Mountains and know them intimately, she added. Conference Pitblado was one of 11 researchers gathered at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West earlier this month to speak at a conference of scientists who share an interest in high altitude archaeology. Their work is shedding light on what had long been a dark spot for investigation of prehistoric sites in North America. What they are documenting from stone tools and arrow points to soapstone bowls and woven cordage and basketry, to large campsites, animal traps and even bison jumps are forcing academics to rethink long-held theories namely that the high country was too inhospitable to be inhabited. You need to change the way you think, said Todd Guenther, professor of history and archaeology at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyoming. Guenthers study of a bison jump found at an elevation of about 10,500 feet, which he said has received a lot of push back, is not inconceivable given other cultures activities at high elevations. My dads family came from the highest places in Norway, he said, a harsh, extremely cold climate where hunters survived by following migratory reindeer herds. Why couldnt early Americans have lived similarly? If you had food stored up, its not a scary thing. Its just being outdoors, he said. An 1821 journal entry by Jacob Fowler noted that early Americans may have been more adapted to the cold, so why not their ancestors? While camped along the Arkansas River in Colorado in late November Fowler saw the Indian Children from toddlers to tall boys are out on the Ice by day light, and all as naked as they came into the World. Mountain people Pitblado noted that a DNA analysis performed on the remains of whats known as the Anzick child, found in Montanas Shields Valley in 1968, ties early Americans and their ancestors to residents of eastern Russia and Mongolia who also lived at high elevations. They were happy in the mountains, she said. Based on the genetic findings, Pitblado said, We have all of the evidence in the world that those progenitors of Clovis were mountain people. The scientists are also finding that the high country wasnt the same as we now see it. Old whitebark pine stumps have been dated to 1,100 to 2,100 years ago in places that are now 500 feet above where trees are growing now, Guenther said. These were happy, well-fed whitebark pine, he said. That points to the possibility that the high country was warmer for a period of time, maybe encouraging occupation when lower elevations were stricken with drought. Research So far, research of these mountain archaeological sites has been minimal, partly because the work only started about two decades ago, but also because the area to cover is so vast and difficult to reach. Larry Todd, archaeology professor emeritus at Colorado State University, has conducted surveys in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming since 2002. In 15 field seasons his team had permission to explore about 650,000 acres of the Shoshone National Forest that agency officials believed was barren of artifacts. When we talked to the Forest Service they said, Knock yourself out because theres nothing there, Todd said. Although Todd and his crews explored only about 1 percent of that large swath of country, they recorded more than 175,000 prehistoric artifacts. That sounds like a lot but I want you to take this with a grain of salt, Todd said, since the entire project area is only 3 percent of the much larger Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Challenges Another factor that limits research is the remoteness of the region. Its physically demanding and logistically complex, Todd said. Researchers have to backpack and have horses haul in their gear and food to elevations that may be 11,000 feet above sea level where they will camp out and work for 20 days. That points to how well-equipped and knowledgeable early Americans were about living in these same areas. They knew what they were doing, Todd said. Getting people and gear into the mountains isnt cheap. A typical summer in the Absarokas may cost about $20,000, Todd added, noting that the expense of high elevation archaeology is another logistical problem. That cost doesnt include any testing of artifacts that may be needed, with those costing anywhere from $300 to $700 apiece. Threatened Even though their research has been limited, what Todd and his colleagues have documented in the mountains has been impressive, yet hes concerned. The record up there is remarkable and under remarkable threat, he said. Wildland fires are burning more frequently, intensely and larger than at any time in recent history. On one hand wildland fires can make it easier to see some artifacts while destroying others, such as wickiups small shelters made of wood. A warming climate is also melting mountain ice patches that, as they recede, are revealing spectacular organic artifacts, including arrow shafts, bighorn sheep skulls and baskets. Since ice patches dont move like glaciers, they are repositories of some of the most impressive recent finds. The thing that is fun or exciting about it is you get to see nonhunting technology, said Craig Lee, a research scientist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. The problem is the ice patches are receding so fast that researchers cant reach them all in time to find and record 10,000-year-old artifacts before they are destroyed. A new wilderness So researchers are hurrying to document as much as they can as quickly as possible. What theyve revealed so far is changing some long-held archaeological beliefs. This volume of activity in the alpine area speaks to a long-term symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment, Lee said. Lee pointed to the irony that wilderness areas, which are largely free of humans and development, are now revealing extensive human occupation for thousands of years. The 1964 Wilderness Act was meant to preserve places where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. Wilderness preserves the best evidence for trammeling around, Lee said, a place populated by humans, perhaps year round, living off a seasonally enriched biome. Wilderness is also a place where humans are encouraged to leave no trace, such as campfire rings or even where they pitched their tent. Yet ancient humans left thousands of artifacts scattered across the landscape along with numerous lodge pads the sites where they camped. The density of human occupation is incredible, Guenther said. So theres a lot of cool stuff to be found at high altitudes, said Robert Kelly, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming. And lets face it, its a cool place to work. But there are still so many questions yet to be answered, such as why did use of high elevations seem to rise and fall? Was the cause drought or overpopulation? Why (did they) go up there? he asked. We dont know the answer. The scientists do know one thing, though. So the take-home message is its been pretty silly for us to not have thought about the importance of mountains to ancient people, Pitblado said. We have all of the evidence in the world that those progenitors of Clovis were mountain people. Michigan swathed in blue after stunning Democratic victories Wednesday was an emotional morning for Democratic Michiganders, who awoke to discover they'd likely kept the governorship, secretary of state and attorney general offices in addition to passing all Oregon's Coos county give green light to a natural gas terminal CHICAGO Petroleumworld 05 18 2017 A coastal Oregon county overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure aimed at blocking a proposed natural gas terminal dealing a blow to what was the latest in a series of efforts to thwart energy projects across the Pacific Northwest. The measure, had it passed, would have banned transport of fossil fuels not intended for local use through Coos County, located about 200 miles (322 kms) south of Portland. Around 76 percent of votes were cast against the measure, with 24 percent in favor, according to unofficial results posted on the Coos County government website late Tuesday. "This ballot measure was not a good measure by any means, and I think (the voters) were able to see that," Coos Bay's mayor Joe Benetti, who opposed the measure, told local newspaper The World. Backers called the initiative a response to a $7.6 billion proposal by Calgary-based Veresen Inc, to build a facility in the county where natural gas would be liquefied and transferred to tanker ships for sale abroad. They cast the measure as a local refusal to contribute to global warming. Gary Cohn, head of the National Energy Council, in April singled out the Veresen project as a priority for the administration of Republican President Donald Trump. The Coos County initiative was part of regional resistance in the Northwest to fossil fuel projects that has seen the blockage of several major export facilities. Last year, the Lummi Nation Native American tribe and environmental groups blocked an export terminal in Northwest Washington state that would have moved Montana and Wyoming coal to markets in Asia. In January, Washington State denied a permit for a coal export terminal in the city of Longview, citing concerns about the financial viability of the project. In February, bowing to pressure from activists, Seattle's city council voted to divest approximately $3 billion from Wells Fargo, citing concerns over the bank's support of the North Dakota Access Pipeline, among other factors. Passage of the Coos Bay measure would have been another blow for liquid natural gas projects on the West Coast, even as depots in other areas of the country have moved forward. Cheniere Energy Inc opened a port in Louisiana last year and several other companies are set to open projects on the Gulf Coast in 2018 and 2019. Dominion Energy Inc plans to open the Cove Point LNG port in Maryland later this year. Story by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Louise Heavens from Reuters . reuters.com May 17, 2017 Iraq top oil supplier to India in April, desplacing S. Arabia -trade NEW DELHI Petroleumworld 05 18 2017 Iraq replaced Saudi Arabia as top crude supplier to India in April as refiners moved to boost their processing margins by purchasing the cheaper Basra Heavy oil grade, ship tracking and Thomson Reuters trade flow data showed. India's April imports from Iraq topped 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time, up by about a third from March and 8 percent from a year ago, according to ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts. "Basra heavy is good for refineries with coker units, it is also good for conventional refiners that make bitumen as that is in demand in India. Also (the crude) is available at discounts so it is value for every dollar that we spend," said M. K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Indian refiners in recent years have invested heavily in modernising plants to more efficiently process low grade crudes into diesel and gasoline, helping to boost operating margins and giving greater flexibility in the oil grades they can buy. This has allowed refiners in the third-largest oil consumer to shop around during periods of tightness, and remain profitable in a fast-growing, cost-sensitive market. India's crude mix is highly diverse as a result, with just over 15 percent of its flows stemming from Africa in April, nearly 13 percent from Latin America, and most of the rest coming from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, usually India's main supplier, shipped about 750,000 bpd to the South Asian nation in April, a decline of about 5 percent from the previous month and 8 percent from a year ago, the data showed. With each barrel of Iraq's Basra Heavy oil trading at roughly $2.85 less than a barrel of Saudi Arabia's Arab Heavy mix when the deals were done, Indian importers were able to realise a substantial cost-savings by making the switch, without much impact on product output. India's lower Saudi purchases were partly due to firmer Saudi prices following the production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since January. Iraq is OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, but so far has been resistant to an aggressive cut given its reliance on oil revenues to fund its economy. "Iraqi oil is a good alternative to other heavy grades from OPEC. Basra is sold at a huge discount to Dubai or other heavy grades in spot markets, whereas Saudi oil is available only at the OSP (Official Selling Price)," said Ehsan Ul Haq, Senior Analyst at KBC Energy. A delay to Venezuelan oil loadings due to problems at a major port helped to boost India's demand for Iraqi oil, and India also took more Russian Urals crude. Iran emerged as the third-biggest oil supplier to India in April, replacing Venezuela, which slipped to the fifth spot, behind Nigeria, the data showed. Story by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Tom Hogue from Reuters . reuters.com May 17, 2017 PDVSA's CEO says bond payments deposited CARACAS Petroleumworld 05 18 2017 Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has deposited funds for the payment of interest on 2024 and 2026 bonds, the company's president told Reuters on Wednesday, after investors reported a delay in some $285 million due early this week. "The money for interests that were due on Monday and Tuesday has been deposited," Eulogio Del Pino said. Three bondholders told Reuters earlier on Wednesday that they still had not received payment. It was not immediately clear what caused the delay. Investors have been concerned for years that cash-strapped Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, may ultimately be unable to meet its hefty debt obligations due to a deep recession at home and lower oil prices. As a result, Venezuela bonds trade at distressed levels. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro says the OPEC country will meet all its debt commitments and calls default talk a right-wing conspiracy against him. He has also accused global banks of leading a "financial blockade" that has left Venezuela with few financing options amid the oil market downturn. Still, investors were largely confident that PDVSA would pay this week, after the company made over $2 billion in bond payments last month. "We've been told that payments will become effective between Thursday and Monday," a local trader said. Another trader said he was "not at all" worried about the delay. PDVSA also has to pay around $254 million in interest on 2021 and 2035 bonds on Wednesday. Story by Alexandra Ulmer;Additional reporting by Corina Pons; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Tom Brown from Reuters . reuters.com May 17, 2017 Brazil getting ready for a possible mass influx of Venezuelan refugees BRASILIA Petroleumworld 05 18 2017 Brazil is concerned about growing numbers of refugees spilling over its border from Venezuela and is creating a plan to deal with a possible mass influx if the crisis in Venezuela worsens, Brazilian Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said on Wednesday. "Evidently we are worried and our biggest concern is the humanitarian situation," Jungmann told reporters. "We need to have a contingency plan in place to handle this if things get worse." More than 6,000 Venezuelans cross the border every day looking to buy food and medicine, and most go back but others stay and look for work, the minister said. Last month, Brazilians were shocked by the sight of indigenous women and children from Venezuela begging in the streets of Manaus, the biggest city in Brazil's Amazon region. The government of the border state of Roraima has said that 30,000 refugees have arrived since Venezuela's political and economic crisis became acute last year. Federal police have put the number of refugees in Roraima's capital Boa Vista at over 15,000 people. Roraima state Senator Telmario Mota told Reuters that Venezuelans seeking employment were being exploited in Boa Vista and young Venezuelan women had been forced into prostitution. A United Nations High Commission for Refugees mission that visited Boa Vista on Wednesday found 6,000 Venezuelans housed in shelters and another 5,000 on a waiting list. "We are here to familiarize ourselves with the situation, see the local response capability and help prepare to receive an influx of people if that were needed," a UNHCR spokesman said. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Toni Reinhold) Story by Alexandra Ulmer;Additional reporting by Corina Pons; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Tom Brown from Reuters . reuters.com May 17, 2017 The Montana Racial Equity Project objects to the racially insensitive floats in the Vigilante Parade that took place in Helena, Montana on Friday, May 12, 2017. Last Friday, the City of Helena experienced its annual Vigilante Parade. The public Parade has been fielded by its two high schools for years. Though misrepresentation of Native Americans has been complained about for years to varying degrees, this year, one particular Facebook post objecting to particular Native American themed floats went viral. It was correctly pointed out that students on the float were wearing scantily-clad stereotypical squaw clothing. Faces were painted red. Teepees bore gibberish symbols. And even stereotypical whoops were heard from the float itself and/or engendered by the floats from the crowd. That was not careful nor accurate representation; it was neocolonialist, culturally-appropriative and racist. MTREP believes that breakdowns in education and communication led to these inappropriate floats. Most of the pushback on the original post is reflective of a lack of understanding of how prejudice, bigotry, and racism reveal themselves in our society. It is very mistaken to insist that those objectionable portrayals of Native Americans were just fine. The mission of the Montana Racial Equity Project is to advocate racial equity and justice. We know that educating and promoting awareness of the many factors that can produce insensitive actions that are very damaging to our whole society, is essential before we can even begin to change that within ourselves and our society that promotes them. Sadly, the original poster has received multiple online threats and attacks that are only reductive and harmful to any positive action. We encourage Helena Public Schools to carefully examine its Indian Education policies and institute strong changes in order to prevent such future offensive parade floats. Brazil in chaos as president Temer accused AFP/Evaristo Saa Temer denies having authorized any obstruction of justice. The allegations are the latest development of Carwash probe SAO PAULO/BRASILIA Petroleumworld 05 18 2017 Brazil has plunged back into political crisis, reminiscent of the chaos surrounding last year's impeachment process, following reports that President Michel Temer was involved in an alleged cover-up scheme with the jailed former speaker of the lower house of Congress. One of the country's largest newspapers reported on Wednesday evening that two senior executives from JBS, the giant meat-packing company, have submitted a tape to the Supreme Court of a secret recording of Temer approving a payment to Eduardo Cunha, the mastermind behind last year's impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff. The executives' evidence forms part of a plea-bargain deal, according to O Globo newspaper, in which information is offered in exchange for reduced sentences. The presidential press office has issued a statement vehemently denying the allegations. "President Michel Temer never requested payments to obtain the silence of ex-deputy Eduardo Cunha," it said. "The president defends a deep and wide investigation to get to the bottom of the claims put forward in the media." Both JBS and its holding company, J&F, declined to comment. The allegations come just over a year after Temer assumed the presidency, following the start of impeachment proceedings against Rousseff. Over the past 12 months his administration has embarked on an ambitious reform program that has pleased investors and fueled a rally in both the currency and stock market. Brazilians, however, are overwhelmingly opposed to his austerity measures and the president's approval rating hovers at around 10 percent. Protests Amid growing protests in Brasilia on Wednesday evening, military police moved into position around the presidential palace and one of the judges on Brazil's Supreme Court called for calm. "It's a moment for serenity, moderation and watching the institutions work," said Marco Aurelio Mello. Local TV images showed a crowd of protesters gathered in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city. The allegations are the latest development in Operation Carwash, a three-year long corruption investigation that has implicated many in Brazil's business and political elite, including some in both the government and the president's own party. Temer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. According to the newspaper's report, when the president became aware that the executives were paying Cunha to keep silent he said, "You've got to keep this up, right?" O Globo did not provide a transcript of the conversation, or the question leading up to the president's alleged comment. Nor did it explain how it obtained the information. Reaction After the news broke, a Brazilian ETF plunged 8 percent in trading in Tokyo, its biggest drop since November. Mauricio Oreng, a strategist at Rabobank, told Bloomberg that he expected the real to take a six percent hit on Thursday. Share prices would also fall over the coming days, he said. The report caused an immediate stir in Congress, where opposition congressmen started to shout anti-government slogans. The session was subsequently suspended. Legislators from five opposition parties called for Temer's resignation and early elections, according to a statement sent by the opposition leader in the lower house. Temer went to his official residence after an emergency meeting with some of his closest aides. A senior member of the Brazilian government told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that the administration's economic team was worried that the crisis could impact its reform agenda. The government is on the verge of sending its long-anticipated, and highly-controversial, pension reform proposal to the lower house of Congress. "The dramatic political weakening of the government must, at a minimum, delay the timetable for passage of the labor and pension reforms," Arko Advice, a political consultancy, said in a note. It added that the episode may affect the ruling of Brazil's top electoral court, which is currently assessing whether to scrap the results of the 2014 election. Such a decision could eventually strip Temer of the presidency, pending possible appeals. The head of the Brazilian Bar Association, Claudio Lamachia, said in a statement that society needs immediate answers and that the alleged recordings need to be made public as soon as possible. "Brazilians can no longer live with doubts regarding their representatives," Lamachia said. As organizations who work tirelessly to combat racial discrimination in Montana, we share the concerns of the Indigenous community regarding the racially inflammatory costumes and behavior displayed during the Helena Vigilante Day Parade. The perpetuation of Native American stereotypes exemplified by the Buffalo Jump float in the parade is unacceptable. We are calling on the Helena Public Schools administration to review and update their approval policy for floats in order to provide for adequate vetting. While student participation in a tradition that is meant to honor Montanas history is laudable, it is the responsibility of the school district to ensure that the parade does not marginalize or misrepresent Native communities, heritage, or contributions to this state. Most importantly, the controversy that has erupted illustrates the need for a dedicated community conversation about race, discrimination, and what honoring the history of our Indigenous friends and neighbors actually means. We encourage Helena Public Schools to begin facilitating these conversations with the community and to join us in taking responsibility for providing and seeking further education regarding racial equity, Indigenous history, and the appropriate way to honor both. This piece, titled, The New Plague, depicts life in Philadelphia in the age of COVID. Artist and educator Raphael Tiberino began painting at the age of four and has been in the spotlight as a professional creative for over 25 years. Advocates for the elderly and for drug and alcohol programs on Thursday raised alarms that the voices of their constituents will be lost in Gov. Wolf's proposed consolidation of the state departments of health, human services, aging, and drug and alcohol programs especially as the state grapples with what experts call the worst addiction epidemic ever. Speaking at a joint Pennsylvania Senate hearing in Northeast Philadelphia, Michael Harle, chief executive of Gaudenzia Inc., a nonprofit addiction-treatment provider, described a decades-long process, starting in the early 1970s, to get a state department devoted to drug and alcohol addiction with a direct line to the governor. In his written testimony, Harle included an organization chart showing that substance-abuse programs would be led by one of 10 deputy secretaries. "It really looks like burying substance abuse," Harle told the senators. At the end of the three-hour hearing at Plumbers Local 690 Union Hall, Rachel Levine, state's physician general in the Department of Health, responded to the concerns of Harle and others who testified. She said the Wolf administration feels strongly that the consolidation of the agencies is the best way to deal with the opioid epidemic, providing examples of different agencies playing a role in opioid programs. "The agency will actually be able to function better under the department of health and human services," she said. Five of the 12 advocates to testify Thursday were involved in aging services and advocacy. A major worry for the aging advocates is the fate of Pennsylvania Lottery funds, which are used to pay for programs for the elderly. Contributions to the Lottery Fund totaled more than $1.12 billion in fiscal 2016. "The proposed move threatens the sacrosanctity of the Lottery funds," Renee C. Cunningham, associate director of Center in the Park, a Germantown senior-services center, told the senators. "It could easily get diluted and used for other purposes, despite denials of that potential." Experts in public health and services for disabled people under the age of 60 said they saw promise in the consolidation if it eliminated duplicated oversight and auditing. Nicole Marie Pruitt, director of the Inglis adult day program, for example, said she operates under three different sets of quality metrics and has to maintain three different care plans for her clients. The morning sun glows on the Delaware River in this high-elevation drone photo of the new Comcast tower under construction in Center City. Read more While other kids in Huntington Beach, Calif. surfed, Chris Kao was a "camera geek." He liked everything about them: the lenses, the bodies, the lighting gear. He could look at cameras online for hours. Kao then attended the University of Pennsylvania, studying computers and marketing. There, he fell into drones and bought his first one off a Penn student in December 2015. Kao repaired it over Christmas break and learned about Drone Eddie, "a beach bum but in a good way," the 21-year-old Penn student said on Tuesday. Drone Eddie taught Kao the basics of drone photography, taking shots around sunset or sunrise at the beach and the Huntington Beach pier. Last October, Eddie Paige Drone Eddie died of heart attack on a break during a drone shoot near the pier. He was only 60. "I'm glad he died while he was doing something he loved," his wife of 25 years, Jennifer Paige, told the Orange County Register. Thinking of Drone Eddie, Kao woke up early Sunday morning, before the sun came up, and pedaled his rented Indego bike east on Market Street. His destination: the new Comcast skyscraper under construction. He thought: Wouldn't it be awesome to catch the "golden glow" off the Delaware River while photographing the top of the Comcast tower, just as Drone Eddie taught him at the ocean? Kao, who will be a senior this fall, parked the bike at a surface parking lot near the new skyscraper and buzzed the building with his drone, staying within federal regulations. He captured stunning shots. Not only was he thinking of Drone Eddie, he said, but also of how emblematic the new Comcast tower will be for a Philadelphia with more high-tech companies. After 20 minutes, Kao landed his drone, packed it up and pedaled off. "I didn't want to take too much time or get too much attention," he said. http://www.ocregister.com/2016/10/21/eddie-paige-known-in-huntington-beach-as-drone-eddie-died-doing-what-he-loved/ Trying times have returned to Philadelphia's beleaguered oil refiners, which experienced a short-lived and unexpected reprieve from financial challenges when vast quantities of crude oil were shipped here by rail from North Dakota, transforming the steaming riverfront industrial complexes into profitable powerhouses. But the infusion of domestic shale oil turned out to be the equivalent of a sugar rush a short-lived burst of exuberance. With the fall in world oil prices, and the disappearance of discounted domestic crude arriving by rail, Philadelphia refineries are experiencing the same painful conditions they struggled through early in the decade, when two plants shut down permanently and several others flirted with closure before they were scooped up by new owners. "They're really back to square one, where they were in 2010 before anyone had even thought of shale," said Sandy Fielden, the director of research, commodities, and energy for Morningstar Inc. He said the two most vulnerable refineries in the region are the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) complex in South Philadelphia the largest refinery on the East Coast and the slightly smaller Monroe Energy facility in Trainer. The latest challenge facing the Mid-Atlantic refining industry is a proposal by pipeline operator Buckeye Partners LP to partly reverse the flow of a major fuel pipeline that Philadelphia refiners have used for a generation to supply Western Pennsylvania. Buckeye has proposed to end the westbound flow of the Laurel Pipe Line at Altoona, effectively cutting off East Coast producers from the Pittsburgh market, to the advantage of expanding lower-cost Great Lakes refineries.The proposal, which is being heard by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, has provoked an outcry from PES and Monroe, which say their operations would be harmed by the loss of access to Pittsburgh. "We do feel that by reversing this flow and getting the product from the Midwest, it would totally choke off our refiners and they would have to start cutting jobs and eventually the fear would be that they would shut down again," Anthony Gallagher, business manager of Steamfitters Local 420 in Aston, told a PUC hearing on Tuesday. About 1,500 people work at the PES and Monroe plants. While the proposed Laurel Pipe Line reconfiguration represents a setback for Philadelphia refiners, industry analysts and the pipeline operator say it's not the cause of the Mid-Atlantic refining industry's ills. "It really boils down to the global competitiveness of those refineries," said Bill Hollis, a senior vice president of Buckeye Partners. "We don't think we're a material issue in that." By rights, the five Mid-Atlantic refineries that survived the 2011-12 industry contraction two in Pennsylvania, two in New Jersey, and one in Delaware should be in the catbird seat because there is much more demand in the region for their fuel than they can produce. Together, they supply only about 20 percent of the demand in Northeast states for gasoline and diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel. But the Northeast market is so dependent on outside fuel to meet demand that the external forces drive the market, not local producers. "The local refiners are still the highest-cost suppliers in that market, even though they're in that market," said Rob Smith, a director of IHS Markit, an energy consultancy. Much of the region's fuel is supplied through the Colonial Pipeline, which links the region to the enormous Gulf Coast refining complex in Texas and Louisiana, home to about half the nation's refining capacity. Gulf Coast producers, which are tied directly to oilfields, can produce fuel at such a discount to East Coast refiners that it more than covers the 5- to 10-cents-a-gallon cost of moving the fuel by pipeline to New York, Smith said. The rest of the regional supply arrives by ships from overseas, mostly Canada and Europe. European refiners, many of which are supported by governments that want to protect their national security interests or local employment, sell surplus fuel at low profit margins into North America, more than covering the shipping costs. "What's happened in Europe is that there are too many refineries, and they are now facing intense competition from newer refineries in the Middle East," Fielden said. Rather than shut down, they export their fuel to the Northeastern United States, squeezing local refiners. The other side of the complex oil-market equation is the cost and the quality of the raw material. With no local supplies of crude oil, Northeast refiners rely on petroleum produced elsewhere. Until the advent of domestic shale oil, they depended upon imported oil and North Atlantic international oil prices. With crude oil, not all refineries are created equal. The Delaware City, Del., and Paulsboro, N.J., refineries, the two major facilities in the Philadelphia area that are owned by PBF Energy of Parsippany, N.J., are configured to use heavier "sour" crude oil so named because it contains a lot of sulfur. Sour crude is typically discounted, and more profitable to refine. PES and Monroe Energy, which Delta Air Lines bought in 2012 from ConocoPhillips, are "less sophisticated" producers configured to process light, sweet crude, which is more costly to procure and less profitable to refine. Those two refineries face the biggest challenges in the current market, the experts say. Upgrading a refinery to handle sour crude is no small undertaking the cost of the equipment is enormous, and getting approvals would encounter significant regulatory and political obstacles. "For a refiner in the middle of a major metropolitan area, you run into a lot of hurdles," Smith said. Plus, the market for refined products in the United States is not growing. The North Dakota shale boom, which produced an abundance of light sweet crude, was a godsend to Philadelphia refiners, as well as the Bayway Refinery in North Jersey owned by Phillips 66. With few pipelines in place to move crude out of North Dakota, and world oil prices surpassing $100 a barrel, the Bakken oil was sold at a steep discount that made it profitable for East Coast refiners to transport the crude by rail across the country. For about two years, Northeast refiners enjoyed an unaccustomed advantage. But the 2015 world oil crash wiped out much of the discount, and the construction of more pipeline capacity out of the Bakken Shale, including the recently completed Dakota Access Pipeline, has linked the producing region to world markets. Oil train traffic to the East Coast has subsided and is expected to continue to decline, leaving Philadelphia refiners once again at the mercy of international crude markets. Great Lakes refiners, many of which can process heavy crude and have an abundance of supply to choose from, can produce at less cost than East Coast refiners. Hence their interest in expanding into central Pennsylvania. Philadelphia producers fear that the current proposal to partly reverse the flow on the Laurel Pipe Line is a precursor to the eventual reversal of the pipeline all the way to Philadelphia, giving the Midwestern refiners access to Delaware River ports. "We're just trying to be responsive to the market," said Buckeye's Hollis. Fielden of Morningstar thinks "one ray of hope" for Philadelphia's challenged sweet-crude refiners lies a few thousand feet below the Marcellus Shale formation in eastern Ohio and West Virginia, where the Utica Shale formation contains an abundance of ultralight crude oil called condensate. There is currently little demand for that crude, but under the right economic conditions, that oil might make its way to Philadelphia, he said. "Potentially that could be a raw material for East Coast refineries, and it would be less hassle to transport," he said. "It might be possible to deliver it by pipeline to Philadelphia." Some 21,000 AT&T employees retail sales associates, wireless technicians, and call center workers who work for the company's wireless division, say they'll go out on a short strike over the weekend, unless their union, the Communications Workers of America, can reach a tentative agreement with AT&T by 3 p.m. Friday. The workers will picket AT&T stores in 36 states, with about 600 expected to go out on strike locally. They plan to return to work on Monday. Issues include increased health care costs and keeping call center jobs in the United States, said James Gardler, president of CWA Local 13000 in Philadelphia. The company said it was prepared to serve its customers during a strike, adding that the two sides have disagreements, but would sort them out. The company said it has 20 contracts with unions and this one covers about seven percent of its employees. The employees' contract expired Feb. 11. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has fined nursing homes more in the first four months of this year than in the previous three years combined, as regulators started using a more rigorous penalty system after coming under fire for going too lightly on substandard care. This year's four-month total for fines was $796,750, compared with $639,500 total for the three years ended Dec. 31, state Health Department records show. The totals do not include federal fines that are recommended by the state and are typically much larger. State surveyors sanctioned 86 facilities so far this year, compared with 72 in all of last year and 47 in 2014 and 2015 combined. The Health Department said it was responding to an auditor general report issued last summer. "When the auditor general looked at our oversight of nursing homes, one of the key recommendations was to be more aggressive in our oversight, and we are," the department said this week in a statement. As to whether the tactic is improving care at the state's 700 nursing home, state regulators said that "it is too early to tell the impact this is having." An industry spokesman said the impact was clear: The heavier sanctions are a financial strain on operators but are not likely to produce better outcomes for residents. "Any time a dollar leaves the bedside that didn't have to leave the bedside, that's an opportunity lost to enhance the care provided," said Russ McDaid, president of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association and the Center for Assisted Living Management, both trade groups in Harrisburg. But an advocate for the elderly who helped spur tougher oversight of nursing homes with a 2015 report that criticized the Health Department for dismissing 92 percent of the complaints against Philadelphia nursing homes welcomed the change. "This jump in fines sends a clear message to nursing home operators that the days of lax oversight are over," said Sam Brooks, a lawyer at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. "For years, nursing homes were allowed to provide inadequate care that resulted in widespread harm to nursing home residents across Pennsylvania. Easily preventable deaths and injuries became common, as nursing homes did not fear any penalty," Brooks said. Secretary of Health Karen Murphy announced in October that the department would start using more discretion in deciding how much it would fine facilities, taking into account the level of harm, how long it takes for a problem to be fixed, the facility's track record of compliance, and other factors. Two of the three operators with the highest totals of fines at their facilities are no longer operating in the state. Golden Living, which is based in Texas and ranked first with $165,150 in fines dating to 2014, sold the operating licenses for 36 facilities in four transactions on Oct. 1 and Feb. 1, the Health Department said. Golden Living also had the largest total for a single facility, $68,900 at the former Golden Living Center-West Shore, in Camp Hill. After agreeing to a $2 million settlement with the state's attorney general for allegedly not providing enough staff to adequately care for residents, Reliant, based in Eddystone, sold 17 nursing homes last August, according to the Health Department. Former Reliant facilities had fines totaling $97,900. Ranking second for total fines was Oak Health & Rehabilitation Centers Inc., a 501(c)(3) that, in 2015, assumed the Pennsylvania operations of Extendicare Health Services Inc., a Canadian company that divested its U.S. operations after agreeing in 2014 to pay $34 million because it billed for "nursing services that were so deficient that they were effectively worthless," the Justice Department said. Problems have continued at the facilities now operated by Oak Health & Rehabilitation Centers, whose board president is Bala Cynwyd lawyer Howard Jaffe, according to the organization's latest Form 990 tax filing. Oak facilities received $121,450 in fines, including the second-largest facility total in the state, $37,500 at Suburban Woods Health & Rehabilitation Center in East Norriton. It was cited, among other things, for incidents in October and November when the same resident, who suffers from incontinence, fell out of bed while being cleaned by a single nursing assistant, instead of two, as required to perform the task safely. Jaffe, who has also been affiliated with a nonprofit that owns the troubled Towne Manor East in Norristown, did not respond to requests for comment. Ron Barth, CEO of LeadingAge PA, a trade group for nonprofit long-term care providers, acknowledged that there are horror stories in nursing homes and bad facilities, which he said the department rarely shuts down. Instead, he said, the department seems to have decided that it will "fine all facilities into compliance." That approach is destroying morale, Barth and others in the industry said. One reason for higher fines is a new approach to citing nursing homes for "immediate jeopardy," which is defined by federal regulators as "a situation in which the facility's noncompliance with one or more requirements of participation has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident." Brooks, the CLS lawyer, said an example of immediate jeopardy is when residents who are not supposed to eat solid food are left alone during a meal. This is a dangerous situation that can and has led to choking deaths. Last year, the state had 39 immediate jeopardy citations, up from 12 in 2015 and 11 in 2014. The state said a major reason for the increase was the decision to allow anonymous complaints in 2015. "Each time there is a complaint, our surveyors investigate, and by being on-site more frequently they identified more immediate jeopardy cases. When there is an immediate jeopardy case, the issue must be corrected before the surveyor leaves to ensure the safety of the patients," the department said. In a case that has baffled those in the industry, a surveyor cited a facility near Harrisburg for immediate jeopardy in March because the hot water available from a water purifier outside the CEO's office and near the activity room was too hot and residents could have been hurt if they pressed and held two red buttons to dispense hot water. In the past, the surveyor probably would have pointed out the potential problem and suggested that management fix it, Barth said. Now, the nursing home will be fined, and its rating on Nursing Home Compare will plummet, he said. "In the meantime, there are bad facilities out there that the department still allows to operate," Barth said. As a lifetime Montana resident who votes for the candidate, not the party, I feel compelled to voice my support for Rob Quist for United States Congress. I sincerely believe that Mr. Quist will protect all of our rights, not just the 2nd Amendment. Montana has a million dollar view but we are not a state of millionaires. Therefore we need someone who can represent the majority of Montanans who are hardworking middle class folks. If elected, I dont think we have to worry about Mr. Quist taking another position with the Trump administration like Mr. Zinke did after the majority of Montanans voted to have him represent us. By the way, Mr. Zinke cost our state millions (special election) and no vote in the House for Montana by using our lone congressional seat as a stepping stone for what he sees as a bigger opportunity for himself. Unfortunately, for us the taxpayer, our own Legislature couldnt get it together to lessen he financial blow by allowing a mail in ballot election. We all need to really question their wisdom on that decision. We need to have someone in Congress who will represent us Montanans and not just be out to better his own resume. Lets not let meddling outsiders and their big money decide who we send to Congress to represent Montana. If we get duped again we have nobody to blame but ourselves! Vote Rob Quist for Congress! Don Clark Helena BILLINGS The three candidates for Montana's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives all offered varying degrees of support for investigations into President Donald Trump's conduct regarding ex-FBI director James Comey. The three weighed in Wednesday afternoon after news broke that the Justice Department had appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. "Rob (Quist) was glad to see former FBI director Mueller appointed today and has long called for an independent investigation into Russia interfering in our presidential election, unlike Greg Gianforte, who refuses to do so," said Tina Olechowski, communications director for the Quist campaign. Greg Gianforte's campaign stopped short of supporting an independent investigation. Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the Gianforte campaign, pointed out that between committees in the Senate and the House, and the probe being conducting by the FBI, there are five investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties with Russia. "We absolutely do need to get to the bottom of this," he said. Mark Wicks, the libertarian candidate, applauded the Trump administration for appointing Mueller. "President Trump has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate any involvement between his administration and the Russians," Wicks said. "I think he has done the right thing, and I hope the truth comes out one way or another." Adding to the calls for a special investigation were revelations Tuesday that Comey, who Trump fired last week, wrote in a memo that Trump had asked him to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Gianforte, as the Republican in this special House election, has gotten a few assists to his campaign from the White House. Once in late April and again in early May Donald Trump Jr. visited the state and campaigned with Gianforte on the stump. Last week Vice President Mike Pence held a rally in Billings. Scanlon said the help Gianforte received on the campaign trail won't prevent him from carrying out his constitutional responsibilities as a congressman if he's elected. "It's the duty of Congress to hold the executive responsible," Scanlon said. "Greg's his own man. He's running to be a voice for Montana." Olechowski said only Quist, the Democratic candidate, can act as a true check to the Trump administration. "Rob will be an independent check on the president, working with him when he has Montanas best interests in mind and holding him accountable when he doesnt," she said. Olechoweski noted Quist's independence and dinged Gianforte for his reported financial ties to index funds with holdings in Russian firms under sanctions by the U.S. government. On Wednesday, the Huffington Post reported that Gianforte had $47,000 in stocks in a French-Swiss cement company that was accused last year of making payments to possible Islamic State militants to secure one of its cement factories in northern Syria. Scanlon dismissed the insinuation. He said the account that held the stocks was managed like a mutual fund and that Gianforte wasn't aware of the specific companies in which the fund held stocks. "Greg wasn't aware," Scanlon said. "It was brought to his attention and he sold it." Over the last few days, more chatter has come from politicians in Washington, D.C., suggesting impeachment. Wednesday morning saw comments from Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) the first Republican to suggest that findings from the investigations may merit impeachment hearings. Both Quist's and Gianforte's campaign declined to comment specifically on impeachment. Wicks urged caution. "In order to support impeachment hearings I would need credible evidence that the law has been broken," he said. "It is important that I remain impartial and not take a position without seeing evidence first. There is enough partisanship in Washington without me adding to it." MISSOULA The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Natural Resources Department announces the development of an Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) website. The website address is csktnomussssels.org. This website is designed to provide public education and share information about the science, prevention about the risk of AIS in the water bodies of the Flathead Reservation. The csktnomussels.org website is designed to provide updated news and information from the CSKT Natural Resources Department and the AIS Technical Team in an easily searchable format. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes began extensive public education and rulemaking to prevent the spread of invasive quagga and zebra mussels into the Flathead Basin. Invasive mussels were detected in Montana in 2016. The website includes 2017 CSKT Regulations for Watercraft on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The website also includes information on prevention of the spread of AIS. There are downloadable brochures, a fact sheet and news releases in the Latest News and Resources section of the website menu. The website will be updated as new information becomes available and is distributed to local media. For more information regarding upcoming meetings, contact Germaine White, Tom McDonald, Paula Webster or Georgia Smies at 406-675-2700. GREAT FALLS Police in north-central Montana are investigating a homicide at a motel on the southwest side of Great Falls. Deputy Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki told KFBB-TV on Wednesday that a person of interest is in custody and there is no further threat to the community. Giuliano Cameroni making the first ascent of GGG - Grande gigante gentile - in Valle Bavona. The Swissman described the line as "all in all the best problem I have ever done" Photo by Giuliano Cameroni archive Giuliano Cameroni climbs best problem ever in Valle Bavona 18.05.2017 by by Planetmountain At Sonlerto in Valle Bavona, Switzerland, Giuliano Cameroni has made the first ascent of Grande gigante gentile. Graded 8A and 12m tall, the 20-year-old Swiss climber has described the line as 'the perfect highball'. When one of the worlds most talented boulderers mentions hes just first ascended what he regards as the best problem he has ever climbed, its worth stopping for a minute and examining further. The climber who has just created his Giuliano Cameroni, the young Swissman who is far more talented than he is famous. Many of Cameronis repeats and first ascents pass under the radar but problems such as Dreamtime at Cresciano and Der mit dem Fels tanzt at Chironico attest to the fact that he is well and truly in the 8C bracket. All this makes his recent first ascent of GGG - Grande gigante gentile -all the more striking. Located just behind the famous Off the Wagon problem at Sonlerto in Valle Bavona, the problem is "a huge 12 meters vertical dihedral" that ascends "perfect Bavona-rock and has world class palm moves plus technical body positions all the way to the top." Cameroni worked the highball on a toprope prior to his successful ascent, and told planetmountain.com "It took me 3 days of cleaning and repeating the upper part again and again. I must have done it more than 30 times. It felt safe because I didn't fall once after I had the correct beta. I waited for Sam Ometz and then I did it without any fear. Everything felt good and I knew I wasn't gonna fall. I'm not an highball climber and most of the time I'm scared of heights, but for this king line I made an exception." Cameroni celebrated his 20th birthday one day in advance by sending the problem on his last day as a teenager, and he explained "For me this is the perfect highball: the higher you get the easier it is, the landing is flat and you are always on your feet (they never slipped) so the risk of dry-fire, ie suddenly slipping off without warning, is almost impossible if you can control your climbing." Cameroni thanks S.C.A.R.P.A. for the support Share Tweet The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has enacted a new policy requiring deputies to address transgender and gender non-conforming people using their preferred names and pronouns, officials said Tuesday. The policy prohibits deputies from making offensive comments or asking about a person's gender transition process. It also says deputies cannot disclose that someone is transgender to non-law enforcement personnel, with few exceptions. Sheriff's deputies are also required to address transgender and gender non-conforming people by their preferred name and use the pronoun that corresponds to their gender identify without requiring proof of a name change. The sheriff's policy also says transgender or gender non-conforming people can specify the gender of deputies who conduct invasive searches, including strip searches. The Los Angeles Police Department and New York Police Department also have similar policies, SCPR.org reports. Los Angeles police officers facing disciplinary hearings will have a choice of appearing before an all-civilian review board or a panel that includes two command-level officers, thanks to voters approval of a ballot measure condemned by critics as a weakening of the LAPDs disciplinary system. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Charter Amendment C earned 92,874 yes votes (57.14 percent) and 69,647 no votes (42.85 percent). The passage of Charter Amendment C will increase civilian oversight of the LAPD, Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Measure C was placed on Tuesdays ballot by the Los Angeles City Council and received support from Garcetti, Council President Herb Wesson and the police union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League. The LAPPL argued the current system is unfair because of the belief that the police chief has undue influence on sworn members of board of rights panels, reports the Los Angeles Daily News. BUTTE A federal jury in Butte Wednesday returned a $37,343 verdict against a Bozeman landlord for charging a tenant with physical and psychiatric disabilities $1,000 to have a service animal, the Justice Department announced. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Butte, alleged that Jaclyn Katz, the owner and manager of rental properties in Bozeman, discriminated against Kristen Newman, a tenant with physical and psychiatric disabilities, by charging her a $1,000 deposit as a condition for allowing her to keep her service dog, Riley. According to a news release from the Department of Justice: At trial, Newman, her treating therapist and an independent expert testified that Riley assisted Newman in living with the symptoms of her disabilities, including providing emotional support, helping to predict migraines, and reducing suicidal thoughts. Newman also testified that she repeatedly informed Katz that charging a deposit for a service animal was illegal and that Newman understood that she would have to pay for any actual damage caused by her service dog. Nevertheless, Katz continued to levy this charge and, at one point, even threatened to terminate Newmans tenancy. The case arose out of a complaint filed by Newman with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The verdict includes $11,043 in compensatory damages for Newman, $20,000 in punitive damages for Newman, and $6,300 for Montana Fair Housing Inc., which assisted Newman with her fair housing complaint. Persons with disabilities have the right to live in and enjoy their communities, just as all families do throughout our nation, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. We commend the jury for recognizing that the Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from discriminating against persons with disabilities, and we will continue to work to eliminate discriminatory barriers in housing for persons with disabilities. Many people with disabilities require the assistance of an animal to carry out major daily activities, said General Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryan Greene of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Complaints alleging disability discrimination now account for the majority of the complaints HUD receives. HUD will continue to enforce the law and educate the public on the rights of people with disabilities in housing. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Persons who believe that they have experienced unlawful housing discrimination may contact the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743, or by e-mail at fairhousing@usdoj.gov. No candidates have been identified in the mayor's national search for a Portland police chief. No interviews have been conducted or finalists selected. But already Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and the head of the Portland police union are trading barbs, and it's over the wording of the job description for the top cop's job. After the job description was posted on a city website Monday, Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, issued a lengthy statement Tuesday night, decrying the mayor's reference to the state's and the city's history of "systemic racism,'' Oregon Live reports. The job description prominently points out that Portland has a history of "legally sanctioned systemic racism with legally enforced exclusionary practices.'' It said that the successful candidate must have the "capacity and commitment'' to improve relationships with members of minority communities, "ensuring that equity is a bedrock of policing.'' Turner wrote that the description left the rank-and-file "angry and confused, as the clear implication from the posting is that the Police Bureau and its members have supported a racist culture in the City.'' The man convicted of killing Millard County, UT, Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox in 2010 has been sentenced to a prison sentence of life plus 80 years, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. On Thursday, seven years and two trials after Fox was slain with an AK-47 and found in a pool of her own blood, U.S. District Judge David Nuffer sentenced Roberto Miramontes Roman to a prison sentence of life plus 80 years, the maximum punishment he was facing and the one prosecutors requested. The shortest sentence Roman, 44, could have received was 100 years behind bars. Federal law requires mandatory minimum terms of 20 years in prison for the killing and 80 years for his convictions on other crimes, with the terms required to run consecutively. There is no parole in the federal system, which means offenders serve their entire term, minus any "good time" credit of up to about 50 days a year for their behavior in prison. Defense attorney Stephen McCaughey who noted Roman maintains his innocence said that even with that credit, a 100-year term would keep his client incarcerated for the rest of his life. But Nuffer said a life term was necessary to reflect the seriousness of the crime and provide deterrence, saying criminals must know if they kill a law-enforcement officer, they will never go free. A federal jury convicted Roman on Feb. 7 of eight charges, including intentionally killing a local law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of official duties and using a firearm during a crime of violence. The conviction came in Roman's second trial on a charge of killing the 37-year-old Fox, who was hit by two bullets as she approached the Cadillac sedan she had stopped because the occupants were suspected of being involved in a drug transaction. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print There is literally no place for Trump to hide. At home, talk about impeachment is gaining impetus as a consequence of the Comey memo, Trumps admissions that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation and his admission that he gave the Russians intelligence to name just a few of the events of the past week. Even before Trump leaves on his first trip abroad as President, that trip is tainted because Trump will attend a Summit with an indicted war criminal. According to the ICCs case information sheet, al-Bashir has been charged with: Five counts of crimes against humanity: murder; extermination; forcible transfer; torture and rape (article 7(1)(g)); Two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking part in hostilities and pillaging Three counts of genocide: genocide by killing genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the groups physical destruction. Granted, Saudi Arabia is organizing the summit of 50 dignitaries from predominantly Muslim countries across Africa, the middle East and Asia. The Saudis invited al-Bashir. But, heres the rub. A U.S. official told NBC While the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, we nevertheless strongly support efforts to hold accountable those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including such acts in Darfur, This is against the backdrop of Trumps tendency to praise strong leaders like Vladimir Putin. This is after Trump and shared intelligence with Russia. This is after Trump welcomed dictators like Turkeys President Erdogan and Egypts Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to the White House. This is after Trump endorsed Holocaust denier and nationalist Marine LePen in Frances presidential election. Its after Trumps inauguration committee invited the leader of Austrias Freedom Party (which was founded by Nazis) to the Inauguration. And this is the same Donald Trump who dismissed respect for people he considers the other as political correctness. With this background and Trumps inclusion of the alt right in his Administration, it seems more plausible for Trump to rub shoulders with someone like al-Bashir than to strongly support efforts to hold the President of Sudan accountable for the most horrific crimes imaginable against the people of Dafur. To be fair, the White House has not commented on whether Mr. Trump knew al-Bashir was invited to the Summit or if the two might meet not that the White House has much credibility these days. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print On a day filled with more explosive developments surrounding the investigation into Donald Trumps ties to Russia, The New York Times just added fuel to the raging dumpster fire threatening to take down this White House. According to the stunning new report, Trump and his transition team knew that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was under investigation before taking office, far earlier than initially reported, as the Times notes. More from the report: Michael T. Flynn told President Trumps transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case. Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Mr. Flynn of the inquiry, Mr. Trump made Mr. Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Mr. Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies. Mr. Flynns disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition teams chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynns lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported. Thats right the President of the United States knew Michael Flynn was under investigation for accepting payments from a foreign entity since January 4, but he still thought it was appropriate to put him in a position that gave him access to the nations most highly classified intelligence. The President of the United States was clearly hellbent on keeping Flynn by his side, though despite his lies, despite his connections to and possible blackmailing by Russia, and despite being under investigation for foreign payments only until information surfaced in the media. This news comes not long after it was revealed that former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, had warned the administration just days after taking office that Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians. In that case, too, the president showed no urgency to get rid of Flynn or deny him access to the top secret intelligence. While the latest Times report is stunning in its own right, its one of many that show how this president has little concern about safeguarding classified intelligence. After all, Trump just spilled highly sensitive intel in a secret meeting with the Russians just a few days ago. The one question that remains is just how much longer those in Congress and the American people will allow this man to jeopardize Americas national security. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) unloaded on the FCC after they voted 2-1 to roll back net neutrality protections and in essence destroy the internet. After the FCC voted 2-1 on a party-line basis to kill net neutrality protections, Sen. Franken said in a statement made available to PoliticusUSA, Make no mistake: the FCC just took a major step toward destroying the internet as we know it, putting the interests of a handful of giant corporations like Comcast and Verizon ahead of the American people. For as long as the internet has existed, its been grounded on the principle of net neutralitymeaning what you read, see, or watch on the internet shouldnt be favored, blocked, or slowed down based on where that content is coming from. Net neutrality allows Minnesotas small businesses to compete with the big guys, it drives innovation by putting entrepreneurs on the same playing field with large companies, and it protects Americans free speech. The truth is theres no good reason to get rid of strong net neutrality protections, unless you want to give giant companies the power to shake-down consumers and small businesses even more by establishing fast and slow lanes. This is a terrible idea, and its never been more important for us mobilize and fight back to stop the FCCand the large corporations who are behind this attackfrom destroying the free and open internet that all Americans deserve. Sen. Franken was correct. The goal of Republicans is to turn control of the internet over to giant corporations. Net Neutrality allows the internet to be a true marketplace of ideas, where all are on equal footing. Gutting net neutrality would allow big corporations like Comcast and Verizon to block or slow down websites based on a sites ability to pay to be read. When Republicans talk about restoring freedom to the internet, they dont mean freedom for consumers to equally read and view whatever they want. Republican internet freedom is defined by corporations controlling and profiting by restricting access to content the internet. With all of the Trump scandal and insanity dominating the news, it is easy to forget that the Republican-controlled federal government remains hard at work implementing their pro-corporate agenda. It is time for America to mobilize to protect one of the last democratic spaces left in our society. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Former CIA Director John Brennan will finally testify before the House Intel Committee next Tuesday, as part of Russia probe, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced on Twitter moments ago. Just announced: Former CIA Director Brennan will testify in open session before House Intel Committee next Tuesday as part of Russia probe. pic.twitter.com/2sp7rfq1IS Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 18, 2017 Brennans appearance was on the schedule Wednesday but announced Thursday. His previous appearance was canceled by Republican Devin Nunes (R-CA) in late March. At the time, Schiff said of Nunes cancellation, Chairman just cancelled open Intelligence Committee hearing with (former Director of National Intelligence James) Clapper, (former CIA Director John) Brennan and (former deputy Attorney General Sally) Yates in attempt to choke off public info. Brennan was in charge when it became apparent to the intelligence community that Russia had interfered in the U.S. election and was helping Donald Trump. In late August of 2016, Brennan gave urgent, individual briefings for eight top members of Congress to inform them of Russian efforts to help elect Donald Trump. From that same New York Times article dated April 6, 2017, officials said Mr. Brennan also indicated that unnamed advisers to Mr. Trump might be working with the Russians to interfere in the election. Thats working with the Russians. Tune in next Tuesday. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The DOJs decision to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel to take over the Trump/Russia investigation was met with approval by Democrats and some Republicans. As Sarah Jones reported, Donald Trump cried witch hunt ironic given his role in keeping the birther myth alive. Under the applicable law, special counsel is appointed by the Attorney-General. When the Attorney-General recuses himself, (as Sessions did in this case notwithstanding possible violations of that recusal) the Deputy Attorney-General is authorized to make this appointment. As Jason Easley pointed out Mueller is an excellent choice because He was the former FBI Director under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Mueller has an outstanding reputation, and most importantly, is not connected to Donald Trump in any way. Mueller has the character and the credibility to conduct an investigation as independently as a special counsel can. He has the full authority to investigate and, if warranted, file criminal charges as a U.S. attorney would. As legal experts point out, Trump could emulate Nixon and fire the special counsel and of course, the Attorney-General, or in this case, Deputy Attorney-General Rosenstein can fire Mueller. Laurence Tribe tweeted Not even a special counsel whom Trump could sack will suffice. If Ryan has any integrity at all he MUST initiate an impeachment inquiry NOW! Not even a special counsel whom Trump could sack will suffice. If Ryan has any integrity at all he MUST initiate an impeachment inquiry NOW! Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 9, 2017 There are other restrictions to the special counsels independence as well. NBCs Phil Helsel writes: Modern special counsels have less independence than the special prosecutors employed during the Watergate investigations of the 1970s, who were appointed under a law that has now expired. For example, Mueller must notify the Attorney-General (in this case, Deputy Attorney-General Rosenstein), of any specific actions the special counsel intends to take, Rosenstein has the ability to overrule those proposed actions. A special counsel is different from a special prosecutor. While a special counsel is appointed by the Attorney-General or Deputy Attorney General, special prosecutors were appointed by a 3-judge panel upon request by the Attorney-General, based on criteria set out in the applicable law. As explained by Charlie Savage, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-rosenstein-comey-special-counsel-russia.html that law was part of a series of post-Watergate reforms to allow investigation of wrong doing by the executive branch, free from political interference. While the ideal solution for many of us is impeachment proceedings, an Independent Counsel is the next best option. When we had an Office of Independent Counsel, it answered to Congress providing the necessary independence from potential intimidation by the president or anyone else in the executive branch. Under the law establishing the Independent Counsel, the Attorney-Generals powers were restricted on matters being considered by the Office. Under the law the Attorney-General shall have no authority to convene grand juries, plea bargain, grant immunity or issue subpoenas. As noted above, we no longer have a legal basis to appoint an independent counsel because the Congress allowed the law to expire in 1999. Charlie Savage summarized the reasons Congress that happened. Republicans learned to hate the arrangement during the Iran-contra investigation into the Reagan administration, and Democrats did, as well, during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations into President Bill Clinton. The current state of the law regarding independent council is explained in a report by the Congressional Research Office published in 2013. Those parts of the Ethics in Government Act relating to independent counsels regularly had five year sunset provisions, and were eventually allowed by Congress to expire after June 30, 1999.9 Since the laws expiration no independent counsel or special prosecutor, as those terms have been used since 1978, may now be appointed by an independent judicial panel upon the request of the Attorney General to investigate or prosecute a matter on behalf of the United States. Politically, re-establishing the office of Independent Counsel isnt in the cards, with a Republican controlled Congress and a President determined to maintain as much control over this investigation as he can. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Speaker Ryan was asked about some of his own House Republicans saying that they would be better off with Pence as president, and instead of defending Trump, Ryan said that he would give credence to the question. Video: Ryan was asked, Considering the maelstrom that youve dealt with with Trump and Russia, there have been members who have said we might be better with Vice President Pence. Speaker Ryans answer was not a defense of Trump. Ryan said, Oh, good grief. Im not even going to give credence to that. Im not even going to comment on that. The questioner continued, But your members are saying. Ryan replied, Theres not any point of making any comment on that. Speaker Ryans non-answer was telling. Ryan could have defended Trump. He could have said that House Republicans have confidence in their president. Instead, the Speaker of the House chose to say no comment to the idea that the Republican Party would be better served if the Republican president was replaced by his vice president. Dont be fooled into thinking that there unlimited protection within the Republican House caucus for Trump. If the President is no longer useful in getting Ryans legislative agenda passed, there is little doubt that the Speaker of the House would toss Trump aside in a second. The Republicans didnt turn a blind eye towards the Russia scandal for Trump. Ryan is protecting his own power by keeping Trump around. When Trump becomes a big enough liability, dont be surprised if Paul Ryan kicks him to the curb. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Sources told Jeff Zeleny for CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper that Trumps circle is looking for outside legal help to deal with the special counsel. They are looking for an outside set of legal advisers to, in the words of one administration official, add more legal firepower to the representation of the President in this matter,' Zeleny said. Zeleny explained that this is a common practice for presidents who have dealt with special counsels. The Presidents personal lawyer Michael Cohen is in D.C. according to CNNs sources and he is to present the President with a plan to hire a group of lawyers before Trump leaves on his foreign trip Friday. While lawyering up never looks good in terms of optics to the public, Trump needs a lawyer who represents him, not the White House. Additionally, as Reuters pointed out when word of the special counsel was announced Wednesday, Trumps communication with the White House lawyer might not be shielded by attorney client privilege. Trump can thank the Republican investigation into President Bill Clinton for this precedent. Trumps people reportedly urged him to get his own lawyers even sooner than the special counsel appointment, as soon as they heard that former FBI Director James Comey had kept detailed notes on his meetings with Trump, according to Maggie Haberman in the New York Times. Trump is used to being in control in his private world. He is now not able to control people or events with one call to his lawyer, because hes dealing with people like Comey, who saw him coming and do this for a living. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 64F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 64F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible. CHARLESTON The Eastern Illinois University student who was killed in late April was shot after attempting to break up the fight that led up to the shooting, police said witnesses told them. Tony West, Charleston Police Department detective, said Byron Edingburg, 23, of Chicago, who also had a local address, was shot April 25 in the moments after he was attempting to break up a fight at the party where the shooting took place, based on witness reports of the incident. West said it is still unclear whether the shot or shots that were fired were intended for Edingburg or Akeem Williams, 20, of Romeoville, who suffered minor injuries to his back. West said the motive for the shooting is still being investigated. The incident occurred after a fight broke out at 1061 Seventh St. and resulted in at least one shot being fired. West said it is possible that both men who were hit were struck by the same bullet. West said witnesses stated different accounts of how many shots were fired. Edingburg was struck in the upper torso and suffered multiple internal injuries, the police said. Williams was struck in the back. West said the bullet that hit Edingburg passed through his body. West described from witness reports that the fight leading up to the shooting was started when a former Eastern Illinois University student was jumped by one or more people. The reason for the fight is still being investigated, West noted. Edingburg was trying to break up the fight and later was shot along with Williams, who was standing several feet away, West said. The shooter then fled the scene, West said. The suspect has not been identified. Police are still urging anyone with any information related to the incident to contact the Charleston police at (217) 345- 8402, Coles County Crime Stoppers toll free at 1-866-345-8488, text any leads to 274637 or message them through the Charleston police Facebook page and Twitter accounts. West said police are considering that the suspect is not from the area. The party had a mix of people from outside of the area and from Eastern, West said. Caroline Smith will be headlining another Positive Tuesdays party this Friday. The shenanigans will also include sets by Hannah Von Der Hoff and local favorites Second Story. Smith took a minute to answer a few questions for 507 readers. You have a substantial amount of recording under your belt. How do you think your music has evolved over this time? Im always thinking about my lyrics, and where I see my music evolve most is in the stories that I tell and whats pertinent to me at that age. You know, it moves from infatuation to heart break to self-reflection. Its like four albums of imprinted stories from my past. Youve listed artists as diverse as Billie Holiday and Notorious B.I.G. as influential to your music. Is there anything your musical influences have in common? (laughing) I dont remember citing Notorious B.I.G. as an influence, but I mean, he was one of the greatest. I think I have a wide range of influences because music is always changing and important moments in my life are kept suspended by the music that was weaving through them. My first crush laid next to me on the floor while we listened to "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"; my mom would dance with me in the kitchen to Bonnie Raitt and Mariah Carey; my brother would force me to learn Pink Floyd songs on the guitar so he could practice his guitar soloing; and as a result, all of those artists are important to me and rise to the surface when I am telling a story through song. ADVERTISEMENT Your song-writing process is a collaboration with your band The Good Night Sleeps. Can you describe how the lyrics and music might come together for one of your songs? I write the songs and the lyrics and my band, Jesse Schuster and Arlen Peiffer, help me arrange it and bring it to life. Now we have the fortune of working with songwriters and producers we adore and respect, but Jesse and Arlen are still very much a huge part of the creative process. One of my favorite lines from your songs is "uncouth and bucktoothed with overgrown knees" from "Scholarships." The way these words make such a beautiful sound while perfectly describing someone not so appealing really resonates with me. How important is the way your lyrics sound without being set to music? I started out with my passion being in writing fiction and short stories and I still write on the side. I think that kind of candid verbosity still sneaks its way into my lyricism from my English major days at the University of Minnesota. Over the past year, youve toured the country from New York, to St. Louis and L.A. Any stories from favorite shows you can share? My favorite moment on any stage, in any city, is the first time I sold out First Avenue. There is no feeling that can match or describe it. It felt surreal. Like a dream. This past January you appeared at Chicagos Tomorrow Never Knows Fest at Lincoln Hall. Can you describe what the festival was like? Yes it was amazing. Fabulous. Fantastic. I love playing Lincoln Hall. Their staff is so kind and so wildly talented at what they do. The sound is unparalleled by any other. The festival is put on by a favorite collective of mine, Audio Tree, who is also so, so talented at what they do. The whole experience was a dream. ADVERTISEMENT You wore a shirt that said "Women can be Ghost Busters" during your TNK fest show. Whats the story behind that? The way people were reacting to the movie really pissed me off. Saying the original ghostbusters was compromised by doing an all female recast. But when all of that shit went down with Leslie Jones, I lost it. I figured the best way to use my voice is to iron on huge letters to a shirt and wear it on stage in front of hundreds of people. It proved to be effective I think. Proceeds from your song "Let Em Say" featuring Lizzo go to support the Womens Foundation of MN. Why do you think its important to support this organization? I think its important for artists to stand beside the organizations they believe in and give back to the platforms that help them, especially within their communities. If you had advice for the next young artist landing gigs at the local Zorbaz Pizza shop like you did when you got your start in Detroit Lakes, what would it be? If you dont know how to do something, learn how instead of waiting for someone to teach you. I remember trying to figure out how to work a PA system all by myself at Zorbaz with no one to help me and feeling really frustrated. But as a result I learned how and it showed me that I can figure a lot out for myself. What can your Rochester fans do to make you happy at the show? Dont be shy to sing the words if you know them! And also create a safe space for other concert goers. Police have released surveillance video of suspects in the alleged attack of a 19-year-old Racine, Wis., man last month at The Quarters Apartments in Rochester, hoping the public will recognize them. The attack was reported about 12:30 a.m. April 26, sending police to the building at 834 21st Ave. SE, near Rochester Community Technical College. Three people the victim and two 20-year-old men were inside an apartment unit when there was a "loud banging" on the door for several minutes, the report says. After looking through the peephole, the victim realized he didn't recognize any of the five to eight people at his door, so he ignored the banging. The apartment door was kicked in moments later, said Capt. John Sherwin, so the victim ran to the bathroom and tried to barricade the door. The two other men ran to their own bedrooms. The suspects chased the 19-year-old to the bathroom and assaulted him there, the report says, punching and kicking him before stealing his cell phone. The other residents weren't injured. ADVERTISEMENT The victim refused medical treatment, and told officers he didn't know "why they did what they did," Sherwin said. The surveillance video from the entryway of the apartment building shows three females enter, including one with a " sleeve " tattoo on her left arm. Moments later, four men appear at the door, then walk away. One of the three females comes to the entryway and opens the door; the four men, now accompanied by a fifth male, return and enter the building. One of the men is wearing gray sweatpants with an "08" on the left leg; another of the suspects appears to be a child, Sherwin said. All eight suspects spoke Spanish throughout the incident, the victim said; one displayed a handgun. They're considered to be armed and dangerous. "We'd like to know who any of these people are," Sherwin said, "because frankly, they're all equally involved." Anyone with information is asked to contact Rochester/Olmsted CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8427), or Inv. Chris Weber with the Rochester Police Department at 328-6922. ST. PAUL Minnesotans no longer have to worry about being unable to board a flight using their state driver's licenses. The Minnesota House and Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that will bring the state's driver's licenses into compliance with the federal Real ID law. The measure cleared the House by a vote of 120-11 and the Senate by a vote of 57-8. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he will sign the bill. Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said the vast majority of citizens support conforming with Real ID and expected lawmakers to act. "The people have spoken pretty loud and clear," Senjem said. If the bill had failed to pass, Minnesotans would have been unable to use their driver's licenses to board domestic flights beginning Jan. 22. Now that the legislation has passed, the federal government is expected to grant the state an extension to come into compliance with the law. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has until Oct. 1, 2018, to begin issuing the Real ID-compliant driver's licenses. ADVERTISEMENT Despite the looming deadline, passage of the Real ID bill this session was far from certain. A dispute over undocumented immigrants and driver's licenses nearly derailed the bill. House Republicans' original bill would have prohibited the state from issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. Democrats strongly opposed the measure. The Senate's bill did not include the ban on immigrant driver's licenses. A House-Senate conference committee crafted a compromise bill that dropped the immigrant driver's license language. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said if Republicans had been willing to drop the immigration language from the start, Real ID could have gotten passed much faster. "It would have taken two minutes if we'd have done it a month ago," she said. Every southeast Minnesota lawmaker voted for the Real ID bill except one Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. He said he believes the federal government is overstepping its authority. "We shouldn't be capitulating to a coercive federal government that is going to very likely expand the use and requirements around this federal ID to further control Minnesota citizens," Drazkowski said. Sen. Mike Goggin, R-Red Wing, said he initially opposed the Real ID bill because of concerns that Minnesotans' privacy rights may not be protected. He said those concerns were eased thanks to language added to the bill that would require the Legislature to review any changes made at the federal level to the Real ID law. Goggin added, "I want to do everything I can do to protect privacy rights, so that (language) put me into the yes category." DECATUR State-mandated tests showed elevated lead levels in nearly 100 water samples across the Decatur school district, according to results released this week. The results showed that 97 samples tested higher than the five parts per billion, the standard that requires parents to be notified under state law. Of those, 30 tested higher than 15 parts per billion, the standard at which the federal Environmental Protection Agency requires action to be taken. The district conducted testing at 16 buildings as a result of a state law signed in January. The dangers of lead contamination gained national attention after the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint, Mich., which developed in 2014 when the Flint River became the primary source of water for the city. Lead seepage into the water caused a public health crisis, and President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency. Children are most at risk to the effects of elevated lead levels, which can cause developmental delays. Sources of potable water that were tested include taps, faucets, drinking fountains and wash basins in a classroom, but exclude bathroom sinks and basins used by janitorial staff. Two samples were taken from each water source. The highest number of samples in Decatur schools containing lead was at South Shores School, with 21 total samples testing positive, 15 of them between five and 14.99 parts per billion, six over 15 parts per billion. Second highest was Franklin School, with 15 total samples testing positive for lead, 10 of them between five and 14.99, five greater than 15 parts per billion. Water sources that tested positive were immediately shut off, said Maria Robertson, district spokeswoman, and will remain shut off until repairs can be made. Four buildings contained no lead in any samples: Harris School, Parsons School, Pershing Early Learning Center and Southeast Learning Center. Johns Hill Magnet School, Dennis and Stevenson schools had only one sample test positive each. In all of those samples, the lead level was between five and 14.99 parts per billion. Parents of Garfield Montessori School students received a letter Tuesday regarding the lead testing of water in the building. A rumor began circulating on social media that the building had no water at all, which was not true. There is water at Garfield, Robertson said. There are classrooms sinks that have been shut down as a result from receiving water test results. Classroom sinks at Garfield are mainly used for hand-washing, not consumption. The letter went home with students after school on Tuesday, but parent David Young said he wishes he'd known before that. This isn't the first school that this has happened to, Young said. I've got two kids at Muffley, and it also happened at Muffley and we didn't find out about Muffley until we saw the story in the paper. My wife and I were talking last night and it seems ridiculous that the two high schools got completely gutted and remodeled and kids are still going to grade schools with no air conditioning and no lead testing (until now) as far as we're aware. With four new school board members, Young said, now is a good time for parents to start attending board meetings and airing their concerns. At Garfield, nine classroom sinks tested positive for the presence of lead and all nine have been shut off. The reason that caught so much attention, Robertson said, is that Montessori curriculum requires a great deal of hand-washing and use of the classroom sink. Shutting off those sinks created the inconvenience of having to leave the classroom to use other water sources. The buildings and grounds department has put repairs of the problem water sources at the top of its priority list for this summer's work, she said, with the goal of having it all complete before the beginning of the next school year in August. The lead testing results are posted on the district website. The first results came in at the end of April, and district officials said the rest would arrive about two weeks later. The results released Monday included the remaining schools, with the exceptions of Hope Academy and the two high schools, all of which were built after Jan. 1, 2000 and are not required to be tested. The district was not required to test water sources in the two middle schools, either, Robertson said, as the law only focuses on the smallest students. Buildings serving preschool students and buildings with kindergarten and first grade students must be tested, and all the results have come back for those district buildings. First District Rep. Tim Walz said on Tuesday that President Trump is "unfit to be commander-in-chief" if reports are true he asked the former FBI director to stop investigating Gen. Michael Flynn. The Mankato Democrat issued a statement in the wake of a New York Times report that former FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo that the president had asked him to drop the investigation of Flynn the former national security adviser. Trump fired Comey last week. "We need the truth and we need it now. These reports are deeply concerning. If they are true, I believe they make the president unfit to serve as commander-in-chief. This matter is now in the hands of congressional Republicans and history will remember how they respond," Walz said. The congressman also renewed his call for an independent investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Walz has announced he is running for governor in 2018. MINNEAPOLIS The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld three consecutive life sentences with the possibility of release for a man who was a teenager when prosecutors say he killed three people in a Minneapolis market in 2010. Mahdi Hassan Ali originally received a mandatory sentence of life without parole, but his case is one of several in Minnesota that was re-examined after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional. Because his sentences are consecutive, Ali won't be eligible for parole until he serves 90 years. Prosecutors said Ali was 17 when he killed three men during a robbery attempt at Seward Market and Halal Meat. He was convicted and sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole in one of the deaths, then given consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole in the other two. His sentence of life without parole was vacated in 2014 after the U.S. Supreme Court found that life in prison without parole only should be applied to juveniles in the rarest of cases and should not be mandatory. He was resentenced in 2016 to life with the possibility of parole, on top of his two existing consecutive life sentences. ADVERTISEMENT Ali's attorneys appealed, arguing the lower court abused its discretion and the consecutive terms were the functional equivalent of a lifetime with no release. They argued the three life sentences should run together, so he'd be eligible for release after 30 years. The Minnesota Supreme Court disagreed. The majority found that the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on this issue don't address offenders who received sentences with the possibility of release, and they don't squarely address how consecutive sentences should be viewed. The majority said bsent further guidance, the justices would not apply the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings to cases such as Ali's or other juvenile offenders who are sentenced on multiple crimes. Justice Margaret Chutich disagreed with the majority, saying Ali's sentences should be concurrent. She wrote that the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court established certain principles, including that children are constitutionally different from adults in their level of culpability and that the most severe penalties can't be imposed on juveniles as though they were adults. Chutich said those principles should apply to a sentence such as Ali's, which she called the practical equivalent of a lifetime in prison. Leslie Rosenberg, Ali's attorney, said she believes the Minnesota Supreme Court will be proven wrong. She had no comment when asked if attorneys would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. ADVERTISEMENT Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in Ali's case, the evidence supported a first-degree premeditated murder charge, and the law has to recognize when three people are killed. "We don't disagree that juveniles have a different capacity to understand," Freeman said, but "we think the Supreme Court has arrived at an appropriate level of care and scrutiny for these horrendous, horrible juvenile killings, and particularly multiple murders." Wednesday's ruling could affect two other offenders who were convicted of killing multiple victims when they were juveniles. Brian Lee Flowers, 25, and Stafon Thompson, 26, were 16 and 17 when they were accused of killing a mother and son in Minneapolis in 2008. Both were sentenced to mandatory life without parole. Flowers was resentenced to two concurrent sentences of life with the possibility of parole, but Freeman's office is appealing, arguing the sentences should be consecutive. The district court was waiting for a decision in Ali's case before proceeding with Thompson's resentencing. "We think that given the nature of the crime, the fact that two people are dead, to run (the sentences) consecutively is appropriate," Freeman said. David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth, today defended the right of President Trump to direct the FBI investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and possible wrongdoing by Michael Flynn. McIntosh, a co-founder of the Federalist Society, made the defense at the Federalist Societys Executive Branch Review Conference. He said: President Trump acted appropriately if he gave guidance to Director Comey on an investigation. It is important for us to step back and remember that, under the Constitution, the President has the authority and power to enforce the laws. Theres nothing in the Constitution about an FBI Director. The FBI director reports to the President and it is the Presidents decision to delegate authority on investigations. In delegating that authority, Presidents have wisely chosen to insulate the FBI from political interference. But the President still has the power and authority to direct the FBI how to do their job. Congress, in its critiques of the Executive Branch, should not overstep and try to direct or limit the Presidents legitimate exercise of his Article 2 powers. Its true that the president has the power to direct the FBI on how to do its job. In my opinion, however, the president abuses that power if he directs the FBI on how to investigate matters in which he has a personal or political stake or directs the FBI to go easy on a friend or associate. I should note that, as of now, the publicly available evidence does not show that President Trump did any of this. Even the rumors circulating suggest that, at most, he only encouraged the FBI director to consider going easy on Gen. Flynn. If he did that, I would consider it a borderline abuse (and certainly not obstruction of justice). I agree with McIntosh that presidents have wisely chosen to insulate the FBI from political interference. This statement is confirmed by what were seeing now. Trumps alleged comments to Comey and his subsequent dismissal of him are fueling calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor. In lieu of doing so, and to lower the temperature, Trump may feel constrained in his selection of a new FBI director. Reportedly, his list of candidates is down to Joe Lieberman; former Oklahoma governor Frank A. Keating; Richard McFeely, a former FBI official; and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. Lieberman is a former Democrat; a man of the center-left; and a good friend of Trump critic Sen. John McCain. McCabe is the husband of a Democrat who, when she ran for office in 2015, received half a million dollars from Terry McAuliffes political action committee. Perhaps they are on the list just for show. But the fact that Trumps conduct has required him, at a minimum, to put on a show is troubling. Under David McIntoshs leadership, the Club for Growth strongly opposed Trumps candidacy for the Republican nomination. It spent millions of dollars trying to prevent it. Why has he weighed in with a defense of Trump? I understand McIntosh to be a strong proponent of broad presidential power the unitary executive theory and so forth. I think the position he took today is a principled one based on how he views the presidency. But others defending Trumps power to direct the FBI in the context of its investigation of Russia, Flynn, etc. might ask themselves what their view would have been had President Obama said to Comey what Trump is alleged to have said, and then, a few months later, sacked the director. I had been scheduled to attend an event tomorrow night with Robert Spencer, a prominent anti-jihadist, who was to be in Iceland until shortly before his visit to Minnesota. I got word that the event was canceled because Spencer had fallen ill, and then learned that he had, in fact, been poisoned. Spencer describes what happened at PJ Media: After I spoke last Thursday in the beautiful nation of Iceland, a Leftist in Reykjavik poisoned me. *** My visit triggered a firestorm of abuse in the Icelandic press, all of which was based on American Leftist talking points. *** Of course, local media also pilloried me for the crime of supporting Israel. Perhaps most absurd of all, Icelandic media published the false claim that I incited the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik to kill. Spencer was able to deliver his speech to an audience of around 500 in Reykjavik, pretty impressive for a country whose population is only around 300,000. The press didnt cover the speech, but rather focused on a handful of protesters. But Spencer was nevertheless pleased, and went out for dinner after his appearance. I was quickly recognized: a young Icelander called me by name, shook my hand, and said he was a big fan. Shortly after that, another citizen of that famously courteous land likewise called me by my name, shook my hand, and said f*** you. We left. Back in my hotel room, I began to feel numbness in my face, hands, and feet. I began trembling and vomiting. My heart was racing dangerously. I spent the night in a Reykjavik hospital. A hospital test confirmed that I had been poisoned Ritalin mixed with MDMA (Ecstasy). Spencer believes that the young man who claimed to be a big fan poisoned his drink. At the link, he reproduces a copy of the police report (which, however, is in Icelandic). Spencer thinks he has been able to identify the poisoner through video from the restaurant, Facebook, etc. He comments on the climate of violence that the Left is fomenting throughout the West: I learned my lesson. And the lesson I learned was that media demonization of those who dissent from the Leftist line is direct incitement to violence. By portraying me and others who raise legitimate questions about jihad terror and Sharia oppression as racist, bigoted Islamophobes without allowing us a fair hearing, they paint a huge target on the backs of those who dare to dissent. Those who paint the targets, and those who shoot at them, think theyre doing something great. Not only does the Left fill those whom it brainwashes with hate, but it does so while portraying its enemies as the hatemongers, such that violent Leftists such as the young man who drugged me feel righteous as they victimize and brutalize for the crime of disagreement. He is right. It is a hard to read a newspaper these days without encountering extreme rhetoric from liberals that can reasonably be construed by their followers as a call for violent action against conservatives. Where will it all end? I dont know. But at some point, conservatives will have no choice but to fight back. Reading the news stories that have created the consuming controversies of the past few days, this is what I see. Hostile officials inside the executive branch of the government seek the removal of Donald Trump from office. They are powerful. They lack any qualms about abusing their positions. And they are determined. With malicious intent, current officials inside the intelligence agencies with access to top secret information, for example, have passed it on under the cloak of anonymity to their friends in the mainstream media. Even former officials i.e., former Obama administration officials have gotten in on the act. (The source of their information is neither revealed nor apparent.) The adage to the contrary notwithstanding, there is something new under the sun after all. The reporters working the Trump takedown are accomplices in violations of the Espionage Act together with the perpetrators among those current officials, but the Espionage Act has long since lost its deterrent effect on senior officers of the intelligence community performing extracurricular missions. It is more honored in the breach than in the observance. As always, the reporters have a hot story regarding the identity of those current officials disclosing critical intelligence for dissemination to the world at large. The reporters knowledge of the identity of those former officials working to overthrow Trump is just a bonus in this case. The role played today by those former officials working with their media friends is something new. Wed like to hear more about it. It would make a great story all by itself. For some reason, however, its one more hot story they wont tell. The subversion of an incumbent Republican president by the intelligence community in the permanent government is is an old story, as is the role of the mainstream media. Weve seen it all before. In the not so distant past it happened to President Bush (43). It is now President Trumps turn. President Trumps death struggle with his invisible opponents, however, has arrived early in his first term in office. In this death struggle, moreover, President Trump is mismatched. His flaws of temperament and character have aggravated the situation roughly since day one. He has burned through the credibility of his White House staff, and he thinks its their fault. Republicans on Capitol Hill have mostly gone to ground, and not just John McCain. In an otherwise admirable commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy yesterday (transcript here), President Trump complained about his treatment by the media: [N]o politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. I doubt the essential accuracy of this statement I dont think its even close but it would be difficult to verify and is in any event undignified coming from an incumbent president. Trumps complaint came hours before the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate the Russia matter by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein yesterday afternoon. President Trump took up the development on Twitter this morning. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 Is there anyone who can tell the president he would be well advised publicly to welcome the appointment of Mueller, to pledge his cooperation and to reaffirm that he has nothing to hide? Is there anyone who seriously thinks that the president helps his own cause with his public complaints of unfairness and mistreatment? I may be mistaken, but I doubt that he does. DECATUR Stores can't keep them in stock. Parents are scrambling to find them. And some schools have banned them. The mania for fidget spinners the 3-inch twirling gadgets taking over classrooms and cubicles is unlike many other toy crazes. They're not made by a major company, timed for the holiday season, or promoted in TV commercials. They're more easily found at gas stations or 7-Eleven than at big toy chains. "It just took off," said Richard Gottlieb, a consultant at Global Toy Experts in New York. Hollie Peckert, a first-grade teacher at Johns Hill Magnet School, doesn't object to them as long as the kids obey her rules. The toys can't interfere with their work and must be kept in the classroom. Sometimes a student forgets and takes a spinner to another classroom, and it gets confiscated because it's a distraction. Peckert pointed to a desk belonging to one of her students. The child's spinner lay next to the iPad the boy had been using earlier. He spun it all morning, she said. But he got all his work done, and that's what's important. The student, Micah Lowery, said he doesn't really know why he likes the toy, but other kids have them, so he wanted one, too. Classmate Ashton Ducksworth said he has one shaped like the Batman logo. He couldn't say why he likes them, either. Leeann Grossman, information media consultant for the Decatur School District, said her fifth- and eighth-graders like them, too. They don't seem to have an upper age limit for appeal, though she doesn't see the attraction herself. "Kids are pretty much keeping them out of sight. Only students who have fidgets on 504 plans or (individual education plans) can have them," said Mary Anderson, principal of Garfield Montessori School. "However, parents play with them in the lobby. Maybe the fad will die an untimely death over the summer." The toys create too much of a distraction, said Bethany Force of Decatur, who teaches at Zion Lutheran School in Lincoln. "I think they have the potential to be beneficial for certain students, but right now they have become so popular that they are mainly a distraction instead of an aid for focusing," Force said. "It's becoming a trend in my school to have a spinner, and almost every student in the upper grades has one. I've even had issues in music class where students are playing with them instead of listening to instructions or working on their work. It's actually very frustrating as a teacher to have students playing with toys in class." Fidget spinners have been around for years, mostly used by kids with autism or attention disorders to help them concentrate. But they exploded in popularity across the country this spring. Shannan Rowell, a sixth-grade special education teacher in North Grafton, Massachusetts, said that after a weeklong break in late April more than half of her 25 students suddenly had one. "They seem to be taking over classrooms," Rowell said. Gottlieb thinks it's likely a kid brought one to a playground and the craze spread from there. Recent YouTube videos of people spinning them on their noses, foreheads and shoes also helped. Helen Holden heard about fidget spinners last month when her 7-year-old twins demanded she stop at a 7-Eleven to buy them. "I thought it was a drink," said the bank vice president and blogger from Los Angeles. That store was sold out, and so were several other 7-Eleven locations that she called. The chain said spinners have "been flying off the shelves" since they went on sale in March. Holden's kids said they needed them before school on Monday so they could practice spinning them. So she signed up for Amazon Prime, paid $5.99 for one-day shipping and had two $15 fidget spinners delivered on a Sunday. "I totally got suckered by my kids," she said. At Funky Monkey Toys in Oxford, Mich., owner Tom Jones said he got a phone call about the fidget spinners in April. About 30 minutes later, another person called. "I said, 'Whatever they are, I need to get them.' " Now, the phone has been ringing 20 to 30 times a day with people checking if they're in stock. His shop can sell up to 150 in a day. "We run out of them frequently," said Jones, who recently got a shipment of 2,000. On Amazon.com, 18 of the top 20 best-selling toys and games were fidget spinners, ranging from ones that cost just a few dollars to $12 versions touting stainless steel bearings. Five Below, which sells items for $5 or less, said on its website that customers can only buy two fidget spinners at time. Toys R Us flew fidget spinners in this month from China, rather than wait for ship transport. It said Rubik's Cubes, yo-yos and other toys to occupy restless hands have been hot sellers since the beginning of the year. It also started selling $12.99 fidget cubes the items that made up the rest of the Amazon best-sellers which fit in the palm of a hand and have clickers, wheels and switches on the sides. Unlike hot toys at the holiday season, which are often made by one company, manufacturers mostly in China are making the fidget spinners as fast as they can. Jim Silver, the CEO and editor-in-chief of toy review website TTPM, expects the fad to last into the summer and then fade as more of them flood into the market. "Demand starts to waver," he said. Engineer Catherine Hettinger said she came up with a toy that was similar but not exactly the same in the early 1990s, but a patent expired more than a decade ago after she stopped paying the maintenance fees. Hettinger, who lives in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park, Fla., said she is not making any money from the craze. "No one has contacted me. Nobody has sent me a check," she said. "But once a patent expires, it's public, so I wouldn't expect anything at this point." Despite being marketed as a concentration aid, some teachers say fidget spinners have become a distraction. Some schools have banned them. A middle school in Williamstown, N.J., wrote that spinners needed to stay in backpacks because they were a distraction in classrooms, hallways and during lunch periods. An elementary school in New York told parents to keep the gadgets at home because they were twirling into children's faces. It's not just kids spinning them. Gottlieb thinks adults are reaching for spinners because they are more stressed out. "People don't smoke as much, so they have to figure out a way to work out their stress," he said. Kim Juszczak, a lawyer from New York, whirls her red-and-black spinner on the subway or while she's thinking up legal arguments for a case. "I'm naturally kind of fidgety," said Juszczak, who used to bend paperclips in her hand. She first saw a spinner on Instagram, and got hers for about $6 on Amazon. Then she bought six more for friends and relatives. "They're addictive," she said. In March 2016, addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Donald Trump said that, as president, he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump called that city the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Now, however, President Trump has decided to keep our embassy in Tel Aviv. A senior White House official explained: We dont think it would be wise to [move] it at this time because were not looking to provoke anyone when everyones playing really nice. But candidate Trump did not promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem unless the Palestinians play really nice. He promised to move the embassy because Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people. It may be that Trump never intended to keep his promise. Or it may be that Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas played Trump (why should Russia and China have all the fun) during his visit to Washington last week. As Mark Levin says, Abbas dresses nicely, he comes to the U.S. and he makes what people consider reasonable demands and then when he goes back, the [PA] continue[s] to fund terrorism, they continue to encourage their children in elementary schools and even in preschool to become suicide bombers. But for the sake of discussion, lets try to put a pro-Trump spin on this development. The argument would be that Trump has backed away, for now, from his promise to move the embassy for the same kind of reason he backed off from calling China a currency manipulator. With China, hes using a threat to enlist help with North Korea. With Abbas, hes using a threat to bring the PA to the peace table with a reasonable set of demands. The art of the deal, and all that. But there are two problems with this spin. First, the PA wont make meaningful concessions out of concern for where the U.S. embassy is located. For Israelis (and many Jews worldwide), the location of the embassy is a big deal. For Abbas, its just a detail. He wants to run Jerusalem. Second, one cant equate addressing the North Korean nuclear threat with negotiating a peace agreement between Israel and the PA. North Korea poses a deadly threat to regional security and (if not now, then before long) to the security of the West Coast of the U.S. Of course, its worth not calling China a currency manipulator if China will actually assist us in lessening the North Korean threat. By contrast, the U.S. has no security interest in brokering a deal between Israel and the PA. Indeed, Trump has made it clear that his motive for brokering one is personal as he says, it would be the deal of a lifetime for a man whose image seems to hinge on being a master dealmaker. Backers of a peace deal might argue that reaching one would promote better relations with Sunni Arab states, thereby enabling us to maintain a strong alliance against Iran and ISIS. Trump has even spoken, fancifully in my view, of an Arab NATO. But Sunni states are already aligning with the U.S. (and with Israel) against Iran and ISIS. They are motivated by their obvious interest in doing so. As Caroline Glick says: The notion that it is necessary to empower the PLO to win Arab allies when the Arabs are beating a path to Israels door begging for help in defeating Sunni jihadists and Iran is ridiculous. To take my analysis one step further, I submit that it is against the U.S. security interest to broker a peace deal. We have a sizable security interest in maintaining a strong Israel one that can defend its borders. For one thing, to state the obvious, Israel is our only natural ally in the region. For another, the last thing the U.S. needs is a new state in the Middle East where American-hating terrorists can operate. Any deal acceptable to the PA would create such a state. It would also jeopardize Israels security. But one need not agree with me that a peace deal would be ruinous, or at a minimum counterproductive, in order to recognize the foolishness of Trump being sucked into the peace process. Glick reminds us that three American presidents have wasted 24 years ignoring serious and growing threats and changing global conditions while embracing the fantasy that the PLO holds the keys to peace and stability in the Middle East. President Trump seems determined to run that count to four presidents. President Trump departs later this week on his first trip abroad since taking office. It is a trip with five stops including Riyadh, Jerusalem, Rome, Brussels and Sicily. The stops in Europe involve meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican, with our NATO partners in Brussels and with the leaders of the G7 countries in Sicily. This afternoon the White House invited journalists to join a conference call with a Senior Administration Official (hereinafter SAO) speaking on background. He briefly previewed the trip and took questions. I just got off the call. SAO described the trip as ambitious and historic. He said the president would be visiting the homelands of of three major faiths and that the president saw this as an opportunity to speak to Americans who follow the respective faiths (my notes are skimpy here). In Riyadh President Trump will give a speech to leaders of Muslim countries. He will address the need to confront extremism and end the double game by which they may badmouth for public consumption while continuing to fund it on the sly. This is intended to be a major speech. In Israel President Trump will reaffirm our close relationship with Israel. SAO indicated that the warmth ofPresident Trumps words in Jerusalem would contrast with those of the previous administration. In response to a question posed by the reporter from AFP, SAO commented that the speech in Israel would not be a peace process speech because President Trump is not a peace process president. SAO emphasized that President Trump is well aware of the long history of failure involved in the peace process. He views himself as a possible facilitator of an agreement. In his speech President Trump will acknowledge Israels uniqueness and salute its contributions to the world, both alone and together with the United States. According to SAO, President Trump is taking a different approach. He will get together with Mahmoud Abbas as part of his effort to build a relationship with him. I asked a question about (1) General McMasters recent refusal to concede that Jerusalem is in Israel and (2) President Trumps unwillingness to let Prime Minister Netanyahu accompany him when he visits the Western Wall (as he will be the first president to do while in office). SAO noted that the remarks of an administration official along the lines of (1) dont reflect the views of this president and this administration. SAO stated with respect to (2) that the president is to be accompanied by the Rabbi of the Western Wall consistent with past practice. The arrangements are to emphasize the spiritual nature of the visit. SAO referred to Prime Ministers Netanyahus early visit to the White House and the personal warmth between the two leaders. By the same token, the presidents visit to Jerusalem and its inclusion on the itinerary of his first trip abroad are intended to revitalize the partnership between the Untied States and Israel. Asked about President Trumps possible blowing of an Israeli intelligence source in his Oval Office meeting with the Russians, SAO said he could not comment. He cited the statement of Israels Ambassador Ron Dermer testifying to the continued strength of our intelligence relationship with Israel. President Trump himself distinguishes what he says to foreign leaders in public with what he says in private, SAO explained in response to a question regarding the visit to Saudi Arabia, and I am afraid that the same consideration obviously applies to Ambassador Dermers statement. With Pope Francis President Trump will pay his respects and review issues of common concern. He would like to work more closely on such issues with Pope Francis. Asked when President Trump would name his ambassador to the Holy See, SAO stated that he was learning the complications involved in ambassadorial appointments. He believed that the appointment was imminent. SAO concluded his preview with remarks on the NATO meeting in Brussels (the president will emphasize burden sharing) and the G7 meeting in Sicily (the president will reaffirm our relationship with our largest democratic allies and meet President Macron face to face for the first time). He will pursue his economic agenda seeking better deals for the United States. At CNN, the experienced foreign policy expert Aaron David Miller provides his own preview of the presidents trip. Interested readers may want to compare it with this one. At the Washington Post, Josh Rogin adds that Trump intends to unveil plans for an Arab NATO in Saudi Arabia to push back against Iran. Iran wasnt mentioned by SAO on the conference call. Rwandas telecom industry regulator has fined MTN Rwanda, a division of South Africas MTN Group, 7 billion francs (8.5 million dollars) for running its IT services outside the country in breach of its licence. The telecommunications regulator, in a statement, said MTN breached its license by running its IT services in Uganda. MTN Rwanda provided services in contravention of enforcement notice and directives issued by the regulator against hosting its IT services outside the country, the statement read. By doing so, MTN Rwanda breached its license obligation requiring it to comply with all applicable laws, regulations and any other regulatory instruments issued by the competent authority. On May 4, 2017, the regulatory board of RURA conducted a hearing session in which MTN Rwanda was informed on the breach of its license obligations and given the opportunity to be heard, whereby MTN Rwanda admitted the above-mentioned breach. In accordance with the applicable laws, the regulatory board of RURA decided to impose on MTN Rwanda administrative fine of seven billion thirty million Rwanda Francs (7,030,000,000). In its reaction, MTN Group in a statement said it had received a notification of the fine. MTN has been engaging with the regulator on this matter over the past four months. MTN Rwanda is currently studying the official notification and will continue to engage with the regulator on this matter, it said. In October 2015, the Nigeria Communications Commission announced a fine of N1.4 trillion for failure to disconnect unregistered sim cards. The fine was later slashed to N330 billion after negotiations, a part of which the company said it had paid. In an interview with AFP in April, Tony Ojobo, spokesperson of the Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, said, MTN has paid N30bn ($98m, 92 million euros) as part of the fine. The payment is in furtherance of the agreed timetable for payment of the total fine, Mr. Ojobo added. He said MTN had already paid N80 billon of the total fine of N330 billion. The NCC spokesperson said MTN was expected to pay the next tranche of the fine based on the payment schedule agreed by the two parties. Share this: Twitter Facebook Popular Yoruba movie actress, Moji Olaiya, has passed on in Canada barely two months after she welcomed a child. She died on Wednesday night after she reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest. Although her family is yet to issue an official statement, her colleagues have taken to social media to express their grief. The 42-year-old star actress was the daughter of legendary Nigerian highlife maestro, Victor Olaiya. She welcomed her first child in Canada a few months after she officially divorced her first husband. She was previously married to Bayo Okesola. Her death comes as a rude shock because her last post on Instagram was less than 24 hours ago. It read, Allhamdulilahi to you Allah I give all the glory for all you have done. I will forever praise and worship you. Its not by power but the Grace of Allah. Thank you for the gift of life. Thanks also to all my friends and family my fans for your supports and prayers. Love you all. Several reports claim she might be buried in Canada as her aged mother lives in Nigeria and it is a taboo in Yoruba land to see the corpse of ones child. Her shocking death has further thrown the Yoruba movie industry into mourning having lost two popular actors, Olumide Bakare, and Pastor Ajidara, a few weeks apart. Moji began her acting career with Wale Adenugas production, Super Story, and starred in several Nollywood movies and Yoruba films. She is best known for her roles in films such as No Pains No Gains, in which she played Ireti, Sade Blade (2005), Nkan adun (2008) and Omo iya meta leyi (2009). She also starred in the Agunbaniro. In 2003 she was nominated for the Reel Award Best Supporting Actress of the Year, and she won the Best New Actress Award. In 2016 she released a film, Iya Okomi, starring Foluke Daramola and Funsho Adeolu which was scheduled to premiere in Lagos on July. She converted to Islam in 2014. Share this: Twitter Facebook Nigeria and Morocco on Monday strengthened their business relationship by signing two bilateral agreements in Rabat, Morocco. The first agreement was the Joint Initiative on the Morocco Nigeria Gas Regional Pipeline. Tagged The Wonder of Africa the pipeline project has historical significance because it is designed by Africans for Africans with a direct impact on 300 million people through the speeding up of electrification projects in West Africa; thus serving a basis for the creation of a competitive electricity regional market. The scope of the Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), was to determine the modalities of undertaking a feasibility study and a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study relating to a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco. It also specified equal partnership in governance, management and financing of the project. The timeline for both studies is two years from the date of signing. Interested third party countries will be allowed to join. The second bilateral agreement was on the Second Phase of the Fertiliser Initiative. The first phase was the supply of a cargo of phosphate by Morocco to Nigeria after eight weeks of its signing. This supply led to the resuscitation of 11 blending plants which produced about 1.3 million tonnes of fertiliser; creation of 50,000 (direct) and 150,000 (indirect) jobs while farmers have access to the quantity of fertiliser they need. The second phase will enable the maximisation of local fertiliser production through the creation of platform for basic chemical products, secure the Nigerias markets fertiliser supply for competitive prices and reinforce local distribution channels. According to the Foreign Minister of Morocco, Nasser Bourita, who presented the broad guidelines of the projects, the signing of the agreements reflects the shared vision of the two leaders, President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, and King Mohammed VI of Morocco in favour of a sustainable, active and solidarity based joint development for Africa. Both projects were initiated during the Moroccan leaders visit of the king to Nigeria in December, 2016. The ceremony was held at the palace of King. The Nigeria delegation was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyeama, and had the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbe, his counterpart in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Jigawa State and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fertiliser, Abubakar Badaru. Share this: Twitter Facebook The number of refugee and migrant children moving alone has increased in recent times, the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, has stated in a new report. According to UNICEF, the number is nearly five-fold since 2010, with at least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children recorded in some 80 countries in the combined years of 2015 and 2016, up from 66,000 in 2010 and 2011. The report also revealed that 200,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum across around 80 countries in 2015-2016. Another 100,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2015-2016, while 170,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in Europe in 2015-2016. The report also disclosed that unaccompanied and separated children accounted for 92 per cent of all children arriving to Italy by sea in 2016 and the first months of 2017. Children according to the report also accounted for approximately 28 per cent of trafficking victims globally, with Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean having the highest share of children among detected trafficking victims at 64 and 62 per cent respectively. Ahead of the G7 Summit in Italy, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth has called on governments to adopt its six-point agenda for action to protect refugee and migrant children and ensure their wellbeing. He stated that these children need a real commitment from governments around the world to ensure their safety throughout their journeys. Leaders gathering next week at the G7 should lead this effort by being the first to commit to our six-point agenda for action. The report shows that an increasing number of these children are taking highly dangerous routes, often at the mercy of smugglers and traffickers, to reach their destinations, clearly justifying the need for a global protection system to keep them safe from exploitation, abuse and death. One child moving alone is one too many, and yet today, there are a staggering number of children doing just that we as adults are failing to protect them. Ruthless smugglers and traffickers are exploiting their vulnerability for personal gain, helping children to cross borders, only to sell them into slavery and forced prostitution. It is unconscionable that we are not adequately defending children from these predators, he said. The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal bloc of industrialized democraciesCanada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United Statesthat meets annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy. Share this: Twitter Facebook Nigerian air operator, Med-View airline, has been banned from operating within the airspace of the European Commission. A statement released by the commission said that a total of 181 airlines have been banned from EU skies. Today the European Commission updated the EU air safety list, the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union, said the commsision. Following todays update, all airlines certified in Benin and Mozambique are cleared from the list, following further improvements to the aviation safety situation in these countries. On the other hand, the airlines Med-View (Nigeria), Mustique Airways (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) were added to the list due to unaddressed safety deficiencies that were detected by the European aviation safety agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation. The commission, however, said that airlines subjected to operating ban can operate in the EU using leased aircraft of another airline. Airlines subjected to an operating ban could be permitted to operate within the European Union by using wet-leased aircraft of an airline which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with. The aircraft being used in such operations could be branded as if it belonged to the fleet of the banned airline. Med-View began flying the Lagos-Garwick route on November 20, 2015, with a Boeing 767 aircraft which operated four times a week. The management of Med-View Airline said its operation to London was not affected by the ban. According to a statement released by Isiaq NaAllah, the airlines Executive Director, Business Development and Commercials, the airline said the public only misunderstood the pronouncement as a ban on its UK operations. The statement said the airline had since been operating with her wet-leased aircraft, dismissing the panic generated by reports of the ban as end-result of misinformation. The statement added that the ban falls under exception rule in EASA, Annex A, where it states that Air carrier listed in Annex A could be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier, which is not subject to an operating ban. The Airline regretted the anxiety the misinformation may have caused its teeming passengers and assured them that there is no basis for alarm as the Lagos-London flight remains unaffected, Mr. Naallah said. The Airline on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 operated its normal schedule flight to London amidst the misinformation about the restriction. We at Med-View Airline are committed to safety, and currently working with EASA and NCAA to restore normalcy, he added. Mr. Naallah also said there was no need for apprehension, stating that the airline had secured a B777 aircraft leased from an EU-member state to boost its international operations, which will soon join the fleet. Med-View Airline had also passed through one of the most stringent operations audit of the global airlines body (the International Air Transport Association, IATA), after which it was issued with the International Operational Safety Audit, IOSA, Mr. Naallah added. Share this: Twitter Facebook Alfred Aderibigbe, the man who administered several injections on Osun senator, Isiaka Adekele, shortly before his death, has testified before the Coroner inquest into the lawmakers, saying he was only one of many nurses the politician had in Lagos and Abuja. Giving evidence at the inquest on Thursday in Yoruba, Mr. Aderibgbe said Mr. Adeleke consulted him for the past 20 years on matters relating to his health. He was led in evidence by his counsel, Lekan Alabi. According to Mr. Aderibigbe, he first met Mr. Adeleke 20 years ago while working as a nurse at the State Hospital, Ede. He said he had attended to Mr. Adelekes daughter who was rushed to the hospital under convulsive condition, adding that the senator then appreciated his effort with a cash gift. Mr. Aderibgbe explained that after the incident, he visited the senator regularly on his instruction. After a while, I started treating him, he said. Whenever he was given prescription and he probably didnt complete his treatment in Abuja, I would administer the remaining. He had other nurses in Abuja, and some in Lagos. Im his nurse in Ede. I dont know any of other nurses, but I know that whenever he was given injection by those nurses, he would show me in order to know the new area to inject him. He was hypertensive and he had gouty arthritis. I was close to him. I used to advise him to rest for him to be okay. He stopped smoking for a long time. He drank alcoholic drinks. The Chief Medical Director of Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, LAUTECH, Wale Lasisi, had testified before the inquest on Monday, saying the information available to him indicated that Mr. Aderibigbe had no medical status, either as a doctor or as a nurse. He also said the Mr. Adeleke was injected with Analgin, an analgesic outlawed by the National Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, several years ago. Mr. Aderibigbes testimony was deferred to Thursday following pleas by his counsel that he was emotionally unfit to stand in the witness box. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Police in Delta State said they had recovered corpses of four of its officers allegedly killed by suspected militants on May 15. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the recovery on Thursday in Warri. The militants will be fished out, as investigation is ongoing on the matter, he told journalists. The deceased policemen were allegedly killed by the militants along the Benin river. The victims were identified as Aghoro (Commander), Sagay, Andrew and Mejer and their bodies were deposited at both Sapale General Hospital and Central Hospital, Warri. Their vandalised boat was also taken to Abiugborodo community under the care of some soldiers. A reliable source told the News Agency of Nigeria that the policemen were invited by the militants to come and collect money to pave way for them to carry out their bunkering. They were said to have ventured into the journey at about 2:30 a.m. on that fateful day without a back- up patrol boat. Only one, Mr Ugbo, on board the boat, swam to safety with bullet wounds and is currently recuperating at an undisclosed hospital, the source said. Reacting to reports that the police were on illegal patrol when they got killed, Mr. Aniamaka said: We expect sympathy and to commiserate with the institution that lost four of its men inside the deep. We do not deploy our men to go and be collecting money from militants. Whatever duty they were on, we are investigating the matter. I am reflecting on how insensitive and callous certain persons can be especially on issues relating to the police, he said.(NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook At least two soldiers were injured on Wednesday when a female suicide bomber attacked a military post located behind a camp for internally displaced persons in Konduga town of Borno State, police said. The attack occurred at about 7.30 a.m. when the bomber crept on the unsuspecting soldiers. Konduga is about 35 kilometres away from Maiduguri. It is among the few local government headquarters that have been repeatedly attacked but had never been seized by the Boko Haram. Wednesdays attack came as the second of such incident around the neighbourhood in about 48 hours. On Monday, three female suicide bombers attacked a community near Konduga town killing themselves and two others. Police public relations officer, Victor Isukwu, said Wednesdays injured two soldiers, did not say whether the two soldiers survived the attack. Information just received from the DPO Konduga Division, has it that on 17/5/17 atabout 1930 hrs, a female suicide bomber, detonated IED strapped to her body at Mashimari by Military checkpoint behind IDP camp at Konduga, killing herself only, he said. Two Soldiers were reported injured as a result of the explosion, he added. He said the scene was visited by a team of EOD personnel, who rendered it safe. The theatre commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Lucky Irabor, also confirmed the attack, but said the two soldiers were currently receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital . Share this: Twitter Facebook To join the discussion on Facebook, see facebook.com/heraldandreview. We'll publish selected unedited comments from the page here every Sunday. On the Miss USA crowning: Anna Boehme Reynolds Mrs. Columbia is as brilliant as she is beautiful. Pageants have come a long way since the ditzie 'I can't think of anything but world peace, era.' On the love story shared by staff writer Justin Conn: Stephe Major Gosh - they make my heart smile. Great story! Can hardly wait for the next chapter On Dr. Cathy Cavanaugh, who adopted five orphaned Russian children between 2001 and 2009: Cyndy Lynn-Woller She was my and my son's orthodontist. I remember having discussions with her when she was just considering adoption. A wonderful article about an amazing woman! On Gov. Rauner being booed at his Chicago State University graduation address: Daniel Bennick Lol you're all oblivious if you think it's all on Rauner. Putting all the blame on him makes you look so out of touch, much like those college students who booed. Partisan politics makes me want to bash my head on the wall. Christina Butcher They're booing you, Rauner, because you've done nothing to improve our system. Travis Allen Carnes It is his duty to provide a budget and if he doesn't he could at least line item veto a budget. So now we sit here waiting again. On Monticello's $4 million lottery winner: Steve Pyle I don't know you, but I'm happy for you. Spend it wisely and do some good with it. On Johns Hill alumni walking the halls: Jenni Johnston Hartwig Dear Decatur Public School District and surrounding school districts, This is awesome! Please continue this tradition forever! Love, Jenni, PROUD Johns Hill Magnet School parent of two and former EHS graduate class of 1993 Bonnie Barnes-Rueff It's a wonderful thing to do to show the kids what they can accomplish and be proud!!! I know I'm proud of them all for the hard work they put in. A new report has highlighted how Nigerias political elites for years hid under the cover of the countrys military to steal billions of dollars that would have been channeled into improving the living conditions of the citizens. Corrupt officials over the years exploited the excessive secrecy of the countrys defence budget to rip off the nation, says the report released Thursday in Abuja by Transparency International Defence And Security. The 15-years-old war against Boko Haram insurgency has helped pushed up Nigerias defence budget and corresponding increase in corruption within the sector, the report said. A former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, is currently standing trial for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for the procurement of weapons to prosecute the war against Boko Haram. The report repeatedly mentioned Mr. Dasukis case as an example of how the countrys defence sector leaves room for exploitation. The report also mentioned former President Goodluck Jonathan and the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, as some of the nations leaders who profited from the inherent weakness in the sector. According to the report, the stealing is usually done through inflating of procurement contract values and creating of phantom defence contracts. Such contracts are used as a vehicle for money laundering: facilitated via weak or corrupted Nigerian banks, illicit financial flows are often hidden in property in the UK, United States, South Africa and Dubai, the report says. The stealing is done with the active connivance of the countrys military leaders. With oil prices at a record low, defence has provided new and lucrative opportunities for the countrys corrupt kleptocrats, says the report. Former military chiefs have stolen as much as US $15 billion a sum equivalent to half of Nigerias foreign currency reserves through fraudulent arms procurement deals. The report, which was prepared in partnership with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, is titled, Weaponising Transparency: Defence Procurement Reform As a Counterterrorism Strategy in Nigeria. Corruption in the defence sector, according to the report, is a major threat to Nigerias internal security and political stability. Largely unaddressed, it has weakened Nigerian counterterrorism capacity whilst strengthening Boko Haram, it said. The report, though acknowledged President Muhammadu Buhari administrations effort to tackle corruption in the countrys defence sector. But it warned that, Only a holistic reform agenda can deliver the deep, systemic changes and improvements in transparency and accountability needed to prevent the next US $15 billion quietly leaving Nigeria through the back door. Since coming to power in May 2015, President Buhari has taken some bold action in tackling defence sector corruption. Central to his approach have been two ad hoc, temporary audit committees: one investigating spending by the Office of the National Security Adviser and one investigating defence arms and equipment procurement. Taking on the defence establishment was a significant move: the evidence uncovered by these probes revealed that several of the countrys former military chiefs, using dozens of companies, together stole as much as US $15 billion. President Buharis anti-corruption drive is a rare example of senior Nigerian defence and security officials being exposed to criminal investigation. By signalling that military impunity is not without limit, it is undoubtedly a positive step forward, it said. State governors in Nigeria are also known to have used the secretive security votes as an avenue to steal public funds, the report said. The report recommends a unified anti-corruption strategy for the defence sector, the extension of public access to defence and security information, and the monitoring of confidential procurements as some of the ways of tackling the problem. Other recommendations include the sharpening of international focus on fighting corruption in Nigeria, plucking off money laundering loopholes in banks, the extension of whistle-blower protection to cover the defence sector, and regulation of secretive security votes. Declassifying how the security vote funds have been spent, after a two-year information embargo, could also enable citizen oversight, the report said. Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defence and Security, called for a quick action against corruption in the Nigerias defence sector. Corruption in Nigeria is not just a problem for Nigerians, but a concern for all of those looking to tackle violent extremism around the world. Entering into blind defence deals that ignore the rampant corruption in Nigerias defence sector means international partners could inadvertently be giving rise to Boko Haram. Likewise, the doors to allow corrupt officials to launder their ill-gotten gains out of Nigeria should be slammed shut, through the active denial of visas and other domestic legislation that targets corrupt money. With Buharis first term soon to end, the international community may soon find itself without a Presidential ally in this fight now is the time to act, Ms. Dixon said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs says it has commenced investigation into the lopsided recruitment by the State Security Services, SSS. The chairman of the committee, Tijjani Kaura, who announced this during Thursdays plenary, promised that the committee would soon come up with its recommendations. Quoting Order 43 of the Senate Standing Order, Mr. Kaura said the committee was prompted to commence investigation into the matter following petitions from concerned Nigerians. He assured the committee would stop at nothing to ensure that the issue of federal character as contained in 1999 Constitution (Amended) was followed to the letter. I stand before you, on behalf Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter- Governmental Affairs, to say that this committee is looking critically into this matter. This is with the intention of ensuring that justice is done in this recruitment. I also want to add that this committee has similar cases from different agencies, which it is already looking into to ensure the Constitution is strictly followed, he said. The president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, urged the committee to carry out thorough investigation into the matter and report back to the Senate. In line with our standing rule, we cannot debate on the matter. We take note of your comment and we will look into the matter. The committee should keep us posted on its findings and recommendations. The Senate probe is coming days after the Federal Character Commission asked the SSS to explain the shockingly skewed appointments into the organisation. Shockingly lopsided PREMIUM TIMES had on April 28 exclusively reported the shocking lopsidedness in the composition of the new officers recently absorbed into the agency. The agency, also called DSS, had commissioned 479 cadet officers after their passing-out parade in Lagos on March 5, after a nine-month training programme under the agencys Basic Course 29/2016/17, which encompassed academic activities, insurgency/counter insurgency, intelligence operations and gathering, firearms drills and physical training exercises. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: SSS in recruitment scandal Katsina 51, Akwa Ibom 5; Kano 25, Lagos 7 SEE FULL LIST But PREMIUM TIMES investigations revealed wide disparity in the numbers of slots allocated to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, indicating that the federal character principle may have been ignored in the recruitment of the officers. Our findings revealed that the SSS recruited 51 persons from Katsina State alone whereas all the six states in the south-south got a combined 42 candidates. Also, all the five states in the south-east got less than 50 states. The action is believed to have unduly favoured northern states, contrary to section 14 (3) of the 1999 constitution as amended. The report sparked outrage across the land, with many calling for thorough investigations into the alleged lopsidedness. Also Read: Presidency speaks on recruitment scandal in SSS Share this: Twitter Facebook The Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit, PCRRU, of the Nigeria Police Force has said it has initiated an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident leading to a viral video showing a suspect handcuffed to a police patrol vehicle in Benin-City, Edo State, last Sunday. A video uploaded on YouTube on Tuesday showed a young man, handcuffed to a police patrol van belonging to the Esigie Police Division in Benin-City, dangling from the vehicle, with onlookers claiming the car had dragged the man along the street. The video went viral across various social media platforms hours after it was uploaded. But in a statement issued Wednesday by Abayomi Shogunle, an assistant commissioner of police, the police insisted there is no frame in the 1:34 video in circulation that shows anyone being dragged by a police patrol vehicle as insinuated. Preliminary #PCRRU investigation reveals that on Sunday 14.05.2017 at about 9:30 a.m., the Police at Esigie Division in Benin-City, Edo state received an information regarding congregation of suspected cultists in preparatory to the commissioning of a felony, the police stated. Based on the information, police team was dispatched to the scene where two male persons were arrested while others took to their heels. Upon a search on the person of the suspect seen handcuffed to the vehicle in the video some quantity of weeds suspect to be Indian hemp and powder suspected to be cocaine were found on him. Both arrested suspects were then loaded into the patrol vehicle and secured accordingly to prevent escape during transportation to the Police station. At a point along Sopkonba Road, Benin-City a crowd tried to prevent the free passage of the patrol vehicle transporting the suspects. That in the process one of the suspects (one seen in the video) tried to escape by jumping off the back of the open pick-up patrol van but was restrained by the handcuff attaching him to the vehicle. A reinforcement was called and the suspects were eventually taken to the station. The police said the arrested suspects included the man seen in the video (on the right in photo), adding that there is no sign of bodily injury on them. The police called on members of the public that witnessed the incident or with information other than what is already in public domain to come to the Office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5 Benin-City where detailed investigations are ongoing. The Nigeria Police Force under IGP Ibrahim Idris is determined to ensure that rights of every suspect is protected at all times. The public is assured that proven case of abuse of powers any police officer(s) would attract sanctions, the statement said. As we await the outcome of the investigations by AIG Zone 5 Benin-City, members of the public are enjoined to always cooperate with Nigeria Police Force units as police officers are out to ensure protection of lives and properties. Click video here. Share this: Twitter Facebook Contrary to what some analysts have recently suggested, endemic corruption in Nigeria has no genetic foundation, but it is rather a manifestation of several social norms that make sharp practices an acceptable way of life. Therefore, an average citizen sees regular acts of misconduct, especially giving and soliciting bribes, as the rule rather than the exception, a worrisome dimension that now requires integration of behavioural lessons and strategic advocacy to address. This is contained in a new report that highlights the need for a new approach on corruption in Nigeria. The report was launched Wednesday in Abuja by Chatham House, a British public policy think-tank. The report, titled: Collective Action on Corruption in Nigeria: A Social Norms Approach to Connecting Society and Institutions, drew the attention of public administrators to behavioural economics and social psychology aspect of corruption. Understanding the contextual meanings, norms and networks that influence individual behaviour can support policymakers in better addressing how these social frameworks encourage, reinforce or dissuade certain patterns of corrupt behaviour, the report said. This understanding is critical to designing innovative and effective policy interventions and messages to curb corruption. The paper, authored by Raj Patel, a social norms consultant at the University of Pennsylvania, and Leena Hoffmann, an associate fellow of the Africa Program at Chatham House, with support from seven Nigerian scholars and the National Bureau of Statistics, also contained the outcome of a corruption perception survey conducted in 4,162 Nigerian households. Over the past 18 months, the experts sampled some of the most pervasive forms of corruption in the country, including bribing police officers at checkpoints and paying to access government-funded healthcare facility. Respondents expressed strong disproval for traffic police to ask for or accept bribes at checkpoints rather than following the official channel. Yet, many Nigerians, on a daily basis, pay reduced penalties to compromise police officers in a bid to circumvent the often cumbersome formal process to resolving road traffic violations. Ms. Hoffmann said Corruption is not in Nigerians DNA, noting that its only prevalent and stubborn because it had become the standard rule under which citizens sustain themselves. Disaproval of a practice, and the social consequences of failing to adhere to ones communitys expectations, such as gossip, public shaming, or loss of credibility and status, are usually a powerful influence on the choices people make, the report said. Equally powerful are the approval, social respectability and esteem attached to behaviour that is evaluated within ones community as being right or acceptable. The culture explains why an estimated $582 billion was lost through illicit financial flows between 1960 and 2014 with little or no outrage from the citizens, Chatham House said. Amongst the policy approaches the report suggested include, making fines settlement mechanism user-friendly, online and mobile; reducing official fines to discourage bribes to officials; and waging a sustained campaign against corruption by highlighting its cost to the society. While the experts acknowlege existential challenges in curbing corruption in Nigeria, they also see a bright spot in Nigerians willingness to embrace gradual attitudinal changes. If the environment or options change, behaviour will hange, the report said. Speaking at the presentation, which is also slated to hold in Lagos and a few other states in the coming days, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, stated that corruption can take a debilitating toll on the society. Corruption fuels inequality, holds back development and it is a threat to national development of countries, Mr. Arkwright said. But the envoy expressed confidence in the ability of Nigerians to conquer the menace in the near future. Attahiru Jega, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and Ibrahim Magu, acting-chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, were amongst the dignitaries present at the launch, which took place at Sheraton Hotel. Share this: Twitter Facebook The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a bill for an Act to prohibit the stigmatisation of victims of insurgency or militancy. The bill, which was sponsored by Ahmed Yerima (Kano-APC), sought to provide for prosecution of any person or group, who may prevent such victims from reintegrating in the community. Leading the debate on the bill, Mr. Yerima had said that the bill, if passed, would uphold and protect the fundamental rights of the victims to dignity and freedom of association as enshrined in the Constitution. According to him, the bill targets victims of Boko Haram insurgency, who after rehabilitation, still find it difficult to reintegrate due to stigmatisation. While canvassing support for the bill, the lawmaker stressed the need for a mechanism to restrain those who stigmatised such victims in the country. In his contribution, the Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Emmanuel Orker-Jev (Benue-APC), opposed the bill. Mr. Order-Jev argued that what the bill sought to achieve had been provided for in relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution as amended. He said the Constitution is supreme over Acts of parliament and urged members to drop the bill. After contributions by members, the bill was rejected through a unanimous vote put by the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook A civil society organization involved in HIV/AIDS prevention activities in Nigeria has urged the Chinese government to scale up its commitment to Global Fund by pledging one billion dollars to the fund. Global Fund is an international financing organization that aims to attract and disburse additional resources to prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The group, Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, CISHAN, also urged the Nigerian government to increase domestic funding on HIV response by at least 50 per cent. Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja, spokesperson of the group, Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, said though China has pledged $18million to Global Fund, the country should substantially increase its commitment to the fund. We are heartened by the continued support of the international donor community towards the mission of the Global Fund, she said. With $12.9billion raised, the fifth replenishment demonstrated that the overall commitment to curbing the three epidemics remains a high priority for the world. She however lamented that not all countries were contributing their fair share to the effort, pointing out China as one of those countries that could do more. China is in the second place among the worlds five largest economies, and has so far pledged only $18 million to the Global Fund. By comparison, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy and has pledged $171 million, while Japan which is the 3rd largest economy, pledged $800 million. As a group, we call on the Chinese government to increase its contribution, as it would offer a greater level of involvement and stature in addressing global public health issues. She stressed that the right thing for China to do was to pledge one billion dollars to Global Fund. Mrs. Gbadamosi also charged the Nigerian government to toe the path of South Africa by taking ownership of its HIV/AIDS response, stating that over dependency on foreign donors has lasted longer than is acceptable. In his speech, the Executive Secretary of CISHAN, Walter Ugwuocha, urged the Nigerian government to increase its domestic funding by at least 50 per cent. This he said, will help the country measure up to what international donors are contributing. He also called on the state and local governments to increase their allocations for HIV/AIDS activities in Nigeria. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Nigerian government has accepted a proposal by Birmingham City University, United Kingdom for partnership on a healthcare package in Nigeria. The Health Package for Improving Quality Care on Ageing Population and Diseases in Nigeria (HEPIQ-C) seeks to provide a safety net for elderly persons in the country. The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when a three-man delegation from the university visited him, said the proposal would improve the quality of care for the aged population. Mr. Adewole said the population profile of Nigeria reveals that the youth constitute 70 per cent, so the country is looking at the aged and planning for the future. As Nigeria increases in population; definitely the aged population will increase as a result of demographic transition. We have a strong social system where the family looks at the aged, but these are bound to collapse as our population expands, he warned. The minister said the government was committed to advancing the care of the elderly so that they would not feel neglected. He noted that aged people are susceptible to non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancer, stating that it was for this reason that the Federal Ministry of Health accepted to collaborate with the British university on the health package that would improve care for the aged. He said the package also involved capacity building for health professionals and strengthening of disease control and prevention. We will support it to make it done, we need to have a policy framework, and we need to have a strategic development plan that is costed to drive this concept to fruition, he said. Hafiz Khan, the leader of the delegation, explained that the principal aim of the concept is to improve access to health of the aged population. He noted that ageing is a global issue at the moment, hence taking care of the elderly is of paramount importance. Mr. Khan said there was a need to act now before it is too late. He said that the concept has two components: International Policy framework for Nigeria as a whole and Social Security, stressing that the policy would be implemented both in the long and short terms. He assured that the proposal by the university would help in capacity building of health professionals in Nigeria as it has done in Vietnam, China and the Netherlands. We need to organize training programme for our health professionals in elderly care, dealing with aged people suffering from dementia and mental disorder. Earlier, the Project Coordinator, for HEPIQ-C, Saidu Dumbulwa, said that the aim of the project was in line with the mandate of the health policy of the current administration. We will evolve a natural world where the aged will have unhindered access to quality healthcare and quality of life, he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook Screening points, detecting machines, hand sanitisers and other measures to prevent an Ebola outbreak in the country have yet to be provided at the Seme border. The World Health Organisation (WHO) last week announced the outbreak of Ebola disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), prompting countries to raise their level of alertness. Several measures have been put in place at major airports in Nigeria to prevent the dreaded disease, but no such action was seen to prevent the disease at the border. Checks conducted by NAN showed that there were no screening points, sanitisers and detecting machines at the border. The reports also said that travellers and residents were also yet to be sensitised on the re-emergence of the disease in DRC and measures government is putting place to curtail its spread to Nigeria. Also, Port Health officials were not screening people going in and out of the country through the border. A port health official, who pleaded for anonymity, told NAN that there are no equipment to screen people. We are aware of the recent outbreak of Ebola and the need to put measures on ground since this is the busiest border in the country, but there are no equipment for us. We have not been given screening machines, sanitisers have not being provided so there is little or nothing that we can do about it. You can be rest assured that once we have the necessary equipment and logistics, we would carry out all the measures that is needed to curtail this dreaded disease, the source said. Besides, commuters around the border area who spoke to NAN do not have knowledge of the recent outbreak of Ebola in DRC. Tomiwa Sadipe, a commercial bus driver, said he was not aware of the recent outbreak. I have not heard about anything. As a matter of fact, Im just hearing this from you but Im glad I know so I will be careful, Mr. Sadipe said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Senate has issued a two-week ultimatum to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to ensure submission of the budgets of 31 public establishments, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigerian Ports Authority, to the National Assembly in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The Senate, following a motion by the Deputy Leader Bala NaAllah on Wednesday, also resolved that the concerned agencies should stop further spending pending compliance. Many senators, including Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu; Solomon Adeola, APC-Lagos; George Sekibo, PDP-Rivers; Jibrin Barau, APC-Kano; James Manager, PDP-Delta; Barnabas Gemade, APC-Benue, took swipe on the agencies for disregarding the law and spending trillions, in sum, without appropriation. Section 21 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act provides that estimates of revenue and expenditure of 31 public corporations, agencies and government owned companies, listed in the Schedule to the Act, should submit their annual budgets to their supervisory ministers not later than end of August of each financial year. Then, The Minister shall cause the estimates submitted in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section to be attached as part of the Appropriation Bill to be submitted to the National Assembly, Section 21(3) of the Act. The affected bodies listed in the Act are: 1)Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; 2) Nigeria Deposit insurance Corporation; 3) Bureau of Public Enterprise; 4) National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure; 5) Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund; 6) Corporate Affairs Commission; 7) National Clearing and Forwarding Agency 8) Nigerian Unity Line; 9) Nigerian Airspace Management Agency; 10) Nigerian Shippers Council; 11) National Maritime Authority; 12) Raw Material Research and Development Council; 13) Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority; 14) National Sugar Development Council; 15) Nigerian Postal Service; 16) Nigerian Ports Authority; 17) Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria 18) Nigerian Mining Corporation; 19) Nigeria Re-insurance 20) Nigerdock Nigeria PLC; 21) Securities and Exchange Commission; 22) National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria 23) Nigeria Re-insurance Corporation. Others are: 24) Nigerian Telecommunication; 25) National Automotive Council; 26) Nigerian Tourism Development; 27) National Communication Commission; 28) National Agency for Food & Drug Administration & Control; 29) Nigerian Customs Service; 30) Federal Inland Revenue Service; and 31) Central Bank of Nigeria. Mr. NaAllah said what would be the position of the Senate that none of the bodies had submitted its budget which by law should have come with the annual national budget for 2017, presented last December by President Muhammadu Buhari. PREMIUM TIMES recalls that though some of these bodies, including the National Communication Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, presented their budgets to the National Assembly for 2016, it was presented well after the passage of the 2016 national budget. For instance, as at November 2016, the FIRS budget for that year was still under consideration at the National Assembly, six months after the 2016 Appropriations was signed into law by the President. The non-submission of the budget in line with the FRA amounted to abuse of law, said Mr. NaAllah, who suggested that lack of provision for punishment in the circumstance of violation might have embolden the agencies. Our commitment to supporting this government in the fight against corruption is 100 per cent, he said. The way to do this is to stop abuse of law and power. The Lagos West senator, Mr. Adeola, stressed that the non-submission of the budget had become a matter year in year out. He said the combined budget of the agencies was bigger than the national budget. We are talking about N10 trillion, said Mr. Adeola, who first raised flag against the agencies in March 2015, while still being a member of the House of Representatives. It is an aberration, said Barau Jibrin, APC-Kano. I dont know where this can be condoned. Money running into trillions can be spent without being budgeted for year in year out. While others like Messrs Sekibo and Manager urged the Senate to ensure correction and give ultimatum, Mr. Barau canvassed legislative measure to compel compliance through provision of punishment in case of infraction. We cant keep reminding them, he said. Although the Act mentions that a minister should submit the budgets of the bodies under him/her to the National Assembly as parts of the annual national budget, Mr. Gemade told the Senate the Constitution of Nigeria does not allow a minister to table appropriation before the National Assembly. Only the President can write the National Assembly on appropriation, the Constitution says. So, Senate President Bukola Saraki explained, the duty of submitting the budgets to the National Assembly within two weeks lies on the Acting President, Mr. Osinbajo, who, in line with FRA, will receive the estimates from the concerned agencies and ministers. It is not expected that this development will constitute a fresh hurdle to the 2017 national budget, just passed by the National Assembly last week. The Chairman, Senate Rules and Business, Baba Garbai, told NTA in an interview monitored by PREMIUM TIMES, that the Senates demand for compliance with the FRA in respect of the budgets of the 31 bodies would in no way stop the national budget from being given assent by Mr. Osinbajo. Share this: Twitter Facebook A total of 10,500 of the 79,000 Nigerian refugees forced to flee their homes in Borno State to Cameroon by Boko Haram insurgents about two years ago, have returned. The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, who announced their return in Maiduguri, the state capital, on Thursday, said the refugees were forced to return home by the Cameroonian government. The refugees fled Nigeria in 2015 when the insurgents attacked their communities in a bid to enforce Islamic Sharia system of government in their communities. Over 100,000 residents of the communities located in the border areas were displaced forcing them to seek refuge in the neighboring Cameroon. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) had in March expressed concerns that the forced return of refugees from Cameroon have continued unabated despite the existence of an accord that allows the facilitation of voluntary return of Nigerian refugees when conditions were conducive. Mr. Shettima, who spoke when the new Director General of the National emergency Management Agency (NEMA), paid him a courtesy call, expressed regret over the action of the Cameroonian authorities, saying they had dishonored an earlier agreement reached with Nigerian and the UNHCR on the management of refugees. The Cameroonian authorities have not been honorable in keeping the agreement signed with Nigeria and UNHCR on our people in their country, said Mr. Shettima. The governor said a total of 10, 500 returnee refugees had reached various locations around the border areas between the two countries in different batches. The governor said his deputy, Usman Durkwa, had been deployed to lead a team of officials to Bama town where they would make available all the logistics needed for hosting the refugees. The refugees, he said, would be camped in the town, which his administration is currently rebuilding after Boko Haram sacked its entire residents and burnt down over 2,000 houses. Mr. Shettima said the humanitarian challenges in the state was very huge and overwhelming but we are was determined to overcome them. Share this: Twitter Facebook Armenias Yelk Alliance boycotted todays opening session of parliament to protest the presence of the countrys president Serzh Sargsyan. MPs from the three other winners in the May 14 parliamentary election the Republican Party of Armenia, the Tsarukyan Alliance, Armenian Revolutionary Federation took their seats. Tigran Avinyan, press spokesperson for Yelk, told Hetq that the boycott was also in protest of the election bribes that were distributed to voters on election day. No one has forgotten the events of March 1, and more tragic is the fact that no one has yet been punished. Yelk holds Serzh Sargsyan responsible for the deaths that occurred on March 1, Avinyan said. Catholicos Garegin II, also present, gave his blessing to the new legislature. In his speech, Sargsyan talked about the willingness of the ruling Republican Party to cooperate with other political parties, the domestic situation in Armenia, and the Karabakh issue. The new parliament must first elect a new speaker. There are two candidates for the post, Ara Babloyan from the Republican Party of Armenia, and Edmon Marukyan. The session was presided over by the oldest MP, Knyaz Hasanov, president of the Armenias Kurdish National Council. Yelk Alliance MPs took their seats after Sargsyan exited the chamber. The Kwara State Government on Wednesday named the state university after the late strongman of Kwara politics, Olusola Saraki. The state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, made the announcement in Ilorin at the inauguration of the Sola Saraki Educational Foundation. Mr. Ahmed, who declared that the Kwara State University, KWASU, would henceforth be called Sola Saraki University, explained that renaming the university was a better way of immortalising the late politician. According to the governor, the late Mr. Saraki was an outstanding politician, mentor and philanthropist. The governor said Mr. Saraki, who bore the title of Waziri of Ilorin, had immense love for education as evident in his contributions to the building of several primary and secondary schools across the state. While commending the initiator of the Sola Saraki foundation for complimenting governments efforts in making education accessible to all, the governor called on individuals and corporate bodies to invest in education as a way of securing the future of the children. Mr. Ahmed donated N15 million for the takeoff of the foundation. Born on May 13, 1933 in Ilorin, Kwara State, the late Mr. Saraki was until his death regarded as the strongman of Kwara politics. He first ran in the 1964 parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent candidate, but lost. After the election, he returned to medical practice in Lagos, only returning to party-politics in 1978/79. In 1977, Mr. Saraki was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 constitution. In 1979 he was elected a Senator of the Second Republic, and became Senate Leader. In 1983 Mr. Saraki was re-elected into the Senate on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform. Mr. Sakari died on Wednesday 14 November 2012 in Lagos at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer. He was laid to rest in Ilorin. His son, Bukola Saraki, is Nigerias senate president. Share this: Twitter Facebook The head of Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori, has slammed a N10 billion lawsuit against Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, accusing him of violation of human rights. The suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, by Mr. Maikoris lawyers, Ballasons Chambers. Justice John Tsoho presided over the case on Tuesday. Mr. Maikori is praying the court to enforce his fundamental rights against undue harassment and intimidation by the Kaduna State government, Mr. El-Rufai and the Nigeria Police. Mr. Maikori, 41, was first arrested in Lagos on February 17 after a petition was filed by the Kaduna State Government over a story he published on his social media pages that turned out to be false. The story had to do with the purported killing of five College of Education students in Southern Kaduna. The label boss later apologised for posting the story, adding that his driver relayed it to him, and said his (driver) brother was among the victims. He was subsequently transferred to Force Headquarters in Abuja for interrogations. He was eventually released on bail and cleared of any complicity by the Police Force Headquarters. He was then rearrested and taken to Kaduna where he was detained for four days before he was charged to court. He was granted bail on health grounds. Mr. El-Rufai, had before his second arrest, vowed to prosecute Mr. Maikori at the fifth edition of Social Media Week in Lagos. Share this: Twitter Facebook Justice Oyekan Abdullahi of the Lagos Division of the Lagos State High Court has fixed June 22 for ruling on whether there is a binding contract existing between the Lagos State government and the private waste operators (known as Private Sector Participant, PSP). At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, counsel for the PSP operators, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, informed the court that the Lagos State government had rebuffed the courts intervention for the resolution of the controversy between both parties. My Lord, your kind intervention for the resolution of the issues in controversy has been rebuffed by the 1st to 3rd defendants, who have indicated their unwillingness to settle, Mr. Adegboruwa said. Mrs. Abdullahi had on February 21 directed the state government and the private waste operators to settle their dispute within two weeks. She stated that the laws establishing the court permits judges to encourage settlement of disputes between the parties, in consequence of which she directed the executive members of the waste collectors association to write their names and telephone numbers for Mr. Quadri, counsel to Lagos government for onward transmission to those in charge. Despite the Lagos governments refusal to settle with the PSP operators, according to the human rights activist the waste operators are still cleaning the entire space of Lagos State and we urge my lord to preserve a means of livelihood of the claimant. The 1st to 3rd defendants are daily threatening the contracts and franchise of the claimants and my humble application is to issue an interim order to preserve the status-quo of this suit in other to keep Lagos clean. The claimants have continued to heed to my noble lords advice to continue to clean even when they are not paid. Said Mr. Adegboruwa. In response, counsel to the 1st and 3rd defendants, O.O. Adeshina, said the 1st claimant and the 2nd to 30th claimants are not privy to each others contractual agreement as they were executed individually with the defendants and therefore cannot maintain a joint suit against the defendants. In two separate applications seeking for an order of interlocutory injunction dated 30th January 2017, Mr. Adegboruwa urged the court to make a finding from these exhibits that there is an existing franchise between the 1st to 3rd defendants deserving an interlocutory injunction. I urge the court to discountenance the affidavit of the 1st to 3rd defendants because it is inviting my lord to make findings at this interlocutory stage on matters that should be dealt with in the substantive trial. The claimants seek for maintenance of status-quo, Mr. Adegboruwa said. In opposing the waste managers application Mrs. Adeshina filed a 64 paragraph counter affidavit deposed to by one Komolafe Olanrewaju, where they pointed out that the steps taken by the claimants in filing two interlocutory injunctions is an abuse of court processes. In specific response to claimant counsel, weve shown that there is no more legal relationship and contract between the claimant and the 1st to 3rdrespondents, said Mrs. Adeshina. The said contract they are relying on has expired and the fact they are cleaning Lagos state does not mean Lagos state employed them, they are doing so at their freewill, Mrs. Adeshina continued. Its our contention that why the claimant brought this matter to court is to foist that relationship on the government as you can force a willing agent but you cannot force an unwilling principal. The Lagos State government is willing to make Lagos a mega city and you dont go to mega cities with dirts around, Mrs. Adeshina asserted. Responding on point of law, Mr. Adegboruwa told the court that the 1st to 3rd defendants cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time as they first denied the existence of a contract and at the same time claiming the claimants were not diligent in their contracts. According to the human rights lawyer, the court has the disciplinary jurisdiction to punish any party before it that takes any step to hinder the courts processes. Which is what the 1st defendant did with a newspaper publication in the Punch of February 6 2017 after this suit was filed and they were served purporting to advertise the same franchise that the claimant have submitted for your lordships determination. In law my lord, it is the conduct of the 1st to 3rddefendants that actually amount to abuse of process and contempt to the authority of this court, which we urge this court not to allow, said Mr. Adegboruwa. Mrs. Abdullahi adjourned the matter till June 22 for ruling. Share this: Twitter Facebook A three-storey building under construction in Lagos has collapsed, trapping an unspecified number of people. Rescuers are currently working to help the victims. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the building, located at number 6, Richard Abimbola Street, Ilasa area of the state, collapsed at around 2p.m. The Lagos emergency agency said 13 labourers had been rescued from the building. Some are being treated by the agencys medical team and Lagos State Ambulance Service, an official of the agency said. Details later Share this: Twitter Facebook European and NATO doors should remain open, President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday adding that the integration process within the EU and NATO should embrace more countries. "One of our today's biggest tasks and duties is to assure what societies in all our countries expect - security. We are all aware that there is much concern, we are dealing with the infringement of states' territorial integrity, unfortunately we also have aggression and frozen conflicts", the president said when meeting with participants of a two-day Summit of Speakers of Central and Eastern European Parliaments. The president pointed out that this concerns "the problem of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the problem of internal unrests in the Balkans". "But there is also a problem of aspirations which countries of East and Central Europe and of the Western Balkans have regarding European and Trans-Atlantic cooperation, building partnership or the joining of the EU or NATO in the future", said Andrzej Duda. The president stressed he was a strongly for European integration as well as future integration within NATO to embrace a growing number of countries. In his opinion "doors to Europe as well as to NATO should remain open." According to President Duda the two organisations in the course of time should be joined by further countries. "I trust this is a perspective of many of the Western Balkans countries, a perspective of numerous East European countries manifesting their aspirations in this field for years. Poland is open and will support such aspirations", President Duda declared. (PAP) Two Detroit residents, both convicted felons, were arrested May 10 during a traffic stop for driving with a loaded pistol in a car. The 37-year-old driver was pulled over near Oakman and Donald after police observed him roll through a stop sign in a 1996 Lincoln Continental. A background check of the driver revealed he is on probation for aggravated assault and had served 11 years in prison for second-degree homicide. When police searched the car, they found a loaded revolver in a rear cupholder, a report said. The 44-year-old passenger admitted that he, too, was a convicted felon and also had several warrants for his arrest out of Wayne County for failure to pay child support. Both men denied knowing that the gun was inside the car, and claimed that a friend possibly left it there, but neither of them could give police a description of the friend. After advising both men that it is illegal for convicted felons to be in possession of a firearm, they were arrested and the car was impounded. ( Read 4341 Times) Source : Vice Chancellor of Udaipur Janardhana Rai Nagar Rajasthan University University Prof. Ss Sarangdevot, in the meeting of all the Heads of the Vidyapith organized in the auditorium asked to play an important role in the admission process in the coming session.He said that the Head of the departments should know problems of the students, settle their grievances at their own level. He said that the forms of all the courses of the University will be available at the Jan Bharti centers, run in the rural areas, so that students from rural areas can also get the information and benefits.Pro. Ss Sarngdevot said in 2017 under the Public Education and Extension Directorate we will introduce new courses from Bharti centers. Apart from this, the problems of the employees will also be taken in priority, through the invitation programs, the new dimensions of different development will be searched. The university will focus more on research base program and invitation program, focusing on more research and orientation program in all departments Will be given. In the year 2017, national and international seminars will be organized on various subjects related to education, arts, management, commerce, computer and IT, social work, personality development, medicine.Rehabilitation and will have a social conscience Campaign organized addiction camps at all centres under this scheme. In addition, cleanliness campaign, environmental protection, skeletal development related campaigns will be launched, by encouraging the elderly of rural and tribal areas, doctors, counselling and liberation. The patient will be addiction recruitment centre or hospital when needed.Special classes on girls education and health - this will be called once in a week at Jan Bharti centers by calling doctors from urban areas. While the university worker will inform the villagers on a new topic every day. The girls will include iron deficiency, menstrual and information related to delivery and precautions in the camps will be set up. ( Read 23666 Times) Source : It was a great historic occasion and matter of rejoicing for all the members of the entire family of Janardan Rai Nagar Rajashan Vidyapeeth Deemed University when Prof. S. S. Sarangdevot, Vice Chancellor, a very able and worthy head of the institution, was honoured with honorary rank of Colonel by the Ministry of Defense of the India.This magnificent honour was conferred on him for his exemplary dedication, extra-ordinary contribution and tireless efforts to achieve excellence in Higher Education, research, motivation of youth and NCC Cadets. A big and befitting program was organized to felicitate him in the main campus of the University on 26th April 2017. He is the first individual from the Udaipur district to receive this honour.The program began with a guard of honor given by the NCC cadets to Dy DG NCC Dte. Rajasthan, Air Commodore Radhakrishnan Shankar. Prof. Mukta Sharma, Registrar of Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth Deemed University welcomed a large gathering of distinguished guests, eminent scholars, citizens and dignitaries from different works of life from Udaipur. She has also briefly introduced the distinguished defense personnel Air Commodore Radhakrishnan Shankar, Colonel Jai Prakash Singh and Colonel Prof. S.S. Sarangdevot, who had graced the occasion by their presence.The welcome speech was followed by the conferment of the rank of Colonel on Prof. S.S. Sarangdevot by Air Commodore Radhakrishnan Shankar and Colonel Jai Prakash Singh had pipped to the post as Colonel along with Ashok Stambh Star, Collar Daf, and a Certificate to Prof. S.S. Sarangdevot.Soon after the above conferment, a warm Guard of Honour was given to Colonel Prof. S.S. Sarangdevot by NCC Cadets.In his motivational speech, Air Commodore Radhakrishnan Shankar observed that the rank of honorary colonel is conferred upon very able and dynamic academicians in recognition of their outstanding services to the nation not only in the field of education but also for promoting and motivating students of the University for joining the NCC. The ministry of defense thus collaborates with educational institutions in recognizing such services by honouring them. He has praised the work being done by the Rajasthan vidhapeeth University for community education, rural and deprived section of the society.Colonel Prof. S.S. Sarangdevot thereafter made a very impressive speech expressing his gratitude to the ministry of defense, Government of India for the conferment of the rank of colonel on him. He further said that NCC is a very vibrant organization channelizing the power and energy of the young cadets and making them worthy and responsible citizens of the country. He recalled the deep impact NCC had made on his personality as a young NCC cadet right from school days. It inspired him to successfully complete C certificate and imbibe the values of nationalism, patriotism, selfless services to millions of his countrymen. It made a very lasting impression on his young mind and sensibilities and made him strive to achieve excellence in his own academic pursuits. He said that he had cherished a long desire and dream of being honoured some day in his life of being awarded the rank of a honorary colonel and the dream has become a reality today.Prof. Sarangdevot has told that in the present time there is a lack of nationalism. To fulfill this gap, teachers should come forward to develop the environment of nationalism, brotherhood and compassion, so that morale of our soldiers could achieve more heights. Prof. Sarangdevot advised young generation to see big dreams and never get tired to achieve the best. He has also announced that his University is starting course in defense education from next session.After this speech, the Honble Chancellor of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth Shri H.C. Parakh honored Army officers with mementoes. Thereafter the NCC song was played on a large LED screen.The programme concluded with singing of the National Anthem. A high tea was organized for all members of the audience and VIPs.This ceremony was attended among others who were present in the occasion a few names need special mention: Lieutenant Colonel Emblem Hammal, Founder Vice Chancellor of Central University of Haryana, Former Vice Chairman of UGC and Member Law Commission Prof. Mool Chand Sharma, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth Kul Adhyaksh Prof. Devendra Jauhar, Former Vice Chancellor of Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth Prof. Lokesh Bhatt, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth B.L. Gujjar, Brig. S.S. Patil, Col. Manohar Singh Rathore, Prof. M.S. Agriya (President, Bhopal Nobles University), Dr. Geeta Patel, Shri Bhim Singh, Shri Yashwant Singh, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Formar MLA) Shri Mahipal Singh Roopnagar, Shri Mohabbat Singh Rathore (M.D., Bhupal Nobles, Udaipur), Shri Lal Singh Jhala, Shri Dalpat Singh Surana, Prof. Eklingh Singh Jhala, Shri Jitendra Anchaliya, Mahendra Singh Shekhawat, Pramod Samar, Dr. N.N. Singh Rathore, Prof. N.N. Jani, Captain Anita Rathore, Lieutenant Dr. Yuvraj Singh Rathore, Captain Ram Chandra, Prof. K.S. Gupta, Dr. Rajshekhar Vyas, Deans and Directors of the University along with distinguished citizens of the University were present. ATLANTIC CITY A state takeover of the city that has left local leaders with little power loomed large over a mayoral debate Tuesday night at the Uptown School Complex. Democratic candidates accused each other of siding with state officials and power brokers and sparred over issues related to the takeover during a 45-minute forum organized by the First Ward Civic Association. A.C. candidates for mayor and City Council debate bankruptcy ATLANTIC CITY There was little disagreement Tuesday among City Council candidates except f It didnt take long for the debate to get heated. Democratic Council President Marty Small used his opening statement to attack rival Councilman Frank Gilliam, calling him a special interests candidate. Small claimed Gilliam has the support of Democratic South Jersey power broker George Norcross and former Council President Craig Callaway, who went to prison after admitting he took bribes in 2006. This election is about whos for Atlantic City and whos against Atlantic City, Small said. But Gilliam dismissed the comment as mere name-calling and said part of his job as a local official is to build relationships that benefit the city. If were elected officials, and (state) legislators are basically above us, its our job to go communicate with those people to make sure we bring resources back to the city, Gilliam said. Not work in silos as if we can handle this problem on our own. Because we cant. Gilliam later said he met Norcross just once for only 50 seconds at Wonder Bar last year. I dont know George Norcross, he added. The future of the city Municipal Utilities Authority also sparked a heated discussion. Gilliam cited his recent votes against dissolving the authority. He said he and his council allies were trying protect the water system from being sold by the state. He later accused Small and his allies of voting in favor of the state. If the MUA would have come in as a department, you could be rest assured the MUA would be sold right now, he said. Small said Gilliam, who supported dissolving the authority when he was council president in 2015, has played politics with his votes. He voted against it because I was for it, Small said. The other candidates mostly stayed out of the fray. Fareed Abdullah, another Democrat and a substitute teacher, talked about unifying the city and luring industries to create jobs and grow the citys tax base. It is time for Atlantic City to bring leadership that will relate with the people, he said. Yes, Ive never been elected, but that doesnt mean Im not qualified to lead. A leader is someone who will bring everyone the table and make sure Atlantic City residents are going to be put to the forefront. Democrat Jimmy Whitehead, a U.S. Navy veteran, spoke often about bringing the cyber security industry to the city, which he claimed could create 5,000 jobs. Im one of the few candidates that are running that has nothing to do with all the problems that have brought Atlantic City down, he said. Im also the only candidate that has solutions to those problems without raising taxes and would also change the paradigm of Atlantic Citys economy. And perennial independent candidate Joseph Polillo, a former city license inspector, criticized City Council for not taking more actions to fight the state takeover. They should have voted 9-0 for bankruptcy. They should have voted 9-0 that the state is violating the Sunshine Law. They should have filed federal a lawsuit against the unconstitutional takeover, he said. Youre going to tell me (state officials are) going to make the call over our elected officials? They wouldnt push me over. Small, Gilliam, Abdullah and Whitehead are facing off in the June 6 Democratic primary. The winner will face Polillo and incumbent Republican Mayor Don Guardian, who did not attend the debate, in the November general election. VIENNA, 18 May 2017 OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said today that the Organization had to start the process of closure of the Office in Yerevan, since no consensus could be reached on the future mandate of the Office. The closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan follows months of negotiations and extensive efforts by the 2016 German OSCE Chairmanship and the 2017 Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to resolve the deadlock on the extension of the Offices mandate. The OSCE opened its field presence in Armenia in 2000. Zannier said that the Office in Yerevan, with its dedicated staff, had made a significant contribution in assisting and advising the Armenian authorities on the implementation of OSCE commitments. Co-operation with Armenia has always been very fruitful, he said. The OSCEs activities in the country included, among others, assistance with police reforms and support for reviewing and streamlining the national regulatory frameworks affecting business activity and the daily lives of citizens. In 2006, the Office in Yerevan established a Programme Implementation Presence in the Syunik region to contribute to sustainable development. Secretary General Zannier emphasized that the OSCE will seek to continue its engagement with Armenia in line with existing OSCE commitments across all three security dimensions the politico-military, the economic and environmental and the human dimension. The Office in Yerevan will discontinue its operations on 31 August 2017. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. A judge decided Thursday that Atlantic City Mothers Day fatal shooting suspect Lorin Wright should remain in the Atlantic County jail. A detention hearing was held for Wright, 31, of Atlantic City, and Atlantic County Superior Court Judge John Rauh ordered him detained, court officials said. Lorin Wright, of Ohio Avenue, is accused of killing Keith Cundiff Jr., 32, of North Virginia Avenue, and his murder charge carries a possible sentence of 30 years to life. Wright also is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Each charge carries a potential sentence of as many as 10 years in state prison. Wright appeared in court via video for his first appearance Monday but was there in person for the detention hearing, court officials said. He will appear in court again in the next 60 days for a pre-indictment conference, court officials said. An overnight investigation Sunday into Monday resulted in the arrest of Wright, who was found inside a home on the 1000 block of Brights Court by city police and the Atlantic County Prosecutors Major Crimes Unit after they executed a search warrant, according to a statement by Prosecutor Damon Tyner. Police found Cundiff after they responded to a 911 call about a shooting at 2:49 p.m. Sunday in the 800 block of North Maryland Avenue, the Prosecutors Office said. AtlantiCare paramedics and city EMS personnel also responded. Attorney J. David Meyer represented Wright for Thursdays court appearance, and Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor Rick McKelvey represented the state, court officials said. Cundiffs killing was the third in less than two weeks in Atlantic Citys Marina District. David Blackwell Jr., 31, of Hammonton, was found fatally shot at 10:15 p.m. May 5 in the 800 block of North Virginia Avenue. Anthony A. Jordan, 28, of Atlantic City, was found shot to death at 5:30 a.m. May 11 in a parked car in the 1000 block of Brigantine Boulevard. No arrests have been made in those slayings. Marty Small, 2nd Ward city councilman and mayoral candidate, will hold a town hall meeting for Marina District residents at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Brigantine Homes Community Center, 1062 Brigantine Blvd., Atlantic City. Tyner, police Chief Henry White and representatives of the FBI and State Police will attend. ATLANTIC CITY Angry workers and residents criticized the states move to privatize trash collection Wednesday night during a long public-comment portion of a City Council meeting. The meeting came two days after officials running a state takeover of the city bypassed the council to approve a three-year, $7.2 million contract to Gold Medal Environmental of New Jersey, a company in Gloucester County. Tasha Prescott, a sanitation truck driver, became emotional speaking to the council. She said she makes $12 per hour and described tough working conditions. For the things that we endure and do out there, I dont think any entity in the state of New Jersey would do what we do on a daily basis to clean the streets of Atlantic City, Prescott said. Making the money I make, nobody can do that job for less than $12 an hour, she said. City officials say the deal will save the financially-troubled city $1.1 million this year and wont require layoffs. Sanitation workers will fill vacant positions in the Public Works Department, city and state officials said. The council tabled a vote to outsource the service three weeks ago after some council members said they never received a cost-savings analysis. The city administrations cost figures came under more scrutiny Wednesday by council members, residents and city workers. These numbers are bogus, said Frank Turner, a sanitation worker for more than 15 years. City and state officials said 29 sanitation workers would keep their jobs, but the union representing them was skeptical. Im asking you, nicely, can we get that in writing? said Marcus King, president of Teamsters Local 331. Because without civil service, nothing stops you from laying off. Later, state Local Government Services Director Timothy Cunningham confirmed the state takeover law suspended civil service requirements when asked by Joyce Mollineaux, chairwoman of the city Democratic Municipal Committee. The meeting was supposed to serve also as a public hearing for the citys slimmed-down $206 million budget. But nearly everyone who approached the dais referenced the sanitation contract. In bypassing the council, state officials said, they needed to get savings for the cash-strapped city as soon as possible. The state takeover law gave state officials authority to pass or repeal any council resolution. I did not have confidence that the City Council was going to act on it tonight, Cunningham said. BRIGANTINE Tige Tiger Platt, a 20-year Fire Department veteran, was sworn in Wednesday night as the citys new fire chief. When firefighters achieve a new rank, a family member usually holds the Bible as they take their oath. Platt, a 1991 Atlantic City High School graduate, had his father, Darryl Platt, 73, fly up from Florida to hold the Bible. Darryl Platt was a 28-year member of the city Fire Department. He served as chief from 1986 to 1997. It is something that doesnt happen very often. We both reached the height of our careers, Darryl Platt said. More than 100 people packed the municipal courtroom to watch Platt be sworn in with firefighters Michael Lange Jr., who was promoted to lieutenant, and Paul Fuller, who became captain. Platt was born and raised in the city and attended Brigantine Central and North schools. He enlisted in the N.J. Air National Guard and transferred to the Air Force Reserve. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Platt was deployed multiple times to the Middle East in operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. In the Fire Department, Platt was promoted to the position of lieutenant in 2010 and promoted to captain in 2013. He has received six lifesaving awards. Im extremely proud to lead this department, and following in my fathers footsteps is a huge honor, Platt said. ATLANTIC CITY A Ventnor man was indicted Wednesday on nine charges, including murder, in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend and stabbing of a man she was with in February, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner announced. Jose B. Lopez, 51, was arrested Feb. 19, one day after Atlantic City police found Bessy Blanco, 54, stabbed to death inside her home on North Harrisburg Avenue. Blancos friend Mark Richart, 52, of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, was found critically stabbed in the street outside the home. Lopez, who has been in county jail since his arrest, was indicted on three counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, burglary, armed robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, theft and carjacking. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. At a detention hearing in February, prosecutors described Lopez as a jealous ex-boyfriend who allegedly called Blancos daughter after the murder to blame her for what happened. According to statements from the affidavit, Lopez was kicked out of Blancos home just days before the murder and was staying with his mother in Ventnor. When he was arrested by Galloway Township Police, Lopez was found in Richarts car. Assistant Prosecutor Rick McKelvey represents the state in this case. Lopez was represented at the detention hearing by Stephen Funk. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 609-909-7666 or the Atlantic City Police Department at 609-347-5766. Smoking on the Wildwoods Boardwalk could soon be illegal. Ordinances banning smoking on the 38-block Boardwalk and its adjoining ramps and stairs were introduced earlier this month in Wildwood and North Wildwood and could get final approval in the coming weeks. The prohibition wouldnt go into effect until 2018. Municipal officials said they want to give people time to understand and comply with the new restriction. The summer of 2017 is going to be an educational period, North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello said. Were going to ask people to refrain from smoking this year and that it will be banned for next year. Rosenello said discarded cigarette butts pose a fire hazard. The Boardwalk, he said, sees several minor trashcan fires every year as a result of smoldering cigarettes. Its also a health issue, he said. Public health and public safety are the two main issues, Rosenello said. The effects of secondhand smoke have become very, very obvious and well-known. A lot of people dont like to be interrupted with secondhand smoke, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano said. At this time, it seems to be the right thing to do. Not everyone sees the need for the ban. I dont think its that big of a deal if people smoke, because its outside, said Tyler Savage, 21, of National Park, Gloucester County, who was smoking a cigarette Thursday while walking on the Boardwalk. Wildwoods wooden walkway wouldnt be the first prominent South Jersey boardwalk to go smoke-free. Ocean City banned smoking on its Boardwalk in 2014. Since then, enforcing the rule hasnt been an issue, Ocean City police Capt. Steven Ang said. Its one of those ordinances where its more of an educational ordinance, he said. Its not one of those ordinances where were out there writing tickets. Ang said the vast majority of smokers have been cooperative and were not aware of the rule before lighting up. Violators of the proposed Wildwoods Boardwalk ordinance could face penalties. In North Wildwood, a first-time offender could face a fine of up to $250; in Wildwood, smokers could be fined up to $1,000 or sentenced to 90 days in jail, according to each municipalitys respective city code. Rosenello said he doesnt expect serious repercussions for Boardwalk smokers. I dont envision that people will be issued summonses because of this, Rosenello said. Smoking is already banned at Moreys Piers & Beachfront Water Parks, one of the Boardwalks most popular attractions. Rosenello said the city will use the public-address system on the Boardwalk to get the message out about the smoking ban if its given final approval. The ordinances have already passed on first reading and are expected to be up for a public hearing and final approval at the May 24 Wildwood City Commission meeting and the June 7 North Wildwood City Council meeting. CAMDEN State Police Trooper Frankie Williams was just a few credits shy of completing his masters degree in criminal justice when his life was cut short. On Wednesday, Williams wife, Kimberly, accepted the degree for him posthumously and could enjoy the bittersweet moment as her husband would have done, she said. I kind of imagined him being here and what that would have been like, Williams, 30, of Egg Harbor Township, said at the Rutgers University-Camden graduate school commencement. I know that Frankie would be extremely excited and would feel so honored that this is being done on his behalf. Frankie Williams, 31, died Dec. 5 in a head-on crash while responding to a call about an erratic driver on Route 55 in Millville, Cumberland County. He graduated in the 156th New Jersey State Police academy class in January 2016, finally completing his dream to become a trooper. But Frankie was also always big on education, said his wife, whom he married in September. Before becoming a state trooper, he graduated from Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing in 2009 and from Rutgers University in Camden in 2012 with a bachelors degree in criminal justice. He was finishing his masters degree at the time of the crash. Before conferring degrees to the graduates and calling them individually up on stage Wednesday, Kriste Lindenmeyer, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences & the Graduate School at RutgersCamden, called Williams up to the stage. Some of todays graduates and our faculty knew Frankie Williams, Lindenmeyer said. They know he was an engaging and talented student, as well as a leader among his peers. Lindenmeyer invited Williams to walk up to the stage and accept his degree, while the arena roared in applause while she walked back to show the diploma to her father and some cousins. It was a great way to honor him and keep his memory alive, she said. This was his next step in making his family proud. He was always looking to be challenged and always setting goals and meeting those goals, she said. Williams just returned this week from National Police Week in Washington, D.C., where her husband was honored in a vigil. She said accepting his masters degree Wednesday was just another great way to pay tribute to him as a person. Kimberly said she remembers watching him graduate with his bachelors degree in 2012 at that same arena, but this time, she was on stage at the BB&T Pavilion for him. Im trying to enjoy the moment as he would if he were accepting his degree, he said. Ban balloon releases up to 200 miles inland Regarding the May 5 story, Ocean City launches Dont Let Go anti-balloon-release promotion: I applaud the city environmental commissions effort, but considering that an average party balloon filled with helium can travel from 2 miles to over 200 miles depending on wind speed, that may be a wasted effort. What is needed is a ban on helium-filled balloons enacted legislatively for any state within at least that 200 mile range from the shore. Its never going to happen because the balloon manufacturers spend a lot of money annually lobbying elected officials against such a ban. Want balloons at your party? Use a friends air compressor and forget about floating balloons. Ocean life and beach cleanups will thank you. Brent Metzger Galloway Township GOP care bill would hit poor seniors hard Most Republicans passing the health care bill in the House didnt know what they were doing. They know the wealthier will get a break and that made them pass the bill without most of them even reading it. The Kaiser Family Foundation found a 60 year old living in central New Jersey with an income of $20,000, currently paying $960 for health care insurance, might end up paying 10 times as much under the March 6 version of the bill. With what is left of his income, he couldnt pay rent or mortgage, feed himself and family, much less pay for utilities. People should vote these morons out of office. They have no clue what its like to be an average senior citizen in America. I want all U.S. senators and congressmen to have the same medical plan that seniors have and not the diamond plan that they voted for themselves. They should not have the authority to set themselves above the average American. Thats not why theyre there. Theyre there to serve the public, not bamboozle the public. They have the most time off of anyone and the time they are in work they get nothing done. The Republicans spent the last eight years voting against everything President Obama proposed, largely because he supported Americans who were poor, sick and uneducated, hungry and unemployed. Obama is what America is about. Throw the bums out. James K. Aumack Cape May Snowflakes should vote There are not enough voters in America. When people do not vote, the extremists have more power because they all vote. Those with an agenda vote. Racists or white nationalists vote. Anti-abortion activists vote. I have been called a libertard and a snowflake. Many have been called these names. Well, this snowflake votes, and I think all my snowflake brethren should vote. Vote for people who are not puppets for big business. Learn how to recognize the snake oil salesmen and vote. Vote for school board. Vote for Congress, dog catcher, president, sheriff, senate. Vote in the mid-terms. People should vote or keep their libertard snowflake opinions to themselves. Robert Schwegler Egg Harbor Township Mother-infant nutrition aid shouldnt be cut Mothers Day is when we celebrate the efforts of moms everywhere to deliver on the promise they make to us when were born, to nurture and protect us so we can reach our full potential. But no matter how hard some moms try, they dont have the knowhow or resources to ensure their babies get the nutrition they need to grow and develop properly. Without this essential nutrition between pregnancy and age 2, many children die. Others are stunted, meaning their brains and bodies are irreversibly underdeveloped. President Trumps budget proposes a cut to development assistance programs that help moms deliver on their promises to children. My senators and representative should speak to leadership in the Senate and House about protecting effective development assistance programs, particularly nutrition programs. What better gift to ask for this Mothers Day? Carol Short Mays Landing Seniors COLA laughable No one should be surprised that many seniors are still in the work force when Social Security considers 0.3 percent as an acceptable cost-of-living adjustment. Have any of the decision makers checked grocery store prices lately? That 0.3 percent is laughable. Frani Cavallaro Ventnor Hasmik Mkrtchyan, who heads the Mary Izmirlyan orphanage in Yerevan, has embezzled 46 million AMD from the institution. The amount stolen translates into som US$ 95,000 at today's exchange rate. Charges were filed against Mkrtchyan by Armenia's Investigative Committee. Mkrtchyan, is said to have cooked the books from 2013-2016, creating nineteen ghost job listings. Wages were then disbursed, only to be pocketed by Mkrtchyan. In 2015, Gayaneh Margaryan, a former director of the Byureghavan Boarding School, another institution under the purview of Armenias Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, was arrested and charged with using torture against children under her care and for financial misconduct during her term in office. Testifying in the Margaryan case, still being heard in the courts, is Filaret Berikyan, former Deputy Minister of Labor and Social affairs., Berikyan had sponsored Margaryan for the job. If similar institutions, all regulated by the ministry, are investigated, it cannot be ruled out that comparable violations will be uncovered. While numerous infractions have been revealed at the Mary Izmirlyan Orphanage, the case has gone nowhere because no state body has issued any statements on the matter. Nevertheless, Armenias National Security Service had detained Hasmik Mkrtchyan, who has since been released on her own recognizance. Here, I would like to ask the following of Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Why hasnt any state agency, including the prime ministers oversight service, been able to expose such glaring abuses? Theyve allegedly been examining these institutions for years. Have you ever questioned the heads of those agencies conducting such investigations? Dont you think that a portion of the embezzled funds has wound up in their pockets? Dont you want to put an end to this national embarrassment? Isnt it a part of your much-heralded campaign against corruption? Photo: Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan The nightmare continues for some Wisconsin and Minnesota dairy farmers as they scramble to find a new processor for their milk by May 1. Dozens of dairies received notice from Grassland Dairy Products Inc. on the first of April that the Greenwood, Wis., based processor would not be able to take their milk after May 1. Grasslands decision to reduce its milk intake came after an announcement from Canada that they would no longer be purchasing ultra-filtered milk from the U.S. Nearly 1 million pounds of milk from Grassland had traveled north of the border every day. Wisconsins Secretary of Agriculture Ben Brancel has been at the heart of the situation, calling processors, meeting with dairy groups, and searching for answers for these dairymen and women in need of a new processor. At the Cooperative Networks Spring Dairy Issues Conference, Brancel updated the audience on the situation. The good news is that some of the farmers have found a new home for their milk. Brancel estimates that about half of the milk volume originally released by Grassland has been picked up by another plant. The bad news is that at least 44 of the farms have yet to find a new processor. And as we head into the Spring Flush, there simply isnt a lot of room for this extra milk at many plants. This is the first time in the state of Wisconsin that no one is willing to pick up milk, Brancel said. The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection attended a listening session in mid-April to hear farmers concerns and brainstorm ideas. For now, Brancels goal is to get the milk from those 44 herds on a truck and save as many of the affected dairies as possible. Finding a new processor for these farms is just the tip of the iceberg, though, in the greater issue of supply and demand. This is a short-term problem with a long-term headache, he said. It needs a long-term solution. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2017 MUMBAI, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegis Limited, a global outsourcing and technology services company, today announced that it has been accredited with the 'Aon Best Employer in India' Award for 2017 by Aon, the global human resources consultancy services firm. The award was presented to Aegis during the Best Employers Learning Conference and Awards Ceremony held on 9th May, 2017 in Mumbai. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120710/NY37889LOGO ) The key attributes that differentiated Aegis were its commendable HR and people management practices which enabled high employee engagement scores. Tarandeep Singh, Partner, Talent and Performance at Aon said, "We are delighted to welcome Aegis Limited to this elite group of Best Employers. Their unique Employee Value Proposition (EVP) of 'GET-SET-GO' stands out in the industry and they are way ahead of their peers in many people practices across the industry. Our heartiest congratulations to them for the win!" Sandip Sen, Global CEO, Aegis Limited said, "For Aegis, it's crucial that we create a diverse and inclusive work culture that empowers our employees to realize their full potential, and deliver the best results for our global clients. This accreditation truly highlights the investment we make in our people." A total of 119 organizations representing 14 key industry sectors cumulatively employing approximately 520,000 employees, participated in the 2017 Aon Best Employers India study. The study research methodology involves a rigorous process, conducted over a nine-month period that culminates in a solid, credible list of 19 Best Employers decided by an external panel of independent jury. SM Gupta, Global Chief People Officer, Aegis Limited said, "We are indeed humbled and honored to receive this award which is a testament to the efforts we have invested in creating a progressive and inclusive workplace. This award is yet another milestone in our journey to create an unmatched workforce that delivers unparalleled services to our clients." In the past Aegis has been recognized with Aon Hewitt Best Employer award in India and Australia in 2011 and 2013. Aegis' Human Resource strategy focuses on inter-dependence between individual development and organizational growth and fosters a positive and healthy work environment for its people and the people it partners with across the entire value chain. About Aon Hewitt Aon Hewitt empowers organizations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative human capital solutions. We advise and design a wide range of solutions that enable our clients' success. Our teams of experts help clients navigate the risks and opportunities to optimize financial security; redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability, and wellbeing; and achieve sustainable growth by driving business performance through people performance. We serve more than 20,000 clients through our 15,000 professionals located in 50 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.aonhewitt.co.in About Aegis Aegis is a global outsourcing and technology services company committed to impacting clients' business outcomes by focusing on enhancing customer experience across all touch points and channels. Aegis has operations in 46 locations across 9 countries with more than 40,000 employees. Aegis services over 150 clients from verticals such as Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Technology, Telecom, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality, Consumer Goods, Retail, and Energy & Utilities. The company is wholly owned by Essar, a USD 27 billion conglomerate. For more information, write to us at info@aegisglobal.com or visit http://www.aegisglobal.com. Aegis Media Contacts Aegis (Global) Danveer Bhasin, Vice President - Global Marketing and Strategy Aegis Limited Phone: +91-99301-35788 Email: Danveer.Bhasin@aegisglobal.com SOURCE Aegis Limited LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BCRE - Brack Capital Real Estate Investments N.V. ("BCRE" or the "Company") Posting of notice of Annual General Meeting BCRE is pleased to announce that the Company's Annual General Meeting will be held at Barbara Strozzilaan 201, 1083HN Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 30 June 2017 at 9 a.m. GMT (10 a.m. CEST). The following text is the Chairman's letter extracted from the notice of Annual General Meeting ("Notice"). Dear Shareholder, Notice of Annual General Meeting 1. Introduction The purpose of the Notice is to provide you with the agenda for the Annual General Meeting. Before the meeting, the following meeting documents are available to holders of Shares and holders of Depositary Interests: The agenda with explanation and the announcements that are required by virtue of law and the Articles of Association; The Directors' Report for the financial year ended 31 December 2016 ; and The Annual Accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2016 . The meeting documents are available on the website of the Company www.brack-capital.com as of 18 May 2017, with exception of the annual report for the year ended 31 December 2016, which has been available on the website of the Company as of 28 April 2017. 2. Discussion on implementation of the remuneration policy in 2016 (discussion item) The remuneration report is included in the Directors' Report for the financial year ended 31 December 2016, page 39 and onwards and provides for the relevant details of the remuneration of each of the Directors. 3. Discussion of the Directors' Report for the year ended 31 December 2016 (discussion item) 4. Discussion and adoption of the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 (voting item) It is proposed to adopt the Annual Accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2016. 5. Appropriation of profits (voting item) It is proposed to add the 2016 result: an amount of 3,749 thousand to be deducted from the other reserves. 6. Discharge of the Directors (voting item) It is proposed to discharge the Directors from all liability in respect of their duties performed in the financial year ended 31 December 2016. 7. Reappointment of the members of the Board The current terms of appointment of Mr. Harin Thaker, Mr. Daniel Aalsvel, Mr. Michiel Olland and Mr. L. Tomesani Melotti expire as of the first day following the Annual General Meeting of 30 June 2017. Mr. Harin Thaker, Mr. Mr. Daniel Aalsvel, Mr. Michiel Olland and Mr. Luca Tomesani Melotti are each eligible for reappointment. With a view to the above, the Board has decided, in accordance with article 18.4 of the Articles of Association, to nominate Mr. Harin Thaker, Mr. Daniel Aalsvel, Mr. Michiel Olland and Mr. Luca Tomesani Melotti for reappointment as members of the Board and proposes, in accordance with article 18.10 of the Articles of Association, to reappoint Mr. Harin Thaker, Mr. Daniel Aalsvel, Mr. Michiel Olland and Mr. Luca Tomesani Melotti as the members of the Board, effective as from the date of the Annual General Meeting, 30 June 2017. Mr. Luca Tomesani Melotti shall be reappointed as member of the board as non-executive Director, due to shifting of his focus from day to day management. All proposed reappointments are in principle until the first day following the Company's annual general meeting in 2018. a. Reappointment of Mr. Harin Thaker as non-executive member of the Board (voting item) Harin Thaker has been with the Group since April 2013 and is currently the Chairman of the Company. He was initially appointed as an Executive Director and was re-appointed as non-executive Director with effect from 15 May 2014. Since 2013, Harin has been Chief Executive of Aeriance Investments S.A., which is an independent multi-strategy and multi product Debt Manager, established in 2008. Aeriance has raised 600 million of equity across 4 closed-end funds focusing on commercial and residential lending such as whole loans, stretch senior, mezzanine and bridge financing across North western countries of Europe. Harin is also a non-executive director of an AIM listed company, Secure Property Development & Investment since 2012. Prior to these appointments, Harin was Head of International Real Estate Finance at PBB Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, a specialised lender in real estate finance and public sector finance from 2008 until 2012. Harin also served as a General Manager at Hypo Real Estate Bank International, before becoming a member of its management board in 2007 (prior to its merger with Hypo Real Estate Bank in 2009). Between 2005 and 2008, he was Chief Executive - EMEA at Hypo Real Estate Bank International. In 1992, Harin joined Hypo Property holdings, a principal finance activity of the bank. Harin Thaker holds an MBA from London Guildhall University. b. Reappointment of Mr. Daniel Aalsvel non-executive member of the Board (voting item) Daniel Aalsvel has been a non-executive Director of the Company since 15 May 2014. Daniel has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry including fund raising, investments and asset management. Daniel is a Co- founder of Coast Capital Partners (www.coastcapital.cz), a real estate investment and development company, which was founded in London in 1995 and later expanded with the establishment of its Czech Republic and Florida offices in 2004. In the Czech Republic Daniel is developing high-end luxury projects, specializing in historical heritage protected buildings in Prague's old town. He also leads on equity investments in excess of $100 million in assets in South of Florida and is part of the investment committee of Florida Opportunity Fund, a Czech regulated real estate fund investing in Florida. Between 1995 and 2007, Daniel was managing multiple joint-ventures, running portfolios in the UK. c. Reappointment of Mr. Michiel Olland executive member of the Board (voting item) Michiel Olland has been an Executive Director of the Company since 15 May 2014. Michiel is also the principal of MO Real Estate B.V., an investment, capital and finance services firm based in the Netherlands and is Chairman and Managing Partner of SHUMAN Capital, a real estate investment management platform based in Paris. Between 2006 and 2011, Michiel was a Managing Director International at SNS Property Finance, formerly known as Bouwfonds Property Finance, an ABN Amro subsidiary. Previously, Michiel was Executive Vice President and Global Co-head of the real estate investment division of Dutch pension fund ABP (APG) and was also Chief Financial Officer at KFN, ABP's Dutch office fund. Between 1992 and 2001, he was a real estate banker at ING Group. Michiel has been a founding member and Chairman of the board of INREV, the European association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles. Michiel's experience includes real estate fund management, finance and investment, capital markets, private equity, risk analysis and governance. Michiel has completed the general management program from INSEAD (CEDEP) (France) and holds a Master in Law degree from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. d. Reappointment of Mr. Luca Tomesani Melotti non-executive member of the Board (voting item) Luca Tomesani Melotti has been an Executive Director of the Company since June 2015; he joined Brack Capital Group, in January 2012. Previously, Luca served as an advisor at Gabedelem S.A., founding partner of Compagnie des Parcs S.A, a property holding and developer focused on commercial real estate in Switzerland and oversaw projects in different industries in his 10 years' experience. Since 2015 Luca has been Lecturer of Real Estate Investment Strategy at LUISS Guido Carli University. He holds an Executive M.B.A. Global Network from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and from Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University. Luca, with a focus on Economics, graduated in Political Sciences with a cum laude specialization in International Relations at LUISS Guido Carlo University. 8. Capital Reduction by means of cancellation (voting item) The proposal envisages cancellation of all Shares held by the Company on the day prior to the Annual General Meeting up to a maximum number of shares equivalent to an amount of 1,615,889, which Shares have been repurchased by the Company under the Company's share buy back programme announced by the Company on 3 June 2016. The purpose of the share buy back and the subsequent cancellation of the Shares is to reduce the discount between the current share price and the net asset value per Share. The proposal to effect the Capital Reduction requires the approval of the Shareholders. In respect of the resolution to reduce the share capital any creditor may, by filing a petition with the Court, oppose the resolution. The resolution to reduce the Company's share capital shall not take effect as long opposition may be instituted. If opposition is instituted in time, the resolution shall take effect only on the withdrawal of the opposition or upon the Court setting aside or otherwise dealing with the opposition. The Capital Reduction does not affect the voting or dividend rights of any Shareholder, or the rights of any Shareholder on a return of capital and following the implementation of the Capital Reduction. 9. Delegation to the Board of the authority to acquire Shares and Depositary Interests (voting item) It is proposed to authorize the Board until the first day following the Company's annual general meeting in 2018 to acquire fully paid up Shares or Depositary Interests, provided that: the purchase price per Share or Depositary Interest shall not be less than the nominal value and not higher than 110% of the market price at the time of the transaction; the aggregate nominal amount of the Shares or Depositary Interests to be acquired together with the Shares or Depositary Interests which are already held and the Shares or Depositary Interests on which a right of pledge is held, by the Company, or by its subsidiaries, shall not exceed the maximum amount as prescribed by law and regulations; all other regulations of the Articles of Association and law shall be adhered to; and market price at the time of the transaction is determined in such case by reference to the previous day's closing price of the Daily Official List of the London Stock Exchange. 10. Designation of the Board as authorized body to issue Shares, to grant rights to acquire Shares and to restrict pre-emptive rights a. Designation of the Board as authorized body to issue Shares and to grant rights to acquire Shares (voting item) b. Designation of the Board as authorized body to limit or exclude pre-emptive rights to the issuance of Shares (voting item) It is proposed, in accordance with article 8 of the Articles of Association to designate the Board, as currently provided in article 8.1 of the Articles of Association, until the the first day following the Company's annual general meeting in 2018 as the body authorized to resolve to: issue Shares and to grant rights to subscribe for Shares; this authorization applies to 10% of the issued share capital of the Company at the date of the Annual General Meeting; and limit or exclude pre-emptive rights related to the issuance of Shares or the granting of rights to acquire Shares. 11. General Meeting A notice convening the Annual General Meeting to be held at Barbara Strozzilaan 201, 1083HN Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 30 June 2017 commencing at 9 a.m. UK time (10 a.m. CEST) is set out on page 11 of the Notice. Further background on the Resolutions can be found in the explanatory notes to the Notice. 12. Voting A Form of Proxy for use by Shareholders at the Annual General Meeting is enclosed with this document. Whether or not you propose to attend the Annual General Meeting, you are urged to complete and sign the Form of Proxy in accordance with the instructions printed thereon and to return it to the Company, as soon as possible and in any event so as to be received no later than 9 a.m. UK time (10 a.m. CEST) on 28 June 2017 (being 48 hours before the time appointed for the holding of the Annual General Meeting). The return of a completed Form of Proxy or the submission by CREST members of an electronic proxy appointment will not preclude you from attending the Annual General Meeting and voting in person, should you so wish. Holders of Depositary Interests in the Company wishing to instruct Capita IRG Trustees Limited, the Depositary, to vote in respect of the holder's interest should use the enclosed Form of Direction. The completed Form of Direction must be received by Capita Asset Services, PXS, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU, as soon as possible and in any event so has to be received no later than 9 a.m. UK time (10 a.m. CEST) on 27 June 2017 (being 72 hours before the time appointed for the holding of the Annual General Meeting). 13. Record Date Only Shareholders entered on the register of members of the Company at 6 p.m. UK time (7 p.m. CEST) on 2 June 2017 shall be entitled to attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting in respect of the number of Shares registered in their name at that time. Changes to entries on the register of members after 6 p.m. UK time (7 p.m. CEST) on 2 June 2017 shall be disregarded in determining the rights of any person to attend or vote at the meeting. The length of time between the Record Date and the Annual General Meeting is set by Dutch Law. Yours faithfully Harin Thaker, Chairman. About BCRE BCRE is an international real estate development and investment group, headquartered in the Netherlands and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Through its subsidiary and associated undertakings, the Company is interested in, develops and operates an international portfolio of real estate assets, predominantly located in the USA, Germany and Russia. The Company has established local management team platforms with significant local market expertise in the US, Germany, Russia, India and the UK with exclusive access to over 550 staff. At present, the Company has offices and teams in New York, London, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Moscow, Kazan, New Delhi, Amsterdam and Limassol. ENQUIRIES: BCRE - Brack Capital Real Estate Investments N.V. Ariel Podrojski, Chief Executive Officer Nansia Koutsou, Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operating Officer +31-20-514-1004 Novella Communications Tim Robertson Toby Andrews +44-203-151-7008 This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire. SOURCE BCRE - Brack Capital Real Estate Investments N.V. "D-Link is proud to become Google's partner and be a part of the increasingly expanding home automation industry. We hope to continue providing our customers with new smart home experiences that encompass more possibilities than ever before," said Anny Wei, CEO and President of D-Link Corporation. About mydlink: mydlink is D-Link's end to end smart home ecosystem consisting of a range of home automation devices, the cloud-based platform, and the mobile app. Consumers are able to connect to, monitor and control devices in their smart home. For more information about Google Home and the Google Assistant, please refer to https://madeby.google.com/home/ and https://assistant.google.com/ About D-Link D-Link is a global leader in connecting people, businesses and cities. We aim to connect more homes, small businesses, medium to large-sized enterprises, and service providers. D-Link implements and supports unified network solutions that integrate capabilities in switching, wireless, broadband, storage, IP surveillance, and cloud-based network management. An award-winning designer, developer, and manufacturer, D-Link has grown from a group of seven friends since its founding in 1986 in Taiwan to more than 2,000 employees worldwide. D-Link Corporation PR Contact: Michelle Chiang Michelle.yi.chiang@dlinkcorp.com +886-2-6600-0123 #5653 D-Link and D-Link logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other third party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2016. D-Link. All Rights Reserved SOURCE D-Link The 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is Walt Mossberg , executive editor at The Verge and Editor-at-Large for Recode. This annual award recognizes an individual whose career exemplifies the consistent, superior insight and professional skills necessary to further the understanding of business, financial and economic issues. Nicholas Varchaver, assistant managing editor at Fortune, will receive the 2017 Lawrence Minard Editor Award, named in memory of Laury Minard, founding editor of Forbes Global and a former final judge for the Loeb Awards. This award honors excellence in business, financial and economic journalism editing, and recognizes an editor whose work does not receive a byline or whose face does not appear on-air for the work covered. Mossberg and Varchaver will receive their career achievement awards at the 60th Anniversary Gerald Loeb Awards banquet and celebration on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at Capitale in New York City. The 2017 winners in the 12 competition categories, which represent the nation's highest honors in business journalism, will also be announced during the banquet. The banquet and celebration will also commemorate Gerald Loeb's 1957 creation of the awards and recognize his legacy to encourage journalism on business and finance that informs and protects the private investor and the general public. Gerald Loeb was a founding partner of E.F. Hutton, a guest columnists for Forbes Magazine and widely considered a Wall Street iconoclast. This year's show will be hosted by Tyler Mathisen, co-anchor of CNBC's Power Lunch, with additional presenters, from television news, announced in the coming weeks. This event is attended by the country's most influential journalists, editors, publishers, producers, media personalities and celebrities. The official invitation for the 60th Anniversary Gerald Loeb Awards with ticket, table, sponsorship and advertising information can be viewed at http://www.theloebawards.com. The following 2017 #LoebAwards finalists were chosen from more than 480 entries submitted by local, regional and national outlets: Audio Category Finalists Lisa Chow , Kaitlin Roberts , Molly Messick , Bruce Wallace , Luke Malone , Simone Polanen , Alex Blumberg , and Alexandra Johnes for " Dov Charney's American Dream" Gimlet Media , , , , , , , and for " American Dream" Gimlet Media Krissy Clark , Caitlin Esch , Gina Delvac , and Nancy Farghalli for "The Uncertain Hour" Marketplace , , , and Nancy Farghalli for "The Uncertain Hour" Marketplace Chris Arnold , Robert Smith , Uri Berliner , Neal Carruth , Alex Goldmark, Elizabeth Kulas , and Bryant Urstadt for "Wells Fargo Hurts Whistleblowers - NPR Investigation Sparks Senate Inquiry" NPR , , , , Alex Goldmark, , and for "Wells Fargo Hurts Whistleblowers - NPR Investigation Sparks Senate Inquiry" NPR Ilya Marritz , John Reitmeyer , Susan Berfield , Charles Herman , and Cayce Means for "Mall Madness" WNYC Radio Beat Reporting Category Finalists David Zahniser , Emily Alpert Reyes , Joe Fox , and Len De Groot for "Big Money, Unlikely Donors" Los Angeles Times , , , and for "Big Money, Unlikely Donors" Natalie Kitroeff for "Natalie Kitroeff" Los Angeles Times Lawrence Delevingne and Nate Raymond for "Platinum Partners Coverage" - Reuters for "Platinum Partners Coverage" - Reuters Jennifer Hiller for "Mood Turns Black As Oil As Boom Turns Bust" San Antonio Express-News for "Mood Turns Black As Oil As Boom Turns Bust" San Antonio Express-News Jonathan O'Connell for " Jonathan O'Connell " The Washington Post for " " The Washington Post Chico Harlan for "The Economics of Immigration" The Washington Post Breaking News Category Finalists John Peet , Jeremy Cliffe , and Tom Wainwright for "Brexit: A Tragic Split" The Economist , , and for "Brexit: A Tragic Split" The Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes , Henry Tricks, Anton La Guardia , Chris Lockwood , and Edward McBride for "Saudi Aramco: The World's Most Valuable IPO" The Economist , Henry Tricks, , , and for "Saudi Aramco: The World's Most Valuable IPO" The Economist Ryan Mac and Matt Drange for "Gawker Breaking News" Forbes and for "Gawker Breaking News" Forbes Joseph Menn for "Yahoo Secretly Scanned Customer Emails for U.S. Intelligence" Reuters for "Yahoo Secretly Scanned Customer Emails for U.S. Intelligence" Reuters Mike Bird , Georgi Kantchev , Jenny Gross , Jason Douglas , and the staff of The Wall Street Journal for "WSJ Covers Brexit" The Wall Street Journal Commentary Category Finalists Matt Levine for " Matt Levine " Bloomberg News for " " Bloomberg News Shirley Leung for "A Series of Columns by Shirley Leung " The Boston Globe for "A Series of Columns by " The Boston Globe Adrian Wooldridge for "Creative Destruction: The Schumpeter Column" The Economist for "Creative Destruction: The Schumpeter Column" The Economist Matt O'Brien for "Global Divides" The Washington Post Explanatory Category Finalists Natalie Obiko Pearson, Sharang Limaye, Jason Gale , Lydia Mulvany , Monte Reel , Stephanie Baker , Wenxin Fan , and Adi Narayan for "Superbug Spreaders" Bloomberg News , , , , , and for "Superbug Spreaders" Bloomberg News Robert Smith , Stacey Vanek Smith , Jacob Goldstein , David Kestenbaum , Alex Goldmark, Jess Jiang , Noel King , Nick Fountain , and Bryant Urstadt for "Planet Money Buys Oil" NPR's Planet Money , , , , Alex Goldmark, , , , and for "Planet Money Buys Oil" NPR's Planet Money Renee Dudley , Steve Stecklow , Alexandra Harney , Irene Jay Liu , and Reuters team for "Cheat Sheet" Reuters , , , , and Reuters team for "Cheat Sheet" Reuters Jonathan O'Connell , Kathy Orton , Jim Tankersley , Emily Badger, Ted Mellnik, Darla Cameron, Denise Lu, and Cat Downs for "America's Housing Divide" The Washington Post , , , for "America's Housing Divide" The Washington Post Todd C. Frankel , Peter Whoriskey , Jorge Ribas , and Michael Robinson Chavez for "Mobile Power Human Toll" The Washington Post Feature Category Finalists Alana Semuels and Rebecca J. Rosen for "Alana Semuels on Who's Making Itand Who's Not Making Itin America" The Atlantic for "Alana Semuels on Who's Making Itand Who's Not Making Itin America" The Atlantic Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel for "Hot Mess: How Goldman Lost Libya's Money" Bloomberg Businessweek and for "Hot Mess: How Goldman Lost Libya's Money" Bloomberg Businessweek Oliver Morton , James Fransham , Patrick Foulis , and Adrian Wooldridge for "America's Competition Problem" The Economist , , , and for "America's Competition Problem" The Economist Erika Fry for "Hot Mess" Fortune Images/Graphics/Interactives Category Finalists David Ingold and Spencer Soper for "Amazon Doesn't Consider the Race of Its Customers. Should It?" Bloomberg Businessweek and for "Amazon Doesn't Consider the Race of Its Customers. Should It?" Bloomberg Businessweek Lucy Rohr and Tom Standage for "The Economist on Snapchat" The Economist and for "The Economist on Snapchat" The Economist Tom Burgis , Michael Peel , Pilita Clark , Charlie Bibby , and Kari-Ruth Pedersen for "Great Land Rush" Financial Times , , , , and for "Great Land Rush" Financial Times Larry Buchanan , Karen Yourish , Walt Bogdanich , Jacqueline Williams , Ana Graciela Mendez , Motoko Rich , Amanda Cox , Matthew Bloch , Quoctrung Bui, Matt A.V. Chaban , Jeremy White , and Nicholas Casey for "Business Visuals" The New York Times International Category Finalists Hannah Dreier and Ricardo Nunes for "Venezuela Undone" The Associated Press and for "Venezuela Undone" The Associated Press Jordan Robertson , Michael Riley , and Andrew Willis for "How to Hack an Election" Bloomberg Businessweek , , and for "How to Hack an Election" Bloomberg Businessweek Peter Waldman , Javier Blas , Grant Smith , and Glen Carey for "Saudi Arabia Economy" Bloomberg News , , , and for "Saudi Arabia Economy" Bloomberg News Ana Graciela Mendez , Jacqueline Williams , Walt Bogdanich , Jeremy White , and Larry Buchanan for "The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet" The New York Times Investigative Category Finalists Sam Roe , Karisa King , and Ray Long for "Dangerous Doses" Chicago Tribune , , and for "Dangerous Doses" Chicago Tribune Harriet Ryan , Lisa Girion , and Scott Glover for "Investigating OxyContin" Los Angeles Times , , and for "Investigating OxyContin" Ryan Gabrielson and Topher Sanders for "Busted" ProPublica and for "Busted" ProPublica William R. Levesque , Nathaniel Lash , and Anthony Cormier for "Allegiant Air" Tampa Bay Times , , and for "Allegiant Air" David A. Fahrenthold for "Trump's Charity" The Washington Post Local Category Finalists Eric Eyre for "Painkiller Profiteers" Charleston Gazette-Mail for "Painkiller Profiteers" Charleston Gazette-Mail Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan for "Suffering in Secret" Chicago Tribune and for "Suffering in Secret" Chicago Tribune Karen Bouffard , Joel Kurth , and Walter Middlebrook for "Dirty Instruments at the Detroit Medical Center" The Detroit News , , and for "Dirty Instruments at the Detroit Medical Center" The Detroit News Jessica Calefati for "Is an Online School Cashing in on Failure?" The Mercury News Personal Finance Category Finalists Michael J. Mishak and Ben Wieder for "Drinks, Dinners, Junkets and Jobs: How the Insurance Industry Courts State Commissioners" The Center for Public Integrity and for "Drinks, Dinners, Junkets and Jobs: How the Insurance Industry Courts State Commissioners" The Center for Public Integrity Taylor Tepper and Elizabeth O'Brien for "The High Cost of Coping" MONEY Magazine and for "The High Cost of Coping" MONEY Magazine Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber for "Public Sacrifice" The New York Times and for "Public Sacrifice" The Tim McLaughlin for "How the Owners of Fidelity Get Richer at Everyday Investors' Expense" Reuters Video Category Finalists Anderson Cooper , Andy Court , Sarah Fitzpatrick , and Terry Manning for "60 Minutes: Strike-Through" CBS News 60 Minutes , , , and for "60 Minutes: Strike-Through" CBS News 60 Minutes Jim Cramer , Nikhil Deogun , Mitch Weitzner , Wally Griffith , Reid Collins Jr. , James Segelstein , Christie Gripenburg , Charlotte Lewis , Patrick Ahearn , Steven T. Banton , Rich Korn , and Allison E. Stedman for "Ground Zero Rising: Freedom vs. Fear" CNBC , , , , , , , , , , , and for "Ground Zero Rising: Freedom vs. Fear" CNBC Greg Gilderman , Marisa Venegas , Solly Granatstein , Shawn Efran , Marcus Stern , Brandon Kieffer , John Carlos Frey , and Monica Villamizar for "Cosecha de Miseria (Harvest of Misery) & The Source" Telemundo Network and Weather.com , , , , , , , and for "Cosecha de Miseria (Harvest of Misery) & The Source" Telemundo Network and Weather.com Adya Beasley , Paul Kiernan , Nadia Sussman , Joao Pina, Christopher Kaeser , and Jill Kirschenbaum for "Mining Dam Failures Present a Global Danger" The Wall Street Journal The Gerald Loeb Awards is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates primarily from sponsorship and private support. UCLA Anderson has been the steward of the G. and R. Loeb Foundation Inc. and The Gerald Loeb Awards since 1973. For more information about The Gerald Loeb Awards, please visit http://www.loeb.anderson.ucla.edu, email [email protected] or call (310) 825-4478. About UCLA Anderson School of Management UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin America and Asia and a city that personifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson's MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school's Think In The Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow. Follow UCLA Anderson on Twitter or on Facebook Media Contact: Jonathan Daillak, (310) 825-4478 [email protected] SOURCE UCLA Anderson School of Management Related Links http://www.loeb.anderson.ucla.edu DURHAM, N.C., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 410 Medical, Inc., a medical device company focused on developing innovative technologies for the resuscitation of critically ill patients, today announced it will participate in the 2017 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI 2017) being held May 22-25 in Houston, TX. Organized by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), NTI 2017 is one of the largest annual gatherings of critical-care nurses in the United States. "As a intensivist, I understand the important role nurses play in treating critically ill patients in need of urgent fluid resuscitation. Unfortunately, the methods we currently use to deliver fluids rapidly are often complex, slow, or imprecise, and limit our ability to treat shock quickly," said Mark Piehl, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer at 410 Medical. "We developed LifeFlow to help clinicians better treat shock and sepsis by delivering fluids rapidly and efficiently." LifeFlow is an easy-to-use device that allows health care providers to rapidly and efficiently deliver fluids to critically ill patients with conditions such as sepsis and shock. LifeFlow allows a user to deliver 500ml of fluid to a patient in less than two and a half minutes. Participants at NTI 2017 can meet 410 Medical staff and see demonstrations of the LifeFlow device in the exhibit hall at Booth #4803. The Company initiated a limited market release of LifeFlow in November 2016 through an early evaluation program, which yielded positive results and feedback. Based on the success of this program, 410 Medical is expanding LifeFlow's release to hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) organizations nationwide. About 410 Medical, Inc. Founded in 2013, 410 Medical is a medical device company dedicated to developing innovative products that enable frontline medical providers to improve care for critically ill patients. 410 Medical's first product, LifeFlow, is designed to enhance the speed and efficiency of fluid resuscitation, improving care for patients with life-threatening illnesses such as sepsis and shock. LifeFlow was cleared by the FDA for human use in 2016. For more information, visit www.410medical.com. SOURCE 410 Medical, Inc. Related Links http://www.410medical.com The $2.69 billion company has 20 manufacturing plants and 10 product engineering facilities around the world and employs approximately 15,500 people. Since 2013, Wheeler has served as senior vice president, president and general manager of North America, India, and Europe water heating, A. O. Smith's largest operating unit. "With his extensive experience, in-depth knowledge of our businesses, and passionate interest in customer satisfaction, Kevin Wheeler is the ideal person to take on this challenging new assignment," Rajendra said in making the announcement. "Under his leadership, our North American water heater business has achieved record sales and profitability. "Kevin also brings extensive international experience and has been instrumental in growing that part of our business, first as managing director of our European operations, then leading our China business, and subsequently, the entry into the Indian market." "I am confident he will continue to be a major contributor as A. O. Smith pursues its strategy of becoming a leading global water technology company." Wheeler brings 23 years of company experience to his new position. He joined A. O. Smith in 1994 as a regional sales manager for the former Water Products Company. In 1999, he was named managing director of A. O. Smith Water Products Company B.V., headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. In that role, he was responsible for the company's water heater business in Europe and the Middle East. Wheeler returned to the U.S. in 2004 to serve as vice president-international with responsibility for all European and Asian operations. During this time, the company expanded its business in China and began evaluation of the Indian residential water heater market. In 2007, he was named senior vice president and general manager of the U.S. retail business for the Water Products Company. In that position, he oversaw all aspects of the U.S. retail business including sales, marketing, manufacturing, product engineering, and customer service. Wheeler was named senior vice president and general manager of the North America, India, and Europe water heating business in 2011 and became president of that business in 2013. He has been active in a number of industry associations, most recently serving as an at-large director of the Air-conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Wheeler is a graduate of the University of Nevada-Reno and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. About A. O. Smith A. O. Smith Corporation, with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is a global leader applying innovative technology and energy-efficient solutions to products manufactured and marketed worldwide. The company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment and boilers, as well as a leading manufacturer of water treatment products. For more information, visit www.aosmith.com. SOURCE A. O. Smith Corporation Related Links http://www.aosmith.com "Henry and Clara are ideal tiny representatives of the types of unique vacation rentals we offer and we are proud to partner with Ford to showcase them on our Tiny House Road Trip this summer," said Petite Retreats' spokeswoman Pat Zamora. Uniquely packing a variety of features and amenities in just 181 and 252 square feet, these two tiny houses are sure to be a big hit on each stop of the tour. "Our Tiny House Road Trip provides people a glimpse of the memorable experience they'll enjoy when staying in a Petite Retreats rental," Zamora added. As part of the Thousand Trails network of more than 180 RV resorts and campgrounds nationwide, Petite Retreats offers Tiny Houses as one option among a variety of destination rentals, including yurts, cabins, cottages, tents and teepees. Two Tiny House Villages, one outside Portland, Ore. at Mt. Hood Village and the other near Sedona, Ariz. looking over Verde Valley are currently open and accepting reservations. Additional Tiny House Villages are set to open this summer in Leavenworth, Wash., outside of Seattle and at Tuxbury Pond, outside of Boston in South Hampton, N.H. Although Henry and Clara may be tiny, they exceed 9,000 and 11,000 pounds, respectively, and will be towed on the summer-long road trip by two 2017 Ford pickup trucks, an F-150 and an F-250 Super Duty. Circle M RV & Camping Resort is first up on the Petite Retreats Tiny House Road Trip to highlight the campground's new yurts, which are set to open to vacationers this summer. Other planned stops include Philadelphia and Boston before setting their tiny sights on other cities. About Petite Retreats Petite Retreats is presented by Encore RV resorts and Thousand Trails campgrounds, featuring more than 180 locations across North America. Encore, Thousand Trails and their affiliates offer RV and outdoor recreation enthusiasts opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in top vacation destinations, complemented with resort-style amenities and Petite Retreats unique accommodations of tiny houses, cabins, yurts, tents and teepees. For more information please visit www.PetiteRetreats.com About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 201,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company's core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its business model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities with investments in electrification, autonomy and mobility. Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com. Contacts Jennifer Ludovice [email protected] (312) 279-1702 Randy Berman [email protected] (312) 279-1732 SOURCE Thousand Trails Related Links http://www.PetiteRetreats.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The African commercial vehicles (CV) market, despite the slowdown due to low oil and commodity prices, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1%, largely driven by increasing infrastructural developments and rising urbanisation. South Africa is the largest contributor to the CV market in Africa, with 53% share. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04910520/African-Commercial-Vehicles-Market-Forecast-to.html However, until 2025, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco are expected to be the fastest-growing markets and the only ones to increase their share in the overall CV market. Apart from Nigeria, where the CV market is in turmoil, Kenya, Morocco, and Tanzania are expected to be the fastest-growing CV markets in Africa until 2025. The light-duty (LD) trucks segment is dominated by Japanese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Isuzu, Toyota, and Mitsubishi, making up 67.8% of the market. The medium- and heavy-duty (M&HD) trucks segment, on the other hand, is fragmented, with a more balanced split among key OEMs. In the bus segment, however, European participants are more prominent, with nearly 50% market share. Asian OEMs, especially those from China and India, are expected to further proliferate at a rapid pace and spearhead the supply of value trucks in the region. Latest technologies such as alternative powertrain and truck telematics penetration are negligible. Apart from a few compressed natural gas (CNG) buses in certain North African markets and the adoption of some basic telematics services in South Africa, there is no presence of these technologies in the region. New vehicles in Africa are predominantly imported as knocked-down kits and assembled in local facilities, whereas used vehicles are imported as fully built units. The African new trucks market was predominantly dominated by premium brands from North America and Europe. White spaces in the lower price range and market potential enticed Asian manufacturers into setting up shop in the region. Asian manufacturers have gained traction in recent years, due to optimum truck specifications that comply with regional demands. These brands are positioned as affordable and value-for-money alternatives to their premium counterparts. The imported used trucks market in the Sub-Saharan region is dominant across all truck segments, especially in countries such as Ghana and Nigeria. The North African region has very little used trucks imports in the LD trucks segment, due to strict regulations, whereas used trucks imports are prevalent in the M&HD trucks segment. Most of the imports from Europe (constituting European brands) are in the HD tractors segment. In the LD and MD trucks segments, however, used trucks imports mainly constitute Chinese and Japanese brands. In North Africa, there is growing emphasis on urban transport, along with government incentives to produce vehicles locally. This is expected to have the biggest impact on the CV market in the region. Top trends in the Sub-Saharan region include accelerated infrastructural development, rapid urbanization, and increasing proliferation of Asian OEMs. Major economies of Africa are expected to recover from the current slump once oil and commodity prices start climbing up, after which they are expected to be back on the path of accelerated growth. This research report includes following segments: Africa Heavy Duty Truck Segment Africa Medium Duty Truck Segment Africa Light Duty Truck Segment Value Trucks What makes our reports unique? - We provide the longest market segmentation chain in this industry. - We provide 10% customization. Our customization will ensure that you necessarily get the market intelligence you are looking for and we get a loyal customer. - We conduct detailed market positioning, product positioning, and competitive positioning. Entry strategies, gaps and opportunities are identified for all stakeholders. Key questions answered: - How is the economics environment impacting the sales and production of commercial vehicles? - How is the market structured and its business model? - Who are the key participants, the market leaders and their market share? - What are the current and future trends affecting the market? - How is the future growth potential and market opportunities in the market? Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04910520/African-Commercial-Vehicles-Market-Forecast-to.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com LINKOPING, Sweden and LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International medical imaging, IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) reports that all customers in the UK are again operational with Sectra's IT solutions. No customers outside the UK were affected by the recent ransomware attack. "I am proud to say that the close partnership we have with all our customers in combination with clear crisis management processes has made this an efficient, although tough journey. We have worked around the clock, also over the weekend, to get systems back up at record times. As a medical IT company with its roots in cybersecurity, we have a big advantage in situations like these," says Jane Rendall, Managing Director, Sectra Ltd. Over the weekend of May 12-14, several healthcare organizations in the UK were affected by a ransomware attack. The ransomware delivery campaign spread through a combination of a phishing attack and by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft windows operating systems. The ransomware had a major impact in the UK. Sectra is one of the four big imaging IT providers in this area, with more than 50 customers including some of the biggest UK trusts. In addition, more than 400 institutions across the UK are connected to Sectra's service for transferring images between healthcare providers, patients or medico-legal staff, Sectra Image Exchange Portal (IEP). Sectra was in contact with all customers on Friday May 12 and had, as many other vendors, several systems infected. Sectra's monitoring service provided an overview of the status of most systems and effort could be directed where it was needed the most. Sectra has since Friday, in close co-operation with the healthcare providers themselves, worked to ensure that its customers can begin to operate their systems again. Where needed, infected systems have been rebuilt. The Image Exchange Portal servers are patched with all available security updates at the time of release and were therefore not affected. Sectra will continue to work to support all customers to ensure the security of their systems, following this attack and going forward into the future. For further information, please contact: Dr. Torbjorn Kronander CEO and President, Sectra AB, +46-705-23-52-27 Mrs. Jane Rendall Managing Director, Sectra Ltd +44-1908-673-107 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/sectra/r/all-sectra-customers-live-following-recent-ransomware-attack,c2269160 The following files are available for download: http://news.cision.com/sectra/i/sectra-jane-rendall,c2146487 Sectra Jane Rendall SOURCE Sectra BLOOMINGTON, Ill., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans report they are worried about affording retirement, but over half say they aren't saving money to retire. The latest COUNTRY Financial Security Index revealed that two in three Americans (67 percent) report the country's current events are making them concerned about their financial future. Given this backdrop, it may not come as a surprise the survey also found almost a third (32 percent) of Americans worry they either will not be able to retire or will need to delay retirement in the future. Despite this fact, over half of those surveyed (51 percent) do not include retirement in their long-term financial goals. This finding is further supported by the Economic Policy Institute's (EPI) The State of American Retirement1 report, which finds "nearly half of families have no retirement savings accounts at all." The lack of retirement savings could in part be due to prioritizing short-term financial considerations. Americans report they are more concerned about affording unexpected expenses (44 percent), healthcare costs (41 percent) and taking desired vacations (36 percent) than they are about having adequate retirement savings (32 percent). "Many Americans are outliving their assets because they did not include retirement in their long-term financial goals," said Doyle Williams, an executive vice president at COUNTRY Financial. "We strongly encourage people to develop a long-term plan so they can eliminate the fear of never being able to retire. By taking some simple steps almost everyone can have a plan in place to secure their financial future." With advancements in healthcare, it is not uncommon for people to spend more years in retirement than previous generations. For planning purposes, a good rule of thumb is to assume living to about age 90 unless health or family history indicate otherwise. Moreover, the desired standard of living during retirement will influence how much money you will need. It is advised that you plan on at least 75 percent of your pre-retirement income to pay for living expenses during retirement. About The COUNTRY Financial Security Index Since 2007, the COUNTRY Financial Security Index has measured Americans' sentiments of their personal financial security. The Index also delves deeper into individual personal finance topics to better inform Americans about the issues impacting their finances. Survey data, videos and analysis are available at www.countryfinancial.com/newsroom and on Twitter at @helloCOUNTRY. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index was created by COUNTRY Financial. This survey was conducted by EMC Research, Inc., an independent research firm, commissioned by COUNTRY Financial. Surveys were conducted using a national online research panel designed to be representative of the general population and includes responses from 1,000 U.S. adults over the age of 18 for national surveys with additional interviews completed in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Oregon to bring the total in each of those states to 500 completed surveys. About COUNTRY Financial The COUNTRY Financial group (www.countryfinancial.com) serves about one million households and businesses throughout the United States. It offers a wide range of financial products and services from auto, home, business and life insurance to retirement planning services, investment management and annuities. 1 http://www.epi.org/publication/retirement-in-america/#charts SOURCE COUNTRY Financial Related Links http://www.countryfinancial.com RESTON, Va., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardent Management Consulting, Inc. (ArdentMC) announced today it has been awarded a twelve (12) month base period and one (1) twelve (12) month option period, Eagle II task order to provide ozone widget framework support services and widget development to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). ArdentMC will provide design, development and configuration support of widgets on CG1V. Scope of services to be provided include: project management, project documentation, requirements analysis, framework upgrade, widget design, widget development, widget integration and widget testing. About Ardent Management Consulting, Inc. ArdentMC is a leading small business, information technology (IT) consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. ArdentMC delivers solutions to federal and commercial clients by combining technical and program management expertise with an unparalleled level of commitment and quality. To achieve this objective, ArdentMC's core practice areas IT Solutions Development, Geospatial Information Systems, DevOps and Situational Awareness Tools are customized to deliver specialized capabilities to our clients. Additional information can be found at www.ardentmc.com. For More Information, Contact: ArdentMC Public Relations (703) 964-8010 | [email protected] Media Contact: Taylor Frazier [email protected] 5714466278 SOURCE Ardent Management Consulting, Inc. NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sebastian Kurz, Foreign Minister of Austria, will address the AJC Global Forum 2017, which will take place June 4-6, in Washington, D.C. The AJC Global Forum is the advocacy organization's signature annual event, bringing together more than 2,500 participants from across the United States and 70 countries around the world. "We are honored that Foreign Minister Kurz will join us in Washington to share his perspective on regional and global challenges," said AJC CEO David Harris, who met with the foreign minister in Vienna last month. "He is one of the most articulate, dynamic, and forward-looking diplomats in Europe today, and he is a good friend of Israel and the Jewish people." AJC engages regularly with Austrian diplomats across the U.S. and elsewhere, and the global Jewish advocacy organization meets with Austrian officials each year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Other world leaders confirmed to address the AJC Global Forum include Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Romania President Klaus Iohannis, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, via video from Jerusalem, in conversation with five AJC young leaders. AJC, founded in 1906 and with headquarters in New York, maintains 22 regional offices across the United States; 10 overseas posts, including 3 in Asia; and 34 international association agreements with Jewish communities. SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org MONTREAL, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Automat announced today a strategic relationship with National Bank of Canada to leverage Conversational Marketing and AI to support personalized one-on-one conversations with National Bank's existing and potential new customers, advancing the bank's client-focused digital transformation efforts. Initially, these customer conversations over Facebook Messenger will focus on helping clients determine scenarios when it would be beneficial to have a face-to-face meeting with staff members within branches for financial advice. This first Conversational Marketing chatbot will launch on Facebook Messenger in the coming months. Conversational Marketing sits at the intersection of two concurrent macro trends: the rise of messaging and artificial intelligence. The majority of mobile usage is now occurring inside of popular messaging applications like Facebook Messenger and companies are seeking the best way to meet their customers inside these apps. At the same time, advances in AI are opening the door for companies to have conversations with their customers at scale. These conversations have the power to build customer relationships, increase loyalty and ultimately deliver great consumer experiences. "We are fortunate to have such a vibrant AI community here in Montreal and Automat is doing pioneering work in this field," said Lionel Pimpin, SVP, Digital Channels at National Bank of Canada. "We believe that Conversational Marketing and AI will have a positive impact on our customers' experience over time and we chose to work with Automat since they are the leader in this new emerging category." "At Automat, we like to partner with fast moving, consumer-focused innovators and National Bank is just that. Their commitment to digital transformation on behalf of their customers is truly admirable," said Andy Mauro, CEO of Automat. "By starting to have AI-driven conversations with their customers, National Bank is not only providing new and engaging experiences for their customers but is also positioning themselves for long-term competitive advantage." As part of this strategic relationship, National Bank is supporting the development of Canadian French conversational language understanding capabilities within the Automat platform so that all the Bank's customers can have the best possible conversational experience regardless of their language preference. About Automat Automat is helping companies use AI to talk to their customers, understand them and serve them better. We're the first conversational marketing platform powered by artificial intelligence and we believe in a world where every company can have a personalized one-on-one conversation with every customer. www.automat.ai SOURCE Automat Technologies, Inc Related Links www.automat.ai HONG KONG, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Manifold has shipped Radian Studio, a massively parallel data engineering environment for DBMS and GIS that anyone can afford. Radian automatically runs on thousands of GPU cores plus all CPU cores to sprint through big jobs that crush non-parallel software. Radian does in seconds what can take hours without Radian. Radian analyzes and transforms big data like billions of LiDAR points for striking visualizations used in flood plain control and public works planning. The image shows a Radian computed surface pulled in a real time connection to a government server providing terabytes of data, computed, styled, hillshaded and analyzed on the fly with Radian and combined with Microsoft Bing road data. Radian users can explore, extract, visualize, blend, transform, load, data-mine and analyze both traditional data types in tables as well as spatial data types like drone images, vector geometry, multispectral rasters, location data, drawings and maps, and do that better with Radian than any GIS or DBMS alone can do. Pop open a 100 GB aerial image instantly, manipulate it with spatial SQL and then load it into your organization's Oracle spatial database with perfect spatial registration. Copy from Oracle and paste into PostgreSQL while transforming coordinate systems on the fly. Display your data within petabytes of supporting data from millions of web servers using any standard protocol. Work with huge vectors that crush non-parallel GIS. Radian automatically applies thousands of fully parallel capabilities, including automatic transformation of spatial infrastructure using thousands of coordinate systems within hundreds of spatial standards, all packaged within one of the most sophisticated and complete SQL engines ever created. Radian can connect to virtually every database server, web data source or file format known in DBMS or GIS. Radian is the GPU DBMS for everyone: No parallel skills are required. Write the standard SQL you already know and Radian on the fly parallelizes it for simultaneous parallel execution using all CPU cores and thousands of GPU cores. Using an optimal mix of manycore CPU parallelism plus massively parallel GPU, Radian's dynamic, just in time, parallel architecture optimizers create better parallelism on the fly than most programmers can hand code. Users who don't know SQL can point and click their way through easy dialogs to leverage parallel power in hundreds of data engineering and analytic tasks, and then transition to SQL using Radian's ability to write SQL for you. More advanced users can script using eleven different scripting languages for total programmability. Radian runs 64-bit on Windows desktop computers with no exotic, in-memory server farm required. Radian runs standalone as a fully parallel CPU/GPU DBMS for local work, or connected to multiple different database servers as a massively powerful, parallel client database engine, or both at the same time. Radian transforms data in place within existing database storage or within Radian's own ultra-fast storage. Standalone, Radian easily handles projects with hundreds of GB on a desktop. Connected to external DBMS servers or to the cloud, Radian reaches petabytes of data. Using inexpensive, desktop GPU cards Radian can execute tasks that choke a non-Radian system, even if the data stays resident on external database servers. At $395 for a fully-paid license delivered instantly online, Radian serves many markets in addition to IT users who mix enterprise DBMS and spatial data engineering. Radian's low price also serves individuals and smaller organizations in applications such as personal DBMS management, format conversion, connecting to thousands of different web-based information sources and much more. Radian Enhances DBMS and GIS Valuable data is all about location, and spatial data is big data that crushes traditional tools. Big data requires more spatial power than found in DBMS, and big data requires more DBMS power than found in GIS. Both DBMS and GIS lack parallel computational power required for big data and analytic insights. Radian combines the strengths of GIS and DBMS to accomplish what either DBMS or GIS alone cannot, and Radian adds the massively parallel processing muscle of GPU DBMS and manycore CPU. Radian enhances existing DBMS and GIS by delivering a blend of geospatial and traditional data capabilities in a single, highly integrated package that plays perfectly with database and spatial tools already deployed. DBMS people using Radian get unmatched spatial power, far stronger than any GIS, and they get that spatial power with the full DBMS sophistication they demand, seamlessly integrated into Radian's enterprise class DBMS engine and phenomenally complete Radian SQL. Radian's DBMS sophistication makes it easy for IT users to expand the value of their spatial data with no need to struggle with older spatial tools that play poorly with DBMS. Radian delivers so much power and convenience that DBMS people will use Radian for traditional data that has no spatial context. Radian's combination of massively parallel GPU and manycore parallel CPU makes work easier and delivers insights faster and better with all data types. At the same time, Radian serves GIS people by delivering breakthrough DBMS sophistication that is seamlessly spatially-aware, providing enterprise class data management, analytics and raw parallel power for big data that far exceeds anything found in GIS alone. For the first time, users of traditional GIS such as ESRI can apply truly world class, fully parallel, spatial SQL to their geodatabase holdings, all in place and with perfect compatibility with the rest of their GIS stack. About Manifold Manifold Software Limited has created advanced GIS and database packages for over 20 years, nine years ago introducing the world's first commercial GPGPU-enabled product and 15 years ago introducing the first desktop GIS with built-in, enterprise-quality, spatial SQL. Manifold has earned fame for elite algorithms, phenomenally complete infrastructure and bulletproof reliability. Serving industry, academia, science, government and military users in over 120 countries, Manifold competes by providing better quality, greater functionality and superior performance at a fraction of the cost of traditional software. Manifold is based in Hong Kong with development in Asia and Europe. Contact: Mike Fisher, [email protected] Website: www.manifold.net Manifold Software Limited Suite 1701, 17th Floor, FWD Financial Centre 308 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong Radian and Manifold are registered trademarks of Manifold Software Limited. Related Images image1.jpg image2.png image3.png image4.png Related Links Radian FAQ Radian Page SOURCE Manifold Software Limited Related Links http://www.manifold.net FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), America's largest automotive retailer, is celebrating a record-breaking 11 million vehicles sold. AutoNation is the first and only retailer in the history of the automotive industry to reach this milestone. To celebrate this momentous occasion, AutoNation will donate 4 Chrysler ProMaster Passenger vans to community partners who are on the front lines in the fight against cancer. Recognizing the impact that cancer has on its customers and associates, in 2013, AutoNation focused all charitable efforts to support cancer-related organizations. Today, AutoNation has committed and raised nearly $11 million to fight cancer in communities coast to coast. Recently the company was named one of the country's top 100 Corporate Citizens by Forbes Magazine and Just Capital due to its commitment to community well-being and its fight against cancer. The celebration begins in Tampa on May 19th with the donation of a Chrysler ProMaster Passenger Van to Moffitt Cancer Center. Moffitt is No. 6 on U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals for Cancer ranking and the only National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Florida. AutoNation will continue the celebration throughout the month with vehicle donations to the Nevada Children's Cancer Fund in Las Vegas, Brent's Place in Denver and the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery in South Florida. In addition to the charitable donations, AutoNation will also express its gratitude to those who made this momentous occasion possible, its customers. In 11 markets from coast to coast, the company will surprise 11 customers by ripping up their contracts and handing them the keys to their vehicles, payment free. AutoNation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Jackson said, "The extraordinary accomplishment of being the first automotive company to sell 11 million vehicles is an opportunity to show our appreciation to those who work hard every day in the fight against cancer and to our customers who have made this historic moment possible." About AutoNation, Inc. AutoNation, America's largest automotive retailer, through its bold leadership, innovation and its comprehensive brand extensions, is transforming the automotive industry. As of March 31, 2017, owned and operated 372 new vehicle franchises from coast to coast. AutoNation has sold over 10 million vehicles, the first automotive retailer to reach this milestone. AutoNation's success is driven by a commitment to delivering a peerless experience through customer-focused sales and service processes. Through its Drive Pink initiative, AutoNation is committed to drive out cancer, create awareness and support critical research. AutoNation continues to be a proud supporter of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and other cancer-related charities. Please visit investors.autonation.com, www.autonation.com, www.autonationdrive.com, www.twitter.com/autonation, www.twitter.com/CEOMikeJackson, www.facebook.com/autonation, and www.facebook.com/CEOMikeJackson, where AutoNation discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations. SOURCE AutoNation, Inc. Related Links http://www.autonation.com BALTIMORE, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After the un-doubted success of her Tomboi Swag campaign, garnering the female rapper more than 90,000 views on YouTube, Baltimore-based Rapper, Jaydee Polo, is back at it just in time for the summer with the release of: Walk Strong. More than just a song, Walk Strong is a support-based track that allows the underdog to shine. Regardless of race, creed, sexuality, or religion, Walk Strong is a track that everyone is going to relate to. Taking an expressive approach to this electrifying beat, Jaydee Polo is presenting a song fit for movement. After raving reviews from industry insiders, Jaydee Polo stated, "The purpose of the song is to motivate and uplift anyone going through hardships or trying times. The hook 'Through it All My Walk is Strong and I will Make it, I'm A Survivor ' speaks for itself. We want this song to be a staple at both walk for a cure events and awareness campaigns, as it is meant to motivate people around the world to never give up the fight for a better life." Artists featured in the new single include Jaydee Polo and Karis Lovechild. Shake Da Producer produced the electrifying summer single. Jaydee Polo cites her musical influences as Missy Elliot, Little Wayne, and The Brat. To date, she has opened up for local artists such as Peedie Crack, King Los and Lola Monroe since releasing her first mixtape in 2011. "We want the song and movement to be ongoing by traveling the world, allowing people to share their stories of triumph, while hoping to save the lives of people going through the similar situations. Music is therapy in all forms and this song is a remedy for troubled souls today. No matter what obstacles or setbacks that come your way, you have to 'Walk Strong' through them all," said Jaydee Polo. Jaydee Polo's message and music have been recognized several times, landing her recognitions including Best Female Hip Hop Artist at the Baltimore Music Award (2012), and nomination for the Best R&B Hip Hop Artist Act at the Maryland Music Awards in 2015, where she was the sole female in her category. Her new single, Walk Strong, can be presently found on Soundcloud, iTunes, and other major music distribution platforms. For more information, visit: http://www.jaydeepolo.com/. Contact: Johnson Toe / 443-610-0781 SOURCE Jaydee Polo Related Links http://www.jaydeepolo.com AMSTERDAM, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Catawiki, a premier auction site for special objects, today announced that strands of hair belonging to the Beatles sold for more than $10,000. The hair, which yielded four times its estimated value, attracted the attention of online bidders from all over the world. Strands of hair from all four bandmates were cut on March 25, 1964, during the filming of "A Hard Day's Night." The locks were swept up by John O'Gorman, head of the movie studio's makeup department, which he later gave to his friends as a wedding anniversary present. Custom framed locks of hair from the Beatles, circa 1964 John O'Gorman (head of the makeup department for "A Hard Day's Night") swept up the locks of hair. Later, he gave the memorabilia to his friends as an anniversary present. "Nowadays, collecting the hair of famous people is a booming industry," said Denny Hoekstra, Beatles expert at Catawiki. "In general, the hair of celebrities will only become more valuable over time, which makes these locks of hair a good investment." During the auction, the hair was offered up as four individual lots. "Paul McCartney's hair was the most sought after, selling for $2,996," said Hoekstra. "Each lot contained four to five strands, which means McCartney's hair sold for approximately $600 per strand." "George Harrison's and Ringo Starr's lots were both sold to a bidder from France for $2,901 and $2,885, respectively. The hair belonging to John Lennon yielded only $1,385, which surprised us." Over the years, fans have paid top dollar to own a piece of their favorite celebrity. Here are the Top 5 most expensive celebrity hair auctions, according to the experts at Catawiki: Elvis Presley , $115,000 Che Guevara , $119,500 (with fingerprints and photographs) John Lennon , $48,000 Justin Bieber , $40,668 Marilyn Monroe , $40,000 [Link to photography and logo] About Catawiki Catawiki is the world's fastest growing online auction website. Originally founded as a community for collectors in 2008, Catawiki has since become the number one website for buying and selling special objects. Since 2011, Catawiki has been hosting weekly auctions, now in over 80 different categories, including classic cars, art, jewelry, design, and watches. Every week, more than 35,000 objects are auctioned on Catawiki. All auctions are curated by real auctioneers, guaranteeing varied and high-quality listings. Catawiki's own payment system provides buyers with a simple and secure method of payment. www.catawiki.com Contact: Nora Murray SoundBite Communications Mobile: 419-250-0016 SOURCE Catawiki Related Links http://www.catawiki.com SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Benchling, the next-generation life science R&D software company, today announced that it has been named to Gartner's 2017 list of "Cool Vendors" in the category of R&D for Manufacturers. Gartner is a leading research and advisory firm that provides information technology insights to global IT executives. Each year, the organization identifies new Cool Vendors in Manufacturing that deliver innovative, cutting-edge solutions to the industry. This year's report recognized "'first of its kind' companies at the intersection of science, engineering, laboratories and product innovation." Since its founding in 2012, Benchling has become a leading innovator in the R&D technology space. The company provides an integrated cloud-based software platform that includes the complete suite of tools needed to support biologics R&D, from early discovery to late stage process development. Benchling is used by over 60,000 scientists, representing over 1,000 academic institutions and 150 companies. "We believe Benchling's inclusion in Gartner's Cool Vendors report recognizes the product as the emerging standard for biological research software," said Sajith Wickramasekara, Founder and CEO at Benchling. "With biologics R&D always trending towards greater complexity and disparate workflows, a true platform that can unify data sources and give organizations a meaningful way to interact with all their data is more necessary than ever." The Benchling platform is a central, unifying hub for biologics organizations that comprises a Data Layer and an Application Layer. The Benchling Data Layer is an underlying warehouse that integrates into and unifies existing software systems and instrumentation. The Benchling Application Layer empowers users to interact with this data, and comprises Benchling's integrated lab notebook, molecular biology, bioregistry and sample tracking, and workflow and results management modules. The two layers of the Benchling platform give R&D organizations a real-time, comprehensive view of pipeline progress that accumulates all the data they produce and automatically associates it with relevant candidates and process runs. Managers can compare across candidates and process runs to identify the most successful ones, and mine trends across processes to optimize workflows. Additionally, since every aspect of the software is end-user configurable, Benchling is the first informatics software flexible enough to accommodate multiple biologics workflows and swift iteration. Gartner, Cool Vendors in R&D for Manufacturers, 2017, 11 May 2017 About Benchling Benchling accelerates life science R&D by providing an intelligent, cloud-based software platform that streamlines research processes from start to finish. The technology accomplishes this through natively integrated lab notebook, LIMS, and molecular biology tools that consolidate data in one place and facilitate team and external collaboration. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Benchling is used by scientists in industry and academia around the globe. For more information about Benchling, please visit http://www.benchling.com. Required Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. SOURCE Benchling Related Links http://www.benchling.com After Bill France Jr. passed away in 2007, Betty Jane lived in the home until her passing in August of 2016. She was well known for her charitable and philanthropic endeavors, which included founding the NASCAR Foundation in 2006, a non-profit organization focused on helping children in need across the United States. Although never previously offered for sale, the residence was appraised for $13.8 million in 2013. While this appraisal figure only represented the value of the home itself, potential buyers will be pleased to know that the sale of the property will include all of its current furnishings. "The prospect of having to furnish a house like this one from scratch would be daunting, not to mention pricey. It's a task that could easily have a seven figure price tag," noted Trayor Lesnock, Platinum's founder and president. Entering the sales market using an auction is certainly not a common occurrence in the world of luxury real estate sales, although the France family preferred this method instead of the traditional brokerage process. "While we may be biased, it's been our experience that sellers of unique and high-priced homes who elect to circumvent the traditional brokerage process in order to offer their properties at luxury auction have proven to be the smart ones," added Lesnock. "Such sellers are generally very market savvy, and understand that the long, painful brokerage process of continued price reductions over time creates a huge amount of wasted money and lost opportunity costs." The property is certainly unique, occupying 3.8 manicured acres with 325 feet of water frontage on the Halifax River. There is also a 150-foot boat dock able to accommodate multiple vessels, in addition to a custom pool, outdoor kitchen/bar, and various loggias and terraces offering beautiful water views. The estate's main residence offers more than 17,000 square feet, while a separate guesthouse adds another 1,700 square feet of living space. In total, there are 5 bedrooms, 7 full and 6 half baths. Though the home is appointed with the finest finishes, it blends elegance with comfort to create a living environment that does not feel stuffy or overstated. The relatively modest bed and bath count compared to the size of the property allows for rooms to be very large and spacious, with a sprawling master suite and three other guests suites - each with an en-suite bath - being located on the more private, upper level of the main residence. Other property features include a grand "River Room" perfect for entertaining, a commercial-grade elevator, dual spiral staircases, a "hidden" wine cellar and tasting room, a private hair salon, gourmet kitchen, fitness center, built-in home audio system, and a fleet of 24/7 surveillance cameras. The property is available for previews by interested buyers between the hours of 12 and 4pm (EDT) daily, until the auction. Visitors are encouraged to schedule their viewing appointment in advance. Additional information is available at RiverfrontLuxuryAuction.com, or by contacting a Platinum representative at 800.676.9581. About Platinum Luxury Auctions Platinum Luxury Auctions is responsible for developing the luxury auction model for high-priced real estate auctions. The firm specializes in the non-distressed sale of multimillion-dollar properties within and beyond the United States. Platinum's team has closed more than $674 million in luxury real estate auction sales to date, while consulting on more than $2 billion in additional luxury properties worldwide. SOURCE Platinum Luxury Auctions LLC Related Links http://www.platinumluxuryauctions.com This three-day event is the celebration of a four-year, $5 million research initiative by the Hope and Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations initiative to uncover the unique and surprising ways that hope and optimism affects individuals, communities, scientific progress, and artistic expression. Organized through a media partnership with Big Think. Each night of the festival will feature a performance of the initiative's $10,000 prize-winning play, "I Carry Your Heart" by Georgette Kelly at 7:30pm (doors open at 6). On Friday May 19th, the festival begins at 3pm, with the day's keynote speaker, Tali Sharot (author of The Optimism Bias) giving a FREE talk at 4:45pm. After the evening's performance of "I Carry Your Heart," at 7:30 PM (doors open at 6) festival goers can enjoy live band performances at the opening night party. On Saturday May 20th, the talks begin at 11am, with a special food truck-catered lunch available from 12:15 to 1:45pm. Saturday's FREE keynote talk will be given by noted philosopher and activist Cornel West at 5pm (tickets required), and following that night's play performance at 7:30pm, guests can once again rock out to live bands at the after party. The final day of the festival, Sunday May 21st, begins with a staged reading of the playwriting contest's third place play, "How To Conquer The World: A Brief History Of Yogurt" by David Myers. Following another delicious food truck lunch, catch a staged reading of the second place play, "The Body" by Steve Moulds, more fascinating talks, and a 7:30 pm performance of "I Carry Your Heart." Dance the night away with another night of live music at the final after party. Other keynote speakers include the neuroscientist David Eagleman (of PBS's THE BRAIN,) author and MacArthur Genius Yiyun Li (The Vagrants,) and Actress and Creator of The Prison Project Sabra Williams. And don't forget about conversations about hope in film, music, and more! Tickets are FREE for all talks, and tickets to "I Carry Your Heart" performances are $15 for students and seniors via presale or $20 for all at the door. Seating is limited, so it is highly encouraged to reserve your attendance for talks or performances at bootlegtheater.org/theater. For descriptions of each talk, head to bigthink.com/hopefestival. More information on the Hope and Optimism initiative can be found here. Contact: Matt Carlstrom, [email protected] SOURCE Big Think LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocom, the association representing the California life science community, this month celebrates the one-year anniversary of the opening of its Los Angeles office. With its full-time staff of five located in downtown L.A., membership has tripled and engagement with key stakeholders has brought sharp focus to the 590 life science companies in the county. "Interest in the Los Angeles life science community exceeds our expectations and I am proud of the work that Executive Director Dina Lozofsky and her team have undertaken," said Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom. "In fewer than 365 days, they have harnessed the collective power and experience of members and key stakeholders, engaged in a listening tour, fostered thoughtful relationships with local, state, and federal elected officials, held networking events, represented Los Angeles industry at high impact events, such as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and BIO's International convention, and created valuable partnerships with organizations critical to the local life science industry." Over the course of the last year, Biocom's Los Angeles office has achieved significant milestones, especially with regard to raising awareness of the economic impact of the life science industry in Los Angeles. In a recent 2017 Economic Impact study, Biocom reported that Los Angeles County is home to more than 2,400 individual establishments across the life science industry, including 103 biopharmaceutical companies, 51 biorenewables companies, and 436 medical device and diagnostics companies. The industry employs nearly 70,000, and the county received over $890 million in NIH funding, the most of any county in California. "We would not be where we are today without the partners that have helped us launch our efforts," said Ms. Lozofsky. "I am grateful for the support and engagement by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Mayor Garcetti's office, the L.A. City Workforce Development Board, L.A. Bioscience Hub, Nixon Peabody, Cal State Los Angeles, and the L.A. Venture Association." "As we've traveled the county, we've come to know and work with other incredible organizations, such as LARTA Institute, Biotech Connection L.A., Medtech Innovator, Lab Launch, and the Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative Incubator," Ms. Lozofsky continued. "The support of the regional economic development groups and several of the tech transfer offices is also broad and widespread. It gives us incredible drive and humbles us to work with so many passionate people dedicated to this industry. There is great collaboration among these constituencies, who share in the quest to improve the human condition." One of the challenges for the Los Angeles region is the geographic distribution, with no single life science cluster or hub. Instead, there are many smaller centers, each with unique advantages and opportunities. Biocom will continue to apply its expertise in addressing the needs of life science companies to build additional programs, resources and services to meet the needs of its Los Angeles members. For more information about Biocom's Los Angeles office, please visit us at www.biocomla.org. About Biocom Biocom is the largest, most experienced leader and advocate for California's life science sector. We work on behalf of more than 900 members to drive public policy, build an enviable network of industry leaders, create access to capital, introduce cutting-edge STEM education programs, and create robust value-driven purchasing programs. Founded in 1995 in San Diego, Biocom provides the strongest public voice to research institutions and companies that fuel the local and state-wide economy. Our goal is simple: to help our members produce novel solutions that improve the human condition. In addition to its San Diego headquarters, Biocom operates a core office serving the Los Angeles market, satellite offices in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, and has a continuous staff presence in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. Our broad membership benefits apply to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, genomics and diagnostics companies of all sizes, as well as to research universities and institutes, clinical research organizations, investors and service providers. For more information on Biocom, please visit our website at www.biocom.org. Connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (@BIOCOMCA). SOURCE Biocom Related Links http://www.biocom.org To celebrate its bicentennial, BMO invites everyone to go to www.bmo200.com to make wishes for a better tomorrow, a number of which will be fulfilled over the course of the year to continue the bank's legacy of giving back to the communities in which it does business. MILWAUKEE, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - BMO Harris Bank today announced that it is donating over $4 million to neighborhood programs throughout Wisconsin in 2017 to mark BMO's 200th year in business, including over $2.8 million in the Milwaukee area. Almost 200 community organizations in the Milwaukee area have or will receive donations from BMO Harris Bank in 2017, including: The United Way of Greater Milwaukee , which supports programming to increase healthy birth outcomes and reduce the city's high infant mortality rate , which supports programming to increase healthy birth outcomes and reduce the city's high infant mortality rate United Performing Arts Fund, which includes support for arts education outreach Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee , which provides programming support to help ensure that students graduate high school and have the proper study skills, attendance and mentorship to attend and succeed in college Furthermore, to celebrate its bicentennial, BMO invites people to go to www.bmo200.com to make wishes for a better tomorrow. BMO will be fulfilling a number of the wishes, both big and small, across categories that include Green, Togetherness, Legacy and Community. To see one story on how BMO is helping a local small business, click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr_Yh5nDqYQ "Milwaukee is such an important market for us, and we're very pleased to mark our bicentennial with the wishes we are granting and the donations we are announcing," said David Casper, President and CEO, BMO Harris Bank. "The bank's history in Milwaukee dates back 170 years, to the founding of M&I Bank in 1847. We have always been committed to giving back to the communities in which they serve, and we are proud to carry on that tradition." BMO Harris Bank also supports the community through: Sponsorship of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and BMO's role as the Official Bank of the Milwaukee Bucks The long-term partnership with Summerfest for the BMO Harris Pavilion Plans for a new branch in the Sherman Park community, with construction to be completed in the Fall of 2017. Ground-breaking for the new branch is taking place at 4:30 pm today, May 18 th today, Plans for the building of a new 25 story office tower in downtown Milwaukee the BMO Harris Financial Center with construction to begin later this year BMO's History in Milwaukee In 1847, Samuel Marshall established Samuel Marshall Exchange Brokers on Water Street in Milwaukee. Joined by Charles Ilsley two years later, Marshall & Ilsley Bank served customers and its communities until 2011 when BMO Financial Group acquired M&I and brought it together with Harris Bank to become BMO Harris Bank continuing a proud tradition of customer service and community commitment. About BMO Harris Bank BMO Harris Bank provides a broad range of personal banking products and solutions through nearly 600 branches and almost 1,400 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. BMO Harris Bank's commercial banking team provides a combination of sector expertise, local market knowledge and mid-market focus throughout the U.S. For more information about BMO Harris Bank, go to the company fact sheet. Banking products and services are subject to bank and credit approval. BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. BMO Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group, a North American financial organization with approximately 1,500 branches, and CDN $692 billion in assets (as of January 31, 2017). SOURCE BMO Harris Bank CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedical, Inc., an industry leader in the development of next-generation cancer therapeutics designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways, today announced it will feature 11 clinical data poster presentations on investigational compounds evaluating napabucasin and amcasertib in nine different tumor types at the upcoming 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held from June 2-6, in Chicago. Clinical data results from phase 1 and 2 studies assessing napabucasin the company's most advanced orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways by targeting STAT3 showed encouraging anti-cancer activity in multiple tumor types, including updated data for advanced ovarian and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancers. For the first time, data in advanced melanoma will be presented. Further, the company will present updated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and pancreatic cancer data, which support the ongoing napabucasin, phase 3 clinical trials: CanStem303C (mCRC) and CanStem111P (metastatic pancreatic cancer). In addition, results of a phase 1b/2 study investigating either napabucasin or amcasertib in combination with sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma will be presented. Amcasertib is an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways, including Nanog, by targeting stemness kinases, which is currently being investigated in phase 1 and 2 clinical studies. "We are excited to share new clinical data results for our investigational first-in-class cancer stemness pathway inhibitors napabucasin and amcasertib at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting," said Patricia S. Andrews, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Biomedical, Inc. "These data highlight the depth and potential of our growing clinical development pipeline and reinforce our continued commitment to advancing novel treatment options for cancers with a high unmet need." Planned poster sessions include: Abstract Details Lead Author Poster Session Saturday, June 3 from 8:00 AM 11:30 AM CDT; Hall A Abstract #9052, Poster #378: A Phase 1b/2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Advanced, Previously Treated Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Carlos Becerra, M.D.; U.S. Oncology Research, TOPS Phase I Program Lung Cancer Non-Small Cell Metastatic Abstract #TPS3619, Poster #241b: CanStem303: A Phase III Study of Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), Leucovorin, Irinotecan (FOLFIRI) in Adult Patients with Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) Axel Grothey, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Gastrointestinal (Colorectal) Cancer Abstract #3529, Poster #152: BBI608-246: A Phase 1b/II Study of Cancer Stemness Inhibitor Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with FOLFIRI +/- Bevacizumab (bev) in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) Patients (pts) Johanna C. Bendell, M.D.; Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Tennessee Oncology, PLLC Gastrointestinal (Colorectal) Cancer Abstract #4106, Poster #98: A Phase Ib/II Study of Cancer Stemness Inhibitor Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with Gemcitabine (gem) and Nab-Paclitaxel (nabPTX) in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) Patients (pts) Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Abstract #4077, Poster #69: BBI608-503-103HCC: A Phase Ib/II Clinical Study of Napabucasin (BBI608) in Combination with Sorafenib or Amcasertib (BBI503) in Combination with Sorafenib(Sor) in Adult Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Bassel F. El-Rayes, M.D.; Winship Cancer Institute Gynecologic Cancer Abstract #TPS4148, Poster #131b: CanStem111P trial: A Phase III Study of Napabucasin (BBI-608) plus Nab-Paclitaxel (nab-PTX) with Gemcitabine (gem) in Adult Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer Saturday, June 3 from 1:15 PM 4:45 PM CDT; Hall A Abstract #5548, Poster #370: A Phase 1b/2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Advanced, Previously Treated Platinum Resistant Ovarian Cancer Carlos Becerra, M.D.; U.S. Oncology Research, TOPS Phase I Program Gynecologic Cancer Abstract #9553, Poster #161: A Phase 1b Study of Napabucasin plus Weekly Paclitaxel in Patients with Advanced Melanoma William Jeffery Edenfield, M.D.; Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Melanoma/Skin Cancers Sunday, June 4 from 8:00 AM 11:30 AM CDT; Hall A Abstract #1084, Poster #76: A Phase 2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Previously Treated Metastatic Breast Cancer William Jeffery Edenfield, M.D.; Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Metastatic Monday, June 5 from 1:15 PM 4:45 PM CDT; Hall A Abstract #6032, Poster #20: A Phase 1b/2 Study of Amcasertib, a First-in-Class Cancer Stemness Kinase Inhibitor in Advanced Head & Neck Cancer Gregory Michael Cote, Ph.D., M.D.; Massachusetts General Hospital Head and Neck Cancer Abstract #6036, Poster #24: A phase 1b/2 study of Amcasertib, a First-in-Class Cancer Stemness Kinase Inhibitor, in Advanced Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Gregory Michael Cote; Ph.D., M.D.; Massachusetts General Hospital Head and Neck Cancer About Napabucasin Napabucasin is an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways by targeting STAT3.i Napabucasin is currently being investigated in multiple phase 3 studies, including advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) (NCT02178956), colorectal (NCT02753127), and pancreatic cancer (NCT02993731). It is also being investigated in earlier phases in multiple solid and hematologic malignancies, including tumors of the liver, pancreas and brain. In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Orphan Drug Designation for napabucasin in gastric/GEJ and pancreatic cancer. About Amcasertib Amcasertib is an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways, including Nanog, by targeting stemness kinases. Boston Biomedical is currently investigating amcasertib in nine phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in solid tumors, hepatobiliary cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, urological malignancies, ovarian cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. About Boston Biomedical Boston Biomedical was founded in November 2006 and is wholly owned by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. Boston Biomedical's mission is to develop the next generation of cancer therapeutics by creating drugs designed to target cancer stemness pathways. Boston Biomedical's innovation in drug discovery has received a number of recognitions and awards in the United States, including the Frost & Sullivan 2010 North American Drug Discovery Technology Innovation of the Year Award, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer stem cell initiative grant award in 2010, and the 2011 Biotech Pioneer Award at the Alexandria Oncology Summit. The company also received the "Company To Watch" award in the 10th Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards in 2013. Boston Biomedical is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Additional information about the company and its product pipeline can be found at www.BostonBiomedical.com. Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of information presently available, and involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Any forward looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice. For general inquiries: Boston Biomedical 617-674-6800 For media inquiries: Sara Baker CHAMBERLAIN PR 212- 849-9474 [email protected] i Li Y, Rogoff HA et al. PNAS. 112(6):1839-44, 2015. SOURCE Boston Biomedical, Inc. Related Links http://www.bostonbiomedical.com (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 75 market data Tables and 65 Figures spread through 199 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Brake Systems Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-brake-system-market-1070.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The market is driven by factors such as stringent government regulations that are reducing stopping distance and regulations encouraging vehicles to use braking technologies in order to receive five star ratings from New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). "Disc brakes to be the largest segment in the Brake System Market" The automotive industry has witnessed rapid evolution over the past decade in terms of technology, and the major credit goes to the safety regulations imposed by the governments, especially for braking distance. The stopping distance mandate in North America and Europe has led to an increasing market penetration of disc brakes over drum brakes. In case of commercial vehicles, which require heavy braking applications, disc brakes provide significant reduction in stopping distance as compared to drum brakes. The passenger cars segment is estimated to be the largest market for disc brakes. An increase in the production of passenger cars will drive the demand for the disc brake market. As per the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), the global production of passenger cars increased from 58.2 million units in 2010 to 72.1 million units in 2016. This trend is projected to continue during the forecast period, with the market presence of disc brakes expected to strengthen further. Alternatively, the market for drum brakes will continue to grow at a steady pace, given the predominant use of drum brakes in heavy commercial vehicles as well as economic passenger cars in cost sensitive automotive markets of China, Brazil, India, and Russia. Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1070 "Traction Control System to be the fastest growing segment in the brake system, by electronic brake technology market" The Traction Control System (TCS) technology is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of this technology can be attributed to the mandatory requirement for Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems in almost all passenger cars in the U.S. and European Union. Vehicles with ESC must have Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and TCS. All three electronic braking technologies use the same wheel sensors and offer enhanced braking performance. In order to support the growth of braking technologies, the governments are introducing various regulations to make these technologies mandatory in passenger cars in the coming years. Download PDF Brochure: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=1070 "Asia-Oceania to be the largest market for off-highway brake systems" Asia-Oceania is estimated to dominate the off-highway Brake System Market and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Asia-Oceania's off-highway Brake System Market is led by the agricultural tractor segment. The region has emerged as a hub for agricultural tractor sales due to high farming requirements. The rising adoption of mechanized farming practices has improved farm productivity, which in turn has increased the demand for agricultural tractors. The Brake System Market is dominated by a few global players and comprises several regional players. Some of the key manufacturers operating in the market are Continental AG (Germany), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Germany), Wabco Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), and Knorr-Bremse AG (Germany). Browse related reports: Brake Friction Product Market (Brake Pad, Shoe, Liner, Disc, and Drum), Aftermarket (Pad, Shoe, and Liner), Market Type (OES and IAM), Vehicle Type (PC, LCV, and HCV), Two-Wheeler OE Market by Friction Products, and by Region - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-brake-friction-product-market-35416213.html ADAS Market by Type (ACC, HUD, TPMS, LDWS, Blind Spot Detection, Adaptive Front Lights, Electronic Brake Assist, Park Assist, Night Vision, Pedestrian Detection, Road Sign Recognition, Drowsiness Monitor), Sensor Technology (Ultrasonic, Image, RADAR, LIDAR, Infrared), Vehicle Type, & by Region - Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/driver-assistance-systems-market-1201.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street, Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit our Blog: http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/automotive-and-transportation Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets HOUSTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Burton Construction, a forerunner in Houston's commercial construction industry and the firm behind Houston landmarks like CityCentre, Spring Valley Medical Plaza and Levy Park, has partnered with The Women's Home to create a new 30,000 square foot multi-purpose facility. The facility lies within the Spring Branch campus of The Women's Home's at 1839 Jacquelyn Road and will serve their tenants and surrounding community. When completed, the facility will open as the Mabee WholeLife Service Center. The interior will include multiple meeting rooms and classrooms for programs such as workforce development guidance provided by Memorial Assistance Ministries. It will also include a computer laboratory, an 1,800 square foot fine arts room and several multi-purpose rooms that will house community programs such as after school services provided by the YMCA of Greater Houston. Additionally, the Spring Branch Community Health Center will operate a 6,000 square foot clinic onsite. "The scope of this whole project is truly a community endeavor and was determined by a needs assessment we conducted in 2013," said Mike Shirl, Chief Operating Officer for The Women's Home. "The demand for these types of facilities is so much higher than what's available today." The new building's facade will mirror two adjacent apartment complexes operated by The Women's Home. Decorative white trusses will arch over the roofline, while brick-clad walls provide a stately, elegant exterior. In addition to interior spaces, Burton Construction is creating a 14,000 square foot greenspace that encompasses an outdoor classroom certified by the Nature Explore Program. The outdoor space will be utilized by DePelchin Children's Center as space for behavioral health services. "We were attracted to Burton Construction because of their honesty, integrity and transparency," said Shirl. "We're very neighborhood oriented and we needed a construction company that had proven itself to be honorable and trustworthy with both its subcontractors and the community at large." Dedication ceremonies for the MabeeWholeLife Service Center will take place on October 26, 2017. In keeping with Burton Construction's long-held commitment to the environment, The Mabee WholeLife Center is expected to be LEED Silver certified. "While this center will play an important role in serving the needs of the community, it's also a place where people will feel comfortable and welcomed," said Juan Ospina, Vice President of Burton Construction. "We are honored to be a part of this project." About Burton Construction Headquartered in Houston, Burton Construction is a commercial construction company with a dynamic approach to customized, high-end construction and high-end interiors. Founded in 2004, Burton Construction's all-encompassing services include: design build, design assist and competitive bids. With attention to details, Burton blends industry-specific elements into each building and brings a world of experience to the craft of commercial construction. Visit Burton's new website! www.burtonconstruction.com About The Women's Home For 60 years, The Women's Home has provided housing and individually tailored support services to help prevent and end homelessness in the Houston area. The programs specifically target women and families who are homeless or vulnerable to homelessness - many have histories of addiction, mental illness, or both. Through a long-term residential treatment program in Montrose, affordable housing programs in Spring Branch, and the upcoming Mabee WholeLife Service Center, The Women's Home clients cultivate the skills and self-esteem necessary to overcome life-long cycles of homelessness and move forward to live a healthy, productive life. Visit www.thewomenshome.org or contact Debra Richmond at 713.328.1950 for more information. SOURCE Burton Construction Related Links http://burtonconstruction.com/ BOSTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Celtra, the creative management platform for digital advertising, today announced support for the creation of AMP Ads in their AdCreator platform. Launched by the open-source AMP Project, AMP Ads are a new standard for making ads faster, lighter and more secure. Celtra's support for AMP Ads will be demoed by the AMP Project at Google I/O, revealing how easy it is to build these ads and how fast they load. The presentation, which takes place Thursday, May 18 at 8:30 a.m PDT., will showcase how Celtra's industry-leading creative management platform supports AMP Ad creation, emphasizing the transformative power of this new product. "Mobile advertising campaigns today are often hampered by broken, non-viewable ads with a poor UX experience," said Aleksander Kmetec, VP of Engineering, Celtra. "The need for better UX and fast-loading ads are not only the future of digital advertising, but a necessity for developing markets that are more sensitive to data. We are proud to join the AMP project and believe that AMP helps pave the way for better creative, a significantly improved customer experience and higher mobile ad engagement rates." With Celtra's large publisher partnership base, adding support for AMP Ads will allow designers to consistently create beautiful, fast-loading ads in the platform they're already using with an easy to use drag-and-drop interface. The AMP Ad solution is available to selected Celtra clients. "Celtra's solution allows advertisers and publishers to embrace improving the quality of mobile ads through the AMP Project," said Vamsee Jasti, Product Manager at Google. "We launched the AMP Ads initiative to help fix advertising on the web, making ads faster, safer and help users have a great experience with content and ads. Celtra's creative management platform supports this initiative with a first-rate solution to build ads that achieve and align with the goals of the AMP project." Unilever has partnered with Celtra to demonstrate how AXE and Magnum ads can appear as a part of the AMP Ads session at I/O. "Global brands need to reach customers in multiple markets, where the cost of data and slow network speed make it difficult to meaningfully engage with viewers," said Luis DiComo, EVP Global Media at Unilever. "We're excited to partner with Celtra to showcase the power of AMP Ads to deliver a better user experience that supports higher customer engagement and stronger ROI." About Celtra Celtra is the Creative Management Platform for digital advertising. Brand and performance advertisers use our fully self-service platform to create, distribute and optimize the highest quality, data-driven ads at scale, across all channels and screens with great efficiency and control. We power the best video, native and rich media ads for 2/3 of Fortune 500 brands. Celtra is headquartered in Boston (MA), with offices in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Ljubljana and Sydney. For more information, visit Celtra at www.celtra.com or @CeltraMobile on Twitter. PR Contact: Michael Gallo Lumina PR For Celtra 212-239-8594 [email protected] SOURCE Celtra Related Links http://www.celtra.com AUSTIN, Texas, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the sixteenth-largest district in the country, has selected TIPWeb-IT and TIPWeb-IM for asset and instructional material management. This comprehensive district-wide solution will be implemented across the K-12 school system's 170 schools to benefit their 145,000 students. Focused on ensuring a successful district-wide adoption of their inventory management system, CMS implemented a pilot program across several of the district's campuses. After realizing that program wouldn't be able to support their full inventory management needs, the district enlisted Hayes for help. CMS selected TIPWeb-IT and TIPWeb-IM, both tailored specifically to the needs of K-12 districts, because they will allow the district to accurately and efficiently track the location and status of all their inventory, including a recent deployment of 140,000 Chromebooks. The project's implementation includes Hayes performing a full physical inventory, making sure their assets are tagged and they are starting with solid baseline data. Additionally, they will be utilizing RFID across their 170 schools, making this one of the largest RFID projects in all K-12. "We're incredibly excited about the opportunity to partner with Char-Meck and their great team," said Matt Winebright, CEO and President of Hayes Software Systems. "What I love about this project is that we're helping the district manage the largest school-focused Chromebook deployment in the United States and the second largest in the world. The Hayes team loves a challenge, and this is right up our alley." The inventory management implementation includes strategic integrations with ERP system Lawson, the district's purchasing and fixed asset system. This integration will allow the district to ensure inventory has been received properly in TIPWeb while also eliminating time-consuming duplicate data entry processes. For those fixed assets managed in TIPWeb-IT, changes to building location or life-cycle status will automatically update the corresponding Lawson fixed asset system records, also saving time and effort. Other components of their project include the addition of Hayes' consulting services in creating policies and procedures designed to support the adoption of TIPWeb throughout the district. About Hayes Software Systems By offering SaaS software and services tailor-made for the unique needs of education professionals for over 26 years, Hayes has helped over 7,100 schools across 33 states (including 32 of the top 100 districts in the country) implement inventory control solutions. Hayes is a privately held company specializing in inventory automation solutions and consulting services to support K-12 instructional technology and instructional material accountability. While primarily servicing K-12 school systems, Hayes also has customers in higher education, state agencies, and government entities. For more information, visit www.hayessoft.com. Contact Sara Arthrell, Hayes Software Director of Marketing, [email protected] SOURCE Hayes Software Systems Related Links http://www.hayessoft.com HONG KONG, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2017: The Group's Gross Merchandise Value ("GMV") was RMB6,133.0 million , an increase of 57.8% year-on-year ("YoY") , an increase of 57.8% year-on-year ("YoY") Online transaction customers 1 as at March 31, 2017 reached 23,056, up 98.9% YoY as at reached 23,056, up 98.9% YoY Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company was approximately RMB120.4 million , up 41.5% YoY , up 41.5% YoY Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders2 of the Company was approximately RMB133.9 million , up 33.6% YoY , up 33.6% YoY INGDAN.com platform registered more than 24,100 Internet of Things ("IoT") project entries Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company", stock code: 400.HK; with its subsidiaries (the ''Group'')), the largest e-commerce platform serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China, is pleased to announce its unaudited operational summary for the three months ended March 31, 2017 (the "Period"). The Company saw healthy growth across its three major business lines during the Period. Total GMV of the Company's operations grew to RMB6,133.0 million, a YoY increase of 57.8%; with 52.5% from direct sales, 27.2% from online marketplace platforms, and 20.3% from IngFin Financing Services. As at March 31, 2017, the amount of outstanding loan balance for IngFin Financing Services was RMB1,864.1 million. In total, 49.7% of GMV came from blue chip customers, while 50.3% came from small and medium enterprise ("SME") customers. INGDAN.com, the largest Internet of Things (''IoT'') innovation business platform for intelligent hardware in China, built an ecosystem for smart hardware developers that enables the Group to continuously attract new customers, contributing to the strong results during the Period. As at March 31, 2017, INGDAN.com registered more than 24,100 IoT project entries and tens of millions of followers. Notably, INGDAN.com has been successful in the monetization of its platform. GMV contributed by INGDAN.com was RMB1,112.1 million, 18.1% of the total GMV in the first quarter of 2017. During the Period, increasing numbers of new customers, mainly from SMEs, and the expansion of new business areas, such as smart homes and smart cars, contributed to Cogobuy's strong results. As at March 31, 2017, the number of online transaction customers1 reached 23,056, an increase of 98.9% from 11,590 as at March 31, 2016. As at March 31, 2017, the number of registered customers reached approximately 111,000, compared to approximately 59,000 as at March 31, 2016. Cogobuy also recorded a total revenue of RMB3,267.5 million during the Period, a YoY increase of 34.7%. Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company grew significantly, to approximately RMB120.4 million, a YoY increase of 41.5%. Gross margin was 8.2%. Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders2 of the Company was approximately RMB133.9 million, representing an increase of 33.6% YoY. Non-GAAP operating expenses3 were RMB93.5 million. Non-GAAP operating margin4 was 5.4%. The effective tax rate of the Group was 14.1% and its non-GAAP effective tax rate5 was 13.3%. During the Period, the Group generated positive non-GAAP operating cash flow6 of approximately RMB22.6 million. Cash and cash equivalents and pledged deposits amounted to RMB3,122.4 million as at March 31, 2017. Inventory turnover days7 and trade receivables turnover days8 were 43.7 days and 48.0 days, respectively. Business Highlights INGDAN.com joined with a number of smart home companies led by Beijing Unisound Information Technology Co., Limited ("Unisound") to establish the "China Smart Home Innovation Industry Ecosystem" launched at a conference known as the "China Smart Home Innovation Industry Ecosystem Conference". With Unisound's complete supply chain, partner companies have the ability to grow and enhance the application of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") voice recognition technology in daily life. INGDAN.com also launched its "AI+" plan to increase investment in "AI+" applications, to integrate upstream and downstream resources in the AI industry, and to facilitate the full application of AI technologies. Cogobuy is incorporating AI technology into many traditional industries and is building the largest "AI+" industry ecosystem in China . at a conference known as the "China Smart Home Innovation Industry Ecosystem With Unisound's complete supply chain, partner companies have the ability to grow and enhance the application of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") voice recognition technology in daily life. INGDAN.com also launched its "AI+" plan to increase investment in "AI+" applications, to integrate upstream and downstream resources in the AI industry, and to facilitate the full application of AI technologies. Cogobuy is incorporating AI technology into many traditional industries and is building the largest "AI+" industry ecosystem in . Cogobuy has cooperated with a top tier data storage solution company to provide data storage solutions for its IoT platform. Currently, the platform is managing and supporting up to ten million terminal devices. Cogobuy data storage solutions business is expected to increase significantly, with over 100% YoY growth. Outlook Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group, said, "We are pleased to be maintaining strong growth into 2017, demonstrated by our first quarter results. Online transaction customers doubled YoY, where the growth of SME customers was the most apparent. Average purchasing volume from blue chip customers9 also increased continuously, which was up by approximately 55.4% YoY. Furthermore, we enhanced our business and product scope by moving to include optical communications, data storage solutions, smart home products, and smart car products, among others. Our performance in optical communications, for example, was outstanding, aided by the new investment cycle for carriers with growing demand for optical communications, Optical Transport Network ("OTN") upgrades, and 4.5G/5G construction. The Company also recorded over 100% growth in its storage solutions business. Cogobuy's stable customer growth and successful business development strategies were, and continue to be key drivers of our strong growth. In view of the unprecedented innovation in traditional industries driven by AI technology, INGDAN.com has been building an extensive supply chain ecosystem to help with clients' business transformations as well as to attract large numbers of traditional electronic enterprise customers. Looking ahead, we will focus on capturing opportunities in facilitating traditional enterprises' transformations in "AI+". This is especially true for IoT, which is a booming industry: the market for voice-controlled technology in home appliances has been expanding rapidly. Cogobuy is prepared to seize opportunities for growth in these new markets, and to develop INGDAN.com as a ten billion-sized "AI+" platform. We have also established a new business unit called IngFin Financing Services. With our supply chain financing products as the core, we will increase investments in the big-data based enterprise financing business. Following the success of INGDAN.com, we expect IngFin Financing Services to become another rapidly growing platform that will help accelerate our overall growth, beginning in the second quarter this year. With strong growth in our online transaction customers, and broadening sources of income through our new business unit - IngFin Financing Services and new ecosystem for AI technology in electronics and hardware, we are confident in the Group's growth momentum in the coming year, and the strength of Cogobuy's businesses in the future. We will also consider to repurchase Cogobuy's issued and outstanding shares at the right time to create better return for our shareholders. " 1 Customers who had completed at least one online transaction during the current period and had completed at least one other online transaction in the previous fiscal year. 2 Net profit attributable to equity shareholders add share-based compensation costs, amortization of intangible assets and its related deferred taxation effect. 3 Total operating expenses less share-based compensation costs and amortization of intangible assets. 4 Non-GAAP operating margin is non-GAAP profit of the period divided by revenue for the period. Non-GAAP profit is gross profit less non-GAAP operating expenses of the period. 5 Non-GAAP effective tax rate is income tax expense less deferred taxation related to amortization of intangible assets divided by income before tax less share-based compensation costs and amortization of intangible assets. 6 Non-GAAP operating cash flow is operating cash flow of the period plus amount of loan to third parties for investment initiatives for the period. 7 The average of the opening and closing balances of inventories of the period divided by cost of sales of the period and multiplied by 90 days. 8 The average of the opening and closing balances of trade receivables for the period divided by revenue of the period and multiplied by 90 days. 9 The average purchasing volume from blue chip customers is GMV derived from blue chip customers divided by the number of blue chip customers. Caution Statement The information contained in this document has not been independently verified. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made by the Company or any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information or opinions presented or contained herein. The information contained in this document should be considered in the context of the circumstances prevailing at the time, is subject to change without notice and the Company makes no undertaking to update the information in this document to reflect any developments that occur after the date of the presentation. It is not the Company's intention to provide, and you may not rely on these materials as providing, a complete or comprehensive analysis of the Company, or its financial or trading position or prospects. Neither of the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives accept any responsibility or have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this document or its contents or otherwise arising in connection with this document. This document may contain statements that reflect the Company's current intent, beliefs and expectations about the future as of the respective dates indicated herein. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on a number of assumptions about the Company's operations and factors beyond the Company's control and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives has any obligation, nor do they undertake, to update these forward-looking statements for any events or developments including the occurrence of unanticipated events that occur subsequent to such dates. About Cogobuy Group Cogobuy Group is the largest e-commerce service platform serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China. Through the e-commerce platform, which includes a direct sales platform, an online marketplace, and a dedicated team of technical consultants and professional sales representatives, the Company provides customers with comprehensive online and offline services across pre-sale, sale, and post-sale stages. The Company serves mainly SME electronics manufacturers. For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.cogobuy.com/ About INGDAN.com INGDAN.com is a platform dedicated to connecting global intelligent hardware entrepreneurs and China-based supply chain resources. The platform provides information on hardware innovation, supply chain data, and supply chain demand docking for global IoT innovators and entrepreneurs. It is a one-stop hardware innovation business platform with its core being the "supply chain." For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.ingdan.com/ For investor and media enquiries Please contact Ms. Wanyee Ho / Ms. Amy Guo at [email protected]. SOURCE Cogobuy Group Related Links http://www.cogobuy.com/ HARTFORD, Conn., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Connecticut Petroleum Council today released a new poll showing that the overwhelming majority of Connecticut registered voters oppose legislation that would give special treatment to the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant and agree that consumers in the state should not be forced to pay more for electricity to help Millstone be more profitable. "Consumers across the state have spoken loud and clear," said Executive Director Steve Guveyan. "78 percent of voters across the state oppose legislation that would give the Millstone nuclear power plant 'special treatment' with ratepayers footing the bill. What's more, the majority of voters across the state believes that electricity prices will be lower with competition, NOT intervention by the government. When 66 percent of Connecticut voters already think electricity costs are too high in the state, it makes no sense for any legislator in the state to support this misguided legislation." "We believe consumers benefit most when markets are allowed to flourish without mandates, riders and special treatment by lawmakers and regulators," said API Chief Economist Erica Bowman. "Unfortunately, Senate Bill 106 does the exact opposite for Connecticut consumers. Instead of providing special treatment to nuclear power companies, we should let the markets protect consumers as they are currently doing for consumers across Connecticut and the nation." Other poll results: 69 percent of voters believe Connecticut is on the wrong track. is on the wrong track. 66 percent of voters are concerned about electricity prices on the state. 59 percent of voters believe electricity prices will be lower with competition, instead of the state government choosing who can provide electricity. 76 percent of voters agree that sources of electricity should be based on the marketplace, not special treatment for one company. 76 percent of voters agree that consumers should not be required to pay more for electricity to help Millstone be more profitable in today's competitive marketplace. The poll results were released on a press conference call this morning. The opening statement and results of the poll are available on API's website. The Connecticut Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America's oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation's energy. The industry also supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 40 million Americans. Methodology The study was conducted on May 1-4, 2017, by telephone by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute among 822 Connecticut registered voters, with a sampling error of +/- 3.4 percent. A full methodology is available upon request. "What America is Thinking on Energy Issues" is a public opinion series provided by API, offering data to inform policy discussions and ensure policymakers and others know Americans' perspectives on key energy issues. SOURCE American Petroleum Institute MIAMI, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental National Bank, Miami's first Cuban-American owned national bank is celebrating forty three years since its foundation on May 10th 1974. The bank started off as a single branch in Little Havana and has grown to operate five full-service locations, becoming a premier community source for financial services. Continental National Bank has stayed true to its mission of providing excellent personal service. Although the pace of the world around us continues to accelerate, one thing has not changed the need for a well-managed community bank that is sensitive to the interests of its customers. "We are sincerely grateful for our strongest assets our customers, employees, shareholders and the community we are so privileged to serve," said Mr. Guillermo Diaz-Rousselot CEO and President of Continental National Bank "Continental National Bank's unwavering commitment to service remains as strong today as it did the day we first opened, and it has proven to be the foundation of our success." Recently, Diaz-Rousselot was appointed board member of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta. On the cusp of its 43rd year anniversary, the bank is launching CNB Business Manager, an accounts receivables financing program that will assist credit-worthy businesses and professionals with management and funding of accounts receivables. "At Continental National Bank, we always strive to continuously support the growth of small businesses. The launch of CNB Business Manager clearly shows our serious commitment to cater to the needs of all of our customers and the small business community," said Rodolfo Lleonart Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer "The launch of CNB Business Manager is the latest step to diversify our business portfolio of products and services which include Commercial Lending, Small Business Administration loans, Merchant Services and Cash Management." CNB Business Manager program allows small businesses to get cash daily for their receivables by selling them to the bank at a discount. The program enables small businesses to pursue new business opportunities, take early payment discounts from suppliers, make payroll, offer financing to customers, and reduce or eliminate debt. About Continental National Bank Continental National Bank is a full-service community bank established in 1974 in Miami as the first Cuban-American-chartered national bank in the United States, serving its customers for over 43 years. With five branches conveniently located throughout Miami-Dade County, and with more than $490 million in assets, Continental National Bank was awarded the five-star "superior" rating by Bauer Financial and has been recognized as a top community bank. The Bank offers a full range of financial and lending products and services for retail, business and institutional clients. For more information about Continental National Bank and its products and services, visit their website at www.continentalbank.com Contact: Natalia Arana, 1-305-643-8281, [email protected] SOURCE Continental National Bank Related Links http://www.continentalbank.com "We have received a lot of positive feedback for the COUP eScooter sharing in Berlin since launching last August. The opportunity to experience a city quickly, flexibly, and without any fuss on the stylish Gogoro Smartscooters has proven extremely popular. The success in Berlin is motivating us to bring greater mobility to another European capital, so today we are announcing our Paris launch this summer," says Mat Schubert, CEO of COUP Mobility GmbH. "Gogoro has been supporting with features to make our innovative sharing service even better and more user friendly. We are confident Parisians will enjoy the ease of use and overall experience." Paris is one of the most congested cities in Europe with urban transport plagued by traffic problems. It is also one of the top scooter cities in the world so Paris is a natural next step. COUP and Gogoro want to deliver positive alternatives to urban mobility that can be available to all city residents. "Gogoro and COUP are focused on delivering new services that encourage consumer adoption of more sustainable transportation choices like the Smartscooter. The COUP e-scooter sharing model has been proven successful in Berlin and we are looking forward to introducing it in Paris this summer with the same success," said Horace Luke, co-founder and CEO of Gogoro. "We created Gogoro to be a technology company integrating innovation and sustainable energy to create new business models, services and products that ignite urban residents and city governments to embrace sustainable energy with the new fuel of the future." As in Berlin, the COUP service will be available in select central Paris districts and customers will be able to park them in dedicated two-wheel parking zones within the COUP service area. The COUP service will be available to anyone with a Class B driver's license or an international driver's license and is of legal age. Through the COUP app, customers can locate and reserve the closest Smartscooter without any hassle. The app will be available in summer 2017 in French for iOS and Android. Like Berlin, the pricing model in Paris is straightforward and easy for users to calculate: users are charged in 30-minute increments, known as rides. Gogoro Smartscooter Gogoro introduced its first Gogoro Smartscooter EV and the Gogoro Energy Network at the Consumer Electronics Show in early 2015 and launched it in Taipei, Taiwan in August 2015. The Gogoro Smartscooter EV was the world's first high-performance, smart electric two-wheel vehicle with swappable batteries. Key Gogoro Smartscooter Facts More than 20,000 Gogoro Smartscooter EVs sold 60+ million kilometers ridden by customers 350 GoStation battery swapping stations deployed across Taiwan More than 12,000 battery swaps per day Nearly 3 million liters of gasoline saved, 5.7 million kilograms less CO2 emitted and nearly 5,000 kilograms less NOx emitted. About Gogoro Founded in 2011, Gogoro is putting energy into things that matter. With a mission to deliver consumer innovations that will improve how the world's most populated cities distribute and utilize energy, the company is enabling the transformation of megacities into smart cities. Gogoro is working toward a better future by putting power in the hands of everyone to move us all forward, faster. SOURCE Gogoro Related Links http://www.gogoro.com SAN JOSE, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PayActiv, an award-winning fintech company with a unique "between paycheck" financial wellness benefit for employers' hourly workers, today announced that Don Peppers, one of the world's leading customer experience authorities, has agreed to join it in a national campaign to help employers reduce or eliminate some of the financial stresses that so frequently distract hourly employees, many of whom are in day-to-day contact with customers. "My entire professional life has been dedicated to improving the customer experience," Peppers said, "and I've always insisted that the quality of any company's customer experience depends on its hourly workers the folks who man the cash registers, serve the food, care for the elderly, answer the phones, or check on a guest's satisfaction. So I'm delighted to have the opportunity to join in PayActiv's campaign to improve how these hourly workers are treated." "It's my honor and privilege to team with Don Peppers to launch this important national movement," commented PayActiv founder and CEO Safwan Shah. "PayActiv's product helps employers attract, retain and engage these too-often ignored hourly workers, and we couldn't agree more with Don Peppers that there's a direct connection between happy workers and happy customers." "The best possible kind of customer service," Peppers said, "comes when a company's employees are empathetic, paying attention to and engaging with the customers they're serving. But if your people are occasionally distracted by their own financial issues well, no amount of training can prevent this distraction, and the quality of your service will take a hit. PayActiv's solution takes direct aim at this very common problem, and results so far have been remarkable!" According to Shah, two years of data now show that PayActiv's service boosts employee engagement and reduces hourly worker attrition rates as much as 20-30%. "PayActiv's product helps employees avoid overdraft fees and late charges, as well as punitive payday lender or pawn shop finance rates -- the 'fintaxes' that drain employee take-home pay, often from those most in need of the money. And the workers who use it give their employers exemplary eNPS scores, which shows that when these distractions are minimized they can be highly engaged in their jobs serving customers," he added. HR Executive Magazine called PayActiv "one of the simplest, most straightforward solutions we have seen addressing the precarious, paycheck-to-paycheck state of millions of middle- and low-income American workers." "Before joining in this initiative," Peppers said, "I reached out personally to more than a dozen business leaders in a variety of industries, and I've been surprised and encouraged by their enthusiasm for the concept. I believe PayActiv's remarkably simple and direct solution represents an idea whose time has come. Plus," he added, "it's simply the right thing to do for your employees, if you really care about them. This is a good thing to do." About PayActiv: Silicon Valley-based PayActiv offers a revolutionary, app-based solution to hourly workers' between-paycheck financial needs, without requiring them to borrow. It is easy to implement, at no cost to the employer, and brings peace of mind to employees. The PayActiv solution was named "Best of Show" at San Francisco's Finovate 2016 and HR Executive Magazine's "HR Product of the Year." About Don Peppers: Co-Founder of CX Speakers, LLC, with Martha Rogers, Ph.D., Peppers gives speeches and conducts workshops around the world, addressing issues involving the customer experience. He has authored or co-authored eleven books on sales, marketing, and other customer experience topics, collectively selling more than a million copies in 18 languages. His most recent book is Customer Experience: What, How, and Why Now (2016), and the third edition of Peppers' and Rogers' graduate-level textbook, Managing Customer Experience and Relationships (Wiley, 2017) has just been released. For more information visit www.payactiv.com, or contact Sabina Bhatia at [email protected]. SOURCE PayActiv Related Links http://www.payactiv.com WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. dairy industry commended Robert Lighthizer, the newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative, for taking swift action under the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act (TPA) to begin the process for modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a notification letter sent today to Congress, Ambassador Lighthizer outlined some of the areas of the agreement that are either outdated or missing several of which are important to the U.S. dairy industry and reaffirmed commitment to pursuing the trade priorities outlined by TPA, including goals related to market access and curbing the abuse of geographical indications. He also emphasized the importance of effectively implementing and aggressively enforcing the commitments made by Canada and Mexico, two of the dairy industry's top trade partners. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) have repeatedly urged administration officials and legislators to focus on maintaining what has worked well, such as trade with Mexico, the top market for U.S. dairy exports. The dairy groups have also continued to call for improving market access to Canada and tackling that country's expanding list of protectionist policies and other barriers to U.S. dairy exports. "As an industry, we fully support the administration's call to modernize NAFTA. Without this trade agreement and the market access it provides, the United States would stand to lose nearly $2 billion annually in dairy exports and tens of thousands of farming and manufacturing jobs in communities across the country," said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. "The issues of geographical indications, intellectual property rights and ways to resolve sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are also of keen interest to the dairy industry. We look forward to working with Ambassador Lighthizer and other Trump Administration officials during the renegotiation process to provide helpful data and input." "We agree with Ambassador Lighthizer that the current NAFTA agreement has areas upon which we can build as the renegotiation process begins, including the market we have developed in Mexico," said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. "Obviously, dairy trade with Canada where we continue to face 200%-300% tariffs and a slew of nontariff policies that distort dairy trade is an entirely different story, and we need to address it as part of these talks. Central to any successful NAFTA negotiations will be changes to Canada's new policies designed to harm bilateral trade and dump their structural dairy surplus on the world market." "With this first step, I now encourage the administration to swiftly commence modernization negotiations with our NAFTA partners and prioritize their quick conclusion," said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. "Mexico is our only $1 billion dairy market; finding a replacement for sales that are so critical to supporting tens of thousands of jobs across this country is no small task, so preserving it is essential. At the same time, numerous opportunities exist to shore up open trade and further deepen it with our NAFTA partners, such as addressing Canada's tariff and nontariff constraints on dairy trade, instituting stronger SPS commitments and ensuring that geographical indications are not used to restrict the use of common names." The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers with a membership of nearly 525 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members operate more than 600 manufacturing facilities and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org. The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, Va., develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF's cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S, milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF's activities, visit www.nmpf.org. The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. SOURCE International Dairy Foods Association Related Links http://www.idfa.org/ MAUMEE, Ohio, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of new business growth, Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) today announced that the company will build a new 7,500 square-meter (80,000 square-foot) manufacturing facility in Chongqing, China. Scheduled to open in late 2018, the plant will produce drive units with integrated Spicer SmartConnect disconnecting all-wheel-drive (AWD) technology as part of a global program for a major automaker. Dana's Spicer SmartConnect technology improves the fuel efficiency of SUVs, crossovers, and passenger vehicles. Dana will invest approximately US$13 million (CNY160 million) to build out the new operation, which will employ approximately 130 highly qualified associates when full production is reached in 2020. This will be Dana's 15th facility in China and its first in Chongqing. The plant will be located at the Yufu Industrial Development Zone, where Dana will host a ceremony to break ground in conjunction with The 8th Global Automotive Forum in June. "We at Dana are excited to bring our latest disconnecting all-wheel-drive technology to the world's largest automotive market," said Bob Pyle, president of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies. "This technology is particularly appropriate for China as it addresses the drivability requirements of the sophisticated Chinese consumer and helps meet the fuel efficiency and sustainability requirements of both global and local OEMs operating in China." Currently in pre-production testing, Spicer SmartConnect technology helps global vehicle manufacturers address evolving emissions regulations while maintaining the safety and control that are key advantages for AWD vehicles. The Spicer SmartConnect system configures the drivetrain to work in fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive mode. It automatically and seamlessly converts to AWD when it detects slipping at the wheel, such as during rapid acceleration or in slippery conditions. The introduction of disconnecting AWD technology in China illustrates how Dana is addressing its enterprise strategy titled "Shifting into Overdrive" across multiple dimensions. The Spicer SmartConnect system helps to expand global markets by driving disproportionate growth in the rapidly changing Asia-Pacific region while commercializing new technologies that address customer and market needs. "Dana has served the rapidly growing Chinese automobile market for more than 25 years, and our expansion into Chongqing highlights Dana's continued commitment to supporting vehicle manufacturers with technologies that deliver superior performance and fuel savings," said Antonio Valencia, president of Dana China. "This technology also demonstrates how Dana supports the modernization strategies behind the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 'Made in China 2025' initiative, as well as the 13th Five-Year Plan." The Spicer SmartConnect system was tested and validated at Dana's technical center in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Fully integrated into Dana's global research and development system, the Dana China Technical Center has been equipped to support new products from concept development through launch. Inaugurated in 2013, this facility has more than 50 engineers who facilitate the delivery of new product offerings for China and the rest of the region and adapt technologies developed elsewhere in the world for the specific needs of the China market. Dana currently has approximately 7,000 employees in China, including those working for operations in which Dana holds a half interest. About Dana Incorporated Dana is a world leader in highly engineered solutions for improving the efficiency, performance, and sustainability of powered vehicles and machinery. Dana supports the passenger vehicle, commercial truck, and off-highway markets, as well as industrial and stationary equipment applications. Founded in 1904, Dana employs approximately 27,000 people in 34 countries on six continents who are committed to delivering long-term value to customers. The company reported sales of more than $5.8 billion in 2016. For more information, please visit dana.com. SOURCE Dana Incorporated Related Links http://www.dana.com MONTREAL, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - In the wake of the decision by the Department of Commerce to initiate an investigation targeting Bombardier's CSeries aircraft program, CDPQ will prove conclusively that its investments in the company were always done on commercial terms. CDPQ regrets the Department of Commerce's decision to initiate an investigation of its market-based commercial investments but offers its full cooperation to bring the matter to a quick resolution, preventing further disruption of the civil aircraft industry. CDPQ is a leading institutional investor that seeks to generate the highest possible risk-adjusted returns to meet its fiduciary obligations to its clients. All CDPQ's investments are commercial in nature and its performance matches that of its Canadian and international peers. Boeing's petition mentions two CDPQ investments in Bombardier: its participation in a credit facility for the company in 2009, and its acquisition of a minority interest in Bombardier's rail division in 2015. The 2009 credit facility was put in place by a syndicate of commercial banks and other institutions, which CDPQ left in November 2013. Boeing offered no evidence to support the notion that this facility was not concluded on commercial terms or that it conferred a subsidy to Bombardier. CDPQ's acquisition of a 30% stake in Bombardier's rail division was completed after extensive due diligence and in consultation with outside advisers. Both the price paid and the terms of the deal are highly commercial in nature and in no way conferred a subsidy to the company. "The allegations targeting CDPQ are baseless and outrageous. We will refute them while offering our full cooperation to U.S. agencies to bring this matter to a quick and satisfactory resolution," said Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Secretariat of CDPQ. ABOUT CAISSE DE DEPOT ET PLACEMENT DU QUEBEC Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2016, it held $270.7 billion in net assets, including more than $80 billion in the United States. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages. SOURCE Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Related Links http://www.cdpq.com/ Shares Issued and Outstanding: 49,702,714 TSXV:DMI OTCQX:DMIFF KELOWNA, BC, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Diamcor Mining Inc., (the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of its second tender and sale of rough diamonds from the processing of material in the +1.0mm to -45.0mm size fractions through the newly expanded facilities at the Company's Krone-Endora at Venetia Project (the "Project"). In this second tender of the current quarter, the Company sold 3,265.07 carats of rough diamonds for gross proceeds of USD $702,635.70, resulting in an average price of USD $215.20 per carat. The tender included the sale of three rough diamonds in the specials category (+10.8 carats): a 12.80 carat, a 12.89 carat gem quality, and a 13.51 carat rough diamond. The Company previously announced on April 10, 2017, an initial tender and sale of 2,900.62 carats of rough diamonds from the newly expanded facilities, which generated gross proceeds of USD $810,106.26, resulting in an average price of USD $279.29 per carat. That tender included the sale of four rough diamonds in the specials category (+10.8 carats), all of which were gem quality: a 12.13 carat, a 15.46 carat, a 17.97 carat, and a 29.1 carat. This brings the total rough diamonds tendered and sold from processing through the newly expanded facilities to 6,165.69 carats, with seven individual rough diamonds being in the specials category (+10.8 carats), generating gross proceeds of USD $1,512,741.96 and resulting in an average price of USD $245.35 per carat. The Company plans to complete a third tender and sale prior to the end of the current quarter. "We're very pleased with the results of these initial tenders and sales of rough diamonds from our newly expanded facilities, especially at a time when many operators are experiencing lower than expected results due to continued weakness in rough diamond prices", noted Diamcor's CEO Mr. Dean Taylor. "The results are very encouraging, and given they are from the initial processing of material at a time when the new components are being calibrated and refined, they certainly point to the potential benefits that the crushing and treatment of material up to 45.0mm through these new facilities have when compared to previous tenders and sales of material processed through the previous facilities in the +1.0mm to -15.0mm size fractions", adds Mr. Taylor. Operational Update The testing, commissioning and calibration of the newly expanded facilities at the Project continued to progress well during the quarter, with overall increases in processing volumes and reliability now consistently being achieved. The crushing and treatment of material up to 45.0mm is also performing well, with no significant issues or breakage of rough diamonds to report in this area of the plant. Initial issues with blockages in the Project's dedicated ultra-course large diamond recovery circuit were experienced early in the quarter, however modifications and refinements to that circuit have now been substantially completed to enhance the operational reliability and increase throughput capacity in this area moving forward. The Project's newly expanded sorting facilities are operating as envisioned, with no major issues to report in that area. While increased processing capacities and reliabilities are now being achieved, further efforts are underway to reduce the total quantity of fines in the current material reporting to the Main Treatment Plant including the addition of a high-frequency screening unit at the Project's In-field Dry Screening Plant. This item is aimed at further enhancing the overall quality and pre-concentration of the material being delivered to the Main Treatment Plant through the removal of additional fines, while providing for additional savings in water consumption and enhancing overall long-term processing capacities. The screening unit is expected to be completed and incorporated into the processing circuit prior to the end of the current quarter. The combined testing, commissioning, and calibration exercises currently underway are designed to support the continued advancement of objectives consistent with the recommendations of the updated NI 43-101 Technical Report ("Updated Technical Report") filed by the Company on April 28, 2015, and to aid the Company in arriving at initial production decisions for the Project. The recovery of all rough diamonds to date are incidental to the ongoing commissioning and testing exercises performed at the Project. The above-noted testing exercises and incidental recoveries do not form part of the Updated Technical Report and therefore no general grade, price, or quality determination is intended by the Company at this time due to the nature and purpose of the processing of this material. About Diamcor Mining Inc. Diamcor Mining Inc. is a fully reporting publically traded junior diamond mining company which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol V.DMI, and on the OTC QX International under the symbol DMIFF. The Company has a well-established operational and production history in South Africa and extensive prior experience supplying rough diamonds to the world market. About the Tiffany & Co. Alliance The Company has established a long-term strategic alliance and first right of refusal with Tiffany & Co. Canada, a subsidiary of world famous New York based Tiffany & Co., to purchase up to 100% of the future production of rough diamonds from the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project at then current prices to be determined by the parties on an ongoing basis. In conjunction with this first right of refusal, Tiffany & Co. Canada also provided the Company with financing to advance the Project. Tiffany & Co. is a publically traded company which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TIF. For additional information on Tiffany & Co., please visit their website at www.tiffany.com. About Krone-Endora at Venetia In February 2011, Diamcor acquired the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project from De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, consisting of the prospecting rights over the farms Krone 104 and Endora 66, which represent a combined surface area of approximately 5,888 hectares directly adjacent to De Beers' flagship Venetia Diamond Mine in South Africa. On September 11, 2014, the Company announced that the South African Department of Mineral Resources had granted a Mining Right for the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project encompassing 657.71 hectares of the Project's total area of 5,888 hectares. The Company has also submitted an application for a mining right over the remaining areas of the Project. The deposits which occur on the properties of Krone and Endora have been identified as a higher-grade "Alluvial" basal deposit which is covered by a lower-grade upper "Eluvial" deposit. The deposits are proposed to be the result of the direct-shift (in respect to the "Eluvial" deposit) and erosion (in respect to the "Alluvial" deposit) of material from the higher grounds of the adjacent Venetia Kimberlite areas. The deposits on Krone-Endora occur in two layers with a maximum total depth of approximately 15.0 metres from surface to bedrock, allowing for a very low-cost mining operation to be employed with the potential for near-term diamond production from a known high-quality source. Krone-Endora also benefits from the significant development of infrastructure and services already in place due to its location directly adjacent to the Venetia Mine. Qualified Person Statement: Mr. James P. Hawkins (B.Sc., P.Geo.), is Manager of Exploration & Special Projects for Diamcor Mining Inc., and the Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 responsible for overseeing the execution of Diamcor's exploration programmes and a Member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta ("APEGA"). Mr. Hawkins has reviewed this press release and approved of its contents. On behalf of the Board of Directors Mr. Dean H. Taylor President & CEO Diamcor Mining Inc. [email protected] Tel (250) 864-3326 www.diamcormining.com This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. While these forward-looking statements represent our best current judgement, they are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict and which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Further, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. WE SEEK SAFE HARBOUR Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Diamcor Mining Inc. Related Links http://www.diamcormining.com Ms. Ng and Dianrong engineers are currently completing beta testing for the new fintech platform that will provide Asian investors with an integrated solution to access U.S. marketplace lending assets. The platform will utilize multiple U.S. marketplace lenders and a single onboarding and know-your-customer process. It will also offer advanced risk modeling capabilities, added credit enhancement and structuring features, and blockchain solutions to safeguard data integrity. Investors will also have access to real-time performance monitoring, U.S. tax-exemption filing capabilities and a secondary market for liquidity. The new fintech marketplace leverages Dianrong's award-winning Tuantuanzhuan (TTZ) technology, which has the ability to allocate investor capital across hundreds of thousands of loan assets in real time. "Consumer lending, especially in the U.S., offers consistent performance with lower risk profile over time. However, the infrastructure to connect Asian investors with this attractive asset class has been lacking to date," said Soul Htite, Founder and CEO of Dianrong. "Maggie approached Dianrong for help to build a fintech solution for Asian investors, to finally access this seemingly hidden asset class and put consumer lending to work for more Asian portfolios. We are thrilled she has selected Dianrong as her technology partner," Mr. Htite added. "I have wanted to help bridge the gap between Asian investors and U.S. consumer lending assets for a long time, but making that connection remains difficult and expensive within traditional banking channels. Fintech removes much of that friction and significantly reduces the overall cost and complexity. With Dianrong's advanced technology, we can make these solutions available now," said Ms. Ng. "Dianrong is the perfect choice to help provide Asian investors with simple, affordable access to US consumer lending assets. And their underlying technology will ensure unmatched speed-to-market, ongoing efficiency and outstanding reliability," she added. Ms. Ng has almost 20 years of financial services and consumer lending experience. She most recently served as the Head of Asia and EMEA Lending at Citibank N.A. Previously, she headed Citibank Hong Kong's credit cards and unsecured lending businesses. Ms. Ng also served on the Board of Directors for Citibank HK. Prior to Citibank, Ms. Ng held senior positions at Ernst & Young (Australia) and Broken Hill Proprietary (HK) Ltd. Ms. Ng holds an MBA from the California State University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Information Technology from the University of New South Wales. A commercial launch of the platform, to be based in Hong Kong, is expected by the end of the second quarter of 2017, pending final regulatory approvals. About Dianrong Dianrong, a leader in online marketplace lending in China, originates more than US$300 million in monthly assets for 3.8 million retail lenders. Founded in 2012, Dianrong offers individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises a comprehensive, one-stop financial platform supported by industry-leading technology, compliance and transparency. The company's sophisticated and flexible infrastructure enables it to design and customize lending and borrowing products and services, based on industry-specific data and insights, all supported by online risk-management and operation tools. Dianrong's specific offerings include loan originations, investment products and marketplace lending solutions. The company remains among the most advanced financial technology platforms in China, as of year-end 2016. Dianrong was also named in 2016 to the executive directorship of the National Internet Finance Association of China, led by the People's Bank of China. Based in Shanghai, Dianrong has 28 offices across China and employs approximately 3,500 professionals, including 600 full-time fintech engineers. For more information, please visit https://www.dianrong.com/en/index.html. SOURCE Dianrong.com REDDING, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The perfect recovery from a gloomy winter is a bright summer in Redding, the sunniest city in California. Get ready for an unforgettable, fun-filled vacation spent on the water in this Northern California city, centrally located to crystal clear and inviting lakes, and a variety of recreation for all ages. Dive into summer in Laseen Park's Manzanita Lake. Kayak at Oaks Bottom near the town of Redding. Paddle across the calm waters of a tree-lined horizon of unspoiled beauty at Whiskeytown Lake, grab your waterski, wakeboard or fishing rod at Shasta Lake or enjoy the breathtaking views at Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park in the Shasta Cascade. All three areas are just a short drive from your Redding hotel. "Redding is the best launching point for any variation of unique summer adventures," said T.J. Holmes, communications coordinator at the Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Our lakes and rivers are nationally recognized for kayaking and fishing, and ideal for swimming, standup paddleboarding or boating." Whiskeytown Lake Shasta Lake Manzanita Lake Butte Lake Summit Lake For details, go to www.visitredding.com/dive-into-summer, for more information about Redding and Shasta Cascade or to request a visitor guide, go to visitredding.com or www.shastacascade.com, like our Facebook pages facebook.com/visitreddingca or www.facebook.com/ShastaCascade, or find us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ShastaCascade. Media Contacts: Susan Hartzler Mental Marketing 818-585-8641 [email protected] SOURCE Visit Redding "Throughout his career, Dr. Aronoff has led by example in improving the field of nephrology through individualized treatment," said Allen R. Nissenson, MD, FACP, chief medical officer for DaVita Kidney Care. "We are looking forward to seeing the ways in which he can help us to provide individualized patient-centered health care." Dr. Aronoff served as Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine. His academic research focused on individualization of drug therapy in patients with decreased kidney function. Members of his laboratory have explored the use of artificial intelligence in the dosing of drugs used to treat anemia in dialysis patients. "I am honored to be joining DaVita's physician leadership team," said Dr. Aronoff. "DaVita's focus on providing patients with the highest quality of care is inspiring and I am eager to contribute to this effort." Dr. Aronoff graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and received his Doctor of Medicine from Indiana University School of Medicine, where he also completed a Master of Science degree in pharmacology and his training in internal medicine and nephrology. Prior to working at DaVita, Dr. Aronoff was the chief medical officer of, recently acquired, Renal Ventures Management, LLC for four years. Dr. Aronoff has served on the board of directors for both the Renal Physician Association and the Kidney Health Initiative, a publicprivate partnership of the American Society of Nephrology and the Food and Drug Administration of the United States. To learn more about the DaVita physician leadership team, visit DaVita.com/providers. About DaVita Kidney Care DaVita Kidney Care is a division of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500 company that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. A leading provider of dialysis services in the United States, DaVita Kidney Care treats patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita Kidney Care strives to improve patients' quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services. As of March 31, 2017, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,382 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 189,400 patients. The company also operated 162 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. DaVita Kidney Care supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world. The company's leadership development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu. For more information, please visit DaVita.com. DaVita and DaVita Kidney Care are registered trademarks of DaVita Inc. Contact Information Media: Lindsey Robinson (720) 925-3079 [email protected] SOURCE DaVita Kidney Care Related Links http://www.davita.com NOVI, Mich., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CPS) announces that Dr. Molly P. Zhang was elected to the Company's Board of Directors at its annual Meeting of Stockholders earlier today. She currently serves as a member of the supervisory board at GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, as well as a board member for XG Sciences and previously served on the board of Inenco Group. Dr. Zhang brings international experience in chemical, mining service and other industrial sectors, as well as extensive expertise in China market penetration and Asia business growth to her new role with Cooper Standard. Her hands-on experience in guiding large, diverse organizations to optimize performance and effective cross-cultural leadership will further bolster the Board's capabilities. "Molly is a great addition to our Board of Directors," said Jeffrey S. Edwards, chairman and CEO, Cooper Standard. "Her extensive international experience, technical expertise and background in diverse industrial sectors will further drive Cooper Standard's global expansion. We welcome her to the Board and are eager to incorporate her new perspective into our strategic growth plans." From 2011 until her retirement in 2016, Dr. Zhang served in a number of senior executive roles for Orica Ltd, a global leader in mining and civil services, including vice president, asset management, vice president for initiation systems and packaged emulsions manufacturing, manufacturing executive, mining systems, and general manager for global manufacturing and supply chain for mining services business. Before joining Orica, Dr. Zhang held diverse executive positions at The Dow Chemical Company from 1989 to 2011, including managing director, SCG-Dow Group, country general manager, Dow Thailand, business vice president for Dow Technology Licensing and Catalyst Business, regional manufacturing director for Asia Pacific, and global technology director. Dr. Zhang is a member of the Women's Corporate Directors organization and the National Association for Corporate Directors. Dr. Zhang was profiled by China Daily and the Nations newspaper in Thailand as Successful Business Woman in Asia. She was the finalist for Best Asian Executive, The Stevie Awards for Woman in Business in 2008. Dr. Zhang earned a master's degree in chemistry and a doctorate in chemical engineering from The Technical University in Clausthal, Germany. Born and raised in Shanghai, she has worked in Germany, China, Thailand, Singapore and the United States. About Cooper Standard Cooper Standard, headquartered in Novi, Mich., is a leading global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and anti-vibration systems. Cooper Standard employs approximately 30,000 people globally and operates in 20 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.cooperstandard.com. CPS_G Contact: Sharon S. Wenzl Cooper Standard (248) 596-6211 [email protected] SOURCE Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. Related Links http://www.cooperstandard.com ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is in the process of a methodical transformation so it can create value for investors no matter what oil prices do. Its goal is to deliver double-digit returns to shareholders each year by returning capital through dividends and buybacks, reducing debt, and investing in returns-driven production growth. It's a plan that suggests that the company's best days still lie ahead. It's all about capital allocation The foundation of ConocoPhillips' plan is the cash flow it can produce from its current portfolio at $50 Brent oil, which it set as the break-even level. After adjusting for its two most recent asset sales, the company anticipates that it can generate about $6.2 billion in operating cash flow this year at that oil price. ConocoPhillips' first priority for that capital is investing what's necessary to keep production flat -- currently less than $5 billion per year -- and paying a sustainable dividend, which has a run rate of about $1.3 billion per year. Any excess cash generated would then go toward its next priorities in the following order: annual dividend growth, reducing debt, repurchasing shares, and investing in high-return projects that deliver modest production growth. The company estimates that $50 oil alone can generate enough cash flow to deliver both a modest dividend increase and debt reduction each year. Meanwhile, as oil prices rise above that level, ConocoPhillips would allocate that capital across the last three buckets. That would enable the oil giant to deliver a total annual return in the high teens versus the low-double-digit return it could produce at flat $50 oil. Supercharging the plan Under that plan, rising oil prices would be the key driver of ConocoPhillips' ability to create more value for investors because it would have extra cash to allocate across its other priorities. However, instead of waiting around for crude to rise, ConocoPhillips is undertaking a portfolio cleanup to shed assets that it thought the market had undervalued in its portfolio. Its initial plan was to sell between $5 billion to $8 billion of primarily natural gas assets in North America. That cash infusion, when combined with its cash balance, would enable the company to pay off $7 billion in debt -- reducing it to $20 billion by 2019 -- and repurchase $3 billion of common stock while having enough capital left over so it could increase output by up to 2% per year. The company, however, added rocket fuel to that plan earlier this year when it agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Foster Creek Christina Lake oil sands partnership to Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE). In that deal, Cenovus Energy also acquired ConocoPhilips' Canada Deep Basin natural gas assets, paying $13.3 billion for both asset packages, split between $10.6 billion in cash and $2.7 billion of Cenovus' stock. As a result of that deal, ConocoPhillips expects to reduce total debt down to $20 billion this year, and it anticipates paying off another $5 billion by 2019, reducing debt to just $15 billion. Meanwhile, the company plans on doubling its existing share repurchase program to $6 billion, including repurchasing $3 billion this year alone. The net result of this transformation is a significant improvement in ConocoPhillips' financial metrics and ability to create shareholder value. For example, the company expects its net debt-to-cash flow from operations ratio to plunge from 4.8 last year to just 1.8 this year. Meanwhile, when combined with its current dividend yield, the share repurchases will enable the company to pay an effective yield of 7.4% this year, which trounces the 1.4% yield of the average exploration and production company. That puts ConocoPhillips well on its way to delivering robust annual returns for investors. Investor takeaway ConocoPhillips has spent the past few years shifting from a company focused on delivering low-single-digit annual production growth to one aiming to achieve double-digit total annual returns for its investors. That said, it would go on to supercharge that shift this year by unloading assets, which gave it the cash to accelerate its value-creation strategy. Because of these efforts, the company's best days appear to be just over the horizon because it is now laser-focused on creating value for investors. 10 stocks we like better than ConocoPhillips When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and ConocoPhillips wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 Matt DiLallo owns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global E-beam Wafer Inspection System Market: Overview This report provides strategic overview as well as in-depth analysis of the global e-beam wafer inspection system market, during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. Under the scope of this report analysis has been provided of various segments based on which the market has been segmented that includes type, application and geography. Increasing applications of thin wafers in the semiconductor industry along with the demand for accurate detection of wafer defects has been the most important factors that has boosted the demand for this market globally during the forecast period of 2017-2025. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4907921/ This report takes into consideration the competitive analysis and different improvements made by the key players that are present in this market. Along with this, the market share analysis of the top players present in the market and the market attractiveness of different segments has been considered under the scope of this report. This also includes the business segments and strategic overview of key competitive players. Estimation and analysis of various drivers that are impacting the demand has been considered along with restraints and opportunities under the scope of this report. All these factors helps in determination of different market trends that has impacted the overall growth of market globally. Moreover, after taking into consideration all these factors, an in-depth analysis of the region wise growth factors and parameters of this market and an overall assessment has also been provided for the forecast period of 2017-2025 within this report. Global E-beam Wafer Inspection System Market: Drivers and Restraints There has been a rise in demand for thin wafers globally at a result of its growing applications in the form of miniaturized devices such as micro-electro mechanical systems. This has formed the major factor that has increased the demand for e-beam wafer inspection system globally. Along with this, there has also been a rise in demand for proper measurement of 3D structures that has also boosted the market demand globally. Moreover, use of this inspection system provides minimum charging of wafer thereby by maintaining a neutral imaging system further providing a high resolution image of the defects. In addition to this, there has been a growth in semiconductor industry especially in the developing economies that is also expected to increase the demand for wafers providing a boost to the overall market globally. The high implementation costs associated with the product formed a major restraint for this market globally. Along with this, it is the availability of different substitute systems such as optical wafer inspection system and focused ion beams that allows mass wafer production has been another major restraint that may pose challenges for the growth of this market. Application of multi-beam inspection system is expected to provide various opportunities for the growth of this market in the coming years. Global E-beam Wafer Inspection System Market: Key Segments The global e-beam wafer inspection system on the basis of different types has been segmented into less than 1 nm, 1 to 10 nm and more than 10 nm. Defect imaging, lithographic qualification, bare wafer OQC/IQC, wafer dispositioning, reticle quality inspection, inspector recipe optimization and others are the different application segments that on the basis of which this market is segmented. Various regions that are considered under the scope of this report includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The revenue for this market has been provided in USD million along with CAGR for the forecast period of 2017 to 2025. Companies Mentioned in the Report Some of the leading players in the global e-beam wafer inspection system market are Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), ASML Holding N.V. (Netherlands), KLA Tencor Corporation (The U.S.), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (The Netherlands), Lam Research Corporation (The U.S.), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan), Integrated Device Technology Inc. (The U.S.), Applied Materials Inc. (The U.S.), and Synopsys Inc. (The U.S.) among others. The market has been segmented as follows: Global E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market By Type: Less Than 1 nm 1 to 10 nm More Than 10 nm? Global E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market - By Application: Defect Imaging Lithographic Qualification Bare Wafer OQC/IQC Wafer Dispositioning Reticle Quality Inspection Inspector Recipe Optimization Others Global E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market - By Region: North America The U.S. Canada Mexico Europe The UK Germany Italy France Rest Of Europe Asia Pacific China Taiwan Korea Rest Of APAC Middle East and Africa (MEA) UAE South Africa Rest Of MEA Latin America Brazil Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4907921/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- June marks the fourth annual EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign to raise money for the Global Fund and awareness for the fight to end AIDS, with tickets going on sale today to the first-ever EAT (RED) Food & Film Fest. Led by Chef Mario Batali and supported by chefs, restaurants and culinary brands nationwide, (RED) today announces the first of many ways for people join the fight to #86AIDS. Mario Batali said: "It's a beautiful thing when food not only brings people together, but does so in a way that means real impact on the AIDS fight. Thanks to the enthusiastic support of so many of my heroes in the culinary industry we're taking the campaign all across the country. So whether you're eating, drinking or Tweeting, your choices really do count this June." Deborah Dugan, CEO of (RED), commented: "It's so inspiring to see the culinary community wrap its arms and apron strings around a fight as important as this. We're enormously grateful to Mario and every one of our EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES supporters for making it easy for everyone, everywhere, to become a key ingredient in the fight to end AIDS." THE EAT (RED) FOOD & FILM FEST!, presented by Bank of America On the evening of June 20, the first EAT (RED) FOOD & FILM FEST in New York's Bryant Park will give food fans the opportunity to savor the ultimate New York picnic dinner designed by Mario Batali, Ina Garten, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese, and The Beatrice Inn's Angie Mar. Presented by Bank of America, ticketed guests will also enjoy an outdoor screening of Sleepless in Seattle, (BELVEDERE)RED summer cocktails, Birra Moretti beer and wine by Josh Cellars. A limited number of tickets are available at ticketmaster.com/EatRED for $100, with 100% of the ticket price going to fight AIDS with (RED). Thanks to dollar matching by Bank of America and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, every ticket purchased will result in $600 to fight AIDS. HOME COOKS EAT (RED) THIS JUNE HelloFresh will offer limited edition (HELLOFRESH)RED meal kits with easy-to-follow recipes created by (RED) Chef Ambassadors Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray and Carla Hall. Starting May 23, for every new subscriber who orders a (HELLOFRESH)RED meal kit using code HELLORED, HelloFresh will offer a $20 discount off the first box and make a $20 donation to fight AIDS. Customers can select one (RED) recipe, plus two others, as part of their weekly HelloFresh delivery. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match every donation by HelloFresh, up to $500,000. All customers will have an opportunity to donate directly via the HelloFresh website, with additional matching by The Gates Foundation, up to $75,000. THE (RED) SUPPER @ BONNAROO (RED) and Bonnaroo are teaming-up with legendary James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef and author, Hugh Acheson for an unforgettable (RED) Supper @ Bonnaroo on June 8. Raising money for the Global Fund, the family-style festival dinner takes place as the first night of Bonnaroo 2017 swings into action. Guests will enjoy Hugh's special three course (RED) menu, with tickets priced at $75, and 100% of the ticket price will go to fight AIDS. Thanks to generous matching by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, every ticket purchased will result in $225 to the Global Fund. Marijke Wijnroks, Interim Executive Director of the Global Fund, said: "(RED) is great at coming up with smart, innovative ways for people to support the AIDS fight. The disease has had a devastating impact, and though we've made huge progress, campaigns like EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES help to remind everyone that we need to keep our feet on the gas to end it for good." About (RED) (RED) was founded in 2006 to engage businesses and people in the fight against AIDS. (RED) partners with the world's most iconic brands that contribute up to 50% of profits from (RED)-branded goods and services to the Global Fund. (RED) Proud Partners include: Apple, Bank of America, Beats by Dr. Dre, Belvedere, Claro, The Coca-Cola Company, GAP, MCM, Salesforce, SAP, Starbucks and Telcel. (RED) Special Edition partners include: aden+anais, Alessi, ALEX AND ANI, Andaz, Fatboy USA, Fully, Girl Skateboards, Le Creuset, mophie, S'well, and Vespa. To date, (RED) has generated more than $465 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to support HIV/AIDS grants in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. 100 percent of that money goes to work on the ground no overhead is taken. Global Fund grants that (RED) supports have impacted more than 90 million people with prevention, treatment, counseling, HIV testing and care services. PRESS CONTACT: [email protected] [email protected] http://red.org SOURCE (RED) Related Links http://red.org BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hidden away in the famous "aircraft boneyard" in Roswell, N.M., where retired commercial airplanes are routinely ripped up for scrap, is a treasure no one has dared to touch: Elvis Presley's first jet -- the 1962 Lockheed Jetstar custom made to his specifications. On Saturday, May 27, the jet will be sold at auction, according to Brigitte Kruse, owner of GWS Auctions, Inc. It will headline a big lineup of more than 315 pieces of celebrity memorabilia. "This jet is a remarkable find and is being sold by a private collector. It has attracted a lot of tourists in Roswell, and it still has the original woodwork, inlay, red velvet seats and red shag carpet. It has the potential to be fully restored and made the centerpiece of a major exhibit. This is the only jet owned by Elvis that is still owned privately," said Kruse. The jet will sell without reserve, she noted. The auction will also feature the long lost handwritten memoirs of The Beach Boys, from the collection of Mike Love's father. "This is a remarkable compilation of letters, lost photographs and much more. The mysterious letters and writings of Brian Wilson are especially noteworthy," said Kruse. Also selling in the auction are lost photos of Aaliyah, Nelson Mandela, Tom Hanks, River Phoenix, Madonna, James Brown, Ray Charles, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and others. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific, with online bidding available. Individuals seeking additional information, including inspections, may visit www.thecelebauction.com or www.gwsauctions.com or email [email protected] for an appointment. GWS Auctions, based in Beverly Hills, California, is a full-service auction and real estate company that specializes in rare antiques, collectibles, coins and other assets in southern California and beyond. Brigitte Kruse, a fifth-generation auctioneer, made the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016 for the "largest abandoned property auction in world history." For more information: Carl Carter, 205-823-3273 SOURCE GWS Auctions Inc. Related Links http://www.gwsauctions.com New intelligence platform helps organizations of any size elevate their digital presence COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Siteimprove, a global software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides content and analytics insights to help organizations transform their digital presence, has expanded its product and services to empower organizations of all sizes to act with digital certainty. "Without complete visibility into your content and analytics, errors go unnoticed and the user experience suffers," said Morten Ebbeson, Founder & CEO, Siteimprove. "Mistakes and insufficient design cost organizations credibility, brand integrity and money. Siteimprove helps organizations take efficient informed steps toward digital certainty." High Stakes, Innovative Solutions According to the University of Surrey, 75 percent of people develop a brand perception based on their digital experience, while Econsultancy found that 88 percent forever abandon a site following a frustrating visit. Forward-leaning companies continue taking steps to be certain their digital presence meets or exceeds their other customer-facing channels. Since 2003, Siteimprove has helped customers firmly manage their digital presence with innovative, automated solutions that have become increasingly important amid growing website expectations and requirements. The Siteimprove Intelligence Platform features comprehensive tools that assure the accessibility, readability and overall quality of content and links, along with real-time analytics that enables customers to quickly make meaningful improvements. Everything is further brought to life by a dedicated "Customer Xperience" team now supplemented by new interactive tutorials, customized training and expert advisory services. These resources help organizations seize every opportunity within the platform. Now, Siteimprove is expanding the availability of its product offerings to help a wider range of organizations achieve a credible and consistent digital experience. Its new customizable Essential product offers affordable analytics and content management services, ranging from user-friendly and insightful behavior maps to on-page highlighting of accessibility errors. A free trial lets prospective customers dig deeper into the platform and see the progress they can make. Visit www.siteimprove.com to learn more. About Siteimprove Siteimprove transforms the way organizations manage and deliver their digital presence. With the Siteimprove Intelligence Platform, you gain complete visibility and deep insights into what matters, empowering you and your team to outperform the status quo with certainty every day. With a worldwide customer base of more than 5,000 customers, Siteimprove serves dozens of markets from offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Minneapolis, Oslo, Sydney, Toronto and Vienna. For more information, visit siteimprove.com. SOURCE Siteimprove Related Links http://www.siteimprove.com WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Criticizing the pay and benefits earned by federal government employees detracts from the real crisis facing tens of millions of private-sector workers who don't earn enough to live on and lack basic benefits like health insurance and retirement, says the head of the largest federal employee union. "Federal employees earn a living wage and benefits and that's nothing to apologize for," said J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. More private-sector employers should follow the federal government's model of providing workers with living wages and basic benefits like health insurance and retirement, says J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal and D.C. government workers. "I'm proud that the federal government provides affordable health care to the nurses who care for our veterans and a modest pension to the Border Patrol agents who risk their lives to keep drug runners and terrorists out of our country," Cox said. "If more private-sector employers followed the government's model, millions more workers would make enough to care for themselves and their families, have access to affordable and quality health care, and be able to save for retirement. "Instead, many full-time workers must rely on public assistance programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and subsidized housing just to survive while corporate executives and shareholders earn record profits." The average chief executive officer from private-sector companies on the S&P 500 Index was paid $13.1 million last year 347 times more than the average rank-and-file worker, and a six percent increase from the previous year, according to a recent data analysis by the AFL-CIO. The highest paid employee in the federal government earns $400,000 a year and that's the president of the United States. About 600,000 federal employees earn less than $50,000 per year, and about 900,000 federal employees make under $60,000 per year, according to the Office of Personnel Management. "Most federal employees are paid a modest salary that's actually less than what they would earn doing comparable work in the private sector," Cox said. "Where federal workers come out slightly ahead is in the benefits they are offered including health insurance, a defined benefit pension, and a defined contribution retirement although these benefits are becoming less generous by the year, as health care costs rise and Congress requires workers to shoulder more of cost of their retirement plans." A recent update to the Congressional Budget Office's 2012 comparison of federal and private-sector compensation relies on the same faulty assumptions as its earlier report, resulting in highly politicized and inaccurate assumptions. CBO's conclusion that federal employees are overpaid relative to the private sector is based almost exclusively on education, whereas wages and salaries for most federal jobs are based on duties and not educational attainment or factors such as age, race, or gender. This results in many federal jobs being inaccurately compared to private-sector jobs that have similar educational requirements but different levels of responsibility and duties, said Jacque Simon, AFGE's public policy director, in testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 18. For instance, correctional officers guarding dangerous inmates in federal prisons may be lumped with generic security guards at malls, while VA nursing assistants caring for wounded warriors with traumatic brain injuries may be grouped with office assistants calling in prescriptions to pharmacies. "The CBO study on federal pay does a great disservice to those who seek objective analysis on questions related to federal pay and benefits," Simon testified. The CBO study ignores scientific analysis by the government's own wage experts to draw misleading conclusions that are useful only to those who want to cut wages and benefits for the federal workforce. "Rather than fault the federal government for providing its workers with living wages and basic benefits, we should call on corporate America to be more like Uncle Sam," Cox said. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube." SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees Related Links http://www.afge.org AUSTIN, Texas, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstCare Health Plans has named Dr. Atheer Baldawi as a new regional medical director for its Amarillo, Lubbock and Waco service areas. "We took great care in selecting our new regional medical director to assure our customers that we have the right person in place to support our medical management and quality improvement activities," said FirstCare President and CEO Darnell Dent. "Dr. Baldawi's track record proves he is focused on improving the health of the communities he has served, which aligns with our belief that our communities should be healthy." Dr. Baldawi brings more than 17 years of combined experience in the health care industry and medical profession, complemented by a diversified medical training background, including extensive training in emergency medicine and internal medicine. His public health experience was defined, in part, by working with United States Army Civil Affairs, helping to rebuild the Iraqi Ministry of Health after the 2003 Gulf War. Prior to joining FirstCare, he served as a medical director for Killeen Metroplex Hospital in Killeen, Texas, and as an emergency medicine physician in several Central Texas hospitals. Dr. Baldawi was also involved with numerous research efforts and publications including working as researcher in several clinical trials in Austin, Texas. He is currently on the faculty of Texas A&M Health Science Center, College of Medicine and a lecturer at the Emergency Medicine Residency at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas. Dr. Baldawi joins FirstCare's medical management team at the company's corporate headquarters in Austin. "With extensive experience in the medical, public health, and health care sectors, as well as clinical leadership, Dr. Baldawi demonstrates his commitment to helping people live healthy lives," said FirstCare Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adolfo Valadez. "And, at FirstCare, that's what we dowe empower Texans to live healthier lives by providing access to affordable, high-quality health care." Dr. Baldawi received his medical training from Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, and his master of public health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He is board certified in emergency medicine and a Fulbright scholar. About FirstCare Health Plans Our mission is to provide access to high quality, affordable health care through strong partnerships in the communities we serve. Since 1985, we've been serving the health care needs of members across North, West, and Central Texas. Today, our service area includes 143 counties, with local offices in Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, and corporate offices in Austin, Texas. We offer a wide range of HMO, PPO, HSA, and ASO products through a variety of programs, including small and large employer plans; state, federal and teacher plans; government programs; and the Health Insurance Marketplace. With the support of our owners, Covenant Health in Lubbock and Hendrick Health System in Abilene, we serve over 180,000 members. For more information, please visit www.FirstCare.com. SOURCE FirstCare Health Plans Related Links http://www.firstcare.com AKRON, Ohio, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Arbor Day Foundation, in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters, has recognized FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) as a Tree Line USA utility for 19 consecutive years. The award recognizes investor-owned and public utility companies electric, gas and water that promote the dual goals of reliable utility service and healthy trees along America's streets and highways. Award-winning companies demonstrate excellence in tree care, training and public education. "It takes dedication to strike a balance between service reliability and maintaining the beauty of the trees in communities we serve," said David Karafa, vice president, Distribution Support, FirstEnergy. "Our employees and certified forestry contractors do a great job year-round to properly maintain trees and vegetation. This helps reduce the frequency and length of power outages, especially during storms." FirstEnergy's tree care program combines the best practices of certified arborists and foresters to keep vegetation away from power lines and other electric equipment, which helps reduce the number and severity of service interruptions. "Service providers like FirstEnergy show that caring for urban trees is good for business, for customers and for the community," said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. To achieve the Tree Line USA designation, companies must meet five program standards: follow industry criteria for quality tree care; provide annual training for employees in best tree-care practices; sponsor tree-planting and public education programs on appropriate plantings; maintain a tree-based energy conservation program; and participate in Arbor Day events. In addition to enhancing service reliability and natural beauty, FirstEnergy's tree trimming programs are designed to help ensure the public safety and the safety of utility line crews, especially during storms and other hazardous conditions. FirstEnergy Corp. is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com. SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp. Related Links http://www.firstenergycorp.com MALVERN, Pa., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontline Education achieved major strategic milestones in the first quarter of 2017 across new clients, new solutions and thought leadership with the launches of the company's Integrated Insights Platform, Frontline Mobile and civil discourse-focused publication, The Line, along with increased results in financing and acquisition, that together have yielded new solutions offerings and client partnerships. The early momentum has continued into the second quarter of this year. "We spent much of 2016 executing on aggressive sales and service strategies designed to promote growth across the organization and help achieve the goals of the districts we support," said Frontline Education President & CEO, Tim Clifford. "Strategic acquisitions, core product development and service platform investments built a foundation for the launch of the Integrated Insights Platform as well as The Line in early 2017, while an aggressive sales and service approach positioned Frontline to attract, implement and service more than 9,500 K-12 organizations, including more than 8,500 districts." The launch of the K-12 education market's first Integrated Insights Platform provided opportunities to expand Frontline Education's market position across the company's industry-leading solutions portfolio in Recruiting & Hiring, Absence & Time, Professional Growth and Special Ed & Interventions. This shift, early in the first quarter of 2017, resulted in increased partnerships with districts of all sizes and types including more than 125 multi-application sales and 77% of sales coming from existing clients, demonstrating high client satisfaction as well as the strong validation of Frontline's solutions. An approximate 20% increase in applications per client from 2016 to early 2017 indicates a shift towards more significant district partnerships with Frontline Education over typical point solution vendor relationships and shows that districts understand the benefits of adopting multiple, integrated solutions from one partner. Applications and solutions releases including Frontline Mobile, which added more than 10,000 active users in three months, and Frontline Central gave Frontline Education the leading market position necessary to ensure key sales including Detroit Public Schools, Kansas City Public Schools Unified School District 500 and Jefferson County Schools. "The time savings with Frontline Central is huge. Lots of streamlining and lots of important timelines reduced so that we can focus on bigger and better things," said Loraine Morazzano, Ph.D., Senior Chief Officer, Human Capital for Grand Prairie Independent School District in Texas. "We are saving money by eliminating the paper from our onboarding process. Now that money is freed up for other initiatives." While organic growth represents a large percentage of the strategic plan, Frontline Education has also maintained corporate development momentum from the five acquisitions that were completed last year. Frontline investors finished 2016 by raising another round of equity capital to put an additional $100 million in acquisition-related funding on the balance sheet. A critical component of growth at Frontline Education coming into 2017, that foundation led to the acquisition of Teachers-Teachers early in the second quarter. In addition to milestones in sales, acquisition and development, the debut of The Line, a publication for superintendents by superintendents, created a tangible representation of Frontline Education's thought leadership initiative. Focused on civil discourse and the path forward for K-12 education, The Line is a publication of the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. The recently announced appointment of Ted Mitchell, former Under Secretary of the US Department of Education, to the Frontline Education board has added to the company's leadership position in the education market. About Frontline Education: Frontline Education is an integrated insights partner serving more than 9,500 K-12 organizations and millions of educators, administrators and support personnel in their efforts to develop the next generation of learners. With more than 15 years of experience serving the front line of education, Frontline Education is dedicated to providing actionable intelligence that enables informed decisions and drives engagement across school systems. Bringing together the best education software solutions into one unified platform, Frontline makes it possible to efficiently and effectively manage the administrative needs of the education community, including their recruiting and hiring, employee absences and attendance, professional growth and special education and interventions programs. Frontline Education corporate headquarters are in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with offices in Andover, Massachusetts, Rockville Centre, New York and Chicago, Illinois. Learn more at www.frontlineeducation.com SOURCE Frontline Education Related Links http://www.frontlineeducation.com BOSTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Glance Networks, a leading provider of visual engagement solutions, today announced a partnership with Trident University International (Trident) to expedite the application process for the University's prospective students. With Glance's visual engagement solutions, Trident's admissions advisors are able to instantly and securely share a student's browser view, simplifying the on line application process. Advisors and students can collaborate in real time anywhere, anytime, and across any device. "As a 100% on line educational institution with students all over the world, we need an interactive environment that increases a student's likelihood of success," said Travis Allen, President & CEO, Trident University International. "Glance understands our commitment to our student community, and offers a unique experience that supports our students across the globe." Trident attracts high-quality, military, veteran, and civilian students looking for a learning model that emphasizes the development of critical thinking and problem solving. Trident is committed to each student's success and offers a comprehensive set of support services to guide them through every step of the on line learning journey. Before deploying Glance's visual engagement solutions, Trident had explored single-function tools like instant messaging and screen sharing, but found the experience insufficient for supporting and guiding their students. Glance's visual engagement solutions align most closely with Trident's mission to humanize the on line environment. When applicants encounter sticking points, or have questions about the process, a couple of mouse clicks puts them in direct contact with a Trident advisor, who is able to view what the applicant sees on their screen. By interacting with a live advisor, students are able to resolve any questions and complete their application. "We are in the business of providing customers like Trident with interactive customer care," said Tom Martin, CEO, Glance Networks. "Online learning is vital to students who need access to higher education, but their situations dictate greater flexibility due to military duty or other commitments. Instead of just talking at these prospective students, our technology provides Trident's advisors with the unique ability to connect with in ways that lead to meaningful outcomes." With Glance's visual engagement solutions, students can then control the cursor themselves or give the advisor control to highlight items on the screen that the student has questions about, allowing for efficient and engaging problem solving. Additionally, as Glance requires no software, plugins, or extensions, advisors can depend on the technology to work in every single engagement. For more information about Glance's visual engagement solutions visit: www.glance.net. For more information about Trident, please visit: www.trident.com. About Glance Networks Glance transforms the customer experience by enabling visual engagement for today's enterprise. We are one of the world's simplest, most reliable and secure solutions that enable companies to see, show and share anything on line, creating a frictionless path to great experiences in sales, support and customer service. The result is improved customer satisfaction, long-term customer loyalty and increased revenue growth. From financial services and healthcare to retail and travel and leisure, even the most advanced technology and SaaS organizations we transform the customer experience for today's business. To learn more, visit www.glance.net About Trident University International Founded in 1998, Trident University International (Trident) is a leading on line post-secondary university serving adult learners. Trident developed the Trident Learning Model, which employs case-based learning in an on line setting to teach real-world relevant critical thinking skills to enhance student's lives and careers. Trident offers high-quality bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs, led by a qualified faculty team, over 80% of whom have doctoral degrees. Visit www.trident.edu, Trident's Facebook page, or call at 800-579-3197 to learn more about Trident's wide range of program offerings. SOURCE Glance Networks Related Links http://www.glance.net What happened Shares of Ambev SA (NYSE: ABEV) were down 11.1% as of 12:15 p.m. EDT on Thursday as investors in the Brazilian brewing giant weighed the effects of a growing corruption scandal surrounding the country's president. So what Ambev certainly wasn't alone in its drop. Brazil's Bovespa stock market index is down 9.4% as of this writing following reports that President Michel Temer gave permission to try to bribe a witness to remain silent in an ongoing graft investigation. At least two Brazilian MPs have already filed requests for impeachment proceedings against Temer, leaving investors to worry over the fate of his pro-business plans for economic reform. Now what Before today's drop, Ambev stock had climbed nearly 9% this month on the heels of its strong first-quarter 2017 earnings report. Quarterly revenue climbed 8% year over year with growth in all geographies, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) fell 7.6% as solid growth in Latin America South, Canada, and Central America was held back by consumer market headwinds in Brazil. Suffice it to say, then, that investors are rightly concerned that Ambev will suffer if those headwinds intensify given Brazil's political turmoil. 10 stocks we like better than Ambev When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Ambev wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenely and Stanford University are launching the Greenely Go mobile application in California after a year of development in a unique collaboration aiming to demonstrate how effectively a newly developed behavioral algorithm can help decreasing households' electricity usage in California. The app utilizes energy consumption data from PG&E and is now available to download for all PG&E customers free of charge. Screenshots from Greenely Go phone app Researchers from the Dept. of Psychology at Stanford University have collaborated with Greenely for almost two years to study and develop new behavioral technologies for reducing households' energy consumption to a greater extent than previously achieved. Stanford University has also verified similar technologies in other areas and achieved good results in terms of encouraging people to embrace sustainable behaviors by reducing meat and water consumption. The core of the new technology is a dynamic comparison with equivalent households. "Many homes already receive comparisons of their energy usage to their neighbors to help encourage energy savings, what we refer to as 'static norm feedback'. We believe it will be more influential to show people 'dynamic norm feedback' by highlighting that others are reducing their home energy use, which signals that energy conservation is important and that change is possible. In other domains, like water conservation, we've seen that learning that others are changing can be three times as effective than just comparing one's own use to others," says Gregg Sparkman, PhD. researcher at Dept. of Psychology, Stanford University. Power utilities in the US have come a long way in the work of residential energy efficiency thanks to several financial instruments that encourage this, especially in California. They have established portfolios with different energy efficiency solutions and have therefore shown great interest in Greenely's service and the results that can be achieved by the algorithms. "We hope to demonstrate a higher energy efficiency rate than previous behavioral techniques. Following the project, the results will be presented to the major energy utilities in the United States to commercialize the service and build a business here in the United States," says Tanmoy Bari, CEO of Greenely. Researchers from the Dept. of Psychology at Stanford University, Greenely's founders and a Swedish delegation consisting of members from the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Swedish Energy Agency and Sweden's Embassy, met at Jordan Hall at Stanford University last June to discuss and demonstrate Greenely's cooperation with Stanford. The project is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, KIC InnoEnergy, Stanford University and Greenely, and is expected to run over 12 months. About Greenely Greenely, a Swedish company supported by KTH Innovation and KIC InnoEnergy, has created a new way to encourage households to a smarter energy use via a mobile application, without requiring hardware. The service uses behavioral science and data analysis to give households greater information about their behavior. Contact information Tanmoy Bari, CEO at Greenely +46736436236 [email protected] SOURCE Greenely DENVER, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammond's Candies today announced the latest of a string of flavor innovations that it has made to its much-loved snack lines. The Colorado-based confectioner has made a very festive flavor addition to its fastest growing segment: Birthday Cake Caramel Corn. Popped to perfection and full of flavor, Hammond's Caramel Corn line starts with classic flavors, but doesn't stop there. Surprising twists and combinations make treats memorable and leave snackers reaching for more. The newly launched Birthday Cake joins Caramel, Chocolate Caramel, Sweet & Cheesy, Churro and Sriracha Cheddar to round out the line. Retailers that stock their shelves with Hammond's Caramel Corn can rest assured that there's something to delight the full range of buyers' taste buds. "94% of Americans snack at least once a day.1 Since 62% of these snackers prioritize taste and flavor when choosing their next bite to eat, Hammond's ensures they have a range of options made with the highest quality ingredients and time-tested recipes," said Andrew Schuman, Hammond's President and CEO. "Birthday Cake Caramel Corn is just the latest of what will be many more innovative flavors that we launch to satisfy buyers' growing appetites. We can't wait to tell you what we're up to next." Get a taste of the sweet new flavor at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago May 23rd-May 25th. Stop by booth 883 for a sampling of popular treats from Hammond's Brands, including products from its Hammond's Candies, Old Dominion Peanut Company and Mellow Snacks lines. For more information about adding much-loved Hammond's treats to your shelves, visit www.hammondscandies.com or call 888-226-3999. About Hammond's Hammond's Candies began delighting candy lovers with artisan candy canes, beautifully spun ribbon candy, and larger-than-life lollipops when it was founded by the Hammond family in 1920, making it Colorado's favorite handmade confectioner for decades. In 2007, the company became the Hammond's Brands that it is today through its acquisition by current President and CEO Andrew Schuman, growing from a much-loved, local candy company to a leading gourmet sweet provider with national regard (and has doubled the number of employees). Since then, Hammond's has gone on to acquire such companies as McCraw's Candies in 2010 and Old Dominion Peanut Company in 2012 as well as to gain impressive recognitions for their brand packaging and product innovation. Follow Hammond's Candies on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hammondscandies and on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/hammondscandies/ to stay up to date on their latest releases. More information is also available at www.hammondscandies.com or by calling 1-800-CANDY-99 (1-800-226-3999). Media Contact: Lynn Brainard [email protected] Telephone: 714-771-4397 1 http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/a-snacking-nation-94-of-americans-snack-daily SOURCE Hammond's Related Links http://www.hammondscandies.com ROCHESTER, Mich., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hitachi Business Finance, a division of Hitachi Capital America Corp., has expanded its financing solutions to include syndicated lending and in the past quarter, provided $65 million to three U.S. companies. "We are excited about the traction we are gaining in the syndicated market and expect Tom Bayer, ([email protected]/203-956-3249) as our origination leader for this initiative, to help us continue this momentum," says President and COO Mike Semanco. Hitachi Business Finance offers hold positions that range from $5-$25 million and potentially higher depending on the transaction. Proceeds are used for working capital (A/R and inventory), equipment/capex and growth capital, acquisition, turnaround, and recapitalization financing. As a non-bank, non-traditional commercial finance company, syndication partners and clients both benefit from competitive pricing, a non-regulated environment, industry knowledge, and turnaround times. Collaboration partners include regional and national banks, specialty finance companies, and equity sponsors. "While we may be new to the market, we have the experience and resources to be a viable partner to fellow lenders," adds Semanco. "Hitachi Capital is a non-regulated financing source with a strong capital position. Expanding our senior-secured financing capabilities will allow us to gain additional market share beyond our current capabilities of factoring and direct ABL lines of credit." About Hitachi Business Finance Hitachi Business Finance is a source of opportunity and information for entrepreneurs seeking solutions beyond traditional lending. Backed by the global power of Hitachi Ltd., and with more than a decade of proven success, we offer asset-based financing designed to help improve a company's cash position. Visit us at www.hitachibusinessfinance.com for more information. About Hitachi Capital America Corp. Hitachi Capital America Corp. is an independent, diversified leasing and financial services company providing financing to commercial businesses and other Hitachi companies in the United States and Canada. We offer a variety of asset-based financing solutions with a focus on truck, trailer, and floorplan financing; trade financing; medium/small ticket financing; structured financing; vendor financing; and asset-based lending. Learn more at www.hitachicapitalamerica.com. SOURCE Hitachi Business Finance Related Links http://www.hitachibusinessfinance.com MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and NASA are bringing FMA Live! Forces in Motion, an award-winning hip-hop educational experience, to middle school students in South Carolina this week. Now on its 26th tour, FMA Live! has already traveled to middle schools in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and is now making its way to Columbia, South Carolina. Starting Thursday, FMA Live! will perform in front of South Carolina students at St. Andrews Middle School and W.A. Perry Middle School after having performed at Dooly County Middle School in Georgia on Monday, May 15. The spring tour will conclude in Virginia the following week. Since 2004, FMA Live! has traveled nearly 112,000 miles to more than 1,200 schools and performed for 480,000 students in 48 contiguous U.S. states, as well as in Mexico and Canada. The one-of-a-kind show promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) incorporates hip-hop music, dancers, student volunteers, and on-stage, interactive science experiments to demonstrate how physics is part of everyday life. "FMA Live! is designed to encourage the kids of today to take an interest in becoming our future scientists and mathematicians," said Mike Kincaid, NASA's acting associate administrator for Education. "It is important for students to understand that creativity and personal style can be mixed in with a STEM education. With our long-term partner Honeywell, we are showing students that a career in a STEM-related field is within their grasp if they want to pursue it." Each performance focuses on Newton's law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion. FMA Live! is named after Newton's second law of motion (Force equals Mass times Acceleration) and uses music videos and interactive scientific demonstrations to teach and inspire students to pursue STEM careers. "With each school performance, Honeywell and NASA are helping to prepare more students to take an interest in STEM and become our future problem-solvers," said Mike Bennett, president, Honeywell Hometown Solutions. "The longevity of FMA Live! is a testament to how influential interactive STEM programs can be to students." The FMA Live! Forces in Motion experience also features an online "Teachers' Lounge" that includes National Science Education Standards-based teaching resources including downloadable streaming videos, music from the show and a comprehensive educational guide with lesson plans. This digital tool maintains post-show momentum and can be incorporated into classroom learning objectives throughout the school year. To learn more visit FMALive.com. About FMA Live! Using live actors, hip-hop songs, music videos, interactive scientific demonstrations and video interviews with scientists and engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the show teaches Newton's Three Laws of Motion and Universal Law of Gravity. Honeywell and NASA created FMA Live! in 2004 to inspire middle school students to explore STEM concepts and careers. The program addresses Forces and Motion learning objectives outlined by the Next Generation Science Education Standards for students in grades 58. Through Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company has a number of award-winning programs focused on inspiring students at all grade levels to embrace STEM education. The company chose physics for FMA Live! Forces in Motion because studies have shown that the middle school years offer the best window of opportunity to get students interested in STEM careers. Supporting Resources About Honeywell Hometown Solutions FMA Live! Forces in Motion is part of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative, which focuses on five areas of vital importance: Science & Math Education, Family Safety & Security, Housing & Shelter, Habitat & Conservation, and Humanitarian Relief. Together with leading public and nonprofit institutions, Honeywell has developed powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it serves. For more information, please visit http://citizenship.honeywell.com/. About Honeywell Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. Contacts: Media Cecilia Tejeda (973) 455-3450 [email protected] SOURCE Honeywell Related Links http://www.honeywell.com ARMONK, N.Y., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) today announced a partnership to modernize the accounting profession and prepare accounting and finance professionals for future skills in artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data and cognitive computing. IBM will provide an advanced cognitive and data skills platform to accounting professionals to more quickly acquire data science, business analytics and AI skills. By acquiring cognitive skills, accounting professionals can play a bigger role in guiding digital transformation within their organizations. The partnership will transform how accountants work, but also how they learn -- from in-person classes in traditional disciplines to hands-on cognitive learning that will provide skills to extract insight from the sea of data. For example, accountants and finance professionals today focus on analyzing contracts to ensure business such as tax compliance and mergers runs effectively. However, by applying the power of cognitive technologies to these data-driven activities, accounting professionals free themselves to redeploy talent to higher value, more strategic business activities. "An important part of creating a future for accounting and finance professionals is providing them the opportunity to gain the necessary growth skills to avoid disruption," said Tom Hood, CEO of the MACPA and the Business Learning Institute. "We've seen what IBM can do with automating data-driven businesses, and we are excited to advance our century-old mission of equipping members with the most advanced skills needed to be competitive in tomorrow's job market. We look forward to adding the IBM curriculum to our existing portfolio of future ready skills." Interactive cognitive courses will be delivered through IBM Big Data University via the Business Learning Institute, the MACPA's learning and innovation subsidiary. Big Data University provides skills training to a community of nearly 700,000 global students and professionals. Classes will feature training in machine learning, deep learning and AI to help accounting professionals apply insights derived from cognitive computing to solve complex financial problems with improved, learned productivity. "Data Science and AI are transforming every industry, providing business professionals with deeper and more actionable insights, leading to better business decisions," said Willie Tejada, Chief Developer Advocate. "IBM is committed to providing students, professionals, and developers with the skills they need to leverage these new technologies." This partnership, extends IBM's commitment to equip data scientists and developers with the educational resources they need. IBM recently announced partnerships with Galvanize and TopCoder, as well as the introduction of an AI nanodegree program with Udacity to help developers establish a foundational understanding of AI. Additionally, IBM offers the IBM Learning Lab, which features more than 100 curated online courses and cognitive use cases from providers such as CodeAcademy, Coursera and Udacity. IBM developerWorks also offers how-to tutorials and courses on IBM tools and open standard technologies for all phases of the app development lifecycle. About IBM For more information on IBM, visit: http://www.ibm.com/developer About the Maryland Association of CPAs The Maryland Association of CPAs exists to help CPAs connect with each other in strategic ways, to protect our members' interests, and to help them achieve greater success. We provide the resources and services that CPAs need to excel in their profession. Since 1901, the MACPA has been a national leader in the CPA profession. Visit http://www.MACPA.org. About the Business Learning Institute The Business Learning Institute is the leading talent-development organization for CPAs, finance, and accounting professionals. It provides customized, competency-based curriculums and a portfolio of "success skills" and technical programs designed for the finance and accounting profession. Founded in 1999 by the Maryland Association of CPAs, the BLI is an innovation and learning center that facilitates the development and sharing of competencies and strategic knowledge required for leadership in today's rapidly changing business environment. For more information, visit http://www.BLIonline.org. Media Contacts: Amanda Carl IBM Communications [email protected] Bill Sheridan Chief Communications Officer Maryland Association of CPAs and Business Learning Institute (443) 632-2314 [email protected] SOURCE IBM Related Links http://www.ibm.com MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INFU) ("InfuSystem" or the "Company"), a leading national provider of infusion pumps and related services for the healthcare industry in the United States and Canada, announced today that Eric Steen, director, President and Chief Executive Officer, has left the Company and resigned from the Company's Board of Directors effective immediately. The Board has appointed current Chairman of the Board, Gregg Lehman, Ph.D. as Executive Chairman to lead an "Office of the President," consisting of two directors and three senior management team members, to ensure a seamless transition until a new Chief Executive Officer has been appointed. The Board has retained the services of an executive management search firm to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer. Gregg Lehman, Executive Chairman of InfuSystem, said, "The ambulatory infusion market in which InfuSystem operates is undergoing a period of change necessitated by the effects of CMS ruling SE1609 announced in 2016. The Board strongly believes InfuSystem remains a financially strong company with employees possessing industry leading expertise that make it the best in the business. With the appropriate vision and leadership, we will be able to continue to grow this business, and drive shareholder value, in the years to come. While it is difficult to make changes, it is a sign of the vitality of the InfuSystem organization to move forward and break new ground that can lead to even greater rewards." Dr. Lehman continued, "I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Eric Steen for his contributions to InfuSystem during his tenure. He has provided us a strong and diversified base to grow our business into the future. We wish him well in his future endeavors." Members of the "Office of the President" Gregg Lehman (Director; Executive Chairman of the Board). Dr. Lehman has been a member of the Company's Board of Directors since May 8, 2014. Dr. Lehman's experience includes serving as Chief Executive Officer of two public companies, Health Fitness Corporation from 2006 to 2010 and MGC Diagnostics Corporation from 2010 to 2014. Dr. Lehman is a nationally recognized leader in population health management and has more than 28 years' experience in the health care industry. Dr. Lehman has a Doctorate and a Master of Science degree in higher education administration, with a minor in finance and economics from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Science in business management and marketing from Indiana University. David Dreyer (Director). Mr. Dreyer has been a member of the Company's Board of Directors since April 2008. Mr. Dreyer brings to the Company and the Board of Directors almost 30 years of accounting, financial, compliance and operating experience and expertise in the pharmaceutical, healthcare staffing, medical device, diagnostic and hospital administration industries. Mr. Dreyer's experience includes serving as Chief Financial Officer of three public companies, AMN Healthcare Services from 2004 to 2009, Biolase, Inc. from 2015 to 2017, and Sicor, Inc. from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Dreyer has been a Certified Public Accountant in California since 1986. Janet Skonieczny (Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Compliance Officer and Privacy Officer). Ms. Skonieczny became the Company's Chief Operating Officer in January 2013 and Executive Vice President in November 2014. Prior to 2013, she served as the Company's Vice President of Operations, Compliance Officer and Privacy Officer since November 2007 and as Vice President of Operations of InfuSystem, Inc., the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, since 1998. Further, she served as the Company's Corporate Secretary from 1997 to May 2012. Ms. Skonieczny has an Associates in Science (AS) degree from Ferris State University and is certified as a Cardiovascular Technologist (CCVT). Richard DiIorio (Executive Vice President and General Manager of Oncology). Mr. DiIorio has served as the Company's Executive Vice President of Oncology Sales since December 2016. Previously, Mr. DiIorio held the positions of Regional Vice President and Territory Manager at InfuSystem where he received numerous awards and honors. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. DiIorio held various sales and sales leadership roles at Stryker, Novartis, and Thermo Scientific. With over 17 years of successful medical sales experience, Mr. DiIorio brings extensive expertise in product launch and market knowledge focused on driving growth within the oncology market. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Boston College. Christopher S. Downs (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer "Interim"). Mr. Downs has served as the Company's Executive Vice President and Interim Chief Financial Officer since August 2016. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Downs served as the Company's Vice President and Treasurer since October 2013 and as Director of Finance from June 2011. Mr. Downs holds a B.S. in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Mr. Downs holds professional certifications as a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and Certified Financial Planning & Analysis Professional (FP&A). Conference Call The Company will conduct a conference call for investors on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the management changes. Gregg Lehman, Executive Chairman and Scott Shuda, director, will discuss the Company's management changes and answer questions from the financial community. The conference call may also include discussion of Company developments, forward-looking statements and other material information about business and financial matters. To participate in this call, please dial (877) 270-2148 or (412) 902-6510 to access the conference call. A replay of the conference call will be available by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088, confirmation code 10107907, through May 29, 2017. Additionally, a Web replay will be available on the Company's website at www.infusystem.com for 90 days. About InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. is a leading provider of infusion pumps and related services to hospitals, oncology practices and other alternate site healthcare providers. Headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, the Company delivers local, field-based customer support and also operates Centers of Excellence in Michigan, Kansas, California, Texas, Georgia and Ontario, Canada. The Company's stock is traded on the NYSE MKT under the symbol INFU. Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are considered to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," variations of such words, and other similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future actions, business plans, objectives and prospects, future operating or financial performance. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Company is identifying certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Those factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, potential changes in overall healthcare reimbursement, including CMS competitive bidding, sequestration, concentration of customers, increased focus on early detection of cancer, competitive treatments, dependency on Medicare Supplier Number, availability of chemotherapy drugs, global financial conditions, changes and enforcement of state and federal laws, natural forces, competition, dependency on suppliers, risks in acquisitions & joint ventures, U.S. Healthcare Reform, relationships with healthcare professionals and organizations, technological changes related to infusion therapy, dependency on websites and intellectual property, the ability of the Company to successfully integrate acquired businesses, dependency on key personnel, dependency on banking relations and covenants, and other risks associated with our common stock, as well as any litigation to which the Company may be involved in from time to time; and other risk factors as discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in other filings made by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Our annual report on Form 10-K is available on the SEC's EDGAR website at www.sec.gov, and a copy may also be obtained by contacting the Company. All forward-looking statements made in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. We do not intend, and do not undertake any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances after the date of such statements, except as required by law. Additional information about InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. is available at www.infusystem.com. CONTACT: Gregg Lehman Executive Chairman InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. 615-567-5462 Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz & Robert Blum Lytham Partners, LLC 602-889-9700 SOURCE InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. Related Links http://www.infusystem.com CALGARY, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Intermap (TSX: IMP), (ITMSF:BB), held its annual shareholders meeting on May 16, 2017, at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary, Alberta. A total of 102,521,151 common shares, representing 63.50% of the common shares outstanding were represented in person or by proxy. Below are the results of the matters that were voted on by shareholders: 1. Election of Directors Intermap's four director nominees were elected: Nominee Votes For (percent) Votes Withheld (percent) Patrick A. Blott 99.13% 0.87% Andrew P. Hines 99.19% 0.81% Michael R. Zapata 99.15% 0.85% Philippe Frappier 98.95% 1.05% 2. Appointment of Auditors The re-appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors was approved. Votes For (percent) Votes Withheld (percent) 95.07% 4.93% 3. Amendment of Articles The amendment of the articles to consolidate Intermap's common shares was approved. Votes For (percent) Votes Against (percent) 86.90% 13.10% 4. Approval of Unallocated Options The unallocated options under Intermap's stock option plan were approved. Votes For (percent) Votes Against (percent) 85.51% 14.49% 5. Amendment of Stock Option Plan The amendment of Intermap's stock option plan to remove the restriction on the number of options that can be granted to non-employee directors was approved. Votes For (percent) Votes Against (percent) 84.86% 15.14% The ordinary resolution to amend the Corporation's outstanding warrants, as described in the Information Circular, was withdrawn. SOURCE Intermap Technologies Corporation GERMANTOWN, Md., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a leader in the engineering and industrialization of biology to improve the quality of life and health of the planet, today announced the appointment of Mark Carnegie-Brown, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer of its wholly owned subsidiary Oxitec Ltd. Dr. Carnegie-Brown succeeds Hadyn Parry, who has been appointed Vice President, Corporate Development Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for Intrexon to strengthen its management ranks abroad as it continues to expand its global presence. "I am delighted to be joining Oxitec and look forward to advancing its pioneering solutions including Friendly Aedes," Dr. Carnegie-Brown stated. "I believe the Company's technology represents a paradigm shift in controlling both disease-carrying insects, including dangerous Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, and damaging agricultural pests that are increasingly resistant to chemical insecticides." Dr. Carnegie-Brown joins Oxitec with over 25 years leadership in the life science and health science industries. This includes strategic and operational experience in agrochemicals, drug development, contract manufacturing and drug delivery businesses. Prior to joining Oxitec, he was Chief Executive Officer of Glide Technologies and led the business to develop a proven therapeutic delivery platform, generate positive clinical results, and build a scalable manufacturing line. Before joining Glide Dr. Carnegie-Brown was General Manager of Zeneca's Agrochemical business in the United Kingdom and Ireland where he developed and implemented a cutting edge value chain strategy and drove transformation toward an organization attuned to consumers. He also previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Evolutec plc, a biological drug development business. Dr. Carnegie-Brown received a Ph.D. in Applied Biology with a specialty in pesticide resistance from Manchester University. Concurrent with Dr. Carnegie-Brown's appointment, Mr. Parry will move to a broader corporate role to support numerous functions abroad with specific responsibility for developing and expanding Intrexon's interests and business opportunities in EMEA. His business acumen, strong communication skills, and ability to engage at all levels of business from government to corporations to consumers will be a key asset to Intrexon. "It has been a real privilege to lead Oxitec over the last few years and to help develop such a promising technology into a truly operational solution that is much needed around the world. I now look forward to supporting the growth of Intrexon's broader business," said Mr. Parry. Randal J. Kirk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intrexon, commented, "We welcome Mark at the helm of Oxitec, the leading engineered insect capability in the world, and its exemplary team of scientists who are doing so much to address some of the most pressing needs in human disease vector control and crop protection against insect pests. And we welcome Hadyn, who so capably led Oxitec to its world leading position, to a role of even greater responsibility as he helps us to expand Intrexon's reach and penetration across multiple opportunities offering similar impact." About Oxitec Oxitec is a pioneer in using genetic engineering to control insect pests that spread disease and damage crops, and was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Oxford University (UK). Oxitec is a subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), which engineers biology to help solve some of the world's biggest problems. Follow us on Twitter at @Oxitec. About Intrexon Corporation: Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNA to create biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet. Intrexon's integrated technology suite provides its partners across diverse markets with industrial-scale design and development of complex biological systems delivering unprecedented control, quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call our synthetic biology approach Better DNA, and we invite you to discover more at www.dna.com or follow us on Twitter at @Intrexon, on Facebook, and LinkedIn. Trademarks Intrexon, Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNA, and Better DNA are trademarks of Intrexon and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Safe Harbor Statement Some of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and projections about future events and generally relate to our plans, objectives and expectations for the development of our business. Although management believes that the plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual future results may be materially different from the plans, objectives and expectations expressed in this press release. For more information regarding Intrexon Corporation, contact: Investor Contact: Christopher Basta Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +1 (561) 410-7052 [email protected] Corporate Contact: Marie Rossi, Ph.D. Director, Technical Communications Tel: +1 (301) 556-9850 [email protected] SOURCE Intrexon Corporation Related Links http://www.dna.com UNIONDALE, N.Y., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rivkin Radler, one of the Northeast's leading law firms with three offices and more than 165 attorneys has announced it is merging with the law firm of Iseman, Cunningham, Riester and Hyde (ICRH), with offices in Albany and Poughkeepsie, effective July 1, 2017. The firm will be known as Rivkin Radler and will feature one of the Northeast's largest health care law practices as well as capabilities across a wide spectrum of legal practices. "We are delighted to welcome the attorneys of Iseman, Cunningham, Riester and Hyde to the Rivkin Radler family. Their reputation for excellence in health care law, litigation and corporate and commercial transactions will greatly complement the services we provide for our clients," said Evan Krinick, Rivkin Radler's managing partner. All current ICRH attorneys and staff will be joining Rivkin Radler in both Albany and Poughkeepsie. "We look forward to joining forces with Rivkin Radler, "The firms share not only an alignment in practice areas, but also a passion for client service. The merger will enable us to provide a broader spectrum of services for our clients across the Hudson Valley region," said John Queenan, managing partner of Iseman Cunningham Riester and Hyde. "The ability to add depth and breadth to our clients in the Hudson Valley by joining a firm who has a similar client service centered culture is exciting," said Richard Mitchell, the original partner in the Iseman Cunningham Riester and Hyde Poughkeepsie, NY office. Founded in 1991, ICRH is a leading firm in the health care arena and represents many hospitals throughout the state. The firm is well-respected for its representations in complex litigation and large-scale commercial transactions. The firm's practices include: construction, corporate, creditor's rights, e-discovery/ data security, health care, insurance, labor and employment, litigation, municipal, nonprofit and real estate. "The merger will enable our attorneys to respond more effectively to the ever-increasing complexity and risk facing both individual and institutional health care providers. Together, we can provide more specialized legal support for our clients in areas in which day-to-day concentration and involvement produce greater value for the client by experienced partners who are able to manage all of the sophisticated issues presented in a transaction or litigated dispute," said Robert Iseman, founding partner of ICRH. ICRH has sixteen lawyers, all of whom will be joining Rivkin Radler. Joining the firm as partners are: Marc Antonucci, Brian Culnan, Richard Frankel, Carol Hyde, Robert H. Iseman, James Lagios, Richard Mitchell, John Queenan and Karen Sosler. Michael Cunningham will join the firm as of counsel. Stacey Goldstein will join the firm as counsel. Daniel Bernstein, Penny Hahn, Frank Izzo, Kara Matejov and David Restrepo join the firm as associates. Established in 1950, Rivkin Radler LLP has offices in Uniondale, Long Island; Hackensack, New Jersey; and New York City. The firm, which employs approximately 170 attorneys across 19 practice groups, is nationally recognized and was named an American Lawyer Media "Go-To" Firm by its clients. In addition, the firm is among the National Law Journal's 350 largest firms in the U.S. For more information about Rivkin Radler, visit www.rivkinradler.com. SOURCE Rivkin Radler LLP Related Links http://www.rivkinradler.com Boston, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide continues to strengthen its US team at the senior level with six new hires in New York, San Francisco and Detroit. "At Jack Morton we create extraordinary experiences for our clients and to do so, we continue to recruit and develop the best talent in our industry," said Josh McCall, Chairman and CEO, Jack Morton Worldwide. "We're excited to announce a number of senior hires, further building on our very talented teams across our offices in the US." New hires include the following: Cynthia Kuker, Vice President, Senior Creative Director, New York Cynthia has over 20 years' experience as a leading industry consultant, during which time she has collaborated with a number of agencies including Jack Morton. She has worked with many brands including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Marriott, IBM and Grant Thornton. Daniel Macena, Vice President, Creative Director, New York Before joining Jack Morton, Daniel served as creative director at McCann HumanCare where he worked with brands including Airborne, MegaRed, Digestive Advantage and Move Free. His prior experience also includes working with diverse brands like Ford Motor Company, Colgate, Burger King, United States Marines Corps, GM, Verizon Wireless and HBO. Elyse Marks , Associate Creative Director, San Francisco Elyse comes to Jack Morton from George P Johnson where she held the role of associate design director. Elyse has worked with brands such as Toyota, Scion, Lexus, Sony, Universal, Disney, Citi, The Federal Reserve Bank, Bandai and Bombardier. Colette Crespin, Executive Producer, San Francisco Colette joins Jack Morton from George P. Johnson where she was part of the team that delivered Dreamforce in 2016. Prior to this engagement she founded Wild Wellbeing, an experiential agency focused on wellbeing and based in London. Colette has worked with many diverse brands including Ren Skincare, Sweaty Betty, Google, Founders Forum, Jurlique and Anthroplogie. Lauren Lazarus, Executive Producer, Detroit and New York Lauren comes to Jack Morton from the Max Mara Fashion Group where she was director of special events and external affairs. Prior to this Lauren was trade-marketing manager at Giorgio Armani. Lauren Abernethy, Regional Account Director, Detroit Lauren comes to Jack Morton from the Simon Property Group where she held the role of regional vice president of marketing. Lauren is a highly experienced marketer with 19 years' experience in the retail and property management sector. These appointments are effective immediately. All new hires are available for interview upon request. To see Jack Morton job openings please visit: https://ipg.taleo.net/careersection/jm_ext_cs/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en About Jack Morton Worldwide Jack Morton Worldwide is an award-winning global brand experience agency. We believe brands need extraordinary ideas that create emotional connections, fuel conversations and deliver business results. For more than 75 years, we have brought brands to life through event marketing, promotional marketing, sponsorship marketing, content marketing, digital, social and mobile, and employee engagement. Jack Morton is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. More information is available at www.jackmorton.com or @jackmorton. SOURCE Jack Morton Worldwide Related Links http://www.jackmorton.com "We express our thanks and appreciation to our clients for their continued business, loyalty, and support during these past thirty years and are pleased to be able to grow and provide more opportunities to serve the community." Richard White, JacksonWhite founding shareholder The new office is located at 5635 N. Scottsdale Rd., Ste. 170 Scottsdale, AZ 85250 and we have already begun meeting with clients at this location. The office is located at Scottsdale Place, which offers modern offices, attentive reception staff, high-tech conference rooms, and many other amenities for our clients. We are excited for this new chapter for JacksonWhite and continue to develop our business in the valley. In addition to our Scottsdale office, JacksonWhite has offices in Mesa and Peoria, and offers services across the state of Arizona. For more information on our new location or practice areas, please visit www .jacksonwhitelaw.com/. In addition to serving our clients, JacksonWhite supports the activities of a number of area non-profit organizations including the Mesa United Way, statewide Chambers of Commerce, East Valley Senior Services, and the Alzheimer's Association Desert Southwest Chapter, among many others. At JacksonWhite we are dedicated to the service and betterment of our community. Founded in 1983, JacksonWhite P.C. offers a full-range of services to assist individuals, families, and businesses with their legal needs. Since its inception, the firm has grown steadily to include 20 highly experienced attorneys and over 60 paralegals, legal assistants, and staff. At this size, the firm is large enough to offer the efficiency and technical expertise of larger firms, yet small enough to provide clients with individual and personalized attention. MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Coyle (480)-464-1111 x151; [email protected] SOURCE JacksonWhite P.C. Related Links http://www.jacksonwhitelaw.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Airweave President & CEO, Motokuni Takaoka, a finalist of the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year, will be attending the finals in Monaco, June 7-11. Having been selected as the Japan national winner, Takaoka is one of 50 global business leaders selected for the prestigious award. As the Founder of Airweave, Mr. Takaoka has been recognized by the EY panel of judges for his innovation. "Business as usual" was the last thing on the mind of Stanford-educated engineer Motokuni Takaoka when he took over his uncle's struggling fishing line factory in Japan in 2004. After intensive experimentation, Takaoka discovered that the resin fiber of fishing lines could be repurposed for mattresses. Takaoka re-engineered the machinery to create the unique three-dimensional weave now known as airfiber providing a higher-quality sleep thanks to their ergonomic, breathable design. The first mattress shipped in 2007. Focusing on professional athletes, these elite early adopters helped to promote that a good night's sleep is paramount to peak performance throughout the day or, as Takaoka puts it, that "Tomorrow Starts Tonight." The result quickly drove airweave's revenue in Japan to the US $100M mark. About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries. About airweave Airweave is the Japanese bedding manufacturer known for their unique airfiber technology and the belief that "Tomorrow Starts Tonight." Having expanded to a range mattress models, lifestyle and technology products in Japan, airweave introduced the line of mattresses to the United States through https://www.airweave.com and select retailers in 2014. Airweave aims to be recognized as a global sleep solution brand, designing innovative products for use at home, traveling and everywhere in between. SOURCE airweave Related Links https://www.airweave.com "We have a renowned Communications, Internet and Technology Practice with a long history of handling matters that have transformed and continue to transform the telecommunications, media, and broadband industries," said Terrence J. Truax, Jenner & Block's managing partner. "Howard, Roger and Johanna will provide additional depth and breadth to the practice, further strengthening the team's ability to provide counsel to clients on the complex issues they face as these industries continue to evolve." Howard Symons. With nearly 40 years of experience in telecommunications law and policy, Mr. Symons has held senior positions in government and the private sector. As General Counsel of the FCC, he oversaw more than 60 lawyers who provided legal support for the Commission's policy and rulemaking activities and recommended decisions in adjudicatory matters. He also served as one of Chairman Wheeler's four senior advisors. As Vice Chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force, Mr. Symons was one of the primary architects of the first incentive auction: a two-sided auction in which broadcasters bid to give up their spectrum and wireless providers bid to buy it. From 1985 to 2014, Mr. Symons was a partner at another AmLaw 100 firm, chairing that firm's communications practice and serving as a member of the Policy (Executive) Committee. Between 1981 and 1985, he served as Senior Counsel to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications of the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he was responsible for developing legislation on matters ranging from domestic telephone policy to cable franchising and international telecommunications. Roger Sherman. Mr. Sherman has significant experience in a wide array of communications and technology matters, particularly in the wireless space. During his more than 20 years in Washington, Mr. Sherman has held senior positions at a federal agency, on Capitol Hill, and inside a major wireless company. In his role as the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief, he advised the Chairman and Commissioners on complex wireless matters, met regularly with C-suite executives in the industry, and supervised a team of more than 200 professionals. Before joining the Bureau, Mr. Sherman held a number of senior positions on Capitol Hill in which he advised on communications policy and other issues. As Chief Counsel to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he coordinated the Committee's legislative agenda and oversight efforts for a wide range of policy issues including health care, energy, telecommunications, and consumer protection. As Chief Counsel and Staff Director to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, he advised members on communications policy, legislation, and FCC oversight. Before working at Energy and Commerce, Mr. Sherman was Deputy Chief Counsel to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Before entering government service, he was a director/senior counsel with Sprint Corporation, focusing on its wireless business. Johanna Thomas. Ms. Thomas is an experienced media, internet and telecommunications lawyer. As legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel, she provided strategic legal and policy counsel on wireless, international and public safety issues. At the FCC, Ms. Thomas also served as a legal advisor to the chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and as an attorney advisor in the Media Bureau's Industry Analysis Division. Prior to entering government service, Ms. Thomas was an associate in the telecommunications, internet and media group at another Am Law 100 international law firm. Led by co-chairs Samuel L. Feder and John L. Flynn, Jenner & Block's Communications, Internet and Technology Practice is at the forefront of rapid changes in the business and regulation of these converging industries. The group represents clients in pursuing large mergers and other transactions, entering new industries, navigating new regulations and legislation, and creating new products and services. Its lawyers are best known for tackling particularly difficult problems and bet-the-company matters that require a combination of the team's top legal skills, hands-on FCC experience, and commitment to work wherever and whenever needed to achieve clients' objectives. "We are excited that Howard, Roger and Johanna have joined the team," said Mr. Feder, a former General Counsel of the FCC. "Howard is well versed in the issues of broadband, telephony and wireless, adding to our already strong reputation in those areas. Roger is widely regarded as one of the premier strategists on wireless regulatory matters, and Johanna's experience providing legal guidance on a variety of areas will add tremendous value for our clients in the industry." Mr. Flynn added, "Howard, Roger and Johanna have exceptional skills and industry knowledge that will benefit our clients and round out our growing team. Our practice has continued to grow in recent years with a team of dedicated associates, including several who have been promoted to partner, and the arrivals of partners Nancy Libin and Rebekah Goodheart. With the addition of these former high-ranking officials, we expect the wireless, cable, privacy, satellite, and new technology matters we handle to continue to expand." Mr. Symons earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Mr. Sherman received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Amherst College and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Ms. Thomas earned her A.B. with honors from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S COMMUNICATIONS, INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE Jenner & Block has a decades-long reputation for handling communications matters of national importance. This tradition began in the 1980s with the firm's work as lead counsel on behalf of MCI in the antitrust suit against AT&T. The practice represents communications and media companies across the United States, handling matters on the forefront of nearly all areas of communications law, including the internet, cable, telecom, wireless, satellite and media. In addition to FCC-related counseling, the Jenner & Block team has been engaged in a virtually nationwide set of activities related to seeking approval from state public utility commissions. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK Jenner & Block (www.jenner.com) is a law firm with global reach, with more than 500 lawyers and offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2016, The American Lawyer named Jenner & Block to the A-List, which recognizes the top 20 US law firms. The American Lawyer also recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the United States six of the past nine years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990. SOURCE Jenner & Block Related Links http://www.jenner.com DUBAI, UAE, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Jetex Flight Support marks another milestone in its growth history, with the announcement of a successful tender to provide FBO services at Ciampino-G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA/LIRA) in Rome, Italy. Set to open in the second half of 2017, the Ciampino FBO will herald Jetex's entry to the Italian market and further expand the company's European network, which encompasses locations including but not limited to France, Ireland, Spain and Ukraine. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160215/333075LOGO ) "Opening an FBO in Rome represents an important strategic step in expanding our presence in Europe," said Jetex CEO & President Adel Mardini. "The city's central geographical location, together with its importance as the country's political and financial capital, makes it the ideal location to establish our first FBO in Italy." As Rome's main hub for general aviation (GA), Ciampino Airport consistently ranks on the list of top 10 busiest GA airports in Europe. Ciampino saw an average daily departure rate of 21.1 GA flights in 2016, reflecting its position at the heart of Italian business aviation. "With a rich heritage of over 100 years of operation and close proximity to Rome's city center, Ciampino remains an important and strategic asset to the Italian airport system," said Mardini. "Providing FBO services at Ciampino allows Jetex to bring our world-class flight and ground handling services to a wider market." Based at the 1,800m2 GA terminal, the Jetex FBO will provide a range of ground support services including fueling, ground handling, aircraft parking, and ramp services. A full spectrum of flight support, ground transfer, and bespoke concierge services will also be available at the facility or via Jetex's operations centers in Dubai, Miami and Beijing. For more information, contact Jetex Global Headquarters at +971-4-212-4000 or email [email protected] ABOUT JETEX A global leader in executive aviation, Jetex is recognized for delivering flexible, best-in-class flight support solutions to customers worldwide. Jetex provides exceptional FBOs, aircraft fueling, ground handling and global trip planning. The company caters to an elite clientele including owners and operators of business jets for corporate, commercial and personal air travel. To find out how you can benefit from Jetex's award-winning services, visit www.jetex.com today. Contact Jetex Global Headquarters: Jetex Flight Support Dubai International Airport 06EA, Dubai, UAE P.O. Box 54698 E: [email protected] T: +971-4-212-4000 For Press Enquiries, Please Contact: Jetex Flight Support Media Room E: [email protected] T: +971-4-212-4000 SOURCE Jetex LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ShipLink Global LLC today announced the release of their new ShipLink 2017 hybrid, PC client and cloud-based shipping solution with its successful deployment at 14-year customer, KCMA Corporation's distribution centers in North America. The new solution provides KCMA with greater control and efficiency when shipping parts and supplies to their network of more than 160 dealers across the US and Canada locations that sell and service the company's wheel loaders and other heavy construction equipment. According to KCMA Senior Operations Manager, Chris Trogstad, "Construction schedules demand 100% equipment uptime. For KCMA that makes on-time delivery of critical replacement parts and supplies absolutely essential. With ShipLink we're able to access the full range of available freight and parcel carrier services to meet this demand." Unlike most shipping applications, which only offer a limited selection of carrier services, ShipLink 2017 integrates directly with free, carrier-supported programs from FedEx, UPS, DHL, Stamps.com, Purolator and Spee-Dee. As a result, the solution provides users with instant access to 100% of available services, including those required for international shipments and international origins. ShipLink 2017 is deeply integrated with ERPs to leverage the full spectrum of available customer, destination, SKU and business rules information. For KCMA and hundreds of other SYSPRO ERP users, the solution provides the ability to ship exactly how they desire. This includes shipping from both Dispatch and Delivery Notes, using multiple carrier accounts, allocating customer and product-specific freight charges, automatically updating order status, and tracking shipments within S/O Query. With ShipLink 2017, SYSPRO ERP users can now ship with greater speed, efficiency and visibility. To manage greater shipping capabilities, ShipLink 2017 provides a point-and-click administration console that governs hundreds of required customer, carrier and processing details. This unique component allows users to quickly configure the solution without a costly professional service engagement or undue burden on their own IT resources. "ShipLink essentially delivered a completely custom shipping solution that KCMA installed and brought live the same day. This wasn't possible with other solutions we explored, and practically unheard of in the enterprise shipping space," Chris Trogstad added. For enterprise users and companies with complex fulfillment processes, ShipLink 2017 supports rules-based order consolidation and automatic printing of packing lists. The solution also provides cloud-based utilities to harmonize ISO data, unify carrier codes, manage locations, provision workstations, process end-of-day manifests, and generate consolidated shipping reports. About ShipLink Global ShipLink Global LLC is a leading provider of carrier application integration and shipping solutions for SYSPRO and other ERPs. The company supports deployments which have been operating since 2003 in a diversity of industries, including consumer products, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, aerospace and ecommerce. To learn more, visit www.shiplinkglobal.com For additional information, contact Glenn Stewart 404-444-9725 SOURCE ShipLink Global LLC Related Links http://www.shiplinkglobal.com BUFFALO, N.Y., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) today held its annual meeting in Buffalo, NY, where it highlighted a successful and transformational year for the nearly 200-year-old institution in 2016. Shareholders heard how Key is growing across the company, the success of the First Niagara merger, and the continued commitment to creating shareholder value. "Key's successful acquisition of First Niagara, the largest in our company's history, and the addition of one million new clients is certainly a headline for 2016. But just as important is that Key delivered on our commitments to grow and create momentum for 2017," said Beth Mooney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KeyCorp. Mooney reflected on KeyCorp's history in New York, while also highlighting Key's strong levels of client growth: "Key was founded in New York nearly 200 years ago. Meeting with our shareholders in Buffalo today has given us the opportunity to acknowledge the transformational impact of the First Niagara acquisition as well as our success across the organization in 2016. Outside of the acquisition, Key's Community Bank grew net retail households by more than 45,000 and the Corporate Bank added or expanded over 1,200 relationships. This growth will enable us to continue helping our clients and our communities thrive for many more years to come." During the annual meeting, shareholders elected 16 nominees to KeyCorp's Board of Directors, each with executive leadership experience within a variety of national and international organizations, across a number of industries. Board elections were one of five proposals put before shareholders at the company's annual meeting, held at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Other proposals presented and approved by shareholders included the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent auditor for the 2017 fiscal year, an advisory proposal on compensation of KeyCorp's named executive officers, and an advisory proposal on the frequency of the shareholder vote on KeyCorp's executive compensation. A shareholder proposal which requested the Board seek an independent Board Chairman was presented but not approved by the shareholders. About KeyCorp KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $134.5 billion at March 31, 2017. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, insurance, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "outlook," "goal," "objective," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "project," "believe," "estimate" and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events. If underlying assumptions prove to be inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties arise, actual results could vary materially from these projections or expectations. Factors that could cause Key's actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in KeyCorp's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as well as in KeyCorp's subsequent SEC filings, all of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on Key's website (www.key.com/ir) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website (www.sec.gov). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Key does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events. SOURCE KeyCorp Related Links http://www.key.com OAKLAND, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Industrial Relations' (DIR) Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board today approved a landmark regulation to strengthen workplace safety and health at oil refineries across the state. The new regulation provides a framework for anticipating, preventing and responding to hazards at refineries. "This is the most protective regulation in the nation for the safety and health of refinery workers and surrounding communities," said DIR Director Christine Baker. "This new regulation will ensure California's oil refineries are operated with the highest levels of safety possible and with injury and illness prevention in mind." The approved regulation introduces a new refinery safety order enforced by Cal/OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) Unit, adding section 5189.1 to Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. The elements outlined in the regulation require refinery employers to: Conduct Damage Mechanism Reviews for processes that result in equipment or material degradation. Physical degradation, such as corrosion and mechanical wear, are common technical causes of serious process failures. for processes that result in equipment or material degradation. Physical degradation, such as corrosion and mechanical wear, are common technical causes of serious process failures. Conduct a Hierarchy of Hazard Controls Analysis to encourage refinery management to implement the most effective safety measures when considering competing demands and costs when correcting hazards. to encourage refinery management to implement the most effective safety measures when considering competing demands and costs when correcting hazards. Implement a Human Factors Program, which requires analysis of human factors such as staffing levels, training and competency, fatigue and other effects of shift work, and the human-machine interface. which requires analysis of human factors such as staffing levels, training and competency, fatigue and other effects of shift work, and the human-machine interface. Develop, implement and maintain written procedures for the Management of Organizational Change to ensure that plant safety remains consistent during personnel changes. to ensure that plant safety remains consistent during personnel changes. Utilize Root Cause Analysis when investigating any incident that results in, or could have reasonably resulted in, a major incident. when investigating any incident that results in, or could have reasonably resulted in, a major incident. Perform and document a Process Hazard Analysis of the effectiveness of safeguards that apply to particular processes and identify, evaluate and control hazards associated with each process. of the effectiveness of safeguards that apply to particular processes and identify, evaluate and control hazards associated with each process. Understand the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety and evaluate responses to reports of hazards by implementing and maintaining an effective Process Safety Culture Assessment program. Most refineries in California have adopted some of the practices outlined above over the past decade. Those refineries have seen significant improvement in safety performance. However, the industry still experiences major incidents that pose a risk to workers, nearby communities and cause disruption to fuel services. The regulation represents a comprehensive safety performance standard for the state's refinery sector. Now that the Standards Board has approved the regulation, the Office of Administrative Law has 30 working days to review and approve it. The new rules are part of a package of complementary regulations intended to make California refineries safer for both workers and surrounding communities. The companion regulation strengthens the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) program, designed to prevent the accidental release of hazardous substances that could harm public health and the environment. The revised CalARP regulation will also be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for approval in the coming weeks. Following a chemical release and fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond in 2012, the Governor's Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety called for the establishment of an Interagency Refinery Task Force. The task force was mandated to improve workplace safety and health, emergency preparedness and response procedures at refineries. The California Environmental Protection Agency formed the task force in August 2013, which includes DIR, eight other state agencies, the US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as local and regional agencies from across the state that have refineries in their jurisdictions. Cal/OSHA's PSM Unit is responsible for inspecting refineries and chemical plants that handle large quantities of toxic and flammable materials. Health and safety standards enforced by the PSM Unit, including adequate worker training and participation, are intended to prevent catastrophic explosions, fires, and releases of dangerous chemicals, which could harm workers. Prior to 2012, Cal/OSHA's PSM Unit conducted on average two to three planned refinery inspections per year, taking a single investigator approximately 80 hours to complete. Cal/OSHA has subsequently increased staffing of the PSM Unit from 10 to 24 staff members, including support personnel and investigators. The PSM Unit now has the resources to conduct more thorough inspections, deploying four to five inspectors at the four annual planned refinery inspections with an average of over 2000 hours at each planned inspection. In addition, the PSM unit invests 900 hours on average at each of the four turnaround inspections conducted at refineries each year. Turnarounds are scheduled operations where an entire process unit at a refinery is taken offline for an extended period for revamp or renewal. Cal/OSHA helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA's Consultation Services Branch provides free and voluntary assistance to employers to improve their health and safety programs. Employers should call (800) 963-9424 for assistance from Cal/OSHA Consultation Services. Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR's Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734). The California Workers' Information line at 866-924-9757 provides recorded information in English and Spanish on a variety of work-related topics. Complaints can also be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices. Members of the press may contact Erika Monterroza or Peter Melton at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR's press releases or other departmental updates. https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDIR https://twitter.com/CA_DIR http://www.youtube.com/CaliforniaDIR http://www.dir.ca.gov/email/listsub.asp?choice=1 The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR's Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department. SOURCE California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Related Links http://www.dir.ca.gov/ In addition, Legion Funding offers an enterprise or partnership level version of the program, the Commission Advance Partnership Program to select brokerage firms. The Partnership Program allows Real Estate Brokers to launch a customized and fully branded Commission Advance Program, using the financial backing, technology platform, back office, customer service and marketing support of Legion to create its own customized and branded program. Under the Partnership Program, there is no capital commitment on the part of the brokerage firm, with Legion Funding providing 100% of the capital for the program. A part of this offering includes the establishment of a marketing fund from a portion of the revenues of the program, which enables the broker partners to increase the number of listings, attract new agents, and otherwise grow the business. Legion is led by renowned real estate and hotel executive J. Bradley Hilton, grandson of legendary Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and former Head of Information Technologies for Hilton Hotels. "The Legion Commission Advance and Partnership Program is something we are incredibly excited about and we are proud to offer this valuable service to the real estate community," explained J. Bradley Hilton, President of Legion Funding. "This program allows realtors to access the capital and marketing they need to grow their business and increase listings and sales, and also allows Brokers to create a brand new untapped revenue stream using our capital, technology and support. It is truly an exceptional opportunity for real estate professionals." For more information on CAP, go to www.legionfunding.net/cap or by phone 1-888-878-2431. SOURCE Legion Funding Related Links http://www.legionfunding.net TAMPA, Fla., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leverage Digital has been recognized again for its growth by the University of South Florida Alumni Association. For the second straight year, the Tampa-based digital marketing agency was inducted into the top 25 of the USF Fast 56 by USF System President Judy Genshaft and USF Alumni Association Board of Directors Chair Jim Harvey. The 2017 USF Fast 56 honors the fifty-six fastest growing companies led by a USF alumnus. This year, Leverage Digital moved up two spots to rank 12th on the list after ranking 14th in 2016. Leverage Digital inducted into 2017 USF Fast 56 "We're proud to recognize Leverage Digital as one of the 56 fastest growing USF Bull-led businesses in the world," said USF Alumni Association Executive Director Bill McCausland. "It's a tremendous honor to be recognized again by the University of South Florida as one of the fastest growing alumni-led companies. I greatly value the time that I spent at USF, and owe Leverage Digital's success in large part to the education received, relationships built, and activities participated in while attending USF," said Jay Taylor, Founder and Managing Director at Leverage Digital. Mr. Taylor received both a bachelor's degree in 2004 and a master's degree in 2008 from USF. The 2017 USF Fast 56 was revealed in a ceremony on Friday, April 28, at the Marshall Student Center Ballroom and Oval Theater at the USF Tampa campus. The winning organizations are required to have been in business for at least three years, have revenues of $250,000 or more for the most recent 12-month period, and be owned or led by a University of South Florida alumnus. The 2017 USF Fast 56 companies were ranked by percentage of cumulative annual growth in revenue, as documented by Cherry Bekaert, a public accounting firm based in Tampa. Fifty-six USF alumni-owned or led businesses were selected as recipients, in recognition of the year USF was founded, 1956. Of the 56 winners, the top 25 companies received special recognition during the awards ceremony. ABOUT LEVERAGE DIGITAL Leverage Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency that partners with brands to successfully engage their audiences and achieve measurable results. The agency is a Certified Google Partner, and its work has garnered numerous industry accolades over the years, receiving honors from the International Davey Awards, Hermes Awards, W3 Awards, and Communicator Awards to name a few. In 2016, Leverage Digital was named the 14th fastest growing company owned or led by a University of South Florida alumnus. For more information, please visit http://www.leveragedigital.com/. ABOUT THE USF FAST 56 AWARDS The Fast 56 identifies, recognizes, and celebrates the world's fastest growing USF Bull-owned or Bull-led businesses. The awards celebrate their success while also providing a forum for passing lessons to the next generation of Bull entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit http://www.usfalumni.org/. MEDIA CONTACT Johnny Crosskey Leverage Digital 813-489-4494 [email protected] Related Links Website Facebook SOURCE Leverage Digital Related Links http://www.leveragedigital.com Startups and investors gather at the 2016 Wisconsin Entrepreneur's Conference at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. TOLEDO, Ohio, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE MKT: LBY) With more than 350 new products debuting this weekend at the 2017 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Libbey Inc.'s commitment to grow sales through innovative, trend-right and problem-solving new products will be on full display. These products range from dinnerware designed to help address cleanliness challenges in high-volume foodservice environments to premium glassware uniquely engineered to enhance the experience of drinking bourbon. Libbey also will open a new Chicago product showroom on Saturday, May 20, to provide a forum for Midwest foodservice distributors, and hospitality and foodservice buyers, restauranteurs and hoteliers to explore Libbey's tableware portfolio. "We're taking foodservice product development to the next level by targeting our new offerings to specific trends and pain points our customers face," said William A. Foley, Libbey chairman and chief executive officer. "Well-researched and strategic new products like these are a core tenant of our strategy to respond to a tough and ever-changing foodservice environment. We're using all the tools at our disposal, including previous capital investments, to create momentum and meet market opportunities head on." Exclusive New Dinnerware Delivers High Performance and Brighter White Color Constellation is the first-ever porcelain dinnerware with built-in Microban* technology, exclusively available from Libbey. Microban technology provides 24/7 product protection and helps dining establishments confidently ensure a fresher dining experience while proactively defending against improper cleaning and handling**. Microban protects the dinnerware against the growth of odor- and stain-causing bacteria that can pose risks to foodservice cleanliness. Microban technology is integrated into Constellation's fully vitrified glaze for an additional layer of defense that will not wash or scratch off. This advanced silver-based technology creates an inhospitable environment for microbes, to protect the plate by preventing microbes from growing and reproducing on the surface of the plate. ** Microban technology does not protect people from food-borne pathogens. New to Libbey's Syracuse China collection, Constellation dinnerware answers customer demand for brighter white dinnerware with a new color called Lunar White. Libbey also is introducing other new dinnerware products featuring market-inspired organic shapes, on-trend colors and mix-and-match patterns. Capital Investments Continue to Pay Off as Libbey Extends Master's Reserve Libbey is continuing to maximize the impact of 2013 investments in ClearFire glass technology at its Shreveport, La., plant by expanding the overall Master's Reserve collection to address primary beverage industry growth drivers, which include bourbon and premium cocktails. In 2016 alone, sales of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey were up 8 percent to $3.1 billion. And, while bourbon is one of the fastest growing domestic spirits in the United States, the dominant glass for serving bourbon is imported. Libbey has responded to this market opportunity by partnering with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to create the ideal bourbon glass. As America's Glassmaker, Libbey is providing the perfect, uniquely American glassware for "America's Native Spirit." Premium Teaware Meets Growing Millennial Demand Tea is one of the most popular and fastest growing beverages among Millennials 87 percent drink tea on a regular basis. Libbey has partnered with VIVA Scandinavia on tea service products that deliver the high-end experience Millennials expect from a handcrafted cocktail or craft coffee. Designed in Denmark and handcrafted by skilled artisans, the VIVA Scandinavia collection includes tea pots, cups, saucers and infusers. "The new products launching at NRA represent some of the most innovative in Libbey history," said Foley. "The collective impact of our recent investments in innovative, groundbreaking glassmaking technology and strategic alliances with the likes of Microban, Kentucky Bourbon Trail and VIVA Scandinavia show that we aren't letting up anytime soon. Expect Libbey to keep serving up our experience with innovative products for years to come." About Libbey Inc. Based in Toledo, Ohio, Libbey Inc. is one of the largest glass tableware manufacturers in the world. Libbey Inc. operates manufacturing plants in the United States, Mexico, China, Portugal and the Netherlands. In existence since 1818, the company supplies tabletop products to retail, foodservice and B2B customers in over 100 countries. Libbey's global brand portfolio, in addition to its namesake brand, includes Crisa, Royal Leerdam, Syracuse China and World Tableware International. In 2016, Libbey Inc.'s net sales totaled $793.4 million. Additional information is available at libbey.com. *Microban is a registered trademark of Microban Products Company. The contents of this document and other Libbey Foodservice marketing materials represent the official, sanctioned messaging for Libbey's Constellation dinnerware featuring Microban technology. Libbey cannot verify or stand by the accuracy of any other statements developed by other sources. KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL is a trademark/service mark of the Kentucky Distillers' Association. Please drink responsibly. Media Contacts: Stephanie Johnston Jamie Burt Media Liaison Corporate Communications Manager R/P Marketing Public Relations Libbey Inc. [email protected] [email protected] 419.241.2221 419.325.2672 SOURCE Libbey Inc. Related Links http://libbey.com CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lightmatter, a startup using light to calculate faster and more efficiently than existing artificial intelligence hardware, took home the Robert P. Goldberg $100,000 grand prize Wednesday night after beating out seven teams of finalists during the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition's Launch Finale held last night on the MIT campus. A panel of judges made up of seasoned entrepreneurs and industry professionals said they chose Lightmatter based on the strength of their technology, business plan, pitch, and team composition. To power the next generation of artificial intelligence, say the MIT PhD students behind Lightmatter, a new kind of computing hardware is needed. "While big datasets and the steady advancement of electronic computing hardware have enabled the artificial intelligence revolution, progress in electronics is slowing as the transistorthe workhorse of modern computersapproaches its fundamental size limit," says Nicholas Harris, co-inventor of the startup's optical neural network technology. "At Lightmatter, we're using light to accelerate artificial intelligence. By computing with light, rather than electrical signals, Lightmatter's systems are able to calculate faster and more efficiently than existing artificial intelligence hardware." Team members are: Nick Harris: An EECS PhD candidate and National Science Foundation Fellow studying optical quantum computing and artificial intelligence at MIT. Yichen Shen: A postdoctoral associate at MIT, he joined the MIT Physics department to study nanophotonics and artificial intelligence. He earned his Ph.D. from MIT in 2016 and is co-inventor of Lightmatter's optical neural network technology. Darius Bunandar: Developed software that visualizes night skies that have been distorted by black holes. The blockbuster movie Interstellar recently used this software to create scientifically accurate images. After enrolling in the Physics PhD program at MIT, he joined the quantum photonics lab to investigate artificial intelligence in the context of quantum computation and communication. Thomas Graham: Currently pursuing his MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management. He previously held business strategy and business development roles at Google and Google X. "Over the past century, human progress and computational power have been inextricably linked," says Shen. "Our goal is to power the next generation of computing to build the tools that will move humanity forward." Additional awards presented at last night's finale include the $10,000 Booze Allen Hamilton Data Analytics Prize. The winner, Pipeguard, noted that approximately 20% of all clean water produced around the world leaks from distribution pipes. Their offering is a robot named Daisy that can locate leaks with her innovative skirt sensor while traveling inside the water pipes, accurately locating leaks that are too small for current technology to detect. changeWATER, whose next generation portable toilet vaporizes off-line sewage, won the $5K Audience Choice Award. changeWATER is targeting the 2.6 billion people around the world who lack access to safe, dignified sanitation due to a lack of access to power or plumbing. The remaining five finalists and their offerings are: CareMobile Transportation: Fusing a technology platform with a new service model, CareMobile aims to improve Non-Emergency Medical Transportation by leveraging passionate adult care professionals as both drivers and care coordinators, providing empathy-driven, end-to-end assisted-care services. Legionarius: Hemorrhaging has caused 91% of preventable military fatalities over the past ten years. In response, Legionarius has developed a hemorrhage control system that is integrated into clothing for military and law enforcement professionals. NeuroMesh is a managed security and intelligence platform for IoT and Industrial IoT devices. They have created a vaccine for IoT by repurposing malicious hacker weapons for good. NeuroSleeve has developed a low-cost and automated nerve conduction sleeve for the diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The device uses electrical impulses to assess the function of the nerves in the upper limb. Rendever: A virtual reality platform to provide cognitive stimulation, socialization and immersive therapeutic experiences to assuage isolation and depression in seniors. Jason Jacobs, founder and chairman at RunKeeper in Boston, served as this year's keynote speaker. He shared the process of how the RunKeeper smartphone app became one of the world's most popular personal fitness programs. He stressed to the audience to choose a problem with deep personal meaning, and how vision should drive one's capital strategy rather than the other way around. To date, the MIT $100K has facilitated the birth of more than 160 companies, which have gone on to raise $1.3 billion in venture capital and build $16 billion in market capitalization. More than 30 MIT $100K startups have been acquired by major companies, such as Oracle and Merck. Over 4,600 people are currently employed by MIT $100K companies. Recent IPOs include Akamai (AKAM), net.Genesis (NTG), and C-Bridge Internet Solutions (CBIS). Since its debut in 1990 as the MIT $10K Entrepreneurship Competition, it has grown to include three independent contests Pitch, Accelerate, and Launch from September through May. Each contest focuses on developing specific founding skills. For each semi-finalist contender, the MIT $100K brings together a network of resources that includes mentorship from venture capitalists, serial entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and attorneys; media exposure; prototyping funds; business plan feedback; and discounted services. Altogether, more than $300K in non-dilutive prize money is awarded to help these new ventures accelerate. This year's gold sponsors were Booz Allen Hamilton, Ernst & Young, Goodwin, Mintz Levin, Prudential, Sanofi, Town Square Trading, WilmerHale and Wolf Greenfield. Silver sponsors were Akamai, AMI, Cydan and SHX. For more on the MIT $100K, please visit: www.mit100k.org. SOURCE MIT Sloan School of Management Related Links http://www.mit100k.org BALLERUP, Denmark, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LiqTech International, Inc. (NYSE MKT: LIQT) ("LiqTech") is pleased to announce that the Company has received a $399,000 order for the Companys system for treatment of waste water from marine scrubbers. Mr. Sune Mathiesen, LiqTech CEO, remarked, "We are pleased to receive another order for our marine scrubber water treatment systems. We are equally pleased to note that the activity level from our customers within the marine scrubber industry continues to increase. As earlier discussed we have invested significant resources in the development of a standardized system for this application. We are pleased that our investments are being rewarded and we believe that we will continue to see a positive development in the sales of these systems", Mr. Mathiesen concluded. ABOUT LIQTECH INTERNATIONAL, INC. LiqTech International, Inc., a Nevada corporation, is a clean technology company that for more than a decade has developed and provided state-of-the-art technologies for gas and liquid purification using ceramic silicon carbide filters, particularly highly specialized filters for the control of soot exhaust particles from diesel engines and for liquid filtration. Using nanotechnology, LiqTech develops products using proprietary silicon carbide technology. LiqTech's products are based on unique silicon carbide membranes which facilitate new applications and improve existing technologies. In particular, LiqTech Systems A/S (www.provital.dk), the Company's subsidiary, has developed a new standard of water filtration technology to meet the ever increasing demand for higher water quality. By incorporating LiqTech's SiC liquid membrane technology with its longstanding systems design experience and capabilities it offers solutions to the most difficult water pollution problem. For more information, please visit www.liqtech.com Follow LiqTech on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/liqtech-international Follow LiqTech on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiqTech Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Although the forward-looking statements in this release reflect the good faith judgment of management, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in the our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We assume no obligation to update any forward looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release. CONTACT: Aldo Petersen, Chairman, +45 2390 0000, [email protected] Sune Mathiesen, CEO +45 5197 0908, [email protected] SOURCE LiqTech International, Inc. Related Links http://www.liqtech.com FALLS CHURCH, Va., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Marine Corps' (USMC) Technology Services Organization (TSO) has awarded CSRA LLC, a subsidiary of CSRA Inc. (NYSE: CSRA) a 5-year, $143 million contract to provide IT support. CSRA has been the integrator of choice for the USMC TSO since 1989 nearly 3 decades. "CSRA is extremely proud of our longstanding partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps," said Executive Vice President Ken Deutsch, head of CSRA's Defense Group. "For nearly 30 years, CSRA has provided the USMC TSO with the latest information technology. We are honored to continue this legacy and support the TSO's personnel and payroll services. Our dedication is focused on helping our Marines succeed and complete their critical mission." The $143.3 million, 5-year award provides engineering, maintenance, and operations support for a unique blend of Marine Corps enterprise business systems. Anchor systems supported by the program include: Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS) - DoD's only current integrated pay and personnel system. - DoD's only current integrated pay and personnel system. Standard Accounting Budgeting Reporting System (SABRS) - the USMC accounting system which received an unqualified, favorable audit opinion. About CSRA Inc. CSRA (NYSE: CSRA) solves our nation's hardest mission problems as a bridge from mission and enterprise IT to Next Gen, from government to technology partners, and from agency to agency. CSRA is tomorrow's thinking, today. For our customers, our partners, and ultimately, all the people our mission touches, CSRA is realizing the promise of technology to change the world through next-generation thinking and meaningful results. CSRA is driving towards achieving sustainable, industry-leading organic growth across federal and state/local markets through customer intimacy, rapid innovation and outcome-based experience. CSRA has over 18,000 employees and is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. To learn more about CSRA, visit www.csra.com. Think Next. Now. Forward-looking Statements All statements in this press release and in all future press releases that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements represent CSRA's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, including statements about including statements about the total value realized by CSRA under the contract, the actual duration of and services delivered under the contract, the effects of the program contract on our business services, the effectiveness of our services and solutions, and our ability to enhance mission capabilities of our customers. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of CSRA. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements. For a written description of these factors, see the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in CSRA's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any updating information in subsequent SEC filings. CSRA disclaims any intention or obligation to update these forward-looking statements whether as a result of subsequent event or otherwise. SOURCE CSRA Inc. Related Links http://www.csra.com In the U.S., from May 16 through August 15, 2017, Mary Kay Inc. will donate $1 from each sale of the limited-edition* Mary Kay Beauty That Counts Baked Cheek Powder in two new shades, "Kind Heart" and "Giving Heart." The philanthropic campaign benefits The Mary Kay Foundation's annual Shelter Grant Program which provides $3 million in funding each year in support of women's shelters and survivors of domestic abuse. Mary Kay has a deep commitment to ending abuse and alongside The Mary Kay Foundation SM , has given more than $53 million to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs throughout the past 15 years. "Preventing and ending domestic violence is at the heart of Mary Kay Inc. and we would be unable to continue our work against abuse without programs such as Beauty That Counts," said Anne Crews, Vice President of Public Affairs for Mary Kay Inc. and a board member of The Mary Kay FoundationSM. "As one in four women in the United States will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, initiatives like Beauty that Counts allow us to stand beside these women in our communities and show them that they are not alone. We hear them, we see them and we will not rest until each one feels safe in her own home." Since the Beauty That Counts program began in 2008, Mary Kay has donated more than $11 million (USD) to charitable organizations worldwide. As a top beauty brand and direct seller in nearly 40 markets, each Mary Kay market participating chooses a local nonprofit organization to support that helps women and children in need. "As a company created by a woman, for women, it's no secret that Mary Kay is dedicated to enriching the lives of women around the world. The annual Beauty That Counts campaign is just one of the many ways members of the Mary Kay Independent Sales Force are using their businesses to create positive change," said Sheryl Adkins-Green, Chief Marketing Officer for Mary Kay Inc. "We're proud to launch this initiative that gives every woman the opportunity to feel confident while giving back and ending the domestic violence epidemic." *Available while supplies last. About Mary Kay At Mary Kay, success lies in our dedication to irresistible products, a rewarding opportunity and positive community impact. For more than 53 years, Mary Kay has inspired women to achieve their entrepreneurial goals in nearly 40 countries. As a multibillion-dollar company, we offer the latest in cutting-edge skin care, bold color cosmetics and fragrances. Discover more reasons to love Mary Kay at marykay.com About The Mary Kay Foundation The Mary Kay FoundationSM was founded in 1996, and its mission is two-fold: to fund research of cancers affecting women and to help prevent domestic violence while raising awareness of the issue. Since the Foundation's inception, it has awarded $34 million to shelters and programs addressing domestic violence prevention and more than $20 million to cancer researchers and related causes throughout the United States. To learn more about The Mary Kay Foundation, please visit www.marykayfoundation.org or call 1-877-MKCARES (652-2737). Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications marykay.com/newsroom 972.687.5332 or [email protected] SOURCE Mary Kay Inc. Related Links http://www.marykay.com BRAINTREE, Mass., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MIB Group, Inc., the life and health insurance industry's most trusted and secure resource for data-driven, risk management services is pleased to announce the election of its new Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2017-18 and the election of four new directors, all of whom are highly-experienced insurance industry veterans serving as senior officers of MIB member companies. As a membership corporation, MIB's Board is composed of 12 volunteer directors, each of whom represent one member from among MIB's 430 North American member insurance companies, and one internal director, MIB's President and Chief Executive Officer. Effective May 19th, Arthur J. Roberts, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Ohio National Life Insurance Company, will become Chairman, thereby succeeding David P. Wheeler, Executive Vice President U.S. Mortality Markets, RGA Reinsurance Company who will remain on the MIB Board of Directors as Immediate Past Chair. David Acselrod, Head of Premier Client Group integration and Department of Labor implementation for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company will begin service as Vice Chairman. Newly elected to three-year terms on the MIB Board of Directors are Dr. Gina Guzman, Vice President and Chief Medical Director, Munich Re, U.S. (Life) who began her first term in September 2016; James E. Hohmann, Chief Executive Officer and President, Members Mutual and Vericity Holdings and Chief Executive Officer for subsidiaries Efinancial and Fidelity Life Association; Jeffrey D. Holley, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. and affiliates; and Harold B. Rojas, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, The Baltimore Life Companies. "I'm honored to work alongside these talented, visionary industry leaders who volunteer their time to be on the MIB Board," said Lee B. Oliphant, President and CEO of MIB Group, Inc. "MIB Board members provide sharp insights into the life and health insurance industries and invaluable strategic guidance on the evolving needs of our 430 members," said Oliphant. "I would also like to thank our outgoing Chairman Dave Wheeler for his leadership and passion for excellence during his tenure. I am pleased that he will remain on the MIB Board as Immediate Past Chair." Mr. Roberts joined the MIB Board in 2012 and will serve as its new Chairman, 2017-2018. As Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Ohio National Life Insurance Company he is responsible for rating agency relationships, treasury management, and finance operations for the enterprise. He began his career with Ohio National in 1994 and was appointed an officer in 1996. In 1999, he was elected Vice President, Financial Reporting, and has held his most recent title of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2008. Mr. Roberts is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Life Underwriter and a Fellow of the Life Management Institute. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, Ohio Society of CPAs and Financial Executives International. In addition, he serves on the Finance Committee of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and is a trustee for the Bethesda North Hospital Foundation. Mr. Acselrod joined the MIB Board in 2016 and will serve as its new Vice Chairman, 2017-2018. As Head of Premier Client Group integration and Department of Labor implementation for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), he has overall accountability for success of the MetLife Premier Client group acquisition. Prior to this role, he led New Business and Underwriting where he had accountability for underwriting operations and strategy including oversight of the Life, Disability Income and LTC Underwriting and New Business departments. Prior to joining MassMutual, Mr. Acselrod held various positions with the U.S. and international businesses of MetLife, Inc. where he served as Small Market Leader, Group Insurance, with P&L accountability for the segment nationally. Mr. Acselrod led MetLife's Long Term Care and Critical Illness business and also held several other positions in Retail Business, Sales Compensation, Business Architecture, MetLife Japan, and Corporate Planning. Dr. Gina Guzman began serving her first term on the MIB Board in September 2016. Dr. Guzman is Vice President and Chief Medical Director at Munich Re, U.S. (Life) with oversight responsibilities for Munich Re U.S. (Life) medical and underwriting functions. Dr. Guzman leads the medical team's content updates to the EDGE underwriting manual, and manages the company's mortality research on impairments. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Insurance Medicine. An in-demand presenter at local, regional and national underwriting meetings in North America, she was an invited speaker for the 2016 ICLAM meeting in the Netherlands. Dr. Guzman was the 2013 president of the American Academy of Insurance Medicine (AAIM) and remains actively involved on their Executive Council. She currently serves on the Board of Insurance Medicine, the Board of Managers of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) Medical Section, the ACLI Genetics Task Force, and the ACLI Medical Issues Committee. She served as President of the Midwestern Medical Directors Association in both 2007 and 2016 and Dr. Guzman is a Fellow of both the Life Management Institute and Academy of Life Underwriting. Mr. James E. Hohmann will be joining the MIB Board in May 2017. Mr. Hohmann is Chief Executive Officer and President of Members Mutual and Vericity Holdings. He is also CEO of subsidiary companies Efinancial and Fidelity Life Association. Previously, he served as President of Conseco (now CNO Financial), President and CEO of Allstate Financial, and most recently was President and CEO of FBL Financial. In that role he delivered industry leading stock performance and the Company was recognized by Fortune Magazine on its list of the "100 Fastest Growing Companies" based upon growth in revenue, EPS and total return to shareholders. Mr. Jeffrey D. Holley will be joining the MIB Board in May 2017. Mr. Holley is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. and its affiliated companies: American United Life Insurance, State Life Insurance and the Pioneer Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is responsible for all treasury and tax functions, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. In 2015, he was named CFO of the Year by the Indianapolis Business Journal, in part for leading the acquisition of BMO's U.S.-based retirement services business. The acquisition increased assets under administration by $26 billion to more than $70 billion, doubling in just under two years. Mr. Holley served as President and Chief Executive Officer of HLT Partners, Inc. before joining the OneAmerica companies in 2011. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CUNA Mutual Group from 2000 to 2009. He also served as acting President and Chief Executive Officer in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Holley's 28-year career in the insurance industry began at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He is a Board member of Noble of Indiana, and a former Board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Harold B. Rojas will be joining the MIB Board in May 2017. Mr. Rojas is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for The Baltimore Life Companies and has served in that role since 2005. Before joining Baltimore Life, Mr. Rojas was Assistant Vice President and Assistant General Counsel with Old Mutual Financial Network, and he held various compliance and legal counsel positions with Conseco, Inc., Jackson National Life and Columbian Mutual Life. He holds a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law. About MIB MIB is the life and health insurance industry's most trusted and secure resource for data-driven risk management services that protect the financial integrity of its members and address their evolving needs. Owned by its members, MIB is uniquely positioned to securely collect and analyze confidential data. MIB services help to detect fraud, errors and omissions on insurance applications; to analyze industry data needed to manage a variety of financial risks; and to make regulatory reporting compliance less onerous and more efficient. As the life insurance industry's first statistical agent, our MIB Solutions, Inc. subsidiary cost-effectively performs annual data calls for those insurers subject to principles-based reserving. MIB Group, Inc., a membership corporation, provides services through its wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. For more information, visit www.mibgroup.com. Contact: David O. Aronson MIB Group, Inc. 781.751.6136 [email protected] SOURCE MIB Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.mibgroup.com MIAMI, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- The Minority Chamber of Commerce (MCC) launches its annual "10,000 Jobs Initiatives" at the XII Minority National Career Fair Miami 2017 on June 12, 2 - 6 p.m. The exclusive, members-only event takes place at MCC's World Trade Center at 1951 NW 7th Ave., Miami Florida, 33136. The highly-anticipated career event features representation by global, national, and local partner organizations that provide continued employment opportunities for minority groups and create pathways to employment in the region. This is achieved through ongoing hiring fairs; entrepreneurship training camps; and myriad other efforts to training and employment efforts for minority groups. To attend the Minority National Career Fair Miami, job seekers must pre-register by sending a request via e-mail to [email protected]. Candidates may then complete registration by gaining access to MCC's electronic ticket hub. The event is free of charge. The official list of employers will be announced June 10. "Connecting South Florida's minority groups with a pathway to employment creates an enormous ripple effect in our businesses communities and for the economy in general," says MCC Founder & Executive Director Doug Mayorga. "Our mission is to provide an opportunity for professionals, veterans, and skilled workers to explore options, while assisting them in pursuing top positions in all three business sectors." About the 10,000 Jobs Initiatives: Multilateral agencies, U.S Government, and private-sector companies participating in the coalition will help to launch careers and serve as entrepreneurship camp sponsors for minority professionals, veterans, students, skilled workers, and multilingual people just entering the workforce including internships, apprenticeships, and on the job-training. In addition, the program aims to develop potential among job fair candidates seeking to create new businesses through business courses. The program goal for the year is 10,000 jobs. About Minority Chamber of Commerce: The mission of MCC is to create jobs and professional development for minority groups. The Career Expo is a workforce development program designed to help MCC-member employers, partners, and non-members to find and train minority employees; and to help unemployed workers find positions and engage in training to help them with new positions and different opportunities. For information: Maria Loaisiga / 786-406-2190 / [email protected] Related Links http://www.minoritychamber.net SOURCE Minority Chamber of Commerce ATLANTA, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Moe's Southwest Grill has been recognized as the Brand of the Year in the Fast Casual Mexican Restaurant category based on the 2017 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study, for the second year in a row. The fast casual industry is continuing to expand creating a landscape of fierce competition as brands look for unique ways to stand out from the crowd. For Moe's, a southwest brand with swagger, the importance of fresh, high quality food with an extensive variety of menu options and staying true to the brand bold, family-friendly and doesn't take itself too seriously continue to be at the center of what drives success. "To earn this title for the second year running is a tremendous honor for the entire Moe's system it reinforces that our focus setting Moe's apart from many competitive options is being supported by our guests," said Bruce Schroder, President, Moe's Southwest Grill. "We are grateful for our loyal fans, our roadies who embrace them and our franchise owners who are dedicated to delivering the food you crave in a welcoming environment that rocks!" Moe's is serious about having an extensive variety of fresh ingredients and menu options. This is important to our fans and that's why several ingredients are made in-house daily including: seasonal salsas, guacamole, pico de gallo, grilled vegetables, black beans and many more! Plus, at Moe's the meats are grilled right in front of our guests where everything from the staples like burritos to specialty items like quesadillas, nachos and stacks are on the menu. The Harris Poll recognizes the strongest brands by surveying more than 100,000 U.S. consumers and measuring familiarity, quality and purchase consideration. Moe's Southwest Grill received the highest numerical score among Fast Casual Mexican Restaurant brands included in the 2017 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study, which is based on opinions of 102,617 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over surveyed online between December 30, 2016 and February 21, 2017. "Highest Ranked was determined by a pure ranking of a sample of Fast Casual Mexican restaurant brands. Visit www.moes.com to find a store nearest to you and www.moes.com/catering for catering options. Connect with us on social via Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook. About Moe's Southwest Grill Welcome to Moe's! Founded in 2000 in Atlanta, GA, Moe's Southwest Grill is a fast-casual restaurant franchise featuring fresh, handmade, customizable southwestern food in a welcoming environment that rocks. Moe's is committed to serving only the highest quality ingredients 100% of the time at all of our locations in the U.S and abroad. While Moe's is best known for its burritos packed with a choice of more than 20 fresh, flavorful ingredients, the menu also features kid's, vegetarian and low-calorie options, all served with free chips and salsa. Check out Moe's online at www.moes.com. About FOCUS Brands Inc. Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands Inc., through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of over 5,000 ice cream shoppes, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 60 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Auntie Anne's and McAlister's Deli, as well as Seattle's Best Coffee on certain military bases and in certain international markets. Please visit www.focusbrands.com to learn more. SOURCE Moe's Southwest Grill NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Montefiore Medical Center transplanted its 300th heart, marking a major milestone since the program's inception in 1999. With the best one-year patient survival rates for both pediatric and adult heart transplants in New York City, Montefiore also claims the best three-year patient survival rates for adult transplants in the City. This data is according to the most recent reports from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipient (SRTR), funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Montefiore's pediatric one-year survival rates are also recorded at 100% in this recent SRTR report. As a leader and innovator, today, Montefiore kicks-off its 3rd Annual BronxHeart Symposium, a comprehensive course presented by Montefiore's Division of Cardiology and the Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery. "For nearly 20 years, Montefiore's heart transplant program has continued to grow and excel, achieving highly competitive patient survival rates while also sustaining our commitment to access to healthcare for all," said Robert E. Michler, M.D., professor and chairman of cardiothoracic & vascular surgery, professor and chairman of the department of surgery, Samuel I. Belkin Endowed Chair, Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "We are also proud of our leadership role in the field of heart surgery as evidenced by our work as principal investigators in major national clinical trials and this week's BronxHeart Symposium." The BronxHeart Symposium invites global thought leaders in the field to educate colleagues on the latest developments in heart failure, transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support. "Heart failure is a global epidemic affecting more than six million patients in the United States alone," said Ulrich Jorde, M.D., section head, heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support, vice chief, division of cardiology, professor of medicine, Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Our two-day course, led by 32 leaders in the fields of cardiology and cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, will highlight current clinical practices, as well as the latest advanced therapies for the treatment of heart failure." Montefiore's excellence in treating heart failure, as evidenced by the 300th heart transplant and BronxHeart Symposium, has a long and accomplished history; its first adult heart transplant was performed in 2001, and its first pediatric one in 2009. The longest living Montefiore heart transplant patient to date recently celebrated his 15th "birthday," the anniversary of his transplant surgery. With the 300th heart transplant, Montefiore performed its second bloodless heart transplant, using no blood transfusions: a major innovation in transplant care. Montefiore performed its first bloodless heart transplant in October 2014. "Because our program continues to offer patients of all backgrounds the opportunity to live a healthier life, our annual volume of heart transplants continues to grow," said Daniel Goldstein, M.D., professor and vice chairman of the department of cardiothoracic surgery, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart & Vascular Care. "We are committed to using our expertise to turn lives around and give people hope. Using bloodless surgery is just one of the techniques we use to meet the needs of our culturally diverse population." This year, Montefiore is celebrating 60 years of performing heart surgery. The Center's first open-heart surgery in 1957 was the beginning of a long history of clinical excellence including developing and using the world's first transvenous pacemaker system in 1958, and performing the first coronary artery bypass operation in 1960. Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart & Vascular Care has become a nationally recognized destination for heart and vascular care. To learn more about the Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart & Vascular Care, visit www.montefiore.org/heart and follow us on Montefiore's social media pages: Twitter @MontefioreNYC, Facebook, and YouTube. About Montefiore Health System Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 10 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and close to 200 outpatient care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its' medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its' preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube. Follow us on Twitter: @MontefioreNYC SOURCE Montefiore Medical Center Related Links http://www.montefiore.org BASEL, Switzerland, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Myovant Sciences (NYSE: MYOV), a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on women's health and endocrine diseases, today announced the presentation of data from a Phase 2 trial of relugolix in women with endometriosis-associated pain at two upcoming medical meetings. Twelve-week findings from the trial will be presented during an oral presentation at the 13th World Congress on Endometriosis (WCE), which is being held May 17-20 in Vancouver, Canada. Twenty-four-week data from an extension of the same trial will be presented during a poster session at the 19th European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE), which is being held May 20-23 in Lisbon, Portugal. Details of the presentations are below. WCE Oral Presentation Details: Date and Time: May 19, 2017 from 1:35 to 1:50 p.m. PT from Abstract (#MS08-02): Results from a Phase 2 Study of Relugolix, an Oral Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor Antagonist, vs. Placebo in Women with Endometriosis-Associated Pain Results from a Phase 2 Study of Relugolix, an Oral Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor Antagonist, vs. Placebo in Women with Endometriosis-Associated Pain Location: Vancouver, Canada Presenter: Dr. Yutaka Osuga, The University of Tokyo ECE Poster Presentation Details: Date and Time: May 23, 2017 from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. UTC from Abstract (#GP134): Relugolix, an Oral GonadotropinReleasing Hormone Receptor Antagonist, in Women with EndometriosisAssociated Pain: Phase 2 Safety and Efficacy 24Week Results Relugolix, an Oral GonadotropinReleasing Hormone Receptor Antagonist, in Women with EndometriosisAssociated Pain: Phase 2 Safety and Efficacy 24Week Results Location: Lisbon, Portugal Presenter: Dr. Yutaka Osuga, The University of Tokyo About Endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue that normally lines the uterus is found outside the uterine cavity, commonly in the lower abdomen or pelvis, on ovaries, the bladder, and the colon. This tissue outside the uterus results in chronic inflammation and can cause scarring and adhesions. The symptoms associated with endometriosis include painful periods and chronic pelvic pain, painful ovulation, pain during or after sexual intercourse, heavy bleeding, fatigue, and infertility. Endometriosis can also impact general physical, mental, and social well-being. For endometriosis-associated pain, initial treatment options include oral contraceptives and over-the-counter pain medications. In more severe cases, GnRH agonists such as leuprorelin are used for short-term treatment. It is estimated that approximately 6 million women in the United States suffer from symptomatic endometriosis, 1.2 million of whom are inadequately treated by oral contraceptives and require additional treatment. About Myovant Sciences Myovant Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for women's health and endocrine diseases. Myovant's lead product candidate is relugolix, an oral, once-daily small molecule GnRH receptor antagonist. Myovant has initiated a Phase 3 clinical program, consisting of two international clinical trials, LIBERTY 1 and LIBERTY 2, for relugolix in women with heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids, as well as a Phase 3 clinical trial, HERO, for relugolix in men with advanced prostate cancer. Myovant plans to initiate an additional Phase 3 clinical program for relugolix in women with endometriosis-associated pain in the second quarter of 2017. Myovant is simultaneously developing MVT-602, an analog of kisspeptin, for the treatment of female infertility as part of assisted reproduction. Over time the company intends to expand its development pipeline to include other potential treatments for women's health and endocrine-related diseases. For more information, please visit the company's website at myovant.com. Media Contact: Julie Normart Pure Communications [email protected] 415.946.1087 SOURCE Myovant Sciences Related Links http://myovant.com Within the four walls of that home, A Quiet Passion presents Dickinson as a figure both heroic and tragic, determined to live her life her way, despite the great cost. WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 10 a.m. EDT Friday, May 26, to discuss select science investigations launching on the next SpaceX commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station. SpaceX is targeting June 1 for the launch of its Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Participants in the briefing will be: Zaven Arzoumanian , for Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), will discuss an instrument that will measure neutron stars and test, for the first time in space, technology that uses pulsars as navigation beacons , for Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), will discuss an instrument that will measure neutron stars and test, for the first time in space, technology that uses pulsars as navigation beacons Miriam Sargusingh , project lead for Capillary Structures for Exploration Life Support, will discuss an investigation into the structures of specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures for water recycling and carbon dioxide removal, benefiting future efforts to design lightweight, more reliable life support systems for future space missions. , project lead for Capillary Structures for Exploration Life Support, will discuss an investigation into the structures of specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures for water recycling and carbon dioxide removal, benefiting future efforts to design lightweight, more reliable life support systems for future space missions. Jeremy Banik , principal investigator for Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), will discuss an investigation to test the deployment and retraction of a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a tape measure and is more compact than current rigid panel designs , principal investigator for Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), will discuss an investigation to test the deployment and retraction of a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a tape measure and is more compact than current rigid panel designs Paul Galloway , program manager for Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), will discuss an Earth-viewing imaging platform created by Teledyne Brown that will house high-resolution digital cameras and hyperspectral imagers. , program manager for Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), will discuss an Earth-viewing imaging platform created by Teledyne Brown that will house high-resolution digital cameras and hyperspectral imagers. Karen Ocorr , will discuss Fruit Fly Lab-02, an investigation using fruit flies as a model organism to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the human heart. , will discuss Fruit Fly Lab-02, an investigation using fruit flies as a model organism to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the human heart. Dr. Chia Soo , principal investigator for Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for Osteoporosis (Rodent Research-5), will discuss an investigation to test a new drug that can both rebuild bone and block further bone loss, improving health for crew members in orbit and people on Earth. To participate in the teleconference, media must contact Kathryn Hambleton at 202-358-1100 or [email protected] by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 25, for dial-in information. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live online at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will carry crew supplies, scientific research and hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support the Expedition 52 and 53 crews for the eleventh contracted mission by SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov CLEVELAND, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Moving Day is the National Parkinson Foundation Ohio Chapter's annual fundraising walk/run event. It is a fun and inspiring fundraising event that unites families, friends, and communities both large and small in the fight against Parkinson's disease. This celebration of movement will feature a family friendly walk course, a kids area, a caregivers relaxation tent, and a special Movement Pavilion featuring yoga, dance, Tai Chi, Pilates, etc. all proven to help manage the symptoms of PD. National Parkinson Foundation Ohio Moving Day Someone in the United States is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease every 9 minutes. Here in Ohio it is estimated that there are 30,000-50,000 people. Many more are affected as family members, friends, co-workers, and care partners. Please join the National Parkinson Foundation Ohio Moving Day Cleveland, a Walk for Parkinson's taking place on Saturday, June 17, 2017 from 12:30-4 PM at Wade Oval in University Circle. REGISTER A TEAM TODAY AT www.movingdaycleveland.org. Even if you cannot attend the actual walk a team can still be created and funds raised to support the effort. SOURCE National Parkinson Foundation Ohio Related Links http://www.movingdaycleveland.org LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Quality scooter brand Micro Kickboard is the host of National Scooter Day, May 19th, a day that celebrates scooting as a fuel-free, eco-friendly, healthy and safe way to travel for adults as well as children. Micro will be encouraging families to get outside and scoot, and for people to choose scooting as a means of alternative transport to school or work. Micro Kickboard Micro Kickboard owners Julie and Geoff Hawksworth said they couldn't think of a better way to celebrate National Scooter Day than to get more people scooting, so today, May 18, 2017, they're giving away 50 scooters 25 children's scooters and 25 adult scooters. It's all happening on their Facebook page (@microkickboard). Winners will be announced tonight at 8 p.m. EST. On Friday, National Scooter Day, Micro is planning a 24-hour Flash Sale on the Mini and Maxi Original and select scooters for adults on their website, www.microkickboard.com. Micro scooters can now be seen on the sidewalks of most big cities, where kids use them to get to school or the park. Adults are embracing Micro scooters, too, for the first or last mile of their commute from home-to-station and on the other end, from station-to-work. Micro Kickboard recently held its 2nd pop-up shop at the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, California, where many employees travel by train to get to work, but have a 'micro' distance to travel from their home to the station. Micro Scooters are an excellent way to cover that distance quickly, and they also are foldable and lightweight. They also can be ridden on sidewalks, useful for those who like to get places in a hurry but are wary of riding in the street. Overall, Micro's goal is to promote a healthy, active lifestyle for children and adults alike. Tomorrow, Micro Kickboard invites families across the country to participate by riding scooters to school, work, the park, across campus or just around the neighborhood. Head to their Facebook page today for entry details on the 50 Scooter Giveaway. (Entry closes today, May 18th at 7 p.m. EST.) Media Contact: Jamie Rau, (888) 236-5657 [email protected] Related Images image1.png image2.png Related Links Micro Kickboard Website Micro Kickboard on Amazon SOURCE Micro Kickboard Related Links http://www.microkickboard.com TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Food safety company Agri-Neo today announced that its organic, non-thermal intervention, Neo-Pure, has been validated to achieve a 5-log pathogen reduction on raw nuts, including cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, and others. Among the companies that are deploying the Neo-Pure Food Safety system is Johnvince Foods/Planters Canada. The company will be using the Neo-Pure Food Safety system on a range of its nut products to ensure its customers have the safest, highest quality products. Because nuts are often eaten raw, they carry an increased risk of foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria like Salmonella. In addition, with the expanding popularity of nut derivatives such as nut butters, this risk can extend to other food categories, some of which have seen contamination and food recalls as of late. The Neo-Pure solution directly addresses critical safety concerns ensuring nuts remain raw, organic and viable, just as nature intended. "Many of the most popular nuts consumed in the U.S. are imported from areas around the globe which adds additional complexity in ensuring food safety from the source to the end consumer. Even the significant volume of nuts produced domestically, such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios from the West and peanuts and pecans from the Southeast, can benefit from an added intervention step," said Agri-Neo President and COO Rob Wong. "Across the food industry there is an expanded focus on proactively addressing potential contamination, as well as compliance and documentation requirements driven by the U.S. FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act. With Neo-Pure, domestic producers, importers, packagers and distributors have a validated intervention step that can give them confidence in the safety of their nut products, even when they are consumed raw." "Food safety has always been a priority for us, especially since we have a number of iconic brands," said Luis Deviveiros, Director of Operations, Johnvince Foods/Planters Canada. "We are pleased to be working with a cutting-edge company like Agri-Neo to enhance our food safety protocols and implement this innovative intervention step to the benefit of our distributors, retailers and end consumers." Neo-Pure helps to minimize the risk of pathogens and unwanted microbes in seeds, grains, sprouts and now nuts by providing food safety as nature intended. Derived from plants, it denatures bacterial and fungal cell membranes and DNA to control pathogens and unwanted microbes. The Neo-Pure liquid solution is applied in its dedicated Food Safety System to ensure total coverage of every nut, seed, and grain. With Neo-Pure, food remains raw with no nutritional impact; certified organic to US NOP and Canadian COR standards; and viable with no impact to sensory, shelf life or germination. To learn more about Agri-Neo and Neo-Pure its proven pathogen intervention solution for nuts, visit www.agri-neo.com and booth #24 at the INC World congress on Nuts & Dried Fruits in India from May 19-21, 2017. About Agri-Neo Agri-Neo's mission is to help safely feed the world. The vision of the company and its founders is to set new food safety standards, starting with Neo-Pure for nuts, seeds, grains and sprouts. Since 2009, Agri-Neo has invested significant resources from private investors and grants in research on food safety science performed by chemists, microbiologists and engineers. For more information, visit www.agri-neo.com. Follow us on Twitter and learn about us on LinkedIn. SOURCE Agri-Neo Related Links http://www.agri-neo.com/ "The Appalachian region has distinct benefits that could make it a major petrochemical and plastic resin-producing zone," Dooley began. "Proximity to a world-class supply of raw materials from the Marcellus/Utica and Rogersville shale formations and to the manufacturing markets of the Midwest and East Coast has already led several companies to announce investment projects, and there is potential for a great deal more." ACC's report presents a hypothetical scenario that includes the development of a storage hub for natural gas liquids (NGLs) and chemicals (e.g., ethylene, propylene), 500-mile pipeline distribution network and associated petrochemical, plastics and potentially other energy infrastructure and manufacturing in a quad-state area consisting of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. It uses the IMPLAN model to estimate direct, indirect and payroll-induced job impacts, as well as tax revenue impacts. The economic benefits could be substantial. By 2025, the quad-state region could see 100,000 permanent new jobs, including 25,700 new chemical and plastic products manufacturing jobs, 43,000 jobs in supplier industries and 32,000 'payroll-induced' jobs in communities where workers spend their wages, according the report. The new investment could also lead to $2.9 billion in new federal, state and local tax revenue annually. "The right policies are critical to realizing this opportunity," Dooley said. "The Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Study Act of 2017 (S. 1075) is an important step forward. It will help inform efforts to maximize America's domestic energy and manufacturing potential." The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Senator Capito and co-sponsored by Senators Manchin and Portman. "Uncertainty around financing is a key barrier to the development of energy infrastructure in the Appalachian region," Dooley continued. "Policymakers can help by affirming that NGL storage and distribution projects are eligible for existing private-public financing programs. As Congress and the Administration consider infrastructure modernization legislation, the Appalachian Hub should be a priority. And a timely and efficient regulatory permitting process is essential." ACC's analysis projects a $32.4 billion investment in petrochemicals and derivatives and a $3.4 billion investment in plastic products, put toward the construction of five ethane crackers and two propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facilities. Three of the crackers would produce polyethylene and two would supply downstream petrochemical derivatives. Each PDH facility would contain a polypropylene resin plant. These capital investments are underway and will likely continue through the mid-2020s. In the United States, chemical companies use ethane and propane, NGLs derived from shale gas, as key feedstocks. Plentiful and affordable supplies of natural gas and NGLs are enabling companies from around the world to build new U.S. facilities or expand production capacity. Since 2010, 301 projects cumulatively valued at $181 billion have been announced, with nearly half completed or under construction. IMPLAN is an input-output methodology - an economic model that quantifies interdependencies among industries or economic sectors. It is used by government agencies including the Army Corp of Engineers, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and over 20 others, and by over 250 colleges and universities, local governments, non-profits, consulting companies, and other private sector companies. The full-text of the report, The Potential Economic Benefits of an Appalachian Petrochemical Industry, is available at www.americanchemistry.com/Appalachian-Petrochem-Study. For additional information about the report, please visit: https://www.americanchemistry.com/Policy/Energy/Shale-Gas/ http://www.americanchemistry.com The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people's lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care, common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $797 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation's economy. It is the nation's largest exporter, accounting for fourteen percent of all U.S. exports. Chemistry companies are among the largest investors in research and development. Safety and security have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nation's critical infrastructure. SOURCE American Chemistry Council Related Links http://www.americanchemistry.com LONDON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) today announced that its report of drilling rig status and contract information has been updated as of May 18, 2017. The report, titled "Fleet Status Report," can be found on the Company's Website www.noblecorp.com, under the "Investor Relations" section of the Website. About Noble Corporation plc Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The Company owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 28 offshore drilling units, consisting of 14 drillships and semisubmersibles and 14 jackups, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high-specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Noble is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 08354954 and registered office at Devonshire House, 1 Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8AJ England. Additional information on Noble is available at www.noblecorp.com. SOURCE Noble Corporation Related Links http://www.noblecorp.com EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis will present data from across its oncology portfolio at the upcoming 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), being held June 2-6 in Chicago; the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), being held June 14-17 in Lugano, Switzerland; and the 22nd Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), being held June 22-25 in Madrid. With more than 75 abstracts accepted, data will highlight research across 34 compounds in key disease areas, including breast and lung cancers, melanoma, leukemia and other blood disorders, and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). "Our presence at key medical congresses this year is marked by our innovation in targeted therapies and immuno-oncology in difficult to treat cancers," said Bruno Strigini, CEO, Novartis Oncology. "We are particularly excited to show the first data from the JULIET trial, which evaluates the use of CTL019 in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. These results, along with the data that led to our filing for CTL019 in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, demonstrate our commitment to research in this area." Novartis data at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting will highlight the following: Update on outcomes with Kisqali* (ribociclib) in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer: Updated Results from MONALEESA-2, a Phase 3 Trial of First-Line Ribociclib + Letrozole in Hormone Receptor-Positive (HR+), HER2-Negative (HER2), Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) [Abstract #1038; Sunday, June 4 , 8:00 AM CDT ] , ] Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of Postmenopausal Women with Hormone Receptor-Positive (HR+), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative (HER2-) Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) Treated with Ribociclib + Letrozole: Results from MONALEESA-2 [Abstract #1020; Sunday, June 4 , 8:00 AM CDT ] Data showing patient-reported quality of life outcomes for CTL019** (tisagenlecleucel), an investigational chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): Patient-Reported Quality of Life (QOL) Following CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients (pts) with Relapsed/Refractory (r/r) B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) [Abstract #10523; Sunday, June 4 , 8:00 AM CDT ] New data evaluating long-term outcomes with Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib) combination therapy in patients with BRAF V600mutated unresectable or metastatic melanoma as well as data from patients with other tumor types: Five-Year Overall Survival (OS) Update from a Phase II, Open-Label Trial of Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients (pts) with BRAF V600Mutant Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma (MM) [Abstract #9505; Sunday, June 4 , 9:24 AM CDT ] V600Mutant Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma (MM) [Abstract #9505; , ] COMBI-MB: A Phase II Study of Combination Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients with BRAF V600Mutant (mut) Melanoma Brain Metastases (MBM) [Abstract #9506; Sunday, June 4 , 10:00 AM CDT ] V600Mutant (mut) Melanoma Brain Metastases (MBM) [Abstract #9506; , ] Updated Survival of Patients (pts) with Previously Treated BRAF V600EMutant Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) who Received Dabrafenib (D) or D + Trametinib (T) in the Phase II BRF113928 Study [Abstract #9075; Saturday, June 3 , 8:00 AM CDT ] V600EMutant Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) who Received Dabrafenib (D) or D + Trametinib (T) in the Phase II BRF113928 Study [Abstract #9075; , ] Efficacy of Dabrafenib (D) and Trametinib (T) in Patients (pts) with BRAF V600EMutated Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (ATC) [Abstract #6023; Monday, June 5 , 1:15 PM CDT ] New data on Zykadia (ceritinib) as well as the investigational compound EGF816 which highlight continued investigations in the treatment of mutation-driven lung cancer: Ceritinib Plus Nivolumab (NIVO) in Patients (pts) with Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Positive (ALK+) Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) [Abstract #2502; Saturday, June 3 , 1:39 PM CDT ] , ] Genomic Profiling of Resistant Tumor Samples Following Progression on EGF816, a Third Generation, Mutant-Selective EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI), in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) [Abstract #11506; Sunday, June 4 , 9:48 AM CDT ] Adjuvant treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and safety and efficacy of combination therapy in treatment of advanced RCC: Randomized Phase III Trial of Adjuvant Pazopanib Versus Placebo After Nephrectomy in Patients with Locally Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) (PROTECT) [Abstract #4507; Monday, June 5 , 10:12 AM CDT ] , ] A Phase I/II Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Pazopanib (PAZ) and Pembrolizumab (PEM) in Patients (pts) with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (aRCC) [Abstract #4506; Monday, June 5 , 9:36 AM CDT ] Additional data presented at ASCO include: Phase III Study of Lapatinib (L) Plus Trastuzumab (T) and Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) vs T+AI vs L+AI in Postmenopausal Women (PMW) with HER2+, HR+ Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC): ALTERNATIVE [Abstract #1004; Saturday, June 3 , 2:27 PM CDT ] , ] Everolimus (EVE) Plus Endocrine Therapy in Patients with Estrogen ReceptorPositive (ER+), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2Negative (HER2) Advanced Breast Cancer (BC): First and Second-Line Data from the BOLERO-4 Study [Abstract #1010; Sunday, June 4 , 8:00 AM CDT ] , ] Cognitive Technology Addressing Optimal Cancer Clinical Trial Matching and Protocol Feasibility in a Community Cancer Practice [Abstract #6501; Monday, June 5 , 8:12 AM CDT ] Sandoz, a Novartis division, the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars, will present data for Zarxio, the company's filgrastim biosimilar: Safety and Efficacy of Alternating Treatment with EP2006, a Filgrastim Biosimilar, and Reference Filgrastim for the Prevention of Severe Neutropenia, in Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving Myelosuppressive Chemotherapy [Abstract #10116; Saturday, June 3 , 1:15 PM CDT ] Novartis data at the 14th Meeting of ICML will highlight data from the multi-center Phase II JULIET study evaluating the efficacy and safety of CTL019 in adult patients with r/r diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): Global Pivotal Phase 2 Trial of the CD19-Targeted Therapy CTL019 in Adult Patients with Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) An Interim Analysis [Abstract #007; Wednesday, June 14 , 3:40 PM CEST ] Novartis data at the 2017 EHA Annual Congress will highlight the following: Data evaluating CTL019** outcomes in r/r pediatric and young adult patients with B-ALL: Global Registration Trial of Efficacy and Safety of CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): Update to the Interim Analysis [Abstract #S476; Saturday, June 24 , 4:00 PM CEST ] , ] Analysis of Safety Data from 2 Multicenter Trials of CTL019 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) [Abstract #P517; Saturday, June 24 , 5:30 PM CEST ] , ] CTL019 Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics in Pediatric Patients (pts) with Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) [Abstract #S477; Saturday, June 24 , 4:15 PM CEST ] New analyses of ENESTfreedom and ENESTop evaluating Treatment-free Remission (TFR) at 96-week follow-up in patients meeting rigorous criteria for treatment discontinuation: Durable Treatment-free Remission (TFR) After Stopping Second-line Nilotinib (NIL) in Patients (Pts) with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase (CML-CP): ENESTop 96-Wk Update [Abstract #P257; Friday, June 23 , 5:15 PM CEST ] , ] Durable Treatment-free Remission (TFR) Following Frontline Nilotinib in Patients (Pts) with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase (CML-CP): ENESTfreedom 96-Wk Update [Abstract #P601; Saturday, June 24 , 5:30 PM CEST ] Pooled survival analysis of two clinical trials evaluating Rydapt (midostaurin) in adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis: Pooled Survival Analysis of Midostaurin Clinical Study Data (D2201 + A2213) in Patients with Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis (ADVSM) Compared with Historical Controls [Abstract #S788; Sunday, June 25 , 9:00 AM CEST ] New data in myeloproliferative neoplasms, including a long-term analysis evaluating Jakavi (ruxolitinib)*** in patients with inadequately controlled polycythemia vera in a less advanced phase of the disease: Ruxolitinib For The Treatment Of Inadequately Controlled Polycythemia Vera Without Splenomegaly: 80-Week Follow-Up From The RESPONSE-2 Trial [Abstract #S784; Sunday, June 25 , 8:00 AM CEST ] , ] Comparing The Safety and Efficacy Of Ruxolitinib (Rux) In Patients (Pts) With DIPSS Low/Intermediate-1, Intermediate-2, and High-Risk Myelofibrosis (MF) In JUMP, A Phase 3b, Expanded-Access Study [Abstract #E1333; Friday, June 23 , 9:30 AM CEST ] , ] Treatment and Management Of Patients With MPNs Findings From the International MPN LANDMARK Survey [Abstract #P706; Saturday, June 24 , 5:30 PM CEST ] , ] Perception Of Symptom Burden and Treatment Goals Between Physicians and Patients With MPNs: An Analysis From the International MPN LANDMARK Survey [Abstract #E1320; Friday, June 23 , 9:30 AM CEST ] Additional data presented at EHA include: Mediation by Patient-Reported Outcomes on the Association Between Film-Coated versus Dispersible Formulations of Deferasirox and Serum Ferritin Reduction: A Post-Hoc Analysis of the ECLIPSE Trial [Abstract #P286; Friday, June 23 , 5:15 PM CEST ] , ] Crizanlizumab, a P-selectin Inhibitor, Increases the Likelihood of Not Experiencing a Sickle Cell-Related Pain Crisis While on Treatment: Results from the Phase II SUSTAIN Study [Abstract #S454; Saturday, June 24 , 12:15 PM CEST ] Throughout the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, ICML meeting and EHA Annual Meeting, Novartis Oncology will host dedicated content on the Novartis Oncology website (http://www.novartisoncology.com) that will feature unique insights and perspectives on emerging areas of cancer care and research. Product Information Approved indications for products vary by country and not all indications are available in every country. The product safety and efficacy profiles have not yet been established outside the approved indications. Because of the uncertainty of clinical trials, there is no guarantee that compounds will become commercially available with additional indications. For full prescribing information, including approved indications and important safety information about marketed products, please visit https://www.novartisoncology.com/news/product-portfolio. EGF816, CTL019 and crizanlizumab (SEG101, formerly SelG1) are investigational compounds. Efficacy and safety have not been established. There is no guarantee these compounds will become commercially available. Disclaimer The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "to be presented," "will," "upcoming," "excited," "commitment," "invesgitational," "emerging," "yet," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new indications or labeling for Kisqali, Tasigna, Tafinlar, Mekinist, Zykadia, Afinitor, Zarxio, Rydapt, Jakavi or the other products in the Novartis Oncology portfolio, regarding potential marketing approvals for CTL019, EGF816, SEG101 or the other development compounds in the Novartis Oncology pipeline, or regarding potential future revenues from such products and development compounds. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Kisqali, Tasigna, Tafinlar, Mekinist, Zykadia, Afinitor, Zarxio, Rydapt, Jakavi or the other products in the Novartis Oncology portfolio will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that CTL019, EGF816, SEG101 or the other development compounds in the Novartis Oncology pipeline will be approved for sale in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products and development compounds will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding such products and development compounds could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing and reimbursement pressures; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis and @Novartis Cancer at http://twitter.com/novartiscancer. For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected] * Kisqali was developed by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) under a research collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals. ** Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine (Penn) have a global collaboration to research, develop and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies for the investigational treatment of cancers. *** Jakavi is a registered trademark of Novartis AG in countries outside the United States. Jakafi is a registered trademark of Incyte Corporation. Novartis licensed ruxolitinib from Incyte Corporation for development and commercialization outside the United States. Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: [email protected] Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) [email protected] Rosemarie Yancosek Novartis Oncology Communications +1 862 778 9043 (direct) +1 862 505 9021 (mobile) [email protected] SOURCE Novartis Related Links https://www.novartisoncology.com PUNE, India, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on "Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022" Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022. Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Overview Until last year the news headlines like - "The offshore drilling market has deteriorated in line with falling oil prices" were making rounds in the News World. However, Market Research Future confirms that it is a thing of the past. In a recently published, deep drilling study report on Offshore Drilling Rigs Market; pointing to the latest trends which will provide an impetus to the growth of the market, MRFR asserts that the global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market will witness an exponential growth. Further, MRFR roughly mentions that the global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market will reach to a whooping amount of approximately 99.67 Billion USD. Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum which lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Offshore exploration and development wells are often drilled from mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). Offshore drilling rigs are classified, mainly based on their movability and how deep the sea bed is. Depending on the water depth and remoteness of the location, these "rigs" may be jack-ups, or semisubmersibles, or drill ships depending upon the depth of the sea fields. There are a variety of offshore vessels, which will not only help in the exploration and drilling activities but also supply to the excavation and construction units. The high demand for crude oil, along with the maturing of onshore oil and gas wells is driving the market for offshore drilling rigs. Moreover, continuous development of offshore reserves and rising deep water production are likely to positively influence the growth of the global offshore drilling market. However, offshore drilling projects require a much longer timeline than onshore drilling rigs, which act as a major barrier to the growth of the market. Browse Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/offshore-drilling-rigs-market-2689 Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Key Players There have been significant investments made in recent times, in the oil and gas engineering and procurement activities, especially in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, where there is a huge demand for offshore drilling activities. Key Players are opting out to adopt more innovative operational cost cutting measures such as minimizing manning levels, moving rigs out of oversupplied regions, cluster-stacking fleets. Additionally; Innovation, mergers & acquisitions, and brand reinforcement remain the key trends for leading players. Identified and profiled in MRFR analysis; some of the major player operating in the market of offshore drilling rigs are Aban Offshore Limited, China Oilfield Services Ltd, Ensco plc, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Vantage Drilling Co. and Pacific Drilling. Other prominent players of the market include KCA Deutag, Maersk Drilling, Nabors Industries Ltd, Nobel Corporation and others. Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Segmentation The offshore drilling rigs Market is segmented in to 3 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; Segmentation by Type: Comprises Drillships, Jackup rigs, semi-submersibles. Segmentation by Operating Depth: Comprises shallow water, deep water, ultra-water. Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World. Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Synopsis & Scenario Offshore drilling rigs are used for drilling and exploration activities in the offshore arena. The market is also expected to gain traction from the rising investments in oil and gas activities. Moreover, growth of the offshore drilling rigs market is propelled by factors such as growing offshore activities in the harsh environmental conditions of North Sea and depleting oil and gas reserves in the U.S. Growing demand for deep-water activities in the Asia-Pacific region and further drilling into mid ocean are driving the demand for jackup rigs in the region. The increase in the number of investments from operators, especially for deep and ultra-deep water activities, fuels the growth of the offshore drilling rigs market. Request a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2689 Global Offshore Drilling Rigs Market Regional Analysis Latin American is the leading region due to high offshore potential reserves of oil and gas. Moreover, factors such as increasing investments in exploration & production (E&P) lead to the increase the demand for drilling equipment and offshore rigs. The increase in global oil & gas production from North America and the Middle East has made operators focus on offshore markets. Secondly, liberalization of the Mexican oil & gas industry drives the demand for offshore drilling. Latin America is leading the market of offshore drilling rigs due to equipped with increased cargo capacity and enhanced crew amenities and automation system. Asia-Pacific is one of the leading regions for growth in offshore drilling rigs market. The growing demand for energy coupled with the increasing investment in offshore exploration activities will drive the market in the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is among the largest consumers of oil & gas following North America. This demand will lead to more exploration and production in the region. The demand for offshore drilling rigs in the Asia Pacific region is expected to rise the demand for growing exploration activities in Southeast Asia. Related Report Well Test Market Information Report by Well Type (Onshore and Offshore), by Services (Surface testing, Reservoir testing, Downhole Well Testing) and by Region - Global Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/well-test-market About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Akash Anand, Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Market Research Future Related Links https://www.marketresearchfuture.com Improved access through enhanced flexibility: The advanced needle helps to support access to lymph node targets, which can be difficult to reach with conventional EBUS-TBNA needles. Improved puncture via the sharper needle: The "backcut" design of the ViziShot 2 provides a sharper needle, reducing puncture force required to sample even calcified lymph nodes. Enhanced usability with an ergonomic handle and redesigned colored sheath: The ergonomic handle design and improved bronchoscope adapter enable stability and precise puncture control throughout the procedure. The newly designed green-colored sheath provides excellent endoscopic visibility to ensure the needle can be deployed at the exact required location, with minimal sheath movement. Two sizes: Either 21 G or 22 G is available to suit physician needs. In addition to the ViziShot 2, Olympus will demonstrate its continued commitment to pioneering in the EBUS-TBNA field by introducing the ViziShot 2 FLEX 19 G needle, that features a brand new ergonomic handle. When used with the Olympus BF-UC180F 2.2mm channel EBUS bronchoscope , it provides up to 84 degrees of angulation to help physicians gain access to the most difficult lymph node stations, such as 4L, with ease. This needle has the largest inner lumen currently available in the United States, ensuring improved sample acquisition for advanced molecular testing and enabling physicians to obtain ample quantities of the high-quality specimens needed for a comprehensive histological analysis, especially when diagnosing sarcoidosis and lymphomas. "Great strides have been made in diagnosing and staging lung cancer and other diseases of the lung using minimally-invasive approaches, and we are proud of our contributions," said Kurt Heine, Group Vice President of the Endoscopy Division at Olympus America Inc. "Our continued commitment to pulmonologists to advance minimally-invasive methods is driven by the evidence that such approaches improve patient outcomes, cost containment and patient satisfaction." Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control, with more than 400 Americans each day dying from the disease. Early diagnosis and accurate staging of lung cancer can lead to improved treatment. Other diseases are also better managed via EBUS-TBNA. In July 2013, The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced new recommendations for lung cancer screening for people at high risk for lung cancer, leading to increases in CT screening. Around the same time, the American College of Chest Physicians changed its lung cancer guidelines, now recommending Endobronchial Ultrasound over surgery for lung cancer staging. Many of these patients require follow-up care that could, by USPSTF estimates, prevent roughly 14% of the 160,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Recent CMS increases in reimbursement for procedures related to lung cancer diagnosis allow hospitals to more readily build their lung cancer program. The new EBUS needles will be showcased at the ATS annual conference May 19-24 in Washington, D.C., booth # 923. To learn more about pulmonary therapeutic devices from Olympus, please call 1-800-848-9024 or visit us at http://medical.olympusamerica.com. About Olympus Medical Systems Group Olympus Medical Systems Group, a division of global technology leader Olympus, develops solutions for healthcare professionals that help improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs and enhance quality of life for their patients. By enabling less invasive procedures, innovative diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, and early stage lung cancer evaluation and treatments, Olympus is transforming the future of healthcare. For more information visit Olympus at www.medical.olympusamerica.com. SOURCE Olympus Medical Systems Group Related Links http://medical.olympusamerica.com NARVA, Estonia, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Having reviewed its 5-year partnership with Omnicomm, the Romanian hazardous waste collection company Salubris S.A. is now looking forward to taking its business with the Russian provider of fuel management solutions to the next level. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403556LOGO ) With Salubris S.A. expanding its operations in early 2010s, the need to restructure and bring down costs became a clear priority for the company's management team. Installation of fuel management system (76 vehicles in total) appealed in its efficiency; and scanning market's available solutions quickly resulted in picking Omnicomm as a reliable and highly reputable global manufacturer. The past five years that the fleet has employed fuel level sensors have generated an impressive 20% cut in fuel costs; in fact, fail-proof functioning of Omnicomm's equipment together with software by iSYS Professional, a Romanian IT services provider, has laid the foundation for other major changes for Salubris S.A. The overall achievement involves optimising key business processes altogether, from eliminating driver fraud to better technical servicing of the vehicles. Dmitry Ilyin, Omnicomm's Regional Sales Manager, comments, 'We asked to define the solution provided by Omnicomm for Salubris S.A. and received the most remarkable response: "Control". We are happy to meet out customer's needs and enjoy our successful partnership with iSYS, too.' Please, see extended case study for additional details. OMNICOMM (est. 1998) is a Russian developer and manufacturer of high-accuracy fuel level sensors, complimentary equipment and software for fuel management that employs GLONASS/GPS satellite vehicle tracking technologies. Omnicomm has four representative offices in EU, Mexico, Brazil and India, with headquarters located in Moscow, Russia. Company distributes its products in more than 108 countries worldwide. Omnicomm's proprietary management system is ISO 9001:2008 certified. iSYS Professional (est. 2008) is a Romanian telematics and fleet management company. The main product is the iTrack software application for fleet management. Its features include mapping, history tracking, fleet statistics, POI management, alerts and notifications, FMS and sensor information, dispatching and custom reporting. iSYS strategy is to create and maintain a high-scalable platform, providing business value over the simple track-and-trace solution. iTrack is suitable for fleets of all sizes across sectors such as distribution and logistics, utilities, oil & gas, maintenance services, construction, public transport, courier services, emergency services and agriculture. A total of more than 25,000 vehicles are equipped with the company's telematics solution. Media Contact: Dmitri Petrov [email protected] Tel: +372-3569590 SOURCE Omnicomm Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. CHICAGO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA), one of Chicago's largest accounting firms, was honored with a Gold Award at the 15th Annual Horizon Interactive Awards for its 2016 Holiday E-Card. The e-card, designed by Plano, Texas-based Greeting Card Collection (GCC) Portfolio, was recognized in the 2016 E-Card Best of Category. "We are honored to receive the Gold Award," said Joy Long, Director of Marketing at ORBA. "Our use of drone footage helped us to create a unique, visually-appealing holiday e-card. We were pleased that many clients commented on how distinct our card was compared to others that they received." The Horizon Interactive Awards is an international competition recognizing achievement among interactive media producers. The competition honors websites, videos, online advertising, print media and mobile applications. The 15th annual competition saw more than 1,500 entries from more than 43 countries around the world, including Australia, China, Spain and the United States, among others. An international panel of judges, consisting of industry professionals, and an end-user panel evaluated categories and entries. "The 2016 competition is undoubtedly one of the best showcases of outstanding interactive media in our long competition history," says Mike Sauce, founder of the Horizon Interactive Awards. "Winners in this year's competition highlight the best blend of technology, cutting-edge thinking, outstanding end-user experience and overall aesthetics." Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA) is a full-service accounting, tax and business consulting firm located in downtown Chicago serving privately-held companies, individuals and not-for-profit organizations. ORBA's Certified Public Accountants have experience with accounting and assurance, business advisory services, financial and estate planning, fraud investigation, tax, litigation, and mergers and acquisitions. With some of the highest levels of direct client involvement in the industry, ORBA is where clients go to build long-standing, meaningful and successful relationships with resourceful, proactive business and tax advisors. For more information, visit www.orba.com. Subscribe to our blog www.orbablog.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. Contact: Carlo Calma 312.670.7444 [email protected] SOURCE Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA) Related Links http://www.orba.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), trade association for the out of home (OOH) advertising industry, partnered with ACCESS Event Solutions, an event technology company, and Blue Bite, a digital experience engine, to deliver interactive engagements to attendees at the 2017 OAAA/Geopath National Convention + Expo from May 15-17, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. OAAA partnered with Blue Bite to develop conference badge with NFC technology that engages attendees with mobile experiences Each conference badge was enabled with dual-sensor technology. Attendees tapped their phones against the NFC-enabled badge to receive conference materials, contextual content and real-time information, including the event agenda, local weather updates, social media feeds and nearby restaurants. At the same time, through the RFID antennas in the badges, attendees received a personalized welcome on large media screens as they entered the venue. Names and companies were featured in a flap display on the screens, providing a unique interaction for each attendee. "This new experience at the industry's largest annual gathering highlighted innovative capabilities that can be applied to today's OOH campaigns," said OAAA's Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Freitas. "Some of the most influential industry leaders saw first-hand exactly how OOH can use technology to connect with consumers in the real world." "ACCESS Event Solutions is excited to be part of a great digital experience for OAAA attendees, merging our expertise in RFID laminate manufacturing and RFID tracking technology with Blue Bite's ability to create an exciting and engaging experiential activation," says Seth Sheck, CEO of Access Event Solutions. During the first two days of the conference, the badges had a mobile engagement rate of 3.4% and a Secondary Action Rate (SAR) of 86%, while the media screens displayed a total of 10,194 names on the display boards, with an average of 7.7 scans per badge. "Any physical object can become 'smart,' with the integration of a technology like NFC and the power of our platform. The smart badges at the National Convention allowed the attendees to become more engaged throughout the event, and enjoy a richer user experience. We're delighted to bring the first such experience to this annual event," said Mikhail Damiani, CEO of Blue Bite. About OAAA OAAA is the national trade association for the out of home (OOH) advertising industry. Founded in 1891, the association represents more than 90 percent of the US industry based on revenues. OAAA is dedicated to leading and uniting a responsible OOH industry committed to serving advertisers, consumers, and communities. The OOH industry generates $7.6 billion annually in ad revenues and donates more than $500 million in space each year. For more information, please visit www.oaaa.org. About ACCESS Event Solutions ACCESS event solutions is revolutionizing the live events industry by providing advanced credential systems that solve modern security concerns. Founded in 2002 as a manufacturing and design firm specializing in backstage passes, ACCESS has evolved into the industry leader for RFID integrated credentials, creating endless opportunities for functional enhancements that make event management easier and more secure. Mission Control, a modern, digital credential and asset management system from ACCESS Event Solutions, solves problems well-known to event organizers: Sending and receiving request forms; staying on top of inventory levels; organizing lists of approved credential holders; updating changes; communicating approval status; logging pick-up status; managing real-time location capacity; planning for catering needs; and integrating it all with RFID technology. Mission Control is the solution to the "who can go where" problem, including RFID access control. All ACCESS products can be integrated with other event software, whether ticketing, cashless, or experiential, to create operational efficiency for event organizers. Custom manufactured laminates and wristbands with advanced security features can be paired with Mission Control and other software, providing a comprehensive solution for any event. ACCESS Event Solutions Wristbands Laminates RFID Access Control Request Forms About Blue Bite Founded in 2007, Blue Bite is a digital experience engine that delivers contextually-aware content through smart objects. With its patented technology, the Company enables organizations to acquire and retain customers more effectively, by enhancing product value and improving consumer experience. Blue Bite streamlines the creation and delivery of relevant, dynamic, digital experiences through conditional logic, all while garnering real-time analytics to measure impact and amplify value. For more information, please visit www.bluebite.com and follow @bluebite on LinkedIn and Twitter. Media contact: Blue Bite Rachel Furst Director of Product Marketing Phone: 786.368.3696 Email: [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg image2.jpg Related Links Blue Bite SOURCE Blue Bite Related Links http://www.bluebite.com SELINSGROVE, Pa., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn today joined local and other state officials, and supporters of Shikellamy State Park in the dedication of two key park acquisitions preserving a scenic overlook along the Susquehanna River. Spearheaded by the Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy, acquisition of the two tracts totaling almost 120 acres doubles the size of Shikellamy overlook, while protecting the last remnant of Shikellamy Bluffs and enabling the Bureau of State to expand recreational opportunities at the state park on the Union-Northumberland county line. "Looking out from this incredible vantage point, you get a panoramic view of the natural beauty of land and waterway that blesses our life in Pennsylvania," DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn told dedication attendees gathered on the overlook. "You also get a solid lesson in what can be accomplished when so many work so hard to protect our lands and rivers." Dunn commended efforts of former owners, the Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy, Susquehanna Greenways, Union County Board of Commissioners and that county's planning office in the acquisition of two privately owned land parcels formerly known as the McGinnis and Rozyckie properties. "A primary threat to Shikellamy State Park is residential development of surrounding property by local developers," the secretary noted. "This acquisition preserves open space, a cliff that supports habitat for species of special concern and spectacular views of the Susquehanna River, both its west and north branches, and the valley." Noting the intrinsic value of the park and Susquehanna River to the area's residents and economy, Dunn pointed out that it had been less than a year since DCNR named a section of the park Kury Point, in honor of former state Sen. Franklin Kury who actively opposed any degradation of the Susquehanna. "Just as that event honored a man who fought for clean water, dedication of these two land tracts celebrates the collaborative spirit that saw so many parties come together to preserve and protect the overlook as part of Shikellamy State Park," Dunn said. Acquisition and protection of the land parcels had long been a priority of the Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy and its affiliate, Buffalo Creek Watershed Alliance (BCWA), which work to preserve and protect ecologically significant sites in Union, upper Northumberland, and contiguous counties, and to educate the public on conservation issues critical to the environment. "Sincere thanks go out to our many partners and supporters," said conservancy President Susan Warner Mills, speaking at today's dedication. "Accomplishments and celebrations such as this should help remind all of us how lucky we are -- as organizations and as individuals -- to be part of this spectacular Susquehanna Valley community we call home." The properties' open fields, forested land and 360-foot-cliff-face provide valuable habitat for mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Protection of the property's forest is in accordance with the goals of both the Union County Comprehensive Plan and the Chesapeake Executive Council's directive on protecting forests. The 218-acre Shikellamy State Park is in Union and Northumberland counties. Located on the southern tip of Packers Island at the confluence of the West Branch and North Branch Susquehanna River, the 54-acre main park offers access to walking and biking trails, picnic grounds, the Shikellamy Marina and boat launch, and the newly-dedicated Kury Point observation area. For details on Shikellamy and Pennsylvania's other 120 state parks, visit http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/. MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Brady, DCNR, 717-705-2225; [email protected] SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Related Links http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us STOCKHOLM, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmalink AB, a specialty pharmaceutical company, announces the appointment of Renee Aguiar-Lucander as Chief Executive Officer. Pharmalink has appointed Ms Aguiar-Lucander to lead the Company's expansion and strategic development, following the clinical success to date of Nefecon: a Phase 3 ready compound with orphan designation. Ms Aguiar-Lucander will, in conjunction with the Pharmalink team, pursue a range of initiatives, including raising private or public capital for the Phase 3 trial, expanding the Company's development platform, in-licensing of additional compounds as well as partnering. Pharmalink's current CEO, Dr Johan Haggblad, will take on the role of COO and will continue to lead clinical and product development. Prior to joining Pharmalink Ms. Aguiar-Lucander was Partner and COO of Omega Fund Management, an international healthcare fund based in Boston. She was previously a Partner at the venture group of 3i Group plc, where she managed the European and US legacy healthcare and technology portfolios, and had responsibility for the group's public holdings. Prior to this Ms. Aguiar-Lucander was European Group Head and Managing Director at a US based global investment bank. She has more than 12 years of corporate finance experience, including merger and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and raising private and public capital for growth companies in Europe and the US. She has held senior management positions in a technology growth company and has significant corporate board experience in both private and public companies. Ms Aguiar-Lucander holds a BA in Finance from Stockholm School of Economics and a MBA from INSEAD. Lennart Hansson of Industrifonden, Pharmalink's lead investor representative, said: "We are delighted with the appointment of Renee as CEO at Pharmalink. Her appointment comes at a key time for the Company, now that it has completed its highly successful NEFIGAN Phase 2b clinical trial with Nefecon in patients with IgA nephropathy at risk of end stage renal disease. This is an exciting time for Pharmalink, as it prepares for the start of its Phase 3 study with Nefecon." "I am excited to take up the CEO position at Pharmalink and join a team which has achieved truly exciting clinical results in the NEFIGAN trial. The company is well positioned to see accelerated growth and expansion through work with clinicians, KOLs and regulators to bring products to the market which address unmet medical needs, and make a true difference to patients and their families." said Renee Aguiar-Lucander. About Pharmalink AB Pharmalink is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing high value products for patients with significant unmet medical needs. With a highly experienced, dynamic management team, Pharmalink draws on its extensive experience of pharmaceutical development and marketing to efficiently identify and progress valuable and de-risked products. Visit www.pharmalink.se for further information. About Nefecon Nefecon is an investigational treatment for patients with primary IgA nephropathy (primary IgAN) at risk of developing ESRD. Nefecon has successfully completed a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2b study in 149 primary IgAN patients (full analysis set) at risk of developing ESRD, under standardized rigorous blood pressure control with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and/or angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB). A Phase 3 registration trial is being planned. Nefecon is an oral, targeted-release and locally acting formulation of the potent corticosteroid, budesonide, that down-regulates the disease process in the kidney through suppression of the gastrointestinal immune system thus exploiting the pivotal role the gastrointestinal tract plays in the overall immune response. Promising results indicate that treatment with Nefecon may provide clinical benefits to primary IgAN patients at risk of progressing to ESRD, and provide an alternative to dialysis and transplantation. Nefecon has received orphan drug designation in primary IgAN by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). About IgA Nephropathy IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common form of glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the kidney glomeruli). The disease is characterized by deposits, predominantly containing polymeric IgA antibody, in the kidney that cause inflammation and renal damage. IgAN can occur at any age, but the clinical onset is commonly during the second or third decades of life. It has been estimated that up to 40% of patients with primary IgAN progress to renal failure, often referred to as ESRD within 5-30 years following diagnosis. This patient population is estimated to at least 200,000 in major markets. Patients suffering renal failure require dialysis or kidney transplantation. Primary IgAN accounts for 10% of renal transplants among patients with primary glomerulonephritis in the US and between 7-20% of patients in Europe and Australia in long-term dialysis and renal transplantation programs. For further information, please contact: Pharmalink AB: Renee Aguiar-Lucander Chief Executive Officer +46-(0)-72-252-1006 Email: [email protected] Anders Hultman Chief Financial Officer, +46-(0)-76-629-6990 Email: [email protected] www.pharmalink.se Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for Pharmalink): Mark Swallow/ Pip Batty +44-(0)-20-7638-9571 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Pharmalink AB LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- QSR Automations, the hospitality industry leader in kitchen and restaurant management platforms, will showcase a diverse portfolio of next-generation solutions at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show, May 20-23, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois at the McCormick Place Center in booth 6846. "Every year NRA provides us the opportunity to show off our progress from the previous year. This year is no different. We're committed to continuously improving our products and partnering with other progressive industry leaders. We're excited to share these updates on the show floor," said Lee Leet, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of QSR Automations. Highlights of the QSR Automations booth will include: Easy-to-use recipe viewer software, TeamAssist , is now a cloud based application, featuring an online portal that allows users to manage their recipes and procedures from one central location. The portal allows users to add and delete sites in a browser, so all of their units are connected automatically. A new search function has been added to locate recipes quickly, as well as secure storage for a peace of mind. , is now a cloud based application, featuring an online portal that allows users to manage their recipes and procedures from one central location. The portal allows users to add and delete sites in a browser, so all of their units are connected automatically. A new search function has been added to locate recipes quickly, as well as secure storage for a peace of mind. QSR's second generation xCeed kitchen controller is being debuted with an anticipated availability date of August 2017 . It offers enhanced options like built in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability, supports gigabit Ethernet, has 8 times more memory and provides the capability for running graphical displays available with QSR's ConnectSmart Kitchen. kitchen controller is being debuted with an anticipated availability date of . It offers enhanced options like built in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability, supports gigabit Ethernet, has 8 times more memory and provides the capability for running graphical displays available with QSR's ConnectSmart Kitchen. Latest enhancements to bump bar technology with the KP-9000 . The wireless device eliminates the need for routing cables, features programmable keys and touch functionality and includes the power efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The KP-9000 is rated for 30 million key presses and offers a 3-year warranty. . The wireless device eliminates the need for routing cables, features programmable keys and touch functionality and includes the power efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The KP-9000 is rated for 30 million key presses and offers a 3-year warranty. QSR's Elite Series of all-in-ones create a solution that minimizes cords, controllers, and keypads and maximizes space. Options for the kitchen include the Elite F Series, which is compact option ideal for harsh kitchen environments and the Elite D Series, which creates a sleek and functional workspace and is ideal for the host stand. of all-in-ones create a solution that minimizes cords, controllers, and keypads and maximizes space. Options for the kitchen include the Elite F Series, which is compact option ideal for harsh kitchen environments and the Elite D Series, which creates a sleek and functional workspace and is ideal for the host stand. QSR's DineTime guest management platform will now integrate with OpenTable. This partnership combines the most powerful in-store operational software with the largest consumer network. Customers will now be able to expose their DineTime configured restaurants to OpenTable's network of diners and allow users to find their restaurant. QSR Automations will be available for one-on-one meetings during the conference. To schedule a meeting please visit http://bit.ly/scheduleameetingnra2017. About QSR Automations: Established in 1996, QSR Automations is a hospitality industry leader in innovative in-store, online and mobile restaurant hardware and software solutions. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, QSR helps restaurants and businesses of all sizes and concepts around the world measurably increase efficiency, enhance productivity, improve quality and maximize guest delight. QSR's innovative software and hardware solutions are installed in more than 70,000 sites worldwide and seat more than 2 million diners every day, creating a positive and memorable guest experience each and every visit. For further information on QSR Automations, visit www.qsrautomations.com or contact QSR at 502-297-0221. MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT: Chrisea Chosta Public Relations & Communications (502) 690-2034 [email protected] SOURCE QSR Automations, Inc Related Links http://www.qsrautomations.com SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantifind today announced a partnership expansion with Corner Bakery, one of its signature clients using the SIGNUM for Restaurants platform. This agreement means that Corner Bakery will have continued access to the Quantifind platform, SIGNUM for Restaurants. This tool analyzes 5 years' worth of restaurant information including more than 780 million online conversations from 65 million consumers and matches it up against a panel of 3.5 million receipt transactions to determine which consumer segments, discussion topics, and interests groups drive revenue for Corner Bakery and its competitors. "Quantifind has been a great partner. SIGNUM for Restaurants allows us to pull out the signal from the noise by providing an intelligence layer that sits above our internal and external data sources," said Frank Paci, CEO of Corner Bakery. The SIGNUM for Restaurants solution includes data for 80+ leading brands across Fast Casual, Quick Service, and Casual Dining restaurants. Clients can drill down into competitive revenue drivers across different consumer segments, unique interest groups, and more than 60 discussion topics including menu items, pricing, service, operations, and mobile technology. "We're thrilled to deliver for Corner Bakery. Their team pushes us to innovate and brings the best out of our product suite. We look forward to the next chapter, including analyzing and surfacing insights on their voice-of-customer survey data," said Ari Tuchman, CEO and Co-founder of Quantifind. About Quantifind Quantifind is a technology company that uncovers hidden signals in massive data sets to eliminate competitive blind spots and reveal new ways to steal market share. Its flagship product suite, SIGNUM, uses a unique and proprietary signal extraction process to help businesses explore, understand the hidden signals that drive sales, and accelerate their revenue. Founded by two physicists from Stanford University, Quantifind's clients include some of the world's most well-known brands spanning multiple industries including automotive, consumer packaged goods (CPG), pharmaceuticals, restaurants, and telecom. Headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, the company's investors include AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Cathay Innovation, Comcast Ventures, Iris Capital, Redpoint Ventures and USVP. For more information, please visit http://quantifind.com. PRESS CONTACT Josh Anish 917-545-4073 [email protected] SOURCE Quantifind Related Links http://www.quantifind.com DETROIT, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After receiving more than 600 applications, volunteer entrepreneur judges have narrowed the field to 20 businesses that will present at Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day, eight of which will walk away with a share of $1 million in capital from Quicken Loans. In addition, WeWork and Quicken Loans have partnered and joined their events to build on the momentum in Detroit's small business community. WeWork will be awarding $1.5 million in funds to Detroit area entrepreneurs, artists and nonprofits. Through the collaboration, more than $2.5 million will go to Detroit's small business community from this joint event. The following companies will be competing for funding from Quicken Loans: These companies were selected from an impressive pool of nearly 600 applications. Assisting with the vetting of finalists were a panel of volunteer entrepreneur judges from businesses throughout Detroit. The judging panel was made up of: Dennis Archer Jr . - CEO of Ignition Media Group and Owner of Central Kitchen and Bar . - CEO of Ignition Media Group and Owner of Central Kitchen and Bar Phil Cooley - Owner of Slows Bar BQ and Founder of Ponyride - Owner of Slows Bar BQ and Founder of Ponyride Edi Demaj - Co-Founder & COO of Rocket Fiber - Co-Founder & COO of Rocket Fiber Rachel Lutz - Owner of Peacock Room and Frida - Owner of Peacock Room and Frida Carla Walker Miller - President & CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services and Founder & Executive Director of W.A.V.E. - President & CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services and Founder & Executive Director of W.A.V.E. Veronika Scott - Founder & CEO of The Empowerment Plan - Founder & CEO of The Empowerment Plan Joe Spencer - Owner of Louisiana Creole Gumbo "We want to show Detroit that anyone can be an entrepreneur. Quicken Loans, and all of our companies, were started with just an idea and a drive to bring a product or service to the clients who need it. Quicken Loans Demo Day is about celebrating all of the city's entrepreneurs and providing support to a handful of our most passionate and successful business owners," said Josh McManus, COO for Rock Ventures, part of the Quicken Loans family of companies. "Our companies operate as 'for more-than-profit' businesses meaning we take our business success and reinvest it into our community. This partnership with WeWork allows us to deliver on this mission by providing more opportunities for entrepreneurs and promoting togetherness in Detroit's business community." Starting at 4:30 p.m. on May 25, Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day and WeWork's Creator Awards at Detroit Demo Day will take place concurrently at downtown Detroit's Gem Theatre and Cadillac Square. The event will end with a party and concert in Cadillac Square featuring a Grammy Award-winning recording artist. The top eight companies in the Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day competition, as voted by a panel of nationally-recognized business leaders, will receive capital in amounts ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 - totaling $1 million. The capital will be provided in the form of an interest-free business loan with a five-year term after a one-year payment-free holiday. A people's choice award will also be presented. The people's choice winner will be chosen by the audience at the event by voting with a mobile app. In addition, WeWork will be awarding grants to business and organizations in its incubate, launch and scale categories - totaling $1.5 million. "We're excited to partner with Quicken Loans to bring the Creator Awards to Detroit. The Creator Awards is a global initiative that will grant over $20 million to entrepreneurs, small businesses, growing companies, non-profits, artists and other creators having a positive impact on their communities," says Jennifer Skyler," Global Head of Public Affairs for WeWork. "This day-long event will feature a job fair, creators' market, master classes, live pitches from candidates and will celebrate the entrepreneurship and innovation that has fueled the "Motor City" and its neighboring economic hubs for over a hundred years." Between the awards from both companies, Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert will interview WeWork Founder and CEO Adam Neumann at the Gem Theatre. The fireside chat-style conversation will focus on both leaders' business experiences, their thoughts on Detroit's business atmosphere and advice for entrepreneurs. Additional Activities: Quicken Loans is sponsoring a "portal" in Capitol Park, connecting Detroiters to cities around the world. It provides one more way entrepreneurs can get guidance with their company, or just a way to talk with someone from another city and culture. The portal will be in a gold shipping container in Capitol Park. It will have a direct connection to nine cities across the globe. The portal will be available for all Detroiters starting May 19. Click here to book an appointment or see walk-up hours. Quicken Loans also commissioned six murals that are being painted on businesses across the city to build on the excitement in Detroit's small business community. For each mural, the business owner and artist have collaborated on the design, making the paintings unique and representative of the flavor and character of each business and neighborhood - as well as the artist's unique style. About Quicken Loans Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation's second largest retail home mortgage lender. The company closed more than $300 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states between 2013 and 2016. Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010, and now more than 17,000 Quicken Loans and its Family of Companies team members work in the city's urban core. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Primary Mortgage Origination" in the United States by J.D. Power for the past seven consecutive years, 2010 2016, and highest in customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers the past three years, 2014 2016. Quicken Loans was ranked #10 on FORTUNE magazine's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list in 2017, and has been among the top-30 companies for the past 14 consecutive years. The company has been recognized as one of Computerworld magazine's '100 Best Places to Work in IT' the past 12 years, ranking #1 for seven of the past eleven years including 2016. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rock Holdings, Inc., the parent company of several FinTech and related businesses. Quicken Loans is also the flagship business of Dan Gilbert's Family of Companies comprising nearly 100 affiliated businesses spanning multiple industries. For more information and company news visit QuickenLoans.com/press-room. Twitter: @QLnews Facebook.com/QuickenLoans About WeWork WeWork is the platform for creators. We provide beautiful workspace, an inspiring community, and meaningful business services to tens of thousands of members around the world. From startups and freelancers to small businesses and large corporations, our community is united by a desire for our members to create meaningful work and lead meaningful livesto be a part of something greater than ourselves. Co-founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York City in 2010, WeWork is a privately held company with over 2000 employees. SOURCE Quicken Loans NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: RLMD), a clinical-stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases, and Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. ("Laidlaw"), today announced final disposition of all claims and counterclaims in all legal proceedings related to Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. v. Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd., et al., Case No.1:16-CV-07767, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Under the terms of the settlement, Relmada Therapeutics hereby releases all Released Claims against Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. and Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd related persons, and Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. hereby releases all Released Claims against Relmada and all Relmada related persons. About Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. Relmada Therapeutics is a clinical-stage, publicly traded biotechnology company developing novel versions of proven drug products together with new chemical entities that potentially address areas of high unmet medical need in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The Company has a diversified portfolio of four products at various stages of development, including d-Methadone (dextromethadone, REL-1017), an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist for depression and neuropathic pain; LevoCap ER (REL-1015), an abuse resistant, sustained release dosage form of the opioid analgesic levorphanol; oral buprenorphine (BuTab, REL-1028), an oral dosage form of the opioid analgesic buprenorphine; and topical mepivacaine (MepiGel, REL-1021), an orphan drug designated topical formulation of the local anesthetic mepivacaine. For more information, please visit Relmada's website at: www.relmada.com . Forward-Looking Statements The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. We may from time to time make written or oral statements in this letter, the proxy statements filed with the SEC communications to stockholders and press releases which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events and conditions and may discuss, among other things, anticipated future performance, expected product development, product potential, future business plans and costs. Any statement that is not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "will," "will likely result," "will continue," "plans to" and similar expressions. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Relmada undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that it is not possible to predict or identify all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results and that the risks described herein should not be considered to be a complete list. Contact Media Contact: Bill Berry Berry & Company Public Relations Tel: 212-253-8881 [email protected] SOURCE Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. Related Links http://www.relmada.com DAYTON, Ohio, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Reynolds and Reynolds Company today announced the release of the Reynolds LAW Iowa F&I Library, a comprehensive catalog of standardized, legally reviewed finance and insurance (F&I) documents for franchised new car and truck dealers in the state of Iowa. Jerry Kirwan, senior vice president and general manager of Reynolds Document Services, said, "The documents in the LAW Iowa F&I Library are designed to help streamline the car-buying process and enhance the consumer experience with the dealership." "Using standard documents written in consumer-friendly language can help to create a clearer, more consistent, and more efficient F&I process for the F&I manager and for the consumer," he added. "Because of those improvements to the overall F&I process, the overall consumer experience with the dealership can be improved." Kirwan noted that because regulatory scrutiny is an ongoing concern for automotive retailers, the LAW Iowa F&I Library is a tool to help dealers meet compliance obligations and manage risk. The documents in the library are regularly reviewed for legal sufficiency with the latest automotive regulations by Reynolds' industry-leading forms specialists alongside Reynolds' outside legal partners. In addition, the printed documents in the LAW Iowa F&I Library are available in digital format, which can help facilitate the conversion to laser-printed forms and e-contracting transactions. Reynolds Document Services maintains licensing agreements with all major providers of electronic F&I (e-F&I) solutions. About Reynolds LAW Brand Documents The Reynolds LAW brand is well established as one of the most trusted brands in the automotive industry. LAW documents have been endorsed by a number of state automobile dealers associations and leading automotive finance institutions. LAW documents are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The flagship product of the LAW brand is the Reynolds LAW 553 Universal Retail Installment Sale Contract, which is the most widely accepted document in auto finance. The Reynolds LAW 553 is regularly reviewed by industry experts to help keep pace with new legislative and regulatory developments. Dealers who use the LAW 553 find they can use one contract to finance dealers through multiple lending institutions. About Reynolds Document Services In 1866, Reynolds and Reynolds was founded as a business forms printer. Since the 1920s, Reynolds has been known as the leader in serving automobile dealerships nationwide with standard and custom business forms. Today, Reynolds Document Services carries on the company's 150-year forms legacy by delivering a wide range of printed and electronic business documents, branding services, and dealership supplies that help dealers brand their retail enterprise, manage compliance risk, and improve operational efficiencies. About Reynolds Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading provider of automobile dealership software, services, and forms to help dealerships deliver better business results and transform the customer experience. (www.reyrey.com) SOURCE The Reynolds and Reynolds Company Related Links http://www.reyrey.com SINGAPORE, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global commodity pricing agency Argus has launched the first seaborne palm kernel shells (PKS) price assessment to better serve the rapidly growing market for export and import trade in east Asia. The price is the basis for the Argus fob Indonesia PKS index in the weekly Argus Biomass Markets report. Trade in palm kernel shells (PKS) is gaining momentum as countries in Asia-Pacific set increasingly strict renewable energy standards for power plants. Key buyer Japan's imports are expected to double to over 1.5mn t by next year and to reach at least 20mn t by 2030, supported by the start-up of new dedicated biomass-fired power plants. Japanese, South Korean, Singapore and Thai buyers have been using this waste product from the palm oil processing industry as a source of cleaner-burning biomass fuel for power generation. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and exporter of PKS, followed by Malaysia. Indonesia exported over 1.1mn t of PKS last year, and supplied more than half of Japan's imports and most of the rest of the region's demand. The new Argus index is a reliable price reference for PKS cargoes exported from Indonesia, where the palm oil industry continues to expand, and has been requested by producers and other market participants. It will be of use to buyers and sellers throughout northeast and southeast Asia. Canadian and US suppliers of wood pellet biomass will also find it useful to watch price competition from PKS as they increase their exports to Japan. The index averages Argus' assessments of the price of PKS for export from Indonesia, creating a single reference price for use in trading across the region. Prices for cargoes loading 90 days ahead are assessed and published each week, complementing Argus' existing wood pellet price assessments in Asia-Pacific. Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said: "Argus is pleased to be the first global price reporting agency to publish an Indonesian price reference for palm kernel shells, and to bring transparency to the growing market." The weekly Argus Biomass Markets report also includes price assessments for delivered European wood pellets and wood chips as well as fob Canadian and fob US wood pellets. The report provides global biomass participants in the seaborne markets with the critical insights, prices and statistics needed to stay ahead of market developments. Contact Information London Seana Lanigan +44 20 7780 4272 [email protected] Houston Scott Berg + 1 713 968 0000 [email protected] Singapore Jim Nicholson +65 6496 9960 [email protected] About Argus Media Argus is an independent media organisation with more than 800 staff. It is headquartered in London and has 21 offices in the world's principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets, and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences. Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by staff shareholders and global growth equity firm General Atlantic. ARGUS, the ARGUS logo, ARGUS MEDIA, ARGUS DIRECT, ARGUS OPEN MARKETS, AOM, FMB, DEWITT, JIM JORDAN & ASSOCIATES, JJ&A, FUNDALYTICS, METAL-PAGES, METALPRICES.COM, Argus publication titles and Argus index names are trademarks of Argus Media Limited. More on the publication and price assessment methodology SOURCE Argus Media Related Links http://www.argusmedia.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, and PLEASANTON, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Unprecedented customer choice through multi-channel product offerings for used equipment sellers and buyers Combined company will leverage Ritchie Bros . unique business model and financial strength with IronPlanet's online expertise and powerful inspection system to further solidify position as the premier global asset management and disposition company . unique business model and financial strength with IronPlanet's online expertise and powerful inspection system to further solidify position as the premier global asset management and disposition company New organization, led by veteran CEO Ravi Saligram , will bring together two strong management teams with complementary strengths and unique skill sets to accelerate growth , will bring together two strong management teams with complementary strengths and unique skill sets to accelerate growth Ritchie Bros . will become Caterpillar's preferred global partner for live onsite and online auctions of used equipment through a strategic alliance Ritchie Bros., the world's largest heavy equipment auctioneer and provider of end-to-end services (NYSE & TSX: RBA), today announced the receipt of unconditional antitrust clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice for the proposed acquisition of IronPlanet, a leading online marketplace for heavy equipment and other durable assets. Ritchie Bros. outstanding brand reputation and high degree of customer trust, coupled with IronPlanet's digital prowess built on user friendly technology, will provide multiple product and channel offerings. "Over the last three years, we've been successfully executing on a multi-channel diversification strategy to ensure that the company stays relevant and strong in a changing environment. In IronPlanet, we found a company that allows us to continue our rich history of innovation and gives us the tools and talent to transform into a digital information and insights powerhouse," said Ravi Saligram, Ritchie Bros. CEO. "The missions of our companies are aligned: deliver maximum choice and value to our customers. We look forward to bringing our combined pride and passion together under one umbrella to accelerate our growth initiatives and add shareholder value." Greg Owens, IronPlanet chairman and CEO added, "The management team and employees of IronPlanet are enthusiastic about joining forces with Ritchie Bros. the possibilities are endless when you merge brand strength with technology. We are inspired by the vision of leading a digital transformation in the industry." The anticipated benefits of Ritchie Bros.' acquisition of IronPlanet are extensive and make a positive impact on the business internally and externally. Highlights include: 1) Pioneer a path into the future. Ritchie Bros. is a forward-thinking, growth-focused company that never stops innovating. By continuing to invest in technology and providing end-to-end support solutions, the company will continue to set a benchmark for equipment values across the globe. 2) Maximize opportunity for customers. The acquisition of IronPlanet is intended to provide the highest quality choices in asset disposition to best serve customers. The acquisition is the next step in Ritchie Bros.' diversification and multichannel strategy. As a successful player in the marketplace for nearly 60 years, Ritchie Bros.' unique business model and heritage of extraordinary customer relationships make it a leader in the industry. 3) Caterpillar Alliance. Ritchie Bros. also enters into a historic, long-term strategic alliance with Caterpillar, which will significantly strengthen its relationship with Caterpillar's independent dealers around the world by providing enhanced and continued access to a global auction marketplace to sell their used equipment. The transaction is expected to close in the next few weeks. A new organizational structure will be announced after closing. Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet first announced the acquisition in August 2016: http://prn.to/2pMuZFC. About Ritchie Bros.: Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world's largest industrial auctioneer, and one of the world's largest sellers of used equipment for the construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, forestry and other industries. Ritchie Bros. asset management and disposition solutions include live unreserved public auctions with on-site and online bidding; EquipmentOne, an online auction marketplace; Mascus, a global online equipment listing service; private negotiated sales through Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty; and a range of ancillary services, including financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. Ritchie Bros. has operations in 19 countries, including 45 auction sites worldwide. Learn more at rbauction.com, EquipmentOne.com, mascus.com, rbauction.com/privatetreaty and rbauction.com/financing. About IronPlanet: IronPlanet is a leading online marketplace for selling and buying used equipment and other durable assets and an innovative participant in the multi-billion dollar used equipment market. Founded in 1999 to transform the global used equipment market, IronPlanet has built a database of more than 1.5 million registered users worldwide. IronPlanet connects buyers and sellers of used equipment with its exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification and family of brands, including IronPlanet, GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, Cat Auction Services, Kruse Energy & Equipment AuctioneersSM, allEquip and Asset Appraisal ServicesSM. IronPlanet is backed by Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Caterpillar and Volvo. For more information, visit www.ironplanet.com. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable U.S. and Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including, in particular, statements regarding the terms and potential benefits of the proposed transaction between Ritchie Bros. and Caterpillar, the terms and conditions of the proposed IronPlanet transaction, the expected timetable for completing the IronPlanet transaction, benefits and synergies of the IronPlanet transaction, future opportunities for the combined businesses of Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet, future financial and operational results and any other statements regarding events or developments that Ritchie Bros. believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as "expect", "plan, "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or statements that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Ritchie Bros.' control, including risks and uncertainties related to: general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which Ritchie Bros., IronPlanet and Caterpillar operate; each of Ritchie Bros.' and IronPlanet's ability to satisfy the merger agreement conditions and consummate the transaction on the anticipated timetable, or at all; Ritchie Bros.' ability to successfully integrate IronPlanet's operations and employees with Ritchie Bros.' existing business; the ability to realize anticipated growth, synergies and cost savings in the IronPlanet transaction; the maintenance of important business relationships; the effects of the IronPlanet transaction on relationships with employees, customers, other business partners or governmental entities; transaction costs; deterioration of or instability in the economy, the markets we serve or the financial markets generally; as well as the risks and uncertainties set forth in Ritchie Bros.' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is available on the SEC, SEDAR, and Ritchie Bros.' website. The foregoing list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Ritchie Bros.' forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Ritchie Bros. does not undertake any obligation to update the information contained herein unless required by applicable securities legislation. For the reasons set forth above, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Contacts: Ritchie Bros.: Erwyn Naidoo Investor Relations Phone: 1-778-331-5219 Email: [email protected] Ian Malinski Corporate Communications Phone: 1-778-331-5432 Email: [email protected] Media Contact: Diana Dixon KemperLesnik Phone: 419-297-0222 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Related Links http://www.rbauction.com TEL AVIV and NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The RMGP Biopharma Fund will invest in the FutuRx portfolio, an Israel -based incubator founded by industry leaders Johnson & Johnson, Takeda Ventures, and OrbiMed The Fund is dedicated to FutuRx's Best-in-Class/First-in-Class assets in areas including immuno-oncology, nervous system diseases and orphan diseases The Fund will enjoy preferential access to the FutuRx portfolio and provide potential co-investment and partnership opportunities to the Fund's investors RM Global (RMG), an international life sciences investment banking firm, is expanding its presence in Israel with the launch of a new biopharma venture fund. The Fund is dedicated to the portfolio of FutuRx, Israel's leading early-stage biopharma incubator founded by three of the world's leading healthcare organizations: Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Takeda, and OrbiMed, in cooperation with the Israel Innovation Authority (formerly the Office of the Chief Scientist). The fund was founded and will be managed by four RM Global partners: Mr. Yaron Breski, Mr. Assaf Keret, Mr. Ted Moon, and Mr. Bruce Roberts. The Fund has completed its first closing of $30 million and will open to new investors for a second closing in the near future. "We are very excited to be launching this investment platform, given the extraordinary quality of science in Israel, and the powerful capabilities of our partners at FutuRx," commented RMG partner Yaron Breski. Another RMG partner, Ted Moon, added: "We believe the Fund will provide its investors with unique access to one of the most exciting early-stage biopharma portfolios we have seen." Mr. Erez Chimovits, senior managing director at OrbiMed Israel and Chairman of FutuRx, said that "Creation of the Fund is an important milestone for the incubator. The FutuRx incubator, which we founded together with our international partners, Johnson & Johnson and Takeda Ventures, is now receiving important reinforcement which will contribute to establishing new companies that develop breakthrough technologies." There are currently 10 portfolio companies in FutuRx, developing breakthrough technologies, with up to 30 additional portfolio companies to be formed. The existing and future portfolio companies are based on research originating at leading institutions in Israel and around the world, including the Weizmann Institute, The Hebrew University, Johns Hopkins, and Stanford among others. Several FutuRx ventures are already advancing as independent companies, financed by leading international players. "The Israeli Government Innovation Authority considers the RMGP Fund partnership with FutuRx an important model of fund-incubator synergy, that provides significant support and capital to the Israeli life sciences industry," stated Anya Eldan, Vice President at the Israeli Innovation Authority. "We welcome RM Global and FutuRx as long-term partners in our mission to accelerate breakthroughs in treating life-threatening diseases." FutuRx CEO, Dr. Einat Zisman, said that "RMG's establishment of this fund is an important strategic milestone for FutuRx. The fact that the Fund will provide a dedicated and unique source of capital to the incubator's portfolio companies will enhance FutuRx's competitive advantage as a best-in-class platform for early-stage drug development." About RMG RM Global is an investment banking and strategic advisory firm dedicated to creating unique value for its clients and investors. Specializing in life sciences, including biotech and medtech, with a track record of 25 years, RMG has built deep domain expertise and a unique global network, contributing to the success of many innovative companies in the Americas, Europe, Israel, and Asia. See www.rmglobal.com About FutuRx FutuRx is the Israeli biotechnology incubator that was established in January 2014 by OrbiMed Israel Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, through its venture group Takeda Ventures Inc., after winning the tender of the Israeli Innovation Authority in Israel. FutuRx established 10 companies and plans to establish and support additional 25-30 start-up companies during the eight year tender and to advance new candidate biotechnology products by identifying and nurturing these early-stage life science innovations. Contact: Ido Atiya CEO Global Image Communications tell: 972-3-6880908 cell: 972-54-4289205 [email protected] SOURCE RM Global and FutuRx Related Links http://www.rmglobal.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SALIDO, the leading restaurant operating system, today announced the addition of several restaurants to its growing portfolio across fast casual and fine dining establishments. The companies have completed installation and will use SALIDO's innovative cloud-based, one login technology to manage point of sale, advance reports, inventory, HR/labor management and kitchen display systems, among other interconnected functions. New restaurants that have joined SALIDO's roster include: Made Nice, the new fast casual restaurant by the owners of the 'World's Best Restaurant' Eleven Madison Park; ABC Kitchen, award-winning Chef Jean-Georges' now classic dining destination; Fuku, Chef David Chang's budding fried chicken sandwich shop empire; Nur, celebrated Chef Meir Adoni's first restaurant outside Israel; and 33 Greenwich, the recently opened Southern-inspired kitchen. "This is an exciting time for SALIDO as we continue to expand our footprint in New York with some of the most creative and innovative chefs and restaurant operators who recognized our company as the leader in restaurant technology," said SALIDO CEO and Founder Shu Chowdhury. "These marquee brands represent a major milestone for SALIDO and we are excited to provide them with exceptional, value-added operations software that will improve efficiencies and profitability for their businesses." SALIDO is focused on fixing the inside of the restaurant, building a platform that will assist operators in eliminating costs and using real-time data to make vital business decisions to increase profitability. SALIDO's operating system offers a one login, full-stack solution for point of sale, advance reports, CRM, labor management, inventory management, and kitchen display systems, providing a distinct operational advantage over traditional disjointed systems. In addition to the recent installations, over 70 restaurants in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston use SALIDO, such as: by CHLOE., 'wichcraft, Shuko, Batard, Loring Place, Num Pang Kitchen, Babu Ji, 3 Arts Club Cafe and Pasquale Jones, among other quick service, fast casual, and fine dining restaurants. SALIDO will present its offerings at the 2017 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, May 20-23, 2018. Chosen as one of the emerging companies to watch as part of the Startup Alley, SALIDO will be at booth 5675G. For more information, please visit www.salido.com. ABOUT SALIDO SALIDO offers a restaurant operating system that empowers hospitality businesses to combat the rising costs in the industry by controlling, analyzing and leveraging their critical data, with the goal of lowering costs and increasing profitability. Using a cloud-based, unified system, the SALIDO Restaurant OS offers point of sale, CRM, advanced reports, kitchen display systems, labor management and kitchen supply management. Together, these functions offer a full-stack, one login system that enables businesses to manage the entire restaurant experience, changing the way the hospitality industry operates. www.salido.com. SOURCE SALIDO Related Links http://www.salido.com In addition to her role as General Counsel, Belcher will serve as a Senior Vice President responsible for leading the company's Legal and Brand Marketing & Corporate Communication functions. Belcher steps into the role previously held by Joan Maclin, who has served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President for the past 23 years and will be retiring in December. "As a nationally recognized law department leader, Megan brings a seasoned in-house counsel view and deep industry experience to Scoular," said Scoular CEO, Paul Maass. Schreiner's CIO position is a new role at Scoular. "Adding an experienced professional like Jeff and the thought leadership of a CIO will help us make wise, proactive technology choices that will improve our ability to deliver flexible, customized, and creative solutions to our customers," said Maass. "While Megan and Jeff's backgrounds and accomplishments are impressive on their own, my firsthand experience working with them in the past gives me even more confidence in their abilities to have great impact at Scoular," said Maass. "I look forward to the new and complementary perspectives and expertise that they will bring to our leadership team and to our growing company." Belcher joins Scoular from the Am Law 100 firm Husch Blackwell where she most recently served as a partner in the firm's Food & Agribusiness industry team in its Kansas City office. Prior to working for Husch Blackwell, Belcher spent nine years as a law department leader for ConAgra Foods, most recently as Vice President and Chief Counsel, Employment and Compliance. She has received national recognition for her employment, labor, and compliance-focused legal work, as well as her law department and industry leadership skills. Schreiner comes to Scoular from Ardent Mills in Denver, Colorado, where he served as CIO. He played a key role in the largest merger in flour milling history, leading the team responsible for bringing together the IT systems and processes of Horizon Milling and ConAgra Mills when they merged to form Ardent Mills. Previous to his employment with Ardent Mills, Schreiner worked for ConAgra Foods as Director of IT, International Operations, and prior to that as President of Continuum Worldwide Corporation, an operational risk management consultancy company and former affiliate of Mutual of Omaha. About Scoular A 125-year old employee-owned company with nearly $5 billion in sales, Scoular's 100+ independent business units provide diverse supply chain solutions for end-users and suppliers of grain, feed ingredients, and food ingredients around the globe. From 120 offices and grain-handling facilities in North America, South America, and Asia, 1000+ employees are engaged in the business of buying, selling, storing, handling, and processing grain and ingredients as well as managing transportation and logistics worldwide. Scoular was listed at 64 on Forbes magazine's 2016 America's Largest Private Companies. www.scoular.com Link to News Release on Scoular's Website: https://www.scoular.com/news/2017/05/17/general-counsel-cio/ Media Inquiries: Julie Heiliger Director, Brand Marketing and Corporate Communication The Scoular Company 515-251-8292 [email protected] SOURCE The Scoular Company Related Links http://www.scoular.com LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopoff Realty Investments, a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, announced today that it acquired a 45.89-acre manufactured housing community in the City of El Monte, a Los Angeles suburb, for approximately $52.7 million. "Southern California continues to experience a severe shortage of affordable housing, a crisis which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future," said Shopoff Realty Investments CEO William Shopoff. "We are proud to create a solution that will help meet the current demand and benefit the local community." Located at 12700 Elliott Avenue, the community features 421 home sites with a 64 percent occupancy at close of acquisition. Shopoff Realty Investments' value-add strategy includes repositioning, re-tenanting and stabilizing the manufactured housing community by adding 150 homes to the community and the city's housing stock. "From a macro perspective, we view investments in mobile home parks very favorably," said John Santry, executive vice president of Shopoff Realty Investments Land Division. "From the micro perspective, however, this acquisition provides us an opportunity to perform physical and operational improvements, stabilize occupancy and potentially enjoy a significant value-add proposition. It is a rare opportunity to acquire a value-add asset of significant scale within the Los Angeles market." Ladder Capital served as both lender and equity partner to Shopoff Realty Investments. About Shopoff Realty Investments Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 25-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial income-producing properties and the entitlement of land assets. The 25-year history includes operating as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners and Shopoff Realty Investments (formerly known as The Shopoff Group). Performance has varied in this time frame. For additional information, please visit www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF. About Ladder Capital: Ladder Capital is a direct lender that provides fixed-rate and floating-rate commercial mortgages, mezzanine financing and preferred and direct equity to partners. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York City and has branches in Los Angeles and Boca Raton. Disclosures This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such offer may only be made through the offerings memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. Securities offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 2 Park Plaza, Suite 1120, Irvine, CA 92614, (844) 4-SHOPOFF. Contact: Jill Swartz Spotlight Marketing Communications 949.427.5172, ext. 701 [email protected] SOURCE Shopoff Realty Investments Related Links https://www.shopoff.com GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life services, was named one of the best companies for multicultural women to work for in 2017 by Working Mother magazine. This honor recognizes U.S. companies that create and use best practices in hiring, retaining and promoting women of color. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the list, and the 7th year that Sodexo was recognized. The complete list is featured in the June/July issue of Working Mother. Sodexo views diversity and inclusion as a business imperative and as such develops strategic efforts designed to address the barriers and challenges minorities face in the workforce. A recent example of those efforts includes a special mentorship program designed to accelerate the promotional rate for women and minorities in the U.S. As a result, 37 percent of mentees in the program were promoted. Because of programmatic efforts like this, Sodexo employs over 40,000 multicultural women in the U.S., one-third of its workforce. In addition, Sodexo provides a flexible work arrangement program that enables employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. Eighty percent of Sodexo employees report that their supervisor encourages work/life balance. "Multicultural female employees made up 34 percent of our workforce over the past year and 12 percent of that population earned promotions to manager, senior manager or executive level positions during that same time period," said Rohini Anand, PhD, senior vice president and global chief diversity officer, Sodexo. "While we celebrate what we've accomplished, we are determined to continue growing our diversity and inclusion efforts even more to truly make Sodexo one of the best places to work." The Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women application is only available to companies that have at least 500 U.S. employees. The winners were selected based on their answers to an extensive questionnaire covering representation; hiring, attrition and promotion rates; recruitment, retention and advancement programs; and company culture. The Working Mother Research Institute created a scoring algorithm based on the previous year's benchmark results to determine the winners. Key findings of the 2017 Working Mother report include: Multicultural women at the Best Companies held steady year over year at 17 percent of the top fifth of earners, surprisingly high since they make up only 4 percent of corporate executives. Multicultural women make up 22 percent and multicultural men 19 percent of the total workforce at the Best Companies, both increasing one percentage point over last year. Multicultural women represent 16 percent of employees hired into manager and 10 percent of employees hired into senior manager positions, each increasing one percentage point over last year. They also represent 4 percent of those hired as corporate executives, matching last year and equaling the average representation of multicultural women in that position overall. "For the second year in a row, multicultural women make up 17 percent of the top fifth of earners at the Best Companies, which is significantly higher than their representation among corporate executives," says Meredith Bodgas, editor-in-chief, Working Mother Media. "This year's report is a testament to both the leadership of the top companies and a reminder of the crucial work that still needs to be done to advance women of color in the workplace." Sodexo in North America Sodexo USA is an American business that is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Delivering more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life, Sodexo is a leading provider of sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations. It employs 123,000 Americans at 12,500 sites across the country and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional U.S. jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small to large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed close to $30 million over the past 20 years to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. SOURCE Sodexo Related Links http://www.sodexoUSA.com ATLANTA, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company has been named among DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the second consecutive year, rising two spots to No. 44. Additionally, Southern Company was named the No. 1 Company for Progress and No. 5 among the Top Companies for Veterans. "At Southern Company, we are committed to the notion that true diversity refers not only to diversity of human attributes, but also diversity of thought and cultural perspective," said Nancy Sykes, chief human resources officer for Southern Company Services. According to DiversityInc, Southern Company rose in the rankings due to a "commitment to diversity and inclusion." The publication lauded Southern Company for diversity among its team of managers and Board of Directors, as well as participation in and openness of employee resource groups, which DiversityInc notes are open to more employees than ever. Southern Company also ranked No. 1 among the Top Companies for Progress the list recognizing companies that excel in providing equitable opportunity for all employees and that hire, promote, retain and nurture diverse employees and No. 5 among the Top Companies for Veterans recognizing those companies with the best results in recruiting and promoting veterans. Derived from corporate survey submissions, the annual survey is considered among the most rigorous, data-driven analyses of its kind. Through an independent, metrics-driven evaluation, U.S. employers' diversity management is assessed in four key areas: Talent Pipeline: workforce breakdown, recruitment, diameter of existing talent, structures workforce breakdown, recruitment, diameter of existing talent, structures Talent Development: employee resource groups, mentoring, philanthropy, movement, fairness employee resource groups, mentoring, philanthropy, movement, fairness Leadership Accountability: responsible for results, personal communications, visibility responsible for results, personal communications, visibility Supplier Diversity: spend with companies owned by people from underrepresented groups, accountability, support To view DiversityInc's 2017 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list and 2017 Specialty Lists, visit http://www.diversityinc.com/top50. The publication announced the rankings May 2nd during an awards dinner in New York City. About Southern Company Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is America's premier energy company, with 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 1,500 billion cubic feet of combined natural gas consumption and throughput volume serving 9 million customers through its subsidiaries. The company provides clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy through electric operating companies in four states, natural gas distribution companies in seven states, a competitive generation company serving wholesale customers across America and a nationally recognized provider of customized energy solutions, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and affordable prices that are below the national average. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, Southern Company and its subsidiaries are inventing America's energy future by developing the full portfolio of energy resources, including carbon-free nuclear, 21st century coal, natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency, and creating new products and services for the benefit of customers. Southern Company has been named by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer, recognized among the Top 50 Companies for Diversity by DiversityInc, listed by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity and designated a Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company has earned a National Award of Nuclear Science and History from the National Atomic Museum Foundation for its leadership and commitment to nuclear development and is continually ranked among the top energy companies in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com. SOURCE Southern Company Related Links http://www.southerncompany.com DALLAS, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") announces the Southwest Airlines Board of Directors, at its meeting held today, increased the Company's quarterly dividend by 25 percent and authorized a new $2.0 billion share repurchase program. The quarterly dividend will increase to $.125 per share from $.10 per share, beginning with the 163rd consecutive quarterly dividend declared today to Shareholders of record at the close of business on June 7, 2017, on all shares then issued and outstanding. The dividend will be paid on June 28, 2017. Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "Based on our strong results, cash flow outlook, and investment grade balance sheet, I'm pleased to announce the Board's decision today to increase our quarterly dividend by 25 percent. Annualized, the increased dividend amounts to approximately $300 million1, and an approximate one percent dividend yield2, to our Shareholders. The Board also authorized a new $2.0 billion share repurchase program. Our May 2016 $2.0 billion share repurchase authorization was completed earlier this month. "Since 2010, we have invested more than $10.0 billion to grow our net fleet by 179 aircraft and expand our network by 32 new destinations; rewarded our Employees with approximately $7.8 billion in profitsharing and benefits on top of base salaries; and returned approximately $6.4 billion to our Shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. Our strong financial position, performance, and outlook, along with the Board's actions today, fortify our ongoing commitment to return value to our Customers, Employees, and Shareholders." On May 5, 2017, the Company completed its May 2016 $2.0 billion share repurchase authorization with the launch of a $400 million accelerated share repurchase program ("Second Quarter 2017 ASR Program"). The Company is scheduled to receive an estimated 75 percent of the shares expected to be purchased under the Second Quarter 2017 ASR Program on June 9, 2017. The specific number of shares that the Company ultimately will repurchase under the Second Quarter 2017 ASR Program will be determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company's common stock during a calculation period to be completed no later than July 31, 2017. Under the May 2016 $2.0 billion share repurchase authorization, the Company repurchased approximately 34.6 million shares prior to the launch of the Second Quarter 2017 ASR Program. The Company's share repurchases under today's $2.0 billion repurchase authorization will be made in accordance with applicable securities laws in open market, private, or accelerated repurchase transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions, but may be discontinued at any time. 1Based on approximately 605 million shares of common stock outstanding on May 15, 2017. 2Based on yesterday's closing stock price of $58.27. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements related to (i) the Company's expectations and goals with respect to the return of value to Shareholders and (ii) the Company's financial outlook. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current intent, expectations, and projections and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the impact of economic conditions, consumer behavior, fuel prices, actions of competitors (including without limitation pricing, scheduling, capacity, and network decisions and consolidation and alliance activities), governmental actions, and other factors beyond the Company's control, on the Company's business decisions, plans, and strategies; (ii) the Company's ability to timely and effectively implement, transition, and maintain the necessary information technology systems and infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives; and (iii) other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. SW-DSR SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links http://www.southwest.com (These fares are offered at Southwest.com in celebration of these new nonstop routes for purchase today through 11:59 p.m. on May 22, 2017, in the time zone of the departing U.S. gateway, for travel from the first date of nonstop service through Jan. 7, 2018. Certain blackout dates and other terms and conditions apply and are fully disclosed below.) Business and civic leaders gathered at Nashville International Airport today to celebrate the addition of nonstop international service. "Our position as hometown carrier both here in Nashville and in St. Louis with more than a 100 flights a day this summer from both airports makes this weekly shortcut to Cancun a natural addition for our loyal Customers to hit another popular beach destination," said Dave Harvey, who oversees International Planning as Southwest Airlines' Managing Director of Business Development. "At the same time, we're adding daily service in our established gateway in Fort Lauderdale as part of a larger effort to bring meaningful international service to Customers coast-to-coast who have made us America's largest carrier." 1 Southwest today also published new flight schedules between Mexico City and Houston, which brings timing improvements beginning July 5, 2017, to the carrier's three daily roundtrip flights currently offered between the two airports and, beginning Oct. 29, 2017, a fourth flight in each direction on the nonstop route. Milwaukee (MKE) travelers also gain new, daily nonstop routes between Mitchell International Airport and both Cleveland (CLE) and Nashville beginning Nov. 5, 2017, with fares as low as $49 one-way. (These fares are offered at Southwest.com today through 11:59 p.m. on May 22, 2017, in the time zone of the departing city, for travel Sundays through Thursdays Nov. 5, 2017 through Jan. 7, 2018, with certain blackout dates and other terms & conditions fully disclosed below.) The carrier's full schedule of service through Jan. 7, 2018, includes the return of many popular winter-season routes and is available now for booking at Southwest.com. 1 Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier as measured by the number of originating domestic passengers boarded. Terms & Conditions for listed fares All international service is offered contingent upon requisite governmental approvals. Purchased from May 18-22, 2017, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the originating U.S. gateway. Domestic travel is valid Nov. 5, 2017 through Jan. 7, 2018, excluding Fridays and Saturdays. International travel is valid Nov. 6, 2017, through Jan. 7, 2018 for new daily routes from Ft. Lauderdale (both to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), and is valid beginning Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, through Jan. 7, 2018 for nonstop weekly service from both Nashville and St. Louis, which operates only on Saturdays, to Cancun. Domestic travel is blacked out Nov. 18-27, Dec. 21-23 & Dec. 28, 2017 through Jan. 1, 2018. Sale fares to international destinations are blacked out Nov. 18, Dec. 16 & Dec. 21-27, 2017; sale fares from international destinations are blacked out Nov. 25-26 & Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 03, 2018. Fares are valid only on nonstop service. Displayed prices include all U.S. and international government taxes and fees. Rapid Rewards Points bookings do not include taxes, fees, and other government/airport charges of at least $5.60 per one-way flight. Seats and days are limited. Fares may vary by destination, flight, and day of week and won't be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Travel is available on one-way Wanna Get Away fares. Fares may be combined with other Southwest Airlines combinable fares yet if combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare's rules apply. Sale fares may be available on other days of week, but that's not guaranteed. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines, as long as reservations are canceled at least ten minutes prior to scheduled departure. Failure to cancel prior to departure will result in forfeiture of remaining funds in the reservation. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel may require an upgrade to the Anytime fare depending on Tier status. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies only to published, scheduled service. About Southwest Airlines Co. In its 46th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 54,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest proudly operates a network of 101 destinations in the United States and eight additional countries with more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season. Service to both Grand Cayman and Cincinnati begins June 4, 2017; and service to Turks and Caicos is expected to begin Nov. 5, 2017, subject to requisite government approvals. Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. The Company operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi providing gate-to-gate connectivity. That connectivity enables Customers to use their personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as nearly 20 channels of free, live TV compliments of our valued Partners. Southwest created Transfarency, a philosophy which treats Customers honestly and fairly, and in which low fares actually stay low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some airlines may allow free checked bags on select routes or for qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. The airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. A new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring a new seat and Flight Attendant galley, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience all showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees who connect Customers with what's important in their lives. From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 44 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2016 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com. Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA. SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links http://www.southwest.com SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DOCASA, Inc. (OTCQB: DCSA), through its subsidiary, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs Limited, based in the United Kingdom ("UK"), has secured a first liquor license for its newly extended and refurbished coffee shop in London's iconic Old Spitalfields Market. According to industry analysts, the continued growth in the UK's coffee retail market is primarily due to people now visiting coffee shops more frequently rather than drinking coffee at home or in the workplace. This can be attributed both to the quality of the coffee experience delivered by a Barista and by changing trends in the UK where the coffee shop is rapidly replacing the pub as the place to meet and socialize. Commenting on this trend, the Chairman of DOCASA, Inc. (http://docasainc.com), Stefan Allesch-Taylor, CBE, said, "There are thousands of places in the UK that do not yet have a decent coffee shop. Trends are shifting in the sector, with pubs, the traditional place to meet, closing at a rate of 29 a week according to the most recent statistics provided by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). This is being rapidly offset by the continuous rise of coffee shops, opening at a rate of 21 a week based on the latest research commissioned by UK Coffee Week. The coffee shop is now a true social venue; strengthened by the rise of online shopping freeing up time for Britons to come into town not just to shop, but to meet." DOCASA, Inc.'s President and CEO, Ashley Lopez, commented, "Our coffee shops in Central London are in premium spots with foot traffic of over 1 million people a day. In a number of these prime locations, starting with the shop in Old Spitalfields Market, we look forward to being able to provide our customers a place to get an alcoholic drink at the end of the day, as a way of extending our trading hours and increasing our customer base in those locations. It also gives us an opportunity to collaborate with alcohol brands to create new coffee-based drinks which are much in demand." The UK's coffee shop market has grown consistently during some extremely challenging economic times, even in areas badly hit by the recession post-2008. By offering alcohol at the end of the day, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs recognizes its customers' desire to remain in a family-friendly environment and enjoy a drink at their choice of a social meeting place that they already frequenting daily. With this liquor license, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs is serving espresso martinis, craft beers and rum-infused drinks, as well as its own cold brew range, Bold Brew. About DOCASA, Inc. DOCASA, Inc. is focused on the investment in a rapidly growing specialty coffee market principally in the United Kingdom. Through its subsidiary, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs Limited, headquartered in London, England, it has established and is growing an award winning market leading UK specialty coffee shop and online retail business. DOCASA is also pursuing the franchising and/or licensing of its branded shops and premium product offering outside of the UK to countries where the premium coffee market is rapidly expanding. DOCASA continues to review opportunities in the broader international coffee market. For additional information, please contact: DOCASA, Inc. Maryam Mazraei Communications Director [email protected] Forward looking statement: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and the actual results and future events could differ materially from management's current expectations. The economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors identified in the Company's previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE DOCASA, Inc. Related Links http://docasainc.com ST. GEORGE, Utah, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In March of 2017, St. George recorded its highest rate of home sales in a single month (WD Hobson), growing at a rapid pace of 3.8% increase with an estimated population of 200,000 by the year 2020 (Matthias). St. George lies at the center of numerous parks, reservoirs, historical landmarks and more, with endless hiking, biking, kayaking, rappelling and other recreation. St. George is also within close proximity to Mesquite and the Las Vegas strip, or a day drive to Arizona, California and New Mexico. This prime location to these activities without the congestion of living in a larger city is what many people find inviting. The proximity to Zion National Park, Escalante National Park, Snow Canyon State Park, Sand Hallow Reservoir, the Grand Canyon and more makes the area attractive to families, outdoor enthusiasts, retired couples and everyone in between. The expansion of Dixie State University is also attracting more students to the area. Over the years, St. George has been consistently ranked across the nation as "best places to retire, to recreate, quality of life, safety, and more recently as places to do business" (WD Hobson). To keep up with the pace of development, dozens of communities have popped up around the greater area. "Consumer confidence is at high levels and expected to remain steady," says Eric Allen, Metrostudy's Regional Director for Utah and Idaho. "The key lesson for home developers is to listen to the consumer and don't hesitate to respond to what the market is telling you." In Allen's latest report of the St. George and Mesquite housing growth, BRIO was listed as one community to have adequate housing available for this projected growth. BRIO Community homes are located along the north side of I-15, meaning central access to all Southern Utah's outdoor recreation. Their clubhouse, The Escape, was ranked #8 on BuilderOnline.com's list of "18 Clubhouses That Raise the Bar on Design" (Goodman). With the Enclave Series starting in the $220s, the Estate Series beginning in the $270s, 13 different floor plans and three different facades to choose from, residents are able to find a home that matches their needs and personal tastes. This community also encourages homeowners to enjoy amenities with their family of all ages, breaking stigmas created by other communities. Home sales have been brisk with 56 sold this year to date. Contact: Phil Case, 801-295-9820, [email protected] SOURCE BRIO WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership associated with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (member FINRA/SIPC), announced today that financial advisor Mark Pojednic has joined Steward Partners as Senior Vice President and Partner. Pojednic, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed $190 million in client assets, joins Steward's midtown Manhattan office. Year to date, Steward Partners has added over $1.8 billion in recruited assets under management and 15 new wealth managers. As reported last week by On Wall Street, Steward Partners has a unique and focused process for each and every transition. "Our transition team of specialists works with Raymond James' group of consultants to ensure that every new partner receives the highest level of care and support for their business and their clients," said Jim Gold, Steward Partners' CEO. "It is because of this process that we feel the partnership can sustain the growth we have been experiencing since our launch in late 2013." "I didn't wake up one morning and suddenly decide to change firms," said Pojednic. "I looked at a long list of options and weighed each one carefully, considering which would be best for my clients. When I had the opportunity to understand what Steward Partners and Raymond James could offer me and my clients, it was an easy decision to join them." Since November 2013, Steward Partners has added 60 advisors with nearly $47 million in trailing twelve-month production and $6.5 billion in assets under management. Last week, Steward Partners announced the opening of the firm's tenth location, in Boston, Massachusetts. About Steward Partners Global Advisory Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices in Boston and Andover, Mass., Clearwater, Fla., Keene, Portsmouth and Manchester, N.H., Albany, N.Y., Bethesda, Md., and New York City, Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, is an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership catering to family, institutional and multi-generational wealth. For more information, visit us at www.stewardpartners.com. About Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., is a financial services firm supporting more than 3,700 independent financial advisors nationwide. Since 1974, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, has provided a wide range of investment and wealth planning related services through its affiliate, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Both broker/dealers are wholly owned subsidiaries of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE-RJF), a leading diversified financial services company with 7,200 financial advisors serving approximately 3 million client accounts in more than 2,900 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. Total client assets are $643 billion. Steward Partners Holdings and Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, maintain a separate professional business relationship with, and our registered professionals offer securities through, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC. 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington D.C. 20006. Toll Free: (844) 801-8268. Press Contact: Gregory Banasz 202-930-6008 [email protected] SOURCE Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC Related Links http://www.stewardpartners.com SAN FRANCISCO and ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sutherland, a process transformation company focused on helping Fortune 1000 companies rethink the way business gets done, has deployed PureEngage, an omnichannel customer engagement and employee collaboration offering from Genesys, the global leader in omnichannel customer experience and contact center solutions. With thousands of professionals spanning 19 countries around the world, Sutherland is one of the largest, independent process transformation companies in the world, supporting customers across multiple industries, including communications, financial services, government, healthcare, retail, technology, and transportation. According to Bill Nicholas, Sutherland's head of Global Telecom, "We went looking for the 'Swiss Army Knife' of customer experience solutions that prepares us for the future and enables us to offer 'Platform as a Service' capabilities and we found it with the Genesys Customer Experience Platform." Nicholas added, "We considered several other on-premise and cloud-based solutions, but selected Genesys PureEngage because it enables more seamless, flexible and scalable next-generation customer experiences. It's powerful enough to support the unique requirements of our diverse client environments, yet still relatively simple to integrate and fast to deploy." Today, Sutherland uses PureEngage to provide improved CRM integrations, enhanced IVR and workforce optimization capabilities, and omnichannel self-service, beginning with 2,000 agents in a new state-of-the art delivery center in Las Vegas. Nicholas cites the omnichannel capabilities of PureEngage as an advantage. "Our clients are increasingly requesting support through multiple channels such as email, chat, social, and SMS in addition to traditional voice-based communications," said Nicholas. He added, "We've learned that we can't achieve a full suite of omnichannel solutions by bolting new services onto existing older platforms. Because PureEngage is built from the ground up to be fully SIP end-to-end, it can act as that single solution and reduces complexity by easily integrating with our clients' legacy systems." PureEngage replaced more than eight disparate platforms that were not well-integrated and required extensive manual efforts to eliminate redundancy and ensure accurate reporting and harmonious performance. "By deploying PureEngage, we've not only increased our omnichannel capability but have improved operational efficiencies and enhanced the visibility and measurement of performance data," said Nicholas. PureEngage has surpassed the company's expectations so far and Nicholas plans to eventually transition more clients over time as legacy systems still supported by Sutherland become unable to handle new performance requirements. "Clients are already asking how soon they can transition to it," said Nicholas. "We could move as many as 10,000 agents annually to Genesys, and we look forward to implementing speech analytics and enabling additional interaction channels." "We're very proud that Sutherland, with such a dominant position in its field, has selected PureEngage to improve efficiencies and overcome the challenges of independent systems to better manage customer interactions seamlessly and holistically," said Tom Eggemeier, president of Genesys. PureEngage is the only true omnichannel customer engagement suite for global businesses to deliver competitively superior experiences providing real-time, contextual journeys, world-class orchestrated routing, and digital transformation at any scale. PureEngage is available both on-premises and in the cloud and supports extensive customizability through open APIs and web standards. More Information For more details on how Sutherland is benefiting from the Genesys PureEngage Customer Experience Platform, read the full case study on the Genesys website. Mr. Doug Gilbert, chief technology officer of Sutherland, will speak with Mr. Nicholas on a panel at the Genesys CX17 conference about their experience in implementing the Genesys Customer Experience Platform. Taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from May 22-25, 2017, CX17 gathers together the strongest ecosystem of solutions, customers, partners and technology pushing the boundaries and future of CX to provide the human touch in a digital world. About Sutherland As a process transformation company, Sutherland rethinks and rebuilds processes for the digital age by combining the speed and insight of design thinking with the scale and accuracy of data analytics. We have been helping customers across industries from financial services to healthcare, achieve greater agility through transformed and automated customer experiences for over 30 years. Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., Sutherland employs thousands of professionals spanning 19 countries around the world. To learn more, please visit us at www.sutherlandglobal.com. About Genesys Genesys powers more than 25 billion of the world's best customer experiences each year. We put the customer at the center of everything we do and passionately believe that great customer engagement drives great business outcomes. More than 10,000 companies in over 100 countries trust the industry's #1 customer experience platform to orchestrate seamless omnichannel customer journeys and build lasting relationships. With a strong track record of innovation and a never-ending desire to be first, Genesys is the only company recognized by top industry analysts as a leader in both cloud and on-premise customer engagement solutions. Visit www.genesys.com. Connect with Genesys via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and the Genesys blog. Contacts: For inquiries to Sutherland: Steve Smith Allison + Partners [email protected] +1 425-753-1653 For inquiries to Genesys: Rachel Faulkner Senior Manager, PR Genesys [email protected] +1 317-715-8109 Lisa Hawes Sterling Communications [email protected] +1 408-395-5500 SOURCE Genesys Related Links http://www.genesys.com In recognition of the national day, held on the third Saturday of May each year, Swimways a leading manufacturer of pool and outdoor recreation products and creator of the SwimWays Swim Steps learn to swim product line, and the USA Swimming Foundation an organization whose mission is to save lives and build champions, in the pool and in life, held a press event this morning at Imagine Swimming in New York City where Elizabeth Beisel, three-time Olympian and USA Swimming Foundation Ambassador, gave a private swim lesson with local children and spoke with them about the importance of water safety. "I first took swim lessons when I was six months old because my mom wanted me safer around the water. Swimming is part of my everyday life and I absolutely believe in the importance of ensuring kids learn this critical life skill at an early age," said Beisel, two-time Olympic medalist and co-captain of the USA women's swim team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. "Once you learn to swim, a whole new world of opportunity is available to you. That's why I'm proud to work with the USA Swimming Foundation and Swimways' National Learn to Swim Day to bring more awareness of this important learn to swim message." In 2016, Swimways became an official sponsor of the USA Swimming Foundation. This relationship was forged with the organizations' mutual mission to share the message of the importance of learning to swim to help prevent childhood drowning. Part of the USA Swimming Foundation's mission is to provide low or reduced cost swim lessons so that every child in America has the opportunity to learn to swim. This morning, the Imagine Swimming Scholarship Fund received a $1,500 grant from Swimways and the USA Swimming Foundation to provide these low cost swim lessons for children in need. Each year, these two organizations join forces on Swimways' National Learn to Swim Day to combat alarming childhood drowning statistics through water safety education to help bring an end to this national epidemic. Swimways: Helping Children Learn to Swim for More than 50 Years An industry pioneer in water safety, Virginia Beach-based Swimways first introduced learn to swim aids over a half century ago, with the still popular Swim Sweater. Today the company offers swimming aids for every age and level of confidence. As one of the few manufacturers in the industry that takes great measures to provide Americans the necessary resources so everyone is comfortable around water, Swimways' annual day is one more way of reinforcing the message that learning to swim is a life skill that everyone should have. "As a company, we strive to make swimming fun for everyone, but our goal is to always ensure safety is top of mind as well," said Anthony Vittone, senior vice president, Swimways. "With our extensive line of Swim Steps learn to swim products, a library of resources we offer through our teachmetoswim.com website, as well as our partnership with the USA Swimming Foundation, we are able to provide multiple touch-points for parents to educate themselves on the importance of helping their children learn to swim." "We have a solution to these frightening drowning statistics and that's swim lessons. By collaborating and combining resources with industry leaders like Swimways, we can provide the necessary resources and education to families across the country and raise awareness about the importance of learning to swim," said Debbie Hesse, executive director, USA Swimming Foundation. "Swimways' National Learn to Swim Day is a perfect time to shine a spotlight on how we can continue to provide opportunities for every child to learn to swim." Drownings in the U.S.: The Frightening Statistics Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths for children in the United States. In addition: 10 people drown every day in the United States , approximately 25 percent of whom are children , approximately 25 percent of whom are children 64 percent of African-American, 45 percent of Hispanic/Latino, and 40 percent of Caucasian children cannot swim, according to a newly-released national research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis Swimming Foundation and the African-American children drown at a rate approximately 5.5 times higher than their Caucasian peers, the CDC reports Drowning is a silent killermost young children who have drowned in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time, according to the Present P. Child Drowning study Local organizations and pools across the country will be holding fun and interactive events to recognize National Learn to Swim Day and engage community members in proper water safety skills. To learn more about National Learn to Swim Day, find water safety tips, learn to swim videos and Swim Steps learn to swim products, please visit www.teachmetoswim.com or swimways.com. About Swimways Corp. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Swimways, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spin Master (TSX: TOY;www.spinmaster.com), is a leisure and recreational water products manufacturer striving to make free time more fun through innovation. Swimways is rich in traditional values and respected for the quality and integrity of its products and services. With distribution in over 20,000 storefronts, Swimways markets three unique brands: SwimWays, Kelsyusand COOP. The company's diverse staff is passionate about developing fun and engaging products for kids. Swimways is equally passionate about making sure kids are safe in and around the water and believes learning to swim is an important life skill. In 2012, Swimways established National Learn to Swim Day, the third Saturday of May each year, dedicated to educating parents and children about water safety and the importance and benefits of learning to swim. Swimways has been helping kids learn to swim for over 50 years - longer than anyone else (except parents, of course!). For more information about Swimways, visit www.Swimways.com. About the USA Swimming Foundation The USA Swimming Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming. Established in 2004, the Foundation works to strengthen the sport by saving lives and building champions in the pool and in life. Whether we're equipping our children with the life-saving skill of learn-to-swim through our Make a Splash initiative, or providing financial support to our heroes on the U.S. National Team, the USA Swimming Foundation aims to provide the wonderful experience of swimming to kids at all levels across the country. To learn more, visit www.usaswimmingfoundation.org. ** MEDIA NOTE: A complete video b-roll package including audio soundbites and video clips is available here. For images from the event, please click here. SOURCE Swimways Corp. PAPEETE, The Islands of Tahiti, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Tahiti Tourisme revealed the cast of real-life travelers who will star in its next digital video series promoting The Islands of Tahiti to audiences around the world. The new stars, a family from England and two couples from Brazil and the U.S., were selected from a global casting call that attracted more than 400 auditions from people around the world on social media. The lucky travelers will fly to The Islands of Tahiti in June, courtesy of Air Tahiti Nui, for an incredible experience ranging from "getting away from it all" in secluded luxury to "being a part of it all" in the vibrant Tahitian culture and adventure. Activities will also highlight Tahitians' belief in "Mana," the spiritual life force that connects all things. Mana is at the heart of Tahiti Tourisme's global brand "Embraced By Mana" and its current video series starring real couples, "Two Stories/One Mana." "We've been casting real-life couples and families because we want people to relate to the authentic experiences of real travelers and be able to picture themselves finding their own Mana in The Islands of Tahiti," said Tahiti Tourisme CEO Paul Sloan. The stars' travels this summer will be featured in a new video series set for release in 2018. Meet the Cast The Gobbet Family Originally from Zimbabwe, Derek and Debbie now live in England with their children, Sean and Kyla, and work together as professional photographers. They love a good adventure and exploring off the beaten track. "We have never had the opportunity to travel anywhere as fabulously extraordinary as The Islands of Tahiti - this is truly a dream destination for us!" Learn more about the family in the Gobbet's final interview. Stefania and Helder Stefania, a crime scene investigator in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Helder, an offshore oil drilling professional, both love the ocean. They've snorkeled since they were kids and recently learned to scuba dive. "We are incurable water addicts. We frequently choose seaside destinations, but we've never been to The Islands of Tahiti before!" Hear more about their passion for travel in Stefania and Helder's interview. Erin and Evan Erin and Evan are newlyweds in Southern California who love getting out of their comfort zones. As an ocean lifeguard, Evan is at home on the water, while Erin, a career blogger, is more of a land adventurer. "We have talked many times about one day traveling to The Islands of Tahiti... it's at the top of our list, but we've never been able to make it happen!" Meet the couple in Erin and Evan's interview. Global Campaign Tahiti Tourisme introduced the global brand campaign "Embraced By Mana" in 2016 to reset expectations for The Islands of Tahiti experience and increase the destination's share of global tourism to the South Pacific. The campaign also includes digital and print ads in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K, Korea, Japan, China, Spain, Germany, Belgium, South America and Brazil. For more information on the campaign, including the recently premiered chapter videos featuring couples from last year's audition, visit www.embracedbymana.com. To learn more about vacationing in The Islands of Tahiti, go to www.tahiti-tourisme.com. About The Islands of Tahiti Located in the South Pacific, The Islands of Tahiti are just eight hours by air from Los Angeles. Surrounded by pristine, crystal clear blue waters, the 118 Islands and atolls offer natural beauty, authentic island culture, and unique French Polynesian style. The Islands of Tahiti are world-renowned for their white-sand beaches, stunning turquoise lagoons and landscapes ranging from coral atolls to volcanic mountain peaks. Each island offers a variety of accommodation from luxurious resorts with overwater villas, to family pensions to sailing via private charter or scheduled cruise. Privacy comes naturally in The Islands of Tahiti and offers visitors the space to relax and reconnect. Tahiti is halfway between California and Australia, on the same side of the International Date Line as North America and in the same time zone as Hawaii. Visit www.tahiti-tourisme.com or call (310) 414-8484. About Air Tahiti Nui Air Tahiti Nui was established on 31 October 1996 and commenced flight operations on 20 November 1998. As the first international airline based in Papeete, Tahiti, Air Tahiti Nui was formed to develop inbound tourism and operate international services for the leisure travel markets. The government of French Polynesia is the major shareholder (84.4%) along with other local investors. Currently, Air Tahiti Nui has 782 employees. In May 2015, Air Tahiti Nui announced its intention to replace its entire fleet, currently consisting of five Airbus A340-300s. They will be replaced by four Boeing 787-9s, which are due to be delivered in 2018 and 2019. As of July 2015, the airline serves the following destinations: Auckland, Los Angeles, Papeete, Paris and Tokyo. SOURCE Tahiti Tourisme Related Links http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP (J&W) has launched an investigation into whether the board members of Tangoe, Inc. (Other OTC: TNGO) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Marlin Equity Partners. On April 28, 2017, Tangoe announced it had signed a definitive merger agreement with Marlin. Under the terms of the agreement, Tangoe stockholders will receive $6.50 in cash, The investigation concerns whether the Board of Tangoe breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders and whether Marlin is underpaying for the Company. The transaction would result in a loss for many Tangoe shareholders. The price being paid by Marlin is below an analyst price target of $8.00 per share. If you are a shareholder of Tangoe and believe the proposed buyout price is too low and you're interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact attorney Scott Holleman ([email protected]) at 917-325-3798. If you email, please include your phone number. About Johnson & Weaver, LLP: Johnson & Weaver, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonandweaver.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Contact: Johnson & Weaver, LLP Scott Holleman, 917-325-3798 [email protected] SOURCE Johnson & Weaver, LLP Related Links http://johnsonandweaver.com WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that the federal government reached its small business federal contracting goal for the fourth consecutive year, awarding 24.34 percent in federal contract dollars to small businesses totaling $99.96 billion, an increase of over $9 billion from the previous year. "I am pleased to report that for the fourth year in a row, the federal government has exceeded its small business contracting goal," Administrator Linda McMahon said. "It is a win-win for federal agencies to get small business contracts into the hands of the innovative small business owners that create jobs in their communities and help to fuel the nation's economy." In FY 2016, the federal government also exceeded the Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) goal and had its highest achievement ever for percentage of contract dollars awarded to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVO) small businesses. Prime contract dollars in all categories increased. The prime contract goal achievements by dollars and percentages for all categories are as follows: Categories Goal 2016 % 2016 $ 2015 % 2015 $ 2014 % 2014 $ 2013 % 2013 $ Small Business 23.00% 24.34% 99.96B 25.75% 90.7B 24.99% $91.7B 23.39% $83.1B Small Disadvantaged Business 5.00% 9.52% 39.13B 10.06% 35.43B 9.46% $34.7B 8.61% $30.6B Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business 3.00% 3.98% 16.34B 3.93% 13.83B 3.68% $13.5B 3.38% $12.02B Women Owned Small Business 5.00% 4.79% 19.67B 5.05% 17.81B 4.68% $17.2B 4.32% $15.3B HUBZone 3.00% 1.67% 6.86B 1.81% 6.42B 1.82% $6.97B 1.76% $6.2B The federal government also exceeded its subcontract goals for awards to women-owned and small disadvantaged businesses. SBA has worked with federal agencies to expand opportunities for small businesses to compete for and win federal contracts. The FY 2016 Small Business Procurement Scorecard that SBA uses to grade agencies in terms of prime contracting and subcontracting performance, as well as other factors, resulted in overall grade of "A " for the federal government. Seven agencies received A+, 11 received a grade of A, four received a grade of B and one agency received a grade of C. About the Scorecard The annual Scorecard is an assessment tool to (1) measure how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals, (2) provide accurate and transparent contracting data and (3) report agency-specific progress. The prime and subcontracting component goals include goals for small businesses, small businesses owned by women, small disadvantaged businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones). Every year, the SBA works with each agency to set their prime and subcontracting goals and their grades are based on the agreed upon goals. Each federal agency has a different small business contracting goal, determined annually in consultation with SBA. SBA ensures that the sum total of all of the individual agency goals exceeds the 23 percent target established by law. The individual agency scorecards released today by SBA, as well as a detailed explanation of the scorecard methodology, is available online: https://www.sba.gov/contracting/finding-government-customers/see-agency-small-business-scorecards. While each federal agency is responsible for ensuring the quality of its own contracting data, SBA conducts additional analyses to help agencies identify potential data anomalies. As part of its ongoing data quality efforts, the SBA is working with federal agency procurement staff to provide tools to facilitate review of data, implement improvements to procurement systems and conduct training to improve accuracy. The overall federal small business prime contracting performance released today by the SBA, as well as a detailed explanation of the calculations, is available online at http://go.usa.gov/Nxxd. Release Number: 17-38 Contact: Tiffani S. Clements (202) 401-0035 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov Click to Tweet: "Puget Sound Business Journal announces @inspirusCU as winner of 2017 Corporate Champion Award for Education." As a credit union founded by a teacher in 1936, Inspirus Credit Union has focused its mission on philanthropy and giving back to education in Washington for over 80 years. In addition to providing everyday financial services to members, Inspirus demonstrates its mission of giving back to the education community through volunteer time, monetary giveback and in-kind donations. Inspirus team members volunteer upwards of 1,000 hours each year in education, supporting schools across the state. Each credit union branch location is a public drop off site accepting donations to support local McKinney-Vento students in the neighboring school districts. Inspirus team members and community members contribute food, school supplies and clothing donations to support these programs, benefitting homeless students. In addition to in-kind and volunteer giveback, Inspirus donates a portion of net-earnings each year to worthy education initiatives across the state of Washington. In 2016, Inspirus contributed over $295,000 to education in our state. This giveback went to programs such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Student Internship Program. This program allows high school students to immerse themselves in science labs for the summer, encouraging their learning about science and biomedical research. Over $200,000 of Inspirus Credit Union's giveback in 2016 went directly to classrooms through a partnership with DonorsChoose.org, an online crowdfunding site which provides teachers with the critical learning materials for their classrooms that they would otherwise go without. These donations directly benefit local communities across Washington, supporting the world's future doctors, scientists and lab researchers, teachers and professors, and more. To submit an idea for a potential educational partnership with Inspirus, email [email protected]. About Inspirus Credit Union Founded in 1936 by a Seattle math and journalism teacher, Inspirus serves 80,000 members across Washington who share a passion for education. With $1.1 billion in assets, Inspirus operates branches in Seattle, Spokane, and Lynnwood. Its philanthropy model includes education-giveback programs that allow members to direct charitable contributions to schools in their communities. Inspirus team members donate upwards of 1,000 volunteer hours each year in support of education. Inspirus Credit Union is a 2017 winner of Puget Sound Business Journal's Corporate Champion Awards, honoring their contributions to education. For more information, visit inspirusCU.org. SOURCE Inspirus Credit Union Related Links https://www.inspiruscu.org COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The WannaCry ransomware that has affected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries now has largely halted its crawl across the globe, but experts at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business say the attack's real impact might be yet to come. They predict the assault could herald a turning point in cyber intrusions and in the way institutions handle cybersecurity. "The damages from the attacks could have easily been avoided had the organizations followed well-known precautions updating operating systems and installing recent security patches," says Martin Loeb, Deloitte & Touche faculty fellow, professor and chairman of the Department of Accounting and Information Assurance at the Smith School. He co-authored the Gordon-Loeb Model for Cybersecurity Investments with Smith School colleague Lawrence A. Gordon, EY alumni professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance. The attack exploited known vulnerabilities in an older version of Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities that could have been blotted out with recent patches. Now the widespread attack is exposing "the underinvestment in cybersecurity by many organizations," Loeb says. This could be one of the lasting legacies of the WannaCry attack, says Sandor Boyson, research professor and co-director of the Supply Chain Management Center at the Smith School. "When you don't do the patching and versioning, you don't get the full protection and full spectrum of defense against vulnerabilities that companies have become aware of," says Boyson, who for nearly a decade has advised the National Institute of Standards and Technology on cyber supply chain risk management. "Patching and versioning deficiencies are a big problem." Experts say remiss patching helps explain why institutions in China, where pirated software is more prevalent, were harder hit than in some other parts of the world. Chinese state media said the ransomware struck nearly 40,000 institutions in that country, including government agencies, banks, schools and information technology firms. Loeb and Gordon have spent 18 years warning companies to reconsider the amount of money they devote to cybersecurity issues, increasing allocations in some cases and distributing money more efficiently in others. "These two concerns lie at the heart of the Gordon-Loeb Model for cybersecurity investments," Loeb says. The model, developed with research support from the Smith School and the National Security Agency, is explained in this video. Of course, ransomware, such as the kind deployed by WannaCry, is not new. Attacks like these have been increasing in frequency in recent years. But no attack has spread so widely before. The WannaCry hackers were said to have demanded $300 ransoms from affected users, payable in the bitcoin digital currency. Sums paid worldwide appeared this week to be relatively modest, in the tens of thousands, not the millions or billions. But the ransoms were being paid, raising the spectre other attackers will try the same thing. "We have seen these kinds of threats mutate into something far less benign," Boyson says. Sometimes, a hacker decides the single ransomware payment is not sufficient, so they write a code that allows them to attack the computer again, demanding another payment, in what's called an advanced persistent threat. "The big problem is we don't see the incentives in place for a lot of change yet, either at the legislative level, the regulatory level or the legal insurance level," Boyson says. "We don't really see a converging set of incentives that would drive behavior." But that could change, Boyson says, as attacks like WannaCry gain global attention. Visit Smith Brain Trust for related content at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. Contact: Greg Muraski at 301-892-0973 or [email protected] SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business A Columbus woman who was charged with robbing gas stations and fast-food restaurants in northern Dane and Columbia counties during a three-month crime spree last year pleaded guilty in a Dane County courtroom this week to one count of armed robbery. As part of a plea agreement, Nicole M. Nichols, 36, was found guilty by Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke of robbing the Stop-N-Go in the town of Burke on Oct. 15. Seven other charges of armed robbery were dismissed but can be considered by Ehlke at sentencing, and an eighth was dismissed completely. Also, the Dane County District Attorneys Office agreed to argue for no more than five years in prison at the sentence hearing. A criminal complaint said that, after robbing the Stop-N-Go, 3893 Steven Drive, in the town of Burke on Oct. 15, Nichols and her partner, Jacob Scheel, 33, formerly of Columbus, robbed gas stations in McFarland (BP, 4701 Burma Road, on Oct. 16), the town of Dunn (Quick Stop Mobil, 1888 Barber Drive, on Oct. 17), Marshall (Mobil, 510 W. Main St., on Oct. 21 and Oct. 28), DeForest (Mobil, 937 E. Holum St., on Oct. 30) and Deerfield (BP, 109 N. Main St., on Nov. 9), and Subway restaurants in Sun Prairie (2681 Windsor St., on Nov. 9) and Columbus on Dec. 4. Scheel has been charged with nine counts of armed robbery in Dane County and one in Columbia County. A jury trial has been scheduled in July in Dane County. According to a criminal complaint, Scheel entered most of the establishments by himself and, usually clad in a ski mask to hide his face, either flashed or pointed a gun at clerks and demanded money. Scheel was observed fleeing the Subway in Sun Prairie in a car driven by a woman. McFarland police received license plate information on the car used to rob the Quick Stop Mobil on Oct. 17 and it was later connected to a car owned by Nichols following the execution of a search warrant at her residence in Columbus. Upon their arrest, Nichols and Scheel confessed to the nine separate armed robberies in Dane County and one in Columbia County, according to the complaint. The power plant is based in a subsided area of mining which is flooded due to the rainy weather with depth of water ranging from 4 to 10 meters in Huainan, a coal-rich city in south Anhui province. And the seriously mineralized water makes this area valueless. "The plant not only makes full use of this area, reducing the demand for lands, but also improves generation due to the cooling effects of the surface," explained a professional from the local government. Sungrow's central inverter SG2500-MV employed in this plant features its integration of the inverter, the transformer and the switchgear, as a turnkey station with lower transportation cost due to its 20-foot containerized design. In addition, the combiner box SunBox PVS-8M/16M-W supplied by Sungrow as well is customized for floating power plants, enabling it to work stably in such environment with high level of humidity and salt spray. "Introducing cutting-edge technologies to products is what we are always committed to. We continue to offer better products and solutions to customers all over the world," said Professor Renxian Cao, president of Sungrow. About Sungrow Sungrow is a global leading PV inverter system solution supplier with over 31GW installed worldwide as of December 2016. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Renxian Cao, Sungrow is a global leader in research and development in solar inverters, with numerous patents and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter systems as well as energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications. With a 20-year track record of growth and success, Sungrow's products are available in over 50 countries, maintaining a market share of around 25% in Germany and over 15% globally. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting: http://www.sungrowpower.com SOURCE SUNGROW Power Supply Co., Ltd Related Links http://www.sungrowpower.com CARLSBAD, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop and commercialize a next-generation sequencing (NGS) oncology companion diagnostic (CDx) for ivosidenib (AG-120) to identify isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations in cholangiocarcinoma patients. Ivosidenib is an IDH1 inhibitor currently in a Phase 3 trial (ClarIDHy, NCT02989857) for the treatment of patients with advanced IDH1m positive cholangiocarcinoma. Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare form of cancer that affects the human bile duct system with a high unmet medical need. Annual incidences of the disease are estimated to be from 1-2 per 100,000, but rates globally have been on the rise over the last several decades.1 Thermo Fisher is currently Agios' technology partner in the Phase 3 ClarIDHy trial, providing NGS for all tumor samples as inclusion criteria for enrollment. Upon validation of the CDx, Thermo Fisher will submit a supplemental premarket approval application to expand clinical claims for its multi-therapy NGS test that is currently awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Under the terms of the agreement, Thermo Fisher will retain the rights to commercialize the test globally and will lead all necessary filings to seek clearance from regional regulatory agencies. Use of an approved multi-gene CDx to simultaneously screen patients for targeted therapies is a shift away from the conventional testing method of running several, single-biomarker analyses in sequence to identify tumor profiles. Thermo Fisher aims to change the paradigm from one test for one drug, to one test for multiple therapies. "This agreement with Agios underscores our continued commitment to help bring precision oncology to the forefront through the use of next generation sequencing technology," said Joydeep Goswami, president of Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing and Oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "By supplementing our existing test, instead of developing a new one, we are helping our pharmaceutical partners expedite their drug development programs so that patients can potentially benefit more quickly from targeted therapies." Thermo Fisher's NGS-based test is designed to simultaneously screen patient tumor samples for multiple gene variants, minimizing the need to perform numerous sequential analyses in an effort to generate a relevant tumor profile. The CDx in development will use Thermo Fisher's Ion PGM Dx System, Ion AmpliSeq technology and relevant content from its Oncomine portfolio of gene targets. 1 Patel T (2002). "Worldwide trends in mortality from biliary tract malignancies." BMC Cancer. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $18 billion and more than 55,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. Media Contact Information: Mauricio Minotta, Thermo Fisher Scientific +1 760 929 2456 +1 760 805 5266 (mobile) [email protected] or Maurissa Messier, CG Life +1 908 208 9254 [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com Over the Years, Mr. Girardi collected many original courtroom drawings and sketches on major trials throughout the Country (O.J Simpson jury, Madoff being escorted in handcuffs etc) and Mr. Girardi decided to donate these drawings to the Library. He funded the acquisition of 95 high-profile trial drawings by Aggie Kenny, Bill Robles and Elizabeth Williams for the Library's collection. As a result of this benefaction, the Library's courtroom illustrations are the most comprehensive in any American Institution. The Library threw a private reception in Washington D.C at the Library of Congress on April 27th with the most distinguished members in attendance and the honorable Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court to do the unveiling of the Exhibition. The Library has said this is one of the greatest projects they have ever had in years and again another generous act by Mr. Girardi. He will have another debut in Times Square NY for this outstanding accomplishment. Thomas Vincent Girardi has certainly proven himself as an accomplished professional and expert litigator who has become a household name. From being the trial lawyer on the famous Erin Brockovich case to his solid victories against Vioxx, Merck and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mr. Girardi is regarded by his peers as one of the nation's top trial lawyers of all time. He has obtained more than 30 verdicts of $1 million or more and has handled more than 100 settlements of $1 million or more. He has tried more than 100 jury cases, winning the first California medical malpractice verdict of $1 million or more, back in the 1970s. His areas of practice include Wrongful Death, Commercial Litigation, Products Liability, Bad Faith Insurance and Toxic Torts. For more information please visit: http://www.thomasvgirardi.com Watch his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA-kbMkPSw Stephanie Cirami President of IAOTP Publicist for Mr. Girardi 212-634-4427 www.iaotp.com SOURCE IAOTP Related Links http://iaotp.com MINNEAPOLIS, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TREVLS, an exclusive Tesla car rental company, headquartered in downtown Minneapolis, announces its partnership with Hotel Ivy, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Minneapolis. Beginning in May 2017, Hotel Ivy offers guests the opportunity to reserve a Model S or X during their stay. TREVLS offers a full-service experience and will pick-up and deliver your choice of Tesla vehicle directly to Hotel Ivy for the ultimate travel convenience. TREVLS' daily rates range from $195 to $350 and weekly Tesla car rentals start at $995.95. A variety of packages will be offered to meet every guests' needs and are available at thehotelivy.com. "Our partnership with TREVLS allows us to offer our guests a premium travel experience unique to the industry and the Minneapolis area." said Betsy Bartholomew, Director of Sales and Marketing, Hotel Ivy. "Our guests can reserve a Tesla while booking on the hotel website and other Tesla and room packages will be available for select dates as well." "We understand that the needs of electric car drivers are increasing, with electric car ownership expected to triple over the next three years. We are the Tesla car rental company at the forefront of this movement and are making the conscious choice to help see it through." said John Marino, founder and CEO of TREVLS. "We are expanding TREVLS Tesla car rentals nationwide by the end of this year." About TREVLS TREVLS was founded in 2017 on the premise of being the first exclusive Tesla rental company positioning itself with exclusive strategic partnerships providing a premium experience focused on sustainability. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., the company plans to expand nationwide by the end of this year. For more information and new locations, please visit www.trevls.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. About Hotel Ivy, A Luxury Collection Hotel Hotel Ivy, part of Marriott International's Luxury Collection and managed by Wischermann Partners, is located at 201 South Eleventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 within the historic Ivy Tower. With its distinctive style, Hotel Ivy is known for its luxury rooms and suites, sophisticated elegance, and unrivaled service. For information or reservations, call (612) 746-4600 or visit www.thehotelivy.com About Wischermann Partners Wischermann Partners, Inc. is a national hospitality firm, focused on the operations of upper upscale and luxury hotels. Recognized by clients, peers and industry experts, Wischermann Partners brings a unique mix of knowledge, experience and insight to hospitality management, development and acquisitions. Currently, Wischermann Partners operates a hotel portfolio of more than 3,400 rooms. For more information about Wischermann Partners, please visit www.wischermannpartners.com. SOURCE TREVLS Related Links https://www.trevls.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- While over half of allocators said the debate around Trump's policy agenda will have little impact on their investment decisions, European allocators feel the increasing pressures of the European regulatory environment, the implications of Brexit and the nationalist movement are impacting asset allocation decisions in 2017. According to a recent survey from Context Summits, nearly three quarters (71%) of European investors are optimistic about the future of the alternative asset management industry, with more than half (54%) planning to increase their net positions in alternative investments by the end of 2017. The survey of institutional investors and family offices was conducted at the inaugural Context Summits Europe event hosted by Context Summits, the preeminent producer of investment summits for the alternative asset management industry. More than 300 institutional allocators, family offices and managers, representing more than $245 billion in cumulative assets under management, attended Context Summits Europe 2017, which was held in Barcelona, Spain on May 7-9, 2017 at the Hotel W Barcelona. The results from Barcelona closely mirror survey results from Context Summits Miami 2017, where more than half (51%) of investors surveyed were optimistic about the industry and 72% planned to increase their allocations to alternative fund managers in 2017. A majority of European allocators (75%) also said they prefer investing with emerging managers rather than established managers, significantly more than the 59% of allocators polled at Miami earlier in the year who said they felt the same way. "Europe represents a major growth opportunity for the alternative asset management industry, and we are pleased to help facilitate conversations between European-focused allocators and managers via our one-on-one format," said Mark Salameh, co-founder and CEO of Context Summits. "As the data shows, European allocatorslike their U.S.-focused counterpartsare overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of the industry. While challenges remain, particularly in the political and regulatory realms, the overall consensus is that there is strong demand for new strategies and ideas." John Culbertson, chief investment officer of Context Capital Partners, added, "Europe has experienced several market shocks in recent years, such as the Greek bailout and more recently the Brexit vote, which has caused European investors to approach the market with caution. However, while there are legitimate questions about the future of the EU and the solvency of some member countries, the overall appetite for alternative investments continues to grow." Key findings include: Allocators Prefer New Over Existing Managers: More than three quarters of investors (75%) said they prefer to allocate additional capital to new managers, with nearly half of investors (48%) looking for a fund with a 1-3 year track record. More than three quarters of investors (75%) said they prefer to allocate additional capital to new managers, with nearly half of investors (48%) looking for a fund with a 1-3 year track record. Investors Split on Impact of Brexit: Investors were divided on the impact of the Brexit vote on Europe , with 40% calling it an opportunity, 35% a threat and 25% taking a neutral stance. Investors were divided on the impact of the Brexit vote on , with 40% calling it an opportunity, 35% a threat and 25% taking a neutral stance. Despite Election of Macron, Widespread Concerns About Nationalist Movement: More than 63% of investors said the destabilization of the EU as a result of the nationalist movement was the biggest long-term challenge for Europe , beating out the migration crisis (12%), Brexit (11%) and other concerns. Investors were especially worried about the slowdown of globalization, the replacement of free market policies and a recession resulting from a weakened economy. More than 63% of investors said the destabilization of the EU as a result of the nationalist movement was the biggest long-term challenge for , beating out the migration crisis (12%), Brexit (11%) and other concerns. Investors were especially worried about the slowdown of globalization, the replacement of free market policies and a recession resulting from a weakened economy. Regulatory Challenges Top of Mind: Institutional allocators and family offices overwhelmingly view European financial regulations, such as MiFID II, as a burden, with 78% citing regulatory costs, restrictions and uncertainties as potentially damaging to the market. Likewise, only 8% thought regulations were good for the industry as a whole. Institutional allocators and family offices overwhelmingly view European financial regulations, such as MiFID II, as a burden, with 78% citing regulatory costs, restrictions and uncertainties as potentially damaging to the market. Likewise, only 8% thought regulations were good for the industry as a whole. Trump Not Influencing Investment Decisions: A majority (56%) of investors said that Trump's policies had no effect on their investment decisions. Of the investors who did cite some impact, 32% said his administration's policies made them more bullish on risk assets and 11% said the policies made them more bearish. A majority (56%) of investors said that Trump's policies had no effect on their investment decisions. Of the investors who did cite some impact, 32% said his administration's policies made them more bullish on risk assets and 11% said the policies made them more bearish. Little Agreement on Best Investments for 2017: Investors were divided when picking the asset class with the most potential for outperformance in 2017, with developed market equities emerging as the winner with just 30% of the vote. Other top picks included emerging markets (27%), commodities (10%) and cash (10%). Context Summits also recently released its second annual Allocator Trends Report, which is based on data and views gained from surveying attendees at Context Summits Miami 2017. For more information and analysis, the full 2017 Allocator Trends Report is available here: https://contextsummits.com/resources/allocator-trends/ Context Summits hosts several events each year. Upcoming events include Context Summits West 2017, which will be held September 17-19 at the Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California and Context Summits Texas 2017, which will be held November 12-14 in Austin, TX. For additional information, please visit http://www.contextsummits.com/. About Context Summits As the preeminent producer of events for the alternative asset management industry, Context Summits focuses on elevating the conference experience through an innovative format and structure where relationship building leads to unmatched results. A pioneer of the one-on-one 'summit' format, Context Summits utilizes an innovative approach to deliver effective and transparent networking events that elevate the conference experience for managers, allocators and investors. Through its systematic approach, Context Summits is able to attract high quality attendees, making meetings efficient and productive. For more details, please visit: http://www.contextsummits.com. About Context Capital Partners Context Capital Partners, LP is an alternative specialist firm that allocates its capital to talented investment managers and whose subsidiaries offer a diverse range of investment strategies, including hedge funds, liquid alternative mutual funds, and private equity funds. Through its unique approach to evaluating and overseeing highly-differentiated and specialized funds, Context seeks to identify opportunities in both liquid and illiquid markets and serves as a full financial and operational partner for its subsidiaries. Since inception, Context led seed deals totaling more than $400 million in aggregate. The firm's subsidiary businesses include Context Asset Management, Context Summits, Context BH Capital Management, Context Liberty Bell, Context Jensen Partners, and Context Business Lending. Context Capital Partners is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, PA. For more information about Context Capital Partners, visit www.contextcp.com. Contact: Nick Rust 212.279.3115 ext. 252 [email protected] SOURCE Context Summits NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ugam, a global leader in data and analytics, today announced it has opened a new office in Chicago to support the company's rapid growth. Having worked for over a decade with many of Chicago's leading retailers, B2B manufacturers and distributors and market research firms, Ugam is reinforcing its commitment to the region. The location will help better serve clients through in-person availability as well as provide proximity to Chicago's thriving business hub. "Ugam is undergoing a period of substantial growth, and 2017 will be an exciting year," said Sunil Mirani, Ugam CEO. "As we expand to newer geographies, the US continues to be our primary market. Our remarkable growth is partly a result of longstanding relationships with many of our clients. We continue to help them accelerate their digital journeys and make confident business decisions using data and analytics." This is Ugam's third new office opening in six months, building its presence across the U.S., U.K., Australia and India. The office is located in O'Hare Atrium Office Plaza, 2860 River Road, Suite 155, Des Plaines, IL 60018, a ten-minute drive from O'Hare International Airport. For information on career opportunities, please visit: ugamsolutions.com/careers About Ugam Ugam is a global leader in data and analytics that helps retailers, brands and market research firms transform big data into valuable insights. The company's unique managed services offering combines a proprietary big data technology platform with deep domain knowledge and analytics expertise to empower clients to make decisions that improve their business. For retailers, online marketplaces and brands, Ugam supports better merchandising, marketing and channel management decisions through the use of analytics. For market research firms and insight-based consultancies, Ugam offers a portfolio of solutions, including end-to-end research operations, technology transitioning support, and data warehousing, visualization and reporting that enables them to better serve their clients. Five of the top 10 U.S. retailers, four of the leading Australian retailers, many of the world's largest brands and online marketplaces, and 13 of the top 25 market research firms work with Ugam because of its ability to deliver high-quality insights with unmatched customer experience. Visit us at ugamsolutions.com, follow us on Twitter @ugam, and visit our LinkedIn page. Contact: Veera Fernandes Ugam [email protected] SOURCE Ugam Related Links http://www.ugamsolutions.com The business summit provided a forum to celebrate AAPI business success and address the challenges faced by AAPI business community. AAPI business owners are one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States and nearly 2 million businesses are owned by Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide, employing 3.6 million workers, and generating nearly $700 billion in annual revenue, according to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners. "MBDA is honored to host today's summit and to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month," said MBDA Acting National Director Edith J. McCloud. "MBDA understands the value of building partnerships and creating opportunities to share our knowledge and experience, and we know that entrepreneurship is a sure pathway to wealth creation and a thriving national economy. Your success means more jobs, sustainable communities, and greater prosperity for all American families." The honorable Judy Chu, U.S. House of Representatives, provided keynote remarks during the afternoon portion of the program. "Today's summit is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all that our diverse businesses do for our community and our country," said Chu. The California congresswoman shared her grandfather's story of opening a Chinese restaurant in Watts and the opportunities that entrepreneurship have provided to her family and so many others. "Minority businesses are the driver of our economy and that's why I made helping businesses a priority during my time in Congress." Representing Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, were Senior White House Advisor Eric Branstad and White House Liaison Todd Abrajano who also provided remarks to the audience. During the event, attendees participated in discussions on AAPI business success, customer and supplier relationships, the state of AAPI Business and Entrepreneurship and challenges and successes for the next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs. Some of the key takeaways from the discussions included the importance of building communities and networking while growing your business, embracing innovation, and having an entrepreneurial mindset. Speakers also encouraged business owners to tell their stories and share their experiences as part of their journey. This was the second year in a row that MBDA and National ACE worked together to plan and host the National AAPI Business Summit. "The National ACE is committed to collaborating with MBDA and advancing economic growth and development of AAPI businesses and interests. The National AAPI Business Summit helps us to create more opportunities and develop mentorship for business owners, especially for the next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs," said National ACE President and CEO, Chiling Tong. Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in power networking sessions with government officials and AAPI business owners, leaders and professionals. This year's AAPI Business summit drew more than 200 people from across the U.S. About the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) MBDA, www.mbda.gov, is the only Federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses. Our programs and services better equip minority-owned firms to create jobs, build scale and capacity, increase revenues and expand regionally, nationally and internationally. Services are provided through a network of MBDA Business Centers. Established in 1969, MBDA continues to be a dedicated strategic partner to all U.S. minority-owned businesses, committed to providing programs and services that provide greater access to capital, contracts and markets. Follow us on Twitter @usmbda. Contact: Dijon Rolle Phone: (202) 482-1375 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mbda.gov Fax: (202) 482-5117 SOURCE Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Related Links http://www.mbda.gov SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Ven Johnson of Johnson Law, PLC will hold a press conference Friday, May 19, 2017 at 4:30 pm. Johnson will be joined by Paula Watts, the mother of 13-year-old Bryan Douglas-Watts, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the Quality Inn & Suites in Niles, MI, on April 1, 2017. The conference will be held at the law offices of Sweeney Julian, P.C. (1620 South Bend Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617). Johnson recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of Bryan's family and five other victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. The lawsuit names Quality Inn & Suites franchise owner Jayesh Patel, and parent company Choice Hotels International, Inc. as responsible for the incident. It is believed that a faulty pool heater system and absence of a working carbon monoxide detector caused the pool area to fill with carbon monoxide. The goal of this lawsuit is to not only compensate the innocent victims of this tragedy, but to shine a light on the dangers of carbon monoxide and the importance of new legislation. Current Michigan law only requires new commercial buildings built after 2009 to have carbon monoxide detectors. Johnson stated, "This truly is a silent killer. Without working carbon monoxide detectors or alarms you don't know what's happening until it's too late. Michigan law does not do enough to protect our people. Even worse, based upon our research, Indiana and Ohio have no laws on the books whatsoever requiring CO detectors. We must draw attention to the obvious safety hazard and work together on legislation to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again." Johnson Law, PLC is a personal injury law firm specializing in vehicle negligence, product liability, medical malpractice, police misconduct and more. Visit http://venjohnsonlaw.com/ for more information. SOURCE Johnson Law, PLC Related Links http://venjohnsonlaw.com MIAMISBURG, Ohio, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Verso Corporation (NYSE: VRS) will hold a conference call today to review financial results for the first quarter of 2017. Earlier this week, net sales of $616 million, a net loss of $21 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $26 million were reported. For the first quarter of 2016, results for the predecessor and successor companies are shown below. Overview "Verso is relentlessly pursuing opportunities to successfully adapt to the rapidly evolving coated papers marketplace," said Verso Chief Executive Officer, B. Christopher DiSantis. "We are aggressively reducing our overhead expense by more than 10 percent, and after trimming our mill operational costs by an annualized $68 million in 2016, we've identified another $55 million in productivity and cost reduction opportunities this year. In addition, we are evaluating a variety of low-cost machine conversion projects to aid in our repositioning efforts." "As we continue to work with our customers to address their evolving business needs, Verso has launched a series of machine glazed natural kraft products produced at our Androscoggin Specialty mill and we have commercialized many new products across our platform in the first quarter with nearly 100 in the pipeline, 19 of which are already in pre-production," DiSantis continued. Presentation of Predecessor and Successor Financial Results Verso Corporation (the "Company") adopted fresh-start reporting as of July 15, 2016 (the "Effective Date"), the effective date of its First Modified Third Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code dated June 20, 2016, and the date that Verso emerged from its Chapter 11 cases. As a result of the application of fresh-start reporting, the Company's financial statements for periods prior to the Effective Date are not comparable to those for periods subsequent to the Effective Date. References to "Successor" refer to the Company on or after the Effective Date. References to "Predecessor" refer to the Company prior to the Effective Date. Operating results for the Successor and Predecessor periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for a full fiscal year. References such as the "Company," "we," "our" and "us" refer to Verso Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, whether Predecessor and/or Successor, as appropriate. Results of Operations Comparison of Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 to Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 Predecessor Successor Three Months Three Months Ended Ended March 31, March 31, Three Month (Dollars in millions) 2016 2017 $ Change Net sales $ 690 $ 616 $ (74) Costs and expenses: Cost of products sold (exclusive of depreciation, amortization and depletion) 618 560 (58) Depreciation, amortization and depletion 48 33 (15) Selling, general and administrative expenses 47 33 (14) Restructuring charges 144 2 (142) Other operating income (57) - 57 Operating loss (110) (12) 98 Interest expense 26 9 (17) Loss before reorganization items, net (136) (21) 115 Reorganization items, net (48) - 48 Loss before income taxes (88) (21) 67 Income tax expense - - - Net loss $ (88) $ (21) $ 67 Comments to Results of Operations - Comparison of Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 to Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 Net sales for the first quarter of 2017 were 11% lower than the first quarter of 2016. The sales decline was attributable to both a decrease in total sales volume and a decrease in pricing due to the general softening of demand for coated papers, our capacity reductions at our Androscoggin Mill and the closure of the Wickliffe Mill. Gross margin decreased from 10.4% in the first quarter of 2016 to 9.1% in the first quarter of 2017 driven by lower sales volume and pricing, higher input costs, and the effects of accounting policy changes adopted in conjunction with fresh-start accounting. Depreciation, amortization and depletion for the first quarter of 2017 was lower than the first quarter of 2016, which was attributable to capacity reductions at our Androscoggin Mill, the closure of the Wickliffe Mill and reduction in the carrying value of our property, plant and equipment as a result of adopting fresh-start accounting. SG&A expense reduction was attributable to a decline in spending, reduced pre-reorganization costs as well as a reclassification of 2017 SG&A to cost of products sold attributable to a change in accounting policy adopted in connection with fresh-start accounting. Restructuring charges are primarily associated with the announced closure and relocation of the Memphis office headquarters and closure of the Wickliffe Mill. Restructuring in 2016 consisted primarily of non-cash fixed asset write-down charges from the permanent closure of the Wickliffe Mill. office headquarters and closure of the Wickliffe Mill. Restructuring in 2016 consisted primarily of non-cash fixed asset write-down charges from the permanent closure of the Wickliffe Mill. Other operating income for the first quarter of 2016 is attributable to the sale of hydroelectric facilities in January 2016 . Guidance The Company is providing the following guidance: 2017 Second Quarter Sales of $575-595 million Price pressures will continue for the foreseeable future Capital expenditures of $13-16 million Maintenance expense of $60-70 million , heaviest quarter of 2017 , heaviest quarter of 2017 2017 Full Year Capital expenditures of $55-65 million , down from $73 million in 2016 , down from in 2016 Maintenance costs of $210-220 million , down from approximately $235 million in 2016 , down from approximately in 2016 SG&A of $110-115 million Cash pension funding of $32-36 million Cash taxes of $0 -5 million, primarily state income and franchise taxes Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA EBITDA consists of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA reflects adjustments to EBITDA to eliminate the impact of certain items that we do not consider to be indicative of our performance. We use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as a way of evaluating our performance relative to that of our peers and to assess compliance with our credit facilities. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is an operating performance measure commonly used in our industry that provides investors and analysts with a measure of ongoing operating results unaffected by differences in capital structures, capital investment cycles, and ages of related assets among otherwise comparable companies. We believe that the supplemental adjustments applied in calculating Adjusted EBITDA are reasonable and appropriate to provide additional information to investors. Because EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and are susceptible to varying calculations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. You should consider our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in addition to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, our operating or net income or cash flows from operating activities, which are determined in accordance with GAAP. The following table reconciles net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the presented periods: Predecessor Successor Three Months Three Months Ended Ended March 31, March 31, (Dollars in millions) 2016 2017 Net loss $ (88) $ (21) Income tax expense - - Interest expense, net 26 9 Depreciation, amortization and depletion 48 33 EBITDA $ (14) $ 21 Adjustments to EBITDA: Reorganization items, net (1) (48) - Restructuring charges (2) 144 2 Gains on disposal of assets (3) (57) - Pre-reorganization costs (4) 6 - Other items, net (5) 9 3 Adjusted EBITDA $ 40 $ 26 (1) Net gains associated with the Chapter 11 Cases. (2) For 2017, charges are primarily associated with the announced closure and relocation of the Memphis office headquarters and closure of the Wickliffe Mill. For 2016, charges are primarily associated with the closure of the Wickliffe Mill, of which $137 million is non-cash. (3) Realized gains on the sale of assets, which are primarily attributable to the sale of hydroelectric facilities in January 2016. (4) Costs incurred in connection with advisory and legal services related to planning for the Chapter 11 Cases. (5) For 2017, costs incurred in connection with the re-engineering of information systems, amortization of non-cash incentive compensation, costs associated with the temporary idling of the No. 3 paper machine at the Androscoggin Mill, and miscellaneous other non-recurring adjustments. For 2016, costs associated with the indefinite idling of the Wickliffe Mill, amortization of non-cash incentive compensation, unrealized losses (gains) on energy-related derivative contracts, and miscellaneous non-cash and other earnings adjustments. About Verso Verso Corporation is the turn-to company for those looking to successfully navigate the complexities of paper sourcing and performance. The leading North American producer of printing and specialty papers and pulp, Verso provides insightful solutions that help drive improved customer efficiency, productivity, brand awareness and business results. Verso's long-standing reputation for quality and reliability is directly tied to our vision to be a company with passion that is respected and trusted by all. Verso's passion is rooted in ethical business practices that demand safe workplaces for our employees and sustainable wood sourcing for our products. This passion, combined with our flexible manufacturing capabilities and an unmatched commitment to product performance, delivery and service, make Verso a preferred choice among commercial printers, paper merchants and brokers, converters, publishers and other end users. For more information, visit us online at versoco.com. Forward-Looking Statements In this press release, all statements that are not purely historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "estimate," "intend," "potential" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available business, economic, financial, and other information and reflect management's current beliefs, expectations, and views with respect to future developments and their potential effects on Verso. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks and uncertainties that may affect Verso and its business. Verso's actual actions and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by these statements due to a variety of factors, including those risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in Verso's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Verso assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement made in this press release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances or actual outcomes. Conference Call Verso will host a conference call on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9 a.m. (EDT) to discuss first quarter 2017 results. Analysts and investors may access the live conference call only by dialing 888-317-6003 (U.S. toll-free), 866-284-3684 (Canada toll-free) or 412-317-6061 (international) and referencing elite entry number 1298197 and Verso Corporation. To register, please dial in 10 minutes before the conference call begins. The conference call and presentation materials can be accessed through Verso's website at http://investor.versoco.com/ by navigating to the Events page. This release and Verso's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2017, will be made available on Verso's website at http://investor.versoco.com/ by navigating to the Financial Information page. A telephonic replay of the call can be accessed at 877-344-7529 (U.S. toll-free), 855-669-9658 (Canada toll-free) or 412-317-0088 (international), access code 10107031. The replay will be available starting at 11 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, May 18, 2017, and will remain available until June 18, 2017. An archive of the conference call and webcast will be available at http://investor.versoco.com starting at 11 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, May 18, 2017, and will remain available for 120 days. SOURCE Verso Corporation Related Links http://versoco.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), today released an educational white paper and findings from a recent survey examining Americans' understanding of health care costs in retirement. The paper entitled "Playing the Long Game: Understanding How Health Care Costs Can Impact Your Retirement Readiness" provides data, resources and information to help consumers estimate these costs and factor them into their retirement planning strategy. Findings from Voya's research indicate that only 14 percent of those surveyed calculated the cost of healthcare in retirement, underscoring the need for education around this topic.1 White Paper: http://professionals.voya.com/stellent/public/HEALTHCARE.pdf "There is much uncertainty among consumers about the future of retirement and rising health care costs. Americans need to understand the impact that healthcare costs can have on their overall financial security both today and in retirement and they need to be aware of the savings tools available to them to calculate their needs," said James Nichols, senior vice president of Voya's Customer Solutions Group. Previous Voya research shows that when it comes to retirement, 41 percent of Americans rank health care as the expense they are most worried about.2 While it's clear that Americans are concerned about these costs, Voya's new research found that an overwhelming 81 percent have not estimated how much they will pay for health care while in retirement. When asked to calculate these costs, 66 percent estimated the costs would be $100,000 or less. This calculation falls far below 2017 estimates from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) which state that a 65-year-old man would need $127,000 in savings, and a 65-year-old woman would need $143,000 to give each of them a 90 percent chance of having enough savings to cover health care expenses in retirement. Voya's paper examines the challenges of funding health care expenses, and helps educate Americans on how they can anticipate and prepare for medical costs before and during their retirement years. Online resources like Voya's myOrangeMoney retirement calculator can help people understand how their current retirement savings may translate into potential monthly income. An advanced version of myOrangeMoney available to Voya's retirement plan customers helps factor health care expenses into their future budget. "There are many free online tools that can help, in addition to meeting with a financial advisor to discuss savings vehicles and strategies," added Nichols. "For those who are behind on their retirement saving, it's not too late to revisit your retirement plan and get on track to retire with confidence and security." Securities and investment advisory services offered through Voya Financial Advisors, Inc., member SIPC. Media Contact: Nicole Vasile Voya Financial Cell: (860) 839-1589 [email protected] Investor Contact: Darin Arita 212-309-8999 [email protected] About Voya Financial Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $505 billion in total assets under management and administration as of March 31, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible one person, one family, one institution at a time Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya. 1"Voya Financial Survey based on findings from a Telephone CARAVAN survey," ORC International, 2017 2Voya Retire Ready Index," Voya Financial (2015), http://corporate.voya.com/newsroom/news-releases/voya-financial-study-reveals-how-americansscore-their-retirement-readiness SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc. Related Links http://www.voya.com For the duration of this year's committee, Stephen Wellborn was nominated as vice president of the association. Stephen, Director of Product Research and Development at Wellborn Cabinet is one of five Wellborn children. With each child working in the family business (as well as many spouses, cousins, nieces and nephews), it is truly a family affair for the Wellborn's. Father Paul Wellborn founded Wellborn cabinet over 53 years ago in the small town of Ashland, Alabama and has kept his successful business in the same rural town. Stephen, like his other siblings, has 'grown-up' in the cabinet business. "It is all I know and what I love! I enjoy working with family each day. I enjoy learning and growing in my field of study, which is why I am so honored and pleased to be announced as the Vice President for this year's KCMA board. The upcoming year looks to be exciting and I hope to help play a small part in contributing to the association." Founded in 1955, KCMA is the major trade association for kitchen cabinet and bath vanity manufacturers and key suppliers of goods and services to the industry. Based in Reston, Virginia, the association has more than 300 members. KCMA administers two different certification programs: The ANSI/KCMA A161.1 and the Environmental Stewardship certification programs. Additionally, KCMA Partners with a number of different trade associations and publications to spread awareness on public policy issues and industry trends across the kitchen and bath industry. SOURCE Wellborn Cabinet, Inc. Related Links http://wellborn.com MARSHFIELD, Wis., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wenzel's Farm, a leading producer of small batch, hand crafted and naturally hickory smoked meat snacks announces a complete redesign of its brand. The company, which has been producing quality Wisconsin meat products since 1949 has undergone a complete brand transformation, with new logo, website, packaging, in-store point of purchase, and social media presence. "Wenzel's Farm has been an icon in its home town of Marshfield Wisconsin, and across the upper-Midwest for over 60 years," stated Wenzel's Farm President Mark Vieth. "Although our logo and branding has been refreshed, our customers will still find the same great tasting, hand crafted, small batch meat snacks that Wenzel's is famous for." In addition to the new look, the packaging and point of purchase will highlight Wenzel's Farm continued commitment to producing quality, healthy snacks, with call outs on key product attributes such as Naturally Smoked, No Artificial Colors, and Gluten and MSG Free. The new branding efforts will make their debut at the Sweets and Snacks Expo, May 23-25th at McCormick Place, Chicago IL. The entire Line of Wenzel's Farm Snacks can be found at booth #4005. About Wenzel's Farm: Tucked away in the heart of dairy land, and still operating out of the original barn in which the brand originated, Wenzel's Farm is an award winning, premium provider of high quality, hand crafted, small batch meat snacks and products. Using family recipes that have been handed down for generations, Wenzel's Farm has been producing quality Wisconsin meat products since 1949. Contact: Glenn Walker 715.442.2078 [email protected] SOURCE Wenzel's Farm Students and attendees are given the opportunity to bid, through a live auction, on original concepts designed exclusively for the event by well-renowned architects from the U.S. and around the globe. This year includes submissions from prominent architects such as: Billie Tsien, Larry Scarpa, Ian Ritchie, Glen Murcutt, Perry Kulper, Snohetta, Alvaro Siza, Norman Kelly, Chora, Alan Rosenblum, Richard Meier, Coop Himmelblau, Ban Van Berkel, Greg Lynn, Steven Holl and Chris Livingston. NewSchool's event began as a "sketch for a sketch" project where students crafted their own napkin sketches to capture the attention of well-known architects. These creations are then mailed to architects from around the world with a request for an original sketch that can be auctioned off during the event. This year students have received napkin sketches from more than 25 prominent architects. It's a reminder that in an age of computer-aided design, these individuals still value the art of thinking visually and drawing by hand. Marvin J. Malecha, President of NewSchool of Architecture & Design, will also provide various sketches to be auctioned off. Throughout his illustrious career, Marvin has maintained an active involvement with architectural practice and has received numerous accolades and awards in the fields of architecture and design. Marvin was also elected as the first president/president elect (2008-2009) of the American Institute of Architects and served as the professional association's National President in 2009. "The practice of napkin sketching is something architects and designers have long turned to, to map out their initial visions with the goal of ultimately designing a lasting work of art," said Marvin J. Malecha, President, NewSchool. "The dichotomy of a 'throw away' napkin and permanent, structured artwork adds to the specialness of the piece. Sharing this long held practice with the students is unique and inspiring. I'm delighted to include some of my napkin sketches in this year's auction and to see the excitement students have in drafting their own designs and sharing with architects from around the world." WHO: NewSchool students exchange 'napkin sketches' with renowned architects as part of the Sixth Annual Napkin Sketch Auction, benefiting the American Institute of Architecture Students. WHAT: This free event is open to the public and will include both a silent and live auction of original work sketched on napkins by renowned architects. WHEN: Friday, May 19, 6:00 p.m. WHERE: Park Boulevard Catering, 734 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101 COST: FREE CONTACT: Contact Rachael Lighty at [email protected] or visit newschoolarch.edu About NewSchool of Architecture & Design: Located in downtown San Diego, NewSchool prepares students for career success in design fields through an emphasis on interdisciplinary and global design skills, industry collaborations and real-world projects. Programs of study include architecture, construction management, product design, media design, game development, and interior architecture & design. The school's design environment provides inspiration for the school's students and faculty, recognized for their work regionally and internationally. NewSchool is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission. NewSchool's Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture and Executive Master of Architecture programs are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). NewSchool is a member of the Laureate International Universities network a global network of more than 80 campus-based and online universities in 28 countries. Through this network, students at NewSchool are prepared to work in a global and diverse work environment through the school's collaborations with sister institutions in the Laureate network, including award-winning schools such as Domus Academy in Milan, Italy. For more information about Laureate International Universities, visit www.laureate.net. SOURCE NewSchool of Architecture & Design Related Links http://www.newschoolarch.edu TORONTO, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- XL Catlin has added two new members to the Canadian Environmental Insurance team: Marc Estrada as Environmental Team Lead and Brian Hughes as Assistant Vice President, Environmental Underwriting. Mr. Estrada and Mr. Hughes are based in Toronto and report to Joseph Madigan, Environmental Regional Manager for Canada. Commenting on the appointments, Matt O'Malley, President of North America environmental Insurance said "We are very excited to have Marc and Brian join our team in Canada. While other insurers have shied away from the pollution insurance market, we're reinforcing our resources and talent to meet our clients' environmental risk management needs and keep us on our path of profitable growth. Attracting industry talent like Marc and Brian has been, and will continue to be, a key driver of our 30 plus years of environmental insurance market success." Nick Greggains, CEO and Country Manager for XL Catlin, Canada added, "Increasingly, our clients and their brokers are looking for new, innovative solutions for evolving exposures. Effective environmental risk management takes considerable knowledge and technical skill, Marc and Brian add a wealth of experience that I am certain will strengthen our existing relationships and expand our reach in the market." Mr. Estrada joins from AIG where he focused on underwriting Contractors Pollution Liability and Combined General Liability and Pollution Liability risks. Prior to AIG, Marc spent six years at Hub International HKMB brokering multiple lines of coverage including Environmental, Construction and D&O. Mr. Hughes joins from Zurich where he spent 16 years underwriting environmental coverages, including Contractors Pollution and Professional Liability and Fixed Site Pollution Liability. About XL Catlin Insurance Operations XL Catlin insurance companies offer property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance products globally. Businesses that are moving the world forward choose XL Catlin as their partner. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com. About XL Catlin XL Catlin is the global brand used by XL Group Ltd.'s (NYSE:XL) insurance and reinsurance companies which provide property, casualty, professional and specialty products to industrial, commercial and professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises throughout the world. Clients look to XL Catlin for answers to their most complex risks and to help move their world forward. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com . SOURCE XL Catlin Related Links http://xlcatlin.com DES MOINES, Iowa, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesway, the fast growing convenience store chain, today announced the expansion of the company with the acquisition of 35 Wes-T-Go and Chillerz Convenience Stores in Abilene, Texas. These new Yesway stores will be added to the company's existing portfolio of 38 locations currently operating in Iowa and Kansas. By the end of the second quarter of 2017, Yesway expects to have over 100 stores under management, placing it in the top 60 c-stores in the country, according to a recent ranking of the top c-store chains in the country by CSP News. The company also has a robust acquisition pipeline and plans to acquire, improve and rebrand approximately 500 convenience stores as Yesway in selected regions of the United States over the next several years. "As we acquire these stores, our goal is to build on the good work of the previous owner, Don Poindexter, whose dedication and commitment to the community is legendary. Don's is a legacy we plan to live up to," said Brian Trout, Yesway's Senior Vice President of Operations. "With Yesway, customers will enjoy great customer service and redesigned stores that are true to our brand promise they'll be efficient, inviting and friendly. We're grateful to the Wes-T-Go team for building such a loyal and consistent customer base, and are eager to continue to serve, get to know and be part of the community." Thomas Nicholas Trkla, Yesway's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "At Yesway, we're committed to providing our customers with a terrific shopping experience. We look forward to becoming an essential member of the Abilene area community as we further expand the Yesway brand." About Yesway BW Gas & Convenience, d/b/a Yesway, is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Yesway plans to acquire, improve and rebrand 500 convenience stores in selected regions of the United States over the next several years. For more information on Yesway, please visit the company's website at www.yesway.com. Contact: Erin Vadala, Warner Communications; (978) 468-3076; [email protected] SOURCE Yesway Related Links http://www.yesway.com BAODING, China and MADRID, Spain, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. ("Yingli" or "Yingli Solar") (NYSE:YGE), one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Green Energy Spain, S.L.U ("Yingli Spain") has signed a partnership agreement with ECrowd!, an online platform for the collective financing of profitable investments, in order to give more facilities to its clients when it comes to financing a project. With this agreement, Yingli Spain will offer its clients the services of ECrowd! to extend the benefits by offering financing services for self-consumption photovoltaic projects. Yingli's purpose is to offer the access to loans for the collective financing of distributed generation photovoltaic projects through ECrowd!'s platform. "This agreement strengthens Yingli' distributed generation strategy approach by increasing the added value of our services scopes. The financial support on this segment of the PV industry will be critical for success," said Mr. Fernando Calisalvo, the Managing Director of Yingli Spain. "We're very proud to collaborate with Yingli and add value to their offering through our innovative financing platform," commented Matthieu van Haperen, CEO ECrowd!, the company has emerged as the leading collaborative finance platform for sustainable projects such as photovoltaic installations. About Yingli Green Energy Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE), known as "Yingli Solar", is one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers. Yingli's manufacturing covers the photovoltaic value chain from ingot casting and wafering through solar cell production and solar panel assembly. Headquartered in Baoding, China, Yingli has more than 20 regional subsidiaries and branch offices and has distributed more than 17GW solar panels to customers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Weibo. About ECrowd! ECrowd! (https://www.ecrowdinvest.com) is the online platform for the collective financing of profitable investments with a positive impact on society and the environment. We put in direct contact to projects that need a loan with investors who look to diversify with a greater yield. In addition, investing directly in these projects contributes to the real economy and a more sustainable world. For further information, please contact: Eric Pan Investor Relations Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited Tel: +86 312 8929787 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited Related Links http://www.yinglisolar.com This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 4880 and 3156) --Uj0KR4eDT9mdJTLk2MCe3MOOCRRMN2mXJ Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="SKKBd9VlC8wusCVbXKC9aaUtloHAjIa1g"; protected-headers="v1" From: Yury German To: gentoo-announce@lists.gentoo.org Message-ID: <003eed54-1d18-53bf-3623-18d427c3b24d@gentoo.org> Subject: [ GLSA 201705-09 ] Apache Tomcat: Multiple vulnerabilities --SKKBd9VlC8wusCVbXKC9aaUtloHAjIa1g Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en-U Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 201705-09 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - https://security.gentoo.org/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Severity: High Title: Apache Tomcat: Multiple vulnerabilities Date: May 18, 2017 Bugs: #575796, #586966, #595978, #615868 ID: 201705-09 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Synopsis ======== Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in Apache Tomcat, the worst of which could lead to privilege escalation. Background ========== Apache Tomcat is a Servlet-3.0/JSP-2.2 Container. Affected packages ================= ------------------------------------------------------------------- Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 www-servers/tomcat < 8.0.36 >= 7.0.70 >= 8.0.36 Description =========== Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Tomcat. Please review the CVE identifiers referenced below for details. Impact ====== A remote attacker may be able to cause a Denial of Service condition, obtain sensitive information, bypass protection mechanisms and authentication restrictions. A local attacker, who is a tomcat's system user or belongs to tomcatas group, could potentially escalate privileges. Workaround ========== There is no known workaround at this time. Resolution ========== All Apache Tomcat users have to manually check their Tomcat runscripts to make sure that they don't use an old, vulnerable runscript. In addition: All Apache Tomcat 7 users should upgrade to the latest version: # emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-servers/tomcat-7.0.70:7" All Apache Tomcat 8 users should upgrade to the latest version: # emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-servers/tomcat-8.0.36:8" References ========== [ 1 ] CVE-2015-5174 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2015-5174 [ 2 ] CVE-2015-5345 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2015-5345 [ 3 ] CVE-2015-5346 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2015-5346 [ 4 ] CVE-2015-5351 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2015-5351 [ 5 ] CVE-2016-0706 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-0706 [ 6 ] CVE-2016-0714 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-0714 [ 7 ] CVE-2016-0763 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-0763 [ 8 ] CVE-2016-1240 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-1240 [ 9 ] CVE-2016-3092 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-3092 [ 10 ] CVE-2016-8745 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2016-8745 [ 11 ] CVE-2017-5647 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-5647 [ 12 ] CVE-2017-5648 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-5648 [ 13 ] CVE-2017-5650 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-5650 [ 14 ] CVE-2017-5651 http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2017-5651 Availability ============ This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09 Concerns? ========= Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users' machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org. License ======= Copyright 2017 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text belongs to its owner(s). The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 --SKKBd9VlC8wusCVbXKC9aaUtloHAjIa1g-- --Uj0KR4eDT9mdJTLk2MCe3MOOCRRMN2mXJ Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQEcBAEBCAAGBQJZHP9cAAoJEB9lYVdQaQ1Q6BYIAIJpK7KImff8JSHbUKlvQhCP PKl2H/McnlV4gPj7UvZmX3p0FfG7Kb8A2LJvfGcPi8G4VDLpHKsVz60mY7orWpV9 YqCDBj0q792t+1jL3zq1aQYBVDDyrR9Tobw5TlOZSvAFk3uEbuH4g6XHaycOPOA1 s1VWTgnbnYxGItTNoKAMF6//IrjO0t1X04HeLkGvS3EjCpKQ1PGUxey6oEEcftm5 d/2iEdrHTarWXR1MnF2pnwEAqhbQt4ACv6ZAUnF2WJC/HU4+p9Y0gknKqrOieyKz qCC6RplPifc7VVcmSZYRKFsd4dxba9aqQBCso5QnUK+iOPoO+mvAwGh8Dw/JaEk= =dJjc -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --Uj0KR4eDT9mdJTLk2MCe3MOOCRRMN2mXJ-- A day after announcing that it would buy grocery stores in Portage and West Baraboo, Festival Foods submitted plans Wednesday with the city of Verona for a nearly 68,000-square-foot grocery store on the citys northeast side. If approved, it would become the second store in Dane County for the Onalaska-based retailer and offer direct competition to downtown Veronas Miller & Sons, the only other full-service grocery store in the fast-growing city of more than 12,000 people. Verona conducted a market analysis about two years ago and it showed that there was a need for more grocery opportunities within the city, said planning director Adam Sayre. It showed a lot of dollars leaving the city and going elsewhere, Sayre said. It showed people buying groceries, but not in Verona, so the market is obviously reacting to what customers are doing and they obviously want to capture those dollars. The proposal includes 252 surface parking stalls in front of the building on East Verona Avenue, just east of Farm & Fleet. Sayre said the proposal would go to the citys Plan Commission on June 5 and be reviewed by the City Council on June 12. Ground could be broken in 2018 with the store opening in 2019, Sayre said. Carl Miller, whose great-grandfather founded in 1902 what has become a 52,000-square-foot Miller & Sons, said Festival representatives contacted him months ago to tell him of their plans to enter the city. Miller, however, sees room in the marketplace for Festival as well as larger stores like Hy-Vee, Pick n Save and Woodmans all less than 5 miles away. Ill just keep plugging away and doing my thing, said Miller, 64, who in 2009 purchased Kalscheurs Fine Foods in Mount Horeb before building a 44,000-square-foot store on Mount Horebs east side in 2013. The Woodmans and the Wal-Marts and the big guys have left the market open for us guys. They dont do deli, and the meat departments are all going away. Our bakeries and delis are doing quite well. Festival officials had little comment on their Verona proposal. There is nothing concrete here yet, said Brian Stenzel, a company spokesman. We regularly consider sites in many locations. We are considering a site in Verona, but have much work to do before we know a store is even possible. With the conversion of Pierces Markets stores in West Baraboo and Portage to the Festival brand next month, the company, founded in 1946, will have 28 locations. In 2014, Festival purchased Vos Sentry in Fort Atkinson and a year later opened a 78,000-square-foot store at 2233 Humes Road in Janesville. In 2016, Festival opened a 55,000-square-foot store on the ground floor of Gebhardt Developments $65 million Galaxie building in the 800 block of East Washington Avenue in Madison. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Beijing, May 13 : Pyongyang will hold talks with Washington "under the right conditions", a senior North Korean diplomat said on Saturday, raising the possibility of bilateral contact after US President Donald Trump expressed his willingness to meet the North's leader. Choe Son-hui, Director-General of North Korea Foreign Ministry's North America bureau, told reporters in Beijing that her country "will hold dialogue under right conditions" with the US administration. Earlier this month Trump said he would be "honoured" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. His comments followed months of rising tensions over North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programme. Choe led a North Korean delegation that met a group of American experts, headed by Suzanne DiMaggio -- director of the US think tank New America -- in Oslo, Norway, earlier this week, Yonhap news agency reported. DiMaggio is known as an Iran specialist well versed in the Obama administration's nuclear talks with the Middle Eastern nation. Thomas Pickering, former US envoy to the UN, and Robert Einhorn, US State Department's former special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control, were also among the American experts' group. When asked what she discussed with Pickering, Choe answered: "I met Pickering and I will discuss it when given the opportunity in the future." On holding a dialogue with South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in, Choe said: "We will observe the situation." Paris, May 14 : Independent-centrist and former investment banker Emmanuel Macron was sworn in on Sunday as the 25th French President and the youngest in the nation's history. Laurent Fabius, President of the Constitutional Council, presided the ceremony at the Elysee Palace here, the BBC reported. "In order to be the man of one's country, one must be the man of your time... By the sovereign choice of the people, you are now, above all ... the man of our country ... President of the Republic," Fabius said while proclaiming Macron, 39, as the President. Macron's wife Brigitte Trogneux, wearing a powder blue skirt suit, an outfit similar to what US First Lady Melania Trump wore during her husband President Donald Trump's swearing-in in January, entered the Palace ahead of Macron. The former Economy Minister, who worsted far-Right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the presidential run-off, opened his term with talk of a new renaissance. "The world needs what the French have always taught. For decades France has doubted herself." But the world and Europe need France more than ever now, he said. "My mandate will give the French back the confidence to believe in themselves." He said he would convince the people that "the power of France is not declining - that we are on the brink of a great renaissance". Macron in his speech, also paid tributes to former Presidents from Charles de Gaulle to Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, reports the BBC. He said he would count on the people to "deal with deep change". "From this very evening I will be at work. Long live the Republic and long live France." Macron becomes the youngest president in France's history and the youngest leader since Napoleon Bonaparte was elected in 1848 at age 40. Macron arrived at the Elysee Palace earlier and walked down a red carpet. He was greeted by Hollande. He will be naming a Prime Minister and a full Cabinet by Wednesday. Washington, May 15 : Seventy-eight per cent of Americans believe an independent commission or a special prosecutor should handle the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new poll. The NBC NEWS/Wall Street Journal poll issued on Sunday asked the people whether they would rather see an independent investigation or Congress handle the probe, The Hill magazine reported. Just 15 per cent picked Congress, while 78 per cent supported an independent commission or special prosecutor. The results follow a week of upheaval in the investigation. On May 9, President Donald Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey who was leading the probe. Since then, Trump and various members of the administration have pushed back on the need for an independent commission to continue the investigation. The FBI was probing Russian interference in the election as well as whether members of Trump's presidential campaign colluded with Moscow. Trump on Saturday confirmed he believes the investigation should go forward in "the House, the Senate, the FBI", reports The Hill magazine. Although polls show a partisan split when asked whether they agree with the President's decision to fire Comey -- 58 per cent of Republicans approve while 66 per cent of Democrats disapprove -- there is strong agreement on questions of who should run the ongoing investigation. Very few Americans asked in the poll had no opinion, with low single digit responses. Meanwhile, Trump's job approval rating remains at 39 per cent, but 30 per cent say Trump's decision to fire Comey has given them a less favourable impression of the President and 61 per cent say the firing has not changed their opinion of the President. The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted from May 11 to 13 among 800 adults. Kolkata, May 15 : The Mamata Banerjee ministry in West Bengal was expanded on Monday with the induction of two ministers. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ujjwal Biswas and Chandrima Bhattacharya at Raj Bhavan. Biswas, who touched Banerjee's feet after taking oath, would be a cabinet minister. Banerjee said he would look after Correctional Administration. Bhattacharya, who also took the Chief Minister's blessings, has been inducted in the ministry as Minister of State with Independent Charge. She would take care of e-governance independently, and also serve as Minister of State for Health under Banerjee. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, several members of her cabinet, bureaucrats, the Commissioner of Kolkata Police and West Bengal's Director General of Police were among those present during the solemn and brief function. Biswas had functioned as the Minister for Technical Education in the first Mamata Banerjee cabinet from 2011 to 2016 but was kept out when Banerjee took office for the second term last year. With Bhattacharya's induction, the number of women in the 44-member West Bengal ministry has now gone up to five, including Banerjee, who is the state's first woman Chief Minister. "Chandrima will take charge of health and e-governance and Ujjwal will take care of jail (Correctional Administration) department. Abani Mohan Joardar who holds the Correctional Administration portfolio, will be in the ministry but without any portfolio. He is not well," Banerjee said after the programme. Bhattacharya, who recently won the Kathi Dakshin assembly seat in a bypoll, returns to the ministry after nearly a year. Bhattacharya was Minister of State for Health, Law and Judicial Affairs from 2011 to 2016, but lost from Dum Dum North in the 2016 assembly polls. Biswas won from Krishnanagar Dakshin seat in Nadia district. According to informed sources, a reshuffle in Banerjee's ministry is on the card. "The possible reshuffle could be done after Banerjee's return from Delhi," the sources said. The Chief Minister is scheduled to leave for Delhi later on Monday for a scheduled meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi the following day. The Hague, May 15 : Pakistan on Monday rejected India's attempts to invoke the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to save the life of alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav, saying provisions of the Vienna Convention did not apply on spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage. Rebutting India's case before the ICJ, Counsel Khawar Qureshi asserted that this forum is not a criminal court of appeal nor does it exercise criminal jurisdiction. "India's plea for invoking provisions of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention is not relevant in this case. The Vienna Convention was adopted for better communication between friendly countries. But it cannot apply in this case of a spy set up by a state. "It is clear from the Vienna Convention that the provision being sought under Article 36 by India cannot be entertained by this court," Qureshi said in his 45-minute reply to arguments put forth by Indian counsel Harish Salve earlier. At the end of the Pakistani argument, ICJ President Ronny Abraham announced that the court would give its verdict in the case "as soon as possible". The date will be delivered at a public sitting, Abraham said. At the outset, Qureshi said India was invoking the jurisdiction of the court for "political theatre" and described as "bizzare" the description of Jadhav's trial as a kangaroo court. Dismissing India's contention that it invoked the jurisdiction of the court because of the "imminent" possibility of execution of Jadhav, Qureshi said the court was bound to settle disputes between countries peacefully and not waste time on issues sought to be raised for political purpose. In this regard, he cited the possibility of clemency which was mentioned by Pakistan Foreign Advisor Sartaj Aziz. Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh), May 15 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India's economy is based on its rivers and it is because of the river Narmada that Madhya Pradesh has been able to achieve agricultural prosperity. "Narmada has the power to change farmers' lives. We say, water is life and river is our mother. Our economy is dependent on rivers and will collapse without them. We have used Narmada haphazardly. So now, we have to make efforts to save it," he said while addressing the concluding ceremony of the 150-day-long "Narmada Seva Yatra" here. "Narmada is behind the prosperity of farmers in Madhya Pradesh. The state's agricultural growth rate has reached 20 per cent, in which Narmada has a major contribution," Modi said. "If we fail in our duty of protecting rivers, it will spell doom for the mankind. I was born in Gujarat and the people of Gujarat know the value of every drop of Narmada," he said. Modi added that a river in Kerala, Bharatpuja, was about to vanish. He said the 150-day Narmada yatra for the rejuvenation of the river was a near-impossible task and a rare event. "It is unfortunate that if a government or a politician joins it (such yatra), attempts are made to underrate it. If such a drive were carried out by any other country, it would have become a global talk. News channels would have rushed to cover it," Modi said. The Prime Minister applauded Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for undertaking the drive to plant six crore saplings and preparing a nature conservation plan. The Madhya Pradesh government will plant fruit-bearing trees at every kilometre on both sides of the river. The government will also give compensation to farmers for the initial three years, as there will be no fruits on these trees till then. "I have studied the work plan prepared by the Madhya Pradesh government. Everyone has a role in it. It details how it will be carried out and who will monitor it. It is a perfect vision document. I urge Shivrajji to send this document to all states. It is a classic example of conservation of natural resources," he said. The Prime Minister added that Madhya Pradesh was also ready with its plan to contribute to the nation-wide goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022. Talking about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan's success, Modi said involvement of people was biggest power of democracy. "If we neglect people's involvement, their support, or their power, governments will not be able do anything. Howsoever good leadership it may be and howsoever perfect be the plan, we will not get success without people's support. "Madhya Pradesh is a classic example of success on account of people's support. In the latest survey, 22 of total 100 clean cities are from this very state," Modi noted. UW-Madison students considering a career in retail will soon have access to a 38-year veteran of the retail and apparel industry. The Kohl's Center for Retailing has announced that Lorna Nagler will serve as the Alumni Executive in Residence for the fall semester. Nagler, a UW-Madison graduate, has a long career in retail that includes top-level executive management positions with Catherine's Stores, Montgomery Ward, Kids "R" Us, Kmart and Lane Bryant. As president of Catherine's, a plus-sized retailer, she led the launch of the company's e-commerce division and the re-launch of its private label brand. As president of Lane Bryant, Nagler helped rebuild the brand with additions like Cacique intimate apparel, developed a "new fit system" for plus sizes, brought in outside brands, adopted e-commerce and introduced a vendor-managed inventory system that boosted profits. Nagler, who lives in Florida, also was president and CEO of Christopher & Banks and C.J. Banks from 2007 to 2010, and president of Bealls Department Stores from 2011 to 2016. Nagler also sits on the board for ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance. Palermo (Italy), May 15 : An Italian coastguard vessel docked in Sicily's western port city of Trapani on Monday with 512 migrants and the bodies of a further seven on board. The migrants and the corpses were picked up in the Mediterranean at the weekend, the coastguard said. A further 14 migrants were rescued from a small fishing boat off Sardinia on Monday after setting sail from Algeria overnight, they said. The migrants were due to receive medical treatment at a migrant reception centre in Assemini, according to the coastguard. More than 45,000 people have reached Italy by boat from North Africa this year, a more than 40 percent increase on the same period of 2016, says the International Organisation for Migration, while over 1,200 migrants have died attempting the perilous sea crossing, according to IOM Most of the migrants arriving in Italy are now from sub-Saharan Africa or from Bangladesh. New Delhi, May 15 : The Supreme Court on Monday again declined the plea by Calcutta High Court judge C.S.Karnan seeking the stay of its order sentencing him to six months imprisonment and hearing of his petition seeking review of May 9 order holding him guilty of contempt. As counsel Mathew J. Nadumpara appearing for Justice Karnan on Monday morning mentioned the plea for an early hearing, the five judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar told him not to waste the court's time and said as and when its registry clears the petition (by Justice Karnan), a bench will be created to hear it. However, when counsel Nadumpara again mentioned the matter soon after the court assembled after lunch break, the Chief Justice took exception to counsel repeatedly mentioning the matter. "You mention one time, five times, ten times, fifty times, our answer will be the same. You are interfering with the process of the court ... We are liberal with you, we can be harsh with you," he told Nadumpara. The plea for the stay of the sentence till the review plea is decided can only be considered by the seven judge bench of Chief Justice Khehar, Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph which had passed the order. Justice Ghose is retiring on May 27. Seeking the recall of the May 9 order, Justice Karnan has sought stay of the order convicting him of criminal contempt of court and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for six months till the final disposal of his review petition that was filed on Thursday. The court by its May 9 order had directed the Director General of West Bengal Police to constitute teams for the execution of its order forthwith. The Supreme Court initiated contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan on February 8 and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work. Justice Karnan had taken on the top judiciary after he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing various judges and officers of the Madras High Court of corruption. Kolkata, May 15 : A section of computers of West Bengal's electricity distributor were affected in a ransomware attack, an official said on Monday. However, officials maintain the company remains "largely unaffected" from the global ransomware attack. "West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) remains largely unaffected from the global ransomware attack that has jeopardised cyber security across the world. Some of the systems of our customer care centres were initially attacked, which had no impact on our overall business operations," a statement from the company said on Monday. "Customer data is fully protected and there is no impact on day to day functioning of our company," it added. Earlier in the day, officials at the company's cash collection centres at four locations in West Midnapore district claimed computers that were hit displayed messages demanding $300 in virtual currency to unlock files. "Out of 4,000 to 5,000 computers which are in our network, we have so far received information about eight-ten such computers," Rajesh Pandey, Chairman and Managing Director of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, told IANS. Pandey claimed it is a "localised issue" and the affected computers have been "sanitised". However, the malware was reported to have spread to cash collection centres/customer care centres of the power company in two other districts as well. Acknowledging the information, state Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay maintained that billing related activities and other routine operations were not hampered. "The attack was from the ransomware. Since we are operating through the central server, the primary functions are normal," Chattopadhyay said. The vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows software -- exploited by "WannaCrypt" -- crippled computers from hospitals in Britain to police stations in India on Saturday, with hackers demanding hundreds of dollars from the users for them to regain control over their data. New Delhi/Beijing/Washington, May 15 : After infecting over two lakh computers and crippling life in 150 countries, the global ransomware attack continued for the third day on Monday, with more reports of hacking pouring in from India, China and Japan as offices re-opened after a tumultuous weekend. In Kerala, the computers of two village panchayats were hit, with messages demanding $300 in virtual currency to unlock the files. Officials who opened the computer at the Thariyode panchayat office in the hilly district of Wayanad found that four of their computers had been hacked. Likewise, another village panchayat at Aruvapulam near Konni in Pathanamthitta district got a similar virus message when their computer was switched on. IT experts were working on these systems. In West Bengal's West Midnapore district, at least eight computers of the state-run electricity distributor were affected. Experts were ascertaining whether it was the same malware virus behind the world's biggest ransomware attack. Some media reports claimed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered some ATMs to remain shut as a preventive measure. When contacted, a Home Ministry spokesperson told IANS: "I am not aware about any such order issued by the Home Ministry. If the Finance Ministry did so, I don't know." The government has already activated a "preparedness and response mechanism" to prevent any major cyber attack. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), it has activated a "preparedness and response mechanism" by instructing CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team) to gather "all the information of the reported ransomware". "MeitY has initiated contact with relevant stakeholders in public and private sector to 'patch' their systems as prescribed in the advisory issued by CERT-IN. MeitY has also requested Microsoft India to inform all their partners and customers to apply relevant patches," the ministry said in a statement. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on Sunday issued an advisory, asking banks to put in place a software update at ATMs to prevent their systems being hacked. In Japan, nearly 600 companies, including electronics major Hitachi and automaker Nissan, were reportedly affected by the global ransomware attack, officials confirmed on Monday. In China, more than 29,000 institutions were infected with reports suggesting that around 30,000 institutions had been infected along with hundreds of thousands of devices, Xinhua reported. The ransomware has paralysed the online payment systems at some petrol stations across China since Friday, and also invaded some colleges encrypting papers and other documents. At least one Australian business has been affected by the global "WannaCry" ransomware attack, the nation's Cyber Security Minister confirmed. The vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows software -- exploited by "WannaCrypt" -- crippled computers across the world, with hackers demanding hundreds of dollars from the users for them to regain control over their data. After taking computers over, the virus displayed messages demanding a payment of $300 in virtual currency Bitcoin to unlock files and return them to the user. Europol has been analysing the virus and was yet to identify the hacking group behind the massive attacks. The virus exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows software, first identified by the US National Security Agency (NSA). In the US, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said in a blog post that the cyber attack should be treated by governments as a "wake-up call". "We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the US military intelligence organisation National Security Agency (NSA) has affected customers around the world," Smith wrote in the blog. "An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the US military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen," he added. On Saturday, a section of computers at Andhra Pradesh's police departments were hacked. Computers in 18 police units in Chittoor, Krishna, Guntur, Visakhatpatnam and Srikakulam districts were affected. The attack was the latest in the growing menace of ransomware in which hackers deliver files to computers that automatically encrypt their data, making it unusable until a ransom is paid. The investigators were still trying to identify the hackers who initiated this. The Hague, May 15 : India and Pakistan on Monday clashed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the fate of alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav with New Delhi invoking the court's jurisdiction to see that the death sentence against him was annulled immediately. But Pakistan rejected the plea on the ground that India had no right to invoke the jurisdiction of the UN's highest court because the Vienna Convention does not provide for matters relating to spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage. However, Islamabad suffered a jolt when it was not allowed by the court to play the video containing a purported confession by Jadhav, a former navy official, who India says was abducted from Iran and taken to Balochistan. At the end of the day's proceedings ICJ President Ronny Abraham announced that the verdict in the matter would be given "as soon as possible" and the date delivered in a public sitting. The Indian case was put up strongly by noted lawyer Harish Salve who demanded that Pakistan should annul Jadhav's death sentence and see that he was not executed as his trial was held under "farcical" circumstances in violation of the Vienna Convention. "I urge the ICJ to ensure that Jadhav is not executed, Pakistan reports to this court that the action (of not executing him) is taken and that no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of India in the matter of Jadhav," Salve said in his over 90-minute presentation. The ICJ had last week "stayed" the execution on a petition by India, which approached the UN court after 46 years on an issue with Pakistan. Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. India says Jadhav has been kidnapped and framed. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, who is held at an unknown prison in Pakistan. The brunt of Salve's argument was that the entire matter of arrest, chargesheet and trial of Jadhav were all done in violation of the UN Charter and Vienna Convention in farcical circumstances and on concocted charges as the Indian national was not given legal assistance to defend himself. Salve said the matter was "grave and urgent" as Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran on March 16, 2016, brought to Pakistan, presented as an alleged Indian spy and confession was extracted in custody before a magistrate. He was incommunicado and the trial was also held incommunicado. The lawyer urged the ICJ President to take note of the farcical nature of the circumstances of the military court. Salve said the provisions of the Vienna Convention recognised that any prisoner has a right to be tried by an independent tribunal as established by law and he should be tried in his presence and defended by legal aid assigned to him. In Jadhav's case all the basic provisions of human rights were "thrown to the wind", he said. The facts presented by India establish the violation of all principles of UN charter and Vienna Convention because of the nature of the trial which destroyed any credibility or sanctity of the army court's decision sentencing him to death, he said. Salve cited three past similar cases in which the international court had intervened. These cases include Paraguay versus the US in which the court decided that the American government needed to take steps to give rights of access of a Paraguayan national. In Germany versus the US, Salve said, the court held that execution of a German national was "an irreparable damage to justice". He also referred to a case between the US and Mexico in which lives of 54 Mexicans were at stake as they faced execution. Pakistan mounted a strong defence of its case with Counsel Khawar Qureshi rejecting India's attempts to invoke ICJ's jurisdiction in the case, saying provisions of the Vienna Convention did not apply on spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage. Rebutting India's case, he asserted that this forum is not a criminal court of appeal nor does it exercise criminal jurisdiction. "India's plea for invoking provisions of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention is not relevant in this case. The Vienna Convention was adopted for better communication between friendly countries. But it cannot apply in this case of a spy set up by a state. "It is clear from the Vienna Convention that the provision being sought under Article 36 by India cannot be entertained by this court," Qureshi said in his 45-minute reply to arguments put forth by Indian counsel Harish Salve earlier. The lawyer claimed that India had on September 8, 1974 told the ICJ to exclude itself from its jurisdiction in disputes with Pakistan and from any interpretation and obligation of multi-lateral treaties. He also noted that Pakistan had reservations over the jurisdiction of ICJ on matters it considered as impinging on its national security. Qureshi also dismissed India's charge that Jadhav was kidnapped. "No evidence was provided by India to back the charge that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran. We have a long border with India where millions of people reside. If we wanted, one of them could have been picked up. To say that we abducted Jadhav from Iran and brought him to Pakistan seems at best to be far fetched." He said India had at no point made any comment on the Muslim name of Jadhav on the passport seized from him. "This requires explanation." Qureshi said the issue of consular access to Jadhav was not considered as he was accused of spying and it was not considered to be applied on terrorists. Overall, the relief India is seeking from this court is not available and the "provisional measures" sought by India cannot be initiated, Qureshi said. He said parallels drawn by Salve of the precedents of cases relating to involving US and other countries, including Mexico and Germany, were not relevant and factually incorrect. At the outset, Qureshi said India was invoking the jurisdiction of the court for "political theatre" and described as "bizzare" the description of Jadhav's trial as a kangaroo court. Dismissing India's contention that it invoked the jurisdiction of the court because of the "imminent" possibility of execution of Jadhav, Qureshi said the court was bound to settle disputes between countries peacefully and not waste time on issues sought to be raised for political purpose. In this regard, he cited the possibility of clemency which was mentioned by Pakistan Foreign Advisor Sartaj Aziz. Qureshi also said India did not respond to communication from Pakistan in January this year seeking cooperation in the probe relating to Jadhav. Mumbai, May 16 : Actor Ranveer Singh has been swept over by India's biggest motion picture "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion". The "Lootera" star is in total awe of S.S Rajamouli's creation which has emerged as the country's biggest blockbuster. "'Baahubali'. OMFG," Ranveer tweeted on Tuesday. The second part in the "Baahubali" franchise has amassed over Rs. 1400 crore so far and counting. The film has crushed box-office records across languages. It collected over Rs. 400 crore from its dubbed Hindi version alone. Starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati as the male protagonists, the film is about the warring battle between them for the ownership of an ancient kingdom. Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan and Sathyaraj played pivotal roles in the film. -*-Shruti Haasan excited for Cannes Actress Shruti Haasan says she is really excited to be the part of 70th Cannes Film Festival for her film "Sangamithra". Shruti on Monday evening took to Twitter to express her excitement. "Last day in LA but super excited to head to Cannes for 'Sangamitra'!" Shruti tweeted. A Hindi, Tamil and Telugu trilingual, "Sangamithra" stars Shruti in the title role, while Jayam Ravi and Arya are the chief male protagonists. The film is directed by Sundar C, produced by Thenandal Studios and has Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman as its music director. Rahman will walk the red carpet at the 70th Cannes Film Festival with the lead cast, director and producers of the trilingual magnum opus. He will be seen walking the red carpet of the opening night on May 17. Seoul, May 16 : South Korea and the US on Tuesday agreed to work towards the "complete" denuclearisation of North Korea, also vowing to seek new and practical ways to rid Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons, Seoul officials said. The agreement came at a meeting between South Korean officials and US National Security Council (NSC) officials, Yonhap News Agency reported. "The US reaffirmed its strong commitment to the security and defence of South Korea," Yoon Young-chan, the top press secretary of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told the media. The sides agreed to exert joint efforts for a "complete" disposal of North Korea's nuclear weapons, he added. "First, they agreed that their ultimate goal was the complete disposal of North Korean nuclear weapons. Second, they agreed to mobilise all available means, including sanctions and dialogue," Yoon said. The sides said dialogue with the communist North was possible under the right conditions, Yoon said. North Korea launched what is believed to be an intermediate-range missile on Sunday, prompting fresh condemnation from both Seoul and Washington, as well as the UN Security Council. Tuesday's meeting also sought to arrange schedules for a summit between Moon and his US counterpart Donald Trump. Yoon said the sides have agreed to hold the summit in Washington in late June. New Delhi, May 16 : It is better to pick a gun than face humiliation of being looked at as a "threat to the state", says an angry Kashmiri student who with his two friends was forced out of a rented house in Punjab after a police raid for "hidden weapons". Punjab Police denied the harassment allegation, saying the search operation was a routine exercise. Tajamul Imran, 25, belongs to south Kashmir district of Shopian, a new hotbed of Kashmiri militancy where security forces on May 4 conducted a raid hunting for militants. Imran was sobbing when he spoke to IANS over phone. "They asked us to show weapons. I thought the policemen were joking," Imran said, recollecting the three-hour "harassment" the three Kashmiris were subjected to on Sunday morning at the rented flat in Zirakpur, near Mohali. He said the policemen then frisked them and searched the house and "repeatedly asked where we had hidden the weapons and explosives smuggled" from Kashmir. "We felt so harassed that my friends and I thought they will kill us and stage an encounter," said Imran. "It was 5.40 a.m. and we were sleeping. Two policemen knocked on the door. I saw at least 15 to 16 other policemen who had cordoned off our house." Imran, who also heads the All Jammu and Kashmir Students Union, said they were almost made to feel "like militants". An obviously angry Imran said: "I think it is better to pick up a gun, because a Kashmiri is always seen as a threat to the state." Imran, who completed his MBA from Punjab Technical University's Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology in November, was to appear for a placement session in the college. "But I don't think I can work in any part of India after the incident. We are fearful. I have to return home. My family is not allowing me to stay back." He said the police asked their landlord to "throw us out" of the house and the house owner did so without wasting any time. "The police told the landlord that if any incident happened in Zirakpur area, he would be responsible for that as he had rented the house to Kashmiris," Imran said, adding he had shifted to a friend's place after vacating the house. He said he tried to get in touch with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's Complaint Monitoring Portal but did not get any response from there. "As a student activist, I have earlier written about many incidents of harassment of Kashmiri students at various places to the Home Ministry's monitoring cell for Kashmiri students, but they never responded," Imran said. However, a senior officer of the Punjab Police denied that the students were harassed and said the cops were doing "routine checking in the area". "There was no harassment at all. We did not know they were Kashmiris. We were doing a routine check in the outskirts of the city," Kuldeep Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, told IANS. Singh said the police never asked the landlord to throw the students out of their flat and said the students were creating an issue out of nothing. (Ruwa Shah can be contacted at ruwa.s@ians.in) Kolkata, May 16 : The West Bengal government on Tuesday said it has been able to "contain" the ransomware attack, a day after a section of computers of the state's power distributor were hit by the global malware. "We have seen that in Bengal the magnitude of the problem is not that serious. Our computers have been attacked but it was nothing very serious. We have contained the attacks," state Power Minister Shovandeb Chattopadhyay told the media here. On Monday, of the 500 customer care centres of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL), around 30 centres fell prey to the malware "WannaCrypt" that crippled computers from hospitals in Britain to police stations in India, with hackers demanding hundreds of dollars from the users for them to regain control over their data. "Only a few computer systems at these centres were attacked but it has not affected the services. Government has issued specific directives which are being followed. As of now, we are equipped to handle such cyber attack," he said. The Minister claimed customer data is safe in the central server system. Officials at WBSEDCL claimed there were no fresh attacks. Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayor Sovan Chatterjee said there were attempts by hackers to steal money from his wife's bank account. Mumbai, May 17 : The 95-year-old and biggest museum in Mumbai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), will celebrate a 'day out' on wheels to mark the International Museum Day on Thursday, an official said here on Wednesday. This year, in an unique initiative, the Citi-CSMVS Museum on Wheels will travel around a special bus in Mumbai and park at key locations for people to walk in and view the exhibits. The exhibition on the bus will be titled 'As It Happened', a literal translation of the Sanskrit word 'Itihas', or history. Accordingly, the Museum on Wheels will be available for public viewing for four hours at each major location like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Lower Parel, Girgaum Chowpatty and other plACEs to enable people soak in the rich culture and heritage through the expo. The add-ons at Lower Parel would include fun, arts and craft activities for young and old to participate and enjoy the travelling museum experience, said CSMVS education officer Bilwa Kulkarni. According to Kulkarni, every year around 4,000 visitors throng the CSMVS for the global event, but this year year it will be a double celebrations as the Museum on Wheels will go around the city in the midst of the people. Besides the city tour, a host of activities like Shibori Tye and Dye, Islamic Tile Making, Khokhloma, Egyptian Jewellery Making, Torma Making, Making Miniature Painting, Trade Route Quiz and Story-Telling Sessions will also be held to mark the day. Ranked among the most premier such institutions in the country, the CSMVS museum houses a collection of over 60,000 multicultural collection of artefacts from Asia and Europe. Hyderabad, May 17 : SriLankan Airlines on Wednesday announced that it will be adding three southern Indian cities -- Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam -- to its network from July this year. This move by national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the One World airline alliance is part of its efforts to strengthen its network in India. The new connections are expected to bridge the demand of both Indians and Sri Lankans who have been looking for seamless connections across the region for work and leisure purposes, in Sri Lanka, India and onward destinations, it said. The introduction of these new routes, along with the scheduled frequency increases in its Delhi and Mumbai services, will see SriLankan Airlines operating over 120 flights a week to 14 cities, thus becoming the carrier that serves the highest number of points in India. The flights to three southern cities will commence from July 8. Hyderabad-Colombo flight will depart from Hyderabad at 9.50 a.m. and arrive in Colombo at 11.45 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The flights between Coimbatore and Colombo will be operated every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Visakhapatnam-Colombo flight will run over Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. "India has been a vital part of our strategic expansion where we will continue to explore potential to consolidate our presence. At a time the industry observes consistently developing travel movements around tier two cities as opposed to the traditional hubs, it is timely to offer these connectivity options to our valued passengers. "The new routes also reinforces our commitment to strengthen the deep commercial and bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka," said SriLankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Siva Ramachandran. Currently serving key Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Cochin, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya, SriLankan Airlines will be introducing four additional frequencies to its daily services from Delhi and Mumbai in July this year. Seoul, May 18 : US President Donald Trump is looking forward to working closely with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and is willing to make peace with North Korea through engagement if the conditions are right, according to a top Seoul envoy. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday during a 15-minute meeting with special envoy Hong Seok-hyun in Washington, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. "(President Trump) talked about sanctions on North Korea and cooperative relations with China. And he said he looks forward to cooperating closely with President Moon in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue so as to produce an outcome," Hong said. "Though we're now at the stage of pressure and sanctions, he said he has a willingness to make peace through the so-called engagement if certain conditions are right. He said, however, that what he's willing to do is not talk for talk's sake but for talks that produce an outcome," the envoy said. Also in attendance at the meeting were Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. Hong said he handed Moon's letter to Trump and expressed thanks for supporting South Korea's security and inviting the South Korean leader to visit Washington next month. The two countries agreed earlier this week to hold a summit between Moon and Trump in Washington in late June. It was the first time Trump has met with a South Korean official since taking office. The meeting came after North Korea successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday. Mumbai, May 18 : Indian actress Priyanka Chopra was gifted an original sketch of the trench coat gown, which she sported at the Met Gala fashion fiesta, by the Ralph Lauren brand. Priyanka on Thursday shared the sketch on Instagram and captioned it: "Thank you Ralph Lauren Kimball, Andreas, and everyone on the RL team. This original sketch is such an awesome memory!" The "Bajirao Mastani" actress also shared a photograph of a note which reads: "Dear Priyanka, Than you for representing Ralph Lauren so beautifully at the Met Gala. We were honoured to have you as our guest...Looking forward to the next opportunity." The 34-year-old sported a khaki-coloured trench coat gown with a 20 feet long train at the Met Gala 2017 in New York. Priyanka chose a customised Ralph Lauren for her debut at the fashion fiesta Met Gala, where even actress Deepika Padukone walked the red carpet in a Tommy Hilfiger creation. On the silver screen, Priyanka will be seen in the Hollywood film "Baywatch". The film, which is adapted by the popular 1990's TV series of the same name, also stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. New Delhi, May 18 : India is treading a strong renewable energy path post-Paris Agreement as it witnesses a step-up in Chinese investments in solar energy. Additionally, there's a significant slowdown in Chinese investments in thermal power plants. This fact of slowdown came to light in a just-released report of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) which says China's overseas investment, including in India, into 240 coal power plants along the Belt and Road Initiative has slowed down in 2016 after the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. India was once the top destination for fossil fuel infrastructure investments. Although India is not a part of the Belt and Road initiative, China had expanded its investments to include many other countries. According to a financial expert in India, there is a noticeable spike in solar investment by Chinese firms. "Chinese investments in Indian coal projects have been declining. At the same time, Chinese investments in India on solar projects are slowly increasing," Jai Sharda, a founding partner with equity research Indian firm Equitorials, told IANS. There are reports that GLC-Poly energy, China's top solar module manufacturer, is in talks with India's Essel group to set up a solar module manufacturing facility in India this year, he added. India has committed to generate up to 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. The GEI report says that since 2016, China's support for overseas coal-fired power plant development has slowed down mainly due to shifting towards renewable energy under the Paris Agreement. Under the agreement of December 2015, 197 countries agreed to cut emissions in a bid to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. Some countries contributed to this change by reducing support for high emission projects like coal-fired power plants and shifting towards renewable energy, said the report. The cancelled and suspended Chinese projects are mainly located in India, it said. The report, released just ahead of the two-day Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Sunday, carried out a long-term review of China's involvement in coal power projects in 25 countries along the Belt and Road since 2001. Overseas project contracting is the most common form of involvement for Chinese companies developing coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road. But they do not participate in project operation and have no stake in the project's profits. By the end of 2016, China had been involved in 240 coal-fired power projects in 25 countries with a total installed capacity of 251,054 MW, says the report. The GEI says since 2001, Chinese development of coal-fired power projects in countries along the Belt and Road initiative has fluctuated, slowing sharply in 2008, 2011 and 2016 and having peaked in 2010. This trend shows that China's participation in these projects is affected by global economic shifts, the policies of host countries and restructuring towards cleaner energy. According to the report, India received support from Chinese companies for building close to 129,540 MW worth of coal power capacity and Indonesia for just 31,336 MW. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) Islamabad, May 18 : Pakistan's federal government has rejected conditions set by former President retired General Pervez Musharraf, such as the provision of military security and safe passage back to Dubai, to face his high treason trial, the media reported on Thursday. In a response submitted to the three judge special court seized with the high treason case, the federal government said on Wednesday that being an absconder for high treason Musharraf cannot seek any relief until he surrenders before the court, Dawn online reported. The response stated: "An absconder cannot dictate his pre-requisites to the court and give conditions, that too his own subjective satisfaction, as to when he will appear and for how long." Musharraf filed an application before the special court on May 5 in which he expressed willingness to face the trial under military protection and assurance from the court that he would be given safe passage back to Dubai. Through its chief prosecutor in the case, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, the government said: "The application has been filed only to prolong the conclusion of the trial." However, the government said it was willing to provide "all due security" to Musharraf, "as per his entitlement", reports Dawn online. The government asked the court to dismiss Musharraf's application seeking military security and safe passage to Dubai, and to take "all appropriate coercive measures to procure the attendance of absconding accused to complete the trial". The special court will resume proceedings in the high treason trial on Friday. Mumbai, May 18 : Actor Raza Murad says he always thought of veteran movie and theatre actress Reema Lagoo, who died here early on Thursday following a cardiac arrest, as his younger sister. Reema breathed her last at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri west here, where she was rushed shortly after midnight. Raza on Thursday shared photograph of himself along with Reema and captioned: "My very very dear friend and old collegue, Reema Lagoo has passed away. It is just unthinkable and unbelievable that this graceful lady is no more." The 66-year-old actor added: "She always addressed me as Raza bhai and I always thought of her as a chhoti behen (younger sister). One of the saddest and shocking news that she has gone forever. May her noble soul rest in eternal peace." Raza and Reema together have shared screen space in films like "Sangdil Sanam", "Hatya", "Apne Dam Par" and "Henna". Reema became famous for portraying the "middle-aged, modern, but understanding mother" to some of the biggest stars in the industry on both big and small screens. She was noted for her roles in several blockbusters like "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun", "Aashiqui", "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Hum Saath Saath Hain", "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Kal Ho Na Ho", "Vastaav", "Saajan", "Rangeela" and "Kya Kehna", etc. Beijing, May 18 : A senior editor with a leading Chinese daily has urged India to join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it can reduce New Delhi-Islamabad tensions. "If New Delhi joins and contributes to Beijing's infrastructural initiative, this will help alleviate tensions and confrontations between India and Pakistan," Ding Gang, a senior editor with People's Daily, said in an opinion piece published by Global Times. "More importantly, the initiative can enhance local people's living standards," he added. India has refused to join Beijing's Belt and Road initiative citing sovereignty concerns as the CPEC will run through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, a region New Delhi claims. India worries the CPEC project will infringe upon its sovereignty. But Ding said that border disputes, including those between China and India, were often the result of "unreasonable colonial orders and many remain unsettled after decades. "Military clashes are frequently seen in Kashmir, causing casualties on both sides. "Now it's time to change the old way of solving these issues. "As conflicts persist and no new rules are adopted, why can't we put these issues aside and pursue a project or programme that is based on consensus as the first step to establish mutual trust?" Ding said: "A responsible government has no reason to keep these innocent civilians enduring such ordeals. "Development is the solution to various issues. If the Indian government can take a step forward, even a small one, it will be written into the annals of history." Ding is also currently a senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. New Delhi, May 18 : UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim on Thursday condoled the death of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and said he had a lifelong love for nature and environment. "I was deeply saddened by the news of the sudden demise of my friend Anil Dave," Solheim told IANS. He said Dave was a humble, wise and a dedicated man. "Anil had a lifelong love of nature and the environment -- starting with the beauty of his home state of Madhya Pradesh but including India and the world. He will above all be remembered for his crucial role in making the Kigali Agreement, so critical to fight dangerous climate change." "We will also recall his passion for the protection of the great Indian rivers -- the Ganga, the Narmada and others," Solheim said. Dave represented India at the 28th meeting of the "Parties to the 1989 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" held in Rwandan capital Kigali in October last and later in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech in Morocco. He died here on Thursday morning. Chennai, May 18 : Actor Ganesh Venkatraman, who plays an undercover police officer in Tamil thriller "Inayathalam", said he closely studied how a real cyber crime division functions to play his part. "I don't play a khaki-clad character. Throughout the film, you will mostly see me in casuals and jackets. I play an undercover cop and I work closely with the crime wing. We spent some time with Chennai's cyber crime division to understand how they work," Ganesh told IANS. The experience came in handy for the "Abhiyum Naanum" actor. "We understood how they react to a situation and how they deal with a problem. With rampant growth in crimes on social media, it is shocking when we learn about some of the cases that these people have to deal with," he said. The film, directed by Shankar and Suresh, also stars Shweta Menon and Erode Mahesh. Ganesh is also thrilled that his long-delayed Hindi project "Guns of Benares", a remake of Tamil film "Pollathavan", is finally slated for release in August. "I play the baddie in the film. I'm used to playing the good guy so it felt different and equally challenging to play the antagonist. I'm eagerly looking forward to the release," he added. Kannur (Kerala) : Kannur (Kerala) May 18 (IANS) The death of a 26-year-old cadet at the Indian Naval Academy in Kerala's Ezhimala near here has caused raised eyebrows, with the family alleging "foul play". The INA in a press release issued here on Thursday said G. Sooraj, a first term cadet, was found in an unconscious and unresponsive state on the floor of the academic wing by a duty sailor instructor at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday. Sooraj was immediately rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Indian Naval Hospital Navjivani and administered intravenous fluid for resuscitation. He was later shifted to Pariyaram Medical College and Hospital along with a medical specialist and medical assistants, the statement said. "The cadet developed two episodes of cardiac arrest at the hospital. All efforts to revive the cadet by the medical specialist failed and he was declared dead at 2.30 a.m.," the statement added. The Academy said Sooraj's family was informed about the incident. It also added that an inquiry has been ordered by the Southern Naval Command. However, Sooraj's family in a statement has alleged that relation between Sooraj and the INA officials was not good, the Payanur Police said. The family has alleged that Sooraj's death "did not occur under normal circumstances", the police said. The police have begun a probe into the entire episode. Sooraj started off his career in the Indian Navy as a sailor in 2010. In 2013, he appeared for the officers' test and joined the INA. "From then on there was constant friction between Sooraj and the INA officials," his family said. In 2015, he was terminated by the INA, following which he approached the Armed Forces Tribunal which asked the INA to reinstate him. In January he rejoined the INA as an officer cadet. "The board of inquiry of the Southern Naval Command would go into all details," said an INA official. "At present, the inquest is being prepared and soon the body will be taken for a post-mortem and then handed over to the family," the official added. London, May 18 : British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson landed himself in a trouble after he talked about alochol trade with India during an election campaign visit to a gurdwara in Bristol. Johnson was on Wednesday visiting a gurdwara in St. George's, Bristol, where he made remarks about ending tariffs on whisky traded between Britain and India. In a BBC recording of the event, a female worshipper can be heard taking him to task, asking, "How dare you talk about alcohol in a Sikh temple?" The Sikh religion forbids drinking alcohol. "You are standing in a Sikh (temple) talking about alcohol, which is absolutely not right," she said. After the unidentified woman also told him about alcoholism in her family, Johnson apologised several times, the Guardian reported. "I'm very sorry if you think that alcohol is a bad thing -- I understand your point of view," he said. The former London Mayor, wearing a bright orange turban, said "a free trade deal with India could be good for both countries". He told the crowd in the gurdwara that he was going to sign a free trade deal in order to boost the trade in whisky. "I hope I'm not embarrassing anybody here by saying that when we go to India, we have to bring 'clinky' in our luggage," he said. "We have to bring Johnnie Walker". "There is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scottish whisky. So we have to bring it in for our relatives duty free. Imagine what we could do with a trade deal with India, which there will be, because then the tariffs would go." Other members of the crowd reportedly told Johnson that if he had made the comments in India, he "would not have got out of the temple alive". Narinderjit Singh, General Secretary of the Sikh Federation, said that "no politician in his right mind" would speak in a gurdwara about a trade deal involving alcohol, the newspaper reported. Singh said Johnson should know better, given that his wife Marina Wheeler is half Sikh. A spokesperson for Johnson denied that it was a gaffe, claiming instead that he was sympathising with the woman's personal situation. "Boris was simply making the point that a free trade deal with India could be huge for both sides," the spokesperson said. Islamabad, May 18 : Pakistan on Monday said it was determined to take to its "logical end" the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav whose death sentencing was put on hold by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Indicating that it would abide by the world court's order on "provisional measures", staying the execution of Jadhav, Pakistan Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's office said the interim order had "no bearing, whatsoever, on the final decision" of the ICJ. "The ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case," the statement said. It said the provisional measures were "a procedural process" that would "enable the court to have full consideration at a later hearing". "(The) decision has not changed the status of Jadhav's case in any manner. We are confident that India would not be able to hide the subversive activities it is trying to carry out through its agents like Jadhav...India has no substance in the case," the statement said. India on May 8 sought the international court's intervention to annul the death sentence given by a Pakistan military court to Jadhav who Islamabad says was arrested in Balochistan on charges of spying, sabotage and terrorism. New Delhi maintains that Jadhav was abducted from Iran and taken to Balochistan. The army court had sentenced him to death on a "confessional" statement he had made in military custody. Pakistan has been accused of violating the Vienna Convention by denying consular access to Jadhav and pronouncing him guilty of espionage in a "farcical trial". Islamabad, May 18 : The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling staying the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav "has caused shock and disappointment in Pakistan", a daily reported on Thursday. Although Pakistani analysts were confident that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction to stay Jadhav's execution, the Dawn quoted unnamed observers as now saying that the jurisdiction argument was "weak" and "damaging". Retired Justice Shaiq Usmani told Dawn that the decision was alarming because "ICJ does not have jurisdiction". "It's Pakistan's mistake to have appeared there. They shouldn't have attended. They have shot themselves in the foot. "Until the ICJ gives its verdict, the case will go on in Pakistan," he said, adding that Jadhav cannot be executed as long as the stay order is there. London-based Barrister Rashid Aslam said Pakistan was ill-prepared and did not utilise the 90 minutes it had to make its argument. "Pakistan had 90 minutes of argument time but we wasted 40 minutes," Aslam told the Dawn. "I was surprised why we finished our arguments in such little time. I think (lawyer) Khawar Qureshi didn't consume all the time... I don't think we presented the case quite well. "I think Pakistan was grossly unprepared," he added. Analyst Zahid Hussain said the ICJ ruling was not binding legally but morally. Former Attorney General Irfan Qadir said he was shocked. "I think this decision is a violation of the principle of natural justice. I am shocked as to why Pakistan went there and presented their position and gave it in such a rush. "The lawyers handling these matters had no experience. The arguments had no weight. They should have been presented in a rational manner." Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sherry Rehman told Dawn: "We based our case on jurisdiction and it proved weak. More arguments should have been made regarding espionage." Barrister Farogh A. Nasim said Pakistan should not have conceded to ICJ's jurisdiction. "India did not give consent to the Kashmir issue going to ICJ, then why did Pakistan give consent to the Jadhav case?" he asked. Shimla, May 18 : The Himachal Pradesh State Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill is likely to be passed by the state assembly next week, an official said on Thursday. A special two-day session has been convened for the passage of the bill on May 26. A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who also holds the finance portfolio, would move the bill on May 27 which is likely to be supported by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The first day of the assembly is likely to be adjourned for the day after condoling the death of Cabinet Minister Karan Singh, who died on May 12. The central government is aiming to rollout the new indirect tax regime nationwide from July. New Delhi, May 18 : Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, who died on Thursday, was a man of varied interests -- the environment, social work, and flying -- with a preference for organic farming and an Indian way of life to deal with climate change. Born on July 6, 1956, in Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, Dave was a three-time member of the Rajya Sabha. Softspoken and amiable, Dave had friends across the political spectrum. Dave joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party -- as a child and later volunteered to be its 'pracharak' (full-timer) after completing his studies. A postgraduate in commerce, he was involved in the JP movement in the 1970s. Dave took to flying early on as a National Cadet Corps air wing cadet. He was deputed to the BJP before the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections in 2003, whereafter he emerged as a key strategist in the party's victories in subsequent assembly polls in 2008 and 2013 as also the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls from the state. He was founder of 'Narmada Samagra', which works for the conservation of the river and its catchment area. Dave was also the founder of the Jan Abhiyan Parishad, an umbrella organisation to interlink and empower self-help groups and non-governmental organisations. To showcase his dedication to the Narmada river's cause, he flew along the river course in a small aircraft, traversed it, held public meetings, organised festivals on its shores, and found solution to everyday solution to the problems of people living along its banks. He also worked towards promoting bio-toilets in schools in Madhya Pradesh. An author of several books, he was Vice President of the 10th World Hindi Conference in Bhopal organised by the External Affairs Ministry. Dave was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009, and re-elected in 2010 and 2016. He was inducted as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change in July last year after Prakash Javadekar was elevated as the Human Resource Development Minister. As the Environment Minister, Dave felt that green concerns and development can go together, a line also followed by his predecessor in keeping with the National Democratic Alliance government's thrust on ease of doing business. He became a Union Minister when the Paris Climate Change accord had been reached and the environmental discourse had shifted more towards local concerns. He pushed India's initiative of international solar alliance at the global fora. In interviews, Dave said the right Indian way to live is the only way out for climate change and emphasised consuming only as much as is needed. In agriculture, he pushed for breakthroughs within the country so that the hardearned money of farmers is not drained. He felt that organic farming is better but it should be scientific and modern. Amid long debate on interlinking of rivers, he favoured going ahead with interlinking of small rivers to see if it proved beneficial or not. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Dave as a "friend and a very respected colleague", adding that the late leader was "tremendously passionate towards environment" and termed his demise as a "personal loss". Congress President Sonia Gandhi described Dave as a "gentle human being" and said he will be remembered for his humble personality. New Delhi, May 18 : The Supreme Court on Thursday concluded hearing in the triple talaq issue and reserved its verdict even as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said it has decided to issue an advisory to Qazis to give an option to Muslim women to opt out of instant triple talaq before giving consent for nikaah. The five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer wound up hearing in the case after six days on a batch of petitions that challenged the constitutional validity of triple talaq. The court was told that the AIMPLB would file an affidavit stating its decision and include a copy of the model Nikaah Nama. The AIMPLB decision comes a day after the top court asked it to consider giving an option to Muslim women to deny prospective husbands the option of triple talaq. The court permitted AIMPLB to file its affidavit. The matter is rooted in an October 16, 2015, order of the top court by which it had directed the separate listing of a PIL addressing the question of the rights of Muslim women. Addressing the constitution bench, AIMPLB's senior counsel Kapil Sibal said he had a meeting with the Board members on Wednesday (May 17) and they have decided to issue an advisory to all the Qazis across the country. That the bride has opted out of triple talaq would be recorded in the Nikaah Nama, the court was told. With the Centre linking the issue of triple talaq with that of constitutional morality, AIMPLB wondered why was the Centre shying away from enacting a law to curb the practice by taking recourse to Article 25(2)(b) of the Constitution that permits enactment of a law invoking social reforms. Article 25(2)(b) says that nothing prevents the State from enacting a law "providing for social welfare or reforms ..." Article 25 guarantees the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. Taking a dig at the Centre for telling the court that it should first rule against triple talaq and other forms of talaq and then it would enact a law to set it in, Sibal said: "You (Centre) can't say that I will not bring a law, you (court) decide the matter." Let them enact a law to deal with triple talaq, only then its constitutionality would be tested by the top court, AIMPLB said. As various petitioners raised questions about the sources of customs and practices, Sibal urged the court not to venture in this area as it was slippery. "Testing the validity of customs and practices is a slippery slope," Sibal said. In his rejoinder arguments while saying that "what was sinful in theology, can't be good in law", senior counsel Salman Khurshid said that he differed with the AIMPLB saying that Islam suffered from patriarchy. He said that Islam recognised both men and women as equal and unlike Christianity where it is women who take the blame, in Islam both husband and wife are held equally responsible. While saying that AIMPLB was a body of standing having eminent and scholarly people on it, Khurshid who is assisting the court differed with the Attorney General that the court should rule against all forms of talaq under Shariat before a law is enacted. He also differed with AIMPLB which has contended that though sinful and undesirable triple talaq was a matter of faith for Muslims. Contesting AIMPLB's claim to be a representative voice of the Muslim community, senior counsel Anand Grover said that Talaq-i-bidat was not an essential part of the Sunni Muslim faith, thus it has been changed in several Sunni-majority countries. Citing the prevailing conditions where Muslim women were protesting against instant triple talaq, Grover appearing for the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan's co-founder Zakia Suman, questioned the AIMPLB's claim that they are discouraging the practice of triple talaq amongst Muslims. Appearing for another petitioner Sharaya Bano, senior counsel Amit Singh Chadha brushed aside AIMPLB's contention that though sinful triple talaq was a matter of faith for the Muslims. "It is not only not an essential part of Muslim religion, it is not a part of religion at all. On the contrary, it is deprecated by Islam," Chadha told the court. New York, May 18 : An influential think tank has urged US President Donald Trump to develop with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a common strategic view based on shared interests in China, Pakistan and Afghanistan and make India a "clear strategic and diplomatic priority" for the US. The convergence of Indian and American strategic interests provides an opportunity for the Trump Administration to advance its key foreign policy goals and the US must rapidly seize the opportunity decisively, The Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) said in a paper released here on Thursday. Deeper cooperation in defence, including in interoperability of forces, and anti-terrorism should complement the shared strategic outlook, it recommended. The paper, "The Trump Administration's India Opportunity", was authored by Marshall Bouton, the ASPI Senior Fellow for India and former President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Chief Operating Officer of the Asia Society. A starting point for close cooperation between the two countries would be an early summit between Modi and Trump, the paper said, outlining what could be the agenda for such a meeting. A summit would be "at the at the top of my list of priorities", Bouton said in an interview with IANS. "Nothing helps to get a relationship off to a good start than that kind of an exchange between the two leaders." According to a source familiar with scheduling meetings, Modi was likely to visit Washington in July. The paper saw a match in the personalities and operational styles of the two leaders and said: "Modi is a strong and decisive leader with whom the Trump administration should feel very comfortable." The two leaders, who are "highly nationalist and pro-business in their orientation, are likely to find common ground", it said. "Both leaders pride themselves on making deals, even when those deals are not entirely aligned with their parties' interests." To keep the multifaceted development of bilateral ties on track, the paper suggested the appointment of a czar for India-US relations, "preferably a cabinet member, to hold the whole-of-government brief". "With security issues a priority, Defence Secretary James Mattis, who has publicly identified India as a key strategic partner, might be considered for the position." The paper identified countering terrorism, responding to China's assertive behaviour in the region and seeking peace and stability in South and East Asia as common factors in the two countries' agendas. "India has a great deal of experience in dealing with the threat of terrorism. The US has much to gain from cooperation with India on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism." The paper said Modi will want more forceful action against Islamabad on terrorism, arguing "that only the threat of stronger sanctions such as sharp cuts to economic and military assistance and removal of Pakistan's designation as a major non-NATO ally might change its behaviour". But future Washington action against Islamabad would hinge on the course of its involvement in Afghanistan as Pakistan controls key access to US forces there, the paper said. "This will be limiting factor or something that will affect how the administration decides to position itself, at least publicly, with respect to Pakistan," Bouton said in the interview. If the US puts more troops on the ground in Afghanistan, "the dependence on Pakistanis for access across their territory and even use of facilities for the war in Afghanistan will continue and will perhaps be enlarged". However, in private dialogue with Pakistani leaders, the US may be "making very clear our strong concern about renewed attacks across the Line of Control or across the border elsewhere and what the consequences would be", he said. Trump's attitude to China has become more conciliatory because he wants Beijing to manage the North Korean crisis. Asked how this would impact the US-India perceptions of China outlined in the paper, Bouton said: "North Korea and its nuclear ballistic missile capabilities are probably the single most immediate pressing issue in US Asia policy at this time bar none. ".. So if there are tactical shifts in the way Trump administration has chosen to deal with China in this time frame, they don't necessarily tell us about the longer time view." The paper acknowledged that the two nations' "economic interests could be an obstacle to closer partnership". But it added that "with careful management and imaginative leadership, (it) could become a new frontier in the relationship". ASPI suggests that the Trump administration consult India about changes to the H-1B visa system (which is used by professionals, particularly in the technology sector). It suggested "an economic 'grand bargain' to dramatically increase economic cooperation" through a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Kolkata, May 18 : Noted environmental activists Medha Patkar and Prafulla Samantara believe Union Environment Minister Anil Dave, a committed environmentalist who had worked on green projects including conservation of the Narmada river, was perhaps not allowed the space to act on his ideas to protect the displaced people of the river dam project. "He was not allowed to do anything because the Prime Minister's Office is doing everything. The government of India is not giving importance to any ministry. That is the tragedy. He could not rescue the people. They are being forced to evacuate," Goldman Environmental Prize winner Samantara told IANS, referring to the 45,000 oustees of the Narmada Dam Project. Condoling Dave's demise, Patkar, one of the leading spokespersons of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), said: "He was of a different nature. He was very soft spoken. Maybe he was not given the due space and role in the latest Narmada Sewa Yatra." However, Patkar also lamented that Dave did not take a position on the dam construction. "He used to hold a number of Narmada Mahostavs. But he did not take a position on such a large construction like a Narmada dam." "Although after becoming the minister he gave us a chance to present our case and gave us a patient hearing, beyond that nothing much happened." "Maybe, he raised the voice inside (the central government) and it was not heard, because the Narmada issue is now being pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan... I don't know." Narmada Bachao Andolan is a social movement of adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the large dams being built across the Narmada river, which flows through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river and was one of the first focal points of the movement. It is one of the many dams under construction. In February, the Supreme Court ordered Rs 60 lakh be paid as compensation to each of the 681 families of farmers possessing two hectares of land who were affected by land acquisition in Madhya Pradesh for the Sardar Sarovar Dam project in 193 villages. The apex court awarded Rs 15 lakh each to 1,358 families who had accepted compensation earlier. It said the amount payable shall be adjusted against payments already made. On receipt of the money, the court asked the farmers to vacate their lands by July 31, 2017, failing which the authorities were allowed to forcibly evict them. Patkar said although Dave was in favour of protection of the people, he could not raise the basic issues of the adivasis and displaced people. "Before becoming the minister, he could have done that." "After becoming a minister, he shared with me personally that 'Narmada Valley Development Authority is not doing things right and you must question them'. That was his opinion. But that was not raised publicly," Patkar said. Dave was to take a final call on the commercial introduction of the indigenously developed GM mustard crop. Asked whether the GM Mustard issue would be delayed, Patkar said: "Now we can't say anything at all. Everyone is subordinate to PMO. So, the presence or absence of a person might not make a difference." Kathmandu, May 18 : Fifteen persons, including three Indians, have been arrested in connection with the seizure of demonetised Indian currency notes totalling nearly Rs 2.10 crore in Kathmandu, Nepal Police said on Thursday. Two persons were arrested with Rs 98 lakh in demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from a rented house in the Nepal capital. Over Rs 1.11 crore in scrapped notes were later seized from a car parked at a local hotel and three persons involved in currency exchange business arrested, police said. Those arrested include house owner Kamala Bhandari. The arrested Indians were identified as Ankur Kumar Agrawal, Dinesh Agrawal, and Anil Kumar Pansali. Police said the seized notes were smuggled from India to Nepal to enable their exchange with Nepali currency. Nepal is still awaiting India's nod to exchange demonetised Indian currency. India's Reserve Bank of India has put a cap of Rs 4,500 on exchange of banned notes by an individual, whereas Nepal has requested for an increase in the limit. Kolkata, May 18 : A day after Maulana Noor-ur Rehman Barkati was removed as the Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque here, a Muslim clerics' body based in West Bengal on Thursday said the termination of his services was correct and he should leave the post. "The decision taken by the 'Mutawalli' (religious head) of the mosque to remove Barkati as the Imam is absolutely correct. Barkati should realise his mistakes and accept termination of his services," Maulana Sharafat Abrar, the Imam of Kolkata's Jama Masjid and Tahaffuz-e-Masjid Committee convener told the media here. Echoing Abrar, committee President Qazi Fajlur Rahaman said: "Any Imam who makes anti-national comments should be removed." Asserting that Barkati's comments "maliciously damaged" national integrity and communal harmony in the country and portrayed the Muslim community in a bad light, Abrar said he should now try to correct his mistake. "Barkati has lost eligibility to be an Imam. He should now try to correct himself. If he is found worthy of being a cleric again, he could be given charge of any of the 498 mosques functioning in West Bengal under the committee tutelage," he said. Denying Barkati's claim about political pressure leading to his removal, the committee said it is the cleric's ploy to gain sympathy. "His allegations are baseless. We do not believe political pressure was behind his removal. He was removed to save the image of the Muslim community from deteriorating. He is bringing politics into it to gain sympathy," another committee member said. Barkati, who recently threatened 'jihad' and refused to remove the red beacon from his vehicle, was sacked from the post on Wednesday with immediate effect by the mosque's board of trustees. However, a defiant Barkati refused to heed the order, saying the trustees had no right to remove an Imam. He also blamed Trinamool leaders Siddiqullah Chowdhury, Sultan Ahmed and Nadimul Haque for his removal. The Hague/New Delhi/Islamabad, May 18 : In a diplomatic and legal victory for India, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, dismissing Pakistan's contention that it had no jurisdiction to go into the matter. In a unanimous and binding decision, the UN's top court said the status quo should be maintained pending final decision to be taken in the case that has brought ties between the two rival neighbours to a new low. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said, reading out the order in the open court. "The court also decides that until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order," said the court which consists of 10 judges, including Justice Dalveer Bhandari of India, besides President Abraham. Jadhav was allegedly arrested from Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016. Pakistan claimed that the former Indian Navy officer confessed in a video that he was involved in spying and terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rejected by India. He was convicted in April by a Pakistani military court and sentenced to death. India has maintained that Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he was pursuing his business, and passed off as a spy. India approached the international court on May 8 against Pakistan, accusing it of violating the Vienna Convention as Islamabad had rejected 16 requests by New Delhi seeking consular access. Pakistan was also accused of denying Jadhav a fair trial in violation of international human rights laws. In a declaration appended to the judgment, Justice Bhandari concurred with the court on its interim order, saying: "...this is a case in which it regrettably appears, on a preliminary examination of the facts, that the basic human rights of Jadhav have been violated by not allowing India to have consular access to him after his arrest and during the pendency of the criminal proceedings against him in Pakistan." The decision brought relief to India, with the Ministry of External Affairs calling the ruling "unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous". But Pakistan said it did not accept the UN court's jurisdiction in matters related to its national security. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the ruling. She said the court order was "a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India". "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav," she said in tweets. Modi backed the Minister's statement, retweeting Sushma Swaraj's tweet from his personal account. Foreign Affairs Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz, said the ICJ did not order Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav but has merely put forward an opinion. He said a decision to provide consular access to Jadhav is yet to be made. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria hit out at India for "trying to hide its real face" by taking the Jadhav case to the world court. However, Pakistan Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's office in a statement indicated it would abide by the court's ruling while saying the interim order had "no bearing, whatsoever, on the final decision" related to the case. "The ICJ has stated that by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case of Jadhav. The court has clearly underscored that the provisional measures are without prejudice to the final determination of the merits and jurisdiction of the case." The statement said Pakistan would take the case to the "logical end" and that India had no substance in the case. In the two-page order, Justice Abraham also dismissed Pakistan's contention that the court had no jurisdiction over the case. It said Pakistan's alleged failure to provide consular access to Jadhav appeared to be falling within the scope of the Vienna Convention. "In the view of the Court, this is sufficient to establish that it has prima facie jurisdiction under article I of the Optional Protocol. The Court further observes that the existence of a 2008 bilateral agreement between the parties on consular relations does not change its conclusion on jurisdiction," it said. Justice Abraham said Pakistan had also failed to give any assurance that Jadhav would not be executed before the court delivered its final decision. "The mere fact that Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India. In those circumstances, the court is satisfied that there is urgency in the present case." Srinagar, May 18 : Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday termed the International Court of Justice decision on Kulbhushan Jadhav a great victory for the rule of law and his trial in Pakistan as a "mockery" of justice. "This order though interim is a very serious indictment of the kind of mockery in the name of judicial system that exists in Pakistan," Jaitley said, commenting on the ICJ's decision asking Pakistan not to execute Jadhav pending its final decision. "Any form of judicial proceeding which is conducted in secrecy, in darkness, and which is not open for any public gaze lacks the very appearance of justice. This order today highlights the importance of the fact that when a person is allegedly accused he has a right of effective defence," he said. "Unless a person has access to his own consulate he can't even get a counsel of his own choice... It is a vindication of India's stand." "In the annals of international law this judgment is a great victory of the rule of law," he said. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month on charges of espionage. India had sought consular access to Jadhav 16 times since his arrest in March 2016, which had been refused. In a tweet earlier, Jaitley said the verdict "endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan". Chandigarh, May 18 : Three assailants who fired at a murder accused within the courts complex in Bhiwani city of Haryana on Thursday were arrested from the spot and three firearms seized from them, the police said. Bhiwani Superintendent of Police Surinder Singh Bhoria said Sher Singh, booked on a murder charge in 2013 by Siwani police, had gone to the district courts in Bhiwani, around 300 km from here, for appearance in the case. Sher Singh was heading towards a tea shop in the complex when Vinod, Ankit, and Suresh opened fire at him near the lawyers' chambers. The police officer said all three assailants were nabbed on the spot and three pistols and a car seized from them. Sher Singh escaped unhurt, the police officer said. Lucknow, May 18 : Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday met a 72-member student delegation of the City Montessori School here, which will be representing India in New York on the third International Yoga Day festivities on June 21. Extending his good wishes to the students, Yogi Adityanath said Yoga was an ancient tradition of India, and that the identity of India across the world is that of a spiritual nation. The Chief Minister also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving an international identity to Yoga. Hyderabad, May 18 : The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday directed Telangana Police to trace a missing youth and present him in court by June 1. The court gave the direction on a petition by Amboji Naresh's parents, two days after his wife allegedly committed suicide at her parents' house in a tragic end of a love story and an inter-caste marriage between the two childhood friends. The court took note of the alleged suicide of Tummala Swati, who was to appear in the court in connection with the case of her missing husband. The judge wondered why the 20-year-old was left alone in the house when she had attempted suicide twice. As Naresh's father Amboji Venkataiah suspected that Swati's father was behind his son's disappearance, police told the court that it was questioning Srinivas Reddy. The court directed Telangana's Director General of Police (DGP) to appoint a special officer to trace the missing man and produce him by June 1. It suggested that if the police chief failed to do so, he should order a high-level probe. Naresh, 23, has been missing since May 2 when he brought his wife to Bhongir town to meet her parents, who had promised to accept their marriage. The Hyderabad High Court had on Monday given police three days to present Swati. She allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her parents' house on Tuesday. A day earlier, she tried to end her life by consuming toilet cleaner but survived. The couple had eloped in March and married in Mumbai against the wishes of Swati's father, who comes from a higher caste. Two weeks ago, Swati's father reportedly invited the young couple to their hometown Bhongir and promised to accept their marriage. When they arrived in the town, Swati was reportedly taken away by her father while Naresh went missing shortly thereafter. Interestingly, Swati's father has filed a case of dowry harassment against Naresh, accusing him of torturing his daughter. Naresh's father denied the allegation. He approached the High Court, seeking direction to police to trace his son. Bhopal, May 18 : Union Environment Minister Anil Dave's funeral will be held on Friday on the bank of the Narmada river in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, an official statement said on Thursday. Dave passed away in New Delhi earlier on Thursday following a cardiac arrest. In a will written on July 23, 2012, Dave stated that if possible, his last rites should be done in Bandrabhan on the Narmada river. Bandrabhan is the spot where Dave used to conduct the International River Festival every two years. Madhya Pradesh will observe a two-day state mourning from May 18, the statement said. New Delhi, May 18 : The Union Cabinet met on Thursday and condoled the demise of Environment Minister Anil Dave, saying the country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader. "The Union Cabinet has expressed profound sorrow at the sad demise of Dave today (Thursday). The country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions," a statement said after a special Cabinet meeting. The meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extended its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the government and the entire nation. The Cabinet adopted a resolution which said that Dave was a river conservationist, environmentalist and social worker. "He was a prolific writer, authoring several books in Hindi and English. He was the founder of Jan Abhiyan Parishad and also edited the monthly magazine Charaiveti and JAP, Jan Abhiyan Parishad Journal," it said. The resolution said Dave was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 aircraft over river Narmada from the source to mouth, and also completed a 1,312-km raft journey along the entire length of the river. "He also organised staging of a play on Chhatrapati Shivaji, 'Janata Raja', which has been staged 1,000 times, including a performance at Wembley in London," it said. Dave was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He passed away on Thursday morning following cardiac arrest. He was 61 and a bachelor. Agartala, May 18 : Opposition parties on Thursday termed the Tripura government's decision to create 13,000 non-teaching posts as an attempt to win next year's assembly elections. The Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress alleged that the ruling Left parties earlier violated the rules in giving jobs to youths, leading to the Supreme Court's sacking of 10,323 teachers. "Earlier the CPI-M-led government betrayed the unemployed youths by providing jobs through illegal ways," Trinamool leader Sudip Roy Barma told the media. Accompanied by other legislators and party leaders, Barman alleged that to provide jobs in newly created 13,000 non-teaching posts, the government would again violate Article 16 of the Constitution as no written examination and transparent process would be in place in selecting the candidates. "Creation of 13,000 news posts is only to win the next assembly elections," he said. The Tripura government on Wednesday announced the creation of 13,000 non-teaching posts in two departments - ostensibly to "accommodate" the 10,323 teachers facing the axe due to the March 29 Supreme Court verdict. Both the BJP and Congress, however, welcomed the decision to create 13,000 new non-teaching posts. "But the step was taken to continue in power after the next elections," BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said. Tripura Congress President Birajit Sinha said: "We urge the government to strictly maintain neutrality, transparency and seniority in selecting the candidates for the 13,000 posts." The ruling Left Front welcomed the government move to provide jobs to unemployed youths. The Supreme Court on March 29 upheld the Tripura High Court order to terminate the jobs of 10,323 teachers but allowed them to continue in service till December 31. The court asked the government to frame a new Employment Policy by April 30, to initiate fresh recruitment by May 31 and complete it by December 31. New Delhi, May 18 : India and Belgium here on Thursday conducted negotiations on the proposed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) on criminal matters, an official said. The Belgium delegation was led by Steven Limbourg, General Counsellor and Head of the Directorate-III Criminal Law of the Directorate General Legislation, fundamental rights and freedoms, while the Indian delegation was led by Bipin Mallick, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said a Home Ministry statement. "The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere," the statement said. MLAT is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. New Delhi, May 18 : Union Environment Minister Anil Dave died following cardiac arrest here on Thursday morning. He was 61 and a bachelor. The Union government announced a day of national mourning, with the national flag flying at half-mast across the country as a mark of respect to the departed leader. The Cabinet held a special meeting to pay tributes to Dave and conveyed condolences to the family of Dave, a committed environmentalist who worked on green projects, including conservation of the Narmada. President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among a host of leaders who condoled the death. Later in the day, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan was given additional charge of the Environment Ministry. Dave's mortal remains will be cremated on Friday on the banks of the river in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Sources said Dave left a will in 2012 wherein he said his body should be cremated on the Narmada riverbank. It also said that no memorial should be erected anywhere in his name and people should rather plant trees. Dave had not been keeping well since January when he was diagnosed with pneumonia and was feeling "badly weak" during the past few days, family sources said. Meena Agarwal, wife of Dave's family physician Bharat Agarwal, told IANS that his family tried to wake him up in the morning but he appeared unconscious. He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at 9 a.m. in a stage of cardiac arrest, a hospital statement said. "All possible measures were taken immediately at AIIMS, but he could not survive and (was) declared dead around 9.45 a.m.," an AIIMS statement said. Dave was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on July 6, 2016, as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment in place of Prakash Javedakar who was appointed Human Resource Development Minister. In his message, Modi said: "Absolutely shocked by the sudden demise of my friend and a very respected colleague, Dave ji. My condolences." The Prime Minister said Dave will be remembered as a "devoted public servant who was tremendously passionate towards conserving the environment". "I was with Dave ji till late last evening (Wednesday), discussing key policy issues. This demise is a personal loss," Modi said. One of those who attended that meeting recalled that Dave was looking "pale and weak but sat through the long meeting with the Prime Minister". Mukherjee said Dave's tenure as Minister was "distinguished by extensive efforts to conserve nature and protect the environment". Sonia Gandhi said Dave was a "soft-spoken and gentle human being" and will be remembered for his humble nature. Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, veteran leader L.K. Advani, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and a host of ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, condoled Dave's death. They hailed him as a committed environmentalist. Dave, who began his political career during his college days in his home state of Madhya Pradesh, was a Rajya Sabha member since 2009. Dave joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party -- as a child and later volunteered to be its 'pracharak' (full-timer) after completing his studies. He was deputed to the BJP before the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections in 2003. In its resolution, the Cabinet recalled Dave's multifaceted personality. It said Dave was a prolific writer and associated with a play on Chhatrapati Shivaji -- Janata Raja -- which has been staged 1,000 times, including a performance at Wembley Stadium, London. "He was also a trained pilot, who flew a Cessna 173 plane over the Narmada from its source to mouth, and also completed a 1,312-km raft journey across the river," the resolution said. It said Dave handled his public responsibilities with politeness and grace. "In his passing away, the nation has lost an eminent leader from Madhya Pradesh," the Cabinet resolution added. Mumbai, May 18 : Spontaneous celebrations erupted in parts of Mumbai and Satara in Maharashtra on Thursday after the ICJ stayed the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan. Thrilled by the verdict, people in Mumbai and Satara burst firecrackers and distributed sweets after the ICJ ordered Pakistan to ensure Jadhav was not hanged till the final outcome in the case. In Mumbai, his friends, neighbours and others hailed the verdict with fireworks outside the Jadhav home at Powai, which the family had left since his arrest in Pakistan two months ago. Earlier, people in the housing complex were watching the TV sets to witness the proceedings in The Netherlands court and raised cries of joy as the verdict was announced. Similar revelry was witnessed in the Muslim-dominated Nagpada areas of south Mumbai. Rehmani Group President Asif Sardar, Zakaria Masjid Chairman Irshad Lakdawala and Muslim Yuva Manch committee member Kashib Shah hailed the ruling. The next step would be to welcome Jadhav to India after his release, some of them said. In Satara, people assembled in public places and raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram' and 'Kulbhushan Jadhav Zindabad' and celebrated with sweets. Earlier, a group of people in Thakur Complex, Kandivali East, gathered at a Shiva temple and offered special prayers seeking a favourable verdict for Jadhav. Prayers were also offered in temples in Andheri, Powai and Satara. New Delhi, May 18 : India should ensure adequate deterrance and military preparedness to tackle China's enhanced combat capabilities after Beijing restructured its defence mechanism, including of the PLA Rocket Force, two years ago, an expert has said. Since late 2015 with its sweeping reforms of armed forces, China has restructured its defence mechanism. The philosophy behind these military reforms have been focused on home territory and expeditionary capability, Lt Gen S.L. Narasimhan (Retd), presently a member of the National Security Advisory Board, said at a talk here. He highlighted six main issues that dominate China's defence reforms at a talk here on Wednesday during a talk on the subject "China's Military Reforms and Implications for India", organised by the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) at Indian Council World Affairs (ICWA), Sapru House. The six issues are: reduction of 300,000 troops, changes in higher defence organisation, creation of a headquaters for People's Libration Army (PLA), reorganisation of military area commands into theatre commands and creation of PLA Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force (SSF). According to Narasimhan, these reforms will tighten President Xi Jinping's control over the PLA though these reforms were handed over to Jinping after the 18th Congress. These reforms will also bring civil-military integration where the technology that army had will be shared with the civilians and vice versa, he said, in his presentation on "China's military reforms : Likely future trajectories". The objectives of the PLA reforms were to achieve enhanced joint-ness, optimising organisational structures of combat and ensuring dominance of information. He highlighted the implications for India with the progress of the reforms. According to him, these doctrinal changes with regard to effective security and safeguard of China's interests have pros and cons of their own. He pointed out that with reorganisation of the departments and the PLA Rocket Force would require ensured deterrence and military preparedness by India. The reforms have run their course for more than a year and their impact and overtones can be seen through synergy and a will to reform in China, Narasimhan said. In the future, he said the PLA will become more professional in the coming years with PLASSF (Strategic Support Force) being a battle winning force and "we will see Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean Region". Jayadeva Ranade, President of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, said the "army is used as a key for the primary concerns of China, which are political instability and regime survival". He called the 18th Congress a "watershed" which aimed for stability, party supremacy and assertive politics. He clarified that China's internal security situation is not such that it threatens the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but at the same time it is causing considerable anxiety to China's leadership. Therefore steps are being taken to discipline the PLA through surveillance within it. He pointed out the scenario in China, including popular discontent caused by lack of jobs and closure of mines and factories leading to over 300 million getting unemployed, unemployment among graduates touching almost 20 per cent and discontent among veteran and demobilised soldiers due to non-payment of salaries and dues. According to Ranade, the Chinese leadership is also very concerned about a "Color Revolution" or regime change which he quoted Jinping as "Regime dissatisfaction in realm of ideas". He explained the extent of the Party control in China through "party monitors" to weed out Western sources, national security education campaign and greater control over Buddhists, especially Tibetan Buddhists. The Chinese expert said there is an "arc of vulnerability in China" where a number of problems and degree of restiveness is growing. Added to this, he said are the disturbed conditions in Tibet and Xinjiang, for both of which, China's Public Security Budget exceeds US$1.10 billion each. He says the issue of Dalai Lama's reincarnation also looms large with subtle methods being taken to tackle it. In recent months, Hong Kong has become problematic. The locals are insisting that the Basic Law which gives sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, cannot be interpreted by National People's Congress (NPC). To confront this, China has imposed increasingly restrictive measures. Worries over Taiwan and Rohingyas in Myanmar also persist. He feels China, through party indoctrination and party surveillance via social credit system, can make "a honest Chinese citizen who walks with his head held high but what about the others who are not Chinese?". Under all this control, Ranade says there is a "growing inflexibility" in China which has made the nation brittle. He predicts that after the 19th Congress, we will see a "tougher China not just in case of neighbourhood disputes, but also in territorial and regional disputes". Chennai, May 18 : Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan, awarded six-month jail by the Supreme Court for contempt, has filed a mercy plea before President Pranab Mukherjee seeking stay of the order. Counsel Peter Ramesh Kumar told IANS that the mercy plea was filed on Wednesday, under Article 72 1B of the Constitution. Earlier, Ramesh Kumar had said that since Karnan is set to retire in June, sentencing him to jail will delay clearance of his retirement benefits. High Court judges get paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India. Justice Karnan was found in contempt of court for hurling corruption charges against Supreme Court and High Court judges. On May 11, the Supreme court was moved seeking suspension of the six-month sentence. Kathmandu, May 18 : Twenty four Nepali girls and women, between 15 and 40 years of age, have been rescued from a house in Delhi, a media report said. A broker had lured the women with the promise of jobs in the Middle East and had been keeping them at a house in Uttam Nagar Phase IV of Delhi for a month, Om Joshi, a counsellor at the Nepal Embassy was quoted by Kathmandu Post as saying. A joint team of the Embassy of Nepal and Crime Branch of Delhi Police rescued the girls and handed them to Maiti India, an anti-trafficking organisation. Around 16,500 Nepalis, mostly women and children, were trafficked to various countries in 2014 and 2015, according to a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) report. The report also stated that there has been 20 per cent increase in vulnerability of trafficking of women and children after the earthquake that rocked Nepal in 2015. Traffickers often use Delhi as a transit point for sending people to countries that are off-limits for Nepali migrant workers. The Embassy of Nepal in Delhi has reduced visit visa to third world countries as a part of its bid to curb trafficking, it said. Lucknow, May 18 : Two politicians belonging to the opposition Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party were shot dead in separate incidents in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, police said. Samajwadi Party corporator Ravindra Gujjar, 38, was shot dead by four unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Bhawaniram area of Jalaun while he was taking a late evening walk. He was rushed to a nearby medical facility where he was pronounced dead. Senior police officials rushed to the crime spot. BSP leader Kailash Chandra, 40, was shot dead at his house in Tigariya Bhood area in Amroha. Police said a pistol owned by him was found near the body. Panaji, May 19 : At least one person was killed, while 35 others were rescued after a foot bridge on Sanvordem river collapsed in south Goa's Curchorem town, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said. The exact number of persons missing was still not known five hours after the accident, even as one body has been fished out of the river. "Around 30-35 were rescued according to Fire department officials. How many are submerged we do not know. Some say it is 40-50 (persons) who were on the bridge, some say it around 30... But these are unconfirmed sources. Roughly it could be 40 odd," Parrikar told reporters late on Thursday. Parrikar also said that it was "tough to speculate" how many people were present on the bridge when the accident occurred. "A full scale rescue operation is on. The Collector and the PWD minister is onsite," the Chief Minister added. The tragedy occurred after a crowd had assembled on the several decade-old bridge to watch an unidentified person attempt a suicide late on Thursday. South Goa member of Parliament Narendra Savaikar, monitoring the relief and rescue operations, told IANS that Indian Navy and Coast Guard divers had been urged to help with the rescue efforts and that one body had been recovered so far. "Nine naval divers with boats and associated equipment rush to Curchorem, south Goa bridge collapse site, for search-and-rescue operations," the Navy tweeted. "Spoke to Goa CM Manohar Parrikar regarding the bridge collapse on Sanvordem river. Search and rescue operations have been identified," Union Home minister Rajnath Singh said in a tweet. District administration officials, police, fire bridge and Army personnel are still on the spot looking for survivors. Public Works Department minister who was onsite supervising rescue operations late on Thursday called the accident a case of "pure bad luck". New Delhi, May 18 : A case has been registered following a complaint by AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa's about online circulation of her morphed pictures and obscene articles targetting her, Delhi Police said on Thursday. "The case was registered under the Information Technology Act and a team of Cyber Cell is investigating. We have asked various websites/portals to provide details in connection with such morphed pictures of the member of Parliament," Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma, who is also the Public Relations Officer of the force, told IANS. Pushpa was expelled from the AIADMK in August 2016 by party chief and then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for alleged "anti-party activities". Kolkata, May 18 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday regretted that high quality health care was yet to the reach India's six lakh villages, and spoke out against patients' families beating up doctors and ransacking hospitals to express their anger over the medical treatment provided. "A massive effort is needed in our huge country to make education and health reach the people. A majority of out 1.3 billion people reside in six lakh villages. We have not yet succeeded in reaching modern high quality treatment to them, though we have big and specialised hospitals in the cities," Mukherjee said at a programme close to the city. Speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences at Sonarpur in neighbouring South 24 Parganas district, the President underlined the need on the part of doctors to treat patients "with a humane touch". "At times I hear complaints from people and also read in newspapers that the concept of service -- to serve the sick to serve the needy -- is fast receding from medical treatment," he said. "Just as there is need for modern treatment and medicines, similarly a humane touch is a must. It can only come from the behaviour of the doctors. A smiling face can cure half of the disease." Appreciating the efforts of the doctors associated with the IILDS, he hoped it would benefit citizens living in Eastern and North-east India and also a big part of Eastern UP where there is no specialised hospital for liver and gastro-intestinal diseases. The President hoped the people would cooperate with the institution and said patients and their relatives needed to behave responsibily. "When a patient dies, at times there are allegations that the doctor did not give him proper treatment. So the hospital now has to be ransacked, and the doctors beaten up. This is improper," Mukherjee said. "Nobody can guarantee that a life can be saved. Despite the advances in medical science, so far it is not in a position to give such a guarantee. They can only try by using all their knowledge, competence and experience," he said. In the same vein, the President said patients' relatives needed to know that the expenses for medical treatment has to be borne. "It would have been the best case scenario had the government been able to bear the entire cost of medical treatment. But that's not possible. So we also have to bear the cost," he added. New Delhi, May 18 : The Congress on Thursday welcomed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that stayed the execution of alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan and said the neighbouring country must respect the order. Party leader Anand Sharma said the orders of the International Court of Justice was a matter of great relief for people in India. Sharma also slammed Pakistan over remarks of its Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria that ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear the case concerning Jadhav. "Pakistan's refusal to accept its jurisdiction betrays a mindset of disrespect to the Vienna Convention which Pakistan has brazenly violated," Sharma said. He said Jadhav had been unfairly denied counsellor access or legal assistance. "The International community must put pressure on Pakistan. The United Nations have to take a serious note. Pakistan's contention before the International Court of Justice that this case was taken to the military tribunal because there was issue of terrorism, this is a lie," Sharma said. He also praised senior lawyer Harish Salve, who fought India's case at the ICJ against the death penalty to Jadhav by Pakistan. The ICJ on Thursday stayed the execution of Jadhav, dismissing Pakistan's contention that it had no jurisdiction to go into the matter. In a unanimous and binding decision, the UN's top court said the status quo should be maintained pending final decision to be taken in the case that has brought ties between the two rival neighbours to a new low. New Delhi, May 18 : India and Sweden on Thursday discussed bilateral issues, including threat from the Islamic State, radicalisation, and steps taken to counter global terror. The talks were held between a delegations led by Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs and Trade Ann Linde and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju here. "Both appreciated the ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber security and anti-radicalism being pursued by the two countries and emphasised the need for close collaboration both at bilateral and multilateral levels to counter this very serious threat," a Home Ministry statement said. Linde observed that terrorism and IS threat are big issues for Europe and urgent steps are being taken to check the same. She shared Swedish perceptions about Brexit and challenges of refugee influx faced by her country. While she reiterated the commitment on economic cooperation, the Swedish side offered transfer of technology and capacity building so as to make India a hub for global supply chain, the statement said. Rijiju apprised the Sweden Minister of steps taken to tackle terror as well as steps taken for de-radicalisation and counter-radicalisation of youths. The visiting Minister showed interest for supply of equipment and other items for the modernisation of central armed police forces. Sweden's Ambassador to India Harald Sandberg and senior Home Ministry officers were present during the meeting. Mumbai, May 18 : Irrfan Khan starrer "Hindi Medium" has been declared tax-free by the government of Maharastra, the film's producer said on Thursday. "I would like to thank Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for announcing our film 'Hindi Medium' as tax-free in the state. The film has already got a tax exemption in Gujarat. We are very glad to share the news," producer Bhushan Bhushan told media here during a special screening of the film. Actor Irrfan Khan, who was also present at the screening, said: "This is a great step, more people will watch the movie as it is tax-free now. The film addresses a social issue and it is a family entertainer. So it needs to reach a wider audience. I hope the film gets tax exemption in other states as well." The screening was attended by celebrities like Imtiaz Ali, Sushant Singh Rajput, Swara Bhaskar, Sonal Chawla, Deepak Dobriyal, among others. "Hindi Medium" is releasing on Friday. New Delhi : Rome, 18 May (AKI) Around 2,300 migrants were rescued in 22 operations in the Mediterranean, Italian coastguard stated on Thursday. The migrants, were picked up from 12 inflatable rubber dinghies and 10 small boats by vessels from the Italian coastguard, from the European Union's anti-smuggling force Eunavformed and charity rescue ships, the statement said. Italian coastguard coordinated the operations, the statement added, giving no information on the migrants' nationalities, ages or sex. A total 53,912 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through May 14, with nearly 85 per cent arriving in Italy, the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday. The number of people who arrived in Italy through May 14 was 45,118, up from 32,292 over the same period last year, according to IOM. There were 1,316 fatalities through May 14, around two-thirds of the 1,905 deaths worldwide over the same period, IOM said. Cannes (France) : Indian actress Deepika Padukone poses on the red carpet for the screening of the film "Loveless" in competition at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 18, 2017. Image Source: IANS News Deepika Padukone looked stunning in her second appearance on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet Image Source: IANS News Deepika Padukone looked stunning in her second appearance on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet Image Source: IANS News Cannes, May 18 : Indian actress Deepika Padukone's second red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival here saw her make a bold statement with smoky eyes in antique green, matched with a bottle green gown which had a thigh-high slit to add the oomph. Deepika looked elegant and sophisticated as she made her way to the red carpet as ambassador of global cosmetic giant L'Oreal Paris on Day 2 of the gala on Thursday. She turned up the glam quotient in a Brandon Maxwell gown, teamed with diamonds by De Grisogono, Chloe Gosselin shoes, and her hair in a high updo. Apart from the slit and Deepika's svelte frame, the attention was grabbed by her smoky eyes. The look was much different from her loose-tressed look in a jewel toned maroon gown on the opening day of the gala, where she shared the frame with names like Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore, and Elle Fanning. Earlier in the day at the French Riviera, Deepika spent some time gorging on a croissant, painting her nails and browsing through her wardrobe. She was seen in a sunshine yellow figure-hugging dress and later, she even spent time with Fanning at the beach in a pink dress. Actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor will also make it to the Cannes red carpet later in the week as L'Oreal Paris brand ambassadors. New Delhi, May 19 : A 16-year old Delhi girl who went missing in December last year managed to flee last week from her captors who forced her into sex trade in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and return to her house here, police said on Thursday. Police said the girl, a resident of a west Delhi locality, accused her boyfriend of sexual assault, blackmail and selling her into sex trade. Now two-and-a-half months pregnant, the girl has since got her statement recorded before a duty magistrate and pleaded for permission to abort. The girl said she struck a friendship with Panna Lal who lived in her locality. She said the man sexually exploited her and made a video clip of the crime and later began to blackmail her. On December 23, the girl said, Lal called her to his place and kidnapped her along with others after making her unconscious with some sedative. The accused, who is still absconding, sold her to unknown persons who forced her into sex trade. Last week, she fled from captivity and reached Delhi on May 11. MeasureUp, leading provider of premium practice tests and assessments for IT professionals worldwide, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Media Interactiva acquired MeasureUp in 2014, and since then, it has launched more than 1.3 million tests focused on the training and evaluation of digital competencies for technologies by the main IT companies, such as Microsoft, VMware, Cisco and CompTIA, among others. To celebrate this special milestone, MeasureUp will offer a 20% discount on all products, on the 20th of each month. During its two decades of existence, MeasureUp has sold over 3.5 million tests, close to half of them being sold after the acquisition by Media Interactiva, in the last three years. In 2016, the company sold around 480,000 practice tests. Acquiring MeasureUp has generated synergies in several ways, as Sam Brocal, CEO of Media Interactiva, explains it has allowed us to reach the most outstanding technological clients and to increase our revenue. Similarly, Kevin Brice, original founder and current Chief Strategy Officer for MeasureUp, points out that currently we operate in more than 30 countries, but our goal is to continue growing, both in market presence as well as in the value that we offer our partners and clients. MeasureUps practice tests are recognized for their innovative use of simulation question types, comprehensive explanations, complete coverage of exam objectives, multiple delivery modes, and in-depth reporting. Furthermore, we have the great support of those who have tried our products. More specifically, 84.6% of users would recommend MeasureUp's practice tests, 91% of users are satisfied with the explanations provided for correct and incorrect questions and 98.9% of users are satisfied with the technical accuracy of the questions. MeasureUps goal is to continue innovating and working hard to offer the best product possible to our clients, helping more and more professionals certify their technological skills thanks to our products, emphasizes Sam Brocal. More information on our anniversary special: http://www.measureup.com/20anniversary.aspx Thank you video: https://youtu.be/gLp-NPdc36w About Media Interactiva and MeasureUp Media Interactiva, founded in Seville in 2011, is a multinational company dedicated to educational technology and instructional design. An expert in the development of educational content through software simulations, Media Interactiva offers comprehensive services for the design, software development, localization of certifications to more than 25 languages, and quality control. The company collaborates with some of the largest certification providers in the world, such as Pearson VUE and Certiport, to help create some of the most recognized and in-demand credentials including Microsoft Office Specialist, Adobe Certified Associate, Autodesk, and QuickBooks. Media Interactiva acquired MeasureUp in 2014. Since 1997, MeasureUp has been the leading provider of premium certification practice tests and assessments for IT professionals. The MeasureUp solution provides the necessary tools to reinforce learning and validate knowledge for students, instructors and clients of hundreds of corporations, career colleges and technical training facilities worldwide. Throughout 2016, the company sold 480,000 practice tests and published 750 exams for Pearson in 16 different languages, exceeding 6 million dollars in sales. Media Interactiva is located in Seville, New York, Miami and Atlanta. Contact info: Media Inquiries: Ilene Steinberg Vice President Sales and Operations MeasureUp: http://www.measureup.com isteinberg(at)measureup(dot)com Mailing Address: MeasureUp One Brickell Square 801 Brickell Avenue, Suite 900 Miami, FL 33131 678-356-5000 Hitachi Metals Group Ltd., a Japan division of Hitachi Ltd., has recently released a newly developed 48 AWG coaxial cable for medical applications. Hitachi Metals supplies a wide range of innovative high-performance materials for a broad range of markets. The new MCX product is currently being offered as part of the Hitachi Cable America Medical Components line of products. The highly unique design uses five fluorocarbon polymer monofilaments as a wrapped insulation layer surrounding the central stranded 7/56 AWG wires. The design is then spiral shielded and secured with an extremely thin polyester tape spiral wrap. This new design, as opposed to the foam fluorocarbon polymer extruded directly over the wire, provides increased insulation coverage and a greater ability to control the end product diameter when working such a fine gauge wire. The final resulting diameter is .008 inches (0.21 mm), which is smaller than a 250 um optical fiber. The company's new product will make medical devices such as ultrasound diagnostic equipment and endoscopes more user-friendly and capable of producing higher-definition diagnostic images. It will also continue to introduce new wire and cable products for medical applications that advance state-of-the-art medical technology even further. Already a 50 AWG design is currently under development. For more information, please contact Hitachi Cable America. About Hitachis Medical Components in America: To learn more about Hitachi Cable America, Inc. and the Performance Cables Systems & Materials Division, please visit our website at http://www.hca.hitachi-cable.com. For information about HTP-MEDS including the HI-TECH MACHINE & FABRICATION product line, visit http://www.htpmeds.com & http://www.machinefabrication.com. Hitachi Cable America, Inc. and HTP-MEDS LLC. are units of Hitachi Metals, Ltd. which is held by Hitachi, Ltd., Japan. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2015 (ended March 31, 2016) totaled 10,034.3 billion yen ($88.8 billion). The Hitachi Group is a global leader in the Social Innovation Business, and it has approximately 335,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation, Hitachi is providing solutions to customers in a broad range of sectors, including Power / Energy, Industry / Distribution / Water, Urban Development, and Finance / Government & Public / Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com. This all-volunteer annual event will celebrate its 16th year of kicking off Pride Month on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at The Godfrey Rooftop I/O located at 127 W. Huron (at LaSalle) in Chicago. VIP reception opens at 5 p.m., and general party begins at 6 p.m. Kinley Preston and Andrew Arden Hayes are chairs of this years event that will benefit Chicago House Trans Works. The events planning committee includes Sandi Robinson @ The Godfrey I/O, Samantha Powell and Christina Pinson of DreamTown Realty and Jeb Davis, Chicago House Advocate Board. The team has been working to plan and organize another fun night of libations and lively conversation. Employees from Fifth Third will be volunteering to check in and welcome guests at registration. Were pleased that this event has such a big following and always sells out, Andrew Hayes said. As a result, we are encouraging everyone to go online to Eventbrite.com and purchase their tickets. As the Internal Vice Chair at Chicago House, it is a great honor to chair this year's special "Sweet 16th" OUT of the Office celebration with Andrew, a renowned, inspiring Chicago advocate in the LGBT community, Kinley said. I hope all of Chicago (LGBT and Allies alike) join us for what will be a fabulous evening of networking and fundraising! The Chicago House Advocate Board, an extension of the agencies community engagement team, is pleased to host the events VIP experience. The Advocate Board is an all-inclusive community of passionate young professionals and activists dedicated to supporting and raising awareness of Chicago House and its portfolio of services. Every year, now 16 of them, this event blossoms and grows. We have had so many wonderful LGBTQ charities and organizations that benefited from this event over the years, like Gay Games Chicago, LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Vital Bridges GroceryLand, The Legacy Project, and more. Im so proud to be chairing this years event with Kinley, an incredible woman, a force of energy and a well-respected community leader, Hayes said. # # # My objective is to use the scholarship to introduce the field of care management to a new generation of nurses and to encourage them to pursue a career working with New Jersey's aging population. CCM alumna and local care manager, Trish Colucci, RN-BC, Founder of Mt. Olives Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC, a geriatric care management practice, has established a scholarship for nursing students in the professional phase of their program. County College of Morriss nursing program prepared me for every professional opportunity that came my way, shared Colucci recently as she reflected on her 32-year nursing career. However, 11 years ago I turned my focus toward working with seniors and their families and discovered a population in great need of caring and dedicated elder care professionals. My objective is to use the scholarship to introduce the field of geriatric care management to a new generation of nurses and to encourage them to pursue a career working with New Jersey's aging population." We are very thankful to Trish Colucci 85 and Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC, said CCM Foundation President Joseph Vitale. This is a wonderful gesture from an alumna and shows her commitment to the excellence of our nurses and their service to the elder care population." Skillful and compassionate care of the elderly has defined Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC since its inception in 2006. Care management services are customized to each clients specific needs and are centered on improving the individuals overall health and quality of life. Services include creating a plan of care for current and future needs, attending medical appointments and setting up weekly medications, and ongoing attention to a client's medical, emotional and social well-being. Trish Colucci regularly consults with family members on the benefits of home care vs facility care and caring for aging loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer's. County College of Morris nursing students who wish to apply for the Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC Small Business Scholarship should visit the school's scholarship website prior to May 31st to apply for the upcoming fall semester. About Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC was founded in response to the escalating number of seniors and their families struggling to navigate crisis situations or simply wanting to plan for long term care. Peaces registered nurses and licensed social workers provide insightful care management for vulnerable adults. Care managers visit clients in central and northern New Jersey on a weekly, monthly, as-needed or emergency basis. For more information contact Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC at 973-919-4202, info(at)peaceagingcare(dot)com or peaceagingcare.com. About Trish Colucci, RN-BC Trish Colucci, RN-BC, is a Certified Case Manager, a Certified Gerontological Nurse and a Certified Lifetime Care Planner. Having been a family caregiver herself, she is very familiar with the stresses and rewards of caring for an aging or disabled loved one. Trish currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Mt. Kemble Home in Morristown and is on the Board of Directors of St. Francis Residential Community in Denville. She is available to address caregiver support groups, medical professionals, attorneys, corporations, and church groups on topics related to aging and caregiving. To learn more or to book a free talk, contact Trish at 973-459-9966 or trish(at)peaceagingcare(dot)com. In response to the recent ransomware cyber-attacks, Estio has taken action by embedding Cyber Security training modules as an integral part in the delivery of all its IT apprenticeship training programmes. Every Estio IT Apprenticeship now includes specialised training in which apprentices learn about cyber threats, hazards, risks, controls, measures and mitigations to protect organisations, systems and people. Commercial Director at Estio, Lee Meadows, said we believe that all IT apprentices should be trained in basic cyber security, and that in light the of the recent event it is crucial to raise the awareness of threats and attacks which are only likely to become even more prevalent in the future. Irrespective of which IT programme your apprentice is working towards, every Estio client will now have the confidence that cyber security is firmly embedded in your training programme. In addition, Estio is offering a FREE one week Microsoft course MTA in Security Fundamentals to any client who appoints an apprentice during May/June 2017. The offer of a free week of cyber security training is for any employee within the organisation who is looking to improve their knowledge and understanding of cyber security. Anyone wishing to discuss cyber security training and apprenticeships further can contact Estio Training on Tel 01133 500 333 or email hello@estio.co.uk. - ENDS Press contact Emma Rushworth, Marketing Manager at Estio Training Tel. 07415 471021 emma.rushworth@estio.co.uk Note to Editor Estio Training is a leading UK provider of IT, Digital and Tech Apprenticeships. Estio is dedicated to introducing new skills and developing future talent. We match talented young people to apprenticeship opportunities to deliver the Next Generation of IT Professionals. Additional info available http://www.estio.co.uk/training/cyber-security/ DATIS HR Cloud, Inc. We are proud to support our clients who work hard all year to make a difference in our communities, said Erik Marsh, CEO of DATIS HR Cloud. DATIS HR Cloud, Inc. launches their 3rd annual campaign to raise awareness and funds for Mental Health First Aid in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. As a Strategic Partner of the National Council for Behavioral Health, DATIS focuses specifically on the Health and Human Services Industry and their clients provide a vast spectrum of services, many of which revolve around mental health. In acknowledgement of Mental Health Awareness month, and in support of their clients, DATIS will be posting images with the hashtag #MHM2017 on their social media accounts. DATIS has agreed to donate $1 to Mental Health First Aid for every like, share and favorite that the images receive. DATIS has also encouraged their employees to get involved in helping to maximize the donation. DATIS employees have a weekly run club to inspire health and wellness in the workplace. For each run club held in the month of May, DATIS will be donating $1 for every mile an employee completes. We are proud to support our clients who work hard all year to make a difference in our communities, said Erik Marsh, CEO of DATIS HR Cloud. It is our purpose and our passion to enable our clients to better achieve their mission and helping to raise awareness for their cause is an important part of that. For information about how to get informed and to join the conversation please visit https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org. About Mental Health First Aid Mental Health for First Aid is operated under a partnership between the National Council for Behavioral Health and the Missouri Department of Mental health. Their goal is to take the fear and hesitation out of starting conversations about mental health and substance use problems by offering 8-hour courses that teach individuals how to identify and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training provides the skills needed to provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing one of these concerns. With the hope of becoming as common as CPR and First Aid training, Mental Health First Aid has successfully trained over 1 million people with more to come in the future. About DATIS DATIS brings together the best in cloud technology, industry expertise, and superior customer service to deliver a holistic Human Capital Management and Payroll Software that manages the entire employee lifecycle in one cloud-based workforce application. Built on a foundation of Position Control, the DATIS software is a completely configurable solution designed to enable Health and Human Services organizations to increase compliance and revenues while reducing expenses and risks. Visit http://www.datis.com to learn more, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Instagram. No less than four ground-breaking Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed on 10 May 2017 by private sector companies and Smart Africa during the TAS 2017 summit. One of these private companies is Global Voice Group (GVG),the MOU was signed on behalf of the company by Mr Laurent Lamothe, chairman of the Board of GVG. Mr Lamothe has been attending the Summit in this capacity. The signing of these MOUs was announced by Dr Hamadoun Toure, the Executive Director for Smart Africa, in his closing address to the Transform Africa Summit (TAS) 2017 on Friday, May 12th. Dr Toure announced these MOUs as part of the bold and innovative commitment to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the African continent through the provision of affordable access to broadband and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The MOU GVG signed with Smart Africa is designed to catapult Africa into a knowledge and information economy, creating employment and improving accountability, efficiency and openness through ICT. This by promoting the introduction of sound regulatory guidelines, processes and advanced technologies in telecommunication. GVG has more than 20 years experience in this field. As seen in the signing of the four MOUs, ICT will be leveraged through partnerships with the private sector. By signing this MOU, GVG joins important organisations, such as the African Union, NEPAD Agency, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), The World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Agencies, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), the African Telecommunications Union and other private sector companies associated with Smart Africa and working to implement its strategies. One of Smart Africas most important strategies is to adopt a harmonised African telecommunications framework the One Africa Network (OAN) which is expected to give African countries the potential to make significant leaps in development through lower intra-region communication costs. The East African Community (EAC) together with some other countries in the region not part of the EACis already well on its way to adopting the one network concept. It is exciting to look forward to a future where the political will displayed by the EAC to connect its people will be replicated right across the African continent. The One Africa Network agreement was signed by six African presidents and will hopefully see amongst other things: broadband across Africa the harmonisation of tariffs on mobile voice calls, text messaging and data transmission the removal of all mobile telephony barriers the reduction in calling rates across the continent the scrapping of mobile roaming charges Speaking about GVGs Memorandum of Understanding with Smart Africa, Lamothe said: Global Voice Group (GVG) is extremely proud to be a partner in Smart Africa and to play an integral role in this ground-breaking initiative. We are delighted to be providing technological and strategic services to Smart Africa, assisting the Alliance to combat bypass fraudGVG has disconnected over 5 billion bypass networksand acting in an advisory capacity to assist One Africa Network to move forward smoothly. GVG has Africa on the brink of a truly connected futurethe beauty about broadband is that it is not constrained by physical borders or distance. One can only imagine the multiple opportunities for growth, inclusion and development that all this development holds After a rigorous and collaborative development process, Revision Military, the world leader in integrated head systems, will showcase the Companys new Special Forces helmet systems at the 2017 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Florida on May 16th. Revisions Special Forces helmet solutions were developed for SOCOMs highly anticipated Family of Tactical Headborne Systems (FTHS) program, a solicitation that is primed to define Special Operations Forces (SOF) head protection for the foreseeable future. True to form, Revision took this generative, ground up process to the extreme, setting ambitious goals for performance and innovation while working on a narrow timeline, said Jonathan Blanshay, CEO, Revision Military. The scope and creative latitude of this program fit well with Revisions capabilities and reputation for sweeping innovation. Revision invested heavily in this projectin time, personnel, and financial capitaland, in parallel, we significantly strengthened our manufacturingadding several million dollars of new equipment and expanding our principal helmet manufacturing facilitymodernizing our operations and increasing capacity to support this program simultaneously. In this process, Revision brought a wide-range of SOF users to the table. Special Forces operators can feel real ownership of the end-product, knowing that their demands were addressed and readdressed continuously. We are genuinely excited to unleash the full scope of our vision for the future of Special Forces head protection. Revisions SOF helmet suite addresses SOCOMs technical challenges head on: optimized weight, protection, and mobility indices and system component integration. Revision has developed two cutting-edge helmet systems: a Carbon Bump System and a Ballistic System with liner system, rails, and Wilcox Mount. Revisions Carbon Bump helmet can be ballistically-enabledadd-on armor appliques up the protection level for ballistic, blunt-force, blast-force, and fragmentation threats. And, the skeletonization of all system components has significantly reduced the overall weight of these helmet systems. Revisions FTHS head systems showcase at SOFIC represents the culmination of an intensive ground-up design and development program, dating back to the beginning of 2016, as well as exhaustive testing, analysis, and trials. Communicating with esteemed Special Forces operators, from across the special ops spectrum, Revision created a head systems suite tailored to the experience and feedback of SOF operators. Revisions FTHS solutions will be available commercially in 2017. The suite of products will be known as the Batlskin Caiman Head System. Additional Caiman Head System accessories and components are planned for later this year and early 2018. ABOUT REVISION Revision develops and delivers purpose-built protective soldier equipment for military use worldwide. The company, which began with eyewear, has expanded to face, head and torso protection as well as energy storage and power management products, continues to develop innovative capabilities for integrated, performance-enhancing soldier systems. To that end, Revision brings together the most advanced expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and finest technical minds. Privately owned and ISO 9001:2008 certified, Revisions operational headquarters is located in Essex Junction, Vermont, USA, with additional offices in Montreal, Canada, The UK, and Luxembourg. For more information, visit http://www.revisionmilitary.com, write media@revisionmilitary.com, or call +1 802-879-7002. eimagine was recently included as one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in Indiana by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, an honor they also received in 2015 and 2016. eimagine placed 8th in the category of small companies, compared to ranking 19th last year. The statewide survey and identification process is designed to recognize and honor businesses that strive to benefit the economic health of Indiana through providing an outstanding place of work for their employees. The first part of the process was worth 25% of the total evaluation and included employer reports and comprehensive employee surveys. 75% of the total evaluation consisted of in-depth employee surveys to measure employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Emily Lefebvre, Vice President of People Operations at eimagine shares, We are honored to be recognized as one of Indianas Best Places to Work for the third consecutive year. When we heard eimagine announced as #8 in the tremendous group of nominees, we were humbled and proud. In our 18 years of existence, the phenomenal hard work and dedication of our team has ensured the success of our organization. eimagine was recognized and honored at the Best Places to Work in Indiana Awards Dinner coordinated by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, May 2nd. CEO and Founder of eimagine, Joel Russell credits the people. Our successes can be attributed to the team we have. Our culture is built by the employees and indirectly manifests into client success stories through the encouragement of collaboration, innovation, and accountability." About eimagine: Founded in 1998, eimagine is a business and technology consulting company that has a passion for helping clients refine, enhance, and automate their business. eimagine helps businesses streamline their operations and run more efficiently while generating increased profitability. eimagines comprehensive approach is based on the companys Engagement Drives Outcomes core value the belief that solutions begin with understanding people and processes, then leveraging technology as a tool to overcome challenges in creative and innovative ways. Visit http://www.eimagine.com for more information. For more information on the Best Places to Work program, visit http://www.BestPlacestoWorkIN.com. Celebrations of the MeckDec will take place on Friday, May 19, at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets in uptown Charlotte and on Saturday, May 20, at The Charlotte Museum of History. MeckDec personifies the spirit of Mecklenburg County to this day." This weekend, Charlotte will celebrate the 242nd anniversary of what many historians say was Americas original declaration of independence the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence or MeckDec, as its known locally. The May 20th Society and The Charlotte Museum of History will host free events to celebrate Charlottes visionary history and the role of its people in pioneering the American ideal of liberty. MeckDec personifies the spirit of Mecklenburg County to this day. We were the first community to say we were free and independent and lead the country by our example. Its the original Charlotte story, and everyone here should know and celebrate it, said Scott Syfert, author of the book The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775. Mecklenburgers valued the English tradition of liberty and the right to self-government that had been established by colonial assemblies for many years, said Kay Peninger, president and CEO of The Charlotte Museum of History. When Great Britain began to ignore these rights and liberties, the colonists knew they could lose them forever if they allowed a new precedent to take root. Although many were happy and prosperous as British subjects, this was a line they were not willing to cross. Events on May 19 and May 20 The following events mark the 242nd anniversary of May 20, 1775, the date of the signing of the MeckDec. They are organized by The Charlotte Museum of History and The May 20th Society, with support from the Arts & Science Council and Charlotte Center City Partners. Friday, May 19 at noon at Independence Square, corner of Trade and Tryon streets: The May 20th Societys annual commemoration of MeckDec signing will include remarks by Mayor Jennifer Roberts; military and Colonial re-enactors; historical readings; revolutionary segwalloons; and cannon firing Past MeckDec celebrations have included former presidents (Taft, Wilson, Eisenhower and Ford), military generals, a first lady and countless dignitaries. Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. 2 p.m. at The Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Dr.: The Charlotte Museum of History will host a free Family Fun Day to celebrate the MeckDec and Resolves and the spirit of liberty they embodied. The event is free and open to the public. The celebration includes a presentation by Museum president and CEO, Kay Peninger, titled Securing the Blessings of Liberty; drum circles by Drums4Life, poetry by Queen Isis and a live art performance by Tafo Feimster; kids crafts, such as making a MeckDec book and creating animals of the Backcountry; and a visit by costumed interpreters dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Polk, known as the founder of Charlotte. About the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence The history of the MeckDec began soon after news of the battles of Lexington and Concord arrived in Charlotte Town (present-day Charlotte). The following day, on May 20, 1775, prominent civic leaders adopted The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (MeckDec) possibly the first declaration of independence in America. The MeckDec itself is steeped in mystery and controversy. There are no records of its publication before 1819, and many historians doubt it ever existed. But it is memorialized on North Carolinas state flag and its state seal, where the date May 20, 1775, appears. There is no doubt about the existence of the MeckDecs companion document, the Mecklenburg Resolves. A committee of local militia members adopted these resolves, or resolutions, and signed them on May 31, 1775. They were published in their entirety less than a month later in The South Carolina Gazette. They declared all royal authority suspended and laid out a plan for how Mecklenburg County would govern itself. About The May 20th Society The Society promotes Charlottes rich history of being the first American colony to declare independence from Great Britain. On May 20, 1775, more than two dozen colonial civic leaders from Mecklenburg County approved and unanimously adopted the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. In honor of this historic occasion, The May 20th Society hosts several ceremonial events including live re-enactments, a speaker series featuring renowned historians, and annual noon commemoration in Uptown. For more information, visit http://www.May20thSociety.org. About The Charlotte Museum of History The Charlotte Museum of History engages a broad public audience in the history of the Charlotte region through the stories of its people, places and events in order to promote dialogue and historical perspective. The Museum is the steward of the Hezekiah Alexander House (ca. 1774) and home site, a National Register of Historic Places site and the oldest existing home in Mecklenburg Country. Hezekiah Alexander was a leader in the years that led to the American Revolution and served on the committee that drafted North Carolinas 1776 constitution and bill of rights. Historic Charlotte and The Charlotte Museum of History joined forces in January 2016, with a shared mission of preserving Charlottes history. For more information, visit charlottemuseum.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@CLThistory). # # # This latest approval from the Medical Council of India is another great vote of confidence for us and our students, but more importantly, its another opportunity for Trinity and its graduates to elevate the quality and quantity of care around the world. The Medical Council of India is the governing body for medical schools and their graduates access to the licensure process to practice medicine in India. Trinitys recognition now provides the nations healthcare system another qualified, proven academic path to grow its available licensed physicians. This latest approval of Trinitys, after last years US Department of Educations NCFMEA recognition of St. Vincents CAAM-HP accreditation, is another in a long list of testaments to the schools quality and efficacy. It also aligns with one of Trinitys stated goals, To improve access to scientifically-based quality health care and enhance the health status of the residents of the communities served by our graduates. India has a severe shortage of physicians, and the nations goal is to achieve a ratio of 1:100,000 people. (For context, the United States current in shortage ratio is 2.41 physicians for every 1,000 people.) To practice back home after studying abroad, Indian students must obtain eligibility certification, which allows the student to take physician screening tests in India, an equivalent to the USMLE step exams. Trinitys approval by the MCI allows Indian students to attend Trinity and return home, confidently sitting for that exam. Trinitys president, Steven S. Wilson, added, Even with our focus on the US and Canada, were an international school with an international perspective. Were dedicated to not just the success of our individual students, but in moving the needle on global healthcare however we can. He continued, This latest approval from the Medical Council of India is another great vote of confidence for us and our students, but more importantly, its another opportunity for Trinity and its graduates to elevate the quality and quantity of care around the world. About Trinity School of Medicine Trinity School of Medicine is a fully accredited International medical school focused on helping students achieve their goals of becoming licensed physicians in the U.S., Canada, and around the world. Trinity is known for its early clinical experience, internally supportive and externally philanthropic campus culture, and a marked dedication to the study of excellence in medical education. To find out more, visit http://www.trinityschoolofmedicine.org/ We make it our business to go above and beyond for our clients whether its a single or complex/multi-party litigation. We look forward to building on this foundation during the next page of the DALCO era. April 12, 2017, marked the silver anniversary for DALCO, an original reporting firm in Metropolitan New York under independent ownership. Founded by Debra A. Levinson in 1992, a platform for quality and professionalism was established becoming synonymous with the DALCO name. In her role on the board of directors for the New York State Court Reporters Association, Debra is lobbying to require mandatory certification for freelance reporters. DALCO staff is meanwhile encouraged to voluntarily certify. Over the last decade, DALCO has been under the leadership of partner and company president, Michael E. Levinson. Ensuring continuity of the highest standards, his implementation of advancements in litigation support has evolved the DALCO legacy and sustained its industry reputation. With offices in White Plains, Manhattan, and The Bronx, DALCO provides realtime reporting and legal video, locally and remotely. Their broad coverage is further expanded through an exclusive partnership in the National Network of Reporting Companies. Go Beyond the Glass. Emotive Digital has launched an exciting new line of interactive transparent refrigerators with the installation of the first wave of units in multiple locations around New York. These interactive refrigerators create an advertising network which will revolutionize the way we market to customers. The first line of interactive transparent display refrigerators have been installed at key retailers around New York City. These locations include Key Food, Super Fresh, Fine Fare and C-Town Supermarkets. Each store will now feature Emotive Digitals unique platform, creating an enhanced experience for customers at these locations. Traditional marketing places a heavy reliance on print, television, and broadcast advertising, which is usually received by customers either in their homes or while in transit. However, research shows that most purchasing decisions (92%) are made in store and on impulse. Until recently, this left a large gap between marketing effort and actual purchase. Emotive Digital, however, aims to remedy that. Their new technology places the moment of influence right there in store, via the companys interactive transparent refrigerator network. Through transparent LCD and LED technology, Emotive Digital creates an engaging experience for customers at a critical point; the point of sale. The platforms transparent screens engage customers on every level. In addition to stunning graphics and imagery, the refrigerators will also use sound and touch. Customers will be able to engage with the refrigerators in order to find more information. However, the truly unique quality about these platforms are their ability to network and connect through social media. This takes marketing to a new level of engagement. Emotive Digitals interactive refrigerators will use facial recognition software in conjunction with various sensors in order to deliver a unique multi-sensory and customized advertising experience. Data Driven PoS Marketing Advertising and marketing has changed dramatically in recent years. The "one size fits all" approach is gone, and in its place is intelligent communication of marketing messages to specific consumer groups. Increasingly, savvy marketers have been able to capitalize on data-driven advertising, using the internet both as a platform for advertising placement, and as a data resource. However, there remains a gap between the instance of customer engagement and point of sale. Emotive Digital is committed to closing that gap, and ushering in a new era of data driven, point of sale marketing. With Emotive Digitals new line of interactive transparent refrigerators, customized advertising is delivered at the point of sale. In this sense, advertising trends have transitioned from globalization to personalization. As the customer interacts with these new refrigerators, they are provided with relevant content and targeted material designed specifically for each unique individual. Through this approach, Emotive Digital is able to help brands tell their story more effectively. Advertising campaigns will become targeted and tailored to each user, resulting in increase in sales. Past case studies and field test trials indicated that Emotive Digitals devices were able to yield three digit sales increases. Recently, Emotive Digital collaborated with PepsiCo on their campaign during Super Bowl 50. During the course of this campaign, Emotive Digitals interactive transparent display refrigerators were able to produce a significant sales increase. This indicates that the new technology is able to yield notable results even for well established brands and product lines. Emotive Digital is a Silicon Valley based startup company. The company focuses on retail advertising, especially at the point of sale. They use innovative and diverse technology to enhance customer experience and influence purchasing decisions, particularly those too often neglected impulse decisions. For more information, contact Emotive Digital at: 3123 Independence Drive Livermore, CA 94551 Or call: 408.568.0945 Their website can be found at http://www.emotivev.com Deelat Opens in Australia! The new Australian website, Deelat.com.au, features more than 30,000 private-label products in categories like solar powered outdoor lighting, HVAC, electrical, fasteners, and medical. With thousands of products in a wide range of categories and an easy-to-navigate website, Deelat Industrial Australia is changing the way contractors, universities, hospitals, schools and maintenance companies buy industrial products. Launched in 2014, Deelat Industrial continues to grow and expand its inventory of high-quality Solar Powered Lights and Building Materials, and Deelats state-of-the-art website streamlines shopping and ordering. Deelat Industrial has sales offices and logistical warehouses in Calgary (Canada), Los Angeles (USA), Miami (USA), and Sydney (Australia). The new Australian website, Deelat.com.au, features more than 30,000 private-label products in categories like solar powered outdoor lighting, HVAC, electrical, fasteners, and medical. Our feature products include: Solar Powered LED Security Light 1-Phase 110V Explosion Proof Portable Ventilator Motorized Ball Valces Air Rivet/Pneumatic Power Tools PVC Flexible Ducts Plus, Deelat Industrial Australia has made ordering building supplies and industrial products easier. Using Deelat, companies can search for, purchase and track orders in one-click. We wanted to make buying easier for our customers, and offer a better, more personal level of service said Casper Zheng, Deelat Industrials Business Development Manager. Finding the correct product quickly will save you time and money, and that is our goal. As an emerging industrial supplier, Deelat is also changing the customer experience. Deelat guarantees excellent, on-call customer service; convenient, user-friendly ordering and on-time shipping. Deelat customers can expect: Intuitive Ordering - Deelats state-of-the-art website is designed to simplify ordering. First, the sites intuitive search function helps users find products based on preferences. Plus, the site offers useful order management tools for corporate clients and one-click order tracking. Fast Shipping - Traditionally, shipping industrial products has been a slow and expensive process. Deelat eliminates this problem by providing customers accurate estimates for shipping time and costs, which are based on distance, expediency and weight. All products ship out of their Sydney based warehouse, ensuring overnight delivery to many post codes. Excellent Customer Service - Deelat Australia guarantees an unparalleled customer experience. Communication is responsive with an on-call staff of customer service representatives. Your questions will answered quickly and honestly. Customers are invited to try the 24/7 around the clock customer service provided on the websites Instant Chat. Privacy and Security - Deelat.com features cutting-edge 256-bit SSL encryption and security technology. Customers are guaranteed security and privacy for their data when ordering from Deelat.com.au. Deelat Industrial Australia will be bringing new products and a variety of choices to the Australian consumer. They truly offer a product for every project. The event will open with Professor Ahmet Selamet, the Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Ohio State University. SAE 2017 Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition today announced its keynote speakers for the June 12-15 event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On Tuesday, June 13, the event will open with Professor Ahmet Selamet, the Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Ohio State University discussing Flow Instabilities: From Turbochargers to Wind Instruments. Flow instabilities in the breathing system of engines and the resulting noise are discussed in connection with flow separation and surge in turbochargers, and flow-acoustic coupling in induction systems. The impact of incidence angle at the turbocharger compressor inducer plane is illustrated both in terms of boosting and acoustic performance. Variety of time-resolved measurements for internal pressure, velocity, and temperature reveals the character of instabilities and their consequences. These measurements are complemented by videos from selected experimental observations and animations from pertinent computational predictions. The approach of reproducing the specific engine physics of interest on bench top experimental facilities is particularly emphasized in gaining further insight into the fundamental mechanisms leading to noise as well as in developing effective remedies. Prof. Ahmet Selamet received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from University of Michigan in 1989. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering of The Ohio State University in 1996, where he was promoted to Professor in 2001. From 2012 to 2016, he also served as the elected Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The Ohio State University. Selamets research centers around nonlinear wave dynamics and acoustics, noise control, combustion, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer as applied primarily to internal combustion engines. Over the past three decades, he has conducted extensive analytical, computational, and experimental work to advance the fundamental understanding of wave dynamics and acoustics in engine breathing systems (induction/in-cylinder/exhaust), including the development and validation of pertinent submodels in engine simulations to improve the performance and noise predictions. Selamet recently has focused his attention on turbocharger acoustics and autoignition in combustion chambers. He has disseminated the research findings in more 215 articles in journals/proceedings and co-authored a book on Heat Transfer. On Wednesday, June 14, Gabriella Cerrato, the Manager of Global Engineering Services at Bruel & Kjaer will give the luncheon keynote speech. She will discuss "Changes and Trends in Noise and Vibration Engineering: The Consultants Experience." In her remarks, Gabriella Cerrato will focus on the changes that she has witnessed in the industry and address current trends. She will provide a personal perspective on changes in consumers expectations and in NVH technology, along with her assessment of how cultural, geographical, and gender factors have shaped her experience as a noise and vibration consultant. Gabriella Cerrato has a Doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the University of Torino, Italy. She has worked in the noise and vibration control field for more than 25 years, with positions ranging from Acoustic Systems Engineer and Manager at FIAT in Italy (Active Noise and Vibration Group) to Technical Director of the MTS Systems consulting business unit in Detroit. Her areas of expertise are diagnostics of noise and vibration concerns, sound and vibration quality measurement and target setting, testing for correlation of CAE models, and synthesis/prediction of contributions to products noise and vibration performance. Cerrato co-founded Sound Answers in 2005 and has led the Sound Answers team in several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. She teaches several seminars and training classes a year and has co-authored papers for various professional conferences and magazines. The SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition is the premier technical event dedicated to mobility noise, vibration and harshness. Held biennially, this conference serves as a forum for leading automotive, commercial vehicle, and aerospace professionals to share the latest technologies surrounding NVH, and sound quality. The following topics related to vehicle design, engineering and testing will be the focus of the event: Engine/Powertrain/Drivetrain Heavy Vehicle and Vehicle Exterior Numerical Methods NVH Measurement Passive and Active NVH Control Standards, Process and Perspectives Vehicle Subsystem NVH Commercial and Specialty Vehicles For more information about the event, the conference program, or to register, please visit http://www.sae.org/nvc. To request media credentials, email pr(at)sae(dot)org or call 1-724-772-8522. SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting more than 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including programs like A World in Motion and the Collegiate Design Series. http://www.sae.org LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions She focuses on outcomes, not activity, so the company as a whole has a very good sense on the objectives of the entire enterprise and about their part in achieving them. TULSA, OK: Wendy Buxton, President of LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions, honored by The Journal Record as one of Oklahomas Most Admired CEOs of 2017. The honorees were selected by a panel of business and community leaders and are profiled in the Oklahomas Most Admired CEOs magazine inserted in The Journal Record. In an event held in April, the publication recognized and celebrated the amazing leadership in Oklahomas business and nonprofit communities. These individuals exemplify the characteristics of integrity, vision and commitment to community that are the very traits that make Oklahoma so special. LynnCo founder Lynn C. Fritz is pleased with Ms. Buxtons performance. She has a relentless work ethic that has been adopted by her management team, said Fritz, who continues to lead the boards executive oversight of the company. She focuses on outcomes, not activity, so the company as a whole has a very good sense on the objectives of the entire enterprise and about their part in achieving them. Ms. Buxton was also recognized as a Top CEO by The Journal Record in 2013. Ms. Buxton says, I am truly honored to be included among the Top CEOs of Oklahoma. Working at LynnCo is a profound opportunity that many people never have. I am excited to lead a company in building a service portfolio that would challenge the industrys traditional boundaries. About The Journal Record: Since 1903, The Journal Record Publishing Co. has been a multifaceted media company that specializes in business, legislative and legal-related information sources. In addition, we produce many specialty industry-related publications and host several statewide events. For more information, visit http://www.thejournalrecord.com About LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions: LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions is a firm that enhances performance of complex supply chains. We have designed our company to serve the success of key executives who are tasked with reforming and growing companies. These companies typically have supply chain vulnerabilities around service and cost that require a consultative approach and tailor-designed solutions. We have a long heritage of providing value-creation for the top management of manufacturers and distributors in the Automotive, Aerospace, Industrial, and Oil & Gas sectors as well as Private Equity firms that have portfolio companies in the midmarket range. For more information about LynnCos expertise, visit http://www.lynnco-scs.com/logical-logistics. ### Print Market Specialist Theresa Vanna Our recent growth and potential in the graphics and printing market segments demand that we have someone with Theresas vast background leading our efforts and supporting our customers. Primex Plastics Corporation, the leader in custom extruded plastic sheet and roll products for thermoforming, fabrication and printing, is pleased to announce the appointment of Theresa M. Vanna to the new position of Print Market Specialist. Vanna has over 30 years of printing industry experience in both flexible and rigid plastic sheet and films. Since 1987 she has served the graphic arts industry as a resource for printable materials for point of purchase, point of sale and in-store environment applications. Vanna serves on the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership. She will report to Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tim Schultz and be based in the Chicago area. According to Schultz, Primex has been supplying the graphics market for many years but we havent had a full-time resource dedicated to it. Our recent growth and potential in this market segment demands that we have someone with Theresas vast background leading our efforts and supporting our customers. Vanna has served in management capacities at several other suppliers of flexible and rigid printable plastics. Her most recent position was as a business director at Transilwrap Company where she was responsible for the creation and expansion of markets for printable media. Vanna, through her vast network in the graphics arts industry, will be responsible for Primexs expanded presence in this industry and developing new market opportunities for its lines of printable materials including polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, Cor-x twin-wall extrusions and Bubble-X, a high-impact, durable polypropylene board. In joining Primex, Vanna stated, I look forward to drawing on my background and skills to advance Primexs position in the graphics industry. Its a great time to join the company as they leverage their One Company philosophy in partnership with Primex Design & Fabrication and Primex Color, Compounding & Additives to better serve their customers. About Primex Plastics Corporation Primex Plastics is the largest extruder of custom polystyrene sheet in the industry, ranging from monolayer sheet to tri-layer co-extrusion. Primex also extrudes many polyethylene resins, polypropylene, ABS, TPOs, TPEs and PETG. Primex is a subsidiary of ICC Industries Inc. In addition to its extrusion business, Primex is the parent company of Primex Design & Fabrication and Primex Color, Compounding & Additives. For more information visit http://www.primexplastics.com. Chris Calomino I'm thrilled to be working with RE/MAX, the number-one brand in real estate. RE/MAX Northern Illinois, the real estate leader, recently announced that Chris Calomino has joined the company as Marketing Communications Manager. Calomino, 37, will be responsible for conceiving and executing marketing strategies and tactics that drive growth. In addition, he will help the overall brand development and messaging in the marketplace. RE/MAX Northern Illinois is looking to expand its technology and marketing efforts and provide a stronger presence across the northern Illinois region. Im excited to have Chris join the RE/MAX team, said Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director. His integrated marketing experience and skill set around modern, scalable marketing methods will allow us to capitalize on the strength of the RE/MAX brand as we continue to innovate and grow. Calomino, who now lives in Crystal Lake, Ill., brings to RE/MAX a diverse marketing background, most recently from the printing and packaging industry where he served as marketing communications director for ACTEGA Coatings and Sealants. In that role, he was responsible for developing and executing all corporate marketing efforts, including global brand awareness and event marketing. He has over 10 years of experience in digital and print product management and looks forward to integrating both mediums to appeal to real estates wide audience. Im thrilled to be working with RE/MAX, the number-one brand in real estate and to be affiliated with an organization and an industry that are known for the strength of their entrepreneurial spirit, Calomino said. He holds a bachelors degree in marketing from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pa., and a masters degree in business management from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. RE/MAX agents consistently rank among the most productive in the industry. In 2016, RE/MAX Northern Illinois agents averaged 18 transaction sides. RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 and is continually growing. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 103 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. Its mobile real estate app, available for download at http://www.illinoisproperty.com, provides comprehensive information about residential and commercial property for sale in the region. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 110,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations. #### EDITORS NOTE: RE/MAX is a registered trademark. Please spell in all caps. Thank you. This release is posted at blog.illinoisproperty.com. Purple Heart Wines logo Purple Heart Wines is delighted to announce John Moynier will assume the role of head winemaker at Purple Heart Wines effective immediately. After working with C. Mondavi and Family for over 30 years and serving in the military for four, John was a natural choice to lead the brand. Before becoming a winemaker, Moynier served in the military during the Vietnam War from 1968-1972. For John, joining the military seemed like the most natural career path as his father was a retired Air Force Colonel and he dreamed of following in his fathers footsteps. At the start of the Vietnam War, John was enrolled in college and decided to put his education on hold to serve his country. Upon his return he began taking courses at U.C. Davis to become a winemaker, and obtained a BS in Fermentation Science in 1975. Soon after graduation from U.C. Davis, John joined C. Mondavi and Family in 1985, and has been the winemaker there ever since. The opportunity to lead Purple Heart Wines, a brand that not only embodies the excellence of C. Mondavi & Family, but is also committed to our nations bravest, is priceless for John. Working with a brand that combines my passions for winemaking and military service is the perfect finale to a long career in winemaking in Napa. Moyniers enthusiasm for the brand is matched by the excitement of the team at Purple Heart Wines and C. Mondavi & Family. Third-generation leader Marc Mondavi commented, We are thrilled to name John Moynier the Head Winemaker of Purple Heart Wines. His dedication to his craft has been evident in every bottle of wine he has made with us for the past 32 years. Since the launch in March 2016, Purple Heart Wines has donated $30,000 to the Purple Heart Foundation. Donations to the Purple Heart Foundation have been used for a variety of services that supporting U.S. military servicemen and women and their families. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Purple Heart Wines: Purple Heart Wines launched its proprietary label, Purple Heart, in 2016 created to honor the determination, bravery and commitment of Americas military heroes. Moved by its namesake, it is this noble medal that lead to the creation of the Purple Heart wine a worthy tribute to the nations servicemen and women. Produced in the United States greatest wine region California. It is an uncompromising wine crafted under the close stewardship of C. Mondavi & Family, whose patriarch, Peter Mondavi Sr., was a proud veteran of World War II. Purple Heart serves as a testament to the integrity and virtue of the Purple Heart Foundation, and aims to help further the organizations cause through both awareness and fundraising. To support these efforts, an annual donation will be given to the Purple Heart Foundation. Learn more about Purple Heart Wines at purpleheartwines.com. Purple Heart Foundation and the Military Order of the Purple Heart: The Purple Heart is a congressional military decoration, awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy. Founded in 1958, the Military Order of the Purple Heart is a congressionally chartered veterans organization, dedicated to assisting the needs of U.S. military servicemen and women and their families. More information is available at purpleheartfoundation.org. The Simon Foundation for Continences has a new online community that will provide valuable support and information to people living with incontinence. It will do this by helping them to learn how to manage their incontinence and improve their quality of life through shared knowledge and support received within the online community. This site will also be of great value to those who have a friend or loved one with incontinence, or for those who are caregivers (at home or in a licensed facility). The Simon Foundation for Continence seeks to bring the topic of incontinence out into the open, remove the stigma surrounding incontinence, and provide help and hope to people with incontinence, their families and the health professionals who provide their care. This online community is a natural extension of the Foundation's mission. The online community provides The Simon Foundation for Continence with an online space for people with incontinence to visit and access support and information from others with the same condition, along with expertise from the Foundation. It will drive better health outcomes for people living with incontinence. By coming together online, people will also benefit from HealthUnlocked technology, which makes tailored health related recommendations, directs people to useful information, connects them with others like them, and highlights research activities, such as clinical trials, that may be of interest. According to Elizabeth LaGro, VP of Communications and Education Services with The Simon Foundation for Continence: The online support community will offer people a safe space to interact with others, potentially changing their lives for the better. This will be a place where you can come to talk anonymously about the health issues affecting you - whether you have urinary or bowel incontinence or are a caregiver for someone with these conditions. Because of the stigma associated with incontinence, there are currently very few in-person support groups for people living with incontinence. We believe this online service provides a valuable and a much needed resource for many people. Chief Medical Officer of HealthUnlocked, Matt Jameson Evans, states: Support and information are one of the largest factors in people managing their own health. Our communities provide vital support, allowing people who are experiencing similar health issues to ask questions and receive information. This new community has the opportunity to transform and dramatically improve the lives of many people. The Simon Foundation for Continence invites you to visit this new resource at: healthunlocked.com/simonfoundationforcontinence About the Simon Foundation for Continence. The Simon Foundation for Continence (simonfoundation.org), located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and is a 501(c)(3). The Simon Foundation for Continence is the worlds oldest patient-led organization devoted exclusively to incontinence, having been founded in 1982. The Foundations mission is supported by an Advisory Board of professionals, many of whom have dedicated their careers to improving the clinical treatment of incontinence and advancing medical science through bladder and bowel research. About HealthUnlocked HealthUnlocked is the largest social network dedicated to health in the world. It has over 600 health-specific communities, 3.5 million monthly users, and its own health-specific Artificial Intelligence. It connects patients with conditions like arthritis or cancer to solve day to day challenges together. Clinicians, the UK National Health Service (including NHS Choices), insurers and industry can use HealthUnlocked to link up with patients safely online. It is changing how healthcare can be delivered, developed and managed. Safety Culture 2017 Companies are now starting to recognize just how critical safety culture isnot only for reducing high-risk behaviors but also for lowering accident rates, turnover, and absenteeism. Independent research shows that developing a strong safety culture has the single greatest impact on accident reduction of any process. With this statistic in mind, leading information publisher BLRBusiness & Legal Resources will host its second annual Safety Culture conference, outlining a practical action plan to achieve positive safety outcomes through behavior-based, employee-driven programs. At this 2-day recertification event, attendees will learn how to: Align management and supervisors by establishing a shared vision of safety and health objectives. Implement processes that create more accountability for safety compliance. Evaluate and fine-tune incentives and disciplinary systems to ensure maximum effectiveness. Define safety responsibilities across an organization. Restructure an organizations safety committee model to allow it to function at peak performance. Optimize reporting, hazard tracking, and other measurement metrics. Implement proven encouragement models to engage workers in safety training. Build essential leadership skills. Companies are now starting to recognize just how critical safety culture isnot only for reducing high-risk behaviors but also for lowering accident rates, turnover, and absenteeism, as well as boosting morale, says Amanda Czepiel, JD, senior managing editor of EHS at BLR. Weve crafted an agenda that looks at how real companies have achieved success in this area and what others can glean from their programs and from OSHA recommendations. The Safety Culture 2017 speaker panel comprises experts from a range of industries and proficiencies to appeal to a diverse audience. Notable presenters include TalentMap Senior Vice President of Employee Engagement Norm Baillie-David, MBA, CMRP; Randstad North America Senior Vice President of Risk Management and Insurance Corey Berghoefer; safety BUILT-IN CEO Eric Svendsen, PhD; and Cajun Constructors Division Safety Manager Dustin Hickey, CSP, ASP. The event will kick off with an entertaining and innovative keynote on getting your workforce to say yes to safety, led by Graham Neil and Donovan Workun of Power of Yes. The event is sponsored by SafeStart. The agenda includes HR and safety-accredited sessions on: Practical Steps for Getting Buy-In: Creating an Activities Infrastructure to Influence Safety Culture Success Safety Orientation and Onboarding: 3 Steps for Instilling Cultural Conformity from the Get-Go and Reinforcing Expectations Along the Way Safety Culture Straight Talk: Strategic Communication Tools for Getting Your Messaging to Stick Supercharging Your Safety Committee: How to Develop Powerful Advocates of Safety and Compliance Initiatives Temporary Work, Not Temporary Safety Culture: How Host Employers Can Overcome the Challenges of Integrating and Engaging Contractors and Freelancers And more The full agenda and additional information can be seen at SafetyCulture.BLR.com. Safety Culture 2017 will be held in the exciting city of Austin, Texas, at the Marriott Austin Downtown Convention Center. _________________________________________________ About Business & Legal Resources BLRBusiness & Legal Resources helps U.S. businesses simplify compliance with state and federal legal requirements, and we help them become more successful. We do this by offering authoritative content and practical, easy-to-use tools. Through our expert in-house editors and exclusive attorney network, we provide the most comprehensive, reliable state-specific information availableand we do it in all 50 states. Our award-winning information productsincluding training programs, events, Web portals, reports, and subscription servicesgive businesses of all sizes and industries the best tools available at affordable prices. Visit BLR.com or call 800-727-5257. ### Were very excited to integrate Updox Pharmacy Connect into STRAND. Its a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution that will add a lot of value for our customers and their patients. Updox, the industry leader for care coordination and healthcare connectivity solutions, was selected by Creative Pharmacist, the industry leader in helping community pharmacies expand the clinical services they provide to their chronically ill patients, to integrate the Updox Pharmacy Connect solution into its STRAND clinical intervention platform. Updox solutions provide Creative Pharmacist customers with tools to engage patients, increase pharmacy revenue and securely connect with physicians and other members of the care team Todays healthcare market is full of challenges and opportunities for pharmacists. Their role is expanding quickly. Any tools or solutions that help them operate more efficiently are imperative for their success," said David Pope, PharmD, CDE, chief of innovation and co-founder, Creative Pharmacist. Were very excited to integrate Updox Pharmacy Connect into STRAND. Its a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution that will add a lot of value for our customers and their patients. Launched in 2016, Updox Pharmacy Connect is a web-based, HIPAA-compliant care coordination suite that helps pharmacists securely exchange full clinical records with physicians, maximize reimbursements and engage patients. Through Pharmacy Connect, pharmacists join the Updox Direct Network that includes more than 1.1M other vetted healthcare providers, to support interaction and information exchange for enhanced care coordination. With Updox, all pharmacy communications faxes, messages, emails, referrals, cancels, confirmations, forms and more are consolidated into a universal inbox for easy routing or response, which can be done either in or outside of the pharmacy. Creative Pharmacist is a leader in helping pharmacies transition to providing clinical services. Were pleased to partner with such a great company with a proven track record in this area. Together, we can provide the most comprehensive suite of solutions that allow pharmacies to thrive, said Michael Morgan, chief executive officer, Updox. As healthcare moves to value-based care, pharmacists must have secure communications channels to exchange information with physicians, health partners and patients, and thats what Updox offers. About Updox Where Healthcare Connects! Updox is the industry leading healthcare care coordination solution. Named #571 on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies, Updox is integrated with more than 70 electronic health records (EHR) and serves more than 250,000 users and 60 million patients. Through an extensive Direct messaging network and platform of apps, Updox connects various healthcare providers, including physicians, patients, payers, pharmacies, labs and healthcare partners. Once part of the Updox network, users or partners can access a full suite of applications including secure messaging, patient portal, appointment scheduling & reminders, credit card payments, and health alerts, all with the goal of driving improved outcomes through more efficient communications and better care coordination. Connect with Updox at http://www.updox.com. About Creative Pharmacist Co-founded by a community pharmacist and a technology expert in 2008, Creative Pharmacist is the U.S. market leader in helping pharmacists launch clinical services within their community. They support hundreds of community pharmacists in engaging patients and improving outcomes through their STRAND clinical intervention platform. Their mission is to transform the community pharmacy marketplace by inspiring and empowering pharmacists to engage clinical pharmacy practice to improve both the health of their business and the health of their patients. For more information, please visit http://www.creativepharmacist.com. SHERBER+RAD is the singular destination that addresses aesthetic needs from start to finish and is expert in the "Washington aesthetic" of looking subtly refreshed. As technology has updated with high-definition film becoming the new standard and social media filters giving individuals the power to alter their appearance on their smartphones, skincare, lasers, injectables, surgical techniques, and makeup formulations have evolved to meet the demands. Board certified dermatologist Dr. Noelle Sherber spoke on May 8th to a group of regional press about new technologies in skincare and laser aimed at smoothing the skin since HD film emphasizes texture on the skin by accentuating light and shadow. Seeing that blurring the skin into uniformity is a popular social media filter effect, skincare companies have developed moisturizers with similar blurring properties that lend themselves to on-camera and real life wear by filling in pores and fine lines. Dr. Sherber provided a live demonstration of Solta's Permea laser, which is clinically proven to diminish pore size over time through stimulating collagen production. This is a very popular procedure with her patients who appear on camera since it results in only a few hours of post-procedural pinkness. Dr. Sherber applied La Mer The Concentrate post-treatment to calm the skin. She then discussed the newest FDA-approved injectable dermal filler, Allergan's Juvederm Vollure XC. This filler incorporates Vycross technology which makes it soft and flexible, making it undetectable in HD. Dr. Sherber injects fillers in very small quantities to bounce light from areas of shadow to give the appearance of soft lighting even in harsh light, an effect that some achieve with their own social media filters. Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Ariel Rad spoke to the press about his technique of small-volume fat grafting to achieve a permanent result as can be achieved temporarily with injectable dermal fillers. Fat grafting can also be combined with mini-lifts for those who wish to improve the contour of areas such as the undereye or jawline. Now that apps such as Facetune enable contour correction of the face on a smartphone, Dr. Rad sees in consultation patients who have been editing their photos to trim in the contour of their neck or smooth their undereyes, and this can be an indication that a mini-lift is the procedure best suited to their expectations. A mini-lift of the neck is a particularly popular procedure in his DC practice and this may relate to a strong jawline being associated with a powerful appearance; an observational study of Fortune 500 CEOs found that 90% had a strong chin, and this feature can get lost if the jawline loses definition with age. Dr. Rad counts among his patients many men in the public eye and has found this has only increased in recent years as men have come to understand that plastic surgery procedures can confer a natural-looking result with quick recovery. Makeup artist in residence Enrique Valentino demonstrated how to achieve high-definition-ready makeup, drawing on over a decade of experience with the beauty world's top brands. Enrique explained that HD cameras pick up any product texture or harsh lines of contour on the skin and presented camera-ready techniques with the newest formulations from TOM FORD Beauty, for which SHERBER+RAD is the only retailer in downtown DC. To minimize texture, he emphasized that the focus must be on achieving an immaculate complexion by perfectly blending translucent layers of minimal product to accentuate the facial architecture. Enrique also shared techniques such as "tightlining" with water resistant eyeliner between the roots of the eyelashes to give the illusion of thicker lashes, and applying a fiber brow gel after brow pencil to bring the texture of the brow hairs to the forefront for a natural look on camera. Guests departed with two of the products that he used in the demonstration so that they could try the techniques at home: La Mer The Perfecting Treatment and TOM FORD Shade & Illuminate Cheeks. ABOUT SHERBER+RAD SHERBER+RAD (1101 15th Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20005), founded by Board certified dermatologist Dr. Noelle Sherber and Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Ariel Rad, delivers the best in aesthetic care and an experience of exquisite service and privacy. Drawing upon 30 combined years of training and expertise, Drs. Sherber and Rad help people to achieve balanced, age-appropriate, and natural results in the most time-efficient and nuanced manner possible. The SHERBER+RAD boutique highlights best-in-class skincare products from around the world that have been rigorously vetted and selected by Drs. Sherber and Rad based on science-backed ingredients, safety, and efficacy. World-renowned brands La Mer, TOM FORD Beauty, SK-II, Natura Bisse, and 3Lab, among others, are featured in the edited SHERBER+RAD boutique selections. Visit https://sherberandrad.com/ for more information. Kyowa Hakko, manufacturer of fermented amino acids and branded ingredients, today announced the results of a study that evaluated the effects of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) to brighten skin. The study, Glutathione and its antiaging and antimelanogenic effects,1 is published in the Journal of Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology: https://www.dovepress.com/glutathione-and-its-antiaging-and-antimelanogenic-effects-peer-reviewed-article-CCID Upon review of the study, Rachel Nazarian, MD, FAAD commented, This study on Setria Glutathione suggests that when taken orally, Setria may decrease melanin production, lightening dark skin in individuals with Fitzpatrick skin types IV and V. When taken in doses of 250 mg per day, oral glutathione such as Setria is safe and well tolerated, with no evidence of any major adverse events. Given oral glutathiones regulatory properties on melanogenesis and pigment production in the skin, this safe, reduced dosing may also help decrease the melanin index in individuals with darker skin tones. The study also reported that Setria may help wrinkle reduction in middleaged women by improving water retention in sun-exposed areas of skin, aiding in hydration and possibly an improved skin barrier. It was previously reported that oral GSH administration at 500mg/day may help in brightening of skin color, and the main objective of this study was to find out whether Setria Glutathione maintains its skin brightening efficacy when given at a dose of 250mg/day, said Yuki Nakamura, researcher at Kyowas Healthcare Product Development Center. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study used healthy female-subjects aged 20-50 and provided Setria Glutathione (250 mg/day) or a placebo orally for 12 weeks. At each visit, at baseline and for 12 weeks, skin features including melanin index were measured. Blood samples were collected for safety monitoring. There were no serious adverse effects throughout the study. A recent report from Global Industry Analysts, Inc (GIA) said the global market for skin lighteners is expected to reach $23 billion by 2020. Opportunities in the market are moving beyond women, with personal grooming gaining significance among men, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets. Media interested in setting up an interview with Dr. Rachel Nazarian, or a representative from Kyowa Hakko, to discuss the results of this study and its implications, please contact Jillian Chertok: jillian@adinnyc.com, 212-693-2150 x311. About Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd. KYOWA HAKKO BIO employs leading-edge fermentation technology to develop innovative manufacturing processes for producing various useful substances and is offering ingredients ranging from amino acids, nucleic acid-related compounds, vitamins, organic acids to oligosaccharides and dipeptides globally to customers in the pharmaceutical, nutrition and healthcare markets. Our primary objective is to organically integrate fermentation and synthesis by fully leveraging the fundamental technological capabilities, human resources and assets we have developed and perfected since pioneering the method to manufacture Glutamic Acid by fermentation 60 years ago. About Kyowa Hakko Bio Singapore, Kyowa Hakko USA and Kyowa Hakko Europe Kyowa Hakko Bio Singapore, Kyowa Hakko USA and Kyowa Hakko Europe are the regional offices of KYOWA HAKKO BIO CO., LTD., an international health ingredients manufacturer and world leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and food products, including an extensive range of high-quality amino acids. Kyowa Hakko is the maker of branded ingredients, including: Cognizin; Citicoline, Pantesin; Pantethine, Setria Glutathione, as well as Sustamine L-Alanyl- L-Glutamine. **Setria is a registered trademark of KYOWA HAKKO BIO CO. LTD. 1 Sinee Weschawalit, MD, Siriwan Thongthip, RN, APN, Phanupong Phutrakool, Pravit Asawanonda, MD, DSc. Glutathione and Its Anti-Aging and Anti-Melanogenic Effects. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology 2017, 10:147-153 DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S128339 Study funded by: Kyowa Hakko Bio Krinkle, based in Centennial, CO, is proud to announce the launch of its cutting-edge business process management software customized for the Wireless Industry. Krinkle Closeout is a mobile app focused on helping businesses reduce time and money spent on return visits by completing Closeout Packages while still on-site. The Krinkle app meets this goal with better data collection than traditional form apps and a powerful back office tool for business process management as data is collected. This workflow automation eliminates return visits due to missed photos or incomplete data, saving time and money. Krinkle Closeout's full library of Standard COP forms includes everything a company needs to complete Closeout Packages on-site. The extensive library of Standard Closeout Package forms covers what most carriers require plus 24/7 service, support and expertise. Better document projects with unlimited photologs. Locate sites quickly with GPS - not only specific sites, but any nearby. Automated time and date-stamping gives technicians in the field indisputable proof of work with complete EXIF data available to QA for immediate feedback. For on-the-go business process management needs, the bulk photo export feature allows QA at a glance. The Wireless Industrys ever-changing requirements can be difficult to keep up with. When using Krinkle Closeout, businesses can accelerate the Closeout Package process from weeks or months to hours or days. The Krinkle Closeout mobile app runs on any Android or iOS device. If durability is a concern, Krinkle offers optional ruggedized devices from Bluebird and Honeywell specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of the Wireless Industry. These select rugged devices from Krinkle Closeout come preconfigured with the app installed, and Krinkle guarantees satisfaction with hardware offerings that have been hand-selected and rigorously tested for harsh environments, drops, inclement weather, and other unpredictables that companies face at remote locations. We see big opportunities in applying what Krinkle Closeout can offer to the Wireless Industry in a scalable, repeatable way that removes barriers and risk for a lot of customers, who up until now, have been running their business with other forms apps and relying on data collected on paper in the field, with no communication process to relay and convey information while on-site, said Kevin Price, the Chief Executive Officer of Krinkle. Krinkles pricing model is intuitive and geared towards giving businesses ROI on every site visit. Krinkles pricing philosophy is based on simple, activity-based billing and a one-time account setup fee. Only pay for what's used, with no monthly subscriptions. Regardless of how many users within an organization need access to forms or reports, the price is always the same. Krinkle's Software-as-a-Service always includes all tech support and users get the app updates automatically. If companies need customized forms in addition to the Standard library, Krinkle will build any number of forms in a matter of a few days. The Custom form package will fulfill any service provider's requirements in addition to everything in the Standard library set-up. They are also easily integrated into an existing installation for all accounts to start collecting data on-site and access full reporting right away. Krinkle Closeout is now offering a 30 day trial period when users sign-up so they can compare Krinkle to their existing processes. If users create an account and set-up payment before June 10th using the promo code spring17 during checkout they'll get an additional $150 off! Those using Krinkle Closeout will see the immediate cost savings that Krinkle provides by reducing return visits, travel expenses, and on-site time. Visit Krinkle's website, Krinkle.it, to access more information on Krinkle Closeout. About Krinkle The Krinkle apps are built on the world-class Mobile Epiphany workflow automation platform, and complemented by Accucodes complete hardware services. Some of Mobile Epiphany and Accucodes customers include high-profile businesses such as Kroger, Discount Tire, P.F. Changs, Sherwin Williams, FEMA, Schlumberger, CenturyLink, Wells Fargo, Atlas Solutions, Datanet, Keypoint Communications, and many more. Accucode and Mobile Epiphany are headquartered in Denver, CO. and have built industry-leading reputations of solution excellence by providing their clients with turnkey, best-of-breed solutions backed by proven expertise and world-class service. #### Krinkle Marketing Contact: Andrew Sager Director of Marketing ASager(at)Accucode(dot)com We want businesses to know that they can come to us for any types of background checks that will help keep them compliant with the standards of the medical industry, said Corra Group Co-Founder, Nick Gustavson. Corra Group is advancing its marketing practices to target IT and tech groups and other businesses that are non-healthcare related but servicing Hospitals and other Medical Facilities. The El Segundo, California based Employment Screening Service is targeting non-healthcare related companies working in the medical industry. We want businesses to know that they can come to us for any types of background checks that will help keep them compliant with the standards of the medical industry, said Corra Group Co-Founder, Nick Gustavson. You dont have to be a directly related medical entity to need the types of background checks that will keep you compliant, allowing your staff to enter hospitals and other medical facilities. Compliance standards for medical workers impact a lot of other industries that you normally wouldnt consider, said Gustavson. Everything from IT and technology workers upgrading a hospitals software to the driver delivering sodas to the commissary have to pass certain types of background checks. Healthcare sanctions searches are one of the most important. Because a medical facility can lose is government funding, its ability to invoice, and can be subjected to a variety of criminal and civil actions if they allow people on the sanctions list to work in their facilities. It is a very big deal. Gustavson offered that with all the controversy swirling around the healthcare industry, the last thing a business wants to do is fall out of compliance. He noted to assist in their needs to meet compliance standards, Corra Group offers a full suite of background checks that can be packaged to meet the needs of a specific contract. He indicated that Corra Group offers the FACIS Healthcare Sanctions complement of searches both as one off products or for monthly monitoring. We have a number of clients who have contacted us for the types of searches they will need to meet the compliance standards for everything from federal contracts to the contractual agreements with hospitals and healthcare facilities. As many are technology groups, or construction companies, even trucking outfits, the minute they ask tell us about needing healthcare related searches, we know exactly what they far. There may be variations with each contrast, but there is almost always a core group of required background checks. We like to work with our clients in these instances, said Gustavson. "Because if the client is successful satisfying one contract, chances are there will be others coming their way. Corra Group has clients with multiple packages, one for every company they work for. BACKGROUND: Corra operates as Corra Group and specializes in employment screening and corporate research and investigation. It is one of the few companies that will answer the phone. You can review the website at http://www.corragroup.com. Kevin Harrigan, New Penn Financial Chief Operating Officer The creation of the COO role is an important step toward building a fully integrated model for sales strategy and operational support. New Penn Financial, a nationally-recognized mortgage lender, announced that Kevin Harrigan has been promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. In this capacity, Harrigan will lead the corporate operations teams and the organizations three business channels. New Penn has grown from a start-up lender in 2008 to a significant presence in todays mortgage marketplace, said Jerry Schiano, founder, President & CEO of New Penn. The creation of the COO role is an important step toward building a fully integrated model for sales strategy and operational support. Schiano explained, Kevin understands our culture and our goals as an organization. He brings significant business and leadership experience that will enable us to continue evolving. Harrigan joined New Penn in 2013, serving most recently as Chief Risk and Administrative Officer. He has over 30 years of senior management experience in financial services and mortgage banking, including positions with CIT Group, Bank of America, and KeyCorp. In addition to studies at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, he earned his B.S. in Finance/Economics from Rutgers University, and an MBA from Seton Hall University. This is an exciting time to be part of New Penn, said Harrigan. We have a great team in place and I look forward to leading New Penn through this next stage of operational maturity and sustained growth. New Penn offers residential mortgage loans through three business divisions Direct-to-Consumer (Call Center), Retail (Distributed and Joint Venture), and Third Party Origination (TPO). The organization has over 2,000 employees and operates 160 offices across the country. For more information on New Penn Financial or media inquiries, contact: Jennifer Smith at jwsmith(at)newpennfinancial(dot)com. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ About New Penn Financial New Penn Financial has become a leading nationwide lender by bringing expertise, extremely competitive rates on a broad portfolio of mortgage products, and exceptional customer service under one roof. Founded in 2008, and licensed in 48 states, the company and its reputation have grown rapidly under the guidance of a management team with years of experience in the mortgage industry. New Penn is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania and operates offices nationwide. New Penn is a Shellpoint Partners company. More information is available at http://www.newpennfinancial.com. Distinctively colorful and hand-drawn, Discovery Maps are a favorite of travelers for navigating local dining, attractions, businesses and cultural experiences. With new maps and associated activities, families can more closely connect with the local communities they already know as well as the ones they are just visiting for the first time, said Peter Hans, CEO of Discovery Map International. Throughout 2017, Discovery Map International, creators of the functional and fun-to-use hand-drawn illustrations, will release ten new maps, making their guides available in 133 top tourist destinations across North America. By the end of the summer, travelers will find this free navigation tool in Beaufort, South Carolina; Niagara Falls, New York and Huntington Beach, California. Maps to Waco, Texas; Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; Niagara, Canada; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Peoria, Illinois and Santa Monica, California will follow by the end of the year. For families visiting these new Discovery Map destinations this summer, the Are We There Yet Survival Guide engages kids with classic car games such as Twenty Questions and Going on a Picnic, a geography quiz and pointers to help teach children how to read a map. Available at http://www.discoverymap.com/are-we-there-yet, the guide can be downloaded and printed in advance of vacation, making the road trip a memorable part of any journey. Instantly recognizable, Discovery Maps are the maps you know and love, said Peter Hans, CEO of Discovery Map International. With new maps and associated activities, families can more closely connect with the local communities they already know as well as the ones they are just visiting for the first time. Through the end of the year, travelers to all Discovery Map destinations can further enhance their vacation by entering to win a $100 gift card by posting an image from their favorite local spot using hashtag #discoverymap. One winner is randomly drawn each month. For full rules and regulations, visit http://www.discoverymap.com/instagram. About Discovery Map Discovery Map International is the countrys leading provider of curated guides to top tourist destinations, cities and towns throughout North America. The distinctively colorful, hand-drawn maps are a favorite of travelers for navigating local dining, attractions, businesses, cultural experiences, ski destinations and even the best locations to take selfies. Discovery Maps can be found in local hotels, restaurants, shops and other participating venues, and also at discoverymap.com. Named by Forbes as one of the best franchises to buy in 2015, Discovery Maps International is headquartered in Waitsfield, VT, in the heart of the Green Mountains. (Pictured at far left) Canby Lane Principal Dr. Keshier Smikle and Canby Lane student representatives celebrate the news about their School Crashers makeover project with Assistant Principal Kia Denni With a high homeless population attending, our goal this year will be to improve the overall look and feel of the school to help improve all students educational experience and distinguish the learning environment as a safe and happy place for students Georgia United Credit Union is excited to announce the winners of its 4th Annual School Crashers program. This years top recipient, Canby Lane Elementary School of Decatur, was nominated by current Assistant Principal Kia Dennis. Seven schools across the state were chosen as the lucky recipients of a school makeover from among the 330 nominations received. Located at 4150 Green Hawk Drive, Canby Lane was originally built in the 1960s and is in need of multiple facility improvements both inside and out. The School Crashers makeover is scheduled for Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22, to complete the project before the new school year in August. Canby Lane submitted a compelling entry with multiple areas for improvement. With a high homeless population attending, our goal this year will be to improve the overall look and feel of the school to help improve all students educational experience and distinguish the learning environment as a safe and happy place for students, said Shawn Turpin, Senior Vice President of Sales & Service for Georgia United Credit Union. Our School Crashers program could make a huge difference for their 740 students. Congratulations to all of our 2017 School Crashers recipients! Canby Lane Elementary, 740 students, Decatur- GA, Multiple facility improvements and new carpet Eagle Woods Academy, 100 students, Lithonia- GA, Therapeutic Garden Shiloh Middle School, 1829 students, Snellville- GA, Courtyard and classroom improvements Colbert Elementary, 419 students, Colbert- GA, Facility and playground upgrades East Laurens Primary, 580 students, East Dublin- GA, Playground enhancements Fairington Elementary, 700 students, Lithonia- GA, Media Center improvements and carpet replacement Pleasant Grove Elem, 445 students, Dalton- GA, Technology upgrades and new carpet Georgia United will work with these schools over the summer to complete their requested improvement projects, says Turpin. There will be opportunities for community members, educators, parents and students to join Georgia United team members to volunteer for all these School Crashers program events. Visit gucu.org/schoolcrashers to learn more about volunteering or donating supplies after June 1. Georgia Uniteds School Crasher program is a unique program that offers local schools the opportunity to apply for a facility makeover. The goal of the program is to bring communities together to support local schools and their school systems. Accredited K-12 schools in Georgia were eligible to submit a photo and a 250-word statement explaining why their school should receive a makeover. About Georgia United Credit Union Georgia United Credit Union is ranked as one of the top credit unions in Georgia in both size and safety at over $1 Billion in assets, more than 150,000 members and 19 branch locations. Georgia United seeks to make members lives easier by offering products, services and education to help members meet their needs and achieve their goals. Georgia United Credit Union serves the Archdiocese of Atlanta, State Agency employees, Board of Regents colleges and universities, and 11 county school systems. Visit gucu.org to learn more or follow the credit union on Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgiaUnitedCU and Twitter at @GAUnitedCU. Technologic Systems and Savoir-faire Linux Savoir-Faire Linux works seamlessly to bring the customers vision to life and bring the most out of our hardware in the process. Today marks the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Technologic Systems and Savoir-faire Linux Inc., on a wide range of key technological and marketing initiatives. Technologic Systems, the longtime manufacturer of industrial grade single board computers, computer on modules, and touch panel computers have officially announced the partnership with Savoir-faire Linux, the leading open source software expert in Canada. Both firms have been long collaborating together to offer a whole value chain solution to their clients. The indispensable symbiosis between hardware and software solutions in the digital economy is the main driver of their co-creations and technological collaborations. Having been successful in increasing their end-users satisfaction and operational performance, both companies now want to become more strategically engaged to even further augment the industry standards. For almost two decades, Savoir-faire Linux has been able to constantly create and share open source software knowledge through consultancy, design, architecture, and maintenance of a variety of information systems in the North American and European markets. The company is well-known positioned for developing reliable and supported open source-based software solutions and has already forged strategic partnership with major open source players such as Red Hat, Liferay, Debian, Linux Kernel, Odoo and FFmpeg, to name a few. Being embedded in free/libre and open source communities such as Linux Kernel, Debian, FFmpeg etc., the company knows the ins and outs of many key open source technologies; and therefore is able to guarantee software stability and performance at a level unmatched by its competitors. We have been forging a long term relationship with Technologic Systems for they have been manufacturing high quality, industrial grade embedded hardware products that have proven reliable for more than three decades. At Savoir-faire Linux, we have been developing many software projects with numerous clients across a diverse range of hardware manufactured by Technologic Systems. For such a long time, we have relied on Technologic Systems not only because they have a highly responsive and professional team, ready to explain and share details of their products to ensure smooth software development and effective platform integration operations, but also because they are a wonderful development partner. In fact, when clients need a robust embedded device, particularly for industrial applications, Technologic Systems' hardware is our first recommendation. It has superb quality. It has long-term lifecycle support. Most important of all, it is the kind of hardware that delivers on legacy exceptions such as running on low-power and remaining stable with broad peripheral and connectivity options. said Jerome Oufella, Vice President of Technologies at Savoir-faire Linux. For 33 years, Technologic Systems (Arizona, USA) has been creating world class embedded systems in order to address a wide range of industrial needs. Technologic Systems has hundreds of commercial off the shelf products, and the ability to modify existing solutions, or design a completely custom embedded computer to meet and exceed customer requirements. A wide range of out-of-the-box Linux tools come to aide Technologic Systems vision of creating the whole customer solutions. Linux OS, Debian, Ubuntu Core and many more open source software platforms are strategically deployed on a wide range of embedded system to cater to the customers particular application and requirements. Robert Miller, founder of Technologic Systems said, "Since we provide embedded hardware for multiple industries and verticals it would be almost impossible for us to provide application level support to all of our customers. Savoir-faire Linux is a fantastic partner in this regard as they are well suited to handle a variety of projects across a multitude of platforms. Savoir-Faire Linux works seamlessly with to bring the customers vision to life and bring the most out of our hardware in the process. They have consistently been great to work with at every level of engagement and we recommend them highly and easily knowing that our customers will be in good hands and we will be well represented by Savoir-faire Linux. Thus, both companies together make a great match that ultimately benefit their end-users through having an access to a whole hardware-software solution that exceeds industry standards concerning performance, quality, reliability and continuous after sales support. This partnership is set to grow and mature into more technologically advanced collaborative R&D teams, and expanding each ones market reach in both Canada and the USA. About Savoir-Faire Linux Since 1999, Savoir-faire Linux has developed a unique expertise in Free and Open Source Software, helping Canadian companies and public organizations meet the challenges of information systems in constant evolution. With a multidisciplinary team of nearly 120 consultants (in 2015) based in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, and Paris, Savoir-faire Linux delivers services to over 500 organizations, including government bodies, major international agencies, industry giants, and SMEs/ SMIs. This great ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified company is a proud Silver member of the Linux Foundation, a Liferay Platinum Partner and a Red Hat Advanced Partner. It has also a strong presence in many Free Software communities. Savoir-Faire Linux 7275 Saint Urbain Street Office 200 Montreal (Quebec) H2R 2Y5 http://www.savoirfairelinux.com Amir Taherizadeh (Marketing Dept.) Tel: 514-276-5468 Fax: 514-276-5465 About Technologic Systems Technologic Systems has been in business for 32 years, helping more than 8000 OEM customers and building over a hundred COTS products that have never been discontinued. Our commitment to excellent products, low prices, and exceptional customer support has allowed our business to flourish in a very competitive marketplace. We offer a wide variety of single board computers, computer-on-modules, touch panel PCs, PC/104 and other peripherals, and industrial controllers that satisfy most embedded project requirements. We also offer custom configurations and design services. We specialize in the ARM and X86 architectures, FPGA customization, and open-source software support, providing advanced custom solutions using hardware-software co-design strategies. Technologic Systems 16525 East Laser Drive Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 http://www.embeddedARM.com (480)837-5200 ...adapting and designing in silico computational simulation techniques to reveal previously unmeasured properties of adult tissue stem cells, like for instance their number! When James Sherley, was notified earlier this year that his company Asymmetrex had been selected as one of the 50 Most Valuable Brands for the Year 2017 by The Silicon Review, he was not surprised as others might be. Sherley says, I felt like we had been making good progress increasing Asymmetrexs value, but this recognition by Silicon Valley was particularly meaningful. Our selection by The Silicon Review may seem odd to some, but it makes perfect sense to us. We are able to count adult tissue stem cells for the first time, how? By adapting and designing in silico computational simulation techniques to reveal previously unmeasured properties of adult tissue stem cells, like for instance their number! Sherley had a theoretical concept for counting tissue stem cells since before he and his collaborators published a 2001 seminal report explaining how the culture of human tissue cells depends on the unique cell production abilities of tissue stem cells. However, implementing and testing his concept would require enlisting computational modeling expertise. Although Sherley was a professor at MIT, during his time there from 1998 to 2007, he was able to entice only one computer science graduate student to work with him on the idea as a half-semester interdisciplinary experience project. Then Sherley met Frank Abdi, Ph.D. at a biology-mesomechanics integrative conference in Vicenza, Italy in 2011. Abdi is the founder and chief scientist at AlphaSTAR Corporation, a leading global consulting company in the aircraft and aerospace industry. In AlphaSTAR, Abdi had developed an award-winning, proprietary suite of statistical computational software for simulating the complex behavior of composite materials in high mechanical stress crafts like airplanes, racing cars, and space shuttles. Abdi had a long-standing interest in applying these malleable computational tools to problems in medicine. So, it did not take long for Abdi and Sherley to recognize that they were the ideal team to advance Sherleys computational tissue stem cell counting concept to practical use. With other AlphaSTAR staff, the two began by translating Sherleys biological models into computational code. When Asymmetrex was formed in 2013, the two companies added staff and resources to accelerate their efforts to develop and validate the new counting approach. By the middle of 2016, they had completed development of the AlphaSTEM Test, a working software program validated for counting tissue stem cells in human lung, bone marrow, liver, and amniotic fluid, as well as for detecting tissue stem cell-active compounds like drug candidates. The data input required for the AlphaSTEM Test is easily obtained total cell count data from serial culture of dissociated human tissue cells. Asymmetrex now markets the AlphaSTEM Test with the computing support of AlphaSTAR. Before the AlphaSTEM Test, there was no method available for counting adult tissue stem cells specifically. Now, it is possible to count tissue stem cells in experiments in research labs; to determine the dose of stem cells in approved stem cell therapies; to determine the quality and dose of stem cells used in private stem cell clinic treatments; to determine stem cell dose for better interpretation of stem cell clinical trial results; to monitor and optimize biomanufacturing processes for therapeutic tissue stem cells; to determine the dose of genetically-engineered stem cells in gene and gene editing therapies; to have earlier screening for stem cell-toxic drugs that fail in clinical trials because of chronic organ failure; to identify environmental toxicants that alter tissue stem cells; and to identify compounds that improve health by positive effects on tissue stem cells. The many benefits that will flow from now being able to address these many waiting unmet needs and markets are the basis for The Silicon Reviews recognition of Asymmetrexs high value in 2017 and beyond. About Asymmetrex Asymmetrex, LLC is a Massachusetts life sciences company with a focus on developing technologies to advance stem cell medicine. Asymmetrexs founder and director, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert on the unique properties of adult tissue stem cells. The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems production and quantification that have stood in the way of successful commercialization of human adult tissue stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug development. In addition, the portfolio includes novel technologies for isolating cancer stem cells and producing induced pluripotent stem cells for disease research purposes. Currently, Asymmetrexs focus is employing its technological advantages to develop and market facile methods for monitoring adult stem cell number and function in stem cell transplantation treatments and in pre-clinical assays for drug safety. As Melendez explains, With EMP, clients can rely on our team as a resource to manage, track, assess, repair, refurbish, inventory, catalogue, ship, I&D (installation and dismantle) and store trade show exhibits and related assets. The Trade Group has been providing exhibit management services for decades. Mark Melendez manages their Exhibit Management Program (EMP), and he works tirelessly to continually enhance the program to serve his clients every need. According to Melendez, Our President, Chris Stone, tasked me with transforming EMP into a white glove service for trade show managers and event planners. The new tools and services we have added to the program in recent years were designed with that goal in mind. Company growth necessitated changes to the program. The Trade Group has grown substantially as it has taken on more larger, custom-built trade show exhibits. So we are storing and managing more 40x40 and larger exhibits than ever before. We had to make changes to EMP to address the unique needs of these clients and all of the moving pieces involved with their trade show and event programs, explains Melendez. What is EMP and how does it work? EMP is a dedicated trade show and event management program designed to support all of The Trade Groups client needs. The mission of EMP is to transform exhibit management from a cumbersome process to a turnkey solution. As Melendez explains, With EMP, clients can rely on our team as a resource to manage, track, assess, repair, refurbish, inventory, catalogue, ship, I&D (installation and dismantle) and store trade show exhibits and related assets. The EMP team leaves no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring client trade show exhibits are show ready for every event. Every exhibit in the EMP program is inspected when it returns to the TTG warehouse to find out if all components and parts that shipped out have been returned in working order. Missing parts, damage and recommendations for repair, replacement or refurbishment are then communicated to the client in a post-show inventory and inspection report. Melendez and his team of Project Managers also recommend upgrades and/or improvements to client exhibits and assets as design and technology enhancements evolve. For example, we may recommend a client replace halogen lighting with LED lights to save energy costs and to achieve a more modern look. What enhancements have been made during EMPs overhaul? 1. NEW EMP Connect App and online asset management tool: The former EMP Online is going through a major software facelift. EMP clients can now log in to the NEW EMP Connect using an app on their smartphones and tablets. Clients can also connect with the system and with The Trade Group through a laptop or PC. Clients can use EMP Connect to monitor and manage their exhibit assets anywhere across the globe 24/7. Login to easily schedule an event, order replacement items, review or track trade show assets and more. 2. EMP Store fulfillment center: Melendez and team launched the EMP Store in late 2015. The EMP Store is a fulfillment center operating onsite at The Trade Group. At the EMP Store, they can store, manage, track, ship and replenish a clients trade show collateral and promotional items. The EMP Store helps clients avoid waste and save time and money. Melendez developed a system where every item is assigned a unique SKU, so his team can catalogue and store the items until they are ready to ship. Clients will be able to easily check stock levels via EMP Connect, which displays photos and quantities of each item. They can even order new promotional products and sales collateral. 3. Expanded warehouse space: The Trade Groups EMP warehouse has been expanded from 4,000 sq. ft. to nearly 40,000 sq. ft. to accommodate the 270 and growing roster of EMP clients. According to Melendez, We needed more space to breathe, not only to handle the needs of our larger clients, but to accommodate growth in the printing, production, retail interior and commercial graphics departments, too. 4. Dedicated EMP team members: To better serve EMP clients, Melendez has added two new Project Managers to his team. In the past, clients would communicate with their sales rep if they had questions about EMP or say, when they could expect delivery of their exhibit to a certain show. Now each client is assigned a dedicated EMP Project Manager they can tap as an additional resource. This added layer of customer service and attention is essential to the white glove service model available through EMP, explains Melendez. 5. Preferred Vendor Partners in the field: While The Trade Group regularly provides at-show support to their trade show clients, they do not travel to every single trade show. They do, however, partner with multiple Industry Leaders for labor, logistics and other needs to support their clients and report back from the field. As Melendez explains, Its important for us to have visibility with our clients, even when were not at an event. For example, weve been working with one of our Preferred Labor Partners for the past 15 years. We rely on them to support I&D needs, inspect client exhibits, take photos of the install and report back to us. This helps ensure the client receives optimum service and support. Want to learn more about EMP, EMP Connect or the EMP Store? Give The Trade Group a call at 800-343-2005 to speak with the EMP team or one of their friendly sales reps to find out more. About The Trade Group The Trade Group is a full-service, award-winning provider of products and services for trade shows, corporate events, retail environments and an endless array of face-to-face experiences. The organization helps clients share their unique stories through a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes: exhibit design and fabrication, graphic design and production, exhibit management, digital applications, video production, exhibit accessories, strategic marketing and more. With ReliaCloud, we are able to focus on building technologies that enhance our customers interaction with both our e-commerce site and our applications. Today, OneNeck IT Solutions announced the company was selected by Madison, Wis.-based Musicnotes.com. Under the contract, Musicnotes.com is leveraging OneNecks ReliaCloud platform to host their e-commerce website. With ReliaCloud, we are able to focus on building technologies that enhance our customers interaction with both our e-commerce site and our applications, said Jon Higgins, chief technology officer at Musicnotes.com. This allows us to ensure positive, continuing interaction through all stages of the customer journey. Founded in 1998, Musicnotes.com is the worlds largest e-commerce sheet music retailer and publisher. The company provides more than 300,000 pieces of officially licensed digital sheet music and guitar tablature to more than 5 million customers around the globe. When looking for a new IT partner, Musicnotes.com was seeking a vendor who had competency in designing and deploying Microsoft-based technology and solutions for their mission-critical applications. In addition, they wanted a provider who could ensure high-availability and cloud stability, along with scalability and technical competency. They found OneNeck met, or exceeded, all those requirements. From the very beginning, we knew our success was important to OneNeck, and that they were willing to go the extra mile to help us attain it, said Higgins. OneNeck is truly an extension of our organization. OneNeck IT Solutions offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services and IT hardware. In addition, OneNeck has top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. Providing Musicnotes.com with a reliable, state-of-the-art, always-on environment, contributes to their success, said Jim de la Pena, VP of Sales at OneNeck. Im proud of our team for not only articulating to Musicnotes.com that we could do it, but then following up and delivering an outstanding solution that allows them to spend more time focusing on their core strategy, while we fully manage their IT solution. View the recently issued Case Study for more details about the partnership between Musicnotes.com and OneNeck. Visit oneneck.com for more information. About OneNeck OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, employs nearly 550 people throughout the U.S. The company offers hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware and top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. OneNeck's team of technology professionals manage secure, world-class, hybrid IT infrastructures and applications for businesses around the country. Visit oneneck.com. TDS Telecommunications Corporation (TDS Telecom/TDS), headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC and BendBroadband, which is part of TDS Broadband Service LLC. Combined, the company employs more than 3,400 people. Visit tdstelecom.com. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately six million customers nationwide through its businesses U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, and TDS Broadband Service LLC. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. employs 10,300 people. Visit tdsinc.com. About Musicnotes.com As the leader in downloadable sheet music, Musicnotes.com offers the best selection of 100 percent officially licensed and legal arrangements for nearly any instrument, genre and skill level. Founded in 1998, Musicnotes has transformed the way people purchase and play sheet music by fostering strong partnerships with music publishers, creating an ever-expanding catalogue of nearly 300,000 arrangements, and pioneering new technologies, like their top-rated sheet music apps for iOS and Android devices as well as Musicnotes Cloud. Musicnotes has sold more than 30 million downloads to over 5 million customers since inception. For more information, visit musicnotes.com. Aksarben ARS, an air conditioning and heating, and plumbing company based in La Vista, NE, has partnered with Nest Labs, Inc. to include the Nest Learning Thermostat as a standard component of most of its middle and upper tier residential HVAC system installations. Aksarben will also offer professional installation of Nest Thermostats as an optional upgrade when performing service and preventative maintenance in previously installed systems. Aksarben is a network provider for American Residential Services (ARS), a Memphis, Tenn. based, privately-held national provider of air conditioning, heating and plumbing services. We are delighted to be recognized as a Nest Pro Elite partner across our network of more than 70 service centers. As a national leader in the residential HVAC and plumbing industry, ARS service centers can now leverage this exciting technology enabling homes to be smarter and more energy-efficient, says Luis Orbegoso, President and COO of ARS. The benefits that a smart and connected home offers are very compelling. This partnership will allow us to offer even more value to our customers with Nests cutting-edge, yet approachable technology, added John Aliano, General Manager of Aksarben ARS. While Nest products are designed so that homeowners can choose to install themselves, Nest wants to make it easy for those whod prefer to take advantage of the benefits of a pro installation, says Gene LaNois, Head of Professional Channel, Nest. ARS shares our passion for enabling the thoughtful home, and were excited that they will be incorporating the Nest Thermostat into their installation offerings. The Nest Thermostat learns the temperatures a homeowner prefers and then programs itself. Independent studies have shown that the Nest Thermostat saves homeowners on average 10-12% on heating and 15% on cooling costs. Nests algorithms allow customers to monitor their energy history daily, in addition to receiving an easy-to-understand monthly report. The Nest Thermostat will also alert homeowners in the event it detects certain problems with the homes HVAC system. The Nest Thermostat and other Nest products are now available at all ARS Network branches that provide HVAC services and installations. ABOUT ars.com [AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES: __title__ AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES] Based in Memphis, Tenn., privately-owned ARS operates a network of more than 70 locally-managed service centers in 23 states, with approximately 6,500 employees. The ARS network features industry-leading brands including, A.J. Perri, Aksarben ARS, Allgood, Andys Statewide, ARS, Aspen Air Conditioning, Atlas Trillo, Beutler, Blue Dot, Brothers, Columbus Worthington Air, Comfort Heating & Air, Conway Services, Efficient Attic Systems (EAS), Florida Home Air Conditioning, Green Star Home Services, McCarthy Services, Rescue Rooter/ Proserv, Rescue Rooter, RighTime Home Services, RS Andrews, The Irish Plumber, Unique Services, "Will" Fix It, and Yes! Air Conditioning and Plumbing. United by Exceptional Service, the ARS / Rescue Rooter Network serves both residential and light commercial customers by providing heating, cooling, indoor air quality, plumbing, drain cleaning, sewer line, radiant barrier, insulation and ventilation services. Each location has a knowledgeable team of trained specialists, who have undergone rigorous drug testing and criminal background checks. Providing exceptional service and ensuring the highest standards of quality, ARS has the experience to do any job right the first time, with all work fully guaranteed. ### We are honored as we strive to make an impact on patient health PharmaSmart International Inc., a Rochester, N.Y. based, Inc. 5000 company, and Chain Drug Review, the leading publication in the retail pharmacy sector, recently concluded a yearlong initiative to improve patient blood pressure control. In February 2016, the PharmaSmart and Chain Drug Review kicked off the Lower My Blood Pressure challenge, which featured a yearlong competition to determine which pharmacies could a) enroll the most patients into PharmaSmarts Smart Card tracking program, and b) demonstrate the greatest improvement in average blood pressure rates among enrolled patients. Participating pharmacists enrolled into the contest through Chain Drug Reviews website (http://www.chaindrugreview.com) or PharmaSmart (http://www.PharmaSmart.com). Apple Discount Drugs on Fruitland Blvd in Salisbury, MD, was the Grand Prize Winner, earning them an all-expense paid trip for two to Miami, FL. Apple Discount Drugs saw the greatest overall improvement in blood pressure control, with an average reduction of 16 mmHg systolic, and 6 mmHg diastolic. We are honored as we strive to make an impact on patient health, said Jeff Sherr, Apple Discount Drugs. Further analysis by PS DataSmart, (PharmaSmarts health data resource center generating more than one million new readings per month), determined the following winners based on strong patient enrollment into the PharmaSmart clinical program: Brookshire Grocery Co.s Pharmacy #90 in Robinson TX, earned 1st place, followed by Brookshires Pharmacy #34 in Monroe LA, and Brookshires Pharmacy #62 in Ashdown AR, respectively. Brookshires is a leading regional grocer across Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas We are thrilled that our pharmacy staff from each winning location volunteered to enter into the Lower My Blood Pressure contest. PharmaSmart is a company exclusively focused on helping pharmacists target uncontrolled cases of hypertension. Kudos to both companies for driving such a critical initiative nationwide, said Jim Cousineau, SVP Operations, Brookshire Grocery Co.. PharmaSmart offers pharmacists a credible, accessible, low-cost solution for controlling blood pressure that is backed by evidence and trusted by both physicians and payer networks, said Ashton S. Maaraba, PharmaSmart Chief Operations Officer, Because of this strong clinical positioning, pharmacists can coordinate hypertension care with local physicians, and they can confidently recommend the program to their patients. Fred W. Sarkis, PharmaSmart President and CEO added, PharmaSmart is focused on building the clinical credibility of our retail clients. That process starts with building trust. For example, a pharmacist cant rely upon an unverified blood pressure kiosk to deliver clinically actionable data, especially when the issue of unverified kiosks has been called out in multiple professional guidelines, and published editorials. Doing so is a breach of trust between the pharmacist and the prescribing physician and can be dangerous to their patients. Clinical program success depends on the delivery of trustworthy data, within standard workflow, at the pharmacy point of care. Program success also depends on delivering patient outcome metrics that show long-term value. This is what differentiates PharmaSmart. We are proud to see so many pharmacists embracing the challenge of hypertension control, and taking this big step toward an expanded scope of practice. Jeffrey Woldt, vice president and editorial director of Racher Press Inc., the publisher of Chain Drug Review, commented, We were very excited to have partnered with PharmaSmart on such a unique collaboration and look forward to continuing our part in generating awareness across community pharmacy about the importance of controlling hypertension. About PharmaSmart PharmaSmart, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., currently serves more than 6,500 locations, including such retail pharmacies as, Giant Eagle, Brookshire Grocery Company. (BGC), Kinney Drugs, Coborn, Bartell Drugs, Sav-MorRx/Sav-On Drugs, Nash Finch, Roundys/Marianos, Associated Food Stores, Leader, McKesson Health Mart, Good Neighbor, Astrup Drug, Winn Dixie, Big Y Foods, Harmons Grocery, Wal-Mart Canada, Safeway Canada, Price Chopper, Loblaws, Le Groupe Jean Coutu, Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall/Katz Group, Sobeys/Lawtons. PharmaSmart also serves major worksites, military bases, university schools pharmacy, hospitals and medical clinics. PharmaSmarts PS DataSmart Health IT database currently holds more than 40 million targeted patient blood pressure readings. PharmaSmart biometric screening technology and Health IT Systems will serve as the driver for generating and streaming patient readings to a secure, HIPPA-compliant data center. Qualified clinicians will assess confidential data throughout the one-year duration of the program. For more information visit the company's website at http://www.PharmaSmart.com. About Chain Drug Review Published by Racher Press Inc., Chain Drug Review is the leading newspaper reporting on the retail pharmacy industry and the companies that interact with it, including prescription pharmaceutical makers, front-end suppliers, drug distributors and technology vendors. For more information visit the publications website at http://www.chaindrugreview.com. The American Insurance Association (AIA) praised the Texas legislatures passage of hailstorm litigation reform legislation (HB 1774). HB 1774 passed the Senate by a vote of 21 to 7 earlier today. HB 1774 curbs lawsuit abuse related to hailstorm litigation by requiring notice before a suit can be filed to permit the insurer to address any outstanding claim issues. The legislation now heads to the Governor for his signature. A statement from Fred C. Bosse, AIAs Southwest region vice president, follows: Todays passage of HB 1774 by the Texas Senate is an important step toward ending rampant hailstorm-related lawsuit abuse. Weather-related lawsuit abuse was not only creating an insurance claims crisis in parts of Texas; it was also subjecting homeowners to predatory adjusters and trial lawyers. HB 1774 prohibits this practice and provides a 60-day window for insurers to address any outstanding claims issues. AIA applauds the Texas legislature for passing much needed legislation addressinghailstorm-related lawsuit abuse and providing Texans the relief they need. We specifically want to thank Chairman Kelly Hancock and Representative Greg Bonnen for their leadership and sponsorship of HB 1774. Additionally, AIA would like to recognize Texans for Lawsuit Reform for its tireless work in advocating for hail litigation lawsuit reform. Insurance coverage for autonomous vehicles will bring US$81 billion in new premiums to the U.S. auto insurance industry over the next eight years, driven by risks related to cybersecurity, software and hardware and by the need for additional public infrastructure coverage, according to a new report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Stevens Institute of Technology. Insurers are bracing for long-term declines in auto premiums as new and safer autonomous vehicles gain adoption, said John Cusano, a senior managing director at Accenture and global head of the companys Insurance practice. However, our research suggests that auto premiums will increase before they decline on this trend, so insurers that can navigate the changing technology environment could win market share. For the report, Insuring Autonomous Vehicles: An $81 Billion Opportunity by 2025, Stevens Institute of Technology developed several models to evaluate the impact of autonomous vehicle technology on the insurance industry. These models were then applied to different scenarios and insurance products based on parameters set by Accentures Insurance and Connected Transport teams. The research found that cybersecurity, product (software and hardware) liability and public infrastructure insurance for autonomous vehicles could reach a total of US$81 billion by 2025. The report notes that this premium growth will precede an anticipated decline in industry revenue beginning in 2026 and that, as roads become safer and policies shift from consumers to autonomous vehicle manufacturers and other service providers, insurers will see reduced demand for personal insurance. Larry Karp, a co-author of the report and global insurance telematics lead in Accenture Mobility, part of Accenture Digital, said, Three new business lines cybersecurity, product liability for sensors and software algorithms, and public infrastructure are going to drive billions in new insurance premiums for the U.S. auto insurance industry in the coming years. Forward-thinking insurers are already putting these new products at the top of their agenda as they look to capitalize on the first-mover advantage. The research found that cybersecurity insurance will be the greatest potential driver of new premiums, totaling US$64 billion by 2025, followed by product liability insurance (US$14 billion) and public infrastructure insurance (US$3 billion). These three new business lines include: Cybersecurity: Protection against remote vehicle theft, unauthorized entry, ransomware and hijacking of vehicle controls, as well as coverage for identity theft, privacy breaches and the theft or misuse of personal data. Product liability for sensors and software algorithms: Manufacturer coverage for failures related to communications (e.g., internet connection), software (including bugs, memory overflow and program defects) and hardware (sensory circuit failure, camera vision loss, and radar and lidar failures). Public infrastructure: Insurance for cloud server systems that manage traffic and road networks, in addition to failure of external sensors and signals; and communication problems originating at the system level. Chen Liu, co-author of the report and a research assistant at Stevens Institute of Technologys School of Systems and Enterprises, said, This research is an important step in helping insurers understand how their business models need to evolve over the next decade. Autonomous-vehicle technology will drive a significant shift in risk from human error to malicious third party, software, hardware and infrastructure risk. Understanding and proactively responding to this anticipated enterprise transformation is imperative. For more information on the report, please click here. About the Research Accenture, in collaboration with Stevens Institute of Technology, conducted proprietary research into autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on the insurance industry in the United States. The research was conducted from October 2016 to March 2017. Dynamic algorithmic forecasting models were constructed, with researchers using different variables and assumptions to forecast expected premium declines and gains for U.S. insurers. These assumptions included, among other things, differing speed of adoption and market saturation of autonomous-vehicle technology; accident rates and severity; population and vehicle mileage growth rates; current and future expected software and hardware failure rates; and expected sensor requirements in small, medium and large cities. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions underpinned by the worlds largest delivery network Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 401,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at http://www.accenture.com. About Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University, is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, N.J. overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Founded in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark and legacy of Stevens education and research programs for 147 years. Within the universitys three schools and one college, 6,600 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate with more than 290 full-time faculty members in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment to advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront global challenges. Stevens is home to three national research centers of excellence, as well as joint research programs focused on critical industries such as healthcare, energy, finance, defense, maritime security, STEM education and coastal sustainability. The university is consistently ranked among the nations elite for return on investment for students, career services programs and mid-career salaries of alumni. Stevens is in the midst of a 10-year strategic plan, The Future. Ours to Create., designed to further extend the Stevens legacy to create a forward-looking and far-reaching institution with global impact. PM-CP Logo The same terroir that produces such intense flavors and soft tannins in our grapes produces ultra-premium high quality olives for oil! Glen Lajeski, SRSR In the recent 5th Annual New York International Olive Oil Competition, two olive oils grown on Cloverdale's Pine Mountain took home awards! Competing with oils produced all over the world, including such widely recognized sources as Italy, Greece and Spain, Pine Mountain's Silverwood Ranch and Split Rocks Springs Ranch (SRSR) oils received Gold and Silver Medals, respectively. This is not the first time for these high quality extra virgin olive oils as they have previously medaled at the Silver level in both New York and Los Angeles. Silverwood Ranch High Elevation Extra Virgin Olive Oil won a Gold Medal and Split Rock Springs Ranch Organic Medium Blend took Silver for the third year in a row! Like the grapes grown on Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak (PM-CP) AVA (American Viticultural Area), the high elevation terroir is capable of producing beautiful, very high quality olives. All entrants into this competition, sponsored by the Olive Oil Times, were judged by internationally renowned olive oil judges. According to Barry Hoffner, who owns the 1,200 acre Silverwood Ranch with wife Jackie, the olives from their 200 trees are harvested and then pressed within hours, in nearby Hopland, thus preserving the aromatics and flavors of these olives. The olives are a mixture Italian cultivars including Frantoio, Pendolino, Maurino and Leccino. The trees were already three years old when planted in 2005 and produce between 60 - 100 gallons annually. Unfortunately this limited supply, sold in 1/2 gallon bottles by advanced subscription, make it a bit difficult to obtain. The 1200 acre Silverwood Ranch, located high atop Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak AVA in northern Alexander Valley near Cloverdale, CA, recently sold their 100 acre Silverwood Vineyard to Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Split Rock Springs Ranch (SRSR) Organic Medium Blend, produced by ranch owners Glen Lajeski and Gerry Etcheverry, from their 1500 trees has received numerous awards over the past 3 years from both New York and Los Angeles. The olives include mostly Italian and one Spanish cultivar: Arbequina, Moraiolo, Taggiasca, Maurino, Leccino, Frantoio, Pendolino, Coratina. SRSR first commercial production occurred in 2008 just two years after planting. Unlike Silverwood's limited production, SRSR produces about 700 gallons annually. SRSR olive oil can be found locally in Cloverdale, CA and by emailing Glen. Check website for email address. SRSR will also ship in select quantities. Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak continues to grow its reputation, along with its ultra-premium Bordeaux varietal grapes and olives. Established as an AVA in 2011, PM-CP has seen the entrance of renowned producers like Jackson Family Wines, who have about 100 planted acres within the AVA and Imagery Estates, among other boutique premium labels such as Miro Cellars, Ampere, Bob Dog and Respite Wines. The Family Coppola recently announced the purchase of the 13 acre Silverwood Vineyard, from the Hoffners, to assure the continued sourcing of Pine Mountain fruit for their Francis Ford Coppola flagship Archimedes label. About Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA The Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Appellation was established in December 2011 and is one of the highest elevation grape-growing regions in California. The AVA, which rises from 1,600 feet at its lowest point to 3,000 feet at the mountains peak, has grapes growing primarily at 1,800 feet and higher. The very high elevation of the mountain affects fog cover, hours of daylight, daytime and nighttime temperatures, rainfall, and wind virtually every climatic element influencing wine grape production. http://www.pinemountainava.org/ PM-CP MEDIA CONTACT Barry Hoffner 707-894-9519 Its great to see data demonstrate that treatment specific education can influence patient adherence--even in IV therapy. Navigating Cancer, the leading patient relationship management technology provider in cancer care announced the release of a retrospective, multi-center study that shows significant improvement in IV treatment adherence and one year survival rates for lung cancer patients receiving and viewing a digital series of education about their treatment compared to patients who did not view treatment information. The results are published in an abstract in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago (Abstract e18025). Navigating Cancers patient relationship management platform was used to deliver a series of digital articles directly to lung cancer patients through its Patient Link service. This included information about their treatment, possible side effects and how to manage their symptoms. Delivery of the information was timed to arrive at the beginning of treatment and the first months of therapy to provide relevant information at the right time in the patient treatment journey. The analysis compared treatment adherence rates for 441 patients who viewed the education to 503 patients who did not view the information. The treatment educated patients remained on their IV treatment regimen an average of 50 days (21%) longer (p<0.01). Average one year survival rates associated with the more adherent group were significantly better compared to the group who did not receive the information (66% vs 53% respectively) (p<0.01). At Navigating Cancer, we have been committed since Day One to helping patients, their caregivers and family members with education and self-care instructions through our platform and service, said CEO Gena Cook. Its great to see this data demonstrate that treatment specific education can influence patient adherence--even in IV therapy. And to be able to demonstrate that patient survival can be improved simply by educating patients about their treatment and what to expect is really gratifying. Our patient survey data from thousands of patients has consistently shown that education and self-care instructions receive the highest patient value ratings and this data confirms the positive outcomes associated with making it available. The companys patient relationship management solution helps cancer care teams extend care into the patients home. The platform provides 24/7 access to credible personalized education, remote monitoring tools for side effects and medication adherence, and the ability to interact with their care team and hundreds of thousands of patients through an online community and more. This comprehensive support empowers patients to be a partner in their care and enables providers to understand their patients needs outside the clinic, to ensure issues are quickly managed, resulting in fewer hospitalizations and better patient outcomes. About Navigating Cancer Navigating Cancer was founded in 2008 as the result of two healthcare and technology veterans coming together to fill a critical gap in oncology care: a better patient experience. Driven by a shared passion to leverage technology in the healthcare space, the co-founders set out to create the first patient-centered platform for oncology. Today, the Navigating Care platform supports over one million patients and thousands of cancer care providers nationwide to lower costs, improve patient satisfaction and drive better outcomes. Avionos, a digital solutions provider focused on delivering experiences for the connected consumer, has launched a partnership with commercetools, a leading cloud-based platform for next generation commerce. This strategic partnership will enable retailers, as well as consumer packaged goods (CPG) and brand manufacturers to enhance the digital customer experience beyond traditional omnichannel commerce concepts. As always-on is becoming the status quo, brands and retailers are looking for new ways to cut through the noise and reach their customers. With the help of Avionos digital expertise, commercetools microservices-based commerce platform helps businesses to break down the boundaries of traditional online shopping environments and gives them the freedom to create rich customer experiences in real-time. Businesses that deliver direct-to-consumer (D2C) will have the tools they need to close the sale at any moment. By providing the capability to add online transactions, product catalogs, and cart and order management, consumers can make a purchase whenever and wherever they prefer to shop. The commercetools platform helps retailers and brands significantly reduce both cost and risk by providing microservices building blocks that weave on-demand commerce functionality into numerous old and new omnichannel touchpoints alike. Rather than spending a lot of time and money building massive commerce programs upfront, this experience-driven commerce strategy allows brands to refine and optimize their strategy on the go. It will deliver solutions that provide customers the ability to respond to consumer demand faster than ever, while still having a tremendous amount of business tool capabilities for their day-to-day activities. At Avionos, we fundamentally believe that agility and responsiveness are critical skills that make retail experiences successful. By providing an offering that allows brands to co-create with consumers at speed and scale, were putting control into the hands of the consumer, said Scott Webb, President of Avionos. We were looking for a partner that would enable us to deliver that type of service to our clients and that possessed the shared vision of what commerce could be. With their proven track record, theres no doubt that commercetools has the maturity and experience required. Founded in Germany in 2006, commercetools innovative approach to digital commerce challenged the monolithic and inflexible strategies that were common among traditional platforms. With a vision to go beyond selling through traditional desktop-based webshops, the company added mobile commerce support early and consequently expanded its functionality to include new ways to make customer interactions shoppable. Two years ago, commercetools successfully launched in the United States. The company was recently included in The Forrester Wave: B2C Commerce Suites, Q1 2017 for the first time as a contender, in which they referred to the commerce solution provider as a good fit for firms looking to innovate on commerce. Retailers are looking to break away from the traditional, rigid platforms and take the next step in their commerce evolution, but theyve been limited by choices in partners and technology, said Arthur Lawida, President of commercetools in the US. We found that by combining our technology with Avionos capabilities, we were able to create a synergy that will put more control of the experience in the hands of the business and the marketers, enabling us to move our customers into the next generation. The experience-driven commerce model is the future of retail and were very excited to have Avionos as one of our first North American partners to take it to market. About Avionos Avionos is the digital services and solutions firm that delivers connected customer engagement and extends the brand promise beyond traditional expectations. Avionos brings together marketing, sales, and customer care to drive unparalleled business outcomes via connected and cloud technologies working with clients such as the American Medical Association, Kelloggs, Plantronics, and Sears. Visit http://www.avionos.com for more information. About commercetools commercetools is a next generation software technology company that offers a true cloud commerce platform, providing the building blocks for the new digital commerce age. Our leading-edge API approach helps retailers create brand value by empowering commerce teams to design unique and engaging digital commerce experiences everywhere today and in the future. Our agile, componentized architecture improves profitability by significantly reducing development time and resources required to migrate to modern commerce technology and meet new customer demands. The innovative platform design enables commerce possibilities for the future by offering the option to either use the platform's entire set of features or deploy individual services, a la carte over time. This state-of-the-art architecture is the perfect starting point for customized microservices, enabling retailers to significantly reduce time-to-market for innovative commerce functionalities. With offices in Germany and the United States, B2C and B2B companies from across the globe including well-known brands in fashion, E-Food, and DIY retail trust commercetools to power their digital commerce business. Visit http://www.commercetools.com for more information. Shoes For Crews Successfully Implements Centric PLM [Centric Software's] PLM solution helped us to design great, commercial shoes. Shoes For Crews, a top producer of slip resistant footwear for the workplace, has successfully implemented Centric Softwares Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software is the leading PLM solution for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods companies. Founded in 1984, Shoes For Crews first launched a safe and comfortable shoe for nurses and quickly expanded to producing shoes and boots with a proprietary slip-resistant outsole that provides traction in workplaces with slippery floors. Shoes For Crews has been an industry leader in safety for over three decades and is now the safety footwear of choice in more than 100,000 professional kitchens, medical facilities and industrial workplaces worldwide. Shoes For Crews selected Centric Softwares PLM solution to provide a solid foundation during a time of growth and development. Rollout of Centric PLM was completed on budget and one month ahead of schedule; just in time to support the complete relaunch of the Shoes For Crews brand in April 2017. Shoes For Crews has gone through a total transformation in the past year, explains Shoes For Crews President, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer Stuart Jenkins. Our new product development team has been working extremely hard to produce a completely new collection of 77 styles that reflect a workforce that now includes more young people and women than ever before. Safety shoes and boots dont have to be hard, heavy and ugly to be effective. They can be comfortable, lightweight and stylish, and the PLM solution helped us to design great, commercial shoes. To support this intense period of product development and design, Shoes For Crews needed a flexible and user-friendly PLM solution that could handle data effectively. The original projected go-live date was beat by more than a month, just 42 business days after the kick-off date. Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software, says, The Shoes For Crews project has been a model implementation for Centric and we are delighted to be able to support them as they launch an entirely new product collection. The new Shoes For Crews brand has a bright future, and we are proud to partner with them to achieve their growth and development goals. Shoes For Crews (http://www.shoesforcrews.com) Shoes For Crews is the category creator and a leading designer and marketer of slip-resistant footwear worldwide. Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, Shoes For Crews began producing slip-resistant footwear in 1984. Shoes For Crews strives to create a safer workplace in all industries where floor hazards are a reality. The high-performance culinary footwear brand MOZO and the work boot brand ACE are also part of the Shoes For Crews family of brands. President and CEO Stuart Jenkins, a footwear industry veteran with 38 years of experience, joined the company in February, 2016 and has since brought in a seasoned design and development team. The Shoes For Crews teams focus is to deliver the ultimate in slip resistant outsole technology and unmatched comfort with classic and fashion styling, through a complete line of footwear designed to bring each employee home safely at the end of the shift, whether they work in food service, hospitality, industrial, healthcare or other workplace environments. For more information on Shoes For Crews, visit http://www.shoesforcrews.com. Centric Software (http://www.centricsoftware.com) From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software builds technologies for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, and consumer goods. Its flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses. Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivans Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015, and 2016. Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. (end) Media Contacts: Centric Software Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe(at)centricsoftware(dot)com Europe: Kristen Salaun Batby, ksalaun-batby(at)centricsoftware(dot)com Asia: Lily Dong, lilydong(at)centricsoftware(dot)com Students from The Vista School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, will experience a morning of making donuts and a behind-the-scenes look at the new Duck Donuts in Hershey, opening to the public May 19. As a new member of the Hershey community, Duck Donuts is thrilled to offer Vista School children an opportunity to experience what its like to make their own donuts, and be an honorary member of our Duck Donuts family. Duck Donuts has invited students from The Vista School, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to enjoy a morning of donut-making and decorating their own Duck Donuts creation while experiencing a behind-the-scenes look at the companys third Pennsylvania donut shop. Todd Plummer, Stephanie Plummer, and Tara Detwiler, co-owners of the new Duck Donuts in Hershey, at 261 West Chocolate Avenue, will host the students on May 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, before the store officially opens to the public on May 19. Russ DiGilio, founder and owner of Duck Donuts Franchising Company LLC, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, PA, will be on-site to share the story of Pennsylvania-headquartered Duck Donuts and its organic growth with 37 open stores and 126 additional contracts as of May 1. We are so excited to introduce the Hershey community to Duck Donuts and to give the honor of making the very first donuts at our shop to an inspirational group of young people that we admire. The students from The Vista School will learn about making fresh donuts, and they can create their own personal creation all in a sensory-friendly environment, says Todd Plummer, co-owner of Duck Donuts in Hershey. If we can make learning fun while we make some award-winning donuts, and share some special time with our young friends from The Vista School, then were off to a great start in the community. The Hershey launch is unique because Todd, Stephanie, and Tara have combined their passion for warm, delicious & made to order donuts with a special way to celebrate children, even before the doors open. As part of our company culture, we emphasize the importance of giving back to the communities we are fortunate to serve, says DiGilio. Our #QuackGivesBack initiative is franchise-wide and each store chooses the charity or organization they will donate to. The Hershey co-owners chose The Vista School Playground Project because they see the tremendous impact the school has on a family thats close to them. Autism Awareness was highlighted in April, and the Hershey co-owners are making sure that the awareness and education continues. Community-based instruction is part of The Vista Schools curriculum and ordering a donut, watching the actual frying, choosing any combination of toppings, drizzles, and frostings, and then packaging their treats is an exercise the students will really enjoy, says Linda Whipple, Director of Development at The Vista School. Theyll learn what Duck Donuts team members do and perhaps learn skills they can use later when theyre working in paid positions with local employers. The Vista School brings state-of-the-art special education and therapeutic services to children living with autism in central Pennsylvania. A group of highly committed parents and professionals help prepare their students for adulthood through increased independence, says DiGilio. As a new member of the Hershey community, Duck Donuts is thrilled to offer the children an opportunity to experience what its like to make their own donuts, and be an honorary member of our Duck Donuts family. Duck Donut Facts: Hershey is the third Pennsylvania Duck Donuts location to open, following Lancaster and Mechanicsburg. There are 4 scheduled to open in PA including King of Prussia, State College, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. There are currently 37 open Duck Donuts franchise locations. Duck Donuts are best enjoyed warm with a cup of their signature coffee blends, Riptide Roast, Light House Blend, or Sunset Pier Decaf. There is a viewing station at every Duck Donuts location for children (and grownups) to watch their donuts being made before their eyes. Upcoming Duck Donuts locations projected to open in May 2017 include; Nags Head, NC; Dayton, Ohio; Alpharetta, GA; Wilmington, NC; and Baltimore, MD. Autism Facts: More than 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder. 1 in 68 children are born with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. 70 million individuals worldwide have autism. Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States 1 in 42 boys are diagnosed with autism. 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism. A child can be diagnosed with autism as early as 18 months. About Duck Donuts Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 by Russ DiGilio in Duck, North Carolina. His intention? To solve a family vacation problem: Our family wanted a place to buy warm, delicious & made to order! donuts, and when we couldnt find one, we decided to start our own. By 2011, Duck Donuts had expanded to four Outer Banks locations and the donut business was so successful that DiGilio was continuously approached about franchise opportunities and by fans who begged for a Duck Donuts in their communities. The first franchise opened in Williamsburg, VA, in 2013, and there are now 37 open franchise locations and 126 additional contracts. Duck Donuts emphasizes the importance of giving back to the local community through their #QuackGivesBack initiatives every month and their national corporate partnership with Chemo Duck. Our mission is twofold, says DiGilio, to serve the most amazing warm, delicious, and made-to-order donuts, and to contribute to the communities we call home. The Duck Donuts Experience We discovered that the most powerful marketing advantage we have is the aroma of warm donuts wafting from every store. Our light vanilla cake donut is a little crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, made fresh right in front of you, hand-dipped in hot icing, and sprinkled with your choice of delicious toppings and drizzles. Its that simple, says DiGilio. Children (and grownups) love to stand on the strategically placed step in the waiting area, allowing them to see the entire process as the donut machine cooks and carries their donuts down the line, where they are dipped, topped, packaged, and served warm in the box. Duck Donuts serves its own signature coffee blendsRiptide Roast, Light House Blend, and Sunset Pier Decaf with new special seasonal flavors changing throughout the yearand offers breakfast options, as well as catering services. Indoor and outdoor seating is available at most locations. To learn more or to share your Duck Donuts experience, Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, or send us a Tweet. ### Palma Ceia SemiDesign We welcome Palma Ceia SemiDesign to Wi-Fi Alliance and look forward to their contributions in developing solutions for the Internet of Things market. -- Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. Palma Ceia SemiDesign (PCS), a provider of next-generation wireless connectivity solutions, today announced it joined Wi-Fi Alliance, a global non profit industry association driving the adoption and interoperability of Wi-Fi devices, as a Contributor member. PCS is a fabless semiconductor company offering wireless chips, systems and IP focusing on connectivity solutions for emerging Wi-Fi and cellular standards serving Internet of Things (IoT), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and other markets. We welcome Palma Ceia SemiDesign to Wi-Fi Alliance and look forward to their contributions in developing solutions for the Internet of Things market, said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. We invite participation from companies like Palma Ceia in Wi-Fi Alliance to deliver long-range, low-power wireless capabilities important to IoT applications. PCS offers wireless chips, systems and IP focusing on connectivity solutions for emerging WiFi and cellular standards for Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications. New standards PCS is addressing include 802.11ah, LTE NB1 and LTE M; and already offers a Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) transceiver and is developing associated digital components, as well as application-specific modules and systems. Founded in 2012, the company has delivered silicon-proven IP for Wi-Fi standards such as 802.11ac, 802.11ax and 802.11ah. Wi-Fi Alliance has introduced Wi-Fi HaLow as the designation for products incorporating IEEE 802.11ah technology. Wi-Fi HaLow operates in frequency bands below one gigahertz, offering longer range, lower power connectivity to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products. Wi-Fi HaLow will enable a variety of new power-efficient use cases in the Smart Home, connected car, and digital healthcare, as well as industrial, retail, agriculture, and Smart City environments. Palma Ceia will contribute and actively participate in Wi-Fi Alliance, especially to see the commercial deployment of Wi-Fi solutions like Wi-Fi HaLow, said Roy E. Jewell, co-founder and president of Palma Ceia. Wi-Fi Alliance is an exemplary organization and the Wi-Fi logo is respected as a mark of reliability and interoperability. About Palma Ceia SemiDesign Palma Ceia SemiDesign (PCS) is a provider of communication IP and chips for next-generation WiFi (802.11ah) and Cellular (LTE NB1 and LTE M) applications. With a focus on emerging standards, PCS supports the design of high-performance devices for broadband, wireless, medical and automotive applications. PCS solutions are differentiated by low-power, high-performance designs and ease of integration. With headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., the company has design operations in McKinney, Texas, and sales and support activities in China, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Visit Palma Ceia SemiDesign on the web at http://www.pcsemi.com. About Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi Alliance is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internets traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day. Palma Ceia SemiDesign and the Palma Ceia SemiDesign logo are trademarks of Palma Ceia SemiDesign, Inc., and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations. Dave Pearson at the Euroheat Conference We're extremely pleased with how well the Euroheat & Power Congress went for Star Renewable Energy Taking place at the SEC Glasgow from 14-17 May 2017, the event programme included a business exhibition, conferences, discussions and keynote speeches along with social events and business exchanges. In addition to attending the exhibition and the company stand receiving lots of interest from visitors, Director Dave Pearson shared details of the companys new project for Glasgows Gorbals, which is set to deploy Britain's largest inner city water source heat pump for district heating. As part of the social calendar delegates enjoyed an exclusive whisky tasting event also sponsored by Star. The evening function took place at one of Scotlands most visited attractions, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which houses one of Europe great art collections, including Salvador Dalis masterpiece Christ of St John of the Cross. Dave Pearson, Director of Star Renewable Energy, said, Were extremely pleased with how well the EuroHeat & Power Congress went for SRE. We wanted to have a big involvement this year because it was based in our hometown of Glasgow so there were lots of opportunities to show off Scottish innovation. The talks on the economic and environmental benefits of the water source heat pump being built on the river Clyde to serve the Gorbals were well attended, and the exhibition was well received and sparked interest from visitors. Additionally, we had the opportunity to sponsor a malt whisky tasting session to show our international guests what else we do best here in Scotland! As experts in district heat pumps and pioneers of low carbon heating technology, SRE was confident in taking a strong position at this years EHP Congress following the release of the Scottish Government Energy Plan which highlights the key role district heat pumps will play in achieving the countrys 2030 and 2050 carbon emission targets. Euroheat & Power is a non-profit organisation creating an international network for district energy. It promotes sustainable heating and cooling innovations and brings together research bodies, universities, businesses and industry associations from over 30 countries worldwide. The 38th Euroheat & Power Congress ran from 14-17 May at SEC Glasgow. To find out more about Star Renewable Energy and the companys innovative heat pumps, go to http://www.neatpumps.com Continuous education empowers marketers to be successful BrightEdge, the global leader in enterprise organic search and content performance, announced today that it is rolling out a wide range of new initiatives aimed at bringing the latest organic search best practices to wider content and digital marketing communities. Recent product innovations, the expansion of marketing resources and the launch of geo-based user groups are all powering rapid customer success and momentum. The Share Global Insights Tour is the cornerstone of the BrightEdge commitment to education. This kicks off today with the (sold-out) one day event, Share New York- the blend of SEO and content marketing professionals in attendance being a massive indicator that SEO and Content Marketing disciplines are converging. The conference series continues with dates in London on June 8, San Francisco on Sept. 21 and Chicago on Oct. 4. Registration is open on the Share Insights Tour event page. The future of search is truly awesome, says Jim Yu, CEO and co-founder BrightEdge. We want to work closely with marketers to help them implement best practices with first-to-market product innovations. Continuous education empowers marketers to be successful. Other elements of the educational commitment include; Summer School Webinar Series: The Summer School webinar series is designed to meet the exploding demand for SEO savvy marketers. In the series, the next generation of content marketers will learn SEO best practices and how to use SEO to drive content strategy and deliver results. Example topics are focused around quick SEO wins, making the case for SEO and creating content that performs. On demand webinars can be viewed via the BrightEdge resource library. BrightEdge User Group Expansion: Following on from the success of user groups in London, Minneapolis, New York and Chicago new groups are being launched in all major marketing hubs with San Francisco scheduled for May 31. The spirited, high-value user group sessions allow marketers to meet face-to-face in a friendly setting to tackle their questions about best practices while they broaden their professional networks. Certification and Product Innovation Education: Between quarterly in-person meetings, users keep in touch through the BrightEdge Certified LinkedIn group. The educational and support initiatives complement powerful new product offerings from BrightEdge such as BrightEdge Intent Signal: helping search marketers understand and optimize for organic potential and capture more of the organic opportunity. HyperLocal: allowing marketers to track demand and content performance for over 32,000 U.S. and 36,000 non-U.S. city search locations. ContentIQ; helping marketers identify the site errors that impact organic search performance. Search can be overwhelmingly complex, said Boaz Ronkin, BrightEdge Vice President of Product Marketing. As search moves into mainstream marketing, we realize that it is more important than ever to invest in ways to support our customers always with an eye on helping them deliver real results and ROI. About BrightEdge BrightEdge, the global leader in enterprise organic search and content performance, empowers marketers to transform online content into business results such as traffic, conversions and revenue. The BrightEdge S3 platform is powered by a sophisticated deep learning engine and is the only company capable of web-wide, real-time measurement of content engagement across all digital channels, including search, social and mobile. BrightEdges 1,500+ customers include global brands such as 3M, Microsoft and Nike, as well as 57 of the Fortune 100. The company has eight offices worldwide and is headquartered in Foster City, California. Visit our website: http://www.brightedge.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brightedge Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brightedge Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seoplatform Pik Rite Receives National SBEAP Award Pik Rite truly embodies what it means to be a successful small business and role model to others." - Nancy Crickman The National Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs (SBEAP) have recognized Pik Rite, Inc. as the 2017 winner of its Small Business Environmental Stewardship Award. The company, based in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania was chosen by the SBEAPs National Steering Committee. The award was presented on May 17 at the SBEAP/Small Business Ombudsman Annual Conference held in Denver, Colorado. Pik Rite, Inc. designs and manufactures innovative, quality-built vegetable harvesters, agricultural manure spreaders, commercial waste handling and specialized vacuum tanks, dump bodies and debris collectors. Pik Rite equipment is customized to meet the needs of many industries including farming, commercial waste hauling, gas drilling, construction, and municipal waste, and is used domestically and exported to 26 countries. Nominated by the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP), Pik Rite, Inc. was recognized for its accomplishments in the areas of environmental compliance, implementing energy efficiency and pollution prevention practices, bringing new innovative products to market, and for developing lean manufacturing practices. Pik Rite truly embodies what it means to be a successful small business and role model to others. Pik Rites activities have inspired other Pennsylvania small businesses to successfully achieve company growth while showing a true commitment to the environment. We are pleased to have provided assistance with environmental regulatory requirements, upgrading equipment to become more energy efficient, and sustainability initiatives as they have prospered and grown, said Nancy Crickman, Director of Environmental, Energy, and Technology Services at the Pennsylvania SBDC. The SBEAPs National Steering Committee Awards are the countrys premier environmental awards for recognizing outstanding environmental performance, programs and individuals. The awards honor and recognize small businesses, individuals, trade associations and others who have made significant contributions to protecting the environment. We are very pleased to recognize Pik Rite for their many efforts in going above and beyond in their compliance with environmental requirements, said Tony Pendola, SBEAP National Steering Committee Chair. A manufacturer such as Pik Rite faces many challenges in todays world. We are excited to hear that they found SBEAP resources in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prove to be very meaningful, resourceful, and dependable for the small business community. More information about the state Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs is available at https://nationalsbeap.org/. About the Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs (SBEAPs) The Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs were created under Section 507 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. For more than 25 years, the SBEAPs have provided extensive, hands-on technical assistance to small businesses across the country to help them understand and comply with complex environmental regulations. The SBEAPs recently launched a new website, https://nationalsbeap.org/which is a resource for program participants and small businesses. You can find your state specific contact at: https://nationalsbeap.org/states. About Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) The Pennsylvania SBDC network is the only statewide, nationally accredited program that provides high quality one-on-one consulting, training and information resources to empower new and existing businesses. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, individualized sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business plan, investigating funding opportunities, and much more. The SBDC program is a public/private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth. For more information on the Pennsylvania SBDC services and impact, please visit http://www.pasbdc.org. ### 100 companies were honored with the Workforce 100 distinction. ...Workforce 100 continue[s] to grow in popularity and [we] are excited about its ability to assess performance to organizations with greater accuracy. Workforce magazine, a Human Capital Media publication, announced its 2017 Workforce 100 prestigious honorees. Now in its fourth year, the Workforce 100 designates companies as the best in HR management through statistical analysis conducted by Human Capital Media Advisory Group. The Workforce list includes Google at No. 1, Facebook at No. 2, Coca-Cola at No. 3, Deloitte at No. 4 and AT&T at No. 5; 25 previously unranked companies also made the list for the first time, including Ultimate Software (No. 19), West Monroe Partners (No. 31), LaSalle Network (No. 38) and Grant Thornton (No. 92). For the past four years, we have watched Workforce 100 continue to grow in popularity and are excited about its ability to assess performance to organizations with greater accuracy, said Rick Bell, Workforce editorial director. Many companies ask about the methodology in ranking the Workforce 100 list. We collaborate with our research arm, Human Capital Media Advisory Group, which created a formula to sift through publicly available information and results in a valuable industry benchmark. The Workforce 100 chart indicates the rank order and scores of the 100 companies that performed best in seven core areas: workplace culture; employee benefits; diversity and inclusion; employee development/ talent management; HR innovation/management; leadership development; recruiting and talent acquisition. The working assumption is that high performance in these categories would provide a reasonable proxy for overall HR excellence. Workforce 100 honorees were announced on April 21, 2017 and all organizations will be profiled in the May/June issue of Workforce magazine. For more information on the program, methodology and past & current honorees, please visit Workforce.com/awards/workforce-100. Car-selling platform SwapMotors.com was selected as a finalist in the Best Consumer Web Start-up category for the 2017 Moxie Awards. The innovative start-up helps car owners sell their vehicles in an online auction, eliminating the traditional methods such as trade-ins, direct-to-dealers or selling through classifieds. Were proud to have been selected as a finalist for Moxie Awards said Alex Johnson, CEO and founder of Swap Motors, Especially this early in our journey, its exciting to be a part of the growing Chicago tech community. Swap Motors finalist selection comes in mere months since the company began its operations. The response, according to Johnson has been great. Were solving two critical problems that people face while selling used cars price and convenience. We get them the best price by having dealers bid for the car in an online auction, and we do everything in the process to make that happen. The company is currently serving customers in the Chicagoland area and is steadily growing its customer base. Katrina, a resident of Chicago, recently sold her 2013 Lincoln MKX through Swap Motors for $1,250 more than she was offered by a local dealer. Sharing her experience, Katrina said, Swap Motors worked around my busy schedule, came to my workplace for an inspection and picked up the car from my home on a Sunday. The Moxie Awards, hosted by Built in Chicago, celebrates the best in Chicago tech and recognizes entrepreneurs and companies that are born and bred in Chicago. The 2017 Moxie Awards will take place on June 7 at the Morgan Manufacturing. Voting for finalists is open to the public until May 19. Award winners will be decided based on a combination of 50 percent votes from public and 50 percent scores from judges. About Launched in 2017, Swap Motors provides car owners an easy, safe and convenient way to sell their vehicles at their convenience. The companys goal is to bring value back to the car owners by cutting out the hassle of middlemen, providing more money for the car, in less time. Swap Motors currently serves the Chicago metro area, covering cities within a 100-mile radius of the city. Visit http://www.swapmotors.com for more information. Dr. Bertram Lubin will be speaking at Hanna Boys Center Hanna Boys Center is thrilled to announce that Bertram Lubin, M.D., Associate Dean of Childrens Health UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland, will be the keynote speaker at its next Professional Networking Breakfast on June 8, 2017. Dr. Lubin will speak about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), health and youth. Joining Dr. Lubin will be Dayna Long, M.D., of UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland and Barbie Robinson, M.P.P., J.D., Director of Health Services, Sonoma County. The breakfast will provide an opportunity for public education, healthcare and human services professionalsas well as others engaged in youth wellness, advocacy and educationto come together and network. We are elated to have someone of Dr. Lubins stature share with our community some of the scientific and pediatric research coming out of USCF and other pediatric health centers, which we hope will spawn new conversations and action here at Hanna Boys Center and beyond, says Mary Kelly Persyn, director of the Hanna Institute. In our community as we collectively work to heal trauma and build resilience, Hanna Institute is committed to bringing to the forefront leaders like the team on this breakfast series, which will focus on various aspects of health, youth and ACEs. To register for this breakfast lecture, which takes place on Thursday, June 8, 2017 from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m., go to: https://www.hannacenter.org/forms/community-professionals-breakfast.aspx. Or you can contact Leslie Petersen at lpetersen(at)hannacenter(dot)org or 707-933-2555. The cost of the event is $30 per person (tables of 8 are available for $225), and because seating is limited, registration is required. The event will be held at Hanna Boys Center Auditorium, 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, CA 95476. Save the dates for future Professional Breakfast Series events: September 14, 2017: Judge Troy L. Nunley, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California December 14, 2017: Villy Wang, BAYCAT, CEO & Founder About Bertram Lubin, M.D. Bertram Lubin, M.D., joined Childrens Hospital & Research Center Oakland in 1973 as Chief of Hematology/Oncology. In 1984 he became the Director of Medical Research. Under his leadership, basic, clinical and translational research activities expanded. He transformed the small research program into a highly successful enterprise called Childrens Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). Dr. Lubin has served on numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) committees, community based health consortia, and university panels across the United States. He has secured and directed NIH grants for over 40 years in a variety of areas. In 2009 Dr. Lubin was chosen to serve as the President & Chief Executive Officer of what became UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland, until his appointment by the University of California San Francisco as Associate Dean of Childrens Health in 2016. Dr. Lubin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, completed a residency in pediatrics at the Philadelphia Childrens Hospital, subspecialty training at Boston Childrens Hospital and was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as an Associate Professor for six years prior to his move to Childrens. Watch Dr. Lubins compelling discussion on Tedx: Childhood Poverty https://youtu.be/iEBaAoKCoXM About Hanna Boys Center Since 1945, Hanna Boys Center has changed the lives of thousands of at-risk, motivated youth through faith, education and caring, helping them grow into productive members of society. Hanna exists to help at-risk teens overcome the effects of childhood adversityto become responsible, productive adults and realize their highest potential. We do this by providing a nurturing and therapeutic residential environment, a tailored educational model, and trained, caring adults who help kids create positive, permanent change in their lives. http://www.hannacenter.org Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect, announces today that Wade Jurney Homes, a home builder building affordable, quality homes throughout the Carolinas area and built upon a foundation of unmatched customer service, reliability, and trust, will donate an additional mortgage-free home to a military family. Wade Jurney Homes donated their first home in January in Salisbury, North Carolina, and will donate another home this September in Holly Ridge as part of Operation Homefronts Homes on the Homefront program. We are very excited to build on this relationship and place another deserving military family in a mortgage-free home, said Brig. Gen. (ret.) Robert Thomas, chief operating officer for Operation Homefront. With the help of partners like Wade Jurney, more military families can thrive not simply get by living in the communities theyve worked so hard to protect. The new one-story, three-bedroom, 1,513 square-foot single-family home will be built in a charming community that is convenient to many coastal amenities. Applications for the new home begin today until midnight on June 17. To apply for the home, please visit http://www.homesonthehomefront.org. "Wade Jurney Homes wanted the opportunity to give back to the community and the men and women who serve our country, said Wade G. Jurney Jr., president of Wade Jurney Homes. Partnering with Operation Homefront gives us the ability to build a home for those who have given so much for us. We are looking forward to a partnership now and for years to come. Wade Jurney Homes strives every day to make the dream of homeownership come true, added Jurney. We are especially honored to be able to make this dream a reality for a veteran." The Homes on the Homefront program began in 2012. Since inception, Operation Homefront has placed nearly 600 veterans and their families in mortgage-free homes providing more than $48 million in deeded value to military families. Wade Jurney is the second home builder to join the program. About Wade Jurney: Wade Jurney Homes founded in 2001 by Wade Jurney Jr, is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Company is one of the Southeasts largest regional homebuilders with over 150 communities throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. As a builder of affordable homes, the Companys legacy continues by providing homebuyers with the most square footage at the lowest price. Every Wade Jurney home is built upon a foundation of unmatched customer service, reliability and trust. Our homes are built for todays lifestyleefficient, livable and comfortable. We stand behind our homes and have been recognized as a leader in the building industry, both regionally and nationally. You can count on us to stand by our commitment to provide you More Home. Less Money. Guaranteed. About Operation Homefront: Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive not simply struggle to get by in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves Americas military families. For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org. ### The American Insurance Association (AIA) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administrations letter notifying Congress of their intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A statement from Steve Simchak, AIAs Director of International Affairs follows: NAFTA has been vital to the growth of the U.S. insurance industry, but as with any agreement thats nearly a quarter of a century old, NAFTA can be improved. Our hope is that the Administration will work to ensure that a re-negotiated NAFTA and all future agreements make it even easier for U.S. insurers to do business around the world without jeopardizing the benefits the NAFTA currently offers. Strong international trade agreements mean consumers end up with more options and U.S. insurers can continue to create jobs and invest in the U.S. BACKGROUND: NAFTA has been significantly beneficial for U.S. insurers. In addition to guaranteeing fairer treatment of our industry in Mexico and Canada, the agreement led to economic growth in all three countries. As a result, millions of people have the opportunity and need to protect their families and growing wealth through products that U.S. insurers offer. Since it came into force in 1994, there are areas of the agreement that can be improved to reflect changes that have occurred in the industry. Specific improvements that can be made include: Protect insurers ability to store and process data in the location of their choice; Expand cross-border commitments so U.S. insurers can better serve international customers; and Strengthen commitments to prevent government interference in the composition of senior management teams and boards of directors. All MY Children Daycare and Nursery Schools "There is a shortage of quality schools in a neighborhood flooded with children, commented Melanie Felsman, Sr. Manager, Communications for AMC. "We have a formula that has been successful in NYC for 2 decades and we are excited to open up a new center" Past News Releases RSS Holding true to their tag line, "Every Child is a World," All My Children was the first daycare in NYC to promote an eco-friendly environment for children to learn and grow. With over 2 decades of experience, AMC is a premiere daycare for NYCs youth. At All My Children, youngsters are carefully prepared for school- and life-readiness. The safe, nurturing, green learning environment and ethical character define AMC's dedication to the children in their care. AMC centers utilize The Creative Curriculum, Common Core standards, as well as music, movement, drama, and nature programs. The daycare and school focuses on childrens logical thinking, and cognitive and speech development. To meet the needs and interests of the Upper West Side community, AMC will open a Gifted and Talented Test Preparation Program, Emergent Second Languages and Foreign Music class (upon demand). Thanks to parents and children who have benefited from the other 14 AMC locations, a new center was born out of demand for a new school in the UWS area. All My Children Daycare has announced the opening of its 15th location on NYC's Upper West Side at 101 W. 85th St. The center will offer programs for children under 5 years of age at the state-of-the-art, eco-friendly facility. The center offers a professional staff, a quality education, childcare, hot meals, year-round programming, and much more.The school is set to open May 18th 2017, and runs five days a week from 8 o'clock to 6pm with part-time options. About All My Children Day Care and Nursery Schools: AMC provides a holistic approach to education inspired by nature. AMC not only educates the children of today, but cultivates the leaders of tomorrow. By providing children with a nurturing, responsive environment to discover, learn, grow, and realize their potential, children are empowered with school and life readiness skills leading to a brighter tomorrow. For more details please visit AMC Enrollment Media Contact Melanie Felsman mfelsman(at)amcearlylearn(dot)com 646 861 0664 As Memorial Day approaches, MB Financial President and CEO, Mitchell Feiger, signed a Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve. In coordination with the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), the pledge signals MBs commitment to offering a supportive, welcoming work environment that values military service and the employment of all service members - active and reserve. The signing took place yesterday at the banks Rosemont Financial Center. The Statement of Support affirms: MB Financial Bank fully recognizes, honors and enforces the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act (USERRA). MB managers and supervisors will have the tools they need to effectively manage those employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve. MB appreciates the values, leadership and unique skills service members bring to the workforce and will encourage opportunities to hire Guardsmen, Reservists and Veterans. MB will continually recognize and support our countrys service members and their families in peace, in crises and in war. MB is proud to join the many organizations and businesses that are already a part of this noble endeavor, said Feiger. This Statement of Support is one way we demonstrate our commitment to the men and women who have proudly served and sacrificed for our country. Furthermore, MB is in the process of chartering a Resource Group to serve the unique needs of veterans, service members, their families, and supporters through employment opportunities, training and retention of veteran talent. Today supportive employers are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nations Guard and Reserve units, said Michael Holub, IL ESGR Vice-Chair. By meeting the Statement of Support criteria, MB Financial Bank pledges to stand proudly with its Guard and Reserve employees who continue to answer their nations call to defend our way of life. Their personal sacrifices are essential to the strength of our nation. Holub added, MB Financial Bank joins a cadre of Fortune 500 companies, state and federal agencies and thousands of Americas employers in demonstrating support for our armed forces. By signing the Statement of Support, MB is sending a clear message to their employees that while they are serving their country they do not have to worry about their civilian jobs. ### About MB Financial MB Financial Bank N.A. is a Chicago-based commercial bank with approximately $19 billion in assets and a more than one-hundred-year history of building deep and lasting relationships with middle-market companies and individuals. MB Financial Bank offers a full range of powerful financial solutions and the expertise and experience of bankers who are focused on their clients success. MB Financial Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of MB Financial, Inc. (MBFI) About ESGR ESGR, a Department of Defense committee, seeks to foster a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve in the United States. For more information about ESGR outreach programs or volunteer opportunities, call (800) 336-4590 or visit http://www.ESGR.mil. Find Illinois ESGR on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IllinoisESGR or on LinkedIn. According to an April 26, 2017, article in The Intercept, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission recently recommended that a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment in the state be continued indefinitely. The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission report also concluded that innocent people have undeniably been sentenced to death in Oklahoma. The obvious problem is the permanency of the death penalty. What if we got it wrong? asked attorney Jacquelyn L. Ford, a native Oklahoman and founder of Jacquelyn Ford Law. Our system is not a perfect one, and the convictions are only as accurate as the evidence and quality of defense presented. However, in a state facing a $900 million deficit, the real issue becomes the foolish use of our limited funds. The costs of the death penalty are shocking, especially when you take into account the money that is not spent on appropriately funding public defenders offices. In fact, Oklahoma public defenders have finite resources, and cannot operate on the same playing field as government lawyers. Public defenders are routinely in violation of American Bar Association recommended number of cases per person, added Ford. The result is lack of effective investigation and defense, which results in lack of credible convictions. The Intercept article also reports that the state of Oklahoma killed a man in January 2015 using an untested and improper drug, and that the same drug had been delivered for a second execution scheduled for September 2015. This followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which an inmate struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection. Oklahomas problems with the death penalty have been well-documented and pervasive, with innocent men being murdered by their own government, concluded Ford. After multiple cruel and unusual botched executions and a last-minute stay of execution from the Governor, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt launched a full-scale investigation into the issue and discovered that the Department of Corrections had been using potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride. In case your chemistry is rusty, potassium chloride is an approved chemical for lethal injection, while potassium acetate is not an approved chemical. About Jacquelyn Ford Law Practice areas of Jacquelyn Ford Law include criminal law, civil rights, white collar crime, violent crimes, sex crimes, murder, drug charges, assault and battery, DUI/DWI as well as personal injury and medical malpractice. Jacquelyn Ford is a member of the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, a regular speaker for the Oklahoma Bar Association, a legal expert for her local news affiliates and a faculty member of the esteemed Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College. For more information, please call (405) 604-3200, or visit http://www.fordlawokc.com. The law office is located at 1621 North Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73106. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Attorney Lisa Siegel We start our cases with a strong understanding of how frustrating the disability benefits process can be for some applicants. Lisa Siegel was recently honored by two of Georgias most respected attorney rating organizations. Super Lawyers Magazine named Siegel to its 2017 list of Super Lawyers for her work on behalf of social security claimants. Selection is determined by the voting of other Georgia attorneys, as well as research conducted by the editorial team at Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters company. Siegel was also honored in the 14th annual edition of Georgia Trend Magazines Legal Elite. This recognition is based entirely on the voting of other attorneys in the state, making it particularly meaningful inside and outside of the legal community. Siegel has dedicated her 28-year legal career to providing high quality legal representation to injured and disabled adults and children. While successful results are important to clients forced to simultaneously navigate the U.S. medical and legal systems, Siegel believes that compassion is just as important to helping clients move forward. We start our cases with a strong understanding of how frustrating the disability benefits process can be for some applicants, said Siegel. We want each of our firms clients to receive the peace of mind that their case is being handled in a way that maximizes their opportunity for a successful result. In most instances, this reassurance is every bit as important as the paperwork and legal maneuvering that occurs in a disability case. About Lisa Siegel: Attorney Lisa Siegel brings over 28 years of injury and disability law experience to each clients case. She has earned the AV Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which represents the highest level of competence and ethics in the practice of law, and is rated 10.0/10.0 by AVVO. The firms office is located near Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, and serves as a convenient and effective option for adults, children, and families in need of a Georgia disability lawyer. The standard end goal of a chapter 11 bankruptcy is the confirmation, or court approval, of the debtors plan for reorganization or liquidation. The confirmation process is often rife with dispute and litigation. Past News Releases RSS Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... No matter the involvement in a bankruptcy proceeding, there is a real chance of winding up litigating some issue. Litigating in bankruptcy court, however, is very different than litigating in any other federal or state court because the customs, rules and players are all different. Whether for a general litigator or a business person who has never had to fight in bankruptcy court, this Financial Poise webinar series explains some of the more commonly litigated issues in bankruptcy cases. The 5th episode of the Bankruptcy Battle Royale - Common Litigation Scenarios series, "Contesting Confirmation," (Register Here) airs on May 30th and features Moderator Lisa Vandesteeg of Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer. Lisa is joined by Leanne Prendergast of FisherBroyles, Rob Feinstein of PSZJ and Michael Riela of Tannenbaum Helpern. The standard end goal of a chapter 11 bankruptcy is the confirmation, or court approval, of the debtors plan for reorganization or liquidation. The debtors plan is the document that controls the methodology and order by which the debtor plans to pay its creditors. The plan is subject to comment and criticism by any party affected by it namely, each and every creditor of the debtor, potential targets of causes of action that the debtor may have, and parties that may have potential causes of action against the debtor. The confirmation process is often rife with dispute and litigation. There are battles not only over specific plan provisions, but also those regarding the fundamental confirmability of the plan (i.e. can the debtor actually do what it proposes to do, and does the plan meet the bankruptcy code requirements). Confirmation contests often require evidentiary hearings with experts presenting testimony and opinions as to valuation issues. This webinar explores this process and provides guidance as to how to both defend and attack the confirmation of a debtors chapter 11 plan. Each episode is delivered in Plain English understandable to business owners and executives without much background in these areas, yet is proven to be valuable to seasoned professionals. Each episode in the series brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to entertain as it teaches. And, as with all Financial Poise Webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, so that participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the episodes. ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE: Financial Poise (http://www.financialpoise.com ) provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Jennifer Storch at jstorch(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135. EpiFinder's vision is to revolutionize the care of all neurological disorders by combining cutting edge scientific research with the latest technologies to the doctor-patient relationship Past News Releases RSS EpiFinder, Inc., is pleased to announce its proprietary clinical decision analytics software to improve epilepsy syndrome diagnosis and seizure event management at the point-of-care. The early-stage Arizona company provides intelligent analytics and support to doctors, neurologists and healthcare professionals (Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and more) to enhance the lives of patients with epilepsy. EpiFinder aims to improve the doctor-patient relationship. First, it can improve communication by more efficiently collecting information from the patient. Then, the system organizes this information so that the doctor can better understand the patients perspective. It then maps this to the latest aggregate knowledge towards better interpretation, advanced, efficient treatment, and reduced cost. Per the Institute of Medicine report 'Epilepsy Across the Spectrum,' epilepsy is a brain disease that manifests as seizure events. In the United States alone, epilepsy affects 3.2 million people with 150,000 new epilepsy cases ever year. Of these, as many as 40% of patients with epilepsy are misdiagnosed and suffer from uncontrolled seizures, which limits their independence at best and can result in death at worst. People often suffer for years before their epilepsy can be correctly identified and treated. The monetary cost of epilepsy misdiagnosis and mismanagement of healthcare is $12.5 billion annually. Patients frequently complain that doctors do not listen to them, while doctors complain that there are too many obstacles that reduce their time with their patients. When a first responder currently encounters, someone is experiencing a seizure; they collect general medical information for referring the patient to another healthcare professional. This process is inefficient, with the patient having to tell the same story to multiple health professionals and redundantly taking the same diagnostic tests as a chain of referral after referrals. Ultimately, when the specialist epileptologists who can make the diagnosis is found, the information collected may or may not even be relevant to the doctor who will ultimately diagnose and manage the condition. EpiFinder can improve the efficiency of this process by guiding the data collection of the first responder or primary care professional, standardizing data usability, screening the information with evidence-based, peer-reviewed research and data, providing a guided differential diagnosis of epilepsy syndromes through translational biomedical informatics technology, and then implementing it through personalized medicine. This provides the latest actionable knowledge for the doctor to decide whether to either keep and treat the patient themselves or to refer them to specialists while allowing the primary care physician the opportunity to retain their patients. When the referral is necessary, the information collected is relevant to the specialist. For the patient, this reduces redundancy and cuts down on the time that proper action can be taken to limit the seizures. This is a tool that will be a new class of product to better assess and triage the patient population in a clinical setting. "By providing quicker and more accurate diagnoses for an epilepsy syndrome, EpiFinder reduces health care costs for hospitals, enables doctors to provide personalized medicine, and helps to improve the quality of life for their patients." Robert Yao, CEO of EpiFinder, Inc. EpiFinder provides value to patients by providing them a time-independent platform that can collect all the information they wish to provide first, saving them money and endless frustration. An algorithm then analyzes this data and presented to the doctor within the context of the latest knowledge. The doctor is then freed to understand the patient better and empowered to make better decisions about identification and management of the condition. EpiFinder co-founders believe they have developed a sustainable business model that will result in exponential growth because it relies on a robust AI for all complex disease. While their initial launch will focus on decision support for epilepsy, the companys goal is to expand the system for other neurologic or psychiatric diseases and eventually to more complex, rare, or hard to diagnose conditions. By translating science to improve peoples health, the team at EpiFinder is working hard to turn the art of medicine into a science. At the heart of EpiFinder, says Mehta, are the people. They achieve excellence and create value within their chosen fields while working in a collaborative and supportive environment. EpiFinder's award winning, multidisciplinary team includes Biomedical Informaticist and software developers with expertise in artificial intelligence, knowledge representation, machine learning, and statistics. The companys leadership has received numerous recognitions, and together, they work in harmony to deliver a product that can change lives on a global scale. EpiFinder's vision is to revolutionize the care of all neurological disorders by combining cutting edge scientific research with the latest technologies to the doctor-patient relationship, said Neel Mehta, at the 14th conference on Anti-epileptic Drug and Device Trials, held every two years and sponsored by The Epilepsy Study Consortium in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and the Epilepsy Foundation. The federal securities laws are made up of an interwoven collection of statutes, rules, regulations and judicial precedent. They play a ubiquitous role throughout a companys life-cycle. Past News Releases RSS Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... Financial Poise Announces... The federal securities laws are made up of an interwoven collection of statutes, rules, regulations and judicial precedent. They play a ubiquitous role throughout a companys life-cycle: from the first issuance of founder shares to the use of equity compensation as a reward and incentive for directors, employees and consultants. Federal securities laws are relevant in private offerings of equity and debt in corporate finance transactions, initial public offerings (IPOs), alternative public offerings, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and beyond. This Financial Poise webinar series aims to provide an overview of these laws and their impact on business. The 3rd episode of the Securities Law Made Simple series, "Public Company Reporting", (Register Here) airs on May 23rd and features Moderator Vanessa Schoenthaler of Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer. Vanessa is joined by Jordan Fishfeld of CFX Markets, Alissa Parisi of K&L Gates, Craig Mordock of Sheppard Mullin and Robert Rapp of Calfee Halter & Griswold. Once public, a company is subject to a continuously evolving landscape of disclosure and reporting requirements. Recent disclosure developments have addressed everything from executive compensation to cybersecurity. In addition, the prevalence of social media has made it such that not only the nuances of what to disclose must be considered but also how to deliver that disclosure. Is a company tweeting its earnings reports or using a corporate Facebook page to make Regulation FD disclosures? In this webinar, our expert panel provides you with a high-level overview of key public company reporting and disclosure requirements, including the latest developments brought about by the Dodd-Frank Act, JOBS Act, FAST Act and, most recently, the SECs Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative. This webinar also provides tangible examples and practical advice on how to comply with the ever-changing means of delivering that disclosure. Each episode is delivered in Plain English understandable to business owners and executives without much background in these areas, yet is proven to be valuable to seasoned professionals. Each episode in the series brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to entertain as it teaches. And, as with all Financial Poise Webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, so that participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the episodes. ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE: Financial Poise (http://www.financialpoise.com ) provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Jennifer Storch at jstorch(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135. Jared, Justin and Gabby are outstanding additions to the Huffman team. I admire their enthusiasm for gaining knowledge and experience, and I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish at the company in the coming months and years. Past News Releases RSS Huffman Engineering, Inc. to... Huffman Engineering Employee... Huffman Engineering Hires... Huffman Engineering, Inc., a leader in control systems integration, today announced the recent hiring of Mechanical Engineer Jared Nelson, Electrical Engineer Justin Gilg, and Marketing & Administrative Assistant Gabrielle Wythers to support the company in its development and execution of turnkey automation projects for manufacturing and utility customers. Jared, Justin and Gabby are outstanding additions to the Huffman team, said Howard Huffman, CEO, Huffman Engineering. I admire their enthusiasm for gaining knowledge and experience, and I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish at the company in the coming months and years. Jared Nelson joins Huffman Engineering after his recent graduation from the Iowa State University Honors Program with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Nelson gained professional experience at Omaha Public Power District as an Operations Engineer and at Hood Packaging Corporation as a Processing Engineer. While at ISU, Nelson worked as a mechanical engineering peer mentor for freshmen students and was a tour leader for the Iowa State Engineering Ambassadors and Mentoring Program. Justin Gilg joins Huffman Engineering as an Electrical Engineer, after working at the company as a co-op student for the past two years. Gilg is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska and holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. While studying at UNL, he received the James Canfield Scholarship and was an Engineering Deans Scholar. Gilg is an Eagle Scout with the BSA. Gabrielle Wythers joins Huffman Engineering as a marketing & administrative assistant. Wythers is a recent graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, earning a Bachelor of Science with a major in Business Administration and minor in Human Resource Management. Wythers also studied at Iowa Lakes Community College where she maintained an exceptional GPA. Wythers was previously employed as a mediator for the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office and as an assistant at Heinisch and Lovegrove Law Office. About Huffman Engineering, Inc. Huffman Engineering, Inc. is CSIA Certified control systems integration company offering turnkey engineering design and control systems integration services to manufacturing and utility customers. The companys highly-skilled team of electrical/mechanical engineers, and experienced technicians practice a proven, results-driven project methodology to consistently deliver optimal industrial automation solutions. Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a second office in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Huffman Engineering has served the Midwest since 1987. The company specializes in pharmaceutical, life science, machine, and utility process control applications. For more information, visit HuffmanEng.com. Venture Resorts (https://www.cabinsofpigeonforge.com), the largest cabin rental agency in the Smoky Mountains, has announced a last minute May Cabin Deal for the weekend of May 19-21. Guests at any of the companys 400 cabins can enjoy some of the lowest rates of the year. "Early May is the low season for the Smokies, says Billy Parris, General Manager of Venture Resorts. The weather is great, but most people are waiting for the kids to get out of school before heading for the mountains. That means savvy travelers can find some of the lowest rates of the year for a Smoky Mountain vacation. 2-bedroom cabins that rent for $300 a night during peak season are available for a little as $192 per night during May. With Venture Resorts weekend sale, these cabins can be rented for just $96 per night. 3-bedroom cabins that rent for $380 a night during peak season are available for as little as $203 per night during May. With this weekends sale, these cabins can be rented for $102 per night. If you have the flexibility to travel now, its really the best time of year to come to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Parris says. Despite the bargain prices, Venture Resorts offers top-rated luxury cabins. Cabins include deluxe features such as full kitchens, large dining rooms, game rooms with pool tables and video arcades, and even home theaters. Cabin prices vary based cabin based on size, amenities and cabin location. Visitors can book their stay through the company's web sites at http://www.cabinsofpigeonforge.com or http://www.cabinsofthesmokymountains.com. Guests will see current rates for all cabins, with discounts applied at the time of booking. These promotions are valid on remaining nights only, and are not available for existing reservations. About Venture Resorts Venture Resorts is the largest luxury cabin rental agency in the Smoky Mountains, managing over 400 cabins within minutes of Great Smoky Mountain National Park and family-friendly attractions in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The company started life as Gatlinburg Falls Resort, but now rents cabins throughout the area. For more information, call (866) 347-6659 or visit one of the companys web sites http://www.cabinsofthesmokymountains.com or http://www.cabinsofpigeonforge.com. Banfi Perfect Pairings: Wine Tasting & Speed Dating #BanfiSips What I love about wine is its ability to connect people and bring enjoyment to everyday life, says Sandra Krut, Banfi Brand Director, In my mind, the Perfect Pairing is quality wines, good food and great people. The popular Perfect Pairing Series is returning, kicking off the exclusive evening event on May 23, 2017, at Olla Restaurant in Miami. Castello Banfi, Italys premier wine estate, and leading technology-driven dating company, Zoosk, Inc. have once again partnered together to help singles find their perfect pair in wine and dating. On a one-of-a-kind, multi-city speed dating and wine pairing experience, Banfi wine sommeliers will explain which foods pair best with their leading wines, Centine, San Angelo and Rosa Regale while Zoosk will help pair singles through a three-month subscription to their site. Banfi will visit cities across the nation, where they will host hundreds of single men and women for an evening of dating tips and sips. Beginning in May, these exclusive events will feature some of the nations most notable chefs and be held at critically acclaimed restaurants that create an enchanting atmosphere for wine education and encountering a potential mate. The Perfect Pairing attendees will be greeted with a glass of Rosa Regale premium sparkling red wine and passed hors d oeuvres. Throughout the course of the evening, guests will be served glasses of Centine (an approachable Tuscan Red Blend) and San Angelo (the leading Tuscan Pinot Grigio) served with foods that pair well with them. The event experience continues to impress its guests by creating unforgettable moments perfectly paired with you in mind. The series cities include: Miami, FL Chicago, IL Washington, DC Houston, TX Los Angeles, CA What I love about wine is its ability to connect people and bring enjoyment to everyday life, says Sandra Krut, Banfi Brand Director, In my mind, the Perfect Pairing is quality wines, good food and great people. That is why we are so excited to once again partner with Zoosk, one of Americas leading dating sites for our 2017 Perfect Pairing events. Together, we can connect people in a relaxed and approachable setting where they can mingle, receive dating tips and sip Banfi wines. After the speed-dating segment, Zoosk is offering an exclusive three-month subscription to each guest who attends in every city. Banfi is also gifting each guest with samples of Rosa Regale and Brix chocolates to pair with the red sparkling wine. Banfi wants to help attendees fall in love with wine, while potentially finding the love of their life. For more information about Centine, San Angelo and Rosa Regale, visit the Castello Banfi website at http://www.castellobanfi.com and follow the Banfi Perfect Pairing event experience at #BanfiSips on Twitter (@RosaRegale) and Instagram (@castellobanfiusa) (@Rosa_Regale). To learn more about Zoosk, Inc., visit their website at http://www.zoosk.com and follow the dating site on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Zoosk) Twitter and Instagram (@Zoosk). About Banfi Castello Banfi was founded in 1978 in Montalcino, Tuscany, thanks to the will of Italian-American brothers John and Harry Mariani. From the beginning, the goal of the two brothers was to create a state-of-the-art winery, combined with the most advanced technology in the vineyards, to make premium Italian wines. While developing the Castello Banfi estate, the Marianis also purchased an historic winery in Piedmont specialized in the production of sparkling wines; it was there that sparkling red Rosa Regale was born. Today, Castello Banfi is the premier wine estate in Italy, named VinItalys Best Winery in the World an unprecedented five times. About Zoosk Zoosk is a leading online dating company that learns as you click to pair you with singles with whom youre likely to discover a mutual attraction. Zoosks Behavioral Matchmaking technology is constantly learning from the actions of more than 40 million members to deliver better matches. With the all-time, top grossing iOS dating app, Zoosk is a market leader in mobile dating. Available in over 80 countries and translated into 25 languages, Zoosk is a global online dating platform. ### Bio pharmaceutical company developing therapies for ocular disorders This data offers hope of a potential therapy for the large number of glaucoma patients deteriorating despite conventional treatment. Quethera, a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for ocular disorders, today presented strong efficacy data at the 2017 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference showing its gene therapy QTA020V resulted in a 61% reduction in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in a widely used experimental model of glaucoma. In addition, the company presented two further posters detailing the design and initial testing of the gene therapy constructs in vitro and in vivo, showing that the transgene is efficiently processed into two separate proteins that significantly increase RGC survival in two different animal models of optic nerve injury. QTA020V gene therapy acts via the neurotrophin Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) signalling pathway. In independent studies, patients with glaucoma have been observed to have reduced serum levels of BDNF compared to controls without glaucoma. Quethera has shown that QTA020V can efficiently transfect RGCs, elevate levels of mBDNF and the TrkB receptor and protect against RGC loss. In a chronic ocular hypertension in vivo model, RGC survival in QTA020V-treated animals was significantly increased from 46% to 84% in the peripheral retina, the region most susceptible to glaucoma damage in humans. A second acute nerve crush in vivo model showed 67% more surviving RGC than control vector injected eyes. Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness and involves progressive death of RGC which connect the eye to the brain. By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be almost 80 million people in the world with glaucoma as people survive longer into old age. Lowering IOP using drugs, laser treatment or surgery is currently the only treatment proven to slow visual loss in glaucoma, but around 13% of patients with glaucoma go blind in at least one eye despite IOP lowering treatment. Once lost, vision cannot be recovered and there is therefore a great unmet medical need for new treatments that reduce visual deterioration in patients with progressive glaucoma, including those with eye pressures within the normal range. Quetheras founder Dr. Widdowson said The data show that our dual-gene single vector construct can efficiently transfect RGC and significantly improve their survival. Quetheras QTA020V gene therapy can provide strong, long-lasting neuroprotection with a mechanism of action that potentially overcomes the TrkB receptor downregulation that occurs with BDNF treatment alone. Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at Rainbow Seed Fund, an early-stage investor in Quethera, commented: The data offer hope of a potential therapy for the large number of glaucoma patients deteriorating despite conventional treatment for whom the risk of blindness is very real. About Quethera Ltd Quethera was founded in 2015 by Dr. Peter Widdowson and Professor Keith Martin in Cambridge, UK. The company is developing neuroprotective therapies including a lead candidate to reduce progressive visual loss in glaucoma and other conditions affecting the optic nerve as well as CNS and hearing disorders. Quetheras seed funding was led by Rainbow Seed Fund alongside co-investment from Cambridge Enterprise. For more information contact info(at)quethera(dot)com or visit http://www.quethera.com. About Rainbow Seed Fund The Rainbow Seed Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund dedicated to kick-starting technology companies from great science emerging from the National Research & Innovation Campuses. The Fund is backed by nine UK publicly-funded research organisations including STFC, BBSRC, Dstl and NERC and the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Fund, whose portfolio comprises more than 30 companies, holds investments in some of the UKs most innovative early-stage companies, underpinning the Government's Industrial Strategy. The Fund invests, validates and mentors companies. It has successfully leveraged from the private sector more than 20 times its own investment and created more than 550 high-value technology jobs. The Rainbow Seed Fund is managed by Midven, an established venture capital firm with a successful track record of investing in small and medium-sized enterprises. For more information, please visit http://www.rainbowseedfund.com. About Cambridge Enterprise A wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Enterprise Limited is responsible for the commercialisation of University intellectual property. It provides access to early stage capital through the Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds and Cambridge Enterprise Venture Partners, and offers business planning, mentoring and related programmes. Activities include management and licensing of intellectual property and patents, proof of concept funding and support for University staff and research groups wishing to provide expert advice or facilities to public and private sector organisations. For more information, please visit: http://www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? Managing cookies in your browser see what cookies you have got and delete them on an individual basis block third party cookies block cookies from particular sites block all cookies from being set delete all cookies when you close your browser X A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. 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But it took no action against the man his colleagues overwhelmingly chose to be the Illinois auditor general in 2015. Clearly, the Spring Valley Democrat made the smart decision to follow the advice of his high-powered law firm to take the Fifth Amendment rather than answer questions posed by state election authorities while a federal probe continues into campaign spending while he served as a state lawmaker. The election board also split 4-4 along a party lines vote over whether the issues raised should be referred to a state prosecutor or states attorney. At the state level, that leaves the fine against the campaign committee. Or does it? Election board officials acknowledge that it is highly unlikely anyone from the committee will be on the hook for the $5,000 since it no longer exists and neither do many of the records that committee once kept. Not surprisingly, the dissatisfying conclusion of the state probe didnt sit well with David Cooke, the Streator resident behind the election board complaint. Jeffrey Schwab, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center, told reporter David Giuliani, of our sister newspaper, the Ottawa Times, he was disappointed Mr. Cooke was forced to wait more than a year for a decision and that the board failed to even address the central issues of his complaint. My client is upset, he said. So should we all be as the states failure to act and the ongoing federal investigation adds to Illinois image as the most corrupt state in the nation. Sadly, Mr. Mautino seems to be immune to such ethical concerns. He remains free to continue to collect his hefty paycheck and add to his already generous legislative pension without regard to the political damage he may be doing to the former colleagues who supported him. Given his unwillingness to resign, thats unlikely to change unless those colleagues in Statehouse who put him in that important watchdog role choose to act. So we ask, again, what are they waiting for? What: "M*A*S*H." When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Where: Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Ave., Moline. Tickets: $13, available at 309-762-0330 and playcrafters.com. War, blood, guts and surgery on wounded soldiers are not the focus of the stage version of "M*A*S*H," given a strong, compassionate interpretation at Playcrafters. Compared to the immensely popular, long-running TV series (1972-83), the Tim Kelly play consistently emphasizes more of the humor and hijinks of the beloved characters at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, rather than the drama, pathos and poignancy. Under the direction of Rae Mary, the essence of Col. Henry Blake, Hawkeye Pierce, Radar O'Reilly, Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan are expertly communicated, but the capable actors don't mimic their small-screen counterparts. They create fully-formed, lived-in, indelible roles that are entirely their own. Set during the Korean War (1950-53), this "M*A*S*H" is more similar to the 1970 movie, centering on the unpredictable, irreverent madcaps, Hawkeye and Duke (who flout Army protocol at every turn), played with world-weary, good-natured disrespect by Jordan Smith and Eric Landuyt, respectively. Given the camo-colored, isolated, tent-filled, forced intimacy of the setting, "M*A*S*H" always has reminded me of an adult sleep-away camp. Blake (an excellent, lanky Gregory Braid) is like the harried, over-burdened camp counselor, trying to maintain his sanity and order among this childlike chaos. Compared to the gruff Gen. Hammond (Ralph Baechle), Henry as his surgeons informally always call him is not regular Army, but awkwardly caught between a rock and a hard place, keeping his ragtag campers and the brass happy. As the nurse, Bridget (a cynical, tell-it-like-it-is and comforting Pamela Crouch,) puts it, most of the doctors here are nice but a little crazy. War can do that to people, so some immature rebellion as a coping mechanism makes sense. Hawkeye and Duke whose big egos stem from their surgical prowess instinctively resist the authoritarian, inflexible and humorless nature of kindred spirits Frank (Kevin Keck) and Margaret (Stephanie Moeller). As the insensitive Burns, the strong Mr. Keck eventually is dispatched to the "funny farm" fairly early in the story, driven mad by pranks and frivolity. Ms. Moeller is a ruthless, ramrod-straight arrow, and picks up where Burns left off, taking Margaret's complaints about inappropriate behavior straight to the general. The contrast of her strict military bearing and attitude to Mr. Smith's playfulness and reference to her as "Hot Lips" is striking and satisfying. One scene that seems off (more the fault of the script) is how the staff "helps" the depressed dentist Walt (Tyler Henning), who says he wants to kill himself. They make light of it, and do cheer him up in their own deranged way. (Is that how the show got its theme song, "Suicide is Painless"? Is it, really?) The heartwarming core of this "M*A*S*H" is Hawkeye's leading a campaign to get the young South Korean Ho-Jon (a solid Phillip Cathoir) admitted and able to afford a pre-med program at his alma mater in the States. Dramatic tension is supplied when Ho-Jon is sent into battle and is operated on briefly by the crew,. I liked the line of the college dean (a formal, compassionate Susan Zelnio) who describes Hawkeye as "a cross between Tom Sawyer and Lucifer himself." Craig Cohoon is great as a controlled, mysteriously talented Radar. An Act II highlight is the introduction of a colorful trio of entertainers, the short-skirted, air-headed Bonwit (dimwit?) sisters played with hilarious enthusiasm by Vickie Underwood, Krissy Wheeler and Tori House. The drab, depressing nature of the dusty hospital needs this explosive burst of life. Special kudos go to set builder Bob Hanske, who led construction of a multi-layered set, with its many beds, foot lockers, and picnic benches. CAMBRIDGE A Galva man was sentenced in Henry County Circuit Court on Wednesday to two years in prison for theft from Appell Equipment, Galva. The charge was filed Oct. 7. Ronald P. Miller, 52, cashed his paycheck electronically and then took the hard copy to the bank. That charge was filed March 11, 2016. He will serve 30 months of probation and pay restitution of $1,722.44 to Peed's Transmission on a felony charge of deceptive practices. Assistant State's Attorney Stephanie Barrick said Mr. Miller had systematically broken the law for almost three decades with 23 traffic cases, seven misdemeanors, one DUI and 10 other felonies. Public defender James Cosby said it was an act of desperation. The reason why he did it is he's got this really large family at home, Mr. Cosby said. Mr. Miller himself told the judge of landlord issues and the difficulty of finding a place for eight people to live. He has five children ranging from five to 18 and one grandchild. Judge Jeffrey O'Connor said the state's recommendation of five years in prison was warranted given Mr. Miller's criminal history, but he was opting for the minimum mandated prison term for a Class 3 felony because of costs of incarceration and Mr. Miller's having the only full-time job among eight family members. The judge also commented on Mr. Miller's cashing his checks twice. Nobody's going to get away with that," Judge O'Connor said. "There's a paper trail a mile long, but it was done." Neighboring residents of a proposed high-end substance abuse treatment center in rural Milan hoped to pose questions to project developers at a town hall meeting Wednesday, but had only each other to talk to. The proposed Top of the World Ranch Milan LLC would be run as a joint venture between the Robert Young Center in Rock Island and a privately owned rehab facility in Fort Steele, British Columbia, also called Top of the World Ranch. Those proposing the facility are seeking a special-use permit to operate an all-male, 24-bed residential treatment center on 312 acres in Rural Township. A public hearing on the request held by the Rock Island County Zoning Board of Appeals on May 3 brought out about 70 neighboring residents who raised questions and concerns. After 2 1/2 hours of hearing those concerns, the board tabled action on the request until June 7. In the meantime, board members encouraged Robert Young Center officials to meet with residents in a town hall meeting to further address concerns. That's what Laura Ferkel of rural Milan tried to set up, only to find out Tuesday that no representatives of the project principals would be able to attend, she told the gathering of about 50 at the Rural Township Hall near Orion. "At the end of the (May 3 hearing), Mr. (Rick) Seidler, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health Trinity, handed me a business card and asked me to please send him an email with a time and place, and he would coordinate it with the proper parties, which I did," she said. She said she gave the date of May 17 and the location on May 9 and believed that representatives would attend until learning otherwise on Tuesday. "We just want to know the operation," Ms. Ferkel said. "We want to know how did this come about? That's all we want to know." Residents in attendance instead talked further about their concerns and how best to keep those concerns at the attention of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board will not hold another public hearing at the June 7 meeting before considering the special use permit. Concerns include security for neighbors, the condition of 115th Avenue for heavier use and for resident safety if volunteer emergency services are called and the possible extra strain on water wells. The property is at 3333 155th Ave., Milan, and has a 12,900-square-foot residence fronting a 3-acre lake that would be used for treatment programming, officials with the Robert Young Center and UnityPoint said at the previous public hearing. A 24-bed "bunk house" for patients would be added. Officials with Robert Young and Top of the World say the rural space and seclusion will help treat addicts, and said the facility in Canada, in the Canadian Rockies, has had no problems with security. J.D. Jordan, of rural Milan, said neighboring property values might go down based, he said, on research on similar developments. Ms. Ferkel questioned why a proposed 24-bed bunkhouse for treatment would be built on "tillable" ground about an eighth of a mile from the existing residence. Also, 155th Avenue, which would front the facility, is a narrow, hilly, gravel road, several said, leaving questions on who would pay for improving it, or whether added traffic would pose a hazard to neighbors. Ms. Ferkel said Sherrard High School track teams use the road for training runs. A sale of the property is pending with a list price of $3.6 million. G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now! "Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"If I hear not allowed much oftener, said Sam, Im going to get angry. -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings Analysis of the project conducted for ARex by Mr Bernardo Figueiredo, former president of planning and logistics company EPL, asserts that the project will only be viable if it is implemented as a public-private partnership, rather than a pure concession, with the public sector contributing Reais 3bn over 30 years. ARex would also like the railway to be designed as a passenger-only project with a maximum speed of 250km/h and intermediate stations at Anapolis and Samambaia. The Figueiredo study also calls for the private sector to be given the right to develop the station areas commercially, including property development, to generate additional revenue streams. Figueiredo says that ARex has not formed a group of investors yet, and has only identified an opportunity to invest in the project provided these changes can be made. For more information on rail projects around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro. The study analyses the revenue, company development and profit of 55 of the most important manufacturers of rail infrastructure products, covering track systems, electrification, and control, command and signalling equipment. Siemens, which is the only company with infrastructure revenues exceeding 1bn, retains its first position in the top-10 list of infrastructure suppliers, followed by Voestalpine. However, three Chinese companies have caught up in the last three years. China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and China Railway Group (CRECG) are active in track systems and electrification, while China Railway Signalling & Communication (CRSC) is the only supplier of signalling products for large parts of the Chinese railway network. Since these three manufacturers distribute the major share of the Chinese infrastructure market amongst themselves, they have been able to profit enormously from the growth of the Chinese railway market in the last three years, SCI says. In addition, they were capable of independently developing new technologies or alternatively integrating companies with such abilities. After the market for sleepers, the market for rails is the largest in the field of railway infrastructure products. The rails market is determined by the global steel producers, with Voestalpine the leader, followed by Evraz, British Steel and ArcelorMittal. However, SCI says this line-up could change significantly in the next few years with the merger in October 2016 of two Chinese steel producers, Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, to form Boawu Steel Group, the worlds second largest producer of crude steel. But high overcapacity in the Chinese steel market and decreasing sales are forcing steel producers to cut production. The Chinese government wants producers to reduce steel capacity by 100-150 million tonnes by 2020 which equates to 10% of total capacity. The Boawu Group says it will reduce capacity by more than 15% in the next few years. How far rail production will be affected depends on the demand for new and expansion projects in China, SCI says. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK Fossil fuels hold a prominent position on a handful of Democratic senators agendas despite the Obama-era trend in government support for renewable energy and a push by liberal lawmakers to get rid of the controversial fuel source altogether. Though they now have a coal-friendly ally as president, a lack of legislative opportunities in the upper chamber finds these senators using limited options to quietly work in concert with President Trumps deregulation goals. Kevin Book, ClearView Energy Partners managing director of research, notes that energy law is very hard to make because the policy itself is mostly regulatory, its mostly done by agencies fragmented across the federal government, and its extremely regional. President Obama used his regulatory power to push his energy agenda and Trump has used the power of the presidential pen to undo many of those regulations. Its been the most effective option thus far given that the makeup of the Senate Democrats hold 46 seats to the GOPs 52 -- adds to the complications of passing legislation. The question is what, if anything, is going to happen in the future, said former Harry Reid spokesman Jim Manley, noting the difficulty in reaching 60 affirmative votes with the current Democratic minority. There hasnt been a lot of legislating in the Senate, after all. Trump has nominated a series of fossil-fuel proponents to energy-related positions, starting in February with EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt. After that came Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who were both confirmed in early March. Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma who has repeatedly challenged the EPA in court, was confirmed by a Senate vote of 52-46. Of those 52 yeas, only two came from Democrats: Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin, who are both up for re-election in 2018. Democrat Joe Donnelly, who also will seek another term in 2018, did not vote. Those three senators, plus Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester, who likewise are up for re-election next year, cast the only Democratic confirmation votes for Zinke and Perry. Zinke, a climate change skeptic who has repeatedly voted in favor of fossil fuel extraction, was confirmed by a vote of 68-31 while Perry, who in a 2011 presidential debate was famously unable to recall the Department of Energy as one of three federal agencies he had promised to eliminate, was confirmed, 62-37. Also of note, Daniel Simmons, a former member of the Trump transition team who has been outspoken in questioning the value of renewable energy, was appointed earlier this month to head the Energy Departments Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Hes putting people in place that hed be confident will push what hes been promising, Guy Caruso, a Center for Strategic and International Studies official, said of Trumps Cabinet picks. Book agreed, adding that the choices were also a reaction to the green leanings of the Obama administration. I wouldnt call it so much a fossil-fuel bias so much as a deregulatory bias, he said, noting Obamas broad and deep use of executive authority that angered Republicans during his presidency. As expected, these Cabinet picks quickly began reversing many environmental protections, including Zinke lifting a federal ban on coal leasing on federal land and suspending review of federal coal-leasing rates. In addition, Pruitt last week approved a proposal to grant North Dakota the power to regulate Class VI wells, which store waste carbon dioxide emitted from industrial sources including coal-powered plants. Also, the Senate voted 54-45 in February to overturn a mandate requiring coal firms to clean waste from mountaintop removal operations. In a largely party line vote, the four Democrats who voted in the affirmative were, again, Manchin, Heitkamp, Donnelly, and McCaskill. Those four, plus Tester, also voted in 2015 to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Obama later vetoed the legislation.) The offices of Tester, McCaskill, Manchin, Donnelly, and Heitkamp did not respond to requests for comment. Additionally, many of these senators have been active in the fight for miners pensions the subprime mortgage crisis and repeated coal-related bankruptcies have nearly killed the 1974 Pension Plan culminating in the Miners Pension Protection Act, sponsored by Manchin. [These senators] main strategy is to be flexible and say the right things, said Caruso, even though they know that theyre not going to make any significant strides in putting coal miners back to work. Caruso also suggested that, especially as coal struggles to compete with cheap natural gas, these lawmakers efforts might be better used retraining miners to work in different economic sectors. It will be difficult to put coal back on any kind of growth path, he said, even if Trump is successful in removing some of the regulatory barriers now in place. Trumps goals probably wont be realized, but it will slow down the growth in renewables and maybe slow down the loss of market share by coal. One of Trumps biggest campaign promises was to bring back coal jobs, which helped him win swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. And the president has good reason to be responsive to coal-centric regions. Of the 10 states that used the most coal power in 2015, according to National Geographic, the top nine voted for Trump by an average margin of 27 percentage points. West Virginia was first, Indiana fourth, Missouri fifth, and North Dakota seventh. Moreover, as Book pointed out, Democratic senators like Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown come from states (Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively) that value coal not so much as an export but rather as an import. Coal, as many voters in these states would argue, is a way of life as much as it is a commodity: a basis for much-needed infrastructure, an employer of unskilled labor, a source of regional tradition and pride, and a means for self-sufficiency. As such, coal mining, which has been shown to support far fewer jobs than other methods of energy production, has proven slow to erode in many places across the country. Nonetheless, both Book and Caruso reiterated coals current political disadvantage, even with a friend in the White House. Whether compared to shale liquids, which are found mostly on private lands that Trump would have difficulty influencing, or renewable energy sources, whose main federal funding is anchored in existing tax law, coal production proves difficult to drastically change via legislation. All the tax credits that people want for energy, said Book, are likely to be held hostage by the tax writing committees so they can generate buy-in to the broader reform measures. In fact, Caruso said, coal production is in need of a technological breakthrough, given the current expense involved in gathering carbon waste during fuel processing. That breakthrough, however, would likely rely on government-funded research and development. Whether due to the 10-to-20-year time frame involved or a general lack of caring it takes a crisis to get a big boost in R&D spending, Caruso noted that prospect seems improbable. This week, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell have rekindled discussion of their stalled 2016 Energy Policy Modernization Act, which aims to both promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Having been diluted nearly beyond recognition in the Senate last session, the bill lost momentum in the House, where the primary energy goal of the majority party, some say, is cutting regulations on fossil fuels. Both sponsors, however, remain hopeful that this Congress will be more receptive to the measures outlined. Until then, though, Trump will likely continue to point to coals positive performance under his administration, supported by findings from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, following a gradual decline over the past eight years. Many of these Senate Democrats will be receptive to outreach from the administration, said Manley of fossil fuel-based legislation, if the administration plays their cards right. The German invasion of Crete in May 1941 stands as a landmark in the history of airborne warfare. Up until that point, airborne operations had been used mainly in a tactical and operational context to seize key objectives in advance of the ground forces, such as the seizure during the Balkan campaign of the bridge over the Corinth Canal on the 26 April 1941, and the seizure of the Belgium fortress of Eban Emael on the 11 May 1940. The German invasion of Crete (codenamed Operation Merkur, or Mercury, after the Roman God of communication, travel and thievery the counterpart of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods in Greek mythology) has been the only strategic airborne operation aimed at attacking and occupying such an important target. The operation was the brainchild of Generalmajor Kurt Student, the commander, and fanatical proponent of the airborne arm (the Fallschirmjager) who believed that the paratroopers could operate in their own right and not merely be used to support the Wehrmacht. The island of Crete is just over 160 miles long and varies from seven to thirty-six miles in width. There are four mountain ranges (that almost seem to form a continuous spine along the island) that all come together in the central mass of Mount Ida. To the southwest is the Sphakia (White) mountain range, which literally falls into the sea at certain points and make access to the area very difficult. Rain falling on this range irrigates the northern strip of coastal land around Suda Bay and supports the town of Canea. Moving eastwards there is a depression, the Mount Ida range, another depression and then another coastal strip of land with Heraklion, the principle town, after which the mountains rise again to the summit of Mount Dikhti. The relatively poor harbours have meant that Crete has remained isolated and even by 1941, was behind in facilities and communications infrastructure compared to the rest of the Mediterranean. Crete has always been considered a strategic point in the Mediterranean that had greatly been enhanced by the appearance of aircraft in warfare. An airfield on Crete could be used to raid deep into the Balkans (for example, against the Rumanian oil fields) or be used against North Africa, particularly Egypt and Palestine. Suda Bay was also a harbour with great potential as a naval base and so whoever controlled Crete had a major advantage in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is however, a difficult place to defend, especially from an attack from the north as there is very little operational depth and the movement of any reserves has to be from east to west or visa versa along the probable frontline. It is more practical to establish a series of defended localities, based around the key points on the island, such as the fishing ports, towns and the airstrips. Our hearts just broke they just wanted to get out of their lives," but we had to drive off with Charlie and me hanging off the car literally beating the guys away. Those are the words of Mike Martin about midway through Crossing the Congo: Over Land and Water in a Hard Place, the fascinating book he wrote with Chloe Baker (introduction) and Charlie Hatch-Barnwell (photos) about the trios perilous 2013 drive across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), from Kinshasa to South Sudan. For those who think they know poverty, dysfunction, or basic corruption within government officialdom, they would be wise to pick up this essential book. Odds are theyll never view or discuss the three in the same way again. What the authors of Crossing report from the DRC brings new meaning to all three, and much, much more. Martin and Baker are both Londoners, and in 2013, before life, work, and marriage (Martin and Baker were engaged to be married to one another when the trip began) were set to intrude, they drove from London to the African continent, and back. Crossing is the (Hatch-Barnwell joined them in Kinshasa) account of their 60 day, 2,494 mile journey across the DRC. Theres really no way to adequately retell what the authors witnessed, nor what they endured. Along those lines, its safe to say that the authors themselves would probably admit that their recall left much of what might animate their experiences, out of the book. Thats not a knock on the authors, as much as its to say that their journey into hell defies literary or photographic - description. Needless to say, readers would do best to simply try and imagine beginning a drive from Houston to Dallas only for I-45 to be mostly unpaved, and mostly undriveable due to massive potholes everywhere along the route. The travelers would have to endure regular interruptions in their journey thanks to I-45 intermittently ending; the lulls in what no westerner would describe as an interstate littered with massive trees and smaller rivers that need to be cleared, or crossed on manmade rafts sturdy enough to carry a four-wheel drive automobile. And thats the just the beginning. For the trip from Houston to Dallas to even passably resemble what the authors experienced in the DRC, there would have to be no signs indicating which direction to drive up north, and then if eager to attain guidance, every request would be met with outstretched hands from people loitering on the route, and who also treat the roadway as their personal toilet. There would be no internet or phone during the drive for GPS or calls for directions, access to mere buckets of water would have to be negotiated, food largely scarce, and then police, if at all helpful while most often drunk and stoned, would erect checkpoints throughout the route from which theyd try to shake down the well-to-do with bribes in return for free passage. The above is a rather incomplete, G-rated description of what the authors endured over nearly 2,500 miles. While the average first-world driver can complete a 100-mile trip easily within two hours, in the DRC 100-miles traveled represents a very successful day. Figure that the authors 710 mile passage from Kinshasa to Kananga alone took place over 15 days. During one 5 mile stretch as they exited Kinshasa, they were stopped by government officials no less than four times. So while even the cruel wouldnt wish a drive across the DRC on their worst enemies (the authors did it, by choice, mostly because people said that it could not be done. That it was impossible.), to read Crossing is to wish that Paul Krugman would attempt the drive as a way of curing the Princeton professor of his silly belief that government spending powers growth. In truth, governments can only spend and build paved roads inefficiently insofar as the private sector is creating wealth. Government spending doesnt drive economic growth as much as its mostly an economy-sapping effect of it. Applied to the DRC, there are only 700 miles of mostly driveable roads there because the countrys economy is almost wholly non-existent. As Baker puts it in the books introduction, Throughout the DRC there is relentless poverty, and little palpable sense of hope for the future. Despite abundant natural resources, the DRC remains 186th of 187 countries in the Human Development Report, with 84 per cent of the population suffering underemployment and up to two-thirds living below the poverty threshold. Baker describes Congolese poverty as beyond comparison. What also requires mention is that it wasnt always this way. Though its easily one of Africas poorest countries today, Baker reports that the DRC was the second most industrialized country in Africa at independence, and Martin adds that the DRC had been at its most advanced state just before the Belgians left. The once developed country even had paved roads, including the route that the authors took when they crossed the country. Alas, no more. As Martin pithily explains it, The Congo was now free, but it was fucked. Why the tragic decline? Readers doubtless know why. Its government. Always government. Reading a book like Crossing caused this reviewer to wonder about before/after when it came to the authors political/economic views. What they witnessed had to have profoundly altered their views of government. On a personal level, Martin acknowledges that by trips end the trio was shattered. While its possible the proverbial (or literal) journey into the heart of darkness merely brought forward what was inevitable, Martin ended his engagement to Baker fairly early on. Martin and Baker admit that this most maddening of holidays understandably brought out the worst in them; particularly the mercurial Martin. He doesn't suffer fools well, and government is often a magnet for society's fools who crave power and wealth of the coercive and thieving variety, as opposed to the earned kind that springs from removing unease from the lives of others. Martin writes that The Democratic Republic of Congo really is one of the most bureaucratic, officious and corrupt countries in the world. He quotes a guidebook which says They [the Congolese] are the most corrupt people on earth. Interesting there is that at least before independence, what was the Belgian Congo was as previously mentioned, relatively prosperous. Indeed, at varying times Martin refers to the archeological aspects of the country whereby a tour of it reveals what once was, including legible road signs, government offices and buildings, and other effects of normal economic activity. Nowadays its mostly gone. As opposed to bustling businesses, the economy in the DRC amounts to the various NGOs naively working to fix what is broken. Gombe is the upmarket (by Congo standards) part of Kinshasa where the citys industrialists (think NGO workers) live and work, but after at least a decade of international intervention, Martin describes what is relatively prosperous as rather primitive. He indicates that the areas police did not even have proper electricity, any computers or appropriate offices. Its safe to say this will be the norm so long as the NGOs remain. Their very existence in the DRC parodoxically ensures that the DRC will remain devastated. Whats important about all of the above is that the DRCs civilian population is well aware of whats going on, as is Martin. The people know the DRCs leaders use international aid to accumulate further wealth at the expense of the people, while Martin describes western aid programs as a lot more stupid than they looked Well, of course they are. Hard as it is for do-gooders to acknowledge, countries never fail due to a lack of money or resources. They implode because the investors whose intrepid capital commitments power real economic activity choose to direct their funds elsewhere; nearly always thanks to corrupt governments scaring them off. Getting right to the point, non-corrupt countries lightly run by leaders beholden to the rule of law dont need foreign aid. That the DRC is a foreign-aid recipient is all the evidence one would need that the countrys leadership is pocketing whats flowing in. If they werent, as in if they werent corrupt, return-obsessed investors would populate Gombe rather than its NGO industry that is anything but. So yes, the problem in the DRC is appalling government. It goes back to what is a most false version of independence, and its horrid aftermath. At risk of being repetitive, the former Belgian Congo was relatively well-to-do. It reached its economic apex only for Joseph-Desire Mobutu to destroy it at independence. Mobutu foisted on the country Zairianisation, which saw the expropriation of all small business, farms and factories that belonged to the remaining foreigners in the country. Those who took what was not theirs predictably oversaw collapse of those same assets in concert with an outflow of the people who actually knew how to run the businesses taken from them by force. With the economy in freefall, Mobutu partially ripped a page from Krugmans book and encouraged his impoverished subjects to steal cleverly, little by little. It sounds like taxes; the only difference being that the force is explicit. Readers can doubtless imagine how things unfolded. Notable about Krugman is that he's historically been a free trade advocate while seemingly forgetting that imports are the reward for the production that he thinks should be endlessly taxed. This rates mention because quite unlike the developed world in which workers are showered with goods and services in return for their toil, imports into the DRC are near non-existent to reflect the almost total lack of remunerative work in the country, along with theft of what does make it in. For those who decry imports and open trade, they would be wise to read about Martin's four-day nightmare in pursuit of something as prosaic as a steering box for the Land Rover that transported them across the Congo. Those who equate imports with being taken advantage of have plainly never lived where they're non-existent, nor witnessed the end result of excessive government power. The problem is that no book, and no review of a book can adequately describe just how awful life is in countries defined by absolute government corruption. Still, Martin, Baker and Hatch-Barnwell do a great job of giving the reader a sense. At this reviews beginning, reference was made to Martin and Hatch-Barnwell literally beating the guys away. What Martin described as heartbreaking took place as the trio left Lomela in order to continue their drive across the DRC. Having paid some locals to help them move trees so that they could continue their trek (for some compensated it was their first ever pay day"), some of the workers held onto the westerners Land Rover because they hoped for more pay days, and even better, eventual passage into Europe. Indeed, as Baker puts it early on, The people we met all shared the same dream, a dream of reaching Europe, where they felt hard work would translate into a safe and secure future for their families. As Martin later explains, those who live in the hell that is the DRC view the West as a paradise with endless luxuries and wealth. For American commentators prone to mocking slow-growth Europe, realities in Africa reveal their haughty critiques as the droolings of people who are both unwise and spoiled. And for the Americans who proclaimed loudly that the U.S. was on the verge of being a Banana Republic if either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump were elected president, Crossing the Congo exposes them as truly mindless, and similarly spoiled. The truth is that we younger people in the West, whether in Europe or the U.S., have no real sense of suffering. A read of this essential book will open many eyes, and perhaps foster a greater desire among us all to open our doors to the worlds strivers who are presently having their talents suffocated in the cruelest of ways. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos arrives in Washington this week for his first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Despite the somber state of affairs around the world, on the Oval Offices docket will be what is arguably America's greatest foreign policy success in recent history. "Foreign policy success" is a phrase we see too rarely. Among the list of failed interventions, refugee crises, adversarial relationships, and instabilities plaguing the world, Colombia is a poster child of success. And while success is said to have many fathers, this achievement has a well-defined lineage: the Colombian people and a bipartisan determination in the United States to stand by them. The story of Plan Colombia begins in in the mid-1990s, with the country in the midst of a debilitating multi-front war against powerful narco-mafias and insurgent rebel groups. For over a decade, Colombian governments alternated between a determination to fight and failed offers to negotiate with rebels. The U.S. government responded with a comprehensive, long-term military, development, and institutional assistance plan. Requiring annual renewal, Plan Colombia, with its low cost and high payoff, prospered through three U.S. administrations. To get a sense of that payoff, just look at Colombia today. Its once-flailing economy is now among the region's strongest and is on track for accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Insecurity has fallen dramatically. Take as a bellwether Medellin: long the world's most violent city, it was selected by the Wall Street Journal as the worlds most innovative in 2013. The countrys middle class has grown steadily over the past two decades, resulting in better education, health, and social services. The homicide rate has been slashed by two-thirds. A seemingly endless civil war has ended, and we helped make it all possible for less than 2 percent of what we spent in Iraq. Great as that all is, the benefits from Colombia's transformation dont end at its borders. Our real return on investment has come in the form of a powerful and steadfast partner not just regionally, but globally. In 2014, Colombia voted with the United States 80 percent of the time at the United Nations, the highest degree of support of any Latin American country. The only country in the region to hold "global partner" status with NATO, Colombia regularly lends diplomatic and material support to global security initiatives of interest to the United States. Its largely U.S.-trained military has sent numerous anti-insurgency units to hotspots in Central America, West Africa, and Afghanistan, training local security forces in regions whose stability carries greater security implications for United States than Colombia itself. The Venn diagram of U.S. and Colombian interests is now a near-perfect circle. With its growing economic and diplomatic clout, Colombia has championed free trade in the region through the Pacific Alliance and has taken a leading role in responding to neighboring Venezuela's crisis. As a result of our two decades of support, today's Colombia doesn't just agree with American values, it espouses them. Perhaps nowhere else in the world has U.S. foreign policy so thoroughly achieved its stated goals, though the credit is certainly not ours alone. Plan Colombia has benefitted from three determined and cooperative Colombian administrations, most recently from the tireless negotiating and decisive action of President Santos, who has lost both sleep and allies in his work as president. With the war now ended, the most crucial stage is upon us: implementing peace. Now is the time for a renewed commitment from the United States, complete with a revamped strategy that addresses the exigencies of Colombia today. After successfully waging war, the only way to consolidate our joint achievements is by waging peace. The Atlantic Council's Colombia Peace and Prosperity Task Force has presented a comprehensive blueprint for doing so. The recommendations seek to preserve Plan Colombia's gains and address its shortcomings. Security spending should shift from active combat to demobilization, intelligence gathering, and counternarcotics. To prevent criminal networks from filling the post-conflict power vacuum, we should help the Colombian state quickly expand its presence in marginalized communities. Bogota has already devised plans to do so, including offering compensation for coca cultivators to switch to licit cash crops like cacao. U.S. funding will be critical in the success of these substitution policies. We should work together to incentivize public and private investment in these communities to chip away at poverty, which is the single greatest lifeline for organized crime. And we should provide legal and technical assistance during the transitional justice process, ensuring the victims' rights to truth and reparation are upheld. All this is not in the name of charity; it's an investment. Crop substitution in Colombia means fewer drug overdoses in the US. Securing peace means freeing up Colombian troops for peacekeeping work abroad. And investing in Colombia's inclusive development means a stronger market for US goods and services. That said, our funding cannot be unconditional. We must monitor implementation of the peace deal reached between the government and the FARC militia to ensure both parties are complying with the terms and are meeting the necessary benchmarks. Coca cultivation must turn downwards, after increasing too fast in the wrong direction. In the mid-90s, we placed a bet on Colombia. Now, we have one chance to commit to the last stage. With so many failures in foreign policy, let's throw our weight behind one we know has worked. 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Search Real Estate , We're sorry, this article is not currently available By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/18/2017 ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Rachel Lindsay describes herself as a straight shooter, and she already proved that by revealing the end of her season before it even premieres!'s thirteenth season is several days away from its May 22 premiere, but during a Thursday conference call with reporters, Rachel was quick to confirm whether she left the reality dating show happy -- and whether she currently has a fiance."I am very much so in love and very much so engaged," Rachel revealed with a sweet laugh.The 32-year-old Dallas attorney naturally kept the man's identity a secret, but this lucky guy is apparently everything she's been searching for."If I had a list, he would check everything off," said the ex-girlfriend of The Bachelor's Season 21 star Nick Viall Rachel is apparently so in love that she's not going to rule out a wedding in the near future.When Reality TV World asked star if she envisions a short or long engagement, Rachel explained, "Maybe it will be quick, maybe it will be a longer engagement like [ Shawn Booth ] and [Season 11 Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe ].""I think we'll just see how it goes," she teased. "We just really want to get to know each other better and cultivate our relationship."However, last season's Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher -- who also lives in Dallas, and is currently engaged to Season 12's winner Jordan Rodgers -- gave Rachel some advice about her new romance."One of the things JoJo told me when I talked to her is, 'When you find your fiance and then you're finally able to be public, you don't want to rush everything.' She encouraged me to just get to know the person and take my time," Rachel revealed to Reality TV World."And I really want to take that to heart. That's what I want to do. I want to give us the chance to get to know each other and then we'll see what happens!"The intelligent and confident beauty also said she would also consider airing her wedding as a televised special one day."I'm not against it," Rachel noted of sharing her big day with fans. "But I'm just trying to take one step at a time. I just want to get to know my fiance the fullest before I even start thinking about a wedding."When 's new season premieres Monday, May 22 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC, Rachel will begin dating 31 bachelors Fans can look forward to following Rachel on her journey to find love, and now, everyone can expect a fairy-tale ending. Congratulations, Rachel! Burjis Godrej, 25, son of Nadir Godrej will join Godrej Agrovet in July After the leadership change at the Rs 9,242-crore listed Godrej Consumer Products, attention has shifted to the unlisted companies within Godrej group. Godrej Agrovet, led by Nadir Godrej, younger brother of group chairman Adi Godrej, will see the next generation step in shortly. Burjis Godrej, 25, (bottom, left) and eldest son of Nadir, who is chairman of Godrej Agrovet, will join the company in July as part of succession planning initiated by the group. Second son Sohrab, 23, who is already part of Godrej Industries, the holding company of the Godrej group, will focus his attention on the chemicals business. Youngest son Hormusji, 21, would be inducted into the group later, persons in the know told Business Standard. Nadir Godrej was not immediately available for comments. Godrej Agrovet is estimated to have an annual turnover of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion), while the chemicals business is estimated to be Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) in size. The chemicals business is among the group's oldest businesses, making compounds for detergents, skin care, beauty products, hair care and pharmaceuticals. Godrej Agrovet has operations in dairy, animal feed, oil palm plantations and poultry besides farm inputs. Another unlisted group firm Godrej & Boyce, which makes locks, cupboards and home appliances, already has the next generation in place. Chairman Jamshyd Godrejs son, Navroze, 35, has been part of Godrej & Boyce for some time as executive director in charge of strategy and innovation. Like cousins Nisaba, 38, and Pirojsha, 36, who are children of Adi Godrej, Navroze was being groomed to succeed his father, persons in the know said. On Tuesday, Godrej Consumer Products announced Nisaba was taking over as executive chairperson effective Wednesday. Pirojsha had taken over as executive chairman of Godrej Properties on April 1 this year. Tanya Dubash, 48, the eldest daughter of Adi Godrej, is chairperson of Godrej Nature's Basket, the retail unit of the group. The 120-year-old group had followed a similar strategy when Adi Godrej, his brother Nadir and cousin Jamshyd had taken over the reins from their parents around four decades ago. In recent years, the group has formed a Godrej Family Council to aid in succession planning and to ensure the transition is smooth. The group will continue to have professional chief executive officers running company operations who will report to family members in charge of the respective companies. Gen-Next at Godrej House After GPCL, succession planning is being initiated at unlisted companies within Godrej Group First up is Godrej Agrovet, which will see Burjis Godrej, eldest son of Nadir Godrej, join the company in July Nadir's second son Sohrab, already part of holding company Godrej Industries, will focus on the chemicals business In Godrej & Boyce, the unlisted manufacturing major, Jamshyd Godrejs son, Navroze, is being groomed to succeed him in the future Nadirs third son Hormusji, who is studying in the US, will be inducted later Vora Soaps and the ascent of Nisa Godrej 38-year-olds rise to top is culmination of a significant restructuring in groups holding structure Some 37 years after he first became its director, Adi B Godrej resigned from the board of a little-known company called Vora Soaps on March 15. A day earlier, the 75-year-old doyens daughters Tanya Dubash and Nisaba Godrej, bottom, left, were inducted into Vora Soaps as additional directors. Their aunt and Adis cousin, Smitha V Crishna, also became a director of Vora Soaps around the same time. Apart from Adi and Crishna, the third generation of the 120-year-old conglomerate, which has interests ranging from soaps and locks to real estate and agriculture, consists of Crishnas brother Jamshyd N Godrej, who heads the unlisted Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing, Adis brother and chairman of Godrej Agrovet Nadir B Godrej and their cousin, Rishad Naoroji. These five - Adi, Nadir, Jamshyd, Crishna and Rishad - and their family members together own the group through several trusts and investment firms. While the first three were active in business, Crishna and Rishad have been passive shareholders, though they have taken non-executive board positions in various group entities at different points of time. Significance of Vora Soaps Established in 1979, Vora Soaps corporate records describe it as a manufacturer and merchant of soaps, chemicals and cosmetics. As of March 2015, it had a paid-up capital of Rs 20 lakh and a balance sheet size of about Rs 12 crore. What then is the significance of Vora Soaps and why is everyone moving in and out of it? The answer lies in an exchange filing on March 22 by group flagship Godrej Industries. The company informed the exchanges that Godrej & Boyce had transferred its entire stake, 193.9 million shares or 57.69 per cent, to Vora Soaps. The transaction, done without any consideration, makes Vora Soaps the primary promoter entity of listed Godrej Industries, which has significant stakes in several other group companies, including Godrej Consumer Products (23.76 per cent) and Godrej Properties (56.7 per cent). Thus, effectively, the person who controls Vora Soaps will have a significant say over Godrej Industries and Godrej Properties. An e-mail sent to spokespersons of the three group entities did not draw any response. The other inter-se transfer In Godrej Consumer Products, Vora Soaps indirect stake amounts to a voting power of around 14 per cent. This is where another company called Godrej Seeds and Genetics comes into the picture. On March 22, the same day it transferred its Godrej Industries stake to Vora Soaps, Godrej & Boyce also transferred, without consideration, its 93.5 million Godrej Consumer Products shares, amounting to a 27.45 per cent stake to Godrej Seeds and Genetics. At Wednesdays close of Rs 1,924.8, this transfer is worth Rs 18,000 crore. Corporate records show Nisaba, Dubash and Crishna are now directors of Godrej Seeds and Genetics also. Though Godrej & Boyce has fully exited from Godrej Industries, it still has about 25 million shares, or 7.34 per cent, in Godrej Consumer Products. The two inter-se transfers change the ownership structure of the underlying listed entities and their subsidiaries. Rishad Naoroji was the top shareholder in Vora Soaps with a holding of 20.02 per cent, followed by Nadir Godrej at 19.98 per cent. Crishnas children Nyrika and Freyan owned 10 per cent each. Navroze Jamshyd Godrej and the Raika Godrej Family Trust (controlled by Jamshyds family) owned 10 per cent each. Nisaba owned around 10 per cent while siblings Pirojsha (6.68 per cent) and Tanya (3.32) owned the rest. Godrej Seeds and Genetics was set up in 2011 as a subsidiary of Godrej Agrovet, the groups animal feed unit, which has equity investments from Singapores Temasek Holdings. Godrej & Boyces holding structure & the road ahead The five Godrej family groups and their holding firm, Godrej Investments, together owned 76.8 per cent in Godrej & Boyce, initially known for its locks. The remaining 23.2 per cent is held by the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation, a public charitable trust. Today, Godrej & Boyce has 14 operating divisions and annual turnover of Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion). Godrej & Boyce received approvals for these two major share transfers, at current prices worth around Rs 29,000 crore (Rs 290 billion), in an Extraordinary General Meeting on March 22. An explanatory statement to the notice for this EGM outlines the road ahead for the group. The primary benefit of the proposed restructuring of investment holdings is that it would greatly enhance the companys flexibility for any future corporate action. The company is not expected to monetise these assets, as the investments represent the promoter holding in these strategically important group companies. There was also a not so subtle hint of an initial public offering. Given the current structure, actions such as an IPO, public listing of any individual business division, or a strategic partner coming on board, would be relatively difficult and expensive to implement, the statement said, seeking shareholder support for the divestment. While Jamshyds son, Navroze, is already on the board of Godrej & Boyce, Nadir was quoted saying recently that his eldest son, Burjis, would join Godrej Agrovet in July. In February, Godrej Properties had elevated Adis son, Pirojsha, as its executive chairman. Though he is named chairman emeritus, Adi resigned from the real estate companys board on April 1 after a 27-year stint. The American, who moved from US Navy to the corporate world, is considered best suited for this role because of her understanding of both production and distribution. Arnab Dutta and Viveat Susan Pinto report. IMAGE: Inside the Coca-Cola Bottle: An American Icon at 100 exhibition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. Christina Ruggiero (below) has been posted at the Indian unit from Coca-Cola's Atlanta office. Photograph: Ben Rose/Getty Images . As a young cryptologist in the United States Navy, Christina Ruggiero, now the chief executive of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the bottling arm of Coca-Cola India, was adept at cracking codes. In her mid-40s now, Ruggiero, who has been posted at the Indian unit from Coca-Cola's Atlanta office, will literally have to crack the beverage code here as Coca-Cola looks at ways to enhance distribution and production. Coca-Cola reported low single-digit decline in volume for the March 2017 quarter in India and South West Asia, a significant drop over 11 per cent growth reported in the year ago period. "Unit case volume growth of 1 per cent included low single-digit growth in our Greater China and Korea and ASEAN business units, partially offset by a low single-digit decline in our India & South West Asia business unit," the company said in its earnings release recently. Ruggiero, who, peers say, has never feared the unknown, will have her task cut out: Ensure consistent year-on-year sales so that Coca-Cola can meet its target of double-digit volume growth by 2020. In an interview recently, James Murphy, president (Asia-Pacific Group), The Coca-Cola Company, said, "Our top priority is to deliver growth by meeting consumer needs in a broader way than we have done before. The focus ahead would be a far more consumer-oriented business, catering to the needs of people by delivering beverage solutions they enjoy." With changing consumer preferences and drinking habits, globally as well as in India, Coca-Cola is now attempting to strengthen its portfolio outside its core carbonated beverages. According to Murphy, the firm has set its sights on emerging categories such as juices and plans to develop a "stronger total portfolio, participating across multiple categories". Emerging markets like India have a key role to play in its new-found direction. "In India, we already have a developing portfolio in a number of categories and we see tremendous potential (for growth) ahead," he said. To be sure, Coca-Cola India has been working on a revamp of its portfolio for two years now. It has stepped into a number of new categories like milk-based drinks (Vio), coconut water (Zico), zero-sugar fizzy drink (Coke Zero) and cold tea (Fuze Tea), besides launching juice-based fizzy drinks with Fanta Green Mango last year. This is expected to be taken to the next level with more such fizzy drinks lined up for the next few months. How will Ruggiero, whose business accounts for 65 per cent of Coca-Cola's production and distribution in India (the rest come from external bottlers), achieve this? Sources in the know say that the American national of Italian origin, who is married with two sons, is expected to focus not only on new product formats but also new points of distribution and pricing. Industry sources say that Ruggiero is best suited for this role given that she has an understanding of both production and distribution. She was earlier chief procurement officer for the Coca-Cola System in North America and was also president and chief executive officer for Bottlers' Sales & Services, a limited liability company owned by 68 Coca-Cola bottling members. She is also considered a go-getter, who has never hesitated to take up challenges -- which explains why, say sources, the Atlanta office chose her over local executives to manage the bottling unit in India, a task which is not expected to be easy, since she brings an outside-in perspective as an expat CEO. But Ruggiero, say sources, can handle the switch well, given that transitions have been part and parcel of her life. She moved from the US Navy at the turn of the current century to acquire a management degree from the University of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the UK. She subsequently joined liquor major Diageo in London as vice-president (procurement) in 2001, staying there for 13 years. She moved back to the US in July 2014 to take up her new role as vice-president (procurement) for indirect goods and services at Coca-Cola. She was elevated as chief procurement officer within six months. While Coca-Cola has female executives in different roles across the company, there are only a few at the helm of bottling operations, say sources. In the past, Coca-Cola has had women CEOs heading bottling operations in China and Uruguay. Ruggiero, therefore, joins a select club of female executives leading the way at Coca-Cola. Also read: Women who shattered corporate glass ceilings Can Nestle go beyond Maggi? While recovery in the March quarter has been led by the popular noodle brand, the company hopes for a different revenue mix in five years. One of the countrys best-known packaged food companies, Nestle, may no longer just be a food player. The company is set to evolve into something bigger as it looks to shed its food tag. The move comes as Nestle increasingly becomes cognisant of the pitfalls of depending on one brand alone. In this case it is its instant noodles, Maggi, which remains Indias best-loved comfort food. Also one that has clawed its way back in terms of market share in the last year and a half since its dramatic recall and ban following quality issues. Just how much Nestle depends on Maggi can be gauged from this: A fortnight ago when its Swiss parent announced its March-ended quarter results, the India commentary stressed on how Maggi had aided recovery post demonetisation. In the December quarter, Nestle India had seen its net profit decline 9 per cent because of the high-value note ban announced that quarter. In the March quarter, the company said it was bouncing back fast in India due to Maggi. To sector analysts this came as no surprise since Maggi today has a share of 60 per cent, which is only 15 percentage points lower than its market share prior to the recall and ban in June 2015. Analysts say that Maggi is expected to close the 1500 basis-point gap in the next few quarters as the company launches new flavours and variants to build on market share. It is also working hard to engender trust, emphasising that quality issues with Maggi are a thing of the past. This point was stressed in a recent earnings call to discuss Nestles March quarter results. Nestle Global Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger said, Nestle India continued with a good performance, driven by Maggi. We see progressive normalisation after demonetisation. South Asia continued to make sustained progress with high single-digit organic growth. While Maggi is expected to continue growing, the company is also broadening its horizons, looking to introduce more international products into the country, which is aimed at derisking its business model. In its recently-released annual report for 2016, Suresh Narayanan, chairman & managing director, Nestle India, said, We have 2,000 brands globally and we will explore ways to bring them to India. The message was clear: Get more products into the country and spread itself across categories. The company, in fact, has already taken the first few steps in this direction. It has entered breakfast cereals with Nestle Ceregrow and is expected to add pet care, healthcare, skincare and hair care to its list this year. In a recent interview Narayanan said, Nestle is not just a food company and a new complexion of Nestle will be clearly visible in 5-10 years. Pharma focus The plan, according to Narayanan, is to double the number of brands outside the food and nutrition segment in India in the next few years. This plan is in line with its global strategy of strengthening its non-food portfolio. For the record, Nestle is present in health sciences, premium skin care and prescription-based products besides food and beverages globally, making it a far more diversified major than it is in India. Analysts tracking the company say that Nestles move to go beyond food is also linked partly with the growth prospects of the pharmaceutical and health care market in India. According to estimates by consultancies such as PwC and McKinsey, Indias pharmaceutical market is pegged at $36.7 billion, or Rs 2.35 lakh crore, which is growing at a compounded annual rate of nearly 16 per cent. By 2020, it is estimated to touch $55 billion, or Rs 3.5 lakh crore, putting India among the top three pharma and healthcare markets in the world by incremental growth and sixth-largest in terms of absolute size. It is not surprising, say experts, why India will be in the top three healthcare markets in the world in the future. With the worlds second-largest population in India at 1.2 billion and this number only growing, the countrys healthcare needs are also increasing, implying that the need for basic and specialised care as well as healthcare products will only grow, sector experts say. A move into prescription-based products, premium skincare and hair care therefore for companies such as Nestle, which are predicated on health, science and nutrition, say experts, is the way forward. McKinsey says that emerging markets such as India and China will play a key role in propelling pharma growth in the world even as growth in developed markets slows down. It is also cheaper to produce pharma and healthcare products here, compelling companies such as Nestle to increasingly focus their attention on this market and make necessary investments especially in areas such as research, development and production. Nestle Indias 2016 annual report, for instance, indicates that its research & development centre, set up in 2012 at an investment of Rs 287 crore, will be leveraged in this effort by the company to enter new areas. The company says that work has been on for some time now, which will be galvanised further. Along with the network of R&D centres across the globe, the research & development centre in India has worked towards developing winning concepts, suited to local consumers, the annual report said. Nestle is also getting its distribution in place to market these new products that it proposes to introduce in India in the coming months. While specialised, prescription-based products such as Peptamen (for those who cannot digest food normally), Human Milk Fortifier (for pre-term babies) and Excella Pro (an infant milk substitute) have been launched in India, more products are expected to be added to this stable soon. But as Nestle increasingly steps into health sciences in India, it is likely to encounter fierce competition from players such as Abbott and Danone, which have in the last few years increased their presence in the nutrition domain in the country, targeting products for children as well as adults. Rs 275 cr payment to Tata Power (SED) blocked for putting Indian part The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) and ministry of defence (MoD) claim indigenisation - or replacing foreign-procured equipment with kit built in India is a key priority. Yet, an Indian company that indigenised components faces heavy financial losses after the MoD blocked its payments. Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division), one of Indias most capable defence electronics innovators, beat out global competition in 2011 to bag a Rs 1,219 crore contract to modernise 30 Indian Air Force (IAF) and one Indian Navy airfields. But now, even as Tata Power (SED) continues work, the MoD has blocked payments worth Rs 275 crore after the company replaced an Australian component worth just Rs 84 lakh with a component developed in India. The component, called a Runway Visual Range (RVR), was to be sourced from an Australian firm, MTECH Systems, according to the initial contract with Tata Power (SED). However, after MTECH Systems presented delivery problems, Tata Power (SED) - in consultation with the IAF - replaced it with the Drishti RVR, built in India by National Aerospace Laboratory, which falls under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). Drishti was already installed in several civilian airfields under the Airports Authority of India, including Bengaluru International Airport. It was also displayed in the Republic Day Parade this year, as an showpiece of Make in India. Yet, the MoD has used Drishtis induction as grounds to stop payments to Tata Power (SED). Each IAF airfield costs Rs 37.5 crore to modernise. The MoD has blocked that entire amount because of the RVR, which costs just Rs 84 lakhs; less than 2.5 per cent of the cost per airfield. Despite dues piling up to Rs 275 crore, Tata Power (SED) has continued to work without payment on almost 11-12 airfields. The company calculates it has additionally lost Rs 12.56 crore in interest on the outstanding dues. With each passing day, interest charges lose Tata Power (SED) another Rs 10.6 lakhs. Rahul Chaudhry, Tata Power (SED) chief, laments: We proposed the IAF could withhold Rs 94 lakh for each RVR, and pay us the remaining amount. But this arrangement was not acceptable to MoD (Finance) and our payments since then are stuck, leading to a large working capital interest burden of Rs 10.6 lakh per day. Business Standard learns that this will cause Tata Power (SED) - a division of Tata Power to post a loss for the first time in 15 years. Contacted for comments, MoD officials, speaking anonymously, tell Business Standard the ministry has decided to pay Tata Power (SED). The proposal to replace the foreign RVR with an indigenous one had been agreed to several weeks ago. However, the case has been held up on account of costing implications in the contract. But agreement has been reached and [the IAF] will make the payment soon. However, Tata Power (SED) says the MoD has not communicated any decision to make payment, or when it would be made. We are waiting for our due payment (of Rs 275 crore) and requesting an immediate release. We are also requesting that our cost (of Rs 12.56 crore) on account of blocked working capital may be reimbursed, says Chaudhry. Under the so-called Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI) contract, Tata Power (SED) is required to supply, install, test, integrate and commission a range of radar, airspace control and communications equipment, procured from various foreign and Indian vendors at 31 specified IAF/navy airfields. Negotiations are under way with Tata Power (SED) for a second phase of this project, termed MAFI-2, to modernise another 37 military airfields for an assessed Rs 1,600-1,800 crore. Photograph: PTI Photo Air India delays Delhi-Tel Aviv flight, while Air India Express has cancelled flying to Tehran Geopolitics has become a hindrance for Indias national carrier, Air Indias, planned flights. At least one new route has been nixed and the airline is having second thoughts about another. Air India has delayed its proposed Delhi-Tel Aviv flight due to airspace restriction by Arab nations for flights to and from Israel, while its low cost subsidiary, Air India Express, has dropped the DelhiTehran route due to sanctions imposed by the Donald trump administration over Iran. Air India officials say that the proposed Delhi-Tel Aviv has been postponed indefinitely and may not even materialise due to the ban. The ban will force the airline to take a longer route which the management feels will not be economically viable. Air India CMD Ashwani lohani had announced earlier this year that it was in the final stages of starting a non-stop Delhi-Tel Aviv flight through a B-787 Dreamliner. Eighteen out of 21 nations in the Arab League do not recognise Israel and hence do not permit use of their airspace to the Jewish country. Among them are countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Jordan over whose airspace the proposed flight would have gone. "Last month, Air India CMD Lohani and commercial director Pankaj Srivastava met Israeli transport minister Yisrael Katz and officials of the Ben Gurion airport to develop a new route but could not find an economically viable one," said an Air India source. One of the options that the authorities were contemplating was flying to the Baba El-mandab strait near Yemen, then take a detour by flying over the Red Sea to avoid Saudi airspace. "But that would have made the route longer and the total time taken would have been around eight hours instead of the five hours direct flight, this will make the route economically unviable," the official said. Israeli authorities are very keen to have the flight as currently there is only a single direct flight between Israel and India. Israeli carrier El Al operates a B-767-300 on the Mumbai-Tel Aviv route. According to a report by Israeli newspaper Globes, civil aviation between the two countries has grown significantly. The number of passengers flying directly between the countries reached 158,000 in 2016, a 22.8 per cent growth compared to last year. A lot of the flyers between the two countries do not take a direct flight due to lack of options. Thirty per cent of passengers to India flew via Moscow, 14.5 per cent through Instanbul, 11.8 per cent by way of Tashkent, 2.3 per cent via Larnaca, etc, says the report. "A direct flight would have done well," the Air India official said with regret. Similarly, Air India Express has cancelled their plan for a weekly Delhi-Tehran flight due to fresh sanctions imposed by the US against Iran. Instead, the airline has deployed the aircraft (B-737) on the Delhi-Dhaka route, K Shyamsundar, CEO, Air India Express, said. The primary reason is that the airline finances its new aircraft order through Export-Import Bank of the United States. "Hence there is a complexity to operate in places where there is a sanction imposed by the US," he said. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters 'Pyongyang's strategy seems to be a cry to be treated as equal with the US and Beijing and this aspiration is premised on equipping itself with weapons as devastating as theirs,' says Rajaram Panda. Days after Moon Jae-in moved to the Blue House as South Korea's president and was yet to fully settle in office, North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile to unsettle Moon despite his advocacy of reconciliation and dialogue with Pyongyang to curb its nuclear ambitions in a clear departure from previous conservative governments' policy of confrontation. Such provocative actions on Kim Jong-un's part pose fresh challenge to Moon and other powers. The missile flew some 800 km (500 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan. Preliminary examination of the missile by the US Pacific Command said the flight was 'not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile.' The real worry is Pyongyang is consistently working to master the technology needed to field nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the US mainland. The missile was believed to have been fired from near Kusong in North Phyongan province. Past satellite rocket launches have been called clandestine tests of ICBM technology, but North Korea is not believed to have tested a true intercontinental ballistic missile yet. North Korea has remained consistent in its stand that it will continue to bolster its nuclear capability unless the US abandons its hostile policy. The launch came as troops from the US, Japan and two European nations gathered on remote US islands in the Pacific for drills aimed as a message to North Korea. The USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft super-carrier, is also engaging with South Korean navy ships in waters off the Korean peninsula. Between the previous liberal era a decade ago and now, North Korea has made considerable advance in its nuclear programme. This could put immense constraint on Moon to return to the policies that he envisages. Was it an ICBM? Though the US Pacific Command felt the launched missile 'was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile,' the missile took an unusual high-altitude ballistic path, indicating that it was a new two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket capable of flying up to 4,500 km. After Japanese experts analysed the trajectory of the projectile's flight, Japan's Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said the missile was a new type fired in a high-angle orbit, reaching an altitude of more than 2,000 km and flying for 30 minutes, before coming down in the Sea of Japan after a total flight of about 700 km, but not reaching the Japanese exclusive economic zone. The Americans were not overtly worried. According to Union of Concerned Scientists Co-Director David Wright, the North Korean missile was not an ICBM. According to him, if flown on a standard trajectory, the missile would have a range of up to 4,500 km. Guam, an American territory with two large US military bases, is 3,400 km away from North Korea and until now had been considered beyond the range of the most powerful rocket North Korea is known to have developed, the Musudan, with a range of about 3,000 km. The latest missile launch indicates Pyongyang may have leapfrogged its troubled Musudan series of missiles. Japan and South Korea are already within range of North Korea's missiles. While South Korea is within target of North's Scud missiles with a 500 km range, Japan could come under attack from Pyongyang's 1,000 km to 1,300 km range Rodong missiles. The latest weapon, the Hwasong-12, capable of carrying a 'heavy nuclear warhead' as claimed by Pyongyang, puts US bases on the Pacific island of Guam within striking distance. While debates about the range of the latest missile continues, the unanimous opinion is that the new missile could be a stepping stone to a properly working ICBM, which could fundamentally change assessments of the threat posed by Pyongyang. The latest missile launch also suggests that Pyongyang is closer to an operational ICBM than had been previously estimated. A functional ICBM would need a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on to a missile. After conducting five nuclear tests, it could be suspected that Pyongyang has already in its possession a compact warhead that can be mounted on to a missile. What does Kim Jong-un want? South Korea's new president has voiced his desire to visit Pyongyang and open up a dialogue with Kim Jong-un. So far, Kim has remained unresponsive to peace overtures from either US President Donald Trump or Moon. It is possible that Pyongyang wants to secure a position of strength before a return to the negotiating table with enhanced bargaining leverage. Pyongyang's strategy seems to be a cry to be treated as equal with the US and Beijing and this aspiration is premised on equipping itself with weapons as devastating as theirs, which is why advances on weapon capability continue. As usual, condemnation followed. Trump called the launch 'unacceptable' and repeated threats of military action. Moon called an emergency national security meeting but avoided making any statement on the launch. Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo reacted strongly to the launch as 'absolutely unacceptable' and that Japan shall respond resolutely. The White House saw the missile launch 'as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea.' Strangely, North Korea's action came soon after Trump had said he would be 'honoured' to meet Kim Jong-un 'under the right circumstances.' This led Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, to say that 'having a missile test is not the way to sit down with the president.' China, still North Korea's only major ally and key trading partner, is displeased with Pyongyang. While opposing Pyongyang's violation of UN Security Council resolutions, Beijing called for restraint to avoid increasing tensions in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in Beijing for an international summit, expressed concern about the missile test and the escalation of tensions. Noticing the missile impacting Russia more than Japan, Trump made an indirect appeal to Moscow for stronger cooperation to counter Pyongyang. The UN Security Council condemned the missile test and vowed strong measures, including sanctions, to derail Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. In a unanimous statement supported by China, the Council vowed to punish Pyongyang's 'highly destabilising behaviour' and demanded a halt to any further nuclear or missile tests. Despite so many sanctions which have failed to bite the rogue State, what else is left to put further pressure on North Korea to obtain compliance? Moon feels there is still scope to explore other options and will visit Washington in June for a summit with Trump. It is doubtful if any consensus can be reached between the two leaders on the North Korean issue as their declared policies seem to come into conflict with each other. Will diplomacy prevail to prevent a cataclysmic scenario from evolving in the Korean peninsula? Dr Rajaram Panda is currently Indian Council for Cultural Relations India Chair Visiting Professor at Reitaku University, Japan. The views expressed are the author's own and do not represent either of the ICCR or the Government of India. IMAGE: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves to people attending a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, in Pyongyang, April 15, 2017. Towards the end of every parade, it is tradition for the North Korean leader to come to the edge of the balcony from where he watches the proceedings and wave to foreign and local dignitaries sitting on either side of the building. The photographer on the far right has his hair styled in a similar way to Kim Jong-un, a common refrain amongst his bodyguards, aides and the photographers which surround him. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters 'The verdict will open up the floodgates for Pakistan to take the ICJ route on many issues in context of Jammu and Kashmir,' warns Rajeev Sharma. Celebrate India, now that the International Court of Justice's 11-judge bench unanimously ruled in India's favour in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and directed Pakistan not to execute him till the ICJ's final verdict. It also asked Pakistan to allow Indian consular access to the former naval commander. The consular access is a breakthrough as it will not only bring before the world Jadhav's real story, but will also prove that he is alive. But hold your horses folks. There is a flip side too. In the ICJ verdict as such there is nothing for Pakistan. And yet the verdict throws up several downsides for India which should keep Pakistan happy. Here is how: India approached the ICJ after 46 years which shows New Delhi has had a very low comfort quotient with the ICJ process. Thursday's verdict over-ruled the India-Pakistan bilateral agreement of 2008 on consular access on spies and upheld India's arguments that denial of consular access to Jadhav despite 16 requests by India was in blatant violation of the Vienna Convention. The downside is that Pakistan will use the same argument for its spies/terrorists and take the ICJ route. India used this in a one-off case and that too when the person in distress (Jadhav) had been awarded a death sentence by a military court in closed door proceedings, something that happens rarely. Pakistan has a huge army of spies and terrorists and Islamabad is bound to exploit it to the fullest for times to come. India has seldom gone to international fora to seek relief and intervention from Pakistan. India's stand has been that most of its disputes are bilateral and New Delhi doesn't favour third-party intervention. This is particularly true about the Jammu and Kashmir issue. The ICJ verdict in the Jadhav case will open up the floodgates for Pakistan to take the ICJ route on many issues in context of Jammu and Kashmir, even though India has told the ICJ categorically that its petition before the ICJ in the Jadhav case in no way impinges on Kashmir and other outstanding issues with Pakistan. Nonetheless, the ICJ victory in the Jadhav case has been India's biggest diplomatic victory. Eighteen years ago, Pakistan had moved the ICJ when India had shot down a Pakistani aircraft, but the ICJ had refused to admit Pakistan's petition. Thus, that case could be construed an Indian victory. Some 46 years ago, Pakistan had handed out a diplomatic defeat of sorts to India when it successfully appealed against India's decision to denying overflight rights to Pakistan before an international aviation body. The case had gone to the ICJ later, but by the time the matter became infructuous as Bangladesh had been born by then. It is not often that India wins a diplomatic battle against Pakistan on an international platform. The ICJ judgment is a welcome victory in that context. After the most frigid era in years, the two nations should now look for a turnaround. Pakistan's initial positive reaction in the Jadhav case suggests that after the storm it is time for some quiet diplomacy which will be largely behind the scenes. There is a strong possibility that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a photo-op with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the second week of June. This could lead to a more substantive meeting. Rajeev Sharma, a strategic analyst, tweets @Kishkindha 'If you put colour-coded internal security maps of India in May 2014 and now, the picture won't be flattering to Modi.' 'Failures on internal security are piling up and can break Modi's momentum,' says Shekhar Gupta. So how exactly did the Indian State respond to internal security setbacks when there was no Twitter? Almost exactly as it does now when there is Twitter. The National Democratic Alliance playbook is in fact quite similar to the United Progressive Alliance's. Except now it begins with the launch of some familiar verbal missiles: 'Cowardly', 'treacherous', 'anti-national' and, of course, that weapon of mass destruction for all evil that Dr Manmohan Singh had made notorious, 'dastardly'. After the tweeted outrage come high-level meetings, promises that soldiers' sacrifices won't go in vain and, if it is too embarrassing a setback, like the April 24 incident in Bastar, attending the funerals. Inevitably then, in the next 48 hours, if not earlier, something else will become the stink of the day and this will be forgotten. As Bastar was, after Kupwara. Which was put in the shade within hours by Vinod Khanna's demise. One surgical strike (post-Uri) apart, this government's responses are essentially similar to that of the UPA's, which the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders lambasted so brutally. Smriti Irani's taunt of sending bangles (odd metaphor for a proud, independent and powerful woman, one must add) has been dug out by her critics. Then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi himself landed up right next to the Oberoi hotel while the National Security Guard was still fighting terrorists there during the 26/11 attacks, unusual for the chief minister of an adjoining state. Then prime minister Manmohan Singh, then Union home ministers Shivraj Patil and Sushil Kumar Shinde were all objects of derision. There was an entire series of missteps and stupidities that convinced popular opinion that the UPA was weak on internal security; and its leadership worse than spineless. With both domestic jihadis and Maoists, they were seen to be complicit. On Muslim groups, the Congress party's two-facedness after the Batla House encounter in Delhi (where known Indian Mujahideen terrorists and a police inspector were killed) confirmed fears that the party was playing vote bank politics. This was particularly bad as the party prevaricated after awarding the highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra, to the inspector posthumously. On the Maoists, two things confirmed the same impression. First, the political vetoing of P Chidambaram's drive against the Maoists which ultimately saw two politburo members being killed and some arrested. And second, the co-opting of Dr Binayak Sen, convicted on sedition charges (and then given a reprieve), on an important committee of the Planning Commission. Much post-2014 analysis of the BJP landslide has focused on UPA-2's economic policy paralysis. But an impression of pusillanimity on internal security challenges also turned disillusionment into a catastrophic anti-incumbency. Three years into his term, how would the prime minister assess his internal security balance sheet? Kashmir was reasonably calm in 2014, now it is on fire. We know that the valley has seen violent upsurges before, but any Kashmir veteran will tell you that today's alienation is unprecedented. The government's bold move in aligning with the rival Peoples Democratic Party has collapsed, mostly for the top leadership's inability to reconcile conflicting ideologies. The unnatural alliance had moral, strategic and political justification because any other arrangement after the last election would have re-enacted a version of the two-nation theory, splitting the state between 'Muslim' valley and 'Hindu' Jammu. For the alliance to work, the BJP should have been willing to show more patience, and not distract Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the beef ban and Masarat Alam's release. His untimely demise didn't help. The net result was angry and violent chaos. In the Maoist zone, the Modi government had shown progress until the two latest setbacks exposed its audacious road-building drive without adequate intelligence and paramilitary build-up. There was one particular raid on a large Maoist camp that succeeded in killing a large number of them including some ranking leaders, and it had seemed the government was rolling back the threat. The two recent incidents, however, have seen poor response by the security forces, humiliating command failures and easy loss of prized weapons. Over the past two months, the Maoists have looted the jungle guerrilla warfare's equivalent of a battalion worth of top-of-the line weapons: Assault rifles, light machine guns, grenade-launchers, VHF radio sets and bullet-proof vests. They have also had the time to stay back and leave enough reminder of their intent by mutilating some jawans' bodies. The Central Reserve Police Force brass has denied it to avoid embarrassment to itself and rage among the troops. But gory pictures are circulating among them and even if responsible sections of the media won't publish these, the troops are seeing them. This isn't the script Modi had promised in 2014. Please note that the Bastar ambush took place at 11.30 in the morning in summer, giving enough daylight for a tough government that routinely talks 'hot pursuit' in foreign territory to interdict the killers, and set up a chase. Fresh, better-trained troops could be inducted using helicopters. One reason it wasn't done is the forces simply don't have that wherewithal. Three years into the 'tough, nationalist' NDA government, this lack of preparedness is exactly what the BJP had criticised the UPA for. The NDA's internal security balance sheet has plenty of red elsewhere too. Nagaland is in a much deeper crisis and Manipur's border districts have seen a revival of insurgency. The Naga peace talks have lost their way and, for the first time, the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland factions have carried out raids in adjoining districts of Nagaland. If you put colour-coded internal security maps of India in May 2014 and now, the picture won't be flattering to Modi. Euphoria over surgical strikes helped him clear the pall of failure after Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Uri. But you can't keep cashing the same cheque again and again. He and his party have been able to manage the loss of control in Kashmir through deft political messaging in the mainland -- blaming Pakistan, rising Islamism, soldiers versus the stone-throwing traitors -- helped along, indeed, by warrior news channels. It might have even helped the party polarise the voters to its benefit. But the tactic is dangerous and unsustainable. It is just one Kupwara-like incident ending, god forbid, in an Uri-like carnage. Or a forces' contingent, under stress for months losing nerve and control, opening up at a violent mob and, god forbid again, opening up to leave behind another Gawkadal-type massacre. That one, remember, was 27 years ago, and remains a scar. None of these scenarios, unfortunately, is unrealistic. Weaving Kashmir into the larger, cynical proposition of partisan politics may work until then. But continuing Maoist and Northeast troubles, frequent depredations of gau rakshaks, and rising casualties among the security forces will sour the national mood and cost the BJP. It cannot afford to look weak, clueless and waffling on these issues. Modi's popularity and skills at messaging are formidable, but can't cover for continuing loss of life and control. Soon enough, it will be seen as weakness and incompetence. Failures on internal security are now piling up and can break Modi's momentum. Electoral history tells us that when people get angry over things like these, they don't bother sending you bangles. They can just choose to not vote for you. IMAGE:Prime Minister Narendra Modi with soldiers in Himachal Pradesh. Photograph: Kind courtesy @narendramodi/Twitter In a major boost to India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who had been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. "Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The United Nations' highest judicial body, which had earlier provisionally stayed Jadhav's sentence on May 9, also instructed Pakistan to inform it "of all the measures taken in implementation of the present order". "The court also decides that, until it has given its final decision, it shall remain seized of the matters which form the subject matter of this order," a press release from the global court said. Asserting its jurisdiction over the case, the court backed India's contention that there has been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times. India and Pakistan, it noted, have been signatories to the Vienna Convention since 1977. As soon as the order came in, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his satisfaction and spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who described the verdict as a "great relief". They both thanked senior lawyer Harish Salve, who headed the battery of lawyers presenting India's case. In Islamabad, Pakistan said it did not accept the ICJ ruling in matters related to national security. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying it was "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ. The unanimous verdict of the 11-judge bench comes three days after the two countries gave their submissions during which India demanded annulment of the sentence and described Pakistan's trial to convict Jadhav as "farcical". Pakistan, in turn, had argued that the 46-year-old Indian national was a spy and India's plea was "misconceived". The court said Pakistan had indicated that the execution would probably not take place before August 2017. "This means that there is a risk that an execution could take place at any moment thereafter, before the Court has given its final decision in the case." It also noted the urgency of the case since Pakistan had given "no assurance that Mr. Jadhav will not be executed before the Court has rendered its final decision". Examining India's argument that is a risk of irreparable prejudice, it said, "... the mere fact that Mr. Jadhav is under a death sentence and might therefore be executed is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of a risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India". India moved the ICJ against the death penalty on May 8. The next day, the global court gave Jadhav a lease of life and stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Jadhav's case is the latest flashpoint in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft. ICJ order on Jadhav binding on Pakistan: India India on Thursday asserted that the ruling of the International Court of Justice, staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, is binding on Pakistan and termed the verdict as unanimous and unambiguous. Hours after the ICJ in The Hague pronounced its provisional order in the case, the External Affairs Ministry said the government will do everything possible to save the life of Jadhav. Addressing a crowed press conference, MEA Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the provisional relief provided by the ICJ is the first step in ensuring justice to Jadhav. The order by the ICJ is unanimous, favourable, clear and unambiguous. The verdict a matter of great relief for people of the country, he said. Replying to a volley of questions on Indias possible response if Pakistan does not implement the ICJ order, Baglay said the order is binding on Pakistan. Click HERE to read ICJ order. On Thursday, in a big win for India, the International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all necessary measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. Following the order, reactions poured in from all over celebrating the big win. IMAGE: Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik creates a sand sculpture for Kulbhushan Jadhav at Puri beach in Odisha. Photograph: PTI Photo The ICJ order has come as a great relief to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav and people of India. We are grateful to Mr Harish Salve for presenting Indias case so effectively before ICJ. I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav. I compliment my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hard work. -- Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs Major victory for India Kulbhushan Jadhav case. ICJ upholds Indias right to consular access, put a stay on death execution. Justice prevails. International Court of Justice staying execution of Kukbhushan Jadhav has exposed Pakistan. Im sure final order too will go in our favour. -- Venkaiah Naidu, minister for urban development, information & broadcasting "ICJ verdict endorses the relevance and necessity of procedural and substantive fairness which was denied by Pakistan. Relief and satisfaction as the ICJ order has come -- Rule of Law has won." -- Arun Jaitley, defence and finance minister "The ICJ's decision to stay the execution of Shri Kulbhushan Jadhav gives the people of India a deep sense of satisfaction and relief. The EAM Sushma Swaraj has done a commendable job. The govt led by PM Shri Narendra Modi will go to any extent to save kulbhushan Jadhav." -- Rajnath Singh, home minister Congratulations to @PMOIndia @narendramodi @SushmaSwaraj on the effort at ICJ to expose Pakistans record of violating International Law. -- Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha MP GoI must use the ICJ decision as a trigger to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav back. ICJ has given a favourable decision. -- Manish Tewari, Congress "The case against Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan was a sham and was in gross violation of international law as his execution was ordered by a kangaroo court without consular access. It is appreciated that the World Court saw reason in the Indian appeal." -- Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leader Prayers of 125 crore Indians have been answered, said well-wishers of the former naval officer who has been incarcerated by Pakistan. All photographs: Sahil Salvi Expressing relief over the International Court of Justice staying the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, his friends and well-wishers on Thursday celebrated the ruling by bursting fire crackers. Fire crackers were burst by Jadhavs friends in central Mumbais Lower Parel area and by his neighbours outside his Silver Oak apartment building in Powai area. A sizable crowd, which had gathered outside the building, shouted slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram. The Jadhav family used to stay on the fifth floor of the building. They have now moved out and their flat is locked, a neighbour said. The prayers of 125 crore Indians have been answered. We thank the ICJ for delivering such a welcome ruling, said Tulshidas Pawar, Jadhavs childhood friend. Pawar along with his family members and other friends of Jadhav was glued to the television for the ICJ ruling. He said he was praying for a positive verdict at ICJ and was hopeful of his friends safe return to India. Residents of Aanewadi village in Satara district, where Jadhav owns an acre of land, were elated after the ICJ ruling. This (ICJ ruling) is a good start. Now India must increase efforts to secure Jadhavs release and bring him back home, a villager said. Pawar and other friends of Jadhav also organised a Ganesh Puja for a favourable court verdict. Jadhavs friends in the Prithvi Nandan Society in central Mumbais Lower Parel area, where the former navy officer grew up, performed the Puja on Thursday morning. The group had also undertaken a signature campaign in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan to secure their friends release. Several workers of a political party also joined locals in the celebrations outside Jadhavs apartment by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. The international court has taken a good decision, we are very happy. He was an Indian and not a terrorist, so what Pakistan did was illegal, said one of the workers. Now, the government should take steps to bring him home. The battle is not over yet as he is still in Pakistan. We are waiting for the day when he will be back with his family, he said. Reacting to the ICJ ruling, a US national, staying opposite the Silver Oak apartments said, Anything between India and Pakistan escalates easily. If they kill him, it will become a national calamity. My allegiance lies with India, I am happy to see all these celebrations. It is also good that the decision came from a third neutral party (the international court), he said. Jadhav had spent his early days in Parel and used to stay in the police quarters with his family. After studying at King George School, Jadhav went to Ruia College, before joining the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla in Pune. The International Court of Justice on Thursday stayed the execution of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities. In a major boost to India, which has moved the United Nations highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all necessary measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. ALSO READ OUR RELATED JADHAV STORIES IN THE LINKS ALONGSIDE The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Muslim bodies how can a practice like triple talaq be a matter of faith when they have been asserting that it is patriarchal, bad in theology and sinful. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar also reserved its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq among Muslims after hearing parties including the Centre, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board and various others for six days in summer vacation. The court took note of repeated submissions of the AIMPLB and former Union minister and senior lawyer Salman Khurshid, who is assisting it in personal capacity, that triple talaq is not mentioned in holy Quran and is rather sinful, irregular, patriarchal, bad in theology and undesirable, but the court should not examine it. You (Khurshid) say it is sinful. How can a sinful practice be said to be a matter of faith... Has it (triple talaq) going on in consistently for 1,400 years? The answer is yes. Has it going on in the world? The answer is no. The system itself say it is horrendous and bad, the bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, said. The observations were made when Khurshid was advancing rejoinder arguments by emphasising that the practice was sinful and bad in theology which cannot be good in law. He, however, argued that the court should not examine it. That is why, what is sinful cannot be part of practice. If it is bad in theology, it cannot be accepted in law...What is morally wrong cannot be legally right. What is not fully moral, it cannot be legal, the bench observed. Senior advocate Amit Singh Chadha, appearing for Shayara Bano, one of the victims of triple talaq, started rebuttal arguments quoting AIMPLBs stand that this is sinful and patriarchal practice and said this cannot be integral to Islam. The patriarchal practice of triple talaq in a male-dominated community is not recognised by many schools of thought, he said, adding, It is a bad, undesirable and sinful practice and violates constitutional guarantees of Muslim women. Asking the court not to resort to hands off policy, Chadha said judiciary was the only hope for people, opposed to it as Muslim bodies say it is bad, but be allowed to continue and the Centre says that it is undesirable, but it would not legislate. The only right, the only remedy to the citizens is to come to this court which is the custodian of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. We have no other option. My only remedy is to come to this protector, enforcer and this guardian of my fundamental rights, he said. Chadha also argued it has been admitted by all parties that Islam does not discriminate between men and women and it maintains marriage as far as possible. Triple talaq is outlawed in various Muslim countries, predominantly in Hanafi countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. The moment it is said to be bad in theology that is religious belief, the protection of Article 25 (right to practice religion) is thrown out, he said adding this article protects only good thing of theology. Chadha also argued that state shall not deny the rights guaranteed under Article 14 (right to equality) and 15 (gender equality) of the Constitution and a time has come to test this centuries-old practice, invalid in the eyes of law. Triple talaq is not a part of religion and it cannot be said that is a part of the practice, he said. He also argued that even the government has said that it was not something which was fundamental to Islam. He strongly objected to the suggestion made by AIMPLB that it may ask qazis to include a condition in nikahnama (marriage contract) giving a right to women to say either no or yes to triple talaq. He said that it would be illegal as the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939 provides that a woman will have to go to a court to get divorce. A married Muslim woman, if she wants a divorce, will have to go to a court of law. This will not serve the purpose as a Muslim man can give divorce instantaneously, he said. Senior lawyer Anand Grover, appearing for an organisation opposing triple talaq, said that as of today, most Sunni Muslim women were against this practice and the AIMPLB was not giving a correct perception to the apex court. Former Union minister, Islamic scholar and lawyer, Arif Mohammad Khan, arguing for All India Women Personal Law Board, strongly objected to the submissions of the AIMPLB and said Islam cannot have any room to dictate any person and the holy Quran says killing an innocent person is like killing the entire humanity. Three pronouncement of talaq in one go is not valid and is a practice from pre-Islamic Arab era and is not integral to Islam, he said. Khan, who had quit the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet over differences in handling the Shah Bano case, said the whole Shariat law has been distorted as Shariat is the holy Quran and not the opinion of these people (clerics). The holy Quran considers the importance of family and it provides four steps before pronouncement of divorce. Another former Union minister and senior advocate, Kapil Sibal, who appeared for AIMPLB, said that Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi had raised the issue of constitutional morality in the matter. If they (government) want to have a law, have it. They cannot say we will not have a law and you (court) decide it. It is for the government to frame a law and then it can be tested on the principles of morality, he said. Sibal said this was a very complex situation as the AIMPLB says it was a practice and Article 25, which guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion, is a fundamental right. How will you (court) set it aside? The government can bring a law as measure of social reform. If the law does not permit anybody to do something, it can be tested, he said. Lots of things are happening in the society which is protected by customs. The court is not here to decide what is a sinful practice in the world. We are talking about rule of law, he said. Sibal further said, We are talking about very serious constitutional issue. There is a process provided under the Constitution. Follow that process. He said that a court cannot decide the issue in vacuum and triple talaq is a practice which has not been disputed and it is practised by all the schools of thought. Regarding the courts query on whether a woman can be given an option of saying no to triple talaq at the time of execution of nikahnama, Sibal said he had a meeting with AIMPLB members and they have decided to issue an advisory to all the Qazis to put it in nikahnama. Put it on record before the court, the bench said. Only 0.4 per cent is practising it and this is not a ground to strike it down, Sibal said adding that Qazis have been advised to avoid triple talaq until there were unforeseen circumstances. He said that the issue stands at a dangerous and slippery slope and all must be careful about it and this was not an area where court should enter. If there is a consensus among Muslim scholars that it is a practice then it is valid. There is nothing in the Quran which says triple talaq is not valid, he said. Another senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the groups opposing triple talaq, told the bench that there were slippery slopes on both sides and the court will have to walk on the razor and decide the issue. On conclusion of the six-day long marathon hearing, the bench thanked the lawyers for assisting it during summer vacation. We thank each and everyone of you for the assistance you have given to us during the vacation, it said. The bench had made it clear that it would examine whether the practice of triple talaq among Muslims is fundamental to their religion and had also said for the time being it will not deliberate upon the issue of polygamy and nikah halala. It had also said that the issue of polygamy and nikah halala would be kept pending and will be dealt with later. The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands. The Centre had earlier said that triple talaq is neither integral to Islam nor a majority versus minority issue but rather an intra-community tussle between Muslim men and deprived women. IMAGE: Muslim women hold placards in support of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board during a signature campaign in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters United States President Donald Trump is likely to visit China this year with an agenda to further improve the economic ties and reduce conflicts between the two countries. The move comes after the US-China relationship showed significant growth after Trumps first ever meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the formers Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. Jinping had then told the US president that there were a thousand reasons to make the Sino-US ties work and no reason to break them. He had also invited Trump to visit China during the meeting. "President Trump is looking forward to and hopefully would be able to reach agreement in areas where we have not been able to reach an agreement today for the strengthening of the (US-China) relationship which will again allow us to try and reduce as much conflict and create more economic opportunities for the people," a senior Trump administration official said. While no date has been fixed for the visit so far, it has been in the discussion stage for quite sometime now. "It's something that we have been discussing. We have been making progress in our discussion. I think the US-China relationship is right now showing signs of really been stronger than it has been in the long time, the official said on the condition of anonymity. "I think that stems from the fact that President Trump and President Xi (Jinping) were able to spend a lot of time together (at Mar-a-Lago) and find areas where theres a lot of common objectives. I think they have been working together towards those objectives. "Both are leaders who do not think in short term, but in long term and are trying to create the right framework for the US-China relationship to last for the duration. I would imagine that he would make a trip to China," the official said. Saudi visit: Trump to ask Muslim leaders to ban raising of funds for extremists When Trump travels to Saudi Arabia to address the Muslim world this week, participating leaders would be asked to sign a pledge to make it illegal in their country to fund outfits that promote extremism and terrorism. Leaders of more than 50 mostly-Muslim countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan from Indias neighbourhood, are scheduled to attend the meeting convened by Saudi Arabia. Trump would address the gathering on Sunday. Such a pledge would have far-reaching implications on countries like Pakistan, where fundraising for terrorist organisations is common and at times supported by the ruling establishment. While the pledge would be legally non-binding, it would be used for making these countries accountable by the Trump administration, which has made the fight against terrorism a priority, a senior administration official said. "One of the other things (we are) doing on this trip is to get a lot of countries to sign a pledge to make it illegal in their countries to fund organisations that promote extremism and terrorism. Once we have that we are going to try to figure out where the grey is," an administration official said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that White House has been working very hard on this. "Because we want the countries to make a choice, do you want to be good, do you want to be grey or do you want to be bad? We are not going to allow people not to choose their destinations. I am not saying that check this box. (But) we intend to go to these countries and say look you told us that you would do these things then these are the things that we see you doing to the contrary, are you going to stop them or now?" the official said. According to the official, many of these countries are doing what they are doing because of the circumstances they are in. IMAGE: US President Donald Trump, right, talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters Indonesia: Revoke the caning sentence of gay men in Aceh Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Indonesia: Revoke the caning sentence of gay men in Aceh, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d481d4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Responding to the sentencing of two gay men to 85 lashes each for consensual same-sex sexual relations, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Josef Benedict, said: "The Aceh authorities must immediately revoke the conviction and the caning sentences and end the use of this punishment, which constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and may amount to torture. These men were subjects of an ambush by their neighbours who stormed into their home, filmed them and handed them over to the Shari'a police. Every human being has a right to privacy, a right to enter consensual relations, and a right to physical protection." Background In 2015, at least 108 people were caned in Aceh while in 2016 at least 100 people were caned. The law was applied to non-Muslims for the first time in April 2016 when a Christian woman received 28 strokes of the cane for selling alcohol. The Aceh Islamic Criminal Code was passed by the Aceh parliament (DPRA) in 2014 and came into effect throughout Aceh Province on 23 October 2015. Shari'a bylaws have been in force in Aceh since the enactment of the province's Special Autonomy Law in 2001, and are enforced by Islamic courts. These laws in some cases provide for up to 200 lashes as punishment. Punishable offences include consensual intimacy or sexual activity for unmarried couples, consensual sex outside marriage, same-sex sexual relations, the consumption and sale of alcohol, and gambling. Under international human rights law all forms of corporal punishment are prohibited - they constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and often torture. Canings are regularly carried out in public spaces drawing large crowds where people take photographs and video, which can add to the humiliation and long-term suffering of those who are subjected to this cruel, punishment. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Singapore: Scheduled execution for drug trafficking must be halted Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 17 May 2017 Reference ACT 50/6280/2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Singapore: Scheduled execution for drug trafficking must be halted, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d49524.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Amnesty International today called on the Singapore authorities to halt the execution of a Singaporean man scheduled for Friday 19 May 2017 and to immediately re-establish a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Muhammad Ridzuan Bin Md Ali, a 32 year old-Singaporean national, was sentenced to death on 10 April 2013 after he was convicted of trafficking diamorphine under the Misuse of Drugs Act. His four subsequent appeals were rejected, most recently in December 2016. His family learned of the rejection of his clemency application on 15 May 2017. In 2013 the High Court judge found that Muhammad Ridzuan Bin Md Ali's involvement was restricted to that of a "courier". Since November 2012, the courts of Singapore have had the discretion not to impose the death penalty in certain circumstances. In drug trafficking cases, defendants may be spared the death penalty if they are found to have been involved only in transporting, sending or delivering a prohibited substance, or only offered to commit these acts (as "couriers") and if the Public Prosecutor can certify that they cooperated with the Central Narcotics Bureau to disrupt further drug-related activities. Both conditions must be met in order for judges to have the discretion to impose a sentence of life imprisonment with caning or death. However, the Attorney General refused to issue a certificate of cooperation in Muhammad Ridzuan Bin Md Ali's case and he was therefore sentenced to the mandatory death penalty. Mohammad Ridzuan Bin Md Ali's co-defendant, who was also convicted of drug trafficking and found to be a "courier" at the same trial in 2013, was instead issued with a certificate of cooperation by the prosecution and was sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane. International human rights law requires that the use of the death penalty be restricted to the "most serious crimes". The UN Human Rights Committee has on numerous occasions found that drug-related offences do not meet the criterion of "most serious crimes", a finding reiterated by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The mandatory imposition of the death penalty is against international human rights law. The UN Human Rights Committee has said that "the automatic imposition of the death penalty constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in circumstances where the death penalty is imposed without any possibility of taking into account the defendant's personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence". Furthermore, under Singaporean law, when there is a presumption of drug possession for the aim of trafficking, the burden of proof shifts from the prosecutor to the defendant. This violates the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. Amnesty International calls on the authorities of Singapore to immediately halt the execution of Muhammad Ridzuan Bin Md Ali and any other prisoners and swiftly move to abolish the death penalty once and for all. Background The authorities of Singapore introduced a moratorium on executions in July 2012, to allow the Parliament to review the country's mandatory death penalty laws. Since executions resumed in 2014, the authorities of Singapore have executed at least 11 people, including eight convicted of drug trafficking and three of murder. At least seven new mandatory death sentences were imposed for drug trafficking in 2016 and at least 38 people were on death row at the end of the year. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally as a violation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As of today, 141 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice; in the Asia Pacific region, 19 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and a further eight are abolitionist in practice. There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crime. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Japan: Don't Fund Abusive Philippine Drug Rehab Services Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Japan: Don't Fund Abusive Philippine Drug Rehab Services, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4aa04.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Japanese government should not fund any Philippine government drug rehabilitation services that fall short of international standards, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and President Shinichi Kitaoka of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICA, which funds overseas development initiatives, agreed in April 2017 to provide the Philippine Health Department with US$17 million for "upgrading of [drug] rehabilitation centers and enhancement of treatment protocols for drug dependents." "The Japanese government should not support potentially abusive approaches to drug rehabilitation in the Philippines," said Kanae Doi, Japan director at Human Rights Watch. "JICA should disclose precisely what kind of drug rehabilitation services it is funding and the safeguards it has imposed to ensure that Japan isn't supporting services or facilities that are violating the human rights of people seeking drug treatment." The Philippines desperately needs voluntary, community-based drug dependence treatment services that comport with international standards and human rights principles. However, neither JICA nor the Health Department have provided any details about how the Philippine government will spend those funds. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's offer of "meaningful assistance measures to address the issue of illegal drugs" in the Philippines is questionable given the serious human rights violations linked to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs." Since Duterte took office in June 2016, police and unidentified gunmen have killed more than 7,000 suspected drug users and drug dealers. Related Content The Philippine government's response to the surge in demand for drug rehabilitation facilities - the December 2016 opening of a China-funded "10,000-bed mega treatment and rehabilitation center" within the Fort Magsaysay military base 120 kilometers north of Manila - raises concerns that instead of evidence-based drug treatment services, the rehabilitation services may mirror abusive models documented by Human Rights Watch elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The Japanese and Philippine governments should avoid the abusive practices uncovered in Cambodia, China, Laos, and Vietnam, whose reliance on involuntary drug rehabilitation approaches has been linked to serious human rights violations. In so-called "treatment centers" in these countries, Human Right Watch research found that the "treatment" provided consisted of forced labor and military drills rather than evidence-based treatment interventions; that torture and ill-treatment were rampant; and that people were detained at these camps without any kind of due process. "Japan should help provide voluntary and community-based effective drug treatment in the Philippines, not help provide cover for Duterte's murderous war on drugs," Doi said. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch As Somalia combats insecurity, drought worsens 'more rapidly than projected' UN official Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, As Somalia combats insecurity, drought worsens 'more rapidly than projected' UN official, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4ba84.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The humanitarian crisis in Somalia is worsening, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council, calling for more than $800 million in aid to offset the impact of a severe drought in a country that is already battling insecurity and poverty. "The humanitarian crisis has deteriorated more rapidly than was originally projected," the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Raisedon Zenenga, told the Council in New York. He said that people are dying and need protection, particularly women and children, as drought conditions force them to migrate from rural areas to town, and as sexual violence increases in displacement camps. "The scaled up response by humanitarian agencies has averted a famine in the country thus far, but the crisis is unlikely to abate any time soon. The needs for humanitarian assistance are increasing faster than the pace of response," said Mr. Zenenga, who is also the deputy of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia or UNSOM. At least $669 million has been received or pledged for the effort, leaving a gap of $831 million in the revised 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan. More than six million people are affected, of whom only about three million have been reached with food rations. In the longer-term, the country's structural problems must be addressed and resilience built, so the country can withstand extreme climatic conditions, the senior UN official said. Peacebuilding and State-building Aside from the humanitarian needs, Somalia faces continued insecurity, predominantly from Al Shabaab. In today's address, Mr. Zenenga applauded the Security Council-mandated African Union troops, known as AMISOM, which have provided "the backbone of security in Somalia over the past 10 years." He called on donor countries to assist with "predictable funding," ideally through assessed contributions, to support the troops. The call echoes that of the Special Representative, Michael Keating, who took part last week in the London Conference on Somalia. As a result of the Conference, the international community reached a security agreement and defined a so-called New Partnership for the country, which sets out a framework to meet the Government's priority political, security and economic recovery plan. A follow-up meeting is planned for October. These efforts build towards universal elections which are scheduled for 2020, what Mr. Zenenga called "a defining litmus test of the progress made towards a properly functioning State." This past February, the Parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo to be the new President since direct elections could not be held safely in the country. In 2020, Somalia aims to hold direct elections. Ahead of that vote, building up the country's security and police force, so that it can start taking over responsibility from AMISOM, is a top priority. Cote d'Ivoire: UN chief welcomes country's return to calm after unrest Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Cote d'Ivoire: UN chief welcomes country's return to calm after unrest, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4bee4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commended the Government of Cote d'Ivoire for restoring security following a mutiny over pay, his spokesperson said. The Secretary-General welcomes the return to calm in Cote d'Ivoire following the unacceptable acts of violence committed by soldiers of the Forces Armees de Cote d'Ivoire (FACI) over the past few days, said Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, in a statement issued overnight. The Secretary-General expresses the United Nations continued support to the Government of Cote d'Ivoire in its efforts to sustain the hard-won gains of peace and stability in the country, including with the assistance of the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and other international actors, Mr. Dujarric said. The unrest took place as UNOCI prepares to complete its mission on 30 June. The Mission was established 13 years ago by the Security Council, following a peace agreement between parties to a civil war. UNESCO urges investigation into murder of award-winning Mexican journalist Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UNESCO urges investigation into murder of award-winning Mexican journalist, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4c4c4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Following the killing of award-winning Mexican journalist Javier Arturo Valdez Cardenas, the head of the United Nations cultural agency today encouraged the country's authorities to move quickly to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure the killing does not go unpunished. A winner of the International Press Freedom Award, Mr. Valdez Cardenas was shot yesterday in Culiacan in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. "This crime is yet another stark reminder of the dangerous conditions in which all too many courageous journalists exercise their profession," said Irina Bokova the Director-General of the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a statement condemning the murder. She went on to emphasize that attacks on journalists "undermine the fundamental human right of freedom expression as well as freedom of information." Mr. Valdez Cardenas reported extensively on the Mexican drug trade and he received the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award for his reporting on crime and drug trafficking. According to UNESCO, he was shot near the offices of Riodoce, the weekly he founded and edited. HE was also a correspondent for other outlets, notably La Jornada daily newspaper and Agence France Presse. According to UNESCO, Ms. Bokova has denounced the killings of three other Mexican journalists so far this year. Since 1997 UNESCO has released approximately 80 responses to assassinations of journalists in the North American country. In first official visit to Mali, new peacekeeping chief praises Government's support for UN mission Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, In first official visit to Mali, new peacekeeping chief praises Government's support for UN mission, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4cfe4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. During his first working visit to Mali, United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix met today in the capital, Bamako, with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other senior Malian officials, whom he thanked for their constructive and sustained cooperation with the UN integrated mission in the country, known by the French acronym, MINUSMA. Mr. Lacroix, the Under Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of International Cooperation and African Integration, Abdoulaye Diop, as well as the High Representative of the President for implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation, Mahamadou Diagouraga. Meeting with President Keita, Mr. Lacroix hand-delivered a letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres encouraging further progress on the peace agreement, as well as expressing support for the G5 regional initiative, as the 'Group of Five for the Sahel' - formed in 2014 by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - is known. Accompanied by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Mali, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, these meetings provided an opportunity to discuss the peace process and challenges, particularly in the security field. Mr. Lacroix thanked Malian officials for their constructive and sustained cooperation with MINUSMA, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, in fulfilling its mandate. As part of his first working visit, he was in Timbuktu with Mr. Annadif to visit the Liberian contingent at the site of the attack on 3 May in which one of their comrades was killed and nine others were wounded. Mr. Lacroix paid tribute to the fallen peacekeeper and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded. He also conveyed his solidarity when he met with civilian and uniformed staff and thanked them for their dedication and sacrifices in very difficult conditions. One in four children in North Africa, Middle East live in poverty UNICEF study Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, One in four children in North Africa, Middle East live in poverty UNICEF study, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4eba4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Poverty continues to impact the lives of Middle Eastern and Northern African children, according to new analysis from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which highlights that millions of the region's young people live without quality health care or decent housing. Based on research among children in 11 countries, UNICEF says that the lives of at least 29 million children - or one in four in the region - are deprived of two or more of the most basic life necessities including basic education, nutritious food, quality safe water, sanitation and access to information. The outcome of the UNICEF research has been presented ahead of the first-ever conference on child poverty in the region, which is currently taking place in Rabat, Morocco. While at the conference in Rabat, the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Geert Cappelaere, explained that child poverty is about much more than family income - it is about access to quality education, healthcare, a home and safe water. He also warns that future families could become impoverished for at least three generation. "When children are deprived of the basics, they are at risk of getting trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty." Looking back, UNICEF notes that important progress has been made in most countries to reduce poverty, but at the same time the number of children living in poverty continues to be high, particularly in conflict-affected countries, which are seeing a rapid regression of gains made in past decades. UNICEF's key findings Among others, the study finds that: Lack of education was found to be one of the key drivers of inequality and poverty for children. Children who live in households that are headed by an uneducated family member are twice as likely to live in poverty. One quarter of children aged 5 to 17 are not enrolled in school or have fallen two grades behind; Almost half of all children live in inadequate housing with poor flooring and overcrowding; Almost half of all children are not fully immunized or were born to mothers who did not get enough antenatal care or birth assistance; and that One in five children are forced to walk more than 30 minutes to fetch water or use unsafe drinking water. More than one third of children live in homes with no tap water. Looking ahead UNICEF warns that major regional challenges stand in the way of measuring the impact of poverty on children and taking collective action towards poverty alleviation. The agency says there is a risk that existing policies and actions fall short from addressing child poverty effectively in absence of a full understanding of children's reality, including the most marginalised or invisible ones."The return on investing in the most vulnerable children now is a peaceful and prosperous region in the future," says Mr. Cappelaere. "It takes a combination of true leadership and courageous public and private investment from governments, civil society, private sector, individuals and the international community." UN envoy warns against Kosovo and Serbia trading 'ethno-nationalist' barbs Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN envoy warns against Kosovo and Serbia trading 'ethno-nationalist' barbs, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4f254.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Comments All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. A flurry of recent intolerant and provocative rhetoric has further damaged the trust between Kosovo and Serbia - a development that must be closely watched - though the situation remains generally stable, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo told the Security Council today. "Escalation has been avoided in several instances due to external diplomatic interventions, but the necessary level of trust between Pristina and Belgrade has been further eroded by a number of irresponsible and inflammatory statements," said Zahir Tanin, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), during a quarterly debate on the situation there. Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 from Serbia while the latter has not recognized the move. "Public communications, during this reporting period, unfortunately descended back to intolerant and ethno-nationalist slogans," said Mr. Tanin said, noting that both sides repeatedly accused one another of provocation, whereas the process of normalisation of relations requires cooperation. One issue of contention is the extradition of Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the AAK political party from France. The question of regional or sub-regional unions is another issue on which both sides traded barbs. "Improving the situation in Kosovo and the region requires leadership which transcends ethno-national divisions, rather than amplifying them," Mr. Tanin said. On a positive note, the Mitrovica wall dispute was resolved peacefully through negotiations, and the initial determination to form a Kosovo army by legislative amendments has calmed. "Such outcomes helped to diffuse tensions and maintain peace," Mr. Tanin said. On the forthcoming parliamentary election in Kosovo in June, he said the next government, regardless of its composition, would continue to face numerous pressing challenges, but provide opportunities for the renewal of political will and direction, as well as for greater diversity in leadership and representation, for example greater engagement with youth, he said. With barely enough money for food, conflict-displaced Ukrainians struggling to survive UN Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, With barely enough money for food, conflict-displaced Ukrainians struggling to survive UN, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d4f8f4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Two-thirds of internally displaced Ukrainians are struggling financially; many without even enough money for food, according to the latest report by the United Nations migration agency on the situation in the crisis-torn country. In its report National Monitoring System on Situation of IDPs in Ukraine, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), reveals that on average, income per internally displaced person (IDP) in Ukraine is 1,991 Ukrainian Hryvnia - or $75 per month, approximately $2.50 per day. While a loaf of bread costing about 0.40, some 21 per cent are surviving on less than $2 a day. "Lack of support in finding relevant solutions for IDPs and returnees hinders their integration and creates dependencies on government and aid organizations," said IOM Ukraine Chief of Mission, Manfred Profazi, in a press statement. As of April, Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy has registered some 1.5 million IDPs since 2014. Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, IOM has provided support to some 138,000 conflict-affected people. Its current focus lies in providing income opportunities for IDPs and conflict-affected populations, and facilitating social cohesion, recovery and peacebuilding. On a positive note, the level of employed IDPs has increased slightly, from 35 per cent in March 2016, when the first IOM survey was conducted, to 42 per cent currently. However, when compared to the situation before displacement, employment levels remain quite low - approximately one third of those working before the conflict remain unable find a new job. Other problematic issues are living conditions and payment for rent and utilities. Two thirds of IDPs dwell in rented housing, while one fifth stay with relatives or host families. Only one per cent of people in the Government-controlled part of Ukraine live in their own home. The survey shows great uncertainty about the future. A quarter of IDPs say they will never move back to their places of origin. Thirty-nine per cent would like to return when the conflict is over. Another 17 per cent said that they may consider returning in the future. "With the National Monitoring System, IOM aims to assist the Government in improving its knowledge about the situation and the needs of IDPs, continued Mr. Profazi. "We want to highlight emerging trends so that the Government can better develop evidence-based policies to address IDPs' needs." At the joint presentation of the survey in Kyiv, Deputy Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs, Heorhii Tuka, stressed the importance of data collection and IOM's expertise in shaping strategy and planning practical steps to support the well-being and integration of IDPs. Soaring temperatures pose new threat to Mosul's displaced UN migration agency Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Soaring temperatures pose new threat to Mosul's displaced UN migration agency, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d50044.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations migration agency today warned that while hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Mosul have braved the ongoing offensive to oust the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh), the beleaguered citizens are now struggling to cope with another danger - the sweltering summer heat. "With temperatures nearing 37 degrees Celsius and rising, the coming months will be trying," said UN Migration Agency (IOM) communications officer Hala Jaber. From June onwards, temperatures in the Ninewa governorate will hit, and sometimes surpass, the 50 mark. The PVC tents that provided warmth during the cold winter will be hard to tolerate in summer, as temperatures inside register at least 10 higher than outside. The scorching heat is already impacting health and living conditions at IOM's emergency site at the former Qayara airstrip, which hosts over 52,000 displaced Iraqis or 8,746 families. Thirty-seven-year old Thaer, who returned to Qayara after his six-month-old son was treated for acute dehydration sleeps outside to escape the suffocating heat. "During the day, the tents are very hot and at night unbearable with all of us inside. So, I and my older children are sleeping outside the tent to escape the heat," he said. An Iraqi woman from Mosul holds her daughter in one hand and empty water containers in the other. Two other children follow her in search of water near the Garmava temporary camp in central Iraq. Credit: UNHCR/S. Baldwin At full capacity, IOM teams are in the process of ensuring that all internally displaced persons (IDPs) are equipped with basic materials to help alleviate summer discomfort, including supplementary mini kits - containing 40-litre capacity cool boxes, battery-rechargeable fans and summer bed linens - for distribution to some 7,790 families in Qayara and neighbouring Haj Ali camp. Another 5,400 or so summer kits have already been distributed to IDP families from West Mosul, who have arrived in the emergency sites since the end of March 2017. IOM's primary health centres in both Qayara and Haj Ali, home to 34,000 people, each serve an average of 1,800 patients per week with medication. Displaced people with scabies have also been seeking treatment in IOM's medical centre in Qayara, prompting the primary health care to set specific morning hours, exclusive to these cases. Winter colds have been replaced by diarrhoea and dehydration, particularly among children. With only 33 per cent of the required $28.83 million needed by IOM for the Mosul response, the funding gap is having a significant impact on IOM's ability to effectively provide for the scale of needs created by the Mosul crisis. "Hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis from Mosul have escaped the conflict but now need humanitarian assistance to survive. Forced to flee their homes and exposed to the elements, they are especially vulnerable to the hot summer weather," said IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Thomas Lothar Weiss. "IOM staff are providing emergency assistance at full capacity, but additional funding is required to cover the massive scope of the Mosul crisis needs: shelter, medical services, household items, and more, without which displaced Iraqis will continue to be at risk," he added. Conflict-related child deaths hit new high in Afghanistan, UN warns Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Conflict-related child deaths hit new high in Afghanistan, UN warns , 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d50314.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Deeply concerned by the continued increase in conflict-related child deaths in Afghanistan, the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA) has urged parties to the conflict to take immediate measures to reduce harm. "I was appalled to hear that an unexploded mortar round killed five boys from the same family" on Sunday, said the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, in a news release issued yesterday. "The children were playing outside their home [] A family destroyed in seconds - this horror is just one of too many incidents documented at the onset of this fighting season," he added. The first four months of 2017 witnessed the highest recorded number of child civilian casualties resulting from conflict-related incidents in Afghanistan, including the highest number of children killed, for the same comparable period since the Mission began documenting cases. Between 1 January and 30 April 2017, UNAMA preliminarily recorded 283 child deaths, a 21 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2016. Children are killed by explosive remnants of war in civilian-populated areas and in ground fighting. Many of the more than 700 children injured have suffered life-changing injuries, including loss of limbs, as well as significant and lasting trauma such as witnessing the death of siblings, parents, destruction to their homes or displacement. UNAMA again urged parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of children and welcomed the commitment of the Government to formally ratify Protocol V to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons. The Mission urged all parties to the conflict to commence marking, clearing, removing and destroying explosive remnants of war left behind from fighting in areas under their territorial control. Amid hunger strike, UN expert urges Israel to comply with international law on detention Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Amid hunger strike, UN expert urges Israel to comply with international law on detention, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d50904.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. With some 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails on hunger strike for a second month, an independent United Nations expert vising the region today called on Israel to comply with international law and standards for detention. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, raised concern about Israel's use of administrative detention, which involves imprisonment without charge, trial, conviction or meaningful due process. Israel's use of administrative detention is not in compliance with the extremely limited circumstances in which it is allowed under international humanitarian law, and deprives detainees of basic legal safeguards guaranteed by international human rights law, Mr. Lynk said. Some 500 Palestinian detainees are believed to be administrative detainees, the UN expert said. He noted that many of the 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are incarcerated in prisons within Israel, and not in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in contravention of International Humanitarian Law. These transfers create significant barriers to the families of prisoners who wish to visit them, due to the difficulty of obtaining permits to enter Israel, and the often arduous journey families must undertake to reach their relatives, he pointed out. Mr. Lynk expressed concern about the reports he has received that prisoners are being held in solitary confinement, being denied access to lawyers, and experiencing other forms of deprivation due to their participation in the hunger strike, including through Israel's 2015 law allowing force-feeding. Prisoners everywhere have a right to engage in hunger strikes to protest their living conditions, and they should not be punished as a result, Mr. Lynk stressed. Force-feeding is a practice that human rights experts have found could amount to torture. The Special Rapporteur is currently in Jordan meeting with officials and civil society representatives related to human rights in the region, but has not received permission to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. UN aids Yemenis in embattled Mokha; warns of cholera's spread amid crippled health systems Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN aids Yemenis in embattled Mokha; warns of cholera's spread amid crippled health systems, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d51304.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations refugee agency today confirmed that for only the third time this year, its field teams were able to distribute humanitarian aid in the embattled district of Mokha, in Yemen's Red Sea governorate of Taiz. The latest UNHCR aid distribution in Mokha will cover more than 6,200 people with emergency assistance, adding to the 69,857 already reached since the start of this year, William Spindler, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told journalists in Geneva. Hostilities in Taiz escalated in January, with nearly 50,000 people displaced, about 27 per cent of the internally displaced people in Yemen. The governorate also hosts about 304,000 additional displaced people. The spokesperson said that UNHCR teams observed worsening conditions, Many people are living out in the open in harsh conditions and without adequate shelter, protection and material assistance. In parallel, north of Taiz, in Al Hudaydah, UNHCR team provided aid for about 17,745 people. Mr. Spindler said that aid workers noted a huge spike in needs, with displaced people living on streets, and turning to begging and child labour to survive. With Hudaydah host to more than 109,000 displaced individuals, many are reporting anxiety about reports of possible intensifications in hostilities in the governorate, unsure of how and where they would flee, said Mr. Spindler. More than three million who have been uprooted since the start of the conflict two years ago, and more are expected as hostilities are likely to intensify. VIDEO: UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac warns about increasing cholera cases in Yemen. 'Public health crisis in the making' Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) today announced that inferior health systems and water supply provisions are raising concerns for health, particularly for the youngest Yemenis. More than 11,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported across the country, with more than 250 confirmed cases of cholera. UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac calls the situation a public health crisis in the making. The UN agency and partners are providing diarrhea disease kits, oral rehydration salts and water treatment tables, but the outbreak is more aggressive than the last wave in October 2016. At least 130 people have died so far this year. About 7.6 million people in Yemen are living in areas considered high risk for cholera transmission, said UN World Health Organization's (WHO) Christian Lindmeier. That number, he said, is very high. Kazakhstan: Stabbing of journalist must be immediately investigated Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 15 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Kazakhstan: Stabbing of journalist must be immediately investigated, 15 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d53134.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. On 14 May, Ramazan Yesergepov, chairman of Journalists in Trouble, was stabbed on a train while travelling to Astana. ARTICLE 19 believes the attack to be politically-motivated and calls upon the authorities to immediately conduct a thorough and objective investigation into the incident and to take all necessary measures to bring Yesergepovs attacker to justice. Yesergepov, who is also an activist, journalist and prominent critic of the government of Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was in a passenger carriage when he was stabbed by an unidentified assailant. Yesergepov was taken to hospital from the next station where he underwent emergency surgery. BACKGROUND Yesergepov was travelling to Astana to meet with the Ambassador of Lithuania and other international experts to discuss the case of Zhanbolat Mamay, editor-in chief of Sayasi Kalam Tribuna, an independent newspaper known for its reporting on politically sensitive topics, who was arrested on money laundering charges on 11 February 2017 and sentenced to two months pre-trial detention. Mamays detention was extended on 27 April and he is to remain in prison until his hearing which is scheduled for 10 June.[1] Mamay is accused of using his newspaper to launder funds allegedly stolen from BTA Bank in 2005 - 2009, by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh oligarch, in exile since 2009, known for his political opposition to the Kazakh government. Mamay has been charged under Article 193 (3b) of the old Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, Legalization of Monetary Funds or Other Property Obtained Illegally (money laundering), punishable by deprivation of liberty of up to seven years. Yesergepov has long been subject to government pressure: in 2009, when working as editor of the newspaper Alma-Ata Info, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment on charges of having disclosed state secrets following publication of an article entitled Who rules our country: the president or the KNB [National Security Service]?. Following his release from prison, Yesergepov became head of the Zhanaozen-2011 Committee[2], a group of civil society activists set up to monitor the trials of those accused of having organised the mass riots in Zhanaozen in December 2011, during which police shot into the crowd of protesters.[3] In 2012, Yesergepov became head of a civil society advocacy group, Journalists in Trouble, that provides support to journalists in crisis. Press Freedom in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is ranked 157 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders 2017 World Press Freedom Index[4] and Not Free in Freedom Houses Freedom of the Press 2017 report[5]. Since the closure of leading opposition media publications in December 2012 independent journalists who are critical of the Kazakh authorities are increasingly targeted and arrests are common.[6] Physical violence and threats against independent journalists and media outlets are a regular occurrence, according to a Freedom House report[7]. ARTICLE 19 calls upon the Kazakh authorities to immediately investigate the violence against Ramazan Yesergepov and bring his attacker to justice. Additionally, the Kazakh authorities must refrain from bringing politically motivated charges against journalists and to ensure they are able to report freely. [1] https://vlast.kz/novosti/22786-sud-prodlil-arest-zanbolata-mamaa-do-10-iuna-2017-goda.html [2] https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan_zhanaozen_rights/24483326.html [3] https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/20/kazakhstan-submission-un-committee-against-torture [4] https://rsf.org/en/kazakhstan [5] https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/kazakhstan [6] https://rsf.org/en/news/kazakh-editors-arrest-aims-silence-opposition-paper [7] https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/kazakhstan Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19 Ukraine: Blocking of Russian social media sites is a severe form of censorship Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 16 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Ukraine: Blocking of Russian social media sites is a severe form of censorship, 16 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d53984.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. ARTICLE 19 condemns the decision by Ukrainian President Poroshenko to block access to some of Russias largest internet companies and social media sites, including Yandex, Mail.ru, VKontakte and Odnoclassniki. According to Presidential Decree 133 which came into force on 15 May 2017, Ukrainian internet service providers will be required to block access to these sites for a period of three years. The decision to block access to social networking sites is a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression, said Katie Morris, Head of Europe and Central Asia for ARTICLE 19. Website blocking is a severe form of censorship: it catches legitimate content at the same time as content that may be legitimately prohibited. In this case, blanket blocking of some of the most popular sites within Ukraine will inevitably result in unnecessary and unjustifiable restriction on freedom of expression, affecting millions of people within Ukraine. The new decree replaces existing legislation brought into effect on 17 October 2016 imposing sanctions on 682 individuals and 271 companies linked to Russia and restricting their activities. Sanctions were first imposed in September 2015 in reaction to the annexation of Crimea and Russias military support of separatist groups in Ukraines Donbas region. The new list published on the Ukrainian governments website today includes a further 1228 individuals and 468 legal entities in Russia, Crimea, and the separatist-held parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The websites blocked by Poroshenkos new decree are in the top ten most popular websites in Ukraine. According to statistics provided by SimilarWeb, 17.55% of unique visits to VKontakte and 15.15% to Odnoklassniki come from within Ukraine. Yandex.ua, a search provider and e-mail client and the fifth largest website in Ukraine, received 215 million visits over the past six months. The new decree also blocks a number of Russian television channels and the sites of Russian antivirus providers, Kaspersky Laboratory and DrWeb. In February 2017, the adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Zoryan Shkiryak, stated that Russian social networks should be blocked in order to stop Russian propaganda.[10] Decree 133 effectively legalises this process in Ukraine. Ukraine is undoubtedly facing grave threats to its national security; however, it is hard to see how indiscriminately restricting access to legitimate content will improve the situation, said Katie Morris. On the contrary, it prevents the free flow of information about issues related to the conflict, undermining Ukraines democratic development. International Standards Blocking of online content can only ever be compatible with international standards on freedom of expression under very specific circumstances. As outlined in ARTICLE 19s policy on blocking and filtering of online content, States are obliged to observe the following standards: 1) Blanket filtering must be prohibited by law; 2) Filtering should be user-controlled and transparent; 3) Any requirement to block content must be provided by law; 4) Blocking should only be ordered by an independent and impartial court or adjudicatory body; 5) Blocking orders must be strictly proportionate to the aim pursued. Background Ukraine is only rated Partly Free in Freedom Houses Freedom on the Net 2016 report with internet freedom declining since the conflict began in 2014 due to increasing arrests of netizens for expressing separatist views on social media and the barring of users in the Donbas region from accessing dozens of blocked sites within Ukraine. Over the past three years, Ukraine has continued to undermine user rights online and fostered an environment of self-censorship with the authorities becoming less and less tolerant of online expression perceived as critical of Ukraines position in the conflict. This is not the first time that Ukrainian authorities have attempted to pressure ISPs to introduce selective blocking of websites containing separatist or terrorist content and in requiring blocking by law, Presidential decree 133 represents a worrying development in this trend. Internet service providers have previously refused wholesale blocking and insisted that court orders must be provided in each case in order for a website to be blocked or taken down and it is hoped that this resistance will continue in this case. ARTICLE 19 is concerned that the decision to block social networking sites in Ukraine will stop the free flow of information and further curtail freedom of expression in an environment where restrictions are increasingly common. ARTICLE 19 reiterates its call to the Ukrainian government to refrain from blocking access to entire platforms, which contain perfectly legitimate online content. Any blocking decision must take due account of its potential impact on the right to freedom of expression. The Ukrainian authorities should: Unblock access to websites affected by Presidential decree with immediate effect, and ensure that blocking of online content is only invoked as a measure of last resort; is ordered by an independent and impartial court or adjudicatory body; and is strictly proportionate to the aim pursued. Amend Presidential Decree 133 and bring it in line with international standards for free expression Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19 RSF condemns deadly attack on state radio and TV in Jalalabad Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF condemns deadly attack on state radio and TV in Jalalabad, 18 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d5a627.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its concern about the safety of journalists and media outlets in Afghanistan after a deadly attack today on the provincial branch of the national radio and TV broadcaster in Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern province of Nangarhar. It was claimed by Islamic State. Attacks against the media by the Taliban and Islamic State (also known as Daesh) have been growing in intensity. Today's attack on the radio and TV station in Jalalabad was carried out at around 10:30 a.m. by at least three armed suicide bombers. It killed at least six people, including four of its employees, and wounded 15 others, Nangarhar governor Mohammad Goulab Mangal said. It also caused a great deal of material damage. Several media outlets have been attacked in the past two years in Jalalabad. The regional bureaux of the independent Afghan news agency Pajhwok and US government-funded Voice of America radio were attacked on 12 June 2015. The building that houses Radio Safa, a local station, and the regional office of Radio Killid was badly damaged by a homemade bomb on the night of 10 October 2015. Neither of these attacks was claimed but Islamic State has a presence in the region and had already threatened various media outlets and journalists. RSF calls on the Afghan government to take concrete measures to protect journalists. The National Security Council adopted a Procedure for the Safety and Protection of Journalists at a meeting chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on 23 August 2016. However, despite the government's efforts, neither this procedure nor other measures envisaged by the authorities to improve the safety of journalists, have been applied. Afghanistan is ranked 120th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Website editor is 12th Cumhuriyet employee to be jailed Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Website editor is 12th Cumhuriyet employee to be jailed, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d5aef4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the persecution of Turkey's few remaining critical media outlets and calls for the immediate release of Oguz Guven, the editor of the opposition daily Cumhuriyet's website, who has just been jailed on a terrorism charge. He is the 12th Cumhuriyet employee to be imprisoned. Guven is facing up to seven and half years in prison on a charge of "propaganda for the terrorist organization led by Fethullah [Gulen]," the US-based Turkish cleric accused by the government of masterminding the abortive coup attempt in July 2016. He was placed in pre-trial detention on 15 May, three days after being taken into police custody. The grounds cited for the extremely grave charge against Guven, who has been a journalist for 32 years, is a single tweet that was posted on the Cumhuriyet Twitter account and was deleted after 55 seconds. "The charge brought against Oguz Guven is the height of absurdity and it is hard not to see it as an attempt to further undermine Cumhuriyet," said Erol Onderoglu, RSF's representative in Turkey. "The survival of the few remaining independent media outlets is at stake. The international leaders who are preparing to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at next week's NATO summit cannot just look on while media freedom is annihilated in Turkey." Guven is blamed for a controversial tweet reporting that Mustafa Alper, the state prosecutor in the western province of Denizli, had died in a road accident. Alper was handling the trial of several well-known figures accused of being involved in the abortive coup. When he appeared in court on 15 May, Guven told the judge that the tweet was a "mistake" and was "deleted within 55 seconds." He added: "We reported the reactions to this tragedy in another article. I completely reject the accusations being made against me." Guven is currently being held in Metris prison in downtown Istanbul. But if the appeal filed by his lawyers fails to obtain his release, he will be transferred to Silivri prison, 70 km west of Istanbul, where 11 other Cumhuriyet employees have been held for months. "There is not much more that can be done in the face of the current level of decay," Guven said, referring to the justice system, as he was taken off to prison. No date has so far been set for his trial. Ten detained Cumhuriyet journalists and administrators will complete their 200th day in Silivri prison tomorrow. To mark the event, journalists and civil society representatives will stage a demonstration at 11 a.m. outside the lawcourts in the Istanbul district of Caglayan. The other detained Cumhuriyet journalists include editor in chief Murat Sabuncu, columnist Kadri Gursel and cartoonist Musa Kart. The investigative reporter Ahmet Sk has also been held since December 2016, although he was one of the first journalists to write critically about the influence of Gulen's supporters within the state apparatus. Their trial is due to start on 24 July. The journalists petitioned Turkey's constitutional court, challenging the legality of their detention, but got no response, and they are now hoping for a quick ruling on their case by the European Court of Human Rights. After the closure of more than 150 media outlets in the wake of the coup attempt, Cumhuriyet is one of the very few outlets that still criticizes the Turkish government. As well as the imprisonment of 12 of its employees, there has been a concerted attempt to stifle it economically and an attempt to take control of its management. Former editor Can Dundar, who is now living in exile in Germany, has been one of President Erdogan's bugbears ever since he revealed in 2015 that the Turkish intelligence services had supplied weapons to Islamist groups in Syria. In Germany, Dundar has created a website called Ozguruz (We are free). Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. RSF calls for full probe into stabbing of well-known journalist Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF calls for full probe into stabbing of well-known journalist, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d5bba4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a knife attack on well-known Kazakh journalist and human rights defender Ramazan Esergepov and calls for a full and impartial investigation that takes account of the possibility that the attack was a reprisal for his professional activities. Esergepov was stabbed several times in the abdomen by two individuals at around 4:30 a.m. on 14 May while on a train from Almaty to the capital, Astana, where he had been due to meet European diplomats the next day to discuss the media freedom situation in Kazakhstan. He had also been due to discuss the prolonged detention of Zhanbolat Mamay, a journalist arrested on 10 February whose immediate release RSF has been seeking ever since. Esergepov, who was himself jailed for three years (2009-2012) for exposing illegal activities by the National Security Committee (KNB), has become one of Kazakhstan's leading defenders of journalists. He heads the NGO Journalists in Danger and is member of the Zhanbolat Mamay support committee. He has also been engaged in a fight with the Kazakh authorities for financial compensation after the UN Human Rights Committee found in 2016 that his rights were violated during his trial. "We condemn this extremely violent attack, which highlights the gravity of the situation that Kazakh journalists and human rights defenders are nowadays facing," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "The investigation conducted by the local authorities must be carried out in a complete and impartial manner and that full consideration will be given to the hypothesis that the attack was in retaliation for Esergepov's professional activities." The investigators currently seem to be working on the assumption that the attack was the result of an argument with fellow passengers, which Esergepov insists was not the case. The attack was the eighth in the past year on a civil society activist in Kazakhstan, none of which has been solved. Kazakhstan is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. The main opposition national newspapers were all banned in 2013, the remaining few are collapsing under the impact of fines, and any new independent newspaper is inevitably closed within months. The Internet is closely controlled and arrests of journalists are now quite common. A country 'on its knees': Cholera takes hold in war-weary Yemen Publisher IRIN Author Shuaib Almosawa & Annie Slemrod Publication Date 17 May 2017 Cite as IRIN, A country 'on its knees': Cholera takes hold in war-weary Yemen, 17 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d5d914.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Hilal al-Asri brought his wife to a hospital in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, nearly two weeks ago, expecting her cholera would be cleared up quickly and they'd be on their way. Today, three of his five children share a bed next to hers, all of them hooked up to fluid drips in a makeshift ward hastily assembled to deal with an outbreak that has killed 206 and is suspected to have infected more than 17,200 since 27 April, according to the Ministry of Health's latest count. A nurse sits in a narrow corridor taking blood samples from new arrivals, all of them women and children in what is, in more ordinary times, a maternity hospital. Some patients lie on the floor. Children scream in pain, many of them shockingly thin. It's "a disaster", 35-year old al-Asri says, watching Yemen's epidemic take hold of his family and home city at a speed that is deeply worrisome - Shinjiro Murata, head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres, which alone has treated 1,670 patients, told IRIN she is "very concerned that the disease will continue to spread and become out of control". Those controlling the capital - an uneasy alliance of Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh - have this week declared a "state of emergency" in the city, which alone has 4,000 cases of cholera. Cholera should be an easy disease to treat and control - it takes rehydration, sometimes antibiotics, and containment. But after two years of war, the country and its capital are worn down, infrastructure is destroyed, and the outbreak is vividly and alarmingly exposing the dysfunction, decay, and desperation that have long been just beneath the surface. How did we get here? A Saudi Arabia-led regional coalition began airstrikes in a bid to restore President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power in March 2015 - some 5,000 civilians fatalities have been counted, although the actual toll is thought to be far higher. Sana'a, controlled by the Houthi-Saleh alliance since September 2014, has borne the brunt of the sustained aerial bombardment. But aside from the deaths, the bombs have left an indelible mark on the city in terms of infrastructure destroyed, hospitals no longer operational. Some examples of the city's degradation - the sort that have allowed cholera to take hold - are immediately evident. Garbage lies in piles on the streets, even in areas that are still relatively wealthy. Collectors have been on strike, protesting wages unpaid by the Houthi alliance. Other impacts of the war are less visible. The city has suffered less from the extreme hunger - nearing famine - that has gripped other parts of Yemen. People here are still extremely poor. Since Hadi's government moved the Central Bank to its nominal power base in the southern city of Aden eight months ago, most of the country's 1.2 million public sector workers - including doctors, teachers, and soldiers - have gone unpaid. But in Sana'a, at least, there have still been ways for an enterprising populace to hustle some kind of existence. The cholera epidemic is threatening to change that. Al-Asri is worried that he won't be able to afford his family's treatment at al-Sabeen Hospital. It's a public facility and free, but patients must pay for medications not in stock. "It causes one so much anxiety," he says. Poor families are hosting displaced relatives (the war has driven an estimated two million Yemenis from their homes) and some are resorting to what aid agencies call "negative coping mechanisms", of the kind that can foster cholera, in particular, according to UNICEF spokesman Mohammed al-Asaadi, "using water from untreated water sources". Al-Asaadi told IRIN that local sanitation systems are "struggling to operate and maintain liquid waste treatment and safe disposal systems". And "in rural areas, open defecation is still the norm." It's a terrible combination: "multifactorial", as MSF's Murata put it. Social networks have effectively collapsed. Dominik Stillhart, director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told IRIN he had seen hospitals overflowing with potential patients, some facilities so overworked that patients were sitting with IV drips in courtyards, one man even taking his fluids in a car. The cholera outbreak in Sana'a, and elsewhere is, Stillhart said, "very clearly a sign of how the conflict has brought the country to its knees." "In a protracted conflict, you have direct impact," he said, referring to violent deaths and injuries: "these are the visible things that everybody focuses on." "But what we see less is the fact that because of the economich downturn, lack of credit line for traders, absence of payment for government workers all of this is taking a very heavy toll. Every single Yemeni family is now affected by the conflict, and the [collapse] of the health system really epitomises this." For a country already fighting off famine, uncontrolled cholera could be the last straw. Overstretched and under-resourced "There is a big gap in the resources needed to respond to the crisis," said UNICEF's al-Asaadi, explaining that aid agencies are having to fill all the gaps as the Ministry of Health is virtually broke. UNICEF has helped al-Sabeen Hospital, for example, move patients out of hallways and into temporary wards. Al-Asaadi, and other humanitarians, cited "big delays in bringing in supplies to Yemen caused by the long clearance process on all sorts of imported medical supplies." The protracted process involves clearance from both the UN and, depending on the point of entry, the Saudi-led coalition. This can take several weeks, if not months. Ali Haidar, an assistant doctor in the cholera ward where al-Asri's family is being cared for, told IRIN the hospital was overstretched even before the outbreak and was now having to turn away patients who had developed kidney failure from severe untreated cholera. "Medical solutions [for IV etc.] are barely available," he said. "And if we have them today, there won't be any tomorrow." Some stopgaps are in place - aid agencies are handing out chlorine tablets quickly to stop the use of contaminated water (and may soon be stepping in to fill a gap that isn't in their normal remit: garbage collection) - but this is a country woefully underprepared for a significant escalation in the cholera outbreak and badly struggling already. In one unseen part of society - the country's prisons - containment action needs to be taken quickly. Stillhart mentioned Sana'a Central Prison, which he estimates holds 3,000 people in crowded conditions and where the ICC has counted six cholera cases already. This could be an ideal place for quick spread of the disease, he said, adding that the ICRC has already upped its work in detention centres like this to improve hygiene fast. In a separate statement, Stillhart highlighted how thousands of families had no contact with relatives detained in connection with the conflict. "Enforced disappearances and allegations of ill-treatment and deteriorating conditions further add to the plight of detainees and to families' anxiety," he said. The potential of cholera festering in prisons is unlikely to ease their worries. Last year, the ICRC said it visited more than 11,000 detainees in Yemen and 250 Yemeni detainees in Saudi Arabia, but many still remain off-limits. Rare in a conflict that has often been called forgotten, Stillhart pointed out that there has been a fair bit of media attention paid to the cholera epidemic. "That's good news," he said, explaining how the authorities were now facilitating the movement of intravenous fluids and rehydration salts - important in a country where the movement of aid workers has been extremely limited and in some places impossible. Worse ahead The need to help Yemen prepare for the worst is made more urgent by the fact that the wet season, usually in July and August, is fast approaching. "Without a rapid, coordinated, and decentralised response across the country, there is a risk of further spread, especially with ongoing heavy rains," said MSF's Murata. But it's not just the rain that threatens to get in the way of efforts to contain the cholera outbreak. Aid agencies have been warning for weeks that a predicted battle in the port city of Hodeida could be disastrous. Although many medications come through on UN flights, the vast majority of Yemen's food and other supplies come in through Hodeida, where they already battle serious delays due to diminished capacity and sluggish screening. "Fighting in Hodeida may seriously compromise the ability of humanitarian actors to bring in critical lifesaving supplies, including medical supplies used for fighting cholera," said UNICEF's al-Asaadi. Stillhart agreed: "It goes without saying that should the conflict intensify even further, especially along the Red Sea coast [where Hodeida is located], this is definitely going to make things worse, first and foremost for the people who are directly affected on the coast, but potentially also for imports of drugs food staples." It's a scenario no one wants to even imagine. It will take quick and coordinated action to stop the outbreak from spiralling further out of control However, the battle could, at least in the minds of the Saudi-led coalition, bring them ever closer to Sana'a. There, even in the midst of the epidemic, is evidence of both grim political humour and conspiracy theory as Donald Trump prepares to fly to Riyadh on Friday on the first stop of his first overseas trip. On a drainage wall, a piece of graffiti reads: "Cholera is Trump's gift to al-Saud ahead of his visit". But Trump brings other gifts too. His administration is set to complete a deal worth more than $100 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Cite as UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), List of issues in relation to the fourth periodic report of Madagascar, 2 December 2016, CCPR/C/MDG/Q/4, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591d954e4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Sri Lanka: The conflict's legacy of impunity endures Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 18 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Sri Lanka: The conflict's legacy of impunity endures, 18 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591da2844.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. On the eighth anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's decades-long conflict, Amnesty International calls on the government to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and ensure that any legislation it introduces to replace it meets international standards. The failure to repeal the notorious law is one of several commitments that the to victims of the conflict, and enact reforms that would prevent further human rights violations. "The PTA is a highly repressive law that contributed to many of the human rights violations that took place during and following Sri Lanka's conflict. Despite being in power for two years, the current government has failed on its promise to repeal the law," said Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International's South Asia Director. "What's worse, it's considering adopting a new Counter Terrorism Act that would continue to give the police very broad powers to arrest and detain suspects without charge and place them in administrative detention." With the PTA still in force, the police retain broad powers to arrest and detain suspects without effective human rights safeguards. Under the Act, suspects can also be subjected to secret and incommunicado detention - practices that heighten the risk of torture and enforced disappearance. Amnesty International has received credible testimony alleging human rights violations in the aftermath of the conflict, with Sri Lankan security forces subjecting people to arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. The PTA shifts the burden of proof onto a detainee alleging torture or other ill-treatment. The law has also been used to restrict people's rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association. On the eighth anniversary of the end of the conflict, Amnesty International is calling on the Sri Lankan government to present a clear and coordinated roadmap to implement its commitments to justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, including repeal of the PTA. "Transparency is absolutely vital. Draft legislation, including the CTA, should be open for public and civil society consultation," said Biraj Patnaik. Despite the government's commitments, it has yet to establish effective justice mechanisms to investigate abuses of international human rights and international humanitarian by all sides of the conflict, including acts reported during the final months of the conflict that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In March, the human rights organization published a major report detailing the struggles of the loved ones of the disappeared in their pursuit of justice. "Each anniversary is a depressing reminder of the conflict's ugly and unresolved legacy. Every year that passes is a reminder of the horrific injustices that were visited on people and what little has been done to address them. Eight years is a long time to wait. The victims and their families should not have to wait any longer. Justice is long overdue," said Biraj Patnaik. Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the harassment of activists and victims who are campaigning for justice and memorializing the victims of the conflict. "It is appalling that nearly a decade after the conflict ended, people are still being prevented from remembering the dead and grieving their loss. No one should be stopped from mourning the dead or demanding justice. This is the very least that the authorities owe to them," said Biraj Patnaik. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Iraq: Families Who Fled Mosul Forced Back Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 18 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Families Who Fled Mosul Forced Back, 18 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591da3014.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Iraqi army and other local security forces have forced over 300 displaced families to return to west Mosul neighborhoods still under risk of attack by the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Human Rights Watch said today. The families, who had fled to the Hammam al-Alil and Hajj Ali camps for displaced people, are severely short of water, food, electricity, and medical assistance. Displaced residents, camp staff in Hammam al-Alil, and three federal police officers said that families were returned to certain west Mosul neighborhoods to make room for newly displaced people from more recently retaken neighborhoods of west Mosul. But aid workers involved in camp management and United Nations assessments of camp capacity indicated that the camps still have space for new arrivals. "People from western Mosul fled some of the worst fighting there and finally found safety, only to be forced back to areas still under ISIS fire," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "These families should not be forcibly returned to unsafe areas and areas that lack adequate water, food, electricity, or health facilities." The UN Guiding Principles on internal displacement state that all internally displaced people should be able to choose where they live and have the right to be protected against forcible return to any place where their life, safety, liberty, or health would be at risk. Human Rights Watch visited the Mansour and Wadi Hajjar neighborhoods of west Mosul on May 15, 2017, and spoke with some of the families. Three people from Wadi Hajjar said they had fled the fighting there for camps in Hammam al-Alil, 30 kilometers south of west Mosul, between one and two months ago. They said that at around 1 p.m. on May 9, camp staff came to their tents and said they had to leave because the camp was full, and new arrivals were on the way from other west Mosul neighborhoods that had more recently been retaken. Some families were given up to two hours to leave, while others were ordered to leave immediately, without being able to gather their belongings. The west Mosul residents who were forcibly returned and spoke to Human Rights Watch said they had not wanted to return because of the lack of adequate food, water, and health facilities. A staff member at the same camp in Hammam al-Alil said that an army commander called the camp manager on May 9, and said the camp had two hours to round up all the families from Wadi Hajjar, Tal Rumman, and Mansour neighborhoods. The staff started going tent by tent in Section A to deliver the instructions. "The families were not ready, and most did not want to go," the staff member said. "In the end, it was totally indiscriminate who got to stay because we had not made it to their tent in time, and who was forced to leave. We only got through a small number of the tents when at least 30 army trucks came and took at least 300 families." One man said Iraqi army officers loaded him into a truck with three families and drove them to Baghdad Circle, the southern entry point to the city, just over two kilometers from the front line, without giving them any choice in where they were taken. The families walked back to their neighborhoods or shared taxis. One woman from Wadi Hajjar who could not afford a taxi said she walked back with her four young children, the youngest 3 months old. Her home was destroyed during the fighting and her husband was executed by ISIS, she said. "I have no water and cannot find milk here for my baby," she said. She was living in an abandoned apartment in the area and was afraid her baby would die because she couldn't get milk. On May 10, the camp staff member said, staff rounded up more families, but stopped when they got word that the mayor of the town of Hammam al-Alil had ordered the returns halted. An international staff member said that the mayor issued an order on May 9, after hearing about the forcible returns, and that some of the families who had been forced out heard about it from friends or relatives in the camp and returned to the camp. But the staff member was concerned that their ration cards might not have been returned to them. The mayor told Human Rights Watch all the returns had been voluntary, and that only 67 families had ultimately remained in west Mosul. However, two people from Wadi Hajjar, who said they had lived in the same camp, said that at about 7 a.m. on May 14, camp management came to their tent and told them they had two hours to get ready to leave. They both protested but were told they had no choice. They said the army loaded up about 30 families from Wadi Hajjar, Mansour, and Wadi al-Ayn onto several trucks and drove them to Baghdad Circle. One said he returned to his home in Wadi Hajjar to find that an ISIS mortar had blasted through his roof. Neighbors told him it had happened 10 days earlier. Another man from Wadi Hajjar who had spent a month and a half in a camp in Hajj Ali, a village about 70 kilometers south of Mosul, said that on May 10, a local sheikh arrived at the camp with several guards in two vehicles. When residents gathered around, the sheikh said: "Those of you from liberated neighborhoods have to go back home." The man said he was concerned about having to go back, but left three days later, sharing a taxi with 10 other people back to Wadi Hajjar. Dozens of the returned families from Wadi Hajjar and Mansour said that they had limited electricity and water. Many said they could not afford to buy enough food for their families from the local markets, where prices remain elevated. Abu Omar, the mayor of Wadi Hajjar, said that one hospital in the area has recently reopened, but has yet to offer more than the most basic medical services. An aid worker traveling into west Mosul told Human Rights Watch they only knew of one other clinic in the five neighborhoods that was operational. People who had returned to Wadi Hajjar said that ISIS mortar attacks had hit the neighborhood as recently as May 5, and that they feared ISIS grenade attacks delivered by drone. Security reports from the International NGO Safety Organisation said that the Mansour neighborhood was hit with an ISIS mortar attack as recently as May 12. The front line is currently between one and three kilometers from the neighborhoods where people returned. As of May 16, UN data showed that there were at least 7,000 plots in various camps available for new arrivals and two international aid workers told Human Rights Watch that organizations have identified multiple sites for potential new camps. They said that one new camp opened at about the same time as the first forcible returns and that another is to open in late May. They said that at least one camp was ready to receive displaced people but was sitting empty at the order of local authorities. In addition, at least 38 percent of displaced people were seeking refuge in host communities, not camps, with that number rapidly rising in recent weeks to up to 80 percent of the new arrivals. However, aid workers said, Iraqi authorities have been hesitant to look beyond the camps in their planning to try to meet the needs of people seeking refuge elsewhere. "The armed forces have an obligation to protect civilians, but they are instead putting civilians in danger by sending them back into unsafe areas," Fakih said. "All returns should be safe, dignified, voluntary, and informed." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?' high-school Cambodian National Election Committee (NEC) officers pull a bag of used ballots from a truck at the NEC office in Phnom Penh, Aug. 3, 2013. UPDATED at 9:30 A.M. on 2017-05-18 More than 300,000 Cambodians may not be able to vote in next months commune elections because they do not possess identification cards required for casting a ballot under a new legal procedure put in place by the countrys election committee, election observers and analysts said on Thursday. A new and complicated procedure of the National Election Committee (NEC), the agency that supervises the countrys national elections, is causing difficulties for voters who must scramble to obtain forms confirming their identities, thereby jeopardizing their right to vote granted by the countrys constitution, they said. The legal procedure, adopted by the NEC on March 10 and disseminated in April, requires citizens whose names appear on voter lists, but who do not have an official identification card, to apply for a certificate confirming their identities to vote in commune elections on June 4. To get a certificate, they must prove their identities, submit three photos of themselves, and have two witnesses appear before officials from commune/sangkat (administrative subdivision) election commissions between May 4 and June 2. Observers said some Cambodians who have already registered their names on voter lists believe that they have sufficient documents to cast ballots. Others have applied for official IDs but have not yet received them from the Ministry of Interior. They also said Cambodian migrant workers in neighboring countries are the most at risk of losing their right to vote. The new legal procedure could disenfranchise more than 300,000 people, or roughly 4 percent of the 7.8 million Cambodians who have already registered their names to vote, analysts said. Independent analyst Lao Mong Hay noted that other democratic countries make it easy for their citizens to register to vote. Cambodia, however, is not among them because the country has put in place some legal procedures, such as the new NEC requirement, that prevent its citizens from exercising their right to vote, he said. The state is obliged to ensure that citizens can vote easily with less expense, he told RFAs Khmer Service. NEC deputy secretary-general Som Sorida has called on the media to help spread news of the new procedure to those without ID cards so they can go to administrative offices and complete the paperwork for their certificates. If they dont possess documents confirming their identities for voting, even though they have their names registered on the voter list, they still cannot cast their votes, he said. All people must clearly understand this point. There are two kinds of documents that people can use to be able to cast their voteseither a Khmer national identification card or a certificate confirming identity for voting, he said. Too much, too late Lao Mong Hay, however, questioned why the NEC did not announce the new procedure when citizens first registered their names to vote. He pointed to the new voting registration system that requires people to have their thumbprints scanned and possess documents that confirm their identity for voter registration in accordance with the election law. Because such people already have been issued proper receipts, Lao Mong Hay said the NECs further legal procedure requiring prospective voters to apply for certificates confirming their identities should not be necessary. Such legal procedures should have been done as part of a package by the time people went to register their names to vote, he said. And the NEC should have let the people know in advance and told the authorities responsible for issuing the identification cards to be well prepared. Cambodians in some provinces such as Poipet, Banteay Meanchey, and Kratie have complained about difficulties in applying for certificates confirming their identities. They said commune authorities are putting up obstacles to the issuance of the certificates, and added that they are worried that they will lose their right to vote in the June 4 elections even though they have already registered their names to cast ballots. Election observers said the NEC should remove the new legal procedure so that citizens who have their names on the voter lists and have received official voter name registration confirmations can cast ballots. Korn Savan, an investigation coordinator for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), said few people are aware that a certificate confirming their identity is now necessary in order to vote because of bad timing and the limited dissemination of information as the election day nears. Nheb Bunchin, spokesman for the royalist political party Funcinpec, agreed that the NECs new legal procedure has caused problems for voters, even though the agency, political parties, and other election stakeholders have all urged people to cast ballots. The NECs legal procedures and formalities are too burdensome, he told RFA. People may not go to cast their votes after seeing the procedure, so we are evaluating whether we can create any shortcuts in the procedure, and we will submit a request to the NEC. We are not sure that they will listen to us, he said. Nevertheless, we have to reduce the procedures. CNRP weighs in Cambodias main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) also raised concerns over the issue that citizens whose names already appear on voter lists may face disenfranchisement. It has requested that the NEC simplify the procedure to ensure all citizens can vote. They are facing difficulties, said Meng Sopheary, the CNRPs head of the Election Affairs and Legislation Department. First, the legal procedure is a bit complicated. Second, they have to spend time [getting the necessary documents]. Third, they have to spend money on transportation [to get to the offices] because some of them work far away, or have migrated to neighboring countries to work, and they have to return. Such expenses, including their time, are reasons they cannot get certificates confirming their identities for voting, she said. This will affect the elections because they will not be able to cast their votes. In response to the CNRPs request, the NEC said it can only request that all microfinance institutions return IDs to citizens who put up the cards as collateral for loans, so that they can use them to vote in the upcoming elections. Reported by Zakariya Tin for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Cambodias government on Thursday rejected a report by a U.K.-based watchdog that warned of largescale deforestation and illegal sales of timber across the border to buyers in Vietnam, saying its findings do not present an accurate portrayal of the situation. In a May 8 report, entitled Repeat Offender: Vietnams persistent trade in illegal timber, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said around 300,000 cubic meters of timberincluding endangered rosewoodhad been smuggled out of protected areas to Vietnam with the help of local authorities through some U.S. $13 million in bribes between November last year and March 2017. The EIA separately published 2016-2017 sales invoices from Cambodian companies and Vietnamese import data on Tuesday showing the total import value of Cambodian timber to Vietnam amounted to around U.S. $300 million since January 2016, despite Cambodias implementation of a ban on the trade that month. At the time the May 8 report was published, Cambodias Ministry of National Defense rejected its findings outright, while the Ministry of Environmentwhich is responsible for forest conservationacknowledged that illegal deforestation is occurring in the country and pledged to investigate the EIAs claims. On Thursday, just ten days after the release of the report, Ministry of Environment spokesperson Sao Sopheap dismissed its findings that Cambodian officials are often complicit in deforestation and smuggling, saying the EIA failed to recognize the countrys efforts to combat the problems. It does not reflect [the reality] of the fact that we have been working to crack down on and prevent such offenses, he said at a press briefing in the capital Phnom Penh. We also dont allow any largescale destruction, as mentioned [in the report]. That is why I said it does not reflect what we have made efforts on and practiced in reality. Sao Sopheap did not specifically address the EIAs findings with regard to illicit cross-border trade volume other than to suggest that the scale was not as serious as reported, although he acknowledged that his statement was not based on a ministry investigation of the allegations. I did not base this conclusion on any kind of verification, he said. The ministry will need additional time to thoroughly study the EIAs report, he added, without providing a timeframe for its investigation. Sao Sopheap referred questions about what kind of data the Ministry of Environment is using to verify the EIAs findings to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deputy director Keo Oum Malis said that his ministry had only issued licenses to Cambodian companies exporting furniture to China through Vietnam since the ban on timber exports to Vietnam went into effect last year, but never for trading unprocessed logs. We dont issue licenses because during the 2016 campaign, the government prohibited any export of whole timber [to Vietnam], he said. The campaign suppressed [the smuggling of] more than 60,000 cubic meters of timber. The governments response to the EIA report came days after Cambodias National Police issued a report accusing a company owned by business magnate Kith Meng of using its license to clear land for a reservoir for the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam as a cover to launder illegally logged timber before selling it across the border in Vietnam. On Thursday, EIA senior campaign official Jago Wadley told RFAs Khmer Service that by issuing its report and other documentation his organization intended to warn the Cambodian government of the scale of the logging problem and assist in investigating and addressing it. These documents will help Cambodian authorities enforce the law against forest destruction and timber smuggling in Cambodia, which has resulted in the country losing several million US dollars, he said, referring to the data the EIA released on Tuesday. Wadley urged Cambodias authorities to act against all individuals, regardless of rank, who are involved in illegal trade by fining or jailing them, in accordance with the countrys existing laws. EU response Ouch Leng, chairman of the Cambodia Human Rights Task Force, also weighed in on the EIA report Thursday, telling RFA that those who purchase timber from Vietnamincluding European Union (EU) member nationsshould source their wood elsewhere in order to end deforestation in Cambodia. When asked about its view of the EIA findings, the Brussels-based European Commission (EC)which proposes and implements EU policysaid in a statement that it took the report very seriously and had called on both Cambodia and Vietnam to look into the allegations of illegal timber smuggling. We expect the authorities of Cambodia and Vietnam to urgently investigate the reported illegal activities and take firm action against individuals and companies found to be involved in illegal logging and related trade, as well as to take steps to prevent any such activity in future, the statement said. Reports such as the one recently published by EIA also provide useful information with respect to the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation, which prohibits placement of illegally-harvested timber on the EU market and obliges EU operators to exercise due diligence to ensure the legality of their supply chain. The EC said the EIA report also demonstrated the importance of a May 11 agreement between the EU and Vietnam on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, which it said aims to strengthen cooperation in combatting illegal logging, improving forest governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber. It noted that the EU had stopped funding a community protected area in northeast Cambodias Virachey National Parkone of the protected areas mentioned in the EIA reportin 2015 amid allegations of illegal logging activities there. Reported by Sel San for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. The ruling Chinese Communist Party is mulling a draft intelligence law that will grant sweeping powers already effectively wielded by its state security police. Under the draft legislation, posted for comment on the website of the country's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), China's police, state security police, and military are authorized to carry out spying activities inside and outside China. They may also investigate any foreign or Chinese citizens who are seen as a threat to national security. China's spies have a duty to "guard against and dispel state security threats" to major national interests, the draft law said. These include matters relating to state power, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, it said. In pursuit of such work, people who obstruct such work, or who are regarded as having leaked "state secrets," could face administrative detention of up to 15 days without trial, it said. In practice, the authorities have repeatedly used charges of "revealing state secrets," "harming national security," and "subversion of state power" to target peaceful critics of the government, including democracy activists, rights lawyers, and journalists. The new law permits intelligence officials to enter "restricted access areas" and use "technological reconnaissance measures" when required. Spy agencies may also establish "cooperative relationships" with individuals, suggesting government blessing for a nationwide network of informants, sources told RFA. Vague, superfluous Rights lawyer Ren Quanniu said there is no need for the legislation, which is vague and appears merely to legitimize existing covert activities. "They can already do all of these things without any intelligence legislation," Ren said. "I don't understand why they have to enshrine them in law." "As a lawyer, it is very unclear to me what exactly what manner of information constitutes intelligence," he said. Veteran journalist Zhu Xinxin said the law could be aimed at keeping secret any information linked to scandals within the ruling elite. "For example, any information pertaining to wrong-doing at the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party could come within its remit," Zhu said. "They could also use ridiculous charges like incitement to subvert state power as a way of terrorizing pro-democracy activists." "I think this is just a question of them trying to tighten up just a bit more on freedom of expression, and trying to use fear to keep people within their own ranks in line," she said. "They are afraid that news of internal power struggles will get leaked to the outside world." Citizen spies An article in the Global Times newspaper, sister paper to Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, appeared to support Zhu's view, citing Chongqing party school professor Su Wei as saying: "Chinese citizens should always keep national security in mind when communicating with overseas sources." "Personal information leaks are severe. So leaks in the country's intelligence will bring even greater damage," Su told the paper. And the paper quoted international relations professor Yang Jianying as saying that "Chinese citizens need to be educated to build and enhance their sense of intelligence." Hong Kong-based journalist Ching Cheong, who served five years in jail on spying charges for doing his job as a journalist, said the most worrying aspect of the law is the emphasis on intelligence work among the general population, turning ordinary people into agents who spy on their neighbors. Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Goh Fung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A North Korean boy looks at a screen showing a pistol at a science and technology center in Pyongyang, Nov. 26, 2016. In the past, North Koreans who settled for careers as scientists and engineers were doomed to a life of relative poverty. But now the five-year-old regime of current leader Kim Jong Un is granting exceptional privileges to scientists and engineers who study nuclear and missile technology and development, sources inside the country said. As a result, parents have displayed an eagerness to raise their children to become scientists, they said. Scientists who used to live with a tight budget are now receiving the highest level of treatment for nuclear and missile development since Kim Jong Un came to power. Apartment buildings for scientists and engineers were built in Pyongyang, and the [Korean Workers Party] Central Committee decided to give preference to scientists for new apartment buildings under construction in every province, said a source in North Hamgyong province, who requested anonymity. This situation marks a significant break with the past when most North Koreans shunned careers as scientists because of meager rewards for their efforts. In the past, the prize for winning a singing contest was a color television, but those who won prizes at science and technology exhibitions only received a ceramic flower vase, the source told RFAs Korean Service. Up to the era of Kim Il Sung, the current leaders grandfather who ruled the country from its establishment in 1948 to his death in 1994, the main goal of North Korean parents was to raise their children to become artists, he said. During the rule of Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un who led the nation from 1994 to 2011, parents aspired to raise their children to become executives of the ruling political partythe Workers Party of Koreajudicial authorities, or professionals who could earn foreign currency, he said. It was after the rule of Kim Il Sung that North Korea established a Senior Middle School No. 1 in each of the countrys nine provinces to cultivate talented scientists, the source said. Students who went on to major in science and engineering at the university level, however, were the ones who suffered financial hardship the most because they were not able to freely sell goods at markets to earn money, and there were no national funds to support them, he said. Private tutors of musical instruments or dance were the ones who earned the most money until the Kim Jong Il era, said a source from Yanggang province who requested anonymity. But now it is private tutors who teach math, physics, and science who are earning the most money. Favorable treatment When Kim Jong Un became supreme leader of North Korea, scientists began receiving favorable treatment, including increased food supplies, he said. All parents now have an obsessive desire to raise their children to become scientists, the source said. People with university degrees in science and engineering are exempt from compulsory military service and receive nice government-appointed living accommodations so they can live stable lives, while others who study unpopular academic subjects such as the social sciences are faring poorly, he said. The move comes as Kim Jong Uns regime has been test-firing ballistic missiles and nuclear devices at an unprecedented rate, ratcheting up tensions on the Korean Peninsula and drawing condemnation from the United States, its Asian allies, and the international community. Pyongyang has said it has developed a missile that can strike the U.S. mainland, though experts have expressed skepticism that the country possesses such technology. North Korea continues to launch ballistic missiles in defiance of U.S. warnings and United Nations sanctions, with the latest one occurring on May 14, when a missile traveled about 700 kilometers (435 miles) and landed in the East Sea or Sea of Japan, according to South Koreas military. Reported by Sung-hui Moon for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. A court in southeastern Myanmars Mon state sentenced the owner of a food catering service on Thursday to a seven-year prison term for scalding and beating a teenage girl who worked as a waitress for the caterer and as a helper in the womans home. It was the second high-profile case of worker abuse to be reported in Myanmar in recent months. Aye Aye Soe, who worked as a contractor providing food to Mawlawmyine University in Mon states capital city, was convicted of causing grievous hurt in the case in which she was charged with torturing a 14-year-old girl whom she had accused of stealing oranges. Aye Aye Soe was sentenced to seven years in prison under Sections 326 and 323 of the penal code for voluntarily using dangerous weapons to cause grievous hurt, state prosecutor Yin Min San told RFAs Myanmar Service in an interview. In the case reported by the girls aunt to authorities at the end of December 2016, Aye Aye Soe had tortured 14-year-old Khin Khin Tun by pouring flasks of boiling water over her back and striking her in the head with a stick, the young girl said in a Feb. 15, 2017, report by Agence France-Press. When I shouted I was burning, she beat me around the head. There was a lot of blood, Khin Khin Tun told AFP. Sent three years before by her father to work as a domestic servant to help pay family medical bills, Khin Khin Tun and a younger sister were rescued by a local NGO after she was found recovering from her burns in a hospital, AFP said. Khin Khin Tuns aunt then reported the abuse to local police on Dec. 27. The case comes just months after two teenage maids were found to have been tortured by their employers in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon, prompting public outrage at their treatment and at what many called an improper response by the countrys human rights commission. Ma San Kay Khaing, 17, and Ma Tha Zin, 16, endured five years of physical abuse by a prominent family of tailors for whom they worked as maids in Yangons Kyauktada township, suffering stabbings with scissors and knives and burns with an iron. The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which accepted the girls case on Sept. 15, 2016, then negotiated a monetary settlement with the alleged abusers instead of taking legal action against them, according to local media reports. Reported by Kyaw Lwin Woo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Richard Finney. A Myanmar man (C) reads a copy of The Voice daily newspaper in Yangon on April 1, 2013. UPDATED at 10:05 A.M. EST on 2017-05-18 Myanmars powerful military filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against a local independent newspaper editor and its satire columnist over an article that allegedly insulted the armed forces in the latest attack on freedom of speech in the developing Southeast Asian country. Kyaw Min Swe, editor-in-chief of The Voice Daily, and the newspapers satire columnist who writes under the pseudonym "British Ko Ko Maung," are being sued under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which prohibits the use of the telecom network to defame people. Violators are subject to a jail sentence of up to three years and a fine. Government, military, and other officials are increasingly using the controversial statute to file defamation suits against their critics under the current civilian administration of de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which came to power in April 2016. The military filed the charges at Bahan Township Police Station in the commercial capital Yangon, citing alleged defamation over an article the newspaper published in late March. British Ko Ko Maung had written a piece entitled Oath of the Nation of Bullets that mocked Union Oath, a military propaganda film that aired on the military-owned Myawaddy TV channel to coincide with Armed Forces Day on March 27. I will face, according to law, whatever may come because I wrote what I believe, British Ko Ko Maung said. Lieutenant Colonel Tun Tun Oo of the Yangon regional command initially filed a complaint with the Myanmar Press Council charging that the piece offended the dignity of the armed forces, according to a report by the online news agency Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). The council mediates disputes involving the press. The Voice Daily issued an apology on May 14. Kyaw Min Swe said he has not yet discussed the lawsuit with the board of editors, but will comment on it after meeting with the Myanmar Press Council, DVB reported. The military, which previously ruled Myanmar for 50 years and continues to wield enormous political and economic power, has filed similar complaints about articles critical of it in the past. It settled the cases out of court when the publications offered a formal apology or published a correction, DVB reported. Rights groups argue that the defamation provision of Myanmars Telecommunications Law has been used to silence criticism of the government, military, and Buddhist leaders, and should be dropped. The new case brings the number of people who have been charged under Section 66(d) to 56 under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. So far, seven of them have been sentenced to jail. During the previous military-backed government of former president Thein Sein, only seven people were charged under Setion 66(d), and five of them received prison sentences. London-based environmental advocacy group Global Witness holds a press conference on its short documentary film 'Jade and the Generals' in Yangon, May 17, 2017. Credit: RFA Global Witness film banned In a related development, a hotel in Yangon on Wednesday abruptly banned a screening of a short documentary film entitled Jade and the Generals that exposes the links between armed conflict and the lucrative jade industry in northern Myanmars Kachin state. The film produced by the London-based environmental advocacy group Global Witness had been scheduled for a public screening at the Park Royal Hotel when hotel employees canceled it after authorities informed them that the organizers had not received permission from the Yangon government to show the film. I want all documentary films to be screened freely in the future, said Htoo Tayzar, the films director. Myanmars U.S. $31 billion jade industry is secretly controlled by networks of military elites, drug lords, and crony companies linked to the countrys former military leaders, according to a Global Witness report issued in October 2015. The industry is also connected to fighting between ethnic armed groups and the national military in Kachin state where clashes have forced about 100,000 people to flee to safety, Global Witness said. Both reap huge amounts of money from mining activities through extortion and the collection of taxes, the group said. Thai faces defamation charge Also on Wednesday, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and more than 50 other press freedom advocacy groups urged a Thai-owned mining company to drop criminal defamation charges against a Thai journalist who reported on problems inside the concerns Heinda mine which operates in Myanmar. On March 20, mining company Myanmar Phongpipat Co., Ltd. (MPC) sued journalist Pratch Rujivanarom of The Nation for defamation under the Thai Criminal Code and Section 14 of the Computer Crime Act, which carries a prison sentence for a variety of offences, including disseminating data likely to cause damage to a third party or the public. We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Myanmar Phongpipat Co. Ltd. to immediately withdraw all criminal proceedings against Pratch Rujivanarong, journalist, and the Nation News Network Company Ltd., said a joint statement issued by RSF and the other groups. The mining firm claims that the reporter and The Nation damaged its reputation when they reported on tailings from the tin mine contaminating a river system, which is the main source of drinking water for villagers in Myaung Pyo village in southern Myanmars Tanintharyi region. The water color has changed to red and black, villager Myaung Pyo told RFAs Myanmar Service. Others confirmed that the mining operation has damaged the environment. Its true that there has been much environmental deterioration in many villages around the mining areas, said Aung Lwin of Dawei Watch, a news service that gives a voice to minorities in Myanmar. Also, researchers from a Thai university already informed the Thai Human Rights Commission that the mine had contaminated the river and water supply of Myaung Pyo village. Pratch and The Nation face up to five years imprisonment, 200,000 Thai baht (U.S. $5,800) in fines, or both. RSF and the other civil society organizations also called on Thailand to immediately decriminalize defamation and reject proposed amendments to the 2007 Computer Crime Act that have raised human rights concerns. We urge the Thai government to protect freedom of the press, decriminalize defamation, and align the 2007 Computer-related Crime Act with international law and standards, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the statement said. The complaints and charges against Pratch Rujivanarom and The Nation represent an overly broad application of criminal law which violates the right to freedom of expression, it said. Criminalizing free expression creates a chilling effect on the media and human rights defenders whose reporting, not least of environmental and human rights issues, essentially serves the public interest. Reported by Thet Su Aung, Thant Sin Oo and Aung Tayza for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Authorities in northwestern Chinas Gansu province have detained the parents of a Tibetan self-immolation protester after briefly holding and then releasing them once before, a source in the region says. Soepa and Drolma Tso, the father and mother of 16-year-old student Chagdor Kyab who self-immolated on May 2, had initially been detained and questioned together with their daughter following Kyabs protest challenging Chinas rule in Tibetan areas. However, they were released and allowed to return home, a local source told RFAs Tibetan Service. But the authorities then came back and took both parents away with them, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Kyab's sister was not detained again since she had fallen ill and was confined to her bed when her parents were detained for the second time, the source said. Owing to strict communications blocks imposed by Chinese authorities in the area, no information was immediately available concerning the date of Kyabs parents second detention or where they are now being held. Kyabs May 2 protest near Bora monastery in Gansus Gannan (in Chinese, Kanlho) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture brought to 149 the total number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in Tibetan areas of China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. On the day of Kyabs self-immolation, his father Soepa took him from Dardo village to the Bora Middle School and then returned home, RFAs source said, adding that about 20 minutes later Kyab went to the nearby Bora monastery to pray at its main shrine. He then walked around the monastery a few times before setting himself on fire, the source said. While he burned, he called out for Tibetan freedom and the return of [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama, but police quickly arrived, put out the fire, and took him away, he said. Witnesses who saw Kyabs protest believe that he died at the scene, but neither his death nor his survival has yet been confirmed, the source said. Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. The wives of three mainland Chinese human rights lawyers, and the wife of a disappeared Taiwan democracy activist speak to RFA's Mandarin Service about their experiences as advocates for detained and 'disappeared' loved ones at a time of huge psychological stress, ahead of testifying at a May 18 hearing on Chinese human rights abuses convened by the House of Representatives panel on Global Human Rights in Washington. Xie Yang's wife, Chen Guiqiu: I have no way of getting in touch with [Xie Yang] right now. A lot of police officers have been visiting our family and trying to get them to persuade me to come back to China. They have also sent copies of articles I have written to my brother and his wife, so I have broken off contact with them now [in order to protect them]. But on that day in court, when he appeared, and pleaded guilty, and denied that he had been tortured, and that his rights had been protected by the authorities, that court was an illegitimate court. There wasn't a single legitimate person in it. We never hired his defense attorney. The two lawyers I hired never made it into the courtroom to defend him. A lot of our friends went to the court and tried to get into the public gallery but they were detained by police. There was a security cordon around the court and the roads outside had been closed. There were spectators in the court, but they had been placed there by [the authorities]. It certainly wasn't the case that we could exercise our right to sit in the public gallery. Neither did we receive any formal notification of the trial date from them. Also, neither Chen Jiangang nor Liu Zhengqing, the defense lawyers I hired, has been able to meet with him since the end of the January, so I don't know what they have been up to behind the scenes. Some of the other lawyers ... were force-fed with medication. I don't know if Xie Yang was force-fed medication as well. As for the torture that Xie Yang went through and then denied, one of my lawyers ... saw the prison guards beating Xie Yang with their own eyes. Other people told me after they got out that he was isolated in detention, that he wasn't allowed to buy anything with his money, and that other people were instructed not to talk to him. And he was kept inside without being allowed a meeting with his lawyers for 16 and a half months. I found his responses [very shocking] that he would say that his rights were protected, and that he hadn't been tortured. Since I arrived in the United States, members of my family [still in China] have been detained and even forcibly taken to Thailand to look for us. All of my bank accounts have been frozen ... The police have been telling my family back home that I am a traitor who is harming Xie Yang. Their purpose is to drive a wedge between us. My lawyers have been targeted. Recently my lawyer Chen Jiangang found out that his kid hadn't gotten into primary school. I have crossed so many red lines already. I wasn't supposed to contact any other families of detained lawyers, I wasn't to write articles, to give media interviews. There were so many rules. To the U.S., I'd say, don't see human rights as a business deal. Instead, you should look at the real persecution people are suffering, the lawyers. I would like to see the Trump administration extend the same sort of help and assistance to Chinese people without a family member who is a U.S. citizen. Tang Jingling's wife, Wang Yanfang: Tang Jingling was detained on May 16, 2014 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment for "incitement to subvert state power." He wasn't allowed to see a lawyer initially because he was being held on charges of subversion, but he was allowed to after the case was transferred to the prosecutor. Tang Jingling has actually suffered through similar torture in the past, during the [2011] Jasmine Revolution crackdown. Like so many people who have concerned themselves with social issues, he had long been subjected to official harassment, searches of his home, residential surveillance, and later torture, before he was finally formally arrested and sentenced to prison. His mental state is pretty good ... but he has be subjected to some ill-treatment, which of course is a worry for his family. When our loved ones are in prison, we never know what is going to happen to them, whether they'll be subjected to worse treatment. I was under so much emotional pressure after Tang Jingling was detained ... I went to Hong Kong try to call for public support for him. I really hoped I'd be able to put pressure on them to release him. I was also worried that I would be detained myself, and then I wouldn't be able to speak out on behalf of my husband. Back when he had been detained previously, when he was tortured, I had pretty much lost control, according to my family. So this time I wanted to do something, to speak out. When I had done that, I was warned off by the police, who said I'd go to jail if I carried on like that. The lawyers were [under pressure] too. They had all been under some kind of pressure since [2011], being called in for questioning, or losing their license to practice law. I had already lost my job back in 2008. We all went through the same thing. There's always some hope that one's husband will be released, no matter how long he's been locked up for. Jiang Tianyong's wife Jin Bianling: Jiang went missing on Nov. 21, 2016, and was placed under residential surveillance at a secret location ... His family still doesn't know exactly where he is being held. His lawyer has applied to meet with him four times, but has never been granted permission. So we have no idea whatsoever how his health is, what sort of conditions he is living in, or what kind of torture he has endured. However, we received information from a sympathetic source within the system that Jiang Tianyong's feet have swollen up. He can't walk. He can't even stand. Some of the ... lawyers who were released lately said that they were force-fed medication, or deprived of sleep, or forced to stand for long periods of time. I am pretty sure that if Jiang Tianyong's legs are so swollen that he can't stand up, it's because he has been subjected to torture. For this reason, I am extremely worried about his health. [Jiang's father] was heading to Beijing, to his other son's house ... and was secretly detained there ... They were detained by interceptors [from Henan]. Jiang Tianyong's father is in his seventies, but they got him in an armlock, with his arms behind his back, and pushed him into a hotel where they detained him. They subjected him to a long interrogation, and then they told him to sign a guarantee promising not to have any contact with the outside world, and not to give out any information regarding Jiang Tianyong to [me]. Now, Jiang Tianyong's father is ill in bed with back pain. [The police] have already installed surveillance cameras in his home to watch them. They rented out an apartment specially for this purpose. Their ancestral home is in the mountains, and the [police security detail] have cars and motorcycles there and it's hard to get through by car, so they use these motorcycles to follow Jiang Tianyong's parents wherever they go. I came to the U.S. in 2013, nearly four years ago. I haven't seen Jiang Tianyong in all that time. We have just been in contact via the internet. I may have escaped all of the detentions, the surveillance, the kids not being able to get schooling, but I have found life very hard since I got here. There has been no news of him at all since his disappearance, and yet he had already received political refugee status to come to the U.S. for resettlement. But the Chinese state security police wouldn't allow him to leave the country. Life was already pretty tough for Jiang Tianyong even before he was detained. So I really hope that the U.S. will be able to get him released through diplomatic channels, so our family can be reunited. And that all of the other rights lawyers will be be released, too. Wang Quangzhang's wife and family have had no news of him; they are homeless, and constantly forced to move, and the children can't go to school. Lee Ming-cheh's wife Lee Ching-yu: It's now 59 days [since I had any news of my husband]. Lee Ming-cheh and I both took part in social activism in Taiwan, right from the start. I am very moved by the stories I have just heard. I have researched the white terror in Taiwan ... and it is regarded as history ... But these [ladies] are still living it. I have to admit that I feel fortunate to be from Taiwan, to not have been through similar persecution. However, my husband has disappeared, since he entered China from Macau on March 19. I haven't had any news of him. I don't know where he is. They finally admitted that they had detained him 10 days after March 19 in a news briefing, and that he is currently being investigated for activities that harmed national security. But we still have no idea what the actual reason for detaining him was. I [tried to visit him in mainland China] because I know from my research into the white terror in Taiwan that when a person is isolated in that way, then all kinds of unimaginable horrors can be perpetrated on them. So that's why I held a news conference in Taiwan to say that I wasn't going to make any legal defense; that I was going to limit myself to humanitarian and human rights arguments. For that reason, I would be refusing to make any acknowledgement of anything Lee Ming-cheh might admit to under a situation he is currently in, without having been allowed to meet with him first. This is because I knew that any such confession would have been made under duress, and in an inhumane situation where he didn't have his liberty. Taiwan went through something very similar in its history 30 years ago. Since Tsai Ing-wen was elected, cross-straits relations have been affected. Our government has continually put out the line that they are working to save Lee Ming-cheh ... but I think they aren't really. They keep saying they want to rescue him, but we haven't actually seen them take any concrete actions towards doing so. I have heard through various official sources that their approach is to 'keep a low profile.' That means that they are hoping I will keep a low profile. In the 59 days since Lee Ming-cheh's disappearance, we have yet to see them take a single concrete action. Reported by Liu Ping for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The United Kingdoms controversial vote last year to exit the European Union commonly known as Brexit is prompting Henrico County-based Markel Corp. to set up a new insurance company in Germany. Markel, a specialty insurer and one of the Richmond areas Fortune 500 companies, announced Thursday it plans to apply for regulatory approval to establish an insurance company in Germany. The purpose of the new subsidiary would be to ensure that whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, Markel will be able to meet the insurance needs of clients in the European Union. Markels subsidiary Markel International currently writes business worldwide from its London office and branch offices around the world. The new business would be based in Munich, where Markel has had a branch office since 2012. A spokesman for Markel said London will remain an important insurance hub for Markel, and the company has no plans to relocate its 560-employee London office. However, the U.K. exit necessitates having an insurance hub within the EU. Subject to approval of German financial regulators, Markel plans to incorporate and capitalize the new insurance company in Germany in the first half of 2018, but in no event later than the end of Brexit negotiations, now scheduled for March 29, 2019. This is an important, strategic development for us, said William Stovin, president of Markel International. While the company will continue to write international business in London, we also want to build on the strong foundations of our national market businesses in Europe. Establishing a carrier in Germany would enable us to do this and give us flexibility to pursue other opportunities in continental Europe. A Fredericksburg man who used a gasoline station/convenience store as part of a scheme to traffic Virginia cigarettes for illegal resale in high-tax states pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes. According to a four-page criminal information filed earlier this month against Bernard Ekelemu, 61, he helped arrange for the purchase of at least $7 million worth of cigarettes without paying Virginia sales tax to be shipped to other states between March 2014 and last December. He pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck and faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 15, though federal sentencing guidelines will likely call for a lesser term. In November 2013, according to the government, Ekelemu directed an unidentified person to buy the Gulf gas station and convenience store at 5318 Jefferson Davis Highway in Spotsylvania County. Soon after, he registered a business with the Virginia State Corporation Commission entitling him and others to buy large quantities of cigarettes without paying state sales tax. He then created memberships at various wholesale club stores, where the cigarettes were purchased. Eventually, $7 million worth of Virginia-stamped cigarettes were bought with the intention of selling them to traffickers. Ekelemu rented storage units in Fredericksburg and Springfield, where cigarettes were stored prior to traffickers taking them to other states. The racket is made possible by varying excise taxes states impose on cigarettes. Virginias excise tax is 30 cents a pack, second-lowest in the U.S., while New York states, for example, is $4.35 a pack, the highest in the country. One vehicles load can yield thousands of dollars in profit. Two area men are facing federal conspiracy, robbery and firearms charges in a half-dozen holdups of convenience stores last year in a case that was allegedly cracked in part by a careless Craigslist ad. Antonio Lamont Jones, 19, of Chesterfield County, and Derrick Orlando Ramsey, 27, of Petersburg, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr., who set a jury trial for July 12. They were named by a federal grand jury in a 17-page, 10-count indictment Tuesday. Jones was charged with conspiracy, six counts of robbery, using a firearm in a crime of violence and possession of a firearm by a drug user. Ramsey was charged with all but the possession of a firearm by a drug user. The indictment alleges six robberies: June 30 at the 7-Eleven store in the 5500 block of Belmont Road, Chesterfield; on July 11, the Sunoco station in the 900 block of Temple Avenue, Colonial Heights; July 11, the 7-Eleven store in the 3300 block of Oaklawn Boulevard, Hopewell; July 21, the 7-Eleven store in the 12100 block of Harrowgate Road, Chesterfield; July 29, the 7-Eleven store in the 100 block of Turner Road, in Chesterfield; Aug. 10, the 7-Eleven store in the 10100 block of Chester Road, Chesterfield. If convicted of all counts, Jones faces a maximum term of 162 years in prison and Ramsey, 152 years. According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case and the indictment, police were called on Aug. 29 about a burglary in Chesterfield in which $44,642 in jewelry, cash, clothing, designer bags and purses and a small safe were stolen. A Craigslist ad was later posted with four designer purses that fit the description of the stolen ones. The ads photo was shown to the victim who not only identified the bags but saw they were photographed on a mattress he or she had given a neighbor. The neighbors house where Jones lived was searched, allegedly turning up items that included a stolen shotgun, a book bag believed used in 7-Eleven robberies, a BB air pistol, shotgun shells and a holster. Investigators said that later an undisclosed informant identified Jones and Ramsey in the robberies. At Wednesdays arraignment, Jones and his lawyer said Jones suffers from schizophrenia and takes medication. He said he has not had any delusional episodes in jail since he was taken into custody last Friday. Gibney indicated he would have Jones evaluated. Hes not going to go to trial without somebody telling me he is competent, said Gibney of Jones. Chesterfield County police released the identity of a man whose body was found in the Appomattox River on Wednesday. The man has been identified as David E. Browder, 51, of Petersburg. Browder was found in the river and pulled to shore near Johnson Alley and Grove Avenue in Petersburg, police said in a news release. VSU is on the other side of the river in the Ettrick area of Chesterfield. Police said there are no signs of foul play at this point. Police continue their investigation. Anyone with information should contact the Chesterfield County Police Department at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660 or www.crimesolvers.net. The 25-year-old Richmond man who was fatally shot in his Manchester apartment building Tuesday was recalled as a parent of two who loved being a father. Malissa Meacham-Perry was Jaquan A. Harris roommate until about six months ago, when she moved to Florida. They lived in the same South Richmond apartment building where Harris was slain, but after Meacham-Perry moved, Harris whom friends referred to as Quan moved one story higher. He was like my little brother, she said. I was really worried about Quan when I left. I knew Richmond was getting bad. But I never thought anyone would do something like this to Quan. Harris had two children, 6-year-old Azariah and 3-year-old Jaquan Harris Jr., and Meacham-Perry said he loved them. He loved being a father. He loved them kids, she said. Harris was gunned down Tuesday night in the fourth-floor hallway of the secure-entry apartment building where he lived. About 11 p.m., police responded to a shooting in the Lofts at Commerce apartments at 700 Stockton St., and found Harris unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Richmond police declined to release information about the investigation Thursday. Sharisse Weaver, the mother of Harris younger child, said Harris had a big heart. According to Harris Facebook page, the couple was engaged at one point, but Weaver said they were never married. Meacham-Perry said she needed to find a productive way to deal with her emotions, so she began raising money for Harris family to help cover the cost of his funeral. I needed to do something just to mourn, Meacham-Perry said. Quan damn sure deserves a proper send-off. She met Harris through a mutual friend and popular club DJ. Harris was well-known in the club circuit around Richmond, and local promoters and owners have offered to chip in for the funeral. As of Thursday evening, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $4,200; funeral arrangements were still being finalized. Its really heartwarming to see the community step up, Meacham-Perry said. There have been 24 homicides in Richmond this year four of which occurred this week. Two of those are being investigated by Virginia State Police because they happened on Interstate 95. Last year, there were 61 homicides in Richmond, according to police. Anyone with information about Harris shooting is asked to call Major Crimes Detective M. Gouldman at (804) 646-3915 or contact Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or www.7801000.com. LYNCHBURG A Lovingston man faces two misdemeanor charges in an animal cruelty case after a neighbors hybrid cat died. David Boor, 61, was served in late April with arrest warrants for two misdemeanor charges. The warrants were issued April 26 by Magistrate D.A. Metts after Nelson County Commonwealths Attorney Daniel Rutherford said he would not pursue charges. Boor is charged with one count each of cruelty to animals and maiming, killing or poisoning animals. Boor lives on Court Street, according to the warrants. Patricia Harker, a neighbor, claims Boor killed her cat, Swiper, on March 8 because the cat was harassing his chickens. Boors attorney, Peter Frazier, says Boor is innocent and acted within his rights. According to Harker, Swiper was a Savannah cat a hybrid breed thats a cross between a domestic cat and a serval cat, which is a wild feline native to Africa and cost thousands of dollars. She was 8 years old. Harker said Swipers front paws were declawed and said the cat was wearing a collar at the time of the incident. A narrative written by Harker and filed with the warrants alleges Boor trapped Swiper by enticing her with a pork chop. The narrative says Swiper died from the effects of ether, a chemical. Harker said she has tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain copies of the necropsy performed on Swiper in Lynchburg. State code would allow Boor to shoot the cat if it was harassing his chickens. Chickens have rights, too, Harker said. I understand that. She acknowledged that while she doesnt think Swiper intended to hurt the chickens, by its nature, the cat may have tried to go after the poultry. Kevin Wright, a Nelson County animal control officer who responded to Boors calls about the cat harassing his chickens, would not comment on the details, saying he wasnt sure how much county officials wanted him to talk to local media about an ongoing case. Rutherford declined to comment on the case. Harker said she visited at least one other magistrate, who she said wouldnt issue arrest warrants because of a connection he has with Boor, before Metts issued the warrants. It did not need to go this far, Harker said. Theres nothing that little cat couldve done to cause this kind of grief for this many people. Boor is scheduled for a hearing in Nelson County General District Court on June 7, according to online records. At a news conference and a candidate forum Wednesday, local black activists and independent hopefuls for Charlottesvilles City Council addressed the lingering fallout from protests held last weekend at Jackson and Lee parks. On Wednesday morning, the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP held a news conference to condemn the torch-lit demonstration held by white nationalist groups. Later in the evening, two African-American council candidates gave their differing opinions on the citys statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the protestors were seeking to protect from the crane. Following the City Councils 3-2 vote earlier this year to remove the Lee statue, a so-called pro-white rally was held Saturday afternoon in Jackson Park to protest the citys decision. Saturday night, the protesters regrouped for a tiki torch-lit demonstration at Lee Park. It was reminiscent of back in the day with the Ku Klux Klan, said Janette Martin, president of the local NAACP branch. I hate to say that, but thats what it was with the torches. The only thing missing was the white sheets. At the candidate forum, hosted by Equity and Progress in Charlottesville, independents Nikuyah Walker and Kenneth Jackson shared their thoughts about the statue situation. I support the removal of the statues, Walker said, threading the issue with other race matters she said she hopes to address if elected. If you look at any aspect of our government, there are disparities. There are disparities in education, housing, wealth and the social services system, she said. You either have to think that black people are inferior or that institutional and systemic issues, such as racism, are at play here. Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for the council as a Republican in 2004, said at a February council meeting that he is opposed to the removal of the Lee statue, alleging that it would be nothing more than a symbolic gesture to the African-American community that would infuriate other community members. In an interview before Wednesdays forum, Jackson criticized Saturdays white nationalist rally, as well as a counter-protest held Sunday at Lee Park. Hate only begets hate, he said. I think some members of City Council have equated flying a rebel flag and the statues with hate and negativeness from the Civil War, he said. But when you start beating bushes like that and telling people that its hate ... one hate group will bring about another hate group. The other three independent candidates Paul Long, Nancy Carpenter and Dale Woodson also shared their thoughts on the proposal. Long and Carpenter said they support removal of the statues. Woodson called for a public referendum, an idea that city officials last year said they would not pursue do to the complexities of whether moving the statue is legal. Earlier this month, a city circuit judge issued a six-month injunction against moving the statue, pending litigation. The judge also said he thinks the monument is protected by state law. At Mondays council meeting, Mayor Mike Signer said part of the reason he voted against the removal of the statue is because many African-American constituents he spoke with said they were opposed to removal. Citing the official report from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces, Signer said he also found that numerous Charlottesville African-American residents who have lived through decades of suppression of their history oppose removal on the grounds that it would be yet another example of hiding their experience. The council created the commission last year to explore options for the controversial monument, as well as one of Confederate Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson in Jackson Park. The commission ultimately gave a unanimous recommendation that the city should either move the Lee statue to McIntire Park or transform it in place. Jalane Schmidt, a University of Virginia religious studies professor and activist who identifies as a person of color, took exception to the mayors claims, calling them outrageous. The mayor went to conservative churches and talked with elderly folks, she said. He didnt go to barber shops, nightclubs, social media or forums to talk to young African-Americans. I am unaware of any uprising among black folks in Charlottesville who are disappointed that City Council voted to move the monument. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Youve probably heard that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will take its final bows Sunday. The very last Greatest Show on Earth will be held in Uniondale, New York (on Long Island), and thatll cap a 98-year run for the clowns, acrobats, lions, tigers, elephants and more. What you might not realize is that perhaps its greatest memorabilia collector was a Roanoker. His name was Paul Caldwell. He was a longtime and honored science teacher at Woodrow Wilson Junior High. Caldwell started his collection at age 6 theres a story behind that we shall get to. Ultimately, the trove included more than 25,000 circus items, from costumes to trapezes, a private Ringling Bros. railroad car and thousands of bright and gaudy lithographed posters. He had a 14-karat gold lifetime circus pass, engraved with his name. He had the 24-foot pole high-wire artist Karl Wallenda used in a summer 1970 wire walk over a Georgia gorge. Its the only pole the legendary daredevil ever gave away, according to press clippings. Caldwell even had a full jug of John Ringlings private Scotch whiskey. He kept the stuff at his own private circus museum on Maple Avenue in Roanokes Old Southwest neighborhood. Thats where he died, violently and tragically, Sept. 27, 1974. Let us review, through old newspaper stories and the sometime hazy memories of his colleagues and a former student. Paul was interesting, said Carolyn Ryburn, a retired history and science teacher from Woodrow who now lives in Glade Spring. She joined the schools teaching staff in 1965, 15 years after Caldwell. He was interested in things that were out of the ordinary, to draw his students out. One was a human brain in formaldehyde that Caldwell kept in his classroom, Ryburn noted. That brain remained at Woodrow long after Paul left. It was in a storeroom, Ryburn said. He was always very kind to me and wanted to help me as a new teacher, recalled Shearer Ramsey, who taught math at Woodrow. I remember him fondly. Back then, the circus was big, and people came to Roanoke to look at his collection. He was so involved with that, with his circus things. Thats what we always talked to him about. Robert Freis, a copy editor here at the newspaper, studied science under Caldwell in the seventh grade. It was his first lecture-style class in public school, so Freis was a bit extra attentive. He recalled that Caldwell, who was almost completely bald, came back to school after one holiday break wearing a jarring toupee. Freis also said Caldwell had a minor lisp. It didnt interfere with his teaching, but it would come out when he started talking about his passion. It was Wingwing Browhers and Banum and Baywee, Freis told me. Ryburn said she doesnt recall that. Caldwell first made the news in 1958, when hed been teaching at Woodrow for seven years. Earlier in life, hed contemplated a career as a physician. But after a disabling Army injury required him to spend more than a year in a veterans hospital, he decided on teaching instead. It parallels medicine in catering to the needs of the people, he told The Roanoke Times that year. By then, he was chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Science Department. He was also one of four Virginians awarded the Teachers Service Certificate for outstanding service in development of young scientists from the Virginia Academy of Science. Caldwell also was honored the following year, and in 1964, he made the paper once again when he headed the Roanoke Valley fundraising drive for United Cerebral Palsy. More than anything else, though, it was his love for everything circus that kept him in the news. In 1962, Caldwell acquired from longtime Ringling Bros. press agent Roland Butlers widow the mans extensive circus memorabilia collection. It included more than two tons of bric-a-brac that Caldwell hauled from Sarasota, Florida, to Roanoke in a station wagon with an attached trailer. According to an article in 1970, that collection also included Charles Ringlings gold-handled umbrella, personal effects of P.T. Barnum and Buffalo Bill Cody, mannequins decked out in performers costumes and thousands of circus handbills, programs, photos and posters. One item was a framed and priceless program of the Ringling Bros. Carnival of Fun staged in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1882 37 years before Ringling Bros. merged with Barnum & Bailey to form The Greatest Show on Earth. Ironically, his collection is better known outside Roanoke than it is in the area, that article noted. He gets calls from as far away as Canada from people who have heard through circus connections of his vast collection and want to see it. In 1970, Ryburn told me, Caldwell used his connections with Ringling Bros. to help arrange its donation of Frump Frump the elephant to the Mill Mountain Zoo. That caused a sensation. The zoo had more than 100,000 visitors that year. In April 1971, Caldwell made perhaps his biggest score ever a luxurious, custom-built, 85-foot-long, six-room, wood-paneled private railroad car. That was donated by Ringling Bros. executive Rudy Bundy, a longtime friend of Caldwells. The reception committee for the cars arrival included Mayor Roy Webber and the Woodrow Wilson band. Caldwell arranged for the railcar to be parked on a railroad siding along Cleveland Avenue, adjacent to the former Seven-Up Bottling Company plant. Whatever became of the railcar is unclear. What drove Caldwells circus obsession? In one article, he attributed to an incident in childhood, when he desperately wanted to see the circus but was told he couldnt, because he hadnt earned the price of a ticket. His interest snowballed from there. By the mid-1970s, Caldwell had left teaching and was manager of the Roanoke Teachers Credit Union. He lived with his wife, Sue, on Westhampton Avenue but also spent a lot of time on Maple Avenue at his Hester Ringling Circus Museum. It wasnt open to the public, but people could contact Caldwell to arrange for private viewings. On the night of Sept. 26, 1974, Caldwell, then 50, didnt return home. His wife and a friend went to the museum the following morning, when they found Caldwell lying face down in a pool of blood with two deep gashes to his head. There were signs of a struggle. Tips from Christiansburg about talk of a killing in Roanoke led police to focus on brothers William Frank Strother, 21 and John C. Strother, 19. John Strother was arrested Sept. 29 in Christiansburg, and blamed his brother for the crime. William Strother, who fled to Canada after the killing, was arrested by the FBI in Utica, New York, that December. According to news accounts, the two brothers told police they had gone to the museum so William F. Strother could borrow $10 from Caldwell, whom Strother knew through his sister. While his brother remained outside, William Strother beat Caldwell unconscious. Police later determined that $85 and Caldwells wallet were missing from the museum. A detective testified that John Strother had acted as a lookout. In March 1975, John Strother pleaded guilty to being an accessory to first-degree murder, according to news clippings. He was sentenced to two years in prison plus 20 years suspended. The following August, William Strother pleaded guilty to robbery and first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, according to the clips. Frump Frump the elephant, a major Mill Mountain Zoo attraction, died four months after the circus donated the animal, leaving schoolchildren across Western Virginia distraught. And what became of Caldwells memorabilia? Just like the donated railcar, thats unclear. In earlier years, Caldwell mentioned that he wanted the circus artifacts to remain in Virginia. But he also noted his collection drew great interest from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. I called the Ringling Museum in Sarasota on Wednesday to see whether it had any of Caldwells stuff or curator Deborah Walk knew where it had gone. But she was unavailable for comment. I also called the Virginia Museum of Transportation, but Executive Director Bev Fitzpatrick was out of the office. In a future column, Ill let you know whether I find out more. BLACKSBURG Retail giant Lowes imagines a day when hardware store employees will walk up and down aisles in robot-style suits, making it possible to move heavy boxes with ease. It was an idea first hatched by a team of science fiction writers the company enlisted to come up with a far-fetched vision of the future. Then Virginia Tech researcher Alan Asbeck was the one tasked with making it a reality. Its the intersection of whats futuristic and whats possible to do now, Asbeck said of the so-called exosuit his team came up with. The mechanical engineer spent about a year on the project before handing over prototypes to employees at the Christiansburg Lowes store last month. Five workers who stock shelves when the store is closed at night volunteered to be part of the experiment, though Asbeck didnt provide details on how many hours each worker is actually spending in the device. If things go well, he hopes to build improved versions of the exosuit and eventually expand into more stores. The cost of the project and the owner of the intellectual property were not disclosed. The suits werent allowed to be photographed in action at the store and reporters werent allowed to try them on. But Tim Pote, one of the Tech students who helped design the device, strapped a suit on for a media event inside Techs robotics lab on Thursday. The suit weighs about 7 pounds and hooks on like a hiking backpack. It doesnt use any motors, but instead a series of carbon fiber rods that bend when the store employee reaches down to pick something up. The rods spring back up as the employee lifts, offsetting between 40 and 50 pounds of the weight placed on the wearers back. So when Pote picked up a 25-pound box during Thursdays demonstration, he said it felt as easy as standing up with nothing in his hands at all. Asbeck said his team is still doing tests to scientifically quantify exactly how much the device helps. He added that the employees in the pilot program have been happy with it so far, but its too early to know exactly whats next for the technology. Both my vision and Lowes vision is basically to get our research out to the real world, Asbeck said. I dont want to make products that live and die in the lab. The idea for the device was first imagined in a comic book commissioned by Lowes Innovation Labs, the retail giants relatively new research arm. The company uses these narratives to spark ideas for new technologies it could bring to stores. When the company saw the suit depicted in one of the comics, Asbeck said they saw similarities to a pair of pants he had previously created as part of a government-funded project at Harvard. The pants were designed for military applications, using motors and cables to help soldiers walk with heavy loads. Lowes was asking for a similar invention, except one to help its employees with upper body lifting. The companys innovation hub has launch other initiatives, such as the autonomous LoweBot that has been showing customers at San Francisco stores where to find products since 2016. That experiment has been a success and has led to more LoweBots in more locations. We are hopeful to continue down that path, Asbeck said. Although, its the very beginning of the pilot test. Its hard to really know. Virginia State Police have identified those involved in a fatal three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Centerville Road and Virginia 122 on Wednesday afternoon. Paul Henry Amos, 80, of Bedford, died at the scene of the crash, according to a news release from Virginia State Police Sgt. Rick Garletts. Amos 1998 Chevrolet Silverado was making a right turn onto Virginia 122 from Centerville Road near the Bedford Animal Hospital, failing to yield right of way to a 2015 Chrysler 200 that was traveling north, the release states. The Chrysler struck Amos vehicle and then a stationary 2005 Volvo at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Amos was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The two occupants of the Chrysler, driver Thomas Edward Guill, 41, of Bedford, and passenger Patrick Lee Shrader, 30, of Bedford, were taken to hospital for injuries received in the crash, according to the release. Both were wearing seatbelts at the time. Michael Patrick Menzel, 37, of Lynchburg, was wearing his seatbelt while driving the Volvo and was not injured in the crash. Traffic on both Centerville Road and Virginia 122, or Big Island Highway, was suspended for a short time Wednesday afternoon. It was about 3 p.m. when Steven Braxton heard the crash. I heard a boom, he said. I know what car wrecks sound like. He called the police. I seen the guy in the white truck, he was laid over in his seat. The other guy [in the silver sedan] was trying to help him, Braxton, a Bedford County resident, said Wednesday evening as crews worked the scene. Braxton said hes seen and heard crashes happen in the intersection before. Its a bad intersection, he said. ... Its just shocking. Hunter, of Bedford, said the intersection is extremely dangerous and she's seen Braxton replace the fence around his property more times than she can count. Braxton said the intersection used to be angled in such a way wrecked cars would end up in his yard. It's just a bad intersection, he said. The only thing they can do is put lights. Hope Walthall, of Huddleston, works at the Bedford Animal Hospital and said the intersection needs the countys attention. Its horrible, she said. You just cross your fingers and hope that nobody hits you. Though she hasnt been involved in a crash near the intersection, Walthall said shes seen plenty of minor wrecks and thinks cutting down trees surrounding the intersection and adding a light would help prevent future crashes. I mean, its either that or just wait until the next [crash], she said. It needs to be safer, and people need to be more aware. Hunter said the grass and foliage surrounding the intersection blocked cars from view up until Tuesday, when it was mowed. You couldnt see anything at all, she said. They need a light. They definitely need a light there. The Bedford County Sheriffs Office, Bedford Volunteer Fire Department, Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Transportation responded to the scene. Re: "Why do we need a lieutenant governor?," May 13 editorial: We need a lieutenant governor who will take charge and lead. My vision for the job and what I want to do as lieutenant governor is simple: be the leader who has one foot in the legislative branch and one foot in the executive branch providing the heavy lifting that needs to get done to make some major policy changes in Virginia. I have been running my campaign on a promise to ensure the safety and security of Virginians both fiscally and physically. Unfortunately, domestic terrorism is real and happening in our own backyards. Just last year there were eight ISIS affiliates arrested in Northern Virginia. As a member of the Secure Commonwealth panel, I have firsthand knowledge of public safety in Virginia. This year I led the fight to pass SB 1154 which made it a felony for people who aid and abet ISIS members. I am committed to ensuring the safety and security of our families and our communities here in Virginia. Thats why Ive met with sheriffs across the Commonwealth and am seeking their advice on how to combat the opioid crisis and other serious issues facing Virginia families. Given my background as a Narcotics Detective and the relationships Ive built with my Senate colleagues, Im in a unique position to lead the cause and find real solutions. I will always fight to protect the rights of Virginians. Thats why I want a Regulatory Commission run out of the Lieutenant Governors Office that would be a watchdog and citizens advocate over regulatory agencies. Citizens would finally have a place to go to address concerns and grievances that would have the power to deal with the problem quickly and constitutionally. Virginians deserve a statewide representative with a proven record of leadership. That means standing up and taking charge when nobody else will thats what a lieutenant governor should do and I will do. I dont know about The Washington Nationals offering Bryce Harper a 10-year contract, but he sure does have a strong first name. BRYCE REEVES SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY Thursday American Girl Party Crafts, food and fun. Bring your own dolls. For those in grades 2 to 5. When: 4 p.m. Where: Hollins Library, 6624 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke Cost: Free Contact: 561-8024 Friday Blue Ridge Library Book Sale The sale will feature a large selection of recently donated used books. When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Where: Blue Ridge Library, 28 Avery Row, Blue Ridge Cost: Free admission Contact: 977-3433 Bent Mountain Book Club Featuring Truevine by Beth Macy. When: 2:30 p.m. Where: Bent Mountain Branch Library, 10148 Tinsley Lane, Bent Mountain Cost: Free Contact: 929-4700 Saturday Blue Ridge Library Book Sale See Fridays listing. When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Couponing Workshop Learn how to cut your grocery bill at least 50 percent or more. Learn the basics of couponing, where to find coupons, rules of saving in the grocery store, coupon organization and grocery store policies. For ages 18 and older. When: 10 a.m. to noon Where: Green Ridge Recreation Center, 7415 Wood Haven Road, Roanoke Cost: $10 Contact: 777-6300 2nd Annual Sister 2 Sister Financial Workshop Explore topics of building wealth, the impact of proposed a new tax plan and banking. The presenters are local bankers and entrepreneurs Valerie Dale, Primerica; Stella Carpenter, Liberty Tax; Annette Patterson, Advance Foundation; and Sheri Fullen, BB&T. When: 10 a.m. to noon Where: Pilgrim Family Life Center, 1415 8th St. N.W., Roanoke Cost: Free Contact: 309-0943 Book Signing and Event with Ralph Berrier Jr. Berrier, a reporter for The Roanoke Times, will give a talk about his book, If Trouble Dont Kill Me as part of the Birthplace of Country Music Museums special exhibit, Hometown Stars: Southwest Virginias Recording Legacy, 19231943. Berrier will read a few passages from his book, play a couple of tunes and answer questions. When: 1 to 3 p.m. Where: Birthplace of Country Music Museum, 520 Birthplace of Country Music Way, Bristol Cost: Museum admission: $13.65 adults; $11.55 seniors, children, students and military Contact: 423-573-1927 Culinary Storyteller Shawanda Marie A storytelling and cultural experience with Shawanda Marie, owner of New Orleans Creole Story Pot. Elements of theater performance, storytelling, visual art, education, cultural exploration, music and culinary art. She will bring all of this to the library along with an authentic Creole dish to share. Find out more at creolestorypot.com. When: 2 to 3:30 p.m. Where: Christiansburg Library, 125 Sheltman St., Christiansburg Cost: Free Contact: 382-6965 Sunday Self-Care Sundays at Christ Lutheran Church The first of two events aimed at promoting self-care. Mims Driscoll, a certified spiritual director and faculty member at the Charlotte Spirituality Center, will lead a session about bodily health. The event has spiritual underpinnings, but you do not need to be a Lutheran or a Christian to take part. When: 3 to 4:30 p.m. Where: Christ Lutheran Church, 201 Harvey St., Radford Cost: Free Contact: 639-2671 Monday Books and Bites: Book Club The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley. When: 4 p.m. Where: South County Library, 6303 Merriman Road, Roanoke Cost: Free Contact: 772-7507 Tuesday American Girl Book Club For ages 7 to 11. Registration required. Featuring Meet Addy. When: 6 p.m. Where: Glenvar Branch Library, 3917 Daugherty Road, Salem Cost: Free Contact: 387-6163 Kegley Lecture Kathleen Ingoldsby and Melinda Wagner, leaders of the Floyd Story Center, will talk about their oral history project of Floyd County high schools, and will show films of the interviews. Their project captures long-held community memories, provides archives for interviews and assists others in documenting personal, community and family stories in film and audio. When: 7 to 8 p.m. Where: Christ Lutheran Church, 2011 Brandon Ave., Roanoke Cost: $5 for non-members; free for members Contact: 982-5465 Wednesday Medicare 101 Learn about Medicare rights, plans and options for your future. When: 10 a.m. to noon Where: South County Library, 6303 Merriman Road, Roanoke Cost: Free Contact: 772-7507 Little Known Secrets of Paying for College Send your children to the college of their dreams without bankrupting your own retirement. Find out if you qualify for financial aid and can minimize your tax exposure. Instructed by Franklin Butler Jr. and Jennifer Rose. When: 6 to 9 p.m. Where: Brambleton Center, 3738 Brambleton Ave., Roanoke Cost: $10 Contact: 772-7529 Business News Meeting On Mount Pleasant Cabinet Business Postponed | RobinsPost News & Noticias Mount Pleasant officials are reviewing almost $60 million in long-range spending to support development of about 430 acres east of Interstate 94 where a first anticipated groundbreaking would bring ... Read More Owner Joanna Alexander, joined by Councilmembers Laura Hyatt, Howard Chapman and John Iacofano, partnering with Mount Pleasant Chamber ... The new business is located at 1440 Ben Sawyer Blvd. Read More MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas -- The city of Mount Pleasant ... the city said Friday in a news release. "Capt. Bragg was dedicated to serving and protecting the community and equally dedicated to ... Read More MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - The Mount Pleasant Fire Department says one person was injured in a fire Tuesday morning. Officials say crews responded to the 500 block of Hidden Boulevard just before ... Read More The Northwest Texas Rural Business Opportunity Program that was originally scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. According to Economic Development Corporation director Ryan Crowe ... Read More The Mens Center, an integrative mens health clinic, opened its doors in Mount Pleasant on Oct. 17 ... Kenna Coe is the editor for the Moultrie News. Send her an email at editor@ ... Read More MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. - A 77-year-old man was taken to the hospital Wednesday, Oct. 19 following a rollover crash in Mount Pleasant. It happened on STH 20 at the Willow Road exit. An off duty ... Read More Port Angeles Business Association Breakfast meetings with networking and educational programs are held Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. at Joshuas Restaurant, 113 DelGuzzi Drive (off U.S. Highway 101) in east ... Read More Former President Donald Trumps business partners on Monday again delayed a meeting on stockholders ... more than 6% in trading on Monday upon news of the delay, according to CNBC. Read More SAGINAW, MI A Mount Pleasant man is facing a charge of trying to kill a Saginaw man in a recent shooting. Derrick Q. Vanlanham, 32, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, appeared before Saginaw County District ... Read More Meetings begin on proposal to change to the name of Mount Evans 02:42 Colorado's Geographic Naming Advisory Board will start meetings Tuesday on the proposal to change the name of Mount Evans. Read More Wyndham launched The Meetings Collection in the United States in late 2021 under its Wyndham Business program. As a hub for meeting and event planners, Wyndham Business provides exclusive offers, ... Read More Business News Donald Trump Jr Dubai Business Partner Discuss New Ideas | RobinsPost News & Noticias As sole trustee for the family business, Donald Trump Jr. routinely signs his father's financial statements but he still insisted during a recent sworn deposition that he has very little actual ... Read More Donald Trump's company and its executives have been served. Trump's attorney Alina Habba was served the 220-page New York lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James after Trump Organization ... Read More Business News For Third Straight Year Wisconsin Ranks Last In Business Start Up Activity | RobinsPost News & Noticias Undergraduate enrollment in the United States dropped again for the third year ... and 2022 keeping up with a decadelong trend. This data could change by the end of the year though. Read More The National Federation of Independent Business ... to 92.1 last month, the group said in a report Tuesday. Five of the gauges 10 components increased. Despite rising for a third-straight ... Read More DULUTH Minnesota Duluth lost its third-straight game while Wisconsin picked up its first win of the ... That was the last year they were conference rivals before Wisconsin went to the Big ... Read More However, although business owners are bracing ... down by over a fifth on the same period last year, the figures show. The decline in start-up activity was most acute in the retail, manufacturing ... Read More Critical Start has announced numerous recognitions for its success over the last year ... Business Journal Founded in 1977, the Dallas Business Journal is the premier source for local business ... Read More Ranks Fifth on the Dallas Business Journal's Middle Market 50 List for 2022 Oct 26, 2022 (PRNewswire via COMTEX) -- PR Newswire ... Read More Business News Oman Cyprus Business Forum On May 25 | RobinsPost News & Noticias Consulting firm EY Cyprus on Tuesday held the Cyprus Attractiveness Forum, which analysed and examined ... as well as the future of investment and business in Cyprus. The event was held in ... Read More Our investment management business generates asset-based fees ... Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions ... Read More NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) Cyprus has begun proceedings ... The four-member commission said over half of a total 6,779 passports may have been issued unlawfully to investors dependents or top ... Read More National Bank of Omans (NBO) Islamic Banking Window, Muzn, recently supported the seventh annual Islamic Finance News (IFN) Forum 2022, partnering with leading institutions, Islamic finance ... Read More by the way): It may go without saying, but Ill say it just in case: You have to believe in your business idea. If you dont believe in it, who will? No one, thats who. When standing out ... Read More The 12th annual event will honor THR's Business Manager Icon Richard Feldstein, as well as the top money managers in Hollywood, and will feature a keynote conversation with CAA's Chief Metaverse ... Read More Cyprus Gross Domestic ... has also created more than 40 forums per sector, in the most important cities of the region, to strengthen economic and business cooperation in the Mediterranean. Read More Economy News The Next Energy Economy | RobinsPost News & Noticias We break down the five ways Republicans can steer the U.S. economy with slightly more power in D.C. Also, well look at big business bracing for a legislative traffic jam and President ... Read More A new research paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research asks a fascinating ... by the U.K. government and also review the energy price guarantee after April. Read More We need a calmer America if we are to have a calmer Britain and Europe. It looks as though that is what the US democratic system is trying deliver ... Read More While a majority of Republicans (55%) expect economic conditions to worsen over the next year, this share is down 13 percentage ... of food and consumer goods and the price of gasoline and energy, ... Read More Deep oil output cuts by OPEC+ have elevated prices and could tip the global economy ... of this year and next, with subsequent higher prices worsening market volatility and energy security concerns. Read More Highlights of President Bidens schedule from the last full week before the midterms clearly shows how muddled the economic message has been. On Monday Oct. 31 he was focused on oil company profits. Read More The economic and energy crises that Bangladesh is facing ... it noted. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. To overcome the crises, the independent think-tank ... Read More DTE Energy says it will invest $9 billion in Michigans economy over the next 10 years, as it increases its reliance on renewable energy. Read More Help-wanted signs are everywhere. Employers are posting nearly two job openings for every unemployed American . Read More The next two weeks will see earnings calls from Meta, Twitter, Tesla, Google and others and analysts are warning of more slowdowns, as economic headwinds including rising inflation and fears ... Read More Cape Town - While Eskom plunged South Africans into yet another round of stage 4 load shedding, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has conceded that an economy with no energy ... Read More Politics News Haiti Politics 5th General Population Census Haiti Signs With Un | RobinsPost News & Noticias The United Nations Secretary-General called for an international armed action to reopen a port in Haiti that has been ... independent of the political dimensions of the problem that need ... Read More UNITED NATIONS (CMC) A senior United Nations official has warned that a political ... are accelerating Haitis downward spiral. On Monday, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres ... Read More Un Secretary-General Antonio ... independent of the political dimensions of the problem that needs to be solved by the Haitians themselves," Guterres said. Haiti asked the United Nations last ... Read More The severity and the extent of food insecurity in Haiti is getting worse, he said. Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, is facing an acute political, economic, security and health ... Read More On Sunday, UN ... urge political actors to rise above their differences and chart a Haitian vision for improved security and a return to democratic order, it said. The Montana Group, Haiti ... Read More UN Demands End to Violence in Haiti, Sanctions Gang ... and causing numerous victims and mass population displacement. But Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia ... Read More Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Sunday encouraged stakeholders ... and fuel, decreasing political and economic stability, and violations of human rights. Haiti has been in ... Read More It reflects one option in a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ... trying to deal with a cholera outbreak. Political instability in Haiti has simmered ever since last year ... Read More UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ... an arms embargo on criminal gangs in Haiti. A UN mission in Haiti works with the government to strengthen political stability and good governance, rights ... Read More It reflects one option in a letter from U.N. Secretary-General ... Political instability in Latin Americas poorest country has simmered ever since last years still-unsolved assassination of ... Read More Haiti Calls for Help at the UN as World Mulls Assistance By EDITH ... and the country is trying to deal with a cholera outbreak. Political instability in Latin Americas poorest country has ... Read More Elections News Iran Elections 2017 Hassan Rouhani Ran On Openness But What Did He Actually Achieve | RobinsPost News & Noticias President Biden gave a more definite answer on his plans for the 2024 election ... run "depending on who the opponent is," according to Yahoo News. Though he won't make a formal announcement ... Read More To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations ... We've got the data for it: tens of thousands of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people ... Read More In his message congratulating Abdul Latif Rashid's election as the President ... the growth and prosperity of Iraq. He also hoped that the relations between Tehran and Baghdad would develop and deepen ... Read More The survey asked respondents if their party did ... he lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Ted Cruz and never stopped. Given the level of potential skepticism about the 2022 results before the ... Read More NEVER MISS A MOMENT Check out our latest election coverage at Fox News' midterms live blog. HEALTH IS WEALTH: Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman says he believes the ... Read More With midterm elections just ... in some way," he said. Program manager Jane Slusser of the nonpartisan poll worker recruiting initiative, Power the Polls, told CBS News the group is tracking ... Read More Four of the eight board director seats that are up in the Nov. 8 election ... intended to run again because of a chance she and her husband would move out of the district after he lost his job ... Read More CBS News latest election-night coverage ... We are reluctant to step in, but duty bound to point out when he says we did win this election, weve already won, thats not based on the ... Read More As he hosts meetings on possible 2022 election challenges, hes also been laying the groundwork for a run in 2024where ... it in Philadelphia [like] they did last time. ... Read More Here's every seat up for grabs in the 2022 midterms Is Election Day a federal holiday? Will banks, post offices, stores be open ... hurt Biden's ability to achieve much of his remaining political ... Read More An election-conspiracy believer, Johnson has authored a social media post to fellow insurrectionists and proclaimed that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. On social media ... Read More All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are contested in the midterm elections. Representatives serve two-year terms and must run for reelection ... and shape what he is able to accomplish ... Read More Elections News Iran Presidential Elections Tehran Mayor Drops Out To Back Hardliner | RobinsPost News & Noticias Iran dismissed President Biden as ... to verify casualty numbers. Election season is here! Get the latest race updates, exclusive interviews, and more Fox News politics content. Read More In his message congratulating Abdul Latif Rashid's election as the President of Iraq ... He also hoped that the relations between Tehran and Baghdad would develop and deepen even more. "Iran has ... Read More In our news wrap Sunday, Iran ... Tehran has been put out as protests continue across the country, Xi Jinping is poised to remain China's president for a third term, shelling in Ukraine damaged ... Read More represent the most-serious challenge to Irans theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election. Supporters and Farsi-language media outside of Iran have wor ... Read More Irans president has accused the U_S_ of conducting ... sentence on internationally criticized spying charges was put back into Tehran's Evin prison, his lawyer said. Siamak Namazi had been ... Read More Iranian climbing champion Elnaz Rekabi has arrived back in Tehran after sparking ... Province was quoted by the Meezan news agency, which is close to Iran's judiciary, as saying Salehi was ... Read More DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi returned to Tehran ... to Irans theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election. Read More In August last year, President Raisi met with the Executive Director of the Secretariat of CICA, Kairat Sarybay, in Tehran. Iran believes that the dynamism of regional organizations is a very ... Read More During that period, people ages 18 to 29 cast 17% of the ballots in presidential races but just 12.8% of the votes in midterm elections, a drop of 4.2 ... voters turned out in larger numbers ... Read More Elections News Nepal First Phase Of Local Elections Successfully Concluded Analysis | RobinsPost News & Noticias A Nepali worker at a screen printing unit dries the flag of the left alliance party after printing ahead of the May 13 local body elections in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Nepal is ... Read More Editors' Blog / Analysis & Opinion News Live Blog Morning ... s Big Lie is having on election-related jobs far down ballot. The piece focuses mostly on a local race for auditor of Mason County ... Read More But all of those are harder to summarize in national news coverage than the races ... But these days state and even local elections are part of a more nationalized political system. Read More When it comes to voting, not only do they run local elections, but county clerks also oversee elections of state and federal candidates within their jurisdictions. To Ricky Hatch, the Weber County ... Read More There's no federal law, but these states allow it Contact your local election officials to learn more. If you're unsure where to go first ... Poll analysis and projections from FiveThirtyEight ... Read More University of California-Berkeley scholar Sarah Anzia has shown how early progressives sought to effectively disenfranchise voters who didnt share their views by moving local elections off cycle. Read More In a decade, were going to feel that 100x over about city councils, local election admins, & school boards. And then it could be too late. The feeling that a lots at stake at the local ... Read More a standard warning before all major elections but one that warrants increased vigilance this year amid threats to local election workers. Specifically, the FBI is warning voters against ballot and ... Read More To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations ... We've got the data for it: tens of thousands of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people ... Read More What are the midterm elections? Midterm elections occur every four years, halfway through a presidents term in office, occurring on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year the ... Read More The News & Observers 2022 NC Voter Guide includes links to all our election coverage, including stories and candidate questionnaires for the U.S. Senate, state legislature and local races in ... Read More Elections News Rjp N For Postponing Elections | RobinsPost News & Noticias Latest results in two special elections for seats in the New Jersey Legislature as votes are counted on Nov. 8, 2022 ... Read More Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. On Twitter: @RealKyleMorris. Election season is here! Get the latest race updates, exclusive interviews, and more Fox News politics content. Read More Voters in New York are voting to decide their representatives, governor and a senator tonight. Find out who won their races. Read More To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations ... We've got the data for it: tens of thousands of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people ... Read More While some states make the secretary of state the top election official, thats not the case in North Carolina. Instead, its the executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections ... Read More Election Day is less than two months awaybut one key race wont be on most ballots. Theyre school board elections, and thats a big problem for families nationwide. In 37 states, school ... Read More With midterm elections just over two weeks away ... Power the Polls, told CBS News the group is tracking about 400 jurisdictions nationwide that are still looking for more workers. Read More The ECPs decision not to postpone by-elections and LG polls establishes its authority. Sadly, the schedule of the local government election is not governed by the Constitution and has been left ... Read More The 2022 midterm elections will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The midterms are elections that occur halfway through a president's four-year term. All 435 seats in the U.S. House are up for ... Read More More than 5.8 million ballots have been cast across 39 states in the 2022 midterm elections, according to data from election officials, Edison Research and Catalist. In the battleground states of ... Read More 1300 N. College Ave., Tempe. Bill Gates, chairperson of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and Kori Lorick, director of election services for the Arizona Secretary of State's office ... Read More Four of the eight board director seats that are up in the Nov. 8 election lack ballot-qualified ... Shes one of two write-ins for District N. Angie Rivera-Malpiede, the District C director ... Read More Elections News Different Presidential Elections In Iran An Overview | RobinsPost News & Noticias As Iran prepares to ... impact the outcome of the next presidential election. Well, the "Principlists" tried to come up with a unified list, including all the different wings that constitute ... Read More Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss whats at stake when Iranians head to the ... Read More In his message congratulating Abdul Latif Rashid's election ... deepen even more. "Iran has always supported the Iraqi political process based on the people's vote and has been working on expanding ... Read More "Weve known for a long time that our antagonists abroad, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, they have all got an interest in influencing our elections, and they do it in different ways. Read More The FBI has warned that an Iranian government-tied hacker group ... in connection with the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In its memo Thursday, the FBI warned, these techniques may be ... Read More Iran dismissed President Biden as ... to verify casualty numbers. Election season is here! Get the latest race updates, exclusive interviews, and more Fox News politics content. Read More Just weeks away from the 2022 midterm elections ... that Chinese and Iranian actors targeted email accounts related to the campaigns for then-candidate Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump ... Read More In his message on the occasion, President Ebrahim Raisi expressed the hope that Abdul Rashid Latif's election as the new president of Iraq will be a step toward the country's development, as well ... Read More As historic protests and a bloody authoritarian backlash convulse Iran, former President Barack Obama ... dissent and the democratic process after elections in Iran to be respected and said ... Read More The FBI has warned that an Iranian government-tied hacker group that tried to interfere in the 2020 election ... vice president of intelligence at Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm that has tracked ... Read More When Shervin Shahriari saw the final tally of votes in the 2018 City of North Vancouver civic election ... said Nassreen Filsoof, president of the Canadian Iranian Foundation. Read More US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday (AFP photo) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden was to host Israels ... Read More Potus News Trump Willing To Try Engagement With North Korea On Conditions Seoul | RobinsPost News & Noticias President Joe Biden will meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol during an upcoming trip to Asia to discuss how to stem North Korea's nuclear program, a ... Read More Potus News Russian Foreign Minister Mocks Media Over Trump Disclosures | RobinsPost News & Noticias The claim of illiteracy appears to refer to Truss' visit to Moscow shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine while she was British foreign minister ... European national media outlets have been ... Read More Over the past ... after a new round of Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight. The targets include more than 20 Ukrainian cities and settlements. Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev ... Read More Secret Service communications and testimony from bombshell witness Cassidy Hutchinson painted a picture of then-President Donald Trumps meltdown over ... POTUS is pissed Breaking news ... Read More REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool MOSCOW, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov ... the Interfax news agency reported. Middle East Netanyahu says Biden congratulates ... Read More The Russian military on Monday and Tuesday launched a barrage of deadly strikes on cities across Ukraine. Andrei Kozyrev told CNN Putin ordered the strikes because he "is desperate, because he ... Read More The foreign minister previously defended his country's decision to ban Russian tourists and stop issuing new visas to Russians. In the same interview with DW News, Reinsalu said that the West has ... Read More In August, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said if the United States were to sever relations with Russia, Russia would get over it. They should know: we are prepared for any ... Read More Russia Dismisses Claims by Former Diplomat Who Resigned Over War LONDON (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday dismissed claims by a former diplomat who resigned over the war in Ukraine ... Read More KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday showed President Vladimir Putin "is a terrorist who talks with missiles." "Multiple ... Read More Science News Assessing Country Level Science And Technology Capacities For Implementing The Sendai Framework | RobinsPost News & Noticias "We are placing the environmental future of our planet as one of the top-level decision criteria when ... (2022, October 26). Assessing the environmental impact of future 'Higgs factories'. Read More President Xi Jinping said at the opening of the meeting, held every five years, that the country must regard science and technology as our primary productive force, talent as our primary ... Read More Science, engineering, and technology ... A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving ... Read More has resigned over a widespread service outage that triggered an outpouring of complaints in a country that is heavily reliant on such technology Amazon workers in upstate New York overwhelmingly ... Read More Floods: Panic as corpses float in Bayelsa, Delta cemeteries Latest News: Tinubu ... and both are named after the two major rivers in the country. Doguwa, Kibiya, Kiru, Rano, Danbatta, Tsanyawa ... Read More Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST). "Solar technology breakthrough: Scalable perovskite solar cells." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 October 2022. Technology News Mexican Technology Company Softtek Relocates U S And Canada Hq To Addison | RobinsPost News & Noticias Mexican pay TV, internet and telephone provider Megacable will invest $2 billion over the next five years to expand its network and grow to new cities, the company said in a release on Thursday. Read More Showcase your company news with guaranteed exposure both in print and online Executives of the Year The San Francisco Business Times' STEAM breakfast event will look at the state of science ... Read More Nelo's Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer ... Oct 19 (Reuters) - Mexican "buy now, pay later" application Nelo has received a $100 million credit facility from U.S. private equity firm Victory ... Read More Katya Echazarreta is the first Mexican-born woman to go to space and her journey is truly out of this world Sign up for our newsletter KnowThis to get the biggest stories of the day ... Read More From Colombias coca fields to the United States courts. Economic development is the only proven path to climate resilience. Argument: Mexican Farmworkers Are U.S. Heroes Mexican Farmworkers ... Read More A Mexican citizen has been sentenced to nine ... and another 388 pounds of fentanyl from a truck trying to enter the United States, federal prosecutors said Friday. Carlos Martin Quintana-Arias ... Read More A Mexican national was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison for trafficking the largest amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in 2021 and 2022. The Office ... Read More Conversely, Venezuelan migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally could face rapid expulsion to northern Mexico under a recently forged agreement with the Mexican government, senior U.S ... Read More It later was implicated in a conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Two years later, a U.S. grand jury indicted Prigozhin, 12 other Russians, and the Internet Research Agency. Read More Analysts may attend company conference calls and ... SHARE THIS POST Microchip Technology NewsMORE Related Stocks Find News News Indices Commodities ... Read More Analysts usually derive their information from company conference calls ... SHARE THIS POST DXC Technology NewsMORE Related Stocks Find News News Indices Commodities ... Read More Nuveen Green Capital is a national leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions and Harbor Networks/HarborShield Cybersecurity is excited to announce that it has opened an ... Read More Technology News Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan To Head Environment Ministry | RobinsPost News & Noticias Harsh Vardhan said he sat where one officer seated ... and her brother Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor opened up about the big news. Anil Kapoor and Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor have opened up on Sonam Kapoor's ... Read More The minister said his experience as a medical professional would help in handling the health ministry better. Harsh Vardhan, who is an ENT surgeon by training, was the first health minister of the ... Read More Swedens new government has scrapped the ministry for the environment in a move that critics say is indicative of policies that threaten the countrys climate targets. The largest Nordic ... Read More In addition, the countrys new Climate and Environment Minister is 26-year-old Romina Pourmokhtari, the former head of the Liberal Partys youth ... were scathing about the decision to scrap a ... Read More In one of its first moves after taking power Tuesday, Sweden's newly elected right-wing government scrapped the country's environment ministry, drawing outrage ... the change announced by right-wing ... Read More C Spire, a diversified telecommunications and technology services company, has announced leadership changes in its Capital Strategies Group is pleased to announce the launch of a specialized ... Read More Sweden's new right-wing government has sparked an outcry after scrapping the Ministry of Environment ... Institute and herself a former minister of environment, said that green issues in Sweden ... Read More Tying making to market, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) educates designers and artists SPR, a technology modernization firm focused on driving exceptional custom technology and ... Read More told The Post that the ministry will pilot the project by collecting e-waste from offices and public and private institutions. As we know, Cambodia does not currently have an e-waste processing plant ... Read More An odor machine, so-called olfactometer, makes it possible to smell in VR environments. First up is a 'wine tasting game' where the user smells wine in a virtual wine cellar and gets points if the ... Read More JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's government is preparing to issue government bonds using a blockchain technology platform ... planning stage and the Finance Ministry and TASE are examining an ... Read More Whitehall expert Dr Catherine Haddon tells Sky News ... 1997 - the head of policy unit, political secretary and constituency secretary. One of the first issues in any new prime minister's ... Read More Technology News Figuring It Out Addressing Practices That Impact Women In Technology | RobinsPost News & Noticias Women in Technology (WIT) announced the winners of its' 2022 Women of the Year Awards in STEAM at their Gala held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, October 8th. Read More Denella Clark, President and CEO of Boston Arts Academy Foundation, has been recognized by The Arcadis IBI Group, an award-winning landscape architectural design and environmental planning ... Read More Femcare, or period products and wellness solutions for women, has gained significant momentum in recent years, especially after the term Femtechfemale technologywas coined in 2017. Read More Austin, Texas October 28, 2022 The Litowitz/Fox Team of Capital Strategies, a $100 million Slack Davis Sanger specializes in navigating and winning the challenging personal inju ... Read More In a recent survey, more than half of students said that technology problems have caused them stress ... and evaluate institutional policies and practices to determine which ones are helping students ... Read More All things scientific were halted until after World War II when Orkustofnun (National Energy Authority) got back to research and development, leading to Icelands breakthrough energy technology, ... Read More Most business news aficionados understand that macroeconomics ... well-grounded IT managers are now taking steps to optimize technology spend and practices. Heres a methodology to try to ... Read More PARIS/TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The sharing of technology has emerged as a sticking ... in an electric vehicle business being spun out of Renault. Those discussions have included consideration ... Read More Find out if you can integrate that new technology with other programs you already use. Even with a tech-savvy employee on board, youll still have to do some research. Youll need patience and ... Read More Investing doesn't have to be hard, nor should it be. If you're still figuring out your investing strategy and which stocks are right for you, you can still invest. No need to delay it further ... Read More McLaren F1 has partnered with Seamless Digital, and now both British companies will be running new advertising technology this coming Friday and Saturday during the practice sessions of the Austin ... Read More Us News Us And Mexico Foreign Secretaries To Meet On Drug Trafficking | RobinsPost News & Noticias The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on two Haitian politicians accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Read More Two Haitian politicians are facing U.S. sanctions over allegations they abused their positions to traffic drugs in collaboration with gang networks and directed others to engage in violence. The Treas ... Read More Follow the days news. The day that was, Sunday 30 October 06:34 That is where we will leave the live blog for Sunday. Heres what made the news: One man died and five were ... Read More Us News Trump Advisers Want At Least 50 000 Us Troops In Afghanistan | RobinsPost News & Noticias Former Trump National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien reacted to the Heritage Foundation 2023 Index of US Military Strength ranking military branches like the Air Force as "very weak" and the Navy ... Read More Former President Donald Trump's advisers told Rolling Stone they have ... However, Trump on October 14 shared a Fox News article on Truth Social with the title: "Trump 'loves the idea of ... Read More An old news clip of Eric Trump has resurfaced ... and Government Reform Committee show that US taxpayers paid Trump Organisation at least $1.4mn for the stays of agents which was for his and ... Read More Donald Trump has said that ... Just 26 per cent of US Jews overall identify with the Republican Party or lean toward the GOP, the centre stated. Must be at least 6 characters, include an ... Read More We also interviewed Brad Parscale, President Trumps former campaign manager. He told us he understood that President ... In a July 2020 interview with Fox News, Trump was asked directly ... Read More A committee investigating the violent 2021 attack on the US Capitol has voted to subpoena ... about a third of Republicans said Trump was at least partly responsible for the deadly attack. Read More This may include adverts from us ... want to hear from him. READ MORE: Taiwan rejects proposal to blow up key facilities should China invade We have left no doubt knowing that Donald Trump ... Read More Donald Trump considers testifying before January 6 panel The former US president may decide to ignore ... The driving factor pushing Trump to want to testify has centered around a reflexive ... Read More We want to hear from him ... and made the case that Donald Trump, above anyone else, is to blame for the deadly attack on the US Capitol. Here are five takeaways from todays meeting ... Read More The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal judge to sentence former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon to six months behind bars, saying he pursued a "bad faith strategy ... Read More Mr Trump's subpoena comes as Steve Bannon, a former White House advisor, was sentenced ... Dennis Aftergut, a former US federal prosecutor, told Sky News: "I think (the committee) should call ... Read More Every person on the nine-member panel voted in favour of issuing a subpoena to former president Donald Trump. Representative ... published by the US government, there are punishments for refusing ... Read More Us News Uk Retail Sales And Us Jobless Claims Amongst Market Movers Today Danske Bank | RobinsPost News & Noticias Sales of existing US homes slid ... far that the labour market is loosening significantly or that employers are shifting into job-cutting mode. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits ... Read More Jobless claims fell again when they were supposed ... All in all, it was the kind of report that signals continued strength in the job market. Already a member? Sign In ... Read More The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly by 12,000 last week, indicating the labor market remains ... The central bank has hiked its policy rate ... Read More (Bloomberg) -- Applications for US unemployment insurance increased ... This Is What 7% Mortgages Will Do to the Housing Market Initial unemployment claims rose by 9,000 to 228,000 in the week ... Read More a sign layoffs remain low in a tight labor market. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 last week from 226,000 the week before, the Labor ... Read More (RTTNews) - The decline in UK ... retail sales decreased 6.2 percent versus a 5.3 percent decline in the previous month. Sales were forecast to drop only 4.1 percent. Survey results from the ... Read More Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 8 rose by ... Some recent employment data has indicated that the job market may be cooling slightly, but overall, it remains the healthiest part of an ... Read More US retail sales remained steady in September, but came in lower than market expectation, according to the Commerce Department figures released on Friday. Retail sales in the US stood at $684 ... Read More Asia-Pacific equity indexes ended today ... pre-market tape. That implied positive start could be challenged depending on what the U.S. September Retail Sales report reveals, and what UK Prime ... Read More US retail sales stalled last month as shoppers grew more guarded about discretionary purchases amid the worst inflationary environment in decades and rising interest rates. The value of overall ... Read More US retail sales were flat in September, official data showed today, as car sales slowed and higher prices weighed on consumption. Americans flush with savings have been key to the US pandemic ... Read More Us News Iran Condemns New Us Missile Sanctions Spokesman | RobinsPost News & Noticias Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has warned that the Islamic Republic will adopt retaliatory measures in response to new sanctions imposed by the United States and Canada on the ... Read More TEHRAN (Tasnim) Slamming Canadas recent sanctions ... Irans news media outlets as a violation of the Iranian nations basic rights, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Iran said ... Read More An American media outlet has reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden will unveil new sanctions against Iran in the coming days in connection with the recent riots in Iran. The new ... Read More The United States on Wednesday imposed a slew of new sanctions against Iranian officials involved in the ongoing crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran the latest US response to Tehrans ... Read More Following the Washington Post report, Politico on Monday reported that the U.S. intends to further its Iran crackdown to help Russia. The move could include sanctions and export controls against ... Read More "Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to UAVs or ballistic missile ... US will not hesitate to use sanctions or take actions against perpetrators," State Department spokesman ... Read More Iranian foreign affairs spokesman ... awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I dont think will be quieted for a long, long time." Biden's Treasury Department announced sanctions against ... Read More The United States has issued sanctions targeting an international oil-smuggling network it accuses of supporting Hizballah and Iran's Quds Force. Read More (Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden condemned the utter brutality of Russias missile ... approve new sanctions on Russia and weapons shipments to Ukraine. He said the US and its allies ... Read More TEHRAN (Tasnim) The Foreign Ministry of Iran condemned a decision by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union to impose fresh sanctions against Iranian officials and institutions ... Read More South Korea said it scrambled warplanes in response to 180 North Korean military flights near the countries' shared border on Friday, and Pyongyang again demanded that the United States and South ... Read More US President Joe Biden's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the White House "strongly condemns Russia's missile strikes ... called for sanctions against Iran over the transfer ... Read More Us News Iran Bans Us Individuals Firms In Response To Its Sanctions | RobinsPost News & Noticias The United States on Wednesday ... the regime for its repression of the Iranian people and to try to support the protesters. In late September, the US announced sanctions on Irans morality ... Read More Irans Foreign Ministry on Monday imposed sanctions on 10 American individuals and 4 entities over interfering in the Islamic Republics internal affairs and provoking riots in Iran. Read More Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said that Iran will soon place sanctions on American and Canadian individuals and institutions for their intentional measures to support terrorism and ... Read More Iran announced on Monday new sanctions on United States entities and individuals including the CIA, accusing them of "inciting terrorist acts" in the Islamic republic. Read More The United States is committed to supporting the Iranian people ... violent response to those protests, the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing its sanctions. Read More According to Reuters, the US Treasury designated 10 Iranian officials, two Iranian intelligence actors and two Iranian entities involved in the Iranian government's efforts to interfere with internet ... Read More Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations has criticized the United States for imposing sanctions, especially in the pandemic era, against Iran, ... Read More In this regard, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told the press on Wednesday, In response ... said sanctions include bans on the issuance of visas and bans on the entry of the said ... Read More The United States has issued sanctions targeting an international oil-smuggling network it accuses of supporting Hizballah and Iran's Quds Force. Read More The Biden administration took its first ... announced the news Wednesday morning, declaring the sanctions a show of the United States commitment to support the Iranian peoples call ... Read More Tehran on Wednesday blacklisted several British institutions and individuals ... Sanctions include a visa ban as well as the seizure of any "property and assets" in Iran. The United States ... Read More Iran vows immediate response ... sanctions target 11 Iranian officials and four entities, including the morality police, who will be subject to EU visa bans and asset freezes. The United ... Read More Us News Kim Jongun Orders North Korea To Brace Itself For Imminent Missile Attack From Us | RobinsPost News & Noticias North Korea has dialed up its weapons demonstrations to a record pace this year as leader Kim Jong Un exploits the distraction created by Russias war on Ukraine. Read More North Korea's use of a nuclear weapon "will" result in the end of Kim Jong Un's regime, the United States and South Korea warned in a joint statement from the defense leaders of the allied nations. Read More Kim Jong-un has ramped up North Korea ... with only a lone reference to North Korea, underscoring limited US options to contain its nuclear and missile programs. Daniel Russel, the top US ... Read More North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ... missile launches and military exercises are defensive and merely a reaction to joint drills off the Korean Peninsula involving naval units of the US, South ... Read More It said the launches were overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in response ... combined air-attack drill," which was also overseen by Kim. North Korea launches nuclear-capable missile over Japan 07: ... Read More It was the 23rd round of its ballistic missile ... South Korea. Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), one of North Koreas main state-controlled media, reported on Monday that Kim Jong Un guided ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd ... expected that North Korea will soon conduct its first nuclear weapon test in five years after intelligence reports state Kim Jong-Un is already ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of long-range ... North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said the two missiles during Wednesdays ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised tests of long-range ... North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said the two missiles during Wednesdays tests ... Read More Us News Wives Of Chinese Dissidents Seek Us Help At Hearing | RobinsPost News & Noticias "Were talking about political rivals, dissidents ... The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. did not return a request for comment on Thursday. Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News ... Read More The U.S. military is not ready to fight a major war with China, let alone a war against China and simultaneously another against Russia, North Korea, or Iran. That's bad. Very bad. The Heritage ... Read More According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), the efforts of the supposed Chinese agents were uncovered and undone due to the help of a double agent working for US law enforcement who supplied his ... Read More According to prosecutors, the two men attempted to recruit a US law enforcement official as an intelligence asset to help ... a news conference on Monday, US media has reported it to be China ... Read More In that case, seven Chinese nationals allegedly tried to force a US resident to go back to China. Two people were arrested, but five others, all allegedly employees of Chinese intelligence ... Read More Hearing aids now available from stores including Walgreens and Walmart without prescription after new FDA rule takes effect Nearly 30 million Americans could benefit from hearing aids, according ... Read More U.S. law enforcement officials on Monday unsealed charges against two Chinese intelligence officers accused of attempting to obstruct the Justice Department's criminal prosecution of Chinese ... Read More Nearly 30 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss. For the first time, hearing aids are available for purchase over the counter at retailers across the United States. Starting ... Read More NEW YORK -- Federal authorities in New York charged seven people Thursday, including five in the People's Republic of China, with a campaign of harassment against a Chinese national and his family ... Read More It said part of their purpose was to persuade dissidents ... from the Chinese consulate in Manchester, prompting calls for a tough UK government response. The Dutch news outlets said the ... Read More We want level playing field with China: US Steel CEO The Biden administrations sweeping new export controls aimed at cutting off China from obtaining chips used in supercomputers has caused the ... Read More US officials have accused China of using spies to steal technology and silence dissidents ... official as an intelligence asset to help interfere with the probe. The official, however, was ... Read More Us News Us Officials New Sanctions On Venezuela Officials Upcoming | RobinsPost News & Noticias (CNN) The United States on Wednesday imposed a slew of new sanctions against Iranian officials involved in the ongoing crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran the latest US response to ... Read More The United States on Wednesday imposed a slew of new sanctions against Iranian officials involved in the ongoing crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran the latest US response to Tehrans ... Read More The United States on Wednesday imposed a slew of new sanctions against Iranian officials involved in the ongoing crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran the latest US response to Tehrans ... Read More World News Father Arrested In Florida After Alleged Drunken Tirade At Walt Disney World | RobinsPost News & Noticias A second arrest warrant has been issued for the suspected drunk driver in a crash that killed a 5-year-old boy in Lake County. Read More A couple wanted for murder in the U.S. Virgin Islands back in June was arrested Thursday in Florida, officials say. According to a news release from the Polk County Sheriffs Office, deputies ... Read More Joe Kennedy was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, driving a vehicle stolen ... as one of the most chilling they've ever seen after the four dismembered bodies were recovered from ... Read More The "happiest place on earth" turned sour for a family whose truck was stolen from their hotel during their Walt Disney World vacation ... kids to Disney the day after their truck was stolen ... Read More On Tuesday, salvage yard owner Joe Kennedy was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, in a vehicle that was reported stolen to the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office on Monday, Police Chief Joe ... Read More A man considered a person of interest in the killing and dismembering of four men in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, has been arrested in Florida after going ... told BuzzFeed News in a statement that a ... Read More A man wanted for questioning about the deaths and dismemberment of four men in eastern Oklahoma has been arrested in Florida ... sentence Kennedy received after pleading guilty to assault with ... Read More has been arrested in Florida, police reported Tuesday. Joe Kennedy, of Okmulgee, was wanted in the deaths of Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29, all of ... Read More Police arrested a "person of interest" in the slayings of four Oklahoma bicyclists in central Florida more than ... Okmulgee police said. Just after they named Kennedy as a "person of interest ... Read More Two suspects wanted in a Florida bar shooting that killed one and injured six earlier this month were arrested in Texas ... Chief O'Connor said during a news conference. "Our efforts and resources ... Read More A fugitive ended up being caught while vacationing at Quashon Burton was visiting Disneys Animal Kingdom when an inspector with the United States Postal Inspection Service caught sight of him. The ... Read More 24 (UPI) --Security forces in Qatar have arbitrarily arrested LGBT residents ... was hospitalized Friday after he was shot in an alleged assassination attempt. World News // 1 day ago Putin ... Read More World News Ohio Father Arrested In Florida Just After Drunken Tirade At Walt Disney World | RobinsPost News & Noticias CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A father in Ohio has been arrested after his son reportedly found a loaded gun in the home and died in a shooting. WXIX reports that 37-year-old Deangelo Davis has been ... Read More ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) An Elyria man, who spent prison time for killing an Elyria teen in a drunk driving crash, is back in the news for violations that could put him back behind bars once again. Read More (WFLA) A Polk County, Florida, father and son have been charged with attempted murder after they opened fire ... incident as something that you just absolutely cannot believe during ... Read More On Tuesday, salvage yard owner Joe Kennedy was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, in a vehicle that was reported stolen to the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office on Monday, Police Chief Joe ... Read More Two 17-year-old girls were arrested as part of a "human trafficking" operation in Volusia County, Florida, an area on ... him from bars was arrested after detectives saw him leave a bar with ... Read More A man wanted for questioning about the deaths and dismemberment of four men in eastern Oklahoma has been arrested in Florida ... sentence Kennedy received after pleading guilty to assault with ... Read More Joe Kennedy was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, driving a vehicle stolen ... as one of the most chilling they've ever seen after the four dismembered bodies were recovered from ... Read More Police in Daytona Beach, Florida ... went missing on Oct. 9 after leaving for a bike ride from Billy Chastain's house. Daytona Beach police on Tuesday arrested Joe Kennedy, 67 who was named ... Read More Prentice says Kennedy was arrested ... after being caught in a vehicle reported stolen to the Okmulgee Police Department on Monday, Oct. 17. He was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. Read More Police arrested a "person of interest" in the slayings of four Oklahoma bicyclists in central Florida more than ... Okmulgee police said. Just after they named Kennedy as a "person of interest ... Read More Two suspects wanted in a Florida bar shooting that killed one and injured six earlier this month were arrested in Texas ... Chief O'Connor said during a news conference. "Our efforts and resources ... Read More 24 (UPI) --Security forces in Qatar have arbitrarily arrested ... Apple App Store after owner Elon Musk said the change will add a new revenue source to the company. World News // 15 hours ago ... Read More World News Story Military Com Us Air Force Dropped Record Number Of Bombs On Isis In March | RobinsPost News & Noticias It basically tells big Air Force that our unit is prepared to deploy and if they did deploy us, how well we would ... Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily. Read More Mars Bluff Incident: The US Air Force ... with the US military referring to these incidents as "broken arrows." A Mk 6 nuclear bomb is dropped on Mars Bluff, South Carolina On March 11, 1958 ... Read More The island of Okinawa, Japan, is arguably the most haunted duty station U.S. military members can be sent to. The stories of spectral ... One night, an Air Force security policeman (today known ... Read More The United States must no longer tolerate ... raises is the critical shortage of pilots in the Air Force and its wholly inadequate number of flying hours allowed to crews from training. Read More WASHINGTON (AFNS) When Air Force ... world; today the DoD accounts for only about 4% of the worldwide investment. In addition, the United States now faces growing threats to its military ... Read More WASHINGTON (AP) Suicides across the active duty U.S. military decreased ... According to the data, the number of suicides in the Air Force and Marine Corp dropped by more than 30% in 2021 ... Read More The US Air Force says it will slash the use of fossil fuels to reduce the militarys massive carbon ... but we recognise that the world is facing ongoing and accelerating climate change and ... Read More World News Story Report Flynn Blocked Military Move Turkey Opposed | RobinsPost News & Noticias However, the Washington Post investigation found that many retired military officials dont bother to report ... Michael Flynn was allowed to keep some $411,000 from Russia and Turkey after ... Read More At least 41 workers have died following an enormous underground mine explosion in Turkey and rescuers are ... Private NTV news channel claim a number of workers have already been brought out ... Read More Related Articles World News | The family of one of the deceased children said that their son felt pains and cramps after receiving the expired chemotherapy treatment then died five days later. Read More According to Russian milbloggers, one commander from the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military ... at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news. Get all the stories ... Read More The death toll caused by a Russian military jet that crashed into a residential ... according to the Russian news agency Interfax, which cited a senior official. Video and photographs uploaded ... Read More Nearly 50 coalminers were trapped hundreds of metres below ground on Friday after an unexplained blast tore through a mine in northern Turkey ... this story has not been edited by NDTV staff ... Read More Flynn, who just eight years ago under President Barack Obama led the U.S. military's intelligence ... and AP news researcher Randy Herschaft contributed to this report. Must be at least 6 ... Read More Greece accuses Turkey, which hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, of pushing forward migrants to put pressure on the EU. The U.N. refugee agency said it was deeply ... Read More Russia is preparing to evacuate senior officers in the Federal Security Service (FSB) and their families from occupied areas of Ukraine, Kyiv on Wednesday claimed. According to the National ... Read More Amid unabated human rights violations in Afghanistan due to Taliban rule, the war-torn country has been ranked as the "least secure" country in the world, local media reported citing a report by ... Read More Turkey agreed to a deal to admit Sweden and Finland in June but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since threatened to block their ... and South Korea. World News // 2 hours ago Twitter ... Read More 17 (UPI) --Plastics have been building up in soil around the world, impacting its health, a new report from the United ... of a new revolution. World News // 6 hours ago U.N. leader calls out ... Read More Sheffield Magistrates' Court A LANDLORD who allowed rubbish to pile up outside a property has become the first to be prosecuted for breaching selective licensing conditions. Mohammed Tariq Iqbal was ordered to pay more than 1,000 by magistrates in Sheffield over the state of a house he rented out in Russell Street, Eastwood. Karen Hanson, Rotherham Borough Councils assistant director for street scene, said: This is the first prosecution brought against a selective licence holder for breaching conditions, and the likelihood is there are more to come. We are keen to support landlords to manage their properties appropriately and the majority of landlords in Rotherham are responsible. However, this case should serve as a warning that landlords must uphold acceptable standards in everything they do otherwise they will face the consequences. Iqbal (39), of Owen Close, was granted a licence for the Russell Street property but conditions were added after he allowed rubbish to accumulate in the back yard. He was fined 750 plus 273.74 costs for breaching these conditions. Iqbal was also found to have let out another property in nearby Selbourne Street without a licence. The court told him to engage with the council over sorting a licence or face further action. Selective licensing was introduced in four areas of Rotherham in 2015 to improve house standards in the private rented sector. Several landlords have been prosecuted for not having the licences, which cost 592 per property for five years. Lucapa Diamond Company and its partners, Empresa Nacional de Diamantes (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas, have sold 1,878 carats of alluvial diamonds from the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola for $1.3 million. The fourth sale of the year represented an average price of $695 per carat. It said in a statement that the latest sale brought gross proceeds from Lulo diamond sales to date in 2017 to $14.5 million at an average price per carat of $1,747. Lucapa and its partners note the quality of the Specials (diamonds weighing more than 10.8 carats) included in the latest sale parcel, sourced primarily from new Mining Block 28, were lower than previous sale parcels, it said. Meanwhile, Lucapa and its partners were expected to resume alluvial mining operations at the high-value mining blocks later this month as the Angolan wet season was now over. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Office of Rep. Dan Lipinski Metra, Chicago's suburban passenger rail provider, broke ground a station at Romeoville, which will be a new stop along the Heritage Corridor Line. Getting a Metra stop has been a village goal for a long time, so were very excited to break ground today, Romeoville Mayor John Noak said. Having another transportation link to the city will be a great benefit for residents as well as businesses. The Heritage Corridor Line runs between Joliet and Chicago Union Station. The new station is near the intersection of 135th Street and New Avenue. Its the first new stop on the Heritage Corridor since Metras creation in 1984 and the first new stop on any Chicagoland Metra line since 2011. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of this year, giving Romeoville residents a direct connection to downtown Chicago just in time for the holiday season. Once completed, this new station will mean more people in Romeoville and the surrounding area will be able to spend less of their valuable time each day driving on congested roads or traveling to less convenient Metra stations, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) said. The project is estimated to cost $4.9 million, with more than $3.9 million of the funding coming through CMAPs Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) grant program. The village of Romeoville was also fortunate to receive a supplemental grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program for pedestrian access from 135th Street to the station. Transport Canada The government of Canada proposed legislation aimed at providing air passengers more protection and choice and improving the nation's freight rail system through investment and safety measures. Transport Canada says the legislation, called the Transportation Modernization Act, is the result of more than a year of consultation, feedback and guidance from citizens and stakeholders across Canada. The Transportation Modernization Act would amend the existing Railway Safety Act. Transport Canada says the proposal would promote transparency, system efficiency and fairness and includes the following key measures: establishing new air passenger rights; liberalizing international ownership restrictions for Canadian air carriers to provide travellers with more choice through increased competition; improving access, transparency, efficiency, and sustainable long-term investment in the freight rail sector; and increasing the safety of transportation in Canada by requiring railways to install locomotive voice and video recorders (LVVR). In a vast nation like Canada, Canadians rely on economically viable modes of transportation to travel and move commodities within the country, across the border and to our ports for shipment overseas. The time has come to modernize our policies and practices to provide a safer, more competitive and respectful system that can respond to modern conditions and to Canadians expectations, said Canada Minister of Transport Marc Garneau. The legislation also takes steps to grant rail shippers added protections including new data requirements for railways on rates, service and performance and the ability for shippers to seek reciprocal financial penalties. However, one aspect that may prove controversial is the provision for long haul interswitching, which would grant so-called captive shippers access a competing railway where none currently exist. Canadian Pacific said it was working closely with the Ministry of Transport to understand all of the details of the legislation before providing comment; the railroad did commend the inclusion of the LVVR directive. By implementing LVVR as a preventative, proactive, behavior-changing tool we will promote safe behaviors and improve safety, CP President and CEO Keith Creel said. We recognize the need to use this technology in a way that is respectful of our employees, and are committed to working closely with government, regulators and the unions to do so. Luc Jobin, president and CEO of Canadian National shared a similar thought issuing a statement that said, Nothing is more important than safety and CN strongly supports the advancement of inward facing cameras. Regulators on both sides of the border recognize the value of these devices. We believe this technology is a powerful and important tool in the investigative process to get to a better understanding of causation, which will lead to improved safety practices something we all want. The Canadian dollar slipped against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as oil prices declined after official data showed a lower than expected draw in crude oil inventories last week. Crude for June delivery fell $0.50 to $48.57 per barrel. Data from the Energy Information Administration showed that crude inventories fell 1.8 million barrels to 520.8 million barrels in the week ended May 12. Economists had expected the crude stocks to fall by 2.36 million barrels. This follows industry data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, which showed that oil inventories rose more than 800,000 barrels. With the U.S. oil supplies being abundant, investors are worried over ongoing efforts by OPEC to tighten the market by reducing oil production. The currency was also hammered by U.S. political turmoil that stocked fears about the ability of the U.S. President Donald Trump to push through his reform agenda. Besieged from all sides, the Trump administration appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into Russia's involvement in the U.S. presidential election last year. The loonie fell against its major rivals in the Asian session, with the exception of the Japanese yen. The loonie dropped to a 3-day low of 1.3669 against the greenback, after having advanced to 1.3580 at 5:45 pm ET. The loonie is likely to locate support around the 1.38 region. The loonie fell to 1.5208 against the euro, off its early high of 1.5156. If the loonie extends fall, 1.53 is possibly seen as its next support level. The loonie slipped to 80.65 against the Japanese yen, its lowest since April 21. Continuation of the loonie's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 79.00 area. Preliminary data from the Cabinet Office showed that Japan's gross domestic product gained 0.5 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017. That was in line with expectations and up from 0.3 percent in the previous three months. The loonie weakened to near a 2-week low of 1.0164 against the aussie, from an early high of 1.0084, and held steady thereafter. The pair closed Wednesday's trading at 1.0109. The next possible support for the loonie is seen around the 1.03 mark. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's jobless rate rose a seasonally adjusted 5.7 percent in April. That beat forecasts for 5.9 percent, which would have been unchanged from the March reading. Looking ahead, the U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended May 13, leading indicators for April and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for May are slated for release in the New York session. At 8:30 am ET, the European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch gives keynote address at Government Borrowers Forum hosted by the European Stability Mechanism and the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg in Luxembourg. At 8:45 am ET, the European Central Bank executive board member Sabine Lautenschlager speaks at the IBF Board meeting organised by Bundesverband deutscher Banken in Berlin, Germany. The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaks at the Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, at 1:00 pm ET. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks on and monetary policy before the Economic Club of Minnesota at 1:15 pm ET. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Noble Energy, Inc. (NBL) Thursday announced a definitive agreement to sell the holding company which owns a 50 percent interest in CONE Gathering, LLC and 21.7 million common and subordinated limited partnership units to a portfolio company of Quantum Energy Partners. The deal is for a cash consideration of $765 million. The limited partnership units represent a 33.5 percent ownership interest in CONE Midstream Partners LP (CNNX). Dheeraj Verma, President of Quantum Energy Partners, said "This transaction follows the recently announced sale of Noble Energy's upstream Appalachia assets to a separate portfolio company of Quantum. We have a strong track record of sponsoring and growing both upstream and midstream companies across the Appalachian Basin and we look forward to partnering with CONSOL Energy Inc. in continuing the success of CONE Midstream." The deal is expected to close in the third quarter this year. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as the sole financial advisor to Noble Energy on the CONE Midstream transaction and Vinson & Elkins LLP served as legal counsel. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Early signs are pointing to another rough session Thursday morning, following yesterday's drubbing sparked by political turmoil surrounding the Trump Administration. Allegations that Trump improperly asked former FBI Director James Comey to drop his investigation of Michael Flynn, as well as Trump's passing classified information to Russia, has rattled equity just about everywhere. The TSX Composite plunged 269.65 points, or 1.73 percent, to 15,273.68, stung by continued weakness among financial stocks. Beleagured lender Home Capital Group (HCG.TO) has announced another departure from its board. Longtime investor John Marsh is being replaced in the boardroom by governance lawyer James Lisson. US regulators will investigate Boeing's unfair trade claims against Canadian rival Bombardier (BBD.B.TO), which it accuses of dumping products thanks to unfair subsidies from Ottawa. Energy stocks may struggle today, extending yesterday's declines. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 66 cents at $48.42 a barrel, easing from multi-week highs. OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on May 25 and are expected to prolong their agreement to limit production by up to nine months. The loonie has slipped to its lowest in weeks, down to 80 cents on the U.S. dollar. In economic news, foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to $15.1 billion in March, largely in Canadian corporate instruments. At the same time, Canadian investors added $15.4 billion of foreign securities to their holdings. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis While Republican leaders have steadfastly claimed the move is unnecessary, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Wednesday the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as Special Counsel to oversee an investigation of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. Rosenstein said in a statement he determined it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for the investigation. "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted," Rosenstein said. "I have made no such determination." He added, "What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command." Rosenstein said he has great confidence in the independence and integrity of the Justice Department's people and processes but determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. The deputy attorney general said Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and expressed confidence he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result. Mueller, who had been working at a private law firm, served twelve years as FBI director under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Despite Republican resistance to naming a special prosecutor, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle praised Mueller for his independence and integrity. "Mueller has a strong reputation for independence, and comes with the right credentials for this job," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "At the end of the day, we need a public accounting of what went on to restore faith in government." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Mueller exactly the right kind of individual to serve as special counsel and said he now has significantly greater confidence the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead. Schumer had previously indicated Senate Democrats would attempt to block the nomination of any replacement for fired FBI Director James Comey until a special prosecutor was appointed. The appointment of Mueller comes on the heels of reports President Donald Trump asked Comey to drop a federal investigation into links between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Responding to Mueller's appointment in a statement, Trump expressed confidence the investigation will show there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," Trump said. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly," he added. "In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." However, Trump struck a more combative tone in posts to Twitter on Thursday, reiterating his claim that the investigation is a witch hunt. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" Trump tweeted. "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!" Trump claimed in remarks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement Ceremony on Wednesday that he has been the most unfairly treated politician in history. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The European declined steadily during the first few hours of trade Thursday, extending the losses from the previous session. Investor sentiment continued to be impacted by the barrage of issues plaguing the Trump administration. Traders are concerned that it could prevent Trump from implementing his pro- policy agenda. However, the markets pared their losses in the afternoon following the early recovery on Wall Street. The European markets still finished in negative territory Thursday, but finished well off their intraday lows. Policymakers agreed that there was a need for great caution in undertaking even subtle changes in communication so as to avoid market volatility similar to the 'taper tantrum' in 2013, the minutes of the minutes of the European Central Bank's policy session on April 26-27 revealed Thursday. "It was felt that the Governing Council's communication should be adjusted in a very gradual and cautious manner as, at the current juncture, monetary and financial conditions were particularly sensitive to changes in communication," the minutes, which the ECB calls "the account", said. "After a long period of very accommodative monetary conditions, even small and incremental changes in communication could have strong signaling effects when interpreted as heralding a change in the monetary policy stance." The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.50 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks decreased 0.62 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.75 percent. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.33 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.53 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.89 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.70 percent. In Frankfurt, Merck KgaA fell 2.78 percent after its first-quarter net profit declined 11.8 percent from a year earlier. Deutsche Borse tumbled 0.87 percent after ruling out big stock exchange mergers for now. In London, Land Securities dropped 2.60 percent after warning of Brexit uncertainty hitting the London office market. Tour operator Thomas Cook rose 1.28 percent after its half-year results came in line with expectations. Royal Mail advanced 0.65 percent as it reported a 25 percent rise in fiscal 2017 pretax profit. Burberry jumped 4.69 percent. The company announced a new buyback of 300 million pounds and said its targeted cost savings are on track. Experian weakened by 2.18 percent, despite reporting a profit before tax of $1.07 billion at actual exchange rates for the twelve months ended 31 March 2017, up from $966 million a year ago. The company also announced a $600 million share repurchase programme. Debt collection firm Intrum Justitia plunged 11.65 percent in Stockholm after it proposed a string of divestments to meet EU demands related to a planned merger with Norwegian rival Lindorff. Fiat Chrysler sank 2.74 percent in Milan after reports that the U.S. Justice Department is preparing to sue the company over excess diesel emissions. France's unemployment rate based on ILO norms unexpectedly dropped in the first quarter to its lowest level in five years, preliminary data from INSEE showed Thursday. The ILO unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent from 10 percent in each of the previous three quarters. Economists had expected the figure to hold steady. UK retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Retail sales volume including auto fuel grew 2.3 percent month-on-month, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in March. This was the fastest growth since January 2016, and above the expected rate of 1.1 percent. Economists had forecast a moderate 1 percent expansion. In an upbeat sign for the labor market, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing another unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 13th. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 232,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 236,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 240,000. Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity has unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in the month of May, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday. The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity in the region climbed to 38.8 in May from 22.0 in April, with a positive reading indicating growth. The index had been expected to dip to 19.5. A report released by the Conference Board on Thursday showed that its index of leading U.S. economic indicators rose in line with economist estimates in the month of April. The Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.3 percent in April, matching the downwardly revised increase in March as well as expectations. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to Congress on Thursday officially informing lawmakers of President Donald Trump's intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Lighthizer said the administration seeks to renegotiate NAFTA in order to support higher-paying jobs in the U.S. and grow the by improving opportunities under the trade deal. "Today, President Trump fulfilled one of his key promises to the American people," Lighthizer said in a statement. "For years, politicians have called for the renegotiation of this agreement, but President Trump is the first to follow through with that promise." He added, "USTR will now continue consultations with Congress and American stakeholders to create an agreement that advances the interests of America's workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses." Lighthizer noted in his letter to Congress that the economy and businesses have changed considerably in the 25 years since NAFTA was negotiated but the agreement has not. Sending the letter begins a 90-day period for the administration to develop its negotiating positions before negotiations with Canada and Mexico can officially begin. Trump regularly offered harsh criticism of NAFTA during the presidential campaign, calling it the "worst trade deal in the history of the world." However, a group of eighteen Republican Senators sent a letter to Lighthizer earlier this week stressing the positive economic impact of NAFTA. The letter claimed NAFTA has led to tremendous growth in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada, integrated cross-border supply chains that benefit U.S. employers, and more than tripled U.S. exports of goods and services. "Given that the agreement is more than two decades old, there are areas in which NAFTA will benefit from strengthening and modernization," the GOP senators wrote. They added, "On the other hand, efforts to abandon the agreement or impose unnecessary restrictions on trade with our North American partners will have devastating economic consequences." The senators, led by Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said they will maintain a keen interest in the on-going process surrounding NAFTA and said they look forward to working with Lighthizer. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News New Zealand will on Friday release April numbers for credit card spending, setting the pace for a light day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. In March, credit card spending was up 0.8 percent on month and 7.1 percent on year. Malaysia will provide Q1 numbers for GDP and current account. In the previous three months, GDP was up 1.4 percent on quarter and 4.5 percent on year, while the current account surplus was 12.2 million ringgit. Singapore will see Q1 figures for wholesale sales; in the previous three months, sales were up 0.5 percent on quarter and down 7.4 percent on year. Hong Kong will release unemployment data for April; in March, the jobless rate was 3.2 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. President Donald Trump said Thursday he respects Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the investigation of Russian meddling in the presidential election but reiterated his claim that the probe is a witch hunt. During a press conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Trump also once again said there was no collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia. Trump argued that the Russia investigation is dividing the country and suggested the focus should be on the progress that has been made in the early days of his administration. "We have to get back to running this country really, really well," Trump said. "My total priority, believe me, is the United States of America." Trump flatly denied that he asked former FBI Director Comey to drop a federal investigation into links between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. The president also shrugged off the talk of impeachment by some of the left, saying he thinks it is "totally ridiculous." Commenting on his controversial firing of Comey, Trump said he expected the decision to be well received by Democrats due to their criticism of the former FBI Director. Trump indicated he plans to announce his nominee for FBI Director "very soon" after saying earlier in the day that former Democrat-turned-independent Senator Joe Lieberman is among the top candidates for the job. Responding to questions from reporters about the recent scandals, Trump repeatedly sought to turn the conversation back to progress on jobs and plans to repeal Obamacare and cut taxes. (Photo: Michael Vadon) For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has revealed that hackers are threatening to leak an unreleased movie unless a "huge sum" is paid as ransom. Iger, speaking in a town-hall meeting with ABC staff, said the hackers have demanded the company to pay a "huge sum" in Bitcoin otherwise they will release parts of the movie, minutes at a time, until the money comes through. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney has refused to pay the ransom and is working with federal agents to monitor any online leak. Although, the company has not revealed which movie has been stolen, Deadline quoted unnamed sources saying it could be the next instalment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales. Dead Men Tell No Tales, starring Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem, is set to release on May 26 in the U.S. However, film writers and journalists are also discussing the possibility that it could be Pixar's Cars 3 or the next Star Wars movie The Last Jedi. "If it were Last Jedi, he would pay in a heartbeat. But Pirates... meh," Ryan Parker, from the Hollywood Reporter, wrote on Twitter. Last week, hackers attacked and infected over 200,000 organizations around the world with so-called ransomware, encrypting their files and demanding payment to release the data. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com May-18-2017 01:05 TweetFollow @OregonNews Colton Man Charged with Murder of his Mother A tragic Mother's Day for a small Oregon town. The suspect has been identified as 36-year old Joshua Lee Webb. Photo: Clackamas County Sheriff (CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore.) - On Mother's Day, the Sandy Police Department received a 911 call and responded to the Estacada Harvest Market Thriftway at about 2:15 p.m. The caller said that a male covered in blood and armed with a knife, ran into the store carrying what looked like a severed human head. He was not mistaken. Other callers stated that the subject had stabbed a store employee. He, along with other store employees, disarmed the subject, and subdued him to await the arrival of the police. The first officers on scene, from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and the Sandy Police Department, found the subject subdued in a rear area of the store. The injured store employee, 66-year old Michael Wagner, of Estacada, was treated on scene by Estacada Fire Department and American Medical Response paramedics before being transported to the hospital. The suspect has been identified as 36-year old Joshua Lee Webb, of Colton. He was taken into police custody and later transported to the hospital for unknown injuries. At 2:35 p.m. there was also a 911 call from the 25000 block of Elwood Rd. in Colton. The caller reported finding a deceased adult female inside a residence. Deputies responded to the scene, along with officers from the Oregon State Police and Molalla Police. As the incident response progressed, the many responding officers determined that the severed human head belonged to the victim from the incident at the Elwood Road residence. The victim in the homicide has been identified as 59-year old Tina Marie Webb, of Colton. She is the mother of Joshua Lee Webb. They both lived at the address on Elwood Rd. Joshua Webb has been charged with Murder and Attempted Aggravated Murder. After being released from the hospital, he was booked into the Clackamas County Jail at 12:30 p.m. Monday, May 15, 2017. Source: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office _________________________________________ Fatal | Oregon | Most Commented on Articles for May 17, 2017 | Articles for May 18, 2017 | Turnout for general election less than expected for Saline County Ballots are still being counted as of Wednesday, but it seems the turnout for the 2022 general election was lower than expected by the county clerk. Dear Editor, Re: Learning in schools. Samoa? English. Or both? I prefer to have all Samoan kids speak broken English instead of No English. Listen Professor Tofaeono Joe Hollywood, did you know that mocking my broken English, you are also mocking all Samoan people like me. All who come from Samoa speak broken English, understand? Some of us can, but some dont because they thought we were crazy for trying and mocked by them, those who thought they were smart but they were afraid of speaking because of mocking. They were afraid because of people like you. But i didnt and now i can have a conversation...in English with ease. Im not sure if that is still happening but i hope not. Samoa people must humble to The One Above and ask to have English as the first language in school. I tell you the truth I discovered, I wanted to learn English so I chose a Bible translation, NIV, good because its written in simple English. Read both English and Samoan Bibles and I improved, then found out that faifeau must pay tax. I got rid of it long time ago...the book and faifeau Teach Samoan kids the culture not how to speak Samoan again. Then encourage them to learn and speak English. Speak broken English and you have a job. Speak perfect Samoan and you end up like a thirty year old makai with no job, right professor? Ei professor, between you and Mataafa Keni Lesa, who has better English you reckon? Between you and a real English professor, which one of you should have the title of broken-English? Broken English comes in many forms. It is written... ...a wise man bites his tongue a fool mocks himself... Have a nice day. Ben Valelei A 42-year-old man accused of sexual violation and indecent assault in relation to a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for six years. The decision was handed down by Supreme Court Justice Vui Clarence Nelson. The man was facing charges of attempted sexual violation and indecent assault while the victims mother was charged as a party to the offense. However after the hearing, Justice Vui amended the charge against the mother to a lesser offense of aiding and abetting. The mother was sentenced to two years imprisonment. A suppression order has been in place since the beginning of the hearing to protect the identity of the victim. HEARING During the hearing, the victim testified she was sleeping with her younger siblings when her mother woke her up, telling her to go and sit next to a man on a chair. The mother proceeded by telling her to move closer to him (male defendant) and she did. Then the mother instructed her to go with the man to the back kitchen and she did. According to the victim, she went to the kitchen, while her mother continued conversing with the man and after a while he came to where she was and kissed her. At the time, she called out to her mother asking why she was letting this happen. I cant believe that you don't love me, she said to her mother. The Court heard from the victims testimony the mother was sitting on a chair playing with her phone. The Court also heard from the 43-year-old defendant, on the night in question he went to the victims residence to inform his girlfriends mother that they were dating. He felt, its been a while since he was dating the 15-year-old (at the time) and that it was time to meet her family. He said that not many people knew of their secret relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend and when he met the mother, she accepted him and welcomed him in the home. FINAL SUBMISSIONS Age difference was among the issues the Supreme Court Justice, pointed out to defense counsel, Diana Roma to address during her final submissions. At the time of the submission, defense counsel for the man was not present at the hearing and submitted a note to the court informing the reasons behind his absence. Justice Vui pointed out to Roma the issue of the age difference between the defendant and the young girl as the evidence is quite clear that hes in his 40s ad she was at the time only 15. Can a certain inference be drawn that what she (mother) did was more than inappropriate, it was ill advised, foolish, to allow a man almost 30 years older than her young daughter access to her daughter. Roma pointed out, the mothers written statement to the police indicated that she did tell the defendant to wait until her daughter was 21-years-old. However Justice Vui pointed out that despite that, while she advised the man to wait until her daughter becomes of age, yet her next action was to leave them alone as stated in her witness statement that she walked off leaving them to talk. Justice Vui also asked the prosecutor to elaborate on the element of the party charge to the attempted sexual violation against the mother. He asked as to what evidence that indicates the mother was aware of what the defendant was trying to do. Ms. Sio explained they are relying on the victims testimony, that it was the mother who played the role of encouraging and instructing the victim to sit aside the defendant and then further instructed her to go to the kitchen. She noted the defendant went to the kitchen where the victim was and his action where he tried to take off her clothes and the victim called out to her mother who was in sight. She said the victims other sister also testified that the mother was there when the incident occurs. However Vui put it to the prosecutor to pin point as to what evidence the mother knew the defendant was attempting to sexually violate her daughter. He also pointed out the Evidence Act that allows for the Judge to amend the charge in accordance with the evidence presented before the court. Where do you want Samoa to be? This was the question the Minister of Communications and Information Technology (M.C.I.T.), Afamasaga Rico Tupai, posed to members of the private sector on Wednesday night. He was one of the key speakers at the Chamber of Commerces monthly meeting held at Hotel Elisa. For Afamasaga, he is a man with a vision. He wants Samoa to become the tech haven of the Pacific and to be compared to countries like Singapore. As the Minister driving the sector, Afamasaga said the government is serious about realising his dream. Thats why the Ministry has hired Tony Rosenburg, who was instrumental in helping Singapore become the Asian hub it is today, to help. Tony Rosenberg has been hired by the Ministry to develop our sector plan, he revealed. We hired Tony for his experience as someone who was very heavily involved in the reforms in Singapore. Thats our benchmark, in terms of I.C.T. Thats where were looking at. The level of I.C.T. and the way I.C.T. is changing businesses and changing the landscape and lives in Singapore, thats our benchmark in terms of I.C.T. development. The Minister said I.C.T. is a development at the heart of businesses and it cross cuts any development. Afamasaga also shed light on the Ministrys plan regarding the Tui Samoa Cable as well as several other cables in the pipeline. Afamasaga proudly declared that the Tui Samoa Cable will be up and running by December. The work is on time, he said. The survey is done and that means the cable manufacturing will start soon. The cable will be here end of July and the installation will start. It will actually arrive in Samoa beginning of October but there will be some testing period before its switched on. He also announced that there would be a second cable coming to Samoa called the Manatua Cable. When one Cable comes, theres going to be a question, what if this cable cuts off? Well ladies and gentlemen, we have another cable that will arrive next year and its in the development phase at the moment called the Manatua Cable. This cable comes from Tahiti. It connects Tahiti, Cook Islands and picks up Niue. At the moment were negotiating with Tonga to jump on the same cable and land in Samoa. If something happens to Tui Samoa Cable we have another cable that will take us out to the world. The governments plan is that if something happens to one cable we have another outlet so connectivity is uninterrupted. Furthermore, he said the likelihood of Samoa having two cables has attracted much attention from overseas investors. So much so that there has been a third cable to come to Samoa that is in the works. As we are negotiating this cable, others are looking in. The world is looking in. And they are seeing Samoa is going to have two cables. When we were in Hawaii earlier this year, Southern Cross approached us. We started discussions and these discussions are ongoing at the moment. If Southern Cross comes to us, we have already signed the letter of intent. The plan is Southern Cross to arrive here by 2019. That means we will have three cables by 2019. But with great power comes great responsibility. And the Minister assured that the Ministry is already working on a regional plan to best utilize the connectivity Samoa will soon have. With all these cables, what are we going to use it for? the Minister asked. We are working on a regional plan, not just a Samoa plan. Were going to build a data centre. In this data centre, were going to host applications like e-health, e-government, e-education. Were talking to U.S.P. to put all their educational content in here. Weve talked to Facebook already and were developing a data centre thats Tier 3 level. Tier 3 will be acceptable for Google, Facebook, Amazon, Ali Baba. Well bring all this here and sharing with the whole region of South Pacific. Afamasaga envisions Samoa as being the tech hub of the Pacific. We will be in a position to enable other economies around us, he said. Im talking about Wallis and Futuna, Niue, Tonga. By 2020, possibly 10 or 12 islands will be connected, with the hub being Samoa. It will be good business for us. From Samoas position we will have a lot of cable and great capacity. We will need to share this capacity. Some will be shared for other services. Thats why we need to become a hub. Every year on the second Sunday of May, Samoa celebrates International Nurses Day. This year was no exception. During a ceremony held at the Methodist Church, Matafele, last weekend, nurses from throughout the country gathered to celebrate their day. The commemoration honours the important role of Nurses in the community. It also celebrated the lives of the old members of the Association, founding members, remembering with much gratitude one of the most notable leaders of Nursing community, Florence Nightingale. She is the mother of modern nursing who was nicknamed the Lady with the Lamp because of her sacrificial work at the Crimean War and wherever she was called to work. This years celebration took on new significance with the Samoa Nurses Association (S.N.A) celebrating its 100 years of service to Samoa. A celebration is to be expected at the end of the year, November, where about four hundred members of the Association will come together. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi paid tribute to the work of nurses in Samoa. As nurses, your service is commendable, he said. Your collective work had already impacted on achieving the sustainable development goals. Your work had already started, but there is much more that we can contribute. For the nurses of Samoa the theme for this year, calls for a collective effort to raise the standard and quality of your service. Your calling as a nurse for this year is to strengthen your commitment and dedication to your service. Since S.D.GS were adopted by the United Nation in 2015 to replace the Millennium Goals its main idea was to address the inequalities between nations and the third Sustainable Development Goals specifically addresses Health which now celebrates the importance of Nurses and its roles. The President of Samoa Nurses Association, Taulapapa Faamanatu Nielson, said this years event is celebrating the lives of those who first established the Association and in ways of improving the service of Nurses in Samoa. At first it was very hard but we overcame it because for those who first formed up the Association they were strong women and they faced the difficulties that they first came with, she said. We are looking forward to celebrating 100 years of service. We are just thankful for all these years because we know we have come a very long way. There are more than four hundred registered nurses under the Samoa Nurses Association. Samoa is among 138 countries, which celebrated the International Nurses Day. A young man from the village of Satapuala has died after he attempted to commit suicide on Mothers Day Sunday. This was confirmed by Police Spokesperson, Sua Tiumalu. He was taken to Leulumoega hospital on Sunday and he later died, said Sua. The police and the Coroner are satisfied that the cause of death was suicide. Sua said the incident was reported to the Police Station at Satapuala for investigation on Sunday. Unlicensed driver arrested In another Police matter, a 27-year-old male faces two charges in relation to a hit-and-run incident at Aele on Sunday. This was confirmed by Police Spokesperson, Sua Muliaga Tiumalu. The man is facing charges of negligent driving causing death and being an unlicensed driver, said Sua. He will appear in Court on the 23rd this month. Twenty-eight-year-old, Popese Sipuni, 28, was sitting with a friend on the side of the road when he was struck by a speeding vehicle. A family member related the chain of events leading up to Sundays incident. His friend had a lucky escape but Popese did not, she said. He was hit and was taken to the hospital but he died upon arrival at the hospital. The family member said alcohol was involved. The driver of the vehicle was really drunk and so were his other two friends. A senior official at the National Health Services told the Samoa Observer that Mr. Sipuni died from serious head and chest injuries. What weve heard is that he was killed in a hit and run by a suspected drunk driver on Sunday morning, the official said. Wet and rainy days are the best days for farmers. Ask Savelio Iafeta, 33, and he will tell you just that. As opposed to the heat and the humidity dry days bring, he says rainy days provide him lots of opportunity to expand his plantation. He needs it. With no one in the family with a formal job, Savelio depends on their plantation. Weve being living off the plantation for a while, he said. It was from taro and bananas that our parents were able to raise money to put food on the table. As a father, I am doing the same thing for my children. This is why the plantation is very important to us. Savelio, like most people, struggle with money. But he is content with his lot in life. The plantation makes ends meet. It was my father who worked at the plantation all the time but now hes too old to work, I have stepped in. And he has had to learn quickly. My wife and I just started our family last month. We are now working on our own plantation to provide for us. The idea was to take what was the familys only source of income to another level of having more crops to sell to generate more income. I grow taro, bananas and coconuts. Not only does my plantation provide my family with food, I can also earn money from selling things at the market. Its good money and its quick cash. Aside from the challenges of working alone and having to do everything by himself; Savelio said he is happy with his lot. I know its hard work and sometimes we go broke but this is what provides money and food for my family. I will never get tired of doing it. I love my family and I know this is my way of showing that. For the fourth time in its history, the worlds biggest biotech and life science convention is returning to San Diego, bringing a mix of research, politics and patient advocacy. Genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter; multiple sclerosis patient Ann Romney, wife of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney; and former British prime minister David Cameron are slated to address the Biotechnology Innovation Organizations international convention. The event is scheduled to be held from June 19-22 at the San Diego Convention Center, and about 16,000 people are expected to attend. To set the stage, representatives from BIO; two statewide life science organizations, Biocom and the California Life Sciences Association; and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer discussed what the convention means to life sciences and to San Diego in particular as one of the countrys top life science clusters. Advertisement Venter will discuss the future of personalized medicine, said Joanne Duncan, president of BIOs marketing and business operations division. Cameron will discuss the worlds economic climate in the wake of the Brexit vote to take Britain out of the European Union, and Romney will talk about what shes learned from two decades of living with multiple sclerosis. Beyond her personal experience with multiple sclerosis, Romney will also discuss patient advocacy and the clinical success in developing more effective treatments for both this disease and for other neurological ailments, Duncan said. One of those successes arose in San Diego, a drug from the biotech company Receptos for relapsing multiple sclerosis. The progress of the medication, ozanimod, in clinical trials prompted the $7.3 billion purchase of Receptos by pharmaceutical giant Celgene in 2015. Duncan said the convention will also give information about the 21st Century Cures Act, which was enacted late last year. That law provides more money to the National Institutes of Health to fund biomedical research, and new tools for the Food and Drug Administration to speed getting breakthrough therapies to market. Health technologies Venters work extends far beyond genomics to include other areas of science implicated in health, including the human microbiome, the collection of microbes that live in and on us and influence our health for good or ill. The J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, which he co-founded, recently teamed up with UC San Diego and Venters Human Longevity to find a non-invasive signature of potential liver fibrosis, a life-threatening complication of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The disease, which affects from 80 million to 100 million Americans, often presents no symptoms until extensive liver damage has occurred. The preliminary study can be found at j.mp/nafldgm. Another speaker will be NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA in space, Duncan said. Rubins knows San Diego well, having received a bachelor of science degree from UC San Diego, and performing undergraduate work at the nearby Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. Steve Mento, president and CEO of San Diego biotech Conatus Pharmaceuticals, and chairman of the local steering committee for the 2017 BIO convention, described patient-oriented activities at the convention, to be held in June in San Diego BIOs patient focus includes a 5K run/walk on Monday, June 19 at 8 a.m., and is open to the public, said Steve Mento, president and CEO of San Diego biotech Conatus Pharmaceuticals, and chairman of the local steering committee for the BIO convention. To register, visit https://convention.bio.org/5k/. At the 5Ks start, BIO will present a contribution to the San Diego Fisher House, Mento said. The organization, at www.sandiegofisherhouse.org, provides temporary free housing for families of hospitalized wounded or ill military members. The convention itself will feature a patient advocacy pavilion featuring more than 50 patient and venture philanthropy groups, Mento said. Promoting, protecting Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom, said the convention will help the life science industry by showcasing its impact, not only in terms of human health, but in its economic heft. That heft was described in a detailed Biocom report issued this week. San Diego County reaps $34 billion in economic activity from life sciences as of 2016, the report said. Statewide, almost $316 billion comes from life sciences. The Biocom report can be found at bit.ly/biocomecon2017. Sara Radcliffe, the California Life Sciences Associations president and CEO, said while life science benefits are large both in San Diego and statewide, these hard-won gains can be reversed unless care is taken. To that end, CLSA advocates with public policy makers to ensure that industry-friendly policies are adopted and preserved, she said. Mayor Faulconer praised the BIO convention as an opportunity to celebrate San Diegos powerful life science industry, along with being a generator of economic activity. He also used the occasion to promote one of his proposals, a hotel tax-funded expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. When we have a thriving convention industry and tourism economy, thats how we pave roads, thats how we hire police officers and firefighters, Faulconer said. Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1020 Goodbye to bland environs. Hello to eye-catching headquarters in the nucleus of San Diegos biotech mecca. Thats been the experience this year for Biocom, the San Diego-based life science trade group that recently completed its move from the University City area to the Torrey Pines Mesa. Biocom now can host speakers in an on-site auditorium, entertain guests in a reception room and enjoy breakfast and lunch at The Farmer & The Seahorse, the latest restaurant from celebrity chef Brian Malarkey. These and other amenities such a gym and conference room are located in a building owned by science-oriented Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Biocom Purpose: San Diego-based life science trade group Founded: 1995 CEO: Joe Panetta Website: www.biocom.org Employees: About 26 Address: 10996 Torreyana Rd., 92121 Phone: 858-455-0300 Decorated with a double-helix motif across its ceiling, the building at 10996 Torreyana Road stands within walking distance of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Cytori Therapeutics and the La Jolla operations of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, to name a few landmarks. Along with the nearby Bella Vista Social Club & Caffe, Biocoms new location adds to the social environment emerging on the Torrey Pines Mesa. And in San Diego, a city known for its collaborative biotech environment, socializing can be another medium for business. Aside from the Alexandria office and the Biocom office here, the rest of this building is set up as community space, said Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom. Part of the idea is that Alexandria will lease this space or let some of its tenants use this space for different types of events. The idea of offering event space in the facility, along with housing Biocom and Alexandria, originated with Daniel J. Ryan, Alexandrias executive vice president and regional market director for San Diego. In late July, Biocom celebrated its new headquarters with an interview in the auditorium, called Illumina Theater. Panetta did the interviewing, and the interviewee was Jay Flatley, president and chief executive of San Diegos Illumina. The 210-seat venue was filled close to capacity. Despite the opulent surroundings, Biocom leases a third less space now than in its previous location, and the rent per square foot is lower, Panetta said. By coexisting in Alexandrias building, Biocom gets access to its amenities and gains proximity to a high-profile restaurant it didnt have in its previous space. The Alexandria building originally held the printing presses of the Pennysaver publication, and later the offices of Idec Pharmaceuticals (which subsequently merged with Biogen of Cambridge, Mass.). After Idec moved out, it sat empty for years and Alexandria bought the property, Panetta said. About 3 years ago, we began talking with different developers about our need for new space because our lease was running out at UTC. Alexandria sat down with us and came up with a concept to develop this building and turn it into a life science community meeting space. Biocom arrived in February, and Alexandria moved in a short time later. Free and abundant parking is one of the perks of the Torreyana Road location, said veteran biotech real estate broker Brent Jacobs, a co-founder of Biocom and executive director at the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Jacobs was part of the committee that did the site search. We were strapped for parking where we were before, and now were located right in the heart of the industry, Jacobs said. More generally, Alexandrias conception of what Biocom should get in its headquarters dovetailed with the trade groups goals, he said. They were very close in their vision to what we were looking for, Jacobs said. It was actually beyond what we were thinking of. He recalled that during deliberations, one Biocom board member said there wasnt any reason to move unless it was to a space that depicted the future of Biocom. In the end, two bids were received, and Alexandrias came out on top. San Diego start-up Truepic, a developer of technology to authenticate photos and videos online, said Tuesday it has raised $1.75 million in an initial round of funding. Founded last year by serial entrepreneur Craig Stack, the company is currently rolling out beta tests of its technology for insurance, online dating, home rental, car rental, classified ad and beauty companies. It has two patents issued and more pending. Investors include former Thomson Financial Chief Executive Jeffrey Parker, Platinum Technology Founder Andrew Filipowski and Harvard Business School professor and venture capitalist William Sahlman. Advertisement Truepic, which has six employees, will use the money to boost sales. Stack brought in Jeff McGregor, also a serial entrepreneur, as Truepics chief executive. The idea behind the company sprang from the outbreak of altered or phony photos on social media, with myriad photo editing tools available to help people doctor images. Truepics core verification technology can be embedded into mobile apps via a software development kit. When the smartphone camera is launched, Truepic verifies that photos havent been manipulated. Its targeting the insurance industry, where smartphone photos of damage have become common practice in the claims process. The beauty industry also is looking at the technology to verify the before-and-after photos of people using products. In addition to embedding its technology in third party apps, Truepic also has launched a free consumer app on Apples Store and Google Play. McGregor said consumers buying or selling merchandise on Craigslist can document its condition using the app; or users can gain confidence that photos of an Airbnb rental are accurate. They can confirm that a child was dropped off at home safely, verify citizen journalism and learn whether profile pictures posted on online dating websites are current and unfiltered. We are the digital notary for images and video, said McGregor. Truepics technology starts with photo capture software on the device. It then time stamps and geocodes the image with meta-data about the photographer, device, where the picture was taken and other information data depending on what customers want. The photo is assigned a six-digit code and stored in the companys data center. Truepic recently commissioned a Harris Poll that found 80 percent of Americans suspect users of social media websites post altered images. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 A blood drive in memory of the late Maryanne Tierney a longtime North County resident, gold-medal artistic skater and major blood donor is set for May 21 at San Diego Skateworld. The third annual Maryanne Tierney Memorial Blood Drive is being held in honor of the skaters birthday. Tierney continued to skate into her 70s until she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Tierney was a member of the Blood Banks Gallon Club. She donated 136 pints (17 gallons), which helped save 408 lives. Advertisement Before her death, Tierney said she wanted to be remembered as a blood donor and for others to give in her place, said her daughter Adrienne Aguirre. The blood drive is from noon to 5:30 p.m. May 21 at San Diego Skateworld, 6907 Linda Vista Road, San Diego. Donors get a free skate pass to the rink. A good meal and plenty of fluids are recommended prior to donation. All donors must show picture identification. Blood donors are encouraged to make appointments but walk-ins are welcome. Call 1-800-4MY-SDBB (469-7322) or visit sandiegobloodbank.org. Click Donate Blood, select Appointments and search by date. The old Carlsbad ranch of movie star Leo Carrillo, famous for his role as Pancho in the 1950s TV western The Cisco Kid, will be home to a Wild West Fest set for Saturday. The Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park, built as a working ranch by the actor in the late 1930s, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a registered California Historical Landmark. Saturdays event will include a petting corral, western themed crafts, salsa contest, root beer tastings, pony rides and mechanical bull riding for kids. Advertisement The salsa contest will be judged by Chilis Encinitas and features prizes for categories such as taste, funniest presentation, hottest, best overall and peoples choice. The Carrillo ranch was known for years as Rancho de los Quitos or Ranch of the Spanish Daggers, named after the cactus, but today is better known for the many peacocks that roam the grounds. Engraved in stone at the entry gate to the ranch house, are the words Su Casa Amigo (My House is your House). Carrillo entertained his Hollywood friends there and his guest list included many celebrities of that time such as Will Rogers and Clark Gable. Carrillo lived from 1881 to 1961, and he came from an old California family whose members were among the early settlers of San Diego. They included Carlos Antonio Carrillo, governor of Alta California in the late 1830s. Carrillo was born in Los Angeles, but his grandparents Josefa Bandini and Boston-educated Pedro Carrillo, lived in San Diego. When they married in 1846, Pio Pico the last governor of California under Mexican rule awarded them title to Coronado Island, which they sold 23 years later for $1,000, according to the Friends of Carrillo Ranch. Saturdays Wild West Fest runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park, 6200 Flying L.C. Lane. Admission is free and parking is available at Carrillo Elementary School. Root beer floats and root-beer tastings are $3; mechanical bull and pony rides are $6. Regular walking tours at the park will be preempted by the festivities, but the hacienda will remain open for tours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission and parking at Carrillo Elementary School. Visit carlsbadca.gov/parksandrec or call (760) 602-7519. Whats a sensible punishment for a boy who wont stop sucking his thumbs? Or a girl with a predilection for playing with matches? Anyone who answered with Snip off his thumbs with abnormally large scissors and let her clumsily incinerate herself may be particularly predisposed to absorbing the frightful absurdity that is Shockheaded Peter, opening in previews Thursday, May 18, at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. Those delightfully twisted snippets of just deserts originated from a childrens book, and an illustrated one at that. Struwwelpeter, German physician Heinrich Hoffmanns droll collection of cautionary tales, was first published in 1845. Shockheaded Peter, which debuted in England in 1998, ratchets up the death rate of its source material while simultaneously adding depth by expanding its corrective sights to new targets: parents. Advertisement Imagine the reality of being trapped in a basement your whole life, said Cygnet associate artistic director Rob Lutfy, who is directing the production. That is Peters loveless reality. And how might a child to two so-not-parent-of-the-year candidates, known here only as Mother and Father, cope with such extreme rejection and abandonment? The plays jarring vaudeville cabaret acts, derived from Hoffmanns stories via the cutting musical interpretations composed by cult British trio the Tiger Lillies, can be viewed as mini-productions of a relentlessly tortured psyche. Lutfy and company have fleshed out a unifying narrative for this demented, circuslike atmosphere that, while short on spoken lines, is filled with puppetry, pantomime, modern dance and upbeat but creepy ear candy that often resembles Gypsy folk music. In this version, it is Siren, Peters jack-in-the-box, who lends his piercing singing talents to the horror show, gleefully chronicling gruesome end after gruesome end. Helping depict that gruesomeness is costume and puppet designer Shirley Pierson, who with her team explored several types of puppets: hand, found objects, multiple headpieces, masks and partial-body puppets. Partial-body puppetry combines Bunraku (a Japanese style) and the dancers body itself to form and operate the puppet. The dancers legs become the puppets legs while the upper body of the puppet is attached to and manipulated by the dancer, Pierson explained by email. Each act in this German cabaret-style piece had to be its own creative thing, Lutfy said. In one story, its found-objects puppetry. Theyre creating a giant dog out of a suitcase and pillows and an umbrella, he said. And then in the next one, its a magic act. So someone disappears into a wardrobe and comes back skinnier and skinnier and skinnier until theyre a skeleton. The latter lesson there, kids, is to always eat your soup. Seemingly life-size windup dolls help tell the story of fidgety Phil. His hands get stabbed into the table. Its bizarre, strange, and I find it funny. I hope that our audience does too. I think they will, Lutfy said. Choreography advances narrative as well. Its not about the technique of it in that regard; its about storytelling. Its about how do the bully boys walk onstage and look like theyre beating the s--- out of someone without literally beating the s--- out of them. What does that movement vocabulary look like? Lutfy said. While ones overall response can be limited to howling with laughter, thoroughly repulsed, or frightened beyond belief, Shockheaded Peter does go deeper for those who welcome shovels. One such layer, from Lutfy: What have we done to that little creative voice that was inside of ourselves before we were told to sit on our hands and be quiet in class or take Ritalin? Whats that child like? And it might be dark and mysterious and scary to kind of re-examine what that voice is. But what is it? Shockheaded Peter When: Previews begin May 18. Opens May 27. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through June 18. Where: Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. Tickets: $42 and up (PG-13 for violence and mature themes) Phone: (619) 337-1525 Online: cygnettheatre.com San Diego Theater On Now Video: Bruce Springsteen's solo trip to Broadway On Now Video: Inside the rehearsal room of SDMT's Damn Yankees! 2:22 On Now Video: La Jolla Playhouse-bred shows earn key Tony nominations 3:05 On Now Video: Broadway moment has arrived for La Jolla Playhouse's 'Come From Away 0:33 On Now Video: Lamb's Players Presents "An American Christmas" 2016 1:21 On Now Old Globe's 'Grinch' ready to rumble again 0:52 On Now Little Miss Sunshine at La Jolla Playhouse On Now Working the Magic On Now San Diego Repertory Theatre presents "Federal Jazz Project" On Now An American Christmas Rubin is a freelance writer. For too long, women Marines have been waiting for senior leaders to take definitive steps to change the culture of the Corps. Marine officials recently issued new guidance calling for the perpetrators of illicit photo sharing to be mandatorily processed for administrative separation. But these actions do nothing to address the root cause of the gender divide in the Corps namely, segregated boot camp. Advertisement Until the commandant integrates recruit training, the foundation for sexism in the Corps will continue to be laid at Parris Island, with negative consequences for male and female Marines, and our nation. Notably, the Marine Corps is the only service in the Defense Department that has maintained segregated training for women. But it isnt as though the commandant is unaware of the connections between segregated boot camp and gender bias, harassment and assault. The small size of the female training compound has also resulted in an artificial cap on the size of the female Marine population. Evidence has been mounting that segregation negatively impacts both performance by and attitudes about women in the Marines. Even male Marines have begun to speak out in favor of integrated boot camp. Despite the existence of clear evidence that segregation has actually made female recruits and Marines less proficient and effective, senior Marine leaders continue to espouse the unproven notion that segregation is the only way to create confidence in female recruits. GUEST VOICES: Authoritative views on the military and veterans issues Why would the Marine Corps remain wedded to a practice that has such a negative impact on both the reputation of the service and its effectiveness? The difference in male and female recruit performance stems from lowered expectations for women. Women recruits conduct the vast majority of their training on a small, self-sufficient compound on the recruit depot. Their complete isolation from the male training battalions has allowed the male leadership to adopt a hands-off approach to the supervision of the female drill instructors and staff. Female drill instructor performance has not traditionally been tied to strong results by their recruits. And, the female recruits have never been viewed as a source of competition for the male recruits. Over time, the consistently poor results by female recruits convinced the male leadership -- and even the female drill instructors and staff -- that the women simply werent capable of doing more. Once this happened even less time and effort was invested into training the women recruits to achieve better. And so the cycle of poor performance has persisted. Worse, misperceptions about the ability of women have solidified the idea in the minds of many male Marines that women are unable to compete. The small size of the female training compound has also resulted in an artificial cap on the size of the female Marine population. Because the female recruit squad bays are much smaller than those in male training battalions, the Corps can only train approximately 3,500 female recruits a year. The bed space limitation ensures the total number of women in the Marine Corps can never exceed 10 percent. Consequently, the smaller the female population, the harder it is to eliminate negative stereotypes about female performance and ability. Since the Marines United scandal broke, activist groups including the Service Womens Action Network, Actionable Change and Not in My Marine Corps have called on Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller to integrate boot camp for this very reason. Yet their repeated demands appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, Marine officials continue to try to appease women Marines and veterans by establishing yet another task force and inviting them to participate in roundtable discussions. Many Marines do not think integration is a good idea. But this is not about tradition. It is about being an effective fighting force something that segregated training prohibits. The Marines already have all of the information they need to make an educated decision. In January, Neller and his staff were briefed by the Center for Naval Analysis on the results of a study about the implications of integrating boot camp. But since then Marine Corps officials have remained silent on the centers study. The lack of transparency regarding the study indicates that the senior leadership will continue to marginalize women by maintaining the status quo. Without integration of men at women the most formative stage of indoctrination in the Corps boot camp women Marines will continue to be viewed as second-class citizens. Worse, if boot camp is not integrated, the continued underperformance of female recruits will continue to ensure that few women will be fast and strong enough to meet the qualifications to compete for ground combat jobs. We need military leaders who will act decisively to ensure the success of their service and their service members, regardless of gender. The only way Gen. Neller can prove his commitment to ending gender bias and discrimination against women in the Marines is by integrating boot camp. Its time. Kate Germano is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who writes about the challenges faced by service women. She took command of the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion in June 2014, but was relieved after one year due to the perception by senior leaders that she was abusive. You can reach her at germanoki@gmail.com. If Shawn VanDiver has his way, every gravestone at Fort Rosecrans will be garlanded with roses this Memorial Day. For the third year in a row, VanDiver, the San Diego chapter director for the Washington, D.C.-based Truman National Security Project, is spearheading a fundraising drive to decorate the 44,779 upright headstones at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Hes also enlisting volunteers to help decorate the graves. Advertisement In 2015, the Truman San Diego Rose Ceremony drew 20 volunteers and they distributed 1,000 roses. Last year, VanDiver raised 140 volunteers and they decorated 6,600 graves. The nonprofit ordered 30,000 roses for the Memorial Day weekend, but VanDiver hopes to buy more if Truman can garner the donations. The deadline is Thursday evening and each rose costs about 50 cents. All donations are tax deductible. This ceremony is important to me because when I transitioned from the Navy to working in and around local politics, I saw that there wasnt as strong a connection to the military community as there should be in this military town, VanDiver said. I started this event in 2015 in an effort to bring the military community closer to the civilian policy community and political leaders who represent us all. This ceremony is a reminder that their is a real cost to service and that the national security strategy we adopt can have dire consequences. Volunteers will gather at sunrise before 5:30 a.m. on Memorial Day, May 29th at the national cemetery, which is located at 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive in San Diego. Volunteers who register online can print a parking pass and receive instructions on how to enter the site. The event is expected to draw dozens of elected officials, military members, veterans and Gold Star families who have lost sons or daughters to war. The morning begins with a quick ceremony, with participants sharing their stories of friends or loved ones who died in defense of America. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com Miramar Marine Corps Air Station will begin converting its jet squadrons to the stealthy F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, triggering major construction projects in the coming months, Lt. Gen. Jon Dog Davis told San Diegos military and business leaders on Wednesday. In remarks to the San Diego Military Advisory Council, Davis, the Marines Corps deputy commandant for aviation, said construction will start next year and that the project is already fully funded. Davis also said Miramar is slated to receive the ultra-high-tech, ultra-expensive jets earlier than previously scheduled, following a revised Marine plan to scrap the Corps aging F-18 Hornet fleet. The Marines report that more than half of their 280 Hornets cannot deploy for combat, he added. Advertisement We want to get to the F-35s as quickly as we can, said Davis, a career strike aviator with more than 4,500 hours of flight time. The Marines will get both F-35B and F-35C variants of the jet. An F-35B is designed for short landings and vertical takeoffs, similar to the way a Harrier II operates, while an F-35C can fly on and off an aircraft carrier. After Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 returns from its upcoming deployment, those Black Knights will convert to the Corps first F-35C squadron, with a new double hangar being built at Miramar to house the new planes, Davis said. Meanwhile, he said, the Vikings of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225 will transition to the F-35B. Miramar spokesman Capt. Kurt Stahl told The San Diego Union-Tribune that F-35Cs are slotted to arrive in late 2019 or early 2020, and the F-35Bs would come a few months later. By 2030, the Marine Corps expects to retire all of its F-18 aircraft. Construction design plans are already in the works, Stahl said. Several construction projects are expected to be completed over the next several years to include a new hangar for the F-35C and F-35B squadrons, an F-35 simulator facility and vertical landing pads. Construction on the F-35 hangar is scheduled to break ground at the beginning of 2018 and is expected to be complete by the end of 2019. Miramar has hosted F-35s in the past. Both the autumn 2015 and 2016 airshows at the base showcased the aircraft. Miramar will join the Navys air station in Lemoore as the second home of the F-35C in California. On Jan. 25, a quartet of the new jets formed the core of Strike Fighter Squadron 125, the Rough Raiders. As a designated fleet replacement squadron, it is training the next generation of F-35C aviators on the West Coast. Two F-35B squadrons headquartered at the Marines air station in Yuma, Arizona, also are now classified operational. The Green Knights of Fighter Squadron 121 are on deployment now in Japan. The Wake Avengers of Squadron 211 are scheduled for sea duty near the Middle East in 2018. Plagued by cost overruns and mechanical gremlins, the $379 billion Joint Strike Fighter project for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps infamously became known in the Pentagon as acquisition malpractice. With mounting delays in getting the fighters to the fleet, the Navy is scrambling to revamp its aging Hornet strike aircraft, pushing them far beyond their anticipated service lives. To keep the Marines Harrier II ground-attack planes in the air, the Corps bought scrapped British jets to cannibalize for parts. Today, Davis said, the Marines Harriers have become most reliable portion of the Corps strike fleet, thanks to an 84-point plan over the past three years to restore the jet squadrons to combat readiness. Using an Army blueprint, Davis said the Marines found similar success revamping their CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter fleet. A complete reset program turned the chopper from a teeth-sucking thing into a high reliability piece of gear, according to Davis. Id say its contentious because its taken about twice as long as we thought it was, but the (aircraft) that come out of the reset are the highest readiness helicopters in the Marine Corps. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com Closing the gap of the 710 Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley is one of the ugliest and longest running transportation battles in Southern California. For years, Caltrans wanted to complete the freeway but faced heated opposition from residents. Now, there is a proposal to finish the 710 as a tunnel. That plan has also faced wide criticism. A 4.9-mile-long tunnel would be longer than any other in California for auto traffic. It is expected to cost at least $5.4 billion. Here are the latest developments: Study says tunnel is the best solution A Metropolitan Transportation Authority report studying the benefits and impacts of the proposal to connect the Long Beach (710) Freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway concluded last week that a freeway tunnel is the preferred alternative to address projected traffic congestion in the area. The May 10 report advocating a single-bore freeway tunnel was a status update to the State Route 710 North Project environmental process, which examined various alternatives to improve transit with the fewest negative impacts in an area that extends more than 100 square miles to include East Los Angeles and the west San Gabriel Valley. Studies completed over the past few years clearly capture the mobility benefits included in the Single Bore Freeway Tunnel, with tolls and truck restrictions, the MTA report said. This alternative reduces regional and local congestion and delivers the best transportation performance. The study is the latest update on a joint effort by Metro and Caltrans that began in 2011 to review the environmental impacts of a possible 4.5-mile 710 Freeway tunnel that is expected to carry a price tag of at least $5.6 billion, alongside four alternate scenarios including the expansion of rapid transit systems and bus lines, and a series of systemic traffic improvements. The 710 Freeway ends at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra. (Raul Roa / Glendale News-Press) (File photo) Officials have other ideas On Wednesday morning, Metro staff presented an update to the Metro Board of Directors Ad-Hoc Congestion, Highway and Roads Committee. The five-member committee passed by 3-2 a motion submitted by MTA Board Chairman John Fasana, which instead recommends adopting the Traffic Systems Management/Traffic Demand Management alternative designed to upgrade local street systems. Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Janice Hahn had the dissenting votes. Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, who represents the North County/San Fernando Valley sector on the MTA board and is vice chairman of the ad hoc committee, has opposed the 710 tunnel proposal since its inception. He said the Fasana motion is a clear statement of the intent of the MTA board not to fund any money for the tunnel. Its the first time any motion passed that could potentially kill the tunnel if this recommendation is adopted by the full board, Najarian said. The motion represents the capitulation the San Gabriel Valley representative, Fasana, to give up on this whole tunnel advocacy. Critics protest plans for the 710 Freeway extension. (Los Angeles Times) (Raul Roa/Staff photographer) Familiar battle lines over tunnel Critics of the tunnel proposal include the cities of Glendale, La Canada Flintridge, San Marino, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and South Pasadena, all of which cite concerns over health, cost and sustainability. Those municipalities had proposed greener alternatives such as rapid transit upgrades, improved bus services and free transit passes for area students. Alhambra and Monterey Park have been the most outspoken supporters of the extension, along with a group known as the 710 Coalition, whose members said last weeks Metro status update validates the coalitions position. The people in our city and the San Gabriel Valley have suffered enough from the traffic and population increasing, so obviously Im going to support [the 710 tunnel], said Alhambra Mayor Dave Mejia. Whats next Both the status update and the Fasana motion will head to the May 25 Metro board meeting for consideration. The motion requires votes by seven of the 13 board members to pass. Landa writes for the Glendale News-Press. The first Navy admiral ever to be charged with a federal crime in connection with his military service was sentenced Wednesday to 1 years in prison for lying about his corrupt friendship with the wealthy namesake contractor at the center of the Fat Leonard bribery scandal. Robert Gilbeau, who pleaded guilty to an obstruction charge, stands out among the active-duty officers nabbed in the scheme both for his rank and his long-standing relationship with Leonard Glenn Francis. Prosecutors said the two met in 1997, when Gilbeau served aboard the Boxer amphibious assault ship. Francis showered Gilbeau and another officer with the gifts of hotel rooms, dinners and prostitutes during a port visit to Bali. The two would carouse in Singapore off and on for the next 15 years as Gilbeau worked his way up the Navy ladder. Advertisement U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino remarked Wednesday on the thoughtful, systematic way Gilbeau appeared to have gone about trying to cover up his involvement with Francis. You violated the law and dishonored your shipmates, the Navy and the United States of America, Sammartino said. With his service dog with him in court, Gilbeau apologized to his family and the Navy. Besides the time in custody, Gilbeau, 56, will serve three years of probation, work 300 hours of community service and pay the Navy $50,000 in restitution as well as a $100,000 fine. He is among 20 Navy officials charged in the investigation. Francis and four of his employees have pleaded guilty. According to prosecutors, Francis stable of compromised Navy men steered contracts to his Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, which provided husbanding services such as water, trash removal, tugboats and security to visiting ships and submarines. They also allegedly slipped Francis insider information on Navy logistics and movements, protected him from scrutiny and allowed him to overcharge the Navy by nearly $35 million. Gilbeau who was forced to retire at a demoted rank of captain because of the scandal is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury related to a blast in Iraq. I never wanted to end my career this way. Im still proud of my career and to be an American, he said. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune A man convicted of masterminding a robbery that led to the 1988 slaying of an Inglewood police sergeant is set to be released from prison despite the furious pleas of the slain officers family and law enforcement leaders, officials said. Joevone Elster, who was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in the shooting death of Inglewood Sgt. George Aguilar, will be released from state prison next week, said Luis Patino, a spokesman for the state department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. For the record: An earlier version of this story indicated Elster was 24 at the time of the shooting. He was actually 22. Leslie Holgets last name was also misspelled as Hoget. It was not immediately clear, however, whether Elster would instantly become a free man. Patino said Elster would be released into the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. A Sheriffs Department spokeswoman said he is wanted on a forgery warrant but could not offer additional details Thursday night. Advertisement Elster did not fire the shot that felled Aguilar, but the sergeant was killed during a car chase that followed a gas station robbery plotted by Elster to gain revenge against a former employer. He was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison in 1989. A parole board deemed Elster suitable for release in April of 2016, but Gov. Jerry Brown reversed that decision months later, records show. Elster appealed, and a Los Angeles County judge overturned Browns decision in March 2017. Elster was denied parole three times between 2008 and 2014, according to Evan Westrup, a spokesman for the governors office. Brown decided not to fight the Los Angeles court decision overturning his reversal because his appeal was unlikely to succeed, Westrup said. News of Elsters pending release was met with shock by Aguilars son, who was 24 when his father was killed. We were devastated. We were speechless. We were scared. We were just completely shocked. Even if this were going to happen, I figured they might call and tell us it was three months down the road, not three days, said George Aguilar Jr., 53, who learned of Elsters pending release earlier this week. My sister and my wife were actually fearing for their safety because we have fought to keep this man in prison. Elster was one of five men charged in what prosecutors termed an evil plot to rob a Los Angeles gas station. Prosecutors said Elster, a disgruntled former employee, masterminded the plot that sparked a chain of events ending in Aguilars death. Elster, who was 22 at the time of the shooting, and Van Otis Wilson were waiting at the gas station to rob an employee who was supposed to transfer cash to a bank on the morning of March 31, 1988, according to prosecutors and court documents. Wilson, Elster and three other men followed the employee as he drove toward Inglewood, then robbed him at gunpoint, prosecutors said. Aguilar, who was off-duty at the time, began pursuing the suspects moments later, records show. Gunfire erupted as the sergeant attempted to pull in front of the fleeing suspects. Leslie Holget fired the shot that killed Aguilar. He committed suicide after leading police on a 45-mile chase later that night. Elster and Wilson did not fire on the sergeant, but were charged under Californias felony murder statute, which allows defendants to be held responsible for a death that occurs during the commission of a felony crime, even if the defendant did not directly cause the victims death. Elster became eligible for release in May 2009, according to a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. Wilson was also convicted of first degree murder and robbery and sentenced to 33 years to life in prison. Patrick Anthony Carr was also charged in the case, but he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against Elster and Wilson. A 16-year-old defendant was also remanded to the custody of the state until he turned 25. Wilson has been denied release twice, and his next parole hearing will be scheduled sometime before February 2019, said Patino, who could not provide details on the status of the other two men convicted in connection with Aguilars death. Even if this were going to happen, I figured they might call and tell us it was three months down the road, not three days. George Aguilar Jr., who was 24 when his father was killed In reversing Browns decision, Los Angeles County Judge William Ryan pointed to Elsters expression of remorse for the crime and his spotless disciplinary record in the state prison system. Elster has attained an associates degree and earned a certification as a substance abuse counselor while incarcerated. He has not been subject to discipline during his entire 27 years in prison, court records show. A psychologist also found Elster was unlikely to re-offend or commit a violent act, according to court records. Elster also told prison officials he plans to take college courses in the Bay Area upon release, and Ryan said the fact that he has developed employment skills, including working as a porter and technician while in prison, greatly reduces the likelihood that he will commit another crime, records show. The Court does not reach this conclusion lightly and is not unmindful of the impact this decision will undoubtedly have on Sergeant Aguilars family and friends. [Elster] orchestrated a heinous offense for which he was appropriately punished for 27 years, Ryan wrote in his decision. Based on the record before the Court, however, it is clear there is no evidence demonstrating that [Elster] currently poses an unreasonable risk of danger to society. Aguilar was the first Inglewood police officer to be killed in the line of duty. An avid runner and scuba diver, Aguilar was a 16-year veteran of the department, his son said. He also spent two years working for the now-defunct Compton Police Department. My dad actually loved his job. That was everything to him. Aside from us, the next most important thing to his life was being a police officer, Aguilar Jr. said. He was very energetic. He was a comedian. Aguilar was survived by three children. His youngest son was just 5 at the time of his death, according to Aguilar Jr. The family has launched a social media campaign that it hopes will spur politicians to fight Elsters release, and Aguilar Jr. said relatives and friends have written letters to Brown hoping he will appeal. Inglewood police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Elster is the second man convicted in connection with the death of a Southern California police officer set to be freed from state prison in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Voltaire Williams was granted parole after serving 27 years for his role in the 1985 shooting death of Los Angeles Police Det. Thomas C. Williams. Voltaire Williams, who was not related to the slain detective, had been convicted of conspiring to murder him, though he did not take part in the actual killing. Gov. Brown opposed Williams release, but could not outright block his parole because he had not been convicted of murder. News of Elsters expected release drew angry reactions from law enforcement leaders. In a blog post published Wednesday afternoon, the union representing Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies called the decision to grant Elster parole outrageous. It is crucial to the security of the state of California, and to the safety of the men and women who enforce its laws, that cop killers forfeit their freedom for life when they murder a law enforcement officer, the blog post read. If not, the underlying message is that killing a police officer is worth the risk, because you may not have to be in prison for life. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California. ALSO 3 suffer burn injuries from fire at Google conference venue in Mountain View A California mom drizzled gas station cheese on her Doritos. Now, shes fighting for her life State auditor urges UC regents to boost oversight of budget but says audit found nothing nefarious UPDATES: 8:30 p.m.: This story was updated with additional information from the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department. 6:15 p.m.: This story was updated with additional information from corrections officials. This story first published at 3:15 p.m. A stinging state audit of University of California budget operations cast a long shadow over a UC regents meeting Wednesday, as students and union members chastised officials for raising tuition while squirreling away millions. On Thursday, State Auditor Elaine Howle will talk to the regents about her findings that the UC Office of the President failed to disclose $175 million in surplus funds, paid excessive salaries and inappropriately interfered in campuses replies to her auditors confidential surveys. But many of those who spoke during public comments on Wednesday were in no mood to wait for the agenda item. They said that if the UC Office of the President had extra money stashed away, it should not only have avoided a 2.5% tuition hike next fall but raised pay for low-wage workers and given homeless and sometimes hungry students more support. Advertisement Shame on you, Janet Napolitano. Shame on you, UCOP, said graduate student instructor Hannah Kagan-Moore. Taylor Chanes, a fourth-year UC Irvine student majoring in political science and education, told regents that students like her were struggling with substantial student debt and diminished campus services. She said later that financial aid covers her tuition, but she has taken out $27,000 in loans, mostly for housing. After public comments, students and union members stood up and chanted, Hey regents, step off it! The people over profit! But they left peacefully when UC police told them to clear the room or face arrest. Some speakers came to UCs defense, saying it was being unfairly criticized. Rejeana Mathis, a UCLA manager and chairwoman of the Council of UC Staff Assemblies, said it was fair to question UCs transparency and integrity, but when she heard some of the political posturing, she felt like an angry big sister wanting folks to stop picking on UC. Napolitano, the UC president, has disputed the $175-million surplus, which she has said is really $38 million. The rest of the money was budgeted, she said, for such initiatives as aid to victims of sexual violence and students who are in the country illegally. In her opening remarks Wednesday, Napolitano said UC was hard at work implementing the state auditors 33 recommendations to improve her offices budget practices. Nathan Brostrom, UC chief financial officer, said the surplus cited in the audit represented one-time funds that have been committed to other programs and services, and he added that there were no plans to roll back the tuition increase. James Chalfant, chairman of the UC Academic Senate, said flashy headlines about secret slush funds and politicians sound bites show a lack of understanding of UCs enormous and complex organization. He said what needs to be discussed is how UC, with diminished state support, can make headway on such pressing challenges as the academic achievement gap, capital needs and unfunded pension liabilities. Right now, we have a mess on our hands, and we all need to work together to fix it, he said. In other business, regents discussed how to bring in more transfer students, especially to less popular campuses. Under a 2015 budget agreement between Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown, UC agreed to boost efforts to enroll one transfer student for every two freshmen a ratio set by the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education. Brown announced last week he would hold back $50 million in UC funding for 2017-18 until the university made more progress in increasing transfer students and implementing the auditors proposed reforms of budget practices. UC officials told regents they admitted the largest transfer class in the university systems history last fall and were on track to meet the 2:1 ratio systemwide in 2017-18 even though applications from freshmen surged and those from transfer students were down about 4%. The decline in transfer applications, which are mostly from state community colleges, is probably an after-effect of recession-era budget cuts, which sharply reduced class offerings and made it difficult for students to complete the coursework needed to transfer, said Regent Eloy Oakley Ortiz, who heads the 113-campus California Community Colleges system. All campuses but UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced expect to meet the transfer goal. UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox said his campus admits 60% of applicants, but only 20% of them choose to come. Challenges include UC Riversides distance from most community colleges, competition from other universities and many students struggles to master skills needed for UC work, he said. Only 7% of Riverside City College students, he said, have acquired the math skills needed for the UC system. Theres a huge challenge preparing them, Wilcox said. UC has stepped up education and outreach statewide about transfer options and requirements. Nearly half of UCs transfer students come from fewer than 20 of the 113 California community colleges. Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @teresawatanabe Funner. Its a word that causes grammarians to wince. But if youve seen the local TV ad campaign, youve learned that Funner is a place, not an abused adjective. Thanks to a vote by the Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Tribal Council, Funner is a tiny swath of federal land in northeastern San Diego County on which Harrahs Resort Southern California sits and little else. As of May 11, Funner has a mayor actor David Hasselhoff of Baywatch fame, ex-lifeguard turned life-of-the-party. Advertisement The out-of-the-box concept is the brainchild of i.d.e.a., the San Diego marketing and image consulting firm assigned to rebrand the resort and casino. We renamed the entire destination, announces i.d.e.a.s website. Funner, California is now a place all its own. Or, as the i.d.e.a. advertisers say: Were putting Funner on the map, literally. Funner isnt a city. Its a place with one resort, one casino, 1,086 hotel rooms, 10 eateries, three lounges and a mini-water park. There are no houses, no libraries and no public schools that, of course, wouldnt be Funner. But there is a lot of buzz. Much created by Hasselhoff, or Mayor Hasselhoff, as the Harrahs staff is addressing him, he informed me Wednesday. Its so weird, the actor confessed. Hasselhoff flew in this week from sunny Miami with his fiancee, Hayley Roberts, to kick off the promotional campaign. We actually came in a couple of days early so we could enjoy ourselves, said the actor, but the weather didnt cooperate. When Hayley told him, Its cold, he chuckled as he recalled his response: I know, but they have a lazy river. Harrahs has enlisted Hasselhoffs help in emphasizing its mission to deliver unique experiences that evoke good times and laughing out loud. The multi-faceted, hyper-busy actor who owns a 12-foot long, 750-pound rubberized foam replica of himself, made for a Sponge Bob video) doesnt take life too seriously and is not afraid to poke fun at himself. Now 64, he voices a rap song in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, stars in a mockumentary Hoff the Record now streaming on Netflix (the best work Ive ever done) as well as a sci-fi short film, Its No Game. Hes also featured in a new zombie-killing Call of Duty video game. Hasselhoff just left the world premiere for a new Baywatch movie in which he has a cameo role. Next he heads to New York for Fridays Good Morning America show and a meeting with Saturday Night Live producers. It takes a bit of time for the phone to ring it takes 10 years then it rings, and everyone calls at the same time, the actor chuckled. Ill sleep tomorrow. It should be noted that while Hasselhoff was unanimously elected mayor, he had no opponent. (Thats what I do. I run unopposed because I know I can win that way.) Along with the resorts announced emphasis on showcasing A-list acts, bands, DJs and activities, a fun enforcement team is patrolling and issuing fun-citations to folks caught having more fun than usual. Freebie find: It seems like theres a holiday for everything nowadays. But I must admit, I had never heard of National No Dirty Dishes Day. I like the idea, though. Its Thursday, May 18. Apparently, the data analysis team of National Today, which publicizes unusual holidays, did a survey to find out what Americans prefer to eat when they dont want to wash dishes. Pizza came out at the top of the list, with 24 percent of the vote, followed by French fries, chicken wings, tacos, hamburgers, fried chicken, and so on. The good news is that Postmates.com, the online restaurant order delivery service, has jumped on the holiday bandwagon and is teaming up with National Today to offer a free pizza (costing up to $15, including delivery fee) to the first 10,000 customers in San Diego (and other U.S. cities) who download its app and use the promo code: DISHVACAY Postmates made a similar offer on Mothers Day, delivering free breakfasts to moms. Incidentally, May 18 is also National Visit Your Relatives Day. So, you can celebrate both holidays simultaneously by taking them a pizza. In demand: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is used to the spotlight, but when the Bio International Convention holds its global biotech conference in San Diego June 19-22, the keynote speaker will be a different family member his wife, Ann Romney. The mother of five sons and grandmother of 23 is also dedicated to the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston in 2014. The part-time La Jollan will tell her personal story of battling multiple sclerosis and embracing patient advocacy. diane.bell@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1518 Twitter: @dianebellSD Facebook: dianebell.news Its the sort of trivia question that tickles the fancy of political junkies during slow non-election years. Which candidate in the 2018 election will not be free to display her own political yard sign in front of her Rancho Santa Fe house? Answer: Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan, the heir apparent to county DA Bonnie Dumanis. Advertisement And no, your first guess as to why is probably wrong. Its nothing to do with snooty CC&Rs. The reason is fundamental to the justice system. Stephan, a prosecutor in the DAs office for the last 27 years, is married to federal Judge Dana Sabraw, a respected jurist whose code of conduct requires him to remain absolutely apolitical, including when his spouse is on the stump. We havent figured out how to divide the house to allow for a yard sign on one half, Stephan joked Wednesday. Coincidentally, when he was running against Dumanis in 2013, candidate Robert Brewer faced the identical spousal challenge. Until his wife, federal Judge Irma Gonzalez, retired, Brewer was forced to go out on the trail alone. Even standing mutely beside her husband at campaign events crossed an ethical line for a sitting judge. This fastidious avoidance of the appearance of political preference, even on behalf of husbands and wives, is charmingly old world. Of course, as Aldous Huxley reminds us, we live in a brave new world. In offices and boardrooms, the quietly persuasive campaign to clear the field for Stephan started last year and has been, by all the signs, decisive. For example, the influential board of the San Diego Deputy District Attorneys Association and its political PAC endorsed Stephan two days before she formally announced her candidacy in January. Boy, was the fix ever in. Early and deep. In contrast, Brewer kicked off his campaign against Dumanis in October 2013, nine months ahead of the primary, and the deputy DA union voted in February 2014, some five months before the primary. This time, however, with their boss looking on, the deputies endorsed her hand-picked successor some 17 months before the primary. Then, as Stephan was piling up key endorsements, Dumanis announced in April that she was leaving office early possibly to run for Ron Roberts seat, setting up the widely expected appointment of Stephan by the Board of Supervisors. Democracy, it appears, will get a helping hand from the supes. Its so San Diego. Thats the chorus among grumblers who resent the supervisors putting their thumbs on the scale. Much like the salary raises the supervisors awarded themselves in January, the anointment er, appointment of Stephan wont be hard because, bottom line, the supervisors can do it without repercussions. Four of them are termed out either in 18 or 20. They can stare down the angry puritans with impunity. Much like the appointment of William Gore to replace Bill Kolender as sheriff, the supervisors can argue that theyre drafting the best available athlete. So get over it. In 2009, Gore began his campaign for the 2010 election, racked up endorsements, and then surprise! the sheriff retired and Gore was appointed ahead of the election, putting him on cruise control to re-election. Stephan is in the same smooth groove, following the same playbook. Like Stephan, Gore had a laudable record marred by stains. For Gore, the disastrous Ruby Ridge siege during his tenure at the FBI loomed large, as did missed terrorist links to San Diego before 9/11. For Stephan, it is, of course, her role as a fill-in prosecutor in the botched Stephanie Crowe murder case. In hindsight, Stephan was slow to comprehend how tunnel-visioned the case against Crowes brother and two friends was. The Crowe family still holds a deep grudge and is not shy about airing it. Painful. Despite sore subjects like these, however, Gore is generally considered a capable replacement for Kolender, and, I suspect, Stephan will show the same earnest work ethic shes demonstrated for the last 27 years, dating back to her first newsworthy trial in 1991 involving a noisy Bonita rooster disturbing the sleep of neighbors. (The rooster died and the case was dismissed.) Her appointment, assuming it happens, would have a sort of poetic connection with the calendar. June 20, the day the supervisors will interview candidates (two of whom have pledged not to run in the 2018 election), is wait for it the first day of Summer. For Stephan, if shes appointed the interim DA, every public appearance she makes will be advertising for the 2018 election. A leg up? Shell have both legs and her torso up on the horse. Only 54 years old, Stephan could serve for another 20 years (no term limits for DA) in what critics might end up calling the Endless Summer. Will there ever have been a San Diego family so well-connected to the Bar? A likely DA, a federal judge, and a sister, Rayna Stephan, serving as a San Diego assistant city attorney. And notably, at least in my view, a family history connected to historic human suffering. Stephans late grandmother, who lived with the Stephan family in the Bay Area before they moved to San Diego, was a little girl who lost everything during the Armenian genocide. Her father and brother were killed by Turks. Stephan learned from her grandmother the impermanence of material things, Stephan tells me, the permanence of the heart and the mind. As for Sabraw, his father was stationed in Japan during the Korean War and married a Japanese woman. When the couple moved to the States, they were turned away from housing because of anti-Japanese prejudice. No doubt, Sabraw told a U-T reporter in 2003, there were times when I was growing up that I felt different, and hurtful things occurred because of my race. Stephan may be getting the royal treatment as a presumptive protector of the Dumanis legacy (and, lets face it, the Dumanis staff), but shes not a princess. Shes worked the trenches, tried tough cases. The fix may be in, but shes not a stiff. We could do a lot worse. Now all thats left to make the Dumanis/Stephan succession plan perfect is for Supervisor Roberts to announce that hes retiring to pursue some other glorious possibility. Since his District 4 seat would be open, my Hollywood fantasy goes, the board would have the option of appointing a replacement. And who would that eminently qualified candidate be? None other than Bonnie Dumanis. So San Diego. logan.jenkins@sduniontribune.com The lawyer representing a man accused of causing an alcohol-fueled crash in San Ysidro that seriously injured a 6-year-old boy has said she intends to argue that her client was not the person behind the wheel that night. Constantino Banda Acosta, who has been deported at least 15 times, appeared in Chula Vista Superior Court briefly Thursday morning, when lawyers on both sides of the case agreed to postpone a preliminary hearing in the case to June 6. It had been tentatively scheduled for later this month. Advertisement During a brief court appearance Thursday morning, Deputy Public Defender Juliana Humphrey told a judge she intends to show that Mr. Banda was not the driver of a pickup that smashed into a Honda, injuring Lennox Lake and his parents in San Ysidro. She did not elaborate on the defenses theory. Humphrey made the statement after the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Chandler, explained in court that the attorneys agreed to delay the preliminary hearing because they were waiting for discovery related to the case that they expect to receive within a couple of weeks. A preliminary hearing is when prosecutors in a criminal case present evidence they believe supports the charges filed against a defendant, and ask a judge to send the case to trial. Banda, 38, was arrested shortly after the May 6 crash on Camino de la Plaza at Dairy Mart Road that left Lennox with a fractured skull. The boy has been under the care of doctors at Rady Childrens Hospital, where he had surgery to repair his skull and was treated with antibiotics for a common strep infection that set in after the surgery. As of Thursday afternoon, Lennox was still a patient at the hospital and was listed in good condition, according to a hospital spokesman. San Diego police have said the defendant sped through a stop sign in San Ysidro and slammed his pickup into the side of a Honda Accord belonging to the Lake family, who were returning from a trip to Disneyland. Lennox, who was in a car seat, was on the side of the car that took the brunt of the impact, his father said last week. He was knocked unconscious and had stopped breathing. He was also bleeding from his ears and nose. The boys parents, Benjamin and Ingrid Lake, suffered minor injuries. At Bandas arraignment last week, Humphrey asked that prosecutors make sure a material witness, likely the man taken into custody with Banda, not be deported pending further investigation. The witness was being held by immigration authorities. The driver of the pickup kept going after the collision, police said. Banda was arrested about a mile away, where Border Patrol agents found him in the damaged pickup with a passenger. Immigration officials say Banda has been returned to Mexico at least 15 times since 2002 for being in the U.S. illegally, most recently in January. He has previous misdemeanor convictions for domestic battery, driving on a suspended license and DUI. Banda has pleaded not guilty to felony charges including driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license. If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of seven years and eight months in prison. dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @danalittlefield UPDATES: 3:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 10:50 a.m. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her preferred successor, Summer Stephan, had 10 separate meetings with individual members of the county Board of Supervisors for July to December last year, when speculation about Dumanis future political plans was strong. The meetings are documented in official calendars kept by the supervisors and obtained through a Public Records Act request. The calendar entries, with a couple of exceptions, dont record what was discussed. They illuminate the contacts Dumanis and Stephan have had with the supervisors, who next month will appoint an interim district attorney to succeed Dumanis, who recently said she will resign July 7. She had announced in January she would not seek a fifth term next year and endorsed Stephan, her chief deputy, to succeed her. Advertisement Stephan and two other candidates have applied for the interim post. Stephan is also the only announced candidate in the 2018 election for a full four-year term. When asked about the meetings with Dumanis and Stephan, the county supervisors said they did not discuss the interim appointment issue. Stephan, however, did discuss her potential campaign, according to the supervisors and Stephan. The interim DA appointment is crucial, because it gives the winner a significant advantage in the 2018 election, providing name recognition and stature as the functioning district attorney. The supervisors calendars dont show any meetings during the year with any other prosecutors in the District Attorneys Office. Last summer and fall, there was steady speculation inside the District Attorneys Office and among political and campaign professionals that Dumanis was preparing to leave and wanted Stephan to succeed her. In an Oct. 10 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Dumanis acknowledged the speculation and said she was undecided about her future and whether she would run for re-election in 2018. She also said she would support Stephan if she were interested in the job. The interview came after the majority of the meetings with the supervisors had occurred. In December, an internal office email obtained by the Union-Tribune said Dumanis revealed to top managers that while she did not know when she would retire, her succession plan was to have Stephan succeed her and she wanted to make sure there is a smooth transition when she does decide to retire. She announced in January she would not seek re-election, and then in April said she would resign. The resignation triggered the process to appoint an interim DA. Adam Gordon, a former deputy district attorney who has applied for the interim position, said in a statement that the repeated meetings are troubling and called on the supervisors to reveal more about their dealings. These meetings, coupled with the email obtained by the UT in December 2016 revealing Ms. Dumanis succession plan, are troubling in suggesting that the fix is in to replace Ms. Dumanis, Gordon said. Prior to the board meeting on June 20th, I am calling on each board member to disclose publicly the nature of any communication they have had with Ms. Dumanis, Ms. Stephan or any of their political consultants/advisors regarding Ms. Dumanis succession plan. The other applicant, retired Deputy District Attorney Greg Walden, declined to comment. He and Gordon have called on the supervisors to ask that anyone appointed interim DA agree not to seek election in 2018. The supervisors have not said if they would make that a condition of appointment. Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan speaks at a news conference on May 3 about a crackdown on San Diego County gangs by local and federal authorities. (Alejandro Tamayo / San Diego Union-Tribune) In a statement, Stephan said she discussed the 2018 race in her meetings with the supervisors but not the appointment. During my meeting with Supervisors last year we did discuss my interest in running for DA if Bonnie didnt run and the encouragement Id received from colleagues in the office, she said. We did not discuss the possibility of an appointment. Dumanis spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said in a statement that the meetings were not unusual. The DA has been meeting regularly over the past 14 years with all of the Supervisors to discuss various public safety issues and topics, Sierra said. She informed the Supervisors of her intent to step down early on April 19, the day before she told DA employees. She said Dumanis did not seek the supervisors support for appointing Stephan as the interim DA. Dumanis had six separate lunch meetings with Supervisors Greg Cox, Dianne Jacob, Ron Roberts and Bill Horn from July through November. She also had a dinner with Roberts in February 2016. Supervisor Kristin Gaspar did not take office until January 2017. Cox said that he meets regularly with Dumanis to discuss issues prosecutors are facing. His calendar, however, doesnt record any meetings with Dumanis from Jan. 1 to Aug. 8, when he had a 90-minute lunch with her. He had a meeting with Stephan on Sept. 19, when she discussed her potential candidacy, he said. When I met with Summer in September, she told me she was going to run for District Attorney if Bonnie did not run and we also talked about the human trafficking work she was doing, Cox said. The subject of an interim appointment did not come up at that meeting. Jacob had two 90-minute lunches with Dumanis, one on Aug. 2 and a second on Oct. 18. She had a 30-minute meeting with Stephan on Sept. 20, and two other meetings during the year one on Jan. 4, and the last on Dec. 13. I havent talked with Bonnie or Summer, or anybody else for that matter, about the interim appointment, Jacob said in a statement. In my recent meetings with each of them, like others weve had over the years, we talked about human trafficking and other public safety initiatives were working on. During our meeting in September, Summer also said she wanted my thoughts on running for district attorney. Roberts had a lunch with Dumanis on July 7, and a lunch with Stephan on Aug. 1. Roberts spokesman Tim McClain said that at the July lunch Roberts and Dumanis discussed budget and law enforcement issues, but not Dumanis resigning. At the Aug. 1 lunch with Stephan, McClain said, she shared her interest in running for District Attorney when District Attorney Dumanis term ended and if District Attorney Dumanis chose to not run for reelection. Stephan didnt ask Roberts for an endorsement, McClain said. Horn, who represents North County, had two lunches with Dumanis, one on Aug. 1 and a second on Nov. 14. The calendar does not show any meetings with Stephan. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com Ricky Shabazz, the vice president of student services at San Bernardino Valley College who has a track record of working for student equity and success, has been hired as president of San Diego City College. Shabazz, 41, replaces former president Anthony Beebe, who left San Diego to be president of Santa Barbara City College in July. His first day is July 11, and his annual salary will be about $218,000. Shabazz said he is very familiar with City College, which he first visited in 1999 when he was the assistant director of admission at UC Davis and his outreach worked focused on San Diego County. Advertisement I was just drawn to the diversity of the campus, he said. In many respects, its like the United Nations. Theres people from all over the world. City College also has many students who are facing financial challenges, and Shabazz said he hopes to help them succeed. I was the first person in my family to go to college, he said. Thats another reason Im drawn to City College. My mother had me when she was 15 years old and didnt graduate from high school. Shabazz also said he looks forward to working with San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance Carroll. The opportunity to work with Constance definitely drew me to work in this community, he said. She is a legend, and the work shes doing is something I hope to emulate, particularly in the opportunity shes leading in providing students with an opportunity to get bachelor degrees. He also sees City College as a good fit with his own visions and priorities. There are a lot of colleges that say theyre committed to equity and social justice, but theres very few like City Colleges that carries out that commitment in their practices and faculty, he said. It really aligned with my lifes work. Shabazzs father was a Marine, and he spent his first five years living on Camp Pendleton before moving to Pasadena, where he grew up. He earned a bachelors degree in Native American studies at UC Davis and was just a few credits short of earning an economics degree. He also holds a masters degree in educational administration and supervision, and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from California State University San Bernardino. In 2007, he was named director of outreach and relations with schools at the Compton Community College District. A year earlier, Compton College had lost its accreditation and state legislators had stripped the college board of its power after the discovery of serious administrative failure and widespread corruption. The district was run by a state-appointed trustee until February, when it won back the authority to govern itself after a decade of reforms. Regaining accreditation may take another two years. I was a part of the team tasked with keeping the doors open, Shabazz said. Compton College had 6,500 students when Shabazz arrived in 2007, and enrollment had grown to a record 14,000 and its largest graduating class when he left in 2014. My take-away is what colleges can accomplish when people come together with a common goal, which was student success, said Shabazz, who also served two years as dean of students with the Compton district before moving to San Bernardino Valley College. At San Bernardino in 2016, Shabazzs team opened one of the states first Dreamer Resource Centers to support unauthorized immigrant students in successfully transitioning into college. He also oversaw one of the states most successful Promise programs, which guarantees free admission to high school students. San Diego Community College District has a new, similar program that is open for all graduates of the San Diego Unified School District, plus students from the community college districts Continuing Education program. The program in San Bernadino, the Valley-Bound Commitment Program, was launched eight years ago as a partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Shabazz took over the program in 2014 and said his team approached the San Manuel Band about increasing its commitment. They agreed, and funding grew from $150,000 to $300,000, increasing the number of students in the program from 150 to 250. Carroll said the district conducted a national search for a new City College president, and the potential hires were narrowed to two finalists. The decision to hire Shabazz came after she and others visited San Bernadino Valley College on Monday. We spent the day interviewing people and seeing Dr. Shabazz in his professional context, and we were very impressed by the end of the day, she said. Carroll described Shabazz as extremely energetic with a strong drive for achievement, and also fun to be around. She was impressed with his availability to students, which included regular lunches and dinners with him during the semester and coffees during finals. As someone said, he is the real deal when it comes to supporting equity for students of all ethnic backgrounds, she said. Given the nature of City College, he brings the kind of energy and commitment, along with the quality we think would be a good match for City College. Shabazz said he sees stabilizing leadership as the greatest challenge ahead at City College, where he will be the fourth president in four years, counting interim President Denise Whisenhunt. Im looking forward to building lasting relationships that I hope last over the next 10 years, he said. Shabazz is single and a bass-fishing enthusiast, and his new job will bring him closer to two of his favorite spots, the El Capitan and San Vicente reservoirs. His skills at the sport are a level where he writes for several outdoor magazines, including Western Bass. Hes not sure if hell have time for the side jobs in the future, however. Im probably going to have to give a lot of that up, he said. I dont know if Ill have a lot of free time in the next few years. gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 A large number of Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning in protest of district Superintendent Cindy Martens decision not to promote their vice principal, as recommended by a panel of educators and community members. We want Soto! about 200 students chanted after the walk-out, referring to Vice Principal Jose Soto, who had interviewed for the principals job. Lincoln has been without a permanent principal since John Ross left the position about a year ago. Shirley Peterson, a former principal in the district, has filled in as interim principal after coming out of retirement, but has said she does not want to be the permanent replacement. Advertisement District chief information officer Andrew Sharp said interviews with candidates for the job will resume Monday. With a greater number of qualified candidates usually available in the late spring, Sharp said he expected a hire to be made by June 30, the end of the school year. Students and parents who held a news conference at the largely minority school Thursday questioned why Marten did not take the panels recommendation and wondered what the process has taken so long. Sotos a unifier, and thats exactly what Lincoln needs, said Lincoln Parent Teacher Organization member Dwayne Harvey, who sat on the panel. We need somebody who can come in and bring all of these entities together parents, teachers and students and work in one direction. Area Superintendent Bruce Bevins, head of the cluster of schools around Lincoln High, said he could not comment on personnel decisions, but did give some insight into the selection process. Soto made it as far as a performance evaluation that involves Marten and others observing him while visiting another school, he said. They tell us what theyre noticing in the classroom, what theyre noticing being taught, and what theyre noticing in learning, he said. How would they lead the work moving forward? What feedback would they give the teachers? Harvey called the selection process corrupt and said Marten had not talked to panel members who supported Soto. Cindy Barros, president of the Lincoln High PTO, said she was discouraged and surprised by the outcome of the process because Marten had told her that she usually goes with the panels recommendation. You didnt listen to us the first time, why would you listen to us now? she said about interviewing a new pool of candidates. This is utterly ridiculous, and I have no faith in the process. While uncommon, this was not the first time the superintendent had gone against a panels recommendation, and Sharp stressed that the community input is just one step in the process that ends with the superintendents decision. The community does not get to pick the principal, he said. Thats not how it works. He also said the year-long process is not that unusual. Serra High, he noted, lost its principal about a year ago, and a permanent replacement was hired just last week. The principal controversy was just the latest in a long history of turmoil at Lincoln, which has seen several attempts at reform. Lincoln received a $129 million makeover 10 years ago, but enrollment and test scores continued to drop. In 2014, the school entered a partnership with City College that allowed students to earn college credit, but a majority of students in the program had failing grades last semester. Turnover in the top position includes a shakeup in 2014 that saw the district oust Principal Esther Omogbehin, who was replaced by Ross. There are some hopeful signs at the school, however. Sharp said that graduation rates this year have increased from 79 percent to 85 percent, college readiness scores have increased from 31 percent to 51 percent, and 27 students have earned UC San Diego Chancellors Scholarships, which are worth up to $20,000 over four years. 1 / 10 Lincoln High School students including student Antonio Barrera walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, and hung a banner on the fence of the school protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson this school year who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, and watch as a banner is hung on the fence of the school protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson this school year who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 10 Lincoln High School students walked out of class Thursday morning, chanting We want Soto, and hung a banner on the fence of the school protesting the San Diego Unified School Districts decision not to appoint vice principal Jose Soto as its principal. The school has been operating with interim principal Shirley Peterson this school year who is set to retire this year. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) Many of those protesting the decision accused the district of slighting Lincoln and favoring schools north of Interstate 8. Were Southeast San Diego, said Lincoln High senior Lizbeth Contreras, 17. Where do you see this in the schools in La Jolla? Up in Point Loma? You wont see it. Contreras, who has been accepted to UC Berkeley, said she has had a different principal every year shes attended the school, My goal was to graduate and walk across the stage shaking the hand of a principal who actually knew my situation, who knew my school, she said. But thats not the case. Every year its a new principal, and they always come and try to tell us what to do, but they dont know who we really are. They dont know us as Lincoln. gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 More than 1,000 people have signed a petition objecting to a new sex education curriculum in San Diego Unified School District, and trustees may take up the issue at a future board meeting. Parents are shocked, said Karin De Jauregui, one of several people who spoke against the curriculum at Tuesday nights board meeting. Parents are appalled by this curriculum. The law states that parents have the ultimate authority in impacting values to their children, not the schools. Tuesdays meeting marked the second time an organized group of parents have appeared before the board to complain about the curriculum. District public information officer Andrew Sharp said the board received a letter requesting trustees discuss the issue, and district officials are working to place it on the agenda. Advertisement The new curriculum is taught in grades 6, 8 and in high school. Almost 300 San Diego Unified classroom teachers have been trained in the curriculum, which was adopted last year in response to the California Healthy Youth Act, which went into effect in January. The new law requires school districts to provide comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention lessons in middle and high school, and calls for the curriculum to address sexual orientations, gender identities and sexually transmitted diseases. Attorney Dean Broyles of the Escondido-based National Center for Law & Policy, said the new law is fair and balanced, but the districts curriculum goes too far. The materials theyre teaching are graphic and pornographic, and go well beyond the law, said Broyles, who perhaps is best known for representing parents who sued the Encinitas Union School District for teaching yoga, which his clients saw as a violation of the separation of church and state. Broyles and others also contend the curriculum doesnt teach abstinence and leaves children vulnerable to discovering pornography on the Internet. Such complaints arent unique to San Diego Unified. Since the introduction of the California Healthy Youth Act, parents in other areas throughout the state have staged similar protests about how their districts are following the new law. Cupertino Union School District trustees voted down a proposed new curriculum after 4,300 people signed a petition against it. In the Palo Alto Unified School District, 1,600 parents signed a petition objecting to their curriculum. San Diego Unifieds curriculum was created by Advocates for Youth, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The curriculum can be viewed online at https://www.sandiegounified.org/SHEP-curriculum. Rachel Miller, a resource teacher for San Diego Unified and program coordinator for special health education, said the district sent letters to families about the new curriculum and held an event in February to preview the curriculum. She also said parents can have their children opt out of the classes. Some changes have been made to the curriculum, including adding more information on internet safety. Ashley Bever, a parent and substitute teacher in the district, said more changes are needed. Its too much information, too soon and too fast, she said Theyre going to cover a lot of content in a very short period of time. Bever also said the curriculum includes inappropriate supplemental material, such as the book Its Perfectly Normal, and she also objects to other lessons, including ones about oral and anal sex. Miller said the lessons follow the states requirement to teach about sexually transmitted diseases. We know that is a sexual practice, and we want to make sure our students know its also a risky activity, she said. Miller said the district has had sex education beginning in sixth grade for more than 30 years, and the changes in the new curriculum only reflect requirements in the new state law, which calls for an understanding of sexuality as a normal part of human development. While some parents have complained that the curriculum gives leeway for students to find pornography on the internet, Miller said the reality is they will do online research on their own anyway, and the curriculum is intended to guide them to accurate information. The curriculum does have supporters, including some who spoke Tuesday or wrote letters to the board. Celeste Bobryk-Ozaki, president of the San Diego Unified Council of PTAs, wrote that the councils executive board found the curriculum medically accurate, comprehensive and developmentally appropriate. She also wrote that some of the controversy could have been avoided if the district had communicated better with parents. Caroline Dessert of the San Diego LGBT Community Center spoke in favor of the curriculum at the board meeting. Our LGBT youth deserve schools that are safe, and they deserve schools that give the comprehensive information they need to make healthy choices now and in their bright futures, she said. gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 An hourlong flight east of Hong Kong in the Chinese port city of Shantou, traders cater to affluent businessmen quietly looking to drop up to $30,000 dollars on a single fish bladder. While these transactions are punishable by large fines and even time behind bars, a covert investigation by a nonprofit advocacy group has found that weak, perhaps corrupt, law enforcement allows fishermen, import-export companies and perhaps drug cartels to profit in an international supply chain that stretches from Asia back to Southern California and Mexico. Chinese culture has believed for centuries that the organ known locally as gold coin fish maw has lifesaving properties. While science has yet to prove the health benefits, the dried bladder is often kept for emergencies for use as part of a medicinal soup. Its also gifted and displayed in homes as a status symbol. Advertisement In Shantou, gold coin fish maw is usually treated as the priceless treasure of a shop, so they are not labeled a price and not on sale (openly), a local trader in March told an undercover investigator with the Los Angeles-based Elephant Action League, a recently established organization that gathers intelligence on wildlife crimes. This week, the nonprofit issued its report exposing the illegal fish-bladder trade in China and its consequences thousands of miles away. The league said it intends to expand its watchdog work on this issue in the coming months. By the mid-20th century, Chinese demand for certain fish bladders had eviscerated stocks of the giant yellow croaker, which once thrived off Chinas coast. If a person is lucky enough to catch one of these rare fish today, it can fetch as much as half a million dollars on the black market. Enthusiasm for fish bladders went unnoticed for decades by many in the West. However, in recent years that has changed as desire for the illicit product has led to the near extinction of the vaquita porpoise, which lives in Baja California and is the most endangered marine mammal on the planet. The totoaba, a 120-pound fish found in the Upper Gulf of Mexico, has a bladder that resembles that of the croakers making it a prime target of poaching. Its suspected that drug cartels pay local fishermen in the region to catch the fish and deliver the prized organ. While the six-foot-long totoabas are then dumped back into the sea, their dried bladders are shipped to Asia. At retail pricing, each bladder can fetch from $6,700 to more than $30,000 depending on its weight and other characteristics. In the process, the nylon gillnets used to catch totoabas in the murky waters off of the fishing village of San Felipe in Baja California also ensnare and suffocate a number of other wildlife species, including whales, sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, rays and those imperiled vaquitas. Scientists with international conservation groups estimate that fewer than 30 vaquitas remain today, down from about 567 two decades ago. The totoaba is also considered by international treaty to be endangered. Its unknown exactly how many are left. The Elephant Action Leagues undercover team, which includes retired law-enforcement officers from around the globe, visited more than two dozen shops in Shantou, China and the surrounding region in March. The area is believed to be a main trading hub for the bladders. They pretend to be buyers or traders, said Andrea Crosta, executive director and co-founder of the league, which employs a handful of full-time staff members and a network of about a couple dozen contractors around the world. They wear undercover cameras. We come back with audio and video that back up our words, he said. Many shop owners at first hesitated to speak with the leagues investigators, but eventually opened up and displayed their priciest fish maws. After the Chinese government began paying more attention to the illicit trade in recent years, many merchants responded by selling only to trusted customers and behind closed doors. However, this level of caution wasnt universal. Chinese laws on illegal wildlife trafficking are very harsh, but the problem is the implementation, Crosta said. Its not enough to just have the laws. They have to be enforced. Chinas government launched a campaign last fall to educate merchants on Chinese and Mexican laws banning totoaba fishing and bladder sales. Still, none of shop owners interviewed by the league could recall any seizures by law enforcement in their region. Because (when) the government comes to check, they call and inform us earlier, and we will hide them when they come. merchant from Nanao Island selling totoaba bladders On Nanao Island, a historical trading hub for fish maws just off the coast of Shantou, an investigator probed a dealer for information. If its illegal, why do you put them on display? the investigator asked. Because (when) the government comes to check, they call and inform us earlier, and we will hide them when they come, the merchant explained. Several shop owners advised the investigators to purchase only the most expensive gold coin fish maw to use as an important business gift or to bribe a government official for an especially lucrative contract. Investigators found a steady flow of totoaba bladders coming from Mexico into China, and many traders said thats because theyre betting on a collapse of the species. The merchants frequently said people buy the gold coin fish maws as investments, speculating that demand will eventually outpace supply and dramatically drive up market values. A primary smuggling route for totoaba bladders is believed to be from Mexico into the U.S. and then to Hong Kong and China, according to the new report. Thailand, which critics said also suffers from lax enforcement, is thought to be another key stopover for some shipments. Shop owners in Shantou said most of the fish bladders were coming from a port on the U.S.-Mexico border, transported in shipping containers alongside legal products such as codfish bladders. Mexican and U.S. officials have called the totoaba bladder aquatic cocaine. In fact, its often more expensive, with about two pounds of dried bladder routinely selling for as much as three and a half pounds of the powder drug. Wildlife trafficking in general is big business, with an estimated annual value of $2 billion in the U.S. and up to $23 billion globally, according to a 2015 report from the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C. It is routinely ranked among the top illicit trades worldwide. Moving illegal animal and plant products has drawn the attention of organized crime. In Baja California, drug cartels have been blamed for paying local fishermen to poach the totoaba bladders and then smuggling the contraband. The value of totoaba bladders in Mexico is approximately $1,500 apiece, according to some law-enforcement agencies. The pricing surges to about $5,000 per bladder after the organ is smuggled into the U.S. Its thought that trafficking of totoaba bladders attracts a lot of opportunists because its lucrative and relatively low-risk. Even people on the front lines moving the product rarely face consequences in China, Mexico or the U.S., judging by the scant number of prosecutions in those countries. The number of cases have (recently) decreased, said Michelle Zetwo of San Diego, a special agent with the law-enforcement division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That either tells me that the demand is down in China or theyre beating us coming across the border somehow. Or theyre shipping it directly from Mexico to China. The most high-profile totoaba case involved the prosecution of a man, Song Shen Zhen, caught crossing the border from Calexico into the U.S. with several of the bladders. After he was let go, Border Patrol agents trailed him to a house where they discovered more than 200 other dried bladders, estimated to have a total street value in China of more than $3.6 million. The U.S. Attorneys Office Southern District of California announced in 2014 that Shen Zhen was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay the Mexican government $120,500 in restitution. Under the law, he could have received up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In another case, Los Angeles-based furniture dealer Kam Wing Chan received probation and was ordered to pay $55,000 in restitution for, among other things, possession of several dozen swim bladders. 1 / 27 Sea Shepherd crew members Kate Parker, from the U.K., and Brandon Abitbol from Canada worked cut loose the corpse of a dolphin that had died after becoming entangled in a long line fishing rig, evidence of the fierce struggle that took its life after not being able to swim. The long lines are a thick line with very large baited hooks spaced out along its length and an go for as long a several miles. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 27 The corpse of a dolphin floated on the surface with its body wrapped in a long line fishing rig, evidence of the firerce struggle that took its life after not being able to swim. The long lines are a thick line with very large baited hooks spaced out along its length and an go for as long a several miles. The Sea Shepherd untangled the remains then removed the abandoned fishing system from the sea. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 27 Sea Shepherd crew member Brandon Abitbol worked to cut the body of an entangled dolphin from an abandoned long line fishing rig in the Vaquita preserve area. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 27 The former Japanese whaling boat, now known as the M/V Sam Simon, is one of three Sea Shepherd ships working in the Upper Gulf of California to protect the endangered vaquita. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 27 Pia Klemp, the second officer on the San Simon, looked at the radar while on patrol in the Upper Gulf. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 27 The Sea Shepherd boat Sam Simon sailed past San Felipe en-route to the restricted fishing areas of the Upper Gulf of California. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 27 Fishing boats sat at the dock in San Felipe. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 27 A fishing boat sat idle at the port in San Felipe. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 27 A small boat left the harbor at San Felipe before sunrise. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 27 Drone pilots Jack Hutton, front, and Rodolphe Villevieille, rear, flew the ships drones in the area where pangas were dragging hooks looking for abandoned nets. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 27 Mexican fishermen left the harbor at San Felipe to go out and search for abandoned nets and fishing gear that trap marine life and kills it at an alarming rate. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 27 Crew member Karolina Hojnowska, from Poland, removed a dead Spanish mackerel from a gill net that the crew had recovered from a beach in the Upper Gulf of California frequented by crews fishing illegally in the area. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 27 Crew member Caroline Scholl-Poensgen, from Germany, bagged up the dismantled components from illegal fishing gear that they had removed from the water. It will all be recycled into consumer items. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 27 Crew member Karolina Hojnowska, from Poland, front, and Rodrigo Gil, rear, worked to cut up an illegal net used to catch totoaba that the crew found the night before and removed after chasing of the crew that was deploying it. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 27 Rodrigo Gil, from Mexico, worked to cut up an illegal net used to catch totoaba that the crew found the night before and removed after chasing of the crew that was deploying it. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 27 Crew members Kate Parker, from the U.K., and Tom Zack, an ex-pat American who lives in Thailand, dismantled an illegal totoaba net they recovered at night after the ships drone scared the fishermen away. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 27 The radar of the ship shows many panga boats out fishing illegally at night in the Upper Gulf of California (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 27 Quartermaster Carlotta Zanlari, from Italy, used the ships radar to track fishing boats using nets at night in the Upper Gulf of California where they are illegal. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 27 The remains of a dolphin, not a vaquita, floated free after being removed from an abandoned long line fishing rig that had claimed the life of the mammal. Sea Shepherds ship, the M/V Sam Shepherd is in the background. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 27 Sea Shepherd drone pilot Jack Hutton readied a drone to launch after a suspected poaching boat was spotted. Minutes later the drone was above the poachers who heard the craft, panicked, and threw their nets in the water and sped away. The Sea Shepherd crew then moved in to the area with their ship the Sam Simon and recovered the net. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 27 Rodrigo Gil, from Mexico, worked to cut up an illegal net used to catch totoaba that the crew found the night before and removed after chasing of the crew that was deploying it. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 27 Sunshine Rodriguez is head of the larger of two fishing cooperatives that work in the area. He has taken a more confrontational approach to the two-year fishing ban and has demanded that the Sea Shepherd ships leave. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 27 Ramon Franco Diaz head of one of the two fishing federations in San Felipe, says that it is imperative that the Mexican government gives them vaquita safe fishing equipment so they can return to fishing. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 27 The extreme tidal movement visible in the upper gulf at San Felipe is evidence of the high volume of water movement that contributes to the richness of this region of the Sea of Cortez. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 27 A cyclist rides past a mural of a mother and baby vaquita painted on a building in San Felipe. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 26 / 27 Fisherman Javier Valverde steps off of a panga boat after returning from a day of dragging hooks behind the boat looking for abandoned nets in the vaquita preserve. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 27 / 27 A panga fishing boat crossed the harbor at San Felipe before sunrise. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) Fishermen in Baja California who catch totoaba largely have escaped serious fines and incarceration. Most of the illegal fishermen are not motivated by a little fine. Its so lucrative, said Oona Layolle, who heads an advocacy operation in the Upper Gulf of Mexico for the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. She oversees two boats that patrol the area, pull up banned gillnets and call in potential poaches to the Mexican navy. Every night we see 20 (illegal) fishermen around our ship on the radar, and I know they only arrested seven people in the last two years, she added. Mexicos law-enforcement leaders are promising to step up efforts again the unsanctioned fishing and smuggling. Last month, its Congress voted to make such poaching a felony, and a boat with three or more people found catching totoaba can face charges of organized crime. So far, these measures havent seemed to slow down fishermen in the upper Gulf, who sell totoaba bladders to middlemen in and around the town of San Felipe, said Sean Bogle, an investigative filmmaker with the nonprofit Wild Lens. A fisherman will go out and fish for totoaba, and theyre usually removing the bladder in the boat, he said. When they hit shore, there is an individual waiting for them, someone involved in an organized syndicate of sorts. Bogle recently directed the documentary Souls of the Vermilion Sea, which chronicles the impact of totoaba poaching on the dwindling vaquita population. In the process, he interviewed anglers and government officials close to the supply chain. From what I understand, going through the U.S. is the most common (smuggling) route, Bogle said. Theres definitely reports of it going out of San Diego, particularly on container ships. Twitter: @jemersmith Phone: (619) 293-2234 Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com We could be doing so much more to prevent cancer deaths, the American Cancer Society emphasizes in a new report. Released late Wednesday, the report, which has been published every other year since 1992, notes that progress in cancer prevention does not mean total success. The organization estimates that about 20 percent of the nearly 1.7 million cancer cases projected to occur in the United States this year could be prevented. Thats more than 300,000 preventable cases nationwide in 2017. Ann Goding Sauer, the American Cancer Society epidemiologist who put the report together, said there are reasons to celebrate and also to hope for more progress. Advertisement I think its kind of a mixed bag. We have had real improvements over the years in many types of cancer, but there are still gains to be made, she said. Take colorectal cancer screenings for example. While the science is very clear that people who start getting one of several different types of colon cancer screenings regularly once they turn 50, many Americans still dont follow through. In 2014, the most recent year for which nationwide results are available, 67.6 percent of men and women age 50 and older had gotten stool testing or one of two different forms of colonoscopy at recommended intervals which can range from every year to once per decade, depending on the technique. That means nearly one in three Americans are not taking advantage of the possibility that pre-cancerous polyps growing inside their intestines might be found and removed before they become cancerous. There is an even larger lack of action at the other end of the age range. According to the report, 41.9 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys age 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. This is despite the fact that some HPV infection can, in some cases, cause cervical, anal, throat and other rare cancers if left untreated. California is within a percentage point of the national rates for colorectal, cervical and breast cancer screenings and HPV vaccination but has some of the best rates in the nation for obesity and smoking which are both linked to significantly increased cancer risk. For example, 65.5 percent of Americans were considered overweight or obese in 2015, compared to 60.4 percent in California. However, that relationship is reversed in younger people. According to the new report, 16.5 percent of high school-aged children were overweight in the Golden State in 2015, a half percentage point higher than the rate nationwide. Only 11.7 percent of Californians reported smoking cigarettes in 2015 compared to 17.5 percent nationwide. Nearly 8 percent of high school students smoked compared to an estimated 18.8 percent in West Virginia which had the highest school smoking rate. So why dont more people take action in areas such as cancer screening, vaccination and making lifestyle changes? Leonard Jason, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago who has studied prevention avoidance, said there are many factors at work. Some do not have very good access to screening services or may have high insurance co-pays that discourage them from finding out about conditions whose treatment will cause them to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket. Others may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of tests and vaccinations that are recommended these days. And, of course, there is there is also a more primal piece of this puzzle. There is fear. Its scary to get screened for cancer. There is a certain amount of psychological denial where many people will say well, Ive already got too many other problems going on in my life right now, Jason said. There are, however, ways to fight back against the fear factor. Studies of blood donors, for example, have shown that raw fear can be overcome using visualization techniques to become more comfortable opening a vein. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Although Hunter Trautman is only 11, he knows that the marauding braves hes seen in movies and on TV are not honest Indians. I wanted to know the actual culture, said Hunter, a member of Spring Valleys Boy Scout Troop 355, the truth behind it. This weekend, Hunter and other Boy Scouts will be exposed to the real thing at the Barona Community Center on the Barona Indian Reservation. While fulfilling the requirements for Indian Lore merit badges, the boys will be guided by experts bonafide Indians. Advertisement Barona is inviting Boy Scouts from across San Diego County to engage in the tribes Indian Lore merit badge clinic from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The program is free, but reservations are recommended as space is limited to 100 Scouts. One requirement for this merit badge is to learn the history of an American Indian tribe, group or nation. Yet local Scouts have often overlooked local tribes. This is our first foray into reaching out to the Boy Scouts, said Laurie Egan-Hedley, director/curator of the Barona Cultural Center & Museum. Barona and other local Diegueno/Kumeyaay tribes are eager to share their traditions. By learning California Indian lore, Egan-Hedley said, the boys can play an active role in preserving this heritage and culture. Museum staffers will lead the program, and the boys will be welcomed by Barona tribal council members. A merit badge counselor will be on site to ensure that all requirements are met. While Barona will provide some snacks and drinks, participants should bring their own lunches. Each boy must be accompanied by an adult chaperone. Reservations can be made by calling the Barona museum at (619) 443-7003, ext. 219. The Barona Community Center is adjacent to the museum at 1095 Barona Road in Lakeside. Alex Jones backed down. Again. The far-right conspiracy theorist agreed Wednesday to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against him by Greek yogurt manufacturer Chobani. The key component of the settlement agreement required him to retract inflammatory comments about refugees and the company he made on his Infowars broadcast last month. During the week of April 10, 2017, certain statements were made on the Infowars, Twitter feed and YouTube channel regarding Chobani LLC that I now understand to be wrong. The tweets and video have now been retracted, and will not be re-posted, Jones said. On behalf of Infowars, I regret that we mischaracterized Chobani, its employees and the people of Twin Falls, Idaho, the way we did. Advertisement It marks the latest blow to Jones, who in March apologized and issued a retraction to a Washington, D.C.-based pizzeria for his broadcasts role in pushing a false story about a child sex ring that involved Hillary Clinton. And just over two weeks ago, Jones ex-wife won the right to determine who his three children would live with in a high-profile custody case in which his lawyers argued his on-air personality was a performance. Jones, whose YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers, drew the ire of Chobani when in early April he published a video and promoted it on Twitter with a headline that read Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Twin Falls last month, said that link had received more than 22,000 views as of April 21 and the tweet pushing it had more 147 retweets. Chobani said in its lawsuit that Jones statements have caused and continue to cause harm to Idaho residents, including Chobani employees, their families and other members of the Twin Falls community. The lawsuit sought damages in excess of $10,000 and a retraction and removal of the posts. Chobani didnt issue a comment on the settlement and would only say the matter has been resolved. The yogurt company was founded in 2005 when its founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, bought a shuttered Kraft yogurt plant in New York and began making and selling Chobani Greek yogurt. Six years later, the yogurt had become so popular the New York facility was operating at full capacity and Ulukaya bought and built a large $450-million plant in Twin Falls. An immigrant from Turkey, Ulukaya made no secret of his desire to employ refugees. In 2015, Ulukaya was honored with a Global Leadership Award from the United Nations Foundation for humanitarian efforts for refugees. He saw a good fit in Twin Falls, given its dairy production capability, open space and employment base coupled with the towns commitment to refugees. Twin Falls takes in between 150 and 300 refugees annually and has been doing so since the 1980s. The plant has more than 1,000 employees, which includes hundreds of refugees. Ulukaya told the Financial Times magazine last year: If a refugee has a job, they are no longer a refugee. Chobani starts employees between $12 and $15 an hour with benefits. Last year, Ulukaya gave shares of the company to its employees as a way to thank them and possibly turn some into millionaires. But Chobani drew the fire of Jones, who is allied with President Trump and has been a vocal supporter of travel bans for refugees. Idaho and Twin Falls may have looked like a sympathetic audience given it went solidly for Trump in November. So Jones targeted Chobani when, last summer, three children assaulted a 5-year-old girl. The story spread through right-wing media that the attackers 14, 10 and 7 were from refugee families. The false narrative pushed by Jones included the involvement of Syrians, rape and urinating in the victims mouth. Jones linked it along with some unrelated cases of tuberculosis to Chobani. All of it was untrue. But Twin Falls pushed back. Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said the lies were amplified and the facts were being discarded in favor of pushing an anti-refugee narrative that said refugees were bringing crime and disease to the community. City leaders and residents were angry about what Jones was broadcasting and some said they were glad Chobani filed the lawsuit. Mayor Shawn Barigar said Twin Falls had been welcoming refugees for decades and the City Council passed an ordinance saying they were a welcoming city for refugees. And a proposed ballot measure pushed by a small anti-refugee segment in Twin Falls last year failed to qualify only collecting 855 signatures well short of the 3,842 needed. Barigar complained Jones had never even been to Twin Falls and knew nothing about the community. He said Chobani has been a great employer and has boosted the regional economy. Just a few weeks ago, Jones had dug in his heels when Chobani filed the lawsuit. You just ran into a Texan, Jones said. So you get ready because were never backing down and our audience is never backing down. Until Jones did. Again. david.montero@latimes.com Twitter: @davemontero For the second time in two weeks, Rep. Darrell Issas curt interactions with reporters have brought him national attention. Last time, it was for bruskly brushing off a reporter who asked him how he planned to vote on a healthcare bill. This time, a reporter said the Vista Republican made an obscene hand gesture. What happened with Issa and tweets and The Bird have become a bit of a he-said-she-said situation. Advertisement On Tuesday, Rachael Bade, a reporter with Politico that covers Congress, said on Twitter that Issa reacted crudely after she asked him about reports that President Donald Trump has pressured recently fired FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation into any ties former National Security Director Michael Flynn had with Russia. I just asked @DarrellIssa abt the Comey news and he flicked me off literally gave me the middle finger and kept walking. Said nothing, Bade tweeted. After Bades tweet made the rounds on social media, Issa responded and said he has a professional relationship with Bade, but he didnt make that gesture. I respect @rachaelmbade and worked with her for years. I know she must have seen or heard something to believe this happened, but it didnt, he tweeted. Later, he added in a second tweet (cont.) On not answering @rachelmbades question, I have nothing against her, theres just limited time to talk when were rushing to vote! Shortly after Issas reply, Erica Werner, an Associated Press reporter that covers Congress, tweeted that she was near the exchange between Bade and Issa, but did not see if the congressman had made the gesture in question. I was there. Not in position to see the gesture but saw Issa turn to Rachael, her react. I believe @rachaelmbade, Werner tweeted. While Issa refutes what Bade said happened, his denial might not be making as much of an impact as reports that he made the gesture. As of Wednesday morning Issas two tweets in response were retweeted just over 400 times, roughly 30,000 fewer than Bades. The story has also given a new meaning to #flipthe49th, a recurring hashtag Issas opponents from Californias 49th Congressional District use on social media. It also raises a question about proper use of language: Is it flicked-off like Bade tweeted, or is it flipped-off? Bades tweet brought out another interaction between Issa and a reporter. I was following Issa at the CA GOP convention years ago w/a voice recorder, after turning a corner he just pushed me, Lee Fang, a reporter with The Intercept tweeted. He waited until we were away from everyone else and no one saw it, hes a thug. Issas office did not respond to a question about Fangs tweet. Regardless, the moment with Bade is second time Issas interaction with a journalist made national news. On May 2, The Hill reported that Issa tersely dismissed questions about how he intended to vote on the latest Republican health care bill. None of your business, the newspaper quoted Issa saying in response to questions from a reporter. None of our business? What about your constituents? Dont they deserve to know how youre going to vote on this? the Hill said one of their reporters replied. Youre not a constituent, Issa said in reply. Whatever his responses were, the reports have become fodder for Democrats that see Issas seat as one they can pick up in the 2018 midterm elections. His opponents, Doug Applegate and Mike Levin, both commented on the exchange, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called Issa unhinged and questioned if he was planning to end his nine-term career in Congress. Issa isnt going anywhere, his spokesman, Calvin Moore said. Theres still a lot he wants to get done for California in Congress ... Hes a key leader in Congress and looks forward to continuing that work, he said. Issa is on the short-list to lead the House Judiciary Committee, and if he got that post he would work on innovation, intellectual property law, patent reform, and other issues, Moore said. Issa defeated Applegate last year by 1,621 votes, the closest congressional race in the country. While Republicans have a voter registration plurality, the 49th District favored Hillary Clinton for president by a 7.5 percentage point margin over Trump. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 A man was wounded in a possible gang-related shooting at the Buena Creek train station near Vista Wednesday night, sheriffs officials said. The shooting at the Sprinter train station on Buena Creek Road at South Santa Fe Avenue was reported about 9 p.m. The gunman fired five rounds at the victim, who was wounded in the abdomen, shoulder and arm, sheriffs Detective John Taylor said in a statement. Medics took the victim, in his 30s, to a trauma center. He is expected to survive, Taylor said. Advertisement Deputies suspect the shooting was gang-related. They had only a vague description of the gunman, who wore dark clothes and a bandanna across his face. Taylor said there were one or two witnesses at the station at the time, but they didnt hear or see much. He planned to view security camera video to see if it caught the shooting. Breeze bus routes 305 and 332 were disrupted during the investigation. According to the North County Transit District, Sprinter service ended about 9:30 p.m.and the last train had stopped at the station before the shooting. Breaking News Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com Phone: (619) 293-1876 Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez Its not the first time James B. Comey and Robert S. Mueller III find themselves together at the center of an unfolding Washington drama. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller named special prosecutor for Russia investigation In March 2004, Comey, then deputy attorney general, was summoned to the hospital bed of his boss, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft. Advertisement Ashcroft, weak from gallbladder surgery, was under pressure from White House officials Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card to sign papers reauthorizing the domestic surveillance program secretly launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Ashcrofts wife was distraught about the visit from the White House counsel and chief of staff, according to testimony Comey later gave to a Senate committee. She called Comey to stop the uninvited visitors. Just the previous week, her husband had agreed not to reinstate the program. Comey called in help, asking Mueller, then the FBI director, and several top aides to meet him at the hospital. It was the start of a battle between the Justice Department and the White House. According to Comey, the White House renewed the program the next day without his approval. Since the White House had ignored the departments legal advice, Comey, Mueller and several other officials made plans to resign. It was only when President George W. Bush agreed to listen to Comey and Mueller and restructure the program did resignation plans go away. It was almost exactly 10 years ago, May 16, 2007, that Comey recounted the sequence of events before a Senate committee. That testimony examined the justification of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys during the previous year, and called into question whether Gonzales, at that point the attorney general, was fit to run the Justice Department. During the hearing, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a reference that will be familiar to anyone following President Trumps firings of Acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates and Comey. It has some characteristics of the Saturday Night Massacre, Specter said of Comeys account. On Wednesday, Mueller was named by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein to be special counsel to take over the Justice Departments Russia investigation. My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that prosecution is warranted, Rosenstein said. I have made no such determination. colleen.shalby@latimes.com Twitter: @cshalby Catherine Nadeau was never a supporter of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, but as a resident of historically conservative Orange County she had never bothered to get involved in local politics either. Donald Trumps surprise presidential win changed that. This has been a wake-up call for me that its very important, that you need to vote locally, Nadeau, 48, said as she and two dozen district residents waved signs about climate change outside Rohrabachers office on a recent sunny Tuesday. I cant do anything about getting Trump out right now, but I can do something in the next 567 days to get this guy out. Nadeau is among the newly energized residents giving Democrats hope they can claim at least some of the congressional seats in Orange County that have been red for a generation. Despite the vocal optimism from activists and local dissatisfaction with Trump, it will be an uphill battle for Democrats to flip the four heavily Republican congressional districts in Orange County, all but one of which the incumbent won in 2016 by double digits. More than a dozen resistance groups have formed in Orange County since the presidential election. Theyve demanded meetings with the four Republican members of Congress, and staged town halls in their name when the members decline. Theyve delivered petitions and Valentines and even protested outside the members homes. Most Tuesdays, at least a few dozen people show up with signs outside district offices (some of which theyve been told they can no longer enter). Theyre bolstered by the fact that last fall marked the first time Orange County chose a Democrat for president since 1936, a gradual decline in voters registering as Republicans and growing numbers of Latino and Asian voters. Ground zero So, 17 months before the 2018 election, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is making Irvine ground zero for its efforts in western states, with a full-time staff member brought in to help with races. The four targeted Republicans are Reps. Ed Royce of Fullerton, Mimi Walters of Irvine, Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Darrell Issa of Vista. They have been among the most lambasted after Republicans voted to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Though the minority party historically wins seats in midterm elections, the national Democratic Party faces a tough path to flip the 25 districts it needs to reclaim majority control of the House in 2018. Fewer and fewer congressional districts are considered competitive, so districts where the political parties think they have a chance such as places where voters picked a member of Congress from one party and a president from another can expect to see a lot of action in the coming months. (Radio and online attack ads are already running in Orange County.) Seven of the 23 congressional districts that sent a Republican to the House and also picked Hillary Clinton for president are in California. They need to cast a wide net for opportunities, and as soon as Donald Trump lost Orange County that set off some sirens at the DCCC, said Nathan Gonzales, editor of the nonpartisan political analysis site Inside Elections. But that doesnt mean voters there are suddenly Democrats Perhaps Republicans just didnt like Trump, Gonzales said. That doesn't make them liberals. I just dont know that we can throw away a couple of generations of history, of election results, after one race, he said. Except for president, Republicans won the majority of other races in Orange County, all the way down the ticket. The states voters rejected a ballot measure to require voter approval of revenue bonds, but the county voted 57.1% in favor. A vote signaling opposition to the Citizens United decision allowing money to flood into politics passed statewide but garnered just 46.6% in Orange County. Republicans still lead voter registration here, though they make up less than 45% of registered voters in any of the targeted congressional districts. Democrats have managed to narrow the registration gap over the last four years from 10 percentage points to 3.7 points, and they'll have to continue to chip away if they want to win seats. Almost a third of voters are registered as having no party preference, and Democrats are hoping to leverage independent voters to win. As one activist pointed out, the majority of voters in Orange County dont back the Republican Party, and might be willing to go in a new direction. The normal political rules dont seem to apply right now Orange County Democratic Party Chairwoman Fran Sdao said she has never experienced anything like this enthusiasm. The number of local Democratic clubs has nearly doubled since the election, and her phone rings off the hook with people asking what they can do to help. I don't think any of us could have predicted this surge in interest," she said. Were kind of in uncharted territory." Thats already attracted four Democrats challenging Rohrabacher, three in Walters district, two for Issa and one for Royce. Sdao said about a dozen more people have expressed interest in running. Which candidate has the best chance to grab a Republican seat? Narrowing the field may be the most delicate part of Democrats balancing act. The national Democratic Party has a history in California of backing candidates who can raise a lot of money but dont always have strong local ties. The first hints of that habit are popping up in Walters 45th District, where the national party appears more excited about UC Irvine associate law professor Dave Min over UC Irvine law professor Katie Porter, who has been active with the local resistance groups. Both Democrats have started making appearances at the protests outside of Walters office. After this story was published, a spokesman for the DCCC said the party supports all the Democrats in the race. And at the local level, Sdao said Democrats arent picking favorites just yet. They just need to go out there and talk to people, Sdao said. Were just going to hope they weed themselves out a little bit. Picking battles Democratic strategist Mike Trujillo said Democrats have a better chance of flipping seats in the Central Valley, where theyve trained operatives and built a political infrastructure over years of challenging the regions Republicans. In 2016, voters reelected Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) but also backed Clinton for president. I dont believe you have that same cohort of field organizers that have been trained in Mimi Walters district, or Dana Rohrabachers district, Trujillo said. When you have the infrastructure in place like we do in the Central Valley it just gives you the edge and it makes the chances of flipping those districts even better. Democrats have to set their sights on more seats than they expect to win, and that probably includes some of the long-shot Orange County seats, he said. You sort of have to over-target if we really want to flip the House. You cant just go after the 25 seats that we need, he said. Constituents from Californias 48th Congressional District protest in Huntington Beach in an effort to get Rep. Dana Rohrabacher to hold a town hall meeting. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) A heavy lift Flipping seats held by the other party for generations with 17 months of investment isnt a light lift, said California Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe. In his Irvine law office, Orange County Republican Party Chairman Fred Whitaker seemed pleased by the idea of Democrats aiming to win local races. Let them spend their money, Whitaker said with a laugh. If they are spending all their money here where were going to win, then that allows us to win in other places where Democrats might have a chance across the nation. He noted that Rohrabacher won reelection in 2016 by 16.6%, Royce by 14.4% and Walters by 17.2%. Even in the closest race, where Issa eked out a win over a novice opponent with 0.6%, or 1,621 votes, the congressman performed strongly in the Orange County section of the district. Whitaker also dismissed the activists as the same group of people moving from district office to district office. Orange County doesnt respond real well to mass protests, Whitaker said. It does nothing but help us. California 45th organizer Amy Stevens smiled at Whitakers take. Thats OK. I would love for them to continue to think that way, because that will mean that they wont fight hard enough and it gives us an even better chance, the 43-year-old from Mission Viejo said. Stevens joined two dozen people to march from Walters Irvine office to a nearby intersection to wave signs. At protests throughout the county, people told the same story: They didnt realize how many of their neighbors were frustrated with Republicans until after the election and the womens marches that took many by surprise the day after the inauguration. Stevens, a lifelong Democrat, said she respected Walters experience as a local volunteer and even voted for the Republican in her first race. We were all really complacent before this election, thinking that we lived in safety and things werent that bad in Orange County, Stevens said. People who lived here just sort of assumed it was red and the Democratic Party assumed it was red too. I dont think there was very much effort made to make any change. sarah.wire@latimes.com Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter Read more about the 55 members of California's delegation at latimes.com/politics ALSO: California's Republicans all voted yes on the healthcare bill. Now Democrats have a campaign issue Will California's surge of liberal activism pull legislators to the left? Updates on California politics UPDATES: 9:45 a.m.: This article was updated with a comment from the DCCC on the 45th District candidates. This article was originally published at 12:05 a.m. A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to graffiti on the front and back of my house. During my childhood, the gangs in Barrio Logan tagged everything, but this incident still upset me and I stood staring at it asking why someone would do this to me and my neighbors. Three days later, Police Chief Shelly Zimmerman presented Mayor Kevin Faulconers proposed budget for the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) to the public, and I listened to citizens testify about their unease over public safety. They shared their stories of burglaries, public intoxication, graffiti and other quality of life crimes happening in their neighborhoods. Its clear now more than ever that the SDPDs recruitment and retention problem is revealing itself in experiences like these. This is the result of our police officers being asked to do more with less which in practice means doing less of the things they should be doing more of. Officers deal with this daily, so it shouldnt be a surprise that the SDPD has struggled with retaining and recruiting police officers. This is rapidly becoming a vicious circle. Advertisement Related: Police recruitment, retention must be priority in San Diego In 2012, the SDPD proposed and the City Council unanimously approved the Police Departments Five-Year Plan. The plan intended to increase sworn officers to 2,128 to accomplish two pillars of a police department: improve response times when called and increase community policing by enhancing officer proactive time. The city has spent over $140 million to implement this plan. But it clearly hasnt worked. Last year, I authored a report called The San Diego Police Officer Retention Crisis. In response, the City Council requested as part of the 2017 budget that the SDPD conduct surveys of officer morale and exit interviews with officers who leave. It was the City Councils hope that Mayor Faulconer and Chief Zimmerman could analyze this and other data and develop a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan. Unfortunately, this never happened. No comprehensive plan exists, and the city has made no progress in understanding the SDPDs retention problem or how to solve it. While the city stands idly by, the problem rapidly worsens. Attrition of SDPD officers has increased and police academies are half-empty. As a result, total sworn officer staffing is falling to dangerous and unprecedented levels. We currently have 50 fewer officers than this time last year and fewer officers on the job today than there were in 2012 before the five-year plan was adopted. We are on track to have less than 1,800 officers by July, the lowest level in the modern history of the SDPD, and over 200 officers short of our goal in the five-year plan. The SDPD is responding to emergency calls, but it simply doesnt have the manpower to effectively respond to quality of life calls like rowdy parties, car break-ins and petty theft. Unless the city turns this around, crime rates are likely to rise and it will be difficult to implement true community policing strategies. But just when its more important than ever for the city to step up and face this problem, Mayor Faulconer has proposed stepping back. In last years budget, the City Council included $4 million to fund heightened recruitment and retention efforts. Unfortunately, the mayors proposed budget for next year eliminates this funding. Recognizing the urgency of the problem, the San Diego Police Officers Association has suggested allowing more police officer overtime to meet minimum staffing levels as a stopgap measure. Though costly, this is the only way to keep this problem from getting worse in the short term. I hope that the mayor revises his budget proposal for next fiscal year to include funding for this overtime proposal. Even more importantly, the city must work with the San Diego Police Officers Association on a long-term proposal to increase police officer pay, reduce attrition and enhance recruitment. There is a recent precedent for this. Last year, 911 call wait times increased to unacceptable levels. In response, the city negotiated a large pay increase for police dispatchers (911 operators) that received unanimous support from the City Council. Since then, dispatcher staffing has increased and 911 call wait times have improved. Our police officers deserve the same level of attention, respect and appreciation. San Diegans should always feel safe in their neighborhoods. In a safe city, police respond quickly to emergencies and to quality of life crimes like graffiti. Faster police response requires more police offices. In order to increase police staffing, SDPD needs to become a place where our officers want to spend their entire careers. For that to happen, we need find a way to pay them more. Alvarez represents District 8 on the San Diego City Council. His website is www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd8/about. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconers revised budget proposal rightly addresses two pressing needs, setting aside $100,000 for a national police chief search and $150,000 for a study to explore why San Diego is having problems recruiting and retaining police officers, leaving the department with 213 vacancies out of 2,039 budgeted officer positions. Some on the City Council and in the police union want a more immediate staffing solution, but Faulconers approach is astute: Lets wait to understand the problem before throwing money at it. Advertisement One area where we hope Faulconer does listen to council members and the community is funding for the arts. While his revised budget restores some arts funding, it still cleaves 15 percent from the arts, a $2.3 million reduction that has drawn sharp criticism from arts leaders in the community and others. Faulconers new budget proposes putting more money into city reserves, which is smart. But he stressed last month when unveiling his initial budget proposal that, per city policy, it fully funds general fund reserves at 15 percent of the fiscal 2018 budget. Thanks to increased revenue projections, Faulconers new proposal to sock away another $10.3 million to meet the fiscal 2019 reserves target a year early is laudable, but using enough of that extra money to avoid slashing the arts at all would be a smart move culturally, politically and financially. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Trump should not be talking to Russians Regarding Report: Trump shared intelligence with Russians (May 16): With months of claim, spin, flopping and twitching over Donald Trump and his teams connections and possible collusion with the Russians, why was the president even in the same room with those Russian officials, let alone joining in the smiles, laughing and glad-handing? I seriously question this mans judgment. James Ransom San Diego Advertisement Trump has every right to do what he did ISIS is the common enemy of the United States, Israel, Russia, et al. If the president of the United States passed along some secret information to Russia to help Russia thwart, crush or otherwise nullify an imminent action by ISIS, he should be praised, not vilified. We should all keep in mind the ancient proverb, The enemy of my enemy is my friend. On another subject, President Trump has a right to express his thoughts on any subject to anyone in his administration. His desire regarding Mike Flynn was not an order to the head of the FBI, not an obstruction of justice and not an uncommon action for any president. Paul Sims Solana Beach Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Trump implies anyone can be the president Great. Now I read that Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is thinking about running for president. Donald Trump has lowered the bar so much that now anyone with an inflated ego thinks he can run the country. Help us all. Tom Harpley San Diego Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Former president should not benefit from the job Regarding Nothing wrong with Obamas speaker fee (May 15): I think it is sad for a letter writer to believe that there is nothing wrong with Barack Obama, or any other former president, accepting a large fee for a speaking engagement. Particularly when the speech was obviously written by others and was, in part, self-serving. To suggest otherwise is indeed an indication of the loss of propriety, dignity and integrity by all of us. Harry Truman was given many job offers after leaving office but refused them all. He rightly felt that the offers were made because of the office he once held and that the office was not for sale. It belonged to the people of the United States. Too bad that integrity seems to have been lost. Roger Wolfe Advertisement La Mesa Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Why are we hearing from the Obamas? No longer president, Obama is growing a huge carbon footprint traveling around the world lecturing our President Trump on how to do his job and America on how much meat we should eat and getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars while doing it. Mrs. Obama is complaining that President Trump has told school kids they get to eat food that they will actually eat and not just throw away. Its about time and none of her business. What happened to decorum where the last president sits down and lets the new president administer? We didnt hear from George W. Bush when Obama took office so how about Obama learning by example? Maybe he should redistribute some of that wealth as we are paying him a whopper of a retirement and go learn to paint or something. His days as a rabble-rouser community-organizing president are done and I dont want to hear from him anymore. Scott Rieker San Diego Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. June 1 is the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, considered the most influential album ever. The surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and Apple, their record label, will mark the event next week by releasing a variety of new versions of the album, some of which include alternate recordings of the 13 original songs. The hype over the anniversary has already begun building and is likely to become a pop-culture phenomenon by Mays end. Many music historians buy the idea that Sgt. Peppers virtuosic eclecticism and its instrumental and technical experimentation mostly by McCartney and songwriting partner John Lennon and producer George Martin inspired pop music to new heights of ambition. Many also accept the view that it elevated the importance of the album over the single at least until the iTunes era made it so easy to buy songs a la carte. Advertisement But after 50 years, whats also true is that there is huge dissonance over Sgt. Peppers value, legacy and more. Here are three examples: Its the best album of all time/its not even the best Beatles album: In 2012, Sgt. Peppers topped Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, based on a survey of dozens of critics and music industry veterans. The magazine wrote ... Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is the most important rock & roll album ever made, an unsurpassed adventure in concept, sound, songwriting, cover art and studio technology by the greatest rock & roll group of all time. From the title songs regal blasts of brass and fuzz guitar to the orchestral seizure and long, dying piano chord at the end of A Day in the Life, the 13 tracks on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band are the pinnacle of the Beatles eight years as recording artists. ... Yet Sgt. Pepper is the Number One album of the RS 500 not just because of its firsts it is simply the best of everything the Beatles ever did as musicians, pioneers and pop stars, all in one place. Sgt. Peppers has also topped many other similar polls, with effusive praise for the stunning originality of A Day in the Life, the haunting story told in Shes Leaving Home, the raucous snark of Good Morning Good Morning and the pop showmanship of the title song. But there are plenty of music critics and Beatles historians who dont even agree that it is the best Beatles album, much less the best album ever. Revolver in particular is considered superior, with less polish than Sgt. Peppers but better and more enduring individual songs. Writing last year for BBC.com, critic Greg Kot made the case: It does everything Sgt. Pepper did, except it did it first and often better. It just wasnt as well-packaged and marketed. ... Tomorrow Never Knows set a high standard for an album that moves from one peak to the next: [George] Harrisons corrosive guitar lick and McCartneys commanding counterpoint bassline in Taxman made for one of the Beatles toughest-sounding tracks ... . The melancholy beauty of Here, There and Everywhere answered the challenge of Brian Wilsons Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds, Doctor Robert and And Your Bird Can Sing achieved jingle-jangle guitar-pop perfection, and the horn-fueled Got to Get You Into My Life channeled Motown and Stax soul. Other critics prefer Rubber Soul, which inspired Wilson to be bold and come up with the seminal Pet Sounds album, which in turn inspired The Beatles on Sgt. Peppers. The Beatles (the White Album) and Abbey Road also have their fans. It launched the concept album/it doesnt even have a coherent concept: Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz notes that Woody Guthries 1940 Dust Bowl Ballads album about life during the Depression certainly has a better claim to be the first concept album. But the concept that McCartney came up with and sold to his bandmates the simulation of a live performance by a fictitious band ... [helped] bring the idea of a concept album to the attention of the mass media and public it was (and arguably still is) the most famous example of one. In doing so, Sgt. Pepper legitimized the rock album ... an artistic achievement arguably unequaled before or since. This reverence is shared by Rolling Stone, which in 2012 called the album an unsurpassed adventure in concept. But many other critics think this is an utter crock. They note Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Lennons description of a psychedelic experience, has absolutely nothing to do with McCartneys jaunty When Im Sixty-Four, about an Englishman imagining life as he ages. That song in turn has absolutely nothing to do with Harrisons Within You Without You, an ode to Hindu mysticism inspired by his trip to India. Only a few of the songs deal with the fictitious band. The list of people who think the concept claim is absurd includes Lennon. As Salon magazine pointed out this month, just before Lennon was murdered in 1980, he told journalist David Sheff that ... Sgt. Pepper is called the first concept album, but it doesnt go anywhere. ... All my contributions to the album have absolutely nothing to do with the idea of Sgt. Pepper and his band, but it works cause we said it worked, and thats how the album appeared. But it was not as put together as it sounds, except for Sgt. Pepper introducing Billy Shears and the so-called reprise. Every other song could have been on any other album. That seems a pretty definitive debunkment. It features Lennon and McCartneys collaboration at their peak of creative genius/oh, baloney, they barely worked together: The 2012 Rolling Stone tribute to Sgt. Peppers asserts that the album was the Beatles main songwriters zenith, with each egging each other on to greater inventiveness and bolder choices. Certainly A Day in the Life, which many consider the bands single finest song, fits this assertion McCartneys gloriously caffeinated middle section (Woke up/fell out of bed) book-ended by Lennons darker vision of life in England. So does the back and forth role-playing between Lennon and McCartney in singing the lyrics of Shes Leaving Home and Getting Better. But as Ian MacDonald laid out in Revolution in the Head his endlessly entertaining 1994 book about the context and the circumstances of the recording of every single Beatles song by 1967, such collaboration was mostly the exception. Unlike the early years of constant touring, when Lennon and McCartney would work up songs in hotel rooms, on buses and anywhere they had a free moment, the men were increasingly crafting songs almost entirely on their own while continuing their longstanding practice of sharing credit on every song either penned. The title song and its reprise version, When Im Sixty-Four, Fixing a Hole and Lovely Rita, were McCartneys. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Good Morning Good Morning and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! were Lennons. So there you have it: the yin and yang of the Beatles most famous work. And also fodder to disagree with just about anyone who says anything about Sgt. Peppers. Reed, an ASCAP member (really) who has never written a song, is the deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section. Twitter: @chrisreed99. Email: chris.reed@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion The selection of Robert Swan Mueller III on Wednesday to serve as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department s investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. election suddenly changed the narrative in Washington where the firing of FBI Director James Comey eight days ago had cast a shadow of doubt over the federal investigation. In picking Mueller, a former FBI director who served under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama , the Justice Department satisfies earlier calls for independent oversight some Democrats and Republicans made after President Donald Trump fired Comey on May 9. Mueller has bipartisan support and is seen as a credible option to lead an ongoing investigation into links between Russia and Donald Trumps presidential campaign. Politicians on both sides of the aisle applauded the selection. Mueller will still answer to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein but with greater autonomy, The New York Times reported. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, however, I determined that a Special Counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome, Rosenstein said in a statement. Muellers role is expected to be a temporary one until the FBI finds a permanent replacement for Comey. The White House said Comey was fired over his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clintons emails. But in a memo revealed Tuesday, Comey alleged that President Trump asked him to let go of his investigation into Trumps ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn. What makes Mueller a welcome pick in Washington to lead the investigation? Here are three reasons. Extensive law-enforcement career For 12 years from 1976 to 1988, Mueller served in the U.S. Attorneys Office in San Francisco and then in Boston where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud cases, terrorism, and public corruption as assistant U.S. attorney, according to his biography. Between the late 1980s and the 1990s, Mueller worked as a private litigator before returning to public office in 1998 when he was named U.S. attorney in San Francisco and then U.S. deputy attorney general until 2001. In 2001, Bush named Mueller as FBI director. After Obama came into office, Mueller was asked to stay an additional two years beyond his 10-year term until Comey was named the new director in 2013. Decorated Marine veteran Mueller joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 and later attended Army Ranger School and Army jump school before he did a tour in Vietnam, where he commanded a rifle platoon, according to a biography of him on Time magazine. Mueller reportedly led the rescue of a trapped rifle platoon in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star, along with other medals including the Purple Heart, two Navy Commendation Medals and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry. Political independence A story in The Washington Post in 2001 identified Mueller as a registered Republican, but said people around him describe him as apolitical, a key asset to the role in overseeing an investigation with high political stakes. Mueller has served under Democratic and Republican administrations and has enjoyed support from liberal lawmakers such as Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-San Francisco. Mueller was confirmed unanimously by both Republican and Democratic Senators in 2001 when he was appointed by Bush and again in 2013 when Obama asked for his extension. Have some thoughts to share? Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard. Like the homes they help make cozier, the owners of Contract Carpet are all about family. Contract Carpet is a full-serve flooring company with showrooms in Carmel Mountain Ranch and Encinitas. Its myself, my husband, and our son Nick and daughter Stacey, as well as some very special people who have been with us a very long time and who are like family to us, said owner Susie Dixon. She and her husband, Marty, started the company in 1985 when Nick was a young child and Stacey was only a day old. Contract Carpet offers carpet, tile, stone, wood, laminate and vinyl floor coverings, as well as area rugs. The business also offers a custom window covering service to help match a new floor covering choice. Customer service is the most important part of what we do and always has been, said Dixon. We like to educate our customers and make sure that what theyre looking at is the right fit for them. According to Dixon, Marty, especially, will turn down business rather than sell someone something they dont really need. They trust him because he is genuine, said Dixon, adding that because of Martys honest approach, most of the people who use Contract Carpet services are either repeat customers or someone who has been referred to the business by a past customer. Adding to its appeal, Contract Carpet also offers free estimates and guarantees all labor. Our installers are really talented, skilled craftsmen, Dixon said. We couldnt have been so successful without them. The Dixons also can attribute some success to Susies father, who was in the business long before the couple ventured out on their own. Marty worked for his father-in-laws flooring company before it was closed, then pondered the idea of opening his own shop. He wanted to do it for a while but you know, when youre young and just getting the family started and trying to save, its hard, Dixon said of her husband. Then, Ill never forget when we were in the hospital and I had just had our daughter, our youngest, he said. Thats it, Im doing it, and the very next day, he went out and got us started in Encinitas. The family expanded with the Carmel Mountain Ranch location in 1994. With more than three decades of business behind them, the Dixons could have easily branch out with even more locations. However, according to Dixon, its their commitment to customer service and the idea of only having employees who are more like family that has kept the company at just two locations. Though most of the business revolves around residential customers, Contract Carpet also caters to commercial clientele. It also specializes in fire and water damage needs. Contract Carpet is a member of the San Diego Floor Covering Association, the San Diego Better Business Bureau, the North San Diego Business Chamber, the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce and the World Floor Covering Association. The 1,000-square-foot Carmel Mountain Ranch showroom is at 11658 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 130, while the 1,500-square-foot Encinitas showroom is located at 191 N. El Camino Real, Suite 112. Both showrooms are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays. To learn more, visit www.contractcarpet.com or call (858) 451-9717. The subject no one cares to discuss: The destitute U.S.-born children of illegal aliens. Mexico is a nation very much under siege by drug cartels, internal widespread government corruption, and illegal trafficking of high-power weapons from the United States destined to arm the drug cartels. The Mexican public has gotten used to the frequent drug cartel vendettas and/or shootouts with the Mexican Marines, which every month leaves a great number dead. The media commonly report on the newly found unmarked mass graves or the mutilated cadavers abandoned by countryside roads, and the assassinations of government officials and news reporters. For the drug cartels, nothing or no one is sacred. For the small border town Mexican worker lacking opportunities for a job, it is a no-brainer: Cross the border illegally into the USA in search of a better life. It is human nature. Rather than live in fear and the agony of failure, and ignoring all of the perils that may be associated with such a decision, the possibility of a U.S. job is an irresistible lure. And for us and the small U.S. businesses, the undocumented immigrant became the coessential worker for whom the employer pays no health insurance, no overtime pay, and no taxes or Social Security, and will work hard for meager wages. If addition, if the undocumented worker dares to complain, the employer reserves the right to call La Migra. Still, for most undocumented workers, what lays ahead looks far better than what they are leaving behind. Being born of undocumented parents in the United States must be hell, to live in the land of the free never knowing if they are ever going to see their parents again when they return home from school, unable to go to the places or do the things all other children do, forced to live alienated, on the fringe of society, feeling and knowing that far too many among us detest their parents with passion and want them removed from our nation. Under public pressure, our federal legislators have passed laws aimed at getting rid of the undocumented, the argument being it is a necessity and an integral part in making our nation safe and great again. What is incomprehensible to me is how we, the nation that professes to be the greatest ever and the cornerstone of freedom and democracy for the world, has found itself in need to become great again. Moreover, in the middle of our new national obsession to become great again, we find ourselves in the unholy business of separating some parents from their children, and while we are on the subject, will someone please explain to me (and for the benefit of the public at large) how is the threshold of greatness determined and when did we lose our national greatness. It has always been the law and accepted for the illegal parents of these children to be jailed for having committed civil crimes and to have stiff sentences imposed on them. Buy when by decree our government separates an American-born child from his or her natural parents, then it becomes a human atrocity, and to bear witness and remain silent is to betray all we claim to the world we are. It is easy to comprehend that these unfortunate children did not ask either to be born, or where they would be born, or who their parents would be. I am way past three quarters of a century old, and I have yet to see a human right come out of two human wrongs, and it is my sincere hope that my letter to the Ramona Sentinel gives some voice to the innocent among us. I do not find an easy answer as to what to do with the children born of undocumented workers living in the USA. In a perfect world, our government could facilitate legality to their parents, but no can do. It is a disgrace and a great injustice what our governmental policies are doing to these children, but the majority of the public is asking for their parents blood and the country mind is such. I know what many of us think, that it is not our problem, they asked for it when they crossed the border illegally. While there is truth to that, we are now stocked with the American-born children of deported workers, and they are our responsibility. The majority of the nation follows what Simon says, and Simon said that the illegals bring crime, diseases, and are rapists. That image is very hard to let go of and for far too many of us in middle USA is the only image we have of the undocumented worker. I do not in any way, shape, or form support illegal immigration, but I do firmly believe in the respect to human rights, and those children for no fault of their own find themselves in limbo right in their own country. Oscar A. Quinones is a Ramona resident. Kolkata, May 18 (IBNS): State Bank of India has come forward to promote the traditional heritage of folk art prevalent at various parts of the country. To implement the initiative, the Alipore Branch in Kolkata has been given a new look to showcase the marvel of selected folk painting, artworks and artifact. The display will give opportunities to the visitors at the branches to familiarize them with these unique memorabilia. State Bank Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya in presence of Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director (NBG) and Partha Pratim Sengupta, Chief General Manager, Kolkata Circle inaugurated the Glimpses of Folk Art of Bengal at Alipore Branch, Kolkata. The display contains Kalighat Patachitra, Heritage print collections, Wood cut prints, Terracota and Dhokra works, famous clay dolls of Krishnanager, Wooden Crafts of Santiniketan, Chow musk etc. which will no doubt be the connoisseurs choice. This initiative will be roll out at other selected branches of the Bank throughout the country to uphold and promote the cultural heritage of different States of India in coming days. HAVANA (AP) A group of Afro-Cuban Santeria priests said Saturday the path is clear for improved dialogue between the U.S. and Cuba following the two governments announcement of plans to renew diplomatic ties. The babalawo priests annual Letter of the Year also foresaw dangers of epidemics, conflicts, environmental imbalances and the loss of religious or political leaders general projections that have been common in past such Letters. Lazaro Cuesta, one of the founders of the Commission of the Letter of the Year, said the planned restoration of ties, announced on Dec. 17, with the U.S. opens a period of hope for all the world. Advertisement Our Cuban brothers who are there (in the United States) will avoid being victims of the walls that separated us until yesterday, he said. Those walls collapsed to create a bridge. The commission represents about 1,000 babalawos and is independent of the government. Another Santeria group, the government-recognized Yoruba Association issued its yearly message on Thursday. It did not mention ties with the U.S. and urged people to avoid social indiscipline. Santeria is a mix of Roman Catholicism and the African Yoruba tradition. The annual Letter is released each year around New Years Day. Advertisement Fifteen years after raping and strangling 18-year-old Shannon Conway and dumping her body near California State University San Marcos, Michael E. Williams admitted to it in court. The investigators whose pursuit of the cold case led to Williams arrest and his guilty plea in July are to be honored Monday for their work with a statewide law enforcement award. San Diego County sheriffs Detective Rick Scully and district attorneys Investigator Dan Ahrens, both now retired, are to receive the Best Cold Case Solved award from the 3,000-member California Peace Officers Association at its annual law enforcement expo in Ontario. The case is one of four Aherns and Scully solved in their two years as partners on the sheriffs cold-case homicide team, said sheriffs Sgt. Roy Frank, who supervises the team. This turned out to be one of those cases that had a lot of evidence so much, the suspect pled out, and that doesnt happen a lot in homicide cases, Frank said. The murder investigation began on July 30, 1995, when a motorist found Conways naked body on Craven Road west of Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos. Near her body in the dirt was her blue windbreaker jacket, an empty Mountain Dew plastic bottleand tire tracks. An autopsy determined Conway had been raped and strangled. Sheriffs homicide investigators found witnesses who had seen Conway, a transient originally from Los Angeles, in Ocean Beach the night of July 29 get into a gray pickup with a man who appeared to be in the military. Investigators arrested a man in the case about a month later, but the charges were dropped two months later when tests showed that his DNA and fingerprints didnt match those found in evidence. The case sat unsolved for the next 12 years, until Scully and Aherns got it in 2007. Aherns, a former Oceanside police homicide investigator who had joined the District Attorneys Office as an investigator, was assigned to the sheriffs cold homicide case team with Scully. Frank said the two initially were intrigued by the case because DNA tests had cleared the only suspect. They reevaluated the evidence, submitted samples for new DNA analysis, interviewed witnesses and reconstructed the crime scene. On July 28, 2008, the DNA results provided a match with Williams, a Mississippi prisoner serving time for child molestation. Until that conviction, his DNA had not been in a law enforcement database. His prints also matched a palm print on the Mountain Dew bottle. When Scully and Aherns interviewed Williams, he denied knowing Conway, Frank said. Williams also denied having owned a gray pickup, although Mississippi police records showed he had gotten two traffic tickets in a gray Mitsubishi pickup in 1995. The wheelbase on that model of pickup fit the size of vehicle that left tracks in the dirt near Conways body, Frank said. We believe Shannon was transported in the bed of the pickup and dumped at that location near the university, Frank said. We believe he slid her out, and the other items, the Mountain Dew bottle and her jacket, fell out. Frank said investigators believe Williams drove the pickup to Mississippi soon after the murder, got rid of it at some point, and it was later dismantled. The detectives learned Williams had been in the Navy, assigned to the Naval Training Center in Point Loma in 1995. He was declared a deserter a few days before Conways death. Aherns and Scully had Williams extradited from Mississippi to San Diego in 2009 to face a murder charge. Frank said he talked to Conways mother after Williams arrest. That was probably the most satisfying phone call I ever made, to hear her voice and how happy she was about it, said Frank, who had spent nine years on the homicide squad. She was extremely emotional. After pleading guilty to Conways rape and murder, Williams was sentenced in August to life in prison without parole, a sentence he will begin to serve after completing his 40-year sentence in Mississippi. It wasnt just the DNA and fingerprints in this case, Frank said. They were great. But all the other little things made the difference. It may be a long shot, but a pro-nuclear environmental organization based near San Luis Obispo wants to bring the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station back to life. I think it can happen if were allowed to make our case, said Gene Nelson, government liaison for Californians for Green Nuclear Power, which contends that nuclear power is essential for the state to meet its clean energy targets in the coming years. But can San Onofre, which has not produced electricity since January 2012 and is well into the third year of a 20-year decommissioning process, realistically get back up and running? Advertisement Rob Nikolewski tours the decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Ive heard from far too many people (who say), Once weve flipped the switch, its irreversible, Nelson said. I dont think thats true. CGNPs members see the recent decision by the California Public Utilities Commission to reopen the controversial $4.7 billion San Onofre settlement as a potential opening. The original settlement reached in March 2014 called on utility ratepayers to shoulder about 70 percent of the costs of shutting down the nuclear plant. Southern California Edison is the majority owner of the plant and oversees its operations. San Diego Gas & Electric, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, owns 20 percent. After recent disclosures published in The San Diego Union-Tribune of a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland, between an Edison executive and then-CPUC President Michael Peevey, a CPUC administrative law judge decided to give the decommissioning deal another look. Nelson said CGNP has filed paperwork with the CPUC in the hopes of being heard before the commission when the case is reopened. Its a matter of getting the information out to people so they can actually understand whats at stake, Nelson said in a telephone interview. The CGNP, which is also fighting the decision by Pacific Gas & Electric to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, says the state is becoming too reliant on a fossil fuel natural gas for electricity and does not think renewable energy sources such as wind and solar can make up the difference as nuclear power goes offline. The ratepayers are already being stuck with higher bills because of the higher replacement power costs, Nelson said. The solution, as CGNP sees it, is to replace the failed steam generators that led to the closing of San Onofre and get the facility back online. But Tom Palmisano, the plants chief nuclear officer, says that would be unprecedented. Working with the federal governments Nuclear Regulatory Commission, San Onofre had its operating license changed in 2013 to prevent the station from putting fuel in its reactors. In addition, Palmisano said, Ive not been maintaining equipment because its retired ... Theres no salvage value. Its all going to be removed and disposed of as part of decommissioning. Palmisano said he did not know of any cases in which a decommissioned plant was revived. Nobody has ever closed a plant permanently and re-licensed and restarted a plant, Palmisano said. Nobody has ever gone backwards. A former president of the American Nuclear Society, who has called the shutting down of San Onofre a tragedy for California, said earlier this year that bringing the plant back online at this point is almost impossible. Don Hoffman, president of Maryland-based Excel Services, which has expertise in recommissioning nuclear plants, said, The only way to re-license it is under all the current standards, not the standards to which it was initially designed and built. And (youd have to) license it all over again. And the time and the effort and the cost of that is just insurmountable. Nelson said his group has made some crude estimates that getting San Onofre producing electricity again would cost about $1 billion. Thats a hefty sum but Nelson said its significantly cheaper than the $4.7 billion proposed in the original settlement approved by the CPUC. Still, the obstacles appear to be huge ranging from the technical challenges of reopening the plant to the question whether the CPUC grants CGNP status as a party intervenor not to mention the intense response that would come from anti-nuclear activists at the prospect of ever bringing San Onofre back online. Yes, this is definitely an uphill battle, Nelson said. But we recognize the stakes are too big and thats why we dont take no for an answer readily. Image: twitter.com/Infosys Bangalore, May 18 (IBNS): Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, has partnered with Shivganga Samagra Gramvikas Parishad, a NGO working for development solutions of rural India, to work for the sustainable development of tribal villages of Jhabua - Alirajpur districts of Madhya Pradesh. The objective of the collaboration is to transform the village and its community in a holistic and integrated manner, covering aspects related to education, vocational training, community development and conservation of natural resources. The grant provided by The Foundation, aimed at benefitting 500,000 villagers over a period 5 years, will facilitate a planned, holistic development program. "Some of the intended milestones of the program include running a skill development program to empower tribal youth, establishing a training center at Dharampuri village, and creating awareness and training of village youths for prosperity through conservation and enrichment of natural resources. Technical training, establishment of village libraries and investments in energy solutions are some of the other impactful initiatives that are part of the program," a company statement claimed. Speaking about the initiative, Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation said, It is in the heart of the villages that India lives. Development of our villages by creating sustainable livelihood opportunities is quintessential to accelerate the economic growth of India. The Foundation in collaboration with Shivganga Samagra Gramvikas Parishad hopes to play a catalytic role in the development of these villages, enable and raise the aspirations of those living in the villages of Jhabua - Alirajpur districts, and provide them with the means to achieve dignified lives. Washington, May 18 (IBNS): NASAas annual survey of changes in Arctic ice cover greatly expanded its reach this year in a series of flights that wrapped up on May 12. It was the most ambitious spring campaign in the region for NASAas Operation IceBridge, an airborne mission to monitor ice changes at Earthas poles, which also included a rapid-response flight over a new crack in Petermann Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-changing glaciers in Greenland. This has easily been our best year ever for surveying sea ice, said Nathan Kurtz, IceBridges project scientist and a sea ice researcher at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Geographically, we covered a wider area than ever before, and the new instruments we deployed during this campaign have given us denser and more accurate measurements. IceBridge explored for the first time the Eurasian half of the Arctic Basin through two research flights departing from Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The mission also took measurements of a recently formed crack on the ice shelf of Petermann Glacier, read the NASA statement. This Arctic season, IceBridge completed all of its sea and land ice baseline flights surveys that are repeated year after year to measure regions that have been evolving rapidly over the last decades. In total, the mission carried out 39 eight-hour flights in 10 weeks. Of those, 13 focused on surveying sea ice, while the remaining 26 flights targeted land ice. Several flights included collaborations with international Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) missions teams to collect and compare measurements of snow and ice. The largest one was with CryoVEx, a campaign dedicated to validating data gathered by ESAs (the European Space Agency) CryoSat-2 satellite, but IceBridge also coordinated data collection with a group of European adventurers collecting snow depth data while doing a traverse toward the North Pole, with ESAs Sentinel-3A satellite, and with a GPS survey near Summit Station, Greenland, designed to validate future measurements by the upcoming Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission, among other collaborations. IceBridge's first research flight took place on March 9 onboard NASAs Wallops Flight Facilitys P-3 Orion aircraft. As with every year, the first part of the campaign was dedicated to overflying the Arctic Oceans sea ice cover, plus several fast-changing land ice areas from two sites: Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland and Fairbanks, Alaska. But this campaign, the IceBridge team added an extra base: Longyearbyen, Svalbard. From there, the mission was able to reach areas of the Eurasian side of the Arctic Ocean that had not been explored by IceBridge before. While analyzing preliminary data, Kurtz said that he was intrigued to see that the layer of snow on sea ice in the Eurasian side of the Arctic is currently thinner than what snow depth climatology models based on older measurements predict. The new snow measurements will help better understand changes in the Arctic sea ice cover and help constrain satellite measurements to make sure theyre accurate, Kurtz said. IceBridge also expanded its scope westward with a flight to the western side of the Chukchi Sea, a sea situated between Alaska and Russia. It was the first time the mission ever crossed the International Date Line. In mid-April, the IceBridge team was alerted to a crack on the floating ice shelf of Petermann Glacier. Stef Lhermitte, an associate professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, had just discovered the rift while going through satellite imagery. Lhermitte wrote about his observations on Twitter and the NASA manager for the cryospheric sciences program learned about the tweets. Serendipitously, IceBridge was then planning on flying one last mission over Petermann. The day before the flight, we worked late into the evening to redesign our Petermann flight plan to overfly the new rift according to the coordinates Stef [Lhermitte] sent us, said John Sonntag, IceBridge mission scientist. This achievement was only possible because of the long-standing culture of international scientific openness and cooperation. IceBridge and other NASA missions, which make their data freely available to all comers worldwide, go a very long way to perpetuate and strengthen this culture. The new rift intrigues scientists because it is much further upstream from the glacier's front than other cracks, which could create a large iceberg when it finishes tearing through the ice and potentially make the ice shelf and the glacier it buttresses unstable. Whether this happens or not, the new measurements of the rift IceBridge collected will help researchers better understand the evolution of cracks. Getting fresh data on this newly developed rift is exciting. Because its so new, well have a better handle on its evolution, said Joe MacGregor, IceBridge deputy project scientist and glaciologist at Goddard. I look forward to seeing what comes out of these measurements. The final part of the campaign was based in Kangerlussuaq, in west Greenland, and focused on land ice. As with every Arctic campaign, IceBridge hosted a teacher from the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States PolarTREC program. This year, the participant was Adeena Teres, a science teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Teres wrote a blog on her IceBridge experience and participated in live chats from the airplane with K-12 classes across the U.S. In total, the IceBridge team conducted 65 classroom chats from the P-3 and from the ground during this campaign that reached 1414 students in 14 U.S. states, plus Mexico and Canada. This summer, IceBridge will carry out two additional campaigns to gauge how the melt season impacts Arctic sea and land ice. The first survey will take place in late July and will be based out of Thule, focusing on the multi-year sea ice cover north of Greenland and in the Canadian Archipelago. The second one, starting in early September, will operate from Kangerlussuaq and replicate land ice missions that IceBridge completed this spring. Both campaigns will use smaller planes with a more limited set of instruments than the regular springtime flights. The mission of Operation IceBridge is to collect data on changing polar land and sea ice and maintain continuity of measurements between ICESat missions. The original ICESat mission ended in 2009, and its successor, ICESat-2, is scheduled for launch in 2018. Operation IceBridge is currently funded until 2019. The planned overlap with ICESat-2 will help scientists validate the satellites measurements. Image Credits: NASA/Gary Hoffmann Americans strongly supported entering World War I in 1917. A lot of that enthusiasm died when they heard about the draft. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join The idea of a military draft has never sat comfortably with Americans. When conscription was introduced during the Civil War, it sparked a three-day riot in New York that left over a hundred dead and hundreds more injured. When President Woodrow Wilson called for a new draft in 1917, the countrys response was divided. Some, like the editors of the Post, strongly supported bringing back conscription, as seen in this April 7, 1917, editorial, Raising an Army, written just days before Congress declared war and published the day after. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today Others expected the new draft to be met with violence. One Missouri senator told the secretary of war that a draft would result in the streets of our American cities running red with blood. The speaker of the house declared there was precious little difference between a conscript and a convict. Even the judge advocate general of the U.S. Army said that a military draft is not in harmony with the spirit of our people. All our previous experience has been that it causes trouble and that our people prefer the volunteering method. Yet it was this same man, General Enoch Crowder, who successfully launched the new Selective Service System. Crowder made the draft more acceptable to the public by putting it under local, civilian control. Starting in the spring of 1917, the Selective Service set up 4,648 boards run by responsible citizens county clerks, lawyers, doctors, and community leaders. Rather than military officers choosing which boys to send into war, the draftees neighbors and friends would hold the responsibility. On June 5, during the first registration (there would be two more), these boards which covered all 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico began registering every American man between the ages of 21 and 30. The boards then determined which men were available for military service. Each man was issued a registration number between 1 and 10,500 (the maximum number registered with any draft board). On July 20, a lottery determined the number holders eligibility for service. How successful was Crowders Selective Service? Between June 1917 and November 1918, it registered 24 million men and sent nearly 3 million into the Army. (Neither the Navy nor the Marines wanted draftees in their ranks.) Among the drafted men were 64,000 who requested to be listed as noncombatants. Despite widespread suspicion that these conscientious objectors were cowards, malingerers, or enemy agents, almost 90 percent of the requests were granted. It is interesting to note that 16,000 of the conscientious objectors eventually changed their minds about fighting. One of these was Medal of Honor recipient Alvin York. After a minister convinced him that military service was compatible with his faith, York rose to the rank of sergeant and, one day in 1918, infiltrated the German lines, seized 35 machine guns, and killed or captured more than 150 enemy soldiers. Despite the apparent success of the Selective Service, the system wasnt any more perfect than the Americans it served. For example, the state of public health in America was so bad in 1917 that one-third of the conscripts were rejected for medical reasons. Another problem was draft dodgers. Crowder estimated that 3.6 million men never even registered. And of those who registered and were conscripted, 12 percent dodged military service. Crowder had made the draft less objectionable to Americans, but he never eliminated their dislike of the program. Resistance to the draft climbed steadily during the Vietnam War years. Of the 27 million men eligible for military duty between 1964 and 1973, the Selective Service chose 2.2 million. Over 15 million deferred their service, mostly to finish a college degree program, which many did as slowly as possible. Over 200,000 avoided the draft illegally, 100,000 deserted, and an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 fled to Canada. We wont know if Americans attitude toward the draft has changed until the next draft is called. Featured image: Saturday Evening Post cover by Julian De Miskey from May 11, 1918 (SEPS) Dr. Norm Diamond used to patch arteries as an interventional radiologist, but now he has found a new calling taking photographs in an unexpected setting. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join Norm Diamonds 30-year career as an interventional radiologist required intense precision daily. The ever-changing technological landscape of the field kept Diamond on his toes as he treated a wide variety of diseases with minimally invasive techniques. For example, he describes a procedure in which he used a catheter the size of overcooked angel hair pasta to patch a bleeding artery. Dyes, stents, and imaging technology were among the tools Dr. Diamond used until retiring in 2012. Then he took up a different set of tools: lenses, lights, and tripods. His second chapter got its start in 1979 when he captured an image of a Holocaust remembrance plaque in Paris. The plaque, at the School of Hospitalieres-Saint-Gervais, reminds pedestrians of the 165 Jewish children taken from the school to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Noubliez pas, the plaque reads Do not forget. Others recognized the beauty and pathos of Diamonds photograph of the plaque with two children playing in the foreground. It was acquired by Holocaust museums in Paris, Jerusalem, and Dallas. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today Diamond continued taking pictures as a hobbyist, but after retiring from medicine, he devoted himself to the art form, using it as a way to reflect on his emotionally taxing career. He cites the evocative photography of Cig Harvey, Jay Maisel, and Debbie Fleming Caffery as influences on his work. He found his own muse in the storytelling capacity of everyday household articles. Diamonds book, What Is Left Behind: Stories from Estate Sales, features 66 photographs he captured while visiting hundreds of estate sales around Dallas over the course of a year. The photos display poignancy, humor, and often a Texas flair. Diamond was drawn to photograph estate sales because of the unique emotional magnitude of each object he encountered. In the preface of his book, Diamond says, The stark reality of lifes brevity pervades every estate sale, where childrens toys sit a few feet from wheelchairs. Like a prepped patient, an estate sale is a life splayed open and on display. Items that presumably held considerable significance at one time can be found for $2.50, like the framed portrait in Diamonds image Man of the House. Diamond explores the emotional nature of objects in his collection. His stills capture history. Some are personal, like Wedding Night Negligee, and others are more public, like Twenty Years Later, a shot of an issue of The Dallas Morning News commemorating JFKs assassination that someone kept for decades. The themes of generational passage and the poignancy of aging are what moves me. My ancestors came to this country in the late 19th century, and they were more interested in becoming Americans than they were in recounting their past. That genealogy was never really passed down to me, Diamond said. Diamond believes his second career as an art photographer has been informed by his experiences in medicine. In his training to become an interventional radiologist, he was taught to suppress any emotional expression with his patients. This was best for the patient as well, he said. But Diamond believes this professionalism has affected his own relationships and given him a dark worldview. The work was very consuming. It was something that occupied all of my attention, even when I wasnt there. Through his photography, Diamond hopes to inspire others and to heal himself: My images appeal to certain people. They move certain people, and that, to me, is a very gratifying thing. The journey through time offered by his snapshots of discarded trinkets is sometimes mournful and sometimes droll, but it is always compelling. If objects could speak, these would have a great deal to say. Much like his first successful photograph, Diamonds work has a running theme of paradoxical nostalgia and the emotional bearing of the inanimate as it seems to say, Do not forget. Cartoons: Military Merriment From plummeting planes to awkward homecomings, these World War II soldiers can find the humor in just about anything! Post Editors Manchester, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2017 -- With the Australia 457 skilled worker visa recently being abolished, many students have been worrying, unsure what their futures hold. However one UK based immigration specialist James Freeman, is reassuring both international and future international students, stating that they're still going to be welcome in Australia going forward. The 457 temporary skilled worker visa is set to be replaced with a more stringent Temporary Skill Shortage visa in March next year, however the Australian government has themselves said that student visas and post-study work rights are not going to be affected. Although the government has spoken out saying that students are not going to be affected, many have been expressing concerns on social media platforms obviously doubting what the government is telling then and concerned regarding their intentions. Garth Coates is a company that is here for these people, and they are available to offer advice and guidance to those looking to study in Australia both this year and in the future. A spokesperson from James Freeman was incredibly keen to comment on this saying, "As we have said before, and are probably going to find ourselves saying multiple times in the future, it is vital for all to stay calm and not to worry. Student Visas for Australia have not been affected, and those wishing to study down under are still able to do so. If anyone would like our assistance, we are always only a phone call away." About James Freeman James Freeman is a company specialising in emigration law and relocation, able to help those looking to emigrate to Australia, America, Canada and more. James Freeman is able to assist with emigration advice and visa applications for work, study and family based reasons, therefore no matter what your individual circumstances may be we are certain that they will be able to assist you. For further information regarding this company and view their entire list of services, simply take a look at their easy-to-navigate website today. PR Contact Company Name: James Freeman Contact Name: Michael Thorpe Website URL: www.jamesfreeman.org.uk Contact Number: 0161 826 4977 Contact Email: michael.thorpe@jamesfreeman.org.uk Address: Conavon Court 12 Blackfriars Street Manchester M3 5BQ NY, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2017 -- Synopsis In real terms, the Saudi Arabian construction industry's output contracted by 1.9% in 2016, following average annual growth of 6.2% during the preceding four years. This decline was mainly due to low oil prices and the country's high fiscal deficits; both reduced the government's spending power. GET SAMPLE REPORT @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1286505-construction-in-saudi-arabia-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2021 The country's construction industry is expected to contract further in real terms in 2017 by 0.2%, before regaining growth momentum. Growth over the forecast period (20172021) is expected to be supported by government focus on developing transport infrastructure, energy and utilities facilities, and affordable housing across the country. Under the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 and the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, the government plans to develop sea ports, railway lines, airports and manufacturing facilities, with an aim to reduce the country's dependency on the oil sector and reduce unemployment. The industry's output value in real terms is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.44% over the forecast period, compared to 4.48% during the review period. Summary Construction in Saudi Arabia, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021 report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into the Saudi Arabian construction industry, including: - Saudi Arabia construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activity - Analysis of equipment, material and service costs for each project type in Saudi Arabia - Critical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, and the risks and opportunities they present to participants in the Saudi Arabian construction industry - Profiles of the leading operators in the Saudi Arabian construction industry - Data highlights of the largest construction projects in Saudi Arabia Scope This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Saudi Arabia. It provides: - Historical (2012-2016) and forecast (2017-2021) valuations of the construction industry in Saudi Arabia using construction output and value-add methods - Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by project type - Breakdown of values within each project type, by type of activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by type of cost (materials, equipment and services) - Analysis of key construction industry issues, including regulation, cost management, funding and pricing - Detailed profiles of the leading construction companies in Saudi Arabia Reasons to Buy - Identify and evaluate market opportunities using standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies. - Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts. - Understand the latest industry and market trends. - Formulate and validate strategy using critical and actionable insight. - Assess business risks, including cost, regulatory and competitive pressures. - Evaluate competitive risk and success factors. Key Highlights - Saudi Arabia is currently facing a shortage of affordable housing as a result of its growing population and urbanization. According to the Saudi Arabia's Housing Ministry, 3.3 million new housing units are required to be built by 2025, in order to address the country's chronic housing shortage. Consequently, the government is taking help from foreign countries to build residential buildings in the country. In September 2016, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to build 100,000 new homes in Al-Ahsa province. - In 2016, the government launched NTP 2020 with an investment of SAR268.0 billion (US$71.5 billion), in order to increase revenue from non-oil sectors and reduce its reliance on oil products. Under this program, it plans to increase the revenue of non-oil sectors from SAR163.5 billion (US$43.6 billion) in 2016 to SAR530.0 billion (US$141.0 billion) by 2020, while increasing non-oil products' export value from SAR185.0 billion (US$49.3 billion) to SAR330.0 billion (US$88.0 billion). - The government plans to increase the productivity and efficiency of the country's aviation industry. Accordingly, it is focusing on the expansion of airports under the public-private partnership (PPP) and build, operate and transfer (BOT) models, with an aim to handle 100 million air passengers by 2020. - The government is focusing on the development of renewable energy infrastructure with an aim to reduce their dependency on natural oil and gas. Under the National Renewable Energy Program, the government plans to install 54.0GW of new renewable energy power plants across the region, with an investment of SAR408.8 billion (US$109.0 billion) by 2040. - The government's commitment to pursuing quality development and increasing expenditure on educational infrastructure is expected to support the institutional construction market over the forecast period. Under the school construction project of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Saudi Arabian government plans to build 44,411 new schools across the country by 2020. Table of Content: Key Points 1 Executive Summary 2 Industry Outlook 2.1 Commercial Construction 2.2 Industrial Construction 2.3 Infrastructure Construction 2.4 Energy and Utilities Construction 2.5 Institutional Construction 2.6 Residential Construction 3 Key Issues and Developments 4 Market Data Analysis 4.1 Construction Output and Value Add 4.1.1 Construction output by project type 4.1.2 Construction output by cost type 4.1.3 Construction output by activity type 4.1.4 Construction value add by project type 4.2 Commercial Construction 4.2.1 Commercial construction output by project type 4.2.2 Commercial construction output by cost type 4.2.3 Commercial construction output by activity type Continued ACCESS REPORT @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1286505-construction-in-saudi-arabia-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2021 Get in touch: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 Twitter: https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2017 -- With the increasing enterprise size, need for robust communication tools has also increases. Such factors have resulted in the increase in demand of hosted PBX market in Canada. The hosted PBX market in Canada is expected to experience higher demand during the forecast period 2017 to 2025. Considering this fact, a new research report titled "Hosted PBX Market - Canada Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025" has been recently published on the huge online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). This report is a professional and in-depth analysis of the present situation as well as the future outlook of the Hosted PBX Market in Canada. Request for Sample Report: http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2909 The report predicts that the Hosted PBX Market in Canada will surge at a remarkable CAGR of 18.2% during the forecast period 2017 to 2025, reaching US$1.75 billion by 2025. Factors responsible for this growth are rising demand for enterprise mobility and workforce and the multiple benefits offered by hosted PBX services such as elimination of additional set up costs and minimized operational expenses. Increasing adoption of wireless services in small, medium and large enterprises is also likely to fuel the demand for hosted PBX market in Canada. This report identifies the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, risks and opportunities that influence the present nature and future prospects of this market along with the major indicators and trends. An attractiveness analysis has also been included for each segment and sub-segment in the report, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the overall scenario in the hosted PBX market in Canada. Additionally, the study provides an overview of different strategies adopted by the key players operating in the Canadian market. It also provides all the vital information required to understand the major developments of different segments and sub-segments and companies' business strategies to efficiently compete in the market. The hosted PBX market in Canada is broadly classified on the basis of enterprise size and end-use application. On the basis on enterprise size, the market is bifurcated into small and medium enterprises and large enterprises. Based on application, the major segments in the Canadian hosted PBX market are telecom and IT, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, government, hospitality, retail, education and others. The prominent vendors engaged in the hosted PBX market in Canada are 3CX, Bell Canada, BroadConnect Technologies Inc., Mitel Networks Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Alpha Telecom Services Inc., Allstream Inc., Birch Communications, Voysis IP solution Inc., AstraQom International, Ringcentral and Telus Communications. Details such as business strategies, SWOT analysis and product offerings have also been provided in the research report. Browse Full Report with TOC: http://www.mrrse.com/canada-hosted-pbx-market About MRRSE Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords. MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSE's repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting. Contact State Tower 90, State Street Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559 Email: sales@mrrse.com Follow Us on LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse Follow Us On Twitter-https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Washington, May 18 (IBNS): NASA is asking scientists to consider what would be the best instruments to include on a mission to land on Jupiteras icy moon, Europa. NASA Wednesday informed the science community to prepare for a planned competition to select science instruments for a potential Europa lander. While a Europa lander mission is not yet approved by NASA, the agencys Planetary Science Division has funding in Fiscal Year 2017 to conduct the announcement of opportunity process. The possibility of placing a lander on the surface of this intriguing icy moon, touching and exploring a world that might harbor life is at the heart of the Europa lander mission, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. We want the community to be prepared for this announcement of opportunity, because NASA recognizes the immense amount of work involved in preparing proposals for this potential future exploration. The community announcement provides advance notice of NASAs plan to hold a competition for instrument investigations for a potential Europa lander mission. Proposed investigations will be evaluated and selected through a two-step competitive process to fund development of a variety of relevant instruments and then to ensure the instruments are compatible with the mission concept. Approximately 10 proposals may be selected to proceed into a competitive Phase A. The Phase A concept study will be limited to approximately 12 months with a $1.5 million budget per investigation. At the conclusion of these studies, NASA may select some of these concepts to complete Phase A and subsequent mission phases. Investigations will be limited to those addressing the following science objectives, which are listed in order of decreasing priority: Search for evidence of life on Europa Assess the habitability of Europa via in situ techniques uniquely available to a lander mission Characterize surface and subsurface properties at the scale of the lander In early 2016, in response to a congressional directive, NASAs Planetary Science Division began a study to assess the science and engineering design of a future Europa lander mission. NASA routinely conducts such studies -- known as Science Definition Team (SDT) reports -- long before the start of any mission to gain an understanding of the challenges, feasibility and science value of the potential mission. The 21-member team began work almost one year ago, submitting a report to NASA on Feb. 7. The agency briefed the community on the Europa Lander SDT study at recent town halls at the 2017 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) at The Woodlands, Texas, and the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) in Mesa, Arizona. The proposed Europa lander is separate from and would follow its predecessor -- the Europa Clipper multiple flyby mission which now is in preliminary design phase and planned for launch in the early 2020s. Arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey of several years, the spacecraft would orbit the planet about every two weeks, providing opportunities for 40 to 45 flybys in the prime mission. The Clipper spacecraft would image Europas icy surface at high resolution, and investigate its composition and structure of its interior and icy shell. Wednesdays community announcement in no way obligates NASA to solicit future proposals. Image Credits: NASA JPL On my way straight from Kenyas Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to a meeting and stuck in one of the citys endless car jams, my taxi driver began a conversation about the lack of rain. A veteran of countless conversations with his counterparts in London, which normally end up with a rant against the government of the day, I was wary. This one, however, was different. It was wide-ranging, comprising a discourse from him on the merits of drought-resistant maize seed and the challenges of accessing it, interspersed with my own reminiscences of farm life as a boy on the other side of the continent in Ghana and the challenges of smallholder farmers access to global markets. Every family connected to agriculture This exchange reminded me of one of Africa's great realities: no matter where you are or what you do, every family is in some way connected to the land. Agriculture remains a vast still largely untapped resource for the continent awaiting the long overdue green revolution. Fortunately, there are increasing signs for optimism regarding agricultural development in Africa. According to the 2016 African Agriculture Status Report, after decades of stagnation, Africas farms have registered sustained agricultural productivity growth since 2005. If we are to ensure that agriculture can play its true role as a catalyst in achieving sustainable development in Africa, we must take decisive action. Paul Boateng International organisations are also prioritising agriculture. For instance, the African Development Banks annual meeting to be held next week (22-26) in India under the banner Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa, a meeting that I will be attending. Why is this theme significant? Africa harbours immense agricultural potential, which can help power its socioeconomic transformation. With some 200 million hectares, Sub-Saharan Africa boasts half of the worlds arable land that can be used for agricultural production. The sector also remains the backbone of Africas economy, accounting for 24 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the total value of goods produced and services provided annually across the region and employing just over 60 per cent of local labour forces. Agricultures role in the continents future economic development is only set to grow, with its food and beverage markets predicted to reach US$1 trillion by 2030. For the most part, however, the continents agricultural promise remains unfulfilled. The sectors productivity lags behind other developing regions, which affects Africas food security and imperils future economic growth. The continents farmlands and rangelands are increasingly degraded, resulting in lower crop yields for farmers. In addition, 95 per cent of agriculture in African countries is rain-fed, and the continents reliance on its agricultural sector and low levels of irrigation make it particularly vulnerable to changes in climate patterns. Infrastructural problems and a lack of appropriate financing further hamper the sectors growth. Why ST&I is essential If we are to ensure that agriculture can play its true role as a catalyst in achieving sustainable development in Africa, we must take decisive action. I believe that investing in scientific and technological innovation is essential to boosting agricultural productivity and alleviating poverty. Scientific research can create the higher-yielding, resilient food crops needed to boost agricultural growth, and improve our citizens well-being. For example, before the introduction of drought-resistant maize in South Africa in 2002, average yields in South Africa were around 2.4 tonnes per hectare. According to agricultural economist, Wandile Sihlobo, these actually increased to around 5.3 tonnes per hectare in 2013/2014, the highest average commercial yield on the African continent. These GM maize crops have also proven to be more tolerant against armyworm, an invasive pest causing havoc in Uganda, as well as other African countries, than conventional crop varieties. I was also impressed to learn about the development of the orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) on the continent which the World Food Prize called the single most successful example of micronutrient and vitamin biofortification. At a recent event held by the Planet Earth Institute, we heard from Robert Mwanga, a member of the team from the International Potato Center (CIP) that developed this innovation. Mwanga and his colleagues, Maria Andrade and Jan Low, developed disease-resistant, drought-tolerant, high-yielding OFSP varieties that can flourish in the diversity of soils and climates in Sub-Saharan Africa. What makes this innovation especially valuable is that the scientists have bred vitamin A and other crucial nutrients into these staple crops, which can reduce hidden hunger for millions. Since 2009, the successes of the CIPs work have been shared throughout the region, with nine countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda releasing 56 new superior varieties, 40 of which are orange-fleshed. These products can play a vital role in enhancing food security on the continent and combatting vitamin A deficiency, which affects more than 43 million children on the continent. Financing key to agricultural sector An increasing number of African countries have also found that investment in space science and technology can provide essential data for decision-making in agriculture. Nigerias first orbiting satellite, NigeriaSat-1, for instance, provides data and imagery to help monitor conditions that may affect the countrys farmers who make up 70 per cent of its workers. The satellite was also used to create the first detailed map of the country, allowing the government and policymakers to determine where farming takes place, and provide better support for its large rural communities. Finally, according to the African Development Bank, low levels of special financing are one of the major constraints in boosting the agricultural sector in African countries. The latest technologies can help enhance access to finance for the continents smallholder farmers who comprise 80 per cent of local agricultural workers. In Kenya, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, UAP Insurance, and telecoms giant, Safaricom, partnered to create Kilimo Salama (Safe Agriculture), an insurance product for Kenyan farmers. Using the MPESA gateway, a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service a widely used, the product will offer farmers, who plant on very small fields, insurance policies to protect them from significant financial losses incurred during drought or excessive rainfalls. Given that such programmes can truly enhance farmers productivity, I would encourage the continents private sector companies to explore similarly impactful activities that can generate a competitive financial return. As Makhtar Diop, the World Banks vice-president for Africa, writes, A vibrant, sustainable and resilient agricultural sector is vital for Sub-Saharan Africas economic future. I hope that, moving forward, we will see new partnerships developing in which the private sector works with universities to take advantage of the new enabling environment that central bank governors and ministers of finance and agriculture are creating on the ground in Africa. This is the surest pathway to move from striving to thriving in agriculture, with science and innovation as its foundation. Paul Boateng is a former chief secretary to the UK Treasury and is chair of the Planet Earth Institute and the Nairobi-based Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund. He can be contacted at [email protected]. There is a new discovery that gives hope for patients suffering from stomach cancer. Based on numerous studies performed on tomatoes regarding their anticancer properties, new data shows that whole tomato extract is potential for stomach cancer and could prevent cancer cells from recurring. Scientists from the US and Italy have a recent discovery that shows anti-cancer properties from the whole extracts of the San Marzano and Corbarino variety of tomatoes, fighting off cancer cells. These varieties block the mutation and cloning properties of the malignant stomach cancer cells. Professor Antonio Giordano, Director of the Sbarro Institute of Molecular Medicine at temple University in Philadelphia and his team posted their study in the Journal of Cellular Physiology. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 28,000 stomach cancer cases will occur this year. The disease is also known as gastric cancer and is prevalent among adults. Most adults that suffer these type of cancer cells are at the age range of 65 years old and above. Previous studies manifest that certain compounds like lycopene and carotenoids, the element responsible for tomato redness, have anti-cancer cell properties. Giordano and his team are in focus of whole tomato extract that has very little result from the past researchers, a research gap that they have to address reports Medical News Today. The scientists' findings also show the mutation and replication of stomach cancer cells prevention from recurring by the whole tomato extract from the same varieties of tomatoes. Cancer cells migration are also hampered when escaping cells flee to attack nearby healthy cells. The process eventually exterminates the cancer cells. The findings also report that more than one compound from the whole tomato extract is responsible for the extermination of gastric cancer cells and not only one as previously believed, says study co-author Daniela Barone, Oncology Research Center of Mercogliano, Italy, reports Science Daily. Gastric cancer is the fourth-ranked cancer disease worldwide. The cancer cells development is attributable to genetic in nature, helicobacter pylori infection, eating habits from smoked or salted foods, says collaborative researchers Professor Barbara Nicolaus group and Dr. Rocco de Prisco from the National Research Council, Pozzuoli, Italy. It seems that the fruit of scientists' efforts in the search for HIV treatment is about the ripen. United States' HIV epidemic is about to end in 2025. According to Baltimore Sun, scientists from Women's Hospital in Boston and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and Brigham revealed that the HIV epidemic is close to its end in the coming years. After all those years of detection, treatment, and prevention, the HIV epidemic could now reach its end after the scientists see a track. Science Daily reported that the researchers revealed a path that is expected to eliminated domestic HIV infection through several milestones that will start in the year 2020. HIV infection will be reduced annually until it reached the target of 21,000 by the year 2020 and another 12,000 by the year 2025. As per the calculations of the scientists, when the goals will be possibly met, the year 2025, the total number of people in the United States who carries HIV epidemic would decline. Study co-author, Dr. David Holtgrave, chair of the Department of Health at Bloomberg School said that the good thing with the targets is that it could be achieved with the help of sustained and intensified national commitment in the next 10 years. Dr. Holtgrave further added that "It's critical to note that the key to end the HIV epidemic lies in the willingness of the United States to supply and invest in the necessary resources to diagnose, prevent and treat HIV." At the same time, the mortality rate is visualized to drop at about 12,522 in 2025 or around 24 percent. The projections will be used by the scientists to potentially end the HIV academic in the United States as the main drive to reach the benchmarks set by the National HIV/AIDS Strategy or NHAS. The benchmarks are expected to be attained in 2020 and were first released by former US President Barack Obama in 2010. NASA and many other space agencies are looking into launching satellites to the Earth's orbit. However, none of them managed to make one as small and as light as an Indian teenager did. Rifath Sharook designed a tiny satellite weighing only 64 grams for an international competition. Not only did he manage to produce what was said to be the world's lightest satellite device but he was also given the honor to launch it with NASA next month. Science Alert reported that the very small satellite will undertake on a 4-hour mission launched from NASA's own Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on June 21. Once positioned properly in microgravity, the durability of its 3D-printed casing will be tested. Sharook's satellite was designed completely from scratch. He said that it has a "new kind of on-board computer" and eight built-in sensors that can help measure acceleration, rotation and even the magnetosphere of the Earth. The device was entered into the Cubes in Space competition, which was run by education company called idoodlelearning, and is supported by NASA and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. NASA has always been open to seeking ideas outside its team of expert scientists and engineers, proving that good scientists can be found anywhere. In March, the agency made waves when its data was corrected by a 17-year-old student from the U.K. Just a few weeks ago, the agency also announced that it will be launching a device invented by 17-year-old Anna-Sophia Boguraev. The challenge encouraged students to invent a device that could fit into a 13-foot cube and weigh no more than 64 grams. The most important aspect is that it would be space-worthy. Sharook's invention is that and more. He stated that the satellite's main purpose is to demonstrate whether or not 3D-printed carbon can withstand an orbital launch. This is not Sharook's first invention. The New York Post said that he also invented a helium water balloon when he was only 15 years old. He was the lead scientist at Space Kids India, an organization that promotes science education for kids and teens in the country. Space weather, which usually includes changes in the magnetic environment of Earth, can usually be triggered by the activity of the Sun. While this explanation is accepted, it seems that there are other mechanisms that set off the said magnetic system, leading scientists to believe that humans can affect space. In a Phys.org report, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. ran high-altitude tests for the military. These tests have long since ended but can still provide information as to how human can affect space. Phil Erickson, co-author of the study published in Space Science Reviews, said that understanding what happened in the high-altitude nuclear explosions carried out by the U.S. and the Soviet Union created artificial radiation belts near Earth, resulting in major damages to several satellites. The unexpected impact of the tests could have a devastating effect over a geographic area as large as the continental United States. While the radiation belts released by the Cold War tests are similar to the Earth's own radiation belts, their trapped particles have different energies. Energy particles released by these tests likely followed the magnetic field lines to Western Samoa, causing auroras. A similar effect was seen by the Argus tests conducted at higher altitudes. Particles from the Argus test traveled further around the Earth, with sudden geomagnetic storms observed from Sweden to Arizona. Scientists used these storms to determine the speed at which particles traveled. However, they found that the geomagnetic effects of these materials only last a few seconds, as opposed to the man-made radiation belts, which have longer-lasting consequences. NASA noted that atmospheric nuclear testing has long since ended. However, the current space environment needs to consider such events to allow scientists and engineers to understand the negative effects of space weather in the modern society's infrastructure and technical systems. MARION, S.C. -- The Marion Police Department announced Wednesday that two men wanted in connection with a purse snatching at Walmart Thursday on May 4, were arrested in West Virginia. Capt. Chris Smith said two white men, driving a dark in color Toyota Camry approached a woman who was walking in the parking lot of Walmart around 8:30 a.m. As they drove past the woman, the passenger reached out and grabbed her purse, knocking her to the ground and dragging her approximately 10-feet, Smith said. Police Chief Dwayne Tennie said the vehicle was believed to have a West Virginia license. I our main priority is to keep out citizens safe, he said. Were looking forward to bringing them back to Marion to face charges. SELLERS, S.C. The South Carolina High Patrol is investigating a hit-and-run collision in Sellers around 4:25 a.m. Sunday. Cpl. Sonny Collins said a pedestrian was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle that fled the scene on US 501 three miles east of Sellers near East Pines RD in Marion County. The car is described as a 2005-09 Ford Fusion or Mercury Milan and can be any color, he said. It could be missing a right side marker light-turn signal along with a shattered right side view mirror. Anyone with information is asked to call 843-661-4705, 1-800-768-1505 or 1-888-CRIME-SC. Washington, May 18 (IBNS): A fjord in southern Greenland, as seen during Operation IceBridge's last flight of the 2017 Arctic campaign, on May 12, 2017. This final full science flight, ICESat-2 South, was designed along the ground tracks of NASAs upcoming Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), to fill in a gap in altimetry coverage of central southern Greenland. Supporting ICESat-2, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, is one of the primary goals for Operation IceBridge, read the NASA statement. But the large volumes of data on Arctic sea and land ice that IceBridge has collected during its nine years of operations there have also enabled scientific discoveries ranging from the first map showing what parts of the bottom of the massive Greenland Ice Sheet are thawed, to improvements in snowfall accumulation models for all of Greenland. IceBridge has produced unprecedented three-dimensional views of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, providing scientists with valuable data on how polar ice is changing in a warming world. Kolkata, May 18 (IBNS): Commemorating World International Museum Day, Cambridge University Press India and the JC Bose Science Heritage Museum, Kolkata have announced a new collaboration in a bid to promote academic research and excellence in the city. As a part of the association, the museum will host regular academic discussions, workshops, book releases for a period of 12 months with Cambridge University Press as the academic partner. Focused on cutting edge research and recent developments in diversified areas of science and technology, these academic discussions will be attended by eminent academicians, students and subject experts. Scientists, researchers and faculty members from premier institutions in and around Kolkata including Indian Statistical Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Calcutta University, Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology Shibpur, Bose Institute, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences and Jadavpur University will be invited for lectures and discussions on emerging trends in science and technology. Speaking on the collaboration,Ratnesh Kumar Jha, MD, South Asia Cambridge University Press said, The association between Sir JC Bose and University of Cambridge goes back to 1884 when he received his BA in Natural Sciences from Christ College, University of Cambridge and MA in 1896. This endeavour will begin a new chapter in erstwhile collaboration between Sir JC Bose, father of modern science in India and University of Cambridge." Sharing views on the promotion of science and technology, Prof Parul Chakrabarti, member of Sir JC Bose Trust, Kolkata said, Science, technology and engineering are major forces of socio-economic change. As a part of science and technology popularization, this association will enable the exchange of new ideas and evolving challenges in the field of S&T applications as well as act as a gateway for innovation. Kick-starting the year long association, JC Bose Science Heritage Museum and Cambridge University Press organised the inaugural academic discussion on Thursday on Classical and Quantum Computation and Information at Acharya Bhaban, Kolkata. Prof Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Director, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The session was also followed by the launch of a book titled Quantum Spin Glasses, Annealing and Computations written by eminent scientist Prof Bikas Chakrabarti from Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. Guwahati, May 18 (IBNS) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's longest bridge connecting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on May 26, the day he kick starts the celebrations for completion of three years of the NDA Government at the Centre. The bridge is situated around 100 kms from the McMahon line separating India and China. Built on the Brahmaputra river and known as the Dhola-Sadiya bridge, it will help reduce the travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by over 4 hours. According to the reports, the 9.15 km- long bridge has 60-tonne capacity. It will help in the development of both the states. While the people of both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will witness the inaugurating the bridge, many will remember former Assam minister and present BJP leader Jagdish Bhuyan, who representing the Sadiya assembly constituency, first put forth the pryoposal for the bridge. "It is my dream project. I am so happy that this project is completed after 14 years. The people of Sadiya in Assam side and Anini in Arunachal Pradesh had faced lots of problems as they had to take a four- hour ferry ride to cross the Brahmaputra river," Jagdish Bhuyan said. Bhuya said it was on May 29, 2003 that he and and former MP Dr Arun Kumar Sarma had submitted a memorandum to then Union minister of SSI and DONER CP Thakur for construction a bridge at Sadiya over the Brahmaputra. "We also had a discussion with then Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi regarding the proposal and Mithi sent a letter to the Prime Minister on June 24, 2003. In the same year, we submitted another memorandum to the then Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Maj Gen. BC Khanduri on July 7," Bhuyan said. "After taking the initiative to construct a new bridge over Brahmaputra river to connect Sadiya, we submitted another memorandum to CP Thakur on July 10, 2003. The matter was discussed in the DONER ministry meeting in 2007 and finally it was approved," he said. The construnction of the bridge started in 2011 at a cost of Rs 950 crore. As there is no civilian airport in Arunachal Pradesh, the Dhola-Sadiya bridge will help the civilians of the bordering state with China to access better road connectivity. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Kolkata, May 18 (IBNS): Journalist and author Sagarika Ghosh, who often courts controversy with her activities on Twitter, was trolled on the micro blogging site after she slammed the Indian media for the 'lack of balls'. It all boomeranged after Sagarika, wife of celebrated news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai, asked the Indian media to learn from their American counterpart and develop some balls. The 52-year-old, who has been a sharp critic of the incumbent central government, wrote, "Wish Indian media would LEARN from American media and develop some BALLS! The competitive kow-towing to government is just sickening." Following her tweet, some users questioned her role in the media while some questioned her duty towards the country. A user who goes by the name Intolerant Doctor wrote, "America Killed Osama bt no media defended him lik u n ur chamcha gang did 4 ishrat yakub afzal n burhan..lot 2 learn." While another, Sourav Singh said, "Sometime America sometime Pakistan sometime UK, do u feel anything good about India?? U n Ur husband made career of it !!" The users didn't even leave out her husband, as one suggested that he husband should be first to develop some. "First man to develop should be your hubby Rajdeep. Even @rahulkanwal is proving his balls!!!" CA SS Balakrishnan tweeted. Some even accused her of "Pot calling the kettle black!" Image: Screengrab from YouTube Kolkata, May 18 (IBNS): At least four persons, including two women, were seriously injured when the terrace of a dilapidated building collapsed at Ripon Lane area under Park Street Police Station limits in south Kolkata on Wednesday midnight, reports said. According to reports, a portion of roof of the nearly 200-year-old multi-storey suddenly fell down at around 1 am, leaving four of its residents injured. Local police, fire and emergency services officials and Disaster Management Group (DMG) personnel rushed to the scene and after rescuing the four injured, sent them to National Medical College and Hospital. A city police official told IBNS that they are looking into the matter and police could take legal action against the owner of the building, which has already been marked as highly hazardous by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). (Reporting by Deepayan Sinha) Image: An old Kolkata file image UBM plc acquired the Seatrade portfolio in 2014 and the full complement of Seatrades Middle East-based staff now operate from UBM`s new offices in Publishing Pavilion, Dubai Production City, Dubai, UAE - after more than 10 years based in Al Jaddaf under the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA). Present during the inaugural ceremony of the new office were top UBM executives and local government officials. Andrew Williams, group brand director, UBM EMEA, said, The relocation of the Seatrade team into a dedicated UBM office in the UAE strengthens our position as a leading events business globally. This is expected to significantly grow our brand in the Middle East, which currently includes several maritime and cruise events, as well as publications and our popular online maritime and cruise news sites. While the office is now under the UBM name, the Seatrade business and brand remains the key focus for UBM in the UAE and is getting stronger each year. Local television said that three explosions were felt on Wednesday morning up to five kilometres away. Two large black plumes of smoke were seen rising above the shipyards. Adm. Jorge Carreno, president of the Coctemar shipyard, said one of the blasts happened while workers were repairing a freighter. The explosion caused a fire that left several people with serious burns. Cartagenas Secretary of Interior Fernando Nino Mendoza said that the three explosions were localised in the industrial area of the city of Cartagena, Colombia, in the Cotecmar and Astivik shipyards and did not correspond to a attack. Nino Mendoza said that investigations are being carried out to find out what were the facts causing such accidents to happen at the same time. One of the hypotheses for the source of the blasts is that the welding lines are connected through a pipeline of the two companies and there was a contractor doing the repairs. Meanwhile the source of the blasts are under investigation for the official report, said the Colombian official. With Chinas shipbuilding industry undergoing a challenging period of transformation and consolidation, the active participation of domestic financial leasing companies has become all the more important in helping shipyards clinch newbuilding deals with credible counterparties and export domestically-built ships, according to Mao Wanyuan, director of non-banking department at China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). For the part of CBRC, the regulator will assist in guiding the leasing houses to strengthen their risk management, widen their vessel-types portfolio, raise their level of professionalism, broaden their capital supplement channels, and encourage eligible lessee companies to establish locally-based subsidiaries, Mao said at a recently-held industry forum. Up until end-March 2017, China boasts 23 institutions involved in ship financial leasing, with their combined portfolio consisting of 989 ships sitting on deals valued at around RMB113.9bn ($16.5bn). Among the total value, 68% are direct financing lease deals, an increase of 58% year-on-year, she told delegates at the forum. Financial lease or capital lease, which is on the rise, sees the risks and rewards related to the ownership of asset leased being transferred to the lessee and so assets appear on the balance sheet. Mao pointed out that Chinese leasing houses also offer operating lease deals to help shipowners who prefer to optimise their fleet structure by reducing their asset-liability ratio, with the asset not showing on the balance sheet. Qiao Kai, vice-chairman of China Minsheng Financial Leasing, shared that out of the groups hundreds of billions worth of assets (not just in shipping), the share of financial leasing accounts for up to 75%, leaving the share of operating leasing much lower. ICBC Financial Leasing is currently the leading Chinese lessor sitting on deals valued at RMB42bn involving 247 ships. The vessel types include containers, bulkers, and tankers, as well as cruise ships and LNG carriers, with clients across 11 countries and regions. Seatrade Maritime News reported earlier this month that western shipowners are seeing more flexible and competitive terms being offered by Chinese financial leasing institutions compared to traditional bank lendings. According to estimates, traditional banks have gone from financing around 80% of the shipping industry in 2008 to about 60% in 2016, while Chinese leasing firms have grown their market share to about 20% last year, with part of that share coming from an expanding base of western shipowners. As a career seafarers are second most at risk from suicide Anuj Velankar, senior loss prevention advisor, UK P&I Club, told a seminar in Singapore on Tuesday. The career with the highest risk was being a veterinary physician, which was explained due to a tendency towards self-medication and a ready access to drugs. In the case of seafarers young age, isolation and the impact of social media were all cited as factors. Velankar noted that there were constantly reports of younger crew onboard, who were not experienced these are the people most at risk of mental health issues. The result of mental health issues among seafarers is that suicide is the highest cause of fatalities at sea, accounting for 15% of deaths according to the UK P&I Club. This what kills the most number of seafarers, Velankar stated Young seafarers such as cadets were seen as particularly at risk. When you look at cadets the figures are even more horrifying, he said. Some 40% of 11 deaths of cadets over the last 10 years came as the result of suicide. He highlighted the case of an 18 year South Korean cadet who disappeared off the coast of India one month into a 10 month contract, in an apparent suicide. Other crew members noted he had seemed depressed and a diary found in his possessions gave a picture of very depressed mental state. In terms of the causes of depression among seafarers Velankar said they were looking at social media, work stress, and hours of work and rest. In the terms of social media, whereas in the past seafarers had very little contact with home, now were aware of all the problems happening at home. Maybe ignorance was bliss, commented Lee Wai Pong, regional advisor, UK P&I Club, who previously served as a captain. With smaller crews social media also combines with an issue of isolation for seafarers. This is an issue we need to focus on, said Velankar. The group will also not discount the possibility of further impairments this year due to the sluggish charter rates. Impairment depends on utilisation and day rates. While our utilisation has improved, the day rates remained subdued, said UMW-OG president Rohaizad Darus. Rohaizad noted that with 59 rigs still lying idle in Southeast Asia alone, it would be difficult to predict the recovery of the charter rates. Although average day rates for Southeast Asia jack-ups were below $40,000 a day during the first quarter of 2017, it is believed that current contracts for UMW-OG on its five jack-up rigs were fairly competitive at a range of between $60,000 and $75,000 a day. On a positive note, however, Rohaizad said the full utilisation rate of the groups assets meant that its business would now be on a recovery path. UMW-OG will achieve a fleet utilisation rate of 100% by July this year, following the award of two new contracts from Petronas Carigali. The two contracts, worth $34.81m, were for its last two idle rigs Naga 3 and Naga 4 to provide services for firm and optional wells. The contract for Naga 3 was to drill five firm wells with the option of drilling additional five wells, starting in June 2017, while that for Naga 4 was to drill two firm wells with the option of drilling additional three wells, starting in June 2017. Weve just got the last two rigs working Naga 3 and Naga 4 and this will bring the utilisation to 100% by early July, Rohaizad said. According to Rohaizad, UMW-OG had submitted bids for 33 new jobs, with a combined value of MYR3.2bn for its jack-ups in Malaysia and overseas. Of the total jobs being tendered for, 20 were based overseas, while 13 were in Malaysia. He noted that this was in line with the companys strategy to defend its market position in Malaysia, while progressively returning to its previous markets in Southeast Asia, namely, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines. While we thank Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for its support, I dont think we should burden the national oil company by keep going back to it for contracts; so, we will try our best to explore our existing markets in Southeast Asia, he said, adding that the market outlook for 2017 appeared to be better than last year. Rohaizad said that with oil prices looking more stable now, some companies were already coming back to invest and develop oil fields. As long as oil prices remain above a certain floor price, that is around $48 to $50 per barrel, there will be a number of fields in Southeast Asia that will be profitable, Rohaizad said. What happened before is that there were uncertainties with regard to how low the oil prices would go. Now, with the reduction in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec production, were seeing the stabilisation of the price of oil around $50 per barrel. As long as it stays around there, it gives certainty to oil companies to invest, he added. He noted that these included Petronas and PetroVietnam who were already starting to develop fields. As part of its Save Our Seafarers 2020 campaign designed to protect UK seafarer jobs, RMT is highlighting a number of perceived injustices. It claims that 56% of the 500,000-plus seafarers who work in European waters are non-EU nationals on poverty pay, while of the 87,000 Ratings jobs in the UK shipping industry only 10% are held by UK seafarers. Particular target of the protest was a local ferry company alleged to be practising low-cost crewing by employing non-EU seafarers. while other recent instances of substandard Indian-flagged and crewed vessels found operating in the North Sea have added to RMTs concerns. The unions argument runs that vessels operating almost exclusively in UK waters or on the UK continental shelf should be subject to the same employment conditions including a national minimum wage level - as UK land-based industries in the interests of fair competition. Furthermore, the number of UK Ratings has fallen by 25% since 2011, RMT claims. With some 3,000 more UK Ratings set to retire by 2020, if training and employment have not increased by then the country will find itself exposed to negative economic, social and security effects of a maritime skills deficit. RMTs national secretary Steve Todd stated: Our objective is simple a guaranteed future for the UK shipping industry based on the development of a skilled and expanded domestic workforce that will secure the economy of areas like Poole well into the future." Separately, officers union Nautilus International is lobbying UK political parties ahead of next months general election to commit to supporting British shipping and the employment and training of British seafarers, in order to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the countrys 23,000 seafarers. Specifically, Nautilus says it is vital that the next government takes urgent action to implement the recommendations of the Maritime Growth Study (Mountevans Report) and to adopt the SMarT Plus proposals for improved seafarer training support. The Hague, May 18 (IBNS) : Handing out India a big diplomatic victory, International Court of Justice on Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, ordering Pakistan not to hang him pending a final decision. "Pakistan should not execute Jadhav pending final proceedings. The decision to stay Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution pending ICJ hearing is unanimous," Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, said. The court asked Pakistan to take "all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed till a final decision is taken. The order comes ten days after India approached the UN's top court for "provisional measure" of protection -- an interim relief -- in the Jadhav case. A Pakistani court had earlier sentenced him to death after being convicted of espionage. Overruling Pakistan's contention that ICJ has no jurisdiction over the matter, an eleven-member bench said that it has prima facie jurisdiction in the case after Pakistan's failure to give consular access to India. Hailing the ICJ order, Indian Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said, "Indian stand is victorious, congratulate all concerned persons, especially the External Affairs Ministry." Fighting to save Jadhav, India on Monday told the International Court of Justice that there is an "immediate threat" that he may be executed any time that calls for urgent suspension of the sentence, media reports said. "The situation is grave, it is urgent, and hence we approached this court at such short notice," senior lawyer Harish Salve, representing India, told the UN court as an an open hearing of the case was underway at the Great Hall of Justice at the Hague in Netherlands following India's challenge to Jhadhav's death penalty. Jadhav, a former navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month after being convicted of spying. Describing it as "farcical," India said Pakistan must ensure he is not executed until a court decision. Salve said Pakistan had repeatedly denied consular access to India, which violates the provisions of Vienna Congress and no document of Jadhav's trial process was given by Islamabad. "The basic rights of Jadhav were thrown to the winds," he said. Last week, after India challenged the death sentence, Pakistan was asked by the International Court to put it on hold. New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): Reacting to the the stay order passed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kulbhushan Jadav's death sentence, which was pronounced by Pakistan, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that the order has come as a great relief to the family of the accused and people of India, on Thursday. "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we will leave no stone unturned to save #KulbhushanJadhav" Swaraj said in a follow up tweet. Handing out India a big diplomatic victory, International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, ordering Pakistan not to hang him pending a final decision. "Pakistan should not execute Jadhav pending final proceedings. The decision to stay Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution pending ICJ hearing is unanimous," Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, said. The court asked Pakistan to take "all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed till a final decision is taken. The order comes ten days after India approached the UN's top court for "provisional measure" of protection -- an interim relief -- in the Jadhav case. A Pakistani court had earlier sentenced him to death after being convicted of espionage. Swaraj even lauded the officers of her ministry and said: "I compliment my team of officers in the MEA for their tireless efforts and hardwork." She even thanked Harish Salve for presenting the case of Jadav before ICJ. Overruling Pakistan's contention that ICJ has no jurisdiction over the matter, an eleven-member bench said that it has prima facie jurisdiction in the case after Pakistan's failure to give consular access to India. Hailing the ICJ order, Indian Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said: "Indian stand is victorious, congratulate all concerned persons, especially the External Affairs Ministry." Fighting to save Jadhav, India on Monday told the International Court of Justice that there is an "immediate threat" that he may be executed any time that calls for urgent suspension of the sentence, media reports said. "The situation is grave, it is urgent, and hence we approached this court at such short notice," senior lawyer Harish Salve, representing India, told the UN court as an an open hearing of the case was underway at the Great Hall of Justice at the Hague in Netherlands following India's challenge to Jhadhav's death penalty. Jadhav, a former navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month after being convicted of spying. Describing it as "farcical," India said Pakistan must ensure he is not executed until a court decision. Salve said Pakistan had repeatedly denied consular access to India, which violates the provisions of Vienna Congress and no document of Jadhav's trial process was given by Islamabad. "The basic rights of Jadhav were thrown to the winds," he said. Last week, after India challenged the death sentence, Pakistan was asked by the International Court to put it on hold. Superintendent Kim CarterBattle Creek Public Schools are poised to turn from a district lacking the financial, material, and personnel resources to properly educate its students to one that supports every child enrolled there.A $51 million grant over five years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is being viewed as a new beginning for the Battle Creek Public Schools where declining enrollment and the resultant loss in funding have threatened the districts future.Today I am excited about having the opportunity to implement a comprehensive, transformational plan that is aimed at individualized support for every single child within our school district, said BCPS Superintendent Kim Carter in a May 5 press briefing announcing the grant. Every grade level will be examined and, using best practices for educating students, reforms will be put in place as needed.Carter said the district will implement a comprehensive reform plan aimed at every grade level, every student, across every school. It will start with 4- and 5-year-olds entering school and providing a quality pre-kindergarten summer school experience for them to shore up their ability to be ready for school.Further, a curriculum redesign will be done so teachers have access to a rigorous curriculum that will be implemented immediately upon their return to school in August.The plan also will offer retention and recruitment incentives for teachers so that we make sure that we have the best individuals in front of our students, Carter said. They will be seeking those who have the skills, knowledge, and ability needed to move students from where they are to where they need to be.Carter continued, We are excited about putting in place high school academy structures that are focused on their careers and providing students with opportunities to experience different avenues so that they are ready to succeed post-secondary instruction.I think it's important to note that this was not just about good ideas. Its anchored on what we know to be best practice and what we know to be essential for making sure that all students achieve, Carter said.Work done in recent years as part of the BC Vision process to create a community-led economic development plan that addresses jobs, talent development and a culture of vitality in Battle Creek proved to be the foundation needed to implement work in the schools funded by the grant, W.K Kellogg Foundation President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron indicated.I believe very strongly, Tabron said, that this work does have to be undergirded with a truth and racial healing effort that really allows the community to face its reality and to build a strong enough bond across the community to hold that reality, and then to work together in a level of trust that allows us to move forward. That all happened before this grant had been made. I can't underestimate the importance of building those kinds of bonds and relationships in a community. And that work will have to continue as this grant is being implemented.As part of the BC Vision process, the New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity authored a report describing college and career readiness of the community.The report also examined perceptions of the schools and educational opportunities in the Battle Creek area, and resources available to students across the region. In conversations with local residents, they heard comments such as: What still ends up being the situation, ultimately, the one thing that's remaining, is that it's the racial divide in this community that's keeping us from having really good discussions about what's best in this community for our students.The Battle Creek region is racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse but deeply segregated, the report said. For BCPS the issues of structural bias and segregation are in part tied to the State of Michigans 2003 Schools of Choice Policy, according to the report.Instead of integrating schools, the consequence of Schools of Choice seems to have made schools across the region (and across Michigan) more segregated. Economically advantaged (primarily White) students have retreated at higher rates from schools with high proportions of low-income students and students of color.Comparing community demographics to district enrollment, while about 70 percent of people living within the Battle Creek Public Schools district boundaries were White, only 36 percent of students attending Battle Creek Public Schools were White, according to the NYU report.Similarly, even though Black residents comprised 22 percent of those living within Battle Creek Public School district boundaries, Black students made up 37 percent of students attending Battle Creek Public Schools. It appears a disproportionate number of White students who live inside the boundaries for Battle Creek Public Schools use school choice policies to attend neighboring districts.Vulnerable students are the least well served by BCPS, according to the NYU report. The authors defined vulnerability as susceptible to misfortune, violence, illness, and death, and added it can also be thought of as increased susceptibility to discrimination, and systems of oppression that limit access to opportunity and social mobility, as experienced by those marked as poor, Black, Brown, immigrant, queer, or trans.For example, low-income students and Black and Latino students across the Battle Creek region experience lower achievement levels when compared to their peers, the report indicates. More vulnerable students typically didn't have the same levels of access to rigorous college-ready curricula, schools, and out-of-school support programs.The report revealed very alarming information, at least alarming to us, as it related to equity and creating equal opportunities for all the children in Battle Creek, said Le June Montgomery Tabron, W.K Kellogg Foundation President and CEO. And they were prompted to act.We believe transformational change is needed, and can only happen with the bold vision and commitment that the Kellogg Foundation and Battle Creek Public Schools are announcing today, Tabron said.The action reverses years of fiscal pain for the school district. The school districts 2016-17 budget included an $886,040 shortfall. The district budgeted revenues of $49.65 million and expenditures of $50.53 million. The district was anticipating a worse financial situation for 2017-18, which could have put it in line for state oversight.Instead, the school district is celebrating its good fortune. The announcement to the community came at a special presentation at Battle Creek High School in which officials told the assembled students that they believed in them and supported them.David Kirkland executive director of the New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools suggested in the press conference that the grant offers the opportunity to think big.In some ways, we can we be aspirational, right? Kirkland asked. He suggested the funding could allow the district to imagine a new form of education within a post-industrial Rust Belt city, one that matches the types of careers that exist within the region or that may someday exist here. He sees it as an opportunity to reimagine how schooling is done, especially for vulnerable students, but also for others.Stephen Chang from the National Equity Project said that often in discussions of equity people think it means caring about only some students. In fact, what equity is about is recognizing that every child in Battle Creek deserves to be successful and to have a successful school experience, Chang said.The patterns that we see in Battle Creek are some of the patterns that we see across the country and they are rooted in both segregation within our society and historic unequal opportunity for communities of color and low-income communities. We know from projects going on across the country, that the only way that we're going to really transform those patterns is with bold action. And so we recognize that this investment by the Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek Public Schools is exactly that kind of investment bold action in order to really transform these patterns and show what can be done in the city that really provides every child with what they need.The grant is being described as historic and unprecedented.This grant for us is shifting from looking at individual programs and instead funding a transformative comprehensive plan that looks at the structural obstacles to success as opposed to the programmatic interventions, Tabron said. This is a first for us in its nature, as far as the level of comprehension as well as the structural goals that we have. And it will be a learning opportunity for us and in all of the other areas and priority places where we fund.Kathy Jennings is the managing editor of Southwest Michigans Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor This article is part of Michigan Nightlight, a series of stories about the programs and people that positively impact the lives of Michigan kids. It is made possible with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation . Read more in the series here Bundt cake made by Five Star This article is one of a series of stories about Michigans agricultural economy. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Starlett Simmons loved baking since childhood and was known for baking cakes and pastries from scratch for family, friends, and coworkers. The owner of Roseville-based Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery initially turned her passion into a money-making venture by baking cakes at home under Michigans Cottage Food Law. The law allows small businesses to make non-potentially hazardous foods for direct sale to customers without licensing and inspection, an exemption that allows them to get started in the food business without costly overhead. Simmons was ready to expand beyond her home kitchen, but not ready for her own facility.Food startups like Simmons can run into a common roadblock: the cost of a commercial kitchen. A small commercial kitchen equipped with the basics such as an oven, mixer, smallwares, hood and fire suppression, refrigerator, tables, and utensils could cost $50,000, and that assumes a building is already available, says David Schroeder, Executive Learning and Conference Center general manager at the at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Not one to be deterred, Simmons turned to an incubator kitchen, a shared commercial kitchen space that allows an early-stage business to gain footing before investing in its own facilities. "I used Detroit Kitchen Connect and was one of the inaugural businesses into the program," Simmons says. "Using an incubator kitchen cuts the overhead of having a building tremendously. Detroit Kitchen Connect is a program of Eastern Market Corporation . It helps entrepreneurs like Simmons find licensed commercial kitchens where they can safely and legally produce their food products by reserving time slots at a local kitchen. Some of the kitchens are unused much of the week. Opening them up to entrepreneurs makes use of the otherwise underutilized space.Simmons began baking in the very small, church basement kitchen of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Cathedral, says Aaron Egan, head chef at Eastern Market and kitchen manager for Detroit Kitchen Connect. "Even with something that small and very simple that we were able to get Starlett access to, it opens up so much." Where fulfilling a large cookie order for the Detroit Lions may have taken her all day in her home kitchen, she was able to crank it out in short order in the new space.Simmons was also able to test whether a larger-scale business was right for her. It was. "She was one of the first to move over to the main Eastern Market kitchen, which is a little more equipped because it was purpose-built.The Detroit Kitchen Connect network of incubator kitchens was piloted by Eastern Market and FoodLab Detroit. "It really was born out of this need to be a clearinghouse and have a good list of incubator kitchens available in the Detroit area," Egan says. "The demand far outstrips the supply of space and time."Its very difficult for someone to start with something small in todays global marketplace," Egan says. "The incubator projects allow people space to grow.Simmons is proud to proclaim Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery as the home of the best carrot cake in Detroit. "My concept of a dessert boutique is to offer nostalgic desserts that you can't find anywhere else or every day. I want to provide an atmosphere like grandmas kitchen," she says.While Simmons first created the taste of grandmas kitchen out of her own home, then out of Detroit Kitchen Connect incubator kitchens, she eventually outgrew all. "I have always known that I wouldn't be in an incubator kitchen long-term," she says. "It's not set up for that purpose. I worked out of the kitchen for four years.In February, Simmons was ready to graduate out of the incubator kitchens as she held the grand opening of her own dessert boutique location in Roseville. Customers purchase Five Star cakes from her Roseville shop, or in June at Eastern Market and Northwest Detroit Farmers Market."My business has absolutely changed my life and career path," Simmons says. She left the corporate world to bake. "Children grow so fast and when I worked for someone else I was missing very important milestones. I now get to mentor my daughter who is an aspiring pastry chef and also works at my bakery. I've always wanted to feel as though I was contributing to the world."Being an entrepreneur has its ups and downs," she continues, "some days are really hard, but I get gratification from knowing I'm making people happy." If Simmons reaches her next set of goals, as shes reached her goals so far, youll be seeing her carrot cakes distributed nationally, have the chance to attend baking lessons, and maybe even see her baking on national television.While one may not notice what a startup Detroit-area baker and a pair of third-generation rural Michigan farmers have in common, both are small business owners who relied on food incubator kitchens to launch their dreams.Bonnie and Dan Blackledge are crop farmers in Marion, located between Cadillac and Clare. They began growing canola in 2007, and marketed their 100-acre canola crop the traditional way having it trucked to Canada. The Blackledges wondered about adding value to their own canola by processing it themselves. But canola oil for cooking wasnt on their minds at first.They began to work on a project making biodiesel from the seeds. Thats when they took a sharp turn down their entrepreneurial path. "We found that the best use for the seed, and the best profit, was in selling the seed as a food product," Bonnie Blackledge explains. It turned out cold-pressed canola oil was the answer they were seeking. Thats when B & B Farms Canola Oil was born.The Blackledges needed a space to cold press and bottle the canola oil, so they turned to Starting Block, an incubator kitchen in Hart, near the states Lake Michigan coast. "We definitely believe it helped with our success," Blackledge says. "The staff at the kitchen walked us through the process to get licensed by MDARD (Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) and helped us get what we needed to pass inspection. They put us in contact with a company that sold bottles, another that printed labels, and connected us with another client who made a bread-dipping spice for oil that we used in demos."Im not sure what we would have done if no incubator kitchen would have been available," Blackledge says. "Im sure we would have figured something out eventually, but I imagine we would have had a lot of trial and error and it would have taken much longer to get the business going. As it was, we were able to get our license and start selling product in a short time span."We were at the Starting Block for two years before going on our own," Blackledge says. After graduating out of the incubator in 2013, B & B Farms Canola Oil was made in a small, on-farm, licensed kitchen attached to the Blackledge home. Recently, they were able to quadruple the size of the facility by renovating an old dairy barn and turning the clean and safe former milking parlor into their cold-pressing site. Most bottles of the culinary favorite are sold at groceries and specialty stores throughout Michigan, and feature the Pure Michigan logo.The food incubator staff at Starting Block helped the Blackledges make business connections. "They fostered our relationship with the MSU Product Center which has helped us in many ways," Blackledge says.Both Simmons and Blackledge sought help from the Michigan State University Product Center , which helps budding or established businesses in food, agriculture, or natural resources to develop and commercialize products and services.Brenda Reau, Senior Associate Director of the MSU Product Center, says entrepreneurs seek help from her organization at various stages. A startup might consider whether an idea is worthy or get assistance with a business plan, while an existing business might seek help with navigating regulations, food safety, or strategic planning."We work with businesses at all levels, folks that are starting at their kitchen table all the way up to larger businesses, some very large.When businesses are new, Reau suggests they seek MSU Product Center advice early in the process. "We like to work with people who are in what we call the concept development stage because many times people have an idea, but theyre not sure is it something they can turn into a viable business or not," Reau says. "Theres a process we put them through that helps them see, is this going to be a viable business? Is this a marketable concept? Is the market already saturated?Reau suggests entrepreneurs visit the MSU Product Center web page and click on request for counseling . From there, information is reviewed and a business is matched with an innovation counselor.Michigan State University Extension educator Jerry Lindquist was one professional who worked with Bonnie and Dan Blackledge. "They explored and strategized methods to add value to their products by bottling cooking canola oil to offset the high shipping cost of transporting seed to Windsor, Ontario," he recalls. "And they survived the run-up in corn and soybean prices by continuing to grow canola while others chased those higher-priced grains. They are one of the few growers left in the state of Michigan successfully raising canola today.While Starlett Simmons sought to make Five Star Cake Co. Dessert Boutique & Bakery her full-time career, Bonnie and Dan Blackledge set out to supplement their existing farm income with B & B Farms Canola Oil. Both found help at Michigan food incubator kitchens."Weve seen a real foray into this area with the economic climate in Michigan," MSU Product Centers Reau says. "Certainly the economic climate over the last six to eight years in Michigan has propelled innovation on the part of people."Our canola oil business is something that Dan and I have been able to do together, and we have involved our family members along the way," Blackledge says. "Were not going to get rich quick, but our motivation for doing this was mostly to add value to a farm product and enjoy the satisfaction of sharing our product with our customers. Weber, who started working at Record Town in Southland Mall in 1988, still serves customers that she sold records to when she was 16 years old. She knows her customers so well, in fact, that she often offers personal guarantees on her recommendations."I know that you, based on what else you've bought from us, ]are going to like this record. If you don't, you can bring it back. Nobody's ever--well, actually, once, my friend Jamie brought something back--but in 18 years, all those people that I've given those recommendations to, they have come back and said, 'I loved blah-blah-blah, I want more.'"Weber and Hultgren started Stormy Records in 1999, just on the precipice of the digital music revolution that has since shuttered so many record stores the world over. Weber says other record store owners told them they were crazy, that they shouldn't even bother. She says she even got flack for being a woman opening her own record store. While it hasn't been the easiest business to run, Stormy Records is still here, nearly two decades later.Stormy has stayed open for a number of reasons, and a big reason is their flexibility. In 1999, 90 percent of the products carried were new releases. Today, that number has flipped, and 90 percent of Stormy's stock is made up of used records. The business is on its sixth location, always on the hunt for the right mix of responsible landlords, affordable rent, and adequate parking.Since 1999, five of their six locations have been located in east downtown Dearborn. It's another factor for their remaining open. They can manage the rent, the retail scene is healthy with foot traffic, and their being near the border of Detroit means that they get a more diverse stock of used records.The constants that remain are the music and the customers, and the fact that a record store is a sort of clubhouse. It's more than just shopping; it's a place where people gather, learn about music, and tell stories. Every conversation, says Weber, is a learning experience."One of our mottos is that we are caretakers of memories. Those records were really loved. They truly had a place in someone's life. And it is our job to help those records find a new place in someone else's life and that they're going to be just as cared for," says Weber. "It's not about money. We're used to the fact that we live carefully. It's about a true and incredible love for music and what we do: Helping people hear music that is going to change their lives. That is how we've managed to stay open all these years, because we're pretty obsessed with what we do."We opened in July of 1999. We are about to be 18Windy Weber, co-ownerI have only ever sold records, so having my own shop is no different than what I have always doneJack Rose playing in our shop was amazingStormy Records is located at 13306 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. Find them on Facebook Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith Its never too early to start thinking about the future.Thats the impetus behind a pair of camps this summer at Western Michigan University that have nothing to do with sports, music or arts and crafts, and absolutely everything to do with financial planning, investing and developing innovative ideas and coming up with a corresponding business plan.The four-day camps, geared toward middle and high school students, as well as those who have just graduated high school, will focus on giving young minds some of the financial and creative tools necessary to be successful in their personal lives as well as in business ventures.Offered by the universitys Haworth College of Business, the second-year finance and entrepreneurship and innovation camps offer a hands-on opportunity that, among other activities, will send kids on some pretty memorable field trips.For finance campers that means going to Chicago to get an inside look at how the stock exchange works and meet with investment bankers. For innovation campers, it means visiting area businesses to talk with successful entrepreneurs about their ideas and how they came to fruition.In addition to learning about the stock market and making investments, attendees of the finance camp held in WMUs new trading room will study a variety of financial topics that impact the world in general as well as people on an individual level.We saw the need for financial literacy as really high, said Dr. Jim DeMello, Chairman of the Department of Finance and Commercial Law at WMU. So thats part of why we are offering the camp.Its the little things you want to drive home, such as the importance of budgeting wisely and not spending beyond your means. Well be focusing on that as well as investing and saving, insurance, risk management, planning for college and careers, and on taxes.Of course, the highlight of the camp will be the trip to Chicago. Last year, DeMello said, campers paid visits to the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago , the Chicago Board of Trade Building and the office of a hedge fund manager and WMU graduate who was happy to answer questions and talk with the students about his experience in the finance realm. Similar stops are planned for this year.At the end of the four days, attendees will conclude two projects. One guides students to pick 10 stocks and study data and research, risk and return and chart the progress of those stocks in real time throughout the week. The other project will have students design a lifecycle financial plan, helping them to develop personal finance and life goals as well as plan for retirement.When we did presentations last year not a single student said they wanted to buy a new car, they all wanted to buy a used car for their first car, DeMello said. That was great. We really encourage them to get engaged at home and ask their parents about how they paid for college, and how they budget and what things cost. Having those discussions can go a long way.There will be two sessions for the finance camp this summer: June 26-30or students who have completed grades 7-9, and July 17-21 for students who have completed grades 10-12. Both camps are capped at 30 attendees and registration for each of them closes June 1, but is expected to fill up sooner.Appropriately named Beyond the Lemonade Stand, the entrepreneurship and innovation camp will provide students who have completed grades 9-12 an opportunity to learn about developing and pitching business plans, obtaining startup financing, and everything else that goes along with product promotion.Days will be spent in brainstorming sessions, working in engineering labs and talking with student entrepreneurs at the university as well as local business leaders who have launched successful ventures.The camp is expanding from a two-day to four-day experience in year two, as well as making the move to the universitys engineering college. The location change will afford campers access to labs where they will be able to work more on product development than the inaugural group could.We really look forward to the innovative ideas that they come up with, said Lara Hobson, Director of Operations for Starting Gate , a business accelerator program at WMU. We put them in teams of four and five and allow them to develop the idea, teach them how to market it and get it out there.The camp came about, Hobson said, as faculty members continued to watch interest grow in Westerns entrepreneurship program.A lot of students want to be their own bosses someday and not work for a corporation, Hobson said. There are a lot of great resources out there for them to make an idea happen and it can be anybody that can have that idea. We help them discover what those resources are, both online and out in the community.Attendees might find themselves working on anything from designing and developing apps to putting together processes to produce physical products. Not something you typically see at your average summer camp.The camp itself is just unique, Hobson said. Its something different for students and gives them a chance to think outside the box and to meet some different people and expand their horizons. Its fun for us too. It lets us learn from them, and get to see what kids are thinking about in their generation.The innovation camp, also capped at 30 attendees, is slated for June 19-22. The deadline to register for the session is June 5. s with the Michigan History Center and she was a Freedom Trail coordinator for almost 10 years for the State of Michigan. Her work involved documenting, preserving, and promoting underground railroad sites and resistance to slavery history in Michigan. Johnson says that in the past, participants would just sort of drop-in from spot to spot along the tour, but eventually, organizers began to incorporate primary sources that were sometimes emerging from that very place that they were visiting. Initially we started actually doing the performance before the tour, and a little bit of the performance after the tour, but we ultimately just blended it into the tour. An example of that blending is the performance that takes place at the historic site in Cass County, known as Young's Prairie. In 1847 a group of 12 escaped from Kentucky farmers, where they had been enslaved. Through the assistance of Underground Railroad agents, the group settled in hiding at various farms in Cass County. The Kentucky farmers later raided those farms in an attempt to recapture and claim ownership over the people who had escaped. When we have accounts of, for instance, from a man named Perry Sanford, about that raid and about the attempts to bring other people back into slavery, we present that portion of the performance and his voice on location as close as we can get to where he might have been. In this case, we can get really quite close because the house still stands and he did get out while this raid was going on, says Johnson. Johnson says that the Underground Railroad and resistance to slavery in Michigan is a manifestation of her PhD work in American Cultures with a focus on Black people's relationship with the land and the natural world. Identifying all of the ways that people have resisted slavery for 200 years -- including escape, including education, including retaining elements of African culture, including becoming politically active the whole range of collaborating across and within organizations -- all of those pieces were essential to my PhD studies and my doctorate, says Johnson. The tours can help reshape people's understanding about places and where Black people have been. Right now, conventional wisdom is that Black people aren't in Marshall, but we certainly know there is a much deeper history there with the prominence of Black people and standing up for their own individual freedom and the freedom of each other, Johnson says. The tours, for Johnson, are a way to articulate social justice in space and place. Looking at the Underground Railroad and Resistance to Slavery explores what it means to have a diverse group of people being able to have access to space, and land, and means of production, and autonomous articulation of themselves, and what they see as their freedoms. Ultimately, it addresses issues of what is equitable and just and socially sustainable. Resistance has never looked like just one thing or utilized just one strategy. Resistance efforts generally arise out of oppression and injustice to try to find ways to reshape unjust laws into laws that will hold equity and social justice for all people. Underground Railroad and resistance to slavery here in Michigan presents to us a very viable and continually viable method for addressing oppression on so many levels. Johnson hopes the message of resistance to oppression will be something that people can pull from these past accounts and apply to circumstances today. Odum hopes that people who take the tour will gain an appreciation for the richness of the history of our area, but she especially hopes that people will begin to learn about and appreciate how the desire for freedom led to the courage, resourcefulness, and resilience of those who resisted slavery. We want African Americans to see that, rather than feeling shame about enslavement, that they feel pride in their ability to survive and thrive. We hope everyone, especially in today's climate, will be inspired by the power of resistance. For details, questions, or to register for the tour that gets underway at 8:30 a.m., you can visit the Southwest Michigan Underground Railroad Tour registration page. Kathi Valeii is a freelance writer, living in Kalamazoo. You can find her at her website, kathivaleii.com. 8:30 a.m. The history of the Underground Railroad in Michigan is much further reaching than this state, alone. The stories of families who traveled through underground networks into Michigan had roots in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. In telling the Michigan story, the Southwest Michigan Underground Railroad Tour will pull from these stories and family histories to offer participants a deeper understanding of the resistance to slavery history, here.On Saturday, June 3, the daylong event, hosted by S.H.A.R.E. , will take participants to various locations around Southwest Michigan that were known safe harbors during the Underground Railroad. Inspired by primary source documents, the Southwest Michigan Underground Railroad Tour will combine site visits and performances by poets and vocalists to fully immerse participants in the experience.Donna Odom, Executive Director of S.H.A.R.E. says that the origins of Underground Railroad tours in Southwest Michigan date back to about 2006, when Odum was working at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.We held a Freedom Camp for middle school students with activities ... that taught them about the Underground Railroad. Part of that camp was a tour of various sites in the area that were part of the Underground Railroad story -- the Schoolcraft safe house, the monuments in Battle Creek, Vandalia, etc. At some point, we teamed up with Michelle Johnson, the Michigan Freedom Trail Coordinator, Denise Miller, poet and educator, and a vocalist, and the tour became what it is today.Michelle S. Johnson, PhD, periodically contract Press Release May 18, 2017 Alan Says 'Thank You' to Senate Colleagues Wednesday (May 17) - Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on his last day as senator delivered a valedictory address thanking his colleagues following the confirmation of his appointment as the next Foreign Affairs Secretary. The Commission on Appointments (CA) voted to approve the confirmation of Cayetano's post after what members deemed to be "the shortest confirmation hearing of a Cabinet Secretary." Cayetano then took the floor during session one last time and thanked his fellow senators, as he sought their continuous support in helping the administration fulfill its promise of change. "I have to say thank you, my colleagues, because I'm a better person - a better debater, a better legislator, a better policymaker - and hopefully, a good diplomat, because we have been working together... working for each other," he said. "I want to leave you with this covenant. My job in the coming days will be focused on the protection, welfare, and convenience of the OFWs. But you have the job here of creating the Filipino dream, wherein they do not have to go abroad to be able to fulfill their dreams for their family," he added. Cayetano said he looks forward to continuing to work with Congress in pushing for more efforts to promote the welfare and protection of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), as well as to uphold President Rodrigo Duterte's independent foreign policy. "If I have the Senate of the Philippines behind me, that'll be a great, great advantage. Please feel free, my dear colleagues, to call on the DFA, any assistance... But we will also need your help. Kakatok din kami sa inyo," he said. "I don't know the right words, this is not goodbye. Maybe farewell in the meantime. But again, from the bottom of our hearts, maraming maraming salamat sa inyong lahat," Cayetano concluded. Press Release May 18, 2017 De Lima recognized as Global Woman Human Rights Defender Senator Leila M. de Lima was recently recognized by Amnesty International (AI) as one of the notable Women Human Rights Defenders who continue to protect human rights. In a 46-page report entitled Human Rights Defenders Under Threat, AI cited De Lima, currently detained for trumped-up drug charges by the Duterte regime, as one of the women defenders who continue to uphold human rights, despite the vicious gender-based attacks against her. "In the Philippines in February 2017, Human Rights Defender Senator Leila de Lima, a former justice secretary and former chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, was arrested on politically motivated charges," the report read. "Since leading an investigation by the Senate into President Duterte's violent 'war on drugs', which has claimed over 7000 lives since July 2016, Senator De Lima has been subjected to a targeted campaign of misogynistic attacks and character assassination by the President and his allies," the report added. According to AI, women human rights defenders face forms of gender-based violence in addition to the attacks other human rights defenders might face, including sexual violence, and threats, harassment and defamation campaigns linked to their status as women. The human rights organization has previously denounced the arrest of De Lima as politically motivated, calling her a "prisoner of conscience" for being "deprived of liberty solely for her political beliefs and for peacefully defending human rights." For her part, De Lima thanked AI for recognizing the plight of women human rights defenders, noting that her actions that lead to her detention come with the territory of doing what needs to be done in upholding human rights in the country. "AI has once again brought out the human rights situation in our country, which I continue to condemn. By giving emphasis to the misogynistic attacks in their report, the human rights organization recognizes how low this regime can get in silencing its critics," she said. "This regime can send its most vicious hatchet men against me, but I refuse to be silenced on the human rights situation in the country. Down to my last breath, I will continue opposing this bloody regime," she added. Prior to this citation, De Lima, who continues to oppose Duterte's bloody war on drugs, was also recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as one of 100 leading Global Thinkers for 2016, and by Time Magazine as one of 100 most influential, one of the icons, for 2017. Press Release May 18, 2017 AT A LOSS FOR A COHERENT EXPLANATION Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on the Duterte govt's rejection of EU aid The Duterte government's contradictory and confusing statements on its decision to reject aid from the EU are alarming. These expose the government's lack of a clear foreign policy framework on how to deal with foreign aid. I strongly suggest that the government think this over carefully. The fact that it is at a loss for a coherent explanation for this unprecedented foreign policy decision should serve as basis for it to pause for deep reflection and reconsideration. Firstly, there is a strong need to conduct a comprehensive debt audit as called for by Senate Resolution No. 253. The government needs to verify first what loan agreements the Philippines has entered into come with unjust terms and conditions and to enact measures to ensure the prudent and proper use of foreign aid. The principle of rejecting foreign aid with unfair conditionalities should apply not only to the EU but to all loans the country has entered into with other nation-states and international financial institutions. These include the billions of dollars in loans recently acquired from China. Secondly, the Duterte government must approach this matter in a judicious and diplomatic manner with due consideration to the longstanding relationship the country has had with the EU and the impact it will have on our anti-poverty programs. Without the benefit of wide-reaching consultations with the legislature and economic managers on foreign affairs, trade and the economy, this decision could severely undermine legitimate aid-funded programs and services to poor and conflict-hit regions in the country. It could also needlessly strain our relationship with our biggest trading partner and send the wrong message to the global community that we are abandoning the principle of multilateralism as part of Philippine development policy. I call on the Duterte government to get its act together and fully explain the reasons behind this unprecedented foreign policy decision. Was this based on a thorough appraisal of EU aid in the Philippines? What foreign policy objective will this serve? I hope that this is not simply a reaction to the criticisms hurled by the EU regarding the human rights situation in the country, which if true, would be myopic and irresponsible. To reiterate, foreign aid or loans by themselves are not bad. They can be a tool for development or a symbol of solidarity between nation-states. What the Duterte government should oppose are tied aid or loans with neoliberal economic prescriptions and other grossly unfair and unconscionable terms; as well as illegitimate debts that were not used for the benefit of the people, whether they are from the EU or China. Islamabad, May 18 (IBNS): Hours after the stay order passed by the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence, Pakistan said that ICJ has no jurisdiction in matters of national security, media reports on Thursday. Jadhav, a former navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month after being convicted of spying. The Attorney General of Pakistan even said that the order of ICJ does not change the status of Jadhav's case at all but they would come to a "logical end". Handing out India a big diplomatic victory, International Court of Justice on Thursday stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, ordering Pakistan not to hang him pending a final decision. "Pakistan should not execute Jadhav pending final proceedings. The decision to stay Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution pending ICJ hearing is unanimous," Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the Court, said. The court asked Pakistan to take "all measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav is not executed till a final decision is taken. The order comes ten days after India approached the UN's top court for "provisional measure" of protection -- an interim relief -- in the Jadhav case. Press Release May 18, 2017 Legarda Encourages Regular Visits to Museums In celebration of International Museum Day (May 18), Senator Loren Legarda encouraged everyone to make frequent visits to museums to enrich understanding of our culture and history. "Art and culture are food for the soul. It enriches our understanding of our tradition and history and promotes better understanding especially among Filipinos whose culture is very diverse," said Legarda. "Our National Museum organizes lectures and workshops that help us better understand and appreciate our heritage as well as the culture of our neighbor countries. The National Museum now offers free entrance and has branches in different parts of the country, which makes it accessible to more Filipinos," she added. The Senator has been working with the National Museum to organize lecture series and demonstrations particularly on weaving at the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino, the country's first permanent textile gallery. Legarda is the patron of the Hibla gallery, as well as the Baybayin: Ancient and Traditional Scripts of the Philippines gallery, and the Rice, Biodiversity and Climate Change exhibit--all of which are her projects with the National Museum. "We have a very rich heritage, so rich that we have a lot to learn and understand about the practices, traditions, and way of living of our ancestors; we have to embrace the culture that is unique to us so we can have a better understanding of our roots and of who we are. Our museums will help us learn about these things," she stressed. Legarda has also proposed the creation of regional museums to serve as venues in ensuring the conservation and preservation of the country's traditional folk arts. STATEMENT OF LIBERAL PARTY PRESIDENT SEN. FRANCIS PANGILINAN ON PH CANCELLING EU AID It is the prerogative of any state to refuse to accept help from its friends abroad, the international community. What government needs to do is to act swiftly and ensure that all existing and ongoing European Union aid programs benefitting our people in the local communities do not suffer when the aid is pulled out. The administration must then provide these ongoing projects with sufficient government funding. According to EU Ambassador Franz Jessen, the government decision to cut aid from the EU would mean the loss of about 250 million Euros ($278.73 million) worth of grants mostly allocated to Muslim communities, among the country's poorest. Just now, socioeconomic planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said he is not taking as policy the decision of the Philippines to reject foreign aid from the European Union. Nevertheless, the EU's expression of concern over the war on drugs, including the incarceration of Senator Leila De Lima, should not cause the Philippines to step back in our relationship with EU. Image: www.hdwallpaperbackgrounds.net Guwahati, May 18 (IBNS): Considering the spurt of misuse of social media in recent days in the state, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal directed the Chief Secretary and DGP, Assam to take stern action against all those involved in such misdeeds. Discussing issues relating to misuse of social media with senior officials of Home Department on Wednesday evening, Sonowal advocated for use of appropriate law against all such cases. He also asked the police department to strictly monitor the use of social media including Facebook, Tweeter, Instagram etc. to check all such incidents. The Assam CM stated that many incidents have been reported recently where social media was used to malign the image of certain personalities as well as to vent personal anguish through publication of fabricated information. Expressing concern over such incidents, Sonowal said that it was a bad trend which need to be checked. The Assam CM asked the police department to take prompt action against all such misuse. Media Adviser to Chief Minister Hrishikesh Goswami, Legal Adviser Santanu Bharali, Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Assam VK Pipersenia, DGP Mukesh Sahay, Principal Secretary (Home) LS Changsan were also present among others in the discussion. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) They came carrying portable BBQs and halved seedless watermelons, giant coolers filled with beer and sparkly pink hula hoops. But after the sun sank below the horizon and the air cooled on that April Sunday, the partiers went home leaving a trail of trash scattered across Dolores Parks lawn. It was more of the same on a recent Saturday, when a group of new college graduates ate hot fudge sundaes from Styrofoam cups, then dumped the leftovers on the grass. A black Labrador relieved itself near a palm tree, and its owner walked away without picking up the waste. A dozen drunk men and women tottered away from a red cooler stocked with a few half-empty bottles of pinot noir. There were no park rangers in sight. That bad behavior comes with no apparent repercussions. On that bright and breezy April Sunday, no littering citations were issued even though city staff had to clean up 460 bags of trash left by the hordes of young people. In fact, not a single person has been ticketed for littering in Dolores Park this year. I understand the frustration and need to drive to the results that the community deserves, although I do find it unfortunate that we have to resort to punitive measures, said Sam Mogannam, owner of the nearby Bi-Rite Grocery. I wish more of the park-goers took greater responsibility for their own actions. But park visitors could soon face fines up to $1,000 for dumping their detritus on the lawn, under legislation introduced by Supervisor Jeff Sheehy. Sheehy, whose district includes Dolores Park, wants to increase fines at the citys discretion and ban glass in all parks. The money generated by citations would help cover the cost of trash removal. The ordinance is at the Board of Supervisors Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee and wont be up for a vote until June 9. If it costs you money to leave your trash in the park, you wont do it, Sheehy said. There are consequences to every action. I have a 12-year-old daughter. If there were no consequences for her, then she would do whatever she wants. This behavior has to change. Its a terrible situation. Right now, the standard fine for breaking a park code is $196. Thirty-one citations have been issued in Dolores Park this year, according to a Chronicle public records request. They include: smoking tobacco, parading around naked, illegal camping, peddling products without a permit, walking dogs off-leash, blasting music from amplifiers without a permit and ejecting human waste. Zero littering citations have been issued. For the parks system overall thats 230 parks, playgrounds and open spaces 11 have been issued this year. Park rangers give out the citations, but its up to District Attorney George Gascon to prosecute. The citations can become either an infraction, similar to a parking ticket, or a misdemeanor unlikely unless several littering citations stack up. Under Sheehys legislation, rangers would have the power to issue infractions without going through Gascons office. Amy Osborne/Special to The Chronicle Unless someone is repeatedly ticketed for littering, these citations result in infractions and fines rather than misdemeanor prosecutions, said Max Szabo, a spokesman for Gascon. We care deeply about the environment, but we dont think the public wants a jury empaneled every time someone fails to toss a bag of potato chips. City officials say catching people in the act of littering is difficult and would be nearly impossible to enforce, which is why no citations have been issued this year. But Recreation and Park Department spokeswoman Sarah Madland said she would support a bump in fines. Its consistent with littering fines in other locations, she said. Anytime you drive down the highway, it says there is a $1,000 fine for littering. Its a standard principle that when the likelihood of actually catching someone in the act of doing something is relatively low, you make the fine high. The goal here is not to cite anyone, its to get people to just pick up their stuff. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Dolores Parks trashy reputation did improve after a multiphase $20.5 million renovation in 2016. Park officials expanded waste receptacles to hold 20,000 gallons and increased the number of extra trash cans and temporary sorting facilities. More restrooms and a pissoir were added, slashing the number of complaints from nearby residents about drunk park visitors urinating on their garages. But the problem hasnt been completely solved. As recently as this spring, city officials have criticized the tomfoolery at Dolores Park as resembling a fraternity party. With 7,000 to 10,000 people converging on the 16-acre park on warm weekends, piles of empty pizza boxes, wine bottles and various other packaging is left behind. Recology provides more service to Dolores Park than nearly any park in the city, excluding the 1,000-acre Golden Gate Park, which is nearly 62 times larger. Weekends this spring have remained high service times, said Recology spokesman Robert Reed. He called Dolores Park a jewel in San Francisco that Recology has tried to keep as clean as possible. We are somewhere between 40 to 60 percent into the arc of the story of changing what happens there, Madland said. The trash problems are not what they were before. We are still working on it. Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn A roundup of upcoming events: Thursday Abortion rights fundraiser: NARAL Pro-Choice America holds a happy hour to raise money to support its fight for reproductive freedom. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Tank18, 1345 Howard St. in San Francisco. For tickets: http://naral.org/MenforChoiceSF. Farming film: A screening of Sunu, a documentary about the struggle of Mexican farmers to grow traditional, non-genetically modified corn. The screening is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Arlene Francis Center, 99 Sixth St. in Santa Rosa. For information, contact Occupy Sonoma County at (707) 877-6650 or www.occupysonomacounty.org. Saturday GMO marches: March to protest Monsantos use of genetically modified seeds, 10 a.m. at San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St. For information: www.facebook.com/events/185914998570163. A march will also be held in Santa Cruz at noon at San Lorenzo Park, 137 Dakota Ave. For information: www.facebook.com/events/999957133482531/. War forum: A discussion, Korea and Syria: Stop the Wars Before They Start, with a Korean scholar and journalist and a member of the Syria Solidarity Movement. The free event is from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. For information: cuyleruyle@mac.com. Sunday Free speech discussion: Ben Stein, a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor and Berkeley resident, will discuss his documentary, Near Normal Man, and free speech versus hate speech. The discussion will be followed by a screening of his film. The free event is at 9:30 a.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. in San Francisco. For information: www.gracecathedral.org/events/ben-charlene-stern/. Trump opposition panel: A discussion on the first 100 days of President Trumps administration and strategies for Trump opponents. Speakers include staffers from House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosis office and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The panel is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Rainbow Room, 1800 Market St. The event is free but has limited seating. RSVP: http://bit.ly/2qRwcf4. North Korea talk: A conversation with Conn Hallinan, a foreign policy analyst, on North Korea, China and the U.S. Free, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, 300 E. Santa Inez Ave. For information: www.sanmateopeaceaction.org. Monday Policing talk: A conversation on policing reform, led by Ronald Davis, former director of the U.S. Justice Departments Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Creekside Community Church, 951 MacArthur Blvd. in San Leandro. For information: http://bit.ly/2pWJwtr. Wednesday Fake news discussion: A conversation with Joaquin Alvarado, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, on the obligation of the government and media to filter fake news. The event is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the World Affairs Auditorium, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, in San Francisco. For information: http://bit.ly/2qw0OCF. May 27 Immigration discussion: The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity will host a discussion on immigration, followed by postcard writing to support social justice. The event is from 10 a.m. to noon at the Northern Police Station Community Room, 1125 Fillmore St. in San Francisco. For information: info@owlsf.org. June 1 Elizabeth Warren event: A conversation with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon St. in San Francisco. The discussion is part of an all-day event organized around opposition to President Trump. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at www.joyouspersistence.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A yearlong battle in San Francisco City Hall ended Wednesday night when two factions on the Board of Supervisors reached a compromise on how much affordable housing to require in new market-rate developments. The agreement between progressive Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Jane Kim, and moderate Supervisors London Breed, Ahsha Safai and Katy Tang, will require that 18 percent of the rental units be affordable in all projects approved between now and January. That quota will rise to 19 percent at the beginning of next year, and to 20 percent in 2019. If a developer opts to build the affordable units at another location, the ratios get higher: from 30 to 32 percent. We are very proud the board has come together to make this happen, Peskin said. He praised his colleagues for standing up to developers who have lined their pockets by not moving the affordable housing dial forward. The two groups of supervisors have sparred for months over what housing philosophy would better protect the soul of San Francisco one that prioritizes low-income families, or one that caters to middle-class residents who dont typically qualify for subsidized housing. Peskin and Kim say the current plan benefits both populations. It creates three tiers, one for very low-income people, another for moderate earners and another for the middle class, Safai said. He noted that until now, San Francisco has had no policy to help families on the higher end of that spectrum the teachers and firefighters who got squeezed out when the citys economy picked up a few years ago. Proposition C, which passed in June, set the affordable housing level at 25 percent, but required that it be revised after the controllers office released a feasibility study. That study, published in February, recommended a more conservative policy: 14 to 18 percent affordable housing in rental properties, increasing at a rate of 0.5 percent annually for the next 15 years. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan Mai Der Vangs award-winning first book, Afterland, shares the experience of Hmong refugees who fled to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War. Transmigration is a central poem in the collection. In a prayerful tone, the speaker addresses a spiritual muse. But this isnt a typical plea for guidance from a divine force. Instead, the speaker is the true guide, coaxing the spirit to follow her from her native Asian jungle to the roads/ and waiting pastures of America. The speaker and spirit sustain each other, and their intimacy hints at an ancestral bond between them. For the speaker, the spirit represents a vital connection to her true but forsaken home. Transmigration Spirit, when I flee this jungle, you must too. I will take our silver bars, necklace dowry, and the kettle forged from metal scraps just after the last monsoon. Among the foliage, we must be ready to see the half-decayed. You must not run off no matter how much flesh you smell. Nor should you wander to chase an old mate. Spirit, we are in this with each other the way the night geese in migration need the stars. When I make the crossing, you must not be taken no matter what the current gives. When we reach the camp, there will be thousands like us. If I make it onto the plane, you must follow me to the roads and waiting pastures of America. We will not ride the water today on the shoulders of buffalo as we used to many years ago, nor will we forage for the sweetest mangoes. I am refugee. You are too. Cry, but do not weep. We walk out the door. Mai Der Vang is the author of Afterland, which received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. She lives in Fresno. David Roderick is the co-founder of Left Margin LIT: A Home for the Literary Arts, in Berkeley. He is author of Blue Colonial and The Americans. Google is infusing artificial intelligence technology into all of its consumer products, from photos and mobile phones to home assistants and YouTube, the tech giant told developers Wednesday. Were talking about an important shift from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world, CEO Sundar Pichai told a crowd of about 7,200 people gathered at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for Googles annual developers conference, known as Google I/O. As an example, Pichai unveiled an artificial intelligence app called Google Lens, designed to bring augmented reality in which the real world is overlaid with virtual elements to a mobile phone camera. Someone could use the phone to view a flower, he said, and Google Lens would pull information from the Internet to identify its type and whether it could cause a sneeze. In another example, the phones camera could identify a cafe and pull up Yelp reviews, or connect to a wireless network automatically by scanning information on a router. Our computer vision systems are now even better than humans, Pichai said. The message was similar to what Microsoft delivered last week at its developers conference, analyst Geoff Baber said in an email. Were only at the dawn of a broader war in artificial intelligence and the home, said Barber, a vice president of the research firm CCS Insight. Googles scale puts it in a strong position, he said. Googles main source of income remains online advertising. But artificial intelligence should help it stay relevant and thus buttress its ad business, said Gene Munster, a longtime technology analyst and now managing partner with Minneapolis venture capital firm Loup Ventures. The big four Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are all starting to position themselves for this next wave of computing, he said. Here are more highlights from Google I/O: Android O: Google did not announce a formal name for the latest iteration of its popular mobile software, which remains simply called O and is expected to be released by the end of summer. Android Engineering Vice President Dave Burke said O will finally allow picture-in-picture mode, a feature already common on Apple devices. It lets users watch videos in a small window in the background while using other apps. Burke also previewed changes to Androids copy and paste functions, which will fully select street addresses, email addresses and phone numbers without the hassle of dragging the copy bar the whole way through. O will then suggest Maps, Gmail or the phone keypad once the text is selected, again using artificial intelligence. All this will happen in real time, without any data leaving the device, Burke said. Android Go: This will be a stripped-down version of O, designed for apps on entry-level phones used by people on prepaid plans that limit the amount of data they can use each month. Sameer Samat, Android and Google Play product management vice president, said Go would be made for global users with limited data connections. Android is also redesigning apps like YouTube Go, Chrome and Gboard to drain less mobile data, and use up less storage and memory space. For example, with the YouTube Go app, users can preview a video before they decide whether or not to use up data watching it. They can also choose the videos resolution, and Go will tell them how much data that resolution will require. The technology could be key to Googles battles against other competitors in emerging markets, which unlike the U.S. are not saturated by smart phones. There are more Android users in India than the U.S. now, Samat said. The time is right to take investment to the next level. Google Home: The company updated its voice-activated device by adding a visual display and hands-free calling. Users can now have Google Home send information such as Google Map directions, flight plans and their daily calender to any screen they want, including phones, tablets and televisions. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Rishi Chandra, vice president of Google Home, said Home users can use voice commands to make free calls to any phone in the United States and Canada. Google Home will also offer Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer and HBO Now. A Bluetooth feature will let users play audio from their smartphones at home. Everything can be done in a hands-free way, all from the comfort of my couch, Chandra said. Google for Jobs: Google is making a push into the job search market by adding filters to help job seekers find jobs by city, industry, skill level or even projected commute time. Pichai said the company is again adding machine learning to sort through jobs that have been much harder to classify. The service will be available in the U.S. in the coming weeks and internationally in the near future, he said. Assistant for iOS: Google is rolling out an iOS version of its virtual assistant app, going head-to-head with Apples Siri. Google is also trying to stem the momentum Amazon has build with its voice assistant, Alexa. Virtual reality: Googles Daydream virtual reality headset will operate on Samsungs newest model Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones later this summer. This will greatly expand the now-limited number of smartphones that can run Googles latest entry into the VR race. In addition, Google said it has lined up two key partners to develop its first VR viewer that doesnt require a smartphone HTC, which helped develop the Vive VR headset, and laptop giant Lenovo. Photos: Google is introducing a photo-book printing service, taking on long-standing online photo-book services like Shutterfly. But Google is adding artificial intelligence that will suggest themes of photos for the printed books, which start at $10 each. Benny Evangelista and Nicholas Cheng are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com, ncheng@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny, @nichocheng Like Crazy (the Italian title is better: La Pazza Gioia) arrives in America on a wave of approbation, and all of it deserved. A big hit in Italy, where it won top prizes, its the story of two very different women who go on a road trip. What they have in common is that they have just escaped from a mental institution. For one of the actresses, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, this is not the first time she has been institutionalized. Tedeschi became famous in 1993 for playing a woman who blossoms in the nuthouse (Normal People Are Nothing Exceptional), and, in her acting, she has made several visits to the padded walls over the years. But Like Crazy provides her with her best opportunity to depict mental instability, and her performance couldnt be better. This is a movie that can be enjoyed in different ways and for lots of reasons. Its dramatic and its funny, and it has a warm humanity at its center. But you might also watch it as a tailor-made showcase for a world-class actress. For the comparatively few Americans who already know Tedeschi, nothing more needs to be said. For the rest, Like Crazy is a golden entry into one of the great careers, a chance to discover one of the most idiosyncratic and endearing actresses working today. The opening scene is a perfect introduction to the character and to what Tedeschi can do with her. We see her breezing through the tended grounds of a great palazzo, dressed impeccably and looking magnificent, barking instructions at everyone she sees. She is grand and sure of herself and yet faintly ridiculous, and soon we realize that no one is listening to her. She is not a landowner ordering her servants around. This is a sanitarium, and Beatrice (Tedeschi) is one of the inmates. Beatrice is a wonderful comic character. She is erratic, swinging at will from magnificence to insecurity, and from diffidence to rage. She is compulsively honest and says the most appalling things without realizing. She is always having her dignity undercut, which means that she is invariably warding off shame even as she is asserting herself. And because she was born fabulously rich, Beatrice has a social ease that belies her reduced situation. Paolo Virzi, who wrote and directed the film, must have had Tedeschi in mind as he was conceiving it. Like Beatrice, Tedeschi was also born into great wealth. And Virzi cast Tedeschis own mother (Marisa Borini) to play the mother of Beatrice. The film traces a bond that grows between the overbearing Beatrice and a woman who is her complete opposite, Donatella (Micaela Ramazzotti), who is withdrawn and poor, with a tortured past. Ramazzotti (who is married to Virzi) gives the films other extraordinary performance, one in a very different register from that of Tedeschi. Watching them is like watching a muralist and a miniaturist create masterpieces side by side. By the way, though Tedeschi was born in Italy, she moved to France with her family when she was 10 years old, and she has made the vast majority of her films in France. But in recent years, she has been going back to her roots and taking a lot more roles in Italy. Tedeschi combines the raw sensuality of an Anna Magnani with the melancholic introspection of a Monica Vitti and is well worth discovering. Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MickLaSalle Like Crazy Comedy-Drama. Starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Micaela Ramazzotti. Directed by Paolo Virzi. In Italian with Engish subtitles. (Unrated. 118 minutes.) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KIEV, Ukraine A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Theres two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump, McCarthy, R-Bakersfield., said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by the Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Costa Mesa (Orange County) Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthys assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the U.S. Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions. News had just broken the day before in the Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home. Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthys comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: Swear to God. Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: No leaks. ... This is how we know were a real family here. The remarks remained secret for nearly a year. When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: That never happened, and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false. After being told that the Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. Whats more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russias interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity. This was a failed attempt at humor, Sparks said. Ken Grubbs, a spokesman for Rohrabacher, said the congressman has been a consistent advocate of working closer with the Russians to combat radical Islamism. The congressman doesnt need to be paid to come to such a necessary conclusion. Adam Entous is a Washington Post writer. Image: Google Maps Panaji, May 18 (IBNS): Around 50 people fell into the river as a footbridge collapsed in Curchorem of South Goa, in the evening on Thursday, according to Hindustan Times. The bridge was in a poor condition and people were allowed only to walk. Reports suggest that around 10 people have been rescued so far. A police official informed that the rescue operation is in the process though he could not tell the actual number of victims. Veteran prosecutor Robert Mueller, the former U.S. attorney in San Francisco and now the governments chief investigator of Russian interference in the November election, was appointed FBI director by President George W. Bush in September 2001. A week after he took office came the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. His job was changed dramatically. He suddenly had to become an expert in terrorism and international information interception, said Rory Little, a law professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco and a former federal prosecutor. Little said Mueller proved to be a quick learner, a trait that should serve him well in his new position at the center of the incendiary debate over Russias role in the 2016 presidential election. On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller special counsel with broad authority to investigate Russias actions and its relationships with President Trump and members of his campaign. Muellers Washington experience runs deep. Before his selection to head the FBI, he had led the Justice Departments Criminal Division under Republican President George H.W. Bush and served as the departments No. 2 official under the second President Bush. Despite his Republican credentials, he has bipartisan support and a reputation for independence, which he demonstrated in March 2004 at the bedside of hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft. President George W. Bush was seeking Justice Department approval to extend a clandestine program of warrantless surveillance of Americans phone calls and messages abroad, part of his war on terror. As White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card headed for the hospital to seek Ashcrofts signature, Mueller rushed to the scene, where he joined Ashcrofts chief deputy, James Comey. Both Mueller and Comey threatened to resign if Ashcroft approved the extension. Ashcroft didnt sign it. Bush later renewed the program on his own before suspending it in 2007. Comey succeeded Mueller as FBI director in 2013. His May 9 firing by Trump, who later said he wanted to end the FBIs Russian investigation, will be a subject of Muellers inquiry. I dont think he has any agenda, said Stanford law Professor Robert Weisberg, who has hosted Mueller as a guest instructor in some of his white-collar-crime classes. My guess is he will go where things point him. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Muellers appointment was a good first step to get to the bottom of the many questions we have about Russian interference in our election and possible ties to the president. Mueller was a Marine Corps officer who was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam. He began his legal career as a prosecutor in San Francisco in 1975, and in 1990 was appointed assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Among the cases he oversaw were the conviction of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega on drug charges and the investigation of the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people and resulted in a murder conviction. Mueller left the department after President Bill Clinton took office in 1993 and joined a Boston law firm, but returned to Washington a few years later to take a job as an everyday prosecutor accepting a dramatic cut in pay because he preferred the work, said Little, who was then in the Justice Department. Mueller had risen to become head of homicide prosecutions when Clinton tapped him in 1998 to become U.S. attorney in San Francisco. He took over an office in which prosecutions had been declining and doubled its output in two years, adding initiatives to go after white-collar crime, securities fraud, and environmental and gun cases. He was the first guy there in the morning and the last guy to turn off the lights at the end of the day, Little said. Another trait, he noted, was Muellers shutdown of public statements by his office the strongest version of no comment youve ever met which is likely to recur in his new job. Appointed by Bush to a 10-year term as FBI director, Mueller was given a two-year extension by President Barack Obama and Congress. When he left the agency after 12 years, he had become the second-longest-serving director after J. Edgar Hoover in the bureaus history. He returned to a private law firm, where he was still working Wednesday when he accepted his latest appointment. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com WASHINGTON - The world spins faster these days, but in Washington, as President Trump is now learning, the essential chemistry of crisis - quick to boil, difficult to dampen - hasn't changed in four decades. Tom Railsback, one of the last surviving members of the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Richard Nixon, recalls the moment he knew he and his party finally had to break with their wayward president. "I personally liked Richard Nixon," said Railsback, a Republican from Illinois who is now 85. "He campaigned for me. But I reached a point - a number of us did - where we all felt that this was the most important decision of our lives." No such decision confronts Republicans in Congress or the administration right now, but within the president's party this week, what had been a fairly solid wall of support has suddenly developed cracks - the latest being the appointment late Wednesday of a special counsel to investigate Russia's role in Trump's election. Are those cracks dangerous splits in the foundation of Trump's support or merely cosmetic chinks that might be patched by, say, a successful presidential trip to Europe and the Middle East? "The danger he faces is his own party, with a growing chorus of leading Republicans who want to distance themselves from Trump because he has the smell of a wounded animal," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian who met with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December as Trump prepared to take office. "Right now, there aren't many Republicans in Congress facing reelection who are going to want to be in photo opportunities with him. He's a man without coattails." Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, is old enough to recall watching Republicans turn against Nixon in the latter phases of the Watergate investigation. "What I'm worried about is, in the early 1970s, politicians like me were standing around saying, 'Nixon's OK; he didn't do anything,' and look what it led to," said Simpson, who was in dental school as the Nixon presidency crumbled. Now, with revelations dominating the news almost daily, "you find Republican politicians kind of a little leery about saying either they support Trump or 'Oh, no, this is all made-up, fake news bulls--- stuff," Simpson said. "They've seen what's happened in the past, and as long as this continues, it's hard to stand behind him, I'll tell you in all honesty." But where some see the start of a snowballing opposition, others caution that a momentary crisis does not necessarily imply collapse. "I see the parallels with Watergate, but the differences are enormous," said David Greenberg, a historian at Rutgers University who has written books on Nixon and the politics of media coverage. "We are so far from the mountain of evidence we had in the spring of 1973. Some Republicans feel it's imperative now to furrow their brows about Trump's behavior, but for the most part, they are still very much on board with him. We're in the early stages, certainly not the endgame." In the Watergate scandal, hard evidence - including the burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the discovery of Nixon's White House taping system - as well as convictions of some of the president's aides made it easier for Republicans to break with their president, Railsback said. He does not think that the crisis that has engulfed the Trump presidency has reached that point, but he viscerally recalls the feeling of collapsing confidence that led him and his fellow Republicans to discard core beliefs about loyalty and party discipline. "It was easier then because things were a lot more nonpartisan, and in those days I had very good friends that were Democrats," he said. "But there came a point when both parties had to tone down the rhetoric and look for the common good." On Capitol Hill and in the conservative media Wednesday, by word and by gesture, Republicans edged away from the president whose world-shaking election last fall had put them where they'd dreamed of being since 2007 - in charge of the whole kit and caboodle in Washington, finally in position to turn their ideas into action. But after a whirlwind first hundred days of china-breaking rhetoric and frustratingly stalled progress on Trump's biggest initiatives, this new presidency has become mired in the mud of scandal: The firing of the FBI director, who was leading an investigation into any role Russia may have played in Trump's election. The president's decision to share classified information with Russian officials. A report that Trump had asked that FBI chief, James Comey, whether he might shut down an investigation into Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Then, on Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the appointment of a special counsel, heightening the sense of an administration under siege. Republicans in Congress moved from ritual statements of solidarity to worries about Trump's "troubling" behavior, and from assurances that the process was working to outright calls for independent investigations of the president's actions. But only two Republicans joined with 197 House Democrats to sponsor a bill that would have created a commission to look into suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election; GOP lawmakers Wednesday blocked a vote on the bill. Still, Republican leaders of committees in both chambers of Congress demanded that the White House produce documents and any tapes, if recordings exist, that might shed light on reports that Trump pressed Comey to halt his investigation. Sometimes, silence spelled out the shift in Republican support for the president. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ignored questions from reporters about the controversies. On Fox News, where Republican lawmakers are most comfortable speaking to their base, anchor Bret Baier on Tuesday night told viewers that he had found no one to defend the president. "We've tried tonight to get Republicans to come out and talk to us, and there are not Republicans willing to go on camera tonight," he said. "This story changed the dynamic on Capitol Hill." Current politicians, as well as those who served during the Nixon and Bill Clinton impeachment processes, said they based their decisions about a president's ability to serve on some combination of public opinion, consensus among political and media voices, and their own moral compasses. Although his constituents are not following every twist in the District of Columbia drama, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said: "I do think it's taking a toll on the psyche of our country. You know, this constant dose of scandal, of controversy, of intrigue, it's just not healthy. What it does is it erodes the trust and confidence in our institutions." Curbelo, whose South Florida district voted for Hillary Clinton for president by a wide margin, said he has decided to make public the discussion of impeachment that has become commonplace in private chatter on the Hill. "If any congressional committee documents and concludes that any federal official is guilty of obstruction of justice," he said, "certainly that would rise to the level of impeachment. . . . I don't think that's what will likely end up happening. But is it something that's on people's minds around here? Yes. I happen to be saying it publicly; most members are saying it privately." After Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced an inquiry into the Trump-Comey meeting, he said, "I had a number of members send me a personal text saying, 'Thank you, good job, keep it up. Glad we're out there, not ducking this.' " Chaffetz said his party's credibility is at stake. "The public is really good at sensing authenticity," he said. "If we fall anywhere short of being thorough, responsible and complete in our investigation, the public will get it and they'll get rid of us." Although Trump's approval ratings are historically low for a new president, they remain well above the depths that Nixon and George W. Bush experienced at the nadirs of their presidencies. "The thing that would make these cracks really widen would be hard evidence directly linking Trump or top aides to Russia, or showing a deliberate plan to snuff out the investigation," Greenberg said. "I don't think this has reached the point for an impeachment inquiry, but both parties have to move quickly to complete a careful investigation," Railsback said. "It's overheated now - some of that has been brought on by the president, but the media has been overly aggressive and too speculative." Trump loyalists - and the president himself - have sought to paint the snowballing media coverage of the Comey memo and Trump's disclosures of classified information to Russian officials as evidence of a partisan, anti-Trump bias. "Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media," the president said during his commencement address Wednesday at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. "No politician in history - and I say this with great surety - has been treated worse or more unfairly." Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Presidents have faced the ultimate sanction mainly when there was bipartisan consensus that they had lost the trust of the nation. "With Watergate," Greenberg said, "from fairly early on, there were at least some Republican voices that were critical, and that shaped public opinion. With the Clinton impeachment, it was very hard to argue at any point that this was anything other than partisan. Until you have that bipartisanship, talk of impeachment is wishful thinking by Democrats." At this early stage in the Trump presidency, there is still ample opportunity to build support, Brinkley said. "He could do a prime-time address to the American people like Ronald Reagan did in the Iran-contra crisis," the historian said. "He still has a core base of supporters, but he hasn't sought to unite Americans beyond his base." For decades, Trump has boasted that he thrives along the edges of failure, that he and risk are the most comfortable of bedfellows. At the Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, Trump told the graduates that they will face rough passages, just as he is facing today. "Never, ever, ever give up," he said. "Things will work out just fine." Thirty years ago, as he was amassing his first fortune, Trump explained why he had such a voracious appetite for properties and publicity: "I do it to do it," he wrote in his bestseller, "Trump: The Art of the Deal." "But in the end, you're measured not by how much you undertake, but by what you finally accomplish." In that same book, however, Trump, always brimming with confidence that he can land any deal, vanquish any rival, made one concession. "Making choices," he wrote by way of explaining why he would rather run his own company than take his business public, "is a lot easier when you have to answer only to yourself." - - - The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report. - - - Video: Ryan, Rubio and other Republicans react to latest Comey, Russia revelations Congressional Republicans spoke with reporters about President Trump's conversations with former FBI Director James B. Comey. (Thomas Johnson / The Washington Post) Short URL: http://wapo.st/2rgkmL3 Embed code: A 36-year-old Pittsburg man was identified Wednesday as the alleged arsonist behind a string of vehicle and structure fires around Contra Costa County in recent weeks. James Bishop III was charged by the Contra Costa County district attorneys office with one count of arson to an inhabited structure, nine counts of arson to property and eight counts of using an accelerant to set fire, said Capt. George Laing with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. Bishop was arrested around 1 a.m. Saturday in a residential neighborhood in Benicia, blocks away from a car that had been torched in a driveway. Authorities named Bishop as the suspected arsonist for the first time Wednesday. Authorities believe Bishop might be responsible for 30 or more intentionally set fires around Contra Costa County. He is being held in the Martinez Detention Facility on $3.2 million bail. Investigators started noticing an uptick in suspicious fires being set around the county in April, Liang said. In all the cases, fires were set using an accelerant on the outside of the vehicles. In some instances, the fires spread to nearby homes and structures. Then last week, more than half a dozen cars were set on fire in the Contra Costa cities of Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Martinez and Brentwood. One car fire in Brentwood was particularly troubling because it was set on fire in a driveway under the bedroom of a 6-year-old girl. As the number of fires increased, law enforcement and fire agencies in the East Bay formed a task force to track down the firebug. Detectives soon identified an older model Toyota RAV4 spotted in security footage near the scenes of the blazes. Bishop was busted Saturday driving such a vehicle a 1996 Toyota RAV4, Liang said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Since his arrest, fire officials said the number of fires has decreased to the normal rate for the area. Anyone with information about possible other arson fires is asked to call investigators at (866) 502-7766. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky WASHINGTON - Michael Flynn told President Donald Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case. Despite this warning, which came about a month after the Justice Department notified Flynn of the inquiry, Trump made Flynn his national security adviser. The job gave Flynn access to the president and nearly every secret held by U.S. intelligence agencies. Flynn's disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition team's chief lawyer, Donald McGahn, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Flynn's lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported. His legal issues have been a problem for the White House from the beginning and are at the center of a growing political crisis for Trump. Flynn, who was fired after 24 days in the job, was initially kept on even after the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, warned the White House that he might be subject to blackmail by the Russians for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington. After Flynn's dismissal, Trump tried to get James Comey, the FBI director, to drop the investigation. He fired Comey on May 9. The White House declined to comment on whether officials there had known about Flynn's legal troubles before the inauguration. One of a handful Flynn, a retired general, is one of a handful of Trump associates under scrutiny in intertwined federal investigations into their financial links to foreign governments and whether any of them helped Russia interfere in the presidential election. In congressional testimony, the acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe, has confirmed the existence of a "highly significant" investigation into possible collusion between Trump's associates and Russian operatives to sway the presidential election. A veteran espionage prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, now leading a grand jury inquiry in Northern Virginia that is scrutinizing Flynn's foreign lobbying, has begun issuing subpoenas to businesses that worked with Flynn and his associates. One of the subpoenas demands all "records, research, contracts, bank records, communications" and other documents related to work with Flynn and the Flynn Intel Group, the business he set up after he was forced out as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014. Obama warnings The subpoena also asks for similar records about Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who is close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and is chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council. There is no indication that Alptekin is under investigation. According to people who have talked to Flynn about the case, he sees the Justice Department's investigation as part of an effort by the Obama administration to keep him out of the White House. In his view, this effort began immediately after the election, when President Barack Obama, who had fired Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Trump that he would have profound concerns about Flynn's becoming a top national security aide. Now registered The people close to Flynn said he believed that when that warning did not dissuade Trump from making him national security adviser, the Justice Department opened its investigation into his lobbying work. They spoke on the condition of anonymity. The investigation stems from the work Flynn did for Inovo BV, a Dutch company owned by Alptekin, the Turkish businessman. On Aug. 9, Flynn and the Flynn Intel Group signed a contract with Inovo for $600,000 over 90 days to run an influence campaign aimed at discrediting Fethullah Gulen, an reclusive cleric who lives in Pennsylvania and whom Erdogan has accused of orchestrating a failed coup in Turkey last summer. When he was hired by Alptekin, Flynn did not register as a foreign agent, as required by law when an American represents the interests of a foreign government. Only in March did he file a retroactive registration with the Justice Department. Mumbai, May 18 (IBNS): Bollywood actor Reema Lagoo, who earned her fame playing the warm-hearted, obliging and friendly yet dignified mother of top stars on celluloid for the past decades, passed away on Thursday, as the Bollywood fraternity mourned the loss. She was 59. She reportedly died after suffering from cardiac arrest. She is well known for playing the main character's mother in hit Hindi movies like Maine Pyar Kiya, Aashiqui, Saajan, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Vaastav, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Bollywood mourned her death expressing condolences over Twitter. "Just heard the shocking and unbelievable news about Reema Lagoo's passing .. such a fine talent and gone so young ! Very SAD !!" tweeted Amitabh Bachchan. T 2428 - Just heard the shocking and unbelievable news about Reema Lagoo's passing .. such a fine talent and gone so young ! Very SAD !! Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 18, 2017 Actress Madhuri Dixit posted: "Saddened. RIP #ReemaLagoo. She radiated talent, beauty and such warmth. She will be missed. Condolences to her family." Filmmaker Madhur BHandarkar tweeted: "Sad to hear about #ReemaLagoo. Remember working with her as an associate director in #Rangeela.A talented actress & a warm person. RIP." Saddened. RIP #ReemaLagoo. She radiated talent, beauty and such warmth. She will be missed. Condolences to her family. Madhuri Dixit-Nene (@MadhuriDixit) May 18, 2017 Actor Boman Irani said: "Our very dear Reema Lagoo is no more. Always kind, funny and loving.Saddened. RIP #ReemaLagoo." Filmmaker Kunal Kohli posted: "Am shocked to hear about Reemaji RIP #ReemaLagoo One of warmest,nicest people on and off screen. This is very shocking & sad." Superstar Akshay Kumar tweeted: "Saddened to hear about the demise of #ReemaLagoo, had the opportunity to work with her...a fine actress and person.Prayers to the family ." Filmmaker Farah Khan said: "So terribly sad 2hear #ReemaLagoo is no more.worked with her in so many songs n she was just the most loving soul..condolences 2 her family." Actor Paresh Rawal said: "Reema lagoo an endearing n positive persona . A friend n a colleague since theatre days . RIP." Image: Wikimedia Commons The U.S. Justice Department made the right call in appointing a special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Even better was its choice to fill that difficult position: Robert Mueller III, a former FBI director and veteran federal prosecutor known for his integrity, thoroughness, effectiveness and respect across party lines. The need for an independent prosecutor became all the more imperative with this weeks New York Times revelation that President Trump tried to pressure FBI Director James Comey to shut down an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump fired Comey last week and later allowed that his frustration with the Russia investigation, which he has called a hoax, was a factor. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the decision to bring in an outside leader. It was an especially bold and judicious move considering that Rosenstein last week crafted a memo critical of Comey that the White House cited as justification for the firing. If anyone can instill public confidence in the U.S. governments willingness to pursue the serious allegations with determination and diligence and fearlessness it is Mueller. He prosecuted Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and notorious New York mobster John Gotti. Mueller is a Republican with a commitment to nonpartisan law enforcement. He was selected by President George H. W. Bush to head the Justice Departments criminal division, by President Bill Clinton to run the U.S. attorneys office in San Francisco and by President George W. Bush to lead the FBI. He took control of the bureau on Sept. 4, 2001, and a week later the nation experienced the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks. As FBI director, he oversaw the crackdown on terrorism and the bureaus transformation into an intelligence-driven agency. He showed his fierce independence in 2004 when he and Comey threatened to resign if the Bush administration did not retreat from its secret surveillance program they recognized as patently illegal. President Barack Obama was so impressed with Muellers stewardship the gold standard for leading the bureau that he asked Congress in 2011 to extend his tenure as FBI director by two years. While the chain of command ultimately leads to the president, as special counsel Mueller should have greater autonomy than others in the Justice Department to pursue this politically sensitive investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been forced to recuse himself from the inquiry after it was revealed that he failed to disclose his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the campaign. At last, the pursuit of justice should now proceed beyond the reach of any White House interference. Susana Bates/Special to The Chronicle San Franciscos sidewalks are a battlefield filled with skateboards, scooters, cracked pavement and heedless humans glued to smartphones. To this obstacle course add delivery robots, which could pose a danger or maybe none at all. Thats the problem with a plan by Supervisor Norman Yee, who wants to ban the hamper-size devices. He believes the remote-controlled vehicles are too unreliable and lethal to allow on streets or sidewalks. Regulations wont work and more testing and tweaking will ensure only that the devices take root and zoom along public paths, he argues. Ever wonder why the pace of change in public education falls somewhere between inching and crawling in arguably the most progressive, innovative city in the world? San Francisco Unified School Districts red tape and lack of resources are to blame, but theres also a story of unpaid workers, organizational mutiny and missed opportunity. Heres an example: In 2009 the school board set out to redesign its method for assigning students to schools. Though the topic sounds dry, matching thousands of children to seats at more than a hundred programs while taking into consideration parental preference, geography, diversity and more involves the sexiest corner of economics: game theory. Luckily, the board had the assistance of a group representing Harvard, Stanford, Duke and MIT. Nobel Prize winner Alvin Roth, Muriel Niederle, Clayton Featherstone and others proposed helping to create, monitor and adjust a cutting-edge algorithm for free. In March 2010, the board voted unanimously to take the offer. But that September, district staff sent Roths team an email amounting to Thank you, goodbye. District officials had decided to instead develop software to implement the new design on their own, Roth reported. Today, the state of the districts homegrown assignment algorithm, known to parents as the lottery, is described by board member Mark Sanchez as broken and untenable, and by board member Rachel Norton as probably the biggest policy issue that our community engages with us on. Neil Dorosin directs the Institute for Innovation in Public School Choice, a nonprofit Roth and his team formed. When I recently asked Dorosin what kind of personnel would be needed to create an effective school assignment algorithm, he said, Either a mathematician or an economist who knows about algorithms, and a software engineer who could operationalize it. I would be stunned if they have that. Those who shared these concerns back in 2010 called on district staff to explain themselves. Despite making a pledge to the board to disclose the algorithm developed in-house, by March 2012 staff still hadnt issued a complete enough description to [know] if they in fact implemented the plan the board adopted, said Roth. Lack of compliance with board directives sounds crazy, but Sanchez, who served on the board from 2001 to 2009 and won re-election in November, said it happens all the time. There are so many examples, he said. How could that be possible? Because board members each receive about $6K a year and everyone has a full-time job doing something else theyre just too busy to check in and cajole, Sanchez said. The only thing the board really can do, he said, is fire the superintendent when a lot of that piles up. Thats why Sanchez and San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim have discussed putting forward a ballot measure to increase school board member compensation. Sanchez said it would give board members the average beginning pay for a teacher in the Bay Area ... probably ending up at around $45,000 (drawn from the citys budget, rather than the school districts). Following the model adopted by Los Angeles in 2006, the full amount would be available only to those who forsake other employment, he said. Meanwhile, parents fret over the lottery. The long, complex application process where paperwork is submitted in person in January and decisions are issued in March, then again in May, through three more rounds of supplication and the first two weeks of school fails low-income families who lack the time or bureaucratic savvy to effectively engage. Those who do manage to navigate the process, one emotional parent told the school board committee Monday night, often find the experience time-consuming, frustrating and stressful. Raman Khanna, a member of the Ulloa Elementary School PTA, referred to another outcome: professional flight. Because of the lottery, he said, a lot of the colleagues that I talk to leave the city or they go to private school. Roths and Dorosins organization has worked with cities across the country to use data and technology to improve school assignment. Dorosin said the nonprofits modest fees are often covered by outside grants and other funding. This March they invited SFUSD board members and district officials to reach out again. The response? The board committee announced Monday it would not be taking action, and district staff proposed two timelines for reform: one would give the board two years to articulate a new direction for the assignment system; the other, labeled if policy development moves quickly, would still give them a full year to do so and then another 18 months for district staff to implement it. Tommy Williams, a parent who works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said: The fact that were talking about the 202[0] or 2021 school year is very frustrating. Board members could start meeting with national experts with just days notice to hash out a broad-strokes plan, but that wont happen until the fall. Its clearly an urgent issue, Sanchez said, but its one of many, many things that we have to deal with. ... We had to hire a superintendent, and now were involved in negotiations for the contract so we wanted to focus on that. Rionda Batiste, co-chair of the districts African American Parent Advisory Council, won many approving head nods at Mondays meeting when she said: I dont understand why this is something that cannot happen simultaneously. If we really wanted to speed things along, Sanchez told me, wed have more meetings. Intuitively, we all know [paying board members] would make things move faster. Nationally, school board compensation is all over the board. Connecticut pays nothing, while Floridas lowest paying county, as of 2014 reportedly offered $24,290 a year. According to the National School Boards Association, approximately 75 percent of small-district school board members serve as volunteers while around 40 percent of large-district ones receive a modest salary. This divide makes sense, because theres much more work to be done in a district with 50,000 students than one with only a few hundred. When being an effective board member requires a full-time commitment from someone who must already work full-time elsewhere, its a structural problem, Sanchez said. A second one resurfaced at Mondays meeting. Orla OKeefe, the districts chief of policy and operations, told the board: We need a larger number of staff with the technical skills and knowledge needed to complete assignment runs, including to [e]xplore leveraging district ... online registration functionality with a potential online application pilot. In other words, while the board takes its time deciding what major changes to make, district staff propose once again building in-house. Meanwhile, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and the tools his team has honed wait in the wings. Maybe instituting board salaries can buy our elected representatives the time they need to pursue public-private partnerships that bring expertise and manpower to the task of matching students with schools. Hopefully, this time it will be with the support of district staff, such as newly anointed Superintendent Vincent Matthews who, calling the meeting democracy in action, said Monday hes looking forward to moving this forward. Until then, Sanchez said, Its in a holding pattern. Gail Cornwall is a San Francisco Unified School District parent. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, or read more at www.gailcornwall.com. "Photos Joshua Abeyta/Kimberly Ellis for California via AP ; John Shearer/Invision for ETTA/AP Imag / Photos Joshua Abeyta/Kimberly Ellis for California via AP ; John Shearer/Invision for ETTA/AP Images Progressive activists looking to push the California Democratic Party further to the left at the partys annual convention this weekend may be making it harder to challenge Republicans in more conservative parts of the state, some party leaders worry. A host of first-time convention delegates, many of them backers of Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, argue that the party needs to be more aggressive in pushing a progressive agenda that calls for single-payer health care, free college education and tougher environmental rules, including a ban on fracking. Saturdays convention vote for a new state party leader is a fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, said one of the two main candidates, Kimberly Ellis of Richmond, a favorite of the Sanders wing whose campaign slogan calls for redefining what it means to be a Democrat. But while the progressive platform draws enthusiastic applause from Democrats in the big cities and other deep-blue parts of coastal California, its far less popular in the Central Valley and other, more conservative, parts of the state, where the party is targeting Republican congressional incumbents in hopes of winning back the House next year. Bernie Sanders types wouldnt do well in parts of the state, said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who spent 15 years as the Democratic speaker of the Assembly and now writes a weekly column for The Chronicle. You see candidates who win in San Francisco but wouldnt have a chance in the (Central) Valley. The dispute comes at a time when the 3,000-plus delegates and guests to the Sacramento convention, which will run from Friday to Sunday, should be slapping high-fives at the growing strength of the Democratic Party in California. Gov. Jerry Brown is a Democrat, as are all seven other statewide elected officials. The party holds a two-thirds majority in both the Assembly and Senate, making Republican members largely irrelevant. In Congress, both senators are Democrats, and Democrats hold 38 of the states 53 House seats. Democrat Hillary Clinton received better than 61 percent of the vote in the November presidential election. Democratic registration is about 45 percent and growing slowly, compared with 26 percent and shrinking for Republicans. Until a couple of months ago, Ellis led Emerge California, an organization dedicated to recruiting and preparing women to run for office. Now, she is running against party Vice Chair Eric Bauman to replace John Burton, retiring as party chair, and she says the Democrats have to make changes. The party needs to become more progressive and less willing to be manipulated by the states corporate interests if its going to attract a new generation of voters, many of whom became politically active as part of Sanders unsuccessful run for president last year, Ellis said. Burton, the 84-year-old former congressman and legislator who has run the state party for the past eight years, doesnt see the problem. If you can find someone to the left of me, Id like to meet him, he said. Were probably the most liberal state party in the nation. Its important to set the proper priorities, Burton added. In years past, the deal wasnt about having a certain type of legislator, but having operational control of Congress or the Legislature, he said. A lot of times you can be holier than thou, but you dont ask a guy to walk the plank by forcing him to take a position that could hurt him in his district. The election battle between Ellis and Bauman also reflects the lingering bad feelings between Sanders supporters and the Clinton backers who controlled the state party during the last election. One reason for the progressives anger, said former Sanders campaign surrogate Nina Turner, is that nobody has fully addressed their concerns, which include complaints that party organizations put their thumbs on the scale for Clinton. Although Ellis backed Clinton last year, she has become a favorite of the Sanders faithful. In April, Our Revolution the organization that grew out of Sanders presidential campaign endorsed Ellis, joining National Nurses United, the Oakland-rooted union that was a key driver in the Vermont senators presidential run. Shes really going to open the party, said Shannon Jackson, executive director of Our Revolution. I dont see her as an establishment type who is blind and deaf to the voice of the people. Bauman, 58, a Bronx-born nurse and political operative from Los Angeles, said Ellis and her backers are trying to fix something thats not broken. Were the only state party that knows how to do it right, thats been able to win even in bad years like 2016, he said. Its my experience and ability to know how to run a party that sets me apart. Both Bauman and Ellis say all the right things about party unity, calling for a big-tent approach that doesnt require political ideology tests to determine who is and who isnt a real Democrat. Ellis, 43, says that because she and Bauman agree on most of the issues, the race is a contrast of tones and styles. For her, that tone likely will be a sharper one, especially with party leaders who arent living up to the expectations she believes voters should have of Democratic politicians. She said she will be unafraid to challenge party leaders. Since Democrats hold all statewide offices and have a supermajority control in the Legislature, Ellis wonders why they havent reformed Proposition 13, passed Medicare-for-all or banned fracking. We will call out those Democratic Party officials who have hedged on those issues, like the governor. Hes hedged on Medicare for all, Ellis said. Under the Trump administration, she said, we dont have the luxury to playing it safe for what is right and fair and just. Thats a threat Democratic officeholders have to take seriously. Last year, for example, labor leaders and party activists challenged Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, whose suburban Sacramento district is a perennial GOP target. Despite the districts conservative tilt and Beras tenuous hold on the seat the Democratic left wing demanded the congressman take a more progressive stance on issues like trade, immigration and the environment. Some labor groups even endorsed Beras GOP opponent, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. In November, Bera won a 51-49 percent squeaker. The prospect of having a new state party leadership that will give its imprimatur to similar left-leaning challenges to moderates is a daunting one for many Democrats. Its a special concern when the national party is targeting seven of the states 14 Republican members of Congress, all of them in districts with conservative roots. One size doesnt fit all, said Nate Monroe, a political science professor at UC Merced. You cant say, Heres what every Democrat is saying and I got to say it, too. Delegates will vote on the new party chair Saturday afternoon, with the results expected later that evening. John Wildermuth and Joe Garofoli are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com and jgarfoli@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @jfwildermuth, @joegarofoli This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee the Justice Departments investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election not only intensifies the legal stakes facing President Trump it also delays a possible day of reckoning for congressional Republicans. But Republicans who have largely stood by Trump through his often-chaotic first four months in office signaled even before Muellers appointment that they were repositioning their approach toward the Russian inquiry, should that day of reckoning come. In the short term, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteins decision to name Mueller as special counsel overseeing the Russian investigation removes some pressure on Republicans. They can now say that while Muellers investigation grinds along, theres not much they can do about reports that Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey in February to end his probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns possible ties to the Russians. It does sort of insulate Republicans a bit, said James Pfiffner, a public-policy professor at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., who has written about scandals involving Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. But Im not sure that Republicans wanted this. The problem for the GOP, said Pfiffner: If one of the Republican-led congressional probes now under way had found something bad, they could tamp down the language a bit in their report. But if a special counsel finds something, (he) can bring criminal charges. Some Republicans acknowledged that the situation for Trump has sharply worsened. GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona expressed astonishment at the flood of revelations over the past week and raised the comparison to the scandal that felled Nixon, telling an International Republican Institute dinner on Tuesday, Weve seen this movie before. Its reaching Watergate size and scale. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was asked by a reporter whether Trumps reported request to Comey, if true, could be an impeachable offense. He replied, Yes. Such comments amount to baby steps in the direction of a possible congressional attempt to remove Trump from office, said Allan Lichtman, author of The Case for Impeachment, a book laying out a rationale for ousting Trump. Lichtman, one of the few pundits who predicted that Trump would win the presidency, said the main pursuit of every politician is survival ... aAnd if they feel that being close to Trump could hurt them, then theyll move away from him. It may not be to their political advantage to have Trump to continue to kick around while this drip, drip, drip of a scandal keeps going. Several GOP members of Congress put some distance between themselves and Trump for the first time. Among them was Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah chairman of the oversight panel and a conservative hero for relentlessly pursuing allegations of malfeasance against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the deaths of four Americans in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. On Wednesday, Chaffetz asked the FBI to turn over communications between Trump and Comey. If the FBI declines, Chaffetz tweeted. I have my subpoena pen ready. Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, head of the Judiciary Committee, asked Comey to testify before their panels. Grassley also asked the FBI and White House for records memorializing interactions with Mr. Comey relating to the FBIs investigation of both the Russian election interference and Clintons use of a private email server while secretary of state. With an eye toward their 2018 re-election campaigns, some Republican incumbents who could be vulnerable were already out ahead of the Mueller announcement. They included Rep. Steve Knight, R-Lancaster (Los Angeles County), who said Tuesday that it was time for a special prosecutor to take over. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), called in February for an independent inquiry. Both represent districts that Clinton won in November. This kind of political pressure is key, Lichtman said, because this is absolutely not a constitutional crisis unless politicians make it one. John Trasvina, dean of the University of San Franciscos law school, said a constitutional crisis occurs when one of the three branches of government exceeds its powers and the other branches are unwilling or unable to exert their authority. Until Wednesday, Trasvina said, most congressional Republicans were like an emergency dispatcher who ignores a ringing phone. You had a lot of smoke and a little fire and people were calling 911, and there was no answer, said Trasvina, who was general counsel for the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution in the 1990s. What changed Wednesday, he said, wasnt just the growing unease from Republicans, but the fact that veterans such as Grassley who came to Congress in 1975, a year after Nixons resignation stepped forward. Other analysts pointed out that the Justice Department and congressional probes are still in their infancy. People forget that Watergate took two years to unfold, said Evan Thomas, a longtime journalist and author of the best-selling Being Nixon: A Man Divided. Trumps reported request to Comey to short-circuit the investigation, if true, feels like a smoking gun, Thomas said. But with obstruction of justice, a lot of things need to be known first. Its way too premature to say that Trump will be impeached or is a goner. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out all remaining laws banning interracial marriage, roughly 17 percent of newlyweds across the country are getting hitched to someone of a different race or ethnicity, up from 3 percent in 1967, according to a Pew Research Center study released Thursday. But the study found wide societal disparities in who is entering into intermarriage and how they feel about such unions differences that cut along generational, geographical, racial and partisan lines. The study drew data from Pew surveys, the U.S. Census and the research group NORC at the University of Chicago. Overall, 10 percent of all married couples 11 million people were in interracial or inter-ethnic marriages as of 2015, with the most common pairing a Hispanic husband and a white wife, researchers found. But the newlyweds, defined as people in their first year of marriage, continue to drive that number up. Both changes in social norms and raw demographics have contributed to the increase, with Asians and Hispanics the two groups most likely to marry someone of another race or ethnicity making up a greater part of the U.S. population in recent decades, according to the report. Meanwhile, public opinion has steadily shifted toward acceptance, with the most dramatic change seen in the number of non-blacks who say they would oppose a close relative marrying a black person. In 2016, 14 percent of whites, Hispanics and Asians polled said they would oppose such a marriage, down from 63 percent in 1990. Rates of intermarriage vary in many ways by race, age, gender, geography, political affiliation and education level. And the differences can be stark. Among newlyweds, for example, African American men are twice as likely to marry someone of a different race than African American women 24 percent to 12 percent. While the overall intermarriage rates have increased for blacks of each gender, the gap between genders is long-standing, the Pew researchers said. This gender disparity is reversed for Asians, with 21 percent of recently married men in mixed unions, compared to 36 percent of women. Why such differences exist, however, is not entirely understood. Theres no clear answer in my view, said Jennifer Lee, a sociology professor at UC Irvine and an expert in immigration and race. What I suspect is happening are Western ideals about what feminity is and what masculinity is. Lee said the greater rates of intermarriage for Hispanics and Asians are arguably easier to untangle. Were more likely to view Asian and Hispanic and white as intercultural marriages they see themselves crossing a cultural barrier more so than a racial barrier, she said. But a marriage between a black person and a white person crosses a racial color line, a much more difficult line to cross. The study found the rates of intermarriage and the acceptance of it can rise and fall with factors like geography and political inclination. In urban areas, for example, 18 percent of newlyweds married someone of a different race or ethnicity in recent years, compared to 11 percent outside of cities. Meanwhile, in a survey conducted in early March, 49 percent of Democrats or those leaning Democrat said intermarriage was generally good for society, compared to 28 percent of Republicans or those leaning Republican. Six percent of those on the Democratic side said it was generally bad for society, compared to 12 percent on the Republican side. Information on same-sex married couples is included in the report, based on available data from 2013 and later. Despite the greater number of intermarriages and increasing social acceptance perspective is important, Lee said. I think its easy to look at trends and think attitudes are improving about race relations, she said. Attitudes have shifted and the data has shifted, but interracial marriage is not universal and its still not the norm. The Pew study marked a half-century since the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Loving vs. Virginia, that invalidated anti-miscegenation laws that remained in more than a dozen states. The case vindicated Mildred Loving, who was black, and her white husband, Richard Loving, after the state of Virginia objected to their 1958 wedding, arrested them and sentenced them to a year in prison. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker To see the full report, go to http://pewrsr.ch/2qAL4eu Boston media company IDG, which runs several tech publications from its San Francisco office, said it cut staff this week. This was a difficult decision for the company, but we are grateful to those colleagues whose roles have been affected for their many contributions to IDG, the company said. The Boston Globe reported that more than 90 people lost their jobs, a number IDG would not confirm. China Oceanwide, a Chinese investment group, bought the publisher this year. IDG ceased publication of the print editions of PCWorld and Macworld in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Those titles continue to be published online, along with the Web-only TechHive and Greenbot, out of IDGs Second Street office. Tablets New models of Amazon Fire Amazon is offering a thinner and lighter version of its cheapest, 7-inch tablet, while shaving $10 off the price of an 8-inch model. Amazons bare-bones Fire tablet is now called the Fire 7. It also promises about an extra hour of battery, or eight hours total, and a display with higher contrast and sharper text. The price remains $50. The Fire HD 8 model is now $80, rather than $90. Features are largely the same as before. Amazon has found a niche in the tablet market with lower-cost models, while Apple, Samsung and Microsoft chase professionals with higher-end devices. Both models come with Amazons Alexa voice assistant built-in, allowing users to control lights and household appliances, ask for the news or jokes and check the weather. Amazon is also selling a kids version of the 8-inch tablet, for $130. It comes with a hardened case for kids and free replacements for two years. Before, a kids version was available only for the 7-inch model, for $100. Amazon started taking orders Wednesday for the tablets, which will begin shipping June 7. Automakers VW execs face German probe German prosecutors said Wednesday theyre investigating whether Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller and two others, including Muellers predecessor, manipulated markets by not releasing information about VWs diesel cheating soon enough. The probe relates to Mueller and the others roles as executives in 2015 at Porsche Automobil Holding, the holding company that controls Volkswagen. They said theyre investigating whether the executives delayed releasing information about VWs manipulation of software to cheat on emissions tests, and its possible financial implications. Volkswagen has agreed to at least $16 billion in civil settlements with environmental authorities and car owners in the United States, and to a $4.3 billion criminal penalty. Earnings Target posts higher profit Targets first-quarter profit jumped almost 8 percent as attempts to turn its business around appear to be working. Comparable-store sales fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, but the decline was nowhere near as bad as expected, and online sales grew 22 percent. CEO Brian Cornell is looking for a way to thrive in the face of intense pressure from Amazon.com and Walmart. Target plans to spend $7 billion over the next three years, more than three times its typical capital expenditure, to remodel more than a third of its 1,800 stores, speed up its expansion of small-format stores, bolster online operations and create new brands. Target is using about 1,000 stores for direct shipping in a bid to match the free two-day delivery offered by Amazon Prime. The retailer said Wednesday that it earned $681 million ($1.23 per share) for the quarter that ended April 29. Earnings, adjusted for pretax gains and to account for discontinued operations, came to $1.21 per share, well below the 91 cents that Wall Street had expected according to FactSet. Revenue fell 1.1 percent to $16.02 billion, but still beat out analyst projections of $15.62 billion. Cisco outlook disappointing Cisco Systems, the biggest maker of equipment that runs the Internet, gave a disappointing sales forecast that underscores the challenges facing its multibillion-dollar hardware business during an industry shift toward cheaper, software-based networking. Revenue in the current period may decline as much as 6 percent from a year earlier, the San Jose company said Wednesday. Cisco also said its cutting an additional 1,100 jobs on top of the 5,500 it announced in August. CEO Chuck Robbins is trying to recast Cisco as a provider of networking services, reducing its dependence on hardware by offering more software and cloud products that provide predictable revenue. Profit in the third quarter, which ended April 29, was 60 cents per share on sales of $11.9 billion. Analysts had expected 58 cents per share on revenue of $11.9 billion. Chronicle News Services New York, May 18(Just Earth News): Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres on Wednesday stressed that the European Union's contribution is absolutely essential for the United Nations, from support to peacekeeping to protecting human rights, solving conflicts, advancing the agenda for sustainable development and fighting climate change. A strong and united Europe is an absolutely fundamental pillar of a strong and effective United Nations, Guterres told the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The European Union (EU) is clearly the most successful project of peace sustainability in the world, he added, expressing his gratitude and appreciation for the EU's commitment to multilateralism and its contributions to development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Addressing a number of issues, including Syria, migration, globalization and the need to preserve cultural diversity, the Secretary-General laid out his reform priorities to ensure the UN is closer to the aspirations of the people it is serving. Guterres also stressed the need for Governments, local authorities, civil society and religious authorities to foster social cohesion, inclusivity and tolerance. According to his spokesperson, the Secretary-General also gave a press conference alongside European Parliament President Antonio Tajani during which he stressed the need for a united Europe to support the search for global solutions, as no issue on Wednesday can be solved without global efforts. On his way to Strasbourg, the Secretary-General had met with new French President Emmanuel Macron. They discussed peace and security issues, as well as issues related to sustainable development and climate change. The UN chief said he looked forward to working with the French President on all pressing issues, noting France's key role as a pillar of multilateralism, the spokesperson said. Photo: European Union 2017- Source: EP Source: www.justearthnews.com Europes love affair with Facebook may be coming to an end. On Thursday, the European Unions powerful antitrust chief fined the social network $122 million for giving misleading statements during the companys $19 billion acquisition of the Internet messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. The fine one of the largest regulatory penalties against Facebook comes days after Dutch and French privacy watchdogs ruled that the company had broken strict data protection rules. Other European countries, notably Germany, are clamping down on social media companies, including issuing potentially hefty penalties for failing to sufficiently police hate speech and misinformation. The EUs antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said that Facebook had told the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, that the social network would not combine the companys data with that of WhatsApp, which has more than 1 billion users. Yet last August, Facebook announced that it would begin sharing WhatsApp data with the rest of the company. That could allow it to gain an unfair advantage over rivals, by giving it access to greater amounts of data to help support its online advertising business. Todays decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, Vestager said in a statement. And it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook. The commission must be able to take decisions about mergers effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts. In response, Facebook said that it had acted in good faith in its deliberations with Europes antitrust officials, and that it would not appeal the financial penalty. The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional, Facebook said in a statement. The commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review. The overall penalty amounted to a slap on the wrist it pales in comparison with the tens of billions of dollars the company earns in online advertising every year, and Europes antitrust officials stopped short of voiding the deal completely. But the fine signals that European officials are increasing their scrutiny of Facebook just as it becomes one of the largest technology companies on the planet. Increased oversight has become something of a rite of passage for U.S. technology companies operating in Europe. During the past two decades, Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, among others, have become targets of long antitrust investigations by the European authorities. That has often led to claims by tech executives that the region has an anti-American bias, accusations that European policymakers deny. Facebook, experts say, is only the latest in a long line of Silicon Valley companies to face European regulatory anger, though this time, the focus is likely to center on the reams of online data gathered, including information that Facebook collects on both its users and nonusers through third-party websites. On Tuesday, French officials imposed a relatively small penalty on Facebook for failing to give the companys users in that country sufficient control over how their data is collected and used. Dutch regulators also ruled that the company had broken privacy rules, but so far they have not imposed a fine. While Facebook started in the United States and has expanded aggressively across the developing world, its actions in Europe and the response to those acts by local officials are likely to have implications on its global operations. The companys international headquarters are in Dublin. Though that is mostly for tax purposes, it gives European data protection and antitrust officials wide scope to monitor and police Facebook activities involving its more than 1.5 billion users outside North America. In the past, for instance, Facebook has been forced to alter its privacy settings for all of its users worldwide after European privacy campaigners brought legal challenges to how the social network collected and used peoples data. The changes come as policymakers worldwide vie for influence over how people use digital services, including potentially putting limits on how companies like Facebook operate so as to exert some control over the Internet. It was inevitable that there would be this type of struggle, Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, said in an interview last year. The Internet is not used to national borders. On Tuesday, Thailand pressured Facebook to remove dozens of pages from its servers that broke the countrys laws about disparaging the monarchy. In Vietnam, Facebook agreed last month to take down some local content, including misleading articles and false accounts about senior government officials. Countries like Indonesia and the Philippines also have made demands against the companys role in spreading potential misinformation. While Facebook has come under scrutiny in the United States for allowing fake news to spread on its network, including before the U.S. presidential election in November, federal lawmakers and policymakers have so far used a relatively light touch with the social network. After Facebook announced last year that it would use WhatsApp data to bolster its wider advertising business, U.S. privacy campaigners filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, putting forward arguments similar to those made against the partnership in Europe. But whereas European privacy regulators forced Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp data for its wider purposes just a few months after the agreement was made public, U.S. privacy campaigners say that they have yet to receive an answer from the Federal Trade Commission about their concerns. Facebook continues to collect and use WhatsApp data from people in the United States who use the service. U.S. antitrust law has failed to keep up with the digital economy and the emergence of monopoly services, Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group in Washington, said in an email. There is far too much lock in with a dominant provider, and far too much consolidation of personal data. Mark Scott is a New York Times writer. A former worker at the California Employment Development Department and four other people were charged with receiving $800,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits and stealing more than 250 identities, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Pamela Emanuel, 57, of San Jose, who worked as a tax compliance representative for the state Employment Development Department, used her post to access personal information of workers throughout the state to use in the scam, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Prosecutors did not disclose what office Emanuel worked out of. Also charged were Gregory Lee, 55, of Antioch; Sergio Reyna, 24, of Stockton; and Russell White III, 35, and Brittany Maunakea, 27, both of Turlock (Stanislaus County). They were all charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Emanuel and Lee were also charged with aggravated identity theft. If convicted, all five could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. Emanuel and Lee also face a minimum penalty of two years in prison for the identity theft charges. The case was filed in federal court in Sacramento. The suspects used the stolen identities to claim unemployment benefits and tried to shield the illegal activity by providing the Employment Development Department with fake businesses they said they were laid off from, the indictment charges. The unemployment funds were then transferred to debit cards delivered to various addresses in Turlock and Stockton. The debit cards were used by all the defendants from 2013 to 2016, prosecutors said. Emanuel and Reyna were arrested Thursday, and the other defendants remained at large, said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorneys office. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Some people wait years to officially join the exclusive beer club Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola (Santa Cruz County). The roughly 450-member group, called SARA Cellar, touts an invitation-only wait list of a couple thousand names. It costs $300 to join a relatively meager amount compared to some Napa wine club memberships in exchange for 12 total bottles given quarterly over the course of a year. Half the releases are club-only, meaning the general public wont be able to get their hands on these desirable beers, save for a lucky beer trade opportunity. Unless, that is, seekers pay out. Like other Bay Area cult brewers Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa and the Rare Barrel in Berkeley Sante Adairius beers are winding up on the illegal secondary market, sometimes listed for obscenely high prices. In February, one bottle of 2015 Westly, a Sante Adairius farmhouse ale, sold on the peer-to-peer beer resale site MyBeerCellar.com for $300. In April, three bottles of a collaboration beer with Vermonts Hill Farmstead originally sold for $20 apiece went for $550. Even now, there are two rare releases on the MyBeerCollectibles.com online auction block, with the seller asking $499 for the pair. Interest in small-batch, high-quality beer has been growing in recent years, fueling the rise of craft breweries, which now exceed 5,000 in the U.S. alone. A small percentage of these breweries produce what have been given the Melvillian moniker white whales sought-after limited releases that fetch high profits on secondary markets. Though its hard to quantify whether such illegal resells are more common now, the problem nevertheless persists, leaving an increasing number of breweries to do their own online police work to abate exorbitant markups of their beers and maintain quality control over their distribution. Sante Adairius founders, Adair Paterno and Tim Clifford, have spent substantial time trying to track down the culprits price-gouging their beers online, but due to the anonymous nature of the users on such sites, they have seldom been successful. MyBeerCellar.com and MyBeerCollectibles.com did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Weve never caught any of our club members directly reselling bottles. However, we know club bottles have been resold and at exorbitant prices, says Clifford. No matter how good the beer is inside, a $500 bottle of Westly is gonna disappoint. At Sante Adairius, a fraction of the brewerys modest output makes up club-release beers, which are supposed to serve as a sort of special privilege for their most devoted customers. Some locals started coming in regularly, and a year or two into (our business), our bottles started getting popular and there were lines out the door, recalls Paterno. Our locals couldnt get bottles, so we wanted to create something that would ensure they had access to the beer. Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle The point, as Paterno says, was and still is to create a sense of community around the beer and to share their special brews with their loyal fanbase. Those who are wait-listed can get their name bumped up in line by coming into the taproom frequently, though even hopefuls toward the front of the queue may still wait a long time to join. Jeff Bellesiles from Vacaville (Solano County) joined in December 2015 after being wait-listed for around two years. He says the club is made up of the brewerys regulars and even has its own community Facebook page: Sante Adairius treats (the club membership) more like, Whos passionate about this? rather than Whos going to give us $300 for beer? Club proceeds dont make the founders rich. In fact, the relatively small amount of money the brewery earns from memberships is reinvested into Sante Adairius infrastructure. So its a big problem when people outside the brewerys payroll are literally banking on the reputation of their hard work in fact, the offense is grounds for removal from the club. Its illegal to resell beer and this is a very small club and a lot of people want to be in it, Paterno says. If you cant follow the rules, then we dont want you in it. For Berkeleys sours-only brewery the Rare Barrel, the sentiment is familiar. Their much larger Ambassadors of Sour program, rumored to include upwards of 3,000 members, was meant to give loyal fans a way to conveniently order and pick up exclusive and rare beers without ever leaving your couch. Retailers, too, contribute to the problem. The Rare Barrel has occasionally been forced to deal with bottle shops profiting off selling their wrongfully obtained club-only and public-release beers at marked-up prices. For our first three years we didnt sell our beers to any (stores), says Alex Wallash, co-founder of the Rare Barrel. Wed have people reaching out, club members, with a picture of one of our club bottles or another at a store for $50. In one case recently, Wallash says, an unauthorized store used their promotional image and advertising copy in an attempt to resell beers without permission. The brewery responded in a public way: by calling them out on their Instagram. We said this is illegal, he adds, but we gave them our email address to start a conversation about sales. One of the other major issues with illegal sales on the secondary market is a lack of control over the handling of the product. Has it been stored in a closet at 55 degrees? Or has it been in the trunk of my car? says Wallash. Thats a real risk to the overall quality. If the beer tastes bad, more than likely youre gonna blame it on us. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Alyssa Pereira Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Alyssa Pereira Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Although there has long been a flip market for a certain beers from high-profile breweries, including Brussels Brasserie-Brouwerij Cantillon, Indianas Three Floyds and Santa Rosas own Russian River, such transactions are more prevalent than ever, according to Jamie Bailey-Gates, a two-year member of the Ambassadors of Sours program and an employee at BeerCraft bottle shop in Rohnert Park. I dont see the problem stopping because the demand is so high, he says. For both Sante Adairius and the Rare Barrel, however, there is one brewer-approved way of getting a rare beer in the hands of someone else: trading. Trade forums for beer lovers abound across social media, with users posting ISO (in search of) and FT (for trade) listings, hoping to score a limited release from a brewery far away. Because of strict distribution laws in the United States, most breweries arent able to legally ship out of state, so fans of companies like Sante Adairius and the Rare Barrel often try to organize a quid pro quo exchange with friends across the U.S., or in some cases with beer-loving strangers they meet online, to ship boxes personally. We are pro-trade; thats great, says Clifford of Sante Adairius, adding that they consider club members ambassadors who can introduce potential new customers to their beer. If theyre sharing, thats why we package in the large format that we do, he adds. All those things are total positives. The resale of beer is illegal and wrong and we dont like it. But policing such activity is exhausting, and in those rare instances when Clifford and Paterno do manage to unmask an illegal reseller, theyre met with resistance. Its pretty incredulous the attitude of people who have been caught, he says. Their attitude is like, f you, Im doing you a favor. Im taking your beer to other people. Theyre not helping me, theyre making money off my hard work. If I wanted to sell a bottle for $100, Id sell a bottle for $100. See also: Five beer clubs to join in California Alyssa Pereira is a pop culture and beer reporter at SFGate and The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alyspereira Upward of 60 million people can get the flu every year in America, sending more than 30 million to a doctor, with some 200,000 hospitalized and 3,000 to 49,000 killed by flu-related causes, according to the CDC. What if it could all go away? No annual flu epidemic! What if that solution came from an organic compound mined from the the skin of a frog? Wait, what? Currently, the best defenses are vaccines and antivirals that target as many strains of the flu virus as researchers can identify, with some of those stains becoming resistant to the drugs we have on hand to kill them. Consequently, the hunt is ever on for new drugs that can combat new and resistant strains, with the Holy Grail being a universal anti-flu drug, one that kills all viruses regardless of specific strain. Some of those hunting for this universal flu drug are "bio-prospectors," said Dr. James Crowe with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. These scientists are "prospecting like you would prospect for gold, but in this case you look for natural molecules that can be used for drugs." And, that's where the frogs come in, Crowe said. Researchers from Emory University have found a peptide, a chain of compounds, in the secretions from the skin of a South Indian frog that acts in the lab like a promising universal flu drug. The results, published in the journal Immunity, show the frog compound not only kills flu viruses in a way that makes all strain susceptible but also "protected naive mice from lethal influenza infection," the scientist wrote. In other words, once they injected the mice with the frog compound and then injected them with a virulent strain of the flu virus, the mice survived. Crowe wrote a review of the study in the same issue of Immunity titled "Treating Flu with Skin of Frog." In the essay, Crowe explains that it's not accidental that researchers happened to find a promising drug in frog skin. Our skin not only keeps stuff in, but it keeps a lot of stuff out. Frog skin is much more porous than human skin, since they get water and oxygen through it. "... using such a highly absorptive body surface in wet natural settings has its challenges, as the microbial diversity in environmental water is enormous. To counter the threat of microbial invasion, frog skin possesses glands that secrete diverse protective substances, including collections of short peptides with antimicrobial function," Crowe wrote. So, that's a good place to look for antibiotic, antiviral compounds in nature, if that's where you want to start ... as opposed to creating millions of synthetic compounds and testing them in a "brute force" mass effort to find one that works. Crowe explained that traditional medicines were collected from plants and animals and some of them actually worked, because of specific compounds in the plant or animal. So bio-prospectors are digging into the chemistry of those traditional medicines to figure out which ones work. And while these researchers may have hit upon a compound that can lead to a antiviral that will kill any and all flu viruses, the drug still has a long road ahead of it. "I wouldn't oversell it," he said, "because it has to be safe and not toxic. A lot of compounds from frogs are toxic. (The frog-based flu-fighter) was not immediately lethal to cells, but a lot of work would have to be done to make sure it is safe. "There's a lot of future development that has to be done before you can convert an interesting discovery in to a drug, and the naturally occurring materials are harder to work with and harder to covert into drugs." Jake Ellison can be reached at jakeellisonjournalism@gmail.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook. If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here. New York, May 18(Just Earth News): Citing eating habits, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, the United Nations health agency launched a new publication on Wednesday at the European Congress on Obesity in Portugal which revealed a rising number of obese adolescents in many countries across Europe. Despite sustained efforts to tackle childhood obesity, one in three adolescents is still estimated to be overweight or obese in Europe, with the highest rates found in southern European and Mediterranean countries, said Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO). Noting with particular concern that the epidemic is on the rise in eastern European countries, where historically rates have been lower, she called for ambitious policy action to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target to halt the increase in childhood obesity. Governments must target efforts and break this harmful cycle from childhood into adolescence and beyond. The latest WHO study on Adolescent obesity and related behaviours: trends and inequalities in the WHO European Region, 2002-2014 points to evidence suggesting that up to one in three boys and one in five girls aged six to nine is now obese. Childhood obesity is considered one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, according to the study. Globally, around one in 10 young people aged five to 17 is overweight or obese with rapidly increasing levels in recent years. According to the publication, the primary causes of overweight and obesity can be traced to energy-related behaviours physical activity, sedentary behaviour, eating behaviour and sleep which contribute to an energy imbalance between calorie intake and energy expenditure. While trends have previously been reported on separately, this study compiles together the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data on obesity and obesity-related behaviours reviewing the latest evidence and studying the range and complexity of influences on childhood obesity. The health consequences of excess body weight are well documented. As the report points out, obesity increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnoea and cardiovascular disease. It also diminishes adolescents' quality of life and is related to various emotional and behavioural proble Additionally, the chronic nature of obesity can limit social mobility and perpetuates an intergenerational cycle of poverty and ill health. Many inequalities in obesity and related behaviours exist, with young people from lower socioeconomic groups generally reporting worse outcomes. The study also notes that longitudinal studies have found that obesity early in life relates to less educational attainment and lower incomes in adulthood even after differences in childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) are controlled. Furthermore, low SEP in childhood increases the risk for becoming obese in adulthood over and above the impact of adult SEP on obesity. Most young people will not outgrow the condition: about four in every five adolescents who become obese will continue to have weight problems as adults, the study underscores. The HBSC survey is a WHO collaborative cross-national study that monitors the health behaviours, health outcomes and social environments of boys and girls aged 11, 13 and 15 years every four years. Photo: UNICEF/Toutounji Source: www.justearthnews.com NEW YORK A man steered his car onto a sidewalk running through the heart of Times Square and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks Thursday, killing a teenager, then emerged from his wrecked vehicle wild-eyed and waving his arms before he was subdued by police and bystanders. The driver, a 26-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, told officers he was hearing voices and expected to die, two law enforcement officials said. Helpless pedestrians had little time to react as the car barreled down the sidewalk and through intersections before smashing into a row of steel security barriers installed in recent years to prevent vehicle attacks on the square where massive crowds gather every New Years Eve. The car came to rest with its two right wheels in the air. He didnt stop, said Asa Lowe, of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming as people scattered. He just kept going. Police said 23 people were hit by the car, including an 18-year-old tourist from Michigan who died. The womans 13-year-old sister was among the injured. The carnage raised immediate fears of terrorism, fueled by recent attacks in England, France and Germany in which vehicles plowed through crowds of pedestrians. But investigators quickly turned their focus to the sobriety and mental health of the driver, identified as Bronx resident Richard Rojas. There is no indication that this was an act of terrorism, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Photographers snapped pictures of Rojas after he climbed from the wrecked car and ran through the street before he was tackled by a group that included a ticket seller and a muscular door supervisor at a nearby Planet Hollywood restaurant. Rojas initially tested negative for alcohol, but more detailed testing was being done to determine if he was high, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. The officials said Rojas told officers he had been hearing voices. A week ago, Rojas was arrested and charged with pointing a knife at a notary, whom he accused of stealing his identity. He pleaded guilty to a harassment violation. He was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated in 2008 and 2015, police Commissioner James ONeill said. He pleaded guilty to an infraction in 2015 and was ordered to complete a drunken-driving program and lost his license for 90 days. Police identified the woman killed by the car as Alyssa Elsman of Portage, Mich. Colleen Long and Tom Hayes are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON Top congressional Republicans are demanding the Trump administration take swift and severe action against the Turkish government in response to violence involving members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail, with one saying the U.S. should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, expressed outrage Thursday at video that appears to show Erdogans bodyguards violently breaking up a pro-Kurdish protest this week outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in Washington. We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America, McCain said on MSNBCs Morning Joe. McCain said this kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically. He suggested that lawsuits should be filed if the responsible bodyguards can be identified. McCain and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told Erdogan in a letter they sent Thursday that the actions of your staff violate the constitutional protections of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly enjoyed by all Americans. They said they expected conduct more appropriate from Turkey, a member of NATO and a key U.S. ally. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he wants people prosecuted. The United States later said it released two members of Erdogans security detail after briefly detaining them. The State Department also said that it had summoned Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic to discuss the altercation with Tom Shannon, the acting deputy secretary of state. The U.S. declined to say whether the security agents were granted diplomatic immunity or under what conditions they were released. The remarks from Graham and McCain come afterRep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton (Orange County), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the Trump administration to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted against any of the bodyguards. Royce detailed his request for an inquiry in a letter sent to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He wrote that bodyguards with Erdogan on his official state visit to Washington viciously beat multiple individuals, throwing them to the ground and kicking them in the head. The incident occurred after Erdogan met with President Trump. Video shows people pushing past police to confront a small group of protesters across the street in Sheridan Circle. Attacking the small group of protesters with their fists and feet, men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another person wrenches a womans neck and throws her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedly kicked in the face. In all, nine people were hurt. Richard Lardner and Josh Lederman are Associated Press writers. 1 Admiral sentenced: The first U.S. Navy admiral convicted of a federal crime while on active duty was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for lying to investigators about a Malaysian defense contractor at the center of a massive corruption scandal. Robert Gilbeau was sentenced Wednesday in San Diego after pleading guilty to one count of making false statements. Gilbeau was convicted in June after admitting that he lied when he told federal agents that he had never received any gifts from Leonard Glenn Francis. Francis has admitted to bribing Navy officials with more than $500,000 in cash, prostitutes and other gifts in exchange for classified information to help his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. 2 Deadly storms: Residents of a subdivision in Elk City, Okla., and a Wisconsin trailer park that were leveled by deadly tornadoes sifted through what remained of their homes and possessions Wednesday, even as forecasters warned of another round of powerful storms on the horizon. The twisters were among up to 29 that were reportedly spawned by powerful storms that raced through a swath of the central U.S. stretching from Texas to the Great Lakes on Tuesday evening, destroying dozens of homes, killing two people and injuring dozens of others. The tornadoes, some of them still unverified a day later, touched down in five states. Wisconsin and Oklahoma each had one death reported. 1 Abortion lawsuit: Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky is suing over a new Indiana law that makes it tougher for girls under age 18 to get an abortion without their parents knowledge. The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says the law is unconstitutional and seeks to block some of its provisions from taking effect July 1. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has called the measure a parental rights issue. The law requires judges considering giving a minor permission to have an abortion to also consider whether her parents should be notified. Betty Cockrum, Planned Parenthoods local president, says the law will have a chilling effect on teenagers already dealing with a difficult situation. 2 New FBI director: President Trump says hes very close to naming a new FBI director. Asked Thursday how close he is to making an announcement, Trump answered soon. Trump was also asked whether former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was among the top contenders for the job. Trumps response was He is. Three other potential candidates Trump interviewed are former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, former top FBI official Richard McFeely and Andrew McCabe. McCabe became acting director after Trump fired James Comey as director last week. NEW YORK Roger Ailes, the communications maestro who transformed television news and Americas political conversation by creating and ruling Fox News Channel for two decades before being ousted last year for alleged sexual harassment, died Thursday, according to his wife, Elizabeth Ailes. He was 77. Mr. Ailes died after a fall at his Palm Beach, Fla., home on May 10 caused bleeding on the brain, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiners Office said. Mr. Ailes fell in his bathroom, hit his head and was bleeding profusely. He was taken to a hospital by attending paramedics, the Palm Beach Police Department said. A former GOP operative to candidates including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a onetime adviser to President Trump, Mr. Ailes displayed a mastery of modern messaging early in his career. Then he changed the face of 24-hour news when, in 1996, he accepted a challenge from media titan Rupert Murdoch to build a news network from scratch to compete with CNN and other TV outlets they deemed left-leaning. That October, Mr. Ailes flipped the switch on Fox News Channel, which within a few years became the audience leader in cable news. Mr. Ailes branded the network Fair and Balanced and declared he had left the political world behind, but conservative viewers found a home and lifted prime-time commentators Bill OReilly and Sean Hannity to the top of the news ratings. He has dramatically and forever changed the political and the media landscape singlehandedly for the better, Hannity tweeted on Thursday. Fox News and 21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch called Mr. Ailes a brilliant broadcaster (who) played a huge role in shaping Americas media over the last thirty years in a statement. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recalled Mr. Ailes influence on the nations politics from the late 1960s to now. Roger Ailes was a genius at politics and the news media. His advice to Presidents Nixon and Reagan was historic and helped elect both, Gingrich tweeted. Others laid the nations political dysfunction and inability to find common ground at his feet, creating the atmosphere for Trump to succeed. Its a very complicated story, said Gabriel Sherman, author of the Ailes biography The Loudest Voice in the Room. He is in some ways a genius and in some ways tragic. His quest for power consumed him. By mid-2016, Mr. Ailes still ruled supreme as he prepared to celebrate Fox News 20th anniversary. But in little more than two weeks, both his legacy and job unraveled following allegations by a former anchor that he had forced her out of Fox News after she spurned his sexual advances. The lawsuit filed on July 6 by Gretchen Carlson quickly triggered accounts from more than 20 women with similar stories of alleged harassment by Mr. Ailes either against themselves or someone they knew. His dismissal was a head-spinning downfall and a breathtaking defeat for Mr. Ailes, a man who all his life seemed to be spoiling for a fight and was used to winning them. Frazier Moore is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told the full Senate he knew that former Director James Comey would be fired before he wrote his controversial memo that the White House initially used as justification for President Trump firing the FBI director. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said that Rosenstein told the senators that he knew on Monday, the day before Comey was fired, that Trump was going to fire him. He also told them that he was not pressured into writing his memo. He learned the presidents decision to fire him, and then he wrote his memo with his rationale, Durbin said. The day after Rosenstein appointed a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trumps associates and Russian officials, he appeared before the Senate on Thursday afternoon to brief senators in a closed session. Rosenstein received support from the Senate a month ago when he was confirmed by a vote of 94-6 to be the Justice Departments second-highest-ranking official. But his reputation has come under fierce attack in the past week over a memo he wrote about Comey that the White House initially used as a justification for Trump to fire the FBI director. Since Comeys firing on May 9, the calls for Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel have intensified, especially from Democratic lawmakers who believe he can longer be impartial in the Russia investigation, given his role in the firing. Rosenstein was put in charge of the Russia investigation as soon as he was confirmed because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself after the Washington Post revealed contacts he had with the Russian ambassador that he had not reported when asked about it during his Senate confirmation hearing. Rosensteins briefing with the Senate was scheduled before he announced late Wednesday that he was appointing Robert Mueller, a former prosecutor who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, to take over the Russia investigation as special counsel. To emphasize the independence of his decision, Rosenstein did not notify White House counsel Donald McGahn of the appointment until 5:30 p.m., the same time Justice Department officials were briefing reporters and 30 minutes before the news became public. Rosenstein met with all U.S. senators in one of the most protected rooms on Capitol Hill, the SCIF, or a sensitive compartmented information facility. The below-ground facilities in the Capitol Visitors Center one on the House side, one on the Senate side are primarily used by national security committees to receive updates on classified or sensitive matters from top government officials, who regularly visit the Capitol to meet with lawmakers. Why Rosensteins briefing needed to happen in a room designed for classified briefings is still unclear. Aides of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, wouldnt say whether Rosenstein requested that the briefing be classified or whether he has told Senate leaders that he has classified information to share. Sarah Horwitz and Ed OKeefe are Washington Post writers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Icelanders are expected to go crazy over their first Costco opening in a Reykjavik suburb on Tuesday. In fact, reports the local newspaper Iceland Monitor or Morgunblai, "search and rescue teams" have been called in for crowd control and "to assist store employees." Now, the "search and rescue teams" are a part of a storied nationwide volunteer organization that specialize in rescuing people on land or in the sea, according to Wikipedia, and apparently crowd control. "We expect it to be crazy," the store's managing director Brett Vigelskas told the news org. The 14,000-square-foot store will employ roughly 200 Icelanders and has received more than 150 containers of goods and food. And while the mega-store is expected to be popular (even its fan page has more than 6,900 followers), it has faced some travails. In 2014, one Icelander defending the company said in The Reykjavik Grapevine: "I think the discussion has gone in the direction of their being this American company coming here and making huge demands, trying to get around the law, and all that," Jenny Stefania Jensdottir, an Icelandic business administrator living in Canada, told listeners of the radio show Reykjavik sidegis yesterday. "It is not like that. For example, here, where I am [in Canada]. They do not sell alcohol in the food deparment and US meat is not on offer." In the Iceland Review Online a year later worried ... "In my opinion a new store opening in Reykjavik, whether it is American or not, must abide by Icelandic law. It isn't okay to bend the rules just for them," said Gurun Hafsteinsdottir, Head of the Federation of Icelandic Industries, last summer, when the idea of the proposed store was first announced. But, the company has weathered the occasional cold reception. In fact, the Iceland Monitor celebrated the opening with this lead sentence in its story "Some of the Costco food products that might be available in Iceland." "Okay, food in Iceland is expensive. It's very expensive. So here's a look at a few of the products that food bloggers love and will hopefully be available at the anticipated low-cost store Costco next week," the news org, wrote. Housing is also apparently chronically short and expensive in Iceland (we can all relate): "There has been much debate in Iceland about the housing problem in Reykjavik. Real estate prices have skyrocketed over the last few years and so has rent," the Monitor wrote. So the box-store's neighborhood neighbor Ikea is building some apartments to house its staff and also, maybe, Costco staff. "We understand that Icelanders are a little fond of what is American and we would like to meet that," Vigelskas said. Jake Ellison can be reached at jakeellisonjournalism@gmail.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook. If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here. New York, May 18(Just Earth News): From drones dropping food and medicines, to handheld devices that can diagnose Ebola with a drop of blood, the latest technological advances are converging to make the aunthinkable happen,a said global innovators and heads of tech companies invited to the United Nations on Wednesday to discuss how to emerging technologies can boost achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Living up to his promise to be disruptive, Peter Thomson, the President of the UN General Assembly, using the famous Silicon Valley catchphrase, told those gathered for the High-level SDG Action Event on Innovation and Connectivity that he had refrained from wearing a jacket and tie, while Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed kicked off her shoes before addressing the room. On Wednesday, in this world, everyone is closing their border, she said, but partnerships are necessary for the SDGs to reach every corner of the globe. Indeed, many innovators know no borders, like we do in these halls when we negotiate and we talk about red lines, blue lines and green lines. Mohammed underscored: There are no red, blue or green lines as you walk through the Internet, social media, communicating across those borders. That is what is exciting. Because with that you can share knowledge, with that you can go to scale, with that you can partner to de-risk environments where ordinarily you would not go. We are all here because we have a common belief: that innovation and connectivity have a huge role to play in implementation of the SDGs, said Thompson, telling the event that this is important because the Goals are at the heart of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That framework, together with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is our recipe for providing a secure place in this world for our children and grandchildren. We need fidelity to those agreements and we need action on their implementation, he stressed. The Action Event, which sought to get leading innovators from major global corporations to interact with UN Member States, featured two keynote speakers, with Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman of XPrize Foundation and Singularity University, telling the gathering that he believed that in seven years, the entire planet will be connected. This is what he called the dematerialization of things that people used to own, and that are now free on our cell phones. The son or daughter of a billionaire here in Manhattan, or the son or daughter of the poorest person in Kenya, has access to the same free applications, the same knowledge and information. It's an incredible world. What we are seeing here is a dematerialization as all of these things become cheaper and cheaper and ultimately, a democratization where we have a billion handsets in Africa. Diamandis then asked participants to imagine the power of five billion new minds that had never been connected before. Change the world, was his response. The second keynote speaker, Astro Teller, Chief Executive Officer of Google X, said partnerships between inventors, technologists, governments and local communities are what matter the most. The majority of 7.5 billion people living on the planet do not have access to the internet, he remarked. This is a picture in Brazil. There are so many people who climb up the trees in order to get cell phone signal that they call them fireflies because at night, all you can see in the darkness is all of the flashing lights of the cell phones high up in the trees as they are hoping to get a signal. In Peru, they climb to the top of water towers or walk for many kilometres for the hope of getting a signal, he said. In order to get more people online, Google Ex launched a balloon-powered Internet project, Loon, in Latin America with the help of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Partnering, Teller stressed, is important for everyone, from the innovator to Governments. No one can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals alone. UN Photo/Evan Schneider Source: www.justearthnews.com Aceh, May 18 (IBNS): A Sharia court in Indonesia's Aceh province has sentenced two men to 85 lashes after finding them guilty of having gay sex, reports said. In its ruling, the court said that the men violated Islamic laws and is liable to receiving 85 lashes each in public. The unidentified pair were found in bed together by a vigilant group in March. Though gay sex is not illegal in Indonesia, Aceh, where Sharia law still prevails, handed out the unprecedented judgement. The couple, aged 20 and 23, will receive the punishment next week, a BBC report read. image: Ludovic Bertron/Wikipedia A 36-year-old Pittsburg man was identified Wednesday as the alleged arsonist behind a string of vehicle and structure fires around Contra Costa County in recent weeks. James Bishop III was charged by the Contra Costa County district attorneys office with one count of arson to an inhabited structure, nine counts of arson to property and eight counts of using an accelerant to set fire, said Capt. George Laing with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. Bishop was arrested around 1 a.m. Saturday in a residential neighborhood in Benicia, blocks away from a car that had been torched in a driveway. Authorities named Bishop as the suspected arsonist for the first time Wednesday. Authorities believe Bishop might be responsible for 30 or more intentionally set fires around Contra Costa County. He is being held in the Martinez Detention Facility on $3.2 million bail. Investigators started noticing an uptick in suspicious fires being set around the county in April, Liang said. In all the cases, fires were set using an accelerant on the outside of the vehicles. In some instances, the fires spread to nearby homes and structures. Then last week, more than half a dozen cars were set on fire in the Contra Costa cities of Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Martinez and Brentwood. One car fire in Brentwood was particularly troubling because it was set on fire in a driveway under the bedroom of a 6-year-old girl. As the number of fires increased, law enforcement and fire agencies in the East Bay formed a task force to track down the firebug. Detectives soon identified an older model Toyota RAV4 spotted in security footage near the scenes of the blazes. Bishop was busted Saturday driving such a vehicle a 1996 Toyota RAV4, Liang said. Since his arrest, fire officials said the number of fires has decreased to the normal rate for the area. Anyone with information about possible other arson fires is asked to call investigators at (866) 502-7766. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky New York, May 18(Just Earth News): Those who come to the Dominican Republic to sexually exploit children must know that they will be punished, a United Nations independent expert said, urging the Government to put child protection at the centre of its tourism strategy. At the end of her first official visit to the Dominican Republic, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, urged the Government to send a strong signal that the target of 10 millions of tourists by 2022 is not reached at the expense of exposing further children to the scourge of sexual exploitation. During her eight-day mission, the Special Rapporteur visited child care institutions, and met with children in vulnerable situations to fall victims of sexual exploitation such as girl vendors on beach locations. She noted that blame for rape and other sexual exploitation is often put on the families and the exploited children while perpetrators often foreign male from Western countries whose crimes are facilitated by all sorts of intermediaries walk around with a complete sense of impunity. The Special Rapporteur called on the Ministry of Tourism to incorporate prevention of this scourge in its plans, and to lead efforts already deployed by the private travel and tourism sector, together with local actors of affected communities, to implement the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The expert commended measures adopted by the specialised units of the Attorney General's Office to combat trafficking and high technology crimes, which have led to a series of convictions, including of foreign nationals. She also called for better coordination between the police and the body in charge of tourist security (CESTUR) to improve detection and referral of cases for criminal investigation. International police and judicial cooperation are also crucial to combat impunity, she added. de Boer-Buquicchio also called for a strengthened cooperation between the Dominican and Haitian authorities to address the situation of unaccompanied children living and working around the Haitian border, and reminded that while these children remain in the country, they must receive the Dominican authorities' assistance and protection. Among other statements made during her visit, the expert called for absolute prohibition of child marriage. Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, May 18(Just Earth News): With about half of all clinical trial results unreported, some of the world's largest founders of medical research and international non-governmental organizations on Thursday agreed to adopt standards a based on United Nations health agency's recommendations a to register and publicly disclose results of all clinical trials they fund or support. Research funders are making a strong statement that there will be no more excuses on why some clinical trials remain unreported long after they have completed, said Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation at the UN World Health Organization (WHO). The concern is that unreported trials result in an incomplete and potentially misleading understanding of the risks and benefits of vaccines, drugs and medical devices, and could lead to the release of harmful products. The standards are based on a 2015 WHO published position on public disclosure, which defines timeframes within which the results should be reported. On Thursday's joint statement that future standards will be in line with that 2015 position, was signed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Norwegian Research Council, the UK Medical Research Council, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Epicentre (its research arm), PATH, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Institut Pasteur, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Wellcome Trust. According to a press release, the entities agreed to develop and implement policies within the next 12 months that require all trials they fund, co-fund, sponsor or support to be registered in a publicly-available registry. Photo: World Bank New York, May 18(Just Earth News): As military operations against terrorists intensify and move closer to Mosul's Old City area, up to 200,000 more people could be displaced, a senior United Nations humanitarian official in Iraq warned on Thursday. The numbers of people fleeing their homes in western Mosul are overwhelming, said Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande in a press release from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) began in Mosul seven months ago, nearly 700,000 people have been displaced, including 500,000 people from the city's western neighbourhoods. Iraqi Security Forces have made rapid gains in north-west Mosul and ISIL terrorists are reportedly surrounded in the west of the city. The military battle in Mosul isn't over yet and even when it is, the emergency will continue for months Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake, said Grande, stressing the need to re-double efforts to mobilize more resources to assist the people in need. She said many are lacking food and haven't had access to safe drinking water and medicines for weeks or months. Acknowledging the generosity of people in other parts of Mosul who are opening their homes for displaced families, she said: Without this support, the camps would have been overwhelmed long ago. To date, the $985 million appeal for Iraq is less than 30 per cent funded. About $331 million is being sought for the Mosul assistance. Photo: UNHCR/Ivor Prickett This story originally appeared on GoodHousekeeping.com. One mom was enjoying a day at Hollywood Studio in Walt Disney World, when things went horribly wrong. Lauren Collazo of Miami, Florida, claims she stashed her $1,800 Bugaboo stroller in the resort's stroller parking lot while she enjoyed the day with her family. When she returned to pick it up, she found that the Bugaboo which was holding her wallet, car keys and niece's Epipen was missing. "I was there with no money, stranded," she told WFTS News. "My husband had to fly over from Miami that same day, catch the first flight available to rescue me and my family." The mom reported the incident to security guards, who were able to check the surveillance cameras in the area. In the footage, they found another woman walking out of the park pushing the stroller with her own daughter in tow. Collazo and her husband took a screenshot from the video and shared it to a Disney Club group, begging anyone with information to come forward. "I took that picture and posted it on social media, and through the power of social media [I] made it go viral," she explained. "And I was able to obtain information on who this person is and actually see the post of my stroller being sold online." Through the post, Collazo found out that the thief had sold her stroller to another woman, named Thalia Rogers, in Texas. Rogers, who bought the carriage through a Facebook group, quickly figured out that her purchase was stolen, but at that point she had already paid $500 for it. "[The thief] somehow, I guess, found the post that Lauren had posted, and I don't know if she freaked out or what happened, and she called us and said send it back to her. So, I didn't even get the stroller," Rogers told WCMH News. The robber allegedly made a request to UPS for the package to be returned after it was already in transit. Since Rogers got in touch with Collazo, Orange County detectives were able to issue an arrest warrant for Michelle Craig, of Spring Hill, Florida, and confirmed to WFTS News that they are currently investigating her for a handful of other luxury stroller thefts at Disney. Craig has turned herself in to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and faces a charge of Grand Theft. The stroller parking lot at Disney is a convenience for families with young kids who are visiting the park, but it's important to keep valuables on you or stored in a locker, and to always use a lock (like the Buggyguard Retractable Stroller Lock) when leaving your stroller unattended. Goodhousekeeping.com has reached out to Walt Disney World and Lauren Collazo for comment, but has not heard back. We will update this post as more information becomes available. [h/t: Scary Mommy] Update, 5/18/17: GoodHousekeeping.com reached to Lauren Collazo for comment and the she gave the following statement: "I'm feeling good that the word was able to be spread out there for people to know. No matter what the cost of the stroller is, a theft is a theft and the fact that a mother was using her child as an accessory to commit a crime is terrible, especially at Disney. I am glad I was able to recover my stroller. I haven't been able to recover the rest of my stuff. [I want to give] thanks to Thalia Rogers and the power of social media." New York, May 18(Just Earth News): The United Nations envoy on the Middle East peace process on Thursday called for an immediate resolution to the growing tensions over a hunger strike by Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. I am following with great concern the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian detainees protesting against their conditions in Israeli jails, said the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, in a statement. The strike is now entering its second month and it is imperative that a resolution be found as soon as possible in line with international humanitarian law and Israels human rights obligations, he added. Expressing hope that current efforts will result in an immediate resolution to the matter, which is in the interest of ongoing initiatives to revive a political process, he called on all actors to exercise maximum restraint, show responsibility and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions. UN Photo/Loey Felipe Kabul, May 18 (IBNS) : At least 23 militants were killed in airstrikes conducted by the US forces in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan. The state-run Khaama Press quoted a statement issued by the provincial government as saying that at least four hideouts of the militants were also destroyed in the airstrikes. The statement further added that the airstrikes were carried out in the vicinity of Garamser district of Helmand. The first airstrike targeted two vehicles of the militants carrying nine militants and were travelling in the vicinity of Kamarbandi (Kharko) area, leaving all nine militants dead and the two vehicles totally destroyed, the statement said. The statement also added that the second airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Omarzo area as the personnel of the 215th Maiwand Corps of the Afghan army were busy conducting counter-terrorism operations. The provincial government said at least 14 insurgents including five Pakistanis were killed in the airstrike and 8 others were wounded and four of their hideouts were destroyed. The anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban insurgents have not commented regarding the report so far. Kabul/Islamabad, May 18 (IBNS): The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Thursday claimed that two of their diplomats have been arrested by Afghan security forces in the latter's capital Kabul, media reports said. Issuing a statement, Pakistan said, "The Afghan Deputy Head of Mission was summoned to the Foreign Office today to lodge Pakistans strong protest over the incident in which two diplomatic officials in Kabul were detained, reportedly by Afghan security agencies." "The Afghan DHM was conveyed that the incident was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961) and against the spirit of the brotherly relations between the two countries. It was emphasized that such incidents undermined the constructive engagement which the two countries envisaged for strengthening of bilateral ties,' the statement added. Pakistan has also urged Afghanistan to look into the matter seriously and ensure the security and safety of the two detained personnel. "We urge the Afghan Government to take immediate steps to ensure the security and safety of our diplomatic personnel and premises and to ensure that such incident do not take place in future," a part of the statement read. The Afghan government is yet to comment on the matter. Kabul, May 18 (IBNS): The Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's central intelligence agency reported the killing of a Taliban insurgent on Wednesday, following a raid on one the terrorist organisation's hideout, thereby preventing an attack from taking place, local Khaama Press reported. The raid was conducted in Mussahi district of Kabul, the national capital. The NDS further reported that the insurgent killed in the raid was involved in several terrorist activities. At least three Improvised Explosive Device (IED), ammunition and documents supporting the Taliban propaganda were confiscated during the operation. The Taliban is yet to comment on the report. Toronto, May 18 (IBNS): Canada Postas fifth of 10 commemorative stamps was unveiled on Tuesday in Regina by country music star Dean Brody to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada's Confederation, media reports said. The new stamp, unveiled by award-winning country music star Dean Brody, focuses on the Trans-Canada Highway, which runs through all of Canada's provinces, CBC News reports said. "It's not just a highway, it's the stories that the highway allows for Canadians. If you're coming into Regina, you're on the Trans-Canada Highway. That's the road you're going to take in, going to take out. It's incredibly important not just for business coming in, but business going out." said Jon Hamilton, general manager of communications for Canada Post, CBC News reports said. Canada Post Magazine wrote: "The Trans-Canada Highway is an 8,000-kilometre ribbon of asphalt that links Canada physically, culturally and symbolically. Its also a vital economic artery for the Canadian economy. Stretching from Victoria, B.C. to St. Johns, N.L., the Trans-Canada has been a highway of adventure, dreams and possibilities for generations of Canadians whove travelled it by car, transport truck, bicycle or on foot." Then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker had officially opened the highway in 1962 at Rogers Pass, B.C. and said, This highway, may it serve to bring Canadians closer together. May it bring to all Canadians a renewed determination to individually do their part to make this nation greater and greater still." Each stamp had been reported to be unveiled in a related location. The first stamp was unveiled in Montreal by architect Moshe Safdie to commemorate the Expo 67. According to reports, next stamp is expected to be unveiled in St. John's on May 2 The last stamp in the series is reported to be unveiled in June 1. (Reporting by Asha Bajaj) Listen to Dean Brody on Trans Canada Highway This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It was a showdown between badly needed housing and precious open space on South of Markets hardscrabble Sixth Street. And on Thursday, open space won out at least for now. In a rare decision, the Planning and Recreation and Park commissions forced the developer of a proposed 84-unit apartment complex at 301 Sixth St. to redesign the project after residents and community advocates complained that the 82-foot-high building would cast a shadow on the Gene Friend Recreation Center. While the amount of shadow cast may seem negligible 0.89 percent of new shadow cast mostly in the morning before the park opens its enough to make a difference for the kids and families along the Sixth Street corridor, many of whom live in residential hotels or cramped studio apartments, according to neighborhood residents. Misha Olivas, program director of the neighborhood antiviolence youth organization United Playaz, argued that the nearly 1 percent of additional shadow would bring to 49 percent the total shadow cast on Gene Friend, which, along with Victoria Manalo Draves Park two blocks to the southwest, represents the only public recreation space in that part of the South of Market. Thats the only grassy spot in the rec center where kids can play catch and roll around in the grass, as kids should, said Olivas, who frequents the park with her children. The proposed project is one of a handful of new projects proposed for Sixth Street that violate 1984s Proposition K the Sunlight Ordinance that blocks construction of any building over 40 feet that casts an adverse shadow on Recreation and Park Department property unless the Planning Commission decides the shadow is insignificant. Another development that would cast a shadow on Gene Friend, 980 Folsom St., was originally scheduled for a vote Thursday, but that was postponed. While the city regularly allows shadow-casting development to go forward by raising the absolute cumulative limits for specific parks, Gene Friend is one of eight small open spaces in the densely settled downtown where no new shadow is supposed to be approved, based on a 1989 Recreation and Park Commission interpretation of the sunlight ordinance. The developers, Ed and Nancy Connor, have owned the car wash and parking lot at 301 Sixth St. since the 1970s. Nancy Connor has been a member of the Friends of Gene Friend Recreation Center and has been active supporting parks citywide. Eleven of the 84 units would be affordable. The project would also have 5,868 square feet of retail and 36 parking spots. The Sixth Street corridor is being developed, and we feel its time for this property to be put to better use for housing and to provide local businesses with new opportunities, Ed Connor said. Most of the new shadow would fall from sunrise through 9:14 in the morning from January through late November. The longest shadows cast would come at 7:57 a.m., when the park is not open. But critics of the project said that it would set a bad precedent as more parcels are developed along Sixth Street. We have the lowest amount of open space in the city and the most development going on, said Chris Durazo of the nonprofit Veterans Equity Center, which opposes the project as currently designed. In the end, the two commissions unanimously voted to postpone the decision until late July and instructed the Connors to work with their architect and neighbors to come up with a redesign that has less shadow impact. Recreation and Park Commission President Mark Buell said the developer needs to make a better case for why additional shadow is justified. The development has merits and the developer has a good reputation, but we have a park here with zero tolerance for new shadow, said Buell. But Cory Smith of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition said the benefits of the additional housing should outweigh the negatives of the shadow. In the grand scheme of things, we think housing people should take precedent over shadow impact on a small corner of a park, said Smith. At a time when there are a half dozen developments proposed for the area in and around Sixth Street, the city should study the shadow impact of all of them together, according to Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards. The real issue for me is shadows on a piece of land that will be there for 100 years, Richards said. Once that shadow is there, its never going to go away unless the building burns down. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen HONG KONG Death is inevitable, but it doesnt have to be bad for the environment. Caskets made of paper and wicker coffins on display at a recent Hong Kong funeral industry trade highlighted a trend toward green burials in an industry booming as Asias population rapidly ages. Chinese businessman Alex Suns company, Shandong Ecoffin International, makes wicker and seagrass coffins, which first became popular in the West and are now catching on in Asia. Basket-weaving dates to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) in northeast Chinas Shandong province, where Suns factory uses fast-growing willow reeds to make caskets that are an eco-friendly alternative to wood. Eco funerals are a global trend, said Sun. European customers already know about this product, while Asian customers are also interested in it and would love to learn more, he said. Interest is especially high in the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam as well as mainland China, he said. The mood was bright, not funereal, as coffin makers, morticians, funeral home operators and entrepreneurs converged on Hong Kong this week for the Asia Funeral and Cemetery Expo & Conference, a trade fair held every other year. Participants were pitching caskets for pets, Italian hearses, German cremators with high-tech filters and Japanese mobile embalming units. From China, Truthkobo Jewelry offered pendants made with ashes from deceased relatives or pets while Shenyang Roundfin was looking for international distributors for its autopsy tables, morgue fridges and body bags. The death industry is a lucrative market: Asias aging population is projected to hit 923 million by midcentury, according to the Asian Development Bank, putting the region on track to become the oldest in the world. The regions funeral services market has been growing steadily and is now worth about $62.6 billion a year, with China accounting for nearly half that, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor. This is a very promising industry in China, said Gloria Chuang, marketing director at Yu Fu Xiang Memorial Group, a Chinese funeral services company. But she said the industry in China needs to expand and to modernize. Most funeral home operators are family-run outfits selling one-size-fits all services. Theyre not transparent about prices and other information for services and products like coffins and urns, she said. Thats partly because, as in many places, talk of death is taboo. A lot of the funeral service industry is backwards, she said. Our culture dictates that Chinese people are very sensitive to talk about matters of death. Therefore this industry has become a very closed one. On display at Yu Fu Xiangs booth were custom-designed cremation urns adorned with faces of the deceased and an ornate elite longevity costume resembling robes worn by Chinese emperors. Chuang said demand is growing for more personalized service as the children of the older generation become wealthier and more tech savvy. Kelvin Chan is an Associated Press writer. 1 Migrant children: Authorities have documented more than 300,000 children migrating alone worldwide over a two-year period, marking a dramatic escalation of a trend that has forced many young refugees into slavery and prostitution, the U.N. childrens agency said in Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday. UNICEF said 170,000 of those children sought asylum in Europe in 2015-16, many after making the treacherous trip across the Mediterranean Sea, where hundreds of children are estimated to have drowned last year. Nearly 92 percent of the boys and girls arriving by boat in Italy in 2016 and early 2017 came unaccompanied or had been separated from their relatives along the way, the report said. They came mainly from the African nations of Eritrea, Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea, UNICEF said. Ruthless smugglers and traffickers are exploiting their vulnerability for personal gain,, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said. 2 Amazon rain forest: Brazils lower house of Congress has approved a measure significantly reducing the size of a fully protected national park in the Amazon rain forest and opening up a big chunk of land for agriculture and other activities. Lawmakers in Sao Paulo agreed Tuesday night to convert 1.2 million acres of the 3.2 million-acre Jamanxim National Park in Para state into what is called an environmental protection area. That would let the land be used for the extraction of lumber, agriculture and mining activities not allowed in a fully protected national park. The legislation is seen as a victory of Congress rural lobby representing agribusiness. It now goes before the Senate and would also have to be ratified by President Michel Temer to take effect. Environmentalists fear the move will lead to a rise in deforestation and to a wave of illegal occupations. Disputes over land involving indigenous groups, loggers, ranchers and small-scale farmers frequently turn violent in Brazil. News, May 3: Addressing a Household Crisis Not Enough The New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney in Santa Fe recently suggested decreasing the amount of required counseling time for offenders of domestic violence, from 52 to 26 weekly meetings. I have been a professional counselor for over 25 years and have experience counseling domestic violence offenders. Domestic violence is a multi-faceted social problem, not just an anger problem. Often among many offenders, cultural and societal issues of sexism, chauvinism, misogyny, privilege, entitlement and power and control over another person contribute to a lifetime pattern of aggressive, harmful behavior. Among male offenders, [those in] denial are the highest of all client populations getting counseling. Consequently, time and work are needed (by client and counselor) to effectively intervene in the abusive behavior, and to have offenders take accountability and responsibility for their behavior. Recommending only 26 meetings for offenders to achieve this is unfair to the client, unrealistic, and suggest an expedient "quick fix" cure for abuse and violence in domestic relationships. John F Moreau Santa Fe Works for Some I applaud District Attorney [Marco] Serna's decision to shift the way his office handles domestic violence cases. Clearly, a more thoughtful, nuanced approach is needed. But the research tells us that if we want to change behavior, we need to distinguish who is doing what to whom and with what impact. For traditional battering patterns that grow out of a belief that men have a right and a duty to control women, our existing batterer intervention programs, along with programs designed to empower victims, have been shown to work. These offenders are good candidates for deferred treatment, as long as there is a system in place to ensure accountability. Situational violence is an entirely different dynamic. For example, a man may hit his wife because she gambled away all their money, but he does not use a pattern of intimidation and violence to establish control or dominance over her. Those cases may not be appropriate for deferment to a batterer's intervention program. Other men may be similar to batterers because they use violence to establish relationships of dominance, but they do so in many areas of their lives. These men are singularly resistant to change and, according to the research, they do not benefit from batterer intervention programs. Imposing traditional legal consequences may be the only viable response for this personality type. In the end, using deferred prosecution and batterer intervention programs to change a batterer's behavior makes sense. The challenge will be identifying the right candidates. DAs and their advocates will need to work closely with law enforcement and domestic violence programs to ensure that batterers are given an opportunity to change, but those who are not amenable to change are held accountable. Sheila Lewis Santa Fe Safe Cover, May 3: Sugar Crash Tax Animals Santa Fe may have rejected a sin tax on soda and other sugary drinks, but officials can still raise revenue for preschool programsand save animals and the environmentby levying a tax on meat and other animal-based foods. Animal-based foods are linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses, and according to the United Nations, the production of animal-based foods requires more resources and causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than the production of plant-based ones. If authorities were to levy a 10-cent tax on every pound of meatand a modest tax on each dairy item and carton of eggsit would give consumers yet another incentive to eat tasty vegan foods, which are humane, environmentally friendly, and relatively inexpensive compared to meat, eggs, and dairy products, especially if you factor in all the medical bills you can rack up if you eat a lot of fatty, cholesterol-laden animal-based foods. Heather Moore PETA Foundation - Norfolk, Virginia Hey Naysayers The sugar tax didn't pass, but the two issues the measure was intended to address linger and loom larger. New Mexico has poor education outcomes for children coupled with poor health outcomes such as elevated levels of childhood obesity and diabetes exacerbated by overly high consumption of sugary drinks. Responsibility to act now rests with the 57 percent of voters who cast a "no" vote. It's not enough to just say noit's your turn now to come together to propose other alternatives. We need to see a plan B, C and/or D that can be debated, moved forward, voted on and passed. In the face of years of inaction, the mayor proposed an idea to address the two issues together. He moved the ball forward despite the loss. Now Santa Fe residents, community leaders and politicians need to reconvene and resolve these issues in new ways. If you really believe in producing better outcomes for children in New Mexico, if you support pre-K education and merely voted no because you were opposed only to this specific sugar tax and felt that wasn't the best way to fund pre-K, then now is your time to step forward. Now is the time to come up with constructive alternative solutions, support them wholeheartedly and make a difference. It's easy to vote no. It's far harder to take the next step. Let's hear some reasonable, viable, alternative ideas and let's get going. Jill Jones Santa Fe News, May 3: Almost Flunking Im Lovin It I read your article with interest and know that Christus St. Vincent has an image problem. My experience there last Augustfive days hospitalizedwas very different. Every single person I dealt withdoctors, especially Dr. Ali, nurses and support staffwas fantastic. I couldn't have had better treatment. Morgan Smith Santa Fe Letters, May 3: U Da Best Pay Attention, SFR In the "Letters" section [was] a sweet note from Michael Friestad, giving big love to Santa Fe Brewing and their Freestyle Pilsner. It is too bad that no one at the Reporter paid any attention to the photo that was chosen to run along with the letters. A photo of a Blue Corn Brewery beer?! Even if you were unable to locate a photo from Santa Fe Brewing (hard to imagine), you could have been savvy enough to run an image of a plain glass of beer. You made a poor choice to visually highlight a different brewery. Wynn Hohlt Santa Fe SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake, editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530. Mail letters to PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver to 132 E Marcy St., or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity. Santa Fe Reporter STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will host the third New York City Missing Persons Day this Saturday. The event, which will be held at the Manhattan Office, offers free services and resources for those coping with the experience of a long-term missing loved one (missing for 60 or more days), according to a media release. "Families and friends of missing persons struggle every day with unresolved questions about their absent loved ones," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said in a statement. Since it began, the event has led to eight identifications of missing persons in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Texas since its launch in 2014. Most recently a family from Ossining came to the event in search of their missing brother from Ecuador. They brought DNA, and it was matched to the remains of a man recovered in the border regions of Texas, according to the media release. "As this effort grows, and with the generous assistance of our partners, we hope to continue making a difference for families seeking answers," Sampson said. The event will be Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the office at 421 E. 26 St. RSVPs are eencouraged and can be made by calling 212-323-1201. Would you like to comment on this report? Join in the conversation here. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Jack Fruchtman gets a large majority of his clients the old-fashioned way: He knocks on doors. "While some people who open the door are unpleasant, that's OK; it comes with the territory," said Fruchtman. "If I knock on 100 doors, and talk to 30 people, we'll get anywhere from three to five people who will agree to a free estimate for windows, doors or hardwood floors," he added. As the marketing director and co-owner of The Men With Tools, a window, door and floor company that opened a new showroom last week in Great Kills, Fruchtman says he and his partner, John Kolbaska, both age 39, have a "family approach" to doing business. "I worked for big companies in the past and I was always working," said Fruchtman, a father of three children. "I wanted to spend more time with my family." After meeting Kolbaska, who has been in the business for 22 years, the men decided to partner and open The Men With Tools. "John and I are both Staten Islanders, and we decided to give it a go," he added. "John is the principal and the installer, and I take care of the marketing." Said Kolbaska: "After being in the business all these years, I've learned how to do things better. ... We enjoy being the local contractor. We are licensed in New Jersey, but most of our work is on the Island." In addition to installing name brand windows, such as Andersen and SoftLite, and floors from Bruce, Armstrong and more, The Men With Tools are subcontractors for Lowe's, and also do general contractor work. PASSION FOR THE PROFESSION A second-generation carpenter, Kolbaska said he loves his job and enjoys helping people design their homes. "I started working with my father from 13 years old in the summers. ... I really took an interest in the trade itself. I take pride in installing windows the correct way, and I take pride in teaching others to install it the correct way," he said. Fruchtman noted that while he is in the business of sales, he's not "pushy." "We are family guys. We understand that time is important. So if I come to your house, if I've been there for more than 45 minutes, it's too long," he said. KEY TO A GOOD PARTNERSHIP The partners, who are born a week apart and both have three children, say their key to success is a good partnership. "I've been in other partnerships in the past. It's tough. It's a lot like a marriage. Me and Jack complement each other in so many ways," said Kolbaska, noting they each concentrate on their strengths and rely heavily on each other. IT'S ALL IN THE NAME So where did they get the name for the business? "One of the guys came to the back of the truck when we were working, and said, 'You're the men with tools,' then we said, 'Wow, this is a good name,'" recalled Fruchtman, noting the business was originally called JKOLB INC. THE MEN WITH TOOLS AT A GLANCE Address: 4193 Hylan Blvd, Great Kills Website: www.themenwithtools.com New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners. If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has become the first woman governor of New York. She has defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin. Heres a look at the political journey of the 57th governor of New York. Best Canadian Blog 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 About Kate Why this blog? Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked. This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio - "You don't speak for me." (goes to a private mailserver in Europe) I can't answer or use every tip, but all are appreciated! Katewerk Art Support SDA I am not a registered charity. I cannot issue tax receipts. Want lies? Hire a regular consultant. Want truth? Hire an asshole. The Proper Procedure Poor Richard's Retirement Trump The Establishment Weather Shop Click to inquire about rates. Dow Jones What They Say About SDA "Smalldeadanimals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" Former Sask Premier Lorne Calvert "I got so much traffic after your post my web host asked me to buy a larger traffic allowance." Dr.Ross McKitrick Holy hell, woman. When you send someone traffic, you send someone TRAFFIC. My hosting provider thought I was being DDoSed. - Sean McCormick "The New York Times link to me yesterday [...] generated one-fifth of the traffic I normally get from a link from Small Dead Animals." Kathy Shaidle "Thank you for your link. A wave of your Canadian readers came to my blog! Really impressive." Juan Giner - INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group I got links from the Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Instapundit yesterday - but SDA was running at least equal to those in visitors clicking through to my blog. Jeff Dobbs "You may be a nasty right winger, but you're not nasty all the time!" Warren Kinsella "Go back to collecting your welfare livelihood."Michael E. Zilkowsky Intelliweather Seismic Map Comments Policy Read this Best Of SDA Hide The Decline The Bottle Genie (ClimateGate links) You Might Be A Liberal Uncrossing The Line Bob Fife: Knuckledragger A Modest Proposal (NP) Settled Science Series Y2Kyoto Series SDA: Reader Occupation Survey Brett Lamb Sheltered Workshop Flakes On A Plane All Your Weather Are Belong To Us Song Of The Sled The Raise A Flag Debacle (Now on Youtube!) (.mwv Video) Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl Trudeaupiate Kleptocrat Jeans Child Labour I Concede Small Dead Feminist Protein Hoser: THK Interview The Werewolf Extinction Dear Laura (VRWC) We Wait Blogging The Oscars Jackson Converts To Islam Just Shut The HELL Up Manipulating Condi Gay Equality Rights University of Canberra student Kayla Sterchow had lots of reasons to celebrate on Thursday when she turned 20. But she couldn't get her "traumatic" high school years in Illawarra out of her head. Kayla Sterchow, who has high-functioning autism and epilepsy, is studying at the University of Canberra. Credit:Karleen Minney Bullied by other students and kicked out of seven schools, Ms Sterchow was constantly told by teachers she "wouldn't get anywhere in life" because of her autism. "All the schools I went to pretty much said to my mum I wouldn't get anywhere in life.....I'd just end up working at Greenacres or Flagstaff because of my autism they even said I wouldn't finish high school," she said. It was the holiday to Hawaii that the 22-year-old Canberra man had paid for himself and a 12-year-old American girl to take with their mothers that made this case unusual, a court has heard. The man, Thomas Keski-Nummi-Wilson, now 25, pleaded guilty to using the internet with intention to procure sex and to procuring child pornography, a single photograph of the girl in lingerie. He sent the girl gifts of jewellery and cash to help her mother pay rent, as well as lubricant and sex toys in what defence lawyers conceded was improper but also in a situation where the man felt genuine care for the girl and her family. Defence barrister Steven Whybrow said Keski-Nummi-Wilson's believed he was in a long-term relationship with the girl. The case was exceptional partly because there was no subterfuge, no pretending he was someone he was not, he said. But the judge said it was largely the holiday to Hawaii that made this case exceptional, and was one of its more unusual aspects. After watching police seize the vintage race car from his eastern suburbs apartment, Adam Cranston opted for a less-luxurious mode of transport to take him home after posting $300,000 bail. Clutching his belongings in an Australian Federal Police-marked plastic bag, Mr Cranston loitered in the foyer of the Sydney Police Centre on Thursday afternoon as a wall of cameras waited outside. Unlike his co-accused, the 30-year-old embarked on the long walk towards the media throng solo, before jumping into a waiting Mitsubishi Magna. Adam Cranston leaves Sydney Police Centre after being released on bail on May 8. Credit:Daniel Munoz He stayed silent as reporters threw questions at him about his alleged involvement in a $165 million fraud racket and his Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner father. It's alleged Michael Cranston accessed restricted information on an ATO audit for his son, but police do not believe he knew about his son's alleged fraud syndicate. Fairfax Media appears extremely close to being declared 'on the market' as a new bidder, Hellman & Friedman, entered the auction room on Wednesday night with an indicative offer that trumped the TPG offer already on the table. This could easily mark the start of a bidding war between two US private equity groups, likely to move the 176-year-old media group into foreign hands. Fairfax Media owns The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review. Credit:Louie Douvis In a strange historic twist, Hellman & Friedman - which lobbed a prospective price of between $1.225 and $1.25 a share - is no ordinary bidder: It was part of Tourang - a consortium of investors including Canadian media baron Conrad Black and the late Kerry Packer, which bought Fairfax out of receivership in 1992. Hellman's current Emeritus chairman, Brian Powers, was once the chairman of Fairfax and later became Kerry Packer's right-hand man. By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, May 18 (PTI) Nepal today declared as martyrs two persons killed in clashes with police during the local- level elections on May 14. The government will provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of Nawaraj Pathak of Kavre district and Kul Bahadur Tamang of Dolakha district, the council of ministers said following a cabinet meeting. advertisement Their children will be provided free education. Pathak died in police firing while Tamang was killed in clashes during the local-level elections on May 14. The meeting also acknowledged a movement launched by Madhesi parties demanding re-demarcation of the provincial boundary as a political one. The Madhesi parties were protesting in support of their demand to re-demarcate the provincial boundary through Constitution amendment before conducting the local polls. A decision was made to forward a proposal in the next cabinet meeting for withdrawing cases filed against activists participating in the agitation. The first phase of local-level polls took place across Nepal after a gap of 20 years on May 14. The second round of polls will be held on June 14. They should be held in every five years but due to political instability, they were halted since May 1997. Some Madhes-centric parties have opposed the elections until the Constitution is amended to accommodate their views: more representation in parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries. The Nepal government has tabled a new Constitution amendment bill in the Parliament to address the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties ahead of the local elections. Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a prolonged agitation between September 2015 and February last year against the implementation of the new Constitution which they felt marginalised the Terai community. PTI SBP CPS --- ENDS --- News of Australian Taxation Office's deputy commissioner Michael Cranston facing a looming charge for accessing internal agency documents involving his son's alleged $165 million tax fraud syndicate has been described as "shocking" and "disgusting" by tax professionals, and some fear that stains may be far wider at the agency. Mr Cranston is an ATO old-timer who has spent years chasing down the wealthy for leading lavish lifestyles including indulging in fancy cars, boats, and even private jets that don't match up with their tax returns. He is one of the few who survived Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan's "cultural reinvention", which involved sacking a number of long-time bureaucrats and replacing them with fresh blood, often from the private sector. As if the ATO cold do with more bad news. ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston, pictured outside court last month, allegedly attempted to access information for his son. Credit:AAP Now Mr Cranston is set to be charged with abusing his position as a public official by accessing restricted information on an ATO audit of his 30-year-old son Adam Cranston, who with Mr Cranston's daughter, has also been charged over the large-scale alleged tax fraud. While police do not believe Mr Cranston, when accessing the internal documents, knew about his son's alleged fraud syndicate, there are new allegations that he allegedly sought to pressure colleagues to cut a deal with his son after he learnt his son was the subject of a major tax fraud investigation. A network of Victorian public schools has been forced to sever ties with a cleaning contractor amid allegations that school cleaners have been underpaid. Melbourne-based Ramos Cleaning Services has been stripped of 17 contracts for the cleaning of government-run schools in the city's north and west, including Brunswick Secondary College, St Albans Secondary College and Thornbury Primary. The state Education Department earlier this month received correspondence from the company stating that it may have been in breach of workplace laws. The department decided on May 5 to ban it from working at government schools. "Its contract was terminated after it wrote to us indicating it had breached employment regulations, and company director Alejandro Ramos admitting to a number of school principals [that] staff had been underpaid," a spokeswoman said. If, like me, you marvelled while your school bus rolled the wrong way up a hill and you then spent the day exploring the spooky, 6.25-million-year-old lava terrain of Hanging Rock in Victoria's Macedon Ranges, the past few weeks have probably brought back a few memories. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Joan Lindsay's book Picnic At Hanging Rock, Janelle McCulloch's nonfiction work Beyond The Rock digs deep into the life of the author, her mysterious novel and the making of that haunting and iconic film adaptation by Peter Weir in 1975. I first saw the film as a sub-10-year-old. It was at the Dromana drive-in and, although things can get pretty jumbled up when you peer back from the age of 43, I'm pretty sure it was a double-header with Steve Martin's The Man With Two Brains. The spooky pan pipes, the whiff of truth about the story, the ants, the several large Cokes I drank, they all conspired to etch the film deeply into my giddy consciousness. Picnic at Hanging Rock: meddle with Joan Lindsay's classic at your peril The recent rekindling of interest in the story led me to discover that in draft stages Lindsay wrote an ending to the story, explaining what happened to the missing girls. Chapter 18 was deleted before the book was published but it was later printed in a 1987 book called The Secret of Hanging Rock. You can read it online, if you like. I did. And it was a revelation. It turns out Lindsay could have easily written for Doctor Who. Think floating corsets, time portals and a witch-like shape-shifter who turns herself into a reptile/crab who finally slithers into a crack in the rock. I won't say any more about the girls (spoilers) but it was way cooler than the ending we got. Some are deliberately concealed, while more still continue unseen as a result of communal neglect. Many could have been prevented if enough people simply took notice and were prepared to demand change. With great regret, then, we all must recognise that abuses and mistreatment of the vulnerable occur daily in our neighbourhoods, communities, towns and cities. The Herald, like many Australians, adheres to Gandhi's adage: "The true measure of any society is how well it treats its most vulnerable." Australians have been shocked by the abuse of children in various institutions public, private, faith-based and charitable for decades. The good work of the McClellan royal commission has proved a necessary wake-up call. Last August, weeks after the Don Dale Detention Centre disgrace prompted a much-needed royal commission into youth detention, the Herald also bemoaned the way in which many Australians either deliberately or otherwise adopted an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to nefarious goings-on in the Northern Territory. "Convenient ignorance allows great wrongs to be done," we said. Now we all need to reconcile such outrage about the ill-treatment of the vulnerable in "the deep North" with revelations about what goes on in some NSW hospitals, mental health facilities and group homes for the disabled. The tragic case of mother-of-two Miriam Merten in Lismore Adult Mental Health Inpatient Unit exposed disgusting cruelty and neglect. She was held in a seclusion room for more than five hours on June 1, 2014. Two nurses were involved in putting her there and ignoring her trauma. The room was covered in faeces. Doped up on anti-psychotic medications to control her behaviour, she bashed her head repeatedly on the concrete wall and floors. When released the next morning, she was left to stumble half-naked in a hallway before collapsing. She died the next day. And his decision to fire an FBI director embarking upon an uncomfortable investigation suggests a preparedness to muffle potentially embarrassing information. The obvious conclusion, then, is that Trump is prepared to be so honest on these things because he genuinely doesn't understand the gravity of what he's saying. He doesn't see a problem with firing someone who is investigating him. He doesn't see why he wouldn't blurt out classified information to a traditionally hostile power. It would be one thing if this pointed to an austere and honourable (if self-destructive) honesty. But Trump is a man who has no trouble lying to exaggerate the scale of his election victory, or accusing Barack Obama of wiretapping his home without evidence. The president's aides have tried to help. They pretended, for instance, that Trump's reasons for sacking James Comey as FBI director had nothing to do with the ever-tightening investigations into the president's connections to Russia. Then Trump went and blurted out that it really was all about "this Russia thing", breezily blowing his own cover. Same thing this week when Trump's team denied he had leaked sensitive, classified information to the Russian government, only to see Trump himself confirm defiantly that he did. Illustration: Andrew Dyson The most recent and incendiary report that Trump had asked Comey to drop the investigation into his former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, only underscores this. No one alive to the gross malfeasance of such a request would dare do it directly. It would surely be a more cunning manoeuvre, done subtly and deniably. And while it is true the White House is denying it, it is a hell of a thing to end up in the memo of an FBI director famous for documenting controversial exchanges since his time working with the George W. Bush administration. Especially since, if that memo exists, it seems eminently discoverable by Congress. The point here is that we might not be looking at a president who fulfils the worst fears of those who watched his campaign aghast, and who had him pinned as a dictator in waiting. It's entirely possible Trump's quasi-dictatorial impulses are by accident. He hasn't, for instance, even bothered filling most of the government positions he's authorised to fill. He shows apparently little interest in dominating the apparatus of the state. He seems vastly more interested in identifying whoever presents a difficulty, and either abusing or evicting them. So there's lots of talk of "so-called judges" who ruled against Trump's Muslim ban, and a string of clunky firings. But there's no systematic takeover of the American government. Not yet, anyway. I suppose that's a relief of sorts. But it points to a serious crisis now brewing in American democracy. This is a country ruled by a man who doesn't seem to grasp its most foundational civic tenets; who doesn't understand the importance of independent law enforcement bodies, or judiciaries, or even of the need for restraints on presidential power, just as he seems not to understand the point of a free media. It's like he doesn't grasp the concepts of conflicts of interest, or obstructions of justice. In Trump's hands, these are content-free abstractions: annoyances to be sidestepped rather than sacred limits to be observed, even if grudgingly. That doesn't mean he can escape these things. The courts will still check his power, irrespective of whether or not he understands or respects why. He's unlikely to be able to quash FBI investigations. The press will continue to hold him to account, and indeed seems newly invigorated by this presidency, which has made it more relevant than ever. The Washington Post's story on the classified information revealed to Russia broke its own record this week for most online readers of a story per second. Rarely have politicians demonstrated better their ignorance of the risks and opportunities confronting Australia than with Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan and other ministers' recent utterances on Adani and Galilee Basin coal, along with their petulant foot-stamping over Westpac's decision to restrict funding to new coal projects. Likewise, Bill Shorten sees no problem in supporting Adani. The media are no better; discussion instantly defaults to important but secondary issues, such as Adani's concessional government loan, the project's importance to the economy, creating jobs for north Queenslanders and so on. Nowhere in the debate is the critical issue even raised: the existential risk of climate change, which such development now implies. Existential means a risk posing large negative consequences to humanity that can never be undone. One where an adverse outcome would either annihilate life, or permanently and drastically curtail its potential. This is the risk to which we are now exposed unless we rapidly reduce global carbon emissions. Senior federal police and Australian Taxation Office officials are likely to be bombarded with questions on the matter at next week's Senate estimates hearings. A parliamentary inquiry is also on the cards. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday congratulated the Australian Federal Police for the investigation, declaring the government had "zero tolerance for this type of conspiracy, this type of fraud, this type of abuse of public office". Labor leader Bill Shorten has suggested an alleged $165 million tax fraud, potentially one of the biggest cases of white collar fraud in Australian history, helps build the case for a federal corruption watchdog. Seven alleged syndicate members have been charged, including Adam Cranston, 30, and his sister, Lauren Anne Cranston, 24. Their father, ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston, has been issued a future court attendance notice for the charge of abusing his position as a public official. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the alleged tax fraud matter builds the case for a federal ICAC. Credit:Chris Hopkins Mr Shorten said while all facts of the case needed to be established, there were questions of competence for the government to answer. "It would be remiss of me to comment on the individual matters, although they are clearly very concerning. I don't want to impinge upon anyone's rights, nor do I want to impinge upon the prosecution if the wrong thing's happened," he said. "But clearly here, down the track there will have to be questions of competence for the government to answer. And I also think it makes Labor's support for having a Senate committee investigating the merit of a National Integrity Commission seem quite on the money." Social Services Minister Christian Porter has begun the delicate job of convincing the states and other groups to join a Commonwealth scheme designed to compensate survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Mr Porter will sit down with attorneys-general from across the nation in Melbourne on Friday to discuss the scheme in the first step towards convincing the states and territories to join it. Separate meetings will be held with leaders of churches, charities and other non-government institutions as part of the same mission, with the government hoping for a "nationally consistent approach" to compensating about 60,000 survivors, which has been estimated to cost about $4 billion. Tobacco giant Philip Morris has hit a major legal hurdle in its attempt to introduce a new smoke-free tobacco product to the Australasian market. The New Zealand government has laid charges against the company for allegedly importing and selling tobacco cigarettes that are heated in an electronic device, but not burnt. The heated-not-burned cigarettes are marketed overseas as IQOS. Credit:Bloomberg The charges follow a rival company reporting Philip Morris for allegedly selling the product online to New Zealand customers after it was banned. Philip Morris has been planning for some months to introduce the product to Australia. A young naval officer from Kerala died after suffering a cardiac arrest on Thursday in Kerala. By Press Trust of India: A 26-year-old INA cadet died on Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest, officials at the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala's Kannur district said. Gudeppa Sooraj, a first term Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) cadet, was found in an unconscious and unresponsive state on the floor of the INA's academic wing by a duty sailor instructor at 5.30 pm on Wednesday, a release from the PRO of the academy said on Thursday. advertisement He was immediately rushed to the ICU of the Indian Naval Hospital "Navjivani" and administered IV fluid resuscitation, the release said. Later, he was shifted to Pariyaram Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Kannur district. A medical specialist and medical assistants accompanied him. The cadet developed two episodes of cardiac arrest at PMCH and all efforts to revive him failed and he was declared dead at 2.30 am on Thursday, the release said. The next of kin has been informed and an inquiry has been ordered by the Southern Naval Command into the incident, it added. The deceased hailed from Mallapuram district. Also Read: India, Pakistan face-off at ICJ after 18 years: When India had shot down a Pakistani aircraft in 1999 Is International Court of Justice stay on Kulbhushan Jadhav hanging binding on Pakistan? All about how ICJ functions Also Watch: India's full argument of Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in ICJ --- ENDS --- Former ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston is charged with improperly using his position to help his son, Adam (pictured), who has been charged with tax fraud. Credit:Daniel Munoz The Australian Federal Police allege the scam was a conspiracy to divert Pay As You Go withholding tax owed to the ATO. It ran for a year from June 2016 to May 2017 and raised a suspected $165 million. As if the ATO cold do with more bad news. ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston, pictured outside court last month, allegedly attempted to access information for his son. Credit:AAP Those clients would regularly transfer funds to Plutus to pay the wages and salaries of employees. Plutus was also expected to withhold and remit to the ATO the required PAYG contributions. But the alleged scammers set up several other second-tier companies into which they installed unrelated small-time crooks and drug addicts as company directors, or straw directors. This was to allow the scammers to disguise their involvement in the conspiracy. One of the alleged co-conspirators was assigned to recruit and manage the straw directors to ensure they had no unsupervised involvement in the companies they were supposed to be running. Plutus would then transfer the payroll funds to the second-tier companies - from where it would pay the client companies' payroll as expected, but it would only forward part of the PAYG contributions to the tax man. The alleged scammers would ensure both Plutus and the second-tier companies would retain a percentage of the funds owed to the ATO as PAYG. They would aim to pass on no more than 60 per cent of the PAYG owed by any company. One of the largest tax fraud syndicates in the country's history unravelled in spectacular fashion above the clothing boutiques and trendy cafes of Double Bay on Wednesday. With his morning coffee in hand, property developer Boris Markovsky opened the door to his eastern suburbs office to more than a dozen Australian Federal Police wearing plain clothes and leather gloves. Property developer Michael Teplitsky with Australian Federal Police. Credit:Fairfax Media Fairfax Media watched on as Rommark Corporation, run by Ukrainian-born developers Michael Teplitsky and Mr Markovsky, was turned upside down by officers who combed through piles of documents. It was one of 28 properties across Sydney raided by 300 police as an extraordinary investigation into a $165 million tax fraud came to a head. Two weeks ago Gladys Berejiklian was given the honour of delivering the inaugural address to the Canberra-based National Press Club's new outpost in Sydney. As anyone who has watched press club speeches knows, for politicians in particular they provide a great opportunity to grab national headlines and possibly set an agenda. They are long form, set pieces with a national audience that give the speaker an opportunity to go a little deeper into a subject or perhaps make a persuasive argument for reform. So when Berejiklian climbed to the podium anticipation was high that we might witness the new Premier place a marker; perhaps offer a signal as to where she wanted to take NSW in the two years before the 2019 election. A teenage girl says she was kept as a sexual slave in a Sydney house before she was able to escape and alert authorities, sparking an investigation into human trafficking and sexual servitude. The 17-year-old, from Guinea in western Africa, sought help at the Asylum Seekers Centre on Bedford Street in Newtown late last month, saying she had just escaped from a unit somewhere in Sydney's metropolitan area where she had been held captive, police said. The teenager was dropped at the centre by a good Samaritan, believed to be named Nicole, who saw the girl running down a street and picked her up in her car. Detective Acting Superintendent Mick Haddow, the State Crime Command's Sex Crimes Squad Commander, appealed for that woman, who was driving a small red car, believed to be a hatchback, to come forward to help with the investigation. Brendon Cowie was rushing out to work when his wife Cathleen stopped him at the door for a kiss. A few hours later, arriving at a local church with their five-month-old son, Ryan, she collapsed and died. Doctors said Mrs Cowie, a gym instructor known as Cat, had an aortic aneurysm. She was 35 years old when she died in October 2015. Brendon Cowie with his son, Ryan, whose mother died when he was five months old. Credit:Janie Barrett "I'm grateful she got those five months with Ryan," Mr Cowie said. "Life's very fragile. You don't know what's around the corner." Mr Cowie, who was working in landscape maintenance, had to drop everything "to be a full-time mum and dad. Financially, it was tough." The development company behind a planned $1.39 billion redevelopment of Cleveland's Toondah Harbour has offered a 200-metre buffer zone around a nearby island to allow up to 920 endangered shorebirds to nest. But Birdlife Australia said the move was not enough and the proposed development would still destroy "feeding habitat used by migratory seabirds." The proposed Toondah Harbour project has been given the go-ahead to proceed to the EIS stage. This 2016 document by consultants Saunders Havill Group showed an average of 699 migratory shorebirds used Cassim Island, where the buffer would be put in place, roosting on the island about 30 metres offshore. "The Cassim Island mangroves, located 30 metres from the (priority development area) boundary, are used daily as a high-tide roost during the summer months by four migratory shorebird species; an average of 699 and maximum of 920 migratory shorebirds were recorded roosting during four summer high-tide surveys," he said. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission have executed a search warrant on a plumber's home, as part of an investigation into lead contamination in homes across south-east Queensland. It comes after the QBCC issued a public health warning on Tuesday, saying plumber Brett George Hogan had used a non-compliant lead solder while installing hot water systems in areas including the Sunshine Coast, Logan, Moreton Bay and Fraser Coast. Queensland Chief Health Officer Sonya Bennett, and QBCC commissioner Brett Bassett. QBCC commissioner Brett Bassett said copies of Mr Hogan's Hot Water One business records were collected when the warrant was executed on Thursday morning. "Our top priority right now is to get in contact with the people at the 796 properties potentially affected by non-compliant plumbing work," Mr Bassett said. Jason King wasn't surprised to get an email from the chairman of Launceston Church Grammar School's board asking him to process a payment to Hong Kong that day. The school sometimes has cause to make payments to Hong Kong for the school's accountant, so there was no immediate concern. Michael Schaper, deputy chairman of the ACCC, says small businesses are a far more attractive target for scammers than the general public. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan "It had [the chairman's] name and an email address that looked reasonable," Mr King says. "They were asking for a payment of $121,780. That was the red flag as we don't ever pay that much to Hong Kong." Mr King called the chairman who knew nothing at all about the payment and hadn't sent the email. Facebook will pay 110 million euros, or around $165 million, in fines to the European Union, over charges that it misled regulators during its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. The fine is one of the largest the company has had to pay to any government. European regulators said that Facebook was not honest about its ability to identify users that had both Facebook and WhatsApp accounts, and link those accounts. At the time of the merger review, regulators were particularly concerned that WhatsApp users would have their information shared with Facebook without their consent. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Credit:DAVID PAUL MORRIS "When Facebook notified the acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, it informed the Commission that it would be unable to establish reliable automated matching between Facebook users' accounts and WhatsApp users' accounts," regulators said. "However, in August 2016, WhatsApp announced updates to its terms of service and privacy policy, including the possibility of linking WhatsApp users' phone numbers with Facebook users' identities." Moreover, regulators said, Facebook staff knew that matching accounts was technically possible at the time of the review. By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, May 18 (PTI) Fifteen people, including three Indians,have been arrested in Nepal for allegedly carrying demonetised Indian currency worth over Rs two crore here, police said today. A special team of Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) yesterday seized Indian banknotes with face value of Rs 21.08 million from different places in Kathmandu. advertisement The CIB raided a rented house of Kamala Bhandari of Morang district and confiscated two bags containing Rs 9.8 million, Superintendent of Police Meera Chaudhary said. Bhandaris arrest led to seizure of an additional Rs 11.18 million from a private car parked on the premises of an hotel in the outskirts of Kathmandu. "On a tip-off, we launched the operation and took 15 suspects into custody for smuggling demonetised banknotes to Nepal from India with a motive of earning profit by exchanging them for Nepali rupees through various criminal networks," a CIB official said. The arrested Indians are Ankur Kumar Agrawal, Dinesh Agrawal and Anil Kumar Pansali. Indian bank notes with the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were seized from them. They also confiscated three cars used in the crime. PTI SBP AJR --- ENDS --- Miniature pig owners in Western Australia are calling for the animal to be considered a pet under local laws after a council told a South West family its two porky pets could no longer live at their property. Arnold and Olivia, 2, are mini pigs who have lived with their owners, Amanda Novotny, her husband and their two children, aged 11 and 14, for most of their lives. The pigs have been a fixture of the family's life for many years. The family live on an 830 square metre block in Kingston, near Bunbury, with their pigs spending most of their time inside the house or in the backyard. "We've had Arnold and Olivia for nearly two years and everybody's happy, we love them, all the neighbours love them, the kids walk by on the way to and from school and say hi," Ms Novotny said. A Melbourne woman bound for a holiday in the United States claims she was strip-searched, locked up in a federal prison and sent back to Australia by border officials. Molly Hill left Australia for Honolulu on Monday on a tourist visa with a return flight and on arrival was whisked into an interrogation room, she says in a Facebook post on Thursday. Molly Hill says she was detained in Hawaii after US border officials suspected her of planning to immigrate illegally. Credit:Facebook/molly.hill.5492 Ms Hill says her luggage was searched and immigration officials told her they understood she had an American boyfriend. They searched her personal diary during an alleged six-hour interrogation and concluded she was going to stay in the US illegally. The Brazilian government has moved to distance itself from explosive revelations of corruption by President Michel Temer, after a secret recording allegedly caught him discussing hush money with one of the country's top entrepreneurs. Joesley Batista, chairman of meat giant JBS, secretly recorded his discussion with Temer about payments to jailed former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha in return for his silence, newspaper O Globo reported on Wednesday. Brazilian President Michel Temer denies all wrongdoing. Credit:AP The paper reported, without saying how it obtained the information, that Batista and his brother, Chief Executive Wesley Batista, presented the recording to prosecutors as part of plea bargains struck with the Office of the Attorney-General. JBS also hired a law firm to discuss a leniency deal with the US Department of Justice, O Globo reported. JBS declined to comment immediately. Washington: One of the Trump administration's first decisions in the fight against the Islamic State group was made by then national security adviser Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired - and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey, whose interests, unbeknownst to anyone in Washington, he'd been paid more than $US500,000 to represent. The decision came 10 days before Donald Trump had been sworn in as US President in the course of a conversation with President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice. Rice had explained the Pentagon's plan to retake the IS de facto capital of Raqqa with Syrian Kurdish forces the Pentagon considered the US's most effective military partners. Obama's national security team had decided to ask for Trump's sign-off, since the plan would all but certainly be executed after Trump had become president. Flynn didn't hesitate. According to timelines distributed by members of Congress in the weeks since, Flynn told Rice to hold off, a move that would delay the military operation for months. London: Rolf Harris will be released from prison on Friday but back in court by Monday to face a fresh trial over allegations of groping teenage girls. Harris is to be released from Stafford prison on Friday, having served time for convictions in 2014, but has been ordered to appear in-person at court on Monday where he is facing four counts of indecent assault. Rolf Harris. Credit:PA The 87-year-old has been attending his trial via video link which the jury learnt for the first time on Thursday was from Stafford Prison in Britain's West Midlands. Judge Deborah Taylor granted the Australian entertainer bail on Thursday after it was sought by his barristers and not opposed by the prosecution. The judge urged the jury, comprising seven women and five men, not to let Harris' priors convictions or the fact that he had been released on bail affect their judgment of the evidence they are currently hearing at Southwark Crown Court. Bali: The former governor of Bali's Kerobokan jail has said Schapelle Corby has served her three years of parole in Bali well and deserves her freedom. Corby, 39, who was convicted in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in a boogie board bag, is just days away from being deported back to Australia on May 27. Schapelle Corby is just days away from being deported back to Australia on May 27. Credit:AP Former prison governor Gusti Ngurah Wiratna told Fairfax Media that Corby should use the lessons she had learned in Bali to live the rest of her life. "She went through her parole time well, now she deserves her freedom," he said. Washington: Former US national security adviser Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former US officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the US presidential election and contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia. Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Trump advisers and Russia's ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, three current and former officials said. Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the US election on November 8, as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the US national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current US officials said. Even Kellyanne Conway has refused to appear on Fox & Friends. Credit:AP And on Wednesday evening another tantalising element of the story emerged - The Washington Post has acquired a recording of a conversation on Capitol Hill, just weeks before Trump triumphed as the GOP presidential candidate last year, in which Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy made the remarkable claim that Trump could be receiving payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. News had broken the previous day of the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee's computers and a group of senior Republicans were discussing Russian meddling in European elections when, according to the recorded conversation, McCarthy told his colleagues: "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump." [Californian Republican Dana Rohrabacher has a reputation as a stout defender of Putin and Russia.] Even the friendly territory of Fox couldn't lure the Republicans forward. Before McCarthy could elaborate, he was cut off by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan who swore all present to secrecy, saying: "No leaks ... This is how we know we're a real family here." Ryan's office initially denied that the conversation had taken place. But, on being informed that the Post had the recording, a spokesman insisted that the exchange had been a failed attempt at humour. Former FBI director James Comey. Credit:AP Just another day in Washington Judging how egregious Trump might have been depends on the political pedigree of the lawyers at the lectern. So we're grateful for a bipartisan analysis by University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics chairman Norman Eisen. Both were chief ethics lawyers for previous presidents - Painter for George W. Bush; Eisen for Barack Obama. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said there was an urgent need for Congress to hear from Donald Trump. Credit:Bloomberg Declaring that Trump appears to have engaged in a criminal obstruction of justice, they write in The New York Times: " the evidence strongly suggests the president acted corruptly. That starts with the demand for loyalty from Mr Comey, the account of which the White House disputes. That demand can reasonably be understood to mean that Mr Comey should protect Trump and follow his bidding, rather than honouring his oath to follow the evidence. It is also an implicit threat: Be loyal, or you will be fired." But where they see "a textbook case of wrongful conduct", Florida International University law Professor Elizabeth Price Foley sees a bum rap - "as distasteful as the president's statements may be, they do not constitute an obstruction of justice. Indeed, if they did, virtually every communication between criminal defence lawyers and investigators would be a crime." But we digress, because this saga turns, ultimately on whether Republicans in Congress have the stomach for a fight with Trump - the Democrats are hot to trot; but the tenor of GOP responses, with one or two strident exceptions, is "we need more information". But tongues are loosening. And Republicans are saying things about Trump and his administration that they wouldn't have dared utter publicly as recently as a few weeks ago - collectively, their message is that they're losing confidence in the ability of this White House to rise above its serial scandals. And in a signal to Trump that the sacking of Comey would not prompt the FBI to back-pedal on its investigations, on Wednesday evening the Justice Department announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Trump's campaign and associates and the Kremlin. "In my capacity as acting attorney general I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement, in which he named Robert Mueller, who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, as the special counsel - a victory for Democrats. "My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command." Usually taciturn, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said there was an urgent need for Congress to hear from Trump. "I think we need to hear from him about whatever he has to say about the events of recent days, as soon as possible, before the Senate Intelligence Committee, in public," McConnell told The Wall Street Journal. And a slew of congressional committee leaders are demanding documents - the Comey memos from the FBI and any other records, including a White House tape recording alluded to by Trump in a threatening tweet against Comey. They are all demanding that Comey testify. But only one of them bared his teeth - that was the GOP chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jason Chaffetz, who tweeted his determination to get his hands on the Comey memos: "I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready." What they are saying: Arizona Republican Senator John McCain: "We've seen this movie before. I think it's reaching the point where it's of Watergate size and scale and a couple of other scandals that you and I have seen." Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse: "There's a lot here that's really scary ... it's obviously inappropriate for any president to be trying to interfere with an investigation." Pennsylvania Republican Senator Patrick Toomey: "Changes are needed at the White House." Some Republicans are backing Democrat calls for a Watergate-style special prosecutor to investigate the enmeshed scandals and crises, but many squirm at the suggestion, fearful that such independent probes take on a life and power of their own - like, er, Watergate. Democrats, meanwhile, are calling the GOP's bluff. "They do as little as humanly possible just to claim that they're doing something," Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings told reporters. "Our committee should already be conducting robust and transparent investigations [but] Speaker [Paul] Ryan has shown he has zero - zero, zero - appetite." The Republicans' "we need more information" response is a kind of halfway house, inching towards a mighty brawl with Trump in a fashion that suggests they are ready to defend the constitution - but from which they could back off at a later date. In the time that they're not appearing on Fox News and the other networks, they'll be watching the mood of voters in a series of byelections to fill vacancies created by Trump's appointment of members of Congress to posts in his administration. New anti-migrant policies announced by British Prime Minister Theresa May will make it harder for Australians to find and keep jobs in the United Kingdom, and will charge them more to access the National Health Service. The bad news comes as Australians are flocking to Britain to take jobs in unprecedented numbers, according to official statistics released this week. Mrs May, whose Conservatives are on target for an overwhelming victory in the June 8 election, launched her party manifesto in Yorkshire on Thursday. She said Britain had "a chance to step back and ask ourselves what kind of country we want to build together", saying it should be "a great meritocracy". MARIGOT:--- The Gendarmerie in a press release on Wednesday afternoon said they have terminated the search for missing the man identified as Gilbert Richardson that went missing since Sunday because he body was found on Tuesday in the bush not far away from the horse riding stable on Galion Beach. The gendarmerie said in their release that the Richardson died of natural causes. The Gendarmerie have expressed their deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Gilbert Richardson. SMN News learned that the Gendarmes was alerted around midday when a passerby spotted the body in the bushy area. In a previous release, the Gendarmerie stated that Richardson was suffering from memory loss and while he lived at Round the Pond French Quarter he was last seen in the area of Galion Beach. By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) Sweden today said Air Indias plan to launch non-stop flight services to its capital city Stockholm from New Delhi will boost the ties between the two countries besides promoting people-to-people relations. The flag carrier of India has announced the launch of three-times-a-week flight services to the Swedish capital from August 15. advertisement "This (New Delhi-Stockholm flight) comes at a very positive time in our relations and will continue to strengthen our partnership for the future. "We appreciate the importance it will have for our bilateral relations, especially for people-to-people relations, for tourism in both directions, for students and for business and investment," Swedens Minister for Trade and EU Affairs Ann Linde said in a release today. Making the announcement yesterday, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani has said the new service was part of the airlines international network expansion plan. "We are happy to announce the Delhi-Stockholm direct flight from August 15, 2017. The flight will be operated thrice a week on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft," he said. Besides Stockholm, Air India plans to fly to Tel Aviv and Nairobi this year. It has already announced plans to launch services to Washington DC, which will be the Government-owned airlines fifth non-stop destinations after New York, Newark, San Francisco and Chicago. "For us, India is a market with great potential for Swedish Tourism. During the last five years, more and more Indians chose Sweden as their holiday destination. "Beautiful nature, unique experiences and progressive lifestyle make Sweden an exciting emerging destination for Indian travellers. We look forward to a further growth of tourist flow from India to Sweden," Kristina Asund, interim CEO at Visit Sweden, said in the release. PTI IAS RSY --- ENDS --- PHILIPSBURG:--- In the month of January 2010 family members of R. Brous filed an official report with the authorities on the French Side of the island stating that he had gone missing and had not returned home. He had been last seen driving a blue rented BMW. The police authorities on the Dutch side of the island were also informed about this missing person and joined in the search to locate R. Brous however; this lengthy search did not have any positive results. On Monday, January 23rd, 2017 in the morning at approximately 09.00 a.m. police was called to Great Bay to investigate a case involving a vehicle which was found submerged approximately 200 meter from the shoreline in the vicinity of the Walter Plantz Pier. A local diver discovered the vehicle while driving in the Great Bay harbor and immediately notified the police. The vehicle in question was a BMW with four-doors which showed signs of being submerged for quite some time. The vehicle was removed from the water at which time during the investigation, what seemed to be human remains, was found in the vehicle. The vehicle and the human remains were confiscated for further investigation. As part of the investigation to identify the person whose remains were found in the vehicle, a DNA sample of the human remains and that of a close family member of R. Brous were taken and sent to the National Forensic Institute in the Netherlands for comparison. The results that came back regarding this DNA investigation are that the human remains that were found in the vehicle are those of R. Brous. The investigation was done on the vehicle also indicates that this is the same vehicle that R. Brous rented on the French side before he went missing. The investigators of this case, thus far, did not encounter any evidence which indicates that the death of R. Brous was the result of a criminal act. The cause of death of R. Brous is still unknown. KPSM Press Release Click here to read updated article when the BBW was taken out of Great Bay Beach. CAY HILL:--- In observance of Mothers Day, on Monday, May 15th, 2017, the Strictly Business Foundation donated several gifts to mothers at the Obstetrics and Gynecology ward (OB/GYN) at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). Representatives of the foundation, Julian Rollocks Jr., Bryan Barry and Melvin Austrie, visited the hospital to donate the gifts as part of the foundation's efforts to give back to their community. Their thoughtful gesture particularly focused on mothers who gave birth on Mothers Day at the hospital. However, the donation was made the day after Mothers Day in consideration of the patients privacy and comfort level. The patients were asked permission in advance whether they would be open to receiving the presents and meeting with the donors. The moms were open to the gesture and the gentlemen met with the mothers to congratulate them with their newborns and to present them with their gifts personally. Continuing their generous spirit, on behalf of Strictly Business Foundation, the gentlemen then surprised the nurses on the OB/GYN ward with Mothers day gifts as well. Overall, the donations were part of the organizations wider objective of giving back to mothers on their special day. The donations that the new moms and the nurses received were sponsored by Strictly Business Foundation, GEBE, and Caribbean Jerk. The giving spirit of the community adds communal value to the work done at SMMC. Together the community and SMMC provide a caring environment for the patients at the hospital. Donations are always appreciated by the St. Maarten Medical Center. If you would like to contribute to your local hospital, donations can be made via SMMC website www.smmc.sx, or by contacting their Communications Department for more information about the hospitals donations program at 543-1111 ext. 2508. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee of Parliament will be meeting this week to discuss several issues. One such issue is the verdict pertaining to the Integrity Chamber. Isnt it ironic, that the Central Committee has only now decided to meet to discuss the verdict handed down by the Constitutional Court in July 2016, detailing its reasons for rescinding the Integrity Chamber law? In January 2017, the parliamentarians listened to a passionate presentation by the Honorable Minister of General Affairs against the appointment of a Dutch quartermaster who, by the way, was one of the conditions in the Integrity Chamber protocol, agreed upon by the Government of Sint Maarten. In April, the Minister of General Affairs was back in a Central Committee meeting with another ardent presentation, in order to garner support against a pending Kingdom instruction whereby the Government of Sint Maarten would be forced to establish the Integrity Chamber. After basically supporting the Prime Ministers stance on both occasions, parliamentarians now deem it necessary to go back to the ruling of the Constitutional Court and get the needed advice. I believe that the Central Committee should have done this immediately after the July 2016 ruling, prior to concurring with the Prime Minister on this matter. According to me, Parliament is now putting the cart before the horse. This step should have been taken in July 2016 or shortly thereafter. Nevertheless, as we say, better late than never. Another issue where the cart is being placed before the horse is the matter of the three integrity reports and the baseline study conducted by the General Audit Chamber. These reports were published and made available to Parliament as well as to the general public during the course of 2014 and 2015. How is it then possible that the members of the Ad Hoc Integrity Committee of Parliament, in their last meeting, supported the request made by a Member of Parliament to have the writers all of these reports come to Parliament to present their findings and explain their recommendations? This may sound like a great suggestion but it should have been made and carried out shortly after these reports were received by Parliament. Furthermore, it may be quite difficult and costly to have the authors of especially the two international integrity reports come back to Sint Maarten to give their presentations to Parliament. However, if the members of the Committee are of good faith, which I think they are, they can start immediately by inviting the staff of the General Audit Chamber, which is a government advisory body, to come to Parliament to explain their findings and expound on the recommendations that they gave in their 2014 Baseline Study on Institutional Integrity Management. While they are at it, the Committee should also request them to talk about the Chambers latest study concerning the lack of transparency in appointments of members to supervisory boards of government-owned companies. According to the Chamber, this lack of transparency is worrisome. In addition, if the Ad Hoc Integrity Committee is serious about dealing with the integrity reports it is very possible for them to invite the writers of the Samson-Wit Integrity Report Doing the right things right to Parliament. Two of the members live on Sint Maarten, namely attorney Richard Gibson, our current Minister of Finance and Mr. Jan Beaujon, a member of the Council of Advice. It is the time that our Parliament starts putting the horse in front of the cart and begin to do the right things right. According to google, the word parliament stems from the French verb parler, which means to speak, which makes a lot of sense, since this group of people assembles to talk about laws and issues. After six years, however, Sint Maarteners would like for Parliament to go beyond the parler and initiate and pass laws as well as ensure that motions passed are executed. During the Central Committee meeting in which parliamentarians discussed the timeshare authority law, several Members of Parliament were proud to announce that this was a historic meeting because Parliaments very first initiative law was being discussed. Instead of celebrating, parliamentarians should have bewailed and lamented the fact that Parliament, in its six years of existence, has not yet been able to pass one initiative law. Another example of an initiative law that has gotten lost in the bureaucratic mill is the ban on the import, distribution, and sale of disposable plastic bags. Given the need for such a law and the support that it garnered from, for example, the Sint Maarten Pride Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one would have expected that this initiative law, which was submitted to Parliament in April 2013, four years ago, would have been passed and be in effect by now. It is sad to have to admit, that after six and a half years our highest legislative body has not even passed one initiative law. So much for being an example of productivity in our country and for our people. Wycliffe Smith Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on May 19, 2017. Civil Servants of the department of Legal and Judicial Affairs, Ombudsman and Parliament advisor Mr. Ralph Richardson will be present. The Central Committee meeting has been set for Friday, May 19, 2017, at 10.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is: Discussion on verdict of Constitutional Court dated July 7, 2016, on the National ordinance Integrity Chamber Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.sx and via www.sxmparliament.org. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on May 18, 2017. The Minister of Finance will be present. The Central Committee meeting has been set for Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 14.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda points are: 1. Draft national ordinance amending the national ordinance supervision of banking and credit, the national ordinance monitoring insurance business, the national ordinance monitoring stock exchanges, the national ordinance supervision of investment institutions and administrators, the national ordinance monitoring trust, and the national ordinance insurance broking business (National Ordinance monitoring, updating and harmonizing Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten). 2. Draft national ordinance regulating rules for the supervision of money transaction offices (National Ordinance Monitoring Money Transaction Offices). Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.sx and via www.sxmparliament.org. Berenice Onofre Vasquez, 70, earns her third degree from California State University Los Angeles Berenice Onofre Vasquez previously earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Public Administration from California State University Los Angeles When Berenice Onofre Vasquez walks across the stage to receive her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, it will mark a proud moment in a life-long journey for the 70-year-old Santa Monica grandmother. As the oldest member of the California State University, Los Angeles Class of 2017, Onofre Vasquez has shown that that is never too late to pursue a passion. She will conclude a long history of success at Cal State LA. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Public Administration from the University. "When I got my BSN that was a very proud moment. Now I am getting my Ed.D. for a very clear purpose, it is amazing and I am really excited," she says. She will receive her degree during the Charter College of Education Ceremony on May 22. Since her days as a child on a small farm in Peru, she has placed education at the center of her life. Her reason for pursuing an Ed.D. began taking shape long ago when she arrived in the United States at the age of 21. After moving to Santa Monica with the help of her aunt, Onofre Vasquez enrolled at Santa Monica College to become a nurse, but she recalls being restricted to introductory level math courses due to her lack of English skills. Onofre Vasquez, a bright student who had attended a university in Peru, was frustrated. Then she heard from a fellow student that Cal State LA had an excellent nursing program. Since then, Cal State LA has played an important role in her continued success, such as when she received her first paycheck as a registered nurse. "It was my proudest moment as a product of Cal State LA," she says. "I really was very thankful to the institution and my teachers who helped me." She worked nursing and nursing administration for about 38 years. A single parent, she often worked two jobs, but still found time to attend Cal State LA part time to further her education. Juggling jobs and coursework wasn't always easy, but she coped during stressful times by telling herself: "I am knowledgeable, I am experienced. I am a Cal State LA graduate." Her can-do attitude is showcased in her work on her dissertation, which focuses on the experience of Spanish-speaking Latino parents and the issues English learners face. "Us immigrants, we come with the desire to do something better. To be somebody, to do something," she says. Onofre Vazquez grew up raising chickens, cows and pigs on a small family farm, Caiqui, in the department of Huanuco, in central Peru. She attended the local school until third grade, the highest level the school offered. Her parents wanted her to continue her education, so she moved to the nearby city of Ambo to finish her elementary education. She attended high school in Lima, the capital of Peru, during the week, returning to the farm on weekends to visit her family. She opened a school at Santa Isabel, a town in Huanuco, in a small room donated by the community. She worked there as a teacher and principal for two years. She later attended Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal (UNFV) in Lima to become a professor of chemistry, physics and mathematics. Once she receives her Ed.D., Onofre Vasquez plans on teaching at a university and continuing her research related to Latino parent engagement and English learners. Her goal is to help Latino parents and English learners stand up for themselves and empower their communities. "I hope that in my life I can contribute toward that," she says, "maybe in small ways, maybe in big ways." Man in his 60's was severely beaten north of Montana Avenue This pricey home north of Montana was not related in any way to the subject of this story. Santa Monica Police say they are searching for two suspects in the severe beating of a resident during a possible home invasion robbery Monday North of Montana Avenue. The assault occurred in the 500 block of 17th Street, just after 3 p.m. according to Lt. Saul Rodriguez, SMPD's Public Information Officer. The victim was "assaulted pretty severely" and treated by paramedics at the scene, Rodriguez said. He was taken to a local hospital where he remains in serious condition. Police are investigating the incident as a possible home invasion robbery, Rodriguez said, adding that the victim is a man in his 60's. The Police Department issued a community alert on Tuesday that said it "will immediately be deploying additional officers in the community to address your safety concerns." "We encourage all residents to remain vigilant and call the police if you see something or someone suspicious," the alert said. "Due to the sensitivity of the investigation and condition of the victim, no additional information may be released at this time," Rodriguez said. Kuehl doesn't want her hard earned power diminished by elected officials in Sacramento They have been called "the most powerful elected officials in the United States." Due to a County Charter left over from 1870, and the lack of political will among voters to expand the Board of Supervisors, just five County Supervisors control an LA County Budget exceeding $26.35 Billion, and represent, as best as possible, 10,000,000 residents of Los Angeles County. Democratic Sen. Tony Mendoza, who lives in the small Los Angeles County city of Artesia, proposed the plan as an amendment to the California Constitution. The amendment would require all counties with a population above 5 million in the 2020 Census to have supervisors representing no more than twice the population size of two congressional districts. In effect, this would increase the number of supervisors to 9 from five. "It's hard for me to believe that elected representatives in counties outside LA, would welcome the specter of Angelenos removing their right to local self-determination," Kuehl said."Nor do I imagine that voters in Northern California should have the right to vote on a constitutional amendment to change the governance structure of a county hundreds of miles to the south." In other words, Kuehl doesn't want her hard earned power diminished by mere elected officials in Sacramento. One of those is State Sen. Ben Allen, who is sponsoring the legislation. He said: The Los Angeles County Grand Jury did a comprehensive study of the county's governance structure and concluded the public would be well served by an expanded board of supervisors and an elected chief executive. I support the reforms proposed by the Grand Jury which are now reflected in SCA 12. There have been at least two attempts in the last 20 years to increase the Board of Supervisors' size by amending the County Charter. Voters turned down both measures, responding to a campaign that this would slightly increase the cost of the Board of Supervisors. A constitutional amendment such as this one, would require approval by two-thirds of the State legislature, and by a majority of California voters. Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, is the most populous county in the United States. Its population is larger than that of 42 individual U.S. states. It has 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas and at 4,083 square miles, it is larger than the combined areas of the U.S. states of Delaware and Rhode Island. The county is home to more than one-quarter of California residents and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the U.S. Its county seat, the City of Los Angeles, is also its most populous city at about four million. The Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration where the Board of Supervisors meets. The Government of Los Angeles County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Los Angeles. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments, such as the Government of Los Angeles County. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, health care, and social services. In addition the County serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas. It is composed of the elected five-member Board of Supervisors, several other elected offices including the Sheriff, District Attorney, and Assessor, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the Chief Executive Officer. Some chartered cities such as Los Angeles and Inglewood provide municipal services such as police, libraries, parks and recreation, and zoning. Other cities arrange to have the County provide some or all of these services under contract. In addition, several entities of the government of California have jurisdiction coterminous with Los Angeles County, such as the Los Angeles Superior Court. Exposure to high levels of air pollution, especially over the long term, can affect human respiratory and inflammatory systems, and can also lead to heart disease and cancer. Emissions from a power plant chimney rise over Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on January 13, 2017. Photo: Reuters By Reuters: Air pollution, indoor and outdoor, killed an estimated 6.5 million people in 2012, the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows. Exposure to high levels of air pollution, especially over the long term, can affect human respiratory and inflammatory systems, and can also lead to heart disease and cancer. Scientists also say air pollution, caused largely by burning fossil fuels, not only contributes to climate change but is also exacerbated by it, as air stagnation linked to warmer, drier conditions allows soot, dust and ozone to build up in the lower atmosphere. A recent research by the US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) showed that air pollution is the fifth-largest threat to human health worldwide, causing more than 4.2 million early deaths in 2015. Photo: Reuters HERE ARE SOME KEY FACTS ABOUT AIR POLLUTION: Air pollution is responsible for about one in every nine deaths annually, with almost two-thirds of those deaths in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, the WHO says. By 2040, Asia will account for almost 90 per cent of the rise in premature deaths attributable to air pollution. Ninety-four per cent of deaths are due to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular problems, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Air pollution also increases the risk of acute respiratory infections. Major sources of outdoor air pollution include fuel use by vehicles, dust from construction and landfill sites, coal-fired power plants, agriculture and waste-burning. Air pollution comes in many forms. Two particle sizes are widely monitored: PM10, coarse particles of 10 microns or less in diameter; and PM2.5, fine particles of 2.5 microns or less in diameter. PM2.5, about one-thirtieth of the width of a human hair, can penetrate deep into the lungs and the cardiovascular system, posing the greatest risks to human health. Only one in 10 people lives in a city that complies with the WHO air quality guidelines, which is a PM2.5 annual average of 10 microgrammes per cubic metre. The air pollution in Delhi is 12.2 times the WHO safe level, while in Beijing it is 8.5 times higher. As millions more people move to cities in the coming decades, the number of people exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution will increase. In 2013, exposure to outdoor and household air pollution cost global labour income losses of USD225 billion. Lost income for South Asian countries alone topped USD66 billion. It is projected that global healthcare costs related to air pollution will increase to USD176 billion in 2060, from USD21 billion in 2015. The annual number of lost working days due to sickness linked to air pollution is projected to reach 3.7 billion for the world in 2060, up from 1.2 billion now. The cost of air pollution, as a result of reduced labour productivity, additional health expenditure and crop yield losses, could lead to annual economic costs of 1 per cent of global GDP by 2060. advertisement Sources: WHO, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Clean Air Asia, International Energy Agency, US Environmental Protection Agency, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Natural Resources Defense Council, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development --- ENDS --- More than 160 area youth will be featured in the production, across two casts. By Press Trust of India: (Eds: With additional inputs) From Suman Sahoo Kolkata, May 18 (PTI) President Pranab Mukherjee today termed as "unacceptable" attacks on doctors and vandalisation of hospitals by angry relatives of patients, saying they too have some responsibilities to ensure a better healthcare system. He, however, rued that the concept of "service" was now taking the backseat in the medical profession. advertisement He urged medical professionals to bring in that "human touch", saying a smiling face can cure a thousand lives. Mukherjee was speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS), the first full-fledged healthcare institute dedicated to liver diseases in eastern India, set up by the West Bengal Liver Foundation in Sonarpur in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. "Patients too have some responsibilities. Relatives of patients too have some responsibilities. Vandalising hospitals, beating up doctors complaining of negligence when a patient dies are not acceptable and should not be done," he said. Mukherjees comments assume significance as in March, health services in OPDs and general wards at government and municipal-run hospitals across Maharashtra were hit due to a strike by resident doctors across the state. The doctors went on a five-day protest after a series of assaults in various parts of the state on some members of the fraternity. Mukherjee also lauded the efforts of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was present at the event, to rein in private hospitals in Kolkata after complaints of exorbitant charges. In February, Banerjee met representatives of top private hospitals and nursing homes in the state and told them that they should not think of only making profit and "ignore" poor patients. A month later, the West Bengal government passed a bill aimed at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and taking steps to stop medical negligence. The state-of-the-art IILDS, spread over a four-acre plot, has a 100-bed inpatient section. It has a six-bed intensive therapy unit (ITU) and two theatres equipped to carry out all gastrointestinal and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeries inclusive of liver transplantation, besides an outpatient section. The outdoor section of the institute has been functioning since February 2016, drawing an average of 50-60 patients daily, said Partha S Mukherjee, project director and chief functionary of the West Bengal Liver Foundation, a not-for- profit organisation. This is the first institute in eastern India dedicated to liver and digestive sciences, he said, adding that the other two such facilities are in Delhi and Hyderabad. The institute will be a boon for people suffering from liver diseases, which claim an estimated 2,00,000 lives every year in India. advertisement The hospital aims at providing the best care to the people at a cost 30-40 per cent less than what is being charged by other hospitals now, Mukherjee said. Earlier, the president was received at the airport by state minister Purnendu Basu, the chief secretary and the DGP. Banerjee, who had been in Delhi, accompanied Mukherjee to Kolkata. The president said there was a lack of a hospital dedicated to liver diseases in eastern and northeastern India. This hospital will fill the void, he said. It will help reduce migration of patients to southern an western India. Despite advancement in medical sciences, no one can guarantee saving a patients life, he said. He also praised the works done by the Mamata government in the fields of education and health. The West Bengal chief minister lauded the efforts of the Liver Foundation as service flagged the rising cost of medical treatment. She said the state has made significant progress in healthcare indicators in the recent past. advertisement Liver Foundation secretary Abhijit Chowdhury spoke on the efforts that went behind setting up the hospital. Mukherjee is on a two-day visit to West Bengal. He will also receive the first copy of a book, titled Metaphysics, Morals and Politics, from Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former principal of the erstwhile Presidency College, Kolkata. Tomorrow, the president will attend a medical award ceremony at the Science City Auditorium here and inaugurate the Integrated Renewable Energy Smart Microgrid Centre and the Centre for Water and Environmental Research at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology at Shibpur in Howrah, before leaving for Delhi. PTI SMN ZMN --- ENDS --- Warm up to winter with ski film, adaptive skiing, Mushing 101 and more news By Press Trust of India: by 2020 Bengaluru, May 18 (PTI) The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) today announced inauguration of two projects that will help it to meet 12 per cent of its energy needs through solar power. The BIAL also aims to produce half of its energy needs through solar power by 2020. According to BIAL, the first project of 440kW has been installed in the car park area and the second project of 2.5MW solar panels at the airside. advertisement Airside includes all areas accessible to aircraft, including runways, taxiways and apron. "Both projects - jointly - will reduce carbon emission by 3125 tonnes per annum (3075 tonnes of CO2 emission per annum at the airside and 550 tonnes of CO2 emission per annum at the car park area). The project is being implemented by Bosch Limited," BIAL said a statement. "We aim to achieve 50 per cent of our energy needs through renewable power in the next 3 years. We will continue our effort to look at newer methods to operate our business in an ecologically sustainable environment," said Hari Marar, President, Airport Operations, BIAL. PTI JC SMJ --- ENDS --- In the capital city of Bihar, Patna, you can get liquor home delivered, but it might pinch your pocket. A Mail Today investigation has nailed the loopholes in Bihar's Prohibition law and how the trade continues right under the government's nose. By Chayyanika Nigam: Here's some sobering news for authorities in Patna- shopkeepers in dry state Bihar's capital claim they can deliver bottles of the most-sought-after liquor brands to the doorstep of customers willing to pay hefty amounts, a Mail Today sting operation has revealed. The Nitish Kumar-led government outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol last year, honouring a pledge the chief minister made ahead of Assembly elections. advertisement The promise was seen as a move to win support among women, particularly from the dalit and other backward castes, who were most affected by rising liquor consumption and its detrimental impact on families in the mainly conservative, rural state. The police department though termed the findings of the sting operation isolated incidents. The first thing this reporter noticed on reaching the city was the banners and huge hoardings erected by the administration that read "alcohol free area". Each floor of the hotel also had signs saying "alcohol is prohibited". HERE'S ALL THAT WENT DOWN In the evening, the reporter approached a store next to Gandhi Maidan on the pretext of buying a soft drink. After striking up a conversation with the shopkeeper, she asked him to arrange a beer. Without hesitation, he said, "Madam, beer toh nahi mil payegi... magar whisky mil jaayegi. (Madam, there is no beer but I can arrange whisky for you)." When asked how he would procure liquor in the dry state, he said with a hint of pride: "Arre madam, sab setting hain... bas aap brand batao (Madam, we have an understanding you just name the brand)." Apart from Bihar, alcohol prohibition in India is in force in Gujarat, Kerala, Nagaland, Manipur and Lakshadweep but it's often poorly enforced and observers say it has also allowed criminal groups to flourish in some areas. The next morning, the reporter walked up to a paan shop on Exhibition Road with a hidden camera and asked the owner if there was any way to get alcohol in the city. "Ganja mil jayega (you can get ganja)," he responded. When the reporter insisted that she needed alcohol- either a beer or whisky- the shopkeeper said, "Jugaad se toh aa hi raha hai daaru (Liquor is indeed coming here through contacts and arrangements)." He also promised to get the phone number of a bootlegger. The shopkeeper at an outlet in the Maurya Lok Shopping Complex agreed to arrange alcohol, but quoted a very steep price. The reporter went back to the Gandhi Maidan shop but found it shut. However, two men were sitting in the adjacent store. When asked about the availability of beer, initially one of them agreed to arrange it. But after conferring for a few minutes, they promised to call when liquor was on hand. While going back to the hotel, the reporter found the shopkeeper who had agreed to deliver whisky. He asked her to note down his phone number written on the store's signboard to order the liquor. He said that after a phone call and confirmation about the brand, he would ask the dealer to send the alcohol within an hour. advertisement The shopkeeper then shared the rate chart of 750 ml whisky bottle and offered Blenders Pride at Rs 1,800 (usually available for Rs 750 in Delhi), Royal Stag for Rs 1,400 ( Rs 500 in Delhi) and demanded Rs 4,000 for Black Dog (that costs about Rs 1,400 in the Capital). 'NEXUS WITH COPS' Once negotiations had concluded, he said "these days the rates are down, else a bottle of Blenders Pride costs Rs 2,500 in Patna." He then jotted down the address of the hotel where the reporter wanted the delivery. However, to honour the government's prohibition law, Mail Today didn't place an order despite several calls from the shopkeeper. When the reporter was leaving the outlet, the retailer advised her not to drink and walk down the road as the police could stop her. When asked how suppliers were getting liquor in the state, he blamed a nexus with the cops. Mail Today contacted Additional Director General of Police SK Singhal, spokesperson of the department, who said, "You can't generalise the operation if some of the shopkeepers are supplying liquor." advertisement Violating Bihar's prohibition law carries a penalty of 5 years to 10 years in jail. Also read: Bihar: Man in possession of liquor tied to tree, thrashed Also read: Nitish Kumar says he is mocked for imposing liquor ban in Bihar --- ENDS --- Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 61F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 61F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Artist's illustration of SpaceX's Dragon capsule headed toward the moon. The company aims to launch two paying passengers on a mission around the moon in late 2018. The head of Russia's most prominent spaceflight company questioned whether Elon Musk's SpaceX will be able to launch people around the moon next year and said Russia plans to revive tourism flights to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2020. "As for the state of affairs specifically at Elon Musk's company, it would be difficult to carry out such a mission in 2018, and even in 2020," Vladimir Solntsev, general director of RSC Energia, the primary contractor for Russia's human spaceflight program, said in a wide-ranging Q&A with the Russian news agency TASS. "Nobody has yet even seen the designs. Theres no launch vehicle, no spacecraft," Solntsev added. "The Crew Dragon spacecraft designed for missions to the ISS and Falcon 9 launch vehicle are a far cry from a spacecraft and a rocket that are needed for a mission towards the moon." [How SpaceX's Lofty 2018 Moon Flight Will Work] Musk has said the circumlunar flight will be launched in 2018 using a larger Falcon Heavy booster that is composed of three Falcon 9 first stages. The Falcon Heavy is set to make its maiden flight later this year. Artist's illustration of SpaceX's Dragon capsule headed toward the moon. The company aims to launch two paying passengers on a mission around the moon in late 2018. (Image credit: SpaceX/NASA/edited by @SteveSpaleta) SpaceX has been quietly developing plans for the lunar flight for several years, but the company has revealed few details of the plan publicly. RSC Energia has been working for years on launching a similar mission that would use a modified Soyuz spacecraft, but the schedule for the flight has been delayed many times. Solntsev said RSC Energia has the advantage of a human-rated booster and spacecraft. "I think that they [potential customers] still trust us more," he told TASS. "We have 141 manned launches under our belt. Competition is useful; it provides a good motivation to improve a project for the benefit of the customers." Solntsev also said he expects NASA to exercise options it has for three Soyuz seats for ISS flights in 2019, because of delays experienced by Boeing and SpaceX in fielding new vehicles under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. RSC Energia provided five Soyuz seats to Boeing to sell as part of the settlement of a lawsuit over the Sea Launch venture, in which the two companies are partners. NASA purchased two seats from Boeing for flights in 2017 and 2018, and it has options on the other three seats if commercial crew flights are delayed. "At the same time, we are now in talks with potential clients, and we believe that even in the unlikely case of NASA not taking up the option, we will be able to find those who wish to fly to the ISS in 2019," Solntsev said. Russia plans to continue to fly four Soyuz spacecraft per year, which are currently needed to maintain crew on the space station, after Boeing and SpaceX begin to fly crew to the space station, he added. The Soyuz flights will be split between government and commercial missions. Russia will use the flights to revive a program to fly tourists to the ISS. Between 2001 and 2009, seven wealthy individuals flew a total of eight times to the space station. The program was put on hold when space shuttle flights ended in 2011, leaving Soyuz as the only spacecraft capable of flying crews to the ISS. Solntsev said RSC Energia is working on a plan to squeeze more revenue out of these flights. "In 2018, we are planning to try flying without the flight engineer on board, and from 2019, we are planning to make it the standard operational practice," he said. "There will be one commander on board to provide spacecraft control, and two spaceflight participants." Russia plans to use Soyuz to fly cosmonauts to the ISS until 2024, which is the current date for decommissioning the station, Solntsev said. A larger crew vehicle named Federation (Federatsiya) that's capable of carrying four to six cosmonauts and flying lunar missions is set to enter service at about the same time. Solntsev also revealed that officials are considering developing an automated variant of the Soyuz that would be capable of returning cargo to Earth. Russia's Progress freighter lacks a return capability. You can read an English translation of Solntsev's entire TASS interview here: http://www.energia.ru/en/news/news-2017/news_05-02_1.html. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. From the Ground Up NASA Apollo 10 launched to the moon on May 18, 1969 for a mission NASA called a dress rehearsal for the moon landings. In this photo, the Apollo 10 space vehicle consisting of Spacecraft 106, Lunar Module 4 and Saturn 505 stands ready for launch on Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Expected Mission Path NASA NASA created this illustration depicting the mission profile of a lunar orbit flight. Final Suiting NASA Before the May 18, 1969 launch of the Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission, technicians complete some final tests and fittings for the spacesuit while astronaut John W. Young, command module pilot, waits. Following the firings, Young joins astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander, and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot, in the transfer van from Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building to Launch Complex 39, Pad B where the Apollo 10 spacecraft was ready for launch. Countdown Demo NASA On May 13, 1969, the Apollo 10 prime crew from front to back, Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot prepare for the ensuing lunar orbit mission by participating in a Countdown Demonstration Test at Kennedy Space Center. Awaiting Launch NASA While the Apollo 10 crew astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot sits in the Command Module during the prelaunch countdown on May 18, 1969, technicians in the Launch Complex 36 Pad B White Room wait to close the hatch as final checks are made. A Schedule to Keep NASA On January 13, 1969, technicians in the Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building position the Lunar Module 4 in preparation for mating with the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter. The Lunar Module 4 will fly in the May 1969 Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission atop the Spacecraft 106 and Saturn 505 vehicle. Hovering in Wait NASA Inside the Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building on January 13, 1969, technicians move the Lunar Module 4 into position for mating with the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter in some of the first preparations for the May 1969 launch of the Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. How to Exit a Spacecraft NASA In an August 1968 training, the three prime crewmembers of the Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission participate in a water egress simulation in a Building 260 tank at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Astronaut John W. Young waits in the life raft as Eugene A. Cernan exits the Apollo Command Module and Thomas P. Stafford waits inside the craft with a trainer. Important Positioning NASA On February 6, 1969, the Apollo Spacecraft 106 Command and Service Modules are being readied for mating with the Saturn 505 launch vehicle inside Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. Early Steps NASA On December 3, 1968, the Saturn 505 launch vehicle first stage is prepared for erection in the high bay area of Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for the May 1969 Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. C&S Modules NASA Inside the Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building, the Apollo Spacecraft 106 Command and Service Modules are placed on integrated works and number one. The craft will be mated to the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter 13 in preparations for the May 1969 Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was slammed by angry Sikh devotees at a gurudwara in the UK after the former spoke about how a future Conservative UK government would get India to abolish taxes on imports of Scotch whisky. By India Today Web Desk: UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was caught in a gaffe in Bristol, UK after talking about alcohol at a gurudwara there. Johnson's comments, which were with regards to the UK signing an agreement with India to abolish taxes on Indian imports of British whisky, invited a "livid" reaction from a female Sikh worshiper present at the gurudwara, Pete Simson, a BBC reporter, said on Twitter. advertisement According to The Guardian, Johnson was at the Shri Guru Nanak Prakash Singh Sabha gurudwara at St George's in Bristol to campaign for the Conservative party for the upcoming general elections in the United Kingdom. While at the gurudwara, Johnson, who was seen wearing an orange turban, spoke about how a future Conservative UK government would increase free trade and sign a deal to abolish India's 150 per cent duty on imports of British whisky, the BBC reported. Johnson, whose wife is half Sikh, started off by talking about how when Indians or Indian-origin citizens in the UK fly to India, they have to bring duty-free alcohol for their relatives from shops at airports. "I hope I'm not embarrassing anybody here by saying that when we go to India, we have to bring 'clinky' in our luggage," he reportedly said, adding, "We have to bring Johnnie Walker." "There is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scottish whisky. So we have to bring it in for our relatives duty free. Imagine what we could do with a trade deal with India, which there will be, because then the tariffs would go," he went on to say, according to a BBC recording of the incident. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has apologised after saying this, during a visit to a Sikh temple in Bristol today... pic.twitter.com/Ha8euLP3eo- BBC Radio Bristol (@bbcrb) May 17, 2017 This invited a strong reaction from a female devotee, identified by The Guardian as Balbir Kaur, who said, "The core of our Sikhism is that alcohol should not be something that our people should be having. It is one of the things we are against." "And you are standing in a Sikh gurudwara and talking about alcohol in front of our Guru Granth Sabib, which is not right," she further says in a raised voice. Her outburst prompted Johnson to reply saying, "I am very sorry if you think alcohol is a bad thing...I understand your point of view." According to The Guardian, other devotees gathered at the gurudwara reportedly told Johnson that he "would not have got out of the temple alive" had he made similar comments in India. Meanwhile, another unidentified female devotee was heard saying, "How dare you talk about alcohol in a Sikh temple?" advertisement A spokesperson for Johnson seemingly downplayed the incident. The Guardian quoted the spokesperson as saying, "Boris was simply making the point that a free trade deal with, for example, India could be huge for both sides, pointing out that in India, billions of litres of whisky are consumed every year but there is a 150% tariff on imports of Scotch whisky." "One lady expressed her views based on a personal situation, but the other 30 attendees warmly welcomed his remarks. He said he was sorry to hear of her personal story, that was all. There was no gaffe...The temple regulars loved him being there," Johnson's spokesperson added. The personal story the spokesperson talked about was in reference to Kaur telling Johnson about how she had relatives who suffered from alcoholism. ALSO READ | Smell of curry, not skin colour forced British landlord to ban Indian tenants ALSO WATCH | UK court fasttracks liquor baron Vijay Mallya's extradition --- ENDS --- advertisement This image by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows very fine-grained sediments, which fell down through the water of a lake that existed inside the Red Planet's Gale Crater billions of years ago Billions of years ago, rain on Mars was heavy enough to shape the planet's surface, carving channels into the red dirt and washing away parts of impact craters, new research suggests. Some of the Red Planet raindrops falling in the ancient past were likely even bigger than the ones we're used to here on Earth, according to the study. The study's authors Robert Craddock of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and Ralph Lorenz of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland modeled the rainfall of ancient Mars by taking into account how the planet's atmosphere has changed over the eons. [Photos: The Search for Water on Mars] Just after Mars formed about 4.5 billion years ago, it likely had a thick atmosphere with a pressure that was about four times that of Earth's current air, the researchers determined. They calculated that such high pressures would have resulted in tiny raindrops just 3 millimeters or so across. But pressure dropped on Mars as the years went on, changing the nature of the planet's rain, the researchers said. "By using basic physical principles to understand the relationship between the atmosphere, raindrop size and rainfall intensity, we have shown that Mars would have seen some pretty big raindrops that would have been able to make more drastic changes to the surface than the earlier fog-like droplets," Lorenz said in a statement. At an atmospheric pressure equivalent to that of Earth's, for example, Martian raindrop diameter likely maxed out at about 7.3 mm nearly 1 mm larger than current Earth drops, the researchers found. "However, rainfall from such a storm would be only about 70 percent as intense on Mars, primarily due to the lower Martian gravity and resulting lower terminal velocities of the raindrops," Craddock and Lorenz wrote in the new study, which was just published online in the journal Icarus. "There will always be some unknowns, of course, such as how high a storm cloud may have risen into the Martian atmosphere, but we made efforts to apply the range of published variables for rainfall on Earth," Craddock said in the statement. "It's unlikely that rainfall on early Mars would have been dramatically different than what's described in our paper. Our findings provide new, more definitive, constraints about the history of water and the climate on Mars." That history has been an eventful one. Data collected by NASA's Mars-orbiting MAVEN spacecraft suggests that, by 3.7 billion years ago, the solar wind had stripped away most of the Red Planet's air. Today, Mars' carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere is just 1 percent as thick as that of Earth. As a result of this loss, Mars shifted from a relatively warm and wet world with rivers, lakes and perhaps even oceans to the cold and dry planet we know today. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Time-lapse images recently captured an incredible sight a "tide" of clouds rolling into Arizona's Grand Canyon, in a rare phenomenon known as a total cloud inversion. Thick, white clouds roil and churn in footage that was shot and edited into a video by filmmaker Harun Mehmedinovic. Titled "Kaibab Elegy," the film was published on Vimeo (opens in new tab) on May 14 and is part of the Skyglow video series and book project, documenting the impact of light pollution on the visibility of the night sky, and contrasting bright urban landscapes with wild spaces untouched by the shine of electric illumination. [Image Gallery: See Photos of Wild Cloud Formations] Air temperature typically cools as it moves higher into Earth's atmosphere. But during an inversion event, a layer of warm air traps cool air and moisture closer to the ground, preventing it from dissipating as it normally would, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The phenomenon, also called a surface inversion, is most likely to form during winter months when the air near the ground cools quickly at night, while the air just above the surface stays warm. If winds are calm, the warm air can't mix with the cooler air below it, and the cooler air which is already denser than the warm air persists close to the ground; that cool air is particularly likely to get stuck if there are also high-pressure conditions in the area or topographical features such as mountains that can trap the cool air, the NWS explained. A total cloud inversion can form when there are sudden changes in air temperature close to Earth's surface, which can trap cool air under a "lid" of warmer air. (Image credit: Harun Mehmedinovic) When an inversion happens at the Grand Canyon, dense clouds can take shape, rolling through the basin like ocean waves. Seen in Mehmedinovic's time-lapse footage, the fast-moving clouds are so thick that they obscure all but the very lip of the vast canyon, as the sun sets and the sky fills with brilliant colors. Skyglowproject.com: 'Kaibab Elegy' (opens in new tab) from Harun Mehmedinovic (opens in new tab) on Vimeo (opens in new tab). The National Park Service (NPS) documented a similar episode at the Grand Canyon on Dec. 11, 2014, sharing it on YouTube; in its video, a minute of time-lapse footage captures about 15 minutes of clouds advancing up the canyon walls and then retreating. And that's a lot of space to fill the Grand Canyon extends for 277 miles (433 kilometers) in length, is 10 miles (16 km) wide and has a depth of about 1 mile (1.6 km), according to the NPS. But inversions don't just create dramatic cloud displays in populated areas, they can also dramatically affect air quality by trapping pollution. When a "lid" of warm air covers a region, particularly in a valley, airborne pollutants from industry, traffic and furnaces can collect in a miasma of smog, the NWS explained. Original article on Live Science. Spaceflight said it purchased an Electron launch from Rocket Lab to serve customers wanting to fly to medium-inclination orbits. WASHINGTON Spaceflight, a company that arranges launches for small satellites, announced May 17 it is purchasing a launch from Rocket Lab for payloads seeking access to a less common orbit. Seattle-based Spaceflight didn't disclose the terms of the deal for the Electron launch, although Rocket Lab has previously quoted a launch price of as low as $4.9 million for a dedicated launch. The companies have also yet to determine the launch date for the mission. Spaceflight said it purchased the Electron to serve payloads going to orbits not frequently served today. The company brokers launches of smallsats as secondary payloads on other launches, and in 2015 purchased a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9 mission. Most of those launches, including its upcoming Falcon 9 mission, go to sun-synchronous orbit. The company said it will use this Electron for payloads seeking to go to lower inclinations. "There are numerous rideshare launches each year to sun-synchronous orbit, but getting to 45 to 60 degrees is hard to find, and can cost the equivalent of buying an entire rocket," Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight's launch business, said in a statement about the deal. Such missions, he said, include remote sensing spacecraft that want more frequent access to mid-latitude regions, versus a sun-synchronous orbit that offers a single pass per day over a given area. "We are thrilled to be working with Rocket Lab to enable our customers' remote sensing missions that require high revisit time over North America, Europe and the Middle East," Blake said. The announcement comes as Rocket Lab continues to prepare for its first launch, planned during a 10-day window that opens at 5 p.m. Eastern May 21 from its New Zealand launch site. The company announced May 16 that it had completed a "wet dress rehearsal" for the launch, a practice countdown that includes fueling of the vehicle, in advance of the flight. The company, which is headquartered in the United States although the bulk of its operations are in New Zealand, has also received a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The license, dated May 15, covers the company's three planned test launches of the Electron from its New Zealand site, each carrying an "inert payload" to low Earth orbit. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet caught stunning views of auroras and a sunrise over Earth from the International Space Station, woven into a new time-lapse video. "The first bright rise is not the sun!" Pesquet wrote on Twitter yesterday (May 17) and indeed, amid the twirling auroras first the moon and then the planet Venus emerge over the horizon before bright sunlight fills the screen. The video, which was put together on Earth, plays at 25 times the actual speed, European Space Agency officials said in a video description. The vivid green aurora visible in the time-lapse comes from charged particles jettisoned from the sun drawn toward the north and south poles of Earth's magnetic field, hitting neutral particles in the upper atmosphere and letting off colorful light. The shine of airglow light emitted from Earth's atmosphere is also visible bordering the planet. Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut on the International Space Station, captured vivid views of auroras crossing Earth's surface and a sunrise from orbit. (Image credit: ESA/ Flickr Pesquet has been on the space station for 26 weeks along with NASA astronaut and space station commander Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky. Last month, they were joined by NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. Pesquetfrequently posts photographs of Earth from space as well as life on the station. All week, the crewmembers have been working on the Genes in Space studies, analyzing DNA samples from the orbiting lab to see how spaceflight affects telomere length, according to NASA's space station blog. On Tuesday, Pesquet and Novitskiy tried on a suit intended to alleviate eye and head pressure while in microgravity. Whitson and Fischer recently undertook the 200th spacewalk in service of the space station to replace an avionics box Pesquet had originally been scheduled for that spacewalk, but the part's delivery on Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft was delayed long enough that the spacewalk occurred after Fischer's arrival. Instead, he helped them prepare and maneuvered Fischer using the station's robotic arm, Canadarm-2, to carry him over to the worksite. Pesquet and Novitskiy are scheduled to head back for Earth on June 2, touching down on the steppes of Kazakhstan after spending six months in space. These last 15 days may be busy ones but should also offer Pesquet plenty of time to capture more images from his unique viewpoint. Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. By India Today Web Desk: After Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has also left for the French Riviera. The 43-year-old actor, who is a regular at Cannes Film Festival, is set to make her 15th appearance. She was recently spotted leaving for France along with daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. Clad in denims and a trench coat, Aishwarya looked stunning. While mom Aishwarya looked a little guarded, Aaradhya, on the other hand, did not mind goofing around. advertisement Aishwarya, who first went to the Cannes Film Festival with Devdas back in 2002, will be presenting the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film again at the upcoming 70th edition of the fest. She will be presenting the film on May 20 as part of the L'Oreal Paris Open Air Cinema. Recounting her first experience at the fest, Aishwarya said, "We attended the festival not just as artistes but as proud representatives of Indian cinema, and showcasing a film that meant so much to us. The kind of reception we got for the movie was truly overwhelming and I will cherish it all my life." Aishwarya will walk the red carpet as the brand ambassador of a cosmetic brand on May 19-20. (Photos: Yogen Shah) ALSO READ: Aishwarya is returning to Cannes with Devdas. Get ready for some MAJOR nostalgia! ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone's sultry, bold look for the Cannes red carpet is a total winner ALSO WATCH: My Ae Dil Hai Mushkil character Saba got incredible response from women, says Aishwarya --- ENDS --- Chelsea Manning was convicted of providing more than 7,00,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks. By Reuters: Chelsea Manning walked out of a US military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in US history. Manning, 29, was released from the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at about 2 am, the US Army said in a brief statement. "First steps of freedom!!" Manning wrote alongside a photograph of sneaker-clad feet that she published on social media. advertisement Manning was convicted of providing more than 7,00,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks, an international organization that publishes such information from anonymous sources, while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a target of criminal investigations in Sweden and the United States, had promised to accept extradition if Manning was freed. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said the arrest of Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, was a priority. Former US president Barack Obama, in his final days in office, commuted the final 28 years of Manning's 35-year sentence, effective four months later. That decision angered national security experts who say Manning put US lives at risk but it won praise from transgender advocates who have embraced her transition to a female gender identity. Once known as Private First Class Bradley Manning, she is likely to become a high-profile transgender advocate, said Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who has represented her. MANNING TRIED TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN PRISON Manning announced her gender transition while the US Army was keeping her in the men's prison and forcing her to wear a male haircut. She twice tried to commit suicide and faced long stretches of solitary confinement as well as denial of healthcare, Strangio said. Last year, the US Defense Department lifted a long-standing ban against transgender men and women serving openly in the military. The Pentagon estimated it affected 7,000 active-duty and reserve personnel. Although transgender people still complain of widespread discrimination in education, employment and medical care, awareness of the issue has exploded since Manning went to jail. Transgender celebrities such as Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox have become part of the mainstream. 'OUT OF LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY' In a statement to ABC News, Manning said she appreciated the support she had received from people all over the world. "The past will always affect me, and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point - not my final destination," the statement said. advertisement Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq "out of a love for my country." In nearby Kansas City, Missouri, some 15 members a local group called PeaceWorks demonstrated in support of Manning on Wednesday, crediting her with exposing war crimes. "This is the kind of information we the people should have in order to make decisions about our leaders and who should be in office," said Henry Stoever, 68, a retired lawyer and leader of the group. Among the material Manning leaked was a 2007 gunsight video of a US Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staffers. WikiLeaks began revealing secrets from anonymous sources in 2007 and then burst onto the wider public consciousness with a series of releases throughout 2010. More recently, WikiLeaks published Democratic National Committee emails in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 US presidential election. US intelligence agencies have concluded the email accounts were hacked by Russian intelligence as part of a campaign by Moscow to influence the election. Also read: Obama shortens sentence of Manning, who gave secrets to WikiLeaks advertisement Also read: Julian Assange's lawyer: WikiLeaks founder subjected to 'mental torture' Also read: Lapse of reason: Dog sentenced to death in Pakistan for biting a child --- ENDS --- Bir lehlu (Liberated Territories), 18 May 2017 (SPS) -The government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (the SADR) and the Frente POLISARIO, announced today the detention of a second vessel carrying a cargo of phosphate rock illegally mined and sold from occupied Western Sahara. The motor vessel Ultra Innovation was detained last night in Panama under court order while transiting the Panama Canal en route to Canada. The motor vessel is carrying phosphate rock, estimated at 55,000 tonnes and valued around $6 million USD is considered to be bound for Agrium Inc. through the Port of Vancouver, consistent with a pattern of shipments for the company and a chartering of vessels managed by the Danish firm Ultrabulk A/S. The m.v. Ultra Innovation,part of a fleet of bulk carriers constructed with financial assistance from Canadas Canpotex potash export consortium, of which Agrium is a part owner, had been tracked prior to its arrival late last month at El Aauin on the coast of Western Sahara. Ultrabulk ships have featured in about one-third of shipments to Agrium since the company announced in September 2011 that it would begin imports from Morocco. Mr Emhamed Khadad, member of the Frente Polisario, leadership and the senior SADR official responsible for natural resources, remarked that: We are optimistic this second recourse to applying the law to bring an end to the blatant, theft of a resource belonging to a people under occupation will demonstrate our resolve. The May 1 interdiction of a cargo passing through South Africa and todays step in Panama, are part of ongoing measures to seek justice against in the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara and enhance the rule of law in the advancement of self-determination for the Saharawi people. From the outset of shipments for the company into the Port of Vancouver in the second half of 2013, the SADR government has attempted to engage Agrium, routinely protesting individual shipments and in 2016 rejecting an inadequate human rights evaluation done on request of the company as failing to explain the essentials facts of occupation and serious human rights abuses in that part of Western Sahara held by Morocco. A basic starting point to thinking about Western Sahara, remarked Khadad, is the conclusion of the International Court of Justice in 1975 that Morocco does not have any territorial right or claim to Western Sahara. Then add to this the pronouncement of the UN General Assembly that the territory is occupied. Theres nothing complex about territorial annexation and a selling of what is stolen property in the face of our repeated constant protests out the front door of our house. After years of calling for an end to this trade and seeking creation of United Nations oversight of our resources until its commitment to provide a referendum of self-determination of the Saharawi people is fulfilled, it was time to resort to the rule of law in the international order. The detention of the two vessels, that in South Africa on May 1 and was bound for the New Zealand importer Ballance Agri-Nutrients Limited (54,000 tonnes; $7 million NZD), follows a case brought for the Saharawi people in the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case, with an appeal issued by the full court, concluded that Morocco had no territorial rights or claim in Western Sahara, and that a European Union free trade agreement could not extend to operate in the territory. The court particularly noted that the consent of the Saharawi people was needed for the trade or otherwise agreements concerning such things as natural resources. Khadad explained that: The Saharawi people wanted their government to act. We could no longer tolerate the myth that the mining and export of phosphate rock was somehow a benefit to that part of our people under occupation inside Western Sahara. And our people in the refugee camps havent seen anything from the trade. Consider this: A high quality phosphate rock for agricultural fertilizer is sold at a profit and benefits the nutrition of children in countries such as Canada and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the rightful owners of the resource, including Saharawi children, face poor food security in refugee camps. The injustice of this situation could not be more apparent. It is expected following such legal steps that Saharawi government authorities would take legal action against all the conspirators in the illegal trade of resources of Western Sahara and would pursue individual ship owners for future cargos, including later civil claims against them in specific countries where port calls are made. he detention of the cargo aboard the Ultra Innovation comes one day before the South Africa High Court is scheduled to consider its May 1 direction for interdiction of the New Zealand bound cargo.SPS 125/080 Chelsea Manning was released from US military prison on Wednesday after serving a sentence of seven years for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. By Reuters: Chelsea Manning, the transgender US Army soldier responsible for a massive leak of classified material to WikiLeaks, shared a photo of herself for the first time since she was released from prison. The portrait, which Manning shared on her Twitter and Instagram accounts @xychelsea87, shows the 29-year old in a short-cropped hair wearing red lipstick and a dark deep-V-neck sweater. She included the caption: "Okay, so here I am everyone!! #HelloWorld" advertisement Manning was released from a US military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in US history. Manning was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for furnishing more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks, an international organization that publishes such information from anonymous sources, while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Many on social media congratulated Manning's newfound freedom, with her post receiving 33,000 likes and 7,600 retweets on Thursday. Former US president Barack Obama, in his final days in office, commuted the final 28 years of Manning's 35-year sentence, effective four months later. That decision angered national security experts who say Manning put US lives at risk but it won praise from transgender advocates who have embraced her transition to a female gender identity. WHY MANNING DID WHAT SHE DID Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq "out of a love for my country." In nearby Kansas City, Missouri, some 15 members a local group called PeaceWorks demonstrated in support of Manning on Wednesday, crediting her with exposing war crimes. "This is the kind of information we the people should have in order to make decisions about our leaders and who should be in office," said Henry Stoever, 68, a retired lawyer and leader of the group. Among the material Manning leaked was a 2007 gunsight video of a US Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Iraq, killing a dozen people, including two Reuters news staffers. --- ENDS --- If the recent ups and downs of the stock market have you tossing and turning at night, it's not because you need to get out of the market it's because you need to get a real financial plan. You can pinch pennies or throw money into a retirement account or make any other financial moves you want, but unless those moves are part of a holistic financial plan, you are always going to be worried and anxious. Without a plan, you don't know if you're on track, you don't know what your goals are and you don't know when you'll get there. Setting financial goals that look at your entire life, making a plan to achieve them and creating options to handle the bumps in the road means you can completely ignore the dips and dives of the Dow along with the hysteria of financial pundits and get a good night's sleep. A good financial plan does not have to be complicated. It is important to understand that no plan is perfect and there will be ups and downs along the way, but having a plan means you have a starting point from where you can adjust and recover when things don't go your way. Start with your risks. Having great investments doesn't mean much if you have to drain it all in an emergency, such as losing a job or suffering a serious injury. Start with building an adequate emergency fund and buying disability, life and renter's or homeowner's insurance. Experts recommend your emergency fund be equal to at least three months' worth of living expenses, but six to eight months is best. That will take a while, so start with a goal of $2,000. Set up a separate account and start with two percent of your paycheck. You will barely notice the difference, and you can increase that in small increments over time. For disability insurance, see if that is offered through your workplace. Otherwise, get your own and remember, most workers run a greater risk of becoming disabled for a length of time than of dying, so don't make life insurance your first priority. For your financial goals, you can also start small, by putting two percent into any workplace retirement savings plan, such as a 401(k) account. Try to raise your savings to the maximum amount that is matched by your employer, which will give you an automatic gain of up to fifty percent on your money. If your employer does not offer a match, put two percent of your take-home pay into a Roth IRA, where the money grows tax-free. Another benefit is that you can withdraw contributions to a Roth account without penalty if you hit a financial emergency. As for where to put your money, savers younger than forty should stick purely to a diversified portfolio of low-cost mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, called ETFs, for short. Set a goal to save at least ten percent of what you make into your retirement funds if you are young. If you're starting after forty, you'll have to up that goal to twenty percent. You can start investing in a broad market index fund, such as one that matches the S&P 500, then diversify from there. As you hit different phases in your life, such as getting married, buying a house, having children or hitting a milestone birthday, it pays to meet with a financial planner or investment advisor to create a more specific strategy. In the meantime, you can handle the basics yourself. If you cover these first steps, you will be well on your way to a good financial future no matter what the stock market does tomorrow. Let the free MoneyTips Retirement Planner help you calculate when you can retire without jeopardizing your lifestyle. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Stamford's Half Full Brewery is the kind of place where the founder lists his title as "Chief Hoptimist" and its beers carry names like Sensible Decision, Liquid Hoptimism and Celebrate Everything. The whimsy is very much a part of its culture. The germ of the Half Full idea arrived in 2008, when founder and Chief Hoptimist Conor Horrigan found himself, at the age of 25, at a career crossroads. Having graduated from Notre Dame with a finance degree, the Litchfield native had with several of his college pals found himself on Wall Street, working as a risk arbitrage sales trader at Bear Stearns. Something was missing, however. "I thought that if I was going to be working this hard, it should be at something I was passionate about," Horrigan said at the brewery at 43 Homestead Ave. "I'd meet my friends at a bar after work, where we'd drink and talk about it. None of us liked our jobs, and eventually I got around to the idea of starting a brewery." Exiting Wall Street in what he calls "my quarter-life crisis," Horrigan and his soon-to-be-wife decided to travel to clear his thoughts, ending up on a train from Prague to Vienna (working on Wall Street does have some benefits, he noted). "She was reading a Harry Potter book, so I had a good four hours of silence," he said. Having tossed around the brewery idea during those "beer and bull sessions," Horrigan began sketching ideas for a craft beer. Rejecting his original idea a brew called Spite Light he decided to go in a more positive direction, ending up with Bright, which would eventually become Half Full's initial offering. The Half Full idea came from "always looking at the glass as half-full which is the way I wanted to live," he said. The problem now, he said, was that "I was a finance guy who knew nothing about the beer business. I didn't even have a beer until I was in college." Landing an internship at New England Brewing Co. in Woodbridge, Horrigan began experimenting with home brewing as he pursued an MBA degree at UConn. Upon graduating in 2011 and with a business plan in hand, he began raising funds to make Half Full a reality. Having procured the equipment and personnel, Horrigan set about converting an old factory into the Half Full Brewery and on Aug. 7, 2012, poured his first Bright beer. Soon after, he hired McLain Cheney, who'd previously been brewer at Black Dirt Distillery in Warwick in New York's Orange County and at the Aspen Brewing Co. in Colorado as head brewer, and in 2016 added Tom Price, quality assurance and control manager of Brooklyn Brewery, as director of brewery operations. "Together we set about creating products that reflect our 'half-full' philosophy," Horrigan said. "We come up with recipes that we feel are reflective of what we're about and try them out at our tasting room. If there's enough positive feedback, we'll try manufacturing and selling it." Not everything makes it to market, however. He described a potato chip beer as "something that we thought wouldn't appeal to anyone beyond hardcore beer enthusiasts." The spud suds experiment was never sold. In addition to its core brews like Bright, a blonde and pale ale hybrid, double IPA Liquid Hoptimism and IPA Pursuit, Half Full also produces a couple of seasonal beers each year, with recent offerings, including a peach wheat ale, Within Reach, and a Belgian yeast-accented IPA, Celebrate Everything. The company has also introduced The Community Sourced Ales Project, in which it collaborates with brewers and other craft-centered local businesses to produce limited market releases. The results to date have included Rise & Shine, a cold-brew coffee porter brewed in collaboration with Rise Coffee of Greenwich and New York City; Grace & Darkness Oyster Stout, brewed with Norwalk's Copps Island Oysters, and Bee Enlightened, a Kolsch brewed with honey from Red Bee Apiary in Weston. Including the three core beers, Half Full maintains 12 to 14 varieties per year; Horrigan said the company debuted three last year and expects to introduce four more by the end of 2017. In addition to the brewery proper, Half Full maintains a tasting room where patrons can sample on tap its otherwise canned products. Open Fridays from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., the tasting room accounts for "about 25 to 30 percent of our revenue," Horrigan said. The brewery produces in "the high 3000s, low 4000s" of barrels per year, said Horrigan, and that number is expected to increase as the Stamford operation continues a calculated expansion. Half Full recently signed a distribution agreement with McLaughlin & Moran Inc. to carry the brand in Rhode Island and has distribution agreements in Westchester County and southwestern Massachusetts. Kevin Zimmerman is a reporter for the Fairfield County Business Journal. For more of his work and that of the journal, please visit westfaironline.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HARTFORD One bill died in the Senate after a rare tie-breaking vote by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. The other was withdrawn from debate in the House amid stiff opposition from Republicans, but may live another day as the legislative adjournment date draws closer. While entirely different, legislation on bear hunting in the Senate and the National Popular Vote in the House both became subjects of parliamentary maneuvering Thursday in an age of near-parity in the General Assembly. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, called a halt to a vote that was about to defeat a bill to create a statewide hunting season for black bear. In an attempt to save the legislation, Sen. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, co-chairman of the Environment Committee, offered an amendment that would have limited the hunt to Litchfield County. Then Duff co-opted the bill, introducing an amendment eliminating the entire hunting aspect of the bill, replacing it with legislation that would ban the purchase and importation of hunting trophies from Africa, including lion, leopard, elephant and white and black rhinoceros. A similar bill, called Cecils Law in honor of an elderly lion shot in recent years by a Midwestern dentists, was approved by the Senate last year but expired without a vote in the House. After the vote deadlocked in a partisan 18-18 vote, Wyman broke the tie. Because the bill has criminal penalties attached to the importation ban, Duff then referred the bill to the law-writing Judiciary Committee, which will review the bill next week. In the House, the National Popular Vote legislation would align the state with a growing group of states that vow to pool their electoral votes Connecticut has seven and give them to future presidential candidates who win the most number of individual ballots among participating states. After 90 minutes of floor discussion, Democratic majority leaders withdrew the bill temporarily, allowing it to possibly return to debate prior to the end of the session on June 7. Before the House session, however, Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, said they were not sure whether there was enough support for the election legislation. It may come back when we get more members in the chamber, Aresimowicz said. The small Democratic majority, 79-72, has dwindled in recent days because of members who are ill or dealing with family matters. Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media STAMFORD Mayor David Martin joined 12 other municipal leaders, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who signed a letter asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to extend a program they say protects certain members of the Haitian community. The letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urges the extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, granted in 2010 after a powerful earthquake devastated the island nation, and Hurricane Matthew last year undid much of the progress made since. Bhujbal's lawyers have told Damania to either tender an unconditional apology within 48 hours and hand over Rs 50 crores as damages or face civil and criminal defamation cases. By Vidya : Following complaint by activist Anjali Damania over preferential treatment being given to NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal in Mumbai jail, the senior political leader has shot off a legal notice threatening defamation case of Rs 50 crore. The notice states about Bhujbal's glorious past and says that all the allegations made against him are false. Damania had written a complaint letter to jail authorities pointing out that Bhujbal and his nephew are being given VIP facilities. She alleged he is allowed to watch TV, Hindi films and even served with chicken delicacies. advertisement Damania had also alleged that Bhujbal's favourite liquor was also being sneaked into Arthur Road Jail and that his nephew was allowed to talk on phone for hours in spite of jammers being in place. According to Bhujbal's lawyer, the NCP leader was hurt and his reputation was effected due to such allegations which according to him were false. According to the notice, Bhujbal has been granted permission to have home-cooked food and it is all that he gets. Bhujbal is currently lodged in barrack number 12 inside Arthur Road jail and according to him there are CCTV cameras that can be examined to verify such facts. Bhujbal's lawyers have told Damania to either tender an unconditional apology within 48 hours and hand over Rs 50 crores as damages or face civil and criminal defamation cases. Damania on the other hand has not yet received the defamation notice. She said, "the prison authorities have just now constituted an enquiry. This entire notice is premature. He could have waited to at least see what comes in the enquiry." A DIG-level prison officer is investigating the allegations levelled by Damania and the report should be handed over soon. Bhujbal is currently lodged in the jail as he is in judicial custody following his arrest in a money laundering case which is being investigated by Enforcement Directorate. Also read: Anjali Damania writes to prison authorities against perks given to Chhagan Bhujbal custody --- ENDS --- T he Chinese tycoon who spent more than 1 billion on the Citys Cheesegrater tower is also in the running to splash 600 million more on a half-share of the nearby Walkie Talkie, the Standard understands. Market sources say Hong Kong-listed CC Land, a vehicle of the property magnate Cheung Chung Kiu, is among the early bidders for the 50% stake in the City tower put up for sale by Canary Wharf Group this year. But the tycoon faces opposition from a host of other Asian buyers as the pounds post-Brexit fall massively increases the appeal of the capitals property market to overseas buyers. The interest is huge, said one source. From China alone, almost 2.4 billion was pumped into London property in the first quarter of 2017 according to consultant CBRE. It is understood that the multi-millionaire Cheung known as the Li Ka-shing of Chongqing after the Chinese city where he was born has been in London personally to view the tower, which is formally known as 20 Fenchurch Street. But other potential buyers are understood to include Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, as well as Lee Kum Kee, the food conglomerate whose founder invented oyster sauce more than a century ago. Lee Kum Kee is keen to make a splash in the London market after being recently rebuffed in an unsolicited bid for the Gherkin, presently owned by Brazilian banking billionaire Joseph Safra. Major Korean pension funds are also considering the building, which generates almost 40 million a year in rental income. No UK buyers are understood to be in the mix. Canary Wharf only owns 15% of the building but is selling the rest of the 50% stake on behalf of other owners including sovereign wealth funds from China and Qatar as well as a Morgan Stanley fund. Land Securities which took the plunge to develop the building in the wake of the financial crash in 2010 is not planning to sell its own 50% stake, although chief executive Rob Noel said today that no asset is sacrosanct. CBRE and Eastdil the agents selling Canary Wharfs stake declined to comment. What do you do? I run Level39, which is a community of highly ambitious technology companies right at the heart of Canary Wharf. Weve got just over 1000 people working for 200 companies tackling the billion-dollar problems of the financial services industry and cyber-security in particular. Were not an accelerator, were here for the long term. We have companies who have been with us for years and were here to support them as they scale. We want to bring them closer to customers, but were also seeking to provide them with the best possible conditions to recruit, retain and develop staff, and make sure they have the infrastructure they need. How did you get here? I grew up on a farm, studied philosophy and literature and then became a Royal Marine Commando, a fantastic first job. Then I left the Marines and came to London to find out about the commercial world. I became a banker with JPMorgan and went off to New York, but it was the time the dotcom bubble was bursting. The day I joined the Commando training course in 1995 the first person I spoke to was a computer science prodigy called Matt Cooper whose father worked in the team with Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the worldwide web). Five years after that we met and came up with the idea for our first business, which was in fact the UKs first crowdfunding business Bmycharity.com. We raised over 50 million for charities and sold it in 2010. After working for another start-up, I was approached by the then UKTI government agency to get involved with their venture-capital unit, and one of the organisations I regularly encouraged international investors to visit was Level39. After I left UKTI, they tapped me on the shoulder. What was your biggest setback? Finding I had a tumour the size of my fist taking up 25% of the capacity of my skull and being told that if they didnt take it out immediately Id be dead within days. I had some mild but persistent headaches for three weeks. I dismissed them at first, as a temporary thing, but a brilliant German GP spotted that I was a little unsteady on my feet and decided that I needed a brain scan. It was a meningioma, and they said the next symptom is going to be coma. The recovery took up most of 2011. What did the marines teach you? It is such a formative experience in any persons life. Its a recurrent pattern in successful entrepreneurs. Look at the state of Israel, and the role of military veterans in the success of Silicon Valley. The military trains people to deal with many of the challenges that they face. The four Commando qualities etched on the soul of everyone who puts on the green beret are courage, unselfishness, determination and cheerfulness in adversity and I cannot think of a better manifesto for entrepreneurs. Im hugely proud of my service in the marines and I was in Northern Ireland at a very interesting time. I played a modest part in the peace process. How do you handle your work/life balance? Im lucky enough to have work I love, and a family who support my commitment to it. I swim a mile every day to keep healthy and spend my spare time creating reckless scientific experiments with my children. What would you tell your younger self? With a military background you depend upon luck. You need humility and ambition. Theres a lesson which one of our instructors at the Commando Training Centre taught us just after we had passed one of the most physically demanding tests. He stood before us and said: 12 pence, gentlemen, 12 pence. Thats the cost of the bullet that will kill any one of us. Ive always remembered that. Theres no room for complacency and we mustnt take our good fortune for granted. The things you can take control of are those commando qualities. Unselfishness, determination, courage and cheerfulness in adversity. T he clock is ticking down to the Evening Standard Business Awards, celebrating all thats brilliant in the capitals world of enterprise. Our specialist writers have whittled down the list of nominees to a shortlist, which will be judged by our panel of top business leaders. Here are the great contenders which have made it through to the final round for the categories of tech start-up and SME of the year. Each display the grit, and creativity that makes fast-growing companies so exciting. SME of the year Lucky Generals: Having been feted as the coolest ad agency in town for almost all of its nearly three-years, Lucky Generals three founders, Helen Calcraft, Andy Nairn and Danny Brooke-Taylor, were rewarded in February when New York giant TBWA took a 60% stake. Lucky Generals had amassed accounts from corporate titans including Twitter, Paddy Power and Amazon, as well as left-field campaigns for Hostelworld and Pot Noodle. Its ads are funny, irreverent and effective, and have underlined the UKs reputation for making brilliant advertising. How it fares under its arms-length arrangement with the new owners represents an intriguing next chapter. Hotel Chocolat: Who would have thought there was a market for luxury chocolates through the post? Hotel Chocolat, has consistently rewritten the rules of retailing, and of financing, in building its 24-year-old upmarket confectionery business. With its own cocoa plantation, 92 shops, 11 cafes and a luxury hotel in St Lucia as well as a dedicated following of investors Hotel Chocolat has hit a sweet spot with rapidly growing digital sales and recurring revenues from founding a club for discerning chocoholics. Profits were up by more than a quarter at the half year at almost 12 million and this unusual business is fast becoming a byword for high-quality products, with huge export potential. Investors originally offered chocolate bonds were treated to a feast with its 280p-a-share float last year. Shares now stand at 360p. Hire Space: From the Tate Modern to the Jewel House at the Tower of London, you can hire many of the capitals landmarks for private use from Hire Space, the online venture started with 350,000 six years ago. Its free for a venue to list and Hire Space takes a 10% commission on bookings through their site. Theyve quickly become the first port of call for corporates looking for interesting spaces for an event or away-day, but still appeal to private individuals looking for something different. The company has also launched in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool and now has more than 5000 venues and has processed more than 65,000 enquiries. Started as a way for underfunded schools to generate more income, Hire Space has ambitions to become the foremost venue marketplace in major cities worldwide. Fashion Enter: Started by Jenny Holloway, a former Marks & Spencer buyer, Fashion Enter is a not-for-profit social enterprise that makes fast-fashion for the major chains from its factory near Finsbury Park. As well as promoting made in Britain, it also helps to showcase fashion talent. Its on-site academy is now the biggest provider of technical fashion apprenticeships in the country, with 675 people having taken its courses. With seed funding from Asos, the company produces between 8000 and 10,000 garments a week for the likes of the online retailer, M&S, Tesco, Jigsaw and New Look. Tech start-up of the year Darktrace: With a name which might come straight out of a John le Carre novel, Darktrace is one of the UKs fastest-growing businesses. The importance of its work in helping British business fight cyber-crime was underscored this week with the huge WannaCry hack of the NHS. Darktrace was founded when tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch brought together Cambridge mathematicians and spies at GCHQ, the UKs intelligence agency. The Cambridge-based tech company, where Nicole Eagan is chief executive, uses artificial intelligence to identify abnormalities occurring in a companys IT infrastructure that might be an attack. It scored a coup last July when US private equity giant KKR invested 50 million, used to continue Darktraces rapid expansion overseas. The company is tight-lipped about revenues, but Lynch has hinted that it is the fastest-growing company hes ever worked with. The roll-call of blue chip clients more than a 1000, including the likes of BT and Network Rail shows how important the business is in protecting UK Plc from a threat that keeps growing. Citymapper: This travel app is so ubiquitous now that some are using its name as a verb. A star across Europe, where commuters rely on it daily to get across town on different modes of transport, Citymapper is now in 40 cities around the world. Founder Azmat Yusuf says it will begin to make money this year, after its own five-year journey. Last week it even launched its own free bus service on a route in the capital and says the insights it has gained from its app show it just where other smart bus services could be of value. Travel app Citymapper is on the shortlist for tech start-up of the year POD Point: POD Point is providing the infrastructure for electric vehicles that will revolutionise the way we drive. The company has installed more than 30,000 reliable public charging points for electric cars across the country and, in Norway, they can be turned on by an app, without the need for membership. It is also the UKs leading supplier of home-charging points and works with workplaces and commercial landlords. Founded in 2009, POD Point is also one of the big success stories of crowdfunding website Seedrs. Having just completed a 9 million funding round that brought in Barclays as an investor, its next stop on the journey is likely to be a launch in another Nordic country. Monzo: Nicknamed the budgeting secret of millennials, Monzo is a mobile-only bank that was started in 2015 when it crowdfunded 1 million in 96 seconds a record fundraising. It has now raised 35 million and has 200,000 users clutching its eye-catching orange cards and a waiting list to join. It offers a prepaid MasterCard debit card, which users can top up from their current account. The firm has just got its full banking license and existing customers will be switched to the full current account by the end of the year. Founded by Tom Blomfield the entrepreneur behind fintech startup GoCardless and chaired by Baroness Denise Kingsmill, a City grandee and former deputy chairman of the Competition Commission, Monzo is the banking app which is making the biggest buzz. The Evening Standard Business Awards, in association with HSBC and supported by Ballymore, will be held at Banqueting House, Whitehall, on June 29. For more information visit: standard.co.uk/businessawards A new study led by the University of Surrey says the harmful impact of urban air pollution could be tackled by strategically placing low hedgerows along roads in built-up areas. The study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, claims that hedges reduce the impact of pollution in cities Yes, thats right, the humble hedge is now centre-stage in the battle to save us all from respiratory diseases and an untimely death. Whats more, theyre fantastic for birds, bees, and hedgehogs and make humans happy, too. Ive been planting hedges ever since I arrived in London. My local patch is lush with May-mess right now thats Gerard Manley Hopkinss word for a profusion of hedge blossom in spring. The spinney for sparrows that I planted on an abandoned patch by the river path has survived the drought and the distinctive, curly, pink-edged leaves of field maple, red-hued dogwood and prickly blackthorn are beaded by long-awaited raindrops today. I planted them to help wildlife that needs berries, and Ive been rewarded by broods of wren, dunnock and great tit as well as bees, butterflies and moths, which I hope will lure passing bats to join the fun. In contemplating the inter-dependency of all life forms, Charles Darwin noted: It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth... 150 years on, tangled greenery still provides answers about our dependency on nature. Everyones at it. Surrey Wildlife Trust has a new citizen science project recruiting members of the public to become Hedgerow Heroes. Durham Wildlife Trust has just planted a hedgerow alongside the A1. Closer to home, London Wildlife Trust is aiming to plant 1km of hedge along the roadsides at Walthamstow Wetlands, having recently planted 800 metres around the entire boundary of Woodberry Wetlands. The trusts David Mooney says: There are multiple benefits for both people and wildlife as these improvements provide fantastic wildlife habitat, reduce air pollution, improve pedestrian safety and are so much more aesthetically pleasing in an urban setting. London Pollution - In pictures 1 /20 London Pollution - In pictures PA Sunrise: Pollution lingered over London on Tuesday morning Jeremy Selwyn A cyclist wearing a face mask rides between taxis taking part in a protest to highlight congestion and air pollution Getty Images A smog filled traffic rush hour in the East End of London Jeremy Selwyn Pollution detector App 'Blue Air' near the Houses of Parliament Blue air Thick smog hangs over London's Docklands PA Traffic pollution in North London Jeremy Selwyn Air pollution surrounds The Shard in London Jeremy Selwyn Getty Images Sunrise over a misty polluted London from Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn St. Paul's Cathedral is seen among the skyline through the smog AFP via Getty Images A thick layer of smog was visible above London William Smith/@williamsmithorg A cold layer of air can be seen trapping pollution close to the ground and across the London skyline Pete Buckney This image taken near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich shows a thick layer of fog hanging over London Anna Rolls The City of London covered in smog seen from Hampstead Heath Getty Images A greener approach to solving Londons challenges is much needed. This is not just tree-hugging for its own sake. There is now a mountain of scientific evidence to show how much healthier and happier we are when we live close to nature. Well all benefit. And whats not to like when hedgerow blossoms provide elderflowers for our spritzers and sloes for our gin? Emma Robertshaw works for The Wildlife Trusts A new poll has seen Five Guys crowned Americas favourite burger, beating In-N-Out for the first time. The Virginia-born chain topped the rankings in the influential Harris Poll, which asks people to rate burger restaurants based on familiarity, quality and how likely they are to consider purchasing their items. Previous winner In-N-Out was pushed to two, which proved controversial on social media, while Shake Shack occupied the third slot. The results mean that the only burger in the polls top three which remains elusive to Londoners is In-N-Out. London's best burgers 1 /5 London's best burgers 30burgermain2070.jpg Coming right up: one of Shake Shacks smokeshack burgers AN23254248atmosphere_tray-b.jpg Tray bake: more Shake Shack burgers AN23861731BUN.jpg Hot hirata: an Asian steamed bun of the sort Flesh and Buns and Rock Lobsta will offer AN23247970Roasted salmon bu.jpg Fillet o' fish: The Happenstance's roasted teriyaki salmon bun The city is now home to a whopping fifteen branches of Five Guys, with a new Piccadilly site on the horizon, and six Shake Shack shops. The success of Five Guys in the survey has partly been put down to its rapid growth over the last few years, to the point that there are now well over 1000 branches in the US and many more abroad. However, it is not all about familiarity. Burger juggernaut McDonald's could only make it to number seven in the rankings, behind smaller operators including Wendys at four and Culver's at five. Visit fiveguys.co.uk to find a London branch and try Americas top patty. O n 8 June, election day, my social media will be saturated. Facebook and Instagram will be a patchwork of standard images: memes imploring action, selfies captured en route to the polls, and pictures of polling station signs captioned I voted, with the green tick emoji. Some of my female friends will definitely share images of suffragettes (votes for women!). If I sound jaded, Im a veteran. Im also complicit: before last years EU referendum, I shared images of Wolfgang Tillmans stylised posters imploring the electorate to vote Remain on Instagram, and a picture of my friend pinning up an EU flag outside our house. Before the last general election, I uploaded a picture of the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins, and captioned it with a Union Jack and sassy girl emojis. Im 26 and of my generation. For millennials, political engagement, like everything, is performative. But until recently the peppy posts and online jokes have belied an awkward reality. Take the EU referendum: in the aftermath, many of us felt that wed been sold down the river by pensioners who wouldnt have to deal with the fallout. Of those who went to the polls, 73 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds voted Remain, as did 62 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds; 60 per cent of those over 65 voted Leave. One of my friends left her grandmothers house in an indignant huff one day soon after: she couldnt bear the 74-year-olds gloating. Another says she cringes every time she hears her grandparents talk about the yoke of Europe. But according to market research company Opinium, just 64 per cent of the 18 to 24-year-olds who registered to vote actually did, rising to 65 per cent among 25 to 39-year-olds. Turnout for those aged 65 and over was 90 per cent. Some probably struggled to walk to the polling station. Stats from the 2015 general election tell a similar story: turnout was 43 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds and 54 per cent among 25 to 34-year-olds, but 77 per cent for 55 to 64-year-olds and 78 per cent in the over 65s. Alamy Stock Photo If ever there was a time for young Londoners to wake up, its now. Nearly a year on from the EU referendum, were facing another election. The results will arguably have further-reaching consequences than any in recent history. Brexit will affect young people more than any other living generation, says Rhammel Afflick, a communications officer at the UKs League of Young Voters. The next government must thrash out a new relationship with Europe, determining everything from the future of medical research to whether well be able to make that dream to decamp to Berlin for a few years a reality. There are myriad other issues, too. Will our chances of home ownership improve? What about tax on freelance earnings? Between 2008 and 2015, there was a 51 per cent rise in the number of freelancers aged 16-29. Lowering the voting age is being debated. A poll by The Student Room found that if the countrys million and a half 16- and 17-year-olds had been allowed to vote in the EU referendum, 82 per cent of them would have voted to Remain, which could have changed the result. There is talk of abolishing tuition fees education is back in the spotlight. And what shape will the future of the NHS take? Jeremy Corbyn / Goodman/LNP/REX/Shutterstock Its time to forsake prejudice and overcome lazy assumptions. The party system is in flux and traditional tribal loyalties dont necessarily hold, says Sophie Gaston, head of international projects at Demos: The fundamental realignment that is taking place in British politics presents an opportunity to influence. This election represents the beginning of a new cycle. Labour has moved away from the centre ground; Theresa May is making strides into left-wing territory with promises, for example, to cap energy prices. The Lib Dems have gone from a fuzzy second choice to the party with the clearest pro-European voice (so far). It isnt just about who walks into Number 10 (after all, polls suggest a May victory is all but inevitable). On 8 June, you are electing a local MP and, whatever party, their voting record and promises will indicate how they interact with the government of the day. General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures 1 /57 General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures Jeremy Corbyn joins leaders for the BBC's Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Prime Minister Theresa May samples cheese at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet Leon Neal/Pool/Reuters First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the launch of the SNP General Election manifesto at Perth Concert Hall Jane Barlow/PA Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the launch in central London of a Liberal Democrats campaign poster attacking the Conservatives' school meals policy Victoria Jones/PA Jeremy Corbyn appears on The One Show BBC Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and the party's local candidate Sir Simon Hughes are given a baking lesson at Comptoir Gourmand, an artisan bakery in Bermondsey, London Gareth Fuller/PA Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions from the studio audience during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme recorded at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is interviewed by Jeremy Paxman during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme 'May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10' at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty Images Home Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday May 28, 2017. Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming home secretary Jeff Overs/BBC/PA A new poster by the Green Party featuring pictures of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary either side US Preseident Donald J Trump Green Party/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott during General Election campaigning in Hull Chris Radburn/PA A man is arrested after protesting against fox hunting as Theresa May arrives at the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Green Party co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley launch the Green Party's 'Green Guarantee' of key priorities for the party at a general election campaign event in London AFP/Getty Images Julie Etchingham presents the ITV Leaders' Debate, a live two-hour debate with Caroline Lucas, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon ITV/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during her party's general election manifesto launch in Halifax Danny Lawson/PA Demonstrations take place before the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May as she launches the Conservative Party Election Manifesto in Halifax Getty Images Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during an election campaign event in east London Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's manifesto at the University of Bradford, in Bradford Nigel Roddis/EPA Prime Minister Theresa May meets Cathy Mohan at Abingdon market in Oxfordshire during an General Election campaign visit Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron leaves the Royal College of Nursing conference at Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre following a General Election campaign visit Gareth Fuller/PA Screengrab taken from Facebook Live broadcast, hosted by ITV News of Prime Minister Theresa May answering questions sent in by users of the social media website, with presenter Robert Peston ITV News Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking about national security and foreign policy at Chatham House in Londo David Mirzeoff/PA Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol on 21 April 2017 during Labour's election campaign. Steve Parsons/PA Jeremy Corbyn looks around as he arrives at Savoy Place. His vehicle hit BBC Cameraman Giles Wooltorton on the way into the garage entrance Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller breaks down after receiving an ovation from the crowd during her speech at the Convention on Brexit in central London Andy Rain/EPA The Liberal Democrat party campaign bus is unveiled at an event at the Harts Boatyard on 01 May 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Co-Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, speaks during the launch of the Green Party Brexit policy at the Space Studio in London Stefan Rousseau/PA The Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron listens to a speech during an event at the Harts Boatyard on May 1, 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Anti-racism protesters speak to the media after being removed ahead of UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall's speech Jack Taylor/Getty Images UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall gestures as he makes a speech as the party launch their general election campaign at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on 28 April 2017 in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (right), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott Diane leaving Four Millbank in Westminster, London, following her stumbling explanation of how the party would fund its plans for 10,000 extra police in an interview that left her struggling to do the sums live on air. Victoria Jones/PA Philip Hammond and David Davis at a General Election campaign event in Central London Jeremy Selwyn Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England Dylan Martinez/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party handout of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a new poster, warning that families face a tax and debt bombshell under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership Conservative Party/PA Nick Clegg delivers a campaign speech on the European Union at the National Liberal Club in London Stefan Rousseau/PA Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband retweeted a photo of him mowing a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncaster North constituency Jane Nightingale Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on 18 April calling for a general election Dan Kitwood/Getty Images So do your research: the website They Work For You outlines your MPs history on voting by topic, and Parliament.uk tells you whether they sit on any select committees, while a growing number of impassioned grassroots movements are promising pre-election enlightenment. My Life My Say is a national non-partisan youth group established by London students and politicians, which has been zipping up and down the country, holding Democracy Cafes with speakers such as Nick Clegg and Gina Miller. Were not saying vote Conservative, vote Labour, we just want young people to turn up, says digital officer Yasmine El-Tourgman, 22. She estimates MLMS has reached between 25,000 and 30,000 people. Bloomberg via Getty Images This is the point at which to get outside your intellectual safe space. Social media creates an echo chamber. Like me, you probably spend most of your time with people who vote the same way as you, and feel similarly about key subjects. Online, people will share articles that broadcast opinions with which they agree; everyone else they know will like them and drive them, via the wizardry of algorithm, up the newsfeed, making these opinions more visible. Perhaps a single dissenter will comment; they will be skewered. Indeed, a study of 2,000 Twitter users by think tank Demos found that politically engaged Twitter users tend to interact with those who share their views, and share articles that confirm their bias. Its time to look for nuance. Log off and reconnect with old media, seek out tools or create your own. Cambridge graduate Alice Thwaite, 27, founded weekly newsletter The Echo Chamber Club after last years referendum. Shed been thinking about filter bubbles for a while, and the fallout from the result catalysed the project. It is designed to help those unfairly called the metropolitan elite to understand why others feel differently to them. Above all, remember to register to vote: the deadline is 22 May, or 23 May for postal votes. Sounds obvious? Id have presumed so; then I realised, in the process of writing this article, that I hadnt. Like many twentysomething Londoners, Ive moved house four times in as many years, and there are probably polling cards addressed to me floating through letter boxes across the capital, but in order to receive one for the constituency I currently live in, I needed to register again. Even with the all-but-guaranteed May victory, and even if your MPs seat is the safest in the country, marking your ballot isnt just about this election. Its an investment, says James Sloam, co-director of the Centre for European Politics at Royal Holloway University: If young people do not vote, politicians will be likely to ignore their interests. Poor turnout disqualifies us as a demographic: politicians wont feel compelled to create policies for us if they dont fear us booting them out next time. Theresa May / Tolga Akmen/LNP/REX/Shutterstock Finally, remember that our power to shape our future doesnt begin and end with the election. Our digital savvy gives us an advantage. This years womens marches held in cities across January started as small-scale Facebook groups: the London leg attracted 100,000. And the anti-Brexit march attended by tens of thousands in central London last July began as a Facebook event that gathered incredible pace. In the aftermath of Brexit last summer, 25-year-old Elspeth Hoskins co-founded #WeAreUndivided, a non-partisan coalition who felt that there are issues that unite our generation beyond Leave/Remain, left or right. Its website invites users to input a demand they want to be considered during the governments Europe negotiations. Users can then up- or down-vote suggestions. We have proved our passion. Now we must use it at the ballot box. As Hoskins puts it, Contrary to stereotypes and portrayals of young people as apathetic, our generation is forward-thinking, mature and articulate. Everyone cares. I met Matt on a sweaty July evening in 2010, at a mutual friends gig in a South London club. We started talking and something clicked into place. Six years later, lying on a dusky Bridgetown beach with salty hair and sleepy eyes, he put a ring on my finger with relief and revealed that hed been trying to hide it from me without losing it. We celebrated with beers in the Barbados sunset and talked about the DIY festival-style wedding party we wanted to throw with our friends and family. We talked about the wedding a lot. We wanted to grow our own wildflowers, make our own food, dance through the night without a curfew and watch the sunrise with our best friends around us. Matt was keen to get married as soon as possible; he had asked me because he wanted our marriage, not an over-planned wedding ceremony. We pencilled in the following summer and asked a few loved-ones to get involved as bridesmaids and groomsmen. We both wanted a really intimate DIY feel to the day and set a small budget aside to try and bring everything together. I started looking into marquee hire costs, food-van options, church fees and colour schemes. It was fun to begin with, but as things got serious I realised I was starting to get anxious. I didnt like the idea of being the centre of attention and as the guest-list grew with family expectations, it became clear that we were not going to get the intimate firework display and indie disco we wanted. Matt and Gabrielle on their wedding day, at City Hall in New York On a miserable Sunday evening in December we realised that of our 150 guests, only 30 were friends. I felt Matt withdraw at that point and knew that our wedding plans had lost all meaning. On the drive home I muttered, I wish we could just elope. By the time we climbed into bed we had decided that it was easy, cheap, ridiculous and perfect. On February 8, the chaotic Manhattan climate gave us a bright, perfect day of love and happiness. It felt perfect as we took a couple of photos in a sunshine spotlight on the steps of City Hall, marriage certificate in hand and a handful of close friends around us. Our uncertainty led to the best decision we ever made - here are eight reasons why eloping might just be the answer for you too. 1. Do something different Everyone has that Jenny Packham dress, the naked cake decorated with edible flowers and a photo booth in the corner ready to capture drunk pictures of unknown guests. Ironically it can be a struggle to inject your personality into a day thats supposed to be all about you. We found the easiest way to get around this was to do something completely different and elope. When we talk to people about our wedding the usual response is, Thats so typical of you guys!, which is exactly what we wanted on the day. Breaking from traditions can help to make your day more unique, says Gabrielle 2. Its really easy You only have to go onto the Internet and search easy places for Brits to get married abroad and youre presented with countless locations around the world. Some embassies need a bit of time to prepare paperwork but you can get clear information online or hire agents to organise things for you. We chose New York as our wedding destination because its a city we love, its legal to marry there and very easy. It took 24 hours to get a marriage licence and we were married at Manhattan City Hall the next day. 3. Save the money for something useful, like a house Honestly, both our families were able and willing to foot the bill for a modest wedding, but as the predicted costs started to add up (and oh how quickly they do) we didn't feel comfortable about it. For many couples now this isnt even an option, which results in many using savings and loans to fund their big day. We saved our cash and put down the deposit on our first home, which cost less than the average wedding in the UK. The money saved on their wedding meant that Gabrielle and Matt could buy their first house 4. Combine your wedding and honeymoon Obviously you save money because you're already there. More importantly, you save time. You could choose to stay where you were married or travel onwards to another spot. We spent the week after our wedding celebrating in New York with our guests; it was great to spend the extra time with everyone. 30 places to visit before you turn 30 1 /41 30 places to visit before you turn 30 Click through our gallery to discover the places you should visit before you turn 30... Shutterstock 1. Bali Highland panoramas, scenic waterfalls, open blue skies, golden sunsets and awesome sunrises across the coastline. Theres a reason why people say that Bali stirs the soul. Why go here before you turn 30? Explore temples and palaces, go river rafting, sign up to a surf school, volunteer at an orangutan sanctuary, take a yoga class in the mountains and party all night. Best of all, its cheap - so youll be able to live like a king on a fortnights trip here. Stephan Stansfield/Flickr 2. Island hopping in Greece If youve never made it to Greece, then schedule in some time to discover its lesser-known islands by boat. Go to big-hitters Santorini, Crete and Rhodes and and discover little-known gems Astypalea and Tinos. Why go here before you turn 30? Because you can explore whitewashed cubic houses, lie on white hot sands, take a dip in the bath water-warm Aegean. Shutterstock / Mikhail Gnatkovsk 3. Myanmar Until fairly recently, Myanmar was off limits to wanderlust Westerners. But after five decades of military rule, Asias formerly Junta-controlled diamond in the rough has finally opened its crystal shores to nirvana-seekers. Why go here before you turn 30? Unsullied beaches, ancient Pagan temples and incredibly cheap prices make Burma the perfect holiday spot for cash-strapped travellers in their 20s. Joe Connor 4. Ibiza No surprises here - the Island that never sleeps has long been one of the hottest places to play for people in their 20s. This hedonistic paradise is a lure for British clubbers drawn in by sun, sand and world-class DJs. Why go here before you turn 30? Because nowhere does sunset chilling quite like Ibiza. Shutterstock / FP media 5. Croatia Ancient walled towns, dreamy deep-blue seascapes, an unrivaled festival scene and guaranteed good weather. Whats not to love about Croatia? Why go here before you turn 30? Visit festival and wellness island Obonjan, go fun-seeking at Sonus, take a Game of Thrones tour, go white-water rafting, stroll around the museums in Zagreb or simply spend your days enjoying cocktail after cocktail on the beach. Angus Webster 6.Toronto, Canada Forget Williamsburg, hipsters looking for a cultural injection should make a beeline for Canadas largest city for art, food and dive bars by the dozen. Why go here before you turn 30? Ethnic enclaves, a bustling food scene and cool designer stays - there are plenty of reasons to discover Toronto. Shutterstock / njene 7. Pammukale, Turkey Pamukkale is actually Turkish for cotton castle, which accurately sums up this amazing display of natural hot water pools in Denizli Province. The city is famous for its travertines - terraces of dazzling white carbonate minerals left by the flowing water that tourists can bathe in. Why go here before you turn 30? It'll make for one stunning Instagram. Shutterstock / Copycat37 8. Backpack through Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is one of the most accessible regions for the novice traveller - thanks to its mix of volcanoes, rainforests, rice fields, beaches and coral reefs. Some popular stops include Chiang Mai in Thailand, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Laos, Hanoi in Vietnam. Why go here before you turn 30? Explore thousand-year-old Hindu ruins, rave on the beach, attend a Buddhist ceremony at dawn and hike through the jungle looking for wildlife. The possibilities are endless. Shutterstock / Lena Serditova 9. Costa Rica Theres plenty of time for gentle package holidays in your later years. This tiny Central American oasis is a twenty-somethings playground of wild beaches, rocky points, volcanoes, reefs, rare wildlife and spectacular rainforests. Why go here before you turn 30? Because you can learn how to surf on the Nicoya peninsula, try truly amazing Costa Rican coffee, learn to speak Spanish, get lost on a hike in a rainforest, go white water rafting at Turrialba and see real life sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, ocelots and toucans. Autentico Adventures Costa Rica/Flickr 10. Tiger's Nest Monastery, Bhutan William and Kate put this remote kingdom on the map earlier this year, and a trip here isnt complete without paying a visit the the Tigers Nest Monastery. Believed to be the birthplace of Bhuddism, the Monastery has been a place of pilgrimage since it was built in 1692. Why go here before you turn 30? The temple complex clings to a cliff, a dizzying 3120 meters above the sea level on the side of the upper Paro valley. If you want to take in the stunning views of blue pines and rhododendrons youll need fearless stamina to hike to the top. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images 11. Songkran Festival, Thailand Songkran festival, or the Thai New Year, is three days of nonstop revelry. Its celebrated across the country, with locals and tourists gathering in the streets with super soakers, water balloons and buckets of water one almighty water fight. Why go here before you turn 30? Because who doesnt love a water fight? AFP/Getty Images 12. Banff, Canada This resort town is one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs. A visit here offers the chance to experience the spectacular Canadian Rocky Mountains and glacier-fed lakes, bull elk and brown bear sightings, and small-town charm like no other. Why go here before you turn 30? Because its some of the finest mountain scenery youll find on the planet. Shutterstock / Songquan Deng 13. Norway Picturesque fjords, magical mountains, quaint coastal towns and the possibility of spotting the Northern Lights makes Norway a tempting trip for those on the hunt for natural beauty. Why go here before you turn 30? Visit trendy Oslo, discover magical lesser-known towns, stand on a gravity-defying boulder, sail around the fjords, stay in a fishermans cottage you may even spot a polar bear. Shutterstock / Carsten Pasternac 14. Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California Rising nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is one of the greatest hiking challenges a traveller can undertake. This granite dome sits at the eastern end of one of Americas most spectacular national parks. Why go here before you turn 30? The terrain is dramatic, the scenery is amazing, and its probably the single most iconic thing you can do in California. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images 15. Iceland This Nordic island nation isnt far from the UK, but packs in astonishing natural phenomena and take-your-breath-away landscapes. Why go here before you turn 30? Contemporary cuisine, Lord of the Rings-esque lands, stargazing, endless hours of daylight and geothermal springs. Its hard to narrow it down. Shutterstock / pranodhm 16. The Inca Trail, Peru The Inca Trail is by far the most famous trek in South America. In just 26 miles it manages to combine beautiful mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle and, of course, a stunning mix of Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels. Why go here before you turn 30? Because the final destination of the trail just cannot be beaten: Machu Picchu, the mysterious "Lost City of the Incas". Brent Stirton/Getty Images 17. Manchester, UK The capital of The North might not strike as the most exotic of travel destination, but its giving London a run for its money thanks to a wealth of music and art history, smart fine dining restaurants, hipster neighbourhoods and a swathe of cool new boutique hotels. Why go here before you turn 30? Because it's only 2 hours away by train from the capital. Shutterstock / Tupungato 18. India The food alone is enough of a draw to India, but throw in palm-fringed beaches, one of the seven wonders of the world, forts, mosques, monuments and ancient ruins, and you have a holiday on that ticks all the boxes on your hands. Why go here before you turn 30? Because youll want leave enough room to come back again and again over your lifetime. Shutterstock / LukaKikina 19. Berlin Edgy, cool and creative, Berlin is one of the worlds best cities for boutique shopping, brilliantly offbeat nights out and hipster hangouts. Why go here before you turn 30? Because its one of Europes most exciting cities. Shutterstock / Claudio Divizia 20. Melbourne, Australia Whether youre looking to party, simply kick-back on a beach or sample some of the best brunch in the world, Melbourne offers it all to young travellers and backpackers. Why go here before you turn 30? Australias coolest capital holds all kinds of attractions for people in their 20s, from bars and boutiques to clubs and cafes. Shutterstock / GagliardiImages 21. New Zealand Undoubtedly one of the most spectacular places on earth, New Zealand is home to some incredibly unspoilt scenery. Make sure to take a decent camera, because stunning national parks and reserves make up a third of its land. Why go here before you turn 30? When else can you spend a whole month hiking its natural peaks and troughs? Gareth Richman 22. Carnival, Rio de Janeiro Forget Notting Hill carnival: once a year, several million travellers descend on Rio to enjoy four days of parades and partying at the beginning of Lent. Why go here before you turn 30? Who wouldnt want to be part of the biggest street party on the planet? Raphael Dias/Getty Images 23. The Great Wall of China As the famous Chinese saying goes, 'he who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man'. This great engineering marvel winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching across over 13,000 miles. Why go here before you turn 30? Because your 20s arent just for partying and frolicking... AFP/Getty Images 24. Burning Man Festival, Nevada Every year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevadas Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary festival of art, hedonism and self-expression. Why go here before you turn 30? Because its the most outrageous festival of all: alongside meditation and yoga theres spanking classes, orgies, and naked foam parties. Chances are, youll only want to get involved when youre young enough not to regret it. Duncan Rawlinson/Flickr 25. Antelope Canyon, Arizona Located just outside of Page, in the heart of Navajo Country, Antelope may just be the most photographed slot canyon in the world - thanks to its awe-inspiring, sandstone formations. Why go here before you turn 30? The celestial light beams in the canyon make this place completely unforgettable and unmissable. AFP/Getty Images 26. Pacific Coast Highway, California The PCH is a road trip-lovers dream, with its winding ribbon roads that meander alongside the crashing Cali coast from Carmel to Morro Bay. The 123-mile route takes in Big Sur and the much photographed Bixby Bridge, as well as five hours of cliff-hugging open road. Why go here before you turn 30? The all-American road has been voted one of the top motorcycle rides in the U.S - its basically the drive of a lifetime, but youll enjoy the freedom most on two wheels. Howard Ignatius/Flickr 27. Bosnia & Herzegovina Turquoise rivers, medieval castles and tumbling waterfalls. It sounds like something out of a fairytale, but the craggily beautiful lands of Bosnia and Herzegovina are real - and theyre one of Europes best kept secrets. Why go here before you turn 30? Because there are few places in the world where you can enjoy hiking, beautiful countryside, rafting and swimming, inner-city bridge jumping and skiing all within one country. Shutterstock 28. Tokyo, Japan Japans busy capital shouldnt be overlooked - as well as providing endless Instagram opportunities, it manages to pack in both the ultramodern and the traditional - from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. Why go here before you turn 30? Because you can sleep in a capsule, walk across the beautiful Tokyo bay, spend hours in an multi-storey arcade, slurp down some heavenly ramen and spend hours strolling through the brightly-lit streets. Shutterstock 29. Osea Island, Essex On Osea Island, they know how to throw a party. Located in the middle of Essexs Blackwater Estuary, the private island which is only accessible by boat, helicopter or car at low tide boasts four and a half miles of its own beaches and coastline perfect for social gatherings. Why go here before you turn 30? Because you can throw the most incredible weekend parties here. Alamy Stock Photo 30. Las Vegas, Nevada Live like a celebrity for amongst the glitz and glitter of one of the worlds most famous strips. Why go here before you turn 30? Win big at a casino, take in a cirque production, party all night, go four-wheeling in the surrounding national parks just make sure you dont accidentally get hitched. Shutterstock / Don Mammoser 5. Avoid saying your vows in front of people you don't know or like The hardest part of organising a wedding is planning the guestlist. If you have a big family, its easy to spiral into chaos before you've even considered which friends you have space for. Should you invite your partners cousins kids? Have you even met them? Our British manners meant we were genuinely concerned that we may cause offence if we missed out an unknown plus-one. By moving our wedding to the other side of the Atlantic we were able to politely limit our invites to those closest enough to travel with us. Understandably there were friends and family members who were unable to make the trip, however their support and excitement for us made our return to the UK an even bigger celebration. Eloping means you don't have to worry about saying your vows in front of people you don't know 6. Don't compromise on the food When youve sorted out the invites and the theme, you then have to deal with planning the food. It can be a huge compromise trying to feed so many people at the same time. Not only do the costs go up as you start to add options for the children, gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan guests, the quality of the food tends to go down. We tried to think outside the box with our food options but the reality is, when you have 150 mouths to feed it gets expensive. By taking our wedding abroad, cutting out the guests and opening up the budget, we were able to look at truly special restaurants and ended up having a post-marriage meal that was so good we will never forget it. A smaller wedding party means you can have a post-marriage meal you won't forget 7. Be selfish and make the day about yourselves There aren't many opportunities in life where you can completely, selfishly make a day about your relationship. As we started planning our wedding we realised that although we appreciated how much friends and family wanted to be involved, the event was no longer about our commitment to each other. Both of us were becoming distant and uninvolved as the romance of marriage disappeared. By flying away and making the experience exactly how we wanted it, we felt much more intimate and relaxed. "Break the traditions and do what makes you feel comfortable," says Gabrielle 8. Break the traditions Stuffing into a large white dress, being given away by Dad, awkwardly slow dancing in front of a crowd of flashing smartphones and making a speech about the in-laws; a traditional marriage was never going to feel comfortable for us. We chose our low-key outfits on Net-A-Porter, took a cab to City Hall, asked our few guests to stand with us in the ceremony, ate lobster rolls and Oreos afterwards, played pool and finished the night with karaoke in a dive bar. Naturally, our perfect day won't to everyones taste, but the idea is universal: break the traditions and do what makes you feel comfortable. Its your wedding and you dont have to listen to anyone (except probably your spouse). Gabrielle Gant is a freelance writer and yoga instructor C hildren as young as six are carrying knives in the capital, Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick was told while discussing the devastating impact of the weapons in London communities. Ms Dick vowed to get to the root of knife crime as she visited a youth centre in Putney, south-west London, where she met the family of a young man stabbed to death last year. The capital has seen a wave of knife attacks in recent weeks, with thirteen people stabbed to death. The Standard launched an investigation into the epidemic last week, after 11 Londoners were killed in just 16 days. On Saturday two more people were knifed to death on the capitals streets, in Enfield and Bow. Commissioner of the Met Police Cressida Dick meets with members of the Wandsworth community / PA Meeting with community representatives at the Ashburton Youth Centre in, Ms Dick said the borough of Wandsworth has been "profoundly affected" by knife crime. Three young people have been fatally stabbed in the borough in 2017, as many as the whole of 2016. Ms Dick told them Wandsworth "is generally a safe borough, London is generally a very safe city", but she said the level of knife crime is "unacceptable". But the commissioner was told violent attacks are becoming more frequent, and young people are carrying knives more and more often. One woman told Ms Dick the issue is affecting children far younger than the teenagers and young men normally associated with carrying knives. The woman said: "You are talking about teenagers carrying knives, but on the housing estate it's six-year-olds that are carrying knives, because they think they won't be stopped. "You need to start there, in the primary schools - you need to tell much younger people." Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Laverick of Wandsworth Police (left) and Cressida Dick / PA The commissioner agreed the anti-knife message needs to reach much younger children, saying: "I am sure we - not necessarily the police, because we're not the best people often to give these messages, but possibly the police - we need to start at an early age." Josh Osbourne, a mentor at the youth charity Carney's Community, said: "The feeling that I'm getting from a lot of the young people that I work with is a feeling of fear. "They can't even cross the road because they're at odds or in a dispute with somebody else from literally the same postcode but across the road." Andy Smith, who works at The Feel Good Bakery, a social enterprise employing young people, told her that young people said their friends carried knives purely out of fear and for protection. He said: "There's a lot of young people that say they feel naked if they haven't got their knife with them." The family of Lewis Elwin (left to right) Aaron Douglas-Letts, Sandra Elwin, Byron Douglas-Letts, Reanna Elwin, and Tarnya Douglas-Letts / PA Ahead of the discussion, Ms Dick held a private meeting with the family of Lewis Elwin, a 20-year-old trainee electrician who was stabbed to death in Tooting last year in front of horrified parents picking up their children from school. Ms Dick was later told young people "don't trust the police" and put up a wall of silence because they rarely see officers, but when they do they feel police do not care about solving the crimes affecting them. The Commissioner told them the Met would be investing in more officers in schools and bringing in dedicated officers for every ward, who can get to know young people better. Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Laverick, the borough commander for Wandsworth, told those at the centre that police were focusing on intervention and diversion, rather than just enforcement. He said: "If we're going to do anything with this, the police solution is not the only solution, what we're talking about is changing the culture. Yourselves, the community, are key to that." Outlining her plans for how to tackle knife crime, Ms Dick said: "I want to shift us further into prevention. I want all of us to be working on stopping this before it happens. "I want early intervention - I think that's absolutely the right way to go for all of us, including the police." Asked how she would do this, Ms Dick said: "We're going to come and we're going to listen. We are investing in dedicated ward officers, we are invested in neighbourhood work. "We're working really closely across London, the mayor will be unveiling a knife crime strategy in the future and we will be a part of that. "But actually community groups, people in communities, the third sector, will be an incredibly important part of that. "We need to play our part but it is only a part." By Press Trust of India: Beijing, May 17 (PTI) Chinese metal scientists have developed a plow using a new steel alloy. Plow was initially used in China over 2,000 years ago, centuries earlier than in Europe. However, Chinese farmers nowadays would rather pay over the odds for imported plows because of their better quality and durability. The situation may soon change, thanks to the new research. advertisement Yan Desheng, of the Institute of Metal Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the new metal was developed on the basis of boron steel, with micro-alloying elements and fine carbide added, so as to increase its hardness while keeping its high ductility. The new material has been used to make over 1,000 farming tools, such as moldboard plows and rotary blades. These tools have been used in farms in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Jiangsu for tests and evaluation since 2012, Yan told state-run Xinhua news agency earlier this week. "The new material has at least doubled the durability of plows compared with the traditional home-made ones, at only half the price of imported ones," he said. The edge of the plow has a better ground-breaking angle and has helped reduce abrasion and fuel consumption, according to a technician with a Hulun Buir-based farm in Inner Mongolia, which has tried the tools. PTI KJV ABH --- ENDS --- A couple who staged the death of their 16-week-old daughter on a London bus hours after she had been brutally killed have both been jailed for 11 years. Little baby Imani had suffered a litany of injuries including a fractured skull, broken wrist and at least 40 rib fractures when she died on September 28 last year. Her parents, Rosalin Baker, 25, and Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, were cleared of murdering Imani after an Old Bailey jury could not decide who had inflicted the fatal injuries. But they were found guilty of causing or allowing the death of their child, and Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of London, today jailed both for 11 years. Wiltshire walked straight out of the dock following the sentencing, while Baker collapsed to the floor while loudly wailing, forcing the judge to clear the court while she was taken away to the cells. Jailed: Rosalin Baker, 25, and Jeffrey Wiltshire Though Imani's life was short, the last part of it could only have been terrifying painful and bewildering, the judge told them. Both of you at all times put your own interests ahead of those of a helpless and dependant baby for whom you were responsible. She was at risk of really serious harm which you ought to have appreciated. He said both parents had lied repeatedly during the police investigation and court trial, meaning their account of Imanis death in circumstances of murder or very close to it could not be trusted. After finding their lifeless daughter at the end of their bed, the couple concocted a callous plan to pretend the tot had fallen ill during a morning bus ride from Stratford. Harrowing: Rosalin Baker boards a London bus with her dead baby strapped to her chest, as Jeffrey Wiltshire gives her a thumbs up / Metropolitan Police Wiltshire, who claims to have fathered 25 children, was caught on CCTV giving a thumbs up to Baker as she got on to the number 25 bus with Imani strapped to her chest with a sling that morning. Around 20 minutes into the journey, Baker raised the alarm but sat by emotionless and apparently texting while paramedics tried in vain to resuscitate her daughter. When both of you knew she was dead you embarked on a cynical charade to try and pretend she simply stopped breathing while on the bus with Ms Baker target than as a result of violence at Mr Wiltshire's flat, added the judge "You used your dead baby's body as part of an attempt to conceal what had really happened." Extracts from the 999 call placed by one of the bus passengers A post mortem revealed Imani had suffered brain damage and a catalogue of injuries in three separate assaults in the ten days before she died. During the trial, the couple turned on each other and blamed the other for Imanis plight. Baker blamed her abusive and controlling boyfriend and claimed he had tried to "frame" her by forcing her on to the bus with their dead child in a sling. But former rapper Wiltshire insisted in his defence: "I'm not a life taker, I'm a baby maker." However Judge Hilliard said Bakers claims of repeated physical abuse could not be trusted, though he said there was evidence Wiltshire had been violent on at least one occasion. In the week of her death, Imani was attacked three times, suffering wounds from her arm being pulled or twisted, squeezing of her chest, and throwing her against a hard surface at Wiltshires bedsit in Manor Park. PC Georgia Ross was on the scene as paramedics tried to save Imanis life, and told the court she saw Baker staring at the floor with no emotion on her face. She was on her phone. It appeared she was texting someone, she said. She didn't once ask how the baby was. Wiltshire denied hurting his "tiny and beautiful" daughter either intentionally or unintentionally, or witnessing anyone else injure her, and told jurors he was nothing but affectionate towards Baker as well. Baker and Wiltshire, both of Morris Avenue, Manor Park, east London, denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. A man who killed a 21-year-old with a drunken nightclub punch had to wait 45 minutes to learn his fate after his trial judge got stuck in a lift at the Old Bailey. Prior to Ridwaan Shaikhs hearing, judge Anthony Morris QC attended a ceremony to mark his departure from the countrys central criminal court. And the 22-year-old had to wait for the verdict to be delivered after the Mr Morris was unavoidably delayed, court staff said. Shaikh, of Ilford, was cleared of murdering 21-year-old Bradley Cresswell after punching him at the end of night out in Watford last September but found guilty of manslaughter. The judge became stuck in a lift at the Old Bailey / Shutterstock Shaikh punched Mr Cresswell in the face, knocking him out, at the end of a drunken night out at Hydeout club in Watford last September. Prosecutor Benn Maguire said Shaikh attacked Mr Cresswell "without warning" in the street in revenge for an earlier incident in the club. Following his arrest, Shaikh told police he acted in self defence and hit Mr Cresswell with an open hand. He denied murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter. Shaikh appeared to wait nervously in the dock after being told the jury was being called back into court with a verdict. A member of court staff said the judge was "unavoidably delayed" then returned to inform the assembled lawyers and family members that he was still "stuck in a lift". In all, the jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours to clear Shaikh of murder but find him guilty of manslaughter. The defendant, of Ilford, wept in the dock while a member of the Cresswell family shouted "yes" as he was convicted. The judge said he would sentence the defendant on Thursday. Inspector Pushpa Guild, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: "Shaikh was intent on exacting revenge on Bradley that morning following his interaction with Bradley in the nightclub. "Neither were known to each other and Shaikh was not local to the Watford area however, having knocked Bradley unconscious on the first occasion, he was determined to pursue Bradley and waited for an opportune moment before cowardly striking the fatal punch, which led to Bradley's death and resulted in Shaikh being charged with murder. "I hope that Bradley's family will draw some comfort from this outcome." A "disturbing" sex attacker who massaged strangers' feet at bus stops while touching himself has been jailed for 30 months. Aaron Black, 30, pushed one of his victims against a wall and told her "I'm sorry, I've got a foot fetish" as he pleasured himself. A judge today banned the KFC worker from speaking to women about feet or shoes after he was convicted of 15 sex offences. Black, from Catford, preyed on eight women in Shoreditch, Lewisham, and Elephant and Castle between July 2016 and April this year. He followed lone women and followed them to bus stops before crouching at their feet and performing a sex act on himself. His lawyer Ahmed Hussain told a sentencing hearing at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday: "This unpleasant behaviour caused revulsion in a lot of Mr Black's victims. "It was designed to allow him to gain sexual gratification by touching himself, primarily, rather than the women." He added: "He has what he describes as a foot fetish which he has had since he was 14. He apologised to the victims for his behaviour, which is a sign it was compulsive." Black performed obscene acts in front of four women in City Road, Old Street and Elephant and Castle roundabout on July 26, and two others in East Road, Shoreditch, on August 14 and Old Street on September 7. He sexually assaulted a young woman in Harper Road, Southwark, on September 24, guiding her towards a wall and massaging her feet as he touched himself for up to five minutes. He later claimed during his trial that he mistook the victim freezing in terror for her consenting. He preyed on his eighth victim in Molesworth Street, Lewisham, on April 2 while awaiting trial for his earlier crimes Prosecutor Paul Rattigan said one of Black's victims suffered flashbacks to his "sick" acts, while others were too afraid to go out alone after dark or travel on buses. A jury found Black guilty of eight counts of outraging public decency, six charges of exposure and one sexual assault on Wednesday. Judge Graham Wood told him: "You must learn control this behaviour. "Whatever you may think privately and whatever you may do in your own home is up to you. But your conduct towards women is going to have to change or you will find yourself in prison for increasingly long periods of time." He made a sexual harm prevention order banning Black from starting conversations about shoes or feet with a women he does not know for the next 10 years. He was also ordered not to crouch down beside women and must sign the sex offenders' register. Varinder Hayre, Crown Prosecution Service reviewing lawyer for London, said: Aaron Black was a serial offender targeting lone women in a disturbing manner, often at bus stops. The women he approached gave evidence of the alarm and distress his obscene acts caused them, with many of them subjected to unsettling comments about feet." T wo London doctors are facing the threat of prosecution over an allegedly botched operation on a womans genitals. The unnamed doctors have been questioned by the Met after a complaint from a woman who attended a private clinic in the capital for a labia reduction procedure. She is understood to have been left with permanent damage after more was removed in the designer vagina surgery than expected. Police have sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service, which is examining whether to bring charges under legislation banning female genital mutilation. It prohibits any mutilation of a woman or girls genitals, including cosmetic procedures, unless there is a medical or psychological reason for surgery. The new case follows the conviction of surgeon Ian Paterson for intentionally wounding patients with extensive, life-changing operations carried out for no justifiable medical reason. Nottingham crown court was told that Paterson, 59, played god with womens bodies and persuaded patients to have mastectomies at private hospitals in the West Midlands by inventing or exaggerating cancer risks. He is due to be sentenced this month. In the new case, one of five FGM investigations awaiting charging decisions by the CPS, prosecutors are understood to believe that there is sufficient evidence of harm to secure a conviction. They are deciding, however, whether it is in the public interest to bring charges when the alleged victim was an adult who initially consented to the procedure. Female genital mutilation has been illegal in this country since 1985 but there have been no convictions. The only prosecution, of an NHS doctor in London and another man, resulted in not guilty verdicts in 2015. Prosecutors considered a Scotland Yard file on another cosmetic case involving Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at Londons Maudsley and Priory hospitals, and surgeon Dr Joe Daniels, in which a 33-year-old womans clitoris was removed. They decided not to bring charges after Professor Veale argued that the surgery was necessary for the womans mental health because of her aversion to the previous appearance of her genitals. A pensioner was repeatedly punched and spat at after she tried to defend a woman who was being sexually assaulted on a bus. The 65-year-old woman was brutally attacked when she challenged a man who was sexually assaulting a fellow passenger on a route 295 bus as it drove along Fulham Palace Road. She was punched several times in the face before being spat at, police said. The attack was only stopped when other passengers rushed to help and pushed the man, aged between 20 and 30, off the bus. The assault victim was taken to a west London hospital with cuts and swelling to her lips. A Met Police spokesman said: "The woman was punched several times in the face after she verbally defended a woman who was being sexually assaulted by the suspect. "The suspect initially became verbally aggressive towards the victim. He then spat at her before punching her several times in the face." Police have released a CCTV image of a man they want to trace over the incident, which took place at around 4.40pm on December 20. He is described as black, slim, and about 5ft 10ins tall, with short black hair. The man was wearing a hooded top with distinctive red-checked shoulders. Anyone with information should call contact Detective Constable Darren Barlow via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Alternatively tweet @MetCC with any information. F ormer TV star Rolf Harris will be set free from prison tomorrow while still fighting child sex abuse charges, a court heard today. The 87-year-old Australians glittering showbiz career came to a shuddering halt in 2014 when he was convicted and jailed after an earlier trial. He is now back in court, facing a wave of allegations that he groped teenage girls during TV and celebrity appearances. Harris has been following court proceedings over a videolink from Stafford prison. But it was revealed today that Harris, the beloved star of Animal Hospital and Rolfs Cartoon Club until his 2014 conviction, will be released from prison tomorrow. At Southwark crown court this morning, Judge Deborah Taylor told jurors she has agreed Harris can have bail during the ongoing trial. The defendant, Rolf Harris, is to be released from HM prison in Stafford tomorrow on May 19, she said. Yesterday following an application by the defence unopposed by the prosecution, I decided to grant Mr Harris bail in relation to the charges the jury are considering. The fact I have granted him bail doesnt have any bearing on the decision you will make in due course. As a result Mr Harris will no longer be appearing in this court over the videolink following his release from prison. He will be attending what remains of the trial in person from Monday. As the judge made the announcement, the former TV star listened from an office at the prison. The trial is not sitting tomorrow as Harris returns to his home in Bray, Berkshire. Harris is accused of having an appetite for abusing girls, allegedly touching a 13-year-olds breast after filming childrens TV programme Saturday Superstore in 1983. He then asked her: Do you often get molested on a Saturday morning?, it is said. The TV presenter is accused of groping a 14-year-old girl in 1971 after she asked for his autograph. It is said Harris also indecently touched a third teenage girl during an appearance on ITV celebrity show Star Games in 1978. We say Harris had an appetite for touching young females, said prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC. However Stephen Vullo QC, defending, suggested to the first alleged victim that she had only come forward after Harris had been convicted in 2014. It is claimed she report the alleged abuse after news reports that people could be in line for compensation from Harris 11 million fortune. Harris denies four charges of indecent assault. The trial continues. P olice have launched a murder investigation after a 20-year-old man was stabbed to death in a busy shopping centre car park in Romford. Officers were called on Thursday afternoon, at around 4.30pm, to Brewery Shopping Centre car park in Waterloo Road after a man was found with a stab wound. The victim was rushed to an east London hospital but was pronounced dead by 5.30pm. Four men were arrested close to the car park, which services the shopping centre, cinema and restaurants. They are being held on suspicion of murder. Police reported they are confident they know the identity of the victim but have not released any further information. His next of kin have been informed. Detective Inspector Jason Prendergast, said: This incident happened at a busy time of day, in a busy area of Romford, so we believe there are a large number of potential witnesses we are keen to speak to. The victim was found in the car park at end of the shopping centre next to the cinema and restaurants, and we are keen to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident. The stabbing happened on the day Met Commissioner Cressida Dick attended a community talk on the dangers of knife crime. Anyone with any information can contact police via 101, or by tweeting @MetCC. To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A couple left traumatised when a faulty lift at Tower Bridge crashed to the ground on the first day of their dream holiday have won more than 140,000 damages. Graham and Bronwyn Cowan were among ten people using the attractions elevator when it began to make a straining sound. It vibrated alarmingly before there was a loud bang and it began its plunge, coming to a jarring halt before falling again. The Australian couple, who had just begun their dream holiday around Europe, both suffered leg fractures and still bear the mental scars of the May 2009 incident. Damages: Graham and Bronwyn Cowan Mr Cowan, 64, a railway engineer, fears travelling in lifts and suffers anxiety just from seeing window cleaners working at height, Central London County Court heard. His wife, 63, a mother-of-two, fractured both ankles and a big toe in the fall and now suffers from a lift phobia and is hyper-vigilant of mechanical sounds, her barrister Christopher Edwards told the court. The extent of the psychological damage was shown when Mrs Cowan got stuck in a lift on her way to one of the court hearings, suffering a very unpleasant reaction. It is clear that she is still psychologically affected by this horrible accident, said Mr Edwards. Their holiday was utterly ruined on the morning of the first day. The couple, who live in Sydney, sued lift company, Temple Lifts Limited, who admitted liability for the accident. Judge Peter Wulwick has now awarded Mr Cowan more than 60,000 and Mrs Cowan almost 80,000 in compensation for their injuries, lost earnings and ruined holiday. Mr Edwards said Mr Cowan, with his wife, had to be medically evacuated home after the accident, having suffered a spinal fracture and a broken left leg. He continues to struggling with using lifts, and working on the 16th floor of an office block, he felt on edge when he saw window cleaners working outside his window. A cafe owner has told how her beloved dog was snatched and abandoned" in north London, raising fears that a gang are targeting pets in the area. Chloe Lee said that her 14-year-old Westie, called Dolly, went missing in Primrose Hill on the morning of Sunday, May 7 in what she described as a definite deliberate snatch. The dog was found wandering the streets of Lewisham later that day by some pet shop owners, who then took Dolly back to her relieved owner. It is reportedly the second attempted dog snatch in the area in just three days, with one woman claiming a man grabbed her Cocker Spaniel Cross in Hampstead High Street. Ms Lee told the Ham & High: They might have picked [Dolly] up because shes fluffy and white and she does look quite cute. But shes also like a little old lady and they must have realised they made an error. You hear of people stealing dogs, but they stole her and then abandoned her. It was definitely a deliberate snatch. A devastated Ms Lee searched Primrose Hill throughout the day, with residents and nearby businesses sending out tweets in a desperate bid to find her. She added: There is no way that she could have ended up where she did if someone did not take her. It was the support of everyone locally was brilliant, shes been known around the bridge all her life. A South End Green woman claimed that on Thursday, May 4, just days before Dolly was snatched, a group of men tried to take her dog According to the Ham & High, her dog growled at one of the strangers and the owner managed to call him back to her, before the men escaped in a white van. Police are believed to be investigating the incident. T he number of foreign visitors to London has smashed through the 19 million mark for the first time in another record year for tourism. The total number of visits rose 2.6 per cent from 18.6 million to 19.1 million with a particularly strong 8 per cent surge in the final three months of 2016, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics. Tourism bosses said the fall in the value of the pounds after the Brexit referendum in June had helped make the capital an even more attractive destination for visitors. However, spending on hotels, restaurants and attractions was slightly down over the year at 11.9 billion, although it was up in the last quarter. Numbers have risen steadily since the Olympics and Paralympics of 2012 gave London an unprecedented shop window to the rest of the world. Annual visits are now 25 per cent higher than five years ago. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: I am delighted that more people than ever before are choosing to visit London, immersing themselves in all that our great city has to offer including an unbeatable array of restaurants, museums, shops and theatres. "This is further evidence that London is Open and has an appeal that clearly extends across the globe. Major events that boosted tourism numbers last year included Great Fire 350, which saw thousands of people lining the River Thames to see the burning of a replica City of London. Also popular among visitors were blockbuster exhibitions such as David Hockney at the Royal Academy, and EXHIBITIONISM at the Saatchi Gallery; the first retrospective of the Rolling Stones life and career. Many museums also saw record numbers of visitors. Joanna Mackle, Deputy Director of the British Museum, said: The British Museum is delighted to be the most visited attraction in the UK for the 10th year running. Great Fire of London: Replica of the capital in flames 1 /8 Great Fire of London: Replica of the capital in flames 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young 'London 1666', a 120-metre long sculpture of the 17th-century London skyline after being set alight Lucy Young The British Museum is a place that visitors can explore for free, discovering objects from the dawn of human history 2 million years ago up to the present day. We welcome visitors from across the world and last year around three quarters of our visitors from came from outside the UK. "Through important collaborations with national and international partners, as well as through our digital channels, the British Museums collection and activities are reaching an ever-growing global audience. The trend appears to have continued into 2017 with separate data from Forward Keys, a company that records overseas travel agent bookings to London, suggesting a 10 per cent increase in overseas travellers coming to London in the first six months of the year. Major events scheduled for this year include the first UK exhibition on modern and contemporary American printmaking, American Dream, Pop to Present, taking place at the British Museum, and Harry Potter: A History of Magic display taking place at the British Library in Autumn, showcasing wizarding books and original material from JK Rowlings own archive. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Fixing of the GST rate on coal at 5 per cent will lead to stabilisation of steel prices, a top official said today. The GST Council today decided to keep coal in the 5 per cent tax slab under the new sales tax regime against current tax incidence of 11.69 per cent. Welcoming the decision, Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma told PTI, "That (five per cent) is the lowest slab and would amount to stabilisation of steel prices." The move will bring down the input cost and would lead to stabilisation of prices, and more and more expansion of steel plants would take place, the secretary said. The steel sector will be benefited from the move, an industry analyst said. Driven by weak demand, companies operating in the steel sector rolled over their prices this month in spite of a cost push, another analyst said. A producer said the demand was too weak to pass on any hike in prices of raw material. PTI SID MR --- ENDS --- advertisement A London-bound Ryanair flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing after a man allegedly downed a bottle of Ouzo before attacking and spraying blood on passengers. The flight to Stansted Airport from Bulgaria was diverted to Linz, in Austria, after the man became unruly on Tuesday night, the airline has confirmed. He is said to have began brawling with other passengers on the flight and was aggressive towards the cabin crew. Before being arrested, the man reportedly was rushed to hospital with a hand injury that began bleeding on the plane. According to the Mail, the wound was bleeding so profusely that other passengers and crew members got blood on their clothes. Once the man was detained by police in Linz, the plane continued its journey to the London airport. The man had allegedly bought a bottle of Ouzo in duty free and quickly downed it before departure. A Ryanair spokesman the airline does not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour. He said: The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was removed and detained by police upon arrival, before the aircraft continued to London Stansted shortly after. We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority. This is now a matter for local police. A university building in central London was evacuated after a fire broke out in a basement storeroom. About 100 people fled the scene after flames broke out at the Strand campus of Kings College University shortly before 1.35pm on Thursday. Fire crews from six fire stations were scrambled to the scene. Six fire engines and 25 crew members were still tackling the blaze more than an hour after the sub-basement store cupboard went up in flames. Pictures from the scene show fire crews surrounding the building, with hose pipes running from fire engines into the university campus. Students and staff were warned to avoid the building while the incident was dealt with. A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: Six fire engines and 35 firefighters and officers have been called to a fire at a university building on Strand. Part of a store room in a sub-basement of the university building is currently alight. Approximately 100 people left the building before the arrival of the brigade. The brigade was called at 1.34pm. Fire crews from Euston, Islington, Bethnal Green, Soho, Dowgate and Chelsea fire stations are at the scene. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. A Kings College London spokeswoman since said: A fire has broken out in the basement of the Macadam building but is now under control. "The building has been evacuated. Fire services remain in attendance on site. Kings students and staff are asked to avoid the Macadam and Chesham buildings in Surrey Street on the Strand Campus until further notice. T heresa May's flagship plans to tackle the social care crisis were today condemned for leaving elderly people helpless and at risk of bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. The damning criticism came from Sir Andrew Dilnot, the author of a major review of social care, who hit out at the failure to cap how much people have to pay to be looked after by the state in their old age. Lord Lansley, Conservative health secretary in the Coalition government, welcomed the proposals, but backed Sir Andrews view that some mechanism should be found to allow people to insure themselves against catastrophic care costs. However, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt defended the floor proposals, which will offer protection from the cost of social care for people with assets of 100,000 or less. Criticism: Theresa May (Stefan Rousseau/PA ) / Stefan Rousseau/PA This is a dramatic increase from the current 23,250 level in England, but the 100,000 will now include the home of individuals who stay in it while receiving care, which will hit Londoners particularly hard. People will not have to sell their home while alive to pay for care costs. The Conservatives say the policy is fairer than the planned 72,000 cap on costs which was due to be introduced in 2020 but will now be axed. But Sir Andrew accused the Government of failing to tackle the core problem of social care by providing a way of avoiding huge bills and claimed the proposals showed a less than full understanding of the challenges. Sir Andrew, who chaired the commission on long-term care which reported in 2011, said: Theres nothing you can do to protect yourself against care costs, you cant insure it because the private sector wont insure it, and by refusing to implement the cap that Conservatives are now saying theyre not going to provide social insurance for it. So people will be left helpless, knowing that what will happen is if theyre unlucky enough to suffer the need for care costs, theyll be entirely on their own until theyre down to the last 100,000, all of their wealth including their house. However, Mr Hunt denied the plans amounted to a death tax and told BBC radio: Weve looked again at this proposal and we dont think its fair. Those costs get borne by taxpayers, families, younger families who are possibly themselves struggling to make ends meet and we dont think thats fair on different generations. Lord Lansley told the Standard: I still share Andrew Dilnots view that we should find some means of enabling people to ensure against the burden of catastrophic care costs. Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of health think tank the Kings Fund, tweeted: Sounds like a plan written by those who dont understand social care. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said ditching the 72,000 cap was a shame. It's coming closer and closer, explains Mehtap Yazli, as fear of knife crime grips Enfield North. On Saturday, 18-year-old Joao Gomes was stabbed to death in Hertford Road and two other teenagers were wounded. A day later a man was knifed in the head near Southbury Road. Yesterday a 17-year-old was stabbed in Bush Hill Park, near George Spicer Primary School. Ms Yazli, 47, a former accountant with two children, says: Crime is now almost literally in my back yard. Before it was a mile away and this was a safe haven. I want to leave but its difficult to buy and sell houses. You dont have to be in a gang to be a victim, just the wrong place at the wrong time. Joanne Sims, 35, a mother of four children aged seven to 16, agrees. We want our kids to be safe but dont want to let them out, she says. Here in Londons northernmost electoral outpost, its clear that law and order, not Brexit, is the key issue. Two familiar faces are vying to be returned as its MP. Labours Joan Ryan held the seat from 1997 until it was taken by Tory Nick de Bois in 2010. She took it back in 2015 with an 1,086 majority. Enfield North 2015 election winner: Joan Ryan (Labour) Majority: 1086 Mr de Bois hopes his work to tackle knife crime will help him make a comeback. As an MP, he pushed to amend the Criminal Justice and Courts Act to jail over-16s found carrying a blade more than once. He claims courts are not enforcing the law consistently, saying: I just want judges to enforce the sentences Parliament passed when I brought my Bill. Loading.... Andrea Michaels, 36, co-owns The Boutique, a bridal shop in Hertford Road, with her sister Christine. Both are backing Mr de Bois and called for more visible police on the high street. The biggest issue for me is the crime, says Andrea. The police cant help and sometimes dont even turn up. Ms Ryan is aware of peoples fears and has been gathering signatures on a petition for more police in Enfield. She wants an urgent Home Office review of stop-and-search guidelines and is adamant that Brexit is not an issue on the doorstep. Right on cue, a man returning home wearing a Sainsburys uniform tells her: Dont bother knocking on my door. Im not voting for you. When asked what he cares about, he said: Immigration. Its not even safe to walk down the street any more. Labour incumbent: Joan Ryan on the campaign trail / Jeremy Selwyn Health is an issue. Ms Ryan and Mr de Bois blamed each other for the closure of maternity and A&E units at Chase Farm hospital in 2013. Waiting times are high on voters agendas. Firdevs Kocabas, a diner at the Oz Turkish restaurant, says: It takes six months to even get an appointment at hospital. I wish it was like it was 15 years ago. Ms Ryan expects a tough fight but says: Its not personal. He has won one and I have won four. Thats a good score. But Mr de Bois, who is the bookies favourite, says: The dynamic is different. I think this election is about who will lead the country. Thats what Im hearing on the doorsteps. J eremy Corbyn supporters anticipating a Labour win in the General Election have planned a victory party at a Westminster pub. The party will be held at the Red Lion pub where Mr Corbyn celebrated winning the Labour leadership election in 2015. A Facebook page set up for the Jeremy Corbyn Victory Party event has 1,000 people definitely attending and a further 2,900 people interested in going. The event details read: Comrades! Compatriots! Followers of the cause! Come far and wide to join us. We're having a real Jeremy Corbyn victory party to toast our success!" The party is being hosted by the Grand Marshal Corbyns Patriotic Meme Collective, a pro-Labour campaign group. Cambridge University student Josh Jackson, 19, who leads the group, told the Independent the victory party is not a joke and that he believes the election result is by no means a foregone conclusion. A screenshot from the event's Facebook page The event is very serious. Its not a foregone conclusion, a lot of Labours policies are very popular and when you contrast it with what the Tories are offering today in their manifesto, theres a genuine contrast and a real choice for voters, he said. Mr Jackson said he set up the group because he believes memes are a useful tool to clarify important issues while using a more humorous tone. Some of Londons leading grime artists have come out in support of Mr Corbyn and are also planning to hold a secret rave before the General Election. A string of grime stars including Novelist, AJ Tracey and Jme have all endorsed the Labour leader in the run up to the June 8 ballot. A new initiative called Grime4Corbyn hopes to build on support for the Labour leader from grime artists to try and encourage more young people to vote for him. The group, which has been set up by London musicians, is also inviting young voters to sign up to win tickets for a grime rave which will be held in a secret location the week before the General Election. General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures 1 /57 General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures Jeremy Corbyn joins leaders for the BBC's Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Prime Minister Theresa May samples cheese at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet Leon Neal/Pool/Reuters First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the launch of the SNP General Election manifesto at Perth Concert Hall Jane Barlow/PA Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the launch in central London of a Liberal Democrats campaign poster attacking the Conservatives' school meals policy Victoria Jones/PA Jeremy Corbyn appears on The One Show BBC Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and the party's local candidate Sir Simon Hughes are given a baking lesson at Comptoir Gourmand, an artisan bakery in Bermondsey, London Gareth Fuller/PA Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions from the studio audience during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme recorded at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is interviewed by Jeremy Paxman during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme 'May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10' at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty Images Home Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday May 28, 2017. Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming home secretary Jeff Overs/BBC/PA A new poster by the Green Party featuring pictures of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary either side US Preseident Donald J Trump Green Party/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott during General Election campaigning in Hull Chris Radburn/PA A man is arrested after protesting against fox hunting as Theresa May arrives at the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Green Party co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley launch the Green Party's 'Green Guarantee' of key priorities for the party at a general election campaign event in London AFP/Getty Images Julie Etchingham presents the ITV Leaders' Debate, a live two-hour debate with Caroline Lucas, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon ITV/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during her party's general election manifesto launch in Halifax Danny Lawson/PA Demonstrations take place before the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May as she launches the Conservative Party Election Manifesto in Halifax Getty Images Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during an election campaign event in east London Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's manifesto at the University of Bradford, in Bradford Nigel Roddis/EPA Prime Minister Theresa May meets Cathy Mohan at Abingdon market in Oxfordshire during an General Election campaign visit Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron leaves the Royal College of Nursing conference at Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre following a General Election campaign visit Gareth Fuller/PA Screengrab taken from Facebook Live broadcast, hosted by ITV News of Prime Minister Theresa May answering questions sent in by users of the social media website, with presenter Robert Peston ITV News Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking about national security and foreign policy at Chatham House in Londo David Mirzeoff/PA Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol on 21 April 2017 during Labour's election campaign. Steve Parsons/PA Jeremy Corbyn looks around as he arrives at Savoy Place. His vehicle hit BBC Cameraman Giles Wooltorton on the way into the garage entrance Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller breaks down after receiving an ovation from the crowd during her speech at the Convention on Brexit in central London Andy Rain/EPA The Liberal Democrat party campaign bus is unveiled at an event at the Harts Boatyard on 01 May 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Co-Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, speaks during the launch of the Green Party Brexit policy at the Space Studio in London Stefan Rousseau/PA The Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron listens to a speech during an event at the Harts Boatyard on May 1, 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Anti-racism protesters speak to the media after being removed ahead of UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall's speech Jack Taylor/Getty Images UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall gestures as he makes a speech as the party launch their general election campaign at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on 28 April 2017 in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (right), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott Diane leaving Four Millbank in Westminster, London, following her stumbling explanation of how the party would fund its plans for 10,000 extra police in an interview that left her struggling to do the sums live on air. Victoria Jones/PA Philip Hammond and David Davis at a General Election campaign event in Central London Jeremy Selwyn Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England Dylan Martinez/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party handout of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a new poster, warning that families face a tax and debt bombshell under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership Conservative Party/PA Nick Clegg delivers a campaign speech on the European Union at the National Liberal Club in London Stefan Rousseau/PA Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband retweeted a photo of him mowing a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncaster North constituency Jane Nightingale Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on 18 April calling for a general election Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The first telephone poll since Labours manifesto launch, published exclusively in the Evening Standard, showed Mr Corbyn and the Labour Party gaining a modest boost. Labour has put on eight points, trimming the hefty Conservative lead to 15 points, while Mr Corbyns personal leadership ratings have slightly improved, the Ipsos MORI survey found. J eremy Corbyn was on the campaign trail visiting a Sikh temple as the leaders of five of the main political parties were gearing up for a live prime time General Election TV debate. Covering his head with an orange patka as required, Mr Corbyn served food to worshippers and made an offering at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara in Southall, west London. At the time of his visit, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, Ukip's Paul Nuttall, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood and Green co-leader Caroline Lucas were all arriving in Salford for a two-hour ITV debate. The Labour leader said he would only take part in the debate if his main rival Theresa May was present but she refused. Mr Corbyn services food to worshippers at a gurdwara in Southall / PA After visiting the gurdwara, My Corbyn used a rally near the war memorial in Southall to urge activists help him deliver an election victory "against the odds" and made clear he was targeting Labour gains as well as seeking to hold on to seats. After being introduced by Virendra Sharma, who held the Ealing, Southall seat for Labour with a majority of 18,760 in 2015, Mr Corbyn said: "I urge all of you to do everything you can in this borough to win every single one of the constituencies in this borough and the ones around because to get a Labour government we need to make gains as well as holding what we have. "And I ask all of you - do everything you can between now and June 8, put everything you can in to winning this election. "Let's show that the General Election of 2017 was one that was won against the odds, where those that have been condemned and isolated came together in strength to win the election and win for everybody that needs a government that cares for them." General Election 2017: What you need to know The Labour leaders visit to the gurdwara came after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was rounded on by a woman at a Sikh temple in Bristol for attempting to use alcohol as an example of the benefits of a trade deal between the UK and India during a Conservative Party visit. The Sikh religion forbids drinking alcohol. General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures 1 /57 General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures Jeremy Corbyn joins leaders for the BBC's Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Prime Minister Theresa May samples cheese at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet Leon Neal/Pool/Reuters First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the launch of the SNP General Election manifesto at Perth Concert Hall Jane Barlow/PA Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the launch in central London of a Liberal Democrats campaign poster attacking the Conservatives' school meals policy Victoria Jones/PA Jeremy Corbyn appears on The One Show BBC Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and the party's local candidate Sir Simon Hughes are given a baking lesson at Comptoir Gourmand, an artisan bakery in Bermondsey, London Gareth Fuller/PA Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions from the studio audience during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme recorded at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is interviewed by Jeremy Paxman during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme 'May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10' at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty Images Home Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday May 28, 2017. Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming home secretary Jeff Overs/BBC/PA A new poster by the Green Party featuring pictures of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary either side US Preseident Donald J Trump Green Party/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott during General Election campaigning in Hull Chris Radburn/PA A man is arrested after protesting against fox hunting as Theresa May arrives at the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Green Party co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley launch the Green Party's 'Green Guarantee' of key priorities for the party at a general election campaign event in London AFP/Getty Images Julie Etchingham presents the ITV Leaders' Debate, a live two-hour debate with Caroline Lucas, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon ITV/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during her party's general election manifesto launch in Halifax Danny Lawson/PA Demonstrations take place before the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May as she launches the Conservative Party Election Manifesto in Halifax Getty Images Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during an election campaign event in east London Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's manifesto at the University of Bradford, in Bradford Nigel Roddis/EPA Prime Minister Theresa May meets Cathy Mohan at Abingdon market in Oxfordshire during an General Election campaign visit Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron leaves the Royal College of Nursing conference at Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre following a General Election campaign visit Gareth Fuller/PA Screengrab taken from Facebook Live broadcast, hosted by ITV News of Prime Minister Theresa May answering questions sent in by users of the social media website, with presenter Robert Peston ITV News Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking about national security and foreign policy at Chatham House in Londo David Mirzeoff/PA Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol on 21 April 2017 during Labour's election campaign. Steve Parsons/PA Jeremy Corbyn looks around as he arrives at Savoy Place. His vehicle hit BBC Cameraman Giles Wooltorton on the way into the garage entrance Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller breaks down after receiving an ovation from the crowd during her speech at the Convention on Brexit in central London Andy Rain/EPA The Liberal Democrat party campaign bus is unveiled at an event at the Harts Boatyard on 01 May 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Co-Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, speaks during the launch of the Green Party Brexit policy at the Space Studio in London Stefan Rousseau/PA The Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron listens to a speech during an event at the Harts Boatyard on May 1, 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Anti-racism protesters speak to the media after being removed ahead of UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall's speech Jack Taylor/Getty Images UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall gestures as he makes a speech as the party launch their general election campaign at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on 28 April 2017 in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (right), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott Diane leaving Four Millbank in Westminster, London, following her stumbling explanation of how the party would fund its plans for 10,000 extra police in an interview that left her struggling to do the sums live on air. Victoria Jones/PA Philip Hammond and David Davis at a General Election campaign event in Central London Jeremy Selwyn Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England Dylan Martinez/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party handout of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a new poster, warning that families face a tax and debt bombshell under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership Conservative Party/PA Nick Clegg delivers a campaign speech on the European Union at the National Liberal Club in London Stefan Rousseau/PA Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband retweeted a photo of him mowing a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncaster North constituency Jane Nightingale Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on 18 April calling for a general election Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Both politicians were looking to boost their parties' popularity among Sikhs, traditionally seen as mainly Labour voters, although the Tories campaigned hard for their backing under David Cameron. A former Tower Hamlets mayor barred from running for office after being found guilty of corruption is waiting to see if he has won the latest stage of an appeal bid. Lutfur Rahman, who was the directly-elected mayor, has asked two senior judges to consider his case. The disgraced former mayor of the east London borough, was forced to step down after he was found guilty of a litany of corrupt and illegal practises and has been banned for five years. Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mr Justice Supperstone have analysed legal argument over two days at a High Court hearing in London. They say they will announce their decision in the near future. Lawyers representing Mr Rahman said a new appeal bid had been launched because Mr Rahman had not been prosecuted. They said prosecutors had told Mr Rahman that he would not face criminal charges because there was "insufficient evidence". Lawyers suggested it would be wrong to allow some of Mr Mawrey's findings to stand in the light of that decision not to bring criminal charges. Mr Rahman has already failed in one attempt to challenge rulings Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey made two years ago, following an Election Court trial in London. Two senior judges blocked a bid to mount an appeal following a High Court hearing in London last year. A group of four voters, headed by writer and film-maker Andy Erlam, had taken legal action against Mr Rahman, under the provisions of the Representation of The People Act, in 2015. Lawyers for the four voters had made a series of allegations, including "personation" in postal voting and at polling stations, and ballot paper tampering. Mr Rahman had said there was "little, if any" evidence of wrongdoing against him. His lawyers described the group of four's claims as invention, exaggeration and "in some cases downright deliberately false allegations". But Mr Mawrey made a series of findings against Mr Rahman, who was born in Bangladesh in 1965. Mr Mawrey said evidence aired at the Election Court trial had revealed an "alarming state of affairs" in Tower Hamlets. He said his ruling meant that the 2014 Tower Hamlets mayoral election was void. The election was re-run and won by Labour's John Biggs. Additional reporting by Press Association. C yber-criminals controlling vast numbers of bots are causing billions of alerts on BT networks every month, its head of security has revealed. Many of these attempts to steal cash or information, or crash systems, can be traced back to Russia and China, with British broadband users and even BTs Champions League coverage being targeted, Mark Hughes said. The president of BT Security told the Standard: As our automated defences get better our adversaries are getting better. They are using ever more sophisticated, almost multi-pronged attempts, which is why were seeing a big uptick in things like email phishing. The toughest attacks to beat are zero-day exploits, with names such as Heartbleed, Shellshock, Ghost and Drown. These target unknown vulnerabilities in software or hardware, inside which a hacker releases malicious code. To counter threats, BT has 3,000 analysts many of them teenagers and reformed hackers managed from its security HQ in Sevenoaks. Mr Hughes described them as ethical hackers. The firm would not say how many attacks had succeeded but networks receive more than 200 billion security alerts every month, about 17,000 of which are classified as aggressive. During the 2012 Olympics BT saw a 1,000 per cent rise in attacks from state-backed hackers, terrorists, fraudsters and hacktivists. Mr Hughes said it frustrated him that users still choose easy passwords for multiple devices. A snail with a rare pattern on his shell found himself at the lonely end of a love triangle after two potential mates ended up mating with each other. The unlucky snail, named Jeremy, was dubbed a one-in-a-million find as his shell spirals in the opposite direction to others of his kind. He is now at the heart of a matchmaking campaign after researchers found his shells pattern means he is unable to mate with those with a clockwise swirl on their shell. Scientists at the University of Nottingham launched the campaign last year to find potential suitors and discover more about Jeremys genetics. Lefty, from Suffolk, and Tomeu, from Spain, came forward as potential mates following Twitter campaign. But Angus Davison, from the university, told Radio 4's Today programme: "We turned up not one but two very rare snails, one from Ipswich and one from Majorca. "The irony is, it's like that thing where maybe you introduce your best friends to a girl you're interested in. "The two snails we found as a result of the programme got together." The partnership between Lefty and Tomeu resulted in 170 babies - all of which coil to the right - while Jeremy remains in the lab in Nottingham. C hina is to ban the sale of dog meat at a controversial festival that draws condemnation across the world, according to activists. Animal rights campaign groups reported vendors could be arrested and fined for breaching the ban, which they said would come into force a week before the infamous Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival begins on June 21. Thousands of dogs are slaughtered each year in Yulin, a town in southern China's Guangxi province, with some reportedly skinned and boiled alive as part of celebrations to mark the summer solstice. Humane Society International and the Duo Duo Project, two activist groups that have campaigned to end the trade, said multiple Chinese sources had confirmed the ban and hailed it as a "milestone victory". Restaurants, street vendors and market traders reportedly face fines of up to 100,000 yen ( 11,150) if they caught flouting the restriction. The dogs are crammed into small cages and transported in terrible conditions before being slaughtered / AP Photo/Andy Wong Andrea Gung, executive director of the Duo Duo Project, said: It was clear from conversations with my sources that the Yulin government is serious in enforcing this ban, and anyone breaking the law will be subject to significant fines and possible jail time. "In the past, I would have been skeptical hearing this news. However... this news is consistent with evidence over the past year that Yulin and other parts of China are changing for the better." She added: "Even if this is a temporary ban, we hope this will have a domino effect, leading to the collapse of the dog meat trade." Yulin's newly appointed Communist Party secretary, Mo Gong Ming, was reported to be the driving force behind the ban. He is said to want to overhaul the town's reputation and establish it as a culutral hub. Peter Li, China policy specialist at Humane Society International, said: "As opposition to this trade has grown within China and across the world, much focus has been placed on the Yulin festival and so it is significant politically that the authorities are taking the outrage to curb this cruelty seriously. The Yulin dog meat festival is not over just yet, but if this news is true as we hope, it is a really big nail in the coffin for a gruesome event that has come to symbolise Chinas crime-fuelled dog meat trade." Outcry: The festival draws international condemnation each year / AP Photo/Andy Wong But the BBC cast doubt on the ban, citing several traders and local government officials who were unaware of it and pointing out no reports of the prohibition have emerged through Chinese state media. Activists said officials were unlikely to publicly confirm the ban and suggested it was being spread by word-of-mouth. I dont think they will publicly acknowledge it, Ms Gung told the New York Times. But my source spoke with every single one of the dog meat vendors at [Yulin's main meat market] Dongkou and they all said the same thing: a seven-day ban on dog meat sales starting on June 15. Campaigners last year handed a petition signed by 11 million people to the Yulin government as the worldwide outcry over the festival continued to grow. Protestors set up roadblocks in a bid to stop dog trucks entering into the town ahead of the 2016 event. Celebrities including Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher, comedian Ricky Gervais and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen are among the prominent figures to have campaigned against it. By Ashish Pandey: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will address a massive public meeting called 'Telangana Praja Garjana' at Sangareddy on June 1. He will also release a 'chargesheet' against the failures of TRS Government during the last three years in the State. State Congress unit President Uttam Kumar Reddy said, people elected new governments in the country and state in 2014 elections with high hopes, but both the BJP government at the Centre and the TRS government in Telangana have disappointed with their poor performance and failure to deliver on promises. advertisement "Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has completely failed to get any assistance from the Centre for Telangana and he himself miserably failed to resolve the problems being faced by the people in the State," said Uttam Kumar reddy, addressing media on Thursday. The state unit chief also pointed out that Telangana is now second in the list of States with high number of farmers' suicides. "Today, lakhs of farmers are suffering for denial of remunerative prices for their crops. Instead of helping them, TRS Government has implicated the farmers in fake cases, got them arrested and were further humiliated by bringing them to court in hand-cuffs," said Uttam, mentioning the incident of Khammam Court where farmers were handcuffed and produced earlier this month. He said that the list of failures of TRS Government was too long and the same would be revealed in the public meeting to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi at Sangareddy on next month. --- ENDS --- T his is the moment a man was arrested after a speeding car ploughed into pedestrians in New Yorks Times Square. The horrific scenes unfolded at the Midtown Manhattan tourist site at about midday local time on Thursday, leaving an 18-year-old woman dead and 22 people injured, four critically. Video footage posted online shows a man being escorted by two NYPD officers in front of terrified onlookers. The officers bundle the man into a large police car before the video pans away to show the mangled red Honda which he had been driving, sitting atop a bollard. New York: Times Square Car Crash 1 /25 New York: Times Square Car Crash A car speeds through a sidewalk in Times Square @gb__ Police detaining a man at the scene An injured man on the sidewalk in Times Square after a speeding vehicle struck pedestrians on the sidewalk Mike Segar/Reuters Emergency workers at the scene of the car crash Rex Features An aerial view of the car crash in Times Square Mayor with @NYPDONeill and @FDNY in Times Square being briefed on the incident @NYCMayorsOffice Emergency workers treat multiple people injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians in Times Square in New York Gary He/EPA The mangled car which ploughed into pedestrians in Times Square Seth Weni/AP An aerial view of the car crash in Times Square Sky News First responders assisting injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Jeremy Schultz/Reuters First responders tend to an injured pedestrian after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Lucas Jackson/Reuters Emergency workers work at the scene after multiple people were injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians EPA First responders assisting injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Jeremy Schultz/Reuters An image of the car which ploughed into pedestrians, killing at least one @pinkcamry First responders tend to injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Lucas Jackson/Reuters An aerial view of the the incident in Times Square, New York, USA where a car mounted the pavement injuring pedestrians PA A vehicle sits atop a bollard after multiple people were injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians in Times Square in New York EPA An injured man sits on the sidewalk in Times Square after a speeding vehicle struck pedestrians on the sidewalk in New York Mike Segar/Reuters First responders are at the scene where a vehicle driving onto a sidewalk in Times Square in New York Daniel J. Bases/Reuters A large number of emergency service vehicles and police officers can also be seen, as a police cordon was put in place. The New York Police Department confirmed that a 26-year-old man, named locally as Richard Rojas from the Bronx district, was detained by police at the scene. He reportedly has previous convictions for driving under the influence and is being tested for alcohol and drug levels in custody. He was arrested twice - in 2008 and 2015 - for drink-driving offences. The incident is not believed to be connected to terrorism and tweeted that it was an "isolated incident", police said. Car ploughs into crowds in New York's Times Square Witnesses on social media described how the motorist drove against traffic - down the wrong side of the road - and onto the pavement. Actor Josh Silverman was in Times Square when the incident happened. He told the Standard: People suddenly started screaming and running. I saw a woman across the street, lying in the middle of an intersection, injured. People immediately came to her aid. But most people weren't looking at her, they were looking further down the street. I saw a second injured person across the street, on the sidewalk, surrounded by people helping. And then I saw the car, smoking, heavily damaged, propped up on two wheels. By this point cops and paramedics were swarming into Times Square. Then I saw the suspect, handcuffed, shirtless, laying on the ground up against the wall, facing the wall, surrounded by cops. The car crashed into a pole and came to a rest at 45th Street and Broadway. A teenager has been killed after a former US naval officer allegedly ploughed his car into pedestrians on a pavement in New York City's Times Square. A further 22 people are thought to have been injured in the incident, which happened at the Midtown Manhattan tourist site on Thursday lunchtime. One injured pedestrian said the collision appeared to be "intentional" and the New York Police Department has closed off the area. But police said they do not believe the crash was connected to terrorism and tweeted that it was an "isolated incident". Crash: New York Police at the scene / Rex Features A 26-year-old man, named by police as Richard Rojas from the Bronx district, was detained by police at the scene. He has previous convictions for driving under the influence and is being tested for alcohol and drug levels in custody. He was arrested twice - in 2008 and 2015 - for drink-driving offences. Crash: One person has been killed / @pinkcamry Police said the driver did a U-turn and then mounted the pavement between 6th to 8th avenue. Witnesses described how the motorist then proceeded to drive alone the pavement at a speed. Car ploughs into crowds in New York's Times Square "People were being hit and rolling off the car," said Josh Duboff, an employee at the adjacent Thomson Reuters headquarters who jumped out of the way to avoid being struck. Another pedestrian wrote on Twitter: A car just purposely sped onto the sidewalk in Times Square trying to hit people. It was speeding up and aiming for people. New York: Times Square Car Crash 1 /25 New York: Times Square Car Crash A car speeds through a sidewalk in Times Square @gb__ Police detaining a man at the scene An injured man on the sidewalk in Times Square after a speeding vehicle struck pedestrians on the sidewalk Mike Segar/Reuters Emergency workers at the scene of the car crash Rex Features An aerial view of the car crash in Times Square Mayor with @NYPDONeill and @FDNY in Times Square being briefed on the incident @NYCMayorsOffice Emergency workers treat multiple people injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians in Times Square in New York Gary He/EPA The mangled car which ploughed into pedestrians in Times Square Seth Weni/AP An aerial view of the car crash in Times Square Sky News First responders assisting injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Jeremy Schultz/Reuters First responders tend to an injured pedestrian after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Lucas Jackson/Reuters Emergency workers work at the scene after multiple people were injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians EPA First responders assisting injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Jeremy Schultz/Reuters An image of the car which ploughed into pedestrians, killing at least one @pinkcamry First responders tend to injured pedestrians after a vehicle struck pedestrians on a sidewalk in Times Square Lucas Jackson/Reuters An aerial view of the the incident in Times Square, New York, USA where a car mounted the pavement injuring pedestrians PA A vehicle sits atop a bollard after multiple people were injured when a vehicle struck numerous pedestrians in Times Square in New York EPA An injured man sits on the sidewalk in Times Square after a speeding vehicle struck pedestrians on the sidewalk in New York Mike Segar/Reuters First responders are at the scene where a vehicle driving onto a sidewalk in Times Square in New York Daniel J. Bases/Reuters I just decided to cross the street 30 sec before or I'd be dead. If I would have waited to cross the street I'd probably be dead right now. Crash: 20 people have been injured / Mike Segar/Reuters This didn't look like an accident. The driver was steering into people." "Everybody was just running, everyone was concerned for their lives," another witness told CBS television. Times Square: The crash happened in the tourist hotspot in central Manhattan / Seth Weni/AP One woman - an 18-year-old named locally as Alyssa Elsman from Michigan - was pronounced dead at the scene. She was with her 13-year-old sister who was also injured. Video footage posted shows police officers detaining a man as emergency services swarm the area. And images shared by eyewitnesses show a smoking red Honda mounted up on the pavement at the busy junction. A witness has reported seeing shoes scattered across the road and one victim covered in a bloodstained blanket. And several others were being led away on stretchers. Victims: Officers helping someone who appears to have been injured in the crash / Jeremy Schultz/Reuters The car crashed into a pole and came to a rest at 45th Street and Broadway. In a press conference, held just after 1.30pm local time, Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio reiterated that the incident is not believed to be terror-related. But he said additional anti-terror procedures were being put in place across the city. "This is a tough day for New York City, but I want to thank our first responders who got here so quickly," he added. "We feel deeply for those injured and particularly for the family of the young woman who was lost. Our prayers are with all of them." Local reports initially suggested the suspect was being pursued by a police vehicle at the time of the collision but this was denied by Police Commissioner James O'Neill. This page is being updated. U S president Donald Trump has claimed he is the victim of an unprecedented "witch hunt" that "hurts our country terribly" in the wake of an independent probe into claims of Russia links. Denouncing the creation of a special counsel to investigate his campaign's ties with Russia, Mr Trump said on Thursday that the move "shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not unified country" and is "a very, very negative thing." Lawmakers of both parties have sought to question Mr Trump's firing last week of FBI Director James Comey, which was followed by news that Trump had shared secrets with the Russians and tried to stop Comey from investigating former presidential adviser Michael Flynn. In a briefing with news anchors, Trump said the probe - to be led by former FBI director Robert Mueller - "hurts our country terribly." Donald Trump: No politician has been treated worse or more unfairly He leapt to make the point again at a joint news conference with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, describing the development as a distraction. "Well I respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt," he said, insisting there had been "no collusion" between his campaign and Russia. "I'm fine with whatever people want to do," he added. "But we have to go back to running this country really, really well." Putin dismisses Trump information-sharing scandal The Justice Department announced Wednesday that former FBI director Robert Mueller has been given sweeping power to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, including potential links between Moscow and Trump campaign associates. Despite initially opposing appointment of an independent counsel, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that the development "helps assure people and the Justice Department that they're going to go do their jobs independently and thoroughly, which is what we've called for all along." But Mr Trump, after issuing a measured statement when the news first broke Wednesday evening, posted angry tweets on Thursday morning. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" wrote Mr Trump, ignoring impeachment efforts and blistering verbal attacks on previous presidents and other political leaders. The president's tweets and comments to the TV anchors drew little reaction from fellow Republicans, who instead joined Democrats in heaping praise on Mueller, who served under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, preceding Comey as head of the FBI. Mueller will have nearly unfettered access to witnesses and information, and the ability to bring criminal charges. Tottenham-based grime star Skepta was named Songwriter of the Year as well as winning the trophy for Best Contemporary Song for his hit Man during the ceremony at Grosvenor House on Thursday. Michael Kiwanukas Black Man in a White World was named Best Song Musically and Lyrically, while the Album Award went to Laura Mvulas The Dreaming Room. Welch received a huge cheer from the crowd as she took to the stage to collect her International Achievement Award. Award winner: Laura Mvula was honoured with the Album Award / PA This is for my Dad who drove us around Europe on our first tour, she told the audience. The PRS for Most Performed Work was awarded to Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin for Coldplays Hymn for the Weekend. In the soundtracks category, Kubo and the Two Strings won Best Film Score, while War and Peace was named Best Television Soundtrack. Jarvis Cocker was on hand to collect the trophy for his band Pulp, who were honoured in the Outstanding Song Collection category. Anne Dudley received the PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music for her work as a songwriter, arranger, producer and television and film composer. Honoured: Gary Numan with the Ivors Inspirational Award / Dave Benett Full list of winners: Best Song Musically and Lyrically Black Man in a White World Best Contemporary Song Man Album Award The Dreaming Room PRS for Music Most Performed Work Hymn for the Weekend Best Original Film Score Kubo and the Two Strings Best Television Soundtrack War and Peace GIFT OF BASCA AWARDS: International Achievement Florence Welch Lifetime Achievement Nitin Sawhney Outstanding Song Collection Pulp PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music Anne Dudley PRS for Music Special International Award Bill Withers Songwriter of the Year Skepta The Ivors Jazz Award John Surman The Ivors Inspiration Award Gary Numan J uno Temple has said she feels frustrated about being at an in between age in Hollywood, and would like to see more female characters in their mid-late 20s. The British actress rose to fame as a child star in Notes on a Scandal, St Trinians and Atonement, but thinks that, at 27, shes now too old to play a teenager and too young to play a woman in her 30s. There are lots of parts for people who are younger than that in that period and then there are lots of parts for people who are a bit older than that, in their 30s, she told the Standard. Im sort of in between. Im not sure I can really play an 18-year-old anymore, maybe on a good day but honestly, Im so not 18. So thats been kind of frustrating this year. Gritty role: Timothy Spall and Juno Temple star in Away Temple said that its important to tells stories about women in their 20s as thats when youre figuring out who you are theres so much to write about that. It changes, some years there are brilliant roles and some years there just arent, she said. Despite being in a difficult age bracket, Temples career is going from strength-to-strength after relocating from London to Los Angeles. She stars opposite Timothy Spall in David Blairs new Blackpool-set drama Away and has just shot her scenes for Woody Allens Wonder wheel. Temple is used to being in the spotlight, being the daughter of rock documentary filmmaker Julien Temple and starring in her first film, Vigo: Passion for Life, aged just eight. After nearly two decades in the industry, she said she has grown a thicker skin, but still cries like a baby when she misses out on a part. I dont think that will go away, and if it does then I should quit doing this because I think it shows I still really care, which is important, she said. Its more now trying not to take it personally and just allowing yourself to cry about the fact that youre not going to be able to step into the skin of that character. Temple credits her down-to-earth nature with being real and accepting that nobodys perfect. Its really important to be you and be real and hang out with people that you love, she said. You cant be perfect and thats so not a message that Id want to send to any young girl who wants to be an actress anyway. Away is in cinemas and available on DVD now. D avid Bowie has been named the most popular recording artist of 2016, beating the likes of Adele and Drake. More than 1.6 million Bowie albums were bought or streamed in the UK last year, following the music icons death in January 2016. According to The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Bowies back catalogue as well as new release Blackstar sold the more than any other records. Adeles three studio albums werent far behind, with a combined sales total of 1.2 million, following the release of chat-topping 25. Skepta wins Mercury Prize and pays tribute to David Bowie Drake, who released eagerly-awaited studio album Views, ranked third on the list with sales of 1.09 million. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards, said: This is an exciting time for British music as more fans enjoy todays new artists and also explore the infinite jukebox available on streaming services. David Bowie - in pictures 1 /28 David Bowie - in pictures Loved up David Bowie and his wife Iman at a charity event in 2011 Getty Images The early years David Bowie, back when he was Davy Jones Getty Images Ziggy Stardust David Bowie performed as his intergalactic alter-ego for the last time at Hammersmith Odeon, 1973 Getty Images Station to station David and his first wife Angie Getty Images Bright lights David Bowie performing at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2004 Getty Images Portrait Bowie at a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, 1983 AFP/Getty Images Theatricality Bowie in his 'Angel of Death' costume at The Marquee Club, 1973 Getty Images Rock stars David Bowie with Iggy Pop (left) in Germany, 1977 Getty Images Mullet man Bowie perfoming in 1987 Getty Images Fame David Bowie receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1997 Getty Images Wembley David Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium in 1999 Getty Images Blondies David Bowie with Debbie Harry at the MEN Arena, 2003 Getty Images Icons David Bowie with Kate Moss at an awards party at New York Public Library, 2005 Getty Images David Bowie at the CFDA Awards, 2005 Getty Images Artists David Bowie with Lou Reed at the Lou Reed NY photography exhibit, 2006 Getty Images Red carpet David Bowie and Iman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008 Getty Images Angie Bowie, Zowie Bowie (Duncan Jones) and David Bowie (wearing an eyepatch) appear at a press conference at the Amstel Hotel on 7th February 1974 in Amsterdam, Netherlands Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns Singer David Bowie with his wife, model and actress Angela Bowie on January 01, 1974 in London Anwar Hussein/Getty Images David Bowie in Labrynth Duncan Jones and David Bowie at the Tribeca Film Festival, New York, America on 30 April 2009 Rex David Bowie pictured to promote his Black Star album "The UK punches above its weight as the worlds third largest market, responsible for one in eight albums sold globally, including four of 2016s Top 10, and is the second-largest digital and streaming market after the US." The annual report also found that 53% of music streamed and purchased by fans is more than two years old. Bowie passed away at the beginning of 2016 after a battle with liver cancer, two days after the release of Blackstar. T his week, in co-ordinated events in London, New York and Taipei, Taiwanese manufacturer HTC revealed a smartphone that takes touch to the next level: the HTC U11 is a phone you can squeeze. Pressure-sensitive areas run down the bottom half of the phones long sides though they dont change the look of the phone. This allows you to snap a selfie just by squeezing. Or launch Google Assistant when the phone is in standby mode. If youre sending a text message, squeezing the U11 switches on the microphone so that you can dictate it. In the coming months an app called Edge Sense will be added that will enable more interactions such as this, so if you launch Google Maps and the map is the wrong size for you to see it clearly, squeezing will zoom right in. Many touchscreens dont respond if youre wearing gloves but the squeeze effect works for the U11 if youre wearing gloves or if the phone is in a case or even if its underwater (the U11 is water-resistant). New squeeze: the handset with its responsive sides Theres more to the new U11 than holding it tightly for extra effects. It will have Alexa, Amazons increasingly ubiquitous voice-controlled assistant, on board from July. Like on the Amazon Echo device, Alexa is always listening in the background, so you can wake up the phone using just your voice. If youre more a fan of Googles own helper, Google Assistant, its also there. HTCs Sense Companion software observes how you use your phone, can make suggestions and optimise how the phone behaves not least so that the battery lasts longer. It can also make suggestions: for instance, recommending a later alarm time if it knows tomorrow is a holiday. The rear camera, which can also be triggered by a squeeze, is a 12-megapixel model designed to detect more light, for better results in dim conditions. Multiple microphones make audio recording more immersive when shooting video. The front camera is wide-angle and 16-megapixel resolution. Its already winning respect. DxO, the independent company that assesses camera quality, has given the HTC U11 its highest ever rating for a smartphone camera. With a score of 90, it knocks Google Pixels phone off the previous top spot of 89. The best smartphone camera accessories- in pictures 1 /8 The best smartphone camera accessories- in pictures Capture the moment with our pick of the best smartphone camera accessories Rodegrip Multipurpose Mount and Holder Suitable for: iPhone 5/5S Small enough to fit in your pocket, this mounting chassis can be used on its own or attached to a boom stand. If youre into making video content and are looking for something thatll help you achieve a stable shot, this will help- it can be propped up on the table so you can focus on filming without the risk of it falling over half way through. 13.95, Inta-Audio, Buy it now Lensta Kit Suitable for: iPhone 5 and up When professional photographers and leading industry product designers put their heads together, something beautiful can happen. Always wondered how those savvy Instagrammers get their shots? Most likely by lugging around a digital SLR, uploading the photos and then editing them on their phones. If this all sounds like a lot of effort, youre right. It is. Enter the new Lensta lenses: professional grade camera lenses you can attach to your phone, enabling you to take wide angle and close up shots. The kit includes three lenses as well as a leather case strap and bag, proving that you dont need to spend a fortune- the shots are of professional quality and high res enough to be printed. 78, Indiegogo, Buy it now Polaroid Mobile Printer Suitable for: iOS and Android Devices If youve got thousands of photos stored up in your cloud that you never print or look at, youre not alone- were all guilty of doing it. With the Polaroid mobile device you can print pictures from your phone within seconds. Shots come out at 2 x 3 inches in full colour and the paper is smudge proof so you can snap away to your hearts content. 72, Viking, Buy it now Pocket Spotlight Suitable for: all smartphones Avoid the rabbit-in-the-headlights look that the phone flash gives by using a pocket light instead. Plug into the headphone jack and itll throw out continuous light for up to an hour at a time, allowing you to adjust the focus and exposure accordingly. Itll give you more natural looking photos and video even when its dark. 23, Photojojo, Buy it now Optrix Waterproof Action Camera Case Suitable for iPhone 6/6s Never miss out on those underwater shots again with the Optrix waterproof case. Designed to maintain a total waterproof lock up to 30 feet deep as well as to survive a 20 foot drop, it includes both a wide angle and normal lens. For lovers of watersports this is the must-have holiday accessory as you can keep your phone out of harms way both on and off land. 32, Amazon,Buy it now HTC has always championed strong audio on smartphones with its BoomSound stereo speakers. On this phone it uses the whole phone as a resonating chamber and the front of the handset becomes the speaker. The phone is also the first to come with noise-cancelling headphones. Like the iPhone 7, theres no headphone socket on the HTC so these connect through the USB-C socket. But HTC has also included an adaptor so you can still plug in regular headphones. HTC says the earphones have the ability to tune audio to your unique hearing. By using built-in microphones on the headset the USonic earbuds map your inner ear with sonar-like technology and then adapt the sound profile accordingly. The back of the phone is made of glass, with what the company calls a liquid surface meant to mimic the way colour changes when light falls on different surfaces. It comes in five colours including an eye-popping Sapphire Blue, plus what HTC dubs Amazing Silver, Brilliant Black and Ice White. Later in the year there will be a Solar Red version. Its a deep red shade until you turn it, when it changes to a golden yellow. Red is HTCs signature shade and it has been more enterprising with colour than any other company, Apple included. The phone has a large 5.5-inch screen, the same size as the iPhone 7 Plus. HTC is promising long battery life, with a cell that recharges quickly a days life from a half-hour charge. Innovation in mobile phones is hard to come by now smartphones do so much. Waterproofing, high-resolution screens, fingerprint sensors all found on HTCs new phone are common these days. But the addition of the new squeeze movement, the presence of Amazons Alexa and the striking, beautiful design and colour really help the HTC U11 stand out. The HTC U11 goes on sale next month, 649, htc.com I ts the Walford spin-off you never knew you wanted Kat and Alfie take a break from Albert Square and travel to Ireland to find a missing family member. Heres everything you need to know about the new BBC show: Whats it about? The search for Kats long-lost son takes her and Alfie to the sleepy Irish village of Redwater. Kats desire to locate him as fast as possible leads to the discovery of a dark secret among the villagers which could mean danger for the couple. What happens in episode one? Kate and Alfie arrive in the quiet village to begin their search for Kats estranged son. Before long they unearth a tragic secret the village is still recovering from a boating accident that happened over 25 years ago. Whats Redwater? Redwater is a fictional Irish village where Kat believes the son who was taken away from her at birth may now be living. Where was it filmed? The production was shot on location in the Irish capital of Dublin and small fishing village Dunmore East in County Waterford. Whos in the cast? EastEnders favourites Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie will be starring as Kat and Alfie Moon. Joining them will be Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan as Agnes and Game of Thrones Ian Mcelhinney as Lance. Is it just for soap fans? No, the show is a standalone drama with an ensemble cast of characters independent from Albert Square. Redwater is intended to be accessible even for those who arent regular watchers of EastEnders. Whens it on? Kat & Alfie: Redwater airs on BBC One at 8pm tonight. Deepika Padukone's second look for the day making our hearts shout with delight. By Shivani Chhabra: The city of Cannes woke up to Deepika Padukone's shimmering, sun-like-yellow ensemble today, and now the stunning star is welcoming the dusk in her splendid rogue-pink attire. The beautiful actress who is all braced up for her second day at Cannes Film Festival chose to keep it casual and vivacious for the press interaction sessions. Deepika's sleevless, shift dress is the classic example of casual-yet-hot styling without trying too hard. Picture courtesy: Twitter/LOrealParisIn advertisement Also Read: Deepika Padukone shines bright like a diamond on her 2nd day at Cannes Film Festival Deepika who is known for her magnificent collection of quirky stilettos, teamed up a pair of yet another multi-coloured, studded shoes. The flattering outfit was jazzed up by her vibrant tie-ups, and she pulled it off with her innate charm--totally justifying the crazy love she is being showered with. Also Read: Not sure if you've noticed, but Deepika Padukone's shoes are making our eyes pop Picture courtesy: Twitter/LOrealParisIn Deepika sported the same hairdo as she had with her yellow dress, and honestly, it just looks too perfect to be true. Earlier this morning, the actress was seen relaxing in her bathrobe while munching on some delicious croissants. Picture courtesy: Twitter/LOrealParisIn From her first appearance in a red, frilly outfit at on the first day at Cannes followed by the elegant mauve dress to her majestic appearance in a sheer wine-gown at the red carpet--Deepika is setting some serious dressing parameters there. Also Read: Deepika Padukone's sultry, bold look for the Cannes red carpet is a total winner The world is going gaga over this diva's flawless looks, and we can't just help but wait with bated breath for what's about to follow. --- ENDS --- Deepika is warming hearts in her lustrous yellow dress at the French Riviera, and she looks beyond perfect. By Shivani Chhabra: Deepika Padukone, on the second day of Cannes Film Festival, in a yellow dress is arresting, and we're crushing over her for the millionth time. The gorgeous actor started her day by mesmerising everyone in a sunny-yellow, figure-hugging dress that displayed her sublime sense of fashion--yes, yet again. Picture courtesy: Instagram/instantbollywood Deepika sprayed happiness all around in her bumblebee-hued, high-collared outfit as she geared up for the second day of press interactions at Cannes. advertisement Also Read: Deepika Padukone's sultry, bold look for the Cannes red carpet is a total winner The neat pony hairdo complimented her dramatic, wing-sleeved ensemble that flattered her toned body at just the right places. Picture courtesy: Instagram/deepikapiku Add to that a terrific pair of open-toe, studded stilettos and you get a super-chic look done right. Keeping it minimal and classy, she donned a pair of floral-cutout earrings that resonated well with the idea of beauty in simplicity. Deepika Will Being Escorted To The Interview Place? (@deepikapadukone, #DeepikaPadukone, #DeepikaAtCannes, #Day2) A post shared by Deepika Padmavati Padukone?? (@deepikapiku) on May 18, 2017 at 1:26am PDT Also Read: Day 1, Look 2: Deepika Padukone looks like magical pixie dust at Cannes Nailed it ????? @deepikapadukone #deepikapadukone #bollywood #deepikaatcannes #cannes2017 #lifeatcannes A post shared by ??? DEEPIKA ??? (@deepikaslays) on May 18, 2017 at 1:36am PDT For her first day at Cannes, Deepika had chosen a set of outfits that were totally different in character. While her day started in a frilly red number, her second look sat well with the idea of minimalism, but it was her third look for the day which took away the cake on her first day at Cannes. And now that Deepika is dazzling brighter than the sun today, we can't help but wonder what more the day has in store for us. --- ENDS --- Deepika and her bewitching eyes are here to mesmerise you. By Shivani Chhabra: Deepika Padukone's red carpet look for her second day at the Cannes Film Festival is here, and it doesn't get more royal than this. Looking splendid posing at stairs that looked straight out of a fairy tale, Deepika's final look for Cannes is also her most gorgeous yet. Dressed in an emerald-hued gown with her chin held high, Deepika looked as if she owns the world--which she literally does now. advertisement Having surpassed all our expectations, the leggy lass displayed an enchanting show of elegant demeanour in her thigh-high, Brandon Maxwell number. Also Read: Deepika Padukone shines bright like a diamond on her 2nd day at Cannes Film Festival With a Roman charm dominating her one-shouldered ensemble, Deepika's smokey, coloured eyes were probably the highlight of the whole look. Beautifying her look with a perfect top-knot, Deepika was a thing of bewitching beauty. Picture courtesy: Instagram/dee0921 Picture courtesy: Instagram/siddysays The leafy diamond earrings and handcuffs were blingy, but couldn't outdo the brilliance of Deepika's enchanting persona. She paired the outfit with a of set black, strappy open-toe stilettos that were reflective of her usual, refined taste in footwear. Also Read: Cannes Film Festival: Jeans, lingerie-inspired outfits, tributes to Jerusalem and all that made noise During the course of her two days at the Cannes Film Festival, the diva has appeared in six outfits--and each one has been class apart in their own, unique ways. Picture courtesy: Instagram/instantbollywood Picture courtesy: Instagram/instantbollywood Picture courtesy: Instagram/deepikahq From her red frilly outfit to the elegant mauve dress, followed by the sultry black ensemble, Deepika stunned in everything on day one at Cannes. While day two began with a vibrant yellow attire and transitioned into jolly-pink ultra-short dress, it is this final red carpet appearance and its majestic aura which is going to stay with everyone for a long time. Also Read: Cannes Film Festival: Deepika Padukone's super-short pink dress will take away your blues Deepika's tryst with the Cannes Film Festival 2017 has turned out to be pretty fruitful, and we bow down to her, yet again. --- ENDS --- SCOTTSBLUFF PenAir, which services Scottsbluff announced on Wednesday flights would be reduced beginning on June 1. During the monthly airport authority board meeting in Scottsbluff, Mikhail Buckhout, customer service station manager for PenAir, said the airline will be reducing flights to two per day in an effort to mitigate the pilot shortage problem facing the airline. PenAirs completion rate for March was 89 percent and for April it was 79 percent. The shift to two flights is an attempt to improve reliability. Most of the cancellations PenAir experienced were due to crew issues. The two flights per day to Denver will begin on June 1 with departures in Scottsbluff at 9:25 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Flights departing for Scottsbluff from Denver will be at 8 a.m. and 4:25 p.m. Buckhout said he has passed concerns to people higher up in PenAirs corporate office, and they should be getting in touch with Darwin Skelton, director of Western Nebraska Regional Airport. Skelton said he felt like they had been ignoring him because his calls have yet to be returned. Skelton was also concerned about the number of aircraft the Scottsbluff, North Platte and Kearney airports are supposed to have, including a spare. I think that spare has been put down and parts stolen off of it for maintenance, Skelton said. Buckhout said another plane is also down after a storm in Kearney on Monday caused equipment to run into the plane. We are bringing another one down (from Alaska) to fill that spot, Buckhout said. For now, the issue of flights wont change until a new general manager takes over in Denver. The position has been filled and Skelton has already requested a meeting to discuss the boards displeasure of several promises they feel have not been kept. The board was in agreement that not having a late flight will really hurt the area. Thats one of the biggest things, Skelton said. I think 9:50 a.m. is a little late for a morning flight and 4:25 is early as a last flight out. Skelton said other cities in Nebraska that PenAir serves have flights later in the evening. They can seem to do 8:45 p.m. in Kearney, but not us, he said. Don Overman, board chair, said the board has a problem with what PenAir promised and what was delivered, but he also understood the airline was making every effort to improve the situation in Scottsbluff. Corporate came out with all kinds of promises, Overman said. I think they bit off more than they could chew. Overman praised the local efforts of Buckhout in trying to resolve the issues. If their corporate was as good as their local management, we wouldnt have any problems, Overman said. Skelton was also impressed with Buckhout and the turnaround time of the planes as they come in. According to internal audits completed every six months, the Scottsbluff area has had impressive results. When we do have them (planes), we get them out on time and sometimes a few minutes early, Buckhout said. Skelton said, in his opinion, pilots flying in Alaska were there because the people were there. Pilots could day trip and be home every night, so there wasnt a big issue of having enough pilots. As theyve moved into the lower 48, competition is different and I think it was an eye opening experience, especially when coming here and Denver, Skelton said. You have all these other airlines scrambling to get pilots, so I think PenAir is running into new-found issues with pilots and it has had a real effect on us. PenAir has enticed pilots with a higher rate of pay, a signing bonus and a retention bonus, but pilots are still hard to come by. Skelton doesnt believe PenAir is doing anything on purpose to the Western Nebraska Regional Airport, but he is frustrated no one is returning calls. For me, I see Kearney and North Platte and I feel like Im the red-headed stepchild, Skelton said. I dont understand why I cant get those things too. Skelton said he wasnt intending any disrespect to the eastern part of the state, but that he cares about what happens here in Scottsbluff and how Western Nebraska Regional Airport is being treated. I care about not getting equal consideration, Skelton said. Its a huge frustration to me. GERING With Memorial Day on the horizon, American Legion Gering Post 36 reminds the public that Congress has designated May 26, as National Poppy Day. The American Legion encourages all patriotic Americans to wear or display a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance and hope. The American Legion is pleased to have brought National Poppy Da to the United States, said AJ Trook, commander of American Legion Gering Post 36. Wearing a poppy the Friday before Memorial Day is done to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and as a symbol of hope for the generations to come who will answer our nations call to military service. It is important for Americans to remember that we have an entirely new group of veterans, and supporting them and their families is absolutely essential. The red poppy came to symbolize the blood shed by those who fought and those who continue to still fight for our country following World War I. It was popularized by the publication of the wartime poem In Flanders Fields. The poem was written by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D., while serving on the front line in World War I, to honor soldiers killed in battle. In 1920, the poppy became the official flower of The American Legion Family. Each year, members of The American Legion Family, led by the American Legion Auxiliary, distribute poppies with a request that the person receiving the flower make a donation. All donations received on National Poppy Day will be used by The American Legion to support the future of local veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families with medical and financial needs. On Saturday, May 20, the Gering Post 36 Auxiliary will distribute veteran-made poppies to the community at Panhandle Co-op Main Street Market, Fresh Foods, Safeway and WalMart . WASHINGTON, D.C. Constituents of Third District Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) are invited to meet with a representative of his office at a mobile office on Tuesday, May 23, in Chadron. At mobile offices, Third District residents can meet directly with one of Smiths staff members about federal issues and take advantage of the services available through his office. Smith, who has offices in Grand Island and Scottsbluff, will provide his mobile office and a staff member on Tuesday, May 23, at the Dawes County Courthouse, 451 Main St, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For additional information, contact Smiths Scottsbluff office at 308-633-6333.